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Police shooting of Englewood man reignites political debate and looting as Mag Mile trashed, 13 cops injured, 2 people shot

Posted By on August 11th, 2020

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-chicago-downtown-looting-20200810-3zwa3b7zzrc5vdyb4qjqywrjvu-story.html

Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday decried “a false rumor on social media” that police officers killed a 15-year-old boy. That led residents to clash with police officers in Englewood and prompted calls to head toward downtown.

Hundreds of people swept through the Magnificent Mile and other parts of downtown Chicago early Monday, smashing windows, looting stores and confronting police after officers shot a suspect in Englewood hours earlier.

The mayhem marked the second time since late May that the city’s upscale shopping district has been targeted by looters amid unrest, reigniting the debate over policing as city leaders continued to point fingers and downtown again was shut down overnight heading to Tuesday.

As businesses owners boarded up shops and braced for the possibility of additional looting, some cautioned against simplifying the situation or blaming any single issue.

“It’s not just people looting,” said Patsy Mullins, whose Gold Coast store, Accessorize, was completely emptied. “Let’s dig to the root of the problem, let’s not look at the surface. … We need to get to the bottom of this. Otherwise, well, this problem will never be solved and it will continue again and again.”

City officials said the seeds for the crime spree were sown on social media Sunday afternoon, after officers shot and wounded a 20-year-old man who allegedly had fled and fired shots at them.

ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

Wealth Tax On Billionaires? Great … If You Want Stagnation, Fewer Jobs, More Poverty

Posted By on August 10th, 2020

https://issuesinsights.com/2020/08/10/wealth-tax-on-billionaires-great-if-you-want-stagnation-fewer-jobs-more-poverty/

Senator and former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has another bright socialist idea: A 60% wealth tax on billionaires to pay for nationalized health care for a year. Such nuttiness would be easy to ignore were it not for the fact he’s now the driving intellectual force behind Joe Biden’s basement-based presidential campaign.

As any economist worth his salt will tell you, a wealth tax is perhaps the most pernicious tax, since it punishes people retroactively for their hard work, thrift and smart investments.

Not only does it dissuade people from accumulating wealth, but it also dramatically reduces the amount of capital in our economy. Everyone will be poorer, with lower incomes for all and fewer jobs as the inevitable result.

We already had this debate, if you recall, last year. Both Sanders and his socialist pal Sen. Elizabeth Warren both brought it up. It was one of the many reasons why voters rejected both Sanders and Warren, favoring instead the mentally challenged Biden.

Yet, the wealth tax keeps getting burped up like a bad meal. Maybe with COVID-19 lockdowns and the public’s very real economic worries, the Sanders-led left (and, by extension, Biden) thinks it can take advantage and finally get a wealth tax passed. Or maybe it’s just political theatrics.

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Jimmy Lai’s Chilling Warning About China By Claudia Rosett Feb 28, 2020

Posted By on August 10th, 2020

https://pjmedia.com/claudiarosett/claudia-rosett/2020/02/28/jimmy-lais-warning-about-china-n378733

Surely China’s Communist Party henchmen have enough on their hands, as they hustle to disappear outspoken bloggers, kick out Wall Street Journal reporters, and repurpose parts of the CCP’s vast machinery of surveillance and coercion to police President Xi Jinping’s “People’s War” on the deadly new coronavirus — which achieved ruinous breakout in Wuhan early last month, while China’s authorities were busy detaining and silencing the honest local doctors who tried to sound a warning. But when it comes to ramping up repression, there’s always time for more. On Friday, China’s satrap administration in Hong Kong arrested one of the city’s longtime leading advocates of democracy, 71-year-old newspaper owner Jimmy Lai.

Let’s be clear: Jimmy Lai is one of the world’s most clarion voices for freedom. In Hong Kong these days, that takes tremendous courage. Born in China, he came to Hong Kong at the age of 12, made his fortune in the garment industry, and in 1995 founded a pro-democracy newspaper, Apple Daily. Under British colonial rule, and under China’s increasingly heavy boot since the 1997 handover, Lai has argued the case for democracy, in person and in print, and turned out, again and again, to take part in peaceful protests. Earlier this month, Jimmy Lai published a superb op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, under the headline “China’s Facade of Stability,” spelling out that “the spread of the coronavirus has revealed a truth that poses a much greater risk to Mr. Xi: There is no cure for Chinese communism except the collapse of the party.” Noting that “Deception is China’s true rule of law,” and citing the silencing at a critical moment of the Wuhan doctors who tried to warn of the virus, Lai spelled out, “This is the problem now before the world: the rise of a Goliath-like China no one trusts.”

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Hong Kong Crackdown: 200 Police Raid Newspaper, Arrest Beijing Critic Jimmy Lai By Stephen Green,

Posted By on August 10th, 2020

https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2020/08/10/hong-kong-crackdown-200-police-raid-newspaper-arrest-beijing-critic-jimmy-lai-n770499

Hong Kong Apple Daily publisher Jimmy Lai was taken from his paper’s offices in handcuffs Monday morning in a raid involving more than 200 police.

Police reportedly took box after box of “evidence,” although it’s unclear what crime Lai might have committed aside from being in favor of democracy and speaking out against the authoritarian Communist government in Beijing.

Reuters reports:

Apple Daily’s Editor-in-Chief Ryan Law, who was helping film and comment on the Facebook live feed, could be seen rushing about the building as he tried to report on events breaking in his own newsroom.

“This is, I believe, the first time in Hong Kong that police have initiated a mass search on a media outlet like this,” he said, panting, as he scaled a back staircase with a colleague to get around the mass of police officers.

And:

Staffers said they asked police what legal grounds they had for entering. But these questions were largely ignored as more than 200 police streamed in, according to a live feed of the unfolding drama.

HOMELAND SECURITY Comments turned off

Security Failures at USG Media Agency Prove Need to Hire Americans First Ben Weingarten

Posted By on August 10th, 2020

tps://mailchi.mp/a569a5374206/tune-in-ill-be-speaking-on-american-ingrate-tuesday-night-2463557?e=a0fa704ef6

President Donald Trump recently issued an executive order aimed at aligning federal contracting and hiring with the interests of American workers. Just days after its issuance, we are now learning of disturbing news demonstrating how urgently needed the order was. Bombshell revelations emerging from the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) show that President Trump’s predecessor not only undermined the interests of American workers, but in so doing imperiled our national security—raising questions about the hiring practices and security procedures of other federal agencies, when it comes to non-Americans.

As detailed previously, USAGM is a little-known agency, yet one of great importance. It is the federal government’s broadcasting arm for global audiences, tasked with overseeing several networks charged with “inform[ing], engag[ing] and connect[ing] people around the world in support of freedom and democracy,” and doing so “consistent with the broad foreign policy objectives of the United States.” To achieve its mission, it directs entities such as Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia and, perhaps most notably, its flagship Voice of America (VOA), to represent America in broadcasting authoritative, uncensored news to peoples across the world. Among its most noble efforts are those USAGM undertakes to evade the firewalls of tyrannical regimes, providing those laboring under them with the free and open flow of information and ideas their leaders loathe.

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The Tide Turns Toward Trump Kurt Schlichter

Posted By on August 10th, 2020

https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/2020/08/10/the-tide-turns-toward-trump-n2573952?

Remember how Donald Trump was totally doomed just a couple weeks ago? Grandpa Badfinger was ridin’ high down in his basement and the GOP was going to be destroyed in November. All the smart people of smartness who make up liberal blue check Twitter tweeted it so it had to be true.

Good times. 

And then last week it all changed, turning 180 on a dime as Biden stomped on his Pelosi. It’s looking good for Trump and the Republicans again, and while there will be twists n’ turns, and while we best not get cocky (Hat Tip: Glenn “Instapundit” Reynolds) the victory most of us patriots expect is coming clearly into focus as Biden becomes clearly more unfocused.

The polls have improved not just for Trump but for the Republicans running downticket too, not that we should put great store in the polls. Keep in mind that the polls were literally the only indicator showing Biden and the Dems were winning. There’s no other manifestation of a blue wave out there. Do you see any Biden signs? There’s just one in my neighborhood, which is all LA suburban woke wine women, and that’s in a creepy house that the children fear. No, there are no Trump signs either, but then that would invite a hassle. A Biden billboard would presumably invite hosannas for wokeness. And yet, only a single strange-o has one and that’s the guy we all suspect is eating the cats that go missing. 

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The left is our misfortune By Victor Sharpe

Posted By on August 10th, 2020

http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/sharpe/200810

Something fundamentally disquieting, like some noxious alien plant, has been allowed to take hideous root in our beloved America. Going back to 2016, when Donald Trump won the presidency, we have witnessed increasing hysteria on the Left, but also within what passes as the Establishment. After all Trump has never been a part of the establishment elites and so we now have a President who answers directly to the people and not to the Washington insider crowd.

A perfect storm has arrived – the Chinese virus – or what we are told must be called Covid-19 in order to be politically correct and not upset the Communist Chinese government. Thanks also to Dr. Fauci we have become the locked down nation, morphed into mass helplessness and forced to wear masks. Many in the medical profession consider him a hero while others have a more jaundiced opinion.

If Dr. Fauci has his way we may soon have to add goggles to cover not only nose and mouth but also eyes. Imagine looking out of the windows of our homes and seeing strangely garbed neighbors passing by.

Leftist Democrat mayors encourage the “protestors,” who in reality are rioting millennial mobsters, to get on with their dirty work because the police are being defunded so in all likelihood the spoilt millennials won’t be arrested. This is the Left’s perfect storm but is America’s misfortune.

HOMELAND SECURITY Comments turned off

The Trump Administration’s Welcome Pushback against Chinese Communist Party–Affiliated Technology

Posted By on August 10th, 2020

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/08/trump-administration-measures-against-chinese-communist-party-affiliated-technology-welcome/

The Chinese Communist Party has been exporting its virtual panopticon to liberal democracies via WeChat, TikTok, and other online platforms. in its pursuit of more global influence. As part of a broader push against Chinese influence, the Trump administration in recent weeks has rolled out a number of measures to deal with the threat of Chinese technology. 

The White House forced TikTok into acquisition talks with Microsoft, following a U.S. government panel’s decision to force divestment from the app’s parent company ByteDance. Negotiators have until September 15 to reach a deal. After that, President Trump says he will ban the app. 

Building on this, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week announced the “Clean Network” program, a State Department initiative to certify trusted partners who have worked to rid their products and networks of malign foreign influence.  

BOOKS Comments turned off

‘Unmasking Obama’ Also Exposes the Corrupt Media By Frank Miele

Posted By on August 10th, 2020

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/08/10/unmasking_obama_also_exposes_the_corrupt_media_143916.html

 

A slew of political books will be hitting bookshelves between now and Election Day, covering everything on the spectrum from communist propaganda to Trump hagiography.

Many of those books, such as Sean Hannity’s “Live Free or Die,” will make millions of dollars for their authors and publishers. Some have the potential to influence the election, such as disgraced FBI agent Peter Strzok’s attempt at reputation rehabilitation titled “Compromised: Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald J. Trump.” Yet in this onslaught of new titles, literally dozens of which will attempt to capitalize on the 2020 election frenzy, there will be a few small polished gems that may be lost in the fray. One such could be Jack Cashill’s “Unmasking Obama: The Fight to Tell the True Story of a Failed Presidency” (Post Hill Press, 249 pages, available for pre-order now).

A slew of political books will be hitting bookshelves between now and Election Day, covering everything on the spectrum from communist propaganda to Trump hagiography.

Many of those books, such as Sean Hannity’s “Live Free or Die,” will make millions of dollars for their authors and publishers. Some have the potential to influence the election, such as disgraced FBI agent Peter Strzok’s attempt at reputation rehabilitation titled “Compromised: Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald J. Trump.” Yet in this onslaught of new titles, literally dozens of which will attempt to capitalize on the 2020 election frenzy, there will be a few small polished gems that may be lost in the fray. One such could be Jack Cashill’s “Unmasking Obama: The Fight to Tell the True Story of a Failed Presidency” (Post Hill Press, 249 pages, available for pre-order now).

ELECTIONS Comments turned off

Trump Won Last Week By Steve Cortes

Posted By on August 10th, 2020

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/08/10/trump_won_last_week_143919.html

Even in a volatile political year with endless crosscurrents, once voters actually start casting their ballots it seems reasonable to assume that one traditional factor will still motivate most voters: Which candidate can create more prosperity? On this score, President Trump had an impressive weekend, and his achievements shine in contrast to Joe Biden’s week of embarrassing stumbles.

On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the July jobs report, revealing that America added 1.8 million new hires and lowered the national unemployment rate to 10.2%. This report registers as the third-highest month ever, and the combined three-month total of new jobs created stands at 9.3 million. To be sure, much work remains to return our country to the thriving job market we enjoyed in early 2020 before our world was rocked by a new virus raging around the world, which threatened to crash the global economy. The damage remains real and widespread, but recent macro data also point to recovery, as green shoots abound. For example, last week’s ISM Manufacturing Index rose to the highest level in 1.5 years, as factories powered back up. On the consumer side, the most recent existing homes sales achieved the largest monthly increase ever, as historic low mortgage rates encouraged buyer confidence.

Predictably, much of the news media sought to downplay this encouraging trend of economic renewal. “July Jobs Report Could Show Losses as Coronavirus Spreads,” CNBC had warned its audience a week before. Instead of a correction, the network doubled down. On Friday, one CNBC anchor teed up market analyst Jim Cramer this way: “It’s less about what the numbers say today and more about how you extrapolate what you think they’re gonna mean next month and the month after and the month after. How do you see it?”