In July 2010, NASA chief Charles Bolden, an Obama appointee, told Al Jazeera that his boss had given him three priorities… none of them involving space exploration. The foremost priority for the agency once tasked with sending a man to the moon was “to reach out to the Muslim world… to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math, and engineering.”
The Muslim list included two alternative candidates for NASA administrator. One of them, Dr. Charles Elachi of JPL was dismissed as “possibly Christian.” Indeed Elachi, who grew up admiring John Wayne and believes that American success is possible because it isn’t “held back by the long-standing, ingrained systems and beliefs found in the Middle East” would have been a rather poor fit.
The other name on the list however is Firouz Naderi, an Iranian board member of the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans which advocated in support of the Iran nuke sellout.
While Trump threw out some of this stuff, under Biden NASA is fully woke and is boldly going where no one has gone before or ever wanted to go before.
Victor Glover, the black mission pilot, who had been working on Senator John McCain’s staff when he was selected as a NASA astronaut candidate, is preparing for his mission by listening to Gil Scott-Heron’s racist rant ‘Whitey on the Moon’ “twice a week on the way to work.”
NASA has a team that will update everything for the lunatic’s “current genders, names and pronouns” (which may or may not change on a biweekly basis) and then deploy a “workplace gender transition plan” that is only a little less complicated than the original moon landings.
“When I first came out, I did not come out as nonbinary at work. I wasn’t sure that people would accept that, so I came out as transmasculine and am only recently being completely authentic about it, like, ‘Actually, I’m nonbinary, and my pronouns are they/them,’” Mars “research scientist” Silas J. Ralston explains in a special NASA feature.
Now the four-person crew for the “virtual” mission to Mars has been unveiled and they carefully screened out white non-Muslim males.
A new team is set to enter HERA!
On May 10, four volunteers will step inside the 650-square-foot HERA habitat and begin a 45-day simulated journey to Mars, helping @NASA test how isolation affects crews on deep space journeys. Meet the crew: https://t.co/yKFboXjrYQ
— NASA's Johnson Space Center (@NASA_Johnson) April 16, 2024
NASA has selected a new crew of four volunteers to participate in a simulated mission to Mars within a habitat at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Jason Lee, Stephanie Navarro, Shareef Al Romaithi, and Piyumi Wijesekara will step into the agency’s Human Exploration Research Analog, or HERA, on Friday, May 10. Once inside, the team will live and work like astronauts for 45 days.
Or woke cosmonauts anyway. During this time they’ll accuse each other of hate speech and microaggression.
But who actually needs to go to Mars when we can explore new dimensions of diversity right here?
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Jihad Watchhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngJihad Watch2024-04-19 05:53:592024-04-19 05:56:28Biden’s NASA: Fully Woke and Boldly Going Where No One Has Gone Before, or Ever Wanted to Go Before
A man involved in a hit-and-run accident that killed a top Democrat staffer entered the United States illegally, federal immigration authorities have confirmed.
Elmer Rueda-Linares was arrested on hit-and-run charges following a two-vehicle crash in the early morning of April 6 in Reno, Nevada, that resulted in the death of Kurt Englehart, a senior advisor to Nevada Democrat Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has confirmed that he entered the United States illegally.
“Officers with Enforcement and Removal Operations in Reno, Nevada, placed an immigration detainer April 8 on Honduran national Elmer Rueda-Linarez, 18, who is being held at the Washoe County Jail in Reno for felony hit and run causing death,” ICE stated to The Daily Caller News Foundation.
“Rueda entered the United States March 12, 2021, at or near the Rio Grande City, Texas, Port of Entry without inspection by an immigration official. United States Customs and Border Protection arrested him, and he was later released on his own recognizance June 22, 2021,” ICE stated.
Immigration detainers are requests made from ICE to local and state law enforcement agencies, requesting that they be notified promptly when a removable alien is due to be released from their custody.
Impairment was suspected by authorities at the time of Rueda-Linares’ arrest.
Since his arrest, the charge of hit-and-run against the Honduran national has been changed to failing to stop at the scene of an accident, according to local media. He remains in custody on $100,000 bail.
The DCNF reached out to the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, asking if they plan to honor the detainer request if Rueda-Linares posts bail, but they did not immediately respond.
Englehart served as a state senior advisor to Masto. He had worked for the senator’s campaign and her official office for the past eight years. He was 38 at the time of his death.
“Sen. Cortez Masto looks forward to justice being served and has confidence in the local police and prosecutors,” Cortez Masto spokesperson Lauren Wodarski stated to local media.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00The Daily Callerhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngThe Daily Caller2024-04-18 15:29:252024-04-18 15:35:46Man Arrested In Car Crash That Killed Democratic Staffer Entered U.S. Illegally, ICE Confirms
Islam enjoys a large and influential ally among the non—Muslims: A new generation of ‘Useful Idiots,’ the sort of people Lenin identified living in liberal democracies who furthered the work of communism. This new generation of Useful Idiots also lives in liberal democracies, but serves the cause of Islamofascism—another virulent form of totalitarian ideology.
Useful Idiots are naïve, foolish, ignorant of facts, unrealistically idealistic, dreamers, willfully in denial or deceptive. They hail from the ranks of the chronically unhappy, the anarchists, the aspiring revolutionaries, the neurotics who are at war with life, the disaffected alienated from government, corporations, and just about any and all institutions of society. The Useful Idiot can be a billionaire, a movie star, an academe of renown, a politician, or from any other segment of the population.
Arguably, the most dangerous variant of the Useful Idiot is the ‘Politically Correct.’ He is the master practitioner of euphemism, hedging, doubletalk, and outright deception.
The Useful Idiot derives satisfaction from being anti—establishment. He finds perverse gratification in aiding the forces that aim to dismantle an existing order, whatever it may be: an order he neither approves of nor he feels he belongs to.
The Useful Idiot is conflicted and dishonest. He fails to look inside himself and discover the causes of his own problems and unhappiness while he readily enlists himself in causes that validate his distorted perception.
Understandably, it is easier to blame others and the outside world than to examine oneself with an eye to self—discovery and self—improvement. Furthermore, criticizing and complaining—liberal practices of the Useful Idiot—require little talent and energy. The Useful Idiot is a great armchair philosopher and ‘Monday Morning Quarterback.’
The Useful Idiot is not the same as a person who honestly has a different point of view. A society without honest and open differences of views is a dead society. Critical, different and fresh ideas are the life blood of a living society—the very anathema of autocracies where the official position is sacrosanct.
Even a ‘normal’ person spends a great deal more energy aiming to fix things out there than working to overcome his own flaws and shortcomings, or contribute positively to the larger society. People don’t like to take stock of what they are doing or not doing that is responsible for the conditions they disapprove.
But the Useful Idiot takes things much farther. The Useful Idiot, among other things, is a master practitioner of scapegoating. He assigns blame to others while absolving himself of responsibility, has a long handy list of candidates for blaming anything and everything, and by living a distorted life, he contributes to the ills of society.
The Useful Idiot may even engage in willful misinformation and deception when it suits him. Terms such as ‘Political Islam,’ or ‘Radical Islam,’ for instance, are contributions of the Useful Idiot. These terms do not even exist in the native parlance of Islam, simply because they are redundant. Islam, by its very nature and according to its charter—the Quran—is a radical political movement. It is the Useful Idiot who sanitizes Islam and misguides the populace by saying that the ‘real Islam’ constitutes the main body of the religion; and, that this main body is non—political and moderate.
Regrettably, a large segment of the population goes along with these nonsensical euphemisms depicting Islam because it prefers to believe them. It is less threatening to believe that only a hijacked small segment of Islam is radical or politically driven and that the main body of Islam is indeed moderate and non—political.
But Islam is political to the core. In Islam the mosque and state are one and the same—the mosque is the state. This arrangement goes back to the days of Muhammad himself. Islam is also radical in the extreme. Even the ‘moderate’ Islam is radical in its beliefs as well as its deeds. Muslims believe that all non—Muslims, bar none, are hellfire bound and well—deserve being maltreated compared to believers.
No radical barbaric act of depravity is unthinkable for Muslims in dealing with others. They have destroyed precious statues of Buddha, leveled sacred monuments of other religions, and bulldozed the cemeteries of non—Muslims—a few examples of their utter extreme contempt toward others.
Muslims are radical even in their intrafaith dealings. Various sects and sub—sects pronounce other sects and sub—sects as heretics worthy of death; women are treated as chattel, deprived of many rights; hands are chopped for stealing even a loaf of bread; sexual violation is punished by stoning, and much much more. These are standard day—to—day ways of the mainstream ‘moderate’ Muslims living under the stone—age laws of Sharia.
The ‘moderate’ mainstream of Islam has been outright genocidal from inception. Their own historians record that Ali, the first imam of the Shiite and the son—in—law of Muhammad, with the help of another man, beheaded 700 Jewish men in the presence of the Prophet himself. The Prophet of Allah and his disciples took the murdered men’s women and children in slavery. Muslims have been, and continue to be, the most vicious and shameless practitioners of slavery. The slave trade, even today, is a thriving business in some Islamic lands where wealthy, perverted sheikhs purchase children of the poor from traffickers for their sadistic gratification.
Muslims are taught deception and lying in the Quran itself—something that Muhammad practiced during his life whenever he found it expedient. Successive Islamic rulers and leaders have done the same. Khomeini, the founder of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, for instance, rallied the people under the banner of democracy. All along his support for democracy was not a commitment of an honest man, but a ruse. As soon as he gathered the reins of power, Khomeini went after the Useful Idiots of his time with vengeance. These best children of Iran, having been thoroughly deceived and used by the crafty phony populist—religionist, had to flee the country to avoid the fate of tens of thousands who were imprisoned or executed by the double—crossing imam.
Almost three decades after the tragic Islamic Revolution of 1979, the suffocating rule of Islam casts its death—bearing pal over Iranians. A proud people with enviable heritage is being systematically purged of its sense of identity and forced to think and behave like the barbaric and intolerant Muslims. Iranians who had always treated women with equality, for instance, have seen them reduced by the stone—age clergy to sub—human status of Islamic teaching. Any attempt by the women of Iran to counter the misogynist rule of Muhammad’s mullahs is mercilessly suppressed. Women are beaten, imprisoned, raped and killed just as men are slaughtered without due process or mercy.
The lesson is clear. Beware of the Useful Idiots who live in liberal democracies. Knowingly or unknowingly, they serve as the greatest volunteer and effective soldiers of Islam. They pave the way for the advancement of Islam and they will assuredly be among the very first victims of Islam as soon as it assumes power.
Here’s a GREAT Post from “America First” Russ Vought, the former OMB Director under Trump and current President of the Center for Renewing America.
I can understand those who are baffled that conservatives are entertaining removing Mike Johnson from being speaker in an election year with a small majority. I haven’t really weighed in bc I understand the pros and cons. But those watching from the outside need to understand the magnitude of what Johnson is doing. Funding Ukraine & acting as the third party payer of that endless war has rightfully become a mini Brexit for many of us.
The neocon foreign policy establishment is determined to keep us in this role of bill payer & imperial leader. We want out, yesterday. It’s killing and exhausting our country. It’s leading to more war internationally.
Mike Johnson made commitments not to fund Ukraine without securing the border. I wish he had said regardless, but it was a tangible/reasonable approach. He is now violating that promise bc global elites (David Cameron etc.) and ruling class Republicans are in a complete freak out and guess what…he agrees with them! He is a neocon. That is what is happening. So Mike Johnson is now touching the stove and may light himself on fire. This is after being worse than utter mediocrity when it comes to the spending fights, refusing to use the power of the purse, and flipping his position on reforming FISA after a SCIF brief.
I don’t know what is going to happen and if he goes down, I expect a complete meltdown from Con Inc. But Mike Johnson will be responsible for his own demise for choosing to govern against the clear wishes of the vast majority of grassroots conservatives who are educated on the issues.
And that is no longer a survivable place to be for any GOP leader and thank God for it.
@russvought
President, Center for Renewing America: @AmRenewCtr
Former Trump Cabinet, OMB Director | Ephesians 2:4-5, “But God.”
🚨 @RussVought blasts Speaker Johnson for bringing Ukraine and Israel aid to the floor on the same procedural rule.
“When the country goes down the tubes… you’re not going to be able to say to your children and grandchildren: ‘Don’t blame me, it was a process vote.’” pic.twitter.com/erkWyQHNMD
— Citizens for Renewing America (@amrenewcitizen) April 16, 2024
Enough already! If you ever even begin to start believing anything anyone in Republican leadership tells you just watch this. Pay close attention to those that don’t seem bothered by this. They’re not our friends. pic.twitter.com/rj2NMGBarg
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Royal A. Brown IIIhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngRoyal A. Brown III2024-04-18 14:41:412024-04-19 06:29:35Russ Vought: House Speaker Mike Johnson Sets Himself Ablaze
I’ve always found human nature to be a fascinating subject. For example, why people do (or don’t do) things is interesting to me. Along the way, I’ve noticed a slew of apparent contradictions. Today’s topic is one of those: How can something that is one of our best assets, also be among our worst liabilities? I’ll give two personal examples, and then one from a friend…
1 — Not sure why, but I’ve always believed that having a good sense of humor was important. I don’t think that this was a conscious decision, but rather something that I intuitively felt. So over the years, I’ve subconsciously incorporated humor into my conversations — with friends or strangers (e.g., a waitress at a restaurant).
The good thing is that almost all of the time it goes over very well. That’s likely why I continue to do it — most people react favorably. I also have noticed that I rarely think about a situation before saying something humorous, it just comes out.
But therein lies the downside. On a few occasions, I’ve said something that I intended to be funny, but it came out as anything but. Then, like I’m a third party, I hear what I said and think: oops! These are really embarrassing to me. I’ve wondered: is it better to apologize (which brings more focus to it), or to move on (and hope that the other party didn’t notice my gaffe)? I’ve done both, but still not sure which is better…
2 — Something else I consider as a major asset is that I’m very imaginative. I’m able to come up with clever ideas of things to do, or with creative solutions to challenging problems. I attribute part of this to Critical Thinking, and part with another skill I’ve worked on: changing perspective as it can produce interesting results.
I continue to be imaginative, as the results are typically unique (different from what others are proposing), plus usually quite rewarding.
But therein lies the rub: “usually.” On occasion, I find that my imagination can go into overdrive, and maybe I lose perspective as to where reality ends and fantasy begins. For example, let’s say I imagine a better relationship with a friend than they are capable of. That will lead to disappointment on my part — which (in some cases) can be a major liability.
Sure, it’s easy to say about such matters: disable your imagination and you 2024.be disappointed. Yes, but I’m also cutting off possibilities that could be amazing. Further, due to my imagination, I’ve been able to achieve many things that most people would say were not going to happen — e.g., retiring at age 34.
3 — My final example is from a friend. Due to a variety of reasons when they were young, they developed a strong desire to be independent. Clearly, independence is generally a very good thing — which is why we teach our children that independence should be something they should strive for.
But I did say “generally.” Independence can become an obsession for people who feel the need to be in control of everything. But there are two problems with that. First, no one can be in control of everything, so that is an impossible aspiration that will only lead to continued disappointments.
Secondly, working together (i.e., giving up some independence) with an ally can be one of the most rewarding and productive experiences in Life. So those who are fixated on independence will not only accomplish less, but will also be unhappier. Are either of those desirable outcomes?
So that’s my brief 2¢ for today: how an asset can be a liability. One wise answer is “moderation in most things.” Even better, I believe in the power of Perspective. Keeping things in perspective (utilizing critical thinking) is exceptionally powerful.
Media Balance Newsletter: a free, twice-a-month newsletter that covers what the mainstream media does not do, on issues from COVID to climate, elections to education, renewables to religion, etc. Here are the Newsletter’s 2023 Archives. Please send me an email to get your free copy. When emailing me, please make sure to include your full name and the state where you live. (Of course, you can cancel the Media Balance Newsletter at any time – but why would you?
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00John Droz, Jr.http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngJohn Droz, Jr.2024-04-18 13:21:532024-04-18 13:22:34Our Strongest Strength can be our Greatest Weakness — Plus a suggested solution!
As you probably know by now, I have studied political sciences at the university. This is a difficult study. The reason is not that one has to read a lot of books, but that politics and Death are intrinsically linked.
A person that studies political sciences, studies the origins of wars.
Wars normally are the result of the lust for power by a dictator. Democracies don’t start wars.
People who have a lust for power and control over other people are small dictators. These people should not be allowed to climb the stairs of society.
Marxist intellectuals are the most dangerous people on the planet. Why? Because they help potential dictators rise.
Harari is an Israeli intellectual. He promotes atheism. This is also very dangerous. Atheism also leads to wars.
If you do not understand how dangerous Marxists are, then they can play you.
DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE MARXIST INTELLECTUALS.
Most politicians on the political Right, think that they understand “Socialism”, but they have no clue about how far Socialism has already overtaken the West.
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Matthys van Raaltenhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngMatthys van Raalten2024-04-18 13:04:312024-04-18 13:05:08Political Science
On April 14, 2024, following Iran’s large-scale missile- and drone-attack on Israel, the Global Imams Council (GIC) issued an English-language statement that strongly condemned this attack, which “brought with it a new phase of tension, uncertainty and confrontation in the Middle East,” endangered the religious sites in the Holy Land and could spark an escalation threatening the the security of Millions of Muslims across the region. Rejecting Iran’s claim that it was acting in self-defense and highlighting the Iranian regime’s “history of sponsoring terrorism, sheltering terrorist organizations,” the statement also urged the world democracies to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.
The statement was signed by 295 Imams who are members of the GIC, representing 38 countries, in addition to endorsements from the GIC Governing Board, GIC Senior Imams Committee, GIC Advisory Committee and the Members of the GIC General Council.
The GIC is the world’s first and largest international non-governmental body of Muslim religious leaders from all Islamic denominations and schools, and advocates for peaceful coexistence, tolerance, and interfaith dialogue and for tackling extremist ideologies and militant Islam.[1]
The following is the text of the statement:
PUBLIC STATEMENT CONDEMING IRAN’S TERRORIST ATTACK
By the authority vested in the Global Imams Council by the Islamic Seminaries of the Holy Islamic Cities of Najaf and Karbala, we condemn in the strongest terms the terrorist attack conducted by the un-Islamic regime occupying the Iranian Republic on the 13th of April 2024.
The wave of drones and missiles that the regime launched has not only brought with it a new phase of tension, uncertainty and confrontation in the Middle East, but also targeted the Holy Land and place religious sites, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in serious danger.
The Global Imams Council rejects the regime’s self-defense pretest, and we highlight its history of sponsoring terrorism, sheltering terrorist organizations, and exploiting Mosques, Holy Shrines and diplomatic venues to shelter terrorists. For the last four decades, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has been the main source of Islamist terrorism in the world, with its leader Ali Khamenei financing organizations not limited to Hamas, Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthis:; as well as harboring Al-Qaeda members on Iranian territory.
This escalation and threat of open warfare threatens the safety and stability of millions of Muslims, compelling us, as religious leaders, to denounce the regime in Iran and demand accountability for its acts of terror in the name of Islam.
Furthermore, The Global Imams Council urges all democracies yet to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization to do so promptly in response to this egregious attack.
The Global Imams Council is dedicated to making peace a lived reality. We work both locally and globally to support peacebuilders, as well as collaborate with leading faith-leaders to establish dialogue and promote an innovative approach to peacebuilding. Our Council believes that the establishment of peace amongst all human beings is an essential objective.
Our peacebuilding efforts include, and are not limited to:
Developing and or mediating relations with different religious groups.
Defending religious freedom.
Promoting coexistence between all religious groups.
Interfaith
The Global Imams Council has established an Interfaith Network which comprises of leading faith-leaders from different religions, and who have been provided with constitutional powers to surpass all Council Committees. Members of our Interfaith Network provide direct advice to our Governing Board about matters that concern Islam and their respective religion or region. Our Council invites all prominent voices to join us on this peacebuilding journey.
Countering Terrorism and Extremist Ideologies
The Global Imams Council rejects violence and all violent ideologies. Our President and Director previously served as motivational speakers to the Iraqi Government’s Department of Defense during the war against ISIS. Our council is focused on tackling extremist ideologies and countering Islamic Extremism, terrorism, political and militant Islam (Islamism). We cooperate with security agencies and engage communities and faith-leaders of both Islam and other religions to reaffirm a commitment to developing cooperative programs that prevent violence.
Women’s and Children’s Rights
The Global Imams Council champions women’s rights and strongly believes that women have a right to an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives.
We are the first Imams Council in history to appoint women to an administerial board, and establish an ‘Office for Women’ that works with women’s rights organizations around the world. We believe in equality and reject all forms of discrimination against all minorities, including women and children.
Our Council is actively fighting (and lobbying) for women’s rights within the Islamic Seminaries, as well as meeting with different Muftis and Grand Ayatollahs to bring an end to Female Genital Mutilation, Child Marriages, Honor Killings and other matters which harm girls and women alike.
Minority Rights
The Global Imams Council believes that fighting for Human Rights is meaningless if we do not include Minority Rights. Our Council’s Counter-Extremism Project focuses on global attacks against Religious Minorities and our Imams work and cooperate with government departments as well as the police in every continent and major city.
We utilize new technologies, including social media, to dynamically raise awareness regarding Christian Persecution and Anti-Semitism.
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Middle East Media Research Institutehttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngMiddle East Media Research Institute2024-04-18 12:40:452024-04-19 05:41:14Global Imams Council Issues Statement Condemning Iran’s Attack On Israel
One of the left’s biggest political targets recently found himself “de-banked” with no warning and little avenue for recourse, the Daily Caller has learned.
John Eastman, once an attorney for former President Donald Trump, was de-banked twice in the span of several months by two prominent financial institutions, Bank of America and USAA, he told the Daily Caller. His accounts were closed as he faced substantial backlash for his work advising Trump around the time of the 2020 election.
Eastman said he had switched most of his banking from Bank of America to USAA, a company that provides financial services exclusively to military veterans as well as their families, due to the former’s “wokeness.” Both corporations are federally insured, and Bank of America was bailed out with billions of dollars in taxpayer funds during the global financial crisis.
Bank of America alerted Eastman in September of 2023 that it would be closing his accounts, a letter obtained by the Daily Caller shows. Shortly thereafter, USAA notified Eastman in November that his two bank accounts with the company would be closed, a separate letter shows.
“And then two months later, we get a similar letter from USAA saying that they’ve decided that they’re going to close your account and they did like three weeks later,” Eastman told the Daily Caller. “And so that was where all of our automatic payments were coming out of, all our automatic deposits. So it was a real pain to shift everything. We had to get a new bank account opened and shift everything over.”
Eastman was notified of his USAA accounts being closed on Nov. 20, 2023. A few weeks prior, a California judge made a preliminary decision saying that Eastman was culpable of ethics violations in a state bar disciplinary case, CNN reported.
USAA claimed in its letter that it was “exercising its right to no longer do banking business” with Eastman per its “Depository Agreement.”
“We may close your account for any reason without advance notice. We may require you to give us a minimum of seven (7) calendar days advance written notice when you intend to close your account by withdrawing your funds,” a section of the agreement reads.
USAA did not respond to the Daily Caller’s multiple requests for comment.
When Eastman inquired about the closures, the banks said it was their policy to not provide any more information on the matter, he told the Daily Caller. An audio recording of Eastman’s call to Bank of America, provided to the Daily Caller, reflects as much.
LISTEN:
“De-banking” is a phenomenon in which financial institutions refuse financial service to the targets of political activism, who often end up being conservatives.
“What these banks are doing is they’re saying you’re either high risk, or we don’t want to do business with you, or whatever it is. There’s no methodology behind this. There’s no kind of reason that matches traditional indicators or traditional metrics that a bank would use to calculate your liquidity, your credit score, whatever it is. They’re using these non-financial factors, and then making these decisions and just like closing people’s accounts,” Eric Bledsoe, an expert on de-banking for the Foundation for Government Accountability, told the Daily Caller.
In typical de-banking situations, it is normal for the banks to withhold their reason for suddenly closing their clients’ accounts, Bledsoe added.
Eastman told the Daily Caller he was using the accounts he had set up with Bank of America and USAA for personal finances. He and his wife qualified for USAA bank accounts because his father-in-law served in the Navy in WWII and in the Marines in the Korean War, the attorney told the Daily Caller.
“We had Bank of America accounts for about 40 years. But just because of their wokeness we kind of quit a couple of years ago, using them much. They’ve got physical locations and therefore easy ATM, so we kept our accounts there, but we didn’t use much. And about four or five years ago, we opened USAA bank accounts and we were using those as our primaries,” Eastman said.
The Daily Caller reached out to the Bank of America for comment, giving the corporation multiple days to respond. Bank of America initially told the Caller it would answer, though about an hour before the deadline provided, the company decided not to comment.
“Just as a general policy, we don’t comment on client matters. So I don’t have a comment at this point on the situation,” Bill Haldin, from Bank of America media relations, told the Daily Caller after asking if the focus of the story was solely on Eastman.
Bledsoe spoke to the political nature of de-banking and how it can make Americans’ lives harder.
“I’m gravely concerned. It really is the kind of next step in [Environmental, Social and Governance]. So ESG across the board, it really is about like, re-directing capital away from the politically disfavored and to the politically favored at the moment, without going through the political process at all,” Bledsoe said.
Neither bank specified to Eastman whether the closing of his accounts was for political reasons, though he has his suspicions.
“I’m 99.9% confident,” he said. “What I don’t know is whether they didn’t want to do business with me, or whether they didn’t want to continue to be hassled by federal regulators for doing business with me. I don’t know which of those two it is, either one of them is rather despicable.”
Eastman’s confidence could, in part, be attributed to the litany of challenges he has faced following the 2020 presidential election.
Since Eastman argued that Vice President Mike Pence had the power to help deliver Trump the 2020 presidential election, the attorney has seen his life be uprooted by his opponents. Just days after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, Eastman resigned as a law professor from Fowler School of Law at Chapman University after the school faced pressure to oust him, Forbes reported. In a statement of his own, Eastman said he had “mixed feelings” about resigning, though the school said the pair had reached an agreement on the matter.
Then, at the end of that month, the University of Colorado’s Benson Center for Western Civilization banned Eastman from speaking at the institution despite being a visiting scholar, according to Forbes.
“The University of Colorado Boulder relieved John Eastman of duties related to outreach and speaking as a representative of the Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization,” the institution said in a press release.
Nearly a year later, in June 2022, FBI agents seized Eastman’s phone as he was leaving a restaurant, the Associated Press reported. Eastman and his wife have also experienced death threats, graffiti threats in their neighborhood and have had spikes planted in their driveway, his friend Josh Hammer wrote in a column.
A number of red state attorneys general — including from Florida, Iowa, Missouri, Indiana and Montana — voiced their opposition to the de-banking trend after the Daily Caller laid out Eastman’s situation. Many of the state AGs pointed to politics as a potential reason Eastman’s accounts were closed.
“No American should lose their bank account because banks want to play politics. Time and time again, we are seeing banks target and cut off those they disagree with and refuse to explain why. That is unacceptable,” Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird told the Daily Caller.
“De-banking contradicts the very character of our nation, as elites wrongfully use their power to punish their political opponents. Here’s the bottom line: If financial institutions are punishing consumers who don’t fall in line with their political beliefs, that could constitute a violation of both state and federal law,” Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey told the Daily Caller.
Now, Eastman is being prosecuted by Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis as part of her case against Trump. On March 27, a California judge ruled that Eastman should be disbarred due to his legal advice in the wake of the 2020 election. The case will now move to the state Supreme Court for a final decision.
“I just think this is a terrible trend. I think it’s harmful. I think it prohibits people from bringing their values and the public square into the marketplace. And they have every constitutional right under the Free Exercise clause to bring their values into the marketplace. And I think this is also I think this is something we’re just gonna have to fight against,” Sam Brownback, an attorney and former U.S. Senator whose Christian non-profit was de-banked, told the Daily Caller.
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00The Daily Callerhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngThe Daily Caller2024-04-18 11:56:042024-04-20 07:05:56‘Rather Despicable’: John Eastman Speaks Out After Bank Of America, USAA Shut Down His Accounts
A reader sent us a link to this wonderful video titled “Star Spangled Banner As You’ve Never Heard It” posted by mona rose on YouTube.
Mona wrote,
A story of how our national anthem came to be. I was asked by someone to put a video together for this audio and upload it, so here it is. I was never expecting it to get so many views. Yes, I’m aware some info isn’t exactly right. Please stop sending complaints. Like I said before, I was asked to upload it here. You can look up the accurate story if want the precise info.
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Dr. Rich Swierhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngDr. Rich Swier2024-04-18 07:54:202024-04-18 07:55:27VIDEO: The Star Spangled Banner As You’ve Never Heard It
In the lead to the story “Ceasefire Protest Turns Violent,” KGO ABC7 anchor Dan Ashley tells his audience that victims say that what happened to them is part of an alarming trend. But the victims don’t actually say that. Reporter Lena Howland says that, and gratuitously brings up a report from the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
Before taking an in depth look at CAIR’s report, let us gain a perspective on what violence looks like.
It is also important to understand that CAIR is playing word games. The “pro-Palestine” events are really pro-Hamas and anti-Israel. The “pro-Palestinians” are not interested in peace. They would never dream of pressuring Hamas to surrender, or of calling for the release of the hostages in order to stop the co-called “genocide.” They are analogous to calling for a ceasefire with Nazi Germany during World War II.
From the “Hate Crimes” section of the CAIR report:
California:A man allegedly tried to murder members of the Muslim community at a park in Rancho Cordova in August. The man reportedly tried to run over Muslim community members of South Asian heritage while yelling racial slurs and allegedly threatening to “shoot and bomb” them. The suspect was reportedly arrested on two felonies and a hate crime charge.
This man may be mentally ill. Just hours earlier, he had an “disturbance” at a liquor store, is a registered sex offender, and with the help of his family, surrendered to police twelve hours after driving through the park. This is an isolated incident that happened in August, and is in no way caused by Israeli violence.
California: An Arab Muslim student at Stanford University was reportedly targeted in a hit-and run on campus in November. The driver had reportedly made eye contact with the student and accelerated and hit him, after which the driver reportedly yelled “f*** you and your people.” The student, who was hospitalized following the incident, reports having seen the driver at a pro-Palestinian rally in the month before the incident. The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office reportedly opened a hate crime investigation into the incident.
Hamas violence and support for Hamas here at home might be the cause of this incident.
District of Columbia: A Muslim and Palestinian woman was reportedly threatened by a man while riding the D.C. Metro in October. The woman had been riding the Metro on her way to a demonstration for Palestinian rights when a man reportedly asked her, “How’d you like to lose your life?” On video, the man is then heard asking the woman, “How’d you like to have your head beheaded?” According to the victim and witnesses, the man also reportedly possessed a firearm, which he slightly removed from his pocket. He allegedly made other aggressive remarks toward the woman and her acquaintances before leaving the train. Law enforcement reportedly refused to investigate the incident.
The man was challenging the woman about her support for Hamas, and the police are not considering it a hate incident.
District of Columbia: A Palestinian staff member at American University reportedly received a hateful death threat slipped under his office door in October. The note said, in part, “You might get lucky with a missile and meet your Allah sooner! Death to all Palestinians!” A complaint to CAIR offices reports that the staff member has not received adequate security and protection from American University administrators following the incident. The American University Police Department and federal law enforcement are reportedly investigating the threat.
Somehow, after CAIR tells us that they have evidence of a deluge of hate in this country, we are left expecting more. Remember that with over 8,000 complaints to choose from, this is what CAIR shares with us.
Illinois: In October, six-year-old Palestinian-American boy Wadea Al-Fayoume was stabbed and murdered by his family’s landlord in Chicago. According to his mother, who was also attacked, the landlord yelled “you Muslims must die!” before attempting to choke and stab her. After she attempted to call for law enforcement, she found that the landlord had stabbed her six-year-old son to death. The landlord has been indicted by a grand jury on first-degree murder, attempted murder, battery, and hate crime charges.
Wadea Al-Fayoume was murdered on October 13, nearly 2 weeks before Israel responded to the attack by Hamas. This is a tragic story, but the fact remains that Wadea was killed in response to Hamas violence.
Illinois: A man reportedly threatened to shoot two Muslim men after allegedly shouting anti-Muslim statements in October. The man reportedly approached one of the victims, who had arrived in his vehicle to an apartment complex to meet with a friend, and began shouting obscenities that targeted his Muslim faith and telling him he didn’t belong in the country. The man then allegedly punched the first victim’s car window before going into the lobby of the apartment building, where he encountered the second victim and threatened to beat him. A short time later, one of the victims was sitting on the bench outside the building when the man reportedly lifted one side of the bench such that the victim fell off. The man reportedly told the two victims that he called four of his friends to come and shoot them. A hate crime charge was reportedly brought against the man in October.
This is an isolated incident, not connected to anything beyond the attacker.
New Jersey: A Princeton University staffer allegedly assaulted protestors for Palestinian human rights in October. The staff member was reportedly seen yelling at protestors, making obscene gestures, and filming them. She is also seen grabbing another protestor’s phone and running off with it, apparently pulling the protestor’s hair in the process.
Again, another incident not connected to anything except opposition to support for Hamas.
New York: In 2016, an Uber driver was reportedly attacked by his passengers, two intoxicated men. One passenger punched the driver in the jaw and both hurled expletives and racial slurs at him. As a result of the attack, the client suffered a fractured elbow and a dislocated neck, among other injuries. In May 2023, after years of litigation, and with the assistance of co-counsel at Cravath, Swaine and Moore, LLP, CAIR-NY secured a six-figure settlement for the client.
2016? CAIR should have plenty of material to choose from in 2023. This entry should be dismissed out of hand.
North Carolina: A Muslim member of the North Carolina Democratic Party was reportedly subjected to Islamophobic remarks by other party members. Following his public support of Palestinian human rights in 2022, other party members reportedly spread Islamophobic remarks about him, reportedly including the claim that he may be an “Iranian spy.” In early 2023, the man made a complaint to party leadership, which he claims was not addressed in a timely manner. In late 2023, CAIR sent a letter on his behalf, requesting that party leadership investigate and address his complaint.
Another irrelevant entry from CAIR that is not part of its 8,000 complaints in 2023; it is from 2022.
Ohio: A man reportedly targeted Arab, Palestinian, and Muslim students at Cleveland State University for their pro-Palestine human rights activism in early 2023. The man had previously been accused of reportedly cyberharassing Palestinian students or students with pro-Palestinian views the previous year, after which a CSU student reportedly filed a protection order against him, which was granted. However, in January, the man reportedly returned to campus and stole the banner belonging to the CSU student organization Students for Palestinian Human Rights. He was also arrested by CSU police in January for reportedly violating the protection order. In February, he was reportedly banned from the campus, and in July, he reportedly entered a plea to reduce his charges and was sentenced to probation, a community orientation program, and anger management classes
Another isolated incident that is connected only to general opposition to support for Hamas in America.
Ohio: In October, a man driving a truck reportedly physically and verbally assaulted participants in a pro-Palestine march in Columbus. While members of student organizations and community supporters conducted a peaceful march in downtown Columbus, the man reportedly began shouting obscenities about Palestinians and then swerved out of his lane to hit a demonstrator on a bike. A suspect was reportedly taken into custody.
Many people might conclude that this assault was a reaction to public support for Hamas in this country. But CAIR is again trying to blame Israel for this.
Pennsylvania: In October, a man reportedly brandished a firearm against Muslims at a pro-Palestine protest at the footsteps of the Pennsylvania State Capitol. The rally had been organized by the Central Pennsylvania Committee of Masajid, a network of mosques and Islamic organizations. The man reportedly approached the crowd in his vehicle, started yelling racial slurs, and then pointed a gun at the protestors. The suspect has reportedly been taken into custody and faces a felony count of ethnic intimidation and misdemeanor charges of making terroristic threats and simple assault by physical menace.
But the police did not charge him with a hate crime.
CAIR’s report is an embarrassment for the organization. More than half of its evidence of hate crimes in 2023 are either irrelevant, or are not considered to be hate crimes by the police. None of these incidents seem to be inspired by “Israeli violence,” but rather by Hamas violence. And this is the cream of the crop out of more than 8,000 incidents?
Let’s look further into CAIR’s report.
Despite CAIR’s claims of an overwhelming number of complaints, they include incidents from previous years such as 2019 (pg. 17), 2021 (pg. 22), and 2020 (pg. 30).
There were a concerning number of attacks on mosques last year, but all of them were committed by mentally ill people (pg. 18).
CAIR brings up the King Khalid Mosque in North Carolina, which has been closed since the pandemic. It is the property of Shaw University, and does not belong to CAIR, which wants the mosque reopened. This is not a hate incident. (pg.18)
An eighth-grade student from Corona Del Mar Middle and High School was allegedly suspended for saying “Free Palestine” in November (pg. 19).
This is not a hate incident.
Oklahoma: In September, Oklahoma State Superintendent announced an ongoing partnership with Prager University (PragerU). PragerU is known for being a right-wing educational website that has produced videos spreading anti-Muslim rhetoric and conspiracy theories. In one such video, the host reportedly claims that “Islam is not a religion of peace.” (pg. 21)
They are referring to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, an ex-Muslim whom CAIR has repeatedly tried to censor. This is not evidence of an epidemic of hate.
Maryland: In November, a Muslim teacher was placed on administrative leave reportedly due to her email signature tagline, which expressed support for Palestinians. (pg. 23)
Her email signature was “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” This is inappropriate for work, and she was suspended from her job at the school. That is not hate.
Michigan: In April, a female Muslim student was reportedly rejected from an internship interview after declining to shake hands with the CEO of PGF Technology Group Inc. due to her religious beliefs. The student had reportedly refused to shake hands with the CEO because of her sincerely held religious beliefs. (pg. 23)
Again, this is not “hate,” but it is definitely ridiculous.
Minnesota: In October, two Muslim students at Edina High School reported that they were suspended for three days following their participation in a walkout for Palestinian human rights. The students reportedly participated in chanting common pro-Palestinian phrases. (pg.23)
This is inappropriate conduct at school, and again is not hate.
Florida: In October, the Chancellor of the State University System of Florida issued an order deactivating Students for Justice in Palestine chapters across the state. (pg. 23)
SJP is a thuggish pro-Hamas group, and banning them from campus is not “hate.”
California: A newly-arrived Afghan-Muslim teenager was shot twice and hospitalized after a police shooting in January. (pg. 29)
This is about an Afghan family having a knife fight outside their residence in Tracy, California. When the police arrived, one of the family advanced on the police holding a knife. CAIR contributed nothing to this except to say the police needed “cultural sensitivity training.” The police need the training, not the Afghans.
And so on.
All of CAIR’s reports are like this. CAIR’s “Hate” reports do not stand up to scrutiny.
U.S.-based TikTok executives were totally “complicit” in efforts to hand over Americans’ data to China despite company assertions to the contrary, a former senior data scientist at the social media platform alleged, according to Fortune.
The House of Representatives passed legislation in March that would compel Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell TikTok for the social media app to continue operating in the United States because of the potential national security threats of its ownership. Evan Turner, a former senior data scientist who worked for the popular app in 2022 from April to September, alleged TikTok hid the participation of ByteDance in the app’s operations during his tenure, which overlapped with an initiative intended to solve the issue of Chinese data access, Fortune reported Monday.
Other ex-TikTok workers interviewed spoke of the progress TikTok has made to separate itself from its China-based parent and segregate U.S. user data from China.
“I literally worked on a project that gave U.S. data to China,” Turner told Fortune. “They were completely complicit in that. There were Americans that were working in upper management that were completely complicit in this.”
Turner first reported to a Beijing-based ByteDance executive but the company then announced Project Texas, a $1.5 billion initiative to establish an isolated unit to safeguard American data, leading him to receive a documented reassignment to a Seattle manager, he told Fortune. However, a human resources representative acknowledged Turner would persist in collaborating with the ByteDance executive.
The former senior data scientist participated in short meetings with the ByteDance executive on a weekly basis, where he would provide rudimentary updates on his progress with key assignments, Fortune reported.
Turner was allegedly required to send spreadsheets containing hundreds of thousands of American TikTok users’ data, including names, emails and locations to ByteDance staff every 14 days, he told Fortune. The project’s intention was to use the data to learn trends to make users more hooked on the app, and it occurred after Project Texas launched.
Fortune interviewed 11 ex-employees, many alleging TikTok’s operations were connected to ByteDance to an extent while they worked there despite the company’s claims it was prohibiting the Chinese parent company from having access. Some of the former employees spoke anonymously because of concerns of revenge against them, according to the outlet.
Managers within TikTok were directing employees to send similar data to ByteDance, bypassing authorized channels, according to current and previous employees as well as company records The Wall Street Journal saw in January. Executives believe it is crucial to distribute the data supposedly protected by Project Texas to ByteDance because it controls TikTok’s algorithm, individuals with knowledge of the project’s unit told the WSJ.
TikTok and ByteDance did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s response for comment.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00The Daily Callerhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngThe Daily Caller2024-04-18 07:06:012024-04-18 07:09:15Ex-TikTok Employee Alleges American Executives Were ‘Completely Complicit’ In Giving ‘U.S. Data To China’
There is an enemy within America bent on supporting the terrorists in Hamas. They use the myth that they are supporting Palestine, which was always called Judea.
The idea of a Palestine was created out of whole cloth by Yassar Arafat and the Soviet KGB.
The KGB wanted to create a new group of fake “underdogs” to wipe out Israel and replace her with a Muslim state.
Palestine, and the palestinian people are both myths. They are merely Arabs.
As President John F. Kennedy said, “For the great enemy of truth is very often not the lie—deliberate, contrived and dishonest—but the myth—persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Too often we hold fast to the clichés of our forebears.”
In order for these pro-Hamas terrorist sympathizers to hold their rally the City commission of Sarasota, Florida had to approve it.
BTW, very near where these Hamas lovers are standing is the statue Unconditional Surrender, a.k.a. the Kissing Sailor, donated to the City of Sarasota by a WWII veteran.
In 2010 the sculpture “Unconditional Surrender” was purchased by Jack Curran, a WW II Navy veteran, and with support from numerous Sarasota veterans and patriotic organizations. Mr. Curran was able to gift the sculpture to the City of Sarasota at a personal cost of $500,000. The full intent of Mr. Curran was that the statue remain on Sarasota’s bay front.
Today we have “the enemy within” showing support for the terrorist organization Hamas and shouting “intifada.” The Arabic word “Intifada” translates to “uprising” or “shaking off.”
It has been used to describe during periods of intense Hamas protests against Israel, now in Sarasota, Florida.
Remember what President Abraham Lincoln said, “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”
Allowing these supports of an intifada against America to protest anywhere in America is at least a travesty, and borders on treason.
Washington, D.C. – Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton made the following statement regarding the unprecedented prosecution of President Donald Trump by Democrats in New York:
It will be nearly impossible for Trump to receive a fair trial in a courtroom run by biased, anti-Trump Democratic Party politicians. Today’s kangaroo court proceedings in the Manhattan Supreme Court mark the first-ever criminal trial of a U.S. president. Today is a sad day that will go down in infamy. This is a dangerous attack on the rule of law and a brazen attempt to rig the 2024 elections for President Biden and Democrats. Judicial Watch denounces Alvin Bragg’s corrupt attempt to make former president Donald Trump a political prisoner.
Trump committed no crimes, and this is a prosecution about “nothing.” These and other Democratic Party political prosecutions of Trump are an abomination under law and are destabilizing to our nation.
Judicial Watch will continue to expose in court the truth about these attacks on the rule of law, free and fair elections, and the U.S. Constitution.
Judicial Watch has several Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits related to the prosecutorial abuse targeting Trump:
In March 2024, Judicial Watch filed a Georgia Open Records Act lawsuit against District Attorney Fani Willis and Fulton County, Georgia, for records of any communication Willis and the county had with Special Counsel Jack Smith and the House January 6 Committee. The lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court of Fulton County after Willis and the County denied having any responsive records.
In February 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice asked a federal court to allow the agency to keep secret the names of top staffers working in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office that is targeting former President Donald Trump and other Americans.
(Before his appointment to investigate and prosecute Trump, Special Counsel Jack Smith previously was at the center of several controversial issues, the IRS scandal among them. In 2014, a Judicial Watch investigation revealed that top IRS officials had been in communication with Jack Smith’s then-Public Integrity Section about a plan to launch criminal investigations into conservative tax-exempt groups. Read more here.)
In January 2024, Judicial Watch filed lawsuit against Fulton County, Georgia, for records regarding the hiring of Nathan Wade as a special prosecutor by District Attorney Fani Willis. Wade was hired to pursue unprecedented criminal investigations and prosecutions against former President Trump and others over the 2020 election disputes.
In October 2023, Judicial Watch sued the DOJ for records and communications between the Office of U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith and the Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney’s office regarding requests/receipt of federal funding/assistance in the investigation of former President Trump and his 18 codefendants in the Fulton County indictment of August 14, 2023. To date, the DOJ is refusing to confirm or deny the existence of records, claiming that to do so would interfere with enforcement proceedings. Judicial Watch’s litigation challenging this is continuing.
Bill Barr on why the New York hush money case is a bunch of nonsense, and why he’s voting for Trump in November. Now this is a surprise! pic.twitter.com/3TK5ddHSkf
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Judicial Watchhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngJudicial Watch2024-04-18 05:54:072024-04-19 05:38:35Judicial Watch Statement on Prosecution of President Donald Trump in the ‘Hush Money’ Trial
April showers bring May flowers, as the saying goes, and there’s seemingly a shower of men dominating in women’s sports that has yet to cease. What has bloomed as a result? Social outrage.
Two recent events are surfacing in news outlets, in which many have argued serve as further examples of why men should not be competing in women’s sports (and vice versa). On Saturday, trans-identifying runner Aayden Gallagher nearly blew his female competitors out of the water during the 2024 Sherwood Need For Speed Classic track competition in Oregon. The biological male finished the 200-meter race in a time of 25.49 – roughly two seconds ahead of the other runners — a sizeable margin in the realm of track and field.
In a different heat, Gallagher barely came in second behind female runner Aster Jones. But despite losing his hold on first place, it’s notable that Gallagher hit the “fifth fastest time ever run in the state’s girls 200m,” and the “fourth fastest time ever run in the Oregon girls’ 400m,” The Post Millennial reported. But to make an accurate comparison against male-born athletes, PM continued, “Gallegher’s 200m time would have earned 61st place among the male athletes and 46th in the 400m.”
The online rage sparked by these circumstances were partly due to Gallagher specifically, but also by the bigger picture of men being able to compete in women’s sports in the first place. As the Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) shared on X, “Championing boys in girls’ sports is blatant misogyny.” Libs of TikTok, a prominent conservative social media presence, also posted on X, “These high school girls just had their dream stolen from them because the school is catering the delusions of a boy who pretends to be a girl.” Gallagher “is a cheater,” the post stated.
One X user responded to that post, “This man is not just a cheater, he’s a criminal. He’s stolen from girls their opportunity for fair competition and to have a bright future in sports.” Another wrote, “One day, future generations will look back on this with pain, wondering how humanity ever got to this point. Such a sad situation.” And amid several other angry comments, one sobering comment read, “When will parents of girls get sick of their daughters taking second place?”
On the flip side of this social controversy is boxer Patricio Manuel, formerly known as Patricia. The biological female recently became the first trans-identifying pro boxer to compete in the men’s division. Before her transition in 2013, Manuel competed in the U.S. women’s Olympic Trial, but had to take a step back due to a shoulder injury. According to The Daily Mail, “Manuel was a five-time national amateur women’s boxing champion.” But eleven years later, she started boxing with the big boys. Literally.
While the female boxer had recorded three consecutive wins, the fight during the Golden Boy Fight Night in California on April 4 put an end to the streak. Manuel went up against her male opponent, Joshua Brian Reyes, and was knocked out within 21 seconds. Media Research Center (MRC) posed the question, “Ever wonder why you never hear stories about women who believe they’re men stealing actual men’s sports trophies and championships?” To which they concluded, “That’s because it doesn’t happen.” And as many have argued, this topic shouldn’t be up to debate.
Macy Petty, an NCAA volleyball player and former Family Research Council intern, warned, “[The Biden] administration continues to reduce sex-based competition to arbitrary hormone levels,” she shared with The Washington Stand. But “women are so much more than a hormone level, and our sports should reflect our unique design.”
According to Petty, “The female league is not a B league, or simply a league for athletes with particular hormone levels. It is a league specifically created for women to embrace the potentials of their God-created design.” She continued, “Male intrusion not only disrupts the protection of female opportunity but attacks the very design of male and female.” And it appears it’s not just men in women’s sports that causes controversy, as Manuel’s case demonstrates.
Petty concluded, “Male athletes beating women by seconds in track competition is a true mockery of the intentionality distinguishing the sexes. [And] in many cases, such as boxing, it places women directly in harm’s way.” But many have joined Petty in the pleas of keeping men and women’s sports distinct, including “over a dozen female athletes [who] are suing the National Collegiate Athletics Association for letting transgender athletes compete against them and use female locker rooms in college sports.”
The question is: will high school athletes and their parents follow suit?
The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Family Research Councilhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngFamily Research Council2024-04-18 05:43:402024-04-18 05:46:01Trans-Identifying Female Boxer KO’d in 21 Seconds by Biological Male
A lot has happened since Dylan Mulvaney pranced around his yard in a Nike sports bra last April. Days after his face appeared on Bud Light cans — the controversy that launched a thousand boycotts — the sight of him doing jumping jacks in women’s workout gear was almost worst. And a stock chart that looks like a downhill ski slope proves it. Months after the country protested with a bonfire of bra burning, the only swoosh Nike hears now is the sound of profits gushing.
While Bud Light hogged most of the spotlight with its historic collapse, the devastation of Nike’s trans advocacy is real. By August of last year, the brand of Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods was experiencing what experts called “its biggest losing streak since 1980.” With catastrophic losses — upwards of $13 billion dollars in market value — consumer outrage was packing a serious punch.
Angry women led the charge, lashing out at the company as an insult to females everywhere. “The ad feels like a parody of what women are. … That Nike would do this feels like a kick in the teeth,” one posted. Others blasted the brand for making a “mockery out of women,” vowing never to buy another thing from a company that chose a man “over all the hardworking women who workout regularly in your activewear.” It’s “absolutely disgusting.” Most people just couldn’t understand the marketing logic. “Why doesn’t Nike pay a real women to promote a product that is solely for women?” they wanted to know.
Almost a year later, the pressure hasn’t let up. Market analysts have been shocked by the company’s inability to rebound, a nosedive they wrongly assumed was temporary. According to Yahoo Finance, Nike’s stock is down 11.3% since the beginning of the year, and it’s trading “26.1% below its 52-week high.” And while experts are blaming everything from weak overseas demand to slowing sales and pricing challenges, their theories miss the most important reality: shoppers won’t put up with social extremism anymore. LGBT activism, the kind flaunted by Mulvaney and embraced by tone-deaf board rooms, continues to be the kiss of death to corporate profitability.
Nike boss John Donahoe has called the company’s downturn “a painful reality and not one that I take lightly.” “We are currently not performing at our best, and I ultimately hold myself and my leadership team accountable,” he said, leaving out any mention of the poor decisions that put Nike in this position in the first place.
Unfortunately, the company has a long and frustrating history of political activism. Millions of customers called it quits on Nike after their endorsement of anti-American quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who, along with disrespecting our national anthem, persuaded the company to shelve its patriotic shoes. They were the first sports retailer to fan the flames of racial tension during the George Floyd riots, voicing support for controversial groups like Black Lives Matter. They’ve fought against religious freedom in adoption bills, girls sports and privacy, even launched a special trans line of clothing called Be True.
Most egregiously, Nike was one of the few brands openly using slave labor to stitch their iconic shoes together. A 2020 expose from The Washington Post talked about the Uyghurs who were spared China’s concentration camps only to hunch over tables sewing Nike’s logo on an endless line of shoes — up to seven million pairs a year.
“Everyone knows they didn’t come here of their own free will,” a Chinese woman told reporter Anna Fifield at the time. “They were brought here … because they didn’t have an option. The government sent them here.” It’s how the Chinese government is “exporting the punitive culture and ethos of Xinjiang’s ‘reeducation camps’ to factories across China,” one expert told the Post.
Incredibly, when a bipartisan bill threatened to outlaw the use of slave labor for American companies, ending our country’s role in these human rights atrocities, Nike fought to kill it. Company spokesmen denied that, responding to The New York Times allegations that they were only in “constructive conversations” with lawmakers. But even today, three years after Joe Biden signed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, the Canadian government is investigating complaints that Nike is still using slave laborers in Xinjiang, which they consider a “crime against humanity.”
Now, a year into their Dylan Mulvaney fiasco, the Oregon-based headquarters is reaping the whirlwind. Instead of taking their foot off the gas of an agenda Americans have so clearly rejected, Nike is stubbornly leaning into the radicalism that’s bankrupting other brands. At a time when almost 300 companies are backing off their LGBT advocacy, Nike scored a perfect 100% on the Human Rights Campaign’s Equality Index this year (quite a feat considering HRC’s steep transgender benchmarks).
If Nike wants to enrage consumers at a time of record pushback, that’s their business. But better advice might come from their peers, who believe a smarter company slogan would be: Just don’t.
The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Family Research Councilhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngFamily Research Council2024-04-17 12:11:342024-04-17 12:14:23Nike Stocks Still Tanking a Year after Mulvaney Partnership
