The Killdares
Whiskey In The Jar
"We Are Sick And Tired of Muslims Coming To Europe"
She speaks The Illegal Truth.POWERFUL SPEECH from a swedish woman about the migrants in Sweden— πΊπΈ EM π©πͺ KA πΊπΈ (@EM_KA_17) January 28, 2020
MUST WATCH & SHAREpic.twitter.com/tM9LgnpOEj
BREAKING: Chief Justice Roberts Plays Politics, Sides with Democrats — AGAIN REFUSES TO READ RAND PAUL’S QUESTION ON WHISTLEBLOWER! (VIDEO)
BREAKING: Chief Justice Roberts Plays Politics, Sides with Democrats — AGAIN REFUSES TO READ RAND PAUL’S QUESTION ON WHISTLEBLOWER! (VIDEO)
Rand Paul Releases Impeachment Trial Question Censored by John Roberts
Paul’s statement and the censored question: My question today is about whether or not individuals who were holdovers from the Obama National Security Council and Democrat partisans conspired with Schiff staffers to plot impeaching the President before there were formal House impeachment proceedings.
My exact question was:
“Are you aware that House intelligence committee staffer Shawn Misko had a close relationship with Eric Ciaramella while at the National Security Council together and are you aware and how do you respond to reports that Ciaramella and Misko may have worked together to plot impeaching the President before there were formal house impeachment proceedings.”
My question is not about a “whistleblower” as I have no independent information on his identity. My question is about the actions of known Obama partisans within the NSC and House staff and how they are reported to have conspired before impeachment proceedings had even begun.
‘Overwhelming Evidence of Biden’s Crimes’ – Giuliani Taunts Biden with Impending Release of Interview with Fired Ukrainian Prosecutor Viktor Shokin
Schiff Comes Unhinged When Asked About His Aide Sean Misko Plotting with Whistleblower Eric Ciaramella to “Take Out” Trump (VIDEO)
An Extraordinary Example of the Deep State Protecting Itself” – Tom Fitton Reacts to Chief Justice’s Refusal to Allow Question on Leaker Ciaramella (VIDEO)
Thursday, January 30, 2020
OPEC IS ALL BUT DEAD: OPEC’s waning influence laid bare as coronavirus outbreak hammers oil prices, analysts say
China’s National Health Commission confirmed Wednesday that the coronavirus had infected 5,974 people, with 132 deaths and 103 cured.
Financial markets have been spooked by the spread of a deadly pneumonia-like virus, with energy market participants trying to assess the potential economic fallout.
“I have to say this delicately, but OPEC, I think, is starting to realize that even though they cut back, try to balance output and stabilize prices, they have less influence,” John Driscoll, chief strategist at JTD Energy Securities, told CNBC.
If OPEC cuts back, they might lose market share and that gap could be filled by a non-OPEC producer.GO READ THE WHOLE THING.
After Iran took out half of Saudi Arabia's oil fields, back in October 2019, I wrote the following:
One of the biggest pieces of news recently - and this has been ignored - is that Iran took out half of Saudi Arabia's oil-producing capacity, albeit temporarily.
I can see why people are not thinking of this as big news. Everyone knows it is only temporary.
So why is it big news?
Because Iran and Saudi Arabia are two primary founding nations of OPEC -
Back to my list of top oil-producing nations, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia are the largest ME producers of oil. And that is AFTER years and years of us attempting to sanction Iran out of existence.
So, what we could not sanction away, we have Fracked all to hell.
OPEC IS ALL BUT DEAD.
That is huge news.
My question is this:
In the future, what will be looked back as more significant, the end of the USSR, or the fall of OPEC?
It is my contention that it is very likely the fall of OPEC will be larger, because it cuts off much of the power of the world's net exporters of Islamic radical theology and Jihad.
HUGE!!!
TRUMP!
And THAT is another reason no one is talking about this.
Because it happened under Trump's watch.
And frankly, those who are smart enough to see it aren't going to credit Trump.
It is one of the few things I have not heard Trump brag about. I don't think it's because he doesn't know. I think it's because he has a coup de grace coming of some sort. and so it is strategic to keep his mouth shut right now.
It could have something to do with Saudi Arabia and Israel.
-------
Then again, maybe he doesn't realize it.
ADDENDUM
I wrote that three months back. I said that the death of OPEC "cuts off much of the power of the world's net exporters of Islamic radical theology and Jihad."
Note that just this past week, Saudi Arabia announced it will no longer be funding Mosques overseas.
MEXICO IS PAYING FOR TRUMP'S WALL
Illegal immigrant crossings nationwide are down almost 80%. At the Arizona-Mexico border illegal crossings are down by 94%.
Once overcrowded dorms, where we house illegal border crossers, are now empty. And Mexico is keeping illegals who demand asylum on their side of the border.
No one is getting into “fortress America,” anymore. It’s another huge Trump victory.
How did he do it?
Trump won a masterful negotiation with Mexico. Trump understood Mexico needs us, far more than we need them. We can make their economy crumble in a nanosecond.
Mexico blinked, just like China and Iran.
Faced with tariffs and economic ruin, Mexico agreed to place thousands of their troops, at their expense, at both our Northern border and their Southern border with Central Mexico. Suddenly, no one can get through.
A Mexican journalist just named this human wall of Mexican troops, “Trump’s Wall.” So, in fact, Trump has built the wall, a human wall. And Mexico is paying for it.GO READ THE WHOLE THING.
This is all well and good. But Trump had better build a real wall, because this one crumbles as soon as he is no longer President.
Pandemic Rising
This headline screams trouble. Big trouble.
New coronavirus spreads as readily as 1918 Spanish flu...
...As communicable as was the 1918 Spanish flu, which killed 50 million and became the deadliest pandemic in recorded history....As of this posting, the coronavirus has spread to every region of Mainland China.
Muslims chant about killing Jews outside Jerusalem’s Temple Mount
Hundreds of Muslims chanted about killing Jews outside the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on Friday morning, prompting police to disperse the crowd.
The chants began as worshipers were leaving the mosque following prayers, Israel’s Channel 13 reported.
No one was injured in clashes with police, who broke up the impromptu march where the chants occurred.
In footage from the march, many men can be heard shouting in Arabic, “Jews, remember Khaybar, the army of Muhammad is returning.”
The cry relates to an event in the seventh century when Muslims massacred and expelled Jews from the town of Khaybar, located in modern-day Saudi Arabia.
They also shouted: “With spirit and blood, we will salvage Al-Aqsa” and “Jews, the army of Al-Aqsa is returning.”GO READ THE WHOLE THING.
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
BIG CHINA UPDATE: Airlines Cancel More Flights, Borders Closing – Mayor of Wuhan Says Government Was Warned in December But They Kept it Secret
British Airways announced the cancellation of all direct flights in and out of China. Other airlines have instituted similar actions.
The border with Mongolia is now closed and the border with Hong Kong is expected to be totally closed soon. Currently travel between Hong Kong and China is limited.
As much as the localities have tried to create barriers for individuals to leave or enter certain areas, we can report that there are gaps in these actions. For example, all flights, buses and trains were cancelled in and out of Wuhan a week ago. But this hasn’t stopped the more energetic.
A video was tweeted showing those still in Wuhan singing a song in the evening since everyone is staying in their residences:
Another video shows the mayor of Wuhan in an interview stating that the city of Wuhan was prevented from sharing concerns about the virus early on (it was first identified in December 8) due to the central government not allowing them to disclose it:
China is devastated by coronavirus. The government is shutting down most of the country. Major cities look like ghost towns.
Cathay Pacific, the major airline in Hong Kong, announced a few days ago that it would allow its flight attendants to wear protective masks in flight. Now there are rumors that more severe actions on flights to the mainland are soon to be announced. The airline reportedly has up to half its fleet already grounded due to lack of transportation in and out of China.British Airways announced the cancellation of all direct flights in and out of China. Other airlines have instituted similar actions.
The border with Mongolia is now closed and the border with Hong Kong is expected to be totally closed soon. Currently travel between Hong Kong and China is limited.
As much as the localities have tried to create barriers for individuals to leave or enter certain areas, we can report that there are gaps in these actions. For example, all flights, buses and trains were cancelled in and out of Wuhan a week ago. But this hasn’t stopped the more energetic.
We know of an individual with a car who found an entry onto a major new highway in Hubei and drove onto the highway and is now in a major city in southern China.
This large land mass is nearly impossible to control.A video was tweeted showing those still in Wuhan singing a song in the evening since everyone is staying in their residences:
Beautiful moments coming out of #Wuhan tonight. Citizens sang together out their windows, songs of unity to raise spirits. #coronavirus #china #prayforWuhan pic.twitter.com/HWI8JL4I8C
— π«ππΆπ π»ππ π²ππ½πΆπ (@plantsNbabes) January 27, 2020
Another video shows the mayor of Wuhan in an interview stating that the city of Wuhan was prevented from sharing concerns about the virus early on (it was first identified in December 8) due to the central government not allowing them to disclose it:
Mayor of #Wuhan explained why #coronavirus was not disclosed to public until 1/20 (note: first case identified on 12/8)…so I am not the one to blame…#WuhanOutbreak #WuhanPneumonia pic.twitter.com/LMb6QiMAa5
Because it was “not authorized by central government" of the CCP
— Himalaya Global (@HimalayaGlobal) January 28, 2020
The situation in China is getting worse.
U.S. reroutes coronavirus evacuees to California military base
Jan. 29 (UPI) -- A U.S. government-chartered plane evacuating American citizens from the coronavirus-ravaged Hubei province in China landed at a military base so that passengers can be screened for the deadly disease and, if necessary, quarantined, officials said Wednesday.
The flight, with 210 American consulate staffers and private citizens on board, landed at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, Calif., around 11:00 a.m. EST, instead of its original destination, Ontario airport.
In a statement, CDC officials said they are working with the California Department of Public Health and Riverside County Public Health to transport any passengers exhibiting symptoms to a hospital for further evaluation. Passenger not exhibiting symptoms of exposure will be asked to stay on the base in housing to allow medical officers to perform more thorough screenings.
Residents living near Ontario had expressed concerns over their safety after the U.S. State Department initially announced plans to use the airport for the charter flight. Officials decided to change the itinerary even though there have been no cases of human-to-human transmission of the 2019 novel coronavirus, or 2019 n-CoV, reported in the United States to date.
"Our primary objective is to facilitate the safe return of these Americans while protecting the public's health," a joint statement released Tuesday night by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Health and Human Services and the State Department read. Also on Wednesday, Australia conducted a similar evacuation of more than 100 of its citizens from Wuhan, bringing them to Christmas Island, a territory off its coast that includes a national park, for evaluation and quarantine.
Governments are not the only entities making changes on the fly in response to 2019 n-CoV. So far, 16 airlines have suspended or canceled flights to or from China, including Air Canada, Air India, Air Seoul, Air Tanzania, American, Asiana, Austrian, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, IndiGo, JetStar, Lion Air, Lufthansa, Swiss International and United.
Apple, as part of its quarterly earnings announcement Tuesday, said it is restricting employee travel to and from China and temporarily closing one of its stores in the country. Meanwhile, the city of Palo Alto, Calif. has cancelled its upcoming Lunar New Year celebrations due to coronavirus concerns.
Facebook has instructed employees to suspend non-essential travel to mainland China and told staffers who had recently returned from the country to work from home for an undetermined period of time. Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson employees have been told they can only travel to China for "business critical situations" based on approval from senior leadership, according to reports. The company has also asked staff returning from Hubei to work from home, at least temporarily.
Japanese automaker Nissan is reportedly also evacuating employees from its Wuhan-based facilities.
Semesters at Sea, a U.S.-based non-profit that places hundreds of students in foreign countries for educational exchanges each year, announced earlier this week that it had decided to divert an excursion involving dozens of students from a planned port stop in Shanghai and, instead, extend the group's planned stay in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, by six days.
"The health and safety of our voyagers remains our first priority," the organization said in a statement. "Impacted students will receive additional information regarding the field class changes in the coming days. Additional field programs in Ho Chi Minh City may be added to what is currently offered and voyagers will be informed when we have updates to share."
Jan. 29 (UPI) -- A U.S. government-chartered plane evacuating American citizens from the coronavirus-ravaged Hubei province in China landed at a military base so that passengers can be screened for the deadly disease and, if necessary, quarantined, officials said Wednesday.
The flight, with 210 American consulate staffers and private citizens on board, landed at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, Calif., around 11:00 a.m. EST, instead of its original destination, Ontario airport.
A team of CDC officers met the aircraft to assess the health of the passengers. All of the passengers have now been screened, monitored and evaluated before leaving China, and then again during the flight, during a refueling stop in Anchorage, Alaska, and then after arrival in California. The screenings include temperature checks and observation for respiratory symptoms.
"Our primary objective is to facilitate the safe return of these Americans while protecting the public's health," a joint statement released Tuesday night by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Health and Human Services and the State Department read. Also on Wednesday, Australia conducted a similar evacuation of more than 100 of its citizens from Wuhan, bringing them to Christmas Island, a territory off its coast that includes a national park, for evaluation and quarantine.
Governments are not the only entities making changes on the fly in response to 2019 n-CoV. So far, 16 airlines have suspended or canceled flights to or from China, including Air Canada, Air India, Air Seoul, Air Tanzania, American, Asiana, Austrian, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, IndiGo, JetStar, Lion Air, Lufthansa, Swiss International and United.
Apple, as part of its quarterly earnings announcement Tuesday, said it is restricting employee travel to and from China and temporarily closing one of its stores in the country. Meanwhile, the city of Palo Alto, Calif. has cancelled its upcoming Lunar New Year celebrations due to coronavirus concerns.
Facebook has instructed employees to suspend non-essential travel to mainland China and told staffers who had recently returned from the country to work from home for an undetermined period of time. Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson employees have been told they can only travel to China for "business critical situations" based on approval from senior leadership, according to reports. The company has also asked staff returning from Hubei to work from home, at least temporarily.
Japanese automaker Nissan is reportedly also evacuating employees from its Wuhan-based facilities.
Semesters at Sea, a U.S.-based non-profit that places hundreds of students in foreign countries for educational exchanges each year, announced earlier this week that it had decided to divert an excursion involving dozens of students from a planned port stop in Shanghai and, instead, extend the group's planned stay in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, by six days.
"The health and safety of our voyagers remains our first priority," the organization said in a statement. "Impacted students will receive additional information regarding the field class changes in the coming days. Additional field programs in Ho Chi Minh City may be added to what is currently offered and voyagers will be informed when we have updates to share."
"Asylum Seeker" Child Rape Grooming Gang Kept Secret by Scottish Police
Asylum Seeker Child Rape Grooming Gang Kept Secret by Scottish Police
A large grooming gang of asylum seekers was kept secret by police in Scotland despite victimising at least 44 young girls.
Glasgow police shut down a child rape gang whose 55 members were all either “asylum seekers or naturalised asylum seekers”, but did not reveal the existence of the group or the operation to shut it down to the public.
While the operation took place in 2016, it is only becoming public knowledge now, reportsThe Scottish Sun, which note a briefing document from Police Scotland that reveals the members of the gang were from Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt, Kurdistan, Morocco, and Turkey
A report conducted by Detective Inspector Sarah Taylor from the National Child Abuse Investigation Unit found that of the suspects, only 14 had been deported, with 22 remaining in Glasgow.
A further eight were believed to be still living in the United Kingdom, with just one in prison and one further individual pending deportation.
The report details the scale at which the grooming gang operated, with one victim believed to have been abused by 28 different members of the group, and another being linked to 23 men within the gang.
Justice Deparment: Harvard University Professor and Two Chinese Nationals Charged in Three Separate China Related Cases
Justice Department: Harvard University Professor and Two Chinese Nationals Charged in Three Separate China Related Cases
The Department of Justice announced today that the Chair of Harvard University’s Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department and two Chinese nationals have been charged in connection with aiding the People’s Republic of China. Dr. Charles Lieber, 60, Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University, was arrested this morning and charged by criminal complaint with one count of making a materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statement. Lieber will appear this afternoon before Magistrate Judge Marianne B. Bowler in federal court in Boston, Massachusetts.
Yanqing Ye, 29, a Chinese national, was charged in an indictment today with one count each of visa fraud, making false statements, acting as an agent of a foreign government and conspiracy. Ye is currently in China. Zaosong Zheng, 30, a Chinese national, was arrested on Dec. 10, 2019, at Boston’s Logan International Airport and charged by criminal complaint with attempting to smuggle 21 vials of biological research to China.
On Jan. 21, 2020, Zheng was indicted on one count of smuggling goods from the United States and one count of making false, fictitious or fraudulent statements. He has been detained since Dec. 30, 2019.
According to court documents, since 2008, Dr. Lieber who has served as the Principal Investigator of the Lieber Research Group at Harvard University, which specialized in the area of nanoscience, has received more than $15,000,000 in grant funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Department of Defense (DOD).
These grants require the disclosure of significant foreign financial conflicts of interest, including financial support from foreign governments or foreign entities.
Unbeknownst to Harvard University beginning in 2011, Lieber became a “Strategic Scientist” at Wuhan University of Technology (WUT) in China and was a contractual participant in China’s Thousand Talents Plan from in or about 2012 to 2017.
China’s Thousand Talents Plan is one of the most prominent Chinese Talent recruit plans that are designed to attract, recruit, and cultivate high-level scientific talent in furtherance of China’s scientific development, economic prosperity and national security.
These talent programs seek to lure Chinese overseas talent and foreign experts to bring their knowledge and experience to China and reward individuals for stealing proprietary information.
Under the terms of Lieber’s three-year Thousand Talents contract, WUT paid Lieber $50,000 USD per month, living expenses of up to 1,000,000 Chinese Yuan (approximately $158,000 USD at the time) and awarded him more than $1.5 million to establish a research lab at WUT.
In return, Lieber was obligated to work for WUT “not less than nine months a year” by “declaring international cooperation projects, cultivating young teachers and Ph.D. students, organizing international conference[s], applying for patents and publishing articles in the name of” WUT.
Yeah, Pretty Much ...
The arrogance, the dismissiveness, the smug cackling, the accents.— Steve Krakauer (@SteveKrak) January 28, 2020
If Donald Trump wins re-election this year, I’ll remember this brief CNN segment late one Saturday night in January as the perfect encapsulation for why it happened. pic.twitter.com/8kQ6zN9AZV
Flock Of Monocled Geese In Top Hats Joins Don Lemon In Round Of Laughter At The Commoners https://t.co/U7hdwBBc8S— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) January 28, 2020
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
WATCH: MSNBC Panel Featuring John Brennan Calls for State of the Union to Be Cancelled
If you still think the Impeachment is not political, then ...
WATCH: MSNBC Panel Featuring John Brennan Calls for State of the Union to Be Cancelled
CHINA UPDATE: Hong Kong Closes Schools Till March! — Food Shortages in Affected and Barricaded Areas
Barriers are in place around China, preventing individuals from traveling the country as is customary during the Chinese New Year.
Food shortages are being reported as the year of the rat starts on a terrible note. Chinese citizens in the cities impacted because of the coronavirus are feeling the impact of the virus whether they are infected or not.
Many shopping centers across China are running out of food.
As we noted yesterday, the individuals living in smaller villages who have fields to grow crops are the lucky ones. They can live off of their bags or rice and dried food for a couple of months. The people in the big cities however are at risk already, as the stores are beginning to run out of foodstuffs.
The rumors in China are that the US was involved. Hong Kong schools announced they are closed now through the end of February.
Unfortunately, this is just the beginning and something the China economy could not afford at this time.GO READ THE WHOLE THING.
What if, years down the line, we find out China used the Coronavirus situation as an opening to enact a long-planned Population Culling.
ISIS calls on operatives to target Jews with chemical weapons
ISIS spokesman and second Caliph Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi sent a recorded message to all the organization's operatives, mainly those in Sinai and Syria, to begin conquering Israeli "settlements," referring to both West Bank settlements and Israeli cities, multiple reports confirmed on Monday.
It is the second time the terrorist group sent a recorded message since the death of its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in October.
In the recording, Quraishi said that despite what the US and other countries may have thought of as the end for the terrorist organization with the death of al-Baghdadi, "we are still here, and we are ready to start a 'new stage' – hitting Israeli targets."
The newly-incumbent leader of the terrorist organization called upon supporters of ISIS to attack Jews in Israel and abroad with chemical weapons, declaring a religious war.
Quraishi also called on all Muslims worldwide to thwart US President Donald Trump's peace plan, and added that "The Muslims who live in Palestine... will be at the forefront of the fight against the Jews [and] foiling the 'Deal of the Century.'
The message instructed the operatives to begin targeting Jewish communities and markets, and to turn the conquered territories into fields of weapons and rocket experiments.
How China Stole Coronavirus From Canada And Weaponized It
Terrifying plausible.π https://t.co/rjy9jTricj— Diana West (@diana_west_) January 27, 2020
MORE.
Monday, January 27, 2020
Senior Gantz advisor made obscene social media comments about Trump
Some horrifying data's turned up, showing that Ronen Tzur, a prominent advisor to leftist Benny Gantz who's accompanying him on his trip to the White House, made numerous social media posts against Donald Trump in the past few years:
A senior adviser to Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz, currently accompanying Gantz on a visit to Washington, D.C., to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump, has likened Trump in the past to Nazi leader Adolph Hitler and insinuated that he colluded with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has also suggested that Trump play Russian roulette with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.Tzur's attempted to do damage control, but it's just so offensive, his efforts to backtrack are for naught. The POTUS would do well to confront both Tzur and Gantz about the noxious statements made by the former when they arrive at the Oval Office. Tzur's proven an utter embarrassment and atrocity, totally bad for Israel.
In August 2017, Tzur tweeted: “Barack Hussain Obama left, Donald Adolf Trump arrived. Dying to see who comes next.”
Similarly, in March 2016, Tzur tweeted: “Donald’s next book: Mein Trump,” playing on the spelling of Trump’s name (in Hebrew, “p” and “f” are represented by the same letter).
In September 2017, during attempted negotiations between Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, Tzur tweeted, “It seems right to me to suggest a compromise between Trump and Kim Jong: Russian roulette with two bullets. What will be will be.” [...]
The Likud Party responded in a statement:
“Political ignorance and irresponsibility on the part of Benny Gantz to bring with him the White House his personal adviser Ronen Tzur, who called the U.S. President ‘Donald Adolph Trump’ and posted a long series of tweets against him on social media. Let’s hope Gantz’s irresponsibility does not hurt Israel’s national interests vis-Γ -vis the U.S. government.”
Saudi Arabia to stop funding mosques in foreign countries(?)
Saudi Arabia to stop funding mosques in foreign countries
Former Saudi minister of justice, Mohammed Bin Abdul-Karim Issa, has announced that his country will stop funding mosques in foreign countries, Arabi21.com reported on Friday.
According to the Swiss newspaper, Le Matin Dimanche, Saudi Arabia is to establish local administrative councils for each mosque, in cooperation with the local authorities, in order to hand over these mosques to “secure hands”. The minister added:
“The time has come to hand over the Geneva Mosque to a Swiss administrative council that represents Muslims in the area. It should have an elected cleric.”
He disclosed that Saudi Arabia is to take the same measures with all the mosques all over the world, referring to “security reasons”.
It is worth noting that the minister led a delegation on Thursday to visit the Auschwitz camp on the 75th anniversary of its liberation. He honoured the Jewish victims of the Holocaust who perished during WWII.
Sunday, January 26, 2020
THE CHINA MYTH EXPOSED
Chinese Social Media Influencer
From early in our nation’s history, America’s intellectuals have mostly looked down on their own country and yearned for it to be like someplace else–someplace more sophisticated, and more in tune with “modern” intellectual currents, whatever they might be at the moment. That is a long history, which I will skip over. In our own time, American intellectuals have claimed that Soviet Russia, Germany and Japan were harbingers of the future that the U.S. needed to imitate. In each case, the point was that we had to shed our archaic freedoms and enter the brave new world of central planning under the control–benign, of course!–of intellectuals and bureaucrats. Strangely, however, American free enterprise has managed to outlast and surpass all of those supposedly more advanced challengers.
Most recently, China has been the favored nation of the future. It has the advantage over Germany and Japan of being straightforwardly authoritarian (if no longer exactly Communist), which endeared it to anti-democratic liberals like Tom Friedman. Thus, liberals have eagerly calculated the future time when China’s GDP–or alleged GDP, as dictatorships have always been better at producing statistics than goods and services–would surpass ours. Given that China has three times our population, that would not seem to be a signal accomplishment. Nevertheless, liberals looked forward to it.
There was always something a little half-hearted about China adulation, however. When I was a kid, China was synonymous with poverty. Mothers really did say: “Eat your brussels sprouts! There are lots of starving children in China who would love to have them.” In 1979, China opened itself to foreign investment, and thousands of American companies built factories there over the succeeding decades, drawn mainly by the lure of cheap labor.
Cheap labor, of course, wasn’t always effective labor. One of the major cases of the later stage of my career as a lawyer arose out of the construction of a professional sports facility in the Midwest. A Japanese company won the contract to fabricate and erect the stadium’s roof, and in order to save money, subcontracted the fabrication to a Chinese factory that, in later testimony, was described as “medieval.” The result was a disaster. The quality of the fabrication was so poor that the Japanese company eventually spent more money correcting fabrication errors in the U.S.–for a while, you couldn’t find a welder in the Midwestern states who wasn’t working on the repair project–than it had paid for the fabrication in the first place. But there was no recourse, as China essentially did not have a legal system.
Then, too, Americans who visited China did not report that it was an incipient paradise. (Unlike liberals who visited the Soviet Union in the 1930s.) For one thing, in most of the country there was no such thing as what we call a bathroom. That made the environment a little hard to romanticize.
Still, China was viewed as a major geopolitical player, and American administrations kowtowed to it. The Chinese engaged in wholesale theft of American and European intellectual property, without compunction. The country’s trade practices were denounced as illegal and unfair, but nothing came of it. Only when Donald Trump became president did our country begin to assert its rights and interests against the Chinese dictatorship.
Which brings us to the current coronavirus outbreak. Once again, China is the source of a rather bizarre viral illness. It arose, apparently, in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The source of the virus is believed to be either bats or snakes that were bought for consumption in the Wuhan market in a “warm” state–that is, freshly slaughtered. The virus apparently mutated and jumped from bats or snakes to humans.
In China, not only snakes and bats, but also rats and bugs–e.g., scorpions–are frequently eaten. Being no cultural relativist, I assume that no one eats snakes, bats, rats or scorpions if he or she has a better alternative. In Venezuela, for instance, no one dreamed of hunting rats for food until that country’s socialist government destroyed Venezuela’s economy and reduced the citizenry to penury. So China’s continuing poverty has now created a world-wide public health problem.
When is Donald Trump going to shut down travel to and from China?
WHEN?
Led Zeppelin Bootleg, "Live on Blueberry Hill" - 1970
This is peak Zeppelin. The concert was performed at the LA Forum on September 4, 1970.
0:14 The Immigrant Song
3:27 Heartbreaker
10:17 Dazed and Confused
27:21 Bring It on Home
38:24 That's the Way
45:13 Bron-Yr-Aur
48:50 Since I've Been Loving You
56:20 Organ Solo
1:02:27 Thank You
1:10:15 What Is and What Should Never Be
1:15:19 Moby Dick
1:32:58 Whole Lotta Love
1:50:10 Communication Breakdown
2:01:48 Out On the Tiles
2:05:41 Blueberry Hill
THE DEADLY CORONA VIRUS NOW ENGULFING THE PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA.
From a colleague of mine who works in China.
Dr. Steven Clark Bradley PhD
Maybe this link to his videos --- https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=dr.%20steven%20clark%20bradley%20phd&epa=SEARCH_BOX
PRAY FOR CHINA AND THOSE INFECTED AND DYING FROM THE DEADLY CORONA VIRUS NOW ENGULFING THE PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA...
I received the following videos concerning the Corona Virus and its terrible spread across the nation of China and now, even across the world. These videos will terrify you and let you know more about what is tearing China apart, at the moment. Many of my fellow teachers, whom I know so well. and with whom I work, are now in China and rarely try to leave their homes, for fear of contracting the deadly illness.
The disease was initially transmitted from bats and then infected livestock. The disease was initially transmitted to humans via tainted meat, from a Wuhan fish market. According to these videos, from within China, the small number stated, as around 1500 being infected, is untrue. The actual number of those infected, with the Corona Virus, is around 100,000.
Now, the entire province of Hubei, where the City of Wuhan is located, which is the point of the Corona Virus' origin, is totally closed down. There are now no flights or train service in or out of any city in Hubei Province. Bus service has now been suspended to any city, in the Shandong Province, which is the province where Qingdao, my city of residence, is located.
It’s hard to tell, at this point, how bad it’s going to get because there is a long 14-day incubation period, prior to symptoms emerging. Thankfully, I am now out of China and in the Philippines. For those who are now out of China, you must decide when you feel you want to return to China, if at all.
For me, I will not return to my job in China, until I know that the Corona Virus is under control, and I will not rely on any reports of all clear from the Chinese Government either. I will only return with a worldwide declaration of all clear from the World Health Organization. Pray for my friends and colleagues, who are literally under house detention, for all practical purposes. All of our lives have been turned upside-down. God is still on His throne and He still answers prayer and I know He will have mercy on the Chinese people.
- Dr. Steven Clark Bradley PhD
- Dr. Steven Clark Bradley PhD
BREAKING: Trump admin announces action against California for forcing churches to fund abortions
'We are putting California on notice that it must stop forcing people of good will to subsidize the taking of human life, not only because it’s the moral thing to do, but because it’s the law.'
The Trump administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced today that California is violating federal law by trying to force churches to pay for abortions.
The announcement comes the morning of the 47th annual March for Life, at which President Donald Trump is slated to speak. He will be the first U.S. president to ever attend the march, which is the largest human rights demonstration in the world.
A lengthy legal battle has been underway since 2014, when California enacted regulations forcing all employers to pay for health insurance plans that cover elective abortions, regardless of religious or moral objections to funding abortion deaths.
Under these regulations, all abortions are considered “basic health care” and “medically necessary.” Churches were not even informed when abortion coverage was added to their health plans, according to Alliance Defending Freedom.
The HHS Office for Civil Rights announced that it issued a Notice of Violation to the state of California, formally notifying the Golden State that it cannot impose universal abortion coverage mandates on health insurance plans and issuers in violation of federal conscience laws.
California has deprived over 28,000 people of plans that did not cover elective abortion, but now must cover abortion due to California’s mandate, according to HHS.
“With this Notice, OCR requests that California inform OCR, within thirty days, whether California will continue to enforce its requirement that all health plans cover elective abortions, or whether it will agree to take corrective action and remedy the effect of its discriminatory conduct,” HHS said in a press release.
It warned:
If, after 30 days, OCR does not receive sufficient assurance that California will come into compliance with federal law, OCR will forward the Notice of Violation and the evidence supporting OCR’s findings in this matter to the HHS funding components from which California receives funding for appropriate action under applicable grants and contracts regulations. This action may ultimately result in limitations on continued receipt of certain HHS funds.
Saturday, January 25, 2020
A Closer Look At The Iraqi Immigrant Woman Challenging Ilhan Omar
In 2004, the Chicago Tribune referred to her as “the most watched TV reporter nobody in America has seen,” and this turn-of-phrase seemed stunningly apt. Baghdad-born Dalia al-Aqidi was 36, and a fixture of Middle East media.
In sharp contrast to programming on Qatar’s popular Al-Jazeera, Dalia was a leading voice on Alhurra, an American-sponsored television channel broadcasting in the Middle East and delivering a strongly pro-America message.
Al-Aqidi was the only Iraqi covering the 2004 presidential campaign within the traveling White House press corps, providing news on Washington to millions in the Arabic-speaking world.
Fifteen years later, the famed Iraqi reporter is running for Congress against the darling of the left, also an immigrant from a Muslim-majority country, a woman named Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.
Omar was catapulted to leftist fame after being elected to represent Minnesota’s Fifth District in the 2018 midterms and espousing radically left-wing policies.
She eventually joined forces with three other socialist-leaning, freshman voices in the House, the anti-Trump foursome collectively being referred to as the “Squad.”
But Omar will have competition in the coming election from al-Aqidi. Dalia came to the United States in 1993 as a refugee, the daughter of Ghazwa al-Alkhalidi, a distinguished Iraqi actress, and Fakri al-Aqidi, a prominent figure in the Iraqi film industry.
Given her parents’ roles in the arts, her childhood was spent protected under the Iraqi government; however, as Saddam Hussein came to power and Dalia approached her late teens, she and her family realized something was grievously wrong with Saddam’s regime.
“I had nightmares for years and years that I wake up and I’m in the middle of Iraq during Saddam’s period. People would recognize me and run after me to try to capture me and I was running, running, running,” al-Aqidi told the Chicago Tribune.
“I left with two suitcases. My grandmother didn’t know. My aunts didn’t, my uncles. No one knew that we were leaving,” al-Aqidi said. “We had to hide the cash between the covers of the suitcase, knowing that if they catch us, we’ll be dead.”
Following her escape from Iraq, al-Aqidi traveled throughout the Middle East with her mother and infant brother, doing an eclectic mix of paid media stints, including hosting children’s shows, reporting news, and dubbing cartoons from English to Arabic.
At the advice of those in the Iraqi opposition, al-Aqidi and her mother eventually linked up with Radio Free Iraq in Saudi Arabia, where Dalia was able to hone her media skills more seriously.
Shortly thereafter, she moved to the United States. Since her arrival nearly three decades ago, Dalia has maintained her foothold in the media, working as a reporter at Alhurra and more recently, as a contributing writer to al-Arabiya.
She served as an anchor on several television news and commentary programs from Beirut, Lebanon and Tripoli, Libya. Away from the public eye, she led a team of analysts at an intelligence firm, providing cultural background and geopolitical analysis for both government and corporate clients, her work ultimately recognized by both the U.S. and Iraqi governments.
When I asked Dalia to explain her foray into the congressional space, her answer spoke to the profound duty she feels to replace Omar. “I am running for Congress in Minnesota’s Fifth District because I believe Ilhan Omar is doing irreparable harm to both Minnesota and to America—and she must be stopped,” she said.
“This wonderful country has given me so much. As an American, and especially as an immigrant and a Muslim, I felt it was my patriotic duty to try,” she said. “Her consistent antisemitism and hateful rhetoric are toxic; they serve only to gain attention for herself at the expense of our fellow Americans.”GO READ THE WHOLE THING.