Judicial Watch Sues for Records of New York, Pennsylvania COVID-19 Nursing Homes Policies

Judicial Watch announced today that it has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for records about New York and Pennsylvania nursing home policies and procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) failed to respond to a December 7, 2020, FOIA request (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Health of Human Services (No. 1:21-cv-00612)) for:

Communications, including emails and text messages, between Division of Nursing Homes Director Evan Shulman and Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine regarding policies and procedures for nursing facilities during COVID-19. The timeframe of this request is February 18, 2020 to June 1, 2020.

Communications, including emails and text messages, between Quality and Safety Oversight Group Director David Wrightand Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine regarding policies and procedures for nursing facilities during COVID-19. The timeframe of this request is February 18, 2020 to June 1, 2020.

Communications, including emails and text messages, between Division of Nursing Homes Director Evan Shulman and Pennsylvania Deputy for Quality Assurance Susan Coble regarding policies and procedures for nursing facilities during COVID-19. The timeframe of this request is February 18, 2020 to June 1, 2020.

Communications, including emails and text messages, between Quality and Safety Oversight Group Director David Wright and Pennsylvania Deputy for Quality Assurance Susan Coble regarding policies and procedures for nursing facilities during COVID-19. The timeframe of this request is February 18, 2020 to June 1, 2020.

Communications, including emails and text messages, between Division of Nursing Homes Director Evan Shulman and New York Department of Health Commissioner Howard Zucker regarding policies and procedures for nursing facilities during COVID-19. The timeframe of this request is February 18, 2020 to June 1, 2020.

Communications, including emails and text messages, between Qualityand Safety Oversight Group Director David Wright and New York Department of Health Executive Deputy Commissioner Sally Dreslin regarding policies and procedures for nursing facilities during COVID-19. The timeframe of this request is February 18, 2020 to June 1, 2020.

The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn are investigating New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s handling of that state’s nursing homes during the pandemic. As of March 3, 2021, 15,430 nursing home and other long-term care residents in the state have died from COVID-19, according to the New York Long Term Care Community Coalition.

https://www.judicialwatch.org/press-releases/covid-ny-pa/

https://www.judicialwatch.org/press-releases/covid-ny-pa/

Arizona GOP Rep: Biden 'culpable of child abuse' for fueling border surge with weaker enforcement

"I don't understand why the president of the United States would incentivize people to travel thousands of miles," Rep. Lesko says.

Arizona Republican Rep. Debbie Lesko linked President Biden's reversal of the Trump administration's border enforcement policies to the current surge of illegal immigration at the southern border, arguing Biden is "culpable of child abuse."

"Last time I went down to the border, I talked to the sheriff of Yuma County. We're right by the river, the border between Mexico and the United States, and right there was a date tree farm and he told me, 'You know what, Debbie? We get called here all the time because women, illegal immigrant women, are getting raped,' " Lesko said during a news conference Wednesday about the record number of unaccompanied minors coming to the U.S.-Mexico border illegally.

"I don't understand why the president of the United States would incentivize people to travel thousands of miles – children, minors, traveling thousands of miles. I believe he is culpable of child abuse because his policies are incentivizing these people to travel at the hands of the dangerous cartel," she also said.

Biden has implemented executive actions that rolled back many Trump-era immigration policies, including the "Remain in Mexico" policy that required asylum seekers encountered at the border to wait for their court hearings in Mexico.

A total of 25,000 migrants are being transferred in phases into the U.S. after Biden's elimination of the "Stay in Mexico" policy.

According to local media reports, some of the migrants who were transferred to the U.S. and released later tested positive for COVID-19.

Biden also restored the so-called Obama-era "catch and release" policy that allows illegal immigrants caught at the border to be released into the U.S. to await their court hearings. Biden has also released an immigration reform plan that would offer a path to citizens for illegal immigrants living inside the U.S.

Lesko said the White House is wrong to characterize Republicans as "just critical" and lacking solutions when it comes to immigration policy.

"That is totally false," she said. "We have had legislation. I have had legislation. I've reintroduced it this year; that would help solve this border crisis. But you know what? Democrat (Judiciary Committee) Chairman Jerry Nadler wouldn't hear it last year and I bet he's not going to hear it this year either."

Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy told reporters he was in Laredo on Tuesday and saw 15 apprehensions of illegal immigrants, but border agents could not stop others from crossing illegally into the country. Roy said he encountered one agent who was solely in charge of monitoring a 3-mile open stretch of the border that lacks an existing physical barrier.

https://justthenews.com/government/congress/arizona-gop-rep-biden-culpable-child-abuse-fueling-border-surge-weaker

Marjorie Taylor Greene says Democrats are 'burning our country down' in midst of 'spiritual war'

Greene says U.S. already back in the Obama administration days with same figures, patterns that are leading to spiritual war on God's creation.

GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene say the country has been under a new administration just three month but has already gone back the Obama administration that failed the U.S. for eight years.

The outspoken, freshman Georgia congresswoman made the comments Tuesday on Just the News' "The Water Cooler," on which she also said the "shiny and pretty" has worn off in Congress and Democrats are failing miserably at doing their jobs because they remain focused to attacking former President Trump's actions.

"Now they're actually having to run the show. And boy, are they burning our country down. And I think they're realizing this is really not as easy as we made it sound," Greene told show host David Brody. "I think we have the Obama administration right back in there, we're seeing the same figures, the same people and the same names and the same pattern. And that failed our country for eight years. And now it's all back in place."

Greene filed articles of impeachment against newly-sworn-in President Biden in January for what she called an "abuse of power" regarding his past financial deals. She just recently introduced an immigration bill that would defund so-called sanctuary cities and finish construction on the southern U.S. border wall.

Greene has also been attacked by the left as being transphobic for claiming there are only two genders, something she argues is an attack on the men and women created by God.

"When you have a political party that attacks God's creation in such a horrible way. Then yes, it's clearly a party of evil. … It really is a true spiritual war," Greene said. "They completely erase gender, they refuse to even acknowledge that God created male and female and that there are only two genders."

https://justthenews.com/tv/water-cooler-david-brody/marjorie-taylor-greene-says-democrats-are-burning-our-country-down

Soros-Backed DA Cut Plea Deals With Violent Criminals Represented by Campaign Donors

Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner under fire for progressive policies amid violent crime spike

Philadelphia district attorney Larry Krasner cut favorable plea deals with violent criminals represented by the progressive's campaign donors, city financial records show.

Krasner took office in January 2018 after mounting an unconventional campaign that centered on his history of suing police officers as a civil rights attorney. Just five months later, he reached a plea agreement with two career criminals who murdered a Philadelphia cop, allowing them to avoid the death penalty. Defense attorneys Michael Coard and Daniel Stevenson oversaw the deal after donating a combined $2,700 to Krasner's 2017 campaign. Coard—who has called police departments "modern versions of colonial-era slave patrols"—also served on Krasner's transition team and vocally supported the progressive in 2017.

Months later, Krasner reached another controversial plea deal with a career criminal who shot a Philadelphia deli owner with an AK-47 during an armed robbery. Krasner campaign donor Philip Steinberg represented the shooter, who received as little as three-and-a-half years in prison for aggravated assault, a step below the attempted murder charge the DA's office initially pursued. Krasner's office also failed to inform the victim of the shooter's plea hearing, a violation of state law.

Krasner is now facing a contentious reelection battle as local law enforcement groups argue that his "soft on crime" policies have led to a spike in violence. Twenty-twenty marked Philadelphia's most violent year in three decades, with nearly 500 killed and more than 2,200 shot. The city experienced a rise in killings under Krasner even before destructive riots swept the nation in the wake of George Floyd's death. Philadelphia saw 353 and 356 homicides in 2018 and 2019, respectively—more than any year since 2007.

"It's been a complete train wreck since [Krasner] has been in office. His failed social experiment has driven crime up, driven murders up," Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police president John McNesby told the Washington Free Beacon. "On the street, the criminals know that there are no repercussions. They call him ‘Let ‘Em Out Larry'—it's a joke."

Krasner's campaign did not return a request for comment. The progressive's 2018 plea deal with cop killers Carlton Hipps and Ramone Williams came after the pair fatally shot Sgt. Robert Wilson III while robbing a local GameStop. Wilson was at the store to buy a gift for his son and engaged the shooters, moving bystanders away while taking fire in an exchange that was caught on video.

Coard, who represented Williams, called the plea agreement a "no brainer." He told the Philadelphia Tribune that Hipps and Williams would "no doubt" get the death penalty without the deal given that they were "on videotape killing a cop." Wilson's family questioned Krasner's objectivity in the case given Coard's role on the progressive's transition team, but both Coard's and Stevenson's campaign contributions went unnoticed. Coard gave Krasner's campaign $2,500 in the 2017 cycle, while Stevenson gave $200. The pair has combined to give Krasner an additional $1,350 since September 2019.

https://freebeacon.com/democrats/soros-backed-da-cut-plea-deals-with-violent-criminals-represented-by-campaign-donors/

Vanita Gupta Says She Backs $15 ‘Livable Wage.’ Her Family Business Pays Mexicans $1.30 an Hour.

Biden nominee for Justice Department owns up to $1 million in auto parts manufacturer

President Joe Biden's nominee for a top Justice Department post is a longtime advocate for raising the minimum wage to $15, but she owns up to $1 million in stock in a company chaired by her father that pays its Mexican workforce as little as $1.30 an hour.

Vanita Gupta—whose net worth of between $42 and $187 million makes her the Biden administration's wealthiest nominee—owns at least $500,000 in Aptiv PLC, an international auto parts manufacturer chaired by her father. In contrast with Gupta's advocacy for a $15 an hour minimum wage, the company pays some of its Mexican employees hourly rates as low as $1.30, according to active job listings reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon. One job posted on Indeed.com, for example, offers a line operator role at a Zacatecas plant that pays the U.S. dollar equivalent of $260 a month for a 50-hour per week job.

In her nonprofit work and her personal social media, Gupta has repeatedly expressed support for both the $15 per hour minimum wage and a so-called livable wage.

Gupta's investments have come under increased scrutiny as her confirmation goes down to the wire. A new ad by the Judicial Crisis Network, which is pushing Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W. Va.) to reconsider his support for Gupta, takes aim at her stake worth tens of millions of dollars in Avantor, a separate company tied to Mexico's heroin production. The Free Beacon reported last month that Gupta was attempting to sidestep the ethical minefield created by her father's wide array of corporate interests.

In her role as president and CEO of The Education Fund, Gupta made a moral case for raising the minimum wage. In a 2018 press release, Gupta said that "a living wage is not a privilege, it is a civil and human right for all." Her case for raising wages was unequivocal: "Raising wages is a moral question: do we value the people who are the engine of our economy or not? The answer must be yes."

Aptiv's business practices appear to fail Gupta's own test of valuing people who are the engines of economies.

Other positions currently advertised by the company include a full-time general operator job that pays $290 a month and a production line operator position that pays $274 a month.

Gupta's personal financial disclosure forms list between $500,001 and $1 million in Aptiv stock, and she has taken profits in recent years as well. The forms show that Gupta received between $5,000 and $15,000 in dividends from Aptiv last year.

The Biden administration did not respond to a request for comment on the investment. Aptiv also did not respond to inquiries.

Aptiv, formerly known as Delphi Automotive, has been helmed by Gupta's father, Rajiv Gupta, since 2015. He has been a director since 2009. According to Aptiv's most recent filing with the SEC, Rajiv Gupta owns 36,861 shares in the company, a stake valued at over $5 million.

https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/vanita-gupta-says-she-backs-15-livable-wage-her-family-business-pays-mexicans-1-30-an-hour/

Trump Administration Insider Reveals How the US Military Sabotaged a Peace Agreement To Prolong War in Afghanistan

Appointed in the final days of Trump’s presidency to remove all US troops from Afghanistan, Douglas Macgregor tells The Grayzone how military leadership undermined the withdrawal and pressured Trump to capitulate.

Reprinted from The Grayzone with the author’s permission.

In an exclusive interview with The Grayzone Col. Douglas Macgregor, a former senior advisor to the Acting Secretary of Defense, revealed that President Donald Trump shocked the US military only days after the election last November by signing a presidential order calling for the withdrawal of all remaining US troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year.

As Macgregor explained to The Grayzone, the order to withdraw was met with intense pressure from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark M. Milley, which caused the president to capitulate. Trump agreed to withdraw only half of the 5,000 remaining troops in the country. Neither Trump’s order nor the pressure from the JCS Chairman was reported by the national media at the time.

The president’s surrender represented the Pentagon’s latest victory in a year-long campaign to sabotage the US-Taliban peace agreement signed in February 2020. Military and DOD leaders thus extended the disastrous and unpopular 20-year US war in Afghanistan into the administration of President Joseph Biden.

A peace agreement the Pentagon was determined to subvert

The subversion of the peace agreement with the Taliban initiated by the US military leadership in Washington and Afghanistan began almost as soon as Trump’s personal envoy Zalmay Khalilzad negotiated a tentative deal in November 2019. The campaign to undermine presidential authority was actively supported by then-Secretary of Defense Mark Esper.

In February 2020, under heavy pressure to amend the agreement, Trump ordered Khalilzad to deliver the Taliban an ultimatum: agree to a full ceasefire as a prelude to a broader peace deal, including peace negotiations with the Afghan government, or the deal was off. The Taliban refused the immediate ceasefire with Kabul, however, offering instead a “reduction in violence” for seven days to establish a conducive atmosphere for implementing the peace agreement that had already been fleshed out in detail. It then gave the US its own ultimatum: if the US refused the offer, its negotiators would walk away from the table.

https://original.antiwar.com/porter/2021/03/16/trump-administration-insider-reveals-how-the-us-military-sabotaged-a-peace-agreement-to-prolong-war-in-afghanistan/

China-Backed Confucius Institute Rebrands to Avoid Scrutiny

CCP propaganda programs change name but not the content of their influence operations

The China-backed Confucius Institute is rebranding to avoid public scrutiny into its work disseminating propaganda to thousands of American students.

United States government oversight and faculty pushback have curtailed the influence of the Confucius Institute, which has dwindled from 103 college branches in 2017 to just 51 today. But the propaganda program is not going away without a fight. Experts say that after host institutions shutter Confucius Institutes, some of the programs continue to operate by adopting new names.

The rebranding has allowed the Beijing-backed influence program to continue to shape the education of students from kindergartners to college students. According to a new report by the American Security Institute, more than 100 "Confucius classrooms" that cater to the K-12 system are now rebranded as the Asia Society Chinese Language Partner Network.

"Confucius Institutes are trying to repackage themselves—same old wine, brand new bottle," Will Coggin, managing director of the American Security Institute, told the Washington Free Beacon.

The persistence of the Confucius Institute in the U.S. education system speaks to how difficult it is to convince American schools to sever ties with Chinese entities. Hanban, the Chinese Ministry of Education-backed group that runs the Confucius Institute, has spent more than $100 million to support the institutes in U.S. universities. Many universities fear that ending ties with the Confucius Institute will cause funding shortfalls and program cuts.

But U.S. officials say the Chinese money is not worth the strings attached to it. A bipartisan Senate report found that the Confucius Institute curtails academic freedom because the Chinese government controls "nearly every aspect" of the program in the United States. The report said Beijing requires instructors to follow Chinese laws and bars them from discussing topics deemed sensitive by the Chinese Communist Party, such as the Tibet issue.

After Congress pursued legislation to rein in the Confucius Institute—including a bill that won unanimous support in the Senate—host institutions started to rebrand their China partnerships.

Asia Society, a U.S.-based nonprofit with ties to China, helped the regime establish more than 100 Confucius classrooms in elementary, middle, and high schools across the country. Until late 2020, the nonprofit touted its collaboration with the China-backed program on its website, according to the American Security Institute report.

"Asia Society's Confucius Classrooms are a national network of exemplary Chinese language programs," read an archived version of the Asia Society's website from August 2020.

Asia Society's website no longer mentions the propaganda program. The nonprofit has replaced every mention of the Confucius Institute with its new name, the Chinese Language Partner Network. The new program is functionally identical to its predecessor and teaches the same materials in the same schools, according to the website.

Asia Society did not respond to a request for comment.

https://freebeacon.com/campus/china-backed-confucius-institute-rebrands-to-avoid-scrutiny/

Liberal Wisconsin Judge Arrested on Child Pornography Charges

A liberal Wisconsin children’s court judge was arrested on child pornography charges on Tuesday, the Wisconsin Justice Department announced.

Federal investigators allege that Brett Blomme, a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge, uploaded child pornography on a messaging app in October and November 2020. Blomme was assigned to the Milwaukee County Children’s Court, according to a list of officials on the court’s website.

Kik, the messaging app Blomme allegedly used, flagged the judge’s communications to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, which sparked the federal investigation. Blomme allegedly uploaded 27 videos through the app, according to an affidavit reviewed by Urban Milwaukee. Kik is a popular messaging app among teenagers.

Blomme defeated Paul Dedinsky, former Wisconsin Republican governor Scott Walker’s pick for the bench, in an April election. Before taking the bench in August, Blomme was president and CEO of the Cream City Foundation, a group that distributes grant money to Milwaukee-based LGBTQ groups. He previously served as the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin’s donations director and worked for Rep. Gwen Moore (D., Wis.) and Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett (D.).

While Wisconsin judges are ostensibly nonpartisan, Blomme dubbed himself a "progressive alternative" to Dedinsky during his campaign, Law and Crime reported. Blomme calls himself a "community activist" who "spent his career fighting for the most marginalized in [the] community" on his website.

Blomme has a husband and two children.

Formal charges against Blomme are expected on Wednesday. The Milwaukee County Circuit Court did not reply to the Washington Free Beacon’s request for comment in time for publication.

https://freebeacon.com/latest-news/liberal-wisconsin-judge-arrested-on-child-pornography-charges/

New York Gov. Cuomo has appointed all 7 appeals court judges who would vote in impeachment trial

Judges would join the state Senate in hearing an impeachment trial

New York lawmakers are preparing an impeachment investigation of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, but should they vote to hold a trial, the outcome will be determined in part by the state's seven Court of Appeals judges — all of whom were appointed by Cuomo himself.

Unlike federal impeachment trials, where only the Senate votes on the verdict, New York impeachment trials add Court of Appeals judges to the mix.

"The court for the trial of impeachments shall be composed of the president of the senate, the senators, or the major part of them, and the judges of the court of appeals, or the major part of them," the state constitution reads.

Those Court of Appeals judges are Rowan Wilson, Jenny Rivera, Leslie Stein, Eugene Fahey, Michael Garcia, Paul Feinman and Chief Judge Janet DiFiore. All of them were appointed by Cuomo between the years of 2013 and 2017.

"They're mostly liberal," former State Assembly Republican leader John Faso told Newsmax. "Very liberal. And they are all Democrats except one."

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/cuomo-appointees-appeals-court-judges-impeachment-trial

In breakthrough, Israelis grow hundreds of mouse embryos in artificial wombs

Scientists say groundbreaking method could lead to human gestation outside the womb; new insight into organ formation could spur other advances; fetuses have fully formed organs

Israeli scientists have grown 250-cell embryos into mouse fetuses with fully formed organs using artificial wombs, in a development they say could pave the way for gestating humans outside the womb.

“We have grown hundreds of mice in this way, in a method that has taken seven years to develop, and I’m still captivated every time I see it,” stem cell biologist Prof. Jacob Hanna of the Weizmann Institute of Science told The Times of Israel.

“This could be relevant to other mammals including humans, though we acknowledge that there are ethical issues related to growing humans outside the body,” he said.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-major-breakthrough-artificial-israeli-womb-turns-250-cells-into-mouse-fetus/

ODNI, DOJ and DHS Release Unclassified Summary of Assessment on Domestic Violent Extremism

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/odni-doj-and-dhs-release-unclassified-summary-assessment-domestic-violent-extremism

Pharmacist Charged in $4 Million Health Care Fraud and Kickback Scheme

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/pharmacist-charged-4-million-health-care-fraud-and-kickback-scheme

Man Sentenced to Prison for Producing Images of Child Sexual Abuse

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/man-sentenced-prison-producing-images-child-sexual-abuse

Millions from the US COVID-19 Relief Package to be Used for Cybersecurity

The United States’ $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus bill that President Joe Biden signed last week, has become the first coronavirus package to address cybersecurity as part of a national recovery plan.

In light of escalating cyber attacks, the legislation allocated some $2 billion toward cybersecurity and technology modernization, with $650 million of it being earmarked for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to boost cyber protection and mitigate risks.

The bill pledged one billion to a government agency which supports the functioning of federal agencies. The money will be spent for technology modernization. Another $200 million will go to the U.S. Digital Service and $150 million to the Federal Citizens Service Funds.

However, the amount is a far cry from the $9 billion initially proposed by Biden’s American Rescue Plan last January. CISA directors Brandon Wales and Eric Goldstein said last week that the amount allocated to the agency is just a fraction of how much is needed to confront increased cyberattacks.

“$650 million is a down payment. It accelerates some of these efforts, but this is going to require sustained investment,” Wales said, according to The Hill. “It will also increase the visibility for agencies themselves, and those agencies themselves are going to need additional resources to make sure they can fully leverage the improved capabilities that we will be deploying.”

After serious cybersecurity crises that arose from the SolarWinds and the Microsoft Exchange hacks, CISA’s two top appointees said the agency will spend the funds to increase the visibility of cybersecurity threats within federal agencies, build capacity to proactively hunt for threats, develop capabilities to identify risks agencies might face and adopt defensible network architectures.

U.S. authorities are still mitigating the impacts of the SolarWinds breach, a sophisticated attack identified last December and carried out by Russian hackers who compromised 100 private sector companies and at least nine government agencies.

A senior administration official from the White House said on Friday that the federal government is carrying out a four-week remediation plan across compromised agencies, which is expected to be completed by the end of March.

“We will be rolling out technology to address the specific gaps we identified, beginning with the nine compromised agencies. We want to make the federal government a leader, not a laggard, in cybersecurity,” the official told reporters.

Regarding the Microsoft Exchange hack, which affected both public and private sectors worldwide, the White House official said the government is working with all stakeholders to patch exposed systems and determine if they’ve been compromised.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), a non-partisan legislative agency, issued a report warning that federal cybersecurity has regressed since 2019.

In a report addressed to the U.S. Congress, the agency attributed part of this regression to a lack of centralized leadership in cybersecurity at the White House and urged the government to implement “a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy”.

https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/14067-millions-from-the-us-covid-19-relief-package-to-be-used-for-cybersecurity

41 GOP Senators Ask GAO to Evaluate Biden’s Border Wall Funding Freeze

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) on March 17 led 40 Republican colleagues to sign a letter asking the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to evaluate whether President Joe Biden’s suspension of funding and construction of the southern border wall was justified under federal law.

On his first day in office, Biden signed an executive order that halted construction on the wall and ordered a suspension of congressional funds allocated for the project. Biden also signed an order that canceled the emergency designation at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The senators wrote (pdf) that despite the progress being made to control illegal immigration, with additional funds being authorized by Congress for the wall, Biden still signed a proclamation directing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Office of Management and Budget to “pause immediately the obligation of funds related to the construction of the southern border wall” and “pause work on each construction project on the southern border wall.”

Biden’s proclamation stated that the wall was a waste of money and isn’t a “serious policy solution.”

The group of Republican senators believes the actions violate the Impoundment Control Act (ICA) but they want a legal evaluation from Comptroller General Gene Dodaro.

“They are also a blatant violation of federal law and infringe on Congress’s constitutional power of the purse. We are writing regarding these actions. We believe they violated the ICA, as interpreted by your office, and we request your legal opinion on the matter,” wrote the senator.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/41-gop-senators-ask-accountability-office-to-evaluate-bidens-suspension-of-border-wall-funds_3737572.html

Conspiracy Theorist Gavin Newsom Says the People Leading His Recall Are Capitol Rioters Who Want to Implant Chips in People

The effort to qualify a recall of California Governor Gavin Newsom for the ballot just hit the sweet spot, two million signatures. That means as soon as the requisite signatures are validated, his recall will be scheduled for an election.

And the closer that day comes, the more desperate Newsom sounds.

Newsom can’t believe that normal people would want him out of office, so he’s constructed the idea that only QAnon conspiracy theorists, Proud Boys, and people “who want to put chips into migrants” have concocted his recall … well, them and two million other people.

Of course, the effort to recall Newsom started well before anyone had ever heard of QAnon, or stormed the Capitol, but the governor told the slack jawed hosts on ABC TV’s The View on Tuesday that those behind his recall are “fans” of the “Capitol insurrection” “are quite literally QAnon supporters.”

And they bought it.

Newsom believes people genuinely concerned and angry about the California governor’s disastrous response to coronavirus among many other things, are nothing more than – and you’ll want to remember this quote – “anti-maskers and the anti-vaxxers, not just the MAGA Trump donors, and the Newt Gingriches, and the Mike Huckabees and the Devin Nuneses, in addition to the conspiracy theorists and militia members.”

It’s the new “deplorables and irredeemable” moment.

But it gets worse.

Newsom’s clearly losing his grip. Perhaps he should consult the QAnon Shaman for advice. I understand that guy’s not doing anything right now except warming a metal bench in a federal lock-up and drinking out of a toilet, so maybe he’s available for a consult. Maybe rub his horns for good luck or something.

For those of you who have watched Newsom’s disastrous 25-month tenure as governor and thought to yourself, this guy really sucks, he is here to say you’re wrong and … a racist.

It’s not about me, it’s more about Californians and our values – Democratic Party values – issues related to the browning of California – immigration, issues related to low carbon green growth, our climate policies. Issues to end the death penalty or increase the minimum wage or advance pay equity, and so I say that quite literally. That’s what’s at stake in this election and this recall.

Maybe Newsom got confused between his belief that the “browning of California” upset Californians when it was really brown-outs and rolling blackouts that upset them.

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/victoria-taft/2021/03/17/conspiracy-theorist-gavin-newsom-says-the-people-leading-his-recall-are-capitol-rioters-who-want-to-implant-chips-in-people-n1433034

Biden Admin Halts Navy Operations, Orders Sailors to Undergo 'Chilling' Stand-Down Training

Editor’s Note: In the wake of the January 6 Capitol riot, the Biden administration ordered the U.S. Navy to stand down its global operations and subject all members to what it characterizes as training to recognize and combat”extremism.” The piece below was written by an active duty military member who has about 20 years of service. This member has been deployed overseas in the war on terrorism multiple times. The piece describes the Navy’s “extremism stand-down,” what it includes, and what it leaves out. Ted Mahan is not the member’s real name.

Recently, my Navy unit held an “extremism stand-down” training that was required of all Department of Defense personnel, as mandated by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin here. According to Vice Admiral John B. Nowell, Jr, the purpose of the training was “to ensure service members and civilian personnel clearly understand the damaging effects of extremism and begin developing more effective, sustainable ways to eliminate the corrosive impacts extremist activity can have on our Force.”

That aim, of course, is laudable. Our Navy is diverse, and we are strong, not because of the diversity, but because of the unity we have as Americans regardless of race. When I go to sea or deploy on land, I know that the mission depends on those around me: good men and women of all races committed to defending our nation. Ultimately, they have my back too, and my life depends on them. Any attack on one is an attack on all. Right up to this point, I am 100 percent with the Navy brass’ goal.

But that’s not actually what the training says. The training we received this month was rushed through in the wake of the Washington, D.C., riot. The course, which was given in a PowerPoint deck, included a slide defining “extremism.” One would expect a broad, catch-all phrase that makes it clear that any radical activity undermining our nation or promoting criminal activity would not be tolerable.

But that would be wrong. Extremism was narrowly defined as “supremacist” beliefs only. That’s it. Nothing else. Nothing about anarchism, nothing about any group that might be found on the left. Everyone in the room – of every race, incidentally – had a collective hush as the chilling effect of this clearly biased definition dawned on our team. As one person on our team put it, “Why does the DoD only care about one kind of extremism? Why do they refuse to talk about antifa? Why is it extremist to attack a Capitol police officer, but not extremist to attack a Portland police officer?”

We were further lectured that “supremacists” were seeking to join the military to gain skills and proficiency with weapons. But, of course, we know that inner-city gangs have been trying this for years, and yet there was no discussion of this. Nor was there any mention of antifa, which explicitly and often openly promotes violent activities. It seems odd that in 2020, when we saw 1,000 riots with varying levels of violence, our training would be centered on the one riot connected to the right and ignore the 999 connected to the left.

Throughout the presentation, the drumbeat was consistent, constant…and chilling. This was a shot across the bow to the right, and deafening silence for the left. As true Americans, committed to our fellow servicemen and women, we should reject all extremism unequivocally from any source. My concern is that this blatantly political training is not only bad, it’s counter-productive. Extremists feed on paranoia, and the Department of Defense just fed them a healthy dose of it.

What do they think these people will do? Quit? Because some admiral made them sit through three hours of lectures? Hardly. They’ll go underground. And they’ll continue to fester. And so too will the left. Only no one will be watching out for them, because the brass’ silence speaks volumes.

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/tedmahan/2021/03/17/exclusive-biden-admin-halts-navy-operations-orders-soldiers-to-undergo-chilling-stand-down-training-n1433257

https://www.ibtimes.com/donald-trump-vs-joe-biden-who-had-better-approval-ratings-point-their-first-term-3164096

KEK

AstraZeneca: Europe threatens to seize coronavirus vaccine factories

Europe is in the midst of its “crisis of the century” as a leader threatens to seize vaccine factories as a brawl over the rollout turns ugly.

Europe is in the midst of its “crisis of the century” as it threatens to seize AstraZeneca factories and strip the company of its intellectual property rights in a major escalation in tensions over coronavirus vaccines.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen refused to rule out the moves overnight – saying “all options are on the table” as the bloc struggles to vaccinate its 450 million citizens amid a third COVID wave.

“We are in the crisis of the century,” she said.

“I’m not ruling out anything for now because we have to make sure that Europeans are vaccinated as soon as possible.

“Human lives, civil liberties and also the prosperity of our economy are dependent on the speed of vaccinations.”

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/astrazeneca-europe-threatens-to-seize-coronavirus-vaccine-factories/news-story/1ee2310e840d3e7069177b66ef3302fb

ASIO boss reveals foreign spies were found operating on Australian soil

A "significant number" of foreign spies and their proxies have been removed from Australia or "rendered inoperative" in the past 12 months, according to the nation's domestic spy agency.

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) has also made a significant change to the way it speaks about threats, wiping out terms such as "Islamic extremism" and "right-wing extremism" in favour of addressing religious or ideological motivations.

ASIO's Director-General of Security Mike Burgess made the revelations on Wednesday night during his second annual threat assessment, declaring the labels were "no longer fit for purpose".

He said ASIO's focus was on the threat of violence, not a target's political views.

"In the same way, we don't investigate people because of their religious views — again, it's violence that is relevant to our powers — but that's not always clear when we use the term 'Islamic extremism'," he said.

"Understandably, some Muslim groups — and others — see this term as damaging and misrepresentative of Islam, and consider that it stigmatises them by encouraging stereotyping and stoking division."

Giving so-called "incels" — a portmanteau of involuntarily celibate — as an example, Mr Burgess said many individuals and groups simply didn't fit on the left-right spectrum.

Instead, they may be motivated by anything from fear of societal collapse to a specific social or economic grievance or conspiracy.

The comments came a year after Mr Burgess described an "unprecedented" threat from foreign espionage and interference operations and warned of the growing risk of right-wing extremism.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton was criticised at the time for responding to the comments by promising to fight lunatics on the "far right" and "far left", and associating Islamic extremism with the left.

On Wednesday, Mr Burgess said some of Australia's adversaries were trying to "undermine and exploit" Australia's recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.

"We have already seen extremists trying to stoke social divisions, and foreign intelligence services wanting intelligence about Australia's key export, technology and research industries," he said on Wednesday

https://www.9news.com.au/national/asio-boss-foreign-spies-in-australia-removed-national-security/b1b2b4e2-5905-4620-ba1b-7442e0905a4b

More “Covid Suicides” than Covid Deaths in Kids

Before Covid, an American youth died by suicide every six hours. Suicide is a major public health threat and a leading cause of death for those aged under 25 — one far bigger than Covid. And it is something that we have only made worse as we, led by politicians and ‘the science,’ deprived our youngest members of society — who constitute one-third of the US population — of educational, emotional and social development without their permission or consent for over a year.

And why? For what?

We were scared. We were scared for our lives and those of people we love. And, like your average German-on-the-street in the 1930s and 40s, we believed that doing what we were told and supporting the national cause would save us and our families.

The reality is we sacrificed others without a second thought. We have sacrificed our youths’ lives and future livelihoods in a desperate attempt to save a slim minority of the elderly population who have surpassed the average US life expectancy of 78.8 years and those who were already on their way out.

https://www.naturalblaze.com/2021/03/more-covid-suicides-than-covid-deaths-in-kids.html

Sell more weapons make more money ignore the death and destruction

Ukraine should look to US for air defenses, improved air force, says former defense adviser

WASHINGTON — The recent decision by the Biden administration to send $125 million in military aid for Ukraine is a welcome site in Kyiv, but the country needs and deserves much more, according to a former chief adviser to Ukraine’s defense minister.

“It is clear that Ukraine is not unique among the list of countries who are supported by the U.S. government,” Oleksandr Danylyuk, now chairman of the Ukrainian Center for Defense Reforms think tank, said in a recent telephone interview from Kyiv. “But it is also clear that Ukraine provides a lot of security for the U.S.”

The package, announced March 1, included two Mark VI patrol boats as well as “counter-artillery radars and tactical equipment; continued support for a satellite imagery and analysis capability; and equipment to support military medical treatment and combat evacuation procedures,” per the Pentagon.

That marked the first military aid to Ukraine under the Biden administration, and more could be coming; there is another $150 million appropriated by Congress for the fiscal 2021 Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, but that money is gated off until the U.S. Defense and State departments jointly certify there has been “sufficient progress” made by Ukraine on military reform efforts.

Danylyuk, who has advised Ukraine’s government in modernizing its armed forces, particularly its special forces, argued two key points that make Ukraine worthy of increased aid. The first is that country’s 1994 decision to remove from its soil nearly 200 intercontinental ballistic missiles and nearly 2,000 nuclear warheads in exchange for a guarantee of sovereignty from Russia.

The second, and far more current, argument he made is that by taking on Russia in the Donbas and elsewhere, Ukraine is expending its own blood and treasure to protect U.S. allies like Poland and the Baltics, and ultimately America itself.

https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2021/03/17/ukrainian-official-us-should-help-improve-air-defense-systems-air-assets/