Displaying posts published in

February 2023

Ohio residents erupt at town hall: ‘Where’s Pete Buttigieg?’ EPA Administrator Michael Regan is visiting East Palestine following the derailment by Julia Musto

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ohio-residents-erupt-town-hall-wheres-pete-buttigieg

Voicing their concerns at a town hall on Wednesday night, Ohio residents impacted by this month’s toxic train derailment asked where Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was.

“Where’s Pete Buttigieg? Where’s he at?” one man asked Mayor Trent Conaway.

“I don’t know. Your guess is as good as me,” the mayor replied. 

He told attendees that Tuesday was the first time he had “heard anything from the White House.”

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan is on the ground in East Palestine on Thursday to discuss the agency’s efforts leading on the environmental response, a spokesperson for the Transportation Department told Fox News Digital in an email.

Hundreds of residents in Ohio village demand urgent testing of their homes after train wreck released toxic chemicals into the air – and officials tell them it’s safe to return by Lewis Pennok

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11745765/East-Palestine-Ohio-residents-demand-urgent-testing-toxic-train-wreck.html

‘We basically nuked the town’: Hundreds of residents in Ohio village demand urgent testing of their homes after train wreck released toxic chemicals into the air – and officials tell them it’s safe to return
About 50 cars, including 10 carrying hazardous materials, derailed in a fiery crash in East Palestine at about 9pm on Friday, February 3
Some train cars were carrying hazardous chemicals and houses were evacuated while authorities carried out a ‘controlled release’
But residents are suing Norfolk Southern and fear their health is still at risk 

Residents evacuated from an Ohio village where a freight train derailed before huge clouds of toxic gasses were released in an explosion fear they could still be in danger nearly two weeks later, despite authorities telling them it’s safe to return home.

About 50 cars, including 10 carrying hazardous materials, derailed in a fiery crash in East Palestine at about 9pm on Friday, February 3.

Houses were evacuated after vinyl chloride was slowly released from five of those cars. Authorities then ignited the gases for a ‘controlled release’ of the highly flammable, toxic chemicals in a controlled environment, creating a dark plume of smoke.

Officials warned the controlled burn would send phosgene and hydrogen chloride into the air. Phosgene is a highly toxic, colorless gas with a strong odor that can cause vomiting and breathing trouble and was used as a weapon in World War I.

Despite the threat, safety officials insisted it is safe for residents who were evacuated to return to their homes just days later.

The CBO Exposes Biden’s $5.45 Trillion Lie

https://issuesinsights.com/2023/02/17/the-cbo-exposes-bidens-5-45-trillion-lie/

While spending the country into ruin, President Joe Biden likes to portray himself as a fiscal conservative who has cut the deficit in half in the past two years. But a new report from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office shows just how big a lie this is — a 5 1/2 trillion dollar lie, to be exact.

During his State of the Union speech last week, Biden not only claimed that “my administration has cut the deficit by more than $1.7 trillion — the largest deficit reduction in American history,” he also claimed that he’s a miser compared to Donald Trump. “Under the previous administration, the American deficit went up four years in a row. … Nearly 25% of the entire national debt that took over 200 years to accumulate was added by just one administration alone — the last one,” he said. 

“They’re the facts. Check it out. Check it out.”

Well, we checked it out. And it is perhaps the most flagrant of all Biden’s lies. The evidence shows that Biden is, in fact, the most fiscally reckless president in history.

Days after Biden’s speech, the CBO released its latest 10-year forecast for the federal budget. What it reveals is that Biden sharply increased the deficit last year, this year, and next year, and he has set the country on course to add a total of $5.45 trillion to the federal deficit over the following decade.

How do we know this? Because two years ago, when the CBO released its 2021 budget forecast, it did so before any of Biden’s policies had been enacted. That report assumed that the laws in place at the end of President Donald Trump’s term remained in effect for the next decade. So, it serves as a baseline against which we can measure the impact of Biden’s policies.

Here’s what the numbers show:

China Lasers Hawaii, Prepares for War by Gordon G. Chang

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19405/china-lasers-hawaii

This [spy balloon’s eight-day flight] path certainly suggests China is gathering intelligence for either a first or second strike on America’s nukes.

Combined with the green lasers collecting atmospheric data useful for a strike by a hypersonic glide vehicle on Hawaii, American defense planners should be alarmed.

The real story is that the Pentagon was caught off-guard by the recent intrusions. Only after the Chinese spy balloon penetrated U.S. airspace did the Pentagon go back over previously collected radar data and realize that there had been intrusions in previous years.

Deterrence is being eroded as China’s Communist Party is fast mobilizing all society for war.

[T]he laser shower is another warning that war is on the way.

On January 28, the Subaru-Asahi Star Camera, which livestreams images from the Subaru Telescope on Hawaii’s Mauna Kea, caught images of a shower of green laser beams lasting just seconds.

The beams were not, as originally thought, from a NASA satellite. They could have come from only one source: China’s Daqi-1/AEMS satellite.

MY SAY: NIKKI HALEY’S GAMBIT

Nikki Haley’s chances of becoming President are really very slim to zero. She knows it but wants to be the Veep. So she’s putting herself out there hoping to stay the course in the forthcoming debates.

Kamala Harris who never made it beyond December 3, 2019, was chosen because a woman was deemed critical for winning.

That may well be the case for the GOP in 2024, but there are many male contenders who are very qualified.  Stay tuned! rsk

Why Leftist Ideologies Always Fail A reflection on the fundamental mistake. by Mark Lewis

https://www.frontpagemag.com/why-leftist-ideologies-always-fail/

I want to discuss, in the brief space I have, the roots of modern Leftist philosophy, and why they believe government and force are the essentials to a more perfect society. There is an inherent contradiction in their system which would nullify it, but the Leftist’s fundamental understanding of human nature is in error, and thus any arrangement based on it is doomed to failure. And has.

Modern leftism has an interesting history, but one I cannot fully elucidate here. Though it has predecessors (Locke, Helvetius), its current manifestation is rooted in Darwinian materialism (one foundation of Marxism). According to this hypothesis, humans evolved, naturally and by chance, from “lower” forms of life. Pure, undiluted Darwinism, thus pure leftism, is atheistic—no God created or controlled the process. That means human beings are nothing more than blobs of matter in motion. The only difference between you and a cockroach is a different configuration of molecules, and that’s totally by chance. You can no more help being a human than a cockroach can help being a cockroach. There is, of course, some verity to this.

However, since humans are nothing but groups of molecules in motion, we can react only to whatever environmental forces surround us. There is no freedom of choice in such a system. And no free will implies we are not responsible for what we do. Criminals aren’t guilty of “crimes”; it isn’t their fault, they respond exclusively to environmental factors. Also, poverty has been said to be a root cause of crime. Thus, by changing the environment (a “war on poverty”), human behavior can be modified. Put an apple tree in an environment of good water, soil, sunshine, etc., and bigger, tastier, juicier apples will be produced. The apples have no “choice” in the matter, they only respond to their surroundings. Since humans are, like apples, only molecules formed, by chance, into what we are, then, like apples, we will react only to whatever external stimuli we receive. People thus aren’t “good” or “bad” except as their environment dictates.

Leftist intellectuals believe that humans (especially them) have evolved to the point where they can control the evolutionary process, if only we will give them power. They will create a Utopia, by good laws and education, so that everybody can be in a “good” environment and respond accordingly.

Britain’s Labour Party vs. Anti-Semitism At least one Western party of the left is trying to purge the bias in its ranks.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/britain-labour-party-keir-starmer-anti-semitism-jeremy-corbyn-u-s-democrats-b98e26db?mod=opinion_lead_pos4

Anti-Semitism has become an embarrassment to the political left in many countries in recent years—as U.S. Democrats have discovered in their own ranks. It’s a relief, then, to see at least one center-left party in the West tackling this problem head-on, as Britain’s Labour Party has this week.

Labour Leader Keir Starmer on Wednesday published a column in the Times of London telling activists with anti-Semitic views that they’re not welcome in the party.

“Antisemitism is an evil,” he wrote. “Its conspiratorial nature attracts those who would have no truck with any other form of prejudice. Indeed, it can be those who call themselves ‘anti-racist’ who are most blind to it. . . . That’s why my first act as [party] leader was to commit to tearing antisemitism out by the roots, without fear or favor.”

Mr. Starmer became Labour leader in 2020 after the party had suffered a humiliating election defeat under former leader Jeremy Corbyn. Mr. Corbyn, his inner circle, and their radical supporters promoted anti-Semitic tropes and turned a blind eye to complaints about abuse directed by their online camp followers at those who objected. Polls suggest this helped cost the party the 2019 election.

Russia Has Deployed 97% of Army in Ukraine but Is Struggling to Advance, U.K. Says U.S., allies gather for a second day of talks on boosting supplies to Kyiv

https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-has-deployed-97-of-army-in-ukraine-but-is-struggling-to-advance-u-k-says-91086284?mod=trending_now_news_1

The U.K. said Russia has deployed nearly its entire army in Ukraine, increasing pressure along the front line in the east of the country but falling short of a breakthrough.

Ukrainian officials have warned of a renewed Russian onslaught to coincide with the first anniversary of Moscow’s invasion next week. But some Western officials say the offensive is unlikely to be one single event. Russian forces have redoubled attacks along the front lines in eastern Ukraine in recent weeks, eking out gains after a series of reversals last year.

“We now estimate 97% of the whole Russian army is in Ukraine,” U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told the British Broadcasting Corp.’s “Today” show on Wednesday.

Russian forces were trying to advance on all fronts, he said, adding: “We haven’t actually seen this massing of a single force to punch through in a big offensive. We’ve just seen an effort to advance, and that has come at a huge cost to the Russian army.”

Ukraine is seeking to absorb the attacks, buying time to build up its own forces for an offensive to retake territories occupied by Russia. Western officials expect Ukraine to launch a counteroffensive in the spring.

Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine’s military intelligence, said Russian forces were rushing to gain ground before Kyiv amassed sufficient combat power for its own offensive. “The Russians understand that the continuation of the Ukrainian counteroffensive and operations to liberate our territories are inevitable,” he said. “That’s why the enemy is in a hurry.”

Fighting has been particularly fierce in the eastern city of Bakhmut, where Ukrainian forces are resisting Russian moves to encircle the city.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said grueling battles in the east were depleting Russia’s capacity to mount a broader offensive. In his nightly address, Mr. Zelensky said the situation in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk remains extremely difficult.

“We must understand the significance of these battles,” Mr. Zelensky said. “That is where the unprecedented destruction of Russian potential is taking place now.”

To leftists’ great disappointment, the DOJ did not indict Matt Gaetz By Andrea Widburg

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/02/to_leftists_great_disappointment_the_doj_did_not_indict_matt_gaetz.html

After an investigation lasting almost two years, the DOJ couldn’t make the case that a prominent member MAGA conservative was a sex predator.

At the end of March 2021, leftists were ecstatic: At the recommendation of the FBI, the DOJ was investigating Rep. Matt Gaetz, an enthusiastic, fearless member of the House’s Freedom Caucus, for sex trafficking based on an alleged relationship with a teenage girl. Interestingly, Gaetz never seemed fazed by the allegations—and now we know why: There was nothing there. Even the hyper-politicized DOJ has conceded that it cannot pursue him for sex trafficking.

On March 30, 2021, Democrats got one of the most exciting pieces of news ever: The New York Times broke the story that the Department of Justice, while Trump was still in office, had started investigating Matt Gaetz for sex trafficking a 17-year-old over state borders. More accurately, he was accused of having had a relationship with her and paying for her travel with him:

Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida and a close ally of former President Donald J. Trump, is being investigated by the Justice Department over whether he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and paid for her to travel with him, according to three people briefed on the matter.

Investigators are examining whether Mr. Gaetz violated federal sex trafficking laws, the people said. A variety of federal statutes make it illegal to induce someone under 18 to travel over state lines to engage in sex in exchange for money or something of value. The Justice Department regularly prosecutes such cases, and offenders often receive severe sentences.

New data reveal the extent of Biden’s betrayal at the border By William Davis

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/02/new_data_reveal_the_extent_of_bidens_betrayal_at_the_border.html

No matter how dire the crisis at the Southern border becomes, Americans can always count on the Biden administration to actively make it worse.

A bombshell report from NBC earlier this month revealed that the Biden administration has released 600,000 illegal aliens into the U.S. without charging documents or a notice to appear in court.

The report describes the release of hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens as a “necessity,” given the record number of illegal aliens who have entered the U.S. since Joe Biden took office.

Roughly five million illegal aliens have crossed the border since Biden was inaugurated, according to a study from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

Now we know the Biden administration has been forcing the release of many of those illegal aliens without even attempting to keep track of them. Make no mistake: This is an invasion of the U.S. being aided and abetted by the Biden administration.

To say this practice poses a danger to the American people would be an understatement.

During fiscal year 2022 (Oct. 1, 2021 until Sept. 30, 2022), a record 98 suspected terrorists were apprehended at the Southern border. This was nearly four times the number of suspected terrorists who were apprehended at the border in the previous five years combined. U.S. Border Patrol Chief Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez recently testified at a House Oversight Committee hearing that there has been a 176 percent increase in Chinese nationals showing up at the Rio Grande Valley section of the border. Chavez’s testimony came as the nation was on edge after a Chinese spy balloon was allowed to float throughout the U.S. for days.