Russia has released jailed WNBA star Brittney Griner in exchange for notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout, known as the “Merchant of Death” after months of negotiations and hostility on both sides.
USA
Biden Energy Dept Touts $200M Grant to Battery Company Operating in China
The Department of Energy under President Joe Biden is touting a $200 million grant it gave to a lithium battery company that would help the United States grow its domestic sources of green energy, even though it “primarily” operates in China, according to a report.
Philadelphia gas station hires AR-15-toting guards as crime spikes
Death to “Killadelphia.”
A Philadelphia gas station owner has taken drastic measures against soaring crime — hiring heavily armed security with AR-15s to patrol outside.
Fox 29 filmed a group of officers guarding a Karco gas station while wearing military-style clothing — including Kevlar bulletproof vests — while toting shotguns and even assault rifles.
Mexican cartels have turned to fentanyl
Smugglers are flooding the border with opioids
In the hills of Mexico City’s luxurious Lomas suburb, close to an embassy and UN offices, is a white pillared mansion that was the site of the world’s biggest ever drug cash bust. In 2007, Mexican federal agents stormed through its ornamental gates to discover a mountain of $205 million in bills, along with pesos, Euros and Hong Kong dollars. It did not, however, belong to one of Mexico’s scarred and bloodthirsty drug lords from the mountains; instead it was the property of the suited Chinese-born businessman Zhenli Ye Gon.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Is Under Investigation By House Ethics Committee
The House Committee on Ethics is investigating Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), according to a statement the panel issued on Wednesday.
Details about the subject of the inquiry were not provided. The nonpartisan Office of Congressional Ethics forwarded its inquiry into Ocasio-Cortez to the House ethics panel in June, according to the report. Typically, when that office forwards an investigation, it’s because it has reason to believe an ethics law was broken.
Illegal Alien Invaders Using Canada As Backdoor Cause 484 Percent Jump In Apprehensions At U.S. Border This Year
Swanton Sector Border Patrol agents experienced an increase of nearly 484 percent in the number of migrants apprehended in the first two months of the new fiscal year. In October and November this year, agents apprehended 473 migrants compared to only 81 apprehensions during the same period last year.
Can’t say that I blame them for wanting to get out of war torn Canada.
Government–Tech Collusion Threatens Free Speech
Three plaintiffs credibly allege that Twitter became a government tool by censoring their speech at the behest of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Mark Changizi, Michael Senger, and Daniel Kotzin became active Twitter users in March 2020, focusing on criticism of government pandemic policy and rapidly gaining large followings. Many of their more-controversial contentions—for instance, that lockdowns and mandates for masks and vaccines would be ineffective at curbing viral spread while having deleterious societal effects—have turned out to be true.
Fauci Admits Daughter Worked for Twitter and He Spoke Directly to Zuckerberg
Dr. Anthony Fauci feigned ignorance throughout his November 23 deposition as part of Louisiana and Missouri’s lawsuit against the Biden administration and federal officials, asserting that he is disassociated from social media. Yet, the public health official admitted he talked to Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg about pushing vaccines and noted that one of his daughters worked as a software engineer at Twitter.
Hardly Anyone Is Buying Biden’s Bivalent Boosters
Marketing 101: Don’t puff up your product. When it doesn’t live up to the hype, the public won’t trust what you’re selling the next time around. That’s the problem the Biden administration faces as it tries to peddle “bivalent” booster shots for Covid-19.
Vaccines have served a useful purpose by reducing severe illness among the vulnerable and seniors. But many Americans who rolled up their sleeves for the original two-doses and even third ones were led to believe the vaccines would prevent them from getting sick. Many nevertheless fell ill. Some were knocked out for days with flulike symptoms—exactly what they were trying to avoid by getting vaccinated and boosted. Can you blame them for not buying the administration’s pitch that the new and supposedly improved bivalent boosters will “protect” them and their families?
U.S. Arms Sent to Ukraine Make Their Way to Boko Haram
When the U.S. sends nearly unlimited arms willy-nilly to Ukraine with little or no oversight, no one should be surprised when some of that weaponry enters the black market and makes its way to various bad guys and scumbags around the world.
U.S. Altered Himars Rocket Launchers to Keep Ukraine From Firing Missiles Into Russia
WASHINGTON—The U.S. secretly modified the advanced Himars rocket launchers it gave Ukraine so they can’t be used to fire long-range missiles into Russia, U.S. officials said, a precaution the Biden administration says is necessary to reduce the risk of a wider war with Moscow.
The U.S. since June has supplied Ukrainian forces with 20 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System launchers, or Himars, and a large inventory of satellite-guided rockets with a range of almost 50 miles. Those rockets, known as the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, or GMLRS, have been used to strike Russian ammunition depots, logistics supplies and command centers on Ukrainian territory.
US Funds Arabs Who Want to Destroy Israel
Some Israeli journalists who travelled to Qatar to report on the soccer World Cup were harassed and verbally abused by Arabs from several countries. The journalists were told that Israel has no right to exist and that most Arabs are opposed to any form of normalization with Israelis.
The hostile reception that the Israeli Jewish journalists received in Qatar — a wealthy emirate that has for many years embraced radical Islamists, including the Muslim Brotherhood organization — did not surprise those who are familiar with the ongoing massive incitement against Israel in some of the Arab countries.
Iran ramping up murder, kidnapping attempts in the US, Canada, and Europe – report
“These hostile [Iranian] activities and foreign interference undermine the security of Canada and Canadians, as well as our democratic values and sovereignty,” said a spokesperson from Canada’s intelligence agency.
Iran is ramping up its crackdowns on dissidents, including political activists and journalists, living abroad, and recruiting third-party criminals for assassination attempts against Iranian and Israeli nationals in Europe and North America, according to a Washington Post report.
The Post report comes on the heels of a recent warning to Iranians in the UK from the country’s MI5 intelligence agency. MI5 told dissidents that Iranian agents and paid criminals acting on their behalf were attempting to kidnap and kill critics of the regime living in London and other British localities.
Trump or Biden? Poll Suggests Americans Want Neither
As of current, former President Trump and President Joe Biden are the nations contenders for the 2024 presidential race.
However, with many Americans not on the Trump train this time around, and with the amount of destruction Biden has caused, the pickings are slim.
But nonetheless, between the two, Americans would still rather Trump in office than Biden.
I love Trump but it may be his time has passed. I am not sure DeSantis can win either however.
Widespread Power Outage in North Carolina Investigated as a ‘Criminal Occurrence’
Authorities in North Carolina said Saturday that a power outage affecting tens of thousands of people is being investigated as a “criminal occurrence.”
Gov. Roy Cooper issued a statement Sunday morning about outages and said that an investigation is underway.
He wrote that “I have spoken with Duke Energy and state law enforcement officials about the power outages in Moore County. They are investigating and working to return electricity to those impacted. The state is providing support as needed.”