Democrat Mob Terrorize Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett at Her Home and Church

/in , , , , , , , , , /by

Pro-choice activists march outside home of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett

Protests against Supreme Court Justices have ratcheted up in recent weeks

By Bradford Betz , Lisa Bennatan | Fox News June 9, 2022:

Just one day after an alleged assassination attempt on Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a small group of pro-choice activists descended on the home of Justice Amy Coney Barrett Thursday evening.

Waving banners and holding up signs, the group walked up and down the sidewalk chanting call-and-response slogans like, “Your neighbor says post-Roe, we say hell no!” and “Hey-hey, ho-ho, the handmaiden has got to go!”
Protesters outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

Protesters outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett. (Fox News)

The tiny rally came a day after protesters marched in front of the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh following the arrest of a California man who had threatened to kill him.

The man, 26-year-old Nicholas John Roske, was carrying a gun, a knife, and zip ties, according to police. Later Wednesday, he was charged with attempted murder of a Supreme Court Justice.

Demonstrations against Supreme Court Justices have ratcheted up in recent weeks in response to a leaked draft opinion suggested that the Supreme Court was on the verge of overturning the landmark 1973 abortion case, Roe v. Wade.
A group of drummers marched outside of Kavanaugh’s house after an alleged assassination attempt.

A group of drummers marched outside of Kavanaugh’s house after an alleged assassination attempt. (Fox News)

Roske told police he was upset about the draft as well the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas last month, where 21 people – including 19 children were killed. Roske said he believed Kavanaugh would vote to loosen gun control laws, according to a criminal complaint.

A Department of Homeland Security report said the Supreme Court draft opinion has unleashed a wave of threats against officials and others and increased the likelihood of extremist violence.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller 

RELATED ARTICLES:

POST-KAVANAUGH POLL: Almost Half of Young, Male Democrats Says “It’s Acceptable To ASSASSINATE a Politician”

Biden’s Approval Rating Sinks to below 40% in RCP average

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

FBI Arrests Michigan Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Ryan Kelley Over January 6th Protest Attendance

/in , , , , , , , , /by

UPDATE: June 18, 2022 Michigan GOP candidate arrested by FBI sees massive jump to the top of latest poll by Melissa Fine,

It’s an upside-down world when an arrest by the FBI sends a candidate for Governor to the top of the latest popularity poll, but that’s exactly what has happened to Michigan gubernatorial GOP candidate Ryan Kelley, who was hooked up on misdemeanor charges by the Feds on June 9 for his alleged participation in the Jan. 6 events at the Capitol.

Read the full article.

We have lost our country. He wasn’t even in the Capitol building itself (as if that matters). Look out for further indictments of senatorial candidates and elected officials leading up to the election. Not so ironically, this is the insurrection.

FBI arrests GOP Michigan governor candidate Ryan Kelley over Jan. 6 riot

By Callie Patteson, NY post, June 9, 2022:

The FBI arrested Ryan Kelley, a Republican candidate for governor in Michigan, on misdemeanor charges connected to his participation in the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol Riot.

Kelley, 40, was arrested after law enforcement raided his Allendale Township home. He will appear in court later Thursday.

His arrest comes the same day as the first primetime hearing held by the House select committee investigating the riot and approximately two months before he is expected to appear on the primary ballot seeking to unseat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

The hearing is expected to feature a mix of in-person witnesses testifying about the events and pre-recorded content, including promises of never-before-seen photos and video from Jan. 6.

While Kelley has not been accused of entering the Capitol building itself on the day of the violent demonstration, court documents feature photos of the Republican on the steps wearing sunglasses and a black baseball cap.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller 

RELATED ARTICLES:

POST-KAVANAUGH POLL: Almost Half of Young, Male Democrats Says “It’s Acceptable To ASSASSINATE a Politician”

Democrat Mob Terrorize Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett AT HER HOME AND HER CHURCH

Plea Deal of a US ISIS Terrorist Has Benghazi Links

WATCH Biden Touts Economic Success

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

TAKE ACTION: The Many Dangers of Discord for Children

/in , , , , , , , , /by

Discord, a popular communication service, has been named to NCOSE’s Dirty Dozen List for the past two years due to its failure to adequately address the sexually exploitative content and activity on its platform. While Discord made some important safety changes following the 2021 Dirty Dozen List, problems persist on the platform and the company can do much more to improve. Discord’s lack of meaningful age verification, insufficient moderation procedures, and inadequate safety settings has caused harm to numerous children who were sexually groomed by predators or exposed to harmful content such as pornography. Following the launch of the Dirty Dozen List, new evidence of children being harmed on Discord has continued to emerge and make headlines.

What is Discord and how does it harm? 

Discord was initially launched in 2015 as a platform for people to connect online while playing video games. Since then, it has expanded well beyond its original gaming niche to become a widely used text, video, and audio chat app for myriad contexts. Now, the company states that approximately 80% of its active users report they either use Discord primarily for non-gaming purposes, or equally for gaming and non-gaming purposes. Discord has grown exponentially since the COVID-19 pandemic channeled the world’s energy into digital spaces, going from just 56 million active monthly users in 2019 to 150 million monthly users in 2021.

The main feature of Discord is its servers, which are chat rooms based around a particular interest or activity. Servers can be open to the public, though they are more commonly set to private by users whereby they require invites and special passwords to join. Moderation within these servers has, historically, been mostly left up to the members themselves with Discord simply relying on user reports and private server owners to catch bad behavior. Discord’s own Safety Center confirms as much by saying: “We do not monitor every server or every conversation.”  This laissez-faire approach to moderation has fostered an environment where sexual abuse and exploitation can flourish unhindered.

Unlike most popular social media platforms where users post photos of themselves and tend to use real names, it is an almost universal practice on Discord to employ arbitrary usernames and profile pictures. While it is still certainly possible to fake identities on the former type of social media platform, it is not even necessary to fake one on Discord, since profiles are not connected to identities. It is considered normal to interact with strangers on Discord without having any sense of who they are, what age they are, what their name is, or any other identifying traits. This online culture makes it very easy for predators to groom children on Discord without arousing suspicion.

Discord is extremely popular with children and teens. While the app is intended for ages 13+, there is no meaningful age verification to enforce this age limit, or to ensure that the few child protection measures Discord offers are actually applied.

Until mid-2020, users were not even asked for their date of birth upon signup. Currently, asking this question remains the only form of “age verification” Discord employs. Children can and do easily enter a false date of birth to bypass the age restriction for the platform, or bypass age restrictions for specific servers and features on the platform. For example, servers and individual channels within servers can be age-gated with a “NSFW” tag, but that protection is easily circumvented due to the lack of meaningful age verification. Such servers often contain pornography, which children are exposed to, and may even include child sexual abuse material (the more apt term for “child pornography”) or image-based sexual abuse (pornographic images that have been created or distributed without the consent of the person in the image).

Elsewhere, entire servers on Discord are dedicated to users finding and sharing image-based sexual abuse of girls and women. Discord made international news in 2020 when one server revealed that over 140,000 images of women and minors had been widely shared and distributed. 

Recent News about Children Being Groomed on Discord

Upon naming Discord to the 2022 Dirty Dozen List, we highlighted extensive evidence of children being sexually groomed on the platform. Since the launch of this campaign in early March 2022, even more evidence has surfaced and made headlines.

CNN recently published a news article titled “The dark side of Discord for teens.” This article covered the stories of numerous parents whose children were sexually groomed on Discord. One mother discovered that a stranger who appeared to be an older man had convinced her 16-year-old daughter to send him nude pictures. As the girl was a minor, these nudes are an example of Discord being used to distribute child sexual abuse material. The man also requested and obtained a picture of the girl’s house, pictures of her friends, and a photo of her bus, which the mother feared he would use to track the girl and physically exploit her.

Another mother discovered that a man had been sending BDSM pornography to her 10-year-old daughter (recall that Discord’s age limit is 13+, but that they have no meaningful age verification to enforce this).  When the mother reported this incident to Discord, she received an automated response requesting the message links. She provided the links more than a year ago, but never received another response from the company.

Yet another mother said Discord failed to help when an older man was sexually grooming her 13-year-old son by asking him to masturbate and talk to him about it afterward. “Discord told me I couldn’t do anything unless I had specific links to the text thread that showed my son verifying his age — such as typing ‘I am 13,’ which was shared through a voice [chat] — and the other person verifying his age before an incident happened,” the mother said. “It was just awful; there was no help at all.” CNN spoke to almost a dozen parents whose children had similar damaging experiences on Discord.

Of note, NCOSE has received more contacts this year from parents whose children have been harmed by predators through Discord than with any other online platform.

The Inadequacy of Discord’s Safety Settings and the Importance of Defaulting to Safety

Many of the parents CNN spoke to reported that they feel Discord is not doing enough to protect children. We at NCOSE are in agreement. Discord currently does not have any parental controls and has made no announcements or moves to develop them. Although Discord does have some available safety settings, explained in their Safety Center, NCOSE researchers found these to be far from adequate for properly protecting the millions of children who use the platform.

Importantly, many of the parents CNN spoke to stated that they had not enabled any of Discord’s safety settings on their child’s account due to not understanding how the platform works. This highlights the need for safety settings to be defaulted, at the very least for minor-aged accounts if not across the entire platform. By not having the safety settings defaulted, only children who have highly involved, tech-savvy parents have a chance at being protected, and the rest are left completely vulnerable. NCOSE has long been advocating for Discord and other platforms frequented by children to “default to safety” in this way.

In Discord’s guidelines for “adult content,” they claim the highest levels of safety are on by default, but we found this not to be true. Discord claims:

“If you do not want to be exposed to adult content on Discord, or if you are under 18 years old, we recommend turning on the explicit media filter in your privacy settings. In your User Settings, under Privacy & Safety, choose ‘Keep me safe.‘ This setting is on by default and will ensure that images and videos in all direct messages are scanned by Discord and explicit content is blocked.”

Yet when NCOSE researchers made a Discord account with a birthday set to 13-years-old, they found these safety settings were not actually on by default and that, instead, they still needed to be tracked down and toggled on within the account’s settings.

In their official “Parent Guide,” Discord fails to include advice on how to circumvent grooming tactics or recognize predatory behavior. The guide acknowledges that explicit content exists on Discord, but fails to recognize or warn against the harms of pornography. Instead, they provide generic platitudes such as: “Have a conversation with your teen about explicit content, what they may or may not be comfortable looking at, and whether they feel pressured to look at this content.”

Discord hires first lobbyists

Another news update which has come to light recently is that Discord has hired its first federal lobbyists, who will reportedly be lobbying on “privacy and content moderation issues for the platform.” While it is too early to say for certain what specific approach these lobbyists will be taking to these issues, the track record of Big Tech’s lobbyists give reason to be wary.

Generally speaking, Big Tech’s primary goal is to protect and bolster its bottom line, and this priority is reflected in their lobbying. For example, Big Tech’s lobbyists have lately been making misleading claims about the intent and impact of the EARN IT Act, a bill which would hold online platforms accountable for knowingly facilitating the distribution of child sexual abuse material. The lobbyists have been incorrectly painting the EARN IT Act as an attack on user privacy which threatens to bring on mass surveillance. We hope that Discord’s lobbying on privacy and content moderation issues will not jump on the bandwagon of this false dichotomy between user privacy and child protection.

Our Requests for Improvements to Discord’s platform

We are calling on Discord to make the following safety changes:

  • Develop and implement parental controls so parents can monitor and streamline their children’s experience on Discord and ensure basic safety standards are being met.
  • Automatically default minor-aged accounts to the highest level of safety and privacy available on the Discord platform. While Discord claims to already do this, NCOSE research revealed this is still not standard across all Discord accounts.
  • Automatically block any and all minor-aged accounts from joining servers that contain NSFW content on both the mobile app and desktop versions of Discord. Discord currently has age-gating for individual channels within a server, but the fake 13-year-old Discord account used by the NCOSE research team was able to join a voice chat on the official Pornhub Discord channel.
  • Develop and implement moderation strategies that proactively detect and remove pornography—especially for servers that are dedicated to trading hardcore and non-consensual material.
  • Provide meaningful education to all users and parents on the potential harms and risks associated with exploitation and abuse on Discord, and prominently feature and highlight reporting processes on all forms of Discord’s interface.

In response to the cases of sexual grooming uncovered by CNN, Discord’s Vice President of Trust and Safety, John Redgrave, said, “this behavior is appalling, unacceptable, and has no place on Discord.” Redgrave further stated, “It’s our highest priority for our communities to have a safe experience on the service.” Discord must put its money where its mouth is and prove these words true with concrete action.

Demand Discord Improve Child Safety Features and Content Moderation

Go to the Bottom of the Page and Send an email to Discord Executives!

EDITORS NOTE: This NSCE column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Judicial Watch Reveals DOJ Memo Declining Prosecution of Babbitt’s Shooter

/in , , , , , , , , , /by

Shooter U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd Did Not Create a Police Report on Killing, Byrd Had Prior ‘Use of Force’ Issue. 

Judicial Watch uncovered more shocking evidence about the shooting death of Ashli Babbitt even as the Pelosi rump 1/6 operation makes a mockery of the system of government with its kangaroo court “hearings.”

We uncovered 102 pages of records from the Department of Justice related to the shooting of January 6 protestor Ashli Babbitt that include a memo recommending “that the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia declined for criminal prosecution the fatal shooting of Ashli McEntee [Babbitt],” also noting that the shooter, U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd, “did not create a police report or documents” related to the shooting of Babbitt.

The documents also reveal that in the press release announcing the decision not to prosecute Byrd for the killing of Babbitt the DOJ replaced the words “group” and “crowd” with the word “mob” several times.

The unarmed Babbitt was shot and killed as she climbed through a broken interior window in the United States Capitol. She was a 14-year Air Force veteran. The identity of the shooter was kept secret by Congress, the Justice Department, and DC police for eight months until Byrd went public to try to defend his killing of Babbitt.

We filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, the Civil Rights Division, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (all components of the Justice Department) failed to provide the records responsive to our April 14, 2021, and May 20, 2021, FOIA requests for records related to Babbitt’s death (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:21-cv-02462)).

The records contain the prosecution declination memorandum justifying the decision not to prosecute Byrd.

The “Overview and Recommendation” section reads as follows:

This memorandum recommends that the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia decline for criminal prosecution the fatal shooting of Ashli McEntee.

[ *** ]

This declination is based on a review of law enforcement and civilian eyewitness accounts, physical evidence, recorded radio communications, cell phone footage, MPD reports, forensic reports, and the autopsy report for Ms. McEntee. After a thorough review of the facts and circumstances in this case, there is insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Lieutenant Byrd violated Ms. McEntee’s civil rights by willfully using more force than was reasonably necessary, or was not acting in self-defense or the defense of others.

The memo details:

Once the demonstrators broke the glass, Lieutenant Byrd took up a tactical position to the immediate right of the barricaded entry doors, [Capitol Police Officer Reggie Tyson] took up a tactical position behind Lieutenant Byrd on the right side behind the third pillar and Sergeant McKenna took up a tactical position behind Officer Tyson and behind the fourth pillar on the right side of the Speakers Lobby.

[ *** ]

All three officers had their service pistols drawn, pointed them in the direction of the barricaded entry doors, and repeatedly instructed the ‘mob’ to get back. The ‘mob’ of demonstrators ignored the officers’ commands and continued to break the glass on the doors in their attempt to breach the Speakers Lobby. Suddenly, Ashli McEntee began to crawl through one of the doors where the glass was already broken out. As Ms. McEntee was climbing through the door, Lieutenant Byrd stepped forward from his tactical position towards Ms. McEntee and fired one round from his service pistol striking Ms. McEntee in her left shoulder, just below her clavicle. Ms. McEntee then fell back from the doorway and onto the floor.

Regarding possible closed-circuit television footage, the memo notes: “There are several USCP operated Closed-Circuit Television Video (CCTV) cameras inside of the United States Capitol Building. However, there were no CCTV cameras observed or located in the Speaker’s Lobby area.”

In a section of the memo titled “USCP Lieutenant Michael Byrd,” the memo notes: “He [Byrd] did not create any police reports or documents relating to the incident, and did not provide an official statement regarding use of force” though he did provide a voluntary “debrief” and walk-through of the scene with his lawyer. A footnote details that: “During the debrief of Lieutenant Byrd, he did recall writing a few sentences on an evidence bag the evening of January 6, 2021, at the request of a crime scene officer. To date, the bag has not been located by USCP or MPD.”

The memo reports:

Lieutenant Byrd heard glass breaking and saw some of the items used to barricade the doors being pushed down. Lieutenant Byrd continued to tell the rioters to “get back, get back!” Lieutenant Byrd then saw a rioter with a backpack on start to climb through one of the broken glass doors. Lieutenant Byrd saw the rioter “as a threat,” so he stepped forward from his tactical position and fired one round at the rioter. The rioter fell back out of the opening and Lieutenant Byrd eventually stepped back into the seated area of the Speaker’s Lobby before confirming to other USCP officers that arrived on the scene that he was the one that fired his service weapon.

The memo notes that security staffing on January 6 was less than half the usual amount due to COVID-19:

Lieutenant Byrd did agree to participate with his counsel, Mark Schamel, in a voluntary debrief and walk-through of the scene on January 29, 2021 … Due to COVID-19 and other issues, the normal staffing for a joint session was less than half of what Lieutenant Byrd usually has assigned to the House Chamber. Once he arrived that morning, he was informed that USCP operations had made the decision that the uniform officers needed to pick up riot gear.

In a section titled, “Use of Force History,” it is noted that, “Lieutenant Byrd had one prior use of force matter, that was originally sustained by USCP, but after Lt. Byrd appealed, he was found not guilty by the Disciplinary Review Board.”

In a section titled “Recommendation,” the memo details:

This matter does not constitute a prosecutable violation of the federal criminal civil rights statutes or the District of Columbia homicide statutes. To show a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 242, the applicable federal criminal civil rights statute, the Government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that an officer willfully used more force than was reasonably necessary under the circumstances. ‘The “reasonableness” of a particular use of force must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, rather than with the 20/20 vision of hindsight.’ Graham v Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 396 (1989).

[ *** ]

Because Ms. McEntee was an active participant in a ‘mob’ that had just illegally entered the Capitol building, and then broke out the glass doors and removed barricades to forcefully gain entry into the Speaker’s Lobby, there is insufficient evidence to refute Lieutenant Byrd’s fear for his life or the life of others at the time he discharged his weapon. Therefore, there is insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he willfully deprived Ms. McEntee of a right protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States of America. Accordingly I recommend declination of this matter.

The records include a draft version of the April 14, 2021, Justice Department press release announcing their decision not to prosecute Byrd for the killing of Babbitt, the authors replaced the word “crowd” with the word “mob” five times in describing the January 6 protestors.

The documents also include charts of January 6 investigations and targets. For one of the investigations, it is noted that a New York Times reporter is a “CW” [confidential witness]. Another notation tied to “pipe bombs” notes that a “geo fence” request was made to Google.

Previously, we uncovered records from the DC Metropolitan Police showing that multiple officers claimed they didn’t see a weapon in Babbitt’s hand before Byrd shot her, and that Byrd was visibly distraught afterward. One officer attested that he didn’t recall hearing any verbal commands before Byrd shot Babbitt. The records include internal communications about Byrd’s case and a crime scene examination report. Investigators who wrote the January 6, 2021, Metro PD Death Report for Babbitt (identified as Ashli Elizabeth McEntee-Babbitt Pamatian) note that the possible Manner of Death was “Homicide (Police Involved Shooting).”

These records show that Lt. Byrd was given special treatment by the Biden DOJ and that there was a miscarriage of justice in the half-baked shooting death investigation of Ashli Babbitt. Lt. Byrd, who works for Congress, shot an unarmed woman for no good reason. I suspect that this unjustified shooting isn’t of much interest to the Pelosi rump January 6 committee.

These revelations are the latest in our comprehensive, independent investigation into the January 6 disturbance:

  • February 2022: We filed an opposition to the U.S. Capitol Police’s (USCP) effort to shut down our federal lawsuit for January 6 videos and emails. Through its police department, Congress argues that the videos and emails are not public records, there is no public interest in their release, and that “sovereign immunity” prevents citizens from suing for their release.
  • November 2021: We released multiple audio, visual and photo records from the DC Metropolitan Police Department about Babbitt’s death. The records include a cell phone video of the shooting and an audio of a brief police interview of Byrd.
  • Also in November 2021: we – in its FOIA lawsuit asking for records of communication between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and several financial institutions about the reported transfer of financial transaction records of people in DC, Maryland and Virginia on January 5 and January 6, 2021 – told a federal court that the FBI may have violated law in its January 6 probes.

Frankly, given all our historic works and finds, perhaps Judicial Watch should be conducting January 6 hearings!

EDITORS NOTE: This Judicial Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Yes, the Products You’re Buying Are Getting Smaller—Even Though Prices Are Not

/in , , , , , , , /by

The rise in consumer prices has rightly received a great deal of attention, as inflation hovers around 40-year highs. Everyone can see that virtually everything is getting more expensive, but fewer have noticed that many items are also getting smaller.

On Wednesday the Associated Press ran an article under the headline “No, you’re not imagining it — package sizes are shrinking.”

The AP spoke to one shopper, Alex Aspacher, who does a lot of shopping for his family of four in Ohio. He noticed he was still paying $9.99 for Swiss cheese even though the package had shrunk from a pound to 12 ounces.

“I was prepared for it to a degree, but there hasn’t been a limit to it so far,” Aspacher told the AP. “I hope we find that ceiling pretty soon.”

This phenomenon—known as “shrinkflation”—is nothing new, of course. It’s just more pronounced now than in any time in recent memory because inflation is much higher.

But what exactly is shrinkflation? As economist Peter Jacobsen explained last year, it’s simply a different kind of inflation.

“Shrinkflation is a form of inflation because you’d have to spend more money to get the same quantity or quality as you did in a previous year,” he explained. “The prices have remained the same, but the products are worse.”

The only difference is, instead of raising the price of an item or service, businesses are reducing the quantity or quality of it while keeping the price the same.

Edgar Dworsky, a consumer advocate who has tracked shrinkflation for decades, told the AP shrinkflation is rampant at the moment because of the underlying economic conditions.

“It comes in waves,” said Dworsky. “We happen to be in a tidal wave at the moment because of inflation.”

While there are too many examples of shrinkflation to easily track, here is a list of some examples Dworsky highlighted and others that we found.

  1. Kleenex: A box now has 60 tissues instead of the 65 it had a few months ago.
  2. Yogurt: Chobani Flips have shrunk to 4.5 ounces; they had been 5.3 ounces.
  3. Domino’s Pizza, citing the rise of chicken prices, announced earlier this year it was shrinking its 10-piece chicken wing package to eight pieces. The carryout price remains the same: $7.99.
  4. Toothpaste: Tubes of Crest reportedly have shrunk from 4.1 ounces to 3.8 ounces.
  5. Folgers coffee reduced its 51-ounce container to 43.5 ounces. (Oddly, Folgers still says the container will make up to 400 cups of coffee, citing a new technology that yields lighter-weight beans. Or something.)
  6. Fritos: “Party Size” bags used to be 18 ounces, but most retailers are now advertising 15.5 ounce bags.
  7. Gatorade: PepsiCo, who produces Gatorade as well as Fritos, has begun phasing out 32-ounce bottles and replacing them with 28-ounce ones, which are actually more expensive. (PepsiCo said the change was unrelated to the economic climate and the plan had been in the works for years.)
  8. Cereal: Honey Bunches of Oats reduced its standard cereal box to 12 ounces; it had been 14.5 ounces.
  9. Paper Towels: Bounty reduced its 2-ply sheet roll from 165 to 147 sections.
  10. Oatmeal: Quaker reduced the number of pockets in a box from 10 to 8, reports the Daily Mail.
  11. Ziploc bags: Boxes now come with 50 in a package instead of 54.
  12. Soap: Dial reduced its bottle size from 21 ounces to 16 ounces.

BONUS Item: Airline service: As FEE’s Peter Jacobsen notes, airline complaints are through the roof, the result of reduced customer service.

We could go on, of course. But you get the point.

Some people naturally want to blame companies for shrinking the size of their products while charging the same price (or higher ones), but this is the wrong reaction.

As noted above, shrinkflation is simply a form of inflation, and inflation is a monetary phenomenon above all else.

“Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon,” noted Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman, “in the sense that it is and can be produced only by a more rapid increase in the quantity of money than in output.”

It’s no coincidence that America is experiencing the highest inflation in decades after the Federal Reserve “flooded the system with money,” as Fed Chairman Jerome Powell admitted in a 60 Minutes interview.

This was a perfect recipe for inflation.

“Inflation is caused by too much money chasing after too few goods,” Friedman noted.

You simply can’t drop $5 trillion dollars into an economy without a corresponding expansion of goods and services and not experience inflation. This is why we’re seeing it now, both through higher prices and the reduced quantity and quality of goods and services.

So if you’re upset you’re paying just as much for less cereal, toilet paper, tissue, and countless other products, that’s fine. Just make sure your anger is directed in the proper direction: at the people who “flooded the system with money,” and those who directed them to do so.t be kept.”

This article was adapted from an issue of the FEE Daily email newsletter. Click here to sign up and get free-market news and analysis like this in your inbox every weekday.

AUTHOR

Jon Miltimore

Jonathan Miltimore is the Managing Editor of FEE.org. His writing/reporting has been the subject of articles in TIME magazine, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Forbes, Fox News, and the Star Tribune. Bylines: Newsweek, The Washington Times, MSN.com, The Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, The Federalist, the Epoch Times.

EDITORS NOTE: This FEE column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Biden Administration Veering Off Into Authoritarianism

/in , , , , , , , /by

Government documents obtained from a DHS whistleblower show the agency’s Disinformation Governance Board is focused on U.S. citizens (not foreigners, as claimed), is engaged in operations (not just analysis, as claimed), and had begun work prior to the date DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas provided in Congressional testimony.

The whistleblower documents also show the disinformation board was seeking commitments from social media platforms to censor content it didn’t like.  A board leader held meetings with Twitter executives.

The board is currently ‘paused’ and the woman chosen to run it resigned.  After she left, Nina Jankowicz said anyone who criticized her and the board were “endangering our national security.”  Sieg Heil!   She had earlier said she shudders at the thought of free speech advocates gaining control of social media platforms.  Heaven forbid people should have their say.  You know, she can call it ‘disinformation’ but the fact of the matter is she’s talking about censorship, plain and simple – the silencing of opposition viewpoints.  But it’s worse than that.  She’s also talking about the imposition of government-approved viewpoints in their place.   We do not want the government in the business of deciding what is true and what is false for very good reasons I’ve laid out in previous commentaries.  She has proposed having supposedly “trustworthy” people like herself add ‘context’ to other people’s tweets.  This from a woman who had no trouble pronouncing the Hunter Biden laptop story Russian disinformation when no one any longer contests the laptop is genuine.  She was just plain wrong.  One small example of why we don’t want the government telling us what is true or what to believe.

And now we find our government was lying to us all along about the disinformation board.  They told us it was just a study group that would look at foreign bad actors feeding us bad information.  The fact of the matter is it is an operational group that was on the verge of using social media to censor U.S. citizens.  This is the iron fist of state control and it’s not the only way the Biden administration has been veering off into authoritarianism, lately.

The administration told schools to knuckle under to the transgenderism agenda or they would lose funding for school lunches and other federal programs.  Let biological males destroy your girls sports teams and allow them into girls locker rooms or the federal government will starve school kids until you submit.  South Dakota’s Governor has already vowed to fight this gangsterism in court.

The Biden administration in recent days has issued a secret subpoena to get the phone records of a journalist in a leak investigation and secretly been getting the results of home COVID tests from unsuspecting consumers.  Biden climate advisor Gina McCarthy threatened airlines with destruction unless they follow new sustainable energy rules.  They better go all-in on the rules “or they’re gonna be out of here,” she said.  She bragged in the same speech the administration would issue a hundred new rules on appliances this year alone.  This calls to mind Thomas Jefferson’s famous quote about King George who “erected a multitude of New Offices and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.”

Put all this together with Joe Biden openly talking about jailing political opponents who don’t follow his rules and the January 6th Committee openly persecuting its political enemies and you can see things are headed in the wrong direction.

Let’s get one thing straight:  these politicians and bureaucrats work for us.  We are the Sovereign.  They are not supposed to be censoring us, telling us what to believe, forcing their sexual agendas on us, secretly gathering data on us, or smothering us with swarms of new rules.  They might have the power to do so at the moment, but they are without question jack-booted thugs and you really should stop supporting them before they find a reason to come after you.

Visit The Daily Skirmish and Watch Eagle Headline News – 7:30am ET Weekdays

©Christopher Wright. All rights reserved.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Biden Talks About Sending Republicans to Jail, Vows ‘Mini Revolution’ if He Doesn’t Get His Way

The questions the January 6th Committee won’t answer

GOP Senators Release Documents Showing Biden Admin Lied About Disinfo Board

FBI arrests GOP candidate for governor on Jan 6th related charges: REPORT

Stock Market TANKS 800 POINTS At The Open As Inflation Hits 40 Year High

/in , , , , , , , /by

That was once considered a bloodbath. Now it’s just another day under the Biden regime.

U.S. INFLATION HIT A NEW FOUR-DECADE HIGH IN MAY

U.S. consumer inflation reached an 8.6% annual rate in May, its highest level in more than four decades as surging energy and food prices pushed prices higher.

The Labor Department on Friday said that the consumer-price index increased 8.6% in May from the same month a year ago, marking its fastest pace since December 1981. That was also up from April’s CPI reading, which was slightly below the previous 40-year high reached in March. The CPI measures what consumers pay for goods and services.

May’s increase was driven by sharp rises in the prices for energy, which rose 34.6% from a year earlier, and groceries, which jumped 11.9% on the year. Prices for used cars and trucks rose 1.8% in May from April, reversing three months of declines. Shelter costs, an indicator of broad inflation pressures, accelerated on a monthly basis in May and were up 5.5% compared with a year ago.

STOCKS FALL BROADLY

Prices for energy jumped 34.6% from a year earlier, while the cost of groceries rose 11.9% on the year. Shelter costs, an indicator of broad inflation pressures, also accelerated.

LIVE COVERAGE OF INFLATION DATA

STOCKS FALL AFTER REPORT

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

RELATED ARTICLE: Consumer prices reach highest rates in four decades

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

VIDEO: Mortgage Application Index Decreased to Lowest Number in 22 Years

/in , , , , , /by

More of what the Democrats ain’t telling you.

Homeownership is the bedrock of individual autonomy, economic security, social stability, personal well-being and wealth creation. It was the attainable American dream. So, too, the Democrats had to destroy it.

Mortgage-Application Index Falls to Lowest Level in 22 Years

A measure of mortgage applications fell to its lowest level in 22 years last week, another sign the U.S. housing market is coming back to Earth after a red-hot, two-year stretch. Applications fell 6.5% in the week ended June 3, the fourth consecutive week of declines, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Refinance and purchase activity fell 6% and 7%, respectively. Higher interest rates have been weighing on demand for refinances all year, but now there are signs the slowdown has spread to purchase demand as well. Sales of existing homes in April fell to their slowest pace since before the pandemic. But even with sales slowing, home prices continue to rise thanks to a dearth of homes for sale. That means many would-be buyers are struggling with the twin challenges of double-digit jumps in home prices and higher borrowing costs (Wall Street Journal).

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

RELATED ARTICLES:

Stock Market TANKS 800 POINTS At The Open  Inflation Hits 40 Year High

Increase of 8.6% in CPI driven by sharp rise in energy, food prices

Boycott Jews (BDS) Map Targets All Jews in Massachusetts

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

THEY LIED: Newly Leaked Memos Expose ‘Disinformation Board’ To Be State Propaganda Machine

/in , , , , , , , /by

The DHS sought to partner with tech firms to censor content – not foreign actors (as they falsely contended) but Americans.

Unconstitutional but more to the point, they bald faced lied to the American people about it in order to extinguish our first amendment rights. All part of the rolling coup ….

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., discusses leaked memos providing evidence of Biden’s real intentions for the disinformation board on ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’.

Grassley, Hawley Press DHS on Disinformation Board Amid New Revelations of Efforts to Leverage Social Media Platforms

Docs suggest DHS sought to partner with tech firms to censor content

WASHINGTON, June 8, 2022 – The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Disinformation Governance Board (DGB) would have served as a central clearinghouse to respond to matters the government unilaterally determines to be mis-, dis- or mal-information (MDM), and planned to coordinate efforts to leverage ties with social media platforms to enable the removal of user content, according to records obtained by Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.). The senators are now calling on DHS to turn over additional materials related to the DGB and DHS efforts to partner with big tech platforms to enforce its agenda.

“The First Amendment of the Constitution was designed precisely so that the government could not censor opposing viewpoints – even if those viewpoints were false. DHS should not in any way seek to enlist the private sector to curb or silence opposing viewpoints. It is therefore imperative for DHS to provide additional clarity regarding its policies and procedures for identifying and addressing ‘MDM,’ as well as its efforts to ‘operationalize’ public-private partnerships and the steps it is taking to ensure that it does not infringe on the constitutional rights of American citizens,” the senators wrote in a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

The senators’ letter references internal DHS records provided through protected whistleblower disclosures that illustrate how the DGB was designed to exert powerful influence over the government’s efforts to crack down on disinformation in areas where there are “clear, objective facts.” However, it remains unclear how DHS defines “clear, objective facts.” Documents show that DHS was not just focused on foreign disinformation but also issues at the heart of longstanding political debate such as theories about the validity of elections, the origins and effects of COVID-19 vaccines, and the efficacy of wearing masks.

Despite her long and well-documented history of embracing and spreading disinformation aimed at undermining Republican political figures, including President Trump, Nina Jankowicz was tapped to be the DGB’s executive director – a move that whistleblowers allege could have been because of her connections to Twitter executives. Documents confirm that Jankowicz knew Twitter’s head of policy and head of site integrity.

“Given the significant coordinating role the Department envisioned for the DGB, the consequences of installing Nina Jankowicz, a known trafficker of foreign disinformation and liberal conspiracy theories, as the DGB’s first Executive Director, would have been a disaster,” the senators wrote.

Following public scrutiny, Jankowicz resigned from the board, which DHS has reportedly “paused.”

In the letter, the senators raised a number of questions regarding how DHS determines what matters to prioritize. They are also seeking records related to communications regarding DHS’ efforts to enlist the cooperation of social media platforms to advance its policy goals.

The letter and internal records provided to the senators is available HERE.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller 

RELATED ARTICLES:

DEADLY: Democrats Block Bill Providing Additional Security for Supreme Court Justices

Insiders — and Hunter himself — say scandal-clad, naked Hunter is Joe Biden’s ‘closest adviser’

Boycott Jews (BDS) Map Targets All Jews in Massachusetts

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

 

Senator John Barrasso: Schumer ‘Bears Some Responsibility’ for Threat on Kavanaugh‘s Life

/in , , , , , , /by

Wednesday on the Fox News Channel’s America Reports, Senate Republican Conference Chair Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) said that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was partly responsible for the threat on Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s life.

Barrasso said, “Thanks to the police officers for being there and responding so quickly. That man was there. As he stated, apparently, he was there to murder Justice Kavanaugh. I believe Chuck Schumer bears some responsibility because he has contributed to this atmosphere of directly attacking members, by name, of the Supreme Court. Remember, talking about abortion, Chuck Schumer went to the steps of the Supreme Court, and he called out Kavanaugh by name.”

John Roberts said, “What did he say, unleash a whirlwind, or something?”

He added, “He said, ‘I’m telling you Kavanaugh, you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you.’ That is a pretty direct threat. Now with the Supreme Court ready to rule on abortion, it was the abortion issue we are talking about. We have passed a bill in the Senate to provide additional protection for all members of the Supreme Court, all nine members. Nancy Pelosi in the House has refused to take it up.”

Charles Schumer

40 Known Connections

Schumer Demonizes Trump Supporters Who Voted for a “Despicable,” “Racist,” and “Vile” Man

At a July 2021 event with Roosevelt Island and Upper East Side community leaders in New York, Schumer said: “How could 74 million people vote for such a despicable human being as Donald Trump? I don’t care if you’re a liberal or a conservative, Democrat or Republican, he is a vile man. He is dishonest, divisive. That’s what he loves to do. Just divide and have people fighting with each other. He’s a racist. And he always appeals to the dark side of human nature, which he’s very good at, unfortunately. How did they vote for him?”

To learn more about Charles Schumer, click here.

RELATED ARTICLE: Warren: Biden Should Put Abortion Clinics on Federal Property in ‘Hostile’ States

EDITORS NOTE: This Discover the Networks column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

It’s not that they have an ‘R’ behind their names it’s how they actually vote that counts!

/in , , , , , , /by

On June 7th, 2022 Florida News Report published an editorial titled “Are Florida Elected Republicans really Republican?” The editorial begins with these wise words,

It is a rough day when one realizes their political worldview has been based on slick ads, rehearsed GOP talking points and the false belief that ANY politician with an R behind their name is better than any democrat. And we aren’t talking about members of our Party voting for candidates based on name recognition. We are talking about smart, patriotic, motivated Republican voters whose votes are based on the candidate’s policy positions which come directly from the candidate.

We have learned over time that politicians who claim to be a republican once elected don’t vote like a big “R” Republican. The Florida News Report editorial board got this message and showed how little “r’s” say one thing then do the exactly the opposite when introducing or voting on legislation.

Here’s how the Florida News Report editorial board proved this,

Recently, a U.S. Congressman up for re-election, was speaking at a Florida Republican club luncheon. He hit all the talking points much to the delight of the women at the table. At one point, one woman in the group explained that they decided to get informed about who they were voting for after the 2020 Presidential election. They collectively agreed to attend local events to hear candidates speak. They loved what this congressman had to say – it was exactly what they wanted to hear.

Until…..record scratch……they were presented with a flyer exposing the congressman’s actual voting record which was in direct contradiction to what he said. The flyer didn’t just provide the voting record, but a link to each vote so the ladies could verify it for themselves.

Two things immediately happened.

The first was that they were offended…..offended that they had just listened to a liar for an hour who had secured their votes and even their donations only to  discover his voting record showed he didn’t support most of the issues he bragged about.

The second was that they asked how the voting records listed had been obtained. They suddenly were confronted with the fact that politicians lie. And lie well! To our faces! And they wanted the truth. With a few directions and links to reputable sites that post voting records, they now had resources to verify candidates’ real records.

Get it? Got it? Good.

We have seen politicians like Charlie Crist, who was elected governor of the State of Florida as a Republican. Once in office he changed colors from red to deep blue. He went full Democrat and when he was defeated actually joined the Democrat Party. We call these politicians, like the one in the Florida News Report editorial, Charlie Crist republicans!

The Second Amendment and Charlie Crist republicans

Florida News Report editorial board provided the following examples to support their concerns about little “r” republicans,

Republican Senate President Wilton Simpson, accepted $250K From billionaire donor, Mike Fernandez, a registered Republican- who donates to Democrats and Republicans, wanted more gun control laws in Florida. Last October, Robert Rubenstein, Democrat millionaire, contributed $100,000 to Wilton Simpson:

CLICK HERE FOR CONTRBUTION TO FRIENDS OF WILTON SIMPSON INFOGRAPHIC

Simpson ditched the Republican Party Platform to defend gun rights of Floridians and instead, WROTE the Red Flag Law which passed in 2018.

Former Republican Senate President Bill Galvano, accepted $500K from Mike Bloomberg, a Democrat billionaire, who wanted gun control and doesn’t even live in Florida. Galvano ditched the Republican Party Platform to defend gun rights of Floridians and got the Red Flag Law passed instead. https://www.nraila.org/articles/20200124/florida-alert-bill-galvano-is-trying-to-give-bloomberg-his-moneys-worth

Incoming Republican Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, who started off her political career defending the Second Amendment, ditched the Republican Party Platform to defend gun rights of Floridians and instead voted for the Red Flag Law.  She was for it before she was against it. At the same time.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW KATHLEEN PASSIDOMO’S STATEMENT ON THE SECOND AMENDMENT

See a pattern here?

See the list of Florida Republicans who voted for gun control here: https://www.ammoland.com/2018/04/its-time-to-name-gop-betrayers-who-voted-for-florida-gun-control/

The Florida News Report editorial board wrote, “If all it takes is a large donation to change a Republican’s policy position, is he really a Republican?”

To reinforce what the Florida News Report editorial board wrote we now know that five republicans voted for the Democrats marquee piece of legislation, which cleared the chamber, titled the Protecting Our Kids Act. The bill tightens gun restrictions. Among the provisions are raising the minimum age to purchase a semi-automatic weapon from 18 to 21 and banning civilians from using high-capacity magazines. These five republicans are: Reps. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), Anthony Gonzalez (Ohio), Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Chris Jacobs (N.Y.) and Fred Upton (Mich.).

Not do you see the big picture?

Election Day for Republicans is August 23rd, 2022

Florida News Report editorial board explains that the real election day is the mid-term primaries. The Editorial Board noted,

Republican voters only get one shot at purging the Republican Party of RINOs each election year and that date comes early – the August Primary election.

But most Republican voters don’t participate…. the Republican voter turnout is only around 30%. It is on August 23rd Republican voters decide the direction of the party when they choose between:

  • A RINO Establishment candidate who doesn’t adhere to the Republican Party Platform 

OR

  • A Republican constitutional conservative candidate who embraces the Republican Party Platform

Do you have some Republican friends you can influence to actually go vote on August 23rd?

Do it.

Do it like your life depends on it. Because it does. When elected Republicans pass Democrat policies, your rights are immediately reduced. From gun rights to Covid restrictions, this is no joke.

August 23rd is your Election Day. 

It’s the primaries stupid! Get out and vote for a “BIG R” on August 23rd!

©Dr. Rich Swier. All rights reserved.

Lyin’ Biden Hits the Talk Show Circuit

/in , , , , , /by

Good morning Joey Kahn,

Diversionary Tactics

Well, it is finally here. I speak of the orchestrated Chardonnay Pelosi and gangs, diversion. The 1/6 kangaroo court just ahead of the midterm elections. You know Joey Kahn, to (try) and take the attention away from the dumpster fire referred to as, the Biden Crime Family Administration, and ALL their failed policies. This according to those radical right wingers, those darn white supremacist’s.

Is This Joey’s Idea of a Press Conference?

I don’t see it that way at all, that this installed administration is an absolute disaster. I think little Joey is doing a bang up job. Just ask him, he will tell you how great things are going. See…….that’s all you need, forget about all the data that says otherwise. Did you see him knock it out of the park last night on Jimmy “lapdog” Kimmel’s show. It was like listening to JKF, Barack Hussein and Bubba Clinton, rolled into one. What an articulate, orating genius. Mind-boggling actually. I’m sure most intelligent American citizens, feel the same way……..even though I understand ratings were in the toilet.

Of course, those conservatives threw water on Lyin’ Biden’s parade again. Calling this desperate attempt (to actually Lie) to fool viewer’s ……a complete embarrassment. They liken it to visiting a grandfather at the senior center, while he rambles on incoherently. Maybe he was exhausted from trying to climb (tripping) up the stairs to Air Force One again…….darn wind!

Kimmel: Democratic Stooge

Was Jimmy Kimmel (former comedian, now political arm of the DNC) going to kiss him? It was getting a little too close for comfort, as he looked lovingly into Joey Talibiden’s eyes as he tried to formulate words……very touching and sincere. Helping Joey finish his sentences, it was awe inspiring. Conservatives suggested next time this liberal hack just sit him in his lap and stroke his hair plugs, and tickle him under his face lifted chin. Embarrassing is a gross understatement! You have to love the fact that he hasn’t done a totally unscripted press conference YET, and his handlers think this is a formidable substitute. Absolutely hilarious. Wouldn’t you agree Joey Kahn, highly respected Executive Editor, …..ahem.

I see, right on cue your tabloid is flooding it’s iconic front page with your propaganda, sorry, I mean honest, unbiased reporting. I love the compensated Op-Ed writer stating, “Liz Cheney Will Not Tolerate Trump’s Lies.” Is this like the Russian collusion farce? You know where everything you accuse elected President Trump of, is actually the blueprint of the Nazi, sorry I mean Democratic Party. Of course, I’m pointing to Beijing Biden’s inability to tell the truth…….at all. He does it with ease, very sociopathic of him. He could give ole Hillary Rodham, Chuckles Schumer, or Chardonnay Pelosi a run for their money. Hilarious.

How much longer is his loving wife “Dr.” Jill going to let her dementia ridden husband be used as Barry’s puppet. I mean when she started dating Joey (while still married) she must have felt something for him. Tell me she has not fallen into the Svengali-like trance of Hunter (former crack addict/now famous artist), like his brother’s widow Hallie.

Now Joey Kahn, I know you are still smarting from your ridiculous photo shoot in your office recently. The one of you reading your tabloid, in your stocking feet on the floor of your office…yikes. Has anyone been fired for this enormous snafu? But, you must get back on track. We need more apolitical, highly moral reporting that the Old Gray Lady is known for. So what, if most say your tabloid is now considered a few notches below The National Inquirer . As long as Slushy is signing those big checks, who really cares, right Joey?

Get Back to Work

So focus champ……..INSURRECTION, INSURRECTION, INSURRECTION, maybe some Russian collusion sans Hillary’s input, of course. Remember no coverage of inflation, the treason being committed at the border, baby formula, violent crime exploding (in Democratic cities), etc, etc, etc. You see that Joey, I said that 3 times. It’s a little trick I picked up from the Houseplant masquerading as a leader last night. When he said, “we have the strongest economy in the world, the world, the world.” See, that is all you need to do. The hell with the actual facts, just Joey doing what he does best…….pathologically lying! Some have even said this would apply to your tabloid as well as WAPO, CNN, MSNBC, network news….well you get the idea.

Remember to deflect, omit and if that fails, just lie. Amazing how some can look themselves in the mirror, eh Joey. Of course, I’m talking about white supremacist’s.

‘Printing the news that is fit to print.” Absolutely hilarious!!

Sincerely,

Chris Cirino

©Christopher Cirino. All rights reserved.

DEMOCRAT RULE: America’s Great Cities Gripped by Decline and Disorder

/in , , , , , , , , , /by

This is not about two political parties with different ideas. This is treason and treachery on an epic scale. There can be no ‘co-existing’ with murderers, looters, destroyers. And that is what the Democrat party is and what they stand for.

America’s great cities are gripped by decline and disorder

Voters have had enough of ‘progressive’ leaders who are presiding over spiraling violence and crime.

NYC: Video shows man violently toss random woman onto Bronx subway tracks

By: Joel Kotkin, Spiked, June 7, 2022:

For the past decade, America’s urban centres have been increasingly run by ‘progressive’ activists. Yet today, as US cities reel from collapsed economies, rising crime and pervasive corruption, there’s something of a revolt brewing, the success of which may well determine the role and trajectory of our great urban centres.

This emerging conflict is coming to a head next week in Los Angeles, the US’s second-largest city, in the Democratic primaries for LA mayor. Next week’s vote is likely to lead to a head-to-head between moderate billionaire developer Rick Caruso and progressive congressperson Karen Bass, once considered a potential vice-president for Joe Biden. On the same day, ultra-liberal San Francisco district attorney Chesa Boudin faces a potential recall amid rising crime rates.

The possible shift towards the centre reflects a move back to more traditional urban policies, particularly on crime and homelessness. It’s not Republicans leading the charge against ultra-progressive policies, either. It is African American, Democratic mayors like Houston’s Sylvester Turner and New York’s Eric Adams.

Even the denizens of left-leaning cities are rethinking progressivism. Last year, Austin – Texas’ blue capital – rescinded provisions, backed by progressives, that allowed vast homeless encampments to spring up across the city. Earlier this year, similarly left-leaning Seattle removed its ultra-progressive district attorney and Buffalo voters defeated a socialist-backed Democrat in favour of a moderate African American. Even in San Francisco, progressive school-board members were overwhelmingly defeated in February 2022 – an ominous development for Boudin’s chances next week.

We could be seeing the beginning of a sea change in urban politics. Not long ago, Republicans were still competitive in urban areas, although larger cities have generally trended Democratic. In 1995, America’s 20 largest cities were evenly divided by party, but today Democrats control 16 out of the 20 largest cities. In the 1990s and 2000s, cities elected successful, pragmatic mayors from both parties – such as Bob Lanier and Bill White in Houston, Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg in New York, and Richard Riordan in Los Angeles – who focused on reducing crime, encouraging enterprise and improving basic city services.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

RELATED ARTICLES:

DONKEY POX: The Real Disease That’s Killing Americans

LA Mayor’s Race: Former REPUBLICAN Comes in First In Democrat Primary Face-Off

RED WAVE CRASHES OVER BLUE STATE: Republican Lanhee Chen Leads Statewide Race for Controller in California

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

CALIFORNIA: Newsom Intervenes Drops All Drunk Driving Charges Against Paul Pelosi

/in , , , , , , /by

This is third world corruption.

Driving drunk, Paul Pelosi nearly killed a family. And purportedly killed his brother in a car accident some decades ago.

If Newsom wins re-election, California deserves to suffer his reign.

Nancy Pelosi’s husband killed his brother in 1957 car crash

Details of the fatal wreck emerged in the wake of Paul’s arrest following his alleged drunken crash in Napa Valley on Saturday night.

Paul — who has been married to the House speaker since 1963 — was charged with one count of driving under the influence and another for driving with a blood alcohol content level of 0.08 or higher. Both charges are misdemeanors.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

RELATED ARTICLES:

Nancy Pelosi’s Husband Arrested In California, Report Says

DEMOCRAT RULE: America’s great cities are gripped by decline and disorder

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Democrat Ex-Congressman Ozzie Meyer’s Pleads Guilty To Fraudulently Stuffing Ballot Boxes

/in , , , , , , , , /by

For Democrats, it systemic.

Ex-congressman ‘Ozzie’ Myers pleads guilty in ballot stuffing case

Associated Press | June 6, 2022:

PHILADELPHIA — A former congressman from Philadelphia pleaded guilty Monday to charges related to fraudulently stuffing ballot boxes for Democratic candidates between 2014 and 2018.

Federal prosecutors said former Democratic U.S. Rep. Michael J. “Ozzie” Myers pleaded guilty to violations of election law, conspiracy, bribery and obstruction.

Messages seeking comment were left for his defense lawyers listed on the online docket.

In a sentencing memo dated Friday, federal prosecutors said his “criminal efforts were generally, although not exclusively, directed at securing election victories for local judicial candidates running for Philadelphia’s Court of Common Pleas or Municipal Court who had employed Myers as a ‘political consultant.’”

Myers was expelled from Congress in 1980 after being caught taking bribes in the Abscam sting investigation.

Prosecutors said Myers, 79, admitted he bribed a judge of elections to add votes for his chosen candidates, including clients who were running for judicial offices. The bribes were hundreds or thousands of dollars.

He also conspired with another elections judge to tell voters on election days which candidates they should vote for, candidates that Myers had selected, and the now former judge cast fraudulent votes for people who did not appear at the polls.

Read the rest….

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller 

RELATED ARTICLE: Gavin Newsom Intervenes at Pelosi’s Bidding, ALL CHARGES DROPPED Against Drunk Driving Paul Pelosi

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.