01-04-Headlines

Economic/Market Report – Updated September 2024

Economic/Market Report – Updated September 2024

pgnewser September 13, 2024

US inflation rate slows as Federal Reserve prepares to lower interest rates – MSN
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The consumer price index, the top measure for inflation in the U.S., slowed in August to 2.5% in the 12-month period ending in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics who released the updated consumer price index on Wednesday.

The new data shows that inflation is now below recent norms. In the last decade, prices generally increase at a rate of 3.2% per year. In the last 20 years, consumer inflation has generally increased 3% annually.

The consumer price index weighs the costs of goods based on their importance. Items like food, shelter and energy tend to be weighted more heavily.

After annual inflation reached 9% in the middle of 2022, the Federal Reserve implemented a series of interest rate hikes in 2022 and 2023 to combat high inflation. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has stated the Federal Reserve’s goal is to reduce inflation to an annualized rate of 2%.

CEO of World’s Largest Bank Hints at Historic Crash– www.breitbart.com
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The world’s most powerful CEO just issued a grave warning to Americans: “This may be the most dangerous time the world has seen in decades.”

His comment is especially disturbing because as the CEO of JPMorgan, the world’s largest bank, Jamie Dimon has access to more financial information than anyone. And he didn’t rise to power as a hot-head or doom-and-gloomer. He is calm, calculating, and knows the gravity of his words.

So, if he believes political instability is reaching a boiling point, one that could even hurt the world’s largest bank, smart investors know to take evasive action.

Dimon later got more specific when he said, “The danger is government debt and inflation.”

Boeing Workers Vote to Strike After Rejecting Pay Deal – Republic World
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Boeing workers have voted to go on strike after the members of the aircraft maker’s largest union overwhelmingly rejected a contract offer on Thursday. The vote by machinists, who construct Boeing’s 737, 777, and 767 jets, comes as their current contract is set to expire at midnight Friday local time.

The strike vote is significant because it affects a substantial portion of Boeing’s workforce in the Seattle area, totaling 33,000 machinists. This action could impact the company’s efforts to ramp up production and improve its reputation, which has suffered recently due to quality and safety issues.

Klaus Schwab says world is on ‘the cusp of a profound systemic transformation’– www.lifesitenews.com
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(The Sociable) — World Economic Forum (WEF) founder Klaus Schwab says that the world is undergoing a profound systemic transformation driven by five interconnected shifts.

In the introduction to the WEF Annual Report 2023-2024, the WEF founder said that we were living in transformative times and that there were a handful of factors driving this systemic transformation:

We are on the cusp of a profound systemic transformation driven by interconnected shifts in a rapidly changing world

The five “interconnected shifts” include:

  • Transition from the industrial to the intelligent age,
  • Conflictual transition from a unipolar to a multipolar world,
  • Need to transition to a green economy,
  • Demographic shifts from a young to an ageing world,
  • Societal polarization and rise of misinformation.

Biden-Harris Admin Slated To Launch New Tax On American Businesses– americanactionnews.com
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The Biden-Harris administration released new draft rules Thursday that could hike taxes on roughly 100 companies in the White House’s latest push to increase government tax revenues, according to the Washington Post.

The new guideline would establish a 15% minimum tax on profitable companies with more than $1 billion in income in an effort to thwart corporations’ attempts to use accounting techniques to reduce their tax bills, the outlet reported. The policy, referred to as the corporate alternative minimum tax (CAMT), ties taxation to “book income” — the income companies report to their investors on financial statements — rather than taxable income, and is expected to increase taxes by $20 billion in 2025.

Is Labour teetering on the edge of a rental market collapse? – Property Reporter
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“It seems that our new Labour government is picking up where its predecessors left off within the rental market landscape, driving legislative changes designed to deter landlords from the sector”
– Jonathan Samuels – Octane Capital

With Labour planning a capital gains tax attack on landlords in the Autumn Statement, Octane Capital commissioned a survey of UK landlords to gauge current sentiment within the sector.

The survey found that no less than 66% said they had already reduced the size of their investment portfolio in the last year, with reduced profitability due to previous legislative changes cited as the primary reason for these reductions.

The proposed rental market reform which includes the ban on Section 21 Notices also placed highly along with the inevitable increase in age, as many approach retirement.

52% of those surveyed also stated that when it came to their investment into the rental market, they feel less confident under the new Labour government and as many as 75% said that they are concerned that the current government may equalise capital gains tax in line with current income tax thresholds in the upcoming Autumn Statement.

US appeals court voids $564 million verdict against Bank of Montreal in Ponzi case – MSN
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Bank of Montreal persuaded a U.S. appeals court on Thursday to throw out a $564 million jury verdict against a subsidiary over its role in an approximately $3.65 billion Ponzi scheme run by convicted Minnesota businessman Tom Petters.

Citing a similar case involving Bernard Madoff, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a court-appointed trustee for the now-bankrupt Petters Co could not recover on behalf of its creditors because that firm had helped orchestrate the fraud.

The 3-0 decision by the St. Paul, Minnesota-based court overturned a November 2022 jury verdict, and directed that trustee Douglas Kelley’s case against BMO be dismissed.

Details of new US bank capital rules still uncertain with election looming – Reuters
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WASHINGTON, Sept 11 (Reuters) – U.S. bank investors, analysts and executives were trying to figure out on Wednesday how lenders would fare under revised hikes in capital requirements, with considerable uncertainty over what specifics will emerge from the Federal Reserve and other regulators, and the presidential election a looming wild card.

The Fed’s regulatory chief Michael Barr on Tuesday outlined a plan to raise big bank capital by 9%, easing an earlier proposal to hike capital 19%. It was a major concession to Wall Street banks that had lobbied to water down the “Basel” draft.

 

DNC Lawfare Assault Report Updated – September 2024

DNC Lawfare Assault Report Updated – September 2024

pgnewser September 10, 2024

Garland speech on DOJ impartiality met with skepticism – washingtonexaminer.com
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Attorney General Merrick Garland praised his employees on Thursday for their impartiality in the wake of his Justice Department pursuing some of the most politically fraught prosecutions in history.

Garland spoke about DOJ “norms” more than a dozen times during his remarks, which he delivered to the department’s workforce during an annual conference of U.S. attorneys in Washington, D.C.

“Our norms are a promise that we will not allow this department to be used as a political weapon, and our norms are a promise that we will not allow this nation to become a country where law enforcement is treated as an apparatus of politics,” Garland said.

That comment, in particular, was met with resounding applause in the room. But elsewhere, critics took issue with Garland’s emphasis on impartiality and his rejection of politically motivated prosecutions.

FBI And CISA Addresses Claims Of Hacked Voter Information – The Cyber Express
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The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have highlighted a growing concern about the spread of false claims related to voting. The announcement, titled “Just So You Know: False Claims of Hacked Voter Information Likely Intended to Sow Distrust of U.S. Elections,” aims to educate the public on how disinformation tactics are being used to manipulate perceptions and undermine trust in the U.S. electoral process.

The announcement comes amid increasing concerns over cybersecurity and the integrity of elections, particularly with the 2024 election cycle approaching. Both the FBI and CISA have observed a troubling trend where foreign actors and cybercriminals propagate misleading information about alleged breaches in U.S. voter registration databases. These claims often exaggerate or fabricate details about voter information hacking to discredit the electoral system and erode public trust.

Johnson pulls stopgap spending bill – Axios
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Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) ditched a planned vote Wednesday on his six-month stopgap funding bill that included a crackdown on non-citizen voting.

Why it matters: It’s the latest setback for Johnson, who was facing opposition from fellow Republicans as well nearly all Democrats and raises pressure on GOP leaders to find an alternative path for avoiding a shutdown in less than three weeks.

  • “No vote today because we’re in the consensus-building business,” Johnson told reporters Wednesday.
  • That likely puts off a House vote on a stopgap bill until next week at the earliest.
  • At least eight GOP lawmakers publicly came out against the bill, despite pressure from former President Trump to back it, leaving Johnson short of the votes he would need to pass it out of the chamber.

Republicans push for clean stopgap as leaders regroup on shutdown plan – The Hill
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A growing number of House Republicans say they know how the current government funding drama ends: with a clean continuing resolution (CR) that kicks the shutdown deadline to after Election Day.

The question is how Congress arrives at that conclusion.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) scrapped plans for the House to vote on his conservative funding bill Wednesday when it became clear it didn’t have the GOP votes to pass, catapulting the conference back to square one with less than a month until the shutdown deadline.

Some Republicans are pushing Johnson to make another attempt at clearing a conservative funding bill, arguing that a successful effort could help strengthen the party’s hand in forthcoming bipartisan negotiations.

Muddying the waters, former President Trump is urging Republicans to vote against any short-term funding bill that does not secure “absolute assurances on Election Security.”

U.S. House speaker withdraws spending bill that would require ID to register to vote • Virginia Mercury
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WASHINGTON — U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson pulled a six-month stopgap spending bill from heading to the floor for a vote Wednesday, scuttling efforts by the GOP to show solidarity behind their plan, which included a provision requiring ID to register to vote in federal elections.

The spending bill, released by House Republicans last week in the heat of a presidential campaign in which immigration is a central focus, had no chance of becoming law amid opposition from Democrats, a cool response from many GOP senators and a veto threat from the Biden administration.

A number of House GOP lawmakers had also come out against the legislation.

Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, told reporters that lawmakers plan to work through the weekend to find a path forward on the stopgap spending bill and language that would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote.

DeKalb GOP sues Georgia Secretary of State, claiming poor election security – Atlantic City Circle
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The DeKalb County Republican Party has filed a lawsuit against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger alleging that the encryption keys for the software used in the state’s Dominion Voting System are not stored securely.

The DeKalb GOP wants the Secretary of State’s Office to properly store the encryption keys and “immediately bring the Dominion systems used in Georgia elections into compliance with Georgia law.” The lawsuit alleges that the state’s Dominion system software has been in an “illegal and insecure state since at least 2020,” and that the Secretary of State’s Office has known this since March, 2024.

The DeKalb GOP also wants the Secretary of State’s office to make the Dominion system logs, cast-vote records and ballot images available to itself and the public for inspection within 24 hours of polls closing on Nov. 5.

The lawsuit, filed Aug. 30 in Fulton County Superior Court, was announced by the DeKalb  Republican Party on X on Monday. A hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 30.

Trump’s D.C. trial may not begin until 2026 or later, legal experts say – The Washington Post
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Donald Trump’s trial in Washington on charges of federal election obstruction may not begin until 2026 or later because of complex legal and factual issues that may ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court, according to legal experts.

Even that schedule is largely dependent on a particular outcome in the presidential election two months from now; if Vice President Kamala Harris defeats Trump, the cases against him are likely to proceed. But if Trump wins the election, he is expected to push his Justice Department to dismiss or at least shelve the charges against him.

At a hearing last week, the trial judge in the D.C. case signaled she planned to try to resolve key and complicated questions about presidential immunity in a matter of months. At the same time, U.S. District Court Judge Tanya S. Chutkan cautioned it would be “an exercise in futility” to set a new trial date, given the likely appeals.

2 of 10 criminal charges dropped against former President Trump in Georgia election case – khou.com
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The judge said this is because the charges fell under federal jurisdiction, not Georgia state law.

Trump’s Gag Order Appeal Thrown Out by NY Court of Appeals – PJ Media– pjmedia.com
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New York’s highest court rejected former President Trump’s appeal to remove the gag order by the Democrat judge overseeing his so-called hush money case.

On Sept. 12, the New York Court of Appeals, upheld the decision by a lower court to keep his gag order in place last month, after he was was convicted by a Manhattan jury.

The court dismissed Trump’s appeal on the grounds “that no substantial constitutional question is directly involved,” which continues to bar him from talking about prosecutors, court staff, and others involved in the case until after his sentencing.

2nd Circuit rejects Donald Trump’s request to halt postconviction proceedings in hush money case – ABC News
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A federal appeals court has rejected Donald Trump’s request to halt postconviction proceedings in his hush money criminal case, leaving a key ruling and the former president’s sentencing on track for after the November election

NEW YORK — A federal appeals court has rejected Donald Trump’s request to halt postconviction proceedings in his hush money criminal case, leaving a key ruling and the former president’s sentencing on track for after the November election.

A three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan cited the postponement last week of Trump’s sentencing from Sept. 18 to Nov. 26 in denying his motion for an emergency stay.

The sentencing delay, which Trump had sought, removed the urgency required for the appeals court to consider pausing proceedings.

Fani Willis Will Defy Subpoena to Testify before Georgia State Senate Hearing, Committee Chair Warns– slaynews.com
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Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is expected to defy a subpoena from the Georgia State Senate for her testimony during a Friday hearing.

The Senate Special Committee on Investigations subpoenaed Willis to compel her testimony related to the committee’s investigation into allegations she misused taxpayer funds.

The committee’s chairman, Republican state Sen. Bill Cowsert, is warning that Willis will not show up to the hearing.

Cowsert said after Willis refused to testify voluntarily, the committee issued a subpoena.

Judge in Trump Non-Disclosure and Records Case Sued for Hiding His Disclosures and Records – PJ Media– pjmedia.com
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…Let us consider Judge Merchan’s patterns.

  • He’s a Democrat
  • He gave money to the Democrats’ “Stop Donald Trump and his Right Wing Legacy” fund
  • His grown daughter is the president of a Democrat political operation that helps Trump’s legislative enemies such as impeacher and Russian Collusion hoaxer, Adam Schiff
  • His daughter’s political operation used Daddy’s Trump trial to fundraise for her political customers 
  • Kamala Harris hired daddy’s daughter’s political shop to help with her presidential campaign
  • He was selected by insiders at the DA’s office, not a random selection, to preside over the trial because he’d overseen, others say mishandled, Trump cases before
  • “He actually should be the last person selected, given the potential conflict,” said  Christopher Brennan, a former Manhattan assistant district attorney about Merchan’s selection
  • He ignored how the DA stacked charges against Trump, an ethics breach
  • He ignored how the alleged illegal misdemeanor acts were dead issues because the statute of limitations had run
  • He waved away concerns that the alleged ersatz felony charge bootstrapped to these misdemeanors and reanimated them into a live issue was neither spelled out to the jury nor the defendant, in violation of his rights
  • He gagged the defendant in a complete reversal of courtroom protocol. Gag orders are to protect defendants not hurt them
  • Several ethics complaints have been filed against Merchan
  • On undercover video, DOJ’s SDNY spokesman called this Trump case, “a perversion of justice,” “a travesty of justice,” “a mockery of justice,” and “nonsense.” He can’t be the only one who thinks this.

Jack Smith’s Anti-Trump Jan 6 Trial Postponed Beyond Election Day– slaynews.com
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Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 lawfare trial against President Donald Trump, originally scheduled before the 2024 presidential election, has officially been postponed.

The trial has been delayed by Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan, a Barack Obama appointee.

Facing charges stemming from Smith’s “investigation” into the events surrounding the protests at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, Trump will not be tried until after the election.

During a Thursday morning status hearing at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Judge Chutkan reached a decision impacting the timing of Trump’s trial.

Judge rules voting machine company’s defamation suit against Newsmax can go to trial– thehill.com
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A voting machine company’s defamation lawsuit against Newsmax appears to be headed toward trial following a judge in Delaware’s ruling on Thursday.

The Florida-based company, Smartmatic, accused Newsmax and other conservative media outlets of airing defamatory statements that implied the company rigged the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Newsmax argued it was reporting on newsworthy allegations made by former President Trump and his allies, though the company previously issued a clarification saying, “it has not reported true certain claims made about these companies.”

Both Newsmax and Smartmatic asked Superior Court Judge Eric Davis to rule in their favor without the case going to trial. Davis granted partial summary judgment but said a jury will decide key issues. The trial is scheduled to start Sept. 30, The Associated Press reported.

Spokesman For Manhattan US Attorney’s Office Caught on Tape Ripping DA Bragg Over Trump Prosecution; Calls Case ‘Nonsense’– amgreatness.com
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The top Department of Justice spokesman for the Southern District of New York was caught on a hidden camera lambasting Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s prosecution of former President Donald Trump, calling the case “nonsense” and accusing Democrats of being “out to get” the Republican presidential nominee.

Nicholas Biase, chief spokesman for the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office, was secretly recorded in July and August dishing about Bragg and his “hush-money” case against Trump by an undercover journalist for conservative commentator Steven Crowder’s “Mug Club.”

Crowder released the shocking footage on Thursday, saying at the onset that Biase was “not the bad guy here,” but an “unwitting whistleblower.”

“Honestly, I think the case is nonsense,” Biase said on July 31 to the unidentified female journalist during what appeared to be a date at a crowded bar.

NY Judge Delays Trump Sentencing Until After The Election– thefederalist.com
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The Biden donor judge overseeing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s criminal prosecution and a New York jury’s coached conviction of former President Donald Trump this week delayed Trump’s sentencing hearing until after the 2024 election.

Judge Juan Merchan, the acting justice of the New York State Supreme Court, announced Friday that he will postpone his decision on how long Trump should be jailed until November 26, exactly three weeks after Election Day 2024. Trump faces up to 136 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of 34 counts of bookkeeping fraud.

Bragg initially indicted Trump on claims that he violated the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) when his former attorney Michael Cohen paid pornographic actress Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about an alleged affair.

Nondisclosure deals like Trump’s are perfectly legal and don’t meet the threshold for criminal charges beyond a misdemeanor. Bragg, who campaigned on vengeance against the Republican, however, ignored the FEC and Department of Justice’s decision not to charge Trump over the payment and pursued a felony prosecution.

Cornel West disqualified from Georgia’s ballot, judge rules – 11 Alive
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The decision means votes for West won’t be counted in Georgia, although his name will remain on ballots because the judge said it’s too late to remove it.

ATLANTA — A Georgia state court judge on Wednesday disqualified independent presidential candidate Cornel West from running for president in the state, ruling that West’s electors didn’t file the proper paperwork.

For now at least, the decision means votes for West won’t be counted in Georgia, although his name will remain on ballots because the judge said it’s too late to remove it.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas A. Cox ruled it was too late to order new ballots printed, with military and overseas ballots scheduled to be mailed starting Tuesday. Instead, Cox ordered the state to post notices in polling places warning West had been disqualified and votes for him would be void, a common remedy in Georgia for late election changes.

It’s OK To ‘Help’ Mentally Incapacitated Relatives With Ballots– thefederalist.com
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The New York Times encouraged a reader last week to “help” a 97-year-old woman with advanced memory loss — who is “becoming nearly impossible to communicate with” — to complete her ballot.

“When the situation is hazy, my inclination would be to err on the side of helping someone to vote, because voting is such a central form of civic participation,” wrote the Times’ “Ethicist” Columnist Kwame Anthony Appiah.

A reader wrote the Times, saying the grandmother has “advanced” Alzheimer’s and hearing loss. The reader wanted to know if it would be “unethical” to help the elderly woman vote in November, likely having the grandma do “the mechanics of voting” while family members “advise her.”

The reader claimed to have helped the grandmother fill out her absentee ballot in 2020.

Former Top FBI Official Spills the Beans on Biden-Harris DOJ, Says Mar-a-Lago Raid ‘Just Didn’t Smell Right’ – westernjournal.com

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Excerpt from www.westernjournal.com

A former top FBI official has revealed that he worried the FBI’s 2022 raid on Mar-a-Lago would backfire.

In August 2022, the FBI swooped in on the residence of former President Donald Trump as part of its investigation into whether Trump improperly;y kept classified documents in his possession after leaving the White House.

“I was worried about it increasing distrust in us,” Steve D’Antuono, the head of the Washington Field Office of the FBI at the time, said, according to NBC.

“We all thought this posed a risk to us both professionally and personally. I can’t impress upon you the pressure,” the retired FBI official said.

D’Antuono said expressing his reservations during a high-stakes meeting on the raid led to him being scolded.

Chutkan Laughs Off Supreme Court Immunity Ruling In D.C. Trump Trial – The Federalist

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The federal judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial in Washington, D.C., scoffed at the Supreme Court’s decision this summer that recognized presidential immunity for official acts in office.

On Thursday, attorneys representing the ex-president objected to continued proceedings they argued run afoul of the high court’s ruling in July. In that decision a concurring opinion from Justice Clarence Thomas questioned the legitimacy of Jack Smith’s appointment as special counsel.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed Trump’s classified documents case brought by Smith in Florida after the former president’s attorneys called the special counsel’s appointment illegal. D.C. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, however, said in Thursday’s hearing that Cannon’s argument for dismissal was not “particularly persuasive,” according to Politico reporter Kyle Cheney.

The New York Times reported that Chutkan “chuckle[d]” and slightly rolled her eyes in the courtroom Thursday when Trump’s attorneys argued the Supreme Court was “crystal clear” in rulings on immunity. Trump’s legal team had previously petitioned to remove the Obama-appointed judge from the case over her prejudicial statements against the former president and his supporters, particularly in rulings related to the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. Chutkan, however, denied requests to recuse herself from the case and allow the prosecution to proceed outside of the nation’s capital.

Trump Pleads Not Guilty In Revised Election Fraud Case – BERNAMA

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Former US president Donald Trump is continuing to plead not guilty following the publication of a revised indictment in the election fraud case against him, according to a court document filed by his lawyers on Tuesday, the German news agency (dpa) reported.

The document states that Trump waived his right to be present in court at the next hearing related to the case. He has authorised his lawyers to plead not guilty on his behalf.

The Republican and several others are accused of trying to reverse the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

Trump’s Legal Team Requests Dismissal of Jack Smith’s Jan 6 Case – slaynews.com

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Excerpt from slaynews.com

President Donald Trump’s attorney and Special Counsel Jack Smith have jointly filed for a status update in light of presidential immunity in the Jan. 6 case.

Smith filed a superseding indictment last week that narrowed and adjusted charges to avoid the new ruling’s pitfalls, ABC News reported.

In an attempt to salvage his case against Trump, Smith made necessary changes to his indictment that would circumvent presidential immunity.

Meanwhile, Trump’s legal team has humiliated Smith by asking that the charges be dismissed entirely.

The conflict arose following a Supreme Court decision that granted presidential immunity to much of Trump’s conduct during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

How the court will proceed is still unknown, but Trump and Smith filed Friday to clarify that.

Trump’s attorneys have requested that any further legal proceedings happen after the November election.

Judge rejects Trump bid to make NY case federal – The Week

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.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein rejected Donald Trump’s long-shot motion to move his New York criminal case to federal court. Trump was convicted on 34 fraud counts in May for paying hush money to a porn actress.

Hellerstein’s decision is a blow to Trump’s “persistent efforts to escape the consequences” of the Manhattan jury’s verdict, The New York Times said. The New York prosecution is the only one of four felony cases Trump has not successfully delayed or halted.

Trump’s lawyers spar with judge in Washington election interference case – aljazeera.com

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Excerpt from www.aljazeera.com

A tense hearing has unfolded in one of former United States President Donald Trump’s four criminal cases, as his defence team questioned the legitimacy of the proceedings.

Thursday’s hearing took place before US District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, DC, where Trump faces four felony counts for attempting to overturn the 2020 US presidential election.

Trump himself was not present at the proceedings. But from the outset, defence lawyer John Lauro cast doubt on the validity of the charges and the timing of the case.

“We may be dealing with an illegitimate indictment from the get-go,” Lauro told the court.

Judge: U.S. can lay out Trump election interference evidence this month – The Washington Post

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A federal judge called Thursday for prosecutors and defense attorneys to file significant legal briefs in Donald Trump’s 2020 election subversion case before voters head to the ballot box in November, rejecting the former president’s request to move at a slower pace.

After a testy one-hour hearing in federal court in D.C., U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan granted a proposal by special counsel Jack Smith’s office to make its case about the limits of Trump’s immunity by Sept. 26, with other filings due in the weeks that follow.

Her scheduling order offers the first glimpse into how the case will proceed after the Supreme Court ruled that presidents cannot be prosecuted for their official conduct, upending the Trump prosecution and forcing the special counsel to seek a superseding indictment.

Trump asks federal appeals court for stay in hush money case sentencing – WHIO

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Excerpt from news.google.com

A day after former President Donald Trump asked a federal appeals court for a stay that would delay the sentencing in his New York hush money case, the Manhattan district attorney’s office on Thursday asked the court to reject Trump’s request.

Trump’s longshot attempt to delay his Sept. 18 sentencing came a day after District Judge Alvin Hellerstein denied Trump’s bid to move his criminal case to federal court.

In a 28-page filing late Wednesday, Trump’s attorneys asked the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to stay Judge Hellerstein’s order — a move that would delay Trump’s criminal case, including his sentencing, from moving forward.

“Absent the requested stay, President Trump and the American people will suffer irreparable harm,” defense attorneys Emil Bove and Todd Blanche wrote.

Appeals court seems skeptical of Trump’s bid to overturn sexual abuse verdict in E. Jean Carroll case  – POLITICO

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Excerpt from trendingpoliticsnews.com

The FBI on Wednesday raised the homes of at least two senior aides to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, according to a report from Politico.

FBI agents conducted searches of the homes of First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks III early Wednesday morning. Investigators also seized electronic devices belong to each official.

Agents also searched the home of Timothy Pearson, a former high-ranking official in the New York Police Department who now advises Mayor Adams on public safety.

FBI Raids Homes Of Two Top Aides To NYC Mayor Eric Adams – trendingpoliticsnews.com

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Excerpt from trendingpoliticsnews.com

The FBI on Wednesday raised the homes of at least two senior aides to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, according to a report from Politico.

FBI agents conducted searches of the homes of First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks III early Wednesday morning. Investigators also seized electronic devices belong to each official.

Agents also searched the home of Timothy Pearson, a former high-ranking official in the New York Police Department who now advises Mayor Adams on public safety.

DA Fani Willis Brought ‘Ex-Lover’ Nathan Wade to Scene of Daughter’s Arrest – legalinsurrection.com

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Excerpt from legalinsurrection.com

Fulton County DA Fani Willis arrived at the scene of her daughter’s arrest with former special prosecutor Nathan Wade.

Wait. I thought their love affair ended.

Willis is the DA in charge of the Georgia case against Donald Trump for alleged election interference.

Willis came under fire for her relationship with then-special prosecutor Wade. They claimed the fling didn’t start until after she appointed him to the position and it ended.

The judge said Willis or Wade had to leave the case. Wade chose to step down.

Nonviolent ‘J6 Granny’ Slapped With Bitter Sentence – PJ Media– pjmedia.com
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On January 6th, 2021, personal friend, grandmother and engaged civil servant in her hometown of Santa Ynez, California Karen Jones was essentially, if you’ll excuse what has become a cliché, a tourist — a nonviolent, by the admission of the court, American visiting the Capitol she helps pay for via taxes.

New rules for ballot drop boxes in Ohio puts restrictions on who can use them – BG Independent News
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The latest attempt to prevent voter fraud in Ohio will make it more difficult for voters to use ballot drop boxes and make more work for election workers across the state.

On Wednesday morning, the Wood County Board of Elections discussed the impact of Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s recent directive that only those people dropping off their own ballots may use the drop box.

That means people dropping off ballots for family members must come into the board of elections during business hours and fill out paperwork attesting to their relationship to the voter. They cannot use the drop off box.

Nearly four million Ohioans voted last November, with approximately 25% voting absentee, according to state data.

So the state directive could mean a lot more work for election workers across the state.

14 pro-Trump electors linked to efforts to reverse his 2020 loss are back for 2024 -wyso.org
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Fourteen presidential electors linked to efforts to reverse former President Donald Trump’s 2020 defeat are currently back on their states’ Republican slates of representatives to the Electoral College for the 2024 election.

Four years ago, what have been known as “fake electors” gathered in seven mainly swing states where Trump lost the popular vote to sign certificates that became part of a scheme by the former president and his allies to try to overturn the election results.

This year’s return of some of these Republicans as potential electors — confirmed in recent weeks through party filings to state election officials — raises questions about what they will do if Trump loses in their states again. The GOP nominee, who is facing four felony counts related to leading conspiracies to reverse the 2020 results and disenfranchise millions of voters, has refused to commit to unconditionally accepting the results of the upcoming 2024 election while continuing to repeat the lie that the 2020 election was “stolen” from him.

The returning Republican electors are:

  • Michigan: Amy Facchinello, Hank Choate, John Haggard, Marian Sheridan, Meshawn Maddock, Timothy King
  • Nevada: Jesse Law, Michael McDonald
  • New Mexico: Deborah Maestas
  • Pennsylvania: Andy Reilly, Ash Khare, Bernadette Comfort, Bill Bachenberg, Patricia Poprick

‘Woke’ DA sued by his own office for allegedly protecting ethics chief charged with felonies– www.foxnews.com
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Excerpt:

The union representing hundreds of Los Angeles prosecutors is once again suing their boss, District Attorney George Gascon, this time for withholding information on a close ally in alleged violation of the California Public Records Act (CPRA).

The Association of Deputy District Attorneys (ADDA) sought information about Diana Teran, a top Gascon aide who is facing felony charges, in May and received an incomplete response, according to a 200-page court filing unveiled Thursday. Prosecutors sought her emails and information about whether she remained on the county payroll after her indictment. They also wanted to know if county taxpayers were on the hook for her criminal defense.

The lawsuit seeks to force Gascon’s office to disclose the requested records, to declare the DA in violation of the CPRA and to pay the ADDA’s attorney fees for the lawsuit and the denied requests.

Republicans challenge North Carolina decision that lets students show university’s mobile ID – ABC News
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RALEIGH, N.C. — The Republican Party sued North Carolina’s elections board on Thursday to block students and employees at the state’s flagship public university from offering a digital identification as a way to comply with a relatively new photo voter ID law.

The Republican National Committee and North Carolina filed the lawsuit in Wake County Superior Court three weeks after the Democratic majority on the State Board of Elections approved the “Mobile UNC One Card” generated by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a qualifying ID.

The law says qualifying IDs must meet several photo and security requirements to be approved by the board. The UNC-Chapel Hill digital ID, which is voluntary for students and staff and available on Apple phones, marks the qualification of the first such ID posted from someone’s smartphone.

2020 election deniers ordered to pay $1 million in Pennsylvania voting machine dispute  – WSIL TV

House Democrats ask Trump if he illegally accepted $10 million from Egypt  – The Washington Post

Judge mulls sentencing delay in Trump hush money trial as Putin trolls Harris over her laugh: Live updates  – The Independent

Alaska Supreme Court keeps federal prisoner on ballot for U.S. House race after appeal denied  – Alaska’s News Source

Election Law Report – September 2024

Election Law Report – September 2024

pgnewser September 10, 2024

 

Fears mount that election deniers could disrupt vote count in US swing states – The Guardian
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Excerpt:

Fears are rising that the vote count in November’s presidential election could be disrupted as a result of the proliferation of Donald Trump’s lies about stolen elections and rampant voter fraud in the key swing states where the race for the White House will be decided.

A new survey of eight vital swing states reveals that at least 239 election deniers who have signed up to Trump’s “election integrity” conspiracy theories – including the false claim that the 2020 election was rigged against him – are actively engaged in electoral battles this year. The deniers are standing for congressional or state seats, holding Republican leadership positions, and overseeing elections on state and county election boards.

The report by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), a watchdog group focusing on special interests distorting US democracy, reveals the extent of denial in the eight critical states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. It shows that corrosive efforts to damage public confidence in elections have proliferated there despite the drubbing the election denial movement received in the 2022 midterms….

“What was striking to us about our research is how much election denialism and the voter fraud lie have infiltrated and taken over the Republican apparatus in each of these critical states,” said CMD’s executive director Arn Pearson.

Election Deniers Want AI Cameras to Stream Footage of Ballot Dropboxes – wired.com
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Excerpt:

Engelbrecht has also said the group is looking to roll out dropbox monitoring in multiple states, and mentioned Michigan as a possible location, though most of her focus appears to be on Wisconsin.

In her interview with Wallnau, Engelbrecht added that she was working with “three influential sheriffs” in Wisconsin, though didn’t name them.

WIRED contacted two dozen sheriffs from Wisconsin’s largest counties, but did not find a single one who was going to be part of the monitoring effort. Engelbrecht and Truth the Vote did not respond to multiple requests for comment from WIRED to name the sheriffs who have agreed to be part of the program.

“True the Vote has reached out to the Sheriff’s Office regarding ideas as they relate to election integrity and possible law violations,” Deputy Inspector Patrick R. Esser, from the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department, tells WIRED. “True the Vote proposed the idea of donating cameras to the sheriff’s office to monitor election sites, however, the obstacles associated with that idea made it impractical.”

While most sheriff offices WIRED contacted did not respond to requests for comment, a number, including offices in Buffalo County and Polk County, said they had not even heard about the dropbox initiative. “I was unaware of the plan and will not be participating,” Sheriff Mike Osmond from Buffalo County tells WIRED. “I am not sure if they are legal or not but do not have interest in implementing such a program.”

Conservatives expect Johnson will embrace proof-of-citizenship voting in anti-shutdown measure – The Hill

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Excerpt:

Hard-line conservatives expect Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will embrace their favored tactic by bringing a stopgap bill to the House floor next week that includes a proof-of-citizenship voting bill and would extend government funding into 2025.

Such a move would not only grant a win to the House GOP’s conservative wing, but would tee up a showdown with the Democratic-controlled Senate and White House, which both object to the voting bill. Congress faces a Sept. 30 deadline to prevent a shutdown.

Johnson’s office has not confirmed the funding plan, but Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) — a key member of the House Freedom Caucus who has been in discussions with leadership as he advocates for the strategy — is publicly expressing confidence about the next step.

It’s Schumer’s Fault If Government Shuts Down over Noncitizens Voting  – breitbart.com

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Excerpt from www.breitbart.com

LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) told reporters at the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) annual leadership meeting that if Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) refuses to allow a vote on a bill to require proof of citizenship to vote in U.S. elections, and the government shuts down as a result, that will be his own fault.

Scott was referring to the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, also known as the SAVE Act, which “requires individuals to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship in order to register to vote in federal elections.”

As Breitbart News has reported, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) is considering attaching the SAVE Act to a stopgap spending measure that would have to be signed by September 30 to keep the federal government open.

Scott told Breitbart News that Johnson was moving ahead with the idea in the House: “I think he has the votes.”

Asked whether there was some risk to Republicans of a government shutdown ahead of the presidential election, Scott suggested that if Schumer allowed a shutdown over non-citizens voting, Democrats would suffer instead.

Dems Will Reject Chance To Keep Noncitizens Out Of Elections – thefederalist.com

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Excerpt from thefederalist.com

All but five Democrats voted in July against the Republican-led Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote. But Speaker Mike Johnson is reportedly giving Democrats another opportunity to safeguard our elections by tying the bill to a continuing resolution (CR) that would keep the government funded through March.

After Democrats let millions of illegal immigrants into the country, Republicans introduced the SAVE Act. Currently, voters must simply check a box affirming they are a citizen when registering to vote — nothing more than the honor system.

Johnson, according to Punchbowl News, is planning on tying the CR to the SAVE Act. Utah Sen. Mike Lee previously expressed support for tying the two together, telling Fox News in August that attaching the legislation to the spending bill is “the best way to move that through, to make sure that the 10 million plus illegal immigrants who have come in in the last 3 and a half years, and the estimated roughly 30 million noncitizens total in the United States aren’t voting in this November’s election.”

Speaker Mike Johnson Pushes for Election Integrity Bill Amid Government Funding Debate  – Shockya.com

Democrat-Controlled States Refuse To Fix Election Problems – thefederalist.com

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Excerpt from thefederalist.com

President Joe Biden has vowed to veto the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which simply requires proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. His promise was made in reaction to congressional Republicans who want to include it with any continuing resolution required to fund the next fiscal year, which begins on Oct. 1. The president’s adamant opposition to what most Americans support demonstrates just how much Democrats are dedicated to making it easier to cheat in elections.

On Dec. 16, 2020, as chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, I held a hearing titled, “Examining the Irregularities in the 2020 election.” In spite of the wailing and gnashing of teeth from the election irregularity deniers, there were many indisputable irregularities.

In Wisconsin, 170,000 faulty absentee ballots in Milwaukee and Dane County were improperly counted by election clerks. Representatives of the far-left “Zuckerbucks” program — which is designed to pour left-wing dollars into local election offices, benefiting their Democrat candidates — imposed such heavy-handed direction in Green Bay that the local election clerk resigned from the stress and allowed Zuckerberg’s minions to run the election. “Democracy in the Park” was allowed in Madison, where activists unlawfully collected 17,300 ballots. Seniors in nursing homes voted without the required voting deputies present, bordering on elder abuse for political gain. As was the case in other states, election observers were not allowed to effectively observe the election process.

Biden Admin Dismisses Noncitizen Voting As ‘Already Illegal’ – thefederalist.com

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Excerpt from thefederalist.com

White House Press Sec. Karine Jean-Pierre reassured reporters Tuesday that “it is already illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections.” Cue the nationwide sigh of relief: At last, we can sleep easy knowing noncitizens won’t vote, because — surprise! — it’s against the law.

But do you know what else is also “already illegal?”

Drunk driving. Yet roughly one million people are arrested each year in the United States for drunk driving, according to Better Life Recovery & Wellness, and “results from surveys show that this number represents only a small portion of the actual number of alcohol-impaired drivers behind the wheel each year.”

It’s also “already illegal” for someone under the age of 21 to buy or drink alcohol, yet 12.6 million people between the ages of 12 and 20 have reported having at least one alcoholic drink in their life, according to the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

RNC Appeals PA Court Decision That Scrapped Ballot Dating Rule – thefederalist.com

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Excerpt from thefederalist.com

After a court in Pennsylvania scrapped enforcement of a law requiring that mail-in ballots be properly dated in order to be counted, the Republican National Committee is asking the state supreme court to weigh in.

The RNC, joined by the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, intervened in the case brought by multiple left-wing groups (represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania), while the counsel of Secretary of State Al Schmidt (a Republican official named as defendant in the suit) filed a brief in support of the petitioners.

“We have reached a point of true absurdity in election law litigation. A court that does not even have jurisdiction over this matter somehow concluded that asking people to write down a date on the envelope in which they transmit their mail-in ballots imposes a ‘severe burden’ on their ability to vote,” Derek Lyons, president and CEO of Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections and former counselor to President Donald Trump, told The Federalist.

“Let’s be clear: Even second-graders know how to write the date on their schoolwork, so every adult voter can do likewise on their ballot envelope with no trouble whatsoever. Next, we will find out that asking people to mark their own ballots is also a constitutional violation. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court must act quickly to reverse this decision and end this madness.”

Pennsylvania fails to resolve key election disputes ahead of 2024 voting– Washington Examiner

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Excerpt from www.washingtonexaminer.com

Early voting is poised to get underway in several states this month. The Washington Examiner will take a closer look at the swing states, including voting rules you need to know and key differences from prior elections. Part three of Battleground Ballots will focus on what has changed in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state that is likely to determine which candidate wins the presidency. 

Pennsylvania is poised to face many of the same challenges in 2024 that it experienced in the 2020 election which led to the state not being called for President Joe Biden until days after Election Day.

The dayslong delay in determining the winner sparked widespread accusations of voter fraud in Pennsylvania, leading to the Keystone State being among the battleground states that faced lawsuits from former President Donald Trump’s campaign in 2020. Four years later, state legislators have failed to resolve the key disputes over ballot tabulation and certification that prompted the backlog.

Pennsylvania has established itself as the cornerstone of the 2024 election, with its 19 electoral votes and battleground status making it among the biggest prizes on election night and crucial to winning the presidency. The state was paramount to Trump’s victory in 2016 as well as Biden’s in 2020, prompting both parties to pour millions of dollars into the state to secure a pathway to the White House.

Some changes have been made in the state since 2020, such as a lower court ruling last week that would require counties to notify voters if their ballots are at risk of being rejected. Another ruling passed down last week would overturn a state requirement to throw out ballots if they are not correctly dated.

Fake ‘Non-Partisan’ Voter Registration Group Rigging Outreach to Exclude Republicans – lidblog.com

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Excerpt from lidblog.com

The Voter Participation Center claims to be a non-partisan voter registration outfit. But they are liars because an expose of their outreach shows they only work to register new Democrat voters.

According to the expose published by the Washington Free Beacon, this group is spending millions of Facebook ads to get new voters to use their voter registration system. But they are rigging their ads to exclude Facebook users whose Facebook data shows are right leaning people.

It appears that the group is making sure people whose Facebook data shows like things including Jeeps, NASCAR, and golf are excluded from their ad outreach.

Per The Beacon:

The Voter Participation Center is a self-described “non-partisan” charity that claims to have helped more than six million people register to vote since its inception in 2003. The group’s claim to be “non-partisan” is important because the IRS is clear that charities, beneficiaries of generous tax exemptions, can only engage in voter registration drives in a “neutral, non-partisan manner.” The IRS prohibits charities from engaging in voter registration activities in a manner that favors a candidate or political party.

On the surface, the Voter Participation Center’s Facebook ads appear to meet that non-partisan standard. “It’s quick and easy to register online to vote in Georgia. Check it off your to-do list in just a few minutes here,” reads one of the organization’s ads that has received over one million impressions in the swing state.

But behind the scenes, Facebook ad library data indicate the Voter Participation Center’s ad campaign is deployed with partisan intent. The group has instructed Facebook to exclude from the reach of its ads anyone with expressed interests in 26 categories typically associated with Republican men, including the “PGA Tour,” “Indianapolis 500,” “Daytona 500,” “Tom Clancy,” “Modified Jeeps,” “Duck Dynasty,” and others.

RNC Urges Election Officials To Scrutinize Dem-Aligned Group Registering Patients To Vote in Hospitals – freebeacon.com

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Excerpt from freebeacon.com

The Republican National Committee on Tuesday sent letters to election officials in six swing states urging them to monitor Vot-ER, the nonprofit that helps doctors register their patients to vote, for possible violations of election law, according to copies of the letters obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

Addressed to secretaries of state in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Arizona, and Nevada, the letters argue that Vot-ER is “weaponizing the healthcare system” for partisan ends and “threatening … election integrity” with its materials, which have been used to register patients in emergency rooms, substance abuse clinics, and even psychiatric hospitals.

“It is not difficult to imagine how a patient could feel pressured to register to vote or support a certain candidate to receive medical care,” the letters say. “The RNC is and always has been a staunch supporter of voter registration and participation, but this perversion of the doctor-patient relationship raises serious legal concerns given the laws and regulations governing that relationship and voter registration.”

Michigan Court of Appeals Rules to Remove RFK Jr. from Presidential Ballot Amid Tight Race – Hoodline
Excerpt:
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In a recent turn of events, Michigan’s Court of Appeals has decided that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s name should be stricken from the state’s upcoming November presidential ballot. This ruling, delivered on Friday, countervails a prior determination from the Michigan Court of Claims which had posited that Kennedy, despite his desired withdrawal from the race, must be included on the ballot—itself a reflection of the Michigan Secretary of State’s stance.

Battleground ballots: 2024 election to test Michigan’s new voting laws – washingtonexaminer.com

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Excerpt from www.washingtonexaminer.com

Early voting is poised to get underway in several states this month. The Washington Examiner will take a closer look at the swing states, including voting rules you need to know and key differences from prior elections. Part four of Battleground Ballots will focus on what has changed in Michigan, a key battleground state that has been key to winning the blue wall in recent cycles.

The legal framework governing how Michigan residents vote has been drastically overhauled since 2020, with November’s election representing a pressure test for the new system.

Since 2020, Michigan has introduced a raft of new voting laws after the state passed a ballot proposal in 2022 amending its constitution, according to Erica Peresman, a senior adviser to Promote the Vote, a coalition of Michigan organizations focused on voting.

Chief among the changes is that every municipality in Michigan is now required to offer early voting for at least nine consecutive days starting on the second Saturday before Election Day and ending on the Sunday before Nov. 5 for at least eight hours each day. That is in addition to no-reason absentee voting, which Michigan has had statewide since 2019.

Judge Rules Election Officials CAN’T Reject Online Voter Registrations with Electronic Signatures in Arkansas – conservativeroof.com

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Excerpt from conservativeroof.com

Obama-appointed Judge Timothy L. Brooks has potentially paved the way for voter fraud in Arkansas.

On Thursday, Judge Brooks decided that Arkansas election officials must accept online voter registration applications signed with digital or electronic signatures for the upcoming election. This ruling overturns a previous requirement that called for handwritten signatures to verify voter authenticity…

Judge Brooks, aligning with far-left advocacy groups such as Get Loud Arkansas (GLA) and Vote.org, chose to block the rule. In his decision, Brooks argued that the “wet signature” requirement could potentially violate the Materiality Provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“The Court then ORDERED from the Bench that Defendants, (and their respective agents, officers, employees, and successors, and all persons acting in concert with each or any of them) were PRELIMINARILY ENJOINED from enforcing the wet signature rule AND from rejecting or refusing to accept any voter registration application on the ground that it was signed with a digital or electronic signature,” Brooks said in its ruling.

PA Dems Recruited Out-Of-State Poll Watchers, Defying Law – thefederalist.com

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Excerpt from thefederalist.com

It was kind of weird when the Pennsylvania Department of State started a website in February specifically aimed at “combatting damaging misinformation and disinformation” about election integrity.

Weird, because, as a check and balance, the media is supposed to watchdog the government (although too often they don’t) and yet this is a government-run website telling the public that the government is doing things right. It’s akin to state-run media openly favored by socialist regimes.

Now the Republican National Committee (RNC) sent an Aug. 29 letter to the Pennsylvania Department of State asking it to add misinformation it discovered to the state website. It was an opportunity for the Department of State to let its election misinformation website shine.

The RNC noticed the Pennsylvania Democrats’ website had a recruitment ad seeking volunteers to join its “Voter Protection Team” to watch the vote. A screenshot saved by the RNC shows the website said, “Election Day poll observers must be physically present in Pennsylvania for their shift but do not necessarily have to be Pennsylvania voters.”

AZ Counties Are Failing To Take Nonctizens Off Voter Rolls – thefederalist.com

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Excerpt from thefederalist.com

Arizona’s 15 counties are refusing to undertake required procedures to ensure foreign nationals are removed from the voter rolls, an “amended” lawsuit filed Tuesday alleges.

Brought on behalf of the Strong Communities Foundation of Arizona and resident Yvonne Cahill, the legal challenge argues that the Grand Canyon State’s 15 election recorders “have failed to take the actions required by law to ensure that foreign citizens are removed from their voter rolls.” Plaintiffs are represented by America First Legal (AFL) and a law firm headed by former Arizona Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Wright.

“This lawsuit seeks to restore public trust in our State’s electoral system by holding the Defendants accountable for their failures and to ensure that the list maintenance required by the law—and common sense—is performed,” the filing reads.

Tuesday’s challenge is an “amended” version of a complaint filed against Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer early last month, according to a press release from AFL regarding the lawsuit.

Plaintiffs similarly alleged that Richer “ignored” his legally mandated obligation to “ensure” the removal of noncitizens from the locality’s voter rolls. A representative from Richer’s office previously told The Federalist that, while Richer had yet to be served the suit at that point, the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office “prioritizes and prides itself on maintaining accurate, up-to-date voter rolls,” and “will continue to follow the letter of the law.”

The Left Is Attempting To Take Over Local Election Offices – thefederalist.com

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Excerpt from thefederalist.com

Democrats have been on a swing-state crusade to rid election boards of anyone who is more concerned with the fairness and accuracy of our elections than with making sure the Democrat comes out on top. The left’s strategy is predictable yet effective. Utilizing a sophisticated information campaign that includes law articles, op-eds, boots-on-the-ground activism, and large amounts of funding from a handful of elite megadonors, the crusade targets GOP candidates at the local level, as Politico recently reported.

The assault seeks to guarantee a Democrat victory regardless of the outcome. Activist groups armed with millions in dark money promote down-ballot candidates and pop-up, astroturfed organizations, all run and funded by the same entities, with the goal of unseating Republican candidates who champion election integrity. These same groups work to make election boards a toothless rubber stamp on election results, regardless of glaring irregularities or inconsistencies in the process.

Their efforts follow a well-established pattern. For years, the left covertly poured millions into district attorney races, engaging in what Politico called a “quiet overhaul of the U.S. Justice System.” The strategy was clear: Pick the prosecutor. Pick what’s prosecuted.

Dem-Run Election Board’s Mail-In Ballot Rule Breaks NC Law– thefederalist.com
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Excerpt:

Guidance on mail-in ballot envelopes issued by North Carolina’s Democrat-controlled election board violates state law, a legal challenge filed Tuesday alleges.

Brought by the Republican National Committee, North Carolina GOP, and a state resident, the lawsuit alleges that the rules put forward by the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) governing absentee ballot security envelopes contradict statutory requirements approved by the state general assembly. Individual members of the NCSBE are named as defendants in the suit.

At issue is a 2021 memo issued by the board to local election officials that plaintiffs argue “undermines the protections afforded by the General Assembly’s carefully drafted absentee-voting statutes.”

Election official turnover significant in California amid threats, misinformation  – CBS News

Iran-Russia-Armenia Conflict Report Updated – September 2024

Iran-Russia-Armenia Conflict Report Updated – September 2024

pgnewser September 10, 2024

Iran Rebukes Russia over Intrigues against Armenia (Azerbaijan and Zangezur corridor) – Modern Tokyo Times

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Excerpt:

President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation needs to desist from forcing the weak hand of Armenia concerning the Zangezur corridor. Iran notified the Russian Federation that geopolitical changes in the Caucasus are not desired. Therefore, other nations – including America, France, and Greece – must step up in their support of this ancient Christian land against the threat of Pan-Turkism (Azerbaijan and Turkey) and the intrigues of the Russian Federation.

Iran is displeased that the Russian Federation and Turkey (NATO power) are supporting Azerbaijan in its demand to control the Zangezur transport corridor. This stretch of Armenian land splits the Nakhchivan Azerbaijan enclave (once Armenian Christian land until cleansed) from the rest of Azerbaijan.

If Azerbaijan, the Russian Federation, and Turkey usurped the Zangezur transport corridor from the control of Armenia, this would entail that Iran is conclusively cut off from its natural border with Armenia.

Iran warns Russia against Caucasus geopolitical changes amid corridor dispute – Al-Monitor

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Excerpt:

The rare warning highlighted Tehran’s deep-seated worries about the Zangezur Corridor, which has put the Iran-Russia alliance to a serious test.

 

X Brazil Ban Updates – September 2024

X Brazil Ban Updates – September 2024

pgnewser September 10, 2024

Explained: Why did Brazil ban Elon Musk’s X? – The Times of India

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Excerpt:

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has supported Justice de Moraes’ decision, asserting that wealthy individuals like Musk are not above the law. Meanwhile, Musk has criticized President Lula, referring to him as de Moraes’ “lapdog.” The decision to suspend X was upheld by one of Brazil’s Supreme Court panels, though some legal experts argue that a broader consensus among justices should have been sought for such a critical action.

The Musk vs. de Moraes case exemplifies the complexities tech companies face when navigating different legal frameworks globally, highlighting growing tensions between multinational digital platforms and sovereign laws. With no immediate resolution in sight, the conflict continues to draw international attention, underscoring the intricate relationship between technology, law, and politics in today’s digital landscape.

Brazil Supreme Court panel unanimously upholds judge’s decision to block X nationwide – The Associated Press

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Excerpt:

A Brazilian Supreme Court panel on Monday unanimously upheld the decision of one of its justices to block billionaire Elon Musk’s social media platform X nationwide, according to the court’s website.

The broader support among justices undermines the effort by Musk and his supporters to cast Justice Alexandre de Moraes as an authoritarian renegade who is intent on censoring political speech in Brazil.

The panel that voted in a virtual session was comprised of five of the full bench’s 11 justices, including de Moraes, who last Friday ordered the platform blocked for refusing to name a local legal representative, as required by law. It will stay suspended until it complies with his orders and pays outstanding fines that as of last week exceeded $3 million, according to his decision.

MSNBC calls for boycott of social media platform X, contributor calls for Elon Musk’s prosecution | The Post Millennial– thepostmillennial.com
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Excerpt:

“If every moderate-to-liberal human and organization stopped using the site, that might pressure Musk or his board of directors to stop weaponizing it.”

MSNBC has called for a boycott against the social media platform X, claiming that its owner, Elon Musk, has pushed misinformation relating to the upcoming election.

An opinion piece published by MSNBC calling for the boycott cited a recent report by the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate which claimed to have identified 50 instances where Musk posted false claims about the election. The MSNBC piece also accused Musk of amplifying conspiracy theories and anti-Semitism.

“If every moderate-to-liberal human and organization stopped using the site, that might pressure Musk or his board of directors to stop weaponizing it,” the opinion, written by journalist Jay Michaelson, argued.

“It isn’t even a boycott. Leaving X isn’t like boycotting Coors because it’s too right-wing or Bud Light because it’s too left-wing. Those boycotts are fine — that’s part of capitalism too — but X is different in kind. Because unlike beer, the X product itself is the problem,” Michaelson added.

X’s Global Affairs Chief Nick Pickles Resigns After Brazil Ban – observer.com

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Excerpt from observer.com

Longtime X employee Nick Pickles is leaving the social media platform during a tumultuous time. Win McNamee/Getty Images

Elon Musk’s social media platform X is losing one of its longest-running employees. Nick Pickles, the current vice president of global affairs at the company, announced his resignation yesterday (Sept. 5) in a post on the platform. “After more than ten years, tomorrow will be my last day at X,” said Pickles, who did not provide a reason for his departure. X did not respond to requests for comment from Observer.

Pickles was one of the few employees of X, previously known as Twitter, to have survived Elon Musk’s $44 billion takeover of the company in 2022 and was a trusted member of X CEO Linda Yaccarino’s inner circle. The British executive said he was grateful for Yaccarino’s support and partnership, noting that he made the decision to leave X several months ago and is “looking forward to taking some time off before a new challenge.”

Pickles became a prominent figure throughout X’s numerous clashes with international governments. Censorship battles between X and countries like Brazil, India and Australia have proliferated since Musk’s acquisition and a loosening of content restrictions on the platform. “It’s vital that democratic governments don’t unwittingly endorse or adopt the policies of governments who do not want to protect the open, global internet,” said Pickles of government attempts to remove content from the site in a May interview with the Financial Times. “We risk a race to the bottom, with ever more aggressive sanctions being used to try and control the global internet without respect for global norms and free expression,” he added.

It’s not just Brazil v. Elon Musk’s X: Governments are seeking harsh remedies to social media abuses – Fortune

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Excerpt:

There have always been consequences in media for getting things wrong, from lawsuits and reputational damage to jail time and fines that can gut a business. You can be right and still get targeted. Just ask the Committee to Protect Journalists. Now, social media platforms are dealing with those issues. What’s different and disturbing is how many governments are aiming to essentially shut them down.

Elon Musk’s Starlink agrees to block X in Brazil  – Financial Times

Elon Musk says Brazilian judge should go to prison in latest attack after X ban upheld in country  – Fox Business

There’s no X in Brazil. Celebrity fandom worldwide is in disarray  – WWTI – InformNNY.com

Brazil bans Elon Musk’s X: ‘Be careful on the eggshells you’re walking on,’ Kevin O’Leary warns  – Fox Business

Millions of Brazilians flock to Bluesky as X ban sucks in SpaceX’s Starlink  – Fortune

Brazilians turn to new digital outlets after ban of Musk’s X  – PBS NewsHour

Elon Musk gets surprising defender after X was banned in Brazil: The Washington Post  – Fox News

 

China World Report Updates- September 2024

China World Report Updates- September 2024

pgnewser September 10, 2024

Russia and China Conduct Largest Military Drills since Cold War › American Greatness– amgreatness.com
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Excerpt:

In the last week, the military forces of China and Russia conducted some of the largest drills in the last 30 years, marking an alarming increase in the two nations’ displays of military strength.

According to Fox News, the week-long drills will include 90,000 troops, 400 naval vessels, and 120 aircraft, and will take place in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans, as well as the Baltic, Caspian, and Mediterranean Seas. The drill has been named “Ocean 24.”

The display of power takes place as representatives from the United States meet with leaders of the European Union in Brussels, specifically focusing on rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific Region. China and Russia have slowly been growing closer together in recent years, with the former supporting the latter’s invasion of Ukraine.

The United States has been critical of China for providing “very substantial” support to Russia’s ongoing war effort.

“These are not dual-use capabilities,” said U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell after the latest reports of China providing military supplies to Russia. “These are basically being applied directly to the Russian war machine.”

China to train thousands of overseas law enforcement officers to create ‘more fair’ world order – The Guardian
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Excerpt:

China will train thousands of foreign law enforcement officers so as to see the world order “develop in a more fair, reasonable and efficient direction”, its minister for public security has said.

“We will [also] send police consultants to countries in need to conduct training to help them quickly and effectively improve their law enforcement capabilities,” minister Wang Xiaohong told an annual global security forum.

Wang Xiaohong made the announcement in the eastern city of Lianyungang on Monday in front of law enforcement representatives from 122 countries, regions and international organisations such as Interpol.

The forum is part of ongoing efforts by China’s ruling Communist party to position itself as a global security leader. In 2022 China’s leader, Xi Jinping, launched the Global Security Initiative (GSI), which centres China as a facilitator to “improve global security governance … and promote durable peace”.

China’s New Aircraft Carriers Have a ‘Sizeable Edge’ over U.S. Navy for 1 Reason – The National Interest Online

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Excerpt:

Unlike the U.S., whose aircraft carriers are central to its naval power, China’s carriers are meant to operate under the protective “bubble” created by its A2/AD defenses, particularly within the First Island Chain.

What You Need to Know on China’s Aircraft Carriers and the 1 Edge They Have Against the U.S. Navy: China is rapidly expanding its aircraft carrier fleet, with plans for five or six by the 2030s, despite the challenges posed by anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) systems. Unlike the U.S., whose carriers are central to its naval power, China’s carriers are meant to operate under the protective “bubble” created by its A2/AD defenses, particularly within the First Island Chain.

US roll outs new export controls aimed at restricting China’s chip industry – Al Jazeera English

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The United States has rolled out fresh export controls on quantum computers and semiconductor-manufacturing equipment amid concerns about the use of advanced technologies by rivals such as China.

The US Department of Commerce said on Thursday that the export restrictions followed consultation with international partners and would strengthen relations with “like-minded countries”.

“Today’s action ensures our national export controls keep step with rapidly evolving technologies and are more effective when we work in concert with international partners,” Under Secretary for the Bureau of Industry and Security Alan Estevez said in a statement.

“Aligning our controls on quantum and other advanced technologies makes it significantly more difficult for our adversaries to develop and deploy these technologies in ways that threaten our collective security.”

Xi offers African leaders more aid as China challenges US-led global order – Imperial Valley Press

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BEIJING (AP) — Dozens of African leaders gathered Thursday in Beijing for a summit that signals China’s influence in a continent that it hopes will be a key ally in pushing back against a U.S.-led global order.

Chinese President Xi Jinping promised the leaders billions of dollars in loans and private investment over the next three years, and proposed that relations with all African countries that have diplomatic ties with China be elevated to the “strategic” level.

China rolls out red carpet for African leaders as it strategizes against the West – washingtonexaminer.com

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Excerpt from www.washingtonexaminer.com

China is rolling out the red carpet for 53 African leaders as it seeks to strengthen ties and cement its influence in the mineral-rich and strategically centered continent.

The three-day summit in Beijing began on Wednesday and comes as China tries to counter U.S. and European influence in the region to gain global dominance.

Dancers perform as Morocco Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch arrives at the Beijing Capital International Airport ahead of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit in Beijing on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (Adek Berry/Pool Photo via AP)

Under President Xi Jinping, China is trying to raise its political credibility to the point that it becomes a rulemaker versus a rulebreaker in the international playing field. To do that, it needs other countries, in this case, in Africa, to become its allies in international institutions such as the United Nations. However, to do that, it must first build and nurture the relationships.

Even though the United States, Japan, India, and Russia also hold summits to push their interests in Africa, China is unmatched when it comes to the continent’s economic partner, investing billions of dollars in infrastructure and green projects.

Xi offers African leaders more aid as China challenges US-led global order  – Manistee News Advocate

‘Tier One’ US Special Forces Unit Preparing for Chinese Invasion of Taiwan: Report– www.westernjournal.com
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A “Tier One” force is reportedly preparing to assist the island nation of Taiwan against a mainland superpower’s overwhelming and relentless force.

The United States Navy’s SEAL Team 6 is currently training for the types of missions that may occur if the People’s Republic of China opens hostilities against its island neighbor, the Financial Times reported.

According to the report, SEAL Team 6 has been training for the simmering conflict for over a year at the elite force’s Dam Neck, Virginia, headquarters.

German warships to cross Taiwan Strait for first time in 22 years, defying Beijing’s warnings – Firstpost
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Two German warships are set to pass through the sensitive Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Spiegel magazine reported on Saturday.

Reuters reported last month that the warships were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing.

Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasise that Berlin views the trip as normal.

Germany’s defence ministry declined to comment.

China targets SpaceX’s reusable rocket lead, seeks to replace Jeff Bezos as Elon Musk’s top space rival – Mint
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China is aiming to loosen Elon Musk’s lock on reusable launch vehicles — and close a yawning technology gap with the US.

Beijing is turning to aerospace startups and state-owned enterprises alike to develop an edge in rockets that can be used dozens of times to lift satellites into low-Earth orbit.

One company trying to meet that challenge isLandSpace Technology Corp.,whoseZhuque-3 reusablerocket successfully completed a 10 kilometer (6.2 mile)vertical takeoff and landing returntest flightat the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centeron Wednesday.According to Chinese state media, it markeda “significant breakthrough in China’s commercial space industry” and was a “crucial step toward achieving high capacity, low cost, high frequencyand reusability in future space launches.”

China raising its retirement age may be unpopular but it’s much needed, analysts say– www.cnbc.com
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China’s top legislative body passed an official plan Friday to begin incrementally raising the nation’s statutory retirement age from Jan. 1 of next year and concluding in 2040, according to Chinese state media.

The final goal of the roughly 15-year plan is to raise the retirement age by three years for men to 63 years old, five years for women that work in factories from 50 to 55 and three years for women that work in white-collar jobs from 55 to 58.

The reforms are “overdue and very much welcome,” Erica Tay, director of macro research at Maybank Investment Banking Group, told CNBC.

China has been grappling with a shrinking workforce and looming pension budget shortfalls that could significantly damage the economy.

Mali seals arms deal with Chinese manufacturer – APANEWS

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Mali has sealed a military cooperation deal with Chinese arms manufacturer Norinco on the eve of the opening of the 9th Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) taking place in Beijing from 4 to 6 September.

The head of the Malian transition, Colonel Assimi Goïta, visited the headquarters of Norinco, a world leader in the manufacture of armaments for the signing of a contract for the purchase of new military equipment for his country.

In Beijing, Colonel Goïta was received at Norinco’s headquarters, accompanied by the Minister of Defence and Veterans, Colonel Sadio Camara, and several members of his government.

The visit gave the Malian officials the opportunity to learn about the latest innovations in the field of armaments, particularly in the areas of light weapons, combat drones and advanced artillery systems.

Mali’s Colonel Assimi Goïta reflects on visit to China – APAnews
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Excerpt:

In an interview with Malian television, he described the visit as a decisive advancement in Mali-China relations.

Colonel Goïta noted, “Currently, China and Mali enjoy fraternal ties that have lasted for over 60 years,” emphasizing that these relations span several sectors, including defense and security, education, agriculture, and energy.

A significant outcome of the visit was the announcement that Mali and China would elevate their relationship to a strategic partnership. “At the request of President Xi Jinping, we have decided to enhance our partnership to a strategic level,” the head of Mali’s transition stated. This development underscores the importance of Sino-Malian cooperation and will be formalized during an upcoming state visit.

China Hands 9-Year Prison Sentence to Taiwan Activist for ’Separatism’ – time.com

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Excerpt from time.com

China handed a nine-year prison term to a Taiwanese political activist convicted of “separatism,” a rare sentence that prompted Taiwan to warn its people about the dangers of traveling across the strait.

Yang Chih-yuan received the term in a court in the eastern Chinese city of Wenzhou, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said in a briefing on Thursday, according to the semi-official Central News Agency.

China’s ruling Communist Party intended for the “case to intimidate the people of Taiwan,” said council Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chieh, adding that travelers from the democracy of 23 million should be prudent when considering going across the strait.

This was the first time China jailed a Taiwanese person on a charge of trying to break up its territory, according to the council, a government department in Taipei that handles cross-strait relations. In recent years, Chinese prosecutors have leveled the charge against Uyghurs, a minority group in the restive far western region of Xinjiang.

As Xi Clamps Down, Chinese Civil Society Flourishes Overseas– www.dailysignal.com
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Mournful residents of Shanghai, China, watched Jifeng Bookstore close its doors for the last time on Jan. 31, 2018. The establishment was best known for carrying books and hosting forums that pushed the boundaries on issues deemed sensitive by the Chinese Communist Party.

The forced closure of the bookstore was part of a broader crackdown on free speech and civic discourse by Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s government.

Nearly seven years later, Jifeng reopened Sept. 1 in a new location—Washington, D.C.—under the name JF Books. The bookstore’s grand opening attracted a diverse assortment of local scholars, journalists, activists, and members of diaspora communities from mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

The excitement was palpable as visitors perused books, took in memorabilia from the shuttered Shanghai store, and registered for upcoming lectures, which are starting back up this month after a hiatus of nearly seven years.

China’s Presence in Timor-Leste Is Unseen, but Unmissable – TIME

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“It was not really an assassination attempt,” says José Ramos-Horta. Timor-Leste’s President is sitting on the breezy veranda of Galeria Memoria Viva, the seafront bungalow in capital city Dili that now serves as his personal museum. The walls are festooned with memorabilia spanning half-a-century of activism and politics: a watercolor by an incarcerated former comrade; a plaque commemorating his 1996 Nobel Peace Prize; photos of an Australian journalist slain during his nation’s tumultuous birth pangs.

But when asked about that fateful morning of Feb. 11, 2008, Ramos-Horta tears up the history book. It was during his previous stint as president that rebel leader Alfredo Reinado entered his home at 6 a.m. with a dozen heavily armed men. Ramos-Horta was out jogging on the beach and returned to a firefight between the intruders and his security staff, during which he was shot at least twice (the rebels used banned “dum-dum” bullets that fracture on impact, so the exact number remains a mystery.)

Ramos-Horta was airlifted to the Australian city of Darwin for medical treatment and nearly lost his life; one shrapnel fragment was lodged just 2 mm from his spine. When he eventually recovered, Ramos-Horta from his hospital thanked “all who prayed for me, who looked after me, who cared for me following the assassination attempt on me by Mr. Alfredo Reinado.

As Global Underpopulation Crisis Continues, China’s One-Child Policy Has Destroyed Its Population – lifenews.com

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Excerpt from www.lifenews.com

Steven Mosher, President of the Population Research Institute, has issued a stark warning in the New York Post. In his article “Baby Doom,” Mosher highlights the alarming global decline in birth rates.

“The big story comes from China, home to one-sixth of the world’s population,” Mosher writes, “the decades-long devastation wrought by the one-child policy has sent that country, for centuries the pacesetter in population, into absolute decline.” He notes that the official population figure of 1.44 billion is likely exaggerated by as much as 130 million.

This birth rate issue is widespread, as Mosher explains “for the first time in the 60,000 or so years that human beings first arrived on the planet, we are not having enough babies to replace ourselves.” In addition, he argues that the 2.1 figure, often reported as the necessary replacement rate, is too low because “in many countries sex-selection abortion skews the sex ratio strongly in favor of boys.”

Aspects of China’s global economic coercion strategy – Mizzima News
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The US has adopted a two-pronged strategy towards China. One, is pursuing the path of dialogue, the other is confrontation. Both go hand in hand as can be seen by recent developments. While Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State travelled to Beijing for talks, back home administration officials criticised China for its coercive behaviour worldwide.

The nature of Chinese coercion is evident on all fronts and its ramifications across several fronts including economic, defence and other areas, is also a focus area for the Biden administration. Such actions are normally visible as Beijing uses tools like the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Global Security Initiative to penetrate and pressurize nations. Just one recent example of the heft China carries can be cited, this time in a cultural context. In Paris at a cultural event on China, the French Museum which hosted the event was ‘forced’ to title Tibet as ‘Xizang’, the latest effort by China to show that Tibet has always been a part of China. Thus, the world should be aware of various aspects of China’s coercive tactics.

China’s military coercion has been very visible in the South China Sea and its current actions clearly threaten the security of the Philippines. Nicholas Burns, the US Ambassador to China, recently pointed that the “very ill-advised efforts by the government of China to intimidate the Philippines at Second Thomas Shoal, at Sabina Shoal, in an incident at Scarborough Shoal, just to name three incidents over the last month or so”. Diplomatic messaging is certainly one way to signal intent and the US has been consistently doing it. Apart from the Ambassador in Beijing, Secretary Antony Blinken has conveyed US concerns to China as did US NSA Jake Sullivan, who told the Chinese leadership “very directly” that Washington had an ironclad commitment to defend the Philippines.

 

​Disney Consumer Products helps Chinese partners to ‘go global’ – China.org
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A Disney executive shared with China.org.cn that his cross-border strategy, introduced last year, has prompted many of Disney’s Chinese partner brands to successfully sell their products in overseas markets. In addition to aiding Chinese partners abroad, the global media and entertainment conglomerate is also optimistic about future growth with its own business in consumer products.

Kermid Rahman, senior vice president and general manager for Disney Consumer Products in Asia Pacific, stated that since he initiated the cross-border strategy last year nearly 70 licensees in the region have collaborated with Disney to start cross-border business.

“Many Chinese brands have successfully entered the Japanese, South Korean and Southeast Asian markets, and have already achieved brilliant performance,” he said at The Walt Disney Company’s Greater China Consumer Products Showcase 2025 held in Shanghai on Sept. 10. The temporary exhibition and showcase conference saw more than 3,700 representatives from various partner brands in attendance.

Canada Election Report – September 2024

Canada Election Report – September 2024

pgnewser September 10, 2024

Canada’s NDP pulls support for Trudeau’s Liberals – bbc.com

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Excerpt from www.bbc.com

Canada’s left-wing New Democratic Party (NDP) has pulled the plug on a two-and-a-half-year-old agreement with Justin Trudeau’s Liberals that had helped keep his minority government in power.

In a video posted to social media on Wednesday, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh said he had informed the prime minister of his decision, saying the Liberals were “too weak, too selfish” to fight for Canadians.

The deal – called a “supply and confidence” agreement – had the NDP supporting the Liberals in confidence votes.

The announcement does not automatically mean a federal election is imminent but that Canadians may go to the polls before the election scheduled for October 2025.

BREAKING: Pierre Poilievre responds to NDP breaking confidence agreement with Trudeau Liberals, calls for ‘Carbon Tax Election’ now – thepostmillennial.com

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Excerpt from thepostmillennial.com

“In today’s media stunt, Sellout Singh refuses to state whether the NDP will vote with non-confidence to cause a carbon tax election at the first chance,” Poilievre wrote. Photo: Beth Baisch

Official Opposition Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre responded Wednesday to the news that NDP leader Jagmeet Singh has ended his party’s loose coalition agreement with the Trudeau government, calling for an immediate “Carbon Tax Election.”

Poilievre posted on X: “Two years ago, Sellout Singh sold out workers and signed on to a costly coalition with Justin Trudeau that hiked taxes, ballooned food costs, doubled housing costs and unleashed crime and chaos in our once safe streets.”

“In today’s media stunt, Sellout Singh refuses to state whether the NDP will vote with non-confidence to cause a carbon tax election at the first chance,” Poilievere continued. “Sellout Singh has voted to quadruple the carbon tax to $0.61/L, a plan that will drive Canadians to food banks and grind our economy to a halt— killing hundreds of thousands of jobs. Sellout Singh did all of this after promising he would be an opposition voice.”

Canadians rank Trudeau as worst prime minister since the 1960s by wide margin in new poll– www.lifesitenews.com
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(LifeSiteNews) – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was ranked Canada’s worst leader since the 1960s in a new study.

An investigation conducted by Research Co. and released September 4 shows that 38 percent of Canadians overall said they disliked Trudeau the most compared with a list of other prime ministers.

A distant second as the most disliked was Stephen Harper, who was the former head of the Conservative Party, at 14 percent. Trudeau’s dad, Pierre, came in third at 7 percent.

Trudeau has been prime minister since 2015.

In western Canada, dislike for Trudeau was the strongest, with 55 percent of Albertans and 52 percent each in Saskatchewan and Manitoba saying they are not fond of him.

Research Co. has been tracking the popularity of current and former prime ministers for the past five years. Trudeau’s unpopularity has risen dramatically since 2022, nearly doubling since that year.

Europe Planvasion Report – September 2024

Europe Planvasion Report – September 2024

pgnewser September 10, 2024

AfD party calls for an end to mail-in ballots, launches investigation into suspicious software error – rmx.news

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Excerpt from rmx.news

Although the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party secured a first-place finish in the Saxony elections on Sunday, the party is still launching an investigation into an alleged computer error that cost them a seat in parliament and is also calling for an end to mail-in votes, citing security concerns and shady practices.

The first issue is the alleged software glitch that resulted in the AfD and the Christian Democrats (CDU) both losing a seat, while the Greens and Social Democrats (SPD) both gained one seat. The party says that it is launching an investigation into this.

“We want to know exactly what went wrong,” said the AfD’s state and parliamentary group leader Jörg Urban in a statement. He is demanding an exact error analysis. “If there are any irregularities, we will take legal action.”

Notably, the loss of one seat resulted in the AfD losing its blocking majority, which would have allowed the party, for example, to block the appointment of certain judges in the state.

The error initially gave the AfD and CDU an incorrect number of seats. After a review, “the state election management corrected the allocation of seats,” according to the German news outlet Leipziger Volkzeitung.

Viktor Orban praises Germany for leading the EU in major migrant crackdown | World | News– www.express.co.uk
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Hungary’s Viktor Orban praised his liberal German counterpart Olaf Scholz for cracking down on migrants. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stunned his pro-EU allies after unveiling strict border rules which will allow for a “massive step-up in rejections” of asylum seekers.

Mr Orban whose anti-immigrant rhetoric and actions has sparked huge rows with Brussels, sent a message of support to Mr Scholz: “Germany has decided to impose strict border controls to stop illegal migration. Scholz, welcome to the club! #StopMigration.”

EU officials have warned that Mr Scholz’s new policy threatens to unravel the entire European bloc, as one leading German politician remarked: “Border controls would be the beginning of the end for the EU.”

Unveiling the plan on Monday, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) said: “Until we achieve stronger border protection with the joint European asylum system, we must further protect our national borders.”

Keir Starmer vows to stop people-smuggling gangs with tactics used to jail rioters – theguardian.com

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Excerpt from www.theguardian.com

Keir Starmer has pledged to break up people-smuggling gangs in the same manner used to apprehend and jail hundreds of rioters this summer.

Following a meeting with law enforcement agencies and cabinet ministers on plans to stop small boats crossing the Channel on Friday, the prime minister said that the “high-level summit” mirrored the approach taken after disturbances fuelled by far-right activists.

“We sat round the table with law enforcement and the police to make sure that we got the desired outcome and made sure we could deliver – in that case – swift justice.

“I’m absolutely determined to take the same approach here, active government, an operational summit, making sure that we are going to retake control of our borders, take these gangs down,” he said.

Telling uncomfortable truths is now considered ‘terrorism’ in Britain – lifesitenews.com

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Excerpt from www.lifesitenews.com

(LifeSiteNews) — In a further sign of the United Kingdom’s increasingly aggressive policing of speech, two British journalists documenting genocide have been arrested under section 12 of the Terrorism Act in the past month.

Richard Medhurst documents Israel’s genocide. He was arrested on disembarking at Heathrow Airport on Thursday, August 15, under the Terrorism Act.

Sarah Wilkinson was arrested in her home days ago by ten non-uniformed police officers under the Terrorism Act – for documenting Israel’s genocide. A shocking account of her ordeal can be read here. 

FAA Needs 3,000 More People Than it Currently Has

FAA Needs 3,000 More People Than it Currently Has

pgnewser September 6, 2024

The FAA has released a report claiming to be 3,000 people short of the number of air traffic controllers it currently needs. They claim the shortage is due to a current bottleneck in the system borne from the fact there is only one training facility in the country equipped to train air traffic controllers.

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Excerpt from news.google.com

Labor Day marked the unofficial end to the busiest summer air travel season on record. Yet the Federal Aviation Administration remains plagued by a decades-long shortage of air traffic controllers — the folks who keep all those planes safely separated from each other.

In May, the FAA said it was short 3,000 controllers. One factor in that? All air traffic controllers have to train at a single FAA academy in Oklahoma City. But a federal effort is aiming to change that.

Walk into the tower simulator at Vaughn College in New York City, and you feel like you’re in a real airport control tower. Except those wrap-around windows are actually computer screens.

“So you can simulate day, night, snow, fires on the airport,” said Sharon DeVivo, the school’s president. “Scenarios that students we hope will never see, but they train on those.”

U.S. Illegal Immigrant Updated Report – September 2024

U.S. Illegal Immigrant Updated Report – September 2024

pgnewser September 5, 2024

Migrant Surge a ‘National Problem’, People Believe They Get Benefits if They Come Here– www.breitbart.com

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Excerpt from conservativeroof.com

JUST IN: Biden Administration Approves $380M for DHS to Support Migrants

The Biden administration announced last week that it will allocate $380 million to nonprofits and local governments to help cover costs related to caring for migrants after their release by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) at the southern border.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is distributing the massive $380 million through its Shelter and Services Program (SSP). This initiative is designed to provide “critical support” to migrants, offering essentials like food, shelter, clothing, urgent medical care, and transportation as they wait for their immigration court hearings.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is distributing the massive $380 million through its Shelter and Services Program (SSP). This initiative is designed to provide “critical support” to migrants, offering essentials like food, shelter, clothing, urgent medical care, and transportation as they wait for their immigration court hearings.

New York Paying Migrant Familes $4000 to Aid Transition Out of Shelters – www.thegatewaypundit.com
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Excerpt:

Migrants arrive at the Roosevelt Hotel in NYC, which serves as a central processing center.

While millions of Americans are suffering in a disastrous Biden-Harris economy, illegals in New York are getting extra help that is not available to citizens.

On Friday, city officials confirmed to Fox News Digital that a pilot project has been launched that provides migrants $4000 to help transition out of city shelters.

Per Fox:

The NYC Department of Homeless Services (DHS) offered 150 families cash assistance through the Asylee Moveout Assistance (AMA), a pilot created in December last year to help find permanent housing for asylum seekers. The pilot was launched in partnership with some city shelters providing services for asylum seekers.

“The city is using every tool at its disposal to implement innovative and cost-effective solutions to help recently-arrived asylum seekers residing in shelters take the next steps in their journey,” a Department of Social Services (DSS) spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

DHS officials in December started dispensing $4000 to 150 households who live in the city’s emergency DHS shelters.

“Since December, DSS has been working with a few not-for-profit providers operating emergency sites to pilot a new effort to reduce barriers to obtaining housing by helping asylum-seeking families who have identified permanent housing with the upfront cost of moving into their new home,” the DSS spokesperson said.

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Excerpt from redstate.com

Thanks, Biden-Harris—Cops Estimate Up to 75 Percent of Manhattan Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants

Kamala Harris, the presidential candidate foisted on America by the Democrat political machine—a vice president who has never in her life won a delegate in a Democratic primary—has been releasing ludicrous ads lately claiming she’d be tough on the border.

What an absolute joke.

Tell that to the police who patrol the streets of Manhattan, some of whom claim that up to 75 percent of all the crimes committed in the Big Apple are by illegal aliens.

Life in the big city:

Across New York, recently arrived migrants are flooding the criminal-justice system — at far higher rates than public officials have acknowledged.

Police sources shared with The Post a staggering estimate that as many as 75% of the people they’ve been arresting in Midtown Manhattan in recent months for crimes like assault, robbery and domestic violence are migrants. In parts of Queens, the figure is more than 60%, sources there estimate.

On any given day, Big Apple criminal court dockets are packed with asylum seekers who have run afoul of the law.

Florida Attorney General Sues Biden Administration Over Policy Allowing Release of Dangerous Criminals Into U.S. Communities – conservativeroof.com

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Excerpt from conservativeroof.com

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration on Tuesday, demanding accountability for its lack of response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

The request, initially submitted by the Attorney General’s office in March, seeks documents related to the Biden administration’s policies that permit dangerous criminals to be released directly into U.S. communities from prison.

Attorney General Moody voiced her frustration with the Biden administration, stating, “In addition to flat out refusing to secure the border, reports indicate that President Biden and failed Border Czar Kamala Harris refuse to deport dangerous illegal immigrant prisoners once they are released from prison.”

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Excerpt from www.americanthinker.com

Venezuelan gangs taking over apartment buildings in multiple American cities

Armed Venezuelan gangs have recently taken over apartment complexes in the Denver suburb of Aurora, Colorado. Even more recently, 32 Venezuelan migrants attempted to annex an apartment complex in Chicago, Illinois. Libs of Tik Tok shared the disturbing 911 call pertaining to that assault on X…

Yet, the insane policies of Democrat governors like Colorado’s Jared Polis and Illinois’s J.B. Pritzker are most to blame. And don’t forget California’s Gavin Newsom, Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer, New York’s Kathy Hochul, and Minnesota’s inimitable Tampon Timmy Walz, among others. The latter of whom is now Kamala Harris’s Vice-Presidential nominee. (And whose wife said she left her windows open when the 2020 Minneapolis riots went unquelled by her husband…so she could smell the city burning.)

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Excerpt from thepostmillennial.com

Illegal immigrant who attacked cop in Times Square sentenced to one year in jail—NYPD union outraged

“364 days is not enough. This individual should be behind bars a lot longer. If you attack a New York City police officer, you should stay behind bars.”

An illegal immigrant from Venezuela is going to jail for 364 days for kicking a New York Police Department (NYPD) cop during a Jan. 27 Times Square brawl. The police union says the sentence is way too light, the New York Post reports.

Darwin Andres Gomez-Izquiel, 19, said nothing but smirked when he heard the sentence after he had pleaded guilty to second-degree assault last month to the brawl between police officers and a gang of illegal immigrants. Fully 75 percent of arrests in midtown Manhattan are illegal immigrants.

The police union says the sentence doesn’t send a strong enough signal that cops are not on the street to be kicked around by illegal immigrants. Police Benevolent Association chief Patrick Hendry said Gomez-Izquiel should have more time in prison to contemplate his actions.

ICE Cracks Down On ‘Violent’ Illegal Migrants On Ritzy Island In ‘Sanctuary’ State– americanactionnews.com
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Excerpt:

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) made an unknown number of arrests in Nantucket, Massachusetts, this week for “immigration violations,” specifically targeting “violent offenders,” according to a press release from local officials Thursday.

The Nantucket Police Department revealed that ICE agents had contacted local Nantucket officials on Sept. 9 “concerning their planned arrival on island,” according to the press release. Local officials stated that ICE agents’ purpose was to “serve administrative arrest warrants for immigration violations,” adding that the local detective unit assisted by providing “requested addresses.”

“Their purpose on island was to serve administrative arrest warrants for immigration violations. The arrest warrants were specifically for ‘violent offenders.’ The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, not unlike many local, state or federal agencies, requested our assistance with local knowledge of geographical areas of our town,” the press statement reads.

 

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Excerpt from www.washingtonexaminer.com

Ted Cruz says Democrats taking short-term immigration risks for long-term gains

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is locked in a fierce battle for reelection this year, but he doesn’t necessarily consider that his biggest challenge. “In the 12 years I’ve been in the Senate, I have consistently led the fight to secure our border,” he told the Washington Examiner. “It is today I believe in an existential threat to Texas and to our nation.”

Cruz is campaigning heavily on his work, sometimes on a bipartisan basis, to mitigate the pressure on the border. This includes authoring successful amendments mandating information-sharing between the Coast Guard and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to safeguard the maritime border as well as promoting new security initiatives from South Padre Island to Port Mansfield. This includes funding for an air station at one Texas Coast Guard facility and an aerostat radar system.

But Cruz is keenly aware of the national implications of a porous border and believes that if it is not gotten under control, the results will not be good for his country or party.

NYC Borough Sees Massive Spike In Animal Sacrifices: ‘It’s Open Season’– trendingpoliticsnews.com
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Queens, New York has recorded a massive surge in gruesome animal sacrifices, as scores of chickens, pigs, and rats have been found with signs of torture, mutilation, and ritual sacrifice in “twisted” rituals, according to a report from the New York Post.

In just over a month, at least nine severely wounded animals or carcasses have been discovered in the federally-managed Spring Creek Park in Howard Beach and the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Broad Channel, the outlet reported. At least five of the wounded animals were pigs that were found with partially severed ears.

Additional findings from the gruesome scene include a barely alive baby rat that was found tied in a bag with chicken bones, a severed chicken head, and a live hen in distress. Authorities also found a dead dog with its neck snapped.

US secures the release of 135 Nicaraguan political prisoners – abcnews.go.com

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GUATEMALA CITY — The U.S. government announced Thursday that it secured the release of 135 Nicaraguan political prisoners, who have arrived in Guatemala where they will apply for entry to the United States or other countries.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement that they were released on humanitarian grounds.

“No one should be put in jail for peacefully exercising their fundamental rights of free expression, association, and practicing their religion,” Sullivan said.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Eric Jacobstein, speaking with reporters, said that the Nicaraguan government received nothing in exchange for the prisoners’ release and the negotiation signaled no change in U.S. policy toward the government of President Daniel Ortega.

“Though the pressure itself has been consistent, the planning and execution of this release was rapid, and we’ve worked quickly to facilitate the travel of these individuals and really ensure their safety at every step of the journey,” Jacobstein said, adding that Nicaragua continues to “unjustly” detain people.

CNN Host Got Massively Triggered by the Cat Memes About Haitian Migrants– townhall.com
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The liberal media and their partners in crime—the Democratic Party—had a total meltdown over the Haitian migrant story coming out of Ohio. There have been multiple reports of these people reportedly hacking up people’s pets, ducks, and geese. Tens of thousands were imported into Springfield, Ohio, thanks to the Biden-Harris immigration policy.

The story about pets being eaten has been debunked, but for a time, it produced excellent memes on social media that triggered liberal America to no end. CNN’s Dana Bash was particularly shocked by these memes, declaring cat memes to be racist. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) had a total meltdown over them.

Dems Terrified Of GOP Plan Against Noncitizen Voting In Elections– thefederalist.com