No God, No Rights

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When Vice President Kamala Harris gave a speech on the 50th anniversary of “Roe v. Wade” about a week ago, she infamously left out the Creator—when talking about our rights. One wag told me, “Hey, at least Kamala didn’t say, we ‘are created by … you know, the thing,’” as did her boss on the campaign trail.

She also left out the “right to life.” But does this oversight matter? I addressed her “right to life” omission in a previous piece, but what about leaving out the Creator? Who cares?

We all should. The essence of America is self-rule under God. Leave out either part, and we end up with tyranny. Without God as the secure source of our rights, from whence come those rights?

Thomas Jefferson said, and you can see this quote in the Jefferson Memorial: “And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God?”

Why does God matter? The late Clay Christensen was a Harvard Business professor who hosted a 90-second video segment that brilliantly shows why He matters.

Christensen says that ultimately we must choose between internal versus external restraint. In explaining to a visiting student from China how religion benefits American society by bolstering morality, Christensen makes the point that we can’t hire enough police to make people good. But democracy has greatly benefited through the internal restraints that religion provides.

William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, would concur. He once noted, “If we will not be governed by God, we must be governed by tyrants.”

Within a few years of America’s revolt against British rule, the French had their revolution. Some like to compare the American with the French Revolution. They were totally different because of the God factor. The American Revolution was pro-God. The French Revolution was anti-God. That is the difference in a nutshell.

For the documentaries in my Foundation of American Liberty series for Providence Forum, I had the privilege to interview Dennis Prager, the founder of PragerU. At one point in the interview, he contrasted these two turbulent events.

He told me, “The American Revolution and French Revolution is the battle in the United States.  Which revolution will prevail? … They loathe the idea of God in the French Revolution; the secular republic was the ideal. In America, they believed in secular government, but in a God-based society, because rights come from God in America. And you can only have liberty if you have God.”

Prager pointed out that this was not a “faith statement” so much as a “logical” one: “People will either feel accountable for their behavior to God or the state. Those are your two choices. It is an absurdity to believe they’ll be good if they’re accountable only to themselves. If you’re only accountable to yourself, you will always justify what you do.”

And so he concludes, “God is the ultimate issue.”

Take the issue of the value of human life. When you remove God from the equation, life becomes cheap. Because we’re made in the image of God, human life has value.

Human beings are different than the animals, says the Bible. Recently I read portions of a great book, The Death of Humanity: And The Case For Life” by history professor Dr. Richard Weikart, who wrote the classic book, From Darwin to Hitler.

Dr. Weikart writes, “Western society is in deep trouble today. Once we identify some segments of humanity as ‘life unworthy of life’ or ‘sub-human,’ to use phrases commonly used before and during the Nazi period, we have jettisoned any basis for valuing humans as humans. We have effectively undermined all human rights, because now we can decide which humans have rights and which do not.”

In contrast, the founders of America said in the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, and among these are the right to life.” The first right they listed is the right to life.

In the Declaration, the signers mention God four times, including their appeal “to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions,” referring to Jesus, whom God, the Bible says, has appointed to judge us all one day.

But if there’s no Creator, as some politicians seem to think, why should there be any human right? As retired Congressman Ron Paul once noted, “There is only one kind of freedom and that’s individual liberty. Our lives come from our creator and our liberty comes from our creator. It has nothing to do with government granting it.”

©Jerry Newcombe, D.Min. All rights reserved.

EXCLUSIVE: Med School Went Woke After Pressure From Accreditor, Documents Show

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  • The University of Utah School of Medicine implemented a series of programs to recruit and retain diverse students and faculty after its accrediting organization said its diversity efforts were unsatisfactory, according to emails obtained by a medical watchdog group and shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
  • The school, in response, filed a status report outlining its progress in increasing its diversity on campus.
  • “This further promotes ideology ahead of quality medical education and race/ethnicity or sex over hiring the most qualified faculty and staff,” Laura Morgan, Do No Harm’s program manager, told the DCNF.

The University of Utah School of Medicine (SOM) adopted a series of programs to recruit more diverse students and faculty after its accrediting organization said its diversity efforts were unsatisfactory, according to emails obtained by a medical watchdog group and shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) told the school that it found certain elements of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts unsatisfactory, and requested a detailed report from the medical school about how it improved recruitment and retainment for students and faculty from underrepresented communities, according to a 2021 accreditation report shared with the DCNF. In response, the school complied with the request, instituting several DEI programs and sending a status update about how it sought to connect with people from “each of the school’s identified diversity groups,” earning the LCME’s approval.

“The LCME and AAMC hold the power over medical schools regarding their accreditation, and the University of Utah School of Medicine’s responses to the LCME’s findings reflect the desire to live up to those organizations’ woke agendas,” Laura Morgan, Do No Harm’s program manager, told the DCNF. “This further promotes ideology ahead of quality medical education and race/ethnicity or sex over hiring the most qualified faculty and staff.”

CLICK HERE TO VIEW PAGE  4: Requited Follow-up For The School

The initial LCME report found that the school’s “diversity/pipeline programs and partnerships” element was “unsatisfactory” based on data that showed a low number of women at the institution. The LCME said that this was an “improvement for the 2020 entering class,” but that staff diversity remained low.

“DCI data show that 38.5% of full-time faculty and 22.2% of senior administrative staff are women,” the report reads. “No offers for faculty and senior administrative staff positions were made in several of the school’s diversity categories (American Indian/Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander) for the 2018-29 academic year.”

In response, the Utah school outlined several initiatives it took to recruit a more diverse student body. The efforts ranged from hosting an “Indigenous STEM Youth Outreach Program” to holding a “Day of the Dead Premedical Conference” and offering workshops to help undergraduate and pre-med students from “underrepresented” backgrounds prepare for the admissions process.

“Two significant areas for improvement are related to student and faculty diversity. SOM Office of Health Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (OHEDI) recognizes recruitment is important with compositional diversity and the need for intentional retention efforts for the success of all,” the school wrote in its report. “SOM OHEDI and health science center University of Utah Health, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (HSC UHEDI) are continuously working to identify needs for action to achieve desired results in terms of recruitment and retention of diverse faculty, students, and staff.”

CLICK HERE TO VIEW: Diversity Recruitment Days

The school held “diversity recruitment days” and offered scholarships specifically to students from “underrepresented populations” that covered the near total cost of tuition for four years, the report wrote. The school required its admissions staff to undergo “Anti-Bias Training” and to use a “holistic” admission process which required a cultural awareness essay for the 2021-2022 academic year.

Faculty search committees received anti-bias training, and most departments also require applicants to submit a diversity statement, according to the report.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW: School of Medicine Diverse Faculty Recruitment Initiative

The LCME responded in June 2022 that while the school had improved its diversity efforts, additional action is required. The accreditor labeled the school’s progress as “satisfactory with a need for mentoring,” but requested the school send a second status report by August 15, 2023.

“Medical education must not be undermined in favor of medical wokeness, and Utah taxpayers need to ask why this is being done at UUSOM,” Morgan told the DCNF.

The University of Utah School of Medicine and the LCME did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

AUTHOR

ALEXA SCHWERHA

Contributor.

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

House Speaker Paul Renner: ‘No More Government Permission Slips’ with Florida’s Constitutional Carry

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“Florida was the pioneer in the modern carry movement in America and this historic legislation continues our proud tradition.” — House Speaker Paul Renner (R-Palm Coast). 

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Jan. 30, 2023) — Today, House Speaker Paul Renner (R-Palm Coast) unveiled House Bill 543 to ensure that Floridians can exercise their Second Amendment rights without government interference. HB 543 will eliminate the need for a concealed weapons license (CWL) in the state of Florida. Constitutional carry allows Floridians who are currently qualified to obtain and maintain a CWL to carry a concealed handgun or weapon without a license.

“Floridians shouldn’t need a government permission slip to exercise their constitutional rights,” said Speaker Renner. “House Bill 543 will ensure Florida will remain a beacon of freedom. Florida was the pioneer in the modern carry movement in America and this historic legislation continues our proud tradition.”

“Through their service at home and abroad, Speaker Renner and Senator Collins have sacrificed to protect our constitutional rights,” said Senate President Kathleen Passidomo (R-Naples). “I stand with these brave warriors, with our law enforcement leaders, and with law-abiding Floridians across this state who should not have to ask the government for permission to protect themselves.”

Bill sponsor and Chair of the Justice Appropriations Subcommittee, Representative Chuck Brannan (R-Macclenny) added, “As a retired chief investigator with the Baker County Sheriff’s office, former Deputy U.S. Marshal, and gun owner, I filed this bill because I believe all Floridians have the right to bear arms to protect themselves, their families, and their property without any government interference.”

“As we stand here today, we have brave men and women in the farthest corners of the world safeguarding our freedom. As a retired U.S. Army Green Beret, I’ve been blessed to serve shoulder to shoulder with many of them. I believe we have an obligation here in Florida to respect their sacrifice by protecting our God-given and Constitutional rights here at home,” said Senator Jay Collins (R-Tampa). “I’m honored that President Passidomo has entrusted me with running this critical legislation in the Senate. I am also proud to stand with my fellow military veteran Speaker Renner, along with a 30-year law enforcement veteran, Representative Brannan, and with so many sheriffs from across our great state to make it clear that here in Florida under the leadership of Governor DeSantis, the government will not get in the way of law-abiding Americans who want to defend themselves and their families. I am looking forward to passing this vital legislation to codify our rights as U.S. citizens to keep and bear arms.”

“Our Constitution protects gun ownership rights and the ability to carry a firearm,” said Hernando County Sheriff and Florida Sheriffs Association President Al Nienhuis. “Violent career criminals are not applying for a state permit to carry a gun. Removing the permitting process will assist our law-abiding citizens with the protections they need to defend themselves and their families from those criminals who intend to do them harm. The Florida Sheriffs Association supports constitutional permitless carry, and we look forward to working with Governor DeSantis and the Legislature on this issue.”

A person carrying concealed without a license will still be required to obey existing laws prohibiting carrying in such places as schools, athletic events, and correctional facilities. The bill does not affect laws relating to the purchase of a firearm and will not allow anyone prohibited from possessing a firearm to carry concealed.

For more information and to follow the progress of HB 543, visit www.myfloridahouse.gov.

©Dr. Rich Swier. All rights reserved.

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Matt Gaetz Responds To Jerry Nadler Objecting His Request To Recite Pledge Of Allegiance Before Judiciary Hearings

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Democratic New York Rep. Jerry Nadler shut down Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz’s request to recite the Pledge of Allegiance before the House Judiciary Committee during a Wednesday hearing.

During the first Judiciary hearing with the new GOP-led Congress, Gaetz put forward an amendment to recite the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of each hearing, to which Nadler responded, saying, “I would oppose it simply on the grounds that, as members know, we pledge allegiance every day on the floor and I don’t know why we should pledge allegiance twice in the same day, to show how patriotic we are.” Gaetz mentioned he thought it would be a unifying and patriotic act.

Gaetz responded to Nadler’s opposition exclusively to the Daily Caller, saying, “Standing for the American flag isn’t controversial. Reciting the Pledge of Allegiance isn’t a waste of time. Democrats are so outraged at the idea of a daily dose of patriotism that they spent 30 minutes ranting and raving in opposition. Congress cannot expect the American people to believe they are fighting for their values when they don’t even care to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.”

WATCH: 

“It’s absurd that Democrats on the committee don’t even want to say the pledge of allegiance. You would think it would be a simple request – not so for the Judiciary Democrats, who almost seemed allergic to reciting the pledge,” Republican North Carolina Rep. Dan Bishop told the Daily Caller.

In 2021, House Judiciary Democrats appeared to make fun of Gaetz’s request to have the committee recite the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of hearings on a hot mic.

At the time, the Daily Caller obtained a video file from the hearing which included audio of a group of Democrats joking about Republicans’ request to have the Pledge of Allegiance recited before committee hearings. In the video, Tennessee Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen and an unidentified House Democrat can be heard appearing to joke about the request. They were reminded by a staffer that their microphones were hot, according to the audio.

The Caller contacted Nadler’s office about his opposition to Gaetz’s move to say the Pledge of Allegiance before Judiciary Committee meetings, to which they did not immediately respond.

AUTHOR

HENRY RODGERS

Chief national correspondent.

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

Utah Enacts Law with ‘Massive Loopholes’ for Minors Seeking Gender Transition Procedures

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If the point was grabbing headlines, Utah’s SB 16 has done the trick. More than a dozen outlets, from Fox News to Newsweek to CNN, described the bill Utah Governor Spencer Cox (R) signed Saturday as a “ban” on “gender-affirming” procedures for minors. Unfortunately, the bill no more banned ideological experiments on children than cross-sex hormones are “gender-affirming.”

The bill imposed a “moratorium” on “hormonal transgender treatment to a patient who: (a) is a minor … and (b) is not diagnosed with gender dysphoria before the effective date of this bill.” But the moratorium will only last until the state Department of Health and Human Services conducts a “systematic medical evidence review,” the purpose of which “is to provide the Legislature with recommendations to consider when deciding whether to lift the moratorium.” The Health Department must submit its completed report to the legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee, which is chaired by the bill’s sponsor.

It’s unclear how long the moratorium will remain in effect. A sunset provision in an earlier bill draft would have repealed both the evidence review and the moratorium in four years (on June 1, 2027), but it was stripped out by a voice vote on the House floor. The final version of the bill contains no timeline or end date for the evidence review; it could last for four years, or it could be done in less than four months. Once the evidence review concludes, the legislature will be free to replace the moratorium with the Health Department’s recommendation — which will likely permit gender transition procedures on minors.

The study will likely reach a pro-transition procedure conclusion because the Utah Health Department will conduct it “in consultation with” three state licensing agencies, the University of Utah, and a Utah hospital system. Even in deeply conservative regions, universities and hospital systems are often deeply invested in lucrative gender-transition procedures. The University of Utah also prescribes gender transition hormones to adolescents. “You don’t want people who stand to make money off of transitioning kids in charge of determining that this is a safe procedure,” Joseph Backholm, FRC’s senior fellow for Biblical Worldview and Strategic Engagement, who has testified on SAFE Act-style bills before multiple state legislatures, told The Washington Stand.

Utah’s state agencies also support gender transition. During the period of the review, one involved agency, the Utah Division of Professional Licensing, will also be issuing “transgender treatment certifications” — essentially approving gender transition treatments for minors.

The Utah Health Department will find no difficulty in tipping the review towards the politically desirable outcome because “so much of the research is politicized,” said Backholm. A peer reviewed study published this month found that two studies which represent “the best available evidence for the practice of youth medical gender transition” are “methodologically flawed and should have never been used in medical settings as justification.” With the research playing to their bias, the Utah Health Department will find steering a scientific review towards their desired outcome to be easier than stealing futures from a child — which is exactly what they’re doing.

Even while the moratorium remains in effect, it won’t protect Utah minors from gender transition procedures. “Written into the law is a loophole so big that anyone who wants to get through it can,” Backholm told TWS. The law prohibits gender transition “surgeries and hormone treatments only until a minor is diagnosed with gender dysphoria,” Backholm explained. “These days, that is a very low bar.” All it takes is an “activist psychiatrist” willing to say that a minor has gender dysphoria, he said, and “everyone knows, ‘Hey, that’s the doctor you’re looking for.’”

Backholm compared the diagnosis exception to an abortion law with an exceptions for the “health of the mother.” Such a term is usually defined broadly to include mental health, which could include any form of stress, which telescopes the exception out to cover just about anything, he explained.

Nearly a quarter of the bill’s length is devoted to building an infrastructure to regulate the ongoing administration of gender transition procedures for minors. The bill directs the Utah Division of Professional Licensing to “create a transgender treatment certification” by July 1. It requires mental health professionals wishing to obtain this certification to complete “40 hours of education related to transgender health care for minors from an approved organization.” That requires the state to approve an organization with staff and curriculum providing training on transgender treatment of minors. It provides a system for individuals to renew their transgender treatment certification at the same time they renew their license to practice. Creating these new procedures hardly sounds like Utah intends to pause all gender transition procedures.

Utah established further transgender infrastructure via detailed treatment guidelines. To provide “hormonal transgender treatment” to a minor, a provider must first treat the minor “for gender dysphoria for at least six months,” including at least three sessions. The provider must “determine if the minor has other physical or mental health conditions” and consider whether “an alternative medical treatment … would provide the minor the best long-term outcome” (with the right activist, that answer is an automatic “no”). The provider must discuss risks, expectations, medical information, and “possible adverse outcomes” with the minor and his or her parents, and then obtain their consent. The provider must “document” this information “in the medical record.” Finally, the provider must obtain a mental health evaluation from a second credentialed provider — that is, from a second individual, who could work out of the same hospital or clinic. Far from obstructing gender transition procedures for minors, Utah Republicans seem to have merely regulated them.

The Utah legislature’s inaction appears more scandalous in light of the medical disclosures they require. Puberty blockers “are not approved by the FDA for the treatment of gender dysphoria,” people must say, who are prescribing them to minors for that very purpose. Not only that, but “possible adverse outcomes of puberty blockers are known to include diminished bone density, pseudotumor cerebri, and long term adult sexual dysfunction.” Oh, and there’s no “research on the long-term risks to children,” nor do we know “the full effects of puberty blockers on brain development and cognition.” That’s written into the law.

The medical disclosure for cross-sex hormones unveiled even graver consequences. For males, the risks can “include blood clots, gallstones, coronary artery disease, heart attacks, tumors of the pituitary gland, strokes, elevated levels of triglycerides in the blood, breast cancer, and irreversible infertility.” For females, the risks can include “erythrocytosis [a blood disorder], severe liver dysfunction, coronary artery disease, hypertension, and increased risk of breast and uterine cancers.” What is this, a commercial during a PGA tournament?

Somehow, Utah legislators acknowledged all these risks and concluded that it was fine for children to be exposed to them — so long as a couple of doctors filled out some forms and checked some boxes.

“This bill is politics,” said Backholm. “These legislators certainly heard from parents who are concerned about how this will affect children. [The legislators] want to tell the parents that they protected kids, but left a massive loophole written in the law. Politicians do this all the time.”

Utah’s feint against gender transition procedures stands in sharp contrast to bills introduced in other states, said Backholm, which say, physicians “may not do [gender transition procedures] under any circumstances.”

Backholm was concerned that other states would use Utah as an example simply because they got a good press cycle. “I am concerned that other states will see this as a way to quickly dismiss the issue, so they can tell the uninformed that they protected kids, without actually protecting kids.” Such a compromise is unacceptable.

Backholm said he is “inherently suspicious of Utah because they have mastered the art of compromise.” He said Utah moderates sold out conservatives by inventing the policy surrender known Fairness for All.

Governor Cox’s record is far from conservative on gender identity issues. In 2022, he vetoed a bill to protect women’s sports before the legislature overrode his veto. Yet Cox was willing to sign this bill on gender transition procedures. He described the weak measure as a “nuanced and thoughtful” strategic pause “as we work to better understand the science and consequences behind these procedures.”

“More and more experts, states, and countries around the world are pausing these permanent and life-altering treatments for new patients until more and better research can help determine the long-term consequences,” Cox said.

The question is, when will Utah?

AUTHOR

Joshua Arnold

Joshua Arnold is a staff writer at The Washington Stand.

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

Meet the Pro-Life Family Merrick Garland Tried to Rip Apart

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“I’m George Bailey today,” were among the first words spoken by Mark Houck in the moments following his acquittal on Monday. The pro-life husband and father of seven had been subjected to months of torturous waiting under a looming prosecution by the Biden administration that could have resulted in a sentence of 11 years in federal prison. While the Department of Justice claimed that Houck had violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act outside of a Philadelphia Planned Parenthood, the Houck family and its faithful allies knew the Biden administration’s politically-motivated narrative was a far cry from the truth.

Houck was accused of pushing 72-year-old Bruce Love, an abortion facility escort, to the ground. Houck’s attorneys notified the DOJ that, though there was no legal foundation for a FACE Act charge, Houck would appear voluntarily if summoned. Rather than accept this responsible offer, Merrick Garland’s DOJ saw fit to arrest Houck in the most humiliating and traumatizing manner possible — by 25 federal agents, at gunpoint, in the early hours of the morning, in front of his terrified wife and crying small children, who will no doubt bear the psychological repercussions of this incident for years to come.

No objective observer could doubt the intentions behind the theatrical arrest of Mark Houck: Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Biden administration’s DOJ intended to make an example of the pro-life activist, no matter the cost to his life or family.

Unfortunately for the rabid abortion extremist in the Oval Office and his shameless henchman at the DOJ, the case against Houck rested on sinking sand. Houck’s attorneys with the Thomas More Society handily proved that the FACE Act did not apply in Houck’s case. Bruce Love had a proven history of such acts of aggression; the pro-life father was merely defending his son after Love aggressively harassed the 12-year-old boy with profanities while the father and son prayed together, far away from the entrance of the abortion facility.

After days of waiting, the jury pushed past deadlock to deliver a verdict: Mark Houck was not guilty of violating the FACE Act. Despite every effort from the federal government to paint Houck as a violent pro-life radical, the jury had seen the truth — Houck was not aggressing against an “enemy” for his beliefs about abortion. He was protecting his terrified child from an immanent threat, as any good father would do.

The Houck family’s prayerful defense against the oppression of an abortion-obsessed federal government is truly commendable. Houck’s 12-year-old son, whom Mark emotionally called the “star witness,” courageously took the stand during the trial to defend his father, truthfully setting straight the facts that adults had attempted to manipulate. May we all praise the Lord for empowering the Houck family to set an example for all pro-lifers who find themselves as the David facing down the Goliath of the abortion industry.

We must not forget, however, that, while God used for good that which men intended for evil, the suffering of the Houck family since Mark’s arrest in September 2022 was a needless perversion of the law to serve the Biden administration’s radical love of abortion. The DOJ has unquestionably been weaponized against the pro-life movement, even in the face of absurdly disproportionate violence against pro-life organizations, property, and people. Family Research Council has tracked at least 124 instances of such pro-abortion violence, harassment, destruction of property, and vandalism. So far, the DOJ has brought charges against only two pro-abortion activists under the FACE Act, compared to 26 pro-lifers.

Congressman Chip Roy (R-Texas) has previously stated in reference to the Houck case, “Attorney General Merrick Garland oversees an increasingly politicized FBI that seems hell-bent on making examples of average American citizens who don’t align politically with the administration. … Congress owes the American people transparent accountability for any and all wrongdoing by the FBI and Garland’s DOJ.” Garland has faced calls for impeachment on multipleoccasions.

The outcome of Mark Houck’s trial is a monumental victory for pro-lifers across the country, countless of whom regularly pray and sidewalk counsel outside of abortion facilities in hopes of sparing mothers and their children from the violence of abortion. However, Houck’s case should never have made it to trial in the first place. American citizens, regardless of their personal convictions and religious beliefs, should not be harassed or made examples of based on the radical whims of the federal government. The Biden administration’s abortion radicalism has gone too far — it is high time for accountability that brings justice for pro-life Americans.

As for Mark Houck, the pro-life movement’s George Bailey, no schemes of abortion radicals will keep him from sharing with moms and their unborn babies that it truly is a wonderful life.

AUTHOR

Joy Stockbauer

Joy Stockbauer is a policy analyst for the Center for Human Dignity at Family Research Council.

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

Ilhan Omar Unfit for Foreign Affairs Committee

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The House could vote as early as today on whether to remove Congresswoman Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee.  The stated reason is that she cannot be an objective decisionmaker in foreign affairs given her anti-Semitism and her bias against Israel.   Omar doesn’t defend on the merits, as far as I can see from news accounts, but instead claims she is the victim of Islamophobia.  I checked her official website.  There’s nothing on there addressing her bias against Israel, so playing the Islamophobia card is her whole case.

Sorry, Representative Omar, not good enough, not even close.  The main voice for Islam in America – the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) recently came out with a statement that accusations of ‘Islamophobia’ require proof of bigoted intent.  CAIR said people should not be lightly accused of ‘Islamophobia’ without evidence they are bigots.  CAIR confirmed this position in a press release.

Where’s your proof, Representative Omar, that everyone who is set to vote against you today harbors bigoted intent?  Where’s your proof this is about bigoted intent and not your inability to be impartial toward an important U.S. ally, Israel?  She has no proof, so her claims of ‘Islamophobia’ can be thrown in the trash where they belong.

It’s not surprising she’s playing the ‘Islamophobia’ card on this.  She has a one-track mind about Islamophobia.  She sponsored a bill to monitor and combat Islamophobia that passed the House in 2021.  The bill did not attempt to define ‘Islamophobia’, but that’s where the rub is.

CAIR is currently promoting a bill in New Jersey that would define ‘Islamophobia’ for purposes of establishing intent for hate crimes or violations of any anti-discrimination law, policy, or regulation.  It’s a bad idea, starting with the free speech problems it would create.  An anti-sharia activist I know wrote a letter to a New Jersey state senator stating, among other things:

This legislation would criminalize University cultural studies, political science, and criminal justice studies textbooks, discussions, research papers, theses, and dissertations. For example, see page 11, 38, and 93 of the attached text for World View discussions that would run afoul of Para 11 and 13….This legislation criminalizes scholarship and public debate.

Shutting down free speech is not the only problem with going after ‘Islamophobia’.   Defining ‘Islamophobia’ was under consideration in Britain, but the government recently abandoned the attempt.  B’nai Brith points out the problems with trying to define the term:  “The group says the broad definition could lead to students or staff being punished for expressing dislike for the Republic of Iran’s persecution of LGBTQ people or restrictions placed on women in Saudi Arabia.”   British government officials said defining the term would also hamper counterterrorism operations and stoke community tensions.  New Jersey lawmakers should reject the attempt in their state that would only serve to shield human rights abuses.

And members of Congress should reject Ilhan Omar’s Islamophobia bill, should she offer it again, for the same reasons.

I have another problem with Ilhan Omar.  She is the one who famously dismissed 9/11 as merely “some people did something.”  Until she owns up to the fact this was an Islamic jihad attack, carried out under standard Islamic doctrine found in the Quran, and squarely condemns the attack for killing 3,000 people, she should not be serving on ANY congressional committee.  In fact, she shouldn’t be in Congress at all.

©Christopher Wright. All rights reserved.

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Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Death Tracker As She Dances In The Streets

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Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot took hits for being “tone-deaf” and was slammed as the “Marie Antoinette of America’s mayors” on Monday’s “Outnumbered,” where the panel dissected footage of her dancing in the streets of The Windy City at Sunday’s Lunar New Year parade amid startling crime surges.

Murder and crimes spikes in Chicago while Lori Lightfoot dances in the street…quite literally.

Chicago has almost 3,000 homicides and over 11,000 shootings since Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s term began. She makes Nero look like a rookie.

Chicago is a literal hellscape.

Watch:

Watch here. Start at minute 15:45:

NY Post reports:

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has been slammed for cheerfully dancing in the streets during a Lunar New Year parade, as violent crime surges and major retailers abandon the Windy City’s main drag.

Lightfoot, who is seeking re-election next month, was captured on video busting moves while surrounded by a drumline at Sunday’s parade.

Her carefree dancing prompted one Chicago news outlet to blast her as “detached from reality.”

“Since @chicagosmayor’s term began, Chicago has suffered 2,278 homicides and over 9,000 shot. Since January 1, the city has endured 41 homicides and 194 shot,” the Chicago Contrarian outlet said in a tweet.

“Yet here Lightfoot is blissfully dancing and asking voters to return her to office,” it added.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was blasted for dancing during a Lunar New Year parade while the city is wracked by crime and businesses abandon the famed shopping district.

Crime rates in the city have skyrocketed by 61% in the first three weeks of 2023, compared to the previous year, according to data from Chicago police. Authorities received 4,844 crime reports, up from 3,013 in the same period last year.

Two people were killed and 13 others, including a 3-year-old boy, were wounded this weekend in shootings across the city, ABC7 reported. Last weekend, seven people were killed and at least 23 others were wounded in a similar manner.

Meanwhile, 13 robberies were carried out over two hours on the city’s South and West sides Saturday night into early Sunday, NBC Chicago reported. In each incident, one or more people riding in a vehicle drove up to the victims.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

RELATED ARTICLE: Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot encourages businesses to go cashless amid surging crime

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

GOOGLE LEAKS THREAD: Clear Evidence of Blacklists and Machine Algorithms Designed To Censor Conservatives and Populists

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The morning after the [2016] election, [Google] employees cried, lost their minds, and planned their resistance.

Google’s war on information and accuracy began in the run up to the 2008 election – Obama. Anything critical of Obama was pushed down the search results or scrubbed.  In 2008, Geller Report (then Atlas Shrugs)  began reporting on Google’s systematic attack on truth and accuracy. We were shadowbanned (or as I then called it sandboxed) in 2008 with the Obama birth certificate scandal. The response back then to Google bans and censorship healthy – it was vigorous and loud. And Google was forced to respond. We were, in large part, shouting into the void. No one stopped them. Few on the right thought it was an existential threat.

They spent the next decade perfecting it. But it was  was the election of Donald J. Trump that proved to be the tipping point for left wing giant’s take down of American freedom.

In 2019, 950 pages of Google’s internal documents leaked, providing evidence of Google’s use of blacklists and machine learning algorithms to censor conservatives and populists. In 2019, 950 pages of Google’s internal documents leaked, providing evidence of Google’s use of blacklists and machine learning algorithms to censor conservatives and populists.

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki described how Google uses “machine learning” and “classifiers” to bury “trashy news” and promote “authoritative news.” Machine learning is when algorithms are fed real-world information and learn to make decisions based on the patterns they find.

Many of the concepts that his research pioneered are used by Twitter to subconsciously swing election results.

Google receives 5.6 billion daily searches, controlling 90% of global search traffic.

YouTube has 2.3 billion users.

Our beliefs are inseparably linked to search results, but Google is a biased source of information, and the tech platform actively manipulates what we see.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

RELATED ARTICLES:

Google Leak Shows Company’s Mad Scramble to Do Damage Control for Pfizer After Project Veritas’ Bombshell Video

America’s Systemic Racism Problem Is Mostly In Woke, Anti-Asian Education Bureaucracies

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

EMAIL BOMBSHELL: Hunter Biden Offered to Sell Intelligence on Russia To Alcoa Inc. for $55,000

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This is not a political issue. This is matter of national security.

Hunter Biden Alcoa email promising Russian oligarch info raises fresh concern about Joe’s access

By Caitlin Doornbos, The NY Post, January 30, 2023:

Hunter Biden converted Delaware home with classified documents into second office

WASHINGTON –A Hunter Biden email sent to an American aluminum company and promising information on Russian oligarchs is raising fresh concerns about the first son’s access to classified documents recently discovered in his father’s Wilmington, Del., home as lawmakers prepare to investigate allegations of influence peddling.

Documents dating back to 2011 on his notorious “laptop from hell” showed Hunter offered to sell intelligence on Russian oligarchs to the US aluminum firm Alcoa Inc. for $55,000, according to The Post’s exclusive October 2021 report.

As his father served as former President Barack Obama’s second-in-command, Hunter Biden offered to provide a “statistical analysis of political and corporate risks, elite networks associated with Oleg Deripaska, the Russian CEO of Basic Element company and United company RUSAL,” which had just signed a metal supply agreement with Alcoa.

Hunter Biden also offered the company a “list of elites of similar rank in Russia, map of [Deripaska’s] networks based on frequency of interaction with selected elites and countries.”

The deeply detailed proposal has come under sharp scrutiny given recent revelations that Hunter Biden had access to the Delaware lake-front home where secret papers from his father’s time as vice president were discovered in a garage, basement and library — combined with Republicans taking control of the House of Representatives.

Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), the high-profile former chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, told The Post that the Alcoa solicitation fits within a broader picture.

“The Biden family is the most corrupt family in the history of American politics,” he said. “The biggest question facing Republican investigators: Where to begin?”

Banks is not alone. Others, such as Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), have raised suspicions that Hunter Biden, who has previously listed the 6,850-square-foot mansion as his home, may have used the classified documents in business dealings.

Johnson said an April 12, 2014 Hunter Biden email to his business partner about Ukraine from 2014 looked “suspiciously” like it could have come from classified information.

“It reads like one of those scene-setters — highly detailed information in terms of Ukraine,” Johnson told Fox News Tuesday.

Hunter Biden has access to the Wilmington mansion where classified documents were found in several locations.

The email from Hunter to Devon Archer included a 22-point memo he described as “thoughts after doing some research” included prescient predictions that Petro Poroshenko would be elected Ukraine’s president and “some sort of decentralization will likely occur in the East.”

“If it doesn’t the Russians will continue to escalate there [sic] destabilization campaign, which could lead to a full scale take over of the eastern region most critically Donetsk,” Hunter Biden wrote. “The strategic value is to create a land bridge for RU[ssia] to Crimea.”

In hearings to start next week, the House Oversight Committee will investigate Hunter Biden’s alleged influence peddling, cashing in on ties to his then-vice president father to rake in millions from foreign companies, its chairman, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), told the National Press Club on Monday.

With suspicions that first son Hunter Biden had detailed insider info from his dad – some of it evidenced on emails found on his notorious laptop – alongside curious foreign business dealings and transactions, Comer is vowing to shine a light on the matters.

“We have evidence that … we’ll continue to be transparent with as we start our hearings next week, where this family is taking in millions of millions of dollars from our adversaries,” he said. “And I think we need to determine what was that money for [and] who supplied that money?”

Keep reading.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

RELATED ARTICLES:

DOJ Searches Biden’s Delaware Home For Second Time

WHISTLEBLOWER: US Election Data Stored In China

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

Federal Judge Blocks Gavin Newsom’s War Against the Freedom of Speech

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At times, frankly, it’s pretty slim pickings for every party, but this is ridiculous: Old Joe Biden is looking increasingly unlikely to repeat his president act after January 20, 2025, and California Governor Gavin Newsom is now the Democrats’ rising star.

Yes, that Gavin Newsom, the one who is relentlessly destroying California with ever more intrusive and expensive nanny state socialist measures that are leading Californians to flee in droves: the state is experiencing a population decline for the first time in recorded history.

But Newsom is popular among Leftists because he is a socialist, and even better (as far as they’re concerned), an authoritarian who eagerly tramples upon the First Amendment in his lust to crack down on dissent. As the Left grows ever more open about its opposition to our Constitutional rights, Newsom’s disdain for the freedom of speech makes him look increasingly like the Democrat of the future, if the future belongs to Mao. But now he has encountered a small obstacle, in the form of a federal judge.

Back in September 2022, Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2098, a law prohibiting the dissemination of “misinformation” on the COVID hysteria. Specifically, according to a Thursday report in the San Francisco Gate, it established penalties for physicians who departed from “the contemporary scientific consensus” regarding COVID. Now that this “consensus” is being shown to have been based more on groupthink and political objectives rather than dispassionate and objective scientific analysis, Newsom’s bill appears to be particularly insidious. And it is: “misinformation” and “disinformation” are labels that today’s enemies of freedom use in order to suppress speech that gets in the way of their agenda while fooling Leftist rubes into thinking they’re performing a valuable public service. Newsom, not surprisingly, is an enthusiastic proponent of such deceptions.

According to the governor himself, of course, this fascist little bill was perfect, as it was “narrowly tailored to apply only to those egregious instances in which a licensee is acting with malicious intent or clearly deviating from the required standard of care while interacting directly with a patient under their care.” However, the Gate notes that “in an SFGATE op-ed last year, California physician Dr. Tracy Beth Høeg argued that AB 2098’s definition of ‘misinformation’ was too broad and that ‘the contemporary scientific consensus’ is always changing.” Indeed. If anything is obvious about COVID at this point, it’s that. And so “Høeg and other doctors sued the state, alleging that the law violates the First Amendment’s free speech protections and 14th Amendment’s due process protections.” Obviously it does.

Now a federal judge has recognized that fact. On Wednesday, Judge William B. Shubb shot down Newsom’s free-speech-destroying measure, and had strong words for it in his opinion: “Defendants argue that while the scientific consensus may sometimes be difficult to define, there is a clear scientific consensus on certain issues — for example, that apples contain sugar, that measles is caused by a virus, or that Down’s syndrome is caused by a chromosomal abnormality. However, AB 2098 does not apply the term ‘scientific consensus’ to such basic facts, but rather to COVID-19 — a disease that scientists have only been studying for a few years, and about which scientific conclusions have been hotly contested. COVID-19 is a quickly evolving area of science that in many aspects eludes consensus.”

Imagine if Gavin Newsom had had the marvelous opportunity to be walking on this planet in the year 1632. There is no doubt whatsoever about it: he would have been one of those insisting that Galileo obey the clear scientific consensus that the sun revolved around the earth, and would happily have burned him at the stake if he continued to insist otherwise. The contents of the orthodoxy and the heresy have changed, but otherwise the situation is the same: Gavin Newsom would have been a zealous Inquisitor. And Judge Shubb further embarrassed California’s Grand Inquisitor by pointing out that the definition of “misinformation” included in AB 2098 was “grammatically incoherent” and consequently thus “unconstitutionally vague.” The Gate adds that Shubb “had signaled he would grant the doctors’ request at a Monday hearing, in which he told California’s lawyers that their definition of ‘misinformation’ was ‘nonsense.’”

Totalitarians don’t give up when they encounter obstacles, and so Newsom will persist. The Gate notes that Shubb’s ruling was “not a final judgment on the constitutionality of the law but rather a temporary halt against enforcement while litigation continues. California can appeal to have the injunction lifted,” and you can be sure that it will. Although little noted among patriots, the war against the freedom of speech is the Left’s primary focus at this point. If Leftists can destroy it, under the guise of protecting the public against such trumped-up bogeymen as “hate speech” and “misinformation,” they will have a free hand to implement the rest of their sinister agenda. That’s why this small victory against AB 2098 should be celebrated, and imitated.

AUTHOR

ROBERT SPENCER

RELATED ARTICLES:

Gavin Newsom’s ‘Suicide Pact’ With the Truth

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Ilhan Omar claims Republicans don’t want a Muslim on foreign affairs committee, are ‘OK with Islamophobia’

Colorado: Muslim who murdered ten people in supermarket once again ruled incompetent to stand trial

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

NIH Records Reveal FBI Inquiry of Wuhan Grant Records Show ‘Gain-of-Function’ Concerns about Wuhan Lab Going Back to 2016

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Washington, D.C. — Judicial Watch announced today that it received 1651 pages of records from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) revealing an FBI “inquiry” into the NIH’s controversial bat coronavirus grant tied to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The records also show National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) officials were concerned about “gain-of-function” research in China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology in 2016. The Fauci agency was also concerned about EcoHealth Alliance’s lack of compliance with reporting rules and use of gain-of-function research in the NIH-funded research involving bat coronaviruses in Wuhan, China.

The records also show EcoHealth Alliance’s legal team suggesting that a records request for data on their bat coronavirus research in Wuhan be denied because of the January 6 disturbance.

Judicial Watch obtained the records through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit for records of communications, contracts and agreements with the Wuhan Institute of Virology (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (No. 1:21-cv-00696)).

In an email dated May 22, 2020, with the subject line, “Grant Questions – FBI Inquiry – 1-R01A1I110964-01 – 2-R01AI110964-06,” Ashley Sanders, a senior investigations officer in the NIH Division of Program Integrity, within NIH’s Office of Management Assessment, emails David A. Miller, an agent at the FBI’s Newark Field Office to inform Miller, “In preparation for our call on Tuesday, Erik [Stemmy] (cc’d) has provided responses to your initial questions below (also attached).” Also copied on Sanders’ email is Mike Shannon, whose email address indicates he works in the NIH Office of the Director. The responses are completely redacted but are labeled “SF [Standard Form] 424 AI110964-06 (received date 11/05/2018),” which refers to NIH grant award R01AI110964, “Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence.”

The records reveal several indications of gain-of-function research, as well as failures to comply with reporting regulations, including a May 9, 2016, email marked “High” importance, in which NIH official Carine Normil notes Peter Daszak’s failure to file a progress report on EcoHealth’s bat coronavirus research:

This is the second communication from NIAID requesting that you file the progress report for the above-referenced grant [5R01AI110964] that was due no later than April 15, 2016. Please submit the delinquent report by May 12, 2016…. [P]lease be advised that continued late submission of your non-competing grant progress report and any subsequently requested documentation will result in a reduction of time and/or funds for this grant.

NIAID official Erik Stemmy, who is copied on her email, replies to Normil noting, “They have proposed work for the next year of the award that may be subject to the gain-of-function funding pause.”  

EcoHealth Alliance Chief of Staff Alexa Chmura separately responds to Normil saying, “We received a warning that one of the publications [redacted] listed from the past year is non-compliant.”

In a letter dated May 28, 2016, from NIH official Jenny Greer and NIH Program Manager Erik Stemmy, the officials advise Chmura that the NIH grant for the Wuhan bat project, “may include Gain of Function (GoF) research that is subject to the U.S. Government funding pause … issued on October 17, 2014.” They add that this pause was based on the following line in the grant application: “Aim 3: Testing predictions of CoV inter-species transmission.”

In an email dated June 15, 2016, from Stemmy to Grant Operations, Stemmy notes that the EcoHealth bat research at WIV may include gain-of-function research: “The Daszak award may have GoF [gain-of-function] and I’ve been in touch with the GMS [Grants Management Specialist] for a while now.”

In an email dated August 3, 2021, EcoHealth Alliance Chief of Staff Aleksei Chmura sends an email to NIH officials with the subject line “5 ROl AI110964 (Interim Report),” which is the grant number for the “Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence” program. The report, which seems to detail gain-of-function research, is attached:

To analyze which viruses were a potential public health risk, we managed to cultivate three strains of SARSr-CoVs from bat feces… We used the genetic codes of some of the other viruses we found in bats and inserted spike protein genes of those viruses (the proteins that attach to cells) into the cultured viruses. By doing this experiment we showed that other viruses may also be able to infect human cells, and were able to do this safely without the need to culture large amounts of virus…. This work proves that there is a clear and present danger for future emergence of novel SARS-like viruses in people.

The August 2021 report also details that $66,500 of the award was budgeted for China in the grant period June 1, 2014, to May 31, 2019.

Records in 2020 include an April 21 NIH email thread regarding “additional subawardees,” referring to NIH grant award R01AI110964 “Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence.” Ten facilities are listed including:

Wuhan Institute of Virology, China;

Institute of Pathogen Biology, China;

Duke-NUS, Singapore;

San Pya Clinic, Burma;

Institut Pasteur du Cambodge, Cambodia;

Primate Research Center at Bogor Agricultural University, Indonesia;

Conservation Medicine, Ltd, Malaysia;

King Chulagongkorn Memorial Hospital, Thailand;

Hanoi Agricultural University, Vietnam;

National Animal Health Laboratory, Laos;

East China Normal University, China, is listed as a “consultant.”

Also in this thread, on April 21, 2020, senior NIH official Matthew Fenton advises his NIH colleagues that in the EcoHealth Wuhan bat project’s grant, the WIV received $76,301 one year, the Institute of Pathogen Biology in Beijing received $75,600 and the East China Normal University in Shanghai received $49,750. 

In an October 23, 2020, letter NIH Deputy Director Michael Lauer notes to Daszak that the Wuhan Institute of Virology had not satisfied safety requirements that applied to subawards with EcoHealth:

[W]e have concerns that the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), which previously served as a subrecipient of the Project, had not satisfied safety requirements that applied to its subawards with EcoHealth, and that EcoHealth had not satisfied its obligations to monitor the activities of its subrecipient to ensure compliance.”  

Lauer then enumerated all the funds WIV had received in the first five years of the grant through EcoHealth, including $133,595, $139,015, $159,122, $159,122 and $159,122.

In an email dated April 11, 2021, and flagged as “High” importance, Daszak acknowledges that he knows FOIA requests would be inevitable for information on EcoHealth’s work.

I’ve tried to stick to a logical argument, but I’m also mindful of the dozens of FoIA requests targeting EHA [EcoHealth Alliance] and myself and that previous letters have been leaked to the press, so have made sure all details are laid out. I do not aim to make this letter public, of course and am sending this to you confidentially.

In an email and letter both dated April 11, 2021, Daszak informs Lauer that it would be difficult to get the information Lauer requested about the Wuhan bat project because of the termination of EcoHealth’s funding:

This termination of a funded relationship with the [Wuhan Institute of Virology] makes it extraordinarily difficult and more likely impossible to provide the information requested about an autonomous foreign organization – as would also be the case for a domestic one – that our organization neither works with currently, nor has control over.

Daszak further states that NIH’s FOIA officer, Gorka Garcia-Malene, had informed Daszak that “any indication from my program [NIH FOIA Office] that there is an ongoing investigation into WIV [Wuhan Institute of Virology] can now be disregarded, as we recently confirmed there are no pending investigations into that organization.” [Emphasis in original]

NIH asks EcoHealth to “Provide [a sample] of the actual SARS-CoV-2 virus that WIV used to determine the viral sequence.” Daszak responds that it would be “effectively impossible” to request such a sample.

In response to NIH’s requirement to provide copies of all WIV biosafety reports from June 1, 2014, through May 31, 2019, Daszak writes, “Given the intense geopolitical pressure around the accusations that WIV intentionally or accidentally released SARS-CoV-2 (something which the WHO mission deemed ‘extremely unlikely’), obtaining such information is not a plausible option at present.” Daszak includes email correspondence between the law firm representing EcoHealth and NIH’s FOIA office on January 25, 2021. When NIH sought assistance from EcoHealth in processing a FOIA request, the law firm’s representative said the FOIA request should be denied because of the January 6 disturbance: “[A]s demonstrated by the recent attack on the US Capitol fueled by disinformation and conspiracy theories, the need to protect the privacy of EcoHealth Alliance’s employees and affiliates is more important than ever.”

In a letter dated April 13, 2021, Lauer indicates that Daszak has failed to provide all reports and documents that NIH had previously asked him to produce regarding NIH grant R01AI100964. Lauer also cites the contract language requiring Daszak to provide these documents. 

In a letter dated July 23, 2021, from Lauer to Daszak and Chmura, Lauer requires EcoHealth to produce detailed records relating to three of their NIH awards including the Wuhan Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence project as well as grant U01A/151797, titled Understanding Risk of Zoonotic Virus Emergence in EID Hotspots of Southeast Asia involving Chulalongkorn Hospital and Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, Duke-National Singapore University and University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; and grant U01A/153420 involving the International Center for Diarrhoearal Disease Research of Bangladesh, Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research of Bangladesh. Lauer writes:

For us to continue our analyses, we will need to receive and review WIV’s [Wuhan Institute of Virology] records validating expenditures specific to R01AI100964 … that WIV submitted to you. As a reminder, subawardees are required to have a financial management system that includes records that identify adequately the source and application of funds for federally-funded activities.

[ *** ]

We will also need to see subaward agreements, subawardee audit reports, subawardee safety monitoring documents, subawardee progress reports submitted to you, and subawardee financial and accounting records for two other NIH EcoHealth Alliance grants. 

Lauer informs Daszak that the NIH had determined EcoHealth to be out of compliance:

We are also writing to notify you that a review of our records for R01AI100964 [the Wuhan bat project] indicates that EcoHealth Alliance, Inc. is out of compliance with requirements to submit the following reports that are outlined in the NIHGPS [National Institutes of Health Grants Policy Statement]: the Federal Financial Report … and the Interim Research Performance Progress Report … 

Lauer adds that the grant was issued under a “Streamlined Noncompeting Award Process (SNAP)” and that EcoHealth Alliance had not submitted a required report that was due months earlier. Lauer warns Daszak, “[A] history of non-compliance related to R01AI100964, including reporting non-compliance, may impact other projects where EcoHealth serves as the primary grant recipient.”

(The NIH in April 2020 suspended funding to EcoHealth Alliance that “had previously established a partnership with a virology laboratory in Wuhan, China,” but in August 2021 provided a grant of $7.5 million that would reportedly “focus on Southeast Asia and the emergence of coronaviruses; filoviruses, the family responsible for Ebola; and paramyxoviruses, a family of viruses that includes measles and mumps.”)

“The incredible disclosure of an FBI inquiry shows that Fauci and others involved in this scandal were being dishonest in dismissing the seriousness of questions about their cover-up of their funding of dangerous gain-of-function research in China,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Any FBI inquiry would be appropriate as these documents, extracted by Judicial Watch after years of stonewalling, also show that Fauci’s agency knew and should have known, going back to 2016, that it funded dangerous and prohibited gain-of-function research in China,” 

Previous disclosures from this lawsuit include:

  • HHS records revealed that from 2014 to 2019, $826,277 was given to the Wuhan Institute of Virology for bat coronavirus research by the NIAID.
  • NIAID records showed that it gave nine China-related grants to EcoHealth Alliance to research coronavirus emergence in bats and was the NIH’s top issuer of grants to the Wuhan lab itself. The records also included an email from the vice director of the Wuhan Lab asking an NIH official for help finding disinfectants for decontamination of airtight suits and indoor surfaces.
  • HHS records included an “urgent for Dr. Fauci ” email chain, citing ties between the Wuhan lab and the taxpayer-funded EcoHealth Alliance. The government emails also reported that the foundation of U.S. billionaire Bill Gates worked closely with the Chinese government to pave the way for Chinese-produced medications to be sold outside China and help “raise China’s voice of governance by placing representatives from China on important international counsels as high level commitment from China.”
  • HHS records included a grant application for research involving the coronavirus that appears to describe “gain-of-function” research involving RNA extractions from bats, experiments on viruses, attempts to develop a chimeric virus and efforts to genetically manipulate the full-length bat SARSr-CoV WIV1 strain molecular clone.
  • HHS records showed the State Department and NIAID knew immediately in January 2020 that China was withholding COVID data, which was hindering risk assessment and response by public health officials.

Through FOIA requests and lawsuits, Judicial Watch has uncovered a substantial amount of information about COVID-19 issues:

  • May 2022: University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) records show the former director of the Galveston National Laboratory at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Dr. James W. Le Duc warned Chinese researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology of potential investigations into the COVID issue by Congress.
  • May 2022: HHS records regarding biodistribution studies and related data for the COVID-19 vaccines show a key component of the vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech, lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), were found outside the injection site, mainly the liver, adrenal glands, spleen and ovaries of test animals, eight to 48 hours after injection.
  • April 2022: Records from the Federal Select Agent Program (FSAP) reveal safety lapses and violations at U.S. biosafety laboratories that conduct research on dangerous agents and toxins.
  • March 2022: HHS records include emails between National Institutes of Health (NIH) then-Director Francis Collins and Anthony Fauci, the director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), about hydroxychloroquine and COVID-19.
  • March 2021: HHS records show that NIH officials tailored confidentiality forms to China’s terms and that the World Health Organization (WHO) conducted an unreleased, “strictly confidential” COVID-19 epidemiological analysis in January 2020.
  • October 2020: Fauci emails include his approval of a press release supportive of China’s response to the 2019 novel coronavirus.

RELATED ARTICLES:

NIH gave EcoHealth Alliance money for risky coronavirus research without proper oversight, watchdog finds

Documents Show Wuhan Lab Asked NIH Official for Information on Disinfectants; Nine Fauci Agency Grants for EcoHealth Bat Coronavirus Research

Fauci Agency COVID Emails Detail Discussions about Wuhan Institute; Describe Gates Foundation Placement of Chinese Representatives on ‘Important International Counsels’

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

House Votes To End COVID-19 Emergency

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The House of Representatives voted Tuesday along party lines to end the COVID-19 emergency, though the legislation is likely dead on arrival in the Senate.

All 220 voting Republicans supported the Pandemic is Over Act, ending the emergency, and all 210 voting Democrats opposed it. The White House has said that President Joe Biden will allow the public health emergency to expire in May, but that ending it via an act of Congress could eliminate pandemic-era programs like Title 42, student loan forgiveness, and a Medicaid expansion.

President Joe Biden said in September 2022 that the COVID-19 pandemic is “over,” but that “we’re still doing a lot of work on it.” The Biden administration has renewed the public health emergency twice since the president made the claim.

“This action is long overdue. This week we are voting on several bills designed to do what we all in America have known for some time, that the emergency declaration should be gone away,” Republican Florida Rep. Kat Cammack said in a floor speech. “Why would the president declare that the pandemic is over but not rescind the emergency declaration? In fact, many of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle seem more concerned with keeping the public health emergency in place rather than addressing the problems we are now being faced with.”

Despite keeping the public health emergency in place, the Biden administration has attempted to end Title 42, the Trump administration order that allows federal officials to more rapidly deport illegal immigrants. The Supreme Court temporarily ordered the Biden administration to maintain the policy, and will hear oral arguments in the full case in February.

AUTHOR

MICHAEL GINSBERG

Congressional correspondent.

RELATED TWEET:

RELATED ARTICLES:

Biden Regime Extends “Covid National Emergency” and “Public Health Emergency” To May 11

NIH gave EcoHealth Alliance money for risky coronavirus research without proper oversight, watchdog finds

Documents Show Wuhan Lab Asked NIH Official for Information on Disinfectants; Nine Fauci Agency Grants for EcoHealth Bat Coronavirus Research

NIH Records Reveal FBI Inquiry of Wuhan Grant Records Show ‘Gain-of-Function’ Concerns about Wuhan Lab Going Back to 2016

Fauci Agency COVID Emails Detail Discussions about Wuhan Institute; Describe Gates Foundation Placement of Chinese Representatives on ‘Important International Counsels’

Rep. Murphy, House Republicans Call On Biden To End COVID Public Health Emergency

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

‘Wasn’t A Boy’: Mother Testifies That Child Was Sex Trafficked After State Removed Her From Home Over ‘Misgendering’

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The mother of a raped and sex-trafficked teen detailed in a Monday hearing how the school kept her child’s gender identity a secret and a court then withheld custody for months.

Michele’s testimony was offered during a period of public comments as the Virginia legislature considers Sage’s Law, a bill which would require school officials notify parents if a student is identifying with a gender inconsistent with his or her biological sex. The bill also clarifies that the definition of child abuse does not include so-called “misgendering.”

The bill is named after Michele’s adopted daughter Sage, who was brutally sex-trafficked and gang-raped after school officials, and then the state, intervened after accusing her parents of abuse for “misgendering” Sage. They kept Sage, who claimed to identify as a boy at the time, in a male children’s home for over two months where she was “repeatedly assaulted” and given drugs.

Michele, who is Sage’s biological grandmother, adopted Sage after her son died. Neither woman’s last name has been publicized.

Sage suffered from depression and anxiety when the COVID pandemic began, concerns which her teachers shared with Michele, she testified.

“The transparency ended in August 2021 when Sage started high school,” Michele said. “She started a public high school and she told me that all the girls there were bi, trans, lesbian, emo, and she wanted to wear boys clothes and be emo. Because I saw it as just a phase it was fine with me. But at school she told them something different, she was now a boy named Draco with male pronouns. Sage asked the school not to tell me and they did not tell me.”

“No one told me but boys followed her, touched her, threatened violence and rape. Something happened in the boy’s bathroom but for two days the school told me nothing. They kept meeting with Sage alone, and she became so distraught they called me to pick her up,” she continued.

That evening, Michele found a pass that listed Sage’s name as Draco. Sage then told Michele she was a boy.

“She’d been jacked up against the wall by a group of boys, she was crying, terrified. I said just stay home, we’ll figure it out,” Michele said during the hearing. “That was my last conversation with Sage for five months. The night she ran, she went with a young friend she met online. She left a note saying she was scared of what would happen if she stayed.”

Nine days after she went missing, Sage was found locked in a room in Baltimore . She had been drugged, gang raped, and brutalized by “countless men.” The FBI told Sage’s parents to pick her up in the morning.

“We packed our cars with blankets and stuffed animals and arrived by 8:00 a.m. But we were told we couldn’t see her, and were summoned before Judge Robert Kershaw later that afternoon. They didn’t even tell Sage that we came for her,” Michele said. “We finally enter the courtroom and Sage appears on a huge Zoom screen from a prison cell. She looks tiny and broken, and I cry out, ‘I love you, Sage!’ Sage responds, ‘I love you too, Nana!’”

Attorneys then rebuked Michele for using female pronouns to refer to Sage, Michele said. The judge ordered Michele’s husband, who was “so tearful he kept forgetting the new pronouns,” removed from the courtroom by a bailiff, according to Michele’s testimony. When Michele told the judge she wanted to bring Sage home to treat her for trauma, the judge told her she would also be removed if she used the word trauma again, Michele said during the hearing.

“For over two months [the judge] withheld custody. He housed Sage in the male quarters of a children’s home. Sage told me she was the only girl, and repeatedly assaulted. She was given street drugs by the other kids,” Michele testified, adding that Sage later disappeared from that home and was trafficked again.

Michele later learned that her daughter had been told to lie and say she was abused by her mother.

“They told me [Sage] might already be gone forever, but I couldn’t give up, and I finally found a tip on her social media that led the marshals to her in Texas,” Michele said. “She had been drugged, raped, beaten, and exploited. This time I was able to be with her for the traumatic rape exam and bring her home.”

Sage’s grandmother says she suffered from panic attacks and medical issues due to the rapes she suffered, but that “she’s not broken, she’s just scared.”

“Sage says she doesn’t know who she was back then. She wasn’t a boy, she just wanted to have friends,” Michele concluded. “Let parents do our jobs, we know our children best, and we love them a million times more.”

AUTHOR

SARAH WEAVER

Social issues reporter.

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The Hidden Truth of Global Destruction: WWIII

/in , , , , , , /by

“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we lose our freedoms it will be because we have destroyed ourselves from within.” — Abraham Lincoln

History is a biography of each country, its culture and mindset of its people. History has a catalog of facts over the centuries. History is the story of whatever Man has done, with emphasis upon institutional and group activities on a certain territory. “History is the most inclusive and pervasive of the social studies and partakes of the nature of each of the others when it records activities which fall within their scope.” You can read history, walking along the city and admiring the monuments, old buildings and the beauty of the history presented to you from the past. There’s no country without history, it controls the past, present and future of the country. We are now in the present of our history under Biden’s team.

Yes, we are at WWIII, but Biden’s government hasn’t recognized it, yet despite the fact that I’ve been writing about the war for the last forty years. 71% of the American people know and feel it, as the real overwhelming nationwide crime defines humanity. Mass shootings could leave you speechless, and the open border policy helps the terrorists-enemies to infiltrate our land and deprive us of our sovereignty. We are in chaos and catastrophe, let alone that Biden’s team is earmarking and cataloging executive orders to bankrupt the U.S. History will help you to understand the current mess in America. Please, read my column A Global Spy Ring: Obama, Putin, and Biden, July 9, 2020

I am watching all of that in fear and revulsion, because I know the enemy-terrorists who are waging WWIII against us. It was officially waged by the decision of the Soviet government in 1955. Living in the Soviet Union for fifty years and serving in a legal community as a defense attorney, I know the enemy-terrorists armed with Socialist/Communist ideology. Unfortunately, most people don’t know that ideology and only realized that Russia is a terrorist state on October 24th, 2022 with Russia’s unprovoked aggression against Ukraine. Make no mistake, Russia is the enemy. You don’t know that Russia has been drugging America since 1955—Socialist California illustrates it loudly. Here is my definition of WWIII: Recruitment, Infiltration, Drugs, and Assassinations.

I have been writing about Socialism for forty years. It wasn’t the Socialism of Marxist theory. Marxist theory has never been tried in practice, but it was used by Dictator Joseph Stalin to establish and promote his own politico-economic system on a federal one party framework. The first Socialist Revolution in 1917 Russia had given Stalin the opportunity to create the governmental regime of Soviet Socialism. I called it Soviet Fascism and discussed the subject matter in my books and columns. Soviet Socialism is a two-fold system: government ownership of all means of production secured by force of Secret Police. This is the reason I was writing about the KGB’s Mafia/Army for forty years to show you the difference, to expose the Evil/Doer—the KGB’s Mafia/Army…

Let me give you a couple of words about my knowledge of Marxism and Soviet Socialism. Marxism was my favorite subject at Law School for four years, it was the only information from the West, living under the Iron Curtain in Russia. I never thought that knowledge of Marxism would make me a writer. It has happened in America. Unfortunately, America missed a chunk of the 20th century history—Stalin’s dictatorship and his Soviet Socialism, which has now spread across the world by the KGB’s Mafia/Army. This knowledge is a must to save the American Constitutional republic. To learn about the Putin/Biden collusion, read my book Socialist Revolution in America. XLIBRIS, 2021,

A Global Spy Ring: Obama, Putin, and Biden

The past has always determined the future. To show the immense value of knowledge about Russia and its Intel, I’ll give several examples of actual events that I predicted: judge for yourself. Let’s start with the alleged attack on Paul Pelosi. The body cam footage recently released shows the actual picture of the event. I had commented on the attack on Paul Pelosi in my column December 22, 2022. Here it is:

”Pay attention to the words: nationalism, jingoism, and especially, victimology. The manipulation methods of the psychological propaganda by the KGB’s Mafia/Army have not changed since and applied to America today. Therefore, the knowledge of Russia, its Intel and Security Apparatus is a Must to understand how Russia has been demolishing us from within.”

The Paul Pelosi story illustrates it clearly:

Paul Pelosi caused a car accident. There are a lot of questions about Paul Pelosi’s alleged DUI. We don’t have any answers. It’s covered-up. The car was totaled, some injuries were supposedly sustained by both sides—we don’t have any answers. The name of the Dem Speaker Nancy Pelosi has definitely suffered as a result and the KGB’s Mafia/Army was coming to help the Pelosi’s family. Do you remember the word victimology in my above presented piece? Yes, victimology is one of the methods of Socialist ideological manipulation. That is the reason Paul Pelosi has been consequently attacked to become a VICTIM.

Do you have a clear picture of Paul’s attacker and the scene of the attack? No. We don’t know many important details of the attack and the police had found Paul Pelosi, after opening the door, peacefully moving towards the attacker-a very strange picture. All of that, because everything is artificially orchestrated by the KGB’s Mafia/Army to help generate another image to the Pelosi’s family, an image of the VICTIM. Do you remember how Nancy Pelosi was ripping up Trump’s State of the Union Speech on TV? I was threatened by her arrogance. The KGB’s Mafia/Army has total control and power operating in Biden’s team—the Soviet Socialist Revolution is moving ahead in America.” We Have Been Betrayed December 22, 2022/in Commentary, Culture War, Hot Topics, News, Policy, Politics, Social Issues, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by Simona Pipko

I have to add to my piece that the attack happened a week prior to the 2022 midterm election. I would recommend you to read the column. Now we had the opportunity to see the video and listen to the audio. My prediction was right on the money, however, some questions are still not answered. After breaking-in the back door David De Pape entered the house. How long did two men peacefully chat, before the Police had arrived? The word peace is unreal, Paul Pelosi knew that a criminal wanted to “kidnap Nancy” and broke the back door: a criminal was in front of him.

The conversation with the police dispatcher was too long and didn’t show the emergency and threat of the predicament. The picture of the actual attack was skillfully choreographed in front of the Police—a typical fabricated spectacle. If you know the KGB’s Mafia/Army, you will recognize its design to demonstrate the spectacle instantly—it was a theatrical performance for the Police… That is the reason the Dems and their defenders-protectors didn’t want you to see the actual events and scene of crime. David De Pape is a usually recruited pawn or toy exploited by the KGB, whether he mentally ill or not doesn’t matter: the KGB uses everyone. His audacity to ask for forgiveness is a joke, he doesn’t understand Russian Racket and he doesn’t know the KGB’s Mafia/Army…

Here is another example of WWIII by the KGB’s Mafia/Army in America: Florida Microsoft executive father of 4 gunned down in ‘targeted ambush’. Jared Bridegan was gunned down on a Florida road in what authorities called a ‘targeted ambush.’ Bridegan was driving with his then-2-year-old daughter in Jacksonville Beach on Feb. 16, 2022 and he came upon a tire blocking his path. When he stepped out of the car he was “gunned down in cold blood.” Though I don’t know the name of the criminal, I am sure that the KGB’s Mafia/Army is behind that crime. Raising crime and mass shootings in America has the same foundation. The FBI and CIA have been infiltrated for decades and currently dysfunctional by allowing Russian/Chinese espionage operations and propaganda campaigns in America. We are not protected, our government, the FBI, CIA and DOJ are weaponized against the American citizens like in Stalinist Russia…

WWIII has multiple fronts–it is an ideological war of Socialism/Communism against Capitalism by the tandem Russia/China. Russia uses its cadres implanted for 40-60 years in America, China provides money. The tandem has a complex connection to all three Manchurian Presidents, the Biden presidency shows it by a special ties to the Universities in a current classified Docs scandal. Universities are the places to learn not to dump top-secret Dogs there. Yes, there are some systemic problems, but look at the history and the massive leftist movement within the Universities and Colleges that produced the army of Millennia helping Socialist Revolution in America. Everything is connected. Our youngsters don’t know real Socialism that corrupts everything it touches, and it always involves the use of force. Only knowledge of the enemies can help us revitalize the American Constitutional republic!

Biden’s Mafia-Family: Isn’t This Treason?

I have been following the Biden family since 2013-2014 and write about their crime. For me it started with Ukraine by “criminal cabal” of the three: Obama, Biden, and Hunter. In my opinion, Obama initiated it and Ukraine is the state to begin the investigation of the Dems collusion with Putin. To do it correctly, there is a prerequisite to know Stalinist Socialist/Communist enemy. Here it is:

First, the State Security Apparatus of Russia and China are identical—both had been formed by Stalin and worked like hand and glove since. All espionage activities are under their supervision. Second, the money Hunter got from the wife of Moscow’s Mayor had brought the KGB to the White House the next day. All Hunter’s activities in China are under the Chinese State Security Apparatus’ jurisdiction. Don’t be surprised that Joe and Hunter have been sharing the dwelling with Chinese—they are the partners. Third, it is imperative to know the KGB’s Mafia/Army, which acts on behalf of both countries: China and Russia…

Watching what is going on in the country, I am obliged to give some advice to the Republican leadership. I agree with Harmed Dhillon, but there is more. The FBI and CIA have been infiltrated by Russian Intel for decades and we were not protected all that time. We are dealing with a “criminal cabal” of the Dems three Manchurian Presidents who colluded with Russian Intel. America can’t exist without a professional FBI and CIA at the time of a war. As a result, we have the Russian spies in Biden’s team like Mayor Pete and some others.

Republicans are trapped in the vicious circle of their own mistakes. It is not Marxist theory, but developed by Stalin Socialist modus operandi: lies, deception, fabrication, and fraud, used by the Democrat Party against Republicans for decades. Biden’s team constantly demonstrates it. Republicans don’t know Marxism and confuse all Americans by talking about Marxist America. It is wrong. Republicans are helping the Dems to fool America and cover-up the Dems TREASON. Read my columns for free and learn the Truth. I hope that two Special Counsels will read this column and their final product of investigation will deliver the Truth.

To be continued www.simonapipko.com and at www.drrichswier.com/author/spipko/

©Simona Pipko. All rights reserved.

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