Supreme Court Strikes Down Restrictions on Colorado Churches

In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court granted a temporary injunction to a Colorado church that was fighting Governor Jared Polis’s restrictions on capacity.

The court pointed to a decision in New York where the Catholic diocese of Brooklyn sued Governor Andrew Cuomo over his pandemic restrictions and won on the grounds that Cuomo’s orders violated the First Amendment.

This would appear to open the door to churches nationwide to decide their own COVID policies.

Washington Examiner:

Justice Elena Kagan dissented, along with Justices Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor, pointing to the fact that Colorado had preemptively lifted its church limitations once the High Plains Harvest appealed to the high court.

“The state has explained that it took that action in response to this court’s recent decision in Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo,” Kagan wrote. “Absent our issuing different guidance, there is no reason to think Colorado will reverse course — and so no reason to think Harvest Church will again face capacity limits.”

Given that governors are slapping restrictions as severe as they were in the spring on their citizens, Kagan and the liberals are taking a lot on faith.

The arrival of Justice Amy Coney Barrett on the court has proven to be a godsend to religious liberty.

CNN:

The cases highlight the impact of Justice Amy Coney Barrett on the bench. Before her arrival, Chief Justice John Roberts had sided with the liberals, including the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, against houses of worship in similar disputes. Since Barrett’s arrival, however, and the establishment of a strong 6-3 conservative majority, the court now has reversed course and has the necessary votes to side with religious groups.

Another important religious liberty case in New Jersey was also decided in favor of houses of worship. The New Jersey suit concerned not only limiting capacity but also the mask mandate that required mask-wearing in church except for receiving communion.

New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal defended the state’s restrictions telling the justices that the state as “accommodated religious conduct — ensuring religious activities receive at least as much protection as secular conduct, if not more.”

New Jersey requires that religious gatherings fill no more than 25% of the room.

The Supreme Court issued the order with no dissent.

What’s truly disturbing is that political authorities thought nothing of violating the religious beliefs and liberty of the people in the name of “public health.” That the Supreme Court was forced into upholding our most fundamental rights against this assault says a lot about the state of freedom in the United States today and why vigilance, especially over the next four years, will be so important.

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2020/12/15/supreme-court-strikes-down-restrictions-on-colorado-churches-n1213234

China Injects Record 950 Billion Yuan In Medium-Term Liquidity After Bond Defaults

Those following the PBOC's daily net repo flows have been speculating in recent days if maybe Beijing was, for once, finally serious about draining the excess liquidity sloshing around China's financial system sparking an epic credit impulse. And for good reason: in the month of December, the PBOC made a net injection on just two days while draining hundreds of billions in yuan.

However as with every previous false hope that China was finally getting ready to set its house (of cards) in order, it was not meant to be because overnight China’s central bank made its biggest ever injection of medium-term liquidity (via the Medium-term lending facility) on Tuesday to shore up liquidity, after the recent surge in corporate bond defaults shattered investor confidence and slammed the brakes in new bond issuances.

On Tuesday morning, the People’s Bank of China said it had issued 950 billion yuan ($145 billion) worth of one-year medium-term lending facility (MLF) loans to financial institutions to keep the “banking system liquidity reasonably ample”.

The PBOC also said it injected another 10 billion yuan via seven-day reverse repurchase agreements on Tuesday, keeping the rate unchanged. The fresh fund injection far exceeds two batches of MLF loans worth a total of 600 billion yuan set to expire in December, and represents a sizable net injection of liquidity for the month.

Additionally, the PBOC kept the interest rate unchanged for an eighth straight month at 2.95%, which likely means no change to the PBOC's benchmark loan prime rate (LPR) at its next monthly fixing next Monday. The MLF, among PBOC’s main tools in managing longer-term liquidity in the banking system, serves as a guide for the LPR, which is set monthly using assessments from 18 banks.

The PBOC has made two cuts to the borrowing cost of MLF loans this year totalling 30 basis points; the central bank has shown reluctance to broad rate cuts and is why its preferred method of easing policy is by injecting lilquidity.

The PBOC move is aimed at keeping the bond market stable while keeping long-end market liquidity reasonably abundant, said Yan Se, chief economist at Founder Securities in Beijing. “Further widening of the yield spread between China and the United States will affect foreign exchange and exports,” Yan said. “Therefore, we believe that (the authorities) should be cautious about raising interest rates.”

"We’ve seen so many cancelled issuances, particularly from local government entities and such that clearly need the funds, so I think until that gets back to normal we’ll probably continue to see the PBOC on a slightly more accommodative stance," Thomas Gatley, China corporate analyst at Gavekal in Beijing, told Reuters.

The injection comes on the heels of high-profile defaults by top-rated state-owned enterprises (see "Sudden Default By AAA-Rated Chinese State-Owned Coal Miner Sends Shockwaves Across Markets") last month that sparked heavy selling in the corporate bond market. The defaults prompted investigations into issuers and underwriters and widespread cancellation of bond issuance, weighing on credit growth.

Dollar/yuan swap points fell after the huge cash injection, with the one-year tenor easing to the lowest in more than four months. Key interbank borrowing costs also eased.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/china-injects-record-950-billion-yuan-medium-term-liquidity-after-bond-defaults

U.S. Supreme Court ruling reverses military statute of limitations on rape cases

The U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously overruled the military’s top appeals court, which had put a five-year statute of limitations on rape cases that occurred between 1986 and 2006.

The ruling, published Dec. 10, does not have a bearing on rape cases outside that window but could open up new prosecutions for past incidents.

The consolidated cases argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in October included the United States v. Briggs, which was combined with two similar rape cases that also fell within the time window.

The main case involves Air Force Lt. Col. Michael Briggs, who was convicted of raping a female junior squadron member in 2005. That was combined with two other cases involving Air Force personnel convicted of rape — Lt. Col. Humphrey Daniels, who was convicted of raping a female civilian he met at the gym in 1998 and Master Sgt. Richard Collins who was convicted of raping a female Air Force member enrolled as a student in a course he was instructing in 2000.

Briggs was not convicted of the rape until 2014, after the victim called him the previous year and he admitted he’d raped her. The call was recorded.

Though there had been a nine-year lag between the offense and prosecution, the conviction and sentencing was not considered to face a time limit because the Uniform Code of Military Justice classified some rapes as crimes that could receive the death penalty. Those crimes do not have a statute of limitations in the UCMJ.

But the Supreme Court had ruled in 1977 that the Eighth Amendment’s proscription against cruel and unusual punishment forbids a death sentence for the rape of an adult woman, establishing a precedent for civilian courts.

In 1998 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, known as the CAAF, ruled that because the rape of an adult should not receive a death penalty, it could not be prosecuted indefinitely. That triggered a new five-year statute of limitation on rape cases that previously had no such limit.

In 2006, Congress amended the UCMJ and abolished the time limit on all rape charges. But in February 2018, CAAF ruled that the amended language created a legal “gray area” that meant cases between 1986 and 2006 would continue to fall within the 5-year statute of limitations time window, but new cases would not be subject to the same limit.

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/12/15/us-supreme-court-ruling-reverses-military-statute-of-limitations-on-rape-cases/

American Medical Association Rescinds Hydroxychloroquine Prevention Order — How Many People Died Because These Soulless Hacks Wanted to Hurt Trump?

For months The Gateway Pundit has been reporting factually on the evidence and studies that proved Hydroxychloroquine was effecting in the treatment of COVID-19.

Of course, we were hounded by the left and attacked by fake “fact-checkers” labeling our reports as disputed.

Despite its effectiveness the American Medical Association (AMA) back in March, at the height of the pandemic in the US criticized hydroxychloroquine and its use.

Dr. Fauci led the jihad against this effective drug.

Well, now that hundreds of thousands of Americans are dead “with the virus” or “because of the virus,” and the election season has ended the AMA recently rescinded their prevention of HQ.

Thousands died because of these hateful people.

LenBilen reported:

The American Medical Association (AMA), in a surprising move, has officially rescinded a previous statement against the use of Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in the treatment of COVID-19 patients, giving physicians the okay to return to utilizing the medication at their discretion.

Previously, the AMA had issued a statement in March that was highly critical of HCQ in regards to its use as a proposed treatment by some physicians in the early stages of COVID-19. In addition to discouraging doctors from ordering the medication in bulk for “off-label” use – HCQ is typically used to treat diseases such as malaria – they also claimed that there was no proof that it was effective in treating COVID, and that its use could be harmful in some instances.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/12/american-medical-association-rescinds-hydroxychloroquine-prevention-order-many-people-died-hacks-wanted-hurt-trump/

Michigan legislature committees subpoena election evidence from Detroit and nearby suburb

“Election integrity should not be a partisan issue, this information needs to be preserved,” State Senator Ruth Johnson said

Concerned about possible election evidence being destroyed, members of a joint session of the Michigan Legislature’s House and Senate oversight committees on Tuesday voted to issue subpoenas to Detroit and the nearby suburb of Livonia demanding they surrender hard drives, emails, absentee voter counting board laptops and other election-related materials.

One Senate Democrat reportedly joined his Republican colleagues in supporting the subpoenas.

A Nov. 28 order memo from the State Bureau of Elections had followed the same protocol as prior elections and ordered the deletion by November 30 of “E-Pollbook laptops and flash drives … unless a petition for recount has been filed and the recount has not been completed, a post-election audit is planned but has not yet been completed, or the deletion of the data has been stayed by an order of the court or the Secretary of State.”

Tracy Wimmer, director of Media Relations for Michigian Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, told Just the News in a statement Thursday that she rejected Republicans’ concerns about the deletion memo.

“The Bureau of Elections memo sent to clerks is the same memo that has been sent to clerks for years, including under the administration of now state senator Ruth Johnson,” Wimmer said. “Republican House and Senate legal counsel were provided this information days ago. The fact that members of their party is choosing to ignore these truths in a press release demonstrates they have no interest in preserving the integrity of our elections or democracy.”

Michigan State Senator Ruth Johnson, the Republican who supported the subpoena effort, told Just the News she had previously signed the same deletion order while she was secretary of state but the unusual nature of the 2020 election meant circumstances had changed.

“Election integrity should not be a partisan issue, this information needs to be preserved while there are ongoing lawsuits, audits, and Oversight committee review of the November election,” Johnson said. “Only after these activities are concluded should this information be deleted for data privacy reasons.”

Read the subpoenas to the two Michigan cities below.

File

Subpoena to Detroit City Clerk.pdf

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/michigan-legislature-committees-subpoena-election-hard-drives-laptops

Biden Fundraiser Floated as Ambassador Pick Took Millions in PPP Loans While His Law Firm Won Massive Settlements

A prominent trial lawyer being floated as a potential ambassador pick by Joe Biden took millions of dollars in COVID relief, even as his firm was winning hundreds of millions in settlements.

Joseph Rice, cofounder of the South Carolina-based Motley Rice law firm, helped raise large sums for Biden's campaign and could land an ambassadorship spot in his administration, local reports indicate. Motley Rice received $7.03 million from Paycheck Protection Program funds, which were intended to help small businesses pay workers and stay afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.

Several companies have faced criticism for taking PPP loans when they did not need them, including from prominent Democrats. Those criticisms don't seem to have swayed the incoming administration, which the State says is considering Rice for an ambassador role.

Rice's firm gained approval for the loans after stacking up massive legal wins. In October 2019, Motley Rice announced a $260 million settlement against opioid manufacturers Teva, Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, and McKesson. In November 2020, it helped win a $26 billion settlement from Johnson & Johnson and other pharmaceutical companies. Law firms often work on a contingency basis and receive portions of the settlements they reach.

"When a highly successful law firm receives millions of dollars in PPP money, it raises questions as to whether those funds actually went to preserve jobs, which is the purpose of the PPP program, or merely padded the shareholder attorneys' profitability," William Jacobson, a professor at Cornell Law School, told the Washington Free Beacon. "This certainly raises serious questions that warrant investigation if a founding member of the law firm is nominated for an ambassadorship."

Other prominent plaintiff lawyers said the pandemic did not have a big impact on the industry and that they did not seek bailouts.

Rice helped gather more than $100,000 for Biden's presidential campaign. Employees at his firm donated solely to Democrats during the 2020 cycle, including nearly $50,000 to Biden. Biden also had a fundraiser at Rice's Mount Pleasant, S.C., home in late February.

The wealth amassed by Rice, who is considered one of the most successful trial lawyers in the country, has allowed him to purchase a 100-foot yacht and build his own golf course. He is also one of the biggest donors to the University of South Carolina.

Neither Rice nor the Biden transition team responded to requests for comment.

https://freebeacon.com/politics/biden-fundraiser-floated-as-ambassador-pick-took-millions-in-ppp-loans-while-his-law-firm-won-massive-settlements/

Pigs at the trough walked into the sting OP

Clowns are panicking - fantasizing

Unreal: AG Barr intervened DIRECTLY to keep Hunter Biden probe secret before the election

The biggest difference between Republican and Democratic administrations is that Republican presidents and their Cabinet members play by the rules, while Democratic regimes play to win.

Understanding and believing that explains the difference between Barack Obama and the people he picked to run his Justice Department and FBI, and those picked by Donald Trump.

Obama’s people followed his lead and allowed their offices and agencies to become politically weaponized, as evidenced by the massive spy operation launched against Trump’s 2016 campaign. Masked as a phony ‘counterintelligence’ probe, it involved every aspect of the deep state’s intelligence and federal law enforcement apparatuses, to include foreign assets (now imagine what all of that cost taxpayers).

By comparison, Trump’s Justice Department, led by Attorney General William Barr, continues to follow established rules and guidelines to a fault — and it may have even cost our country the greatest president of our lifetimes.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Attorney General William Barr, in the weeks before November’s election, instructed prosecutors and senior colleagues to prevent word of investigations into Hunter Biden from becoming public and keep the Justice Department out of campaign politics, according to people familiar with the matter.

Mr. Barr took more steps than previously reported to insulate the investigations, despite calls from President Trump and Republican allies to announce a probe involving President-elect Joe Biden’s son Hunter.

Barr and senior DoJ officials even reportedly went so far as to ask prosecutors whether they could trust their staff members to keep quiet about the probe, “warning against issuing subpoenas or taking other steps that might become public,” the paper reported.

Several things are problematic about this.

First and foremost, Hunter Biden is corrupt, period, and so is his father, if previously reports detailing business ties to Russia, Ukraine, and Communist China are accurate. And we know that they must be, because the Justice Department is investigating Hunter Biden which is a pretty good indicator something is amiss.

ut no. Bill wanted to ‘play by the rules.’ And now we’re truly screwed.

https://patriotrising.com/unreal-ag-barr-intervened-directly-to-keep-hunter-biden-probe-secret-before-the-election/

Ontario Health Official Hot Mic : I Just Say Whatever THEY Write Down For Me.

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/ontario-health-official-hot-mic-i-just-say-whatever-they-write-down-for-me/

CODE MONKEY: Seems President Trump has a royal flush in hand and was just baiting his opponents to go all-in. Officials that knowingly certified a fraudulent election are about to have a bad time.

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/code-monkey-seems-president-trump-has-a-royal-flush-in-hand-and-was-just-baiting-his-opponents-to-go-all-in-officials-that-knowingly-certified-a-fraudulent-election-are-about-to-have-a-bad-time/

15 Named In $26 Million International Trade Fraud Scheme

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/15-named-26-million-international-trade-fraud-scheme

CHINA MITCH: McConnell Has Family Ties to Bank of China, Top Chinese Shipping Firm

McConnell's familial link to Chao family's Foremost shipping company, Chinese State Shipbuilding corporation, and Bank of China resurface after Kentucky senator's declaration of victory for Joe Biden

As news breaks Tuesday of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s praise for the United States’ election “process” and declaration of “congratulations” for “President-elect Joe Biden,” the Kentucky senator’s extensive family ties to China have resurfaced as a topic of conversation.

McConnell’s marriage into the Chao family dynasty has coincided with a trajectory of ever-increasing personal profit for McConnell and the Chaos, as well as Chinese state business interests.

BANK OF CHINA

McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, is the daughter of shipping magnates James and Ruth Chao and the sister of Angela Chao, the latter of whom was appointed to a non-executive position on the Bank of China’s board of directors in 2016.

CHAO FAMILY WEALTH

A massive spike in McConnell’s financial disclosures occurred in 2007 and 2008 following the death of Ruth Chao, with the senator’s federal disclosure jumping from $3 million to $33 million in that two year span according to Forbes.

McConnell’s re-election campaigns have received over $1 million in contributions from Elaine Chao’s family, including James and Angela, according to a 2019 report from the New York Times.

CHAO SHIPPING EMPIRE

Aside from her position at the Bank of China, Angela Chao also serves as the CEO of Foremost, which is the Chao family’s billion-dollar maritime shipping empire. While Foremost is an ostensibly American company with offices located in New York City, Forbes noted that the company’s fleet of vessels “sail under flags registered in Liberia and Hong Kong, and the company does the vast majority of its business in Asia.”

Foremost’s upward trajectory has remained steady during McConnell’s tenure in the Senate, with the company continuing to prosper even during multiple economic downturns in the industry. Shipping database VesselsValue has estimated the company fleet’s net worth at $1.2 billion, making it the most valuable such fleet of any dry bulk shipping operation headquartered in the United States in 2019.

Perhaps some of Foremost’s good fortune can be attributed to the several hundred million dollars’ worth of loans it is contracted to receive from the Chinese government, or the fact that James and Angela Chao, who describe themselves as Americans, have served on the board of the Chinese government-owned China State Shipbuilding corporation. China State Shipbui

The New York Times noted in its 2019 report that the Bank of China, where Angela Chao serves as a non-executive director, is a top lender to China State Shipbuilding.

https://nationalfile.com/china-mitch-mcconnell-has-family-ties-to-bank-of-china-top-chinese-shipping-firm/

Why the CCP did not sanction Australian iron ore

On Dec 14, 2020, Guancha.cn, a CCP-backed news outlet, reacted to Deloitte Australia partner Chris Richardson’s comment on China’s tariffs hikes on Australian iron ore.

Below are some key points of this article.

On Dec 11th, the main contract price of iron ore futures from Dalian Commodity Exchange broke above 1000 rmb mark and once rose to 1042 rmb/ton, a record high in the past 7 years.

Having dealt with trade issues and setbacks against China, Australians are beginning to feel happy when hearing this news. Some Australian economist deemed China’s trade aggression against Australia as “smart politics” but ” dumb economics”.

Chinese analysts have explained that there are several reasons behind the ever-increasing price of iron ore. Demand growth and market speculation fostered the bullish trend, but other than that, foreign monopoly provides momentum for it.

Why hasn’t China sanctioned Australian iron ore?

The article provided this as an explanation: China has always been looking for a substitute for Australian iron ore. Given the relatively small global iron ore market and the rising iron ore price, this is a double-edged sword that China will have to weigh the cost it is willing to pay to achieve its external agendas.

The soft tone of this article implies that China cannot afford to not purchase iron ore from Australia at this point.

Nonetheless, Australia should not be complacent as the CCP never intended to trade fairly with the world or embrace the idea of peaceful coexistence. The world needs to realize that for the CCP, “win-win” and “fair trade” have no meaning – it is always about a win for the CCP at the expense of everybody else.

https://gnews.org/651631/

Vatican’s Nativity Scene Blasted as ‘Hideous’, Postmodern, ‘Demonic’

The Vatican’s Nativity Scene has been blasted as “hideous” and “demonic.”

The nativity scene is supposed to celebrate and represent the birth of Christ during the Christmas season. This year the Vatican collaborated with FA Grue Art & Design Institute and invited students and faculty to create new scene for this year’s nativity scene.

This year’s #Vatican Nativity scene is something else and features a Sumerian Astronaut.

Photos: @dibanezgut pic.twitter.com/Z7iAayEZQ8

— Disclose.tv 🚨 (@disclosetv) December 13, 2020

The sculptures have received a negative response, with people noting that the baby Jesus, his mother Mary, and her husband Joseph were eccentrically created with modern and futuristic elements in their construct.

The National Catholic Register noted:

Reaction on social media and elsewhere has mostly ranged from “hideous,” “abhorrent” and a “disgrace,” to “demonic,” an “embarrassment” and a “mockery” of Christ’s birth. Tim Stanley, a well-known columnist for the UK’s Daily Telegraph, called it “absolutely terrifying,” while Vatican News’ Facebook page was filled with criticism even before it had been unveiled.

On Twitter, the Pope gave his blessing to the statues of Jesus, and nativity scenes which will be places at homes around the world.

I bless the statuettes of Jesus, which will be placed in the Nativity scene. When you pray at home, before the Nativity scene with your families, allow yourselves to be drawn by the tenderness of Baby Jesus, born poor and frail among us, in order to give us his love.

— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) December 13, 2020

During his latest speech, the Pope also signified to the UN Climate Summit the importance to act against climate change and “change the direction” of the world.

https://thenationalpulse.com/breaking/vatican-nativity-scene-hideous-demonic/

Pastor Who Fought Sale Of Alcohol On Sundays Charged With Child Porn

MILTON, Fla. – Agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement arrested William Dalton Milam, 62, of Milton, on two counts of promoting sexual performance of a child and 25 counts of possession of child pornography. Milam worked as a pastor at a church in Milton and had previously crusaded against alcohol sales on Sundays.

The investigation began with a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) regarding an Internet user uploading child pornography. FDLE agents traced the IP address used in the uploads to Milam’s home.

Agents served a search warrant Monday morning at Milam’s home and found multiple devices belonging to Milam that contained child pornography. The images depicted children as young as three years old engaged in sex acts.

The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, Milton Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations assisted on the case.

https://youtu.be/34jnF2H5UVM

https://breaking911.com/pastor-who-fought-sale-of-alcohol-on-sundays-charged-with-child-porn/