'What we're talking about doing is having a mass movement opening across the state of Oregon' by CHRIS PANDOLFO The mayor of Sandy, Oregon, is calling on small businesses in his state to open on New Year's Day in defiance of Democratic Gov. Kate Brown's coronavirus restrictions, while still observing rules for social distancing and COVID-19 spread reduction.
In an open letter to the governor sent earlier this month, Mayor Stan Pulliam called the governor's lockdown orders "arbitrary" and accused her restrictions of bankrupting small businesses and sending "our neighbors to spiral into depression and anxiety."
"If you discover a mouse in your house, you don't burn it down to solve the problem. You find a way to safely remove the mouse without destroying everything else you value. Governor Brown, we are opening," the letter stated.
Appearing on Fox News Wednesday, the mayor said, "All Oregonians should take pause, stand up, and say this must stop."
"What we're talking about doing is having a mass movement opening across the state of Oregon throughout all of our local communities on Jan. 1, on New Year's Day," Pulliam said.
He described how a coalition of businesses in Oregon counties that have been labeled "Extreme Risk" will open and voluntarily comply with less restrictive "High Risk" measures recommended by the state government. According to KOIN-TV, restaurants and gyms can open with significantly reduced capacity under that lower tier of restrictions.
"What we're hoping to do is by doing this mass opening, just one level underneath the governor's recommended guidelines ... we want to get these storefronts open and get the employees back to work," Pulliam explained.
Fox News host Sandra Smith asked the mayor if he was "willing to face the consequences" if businesses open as he's calling for and there is increased spread of the coronavirus.
"You know, consequences of what?" Pulliam replied. "We talk about spread coming from our local main street, locally owned businesses but [pay] very little attention to the big box stores that are packing them in supporting corporate America."
"I don't know the names of the CEOs that are running the big box stores, but you better believe I know Lila and Paul Reed of Mt. Hood Athletic Club, Ria who owns Sandy Family Restaurant, Denise of Paola's Pizza. These are the face and names that make up the main street of Sandy and like so many main streets across these local communities all throughout Oregon," he continued.
"It's time that we stand with them."
Part of the reason for the Jan. 1 opening day, Pulliam explained to KOIN, is that in addition to the symbolism of the new year beginning, government agencies that are responsible for enforcing the coronavirus restrictions may be closed for the holiday.
Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley joined other GOP lawmakers on Wednesday, when he announced that he will object to to the certification of electoral votes to name Joe Biden President of the United States. It will be more than just a symbolic statement but the televised event, along with the objections from lawmakers, will finally lay out all the concerns of alleged voter fraud to the American public, said Chairman of the House Freedom Caucus Andy Biggs.
Biggs told me that he will also launch his objection to the electoral votes in Arizona and noted that the Democrats “will try to object and obstruct the process” throughout the proceeding.
The Jan. 6, proceeding, however, “will be the first time that the entire country won’t be censored by the left wing media – we will be out there debating election fraud. That’s the beauty of what will happen and the American people will hear all of it, some of them for the first time,” said Biggs.
Hawley is joining House Rep. Jody Hice, who also stated that he will not certify Georgia’s electors on Jan. 6. Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, along with members of the House Freedom Caucus, are also saying that they will object to certifying the electoral votes for Biden.
What does this mean? It means that on Jan. 6, at 1 p.m. when House and Senate lawmakers meet in the House chamber to vote the lawmakers will enter their objections regarding each state based on their concern that there was election fraud. Vice President Mike Pence will preside over the vote as president of the Senate chamber. As tradition, the Vice President will open the sealed certificates that will be submitted by each state but lawmakers will have the opportunity to voice their objections.
Moreover, issues regarding the 1877 electoral law will also come into play on Jan. 6, Biggs said. It’s known as the 1887 Electoral Count Act and it may play a role in one of the most controversial presidential elections in modern political history. Biggs said the law itself needs to be challenged ‘and I’m not the only one but many scholars do as well.”
The law actually requires electors to be chosen for the Electoral College, the constitutionally established body that elects the president, no more than 41 days after Election Day.
“I think the 1877 law is unconstitutional in my opinion,” said Biggs. “The fact that we are engaging in some kind of byzantine legal fiction may have us raising this issues to the Supreme Court after January 6.”
Biggs said Hawley’s announcement to object, could empower other Senators to come forward and join the objections. For example, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R- Alabama, hinted in early December that senators should also object on Jan. 6 when Congress ratifies the election results. Others, like Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY, or Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, may also rethink their decision and announce their objections.
Hawley’s objections may lead others to join as suggested by Biggs and he made it clear that his objections also include the extraordinary bias exhibited by the media that worked against accurately informing the American people.
“Following both the 2004 and 2016 election, Democrats in Congress objected during the certification of electoral votes in order to raise concerns about election integrity,” Sen. Hawley said in a statement. “They were praised by Democratic leadership and the media when they did. And they were entitled to do so. But now those of us concerned about the integrity of this election are entitled to do the same.”
“I cannot vote to certify the electoral college results on January 6 without raising the fact that some states, particularly Pennsylvania, failed to follow their own state election laws,” he added. “And I cannot vote to certify without pointing out the unprecedented effort of mega corporations, including Facebook and Twitter, to interfere in this election, in support of Joe Biden. At the very least, Congress should investigate allegations of voter fraud and adopt measure to secure the integrity of our elections. But Congress has so far failed to act.”
He ended his statement: “For these reasons, I will follow the same practice Democrat members of Congress have in years past and object during the certification process on January 6 to raise these critical issues.”
Hice announced on Dec. 21, that he had a meeting with President Donald Trump, Pence and the White House legal team. He said that he, along with members of the Freedom Caucus, will lead an ‘objection to Georgia’s electors on Jan. 6.”
“The courts refuse to hear the President’s legal case,” he said. “We’re going to make sure the People can!”
Nearly a year after President Trump was acquitted in an impeachment trial for seeking an investigation of the Biden family business dealings overseas, explosive new revelations have surfaced showing the extent of Hunter Biden's effort to cash in on his father Joe Biden's name and the timing of key business transactions to the former vice president's policy responsibilities and actions.
Here are some of the key dates and evidence:
June 2009
Six months into the Obama-Biden administration, Hunter Biden co-founds an investment fund called Rosemont Seneca Partners with Christopher Heinz, the stepson of then-Senator and future Secretary of State John Kerry, and a former Kerry aide named Devon Archer. The firm would create a series of side business ventures over the next several years in China, Russia, Ukraine and Kazahkstan.
November 2013
Hunter Biden and his business partners form a company called Bohai Harvest RST Partners, or BHR, to do investment business in China.
Dec. 4-7, 2013
Hunter Biden joins his father aboard Air Force II for a trip to Beijing, where he briefly introduces the vice president to his Chinese business partner Jonathan Li. Vice President Joe Biden's official trip to Beijing was to quiet security concerns in the region after Chinese aggression in the China Sea. Less than two weeks after the trip, China officially approves an operating license for the BHR investment.
February 2014
Vice President Joe Biden named by President Obama to be U.S. point man on Ukrainian crisis after Euromaidan Revolution of Dignity leads to ouster of Viktor Yanukovych as Ukrainian president.
April 13, 2014
Devon Archer, the business partner of Hunter Biden, son of the VP, and Christopher Heinz, stepson of Secretary of State John Kerry, is named an independent director of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings. That same day, Hunter Biden and Devon Archer exchange emails on how to leverage Joe Biden's upcoming official trip to Ukraine to secure a lucrative consulting contract with Burisma to augment their board memberships. "The contract should begin now — not after the upcoming visit of my guy," Hunter Biden wrote in an email obtained by the FBI.
File BidenArcher4-13-14.pdf April 15, 2014
Burisma Holdings makes two payments to the Morgan Stanley account of Devon Archer's and Hunter Biden's firm Rosemont Seneca Bohai in the amounts of $83,333.33 and $29,424.82, according to Burisma Holdings financial records obtained by Ukraine Prosecutor General's Office and Rosemont Seneca Bohai records obtained by the FBI.
April 15, 2014
Devon Archer, Hunter Biden's partner in Rosemont Seneca Bohai and Burisma Holdings, checks into White House for meeting with Vice President Joe Biden, according to the Secret Service's official WAVES entry logs for the Obama White House.
April 16, 2014
Hunter Biden writes an email to his business partners complaining money he expected to receive from his Chinese business partners has not come in. "We had assurances that the PRC money would come first, and we would build on that. Right now I don't see that happening," Hunter Biden wrote in an email obtained by the FBI.
April 22, 2014
VP Joe Biden meets with Ukraine Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and urges Ukraine to ramp up energy production to free itself from its Russian natural gas dependence. Biden boasts that "an American team is currently in the region working with Ukraine and its neighbors to increase Ukraine's short-term energy supply." Yatsenyuk welcomes help from American "investors" in modernizing natural gas supply lines in Ukraine.
April 23, 2014
Hunter Biden writes an email to Archer urging that they take credit with Burisma executive Vadim Pozharskyi for comments Joe Biden made in Ukraine about natural gas because "it makes it look like we are adding value," according to an email obtained by the FBI.
April 24, 2014
Joe Biden meets with future Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko.
April 28, 2014
Britain's Serious Fraud Office freezes $23 million in assets kept in London by Burisma Holdings and its founder, Mykola Zlochevsky, on grounds it was fraudulently transferred from Ukraine. Zlochevsky and Burisma deny wrongdoing.
May 13, 2014
Hunter Biden announced as a board member for Ukraine's largest natural gas company Burisma Holdings, which is run by Mykola Zlochevsky, a former cabinet official for ousted president Victor Yanukovych.
May 13, 2014
Christopher Heinz, business partner to Devon Archer and Hunter Biden and stepson to John Kerry, sends email to Secretary of State's top aides distancing himself from Archer, Biden appointments to Burisma Holdings board, according to FOIA released to Citizens United.
May 15, 2014
Burisma Holdings makes two equal $83,333.33 payments totaling $166,666.66 to the Morgan Stanley account of Hunter Biden's and Devon Archer's firm Rosemont Seneca Bohai, according to the company's official ledger and Rosemont Seneca Bohais bank records obtained by the FBI. Similar payments are made every month for more than a year.
May 20, 2014
David Leiter, former chief of staff to John Kerry, hired as a lobbyist for Burisma Holdings, Senate lobbying records show. The firm is paid $90,000 in 2014 to lobby Congress and the State Department.
May 25, 2014
Poroshenko wins the Ukraine presidential election
July 5, 2014
Burisma Holdings pays $250,000 retainer to Boies Schiller law firm where board member Hunter Biden also works, according to Burisma Holdings financial records.
Validation: Burisma Holdings financial records released by Ukraine Prosecutor General's Office.
Aug. 20, 2014
Ukraine Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin's office opens criminal investigation of Burisma Holdings and Mykola Zlochevsky for alleged corrupt award of gas exploration permits and eventual looting of company, according to Ukrainian prosecutor general's case file.
Sept. 16, 2014
Burisma Holdings makes $33,039.77 payment to Boies Schiller law firm, according to company records.
Validation: Burisma Holdings accounting ledger obtained by Ukraine Prosecutor General's Office https://www.scribd.com/document/436048670/Burisma-Holdings-Accounting-Ledger
December 16, 2014
Former Deputy National Security Adviser Tony Blinken, a longtime Joe Biden adviser, confirmed by Senate as Deputy Secretary of State under John Kerry.
Jan. 18, 2015
Prosecutor General's office in Ukraine declares Burisma Holdings founder Mykola Zlochevsky a fugitive "wanted in Ukraine."
Jan. 29, 2015
British Serious Fraud Office announces it is closing down investigation into Burisma and Zlochevsky for insufficient evidence.
February 2015
Then-U.S. embassy official George Kent in Kiev reported to the U.S. Justice Department evidence that Burisma had made a $7 million cash bribe to Ukrainian prosecutors before those prosecutors killed a separate corruption probe in the United Kingdom by failing to produce required evidence, according to a memo Kent sent a year later.
File KentYaremaAug292016.pdf
May 22, 2015
Hunter Biden emails his father's longtime trusted aide, Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken, with the following message: "Have a few minutes next week to grab a cup of coffee? I know you are impossibly busy, but would like to get your advice on a couple of things, Best, Hunter." Blinken responds the same day with an "absolutely" and added, "Look forward to seeing you." The records indicate the two men were scheduled to meet the afternoon of May 27, 2015.
June 11, 2015
Burisma Holdings makes $20,000 donation to the Delaware Community Foundation in the name of Beau Biden, the vice president's oldest son who died of cancer, according to the company's financial records released by Ukraine prosecutor general's office.
July 22, 2015
Hunter Biden meets with Deputy Secretary Tony Blinken for lunch at State Department, according to State Department memos.
Aug. 16, 2015
Devon Archer throws a $10,000 a plate fund-raiser in New York for the Seed Global Health charity founded by Secretary of State Kerry's daughter, Dr. Vanessa Kerry, according to official invite.
Sept. 25, 2015
U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt gives speech imploring Ukrainian prosecutors to do more to bring Burisma's Zlochevsky to justice.
Sept. 29, 2015
VP Biden meets with President Poroshenko in Ukraine.
Nov. 18, 2015
Burisma Holdings makes $60,000 payment to the American legal, lobbying and communications firm Blue Star Strategies for consulting work, according to company's official ledger.
Dec. 7, 2015
VP Biden meets with President Poroshenko and demands the president make "hard decisions" to eliminate "the cancer of corruption" in his country, according to summary memo.
Dec. 8, 2015
The New York Times publishes article stating Prosecutor General Shokin's office is investigating Burisma Holdings and its founder Zlochevsky, and that Hunter Biden's participation on Burisma board is undercutting Joe Biden's anticorruption message in Ukraine. VP Biden office quoted in story.
Jan. 21-24, 2016
Obama White House invites leaders of Ukraine's Prosecutor General Office to Washington for a hastily arranged set of meetings to discuss anti-corruption cases, including Burisma and Party of Regions case involving Paul Manafort..
Feb. 4, 2016
Ukraine Prosecutor General's Office under the direction of Viktor Shokin announces the re-seizure of assets from Burisma Holdings founder Mykola Zlochevsky under a continuing criminal investigation. The seizure occurred on Feb. 2, 2016, according to the announcement.
Feb. 4, 2016
Burisma board member Hunter Biden sends a Twitter notification to Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken, a longtime adviser to Joe Biden, indicating he is following Blinken on Twitter.
Feb. 11, 18, 19, 2016
VP Biden holds series of phone calls with President Poroshenko to check on status of pending items from their December 2015 meeting.
Feb. 18, 2016
Latvian financial authorities alert Ukrainian prosecutors to several Burisma Holdings transactions flagged as suspicious, including some to Hunter Biden.
Feb. 24-March 1, 2016
An American representative for Burisma Holdings, Karen Tramontano of Blue Star Strategies, seeks meeting with Undersecretary of State Catherine A. Novelli to discuss ending the corruption allegations against the Ukrainian gas firm. Hunter Biden's name was specifically invoked by the Burisma representative as a reason the State Department should help. "Per our conversation, Karen Tramontano of Blue Star Strategies requested a meeting to discuss with U/S Novelli USG remarks alleging Burisma (Ukrainian energy company) of corruption," a summary memo says.
March 2, 2016
Devon Archer, a business partner of Hunter Biden and fellow American board member on Burisma Holdings, secures meeting with Secretary of State John Kerry, State Department memos say.
March 15, 2016
Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland demands Ukraine "appoint and confirm a new, clean Prosecutor General, who is committed to rebuilding the integrity of the PGO, and investigate, indict and successfully prosecute corruption and asset recovery cases — including locking up dirty personnel in the PGO itself."
March 22, 2016
VP Joe Biden engages in phone call from Washington D.C. with Ukrainian president Poroshenko about U.S. loan guarantees. It is believed in this call that Biden renews his demands that the president fire Prosecutor General Shokin, who is overseeing the Burisma prosecution, or risk losing the next $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees.
March 29, 2016
Ukraine parliament fires Prosecutor General Shokin at urging of President Poroshenko.
March 30, 2016
Burisma Holdings' U.S. legal team seeks help of Ukrainian embassy official Andrii Telizhenko in Washington seeking urgent meeting with new Acting Prosecutor General of
by JEFF POOR 30 Dec 2020 Tuesday on FNC’s “The Story,” Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) pledged “transparency” in next week’s Georgia senatorial elections between Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and Raphael Warnock, and Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) and Jon Ossoff.
“I certainly believe there is going to be transparency in the runoff election,” he said. “There is a lot of people that have volunteered. We’ve encouraged folks to do that. The party is engaged. I think with the focus that we’ve had in Georgia, that’s absolutely going to be the case. But the fact of the matter is, Shannon, we’ve had over 2 million people that have already voted in this election during the early voting period, so my message to people is the same one the president had when he was here the other day as people need to get out and vote for David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler to stop socialism, stop handing the keys to Pelosi, Schumer, Bernie, AOC, and the others. I mean, we are literally the red wall here in Georgia, so we got to have high turnout, and I believe people will do that.”
Kemp did not react to federal judge Leslie Abrams Gardner, sister of his 2018 Democrat gubernatorial opponent Stacey Abrams, objecting to about 4,000 voters being taken off voter rolls.
“I know she ruled in some cases on our election in 2018, so that’s par for the course,” Kemp added. “I haven’t had time to see that lawsuit result or the ruling that she had today. We’ve been dealing with temporary hospital facility this afternoon when people started texting me that, so I haven’t been able to review that, but, you know, I will just wait to reserve judgment on that until I know a little more.”
DECEMBER 30, 2020 by NATALIE WINTERS
Deep in the lush mountain valleys of southern China lies the entrance to a mine shaft that once harbored bats with the closest known relative of the COVID-19 virus.
The area is of intense scientific interest because it may hold clues to the origins of the coronavirus that has killed more than 1.7 million people worldwide. Yet for scientists and journalists, it has become a black hole of no information because of political sensitivity and secrecy.
A bat research team visiting recently managed to take samples but had them confiscated, two people familiar with the matter said. Specialists in coronaviruses have been ordered not to speak to the press. And a team of Associated Press journalists was tailed by plainclothes police in multiple cars who blocked access to roads and sites in late November.
READ MORE HERE. https://apnews.com/article/united-nations-coronavirus-pandemic-china-only-on-ap-bats-24fbadc58cee3a40bca2ddf7a14d2955
by HANNAH BLEAU Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Tuesday introduced a bill that meets President Donald Trump’s three requests tied to signing the $2.3 trillion coronavirus relief and government spending bill — increasing the amount of individual stimulus checks to $2,000, addressing Section 230, and creating a commission to examine voter fraud.
In doing so, McConnell blocked Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) call for quick approval for increasing stimulus checks but promised the Senate would work to bring three of President Trump’s priorities “into focus” this week.
Upon announcing he would sign the multitrillion-dollar bill on Sunday, President Trump called on lawmakers to increase payments from $600 to $2,000, review Section 230, and begin an investigation into voter fraud.
The president said:
On Monday the House will vote to increase payments to individuals from $600 to $2,000. Therefore, a family of four would receive $5,200. Additionally, Congress has promised that Section 230, which so unfairly benefits Big Tech at the expense of the American people, will be reviewed and either be terminated or substantially reformed. Likewise, the House and Senate have agreed to focus strongly on the very substantial voter fraud which took place in the November 3 Presidential election. The Senate will start the process for a vote that increases checks to $2,000, repeals Section 230, and starts an investigation into voter fraud. Big Tech must not get protections of Section 230! Voter Fraud must be fixed! Much more money is coming. I will never give up my fight for the American people!
“Those are the three important subjects the president has linked together,” McConnell told his Senate colleagues. “This week the Senate will begin a process to bring these three priorities into focus.”
Indeed, that same day, the Kentucky Republican introduced a bill that addressed all three issues:
Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) is among Democrat lawmakers who have soured at McConnell’s move, accusing him of attaching “poison pills” to the measure to increase stimulus checks.
“The bill that passed the House of Representatives guaranteed $2,000 per person. It’s on the desk of Mitch McConnell, the Republican Leader of the Senate, and what does he say?” he asked during an appearance on CNN’s Situation Room.
“I want to throw a few poison pills in there, see if I can discourage people from voting for this. Let me throw in a reform of the internet while we’re at it here. Let’s do some work here and investigate the last election. For goodness sakes, stop looking for poison pills, Sen. McConnell,” he continued, adding, “Pass this right now, America needs it.”
President Trump has continued to press GOP lawmakers to increase stimulus checks to $2,000, lest they have a “death wish”:
“$2000 ASAP!” the president added on Wednesday morning:
By BRITTANY BERNSTEIN
Former President Obama listens as he participates in his last news conference of the year in Washington, D.C., December 16, 2016. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)
Non-profit humanitarian agency World Vision United States improperly transacted with the Islamic Relief Agency (ISRA) in 2014 with approval from the Obama administration, sending government funds to an organization that had been sanctioned over its ties to terrorism, according to a new report.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) recently released a report detailing the findings of an investigation his staff began in February 2019 into the relationship between World Vision and ISRA.
The probe found that World Vision was not aware that ISRA had been sanctioned by the U.S. since 2004 after funneling roughly $5 million to Maktab al-Khidamat, the predecessor to Al-Qaeda controlled by Osama Bid Laden.
However, that ignorance was born from insufficient vetting practices, the report said.
“World Vision works to help people in need across the world, and that work is admirable,” Grassley said in a statement. “Though it may not have known that ISRA was on the sanctions list or that it was listed because of its affiliation with terrorism, it should have. Ignorance can’t suffice as an excuse. World Vision’s changes in vetting practices are a good first step, and I look forward to its continued progress.”
The investigation was sparked by a July 2018 National Review article in which Sam Westrop, the director of the Middle East Forum’s Islamist Watch, detailed MEF’s findings that the Obama administration had approved a “$200,000 grant of taxpayer money to ISRA.”
Government officials specifically authorized the release of “at least $115,000” of this grant even after learning that it was a designated terror organization, Westrop wrote.
According to the Senate report, World Vision submitted a grant application to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to carry out its Blue Nile Recovery Program on January 21, 2014. The proposed program sought to provide food security, sanitation equipment, and health services to areas hard-hit by conflict in the Blue Nile region of Sudan.
USAID awarded World Vision a $723,405 grant for the program. The next month, ISRA agreed to provide humanitarian services to parts of the Blue Nile Region for World Vision, according to the report. The two organizations had also collaborated on several projects in 2013 and 2014.
World Vision only discovered ISRA was sanctioned after the Evangelical humanitarian non-profit discussed partnering with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on a separate humanitarian project in Sudan. In performing a routine vetting of World Vision and its partners, IOM discovered ISRA’s sanctioned status and reached out to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Compliance Team to confirm.
After receiving confirmation from OFAC, IOM rejected World Vision’s offer to collaborate, the report says.
World Vision’s legal department was notified of ISRA’s potential status as a sanctioned entity in September 2014 and immediately halted all payments to the organization while it investigated.
The non-profit sent a letter to OFAC on November 19, 2014, asking for clarification regarding ISRA’s status, and requesting that, in the event that ISRA was sanctioned, it be awarded a temporary license to finish out the organizations’ existing contract.
Two months later, Treasury responded, confirming that ISRA is sanctioned and denying the request for a license to work with the organization, as that would be “inconsistent with OFAC policy.”
One month later, World Vision submitted another request for a license to transact with ISRA to pay them $125,000 for services rendered, lest it face legal consequences and potential expulsion from Sudan.
On May 4, 2015, the Obama administration’s State Department recommended OFAC grant World Vision’s request for the license to transact. The next day, OFAC granted the license to pay ISRA $125,000 for services rendered, and later sent the non-profit a “cautionary letter” making it aware that its collaboration with ISRA appeared to have violated the Global Terrorism Sanction Regulations.
The report said the investigation “did not find any evidence that World Vision intentionally sought to circumvent U.S. sanctions by partnering with ISRA.”
“We also found no evidence that World Vision knew that ISRA was a sanctioned entity prior to receiving notice from Treasury,” the report adds. “However, based on the evidence presented, we conclude that World Vision had access to the appropriate public information and should have known how, but failed to, properly vet ISRA as a sub-grantee, resulting in the transfer of U.S. taxpayer dollars to an organization with an extensive history of supporting terrorist organization [sic] and terrorists, including Osama Bin Laden.”
The report calls World Vision’s system for vetting prospective sub-grantees “borderline negligent” and says the organization “ignored elementary level investigative procedures.”
World Vision spent weeks after being informed by IOM of ISRA’s sanction status investigating the claim and was unable to reach a conclusion, relying upon “what could only be described as flawed logic,” the report says.
The report accuses World Vision of attempting to eschew blame, and notes that IOM “was able to quickly vet ISRA and determine their status as a sanctioned entity.”
“Had World Vision employed the same due diligence and similar methods employed by IOM, taxpayer dollars would not have exchanged hands with an organization that is known to fund terrorist organizations,” it said.
While World Vision has instituted additional screening methods, “the Finance Committee staff has reservations” about its ability to avoid similar situations in the future, the report says.
“World Vision has a duty to ensure that funds acquired from the U.S. government or donated by Americans do not end up supporting terrorist activity,” it says. “Particularly concerning to this Committee is World Vision’s attempt to shift the blame to the federal government for their own inability to properly vet a subcontractor. A more robust and fundamentally sound system of screening and vetting is needed to restore the public’s trust that contributions made to World Vision are not funding illicit organizations.”
“Moreover, although we find no reason to doubt World Vision’s assertion that the funds in their entirety were used by ISRA for humanitarian purposes, that money inevitably aids their terrorist activities,” it concludes.
World Vision said in a statement that it “takes our compliance obligations seriously and shares Sen. Grassley and the committee staff’s objective for good stewardship.”
“We appreciate the acknowledgement that the committee staff’s report to the chairman ‘found no evidence that World Vision knew that ISRA was a sanctioned entity prior to receiving notice from Treasury,’” it added. “Terrorism runs counter to everything World Vision stands for as an organization and we strongly condemn any act of terrorism or support for such activities.”
BY TYLER DURDEN TUESDAY, DEC 29, 2020 - 23:45 Indonesian fishermen found an underwater drone on December 20th, local media reported. Analyzing photos of the drone, Naval News concludes that the drone is closely related to the Chinese Sea Wing family.
The drone was discovered near Selayar Island in the South Sulawes, far away from China’s adjacent waters. The location is close to two potential routes between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, according to Naval News. These routes, the Sunda Strait and Lombok Strait, "may be important in wartime" and "Intelligence gathered by the drone may be valuable to the Chinese Navy if their submarines intend to use these straits" according to the report.
The discovered object is a type of drone known as a glider. These are unpowered and use something called variable-buoyancy propulsion. This involves inflating and deflating a balloon-like device filled with pressurized oil. This causes them to sink before rising to the surface again. As they do so they travel along, aided by "wings", gathering data on the ocean environment.
Indonesian based security & defense poster @Jatosint was quick to post the find on Twitter, and make the connection to the Chinese-made Sea Wing glider. Note that the device is upside down in the photos.
The drone collects such data as temperature, turbidity, salinity, chlorophyll and oxygen levels. While this data may sound innocuous and it is often used for scientific research, it can also be extremely valuable to naval planners. Especially supporting submarine operations. The better a navy knows the waters, the better it is able to hide its attack subs.
The US, France and other countries build and operate similar gliders. However, key characteristics of the Chinese type, which are not found on other similar underwater glides, are present. The nose cone has three circular sensor windows with the central one larger than the outer two. The wings have a folding mechanism and the antenna extends directly out of the center of the tail cone. The vertical stabilizer, like a tail fin, is seen underneath.
Sea Wing gliders are known to be launched by China’s specialist survey ships. In December 2019 the survey ship Xiangyanghong 06 launched around 12 of the drones into the Eastern Indian Ocean. The one found may be one of these, but it seems unlikely given the ocean currents.
Another Sea Wing glider was found by Indonesian fishermen in March 2019. This was in the Riau Islands, much closer to the South China Sea. The exact variant of Sea Wing was different, but the craft was very similar. However this is enough to suggest that they were deployed at different times and likely in different places. Additionally, camera-like sensors were apparently still operating when it was recovered. This suggests that it was deployed more decently.
Where the glider was originally deployed, and what it was doing, remains unclear. But these craft can provide valuable military intelligence.
China previously protested when it found a similar US Navy glider in international waters near its coast. On December 15, 2016 a Chinese ship plucked a US Navy LBS-G ( Littoral Battlespace Sensing-Glider) out of the South China Sea. The glider was in the process of being recovered by USNS Bowditch. The drone was only returned after the incident escalated.
This particular incident is unlikely to escalate in a similar fashion, but it does draw attention to China’s increasingly assertive maritime activities in the South China Sea and close to major naval lanes. These gliders may serve as evidence that China is analyzing potential submarine routes into the Indian Ocean through Indonesian waters.
BY TYLER DURDEN
One of the most bizarre features of the alleged COVID-19 ‘global pandemic’ has been the mysterious disappearance of the seasonal flu in medical and public health record keeping. It’s as if the Flu just vanished into thin air after being the most common perennial seasonal respiratory virus.
As it turns out, recorded seasonal influenza cases have literally nosedived by 98% across the globe.
This improbable phenomenon has led a number of experts to ask, “Has Covid killed off the flu?”
“The disappearing act began as Covid-19 rolled in towards the end of our flu season in March. And just how swiftly rates have plummeted can be observed in ‘surveillance’ data collected by the World Health Organisation (WHO),” reported the UK’s Daily Mail.
WHO spokesperson, Dr Sylvie Briand, recently claimed during a press briefing that “literally there was nearly no flu in the Southern hemisphere” of the planet Earth in 2020, but gave no real explanation as to why. She then went on to extend this magical thinking saying that, “We hope that the situation will be the same in the Northern Hemisphere.”
Truly extraordinary science by the health experts at the WHO.
Earlier in December, Southern California news outlet KUSI raised the alarm which prompted an audit of COVID statistics in their region…
SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – COVID-19 cases continue to increase across California, and here in San Diego County, but flu cases remain extremely low in comparison to this time in previous years.
We are well into flu season, but San Diego County’s data for flu infections only shows 36 reported cases so far this year. Carl DeMaio tweeted out this shocking revelation, comparing it to this time in other years saying, “In a typical year we get over 17,073 on average!”
DeMaio explained, “if you are going to use a set of numbers like COVID stats to shut down the economy, to take people’s livelihoods away, then we have to really look closely at what those numbers really mean, and whether those numbers are giving us the right picture.”
Continuing, “my concern has been from the get go, that we are relying on numbers from government agencies, that may have a different agenda at stake. We would benefit from having a different set of eyes looking at them, such as an auditor or a citizens review committee. Because again, the decisions being made on these data sets are sweeping, the lockdowns are far reaching in terms of their impact.”
DeMaio then said San Diego County has refused to have any look over or vet our local COVID-19 numbers.
Chairman of Reform California, Carl DeMaio, joined KUSI’s Jason Austell on Good Morning San Diego to explain why he is calling for a “full audit of the COVID-19 data we are seeing reported from our public health system.”
As different pressure groups and journalists begin to demand answers from the various health authorities, it’s becoming clear now that there has likely been some degree of widespread, systemic administrative fraud designed to over-inflate COVID-19 numbers to the detriment of every other normal seasonal illness or disease.
Paul Craig Roberts from the IPE expanded on all of this in a recent piece:
Is there no flu this year or is flu “the second wave of Covid?” Don’t expect any honest answer from health authorities. They have the fear running strong, so strong that people are submitting to needless lockdowns that are causing economic havoc to their lives and to mask mandates that do more harm than good.
What is it all about?
Is it simply about vaccine profits for Big Pharma?
Or is it about getting people accustomed to arbitrary orders unsupported by legislation? Isn’t what we are experiencing a takeover of our lives by the executive part of government?
So much for those warnings of a "twindemic"...
BY TYLER DURDEN WEDNESDAY, DEC 30, 2020 - 6:53 Even as regulators in the EU opt to give the approval process for the adenovirus-vector vaccine just a little more time, the British have, as expected, approved the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine for emergency use, becoming the first country to do so.
With 100MM doses of the AZ-Oxford on order, the UK expects to vaccinate its entire population (except for children, who appear to be the least vulnerable) with the doses it has ordered from AZ-Oxford, along with the doses from Pfizer-BioNTech (30MM). Health Secretary Matt Hancock appeared on the BBC Wednesday to declare that "I can now say with confidence that we can vaccinate everyone" including the "over 50s" - who will come first - and "the under 50s".
Dr. June Raine, head of the UK's Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory products Agency - better known as the MHRA - said the vaccine would save tens of thousands of lives while promising "no corners have been cut" in assessing the shot's safety and effectiveness.
PM Boris Johnson declared the vaccine development "a triumph" for British science, adding "[w]e will now move to vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible." England's chief medical officer Chris Whitty, meanwhile, praised the "considerable collective effort that has brought us to this point."
Britain is moving to approve the jab even as questions linger about adverse reactions seen in a small number of trial participants. Safety questions prompted a month-long shutdown of the vaccine's Phase 3 trial in the US.
But it's understandable that the Brits are the first out the gate to approve it: Unlike Pfizer and Moderna's jabs, the AstraZeneca shot is UK-made. The government has promised to start injecting high-risk patients with the jabs as soon as Monday.
Source: Bloomberg
The UK has hedged its bets with orders of enough vaccine orders to vaccinate its population twice over.
Source: Bloomberg
Though Phase 3 trial data suggest it's less effective, the AZ jab is also cheaper and easier to store than the Pfizer vaccine (Note: data from AZ's Phase 3 trials suggested that effectiveness can climb to 90% when patients receive a half-dose to start instead of the full dose). Still, the government has said the vaccine will be administered in a two full-dose regimen, because - according to the data - the lower dose of the vaccine that gave a higher efficacy result doesn’t hold up under closer analysis.
However, even with the pace of vaccinations expected to accelerate in the coming weeks, Secretary Hancock is expected to announce another expansion of "Tier 4" lockdown restrictions, per the BBC.
Millions more people in England are to be placed under the toughest tier four coronavirus restrictions as case numbers continue to rise. Health Secretary Matt Hancock will set out the details of which areas will change in a Commons statement later. Infection rates in lower-tier areas of England have risen rapidly in the last seven days, government data shows. Tier four rules include a "stay at home" order, and mean businesses such as hairdressers and gyms must close. Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Mr Hancock said: "It is clear as we have seen from the data in the last few days that the number of infections is going up. "That's unfortunately not just happening in the London and the South East, as it was in the last few weeks, but it's starting to happen elsewhere in the country." The new variant "has made suppressing the virus much harder", he said, adding the government didn't "take these tiering decisions lightly".
All this comes as BoJo deploys military troops to help prepare schools for the return of students after the winter holiday, even as daily infection numbers surge to new records, purportedly driven by the new, more infectious strain of the virus inspiring the expanded lockdowns in the UK. Regardless of where you live, the British government is asking all people to 'stay in' this New Year's.
By Bill Hutchinson December 29, 2020, 10:41 AM
Thousands of Aspen residents are without heat after an "intentional attack" on gas service lines in the area. The FBI has joined a criminal investigation of what police said appears to be an "intentional attack" on gas service lines in Aspen, Colorado, that left thousands of residents and businesses without heat as temperatures in the skiing mecca plunged to near zero degrees.
Work crews are scrambling to restore gas service, and local authorities handed out electric space heaters to residents still without heat Tuesday, as a storm is forecast to bring up to 8 inches of snow in the Rocky Mountains region this week. Temperatures are forecast to fall to 2 degrees in Aspen on Tuesday night, according to the National Weather Service.
Aspen police said the apparently coordinated acts of vandalism occurred Saturday night at three separate Black Hills Energy gas line sites, one in Aspen and two elsewhere in Pitkin County.
At one of the targeted sites, police said they found the words "Earth first" scrawled, and investigators were looking into whether the self-described "radical environmental group" Earth First! was involved.
Emails from ABC News to the group's website seeking comment were not returned.
Aspen Assistant Police Chief Bill Linn told reporters that the saboteurs appeared to "have some familiarity" with the natural gas system.
“They tampered with flow lines. They turned off gas lines," Linn said.
MORE: Domestic terrorism and hate exploded in 2020. Here's what the Biden administration must do. Linn said physical evidence recovered at the scenes of the vandalism included footprints left in the snow. He said there were no security cameras at the three locations that were hit.
MORE: Nation’s deadliest domestic terrorist inspiring new generation of hate-filled ‘monsters,’ FBI records show The FBI, which has a critical infrastructure protection unit, is helping in the investigation, Linn said.
Black Hills Energy officials said about 3,500 customers were affected by the gas outage, and crews had to go to each natural gas meter to manually turn them off and relight the pilot lights. Officials said the work was continuing Tuesday, but it was unclear how long it would take before gas service is restored to everyone.
MORE: Would-be eco-terrorist plotted to blow up pipeline, communicated with Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof: Officials Linn said the police department was handing out about 6,000 portable space heaters to residents.
He added that numerous businesses, including restaurants and hotels, had to shut down due to the loss of gas.
"It’s almost, to me, an act of terrorism," Pitkin County Commissioner Patti Clapper, who lost heat in her home due to the vandalism, told The Aspen Times newspaper. "It’s trying to destroy a mountain community at the height of the holiday season. This wasn’t a national gas glitch. This was a purposeful act. Someone is looking to make a statement of some kind."
BY IVAN PENTCHOUKOV December 30, 2020
Sixty-year-old Robin, a supermarket clerk in rural Virginia, hasn’t visited the nation’s capital in more than two decades or ever taken part in organizing a political event, although she was quick to volunteer to manage a stop for one of the four vehicle caravans headed to Washington for what many are calling a historic protest on Jan. 6, 2021.
In an unprecedented request, President Donald Trump asked his supporters to travel to Washington for a “big protest” on Jan. 6, when a joint session of Congress will be held, during which lawmakers will vet the Electoral College votes cast three weeks prior.
A number of House Republicans have committed to challenge the slates of electors from six states where the president has disputed the validity of the election’s outcome.
“Be there, will be wild!” the president wrote on Twitter on Dec. 19. A week later, he added, “See you in Washington, DC, on January 6th. Don’t miss it. Information to follow!”
A Michigan man who goes by the nickname Dr. ENoCH on Twitter is organizing the larger caravan effort, which encompasses 20 cities along four routes. He told The Epoch Times that considering the size of the two prior post-election Trump events in Washington—which the president didn’t call for or endorse ahead of time—the Jan. 6 event is on pace to become the biggest Trump rally so far.
“There are two things that Trump’s ever asked us to do. One was to vote for him and now, the other one is to be in D.C. on the 6th,” Enoch said. “That’s why I started organizing this.”
Enoch will join the route running through Michigan. He said the organizers for each stop are responsible for figuring out a convenient exit from the highway, with enough parking and gas station pumps to accommodate a large volume of cars.
At least three pro-Trump groups that are organizing protests in Washington on Jan. 6—MAGA Million, March for Trump, and Stop the Steal—have reached out to support and promote the caravans.
“It might be one of the biggest caravans we’ve ever had here in America,” Enoch said.
The president’s legal election challenges in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico have so far borne no fruit. With each passing day of no progress in the courts, Jan. 6 has become increasingly significant. In more than a dozen interviews with organizers for the various caravan stops, the president’s supporters described the day as a historic last stand for Trump and the movement that he’s inspired.
“The whole event is going to be like our 1776 moment. It’s an important time to make sure that America stays America. It’s a crazy day, but I want to be part of it,” Dean, 55, of Charlotte, North Carolina, told The Epoch Times.
“I think if we don’t save our republic now, I don’t know when we can,” said Amelia, 22, of Fenton, Michigan.
“I’ve never served in the military, but I feel like I’m right now in the military,” said Shawn, 57, of Knoxville, Tennessee. “And I’m going into war. I’m going to battle for my country. I think we all feel that way. We’re going to get boots on the ground.”
“Trump is not only the president of America. I believe he is the leader of the free world,” a Queens, New York, man, who didn’t want his name published and who goes by the nickname Storm on Twitter, told The Epoch Times. “If America falls, then the rest of the free world is going to fall to socialism and communism and the New World Order.”
“America is the last stand for freedom,” Storm said. “That’s what I truly believe, and that’s why I’m going there on Jan. 6. It’s a serious thing for me.”
The Epoch Times isn’t publishing the last names of the individual organizers out of concern for their safety.
Republican electors in seven of the contested states have submitted competing slates of votes to Congress. In each case, only the Democratic slates have been certified by state officials.
At least a dozen House Republicans have committed to challenge slates of electors when Congress vets the votes on Jan. 6. To lodge a challenge, at least one senator would need to add his or her name to a written request. None have so far committed to doing so, but at least six have said they are open to the possibility, including Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.)
For each of the challenged slates of electors, the House and the Senate would retire to their respective chambers for two hours of debate, and vote on which slate of electors should be counted.
Some supporters of the president, including several of the caravan organizers, are also counting on Vice President Mike Pence to take a stand when Congress convenes. As the president of the Senate, Pence is charged with opening the envelopes containing the electoral votes. Some say he could refuse to do so and trigger a gridlock that may have to be resolved by the Supreme Court. Regardless of what may happen, the caravan organizers hope a large presence from Trump supporters will help Pence and Congress make the right choice.
“I think everything lays on Vice President Pence, and I think he will do the right thing and not certify those votes of the swing states in question,” said Eric, 47, of Richmond, Virginia.
“When there’s going to be millions of people descending on our nation’s capital, he will feel that, I believe,” he said. “I think he’s a good, honest man. And I think he’d do what’s right no matter what.”
“If Mike Pence is alone in that fight, that is going to be very hard for Mike,” Garrett, 29, of Oxford, Connecticut, told The Epoch Times. “But if the senators and congressmen and women stand up, and the people outside are standing up, then it’s going to make his decision a whole lot easier.”
“I can only hope and pray that Vice President Pence is going to do right by God and do right by the Constitution,” Shawn said.
The four caravan routes start in Boston; Lansing, Michigan; Nashville, Tennessee; and Gadsden, Alabama. The Michigan and Massachusetts caravans plan to converge in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, before heading to Washington via Maryland. The Tennessee and Alabama caravans are to converge in Richmond, Virginia.
All of the organizers for the stops along the way say they’ve never organized a caravan before. All are handling social media inquiries they receive from those who want to join, while some are also proactively reaching out to people to promote the drive. Garrett said he has a personal goal of 100 cars for his stop in Connecticut. He had 24 confirmed as of Dec. 28. The New Haven GOP reached out to him the day before, offering help, Garrett said.
“All of these caravans are almost the veins. And once we get onto the highways, that’s the arteries. And once we get down into D.C., that’s the heart. If we can get people plugged into the veins and get them linked up into an artery, that is 90 percent of what we’re doing,” Garrett said.
In addition to setting up the stops along the way, the caravan organizers are passing on tips for people once they arrive in Washington. Nicole, 38, of Clinton, South Carolina, is telling people joining her at the stop in Greenville about the no-go zones in the nation’s capital where members of the Antifa extremist group are known to frequent. She’s advising fellow Trump supporters to have a buddy system with others in the caravan when returning to their cars so that no one is left walking alone.
Nicole is also advising everyone to bring food and water since local vendors are likely to be sold out. She’s also informed those coming about DC’s concealed carry laws; the capital doesn’t honor gun licenses from other states.
“We’re trying to advise them not to really bring their gun or anything because of the risk. We’re coming peacefully. We’re not coming to attack. We’re not coming to fight,” she said.
“But at the same time, what we witnessed all over the country has been a lot of violence toward President Trump’s supporters and MAGA, in general,” she added. “We’re being cautious without being stupid.”
Molly, of Holly, New York, is helping people joining her stop to find carpools; she has seven cars committed to her stop so far and is looking for more people to join. Molly told The Epoch Times that she’s making the trip for her father, who is too old to make it to the event. She said her dad came to the United States from Holland with less than $100 in his pocket.
“He taught me to love America. He taught me to work hard,” Molly said.
Several of the organizers are taking time off work or away from their businesses to go to the protest. Others are out of work due to the lockdown or have flexible schedules.
Jake, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, said he is taking his last two days off until June. Jake voted for Sen. Bernie Sanders in 2016 and changed his mind about Trump earlier this summer.
“I just realized there’s this overwhelming hatred for him,” Jake said. “And I never really gave him a chance. And as soon as I did, a lot more things made sense.”
Harmony, 45, who’s organizing the stop in Gettysburg, said she’d be willing to lose her job in order to go.
“If there was ever a day that patriots needed to be in D.C. in person, it’s on January 6,” she said. “This is the culmination of the fight that we’ve been in for the past four years.”
“It’s so important that I would gladly lose my job or my car.”
A couple of the organizers said they were confident about Congress changing the outcome of the election.
“I’m honestly not worried. I think that if we had to take back this country I think that we could and we would,” Amelia said. “I think that there are a lot of Americans with me. I’m willing to do anything to save this constitution and to save our republic.”
Others weren’t sure of the outcome and said they’d part ways with the Republican Party if lawmakers didn’t step up to help Trump.
“If these Republican senators don’t do the right thing, and object, and support this fight for election integrity, I can promise you that millions of Trump supporters, Republicans, whoever, Democrats, independents, are not going to support the GOP anymore,” Shawn said. “I’ll never vote another day in my life if they drop the ball and don’t support this effort.”
by LUCAS NOLAN 29 Dec 2020
A former Apple employee claims in a recent lawsuit that the company punished him for approving an app critical of the Chinese government.
Reason reports that a former employee of tech giant Apple claims in a recently filed lawsuit that the company punished him for approving an app critical of the Chinese government in order to appease communist authorities in Beijing. Trieu Pham worked as an app reviewer for Apple and made his claims in a discrimination and wrongful termination suit filed at the Santa Clara, California, Superior Court in December 2019.
In the complaint, Pham claims that in 2018 he was criticized by his managers at Apple for approving an app by Guo Media as it was “critical of the Chinese government.” Guo Media is a website run by Guo Wengui, a Chinese businessman who has been exiled to the United States and is currently wanted by authorities in Beijing on charges of economic crimes. Wengui has previously made allegations about major corruption at the highest levels of the Chinese government.
Pham alleges that after they filed an internal discrimination complaint in September 2017, managers at the company conducted a review of Pham’s performance and gave him a “Documented Coaching Plan,” which included reviews that were allegedly completed incorrectly. The plan claimed that Pham’s most serious error was approving the Guo Media app which was forbidden in the Chinese version of Apple’s App Store.
Pham alleges that the app was approved but Chinese authorities contacted Apple and demanded the app be removed. Apple then allegedly conducted an internal investigation which revealed that Pham was the reviewer who approved the app.
Read more at Reason here.
BY IVAN PENTCHOUKOV December 29, 2020 Updated: December 29, 2020biggersmaller Print Louisiana Representative-elect Luke Letlow (R) passed away on Dec. 29 due to complications from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus, commonly known as the coronavirus. He was 41 years old.
Letlow was elected to represent Louisiana’s 5th Congressional office. He was admitted to a hospital on Dec. 19 after testing positive for the virus. He was place in intensive care on Dec. 22.
Letlow lived in Start, Lousiana, with his wife and two children.
“The family appreciates the and support over the past days but asks for privacy during this difficult and unexpected time. A statement from the family along with funeral arrangements will be announced at a later time,” Letlow’s campaign manager said in a statement obtained by WDSU.
Letlow served as a congressional district director for Rep. Bobby Jindal (R-La.) from 2005 to 2008. During Jindal’s first term as governor, Letlow served as the director of intergovernmental affairs from 2008 to 2010. He returned to Louisiana in 2014 and served as the campaign manager for Rep. Ralph Abraham (R-La.)
“Incredibly sad news. My thoughts are with Rep-elect Letlow’s family and his entire Louisiana community during this time,” Rep. Nanette D. Barragán (D-Calif.) wrote on Twitter. “He was only 41 & was set to be sworn into Congress on Sunday.”
“A tragic day for the House of Representatives. My prayers and condolences go to Congressman-elect Luke Letlow’s family and friends,” Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) wrote on Twitter.
“Devastated to hear of my friend Congressman-elect Luke Letlow’s passing. Luke had such a positive spirit and a tremendously bright future,” Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) wrote on Twitter.
Letlow announced his candidacy in March this year. He defeated Louisiana State Rep. Lance Harris in a runoff election on Dec. 5.
Letlow was raised in Start, Louisiana. After graduating from high school, he went to Lousiana Tech University. As a student, he worked as an intern for Rep. John Cooksey (R-La.) He served as the chairman of the Louisiana Tech College Republicans in 2001 and the chairman of the Louisiana Federation of College Republicans in 2002.
“Absolutely heartbreaking,” Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.) wrote on Twitter. “My wife Dee Dee and I ask for millions of Americans to join us in prayers for this dear family.”
“My deepest and heartfelt condolences go out to the family of Congressman-elect Luke Letlow, a promising young lawmaker whose voice was cruelly silenced by this brutal pandemic,” Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.) wrote on Twitter.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and his district. May God give peace to his loved ones in this time of great sorrow,” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) wrote on Twitter.
by Douglas Braff Dec 29, 2020
The movement to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has just received its first six-figure donation, Politico reported Tuesday.
The consulting firm Prov 3:9, LLC—based in Irvine—donated $500,000 to one of the committees aiming to give California voters a recall election on their governor.
Additionally, the campaign also obtained about $100,000 from Sequoia Capital partner Douglas Leone and his wife Patricia Perkins-Leone, according to the Politico report. During the 2020 election cycle, the couple gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to President Donald Trump and allied Republican organizations.
As for why all this matters, Politico‘s Jeremy B. White writes that “[s]tatewide campaigns require lots of money, usually in the millions of dollars, and political observers have been closely watching to see if major donors step up for the recall effort.”
“Now the first major sum has landed, bolstering the recall’s chances,” he added, though he called the effort a “longshot.”
In recent months, the recall effort itself has picked up traction, amid Newsom receiving criticism for his handling of the pandemic in the nation’s highest-population state. Notable supporters of the recall effort include the California Republican Party and former Republican gubernatorial candidate John Cox, while conservative media figures such as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee have given the effort their blessing.
In particular, Newsom faced fierce criticism for going against his own COVID-19 guidelines back in the autumn in order to attend a dinner party at a swanky Napa County restaurant called French Laundry, violating the limits at the time on the size of gatherings. This incident, White writes, “crystallized frustration” in the Golden State “with stringent restrictions”.
Like Newsom, other high-profile Democrats across the country have been accused of violating COVID-19 guidelines such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, and Denver Mayor Michael Hancock among others.
Last month, a judge gave proponents of the recall effort three additional months to gather the approximately 1.5 million signatures they would need to certify a recall. According to the proponents, they have collected about 800,000 signatures so far. However, “getting enough valid signatures,” White notes, “would likely mean collecting close to 2 million given that a share of them are typically deemed invalid.”
Back in 2003, there was a successful recall of former California Gov. Gray Davis (D). Why the 2003 recall succeeded, according to White, is in part due to former Congressman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) donating money to the effort. On the other hand, the Newsom recall effort has only seen a series of smaller five-figure donations.
While $500,000 is certainly something to write home about, it’s “still not enough to collect all of the remaining signatures needed,” White concludes. Nonetheless, this surge in donations could indicate to potential donors that the recall effort is serious, thus opening the door for more money.
By Hank Berrien Dec 29, 2020 DailyWire.com
If the U.S. Senate gets the executive branch to agree, the director of National Intelligence, along with the Department of Defense and other government agencies, now have 178 days to reveal what they know about UFOs to the U.S. Senate.
That deadline was triggered by President Trump signing the $2.3 trillion COVID-19 relief and government funding bill on Sunday; attached to the bill was a “committee comment” from the Senate Intelligence Committee, chaired by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL).
The comment stated:
The Committee supports the efforts of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force at the Office of Naval Intelligence to standardize collection and reporting on unidentified aerial phenomenon, any links they have to adversarial foreign governments, and the threat they pose to U.S. military assets and installations. However, the Committee remains concerned that there is no unified, comprehensive process within the Federal Government for collecting and analyzing intelligence on unidentified aerial phenomena, despite the potential threat. The Committee understands that the relevant intelligence may be sensitive; nevertheless, the Committee finds that the information sharing and coordination across the Intelligence Community has been inconsistent, and this issue has lacked attention from senior leaders.
Therefore, the Committee directs the DNI, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense and the heads of such other agencies as the Director and Secretary jointly consider relevant, to submit a report within 180 days of the date of enactment of the Act, to the congressional intelligence and armed services committees on unidentified aerial phenomena (also known as “anomalous aerial vehicles”), including observed airborne objects that have not been identified.
The Committee further directs the report to include: 1. A detailed analysis of unidentified aerial phenomena data and intelligence reporting collected or held by the Office of Naval Intelligence, including data and intelligence reporting held by the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force; 2. A detailed analysis of unidentified phenomena data collected by: a. geospatial intelligence; b. signals intelligence; c. human intelligence; and d. measurement and signals intelligence; 3. A detailed analysis of data of the FBI, which was derived from investigations of intrusions of unidentified aerial phenomena data over restricted United States airspace.
“Former Pentagon and legislative officials confirmed Tuesday to the publication The Debrief that the package begins the clock on UFO disclosures,” the New York Post reported. In April, the Pentagon published three Navy videos showing unidentified objects.
Chris Mellon, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for intelligence, told The Debrief “the newly enacted Intelligence Authorization Act incorporates the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report language calling for an unclassified, all-source report on the UAP phenomenon. This was accomplished in the Joint Explanatory Statement accompanying the bill. Consequently, it’s now fair to say that the request for an unclassified report on the UAP phenomenon enjoys the support of both parties in both Houses of Congress. Assuming the Executive Branch honors this important request, the nation will at long last have an objective basis for assessing the validity of the issue and its national security implications. This is an extraordinary and long overdue opportunity.”
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Nicholas Fondacaro December 28th, 2020 8:09 PM
While ABC, CBS, and NBC all propped up the false charges of insider trading against Georgia Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue (and never corrected the record), they refused to cover new reporting on Monday from the Washington Free Beacon, detailing the account of a former camper who was repeatedly abused by a staff that Democratic Senate candidate Raphael Warnock oversaw for a number of years.
Luckily, Fox News Channel’s Special Report gave the breaking news some airtime.
“The Washington Free Beacon reports that counselors at a camp run by Raphael Warnock in Maryland, in 2002, poured urine on a 12-year-old camper and forced him to remain outside overnight as punishment for wetting his bed,” reported correspondent Steve Harrigan. “The camper, Anthony Washington, now 30, said his family received a financial settlement in a lawsuit.”
According to the original reporting from the Free Beacon’s Alana Goodman, “Washington’s account of the 2002 events provides the first direct insight into the alleged abuse and neglect that transpired at Camp Farthest Out, which Warnock oversaw as senior pastor of Maryland's Douglas Memorial Community Church, and raises new questions for the Democrat, who is currently vying for a Senate seat in Georgia.”
Goodman also found official state evidence (from multiple agencies) that showed Warnock’s camp didn’t require criminal background checks and had multiple cases of child abuse go unreported:
Washington's account is buttressed by records from the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, obtained by the Free Beacon earlier this month, which indicated that campers were routinely left unsupervised; staffers were not subject to required criminal background check; and at least five cases of child abuse or neglect were brought against the camp's director, who was ultimately forced to resign.
The former camper also recounted how, in retaliation against him for wetting the bed, he was forced to sleep outside on a basketball court with nothing but the cold air. “It was dark. There wasn’t nothing out there but the basketball court. I ain’t never experienced nothing like that. Like, you’re not in a tent, you’re not in nothing. You’re just out, God knows where,” Washington told the Beacon.
Warnock personally wrapped himself in the scandal when, according to a Maryland State Trooper, he repeatedly tried to obstruct the investigation. “Warnock was arrested at Camp Farthest Out on July 31, 2002, after a Maryland State Trooper said he repeatedly disrupted her interviews with counselors while she was investigating allegations of child abuse,” Goodman reported. He was telling them to get lawyers.
The charges against Warnock were later dropped.
This broadcast network cover-up was the same thing they pulled with the resurfaced domestic abuse allegations against Warnock. And now, despite the fact the new report involved a 12-year-old getting a bucket of urine dumped on his head, the networks still couldn’t be bothered to cover it.
What will it take for the liberal media to cover Warnock critically? Clearly, child abuse wasn’t it.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
Fox News Channel’s Special Report December 28, 2020 6:21:03 p.m. Eastern
BREITBART LONDON 29 Dec (AFP) — EU member states gave political backing to Brussels’ planned investment pact with China on Monday, clearing the way for a deal between the world’s biggest economic blocs.
At a meeting of ambassadors, the German EU presidency noted that no member had “raised a stop sign and the way for a political endorsement was thus cleared”, a diplomat said.
The diplomats noted “recent positive developments” in negotiations, with China reportedly addressing concerns over the alleged use of forced labour on its farms.
This came after the Chinese foreign ministry said last week that “negotiations have entered the final stretch” — and a second EU diplomat said an agreement could now be formally announced this week.
“We have to be careful, but as long as China is in agreement, there could be an official announcement from Brussels and Beijing by the end of the week,” the senior envoy told AFP.
No member state intervened at the meeting to block the accord, but afterwards Poland’s ambassador Andrzej Sados said he had “expressed our doubts” after Germany added it to the agenda.
The deal would be a major boost for both sides and strengthen economic ties between the giants before the expected arrival of U.S. president-elect Joe Biden in the White House in January.
Outgoing U.S. leader Donald Trump has engaged in a trade war with China but his successor has also expressed concern about the EU outreach, with his team urging Brussels to consult with Washington.
“The new administration in the US is starting work in three weeks… and an agreement with China should take into account the EU’s relations with the US,” Sados told the Polish PAP news agency.
“We also said that we shouldn’t act too hastily after seven years of tough negotiations. Meanwhile, such an item is suddenly added to the EU ambassadors’ meeting agenda in Brussels. This is unheard of.”
“In the last days of the German presidency we are dealing with a sudden and unjustified acceleration regarding a very important issue, which concerns international relations.”
The bloc’s leading economic power Germany, which holds the rotating EU presidency until the end of the year, has made securing the deal a priority of its time at the helm.
The European Commission, the EU executive, had said before Christmas that the draft of the “political agreement” was “95 percent ready” and just needed the capitals’ green light.
China’s commitment to labour rights had remained a hurdle, but Europe has long sought greater access to the huge Chinese market for its companies.
‘Systemic rival’
The head of the EU chamber of commerce in Beijing Joerg Wuttke told AFP this month that negotiators had “apparently made great strides on market access”.
As part of the accord the EU has also been pushing Beijing to reinforce respect for intellectual property, end obligations to transfer technology, reduce subsidies for public enterprises and improve on climate commitments.
While Trump’s administration has engaged in a war of words with Beijing, Brussels has taken a balanced approach.
The EU states treat China as a “systemic rival” and have expressed concerns over China’s rights record, especially its clampdown in Hong Kong and treatment of the Uighurs.
Berlin wanted to get the agreement signed off at a joint EU-China summit in September, but the coronavirus pushed the event online and no deal was signed.
China pushed past the United States in the third quarter of this year to become the EU’s top trade partner, as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the U.S. economy while Chinese activity rebounded.
by PENNY STARR The huge ball made of Waterford crystal that drops at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve will still fall toward Times Square, but for the first time since 1907, no one will be there in person to witness it because of the coronavirus restrictions in New York City.
The New York City Patch website reported on the revised celebration:
Organizers announced in September that Times Square would be closed to the public during the event, marking the first time since its inception in 1907 that throngs of people would not gather in Midtown. The drop was suspended in 1942 and 1943 during World War II, but crowds still gathered in Times Square and marked the new year with a minute of silence, according to the Times Square website.
A live telecast, “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2021,” will air live from Times Square on ABC, starting 8 p.m. Eastern. Times Square will also host a commercial-free webcast on its website starting 6 p.m. Eastern.
Jennifer Lopez will be the headline performer, along with other stars including Billy Porter, Cyndi Lauper and Jimmie Allen.
The Times Square website also announced what this year’s celebration will look like:
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, NYE 2021 will NOT be open to the public this year — but there will be live performances, and we hope all of you will enjoy the virtual celebrations safely from the comfort of your own home. New Year’s Eve 2021 might look a little different than usual, but one thing that will never change is the ticking of time and the arrival of a New Year at midnight on December 31st. Celebrate with us virtually in an enhanced celebration that will bring Times Square and the Ball Drop to you no matter where you are.
Jamestown, the owner of One Times Square, has created a first-of-its-kind virtual New Year’s Eve experience. Everyone everywhere can start the festivities today and enter a virtual world of Time Square filled with games, music, and art. Then, on December 31st, viewers can tune in for a live broadcast where they can choose from multiple camera feeds to direct their own New Year’s Eve show. Plus, viewers will also get a chance to see other celebrations from around the globe, and hear messages from local leaders and people from dozens of cities from around the world.
Ironically, in an era when businesses in the city are struggling to survive because of the coronavirus lockdown, the cost of the crystal ball seems significant. The 6sqft website reported the cost of the ball is more than $1 million.
The website also revealed that the ball weighs 11,875 pounds, contains 32,256 LED lights, and is made up of 2,688 Waterford crystals.
Follow Penny Starr on Twitter or send news tips to [email protected].
By Sheldon Bart
August 14, 2020 Hollywood mogul Merian C. Cooper, creator, producer, and co-director of the original “King Kong,” was an authentic hero of the August 15, 1920 Battle of Warsaw, which in David and Goliath fashion saved Europe from Communism. Remembered today in its centennial year as the “Miracle on the Vistula River,” the battle eternally links Poland and America in a historic fight against totalitarian revolutionaries.
Following World War I, the map of Europe was radically redrawn. Poland, occupied and dismembered by aggressor nations for more than 100 years, was recreated as an independent nation. Lenin and the Bolshevik Party, having seized control of a demoralized and destabilized Russia in a brazen 1917 coup, marched on Poland in 1919, expecting to sweep across its fragile, uncertain borders and export their Communist revolution to Germany and beyond.
A fighter pilot in World War I, Cooper sought to repay America’s debt to the Polish heroes Tadeusz Kościuszko, Casimir Pulaski, and others who risked their lives fighting for America’s freedom in our Revolutionary War. He recruited nine fellow American aviators and veterans of the Great War to fly with him on Poland’s behalf against the oncoming Bolsheviks.
Cooper and his Kościuszko Squadron flew over 400 combat missions in the 20-month-long Polish-Soviet War and had a dramatic impact on the miraculous Polish victory. The mission of the Kościuszko Squadron was to prevent the Bolsheviks’ 16,000-strong Cossack cavalry from linking up at Warsaw with more than 100,000 Soviet infantry. The “magnificent ten” succeeded, relentlessly diving out of the sky and scattering the fierce Cossacks so effectively they were eventually forced to retreat.
With the Bolshevik infantry smashed at the gates of Warsaw, Lenin sued for peace, settling instead to build his fanciful utopia within the boundaries of Russia. Diplomat and author Edgar Vincent, First Viscount D’Abernon, called “The Miracle on the Vistula” the 18th-most decisive battle in world history. Had it gone the other way, all of Europe likely would have fallen under the red flag.
Three American aviators were killed in the heroic campaign. Cooper himself was shot down, captured by the Bolsheviks, and imprisoned in a Soviet prisoner of war camp in Moscow.
The first M.I.A. in the long campaign to contain Communism, Cooper escaped six months after the Polish-Soviet War ended. Returning to Warsaw, he received a hero’s welcome by the Polish government and people. Thousands of Polish citizens attended the ceremonies in Warsaw when Cooper and his fellow squadron members received Poland’s highest military honor, the “Virtuti Militari,” the equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Marshal Jósef Piłsudski, Polish head-of-state and commander-in-chief, personally pinned the medals on Cooper and his comrades. The Polish parliament offered Cooper an estate and lifetime pension. He graciously declined, reminding everyone present that Tadeusz Kościuszko had received and declined a similar offer from the American Continental Congress. “The honor of fighting for your liberty is reward enough,” Kościuszko had said. Cooper repeated those same words.
He returned to the U.S. and became one of the leading Hollywood producers of the first half of the 20th century, with a filmography of more than 40 classic motion pictures in addition to “King Kong.” As head of production at RKO in the 1930s, Cooper gave Katharine Hepburn her first big break and teamed Fred Astaire with Ginger Rogers. He promoted the three-strip Technicolor process and helped launch Selznick International in partnership with David O. Selznick, and Argosy Pictures in partnership with John Ford.
In 1942, at the height of his cinematic career, he left Hollywood and voluntarily reenlisted in the Air Force, becoming the oldest active aviator flying combat missions for the United States in World War II. Cooper helped plan the Doolittle raid on Japan and became chief of staff to the commander of the Flying Tigers, General Claire Chennault. He retired from the Air Force as a Brigadier General and received an honorary Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement. Despite that glittering resume, he looked back upon his work with the Kościuszko Squadron as the greatest accomplishment of his eventful life.
Today another Marxist revolution is surging, not in Eastern Europe but in the major cities of our own country. It is streaming in a riotous frenzy out of the universities to the streets, its slogans reverberating through the airwaves, online, and in the editorials of once-eminent newspapers.
Cooper died in 1973 at the age of 79, but his spirit still lives. It lives in the red white and blue emblem of the Kosciuszko Squadron, emblazoned on the fuselage of the aircraft of the Polish Air Service, along with his image. It lives in the memory of the Polish people who will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the “Miracle on the Vistula.” And it lives in the hearts of all of us inspired by the stirring films he made with John Ford and John Wayne, “Fort Apache,” “She Wore A Yellow Ribbon,” “Rio Grande,” “The Searchers.”
We know what to do. He showed us. Lest we forget.
Sheldon Bart’s latest book is Race to the Top of the World: Richard Byrd and the First Flight to the North Pole (Regnery History). He is president of Wilderness Research Foundation, a trustee of the Foundation to Illuminate America’s Heroes (www.illuminateamericasheroes.com), and associate producer of a forthcoming theatrical film about Merian Cooper and the Kosciuszko Squadron, a project of Genesis Productions LLC.
BY TYLER DURDEN TUESDAY, DEC 29, 2020 - 21:45 Are relations between China and Japan about to enter another deep freeze?
According to Japan Times, which quoted "a person close to Japan-U.S. relations" Japan provided intelligence to the United States and Britain last year showing evidence of China's forceful detainment of the Muslim Uighur minority on condition of keeping the source confidential. Using on that information, the United States stepped up criticism against China's alleged crackdown on Uighurs in the Xinjiang autonomous region, the source said.
The move shows Japan has already been sharing key intelligence with partners behind the scenes amid calls within the government to join the "Five Eyes" intelligence-sharing alliance to better respond to increasing threats by North Korea and China. The intelligence-sharing network involves Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and the United States.
Britain joined the United States in pressing Beijing over its crackdown on Uighurs, but Japan has only said it "is closely watching the situation with concern."
Japan seeks to maintain friendly ties with China - its largest trading partner - without hurting relations with its top security ally, the United States. In retrospect, that may prove extremely impossible now that Japan's backroom backstabbing of Beijing has leaked.
Given that Tokyo's relations with Beijing had been improving, it was preparing for Chinese President Xi Jinping's first visit as a state guest in spring 2020, although the planned visit was later postponed after the outbreak of the global coronavirus pandemic.
US President Donald Trump's administration has put in place a series of sanctions on Beijing for alleged human rights abuses against Uighurs, such as visa restrictions on Chinese officials, increasing bilateral tensions.
Vice President Mike Pence severely criticized China in a July 2019 speech in Washington, claiming that the "Communist Party imprisoned more than a million Chinese Muslims, including Uighurs, in internment camps where they endure around-the-clock brainwashing."
China has, naturally, responded with anger and urged Western counties to mind their own problems, slamming criticisms as interference in its internal affairs.
"Georgia Sen Judiciary Committee Police voted to allow #FultonCounty absentee ballots to be fully audited by @JovanHPulitzer" See: https://twitter.com/CrystalCarterL/status/1344367806914158597