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April 2023

Tourist Terror Turns Ten Under Biden, the Boston Marathon bomber won’t be executed any time soon, if ever. by Lloyd Billingsley

https://www.frontpagemag.com/tourist-terror-turns-ten/

April 15 will mark ten years since Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev targeted the Boston Marathon with explosive devices that killed Lingzi Lu, 23, Krystle Campbell, 29, and Martin Richard, only eight years old.  The powerful pressure-cooker bombs also wounded more than 250 at the crowded annual event.

Police killed Tamerlan Tsarnaev in a shootout and captured younger brother Dzhokhar. His death sentence was overturned in 2020 and reinstated in 2022. This January, Tsarnaev made another bid to have his death sentence overturned, and Dzhokhar, 29, has to like his chances.  That invites a review of how the bombers got to Boston in the first place.

In April of 2002, Anzor Tsarnaev arrived in the USA on a tourist visa with sons Tamerlan, 15, and Dzhokhar, only eight at the time. The family gained asylum and Dzhokhar became a U.S. citizen on September 11, 2012, despite security concerns. In 2011, the Russian government warned the FBI that the Tsarnaevs had ties to Chechen terrorists.

More than a year before the bombing, Tamerlan traveled back and forth from Dagestan for terror training. He should have been stopped at JFK airport but his name had been misspelled in a security database. The FBI did conduct an investigation of Tamerlan but closed the probe in June of 2011, after finding “no links to terrorism.” As Bostonians and people across the country may recall, the FBI committed a similar lapse in 2009.

The bureau knew that U.S. Army Major Nidal Hasan was communicating with al Qaeda terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki about killing Americans. The FBI dropped the probe and on November 5, 2009, Hasan murdered 13 Americans and wounded more than 30 others at Fort Hood, Texas, yelling “Allahu akbar” as he fired. Pvt. Francheska Velez was pregnant, so the death count should be 14. Despite the carnage, the lessons of Fort Hood went unlearned.

The West Declares War on Itself By J.B. Shurk

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2023/04/the_west_declares_war_on_itself.html

For Americans who cherish self-government, free speech, and personal liberty, the reality of today’s America is jolting.  How can Hillary Clinton’s campaign, Barack Obama’s FBI, and an assortment of sordid Intelligence Community actors conspire to frame Donald Trump as a Russian spy in a veritable coup d’état without suffering any legal consequences?  How can the IRS target Americans for their political viewpoints and be rewarded with bigger budgets and more armed agents?  How can the FBI illegally spy on a presidential campaign, target parents concerned over the content of their children’s public education, and label half of America “extremists,” and not be disbanded?  

How can the Department of (in)Justice seek to punish Americans’ speech and religious faith as impermissible expressions of “hate” and deprive Americans of their Second Amendment protections without being immediately defunded as a threat to the Bill of Rights?  How can the State Department lecture regimes around the world about violently quelling political dissent and violating human rights when thousands of Americans who protested for fair elections have been persecuted as “insurrectionists,” denied impartial justice, and imprisoned for having “incorrect” beliefs?  These are not the actions of any “free” nation and are shockingly antithetical to America’s foundations in liberty.

From this perspective, it seems apparent that the American government has not so quietly declared war on the American people.  Why?  Because it has abandoned any effort at preserving the qualities of its charter that once distinguished the American system as “exceptional” from all others — chiefly its constitutional framework empowering individual citizens and states while severely limiting centralized authority from ever infringing Americans’ inalienable rights and liberties.  This idea — that legitimate political power can arise only from the people — had been an invaluable guardrail for keeping governing excesses, if not outright tyranny, in check.  The steady erosion of this principle over the last century and its replacement with the age-old fallacy that “might makes right” have squandered American exceptionalism and invited tyranny to return through the front door.

The ‘Biden Crime Family’ Was All-in on Gain-of-Function Research By Victoria Taft

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/victoria-taft/2023/04/13/the-biden-crime-family-was-all-in-on-gain-of-function-research-n1686944

Remember when Hunter Biden tagged along on Joe’s trip to China in 2013? Photographers captured the moment when Hunter followed his dad and daughter Finnegan down the stairs of Air Force Two. The Obama White House produced a fawning video about it (watch it below). It was a trip that would pay millions in dividends for what some people call “The Biden Crime Family.”

On that Asian tour, Vice President Biden held a four-and-a-half hour-long meeting with Chinese President Xi that was mostly off the record. He also visited Japan and South Korea. The trip was in December 2013.

Hunter’s visage wasn’t featured in the vast majority of the coverage. But they needed only one look to ask, “What was Hunter doing on this trip?” It turns out, he was off doing deals, trading on his dad’s name, and making millions for the family.

Eleven months after that trip, the big deals started happening. In October 2014, Hunter Biden’s Rosemont Seneca Technology Partners (RSTP) became an investor in a Silicon Valley company called Metabiota, which does business with China, the Pentagon, and Ukraine. The company, which predicts pandemics and tries to “prevent proactively the spread of diseases” for “companies, governments, and livestock producers,” has ties to the World Economic Forum (Davos) through its founder, virologist Nathan Wolfe, who has been selected by WEF as an up-and-coming leader. Eventually, Biden’s RSTP would own a 13.4% stake in Metabiota.

Fraudulent Studies Withdrawn as Professor Is Caught Faking the Racism Narrative By Matt Margolis

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/matt-margolis/2023/04/13/fraudulent-studies-withdrawn-as-professor-is-caught-faking-the-racism-narrative-n1686852

Remember how during Trump’s presidency, the media went to great lengths to push the narrative that Trump inspired an increase in racism and hate crimes?

And then it felt like many of the hate crimes reported in the media were actually hoaxes?

It didn’t stop the mainstream media from perpetuating the false narrative that Trump was to blame for a rise in hate crimes. Why? Because it appealed to the left’s ideology. The left wants to believe that America is a bigoted, racist country, and blaming Trump for it was the icing on the cake — and they made sure they had their slice and ate it, too. Even though it blew up in their faces over and over again.

And it’s about to again.

It turns out that years of racism studies by Florida State University criminology professor Eric Stewart have been determined to be fraudulent, forcing him to leave his cushy $190,000-per-year job.

Will Latest Revelations Of Corruption Get Biden Impeached?

https://issuesinsights.com/2023/04/14/will-latest-revelations-of-corruption-get-biden-impeached/

With each day, it seems, we hear something new about how President Joe Biden and his ever-eager son, Hunter, used the power of Biden’s various political offices to make money for the Biden family. If even half of the allegations are true, Biden’s in big trouble. Will that make him think twice about running for a second term in 2024?

American voters are a thick-skinned lot, and know pretty much that many politicians are scoundrels. But Biden is a different breed.

His family has, for years, received mysterious piles of money — we’re talking millions of dollars here — from questionable overseas sources, including Chinese Communist-linked executives, Russians with ties to Vladimir Putin and huge sums from Ukraine and its giant Burisma energy company.

The latest revelation is just stunning.

Turns out that Hunter, with no real experience at all in the energy business, was asked to join Ukraine-based Burisma’s board of directors on April 18, 2014 — the same month that President Barack Obama made Biden his “point man” on Ukraine, then in the midst of a growing conflict with Russia.

A mere three days after Hunter joined Burisma’s board, Vice President Biden high-tailed it to Ukraine on an “official” trip to push ”medium- and long-term strategies to boost conventional gas production, and also to begin to take advantage of the unconventional gas reserves that are in Ukraine.”

Did it work? You bet. “According to Burisma’s website, it ramped up production from 100 million cubic meters in 2010 to 1.3 billion cubic meters in 2018 – when it generated revenues of at least $400 million,” the Daily Mail reports.

For sitting on Burisma’s board, Hunter Biden and his business partner and former Yale classmate, Devon Archer, each scored $83,333 a month for “consulting services” paid to their consulting firm, Rosemont Seneca Thornton LLC, from April 2014 to November 2015.

This wasn’t the only payment they received from questionable Eastern European sources. While the media later spun its wheels with unproved and outright bogus claims of Donald Trump’s “collusion” with Russia, a Senate investigation noted Biden’s hands were in Russia’s pockets for real.

“On Feb. 14, 2014, (Elena) Baturina wired $3.5 million to a Rosemont Seneca Thornton LLC (Rosemont Seneca Thornton) bank account for a ‘Consultancy Agreement,’ ” a Senate report said.

Democrats Discover the Age Issue They belatedly admit Dianne Feinstein is too old to serve. What about Joe Biden? By Kimberley A. Strassel

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-democrats-health-warning-feinstein-khanna-newsom-biden-competency-age-reelection-f8242e0c?mod=opinion_featst_pos1

Nothing is certain but death and taxes, save perhaps Democrats’ recent ability to ignore the relevance of old age to that saying. Will their Dianne Feinstein problem provoke a rethink of the wisdom of renominating Joe Biden?

Ms. Feinstein, California’s 89-year-old senior senator, announced this week that her return to Washington would be delayed by “continued complications” of shingles. She has already missed nearly three-quarters of Senate votes this year because of her illness, though Democrats’ more immediate frustration is that her absence leaves the Judiciary Committee deadlocked, unable to greenlight Mr. Biden’s nominees. With the House in GOP hands, that’s about all the Senate is currently good for.

And don’t progressives know it. Plenty of senators have faced injury and illness before, some absent for long periods. But with a 51-49 Senate margin—and the potential for a judicial pileup or the loss of a crucial floor vote—Democrats have suddenly decided octogenarians pose a problem. California Rep. Ro Khanna unloosed the hordes on Wednesday with a tweet demanding Ms. Feinstein resign, citing the need to put “country ahead of personal loyalty.” He was joined by Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips, who called it a “dereliction of duty” for Ms. Feinstein to remain in office and for Democrats to “remain quiet.”

Don’t think Mr. Khanna is motivated entirely by civic-mindedness. Gov. Gavin Newsom has vowed to appoint a black woman to Ms. Feinstein’s seat should she step down before her term ends in 2025. Mr. Khanna happens to be a co-chairman of House Rep. Barbara Lee’s campaign for the seat. Ms. Lee is an obvious top contender for a placeholder pick, which would give her a huge leg up over rivals in 2024. It’s convenient when “country” holds a political upside.

Air Guardsman Arrested in Connection With Leaked Documents Jack Teixeira, 21, taken into custody following security breach that has raised worries about undermining Ukraine’s war effort

https://www.wsj.com/articles/leak-documents-likely-came-from-air-national-guardsman-at-fort-bragg-official-says-dbf48c0a

“President Biden, when asked for an update on the leak investigation Thursday during a trip to Dublin, said he was concerned that the leak happened, but “there’s nothing contemporaneous that I’m aware of that’s of great consequence.”

The FBI arrested a 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guardsman in connection with a leak of what appear to be highly classified intelligence documents, a security breach that posed a threat to U.S. ties to some allies and efforts to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

Federal agents took Jack Douglas Teixeira into custody in Dighton, Mass., on Thursday afternoon. Television footage showed armed agents leading a male wearing red shorts and an olive green T-shirt with his hands cuffed behind his back.

Attorney General Merrick Garland confirmed Mr. Teixeira’s arrest in connection with the “investigation into alleged unauthorized removal, retention and transmission of classified national defense information.” Mr. Garland declined to elaborate, citing the probe.

Mr. Teixeira was expected to appear Friday in federal court in Massachusetts. An attorney for Mr. Teixeira couldn’t be immediately identified, and members of his family couldn’t be reached for comment.

The arrest caps a fast-moving probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pentagon and others to pinpoint the source of a leak of documents that appear to have exposed details of U.S. surveillance of adversaries and allies, touching off multiple diplomatic storms and raising worries about undermining Kyiv’s fight against Russia.

The Biden 10-Step Plan for Global Chaos Our enemies do not fear us, our allies judge us unreliable, and neutrals assume America is in descent and too dangerous to join. By Victor Davis Hanson

https://amgreatness.com/2023/04/12/the-biden-10-step-plan-for-global-chaos/

Why is French President Emmanuel Macron cozying up to China while trashing his oldest ally, the United States?

Why is there suddenly talk of discarding the dollar as the global currency?

Why are Japan and India shrugging that they cannot follow the United States’ lead in boycotting Russian oil?

Why is the president of Brazil traveling to China to pursue what he calls a “beautiful relationship”?

Why is Israel suddenly facing attacks from its enemies in all directions?

What happened to Turkey? Why is it threatening fellow NATO member Greece? Is it still a NATO ally, a mere neutral, or a de facto enemy?

 Why are there suddenly nonstop Chinese threats toward Taiwan?

Why did Saudi Arabia conclude a new pact with Iran, its former archenemy?

Why is Egypt sending rockets to Russia to be used in Ukraine?

Since when did the Russians talk nonstop about the potential use of a tactical nuclear weapon?

Why is Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador bragging that millions of Mexicans have entered the United States, most of them illegally? And why is he interfering in U.S. elections by urging his expatriates to vote for Democrats?

Why and how, in just two years, have ad confused and often incoherent Joe Biden and his team created such global chaos?

Let us answer by listing 10 ways by which America lost all deterrence.

1) Joe Biden abruptly pulled all U.S. troops from Afghanistan. He left behind to the Taliban hundreds of Americans and thousands of pro-American Afghans. Biden abandoned billions of dollars in U.S. equipment, the largest air base in central Asia—recently retrofitted at a cost of $300 million—and a $1 billion embassy. Our government called such a debacle a success. The world disagreed and saw only humiliation.

If They Are Not Calling You a Fascist, You’re Too Damn Soft They scream loudest when it hurts the most. by Kurt Schlichter

https://www.frontpagemag.com/if-they-are-not-calling-you-a-fascist-youre-too-damn-soft/

Look, they are always going to call you a fascist, but if they are not screaming about what you are doing as loud as their high-pitched voices can go, you are not going against the left anywhere near hard enough. They will insist that any use of conservative power – whether by a Florida governor elected with a 20-point margin or a Tennessee 3-1 supermajority – is illegitimate authoritarianism in their Marxist narrative. This is why we conservatives, instead of caring about the lies that we are “fascist” or “authoritarian” or – of course – “racist,” should use the volume of their howling solely as a metric of our success.

They scream loudest when it hurts the most.

When we take away their ability to groom kids in schools.

When we cut off the power of their corporate co-conspirators.

When we use the judicial system to stop their (actual) fascist power grabs.

When we buy guns and ammunition to protect our lives and liberty.

When we hold them to their own rules and toss out insurrectionist representatives who obstruct legislative proceedings.

That last one, from Tennessee last week, is instructive. A trio of Marxist mutants marched into the well of the legislature straight from commie central casting with a bullhorn to co-opt the session and demand disarmament of normal people in the wake of some trans weirdo murdering six Christians.

A Tale of Two Online Giants Wales’ Wikipedia vs. Elon’s Twitter. by Bruce Bawer

https://www.frontpagemag.com/a-tale-of-two-online-giants/

There are few more elaborate examples of the contemporary leftist capture of institutions than the metamorphosis of Wikipedia, the most comprehensive and influential encyclopedia in human history and the seventh most frequently consulted website on earth, from a relatively objective source of information into a massive assemblage of progressive agitprop. When it was founded in 2001 by two self-styled libertarians, Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger, Wikipedia – which is currently based at 120 Kearny Street, San Francisco, just off Market Street – was a self-consciously noble enterprise, conceived as a benign collaboration among unpaid volunteers and solemnly committed to truth and neutrality. In a 2021 interview, Sanger recalled that during its first few years, Wikipedia’s articles, even on the most controversial politicians and issues, were models of balance.

No more. “Especially over the last five years or so,” lamented Sanger, “Wikipedia has changed” although theoretically anyone can rewrite a Wikipedia entry to eliminate bias, left-wing administrators and editors labor endlessly to prevent and undo such changes. Sanger noted that the entry for Joe Biden, for example, mentions “very little by way of the concerns that the Republicans have had about him”; although there’s a paragraph about the Ukraine scandal, it “reads like a defense counsel’s brief.”

But don’t dare to call Wikipedia biased. To do so is “incorrect.” Wikipedia itself says so, in an emphatic little essay that lays down its party line on this question. It’s not possible for Wikipedia to be biased, you see, because it draws “only on reliable sources” – a “methodology” that ensures it will contain only “knowledge that is verifiable.” And what are those “reliable sources”? Well, on Wikipedia you can find an exhaustive list of sources in which it meticulously separates the sheep from the goats. And to peruse that list is to see news outlets being judged not, as Wikipedia would have you believe, by journalistic professionalism, but rather by the degree to which they can be relied upon to put a progressive spin on the facts.