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August 2022

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IRS Hiring Spree Biggest expansion of the Police State in American history. David Harsanyi

By on August 16th, 2022

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/08/irs-hiring-spree-biggest-expansion-police-state-david-harsanyi/

The Democrats’ new reconciliation bill isn’t just going to be the largest-ever expansion of a government agency. It’s going to be the largest expansion of the domestic police state in American history. Only a statist could believe that a federal government, which already collects $4.1 trillion every year — or $12,300 for every citizen — supposedly needs 80 battalions of new IRS cops.

The average American has less reason to be concerned about cops with guns — though the IRS is looking for special agents who can “carry a firearm and be willing to use deadly force, if necessary” — than they do bureaucrats armed with pens who are authorized to sift through their lives. If you pay your taxes you have nothing to worry about, Democrats claim. But most law-abiding citizens know they have something to fear from a state agency that doesn’t concern itself with your due process, has no regard for your privacy and is empowered to target anyone it wants without any genuine oversight.

And, please, spare us this nonsense about the IRS expansion focusing exclusively on “high earners.” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre promised that the IRS wouldn’t engage in new audits of anyone making under $400,000 — a claim she has no authority to make and could not possibly predict even if she did. Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy also said that the bill was passed to stop an “epidemic of tax cheating amongst the millionaires and billionaires” and promised that “audit rates won’t increase for anyone making under $400K.”

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WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

UK Cops Accuse the Wrong Guys of Wrong-Think Going toe-to-toe with the thought police in England. Bruce Bawer

By on August 16th, 2022

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/08/uk-cops-accuse-wrong-guys-wrong-think-bruce-bawer/

You’ve probably heard the old joke. In Heaven the cooks are French, the mechanics are German, the bankers are Swiss, the lovers are Italian, and the police are English. In Hell, by contrast, the cooks are English, the mechanics are French, the bankers are Italian, the lovers are Swiss, and the police are German. Once upon a time, the joke didn’t have to be explained – at least not the part about English police. Even people who’d never been to England had seen enough old movies to get it. English cops didn’t carry guns. They were decent, civilized professionals, trained to be public servants in accordance with the high principles of policing set down in the 1820s by Sir Robert Peel, in honor of whom they were known as “Bobbies.”

In recent years, alas, the rosy image of English cops has been severely tarnished. It’s now known that for decades, constabularies in many English cities were so scared of being called racists that they ignored the systematic rape of thousands of children by Muslim “grooming gangs.” They’ve also harassed Tommy Robinson, who’s done more than anyone to expose those gangs. And they’ve arrested thousands of ordinary people for expressing politically incorrect opinions online. No fewer than 150,000 law-abiding British citizens now have rap sheets because of their involvement in “non-crime hate incidents.”

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MEDIA Comments turned off

Twitter Fritters Away Its Credibility Henry I. Miller

By on August 16th, 2022

https://issuesinsights.com/2022/08/16/twitter-fritters-away-its-credibility/

I participate relatively little on social media. I am on Twitter, mainly to boost exposure of my articles, which focus primarily on scientific or medical subjects.  Recently, I tweeted about an exciting new approach to creating coronavirus vaccines to protect against, among other viruses, new variants of SARS-CoV-2 (which cause COVID-19).  As explained below, that’s when my bizarre clash with Twitter began.

The experimental vaccine, created in the Caltech lab of professor Pamela Bjorkman, works by presenting the immune system with pieces of the spike proteins from SARS-CoV-2 and seven other SARS-like coronaviruses, all attached to a protein nanoparticle structure. When injected into mice or monkeys, they induce the production of a broad spectrum of antibodies – immune system proteins that recognize and fight off specific pathogens – as well as cellular immune responses involving various white blood cells.

Notably, when vaccinated with this so-called “mosaic nanoparticle,” mice and nonhuman primates were protected from an additional coronavirus, SARS-CoV, that was not one of the eight represented in the nanoparticle vaccine. This extended protection is important because of the ability of SARS-CoV-2 to mutate and evade immune protection from vaccines or previous infection – which, of course, is what we’re seeing with Omicron subvariant BA.5. Professor Bjorkman and her colleagues plan soon to evaluate their vaccine in humans in a Phase 1 clinical trial.

This work is important because with the numbers of COVID-19 infections continuing at a high level in the U.S. and elsewhere, epidemiologists and virologists expect that it’s only a matter of time until new subvariants proliferate and predominate. The Caltech research offers hope that its vaccine will be effective against them.

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NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Job One For The GOP: Kill The Inflation Reduction Act

By on August 16th, 2022

https://issuesinsights.com/2022/08/16/job-one-for-the-gop-kill-the-inflation-reduction-act/

“Simply put, the IRA is jam-packed with Democratic Party crackpot ideas that couldn’t get passed on their own. It is the most rancid of rotten policy stews cooked up in more than a decade. Republicans need to campaign for the midterms on the sworn pledge that if they get veto-proof majorities in both chambers, they’ll repeal it. Fake promises, like the ones made about Obamacare, are unacceptable.”

Joe Biden’s $700 billion Inflation Reduction Act passed both the Senate and House without a single vote from Republicans. It has zero redeeming value and is the most wretched bill out of Washington since Obamacare was approved in 2010. The GOP has to take it off the books.

As we pointed out in this space weeks ago, the entire bill is a lie. It has nothing whatsoever to do with inflation and, in fact, won’t reduce it at all. The University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Wharton Budget Model says the IRA’s “impact on inflation is statistically indistinguishable from zero.” Bill Adams, chief economist for Comerica Bank, says it won’t rein in rising prices “over the short run.” Even the Congressional Budget Office says ​​it does nothing to address inflation.

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CHARLOTTE'S NEWS WEB, NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

Jim Jordan says 14 FBI whistleblowers have come forward:Daniel Chaitin

By on August 16th, 2022

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/jim-jordan-14-fbi-whistleblowers

More than a dozen FBI whistleblowers have come forward to Republican investigators in Congress, according to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH).

The congressman, who is the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, told Fox News host Trey Gowdy the number has risen to 14 after the FBI raid at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.

During a conversation about alleged politicization at the Justice Department, along with former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, Jordan made the case that the public has “figured it out” when it comes to what he characterized as the Left generating a lie, the “Big Media” reporting the lie, Big Tech amplifying the lie, and then both piling on Republicans when they catch on and say something. He said there are agents in the bureau who have realized the same.

“Fourteen FBI agents have come to our office as whistleblowers, and they are good people,” Jordan said. “There are lots of good people in the FBI. It’s the top that is the problem. Some of these good agents are coming to us, telling us what is baloney, what’s going on — the political nature now of the Justice Department — God bless them for doing it — talking about the school board issue, about a whole host of issues.”

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MEDICINE AND HEALTH Comments turned off

Too little, too late: Disband the CDC now By Karol Markowicz

By on August 16th, 2022

https://nypost.com/2022/08/14/too-little-too-late-disband-the-cdc-now/

Dissolve the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Last week, the CDC released updated COVID-19 guidance. The agency now believes we should be taking an individual approach to mitigating our COVID risk. In layman’s terms, we are all Florida 2020 now.

The new guidance suggests ending “test to stay” so kids exposed to someone with COVID-19 can remain in school. Of course, this was only related to known exposure. People are exposed to COVID all the time, but only children who were aware of that exposure were punished. Kids lost so much throughout the pandemic because of terrible, irrational CDC guidance like this.

The fresh guidance also says people without symptoms no longer need to be routinely tested.

And the CDC permits us to come within six feet of each other again. Finally! Husbands, tell your wives it’s on!

But most important, the agency has finally faced some truths about the vaccine that it should have long ago. “CDC’s COVID-19 prevention recommendations no longer differentiate based on a person’s vaccination status because breakthrough infections occur.” And it’s admitted that “persons who have had COVID-19 but are not vaccinated have some degree of protection against severe illness from their previous infection.”

Cities across the country fired teachers, firefighters, health care staffers, police officers, sanitation workers and so many others because they refused to get vaccinated. Many of these people had worked through the early days of the pandemic — and contracted COVID many times over — while we baked banana bread and patted ourselves on the back for ordering from Uber Eats. Now the CDC acknowledges this was the wrong thing to do. Whoopsie!

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ISRAEL Comments turned off

Israeli Runners Win Gold in Munich Championships, 50 Years After Olympics Massacre

By on August 16th, 2022

https://www.algemeiner.com/2022/08/15/israeli-runners-win-gold-in-munich-championships-50-years-after-olympics-massacre/

Israeli marathon runners took the gold at the European Championships in Munich, Germany on Monday — nearly 50 years after the Jewish state’s Olympic delegation was massacred in the same city by Palestinian terrorists.

The men’s marathon team won first place with a total time of 6 hours, 31 minutes, and 48 seconds, while Ethiopian-born Israeli runners Marhu Teferi and Gashau Ayale also earned individual silver and bronze medals, respectively. Teferi narrowly lost to first place medalist Richard Ringer of Germany, who crossed the finish line two seconds ahead.

The German men’s team placed second with a time of 6:35:52, while Spain’s team was awarded third with a time of 6:38:44.

Later on Monday, Kenyan-born Israeli runner Lonah Chemtai Salpeter won the bronze in the 10,000 metres run, snagging Israel’s fourth medal in the championships and setting a new Israeli record with her finishing time of 30:36.37.

After the finalists from the men’s marathon race were awarded their medals, Israel’s national anthem Hatikvah was played to applause. Several commentators noted the poignancy of the victory, which came shortly before the 50-year anniversary of the Munich massacre on September 5, 1972, when 11 members of Israel’s Olympic team were murdered in the Bavarian capital by the Palestinian terrorist group Black September. One West German police officer was also killed during a failed rescue attempt.

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