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July 2022

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Which Crisis Will Be The Next To Catch Biden ‘Off Guard’?

By on July 1st, 2022

https://issuesinsights.com/2022/07/01/which-crisis-will-be-the-next-to-catch-biden-off-guard/

A little over 500 days into his presidency, Joe Biden has an unblemished record — of being “caught off guard” by every major crisis that has engulfed the country since January 2021.  The question now is, what’s the next crisis that will catch Biden flat-footed and for which he will have no solutions?

Search for “Biden caught off guard” and see for yourself how often this has made news over the past year and a half.

To save you the effort, here are just a few examples:

Even Biden caught off guard by his administration’s foreign policy crises

Coronavirus resurgence catches Biden off guard

How the border problem caught the Biden team off guard

Biden Caught Off Guard By Reporter’s Question On The Baby Formula Crisis

Joe Biden caught off guard by ruling to scrap facemasks

Biden was caught off guard by the Taliban’s rush to victory in Afghanistan. Caught off guard by inflation. Caught off guard by the supply chain crisis.

And remember, this is the guy who, we were told repeatedly, would surround himself with experienced pros. One commentator gushed that “the adults are back in charge, and the American people are about to be reminded of what it’s like to have a competent government working for them.”

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CHARLOTTE'S NEWS WEB, NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

More Implosion of Hutchinson’s J6 Claims as Adam Schiff Steps in It Big Time on CNN By Nick Arama

By on July 1st, 2022

https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2022/06/28/more-implosion-of-hutchinsons-j6-claims-as-adam-schiff-steps-in-it-big-time-on-cnn-n585927

Now we already watched the January 6 Committee do themselves in, effectively, with the “witness” that they put on during the hearing on Tuesday, Cassidy Hutchinson.

First, they put on someone testifying to something she hadn’t seen, basically relating a conversation she claimed she overheard, so she had no real knowledge herself as to the veracity of the story. Then her story contradicted what the Committee was claiming.

But you would have thought, at least, if they were putting her on they would have checked the story with the people who she supposedly heard the story from — the alleged agents involved. It would appear they did not, as we reported that NBC says the Secret Service says Bobby Engel and the driver of the vehicle are willing to testify that what Hutchinson said happened didn’t happen. Now, more media are reporting they are hearing the same thing from their Secret Service sources.

Warning: tweets below contain coarse language

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WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Saudi Academic: Islamic World Does Not Contribute Anything  Because We Cling Tightly to Our Heritage

By on July 1st, 2022

Please click on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKaohHYVtA8

Saudi academic Dr. Marzouq Bin Tinbak said in a May 20, 2022 show on Al-Arabiya Network (Saudi Arabia) that the Islamic world does not contribute anything to civilization and progress today because it has recoiled from and rejected modernity and because it clings too closely to its heritage.

He said that in contrast, some countries have managed to simultaneously conform to the novelty of Western civilization while preserving their heritage.

In addition, Dr. Bin Tinbak said that traditional Islamic thought was appropriate for past eras, but that today’s modern world requires new fatwas and new ijtihad (critical and rigorous religious reasoning).

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IMMIGRATION Comments turned off

Mark Hemingway and Ben Weingarten:Willful Blindness: Feds Ignore Illegal Alien ID Theft Plaguing Americans as U.S. Coffers Fill

By on July 1st, 2022

https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2022/06/29/willful_blindness_feds_ignore_massive_illegal_alien_id_theft_plaguing_americans_as_us_coffers_fill_839815.html

The historic surge of illegal immigrants across America’s southern border is fueling a hidden crime spree few in Washington seem willing or able to address: widespread identity theft by migrants who need U.S. credentials to work.

An extensive review of government reports, think-tank research, news accounts, and interviews with policymakers and scholars suggests the problem involves millions of people – though measuring it with precision is difficult because of the lack of data provided by authorities.

A telling indication of the scope of the criminality is provided by a little-known government accounting book, the Social Security Administration’s Earnings Suspense File (ESF). It reflects the earnings of employees whose W-2 wage and tax statements have names and Social Security numbers that do not match official records. The total has increased tenfold from $188.9 billion at the dawn of the millennium to $1.9 trillion in 2021.

Officials have historically ascribed a “high proportion” of the file’s growth to wages reported by illegal immigrants, and it has swelled alongside their population, which stands at a conservatively estimated 11.5 million today, 7 million of whom are employed. Among those doing so on the books, federal authorities have found that well over 1 million are using Social Security numbers belonging to someone else – i.e. stolen or “shared” with a relative or acquaintance – or numbers that are fabricated.

The data held in the ESF would enable authorities to pursue many of the fraudsters, but the IRS and other agencies responsible for enforcing the law have been reluctant to investigate, and regulations have prevented meaningful information-sharing among them.

This identity-related crime is providing a windfall for the U.S. government. A 2017 study from the conservative Federation for American Immigration Reform found that the federal government collects about $22 billion annually in tax receipts from illegal aliens, with the bulk going toward Social Security ($12.6 billion) and Medicare ($5.9 billion) – programs from which noncitizens are ineligible to receive benefits. FAIR estimated that illegal migrants also paid $3.3 billion in federal income tax – a smaller proportion primarily due to illegal aliens’ lower wage levels – and another $1 billion in state income taxes.

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ENVIRONMENT AND JUNK SCIENCE Comments turned off

And The Winner Is, Germany!

By on July 1st, 2022

https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2022-6-29-and-the-winner-is-germany

Just over six months ago, in December 2021, I asked the question that was on the tip of the tongue of everybody who follows the subject of the ongoing massive “green” transition to fossil-fuel-free energy. Actually, that’s a lie. The question I asked was not on the tip of the tongue of everybody who follows the subject, or even of most of the people who follow the subject, for reasons that to me are completely inexplicable. The question was : “Which Country Or U.S. State Will Be The First To Hit The Green Energy Wall?”

The candidates that I nominated in that post as potentially the first to hit the “green energy wall” were California, New York, the UK and Germany. At the time, I thought it was obvious that one of those jurisdictions would hit the wall sooner than almost anybody expected. Indeed, I was quite bold in the short time frame that I predicted:

A prolonged period of unfavorable weather (calm and overcast) could cause a serious energy crunch to hit one or both of Germany or the UK as soon as this winter. Or they could get lucky and go another year or two.

Now here we are in June 2022, and I think it’s hard to deny that Germany has in fact hit the “green energy wall.” Let’s consider.

First, here is the definition of the “green energy wall” that I gave in the post:

[O]ne or another of [those states or countries] is highly likely to hit a “wall” — that is, a situation where the electricity system stops functioning, or the price goes through the roof, or both, forcing a drastic alteration or even abandonment of the whole scheme.

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ELECTIONS, NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

THE STRATEGY BEHIND DESANTIS’ CULTURE WAR The New Yorker reveals some of the governor’s most effective tactics. Christopher Rufo

By on July 1st, 2022

https://christopherrufo.com/the-strategy-behind-desantis-culture-war/?mc_cid=8c9ddb4675&mc_eid=9bde3e8efb

“DeSantis is the man to watch. He is making the necessary transition from “culture war as performance” to “culture war as public policy.” He is writing the new playbook for conservative politics and his enemies are starting to take note.”

The New Yorker just published a report highlighting my work supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ policies on critical race theory and gender ideology. If you can set aside the obligatory editorializing—the disposition of the New Yorker is obviously left-wing—there is some valuable insight into the political strategy that DeSantis has adopted.

The article begins with some behind-the-scenes details:

In April, the conservative activist Christopher Rufo flew from his home, near Seattle, to Miami, to meet with Florida’s Governor, Ron DeSantis, and to take part in the public signing of the Stop Woke Act. A former documentary filmmaker and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, Rufo was the lead protagonist of last year’s furor over the teaching of “critical race theory” in public schools and helped advise the Governor on the Florida law, which aimed to limit discussion of racial history and identity in schools and workplaces. Rufo was especially taken with how personally invested DeSantis seemed in the policy. “He shows up to the tarmac at 6:30 a.m. with a Red Bull energy drink, ready to roll through the policy papers,” Rufo said. The bill had not come from the Governor’s advisers or the grass roots: “It’s driven by him.”

From there, the writer, Benjamin Wallace-Wells, recounts the story of DeSantis’ fight against Walt Disney after the company publicly announced its opposition to the Parental Rights in Education law, which prohibits public schools from promoting gender and sexual ideologies in kindergarten through third grade. DeSantis mobilized the public against Disney and quickly signed legislation to strip the company of its special tax and governing status—an aggressive move that most political observers did not anticipate.

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CHARLOTTE'S NEWS WEB, NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Why we should doubt Cassidy Hutchinson Amber Athey

By on July 1st, 2022

https://spectatorworld.com/topic/cassidy-hutchinson-january-6-trump-testimony-collapse/

The January 6 Committee geared up to deliver a potential bombshell on Tuesday with emergency testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to chief of staff Mark Meadows. But like most of the attempts to take down former president Donald Trump — from Russian collusion hoaxes to slimy porn lawyers — Hutchinson’s testimony quickly revealed itself as too good to be true.

It quickly became clear that one of Hutchinson’s most shocking claims was either misremembered or an outright lie. She claimed that Tony Ornato, White House deputy chief of staff for operations, and Bobby Engel, who headed Trump’s security detail, told her that Trump had attempted to grab the steering wheel of a Secret Service vehicle to redirect it to the Capitol on January 6. When agents refused, Trump allegedly assaulted them.

Secret Service sources said that both the driver of the vehicle and Engel had heard this allegation for the first time during Hutchinson’s testimony and were prepared to testify under oath that it was not true. Fox News reported that a source close to Ornato said he was similarly shocked to hear Hutchinson’s account and would also confirm it was not true. A spokesperson for the Secret Service said that the January 6 Committee didn’t even bother to reach out to them to confirm the story before having Hutchinson testify publicly on Tuesday.

If Hutchinson was able to get such a major allegation so totally wrong, how are we supposed to trust the rest of her testimony?

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FOREIGN POLICY Comments turned off

How Desperate Are You to Cut a Deal With Iran, Mr. Biden? Shoshana Bryen

By on July 1st, 2022

https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/2022/06/30/how-desperate-are-you-to-cut-a-deal-with-iran-mr-biden/

Here is what happens when a country cedes control of its foreign policy. The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was a bad deal. The Iranians cheated on the baseline, the commitment, and the execution, and then President Donald Trump walked away. Approve of any given decision or not, the president controlled the action of the United States. Now however, looking for a way to reconstruct the deal, the Biden administration has outsourced American policy.

First, President Joe Biden agreed to Iran’s demand that the U.S. not be in the negotiating room in Vienna, but be represented by intermediaries—including China and Russia.

Then, Washington gave theoretical agreement to Iran’s demand that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) be removed from the U.S. designated terror organization list. After strong bipartisan objection in Congress—owing to the fact that the IRGC is responsible for hundreds of American military deaths—Mr. Biden appears to have told Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in May that he wouldn’t do it.

But also in May, Enrique Mora, the European Union official coordinating the Vienna talks, visited Tehran. As reported at the time, “Western diplomats are expecting Tehran to put forward potential alternative demands, giving Washington a chance to think about other concessions it could offer. The aim is to find a way around the IRGC hurdle that will let both governments sell the deal domestically.”

The latest such concession is the current American plan to give visas to Iranians who have been drafted into the IRGC, trained by it, and employed by it, “provided they satisfy relevant agency authority that the individual…poses no danger to the safety and security of the United States.” According to The Jerusalem Post, other factors taken into consideration include whether the individual had any “intent or desire to assist a terror organization or activity or had prior knowledge of targeting ‘noncombatant persons, US citizens, or US interests.’”

Sleepers, anyone?

While America grovels in Vienna, it turns a blind eye to Iran’s continuing violations of its nuclear agreements.

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ISRAEL, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Deal or No Deal, Iran-Israel War Is Coming to the Middle East It seems increasingly likely that Israel will strike Iran to prevent the Islamic Republic from acquiring nuclear weapons. by Sean Durns

By on July 1st, 2022

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/deal-or-no-deal-iran-israel-war-coming-middle-east-203135?fbclid=IwAR05rjVvzGDMZwVFeONhM4KADWw2txcdTwb6JO37NiWgNnOlEaXvW-mOyzI

Iran,  Naftali Bennett warned on June 12, “is dangerously close to getting their hands on a nuclear weapon.” In an interview with The Telegraph, the premier pointed out that “Iran is enriching uranium at an unprecedented rate.” Bennett added: “Iran’s nuclear program won’t stop until it’s stopped.”

Bennett isn’t alone in expressing concern.

The United States has also raised alarm. In a March 2022 hearing of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) observed that “Iran has made key advances” and has “decreased its [nuclear] breakout time to several weeks from a year” compared to what it was under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), colloquially known as the Iran nuclear deal. Indeed, in April 2022, U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken said that Iran’s breakout time was “down to a couple of weeks.”

On June 6, 2022, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said that Tehran was “very close” to crossing the nuclear threshold and that it “cannot be avoided at this point.” Grossi also presented the board with a report “showing that Iran effectively already has enough enriched uranium for three bombs,” the news service JNS reported.

Grossi also told the IAEA’s board of governors that “Iran has not provided explanations that are technically credible in relation to the Agency’s findings at three undeclared locations in Iran.” Grossi noted that Iran has also failed to provide the IAEA with “the current location, or locations, of the nuclear material and/or of the equipment contaminated with the nuclear material” that was moved from the site of Turquzabad in 2018.

Adding to concerns, the Islamic Republic has begun installing advanced IR-6 centrifuges at its underground enrichment plant in Natanz and has said that it plans to install more at other sites. The centrifuges will enable the Islamic Republic to increase enrichment by as much as 50 percent.

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