US lawmakers okay funding for Israel’s Iron Dome after controversy in House

In420-9 vote, representatives approve $1 billion for missile defense system; Bennett, Lapid thank US after delay caused by opposition from progressive Democrats

The US House of Representatives votes overwhelmingly to pass the Iron Dome Supplemental Appropriations Act, which will send an additional $1 billion in funding for Israel’s missile defense system.

HR 5323 passes with 420 votes in favor while eight Democrats — Representatives Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Cori Bush of Minnesota, Andre Carson of Indiana, Marie Newman of Illinois, Jesus Garcia of Illinois and Raul Grivalva of Arizona — and one Republican, Representative Tom Massie of Kentucky, vote no.

Democratic Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Hank Johnson of Georgia are the lone lawmakers to vote “present.”

The Senate has yet to schedule a vote on the legislation needed for it to become a law.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-september-23-2021/

Feds Give Planned Parenthood Millions in Pandemic Relief After Ruling it Ineligible for Gov’t Aid

Abortion giant has received $100 million in small business loans

The Biden administration used the COVID relief package to give tens of millions of dollars to Planned Parenthood even after the federal government determined the billion-dollar abortion provider was ineligible for the program.

The Small Business Administration has given $23 million to 10 Planned Parenthood affiliates in 2021 through the Paycheck Protection Program. The agency sent those payments even though it ruled Planned Parenthood did not qualify for the funding, which was designed to aid small businesses dealing with government shutdowns and the coronavirus pandemic.

SBA, which did not respond to requests for comment, had previously ordered the nation's top abortion provider to return $80 million in taxpayer-backed PPP funds. The agency has not provided evidence that those funds were returned by any of the 37 Planned Parenthood affiliates that cashed the checks in 2020.

Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) said the agency is ignoring its own ruling—which held that affiliates of organizations with more than 500 employees are ineligible for PPP—to reward a political ally.

"I think Democrats know it is illegal to give small business loans to the big business, that is Planned Parenthood, but they are completely in the tank for taxpayer-funded abortions," Paul told the Washington Free Beacon.

Planned Parenthood did not respond to a request for comment.

Planned Parenthood has more than $2 billion in net assets, according to its 2019-2020 annual report. The organization pledged more than $45 million to support Biden and other Democrats in the 2020 campaign. It has already spent nearly $700,000 on lobbying in 2021, an effort that is already bearing fruit after congressional Democrats and the Biden administration put forward budget proposals to overturn longstanding bipartisan bans on taxpayer-funded abortion.

Republican members of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship announced Monday that they will refuse to vote on the SBA's nominee for deputy administrator until the agency takes action to ensure Planned Parenthood returns the tens of millions in funds. The nominee for the position, Dilawar Syed, served on the board of directors of an organization tied to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, which targets Israel with economic pressure.

Mallory Quigley, vice president of communications for the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, said it is "unconscionable" that the federal government wasted $100 million in relief funds on a billion-dollar business like Planned Parenthood.

"This money was intended to help small businesses survive during the deadly pandemic, not subsidize our nation's largest abortion business which daily harms women and takes innocent lives," Quigley told the Free Beacon. "It's time to hold those who let this happen accountable."

https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/feds-give-planned-parenthood-millions-in-pandemic-relief-after-ruling-it-ineligible-for-govt-aid/

Schumer announces Senate-House deal on tax 'framework' for $3.5T package

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Thursday morning announced that the Senate, House and White House have reached a deal on a “framework” to pay for the massive human infrastructure spending package they hope to pass this fall under budget reconciliation.

“The White House, the House and the Senate have reached an agreement on a framework that will pay for any final negotiated agreement. So the revenue side of this, we have an agreement on,” Schumer announced at a joint press conference with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

Schumer briefed reporters on the details of the agreement after the press conference.

"We had a meeting with Secretary Yellen and White House people," he said. "And we reached an agreement on a framework, menu of options that will pay for any final negotiated agreement."

Pelosi called it “an agreement on how we can consider, go forward in a way to pay for this.”

The deal does not include a top-line revenue number or a top-line spending number, said a senior Democratic aide familiar with the agreement.

The aide explained it's an understanding between Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) about what revenue-raising proposals are on the table for the upcoming negotiations.

Wyden and Neal will use the House Ways and Means Committee’s tax proposal combined with a few “Senate ideas” that were left out of Neal’s bill, which his committee passed last week.

Neal, for example, did not include a proposal favored by Wyden to increase tax revenue from capital gains by eliminating stepped-up basis when calculating the tax obligations on inherited assets.

The House tax bill also left out a proposal championed by Wyden and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) to implement a 2 percent excise tax on stock buybacks as well as an idea endorsed by the White House to end the 1031 “like-kind exchange” tax break for real estate investors.

The proposed Senate language on ending the “carried interest” loophole, which allows investment fund managers to be taxed at capital gains rates instead of income tax rates, is stronger than in the House’s proposal.

Neal also left out a Biden-backed proposal to require financial institutions to provide more information to the IRS about bank accounts.

Wyden told reporters the menu of tax proposals can be dialed up or down to raise any amount of money needed to cover the full cost of the reconciliation package, which has yet to be agreed to — but is unlikely to go above the $3.5 trillion figure currently on the table.

“We are ready with options that are on what I call this menu to pay for the choices that Congress makes,” Wyden said.

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/573605-schumer-announces-senate-house-deal-on-tax-framework-for-35t-package

German Covid release

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>>14644679

Discord, YouTube Working Together, Testing Video Integration Feature

Discord and YouTube appear to be working together to add a new video-viewing feature to the VoIP, instant messaging and digital distribution platform.

A few weeks after YouTube forced two popular Discord music bots Groovy Bot and Rythm to go offline, Discord has reportedly started testing a new feature called Watch Together. The said feature has been released on select Discord servers, which will enable users to watch videos together.

Watch Together is similar to Discord's built-in option that broadcasts user screens to others, a new report from The Verge revealed.

The new feature was developed with YouTube in mind and comes with options to create playlists and provide other members the chance to control video playback.

Although Watch Together is not the same as Rythm and Groovy Bot, members can use it to listen to music through YouTube in Discord. The messaging platform warns members, however, that they may see ads during YouTube videos.

As for the details of the new feature, Discord has very little information to share.

A Discord spokesperson told Engadget, "As a company founded in innovation, we're always experimenting and building things we believe our users will enjoy."

"We don't have anything more to share right now, but stay tuned," the spokesperson added.

Since the feature is only available to select members, there is a chance some Discord users may not see the Watch Together feature for now.

https://www.ibtimes.com/discord-youtube-working-together-testing-video-integration-feature-3302227

1_5071451478506340896 German release C19.pdf

https://ufile.io/sdddueya

Judge REJECTS Jan. 6 Prosecutors’ Bid To Hide Multiple Capitol Surveillance Videos From The Public

"The government’s reasons for preventing disclosure of the video exhibits, and thereby sealing them, are insufficient to overcome the public right of access to the five CCV videos at issue"

Capitol surveillance footage from the January 6 election integrity protests has been publicly released after a judge ruled against the attempts of Biden regime prosecutors to hide the footage from public view.

US District Chief Judge Beryl Howell has ruled that “the government shall promptly make the video evidence submitted to the Court on August 16, 2021, in connection with defendant’s plea hearing held August 19, 2021, publicly available without restrictions by providing access using the “drop box” technical solution described in D.D.C. Standing Order No. 21-28.”

“The government’s reasons for preventing disclosure of the video exhibits, and thereby sealing them, are insufficient to overcome the public right of access to the five CCV videos at issue,” Howell wrote, noting that “The public has an interest in understanding the conduct underlying the charges in these cases, as well as the government’s prosecutorial decision-making both in bringing criminal charges and resolving these charges by entering into plea agreements with defendants.”

“Moreover, the government has already released video from inside the Capitol in other cases and even more videos taken by individuals inside the Capitol on January 6 have been made publicly available,” the judge continued. “See Pet’rs’ Reply at 8, 10–11 & n.4. The government does not explain how the information it seeks to protect could not already be obtained by, for example, reviewing already-public videos taken inside the Capitol, and the government does not articulate a particular threat stemming from the release of these particular videos. As petitioners persuasively argue, the asserted security risk is undercut by the already extensive release of CCV footage from the Capitol.”

Multiple surveillance videos have already been released per the judge’s ruling, crushing the hopes of prosecutors to hide the footage from the public.

https://nationalfile.com/breaking-judge-rejects-jan-6-prosecutors-bid-to-hide-multiple-capitol-surveillance-videos-from-the-public/

Chinese Reporter Demands ‘Iron Fist’ Against ‘Arrogant Countries’ Challenging China.

The less than subtle authoritarian tendencies are becoming more commonplace.

In response to Lithuania exchanging diplomatic offices with Taiwan, Chinese television host Tian Liu called for the Chinese Communist Party to confront the European country with an “iron fist.”

Liu also urged the application of the mindset “why not kill the chicken to frighten the monkey” to Lithuania in a video posted to Chinese social media platform Weibo on September 2nd.

The reporter also pledges that “any country that challenges our country’s red lines must pay a price.”

“How dare such a small country challenge our great nation,” she asks before reiterating, “let’s teach them a lesson.”

“Since Lithuania is obstinate, we don’t mind making it suffer a little,” she asserts before outlining how China limited its imports to and exports from the country:

The media reported on the 23rd that Lithuanian exporters began to complain that China had stopped buying cheese, timber, and grain after relations between the two sides had reached a deadlock. China’s big timber traders, for example, are considering leaving for other markets. And local milk processing factories have stopped supplying China due to a sharp drop in orders. The general manager of a Lithuanian company said in an interview that he felt very helpless, because 99% of the goods of his company were sold to China in the past, but now the sales suddenly stopped, and he had no choice but to move the company to other E.U. member states.

“We have seen so many arrogant countries, but each one will eventually learn the same lesson: do not mess with China,” she notes.

“If they don’t feel pinched, we don’t mind cutting them off completely,” Liu adds before emphasizing, “an iron fist might be the best way to respond.”

https://thenationalpulse.com/news/chinese-reporter-calls-for-iron-fist-against-lithuania/

Florida Businessman and CFO of Russian Natural Gas Company Arrested on Tax Charges Related to $93 Million Hidden in Offshore Accounts

Allegedly Submitted False Offshore Compliance Filing with the IRS to Hide Fraud

A federal grand jury in Fort Myers, Florida, returned an indictment on Sept. 22 charging a Florida businessman with defrauding the United States by not disclosing his substantial offshore assets, failing to report substantial income on his tax returns, failing to pay millions of dollars of taxes and submitting a false offshore compliance filing with the IRS in an attempt to avoid substantial penalties and criminal prosecution.

According to the indictment, from 2005 to 2016, Mark Anthony Gyetvay allegedly engaged in a scheme to defraud the United States by concealing his ownership and control over substantial offshore assets and by failing to file and pay taxes on millions of dollars of income. After working as a certified public accountant (CPA) in the United States and Russia, Gyetvay allegedly became the chief financial officer of a large Russian gas company. As part of his compensation package, Gyetvay allegedly received lucrative stock options and/or stock-based compensation. Beginning in 2005, Gyetvay allegedly opened the first of two different Swiss bank accounts to hold these assets, which at one point had an aggregate value of over $93 million. Over a period of several years, Gyetvay allegedly took steps to conceal his ownership and control over the foreign accounts and associated assets, such as removing himself and making his then-wife, a Russian citizen, the beneficial owner of the accounts. Despite being a CPA, Gyetvay also allegedly did not timely file his U.S. tax returns, nor did he file all of the required Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBARs) forms certain U.S. taxpayers are required to file annually that disclose their control over assets maintained in foreign bank accounts. Further, some of the tax returns he did file are allegedly false. The indictment also alleges that Gyetvay submitted a false offshore compliance filing with the IRS through the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures in which he attested that his prior failure to file FBARs and tax returns was non-willful.

Gyetvay is scheduled for his initial court appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas Frazier of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each wire fraud count, five years in prison for each failure to file FBAR count, five years in prison for tax evasion, five years in prison for making a false statement, three years in prison for each count of assisting in the preparation of a false tax return and one year in prison for each willful failure to file a tax return count. The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge John L. Badalamenti, who will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Senior Litigation Counsel Stanley Okula and Trial Attorneys David Zisserson and Kevin Schneider of the Tax Division are prosecuting the case.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/florida-businessman-and-cfo-russian-natural-gas-company-arrested-tax-charges-related-93

U.S. Charges 138 Medical Workers for US$1.4 Billion Fraud

The Department of Justice last week announced criminal charges against 138 doctors, nurses and licenced medical professionals for their alleged involvement in fraud schemes worth around US$1.4 billion.

Authorities accused 43 suspects from 31 federal districts of causing $1.1 billion of that loss through fraudulent claims in telemedicine — medical services offered online. The rest involved “sober homes”, COVID-19 related fraud and opioid distribution schemes.

Court documents show that some telemedicine executives paid doctors and nurses to order unnecessary medical equipment and pain medications often after interacting with patients only briefly over the phone or not at all. The companies then submitted false claims to government insurers.

The money was then spent on “luxury items, including vehicles, yachts, and real estate,” the statement said.

“The charges announced today send a clear deterrent message and should leave no doubt about the department’s ongoing commitment to ensuring the safety of patients and the integrity of health care benefit programs, even amid a continued pandemic,” said Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Kenneth A. Polite Jr.

Law enforcement ceased the activities of nine suspects who were involved in criminal schemes exploiting COVID-19 pandemic and created bills worth more than $29 million.

Some of the suspects allegedly took patient information from the CMS system to request Medicare to pay for unnecessary and expensive tests.

Five defendants are suspected of taking part in the misuse of the so-called Provider Relief Fund, a federal law created to support COVID-19 patients, and then go “gambling at a Las Vegas casino and paying a luxury car dealership.”

Regarding “sober homes,” places that provide safe housing and supportive living conditions to people exiting drug rehabilitation programs, some of the suspects are charged with subjecting patients to unnecessary and expensive medical testing and therapy sessions worth thousands of dollars. This resulted in more than $133 million in losses to private insurers.

Finally, in a country which has already been struggling with massive opioid addiction, authorities charged 19 suspects for fraudulently prescribing more than 12 million doses of opioids to patients and causing a loss of over $14 million.

More than 60 alleged participants in the schemes allegedly submitted over $145 million “in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, and private insurance companies for treatments that were medically unnecessary and often never provided.”

Assistant Director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, Calvin Shivers, said that despite a continued pandemic, the FBI and its law enforcement partners “remain dedicated to safeguarding American taxpayers and businesses from the steep cost of health care fraud.”

https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/15210-u-s-charges-138-medical-workers-for-us-1-4-billion-fraud

https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/15210-u-s-charges-138-medical-workers-for-us-1-4-billion-fraud

Former Analyst Charged With $8 Million Insider Trading Scheme For Front-Running Employer’s Pending Trades

Sergei Polevikov Misappropriated Information Regarding his Employer’s Pending Trades to Make $8 Million in Illicit Profits on Personal Securities Trades

Audrey Strauss, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Michael J. Driscoll, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced the unsealing of a Complaint charging SERGEI POLEVIKOV with securities fraud, wire fraud, and investment company fraud in connection with his fraudulent scheme to misappropriate confidential information about pending trades by his employer, an investment adviser, on behalf of its investment company clients. POLEVIKOV was arrested last night and will be presented this afternoon before Magistrate Judge James L. Cott.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “As alleged, Sergei Polevikov violated not just the terms of his employment but also the law when he exploited material, nonpublic information to make personal trades ahead of large institutional trades, reaping more than $8 million in illicit profits. Despite his alleged efforts to conceal it, Polevikov’s scheme was uncovered, and he is facing serious federal charges.”

FBI Assistant Director Michael J. Driscoll said: “Using material, nonpublic information to exploit small price movements in his employer’s stock, Polevikov, as we allege, realized significant financial gains for himself through his trades. While these schemes are unfortunately all too common, so is the response of the FBI – if you misappropriate proprietary information for your own personal gain, you should expect to hear from us.”

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/former-analyst-charged-8-million-insider-trading-scheme-front-running-employer-s

Psaki Bolts From Podium As Reporter Asks About Her Prior Tweets Calling Hunter Biden Laptop Story ‘Russian Disinformation’

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Thursday fled the lectern as a reporter asked her about prior tweets calling the Hunter Biden laptop story ‘Russian disinformation.’

The New York Post in 2020 dropped an “October surprise” shortly before the presidential election when they released contents of Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop showing the Biden crime family involved in an international influence peddling operation.

Joe Biden, AKA, “The Big Guy,” used his crackhead son Hunter as an international “bagman” and skimmed 10% off the top.

Big Tech immediately moved in to block the Hunter Biden laptop story.

The Deep State intel community came out and said the laptop story was “Russian disinformation.”

Psaki also spread this lie in October 2020.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/09/psaki-bolts-podium-reporter-asks-prior-tweets-calling-hunter-biden-laptop-story-russian-disinformation-video/

Hundreds of protesters who attended Wednesday’s protests in Melbourne are urged to get tested immediately after protester was sent to hospital with Covid-19.

https://www.news.com.au/world/coronavirus/australia/australia-covid-news-live-nsws-reopening-day-coming-sooner-than-expected/news-story/24bb4c4dfdfd7b397b076f27fc716881

KEK

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-23/barnaby-joyce-condemns-melbourne-shrine-of-remembrance-protest/100486980

Funeral Director: Mass Vaccine Deaths, Child Danger, COVID Camps, Genocide Planned

https://rumble.com/vmvgb3-funeral-director-mass-vaccine-deaths-child-danger-covid-camps-genocide-plan.html

Active Shooter at Kroger In Collierville, Tennessee, Up To 9 People Shot

Collierville, TENN. – Police responded to an ‘active shooter’ at a Kroger grocery store in the city of Collierville Thursday, city officials said. Reports indicate at least 9 people shot.

The scene is at 240 New Byhalia Road.

The public information officer for the Town of Collierville, Jennifer Casey, said there are confirmed injuries but the extent or number of victims is unclear.

Collierville Police, Memphis Police, and the Shelby County Sheriff’s Officer are all working the incident.

https://breaking911.com/breaking-active-shooter-at-kroger-in-collierville-tennessee/

Federal Workers Sue Biden Over Vaccine Mandate

As the FDA bucks President Biden's booster jab push, a group of federal workers and contractors are suing President Biden to try and stop his sweeping federal vaccine mandate, according to media reports.

The lawsuit, filed in Washington Thursday, challenges President Joe Biden's executive edict requiring all federal workers and contractors to be vaccinated, alongside the August memorandum requiring members of the military to be vaccinated to protect against COVID. Biden has opposed offering honorable discharges for soldiers who are vaccine objectors.

Among the arguments made in the lawsuit, lawyers claim that Christians are required "to refuse a medical intervention, including vaccination, if his or her informed conscience comes to this sure judgment".

The federal workers aren't the only group suing Biden over the mandate. The RNC has said it plans to sue Biden over the vaccine mandates, with RNC head Ronna McDaniel arguing the mandates are "unconstitutional", and that Biden had promised not to impose mandates when he was elected.

"Joe Biden told Americans when he was elected that he would not impose vaccine mandates. He lied. Now small businesses, workers, and families across the country will pay the price," she said.

"Like many Americans, I am pro-vaccine and anti-mandate," she said. "Many small businesses and workers do not have the money or legal resources to fight Biden's unconstitutional actions and authoritarian decrees, but when his decree goes into effect, the RNC will sue the administration to protect Americans and their liberties."

Other prominent Republican officials have also threatened to sue, with Arizona becoming the first state to sue Biden over the mandate earlier this month. Americans' resistance to the vaccine has frustrated the White House, which has struggled to get the latest delta-driven COVID wave under control.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/group-federal-workers-sues-biden-over-vaccine-mandates

Italian priest is arrested for 'stealing more than £85,000 from church funds to buy drugs for gay sex parties in his home'

Father Francesco Spagnesi, 40, is under house arrest as investigations continue

Police have spoken to 200 people said to have attended parties over two years

Police began investigation after reportedly finding priest's flatmate had imported a litre of 'date-rape' drug GHB

Parish accountant discovered £85,000 had been withdrawn from bank account

Spagnesi also allegedly solicited donations from wealthy parishioners

Lawyer said priest had confessed to supplying drugs and would confess to theft

Neither Spagnesi nor his flatmate have been charged with any crimes

A charismatic Italian priest has been arrested for allegedly stealing more than £85,000 from church funds to pay for gay sex parties at his home.

Father Francesco Spagnesi, 40, from Prato near Florence, is under house arrest on suspicion of theft.

Police are in the process of interviewing hundreds of people said to have attended his drug-fuelled orgies over the last two years.

The parties typically involved the priest, his drug-dealing flatmate and at least one other person, whom they would find through gay dating sites, according to detectives.

However, on occasion, the weekly parties would involve much larger groups of up to 20 or 30 participants.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10021339/Priest-arrested-stealing-85-000-church-funds-buy-drugs-sex-parties.html