Good morning! Here is your news briefing for Wednesday February 24, 2021
1.) THE DAILY SIGNAL
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2.) THE EPOCH TIMES
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13.) AXIOS
🐪 Good Wednesday morning. Smart Brevity™ count: 941 words … < 4 minutes.
🔋Join Axios’ Joann Muller today at 12:30 p.m. ET for a virtual event on the future of green transportation, featuring United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby and GM chief sustainability officer Dane Parker. Register here.
Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios
Across cities, companies and industries, Black professionals remain underrepresented in top jobs, Axios @Work author Erica Pandey reports:
- Why it matters: Fixing the broken pipeline for Black executives isn’t just the right thing to do. Improving boardroom diversity has also been proven to drive profits.
Two new reports, from McKinsey and Glassdoor, show the plethora of cultural, geographic and other barriers that keep Black workers out of the C-suite:
- Black Americans make up 12% of the U.S. population. They’re proportionately represented in entry-level professional jobs (12%), but underrepresented at the manager level (7%). Black professionals are even more severely underrepresented at the senior manager, VP and SVP levels (4%).
- On the current trajectory, it’d take Black professionals 95 years to get to 12% representation at the manager level, per McKinsey.
What’s happening:
- 60% of Black workers live in the South, which has far fewer job growth centers than other parts of the country, according to the McKinsey analysis. Put another way, only 1 in 10 Black workers live in cities with high projected growth, like Seattle or Provo, Utah.
- Even for Black professionals who are in lucrative jobs, attrition rates are high.
What you can do: Companies can add transparency to recruiting and promotion processes, set up ways for employees to report discrimination, and hold aggressors accountable, Patrick McKay, a professor of human resource management at Temple University, told Axios.
💼 Sign up for Erica Pandey’s weekly newsletter, Axios @Work.
A server sanitizes a dining yurt at Crown Shy in Lower Manhattan. Photo: Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images
Federal economists have projected growth from 2019-2029, Erica Pandey writes from BLS data reported by N.Y. Times Upshot (subscription).
- Low-skilled, low-wage jobs requiring a high school diploma or less are getting hit hardest — underscoring the need to train and upskill the U.S. workforce post-pandemic.
The booms:
- The job of epidemiologist is projected to grow by 25% by 2029, meaning there’ll be 25% more epidemiologists than there would have been without the pandemic.
- Medical scientists: 23% growth.
- Web developers: 11%.
- Biochemists, biophysicists: 10%.
- Computer systems administrators: 10%.
The busts:
- The job of restaurant host or hostess is expected to decline 24% by 2029, meaning 24% fewer hosts and hostesses than there would have been sans pandemic.
- Bartenders: –19%.
- Travel, ticket agents: –17%.
- Hotel, motel clerks: –16%.
- Servers: –16%.
Children’s hospitals across the country say they’re still seeing a surge of kids suffering from a serious illness — multisystem inflammatory syndrome, commonly known MIS-C — that typically follows coronavirus infections, Axios’ Caitlin Owens reports.
- Why it matters: Severe coronavirus infections in children remain extremely rare, compared to the risk to adults. But hospitals say children are sicker now than they were in earlier surges.
President Biden and Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hold a video conference call for closing remarks at their virtual bilateral meeting.
Photo: Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP
L.A. County Sheriff’s Deputy Carlos Gonzalez, the first to arrive at Tiger Woods’ rollover accident, told a televised news conference that he found the golf legend behind the wheel, with the airbag deployed.
- The deputy asked Woods questions to be sure he could orient: “I asked him what his name was. He told me his name was Tiger. And at that moment, I immediately recognized him.”
Woods, 45, underwent “a long surgical procedure on his lower right leg and ankle,” his team said in a late-night statement.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Woods was traveling at a “relatively greater speed than normal” descending down a hill, noting that the area “has a high frequency of accidents,” the L.A. Times reports.
- The sheriff said there were no skid marks and no signs of braking, and that the golfer’s 2021 Genesis GV80 SUV hit the center divider, a curb and a tree in the rollover crash.
Read the statement from Tiger’s team.
Snap stock hit a record yesterday after the company told investors it expects 50% annual growth in top-line revenue for the next several years, Axios Media Trends author Sara Fischer reports.
- Snapchat has quietly built a loyal audience of people mostly under the age of 30. Now, it says it’s ready to start making money off them.
- 📡 Sign up for Sara Fischer’s weekly newsletter, Axios Media Trends.
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Red and blue states are considering proposals that would exclude — or bolster — lessons on slavery and Native American removal in public schools, Axios race and justice reporter Russell Contreras writes.
- GOP lawmakers in Iowa, Arkansas and Mississippi are trying to withhold funding for schools that teach the N.Y. Times’ “1619 Project.”
- Black, Latino, and Native American advocates are using the nation’s current racial reckoning to push for more diverse history lessons.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), jumping on the minimum-wage bandwagon, today will introduce a “Blue Collar Bonus” paid for by taxpayers rather than employers, Alayna Treene and Dan Primack report.
- Why it matters: Hawley, a likely 2024 presidential candidate, is breaking with GOP orthodoxy by arguing that the federal minimum wage is too low.
The details: Those making below $16.50 per hour would receive a refundable tax credit worth 50% of the difference.
The 70-foot parachute used by NASA’s Perseverance rover to land on Mars contained a secret message, thanks to a crossword hobbyist on the spacecraft team, AP’s Marcia Dunn writes:
- Systems engineer Ian Clark used binary code to spell out “Dare Mighty Things” on the chute. He included the GPS coordinates for the mission’s HQ at Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena.
P.S. “Percy” has a plaque showing all five NASA Mars rovers in increasing size — similar to family car decals seen on Earth.
Vanity Fair, which each year brings an array of stars together for its pre-Oscars cover, goes with a “fantasia” theme as a respite from shutdown:
- The cover of the 27th annual issue “portrays a magical dreamscape representing not only that the show must go on, but that there’s joy in its continuance.”
📬 Thanks for starting your day with us. Please invite your friends to sign up for Axios AM/PM.
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17.) THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
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18.) ASSOCIATED PRESS
Feb 24, 2021 View in Browser AP MORNING WIRE Good morning. In today’s AP Morning Wire:
TAMER FAKAHANY
The Rundown AP PHOTO/ANDREW HARNIK US Capitol defenders cite missed intelligence — that extremists could commit ‘war’ — for deadly Jan. 6 breach and siege
Officials in charge of U.S. Capitol security during last month’s deadly insurrection have testified to Congress, blaming missed intelligence that extremists could commit “war” in Washington for their failure to anticipate the violent mob.
The invaders stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, interrupting the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory over Donald Trump. Then-president Trump had urged them to protest the certification at a rally just minutes earlier.
The officials, including the former chief of the Capitol Police, pointed fingers at other federal agencies — and each other — for their failure to defend the building as Trump supporters overwhelmed security barriers, broke windows and doors and sent lawmakers fleeing from the House and Senate chambers. Mary Clare Jalonick, Michael Balsamo and Lisa Mascaro report.
Five people died as a result of the riot, including a Capitol Police officer and a woman who was shot as she tried to enter the House chamber when lawmakers were still inside.
Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, who resigned under pressure immediately after the attack, and the other officials said they had expected the protests to be like two pro-Trump events in late 2020 that were far less violent. Sund said he hadn’t seen an FBI report that warned of potential violence from extremists citing online posts about a “war.”
VIDEO: Ex-Capitol Police chief says he didn’t see ‘war’ report.
VIDEO: Capitol Police officer says Jan 6 ‘worst of the worst.’
VIDEO: Security officials disagree on Capitol riot help.
VIDEO: U.S. Capitol security examined after attack.
AP PHOTO/JOHN LOCHER US drug executives say big jump in vaccine supply is coming soon; Vaccinations surge around the world
COVID-19 vaccine makers told the U.S. Congress to expect a big jump in the delivery of doses over the coming month, and the companies insist they will be able to provide enough shots for most Americans to get inoculated by summer.
By the end of March, Pfizer and Moderna expect to have sent the U.S. government 220 million vaccine doses, up from the roughly 75 million shipped so far, Matthew Perrone and Lauran Neergaard report.
That’s not counting a third vaccine, from Johnson & Johnson, which is expected to get a green light from U.S. regulators soon.
State health officials say demand for inoculations still vastly outstrips the limited weekly shipments sent by the federal government.
Asia Vaccines: Many nations in the Asia-Pacific region are rolling out the first shots for COVID-19 this week. South Korea’s top health experts warned that vaccines will not bring the disease to a quick end and called for continued vigilance in social distancing and mask wearing. South Korea prepares to give its first shots on Friday. In Australia, two elderly people received higher-than-prescribed doses of the Pfizer vaccine. Thailand received the first 200,000 doses of China’s Sinovac vaccine, while in Malaysia, the prime minister got the first injection.
More from Around the World:
One Good Thing: In 200 stories over this pandemic-ridden year, the AP has celebrated selfless people who have given of themselves in trying times. The stories have warmed hearts of readers around the world. But we’ve also heard from the people spotlighted in the series — launched last March as “One Good Thing” — who say their lives have been profoundly affected by the attention. AP PHOTO/TED SHAFFREY No charges against Rochester officers involved in Daniel Prude’s death; Memorials, lawsuit mark anniversary of Ahmaud Arbery’s shooting death
Police officers who put a hood over the head of Daniel Prude, a mentally distraught Black man, then pressed his naked, handcuffed body against the pavement until he stopped breathing will not face criminal charges after a grand jury declined to indict them.
The 41-year-old’s death last March sparked nightly protests in Rochester, New York, after the video was released nearly six months later.
The video shows Prude handcuffed and naked with a spit hood over his head as an officer pushes his face against the ground. The video of Prude’s fatal encounter with officers was initially withheld by police in part because of concerns it would inflame street demonstrations occurring nationwide over George Floyd’s death.
Lawyers for the seven officers suspended over Prude’s death have said they were strictly following training. The county medical examiner, however, listed the death as a homicide. Michael Hill and Carolyn Thompson report.
Ahmaud Arbery’s death in Georgia: Family and friends of Ahmaud Arbery marked the anniversary of his slaying in Georgia. Arbery’s father led about 100 people last night in a memorial procession to the spot where armed white men chased and shot the 25-year-old Black man on a residential street outside the city of Brunswick on Feb. 23, 2020. Arbery’s mother visited his grave before a church vigil. Hours earlier, she filed a civil lawsuit accusing the men charged in her son’s death and local authorities who first responded to the shooting of violating his civil rights.
President Biden tweeted about Arbery’s death, saying Americans must commit themselves to making the nation safer for people of color. As the three men await trial on murder charges, their lawyers still insist they committed no crimes. Russ Bynum and Angie Wang report.
Iraq: Papal Visit Iraq’s struggling Christians hope for a boost from Pope Francis’ visit
“You’re not alone. There’s someone who is thinking of you, who is with you.”
That is the central message of Pope Francis’ visit to Iraq in early March, his first foreign trip since the pandemic and the first ever by a pope to the country, according to the undersecretary of the Vatican’s development office.
Iraq’s Christians are hoping that the historic visit by the pontiff will help boost their community’s existential struggle to survive, Mariam Fam reports.
The country’s Christian population has been dwindling ever since the turmoil that followed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and occupation. And it was dealt a near-fatal blow in 2014, when Islamic State group militants overran northern Iraq, site of Iraq’s historical Christian heartland.
It was a brutal and murderous rampage — and between that and the long war to drive the extremists out, the area was pulverized. Entire towns of Christians fled IS, most taking refuge in Iraq’s Kurdish autonomous zone in the north and some fleeing abroad.
The Vatican and the pope have often insisted on the need to preserve Iraq’s ancient Christian communities and to create the secure economic and social conditions for those who have left to return.
The Vatican for years has helped coordinate Catholic NGOs providing help in Iraq and other countries, including in education, health care and reconstruction. The aid is non-denominational _ Muslims are helped as well as Christians — and the overall hope is that the area’s delicate interfaith balance can be strengthened.
The pope’s March 5-8 visit will also have a strong interfaith component.
Other Top Stories Golf superstar Tiger Woods was seriously injured when his SUV crashed into a median and rolled over several times on a steep road in suburban Los Angeles. Harbor-UCLA Medical Center’s chief medical offer said Woods shattered tibia and fibula bones on his right leg in multiple locations, with additional injuries in the ankle and foot. A statement on his Twitter account says he was awake, responsive and recovering. Authorities had to extricate Woods through the front windshield. They say he’s fortunate to be alive. Authorities say there wasn’t evidence Woods was impaired. The crash happened on a sweeping, downhill stretch of road. Authorities in Ecuador say 62 people have died in riots at prisons in three cities as a result of fights between rival gangs and an escape attempt. Prisons Director Edmundo Moncayo said 800 police officers were trying to regain control of the facilities. He said two groups were trying to cement “criminal leadership within the detention centers” and that the clashes were precipitated by a police search for weapons on Monday. Moncayo said 33 died at the prison in Cuenca in southern Ecuador, 21 in the Pacific coast city of Guayaquil and eight in the central city of Latacunga. As arrests of dissidents continue during anti-coup protests across Myanmar, experts are concerned that a new generation of political prisoners will begin to fill the country’s prisons. According to activist groups in Myanmar, 696 people have been arrested in relation to the coup. During previous junta rule that began in 1962 and lasted for decades, political prisoners were common, with thousands jailed. When Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy took power during a period of democratic reform, many political prisoners were freed. But many were also jailed for political activity during the party’s time in power. The huge parachute used by NASA’s Perseverance rover to land on Mars contained a secret message. Systems engineer Ian Clark used a binary code to spell out “Dare Mighty Things” in the orange and white strips of the 70-foot parachute. He also included the GPS coordinates for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Clark said only about six people knew about the encoded message before Thursday’s landing. Clark says the fabric pattern was mainly for engineers to know how the parachute was oriented during descent. He said it didn’t take long for space fans to figure it out. We’ll leave you with this…
Norwegian museum: Edvard Munch wrote ‘can only have been painted by a madman’ on ‘The Scream’ masterpiece
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20.) CHICAGO TRIBUNE
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21.) CHICAGO SUNTIMES
Mike Madigan abruptly urges successor to step down
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22.) THE HILL MORNING REPORT
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23.) THE HILL 12:30 REPORT
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24.) ROLL CALL
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Morning Headlines
Tuesday’s high-profile public hearing to examine the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol exposed inconsistencies from former security officials on what occurred, a fragmented Capitol Police Board and unwillingness to call a failure a failure. Read more…
A $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill continued to take shape Tuesday, with suspense building over whether a minimum wage increase would survive. House Budget Chairman John Yarmuth has assembled an initial draft manager’s amendment full of changes to the version his committee approved on Monday. Read more…
GOP testing ways to make relief package a burden for battleground Democrats
Republicans tasked with winning back the House majority in 2022 see an opportunity in the COVID-19 relief package that Democrats plan to push through Congress, most likely without GOP support. In an early indication of the attacks to come, the GOP is road-testing messages in battleground districts. Read more…
Click here to subscribe to Fintech Beat for the latest market and regulatory developmentsin finance and financial technology.
Partisan voters claim, ‘We wuz robbed.’ No, they weren’t
OPINION — It’s clear that America is at a dangerous tipping point, as democracy only works when people on the losing side of an election believe the outcome. Cynics will say it’s just politics, but it’s a new kind of toxic political environment that is undermining the free and fair elections that democracy depends on. Read more…
‘Do it now. Ask for help now’: Rep. Madeleine Dean and her son reflect on his addiction
There are lots of mother-son moments in “Under Our Roof,” the new memoir from Rep. Madeleine Dean and Harry Cunnane. Switching back and forth between their perspectives, the book offers an unrelenting account of lies and good intentions, as Cunnane hides and then confronts his opioid addiction. Read more…
Vaccine sign-up struggles highlight state and federal challenges
The Biden administration’s new programs to get COVID-19 vaccines to pharmacies, long-term care centers and other sites are meant to ease state vaccine distribution — but in some cases they are having the opposite effect, and states are calling for more coordination. Read more…
OMB nominee Neera Tanden to get committee votes amid shaky prospects
Democrats remained optimistic Tuesday as the confirmation of Neera Tanden to be White House budget director faced increasingly long odds. “We still think there’s a shot, a good shot,” President Joe Biden insisted, but Democrats were struggling to find at least one Republican willing to back Tanden and save the nomination. Read more…
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25.) POLITICO PLAYBOOK
POLITICO Playbook: 9/11 Commission leaders issue a warning to Pelosi
DRIVING THE DAY
When Republican TOM KEAN became head of the 9/11 Commission, he got a call from TIM RUSSERT asking him to come on “Meet the Press.” Kean said he’d only appear if his Democratic counterpart on the commission, LEE HAMILTON, were invited too.
Russert balked, so Kean — believing the only way for the commission to work was for it to look and act completely bipartisan — told him to “find someone else.” Russert called him back five minutes later and relented. And the commission, which was split evenly between Republicans and Democrats, went on to become one of the most praised instances of bipartisan oversight in modern history.
Twenty years later, Speaker NANCY PELOSI is calling for a “9/11-style” commission to investigate Jan. 6. But instead of equal representation, Pelosi’s initial recommendation is for the panel to be made up of seven Democratic-appointed members and four Republican-appointed ones.
That would be a mistake, the leaders of the original commission, Kean and Hamilton, told Playbook. Republican voters will never accept the findings if there’s even a whiff of the investigation being driven by Democrats.
“That does not sound to me like a good start; it sounds like a partisan beginning,” Hamilton told us. Kean echoed that, warning that “unless you have equal representation … the report won’t have as much confidence from the American people. It won’t be as reliable.”
Pelosi’s office has said her proposal was only a “discussion draft.” And a Democrat familiar with negotiations over the commission said it’s the GOP that’s playing politics with it, dragging out the process and refusing to commit to a defined purpose for the panel.
House Minority Leader KEVIN MCCARTHY — backed by Senate Minority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL — wants Republicans and Democrats to have the same number of picks as well as equal subpoena authority. (Both sides on the 9/11 Commission had subpoena power, though they chose to operate by majority vote.)
The disagreement doesn’t bode well for the Jan. 6 commission. The idea behind it is to insulate the probe from politics as much as possible in hopes of painting an authoritative and final picture of what happened that day. A definitive account is critical to counter conspiracy theories some Republican voters have latched onto suggesting the riot was caused by DONALD TRUMP’S critics.
It’s reasonable to ask whether a bipartisan commission is even possible in this day and age. Kean, for one, said he’s “very concerned” that “both parties will tend to lean toward people who are partisan” to serve on the panel.
But he hopes the parties will resist that impulse.
RELATED: “What we know — and still don’t — as Congress starts its Jan. 6 investigation,” by Andrew Desiderio and Kyle Cheney: “Congress is taking its first steps toward a potentially massive investigation into the failures that contributed to the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6. But its initial foray only underscored how little lawmakers — and the public — know about what truly transpired that day.”
— Coming today: McConnell, who’s blasted Trump while declining to convict him, will speak about the Jan. 6 commission when he opens the Senate.
BORDERLINE — When Democrats introduced their new comprehensive immigration bill last week, moderate and border-state members of the party raised concerns about the issue costing them both a shot at meaningful reform and control of Congress. “We don’t want the far left to hijack the agenda,” one strategist warned. “The breaking point is definitely at what point we give aid to the undocumented, whether we’re creating a magnet for an influx of people … and whether we start talking about ‘Abolish ICE.’”
Enter AOC. On Tuesday night, Rep. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-N.Y.) weighed in with the type of Twitter thread that makes moderates cringe, writing about her opposition to an immigration system “built on a carceral framework.” Her solution: “bold reimagination” of the system, including the ideas that “DHS shouldn’t exist … ICE gotta go” and that the U.S. needs to “create climate refugee status & more.”
That sound you hear is conservative Republicans, keen to do nothing on the issue while painting Democrats as open-borders radicals, silently telling her to keep up the pressure. (h/t Marc Caputo)
BIDEN’S WEDNESDAY — President JOE BIDEN will receive the President’s Daily Brief at 9:50 a.m. At 2 p.m., Biden and VP KAMALA HARRIS will meet with members of the House and Senate from both parties to talk supply chains in the Oval Office. At 4:15 p.m., Biden will sign an executive order on the economy, with Harris attending. Harris will swear in LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD as U.S. ambassador to the U.N. at 12:35 p.m. and TOM VILSACK as Agriculture secretary at 6:15 p.m.
— The White House Covid-19 response team and public health officials will brief at 11 a.m. Press secretary JEN PSAKI will brief at 12:30 p.m. along with Deputy NEC Director SAMEERA FAZILI and Senior Director for International Economics and Competitiveness PETER HARRELL.
THE HOUSE returns at noon for legislative business. Votes begin at 1:15 p.m.
THE SENATE meets at noon to consider JENNIFER GRANHOLM to be Energy secretary. At 4 p.m., the Senate will vote to invoke cloture on Granholm’s nomination.
PLAYBOOK READS
THE WHITE HOUSE
OBAMA ALUM HELPS BIDEN STAFF UP — “Biden turns to Obama administration veteran to lead key federal personnel agency,” WaPo: “President Biden has tapped Kiran Arjandas Ahuja, a civil rights lawyer, activist and Obama-era veteran, to lead the Office of Personnel Management, a department the Trump administration tried to kill but is now expected to take on a high-profile role …
“Ahuja, 49, served as the personnel agency’s chief of staff from 2015 to 2017 … Before that, she led the Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the Obama White House. … Ahuja returned to federal personnel matters during the Biden transition as head of the team reviewing OPM and other agencies that deal with the federal workforce, taking a leave from her role as chief executive of Philanthropy Northwest.”
CONGRESS
THE GOP’S BIG GAMBLE — “‘Bad politics for them’: GOP sneers at Dem Covid bill,” by Melanie Zanona and Burgess Everett: “Republicans are making a risky but calculated bet: that voters won’t punish them for opposing a popular $1.9 trillion coronavirus bill. … Republicans are now gambling that there will be more backlash over schools staying closed, the Covid bill’s massive price tag and a partisan process. …
“If there’s any risk of political blowback for lining up against Covid aid that polls well with the public, most Republicans aren’t seeing it. … [M]any Republicans are rallying against the Biden agenda, hoping to shift away from uncomfortable questions about the party’s identity in the post-Trump world. Now they are marketing the relief bill as a pork-laden offering to progressives who helped push Biden into office. And very few Republicans say they have any qualms about opposing it.”
DEJA VU — ROB PORTMAN in WAPO: “Biden promised bipartisanship. That rhetoric hasn’t been matched by action”: “The Biden administration’s partisan approach repeats the same mistake that Barack Obama made early in his presidency. It sets the wrong tone for the beginning of a new administration and risks undermining other bipartisan efforts going forward.”
POLITICS CORNER
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — The Texas storm is already becoming a presence in the special election to fill the seat of the late GOP Rep. RON WRIGHT, who died of Covid-19. Educator SHAWN LASSITER, a Democrat, launched an ad today called “Instinct” that highlights her breath in a cold house — and makes reference to Cancungate. Wright won by 8 points in November, and his wife SUSAN is a possible frontrunner — but the district (Texas’ 6th) voted for Trump by just 3 points so it could be competitive. Gov. GREG ABBOTT on Tuesday set the jungle primary for May 1, with a runoff to follow. There are contenders from both parties already in the ring.
— MEANWHILE, CRUZ CONTROL: “Now Ted Cruz may be buying his own books through a mystery company,” Salon: “One day before the Georgia Senate runoff elections — and two days before the Capitol insurrection — a leadership PAC attached to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to a mystery company that had previously bought copies of Cruz’s book, according to recent filings with the Federal Election Commission…
“Over the course of 2020, the Cruz-affiliated Jobs, Freedom, and Security PAC paid $1.2 million — nearly 80% of its operating budget — to a company called Reagan Investments LLC for ‘sponsorship advertising.’ The only other committee to register any disbursements to that company was Trump Make America Great Again, for a fundraising promotion for Cruz’s books in December, according to The New York Times. However, the Trump group clearly marked the payment for ‘collateral: books’; campaign finance experts told Salon that the PAC’s payment classifications — all of them for ‘sponsorship advertising’ — were unusual and opaque.”
2022 WATCH — “There are no Black women in the Senate. Will Rep. Terri Sewell run for a seat?” The 19th: “Alabama Rep. Terri Sewell said she expects to make a decision ‘very soon’ about whether she will run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Richard Shelby in 2022.
“Sewell is the first Black woman elected to Congress from Alabama and the only Democrat in the state’s House delegation. Among the considerations factoring into her decision are her commitment to her district, which includes Selma, and issues including voting rights and the need for more Black women to be represented at the highest levels of power.”
2024 WATCH — “Romney Says Trump Would Win 2024 GOP Nomination If He Runs,” Bloomberg: “The Utah senator, the only Republican who voted to convict Trump in both of his impeachment trials, said he expects the former president will continue to play a big role in the Republican Party even though he was voted out of office.
“‘He has by far the largest voice and a big impact in my party,’ Romney said at a New York Times DealBook virtual event on Tuesday. ‘I don’t know if he’s planning to run in 2024 or not, but if he does, I’m pretty sure he would win the nomination.’”
THE BIDEN CABINET
— “How the White House botched the Neera nomination,” by Natasha Korecki and Burgess Everett: “At the time her nomination was announced, Democrats didn’t even control the Senate and Tanden’s history of sharp-elbowed politics and highly personal Twitter attacks had made her enemies on the left and right. But Biden and his team, headed by White House chief of staff Ron Klain, felt strongly that they could sway Republicans to back her. When Democrats won the runoffs in Georgia, their gamble looked more prescient.
“Today, the White House can’t even get all Democrats on board. And Mitch McConnell is urging the GOP to band together to take Tanden down.”
THE SACRIFICIAL LAMB? “‘Around here the opposition is always looking for the person that they can put a fight up about. And she would be the obvious one to cull from the herd,’ said one Senate Democrat, referring to the wall of GOP opposition Tanden faced from the beginning.”
WATCH: Tanden pays for belittling Bernie
‘SWEET SYMMETRY’ — “A Commerce nominee’s formerly enslaved ancestors ran a taxi service where the department is now headquartered,” by WaPo’s Courtland Milloy: “In 1821, Lynch and Polly Wormley started a horse-and-buggy taxi service in the District. They’d come from Albemarle, Va., after being freed from enslavement by their plantation owners. Their business included a stable, with living quarters attached, located on muddy flatlands now occupied by the Commerce Department. The business thrived in the growing nation’s capital.
“Being close to the White House, the clientele included the nation’s political elite, military leaders and foreign dignitaries. The Wormley children, who also worked in the livery, would develop friendships that helped to foster even more business success. Today, the Wormley horse-and-buggy business is long gone. But the family saga continues with a sweet symmetry: President Biden has nominated Don Graves Jr., who is Lynch and Polly Wormley’s four-time great-grandson, to be deputy secretary of commerce.”
AT DOD — “Pentagon wades into political minefield in hunt for extremists,” by Bryan Bender: “By the first week of April, all members of the military must take part in a highly unusual order from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in which unit leaders will conduct a day-long ‘stand down’ to discuss the threat of extremism and gather feedback from troops on the extent that racism and other hateful ideologies or anti-government sentiment have taken root in recent years.
“The Pentagon has not yet disclosed all the training materials it is providing commanders, but that hasn’t stopped lawmakers and right-wing commentators from accusing the Defense Department of initiating a witch hunt on behalf of the Biden administration to purge political opponents. While there is no evidence to support a politicization of this effort, there are concerns among the top brass and senior retired officers that it could backfire if the Pentagon doesn’t clearly define exactly what ‘extremism’ means.”
PANDEMIC
TRACKER: The U.S. reported 2,196 Covid-19 deaths and 68,000 new coronavirus cases Tuesday.
WATCH: White House: States to receive 14.5 million vaccines doses
AMERICA AND THE WORLD
BIDEN’S BONJOUR — “‘Merci, mon ami.’ Biden, Trudeau renew bilateral bond post-Trump,” by Lauren Gardner: “The president and the prime minister would like everyone to know that Canada and the U.S. are best friends again — though neither mentioned why the relationship had frayed. … So after four years of trade wars, name-calling and international gossiping, President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau weren’t going to let a global pandemic get in the way of a public display of mutual affection, even if it had to happen over video link.”
GETTING IN TOUCH — “Biden will call Saudi king ahead of damning report,” Axios: “President Biden plans to call Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Wednesday, ahead of the public release of a potentially damning intelligence report about the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a source briefed on the call told Axios. …
“The call, if it happens as scheduled, will be Biden’s first conversation as president with the Saudi king. While they are likely to discuss a range of issues, the conversation will be colored by the imminent release of the explosive report expected to involve one of the monarch’s sons.”
TRUMP CARDS
IT’S ALL GOOD — “Pence speaks highly of Trump in meeting and plans to launch a political group,” CNN: “Former Vice President Mike Pence told a group of conservative lawmakers on Tuesday that he maintains a close personal friendship with former President Donald Trump, while noting that he plans to launch a political organization that will defend their administration’s record over the past four years. … Rep. Jim Banks, an Indiana Republican who chairs the conservative Republican Study Committee, told CNN that a group of members met at Pence’s transition office in the Washington area on Tuesday afternoon, talking about the way forward for their party while also touting the accomplishments of the past.”
MEDIAWATCH
INFORMATION WARS — “Inside the new $65 million push from progressives to compete with conservative media,” Recode: “The organization, whose formation hasn’t previously been reported, is called the Project for Good Information (PGI). It’s being created by Tara McGowan, a Democratic strategist who has spent the last few years at her current organization, Acronym, trying to encourage her party to counter far-right media with liberal content. …
“This time, however, McGowan is attempting to strip away the partisan ties that have dogged her previous journalism plays, including Courier Newsroom, which her new organization will back. The idea, according to people familiar with the new structure, is to continue creating a media ecosystem without the linkages between those outlets and a political organization like Acronym, Courier’s current backer. A lingering challenge, though, will be how to position the outlets as nonpartisan given McGowan’s background.”
ON THE RISE — “Black News Channel Looks to Shake Up Cable-TV News Landscape,” WSJ: “Black News Channel has expanded its reach more than 20-fold in about seven months, part of its new chief executive’s ambitious plan to shake up the cable-TV news landscape and provide an alternative that looks through the lens of Black Americans.
“Since he took over the channel last July, Chief Executive Princell Hair has struck distribution deals with Comcast Corp.’s Xfinity, AT&T Inc.’s DirecTV, Dish Network Corp. and others, boosting its potential audience to more than 52 million households from roughly 2.5 million.”
DON’T CANCEL FOX NEWS? — Matt Taibbi comes to the defense of a cable network he “can’t stand” — Fox News — in a provocative Substack piece. He accuses a consortium of liberal politicians, mainstream media and Big Tech of using their collective muscle to silence the network, an alarming affront to the First Amendment.
“The so-called media reporters at major organizations like CNN and the New York Times have mostly either been silent or have played cheerleading roles during the most eyebrow-raising recent developments: the decision by Facebook and Twitter to block access to a pre-election New York Post story about Hunter Biden, the stunning exercise in monopoly influence by Amazon and Apple in swallowing up the ‘free speech’ platform Parler, the banning of Socialist Worker Party accounts in England and the U.S., and the shutdown of livestream capability by alternative media outlets (and the removal of celebrated footage shot from the Capitol riot by people like Status Coup videographer Jon Farina), a story that amazingly only got major play at … Fox News.
“All of these stories share the same theme: small, unelected groups of private executives making sweeping decisions about speech, cheered on by Democratic Party politicians. If it proceeds to its logical conclusion, it poses a much more serious problem for society than even Fox News at its worst.”
PLAYBOOKERS
SHADES OF ‘THE AMERICANS’ — “FX Adapting New York Times Writer’s Book ‘This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends,’” The Hollywood Reporter: “The network is adapting cybersecurity reporter Nicole Perlroth’s newly released nonfiction book ‘This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race,’ which chronicles the history of cyberwarfare and how the U.S. became vulnerable to attack. The project is being described as a far-reaching drama series that grapples with the full scope of what the internet has become — a complex matrix within which all of humanity is inextricably interlinked.”
FOR PETE’S SAKE — “Pete Buttigieg Doc ‘Mayor Pete’ Lands at Amazon Studios,” The Hollywood Reporter
TRANSITIONS — Susan Fox is moving up to become SVP of government relations at Disney — succeeding Richard Bates, who died in December. She’s been with Disney for 20 years. … Gabrielle Gould has been named the first executive director of the Democratic Women’s Caucus. She most recently was staff director of the House Foreign Affairs Europe subcommittee. … Casey Black is returning to her home state to be press secretary for Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee. She previously was a spokesperson for former Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.), and is a Bob Corker and David Kustoff alum. …
… The National Urban League announced several new hires, including Joi Chaney as executive director of the Washington bureau and SVP for policy and advocacy, Danielle Cooper Daughtry as general counsel and SVP for legal affairs, Leslie Andrews, Leigh Morgan Thorpe, Alexander Rias and Nonny Onyekweli. … Christina Noel is now director of public relations at LA creative agency Wondros. She most recently was press secretary at the VA, and is a Lamar Alexander and Marco Rubio alum.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Kelly Knight Craft … Jacqueline Alemany … DHS COS Karen Olick … Interior’s Kate Kelly … Sabrina Tavernise … Cliff May … Mark Salter … Facebook’s Kevin Lewis … Paula Zahn (65) … Juliet K. Choi … Secretary of the Senate Julie Adams … Josh Gardner … former acting Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift … POLITICO’s Connor O’Brien, Andy Blatchford and Evan Sanderson … McLaurine (Klingler) Pinover … Liza Rebold … former Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) … Christina Cameron … former Rep. Chris Chocola (R-Ind.) … Blake Waggoner (35) … Rebecca Bernbach Graves … Lindsay Hamilton … Yuval Noah Harari (45) … Edelman’s Henry Krause … JPMorgan Chase’s Allison Branca and Karen Persichilli Keogh … Howard Bragman (65) … Bruce Andrews … Abram Olmstead … Kash Patel … Annie Aleman … Melissa Connolly … Michael Lawson … Wilson Center’s Charles Edel … Aidan Lizza
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31.) THE DISPATCH
The Morning Dispatch: Security Officials Blame Intelligence Failures for January 6
Plus: Republicans unite in opposition to Xavier Becerra, Biden’s nominee to head Health and Human Services.
The Dispatch Staff | 15 min ago | 2 |
Happy Wednesday! Our prayers go out to golfing legend Tiger Woods, who suffered serious injuries in a car accident outside of Los Angeles yesterday. 🙏⛳🐅
Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories
- The Senate voted on Tuesday to confirm Tom Vilsack as secretary of agriculture and Linda Thomas-Greenfield as ambassador to the United Nations.
- Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned in congressional testimony yesterday that there is a “long way” to go in the United States’ economic recovery from the pandemic, but noted that “developments point to an improved outlook for later this year.”
- Georgian police raided opposition party headquarters in Tbilisi on Tuesday, arresting United National Movement leader Nika Melia on charges of “organizing mass violence” during anti-government demonstrations in 2019. A State Department spokesperson said the United States is “deeply troubled” by the development: “Polarizing rhetoric, force and aggression are not the solution to Georgia’s political differences.”
- The Biden administration opened its first emergency migrant camp near the southern border this week, reactivating a facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas, used by the Trump administration to hold up to 700 teenage children.
- Iranian officials on Tuesday signaled openness toward reengaging with European Union and U.S. negotiators on the topic of the country’s nuclear proliferation. Citing the United States’ refusal to lift sanctions, Tehran also followed through on its threat to limit U.N. monitors’ ability to inspect the country’s nuclear sites and security footage.
- Five board members of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which operates the state’s power grid, are resigning after last week’s winter storm caused widespread power across the state, according to a filing with the Texas Public Utility Commission.
- Virginia lawmakers passed a bill this week abolishing the death penalty statewide. Gov. Ralph Northam said he plans to sign it into law.
- The United States confirmed 72,824 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday per the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Dashboard, with 8.8 percent of the 826,072 tests reported coming back positive. An additional 2,393 deaths were attributed to the virus on Tuesday, bringing the pandemic’s American death toll to 502,594. According to the COVID Tracking Project, 55,058 Americans are currently hospitalized with COVID-19. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 854,609 COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered yesterday, bringing the nationwide total to 65,032,083.
Former Security Officials Blame Intelligence Failures for January 6
It’s been nearly 50 days since a horde of violent rioters overran police forces and stormed the U.S. Capitol, and there’s still so much we don’t know about the events of January 6. Two Senate committees attempted to get some more answers on Tuesday, holding a hearing with three former security officials who were responsible for protecting the Capitol complex that day.
The trio—all of whom resigned shortly after the attack—presented a messy, inconsistent picture of what happened, deflecting blame for their inadequate preparation toward the intelligence community. Nobody could have known at the time that a massive assault on the building was in the cards, they argued. They said they believed their security plan was sufficient.
“There’s significant evidence coming out that the insurrection that occurred on the 6th was planned, coordinated well in advance,” said former U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund. “And it’s that detection that I think would have been key to putting the effective security in place for this event.”
Sund added that although an FBI field office warning that extremists were preparing for “war” the following day was emailed to the Capitol Police intelligence unit on January 5, he personallynever received it. The two other top Capitol security officials who testified Tuesday, former House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving and former Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael Stenger, said they didn’t get the memo either. Sund didn’t explain why this intelligence never made it to him, but he also downplayed the actionability of the report, saying it included raw information—specifically, social media posts—that hadn’t been corroborated at the time it was sent.
“None of the intelligence we received predicted what actually occurred,” he said.
Intelligence gathering and cross-departmental communication leading up to the attack had major flaws. But it’s unclear why the three top Capitol security officials would require intelligence analysts to carefully spell out a potential worst case scenario to them in advance in order to consider more robust security measures and contingency plans. There was an abundance of public information available in the weeks leading up to the attack that could have prompted stronger precautions if the threats had been taken seriously. People who said they planned to participate in the rally openly discussed and workshopped their plans to storm the Capitol on pro-Trump internet forums.
Becerra Brouhaha
Thus far in the Biden administration, Senate Republicans have largely played nice with Democrats in ushering the president’s picks for top administration positions through the confirmation process. Of the nine nominees confirmed to Cabinet-level posts so far, only Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas faced anything close to a party-line vote when he was confirmed 56-43 on February 2.
But two nominees currently before the Senate have been met with much stronger Republican skepticism. One is Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress, whose nomination to head the Office of Management and Budget is on the rocks in part because of her history of jeering at Republican lawmakers on Twitter. The other is Xavier Becerra, the current attorney general of California and Biden’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, who faced his first hearing before the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions yesterday.
Republicans have both partisan and nonpartisan reasons to bristle at the Becerra nomination. The nonpartisan gripe is based on experience: While Becerra has served in government for decades—he was a member of the House of Representatives from 1993 to 2017—he has never served in an executive health policy role. If there’s one nominee you’d like to be able to hit the ground running in a new administration during a global pandemic, Republicans have argued, it’s the head of Health and Human Services.
But the more visceral opposition to Becerra stems from what Republicans describe as his radical views on the role of government in health care, his intense opposition to any government limitations on abortion, and his track record in California of wielding state power against groups from crisis pregnancy centers to orders of nuns that didn’t comply with state and federal laws later deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
Worth Your Time
- If you appreciated our piece yesterday on COVID-19 optimism, definitely check out Ross Douthat’s latest New York Times column. “I am not vested with Biden’s authority or Fauci’s expertise, but I can read trend lines and vaccine studies, and at this moment both their takes look way too pessimistic,” he writes. “After a year of misery, death and sacrifice, the public has a right to know in advance when the emergency should reasonably be over. People who are struggling or despairing right now need a sense of hope, of light at the end of winter’s tunnel. People who are unsure whether to be vaccinated deserve to be told that it can actually change all of our lives, and quickly.”
- A 105-year-old New Jersey woman recently beat COVID-19, and provided some tips to Tracey Tully on the secret to a long life: prayer, no junk food, and … nine gin-soaked golden raisins in the morning. Lucia DeClerck is the oldest resident of a South Jersey nursing home, and she has now survived two global pandemics. A devout Catholic, DeClerck is never seen without her rosary beads.
Presented Without Comment
Also Presented Without Comment
Toeing the Company Line
- In her latest Sweep newsletter, Sarah brings us up to speed on New Hampshire’s “first in the nation” primary status, the role Trump will play in the 2022 midterms, and the electoral impact of voting for impeachment as a Republican. Stick around for Chris Stirewalt offering his two cents on California Republicans’ efforts to recall Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, and Charlotte’s much needed update on New York City’s crowded mayoral race.
- Why does every genuine crisis have to be injected into the culture war? In his Tuesday French Press (🔒), David notes that performance politics is all the rage these days, and it won’t stop until we make it stop. “We’ll live with unnecessary blackouts, closed schools, chaotic and opaque vaccine rollouts, and all the other bitter fruits of a culture far more oriented towards confrontation than competence,” he writes. “We may say this isn’t the world we want, but at the end of the day, our votes (and clicks) speak louder than our words.”
- House Democrats are set to vote on Biden’s $1.9 trillian COVID relief bill sometime this week, and Haley has the latest details in her Uphill newsletter. Plus, Haley and Andrew catch us up on the Capitol security briefings and Judge Merrick Garland’s Senate confirmation hearing.
Reporting by Declan Garvey (@declanpgarvey), Andrew Egger (@EggerDC), Haley Byrd Wilt (@byrdinator), Audrey Fahlberg (@FahlOutBerg), Charlotte Lawson (@charlotteUVA), Ryan Brown (@RyanP_Brown), and Steve Hayes (@stephenfhayes).
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41.) NOQ REPORT
NOQ Report Daily |
- Judge blocks Enforcement of Biden’s Moratorium on Most Deportations
- Dr. Marilyn Singleton: With Covid, ‘it looks like we’re being groomed for more authoritarian control’
- Signs of life: are the masses awakening from COVID psychosis?
- With no charges against cops in Daniel Prude case, Rochester braces for riots
- Abuse of women in sports under the guise of trans rights deserves a #MeToo moment
- Ex-Capitol Police Chief: We had intel Antifa would be at Capitol riots. Mainstream media: That’s debunked.
- Coca-Cola isn’t ‘reverse racist’… they are just racist
- Los Angeles descends into wasteland of defunct businesses because residents have failed to break out of lockdown
- The New York Times regularly publishes falsehoods that spur violent unrest and civic dysfunction
- Burbank city council votes to shutter city’s oldest bar over Covid. Their response: ‘WE WILL NOT COMPLY’
Judge blocks Enforcement of Biden’s Moratorium on Most Deportations
Posted: 24 Feb 2021 04:18 AM PST President Joe Biden’s administration cannot enforce a pause on most deportations until further notice, a federal judge ruled late Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton, a Trump appointee, agreed to issue a preliminary injunction that was requested by the state of Texas. Article by Zachary Stieber from The Epoch Times. Acting Homeland Security Secretary David Pekoske directed in a memorandum on Jan. 20 “an immediate pause on removals of any noncitizen with a final order of removal … for 100 days.” Texas officials sued, alleging the pause violated an agreement between the state and the federal government reached during the Trump administration, and that the Department of Homeland Security has a responsibility to promote the removal of illegal aliens. Tipton said Tuesday that arguments by Texas officials that they would incur financial costs from having to detain immigrants who otherwise would have been deported and from an increase in unaccompanied children requiring public education were legitimate. “The Court finds Texas has established by a preponderance of the evidence that it could reasonably expect a 100-day pause to lead to a significant number of criminal aliens and unaccompanied children moving freely within and into Texas who would otherwise be removed,” he wrote in the 105-page decision. “The 100-day pause will lead to a significant number of criminal aliens moving freely within and into Texas who otherwise would have been removed. Criminal aliens and state offenders have a demonstrable propensity to recidivate. Therefore, the 100-day pause will cause Texas unanticipated detention facility costs,” he added. A preliminary injunction blocks an order temporarily, until the case at hand is resolved or until a superseding decision is issued. Tipton expressed general opposition to nationwide injunctions but cited precedent in other cases. He therefore issued a nationwide injunction of the deportation pause. The stay of the pause will remain in place pending a final resolution of the case or until a further order from a federal court, such as an appeals court. Tipton had twice blocked the order for two weeks at a time before making the new decision. The Biden administration didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters in January that the order halting deportations “will allow the administration to review and reset enforcement policies and ensure that resources are dedicated to the most pressing challenges, and that we have a fair and effective enforcement system rooted in responsibly managing the border and protecting our national security and public safety.” Approximately 6,000 noncitizens subject to a final order of removal are currently detained nationwide, according to the government, which alleged only some of those would be released from custody during the pause. Many are detained by local authorities, who may or may not work with federal immigration officials. Defendants had asked the judge not to issue the injunction, writing in a filing in mid-February that Pekoske’s memo did not violate federal law and that Texas lacked standing. “Texas has failed to show it will be harmed by the temporary removal pause at all, let alone irreparably, as is required for injunctive relief,” government lawyers asserted. In addition, they said, “multiple statutory provisions expressly preclude review in district court, and over the substantive and procedural issues raised here.” Follow Zachary on Twitter: @zackstieber COVID-19 lockdowns are taking down an independent news outletNobody said running a media site would be easy. We could use some help keeping this site afloat.Colleagues have called me the worst fundraiser ever. My skills are squarely rooted on the journalistic side of running a news outlet. Paying the bills has never been my forte, but we’ve survived. We have ads on the site that help, but since the site’s inception this has been a labor of love that otherwise doesn’t bring in the level of revenue necessary to justify it. When I left a nice, corporate career in 2017, I did so knowing I wouldn’t make nearly as much money. But what we do at NOQ Report to deliver the truth and fight the progressive mainstream media narrative that has plagued this nation is too important for me to sacrifice it for the sake of wealth. We know we’ll never make a ton of money this way, and we’re okay with that. Things have become harder with the coronavirus lockdowns. Both ad money and donations that have kept us afloat for a while have dropped dramatically. We thought we could weather the storm, but the resurgence of lockdowns that mainstream media and Democrats are pushing has put our prospects in jeopardy. In short, we are now in desperate need of financial assistance. The best way NOQ Report readers can help is to donate. Our Giving Fuel page makes it easy to donate one-time or monthly. Alternatively, you can donate through PayPal as well. We need approximately $17,300 to stay afloat through March when we hope the economy will be more open, but more would be wonderful and any amount that brings us closer to our goal is greatly appreciated. The second way to help is to become a partner. We’ve strongly considered seeking angel investors in the past but because we were paying the bills, it didn’t seem necessary. Now, we’re struggling to pay the bills. This shouldn’t be the case as our traffic the last year has been going up dramatically. June, 2018, we had 11,678 visitors. A year later in June, 2019, we were up to 116,194. In June, 2020, we had 614,192. In November, 2020, we hit 1.2 million visitors. We’re heading in the right direction and we believe we’re ready talk to patriotic investors who want to not only “get in on the action” but more importantly who want to help America hear the truth. Interested investors should contact me directly with the contact button above. As the world spirals towards radical progressivism, the need for truthful journalism has never been greater. But in these times, we need as many conservative media voices as possible. Please help keep NOQ Report going. Bitcoin: 32SeW2Ajn86g4dATWtWreABhEkiqxsKUGn
American Conservative MovementJoin fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. The coronavirus crisis has prompted many, even some conservatives, to promote authoritarianism. It’s understandable to some extent now, but it must not be allowed to embed itself in American life. We currently have 11,000+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.The post Judge blocks Enforcement of Biden’s Moratorium on Most Deportations appeared first on NOQ Report – Conservative Christian News, Opinions, and Quotes. |
Dr. Marilyn Singleton: With Covid, ‘it looks like we’re being groomed for more authoritarian control’
Posted: 23 Feb 2021 08:15 PM PST
Covid-19 isn’t just a healthcare problem. It quickly morphed into a political play early on and has persisted in being used as a tool through which authority-minded politicians can advance and sustain their power. We’ve seen examples from coast-to-coast, particularly at the state and local levels. From New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to California Governor Gavin Newsom and several others in between, promoting draconian policies against businesses, schools, and individuals continues to be prominent. I had the pleasure of discussing this with Dr. Marilyn Singleton on the latest episode of NOQ Report. Dr. Singleton is well-qualified to express her perspectives on the issue. She was president of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons. With a M.D. from UC San Francisco Medical School and a J.D. from UC Berkeley Law School, she has expertise in both the medical and legal arenas. Based on her experience and understanding of the current state of affairs in America with the pandemic raging, she is not a fan of Dr. Anthony Fauci. “I think he should have been fired months ago, but that’s where the politics enters,” she said. “And I’m sure the President thought ‘if I fire this guy, anything that happens after this, it’ll all be on me.’ And Fauci, it’s kind of interesting listening to him now. He talks in kind of this third person, as if it was someone else who was doing all the medical stuff last year.” Dr. Fauci has famously flip-flopped multiple times on a plethora of issues. He was against using face masks before being for them. He was in favor of using multiple face masks before saying it wasn’t necessary. And with every passing study or decree from the Centers for Disease Control, his perspectives seem to change constantly. “He seems not to know everything that he’s talking about, or if he does know he’s keeping things from the public,” she said. “I think the thing that was so appalling is in the beginning he said, ‘don’t worry about this, no need to wear a mask, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, have sex with people in Tinder.’” She continued, “It was completely cavalier. And then, all of a sudden, it’s this loss of memory, and ‘oh no, you have to do this, you have to do that, you have to wear a mask for the rest of your life, you have to stay on lockdown for the rest of your life.’” But Dr. Fauci is simply an extension of the political side of the pandemic. His recommendations, heavily touted by mainstream media, many Republicans, and nearly every Democrat, rely less on the science behind Covid-19 and more on the political agenda at any given moment. With perspectives that are so mercurial, it’s a wonder that more have not called him out. As a tool for progressive politicians, he has been able to help maintain a level of fear appropriate to keep us on edge. Unfortunately, keeping the masses at this level of fear has driven many to go over the edge. It’s conspicuous that numbers pertaining to drug overdoses, clinical depression, and suicide have suddenly become difficult to acquire. The last thing they want is for people to start asking more questions about the efficacy of pandemic policies, lest they risk losing control. If we follow the true science surrounding this coronavirus, we see clear paths to be able to reopen and return to higher degrees of normalcy. But it’s a political form of pseudoscience that seems to be driving the decisions made at every level. Dr. Singleton believes she knows why this is. “This should be reproduceable results and asking solid questions of people,” she said, referring to the proper way to study and react to Covid-19. “There’s epidemiological lists that should be gone through, and none of this is really being done. It seems like only the data that supports what the government wants you to do, and I just hate to say this but it looks like we’re being groomed for more authoritarian control.” Public information regarding Covid-19 is limited for a reason. There’s a political agenda that holds primacy over the true medical considerations. They’re not following the science. They’re using the science for control.
COVID-19 lockdowns are taking down an independent news outletNobody said running a media site would be easy. We could use some help keeping this site afloat.Colleagues have called me the worst fundraiser ever. My skills are squarely rooted on the journalistic side of running a news outlet. Paying the bills has never been my forte, but we’ve survived. We have ads on the site that help, but since the site’s inception this has been a labor of love that otherwise doesn’t bring in the level of revenue necessary to justify it. When I left a nice, corporate career in 2017, I did so knowing I wouldn’t make nearly as much money. But what we do at NOQ Report to deliver the truth and fight the progressive mainstream media narrative that has plagued this nation is too important for me to sacrifice it for the sake of wealth. We know we’ll never make a ton of money this way, and we’re okay with that. Things have become harder with the coronavirus lockdowns. Both ad money and donations that have kept us afloat for a while have dropped dramatically. We thought we could weather the storm, but the resurgence of lockdowns that mainstream media and Democrats are pushing has put our prospects in jeopardy. In short, we are now in desperate need of financial assistance. The best way NOQ Report readers can help is to donate. Our Giving Fuel page makes it easy to donate one-time or monthly. Alternatively, you can donate through PayPal as well. We need approximately $17,300 to stay afloat through March when we hope the economy will be more open, but more would be wonderful and any amount that brings us closer to our goal is greatly appreciated. The second way to help is to become a partner. We’ve strongly considered seeking angel investors in the past but because we were paying the bills, it didn’t seem necessary. Now, we’re struggling to pay the bills. This shouldn’t be the case as our traffic the last year has been going up dramatically. June, 2018, we had 11,678 visitors. A year later in June, 2019, we were up to 116,194. In June, 2020, we had 614,192. In November, 2020, we hit 1.2 million visitors. We’re heading in the right direction and we believe we’re ready talk to patriotic investors who want to not only “get in on the action” but more importantly who want to help America hear the truth. Interested investors should contact me directly with the contact button above. As the world spirals towards radical progressivism, the need for truthful journalism has never been greater. But in these times, we need as many conservative media voices as possible. Please help keep NOQ Report going. Bitcoin: 32SeW2Ajn86g4dATWtWreABhEkiqxsKUGn
American Conservative MovementJoin fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. The coronavirus crisis has prompted many, even some conservatives, to promote authoritarianism. It’s understandable to some extent now, but it must not be allowed to embed itself in American life. We currently have 11,000+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.The post Dr. Marilyn Singleton: With Covid, ‘it looks like we’re being groomed for more authoritarian control’ appeared first on NOQ Report – Conservative Christian News, Opinions, and Quotes. |
Signs of life: are the masses awakening from COVID psychosis?
Posted: 23 Feb 2021 06:26 PM PST Over the course of the past year, a coalition including the corporate media, international “health” institutions, a maniacal mega billionaire, Big Pharma oligarchs, and power drunk governments consumed massive amounts of power left and right, with little to no observed resistance in sight. Article by Jordan Schachtel from The Dossier. With COVID mania in full swing, they moved the goalposts as they pleased. Free of any science, data, or logical reasoning, the ruling class had the terrified masses completely under their thumb. Under the spell of a mass social psychosis, we willingly surrendered our liberties and even happily enforced draconian edicts on our own peers, despite the global trampling of our basic rights. The ruling class moved seamlessly from “15 days to stop the spread” to “30 days to stop the spread” to “Zero COVID.” From “everyone needs to wear a mask” to “everyone needs to wear two masks” to “maybe we should wear three masks.” From “lockdown to preserve healthcare capacity” to “lockdown to slow/stop the spread” to “lockdown until we have a vaccine.” All of these aforementioned restrictions and guidelines were abided by without resistance. Across the globe, citizens remained firmly trapped in perhaps the most self-destructive mass social psychosis in human history, convinced that a respiratory virus (that causes a disease with a 99.8% recovery rate) was responsible for their economic and societal devastation. The authoritarians did as they wished, without a hint of pushback. However, it seems we have finally reached one particular narrative that has been met with firm resistance.
People are rightfully outraged by another ongoing narrative shift attempt led by the likes of Dr. Anthony Fauci, Bill Gates, countless government health bureaucracies, and other leaders of the corona hysteria movement. We’re now being told that the vaccine is not in fact a ticket to normalcy. Instead, we’ve been told that even with the vaccine, people still need to wear a mask, social distance, and act as if fellow human beings are nothing more than mere vectors of disease.
They initially told us lockdowns would solve our COVID problem. They then told us masks would end the pandemic. Soon after, the “experts” went all in on the vaccine narrative. It seems that the new narrative is one of “forever COVID,” or a permanent safety regime that stresses prioritizing avoidance of a virus over anything else in life. Fauci and the gang is now demoting the vaccine’s status as no longer a way out, but just another tool to help you mitigate the threat posed by the “deadly virus.”
And many finally seem to be pushing back against the ruling class plan for a permanent COVID state.
Will the vaccine rug pull attempt awaken the masses to the reality that they’ve been conned for an entire year? That is too soon to tell, but we are finally seeing signs of widespread pushback against the latest demands from the ruling class. Many of us wished this hopeful revival of rational thought had occurred a full year ago, but it’s more important right now to build a coalition around restoring our rights and quashing the power grab, even if that coalition includes the same individuals and groups that were once on the side of the totalitarians. Subscribe to Jordan Schachtel’s news on The Dossier. COVID-19 lockdowns are taking down an independent news outletNobody said running a media site would be easy. We could use some help keeping this site afloat.Colleagues have called me the worst fundraiser ever. My skills are squarely rooted on the journalistic side of running a news outlet. Paying the bills has never been my forte, but we’ve survived. We have ads on the site that help, but since the site’s inception this has been a labor of love that otherwise doesn’t bring in the level of revenue necessary to justify it. When I left a nice, corporate career in 2017, I did so knowing I wouldn’t make nearly as much money. But what we do at NOQ Report to deliver the truth and fight the progressive mainstream media narrative that has plagued this nation is too important for me to sacrifice it for the sake of wealth. We know we’ll never make a ton of money this way, and we’re okay with that. Things have become harder with the coronavirus lockdowns. Both ad money and donations that have kept us afloat for a while have dropped dramatically. We thought we could weather the storm, but the resurgence of lockdowns that mainstream media and Democrats are pushing has put our prospects in jeopardy. In short, we are now in desperate need of financial assistance. The best way NOQ Report readers can help is to donate. Our Giving Fuel page makes it easy to donate one-time or monthly. Alternatively, you can donate through PayPal as well. We need approximately $17,300 to stay afloat through March when we hope the economy will be more open, but more would be wonderful and any amount that brings us closer to our goal is greatly appreciated. The second way to help is to become a partner. We’ve strongly considered seeking angel investors in the past but because we were paying the bills, it didn’t seem necessary. Now, we’re struggling to pay the bills. This shouldn’t be the case as our traffic the last year has been going up dramatically. June, 2018, we had 11,678 visitors. A year later in June, 2019, we were up to 116,194. In June, 2020, we had 614,192. In November, 2020, we hit 1.2 million visitors. We’re heading in the right direction and we believe we’re ready talk to patriotic investors who want to not only “get in on the action” but more importantly who want to help America hear the truth. Interested investors should contact me directly with the contact button above. As the world spirals towards radical progressivism, the need for truthful journalism has never been greater. But in these times, we need as many conservative media voices as possible. Please help keep NOQ Report going. Bitcoin: 32SeW2Ajn86g4dATWtWreABhEkiqxsKUGn
American Conservative MovementJoin fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. The coronavirus crisis has prompted many, even some conservatives, to promote authoritarianism. It’s understandable to some extent now, but it must not be allowed to embed itself in American life. We currently have 11,000+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.The post Signs of life: are the masses awakening from COVID psychosis? appeared first on NOQ Report – Conservative Christian News, Opinions, and Quotes. |
With no charges against cops in Daniel Prude case, Rochester braces for riots
Posted: 23 Feb 2021 05:43 PM PST In what could be the first major race-based Black Lives Matter and Antifa riot of 2021, Rochester and other cities prepare for the blowback following the grand jury decision to not charge law enforcement officers involved in Daniel Prude’s death. According to The Police Tribune:
This news may be met with violent riots, often called “mostly peaceful protests” by mainstream media, as outrage is already spreading across social media. If riots do occur and are not quelled quickly, it will call into question the timing of James’ announcement and whether or not she should have given enough notice to the city and state to allow for the National Guard to be called in. Then again, perhaps catching everyone by surprise was by design. This could have been anticipated, allowing sufficient troops and law enforcement officers to be on standby. Instead, the city of Rochester and other hotbeds of BLM/Antifa rioting have been caught flatfooted and are scrambling to keep the peace.
It’s also possible that no riots will take place. This is the first major law enforcement inciting incident since Joe Biden has been inaugurated as president. Some have speculated politics during an election year pushed many of the summer riots to greater heights in an attempt to stir division and foment hatred towards President Trump. If rioting occurs during Biden’s watch, we can assume the political nature of the riots are less partisan and more aligned with their anarcho-communist leanings. The death of Daniel Prude is unfortunate and could have been avoided. But destruction of property and violence against innocent people is not the appropriate response. Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail in Rochester. COVID-19 lockdowns are taking down an independent news outletNobody said running a media site would be easy. We could use some help keeping this site afloat.Colleagues have called me the worst fundraiser ever. My skills are squarely rooted on the journalistic side of running a news outlet. Paying the bills has never been my forte, but we’ve survived. We have ads on the site that help, but since the site’s inception this has been a labor of love that otherwise doesn’t bring in the level of revenue necessary to justify it. When I left a nice, corporate career in 2017, I did so knowing I wouldn’t make nearly as much money. But what we do at NOQ Report to deliver the truth and fight the progressive mainstream media narrative that has plagued this nation is too important for me to sacrifice it for the sake of wealth. We know we’ll never make a ton of money this way, and we’re okay with that. Things have become harder with the coronavirus lockdowns. Both ad money and donations that have kept us afloat for a while have dropped dramatically. We thought we could weather the storm, but the resurgence of lockdowns that mainstream media and Democrats are pushing has put our prospects in jeopardy. In short, we are now in desperate need of financial assistance. The best way NOQ Report readers can help is to donate. Our Giving Fuel page makes it easy to donate one-time or monthly. Alternatively, you can donate through PayPal as well. We need approximately $17,300 to stay afloat through March when we hope the economy will be more open, but more would be wonderful and any amount that brings us closer to our goal is greatly appreciated. The second way to help is to become a partner. We’ve strongly considered seeking angel investors in the past but because we were paying the bills, it didn’t seem necessary. Now, we’re struggling to pay the bills. This shouldn’t be the case as our traffic the last year has been going up dramatically. June, 2018, we had 11,678 visitors. A year later in June, 2019, we were up to 116,194. In June, 2020, we had 614,192. In November, 2020, we hit 1.2 million visitors. We’re heading in the right direction and we believe we’re ready talk to patriotic investors who want to not only “get in on the action” but more importantly who want to help America hear the truth. Interested investors should contact me directly with the contact button above. As the world spirals towards radical progressivism, the need for truthful journalism has never been greater. But in these times, we need as many conservative media voices as possible. Please help keep NOQ Report going. Bitcoin: 32SeW2Ajn86g4dATWtWreABhEkiqxsKUGn
American Conservative MovementJoin fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. The coronavirus crisis has prompted many, even some conservatives, to promote authoritarianism. It’s understandable to some extent now, but it must not be allowed to embed itself in American life. We currently have 11,000+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.The post With no charges against cops in Daniel Prude case, Rochester braces for riots appeared first on NOQ Report – Conservative Christian News, Opinions, and Quotes. |
Abuse of women in sports under the guise of trans rights deserves a #MeToo moment
Posted: 23 Feb 2021 05:07 PM PST Perhaps the biggest triumph of the #MeToo movement was that it empowered women to speak openly about sexual abuse without fear of social or career repercussions. The left praised this achievement with slogans such as “We will not be silenced.” Time magazine dedicated its Person of the Year issue in 2017 to “The Silence Breakers” to honor the women who spoke up against their abusers. Article by Jared Eckert and Lucy Collins from Daily Signal. But today, the left does not seem to want to condemn the abuse and silencing of women taking place in women’s sports. President Joe Biden’s transgender executive order and legislation such as the Equality Act, if passed, would require the unqualified inclusion of biological males who identify as women in women’s sports. In so doing, the left actively subjugates women to abuse and silences them under the guise of “inclusivity.” Although biological males hold unfair advantages in noncontact sports, such as track and field, forcing women to compete against biological men in contact sports approaches abuse. In mixed martial arts, Fallon Fox, who “transitioned” from male to female at 30 years old, is the first openly transgender athlete to compete as a woman despite the dangers of injury to other competitors. In September 2014, Fox fought Tamikka Brents. Within the first two minutes of the match, Fox had fractured Brents’ skull and gave her a concussion. Fox continued the brutal assault until Brents was knocked out. “I have struggled with many women and I have never felt the strength I felt in a fight like that night,” Brents said later. “I have never felt so dominated in my life and … I am an abnormally strong woman in my own right.” In any other instance, the domination of a woman by a biological male would make her a victim of abuse and injustice, according to the left. But because Brents was a woman fighting a trans-identifying biological male, the left dismissed her as a sore loser. Vice’s article on the story criticized Brents for not being inclusive and told her to “get over it” and accept that “Fallon Fox is a woman.” It is absurd and wrong for even one woman to be dismissed for being brutally assaulted by a biological male in a dangerously unfair competition. It is worse when women are told to put up with this kind of assault without any recourse or redress from the institutions meant to protect them. Yet, that’s exactly what is happening today. Today, the NCAA silences its own female athletes to conform to the left’s gender identity ideology. In its “Transgender Handbook,” the NCAA dismisses the fears of those who want to protect women’s sports as “not well founded.” Instead, athletic departments and personnel are encouraged to create “an inclusive and non-discriminatory climate” for their teams. The handbook claims the “assumption that a transgender woman competing on a women’s team would have a competitive advantage outside the range of performance and competitive advantage or disadvantage that already exists among female athletes is not supported by evidence.” But it fails to cite its evidence. In fact, its claims are contrary to the evidence. A recent study by the British Journal of Medicine shows that male athletes who are “transitioning” retain their competitive edge against women even after two years of taking estrogen. Currently, trans-identifying biological males can compete on women’s teams in the NCAA and Olympics after only one year of being on estrogen. Ultimately, no amount of cross-sex hormones is enough to undo the fundamental biological differences that exist between males and females. In light of this study, NCAA’s publication of a “Transgender Handbook” that fails to cite any evidence of its claims and even makes claims contrary to scientific evidence can be explained only as an ideologically driven attempt to silence women in the name of inclusivity. A growing number of women on both sides of the political spectrum are getting fed up. Last August, 309 women wrote a letter to the NCAA urging it to consider the biological realities, the physical dangers of having men compete against them, and the implications for fairness in competition. More recently, the Women’s Liberation Front, a radical feminist group dedicated to supporting the basic rights of all women and girls, submitted a petition to the Department of Education challenging Biden’s recent executive order and the threat it poses to Title IX protections for women. Other Americans are rallying around the Promise to America’s Children, which is dedicated to protecting children from the harms of destructive gender ideology as well as the equality and safety of girls and women’s sports. If the hard-won equality and rights of women are to be preserved, women once again must speak up about injustice and challenge the unfair consequences of dissenting from an ideology that seeks to eradicate the very concept of women in sports. COVID-19 lockdowns are taking down an independent news outletNobody said running a media site would be easy. We could use some help keeping this site afloat.Colleagues have called me the worst fundraiser ever. My skills are squarely rooted on the journalistic side of running a news outlet. Paying the bills has never been my forte, but we’ve survived. We have ads on the site that help, but since the site’s inception this has been a labor of love that otherwise doesn’t bring in the level of revenue necessary to justify it. When I left a nice, corporate career in 2017, I did so knowing I wouldn’t make nearly as much money. But what we do at NOQ Report to deliver the truth and fight the progressive mainstream media narrative that has plagued this nation is too important for me to sacrifice it for the sake of wealth. We know we’ll never make a ton of money this way, and we’re okay with that. Things have become harder with the coronavirus lockdowns. Both ad money and donations that have kept us afloat for a while have dropped dramatically. We thought we could weather the storm, but the resurgence of lockdowns that mainstream media and Democrats are pushing has put our prospects in jeopardy. In short, we are now in desperate need of financial assistance. The best way NOQ Report readers can help is to donate. Our Giving Fuel page makes it easy to donate one-time or monthly. Alternatively, you can donate through PayPal as well. We need approximately $17,300 to stay afloat through March when we hope the economy will be more open, but more would be wonderful and any amount that brings us closer to our goal is greatly appreciated. The second way to help is to become a partner. We’ve strongly considered seeking angel investors in the past but because we were paying the bills, it didn’t seem necessary. Now, we’re struggling to pay the bills. This shouldn’t be the case as our traffic the last year has been going up dramatically. June, 2018, we had 11,678 visitors. A year later in June, 2019, we were up to 116,194. In June, 2020, we had 614,192. In November, 2020, we hit 1.2 million visitors. We’re heading in the right direction and we believe we’re ready talk to patriotic investors who want to not only “get in on the action” but more importantly who want to help America hear the truth. Interested investors should contact me directly with the contact button above. As the world spirals towards radical progressivism, the need for truthful journalism has never been greater. But in these times, we need as many conservative media voices as possible. Please help keep NOQ Report going. Bitcoin: 32SeW2Ajn86g4dATWtWreABhEkiqxsKUGn
American Conservative MovementJoin fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. The coronavirus crisis has prompted many, even some conservatives, to promote authoritarianism. It’s understandable to some extent now, but it must not be allowed to embed itself in American life. We currently have 11,000+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.The post Abuse of women in sports under the guise of trans rights deserves a #MeToo moment appeared first on NOQ Report – Conservative Christian News, Opinions, and Quotes. |
Ex-Capitol Police Chief: We had intel Antifa would be at Capitol riots. Mainstream media: That’s debunked.
Posted: 23 Feb 2021 04:34 PM PST Mainstream media and Democratic politicians have a narrative to maintain. They do not want you to know that Antifa was present at the Capitol riots and were involved in sparking the storming of the Capitol Building. Even after ex-Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund admitted it to be true, both mainstream media and Democrats are busy calling it a debunked fake news story. In testimony on Capitol Hill today, Sund acknowledged that Antifa was not only there but that police had intel beforehand that Antifa was coming. His statement sent to Congress said, “The assessment indicated that members of the Proud Boys, white supremacist groups, Antifa, and other extremist groups were expected to participate in the January 6th event and that they may be inclined to become violent.”
Ever since the January 6th event, mainstream media has gone out of its way to claim that President Trump and his supporters were the only ones who were to blame for what happened. They went so far as to quash stories and suppress evidence that tied Antifa and other radical leftist groups to initiating the Capitol riots. James Sullivan, the brother of Antifa provocateur John Sullivan, claimed in a leaked text message that 226 Antifa members start the riot itself. That and other stories were ignored by mainstream media. There has been strong speculation that this was not a spontaneous event sparked by President Trump’s speech. Historian Bill Federer even called it an “Alinski-like” planned attack. Now, Sund has added his name to the list of people who believe the attack was planned ahead of time, noting that the first wave began before President Trump finished his speech. “I’m able to provide you a quick overview of why I think it was a coordinated attack. One, people came specifically with equipment. You’re bringing in climbing gear to a demonstration. You’re bringing in explosives. You’re bringing in chemical spray … you’re coming prepared,” Sund told the senators. “The fact that the group that attacked our west front [did so] approximately 20 minutes before [former President Trump’s rally] ended, which means that they were planning on our agency not being at what they call ‘full strength,’” Sund added. He noted that alleged pipe bombs found near the Republican and Democratic party headquarters in the District of Columbia were likely used to distract officers from being deployed at the Capitol Building. Even after Sund’s testimony, reporting from mainstream media invariably ignored the part about Antifa. NBC News even debunked the notion, contradicting the man who was on the ground and responsible for the security of Capitol Hill on that fateful day. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., meanwhile, read from an article falsely blaming the violence at the Capitol on “antifa,” “fake Trump protesters” and “provocateurs.” Johnson asked Sund whether he believed the attack was foreseeable or predictable — Sund said it wasn’t — and then asked whether his belief was based on past experiences, suggesting that “the vast majority of Trump supporters are pro-law enforcement, and the last thing they’d do is violate the law.” A recent Suffolk University/USA Today poll found that 58 percent of Republicans believe the Capitol riot to have been “mostly an antifa-inspired attack that only involved a few Trump supporters.” That’s despite a number of perpetrators’ being members of various right-wing extremist groups and the attack’s having been planned and promoted on a number of right-wing forums. The statement made by Sund that is getting the lion’s share of highlights by progressive mainstream and social media is his comment that “These criminals came prepared for war.” But none of them are pointing out that when he was describing the “criminals,” Antifa was included in that mix. As far as the left is concerned, Antifa must not be associated with the Capitol riots in any way even if evidence and testimony point to their unambiguous presence and participation. Mainstream media has buried the lede for decades when the narrative doesn’t suit them. But what we’re seeing with Antifa and other leftist groups today is that they’re not just hidden. Their actions are flat-out covered up by the press. COVID-19 lockdowns are taking down an independent news outletNobody said running a media site would be easy. We could use some help keeping this site afloat.Colleagues have called me the worst fundraiser ever. My skills are squarely rooted on the journalistic side of running a news outlet. Paying the bills has never been my forte, but we’ve survived. We have ads on the site that help, but since the site’s inception this has been a labor of love that otherwise doesn’t bring in the level of revenue necessary to justify it. When I left a nice, corporate career in 2017, I did so knowing I wouldn’t make nearly as much money. But what we do at NOQ Report to deliver the truth and fight the progressive mainstream media narrative that has plagued this nation is too important for me to sacrifice it for the sake of wealth. We know we’ll never make a ton of money this way, and we’re okay with that. Things have become harder with the coronavirus lockdowns. Both ad money and donations that have kept us afloat for a while have dropped dramatically. We thought we could weather the storm, but the resurgence of lockdowns that mainstream media and Democrats are pushing has put our prospects in jeopardy. In short, we are now in desperate need of financial assistance. The best way NOQ Report readers can help is to donate. Our Giving Fuel page makes it easy to donate one-time or monthly. Alternatively, you can donate through PayPal as well. We need approximately $17,300 to stay afloat through March when we hope the economy will be more open, but more would be wonderful and any amount that brings us closer to our goal is greatly appreciated. The second way to help is to become a partner. We’ve strongly considered seeking angel investors in the past but because we were paying the bills, it didn’t seem necessary. Now, we’re struggling to pay the bills. This shouldn’t be the case as our traffic the last year has been going up dramatically. June, 2018, we had 11,678 visitors. A year later in June, 2019, we were up to 116,194. In June, 2020, we had 614,192. In November, 2020, we hit 1.2 million visitors. We’re heading in the right direction and we believe we’re ready talk to patriotic investors who want to not only “get in on the action” but more importantly who want to help America hear the truth. Interested investors should contact me directly with the contact button above. As the world spirals towards radical progressivism, the need for truthful journalism has never been greater. But in these times, we need as many conservative media voices as possible. Please help keep NOQ Report going. Bitcoin: 32SeW2Ajn86g4dATWtWreABhEkiqxsKUGn
American Conservative MovementJoin fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. The coronavirus crisis has prompted many, even some conservatives, to promote authoritarianism. It’s understandable to some extent now, but it must not be allowed to embed itself in American life. We currently have 11,000+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.The post Ex-Capitol Police Chief: We had intel Antifa would be at Capitol riots. Mainstream media: That’s debunked. appeared first on NOQ Report – Conservative Christian News, Opinions, and Quotes. |
Coca-Cola isn’t ‘reverse racist’… they are just racist
Posted: 23 Feb 2021 04:05 PM PST
Coca-Cola recently held some training for their employees that promoted the concept that they need to “be less white.” The outcry from Conservatives was widespread, even getting LinkedIn to take down the slideshow in the name of combatting “reverse racism.” The reality is that there is no such thing as reverse racism… there’s just racism. This is a symptom of the deeply racist ideology of the Democrat Party and those that are buying into their Cultural Marxist ideology. The Constitution provides equality under the law, in which everyone is treated evenly and fairly across the board. Are there instances where individuals do not uphold this equality? Absolutely. Is it true that there is still racism in America? For sure. However, that does not mean that the entire system is racist. Which leads us into the greater point… The new terminology is equity, not equality. This idea of racial equity is rooted in the historically racist ideology of the Democrat Party. Don’t forget that it was the Democrats who were the party of slavery. The Democrats were also the party of Jim Crow laws. And even today, the Dems are the party defending China, who provides products for dirt cheap to America because of their widespread use of slave labor. Ultimately, the Democrats always have been the party of slavery and bigotry… and that has continued into present day. Now, equity is the idea that the only way to fix an unfair and racist system, such as America (according to their ideology), is to provide extra handouts to some at the expense of those that are privileged. The problem? They are tying this equity to skin color. In order for their ideology to make sense, you have to buy into the idea that Black Americans are inferior to White Americans, and the only way for African-Americans to reach equality is with a handout from White America. I’ve watched countless videos of Lefties attempting to explain racial equity, and it always comes back to white privilege, or in other words: white supremacy. In order for this ideology to make sense, you have to view the world through a racist worldview. I don’t see any other way around it! Thus, when you hear the claim that white people are racist unless they become “anti-racist,” which is what was taught by Coca-Cola, this is actually referring to the need for white people to embrace this bigoted worldview that whites are superior and we have to fight for equity for those that are “less than.” I reject this ideology on its face. Conservatism is rooted in the value of human life. We believe that we are all equally created in the image of God. The color of your skin does not change your worth or value. You are deemed equal under the eyes of the law… and even more importantly before God. We must reject racism wherever we find it, no matter who is propagating it. In this instance, the racist ideology is in found within the Democrat platform. It’s also found being pushed onto the employees of Coca-Cola. We cannot tolerate this bigotry in this country anymore.
COVID-19 lockdowns are taking down an independent news outletNobody said running a media site would be easy. We could use some help keeping this site afloat.Colleagues have called me the worst fundraiser ever. My skills are squarely rooted on the journalistic side of running a news outlet. Paying the bills has never been my forte, but we’ve survived. We have ads on the site that help, but since the site’s inception this has been a labor of love that otherwise doesn’t bring in the level of revenue necessary to justify it. When I left a nice, corporate career in 2017, I did so knowing I wouldn’t make nearly as much money. But what we do at NOQ Report to deliver the truth and fight the progressive mainstream media narrative that has plagued this nation is too important for me to sacrifice it for the sake of wealth. We know we’ll never make a ton of money this way, and we’re okay with that. Things have become harder with the coronavirus lockdowns. Both ad money and donations that have kept us afloat for a while have dropped dramatically. We thought we could weather the storm, but the resurgence of lockdowns that mainstream media and Democrats are pushing has put our prospects in jeopardy. In short, we are now in desperate need of financial assistance. The best way NOQ Report readers can help is to donate. Our Giving Fuel page makes it easy to donate one-time or monthly. Alternatively, you can donate through PayPal as well. We need approximately $17,300 to stay afloat through March when we hope the economy will be more open, but more would be wonderful and any amount that brings us closer to our goal is greatly appreciated. The second way to help is to become a partner. We’ve strongly considered seeking angel investors in the past but because we were paying the bills, it didn’t seem necessary. Now, we’re struggling to pay the bills. This shouldn’t be the case as our traffic the last year has been going up dramatically. June, 2018, we had 11,678 visitors. A year later in June, 2019, we were up to 116,194. In June, 2020, we had 614,192. In November, 2020, we hit 1.2 million visitors. We’re heading in the right direction and we believe we’re ready talk to patriotic investors who want to not only “get in on the action” but more importantly who want to help America hear the truth. Interested investors should contact me directly with the contact button above. As the world spirals towards radical progressivism, the need for truthful journalism has never been greater. But in these times, we need as many conservative media voices as possible. Please help keep NOQ Report going. Bitcoin: 32SeW2Ajn86g4dATWtWreABhEkiqxsKUGn
American Conservative MovementJoin fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. The coronavirus crisis has prompted many, even some conservatives, to promote authoritarianism. It’s understandable to some extent now, but it must not be allowed to embed itself in American life. We currently have 11,000+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.The post Coca-Cola isn’t ‘reverse racist’… they are just racist appeared first on NOQ Report – Conservative Christian News, Opinions, and Quotes. |
Los Angeles descends into wasteland of defunct businesses because residents have failed to break out of lockdown
Posted: 23 Feb 2021 03:31 PM PST The ever-shifting Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) lockdown “rules” in Los Angeles County have all but completely devastated the local economy, especially small business owners whose livelihoods continue to be targeted by area “health” officials. Article by Ethan Huff from Natural News. Breweries and wineries throughout the southland have it especially tough as “authorities” are purposefully roving their premises on the busiest days and threatening them with closure. In most cases, these “authorities” do not even understand the rules and are persecuting these businesses unjustly. Bravery Brewing Company, for instance, was invaded by Los Angeles County inspector Jatinder Chhabra on Super Bowl Sunday. This business was doing nothing wrong and was in full compliance with local “mandates,” but Chhabra decided to make up her own rules to try to enforce. Chhabra attempted to claim that Bravery needed to have a food truck present, or some other nutriment dispensary, in order to operate. The business responded by explaining it was only doing take-out, which does not require that food be served. “Bravery Brewing Company doesn’t have any televisions, so Sunday, Feb. 7 was set up like previous Super Bowl Sundays, with limited hours,” reported The Federalist. “This year, knowing people would be setting up their own parties, Bravery opened for just four hours for customers to grab beer to take home with them before kick-off.” “Because of that, they didn’t pay the few-hundred-dollar minimums food trucks ask to come by – something they’ve been required to do when serving people on-premises because, apparently, COVID.” Other countries are standing up to Chinese virus tyranny – why isn’t America?Even so, Chhabra demanded that Bravery obey her unlawful commands, which included immediately shutting down the business. Chhabra “brashly” interfered with other customers trying to purchase beer, owner Bart Avery said, and made it arrogantly clear that “she could give a s*** less about shutting us down.” It took about 20 minutes for Avery to put Chhabra in her place by informing her about what the current rules actually are, and during that time Bravery lost a lot of business because it was prohibited from selling products to customers. Chhabra’s supervisor was called at Avery’s request, and this individual confirmed that Avery was right and Chhabra was wrong. Still, Chhabra made Avery’s life miserable that day by demanding that he make copies of 11 different forms, all while customers had to wait to make a purchase. “While the employee filled out the forms,” The Federalist further reported, “[Chhabra] can be seen rifling through the racks, exploring the bar tools, and even dancing on camera.” Another nearby business, Thief & Barrel, has had to deal with similar tyranny. Located in a colder, windier part of Los Angeles County where it is difficult to serve customers in government-sanctioned tents, T&B was paid a visit by Chhabra on Valentine’s Day. “She kept trying to quote information from the protocols, of which we kept explaining that we were not required to serve food,” managing partner Barbara Moran told The Federalist. “She was not rude, but was most definitely misinformed. She kept reminding us that she’s only the messenger. We shared with her that we felt attacked, stalked, baited. We shared that the previous two inspectors who came out together a couple months back were also misinformed. We spent over 45 minutes trying to educate them.” Like what Bravery experienced, T&B was met with rudeness, arrogance, and the usual misinformation. Agents of the county threatened to revoke the business’s alcohol license, and after realizing they were wrong arrogantly walked out saying, “Well, the good news is we don’t have to write you a citation today.” “Pure arrogance,” Moran noted. More of the latest news about Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) tyranny in the United States can be found at Pandemic.news. Sources for this article include: COVID-19 lockdowns are taking down an independent news outletNobody said running a media site would be easy. We could use some help keeping this site afloat.Colleagues have called me the worst fundraiser ever. My skills are squarely rooted on the journalistic side of running a news outlet. Paying the bills has never been my forte, but we’ve survived. We have ads on the site that help, but since the site’s inception this has been a labor of love that otherwise doesn’t bring in the level of revenue necessary to justify it. When I left a nice, corporate career in 2017, I did so knowing I wouldn’t make nearly as much money. But what we do at NOQ Report to deliver the truth and fight the progressive mainstream media narrative that has plagued this nation is too important for me to sacrifice it for the sake of wealth. We know we’ll never make a ton of money this way, and we’re okay with that. Things have become harder with the coronavirus lockdowns. Both ad money and donations that have kept us afloat for a while have dropped dramatically. We thought we could weather the storm, but the resurgence of lockdowns that mainstream media and Democrats are pushing has put our prospects in jeopardy. In short, we are now in desperate need of financial assistance. The best way NOQ Report readers can help is to donate. Our Giving Fuel page makes it easy to donate one-time or monthly. Alternatively, you can donate through PayPal as well. We need approximately $17,300 to stay afloat through March when we hope the economy will be more open, but more would be wonderful and any amount that brings us closer to our goal is greatly appreciated. The second way to help is to become a partner. We’ve strongly considered seeking angel investors in the past but because we were paying the bills, it didn’t seem necessary. Now, we’re struggling to pay the bills. This shouldn’t be the case as our traffic the last year has been going up dramatically. June, 2018, we had 11,678 visitors. A year later in June, 2019, we were up to 116,194. In June, 2020, we had 614,192. In November, 2020, we hit 1.2 million visitors. We’re heading in the right direction and we believe we’re ready talk to patriotic investors who want to not only “get in on the action” but more importantly who want to help America hear the truth. Interested investors should contact me directly with the contact button above. As the world spirals towards radical progressivism, the need for truthful journalism has never been greater. But in these times, we need as many conservative media voices as possible. Please help keep NOQ Report going. Bitcoin: 32SeW2Ajn86g4dATWtWreABhEkiqxsKUGn
American Conservative MovementJoin fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. The coronavirus crisis has prompted many, even some conservatives, to promote authoritarianism. It’s understandable to some extent now, but it must not be allowed to embed itself in American life. We currently have 11,000+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.The post Los Angeles descends into wasteland of defunct businesses because residents have failed to break out of lockdown appeared first on NOQ Report – Conservative Christian News, Opinions, and Quotes. |
The New York Times regularly publishes falsehoods that spur violent unrest and civic dysfunction
Posted: 23 Feb 2021 03:00 PM PST A New York Times essay by columnist Kevin Roose frets that the U.S. is suffering from a “reality crisis” and proposes this solution: President Biden should set up a “truth commission” to combat the “scourge” of “hoaxes, lies and collective delusions” that lead to “violent unrest and civic dysfunction.” Yet, the Times’ idea of “truth” often consists of falsehoods that cause violent unrest and civic dysfunction. This includes but is not limited to hoaxes, lies and collective delusions that:
Below is a sampling of such statements published by the Times, along with the primary sources that disprove them. These quotes come from both news articles and commentaries, which the Times claims to be factually accurate. In the words of Times’ editorial page editor Trish Hall, “the facts in a piece must be supported and validated. You can have any opinion you would like, but you can’t say that a certain battle began on a certain day if it did not.” Spurring Violence Against PoliceAccording to the New York Times:
Inciting Class WarfareAccording to the New York Times:
Stagnating the EconomyAccording to the New York Times:
Slandering the United StatesAccording to the New York Times:
Sowing Racial AnimosityAccording to the New York Times:
Covering Up Corruption and FraudAccording to the New York Times:
Empowering Criminals by Disarming Their VictimsAccording to the New York Times:
Demonizing Elected OfficialsAccording to the New York Times:
Bloating and Harming EducationAccording to the New York Times:
Concealing the Deadly Effects of Illegal ImmigrationAccording to the New York Times:
Distorting ScienceAccording to the New York Times:
Rationalizing and Cloaking the Killing of Pre-Birth HumansAccording to the New York Times:
Driving the U.S. Deeper Into Debt
SummaryFor more than a century, one extended family has owned a controlling share of the New York Times: the Ochs–Sulzberger family. From 2015 to 2018, the Times’ revenues were 20% greater than the total donations of all U.S. citizens and corporations to federal Republican campaigns and causes. This includes all presidential candidates, congressional candidates, and special interest groups combined. To keep to the Ochs–Sulzberger family in control of the Times while raising money from other people, the Times has issued a separate class of stock that gives shareholders little or no voting rights to control the corporation. This arrangement has allowed foreign interests to pump money into the Times, as it regularly publishes falsehoods that harm and destabilize the United States. In 2015, Mexican multi-billionaire Carlos Slim became the largest single shareholder of the New York Times Company. He also loaned it $250 million during the Great Recession in 2009. According to the Times, Slim did this when the Times “looked to be in peril” as the “world economy” was “struggling and credit tight.” The same article described Slim as “one of the world’s richest people, worth about $72 billion.” Thus, a foreigner who is one of the wealthiest people in the world played a key role in ensuring the survival of a U.S. media corporation that has more monetary resources than one of the two major political parties in the United States. Now, the Times is asking the U.S. government—which is now controlled by the other major party—to set up a “truth commission” to combat statements that it deems to be false. Meanwhile, the Times regularly churns out damaging and deadly misinformation while using its wealthy platform to denounce people “with big bank accounts” and “big megaphones” who “drown out other voices” in politics. Image via Wally Gobetz. James D. Agresti is the president of Just Facts, a think tank dedicated to publishing rigorously documented facts about public policy issues. COVID-19 lockdowns are taking down an independent news outletNobody said running a media site would be easy. We could use some help keeping this site afloat.Colleagues have called me the worst fundraiser ever. My skills are squarely rooted on the journalistic side of running a news outlet. Paying the bills has never been my forte, but we’ve survived. We have ads on the site that help, but since the site’s inception this has been a labor of love that otherwise doesn’t bring in the level of revenue necessary to justify it. When I left a nice, corporate career in 2017, I did so knowing I wouldn’t make nearly as much money. But what we do at NOQ Report to deliver the truth and fight the progressive mainstream media narrative that has plagued this nation is too important for me to sacrifice it for the sake of wealth. We know we’ll never make a ton of money this way, and we’re okay with that. Things have become harder with the coronavirus lockdowns. Both ad money and donations that have kept us afloat for a while have dropped dramatically. We thought we could weather the storm, but the resurgence of lockdowns that mainstream media and Democrats are pushing has put our prospects in jeopardy. In short, we are now in desperate need of financial assistance. The best way NOQ Report readers can help is to donate. Our Giving Fuel page makes it easy to donate one-time or monthly. Alternatively, you can donate through PayPal as well. We need approximately $17,300 to stay afloat through March when we hope the economy will be more open, but more would be wonderful and any amount that brings us closer to our goal is greatly appreciated. The second way to help is to become a partner. We’ve strongly considered seeking angel investors in the past but because we were paying the bills, it didn’t seem necessary. Now, we’re struggling to pay the bills. This shouldn’t be the case as our traffic the last year has been going up dramatically. June, 2018, we had 11,678 visitors. A year later in June, 2019, we were up to 116,194. In June, 2020, we had 614,192. In November, 2020, we hit 1.2 million visitors. We’re heading in the right direction and we believe we’re ready talk to patriotic investors who want to not only “get in on the action” but more importantly who want to help America hear the truth. Interested investors should contact me directly with the contact button above. As the world spirals towards radical progressivism, the need for truthful journalism has never been greater. But in these times, we need as many conservative media voices as possible. Please help keep NOQ Report going. Bitcoin: 32SeW2Ajn86g4dATWtWreABhEkiqxsKUGn
American Conservative MovementJoin fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. The coronavirus crisis has prompted many, even some conservatives, to promote authoritarianism. It’s understandable to some extent now, but it must not be allowed to embed itself in American life. We currently have 11,000+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.The post The New York Times regularly publishes falsehoods that spur violent unrest and civic dysfunction appeared first on NOQ Report – Conservative Christian News, Opinions, and Quotes. |
Burbank city council votes to shutter city’s oldest bar over Covid. Their response: ‘WE WILL NOT COMPLY’
Posted: 23 Feb 2021 01:22 PM PST Civil disobedience has been a staple of American culture since before the nation broke free from England. It is a necessary component of our freedom as government tends to lean towards authoritarianism whenever it sees a clear path. Covid-19 has opened up such a path for many authoritarians across the nation with California leading the way towards a dystopian near-future. The city council of Burbank, California, has been in a mini-war with businesses from the beginning of the pandemic. One business in particular, Tinhorn Flats Bar and Grill, has chosen to fight back. Following yesterday’s unanimous vote by the city council to shutter the oldest bar in the city, the response from the local business was short and sweet: As promised, the bar opened for business as planned. An hour after opening, there had been no word from the city or visits by law enforcement. So far it appears the civil disobedience is happening unimpeded. But that likely won’t last long as the strongarm of the law will soon step in. Very similarly to the infamous Hank Rearden speech in “Atlas Shrugged,” owner Baret Lepejian believes if government wants to stop them from doing business, they’ll have to do so with more than just an order. “The pathetic-losers on the Burbank City Council had obviously made up their minds way before the ‘meeting’” ever started,” the bar posted on Facebook. “This was nothing short of a vicious mob with pitchforks coming for that who stands against their campaign of fear. I WILL NOT COMPLY AND I WILL NOT CLOSE MY BUSINESS TO THESE PATHETIC, UNAMERICAN SOCIALIST COWARDS. If need be, I will go down with my ship..” This isn’t the first attempt by the city to shut them down. Last month, they revoked the restaurant’s public health permit in hopes of bullying the establishment into shutting its doors. But as noted by attorneys for the bar, they have never had a health violation. This latest move to revoke their business license has brought the city and bar national attention. Burbank City Attorney Amy Albano said that if the restaurant’s owners do not comply a lawsuit will be filed and a court order will be sought to close the business. We wholeheartedly stand with Tinhorn Flats Bar and Grill as they fight to keep their rights to operate safely and within reasonable guidelines that follow medical science. Their story is America’s story. Their fight is our fight. COVID-19 lockdowns are taking down an independent news outletNobody said running a media site would be easy. We could use some help keeping this site afloat.Colleagues have called me the worst fundraiser ever. My skills are squarely rooted on the journalistic side of running a news outlet. Paying the bills has never been my forte, but we’ve survived. We have ads on the site that help, but since the site’s inception this has been a labor of love that otherwise doesn’t bring in the level of revenue necessary to justify it. When I left a nice, corporate career in 2017, I did so knowing I wouldn’t make nearly as much money. But what we do at NOQ Report to deliver the truth and fight the progressive mainstream media narrative that has plagued this nation is too important for me to sacrifice it for the sake of wealth. We know we’ll never make a ton of money this way, and we’re okay with that. Things have become harder with the coronavirus lockdowns. Both ad money and donations that have kept us afloat for a while have dropped dramatically. We thought we could weather the storm, but the resurgence of lockdowns that mainstream media and Democrats are pushing has put our prospects in jeopardy. In short, we are now in desperate need of financial assistance. The best way NOQ Report readers can help is to donate. Our Giving Fuel page makes it easy to donate one-time or monthly. Alternatively, you can donate through PayPal as well. We need approximately $17,300 to stay afloat through March when we hope the economy will be more open, but more would be wonderful and any amount that brings us closer to our goal is greatly appreciated. The second way to help is to become a partner. We’ve strongly considered seeking angel investors in the past but because we were paying the bills, it didn’t seem necessary. Now, we’re struggling to pay the bills. This shouldn’t be the case as our traffic the last year has been going up dramatically. June, 2018, we had 11,678 visitors. A year later in June, 2019, we were up to 116,194. In June, 2020, we had 614,192. In November, 2020, we hit 1.2 million visitors. We’re heading in the right direction and we believe we’re ready talk to patriotic investors who want to not only “get in on the action” but more importantly who want to help America hear the truth. Interested investors should contact me directly with the contact button above. As the world spirals towards radical progressivism, the need for truthful journalism has never been greater. But in these times, we need as many conservative media voices as possible. Please help keep NOQ Report going. Bitcoin: 32SeW2Ajn86g4dATWtWreABhEkiqxsKUGn
American Conservative MovementJoin fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. The coronavirus crisis has prompted many, even some conservatives, to promote authoritarianism. It’s understandable to some extent now, but it must not be allowed to embed itself in American life. We currently have 11,000+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.The post Burbank city council votes to shutter city’s oldest bar over Covid. Their response: ‘WE WILL NOT COMPLY’ appeared first on NOQ Report – Conservative Christian News, Opinions, and Quotes. |
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42.) REDSTATE
Law Enforcement Confirms What We Already Knew About The Capitol Riots, Obliterates Democrats’ Narrative
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43.) ARRA NEWS SERVICE
ARRA News Service (in this message: 18 new items) |
- Biden’s Emergency Bill, Mixed Messages, Biden & Bibi
- Equality Act Is Anti-Christian
- Stayin’ Alive
- Biden Rejects ‘America First,’ Embraces Paris Climate Deal
- Unintended Consequences and The Texas ‘Big Freeze’ Energy Disaster
- Is Biden’s Supreme Court Packing Threat Already Working As The Court Punts Abortion And Guns Rights Cases?
- Scott Walker Takes Helm of Young America’s Foundation
- Here’s Your Sign
- Biden’s Amnesty Bill, The Left’s Priorities, Biden Blinks
- Biden v. The Bishops
- What Left-Wing Educators Don’t Teach During Black History Month
- LGBTs Lose Again at UN Commission
- Lying About Obama
- Tom Cotton: We Need to Consign the Chinese Communists to the Ash Heap of History
- Rush Limbaugh: A Tribute to a Master of Words
- Thank You Rush
- Joe Biden Is Coming For Your Guns
- Military Anti-Extremism Order Fails to Identify the Target
Biden’s Emergency Bill, Mixed Messages, Biden & Bibi
Posted: 22 Feb 2021 10:00 PM PST
by Gary Bauer: Biden’s Emergency Bill But there is a lot in the bill that is impossible to defend. For example:
> And keep in mind that there’s still $1 trillion in unspent funds from emergency spending bills passed last year! Mixed Messages At the same time, Biden is doing everything he can to open up the southern border, including bringing in tens of thousands of migrants and resettling them deeper into the American heartland to await a court hearing two or three years from now. How does that make any sense at all in the middle of a pandemic? We don’t have adequate testing, and Texas is struggling to get back on its feet after the recent shock of artic weather knocked out power and water to millions of residents. In fact, the Democrat mayor of Del Rio, Texas, is begging the Biden Administration to stop flooding his city with illegal aliens. And other Democrat politicians are warning that Biden’s immigration policies are too extreme. This is just another example of how we have moved from America First policies to a radical America Last agenda. Biden’s Model In Minneapolis, progressive politicians led the charge to defund their police department last year. It hasn’t worked out so well. Crime has skyrocketed, and 90% of residents no longer feel safe. Now Minneapolis is spending more than $6 million to recruit new police officers. In New York City, Trump derangement syndrome is so out of control that Mayor Bill de Blasio tried to shut down two Central Park ice skating rinks (and put hundreds of people of out of work) because they happen to be managed by the Trump Organization. After a backlash from outraged parents and a Harlem youth ice hockey program, city officials backed down. Speaking of outraged parents, the entire school board of Oakley, California, resigned Friday after they were caught mocking and threatening frustrated parents during what they thought was a private Zoom call. What is the significance of Oakley? Well, the school board was comprised of the kind of people Biden is catering to when he refuses to reopen the schools. We have previously reported on the absurd decision of the San Francisco School Board to rename schools named after George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. The city’s liberal mayor is so frustrated with the woke school board for wasting time and money that she’s suing to get the schools reopened. I am pleased to report that the backlash – even in liberal San Francisco – was so great that the school board has backed down. The renaming committee meetings have been canceled and the board will focus exclusively on reopening San Francisco’s schools. Unfortunately, one of the first things that Joe Biden did was to disband the 1776 Commission, which was created to explain why the “woke” version of American history is a complete lie. Biden & Bibi “Israel remains committed to preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons and its position on the nuclear agreement has not changed. Israel believes that going back to the old agreement will pave Iran’s path to a nuclear arsenal. Israel is in close contact with the United States on this matter.” As I noted in Friday’s report, Iran has done nothing to justify any sanctions relief. In fact, Iranian backed militias attacked a U.S. base in Iraq last Monday. Nine people were injured, and one contractor was killed. Yet according to one Washington Post columnist, “Nobody in the Biden administration will acknowledge the likelihood that an Iranian-backed militia just attacked U.S. troops once again.” In a related development, the Biden Administration is also vowing to restore funding to the Palestinians, even as the Palestinian Authority continues to subsidize terrorism against innocent Israelis. Delusional Disney Disney has slapped an offensive content warning on the Muppet Show. Yes, Kermit and Miss Piggy are officially politically incorrect. Disney wants to make sure that some pajama boy sitting in his basement with a few Twitter followers doesn’t launch a boycott. But the media conglomerate wasn’t so upset that it was willing to give up any extra revenue that the show might generate as Disney’s new streaming service takes on Netflix. And while Disney is worried about a Muppet with a sombrero, it’s not worried about doing business with the communist Chinese. Senator Tom Cotton slammed Disney’s double standards, tweeting, “Disney is concerned that ‘The Muppet Show’ is offensive. But filming where China runs concentration camps for Uighurs? Disney is okay with that.” This is another sad example of corporate America’s embrace of the left while selling out to the Chinese communists. It’s like uber “woke” LeBron James blasting America but refusing to stand up for human rights in Hong Kong when the NBA’s bottom line is at risk. Tags: Gary Bauer, Campaign for Working Families, Biden’s Emergency Bill, Mixed Messages, Biden & BibiTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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Equality Act Is Anti-Christian
Posted: 22 Feb 2021 09:25 PM PST by Bill Donohue: He explains why the Equality Act is flawed. According to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Equality Act is “about ending discrimination”; President Joe Biden agrees. That may be its intent, but its effect is to promote the most comprehensive assault on Christianity ever written into law. This explains why the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has been fighting this proposed law for years. Most recently it said the Equality Act “would discriminate against people of faith.” The Catholic League and many other civil rights and religious organizations have also sounded the alarm. The Equality Act has two major goals: it would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to include sexual orientation and gender identity to the definition of sex; it would also undermine the Religious Freedom Restoration Act by allowing gay rights to trump religious rights. The 1964 Civil Rights Act was primarily motivated by a desire to end racial segregation. It banned discrimination based on race, sex or national origin. That was it. It said absolutely nothing about sexual orientation, and it certainly didn’t address transgender rights—it wasn’t even a concept in the 1960s. Adding sexual orientation and gender identity to this law not only violates the intent of the legislation, it unduly burdens houses of worship and other religious organizations. In order to end racial segregation, the 1964 Civil Rights Act banned discrimination in public accommodations. Blacks had historically been denied services in many public facilities, ranging from diners to hotels. The Equality Act goes way beyond this, so much so that it disfigures the meaning of this historic 1964 law. The Equality Act not only covers homosexuals and transgender persons, it expands public accommodations to include consumer services such as healthcare. In practice this would be a disaster. It would mean, for example, that healthcare providers would be forced to provide hormone therapies and surgical procedures that are required to change the physical characteristics associated with sex changes. One does not have to be a Catholic healthcare practitioner to register moral and religious objections to this “healthcare” initiative. Will anyone be allowed to voice objections to these procedures, pointing out the long-term physical and mental problems associated with sex reassignment? What about parents who learn that their child wants to switch his or her sex? Will their rights be respected or eviscerated? It has become increasingly clear that the expansion of rights to transgender women—really biological males who identify as female—has come at the expense of rights for biological females. Take sports. Boys and men would be allowed to compete in sports with girls and women, thus unfairly altering women’s athletics. Females would also lose their privacy rights. These biological males can use the locker rooms, restrooms and shower facilities that have always been reserved for females. None of this has anything to do with why the 1964 Civil Rights Act was passed. Similarly, rights that have never been envisioned for homosexuals are also affected by the Equality Act. The 1964 Civil Rights Act specifically banned preferential treatment in law. Nevertheless, the courts have invoked this law to justify affirmative action for blacks. Were the Equality Act to become law, it would mean that homosexuals could now insist that they are entitled to preferential treatment. Yet it is well established that homosexuals earn more income than heterosexuals; lesbians also make more than straight women. The economic condition of gays is nothing like that of African Americans. In 1993, Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer co-sponsored the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA); it was signed by President Bill Clinton. This was a major victory for religious liberty. But now Pelosi and Schumer regret their vote, even to the point of supporting the Equality Act, knowing full well that it exempts itself from RFRA! This is perverse. There could be no more serious undercutting of religious liberty than what they are proposing. It would mean that Catholics, evangelicals, Orthodox Jews, Mormons, Muslims and many other religious communities could not raise religious liberty objections to any of the aforementioned rights of transgender women. In effect, religious entities would be secularized. For example, if the Equality Act were to become law, Catholic foster care programs would be shut down. They would either have to agree to allow two men to adopt children—a clear violation of Church teachings—or lose federal funding. This is the kind of “gotcha” type element that makes this bill so pernicious. Currently, Catholic hospitals can legally refuse to perform abortions. Under the Equality Act, they would either lose federal funding or be forced to get into the abortion business. That is because refusing abortion services would be declared “pregnancy” discrimination. Without the religious liberty protections afforded by RFRA, virtually every religious institution—from houses of worship to schools—would be expected to fall in line with this radical legislation. Catholic schools, for instance, would be expected to change their teachings on sexual ethics to suit the radical LGBT agenda. It is hard for the public to understand, especially Catholics, why such allegedly “devout Catholics” as Biden and Pelosi would want to champion such patently anti-Christian legislation as the Equality Act. We are contacting the entire Congress. You can help by contacting the following: Megan Miller: megan.miller@mail.house.gov Michelle Altman: michelle_altman@lankford.senate.gov Miller works for Rep. Steve Scalise, the House Majority Whip who is organizing Republican opposition to the bill. Altman works for Sen. James Lankford; he has been a consistent critic of the bill. Tags: Bill Donohue, Catholic League, Equality Act, Is Anti-Christian To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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Stayin’ Alive
Posted: 22 Feb 2021 09:06 PM PST President Biden is nothing but a puppet doing the bidding of the radical left.
Tags: editorial cartoon, AF Branco, Stayin’ AliveTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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Biden Rejects ‘America First,’ Embraces Paris Climate Deal
Posted: 22 Feb 2021 08:51 PM PST Joe placates China and the hypocritical sensibilities of globalist elites.
by Thomas Gallatin: On Friday at the G-7 summit, Joe Biden announced that, in line with his Day One executive order, the U.S. has officially reentered the dubious Paris Agreement. “We can no longer delay or do the bare minimum to address climate change,” he bloviated. “This is a global existential crisis. As of today, the United States is officially once again party to the Paris Agreement, which we helped put together.” On a brief side note, it took Donald Trump nearly four years to extricate the U.S. from this bogus climate deal, but it took Biden mere weeks to fully reenter. If Democrats were truly all about “equity,” then they should be content with a four-year process to reenter, but we digress. When Barack Obama first entered the agreement, Senate Republicans correctly argued that, constitutionally, the agreement should have been brought before the Senate for a vote since it sought to hold the weight and authority of a treaty. Obama, knowing that it had no chance of meeting the two-thirds ratification threshold for a binding treaty due to its blatant and unfair handicapping of the U.S. economy, elected to bypass Congress — with the tacit help of a few senators. While it may have no power as a binding treaty, that won’t stop the Biden administration from treating it as such. Team Biden will appeal to it as cover to justify an economy-damaging agenda that is aggressively anti-fossil fuel. As the Wall Street Journal editorial board notes, “The economic damage will be real. A 2017 analysis of the Obama Paris commitments, by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Council for Capital Formation, predicted a $250 billion reduction in GDP and some 2.7 million lost jobs by 2025.” The prospect of significant numbers of Americans losing their jobs seems to be of little concern to Biden, however, as demonstrated by his eliminating 11,000 jobs with his executive order halting construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. Furthermore, under cover of the Paris Agreement, Biden will instill even more economy-limiting emissions standards on the U.S., which has already been leading the world in decreasing its emissions. Meanwhile, the deal will do little to decrease global emissions because the ChiComs in Beijing are playing Western globalists like a fiddle. According to the Paris Agreement, China, the world’s largest CO2 emitter (it’s currently more than doubling U.S. emissions), will be free to continue increasing its emissions levels through 2030. Biden is playing right into the ChiComs’ hands. Even Biden climate czar John Kerry recently admitted, “Ninety percent of all the planet’s global emissions come from outside the U.S. borders. We could go to zero tomorrow and the problem isn’t solved.” All the Paris Climate Agreement really amounts to is a leftist virtue signal — all symbolism and no substance. Biden is effectively announcing that Trump’s America First foreign policy agenda is being replaced with Obama-style obeisance to global elitists. Biden, Kerry, and leftist celebrities everywhere lecture Americans about the “climate crisis” while they fly around the globe in their private jets, spewing massive amounts of CO2 in order to tell the world how hard they’re working to “save the planet.” It’s never really been about saving the earth, of course. Rather it’s all about them seeking to further their power and maintaining the status quo. Tags: Patriot Post, Biden Rejects, America First, Embraces, Paris Climate DealTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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Unintended Consequences and The Texas ‘Big Freeze’ Energy Disaster
Posted: 22 Feb 2021 08:34 PM PST
by Ron Paul: Last week Texas experienced a cold snap that resulted in serious statewide damage, death, and destruction. The collapse of the state’s energy grid left millions of Texans in the dark and freezing for days at a time. Tragically, at least 30 people died. There are many reasons why Texas became like a Third World country, and we should be careful not to pin all the blame on just one factor. But it seems clear that the disaster was to a large degree caused by political decisions to shift toward “green” energy generated from solar and wind and by Governor Abbott’s authoritarian Covid restrictions. Abbott, who won a “wind leadership” award just this month, oversaw the near-collapse of wind energy generation last week. Yet the politicization of energy generation in favor of “green” alternatives over natural gas and other fossil fuels has led to the unintended consequences of freezing Texans facing multiple millions of dollars in property damage and worse. Additionally, federal emissions and other restrictions forced Texas to beg Washington for permission to generate power at higher levels in anticipation of unprecedented demand. Governor Abbott finally received permission from the Department of Energy on February 14th, but by then many facilities found themselves off-line due to freezing conditions. Why should the Federal government be allowed to freeze Texans to death in the name of controlling emissions from energy generation plants? It’s a classic example of politics over people. I guess if you want to make a “Green New Deal” omelet, you have to break a few eggs. While Governor Abbott was quick to blame energy generators and even the state Electric Reliability Council of Texas, NBC News in Dallas reported that ERCOT “did not conduct any on-site inspections of the state’s power plants to see if they were ready for this winter season. Due to COVID-19 they conducted virtual tabletop exercises instead – but only with 16 percent of the state’s power generating facilities.” Governor Abbott’s authoritarian Covid executive orders at least indirectly led to lax inspection, maintenance, and winterization of wind and other energy generation plants. But Texas did not only freeze because of Abbott’s Covid restrictions. For the better part of a year thousands of businesses have been destroyed. Recovering drug addicts and alcoholics have relapsed. Depression and suicides have skyrocketed. Children have been deprived of education. And for what? Texas with Abbott’s restrictions fared no better than Florida with no restrictions when it comes to Covid cases and deaths. The Texas governor knew that months ago when the data from Florida proved that lockdowns, masks, and other restrictions had no effect. But he refused to change course. He refused to follow the brave lead of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and open Texas completely. Politicians too stubborn or fearful to change course when facts dictate otherwise do not deserve to remain in office. Governors Gavin Newsom in California and Andrew Cuomo in New York are finally facing consequences for their Covid authoritarianism. When the smoke clears – and it is rapidly clearing – many more of these petty tyrants will fall. That list of deposed Covid tyrants may well include Texas Governor Greg Abbott – and the slumbering Texas state legislature – as well. Let’s hope Texans – and all Americans – will learn from this and more forcefully demand their God-given liberty! Tags: Dr. Ron Paul, Unintended Consequences, The Texas ‘Big Freeze’, Energy DisasterTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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Is Biden’s Supreme Court Packing Threat Already Working As The Court Punts Abortion And Guns Rights Cases?
Posted: 22 Feb 2021 08:23 PM PST by Robert Romano: Is President Joe Biden’s implicit threat to pack the Supreme Court already working?
The Supreme Court with its newly minted Republican-appointed 6 to 3 majority is getting ready for its next round of cases as it convenes this week, but it might not yet have the profound, ground-breaking implications that constitutional conservatives have sought for a generation to impact as the court punts on abortion and Second Amendment guns rights cases. According to an analysis by USA Today’s John Fritze, “Advocacy groups on both sides of the abortion issue are closely watching a challenge to a 2018 Mississippi law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. But the case has been in limbo for months… And last year, the justices turned aside a series of gun rights cases that groups such as the National Rifle Association hoped would test state and local firearms laws – leaving this year’s docket free from any Second Amendment debate.” So, what’s going on? The Fritze piece quotes Stephen Wermiel, a professor at American University’s Washington College of Law: “It does seem that the court may be holding back on agreeing to decide some major issues.” Wermiel attributed it to new justices having been brought onto the court, including Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who was seated in October right before the 2020 election following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. But it’s hard to ignore the Biden threat. On Oct. 10, 2020, Ross DiMattei on KTNV told Biden that “packing the courts” is “the number one thing I’ve been asked about from viewers in the past couple days” and asked, “Don’t the voters deserve to know?” To which Biden declared, “No they don’t [deserve to know] — I’m not going to play his game. He’d love me to talk about, and I’ve already said something on pack[ing] the court. He’d love that to be the discussion instead of what he’s doing now.” That followed Biden in Phoenix on Oct. 8 similarly refusing to answer the question on court-packing, stating, “You’ll know my position on court-packing the day after the election.” Months after the election, and the American people still waiting for an answer to that question. In the 1930s, Franklin Roosevelt’s own threat to pack the Supreme Court, although it failed to change the number of justices, is credited with altering the court’s views on New Deal legislation it considered. Prior to the threat, New Deal laws were being overturned, and afterward, they weren’t. So, it could be that the Supreme Court is avoiding controversial issues while Democrats control the House, Senate and White House so as to not provoke Biden into utilizing the nuclear option to pack the court. After all, the only way for Democrats to pack the court would be to abolish the Senate filibuster and amend the Judiciary Act of 1869 that currently sets the number of justices at nine. But Senators Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kirsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) appear to have closed the door on that possibility. “I will not vote in this Congress, that’s two years, right? I will not vote [to abolish the filibuster]… And I hope with that guarantee in place he [Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell] will work in a much more amicable way,” Manchin said in an interview last month. Sinema for her part through her office said she is “not open to changing her mind” about abolishing the filibuster, which would facilitate consideration not only of legislation to pack the court but also other issues. A similar question could be asked of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. In order to avert Senate Democrats from abolishing the filibuster, does he give license to moderate Republicans to work with Democrats to pass bipartisan legislation? Such legislation might include H.R. 1, which would make a number of changes to federal election law, including mandating voter registration and mail-in voting, and redoing campaign finance laws. Or changes immigration law that Biden is proposing. Or infrastructure spending proposals, and so forth. If Senate Republicans cannot hammer out some compromises on some items, does that make abolishing the filibuster more likely? It’s worth considering the implications. And that could be the way the Supreme Court is looking at it, that is, to avoid hearing major issues until after the 2022 Congressional midterms, when Democrats will be defending historically slim majorities in the House and the Senate, and there is a significant likelihood they would lose control of one or both chambers of Congress. In other words, patience. If Biden’s implied threat to pack the court is working, then you might not expect to see any profound rulings this year or even next year that rock the boat constitutionally. It could be that the new conservative majority is not looking to provoke the Democratic controlled Congress. But after 2022, Democrats may no longer be in a position to pack the Supreme Court. Stay tuned. Tags: Robert Romano, Americans for Limited Government, Is Biden’s Supreme Court Packing Threat, Already Working, As The Court Punts, Abortion And Guns Rights CasesTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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Scott Walker Takes Helm of Young America’s Foundation
Posted: 22 Feb 2021 08:02 PM PST
by Kevin Mooney: Left-wing ideologues who attempt to suppress conservative ideas on college campuses and in legislative chambers don’t genuinely believe in either unity or diversity despite what they say, former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said in an interview with The Daily Signal. Walker, the new president of Young America’s Foundation, said such persons on the left mostly are interested in their own opinions. “They profess diversity, but they’re not for diversity,” Walker told The Daily Signal in the interview just days before he took over the conservative youth organization Feb. 1. “What they’re for is their own opinion. They talk about unity, but what they mean is they want you to support what they believe and to affirm what they believe.” Walker, 53, succeeds Ron Robinson, who served as president of the Young America’s Foundation for 43 years. Under Robinson’s leadership, the Reston, Virginia-based foundation inaugurated student-oriented programming and seminars for high school- and college-age conservatives. Robinson, now 70, also oversaw the 1998 purchase and preservation of former President Ronald Reagan’s Rancho del Cielo near Santa Barbara, California, and acquisition of the Reston-based National Journalism Center in 2001, which runs training programs for aspiring journalists. The Reagan Ranch Center opened in Santa Barbara in 2006. Young America’s Foundation merged in 2011 with Young Americans for Freedom, which was founded in 1960 at the Connecticut home of conservative writer and commentator William F. Buckley Jr., also founder of National Review magazine. In the aftermath of the 2020 elections, the rise of social media giants, and the “woke” movement’s assault on free speech, Walker sees an opportunity to build and expand on inroads Robinson made on college campuses and crucial media platforms. “Ron Robinson has been stellar for more than four decades,” the former Republican governor said. “He has built a phenomenally strong organization. So as a new leader, I’m not going to change what YAF does. My goal is to expand it, to compound its reach, and to go further.” Although Young America’s Foundation has a presence on hundreds of campuses across the country, Walker said he would like to reach every college and establish stronger ties with more students in high school and junior high. “We have to start with junior high and pre-teens, because that’s where the left is getting its foothold,” Walker said. “We want to have not just the most speakers, we want to have an overflow of conservative, freedom-loving speakers who are out across campuses all throughout the United States.” Walker said YAF’s YouTube channel is approaching a half a billion hits, putting the organization in a strong position to push back against political correctness and “cancel culture” initiatives on campuses, which attempt to stifle free speech. Despite the prominence of social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook, Walker cited research and polling showing that YouTube is the No. 1 way that young Americans get their information. “We want to own YouTube, not just among other conservative-leaning organizations,” he said. “We want to be the spot that young people of any persuasion go to for information.” Lessons Learned From Goldwater to Reagan That’s how conservatives will prevail against contemporary threats to free speech posed by the “woke” movement, cancel culture, and the social media companies such as Facebook and Twitter, the longtime YAF president said. “I think it’s scary what’s going on. And I for a long time thought, and to some extent I still do, that when the left attacks free speech, they’re making a strategic mistake,” Robinson told The Daily Signal. “People don’t want to give up their right to free speech,” he said. “People do not want to give up an exchange of ideas. Obviously, a segment of our society does, but I don’t think the vast majority of people want to do that.” Looking back at his time as YAF president, Robinson can point to instances in which left-of-center elements on college campuses attempted to “freeze out” a Young America’s Foundation chapter or prevent a conservative commentator from speaking on campus. “We were usually successful in overcoming this, and in fact, the very issue they were attempting to eliminate actually ensured that the conservative voice was heard in a much more profound way than otherwise would be the case,” Robinson said, adding: ‘Ways for Conservatives to Win’Although there is certainly cause for concern with Joe Biden in the White House with a circle of advisers from the left, Robinson said, he finds that the conservative movement has more resources at its disposal than ever before. “What our prior dark moments have taught us is that there are still ways for conservatives to win,” Robinson said. “We’ve added so many tools to our tool chest that we didn’t have before.” Robinson points to Fox News Channel, Newsmax, One America News, Rush Limbaugh’s talk show, and YAF’s own YouTube channel to demonstrate that the movement has a much wider audience than it did when Goldwater, an Arizona Republican, helped launch modern conservatism. “Conservatives are not a group to throw in the towel,” Robinson said. “If they were, they would have done it when Goldwater was crushed in 1964 and when we had a horrible Congress that fundamentally changed laws and brought in Great Society programs, which were a disaster.” Looking ahead in anticipation of future student conferences, Walker said he finds cause for optimism that may be counterintuitive given the negative influences of the media and academia. Walker, who was Wisconsin’s governor from January 2011 until January 2019, said his visits to the Reagan ranch in California have provided added inspiration and cause for hope in the face of adversity. “I came of age under Reagan and this influenced me not just as a conservative, but as an optimist and having a vibe,” Walker said. “I love going to the ranch because you can see why he loved it up there. There’s this big, wide-open space, and I think in many ways it gave him this sense of the untapped potential of the American people.” So although the steady flow of liberal influences from Hollywood, pop culture, colleges and universities, textbooks, and curriculum may seem omniscient, Walker assumes a Reaganesque view of future possibilities. “What the optimist in me says is if our young people are just overwhelmed with this radical, leftist socialist agenda, then I’m surprised they’re not all socialists,” Walker said. “Even though the numbers aren’t great, there’s still a reasonable number of young people who go through all this and have the good sense not to turn to socialism or communism.” Returning Power to TaxpayersDespite harsh union opposition to him, Walker on June 5, 2012, became the only governor nationwide to survive a recall election. He then won reelection in 2014. As governor, Walker gained national attention for proposing and implementing Wisconsin Act 10, also known as the Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill, which passed the state Legislature and survived court challenges to become law in June 2011. It was 10 years ago this month that Walker first proposed Act 10, sparking protests in the state capital organized by public employee unions opposed to his efforts to reform collective bargaining. MacIver Institute, a free-market think tank in Wisconsin, published a report detailing more than $12 billion in savings to taxpayers made possible by Walker’s Act 10. When he narrowly lost election to a third term in 2018, it was to Democrat Tony Evers, a leader of Wisconsin’s education establishment. Walker recalls what it was like to defy the power and influence of union bosses, who bused in protesters from across the country. “There were smaller groups that went beyond just protesting,” Walker said, adding: Conservatives prevail, he said, when they press ahead against organized opposition so that the public can experience the benefit of large-scale reforms such as Act 10 that benefit average citizens. The new president of Young America’s Foundation also recommends that younger conservatives look for ways to call out liberals who are dishonest and hypocritical in advancing the concept of diversity. “The irony is the only diversity they are not open to is ideological diversity,” Walker said. “There are political science departments that don’t even have one right-of-center [professor] or even anywhere close to a moderate professor. Yet they profess all this diversity.” ‘An Important Message’ One sticker had the word “coexist” written with text that included religious symbols such as the cross and the star of David, and right next to it was a sticker that said: “Recall Scott Walker.” Walker said he wonders whether the activists and newspaper editors ever understood the irony of this juxtaposition. Before taking his leave from YAF, Robinson said, he knew it was important that the organization’s next president not only be committed to conservative ideals but accustomed to “being in the limelight” and able to connect with young people. “Scott Walker does all this and it’s a significant upgrade,” Robinson said. “The other issue is that a lot of conservative institutions wander philosophically as time goes on.” He points to both the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation as examples of organizations that drifted from their founding principles. “Having Scott Walker as the new president sends an important message and provides conservative supporters of Young America’s Foundation with important reassurances,” Robinson said. Looking ahead, Walker will be able to call on another high-profile addition to the Young America’s Foundation team to help advance the cause of conservatism with a new generation of young students. YAF announced Feb. 5 that former Vice President Mike Pence would become YAF’s Ronald Reagan presidential scholar. “Vice President Pence has been a stalwart defender of individual freedom, traditional values, free markets, and limited government throughout his career of distinguished service to our country,” Walker said in a press release announcing Pence’s role, adding: Kevin Mooney is an investigative reporter for The Daily Signal. Tags: Kevin Mooney. The Daily Signal, Scott Walker, Takes Helm, Young America’s FoundationTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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Here’s Your Sign
Posted: 22 Feb 2021 07:10 PM PST . . . Governor Walz wants to issue driver licenses to all illegal immigrants in Minnesota.
Tags: Here’s Your Sign, Governor Walz, wants to issue driver licenses, to all illegals, in Minnesota, Editorial Cartoon, AF BrancoTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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Biden’s Amnesty Bill, The Left’s Priorities, Biden Blinks
Posted: 22 Feb 2021 07:01 PM PST
by Gary Bauer: Biden’s Amnesty Bill Biden claimed that his bill will “restore justice, humanity, and order to our immigration system.” He couldn’t be more wrong. There’s no justice, humanity or order to rewarding illegal behavior. And this legislation will only encourage more illegal immigration. There are no new law enforcement measures in the bill. It’s all amnesty, all the time. There’s nothing about securing the border. There’s nothing about enforcement of immigration laws inside the country. Nothing. To give you some idea of just how extreme this bill is, the term “illegal alien” is being changed to “noncitizen.” The bill legalizes every illegal alien in the country as of January 1, 2021. So, we’re not talking about just people who “have roots here.” And it even allows nearly 900,000 previously deported illegal aliens to come back! Why on earth would you do that? In addition, the bill expands chain migration and dramatically expands the legal immigration system so that even more foreign workers will pour into the country to compete for jobs with American workers and recent college graduates. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) blasted the bill as “a non-starter” that would “devastate the economy.” Even Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) ripped it as “a blanket amnesty.” The Left’s Priorities
In a healthy country with a fair media, the juxtaposition of those three facts alone should drive Biden’s approval rating into the low 30s. As Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) put it, “Why are we placing the interests of non-citizens over the interests of Americans?” That’s a very good question. But there are no good answers. Fortunately, it seems that more and more Americans are noticing Biden’s extremism. A new Rasmussen poll finds that 54% of voters agree with this statement: “Joe Biden is not the moderate nice guy that they made him out to be. He’s a puppet of the radical left.” Only 40% of voters disagree. More Biden Extremism
No moderate would even consider, much less appoint, these three to key positions of power and responsibility. No Republican should vote for them. Nor should any Democrat who claims to be a moderate. Conservative leaders and organizations are working together in various ways to oppose these nominees, and we are part of these critical efforts. Please contact your senators now, and urge them to vote “NO” on the confirmations of Clarke, Becerra and Tanden. Cancel Culture Confusion Thune said, “If we’re going to criticize the media and the left for cancel culture, we can’t be doing that ourselves.” With all due respect, senator, that’s just plain stupid. I remember when John Thune was first elected to the Senate. He defeated then-Senate Democrat Leader Tom Daschle. Many believed that Thune could be presidential material someday. But I rarely hear his name or read about him. Do you recall Thune ever leading the charge on any significant issue? I’m beginning to understand why. Here’s what Sen. Thune doesn’t understand: The cancel culture attacks regular people for merely exercising their First Amendment rights. Politics is about electing people to represent us. Using Thune’s rationale, we could never go after left-wing Democrats because that would be part of the cancel culture. Sorry, Sen. Thune, but we’re going after politicians who oppose our values, and it doesn’t matter whether they are Republicans or Democrats! It’s no secret why conservatives are so loyal to Donald Trump. He’s a fighter. He said what he was going to do and he did it. He kept his promises. Conservatives are beyond fed up with politicians who were elected to defend our values but never fight for them. They are disgusted with politicians who don’t do what they were elected to do. And conservatives have every right to be upset with weak-kneed politicians and to push back against them. That’s not the cancel culture. That’s accountability. Biden Blinks Iran has done absolutely nothing to deserve this. It has not renounced terrorism. It has not suspended its nuclear weapons program. It has not suspended its ballistic missile program. It has not stopped oppressing its own people. Not surprisingly, however, the ayatollah wants more. He’s demanding nothing short of full sanctions relief. The 2015 Obama/Biden nuclear deal was a disaster. Iran did not comply with the terms of the deal, and it used the sanctions relief it received then to fund terrorism all over the Middle East. It would be utterly foolish to repeat past mistakes hoping for different results. But that definition of insanity appears to be driving many of the left’s retread Obama-era policies. Tags: Gary Bauer, Campaign for Working Families, Biden’s Amnesty Bill, The Left’s Priorities, Biden BlinksTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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Biden v. The Bishops
Posted: 22 Feb 2021 06:15 PM PST by Bill Donohue: Growing tension between President Biden and the bishops.
President Biden has been in office for just over a month and already he is on a collision course with the bishops. It reached a new level today when he issued a statement endorsing the Equality Act; next week it will be voted on in the House and will also be reintroduced in the Senate. Biden sees the Equality Act as granting “dignity and respect” to everyone, making sure that “America lives up to our foundational values of equality and freedom for all.” He says it is needed because “LGBTQ+ Americans” have been denied “full equality.” This is a dishonest account. If the bill were as benign as Biden says it is, why would the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop’s (USCCB) be so adamantly opposed to it? The bishops have not been fooled. The Equality Act is, without a doubt, the most radical assault on religious liberty, the right to life, and privacy rights ever packaged into one bill. When Archbishop José Gomez, chairman of the USCCB, warned in November that some of Biden’s policies were troubling, he explicitly mentioned “the passage of the Equality Act.” As the bishops have previously noted, it could gut the autonomy of Catholic hospitals, especially with regards to reproductive issues. It could also be used to compel Catholic schools to grant boys access to the locker rooms and shower facilities of girls. Of course, Biden never mentions such matters. His speechwriters are masters of spin. Gomez said the Equality Act poses “a serious threat to the common good,” but that wasn’t the worst of it. What made it really treacherous was its endorsement by a Catholic president. The chairman of the USCCB rightly observed that “it creates confusion among the faithful about what the Church actually teaches on these questions.” Biden’s statement today promoting the passage of the Equality Act means that the collision course with the bishops has reached its destination. Biden has formally triggered the crash. I will have more in the way of detailed objections to the Equality Act next week. Tags: President Biden, verses, The BishopsTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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What Left-Wing Educators Don’t Teach During Black History Month
Posted: 22 Feb 2021 05:57 PM PST by Larry Elder: When will Black History Month be … history?
Apart from the bizarre notion that educators should set aside one month to salute the historical achievements of one race apart from and above the historical achievements of other races, Black History Month appears to omit a lot of black history. About slavery, do our mostly left-wing educators teach that slavery was not unique to America and is as old as humankind? As economist and author Thomas Sowell says: While National Urban League Executive Director Whitney Young supported a type of “Marshall Plan” for a period of 10 years to make up for historical discrimination, his board of directors refused to endorse the plan. In rejecting it, the president of the Urban League in Pittsburgh said the public would ask, “What in blazes are these guys up to? They tell us for years that we must buy [nondiscrimination] and then they say, ‘It isn’t what we want.’” Do our left-wing educators, during Black History Month, note that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s celebrated New Deal actually hurt blacks? According to Cato Institute’s Jim Powell, blacks lost as many as 500,000 jobs as a result of anti-competitive, job-killing regulations of the New Deal. Powell writes: “The minimum wage regulations made it illegal for employers to hire people who weren’t worth the minimum because they lacked skills. As a result, some 500,000 blacks, particularly in the South, were estimated to have lost their jobs.” Are students taught that gun control began as a means to deny free blacks the right to own guns? In ruling that blacks were chattel property in the Dred Scott case, Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney warned that ruling otherwise would mean that blacks could legally own guns. If blacks were “entitled to the privileges and immunities of citizens,” said Taney, “it would give persons of the Negro race, who were recognized as citizens in any one state of the union, the right … to keep and carry arms wherever they went … endangering the peace and safety of the state.” Are students taught that generations of civil rights leaders opposed illegal immigration and raised questions about legal immigration? After the Civil War, black abolitionist Frederick Douglass implored employers to hire blacks over new immigrants. Twenty-five years later, Booker T. Washington pleaded with Southern industrialists to hire blacks over new immigrants: —————————- Larry Elder is a bestselling author and nationally syndicated radio talk-show host. Tags: Larry Elder, What Left-Wing Educators, Don’t Teach, During Black History MonthTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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LGBTs Lose Again at UN Commission
Posted: 22 Feb 2021 05:29 PM PST by Stefano Gennarini: It is increasingly rare for UN negotiations on social issues to escape controversies about abortion and homosexuality. This year, however, the UN Commission on Social Development managed to stay a quiet affair.
The annual commission concluded its work this week, adopting a resolution on technology, social inclusion, and economic development. The resolution includes several calls for social policies to be “family-oriented” but left out language that could be interpreted as expanding “family-oriented” to include homosexual relations. The Biden administration was not happy about this. “We regret that we could not include stronger language on individuals and families in all their diversity,” said the delegate representing the United States at the commission. “Family diversity” is used to expand the definition of the family to include homosexual relations In past sessions of the commission, and the recently concluded General Assembly, the European Union complained about the absence of “family diversity” in UN resolutions. “Family-oriented” is the compromise between those who want to mention “the family” and those who want “family diversity.” The EU will always block any mention of “the family” and conservative countries will always block references to “family diversity.” Conservatives tend to consider “family-oriented” as a gain, however, since “diversity” is considered an outright reference to homosexual and other relations. In another win for social conservatives, the resolution left out any reference to “sexual and reproductive health” which is used to direct political and financial support to abortion groups. It appears frequently in UN agreements on women and health. It has appeared only once, two years ago, in resolutions of the Commission on Social Development. The relatively calm negotiation on social issues is unlikely to be repeated at the Commission on the Status of Women next month and the Commission on Population and Development in April. Once U.S. President Biden’s appointees in the State Department and the U.S. Mission to the United Nations are in place, they are expected to make a strong push for abortion under the guise of “reproductive health” and LGBT rights. Biden signed executive orders instructing the U.S. State Department and other federal agencies to work on these as a priority effort. Biden’s nominee to fill the post of U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations is Linda Thomas-Greenfield who formerly headed the U.S. State Department Bureau of African Affairs under the Obama administration. In that role, she oversaw the rollout of U.S. pro-LGBT diplomacy in Africa. During her confirmation hearing in the Senate on January 27 Greenfield declared her intention to promote abortion. New Hampshire Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen asked Thomas-Greenfield if she would promote access to a “full range of sexual and reproductive health services.” The use of “full range” in this context is understood by international policy experts as implying abortion. “I can commit to you that I will be a leader on this issue. In New York, it’s an issue that is personally a priority for me and I’ll look forward to working with you to advance our goals in this area,” Thomas-Greenfield responded. Pro-lifers were deeply disappointed that no pro-life Senator pushed back on this promise. Tags: LGBTs Lose Again, at UN CommissionTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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Lying About Obama
Posted: 22 Feb 2021 04:00 PM PST A new biography uncovers the facts behind the fake news.
by Bruce Bawer: Jack Cashill has written over a dozen books, including two about the mysterious 1996 explosion of TWA Flight 800, one about the Trayvon Martin case, and two – now three – about Barack Obama. His new book, Unmasking Obama: The Fight to Tell the True Story of a Failed Presidency, is a definitive account not only of Obama’s eight years in office but also of the transformation of most mainstream American political journalists, largely during the Obama era, from relatively objective reporters of the facts – emphasis on “relatively” – to dedicated partisans of the left, ready and eager at every turn to cover up unpleasant truths (however important) about Democrats and to promote outrageous lies (however destructive) about Republicans. Fortunately, in the age of the Internet, the mainstream media have competition. Yes, there are scads of people who purvey nonsense online. But there are also serious writers who are devoted not to the Democratic Party narrative but to the facts. Some of them have worked in the mainstream media only to lose their jobs because of their excessive curiosity about matters that their bosses considered off-limits. Ken Timmerman, a Clinton voter in 1992, was fired by Time when, in 1994, he “followed the facts on the China trade to the doors of the Oval Office.” Sharyl Attkisson’s interest in the Benghazi story forced her out of CBS News. Both kept writing, but for less prestigious – and less lucrative – outlets. Cashill calls these non-mainstream writers “Lilliputians” (for the teeny-weeny people, of course, in Gulliver’s Travels) and describes them as members of the new American samizdat, borrowing the Russian word used in Soviet times to denote, as he puts it, “the clandestine copying and distribution of literature banned by the state.” It seems to me that applying the term samizdat to the media picture in the U.S. today is wonderfully clarifying. No, Cashill admits, members of the American samizdat don’t face the threat of the gulag – not yet, anyway. But they – we – are untouchables on the media landscape. We have a far tougher time making a living than the lockstep hacks of the MSM, and are effectively barred from, say, employment in higher education. The websites we write for are deemed “unreliable sources” by Wikipedia, which at the same time treats everything in the New York Times and Washington Post as holy scripture. Those who seek to dismiss, distort, or demonize us are aided in that effort by colossally deceitful left-wing operations such as Media Matters for America and the Southern Poverty Law Center, whose smears against us – “racist,” “Islamophobe” – the MSM routinely cite as authoritative. While borrowing the word “Lilliputians” from Jonathan Swift, Cashill lifts the word “firemen” from Ray Bradbury’s dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451, in which the job of firemen isn’t to put out fires but to burn books. In today’s American media, the firemen, as defined by Cashill, are those members of the MSM who avoid reporting on news that counters the mainstream narrative. Take those editors and reporters who covered up Obama’s ties to the corrupt left-wing organization known as ACORN, which was supposedly devoted to helping the black community. Ultimately it was a young freelancer, James O’Keefe, whose covert videotapes made ACORN criminality public. In response, major media such as CNN and the Post attacked him as a racist; but O’Keefe’s exposé was so powerful that ACORN ended up dissolving in 2010. Even now, however, the ACORN page at Wikipedia – a solidly left-wing site – asserts that O’Keefe’s videos “inaccurately portray[ed] the [ACORN] personnel as encouraging criminal behavior.” The fall of ACORN was only one episode. Throughout Obama’s presidency, the MSM presented him as a remarkably virtuous, scandal-free leader. Only thanks to the samizdat do we know better. And Cashill brings it all together. His book is a remarkable trove – a damning litany of crimes, falsehoods, catastrophic missteps, indefensible decisions, and suspicious autobiographical omissions and distortions, ranging from the big lie of Obamacare (“If you like your health care plan, you can keep it”) to the IRS’s targeting of Tea Party groups, from Fast and Furious to Sylindra. There are also innumerable smaller stories of the sort that the MSM ignored, but would’ve plugged tirelessly if they’d been about Trump and not Obama – including the mystery about Obama’s social-security number (which places him in Connecticut, a state he never lived in); his baffling refusal to discuss with the Times his student years at Columbia University; and the rewriting by reverential Obama biographers of his parents’ very brief marriage, apparently to lend credibility to his fanciful reference, in speeches, to the “improbable love” between the Kenyan man and the Kansan woman who “shared an abiding faith in the possibilities” of America. Then there are the exceedingly shady Obama friendships that the MSM strove to ignore, downplay, or whitewash. Take Obama’s mentorship in Hawaii by Frank Marshall Davis, the Communist pedophile whose identity was first obscured in the memoir Dreams from My Father (in which he was referred to only as “Frank”) and who was omitted entirely from the audiobook. Or Obama’s coziness, during his Chicago days, with Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn of the radical Weather Underground, the former of whom is believed by many to have ghostwritten Obama’s memoir Dreams from My Father. Journalists who have shown curiosity about either of these relationships have been shot down as racists, right-wing extremists, conspiracy theorists, or all of the above. Granted, Obama’s two-decades-long relationship with his anti-Semitic, America-hating Chicago minister, Jeremiah Wright, did make MSM headlines. The story was simply too big to bury. Still, the MSM was quick to help Obama out. First, it put a positive spin on the 2008 Philadelphia speech in which he stated that, despite Wright’s imperfections, he could “no more disown him than I can disown my white grandmother.” Briefly put, Obama, by way of exonerating Wright, threw grandma under the bus, saying that she’d “once confessed her fear of black men who passed her by on the street.” This was a lie. In fact, Madelyn Dunham, who was seriously ailing at the time of the speech, had never “confessed” any such thing; Obama had invented the story, smearing the woman who’d raised him for years while his mother was off in Indonesia. The Philadelphia speech was hailed by the MSM as a heartfelt statement on race relations. A few weeks later, Obama kicked Wright to the curb. Then, two days before her grandson was elected president, Dunham died, having refused, after the Philadelphia speech, to say how she felt about him. The MSM spun (or deep-sixed) every bit of this disgusting episode to Obama’s benefit. Race dominated the Obama years. After a campaign during which he speechified eloquently about racial unity, he spent his presidency whipping up racial division, all with the help of the MSM. Remember the policeman, James Crowley, who was smeared as a racist for arresting Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates? Did you know he’d voted for Obama? Remember George Zimmerman, also labeled a racist after he killed Trayvon Martin? Did you know that Zimmerman, too, was an Obama voter? The Ferguson shooting of Michael Brown; the founding of BLM; the knee-taking by Colin Kaepernick and others: at any point, Obama could have made a passionate speech about race and defused the situation. Instead he whipped up racial animosity, and the MSM applauded. In 2009, whites and black alike held very positive views of race relations in the U.S.; four years later, they had far grimmer views of the situation. That wasn’t all. In 2012, when the Obama administration dishonestly blamed the deadly attacks in Benghazi on an anti-Muslim film, the MSM parroted the lie. Cashill documents the way in which mainstream reporters who knew nothing about foreign affairs were dependent on mendacious “messaging” by wily Obama staffer Ben Rhodes. Cashill reminds us that Obama was collaborating closely with Russia in 2015 – recall the hot-mic moment when he asked Russian president Dmitry Medvedev to inform Vladimir Putin that after his re-election he’d “have more flexibility” to pursue Russia-friendly policies. Did the MSM care? No. But a year later Obama’s need to frame Trump meant that “the White House had to frame Russia too.” And so, too, did the MSM, which unquestioningly parroted the inane Russia-collaboration narrative for years. There’s much more in Unmasking Obama, but suffice it to say that this is a book that needed to be written, and that needs to be read by every American who cares to know the truth about that most incompetent and malevolent of presidential administrations. Even if you feel that you followed the samizdat closely during the Obama years, there will be remarkable material here that you’ve either forgotten or never heard about. But Cashill’s more important accomplishment here is the way in which he maps the media, distinguishing the fake-news giants from the fact-driven Lilliputians. This service is more important than ever in the age of Biden, when the Democrats’ recapture of Washington has given the MSM – and their Silicon Valley allies – a new sense of empowerment, which they’ve exploited in the most nefarious of ways. Even as I write this, it’s being reported that Twitter has “restricted” James O’Keefe and his organization Project Veritas for daring to expose censorship by Facebook. More than ever, samizdat heroes like O’Keefe are necessary to the survival of our democracy. And Unmasking Obama – whose author is also in the first rank of those heroes – is vital reading for all Americans who don’t yet grasp the degree to which their picture of reality has been distorted by guileful operators who, claiming to be brave voices of truth, have instead been the willing tools of power. Tags: Bruce Bauer, FrontPage Mag, Lying About ObamaTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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Tom Cotton: We Need to Consign the Chinese Communists to the Ash Heap of History
Posted: 22 Feb 2021 03:31 PM PST by Kristina Wong: Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) fired a verbal volley at the Chinese Communist regime in a speech at the Reagan Institute on Thursday as he unveiled his latest report on U.S. strategy toward China: “Beat China: Targeted Decoupling and the Economic Long War.”
Cotton said in his opening remarks: “Many believed that open markets and open borders would make China rich, and then make China free. So for decades they fed the tiger and made it more powerful,” he said. He added: When U.S. companies tried to access China’s huge consumer market, Beijing forced them to hand over proprietary technology and pledge never to speak out against the Party in any way, or speak up for its victims, he added. And finally, after America outsourced production of even essential goods to China, the Chinese Communist Party began threatening to cut it off, he said. He said this week, the Chinese government proposed export controls on rare-earth elements essential to the F-35, the U.S. military’s most advanced weapons system. “China has a virtual monopoly on rare-earth mining and processing. That means Beijing could ground our jets at almost any time, just by cutting off access to a few key inputs. It’s sad that a great nation would ever find itself in such a position,” he said. “The Chinese Communist Party is no paper tiger, and we cannot afford to wait passively for its collapse or reform,” he said. However, he noted growing American will to confront China and said it would be difficult today for President Joe Biden to toast CCP Chairman Xi Jinping at the White House as he did less than 10 years ago. “Today such an event would be a grave scandal,” he said. He called for a number of reforms and steps the U.S. should take to ensure it is not defeated by China. He said the U.S. government should expand the Trump administration’s financial sanctions against the CCP’s worst actors to include Chinese companies that steal American intellectual property (IP), or that benefit from stolen IP. “The message should be clear: steal from Americans once, look over your shoulder forever,” he said. He also called for terminating China’s Permanent Normal Trade Relations status and returning to the old system where the U.S. president and Congress would review China’s trade privileges each year, in light of its progress on human rights. He said the U.S. should tighten export controls to prevent China from obtaining cutting-edge technology with military applications, such as semiconductors, 5G telecommunications equipment, Artificial Intelligence, and quantum computers, he said. Cotton also said the U.S. should boost investment in research and development (R&D) and manufacturing so the future of those critical technologies is made in America, not China. And he said the U.S. should also bring back production of critical goods, such as essential medicines, medical supplies, and rare-earth elements. He said the U.S. should seek to cut off the “spigot” of money from China to American elites. “We need to cut off the spigot of money that has fueled China’s rise and corrupted our elites, creating a China Lobby stretching from New York and Washington to Silicon Valley and Hollywood, touching corporate boardrooms and college campuses in between,” he said. He also called for a number of measures to strengthen U.S. scrutiny of Chinese investments and Chinese students coming to study in the U.S. in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). He recommended that American export-control authorities such as the Bureau of Industry and Security be moved from the business-minded Department to Commerce to a national security-focused department such as the State Department, and for the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to be expanded, with a separate task force devoted to sanctioning China’s IP “thieves, military companies, and state-owned puppets.” He recommended giving the Secretary of Defense a more prominent role at CFIUS, a body that examines Chinese investments that risk U.S. national security. In closing, he cautioned Americans to look at what the CCP is doing to its minority Uyghur population to see how it will treat the rest of the world if it becomes the dominant superpower. He said during a trip to China’s western Xinjiang Province in 2014, Xi “called for an ‘all-out struggle against terrorism, infiltration, and domination” by using the “organs of dictatorship” to show “absolutely no mercy.” “If that’s what the Chinese Communist Party does to its own people, imagine what it’ll do to the rest of the world. And while many countries deplore the Party’s tyranny, only one country is in the position to stop it. That’s the United States of America. That’s our new rendezvous with destiny,” he concluded. “Let’s pour our whole hearts into meeting this challenge so America and the Free World prevail once again.” Senator Cotton’s report can be read here. Tags: Kristina Wong, Breitbart, Tom Cotton, Need to Consign, Chinese Communists, Ash Heap of HistoryTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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Rush Limbaugh: A Tribute to a Master of Words
Posted: 22 Feb 2021 03:04 PM PST by Lee Edwards: Rush Limbaugh, a longtime friend of The Heritage Foundation, was the great popularizer of conservative ideas.
He revolutionized talk radio in the 1980s, when President Ronald Reagan deregulated AM radio, with his unique blend of shrewd analysis and often biting humor. No progressive idea was safe when Rush took it on. For more than 30 years, he was No. 1 in the ratings—with 15 to 20 million listeners per week. No one could talk or think faster than he—for three hours every afternoon five days a week. He spent hours reading and studying for his program—no one was better prepared than he. He loved to mock the hypocrisies of the left, like the moralizing of Sen. Ted Kennedy, the “Hero of Chappaquiddick,” who savaged Supreme Court Justice nominee Robert Bork on the Senate floor, where he couldn’t be sued for libel. Rush was a deeply rooted conservative whose favorite magazine growing up was National Review. For all his fame, he was a humble man who, once invited to have dinner with National Review founder Bill Buckley in his Manhattan townhouse, told the driver to go around the block twice before summoning up the nerve to go inside. Rush appealed to conservatives of all kinds. When The Heritage Foundation published Bill Bennett’s monograph “The Index of Leading Cultural Indicators,” Rush made it a bestseller with one broadcast—73,000 people contacted Heritage for a copy. His promotion of Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America” helped Republicans to gain their first majority in the House of Representatives in 40 years. Rush understood full well the power of ideas. He saw the importance of the tea party and its Constitution-based populism, and encouraged its members to contact Heritage for a copy of its pocket-size Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. Heritage sent out nearly 3 million copies in 2009 and 2010. He was impressed with the tea party’s mantra: “Government must tax and spend less.” When Heritage analyst Brian Riedl documented that the Congressional Budget Office had underestimated President Barack Obama’s 10-year deficit by $7 trillion, Rush read the Riedl report on the air, generating thousands of emails and phone calls to congressional offices. When liberals tried to increase tax revenues through a value-added tax, conservatives stressed the hidden nature of a VAT and predicted it would not be a substitute for present taxes, but would become an additional tax on the already over-taxed public. Rush seized on the “hidden” nature of a VAT and helped create the climate that persuaded the Senate to vote 85-13 against a VAT as “harmful” to the nation. Whatever the issue—taxes, immigration, education, culture—Rush Limbaugh offered commonsense conservative analysis, along with a slice of satire and some rock ’n’ roll. His voice may be still, but his example continues to inspire radio hosts from coast to coast. Tags: Lee Edwards, The Heritage Foundation, Rush Limbaugh, Tribute to, Master of WordsTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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Thank You Rush
Posted: 22 Feb 2021 02:39 PM PST
by Judd Garrette: Prior to the 1990s, the primary source people received their news, especially national political news, was through the major three TV networks; ABC, NBC, and CBS, as well as, the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal. There was essentially only one point of view presented to the public about national politics. Even when these media outlets showed differing points of view, the perspectives were either so close, they were basically the same, or the opposition to the accepted narrative was presented in such an elementary way that it was easily discredited and dismissed. For decades, one political ideology had a monopoly on which point of view would get presented to the people. It was only someone as charismatic as Ronald Reagan who could penetrate this media wall and articulate a different perspective to America. This was evident with his landslide elections in 1980 and 1984, where the entirety of the media was against him, but he won anyway, in a convincing manner. It was apparent that there was a complete disconnect between the media and a large segment of the American people. These people were starving for something that the media refused to give them, a competing point of view. I first listen to Rush Limbaugh in 1991 during the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings. When I first heard him speak, I felt like my eyes popped wide open. I could not believe what I was hearing. He was saying many of the things that I was thinking, but never said out loud because I never heard anybody else say those things publicly. I remember thinking, ‘you can actually say that?’ He was truly the boy proclaiming that “the emperor has no clothes.” But it was more than that. It was almost as if he was giving permission to the rest of us to look at and think about politics different from the way it was presented on the nightly news and the national newspapers. He was confirming many of the things a lot of us were thinking. Millions of people finally had a counter-balance to the accepted media narrative. Let’s be clear, Rush Limbaugh was not leading tens of millions of his listeners, he was validating them. For the first time since Reagan, there was a public voice articulating the thoughts and ideas that many of us believed in. It did not matter that they had to go to the backwaters section of the media, A.M. radio, to find it. It was out there for them. And for one-third of a century, Rush Limbaugh was truly the king of the airwaves. But just as important for our country, no longer was there an ideological monopoly in the media. Rush provided a point of view, a perspective that was purposely not being presented by the media outlets that controlled the public dialogue. His perspective created a much broader perspective for American politics. He gave our political discourse depth and fullness. Whether you viewed him as a hero or a villain, or somewhere in between, he was definitely necessary because in politics, as in all of life, myopia is a very bad way to view the world. And his was the strongest, most pervasive voice pushing against the incessant and destructive need to pull everyone into one big echo chamber. It is almost ironic that Rush passed during a time when there is, once again, a strong push from political leaders to return American media to the days before Rush came on the scene. The censorship that we are witnessing of conservative points of view on social media, and the push by certain politicians to shut down networks like Fox News are gigantic steps in that myopic direction. The people in power are trying to return America to the days when the public only heard one political point of view, theirs. So here we are fighting the same fight that Rush fought for a third of a century, the fight that we will have to fight for as long as our country is a country. But we must learn a lesson from Rush. We can still get our news and our opinions from non-mainstream media venues, from backwaters sections of the Internet. We can delete Facebook and Twitter and Instagram, and click on other political websites, just like we turned off ABC, NBC, and CBS, and listened to the A.M. radio because regardless of what Nancy Pelosi and AOC, and Chuck Schumer say, we are allowed to think these things and express our opinions, even if they are different from theirs, especially because they are different from theirs. The truth is the truth, and the truth can come from the “mouth of babes”, a little boy walking on the street, a disc jockey on A.M. radio, or even some website that is banned by the social media giants. Thanks Rush, not for telling us what to think, thanks for showing us it’s okay to think for ourselves. Rest In Peace, Rush. You deserve it. Tags: Judd Garrett, Thank You Rush, Objectivity is the ObjectivityTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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Joe Biden Is Coming For Your Guns
Posted: 23 Feb 2021 01:59 PM PST
by Dr. Chuck Baldwin: Joe Biden has made no secret of his intention to trash the Second Amendment and do his best to expunge our God-given right of self-defense. Here is a list of some of the details Biden is planning. 1. Ban the manufacture and sale of semi-automatic rifles 2. Ban the importation of semi-automatic rifles 3. Ban high-capacity magazines (those holding more than 10 rounds) 4. Make gun manufacturers financially responsible for someone’s improper use of a firearm 5. Enact a national registration database for existing semi-automatic rifles 6. Impose punishing taxes on existing semi-automatic rifles 7. Impose punishing taxes on the sale of ammunition 8. Enact legislation forbidding an individual to purchase more than one firearm per month 9. Require federal background checks for private gun sales 10. Prohibit individuals from possessing firearms for a misdemeanor “hate” crime 11. Prohibit the online sale of guns and ammunition 12. Seize firearms from those who are issued restraining orders by family members 13. Enact “red flag” gun confiscation laws 14. Require a government license to purchase guns and ammunition 15. Require that all firearms must be “smart guns,” making them so expensive that only the rich could afford them 16. Require that guns be always “stored” (meaning: locked away) in people’s homes 17. Prohibit individuals from being able to configure their own firearms 18. Bribe states to enact more rigorous gun control laws with millions of federal tax dollars 19. Prohibit teachers and educators from being able to carry guns for self-defense on school properties 20. Create a network of “trauma care” providers, first-responders, medical personnel, etc., to act as federal informants to aid in the enforcement of gun control As any genuine Liberty-loving constitutionalist can easily see, any one of these proposed gun control laws is totally and thoroughly unconstitutional. And any genuine Christian should easily see that any one of these proposed gun control laws is totally and thoroughly unscriptural. Taken together, these proposals form a massive assault against our right to keep and bear arms. Not only are Biden’s proposals unconstitutional and unscriptural, they are inhumane, as they are a direct assault against our Creator’s Natural Laws of individual Liberty and personal self-defense. For all intents and purposes, most of the Natural liberties protected in our Bill of Rights have already fallen victim to federal abridgment. Bill Gates and Anthony “Heil Hitler” Fauci have eviscerated the First Amendment liberties of assembly and worship. Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey—along with the rest of the Fascist media—are in the process of dismantling First Amendment freedom of speech. G.W. Bush’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has used modern technology to strip Americans of their Third Amendment liberties, as we now have an entire U.S. Army division dedicated to electronically snooping into the private affairs of the lives of every American in the country. Presidents Obama and Trump utilized Bush’s Patriot Act to strip the American people of their Fourth Amendment liberties on a daily—even hourly—basis. (Biden was also a major player in the adoption of the Patriot Act.) State and local law enforcement agencies also routinely ignore and trample the Amendment that founder James Otis so brilliantly created and for which he was almost beaten to death. Likewise, the rest of the Bill of Rights have been largely thrown into the trash can by tyrannical politicians and judges. The only Liberty protected in our Bill of Rights that is left somewhat standing is the Second Amendment. And 2021 is the year that the power elite have chosen to destroy this “precious jewel” (Patrick Henry’s affectionate term for Liberty). You say, “It can’t happen here.” Really? This time last year you would have said that government agencies closing churches, shuttering businesses, mandating forced isolations of healthy people, restricting travel, dictating personal healthcare, forcing elderly people to suffer and die alone and away from their families—being treated no better than convicted felons serving life sentences in maximum security prisons—could not happen here either. BUT IT DID HAPPEN HERE! I don’t know how to say it any plainer: If you value your right to keep and bear arms, you are going to have to make protecting that right your TOP PRIORITY for 2021. Forget watching sports on television. Forget your golf score. Forget your fishing trips. If America’s gun owners do not rise up out of their easy chairs—I mean by the tens of millions—to protect our God-given right to keep and bear arms, the Second Amendment will crash and burn in 2021. Obviously, your governor, State legislator and county sheriff are indispensable supports in the preservation of your Second Amendment liberties. You need to be bombarding these people with emails, letters, phone calls, personal visits, etc. And you need to get every freedom-loving friend and relative that you know to do the same thing. And God help you if you live in a State in which your governor and legislature will not help you. God help you if you live in a county where your sheriff will not help you. For Liberty’s sake, why do you stay in these Gestapo-like states and counties? You do realize—do you not?—that it was attempted gun confiscation that triggered our War for Independence. You do realize—do you not?—that, humanly speaking, the only thing that stands between us and complete subjugation is an armed and resolute citizenry. You do understand that, right? I have produced several products that are designed to instruct and energize free men and women—especially Christian men and women—regarding the duty we have under God to vigorously maintain our means of self-defense. The first is a book co-authored by my constitutional attorney son and me entitled To Keep or Not To Keep: Why Christians Should Not Give Up Their Guns. This book is written from a Biblical perspective, not a constitutional one. There are tomes of books on the constitutional right to keep and bear arms. But this book addresses the Scriptural duty of self-defense. This book examines Scripture texts from both Testaments and proves without a doubt that self-defense is a duty we have under God. We also examine the verses that Christian statists and pacifists use to argue that Christians have no duty to use force in self-defense or that Christians are supposed to surrender their arms at the behest of government officials. We conclusively show that such arguments are completely unfounded and without scriptural support. Plus, I preached two messages that deal specifically with the Biblical/Natural right to keep and bear arms. The first message is entitled A Biblical Portrait Of The Righteousness And Requirement Of Bearing Arms. This message is taken from the life of Abraham in Genesis 14. In this message, I show that bearing arms for self-defense—which in the modern world points to AR-15-style rifles and Glock-style pistols—is both RIGHTEOUS and REQUIRED by the laws of God. And the life of Abraham proves it. The second message is entitled The Attack Against Our Guns And The Christian Duty To Repel The Attack. In this message I show how governmental attacks against armed men are as much spiritual in nature as they are political and physical. And I show the DUTY that Christian men and women have to repel and resist these attacks. Our very survival as a free republic depends on it—and so does our obedience to the Christian faith. (Watch the message!) In addition, inside my series of messages entitled Natural Law, Liberty And Government Package is a message called Christ’s Law Of The Sword, which explains what Jesus meant when he told Simon Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane to “put up thy sword.” (John 18:11) Would to God that America’s pastors were teaching their congregations these vitally important Biblical principles! If they were, tyrannical gun grabbers would not even be able to get elected, much less pass laws usurping our Second Amendment liberties. America’s Colonial pastors led the nation in the fight for Liberty and independence. On the whole, America’s pastors today are leading the nation into subjugation and bondage. This is no hyperbole: Joe Biden is coming for your guns. Tags: Chuck Baldwin, Joe Biden, Is Coming For, Your GunsTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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Military Anti-Extremism Order Fails to Identify the Target
Posted: 22 Feb 2021 12:12 PM PST by Tony Perkins: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. A memo from President Biden’s Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin directs commanders to conduct a “Stand-Down to Address Extremism in the Ranks.” The goal, ostensibly, is to flush out people with extremist views from our nation’s military. But the memo never defines “extremist or dissident ideologies.”
As FRC’s General Jerry Boykin explained on Washington Watch, the order relies upon the theory that the ranks of our military are filled with white supremacists based on the Capitol riot on January 6. In a stunning act of cynical political theater, Democrats have turned the Capitol into Fort Pelosi due to baseless claims of an ongoing right-wing threat of violence. But as Boykin pointed out, the military does a good job weeding out those associated with the KKK or other white supremacist groups. The only thing this order accomplishes is to open the door to hazy definitions of a broader, and more sinister, interpretation — targeting social conservatives. Military attorney Roger Maxwell added on Washington Watch that “the line is just not clear at all,” but according to the DoD definition, “efforts to deprive individuals of their civil rights is also lumped under this definition of extremism.” The Supreme Court has twisted the meaning of “civil rights” to include abortion, same-sex marriage, and transgender ideology. This means that a servicemember who attends a pro-life event could be hauled before a court martial as an extremist. In fact, the definition of action is so squishy it could include any sort of “advocating for a certain belief system,” added Maxwell. “Any sort of Facebook post or offhand comment,” he said, “could potentially fit under this definition.” So if a servicemember posts that biological males shouldn’t be able to compete in women’s sports, it could violate Secretary Austin’s order. The problem is particularly pointed for Christian chaplains, whose job it is to spiritually counsel soldiers. “A chaplain of a normal Christian persuasion would fit under this definition” as an extremist, said Maxwell. Congressman Jim Banks (R-Ind.) told me on Washington Watch that his Democratic colleagues have a definition of extremism that “is pretty broad and politically driven.” He explained, “they call me an extremist. They call you an extremist. They call the Family Research Council extremist. They call most Republicans extremist.” Maybe the ones who believe half of Americans are too fringe to be included in society are the real extremists. I understand the instinct to think these concerns are a bit too paranoid. All we have so far is a vague definition, after all. But these concerns are grounded in historical experience. During the Obama administration, the military, relying in part on the SPLC’s biased “hate map,” listed the American Family Association as an extremist group, and warned servicemembers they could be court-martialed for interacting with them. We can’t let it happen again. Congressman Banks said Democrats are trying to “drive a stake through” the heart of the Republican party by labelling them as extremists. They want to “prevent us from winning back the majority in the 2022 election and the White House in 2024,” he said. But he believes their efforts will backfire. Once again, it looks like Democrats are set on overplaying their hand. The most effective recourse for those who are concerned the military will push out conservatives and Christians is to vote. Tags: Tony Perkins, Family Research Center, FRC, Family Research Council, Military Anti-Extremism Order, Fails to Identify the TargetTo share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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48.) NBC MORNING RUNDOWN
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Good morning, NBC News readers.
In one piece of good news, Tiger Woods is recovering from what appear to be non-life threatening injuries as a result of his serious car crash.
Here’s the latest on that and everything else we’re watching this Wednesday morning.
Tiger Woods is ‘awake, responsive and recovering’ after crash Golf legend Tiger Woods is “awake, responsive and recovering in his hospital room” following surgery on serious leg injuries suffered during a car crash in the Los Angeles area on Tuesday.
Woods underwent “a long surgical procedure on his lower right leg and ankle,” according to a statement posted to his Twitter account overnight.
A rod was inserted into his tibia to stabilize fractures, and screws and pins were used to stabilize injuries to the foot and ankle, according to the statement.
Woods’ Genesis GV80 crashed early Tuesday morning on a windy stretch of road on the border of Rolling Hills Estates and Rancho Palos Verdes.
The cause of Tuesday’s crash is under investigation, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. However, the sheriff did say that accidents in the area are not uncommon because of the downhill slopes and curves on the road.
Sheriff deputies said that they did not see any signs of impairment when they arrived at the scene and that Woods was wearing a seatbelt, which likely helped save his life.
Still, the injuries throw the future of Woods golfing career into question. After a decade of personal and professional struggles, he won the Masters Tournament in 2019 in what was seen as an incredible comeback.
With spring break on the horizon, health experts urge Covid caution The pandemic outlook in the U.S. continues to improve, with confirmed Covid-19 cases falling for the sixth consecutive week and deaths having declined for the past three weeks.
But with several strains of the coronavirus circulating in the country — including some variants that are thought to be more transmissible — some public health experts fear that spring break and the potential for increased travel could threaten recent progress and lead to another spike in cases and deaths.
“This is exactly what we saw after Thanksgiving and after Christmas,” said Amber D’Souza, a professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “It’s an ongoing cycle and an ongoing concern.”
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Plus
THINK about it Dominion’s MyPillow lawsuit puts disinformation on trial. And it could win, press freedom correspondent for the Columbia Journalism Review Jonathan Peters writes in an opinion piece.
Live BETTER Feeling stressed? Try this 7-step process to help you control the way you respond.
Shopping How to choose the best headset for gaming for your PC, PlayStation or Xbox.
Quote of the day “I think this also kind of speaks to the marvel of modern automobiles and that they are much safer than they’ve ever been previously.” — Los Angeles Sheriff Deputy Carlos Gonzalez, one of the first members of law enforcement to arrive at the scene of Tiger Woods car crash.
One fun thing The first koala joey born in more than a year at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo has finally emerged from his mother’s pouch and made his public debut Wednesday.
Baby Humphrey spent the first eight months of his life hidden in his mother’s pouch.
Now the little fella is starting to move around, but always close to his mother’s side.
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49.) NBC FIRST READ
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From NBC’s Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Carrie Dann, Ben Kamisar and Melissa Holzberg
FIRST READ: Democrats’ biggest gains from 2008-2020 came in these Georgia counties
When former Georgia Republican Sen. David Perdue announced this week that he will pass on a 2022 Senate comeback bid, he went out of his way to suggest that Georgia “is not a blue state.”
Setting aside the fact that the Peach State just elected two Democrats to the Senate and picked a Democratic presidential candidate for the first time since 1992, Republicans would be foolish to ignore the dramatic shifts that have happened in Atlanta’s suburbs since the start of the Obama era.
Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images
In fact, according to a new NBC News analysis of presidential results in every county in the U.S., three Atlanta-area suburban Georgia counties — Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale — increased their Democratic vote share between 2008 and 2020 by more than any other counties in the country.
- In Gwinnett, Barack Obama won 44.5 percent of the vote in 2008, while Biden won 58.4 percent in 2020.
- In Henry, Obama won 45.9 percent in 2008, while Biden won 59.7 percent in 2020.
- And in Rockdale, Obama won 54.4 percent in 2008, while Biden won 69.9 percent in 2020.
What’s more, seven of the eight counties that saw the largest increase in Democratic vote share across the entire country just happen to be in Georgia. And all of Georgia’s 10 most populous counties saw an increase in Democratic vote share from 2008-2020.
Much was made last year about how suburban voters rejected Trump. These suburban Georgia counties tell that story — the lion’s share of the Democratic gains over time came with Trump on the ballot — and they also offer a reminder that Republicans’ suburban problem isn’t just about white voters with a college degree turning up their noses at Trump and Trumpism.
Diversity is a huge part of the story in these three counties. Across Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale, non-white residents outnumber those who are white alone. And the percentage of the population with a college degree in Henry and Rockdale is actually slightly lower than the state average.
What these counties do have in common with suburban areas writ large: They’re growing fast.
And the same county-by-county analysis we did showed that the places where Republicans gained the most ground between 2008 and 2020 have the opposite trend in common: They’re stagnant or shrinking.
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Why fighting the last battle again might not be helpful for the GOP
As the New York Times reports that Perdue’s decision not to run came after meeting with Trump (who was vowing revenge against GOP Gov. Brian Kemp), these three Georgia counties underscore that running the 2020 race all over again might not help the GOP in 2022.
Especially in a state like Georgia, which will feature gubernatorial and Senate contests in next year’s midterms.
Earlier this month, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Trump is essential to GOP hopes in 2022. “We don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of taking back the majority without Donald Trump,” Graham said. “If you don’t get that, you’re just not looking.”
But is Graham looking at what happened in Georgia – in November and January?
One other thing: If there is no GOP civil war, as GOP Sen. Rick Scott argues, would Perdue have really passed on a 2022 run?
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Data Download: The numbers you need to know today
28,357,850: The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States, per the most recent data from NBC News and health officials. (That’s 75,205 more than yesterday morning.)
504,871: The number of deaths in the United States from the virus so far, per the most recent data from NBC News. (That’s 2,378 more than yesterday morning.)
55,058: The number of people currently hospitalized with coronavirus in the United States.
346.5 million: The number of coronavirus tests that have been administered in the United States so far, according to researchers at The COVID Tracking Project.
65,032,083: Number of vaccine doses administered in the U.S.
19,882,544: People fully vaccinated in the U.S.
64: The number of days left for Biden to reach his 100-day vaccination goal.
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TWEET OF THE DAY: Enter the Senate parliamentarian
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Talking policy with Benjy: Yay for vaccines edition
There are two policy stories dominating coverage of the pandemic right now: reopening schools and vaccine distribution.
The first one is a complex conversation that’s upsetting to just about everyone involved. But the frustration around school openings may be distracting from the scale of optimism on the vaccine front, which could render some of these tough conversations moot faster than we realize.
Dr. Thomas Russo, chief of infectious disease at University at Buffalo, said in an interview that the “extraordinary” vaccines were by far the biggest COVID-19 story right now. So far, they look more like a miracle every day as new studies come out, new versions are approved, and the benefits are observed in real time.
New research from Israel suggests vaccines may provide significant protection after even just one dose and even prevent transmission to others, which would be a huge step towards normalcy if the findings bear out. And even as new variants are a cause for concern, vaccines appear to protect against the most severe types of illness for now.
“[There’s] too much focus on possible limitations and not enough on their significant merits that will get us out of this mess,” Russo said.
The news has been so good lately that Russo is already worried about premature celebration. Infection rates are plummeting in the U.S. and other countries, even before widespread vaccination, for a variety of possible reasons. If cases hit new lows, younger people might decide the crisis has passed and they don’t need a vaccine once they come available, potentially setting up another outbreak in winter.
“We need to keep pushing and inspiring as many people as possible to get vaccinated as soon as possible as their turn arises,” he said.
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Recapping yesterday’s busy day on the Hill
Tuesday was a jam-packed day on Capitol Hill. Here’s what you need to know about what happened:
- The Senate confirmed President Biden’s pick for UN ambassador, Linda Thomas Greenfield, by a 78-20 vote.
- The Senate confirmed Biden’s Agriculture secretary nominee, Tom Vilsack, by a 92-7 vote. Quick flashback: Vilsack was confirmed to be former President Obama’s Agriculture Secretary in 2009 by a voice vote.
- New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland appeared before the Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee for her confirmation hearing to be the next interior secretary, where nearly all the Republican senators questioned Haaland’s statements against developing federal lands for fossil fuel energy.
- Xavier Becerra, Biden’s pick to lead HHS, testified on Capitol Hill as well and was faced with Republicans questioning his qualifications to lead the department. Becerra is the attorney general of California.
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ICYMI: What ELSE is happening in the world?
Biden will shift his political operation into the DNC to help build the party in advance of midterms.
Joe Manchin says his opposition to Neera Tanden’s confirmation is “not personal at all.”
Here’s what we learned about what experts call the intelligence breakdown that led to chaos on Jan. 6.
Former far-right activists are launching a new project to help fight online radicalization.
The Washington Post reports on GOP donor Rebekah Mercer’s role in Parler.
NBC’s Suzy Khimm has a good look into the uproar over how New York tallied its nursing home Covid deaths differently than other states.
Biden is heading to Houston later this week to survey storm damage.
The Texas disaster is giving new hope to Beto O’Rourke’s political life.
Kristi Noem is getting a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago.
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No images? Click here Good morning. it’s Wednesday, Feb. 24, and we’re covering a serious car crash involving Tiger Woods, reasons for optimism around vaccine supplies, and more. Have feedback? Let us know at hello@join1440.com. First time reading? Sign up here. NEED TO KNOWTiger Woods Crash Golf superstar Tiger Woods was hospitalized yesterday after suffering serious injuries in a single-car accident south of Los Angeles. Woods is expected to survive the accident but is said to have undergone emergency surgery for multiple open fractures to his lower right leg. Early reports suggesting the Jaws of Life—hydraulic tools for cutting through vehicle frames—was used were erroneous. The 45-year-old golfer has not played competitively since December, having recently undergone a procedure to relieve a pinched nerve—his fifth back procedure in six years. Video of the crash site shows the car appeared to roll over at least once, with the crash occurring around 7 am local time. Woods was involved in a minor 2009 crash that precipitated a personal and professional crisis, and was cited for driving under the influence in 2017 after being found asleep at the wheel. He attributed the latter incident to the unintended effects of prescription drugs. Officials said there were no visible signs of impairment when Woods was recovered and are investigating the cause of the accident. Vaccine Surge on the HorizonThe US is projected to have more than 3 million vaccine doses available per day by April, according to congressional testimony from pharmaceutical executives yesterday. Officials from Pfizer and Moderna said they expected their companies to be able to provide about 13 million and 10 million doses per week, respectively, by that point. The companies, which rely on mRNA technology (see how it works), are the only two with COVID-19 vaccines currently available in the US. The figure would double the current number of vaccines administered daily in the US over the span of about four weeks. It also does not include supplies from other drug manufacturers, including Johnson & Johnson, whose single-shot vaccine will be considered by Food and Drug Administration advisers Friday. The company said it would be able to deliver a total of 20 million doses by the end of March. See how J&J’s vaccine works here. More than 44 million people in the US have received at least one vaccine dose (the country’s population is around 330 million). The US has reported 502,660 COVID-19 deaths, with 2,350 yesterday (see averages). Capitol TestimonyFormer and current security officials testified before two Senate committees yesterday on the planning of, and response to, the Jan. 6 storming of the US Capitol. The hearing marked the first such examination of the day’s events by a congressional committee. Three of the five witnesses—Steven Sund (former Capitol Police chief), Michael Stenger (former Senate sergeant-at-arms), and Paul Irving (former House sergeant-at-arms)—resigned in the attack’s aftermath. The four-hour session included multiple conflicting accounts and revealed little in the way of new information, but pinned the breach on a number of broad failures. These included lack of communication between different security organizations, bureaucratic delays in calling in reinforcements, worry over the optics of deploying the National Guard, and an underestimation of the degree of coordination by extremist groups present. Watch a replay with bookmarked highlights here. HENRY?!No, not Henry, HENRY! “High Earner, Not Rich Yet.” And you may be one, regardless of what your name actually is. Despite earning an income, are you struggling to amass any meaningful nest egg for the future? Well, our friends at The Motley Fool want to help. Since 1993, they’ve provided investment recommendations with the goal of helping members build the financial future they envision for themselves. And to kick-start your 2021 financial goals, they’re offering five of their favorite stock picks for free. Like when they recommended Amazon at $15.31/share (now up 21,511%) or Netflix at $1.85/share (now up 29,633%). You may be a HENRY, but the key word is “Yet.” You have a chance to do it, and The Motley Fool wants to help. Get five free stock picks (all priced under $50), in their “5 Growth Stocks Under $49” report. Check it out now. Returns as of 2/18/21 Please support our sponsors! IN THE KNOWSports, Entertainment, & CultureBrought to you by Onekind > Douglas Turner Ward, pioneering actor and playwright who cofounded the Negro Ensemble Company, dies at 90 (More) | Lawrence Ferlinghetti, American poet and social activist associated with the Beat movement, dies at 101 (More) > James Harden, Damian Lillard among top players selected as 2021 NBA All-Star reserves (More) | Here’s everything you need to know about the 2021 NBA All-Star weekend (March 7, 8 pm ET, TNT) (More) > Rapper Bobby Shmurda released from prison after six years on weapons and conspiracy charges (More) | Oscar-nominated French actor Gérard Depardieu charged with rape and sexual assault (More) From our partners: Ready to get glowing? This dynamic duo of retinol serum and soothing rosehip night moisturizer from Onekind is designed to undo the damage of the day and leave your skin feeling hydrated and glowing come sunup. It’s luxury-level results, minus the price tag. Do your face a favor and take $20 off the set with code 1440. Science & Technology> Facebook reverses ban on news appearing in Australian users’ feeds after lawmakers revise bill requiring a per-link charge; the ban also included a block of public government communications, which was considered news (More) > Michigan study shows sleep plays a vital role for the brain to associate emotion with specific, newly formed memories; exact processes between brain circuitry remains unclear (More) > Single-cell slime mold is capable of rudimentary memory functions despite lacking a central nervous system; organism modifies an internal tubular network in response to food sources (More) Business & Markets> Tech stocks fall 4% early, but US stock markets climb back to end mixed (S&P 500 +0.1%, Dow +0.1%, Nasdaq -0.5%) after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell eases concerns on rising bond yields (More) > Electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors goes public via $4B SPAC (More) | Tesla shares fall 9%, enter negative return territory for the year (More) | Cherokee Nation requests Jeep change the name of its Cherokee SUV (More) > Home Depot and Macy’s see continuation of US shopping trends as consumers favor home improvement over apparel, but Macy’s sees first profitable quarter since beginning of the pandemic (More) Politics & World Affairs> Longtime diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield confirmed as the US ambassador to the United Nations in a 78-20 Senate vote; Thomas-Greenfield becomes the fifth consecutive woman to hold the post (More) > Family of Ahmaud Arbery files civil suit against three men and the involved officers over the 2020 fatal shooting in Georgia; Arbery, a 23-year-old Black man, was killed while jogging by three residents (More) | Grand jury declines to bring charges against Rochester, New York, officers in the March death of Daniel Prude (More) > Greek tanker suspected in mysterious Mediterranean oil spill that left tar washed up along nearly 90% of Israel’s coastline, forcing the closure of beaches (More) INVESTIN’ ON A BUDGETIn partnership with The Motley Fool Breaking into the investment world can be a daunting task. With some of the most recognizable companies trading at over $500 a share, it’s hard to decide what to invest in when you don’t have a massive budget. But thankfully, The Motley Fool offers stock recommendations for any budget. Today, they’re giving away their “5 Growth Stocks Under $49” for free. Check it out! Please support our sponsors! ETCETERAThe story of Maggie Lena Walker, the first Black woman to run a bank in the South. Listen to the sound of wind on Mars. … and check out this stunning new photo of Jupiter. Draw an iceberg and see how it will float. Niagara visitors treated to rainbows and a frozen waterfall. Arizona man fakes own kidnapping to avoid work. New AI platform monitors children’s emotions as they study. This 105-year-old COVID-19 survivor credits breakfast of gin-soaked raisins. Clickbait: Tennessee deer found with hairy eyeballs. Historybook: Marbury v. Madison establishes principle of judicial review in US (1803); HBD Nike cofounder Phil Knight (1938); Steve Jobs born (1955); Fidel Castro retires as president of Cuba (2008); RIP “Hidden Figures” NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson (2020). “History is one long processional of crazy ideas.” – Phil Knight Enjoy reading? Forward this email to a friend.Why 1440? The printing press was invented in the year 1440, spreading knowledge to the masses and changing the course of history. Guess what else? There are 1,440 minutes in a day and every one is precious. That’s why we scour hundreds of sources every day to provide a concise, comprehensive, and objective view of what’s happening in the world. Reader feedback is a gift—shoot us a note at hello@join1440.com. Interested in advertising to smart readers like you? Apply here! |
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75.) BLACKLISTED NEWS
BlackListed News Updates |
- Absurdity: Police Surveillance Will Reduce Racial Bias And Allow People To “Maintain A Safe Lifestyle”
- WAS TRUMP THE MULE?
- Democrats letter demands cable providers account for ‘misinformation’ and ‘lies’ from ‘right-wing media outlets’ they carry
- Synthetic mRNA Covid vaccines: A Risk-Benefit Analysis
- UK: Health Authorities Announce Not a Single Case of Flu Detected This Year
- It Starts: The Cascading Financial Repercussions of the Texas Electricity Crisis
- LAPD Asked Ring Users To Turn Over Footage Of Anti-Police Brutality Protests
- Fauci: Mask Wearing Needed Into 2022
- The Most Exciting Lithium Play of 2021?
- Leaked Docs Reveal Large-Scale Effort Of British Govt To Use Anti-Russian Media & Influencers To “Weaken Russian State”
- 75% Of US Troops Refused Taking COVID-19 Vaccine Says Pentagon Report
- Senator Blumenthal demands Facebook and Twitter curb vaccine-skeptic conversations
Absurdity: Police Surveillance Will Reduce Racial Bias And Allow People To “Maintain A Safe Lifestyle”
Posted: 22 Feb 2021 09:00 PM PST As the pandemic enters its second year, two recent stories used to justify increasing public surveillance seem almost too incredulous to believe. Two years ago, I reported on an absurd claim about how the Riverhead Police Departments’ surveillance drones could be used to create a “community connection.” |
WAS TRUMP THE MULE?
Posted: 22 Feb 2021 09:00 PM PST “Excellence, he is known as the Mule. He is spoken of little, in a factual sense, but I have gathered the scraps and fragments of knowledge and winnowed out the most probable of them. He is apparently a man of neither birth nor standing. His father, unknown. His mother, dead in childbirth. His upbringing, that of a vagabond. His education, that of the tramp worlds, and the backwash alleys of space. He has no name other than that of the Mule, a name reportedly applied by himself to himself, and signifying, by popular explanation, his immense physical strength, and stubbornness of purpose.” ― Isaac Asimov, Foundation and Empire |
Democrats letter demands cable providers account for ‘misinformation’ and ‘lies’ from ‘right-wing media outlets’ they carry
Posted: 22 Feb 2021 09:00 PM PST Two Democratic members of Congress penned letters Monday to a dozen cable providers demanding they account for “misinformation, disinformation, conspiracy theories, and lies” from “right-wing media outlets” they carry — and the networks specifically named were Fox News, Newsmax, and One America News Network. |
Synthetic mRNA Covid vaccines: A Risk-Benefit Analysis
Posted: 22 Feb 2021 09:00 PM PST Synthetic mRNA Covid vaccines: A Risk-Benefit AnalysisWith a “vaccine” based on untested technology, and safety trials still ongoing, is it safe to take the shot? And does it even work? |
UK: Health Authorities Announce Not a Single Case of Flu Detected This Year
Posted: 22 Feb 2021 09:00 PM PST Health authorities in England have announced that not a single case of influenza has been detected this year, with one professor suggesting that mask wearing should be kept in place during winter to drive down flu deaths to “zero.” |
It Starts: The Cascading Financial Repercussions of the Texas Electricity Crisis
Posted: 22 Feb 2021 09:00 PM PST Now hoping for “corrective action” and “credit intervention” by the State of Texas. |
LAPD Asked Ring Users To Turn Over Footage Of Anti-Police Brutality Protests
Posted: 21 Feb 2021 09:00 PM PST It’s not just a home surveillance system. It’s a surveillance system. Documents obtained by the EFF and shared with The Intercept show law enforcement used footage from Ring doorbell cameras — cameras some people have obtained for free from Ring’s thousands of law enforcement “partners” — to hunt down people protesting police violence. |
Fauci: Mask Wearing Needed Into 2022
Posted: 21 Feb 2021 09:00 PM PST Technocrat Fauci has all the moves of seasoned flip-flopping career politician. Even in the face of a rapidly-declining death-rate, he continues to maintain that two masks are better than one, and now predicts that another year of it is necessary. |
The Most Exciting Lithium Play of 2021?
Posted: 21 Feb 2021 09:00 PM PST In 2019, 97-year-old John B. Goodenough received the Nobel Prize for his groundbreaking work on developing lithium-ion batteries His discovery more than 40 years ago led to a massive breakthrough, giving us the rechargeable batteries hidden inside devices we use every day… |
Leaked Docs Reveal Large-Scale Effort Of British Govt To Use Anti-Russian Media & Influencers To “Weaken Russian State”
Posted: 21 Feb 2021 09:00 PM PST The usage of propaganda and disinformation by global and regional actors as a tool to promote their interests has been an open secret for a long time. |
75% Of US Troops Refused Taking COVID-19 Vaccine Says Pentagon Report
Posted: 21 Feb 2021 09:00 PM PST According to a Pentagon report almost 75% of US troops refused taking the COVID-19 vaccine. Addressing the allegation of a cover-up, the spokesperson for the agency, John Kirby informed the news outlets about the reason for the lack of exact data. |
Senator Blumenthal demands Facebook and Twitter curb vaccine-skeptic conversations
Posted: 21 Feb 2021 09:00 PM PST |
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76.) THE DAILY DOT
Feb. 24, 2021
Hello! Every Wednesday, our internet culture staff discusses the world of streaming entertainment. In today’s Insider:
- Let Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar take you away
- Netflix’s I Care a Lot turns a grift into a thrill ride
- Nearly a year into the pandemic, COVID-19 has entered the festival circuit
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NOW STREAMING
Let ‘Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar’ take you away
Last weekend I was scrolling Twitter, trying to find some mental balance after a stressful week of winter storms and power outages in Texas. I came across a story about two women who dressed up as senior citizens to get COVID vaccines in Florida. Right under that was a tweet about how great Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar is. It felt like a sign.
The new comedy, released Feb. 12, is Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo’s follow up to 2011’s Bridesmaids. While female friendship is once again a theme, that’s where the comparisons end. Mumolo (Barb) and Wiig (Star) move the action to Florida and drum up the kind of over-the-top, bit-driven destination comedy we’re seeing less these days.
It’s an immersive, dizzying experience a year into the pandemic (and in the dead of winter): Tourists crowded around sun-dappled pools and bars, laughing and dancing, maskless faces inches from each other. It features an intoxicating cover of “My Heart Will Go On” that made me want to go directly to a club, do drugs, and hug my best friend. It has an Austin Powers-ish subplot, musical numbers, and singing Jamie Dornan.
So it’s… good?
It’s goofy and fun, but not for everyone. If this were a non-pandemic year, I’d be curious how it would do at the box office. But it feels like Barb & Star is destined to reach a level of cult status, much like another comedy from an SNL alum, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. This movie does a lot but more importantly it allows you to feel some joy.
Senior Entertainment Writer
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SPONSORED
This at-home cannabis DNA test will tell you how your body responds to weed
Ever smoke out and realize you’ve gone much higher than you ever wanted to go? Or take the same edibles as your friends but seem to feel no effects at all while they have the time of their lives? Some part of that is about the different ways each person’s body metabolizes it (or in fancy science terms, pharmacogenetics).
But now there’s a DNA test that can show you exactly how you react to cannabis and why. It also tells you exactly what strains are specifically best for you when it comes to sleep, anxiety, depression, and more.
REVIEWS
Netflix’s ‘I Care a Lot’ turns a grift into a thrill ride
Marla Grayson (Rosamund Pike) is not a good person, nor does she think good people exist. She lets you know this upfront in a somewhat on-the-nose voiceover, telling us that “playing fair is a joke invented by rich people to keep the rest of us poor”—and Marla doesn’t play fair at all.
In her role as a state-appointed guardian to the elderly, Marla lies and manipulates, she exaggerates the facts, she bribes her co-conspirators, and uses loopholes to help her get access to all of her ward’s assets—a con that, despite how reprehensible it sounds on paper, is done almost entirely through legal means.
I Care a Lot‘s main draw and its best weapon rest in Pike, who—even in its most incredulous scenes—gets you to keep watching. The message, however, is a bit murkier. As I Care a Lot shows us, the kind of elder abuse and extortion that Marla elicits through the courts and guardianship is something that does happen, is largely legal, and something that the people who are caught up in it don’t have much chance of fighting or getting out of. After Framing Britney Spears highlighted the #FreeBritney movement and the scrutiny behind Spears’ conservatorship, I Care a Lot further drives this point home.
I Care a Lot is now streaming on Netflix.
Entertainment Writer
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FESTIVALS
These COVID-adjacent films provide a clear-eyed view of the pandemic—and ourselves
Nearly a year into the pandemic, COVID-19 has entered the festival circuit.
These films and documentaries are only a fraction of the COVID-centric projects—whether they were directly about COVID, filmed during COVID, or became eerie echoes (whether planned or not) of COVID—that debuted at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. They’re among the many time capsules we’ll have of this period, and while the COVID movie canon is still being shaped as we continue living through it, these films and documentaries offer fascinating views and windows into ourselves.
Entertainment writer
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BTW
- Who is the surprise cameo in Zack Snyder’s Justice League?
- Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn call HBO docuseries a ‘shoddy hit piece’
- WandaVision episode 7 just confirmed an important superhero origin story
Now Playing: “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” by Roy Ayers Ubiquity
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77.) HEADLINE USA
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78.) DECISION DESK HQ
VA Republicans Pick A Unique Way To Select Their Candidate For Governor, 2020 Senate News, And The NYC Mayoral Race No images? Click here You are receiving this newsletter because you signed up for it along with free access to our election night results. DDHQ Election News And Notes
An Overview of the Crowded Battle to Be New York’s Next MayorBy Nick Field This summer’s most anticipated primary is also set to be its most chaotic. On June 22nd, New York City is holding the Democratic primary to determine their next Mayor. For a metropolis of over eight million people, their elections are famously tumultuous. In 1977, the Blackout and Son of Sam murders propelled Ed Koch to an upset victory. Similarly, Bill de Blasio’s 2013 win was boosted by the collapse of favorites Anthony Weiner and Christine Quinn, as well as an especially effective TV ad featuring de Blasio’s son. This year will be particularly turbulent thanks not only to the pandemic, which will move Election Day up from September to June, but also a new ranked choice system. Instead of just picking one candidate, voters will can rank their five favorites. As a result, the primary field is even more wide open than normal. To help you all get an initial handle on this contest, here’s a run down of the eight major candidates in the Democratic primary (those who qualified for the first debate). Given that the Democratic nominee is just about guaranteed to win the general election contest in November, we’ll skip the Republican primary for now. Eric Adams A life-long New Yorker, Adams spent his early career in the NYPD before making the switch to politics. After serving in the State Senate, he became the first African-American Brooklyn Borough President in 2013. Combine that resume with his fundraising success and you’ve got a serious contender. Nevertheless Adams’ police experience, brief stint as a Republican, and maverick-like personality have all prevented black leaders from fully embracing him. Given that he’s currently sitting second in the polls, Adams’ hopes likely depend upon consolidating their support. Shaun Donovan A first-time candidate, Donovan spent most of his career in housing, first as Commissioner of New York’s HPD then Secretary of HUD. In 2014, he transitioned out of the housing sector and became Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Whether on Twitter or in campaign ads, Donovan is quick to tout his eight years of service in the Obama-Biden Administration. His path to victory depends on pitching voters on his experience and D.C. connections. Kathryn Garcia Garcia is another long-time public servant seeking the top job in her first campaign. She started out in the city’s Department of Environmental Protection before becoming Commissioner of the Sanitation Department. She’s pitching herself as a bureaucrat with the requisite skills to get the city through the COVID pandemic. Raymond McGuire Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but this is McGuire’s first run for public office. Unlike Donovan and Garcia, though, McGuire spent his life in the private sector. Specifically the financial sector, where he climbed the ladder to become a top executive at Citigroup. As you’d expect, he’s one of the best fundraisers of the group, although it remains to be seen whether that cash can be used to propel him upward in the polls. Scott Stringer Along with Adams, Stringer is the other political veteran in this race. After spending 13 years in the New York State Assembly, Stringer won his 2005 campaign to be Manhattan Borough President. Eight years later, he became the city’s Comptroller. Now he’s aiming for the top job. More locally elected officials are backing Stringer than any other contender, led by his old mentor Jerry Nadler and new progressive star Jamaal Bowman. Polls show Stringer sitting in third place right now, but again much like Adams, he’s probably under-performing and needs to kick it into higher gear. Loree Sutton A brigadier general who served during the Gulf War, Sutton is the only major candidate with military experience. In 2014, Mayor de Blasio appointed her as Commissioner of the Office of Veterans Affairs. Inspired to get into the political arena, she registered as a Democrat and jumped into the race. While her military service is impressive, her name ID is incredibly low and it’s tough to imagine how she’ll break through the pack. Maya Wiley While Wiley is yet another first-time candidate, she has a few factors in her favor that signal she could have break-out potential. Television exposure for one, as she’s made numerous appearances on MSNBC the past few years as a legal analyst. More importantly, she scored a key labor endorsement from the SEIU 1199, the largest union in the city. A recent New York magazine profile highlights how Wiley is the candidate best positioned to harvest the support of recently activated progressive women. On the other hand, her work as Mayor De Blasio’s legal counsel could alienate those seeking a clean break from the unpopular incumbent. Andrew Yang Yang’s candidacy is a bit of a contradiction. He’s the front-runner thanks to name recognition, yet he’s vulnerable because voters don’t know him well. At a time when meteoric rises in politics have practically become cliche, Yang’s trajectory remains impressive. An obscure businessman just a few years ago, his long-shot 2020 presidential campaign earned enough exposure and hardcore supporters to get him onto several debate stages and a spot during the Democratic National Convention. Rather than seek a post in the Biden Administration, though, Yang set his sights on New York. His candidacy is provoking plenty of eye-rolls from opponents and Twitter, although it’s unclear at this moment whether this will puncture his bubble or just further reinforce his outsider image. Regardless, he’s the one the field will be aiming at for the foreseeable future. Nick Field (@nick_field90) is a contributor to Decision Desk HQ |