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October 2022

US Intelligence Warning: China Escalating Influence Operations by Judith Bergman

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18904/us-intelligence-warning-china-escalating

One of the organizations that US intelligence explicitly warned against is the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), which describes itself as a “national people’s organization engaged in people-to-people diplomacy of the People’s Republic of China.”

In reality, the organization is a front for the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) foreign influence efforts. It has been operating successfully in the US for decades, especially by forging numerous sister-city relationships with US cities to influence local US political, business, media, and educational leaders. There are more than two hundred sister city pairs and fifty sister state/province partnerships between the US and China. Such partnerships, according to US intelligence, can also include business, technical, cultural, and educational exchanges between U.S. and Chinese communities.

China uses the same tactics when it comes to US business leaders: In 2021, “the PRC Embassy in Washington sent letters to select U.S. business leaders urging them to lobby the U.S. Congress to reject bills the PRC opposed, including bills designed to increase U.S. competitiveness vis-à-vis China….

[T]hese politicians have a strong incentive to remain uninformed. The focus is typically on economic and cultural ties and it’s easy to pretend that there is no political element… however, these local ties are in fact highly political…. This is the tactic of ‘use the countryside to surround the city'”. — Clive Hamilton and Mareike Ohlberg, Hidden Hand: Exposing How the Chinese Communist Party is Reshaping the World, 2021

China is doubling down on its efforts to influence state and local government leaders in the United States by exploiting the existing web of regional and local US-China relations, one of the main US intelligence agencies, the U.S. National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC), warned in July.

The Hate-Crime Distraction Activists’ insistence that whites commit most anti-Asian hate crimes is a transparent attempt to obscure. Diane Yap

https://www.city-journal.org/anti-asian-violence-separating-truth-from-narrative

Viral videos of senseless violence have captured public attention since crime began rising in 2020. Some of the most extreme examples are attacks against Asian-Americans. Earlier this year, for instance, three teens and an 11-year-old, all black, beat and kicked in the head a 70-year-old woman in San Francisco. Yet many academics, advocates, and reporters argue that these cases leave a false impression. “While news reports and social media have perpetuated the idea that anti-Asian violence is committed mostly by people of color,” reported NBC News last year, “a new analysis shows the majority of attackers are white.” Unfortunately, the crime against 70-year-old Mrs. Ren is representative in many ways.

The refrain that most anti-Asian crimes are committed by white people is misleading, if not meaningless. While the Department of Justice estimates that Asians are the victims of over 180,000 violent crimes every year, an average year sees fewer than 24 violent anti-Asian hate crimes. In a discussion about violence directed toward Asians, focusing on hate crimes is a transparent attempt to obscure. The data show that whites, despite being the largest racial group in the country, are not responsible for the largest share of violent crimes against Asians.

Where do these misleading talking points come from? One common source, quoted by both NBC and the San Francisco Chronicle, is a literature review by Janelle Wong of the University of Maryland titled Beyond the Headlines. But Wong’s review does not focus on violent crime: it covers hate incidents against Asian-Americans, the majority of which consist of “verbal harassment” and “shunning”—not crimes. Advocacy group Stop AAPI Hate reported similar findings: 82 percent of recorded anti-Asian incidents were not physically violent. Wong suggests that conservatives are conflating anti-Asian attacks with affirmative action admissions policies that benefit blacks at the expense of Asians—it’s “an old tactic in white supremacy’s playbook,” she says. Wong also claims “there’s not really an empirical basis” for the observation “that it’s predominantly Black people attacking Asian Americans who are elderly.”

Madness in the Streets: How Psychiatry and the Law Abandoned the Mentally Ill August 31, 1990 by Rael Jean Isaac (Author), Virginia C. Armat (Author)

Residents of every major city in America are confronted daily by the growing number of homeless in the streets. Among them are the mentally ill who are often thrown into jails or shelters instead of hospitals. The authors describe the results of the de institutionalization policies that created this madness in our streets.

It is a prophetic book that deserves a serious appraisal. rsk

Steven D’Antuono: The FBI’s Hatchet Man It’s not a coincidence that his name appears prominently in the most brazen anti-Trump stunts conducted by the FBI in the past two years. By Julie Kelly

https://amgreatness.com/2022/10/06/steven-dantuono-the-fbis-hatchet-man/

Defense attorneys representing two men recently convicted for conspiring to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020 are seeking a new federal trial for their clients amid claims of jury and judicial misconduct. (The men, Adam Fox and Barry Croft were found guilty in August in a second trial; a jury in April failed to reach a verdict on them. Two co-defendants were acquitted after jurors concluded the men had been entrapped by the FBI.) A separate state trial for three other men accused of participating in the scheme is now underway in Jackson, Michigan.

The ongoing legal drama is a reminder of the handiwork of Steven D’Antuono, former head of the Detroit FBI field office, which was primarily responsible for hatching and executing the Whitmer fednapping hoax. Supervising and undercover agents working out of that Detroit office and its satellite branches managed the day-to-day details of the wide-ranging operation such as handling the main FBI informant, Dan Chappel, who was compensated at least $60,000 in cash and personal items paid by the FBI for luring the men into the trap.

About a week after law enforcement authorities announced arrests in the case on October 8, 2020, D’Antuono was rewarded with a plum assignment: head of the Washington FBI field office where he had worked on two other occasions, including a 2008 stint as supervisor of the public corruption and government fraud squad. FBI Director Christopher Wray presumably promoted D’Antuono for helping to bolster one of the FBI’s most absurd and fact-free political narratives—that “white supremacist” terrorists pose a danger to the country. Coverage of the alleged kidnapping plot dominated the news as Whitmer eagerly played the role of victim to Donald Trump’s villain in another example of the FBI interfering in a presidential election to damage Trump.

The FBI announced D’Antuono’s new gig in an October 13, 2020 press release. Ten days later, a handful of agents in the Washington field office conducted a five-hour voluntary interview with Tony Bobulinski, a former business partner of Hunter Biden. Bobulinski told Fox News host Tucker Carlson this week that “as much [sic] as six federal agents” participated in the meeting; Bobulinski walked through his background with the Bidens and discussed records associated with their business ventures. One FBI official gave Bobulinski’s lawyers the cell phone number for Tim Thibault, the assistant special agent in charge of the Washington FBI field office and so-called point person on the matter.

If Peacefully Protesting Abortion Is Criminal But Firebombing Pregnancy Centers Is Not, There Is No Rule Of Law By: Jordan Boyd

https://thefederalist.com/2022/10/06/if-peacefully-protesting-abortion-is-criminal-but-firebombing-pregnancy-centers-is-not-there-is-no-rule-of-law/

The arrest of peaceful pro-lifers but not of violent pro-abortionists confirms Biden’s DOJ does not equally apply the law.

Less than one month after armed FBI agents handcuffed and dragged Mark Houck, a pro-life activist and father, out of his home in front of his wife and children, the FBI raided another pro-life activist for his involvement in a peaceful protest outside a Tennessee abortion facility.

FBI agents, with weapons drawn, swarmed Chet Gallagher’s home on Wednesday, LifeNews.com reported, for allegedly violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, a law designed to keep people concerned with protecting unborn life away from abortion facilities. Gallagher was not home at the time of the raid so the FBI “demanded his whereabouts from Gallagher’s family” and his neighbors.

Gallagher is one of 11 activists devoted to defending unborn life who were federally indicted by the Department of Justice this week for allegedly violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act by standing in a hallway outside the Carafem abortion facility in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, in March 2021. Gallagher and six others were also charged with civil rights conspiracy.

You wouldn’t know it from the DOJ’s press release, which claims the 11 individuals “aided and abetted by one another, used force and physical obstruction to injure, intimidate and interfere with employees of the clinic and a patient who was seeking reproductive health services,” but the Christian pro-lifers spent most of their time peacefully praying, singing, and crying in the hallway leading to the abortion facility. Footage of the gathering eventually shows local police escorting several handcuffed members of the group out of the building and into a police van.

Here’s What Happened When a Concerned Mom Dressed Like Drag Queen at a School Board Meeting By Matt Margolis

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/matt-margolis/2022/10/06/heres-what-happened-when-a-concerned-mom-dressed-like-drag-queen-at-a-school-board-meeting-n1635089

““Does this outfit make you turn your head?” Reicks asked. “Does this outfit seem appropriate for anybody here to see? This is what the man dressed like in front of our kids. So if this makes your head spin — if this pisses you off in any way, shape, or form — it should. Because I’m embarrassed to stand here in the outfit that I am in today, but I have a point to prove — that this outfit should not be ever accepted in our schools anywhere.”

For years now, we’ve seen woke schools hiring drag queens to perform for young kids as some sort of exercise about tolerance and diversity. If you spoke out about it, you were a bigot.

Earlier this year, it was reported that New York City schools spent over $200,000 putting drag queen shows on for their students.

This is only part of the trend of inappropriate things happening in schools with the full knowledge and consent of woke school boards. Sexually explicit books are also being carried in school libraries and incorporated into curricula—all in the name of “tolerance.”

Canada’s Dilemma By David Solway

https://pjmedia.com/columns/david-solway-2/2022/10/06/canadas-dilemma-n1635249

Canada is in serious trouble. To arrive at that conclusion, all one need do is pay attention. In evident violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms embedded in the Constitution, essential to a functioning democracy, Canada was one of the few countries in the world determined to coerce vaccine mandates and impose possibly illegal travel apps and quarantine protocols. These measures have been paused, but the government obviously maintains the right to re-impose them at a moment’s notice. “The process and app remain in place.”

Undeterred in his march toward despotic rule, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is poised to introduce a digital currency, which will give the government financial control of banking and discretionary spending at the expense of private citizens and consumers. He is simultaneously engaged in implementing a Digital Identity Program, associated with the World Economic Forum’s Known Traveler Digital Identity initiative, on the way toward establishing a Social Credit State which Trudeau blazons as “the most advanced digital jurisdiction in the world.” Canada is now a satrap of the World Economic Forum in Davos that believes in global governance, wealth redistribution, and costly and dysfunctional environmental and climate edicts at the cost of national solvency.

The net-zero carbon emission legislation is part of the same plan, as is the virtual outsourcing of national health responsibility to the World Health Organization (WHO) — the bunch that Florida Republicans regard as a terrorist group. The Online Streaming Act Bill C-11, perhaps the most restrictive of its kind in the West, would permit the government to regulate the individual’s videos, podcasts, personal content, and various online feeds. Former CRTC commissioner Timothy Denton describes the measure as a “power grab over human communication.”

You cannot stand with Iran’s women while seeking a deal with Tehran: Jonathan Tobin

https://www.jns.org/you-cannot-stand-with-irans-women-while-seeking-a-deal-with-tehran/

The protests against the Islamist regime in Iran show that the real “war on women” is being waged by the mullahs in Tehran, not American conservatives, says JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin. According to Tobin, the abuse of women by the theocratic government’s “morality police” is bringing attention to both the brutal nature of its rule as well as the fact that American efforts to appease and enrich Iran via a new and even weaker nuclear deal is helping to perpetuate these outrages. Tobin discusses these issues in the latest episode of “Top Story.”

Appeasing the ayatollahs

In his view, the big mistake the Biden administration is making is its attempt to treat the question of human rights in Iran as separate from its efforts—currently on hold until perhaps after the midterm elections—to strike a nuclear pact with the ayatollahs. Instead of merely paying lip service to the courageous women protesting in Iran, the United States must renounce its nuclear delusions about pursuing another dangerous deal with the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, he says.

Tobin is joined by Foundation for Defense of Democracies senior fellow Behnam Ben-Taleblu, who explains that while the Biden administration deserves credit for supporting Iranians protesting against their government instead of ignoring them as the Obama administration did, that’s a low bar by which to judge it. What the United States needs to understand, he says, is that the size and reach of these protests show that this is about more than the compulsory wearing of hijabs for women, and speaks to the general dissatisfaction of the Iranian people.

Crime: It’s not about black or white; it’s about family: the smallest unit of authority in a civilized society Diane Bederman

https://dianebederman.com/crime-its-not-about-black-or-white-its-about-family-the-smallest-unit-of-authority-in-a-civilized-society/

Yes, some things are black and white and not based on race, colour, creed or sexual orientation. There is absolute right and absolute wrong.

In the West we know the difference between right and wrong because our culture is firmly rooted in the Judeo/Christian ethic. Of the many teachings, six are most important for a civil society: Honour your mother and father: please note father. Do not murder; do not steal; do not commit adultery or incest; do not gossip and do not covet. These are personal responsibilities. We are to learn them from our parents; our family; the smallest unit of authority in a civilized society.

Except, somewhere along the way, something happened. We started to promote rights over responsibilities. My rights! All about me. My grandiose infantile delusions of rights. Right. I guess it was assumed (error) that people with God given rights would know they come with responsibilities. Otherwise, society crumbles. It is not possible, nor was it ever meant to be, that we have governments and bureaucracies policing us all the time. We are expected to limit ourselves. Follow the social contract. Control our desires. Conform to the Judeo/Christian ethic that underpins our Constitutions.  Responsibility.

Yet, take away the police and remove penalties for breaking the law, and it seems there are those who think it is a call to arms – to go out and take whatever you want, whenever you want and kill people whenever you feel like it. No sense of personal responsibility.

According to the FBI, in 2019 there were more than 10 million arrests in the United States, excluding traffic infractions. There were more than 1.2 million violent crimes and more than 6.9 million property crimes with the remainder being other miscellaneous offenses.  The facts show, however, nearly all crime in America is gang related, economic or domestic in nature.

Joe Biden Is a Lawless Rogue Who Has Yet Again Violated His Oath of Office By Dan McLaughlin Biden’s repeated and open violation of his oath of office richly merits his impeachment and removal. By Dan McLaughlin

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/joe-biden-is-a-lawless-rogue-who-has-yet-again-violated-his-oath-of-office/

At 11:47 a.m. on January 20, 2021, Joe Biden swore an oath before his God and his country: “I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” At the heart of the duties imposed by that oath is Article II, Section 3, of that Constitution, which requires of the president that he “shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” Not some of the laws, but all of them. He is not charged with making those laws: He can veto bad laws that are presented to him by Congress, and he can recommend that bad laws be repealed or reformed, but so long as the laws made by Congress are on the books, it is his sworn, solemn, constitutional duty to take care that they be faithfully executed. This is why Americans used to refer to the president as the country’s “chief magistrate.”

Biden has repeatedly proven himself to be a rogue president contemptuous of his oath. He has, on several occasions now, exceeded his powers by trying to make laws rather than enforce them — and he has repeatedly done so even when he, his legal advisers, and/or the leaders of his party in the Congress acknowledge that he has no power to do so. He did not have the power to make national housing laws, yet he decreed that landlords could not evict deadbeat tenants. He did not have the power to make national medical decisions, yet he ordered every workplace to mandate vaccinations. He did not have the power to appropriate hundreds of billions of dollars to pay off college debts, but he did that, too. The courts have struck down the first two of those flagrant violations of his oath, and only the search for a proper party with standing to sue presents any real risk that they will not strike down the third.

The president’s pardon power, however, is a practically monarchical power, and the courts cannot remedy its abuse; only Congress can do so. Biden apparently now thinks we should not have federal laws against possession of marijuana. He should ask Congress to repeal those laws, which he had a major hand in writing during his 36 years in the Senate. If Congress did repeal them, Biden might have a case for making that repeal effectively retroactive via a blanket presidential pardon.