Daily News Brief

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Wednesday, January 31st, 2024. 

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https://www.dailywire.com/news/pro-life-demonstrators-found-guilty-face-up-to-11-years-in-federal-prison

Pro-Life Demonstrators Found Guilty, Face Up To 11 Years In Federal Prison

Six pro-lifers were found guilty on Tuesday after the Biden administration charged them over a peaceful protest at a Tennessee abortion facility in 2021. They face up to 11 years in prison.

The pro-life activists were accused by the Department of Justice of violating the FACE Act and civil rights conspiracy for a protest that took place in a hallway outside of a Mount Juliet abortion provider on March 5, 2021. On that day, a group of demonstrators gathered on the second floor of an office building in the hallway outside the Carafem Health Center Clinic. The group prayed, sang hymns, and urged women showing up to the clinic to not get abortions.

Those on trial included Chet Gallagher of Tennessee, Coleman Boyd of Mississippi, Heather Idoni of Michigan, Cal Zastrow of Michigan, Paul Vaughn of Tennessee, and Dennis Green of Virginia.

All six defendants were found guilty of both counts. They are expected to be sentenced in July.

The conspiracy charge can be punished with up to 11 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and fines of up to $350,000 while the FACE Act charge can lead to one year in prison and a $10,000 fine.

The verdict was delivered on the fifth day of the trial, which took place at the Fred D. Thompson courthouse in Nashville. The case was overseen by Judge Aleta Trauger, appointed to the court in 1998 by then-President Bill Clinton.

One of the government’s key witnesses was Caroline Davis, a woman who was arrested with the group at Carafem. During her testimony, Davis claimed that she had a change of heart about attending the protest and that her “rational side” was “in the toilet” at the time of her participation. She said that she changed her mind “over time” and that being indicted by the federal government “terrified” her.

Video of the demonstration showed the group singing songs like “Holy, Holy, Holy,” and “Onward Christian Soldiers,” while others showed members of the group talking to police. Another video showed one participant telling another to speak “in love” to a man with his girlfriend who had shown up at Carafem and that someone’s “baby is a gift from God.”

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/texas-governor-abbott-stark-message-sanctuary-cities-migrant-crisis

Texas Gov. Abbott sends stark message to sanctuary cities as migrant crisis continues

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent a stark message to sanctuary cities on Monday, vowing his state's transportation of migrants to their areas would continue until the federal government takes action on the worsening border crisis.

"Texas has transported over 102,000 migrants to sanctuary cities. Overwhelmed Texas border towns should not bear the brunt of Biden’s open border policies. Our transportation mission will continue until Biden secures the border," Abbott wrote in a post on X.

Abbott's promise comes amid his feud with the Biden administration over enforcement of the border, and whether Texas has the authority to defend itself from the waves of migrants overwhelming law enforcement and immigration officials.

The two sides have been feuding since 2021 when the migrant crisis escalated and Texas launched Operation Lone Star to surge resources to the border. 

The administration recently sued over an anti-illegal immigration law that allows state and local law enforcement to arrest illegal immigrants. It has also sued over the state’s setting up of buoys in the Rio Grande. The administration says immigration enforcement is up to the federal government and Texas is interfering. 

Last week, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision on an emergency appeal to temporarily overturn a lower court’s injunction that banned the federal government from cutting razor fencing Texas had installed along the border near Eagle Pass while litigation continues.

Following the ruling, Abbott declared his constitutional authority to reserve the right of his state to self-defense against an invasion, adding that the executive branch had broken its constitutional pact with the states by failing to enforce federal immigration laws. 

Former President Donald Trump on Thursday gave his backing to Abbott amid the latter’s feud with the Biden administration — urging states to send their National Guards to the border and promising to work "hand in hand" with the state to combat the "invasion" if he is inaugurated again in January 2025.

Abbott has also picked up the support of more than two dozen Republican states who have publicly expressed their support for the state. Meanwhile, some Democrats have urged the Biden administration to seize control of the National Guard.

https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-disneyland-posts-woke-wheel-of-privilege-in-employee-kitchen-removes-it-after-daily-wire-inquiry

Disneyland Posts Woke ‘Wheel Of Privilege’ In Employee Kitchen, Removes It After Daily Wire Inquiry

Posters featuring a “wheel of power/privilege” were hung in employee spaces in Disneyland, instructing employees that being white, “cisgender male,” and even speaking English means you have “unearned” privilege that your “marginalized” coworkers do not, according to images obtained by The Daily Wire.

The wheel featured for all employees to see has the word “power” in the middle, and is sectioned like a dart board, with certain traits fanning outward that are labeled “marginalized.” For example, being white, a “cisgender male,” owning property, and speaking English are all considered privileged, while being dark-skinned, transgender, homeless, and not speaking English are considered marginalized. In between the inner and outer circle – which would be considered not completely marginalized but not totally privileged either – are “cisgender women,” gay men, people with a high school education, and who learned English.

Included with the wheel is a definition of “privilege,” stating that it is “unearned access or advantage granted to specific groups of people because of their membership in a social group.”

“Privilege can be based off a variety of different social identities such as race, gender, religion, socioeconomic status, ability status, sexuality, age, education level, and more,” it continues. “Within the US, members of social groups that hold privileges (white, male, wealthy, able-bodied, etc) have historically held dominance and power over targeted groups.”

The poster also asks, “why should we accept that we have privileges?” It provides the following answer: “By accepting that we have privileges, we can see that not everyone sees the world from our perspective and that we have privileges in our life that have hindered our awareness of the world.”

The image was provided by source who works for the Walt Disney Company, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retribution from the company. The employee said the materials were posted in the production kitchen on Main Street USA in Disneyland in Anaheim, California. This production kitchen services Carnation Cafe, The Tropical Hideaway, Jolly Holiday Bakery and Cafe, and Refreshment Corner sponsored by Coca Cola.

The employee said divisive materials like this are “destroying the magic” of the park.

“So many cast members, myself included, are tired of the division being pushed by companies with a lack of regard for the founder’s vision,” the source told The Daily Wire. “This isn’t what Walt would have wanted for his company. He once said, ‘To ALL who come to this happy place, Welcome.’ Things like this make people feel unwelcome, destroying the magic.”

The Daily Wire reached out to the Walt Disney Company to ask about the poster and why they are posted. Within hours of reaching out, our source said a manager removed the poster, and sent a photo of the now-empty display cabinet, which still features another poster about the lunar new year and 2024 being the year of the dragon. Disney did not ultimately respond to the request for comment.

Disney has come under fire in recent years for its turn toward “wokeness,” with numerous box-office blunders for films deemed to be pushing Leftist political agendas. Top-ranking employees at Disney have also admitted to pushing a “not-at-all-secret gay agenda,” The Daily Wire previously reported. In 2023, the company lost nearly $1 billion on movies like Elemental and The Little Mermaid.

Company CEO Bob Iger admitted last year that Disney lost sight of entertainment as it put more political messaging into its content.

https://www.dailyfetched.com/serbia-to-introduce-a-mandatory-military-draft-amid-ww3-tensions/

Serbia to Introduce a Mandatory Military Draft amid WW3 Tensions

Serbia is reportedly considering reintroducing compulsory military service as tensions in the Balkans and elsewhere in Europe begin increasing amid WW3 fears.

President Aleksandar Vucic said army commanders gave him “a strong argumentation” in favor of mandatory draft.

Compulsory drafts here were suspended in 2011 in a push to professionalize the armed forces.

However, the Serbian president did not specify when the draft would return but said the national parliament would vote on the proposal.

“We are not threatening anyone,” Vucic said.

“Today, if you don’t have (a strong) army, you don’t have a country.”

“We will see if it (military service) will last 90 or 100 days, or maybe 110 days,” Vucic told reporters.

“As well as when it will be introduced and how the financial and logistical assumptions will be fulfilled.”

The Washington Post reported:

“Opposition politicians and other critics of a draft have questioned the logic of a military buildup when Serbia is almost completely surrounded by NATO member countries which have superior firepower in case of a conflict. There are also concerns that the government may struggle to foot the bill for a larger military.

Tensions have been high in the Balkans, which went through the bloody breakup of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Although formally neutral, the Serbian Army has maintained close ties to Russia, from which it purchases most of its arms, including fighter jets and tanks.“

Serbia was one of the few countries to refuse sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

Tensions revolved around Serbia’s former province of Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008, which Serbia and allies Russia and China have not recognized.

Over the last few months, Serbia has raised the combat readiness on the border with Kosovo several times.

The country also maintained cordial relations with NATO, whose troops have been stationed in Kosovo since 1999.

Earlier this week, top military officials warned that conscription could happen in the UK if NATO goes to war with Russia.

General Sir Patrick Sanders, the outgoing head of the British Army, said such a conflict would need to be a “whole-of-nation undertaking.”

“Within the next three years, it must be credible to talk of a British Army of 120,000, folding in our reserve and strategic reserve. But this is not enough,” he said.

“We will not be immune and as the pre-war generation we must similarly prepare – and that is a whole-of-nation undertaking,” Sanders added.

“Ukraine brutally illustrates that regular armies start wars; citizen armies win them.

“But we’ve been here before, and workforce alone does not create capability.”

The BBC reports that “other senior NATO military commanders have also recently been calling on the alliance to ready itself for a potential conflict.”

According to the outlet:

In response to Gen Sir Patrick speech the UK prime minister’s spokesman said hypothetical scenarios of a future potential conflict were not helpful and ruled out any move towards a conscription model for the Army.

One senior Conservative MP told the BBC he did not think Rishi Sunak had fully appreciated the threat posed by Russia.

The MP said that might be because the prime minister when growing up had not experienced the existential threat posed by the old Soviet Union during the Cold War era.

Gen Sir Patrick said the nation could not afford to make the same mistakes of 1914, when it failed to perceive the escalations that led to World War One.

And that is your news for today…

Now folks, normally this is the part where I’d ask you to send me a news story to my email, or if you have questions about the upcoming FLF conference shoot me an email, etc. But alas, not this time. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed bringing you the news over the last year and a half or so. I’ve enjoyed giving you a look at what’s happening around the world on your morning commute to work… but I’ve received a job offer out of state - down in Huntsville AL, that I just couldn’t pass up. If you’re down that way, friend me up on Facebook by the way and we’ll meet up! 

With that being said, I wanted to tell you, the listener, how thankful I am for you giving my news show a listen. For saying hello at our FLF Conferences when I was out and about, for sending me news stories to my email, for the encouragement, or constructive criticism I’d receive when I couldn’t pronounce something… which believe me, I’m aware of those things… All of that to say. I’m thankful for the FLF community

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Friday, January 26th, 2024. 

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https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4428905-gop-governors-abbott-border-security-immigration/

GOP governors back Abbott in border standoff

Republican governors are backing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) in his standoff against the federal government over border authority.

On Tuesday, the Texas National Guard appeared to ignore a Supreme Court decision and continued building razor wire barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border, preventing the federal Border Patrol from doing their jobs.

In a statement Wednesday, Abbott justified the actions by claiming his authority to combat an “invasion” of the state “supersedes” federal law.

GOP Govs. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma, Kristi Noem of South Dakota, Ron DeSantis of Florida, Glenn Youngkin of Virginia and Brian Kemp of Georgia have all said they support Abbott’s actions.

“If the Constitution really made states powerless to defend themselves against an invasion, it wouldn’t have been ratified in the first place and Texas would have never joined the union when it did,” DeSantis said on X, formerly Twitter. “TX is upholding the law while Biden is flouting it.”

Youngkin added that the Biden administration “has turned every state into a border state,” and that Abbott is doing what the border officials “refuse to do to secure our border.”

Stitt, Noem and Kemp also said their states “stand with” Texas.

The federal government has claimed in court filings that the Texas National Guard has physically prevented the Border Patrol from doing its job on certain parts of the Rio Grande, as well as blocked off portions of the border previously used to process migrants.

The claim that Texas officials can supersede federal authority has sparked calls from Democrats for President Biden to nationalize the Texas National Guard and force them to follow the court’s decision and federal law.

Democratic Texas Reps. Joaquin Castro and Greg Casar have advocated for nationalizing the state guard.

Abbott’s statement Wednesday specifically claims the federal government has “broken the compact” with the states, justifying ignoring federal law and the Supreme Court.

The so-called “compact theory” is a rejected idea of state supremacy used to justify the secession of Confederate states during the Civil War. The Supreme Court repeatedly shot down the legal theory in the early years of the U.S., when it was first proposed to nullify federal legislation during former President John Adams’s time in office.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gop-ags-battle-blue-state-push-to-shutter-largest-ammo-manufacturer-to-punish-second-amendment-rights

GOP AGs take aim at Dem plea for Biden to shut down critical ammo manufacturer

Every republican attorney general in the country blasted their Democrat counterparts for attempting to shutter an ammunition factory in Missouri, a letter sent to the White House Wednesday revealed. 

In a letter obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital, all 28 GOP attorneys general asked President Biden and White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention director Stefanie Feldman to disregard their Democrat colleagues' request to end commercial sales from Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, one of the country’s largest ammo manufacturers. 

Democrats had previously asked the administration to investigate the contracting and manufacturing practices of the plant after a New York Times report alleged that "military-grade rounds" were sold commercially and were connected to mass shootings.

But the Republicans say the Democrats’ letter contained a "litany of errors." "Perhaps those States should focus more on prosecuting crime to stop mass shootings—rather than trying to stop lawful Americans’ use of guns and ammunition. Their tactic is an overt attempt to punish Americans’ exercise of their Second Amendment rights,

Among the list of "errors" the GOP AGs point out that their Democrat colleages allege that ammunition manufactured for "military use" does not belong in communities. 

"First, the ammunition manufactured at Lake City and sold into the commercial market is not the primary rifle cartridge used by the United States military. The primary cartridge is proprietary to the Army and may not be sold commercially," the AGs note. 

"Second, while the United States military purchases and uses a particular type of ammunition, that is not determinative as to whether it is "military ammunition" that should be banned for public use," they write. 

"If the United States military using ammunition precluded that ammunition’s use by civilians, then other widely and commonly available ammunition, including 9mm and 12-gauge shotshells, would also be prohibited for public use," they argued, adding that Supreme Court precedent "does not support such an openly artificial distinction."

According to the state’s top prosecutors, Lake City only sells ammunition to commercial customers that is legal to manufacture, and it complies with all the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) requirements. 

The AGs argued that the Democrats’ efforts would undermine national security. "Gun control advocates are firing blanks when they contend that taxpayers are subsidizing mass shooters. They get causality backward. The law-abiding target shooters and gun owners who buy Lake City ammunition are subsidizing national defense and military readiness," they argue.

They note that the Defense Department "sought to avoid a situation when the military needs surge due to a real-world conflict, ammunition is not readily available," adding that ammunition availability requires facilities, production equipment, a skilled workforce, and supply chains to remain in constant operation. 

"Machines and production cannot be turned on like the flip of a switch. It takes time to hire and train the highly skilled workers needed to operate production lines to manufacture the highest quality ammunition for U.S. warfighters. Commercial production has allowed Lake City, and its suppliers, to maintain steady labor, maximize equipment run time, ensure a stable supply base, and provide a level of readiness to the U.S. military that would not otherwise be available," they added.

The attorneys general also said that Lake City cannot halt commercial use without a "detrimental loss" to their communities and economy. If it stopped, the AGs allege it would result in an estimated loss of 500–700 jobs or 30%–45% of the skilled workforce now employed at Lake City and "countless more" throughout the supply chain.

Montana Attorney General Austen Knudsen in a statement to Fox News Digital called the investigation by the New York Times "highly questionable" and, their latest effort to shut down the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant is based on a highly questionable ‘investigation' by the New York Times."

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird charged that "if the Biden Administration and anti-gun activists were serious about saving lives, they would start by enforcing the laws on the books to combat violent criminals."

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey echoed those sentiments, adding that "Lake City Ammunition did nothing wrong." 

"We should be focused on the free flow of illegal weapons coming across our border – not taking aim at law-abiding patriots," Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita said, adding that the border crisis "is exactly why law-abiding citizens need the liberty to defend themselves."

https://thefederalist.com/2024/01/24/canadian-court-rules-trudeaus-unreasonable-crackdown-on-trucker-convoy-violated-federal-law/

Canadian Court Rules Trudeau’s ‘Unreasonable’ Crackdown On Trucker Convoy Violated Federal Law

A Canadian court ruled Tuesday that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s use of a controversial federal law in early 2022 to target truckers protesting their industry’s Covid vaccine mandate was “unreasonable” and illegal.

The use of the Emergencies Act “does not bear the hallmarks of reasonableness — justification, transparency and intelligibility,” Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley wrote. “I conclude that there was no national emergency justifying the invocation of the Emergencies Act and the decision to do so was therefore unreasonable and ultra vires.” As the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) explained, “ultra vires” is a term courts use “to refer to actions beyond the scope of the law.”

In early 2022, Trudeau’s government implemented a series of Covid shot mandates for various sectors of Canadian society, including a requirement for truckers crossing the U.S.-Canada border. The tyrannical mandate ultimately prompted Canadian truckers to launch the “Freedom Convoy,” a massive protest comprised of vehicles that ended outside Parliament Hill in the nation’s capital.

While peaceful, the protests evoked the ire of Trudeau, who used the Emergencies Act to mobilize the Canadian military and state intel agencies to forcibly remove the demonstrators gridlocking Ottawa. In addition to backing GoFundMe’s attempts to deplatform fundraising efforts for the convoy, Trudeau’s administration also expanded “its terrorist financing rules to target crowdfunding sites like the convoy’s new platform GiveSendGo,” The Federalist’s Jordan Boyd wrote, with Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland baselessly claiming the platforms were “being used to support illegal blockades and illegal activity which is damaging the Canadian economy.”

As if his abuse of the Emergencies Act weren’t despicable enough, Trudeau — who went into hiding upon the convoy’s arrival in Ottawa — also grossly smeared the protesters with the typical diatribe of leftist slanders, including accusations of “antisemitism, Islamophobia, anti-Black racism, homophobia, and transphobia.”

Despite his best attempt to play the role of a dictator, Trudeau’s use of the Emergencies Act went beyond the scope of what is permitted by Canadian law. While the Emergencies Act can be employed to manage a national emergency that “cannot be effectively dealt with under any other law of Canada,” Mosley determined that Trudeau’s actions far exceeded that threshold.

“The potential for serious violence, or being unable to say that there was no potential for serious violence was, of course, a valid reason for concern,” Mosley wrote. “But in my view, it did not satisfy the test required to invoke the Act, particularly as there was no evidence of a similar ‘hardened cell’ elsewhere in the country, only speculation, and the situation at Cou[r]ts had been resolved without violence.”

Mosley further ruled that the government’s financial crackdown violated demonstrators’ Charter rights “by permitting unreasonable search and seizure of the financial information of designated persons and the freezing of their bank and credit card accounts.”

Unsurprisingly, the Canadian government plans to appeal the ruling, with Freeland laughably claiming on Tuesday that the administration’s unlawful actions were “necessary” and “legal” because Canadian “national security was under real threat.”

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/energy/taxpayers-could-get-stuck-cost-removing-offshore-wind-farm-after-biden-admin

Taxpayers may get stuck with cost of removing an offshore wind farm after Biden admin waives fees

The Biden administration reportedly waived fees for an offshore wind project that are in place to ensure that the infrastructure is removed and the site reclaimed at the end of the project’s life.

President Joe Biden, as part of his climate agenda, is pushing an aggressive buildout of offshore wind projects along the East Coast. With the offshore wind industry struggling financially, the waiving of these fees raises concerns about what would happen if these companies go bankrupt and leave behind wind farms they can’t afford to remove.

Protect The Public Trust (PPT), a government watchdog group, obtained documents showing that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) informed Vineyard Wind had approved the company’s request to waive fees for financial assurances that goes toward decommissioning costs.

The bureau’s reasoning for granting the deferral, according to PPT, was that the financial assurance was “unnecessarily burdensome for lessees because, at that point, they have not begun receiving project income.” Since the project is using “proven wind turbine technology” and its contracts guaranteed electricity sale prices, BOEM reasoned, the project had a predictable income over the life of the project.

The Department of Interior requires these bonds from oil and gas producers, as taxpayers have been stuck decommissioning the projects of companies that go bankrupt or were operating prior to bonding requirements.

California, for example, is trying to decommission 23 federal offshore platforms at a cost of $1.7 billion, and the liability for those costs remain unresolved. There are also thousands of onshore orphaned wells across the country that the federal government is trying to plug. In some cases, these wells were drilled a century or more ago before bonding requirements, and there’s no solvent owner of record to hold accountable for the costs.

In Wyoming, an industry sprang up a decade ago hoping to tap coal beds for natural gas, but after natural gas prices collapsed, the entire industry collapsed with it. The state was left with a lot of wells to plug and no companies to hold accountable.

While the Biden administration is granting waivers for these protections to offshore wind projects, it’s proposing steep increases in bonding requirements for oil and gas operations. While that proposal is met with support from environmentalists, industry groups have criticized the measure.

Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Western Energy Alliance, told Reuters in July that rather than trying to ensure funding for reclamation efforts, the administration was raising the costs so high as a means to reduce the number of operations.

Elmer Peter Danenberger III, a petroleum engineer with decades of experience in the oil and gas industry, explained on his “Bud’s Offshore Energy” blog that BOEM’s decision to waive Vineyard Wind’s obligations significantly increases the public’s risk exposure. Danenberger wrote that BOEM, in granting the waiver, cited a general departure authority, which was intended for special situations and not for waivers that could be applied broadly.

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Thursday, January 25th, 2024. 

Fight Laugh Feast Magazine

Our Fight Laugh Feast Magazine is a quarterly issue that packs a punch like a 21 year Balvenie, no ice. We don’t water down our scotch, why would we water down our theology? Order a yearly subscription for yourself and then send a couple yearly subscriptions to your friends who have been drinking luke-warm evangelical cool-aid. Every quarter we promise quality food for the soul, wine for the heart, and some Red Bull for turning over tables. Our magazine will include cultural commentary, a Psalm of the quarter, recipes for feasting, laughter sprinkled through out the glossy pages, and more. Sign up today, at fightlaughfeast.com.

https://www.breitbart.com/2024-election/2024/01/24/calls-grow-louder-for-haley-to-drop-out-of-gop-primary/

Calls Grow Louder for Haley to Drop Out of GOP Primary

Demands grew louder for former Gov. Nikki Haley to drop out of the GOP primary race on Tuesday after placing second in New Hampshire to former President Donald Trump.

Many Republicans believe Haley should leave the race so all available GOP resources can be allocated towards defeating President Joe Biden. Republicans spent over $167 million in losing efforts to defeat Trump in New Hampshire and Iowa, with plans to release millions more in future primaries.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1750015374639390818 - Play Video

After Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) exited the race Sunday, Haley’s path to the nomination did not appear to improve. In fact, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ endorsement of Trump further consolidated support behind the former president, placing pressure on Haley to also end her fledgling campaign. In all states besides New Hampshire, Trump leads by no less than 30 points.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) said Trump is the de facto GOP nominee moving forward. “Congratulations to President Trump on another decisive win in New Hampshire and becoming the presumptive nominee of our party,” he said. 

Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) congratulated Trump on his big win Tuesday evening: “To no one’s surprise, @realDonaldTrump won BIG tonight in New Hampshire. President Trump’s message is resonating with voters. It’s only a matter of time until 45 becomes 47. Congratulations, Mr. President!”

CEO of the Federalist Sean Davis urged Haley to drop out, noting that if she did not, she would be “fully owned by the left-wing Democrats.”

“If Nikki Haley’s primary goal is to defeat Joe Biden in November, she will drop out tonight and endorse Trump. If she continues to stay in a race she cannot win just to attack Trump, then we’ll know she’s fully owned by the left-wing Democrats who are funding her campaign,” he said.

 Social media influencer Ryan Fournier demanded Haley just give up and drop out. “Nikki Haley is refusing to drop out, claiming “this race is far from over.” It’s been over from the start. You all betted on the worst happening to Trump to secure victory. It’s time to give it up.,” he said.

 Nate Cohn, the New York Times’ chief political analyst, wrote on Monday the polling undoubtedly shows Haley’s inevitable resignation from the race, so Trump can turn his focus to defeating President Joe Biden. “So, without a monumental shift in the race, he will secure the nomination in short order,” he said.

“Too little, too late,” Haley backer and a former chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party, Fergus Cullen, told the New York Times about Haley’s prospects. “She had to inspire and engage unaffiliated voters, and I just haven’t seen her doing what she needs to do to reach that audience and turn them out in the numbers that she needs.”

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/immigration/2814985/biden-administration-demands-texas-grant-dhs-access-border/

Biden administration demands Texas grant border access following Supreme Court decision

The Biden administration has demanded the state of Texas relinquish control of a 2.5-mile strip of land on the border and grant federal agents access following a Supreme Court decision that gave Border Patrol agents to slash state-installed razor wire.

The Department of Homeland Security sent Attorney General Ken Paxton (R-TX) a letter Tuesday obtained first by the Washington Examiner in which General Counsel Jonathan Meyer called out the state for its inaction after the highest court rescinded an appeal court injunction and allowed federal police to cut down razor wire fencing in Eagle Pass in order to rescue and apprehend illegal immigrants as they cross the Rio Grande.

“The state has alleged that Shelby Park is open to the public, but we do not believe this statement is accurate,” Meyer said. “To our knowledge, Texas has only permitted access to Shelby Park by allowing public entry for a memorial, the media, and use of the golf course adjacent to Shelby Park, all while continuing to restrict U.S. Border Patrol’s access to the park.”

Meyer said the Supreme Court decision allowed federal law enforcement not only to cut wire at the border but to be present on the border, the latter of which has not been possible since the Texas National Guard commandeered the 2.5-mile strip of city land and locked out all federal employees on Jan. 10.

“As you are aware, yesterday, the Supreme Court vacated the injunction prohibiting the Department from cutting or moving the concertina wire that Texas had placed along the border except in case of emergency, and restored the Department’s right to cut and move the concertina wire placed by Texas in order to perform their statutory duties,” Meyer wrote. “The Department must also have the ability to access the border in the Shelby Park area that is currently obstructed by Texas.”

But despite the court’s decision, Texas National Guard soldiers reaffirmed the state’s position Tuesday. Soldiers in Eagle Pass installed more razor wire at the river and laid out more fencing and concertina wire despite the rain that swept through the region Tuesday, according to video.

The DHS maintained in its letter that it had the upper ground in terms of legal ground that allowed its personnel to be on city land along the border. It cited the U.S. Code, in which the department acquired permanent real estate interests in and around Eagle Pass in 2008 to build border wall barriers in the vicinity.

“Because the Department owns property rights to the areas depicted on the attached map, we demand that you immediately remove any and all obstructions on it,” Meyer said.

Border Patrol still has limited access to a boat ramp within Shelby Park despite the state’s initial concession earlier in the land seizure to let agents load and unload a boat into the river. Meyer called for full access to the boat ramp and river.

The Biden administration had threatened Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) with legal action on Jan. 14 if Texas did not relinquish control of land, but has not followed up with a lawsuit.

“We demand that Texas cease and desist its efforts to block Border Patrol’s access in and around the Shelby Park area and remove all barriers to access in the Shelby Park area,” Meyer told Paxton in the letter.

The showdown between state and federal leaders comes 12 days after three immigrants drowned attempting to wade across the river from Mexico on Jan. 12. Border Patrol officials in Eagle Pass were alerted to immigrants who had drowned and two others in distress and attempted to respond but were denied access at a gate into the state-seized land.

The state has taken issue with Border Patrol cutting its wire on the basis that the wire would deter and prevent more illegal immigration. Federal law enforcement agents are required to arrest anyone who has illegally entered the country or is illegally present, including those who cross the river and are blocked from continuing up the riverbank by the razor wire.

https://www.newsmax.com/world/globaltalk/holocaust-survivors-numbers-report-claims-conference/2024/01/23/id/1150570/

Almost 80 Years after the Holocaust, 245,000 Jewish Survivors Are Still Alive

Almost 80 years after the Holocaust, about 245,000 Jewish survivors are still living across more than 90 countries, a new report revealed Tuesday.

Nearly half of them, or 49%, are living in Israel; 18% are in Western Europe, 16% in the United States, and 12% in countries of the former Soviet Union, according to a study by the New York-based Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, also referred to as the Claims Conference.

Before the publication of the demographic report, there were only vague estimates about how many Holocaust survivors are still alive.

Their numbers are quickly dwindling, as most are very old and often of frail health, with a median age of 86. Twenty percent of survivors are older than 90, and more women (61%) than men (39%) are still alive.

The vast majority, or 96% of survivors, are “child survivors” who were born after 1928, says the report “Holocaust Survivors Worldwide. A Demographic Overview'” which is based on figures that were collected up until August.

“The numbers in this report are interesting, but it is also important to look past the numbers to see the individuals they represent,” said Greg Schneider, the Claims Conference’s executive vice president.

“These are Jews who were born into a world that wanted to see them murdered. They endured the atrocities of the Holocaust in their youth and were forced to rebuild an entire life out of the ashes of the camps and ghettos that ended their families and communities."

Six million European Jews and people from other minorities were killed by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Holocaust.

It is not clear exactly how many Jews survived the death camps, the ghettos or somewhere in hiding across Nazi-occupied Europe, but their numbers were a far cry from the pre-war Jewish population in Europe.

In Poland, of the 3.3 million Jews living there in 1939, only about 300,000 survived.

Around 560,000 Jews lived in Germany in 1933, the year Adolf Hitler came to power. At the end of World War II in 1945, their numbers had diminished to about 15,000 — through emigration and extermination.

Germany's Jewish community grew again after 1990, when more than 215,000 Jewish migrants and their families came from countries of the former Soviet Union, some of them also survivors.

Nowadays, only 14,200 survivors still live in Germany, the demographic report concluded.

For its new report, the Claims Conference said it defined Holocaust survivors "based on agreements with the German government in assessing eligibility for compensation programs.”

For Germany, that definition includes all Jews who lived in the country from Jan. 30, 1933, when Hitler came to power, to May 1945, when Germany surrendered unconditionally in World War II.

The group handles claims on behalf of Jews who suffered under the Nazis and negotiates compensation with Germany's finance ministry every year. In June, the Claims Conference said that Germany has agreed to extend another $1.4 billion, (1.29 billion euros), overall for Holocaust survivors around the globe for 2024.

Since 1952, the German government has paid more than $90 billion to individuals for suffering and losses resulting from persecution by the Nazis.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/nyc-mayor-eric-adams-announces-2-billion-medical-debt-bailout-500000-residents

NYC Mayor Eric Adams announces $2B medical debt bailout for up to 500K residents

New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced on Monday a plan to buy up millions of dollars in medical debt owed by hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers.

In what the mayor said would be a "one-time" deal, the city will spend $18 million in taxpayer funds over the next three years to pay off medical debt owed by up to 500,000 residents. Officials estimate that the program will wipe out over $2 billion of medical debt owed in what they call the "largest municipal initiative of its kind in the country." 

"Getting health care shouldn't be a burden that weighs on New Yorkers and their families," Adams said in a statement. "Since day one, our administration has been driven by the clear mission of supporting working-class New Yorkers and today's investment that will provide $2 billion in medical debt relief is another major step in delivering on that vision. Up to half a million New Yorkers will see their medical debt wiped thanks to this life changing program — the largest municipal initiative of its kind in the country."

Medical debt is among the top causes of bankruptcy in the United States, especially for those who lack health insurance. Nearly 1 in 10 U.S. adults (9%), or roughly 23 million people, owe medical debt, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. The collective medical debt owed by Americans nationwide is estimated by the group to be as much as $195 billion. 

New York City will partner with RIP Medical Debt, a New York-based nonprofit, to acquire debt portfolios and retiree debt from health care providers and hospitals and erase it, officials said.

"No one chooses to go into medical debt — if you're sick or injured, you need to seek care. But no New Yorker should have to choose between paying rent or for other essentials and paying off their medical debt, which is why we are proud to bring this relief to families across the five boroughs, as we continue to fight on behalf of working-class New Yorkers," Adams said.

Founded in 2014, RIP Medical Debt uses donations to buy debt from health care providers in bundles at a steep discount. The group uses data analytics to identify debtors who are most in need — households that earn less than four times the federal poverty level or whose debts are 5% or more of annual income — and buys their debt. Those who benefit from the organization's work receive letters in the mail announcing that their debt has been erased, tax and penalty-free.

The group has partnered with local governments before, including with Cook County in Illinois to abolish more than $280 million in medical debt owed by residents, but never at the scale of its partnership with New York City.

To supplement the city's spending on the program, RIP Medical Debt and the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City are soliciting private donations to raise additional funding over the next three years.

https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/2024/1/22/ngsegtq5k078chahr8s3etgus3983p

New ‘Jurassic World’ Movie in the Works, 2025 Release Being Eyed

A new “Jurassic World” movie is in the works. In fact, it’s so deep in development that Universal is eyeing a 2025 release date for this one. If that’s the case then it wouldn’t come as much of a surprise if it goes into production this year.

The good news is that “Jurassic Park” screenwriter David Koepp is back, his last script for the series was 1997’s “The Lost World.” Koepp is set write the script to introduce a “new Jurassic era,” which likely means Chris Pratt won’t be returning as the lead. 

It’s only been two years since the last one, 2022’s “Jurassic World Dominion”, but Universal’s clearly looking to make more of these films. No director is attached for now, but, the way things are speeding up, one will surely be hired soon.

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Tuesday, January 23rd, 2024. 

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https://thepostmillennial.com/breaking-trump-leads-nikki-haley-by-19-points-in-nh-suffolk-boston-poll?utm_campaign=64487

Trump leads Nikki Haley by 19 points in NH: Suffolk Boston poll

A poll published ahead of Tuesday’s primary election in New Hampshire has found that 2024 GOP frontrunner Donald Trump leads Nikki Haley, the only remaining challenger, by nearly 20 points.

According to a Suffolk University/NBC10 Boston/Boston Globe tracking poll published on Monday, Trump leads Haley by 19 points. Trump received 57 percent support and Haley received 38 percent.

With DeSantis dropping out of the race on Sunday, Haley gained two points.

The poll was conducted between January 20 and 21 of 500 likely Republican primary voters in the state. The poll has a margin of error of 4.4 percent.

A Washington Post/Monmouth University poll, also released on Monday, placed Trump 18 points ahead of Haley, with 52 percent supporting the president and 34 percent backing Haley. 

DeSantis received 8 percent support, as the poll was conducted before the Florida governor dropped out of the race.

This poll was conducted between January 16 and 20 of 712 potential voters in the New Hampshire Republican primary and has a margin of error of 4.2 percent.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/vermont-resettled-somalis-shootings-are-up-185/

Vermont Resettled Somalis, Shootings Are Up 185%

Shootings are up 185% in Vermont from 2021 to 2022.

“We are not used to this level of violence in Vermont,” Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger complained after the city racked up 5 murders. That may not sound like much, but it gives the normally sleepy city, where Bernie Sanders got his start, a higher murder rate than Philly.

When James Eaton, a mentally unstable leftist who had praised Hamas, shot and wounded three Arab Muslim men outside his home, the media eagerly diverted attention from the crime wave to the shooter, who was conveniently white, while falsely blaming it on ‘Islamophobia’.

The discredited hoax was not only trying to rally support for terrorists, but also to distract attention from the real perpetrators of the violence that has overtaken Bernie’s old city.

The shooters in Burlington, VT are much more likely to be Muslim male teens.

Another recent shooting out of Burlington made the national news when Hussein Mohamed, the underage son of Somali immigrants who don’t speak English, shot and killed Madden: a local 14-year-old boy. It was reported that “state police were able to make an arrest despite at least two eyewitnesses from the car providing multiple false statements about the crime.”

The murder wave in Burlington was touched off in 2022 when a Muslim teen, shot and killed Hussein Mubarak, 21.

The 19-year-old had been part of a Somali Muslim refugee family profiled by the New York Times under the headline “U.S. a Place of Miracles for Somali Refugees.” Of that family, one son was convicted of assault with a firearm, another of “aggravated assault for shooting a man in November 2020” and the 19-year-old was the grandson of that same family.

The teen had allegedly become a member of a Somali gang that stole cars while “wearing surgical gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints behind” and two of them had attacked a man in broad daylight while wearing ski masks.

Mubarak had been born in a refugee camp before his family was resettled in America where his “older and younger siblings” spent time in jail, while he turned to selling drugs.

The reporting on the incident and other violent encounters in Burlington are littered with mentions of drug dealing, stolen cars and guns, shootings in garages and names like Mohamed, Ahmed Mohamed, Badal Khadka and Abukar.

Abukar Hilowle was accused of a few shootings, including one in which he allegedly shot the driver of the car he was in, resulting in a car crash, and another in which he shot two middle-aged American men on the street, one of whom had told him to “chill”, but the Muslim perpetrator claimed that he was responding to “racial slurs” by his two victims.

In 2022 it was reported that, “by mid-summer, about half of the city’s gunfire incidents were connected to a small group of new American young men.” The inaccurate euphemism “new Americans“ was being used to refer to Somali and other often Muslim African immigrants.

The perps are usually repeat offenders who wander in and out of the justice system.

In 2020, another Somali was arrested for aggravated assault during a fight over drugs. By 2022, when he was accused of trying to shoot his brother, he had racked up 47 police contacts and 11 arrests. Despite being briefly charged with attempted murder, his family refused to testify and he received a plea deal last year for time served.

Mayor Miro Weinberger however has claimed that the role of migrant settler teens in the wave of violence is not “particularly relevant”.

When the three Arab Muslim men were shot, State’s Attorney Sarah George rushed to claim, without a shred of evidence, that, “there is no question this was a hateful act.” But the Soros DA  has been accused of giving violent drug gang members a pass for the sake of social justice.

Burlington’s crime level rose sharply after the City Council had voted to defund 30% of the police department during the peak of the BLM race riots.

Burlington City Councilor Ali Dieng, an African Muslim immigrant who has run for mayor, has attacked the police while introducing resolutions to boycott Israel and has urged funding for social services to explore the “root causes” of the violence by members of his community.

Only a few hundred Somali Muslims were resettled in Burlington with horrifying consequences.

The question in Burlington, VT and across a nation under siege by hate, extremism, violence, crime and terror spread by first, second and third generation ‘refugees’ is how much more can we take, how many more lives can we lose and how long can we go on living this way?

https://nypost.com/2024/01/22/business/in-n-out-burger-in-oakland-to-close-doors-for-good-over-of-out-of-control-crime-company-says/

In-N-Out Burger in Oakland to close doors for good over of out-of-control crime, company says

In-N-Out Burger’s only location in Oakland is closing after the cherished fast-food joint decided it could no longer risk the safety of fed-up workers and patrons in the city plagued by recent crime.

The location will shut its doors in March — despite the burger spot turning a profit — because of the constant crime in the community, In-N-Out Chief Operating Officer Denny Warnick said in a sudden announcement over the weekend.

The fast food joint has been in the California city for 18 years.

“Despite taking repeated steps to create safer conditions, our Customers and Associates are regularly victimized by car break-ins, property damage, theft, and armed robberies,” Warnick wrote, according to CBS East Bay, which obtained the announcement.

“Additionally, this location remains a busy and profitable one for the company, but our top priority must be the safety and wellbeing of our Customers and Associates – we cannot ask them to visit or work in an unsafe environment,” he said.

Data released by Oakland police at the start of the new year showed robberies increased 38% from 2022 to 2023, ABC 7 Bay Area reported.

Burglaries jumped 23% year-to-year and motor vehicle theft spiked 44%, the data showed.

Workers at Oakland’s In-N-Out can either transfer to another one of the company’s fast-food restaurants or accept a severance package.

https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2024/01/20/the-kingdom-belongs-to-you-lord-ravens-john-harbaugh-opens-post-game-presser-by-reading-bible-verse/

‘The Kingdom Belongs to You, Lord’: Ravens’ John Harbaugh Opens Post-Game Presser by Reading Bible Verse

On Saturday, the Baltimore Ravens won their biggest game since they last won the Super Bowl over ten years ago. And in his post-game presser, coach John Harbaugh knew exactly who to thank for it.

After the Ravens rallied from a 10-10 tie at halftime to thoroughly dominate the second half on their way to a 34-10 victory, Harbaugh opened his presser not by complimenting his future MVP quarterback (probably) but by thanking his Creator.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1748892900195438908 - Play Video

The verse is from 1 Chronicles 29: 11-13.

Harbaugh’s bold statement of faith comes a week after NBC’s official Sunday Night Football account edited out Texans quarterback CJ Stroud’s comments where he said, “All glory to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” following Houston’s defeat of the Cleveland Browns.

The Ravens coach wasn’t the only member of the Harbaugh family to speak out in defense of faith this week. John Harbaugh’s brother, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh, spoke at the March for Life in Washington, D.C.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1748419169358372904 - Play 0:36-1:55

The Ravens will play the Kansas City Chiefs for the AFC Championship this weekend.

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Friday, January 19th, 2024. 

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https://thenationalpulse.com/2024/01/18/gop-led-house-approves-bill-to-avoid-shutdown-without-border-spending-deals/

GOP-Led House Approves Bill to Avoid Shutdown Without Border, Spending Deals

The U.S. House of Representatives voted late Thursday afternoon to extend government funding into early March and avoid a temporary partial government shutdown, sending the continuing resolution to President Biden to sign into law. 

The measure, which passed by a vote of 314 to 108, angered conservative Republicans who opposed any continuing resolution to fund the government without concessions by the Democrats on border security and spending. The House Freedom Caucus made an eleventh-hour plea to House Speaker Mike Johnson to permit an amendment to the House’s border security package, which Johnson rejected.

Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good slammed his fellow Republicans who supported the continuing resolution ahead of the vote. “The more things change, the more things stay the same,” he said in a floor speech. “We’re not even willing to risk a temporary pause in the 15 percent of the non-essential part of the government in order to force change in Washington,” he said. “No, we’re going to continue the status quo.” Good’s statements echoed an official position on the measure released by the Freedom Caucus hours before the vote. “Americans did not give Republicans a majority in the House to continue Nancy Pelosi’s inflationary spending and Joe Biden’s failed policies,” the group wrote in a statement. “This is not what we promised the American people.” 

The vote is also likely to be unpopular with the Republican base, which consistently ranks immigration as one of the top issues facing the country. Over 80 percent of Republican voters agree with President Donald Trump that the ongoing border crisis is “poisoning the blood” of America.

https://dailycaller.com/2024/01/17/blue-state-officials-pay-thousands-barring-church-preschool-lunch-program-beliefs-gender/

Blue State Officials Agree To Pay Thousands After Barring Church From Preschool Lunch Program For Beliefs On Gender

California state officials agreed to settle with the Church of Compassion and Dayspring Christian Learning Center Tuesday for nearly $200,000 after trying to exclude the church from the state’s preschool lunch program.

The church and the center, alongside Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), filed a lawsuit in June last year alleging that officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the California Department of Social Services barred them from participating in the “Child and Adult Food Care Program” because of their religious beliefs on gender and sex. ADF and state officials filed a settlement agreement this week requiring the defendants to pay $30,000 for meals paid out of pocket in the absence of state funding and $160,000 for attorney’s fees.

“In the name of combatting discrimination, government officials excluded the church and preschool from serving the El Cajon community based solely on their religious beliefs and exercise,” Jeremiah Galus, senior counsel for ADF, said in a press release. “While it shouldn’t have taken a lawsuit to resolve this, at least now Church of Compassion can continue its vital outreach to needy children and families.”

The center had been a part of the USDA’s program for nearly two decades when the department changed its rules in 2021 requiring all participants to commit to not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. In May 2023, the department also required state directors of USDA’s food and nutrition service programs to prohibit “discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation.”

Church of Compassion and Dayspring Christian Learning Center failed to meet these new requirements for the 2022-2023 school year because of their beliefs on “human sexuality” and their refusal to “use any child or employee’s ‘preferred’ pronouns that do not correspond to biological sex,” according to the lawsuit. ADF argued that the department and state officials were deliberately discriminating against the church and the learning center because of its faith in violation of the First Amendment.

“The government can’t withhold food from families in need simply because their children attend a Christian preschool. The Constitution protects the right of Church of Compassion and its preschool to operate according to the dictates of their faith,” Galus said in the press release.

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/madelineleesman/2024/01/17/lgbt-activist-arrested-child-predator-sting-n2633750

Director of LGBTQ+ Organization That Helps Minors Arrested in Child Sex Sting

The executive director of the pro-LGBTQ+ organization Rainbow Research Center was apprehended on suspicion of attempting to engage in sexual activities with a minor, according to The Modesto Bee.

Reportedly, a total of 17 men were arrested on suspicion of eliciting sex with a minor after an undercover sting conducted by the Turlock Police Department in California. Gerard Slayton, 42, was one of them (via the Bee):

Slayton recently was appointed executive director of the Rainbow Center, a local nonprofit organization that provides resources to LGBTQ+ members of all ages. It particularly offers resources related to mental and physical health.

In a statement shared on Facebook, the Rainbow Resource Center said that Slayton’s actions occurred “outside working hours and off-premises.” 

“Mr. Slayton’s actions do not represent our organization’s values or mission. In accordance with our unwavering commitment to upholding the highest standards of conduct and integrity, we are addressing the issue within the Rainbow Resource Center,” the statement read. 

“We are dedicated to rebuilding any trust that may have been affected by the situation. As an organization that is at the forefront of advocacy and support for the LGBTQ+ community, our actions must reflect our dedication to these principles,” it continued.

https://dailycaller.com/2024/01/17/beijing-china-wuhan-covid-19-100-percent-death-mice-study-full-paper/

Mutant COVID-19 Strain With 100% Kill Rate Developed In China

A pre-peer-reviewed study published in early January described how mice were exposed to a human-based “lethal infection” of COVID-19 with a 100% mortality rate.

The Beijing-based research paper was submitted to the scientific preprint site BioRXiv and published prior to peer review, but the data held within the pages is significant. Two SARS-CoV-2-related pangolin coronaviruses (GD/2019, GX/2017) were identified prior to the major COVID-19 outbreak in late 2019 through early 2020, according to the study’s authors.

The researchers then isolated “mutant” strains, which were cultured in labs between 2017 and 2020. When the infectivity and pathogenicity of the isolates were tested, it was found to easily infect golden hamsters and mice. The first isolate pCoV-GD01 had a higher homology than COVID-19, whereas GX_P2V didn’t seem to cause any disease in the animals despite infection.

But an early passaged GX_P2V isolate, named GX_P2v(short_3UTR) not only infected mice with extremely high viral loads into their lung and brain tissue, but eventually killed 100% of the mice within the study. Even those mice who were given an inoculation (i.e., vaccinated) succumbed to the disease.

Autopsy of the mice showed viral RNA in the brain, lung, turbinate, eye and trachea, killing all of the mice within eight days of infection. All of the mice’s eyes also went white the day before they died.

The authors argued this is the first report that COVID-19-related pangolin coronavirus can cause 100% mortality rates in mice, suggesting a significant risk of the disease spilling over into humans.

But since the study is not peer-reviewed, there are huge questions about the efficacy of the results. “I had a look at the preprint. It’s a terrible study, scientifically totally pointless. I can see nothing of vague interest that could be learned from force-infecting a weird breed of humanised mice with a random virus. Conversely, I could see how such stuff might go wrong …” University College London genetics director Francois Balloux wrote on Twitter. “The preprint does not specify the biosafety level and biosafety precautions used for the research.”

Balloux’s statements were reiterated by Rutgers University chemistry professor Richard H. Ebright, who wrote “concur” under the comment.

It appears the biggest concern is related to why scientists feel the need to develop these horrific diseases. “The absence of this information raises the concerning possibility that part or all of this research, like the research in Wuhan in 2016-2019 that likely caused the Covid-19 pandemic, recklessly was performed without the minimal biosafety containment and practices essential for research with potential pandemic pathogens,” Balloux concluded. And it’s pretty hard to argue with his stance.

China is already inching back toward lockdowns as mysterious viruses spread throughout the country. Most of these illnesses are being blamed on influenza strains and other respiratory diseases, but no single culprit has been identified to date.

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Thursday, January 18th, 2024. 

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https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2024/01/17/tucker-decimates-nikki-haley-n2168832

Tucker Carlson Takes Down Nikki Haley With Brutal Video

In the wake of the Iowa caucuses, there are a lot of interesting reactions including those who believe that President Donald Trump is now the likely nominee, like Vivek Ramaswamy and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who both endorsed Trump.

Vivek even went on the road with him to New Hampshire to encourage people to vote for him.

Tucker Carlson, who is supportive of Trump, noted that Trump's win was historic, but the media was dealing with it with some pretty hilarious reactions - with Chris Wallace looking "sick" and Joy Reid blaming "white Christians" in Iowa and calling them racist. 

They were very upset, he observed.

But he warned that Haley might do better in New Hampshire, that she had been spending far more money than Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis there. She also has the support of N.H. Gov. Chris Sununu.  He said a lot of Haley's money came from "committed Democratic partisans." She's gotten money from people like Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman, who has been a supporter of Joe Biden, a friend of Jeffrey Epstein, and the guy who funded the E. Jean Carroll lawsuit.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1747274232093110614 - Play 4:48-9:03

Never change Tucker…as always, you can find the link to Tucker’s video in my show notes.

https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-government-to-spend-700k-on-trans-inclusive-sex-ed-for-14-year-olds

Federal Government To Spend $700k On Trans-Inclusive Sex Ed For 14-Year-Olds

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is awarding nearly $700,000 taxpayer dollars to back pregnancy prevention programs for young girls who identify as boys, warning that “heteronormative” sexual education is inadequate.

The $698,736 grant, which began in September 2023 and will continue until June 2027, according to government disclosures, will be allocated to the Center for Innovative Public Health Research, a non-profit that seeks to create “an inclusive teen pregnancy program for transgender boys.”

“Youth who are assigned female at birth … are at risk for negative sexual health outcomes yet are effectively excluded from sexual health programs because gender-diverse youth do not experience the cisgender, heteronormative teen sexual education messaging available to them as salient or applicable,” the award description claims.

The Center for Innovative Public Health Research aims to provide sex education via a program called “Girl2Girl,” which the organization describes as “a text messaging based-sexual health program designed for cisgender sexual minority girls 14-18 years of age.”

The center will then “test the resulting adaptation” in a national cohort of “700 trans-identified AFAB youth 14-18 years of age,” measuring their use of contraception and testing for sexually transmitted diseases, as well as pregnancy rates.

The funding from the HHS specifically comes from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Nursing Research. The National Institute of Nursing Research was given authority to spend a total of $57 million taxpayer dollars in fiscal year 2024.

The Center for Innovative Public Health Research is slated to receive another $1.4 million taxpayer dollars from HHS to develop a “population-based HIV prevention program for trans girls,” specifying that the program will “address the lack of gender inclusive HIV prevention programming.”

“Messaging will be gender affirming” and will “reduce internalized transphobia,” the award description adds.

But the award for nearly $700,000 taxpayer dollars is not the only action that the HHS has taken to push transgenderism. The Daily Wire previously revealed that the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a subagency of the HHS, funded a study on the use of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormone treatment to the tune of $3 million despite transgender children’s hospitals admitting that the practice could result in permanent sterilization.

https://thepostmillennial.com/exclusive-maine-moves-to-create-sanctuary-state-for-child-sex-changes?utm_campaign=64487

Maine moves to create 'sanctuary state' for child sex changes

A Maine judiciary committee will decide on Wednesday morning whether a bill permitting minors to travel to the state to seek sex changes and granting the state custody over children will move to the floor. 

LD1735, also called An Act to Safeguard Gender-affirming Health Care, was introduced to the House of Representatives in the state in April of 2023 by Rep. Laurie Osher of Orono, and is cosponsored by Reps Erin Sheehan of Biddeford, Nina Milliken of Blue Hill, Suzanne Salisbury of Westbrook, Mark Worth of Ellsworth, and Rep. Matt Moonen of Portland as well as Senator Anne Carney of Cumberland.

Courage is a Habit, a group fighting for parental rights in states across the nation, is leading an effort to stop this bill. 

Alvin Lui, president of Courage is a Habit, told The Post Millennial that people who do not live in Maine should contact the committee members as well as Maine residents as the bill "affects everybody’s parental rights."

Sample emails provided by the group tell the members that "There is a lack of long-term studies on the benefits of 'gender-affirming care,’ which could result in the life-long sterilization and surgical mutilation of children," "With lawsuits against hospitals and schools on the rise in 2023, the public is becoming more aware of the potential risks associated with this bill," and "Protecting parental rights and the well-being of children should be our top priority. I urge you to vote "ought not to pass" on LD 1735."

LD 1735 "prohibits the enforcement of an order based on another state's law authorizing a child to be removed from the child's parent or guardian based on that parent or guardian allowing the child to receive gender-affirming health care or gender-affirming mental health care."

A law enforcement agency would be prohibited from knowingly making or participating in the arrest or extradition of an individual on an out-of-state warrant for violating another state’s laws on bringing a child to Maine to give sex change treatments.

The bill updates rules on abandonment of a child or emergency situations, granting the State temporary emergency jurisdiction over the child if the child "has been unable to obtain gender-affirming health care or gender-affirming mental health care" because of a parent or guardian.

The bill also prevents courts from finding a case was brought forth in an "inconvenient forum," or the wrong court, "if the law or policy of another state that may take jurisdiction limits the ability of a parent to obtain gender-affirming health care or gender-affirming mental health care for a child and the provision of that care is at issue in the case before the court."

LD1735 "prohibits a court from considering the taking or retention of a child from a person who has legal custody of the child if the taking or retention was for obtaining gender-affirming health care or gender-affirming mental health care for the child."

The bill mirrors similar laws passed in California, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Washington and Minnesota.

Lui told The Post Millennial, "refuse to let your kindness be weaponized against you."

"If you're wondering how you got there in Maine, wherever you live ... it's because over time, you've allowed your kindness to be weaponized against you and they kept moving that goalpost and now, even when they're proposing a transgender trafficking bill, they're still using emotional blackmail to try to get you to accept this," he said.

Lui said that "they’re quite literally opening up trafficking avenues by inviting children from other states where their parents do not agree to transgender sterilization drugs and mutilating surgeries, and they're going to welcome these kids in Maine using your taxpayer dollars through Medicaid to pay for these procedures, putting them in foster care, opening them up to vulnerabilities like sex trafficking, like abuse, not to mention the lifelong, irreversible procedures and drugs that the transgender  cult promotes."

"So there is no slippery slope. You're here at the bottom now because they're willing to remove kids from parents, and the next step will be to remove your children from your home in Maine," Lui added, noting the instance of California.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/teacher-of-the-year-says-he-was-reassigned-for-3-months-after-too-harshly-stopping-2-male-students-from-attacking-female

Teacher of the Year says he was reassigned for 3 months after 'too harshly' stopping 2 male students from attacking female

Kumar Rashad — who was named the Kentucky Department of Education's Teacher of the Year in September — told WDRB-TV that in October he was reassigned for three months after "too harshly" stopping two male students from attacking a female student.

A math teacher in Louisville's Breckinridge Metropolitan High School, Rashad told the station after the incident officials reassigned him to "non-instructional duties" at the Special Needs East Bus Compound.

WDRB said Jefferson County Public Schools wouldn't say why Rashad was reassigned — but he gave his side of the story Thursday, one day before he began resuming his teaching duties.

"I saw two males attack a female, and I went to the female's rescue, and I removed the two students off of that female," Rashad told the station. "The two students said I removed them too harshly."

Rashad noted to WLKY-TV that the two male students complained about him to the powers that be.

He was not about to apologize, however, telling WLKY: "Please understand, in the community, in school, anywhere I am going, I will never allow a lady to be attacked by a male."

Kentucky's 2024 Teacher of the Year reinstated by JCPS, says he was reassigned for breaking up fight-Play 0:30-0:49

Rashad added to WDRB that the investigation is over, and he was cleared to return Friday to the classroom — which the school district confirmed.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/01/16/here-we-go-wef-hosts-panel-tomorrow-for-disease-x/

WEF Hosts Panel Tomorrow for ‘Disease X’

Klaus Schwab, the World Economic Forum (WEF), and the so-called global elites are gathering for a five-day annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, from January 15-19. One of the topics on the agenda for January 17 has raised some eyeballs: “Preparing for Disease X.”

COVID has been reported to have claimed approximately 7 million lives worldwide, but “Disease X,” on the other hand, they warn, “could result in 20 times more fatalities than the coronavirus pandemic.”

Something interesting about people in power is that a not insignificant number of them also happen to believe that the world is overpopulated. If a pandemic 20 times as deadly as COVID did happen, claiming 140 million lives, would global leaders mourn or secretly celebrate that the world’s population was curbed?

Yuval Noah Harari, one of Barack Obama’s favorite authors and a frequent speaker at Davos, has said that “the big political and economic question of the 21st century will be, ‘What do we need humans for?’ or at least, ‘What do we need so many humans for?’”

Remember, in October 2019 — just months before COVID-19 was identified in Wuhan — The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in partnership with the WEF and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation hosted Event 201, described as “a high-level pandemic exercise.” Is it out of the question to think another so-called pandemic could be just around the corner?

Doctors like Peter McCullough and James Thorp stress the importance of being prepared and having life-saving medications on hand for whatever emergency — pandemic or not — life throws at you next.

“You’ve seen all the threats from the establishment suggesting that there’s not going to be drug availability in the not-too-distant future,” obstetrician-gynecologist and maternal-fetal medicine specialist Dr. James Thorp warns. “They tell us — they’re threatening us that there’s another pandemic coming. So, look at that and protect yourselves.”

So, what should we be doing?

“Stocking up,” urged Dr. Thorp. “I’ve been doing this since 1995 — always stocking up I’ve been doing that for 20 years, and trust me, even before the pandemic, it saved a lot of my patients and family members because when they need the drugs, they can’t get them.”

The Wellness Company has put together a Medical Emergency Kit of eight potentially life-saving medications, which includes Ivermectin and Z-Pak, for the treatment of a range of illnesses, including strep throat, pneumonia, COVID-19, nausea and vomiting, and more.

The full list is linked in the article in my show notes. 

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Wednesday, January 17th, 2024. 

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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-narrowly-denied-clean-sweep-iowas-99-counties-1-vote

Trump narrowly denied clean sweep of Iowa's 99 counties by 1 vote

Former President Donald Trump won 98 out of 99 Iowa counties during Monday's dominating victory in the Republican caucuses.

The one county that did not go for Trump was Johnson County, where former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley led Trump by one vote with 99% of votes counted. Haley received 1,271 votes, approximately 35.5% of the vote in Johnson County, while Trump received 1,270 votes, according to GOP officials in the state.

Haley finished third statewide behind Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Trump pulled in a majority of votes with 51%.

Haley claimed her third-place finish was evidence of momentum when considering polling numbers in upcoming primary states.

"When you look at how well we’re doing in New Hampshire, in South Carolina and beyond, I can safely say tonight Iowa made this Republican primary a two-person race," Haley said.

DeSantis visited every county and invested significant time and resources in the Hawkeye State, and weeks ago was predicting he would win the caucuses. Recently he had been saying he embraced the underdog role in the state.

"Because of your support, in spite of all of what they threw at us, we got our ticket punched out of Iowa," DeSantis said in his speech.

DeSantis outperformed some polling expectations on Monday night, finishing at roughly 21% when the Real Clear Politics average of polls showed him at 15.7% before votes were cast.

"They threw everything at Ron DeSantis," a senior DeSantis campaign official told Fox News Digital late Monday night. "They couldn’t kill him. He is not only still standing, but he’s now earned his ticket out of Iowa. This is going to be a long battle ahead, but that is what this campaign is built for. The stakes are too high for this nation and we will not back down."

Trump currently holds large leads in the polls in both New Hampshire and South Carolina. The former president, according to the Real Clear Politics average of polls, holds a 14-point lead in New Hampshire and a 30-point lead in South Carolina.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/16/nikki-haley-refuses-more-presidential-debates-unless-trump-participates.html

Nikki Haley refuses more presidential debates unless Trump participates

Nikki Haley said she would not participate in any further primary debates unless front-runner Donald Trump is on stage.

The former president won a landslide victory Monday in the Iowa Caucus, the first contest of the 2024 presidential nomination. Haley placed third in Iowa, with 19.1% of the vote.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis accused Haley of not wanting to answer “tough questions” on topics such as her alleged dealings with aircraft manufacturer Boeing while she was governor of South Carolina.

“The reality is that she is not running for the nomination, she’s running to be Trump’s VP,” DeSantis posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday. “I won’t snub New Hampshire voters like both Nikki Haley and Donald Trump, and plan to honor my commitments. I look forward to debating two empty podiums in the Granite State this week.”

The next GOP primary debate is scheduled for Thursday, days before the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 23. Polls have Haley running just behind Trump in the state, some polls by as little as 7 points.

https://redstate.com/jenvanlaar/2024/01/15/watch-vivek-ramaswamy-addresses-supporters-in-iowa-n2168776

Vivek Ramaswamy Suspends Presidential Campaign, Endorses Donald Trump

Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, fresh off a 4th-place finish in Iowa, addressed his supporters and announced that he is suspending his campaign.

Ramaswamy spoke for just about 10 minutes before taking questions/comments from supporters. He told his supporters that he'd promised them he would tell the truth and be realistic, and that acknowledging hard truths required him to say that there was no path for him to be the nominee. He told his supporters that he is committed to America First principles and that Trump is the candidate who will do things like get rid of the deep state, restore national pride, and eliminate a chunk of federal bureaucracy.

He ended his comments by assuring supporters that this is just the start of their movement.

https://thepostmillennial.com/nypd-stop-man-for-smoking-in-subway-then-arrest-him-on-murder-charges-from-2020?utm_campaign=64487

NYPD stop man for smoking in subway—then arrest him on murder charges from 2020

A man was arrested for an alleged murder that took place in Queens in 2020 after he was stopped by the New York Police Department for smoking in the subway.

Brooklyn transit cops stopped the 36-year-old Luis Hernandez after he was seen smoking on the subway on Friday. Under normal circumstances, Hernandez would have been released with a simple court summons, but he was held up after officers scanned his name and found out he was wanted for murder, Daily News reports.

Police took Hernandez to Queens and showed him video and photos showing him at a murder scene on 31st St. near 36th Ave. in Astoria, according to authorities. 

Police say Hernandez and three or four others took part in the murder of Richard Hernandez, 21 on Feb. 9, 2020.

“Mr. Hernandez has pleaded not guilty and fully intends on fighting the charges against him,” his attorney, Mahmoud Rabah, told the Daily News on Monday.

“Mr. Hernandez is a committed father of a young child,” Rabah claimed. “He is a hardworking immigrant who has held a stable job in a meat processing plant for years. He completely maintains his innocence and looks forward to his day in court.”

Hernandez has no prior arrests and was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on Sunday.

The victim, who is not related to Luis, was out with friends when a fight erupted. Witnesses told the Daily News that at least one attacker was armed with a machete, and another a knife. The victim was slain just a few blocks away from where he lived, and ultimately could not be saved after being taken to Mount Sinai Queens. Three other men sustained minor wounds during the brawl, police reported at the time.

Police said on Monday that the attack was linked to gang activity. Authorities remain in pursuit of Hernandez's accomplices.

https://notthebee.com/article/coming-soon-someone-made-a-video-showing-what-your-flights-will-look-like-in-our-very-progressive-future

"Coming soon": Someone made a parody showing what flights will look like in our progressive future

Ah, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. It's to die for.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1747091085736730872 - Play Video 

Here you thought Final Destination was just a work of fiction! If you want to watch the video rather than just hearing it, you can do so by finding the link in my show notes… 

https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2024/01/14/oh-hes-pssed-the-internet-reacts-to-jerry-jones-visible-anger-after-cowboys-humiliating-loss-to-green-bay/

Jerry Jones’ Visible Anger After Cowboys Humiliating Loss to Green Bay

As expected, the Cowboys-Packers game was a blowout. Unexpectedly, it was the Cowboys who got blown out.

The Packers raced to a 27-7 halftime via a fast-paced, deep-ball attacking offense complimented by an explosive running game from Aaron Jones and aided by two interceptions from a defense that seemed determined to make everyone forget about their late-season struggles.

Trailing 48-16 with less than six minutes to go, the Cowboys flurried for two scores to make things look more respectable. But, while things may have looked better on the scoreboard, judging by the expression on Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones’ face, it didn’t really help matters.

Nor did things look any better when Jones walked towards the locker room with his entourage.

Jones’ words couldn’t have been very consoling to head coach Mike McCarthy or QB Dak Prescott, and just a quick warning, there’s a little language involved. 

https://twitter.com/i/status/1746662526643782140 - Play Video 

Oh I’m sorry - what he actually said was: 

“I say this to our fans, how much you deserve us not to have this ending,” Jones told reporters immediately after the loss. “In no way have I spent any of my time over the last three hours asking how and why. And what I’m zeroed in on is the fact that I thought we were positioned, everybody in this room thought [we] were in a position, to advance this thing in the playoffs and maybe get as far as our dreams might take us. We didn’t do it.”

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Tuesday, January 16th, 2024. 

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https://thepostmillennial.com/faa-is-actively-recruiting-people-with-severe-intellectual-and-psychiatric-disabilities-as-part-of-diversity-and-inclusion-plan?utm_campaign=64487

Biden's FAA is actively recruiting people with ‘severe intellectual’ and ‘psychiatric’ disabilities as part of 'Diversity and Inclusion' plan

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) places a priority on hiring people with "severe intellectual disability" as part of its diversity and inclusion initiative. 

According to its website, the FAA claims, "Individuals with targeted or 'severe' disabilities are the most under-represented segment of the Federal workforce." 

Under its People with Disabilities Program, the agency says it "actively recruits, hires, promotes, retains, develops and advances people with disabilities." The FAA targets the following disabilities as a matter of policy: "Hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability and dwarfism."

The FAA told Fox News that it "seeks qualified candidates from as many sources as possible, all of whom must meet rigorous qualifications that of course will vary by position."

Its website reveals that those with disabilities or those who have a veteran status can also be hired via the non-competitive, "on-the-spot" process as long as a manager files the proper paperwork, thus giving them preferential treatment in the hiring process. 

The aviation industry has received further scrutiny from the public in the wake of an Alaska Airlines door plug being blown off the side of its two-month-old Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft causing it to make an emergency landing. 

In a post on X, tech mogul Elon Musk asked, "Do you want to fly in an airplane where they prioritize DEI hiring over your safety?" He added, "That is actually happening." 

"People will die due to DEI," Musk said.

Musk's comments came in response to a report that revealed in 2022 that Boeing began prioritizing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) as part of its hiring process in 2022.

The Alaskan Airlines situation came on the heels of a shocking report in December, which showed there were 19 instances where planes nearly crashed into each other at airports in the first ten months of 2023.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/business/2795955/shark-tank-powerhouse-investor-says-he-wont-invest-in-california-bad-policy/

Shark Tank powerhouse investor says he won’t invest in California: ‘Bad policy’

Kevin O’Leary of Shark Tank revealed he would not make business investments in several Democratic states, including California.

O’Leary explained his reasoning in a yet-to-be-released episode of Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s (R-TN) show Unmuted. According to a transcript reviewed by Townhall, the politics of a state help O’Leary determine where to invest.

“I’m not trying to get involved in the partisanship of this statement. Just a fact, I don’t invest in New York, I don’t invest in Massachusetts, I don’t invest in California. In my mind, those are examples of states that are uninvestable because of bad policy,” O’Leary said. “So, I’m looking for the path of least resistance. If you make it hard for me to make money, I just take my money and go somewhere else.”

California in particular is ranked in the top ten for sales taxes and corporate taxes, according to the Tax Foundation, while New York is in the top ten only for its sales tax.

O’Leary pointed to Tennessee as an example of a state with “fantastic tax policy, reduced regulatory environment, reduced permitting time.” Any other state that doesn’t implement these business-friendly policies is at risk of “killing jobs,” according to O’Leary.

The Canadian investor started his own venture capital firm O’Leary Ventures last year, over 15 years after his first appearance on Shark Tank where he spends episodes deciding in what small businesses he desires to invest.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/01/15/report-white-house-swatted-prank-caller-claiming-residence-on-fire/

White House Swatted by ‘Prank Caller’ Claiming Residence on Fire

Fire trucks and ambulances reportedly rushed to the White House Monday morning around seven o’clock after a “prank caller” claimed the residence was on fire and someone was trapped inside.

The incident represents the latest swatting event against political officials. Dangerous swatting events appear to have first been instigated by Democrat prank callers against political opponents.

The prank call at the White House forced fire trucks and ambulances to rush to a snow-covered White House, the Daily Mail reported.

After arriving, the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services and the U.S. Secret Service determined the incident was a false alarm.

“Fire in the White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,” a Washington, DC, dispatcher said at 7:04 a.m.

Authorities gave an “all clear” order at 7:15 AM.

President Joe Biden was located at Camp David on Monday morning, far away from the residence.

Authorities traced the prank call to an apparently spoofed phone number, a source told CNN.

“Someone who was reached at the callback number for the 911 report indicated they did not place it, a source told the Associated Press, indicating it was likely spoofed,” the Daily Mail reported.

Recent politicians who were swatted include Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), along with celebrities Ashton Kutcher, Justin Bieber, and Kim Kardashian.

https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/yemen-houthi-rebels-fire-missile-us-warship-red-106370679

Houthi rebels strike a U.S.-owned ship off the coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden, raising tensions

Houthi rebels fired a missile, striking a U.S.-owned ship Monday just off the coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden, less than a day after they launched an anti-ship cruise missile toward an American destroyer in the Red Sea.

The attack on the Gibraltar Eagle, later claimed by the Houthis, further escalates tensions gripping the Red Sea after American-led strikes on the rebels. The Houthis' attacks have roiled global shipping, amid Israel's war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, targeting a crucial corridor linking Asian and Mideast energy and cargo shipments to the Suez Canal onward to Europe.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which oversees Mideast waters, said Monday's attack happened some 110 miles (177 kilometers) miles southeast of Aden. It said the ship’s captain reported that the “port side of vessel hit from above by a missile.”

Private security firms Ambrey and Dryad Global told The Associated Press that the vessel was the Eagle Gibraltar, a Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier. The U.S. military's Central Command later acknowledged the strike.

“The ship has reported no injuries or significant damage and is continuing its journey,” Central Command said.

Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed the attack in a recorded television address that aired Monday night.

“The Yemeni armed forces consider all American and British ships and warships participating in the aggression against our country as hostile targets,” he said.

The vessel is owned by Eagle Bulk Shipping, a Stamford, Connecticut-based firm traded on the New York Stock Exchange. In a statement to the AP, the company acknowledged the strike and said it caused “limited damage to a cargo hold but (the ship) is stable and is heading out of the area.”

“All seafarers onboard the vessel are confirmed to be uninjured,” the firm said. “The vessel is carrying a cargo of steel products. Eagle Bulk management is in close contact with all relevant authorities concerning this matter.”

Satellite-tracking data analyzed by the AP showed the Eagle Gibraltar had been bound for the Suez Canal, but rapidly turned around at the time of the attack.

Central Command said it detected a separate anti-ship ballistic missile launch toward the southern Red Sea on Monday, though it ”failed in flight and impacted on land in Yemen."

The U.S. Maritime Administration, under the Transportation Department, also issued a warning Monday saying there continues to be “a high degree of risk to commercial vessels” traveling near Yemen.

“While the decision to transit remains at the discretion of individual vessels and companies, it is recommended that U.S. flag and U.S.-owned commercial vessels” stay away from Yemen in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden “until further notice,” the advisory said.

Sunday's missile launch toward the American warship also marked the first U.S.-acknowledged fire by the Houthis since America and allied nations began strikes Friday on the rebels following weeks of assaults on shipping in the Red Sea.

The Houthi fire in the direction of the USS Laboon, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer operating in the southern reaches of the Red Sea, Central Command said.

The missile came from near Hodeida, a Red Sea port city long held by the Houthis, the U.S. said.

“An anti-ship cruise missile was fired from Iranian-backed Houthi militant areas of Yemen toward USS Laboon,” Central Command said. “There were no injuries or damage reported."

The Houthis did not acknowledge that attack.

It wasn’t presently clear whether the U.S. would retaliate for the latest attacks, though President Joe Biden has said he “will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary.”

The first day of U.S.-led strikes Friday hit 28 locations and struck more than 60 targets with cruise missiles and bombs launched by fighter jets, warships and a submarine. Sites hit included weapon depots, radars and command centers, including in remote mountain areas, the U.S. has said.

The Houthis have yet to acknowledge how severe the damage was from the strikes, which they said killed five of their troops and wounded six others.

U.S. forces followed up with a strike Saturday on a Houthi radar site.

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Thursday, January 11th, 2024. 

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https://thepostmillennial.com/breaking-hunter-biden-shows-up-at-house-while-oversight-considers-contempt-resolution-against-him?utm_campaign=64487

Hunter Biden makes surprise appearance at Oversight contempt proceeding in congress, then storms out

After defying a Congressional subpoena in December, Hunter Biden made a surprise appearance at Wednesday’s markup meeting in which lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee are working on a resolution to hold the president’s son in contempt of Congress.

House Oversight member Nancy Mace addressed Biden directly.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1745105809439150194 - Play Video 

When Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene began speaking Hunter Biden stormed out, with Greene telling him as he left, "Apparently you’re afraid of my words."

https://twitter.com/i/status/1745108562043437517 - Play 0:00-0:39

Then as Hunter Biden was exiting the building, a man asked him on numerous occasions, “are you on crack today?” 

https://twitter.com/i/status/1745107221992632623 - Play Video 

Hunter Biden attorney Abbe Lowell addressed reporters in the halls of Congress, saying that "Republicans have sought to use [Hunter Biden} as a surrogate to attack his father."

Lowell said that "we have offered to work with House committees to see what and how relevant information to any legitimate inquiry could be provided."

"Our first five offers were ignored. And then in November, they issued a subpoena for a behind-closed-doors deposition, a tactic that the Republicans have repeatedly misused in their political crusade to selectively leave and mischaracterize what witnesses have said."

Hunter Biden was subpoenaed to appear for a closed-door deposition on December 13, 2023. He refused to attend this deposition, instead speaking from the Capitol lawn.

Hunter Biden declared that he would only appear in a public session, but Committee on House Administration rules states that depositions of a witness are to take place only in the presence of the "Committee, Committee staff designed by the Chairman or the ranking minority member, an official reporter, the witness, and the witness’ two designated attorneys." Hunter Biden, however, doesn't think this rule should apply to him.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/mexican-president-demands-20-billion-and-work-permits-for-10-million-hispanics-before-offering-immigration-help

Mexican president demands $20 billion and work permits for 10 million Hispanics before offering immigration help

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador recently revealed what that U.S. must do in order for the Mexican government to help slow down the flow of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, and the price is steep.

Fox News Digital reported that Lopez Obrador announced his demands during a press conference on Friday. The development comes just a week after the Mexican president met with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Mexico City.

In order for Mexico to help the U.S., Lopez Obrador demanded that the U.S. provide $20 billion to Latin American and Caribbean countries; provide work visas to 10 million Hispanics who have been working in the U.S. for at least 10 years; end sanctions against Venezuela; and put an end to the blockade of Cuba.

The demands have put pressure on President Joe Biden, who has not polled well on illegal immigration since he took over the presidency in 2021. The report noted that the border experienced a large surge of migrants this fall, with around 240,000 encounters per month toward the end of 2023.

However, some of the decisions — if Biden decides to go through with the proposal — would need to get the approval of Congress.

Lopez Obrador has not been shy about challenging U.S. politicians on the topic of illegal immigration. He recently challenged Texas Governor Greg Abbott on one of the state's new immigration laws just last month.

Blaze News reported last month that Abbott had ratified legislation that would make illegal immigration a state crime. The law, Senate Bill 4, moved forward after the Biden administration seemed unwilling to enforce federal immigration law. The state authorities will now be able to arrest foreign nationals who sneak into the country illegally, and magistrates will be able to order illegal aliens to leave the country.

Lopez Obrador said last month: "The Texas governor acts that way because he wants to be the Republican vice presidential candidate and wants to win popularity with these measures."

"He’s not going to win anything. On the contrary, he is going to lose support because there are a lot of Mexicans in Texas, a lot of migrants."

However, the law recently ratified in Texas will not punish those who enter the country legally — only those who attempt to circumvent U.S. law.

https://notthebee.com/article/parents-who-refuse-to-go-along-with-their-childs-gender-transition-can-now-face-7-years-in-jail-in-scotland

Scottish parents could face years in jail for preventing kids from "dressing in a way that reflects their sexual orientation or gender identity"

Scotland is really making it simple for parents. Let them trans your kids or you go to jail.

You may think that's overstatement, but that's actually the plan in Scotland.

Parents who do not go along with "affirming" their child's "gender identity" could face jail for SEVEN YEARS!

Proposals published on Tuesday state that actions designed to "change or suppress" another individual's gender identity, causing them physical or psychological harm, would become illegal under the radical law.

SNP (Scotland National Party) ministers acknowledged that so-called conversion practices often took place in a "family setting", raising the prospect that parents could be criminalised if they refuse to go along with their child's declaration that they are transgender.

Just so you know the extent of this proposal and how it could apply to families, one of the examples of "conversion therapy" punishable by jail time is preventing a child from wearing clothing of their preferred gender identity.

So if Billy wants to wear a dress and you stop him you would be guilty of "conversion therapy" and be subject to punishment under the law.

Even if you don't do anything, the state could preemptively take action against you based solely on your beliefs!

If they know you're a conservative Christian in Scotland they could issue civil orders against you, warning you not to cross the line of telling your kids what to do.

The Scottish National Party is currently the largest and most represented party in parliament. They hold nearly a majority in the multi-party system. If they're fully on board with this there's not much that can be done to stop them in parliament.

It's important to note this is in the "public consultation" phase which, in Scotland and the UK, means they have to lay out the plan for public feedback, in this case until April, before moving forward with the proposal.

So my suggestion, between now and April, is for every freedom and faith-loving Scot to channel his inner Braveheart and publicly oppose this radical anti-family, anti-faith, anti-human proposal from the Scottish liberals.

Braveheart - FREEDOM- Play 1:36-1:47

https://mynorthwest.com/3945835/rantz-wa-democrats-deem-ammo-privilege-ammunition-tax-way-end-gun-rights/

Wash. Democrats deem ammo a ‘privilege’ as way to end gun rights

Washington Democrats opened the 2024 legislative session with another assault on gun rights. This time they hope to reclassify ammunition as a “privilege” — one that should be subject to an onerous tax because the one thing they love more than taking away guns is taking away your money.

State Representatives My-Linh Thai and Liz Berry, both Democrats, introduced House Bill 2238. Under the auspices of public safety, claiming access to ammunition is the cause of violence and not their soft-on-crime policies that go easy on criminals (including those who use guns in their crimes), the bill imposes an 11% sales and use tax on ammunition statewide. This would be an additional tax on top of the sales tax and any other tax that may levied when purchasing ammunition. The city of Seattle, for example, imposes a per-round tax.

But the bill also reclassified ammunition, claiming you do not have a right to purchase them as a consumer. Instead, it’s labeled a “privilege.” The legislation creates a new section in pre-existing law that reads, “A use tax is levied on every person in this state for the privilege of using ammunition as a consumer at the rate of 11% of the selling price.”

Neither Reps. Thai nor Berry responded to inquiries asking the basis for their claim that ammunition is a privilege. But Washington Democrats have set the stage to make this outrageous claim.

Washington Democrats have consistently moved to make gun ownership more onerous for non-criminal Washingtonians. The end goal for Democrats is to ban guns so that we cannot protect ourselves against the criminals they embolden.

Instead of a flat-out ban against guns, they’ve hoped to reclassify ammunition as a privilege by severely restricting how much of it a gun owner can use at a time. The Washington Legislature approved a bill to prohibit the sale, distribution, and manufacture of firearm magazines holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition. This is meant to set the precedent claiming Washingtonians do not have a constitutional right to ammunition.

Like most of their clearly unconstitutional bills, they’re based on a flimsy and purposefully obtuse understanding of the right to bear arms. The Washington State Constitution, Article I, Section 24, clearly states that “the right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired.”

You cannot bear arms if the firearm has no ammunition in it. This provision, like the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, implicitly includes all necessary components of firearms like ammunition as essential to the protected exercise of the right to bear arms. Without access to ammunition, the right to bear arms would be rendered meaningless, as firearms without ammunition are unable to fulfill their intended purpose in defense of oneself or the state.

In an ironic twist, Democrats are the best gun salesmen. Their actions are pushing Washingtonians into purchases they might not otherwise make.

Washington Democrats’ interest in banning guns does not extend to the criminals they support with legislation that keeps them out of prison before the end of their sentences under the claim the criminal justice system is racist. By passing legislation that is clearly tied to the rise in crime, they give every Washingtonian ample reason to purchase firearms for self-defense. We have a rise in violent crime in Seattle, where homicides have hit historic highs. Democrats pretend they hold no blame in this new reality.

State Reps Tarra Simmons and David Hackney pushed a bill in the 2022 legislative session to lessen charges against drive-by shooters. It would even be applied retroactively to release a drive-by shooter serving time.

They claimed the change promoted “racial equity in the criminal legal system” because they implied too many black people commit drive-by shootings and it’s unfair for them to be charged more than white people who don’t commit as many drive-by shootings. It was as silly an argument as it was racist. Only after considerable public pushback, did the bill die. But it seems reasonable to want a firearm to protect yourself when you have pro-criminal legislators pushing dangerous bills.

State Rep. Roger Goodman, another anti-gun Democrat, is back this year with HB 1268. It would prevent judges from offering additional years of prison to violent criminals who use guns during their crimes (“stacking” on gun enhancement charges). It even offers “good time credits” (or earned release time) to felons serving time on a firearm or deadly weapon enhancement. Any one of these criminals released early is reason enough to own a firearm of your own.

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Wednesday, January 10th, 2024. 

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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mayorkas-tells-border-patrol-agents-illegal-immigrants-released-into-us-sources

Mayorkas tells Border Patrol agents that ‘above 85%’ of illegal immigrants released into US

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Monday admitted to Border Patrol agents that the current rate of release for illegal immigrants apprehended at the southern border is "above 85%," sources told Fox News.

Mayorkas made the remarks when meeting privately with agents in Eagle Pass, Texas, according to three Border Patrol sources who were in the room and heard the remarks themselves.

The conversation happened during the muster for agents in the busy border area. Fox is told Mayorkas was asked directly about comments he made on "Special Report" last week when he was asked by anchor Bret Baier about reporting that over 70% of migrants are released into the U.S. each day.

"It would not surprise me at all. I know the data," Mayorkas said. "And I will tell you that when individuals are released, they are released into immigration enforcement proceedings. They are on alternatives to detention. And we have returned or removed a record number of individuals. We are enforcing the laws that Congress has passed. "

Fox is told that on Monday agents pushed him on those remarks, saying that the number is even higher than 70%, and then Mayorkas acknowledged a release rate of "above 85%."

Mayorkas had also said last week on "Special Report" that "well more than a million" migrants are released into the U.S. annually, and argued repeatedly that it is up to Congress to provide more funding and immigration reform to fix what he has called a "broken" system. He said that the agency is limited in detention capacity by funding provided by Congress.

"When somebody enters the country, we place them in immigration enforcement proceedings pursuant to immigration law, and if their claim for relief, their claim to remain in the United States succeeds, then by law they are able to stay here," he said.

The remarks come just two days before the House Homeland Security Committee holds its first impeachment hearing, featuring multiple state attorneys general who will testify about the impact the crisis has had on their states.

The hearing on Wednesday marks the first impeachment hearing after a year of investigations and reports by the House Homeland Security Committee which looked at the handling of the nearly three-year migrant crisis.

Republicans have blamed the historic migrant crisis, which saw 302,000 migrant encounters last month alone on Biden-era policies, including the releases of migrants into the interior -- dubbed "catch-and-release." They have pointed to the broad use of parole, as well as narrowed ICE enforcement and the stopping of wall construction.

The administration says it is dealing with a hemisphere-wide crisis and needs more funding and comprehensive immigration reform from Congress. It has claimed it is expanding "lawful migration pathways" and increasing consequences for illegal entry, but can only do so much with a "broken" system. Mayorkas and other DHS officials have said that it has removed or returned more than 470,000 people since May, which is more than in the entirety of FY 2019.

At a press availability later on Monday, Mayorkas highlighted the removals and returns, saying it is more than in any other five-month period in the last 10 years.

"In fact, the majority of all Southwest Border migrant encounters throughout this Administration have been removed, returned, or expelled – the majority of them," he said. "We are doing everything we can, within a broken system, to incentivize noncitizens to use lawful pathways, to impose consequences on those who do not, and to reduce irregular migration."

The White House has also requested $14 billion in border funding from Congress as part of its emergency supplemental spending proposal, but that is being held up as Republicans demand significantly more restrictions on the release of migrants into the interior.

Mayorkas said last week that it was that broken system, not administration policy, which was the magnet drawing migrants to the border.

Separately, the administration last week announced a lawsuit against the state of Texas after Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law that allows state and local law enforcement to arrest illegal immigrants. The lawsuit claims that the law is unconstitutional and interferes with the federal government's authority on immigration matters.

https://thenationalpulse.com/2024/01/09/listen-hot-mic-catches-journos-joking-about-trump-being-assassinated-like-jfk-take-a-convertible/

Hot Mic Catches Journos Joking About Trump Being Assassinated

Microphones caught journalists waiting for Donald Trump to arrive at the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse in Washington D.C. joking about the president being assassinated on Tuesday. Trump is attending the D.C. Court of Appeals to hear the opening oral arguments in his appeal against Jack Smith’s efforts to prosecute him over January 6th, and journalists gathered outside the courthouse in substantial numbers ahead of his arrival.

Two of them could be heard in live feeds joking about having a “good shot” at the America First leader when he arrived, particularly if he showed up driving a convertible like the one the late President John F. Kennedy was riding in when he was shot in the head in 1963:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1744738203616399859 - Play Video 

If you couldn’t hear what they said:

First Journalist: You know what the worst part is? Even if he has his window open and he’s hanging out of it, he will be on the other side of the street. 

Second Journalist: I mean, if he’s driving, we’ve got a good shot! 

First Journalist: Yeah, if he’s driving with the front window open? 

Second Journalist: Yeah, or if it’s a convertible? 

First Journalist: Yeah. I wasn’t thinking about that. 

First Journalist: Like JFK? 

Second Journalist: (laughs)

Trump’s hearing is being overseen by a panel of two Joe Biden-appointed judges and one George H. W. Bush-appointed judge. His lawyers argue the Smith prosecution amounts to double jeopardy, as Trump was already tried and acquitted over January 6th by the U.S. Senate, and that Smith is also violating the principle of presidential immunity for official acts.

https://www.dailyfetched.com/man-finds-iphone-that-fell-out-alaska-air-1282-perfectly-intact/

Man Discovers iPhone That Fell Out of Alaska Air 1282: ‘Perfectly Intact’

A Portland man recovered a cell phone, which is believed to be owned by a passenger of Alaska Airlines flight 1282 after it was sucked out of the plane when the door plug blew open.

Writing on X, the man, Sean Bates, posted a photo of the phone:

“Found an iPhone on the side of the road,” he wrote.

“Still in airplane mode with half a battery and open to a baggage claim for #AlaskaAirlines ASA1282.”

Bates found the phone when he was out walking before posting it on social media, which also showed what appeared to be an Alaska Airlines baggage flight receipt.

The image showed the baggage receipt for the traveler and a piece of a charger still stuck into the phone’s charging port.

Bates claimed the phone was “perfectly” intact with “no scratches on it.”

In a TikTok video, Bates said he was walking in Portland on Sunday after the National Transportation Safety Bureau asked him to report any debris or plane parts.

The door for the plane was also recovered after another Portland resident named Bob found the plug in his yard,

“Thank you, Bob,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said at a news conference.

Bates found one of the two cell phones that were recovered.

Last week, Alaska Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing after its passenger window blew open.

The Boeing 737 Max was heading to Ontario, California w, when a large window busted open, causing severe depressurization.

Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said in a statement:

“Following tonight’s event on Flight 1282, we have decided to take the precautionary step of temporarily grounding our fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft.”

“My heart goes out to those who were on this flight – I am so sorry for what you experienced.”

Video footage showed the plane in the air with the window open as oxygen masks angled over passengers’ seats.

https://www.dailyfetched.com/rebel-news-reporter-arrested-by-trudeaus-police-for-asking-a-question/

Rebel News Reporter Arrested by Trudeau’s Police for Asking a Question

David Menzies, the reporter for Canada’s conservative Rebel News Network, was arrested on Monday for asking Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland a question.

A police officer reportedly accused Menzies of assault despite the reporter not making any physical contact with Freeland.

The video of the incident, posted by Rebel News chief Ezra Levant, showed Enzies asking Freeland about Canada’s refusal to label Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IGRC) as a terrorist organization.

The video shows Menzies keeping pace with the Deputy Prime Minister as he walks down the street when a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) stands in his way and begins claiming Menzies “assaulted” him.

Menzies does not appear to notice the RCMP officer because his attention is on Freeland.

The officer then appears to set a “pick,” basketball-style, as a pretext for accusing Menzies of assaulting him.

However, there is no evidence that Menzies intended to do so.

“You’re under arrest for assault,” said the officer.

The officer moved Menzies towards a vehicle, identifying himself as police and saying he was under arrest for assault. Menzies said the officer was the person who blocked his way.

“I was just scrumming Chrystia Freeland,” he said.

The officer acknowledged Menzies was being arrested for assaulting a police officer. In response, he accused him of assaulting him three years ago.

Another RCMP officer said Menzies was being arrested because of his actions. This is because he was almost pushing people over.

“That was a little bit aggressive for what was happening,” said the officer before the arrest occurred.

True North managing editor Andrew Lawton said Menzies was later released.

“Have confirmed that Menzies was released without charges,” said Lawton.

And before we go, it’s time for my favorite topic, sports!

CFP National Championship: Michigan Wolverines vs. Washington Huskies | Full Game Highlights Play 17:11-17:33