Governance

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Western Wildfires Are Due to Arson and Stupidity, Not Climate Change | American Thinker

By Chris Talgo <ctalgo@heartland.org>

Unfortunately, we are living in a world where facts don’t matter much anymore. For instance, the wildfires that have swept across the western United States over the past few weeks are being almost universally blamed on climate change, even though the facts tell otherwise.

The fires in California and Oregon are not due to climate change. They are due to arson and sheer stupidity on the part of many, including those who are responsible for the environmental stewardship that is supposed to prevent them in the first place.

According to the Cal Fire San Bernardino Unit, “the El Dorado Fire, burning near Oak Glen in San Bernardino County, was caused by a smoke generating pyrotechnic device, used during a gender reveal party.” Chalk this one up to stupidity, not climate change.

Likewise, the Almeda Fire in Oregon, which has burned more than 600 homes, cannot be tied to climate change whatsoever because it was caused by arsonists. As Ashland Police Chief Tighe O’Meara said, “We have good reason to believe that there was a human element to it. We’re going to pursue it as a criminal investigation until we have reason to believe that it was otherwise.”

There are several more reports of arsonists instigating the blazes that are currently destroying hundreds of thousands of acres in the West.

Despite these facts, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), recently said, “Mother Earth is angry. She’s telling us, whether, she’s telling us with hurricanes on the Gulf Coast, fires in the West, whatever it is, that climate crisis is real and has an impact.”

Of course, Pelosi didn’t offer one iota of evidence to support her contention that climate change is somehow responsible for all this. And since when did Mother Earth begin speaking to the Speaker of the House?

Not to be outdone, California Gov. Gavin Newsom also laid blame for his state’s out-of-control wildfires on climate change. “I say this lovingly — not as an ideologue, but as someone who prides himself on being open to argument, interested in evidence — but I quite literally have no patience for climate change deniers,” Newsom said. “It’s completely inconsistent, that point of view, with the reality on the ground, the facts as we are experiencing. You may not believe it intellectually, but your own eyes, your own experiences tell a different story.”

Conveniently, Newsom failed to mention that California has one of the poorest records of implementing commonsense environmental stewardship protocols, which no doubt has played a significant factor in the Golden State’s proclivity for wildfires over the past several years.

According to California’s state oversight agency, “During its review, the Commission found that California’s forests suffer from neglect and mismanagement, resulting in overcrowding that leaves them susceptible to disease, insects and wildfire.”

In other words, under decades of Democratic leadership, California has woefully underinvested in forest management efforts, which have left forests grossly overgrown and prone to wildfire.

Making matters worse, California’s insistence on becoming the renewable energy utopia of the United States has led the state’s primary energy utility, PG&E, to disregard properly maintaining existing energy infrastructure.

As the San Diego Union Tribune reports, “every dollar spent on additional costs of renewable energy results in a dollar not available to spend on culling vegetation, insulating power lines, placing lines underground and other measures.”

As if that were not enough, the article also notes, “a report prepared by the independent consulting firm Beacon Economics for the San Francisco-based think tank Next 10 estimated California wildfires last year produced about nine times more emissions than were reduced across the entire state’s economy between 2016 and 2017 — and wildfires contributed more than the commercial, residential or agriculture sectors did in 2017.”

Ironically, Newsom’s naïve attempt (and his predecessors) to make the Golden State the renewable energy mecca has actually led to more carbon emissions because the state’s abundant forests have been turned into a giant tinderbox.

Adding insult to injury, Newsom has pledged to double-down on his efforts to make California more reliant on renewable energy, regardless of the uptick in wildfires and rolling blackouts.

And the claim that wildfires are increasing is 100 percent false. According to the Congressional Research Service, the prevalence of wildfires has decreased over the past three decades. As the report notes, “Over the past 10 years, there were an average of 64,100 wildfires annually and an average of 6.8 million acres burned annually. In 2019, 50,477 wildfires burned 4.7 million acres nationwide, below the annual average for both statistics.”

John Adams once said, “Facts are stubborn things. They cannot be altered by our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions.”

Fact-shunners like Gov. Newsom and Rep. Pelosi ought to put their wishes and passions aside and deal with the reality that their state is being decimated by wildfires due to their incompetence and ignorance, not because of so-called climate change.

Source: American Thinker

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Ohio Stands Up! files lawsuit to remove DeWine’s COVID-19 emergency order | Richland Source

An Ohio citizens group has filed a lawsuit in federal court to remove Gov. Mike DeWine’s emergency health order, which was signed on March 9 and remains in place today.

Ohio Stands Up! describes itself as a grassroots organization composed of Ohio citizens focused on restoring the rights of Ohio’s 11.69 million residents and educating the public about the realities of COVID-19 data. Download PDF

Ohio Stands Up! said it has filed suit in the Northern District of Ohio Federal Court in Toledo to remove DeWine’s emergency order. The group is represented by attorneys Thomas Renz of Fremont and Robert Gargasz of Lorain.

DeWine was asked about the lawsuit during a press conference Tuesday.

“I’ve been sued many times. [The Ohio Department of] Health has been sued many many times. They have been in many different counties,” he said.

“We’re doing what we know will make a difference. We’ve been very thoughtful of what we’ve done,” he said. “None of these decisions are made in a vacuum…I just have to stay focused on what we need to do in Ohio.”

According to the Ohio Department of Health website on Tuesday, there have been 124,610 positive COVID-19 tests since the pandemic began with 4,165 deaths.

Organizers said the lawsuit is solely funded by donations from Ohio citizens. As of Aug. 30, donations reached $34,055. For more information, visit www.ohiostandsup.org.

“We believe that the response to COVID-19 has been the greatest fraud ever perpetrated on the American public,” Renz said in an email press release.

“The objective of this legal action is to force the state to honor the Constitution and to stop the lies, manipulation and fear-mongering intentionally being promoted by public health officials and elected officials.”

The attorneys said they are determined to “restore the Constitutional rights that have been stripped away by the State of Ohio’s unjustified actions regarding COVID-19.”

Renz and Gargasz said they will release the extensive evidence that chronicles the case to the public to offer transparency and insight.

“The State of Ohio has consistently lied to and manipulated its citizens from the earliest stages of this pandemic,” Gargasz explained. “We insist that this nonsense end, our rights be restored, and that the actual truth be shared.”

Recently, the CDC confirmed that 94 percent of the deaths attributed to the coronavirus were from people who had as many as two to three other serious illnesses. The majority of those deaths are individuals 75 and older. Six percent of the deaths are directly from COVID-19, according to the CDC.

“The entire U.S. economy was shut down based on fraudulent models that predicted 2.2 million American deaths,” Renz said. “The State of Ohio violated the U.S. Constitution with an emergency declaration that ignores the fundamental rights of all Ohioans. As a result, millions of Ohioans are suffering financially, physically, and mentally.”

Renz and Gargasz stated that:

 Hundreds of thousands of businesses are struggling, and many will never re-open.

 Drug overdoses and suicides have increased as have domestic violence and child abuse cases – directly as a result of the unconstitutional emergency order.

 Many Ohioans were unable to get treatment for conditions not related to COVID-19 because hospitals were closed to accommodate the rush of COVID-19 patients who never arrived.

 Children are struggling emotionally as many are forced into the continued isolation of remote learning while two income households must find solutions to manage young children at home.

 Masks are dangerous, prevent proper breathing, and provide no real protection against this virus, according to multiple studies.

 Families have been barred from seeing their loved ones in hospitals and long-term care facilities, and residents in long-term care facilities have suffered because of the lack of inperson communication from their loved one.https://tpc.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html

 People living alone, of all ages, have been forced into solitary confinement and are dying at tremendously increased rates due to loneliness and lack of self-care.

Gargasz said a rapidly growing number of Ohioans recognize this and understand that, if they don’t stand up and speak out, it could be too late because a precedent has been set.

“There is zero basis for a state of emergency,” Renz said. “Based on what we know about the consequences the emergency order has caused to the physical, financial, and mental well-being of Ohioans, and the vitality of Ohio communities, this is truly a crime against humanity, and it must not be allowed to continue.”

Source: Richland Source

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Four Years in the White House: Trump Accomplishments | PromisesKept.com & MAGAPill.com

bitmapEditor’s Note: Those who hate Trump relentlessly attack anyone who might point out some of the good things he has has done in the last four years. But these haters refuse to look, thus are comfortable in their foregone conclusion that only bad things have happened in the last four years. I don’t agree with everything Trump does or says. Nonetheless, here’s a short list of some of the good things, in my opinion, that Trump has done. 

ECONOMY & JOBS

Under President Trump’s leadership, Congress passed historic tax cuts and relief for hard-working Americans. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act:

  • Is the first major tax reform signed in 30 years. These are the lowest tax rates since WWII.
  • Provided tax relief for 82% of middle-class families.
  • Doubled the Child Tax Credit proving an additional $1,000 per child in tax relief for working parents.
  • Nearly doubled the standard deduction, a change that simplified the tax filing process for millions of Americans.
  • Cut taxes for small business by 20%, providing $415 billion in tax relief for small business owners.
  • Alleviated the tax burden on over 500 companies. who used those savings to fund bonuses, wage increases for 4.8 million workers.
  • Spurred new investments into the American economy, after it was passed businesses invested $482 billion into new American projects.
  • Repealed Obamacare’s burdensome individual mandate for health insurance.
  • Made U.S. companies competitive on the world stage, lowering the corporate tax rate from one of the highest in the industrialized world (35%) to 21%.

U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth has soared under President Trump, topping 3% in 4 quarters under his administration.

  • 2018 annual GDP growth was 2.9%
  • In the first quarter of 2019 GDP growth was 3.1%

President Trump is unleashing economic growth and jobs. Since his election, the Trump administration’s pro-growth policies have generated 6 million new jobs, the unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest point in 50 years, and wages have grown at more than 3% for 10 months in a row.

  • The manufacturing industry created nearly half a million new jobs.
  • 625,000 new construction jobs have been created since President Trump took office.
  • Hispanic, Asian and African American unemployment rates have all reached record lows under President Trump.
  • There are more than a million more job openings than unemployed persons in the U.S.

President Trump signed an executive order that expanded federally funded apprenticeship programs and on-the-job training, to provide an alternative for those looking to gain in demand skills that lack the resources to attend four year universities.

  • The executive order set in motion a new process that makes it easier for businesses to create and scale apprenticeship programs, providing many more Americans access to an affordable education that leads to a well-paying job.
  • The Workforce Development Advisory Council established by President Trump’s executive order has already created on-the-job training opportunities for 6.5 million Americans.

The Trump administration prioritized the economic empowerment of women at home and across the globe.

  • The Trump Administration launched the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative, the first-ever whole-of-government approach focused on advancing women’s full and free participation in the global economy and allocated $50 million for the fund.

IMMIGRATION

Upon entering office, President Trump called on Congress to fully fund a wall along the Southern border, to close legal loopholes that enable illegal immigration, to end chain migration, and to eliminate the visa lottery program.

President Trump pulled the United States out of negotiations for a “Global Compact on Migration,” a plan for global governance of immigration and a refugee policy that may have compromised U.S. sovereignty.

Under President Trump’s leadership, the Department of Homeland Security took action to wind down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in an orderly fashion, following the assessment of the Department of Justice (DOJ) that DACA lacks legal authorization.

  • This action gives Congress the opportunity to consider appropriate legislative solutions, as required by our Constitution.

The Trump Administration rescinded the unlawful Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) program.

President Trump declared a national emergency allowing him to access specialized powers to enforce security on the border.

The Department of Homeland Security launched the office of Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE).

From President Trump’s inauguration through FY 2019 to date, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) made 269,419 arrests of illegal aliens.

In his first days in office, President Trump signed an executive order disqualifying sanctuary city from receiving federal grants.

President Trump signed three Executive Orders aimed at cracking down on international criminal organizations.

In June 2017, The Trump Administration announced the creation of the new National Public Safety Partnership, a cooperative initiative with cities to reduce violent crime.

The President released his immigration reform proposal which calls for the transition to a merit-based immigration plan.

Following pressure by the Trump Administration, Mexico has agreed to deploy 6,000 national guard troops throughout the country and on its Southern border to stop the immigration crisis, dismantle human-smuggling networks, and work more closely with the U.S. to share information about migrants.

BORDER SECURITY

The Trump Administration has secured funding for approximately 445 miles of the total 722 miles of border wall requested.

President Trump ordered the hiring of 10,000 new ICE agents and 5,000 additional border patrol agents.

The Department of Justice announced more than $98 million in grant funding to hire 802 additional full-time law enforcement officers.

  • President Trump signed an Executive Order to restore state and local law enforcement’s access to surplus Defense Department equipment through the 1033 program, including safety equipment.

President Trump signed a memorandum deploying National Guard troops to the Southwest border.

The Trump Administration has prioritized targeting gang members including members of MS-13.

  • In September 2017, the DOJ worked with Central American partners to arrest and charge about 4,000 MS-13 members.
  • The Department of Homeland Security arrested 796 MS-13 gang members and associates in FY 2017, an 83 percent increase from the previous year.
  • In FY2018, DHS arrested more than 10,000 gang members including more than 2,000 members of MS-13.
  • U.S. Border Patrol and the Office of Field Operations have seized a combined nearly 3 million pounds of drugs since 2017.

The Trump Administration has worked to partner with local law enforcement to enforce immigration laws.

  • As of May 2019, 80 counties in 21 states are participating in the 287(g) program, which gives state and local law enforcement entities delegated authority by ICE to enforce immigration in their jurisdiction.

The Trump Administration has made removals of illegal immigrants a priority.

  • In FY 2017, ICE conducted 226,119 removals. The proportion of removals resulting from ICE arrests increased from 65,332, or 27 percent of total removals in FY 2016 to 81,603, or 36 percent of total removals, in FY 2017.
  • In FY2018, ICE conducted 256,085 removals, an increase of 13% over FY2017, with 57% of the removals in FY2018 being convicted criminals.

FOREIGN POLICY

PROMOTING FAIR AND EQUAL TRADE:
President Trump has kept his promise to crack down on trade cheaters and to promote fairer and equal trade for all Americans.

In his first year in office, President Trump took action to protect America’s critical steel and aluminum industries, which were harmed by unfair trade practices and global excess capacity.

  • After an investigation, the Trump Administration found that global dumping of steel and aluminum had critically weakened the United States capacity to produce steel and aluminum in times with national security implications.
  • The President exercised his authority to impose a 25 percent global tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent global tariff on aluminum imports in order to protect our national security.
  • The tariffs on steel and aluminum will reduce imports to levels needed for domestic industries to achieve long-term viability.
  • In turn, the strengthening of our domestic steel and aluminum industries reduces our reliance on foreign producers.
  • As a result, these industries will be able to re-open closed mills, sustain a skilled workforce, and maintain or increase production.

Upon entering office, the Trump Administration began renegotiations of trade agreements that contribute to the U.S. trade deficit and harmed American workers.

  • One of President Trump’s first actions was to withdraw the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, advancing his agenda to protect American workers.

The President kept his promise to roll back the Obama Administration’s bad deal on Cuba that benefited the Cuban regime at the expense of the Cuban people.

  • The Treasury Department and State Department placed sanction on Cuba to channel economic activity away from the Cuban government, particularly the military, and towards the people of Cuba

With the completion of the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, the 

Trump Administration successfully fulfilled President Trump’s promise to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement.

  • The USMCA is a modern trade agreement that opens new markets for U.S. farmers and manufacturers, will encourage increased manufacturing in the U.S., and allow workers and small businesses to flourish.
  • Canada’s parliament approved the USMCA deal, making Canada the final country needed to make the trade deal official, fulfilling the President’s promise to enact freer and fairer trade deals.
  • President Trump signed the USMCA trade agreement, fulfilling his promise to enact freer and fairer trade deals for the American people.

The Trump Administration made enforcement of U.S. trade laws a top priority and has continually exercised its ability to block harmful trade practices and exchanges.

  • To defend U.S. national security interests, President Trump blocked a foreign company from acquiring a U.S. business for only the fourth time in history.
  • Since President Trump was sworn into office, the Department of Commerce has initiated 79 antidumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD) investigations.
  • The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) self-initiated a Section 301 investigation into whether Chinese policies, acts, and practices related to technology transfer, licensing, and intellectual property are unreasonable or discriminatory.This is the first use of Section 301 since 2001.
  • The Administration blocked the state backed Chinese phone company Huawei from operating in the U.S.

The President’s Administration conducted 82 antidumping and countervailing duty investigations in 2017.

  • This was a 58 percent increase in investigations over 2016.

In January 2017, the President announced new safeguard tariffs on imported large residential washing machines and solar cells.

The Trump Administration successfully litigated WTO disputes targeting unfair trade practices and protected our right to enact fair trade laws.

  • In February 2018, USTR won a WTO compliance challenge against China’s unfair antidumping and countervailing duties on U.S. poultry exports, and China announced the termination of those duties.
  • In November 2017, the United States won a WTO dispute regarding Indonesia’s unfair import licensing regime restricting U.S. agricultural exports.
  • In October 2017, a WTO compliance panel found that U.S. tuna labeling rules designed to inform consumers about safe fishing practices were consistent with WTO standards.
  • In September 2017, the WTO rejected allegations by the European Union that Boeing was receiving prohibited subsidies.
  • In June 2017, a WTO compliance panel rejected almost all claims by the European Union that alleged U.S. subsidies to Boeing were causing serious prejudice to Airbus, instead finding that 28 of 29 challenged programs were consistent with WTO rules.

CRACKING DOWN ON CHINA’S TRADE CHEATING

The President directed his Administration to consider a range of actions to respond to China’s acts, policies, and practices involving the unfair and harmful acquisition of U.S. technology.

In August, the Trump Administration launched an investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 into Chinese acts, policies, and practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation.

  • This was the first Section 301 investigation since 2013.
  • The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) confronted China’s discriminatory technology licensing practices through a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute proceeding.
  • USTR led an extensive investigation based on a thorough analysis of evidence and comments received from academics, think tanks, law firms, trade associations, and American companies and workers.

The investigation concluded that China forces U.S. companies seeking to license technologies to Chinese entities to do so on non-market based terms.

  • China imposes contractual restrictions on the licensing of intellectual property and foreign technology into their country but does not put the same restrictions on contracts between two Chinese enterprises.

The investigation concluded that China directs and unfairly facilitates investments and acquisitions to generate large-scale technology transfers from U.S. companies to Chinese entities.

  • A Chinese government-backed fund helped Apex Technologies Co., a Chinese investment consortium, acquire a U.S. computer-printer maker which had previously sued Apex over patent infringement.

The investigation concluded that China conducts and supports cyber intrusions into U.S. companies to access their sensitive commercial information, such as trade secrets.

  • In 2014, the U.S charged five Chinese military hackers for cyber-espionage committed against U.S. corporations and a labor organization for commercial advantage.
  • An interagency analysis estimated that China’s unfair acts, policies, and practices caused tens of billions in dollars in damages to the United States each year.

In response to China’s rampant trade cheating, the Trump Administration has placed 25 percent tariffs on approximately $250 billion worth of products that are supported by China’s unfair industrial policies

RESTORING AMERICA FIRST FOREIGN POLICY

President Trump went on a historic 12-day tour through Asia, including visits to five countries and attended three regional summits to promote America’s interests.

  • South Korea and Japan pledged to build closer defense collaboration with the United States, and the President underscored the commitment of the United States to providing advanced military equipment.
  • Cooperation was boosted between the Quad countries (the United States, Japan, India and Australia) on the sidelines of ASEAN in Manila.
  • President Trump reaffirmed the commitment of the United States to promote prosperity and security in the region by modernizing America’s development finance institutions and increasing their coordination with Japanese counterparts.

President Trump traveled to the Middle East and Europe to solidify relations with our allies in both regions and to push for greater commitments and cooperation.

  • President Trump visited Mecca, Jerusalem, and Rome, three of the world’s holiest places.
  • In Saudi Arabia, President Trump pushed for a coalition of nations to confront Iran and attended the opening of the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology.
  • President Trump persuaded allies to develop national plans to boost defense spending up to two percent of GDP by 2024, and for NATO to formally join the coalition to defeat ISIS at the 2017 NATO Leaders’ meeting.
  • President Trump unveiled his Middle East peace plan illustrating his committing to restoring stability and peace in the Middle East.
  • Under the Trump Administration’s leadership, the United States eliminated Qassim al-Rimi, a founder and leader of al Qaeda, who has committed terrorist attacks on civilians in Yemen.
  • The Administration ordered a precision strike that killed the number one terrorist in the world Qasem Soleimani who was plotting attacks on American diplomats and military personnel.
  • The Trump Administration imposed new sanctions on Iran following attacks on U.S. and allied troops in Iraq by the Iranian military.

President Trump visited Poland and a meeting of the G-20, where he pushed for closer cooperation and American First policies.

  • With G20 partners and the World Bank, the U.S. championed the establishment of the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (WeFi), which could leverage in excess of $1 billion in financing to support women entrepreneurs

President Trump followed through on his promise and recognized Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel and directed the relocation of the U.S. Embassy. 

After announcing the United States’ recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, President Trump quickly and efficiently opened the Embassy in Israel at a low cost to taxpayers.

  • The State Department announced the new US Embassy in Israel would move to Jerusalem.
  • The Trump Administration withdrew from UNESCO to show it would not stand for the anti-Israel bias of the organization.
  • In December 2018, the United States officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
  • On May 14, 2018, the United States officially opened our Embassy in Jerusalem, Israel, 70 years to the day that President Truman recognized Israel as an independent country, making the United States the first nation to do so.
  • In 2019, the Trump Administration recognized the Golan Heights as part of Israel becoming the first country to officially do so.

Under President Trump, the United States has worked tirelessly to combat extremism and stick up for religious minorities.

  • During his first international trip, President Trump pushed for a coalition of nations to confront Iran and attended the opening of the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology. It was created to empower Muslim-majority countries in fighting radicalization.
  • President Trump directed the State Department to send aid through USAID directly to Christians and other minorities facing genocide in the Middle East.

NATIONAL SECURITY & DEFENSE

PROTECTING AMERICA AND OUR ALLIES BY REBUILDING THE MILITARY: 

President Trump is rebuilding our military, defeating terrorist organizations, and confronting rogue nations to protect America and our allies.

Upon taking office, President Trump directed the rebuilding of the United States military.

  • While in office, President Trump has worked with Congress to increase defense spending, reverse the defense sequester, expand our military capacity, and modernize its capabilities.
  • The President has empowered the Secretary of Defense and our military commanders to make decisions, seize the initiative, and win – without micromanagement from Washington.

The Trump Administration has worked to rebuild the U.S. Military and provided the Defense Department nearly 1.5 Trillion dollars in the past two NDAAs.

  • In 2018, the Trump Administration signed a $700 billion NDAA to rebuild our military in 2018, the largest amount in history which gave the military a 2.4% pay raise, the biggest since 2010.
  • In 2017, President Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act of FY2018 which increased the size of the American Armed Forces for the first time in seven years and authorized nearly $700 billion annually for U.S. defense expenditures.

President Trump is modernizing the United States military to meet the security needs of the 21st century.

  • President Trump announced the creation of the United States Space Force as a new branch of the military.
  • President Trump revived the National Space Council to develop and implement a new national space policy and strategy.
  • President Trump elevated the U.S. Cyber Command into a major war-fighting command, to advance U.S. efforts in cyberspace.

President Trump announced a new strategy for Afghanistan to protect the American people based on stability and security so terrorists cannot use the country as a base to threaten U.S. interests.

  • The new strategy put pressure on the Taliban and set conditions for a peaceful settlement between the Afghanistan government and the Taliban.
  • The President warned Pakistan that no partnership can survive a country’s tolerance for militants and terrorists, and they must take action.
  • The partnership with India is vital, and they make important contributions to Afghanistan’s safety, security, and development.

President Trump is putting maximum pressure on North Korea to denuclearize.

  • In June 2019, President Trump became the first sitting U.S. President to enter North Korea, as he held a historic meeting with Kim Jong Un at the DMZ.
  • President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met on June 12, 2018, in Singapore where the two leaders discussed steps towards denuclearizing the Korean peninsula.
  • Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other representatives of the United States government traveled to Pyongyang, North Korea on May 9 to prepare for the President’s upcoming meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. During Secretary Pompeo’s visit, the North Korean leadership released three American detainees. President Trump appreciates leader Kim Jong Un’s action to release these American citizens, and views this as a positive gesture of goodwill. The three Americans appear to be in good condition and were all able to walk on the plane without assistance. All Americans look forward to welcoming them home and to seeing them reunited with their loved ones.
  • The Treasury Department has implemented an array of sanctions on North Korean individuals and entities as part of the Maximum Pressure Campaign.
  • Under President Trump’s leadership, the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed new sanctions on North Korea for their continued aggressive behavior.

President Trump is confronting Iran’s aggression.

  • The Trump Administration withdrew from Obama’s flawed Iranian nuclear deal which neither ended Iran’s nuclear ambitions nor curbed its destabilizing activities.
  • President Trump in consultation with his national security team has approved a new strategy for Iran.
    • Not certifying they are in full compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, known as the Iran Deal.
    • Focusing on neutralizing the Government of Iran’s destabilizing influence and constraining its aggression, particularly its support for terrorism and militants.
    • Revitalizing our traditional alliances and regional partnerships as bulwarks against Iranian subversion and restore a more stable balance of power in the region.
    • Deny the Iranian regime – and especially the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – funding for its malign activities, and oppose IRGC activities that extort the wealth of the Iranian people.
    • Counter threats to the United States and our allies from ballistic missiles and other asymmetric weapons.
    • Rally the international community to condemn the IRGC’s gross violations of human rights and its unjust detention of American citizens and other foreigners on specious charges.
    • Deny the Iranian regime all paths to a nuclear weapon.
  • The Trump administration has instituted an array of sanctions against Iran for its destabilizing activities and actions.

President Trump has cracked down on Chemical Weapons users.

  • President Trump ordered missile strikes against a Syrian airbase after the Assad regime used it to launch chemical weapons attacks against civilians.
    • President Trump prevented further chemical weapons attacks by announcing detection of their preparation and warning Syria that they would be struck again if the attacks were carried out.
  • President Trump placed sanctions on North Korea for its use of chemical weapons in the assassination of Kim Jong Un’s stepbrother.
  • President Trump placed sanctions on Russia for its use of chemical weapons in connection to attempted assassination of a former KGB spy in Britain.

President Trump is supporting democracy in Venezuela and cracking down on the Maduro regime

  • President Trump has imposed numerous sanctions on the Maduro dictatorship in Venezuela, targeting the regime itself, individuals, and entities supporting Maduro’s dictatorship.
  • The new financial sanctions prohibit dealings in new Venezuelan debt and its corrupt oil company. The regime will no longer be able finance its debt using U.S. banks.
  • The Trump Administration has publicly supported Juan Guaido, the Democratic elected leader of the Venezuelan General Assembly, and has led the world in backing Guaido.
  • The Trump Administration has approved more than $250 million in regional aid to address the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela.

NEW ACTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA

The Trump Administration has directly confronted Russia for its threatening behavior to the U.S. and our allies.

The Trump Administration has bolstered allies in the region.

  • The Trump Administration has provided the sale of lethal weapons to Ukraine.
  • The Trump Administration has enhanced its support for Ukraine’s Armed Forces to help Ukraine improve its ability to defend itself.
  • The Trump Administration has provided more than a billion dollars to the European Defense initiative.
  • The Trump Administration has pressured NATO allies to meet their spending commitments and by the year 2019, NATO allies will have increased their spending by nearly $100 billion since 2016.

The Trump Administration has pursued an aggressive stance against Russia for its destabilizing activities.

  • The Trump Administration has applied numerous sanctions against Russia for its malicious cyber activities, its destabilizing activities in Ukraine and its chemical weapons use.
  • The Administration has opposed Vladimir Putin’s largest geo-economic project, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
  • The Administration has imposed diplomatic penalties on Russia including the expulsion of more than 50 Russian intelligence officials and the closing of two Russian consulates.

REGULATION

Rolling Back Job Killing Regulations:

President Trump is rolling back wasteful and costly regulations that have stood in the way of hardworking Americans.

President Trump signed an Executive Order, mandating that two regulations must be eliminated for every regulation created in order to reduce compliance costs.

  • The Administration actually eliminated 22 regulations for every new regulatory action.
  • The Administration issued 67 deregulatory actions while only imposing three new regulatory actions.
  • In FY 2017, the Administration saved $8.1 billion in lifetime net regulatory cost savings, equivalent to $570 million per year.

Throughout 2017, President Trump has made good on his promise to cut red tape, and in doing so has reenergized the United States’ agricultural, energy, and infrastructure sectors by freeing them from oppressive and stifling regulations.

President Trump has signed 15 Congressional Review Act resolutions into law, more than any other president, ending burdensome Obama-era rules and regulations.

  • According to a study by NERA Economic Consulting, implementing the Obama Administration’s plan under the Paris Climate Agreement could have cost the United States economy nearly $3 trillion and 6.5 million industrial sector jobs by 2040.

President Trump signed 15 Congressional Review Act resolutions into law that is estimated to save American taxpayers $3.7 billion.

President Trump signed an Executive Order that reduced the time it took to approve infrastructure projects from 10 years to two years.

President Trump has rolled back President Obama’s job killing power plan and ended the previous administration’s war on coal.

UNPRECEDENTED REGULATORY ROLLBACK:

  • To date, 860 regulatory actions have been withdrawn or removed from active status.
  • The WSJ said President Trump is “rolling back more regulations than any President in history.”

RECORD-SETTING NUMBER OF CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW ACT (CRA) BILLS SIGNED:

  • President Trump has signed a record-breaking 15 CRA bills to roll back regulations.
  • Since the CRA became law in 1996, only one had ever been signed (George W. Bush in 2001)
  • Along with Executive Orders, these bills will reduce regulatory costs by $18 billion annually.

LAND & AGRICULTURE

On June 6, 2019, President Trump signed the disaster relief bill that provided $19 billion in assistance to states and territories hit by flooding, hurricanes, wildfires and other natural disasters, including farmers hit by a delayed planting season.

President Trump signed the 2018 Farm Bill which legalized the Production of industrial Hemp.

The Department of Agriculture issued guidance that would give more flexibility to state operations of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

  • The new program maximized flexibility and holds states more accountable for the delivery of food benefits.

LAW & JUSTICE

WORKING WITH LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT: 

President Donald J. Trump and the Department of Justice are working with local law enforcement to protect American communities.

The Department of Justice announced more than $98 million in grant funding through the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services COPS Hiring Program to allow 802 additional full-time law enforcement officers.

President Trump signed Executive Order 13809 to restore state and local law enforcement’s access to surplus equipment from the Defense Department, such as armored vehicles.

The Department of Justice announced the creation of the new National Public Safety Partnership, a cooperative initiative with cities to reduce violent crimes.

The Trump Administration expanded Project Safe Neighborhoods to encourage U.S. Attorney’s to work with communities to develop customized crime reduction strategies.

The Department of Justice returned to their longstanding charging policy for federal prosecutors, trusting them once again to charge the most serious, readily provable offense.

Prosecutors were directed by the Department of Justice to focus on taking illegal guns off our streets.

  • Criminals charged with unlawful possession of a firearm has increased 23 percent.

President Trump has nominated, and the Senate has confirmed a grand total of 187 Article III judges. – REALLY ARTICLE III?

PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF ALL AMERICANS:

President Trump’s Administration is protecting the rights of all Americans.

President Trump’s Department of Justice has supported students whose free speech rights have been under attack on university campuses.

The Department of Justice secured a guilty plea for the first case prosecuted under the Hate Crimes Prevention Act involving a victim targeted because of gender identity.

CONFRONTING ORGANIZED CRIME: 

President Trump and the Department of Justice have aggressively confronted organized crime from street gangs to criminal cartels.

President Trump signed three Executive Orders – 13773, 13774, and 13776 – aimed at cracking down on international criminal organizations, including drug cartels and gangs, and preventing violence against law enforcement officers.

The Department of Justice designated MS-13 as a priority for the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, to allow federal law enforcement to utilize an expanded toolkit in its efforts to dismantle the organization.

  • The United States, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras have charged more than 4,000 MS-13 and 18th Street gang members in the United States and Central America, including the alleged leader of MS-13’s “East Coast Program.”
  • In August 2018, more than 20 individuals associated with MS-13 were arrested in California on federal and state charges in connection with gang activities.

The Department of Justice convicted eight members of an international criminal organization, known as the Rendon-Reyes Trafficking Organization, on federal charges arising from their scheme to force young women and girls from Mexico and Latin America into prostitution.

RESHAPING THE AMERICAN COURTS

  • President Trump appointed conservative Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
  • President Trump has appointed more than 50 circuit or appeals court judges. – MANY MORE NOW
  • President Trump has appointed more than 80 district court judges. – MANY MORE NOW

ADDRESSING SCHOOL VIOLENCE

  • President Trump signed the STOP School Violence Act and the “Fix NICS Act.”
  • The Trump Administration has allocated $2 billion for school safety. 

ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT

The Department of the Interior proposed its largest oil and gas lease of over 78 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico.

  • President Trump signed an Executive Order to expand offshore oil and gas drilling and open more leases to develop offshore drilling.

President Trump and his administration acted aggressively to increase exports of energy resources to the global market.

  • This allowed financing for coal and fossil energy projects.
  • The Department of Energy announced the approval of the Lake Charles Liquefied Natural Gas terminal.
  • American LNG export opportunities increased under the Trump administration.

President Trump has approved the infrastructure and provided the resources needed to unleash oil and gas production in the U.S.

  • The administration approved the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines, supporting an estimated total of 42,000 jobs and $2 billion in wages.
  • The administration announced the approval of the New Burgos Pipeline, a cross-border project that will export U.S. gasoline to Mexico.
  • The Trump administration reversed President Obama’s moratorium on new leases for oil and gas development on federal lands.

President Trump rescinded President Obama’s costly Clean Power Plan and instead has proposed the Affordable Clean Energy Rule.

  • According to NERA Economic Consulting, the CPP would have increased electricity rates by as much as 14 percent, costing American households up to $79 billion.
  • The Affordable Clean Energy Rule will reduce greenhouse gasses, empower states, promote energy independence, and facilitate economic growth and job creation

In addition to the Clean Power Plan, the Trump administration has rescinded many costly Obama-Era regulations.

  • The EPA has rescinded President Obama’s methane emissions rule that would cost American energy developers an estimated $530 million annually.
  • The EPA is reviewing a rule that if rescinded would relax costly fuel standards and save $340 billion in regulatory costs.

President Trump announced his intent to withdraw the U.S. from the unfair Paris Climate Agreement.

In May 2017, the Trump administration created a Superfund task force designed to streamline the Superfund cleanup program.

  • The Superfund task force has designated 10 sites for “immediate, intense action.”

RELAUNCHING THE SMART SECTORS PROGRAM

EPA has re-launched launched the Smart Sectors Program to partner with the private sector to achieve better environmental outcomes.

The lead for each sector serves as the ombudsmen within the respective agency across program offices, conducts educational site tours, analyzes data and advises options for environmental improvement, and develops reports that profile the impact of each sector

It also works to streamline EPA practices and operations.

EXPANDING AMERICAN ENERGY

  • Signed legislation to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to domestic energy production.
  • Approved the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines, with 42,000 jobs and $2 billion in earnings.
  • Repealed the Clean Power Plan, a regulation estimated to increase energy costs by billions.
  • Kept campaign promise to get America out of the Paris Climate Agreement.

GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY

President Trump has tightened rules for federal employees both past and present to ensure his administration works for the American people.

  • The president signed an executive order that placed a five-year ban on lobbying and a lifetime ban on lobbying for foreign countries for federal employees.
  • President Trump called for a comprehensive plan to reorganize the executive branch.
  • President Trump began a comprehensive overhaul of digitally-delivered government services.
  • President Trump called for a “full audit of the Pentagon.” The Department of Defense (DOD) responded to the president’s call to action and began its full financial statement audit.

To ensure the Government serves the needs of all Americans, President Trump has established a comprehensive plan to reorganize the executive branch and his administration has begun to implement this plan.

HEALTH CARE

President Trump has worked to improve access to affordable quality health care.

  • The Department of Agriculture provided more than $1 billion in FY2017 to be used to improve access to health care services for 2.5 million people in rural communities.
  • The Trump administration expanded access to Association Health Plans (AHPs) allowing small business to pool risk across states.
  • The Trump Administration allows for Short-Term Limited Duration plans to be extended up to 12 months.

As part of the landmark Tax Cuts and Jobs Act President Trump repealed the individual mandate, which forced people to buy expensive insurance and taxed those who couldn’t afford it.

  • The mandate disproportionately hurt the poor: 80% of those affected made less than $50,000.

President Trump signed a six-year extension of CHIP to fund healthcare for 9 million.

President Trump has mobilized his entire administration to address drug addiction and opioid abuse by declaring the opioid crisis a nationwide public health emergency.

  • President Trump created a bipartisan opioid commission that issued 56 recommendations to help defeat the opioid crisis.
  • In October 2017, President Trump directed The Department of Health and Human Services to declare the opioid crisis a public health emergency, allowing grant money to be used to combat abuse.
  • President Trump signed the International Narcotics Trafficking Emergency Response by Detecting Incoming Contraband with Technology  (INTERDICT Act) that would give customs agents $9 million for screening tools on the border.
  • In FY2017, HHS invested nearly $900 million in opioid-specific funding.
  • President Trump successfully pressured China to close dangerous loopholes that allowed Chines fentanyl manufacturers to legally ship the compound worldwide, much of which ended up in the U.S.

Under President Trump, The FDA has approved the largest number of generic drugs in history.

  • Generics increase competition in the marketplace and lower the cost of prescription drugs for all Americans.
  • In December 2018, year-end drug prices fell for the first time in nearly 50 years.

INFRASTRUCTURE & TECHNOLOGY 

The Trump Administration allocated $50 billion to empower rural America to address the infrastructure needs of their communities

  • 80 percent of the Rural Infrastructure Program funds will go directly to the governor of each state as determined by a formula.
  • 20 percent of the Rural Infrastructure Program funds will be provided to selected states that apply for Rural Performance Grants.

President Trump’s plan provides states the flexibility they need to address the unique needs of each community.

  • The federal funding provided by the president’s plan will not be awarded in pre-packaged, asset-specific amounts, as is often the case with federal programs, giving states the freedom to spend the money where it’s needed most.
  • Instead, funds provided under the president’s proposal will go directly to the governor’s office of the state receiving funds allowing governors to make investments based on the individual infrastructure needs of their communities.
  • Transportation projects which will rebuild roads, bridges, railways, and other vital infrastructure.
  • Broadband deployment projects which will improve access for rural communities.
  • Water and waste projects to help ensure rural families have access to clean water.
  • Power and electric projects to provide rural areas with reliable, affordable power.
  • Water resources projects to better manage flood risk and improve rural water supplies and waterways.

SOCIAL PROGRAMS 

President Trump declared a Nationwide Public Health Emergency to address the opioid crisis.

  • The President’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) found evidence that suggests that drug overdoses involving opioids were underreported by as much as 24 percent.
  • The Administration provided nearly $500 million to states to prevent and treat opioid abuse. Another $500 million was requested in the 2018 FY Budget.

In April, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) laid out a comprehensive five-point strategy to combat the opioid abuse crisis.

The Department of Justice announced that fentanyl substances are a drug class under the Controlled Substances Act. This meant anyone who possesses, imports, distributes or manufactures illicit fentanyl-related substances would be subject to criminal prosecution similar to other controlled substances.

  • Anyone who possesses, imports, distributes, or manufactures any illicit fentanyl-related substance will be subject to criminal prosecution similar to other controlled substances.
  • The DOJ announced its first-ever indictments against two Chinese nationals and their North American-based associates for distributing large quantities of fentanyl and other opiate substances.

In an opioid fraud crackdown, the DOJ charged more than 400 people, including doctors and medical facilities, for prescribing unnecessary opioids, fueling the drug crisis.

In 2017, the Administration provided nearly $500 million to States to prevent and treat opioid abuse. The President’s FY 2018 Budget requests another $500 million.

On National Drug Take Back Day, the Drug Enforcement Administration collected a record-breaking 912,305 pounds – 456 tons – of potentially dangerous expired, unused, or unwanted prescription drugs at more than 5,300 collection sites.

  • This was a record-breaking day, with collections from more than 5,300 sites.

PROTECTING LIFE 

President Trump recognizes the precious gift of life and protects the sanctity of life at all stages.

In his first week in office, President Trump reinstated and expanded the Mexico City Policy that prevented $9 billion in foreign aid from being used to fund the abortion industry.

  • President Trump de-funded a U.N. agency for colluding with China’s brutal program of forced abortion and sterilization.

President Trump worked with the Congress to sign a bill overturning an Obama midnight regulation that prohibited States from defunding abortion service providers.

  • The Trump Administration published guidance which promises to enforce the Obamacare requirement that taxpayer dollars should not support abortion coverage in exchange plans.

Reinstated the Mexico City Policy to ban any U.S. foreign aid to organizations that perform abortions.

Signed a Congressional Review Act bill to allow states to restrict Planned Parenthood Funding. 

EDUCATION

President Trump’s proposed budgets have made school choice a priority.

  • The President’s FY2018 Budget Request included $1 billion in funding to Furthering Options of Children to Unlock Success Grants for public school choice and $250 million to promote private school choice through the Education Innovation and Research Program.
  • In his FY2019 budget President Trump proposed a $5 billion federal tax credit on donations that fund scholarships to private and vocational schools, apprenticeships programs and other educational opportunities.

The Trump Administration successfully implemented the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to empower states with the flexibility they need to educate their students.

  • 35 states and the District of Columbia have had their ESSA plans approved and the Department of Education is reviewing the plans for the remaining states.
  • The Department of Education is urging states to embrace the opportunity provided by ESSA to end top-down mandates from Washington, D.C.

The Trump Administration implemented the year-round distribution of Pell grants, instead of limiting these grants to the spring and fall semesters.

  • Low-income students will now have access to these funds over summer and winter breaks, so they can earn their degrees faster with fewer loans.

The Trump Administration reformed the student loan servicing process to improve customer experience and lower costs.

The Trump Administration has reformed The Free Application for Federal Student Aid to make the program more accessible to students.

The Trump Administration brought in financial experts to modernize the way FSA offers and services student loans.

The Department of Education provided $359.8 million in federal assistance to 20 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands to assist with the cost of educating students displaced by Hurricane Harvey, Irma, Maria, or the 2017 California wildfires.

VETERANS

President Trump signed the Veterans Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act to allow senior officials in the Department of Veterans Affairs (V.A.) to fire failing employees and establish safeguards to protect whistleblowers.

  • Through 2018, more than 4,300 Veterans Affairs employees were removed, demoted, or suspended as a result of the Veterans Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act

In August 2017, after passing Congress unanimously, President Trump signed the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act.

  • This streamlined the lengthy process that veterans undergo when appealing disability benefits claims with the Veterans Affairs.

In August 2017, the President signed the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act, an important step in providing our nation’s heroes the support they have earned.

  • This funded the post-9/11 GI Bill, which provided educational benefits to veterans, service members, and their family members, including tuition, fees, books, housing, and additional costs.

The President signed the V.A. Choice and Quality Employment Act of 2017 to authorize $2.1 billion in additional funds for the Veterans Choice Program (VCP).

  • President Trump signed a bill to allow the V.A. to fire incompetent employees.
  • President Trump signed legislation to fully fund the popular V.A. Choice Program.

In August 2017, The President signed the V.A. Choice and Quality Employment Act of 2017 which authorized $2.1 billion in additional funds for the Veterans Choice Program (VCP).

In November 2017, the Trump Administration created a new White House V.A. Hotline, staffed by veterans and family members, who will provide our nation’s Veterans with a direct, dedicated contact line to answer their needs and concerns.

  • Since May 2019, the White House VA Hotline has surpassed 250,00 calls.

In April 2017, the VA launched its online “Access and Quality Tool” which provides veterans with data to help them make informed decisions about their health care.

In June 2018, President Trump signed The VA MISSION Act, which works to integrate the VA healthcare system and modernize it for the 21st century while providing Veterans with more choices in their healthcare options, whether from VA doctors or the community.

In 2018, the VA announced three initiatives to expand access to healthcare for veterans using tele-health technology:

  • “Anywhere to Anywhere Veterans Affairs Health Care” allows Veterans Affairs providers to use tele-health technology to serve veterans no matter where the provider or veteran is located.
  • V.A. Video Connect allows veterans and providers to connect by video across the country.
  • The Veteran Appointment Request (VAR) application allows veterans to schedule appointments at Veterans Affairs facilities on digital devices.

In April 2019, the VA Announced a major expansion of its tele-health offerings in order to provide veterans living in rural or remote areas with the best possible care.

  • The VA Telehealth initiative will involve partnerships with private sector companies including Walmart, T-Mobile, and Phillips.

Source: Promises Kept & MAGAPill.com

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Hunter Biden Took Hundreds of Trips to Foreign Countries with Secret Service | Judicial Watch

Judicial Watch received records from the U.S. Secret Service showing that, for the first five and a half years of the Obama administration, Hunter Biden traveled extensively while receiving a Secret Service protective detail. During the time period of the records provided, Hunter Biden, son of then-Vice President Joe Biden, took 411 separate domestic and international flights, including to 29 different foreign countries. He visited China five times.

The records produced with the incomplete response shows that, for the first five and a half years of the Obama administration, Hunter Biden traveled extensively while receiving a Secret Service protective detail. The records show that, between January 31, 2011 and July 8, 2014, Hunter Biden received Secret Service protection for 411 separate domestic and international trips, including to 29 different foreign countries. He received protection while visiting China five times.

Source: Judicial Watch

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The Election Integrity Threat: 96 Million Unverified Mail-In-Ballots | Judicial Watch

judicialwatch_fb_deepdive-electionintegritythreat_1200x627_v1-768x401Editor’s Note: There is a conspiracy to undermine 2020 Presidential election by the Democratic Party and their accomplices in the “deep state”. This demand for mail-in voting systems in every Democratically controlled state is riddled with corruption, mistakes and fraud as illustrated by Judicial Watch. Furthermore, the puppet-masters behind the Democratic Party, Joe Biden and their socialist/communist allies, including Communist China, intend to overthrow the U.S. Constitution by any means necessary to take control and permanently alter our form of government. Do not be fooled by mainstream media headlines all focused on unseating Trump through lies, deception and false accusations. Trump is doing what is necessary to maintain the integrity of our election process and not allow the Democrats to cheat their way into the White House. May this 2020 election be “free and fair” as it has been done for two hundred and thirty-one years.  May the freedom we have enjoyed as Americans not be taken away by foolish voters or by electoral corruption. Long live America!

“It’s going to be a mess,” FItton remarks. As the country approaches election season, officials across the national political landscape are calling for a move towards mail-in-voting systems – a true recipe for disaster in Fitton’s estimation. With an estimated 96 million ballots to be sent through the mail, “the opportunities for fraud are of enormous proportions.” In 2016, approximately 319,000 absentee mail-in ballots were thrown out. “This year we don’t have any guess how many will be thrown out, because there’s no precedent to what’s being planned here, which is to the break the system.”

From ballot harvesters, to voter-intimidation, the threats to “free and fair elections” are virtually impossible to account for in Fitton’s view. Considering that Judicial Watch discovered nearly 2 million extra names on Pennsylvania and North Carolina voter rolls alone, “voting by mail is a bad public policy” to put it charitably. The president’s concerns for election integrity are well placed, but he is “understating the threat to fair and free elections caused by swamping the mail with nearly 100 million ballots,” Fitton concludes.

With top Democratic Party officials, including John Podesta recently suggesting that a Biden loss would descend the nation into a civil war – and the potential “secession of states from the union” – these are clearly “dangerous times.” The Democratic Party’s war game, as Fitton describes “talked about it [the results of the election] being a street fight, and that we can’t rely on the rule of law.” Clearly, the Left is willing to “upend the rule of law if the election result is seemingly what they don’t want.”

In the meantime, Judicial Watch is working around the clock to direct voter-roll cleanups across the United States, “doing the heavy lifting to ensure your votes are counted and that the elections are as clean possible.” If you’re concerned about election integrity, support Judicial Watch today. The stakes for inaction are simply too high to ignore.

Source: Judicial Watch

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Dawning of the Corona Age: Navigating the Pandemic by Johnny Freedom | Liberty International


Author’s Note: Five months of intensive research, collating 670 research and news sources, are compacted in this succinct, readable and entertaining 167-page compendium about the “pandemic”. It provides a comprehensive overview for those with an open mind, still willing to learn, to expand perspectives far beyond media tidbits. This is the Dawning of the Corona Age. 

May we remove our masks – and blindfolds – to take notice of what is actually rapidly happening around us to navigate how we can still “live free in an unfree world”.

This newly released book is dedicated to You. Thank you for educating yourself, “thinking twice before you think”, calmly sharing your insights, acting wisely and thereby reclaiming authority over your life! Enjoy the first chapter of thirty-two below. 

“A compelling exploration far beyond the immediate impacts of the “pandemic”, Dawning of the Corona Age imagines how our human world may be altered long into an uncertain future. “

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$25 PRINT ORDER LINK: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=QCQQL3JUTVURE (includes PDF Version with 670 Live Links)

$25 AMAZON PRINT ORDER LINK: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08FSR3NJG

THE PANDEMIC:
Season 1, Episode 1 

1. Preface & Introduction

Like a television series straight out of science fiction films, such as, V for Vendetta, Pandemic and The Matrix, the mainstream media narrative relentlessly broadcast at “We the People” seemed at first as surreal and as strange as an episode of The Twilight Zone. 

Now, suddenly, and apparently without warning, we are living in a strange hybrid between George Orwell’s novel 1984, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and The Matrix. Science fiction has now become real.

George Orwell wisely observed that, “The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those that speak it.” In 1958, Aldous Huxley warned that, “Pharmacology and propaganda will make the masses love their slavery. As the world is forced into accepting greater and greater levels of government control in all areas of life, remember that nothing in politics happens by chance. There is a science to creating empires.” 

As  the lead character Orpheus revealed in The Matrix film, “The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us, even now in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window, or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, when you go to church, when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.”

These perspectives reflect a deeper sense of what may be happening in our world today. For those open-minded enough to consider the truth as more important than convention and its lies, that sobriety is more essential than distorted states of consciousness, that the Earth and all of its natural wonders are more beautiful than any virtual reality, this book may just break open the possibility of a transformation of our understanding of this “pandemic”. 

In truth, this may be the “crowning” of a “new age” of consciousness emerging from the rubble of an old world dying around us. A “Corona” age may very well be on the horizon if we act from a higher understanding of our own existence as true human beings instead of from our limited perspectives of material existence.

For those with the courage to question authority, to question even our present sense of reality, this book is for you.

“Do not believe in what you have heard; do not blindly believe in traditions just because they have been handed down for many generations; do not believe in anything just because it is rumored and spoken by many; do not believe merely because a written statement of some old sage is produced; do not believe in conjectures; do not believe in that as truth to which you have become attached from habit; do not believe merely
the authority of your teachers and elders,
or news sources or books.

Question all authorities and truisms.

Decide for yourself what is the veracity of your perceptions.
Ponder what is not true. Even more so, ponder what is true, deeply and continuously.”
~ Buddha

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THE PANDEMIC: COVID-19, Season 1, Episode 1

  1. DumbedDownPreface and Introduction (PDF)
  2. Seven Known Strains of Coronavirus (PDF)
  3. COVID-19 Did Not Naturally Occur By Animal to Human Contact
  4. China’s COVID-19 Coverup
  5. Faulty Computer Simulations & Projections
  6. Skepticism of Mainstream Narratives & Projections
  7. Herd/Individual Immunity, Lockdowns & Quarantines
  8. The Immune System is Your Primary Defense
  9. How Contagious is COVID-19?
  10. “Exosomes” as a Natural Release of the Human Body
  11. Masks or No Masks?
  12. Invalid Testing & Inconclusive Diagnosis for COVID-19
  13. Inflated Death Rates & Asymptomatic Cases
  14. Hydroxychloroquine is an Effective Treatment
  15. Emerging & Effective Treatment Protocols
  16. Questioning the Need, Safety & Efficacy of a Vaccine for COVID-19
  17. Dangers of Vaccines Laced with Toxic Materials
  18. Germ Theory is the Wrong Approach, Look to the Biome

THE LOCKDOWN: Season 1, Episode 2

  1. CoronaWorldInternational, National & State Declarations of Emergency
  2. COVID-19 & The 5G Factor
  3. Total Surveillance State & The Right to Privacy
  4. Legal Authorities for U.S. Public Health Officials & State Governors
  5. Stimulus Bills Are Fast Tracks to Socialism & U.S. Bankruptcy
  6. Chinese Coverup & Propaganda
  7. Undeclared War Between China & United States
  8. Global Goals of the Pandemic
  9. The New World Order
  10. Big Pharma Funding Regulatory Agencies Providing Oversight & Developing Public Policy
  11. Internet Censorship & Medical Fascism
  12. The Global Health Protection Racket
  13. The Future Ain’t What it Used to Be

THE CORONA AGE: 2020 & BEYOND, Season 2

  1. BecomeEnlightenedDawning of the Corona Age

APPENDIX

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Public Health Legal Authorities to Collect, Use, Share, and Protect Information | ASTHO

FlaginSunlightOverview

Public health agencies need to collect, use, and share information to prevent disease and injury and protect the public against natural, accidental, and intentional health threats. Various federal and state laws may impact public health activities regarding such information.

Public health agencies may collect and maintain information that identifies an individual or is sensitive in nature, such as information about communications systems or detailed emergency response plans. In these situations, freedom of information (FOI) laws establish parameters for information that must be shared, upon request, and that which may be exempted from public disclosure. In applying the laws, public health agencies may need to juggle competing interests and balance individual privacy against the need to protect or inform the public.

Public health agencies face additional challenges when sharing information with law enforcement, especially when conducting a joint investigation where a public health threat may involve criminal activity. (See ASTHO Public Health Collection, Use, Sharing and Protection of Information Issue Brief  and Authorities and Limitations in Sharing Information Between Public Health Agencies and Law Enforcement Issue Brieffor detailed analyses of issues and law.) (Download a printable PDF.)

Constitutional Considerations

Generally, state and local public health agencies have broad and flexible authority to protect the public health. However, the exercise of governmental power has limits. The United States Constitution contains a Bill of Rights1 that sets out individual liberties and protects individuals from the arbitrary use of governmental power. These rights may impact public health collection and sharing of information.

Right to Privacy
The Constitution provides a limited right to privacy, including “informational privacy.”2 State laws that require reporting of or public health agency access to identifiable information are permissible when they are reasonably directed to the preservation of health and properly respect a patient’s confidentiality and privacy.3

Right Against Unreasonable Search and Seizure
With the owner’s permission,4 public health agencies may enter or search the premises of an individual or business, take biological specimens or environmental samples for testing, copy records, and remove evidence that might be relevant to a public health concern. However, absent consent or the applicability of another exception, public health agencies must comply with requirements in the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment.

The Fourth Amendment requires that a warrant be obtained, based upon probable cause, to search someone’s premises or seize their property. The Fourth Amendment applies to both criminal investigations and health and safety inspections and investigations.5 In addition to consent, other exceptions to the warrant and probable cause requirement might apply to public health inspections and investigations, including searches of pervasively regulated businesses,6searches of premises or items open to the public,7 and searches based on exigent circumstances if delay is likely to lead to injury, public harm, or the destruction of evidence.8

Right Against Self-Incrimination
The Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination prevents the government from forcing an individual to be a witness against himself or herself during trial or a custodial interrogation. If an individual is not informed of his or her right against self-incrimination, the individual’s statements and evidence obtained as a result of these statements may be suppressed in criminal proceedings. This right may arise when a public health incident involves criminal activity, especially when law enforcement and public health investigators are conducting joint interviews or public health agencies assist law enforcement to gather evidence.9

Practice Notes

  • Identify information to be obtained or shared.
  • Identify the purpose for which the information is needed.
  • Determine whether this is the minimum necessary for the purpose or whether de-identified information will serve the purpose.
  • Identify sources for the information, such as healthcare providers, schools, other businesses, and individuals.
  • Identify applicable federal or state laws.
  • Determine and meet conditions or requirements for obtaining or sharing information; in some situations, an individual’s consent may avoid legal issues when disclosing private information.
  • If privacy protections prevent disclosures necessary to protect the public, consult with counsel to identify relevant legal responsibilities, evaluate competing moral claims, and document determined course of action.

State Constitutions
State constitutions, along with court decisions that interpret state constitutions, must be reviewed to identify individual rights that exceed the U.S. Constitution. State constitutions may be sources of additional provisions that govern information sharing; for example, some constitutions define individual privacy rights or cover the public’s right to obtain governmental records.

State Statutes

Generally, state law governs state and local public health agencies’ authority and responsibilities regarding collection, use, disclosure, and protection of information. State laws vary in nature and scope. Authority may be based on general statutes, such as public health laws that grant public health agencies communicable disease control authority. Specific laws may also apply.

Case Reporting
These laws mandate that healthcare providers, laboratories, and others report specific communicable diseases and other illness of public health concern. Reporting requirements vary by state, and may also include poisonings, chemical or radiological exposures, suspected acts of terrorism, and other conditions.

Syndromic Surveillance
State laws may require or authorize reporting to electronic syndromic surveillance systems of information that is routinely gathered in emergency rooms or other places that may indicate an emerging disease or other public health threat before confirmed diagnoses are made.

Investigatory Authority
State laws may specifically grant public health agencies authority to conduct investigations and gather evidence, or such authority may arise from general statutory powers. State laws may also establish procedures for obtaining warrants to search the premises of an individual or business and seize evidence related to a public health threat.

Privacy Provisions
Public health or other laws may contain provisions to protect the confidentiality of information that identifies an individual and to limit its disclosure by public health agencies. Exceptions may be provided, for example, for disclosing information to other agencies, law enforcement, or the public when necessary to protect the public’s health.

Freedom of Information
All states have laws that require information held by governmental agencies to be provided upon request. FOI laws promote transparency and accountability of governments, facilitate consumers’ ability to make informed choices, and safeguard citizens against mismanagement and corruption. Public health agencies—like other governmental agencies—need to be sensitive to these important considerations in responding to FOI requests. At the same time, these laws may create challenges for public health agencies with regard to requests for private information about individuals or sensitive information, such as information that is preliminary, incomplete, or might present a national or state security risk. FOI laws include exemptions that may allow public health agencies to withhold private or sensitive information under certain circumstances. These exemptions vary among states in nature, scope, and prerequisites for denying disclosure.

Federal Statutes

Federal laws that impact collection, use, disclosure, and protection of information by public health agencies include, but are not limited to, the following.

HIPAA Privacy Rule
The Privacy Rule10 adopted under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)11 established national privacy protections for individually identifiable health information. The Privacy Rule may apply to healthcare providers or others that provide information to public health agencies. Depending on a public health agency’s organization, the Privacy Rule may apply to a public health agency when it discloses individually identifiable information. The Privacy Rule is not intended to interfere with public health functions and contains provisions that allow public health agencies to collect identifiable health information and disclose it, including to law enforcement, when authorized by law or when necessary to protect the public from an imminent threat.

FERPA
Privacy protections established by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)12 limit information that schools may provide to public health agencies about students. However, exceptions allow schools to provide certain directory information, such as student name and contact information, and necessary information to appropriate officials in cases of health and safety emergencies.13

Surveillance Data Systems
Various federal laws, such as the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness Act of 2002,14 establish surveillance data systems that allow collection of information provided by state and local governmental agencies and integration of federal, state, and local data systems.

Critical Infrastructure
Confidentiality requirements apply to federal disclosure of certain information to state or local governmental agencies related to critical infrastructure and supplies and resources to protect the public’s health. For example, federal law protects the confidentiality of information voluntarily provided by the private sector to the federal government regarding vaccine tracking and distribution15 and information about critical infrastructure.16 Although the federal government may share this information with state and local government and agencies, those agencies must protect its confidentiality.

Practice Resource

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press provides the Open Government Guide at http://www.rcfp.org/open-government-guide, which is a complete compendium of information on every state’s open records and open meetings laws. Each state’s section is arranged according to a standard outline, making it easy to compare laws in various states.

Sources

  1. U.S. Const., Amds 1-10.
  2. Whalen v. Roe, 429 U.S. 589 (1977).
  3. Whalen v. Roe, 429 U.S. 589 (1977); Planned Parenthood of Missouri v. Danforth, 428 U.S. 52 (1976).
  4. Florida v. Jimeno, 500 U.S. 248 (1991).
  5. Camara v. Municipal Court, 387 U.S. 523 (1967) (search of residences); See v. City of Seattle, 387 US 541 (1967) (search of commercial property).
  6. New York v. Burger, 482 US 691 (1987).
  7. Gostin LO. Public Health Law – Power, Duty, Restraint. (2008), p 468, 699-700. See endnotes 57-58.
  8. Michigan v. Tyler, 436 U.S. 499 (1978).
  9. Richards, EP. “Collaboration between Public Health and Law Enforcement: The Constitutional Challenge. Emerging Infectious Diseases.” Available at http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/8/10/02-0465_article.htm. Accessed 11-15-2012. Goodman, R.A., Munson, JW, Dammer, K., Lazzarini, Z., and Barkely JP. “Forensic Epidemiology: Law at the Intersection of Public Health and Criminal Investigations.” Journal of the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics. Available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14968670. Accessed on 2-7-2013.
  10. 45 C.F.R. Parts 160 and 164.
  11. Pub. L. 104-191, 42 U.S.C. § 300gg et seq.
  12. Pub. L. 93-380, 20 U.S.C. § 1232g, implemented by 34 C.F.R. Part 99.
  13. 34 C.F.R. § 99.31.
  14. Pub. L. 107-188, 42 U.S.C. 300hh et seq.
  15. Public Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C. § 247d-1.
  16. Critical Infrastructure Information Act of 2002, Pub. L. 107-296, 6 U.S.C. 131 et seq., which is part of the Homeland Security Act of 2002.

Note: This document was compiled from April–November 2012 and reflects the laws and programs current then. It reflects only portions of the laws relevant to public health emergencies and is not intended to be exhaustive of all relevant legal authority. This resource is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional legal or other advice. The document was funded by CDC Award No. 1U38HM000454 to the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials; Subcontractor Subcontractor University of Michigan School of Public Health, Network for Public Health Law – Mid-States Region.

Source: ASTHO

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Covid-911 – Insurgency | YouTube

Editor’s Note: What’s happening in America today is a clear and present danger to the Constitutional Republic of the United States of America. Wake Up or lose your freedoms forever.

You’re being scammed by enemies of America who occupy powerful positions in government and the media. November 2020 is the way we, the people, can fight back. Know your enemy. Ditch the masks. Rise.

Source: YouTube

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Progressive “Riotocracy” and the Great Liberal Death Wish | The Epoch Times

Suspect In Custody After Driving Into Protest And Shooting One In SeattleBy Harley Price

Across Canada and the United States, the disappointingly small groups of peaceful protesters who have supplicated the authorities to be allowed to return to work have been mocked by their political nannies as reckless and selfish yahoos endangering the lives of the rest of us.

Even immediate family members—some of whom have been known to sleep in the same bed—have been officially shamed and fined for violating the protocols of social distancing while walking in the park or kneeling in the pews.

But that was—as our woke millennials are wont to put it—so yesterday. Today, these corona-villains might consider joining the rioters the next time they feel the need for a little physical or spiritual recreation.

Apparently, marching shoulder to shoulder with your revolutionary comrades, bloodying the faces of Asian, Latino, and black shopkeepers trying to defend their livelihood, or clutching looted big-screen TVs to your bosom—all without wearing nitrile gloves or first dousing the teeming, pathogenic surfaces of stolen merchandise or victims of your violence in disinfectant—is virologically riskless when it’s for the sake of equality and justice.

Did I miss the announcement from doctors Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx that massing in violent mobs has now been determined to foster the herd immunity that their unconstitutional lockdown forestalled? And does this mean that ordinary Canadians and Americans have finally been granted permission to leave their domestic prisons, resurrect their moribund businesses, and resume their foundational civil rights of freedom of assembly and worship?

Of course not. In fact, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio was careful to stipulate that the recent rise in COVID-19 cases likely has nothing to do with the massive nationwide demonstrations (after warning solemnly that back-to-work protests in Republican flyover country were socially irresponsible). Is anyone still sufficiently credulous as to believe that holy science is politically disinterested?

Proudly Flying the Double Standard

The tacit approval by politicians and medical “experts” of the rioters’ flouting of the urgent social-distancing edicts tells you something more generally about our rulers’—to be generous, let’s call it—philosophy of governance. It’s an open secret that for decades the perennially enraged left has been formally exempt from the cinching restrictions that apply only to bourgeois, law-abiding deplorables, and the authorities have always been petrified to acknowledge, let alone repeal, this reeking double standard.

So long as you affirm that you’re “for the poor and downtrodden” you have legal immunity to trash and burn the neighborhoods of the poor and downtrodden. Little old ladies who recite their rosaries in menacing proximity to an abortion clinic are sentenced to lengthy prison terms, but Indigenous and environmental pipeline protesters have official license to occupy and blockade public rail lines and bring national transportation networks to a halt for months. The double standard is the patriotic banner, flown with pride, of the progressive army, which preaches diversity and inclusion while everywhere denouncing and censoring non-conformist opinion and speech, and blighting the careers of the insufficiently zealous.

Naturally, progressives oppose “fascism” (about which they are too young and badly educated to know anything); and to show how much they hate it, they use the violent tactics of the SS.

The torching and demolition of America’s “racist” cities—almost every one presided over by Democratic governors, mayors, municipal councils, and police chiefs (many of whom are black, to compound the irony)—by the oxymoronically named Antifa, Black Lives Matter, believe-the-women-(unless-they-accuse-Democrats) feminists, gay and trans activists, queers for open borders, Indigenous national militants, evangelists of abortion, daughters of Gaea, Trump resisters, and all of the assorted victim groups of the intersectional left, reminds us that “racial injustice” is one of an interchangeable and ever-proliferating set of pretexts under which progressives can parade their moral superiority, while enjoying the smashing and pillaging that never seem to tarnish their lustrous reputations for compassion and probity with the beau monde.

The killing of George Floyd was immediately and universally denounced, his tormentors summarily fired from the police force and charged with second-degree murder or aiding and abetting second-degree murder, and political leaders at every level have agreed to enact police reforms.

Since their demands were preemptively met, there was no plausible reason for the “protesters” to have gone on burning and looting for another three weeks, besides the sheer nihilistic joy of it. Anyone not yet impressed by the exuberant illogic and morally indiscriminate devastation wrought by the rioters need only book an iconoclast’s tour of the hundreds of historical monuments they have defaced across the globe, including the effigy of Gandhi, the statue of Winston Churchill, and the Lincoln Memorial: the original anti-colonialists, anti-fascists, and anti-racists, or so it may seem to the un-woke.

But progressive crusaders have never required a credible casus belli. Since the sixties, the left has marched, demonstrated, occupied, blockaded, rioted, burned, and looted with the noxious predictability of black flies in June, all the while anticipating and responding to the next provocation with Pavlovian reflexivity. At least when the Goths and Vandals broke and pilfered stuff in Rome, they desisted once they’d reached satiety, and they didn’t pretend it was for a higher cause.

Protesting ‘Peacefully’

As of last weekend (the numbers increase daily and have probably doubled by now), thousands of businesses across the United States, most of them minority owned, have been destroyed—many of which, already on life-support from the coronavirus lockdown, will never be resuscitated—undoing the decades of hard work, obliterating the life-savings, and beggaring the future existences of their owners (whose black lives apparently don’t matter in the least).

During the past three weeks, in every American city in which significant “protests” occurred, the number of burglaries, shootings, and homicides has increased by between 150 and 500 percent. In the riots themselves, more than 700 police officers have been injured by projectiles (rocks, bricks, cinder blocks, bottles, or Molotov cocktails, often strategically placed by “peaceful” protesters), deliberately run over by vehicular assassins, slashed with machetes, or felled by gunfire, many of whom will be maimed for life.  In St. Louis, a 77-year-old retired police captain was shot and killed by looters—another immaterial black life—while responding to an alarm at a pawn shop. The same day four other officers were shot by a “protester” aspiring to dispatch an entire police line to the other side of time.

So far, at least two dozen people have died in the riots. Ten of the dead were either innocent bystanders caught in the cross-fire, business owners vainly attempting to protect their livelihoods, onlookers deemed insufficiently enthusiastic, or local residents guilty of “privilege” and “systemic racism” because they owned property or had white skin, all executed—10 times, that is, the number of unarmed victims to die in the custody of Derek Chauvin, not a single one of whose lives will be eulogized in a nationally-televised state funeral, or whose unjust deaths will mobilize worldwide demonstrations, or soul-searching conversations about systemic leftist hate and depredation.

Predictably, at CNN, MSNBC, PBS, the New York Times, Washington Post, and the rest of the mainstream media, the canonical euphemism to describe the riots was “peaceful,” while the “rare” and “incidental” violence was attributed to a few nefarious “outside” groups who tried to “hijack” the movement. (Here the words “outside” and “hijack” can be understood in the sense that crime families from out of state sometimes hijacked Al Capone’s getaway car.)

Some officials have blamed the violence on “white supremacists,” of whose presence not even the race-baiting Southern Poverty Law Center could find evidence. According to historian Stuart Wexler, writing in Haaretz, white supremacists typically infiltrate movements such as Black Lives Matter in order to foment a race war in which they hope to “purify” America through “ethnic cleansing.” Indeed, social media, and all the usual established media echo-chambers, falsely claimed to be in possession of a photograph of Chauvin wearing a “Make Whites Great Again” cap at a Trump rally.

It is, of course, a dogma of racialist orthodoxy that resurgent ghosts from the Jim Crow era maraud daily throughout the streets of contemporary America, whereby white supremacist phantoms continue to haunt the imaginations of the likes of Al Sharpton, Jussie Smollett, and the other Masters of the Racial Revels, though they are almost never seen in the flesh. (Oh, and we mustn’t forget “the Russians,” who, according to Susan Rice, were the main instigators of the arson and vandalism. Rice later admitted that she had no evidence for her preposterous claim, but on this theme, when has evidence ever mattered?)

A few observers remained un-woke enough to accept that the trashing, burning, and looting that were taking place before their eyes had indeed been perpetrated by the protesters. But to say so is impious, and so, as the Yemeni owner of a demolished convenience store reasoned, the violence was “okay” and “understandable” in the context of black grievance. Innumerable small and large business owners have agreed that their pauperization was all worth it, leading one to wonder whether they should now restock their empty shelves so that looters can mount a second campaign of theft for racial equality.

By now, every major corporation, from Nike and Google to Walmart, has pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, in direct donation and advertising, on the corporately responsible principle, one supposes, that if you trash our stores and steal our merchandise, we’ll pay you. All of this seems somewhat beyond mere masochism. What we are witnessing are the psychopathologies of a civilization that has been taught to despise itself, and is entreating its progressive masters for euthanasia.

The New American Riotocratic Republic

And how have the brutal agents of oppression responded? As has so often been the case, the arson and looting by the mob has taken place in plain sight of the police, who assumed the posture of either neutral observers or comrades in arms.

Whenever the constabulary deigned to make arrests, the looters and vandals were ceremonially processed and released within minutes, so as not to be overly inconvenienced in their righteous struggle—policing on the sport fishing model, and a perfect reification of the “Big Rock Candy Mountain” hobo utopia, in which “the jails are made of tin,” so “you can walk right out again as soon as you are in.” In cities that imposed curfews, the violators were allowed to continue with their virtuous burning and looting until they were satisfied, as though to interrupt them were to interrupt a celebrant in mid-consecration of the mass (a sacrilege that the COVID-19 social-distancing police never shrank from).

The ritual “taking of the knee” by police chiefs, rank and file officers, and political leaders across the world is the perfect visual emblem of our rulers’ willing capitulation to extortion and mob rule, and more broadly, of our society’s suicidal complicity with the progressive thugs whose ideological imperative is to annihilate it. The only possible excuse for the congenitally tumescent, parasitical, self-serving, and duplicitous institution of government and its monopoly of force is to preserve the social order without which life is indeed nasty, brutish, and short, and guarantee the equal application of the law, without which might is right, and we may as well all emigrate to Mogadishu.

Like the police, America’s civilian rulers have also surrendered with unbidden zeal. In recognition of the justice of their cause, the mayor of Minneapolis peremptorily abandoned the police precinct to the rioters. Not to be outdone in demonstrations of piety, Mayor de Blasio ordered that streets in every one of the five boroughs be renamed after Black Lives Matter, just four days after Washington D.C.’s Mayor Muriel Bowser renamed Lafayette Park “Black Lives Matter Plaza,” marked by the words BLACK LIVES MATTER in 35-foot yellow capital letters (that color being a nice touch if you regard supine cowardice as a virtue).

It’s remarkable that in the blink of an eye Black Lives Matter has been exalted to the rank of sacrosanctity, as though it were the American chapter of Mother Teresa’s Sisters of Charity. Anyone who criticizes BLM (or its message of black persecution) is immediately censored, shunned, or fired.

Naturally, Black Lives Matters supports the entire panoply of progressive causes: unrestricted abortion, non-binary self-identified gender, transgenderism, “dismantl[ing] patriarchal practice,” the “disrupt[ion of] the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure,” the establishment of “a queer‐affirming network … with the intention of freeing ourselves from the tight grip of heteronormative thinking,” “dismantle[ing] cisgender privilege,” and opposing “trans-antagonistic violence.” (After all, even today’s Vandals have been to college.) BLM’S official website is a pretty comprehensive manifesto for the overthrow all the moral norms and institutions of Western Civilization; but I guess we’re all revolutionaries now.

The most instructive symbol of the great surrender, however, is Seattle, one of the perennial spiritual capitals of the Big Rock Candy Mountain hobo utopia. Across from another abandoned police station, six city blocks in Seattle’s municipal center have been ceded by the mayor and governor to the rioters as a fully autonomous state: CHOP, as its rulers now call it, the world’s newest sovereign nation. Around the perimeter of the Republic of CHOP, its “government” has posted armed guards to prevent foreigners from getting in (will border walls be next?).

Pre-CHOP residents who don’t share the revolutionary ideals of their new overlords have had no say over the proceedings. CHOP, or what might be called the Protestor Occupied Territories (POT), is thus a land that has been seized from the original indigenous inhabitants and colonized by its occupiers, but one doubts that the left will denounce it as an apartheid state, demand full democratic rights for the occupied peoples, or the right of return.

CHOP also seems to have revived the great Stalinist tradition of propaganda art. Spray-painted on every available surface are inspiring revolutionary messages including “End America” and “Shoplift Your Future Back.” (When the owner of an auto repair shop and his son detained a CHOP citizen shoplifting his future back and trying to burn down the building, he was confronted by a mob of a hundred shoplifting causists who demanded they let the Good Thief go.)

In this “police-free” land of equality and justice, in what Seattle’s mayor has described as a “block party,” violence, break ins, and robberies have become commonplace. If well-intentioned liberal “idealists” are wondering what the New Progressive Order will look like once it’s been established, they ought to schedule their next holiday in CHOP, assuming its overlords will let them in.

And the Great Liberal Death Wish

All of this leaves the remnant of the sane with the insoluble question: Which is more nauseating? The images of protesters beating up septuagenarian female shop-owners, killing and maiming hundreds of innocent bystanders, torching or trashing whole city blocks, and demonstrating their grinding poverty/anti-capitalist and anti-consumerist bona fides by prioritizing top-of-the-line Nike runners and Gucci handbags on their cleptomaniacal wish lists? Or the contrite acquiescence of the soi-disant “power structure” to their rank criminality and lunatic demands?

The morally preening orgies of contrition and expressions of solidarity by our political, cultural, and corporate leaders, exacted to ensure ideological conformity with the same effectiveness as under Mao, have been rather too numerous and fulsome for optimistic conservatives to any longer discount as merely pandering, self-preservationist, or otherwise insincere.

For 50-odd years, nothing has been done to stop leftist “protesters;” the inescapable conclusion is that the ruling class doesn’t in fact want to stop them. The recent riots should at least have made it clear that the angry left’s heroic struggle against a “repressive authority” amounts to pushing against an open door. In genuinely repressive societies (China under Mao, China under Xi, the former Soviet Union) protesters get shot or dispatched smartly to re-education camps. In post-modernist America, the protesters re-educate their oppressors in the ever-more exquisite points of progressive dogma.

After almost every violent leftist “protest” of late, our political leaders have withdrawn to their own self-sentenced struggle sessions, and emerged from them wearing the nimbus of penitence and progressive enlightenment. The current legislative initiatives to defund the police and re-purpose their budgets to the same welfare programs that have, since the sixties, enslaved blacks a second time to their white Democrat masters, originated from the sober counsel of a screaming, criminal mob.

Many previous progressive desiderata have similarly silted up from the fever swamps of angry demonstrations and were thereafter ratified into law by political leaders, both Democrat and Republican. That’s not “anarchy,” as many on the right have soothingly called it, if anarchy still means unfettered license in the absence of central authority. On the contrary, its progressive theocracy, rule by the same heresy-hunters as have given us campus and media thought police, trigger warnings, censorship of conservative opinion by the Big Tech oligarchy, deplatforming, Maoist shamings and denunciations, and all the other coercive measures by which they punish the slightest deviation from orthodoxy, and in the process repeal the fustian individual liberties and rule of law upon which post-Enlightenment Western democracies were founded.

I said that the recidivist riots of the intersectional left have never required a coherent raison d’etre. But that’s not quite true. Their proudly proclaimed purpose is the shopworn utopian dream of abolishing the corrupt pre-revolutionary moral norms and institutions of the patriarchally oppressed, racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Christian-bigoted, and white-privileged Eurocentric civilization they despise, and replacing it with—well, they’ve never deigned to tell us precisely what.

That the feral violence and criminality of the protesting armies never seem to impugn the righteousness of their cause in the media or the ruling class makes it plain that, as a society, we’ve not only accepted the old revolutionary lie that the benignant end justifies the malignant means, but have become oblivious to the fact that not all ends are desirable just because a braying mob says so.

The violence of the George Floyd protesters can hardly be incidental; it’s merely the objective correlative of their core beliefs and aspirations.

Harley Price has taught courses in religion, philosophy, literature, and history at the University of Toronto, U of T’s School of Continuing Studies, and Tyndale University College. He blogs at Priceton.org.

Source: The Epoch Times

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Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) remarks following JUSTICE Act vote | YouTube & C-SPAN2

After the Senate blocked the Republican police reform bill, Just and Unifying Solutions To Invigorate Communities Everywhere Act of 2020, or the JUSTICE Act, Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) spoke on the floor about his personal experiences and how they helped him write the JUSTICE Act.

Source: YouTube