An Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle departs after receiving fuel from a KC-135 Stratotanker over Southwest Asia, Dec. 22, 2020.

(JNS) -- The White House is holding up delivery of a fleet of F-15 jet fighters to Israel.

The $18 billion sale of 50 fighter planes is “one of the largest arms deals with Israel in recent years,” the Wall Street Journal reported.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:

“When Secretary Blinken was recently here in Israel, we had a candid conversation, I said I deeply appreciated the support the U.S. has given Israel from the beginning of the war. pic.twitter.com/xq5iw1JzcU

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) June 18, 2024

The sale had been delayed by two of four congressional leaders needed to sign off on major arms deals, but they removed their objections on May 22.

Read the full story ›

Kim Jong Un

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un have signed an agreement pledging they will come to each other’s aid if either is faced with "aggression" from any adversary.

While the details are not fully known, both leaders agreed that the pact is one of the strongest they have had since Putin's last visit to North Korea in 2000. The agreement emerged after one-on-one talks lasting approximately 90 minutes.

According to a report from Russian news agency Sputnik, Putin said, "A new fundamental document was prepared today, something that will form the basis of the long-term relationship between Moscow and Pyongyang."

White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said the Biden administration was "not concerned about the trip. What we are concerned about is the deepening relationship between the two countries."

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U.S. officials further noted that North Korea may be supplying the Russian military with ballistic missiles and other munitions to use in the war against Ukraine, in exchange for economic assistance and technology transfers.

Putin received a red-carpet welcome and both leaders were seen riding in a luxury limousine together.

North Korea previously had a treaty with the former Soviet Union in 1961. That alliance, according to the treaty document, was "based on the principle of socialist internationalism" and to "promote the maintenance and strengthening of peace and security in the Far East and throughout the world in accordance with the purposes and principles of the United Nations."

However, Eurasia Group founder and President Ian Bremmer told Fox Business that Russia’s new agreement with North Korea should be concerning for everyone.

"The Russians cannot get military equipment directly from countries that are concerned about facing American, European, Japanese and South Korea sanctions, so that doesn't leave many countries out there willing and capable to help Russia with their war effort," Bremmer said. He added that Russia has thus been forced to partner with countries that are considered "rogue," like Iran and North Korea, and that they have the economic means to get what they want.

"The fact that this country is now working so closely with a chaos actor like North Korea, that we have no influence over, we have very little intelligence about, we have no engagement with, should be a serious concern for pretty much everyone out there," Bremmer said.

Putin has reportedly now flown to Vietnam to reinforce long-standing military ties between the two countries.

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The headline above is not at all hyperbolic. In its efforts to "save democracy," the Biden Department of Justice (DOJ) is seeking to deny the family members of Ashli Babbitt their constitutional rights.

In the way of background, on Jan. 5, 2024, Judicial Watch filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the United States of America on behalf of the estate of Ashli Babbitt and Aaron Babbitt, her husband.

A 14-year Air Force veteran, the unarmed Ashli was shot and killed on Jan. 6, 2021, by Lt. Michael Byrd inside the U.S. Capitol. Byrd, who was not even disciplined for this reckless shooting, has since been promoted to captain.

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As I report in my new book, "Ashli: The Untold Story of the Women of January 6," Ashli had implored the Capitol Police to control the chaos in the narrow corridor where she was trapped.

When the three officers guarding the door inexplicably walked away, Ashli tried to escape the madness through a broken window. Byrd shot her on sight without warning.

To bring suit, Judicial Watch chose the most natural venue, the United States District Court of the Southern District of California. Aaron Babbitt and Ashli's other family members live in San Diego County as did Ashli before she was killed.

According to a federal law, "A civil action on a tort claim against the United States may be prosecuted in the judicial district where the plaintiff resides." Alternatively, the claim may be filed in the district in which the incident occurred.

As Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton points out, the "first reaction" of the Department of Justice was to request that the suit be moved out of the court where it was filed and to Washington, D.C.

"The request for a change in venue is clearly influenced by Defendant's strongest motivation for changing venue," says Fitton, "which is to select the forum where it feels it would receive a favorable process and outcome based on adversity against January 6 participants."

The numbers back Fitton's argument. In a district in which Trump pulled only 5% of the vote, Trump-affiliated plaintiffs would have no chance of securing an impartial jury and little chance of getting an impartial judge.

This argument is not theoretical. After hundreds of trials, no January 6 defendant has been acquitted by a D.C. jury, and only two have been acquitted by a D.C. judge in a bench trial.

In San Diego County, President Donald Trump received just 37% of the vote in 2020, but there plaintiffs seen as sympathetic to Trump would have at least a chance of securing an impartial jury.

The right to an impartial jury is fundamental. According to the Sixth Amendment, "[i]n all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed."

The Seventh Amendment addresses civil cases. Here, too, the parties involved are guaranteed a right to a trial by jury. From the nation's beginning, the Seventh Amendment has been interpreted to extend the right to an "impartial jury" to both the plaintiff and the defendant.

No matter how one interprets the law, the Biden DOJ made the conscious decision to flout the Constitution and deny the Babbitt family their right to an impartial jury.

It is highly unlikely that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) will come to the Babbitt family's defense. On the first anniversary of January 6, the California chapter signed on to the kind of letter the ACLU chapter of ancient Rome might have written about the Vandals or the Visigoths.

"On January 6 of last year, the residents of D.C. were traumatized as an insurrectionist mob roamed our streets, harassed our neighbors, and violently broke into the Capitol Building, killing at least five people – all in an attempt to overthrow the counting of American citizens' votes."

Locals, of course, were not traumatized by the mob, but they have been traumatized by the media's relentless inflammation of the day's events. Their repeated guilty verdicts testify to the hysteria the media have generated.

Judicial Watch has asked the federal court to deny the Justice Department's request. Unfortunately, smart money is on the DOJ.

Jack Cashill's new book, "Ashli: The Untold Story of the Women of January 6," is now available for purchase.

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The famous sociologist of religion Peter Berger argues that modern liberal society creates a kind of homelessness, a rootless existence without access to the firm pillars that defined historic, traditional Western societies. Man is left utterly alone, without the rational, religious answers that explain the deeper meaning of life. He has no hope for eternity, no comprehension of the afterlife, no purpose beyond materialism. His life is lived without the deep joy – and existential inner peace – of delving into the universe of his own spirituality. He does not explore the deeper metaphysical realities that are the root cause of that which is good in this world.

Berger calls Western atheist relativism a recipe for cultural self-annihilation. Where cultural stability disappears, the foundation for the individual's spiritual health is also threatened, as the culture is weakened by the doctrine of meaninglessness. In "The Social Construction of Reality," Berger points out that man dreads this existential loneliness; he fears being ostracized and isolated from society and yearns for meaningful experiences. This drives him toward social relationships with others, as the world outside of the fellowship of men becomes a demonic, horrifying space.

Equally, the demonic nihilism ingrained in today's mainstream Marxist outlook on life renders life a meaningless exercise where the only battle worth fighting is that between the rich and the poor. Nihilism is often equated with the teachings of atheist Friedrich Nietzsche, in describing the need for the abolition of traditional morality.

By denying the profound religious ethics found in Christianity, which are based on selflessness, humility and servitude to others, the legalization of promiscuity, greed, faithlessness and egoism now dominates the West. The sole dimension that thereby exists is the material, tangible world, as God is considered dead.

The Nietzschean creed somehow argued that man should take the place of God, ruling this world by his own might rather than in submission to the law of nature as God's order. The idea was to join the demons in the rebellion against God's authority. Materialism, therefore, becomes man's only goal; his desire is to get access to more wealth, to steadily fight against those who own more than he does. The problem is, the wealth in this world does not satisfy the depth of man's soul. Money only satisfies the surface. Thus, existential emptiness and loneliness prevail.

The ethics of Christianity used to be the basis for reflection in the West, the moral code that represented consensus and unified us. This deep sense of spiritual awareness has in history shown itself to translate into actions such as compassion, empathy and solidarity with others. Without compassion, democracy itself becomes impossible as it depends on empathy between groups, the quest for justice and equality for all its citizens. Where nihilism prevails, solidarity disintegrates. Tyranny becomes a possibility. Where promiscuity and selfishness become socially desirable solutions, it is increasingly hard to form faithful marriages and family bonds based on trust, fidelity, loyalty and mutual patience.

Political commentator and author, Patrick J. Buchanan has written a number of books about the ongoing Western cultural self-annihilation. In "Suicide of a Superpower," he points out that it was spiritual Christianity – not religious corrupted political and institutionalized power-play – that revived Europe and held it together as a civilization. Western hedonism's greatest flaw rests on its failure to recognize that compassion for others is a fundamental component of civil solidarity and genuine happiness, without which the stability in society will crumble.

Peter Berger speaks of the meaning of existence and the path to a fulfilled life. This need is unmet in the Western mainstream today, as fragmentation, lack of values and a loss of cultural identity characterizes a divided, impoverished people, separated along racial, religious, class and party lines.

Modernity's fluid lack of limits erodes communities and creates a stress that over time becomes unbearable, says sociologist Zygmunt Bauman. The modern world suffers from a loss of anchoring in a permanent value base. This causes serious strains on the human identity.

After studying this topic for many years, Berger had a dramatic mid-career transformation regarding how he perceived religion in modern societies. Earlier in life, he assumed that modernization would cause religion to decline, stating that a globalized society would gradually lead to religious alienation. He later found this to be erroneous and adjusted his hypothesis, convinced by overwhelming new research and statistics. Far too many scientific studies show that people who live in a secular, atheist, mainstream narrative largely remain religious. Berger came to the conclusion that religion satisfies deep human emotional and spiritual needs and meets desires for social belonging, as well as provides valid explanations for the meaning of life.

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As an FBI expert testified, the laptop was definitely Hunter's and had not been hacked, meaning the damning criminal-activity evidence was provided by Hunter himself nonchalantly documenting it. After the nonprofit research group Marco Polo – founded by a former President Donald Trump staffer – conducted a thorough forensic examination of every document on the laptop, it issued a 634-page report – accompanied by 2,020 footnotes – identifying 459 crimes, both state and federal, Hunter may have committed, including prostitution and fraudulent business activities. Hunter next faces federal tax charges in September.

It is difficult to imagine one person committing 459 crimes, but even harder to imagine that person harboring no concerns about documenting them on a personal computer. Doing so undermines father Joe's assertion Hunter is "the smartest man [he] knows." Such brazenous suggests, because he was the First Son and recognized his father had the support of a compliant mainstream media (MSM), Hunter truly believed he operated within a bubble where he was untouchable. But, on June 11, that bubble burst when the jury took only three hours to find him guilty on all counts – the first time ever a first family member of a sitting president has been convicted.

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Defense attorneys tried playing the sympathy card for Hunter but, again, his laptop was his worst enemy. His nefarious deeds included getting his sister-in-law, Hallie, involved in drugs; indebtedness, prompting him to transfer $20,000 from his daughter's college account to pay for "hookers and drugs" despite raking in millions of dollars from foreign sources; dodging financial responsibility for an illegitimate child he fathered; etc. Not helping Hunter was the fact his discarded gun and holster, later recovered, tested positive for cocaine residue.

When the laptop story broke on Oct. 14, 2020 – three weeks before the Nov. 3 presidential election – 51 pro-Joe Biden former senior intelligence officials signed a letter released five days later suggesting it was not Hunter's. Only later did Hunter admit it was his, ironically in order to sue those who had accessed it and then gone public with the contents. Frustratingly, the "Group of 51" have suffered no consequences for their wrong call – rendered without undertaking any due diligence. They simply chose to completely rely on the form letter sent them. Although circulated by former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morrel, the letter was not authored by him and no effort was made to identify the author.

Only after the election did Morrell testify the letter was written by then-Biden senior campaign adviser and now-Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Other signatories included officials beholding to Democrat presidents for their positions such as CIA Director John Brennan, former Obama DNI James Clapper and former CIA director, then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. Thus, it is clear the Biden campaign "played an active role in the origins of the public statement, which had the effect of helping to suppress the Hunter Biden story and preventing American citizens from making a fully informed decision during the 2020 presidential election."

By virtue of the signatories' national security credentials, Americans rightly assumed but wrongly believed they had access to information unavailable to the public. Morrell's testimony acknowledged two intentions for signing the letter:

"One intent was to share our concern with the American people that the Russians were playing on this issue; and, two, it was to help Vice President Biden."

Little did voters know, the failure of these intelligence officials to do their due diligence meant the second intent took priority over the first.

Clapper, later asked if he regretted signing the letter, said no, even refusing to have his name removed from it. This is somewhat hypocritical based on the following statement Clapper and the others wrote about the laptop:

"If we are right, this is Russia trying to influence how Americans vote in this election, and we believe strongly that Americans need to be aware of this." [Emphasis added.]

Asserting Americans needed to be aware of the group's believed, but ultimately incorrect, assessment concerning Russian disinformation, why then is it not important now to acknowledge the truth?

Shedding light on the group of 51's dereliction of duty is an op-ed by former senior intelligence official Daniel Hoffman who, asked to sign the letter, refused to do so.

Hoffman acknowledged when the letter was circulated, the Russians were known for disinformation, especially since President Vladimir Putin was a KGB veteran – an agency famous for such initiatives. But that did not exclude Hunter's possible ownership.

Hoffman shared that then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe publicly stated Hunter's laptop was "not part of some Russian disinformation campaign." While the form letter left an out for the signers ("We do not have evidence of Russian involvement – just that our experience makes us deeply suspicious that the Russian government played a significant role in this case"), good intelligence analysis mandates time to conduct forensics and unravel details. Hoffman noted, Morrell's email left no room for discussion – "The letter was a fait accompli. It was being passed around for signatures, not edits." Therefore, Hoffman failed to sign or respond to Morrell's email.

Hoffman's response is what we should expect from responsible former senior intelligence officials.

Did the group of 51, running cover for Hunter, impact the 2020 election, which Biden won with 51.3% of the popular vote? Marco Polo determined Joe Biden was "complicit in six alleged white collar crimes including tax evasion, using nonpublic info for financial gain and illegally utilizing his alias email," violating the Presidential Records Act; copied the First Son on scheduling matters assisting him in his business planning efforts; etc. Truth could have made a difference.

Hunter will be sentenced within four months – facing up to 25 years in prison and $750,000 in fines. Any decision by Joe to commute Hunter's sentence would undoubtedly not be made until after the 2024 election.

Hopefully, Hunter's gun conviction is just the tip of the criminal activity iceberg for him. Throughout his life, his despicable behavior has been facilitated by his father and numerous other individuals both in and out of government seeking to ride Joe's coattails. While the group of 51 has learned nothing about accountability, at least Hunter, at age 54, has.

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California goes to the Chicoms.

Canada gets most of New England.

Russia snaps up Alaska, and Hawaii declares her independence.

Mexico, whose once-friendly government has been overthrown by forces aligned with the U.N., grabs a bunch of the southern counties of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.

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A popular movement throughout what remains of the nation is called MAWA, for Make America Whole Again. A principal resistance breaks out along the newly redrawn southern border. Spanish-speaking-only schools are burned to the ground. Mexican security forces are attacked. The army of Greater Mexico moves battalions into some of their retaken cities and starts shelling others where the resistance is still too great for full occupation.

Mexico gears up to repeat the Cuban missile crisis, on a much larger scale and with Chinese weaponry, but a reinvigorated Union of the States of America (still the U.S.A.) gathers her forces on the border, hoping to force a negotiation. The Mexican government, goaded on by old cold war U.S. enemies, pretends not to notice and increases the shelling of those areas of defiance, by ten-fold. Our Union forces finally launch a "Special Military Operation" to protect and free our former citizens.

A ceasefire is quickly agreed to, in principle, to begin negotiations, but certain foreign interests, who are propping Mexico up, snuff the chance for peace, in favor of a war they believe will be of some benefit to their own selfish interests.

Now, take this scenario, far-fetched as it may be, and pull it back in time, shift it around the globe, and start substituting the players mentioned above for Russia, Ukraine, Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk, the U.S. and NATO, etc. Where do your sympathies end up, now? Have they suddenly changed?

No! No! That's all oranges and apples, square pegs in a round hole! True enough, in many ways, the main one being that our beef with Mexico goes back to the Alamo, where we lost a couple hundred brave Texans (when Mexico marched into what had been their own territory), while Russia's point of reference looks back to the invasions of Napoleon, the Kaiser and Hitler and the deaths of tens of millions of their countrymen.

Now, the tyrant Putin is loved by his people, because they have to, we are told. Putin jails his opposition, while Biden still gives Trump his right of appeal. Putin kills his adversaries. Biden just withholds Secret Service protection. Or lets them hang themselves in prison, when the cameras break down. Putin is trying to broaden Russian control around the world, but we're not pulling strings anywhere. Not in Ukraine. Not in Israel. Not in Brazil. Not in Europe. Like Joe says, "And I'm not kiddin'." Putin's crooked election gave him 80% of the vote. Biden's crooked election only had to give him 51%, or 81,000,000 votes. (Joe says, "Seriously, I'm not exaggerating!") Russia used to have Pravda. We still have CNN and the Washington Post. So, there's really no comparison, whatsoever.

This is all sneaky anti-democratic Russian disinformation, no doubt. How can you not be totally against Putin's dictatorship? Just because we, as a nation, Democrats and RINOs, spend all our time playing nice with Emperor Xi? Because there's nothing sneakier than a former communist. At least Xi mocks our friendship openly and honestly.

Is all this relevant to current events? Does it matter that the apparent dichotomy of Dems vs. Repubs has been reconfigured to the DEM-RINO War Party vs. MAGA? Does it matter that the Uniparty's invitation for "conservatives" to support this war is setting the table for an intended war with Russia, the result of which will be to further redefine MAGA folks as unpatriotic subversives and get others to believe that MAGA means America first in ALL times of war? They absolutely have to get MAGA, so it will be worth it.

Patriots! Russia should not be our enemy. The only reason it has become so, is that it serves the interests of our real enemies. Just ask Hillary and Barack. They all loved good old Russian rubles, till they needed a bad Russia to pin something, anything, on their nemesis, Trump. It is astounding, but true.

We stand at the brink of World War III for the lies of a few narcissistic megalomaniacs. Lies that were told, if not only for political gain, then certainly to protect their ill-gotten gains and to keep themselves out of jail.

Ask George Orwell: "Eastasia has always been our ally. We have always been at war with Eurasia."

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There is a remedy.

In November, voters everywhere, including New York City, will get to choose between the Democratic Party's open border policy and Republican former President Donald Trump's promise to crack down on illegal immigration and deport millions who are here illegally.

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But New York City voters deserve to have an additional choice in November – between keeping the lunatic "sanctuary city" laws that shield migrant criminals from deportation or repealing those laws. Repeal would allow migrant criminals to be deported after their first offense before they go on to rape and murder.

Last week, eight members of the New York City Council's Common Sense Caucus fired off a letter to the Charter Revision Commission – the body with the power to put questions on the ballot in November – explaining that the City Council refuses to repeal sanctuary city laws. Since the City Council won't act, let voters decide.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is ducking the issue. This despite previously voicing support for cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. Now his office says it's the Charter Revision Commission's job to decide what ballot questions go before New Yorkers.

Wrong, Mr. Mayor. It's your job, as the city's top official, to stand up against the loony lefties in the City Council and support deporting migrant criminals after their first offense.

The Ecuadoran molester was nabbed on Monday when good Samaritans recognized him from sketches circulated by police. Jeffrey Flores pounced on the creep and dragged him to the floor with help from others. "I got two little sisters, and I'm about to have a daughter on the way," Flores said of the assault. "I don't like that."

Across the nation, gruesome crimes are fueling opposition to illegal migration. On Monday, Trump blamed President Joe Biden for the murder of Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old mother of five, raped and killed on a hiking trail in Maryland, her naked and bludgeoned body found in the woods nearby. A 23-year-old illegal immigrant from El Salvador is charged. He is believed to have murdered a woman in El Salvador previously and attacked a 9-year-old girl and her mother in a home invasion in Los Angeles.

Only a tiny fraction of migrants are dangerous criminals, but the migrant-advocacy-industrial complex – including the American Civil Liberties Union – insists criminals deserve sanctuary from deportation even after they commit a crime.

Blame Biden for allowing ruthless criminals to come across the border. But sanctuary city laws are to blame for the epidemic of crimes by repeat offenders.

Not to mention New York's over-the-top generosity. The Ecuadoran mugger gave a shelter as his address, as do many arrested migrants. He was walking around the Queens neighborhood, enjoying the good life, on our tab until he was recognized and captured.

Michigan Republicans are renewing efforts to ban sanctuary cities statewide after an illegal immigrant murdered a 25-year-old woman, Ruby Garcia, in Grand Rapids in March. The illegal who confessed to the murder had multiple arrests. Republican lawmaker Matt Hall explained that sanctuary laws "invite proven criminals like Ruby's killer, to come where they can hide from deportation even if they're arrested for another crime."

Amen.

When Biden and Trump debate next week, expect Biden to vilify Trump's deportation plans. Substack's Radley Balko blasts Trump's deportation promise as the "cruelest, most illiberal, most openly authoritarian campaign promise in modern U.S. history."

Truth is, Trump's promise may be his most powerful political weapon. And it's the opposite of authoritarian. Deporting illegals is what the law – enacted by the people's elected representatives – requires.

The Immigration and Nationality Act requires that when someone crosses the border, claiming to seek asylum, the alien "shall be detained until their claim is adjudicated." Most never qualify – only 14% in past years. But Biden is waiving in millions of pretend asylum seekers.

Biden is the authoritarian. But he's ignoring public opinion at his peril.

A whopping 62% of registered voters favor deporting anyone living in the U.S. illegally, according to a CBS poll.

Trump has yet to lay out his deportation plan. But deporting criminals is the place to start. That will require the cooperation of local law enforcement and an end to sanctuary city policies that coddle lawbreakers.

It's time to give the law-abiding public sanctuary and safety, not migrant criminals.

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President Joe Biden's greatest personal vulnerability in his reelection campaign is the perception that he's mentally deteriorating and won't be able to finish a second term (when he'd be 86). So it's not surprising that the pro-Biden media are feverishly defending Biden when videos suggest he might be losing it. They're clearly pre-dreading the presidential debate.

In April, a Pew Research Center poll showed 65% had little or no confidence in Biden's physical fitness as president, and 62% said the same for mental fitness. A recent ABC News/Ipsos poll showed voters preferred Donald Trump 42 to 23 on "mental sharpness."

This deeply upsets leftist journalists, who insisted Trump was mentally unstable on a regular basis when he was in the White House. But now that Republicans are spreading videos of Biden looking like a failing geezer, they're all furiously "fact-checking" and throwing "Pinocchios."

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Start with a video from a skydiving demonstration at the G7 summit in Italy. Biden appeared to be wandering away from European leaders to look at something behind him. It turns out he was giving two thumbs-up to a skydiver behind him. But what everyone saw was the leaders of Italy and France trying to discreetly rush and turn Biden around for photographs. It looked like they had "orders" to keep Grandpa on track.

PolitiFact claimed it was "False" to say Biden "wandered off" (the cheeky New York Post headline was "Meander In Chief"). Washington Post "fact-checker" Glenn Kessler's article carried the hot headline "'Cheapfake' Biden videos enrapture right-wing media, but deeply mislead." Kessler could have awarded Two Pinocchios ("significant omissions and/or exaggerations") but careened into ruling Four Pinocchios, for "Whoppers." This isn't fact-checking. It's spin-spoiling.

"Morning Joe" spent several days raging against the G7 video, with Mika Brzezinski quoting a distraught Democrat strategist: "The lie sprinting the 100-meter dash and the fact check is taking a stroll on the beach." Watching European leaders try to "rescue" Biden from meandering is now a "lie." Mika and Joe Scarborough didn't touch video of Barack Obama grabbing Biden's wrist to lead him off stage at a Hollywood fundraiser.

TV networks and video producers love to make political trouble over bad "optics." It's obvious too much can be made of video clips. Too much can be made of verbal stumbles. Watching how someone slurps on their bottled water can only mean so much.

But wow, all the media shoes have switched to the other feet. Four years ago – on June 13, 2020 – President Trump tentatively tiptoed down a ramp at the Air Force Academy commencement, leading to an anti-Trump feeding frenzy of "growing health concerns." On one day (June 15), NewsBusters found CNN and MSNBC spent nearly 51 minutes analyzing the video with medical experts and trying to inflict damage on perceptions of Trump's fitness.

Now with Biden, MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace decried "a growing and insidious trend in right-wing media" to take "highly misleading and selectively edited video" of Biden and question his fitness. But four years ago, Wallace offered entirely the opposite spin – 12 and a half minutes on June 15, 2020, raising questions about Trump's tiptoeing, trolling for "any [conspiracy] theories about why he went to the hospital earlier this year and any connection between his struggle to hold a water glass with one hand, and that walk down the ramp?"

This is not a double standard. It's simply a Democrat standard. Sing consistently from the DNC song sheet. This is the sound of left-wing cable "news."

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Sophie Cunningham

(DAILY MAIL) -- Phoenix Mercury guard Sophia Cunningham went pantsless while rocking an oversized sweater in the WNBA tunnel.

The 27-year-old wowed fans when she posted snaps of herself arriving at Footprint Center over the weekend, along with pics of herself on court.

before and during. pic.twitter.com/Ey5hzIKXq2

— Sophie Cunningham (@sophaller) June 18, 2024

'Before and during,' she captioned the post Monday.

Read the full story ›

When Gen. Michael Kurilla, commander of U.S. Central Command, testified in the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 7 he issued a warning about ISIS-K, a terrorist group based in Afghanistan.

"[V]arious groups in the Central Region retain the capability and will to target U.S. interests abroad in under six months with little to no warning," Kurilla said in a written statement to the committee.

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"We assess an attack on American soil would likely take longer," he said.

"Taliban pressure against ISIS-K temporarily disrupted the group's ability to plan and conduct attacks against the Homeland and Western targets, but that pressure has been intermittent and insufficient," Kurilla said in his statement.

"ISIS-K and its allies retain a safe haven in Afghanistan, and they continue to develop their networks in and out of the country," he said.

"Their goals do not stop there," he said.

"They have called for attacks globally on anyone not aligned with their extremist ideology, and Taliban efforts to suppress the group have proven insufficient," Kurilla said. "The recent ISIS attack in Kerman, Iran, demonstrates the group's resiliency and indicates that they retain the capability to conduct spectacular external operations."

What happened in Kerman?

"ISIS-K killed 91 Iranians and injured 284 others in Kerman on 3 January 2024," Kurilla said. "This was the deadliest terror attack in Iran since 1979 and it is part of ISIS' effort to exploit the war in Gaza to rejuvenate its global attacks."

ISIS-K is not the only terrorist group in Afghanistan.

"Al-Qaida, while weakened, still enjoys safe havens in Afghanistan and Yemen. Al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) operates training camps, safehouses, and religious schools in Afghanistan," he said.

"Both AQIS and AQAP [Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula] continue to call for lone wolf attacks on U.S. and Western interests via their digital reach," he said.

Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who served as a U.S. Army officer in Afghanistan, questioned Kurilla about what he had said about ISIS and al-Qaida.

In this exchange, Kurilla said an ISIS attack in Europe or Eurasia is more likely in the near future than one in the United States itself.

"You said – and this is close to a direct quote – that we could see attacks against U.S. or Western interests abroad with little to no warning in as little as six months," Cotton said. "Are you speaking there about ISIS and al-Qaida from Afghanistan?"

Kurilla responded: "ISIS-Khorasan specifically, and also out of Syria, which they are trying to factor into predominantly European countries."

"So," said Cotton, "ISIS out of either Afghanistan or Syria, attacks against U.S. interests and Western interests abroad in as little as six months. Now, abroad can mean a lot of things. Abroad could mean our embassy in Tajikistan. It could also mean Western Europe or North America.

"Could you be more specific?" Cotton asked.

"Europe and Eurasia," said Kurilla.

"What is the timeline you foresee in which those terrorist organizations could launch an attack with little or no warning against the American homeland?" asked Cotton.

"I think it is ... a lot more difficult for them to be able to do that and requires substantially more resources," responded Kurilla.

"OK," said Cotton, "so six months anywhere across Eurasia and indeterminate time in North America?"

"Yes," said Centcom's commander.

When Kurilla had testified in the Senate Armed Services Committee in March 2023, he admitted that U.S. intelligence gathering in Iraq had diminished.

"At one time, we had 60 balloons over Kabul, Afghanistan," Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama said to Kurilla then. "Our ISR [intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance] is very limited. How confident are you in the intelligence you have to see threats rising from the Taliban?"

"Our intelligence has degraded since we are no longer in Afghanistan," Kurilla said. "I believe we can see the broad contours of an attack. Sometimes we lack the granularity to see the full picture, and we're working to close that gap with our alternative airborne ISR and some of our other intelligence that we are working to penetrate those networks."

Since this nation's military forces were withdrawn from Afghanistan in 2021, the Biden administration has been conducting "Operation Enduring Sentinel." Last month, the inspectors general for this operation released their report for the first quarter of 2024. Operation Enduring Sentinel, it explains, is "the U.S. mission to conduct over-the-horizon counterterrorism operations against threats emanating from Afghanistan and to engage with Central Asian and South Asian regional partners to combat terrorism and promote regional stability."

The United States, of course, is continuing to accept refugee applications from people fleeing the situation in Afghanistan. "From Oct. 1, 2020, to March 6, 2024, USCIS interviewed approximately 24,400 Afghan refugee applicants," said the inspectors general report.

Then there are those who are not refugee applicants.

"In addition," said the report, "U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered 68 Afghan 'inadmissible non-citizens' at the U.S. Southwest Border in FY 2022 and 342 in FY 2023.

"As of March 5," it said, "CBP had encountered 932 in FY 2024."

How many "inadmissible non-citizen" Afghans made it across the southwest border in those first 156 days of this fiscal year without being encountered by the Border Patrol?

It only took 19 al-Qaida terrorists to carry out the 9/11 attack.

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One can stipulate that Trump has presented no evidence sufficient to support a claim that he lost the 2020 election based on voter fraud; one can further stipulate that Trump's pressure on Mike Pence to delay election certification was rooted in baseless misinterpretation of the Constitution. In reality, however, the truest threat to American democracy isn't stubborn unwillingness to concede an election or groundless legal wrangling. It is the continuing attempt to create a series of institutions impervious to public rebuke or electoral accountability, comprised of pseudo-experts who act as "authorities" on a wide range of issues affecting Americans.

It is the creation and maintenance of a permanent bureaucracy, organized by the political left and catering to its whims.

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This was the goal of Woodrow Wilson, who wrote in 1887 that the political sphere – the responsibility of elected officials – had to be circumscribed in favor of expert "administration": "Administrative questions are not political questions. Although politics sets the tasks for administration, it should not be suffered to manipulate its offices." The power of the administrative state, Wilson wrote, should be unhampered and discretionary.

And that is the goal of the so-called deep state today. In preparation for Joe Biden's possible defeat, the Biden administration is promoting new regulations from the Office of Personnel Management to prevent the reclassification of career civil servants as political appointees of at-will workers – effectively giving them taxpayer-funded tenure. The administration has spent the last few months ramming through regulations in an attempt to avoid the consequences of the Congressional Review Act – a piece of legislation that allows Congress to repeal regulations by passing a joint resolution immune to filibuster. The CRA can only be used, however, on regulations filed in the 60 days before a Congressional session adjourns. Hence the rush.

All of this is designed to insulate government from the elected branches. And that is good, according to our legacy media and the Democratic Party, because the elected branches may come to be run by Donald Trump. This is why The New York Times ran a piece in March titled, "It Turns Out the 'Deep State' Is Actually Kind of Awesome." According to the Times, "When we hear 'deep state,' instead of recoiling, we should rally. We should think about the workers otherwise known as our public servants, the everyday superheroes who wake up ready to dedicate their careers and their lives to serving us."

Those who posit that bureaucrats ensconced in regulatory positions may pursue anti-democratic ends are labeled "conspiracy theorists." But there is no conspiracy theory necessary when the goal of bureaucratic administration is out in the open and has been for 150 years. Our constitutional republic was rooted in checks and balances between elected branches, and an unelected judiciary delegated the power merely to interpret law rather than create it. There is no independent fourth branch of government that presides over policy, free from the electorate's judgment.

Yet that is precisely what the Biden administration continues to promote. And that is a threat to American democracy – a threat that has already materialized over the course of decades, turning our government into an elephantine, sclerotic and byzantine architecture shielded from public accountability. According to Democrats, that's a good thing. At least it protects us from the true "threat to democracy," an elected Republican president.

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The Word not only tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge (Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 1:7). It is also says, "The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death." (Proverbs 14:27)

The fear of the Lord can save your life, both physically and spiritually.

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Moses told the Israelites that the Lord came down on Mount Sinai in fire and thunder so that "His fear would be before you to keep you from sinning" (Exodus 20:20, my translation). And the voice of wisdom in Proverbs says, "To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride, arrogance, the evil way, And duplicity in speech." (Proverbs 8:13)

How we need to recover the fear of the Lord!

We must regain our reverence for Him. As Hebrews says, "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire.'" (Hebrews 12:28–29)

You do not play games with a consuming fire, and you do not play games with a holy God.

Those who truly know Him – intimately and personally and closely – will love what He loves and hate what He hates. They will not trivialize the things that nailed Jesus to the cross. Never!

That's why you can be assured that, that anyone who is casual with sin or flippant about holiness – be it the Christian next door or the preacher on TV – has not deeply encountered the Lord.

You cannot possibly be casual about sin when you come into the presence of "the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see" (1 Timothy 6:15–16).

There is a reason that the apostle John, perhaps the Lord's closest friend during His time on the earth, fell to the ground like a dead man when the glorified Jesus appeared to Him (Revelation 1:17).

This is the one John saw: "I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance." (Revelation 1:12–16)

Even the thought of this is breathtaking. No wonder even John was undone.

When you encounter the God of whom the seraphim declare, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory," you too will say with Isaiah, "Woe to me! … I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." (Isaiah 6:3, 5)

It is only then that we fully understand grace and mercy.

It is only then that we really grasp the power of the cross and the beauty of the blood.

It is only then that we appreciate the depths of the Father's love and the miracle of His forgiveness.

It is only then that, without reservation or restraint, we cry out, "Here I am! Send me!" (Isaiah 6:8)

That's why Jude exhorts us to, "Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear – hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh." (Jude 1:22–23)

As I wrote in How Saved Are We?" in 1990:

"Jesus lived in the light of the Judgment. He knew that everything would one day be revealed. Hypocrisy was utterly pointless. There was no reason to put on an act. It would all come out one day. The whole truth would then be uncovered. This is what Jesus taught: 'There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs' (Luke 12:2-3). These are sobering words! Will that Day bring us glory or shame?

"'Those iniquities which men hide in their hearts shall be written one day on their foreheads as with the point of a diamond' (Thomas Watson). And everyone will be there to see! We may fool a few people now, but we will be exposed before all on that Day.

"Living in the reality of the great Divine Disclosure can free us from all outward displays. It can make us disciples in deed and in truth. And it can help us live in true holy fear. God's records do not lie! 'Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account' (Hebrews 4:13). He will set things straight."

All of us will give account one day. How then should we live? Our God cannot be mocked (Galatians 6:7-8).

Just because a ministry is being blessed does not mean that the Lord is fully pleased with it. Just because a church is growing doesn't mean that God is fully backing it. Sometimes, the Lord is giving us time to repent.

Especially dangerous is the thought that the Spirit can somehow be "used," as if the Lord could anoint us and gift us and then we could use those graces for our own aggrandizement, or as if those supernatural giftings somehow covered over our sins. Danger!

This might work for a while in the eyes of people, but it will not work for a split second in the sight of God. Let us walk in holy fear.

The reality is that a massive pruning is taking place and we are living in the midst of unprecedented shaking.

Let us get low before Him, asking Him to shine His holy light on our hearts and lives, and let us be zealous to destroy any willful sin before that sin destroys us.

May I urge each of you to take the time to listen to an extremely important message, one that I have preached to myself time and again, and one that God has used to save many lives? The link is here. I implore you to listen to this message, whether you're a mega-church pastor, a homeschooling mom, a successful business person, a new believer, or a seasoned saint. It is relevant for every single one of us.

May the Lord have mercy on His people, may He purify His bride, may He make something beautiful out of us, and may His name be glorified in the eyes of the world.

We urgently need to recover the fear of the Lord.

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Elon Musk

(NEW YORK POST) -- "Two homicidal maniacs" have threatened to kill Elon Musk in the past seven months, the Tesla CEO claimed at a recent shareholder meeting, while comparing himself to the slain Beatles legend John Lennon.

During the question and answer portion of the electric vehicle company’s annual shareholders meeting last week, Musk said his high profile has put a target on his back — just like Lennon.

An anonymous shareholder asked Musk what he’s doing to make sure he stays healthy and safe, to which Musk acknowledged he should maybe start working out to avoid being “assassinated.”

Read the full story ›

(STUDY FINDS) -- Do you start every morning with a strong cup of coffee, unable to really wake up without that caffeine jolt? Or do you avoid coffee altogether, finding that even just a few sips make you jittery and anxious? Scientists have been trying to figure out whether coffee is truly good or bad for years.

Now, a new study published in Neuropsychopharmacology suggests the answer (and your coffee-drinking habits) may depend on your genes.

An international team of researchers has found evidence that there are specific genes that help determine just how much of a coffee drinker someone is and how it affects the body. To complicate matters, however, these genetic influences seem to interact with environmental and cultural factors in ways that can produce opposite outcomes in different groups. Simply put, whether coffee is good or bad may literally vary from person to person.

Read the full story ›

(THE COLLEGE FIX) -- The current summer heat wave is due to climate change, a University of Pennsylvania professor told CNN.

Presidential Distinguished Professor Michael Mann said that it is currently extremely hot this week due to climate change. However, future problems can be prevented “by getting off fossil fuels.”

“This is a glimpse of not only what our future will look like, but in fact, it will look quite a bit worse than this,” Professor Mann told CNN host Brianna Keilar during an interview Monday.

Read the full story ›

The beleaguered presidential campaign of Joe Biden, facing losing support from young voters, black voters, even women voters in some polls, and trailing GOP challenger President Donald Trump in most polls including those in swing states, apparently is turning its focus onto another age group, hoping to win the White House with the "geezer" vote.

At 81, and to be 82 about the time of the coming election, Biden appears to be looking for election help from his contemporaries.

That assessment comes from a report in Axios, which reveals that since 2000, the senior vote has belonged to Republicans.

The report cites a New York Times/Siena poll that suggests some of those older people are moving to Biden's camp this year.

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Importantly, the report notes, the senior vote is a group "that consistently votes at higher rates than any other demographic."

While President Trump, the report notes, "appears to be making stunning gains of his own among young voters," although it admits "the polls could still be wrong," it suggests that seniors considering "old-school respect for institutions and distaste for Trump's unorthodox style," are moving to Biden. Another theory? "Hippies got old."

The report claims NYT/Siena puts Biden with a 9-point lead over Trump in a head-to-head among likely voters 65 and older.

That was similar to a Quinnipiac poll weeks ago.

The report noted while 10% of those ages 18-34 said democracy was the most urgent issue facing voters, that number was 35% for those ages 65 and up.

Biden's attack has included claims that Republicans are eyeing cuts to Social Security and Medicare, claims that GOP candidates have rejected as false.

Biden's outreach, the report explained "includes bingo nights and pickleball tournaments, ads on daytime television and more.

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(DAILY MAIL) -- When Tom Brady mocked Bill Belichick in Ring footage of the football coach doing a bare-chested walk of shame at his roast in April the quarterback appeared to have no clue whose home he was leaving.

But DailyMail.com can reveal the ex-Patriots coach was sneaking out of the Massachusetts home of his 24-year-old former cheerleader girlfriend, Jordon Hudson at the time.

Brady, who joked about his beloved coach doing the walk of shame on his Netflix roast, seemingly had no clue the home belonged to Belichick's new girlfriend, who is 48 years his junior.

Read the full story ›

(FAITHWIRE) -- The willingness to forgive is a powerful indicator of human flourishing, according to new data from the American Bible Society’s “State of the Bible USA 2024 Report.”

The most recent data, released last week, was predicated, in part, on a proclamation with which respondents were asked to agree or disagree. It read, “I am able to sincerely forgive whatever someone else has done to me, regardless of whether they ever ask for forgiveness or not.”

Respondents’ responses to this statement offered key insights into how a willingness to grant forgiveness — a key concept embedded in the Christian faith — can impact people’s happiness.

Read the full story ›

The Ten Commandments stand at the 21st annual Bible Reading Marathon in Stuart, Florida, on Friday, Nov. 12, 2021. (Photo by Joe Kovacs)

(AP) -- Louisiana has become the first state to require that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom under a bill signed into law by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry on Wednesday.

The GOP-drafted legislation mandates that a poster-sized display of the Ten Commandments in “large, easily readable font” be required in all public classrooms, from kindergarten to state-funded universities. Although the bill did not receive final approval from Landry, the time for gubernatorial action — to sign or veto the bill — has lapsed.

Opponents question the law’s constitutionality, warning that lawsuits are likely to follow. Proponents say the purpose of the measure is not solely religious, but that it has historical significance. In the law’s language, the Ten Commandments are described as “foundational documents of our state and national government.”

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Kamala Harris, Joe Biden's vice president, has established a stunning record.

Immigrant crisis on the southern border, her assignment? She traveled to Central America to find the "roots" and the suggestion shortly followed that if those economies equaled America's, there wouldn't be a rush to America's open borders.

She's been blasted by critics as Joe Biden's insurance against impeachment, and there's even been talk among Democrat circles about replacing her on the ticket for the vote this year.

While often criticized for her "word salads" on stage, she actually delivered some nuggets – of her wisdom.

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And the Trump campaign has strategically preserved those, to remind Americans.

One such comment was, "Talking about the significant of the passage of time. Right? The significant of the passage of time. So when you think about it, there is great significance to the passage of time."

Hear them:

Inspired by the same topic, conservative satire site The Babylon Bee created a viral humor video titled “Meet Kamala Harris's 6-Year-Old Speechwriter”:

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A state investigation now has been launched into allegations, from a whistleblower, that Texas Children's Hospital has committed Medicaid fraud in its "sex-change" program for children, according to investigative reporter Christopher Rufo.

He posted a report online pointing out his earlier investigative documentation in which that whistleblower made allegations against doctors in the transgender program there.

"Now, the State of Texas has taken action," he reported. "I have confirmed with a spokesman for Attorney General Ken Paxton that the alleged Medicaid fraud is 'currently being investigated by the Texas Attorney General.'"

Rufo pointed out there are two avenues for an investigation, civil and criminal.

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"If the state pursues a civil case against Texas Children’s, the hospital could lose a significant amount of funding and, in the maximal outcome, even lose access to the state Medicaid program. If the state decides to pursue criminal charges, the doctors involved could face significant fines and up to 10 years in prison," he noted.

He explained that the "scandal" of what promoters call transgender "health care" "is finally reaching the point of crisis."

"There will be a reckoning—and Texas might lead the way."

Revolver News noted that Rufo's original report found that Vanessa Sivadge, a registered nurse at the hospital, charged that doctors there are charging Medicaid for transgender procedures, even though that is not allowed.

This is Dr. David Paul. According to Sivadge, Paul has managed a large number of pediatric sex-change patients. For example, he prescribed sex-change hormones and discussed breast implants with a male who identified as "female." The patient was enrolled in the state Medicaid… pic.twitter.com/t12qgspQSP

— Christopher F. Rufo (@realchrisrufo) June 18, 2024

EXCLUSIVE: A nurse at Texas Children's Hospital claims that doctors in the hospital’s child sex-change program committed Medicaid fraud. "The largest children's hospital in the country is illegally billing Medicaid for transgender procedures."

A massive scandal.

— Christopher F. Rufo (@realchrisrufo) June 18, 2024

Sivadge was the anonymous whistleblower who denounced TCH's child sex-change program in an interview with me last year. After that, she says, the FBI sent two agents to her home to intimidate and threaten her. pic.twitter.com/ZSInVH3zrv

— Christopher F. Rufo (@realchrisrufo) June 18, 2024

But there was more. She knew that Texas prohibits state Medicaid funds from being used on "gender-affirming care." And yet, she noticed that many patients in the child sex-change program were enrolled in state Medicaid—which, she believed, was a violation of the law. pic.twitter.com/dsDizM4H56

— Christopher F. Rufo (@realchrisrufo) June 18, 2024

A City Journal report explained, on the topic, the public was "sold a bill of goods."

The report explains "Texas law forbade hospitals from billing Medicaid for transgender procedures. The Texas Medicaid Provider Procedures Manual has long stated that 'sex change operations' are 'not benefits of Texas Medicaid.'"

That City Journal report said, "The 'gender-affirming care' business has always had an aura of madness around it. Wielding the authority of white coats and prestigious degrees, doctors have convinced large swaths of the public that some children are 'born in the wrong body.' The solution? Stop puberty, prescribe cross-sex hormones, and then, with the stroke of a knife, remove body parts—most commonly breasts, less frequently genitalia."

While that ideology captured great influence, the report said, "The consensus appears to be shifting. European governments have backed away from many of these dubious procedures. In England, the Cass Review has raised grave questions about the scientific evidence behind 'gender-affirming care.' In the United States, the public has turned decisively against the use of puberty blockers and gender surgeries on minors, with some state legislatures banning the practice."

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German economist and World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab made waves on social media this week after a leaked video from a September 2022 WEF Young Global Leaders conference showed Schwab telling his audience that merging human beings with technology could be used as a way to circumvent death and live forever.

A well-known proponent of "The Great Reset," Schwab envisions a future where all of humanity will live under the yolk of a One World Government, where citizens will "own nothing" and "be happy."

In the video, Schwab touted the benefits of transhumanism to his audience, stating that a person would be able to have a 50-year career through life-extending technologies that includes injections, and the use of avatars in place of a body after it dies.

In a leaked recording of a private WEF Young Global Leaders indoctrination session, Klaus Schwab promises new recruits that their "avatars" will continue to live on after they die, and that their brains "will be replicated through artificial intelligence and algorithms".

"You… pic.twitter.com/c8qEBctl15

— Wide Awake Media (@wideawake_media) June 12, 2024

"Your avatar will continue to live, and your brain will be replicated through artificial intelligence and algorithms." Schwab said, adding this could happen within the next 50 years.

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Yuval Noah Harari, a World Economic Forum lecturer and professor in the Department of History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, claims “We are probably one of the last generations of homo sapiens," and says that eventually "those who own the data" will be able to "hack" human beings.

Transhumanism, according to an article by the WEF published in 2018, is a movement wherein advocates believe the human condition can be enhanced by technology in all forms, including genetic engineering, bioengineering, artificial intelligence and molecular nanotechnology.

Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum

The WEF article goes on to note that the end result of a fusion between human and machine would be an "enhanced or augmented" version of homo sapiens – but still insists the person would remain fundamentally human.

However, a journal published in 2018, "Transhumanism as the dominant ideology of the fourth industrial revolution" by Klaus-Gerd Giesen, a professor of political science at Clermont Auvergne University in Clermont-Ferrand, France, contradicts this premise.

Giesen states that transhumanist thought can be broken down into three main underpinnings: 1) humans are fundamentally obsolete, 2) there must be a complete integration between human and machine, and 3) doing this would make human beings transcend humanity itself – essentially enabling a person to become a technological god.

"The very concept of human resources may be rendered obsolete, with workers becoming just another technological resource: a mere tool of production ... And the fact that this project has found support among very important sections of the state apparatus and the private sector is highly significant," Giesen states in his journal.

According to Giesen, a transhumanist's main goal is undoing the current world order and replacing it completely with a new set of values that would eventually result in a redistribution of wealth and the restructuring of social classes.

Susan Levin, a professor in the Humanities and chair of the philosophy department at Smith University, stated during a 2021 interview that even if technology and science were able to deliver a transhuman world, people still shouldn't want to get on board.

"We should have serious qualms about signing on. For they largely presume the veracity of their own, highly contentious and constrictive answers to longstanding questions in Western philosophy about human nature and a flourishing life. Why should we accept their extreme version of rational essentialism, which excludes a necessary role for emotion in a life well lived?" Levin said.

Meanwhile, Schwab and other global "elites" like Microsoft founder Bill Gates have been a driving force behind efforts to lower birth rates through funding abortion, vaccines and contraception. It seems like an about-face to push for people to "live forever," although arguably a transhuman, part-machine population devoid of its humanity might be easier to control.

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Hunter Biden found guilty on gun-related charges on Tuesday, June 11, 2024

Hunter Biden long has been a source of scandalous headlines for his overseas business schemes, often documented in that infamous abandoned laptop, his drug use, his sex antics, his recent gun-charge convictions and his looming tax-charges trial.

Now a new scenario is being reported by Just the News: How his team set up a $120 million deal while Joe Biden was vice president for Barack Obama, a secret that the FBI knew about at the time.

The deal ultimately was not completed.

But the report explains the plan was for Hunter Biden to be on a board of directors of a new entity, formally established in Liechtenstein and funded with millions from Nykola Zlochevsky, known more for his ownership of Burisma, an energy entity.

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It was the Ukrainian Burisma for which Hunter Biden served as a director during his father's vice presidency, when Joe Biden was in charge for Obama of U.S.-Ukraine relations.

While paying Hunter Biden millions, Zlochevsky was trying to get out from under a corruption investigation, and that prosecutor ultimately was fired after Joe Biden traveled to Ukraine and threatened to withhold a billion dollar aid package that the U.S. had prepared unless government officials dismissed him.

Just the News reported the FBI "learned as far back as 2016 that Hunter Biden and his partners had plotted to set up a new venture in tax-friendly Liechtenstein that would be capitalized by a whopping $120 million investment from the controversial owner of the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma Holdings."

The publication said the details were in documents "that have been kept from the American public for eight years."

That "mega-deal" was not mentioned in Hunter Biden's laptop or during 2019 impeachment proceedings that involved Ukraine, but was in a cache of millions of documents the FBI seized from Hunter Biden during its investigation into securities fraud years ago.

Those papers recently came into the possession of the House Oversight Committee from former Hunter Biden associate Devon Archer as part of Congress' impeachment investigation of Joe Biden.

Those papers show Hunter Biden was to be on the board for "Burnham Energy Security LLC" which would start off with $120 million from Zlochevsky.

"The Hunter Biden-connected Burnham entity was slated to get a quarter of the new venture's net revenues without putting up any cash, according to recent testimony to Congress from one of the partners," the report said.

Confirmation of the strategy was from a Zlochevsky aide, Vadym Pozharskyi, who told Hunter Biden, "Burnham Energy Security Fund: we started a legal discussion between our lawyers and legal counsels from your side (through Devon's kind introduction). At the moment, we're working on structure and all related issues."

The report noted nearly 200 documents reference Burnham Energy Security, and most of those also cite Hunter Biden's involvement.

The scheme apparently was derailed by the arrest of one of Hunter Biden's associates, in a securities fraud case, and the announcement by the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine at the time, Geoffrey Pyatt, that the Ukraine government should pursue Zlochevsky on corruption charges.

It was Pyatt's influence that "unexpectedly kicked Ukrainian prosecutors into a more aggressive effort to investigate Zlochevsky in fall 2015, an effort that came to an abrupt halt when Vice President Joe Biden pressured Ukraine to fire the chief prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, by threatening to withhold $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees," the report confirmed.

The report explained the oddity in the arrangement: Hunter Biden and his team would put up no money, but instead would contribute "relational capital – including the political connections that are associated with the Biden name."

The current investigation in Congress is on what role Joe Biden may have played in any of Hunter Biden's dealings, and what liability that may have created under American law. Allegations have been made, based on credible evidence, that the Bidens have run a massive influence-peddling scheme for years, taking in millions of dollars from sources sometimes unfriendly to the U.S.

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A judge has rejected a demand from Planned Parenthood that a child-trafficking case be dismissed.

BREAKING: The judge has DENIED Planned Parenthood’s motion to dismiss our lawsuit against them for trafficking minors out of state to obtain abortions.

One step closer to eradicating Planned Parenthood from the State of Missouri.

— Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@AGAndrewBailey) June 19, 2024

Missouri state Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced on social media, "BREAKING: The judge has DENIED Planned Parenthood’s motion to dismiss our lawsuit against them for trafficking minors out of state to obtain abortions. One step closer to eradicating Planned Parenthood from the State of Missouri."

A report from Just the News said the allegations are that the abortion industry moneymaker "traffics minors out of state to obtain abortions."

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The lawsuit, filed earlier this year, accuses the Great Plains chapter of the abortion corporation of being able to take minors across state lines to obtain abortions without parental consent.

"The lawsuit accuses the Great Plains chapter of unlawful behavior, allegedly captured on camera, of staffers taking minors across state lines to get an abortion procedure without parental knowledge," the report explained.

The video, from undercover investigators and reporters with Project Veritas, appeared to show a conversation between a Planned Parenthood employee and someone asking about an abortion for a 13-year-old.

Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Emily Wales said the organization "will continue following state and federal laws and proudly providing Missourians with the compassionate sexual and reproductive care that remains available to them in a state with a total abortion ban."

A report from KMOX earlier explained that Planned Parent claims the entire situation wasn't real.

Officials with the abortion company told Judge Brouck Jacobs, "There is no allegation that any child, any minor has been taken across state lines; there’s no allegation that any parent has complained. There’s no allegation that any abortion has been performed either in Missouri or outside of Missouri, with or without parental consent here. The whole conversation is hypothetical."

Prosecutors responded that while the situation may have been hypothetical, Planned Parenthood's worker thought it was real and based the responses on that.

The video shows a man taping the conversation telling Planned Parenthood's worker that the girl's "parents" couldn't learn of an abortion, and, the report confirmed, "Staff then directed him to their affiliate clinics in Kansas where they said he could 'bypass' parental consent."

The report continued, "When the man asked how often girls go out of state for abortions, the Planned Parenthood employee said it happens 'every day.'"

The state's law says, "No one shall intentionally cause aid or assist a minor to obtain an abortion."

The KMOX report continued, "The attorney general’s office argued that the Missouri clinic still aided in a hypothetical abortion, pointing to a point in the video where the employee says 'we can cut off our letterhead so it doesn’t even say where she was,' in reference to a doctor’s note in order to miss school. The employee also says that Planned Parenthood often sets up hotels for those who need to travel out of state."

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A so-called "science' magazine has turned itself into an expert on education, admitting that homeschooling works, but demanding federal oversight, and rules, for parents who teach their own children.

A report from Breitbart identified the magazine as "Scientific American," a publication that often takes left-leaning positions.

It now is not only calling for federal rules for homeschooling, but even "background" checks for parents.

The magazine's agenda came in a recent newsletter in which it cited information from the National Center for Education Statistics, which confirmed 1.5 million American children were homeschooled during the 2019 time period.

Homeschooling activity actually is surging across the U.S.

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"The newsletter admits that homeschooled children have excelled, going on to win national spelling bees, even pointing to famed Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős, who was homeschooled by his mother," the report said.

But the magazine complained "most states don’t require the same assessment of homeschooled kids that are required for their public school peers. Parents are not required to have an education themselves to direct instruction, and in most states, no one checks to see that children are receiving an education at all. In the worst cases, homeschooling can hide abuse."

The commentary said, "homeschool parents should be required to undergo a background check — the same as K-12 teachers."

And, the magazine insisted, "Homeschool instructors could be required to submit documents every year to their local school district or to a state agency to show that their children are learning."

The report noted actually NCES documents that most homeschooling is done to battle "toxic school environments and a lack of moral instruction."

It explained, "Eighty percent of homeschoolers said they homeschool because they have a concern about school environment (which could include safety, drugs, negative peer pressure, or other issues), 75 percent said they desire to provide moral instruction, another 75 percent said they want to put an emphasis on family life together, and 59 percent said they have a desire to provide religious instruction. Further, nearly three quarters, 73 percent, said they homeschool because they have a dissatisfaction with the academic instruction at other schools. To further demonstrate that point, the U.S. Department of Education’s National Assessment of Educational Progress testing found that just 32 percent of fourth graders read at or above proficiency for their grade level in 2022."

Public schools across America today, in fact, are facing a multitude of fights with parents as leftists embedded in staff and faculty impose leftist ideologies of "diversity, equity, inclusion," as well as Black Lives Matter, LGBT and "environmental justice." In extreme cases, some schools allow teachers to encourage students to declare they are transgender, and then conceal such influences from parents.

"In 2023, for example, the Los Angeles Unified School District hosted a 'Rainbow Club,' to teach kids as young as five years old about LGBT-related topics, and there has been controversy nationwide about what some describe as 'pornographic' books in schools,," the report noted.

HeadlineUSA characterized the magazine's demands as declaring "war" on homeschooling.

It explained, "To solve the non-existent problem, the leftists who work at the magazine said that 'homeschooling should be subject to some basic federal mandates'" and those background checks should be mandatory.

The Washington Examiner described the magazine as "left-leaning legacy" publication, and said, "While the implication of what the Scientific American editors advocated appears to be government control over homeschool curriculums and practices, one of the most oft-cited reasons families decide to homeschool is to get their children out of government-run schools."

WND previously reported when Harvard Law School professor Elizabeth Bartholet complained publicly about, "The Risks of Homeschooling."

She has claimed that homeschooling deprives children of their right to a "meaningful education."

She explained, it is "important that children grow up exposed to community values, social values, democratic values, ideas about nondiscrimination and tolerance of other people's viewpoints."

PJ Media, at the time, commented: "In other words, she knows that homeschooled children are being taught to think for themselves, and she won't stand for it."

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Uber driver Ahmed Ali

By Cristina Laila
The Gateway Pundit

A Washington state father came to the rescue and beat the Uber driver who was raping his daughter in the back seat of the car.

The Uber driver, 58-year-old Ahmed Ali, was arrested and charged with rape after he picked up a young, inebriated woman from a bar in Washington last weekend, took her to a secluded area and raped her.

According to court documents, Ali manipulated the Uber app to make it appear he dropped off the young woman at home, but he drove her to a secluded area near the Nisqually River.

The victim’s father went looking for his daughter after she didn’t return home and found her naked in the backseat of Ahmed Ali’s rideshare car. Ali’s pants were down as he scrambled to climb back in the front seat.

The girl’s father beat Ahmed Ali so badly that he needed medical attention. Two shots were reportedly fired.

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Ahmed Ali is a father of five children. His family showed up to court to support him after he was caught raping a young woman who was too drunk to defend herself.

Ali is currently being held on a $100,000 bond as prosecutors prepare to file charges.

Uber said they removed Ahmed Ali’s access to the app.

“The driver’s behavior is appalling and has no place in our society or on the Uber platform. We take reports of this nature very seriously and removed the driver’s access to the platform as soon as we were made aware of the incident. We have a dedicated team standing ready to assist law enforcement with their investigation,” a spox for Uber said in a statement to Fox 13 Seattle.

Fox 13 Seattle reported:

The woman’s father and other relatives went looking for her after she didn’t return home and found her naked in the back seat of Ali’s car with the accused attempting to hold up his pants as he climbed to the front of the car.

As described in probable cause documents, the victim’s family attacked the Uber driver in an effort to stop him, during which at least two shots were fired. Ali, who was visibly wounded with bandages on his hands during his court appearance, was detained despite trying to flee and needing medical attention.

The disturbing nature of the allegations has led prosecutors to express concerns over the potential for violence should Ali be released. The court found probable cause for both the charges of second-degree rape and first-degree kidnapping, with the prosecution asking for a $100,000 bond.

More from Fox 13 Seattle:

This article originally appeared on The Gateway Pundit.com.

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Steve Bannon at CPAC 2024

Republican members of the U.S. House are moving to nullify the entirety of ex-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's partisan committee that "investigated" the Jan. 6, 2021, protest at the U.S. Capitol, where a few hundreds of people rioted.

The Gateway Pundit reports some two dozen members are sponsoring a resolution that would designate the committee and its work illegitimate and cancel the subpoenas it issued during its time in the spotlight.

It explains that's significant because it would be, "Rescinding the subpoenas issued by the January 6th Select Committee on September 23, 2021, October 6, 2021, and February 9, 2022, and withdrawing the recommendations finding Stephen K. Bannon, Mark Randall Meadows, Daniel Scavino, Jr., and Peter K. Navarro in contempt of Congress," the resolution reads.

Navarro already is serving jail time on the basis of that committee's demands, and Bannon is ordered to report within weeks.

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The committee was partisan because Pelosi allowed only committee members she wanted to be a part. The nominees from the then-GOP minority were refused. And the committee essentially edited and orchestrated witnesses and testimony to try to pin blame on President Donald Trump for that day.

That was when his fans rallied in Washington, and a few thousand went to the Capitol, where Congress was formalizing Joe Biden as the presidential race winner.

A few hundred rioted, breaking windows and vandalizing. One protester was shot and killed at point blank range by a police officer who did not even issue a warning first.

They were protesting what they perceived as a faulty election. What is known is that the results were under undue influence from two significant factors, the first being Mark Zuckerberg's handouts of $400 million plus to election officials who largely used the windfall to recruit voters in Democrat districts.

The other was the FBI's election interference when it warned publications to suppress information about the Biden family scandals contained in the laptop computer abandoned by Hunter Biden at a repair shop. The FBI, and a long list of former intel officers, falsely claimed it was "Russian" disinformation, when in fact it contained reams of accurately details about the Bidens. A survey later showed that influence probably cost President Trump the victory.

Democrats claimed the events were an actual "insurrection" against the United States, where by definition protesters would have been intending to take over the government's economy, military, foreign policy and much, much more. They've even tried to keep Trump off the 2024 ballot on the basis of their claims. The events actually were a protest that got out of hand.

The report explains Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., and Eric Burlison, R-Mo., have introduced a resolution "aimed at rescinding the congressional subpoenas issued to Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro. This proposal also seeks to officially repudiate the actions of the January 6 committee, which Massie and other Republicans have labeled as wholly illegitimate."

Massie suggested on social media that House Speaker Mike Johnson call for a vote and Republicans could reverse the political warfare decisions made by Pelosi.

Massie pointed out the plan needs no approval from the Democrat-majority Senate, since the original subpoenas were issued only on the authority of the House.

Biggs charged, "The illegitimately constructed and biased January 6th Committee must be held accountable for its pursuit of political opponents."

Burleson explained the move would withdraw Democrat "recommendations" finding the Trump associates in contempt of Congress.

(1/2) Here’s our 5 page Resolution to rescind the subpoena’s issued for Bannon and Navarro and to declare the January 6th committee to have been illegitimate. pic.twitter.com/eM122OZpzy

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) June 18, 2024

The Republicans charge that the committee staged a "show" investigation, assembling evidence they claimed supported the conclusion they already had reached, of Trump's guilt.

Burlison revealed, "One day after Jan. 6, then-Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Schumer called for Trump to be removed from office by whatever means necessary. Pelosi even went as far as to say that Trump could be an 'accessory to murder.'"

The plan points out that Pelosi refused to follow the resolution creating the committee, and never appointed the five members required "after consulting the minority leader."

Further, the committee had no "ranking member" from the GOP, another violation of House rules.

And the committee also ignored House rules requiring committees provide equal time for majority and minority members asking questions.

His statement explained, the committee "spent hours rehearsing ahead of time so they could put on Stalinist show-[trials] for the American people. Bottom line: The committee was used as a political weapon with a singular focus on taking down Trump and his advisors through the intentional manipulation of facts and the silencing of the minority party. It was procedurally flawed from the start."

Others sponsoring the plan included Reps. Chip Roy of Texas, Andy Ogles of Tennessee, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Bob Good of Virginia, Diana Harshbarger of Tennessee, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma, Clay Higgins of Louisiana, Mary Miller of Illinois, Barry Moore of Alabama, Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, Eli Crane of Arizona, Jim Banks of Indiana, Michael Cloud of Texas, Dan Bishop of North Carolina, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Matt Rosendale of Montana, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Warren Davidson of Ohio and Lance Gooden of Texas.

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(Photo by Joe Kovacs)

By Rebeka Zeljko
Daily Caller News Foundation

Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections (RITE) filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the city of Burlington, Vermont, for allowing non-citizens to participate in its elections.

RITE filed the lawsuit against the city of Burlington for allowing noncitizens to vote in local city or Burlington School District elections. The lawsuit alleges that in doing so, the city violated “voter’s qualifications” enshrined in the Vermont State Constitution.

Anti-Israel protests at Columbia University on Sunday, April 21, 2024

[Editor's note: This story originally was published by Real Clear Wire.]

By Paul Sperry
Real Clear Wire

Echoing the Muslim prophet Muhammad, Professor Hatem Bazian, a tenured University of California, Berkeley professor, told his fellow Muslims: “The Day of Judgment will never happen until you fight the Jews.”

At the Santa Clara conference sponsored by the American Muslim Alliance, Bazian exhorted the crowd: “They are on the west side of the river, which is the Jordan River, and you’re on the east side until the trees and the stones will say, ‘Oh Muslim, there is a Jew hiding behind me. Come and kill him!’ And that’s in the Hadith [the sayings and deeds of Muhammad] about this. This is a future battle before the Day of Judgment.”

Bazian’s threatening prophecy from 1999 might be lost to history but for the central role he has been playing in the anti-Israel protests that have erupted at college campuses. Two groups he helped create, Students for Justice in Palestine and American Muslims for Palestine, have been instrumental in organizing the demonstrations. In recent months he has visited the encampments from coast to coast, exhorting students to condemn Israel for launching counterstrikes in Gaza after marauding Hamas terrorists attacked and slaughtered more than 1,200 Israelis in October and took hundreds of others captive, including several Americans. Bazian has urged students to call on administrators and national leaders to protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza, whom he claims are victims of a “genocide” carried out by the Israeli government.

Although many opponents of Israel’s war against Hamas deny that their movement is tied to antisemitism, critics say Bazian’s deep involvement in the protests and his long history of inflammatory rhetoric against the Jewish people puts that claim in doubt. “The campus unrest is being driven by people with a very troubling past,” said Jon Schanzer, a former U.S. Treasury counterterrorism official. “They’re trying to legitimize Hamas.”

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Drawing on a wide array of public records, RealClearInvestigations found that Bazian has been agitating against Jews and Israel on college campuses for decades. His 1999 exhortation of Holy War between Muslims and Jews was part of a larger pattern of words and deeds in which he sought to radicalize young Americans against the Jewish people. Bazian’s history – and the top place he holds in the ongoing turmoil – also reveal the key role he’s long planned for America’s institutions of higher learning to play in mainstreaming and spreading ideas that many people consider hateful.

A Palestinian immigrant, Bazian was born in the West Bank town of Nablus and attended high school in Jordan. He graduated from San Francisco State University and then moved to Berkeley, where he chairs the Islamophobia Research and Documentation Project.

Upon arriving at Berkeley in 1993, Bazian helped start the first college chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine – whose national organization says it supports more than 350 “Palestinian solidarity organizations.” In 2006, he co-founded its umbrella organization, American Muslims for Palestine. “We support campus activism through Students for Justice in Palestine,” AMP states on its website.

“AMP is directly involved in the campus chaos,” Schanzer said, by helping coordinate protests at colleges where its SJP outposts operate. AMP provides funding and guidance for the chapters for, among other things, holding anti-Israel “teach-ins,” erecting pro-Palestinian tables, crafting media “talking points,” and creating flyers and placards for the campus encampments and occupations that demonize Israel and sanitize Hamas atrocities as “resistance.”

As AMP’s chairman, Bazian has visited several encampments, including at the University of Pennsylvania, San Diego State University, UC-San Diego, University of San Francisco and UC-Berkeley, where his acolytes have set up a “Gaza Solidarity Camp.” RCI’s review of videos posted on social media of his encampment talks reveals he’s instructed students not to be “nice” while protesting, because he said being polite won’t get the attention of college administrators or President Biden, whom he demands divest from Israel and pressure Israel to withdraw from Gaza.

Meanwhile, his organization, which employs a full-time campus outreach coordinator, is under both federal and state investigation for ties to Hamas, and is also a defendant in a major new lawsuit brought by survivors of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack.

A Richardson, Texas-based lawyer representing Bazian and AMP did not reply to requests for comment. After also reaching out to Bazian directly, RCI’s messages went unanswered. Bazian has a history of seeming to endorse, or even call for, violence, and then denying doing so. In 2004, while Hamas was leading a deadly resistance, or “intifada,” in Israel that included suicide bombers, Bazian reportedly called for an “intifada” inside America while addressing a largely Muslim crowd at an anti-Iraq war rally.

“Are you angry? Are you angry?! Well, we’ve been watching intifada in Palestine,” Bazian shouted. “How come we don’t have an intifada in this country?”

“They’re going to say [I’m] some Palestinian being radical – well, you haven’t seen radicalism yet,” he added. “It’s about time we have an intifada in this country!”

He later claimed his remarks were meant to incite only a “political intifada” inside this country, not violent revolt. Last month, while rallying protestors at a University of San Francisco encampment, Bazian again called  for “intifada,” asking students, “Can you all say intifada?”

“Intifada!” protesters shouted back.

Speaking to students gathered outside tents at the same USF rally, Bazian encouraged the forceful taking and “holding” of campus buildings as protesters did at Columbia University before New York police stormed the facility and removed them. Recruiting new protesters, he bellowed, “Let me say we welcome agitators for justice. We celebrate courage and continue to make changes because a free Palestine is a reality that is waiting to be actualized. Free Palestine! Don’t let anyone stop you from making history!”

Student protesters have echoed his rhetoric that Hamas has the right to “resist” Israel by resorting to violence.

On Oct. 7 – the same day as the horrific attacks on Israel which included the murder of hundreds of innocent youths attending a music festival – the flagship Berkeley chapter of Students for Justice In Palestine released a statement with SJP chapters at dozens of other colleges pledging their “unwavering support of the resistance in Gaza … We stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Palestine.” Bazian’s flagship group made it clear it was honoring “our comrades in blood and arms” fighting on the ground in Gaza – that is, Hamas – and warned that “what is coming is greater. Victory or martyrdom.”

Parroting Hamas’ rhetoric for annihilating Israel, they then pronounced: “From River to Sea, glory to the Palestinian resistance and glory to our martyrs.” Berkeley’s SJP chapter later held a vigil for “martyrs in Palestine” killed during and after the bloody anti-Israel incursion.

According to an FBI memo, one of the founders of Hamas has stated, “Hamas is a Palestinian Jihad movement that strives for the liberation of all Palestine, from the [Mediterranean] sea to the river [Jordan], from the north to the south,” a goal that would erase Israel from the map.

An NPR report earlier this month on the meaning of intifada – an Arabic word that can mean to “shake off” or “uprising” – quoted people who say it is inextricably related to violence and those who say it is not.

Basil Rodriguez, whom NPR identified as a Palestinian American graduate student at Columbia, told the network: “For me, it just speaks to liberation. To free Palestine from the [Israeli] apartheid regime, and the military occupation. For me it calls for freedom and for change.”

Eliana Goldin, whom NPR identified as a Jewish undergraduate and leader of a pro-Israel group at Columbia, said “The word ‘intifada’ was only associated with death and terrorism and destruction. So ‘intifada’ still feels just as charged as if someone were to say Holocaust. Or if someone were to mention any sort of catastrophe that happened against a people that you consider yourself a part of.”

Schanzer, the former Treasury official, agreed. “When they’re calling for an ‘intifada,’ they’re calling for a violent uprising,” he said. “These are things we commonly associate with Hamas rhetoric.”

The next day, Oct. 8, while pockets of Hamas terrorists inside Israel’s borders were still killing, raping, and kidnapping civilians, the National Students for Justice in Palestine, which is controlled by the AMP, distributed a “Resistance Toolkit” that celebrated Hamas’ war crimes as “a historic win for the Palestinian resistance: Across land, air and sea, our people have broken down the artificial barriers” separating Gaza from Israel.

Adopting Bazian’s language about “actualiz[ing]” the creation of a Palestinian state, the toolkit continued to exalt Hamas: “Our people are actualizing revolution. Palestine will be liberated from the river to the sea.” By our people, it meant “our people back home” in Gaza.

Then the toolkit rationalized Hamas’ brutal terrorist tactics, arguing “there is no ‘right’ way for Palestinians to fight.” It added that the Israelis who were murdered were not “civilians” and that their “death falls solely on the zionist entity.”

The toolkit went on to praise the “ingenuity” of Hamas terrorists for capturing an Israeli bulldozer and using it “to breach the illegitimate border fence” and for “neutraliz[ing]” the barrier “in hours.”

“This action of resistance shatters the illusion of Israel as an impenetrable, indestructible entity,” the five-page document gushed while marveling at the “large-scale” battle marshaled by Hamas, which it noted was ongoing. “The resistance fighters are still launching new attacks into [Israel].”

Advocating further violence, the NSJP toolkit advised students that liberating Palestine “requires confrontation by any means necessary” — including “armed struggle,” not just slogans and rallies, which it asserted is “legitimate.” It provided templates of pro-Hamas graphics for student protesters to use for campus posters and other propaganda, including one depicting the Hamas terrorists paragliding into Israel to carry out their mass slaughter.

“We will also be having a ‘how to organize a protest,’ including roles, security, media training, and more, on the national call-in meeting on Oct. 9,” it advised.

In a chilling closing remark, NSJP confirmed it wasn’t just supporting from afar the Oct. 7 actions of Hamas – a specially designated terrorist organization – but was actually a “part” of its movement. “We as Palestinian students in exile are PART of this movement, not [just] in solidarity with this movement,” NSJP averred.

The group’s toolkit spread through dorm rooms across the country thanks to social media, and soon anti-Israel protests broke out at major universities using the tactics and propaganda suggested by NSJP. For example:

• Protesters at Tufts University called the terrorists “liberation fighters paragliding into occupied territory,” noting that Hamas had shown “the creativity necessary to take back stolen land.”

• The rabble at Columbia University blamed Israel for the terror attacks, justifying the murder of women and children as provoked by Israeli “oppression.” Demonstrators could be heard chanting support for their “friends and brothers in Hamas,” and actually called on the terrorists to attack Israel again. “Never forget the 7th of October,” some taunted Jewish students. “That will happen … 10,000 more times!” The Anti-Defamation League, moreover, recorded explicit support for terrorism and violence at the Columbia encampment on April 17, when one protestor declared: “We are Hamas,” while others chanted: “Al-Qassam [the name of Hamas’ military wing] you make us proud, kill another [Israeli] soldier now!”

• At several other colleges, SJP-influenced protests featured chants such as “Resistance is justified” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” reflecting the same anti-Israel propaganda distributed by the Berkeley chapter of SJP in the immediate aftermath of Oct. 7.

Such militancy is the culmination of decades of grooming by Bazian. In a speech at the 2011 AMP conference in Chicago, he predicted college campuses would be ground zero in the battle for the “Palestine movement.” “The university is going to be the frontline and the pro-Israelis know this,” Bazian said. To that end, AMP expanded its operations on college campuses by founding the National Students for Justice in Palestine to better organize and fund chapters and recruit pro-Palestinian activists.

Some FBI veterans who have investigated the Hamas network of front groups in America say hardcore Muslim leaders like Bazian are brainwashing students into thinking they are part of a heroic struggle for “freedom,” but are merely co-opting them for their own anti-Jewish holy war.

“Bazian and other Muslim organizers keep framing these campus protests as a ‘human-rights’ struggle, when it’s clearly just another front in their religious war,” said former special FBI counterterrorism agent John Guandolo. “This isn’t about freeing Gaza or protecting Palestinian civilians,” he added. “This is about Islam and their hatred of Jews and fulfilling their scriptural commands. This is jihad.”

By hiding the religious element, he said, Bazian has managed to create an army of anti-Israel radicals at several hundred campuses across the country, many of whom are not even Muslim. He says they are being used as proxies in Hamas’ jihad, or holy war, against their Islamic enemy: the Jews. “Bazian is a senior leader in the jihadi movement in America,” Guandolo said. “He’s not on campus for the Chick-fil-A.”

A federal lawsuit recently filed by Oct. 7 families against AMP and NSJP alleges they “are not innocent advocacy groups, but rather the propaganda arm of a terrorist organization operating in plain sight” and “provide ongoing, continuous, systematic and material support for Hamas.” Acting as “agents” of Hamas in America, it claims, they are central command for the pro-Hamas campus protests and pose a dangerous threat to Jews in America.

It is illegal to provide material support to Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization that was founded in 1988 in the Gaza Strip to establish an “Islamic Palestinian State that encompasses Israel, the West Bank and Gaza,” according to the 51-page internal FBI memo. Its covenants call for jihad to achieve the goal of destroying the Jewish state, while asserting this “armed struggle” against Jews is the duty of every Muslim. The FBI memo, written in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, noted that the Hamas leadership has launched several bloody “intifadas” targeting the Jewish people and told Palestinians they can “do whatever they want against the brothers of monkeys and pigs,” a phrase borrowed from the Muslim holy book the Quran to describe Jews.

In a previous statement, Bazian dismissed the lawsuit as “an Islamophobic text reeking in anti-Palestinian racism,” while his attorney Christy Jump insisted, “AMP operates fully within the laws of the United States.”

However, state and federal investigators are looking into whether Bazian’s AMP has crossed the line between legal activism and material support for terrorism. Virginia’s attorney general is investigating allegations AMP “may have used funds raised for impermissible purposes under state law, including benefiting or providing support to a terrorist organization,” referring to Hamas. AMP has denied the allegations and called them “defamatory.”

AMP’s troubles deepened last month when the House Oversight Committee launched a probe into AMP and its sister organization, the National Students for Justice in Palestine, over their allegedly “substantial ties to Hamas.” House investigators subpoenaed AMP for all documents and communications related to its funding of SJP’s college hubs and its support for Hamas and the Oct. 7 massacre. AMP was told to comply with the order by June 12. Asked if the nonprofit group would cooperate, Jump did not respond.

The federal lawsuit alleges AMP and NSJP are radicalizing students by exploiting their passions for “justice” and “human rights” in the Middle East, while hiding from them their religious extremism and true motive of targeting Jews in general.

“Through NSJP, AMP uses propaganda to intimidate, convince and recruit uninformed, misguided and impressionable college students to serve as foot soldiers for Hamas on campus and beyond,” according to the court filing. Part of their goal, it alleges, is to “establish an environment where violence against Jews could be construed as acceptable.”

Others worry they are grooming junior terrorists and that their mass movement across campuses, which is becoming increasingly violent, could end in armed confrontation on U.S. soil.

“When college students see that their marches and protests aren’t achieving their goals [of a ceasefire in Gaza and divestment from Israel], they may consider their next steps – which will be influenced by the company they have been keeping,” warned Steven Stalinsky, executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute in Washington, D.C.

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By Nick Pope
Daily Caller News Foundation

Two hardline climate activists defaced Stonehenge in the U.K. Wednesday in an act of protest, footage posted to social media shows.

Activists affiliated with the disruptive U.K.-based group Just Stop Oil sprayed the prehistoric monument with orange paint, presumably in an effort to draw attention to climate change, video of the incident uploaded to X — formerly known as Twitter —shows. Just Stop Oil is one of many similarly-styled confrontational organizations that receives funding from the Climate Emergency Fund (CEF), an American nonprofit that is itself funded by a number of wealthy American liberals.

The two protesters approached the monument and began spraying orange paint from pressurized containers loosely resembling fire extinguishers, the footage shows. Bystanders intervened and restrained the activists, but not before they had done a considerable amount of damage to Stonehenge.

BREAKING: Just Stop Oil Spray Stonehenge Orange

2 people took action the day before Summer Solstice, demanding the incoming government sign up to a legally binding treaty to phase out fossil fuels by 2030.

Help us take megalithic action — https://t.co/R20S8YQD1j pic.twitter.com/ufzO8ZiDWu

— Just Stop Oil (@JustStop_Oil) June 19, 2024

“The U.K.’s government in waiting has committed to enacting Just Stop Oil’s original demand of ‘no new oil and gas.’ However, we all know this is not enough. Continuing to burn coal, oil and gas will result in the death of millions. We have to come together to defend humanity or we risk everything,” Just Stop Oil said of the protest. “That’s why Just Stop Oil is demanding that our next government sign up to a legally binding treaty to phase out fossil fuels by 2030 … Stone circles can be found in every part of Europe showing how we’ve always cooperated across vast distances – we’re building on that legacy.”

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Located in southern England, Stonehenge is one of the most famous prehistoric monuments on the planet. The first pillars were erected during the Neolithic age some 5,000 years ago, according to English Heritage.

Just Stop Oil, meanwhile, has drawn considerable attention for similar stunts in the past, including blocking streets, disrupting major sporting events and attempting to vandalize the Magna Carta and other culturally significant items. However, the group’s tactics have occasionally drawn the ire of other citizens, including one group calling itself “Just Stop Pissing Everyone Off” that has effectively blocked Just Stop Oil demonstrations in the past.

CEF is the primary funder of the A22 network, an international coalition of similarly-confrontational climate activist groups that counts Just Stop Oil among its members, according to CEF’s website. Wealthy U.S. liberals — including the charitable foundation of oil heiress Aileen Getty, Abigail Disney, and Hollywood fixtures like Adam McKay and Jeremy Strong — are donors to CEF, according to CEF’s 2023 annual report.

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Benjamin Netanyahu

By Jake Smith
Daily Caller News Foundation

A reportedly angry White House canceled a high-level intelligence meeting with Israeli officials after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked the Biden administration for withholding military aid.

Netanyahu said in a statement on Tuesday that it was “inconceivable” that the Biden administration was stonewalling military aid shipments to Israel, given Israeli forces’ ongoing war efforts against Hamas in Gaza. President Joe Biden’s top advisers were furious over Netanyahu’s claims and decided to scrap the Thursday meeting, which would have involved crucial intelligence discussions with the State Department, Pentagon, U.S. intelligence agencies and their Israeli counterparts, according to Axios.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:

“When Secretary Blinken was recently here in Israel, we had a candid conversation, I said I deeply appreciated the support the U.S. has given Israel from the beginning of the war. pic.twitter.com/xq5iw1JzcU

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) June 18, 2024

Some Israeli officials were already on their way to Washington, D.C., when they heard the news, according to Axios. The decision to scrap the meeting was meant to send a punitive message to the Israeli government, two U.S. officials told Axios.

“This decision makes it clear that there are consequences for pulling such stunts,” one U.S. official told Axios.

Netanyahu claimed Tuesday that “for the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel.” It was previously confirmed in May by Biden administration officials that one high payload munitions package was being put on hold over fears that it could be used in Gaza and have disproportionate effects on the civilian population.

But Netanyahu’s claims were met publicly with confusion from the White House. Behind closed doors, officials in Biden’s orbit were stunned and enraged by Netanyahu’s claims.

“We genuinely do not know what he is talking about,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Tuesday.

The White House decided to take it a step further and tell the Israeli government that the Thursday meeting was not happening, which was relayed to Netanyahu by U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein in Israel on Tuesday, two Israeli officials briefed on the incident told Axios. Hochstein told Netanyahu that his claims were inaccurate and crossed a line with the Biden administration.

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“The Americans are fuming. [Netanyahu’s] video made a lot of damage,” one senior Israeli official told Axios.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan with still meet with his Israeli counterpart, and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is scheduled for meetings in Washington next week, according to Axios.

The relationship between the Biden administration and the Israeli government — particularly with Biden and Netanyahu — has grown increasingly tense in recent months over disagreements with how the war in Gaza should be carried out. Biden has long pressured the Israelis to curtail their military operations and commit to a permanent ceasefire, but Netanyahu has said a ceasefire can only be reached once Hamas — which has refused multiple ceasefire deals itself — is fully defeated.

In phone calls, Biden and Netanyahu have openly aired their grievances and thoughts on the war. In some calls Biden appeared confused or upset with Netanyahu’s plans — in one call, Biden hung up the phone out of anger.

Netanyahu is scheduled to address a joint session of Congress on July 24. It is unclear whether he will meet with Biden in person while in Washington.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky (Photo: Flickr/Gage Skidmore)

[Editor's note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]

By Hudson Crozier
The Daily Signal

Sen. Rand Paul said Tuesday the Justice Department’s refusing his requests for a perjury investigation into former federal health official Dr. Anthony Fauci is proof of a two-tiered justice system following a Senate hearing on the origins of COVID-19.

Paul, R-Ky., told The Daily Signal on Tuesday that it’s “disappointing” to see no action taken almost three years after he began demanding such a probe. His accusations stem from the former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director’s testimony to Congress about U.S.-funded virus research in China, a central topic of Tuesday’s hearing.

Fauci testified in May 2021 that his agency never funded risky “gain-of-function” experiments at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, but Paul has repeatedly highlighted records and emails suggesting otherwise.

“If you happened to walk in the Capitol on Jan. 6, [2021], you might get 10 years in prison,” Paul said. “But if you’re responsible for funding research that led to a pandemic and killed 15 million people, and then you lied about it to Congress, then nothing happens to you.”

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Paul filed a criminal referral against Fauci in July 2021 and again in July 2023 over the perjury claims. The Kentucky lawmaker told The Daily Signal that the lack of a response from federal prosecutors indicates America has “two standards of justice.”

Paul added: “In some ways, I’m very disappointed, but it’s not that I don’t expect it.” The senator blamed President Joe Biden’s attorney general, Merrick Garland, whom he said is “probably the most partisan attorney general in our history.”

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., confronts Dr. Anthony Fauci in a Senate hearing June 16, 2022.

Fauci did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Paul’s allegations.

Paul made the remarks shortly after virology experts testified to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The committee’s four witnesses gave varying narratives on whether COVID-19 was the result of a Wuhan lab accident or if it arose naturally among animals.

Paul said in an opening statement that Fauci and his “inner circle” acknowledged the likelihood of a lab leak in private messages that were released through litigation. “Despite these private doubts, publicly, these so-called experts and their allies were dismissing the lab-leak theory as a conspiracy,” he said.

Paul also told The Daily Signal last month that Fauci “could be indicted” for deleting emails about COVID-19’s origins to circumvent public records law.

Fauci has claimed the U.S.-funded research suspected to have caused the leak, conducted through the EcoHealth Alliance, was not technically the “gain-of-function” research lawmakers have asked him about. He testified to a House panel earlier this month that the experiments didn’t fit “the regulatory and operative definition.”

That contradicted previous testimony from National Institutes of Health Principal Deputy Director Lawrence Tabak, who said Fauci’s agency did, in fact, fund gain-of-function experiments at the high-risk Wuhan lab before the COVID-19 pandemic.

[Editor's note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]

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By Nick Pope
Daily Caller News Foundation

The Biden administration finalized rules governing subsidies in its signature climate bill Tuesday that figure to be a major victory for labor unions.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Treasury Department finalized prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements for certain incentives contained in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a massive climate bill that President Joe Biden signed into law in August 2022. While the administration characterizes the rules as a win for blue-collar workers, they will more likely give a significant advantage to labor unions — typically stalwart supporters of the Democratic Party — and drive up costs of IRA-backed projects that are already increasing, according to infrastructure policy experts and industry stakeholders.

“If the Biden administration’s goal is to undermine taxpayer investments in the construction of critical clean energy infrastructure funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, this final rule is a wild success,” Ben Brubeck, the vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs for the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), said of the policies announced Tuesday. “This bold weaponization of the IRS and end-run around Congress in an attempt to steer clean energy construction contracts to unionized labor and contractors — key election-year donors — by incentivizing private developers to require inflationary and exclusionary project labor agreements should be extremely concerning for taxpayers and clean energy advocates.”

Union Manager Details Why Members Are ‘Fed Up’ With Biden Policies, Says Trump Has Chancehttps://t.co/smoBHG8tjX

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) April 28, 2024

Specifically, the new rules require private developers of certain IRA-funded projects to abide by project labor agreements (PLAs), as well as pay the prevailing wage and offer apprenticeships to access lucrative IRA tax credits, according to the IRS. Developers could choose to not follow the standards, but doing so would disqualify them from reaping bigger subsidies on the table.

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A PLA is effectively a collective bargaining agreement for the construction industry, according to the Department of Labor, while the prevailing wage is “the average wage paid to similarly employed workers in a specific occupation in the area of intended employment,” according to the Labor Department’s Employment and Training Administration.

“Meeting strong labor standards and building partnerships with unions will now be the norm for clean energy projects,” John Podesta, one of the top climate officials in the Biden administration, said of the new rules. “Today’s final rules give clarity and certainty to developers and the workers they employ that clean energy jobs will be good jobs.”

Meanwhile, the Biden administration is also imposing requirements for  IRA-backed green energy projects that employ at least four laborers to also hire one or more registered apprentices to work on job sites in order to get the biggest tax break, according to the IRS. Additionally, those apprentices must put in at least 15% of the total work hours for covered projects that start construction this year and beyond in order to get the maximum subsidy.

“These rules definitely subsidize unionized workers, who are a tiny fraction of the American workforce, which is made up of about 168 million jobs,” Diana Furchtgott-Roth, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “So, a subset of workers get to benefit from additional subsidies, but many others will continue to face more difficulties.”

Critics of the rules point out that most American construction workers are not unionized — ABC estimates that only about 10% were in 2023 — and that these rules will heavily shift the playing field in favor of the small minority of organized laborers, delaying construction and dissuading competitive bids. The rules are also being put in place at a time when the U.S. faces a construction laborer shortage of about 500,000 workers, according to a recent analysis conducted by ABC.

While ABC and several other trade associations involved in construction have been sharply critical of the policies, pro-organized labor groups and labor unions —  including some that are primed to be major supporters of Biden’s reelection bid — have taken the opposite tack.

“One of the greatest promises of the Inflation Reduction Act is that it will create and maintain good-paying, union jobs in the clean economy, while building inclusive pathways into the highest quality training for lifelong careers in construction,” Jason Walsh, president of the BlueGreen Alliance, which has already endorsed Biden’s 2024 campaign, said in a statement. “With this rule we are seeing how that promise will come to fruition.

Neither the IRS nor the Treasury Department responded immediately to requests for comment.

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Willie Mays

(FOX NEWS) -- MLB legend Willie Mays, the "Say Hey Kid," died Tuesday afternoon, the San Francisco Giants announced.

Mays was 93 years old.

The greatest catch in baseball history.

Rest In Peace Willie Mays pic.twitter.com/mjeygZXJ1B

— Baseball Quotes (@BaseballQuotes1) June 19, 2024

"It is with great sadness that we announce that San Francisco Giants Legend and Hall of Famer Willie Mays passed away peacefully this afternoon at the age of 93," the Giants said in a statement.

Read the full story ›

By Jim Hoft
The Gateway Pundit

This is where we are right now as a country.

The Biden regime has sent two FBI agents to intimidate a nurse who exposed controversial practices at Texas Children’s Hospital.

Christopher Rufo recently shared on X, “The Biden Administration sent two FBI agents to intimidate a nurse who told the truth about the child sex-change program at Texas Children’s Hospital. The regime is mobilizing to threaten and imprison anyone who opposes ‘transgender medicine.’”

Writing for the City Journal, Rufo detailed the events that led to the FBI’s intimidating encounter with the nurse.

Vanessa Sivadge, a registered nurse at Texas Children’s Hospital, saw a dramatic rise in the number of “transgender children” treated at the hospital beginning in 2021.

These patients struggled with depression, anxiety, addiction, suicide attempts, physical abuse, and discomfort with puberty. However, instead of addressing these underlying psychological conditions, doctors at the hospital diagnosed them with “gender dysphoria” and assigned them to a regimen of “gender-affirming care.”

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When Sivadge voiced her concerns about this practice, she was visited by two FBI agents, Paul Nixon and David McBride, who told her she was a “person of interest” in an investigation targeting the whistleblower who had exposed the child sex-change program.

“They threatened me,” Sivadge told Rufo. “They promised they would make life difficult for me if I was trying to protect the leaker. They said I was ‘not safe’ at work and claimed that someone at my workplace had given my name to the FBI.”

WATCH:

This is where we are now: The Biden Administration sent two FBI agents to intimidate a nurse who told the truth about the child sex-change program at Texas Children’s Hospital. The regime is mobilizing to threaten and imprison anyone who opposes “transgender medicine.” pic.twitter.com/XbtZVnp5Kw

— Christopher F. Rufo (@realchrisrufo) June 18, 2024

More from City Journal:

Both the Department of Justice and the hospital leadership were ideologically committed to “transgender medicine.” They had been embarrassed by the investigation that had exposed their actions, and they were looking for revenge.

Things went quiet for a while afterward. Sivadge resumed her work as a nurse, and the FBI did not reappear.

Texas Children’s Hospital continued its sex-change program but focused instead on patients who had reached the legal age of 18. Sivadge saw the same terrible medical regimen being prescribed for these young adults: testosterone for girls, estrogen for boys, and referrals for specialty services. While Roberts and Paul had stopped providing sex-change procedures for minors, the gender clinic still overflowed with “transgender” teens.

Sivadge’s duties as a nurse included providing medication refills and working with doctors to provide parents with information about treatment plans, scheduling, and diagnostics. She worked with patients’ charts and saw their complex psychological diagnoses and the treatments administered by the doctors.

Then Sivadge noticed discrepancies in the paperwork. After the FBI visit, she followed some of the medical charts for these patients and came to believe that doctors might be violating the law.

Texas law prohibits hospitals from billing Medicaid for transgender procedures. However, Sivadge alleges that this was a standard practice at Texas Children’s Hospital. Several “transgender” patients were enrolled in Texas Children’s Health Plan STAR, a “no-cost Medicaid managed care plan.”

“The largest children’s hospital in the country is illegally billing Medicaid for transgender procedures,” Sivadge said. “It is evident that the hospital continues to believe it is above the law not just by concealing the existence of their transgender medicine program from the public, but by stealing from the federal government.”

This is not the first time that the Biden regime has used the FBI as its mafia.

In May 2023, Dr. Eithan Haim leaked the sex change documents to investigative reporter Christopher Rufo. Dr. Haim was careful not to disclose any patient information but the Biden DOJ indicted him on four felony counts related to HIPAA violations.

One day after Dr. Haim exposed the Texas Children’s Hospital, the Texas state legislature voted to ban transgender medical treatment and procedures on minors.

Dr. Haim was informed last year that he was under federal investigation for leaking documents to Christopher Rufo.

Last week, heavily armed agents showed up at Dr. Haim’s door and told him that he had been indicted with four felony charges.

“Had three heavily armed agents at my door 7AM Tuesday to inform me I was indicted with four felonies…for blowing the whistle about the largest children’s hospital in the world lying to the public about their transgender program,” Dr. Eithan Haim said on X.

On Monday, the Biden Regime unsealed the indictment against Dr. Haim. Dr. Haim was indicted on four felony counts. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 maximum fine.

READ:

Biden Regime Unseals Indictment Against Texas Doctor Who Blew Whistle on Sex Change Program at Texas Children’s Hospital – He is Facing Up to 10 Years in Prison!

This article originally appeared on The Gateway Pundit.com.

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(NEW YORK POST) -- He’s the Golden (Corral) boy!

A woman who said she didn’t know she was pregnant gave birth to health baby in a Golden Corral bathroom — then named her newborn son after the all-you-can-eat buffet.

Tayvia Woodfork said she started having stomach pains while out to dinner at the chain restaurant in North Little Rock on May 4.

Read the full story ›

Who thought at the time about the far-reaching implication of Bill Clinton's statement, "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is"?

He apparently thought he knew what a woman "is," but today legal authorities, even Supreme Court justices, and medical authorities say they do not. They may claim that genders are numerous and "fluid." Age-old methods of recognizing sex are tossed out in favor of subjective self-identification. And worse, people are being coerced into acting as if this identification is reality.

Discrimination used to concern observable, objective traits. Its initial meaning was to describe prejudicial treatment based upon race. Other categories like nationality, age, or disability have been added, but these were still based upon objective fixed traits. No one would claim that the delusional patient who claims to be a historical figure like Napoleon Bonaparte is being "discriminated" against because people refuse to treat him as if he were that long-dead person.

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Transgender activists and their acolytes, on the other hand, demand slavish deference to trans persons' perceptions. It is discriminatory and harmful, for example, to imply that a person who has just given birth is a woman and a mother despite the patient's proclaimed pronouns being he/him.

Mainstream medical associations are now demanding "evidence-based" treatments to "affirm" the delusion that a child is a person of a different gender, and to alter the body to mimic the preferred gender. New Biden administration rules require suitably qualified practitioners to render such treatments. Apparently, if a physician does mastectomies for cancer, he is legally required to do them for "affirmation."

State laws against puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgery on minors are being challenged by powerful transgender advocates, and courts generally side with transgenderism. Minors really cannot give "informed consent," but questions about this treatment do not go away after the 18th birthday is reached.

A declaration authored by the American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds) is garnering wide support. This declaration is a brave act by courageous physicians who dare to question the insane transgender narrative imposed by the powerful medical establishment. The declaration refers to selected scientific studies that, it states, contradict the studies cited by proponents of transgenderism. This tactic has been used before, as with COVID-19. There can be an endless string of arguments over the flaws of the studies cited by both sides. Ultimately, trangenderism ideologues are likely to prevail in a dispute based exclusively upon "science." They will succeed not because they are right; they will win because current political power asymmetry favors them. Most importantly, they have an advantage in winning scientific disputes (even when wrong) due to their extensive academic experience in responding to studies that challenge their conclusions.

Neither side is likely to concede because this is not a scientific argument, but essentially a religious one.

The one side believes that 1) God created man, male and female; 2) there is a universal divine Lawgiver; and 3) there are absolute moral principles, many of which are incorporated in the Oath of Hippocrates. Such precepts forbid harming individuals to serve an agenda.

The other side believes that 1) there is no God, or God is irrelevant; 2) the ultimate authority is Science; 3) morality and the law are determined by Science to serve the goals set by the authorities; and 4) religious people, especially Christians, are bigots opposed to enlightenment and to allowing oppressed and marginalized people to flourish.

The right wing thus holds that the divine order is good and immutable. It is harmful and thus forbidden to risk sterilizing a child, chemically or physically, or to mutilate his body. Any purported benefits reported in studies are psychological, probably short-term, and achieved by exploiting or manipulating patients and data. Horrible adverse effects are denied or downplayed, as are the consequences of radical societal change.

The left wing holds that the current societal order is unjust and inequitable, and should be destroyed. The Science holds the key to beneficial change. Science is a tool to be used in a results-oriented way (no need for replication or open criticism). Purported adverse effects are rare, mild, or fabricated, and worth it to achieve the collective goals.

The transgender ideology needs to be engaged on the philosophical/religious ground. If the premises are absurd (e.g., "being trapped in the wrong body") and the advocated methods (castrating and mutilating children) are immoral or criminal, then scores on psychological surveys and p-values are distractions and pretexts attempting to justify the indefensible.

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Last week, Pew Research Center reported on such differences. They write about those on the right: "Most Trump supporters (69%) would like the Bible to have at least some influence on the laws of the U.S., including 36% who say it should have 'a great deal' of influence."

As to those on the left, Pew writes, "About 7-in-10 Biden supporters (69%) say the Bible should have little or no influence on the laws of the U.S., including 53% who say it should have no influence."

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Gary Bauer, who served in the Reagan administration and now runs American Values, reacted to this survey: "Why does this matter? … [A]s we are seeing now with the absurd smears of 'Christian nationalism,' those who say the Bible should have no influence quickly morph their religious bigotry into the belief that Christians are 'a danger to democracy.'"

And Bauer adds, "Once again, pastors and Christians who say, 'I'm not interested in politics because it's divisive,' are sorely mistaken. The government and the neo-Marxist left are very interested in you!"

One key issue is: What is the source of our rights? God or government?

Rabbi Daniel Lapin, president of the American Alliance of Jews and Christians, told me once in a television interview: "There is obviously in today's society, a very strong desire to suggest that the rights enjoyed by citizens are graciously granted by government." And he went on to say that what the government grants, it can also take away.

The rabbi continued, "And it is precisely for that reason that anybody who spends the slightest amount of effort on finding out what the founders of the United States of America believed will know that they stressed and emphasized constantly and reliably, that these rights were from God. They were God given, not government given."

What did the founders of America have to say about such matters? How much influence should the Bible have on the nation's laws, if any?

Well, for starters, the Bible is the source of the notion of covenant, which ultimately gave rise to our governing document, the U.S. Constitution. And many scholars, like the late Dr. Donald S. Lutz, of the University of Houston, have noted the vital role of the biblical concept of covenant in helping to frame our two key founding documents, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution – both of which have the same structure: A written agreement under God that bears signatures.

Writes Lutz in his classic book, "The Origins of American Constitutionalism": "The American constitutional tradition derives in much of its form and content from the Judeo-Christian tradition as interpreted by the radical Protestant sects to which belonged so many of the original European settlers in British North America." And their chief guidebook was the Bible.

Lutz adds, "God is called on as a witness to the agreement. … Wherever dissenting Protestantism went, so too went their church covenants." And those church covenants eventually morphed into political agreements. The Mayflower Compact is one such example.

No wonder Newsweek wrote (Dec. 27, 1982), on the eve of the Year of the Bible: "Now historians are discovering that the Bible, perhaps even more than the Constitution, is our founding document: the source of the powerful myth of the United States as a special, sacred nation, a people called by God to establish a model society, a beacon to the world."

The Scriptures teach the sinfulness of man, so the founders carefully separated political power to avoid tyranny. As Alexander Hamilton, a New York representative at the Constitutional Convention, once noted on man's corrupt nature: "Till the millennium comes, in spite of all our boasted light and purification, hypocrisy and treachery will continue to be the most successful commodities in the political market."

Another point of the founders' view is that for self-rule to work, the people must be virtuous. How could they maintain virtue? Through the voluntary free exercise of religion, which usually meant Christianity in one version or another.

As George Washington famously worded it: "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports."

Lutz comments on how important the idea of virtue was to the founders of America, and, of course, the Bible was their basis for virtue: "Without the belief in a virtuous people, the federal republic would not have been tried."

It's amazing that millions of Americans today think that the Bible should have no place in influencing public policy. The Bible helped produce the freest and most prosperous country in world history. As President Andrew Jackson declared, "The Bible is the rock on which this Republic rests."

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More than half our country – 27 states – have sued to block this policy. Republican states seek to protect girls against this transgender invasion by biological boys, while Democrat politicians controlling the other 23 states promote the trans agenda.

California cities declare themselves to be sanctuaries for transgenders, and that state's legislature also recently voted to prohibit school district policies of informing parents when their own children try to switch genders. Misnamed the SAFETY Act, AB 1955 is so anti-parent that it would result in schools concealing children's gender confusion from their own parents.

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In five blue states this spring, biological boys won state championships by competing in girls' sports. Biden wants to extend this liberal madness nationwide by misinterpreting a 1972 law that was intended to protect girls against discrimination in schools: Title IX.

Title IX states, "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." By redefining "sex" to include students' changing views of their own gender, Biden bans any limits by public and charter schools on transgenders.

On Monday, federal Judge Danny C. Reeves in Kentucky held that Biden's new regulation is "arbitrary in the truest sense of the word," and he blocked it in that state plus Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. Last Friday another federal judge, in Louisiana, blocked Biden's regulation from being enforced in Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi and Montana.

The election of Donald Trump would shut down Biden's lawless push for the trans agenda in our public schools. Trump has campaigned on his commitment to protect girls' sports and locker rooms against boys who think or pretend they are girls.

In Boston, an all-Democrat panel of the 1st Circuit held on June 9 that 12-year-old Liam Morrison was properly prohibited by a public school from wearing a T-shirt that said, "There Are Only Two Genders." He was further prevented from wearing that same T-shirt with the words "Only Two" covered by a piece of tape on which was written "CENSORED," all of which the court held the school properly banned under its hate speech code.

But the Northeast and the West Coast do not have the final word on this issue. On June 11, a GOP-appointed federal judge in Fort Worth blocked Biden's transgender school policy for all of Texas.

Judge Reed O'Connor held that the Biden administration "lacks authority to redefine 'sex' in a way that conflicts with Title IX."

A federal judge in Louisiana, Terry Doughty, held that Biden's analysis wrongly focused on only the effect on transgender students, rather than girls who must then "use the bathroom, undress, and shower in the presence of persons who may identify as females but still have male biological parts." Biden's Department of Education "made no attempt to determine the effect on students having students who are biologically the opposite sex in their locker rooms and bathrooms."

Judge Doughty further held that "the DOE declared in the Final Rule, with no explanation, that transgender students do not pose a safety risk for cisgender students." The newly coined term for the vast majority of children, who are not transgendered, is to call them "cisgendered."

More good news came last week from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. Trump-appointed judges provided the 2-1 majority decision against Biden's pro-transgender policy for schools, as embodied in Biden's 2021 Title IX guidance.

This appellate decision protects 20 red states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and West Virginia. Additional states, including Florida, Utah and Wyoming, have filed lawsuits within their own jurisdictions.

Midwestern states, including Iowa and North Dakota, have sued in St. Louis within the conservative 8th Circuit, and other lawsuits including Texas and Virginia mentioned above round out the total of 27. Prior rulings by the more liberal 4th and 7th Circuits held that there is a transgender right of access to girls' restrooms under both Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution.

While some expect the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve the widening divide in our country on this issue, that Court remains unwilling to get involved. Instead, it will be the upcoming presidential election that determines whether gender-confused boys will invade schoolgirls' restrooms, locker rooms and sports competitions.

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But the change taking place among young voters is even more dramatic.

In the elections in 2016 and 2020, Donald Trump was soundly defeated among voters 18-29.

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In 2016, Hillary Clinton defeated Donald Trump among voters ages 18-29, 55% to 37%.

In 2020, Joe Biden defeated Trump in this same youth demographic, 60% to 36%.

However, a new Quinnipiac poll shows Trump leading Biden by 1 point among voters 18-34.

Per Gallup favorability/non-favorability ratings, in October 2020, prior to the election, 58% of those 18-34 rated Biden "favorable" against 38% who rated Trump "favorable."

However, in the same polling done by Gallup last month, Biden's favorability among those 18-34 was down to 33% and Trump's was up to 46%.

In early May, a New York Times/Philadelphia Inquirer/Siena College poll was done in six battleground states – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Among those 18-29, in response to the question, "If you had to decide between the two today, who would you lean more toward?" 43% said Biden and 46% said Trump.

Follow-up questions in this same poll give an idea of dissatisfaction among these young voters.

Regarding the economy, 91% of ages 18-29 rate it either fair or poor. And they favor Trump over Biden regarding confidence in fixing the economy 68% to 25%.

Regarding the political and economic system of the country, 62% said it needs "major changes," and 16% feel it should be "torn down entirely."

None of this is particularly surprising. What is surprising is our nation's youth are just waking up to the raw deal they are getting. They are inheriting a once uniquely great nation now heading into fiscal and social bankruptcy as a result of totally irresponsible management by the current and preceding generations.

Despite current polling showing the youth vote leaning to Trump, according to the same poll, still almost twice the percent of those voters ages 18-29 identify as Democrat, 27%, compared to Republican, 15%. However, 44% identify as Independent.

We need look no further than the nation's oldest and largest entitlement program, Social Security.

It is well publicized that the system is bankrupt. According to the latest Trustees Report, the system will be insolvent in the year 2035, with a shortfall of about 20%.

Yet all these youth, ages 18-29, are immediately forced to pay into this broken system with their very first paycheck, despite the cold fact that the funds are not there to pay them their benefits in full when they retire. In a private company, the management would be facing legal action.

Is it any wonder our youth are cynical about their country?

The Biden administration continues to spend and borrow like economic reality does not exist. According to the Congressional Budget Office, "If current laws governing revenues and spending go unchanged ... Debt held by the public would soar from 99% of GDP in 2024 to 166% of GDP in 2054 – exceeding any previously recorded level and on track to increase further."

Let's note that in 1980, this debt was less than 25% of GDP. At the end of 2008, just prior to the Obama presidency, it stood at 43.6%.

Larded down by big government and debt, CBO projects annual growth 2024 and onward at less than 2% per year. Growth averaged more than 3.5% annually from 1950 to 2000.

Can things be fixed? Of course, with principled, courageous leadership. Trillions in wasteful spending needs to be cut, and dinosaur government programs should be eliminated or privatized.

But the last place to look for leadership for any of this is the current administration in Washington, which loves growing the welfare state by mortgaging the future of our next generation.

It's time for change, and our young voters know it.

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This leads to a sobering realization.

Hamas boasting to their fellow Palestinians about what they did to Jews while the Nazis tried to hide what they did from fellow Germans means there is not only a moral difference between Hamas and the Nazis but a moral difference between the German people during the Nazi era and the Palestinian people today – and for nearly the last hundred years.

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Morally speaking, it would be difficult to name a less impressive people than the Palestinians over the past century. For those who do not understand that a generalization means, by definition, that there are exceptions, I should note that there are and have always been noble Palestinian individuals. But the cumulative Palestinian record of evil over the last century has few peers.

Let's begin in the 1940s.[1]

The leading Palestinian religious leader in the early 1940s, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, was a major supporter of the Nazis and their extermination campaign against the Jews. There is a famous photo of al-Husseini meeting with Hitler in Berlin on Nov. 28, 1941. As reported in the Holocaust Encyclopedia, "Al-Husseini pointed out that Germany alone recognized the global threat of the 'Jewish problem' and took steps to 'solve' it globally. ..."

The Encyclopedia further notes that "on Dec. 18, 1942, Arab emigres opened an 'Islamic Central Institute' (Islamische Zentral-Institut) in Berlin, with al-Husseini as a senior sponsor and keynote speaker. In his speech, al-Husseini lashed out at the Jews, stating that the Quran judged the Jews 'to be the most irreconcilable enemies of the Muslims.'"

The Haaretz newspaper – which is left-wing and rabidly anti-Benjamin Netanyahu – described al-Husseini as "the father of Palestinian nationalism."

In 1945, Yugoslavia sought to indict the father of Palestinian nationalism as a war criminal for recruiting 20,000 Muslim volunteers to join the Waffen-SS and participate in its extermination of the Jews of Croatia and Hungary.

All of that Nazi-like Palestinian anti-Semitism predates the establishment of the State of Israel.

Before describing decades of Palestinian butchery of Jews in Israel, it is also important to note the moral record of the Palestinian people with regard to fellow Arabs. The Palestinians came to be widely loathed in the Arab world for good reason: Wherever they went in large numbers, they created havoc.

On Sept. 6, 1970, Palestinian terrorists hijacked Trans World Airlines, Swissair and Pan Am airplanes. A few days later, they hijacked a British Overseas Airways Corporation (now "British Air") airliner. The Palestinian terrorists segregated the flight crews and Jewish passengers, keeping the 56 Jewish hostages in custody, while releasing the non-Jews. In total, five planes were hijacked, and three of them were landed at a desert airstrip in Jordan. These hijackings plus Palestinian violence in Jordanian cities led to a Jordanian-Palestinian civil war in September 1970, during which, according to the Palestinians, Jordan killed 25,000 Palestinians.

Seven months later, in April 1971, Yasser Arafat, the Palestinians' leader, called for the overthrow of Jordan's King Hussein. In November that same year, four members of the Black September terrorist group (which took its name from the Palestinians' September 1970 defeat in Jordan), assassinated Jordanian Prime Minister Wasfi Tal in Cairo. As reported in The New York Times, an "assassin kneeled beside his victim to lick his blood." A photo of a Palestinian assassin drinking (not merely licking) Tal's blood was widely published.

After destabilizing Jordan and losing the civil war they caused, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians went to Lebanon, where they quickly proceeded to ruin that country. Their love of violence and terror led to the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975, which lasted until 1990. That war led to an estimated 150,000 Lebanese killed, tens of thousands wounded, hundreds of thousands displaced and left destitute, and a decrease in the Christian population of Lebanon from 55% in 1970 to 35% in 2022.

Meanwhile, throughout Israel's history, Palestinians murdered Jews in Israel whenever possible, blowing up school and municipal buses filled with passengers, blowing up Passover Seders and weddings and pizza parlors full of families, and wherever else Jews were assembled. On a regular basis, they stabbed and shot to death Jews who were simply going about their daily business.

To cite a few of thousands of examples, on May 8, 1970, Palestinian terrorists crossed into Israel and carried out the Avivim school bus massacre, a bombing which killed 13 civilians, nine of whom were children, and injured 25 other children.

On May 22, 1970, Palestinians fired rocket-propelled grenades into an Israeli school bus, killing nine children and three adults and wounding 25.

On May 30, 1972, Japanese terrorists working on behalf of a Palestinian terror group murdered 26 and injured 80 passengers at Israel's international airport (then called Lod).

On May 15, 1974, Palestinians went to a school in Ma'alot, Israel, where they took hostage 105 high school students and more than 10 others. They eventually killed 25 of the hostages, including 22 students, and injured another 68.

On March 11, 1978, Palestinians hijacked a bus and murdered 38 Israeli civilians, including 13 children, and injured 76 more.

On Oct. 19, 1994, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in a bus during the morning rush hour in Tel Aviv, killing 22 people and injuring 50 more. Hamas claimed responsibility.

On March 2, 2002, a Palestinian suicide bomber killed 11 people and injured over 50 at a Saturday evening bar mitzvah celebration. The terrorist detonated the bomb next to a group of women waiting with their baby carriages for their husbands to leave the nearby synagogue.

On March 27, 2002, 30 people were killed and 140 injured in a Palestinian suicide bombing in a hotel in the coastal city of Netanya in the midst of the Passover seder with 250 guests.

On July 31, 2002, nine people were killed and 85 wounded when a bomb exploded in the student center cafeteria on the Hebrew University campus. Hamas claimed responsibility.

On Aug. 19, 2003, 23 people were killed and over 130 wounded when a Palestinian suicide bomber detonated himself on a bus in Jerusalem. Hamas claimed responsibility.

This brief list is nowhere near exhaustive.

According to the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, as of 2022, a majority of Palestinians support terror attacks against Israeli Jews. Moreover, the Palestinian Authority on the West Bank has been paying more than $300 million annually – about 8% of the Palestinian budget – to the families of imprisoned terrorists and of terrorists killed while engaging in an act of terror against Jews. Another Palestinian poll states that the vast majority of Palestinians in the West Bank – over 75% – support Hamas at this time.

The Palestinian people love killing Jews and have loved doing so for nearly a century. Palestinian women routinely pass out candy in the streets in celebration of terror attacks against Jews. Compare this to Israel, which has many human rights organizations holding Israel to account regarding its treatment of Palestinians. Compare this to Israelis, who for years had volunteered to drive Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza to receive medical treatment in Israeli hospitals.

To be "pro-Palestinian" today means being pro-Hamas just as to be "pro-German" during World War II was the same as being pro-Nazi. The only difference is that the Germans as a whole were a better people than the Palestinians. If you support the Palestinians, you should know whom you support.

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School's out for the summer, so now it is time to examine the state of our education system.

By any objective measure, our school performance is fair or poor for most children. Math scores hit a 20-year low. ACT scores dropped to a 30-year low last year. In dozens of schools throughout the country, not one child is reading or practicing math at grade-level proficiency. Not one!

Some of this poor performance is due to the unforgivable mistake of shutting down our schools during COVID-19 – despite children being less vulnerable to the virus.

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But our schools were in long-term decline before the pandemic.

One of the world's top education scholars, Eric Hanushek, recently issued a report on the 40-year anniversary of the famous federal study published in 1983 called "A Nation at Risk." That study famously warned that "if an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war."

But tragically, nobody listened or paid attention to the warning. The unions kept pushing for more money with no accountability. Schools were turned into social welfare agencies instead of factories for learning. So they started to pursue both missions – poorly. In more recent years, educators decided their job was to teach about social justice, climate change radicalism, LGBTQ issues and "systemic racism."

In many public schools, patriotism and love of country gave way to a "blame America first" narrative.

Math, reading and science took a backseat.

But the taxpayer money poured in as if from a firehouse. Hanushek notes that, adjusted for inflation, per-pupil spending since 1960 quadrupled. Since 1980 the funding per student has doubled.

Yet over the past several decades, there isn't much evidence of improvement (if any). In most school districts, the reverse is true.

The feds have kicked in hundreds of billions too. Yet there is virtually no evidence that Uncle Sam's spending has added much value. Mostly it's added more red tape. Test scores haven't budged.

Still, President Joe Biden's plan is to spend hundreds of billions more – mostly because the teacher unions are the strongest force in the modern Democratic Party. Unions. Not parents.

Finally, after 40 years of failure, parents are taking notice and taking action. The parental choice movement is gaining steam – especially in red states. Some 13 states in the last two years have added programs to allow education dollars to follow the kids – that means lower-income parents are provided the funding to send their kids to charter schools, Catholic schools or other alternatives.

This should hopefully provide incentives for the public schools to compete and improve.

One of Hanushek's key conclusions provides some glimmer of hope. He finds "some evidence that spending more money can improve student learning in public schools." But he adds conditionally that the dollars need to be tied to "rewarding performance."

For example, incentivizing teacher excellence through pay for performance and getting rid of bad teachers – by eliminating or reforming tenure – can improve schools and throw a lifeline to kids.

Here's the problem: the teacher unions are adamantly opposed to anyone measuring THEIR performance.

They can grade the students, but no one dares to grade the teachers.

Back in 1983, the warning was that our schools had slipped into a cesspool of "mediocrity." Here we are over 40 years later, and in too many cities and states, mediocrity would be a vast improvement.

Reforms are coming – but will they get here soon enough? We certainly can't wait another 40 years.

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The Biden administration doesn't care. They want to spend more.

Already they are spending so much that they're increasing our debt by a trillion dollars every 100 days.

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President Donald Trump was no better. His administration increased our debt by almost $8 trillion.

This will not end well.

Last year, we hit a new ugly milestone: Americans must pay $1 trillion per year just for interest on our debt.

That's more than we spend on defense – on infrastructure, education, poverty programs ... everything, but Social Security and Medicare.

If we didn't waste these trillion dollars on interest, we could give $3,000 tax cuts to every man, woman and child to use as they please.

Worse, America's spending growth is unsustainable. You can stretch a rubber band farther and farther, but eventually, it will break.

This column has reported on the politicians' irresponsibility for a long time.

In 2019, I complained that our debt increased by a trillion dollars every year. But now, it's 3 trillion!

In 2023, the ratings agency Fitch was criticized for downgrading U.S. government debt. But a few months later, Moody's Investor Service lowered its outlook from "stable" to "negative," saying America's "fiscal deficits will remain very large, significantly weakening debt affordability."

No one knows which straw will break the camel's back.

In the past, politicians at least talked about our debt problem.

President Bill Clinton said, "We've got to deal with this big long-term debt problem, or it will deal with us."

President Barack Obama said not dealing with it is "irresponsible."

Trump said, "We've got to get rid of the $19 trillion in debt."

But not one of them did anything about it.

Now they lie about it. President Joe Biden said, "We literally cut the federal debt in half."

This is absurd. When he took office, our debt was $26.9 trillion. Now it's $34.8 trillion.

Part of the problem is that Biden staffers listen to advocates of '"Modern Monetary Theory" – the ridiculous idea that the U.S., because it prints its own currency, can spend even more.

"There's nothing to prevent the federal government," says Stephanie Kelter, Sen. Bernie Sanders' economic adviser, "from creating as much money as it wants to and paying it to someone."

This is crazy. Look what's happened to countries that tried it.

After World War I, the German government couldn't afford its reparation payments, so it printed more money. That led to 300% inflation and created anger that set the stage for Hitler.

Similar hyperinflation wrecked lives in Argentina, Zimbabwe and, most recently, Venezuela.

People work their whole lives to build savings; politicians steal it through inflation.

Today, silly people like Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren say we can "fix" our deficit by taxing the rich.

Since the stock market's risen almost 30,000 points in 15 years, there are a lot of absurdly rich people around.

"Pay your fair share," shouts Warren.

But rich people already pay a bigger share, and raising taxes on the rich wouldn't even get us out of the mess we're in.

First, many wouldn't pay. They'd move abroad or invest abroad or spend even more on tax lawyers to slime around the rules.

Even if they didn't, there aren't enough rich people to tax to compensate for what our politicians spend. If Warren were able to grab all billionaires' wealth, that would only cover about a seventh of our debt.

The only solution is to address what causes the debt in the first place: excessive government spending.

It shouldn't be so hard. Politicians don't even need to stop spending more. They don't need to balance the budget.

They just need to limit spending increases to about 4%, just below America's average yearly economic growth. Then we could grow our way out of our debt burden.

But our politicians won't even do that.

They don't even talk about debt.

They are irresponsible cowards.

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When Congress recently voted to find Merrick Garland, Joe Biden's pick for attorney general, in contempt, there was little surprise that the Department of Justice refused to pursue a case.

Or that Garland claimed he was in the right all along, with his claim, "We investigate and prosecute violations of federal law – nothing more, nothing less."

Now it has been revealed that Garland and the DOJ also refused to prosecute a man who threatened the family of U.S. Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind.  And Banks wants to know why.

The Washington Examiner said Banks had written to Garland, demanding information.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland

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"When Capitol Police referred the criminal case against Aaron Thompson to the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana, they declined to prosecute despite clear evidence that Thompson violated federal law," Banks told him.

So what was involved in the decision not to pursue charges against "a man who left threatening voicemails" for Banks' family?

Banks had written the letter months ago, but released it after Garland posted an op-ed in which he made his claim about prosecuting violations of federal law, "nothing less."

Banks' letter included, "I have no doubt that you, as a husband and father yourself, would do anything to protect your family, but I want to know why you have refused to protect mine."

Among the threats, according to the report, was, "Here’s the choice. Your daughters grow up without their dad or you grow old without your daughters … boom, boom you pick…"

Thompson was prosecuted only by a local district attorney for threats, pleaded guilty and claimed he was intoxicated at the time. Ordinarily, federal prosecutors would handle a threat against Congress, as that's a federal offense.

The House just days ago voted to hold Garland in contempt of Congress, on a 216-207 vote.

Today the U.S. House voted to hold AG Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to hand over audio related to Biden’s mishandling of classified documents. He is accused of covering up & shielding Biden from criticism.pic.twitter.com/xvlM89RAeu

— WorldNetDaily (@worldnetdaily) June 12, 2024

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Joe Biden has been described, during his time in the White House, as opening America's southern border and inviting in millions of illegal aliens.

That characterization is because he canceled a long list of border security measures implemented by President Donald Trump, and then made it clear around the world that there would be help for those who reached the border.

Now, in an election year, he's doubling down.

He's announced new legal protections and an easier path to citizenship for illegals. And immigrants married to U.S. citizens now no longer have to return to their home country.

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It's all prompted members of the GOP to accuse Biden of "inviting" more illegals into America.

''This Biden Amnesty is a direct attack on American democracy," said former President Trump.

"This Biden Amnesty is a direct attack on American democracy." - President Trump.⁰

Watch our complete coverage of President Trump's Speech here: https://t.co/lb1q4YDAJT pic.twitter.com/BHedxQWihr

— Real America's Voice (RAV) (@RealAmVoice) June 18, 2024

The Washington Examiner noted Biden's scheme "will undoubtedly lead to a greater surge in migrant crime, cost taxpayers millions of dollars they cannot afford, overwhelm public services, and steal Social Security and Medicare benefits from American seniors to fund benefits for illegals."

That was the description from Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the Trump campaign.

Former Trump adviser Stephen Miller even suggested impeachment might be appropriate.

And NumbersUSA, which lobbies for better immigration policy, said it simply is unconstitutional.

The Gateway Pundit turned blunt in its report.

"Joe Biden on Tuesday announced mass amnesty for at least 500,000 illegal aliens (the number is likely much higher). According to Trump advisor and America First Legal founder Stephen Miller, 'Biden’s unconstitutional amnesty will give illegal aliens immediate green cards (making it easier to vote illegally) and a three-year path to citizenship (giving them full voting rights).'"

He continued, "It also includes a diploma mill provision: leftists and opportunistic corporations can churn out meaningless diplomas and illegals who receive them will be made into citizens as well. Once citizens, illegals get chain migration. So all their relatives become citizens too."

The report noted, "As usual, what’s left of Biden’s brain melted in real-time during his remarks."

Biden — who has imported MILLIONS OF UNVETTED ILLEGALS into our communities via his OPEN BORDER — now claims "every nation must secure its borders."

He's about to unilaterally provide MASS AMNESTY to a million illegal aliens. pic.twitter.com/G7XREEsbtC

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 18, 2024

BIDEN (malfunctioning): "...homeland security secretary, uhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhhuhuhuh" pic.twitter.com/7ubWXbDqrf

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 18, 2024

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Virginia Gamba, special representative of the U.N. secretary-general for children and armed conflict, briefs reporters at U.N. headquarters on Thursday, June 13, 2024.

(JNS) -- The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Jewish state’s mission to the United Nations reacted harshly to a U.N. official’s claim that a limited word count was responsible for the exclusion of Hamas’s usage of human shields from a controversial blacklist that included Israel.

Virginia Gamba, special representative to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres for children and armed conflict, briefed reporters last Thursday about the annual Children and Armed Conflict report, which is also known as the “list of shame.”

JNS asked Gamba why the report she compiled contained only one sentence on Hamas’s use of human shields, which is central to the terrorist group’s military strategy and to understanding the casualty toll of Gazan children in Israel’s war against Hamas.

Read the full story ›

(JNS) -- U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), a member of the progressive congressional “Squad,” tried to bolster his image among Jews by soliciting “pics of us” from a rabbi, a screenshot of a spring 2022 text exchange provided to Jewish Insider reveals.

The representative, one of the most vocal in condemning Israel even before the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks in southern Israel, had requested via text: “Do you have pics of us? So I can show the world I’m friends with Jewish people.” Jewish Insider has kept the rabbi’s name private at his request.

Rather than provide an image, he deflected, saying, “‘Oh, I’m sure you guys have it. Don’t worry about it,’” wrote the Jewish Insider.

Read the full story ›

Tucker Carlson

How do you know American politics is dominated by a uniparty that seeks to oppress you? Because both sides oppose free speech. Glenn Greenwald explains.#PaidPartnership pic.twitter.com/p5cOJLiGsN

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) June 18, 2024

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By Jake Smith
Daily Caller News Foundation

The Biden administration’s Gaza aid pier could be dismantled months earlier than expected amid a series of growing problems, according to the New York Times.

The Biden administration initially hoped that the pier, meant to serve as a causeway for aid delivery to Gaza via a maritime corridor, would survive elemental conditions until at least September, before the seasonal sea conditions become too turbulent, the NYT reported. But a string of logistical and weather problems have plagued the pier since it was built in mid-May, and now U.S. defense officials are warning aid groups that it may be shuttered permanently by as soon as next month.

If closed by that point, the pier will have likely experienced little success in its goal of getting aid to the Palestinians; it has only been operational for roughly 10 days in the month since it was constructed, according to the NYT.

Exclusive video of Biden’s shoddy Gaza Pier (before it broke into pieces): pic.twitter.com/Xqyqjt7Ru4

— Kristina Wong (@kristina_wong) June 14, 2024

“Supplies from the pier aren’t flowing to Palestinians, and never really have,” Stephen Semler, a national security expert at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, wrote in an essay last week. “The reality is that the [pier] is not working, at least not for Palestinians.”

The Mediterranean’s choppy sea conditions and high winds have rattled the pier, routinely grinding operations to a halt. In one case, a stint of bad weather in late May broke the pier apart completely and sent it floating away, forcing officials to tow it northbound toward Israel for repairs. The pier was re-anchored to the shores of Gaza on June 7, but the United Nations’ World Food Program stopped delivering from the pier two days later, citing security concerns.

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Less than a week later, the pier was detached from the shores again and brought back northward to avoid another round of bad weather.

“They did have weather-related issues. They had to dismantle it for the safety of everybody involved.  But I honestly don’t know what the new status is,” White House National Security spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday.

Even with a $230 million price tag, the pier was hastily built — President Joe Biden only told the Pentagon his plans days before he announced it in March — and never meant to withstand the conditions of the Mediterranean. The pier can only be operated during “sea state three” levels, meaning shorter and moderate waves. The Mediterranean is routinely at a “sea state level four” with higher waves typically between three and five feet.

Aid officials say the pier has failed in its goal of delivering between 150 truckloads of aid per day to the Palestinians, instead only hitting the equivalent of about seven truckloads per day, according to the NYT.

“The volume is negligible,” J. Stephen Morrison, director of the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the NYT. “And the seas are just going to get rougher and rougher.”

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By Sarah Katherine Sisk
Daily Caller News Foundation

A growing number of Democrats are softening their stance on the concept of marital infidelity, a new survey reveals.

In 2000, 85% of Republicans and 77% of Democrats found sex with someone other than your spouse to be “always wrong,” according to data from the General Social Survey (GSS), the leading barometer for Americans’ views on social issues. As of 2022, 84% of Republicans have maintained their view on the matter, while Democrats have seen a 17% decrease, with 60% remaining unchanged. 

Democrats are 23% more likely to report cheating on their spouse, according to a study from the Institute for Family Studies (IFS).

The rise of open relationships, also known as polyamory, has contributed to an increased partisan divide over marital fidelity, according to IFS. Polyamorists believe in the practice of maintaining intimate relationships with multiple partners simultaneously.

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Due to their left-wing views on sex and gender, Democrats are more likely to support polyamory, which is “advertised as maximizing personal choice and sexual fulfillment, two core progressive values,” according to IFS.

“The main difference is that a driving philosophy of polyamory is to use your jealousy for self-growth. Jealousy is not a reason to make your partner stop something, it’s a reason to figure out why you felt this emotion in the first place,” according to Polyamory For Us.

Scott from @NaughtyGym talks about experiencing jealousy in the past, but now he loves seeing April receive attention from others, even The Rock. #Polyamory #swingers #sexpositive #bodypositive #nonmonogamy #CNM #ENM #ConsentIsSexy #lifestyle #swinglifestyle pic.twitter.com/sWEpFNPwIl

— Open: a Journey through Love (@SwingTroverts) September 14, 2023

A slight majority of people under the age of 30 say that an open marriage is acceptable, according to a  2023 Pew poll. Married adults and adults who have been married are more likely to say open marriages are unacceptable, while adults who are unmarried but living with their partner are most likely to find open marriages acceptable.

People who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual are more likely to find open marriage permissible than their straight counterparts, according to Pew.

The GSS 2022 Cross-section survey is a multi-mode study of adults 18 or older living in non-institutional housing at the time of interviewing. Respondents participated in either an in-person interview, a self-administered internet questionnaire or telephone interview.

The survey resulted in 4,149 completed responses from respondents.

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U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.

[Editor's note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]

By Elizabeth Troutman
The Daily Signal

Sen. Josh Hawley on Tuesday accused one of the scientists behind the assertion that the COVID-19 virus was not grown in a lab of “shameful propaganda” at an “Origins of COVID-19″ hearing.

“You should have done better, and because you didn’t, people have suffered,” the Missouri Republican said to Robert Garry.

Hawley said people have lost their jobs and social standing because of the “propaganda article” of Garry, one of the five authors of the March 2020 opinion paper on “The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2,” published in the scientific journal Nature Medicine.

“It is wrong to censor and lie to the American public,” the Missouri lawmaker said. “It is wrong to withhold critical information from them.”

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Garry is a professor of microbiology and immunology, and associate dean for biomedical sciences at Tulane School of Medicine in New Orleans.

“As a scientist who is supposed to follow facts, do you regret that your work was used to censor your fellow scientists and ordinary Americans who asked questions about the virus?” Hawley asked Garry.

Garry responded that scientists are not responsible for their articles after they are published.

“All we did was write a paper,” he said.

“It’s been one of the most scrutinized papers in history,” he said. “It’s held up very well. It wasn’t an attempt to distort things and to mislead the American public. It was just a paper.”

The Missouri senator accused Garry of lying about the intelligence community coming to the conclusion that the virus did not originate from a lab.

“That is a lie,” Hawley said. “The intelligence community did not come to that conclusion. Multiple intelligence community agencies and components have concluded it was likely a lab leak, and they concluded at the same time you and your people were propagandizing the American public.”

“I am not going to sit here and allow you to lie any further,” he continued. “You have disgracefully participated in shameful propaganda that has been one of the worst chapters in American history with the country propagandizing its own people.”

Garry agreed that there is more to learn from the intelligence community.

“All agencies should come forth with more information,” he said.

The hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee aimed to identify the truth about where the coronavirus came from, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said.

Agencies and officials withheld information about the COVID-19 virus from the American public, Paul said in his opening remarks.

“Privately, they were saying one thing,” Paul said. “Publicly, they were saying another. Media pundits parroted the narrative, while social media platforms censored discussion about the lab leak, labeling it as misinformation and stifling open discourse about the virus’s origins.”

Molecular biologist Richard Ebright called the paper “fraudulent.”

“I would tell a younger scientist that you do not state a conclusion without evidence, even in an opinion piece in a scientific journal,” Ebright said. “And you never, under any circumstances in a scientific journal, state conclusions that you know to be unsound. That represents scientific misconduct.”

[Editor's note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]

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[Editor's note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]

By Jarrett Stepman
The Daily Signal

A bipartisan group of 13 senators unveiled legislation Tuesday to protect victims of digitally altered “revenge pornography.”

Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., are sponsoring the Take It Down Act to crack down on the practice of using artificial intelligence tools to create so-called deepfake pornography depicting other people.

“In recent years, we’ve witnessed a stunning increase in exploitative sexual material online, largely due to bad actors taking advantage of newer technologies like generative artificial intelligence,” Cruz said in a written statement. “Many women and girls are forever harmed by these crimes, having to live with being victimized again and again.”

Although “some states provide legal remedies for victims of nonconsensual intimate imagery,” Cruz said, it would help to create a uniform, federal law to aid in “removing and prosecuting the publication of nonconsensual intimate images nationwide.”

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The Texas Republican said the bill would “empower all victims of this heinous crime.”

Emma Waters, a research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, explained how the deepfake videos work.

“These AI-generated photos and videos, dubbed ‘deepfakes,’ can be produced in a matter of minutes on a multitude of apps and websites,” Waters wrote. “The technology is simple. Anyone can use ‘face swap’ on ready-to-use apps, such as DeepSwap and FaceSwapper, to place someone else’s likeness in a sexually explicit photo or video.”

The Cruz-Klobuchar bill wouldn’t just go after creators of deepfake pornography; it would force websites that publish the material to take it down within 48 hours once notified.

A one-page explanation of the legislation lays out four points about what it would and wouldn’t do.

The bill would criminalize publication of such videos without consent, protect “good faith disclosure” of the videos to law enforcement, require websites to remove the offending material, and is “narrowly tailored” to punish criminal acts without “chilling lawful speech.”

A similar bill was introduced in the Senate by Majority Whip Dick Durbin, but Cruz and Klobuchar have criticized that measure for being too broad in scope.

The Hill quoted Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., one of the senators endorsing the Take It Down Act, as saying that Durbin’s bill would “stifle American technological innovation.”

[Editor's note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]

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By Jason Cohen
Daily Caller News Foundation

Dr. Anthony Fauci on Tuesday lamented that Americans were not appreciative of how he managed the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fauci, who was formerly the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), touted efforts to make COVID-19 vaccine resisters’ lives more challenging during a 2020 interview, including banning unvaccinated people from attending college and getting jobs at large corporation. The former NIAID director said on “Morning Joe” that it is really “frustrating” for him to receive backlash as he believes he was doing his best to handle the pandemic as the science changed.

WATCH:

Fauci Complains It’s ‘Terribly Frustrating’ Americans ‘Don’t Appreciate’ How He Managed COVID-19 pic.twitter.com/aLDDOPfcAo

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 18, 2024

“It is quite frustrating, Joe,” Fauci told host Joe Scarborough. “People really don’t appreciate. I don’t blame them for that, but they don’t appreciate that we were dealing with a moving target. When we were saying things in the beginning, wear a mask or not, how the virus is spread. I mean, originally it was felt, understandably, but incorrectly, by the CDC that it spread by the same way that flu is spread … mostly by droplets, when in fact most of the transmission is not only by  droplets but by aerosol, but also 50-60% of the people who transmit it have no symptoms at all.”

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“We didn’t know that at the beginning. It was a changing, moving target. Was it frustrating? It was terribly frustrating because people like to take things out of context and do a gotcha. That’s part of the reporting process. and I accept that. That’s the world we live in. But it certainly is frustrating,” Fauci concluded, with Scarborough telling him how much he appreciates the former NIAID director.

Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene during a recent hearing refused to call Fauci a doctor when he testified to the House Oversight Committee. She opted to call him “mister” instead and asserted he “does not deserve to have a license … and he belongs in prison.”

Greene brought up how Fauci’s NIAID  directed $424,455 to researchers at the University of Georgia in September 2020 to infect dozens of beagles with disease-causing parasites to test an experimental drug, according to documents obtained by White Coat Waste Project (WCW) and reviewed by the Daily Caller.

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A new survey, the 2024 British Social Attitudes assessment, has discovered a stunning plunge in support by the public for the transgender ideology, those beliefs that claim that men can become women, or vice versa, by simply declaring the change.

The Christian Institute notes that the new results, compared to 2019, show "twice as many Brits say those who claim to be the opposite sex should not be allowed to change their sex on their birth certificate."

Further, the report said, "There has also been a 14-percentage point rise since 2021 in those who say trans rights have 'gone too far.'"

Asked, in 2019, whether "a person who is transgender should be able to have the sex recorded on their birth certificate changed if they want?' 24% said no. In the latest survey, that figure is 50%.

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"When participants were asked about 'attempts to give equal opportunities' to those who claim to be the opposite sex, 47% said they had 'gone too far,' up from 33% in 2021," the report said.

The National Centre for Social Research said its report confirmed "substantial changes" in attitudes about the alternative social and sexual lifestyle choices.

Simon Calvert, of the institute, said, "The growing public disquiet over allowing those who claim to be the opposite sex to change their birth certificates has happened during a period when trans activism has become increasingly aggressive."

A poll from last year showed U.K. support for the pro-trans measures is among the lowest in the world, beaten to the bottom in the category only by the U.S.

The Daily Mail noted, Fiona McAnena, of women's rights group Sex Matters, praised the findings, with, "This huge swing in opinion is down to the fact that the more the public understand the real-world impact of pretending that people can change sex, the less they like it."

Under the U.K.'s Gender Recognition Act, people only can change their sex on their birth certificate if their doctor has confirmed they are trans and they have obtained a Gender Recognition Certificate.

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Stacy Davis Gates of the Chicago Teachers Union

By Harold Hutchison
Daily Caller News Foundation

The president of the Chicago Teachers Union claimed during a radio interview that aired Sunday that conservatives don’t want black children to learn how to read.

Stacy Davis Gates made an appearance on WBBM 780 AM to defend the union’s contract demands. Gates claimed that conservatives who expressed criticism of the demands “don’t even want black children to be able to read.”

“Remember, these same conservatives are the conservatives who probably would have been championing black codes, you know, during reconstruction or thereafter,” she said. “So, forgive me again if conservatives pushing back on educating immigrant children, black children, children who live in poverty, doesn’t make my anxiety go up. That’s what they’re supposed to say. That is literally a part of the oath that they take to be right wing.”

LISTEN:

The union’s demands include a number of climate-related provisions including electric school buses, expanded use of heat pumps and solar panels and the creation of “climate champion” positions to organize relevant initiatives and activities. The list could cost upward of $13.9 billion, according to an estimate by the Illinois Policy Institute.

The union also called for the city’s board of education to work with the city to provide more affordable housing units, with priority being given to Chicago Public School families, according to IPI.

LISTEN to Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates absurdly tell a news radio host that conservatives do not want Black children to read:

"Conservatives don’t even want Black children to be able to read. Remember, these same conservatives are the conservatives who… pic.twitter.com/GacLgyXetL

— Nicki Neily (@nickineily) June 18, 2024

“It does mean something when there are 20,000 classified unhoused young people in this city, because it means a lack of stability for our city,” Gates said. “That’s why we are going to put forward proposals that will compel the [Chicago Housing Authority] to move those families to the top of the list and have a timeline to put them in homes.”

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Testing results for 2023 showed that about 83% of CPS students were not proficient in math, while nearly 75% could not read at grade level, according to IPI.

“If anyone knows about students not being to be able to read, it’s the Chicago Teachers Union. Federal statistics reveal that 85 percent of Black and 78 percent of Hispanic 4th graders in CPS are not proficient in reading, even though the district has spent nearly $30K per child this year,” Nicki Neily, president and founder of Parents Defending Education, said in a statement provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Ms. Gates heads the union that said in 2020 ‘the push to reopen schools is rooted in racism, sexism, and misogyny’ – despite the fact that school closures disproportionately hurt the low-income students she claims to care about. Ms. Gates should spend less time stoking division among residents and more time getting her members to actually teach children.”

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LGBT promoters for years have been demanding "non-discrimination" laws and regulations across America, claiming, "All we want is equality."

Now, it seems, they want a little more than equality.

The Daily Mail reports a housing complex is being planned and promoted in Portland, Maine, that would allow LGBT residents exclusively.

It's called The Equality Community Center, which is expected to be a new five-story housing unit for members of the LGBT community who are 55 or older.

Plans are to open it in the spring of 2026.

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There are plans for 54 studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units.

The Equality Community Center planned for Portland, Maine

Funding is coming from MaineHousing's tax credits, federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits, a bank loan and an increment financing district set up the city.

But it's getting bashed online, over the discriminatory plan that is being used to pursue the project.

The social media account LibsofTikTok pointed out: "Maine is opening up new publicly funded affordable housing. The qualification is that you have to be LGBTQ. According to the Fair Housing Act, housing discrimination based on s*xual orientation or gender identity is illegal. How is this legal?"

Another comment joined, with, "This goes to show you that group movements like this were never about equal rights – it was always about politicians granting special rights to preferred groups who will vote for them. It's been a con the whole time."

Yet another, said, "Taxpayers will not be forced to pay for housing for the LGBTQ+ community. This is what Democratic-Socialism looks like – your taxes, their benefits."

Ed Gardner, a project developer, cited the benefits for the LGBT community.

There, residents will find "acceptance and services," he suggested, according to the report.

"I think we'll be able to see them come out and be more part of the community rather than be stuck in their homes and not have anybody to socialize with," Gardner said.

Another social media comment, from TheUnquirer, turned blunt, however.

"In Maine – some groups are more equal than others."

Other such housing projects already are in the works in Boston, Fort Lauderdale, San Diego, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia.

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Steve Bannon

By Katelynn Richardson
Daily Caller News Foundation

Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon will serve his four month sentence at a prison in Danbury, Connecticut, rather than a minimum-security prison camp where many nonviolent offenders are sent, according to CNN.

Bannon, who a judge recently ordered to report to prison by July 1 after being convicted for contempt of Congress, is not eligible for the minimum-security prison due to on ongoing criminal case against him in New York, CNN reported, citing sources familiar. The Danbury facility where Bannon is expected to report has housed violent offenders, including among the male population.

One male inmate at Danbury convicted for child sex abuse and threatening to kill a federal judge was indicted again in June for sending communications threatening to injure a court employee, according to the New Haven Register.

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A female inmate formerly incarcerated in Danbury for “murder with a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime” pleaded guilty in June after she assaulted another inmate with a weapon made from two razor blades and a broken pencil, according to a DOJ press release.

A total of 1065 inmates are housed at Danbury FCI, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Roughly one-third of inmates are sex offenders, while under 40 % were convicted on drug-related charges, according to the News Times.

Bannon was convicted in 2022 for ignoring a subpoena from the Jan. 6 Select Committee, and the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld his conviction in May.

Bannon’s attorneys have filed an emergency motion with the D.C. Circuit seeking his release pending appeal, noting before Bannon it “had been 50 years since the government convinced a jury to convict someone for not adequately responding to a congressional subpoena.” His attorneys also stated that they intend to appeal to the Supreme Court, if necessary.

“The government seeks to imprison Mr. Bannon for the four-month period leading up to the November election, when millions of Americans look to him for information on important campaign issues,” his attorneys wrote. “This would also effectively bar Mr. Bannon from serving as a meaningful adviser in the ongoing national campaign.”

Former Trump aide Peter Navarro is currently serving a four month prison sentence in Miami for contempt of Congress, which began in March.

Bannon’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Giorgia Meloni

A conservative Italian leader, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, is being credited for blunting and blocking Joe Biden's agendas for abortion and LGBT ideology at a recent meeting of the G7.

A report in the Washington Stand explains that Biden, bent on pushing his social agendas to the entire globe, was stymied by Meloni's actions, including her description of Biden's efforts to promote anti-family ideologies for political reasons as "profoundly wrong."

"I believe it is profoundly wrong, in difficult times like these, to campaign using a precious forum like the G7," she said.

Biden had demanded a promise that the nations would promote abortion-on-demand, part of what he claims is "sexual and reproductive health."

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Such a commitment was in last year's statement that came out of meetings in Japan, which affirmed a commitment "to achieving comprehensive SRHR [Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights] for all, including by addressing access to safe and legal abortion and post abortion care."

That was dropped from this year's statement, mentioning only support for universal access to adequate, affordable, and quality health services…."

The New York Times said Biden insisted on including a specific demand for "reproductive rights," but since G7 statements are by consensus, Meloni's opposition kept Biden's agenda promotion at a minimum.

The Stand explained, "Experts say the controversy reveals Western secular leaders’ myopic focus on promoting social issues. 'The very fact of tension over whether abortion was to be included in the G7 statement gives you a sense of the priorities of those Western nations pushing for it to be included,' Travis Weber, vice president for Policy and Government Affairs at Family Research Council, told The Washington Stand. 'The G7 is supposed to be looking out for the good of the international order, not jamming social policy through international agreements to be imposed on unwilling nations with quasi-religious fervor. It’s a sign of the times that the West is now known for this, to our increasing shame.'"

Another report, from Bloomberg News, explained Meloni also removed a comment to "gender identity" and "sexual orientation" from the final release.

Meloni's office said there was no controversy, as such arguments didn't happen at the summit.

And her office also denied the Bloomberg claims.

Still, the Stand confirmed, "French President Emmanuel Macron complained openly of the abortion removal. 'France has a vision of equality between women and men, but it’s not a vision shared by all the political spectrum.'"

Meloni's pro-family reputation is based on several factors, including that her parliament adopted an amendment that lets trained pro-life advocates “with a qualified experience supporting motherhood” to counsel abortion-minded women inside Italian abortion facilities.

She also has tried to boost her nation's birth rate, denounced surrogacy, rejects gender ideology and has been watching her party gain legislative seats.

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By Nick Pope
Daily Caller News Foundation

An electric vehicle (EV) producer that was once a splashy start-up company has filed for bankruptcy.

Fisker filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Tuesday after trying and failing to secure more investment to stay afloat, the company announced. The company once attracted robust interest and hype, marketing itself as the Apple of vehicles, but it struggled to run as a public company and was stuck with thousands of EVs that it did not sell, according to The Wall Street Journal.

“We are proud of our achievements, and we have put thousands of Fisker Ocean SUVs in customers’ hands in both North America and Europe. But like other companies in the electric vehicle industry, we have faced various market and macroeconomic headwinds that have impacted our ability to operate efficiently,” a Fisker spokesperson said in a statement. “After evaluating all options for our business, we determined that proceeding with a sale of our assets under Chapter 11 is the most viable path forward for the company.”

Representatives for Fisker declined to comment further.

Troubled EV Maker Pausing Production Amid Bankruptcy Speculation https://t.co/6HLKe2YpiG

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) March 18, 2024

Fisker raised about $1 billion from various investors, but it ran through most of its cash before defaulting on a debt payment to one of its leading investors, according to the WSJ. The company saw key executives head for the exits as it struggled to roll out its first model, the Ocean SUV, which was plagued by complaints about quality, including problems with the brakes.

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Beyond any possible quality issues, the company also happened to start delivering the Ocean SUV at a time last summer when the EV market began to cool down and indications that consumer demand for EVs may not have been as robust as anticipated, according to the WSJ.

The company would build its EVs in Europe before shipping them to customers in the U.S., a business model that proved to be complicated once production started ramping up, according to the WSJ. A previous iteration of Fisker filed for bankruptcy in 2013 despite receiving millions of taxpayer dollars from the Obama administration to subsidize its operations.

Fisker is one of several EV start-ups that once drew considerable interest and investment that has subsequently fallen on hard times, according to the WSJ. The Biden administration is spending big and issuing major regulations to substantially increase EV adoption and production over the next decade, but even major manufacturers like Ford are losing billions of dollars on their EV product lines.

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Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken joins the PBS NewsHour for a virtual interview with Judy Woodruff at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on March 3, 2021.

The State Department's secret payments to organizations that "rate" American news sources – campaigns that have been used to stop companies from doing business with conservative publications – are the subject of a new congressional subpoena.

The Washington Examiner explains the action was triggered by State's refusal to turn over records on programs that are part of what Republicans charge is a "censorship-by-proxy" scheme that interferes with small businesses.

The subpoena is from the House Small Business Committee and is part of a year-long investigation into the Global Engagement Center in State, which gave $100,000 of tax money to the Global Disinformation Index, a London-based group that works in America to "pressure advertisers to boycott conservative media."

That funding triggered a new law just last year that bans some Pentagon money from being given to the London group. Also, the Federalist and Daily Wire have sued the Biden administration for its "egregious government operations to censor the American press."

The committee, headed by Rep. Roger Williams. R-Texas, has been trying to extract financial records from the Global Engagement Center over charges of censorship schemes.

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Committee members want to see a list of recipients of GEC money.

But the State Department has refused.

The subpoena specifically asks for details on cash handed out to NewsGuard, the Global Disinformation Index, the Atlantic Council, Park Capital Investment Group, and Poynter Institute.

Williams told Anthony Blinken, Joe Biden's secretary of state, "The House Committee on Small Business is investigating the U.S. government’s censorship-by-proxy and revenue interference of American small businesses because of their lawful speech."

GEC, housed at State, was supposed to focus on propaganda abroad, but has been revealed as a leader in the domestic journalism censorship of what it calls "disinformation."

That would whatever facts do not support the leftist political and social agenda.

A key component has been GDI's insistence that mainstream news organizations are not credible if they are not leftist, and its pressure on advertisers to hurt them.

Williams said he is working on "legislative solutions to federal funds being used to demonetize, tarnish, or censor domestic small businesses on the basis of their lawful speech."

"Rather than comply with the committee’s investigation into and oversight of the GEC’s funding of third parties who engage in these activities, the State Department has, stunningly, provided only two documents totaling 12 pages, with heavy redactions, in the span of one year,” he charges.

One option the House Republicans could choose would be to defund GEC, the report said.

The legal case by the Wire, Federalist and the state of Texas charges that promoting companies that create lists of conservative news outlet targets is a violation of the First Amendment.

"All Americans deserve a fair shot to compete in the marketplace, and the government should not be tipping the scales against any business for their legal speech on the internet." Williams told the Washington Examiner. "The refusal to comply with repeated document requests is unacceptable, especially when the livelihoods of many small businesses are on the line."

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The state of Kansas on Monday launched a civil lawsuit against Pfizer over its COVID shots, alleging that the lucrative corporation "misled the public that it has a 'safe and effective' COVID-19 vaccine" in violation of the Consumer Protection Act.

A report in the Kansas Reflector explains Attorney General Kris Kobach said he took the action to seek "civil monetary penalties, damages, and injunctive relief from misleading and deceptive statements made in marketing its COVID-19 vaccine."

In fact, as the pandemic that likely was released on the world through mishandling at a Chinese lab working on projects to make viruses worse surged, several corporations including Pfizer release their shots suggesting they were both safe and effective.

But what now has been documented is that the shots themselves, which were designated experimental when they were unleashed, have been linked to a wide range of side effects, including sometimes fatal heart ailments.

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CNN Business reported that Pfizer's cash flow exploded when it started dispensing COVID shots, with revenue soaring to $24.1 billion, with the shots responsible for 60% of its revenue.

Kobach alleges the company "willfully concealed, suppressed and omitted material facts relating to the COVID-19 vaccine, the 'most egregious' ones regarding safety of the vaccine for pregnant people, in regard to heart conditions, its effectiveness against variants and its ability to stop transmission," the report said.

"Pfizer marketed its vaccine as safe for pregnant women. However, in February of 2021 (they) possessed reports of 458 pregnant women who received Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy. More than half of the pregnant women reported an adverse event, and more than 10% reported a miscarriage," Kobach explained.

Studies later showed the percentage of "adverse events" was higher for pregnant women than the general population. Preliminary study findings had claimed there was no "significant safety concerns."

Further, Albert Bourla, the company CEO, said in 2023, "We have not seen a single signal (that the shots cause myocarditis), although we have distributed billions of doses."

But Kobach charged, "As Pfizer knew, the United States government, the United States military, foreign governments and others have found that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine caused myocarditis and pericarditis."

And Kobach noted information available at the time confirmed the shots were effective "less than half the time."

"Pfizer urged Americans to get vaccinated in order to protect their loved ones, clearly indicating a claim that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccination stopped transmission. Pfizer later admitted that they’ve never even studied transmission after the recipients receive the vaccine," Kobach said.

The company in a statement claimed it saved countless lives and it based its statements on science.

It said the state's case "has no merit."

Kobach explained that five other states will be joining, and will make their own announcements. Previously, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Pfizer for misrepresenting its shots and trying to censor public discussion of its product, a case also based on the CPA.

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Joe Biden and Barack Obama walk along the West Colonnade of the White House Tuesday, April 5, 2022, after attending an Affordable Care Act event.

By Jim Hoft
The Gateway Pundit

Democrat insiders have blown the whistle on a secret plan to replace feeble Joe Biden if he falters in his initial debate with Trump or if his poll ratings continue to decline, the Daily Mail first reported.

The Gateway Pundit previously reported that Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna says she is “hearing on Capitol Hill” that Joe Biden will ”likely” be replaced as the Democratic presidential nominee by November.

Luna discussed the matter during an appearance on Thursday’s episode of "Jesse Watters Primetime."

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The congresswoman told Watters, “A lot of people realize that Joe Biden’s likely not going to be the nominee, which is from what we’re hearing on Capitol Hill, Jesse. You know, Representative Kiley had reported that Kamala Harris is actually eyeing a run for California governor because of it.”

Jesse Watters
PRIMETIME

Rep Anna Paulina Luna says: “Joe Biden not likely going to be the nominee.” pic.twitter.com/lm9UyYrbMl

— Gary D (@KMGGaryde) June 14, 2024

There have long been rumors and rumblings that California Gov. Gavin Newsom will replace Biden, but he has maintained that is not his plan.

“So you are hearing also in DC that Joe Biden isn’t going to be the Democrat nominee?” Watters asked.

“Correct,” Luna replied.

“It appears that our colleagues are trying to put guardrails on a 2024 presidential election with President Trump,” Luna said. “And also what you’re seeing is, according to our polling, you know, Jesse, as well as I do, that they’ve been trying to really paint Republicans as anti-woman, and they’re trying to push an abortion, crisis right now with the election. And I don’t think that that’s the case.”

Luna continued, “A lot of the American people know that really. This is a state rights decision. And so I think that they know that they’re losing. It’s very evident at this point.”

Now, it appears that there may be a secret plot brewing within the Democratic Party to replace Joe Biden. The plan is allegedly being orchestrated by influential figures, including former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Daily Mail reported:

According to Democratic bigwig, Obama campaign guru David Axelrod, the Biden team scheduled one of the earliest presidential debates in history (June 27 on CNN) to prove to naysayers that Joe’s not going anywhere.

But the gambit carries tremendous risk.

While an efficient debate performance by Biden could help rally Democrats behind him – a significant misstep would only stoke more replacement chatter.

Former Clinton advisor and polling expert Mark Penn suggested the CNN debate will be Biden’s last chance to reassure voters he’s fit for the job.

Now DailyMail.com has learned that if Joe stumbles in that first face-off with Trump or if his polling numbers keep falling, it’ll take a united front of the liberal grandees to make Joe throw in the towel.

‘The only people who could force him out would be Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer,’ one Democratic strategist told DailyMail.com. ‘It would have to be the four of them collectively.’

And the process would be high risk.

However, there is another potential complication. Biden could stubbornly refuse to step down and continue his campaign until Election Day.

If Biden refuses to step down, it would put the Democratic Party in a difficult position. They would have to contend not only with a stubborn incumbent but also with potential backlash from leftists if Kamala Harris is passed over for the nomination.

“That person would not be Vice President Kamala Harris, according to sources, who observed that Harris has already had to fend off a push to replace her on the ticket,” Daily Mail reported.

“Strategists theorize that Democrats would have to hold a public event to symbolically transfer power to the new candidate. Biden, Obama, Clinton, Schumer, and Pelosi would publicly introduce and endorse the anointed nominee,” the news outlet added.

You can read more here.

This article originally appeared on The Gateway Pundit.com.

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By Jason Cohen
Daily Caller News Foundation

Former Bernie Sanders staffer Tezlyn Figaro said on Monday that President Joe Biden needs to cut checks to black Americans if he wants to be victorious in Michigan.

Former President Donald Trump is presently leading Biden in Michigan in a five-way race by .3%, according to the RealClearPolling average. Figaro on “The Story With Martha MacCallum” said Biden’s “only” chance of winning the state is distributing money he owes to black voters.

WATCH: 

Ex-Bernie Sanders Staffer Says Biden Must Cut ‘Some Checks’ To Black Voters To Win Swing State pic.twitter.com/OZPU30KSzi

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 17, 2024

“Obviously I won’t speak for all black voters, Martha, but I can certainly tell you by being the only black national staffer in Michigan in 2015 working for Bernie Sanders, it does not take a lot of voters to like former President Trump. It really only takes 1 or 2%,” Figaro told host Martha MacCallum. “We were able to flip that state by 2% going to all the places that Hillary Clinton refused to go … What I do know is someone better get to the state of Michigan with a checkbook in hand with no IOUs.”

“This is critical that these swing states are looked at,” she added. “And they don’t have to like President Trump like the poll indicates. They didn’t like Bernie Sanders, to be quite honest with you, but it only takes a small margin to make a difference. And that’s what I’m concerned about and that is what the majority of people who are saying, ‘I don’t like Trump, I don’t like Biden either,’ but they cannot afford to ignore this crucial demographic.”

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CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten said on Monday that Trump is “careening towards a historic performance” with black voters as Biden bleeds a significant segment of them.

“The Joe Biden administration cannot afford to sit on their butt and just ignore and think that it’s just a game and not invest the time, money, resources in black media, not invest the time, money and support in those nonprofits. They need to go in Michigan right now with a check,” Figaro said, before MacCallum interrupted her to ask if it would actually help Biden to make black media appearances.

“Guess what,” Figaro continued. “We’re done with the appearances. Bring the checkbook, the IOUs no longer matter. Only thing I think you can do at this point, better start cutting some checks. Just being honest with you. No more appearances, no more talks. Cutting checks for any and everybody. Nonprofits across the board, making sure people have adequate funding, partnering with city commissioners or state representative to make sure that people have the money that he owed the black community, that he was very clear about owing.”

MSNBC host Ana Cabrera pressed Biden’s 2024 campaign communications director Michael Tyler on Monday regarding polls showing him shedding support of black voters in swing states, including Michigan.

“Over the weekend, the Trump Campaign launched a Black Americans for Trump Coalition. Your campaign mocked it and said it’s not fooling anyone. But look at this. USA Today/Suffolk polls show from Michigan and Pennsylvania specifically, these are two key swing states. They show President Biden has lost roughly 20 points among black voters in both of those states, down from 76% to the mid 50s. Of course, in a close election that can make a huge difference. Why do you think the president is losing support with these voters?” Cabrera asked.

Political commentator Bakari Sellers on Monday dismissed polls indicating Trump’s rising black support, asserting, “Donald Trump is not going to get 20% of the black vote. He’s simply not.”

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Twenty-three sets of twins graduated in 2024 from Pollard Middle School in Needham, Massachusetts. (Photo by Principal Tamantha Bibbo)

(FOX NEWS) -- A Massachusetts middle school recently celebrated its eighth-grade "moving up" ceremony for its outgoing students, including a remarkable 23 sets of twins.

Pollard Middle School, in Needham, Massachusetts, has a fairly large student body, Principal Tamantha Bibbo told the Associated Press. But the sheer number of twins in this year's eighth-grade class is "quite unusual," she said.

"We typically have anywhere from five to 10 sets at most," Bibbo told the AP. "Given our numbers, we have approximately 450 to 500 children in each grade, so this was extraordinarily high."

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(FOX NEWS) -- Embattled actor Armie Hammer is breaking his silence years after alarming allegations of sexual abuse and cannibalism were made by several women, ultimately stalling his once successful career.

"In my case it was an ego death, a career death," Hammer said of the turbulent cancellation he experienced in 2021 while making an appearance on the "Painful Lessons" podcast.

Citing writer Joseph Campbell's work, "The Hero's Journey," Hammer explained that "the hero," (which he isn't calling himself) "must die, so the hero can be born again. If you don't experience these deaths, you're gonna just keep going with whatever that life is. But if you can access the idea of death as a transitory phase, into the next part of your life, then you end up being grateful for all of these little micro-deaths," he explained.

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