Dec 10

Today’s News 10th December 2023

  • Musk Asks Zelensky About Imprisoned American Journalist After Tucker Carlson Sounds Alarm
    Musk Asks Zelensky About Imprisoned American Journalist After Tucker Carlson Sounds Alarm

    In May, American YouTuber and columnist Gonzalo Lira was arrested in Ukraine because he “publicly justified” the Russian invasion, according to a press release by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

    The statement from Kiev said that Lira “has the citizenship of one of the countries of Latin America” but omitted that he is also California-born U.S. citizen, as ZeroHedge contributor Space Worm reported at the time.

    Following his release, Lira said he was tortured in a Ukrainian prison, explaining that “two thugs held my head and used a toothpick to scratch the whites of my left eye, while asking me if I could still read if I had just one.” Lira informed followers that he was making a mad-dash via motorcycle towards the Hungarian border:

    Grayzone reporter Liam Cosgrove pressed State Department spox Matthew Miller on the issue, asking how the Biden Administration has allowed an American to be tortued by a closely allied nation: 

    Even more damning about Miller’s non-answer is that 3 months prior, Miller admitted that the State Department was aware of Lira’s imprisonment and plead the Fifth when asked whether the administration planned to advocate for his release:

    Tucker and Elon sound the alarm

    In a Saturday post on X, Tucker Carlson highlighted Lira’s situation and spoke with the journalist’s father. Carlson asked why the Biden administration is allowing this, and questioned what kind of country Ukraine is for doing this to an American simply for criticizing the government.

    In response, Elon Musk asked: “An American citizen is in prison n Ukraine after we sent over a $100 billion?” adding, “Is there more to this story than simply criticizing Zelensky?”

    “If that’s all it is, then we have serious problem here.”

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    Musk then directly asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to explain…

    Which reminds us, 2024 presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy pointed out that Ukraine is an extremely corrupt country.

    Is the worm turning?

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    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/09/2023 – 23:20

  • The Venezuela-Guyana Dispute Explained In 3 Charts
    The Venezuela-Guyana Dispute Explained In 3 Charts

    In a territorial dispute spanning nearly two centuries, tensions between Guyana and Venezuela have once again reached a boiling point.

    As Visual Capitalist’s Bruno Venditti and Nick Routley detail below, the focal point of this dispute is the vast Essequibo region which encompasses around 70% of Guyana’s territory, and is roughly equivalent to the size of Florida.

    Venezuela claims historical rights dating back to the Spanish colonial period when Essequibo fell within its boundaries.

    In 1840, the British government drew the Schomburgk Line expanding the territory of British Guiana (now Guyana) far beyond the occupied area and to the strategically-located mouth of the Orinoco River.

    This line played a pivotal role in shaping the modern borders of the region by defining the territory claimed by the UK, and later, a decolonized Guyana, as the country gained independence in 1966. That same year, Venezuela and the UK signed an agreement aiming for a negotiated solution.

    In 2004, President Hugo Chávez eased border tensions under the advice of Fidel Castro, stating that he considered the dispute to be finished.

    Recent events, however, have reignited the dispute. Between 2015 and 2021, Guyana announced the discovery of about 8 billion barrels of oil, elevating a country with fewer than a million people to a prominent position among the top nations in terms of oil reserves. ExxonMobil, leading a consortium, operates three offshore projects in the country, earning nearly $6 billion in 2022 alone.

    Venezuela’s Referendum and New Map

    On December 1, 2023, the World Court ordered Venezuela to refrain from actions in the border dispute with Guyana. However, just two days later, on December 3, Venezuelans approved a referendum claiming sovereignty over Essequibo.

    President Maduro subsequently ordered the creation of a new state, Guayana Esequiba, within Venezuela’s borders, and released a new map of the country.

    Venezuela’s new territorial claims don’t stop on land, they extend far out into sea as well. Specifically, Venezuela is claiming a critical area called the Stabroek Oil Block, where ExxonMobil and others are already active.

    With a population of around 125,000 people, the disputed region is full of dense rainforest, making a military incursion from Venezuela feasible only by sea or through the Brazilian state of Roraima. Brazil, maintaining good diplomatic relationships with both countries, has already increased military personnel on the border. The U.S. announced joint military flight drills in Guyana on December 7.

    Despite increased military presence in the region, many experts believe that President Maduro has no intention of actually annexing Essequibo, and that this recent claim is a tactic to bolster his own image within Venezuela.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/09/2023 – 22:45

  • Long-Term ADHD Medication Use May Increase Heart Disease Risk: Study
    Long-Term ADHD Medication Use May Increase Heart Disease Risk: Study

    Authored by Amie Dahnke via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    A new study indicates that long-term use of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication may increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and that the risk increases the longer the drug is used.

    (joel bubble ben/Shutterstock)

    The results of the study conducted in Sweden were published in JAMA Psychiatry, bringing to light the potential risks of long-term ADHD medication.

    About 6 million, or 1 in 10, children ages 3 to 17 have been diagnosed with ADHD, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Approximately 8.7 million adults in the United States also have ADHD. Individuals with ADHD may have difficulty paying attention, find it hard to sit still, or act without thinking; the symptoms and specifics vary from person to person.

    Medication has been the standard treatment of care for decades, researchers wrote, adding that “the use of ADHD medication has increased greatly in both children and adults during the past decades.” Medication therapies include stimulant and non-stimulant therapies, with modalities being determined by the patient’s needs.

    Risk Grows With Duration of Use

    In the study, researchers looked at 13 years of records in the National Inpatient Register of over 278,000 individuals between the ages of 6 and 64 with ADHD. They found that the longer an individual used ADHD medication, the higher their risk was of developing cardiovascular disease compared to those who did not take ADHD medication. Additionally, each additional year an individual used ADHD medication increased their risk of heart disease by an average of 4 percent. Overall, the results suggest that heart disease risk was 23 percent higher for people who used ADHD medication for more than five years compared to those who never used it. The risk was stable among children and adults, both male and female.

    Cardiovascular diseases linked to ADHD medication include hypertension and artery disease. There was no increased risk for other associated conditions, such as heart failure, arrhythmias, thromboembolic disease, arterial disease, and other forms of heart disease.

    The study confirms previous research that indicated patients taking stimulant ADHD medication, such as Ritalin or Adderall, are at higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease than those taking non-stimulant ADHD medication. The reason for the development is likely because the stimulants in the drugs are known to elevate blood pressure, arouse the nervous system, and make the heart work harder.

    The study authors noted that clinicians should “be vigilant in monitoring patients … and consistently assess signs and symptoms of CVD (cardiovascular diseases),” especially in patients receiving high doses of stimulant medications.

    Those taking ADHD medication should monitor their heart health regularly. ADHD patients can rely on the American Heart Association’s Life’s Essential 8, a set of key health behaviors and factors that can alter one’s risk of heart disease. The Essential 8 include the following:

    • Eating healthily.
    • Being more active.
    • Quitting smoking.
    • Getting enough sleep.
    • Managing weight.
    • Controlling cholesterol.
    • Managing blood sugar.
    • Managing blood pressure.

    No Proof of Causation

    Researchers noted the limitations of the case-control study, including that it cannot prove that ADHD medication causes any cardiovascular disease problems.

    Additionally, the study’s sample was limited to one country, which could indicate the need for more diversity in the future.

    Of prominent note: Researchers did not look at the risk of cardiovascular disease in those who already had heart issues.

    The authors indicated that further research must be done that examines those with preexisting cardiovascular disease. “Evaluating the risk among them necessitates a different study design that carefully considers the potential impact of prior knowledge and periodic monitoring,” they wrote.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/09/2023 – 22:10

  • Guess What Industry Dominates 2023's Top TV Advertisers
    Guess What Industry Dominates 2023’s Top TV Advertisers

    In 2023, advertising spend is projected to reach $61.3 billion on U.S. broadcast and cable TV.

    Despite declining viewership, traditional TV has been found to be an optimal platform for storytelling ads. Additionally, advertisers can target viewer segments on traditional TV—similar to digital marketing channels.

    Visual Capitalist’s Dorothy Neufeld shows the top advertisers on traditional TV outlets in the chart below, based on data from Nielsen.

    Top 10 National TV Advertising Spenders

    Here are the top advertisers on national U.S. broadcast and cable TV for the month of June 2023:

    Procter & Gamble was the top TV advertising spender in the U.S., at $109.3 million. Home to Gillette, Crest, and Tide, the company spent a stunning $5.1 billion in overall advertising in 2022.

    Pharmaceutical companies Abbvie and GSK were the next biggest spenders, at $81.4 million and $52.8 million, respectively. Overall, pharmaceuticals accounted for the largest share of advertising across the top 10.

    Big tech companies Alphabet and Amazon also made the list, each spending over $30 million in June alone.

    Top 10 Local TV Advertising Spenders

    By contrast, the automotive sector made up seven of the top 10 local broadcast and cable TV advertisers, led by General Motors and Toyota:

    Meanwhile, communication giants Comcast and Charter were big spenders, and the nation’s largest personal injury law firm, Morgan & Morgan, ranked in seventh overall.

    U.S. Television Trends

    Today, live TV viewership in the U.S. is primarily made up of those aged 65 and over, which spend nearly five hours per day watching TV. In contrast, those aged 25-34 spend only about one hour and 12 minutes per day watching live TV.

    Furthermore, in 2022, fewer than half of U.S. viewers paid for traditional TV services for the first time. By year-end 2027, this proportion is projected to fall to just over a third of households.

    Yet due to its scale of available media inventory, traditional TV may continue to bring in the bulk of TV advertising spending over the near future. One reason is that advertising makes up 20% of time spent on traditional TV but just 3% on streaming platforms.

    However, as viewership declines, advertisers on live TV say that they are most likely to allocate their ad spend to streaming services. By year-end 2027, ad spend on streaming platforms is projected to jump to $40.9 billion, a 63% increase from 2023.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/09/2023 – 21:35

  • How The Federal-Private Speech Police Operated In Election 2020: With Radar Highly Attuned To The Right
    How The Federal-Private Speech Police Operated In Election 2020: With Radar Highly Attuned To The Right

    Authored by Ben Weingarten via RealClear Wire,

    During the 2020 election, the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) partnered with the Election Integrity Partnership (EIP), a consortium of groups led by the Stanford Internet Observatory, to track and counter what they considered mis- and dis-information.

    EIP surveilled hundreds of millions of social media posts and collected from the cooperating government and non-governmental entities that it calls its “stakeholders” potential violations of social media platforms’ policies concerning election speech.

    It coordinated its efforts primarily through a digital “ticketing” system. There, one of its as many as 120 analysts or an external partner could highlight a piece of offending social media content, or narrative consisting of many offending posts, by creating a “ticket,” and share it with other relevant participants by “tagging” them. Tagged participants could then communicate with each other, in something of a group chat, about the veracity of the flagged content, concerns about its spread, and what actions they might take to combat it.

    For social media companies this meant removing the content outright, reducing its spread, or “informing” users about dubious posts by slapping corrective or contextualizing labels on them.

    During the 2020 election cycle, EIP generated a total of 639 tickets, covering some 4,784 unique URLs – representing content shared millions of times – disproportionately related to the “delegitimization” of election results. Major platforms including Twitter, Google, and Facebook responded to tickets in which they were tagged at rates of 75% or higher. The platforms “labeled, removed, or soft blocked” 35% of the URLs shared via EIP.

    RealClearInvestigations has obtained data associated with nearly 400 EIP tickets, data produced for the House Homeland Security Committee in connection with its oversight efforts. The tickets come in the form of a series of spreadsheets. Each row represents one ticket. The Stanford group provided no key for the spreadsheets. Much of the information is redacted.

    Here are just a few examples of the tickets EIP produced:

    Ticket EIP-482 (created October 27, 2020) was originated by the CISA’s Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing & Analysis Center (EI-ISAC). It concerns a tweet from then-President Trump indicating “most” states permit one to change one’s original vote after engaging in early voting, which EIP categorized as potential “Procedural Interference.”

    The analysts point to fact-checks from, among other sources, Buzzfeed and ABC News challenging the president’s claim. Following two redacted comments on the ticket, an unnamed commenter writes, “Twitter received and is reviewing.” A subsequent comment reads: “We heard back from Twitter through CISA with this response: Our team concluded that the Tweet was not in violation of our Civic Integrity Policy.”

    CISA-produced documentation shows the sub-agency’s chief counter-MDM (mis-, dis-, and malinformation) officer, Brian Scully, had also reported the tweet to Twitter, which responded to him directly about it. Therefore, EIP and its stakeholder, an executive agency, both forwarded the chief executive’s speech to a social media platform for potential censorship.

    Ticket EIP-257 (Sept. 29), originated by the EI-ISAC, concerns a social media post from an unnamed user, alleging an absentee ballot had been delivered by mail to his dead father. An EIP stakeholder “flagged the post to Facebook for removal and the link is no longer active which means it has either been taken down or made private to the individual’s Facebook.” A subsequent comment notes that “We also received confirmation from Facebook (by way of CISA) that Facebook took action on this case,” again showing EIP and CISA seemingly working as force multipliers in content moderation.

    Ticket EIP-301 (Oct. 2), originated by the EI-ISAC, concerns a “tweet regarding voting machines.” An elected official reported that the since-deleted and unavailable tweet “is false. Voting machines work the vast majority of the time. Old machines do have issues, but to phrase it like [this] vastly overstates the scope of the problem.” CISA inquired as to whether Twitter took the tweet down. It did.

    Ticket EIP-954 (Nov. 8), the origins of which are not discernible, concerns social media posts sharing an article from The Federalist, where I am a senior contributor, titled “America Won’t Trust Elections Until The Voter Fraud Is Investigated.” According to the ticket, the article “Misconstrues Disinformation as Evidence.” One tagged post comes from Federalist Editor-in-Chief Mollie Hemingway. A stakeholder writes to Facebook and Twitter in connection with the ticket that “this seems to be the greatest hits from the past 3 days wrapped up in one article. The article links to several of the gateway pundit links which have received action since Tuesday.” Twitter indicates it was reviewing the tweet, though it appears not to have taken action on it. RCI asked Hemingway for comment on the flagging of her tweet and publication’s work. She replied:

    This unconscionable censorship of The Federalist and its reporters is sadly unsurprising. The censorship-industrial complex in this country clearly views free speech as its enemy and will do anything to shut it down, including spreading lies and using intimidation to coerce private companies to censor factual, legal speech on behalf of the regime.

    Hemingway concluded with a warning: “The censorship-industrial complex better buckle up, because the days of conservatives taking this lying down are over.”

    This article was adapted from a RealClearInvestigations article published Nov. 6.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/09/2023 – 21:00

  • Number Of Attacks On US Bases In Iraq & Syria Pushes Past 80
    Number Of Attacks On US Bases In Iraq & Syria Pushes Past 80

    US military bases in the Middle East reportedly came under Fresh attack again on Friday, pushing the total number of attacks since mid-October past 80 incidents.

    “There were four additional attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria since yesterday, according to a DOD official. Now 82 overall since Oct. 17,” Politico’s Pentagon correspondent Lara Seligman wrote. Some media sources have put the figure as high as 85.

    While the fresh attack hasn’t been widely reported in Western media, Iran’s Mehr News Agency is among those regional sources claiming that some four American bases in Syria were hit.

    And one regional monitor OSINTdefender said, “The Attacks on U.S. Forces in the Middle East today has been Never-ending, with at least 10 Rocket and Drones Attacks reported against 6 different Bases in both Iraq and Syria in the last 12 Hours.”

    In a Thursday briefing Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Sing had said this trend of attacks had lessened since the end of the weeklong Israel-Hamas truce, and that the US is hoping things stay calm in the region.

    “In terms of the attacks on our forces, I think it’s important to remember that it’s good that we have not seen attacks on our forces in the last 24 hours,” Singh said. “We would like to see that continue.”

    The Biden administration has long asserted that it “won’t hesitate” to defend American forces in the region; however, recent reporting in Politico has suggested the US is intentionally refraining from a response to Iran-backed Houthi aggression in the Red Sea, on fears of sparking a broader war.

    This week for the first time since Oct.7, the US Embassy in Baghdad came under multiple missile salvos. Damage was reported but no injuries.

    Likely, attacks will continue to intensify especially in Syria – given that both Syrian national and Iranian forces want to squeeze American forces out of the illegal occupation of the country’s oil and gas regions. There have been dozens of US troop injuries, with all of them reported as minor.

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    Washington has been intent on strangling Damascus and the Syrian population after Assad emerged victorious from the decade-long proxy war there. Turkey also wants to see the US presence end, given the Pentagon’s support to the Kurds.

    Just this week the Senate voted down a resolution that which have required a quick and full US troop drawdown from Syria, on the basis that there was never explicit Congressional authorization for the occupation in the first place.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/09/2023 – 20:25

  • Gun Owners Of America Defeats Hidden Gun Control In Military Funding Bill
    Gun Owners Of America Defeats Hidden Gun Control In Military Funding Bill

    Submitted by Gun Owners of America,

    When laws are debated in Congress that are too controversial to pass on their own, oftentimes sneaky politicians will attempt to place similar language into must-pass bills.

    One of those must-pass bills is the National Defense Authorization Act, also known as the NDAA. The annual NDAA creates new programs, strategies, and authorizes the Department of Defense to procure new technologies.

    This year, thanks to Gun Owners of America and the support of our grassroots members, we are happy to report that the proposed gun control amendments to the NDAA have been defeated.

    So, you might ask, what gun control did the anti-gun politicians in Congress try to sneak into this year’s bill?

    The answer is a permanent reauthorization of the Undetectable Firearms Act.

    Gun Owners of America is the only pro-gun lobbying organization to historically oppose the Undetectable Firearms Act since its passage into law in 1988. 

    The act itself began as an attempt to ban handguns like the Glock 17 when they were first introduced to the market in the mid-80s. At this time, polymer-framed handguns were a very new idea, and a misunderstanding about the Glock’s polymer frame prompted an idea that even though the Glock had a metal slide, its polymer frame would somehow make it undetectable to metal detectors and, therefore, be the weapon of choice for criminals.

    When the act was finally passed through Congress, a compromise was made – so it did not affect any existing handguns.

    Nowadays, with the advent of 3D printing, the Undetectable Firearms Act stifles manufacturers from producing smaller, lighter, and higher-performing handguns because they must meet the UFA’s weight requirement. This issue is compounded for the consumer handgun market because of the massive demand for concealed carry firearms, especially in light of the recent landmark NYSRPA v. Bruen decision.

    In addition, security measures have come a long way since the 1980s. Metal detectors are quickly being replaced by AI detection technology and less invasive sensor-based body scanning. The Undetectable Firearms Act nowadays only serves as an arbitrary and capricious gun control statute masquerading as public safety.

    The UFA has been reauthorized four times. The original act had a ten-year sunset clause. It was renewed in 1988 for five years, in 2003 for ten years, and finally in 2013 for another ten years.

    Over these past 40 years, much has changed. More and more gun owners are starting to embrace the no-compromise mindset. As such, renewals of bills like the Undetectable Firearms Act will be harder and harder to pass. Because of the work of grassroots GOA members, members of Congress are starting to oppose gun control like the UFA, removing it from must-pass bills like the NDAA.

    While gun owners should enjoy the victory, we must remain vigilant until the UFA is laid to rest permanently.

    Gun Owners of America is urging our members to continue to call their elected representatives and let them know that they do not support the Undetectable Firearms Act.

    *   *   *  

    We’ll hold the line for you in Washington. We are No Compromise. Join the Fight Now.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/09/2023 – 19:50

  • "Escape Liberal Hell": Oregon, Washington Republicans Flee PNW, Join California Conservatives In Idaho
    “Escape Liberal Hell”: Oregon, Washington Republicans Flee PNW, Join California Conservatives In Idaho

    America is witnessing a seismic shift in its demographic landscape. Recent data from Idaho reveals an unprecedented trend: people are migrating not just for jobs, schools, or lifestyle, but for political alignment. The movement is reshaping the country, according to the Seattle Times‘ Danny Westneat.

    The call to “Escape liberal hell,” as echoed by a Boise, Idaho real estate agent, is not just a catchy sales pitch but a sign of the times. Idaho’s voter database sheds light on this great political migration. Approximately 119,000 voters have moved to Idaho in recent years, with a staggering 65% registering as Republicans—a figure that overshadows the state’s already GOP-leaning demographic of 58%.

    And it’s not just a trickle of discontented conservatives – it’s a flood. The data also suggests that the narrative of liberals, untethered by remote work, turning red states purple, has been upended. Instead, a “Republican fever dream” (as the Idaho Capital Sun called it) is materializing.

    According to the data, among all Idaho voters who moved here from out of state:

    • 77,136, or 65% are registered Republicans.
    • 24,906, or 21% are unaffiliated.
    • 14,711, or 12% are registered Democrats.
    • 1,949, or 2% are a member of a third party, such as the Constitution Party or Libertarian Party.

    This political realignment has become known as the “big sort,” where America’s national stratification not just by vocation or socioeconomic status, but by political allegiance. As Westneat writes, Idaho’s dream of becoming a fortress against liberalism—a so-called “American redoubt”—is materializing.

    For states like Washington, Oregon, and California, this exodus of Republican voters is more than a demographic shift—it’s a political hemorrhage. According to the report, 75% of Californian expats in Idaho are registering as Republicans. This movement intensifies the political polarization, with red states becoming redder and blue states bluer.

    “Are you sick of living in a Blue State with high taxes, radical policies, and high crime?” reads an ad from one real estate company, Conservative Move (Motto: “Moving Families Right.”). “Find a new home in a state and community that reflects your values.”

    Parallel economy?

    This ‘big sort’ has birthed a cottage industry catering to political migration, particularly on the right. Companies like Conservative Move and GOP Agent aren’t just offering real estate services; they’re selling a lifestyle that aligns with political ideologies. It’s a trend that’s not slowing down, as evidenced by the over 150 attendees at a Seattle info session about moving to red states.

    “The interest in moving to red states is not slowing down,” according to Conservative Move’s Facebook page.

    As The Economist suggested in June, America might soon see parallel economies where partisanship dictates not just where people live, but what products they consume and services they use, like Patriot Mobile’s Christian conservative wireless network.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/09/2023 – 19:15

  • New York Democrats Nominate Former Rep. Tom Suozzi To Fill Santos' Seat
    New York Democrats Nominate Former Rep. Tom Suozzi To Fill Santos’ Seat

    Authored by Jackson Richman via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)

    Democrat officials in New York’s 3rd Congressional District have put up former Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) to succeed former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.).

    Activist Joshua Wong (R) meet with Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) and CECC Chairman Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) ahead of a hearing about the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Sept. 17, 2019. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)

    The announcement, first reported by Jewish Insider, was made on Dec. 7.

    Instead of a primary, the local Republican and Democrat parties will pick a nominee to face off to serve the remainder of Mr. Santos’ term. The race is expected to be competitive as the district leans Democrat, according to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

    Mr. Suozzi, a moderate, served in the House between January 2017 and January 2023. He unsuccessfully ran in 2022 for governor of New York.

    “Tom Suozzi has a proven record of fighting for his constituents, fighting to safeguard our suburban way of life here on Long Island and Queens and always advocating for sensible solutions to the real challenges affecting everyday average Americans,” said Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), chairman of the Queens County Democratic Party, and Jay Jacobs, chairman of the Nassau County Democratic Party, in a statement.

    In response, Mr. Suozzi vowed to serve again the constituents he represented in Congress. Previously, he was the county executive of Nassau County, which is on Long Island.

    “The folks from Massapequa and Levittown to the north shore of Nassau, to northeast Queens deserve better,” he said in a statement posted on X.

    “I will work day and night with both parties to deliver for the people, to make living here more affordable, safer and better,” continued Mr. Suozzi. “I delivered for this district before, and I will do it again by putting you ahead of partisanship. Let’s reject the nonsense and get back to work.”

    Return to Congress

    Mr. Suozzi is already running for the seat in the 2024 general election.

    Ms. Hochul has set the special election for Feb 13. Before the ouster, Mr. Santos had already announced that he would not seek reelection and predicted the votes were there for expulsion.

    On the GOP side, possible picks include state Sen. Jack Martins and Nassau County legislator Mazi Melesa Pilip, a black Jewish woman who was rescued by Israel during their airlifts of Ethiopian Jews like herself in 1991.

    The House Democrat conference’s super PAC will “play a significant role in the NY-03 special election, and we will do whatever it takes to flip this district blue,” said the group’s president, Mike Smith.

    The special election will also be a test for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who won the gavel in October, as it pertains to his fundraising operation, the Johnson Leadership Fund.

    New York’s 3rd District went for President Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Were the Democrats to win back the seat, the GOP would have a six-seat majority and therefore only be able to lose two votes on measures if all Democrats vote in opposition.

    Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who served as speaker of the House between January and October, announced on Dec. 6 he will leave Congress at the end of the year.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/09/2023 – 18:40

  • South American Gangs Target Dozens Of Mansions In Detroit
    South American Gangs Target Dozens Of Mansions In Detroit

    Violent crime is quickly spreading to suburbia. A new report shows gangs from South America have targeted mansions in wealthy neighborhoods across the Detroit metro area. This comes as the Biden administration’s disastrous open border policies have flooded the country with millions of illegal migrants, as well as progressive cities fail to enforce ‘common sense’ law and order. 

    WXYZ Detroit reported at least 30 to 40 homes in upscale neighborhoods across Detroit have been targeted by “highly functional and well-trained” gangs from South America this fall.

    Thieves are using high-tech “jammers” to disable WiFi home security systems. They’re primarily after cash, jewelry, and expensive handbags. 

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    Last week, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said thieves are part of “transnational gangs” operating across the country and are targeting multi-million dollar homes. 

    In recent months, we have shared an emerging theme of thieves across the country targeting wealthy households:

    This disturbing trend comes as illegal migrant encounters by the Customs and Border Protection on the southern border hit a record high. President Biden’s disastrous open southern border has flooded the country with 9 million illegals since he took office. Also, Democrat lawmakers, some of whom are Soros-backed, fail to enforce common sense law and order, transforming some metros into lawless, crime-ridden hellholes. 

    Democrats are turning this nation into a third-world-like state – and now criminals, emboldened by failed progressive policies, have the rich in their crosshairs in suburbia. 

    The only advice for law-abiding Americans who want to defend their families and homes in suburbia, where the average police could be upwards of ten minutes or more, is to get proper firearms training from a professional. 

     

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/09/2023 – 18:05

  • He Who Must Not Be Named: The Hunter Biden Indictment is Itself a Model of Evasion
    He Who Must Not Be Named: The Hunter Biden Indictment is Itself a Model of Evasion

    Authored by Jonathan Turley,

    Below is my column in the New York Post on the second indictment of Hunter Biden. The tax evasion charges were brought in a type of Voldemort indictment, skillfully detailing millions acquired from influence peddling without mentioning “he who must not be named.” Indeed, it says nothing of how or why millions were sent to Hunter.

    Here is the column:

    The 56-page indictment of Hunter Biden for tax evasion makes for racy reading, with the special counsel describing a four-year criminal pattern directed at maintaining Biden’s “extravagant lifestyle.”

    That lifestyle included massive expenses for strippers, sex clubs, fast cars and other distractions.

    The steps taken by Hunter to evade taxes are impressive, but not nearly as impressive as the efforts of the Justice Department to evade any direct implications for his father, President Biden.

    In that sense, the indictment itself is a marvel of evasion.

    There are three glaring omissions in the indictment that tend to shield critical payments and conduct that implicate the president.

    The Burisma-Ukrainian money

    First, the special counsel only indicts tax evasion that occurred in recent years.

    That’s because the long “investigation” into Hunter inexplicably allowed the statute of limitations to expire on the most controversial payments starting around 2014 from Ukraine gas company Burisma.

    Recent testimony from IRS whistleblowers suggests that wasn’t an accident. Investigators were stonewalled, they claimed, and the Justice Department was previously moving to reject any charges against Hunter Biden.

    Exploring those earlier Ukrainian payments opens up questions about Hunter’s influence peddling and would have highlighted the conflict in his father’s extraordinary move to force the Ukrainians to fire a prosecutor investigating Burisma by holding back a billion dollars in aid for the country.

    There is still no explanation why special counsel David Weiss would allow the statute of limitations to run out.

    But this recent indictment keeps the focus squarely on taxes not paid, not how the money was “earned” in the first place.

    Hunter the foreign agent

    Also missing in the indictment is any charge against Hunter Biden as an unregistered foreign agent.

    Recently, the Justice Department added a charge to the indictment of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) that he ran afoul of FARA, the Foreign Agents Registration Act. FARA also was used to go after Donald Trump associates such as Paul Manafort.

    The problem with charging Hunter with FARA is obvious.

    It opens up questions about the millions of dollars going to the Biden family from foreign sources, a topic that Attorney General Merrick Garland has spent years avoiding.

    In the second indictment, Weiss spends more time detailing the salacious use of this money rather than how and why it was given to the Bidens.

    He just matter-of-factly describes millions flowing through these accounts from China, Romania, Ukraine, Russia and other countries.

    The unindicted co-conspirator

    By focusing on tax evasion alone, Weiss again avoids any direct reference to the focus of the influence-peddling used to raise these millions of dollars.

    Even without mentioning the president, the implications of the indictment are devastating for the narrative and denials of Joe Biden.

    The president has continued to maintain that he had no knowledge or interaction with these dealings. Those statements are clearly and knowingly false.

    The president also maintained that his son has “never done anything wrong” and never accepted any money from China.

    That is also untrue, according to the Justice Department and Hunter himself.

    Yet Weiss continues to avoid any need to address the person who was the selling point of the influence peddling.

    It was the same person who repeatedly called in to dinners and meetings, repeatedly attended events, and held meetings and photo shots for these clients.

    Instead, Weiss indicts the failure to pay taxes on the proceeds of these dealings without addressing that underlying corruption.

    It is akin to arresting a bank robber for speeding away from the crime scene without mentioning the reason for his flight.

    In a scandal with dozens of references to the presidents and millions sent for influence and access, it took a steady hand for Weiss to avoid ever touching on President Biden’s role.

    This was a truly Homeric feat — unseen since the Greek hero Odysseus won a competition by shooting an arrow through the tiny hole in a dozen ax heads.

    It takes perfect aim not to avoid any contact. It is itself the very model of evasion.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/09/2023 – 17:30

  • Penn President Liz Magill Resigns After 'Genocide Requires Context' Comments
    Penn President Liz Magill Resigns After ‘Genocide Requires Context’ Comments

    …live by the sword, DEI by the sword!

    Amid exponentially mounting pressure following her disastrous testimony to Congress this week, Liz Magill has “voluntarily resigned” as the President of the University of Pennsylvania.

    Axios reports that the board of Penn’s Wharton business school on Friday sent a letter to the university’s board of trustees, after receiving no reply to a letter they sent on Thursday to Magill, in which they requested her resignation.

    The letter read, in part:

    “The Board will, of course, vote based upon each member’s beliefs and only the Board of Trustees, as the University’s fiduciaries, can determine the actions that are in the best interests of the University.

    However, University inaction cloaked in statements of intent and informational meetings has fostered the current climate of fear on campus and has resulted in Government inquiries, Title VI litigation, and declarations by numerous media outlets that our beloved university is ‘ground zero for antisemitism on college campuses.'”

    The letter comes after Magill rapidly backtracked on her congressional testimony in a video released Wednesday.

    “In that moment, I was focused on our university’s long-standing policies, aligned with the U.S. Constitution, which says that speech alone is not punishable,” she said.

    “I was not focused on, but I should have been, the irrefutable fact that a call for genocide of Jewish people is a call for some of the most terrible violence human beings can perpetrate. It’s evil, plain and simple.”

    But now, she’s gone…

    Here is the full letter: (emphasis ours)

    Dear Members of the Penn community,

    I write to share that President Liz Magill has voluntarily tendered her resignation as President of the University of Pennsylvania. She will remain a tenured faculty member at Penn Carey Law.

    On behalf of the entire Penn community, I want to thank President Magill for her service to the University as President and wish her well.

    We will be in touch in the coming days to share plans for interim leadership of Penn. President Magill has agreed to stay on until an interim president is appointed.

    President Magill shared the following statement, which I include here:

    “It has been my privilege to serve as President of this remarkable institution. It has been an honor to work with our faculty, students, staff, alumni, and community members to advance Penn’s vital missions.”

    Best,

    Scott L. Bok
    Chair, Penn Board of Trustees

    Her resignation comes a day after a bipartisan group of House lawmakers is demanding the governing board members of Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) dismiss their presidents following their controversial responses at a campus anti-Semitism hearing.

    In a Dec. 5 letter, 72 lawmakers expressed their disappointment over the responses from the three college presidents during the hearing “Holding Campus Leaders Accountable and Confronting Anti-Semitism” held the same day.

    In the letter, the group, led by Representatives Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), noted that:

    “The university presidents’ responses to questions aimed at addressing the growing trend of anti-Semitism on college and university campuses were abhorrent.”

    “This should have been an easy and resounding ‘yes.'”

    “There is no context in which calls for the genocide of Jews are acceptable rhetoric. Their failure to unequivocally condemn calls for the systematic murder of Jews is deeply alarming. It stands in stark contrast to the principles we expect leaders of top academic institutions to uphold,” the letter wrote.

    “It is hard to imagine any Jewish or Israeli student, faculty, or staff feeling safe when presidents of your member institutions could not say that calls for the genocide of Jews would have clear consequences on your campus.”

    One down, two to go…

    (L-R) Claudine Gay, president of Harvard University, Liz Magill, president of University of Pennsylvania, Pamela Nadell, professor of history and Jewish studies at American University, and Sally Kornbluth, president of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, testify before the House Education and Workforce Committee at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, on Dec. 5, 2023. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

    The resignations won’t be enough though…

    On Dec. 7, Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) of the House Education and Workforce Committee announced that the committee had launched an investigation of Harvard, MIT, and UPenn.

    The committee said it would review the schools’ policies and disciplinary records and examine “their seemingly deplorable record.” “The testimony we received earlier this week from Presidents Gay, Magill, and Kornbluth about the responses of Harvard, UPenn, and MIT to the rampant anti-Semitism displayed on their campuses by students and faculty was absolutely unacceptable,” Ms. Foxx said.

    …and remember, Marc Morial told us all that DEI departments aren’t responsible for the safety of Jews on campus.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/09/2023 – 16:51

  • Disney's 'Democratic Political Operative' Bob Iger Fully Exposed After Musk Spat: Thacker
    Disney’s ‘Democratic Political Operative’ Bob Iger Fully Exposed After Musk Spat: Thacker

    Authored by Paul Thacker via The DisInformation Chronicle (subscribe here)

    Editors at the New York Post commissioned me to write a piece last weekend explaining how the Democratic Party has been targeting Elon Musk for buying Twitter and taking away their ability to censor critics and label them “disinformation.” The issue came to a head after Musk vented during an interview when asked about Disney and other companies pulling advertising over alleged antisemitism on his platform.

    “If someone is going to try and blackmail me with advertising? Blackmail me with money? Go fuck yourself,” Elon Musk said. Musk repeated the advice with a wave of his hand toward Disney’s Bob Iger, a Musk critic and Biden administration donor and functionary.

    “Go. Fuck. Yourself. Is that clear? Hey, Bob, if you’re in the audience.”

    Within hours of the intervew, dozens of parodies began appearing on X, including this one. But if you read about the exchange in any media outlet, you would think Musk was coming unhinged, attacking advertisers who support his own company.

    This is far from reality. Democratic operatives including Disney’s Bob Iger have been harassing Musk since he took over Twitter and released company documents showing the government and Democratic Party aligned organizations were censoring Americans. You can read some of my reporting on these Twitter Files here, here, here, here, and here.

    After the New York Post published my essay, I found that Musk had predicted a dirty tricks campaign over a year and a half ago.

    The tactics being used against Musk are quite simple to understand if you know the various figures involved, their backgrounds, and finances. First, Democratic Party attack groups like the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) and Media Matters for America gin up fake studies that accuse Musk of allowing hate, antisemitism, racism (whatever label they feel is effective) to flourish on social media. Second, Biden campaign donors like Disney’s Bob Iger express panic and flee X, complaining that they can’t be associated with hate.

    The media won’t report on this, but it’s a basic squeeze play once you know the characters involved.

    In recent months, Musk has sued both the Center for Countering Digital Hate and Media Matters for America for making false allegations of hate at X that have driven away advertisers. Both groups claim to be nonpartisan but actually work to attack opponents of Democratic Party policies.

    If you read any story in the press about the CCDH, you would think they’re some lefty nonprofit laboring away to keep the world safe from online hate. A couple headlines just to give you a flavor for this.

    But as I documented in an investigation for Tablet, political operatives with the conservative wing of the British Labour Party founded the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) in 2018 to attack people on the Left and Right. The group’s leader, Imran Ahmed, now asserts that he is  “at the forefront of reporting on the hate proliferating on X/Twitter since Musk completed his takeover in late October 2022.”

    In reality, Ahmed is also a former Labour Party political operative who ran CCDH and another Labour Party front group to attack the left wing of his own party with vague accusation of hate. While in the UK, Ahmed’s groups helped to run Jeremy Corbyn out of Labour Party leadership and tanked the lefty news site Canary, after starting a boycott of their advertisers.

    Former Canary editor Kerry-Anne Mendoza described Ahmed’s war against her leftist news site as a scorched earth campaign that destroyed their advertising revenue and forced mass layoffs. “They accuse you of hate,” she told me. “Our regulator said the opposite, but that was irrelevant.”

    Targeting advertisers seems very similar to Ahmed’s current tactics against Musk, no?

    Since Ahmed moved the group to Washington, DC, in 2021 one of CCDH’s main targets, aside from X and Elon Musk, has been presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr., who leads Biden among young voters, and is suing the administration over censorship. This should not surprise anyone as CCDH’s chairman is Simon Clark, a former senior fellow at the Center for American Progress (CAP), a think tank founded by John Podesta, who chaired Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign against Donald Trump.

    Ahmed does not disclose CCDH’s funding, but I found that 75% of it comes from dark money sources. Some of this money may be coming out of Hollywood—Bob Iger’s home base. One of the board members on CCDH’s tax records is talent agent Aleen Keshishian, who reps actor Mark Ruffalo, an Ahmed ally in his crusade against Musk.

    After I tweeted a series of Twitter Files on Imran Ahmed’s work with the old Twitter to censor people, Musk responded, “Anyone know who is supporting this rat?” A month later, Musk sued CCDH for “faulty reports” that were driving away advertisers. “CCDH’s scare campaign to global advertisers … is an attempt to stifle freedom of speech on the X platform.”

    Media Matters has a similar political history, but you won’t find many media outlets explaining this to readers. Instead, reporters often ignore Media Matters’ Democratic Party ties or choose to describe them as a “watchdog.”

    When CNN wrote a dismissive article on Musk’s lawsuit, they even described one of Media Mattes’ employees as a “senior investigative reporter.” One of the media experts CNN quoted to downplay the lawsuit is Joan Donovan, one of the many academic “misinformation researchers” who have popped up in recent years to argue in favor of social media censorship.

    Again, reality is rather different from what you might read.

    The New York Times reported in 2004 that Democratic political operative David Brock created the group in 2004 with help from the Center for American Progress. The paper later noted that Media Matters served as part of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 election “outrage machine.”

    After Clinton’s loss, Brock freaked and released a 49-page memo marked “private and confidential” that explained how Media Matters was being retooled to move into the digital space and attack “misinformation.”

    But when Biden beat Trump, the Media Matters political machine pivoted to harangue Musk and Twitter, criticizing him, in one example, for helping Stanford Professor Jay Bhattacharya look into the Twitter Files to see why he had been placed on a “blacklist.”

    After I published Twitter Files showing that the company had provided privileged access to lefty reporter Taylor Lorenz, who had gotten Dr. Bhattacharya banned, Media Matters jumped to downplay the documents.

    Media Matters has also harangued Musk for retweeting news about immigration problems at the southern border, for example. But as border issues have overwhelmed the Biden administration, Media Matters has ceased raising this election issue as a preferred attack.

    After Media Matters published a flimsy report a few weeks back that alleged Nazi content ran on X alongside advertisements from major corporations—claims which caused multiple advertisers to freeze spending—Musk immediately sued the group. “As the most prominent online platform dedicated to hosting free speech, X and its predecessor Twitter have long been the target of Media Matters,” reads the lawsuit.

    In case you think Disney’s Bob Iger is absolved of political guilt, take a gander at his partisan bona fides.

    In the final months of the 2020 election, CNBC reported that Iger was one of Biden’s largest donors, giving $250K to his campaign. Even before Biden had been sworn in as President, Iger then began angling for a position in his administration—possibly as ambassador to China.

    This last summer Iger claimed that he did not want to get involved in “culture wars” before hiring a loyal Biden aide to run Disney’s crisis communications and deal with … culture wars.

    Iger remains a critical donor for Biden’s reelection, according to New York Magazine.

    Disney now faces renewed calls for a boycott by Musk’s legion of online supporters. But you don’t need to love, hate, or be indifferent about the guy to be concerned. I am, however, eternally grateful that Musk gave me and other reporters access to Twitter’s internal company documents, something no other CEO has ever done in the history of our democracy.

    And what worries me as I watch this unfold: if a political party—either Democrat or Republican—can target the richest, most powerful man in the country because he doesn’t support all their policies, who might be next? Isn’t that what’s important?

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/09/2023 – 16:20

  • Trump Is Absolutely Smoking Biden In Yet Another Major Poll
    Trump Is Absolutely Smoking Biden In Yet Another Major Poll

    President Biden is in serious trouble, with his political standing now at the weakest point of his presidency, according to a new poll from the Wall Street Journal.

    The poll shows Biden trailing behind former President Donald Trump in a hypothetical 2024 showdown by 4 percentage points, a gap that widens with the inclusion of third-party candidates, signifying a potential upheaval in the traditional two-party dynamics.

    Dislike of Biden has become widespread – with just 23% of voters feeling they’ve been positively impacted by Biden’s policies, starkly contrasting with the nostalgic economic reminiscence of the Trump era. The term “Bidenomics,” once a banner of hope, now flounders with less than 30% approval, reflecting widespread disillusionment. No wonder the White House has stopped using the term.

    The Democrat president faces serious perception issues.

    Voters say Trump is the better bet than Biden to secure the border (by 30 percentage points), tame inflation (by 21 points) and build the economy (by 17 points). Biden leads on who can best deal with abortion policy, and voters say that he more than Trump respects democracy. But the president is viewed as no better than Trump on cutting medication costs—a key Democratic initiative.  –WSJ

    “If this race is about policy and performance, then Donald Trump has a significant advantage,” said Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio, who conducted the Journal survey with Democrat Michael Bocian. “If this race is about temperament and character, things like that, then Biden has an advantage.”

    “Things were thriving under Trump. This country is a business and it needs to be run by a businessman,” said 53-year-old Aimee Kozlowski of Goffestown, NH, a Republican who plans to vote for Trump, and says that her competitive gymnastics facility has been hurt by inflation.

    The poll also uncovers a dissonance between public economic pessimism and recent positive economic indicators, such as a robust GDP and low unemployment.

    The president has been adjusting his messages on the economy to put more focus on taming inflation rather than on job creation. Creating high-paying jobs was a central goal of Democratic-backed legislation that funded new infrastructure and manufacturing, but voters see jobs as less of a concern than high prices. The White House recently unveiled a new supply-chain council aimed in part at stemming inflation, and Biden recently called on companies to “stop the price-gouging.” 

    The president and his campaign have also amplified their focus on Trump’s most contentious comments, such as his description of opponents as “vermin” and his statement last week that he would be a dictator on “Day 1”—specifically to close the border and open more land for oil drilling—both of which suggest an authoritarian approach to a potential second Trump term. Trump’s allies say Democrats are trying to distract from economic issues and problems at the southern border. -WSJ

    Of course, the Journal also found a never-Trump independent voter, Michelle Bannon, who says the former president is “not qualified at all,” adding “I don’t know that Biden can go another four years, but I’ll cross my fingers and vote for him. He’s the lesser of two evils.”

    From 10,000 feet, Trump is smoking Biden in most polls in general.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/09/2023 – 15:45

  • US Tells Israel Not To Strike The Houthis In Yemen
    US Tells Israel Not To Strike The Houthis In Yemen

    Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

    The Biden administration has asked Israel not to respond to recent attacks by Yemen’s Houthis, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

    The Houthis, formally known as Ansar Allah, have fired missiles and drones at Israel in response to the Israeli onslaught in Gaza and have targeted Israeli-linked commercial ships in the Red Sea. US warships have responded to the Houthi attacks and have downed several Houthi missiles and drones in recent weeks.

    According to the Journal, the US is concerned an Israeli response could spark a major regional war. US officials told Israel that the US would handle any potential response, although POLITICO reported that the administration is not planning on directly targeting the Houthis, at least for now.

    The POLITICO report said the Pentagon has drawn up plans to strike the Houthis, but they have not been presented or recommended to President Biden.

    The report said there is a “high-level consensus within the administration that it does not make sense for the US military to respond directly to the Houthis.”

    Saudi Arabia has also urged the US not to strike the Houthis over concerns that such an attack could jeopardize the Saudi-Houthi peace process. A ceasefire between the Saudis and the Houthis has held relatively well since April 2022, but a lasting peace deal has not yet been signed.

    The US announced sanctions targeting the Houthis on Thursday that target 13 people and firms allegedly involved in the sale and shipment of Iranian commodities. The Treasury Department claims the network has transferred tens of millions of dollars worth of foreign currency to the Houthis.

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    The US has backed a Saudi-led coalition against the Houthis since 2015 in a brutal war that has killed at least 377,000 people. But it’s rare that the US and the Houthis directly exchange fire.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/09/2023 – 15:10

  • "They Look Like America": Clip Of Kevin McCarthy Fluffing Democrats Goes Viral
    “They Look Like America”: Clip Of Kevin McCarthy Fluffing Democrats Goes Viral

    If political windsock Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) wants to rehabilitate his image as a snake in the grass, he’s got his work cut out for him.

    A clip of an Oct. 28 address given at Oxford University in the UK has gone viral (oddly, or not, within a day of the former speaker’s endorsement of Donald Trump), in which the former speaker sings the praises of the Democratic party, while slamming Republicans just three weeks after his ouster as House Speaker.

    “When you look at the Democrats, they actually look like America. When I look at my party, we look like the most restrictive country club in America,” McCarthy said to laughter and applause.

    Watch:

    As The Blaze‘s Auron MacIntyre notes: “McCarthy is not some weird outlier, he is not a “RINO”, he held THE key leadership position in the party until a few weeks ago and was defended by “serious-minded people who wanted to get things done,”” adding “This is the Republican Party.”

    The clip resurfaced within a day or so of McCarthy announcing his support for Trump.

    “I will support the president. I will support President Trump,” McCarthy told CBS Sunday Morning in a preview of the interview released Friday, adding that he would gladly accept a position on Trump’s cabinet  if one were offered.

    “In the right position. Look, if I’m the best person for the job, yes,” McCarthy said. “I worked with President Trump on a lot of policies. We worked together to win the majority, but we also have a relationship where we’re very honest with one another.”

    The time to grow a political spine has long passed, Kevin.

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jshttps://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jshttps://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jshttps://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/09/2023 – 14:35

  • US Joins Over 60 Other Nations To Pledge Emissions Reduction From Air Conditioners And Refrigerators
    US Joins Over 60 Other Nations To Pledge Emissions Reduction From Air Conditioners And Refrigerators

    Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    U.S. climate envoy John Kerry made a pledge with over 60 other nations to slash emissions from refrigerators and air conditioners in a bid to tackle climate change.

    John Kerry, U.S. special presidential envoy for climate, speaks during the Energy Session at Al Waha Theater during day two of the high-level segment of the UNFCCC COP28 Climate Conference at Expo City Dubai in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Dec. 2, 2023. (Stuart Wilson/COP28 via Getty Images)

    On Tuesday, 63 nations, including the United States, joined a pledge to cut down cooling-related emissions at the COP28 United Nations climate summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The Global Cooling Pledge requires countries to reduce such emissions by at least 68 percent by 2050 compared to 2022 levels. The focus of cooling-related emissions would be on appliances like air conditioners and refrigerators. The pledge also proposes setting up minimum energy performance standards for appliances by 2030.

    “We want to lay out a pathway to reduce cooling-related emissions across all sectors but increase access to sustainable cooling,” said Mr. Kerry, who joined representatives from other countries in the pledge, Reuters reported.

    Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) criticized the pledge in a Dec. 6 X post: “John Kerry lost his run for president & has been trying to assert his revenge on everyday Americans ever since. If he gets his way, our cars, our appliances, and food will be gone. All from a man who flies around on his wife’s private jet.”

    Mr. Kerry’s pledge comes as the Biden administration has proposed rules that could harm to the home appliance market. In July, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a rule to slash the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) by 40 percent by 2028, calling the chemical a “climate super-pollutant.”

    HFCs are used as refrigerants in appliances like air conditioners, heat pumps, and refrigerators. Since January last year, the import and production of HFCs require special allowances. During this time, the costs of replacing refrigerants have spiked.

    In an August 2022 analysis, Ben Lieberman, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, noted, “Service technicians say that replacing refrigerant lost from a leak now costs upwards of $800, about double what it did a year ago.”

    “Moreover, EPA’s HFC quotas tighten in the years ahead, so the ratchet will keep turning, surely causing homeowners’ bills to increase further still.”

    Earlier in March, the Department of Energy proposed rules under which refrigerators would be subject to a stricter set of energy efficiency standards. The rule comes into effect in 2027.

    Cooling Concerns

    At present, cooling equipment accounts for 20 percent of total electricity consumption. The UN estimates this to more than double by 2050. Emissions from such cooling is projected to account for over 10 percent of global emissions by mid-century.

    According to the UN, as temperatures rise, demand for cooling equipment is also expected to increase. By 2050, installed cooling capacity is estimated to triple due to rising temperatures, increasing incomes, and a growing population.

    “The cooling sector must grow to protect everyone from rising temperatures, maintain food quality and safety, keep vaccines stable and economies productive,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of United National Environment Programme.

    “But this growth must not come at the cost of the energy transition and more intense climate impacts. Countries and the cooling sector must act now to ensure low-carbon cooling growth.”

    One of the proposed ways to cut down cooling emissions is through the use of passive cooling measures like insulation, ventilation, natural shading, and reflective surfaces. The UN estimates that passive cooling could curb the growth in demand for cooling capacity in 2050 by 24 percent.

    “Imagine a slum community, an informal settlement, the housing made of corrugated iron, and on the side an air conditioner … The aspiration of everyone as temperatures rise and incomes rise is that their wealth is measured by their cooling,” Freetown mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr of Sierra Leone said during a COP28 news conference, per Reuters.

    Coal Pledge

    Mr. Kerry’s pledge follows another climate commitment he made last week that the United States would not construct any new coal-fired power plants and would get rid of existing ones entirely.

    “To meet our goal of 100 percent carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035, we need to phase out unabated coal,” he said in a statement at the Dubai climate summit.

    “We will be working to accelerate unabated coal phase-out across the world, building stronger economies and more resilient communities. The first step is to stop making the problem worse: stop building new unabated coal power plants.”

    According to data from the Department of Energy, 19.7 percent of electricity generation in the United States last year came from coal.

    In 2022, coal-fired plants accounted for 36 percent of global electricity, more than half of which came from China, which is building new coal plants at a rapid pace, undeterred by various climate pledges and goals that the country’s own leadership has paid lip service to.

    According to a February report by the Global Energy Monitor and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, coal power construction starts, new project announcements, and plant permissions “accelerated dramatically” in China in 2022—with two new coal power plants being permitted per week.

    “50 GW of coal power capacity started construction in China in 2022, a more than 50 percent increase from 2021. Many of these projects had their permits fast-tracked and moved to construction in a matter of months,” the report said.

    “A total of 106 GW of new coal power projects, the equivalent of two large coal power plants per week, were permitted. The amount of capacity permitted more than quadrupled from 23 GW in 2021.”

    Tom Ozimek and Reuters contributed to this report.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/09/2023 – 14:00

  •  "Beyond Shocking": ACLU Will Represent NRA In Free Speech Supreme Court Case
     “Beyond Shocking”: ACLU Will Represent NRA In Free Speech Supreme Court Case

    The American Civil Liberties Union, a left-wing advocacy group, has returned to their roots in defense of an ideological enemy: the National Rifle Association. This move is part of their ongoing effort to remain relevant and defend Americans against First Amendment violations by an overreaching federal government. 

    “We’re representing the NRA at the Supreme Court in their case against New York’s Department of Financial Services for abusing its regulatory power to violate the NRA’s First Amendment rights. The government can’t blacklist an advocacy group because of its viewpoint,” the ACLU announced on ‘free speech’ platform X. 

    ACLU made it very clear that they “don’t support the NRA’s mission or its viewpoints on gun rights, and we don’t agree with their goals, strategies, or tactics. But we both know that government officials can’t punish organizations because they disapprove of their views.” 

    ACLU and NRA have joined forces as the Supreme Court agreed to hear the gun rights advocacy group’s free-speech challenge to what it alleges New York officials encouraged banks and insurance companies to blacklist it after the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

    “The NRA might be thought of as the 800-pound gorilla on the Second Amendment,” NRA lawyer William A. Brewer III said, adding, “Clearly, the ACLU is the 800-pound gorilla on the First Amendment.”

    The civil liberties group’s national legal director, David Cole, said, “It’s never easy to defend those with whom you disagree. But the ACLU has long stood for the proposition that we may disagree with what you say but will defend to the death your right to say it.”

    The question of when government advocacy violates the First Amendment is before the justices in another case this term. That one concerns the Biden administration’s efforts to persuade social media companies to delete what the government said is misinformation about topics like the coronavirus pandemic and the 2020 election.

    In its petition seeking Supreme Court review, the N.R.A., represented by Mr. Brewer’s firm and Eugene Volokh, a prominent First Amendment scholar, said the appeals court’s ruling could have sweeping consequences. -NY Times

    Here’s what X users are saying: 

    ACLU continued on X: “If the Supreme Court doesn’t intervene, it will create a dangerous playbook for state regulatory agencies across the country to blacklist or punish any viewpoint-based organizations — from abortion rights groups to environmental groups or even ACLU affiliates.” 

    Read the NRA’s petition seeking Supreme Court review below:

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/09/2023 – 13:25

  • New Rumble Channel Established For Release Of Jan. 6 Security Video By Congress
    New Rumble Channel Established For Release Of Jan. 6 Security Video By Congress

    Authored by Joseph M. Hanneman via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    The GOP-controlled Committee on House Administration’s Subcommittee on Oversight has established a Rumble channel and released the second batch of security video from Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol.

    New U.S. Capitol Police Jan. 6 security video released by House Republicans on a new Rumble channel. (CHA Subcommittee on Oversight/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

    The first few videos were posted to the Rumble channel on Dec. 5. By the next day, the collection grew to 135 clips—each about 10 minutes long. The channel had nearly 700 followers on Dec. 7.

    The committee released the first batch of 90 CCTV clips on Nov. 17 on its House of Representatives website. The two websites now contain nearly 40 hours of the more than 40,000 hours of video from Jan. 6 held by Capitol Police.

    “As promised, we’re releasing more U.S. Capitol Police CCTV video footage from January 6th to ensure full transparency and accountability,” said U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight. “Every American may access this and future footage on our new Rumble video page.”

    The new batch of videos all come from Camera 0908, housed high on the west dome of the Capitol. The aerial footage starts just after midnight and ends about 11:55 p.m. on Jan. 6.

    The video includes the flow of protesters from the Ellipse during and after former President Donald Trump’s speech, the breach of the first police line, and the violence on several levels of the west front of the Capitol.

    Capitol Police have a network of more than 1,700 security cameras inside the Capitol Building and across Capitol grounds. The agency has consistently opposed (pdf) public release of the CCTV footage.

    When he announced the release of up to 44,000 hours of Jan. 6 video, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) pledged to regularly update the website with “thousands of hours of footage.”

    “To restore America’s trust and faith in their government, we must have transparency,” Mr. Johnson posted on X. “This is another step towards keeping the promises I made when I was elected to be your speaker.”

    Enthusiasm about the video rollout was tempered by the announcement that the subcommittee would blur any identifiable faces.

    “As you know, we have to blur some of the faces of persons who participated in the events of that day because we don’t want them to be retaliated against and to be charged by the DOJ,” Mr. Johnson said during a press conference on Dec. 5.

    That decision drew fire from both sides of the aisle and media across the political spectrum.

    Former Rep. Lynn Cheney (R-Wyo.), onetime ranking member of the now-defunct Jan. 6 Select Committee, blasted the idea of blurring the video.

    “I think that we’re experiencing a situation where Speaker Johnson is somehow attempting to suggest that there is something in these tapes that would change the facts of what happened,” Ms. Cheney told CNN on Dec. 5.

    Defendants in Jan. 6 criminal cases have criticized both the rollout of video and the blurring of faces.

    “Johnson is flat-out lying about concerns people might be charged if the footage isn’t blurred,” defendant Will Pope, who writes as Free State Will on X, said on Dec. 5. “Congress already gave all the un-blurred video to the DOJ! Motion to vacate this Pinocchio.”

    Conservative social media influencer “Catturd” agreed in a post to his 2.1 million followers on X.

    “This is 100% to blur out all the feds,” wrote Catturd, whose real name is Phillip Buchanan. “Like the FBI doesn’t have copies of these. What a ridiculous lie.”

    A senior congressional aide defended the blurring in a statement to the Epoch Times.

    “Unfortunately, there are groups whose sole purpose is to ruin the lives of anyone who was at the Capitol on January 6, whether they have been charged with a crime or not,” the aide said. “To protect innocent individuals from groups like this, it makes sense to blur small portions of the footage where faces are identifiable as best as possible before posting footage online. And any American can set up an appointment to view the unedited, unaltered footage at the Subcommittee offices.”

    The Times-Picayune newspaper of New Orleans published an editorial cartoon by Pulitzer Prize-winning Walt Handelsman rapping its home-state representative.

    The three-panel cartoon, also posted on X, shows Mr. Johnson at a dais speaking about the facts and truth of Jan. 6. In the final frame, Mr. Johnson says he wants to be “crystal clear,” while his image is badly blurred.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/09/2023 – 12:50

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