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March 2021

Beijing’s Global Cancel Culture China punishes H&M and Nike for criticizing forced labor in Xinjiang.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/beijings-global-cancel-culture-11616711966?mod=opinion_lead_pos2

Xi Jinping has become something of a master at flexing China’s commercial muscle in political disputes with foreign critics. The Chinese President’s latest targets are Swedish t-shirts and American sports shoes, among others—and by extension Chinese consumers.

Fast-fashion retailer H&M and Nike came in for a Chinese social-media bruising this week. H&M saw its products removed from several major e-commerce retailers and a celebrity endorser abandoned the brand, while other celebrities cut ties with Nike as netizens rained scorn on the brands on sites such as Weibo. This followed angry social-media posts from the Communist Youth League aimed at the companies.

The companies’ offense is to have issued statements last year decrying forced labor in the concentration camps Beijing operates to imprison Uighurs in Xinjiang. That western Chinese region produces a lot of cotton, and fashion companies have been under pressure from their Western consumers to weed forced-labor fabrics from their supply chains.

Those statements are becoming grist for the Communist Party’s outrage mill now because the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom and European Union on Monday imposed sanctions on several Chinese officials in response to Mr. Xi’s Uighur imprisonment. Beijing has imposed sanctions on several European officials in response. Mobilizing an electronic mob against big Western brands is another show of force.

We need to stop blaming Bibi for electoral deadlock By Ruthie Blum

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/we-need-to-stop-stop-blaming-bibi-for-electoral-deadlock-663244

For the past two years, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s detractors have claimed that if he would only get out of the way – resign, retire or expire – the problem of electoral impasse would instantly be solved. The bulk of the media and left-wing public began chanting the mantra after elections for the 21th Knesset on April 9, 2019. Yet it was actually Yisrael Beytenu Party leader Avigdor Liberman who created the first deadlock.

A member of the Right, Liberman had vowed to support Likud. As soon as the votes were in, however – and Netanyahu needed Yisrael Beytenu to secure a victory over the “anybody-but-Bibi” bloc led by Benny Gantz – Liberman suddenly reneged. Nor did he jump on Gantz’s Blue and White bandwagon.
With neither side able to form a government, a second round of Knesset elections was scheduled and subsequently held on September 17 of that year. This time, Blue and White garnered one seat more than Likud, but with no chance of cobbling together a coalition. Again, had Liberman joined his political camp, Netanyahu would have been able to form a government.

Three months later, on December 26, the Netanyahu naysayers claiming that his popularity had run its course were left with egg on their faces when he won the Likud primary by a landslide. This democratic reaffirmation of his party leadership took place just over two months before the third round of Knesset elections on March 2, 2020, which coincided with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

THIS TIME, voters (some of whom had contracted COVID-19 and were provided special polling stations in protective tents) gave Likud a greater number of mandates than Blue and White, but still not enough for Netanyahu or Gantz to form a coalition. After weeks of wrangling, Gantz finally agreed to enter into a national-unity government with Netanyahu.

The arrangement greatly angered the anybody-but-Bibi crew that he was selected to represent. Those most livid were not really his champions per se; they were a diverse bunch with different political affiliations who had come together for the sole purpose of defeating Netanyahu.

Biden Unhinged: Calls Attempts To Stop Election Fraud ‘Un-American’

https://issuesinsights.com/2021/03/26/biden-unhinged-calls-state-election-integrity-bills-un-american/

‘Un-American.” “Sick.” “Despicable.”

What got President Joe Biden in such a lather? Was it the children packed liked sardines at border detention facilities? The recent mass shootings? China’s human rights abuses?

Nope. Biden flew off the handle over the fact that several states are taking steps to reform their election laws in ways he doesn’t like.

“What I’m worried about is how un-American this whole initiative is. It’s sick,” he said. “It’s sick … deciding in some states that you can’t bring water to people standing in line waiting to vote. Deciding you’re going to end voting at five o’clock when working people are just getting off work. Deciding that there will be no absentee ballots under the most rigid circumstances.”

“The Republican voters I know find this despicable,” he added later. “Republican voters.”

He wasn’t done. “I’m convinced that we’ll be able to stop this because it is the most pernicious thing. This makes Jim Crow look like Jim Eagle. This is gigantic, what they’re trying to do.”

So what is it that states are trying to do? First, it’s worth clearing up a few things Biden rattled off.

There is a debate in Georgia about a provision regarding bringing voters food and water while they are waiting to vote. Is that un-American? Not when you consider that such “services” could amount to illegal canvassing. But maybe Biden thinks those restrictions are un-American, too.

Yellow Journalism Turns Blue Ron Johnson is under attack from a press that’s abandoned honesty and fairness. Kimberley Strassel

https://www.wsj.com/articles/yellow-journalism-turns-blue-11616711532?mod=opinion_lead_pos8

“Yellow journalism” means a sensationalized press. Perhaps it is time to introduce “blue journalism”—the new media practice of abandoning standards to work seamlessly with the progressive left against any opposition.

A case study is the attempted political assassination of Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson. The press has never liked most Republicans. Yet for most of Mr. Johnson’s decade in the Senate, it’s generally described him as what he is: an outsider businessman and fiscal conservative with a focus on deficits and spending. “Wisconsin’s senior senator is a numbers guy, a believer in the power of facts and figures,” wrote Milwaukee Magazine in his first term. In recent years, serving on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, he’s developed a reputation for oversight.

Compare that with the recent onslaught. “Assaulting the Truth, Ron Johnson Helps Erode Confidence In Government,” read a New York Times news headline, over a story that called him the “Republican Party’s foremost amplifier of conspiracy theories and disinformation.” “Ron Johnson’s Crazy Train Is Somehow Getting Even Weirder,” snarked Vanity Fair. “Ron Johnson Is a Racist,” opined the Washington Post’s Kathleen Parker. Mr. Johnson is “inciting fear” the Post’s Michael Gerson added. The paper’s “fact checkers” assailed his “misleading data” and “unscientific take.”

What’s this all about? From the Times story, it amounts to this: Mr. Johnson has refused to brand everyone present in Washington on Jan. 6 as “insurrectionists”; he’s continued to note that last year’s Black Lives Matter protests led to rioting, looting, arson and death; he held hearings on treatments for Covid and 2020 election integrity; and he’s declined, for now, a Covid vaccine, given he had the disease last year and decided to let others go before him.

None of this is remotely conspiratorial or even controversial. Mr. Johnson’s real offense is refusing to roll over to the progressive and public-health police and continuing to ask tough questions.

Congress Summons Its Speech Regulators A hearing shows how Big Tech is becoming a government enforcer.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/congress-summons-its-speech-regulators-11616711928?mod=opinion_lead_pos3

On Thursday the CEOs of Facebook, Google and Twitter sat before the House Energy and Commerce Committee as Democrats thundered that they should censor more political speech, and what was notable was how routine this ritual has become.

The Journal reports this was Mark Zuckerberg’s “fourth appearance before Congress since last July, and the third for both Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Google’s Sundar Pichai. ” The gatekeepers of online expression increasingly resemble government regulators, navigating threats and exhortations from politicians.

The hearing topic was “disinformation,” and it followed the same committee’s hearing last month targeting conservative media. The term “disinformation” is elastic, covering anything from election and health hoaxes to political expression that Democrats disfavor. Rep. Mike Doyle, the subcommittee chair, said in his opening statement that the sites the CEOs oversee are “havens of hate, harassment, and division,” and declared, “we will legislate to stop this.”

That sentiment was echoed by Rep. Henry Butterfield, who said social-media platforms are “being used to undermine social justice movements.” He said Congress may have to “compel you, perhaps with penalties, to make meaningful changes” to employee composition.

Republicans also laid into the platforms, especially their impact on minors and progressive bias in moderation. But the message from the majority party was clear and unified: Clamp down on more political speech, pronto, or risk the consequences. Rep. Jerry McNerney said the removal of disinformation “isn’t happening quickly enough.”

Progressives have deputized Big Tech executives as de facto regulators of American debate.

A tame press conference for a lame president The air of unreality that suffused the Biden presser was stultifying Roger Kimball

https://spectator.us/topic/tame-press-conference-america-joe-biden/

Just a sec. Let me check my notes. Ah, right. Hurgh. ‘My message to the American people is: help is here. Hope is on the way.’

‘Can I go home now?’ he asked with his eyes.

Joe Biden looked like he wanted to call an end to his first presidential press conference before he even got started. But he soldiered on. Having prepared for a few weeks to talk to — what, seven? Eight? — carefully selected members of the press, he was not about to give up on this chance to bask in some adulation.

And boy was the adulation ever on offer. ‘Was it because you were such a a nice man that you had more success than the awful Voldemort who proceeded you?’ oozed one female correspondent.

No that’s not a direct quote. The original was more embarrassing.

Joe Biden held his press conference today because it was getting too embarrassing not to hold a press conference. One of the alphabet Dem-friendly channels said the president faced ‘tough questions‘ about his administration handling of the disaster on our southern border.

No he didn’t. He faced a few mild questions from essentially friendly reporters who were hand-picked by his minders to be sure they were on side, which is to say, on his side.

There were only a few really cringe worthy moments. Yes they were doozies.

But much more concerning was the Truman Show-like set up of the event. The air of unreality that suffused the proceedings was stultifying. Here we had an old, senile man pretending to be president while a handful of flaks pretended to be reporters. Every issue that was raised was wrapped up in a tissue of lies and misrepresentation.

Take immigration. Donald Trump had reduced illegal immigration to almost zero. Joe Biden lied when he said otherwise. Trump had closed down most of the Obama-era holding pens for children. Biden had to reopen them when he opened the border.

MY SAY: NO DEMOCRAT BUYER’S REMORSE?

Real liberals of both major parties cherish homeland security, the right to dissent and criticize without punishment, freedom of peaceful assembly, border security and freedom to vote.

On issues of homeland security there is a terrible border crisis which includes pathetic and unaccompanied children as well as unvetted criminals, human traffickers and multitudes susceptible and possible carriers of Covid.

The right to dissent is continually challenged by big tech and legislators who approve of censorship and punitive measures. “Cancel culture” seeks to silence the dissent of 75 million Americans.

The right to assembly is only reserved for destructive rioters in many cities. Those who attended the January 6th rally in Washington are derided as white supremacists, racists and extremists, despite the fact that the overwhelming majority gathered peacefully and politely.

The unfettered right to vote is now challenged by a forthcoming bill mid-wifed by Nancy Pelosi to consolidate power for decades.

Where is liberal outrage at the torrent of tyrannical dictates? And please don’t mention Joe Manchin who teases but ultimately votes with the herd.

Their silence is acquiescence to authoritarian one-party rule inimical to democracy. 

There is an old saw that says that conservatives are liberals who were mugged.  How many muggings will it take this time? rsk

MORE HEADLINES; MARCH 25, 2021

Former White House physician says Biden’s hiding is a ‘MAJOR red flag’ https://www.wnd.com/2021/03/former-white-house-physician-says-bidens-hiding-major-red-flag/

Tucker investigates why Biden took swing at Russia, but not China https://www.facebook.com/FoxNews/videos/tucker-investigates-why-biden-took-swing-at-russia-but-not-china/532462224411224/

Ingraham: Biden confident press will cover for him every step of the way https://www.youtube.com/watch?

 
Biden regularly consults with Barack Obama on a ‘range of issues,’ Psaki says https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-white-house-communication-barack-obama

 
‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ guest arrested days after appearing on the show https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/tucker-carlson-tonight-guest-arrested-days-after-appearing-on-the-show/vi-BB1eLZPg

 
Biden Approves a Massive Multi-million ICE Contract. Here’s What It Does. https://townhall.com/tipsheet/bethbaumann/2021/03/21/biden-admin-gives-ice-the-green-light-to-spend-millions-on-hotel-rooms-for-illegal-aliens-n2586609?
Biden Administration to Use San Diego Convention Center as Immigration Shelter Amid Surge https://www.theepochtimes.com/biden-administration-to-use-san-diego-convention-center-as-immigration-shelter-amid-surge_3745457.html

 
Mexican drug cartels using kids as decoys in to smuggle its members into US: sheriff https://www.foxnews.com/us/mexican-drug-cartels-using-kids-as-decoys-in-to-smuggle-its-members-into-us-sheriff

 

 
Blumenthal: Republicans Are ‘Complicit in All These Shootings’ https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2021/03/23/blumenthal-republicans-are-complicit-in-all-these-shootings/ 
 
Boulder jihadi’s now-scrubbed Facebook page contained quotations from Muhammad https://www.jihadwatch.org/2021/03/boulder-jihadis-now-scrubbed-facebook-page-contained-quotations-from-muhammad?

Boulder jihad mass murderer had planned to hit Trump rally, also checked churches as potential targets https://www.jihadwatch.org/2021/03/boulder-jihad-mass-murderer-had-planned-to-hit-trump-rally-also-checked-churches-as-potential-targets?

Arabs: A Warning to Biden about Iran’s Mullahs by Khaled Abu Toameh

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17162/arabs-warning-biden-iran

President Biden’s decision to pursue the sanctions against Iran, however, has failed to reduce the fears of many Arabs. They say they remain skeptical about Washington’s policy toward the threats posed by the mullahs in Tehran.

“He [Biden] should not make any concessions [to Iran] that do not serve stability in the region. Iran will continue with its tricks and deception to avoid sanctions and attempts to stop it from possessing a nuclear bomb that would pose a danger to countries in the region.” — Khaled bin Hamad al-Malek, Saudi newspaper editor and writer, Al Jazirah, March 5, 2021.

“Iran is an evil, terrorist, and rogue state, and it does not abide by what is agreed upon with it.” — Khaled bin Hamad al-Malek, Al Jazirah, March 5, 2021.

“The current Iranian ploy aims to delude the American side into believing that Tehran wants to return to the agreement, but it cannot make concessions due to street pressure, so it needs Washington to drop the sanctions before starting any negotiations…. With regards to Iran, it wants to pursue its goal of achieving nuclear weapons that threaten the region and the world.” — Dr. Salem Hameed, Emirati political analyst and academic, Al-Ittihad, March 6, 2021.

“Iran’s mullahs are like dangerous poisonous snakes. The mullahs cannot be tamed unless their fangs are completely pulled out. President Biden does not seem to be aware of how dangerous they are.” — Mohamed al-Sheikh, prominent Saudi writer, Al Jazirah, March 5, 2021.

The Biden administration, “especially the left-wing of the Democratic Party, still hope to win the mullahs into their camp and pull them out of the Chinese-Russian camp,” he remarked.

“The mullahs of Iran are still dreaming of establishing the Great Persian Empire, and for the sake of this goal they are not averse to harnessing all efforts and funds to reach this goal, even if they are forced to be patient.” — Mohamed al-Sheikh, Al Jazirah, March 5, 2021.

Former Egyptian diplomat Amr Helmy lashed out at the Biden administration for “dropping” most of the 12 conditions… set for returning to the nuclear agreement with Iran. The conditions … require Iran… to stop enrichment and never pursue plutonium reprocessing, provide the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with unqualified access to all its sites, end its proliferation of ballistic missiles, halt support to Middle East terrorist groups and end its threatening behavior against its neighbors.

“US begging for negotiations [with Iran] will lead to more Iranian intransigence and promote its extremism,” [Egyptian political analyst Dr. Tarek] Fahmi said. He warned that the US would be the “biggest loser” if Iran is allowed to continue with its maneuvers and threats against the security of the region. — Al-Ain, March 4, 2021.

Significantly, such voices seem to be shared by a large number of Arabs in different Arab countries – not only the Gulf states.

The Biden administration has decided to extend for another year the “national emergency” (Executive Order 12957), issued in 1995 in response to the threat Iran posed to the national security, foreign policy and economy of the US.

The Executive Order imposed a series of sanctions against Iran in response to its support for international terrorism, its efforts to undermine the Middle East peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, and its acquisition of nuclear weapons.

Biden’s Iran policies should reflect the rising cost of living there By Hassan Mahmoudi

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/03/bidens_iran_policies_should_reflect_the_rising_cost_of_living_there.html

2020 has been an economically disastrous year for the Iranian people, perhaps the worst since the Mullahs took over in 1979. Even before 2020, Iran ranked as one of the most miserable countries in the world. An International Monetary Fund report said Iran’s 2019 economic growth was negative 9.5 and the final numbers for 2020 are expected to be even worse. If he were smart, Biden would capitalize on this, benefitting both America and the Iranian people.

By August 2020, Iranians were plagued by anger, anxiety, helplessness, depression, insecurity both for themselves and their children. Unsurprisingly Suicide steadily increases in Iran, at a rate of more than 5% annually. In the first eight months of 2020 alone, suicides increased by more than 4% over the same period the previous year. At least 15 Iranians take their lives daily.

People’s economic circumstances are grim. The Labor Council has set the 2021 Iranian minimum wage at 2.65 million tomans (almost $132). That’s inconsequential when one considers that Hamidreza Imam Gholi Tabar, the inspector of Supreme Assembly of Workers, said:

The poverty line of a family of four has reached 10 million tomans [almost $500] and more than half of the Iranians are living in absolute poverty. Workers are not even able to buy mobile phones in installments for the continuation of their children’s education.