Barack Obama Praises Courageous Defund the Police Activists as Violent Crime Rates Rise

Still reeling from the left-wing backlash to his recent criticism of “defund the police,” former president Barack Obama (D) appeared on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show on Tuesday where he appeared to strike a conciliatory note by praising the activists behind the movement, calling them courageous and media savvy.

But he also doubled down on his criticism of the actual slogan, saying that it can alienate potential Black Lives Matter allies.

Obama’s laudatory words for “defund the police” activists come as major cities are experiencing soaring crime rates. New York City saw shootings more than double in November, according the an NY Police Department report. For the first 11 months of the year, shootings in the city have risen nearly 96 percent.

In Los Angeles, homicides are up 25 percent from last year so far, while in Chicago, murders and shootings have increased more than 50 percent.

Speaking to host Trevor Noah, Obama sang the praises of BLM activists who have pushed for police departments around the country to be stripped of public funding. Their activism has yielded results in a handful of major cities, including New York, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis, where Democrat politicians have deprived local law enforcement of tens of millions of dollars.

“Nothing made me more optimistic during a difficult year than the activism that we saw in the wake of George Floyd’s murder,” Obama said.

“I have consistently believed that their courage, activisms, media savvy, strategic resolve far exceeds anything I could’ve done at their age and I think has shifted the conversation in ways I would not have even imagined a couple of years ago.”

He cautioned that the slogan has the potential to backfire.

“That particular slogan I think the concern is that there may be potential allies out there that you’d lose. And the issue always is: how do you get enough people to support your cause that you can actually institutionalize it and translate it into laws,” Obama said.

He said that more universal slogans like President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” and his own “Yes We Can” serve better to unite people.

“Can we be precise with our language enough that people who might be persuaded around that particular issue to make a particular change that gets a particular result that we want. What’s the best way for us to describe that?”

Democrats lashed out at Obama earlier this month when he first spoke out against the “defund the police” slogan during an interview with Peter Hamby on an episode of “Good Luck America.”

As Breitbart News reported, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) fired back at the former president on Twitter, writing, “We lose people in the hands of police. It’s not a slogan but a policy demand.” Democrat congresswoman-elect Cori Bush, who will represent Missouri’s First Congressional District, also lashed out at Obama: “With all due respect, Mr. President — let’s talk about losing people.”

https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2020/12/16/barack-obama-praises-courageous-defund-the-police-activists-as-violent-crime-rates-rise/

Chinese pilots training at former Canadian military base in Alberta

Rebel news report

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/chinese-pilots-training-at-former-canadian-military-base-in-alberta/

Google resolves Gmail issue that lasted FOUR hours and affected thousands of users who received 'Account not found' error messages when sending emails to other accounts

Gmail users experienced issues with the service, just one day after a number of Google's services were hit with a major outage.

Downdetector, which monitors websites and online services, showed reports started around 3pm ET and were spread across the world.

Users were able to access their inboxes, but are receiving bounce back messages saying 'email account does not exist' when emailing another Gmail account.

Google quickly addressed the problems on its status dashboard and was able to resolve the problem at 6:51pm ET.

The problems follow Monday's massive outage that left hundreds of millions of people around the world in disarray when the Google-owned family apps of crashed for one hour.

http://www.scoopyweb.com/2020/12/google-resolves-gmail-issue-that-lasted.html

How Many Times Are the “Facts” About COVID Going to Change?

I have never worked in the medical field. But, I have had many friends and family work in the medical field over the years. We could speak together, intelligently in the past. We could share information and ask one another questions.

It’s important for me to learn what I can do to better take care of myself and my children. While advice from individual practitioners varied somewhat, there was similar advice throughout the field, all around different parts of the country.

Everything is different now, and there is far too much uncertainty

This year everything changed. Mainstream media says one thing; the people I know in medicine have various things to say. Some agree with everything on the news, while others disagree. In fact, one day they agree, the next day they don’t. There has been doubt about the numbers from the very beginning.

Chaos reigns. It’s hard to make informed decisions because it’s hard to know what’s going on. Medicine has changed considerably over the last 20 years, likely contributing to the chaos and confusion.

The health care system has become more bureaucratized over the decades for a variety of reasons. The Affordable Care Act dramatically sped up the process. It significantly increased overhead expenses, which encouraged many private doctors to work for larger groups, such as hospitals, to absorb those costs more quickly.

Private ownership has been decreasing for years but markedly reduced during the years between 2012 and 2018. Physicians began moving away from offering their services privately to providing services at larger institutions. Hospitals and larger groups of physicians can more easily shoulder the burden of high overhead costs.

The voice of humankind no longer belongs to us

I have worked in a variety of settings. When I worked for a privately owned burger joint in high school, I dyed my hair orange and purple and had five earrings. The customers did not care. My boss’s opinion was all that concerned me. His only concern was whether it affected revenue. It didn’t. My boss was cool with my being a strange-looking teen.

After college, I worked for a large consulting firm. My hair was back to its natural color, and most of the piercings were gone. My more heavily tattooed coworkers had to dress very modestly. We represented a business with dozens of offices around the country and were expected to conduct ourselves in a certain way.

Rules on what is acceptable in places of employment vary. In larger organizations, these rules tend to be much stricter. In today’s environment, these rules do not only apply to appearance. Especially in larger institutions and corporations.

In medicine, the move away from independent practices toward larger institutions made it difficult for physicians to voice their stance if it differs from the institutions that now employ them, which leads to a lack of information.

“Guard your heart” is advice I’ve heard a lot over the years, but better advice for today would be “Guard your mind.”

https://www.theorganicprepper.com/facts-covid/

Cars in Turkmenistan: Reserves of the Elite

While ordinary people in Turkmenistan, one of the world’s most closed-off societies, are not expected to own luxurious cars, the local elite, mostly relatives of the country’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, are excused.

The average Turkmen cannot have cars such as BMWs or Mercedes, the most prestigious cars that can be purchased in the country, although there is no official ban on those cars, according to the Turkmen News, an independent Turkmenistan’s news outlet and human rights organization based in the Netherlands.

However, if ordinary people own such vehicles, they cannot take them to a regular, “annual technical inspection for unclear reasons.”

Earlier this year the outlet also reported that the Turkmenistan's traffic police stopped issuing car plates for “Mercedes, Audi and BMW cars manufactured in 2016 and later, although they meet all the requirements of the customs service.”

Technicalities, according to Turkmen News sources, have not been the real reason. Rumour has it that the members of the “presidential clan don’t want anyone to drive the same cars as them.”

Some of them even brag about their luxurious four-wheelers and enjoy sharing photos of those shiny vehicles, like Berdimuhamedow’s distant relative Kemal Rejepov.

A single BMW X4 M Competition was not enough for him, so he added BMW 540, Toyota Land Cruiser 5.7 VXR, Lexus GX 460 and several other luxurious cars to his collection, next to a collection of expensive watches he also fancies.

The owners of such expensive vehicles, however, do not like being mentioned in the media.

https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/13544-cars-in-turkmenistan-reserves-of-the-elite

Big six veterans groups ask Trump to fire VA Secretary Wilkie immediately

The nation’s leading veterans groups on Wednesday formally requested that President Donald Trump fire Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie immediately from his Cabinet post, saying that the VA administrator “no longer has the trust or confidence of America’s veterans.”

The letter — signed by leaders from the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America, AMVETS and Vietnam Veterans of America — is the latest damning assessment of Wilkie’s ability shepherd the department following the release of an inspector general report last week criticizing his handling of a sexual assault allegation late last year.

“The findings make clear that the secretary himself established a defensive posture and made decisions to personally disparage the veteran and circumvent the subsequent IG investigation,” the letter states.

“This is a tremendous breach of trust among veterans, and Secretary Wilkie must be held accountable. His actions not only threaten to deter veterans from seeking care at VA, but also undermine the efforts of VA staff who have been working to bring an end to sexual harassment throughout the department.”

White House officials in recent days have declined comment on the report and declined to answer if the president still has faith in Wilkie.

Since the report’s release, 21 lawmakers have also called for Wilkie’s removal, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.; House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Mark Takano, D-Calif.; and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee members Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii.

No Republicans have publicly called for Wilkie’s firing.

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2020/12/16/big-six-veterans-groups-ask-trump-to-fire-va-secretary-wilkie-immediately/

Majority of Americans worried that governments will retain expansive new powers after pandemic ends

Over a third are "very worried" about the prospect.

A majority of registered U.S. voters are worried that government officials in the U.S. will retain their newly claimed expansive powers following the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new Just the News Daily Poll with Scott Rasmussen.

Sixty-two percent of the respondents said they were somewhat or very worried about American governments holding onto their pandemic powers after the health crisis finally subsides. Just 32% were unconcerned with that prospect.

U.S. governments at all levels have claimed for themselves considerable powers related to the COVID-19 pandemic over 2020, including the power to shut down what they deem "non-essential" businesses, the power to mandate face coverings in most public settings, and even far-reaching regulations on religious life and worship.

The survey was taken by 1,200 registered voters and conducted by Rasmussen from Dec. 10-12.

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/polling/majority-americans-worried-governments-will-retain-expansive-new-powers

Biden Taps AIPAC Dem to Head Energy Department

President-elect Joe Biden will reportedly select a pro-Israel Democrat who has played a central role in combating her party's embrace of policies that undermine the historically close U.S.-Israel relationship for his Secretary of Energy.

Biden will tap former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm to sit atop the country's nuclear stockpile as the Department of Energy's next leader, according to the Washington Post. As energy secretary, Granholm, a veteran of the Democratic political scene, will be responsible for America's nuclear stockpile, which is aging and needs to be modernized.

Granholm may also emerge as a central player in the Biden administration's diplomacy with Iran as it works to reenter former president Barack Obama's landmark nuclear deal with the country. Her appointment is likely to be well-received by pro-Israel Democrats who are counting on the Biden administration to maintain tight ties with the Jewish state. During the 2020 election cycle, Granholm worked with the Democratic Majority for Israel, an advocacy group created to counter the Democratic Party's most vocal critics of Israel, including Reps. Ilhan Omar (Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.).

Granholm is also a supporter of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the nation's top pro-Israel group. AIPAC has emerged as a source of contention in the Democratic Party, which has grappled with calls for its leaders to boycott the group's annual pro-Israel confab in Washington, D.C. While Granholm's selection was immediately met with praise by Democratic leaders, her pro-Israel bona fides could irritate the party's left flank.

https://freebeacon.com/democrats/biden-taps-aipac-dem-to-head-energy-department/

NYC awards $47 million in culture grants while shuttering small businesses and slashing police funding

Priorities

New York City is spending tens of millions of dollars on arts and cultural institutions while leaving small businesses high and dry and slashing law enforcement budgets.

The city's Department of Cultural Affairs announced Tuesday that it would be giving $47 million in grants to more than 1,000 culturally focused nonprofit organizations, the New York Times reported. Some of the beneficiaries include the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Philharmonic, the Apollo Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the Museum of Chinese in America — all of which will receive more than $100,000.

While the newspaper reported that $3 million out of the $47 million will go to organizations in low-income neighborhoods and to those most affected by the pandemic, the news is still likely to receive pointed criticism.

It comes as small businesses all over the city remain shuttered under stringent coronavirus lockdown mandates and just months since the city opted to slash the police budget by $1 billion. The Times even noted that the news comes amid "a year filled with layoffs and budget cuts."

Small businesses in the city such as restaurants, bars, and retails shops have been greatly suffering under heavy-handed lockdowns. In August, the Times reported that one-third of the city's small businesses were in danger of closing their doors forever because of the pandemic restrictions. As of late November, their grim prediction appeared to be coming true.

Then just last week, Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a new ban on indoor dining as part of an effort to combat a resurgence of COVID-19 cases. The move came despite estimates from the governor's office showing that restaurants and bars accounted for less than 1.5% of the virus' spread while household and small social gatherings accounted for nearly 75%.

Democratic New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio warned recently that a "full shutdown" might be looming.

What's more is that the city itself — not just small businesses — is facing a financial crisis in the form of a $9 billion, two-year revenue shortfall. Yet, city officials were still able find stimulus money for some, just not for everybody.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/nyc-culture-grants-business-shuttered

Texas, other states to bring antitrust lawsuit against Google

Nine state attorneys general on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Google, accusing the search giant of illegally stifling competition in the advertising technology market.

The lawsuit is led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), who was joined by Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, South Dakota, North Dakota, Utah and Idaho.

“This Goliath of a company is using its power to manipulate the market, destroy competition and harm you, the consumer," Paxton said in a video posted on Twitter. "Google effectively eliminated its competition and crowned itself the head of online advertising."

The more than 100-page-long lawsuit alleges that Google used its market power to unlawfully box-out competitors in the ad tech space.

It highlights Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick in 2008 as the point where the company started using its position to gain leverage against publishers and ad exchanges.

“Within a few short years of executing this unlawful tactic, Google successfully monopolized the publisher ad server market and grew its ad exchange to number one, despite having entered those two markets much later than the competition,” the suit reads.

The complaint also says that Google uses its market power to extract a tax from ad spending that ultimately hurts American consumers through higher prices and lower quality.

A spokesperson for Google pushed back on the suit’s claims, pointing out that digital ad prices and ad tech fees have fallen in the time that the company was allegedly monopolizing the market.

“Attorney General Paxton’s ad tech claims are meritless, yet he’s gone ahead in spite of all the facts," they told The Hill. "We’ve invested in state-of-the-art ad tech services that help businesses and benefit consumers…. We will strongly defend ourselves from his baseless claims in court.”

The states are asking the court for “structural, behavioral, and monetary relief” to stop Google from abusing monopoly power.

The lawsuit adds to a heap of investigations into America’s biggest tech companies.

Google, in particular, was sued by the Department of Justice earlier this year over its search policies.

A separate group of attorneys general are also expected to file a case soon focused on Google’s power in the online search market.

https://thehill.com/policy/technology/530516-texas-leading-antitrust-lawsuit-against-google