Monthly Archives: September 2024

The New Jobs Report

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On Friday, The Epoch Times posted an article about the latest jobs report. The economy is cooling down, which will probably provide the Federal Reserve with an excuse to lower interest rates in the hope of providing a Democrat election victory.

The article reports:

The U.S. economy created fewer jobs than the market projected in August as the overheated labor market of the past few years continues to show signs of cooling off.

Last month, payrolls increased by 142,000, falling short of the consensus estimate of 160,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The unemployment rate eased to 4.2 percent, down from 4.3 percent in July. This was in line with economists’ expectations.

Average hourly wages surged at a higher-than-expected pace of 0.7 percent, up from a 0.1 percent drop in July—this was revised from the initial report of 0.2 percent growth. Average hourly earnings also climbed to a better-than-expected year-over-year rate of 3.8 percent, up from 3.6 percent.

The labor force participation rate was unchanged at 62.7 percent. Average weekly hours ticked up to 34.3 from 34.2.

Much of the job creation was concentrated in construction (34,000), health care (31,000), government (24,000), and social assistance (13,000).

There were some other interesting numbers in the report:

So far this year, the total number of downward job revisions equals 372,000.

The number of people working two or more jobs increased by 65,000 to 8.538 million.

In August, full-time jobs plummeted by more than 400,000, and part-time employment increased by 527,000.

Inflation is hurting all Americans, and until the government stops its runaway spending, inflation will continue to be a problem.

 

 

The Role The Media Has Played For The Past Nine Years

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Trump Derangement Syndrome is real. Unfortunately, most of our mainstream media seems to have been stricken by the disease. Also unfortunate is the fact that because they have been stricken by the disease, they have done some serious damage to America.

On Thursday, Victor Davis Hanson posted an article at American Greatness detailing some of the escapades of the American press in the past nine years. It all began when Donald and Melania Trump came down the escalator.

Here are a few of the lies that have been told:

Citing the bogus “Steele dossier,” loser Hillary Clinton and other Democrat grandees claimed that the victorious Trump was an “illegitimate” president.

Almost immediately, the left and media then pushed for the appointment of special prosecutor Robert Mueller. He assembled a ‘dream team’ of partisan prosecutors to prove Trump-Russian collusion

…More hysteria followed when Trump was impeached in December 2019.

The left claimed he had pressured the Ukrainian government to look into the family of Joe Biden (then a potential 2020 election opponent) for its corruption with Ukrainian oligarchs—as a condition for releasing military aid designated to Kyiv.

Yet Hunter Biden was paid nearly $1 million a year by a Ukrainian energy company to enlist his father, Vice President Joe Biden, for quid pro quo services.

In turn, Joe Biden himself later bragged he had pressured Ukraine to fire its prosecutor, Victor Shokin—who happened to be looking too closely into the various shady schemes of the Biden family.

The deceptions and lies continued.

The article contains numerous examples of how the media lied to influence public opinion–one of the most egregious being the media and intelligence community’s lies about the Hunter Biden laptop. A lie that probably greatly impacted the results of the 2020 election.

The article concludes with a recent lie:

During the 2020 Democratic primaries, the general election, and throughout the first three years of the Biden administration, it was evident that Joe Biden was physically and mentally incapable of serving as president.

Yet his aides and the media all misled the American people. They insisted that Biden was vigorous and sharp.

Then suddenly in June 2024, within a 24-hour period, Biden was declared by these same insiders as unfit to continue as the Democratic nominee.

Their new problem with Biden was not just his long-standing embarrassing dementia. Rather bad polls increasingly warned that voters no longer believed their lies and thus would likely not reelect Biden but would instead punish most Democrats in the upcoming 2024 election.

So, a new media narrative arose: the once-hale Biden was forced to resign as the Democrat nominee. His once widely caricatured vice president, Kamala Harris, just as abruptly was coronated as his replacement candidate by an equally suddenly gushing and colluding media.

In sum, for some nine years, the media and the left have successfully fed the country a succession of rank deceptions and conspiracies.

They did so because they proclaimed Donald Trump too dangerous to be president and therefore any means they employed to stop him were to be justified. And they are doing so yet a third time in 2024.

As they continue, they have all but destroyed democracy, ruined the reputation of the media, alienated the public—and embarrassed their country before the world.

There are still people who still trust the mainstream media. We will see how many Americans believe what they are being told on November 5th.

Why America Needs To Be Energy Independent

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On Thursday, The Washington Examiner reported that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has agreed not to increase its production of oil in October as it had planned. The price has dropped too low, and if the supply is lower, the price will go higher. It’s the basic law of supply and demand. It is also the reason America needs to be energy independent. How much money (tax revenue, lower energy costs for the government, transportation costs for oil, etc.) would we save if America was again a net exporter of oil and natural gas.

The article reports:

OPEC+ agreed to pause its planned oil output hike for October and November as prices have dropped to their lowest in months.

The oil-producing bloc revealed on Thursday that eight member countries, including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman, have agreed to extending cuts.

The decision reverses a planned increase in oil production to 180,000 barrels a day in October. 

The eight countries have agreed to cut production by 2.2 million barrels per day through the end of November. These cutbacks will be phased out starting Dec. 1, according to the group.

In Thursday’s announcement, the group said two of the member countries, Iraq and Kazakhstan, have been overproducing barrels since January.

The article notes:

Crude oil prices, which had fallen to the lowest levels of the year in recent days, rose in reaction to the news that the production cuts would be extended. Benchmark Brent crude was up about 0.6% late Thursday morning.

Low prices have alleviated some pressure on consumers amid rampant inflation, keeping oil and gas prices top of mind for voters ahead of the 2024 presidential election. Industry experts warned that the production increase could have caused prices to drop even further, reaching as low as $50 a barrel, Bloomberg reported. 

It would be nice to see prices stay in a range that would give consumers a break.

 

Maybe We Should Pay Attention To This

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This picture is trending all over Twitter. I believe it is real.

Tim Walz’s brother has already stated that he does not believe that Tim Walz is someone Americans should elect, now his family has gone viral with this photo. It’s interesting that President Trump’s ex-wives supported his run for President. There were a few Trump family members that did not support him, but they were few. This is quite a family feud.

Chinese Agents In New York?

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On Tuesday, The New York Post posted an article about the arrest of Linda Sun, 41,a former high-ranking aide for Gov. Kathy Hochul and disgraced Gov. Andrew Cuomo and her husband, Christopher Hu, 40. They were arrested at their $4 million Manhasset mansion.

The article reports:

Sun shadily used her position under Hochul and Cuomo – who are unnamed but clearly referenced in the court documents – to turn the governor’s office into a virtual mouthpiece for the People’s Republic of China and Chinese Community Party, the bombshell indictment contends.

At several points, Sun bragged to Chinese consulate officials about effectively blocking Cuomo and Hochul from meeting with or publicly even mentioning Taiwan, including when the disputed island sent 200,000 much-needed masks to New York during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, documents state.

“The defendant Linda Sun received substantial economic and other benefits from representatives of the PRC government and the CCP, including the facilitation of millions of dollars in transactions for the PRC-based business activities of Sun’s husband, the defendant Chris Hu,” the indictment reads in part.

The article notes that the couple also has a a $2 million second home in a Honolulu high-rise and luxury cars like a 2024 Ferrari Roma. Admittedly Christopher Hu is a successful business man, but shouldn’t their lifestyle have raised questions before now?

The article concludes:

Prosecutor Alexander Solomon revealed during the arraignment that the scheme involved a “multitude of shell entities” and that the feds subpoenaed records of 80 different financial accounts.

“This is no ordinary financial fraud,” Solomon said.

Sun, while working under Hochul, ultimately ran afoul of her New York employers, according to documents.

She went beyond her authority by obtaining and publicly presenting an official New York State proclamation for Huang in January 2023, the indictment states.

She obtained the proclamation – a largely ceremonial honor that’s nonetheless valued by many officials – “outside ordinary channels” and sent state staffers who created the honor a personal gift basket and wine, according to the indictment.

Sun was interviewed by the Inspector General’s office a few weeks later in February and was fired on March 2.

A spokesperson for Hochul’s office noted Sun was hired by the Executive Chamber more than a decade ago.

“We terminated her employment in March 2023 after discovering evidence of misconduct, immediately reported her actions to law enforcement and have assisted law enforcement throughout this process,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Cuomo’s spokesman Rich Azzopardi, meanwhile, pointed fingers at Hochul.

“While Ms Sun was promoted to Deputy Chief of Staff in the subsequent administration, during our time she worked in a handful of agencies and was one of many community liaisons who had little to no interaction with the governor,” he said.

Shell entities, hmm.

Machines For Harris/Walz!

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On Wednesday, The Daily Caller posted an article about Amazon Alexa’s political leanings. Who knew Alexa was political?

The article reports:

Amazon addressed what it called an “error” Tuesday after some of its Alexa devices promoted 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris over 2024 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Video of a woman asking Alexa why she should vote for each candidate went viral Tuesday due to the device’s glowing review of Harris versus its neutrality on Trump. Amazon told Variety that its apparent pro-Harris bias was a mistake that the company quickly corrected.

This is the video:

The Daily Caller concludes:

Amazon is not the first major company to face backlash for alleged bias against Trump.

Google came under fire in late July for the alleged censorship of the assassination attempt against Trump from its “autocomplete” search results feature. “There was no manual action taken on these predictions. Our systems have protections against Autocomplete predictions associated with political violence, which were working as intended prior to this horrific event occurring,” a Google spokesperson told the Caller at the time.

The Biden-Harris administration influenced Amazon i n March 2021 to restrict books that expressed skepticism about the COVID-19 vaccine, emails the House Judiciary Committee obtained show.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted in late August that senior officials under Biden-Harris “repeatedly pressured” Facebook to suppress COVID-19 content that the platform otherwise would not have restricted. Zuckerberg said Biden-Harris officials expressed frustration when Facebook initially hesitated before complying.

Vote carefully. Recently Vice-President Harris described free speech as a ‘privilege.’ It is a privilege I would like to hold on to.

 

National Football Teams Do Not Endorse Candidates

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A series of advertisements describing Vice-President Kamala Harris as the presidential choice of the Philadelphia Eagles football team appeared in Philadelphia on Monday. They are counterfeit ads–there is some question as to who created them. The Philadelphia Eagles have put out a press release denying that they have endorsed any candidate.

On Monday, Trending Politics reported the following:

A Philadelphia man could be seen pasting official statements from the Philadelphia Eagles that disavowed a series of pro-Kamala Harris ads that popped up across the city on Monday.

Early Labor Day morning, a series of pro-Kamala Harris ads that had been set up on bus stops across Philadelphia went viral on social media. The ads featured a digitally-generated photo of Vice President Harris in an Eagles helmet, complete with team colors and the official Eagles logo, alongside text referring to her as the, “Official Candidate Of The Philadelphia Eagles.”

…Not long after the ads went viral on social media, the Philadelphia Eagles issued a statement referring to them as “counterfeit” and not linked to the team in any way. “We are aware counterfeit political ads are being circulated and are working with our advertising partner to have them removed,” the team announced in an X post.

The article concludes:

“We are aware that several of our bus shelters located in Philadelphia have been vandalized and that the paid advertising copy in each of those shelters has been replaced with unauthorized copy,” Intersection Media said in a statement to Fox 29.

“While our bus shelters have locks that typically prevent the installation of unaurthorized copy by non-Intersection staff, occasionally people find a way to unlock the ad box and insert unauthorized copy. The unauthorized copy in this case implies an endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris by the Philadelphia Eagles. We note that the Eagles and Intersection had nothing to do with the creation or posting of this unauthorized copy and Intersection staff will be removing the ads as soon as possible.”

How many low-information voters will believe the phony ads?

The Biden Administration Is On The Wrong Side Of This

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On Monday, The New York Post posted an article about the aftermath of the recent murders of five Israelis and one American by Hamas.

The article reports:

Hamas has now basically admitted it killed those six hostages rather than risk their liberation — indeed, all but boasted of it.

Meanwhile, the Harris-Biden administration seems to be taking the tragedy as license to push Israel into a cease-fire deal that could let the terrorists re-supply.

Asked by a reporter Monday if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had done enough to secure a hostage deal, Biden gave a flat “No” while claiming “we’re very close” to proposing another hostage deal this week, and “Hope springs eternal.”

Hamas refused to accept the last cease-fire offer, even as Netanyahu was signaling (some) willingness to bend on the crucial question of the Philadephi corridor: Who is to control the Gaza-Egyptian border during any ceasefire?

Cairo, it turns out, had let the area be riddled with smuggling tunnels on its watch, so Bibi is reluctant to let the IDF cede control even temporarily now — lest Hamas take the opportunity to re-arm and/or get its top leaders out of Dodge.

It Hamas is going to kill any hostages that might be rescued, maybe it is time to simply carpet bomb the Gaza-Egyptian border. The choice is pulling the band-aid off a little at a time or just yanking it off. I think it’s time to simply destroy the tunnels and let the chips fall where they may. The likelihood of rescuing any more hostages is very low and unfortunately the Biden administration is hurting rather than helping the situation.

This is Prime Minister Netanyahu’s response to President Biden’s statement that the Prime Minister is not doing enough to bring peace:

The Prime Minister if right. The unrest in Israel and the statements of President Biden are empowering Hamas. That needs to stop.

This Is Going To Be A Nationwide Problem

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For the past three and a half years, America’s southern border has been wide open. We have no idea who is coming over the border or why. The only control of the immigration coming into America is the Cartels, and they do not have America’s best interests at heart. The open-border chickens are now coming home to roost.

On Tuesday, BizPacReview reported:

Jesse Kelly recently posted a letter regarding the ongoing madness in Aurora, Colorado, in which the author claims leaders are attempting to “minimize the issue.”

A person claiming to be a police officer in the town claimed that the situation is much worse than those talking to the media would have you believe, and the press needs to continue to keep the heat on until the problem is resolved.

This is the letter:

“I am a police officer in Aurora, Colorado and we are in the news for the recent story about the armed Venezuelan gang members taking over apartment complexes,” the letter begins. “I am happy to see the story make national news to where the Aurora Police Department command staff and City of Aurora leadership are being asked the hard question about what is occurring.”

“Unfortunately these ‘leaders’ are not being truthful nor are they acknowledging the problem as they know it to be,” the writer continues. “They are also trying to minimize the issue by implying the issue is confined to just the apartment complexes in the city. This could not be further from the truth. The Venezuelans are wreaking havoc throughout the city.”

“Please help keep this story in the spotlight so the City of Aurora can no longer downplay the matter. The reality is the citizens and out officers are not safe as long as the issue continues to be ignored and real solutions are not being implemented. Due to my employment status and the international information I possess on this matter, I cannot have you air my name. Thank you,” the message concludes.

Meanwhile, on Monday The Gateway Pundit reported:

Last night, a shocking 911 call was shared by Libs of Tik Tok on X, that revealed 32 armed Venezuelan migrants were attempting to overtake an apartment complex in Chicago last night.

…Winter is right around the corner. Did anyone honestly think these Venezuelan gangs who ruled the countries they came from, were going to be sleeping in tents in local parks while unarmed Chicago residents slept inside?

This Chicago resident warns the ARMED Venezuelan gangs thinking about taking over their places of residency in gun-free Chicago, “We got switches!”

Thank God for the Second Amendment. I suspect many residents in places where it has been curtailed are wishing they had guns to defend themselves and their property.

I Hope This Gets To The Supreme Court Quickly

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On Monday, Legal Insurrection reported:

A policy that allows school staff to keep a child’s transgender status a secret does not violate a parent’s fundamental rights under the New Hampshire constitution, the state’s Supreme Court has held.

The policy was challenged by a New Hampshire mother who sued the Manchester school district after finding out from a teacher that her minor child (identified as M.C.) had asked school staff and students to be called by a name typically associated with the opposite sex.

According to the lawsuit, when the mother first asked the school to continue using her child’s given name and sex-appropriate pronouns, two teachers wrote to her saying they were willing to comply.

After the teachers stated that they were willing to comply, the mother got an email from the school principal that stated:

Good Morning [Jane Doe]. While I respect and understand your concern, we are held by the District policy as a staff. I have quoted our district policy below, which outlines the fact that we cannot disclose a student’s choice to parents if asked not to. If [M.C.] insists on being called [M.C.’s desired name] as a staff we have to respect that according to the policy or unfortunately we can be held accountable despite parents’ wishes.

The principal was reiterating district policy that, absent the child’s consent, “[s]chool personnel should not disclose information that may reveal a student’s transgender status or gender nonconforming presentation to others.” The school justified the policy as recognizing transgender students’ “rights” to privacy.

The article continues:

But that policy violated her fundamental parental rights, the mother alleged, among other claims, by encouraging school officials to affirmatively conceal her child’s “open and public” gender identity transition in school from her.

After all, if the whole school knows the child is transitioning, why shouldn’t the parent?

Notwithstanding these arguments, the trial court found the policy did not infinge a fundamental parenting right so as to warrant the application of strict scrutiny. And because the policy was rationally related to legitimate governmental interests, it was not unconstitutional, the court held, dismissing her claim.

In a 3-1 decision on appeal, the New Hampshire Supreme Court agreed.

I may take a village to raise a child, but that is a problem if the village is inhabited by villagers trying to take away parents’ rights.

People Are Speaking Up

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On Sunday, The Boston Herald reported that the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD party has won a state election. The article describes the party as far-right. They are known to be anti-immigration and skeptical toward German military aid to Ukraine.

The article reports:

A far-right party won a state election for the first time in post-World War II Germany in the country’s east on Sunday, and was set to finish at least a very close second to mainstream conservatives in a second vote.

A new party founded by a prominent leftist also made an immediate impact, while the parties in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s unpopular national government obtained extremely weak results.

Projections for ARD and ZDF public television based on exit polls and partial counting showed the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, winning 32-33% of the vote in Thuringia — well ahead of the center-right Christian Democratic Union, the main national opposition party, with about 24%.

In neighboring Saxony, projections put support for the CDU, which has led the state since German reunification in 1990, at 31.5-31.8% and AfD on 30.8-31.4%.

Germany’s immigration policies have been a problem for the country. German women have been assaulted by immigrants who have different rules about women’s dress and customs relating to women, crime in general has increased drastically, and the Germans are in danger of losing their culture. The fact that an anti-immigration party and anti-aid to Ukraine party did well in the recent elections is not a surprise.

Sometimes The Truth Isn’t Pretty

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On Monday, Hot Air posted an article about the internal conflict taking place in Israel about the conduct of the war against Hamas. Obviously, Israelis want the hostages home safely and the war over, but in their quest for peace, many are overlooking the basic character of Hamas. Meanwhile, President Biden is sitting on a beach in Delaware playing armchair quarterback to the Netanyahu government. President Biden has never been a friend of Netanyahu and part of the problem in the war against Hamas–not part of the solution.

The article reports:

Benjamin Netanyahu stuck to his guns in his effort to remove the incentives for hostaging by Hamas. But it got a lot more difficult after the terrorists murdered six of them over the last few days. And even though Netanyahu won this round in his own Cabinet, that victory may not last. Especially not if Joe Biden gets his way. 

The fight in the Cabinet came from Defense Secretary Yoav Gallant, an ally-of-sorts for Netanyahu most times, who objects to Netanyahu’s plan to keep control of the Gaza-Egypt border. Netanyahu has made clear that he does not want Hamas to get resupplied or to escape out to the Sinai, especially with the hostages. Gallant considers the policy both unnecessary and provocative, and accused Netanyahu of prioritizing the land over the hostages:

He again turned to the premier and asked: “If Sinwar presents you with the dilemma: Either you leave Philadelphi or you return the hostages, what do you do?”

Netanyahu responded that the imperative to keep the IDF at the corridor was of crucial importance to the state.

Gallant said that was all well and good if it was a decision taking in isolation. But, he asked, “What about when 30 lives are at stake? What do you do?”

The prime minister said: “I stay on the Philadelphi. Only resolute negotiations will force [Sinwar] to fold.”

Netanyahu then demanded an immediate vote on his policy. Only Gallant voted to oppose it, although he grumbled afterward that the Cabinet would eventually come around to his position. 

President Biden has stated that he believes Prime Minister Netanyahu is not doing enough to secure the release of the hostages. Somehow I doubt Netanyahu is the problem.

The article concludes:

Ahem. Which side has executed hostages? In fact, which side takes hostages as a war strategy in the first place? And which side started the war on October 7 — while breaking a US-negotiated cease fire? 

There was a time when the world knew that harming an American abroad meant dire consequences for the perps. Now Hamas has demonstrated that killing Americans will put them closer to a strategic victory in separating the US from Israel, with no consequences at all from this administration. What kind of incentives do we think this sets for Hezbollah, Iran, and every other terrorist state and non-state terror networks?

It’s one thing for the Israelis to debate cooperation in hostage strategy. It’s another thing entirely for the US to hand Hamas a strategic victory with our own pusillanimity.  

The Biden administration is encouraging terrorism.

 

 

A Ridiculous Solution To A Serious Problem

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On Saturday, PJ Media posted an article about Germany’s plan to change their policy of knife possession following a number of ‘knife incidents’ in their country.

The article reports:

After a Syrian illegal immigrant attacked and killed three people and wounded eight attending a diversity festival in the town of Solingen, Germany on August 23. Chancellor Olaf Scholz vowed to do something about it.

There were 13,844 “knife crime” incidents in Germany in 2023. So, naturally, Olaf decided the culprit was the knife. Since you can’t put a knife on trial or put a blade in jail, Scholz decided on the next best thing; knife control.

As silly as that sounds, it’s going to happen in Germany.

Current law allows an individual to carry a knife up to 7″ long. Scholz wants to change the statute to allow individuals to carry knives only 2.4 inches long. Germany still won’t be able to put knives on trial or jail knives and make them pay for their crimes. But at least Scholz is “doing something about the problem.”

In addition to knife control, Scholz is also going to limit benefits available to illegal immigrants. German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser says the suspect in the knife attack, Issa Al H., was scheduled to be deported to Bulgaria where he first arrived in the European Union.

“The entire process… must be examined, must be made more effective, so that we can deport people more quickly,” Justice Minister Buschmann said Thursday.

Limiting benefits to illegal immigrants is actually a wise move. Changing the length of the knife is not really going to make a difference. Anything can be a weapon. In 2010, I posted an article about the British Pubs introducing a new shatterproof pint glass because the previous pint glasses were consistently being broken over the bar and used as weapons. In Germany (and in America’s future), the problem is importing large numbers of people from places with totally different cultures who are not assimilating into the culture. Because they have not assimilated, these immigrants tend to be economically challenged and angry when they can’t find work. It is a recipe for disaster. Hungary seems to be one of the few European countries that has recognized the problem and dealt with it.

Words Matter

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The news on Sunday morning reported that the bodies of six of the hostages taken by Hamas had been recovered by the Israeli Defense Forces. Much of the mainstream media reported that the hostages had died–not that they had been murdered by Hamas.

Breitbart posted an article on Sunday about the misleading reports.

Breitbart reported:

Mainstream media outlets, including CNN, NBC, and USA Today, are facing intense backlash for what have been called misleading and “vile” headlines about the brutal murder of six hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

On Sunday, IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari announced the hostages had been cruelly murdered by Hamas as Israeli soldiers closed in on their location, possibly based on intelligence provided by a hostage rescued last week.

The six hostages, whose bodies were found Saturday in a tunnel underneath Gaza — including American Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin — were discovered in Rafah, the same city that Vice President Kamala Harris had told Israel not to enter.

But mainstream media outlets, including CNN, NBC, and USA Today, covering the recovery of the bodies, sparked outrage by initially reporting that one of the victims had “died” rather than had been “murdered.” 

The cause of the hostages’ death was not clear for about 90 minutes after Hersh Goldberg-Polin was first revealed to be among the victims, which is why some outlets may have been reluctant to use the word “murder.” Mainstream media headlines currently reflect reports by Israeli authorities that the hostages were murdered. However, screen grabs of the initial headlines continued to spark outrage after reports emerged on Sunday that Hamas terrorists had shot each of the six hostages in the head before Israeli soldiers could rescue them.

The war that Israel is fighting against Hamas is as much of a public relations war as it is a kinetic war. Some Israelis who want the hostages released (assuming they are alive) are protesting to pressure Prime Minister Netanyahu into a peace deal which would leave Hamas in power and pave the way for another October 7th attack. Those protests are totally playing into the hands of Hamas as are the calls for a cease-fire from some western countries. You don’t make peace with terrorists unless you want more terrorism. Israelis used to know that. I am disappointed in the Israeli leaders who are using the hostages to try to topple the Netanyahu government. You don’t do that when your country is fighting for its survival–you put personal ambitions aside temporarily at least.

Just for the record, the hostages were murdered to avoid Israel celebrating their release. That illustrates the nature of Hamas.

The article concludes:

Though some headlines have since been corrected, the damage had already been done. Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris both affirmed the hostages were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists.

 

Texas Is The Example

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On Saturday, Just the News posted an article highlighting the actions of Texas in dealing with the gang violence in Uvalde County.

The article reports:

Thirty-three members of violent gangs were arrested as part of a multi-agency operation targeting transnational and organized crime in the border town of Uvalde, Texas, and surrounding area in Uvalde County.

“Gang violence has no place here in Texas, we will bring the full force of justice down on these famous criminals,” Gov. Greg Abbott said when directing Texas Department of Public Safety to surge resources there to root out organized crime in September 2022.

Nearly two years ago, a multi-agency operation began, made possible through additional state funding and criminal investigative oversight from DPS targeting an extensive organized crime network operating at the Texas-Mexico border. The investigation focused on the selling and distribution of narcotics, weapons, extortion, aggravated assaults and organized criminal activity of multiple gangs associated with transnational criminal organizations, including Mexican cartels.

The article notes:

After an extensive investigation, 33 gang members were arrested, including from the Latin Kings, West Texas Tango, Tango Blast, Tango Orejon, Tango Aguilon, Texas Syndicate, Paisa, Texas Mexican Mafia, Maniac Latin Disciples, and San Antonio Walked Down Gang, according to a statement from the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office.

The 38th Judicial District handed down 68 state indictments related to narcotics trafficking and engaging in organized criminal activity. The U.S. Western District, Del Rio Division, handed 17 federal indictments related to racketeering and conspiracy.

Texas DPS criminal investigators have identified gang activity “as a growing and serious problem in Uvalde and the surrounding area.”

Joining them in the investigation were investigators with the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office, Uvalde Police Department, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations. The 38th District Attorney’s Border Prosecution Unit and the U.S. Attorney’s office are prosecuting the case.

The investigation targeted the Uvalde area nearly 10 years after a joint operation in 2015 vanquished major gang operations there resulting in the Latin Kings being disbanded, the sheriff’s office said. Since that time, gang activity increased with the “most recent gang activity involve[ing] some of the children of those former incarcerated gang members.”

The only way to deal with the problem of the open southern border is to arrest the people who are involved in the criminal activity related to the open border. We need to arrest them, deport them, and seal the border. None of that will happen under a Biden-Harris administration or under a Harris-Walz administration.

Who Do You Trust To Keep This Promise?

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Both the Harris campaign and the Trump campaign have pledged to stop taxing tips in the service industries. When President Trump made the suggestion, the media immediately calculated the missing tax revenue. When Vice-President Harris made the suggestion, the media praised her for the idea. That is how the media works right now.

On August 30, The Center Square reported the following:

In a mirror of national politics, California Republicans followed former President Donald Trump’s lead by proposing to end taxes on tips. While Vice President Kamala Harris, who formerly represented California in the U.S. Senate, embraced the measure, California Democrats said no, shooting down the proposed amendment in the California Senate.

“Even Trump and Harris both say we should eliminate the ‘tip tax,’” said the California Senate Republican Caucus in a statement. 

Soon after Trump announced his proposal to a crowd in Nevada, which has the highest percentage of tipped workers in the nation, Harris also came out in favor of the proposal. The Budget Lab at Yale University reports there are approximately 4 million tipped workers — 2.5% of all workers nationwide. Many tipped workers earn less than the minimum wage, and thus earn the lion’s share of their income from tips. Some higher-paid tipped professions such as barbers and hair stylists would also benefit from this rule change. 

…In the California Senate, Democrats — except for Senate President Pro Tempore Senator Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, and State Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, who abstained, voted to put aside the amendment, while all nine Republicans voted for it.

I think it is rather telling that there are only nine Republicans in the California Senate–which has forty seats. Don’t try to blame the Republicans for anything that happens in California!

The Problems With The Harris Tax Plan

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Kamala Harris will raise our taxes if she is elected. She says she will only raise taxes on the rich, but that was the same promise made when the Income Tax was passed in 1913–it would only impact the top 1 or 2 percent of the wealthiest Americans–the rest of us would not have to pay any taxes. We know how that went.

On Friday, Townhall posted an article about Kamala Harris’ tax plan.

The first thing you need to be aware of is the Laffer Curve:

It has been proven historically that lower taxes result in higher tax revenue. Why should you take the risk and do the work of starting a business of  you know the government is going to take most of what you earn?

The article at Townhall states:

Experts are warning against Vice President Kamala Harris’ proposed tax strategy, which they say would threaten the future of the United States economically.

The Cato Institute commented:

Harris’s 28 percent federal corporate tax rate and 44.6 percent top capital gains and dividend tax rate would give the United States the highest total tax rate on corporate income in the developed world when combined with state taxes. As I recently explained, workers ultimately bear most of the cost of the corporate income tax through lower wages and fewer job opportunities. Because the corporate income tax is one of the most economically destructive ways to raise revenue, the total economic cost of Harris’ proposed tax hike will likely be multiple times larger than the tax revenue it raises. The Harris plan would also increase top federal income tax rates so that combined state, local, and federal tax rates would be on the wrong side of the Laffer curve in 36 states and Washington, DC—the point at which higher tax rates create so much economic distortion that they no longer bring in additional tax revenue. Via Cato Institute.

I would like to continue to live in my house as a senior citizen on a fixed income. Harris’ plan to tax unrealized capital gains would make that impossible.

The American Military Is Not An Experiment

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On Friday, Breitbart reported the following:

Democrat vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz argued for using algae to power the United States Navy as part of his efforts to fight climate change, claiming that sustainable energy solutions are crucial for military resilience.

During a debate with his then-opponent, Republican Jim Hagedorn, in Winona, Minnesota, in 2016, Walz spoke of the growing recognition that climate change is a pressing concern that cannot be ignored.

While noting that the nation’s armed forces can adopt new eco-friendly resources, Walz insisted that “the Pentagon is not a bunch of green tree-huggers.”

According to Walz, the Pentagon sees climate change as a significant risk that impacts not only the environment but national security.

“The Pentagon understands it’s a risk to the climate, it’s a risk to the environment, and it’s a national security issue,” he declared. “They’re trying to create the Great Green Fleet, where we power our Navy using algae.”

Walz has consistently supported radical climate change initiatives, pushing policies like a carbon-free electric grid by 2040. 

The most reliable Internet site for real information about climate change is wattsupwiththat.com. Anyone advocating for drastic actions to prevent climate change should be forced to follow that site for a month (including the timeline of failed predictions). Climate is cyclical. The only thing to be gained by climate panic is more government control and more redistribution of wealth.

In 2016 I posted an article quoting Investor’s Business Daily. This is the quote:

If they were honest, the climate alarmists would admit that they are not working feverishly to hold down global temperatures — they would acknowledge that they are instead consumed with the goal of holding down capitalism and establishing a global welfare state.

Have doubts? Then listen to the words of former United Nations climate official Ottmar Edenhofer:

“One has to free oneself from the illusion that international climate policy is environmental policy. This has almost nothing to do with the environmental policy anymore, with problems such as deforestation or the ozone hole,” said Edenhofer, who co-chaired the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change working group on Mitigation of Climate Change from 2008 to 2015.

So what is the goal of environmental policy?

“We redistribute de facto the world’s wealth by climate policy,” said Edenhofer.

Tim Walz wants more government and more of your money.

Cross The Border And Get A Free House

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On Saturday, The National Review posted an article about a bill recently passed by the California legislature that would allow illegal immigrants to receive up to $150,000 in taxpayer-backed home loans. As of the time I am writing this, Governor Newsom has not yet signed the legislation.

The article reports:

“I didn’t know it was possible to make a border crisis and the housing crisis worse with just one vote, but Democrats found a way,” California Assembly Republican leader James Gallagher said on X on Thursday.

Republican assemblyman Bill Essayli called the bill “offensive,” writing on X that “California democrats love illegal immigration so much they offer many incentives for them to come here.”

But it’s unclear that Governor Gavin Newsom will sign the legislation, which could provide ammunition to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, a border hawk who has consistently blamed Democrats — including Vice President Kamala Harris, a California native — for the border crisis.

And even if Newsom does sign the legislation, it’s unlikely that any illegal immigrants will receive money from the program anytime soon: the program is broke, and lawmakers haven’t approved new funding.

Democrats, who have a supermajority in the California legislature, passed Assembly Bill 1840 on Wednesday. The aim of the legislation is to prohibit discrimination for the California Dream For All home loan program on the basis of immigration status, according to a bill analysis.

The program offers prospective first-time homebuyers loans of up to $150,000 for down payments or closing costs. At least one borrower must be a first-generation homebuyer. Eligible prospective homebuyers are selected for vouchers via a random lottery.

The obvious question is, “What kind of a house can you buy in California for $150,000? Can you even buy a garage in California for that? What about all of the veterans living on the streets in California? Is anyone going to offer them free housing?