Rightwinggranny is adding some guest writers to the website this year. The opinions expressed by these writers are not necessarily the opinions of rightwinggranny.
On A Lighter Note
Reply
It’s the Christmas season. We are past Thanksgiving and can legitimately get on with Christmas–even though the store decorations went up in September. Well, there’s one raccoon who was determined to get ‘in the spirit.’
On Wednesday, Breitbart posted an article about an unnamed raccoon who was found passed-out drunk in the bathroom of a liquor store in Hanover County, Virginia. The unnamed, and probably hungover, raccoon has been captured, examined and found without injuries, and been released back into the wild.
This is not the first time raccoons have had a problem with alcohol. The article reports:
“In early September 2019, residents in Ottawa, Canada, spotted a few raccoons staggering around in the daylight and grew panicky enough to call the cops,” it noted. “[One raccoon] couldn’t really move. He was dragging his legs, he was wobbling, having a hard time standing up,” one resident told CBC News. “You could tell something was wrong with him for sure.”
“As it turns out, these normally nocturnal animals weren’t dangerous or rabid; they had simply gotten drunk from eating too many fermented crab apples. Over the next few days, the sight of drunken raccoons stumbling around and passing out on people’s property became all too common,” it added.
I remember an incident in our house many years ago when a bunch of fresh-picked blackberries that had been washed and sprinkled with some sugar were left on the counter for snacking. After a few days, we noticed the children acting strangely and removed the blackberries. Things ferment very quickly in the summertime!
Goods News For The America Economy
On Thursday, The Epoch Times posted an article about the unemployment numbers released for last week. Some of the economic statistics for October and November have not been released because of the government shutdown. I am not sure if they are going to be released.
The article reports:
The number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits declined to the lowest level in more than three years, new Department of Labor data released on Dec. 4 show.
For the week ending Nov. 29, initial jobless claims fell by 27,000 to 191,000, marking the fourth consecutive weekly drop.
Economists had penciled in a reading of 220,000.
Notice how the economists’ estimates are always more negative than the actual figures when a Republican is in office.
The article notes:
But while slowing layoffs and declining jobless claims have been positive signs, the futures market overwhelmingly expects the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates when monetary policymakers convene their two-day policy meeting next week.
Minutes from the October Federal Open Market Committee meeting reveal a divergence in views of where monetary policy is headed. Commentary from central bank officials also suggests different assessments of the U.S. economy.
“From late spring through June, the soft data, including anecdotes from business contacts, suggested the labor market was in a ‘no hire, no fire’ equilibrium,” Fed Gov. Christopher Waller said in a speech last month. “Firms repeatedly said they were holding off on hiring for a variety of reasons.”
Waller, considered a top contender to replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell next year, supports a quarter-point rate cut to the benchmark federal funds rate.
Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack has expressed skepticism over further rate cuts, warning of high inflation.
“I remain concerned about high inflation and believe policy should be leaning against it,” Hammack said at a Nov. 6 Economic Club of New York event.
The headline annual inflation rate presently sits at 3 percent. The Fed’s preferred inflation measure—the personal consumption expenditure price index—is at 2.7 percent.
Somehow inflation was not a worry when the rates were cut during the Biden administration. Considering how much the rate of inflation has dropped, I think it is time to cut the rates and let the housing market loose.
What Happens When You Enforce The Law
On Tuesday, Breitbart posted an article about the results of actually enforcing immigration laws in Charlotte, North Carolina. I really don’t think of North Carolina as a hotbed of illegal immigration, but I guess it is naive to think any state is immune from that plague.
The article reports:
In just a few short weeks, a Border Patrol-led task force arrested more than 400 illegal aliens in Charlotte, North Carolina. According to Border Patrol Commander Greg K. Bovino, illegal aliens targeted and arrested during “Operation Charlotte’s Web” were found to be in the company of others who also had a significant criminal history in more than 50 percent of all cases.
Breitbart Texas spoke to Chief Bovino on Monday about the number of arrests since the operation began on November 15. According to Bovino, 274 illegal aliens were arrested exclusively by the Border Patrol cadre sent to Charlotte, North Carolina. Bovino says the collaboration with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during the same time frame nearly doubled that number to more than 400, bringing the total to more than 400 since the operation commenced.
The article concludes:
The immigration enforcement operation inside the Tar Heel State is designed to target illegal aliens drawn to North Carolina due to sanctuary protections that would allow them to move within the state without fear of apprehension by immigration authorities, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin commented on the effort to enforce immigration laws in the state, saying, “Americans should be able to live without fear of violent criminal illegal aliens hurting them, their families, or their neighbors. We are surging DHS law enforcement to Charlotte to ensure Americans are safe and public safety threats are removed.”
Those complaining about ICE removing illegals need to remember how many Americans have been victims of crimes committed by illegals. They also need to remember that people who were here illegally were given an opportunity to leave on their own with a small stipend to help them get started again in their own countries. We need to go back to respecting the law.
Helping Working Americans
I am so old I remember paying $3500 for a car and thinking that was a lot of money. Today, I might not even be able to find something that runs for that price. We live in a sprawling country, and existing without a car is difficult if not impossible. Yet car prices have soared. Some dealerships are giving five and six year loans on cars that may not even last that long. Something needs to change, and President Trump is working to make that change.
On Wednesday, The Conservative Treehouse reported:
In an effort to return common sense, practicality and affordability to the American consumer base for automobiles, President Trump announced the elimination of Joe Biden’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for manufactured cars and trucks.
Under the auspices of the “Green New Deal”, the Biden administration mandated ridiculous quotas for EVs and demanded lower power combustible engines, or pay a climate change tax. These CAFE standards resulted in a surcharge for large vehicles, large engine autos and SUVs, and essentially bifurcated the auto consumer into those who could afford to pay for efficiency and stability, and those who could not.
“We’re officially terminating Joe Biden’s ridiculously burdensome, horrible actually, CAFE standards that impose expensive restrictions and all sorts of problems, gave all sorts of problems to automakers,” President Trump announced from the Oval Office. “It put tremendous upward pressure on car prices, combined with the insane electric vehicle mandate. Biden’s burdensome regulations helped cause the price of cars to soar more than 25%,” President Trump said.
The article concludes:
President Trump’s actions will save American families $109 billion in total over the next five years.
By helping more Americans buy newer, safer vehicles, this reset is projected to save more than 1,500 lives and prevent nearly a quarter-million serious injuries through 2050.
MARKING A CRITICAL BATTLE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST BIDEN’S HIDDEN COST-OF-LIVING INCREASES: The CAFE reset represents the latest action by President Trump to prevent the Biden EV-related policies from raising costs for Americans.
In June, President Trump signed a joint resolution to end the California EV mandates, which would have effectively been a 100% ban on new gas cars sold in the state by 2035 (with similar effects in 17 states that adopted California’s standards).
In July, President Trump signed into law the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, which set the civil penalty for violating CAFE standards to $0, protecting the U.S. auto manufacturing industry from significant fines.
Under President Trump, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has also released its proposal to rescind the 2009 Endangerment Finding, which ignores Congress’ clear intent under the Clean Air Act and has been used to justify over $1 trillion in costs for the American consumers and economy.
Today’s action helps ensure that even if far-left Democrats return to power, the CAFE standards are sensible, so U.S. automakers are not held to infeasible standards.
Combined with auto loan interest deductibility for new made-in-the-USA vehicles, President Trump continues to deliver real relief that makes owning a safe, reliable car more affordable for every American family. (source)
Maybe there is a new Mustang convertible in my future!
A Terrorist Attack Avoided
On Tuesday, Red State posted an article about a foiled terrorist attack at the University of Delaware.
The article reports:
From the looks of it, this one could have been bad — really bad. Cops stopped a car that was in the park after hours in Wilmington, Delaware, in late November, and when the driver refused to exit the vehicle, officers detained him. What they found next was truly scary:
The article quotes and ABC News Chicago article:
Police searched the Tacoma and found several items inside, including a loaded handgun, extended magazines, body armor, a laptop and binoculars.
They also found a notebook, which allegedly contained notes on warfare techniques, assault plans, and a diagram of the University of Delaware Police Department.
…According to police, the notebook also mentioned a member of the University of Delaware Police Department by name and included a drawing of the department’s building with entry and exit points.
Federal authorities were contacted and searched his home, where they allegedly found a handgun equipped with an illegal “switch” to convert it into a machine gun.
…Within the vehicle, officers discovered a firearm, ammunition, and a composition notebook. In the handwritten notebook, Khan discussed additional weapons and firearms, how they could be used in an attack, and how law enforcement detection could be avoided once an attack was carried out.
The article notes:
The Department of Justice issued a statement saying that Khan faces serious charges:
The criminal complaint charges Khan with possessing a machinegun. If convicted of the charge, Khan faces a maximum penalty of 10 years of imprisonment. If Khan is ultimately convicted, a federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New Castle County Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Samuel S. Frey and Kevin P. Pierce, and Criminal Chief Carly A. Hudson, are prosecuting the case.
The article concludes:
It looks like we came close to experiencing another tragic terrorist attack in this country by a seemingly unhinged individual. Great work by the heroes of the New Castle County Police Department, who made sure that didn’t happen.
I hope this individual spends a lot of time as a guest of the federal government.
As Usual, The Mainstream Media Was Wrong
Last night, U.S. Army combat veteran, and pro-Trump candidate Matt Van Epps was elected to Congress in a special election in Tennessee’s 7th District. The press was predicting that the Democrat could win because the Democrats swept New Jersey and Virginia. Somehow they failed to mention that New Jersey and Virginia are generally pretty dependable blue states. Tennessee is not.
On Tuesday, Townhall reported:
Republican candidate, U.S. Army combat veteran, and pro-Trump candidate Matt Van Epps has won Tennessee’s 7th District special election. He has vowed to work with the president to make America more affordable, to reshore manufacturing jobs, and to unleash American energy.
It was clear that the economy was voters’ number one priority in this election, and that is unlikely to change heading into 2026.
If the economy is the main issue, it is quite likely that the Republicans will remain in control of Congress, so I expect to see the Democrats try to change the subject.
The article notes:
Amid the close race, President Trump himself was encouraging Republican voters to head to the polls just a day before the election.
“This is a big deal, because right now we’re like, three votes up on the radical left, and this would be a wonderful victory for us,” Trump said on Monday, according to the New York Post. “It’ll be really a positive sign.”
“If it’s like two points less than that, they’ll say, ‘Oh, that’s terrible. I guess Trump’s losing his magic,” Trump continued. “I want Matt to do better than me, even.”
The article concludes:
Behn, on Monday, held a virtual rally with the former head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, and former Vice President Al Gore, who represented Tennessee in both the House and Senate for more than 15 years.
The candidates were running to replace Republican Mark Greene, who retired over the summer to work in the private sector.
Van Epps’ victory is sure to bolster the slim Republican majority in the House, as eyes turn toward the 2026 midterm elections.
Al Gore, really?
The Importance Of The Subway Sandwich
When there are no consequences for bad behavior, bad behavior continues. On December 1, Kira Davis posted an article on Substack titled, “It started with a Subway sandwich, by the way.” The reference, of course, is to the Subway sandwich thrown at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) agent in Washington in August. The person who threw the sandwich was tried and acquitted in November. He suffered no consequences for his actions. The attack (that is what it was) was not taken seriously.
So what has happened since then? ICE and National Guard personnel have gone into some of our major cites in an effort to stop the alarming rise of crimes in those cities. The effort has been largely successful. However, the undermining of these efforts has also increased, including Congressmen creating a video that undermines the chain of command, and culminating in the shooting of US Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom in Washington.
There are a number of different aspects to the problem of crime in America. One aspect is judges who let people out on the streets who shouldn’t be out on the streets. The murder of a young woman in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the setting on fire of a young woman in Chicago are a result of people being out on the streets who should be in some sort of facility, whether it be jail or a mental hospital. Many of the judges who send people out on the streets rather than incarcerate them have been placed in office by liberal voters or politicians. The sad part of this is that according to statistics, approximately 70% of prisoners released in 2012 were arrested again within five years, and the recidivism rate is over 80% for youth offenders with juvenile records. Overall, nearly 44% of criminals released return to prison within the first year. If this is true, which I believe it is, keeping people in jail for an extended period of time after they have committed a crime could significantly reduce the crime rate. Another solution would be to restore the ‘broken windows policy’ that Rudy
We need to restore respect for the law and for those who enforce it. We can start with serious consequences for bad behavior.
Preserving American Law
America is supposed to be a melting pot. It’s not supposed to be a place where a group of people from somewhere else travel here en masse and set up their own little fiefdom with their own laws. We have seen that movie in Europe, and bad things have happened.
On Monday, Red State posted an article about an honor killing in the Netherlands.
The article reports:
In May of 2024, 18-year-old Ryan Al Najjar, a native of Syria, went missing in the Netherlands. Six days after she was reported missing, her body was found in a lake in the northern part of the country. Her hands and feet were bound. That is a horrific enough story by itself, but here is where things go terribly wrong. Al Najjar’s father and brothers are now being prosecuted for her murder and could face up to 25 years in prison. But the worst part was the brothers’ defense of the murder upon being arrested: Honor killings are just “part of their culture.”
Sadly, the reason for the heinous crime is not new or unheard of. Ryan Al Najjar’s father and brothers believed that her lifestyle was “too Western” and was bringing dishonor on the family. She had refused to wear a veil in public and had posted a TikTok video of herself wearing make-up but no head covering. Authorities believe that her brothers, Mohamed and Muhanad, may have lured her to Rotterdam, where they took her to a secluded location. Her father, Khaled, then joined his sons in Al Najjar’s murder. Dutch prosecutors are seeking a 25-year sentence for Al Najjar’s father, who immediately fled to Syria, and will be tried in absentia, leaving his sons holding the bag for the killing. Both brothers say they were not involved and claim that Khaled carried out the murder alone.
So, how have Europe’s multiculturalism policies, which have allowed millions of Middle Eastern immigrants into European countries, worked out? As of November 2024, roughly 900 “no-go zones” existed across Europe. Neighborhoods where, if you are a woman, gay, Jewish, or just not part of the ethnic community, you might want to think twice about going into. Closer to home, in Dearborn, Michigan, a city with a majority Muslim population, non-Muslim residents complained at a recent city council meeting that a local mosque is using an outdoor loudspeaker for daily calls to prayer, often beginning at 5:30 a.m.
There have been honor killings in America and there has been female genital mutilation (FGM) in America. Both are acceptable under Sharia Law. As of August 2023, 41 States currently have laws against FGM. We need to require immigrants to assimilate within a reasonable amount of time. If they choose not to, they need to leave.
One Responsibility Of Government Is To Keep The People Safe
One responsibility of government is to keep the people safe. I guess New York City didn’t read that part of the assignment.
On Tuesday, The Gateway Pundit reported the following:
New York’s radical sanctuary policies have reached a catastrophic breaking point.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons has issued an explosive letter to New York Attorney General Letitia James, demanding immediate action after state and local officials quietly released nearly 7,000 criminal illegal aliens, including rapists, killers, gang members, and repeat violent offenders, without honoring ICE detainers and without a single notification to federal authorities.
Since January 20, New York has released 6,947 criminal illegal aliens back onto the streets. These offenders are tied to:
-
- 29 homicides
- 2,509 assaults
- 199 burglaries
- 305 robberies
- 392 dangerous drug offenses
- 300 weapons offenses
- 207 sexual predatory offenses
Worse, another 7,113 criminal aliens remain in New York custody today, all with active ICE detainers that state officials continue to ignore.
These detainees include:
-
- 148 charged with homicide
- 717 charged with assault
- 134 charged with burglary
- 106 charged with robbery
- 235 dangerous drug offenses
- 152 weapons offenses
- 260 sexual predatory offenses
This is a full-scale public safety disaster engineered by far-left officials who are deliberately defying federal law.
What in the world are they trying to accomplish? Well, it’s time to examine the details of a color revolution. On Monday, Doug Ross posted The Color Revolution Playbook. It’s a long article, but if you care about America, it is worth reading.
What An Incredible Coincidence
There are still many questions as to the legality of some of the actions taken by Jack Smith. There don’t seem to be a lot of questions about what he was trying to do, but some of his actions definitely walked the line between legal and illegal.
On Monday, Just the News posted an article about the timing of his seizing the telephone records of some Congressmen.
The article reports:
House and Senate Republicans targeted by former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s subpoenas were gearing up for significant oversight of both the Justice Department and the FBI when their phone records were seized.
This raises questions about whether the subpoenas served a dual purpose—to investigate Jan. 6, as Smith was appointed to do, and to keep tabs on the oversight probes into agency conduct, one former representative whose phone records were seized by Smith suggested.
“They were trying to spy on us to see what we were doing,” former Rep. Louie Gohmert told the John Solomon Reports podcast. “And also, I think they were looking for anything that they could use to come after us, or hold over our heads, because, you know, you can intimidate the people that are coming after you.”
The article concludes:
Even putting aside the government’s potentially meritorious argument that the calls over the relevant period — especially unsolicited incoming calls — would not constitute protected legislative acts, given my understanding of the low likelihood that any of the Members listed below would be charged, the litigation risk should be minimal here,” Keller wrote.
The Justice Department’s reasoning shows a blatant disregard for constitutional practice and balance of powers, Mike Howell, head of the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project, told the John Solomon Reports podcast.
“Speaking in terms of, what’s the litigation risk? What could they even do, even if we violate this constitutional practice here, what’s the penalty? They’ll never be able to do anything to us. It speaks to a blatant disrespect for an independent branch of government, one that they probably rightfully recognize as atrophied over time, and being able to assert itself and hold the executive accountable,” Howell said.
“It was not a problem whatsoever, because in the mindset of the FBI, [the members of Congress] defined Maga, and you know, Republicans as a domestic terrorist problem and threat, and treated them under the powers that we give the federal government to deal with things such as Islamic terrorism, and that’s the world in which they were operating,” Howell continued.
I just have one question–when will anyone be held accountable for the law breaking that has gone on since the Obama administration? I want to see some orange suits, and I believe I am not the only one!
Supporting Bad Habits With Your Tax Dollars
On Monday, Just the News posted an article about how Americans who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits are using them.
The article reports:
Food stamps were first issued in 1939 as an assistance program to prevent starvation during the Great Depression. But 86 years later, thousands of liquor stores and smoke shops have become approved retailers, increasing the possibility of fraud, new research shows.
The longest ever government shutdown, which ended after 43 days of deadlock, thrust the federal food stamp program into the national spotlight as millions of recipients went without benefits. But, it also laid bare many abuses in the system.
Even before the shutdown, the Trump administration planned to crack down on fraud in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program and ensure any government assistance is used for healthy and nutritional foods, not junk. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act made specific changes to qualifying for the program, as well as a redefined list of products for which SNAP cannot be used.
The article notes how some of the assistance is being currently used:
An analysis of SNAP retailer data by the Foundation for Government Accountability published on Monday found that more than 5,000 liquor and smoke shops were approved retailers under the program, meaning they can accept food stamps, according to research findings shared exclusively with Just the News.
Breaking down the data, more than 4,000 stores promoted alcohol in their title and another 1,000 did so for tobacco. The foundation told Just the News the real numbers could be even higher, considering researchers only counted stores that referenced those products in their titles.
Food stamps cannot be used for purchases of either alcohol or tobacco. However, the FGA says the prevalence of stores that sell these products raises concerns about the potential for different kinds of SNAP fraud. These stores “become hotbeds of fraud” where benefit cards are bought and sold in exchange for alcohol or tobacco products, Senior Data Analyst at FGA Kristi Stahr told Just the News.
The article notes:
Just a handful of examples illustrate the problem. In 2018, one North Carolina grocery store was caught accepting SNAP benefits for non-food products in a $200,000 fraud scheme. The following year, a Virginia grocery store owner was sentenced to 20 years for trafficking more than $1.5 million in SNAP benefits. In 2020 in California, a man was convicted for selling SNAP benefits in exchange for cash, which resulted in a hefty fine and prison time.
According to the report from FGA, more than 70% of all food stamp traffickers are convenience stores like the liquor and smoke shops found in the database and about half of all liquor and smoke shops identified by the group were approved as retailers during the Biden administration.
I am beginning to think that the task assigned to Hercules of cleaning the Augean stables, which had not been cleaned in over thirty years and housed over 3,000 immortal cattle, was nothing compared to the task of cleaning out the corruption in the federal government and its programs.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Will Leave Output Levels Unchanged
On Sunday, Zero Hedge posted an article about
The article reports:
OPEC+ agreed to pause production hikes and leave oil output levels unchanged for the first quarter of 2026 at its meetings on Sunday as the group slows down its push to regain market share amid fears of a looming supply glut.
Eight OPEC+ members have paused oil output hikes for the first quarter of 2026 after releasing some 2.9 million barrels per day into the market since April 2025, and Sunday’s meeting reaffirmed that decision, OPEC said in a statement.
OPEC+ still has about 3.24 million bpd of output cuts in place, representing around 3% of global demand. The Sunday meetings did not alter those. These comprise a 2 million bpd oil output cut by most members which is in place until the end of 2026, and the remaining 1.24 million bpd of a 1.65 million bpd reduction that the eight members started to return to the market in October.
Oil is a worldwide commodity. America’s increased oil and natural gas production have impacted the energy market. OPEC can no longer dramatically impact the American economy by increasing or decreasing its oil output. Many of us who remember the oil embargo of the 1970’s appreciate President Trump’s move toward American energy independence. As OPEC resumes production increases, Americans will probably see their energy costs decrease slightly–OPEC currently represents only 3% of global demand.
The article concludes:
Among the OPEC+ members, Russia, Iran and Venezuela are under Western sanctions.
“The message from the group was clear: stability outweighs ambition at a time when the market outlook is deteriorating rapidly,” said Jorge Leon, a former OPEC official who now works as head of geopolitical analysis at Rystad Energy.
The meeting of OPEC+ came during a fresh U.S. effort to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, which could add to oil supply if sanctions on Russia are eased. If the peace deal fails, Russia could see its supply curbed further by sanctions. Alternatively, a peace deal could unleash millions of “clean” barrels on markets that have been locked out since 2022.
OPEC+ has been discussing the production capacity and quotas issue for years and it has proved difficult because some members such as the United Arab Emirates have increased capacity and want higher quotas.
Other members such as African countries have seen declines in production capacity but are resisting quota cuts. Angola quit the group in 2024 over a disagreement about its production quotas.
Brent crude closed on Friday near $63 a barrel, down 15% this year; it has been in a mostly straight decline since the 2nd quarter of 2024.
As America increases its energy production, the impact of OPEC’s decisions will lessen.
From my friends at Townhall:
Wisdom From Someone Who Knows
On Sunday, Breitbart posted an article about an exclusive interview they did with Mosab Hassan Yousef — the son of Hamas co-founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef. Please follow the link to read the entire article–it is amazing. I will post a few highlights here.
The article states:
Speaking in a recent exclusive interview with Breitbart News, Mosab Hassan Yousef — the son of Hamas co-founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef, who later broke with the terror group and worked covertly with Israeli intelligence as “The Green Prince” — delivered a sweeping warning to Western progressives as global sympathy for the Palestinian cause reaches historic highs.
The former Hamas insider’s warning comes as Israel marks two linked anniversaries: 78 years since the U.N. Partition Plan on November 29, 1947 — when the Arab world rejected a Jewish state and launched a war — and its November 30 national day commemorating the departure and expulsion of nearly 900,000 Jews from Arab and Muslim countries and Iran, after Arab regimes turned on their Jewish populations in the wake of the U.N. vote and Israel’s creation and stripped them of citizenship, property, and basic rights.
“The world forgets history,” Yousef said. “But history is repeating itself — and this time the liberal West is helping it happen.”
“This Is Their Strategy — Sacrificing Children to Cry Genocide.”
Drawing on his upbringing inside Hamas’s inner circle, Yousef said the terror group’s approach on October 7 — and throughout what he called “77 years of Palestinian violence” — was never about land, borders, or “occupation,” but about producing maximum civilian suffering for political gain and Western consumption.
“This is their strategy,” he warned. “Put children in harm’s way, weaponize civilians, endanger both sides, and use the blood to ignite endless war.”
Hamas, he stressed, knows it cannot defeat Israel on the battlefield.
“They know they cannot win a conventional war,” Yousef said. “So they try to defeat Israel in the court of liberal Western opinion — by creating as many civilian casualties as possible and then screaming ‘genocide.’”
This was his comment about Palestinians:
The former Hamas operative reserved some of his sharpest criticism for what he called the “manufactured Palestinian identity,” insisting it was invented for political utility and continues to fuel violence that Western progressives now excuse.
“There is no such thing as Palestinian,” he said. “There is no such thing as Palestine. These are terms borrowed from the Romans — from conquerors. At most, what they call ‘Palestinians’ are Arabs, and Israel already has two million Arab citizens.”
He described the Palestinian national narrative as “a mask,” constructed to justify rejecting peace, rejecting coexistence, and ultimately rejecting Israel’s right to exist — even as the same narrative is now chanted on American campuses.
Please follow the link to read the entire article.
This Is Upsetting
In recent articles, I have mentioned the concept of a color revolution. A color revolution generally includes protest-driven political upheaval aimed at replacing the current government. Many of these revolutions are actually named after a color that is used as the name and symbol of the revolution (for example, the 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine, the 2005 Cedar Revolution in Lebanon). Generally speaking, the results of these revolutions were not positive in the long run. A lot of recent events in America are following the sequence of a color revolution.
On Saturday, The Daily Caller posted an article about a recent protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) agents in New York City.
The article reports:
Rioters in New York City attempted to block U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from leaving a parking garage Saturday, leading to at least 18 arrests.
As many as 200 people gathered outside, piling garbage and blocking the entrance to the garage with their bodies, The New York Times reported. New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch blamed ICE for the clash with the protesters, claiming the shows of force by federal agents placed police officers, citizens and the agents at risk, according to the New York Post.
The media has worked very hard to demonize ICE and the people who support their work. They have also demonized the police and the National Guard who are helping ICE and helping maintain order in some of our larger cities. One result of this is the recent murder of a young National Guardsman. Another result is the people protesting ICE. When did individual Americans have the right to decide which laws of our country should be enforced and which laws should be ignored? The real meaning of ‘illegal’ is ‘illegal.’
Now is the time to be aware of everything that is going on around you and not to participate in anything that undermines law enforcement in America. We all need to be part of the solution–not part of the problem.
Getting Fired For Saving Your Own Life
On Friday, Real Clear Politics posted an article about the firing of a woman who was working what could be called a dangerous shirt at 7-Eleven and was forced to defend herself.
The article reports:
Stephanie Dilyard is lucky to be alive.
Yet last week, 7-Eleven fired the 25-year-old after she used her gun to save her own life. Private companies have every right to set rules for employee behavior, but many corporate policies that require workers to remain passive and comply with criminals’ demands rest on a deeply mistaken view of crime data.
“He threatened me,” Dilyard told Fox 25 in Oklahoma City. “[A]nd said he was gonna slice my head off, and that’s when I tried to call the police. He started throwing things at me, came behind the counter. I tried to run off, but he grabbed his hands around my neck, and pushed me out of the counter space, and that’s when I pulled out my gun and I shot him.”
“I had to choose between my job and my life,” she said. “And I will always choose my life because people depend on me. My kids need me here.”
The author of the article makes a few observations on how a woman can defend herself if attacked:
For women, the most dangerous form of resistance is to fight with their fists, because doing so often triggers a violent physical reaction from the attacker. The next most dangerous choice is to run. Escaping is ideal when possible, but women generally run more slowly than men, and being tackled can produce serious injury. Other options such as using a baseball bat or a knife turn out not to be a lot better because women are at a disadvantage whenever they come into physical contact with a male attacker.
By contrast, the safest option for a woman confronted by a criminal is to have a gun. Women who rely on passive behavior are 2.5 times more likely to suffer serious injury than women who defend themselves with a firearm.
…Murder rates fall when either men or women carry concealed handguns, but the reduction is especially large for women. Each additional woman with a concealed-carry permit lowers the female murder rate by roughly three to four times more than each additional male permit holder lowers the male murder rate. States that allowed women to carry concealed handguns on a nondiscretionary basis also experience about 25% fewer rapes than states that restrict or forbid concealed carry.
Something to consider if you are a woman.
We Need To Change Our Strategy
America’s programs to end homelessness have failed. It’s time to reevaluate and develop a new strategy.
On Saturday, The Daily Wire reported:
Former President Barack Obama’s approach to combat homelessness has been “a disaster on every level,” according to Texas Public Policy Foundation senior fellow Michele Steeb.
Steeb is an expert on homelessness and author of “Answers Behind the Red Door: Battling the Homeless Epidemic.” She said in an interview with Morning Wire that homelessness in the United States, and especially in California, has dramatically worsened since the federal government adopted “housing first” as its singular approach to homelessness.
The Bush administration first introduced the Housing First model to federal policy in 2008. The Obama administration massively expanded the policy in 2013, turning into the federal government’s “one-size-fits-all” approach to homelessness.
“Thankfully, the Trump administration has stepped in and said at the federal level, we need to reprioritize mental health treatment. Drug and alcohol counseling needs to be offered in conjunction with housing,” said Steeb, “and we need to clear these encampments because these encampments have become so dangerous. Not just for the individuals living in them, pets are now overdosing, women are being trafficked, and there’s spillover effects to the general public that have been devastating.”
The article notes:
“Up until about 12 years ago, the federal government funded shelters, they funded transitional housing. They funded mental health and drug and alcohol treatment along with that housing,” said Steeb.
Mental health and substance abuse play a major role in homelessness. The pictures of tent shelters coming out of some of our major cities include open drug use and discarded needles.
Homelessness is a symptom of a much larger problem–mental health and drug abuse. Those issues need to be addressed in order to solve homelessness. One of the problems is that you need some level of cooperation from the homeless person in order to address those issues. Homelessness has increased in places where money was given for shelter but not to deal with drug and mental health issues. We need to tackle both.
Bringing Safety To Our Roadways
On Saturday, Breitbart posted an article detailing some recent efforts by federal and state authorities to keep our roads safe.
The article reports:
Federal and state authorities arrested nearly 250 foreign commercial truck drivers in November alone, warning that cartel operatives and foreign nationals are exploiting America’s commercial driver licensing system to infiltrate freight corridors and endanger national security.
A nationwide crackdown on foreign drivers with Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDL) led to the apprehension of nearly 250 drivers in Arizona, Indiana, Wyoming, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and even New York and California. The federally led operation followed orders from President Donald Trump and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to remove these often-dangerous drivers from American highways. Many of the drivers were found to be illegally present in the United States.
The article cites one example of the national security risk:
An example of the potential national security threat revealed itself with the arrest in Kansas on November 9 of an Uzbek national who is a member of a known terrorist organization, Breitbart’s John Binder reported. ICE agents arrested 31-year-old illegal alien Akhror Bozorov as he operated a commercial vehicle with a Pennsylvania-issued CDL. The driver, wanted in his home country of Uzbekistan for terrorist activities, entered the U.S. illegally in February 2023 and was released into the U.S. by the Biden administration.
“Not only was Akhror Bozorov — a wanted terrorist — released into the country by the Biden administration, but he was he was also given a commercial driver’s license by Governor Shapiro’s Pennsylvania,” Department of Homeland Security’s Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
“This should go without saying, but terrorist illegal aliens should not be operating 18-wheelers on America’s highways,” McLaughlin said. “Biden and Mayorkas allowed countless terrorists to come into our country. President Trump and Secretary Noem unleashed ICE to target these national security threats.”
The article concludes:
Despite federal judges blocking parts of Trump’s emergency rule, enforcement raids are expanding nationwide. DHS officials say the message is clear: foreign CDL drivers are now viewed as a frontline national security threat.
A terrorist can do a lot of damage with a truck.
Realizing The Threat
On Friday, The Dallas Express posted an article about the ordered deportation of Marwan Marouf, 54, a Jordanian national who has lived in the United States for roughly 30 years. This sounds a little harsh until you look closely at the details.
The article reports:
Marwan Marouf, 54, a Jordanian national who has lived in the United States for roughly 30 years, has served as the public relations and fundraising director for the Muslim-American Society’s DFW chapter. He has been held in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody since September.
The Dallas Express previously reported that ICE arrested Marouf in September and charged him with lacking a valid entry document, soliciting funds for a Tier III undesignated terrorist organization, and providing “material support” to terrorism.
Marouf was initially charged with overstaying his visa. In recent weeks, the Department of Homeland Security filed additional allegations accusing him of soliciting funds for a terrorist organization, according to KERA.
During a hearing last Thursday, Immigration Judge Abdias E. Tida denied Marouf’s request for voluntary departure, citing donations he allegedly made to the Holy Land Foundation. Attorneys argued he should be granted post-conclusion voluntary departure to address an urgent cardiac condition — Brugada syndrome — before leaving the country. Tida rejected the request.
…The deportation ruling comes as Texas officials have intensified scrutiny of organizations connected—directly or indirectly—to the Holy Land Foundation case.
Gov. Greg Abbott recently designated the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist and transnational criminal organizations under state law, as reported by The Dallas Express. The designation bars both groups from purchasing land in Texas and authorizes Attorney General Ken Paxton to pursue enforcement actions.
Abbott’s proclamation cited evidence introduced during the Holy Land Foundation prosecution, including documents and internal records linking CAIR to the Muslim Brotherhood’s U.S. network.
Here is the link to An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Brotherhood in North America. The document is from 1991 and explains the methods and goals in turning America into a country governed by Sharia law. This document was part of the government exhibits in the Holy Land Foundation Trial. If you are unfamiliar with that trial, please look it up. It explains a lot. If you are skeptical, look around and read the definition of a color revolution. The beginning of a color revolution is to undermine citizens’ faith in their government and to encourage disrespect of those enforcing the law. The groundwork is currently being laid.
From my friends at Power Line Blog:
Losing Respect For The Law And Those Who Enforce It
America’s large cities have been sliding into lawlessness for quite a while. It is amazing that so few people actually spent time in jail after the riots of 2020. It is also amazing that many Americans no longer respect the fact that America has borders and that people who cross those borders illegally are criminals. The lack of respect for the law has led to a lack of respect for those who are paid to enforce the law.
On Friday, Just the News posted an article about the alarming increase in assaults on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) agents who are simply doing their job of enforcing the law.
The article reports:
Assaults against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are up 1,153% in 11 months, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
As ICE officers continue to arrest illegal migrants and some of the most violent criminals nationwide, citizens and others have increasingly obstructed their efforts, including physically attacking them and threatening to kill them, according to multiple reports nationwide.
Among those most recently arrested for alleged death threats are a Virginia high school assistant principal and his brother.
Earlier this month, DHS and the Virginia Beach Police Department launched an investigation into brothers John Wilson Bennett and Mark Booth Bennett, after an off-duty Norfolk Virginia Police Department officer overheard them discussing plans to “kill police officers and ICE agents,” DHS said.
Note that they were going to kill police officers as well as ICE agents.
A quick google search tells you the following:
Some of the instruments of a color revolution are non-violent protests, civil disobedience, and political demonstrations aimed at challenging authoritarian regimes, often triggered by perceived electoral fraud or corruption. They typically involve mass mobilization, the use of social media for organization, and support from external influences or NGOs. Color revolutions are very often instruments for the destruction of democratic governments in transition. In revolutions, government is the goal and political change is the goal.
I believe that someone (or some group) is attempting to start a color revolution in America. It is up to Americans to refuse to be divided and to refuse to take part in any protest that involves or might involve violence. We need to make sure we understand who is funding any political movement we choose to support or any protest we choose to join.
The article at Just the News concludes:
Examples of assaults include hitting, spitting, kicking, biting, attempted strangulation, drive-by shootings and cartel bounties, The Center Square reported.
Despite these threats, ICE officers are prioritizing arresting violent criminals, including those with removal orders from federal immigration judges. The overwhelming majority being arrested, 70%, have criminal convictions or pending charges, ICE says. The 70% figure excludes those wanted for violent crimes in other countries, including those with INTERPOL notices and human rights violators, among others, ICE says.
ICE is encouraging Americans to report suspicious criminal activity, threats against ICE officers and their family members, as well as doxxing, by calling 866-DHS-2-ICE or submitting a tip online.
Doing Things Legally Has Value
On Friday, Fox Business posted an article about the efforts being made to insure that federal benefits designed to help Americans go to Americans. If charitable groups want to help people who are here illegally, they are welcome to–but not with American taxpayer dollars.
The article reports:
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday his department is working to cut off federal benefits to illegal immigrants at the direction of President Donald Trump.
Bessent wrote in a post on X that “we are working to cut off federal benefits to illegal aliens and preserve them for U.S. Citizens.”
He said the Treasury “announced that it will issue proposed regulations clarifying that the refunded portions of certain individual income tax benefits are no longer available to illegal and other non-qualified aliens, covering the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Additional Child Tax Credit, the American Opportunity Tax Credit, and the Saver’s Match Credit.”
Bessent’s post alluded to an announcement made by the Treasury Department last week that it will propose new regulations clarifying that refundable portions of those tax credits are “federal public benefits” that illegal immigrants and nonqualified aliens aren’t entitled to receive.
The article also reports:
The Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced Friday that it is issuing an alert to financial institutions to prevent illegal aliens from exploiting the U.S. financial system by moving illicitly obtained funds.
The announcement notes that money services businesses (MSBs) are generally required to file a suspicious activity report for a transaction that involves at least $2,000 and that the MSBs know, suspect or have reason to suspect is relevant to a possible legal or regulatory violation.
America should not be a country where people enter illegally in order to receive free stuff. Nor should it be a clearing house for money earned through illegal activities. One way to go after the cartels is through the money laundering they engage in to hide their profits in drug running and human trafficking.
Looking At The Results
On Tuesday, The Washington Free Beacon posted an article about the results of placing the National Guard in Memphis.
According to a News Nation article posted on Tuesday, “Memphis had the nation’s highest violent crime rate in 2024, with a total crime rate 344% above the national average, according to officials. The city recorded nearly 300 homicides last year and nearly 400 in 2023.”
The Washington Free Beacon reports:
Since the Trump administration first deployed federal officers to Memphis in late September, the city has seen a 48 percent decrease in homicides, Attorney General Pam Bondi said during a press conference on Monday. The “Memphis Safe Task Force” has also led to a 45 percent year-over-year decrease in “overall serious crime,” a 49 percent drop in sexual assaults, and nearly 3,000 arrests, she told reporters, adding that the task force has recovered more than 100 missing children in less than two months.
…The news of the task force’s results comes as Bondi and the Trump administration face pushback and legal challenges from Tennessee Democrats. A state judge blocked the administration’s deployment of the National Guard in Memphis earlier this month after critics argued that the move violated Tennessee law.
When the Founding Fathers wrote the U.S. Constitution, they assumed that the individual states and cities would work to keep their cities and states safe. Unfortunately, that has not always been the case. Judges have not always upheld the law, and people who should not be walking the streets are walking the streets. I have been told by law enforcement that the majority of crimes are committed by repeat offenders. If we lock up first-time offenders, they are not able to repeat offend. I don’t like to see the National Guard used in this way, but if the local government won’t clean up their city, then someone else has to step in and do it.
Sad News From Washington, D.C.
On Thursday, Just the News reported that President Trump announced that Sarah Beckstrom, 20, of West Virginia, a National Guardsman who was shot Wednesday in Washington, D.C., has died. She and Guardsman Andrew Wolfe were ambushed by an Afghani national.
The article reports:
The suspected shooter has been identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national.
On Wednesday, Breitbart reported:
In November 2021, just as former President Joe Biden’s administration was importing thousands of Afghan nationals to the United States every week, then-Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas admitted that “not all” Afghans were being vetted with “in-person, refugee interviews,” an admission that shocked members of Congress.
On Wednesday, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal of Afghanistan left two National Guardsmen in critical condition after he allegedly opened fire on them while shouting “Allahu Akbar,” law enforcement officials say.
Lakanwal arrived in the U.S. in 2021 as part of Biden’s Operation Allies Welcome, carried out by Mayorkas at the time, which ultimately resettled tens of thousands of Afghans in American communities.
In November 2021, during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Mayorkas admitted to members of Congress that not every Afghan national brought to the U.S. following the withdrawal of American troops in Afghanistan had been vetted in-person.
“We are not conducting in-person, refugee interviews of 100 percent individuals,” Mayorkas said.
The article at Breitbart concludes:
In September 2021, before a Senate hearing, then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken also admitted that vetting was unlikely to have occurred for thousands of Afghan nationals before they boarded planes to the U.S.
“What percentage of [Afghans] were vetted before they actually got on those planes?” Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) asked Blinken.
“Before they got on their airplanes to leave Kabul? Certainly not, most of them were not,” Blinken admitted.
We need to examine very carefully the people from Muslim countries that are coming into America. I am sure many of them are peaceful people only looking for a quiet place to raise their families, but we need to find a way to sort the peaceful people who want to assimilate into America from the Islamists. The fact that the murderer yelled, “Allahu Akbar” while firing on his victims might be a clue that he has not assimilated.
Leaving Out Important Information For Political Purposes
President Trump has been in office for less than a year. When he stepped into office, the economy was not gaining jobs at the rate that had been previously reported, and inflation was going through the roof. The Biden administration’s push for green energy had sent energy prices soaring, and the killing of massive numbers of chickens resulted in a dramatic increase in the price of eggs. Overall, the American worker was getting squeezed by rising energy and food costs. Things have gotten better under the Trump administration–the price at the gas pump is down, egg prices are down, and the rate of inflation has slowed. Unfortunately, once prices go up, they rarely come down, but we have seen some prices actually come down.
On Thursday, Power Line Blog posted an article about one approach the Democrats are attempting to use to win voters. If the voters are paying attention, there is no way this will work.
The article includes a screenshot of an X post by the
Note that X posted additional context to her post.
The article at Power Line Blog also included the following screenshot:
Note that these are past due balances. How long have these balances been past due, and how many of those balances have actually been created since President Trump took office?
Just another day in sleazy Democrat politics. It’s easier to blame President Trump for everything that is currently wrong than it is to take responsibility for your own bad policies.