One can readily admit that the Magisterium's manner of expression does not seem very easy to understand at times. It needs to be translated by preachers and catechists into a language which relates to people and to their respective cultural environments. The essential content of the Church's teaching, however, must be upheld in this process. It must not be watered down on allegedly pastoral grounds, because it communicates the revealed truth.
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Site: Home LivingHello Dear Ladies,I hope you are enjoying being at home and have great plans for improvement.Today the white lilacs are in full bloom. I like to "stealth sip" by placing an elegant cup in contrast with the wild nature around it.Today I made this cinnamon-clove-ginger tea just for the lovely scent that swirled around the room. If you don't like to drink some of these flavors, the tea Lydiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15530969871397361970noreply@blogger.com0
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Site: Zero HedgeA Disappointing First Year For Chicago Mayor Brandon JohnsonTyler Durden Wed, 05/01/2024 - 17:05
Authored by Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner via Wirepoints.org,
Nearly one year ago, Chicagoans cheered Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s removal from office.
Gone was her toxic attitude. Her flippant dismissal of the city’s many crises. Her abrasive politics.
In her place was Brandon Johnson, who promised a more inclusive approach to building a “better, stronger, safer Chicago.”
It hasn’t turned out that way.
Today, there’s little disagreement that Mayor Johnson has disappointed on most key issues. On crime. On policing. On migrants. On education. On governance. Even on foreign affairs.
Two recent polls show Chicagoans have a low opinion of Johnson and his performance so far.
A January poll by Tulchin Research found just 21% of registered Chicago voters approved of Johnson. And a new Harris poll shows just 9% of city residents rated Johnson’s performance as above average while 50% rated his performance as below average.
It’s reached the point where some Chicagoans are pursuing a recall initiative to remove the mayor.
As we approach Johnson’s one-year anniversary, let’s review how he’s mishandled the city’s key issues.
On crime
Even before taking office, Mayor Johnson fully embraced soft-on-crime policies. Johnson said in 2020 that defunding the police is not “a slogan, it’s an actual real political goal.” He later defended looting as “an outbreak of incredible frustration and anguish” tied to “a failed racist system.” And at a panel for a police-free future, Johnson said “part of it is removing ourselves away from this state-sponsored policing…”
Johnson has continued to openly excuse crime and violence since becoming Mayor. He declared the youth of last summer’s teen takeovers as just kids being “silly.” He later pushed back against those who complained of youth mobs taking over city streets: “We’re not talking about mob actions…to refer to children as baby Al Capones is not appropriate.”
All that rhetoric has helped fuel Chicago’s crime problem. 2023 ended up with a five-year high in major crimes committed, while Chicago led the country again in homicides for the 12th year in a row. And while murders are down 10% this year, robberies and violent crimes overall are currently running at a six-year high.
Despite that rise in violence, Johnson earlier this year canceled ShotSpotter, a gunshot detection technology, to appease soft-on-crime advocates who declared the program “racist.” He was later pressured to extend the contract through November to ensure ShotSpotter would be in place during the Democratic National Convention.
The saga is not over, however, as now there’s a concerted effort by several aldermen to override Johnson’s decision to get rid of the program. They call ShotSpotter an ‘invaluable tool’ for fighting crime in their homicide-ridden wards.
On illegal immigrants
Mayor Johnson never had a plan – and still doesn’t – for how to handle the inflow of illegal migrants to Chicago. That’s led to a series of walkbacks, unforced errors and costly mistakes by him and his administration. The mayor continues to blame Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for the inflow, but it’s Johnson’s continued support of Chicago’s failed sanctuary status and his increased handouts that keep the migrants coming in.
The Johnson administration has committed nearly $400 million to migrant health and welfare so far and that’s created outrage across the city’s black and brown communities, many of whom protest that the city’s resources are being diverted away from their own struggling neighborhoods. They feel they’ve become second class citizens in their own city.
And then there was the Mayor’s flip-flop on his traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border. Johnson originally said he would travel there to see the impact of the migrant crisis first-hand, but walked that back a few weeks later, with the excuse that he had too much to do and that “I’m doing all of that with a Black wife raising three Black children on the west side of the city of Chicago. I am going to the border as soon as possible.” Mayor Johnson has yet to visit the border.
There’s also the tent city debacle, where the Brighton Park site Johnson chose to host a migrant encampment turned out to be an environmental health hazard. Gov. J.B. Pritzker had to step in and block Johnson and the city from proceeding with the 2,000-bed encampment.
On schools
Johnson staked out his vision for K-12 education long before he ran for mayor, declaring he was “against the structure” of education and decrying homework, standardized tests and selective enrollment schools.
His first step in enacting that vision, a CPS school board resolution calling for a “transition” away from selective enrollment schools and “school choice,” sparked a major backlash from both parents and the state’s political class. Chicago’s selective enrollment and magnet schools are actually among the best, most diverse schools in the state, where black and Hispanic students achieve the same high marks as white students.
A bill protecting those schools from closure recently passed overwhelmingly in the House, serving as a direct repudiation of the Mayor’s efforts.
On Gaza
The mayor recently took the tie-breaking vote in support of a city resolution that called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
That, from the city that leads the country in murders and just hit a five-year high for major crimes.
Even Saturday Night Light Live mocked Johnson and the city council, joking that Gaza had in return called for a ceasefire in Chicago.
On tax hikes
Johnson’s failure to pass his signature “Bring Chicago Home” initiative, a real-estate transfer tax hike to address homelessness, highlighted how little support the mayor has.
Passage of the tax should have been a slam dunk. It was structured to deliver small tax cuts to the overwhelming majority of Chicagoans, while hiking taxes on the wealthy few.
The tax hike, effectively a referendum on Johnson’s performance, failed 52 to 48, dealing a significant blow to the mayor’s authority.
On a new Bears stadium
Johnson is looking for any win to lift his flagging popularity. Cue his support for the Chicago Bears’ plan for a new multi-billion dollar stadium with more than $1.5 billion in taxpayer subsidies.
Never mind that Johnson originally rejected the idea of public subsidies for a stadium during his candidacy, saying that such money would be better spent on new housing, removing lead pipes or “dozens of other urgent needs.”
What makes Johnson’s desperation for a “win” so obvious is that no prominent Democrat stood with him in support, certainly not the ones that matter most: Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Senate President Don Harmon and House Speaker Chris Welch all expressed skepticism of the deal.
* * *
Perhaps nothing better captures the depth of the mayor’s struggles more than this: Johnson was asked not to attend Monday’s funeral of slain police officer Luis Huesca.
His mother said, “Tell the mayor not to come. We do not want him there. Tomorrow is about my son and my family’s grief. We do not want him to disrespect his memory. The mayor does not support the police.”
A Chicago mayor, not attending the funeral of a fallen officer. Nothing more needs to be said.
Read more from Wirepoints:
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Site: LifeNews
A radical pro-abortion ballot initiative nullifying all common-sense protections for the unborn will appear on the November ballot.
There are several reasons why it should not — primarily because it is a political ruse to enshrine abortion on demand into the Florida constitution on the pretext that it is necessary for women’s “health” when, in fact, it harms women. I can testify from my own experience as a board-certified OB/GYN with over 16 years of experience and my current practice in Florida that this ballot initiative is both unnecessary and dangerous — especially since Florida law already protects women’s health and safety.
The so-called “Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion” stipulates that: “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s health care provider. This amendment does not change the Legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.”
There are several red flags in this language.
First, the amendment’s heavy-handed support from radical abortion interest groups Planned Parenthood and the anti-parent American Civil Liberties Union is telling. These organizations were behind the damaging passage of initiatives in Ohio and Michigan that enshrined abortion on demand, up until birth, into their states’ constitutions and now allow minors to receive abortions and sex change operations without parental consent. Tellingly, Planned Parenthood and the ACLU refused to support another abortion ballot initiative in South Dakota because it didn’t go far enough. Their support for Florida’s proposed ballot initiative should deeply concern all Floridians who want reasonable protections for women and children.
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Secondly, the language of the proposed Florida initiative is intentionally vague to allow for unrestricted abortion on demand. For example, the amendment would allow abortions after viability if a “health care provider” — it doesn’t specify whether a doctor or even a nurse — deems it necessary for a woman’s “health.” Abortionists often exploit the ambiguous word “health” to justify abortions at any point for physical, mental, or even emotional “health” reasons. In the words of the infamous late-term abortionist Dr. Warren Hern, “Pregnancy is not a benign condition. Every pregnancy is a threat to that woman’s life … “
Moreover, many abortionists have no qualms interpreting “viability” however they’d like. In the words of Dr. Colleen McNicholas, chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood for the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri: “There is no particular gestational age. There are some pregnancies in which the fetus will never be viable … My practice includes abortion care through the point of viability and as we previously discussed that could be at any point.”
Similarly, Dr. Hern agreed that “the viability of a fetus is determined not by gestational age but by a woman’s willingness to carry it.”
Yet even without the broad and intentionally vague language, the entire pretext for the ballot amendment is a sham. Proponents argue that the amendment is necessary to protect women’s health from abortion limits. Florida’s Heartbeat Bill, however, like literally every other piece of pro-life legislation in the books, already protects women by offering exceptions for the life of the mother. I know this firsthand from my practice as an OB/GYN in Naples, where the law allows me to treat every patient who comes to me — whether they are suffering a miscarriage, an ectopic pregnancy or worse.
The truth is Florida’s Heartbeat Bill not only protects babies with beating hearts, it also protects women from the physical and mental health risks of abortion and provides funding for assistance for expecting families. The Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion, however, jeopardizes Florida’s women and children — all based on the offensive pretext that it’s necessary to protect women from Florida’s pro-life laws.
Based on my experience, questions about emergency care for women are due to confusion about what the law allows, not because of pro-life laws themselves, but because of misinformation spread by the pro-abortion lobby. In the face of constant pro-abortion deception, it’s critical for Floridians to see through the lies stating pro-life laws “harm women’s care,” and to step up to protect women and children.
The free, life-affirming state of Florida must not join the ranks of Michigan, Ohio, Kansas and other states whose ballot initiatives have allowed political ideology to infect and weaponize health care at the expense of innocent lives.
LifeNews Note: Dr. Karysse Trandem is an associate professor of Ob/Gyn at the University of Central Florida, CEO of Canopy Global Foundation, and National Medical Director at Save the Storks.
The post OBGYN Professor: Abortion “Harms Women,” It’s Not Necessary for Their Health appeared first on LifeNews.com.
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Site: Zero HedgeYen Soars After Japan Intervenes To Prop It Up For Second Time In 3 DaysTyler Durden Wed, 05/01/2024 - 16:45
Two days after the yen soared after crashing to a 34 year low of 160 against the US, when the Japanese Ministry of Finance reportedly spent around 5 trillion yen, or just over $30 billion, to push the imploding Japanese currency to levels not seen in ... about 48 hours, moments ago with much of the impact from the first intervention having fizzled, the Japanese Ministry of Finance appeared to step in again when moments after the US cash market close, USDJPY cratered in seconds in the second Japanese intervention in as many days.
Of course, one can't help but be amused by the sheer amateur hour at the BOJ where the second consecutive intervention, one which will cost the MOF another $30 billion or so, has managed to push the yen to levels not seen since... last week.
And speaking of the intervention cost, while we won't know how much they officially cost Japan until the end of the month, what is notable is that the first intervention - which took place amid super thin liquidity due to a holiday in Japan which typically exacerbates market moves - cost nearly as much as one of the interventions in 2022, when they bought a record amount of yen, according to a Bloomberg analysis of central bank accounts.
"Despite spending ¥5 trillion in a market where there should have been little trading activity, the yen was pushed up by only a little over ¥5 and quickly recovered more than half its value,” said Takuya Kanda, the head of research at Gaitame.com Research Institute. “That doesn’t seem very cost effective” compared to intervention two years ago, he said.
What is notable about this particular intervention is that it took place just 2 hours after the latest Fed decision - which was viewed as moderately dovish due to the greater than expected QT taper. And indeed, it would be pointless to intervene had the Fed come out as hawkish and sent the dollar soaring.
In fact, one can argue that the BOJ and MOF - having had discussions with Powell and Yellen about this intervention ahead of time - received some assurance that as far the Fed and Treasury are concerned, the US dollar isn't going to spike in the near-future. In fact, one can probably go so far as speculating that Yellen actually leaked to the BOJ what the next NFP and CPI prints will be so that Japan doesn't waste tens of billions in yentervention firepower only to watch the JPY plunge again in two days when a red hot jobs print send the USD soaring.
If so, we've seen the dollar highs for the year.
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Site: Zero HedgeThe Steady Slide Towards Tyranny: How Freedom Dies From A To ZTyler Durden Wed, 05/01/2024 - 16:30
Authored by John & Nisha Whitehead via The Rutherford Institute,
“As I look at America today, I am not afraid to say that I am afraid.”
- Former presidential advisor Bertram Gross
The American governmental scheme is sliding ever closer towards a pervasive authoritarianism.
The American people, the permanent underclass in America, have allowed themselves to be so distracted and divided that they have failed to notice the building blocks of tyranny being laid down right under their noses by the architects of the Deep State.
This steady slide towards tyranny, meted out by militarized local and federal police and legalistic bureaucrats, has been carried forward by each successive president over the past fifty years regardless of their political affiliation.
Biden, Trump, Obama, Bush, Clinton: they have all been complicit in carrying out the Deep State’s agenda.
Frankly, it really doesn’t matter who occupies the White House, because it is a profit-driven, unelected bureaucracy—call it whatever you will: the Deep State, the Controllers, the masterminds, the shadow government, the corporate elite, the police state, the surveillance state, the military industrial complex—that is actually calling the shots.
In the interest of liberty and truth, here’s an A-to-Z primer that spells out the grim realities of life in the American Police State that no one seems to be talking about anymore.
A is for the AMERICAN POLICE STATE. A police state “is characterized by bureaucracy, secrecy, perpetual wars, a nation of suspects, militarization, surveillance, widespread police presence, and a citizenry with little recourse against police actions.”
B is for our battered BILL OF RIGHTS. In the militarized police culture that is America today, where you can be kicked, punched, tasered, shot, intimidated, harassed, stripped, searched, brutalized, terrorized, wrongfully arrested, and even killed by a police officer, and that officer is rarely held accountable for violating your rights, the Bill of Rights doesn’t amount to much.
C is for CIVIL ASSET FORFEITURE. This governmental scheme to deprive Americans of their liberties—namely, the right to property—is being carried out under the guise of civil asset forfeiture, a government practice wherein government agents (usually the police and now TSA agents) seize private property they “suspect” may be connected to criminal activity. Then, whether or not any crime is actually proven to have taken place, the government keeps the citizen’s property and it’s virtually impossible to get it back.
D is for DRONES. Nearly 1500 police departments across the U.S. include drones as part of their technological arsenal, and that number is growing. Although drones may be used for benevolent purposes, they have increasingly become extensions of the surveillance state, carrying out warrantless and constant mass aerial surveillance in violation of the Fourth Amendment. New autonomous police drones can “read a license plate from 800 feet away and follow a vehicle from a distance of 3 miles.”
E is for EMERGENCY STATE. From 9/11 to COVID-19 and beyond, we have been the subjected to an “emergency state” that justifies all manner of government tyranny and power grabs in the so-called name of national security. The government’s ongoing attempts to declare so-called national emergencies in order to circumvent the Constitution’s system of checks and balances constitutes yet another expansion of presidential power that exposes the nation to further constitutional peril.
F is for FASCISM. A study conducted by Princeton and Northwestern University concluded that the U.S. government does not represent the majority of American citizens. Instead, the study found that the government is ruled by the rich and powerful, or the so-called “economic elite.” Moreover, the researchers concluded that policies enacted by this governmental elite nearly always favor special interests and lobbying groups. In other words, we are being ruled by an oligarchy disguised as a democracy, and arguably on our way towards fascism—a form of government where private corporate interests rule, money calls the shots, and the people are seen as mere economic units or databits.
G is for GLOBAL POLICE. The federal government has distributed more than $18 billion worth of battlefield-appropriate military weapons, vehicles and equipment such as drones, tanks, and grenade launchers to domestic police departments across the country. As a result, most small-town police forces now have enough firepower to render any citizen resistance futile. By the time you take those small-town police forces, train them to look and act like the military, and then enlist them to be part of the United Nations’ Strong Cities Network program, you not only have a standing army that operates beyond the reach of the Constitution but one that is part of a global police force.
H is for HOLLOW-POINT BULLETS. The government’s efforts to militarize and weaponize its agencies and employees is reaching epic proportions, with federal agencies as varied as the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration stockpiling millions of lethal hollow-point bullets, which violate international law. Ironically, while the government continues to push for stricter gun laws for the general populace, the U.S. military’s arsenal of weapons makes the average American’s handgun look like a Tinker Toy.
I is for the INTERNET OF THINGS, in which internet-connected “things” monitor your home, your health and your habits in order to keep your pantry stocked, your utilities regulated and your life under control and relatively worry-free. The key word here, however, is control. This “connected” industry propels us closer to a future where police agencies apprehend virtually anyone if the government “thinks” they may commit a crime, driverless cars populate the highways, and a person’s biometrics are constantly scanned and used to track their movements, target them for advertising, and keep them under perpetual surveillance.
J is for JAILING FOR PROFIT. Having outsourced their inmate population to private prisons run by private corporations, this profit-driven form of mass punishment has given rise to a $70 billion private prison industry that relies on the complicity of state governments to keep their privately run prisons full by jailing large numbers of Americans for petty crimes.
K is for KENTUCKY V. KING. In an 8-1 ruling, the Supreme Court ruled that police officers can break into homes, without a warrant, even if it’s the wrong home as long as they think they may have a reason to do so. Despite the fact that the police in question ended up pursuing the wrong suspect, invaded the wrong apartment and violated just about every tenet that stands between the citizenry and a police state, the Court sanctioned the warrantless raid, leaving Americans with little real protection in the face of all manner of abuses by law enforcement officials.
L is for LICENSE PLATE READERS, which enable law enforcement and private agencies to track the whereabouts of vehicles, and their occupants, all across the country. This data collected on tens of thousands of innocent people is also being shared between police agencies, as well as with government fusion centers and private companies. This puts Big Brother in the driver’s seat.
M is for MAIN CORE. Since the 1980s, the U.S. government has acquired and maintained, without warrant or court order, a database of names and information on Americans considered to be threats to the nation. As Salon reports, this database, reportedly dubbed “Main Core,” is to be used by the Army and FEMA in times of national emergency or under martial law to locate and round up Americans seen as threats to national security. There are at least 8 million Americans in the Main Core database.
N is for NO-KNOCK RAIDS. Owing to the militarization of the nation’s police forces, SWAT teams are now increasingly being deployed for routine police matters. In fact, more than 80,000 of these paramilitary raids are carried out every year. That translates to more than 200 SWAT team raids every day in which police crash through doors, damage private property, terrorize adults and children alike, kill family pets, assault or shoot anyone that is perceived as threatening—and all in the pursuit of someone merely suspected of a crime, usually possession of some small amount of drugs.
O is for OVERCRIMINALIZATION and OVERREGULATION. Thanks to an overabundance of 4500-plus federal crimes and 400,000 plus rules and regulations, it’s estimated that the average American actually commits three felonies a day without knowing it. As a result of this overcriminalization, we’re seeing an uptick in Americans being arrested and jailed for such absurd “violations” as letting their kids play at a park unsupervised, collecting rainwater and snow runoff on their own property, growing vegetables in their yard, and holding Bible studies in their living room.
P is for PATHOCRACY and PRECRIME. When our own government treats us as things to be manipulated, maneuvered, mined for data, manhandled by police and other government agents, mistreated, and then jailed in profit-driven private prisons if we dare step out of line, we are no longer operating under a constitutional republic. Instead, what we are experiencing is a pathocracy: tyranny at the hands of a psychopathic government, which “operates against the interests of its own people except for favoring certain groups.” Couple that with the government’s burgeoning precrime programs, which will use fusion centers, data collection agencies, behavioral scientists, corporations, social media, and community organizers and by relying on cutting-edge technology for surveillance, facial recognition, predictive policing, biometrics, and behavioral epigenetics in order to identify and deter so-called potential “extremists,” dissidents or rabble-rousers. Bear in mind that anyone seen as opposing the government—whether they’re Left, Right or somewhere in between—is now viewed as an extremist.
Q is for QUALIFIED IMMUNITY. Qualified immunity allows police officers to walk away without paying a dime for their wrongdoing. Conveniently, those deciding whether a cop should be immune from having to personally pay for misbehavior on the job all belong to the same system, all cronies with a vested interest in protecting the police and their infamous code of silence: city and county attorneys, police commissioners, city councils and judges.
R is for ROADSIDE STRIP SEARCHES and BLOOD DRAWS. The courts have increasingly erred on the side of giving government officials—especially the police—vast discretion in carrying out strip searches, blood draws and even anal and vaginal probes for a broad range of violations, no matter how minor the offense. In the past, strip searches were resorted to only in exceptional circumstances where police were confident that a serious crime was in progress. In recent years, however, strip searches have become routine operating procedures in which everyone is rendered a suspect and, as such, is subjected to treatment once reserved for only the most serious of criminals.
S is for the SURVEILLANCE STATE. On any given day, the average American going about his daily business will be monitored, surveilled, spied on and tracked in more than 20 different ways, by both government and corporate eyes and ears. A byproduct of the electronic concentration camp in which we live, whether you’re walking through a store, driving your car, checking email, or talking to friends and family on the phone, you can be sure that some government agency, whether the NSA or some other entity, is listening in and tracking your behavior. This doesn’t even begin to touch on the corporate trackers that monitor your purchases, web browsing, Facebook posts and other activities taking place in the cyber sphere.
T is for TASERS. Nonlethal weapons such as tasers, stun guns, rubber pellets and the like have been used by police as weapons of compliance more often and with less restraint—even against women and children—and in some instances, even causing death. These “nonlethal” weapons also enable police to aggress with the push of a button, making the potential for overblown confrontations over minor incidents that much more likely. A Taser Shockwave, for instance, can electrocute a crowd of people at the touch of a button.
U is for UNARMED CITIZENS SHOT BY POLICE. No longer is it unusual to hear about incidents in which police shoot unarmed individuals first and ask questions later, often attributed to a fear for their safety. Yet the fatality rate of on-duty patrol officers is reportedly far lower than many other professions, including construction, logging, fishing, truck driving, and even trash collection.
V is for OPERATION VIGILANT EAGLE. One of several government initiatives dating back to 2009 that call for heightened scrutiny of those who challenge the government’s authority, this particular program calls for surveillance of military veterans, characterizing them as extremists and potential domestic terrorist threats because they may be “disgruntled, disillusioned or suffering from the psychological effects of war.” Coupled with a report that defines extremists as individuals and groups “that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely,” these tactics bode ill for anyone seen as opposing the government.
W is for WHOLE-BODY SCANNERS. Using either x-ray radiation or radio waves, scanning devices and government mobile units are being used not only to “see” through your clothes but to spy on you within the privacy of your home. While these mobile scanners are being sold to the American public as necessary security and safety measures, we can ill afford to forget that such systems are rife with the potential for abuse, not only by government bureaucrats but by the technicians employed to operate them.
X is for X-KEYSCORE, one of the many spying programs carried out by the National Security Agency that targets every person in the United States who uses a computer or phone. This top-secret program “allows analysts to search with no prior authorization through vast databases containing emails, online chats and the browsing histories of millions of individuals.”
Y is for YOU-NESS. Using your face, mannerisms, social media and “you-ness” against you, you are now be tracked based on what you buy, where you go, what you do in public, and how you do what you do. Facial recognition software promises to create a society in which every individual who steps out into public is tracked and recorded as they go about their daily business. The goal is for government agents to be able to scan a crowd of people and instantaneously identify all of the individuals present. Facial recognition programs are being rolled out in states all across the country.
Z is for ZERO TOLERANCE. We have moved into a new paradigm in which young people are increasingly viewed as suspects and treated as criminals by school officials and law enforcement alike, often for engaging in little more than childish behavior or for saying the “wrong” word. In some jurisdictions, students have also been penalized under school zero tolerance policies for such inane "crimes" as carrying cough drops, wearing black lipstick, bringing nail clippers to school, using Listerine or Scope, and carrying fold-out combs that resemble switchblades. The lesson being taught to our youngest—and most impressionable—citizens is this: in the American police state, you’re either a prisoner (shackled, controlled, monitored, ordered about, limited in what you can do and say, your life not your own) or a prison bureaucrat (politician, police officer, judge, jailer, spy, profiteer, etc.).
None of these dangers have dissipated in any way, and yet suddenly, no one seems to be talking about any of the egregious governmental abuses that are still wreaking havoc on our freedoms: police shootings of unarmed individuals, invasive surveillance, roadside blood draws, roadside strip searches, SWAT team raids gone awry, the military industrial complex’s costly wars, pork barrel spending, pre-crime laws, civil asset forfeiture, fusion centers, militarization, armed drones, smart policing carried out by AI robots, courts that march in lockstep with the police state, schools that function as indoctrination centers, bureaucrats that keep the Deep State in power.
As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries, this is how freedom dies.
If there is any means left to us for thwarting the government in its relentless march towards outright dictatorship, it may rest with the Tenth Amendment, which affirms that “we the people” (in the form of juries and local governments) have the power to invalidate governmental laws, tactics and policies that are illegitimate, egregious or blatantly unconstitutional.
Nullify everything.
Nullify the court cases. Nullify the laws. Nullify everything the government does that flies in the face of the Constitution.
It’s time to rein in our runaway government, reclaim our freedoms, and restore justice in America.
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Site: Zero HedgeExxon To Win FTC Approval For $60 Billion Pioneer Deal, Creating Energy SupergiantTyler Durden Wed, 05/01/2024 - 16:14
Having adversely intervened in virtually every other M&A deal in the past 3 years, the Biden FTC will reportedly allow Exxon's $60 billion purchase of Pioneer to go through after the companies agreed to minor concessions, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter. The announcement of the deal will likely come any moment, and the resulting deal will make Exxon - a company which Biden once said makes money money than god - far and away the biggest oil and natural gas producer in the Permian Basin, North America’s largest US oil field, and also the biggest energy company in the US.
Pioneer shares that had been down more than 2% on the day reversed those losses and were trading up as much as 0.9% on the news. Hess Corp, the target of a takeover bid by Chevron, also climbed 0.9% although the probability of that deal passing is far lower especially in light of the ongoing arbitration with Exxon over Guyana. Chevron, Occidental and Chesapeake are among companies with large pending takeovers that are undergoing in-depth reviews before the FTC.
The Pioneer deal will combine two fast-growing Permian operations, lifting Exxon’s production in the basin to the equivalent of about 2 million barrels a day by 2027, up from about 600,000 last year.
More than 50 lawmakers - obviously mostly communists, pardon, democrats - urged the FTC in March to increase scrutiny on concerns a $230 billion wave of consolidation in would increase energy prices for consumers, squeeze suppliers and suppress wages. In short: enforce more Soviet-style central planning and crush conventional capitalism. As a result, investors had feared the agency, which has become more a ruthless enforcer of authoritarian anti-capitalism under Democrat admin puppet Lina Khan, would stand in the way of several large deals, especially in an election year when the Biden administration is seeking to prove its climate credentials and contain gasoline prices at all cost.
In response to the ruling communists, oil executives have claimed the deals will benefit shareholders, consumers and the environment. Exxon CEO Darren Woods said the Pioneer deal would lower its cost of production, making US barrels more competitive in the global market, and provide a strong platform for growth, which would ultimately benefit consumers. Exxon also pledged to reduce climate-warming emissions from Pioneer operations to net zero by 2035, accelerating the prior target by 15 years.
The Biden administration has constantly been at odds with the oil industry, but easing through what many executives see as necessary consolidation is likely to improve relations. With domestic crude prices up roughly 14% this year and tensions rising the Middle East, the administration is vulnerable to Republican attacks on measures that hurt the oil industry and raise fuel prices.
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Site: LifeNews
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said, while he respects those who have “absolute moral clarity” on the issue, he believes the decision to abort a child in the eighth month of pregnancy is morally “nuanced and complex.”
In an interview with Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro, RFK Jr. disagreed that a child has an independent right to life even in the third trimester.
Shapiro opened by saying that arguments justifying abortion based on “bodily autonomy” are “completely missing the point: We’re not talking about the woman’s bodily autonomy; we’re talking about the baby’s bodily autonomy.” As such, abortion is “not just a tragedy; it’s a crime against the child, because the child has an independent interest. What do you say to that?”
“I say that I understand that position, and I don’t agree with it,” replied RFK Jr. “The solution of having the state come in and dictate choices that the woman is making is not — that’s not a good solution to me.”
Seeking to clarify the Independent presidential candidate’s position, Shapiro asked, “You don’t believe that the child has an independent right to life, for example, at any point during the pregnancy?”
“There is no woman who gets pregnant, carries that baby for eight months, and then decides to have an abortion for some frivolous reason,” Kennedy answered. “Nobody in their right mind would do that.”
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“There are very, very rare cases where that happens. There’s always some kind of extenuating circumstances that I don’t feel prepared to turn that over to the government. You and I will differ on that,” Kennedy told Shapiro.
“I understand your position. I have tremendous respect for you for having that kind of absolute moral clarity on that position. But I think it’s more nuanced and complex than that,” Kennedy stated.
Yet research conducted by pro-abortion sources contradict years of assertions from the abortion industry that late-term abortions do not happen, or only happen in cases of severe fetal anomaly.
A study of late-term abortions, published in the Guttmacher Institute’s journal Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health and conducted by two researchers associated with the abortion advocacy group Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH), found that “data suggest that most women seeking later terminations are not doing so for reasons of fetal anomaly or life endangerment.” More than one-third (37%) of “women reported that the process of deciding whether to have an abortion slowed them down” and “faced difficulty covering the costs associated with their abortion.” They concluded, “We did not find that changing personal circumstances contributed to delays in seeking abortion.”
One of the authors of the study, Diana Greene Foster, was quoted in a 2018 report that “abortions for fetal anomaly ‘make up a small minority of later abortion.’” The other, Katrina Kimport, noted the “similarities between respondents’ experiences and that of people seeking abortion at other gestations” in a 2022 study.
“Each year, over 50,000 abortions are performed after 15 weeks of gestation, when unborn babies can feel pain,” representing a little more than 1% of all abortions reported nationwide, reports the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute, analyzing data collected from the Guttmacher Institute and the federal government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
RFK Jr.’s running mate shares his commitment to abortion-on-demand. Nicole Shanahan, the ex-wife of Google founder Sergey Brin, shares his commitment to abortion-on-demand. As “a person with a womb,” wrote Shanahan in a post on the social media platform X on April 9, “I don’t like the feeling of anyone having control over my body. It is coercive. It is wrong.” She added that, personally, she “would not feel right terminating a viable life living inside of me, especially if I am both healthy and that baby is healthy.”
“I can hold both beliefs, as someone who believes in the sacredness of life, simultaneously,” Shanahan asserted.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. created a short boom of interest late last summer, when he seemed to imply he would sign a law protecting babies from abortion after the first trimester. “I believe that the decision to abort a child should be up to the woman during the first three months of life,” declared the then-Democratic primary candidate last August.
“So, you would cap it at 15 weeks? Or 21 weeks?” asked NBC News reporter Ali Vitali.
“Yes. Three months,” Kennedy replied.
“So, three months — you would sign a federal cap on that?” Vitali clarified a second time.
“Yes, I would,” Kennedy continued. “Once a child is viable outside the womb, I think then the state has an interest in protecting that child.”
Within hours, his campaign produced an unsigned statement reversing the candidate’s stated position. “Mr. Kennedy misunderstood a question posed to him by [an] NBC reporter in a crowded, noisy exhibit hall at the Iowa State Fair,” it read.
No pro-life Democrat has been named to a national ticket, as president or vice president, since Robert F. Kennedy’s uncle, Sargent Shriver, in 1972. The last pro-life Democrat to mount a serious presidential candidacy was former Florida Governor Reubin Askew in 1984.
Both major party candidates have worried about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in recent weeks. President Joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee have built a large operation designed to undercut RFK Jr.’s left-leaning independent presidential run, according to Axios. Earlier this month, Biden received the endorsement of many members of the Kennedy family. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump personally lashed out at Kennedy on Truth Social, saying he would endorse Joe Biden before he would vote for RFK Jr.
Polls show Kennedy drawing support from both candidates.
Kennedy returned fire at Trump in the Shapiro interview, saying the 45th president broke his promise to “Drain the Swamp” and “got rolled by his bureaucrats.” He highlighted Trump’s appointments of Scott Gotlieb, who ping-ponged between pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and the FDA, and Alex Azar, who signed off on a sweetheart deal for Jeffrey Epstein. RFK Jr. also complained about Trump’s National Security Advisor, “swamp creature” John Bolton to Shapiro, who aligns more closely with Bolton’s neoconservative foreign policy than Kennedy’s noninterventionism.
In a separate interview, Kennedy told EWTN’s Raymond Arroyo that the Trump campaign had approached him about being Trump’s vice presidential running mate “on multiple occasions.”
Kennedy, who only recently backed away from a threat to prosecute oil companies for exercising their free-speech rights to deny climate change, is courting the Libertarian Party.
In Michigan, RFK Jr. will serve as the presidential candidate of the Natural Law Party — a minor party founded by followers of the late Hindu teacher Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and whose candidates have said many social problems, from stress to the economy, can be cured through transcendental meditation.
LifeNews Note: Ben Johnson is senior reporter and editor at The Washington Stand.
The post Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Defends Abortions Up to Birth: Killing an 8 Month Old Baby is Morally “Nuanced and Complex” appeared first on LifeNews.com.
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Site: Zero HedgeTaper 'Tantrum-ette' - Stocks Pump'n'Dump As Fed 'Eases' Balance-Sheet PressureTyler Durden Wed, 05/01/2024 - 16:00
Powell to traders today...
The bigger than expected QT taper announcement juiced markets (stocks and bond prices up, dollar down) into Powell's press conference, then got spooked lower as he admitted "inflation has shown a lack of further progress... and gaining confidence to cut will take longer than thought."
But that dip didn't last long and yields puked, stocks soared, gold rallied and the dollar puked...
Source: Bloomberg
The market shrugged off Powell's comments about "whether rates are at their peak will depend on data" which opened up the path of possible rate-hikes, but he dd add that "he doubts next move will be a hike."
CNBC's Steve Liesman asked the big question that everyone should be asking: you are 'sort of easing' by reducing QT while holding rates flat because you're not confident that inflation is under control - wassup with dat?
Powell replied with some words that meant nothing, stating that they have long planned on tapering QT and claimed that 'reduction in balance sheet run-off is not policy-easing'.
"This is not the easing you're looking for..."
By the close, all of Powell's pig-kissing lipstick had been wiped off (see below for the coordinated crypto/nasdaq take-down) as stocks saw solid gains erased in the hour after Powell stopped speaking... Small Caps and The Dow managed to hold on to the gains but Nasdaq and S&P closed nearer the day's lows...
'Most Shorted' stocks saw a massive squeeze (+5%) on the FOMC headlines, before the late day selling pressure hit...
Source: Bloomberg
MAG7 stocks ended the day unchanged after giving back their post-Powell gains...
Source: Bloomberg
Treasury yields plunged 6-8bps across the curve on the day, with the short-end outperforming, dragging all yields lower on the week...
Source: Bloomberg
The 2Y Yield snapped back below 5.00% once again...
Source: Bloomberg
The yield curve (2s30s) jerked flatter initially, then steepened dramatically back to flat on the week...
Source: Bloomberg
The dollar tumbled on the non-easing 'easing' (but bounced back a bit after Powell finished speaking)...
Source: Bloomberg
Gold surged back above $2300 on the non-easing...
Source: Bloomberg
Bitcoin bounced back on the FOMC statement, recovering some of last night's bloodbathery, but somebody did not want it back to $60,000 and that smackdown dragged stocks down with it...
Source: Bloomberg
Oil prices ignored all the fuss around The Fed and fell for the third day in a row (its biggest daily drop since early Jan) with WTI back below $80 at six-week lows...
Source: Bloomberg
Finally, rate-cut expectations (hawkishly) rose on the day with one-or-two cuts in 2024 now 50-50 and two-or-three cuts more in 2025 around 50-50 also...
Source: Bloomberg
And, also Powell explained that he "doesn't see the stag or the 'flation" in markets... well this should help Jay...
Source: Bloomberg
We can't help but feel like Powell is awfully eager to 'loosen' policy... but he made it clear that the 2024 election "just isn't a part of the Fed's thinking."
So, that's that then!
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Site: PeakProsperityBad weather leading to farming difficulties is being immediately linked to and blamed on Climate Change. This is one of their many attack fronts. Meanwhile, US economic statistics are pointing to a rather sudden downturn in housing construction and that prior job reports were vastly overstated.,
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Site: Zero HedgeChina Crossed Biden's Red Line On Ukraine, So What?Tyler Durden Wed, 05/01/2024 - 15:40
Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,
It’s ridiculous to have red lines if you are not going to do anything when they are crossed. So what should Biden do?
China Has Crossed Biden’s Red Line on Ukraine
A Wall Street Journal Op-Ed moans China Has Crossed Biden’s Red Line on Ukraine.
President Biden warned China two years ago not to provide “material support” for Russia’s war in Ukraine. On Friday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken conceded that Xi Jinping ignored that warning. China, Mr. Blinken said, was “overwhelmingly the No. 1 supplier” of Russia’s military industrial base, with the “material effect” of having fundamentally changed the course of the war. Whatever Mr. Biden chooses to do next will be momentous for global security and stability.
Mr. Biden can either enforce his red line through sanctions or other means, or he can signal a collapse of American resolve by applying merely symbolic penalties. Beijing and its strategic partners in Moscow, Tehran, Pyongyang and Caracas would surely interpret half-hearted enforcement as a green light to deepen their campaign of global chaos. Mr. Xi sees a historic opportunity here to undermine the West.
What sanctions? On Who? On What? For How Long?
Op-ed writer Matt Pottinger provided no details, he just wants action. He needs to explain what sanctions make any sense at all, and how they would work.
Numerous US sanctions on Russia, China, Iran, all failed. Hell some of them on Russia and China not only failed they backfired.
So funny. Adding to my post on red lines and sanction failures.
— Mike "Mish" Shedlock (@MishGEA) May 1, 2024How China Gets Around US Sanctions on Semiconductors
On February 18, 2024, I explained How China Gets Around US Sanctions on Semiconductors
How Russia Makes a Mockery of US Sanctions in One Picture
Unprecedented US and EU sanctions against Russia have had no impact on Russia’s oil exports or revenue. Who’s the beneficiary?
On December 29, 2023 I noted How Russia Makes a Mockery of US Sanctions in One Picture
On September 19, 2023, I commented Lesson of the Day: Sanctions Don’t Work Because They Create New Markets
Why Sanctions Fail
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Someone always has an incentive to break sanctions.
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Sanctions create new markets.
This is how Russia sells oil and how China gets access to equipment and parts.
In the case of chips, the US has forced China into a path to self-sufficiency. Hooray?!
Matt Pottinger wants sanctions. He should name some. Nah, what he really wants is to promote his book “The Boiling Moat: Urgent Steps to Defend Taiwan.”
What Color Are Biden’s Red Lines?
On March 10, I asked Are Biden’s Red Lines to Netanyahu Really Yellow or Green?
Presumably you know the answer now, but if not, please consider this idle threat: Biden Threatens Sanctions on Israeli Soldiers Yet Wants More Money for Israel
If you are going to have red lines, I suggest they should be red.
Israel vs China Red Lines
In the case of Israel, there was an easy remedy. Biden could have withheld aid. Instead, when Israel repeatedly crossed lines, Biden stepped up the aid further emboldening Netanyahu.
In the case of China, there are no sanctions or policy actions that make any sense, so there should not be any red lines.
Attempting to set foreign policy for the world is a huge mistake. And setting red lines you cannot or will not do anything about makes one look silly.
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Site: Zero HedgeStarbucks On Brink Of Worst Crash Since Dot Com After "Stunning" Earnings MissTyler Durden Wed, 05/01/2024 - 15:25
Starbucks shares plummeted by 16% during the early cash session, approaching the -16.2% level last seen during the Covid crash. If intraday losses surpass 16.2% and remain above this level at closing, it would mark the company's worst single-day loss since the Dot Com crash in early 2000.
"Starbucks reported what's perhaps the worst set of results of any large company so far" this quarter, analyst Adam Crisafulli of Vital Knowledge wrote in a note. William Blair downgraded the coffee chain, citing last quarter's "stunning across-the-board miss on all key metrics."
Starbucks reported a 4% drop in same-store sales in the second quarter compared with the same period last year, while analysts tracked by Bloomberg were expecting growth. In China, same-store sales plunged 11%. The company's top geographic segments are showing a pullback in consumer spending.
On Tuesday evening, CEO Laxman Narasimhan started the earnings call with investors by clarifying his unhappiness with last quarter's results.
"Let me be clear from the beginning. Our performance this quarter was disappointing and did not meet our expectations," Narasimhan said.
He said major headwinds originate from a "cautious consumer," adding, "A deteriorating economic outlook has weighed on customer traffic and impact felt broadly across the industry."
Here's a snapshot of the second quarter's earnings results (list courtesy of Bloomberg):
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Comparable sales -4%, estimate +1.46% (Bloomberg Consensus)
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North America comparable sales -3%, estimate +2.05%
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US comparable sales -3%, estimate +2.31%
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International comparable sales -6%, estimate +1.36%
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China comparable sales -11%, estimate -1.62%
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Adjusted EPS 68c, estimate 80c
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Net revenue $8.56 billion, estimate $9.13 billion
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Operating income $1.10 billion, -17% y/y, estimate $1.35 billion
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Adjusted operating margin 12.8%, estimate 14.5%
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Operating margin 12.8%, estimate 14.4%
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North America operating margin +18%, estimate +19.5%
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International operating margin 13.3%, estimate 15.2%
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Channel development operating margin 51.7%, estimate 43.6%
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Average ticket +2%, estimate +2.41%
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North American average ticket price +4%, estimate +4.15%
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International avg. ticket -3%, estimate +0.1%
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North America net new stores 134, estimate 144.33
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International net new store openings 230, estimate 429.23
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Comparable transactions -6%, estimate -0.27%
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North America comparable transactions -7%, estimate -1.86%
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International comparable transactions -3%, estimate +1.37%
Goldman analysts Eric Mihelc and Scott Feiler told clients, "Expectations were for a clear sales miss and a modest EPS miss, but both came worse than the lowered bar."
They added, "The miss was across geography and was as bad, if not worse, than worst fears."
Other Wall Street analysts shared the same gloom and doom about the coffee chain (list courtesy of Bloomberg):
Deutsche Bank analyst Lauren Silberman cuts Starbucks to hold from buy
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Says the "challenging" results was a sign "headwinds are more pervasive and persistent than we expected, and we have limited visibility into the pace and magnitude of a recovery"
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Had thought comparable sales deceleration in the US was more transitory and isolated to a specific cohort
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However, with the decline in 2Q traffic and what seems to be limited improvement from Lavender and Spicy Refreshers, Silberman sees it being difficult to "underwrite a meaningful reacceleration," which is key to the bull case
William Blair, Sharon Zackfia (cuts to market perform from outperform)
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After healthy demand over the past three years, Zackfia says the "tide has turned quickly," with Starbucks posting the weakest traffic performance outside the pandemic or Great Recession
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China now "looks more fragile," with comparable sales down 11%, and even Starbucks Rewards members "took a rare dip," she adds
Jefferies, Andy Barish (hold)
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There was a "notable" miss on US and international comparable sales as well as EPS, and Barish says there is "no easy fix in sight to reaccelerate SSS near-term"
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Notes that international comparable sales was "similarly weak," with traffic and comparable transactions both declining; China's comparable sales miss and Middle East volatility more than offset positive comps seen in Japan, APAC and Latin America
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PT cut to $84 from $94
Citi, Jon Tower (neutral)
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Starbucks is "putting a lot of oars in the water to try and paddle" its way back to a stable comparable sales outlook that investors would be willing to underwrite
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However, Tower expresses concern that there is not enough "coxswain keeping oarsmen working in unison/with accountability"; adds that it ignores the "true leak in the bottom of the boat," flagging broad consumer pushback to cumulative transaction growth and the value equation
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Notes China store margins are still in the double digits and the segment is profitable despite top-line declines
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PT cut to $85 from $95
Cowen, Andrew Charles (hold)
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"We believe 2024 guidance has been derisked as we model 0% NA comps & 3% EPS growth, the high end of the range"
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Expects shares to be in a "holding pattern" as Starbucks restores credibility while competition and tough macroeconomic conditions present headwinds
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PT cut to $85 from $100
Bloomberg Intelligence, Michael Halen and Jennifer Bartashus
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"Starbucks slashed fiscal 2024 same-store sales, revenue and EPS guidance and lacks a cogent plan to boost demand"
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"We believe several initiatives, including targeting overnight sales, dozens of new products and a four-week mobile- app upgrade cycle are overkill — a distraction unlikely to boost traffic"
On Tuesday, a similar story occurred at McDonald's when the burger chain reported lower-than-expected quarterly sales growth.
Notably, working-poor consumers are pulling back spending in a period of stagflation (read here & here).
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Site: LifeNews
The Arizona state Senate has bowed to the pro-abortion mob by approving a measure to repeal the state’s new abortion ban before it ever reached implementation to begin saving babies.
With the ban repealed, babies would lose almost all protection in the state. A 15-week abortion ban would go into place that only allows protecting babies up to that point – meaning 90% of more abortions would become legal.
Two Republicans, T.J. Shope and Shawnna Bolick, sided with Democrats on Wednesday to deliver enough votes to pass House Bill 2677, which would repeal the pro-life law that made Arizona one of 19 states to protect babies from abortion.
Bolick described herself as pro-life but said she supported abortions in some rare circumstances. Instead of backing legislation to allow abortions in those very rare cases, she voted to subject every single unborn children to potentially be killed in an abortion.
State Sen. Jake Hoffman condemned the Republican members who voted in favor of the measure and other ARepublicans complained the bill was fast-tracked through the legislature instead of committees having time to evaluate the legislation and take public input.
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Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, a radical abortion activist, is expected to sign the bill into law.
A leading pro-life group lameted the news.
“We mourn for the loss of the children who would have been protected, and the mothers who would have received life-affirming help to address their holistic needs, under Arizona’s strongest pro-life law. After months of confusion, the people of Arizona will soon have clarity on the state’s abortion laws: a 15-week protection for the unborn who can feel excruciating pain, with exceptions for life of the mother, rape, and incest,” said SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser.
“Between now and November, the far Left and pro-abortion forces will spend tens of millions of dollars to muddy the waters, fearmonger, and sow confusion to advance an extreme abortion agenda. Their goal is to repeal Arizona’s 15-week abortion law and replace it with a constitutional amendment that would allow unlimited painful late-term abortions in the fifth, sixth, seventh month of pregnancy and beyond.
“Kari Lake and all GOP candidates and elected officials must bring clarity to Arizona voters by campaigning vigorously in support of Arizona’s 15-week protection with exceptions and in opposition to the extreme no-limits abortion amendment.”
The post Arizona Senate Votes to Repeal Abortion Ban, Two Republicans Join Democrats to Allow Killing Babies appeared first on LifeNews.com.
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Site: Euthanasia Prevention Coalition
Grafeneck gateAlex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition
I will be speaking at a conference in Germany on Saturday, so I decided to go to Germany for few days to visit a some of the T-4 euthanasia sites. Today I visited the euthanasia memorial at the Grafeneck psychiatric hospital where it is believed that 10,654 people were gassed to death. I have been reading more about the T-4 euthanasia program because history is repeating itself.
In September 2023, while I was in Berlin Germany to speak at a conference, I went to the Euthanasia Memorial located at Tiergartenstraße 4, which was the headquarters of the T-4 euthanasia program that killed approximately 70,000 people, beginning in January 1940 (Article).I have reproduced the information from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum about Grafeneck:
Grafeneck Castle (Link to information).
Grafeneck Castle (Schloss Grafeneck) was built near the city of Tübingen in southwestern Germany around 1560. It was originally a hunting lodge for the dukes of Württemberg. Later modernized, the complex was privatized in 1904. In 1928, it came into the possession of the Samaritan Foundation (Samariterstiftung), a charitable arm of the German Lutheran Church. The foundation established a care facility for male patients with disabilities at Grafeneck in 1929.Establishing the Killing Center at Grafeneck
When T4 operatives began to identify sites to serve as killing centers for the adult euthanasia program, they first chose the Grafeneck complex. The isolated location of the castle in the hills of the Swabian Alb appealed to their need for secrecy. The surrounding forest shielded the site from public view and only two entrances led to the facility. On October 6, 1939, high ranking T4 officials confiscated Grafeneck “for the purposes of the Reich.” Soon thereafter, caretakers at Grafeneck, as well as the facility’s 110 male patients, were removed from the complex.By late October, T4 operatives arrived to convert the care facility into a killing center. On the castle grounds they erected a wooden barracks with beds. A construction team transformed the old coach house behind the castle into a makeshift gas chamber.
The castle itself housed the facility’s administrative offices. It also included a special registry office which issued the victims’ death certificates without attracting the attention of local officials. The death certificates were issued with falsified causes and dates of death.
Makeshift gas chamberIn October 1939, the Nazis transformed Grafeneck Castle from a care facility into the first centralized killing center within Aktion T4 (the Nazi Euthanasia Program). The goal of this program was to kill patients with mental and physical disabilities living in institutional settings. In the Nazi view, the T4 program was meant to cleanse the “Aryan” race of people considered both genetically defective and a financial burden to society. By killing patients who had disabilities in Germany, the Nazis aimed to restore the racial "integrity" of the nation.
T4 Personnel at Grafeneck
Bus unloading at GrafeneckOn January 6, 1940, T4 personnel who were recruited for the secret killing operation arrived at the facility. At their head was Grafeneck’s new medical director, physician Horst Schumann. In late May or early June 1940, Schumann was transferred to the T4 killing center at Sonnenstein, near Dresden. At Grafeneck, Dr. Ernst Baumhard replaced Schumann as medical director.
Approximately 100 Grafeneck personnel worked under Schumann’s, and later Baumhard’s, direction. These included physicians, nurses, transport personnel, administrative staff, police, and security officials. They also included the so-called Brenner (“burners” or “stokers”) who cremated victims’ corpses in the crematoria.
Grafeneck Victims
Grafeneck victim
Theodor K.Grafeneck was the first functioning T4 killing center. Its operations commenced on January 18, 1940. Twenty-five male patients arrived from the Eglfing-Haar facility in Munich that day. Dr. Schumann personally escorted them to the old coach house. There, Schumann gassed them in the newly constructed gas chamber. From this date until December 1940, personnel killed patients by means of gassing on an almost daily basis, excluding Sundays and holidays.
Throughout the year, transport personnel collected disabled patients targeted by euthanasia authorities. The patients were transferred by bus from their home institutions to Grafeneck. Within hours of their arrival, they were ushered into the gas chamber. The gas chamber was disguised as a shower installation. The patients were gassed with pure, chemically produced carbon monoxide gas. The physician viewed the victims through a small window in the gas chamber door. After confirming they were dead, he summoned the facility’s stokers. The personnel removed the bodies and incinerated them in three crematory ovens.
The first people killed at Grafeneck came from the southwest region of Germany. Most were patients at institutions located in the states of Baden and Württemberg. But Grafeneck's geographic reach expanded as patients were brought there from further afield, including from Bavaria, Hessen, and North Rhine Westphalia.
End of Operations at Grafeneck
Horst SchumannIn December 1940, the killings at Grafeneck came to an abrupt end as the clandestine activities at the castle began to attract public attention. In response to public pressure, euthanasia officials hastily deactivated the killing center. The last gassing of patients and the cremation of their remains took place on December 12–13, 1940.
According to internal statistics kept by the T4 program, 9,839 patients were killed at the Grafeneck facility. During a trial in 1949, however, West German authorities established that the number of victims was higher than wartime records showed, with 10,654 persons murdered at the facility.
Grafeneck Staff at T4 and Operation Reinhard Killing Centers
Shortly before Grafeneck closed, most of the facility’s staff transferred to the newly established Hadamar T4 facility near Frankfurt in Hessen.
Both Grafeneck medical directors, Schumann and Baumgard, continued their murderous work at other killing centers. Schumann had already been transferred to the T4 killing center at Sonnenstein in late May or early June 1940. He later conducted brutal sterilization experiments at the Auschwitz camp complex. And when the Grafeneck facility closed, Baumhard and his deputy, Dr. Günther Hennecke, transferred to the Hadamar T4 killing center.
Kurt FranzIn addition, several T4 operatives at Grafeneck later served as German personnel in the killing centers of Operation Reinhard (Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka). These included: Kurt Franz, the last commandant of Treblinka; Lorenz Hackholz, a gassing specialist; and German guards Willi Mentz, August Miete, and Heinrich Unverhau. Johann Niemann, who worked as a stoker at Grafeneck, eventually became the deputy commandant of Sobibor.
Postwar Justice
The perpetrators of the “euthanasia” killings at Grafeneck were not immediately called to account for their crimes. After the German surrender in May 1945, the Allied occupation left euthanasia offenses—a German-on-German crime—to newly reconstructed German courts. In the early postwar years, West German courts pursued such cases diligently. Defendants who were found guilty incurred stiff sentences.
By 1948, however, concerns about the Cold War encouraged a comprehensive clemency policy for Nazi crimes. For example, approximately 100 T4 operatives collaborated to murder thousands of patients at Grafeneck. Only eight of these perpetrators were tried. Their proceedings were held in Tübingen from June 8 until July 5, 1949. Further, only three of the eight defendants were convicted. Their sentences ranged from one and a half to five years. The chief perpetrators escaped justice entirely.
After resigning from the T4 organization during World War II, gassing physicians Ernst Baumhard and Günther Hennecke joined the German navy. Both died in battle in 1943.
Grafeneck’s first T4 physician, Horst Schumann, who later served at Auschwitz, evaded capture by West German authorities. Schumann fled to Africa where he operated a leper colony in Sudan. In 1966, he was extradited from Ghana. Schumann appeared before a German court in September 1970. However, proceedings were halted in March 1971. Due to his ill health, Schumann was released from remand prison in July 1972. He died in 1983.
Links to more articles on this topic: -
Site: Zero HedgeThe Path Of Least Resistance: Northwestern Reaches Controversial Settlement With Pro-Palestinian ProtestersTyler Durden Wed, 05/01/2024 - 15:05
Northwestern University has agreed to a controversial settlement with pro-Palestinian protesters encamped on its campus this week, including a commitment for scholarships for Palestinians, Palestinian faculty appointments, and special housing for Muslim students.
The protesters will also be allowed to continue their protests while agreeing to stay in a particular area of campus. It will also put the students and supporting faculty on bodies to review any university investments and purchases, a major demand from supporters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Previously, protesters had reportedly prevented some students and faculty from entering buildings and engaged in property damage.
The Daily Northwestern reported the details of the deal and noted
“the University has committed to provide a conduit for students to engage with the Investment Committee of the Board of Trustees. It will also re-establish an Advisory Committee on Investment Responsibility this fall, which will include students, faculty and staff.
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In addition, the University committed to some support for Palestinian students and faculty in the agreement. NU will ‘support visiting Palestinian faculty and students at risk,’ and will provide the cost of attendance for five Palestinian undergraduates to attend Northwestern.
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The University also committed to providing an ‘immediate temporary space for MENA/Muslim students’ — a longtime demand from students on campus — and will provide and renovate a house for MENA/Muslims students as soon as possible. The final house is expected to come in 2026.”
It also includes a commitment of the university to intervene with employers to guarantee that students suffer no consequences for participating in protests in their jobs and internships.
Northwestern (my alma mater) has always chosen the path of least resistance when it comes to protesters, including at times surrendering core academic functions. I have been particularly critical of the loss of freedom of speech and academic integrity on campus.
Students previously succeeded in cancelling a speech by former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Student Zachery Novicoff embodied the rising intolerance to free speech on campus. He is quoted as saying “There’s a limitation to free speech. That ends at overtly racist old white dudes.”
I criticized former Northwestern University President Morton Schapiro for his lack of support for free speech on campus. Schapiro denounced what he called “absolute” free speech positions and endorsed speech sanctions, including treating speech as a form of assault.
During his tenure, the university often seemed a mere pedestrian to mob action taken against dissenting voices. For example, we previously discussed a Sociology 201 class by Professor Beth Redbird that examined “inequality in American society with an emphasis on race, class and gender.” To that end, Redbird invited both an undocumented person and a spokesperson for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It is the type of balance that is now considered verboten on campuses.
Members of MEChA de Northwestern, Black Lives Matter NU, the Immigrant Justice Project, the Asian Pacific American Coalition, NU Queer Trans Intersex People of Color and Rainbow Alliance organized to stop other students from hearing from the ICE representative. However, they could not have succeeded without the help of Northwestern administrators (including Dean of Students Todd Adams). The protesters were screaming “F**k ICE” outside of the hall. Adams and the other administrators then said that the protesters screaming profanities would be allowed into the class if they promised not to disrupt the class. Really? They were screaming profanities and seeking to stop the class but would just sit nicely as the speaker answered questions?
Of course, that did not happen. As soon as the protesters were allowed into the classroom, they prevented the ICE representative from speaking. The ICE official eventually left and Redbird canceled the class to discuss the issue with the protesters that just prevented her students from hearing an opposing view.
The comments of the Northwestern students were predictable after being told by people like Schapiro that some offensive speech should be treated as a form of assault. SESP sophomore April Navarro rejected that faculty should be allowed to invite such speakers to their classrooms for a “good, nice conversation with ICE.” She insisted such speakers needed to be silenced because they “terrorize communities” and profit from detainee labor. Here is the face of the new generation of censors being shaped by speech-intolerant academics like Schapiro:
“We’re not interested in having those types of conversations that would be like, ‘Oh, let’s listen to their side of it’ because that’s making them passive rule-followers rather than active proponents of violence. We’re not engaging in those kinds of things; it legitimizes ICE’s violence, it makes Northwestern complicit in this. There’s an unequal power balance that happens when you deal with state apparatuses.”
Last year, the Northwestern student body banned press from meetings to protect students from the harm of media coverage. The students also have previously frozen funds of conservative groups.
The Northwestern journalism faculty is little better. Steven Thrasher, the Daniel H. Renberg Chair of social justice in reporting at Northwestern, who trashed a reporter who waited for the facts before reporting on a police shooting.
Of course, it is not just conservative speakers that the students want to ban. In 2021, they called for the removal of the President of the Board of Trustees. Despite being a major donor and supporter of the school, J. Landis Martin was denounced as a Republican who donated money to former President Donald Trump.
The university issued a statement that “This path forward requires the immediate removal of tents on Deering Meadow, cessation of non-approved use of amplified sound and a commitment that all conduct on Deering and across campus will comply with all University rules and policies. Compliant demonstration can continue at Deering Meadow through June 1.”
The university has long lacked the fortitude to stand up to students engaging in disruptive protests.
The danger of such passivity is evident on our campuses. As Henry David Thoreau warned, “all rivers and most corrupt men follow the path of least resistance.”
Here is the Northwestern agreement.
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Site: Mundabor's blogSince the dawn of Christianity, the fear of the Lord has been considered an extremely important component of our faith life. In fact, in many languages, having the fear of the Lord is considered synonymous with being a good Christian, which tells you how the one and the other were considered to be intertwined. Fear […]
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Site: LifeNews
Tens of thousands of lives are at stake in Florida, but you wouldn’t know it thanks to prevailing narratives. As a doctor, I am shocked by the rampant misinformation that exists about the Heartbeat Protection Act that will take effect this week. These lies are designed to detract from a commonsense law that is supported by a majority of Floridians, will save the lives of unborn children, and will protect the health of women.
The abortion lobby is hoping that misinformation about the heartbeat law will push Floridians into voting for an extreme constitutional amendment (Amendment 4) that will allow late term abortions in the state. Voters in Florida should not be deceived.
The heartbeat law is science-backed and considers the incredible fetal development that has already occurred at six weeks gestation. My experience as a radiologist, combined with extensive research on the fetal heart, has given me the opportunity to see the fetal heart up close, which is the baby’s very first organ to form and function. By six weeks, the child’s heart beats at a rate of around 110 beats per minute, proving without a doubt that the child is alive and growing within the mother’s womb.
Using ultrasound technology, doctors have identified and recorded the heart beating by the six-week stage of development. Once the heartbeat is detected, the baby has an over 90 percent chance of surviving up to birth and beyond.
Click here to sign up for pro-life news alerts from LifeNews.com
The heartbeat law recognizes this science-backed data and gives the unborn that chance at life, while also allowing for exceptions in rare and heartbreaking situations including when the mother’s life is at risk, in cases of rape or incest (before 15 weeks), or when there is a fatal prenatal diagnosis (before the third trimester).
The heartbeat law correctly recognizes the dignity and worth of the unborn while extending critical support to mothers. The law includes $25 million to help meet the physical and emotional needs of women during and after their pregnancies. By channeling the money towards Florida’s pregnancy resource centers, the heartbeat law offers expecting mothers free pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, counseling, financial assistance, and much more.
In the last 18 years, Florida Pregnancy Care Network has supported more than half a million clients and provided 1.8 million pregnancy-related services. The heartbeat law ensures this support can continue and that mothers will receive the care they need to deliver healthy babies.
The life-affirming support and care extended to women and unborn babies in the heartbeat law is a direct contrast to the extreme abortion-on-demand policies that are being pushed in Amendment 4.
Already, Florida’s abortion rate is on the rise, with more than 84,000 abortions last year alone. If the abortion measure is passed, these numbers will dramatically increase as the Sunshine State becomes a destination for late term abortions, molded in the image of states like California.
The amendment will also remove the state’s current health standards that keep women safe. If this extreme measure passes, Florida will be limited in how it can regulate abortion clinics. The amendment also allows any “healthcare provider” to carry out an abortion, without defining the term or outlining the necessary medical qualifications needed to perform the procedure.
Floridians should reject this extreme measure and instead build upon the life-affirming care and support the state currently provides to women and unborn children through the heartbeat law and other measures.
Terminating the lives of children after they have a heartbeat will rob Florida parents of healthy sons and daughters, and Florida communities of future policemen, teachers, doctors, and neighbors. The heartbeat law provides an important protection for both unborn children and women, and it is a realistic, science-backed law that will save more lives in the Sunshine State.
LifeNews Note: Grazie Pozo Christie, M.D., is a Senior Fellow for The Catholic Association and host of the nationally syndicated radio show Conversations with Consequences. She practices radiology in the Miami area, where she lives with her husband and five children.This column originally appeared at Real Clear Policy.
The post Doctor Confirms Florida’s New Heartbeat Law Will Save Babies, Help Women appeared first on LifeNews.com.
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Site: Zero HedgeWall Street Reacts To Powell Unleashing His Inner DoveTyler Durden Wed, 05/01/2024 - 14:51
Ahead of today's FOMC statement and Powell presser, we said that the bogey for a dovish interpretation today will come not from the Fed's rate decision, which we knew would be unchanged, but the QT tapering decision...
The big question for today: how much will Fed taper QT by?
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) May 1, 2024
If Taper goes to $30BN (from $60BN/month), that means less funding needed in Q3 (most likely from Bills), and means less pressure on issuance. Yields should slide... and sure enough, the fact that the Fed announced an accelerated QT tapering and it was bigger than expected ($35BN vs $30BN) is why the market is viewing the Fed announcement as dovish and futures are now soaring.
And while we wait for Powell's presser to conclude, here are some other hot takes from Wall Street strategists and thinkers:
David Russell, head of market strategy at TradeStation
“The Fed is still in wait-and-see mode before they get dovish. But the data hasn’t been cooperating. This statement keeps investors data dependent and focused on April numbers like CPI two weeks from now.”
Audrey Childe-Freeman, chief G-10 FX strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence
“A first glance at the statement brings dollar bears some breathing space as the language adjustment is not as hawkish as may have been feared, though the reference about underwhelming inflation progress entertains a potential new layer of hawkishness at a later stage that could contain dollar downside ahead of the press conference. Muted dollar reaction so far captures this well.
“The language embraced thus far does not signal that the narrative has shifted back to new rate-hike debates, but rather to pushing back the timing on a rate cut. This is probably good enough for near-term euro-dollar relief given the feared hawkish pivot.”
Brian Coulton, chief economist at Fitch Ratings
“With unemployment still low and the labor market still tight, there is only a limited risk to the Fed’s employment mandate from waiting longer before embarking on rate cuts. On the other hand the risk of failing to get inflation down on a sustained basis seems to be rising as each week goes by. Patience is the watchword now for the Fed and the risk of fewer or no rate cuts this year is growing.”
Erica Adelberg, Bloomberg Intelligence’s mortgage-backed securities strategist:
“Making it explicit that any surplus MBS paydowns will be reinvested into Treasuries could adversely affect the MBS/Treasury basis, but at this point MBS paydowns are projected to be about half of the $35 monthly cap on average for the foreseeable future. The average loan rate backing the Fed’s MBS holdings is more than 300 bps below current mortgage rates, so it would take a significant interest rate rally to hit the MBS cap.”
Kathy Bostjancic, Chief Economist at Nationwide:
“We expect Chairman Powell will underscore this hawkish pivot in his press conference and emphasize that the timing of pace of rate cuts will depend highly on the future path of inflation. He likely will indicate the Fed is on an extended pause until inflation resumes its disinflationary trend.”
Ira Jersey, Bloomberg rates strategist:
“His lack of comment about the possibility of a hike is interesting, and I’d be surprised if he’s not asked about the potential for hikes in the press conference. But it seems that ‘on hold’ is his base case for now.”
Bloomberg Economics’ Anna Wong and Stuart Paul:
“For anyone wondering if this year’s hot inflation readings were just a blip, the May 1 FOMC meeting offered a clear answer: Hawkish tweaks to the statement show policymakers have lost confidence that inflation is moving in the right direction. At the same time, the Fed announced it would start tapering its balance-sheet run off in June – a month earlier than we expected — and will reduce the runoff cap by a bit more than we foresaw. That initially comes across as dovish, but the motivation here is key. If it turns out the Fed wants the run-off process to last longer — ultimately boosting the chance that its balance sheet will return to pre-pandemic size – that actually would be hawkish.”
Developing
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Site: Zero HedgeWatch Live: Fed Chair Powell Walk The 'Asymmetric' Tight-Rope At Today's Presser?Tyler Durden Wed, 05/01/2024 - 14:25
As expected, no change in rates from The Fed, and a hawkish bias to the language changes in the FOMC statement.
The bigger than expected QT taper news is noteworthy and Powell will have to explain why they are 'easing' this policy more than expected while inflation remains 'out of control'... and they are not ready to cut rates.
So now it's down to Powell to avoid a faux pas (as we detailed below) over shifts in The Fed's 'asymmetric' response function.
Watch Powell walk that tightrope live here (due to start at 1430ET):
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As we detailed earlier, today's Fed meeting had the market feeling (and positioned for) “HAWKISHNESS,” especially after the ECI pile-on yesterday, which didn’t simply “upside surprise,” but re-accelerated to 1.2% after ending 2023 at 0.9%, and showing that persistent wage pressures further add to the risk of keeping inflation “too elevated” for the Fed.
However, according to Nomura MD Charlie McElligott, the largest risk with the Fed today is that there will be no summary of economic projections / no dot plots...
...meaning that outside of the usual statement, it will be Powell’s press conference alone that dictates market behavior... and the backtest on that is a bit dicey, with some historic faux pas in-sample.
He’s gotta find a way to “keep it in the pocket,” where his language simply must message “balance of risks”...
...which means (as we detailed earlier) that he dangerously must “toe the line” on widening out the Fed path away from currently asymmetric “when cut?”-messaging dating back to Dec ’23...
...and instead back to a two-way distribution with both ‘cut’ and honest-to-God ‘hike’ –optionality.
Nomura's rates guru Jonathan Cohn details just how narrow a path it is for Powell:
Powell’s FOMC presser and, in particular, his answer to the inevitable question around potential hikes represents a key risk.
Following meaningful policy path repricing since CPI and reorientation of Fedspeak, the bar for Powell to exceed market hawkishness is high.
Powell, pricing, positioning
What to expect
Statement:
Our economists expect two hawkish changes (see their preview here)
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Change “inflation has eased over the past year, but remains elevated” to “inflation remains elevated”
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Removal of “greater” in the Fed’s expectation that it would not ease rates “until it has greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2%”
Presser:
- Powell’s FOMC presser will again be highly scrutinized, particularly his answer on whether hikes are in play. Bostic and Bowman flagged hikes as a risk and Williams did not rule them out, inviting a reassessment of two-way risk. Though Powell will likely maintain that policy is restrictive, he will also likely want to retain optionality amid high uncertainty around neutral. The phrasing of that optionality sentiment will be critical.
Is the market ready / priced?
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How much is priced: The market has repriced a lot, going from 63bp of cuts in 2024 pre-CPI to 28bp currently. Market-implied year-end rates for 2024 and 2025 are well above the median dots, granted the March dot plot had some ‘cuspy’ medians. The repricing owes primarily to sticky inflation arresting progress through H2 last year, though there has also clearly been a reduced ‘recession’ premium as well. In terms of hike appreciation, the market-implied probability of a hike by year-end is now around 15%, double what it was pre-CPI. Given the reorientation of Fedspeak amid this sticky inflation (i.e., less emphasis on cuts this year), there is a higher bar for Powell to exceed market hawkishness.
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Repositioning: At the front-end, there have been a couple waves of washouts in ‘sell hike’ trades like 1x2 payer spreads in the sell-off. An examination of open interest changes coupled with insights from our futures desk suggests a good deal of positioning post-CPI was rolled into lower strikes, not simply taken off. And with the increase in put OI in 94.625 (no cut) strike largely a function of buyers, those combining with sales in lower strikes (short skew) seem prepared for something like no cut or one hike scenario. Of course, the risk is that if Powell rhetoric around potential hikes is seen as hawkish and followed by strong NFP and CPI, we move quickly toward the low strikes as the market prices in a higher probability of multiple hikes and we get another positioning flush. I do think that if the Fed feels the need to change its directional bias and hike (not just stay on hold), one has to price in a high probability of multiple hikes, not a one and done. However, I still think there’s a very high bar for the Fed to pay more than lip service to open-mindedness.
QT slowdown
- The Fed is expected to announce a reduction in the pace of QT, likely to $30bn per month for UST. I wouldn’t expect much guidance on an end date. Slowing runoff should theoretically allow for a longer period of QT and lower ultimate level of reserves (thanks to more time for an efficient redistribution of liquidity) – a level around which uncertainty bands are very large.
Putting it together suggests a ‘middle of the road’ Powell can give way to a temporary relief rally, while a blundered characterization of hike optionality could lead to another position flush out and bear-flattening of the yield curve.
Hence, McElligott warns that with all this HAWKISH mentality / sentiment / positioning, the risk is that any surprisingly dovish Fed speak or Data (e.g. NFP Friday), you COULD see potential for an outsized SHORT SQUEEZE / RALLY RISK on stops.
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Site: Henrymakow.com
Please send links and comments to hmakow@gmail.comShould Christians wear the Star of David? This Christian said, "No." The Star of David is a satanic sign signifying sexual congress. Cabalist Judaism is a sex cult that hates God and Jesus.More significant is that this appeared on YouTube Shorts!Even Jews ask: Is Judaism a Satanic Cult?--Columbia University: Dozens of Student Protesters Arrested, Professional Agitators Spotted--Israeli truce offer 'fails to address' Hamas' main terms: ReportThe document detailing the new initiative, published by Lebanese media, does not guarantee a full Israeli withdrawal or permanent ceasefire--
Tucker Interview Alexander DugginWhile Duggin is portrayed as some kind of satanist by some, here he praises Putin for upholding traditional family values.--Netanyahu tells Blinken he will not agree to end war on Hamas as part of hostage dealPM tells visiting US secretary that potential truce won't forestall Rafah operation; Blinken reiterates US opposition to incursion, says Hamas 'standing in the way of a ceasefire'--Red Sea Israeli Port of Eilat lays off Half Its Staff----
Netanyahu: Israel will enter Rafah with or without hostage dealMark Glenn--"Netanyahu and his cohorts-namely Smotrich and Ben Gvir-don't care about the hostages, never did, never will. As far as they are concerned, the longer they are gone the better, as it gives the Judaic warlords justification for the continued carnage they are inflicting on Gaza. Even more so, when these hostages die, either by being shot, bombed or starved deliberately by Israel, it can only enflame the Israeli public more, resulting not only in their support for the already-occurring genocide in Gaza, but as well, the demand for revenge later.--Pro-Palestine protesters at Brown hail 'victory' after admin agrees to demandsThe Brown University administration has agreed to a vote on divesting funds linked to the Israeli army and its war on Gaza---Just a garden shedUkraine link suspected in arson at German arms executive's property -- mediaA "confession" message purportedly by the perpetrators claims their action is linked to Rheinmetall's deliveries to Kiev"The message claimed that the arms manufacturer was hoarding various types of tanks "that can now be sold to Ukraine along with munitions at a hefty profit." The anonymous statement added that "Rheinmetall plans, produces and murders, not only domestically."---
WEF promotes pedophiliaFrom Reader---you repeatedly mentioned a model of women sacrificing power for a man´s love. I believe this might be the universal blue print to make things work.Accidentally in a comment section I found a hint to Ephesians 5:21:21 „Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing[b] her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church-- 30 for we are members of his body. 31 "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."[c] 32 This is a profound mystery--but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband."Amazing to find your discovery also there.-Laura Aboli---The End Game is TranshumanismWe will no longer be human-- -
Site: Zero HedgeFOMC Leaves Rates Unch, Says (Bigger Than Expected) QT Taper To Start In JuneTyler Durden Wed, 05/01/2024 - 14:00
Tl;dr: The Fed just told the market that 'yields are too damn high'.
* * *
Since the last FOMC meeting, on March 20th, gold has been the biggest outperformer (interesting along with dollar strength), while stocks, bonds, and crude (and crypto) have all been sold (with bonds and oil equally ugly)...
Source: Bloomberg
And since March 20th, US macro data has serially disappointed...
Source: Bloomberg
More problematically, since the last FOMC meeting, inflation data has dramatically surprised to the upside and growth data to the downside - screaming stagflation in the face of the Fed...
Source: Bloomberg
Rate-cut expectations (for 2024 and 2025) have plunged significantly since the last FOMC (that is now just one 25bps rate-cut priced in for 2024)...
Source: Bloomberg
Expectations are fully priced for a nothing-burger today on rates...
Source: Bloomberg
... with a slight hawkish bias in the language-changes in the statement (and the possibility of QT-taper signaling). But it will be Powell's press conference that everyone will be focused on.
So what did The Fed say?
Rates unchanged...
- *FED HOLDS BENCHMARK RATE IN 5.25%-5.5% TARGET RANGE
Key statement changes
Fed adds following sentence:
"In recent months, there has been a lack of further progress toward the Committee's 2 percent inflation objective."
Fed also replaces
"The Committee judges that the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals are moving into better balance"
with
"The Committee judges that the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals have moved toward better balance over the past year.
And the QT Taper is here - and its bigger than expected (-$35BN/mth vs -$30BN expected):
Beginning in June, the Committee will slow the pace of decline of its securities holdings by reducing the monthly redemption cap on Treasury securities from $60 billion to $25 billion.
The Committee will maintain the monthly redemption cap on agency debt and agency mortgage‑backed securities at $35 billion and will reinvest any principal payments in excess of this cap into Treasury securities
This means $105BN less gross issuance needed in Q3, with The Fed implicitly saying 'yields are too high'.
Just as we said...
The big question for today: how much will Fed taper QT by?
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) May 1, 2024
If Taper goes to $30BN (from $60BN/month), that means less funding needed in Q3 (most likely from Bills), and means less pressure on issuance. Yields should slideRead the full redline below:
What happens next (on average)?
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Site: LifeNews
Dr. Dermot Kearney is a hero within pro-life circles for his yeoman’s work helping pregnant women who change their mind after taking the abortion pill.
In the UK, Dr. Kearney has saved countless babies from abortions after women have taken the first part of the two-part abortion drug. For that, he was punished by the British medical establishment that wholly favors abortions.
So it’s only fitting that Dr. Kearney received a pro-life award for his excellent life-saving work.
Dr. Dermot Kearney received the Anton Neuwirth Prize for the Protection of Life award in Slovakia ‘for providing medical care and for testifying to his courage in helping women avert pharmacological abortion.’
Click here to sign up for pro-life news alerts from LifeNews.com
The ceremony for the Anton Neuwirth Prize for the Protection of Life took place at the gala dinner of the international conference Choose Life in Rajecké Teplice on 12th April. The prize is named after Anton Neuwirth, a prominent Slovak doctor, diplomat and thinker who was a founding member of the Forum of Life.
The Anton Neuwirth Prize is awarded annually by the Forum of Life to persons or organisations who have significantly contributed to the protection of human life.
Responding to the award, Dr. Dermot said: “I am overwhelmed by the love (and) kindness demonstrated by the beautiful prolife people of Slovakia at this weekend’s Forum for Life (Fórum života) Conference in Rajecké Teplice, for honouring me with the Anton Neuwirth Award (and) inviting me to deliver a presentation on APR.”
The post Pro-Life Doctor Who Has Saved Countless Babies From Abortions Wins Award appeared first on LifeNews.com.
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Site: Zero HedgeLu-Lu-Leveraged: Lululemon Founder Pledges Shares For Margin LoanTyler Durden Wed, 05/01/2024 - 13:45
Lululemon's founder is taking on some lu-lu-leverage - and it's coming at a time when Lululemon's stock is more than 20% off its recent highs.
Chip Wilson, the founder of Lululemon, has reportedly used a significant portion of his stake in the company to secure financing from Goldman Sachs Group Inc., according to a new report from Yahoo/Bloomberg.
According to a recent regulatory filing, an investment firm representing the Canadian billionaire pledged 1.8 million Lululemon shares, nearly 20% of his total holdings, as collateral for a $200 million margin loan from the US bank.
Wilson's stake, valued at approximately $660 million based on Tuesday's closing price, comes at a challenging time for Lululemon, with its stock declining by 25% since late March due to disappointing US sales and sales projections.
While representatives for Lululemon and Wilson declined to comment, this transaction sheds light on how wealthy individuals leverage their public holdings for substantial liquidity. For Wilson, who relinquished daily management of Lululemon over a decade ago, it signifies a broader investment diversification strategy.
The report states that the 69-year-old entrepreneur has expanded his investments beyond Lululemon, increasing his stake in Amer Sports Inc. and establishing a real estate firm, Low Tide Properties, among other ventures.
Additionally, he is actively investing in research to find a cure for his rare form of muscular dystrophy.
Pledging shares as collateral is common among the ultra-rich, with examples including Elon Musk leveraging Tesla Inc. stock for personal loans.
While borrowing against shares offers tax advantages, it also carries risks, as evidenced by margin calls during market downturns, such as those experienced at the onset of the pandemic.
Wilson founded Lululemon in 1998 and stepped down as chairman in 2013 following controversies and disagreements with the company's leadership.
Despite selling a significant portion of his stake a decade ago, he retains control of approximately 8% of Lululemon's shares, making it his largest individual asset.
Now he better hope yoga pants stay in style...
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Site: LifeNews
How can Laken Riley’s murderer, an illegal alien, be repeatedly arrested and set free while Paul Vaughn, an American father, faces an 11-year prison sentence for singing hymns outside an abortion clinic? One word: weaponization. President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland have weaponized the Department of Justice, including the FBI, against anyone and everyone with whom they disagree.
Vaughn was convicted under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act for nothing more than exercising his First Amendment rights. In the wake of the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the FACE Act has become President Biden and radical progressive Democrats’ primary way of advancing their radical abortion agenda.
Vaughn is not alone. Mark Houck, a pro-life father from Pennsylvania, was arrested at his home by FBI agents. Guns were pointed at him, his wife, and his children. When confronted about this incident during a House Judiciary Committee hearing, Attorney General Garland continuously refused to call the FBI’s actions inappropriate.
Even the judge in Houck’s case remarked that the FACE Act seemed “to be stretched a little thin here.” While Houck has since been acquitted, the FBI sent a clear message to pro-life Americans exercising their First Amendment rights: If you peacefully stand up for life, we will make you suffer.
HELP LIFENEWS SAVE BABIES FROM ABORTION! Please help LifeNews.com with a donation!
These cases demonstrate that, for the Biden administration, the First Amendment is a selective privilege, not an inalienable right.
When President Bill Clinton signed the FACE Act into law in 1994, the legislation was meant to protect abortion clinics, pregnancy centers, and places of worship from violent attacks. In practice, it has become the Department of Justice’s favorite tool to attack pro-lifers and people of faith.
Since its passage, the FACE Act has been used approximately 130 times against pro-lifers—but has only been leveled in defense of churches and pregnancy centers five times, even though churches and pro-life centers are 22 times more likely to be attacked than abortion clinics.
Just last year, there were 436 incidents of hostility against churches, but the Justice Department failed to investigate the vast majority of them despite repeated requests. The complete data are difficult to ascertain because, to date, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke has failed to provide Congress with the Justice Department’s FACE Act prosecution numbers—despite multiple congressional requests and promises to do so during a congressional hearing.
It’s clear that fully repealing the FACE Act is the only way for Congress to finally end its abuse. We introduced legislation in both the House and the Senate (H.R.5577 and S. 3017) to do just that. The simple fact is that the law is not necessary, and its duplicative nature usurps state police powers protected by the 10th Amendment. State laws to protect clinics and places of worship already exist. The Constitution clearly reserves general police power to the states for a reason—but Congress ignored that safeguard in passing the FACE Act.
While we have failed to defund Biden’s weaponization of the Justice Department in recent spending bills, our fellow Americans are still suffering persecution for their beliefs. Repealing the FACE Act is an achievable pro-life and pro-First Amendment victory that Republicans can and must follow through on in the upcoming appropriations season. Put simply, we should not fund a Department of Justice that so brazenly tilts the scales of justice against the regime’s political opponents.
The FACE ACT not only violates our constitutional principle of federalism, it holds no value other than to allow Justice Department bureaucrats to carry out a radical pro-abortion agenda. Congress must correct the course. It’s time to repeal the FACE Act once and for all.
LifeNews Note: Mike Lee, a Republican, is the senior U.S. senator from Utah. Chip Roy, a Republican, represents Texas’ 21st congressional district.
The post Congress Must Stop Biden’s Weaponization of Government Against Pro-Life Americans appeared first on LifeNews.com.
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Site: LifeNews
Today Florida becomes the 18th state with a law in effect protecting unborn babies with beating hearts. The Heartbeat Protection Act, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on April 13 of last year, includes rape, incest, life of the mother and human trafficking exceptions and provides $25 million in recurring funding for pregnancy centers to support moms during pregnancy and beyond.
Polling conducted by Ragnar shows 62% of likely Florida voters supported the Heartbeat Protection Act. Support is highest amongst Hispanic voters at 76%. Sixty-one percent of Independents and 58% of women support the law.
Neesha Lewis, a Georgia mom and medical professional who says her state’s heartbeat law saved her son’s life, celebrated the Florida protection going into effect:
“Georgia’s heartbeat law saved my son’s life and blessed a wonderful couple in Florida with the perfect little family through adoption. Thankfully, now in their home state, more babies will be saved from the horrors of abortion and more families will have the chance to flourish. This law has allowed for my son’s heart to continue to beat strong and steady, while giving my heart more love and joy than I ever thought possible.”
HELP LIFENEWS SAVE BABIES FROM ABORTION! Please help LifeNews.com with a donation!
Charlotte Lozier Institute researchers Moira Gaul, M.P.H., and Michael New, Ph. D., estimate that approximately 160 pregnancy centers in Florida served more than 88,000 women, men and youth in 2022 and provided services and materials valued at over $20 million, typically free of charge, including over $11 million in medical services (see national survey data):
- 74,366 free consultations with new clients
- 59,689 pregnancy tests
- 34,794 ultrasounds
- 105,735 packs of diapers
- 62,650 packs of baby wipes
- 231,238 baby clothing outfits
- 1,776 car seats
- 3,997 strollers
- 1,389 cribs
- 20,148 containers of formula
- 20,894 clients received free parenting education
- 1,422 clients received free after-abortion support and recovery
SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser warns that much work lies ahead in protecting children and their mothers from the California-style late-term abortion amendment:
“Florida’s Heartbeat Protection Act is an enormous victory for women and children, set to protect 50,000 lives a year starting today, while it has already expanded critical support for Florida’s life-affirming safety net. These and other protections that the people of Florida greatly desire must be preserved from Big Abortion’s deceptive amendment to enshrine no-limits abortion in the state constitution.
“Gov. Ron DeSantis is right. The abortion amendment which would allow abortion throughout the second and third trimesters, eviscerate health protections for women, and remove parental consent is far too extreme for Florida. We must sound the alarm about the far-reaching implications of the abortion industry’s scheme to grow their profits at the expense of babies’ lives and the safety of women and girls.”
Florida is the only state with a pro-life law in effect guaranteed to have abortion on the ballot this November. Abortion activists are in the process of placing amendments on the ballot to eliminate pro-life laws in Arizona, Arkansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska and South Dakota.
The post New Florida Law Could Save 50,000 Babies From Abortions Every Year appeared first on LifeNews.com.
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Site: Novus Motus LiturgicusThe feast of the Apostle St Philip is traditionally kept on this day, together with St James the Younger, a custom which derives from the presence of their relics in the Roman basilica of the Twelve Apostles, which was originally dedicated only to the two of them. In the Synoptic Gospels, he is not mentioned apart from the list of the twelve disciples whom Jesus called his Apostles (Matthew 10, Gregory DiPippohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13295638279418781125noreply@blogger.com0
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Site: The Remnant Newspaper - Remnant ArticlesWhen novel coronavirus strains were first detected in China in December 2019, the contagion that came to be known as SARS-CoV-2 spread fast. To date, over 700 million cases of infection have been reported, and the death toll surpasses 7 million globally.
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Site: Zero HedgeThe Great Gold Vs Bitcoin Debate: ZeroHedge Presents Roubini And Schiff Against Scaramucci And VoorheesTyler Durden Wed, 05/01/2024 - 12:10
Proponents of gold and bitcoin often hail from the same ideological background: Austrian economists, dollar bears, Libertarians tired of State manipulation of fiat currencies and, generally, the anti-Fed crowd. Yet shared principles have not eased the age-old rivalry between the two assets.
Relative to Bitcoin, gold lost considerable value last year as an ounce of gold fell from 0.11 BTC to almost 0.03 BTC, a historically important level. The last month has seen the precious metal rebound somewhat relative to 'digital gold':
However, as Benjamin Graham said: “In the short run, the market is a voting machine, but in the long run, it is a weighing machine.” So we are more interested in the fundamentals:
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Does Bitcoin’s instant transferability and infinite portability make it the superior asset/security? Or is it a worthless string of numbers with infinite substitutes?
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Will gold’s thousand-year history as the preferred monetary commodity continue in the digital age? Or does its reliance on third-party custodians (at least at scale), and significant bulk, make it inferior to BTC?
We’ll answer these questions - and more - this Friday.
On May 3 at 7pm ET, ZeroHedge is partnering with Crypto Banter to bring together top macroeconomic minds to debate.
In the anti-crypto corner is the man whose name is synonymous with “gold”, infamous crypto bear Peter Schiff. Alongside Schiff will be “Dr. Doom”, renowned economist Nouriel Roubini.
Arguing in favor of crypto will be Anthony Scaramucci - wealth manager with over $10 billion in AUM - as well as day-one crypto veteran Erik Voorhees, founder of ShapeShift and torch-bearer for the asset class’ libertarian roots.
The debate will be moderated by Ran Neuner, founder and host of Crypto Banter, one of the largest digital asset news channels on YouTube.
Learn more about our VIP ticket offering to attend the debate in person and grab dinner with the participants here.
ZeroHedge would also like to thank our sponsors for this debate: Preserve Gold and BITLAYER — “Layer 2. The future of Bitcoin.” Whether you’re a fan of gold or Bitcoin, you probably see the wisdom in diversifying away from U.S. dollars. Do so by visiting their websites and checking out their products.
ZeroHedge Goldbugs can access a special offer from Preserve Gold by texting “ZERO” to 50505.
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Site: Mises InstituteThe government can end today's high price-inflation rates any time by ending deficit spending. But the state won't even acknowledge deficit spending is a cause of today's price-inflation cycle.
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Site: Zero HedgeFeds Scrutinizing Block's Square And Cash App, Eyeing If Transactions Funded Terror And Skirted SanctionsTyler Durden Wed, 05/01/2024 - 11:50
Federal prosecutors are investigating compliance issues at Block, the fintech firm co-founded by Jack Dorsey, according to a new report from NBC, citing "two people with direct knowledge".
Questions about the company started swirling back in March 2023 when short seller Hindenburg Research released a report called "Block: How Inflated User Metrics and “Frictionless” Fraud Facilitation Enabled Insiders To Cash Out Over $1 Billion".
In it, they concluded that "the 'magic' behind Block’s business has not been disruptive innovation, but rather the company’s willingness to facilitate fraud against consumers and the government, avoid regulation, dress up predatory loans and fees as revolutionary technology, and mislead investors with inflated metrics."
Now, a former employee has shared documents revealing insufficient customer information collection, transactions involving sanctioned countries, and cryptocurrency dealings with terrorist groups, the latest report from NBC says.
The employee claims many transactions weren't reported as required, and Block failed to address the breaches despite being notified. The documents detail transactions with entities in sanctioned countries, including Cuba, Iran, Russia, and Venezuela, as recent as last year.
One former told NBC: “From the ground up, everything in the compliance section was flawed. It is led by people who should not be in charge of a regulated compliance program.”
“It’s my understanding from the documents that compliance lapses were known to Block leadership and the board in recent years," Edward Siedle, a former Securities and Exchange Commission lawyer who represents the former employee and participated in the discussions with prosecutors told NBC.
Cash App, a mobile payment platform under Block's ownership, faced allegations of compliance failures from two other whistleblowers in mid-February. Introduced in 2013, Cash App enables instant money transfers and stock and Bitcoin purchases. By December, it boasted 56 million active transacting accounts and $248 billion in inflows over the previous four quarters.
Block commented to NBC: “Block has a responsible and extensive compliance program and we regularly adapt our practices to meet emerging threats and an evolving sanctions regulatory environment. Our compliance program includes systems, tools, and processes for sanctions screening, as well as investigating and reporting on sanctions issues in accordance with our regulatory obligations."
They continued: "Continually improving the safety and security of our ecosystem is a top priority for Block. We have been and remain committed to building upon this work, as well as continuing to invest significantly in our compliance program.”
Federal prosecutors are also examining Square, another key component of Block's operations, which serves millions of merchants. According to documents provided to prosecutors and reviewed by NBC News, Square allegedly failed in basic customer due diligence on international merchant sellers and mistakenly reimbursed some merchants' funds frozen for sanctions violations.
The documents also reveal that new customers triggering sanctions alerts were allowed to conduct transactions before resolution, with instances of inadequate screening against sanctions keyword lists, the report adds.
Cash App, due to its design, also apparently heightened compliance risks, NBC wrote. A document highlighted the challenge, stating that stored balances in Cash App are typically depleted by the time of review, limiting the platform's ability to block or reject funds.
The former employee also informed prosecutors of findings from an external consultant hired by Block, which identified nearly 50 deficiencies in monitoring suspicious activities and screening for sanctions violations.
Board members including Lawrence Summers and Sharon Rothstein have also recently departed the company.
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Site: LifeNews
Before becoming one of the Justice Department’s top leaders, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke was allegedly involved in a violent domestic dispute, according to court documents, records, and text messages—an incident that ended in her arrest and was ultimately expunged. During her Senate confirmation, Clarke specifically denied ever having been arrested for or accused of committing a violent crime.
Clarke was nominated by President-elect Joe Biden on Jan. 7, 2021, and later confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 25, 2021, to lead the DOJ’s “crown jewel,” as former Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. described the Civil Rights Division.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris celebrated Clarke as the first black woman to head the Civil Rights Division, promising she would focus on fighting voter suppression and hate crimes “across the country.”
During her confirmation, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., asked then-nominee Clarke: “Since becoming a legal adult, have you ever been arrested for or accused of committing a violent crime against any person?”
“No,” she responded, according to responses she submitted under oath to “Questions for the Record” from U.S. senators.
Messages as well as records obtained and authenticated by The Daily Signal indicate that Clarke may have been less than forthcoming with this statement.
Screenshot of “Questions for the Record.”
Clarke’s ex-husband, Reginald Avery, alleged to the American Accountability Foundation’s Tom Jones in 2021 that Clarke attacked him with a knife, deeply slicing his finger to the bone, on the night of July 4, 2006, while they were married and living in Maryland.
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According to messages and documents reviewed by The Daily Signal, police arrested Clarke that night. She did not respond to requests for comment for this story.
Court records obtained by The Daily Signal show that a criminal case against Clarke was initiated in the District Court of Maryland for Prince George’s County, but on Oct. 17, 2006, the Maryland state attorney entered a request of “nolle prosequi” in the case, which effectively dismissed the charge without trial.
Approximately a year-and-a-half later, Clarke sought an “Order for Expungement of Police and Court Records” in the same case.
Order for expungement of police and court records.
A document obtained by The Daily Signal shows that the district court granted that order in January 2008. The document specifically orders “expungement of police records pertaining to [Clarke’s] arrest, detention, or confinement” on or about July 5, 2006, by a “law enforcement officer of the Prince George’s County Police.”
Citing the “True Test” stamp on the expungement order, an official at the clerk’s office for the District Court of Maryland for Prince George’s County confirmed the authenticity of the expungement order to The Daily Signal.
“That’s a real document,” the official said.
Court records show that Avery and Clarke finalized their contentious divorce in 2009. Clarke had served as a trial attorney for the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division until April 2006, several months before the incident.
When the July 4, 2006, incident occurred, Clarke was leading the left-wing National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Legal Defense Fund’s voting and election efforts.
Expungements: To Disclose or Not to Disclose
It is not immediately clear whether Clarke was legally required to disclose her arrest during her nomination process, though this seems to generally be considered the prudential course of action to take during such a process.
According to Maryland law, Criminal Procedure §10-109, “Disclosure of expunged information about criminal charges in an application, interview, or other means may not be required” by an employer or educational institution of a person who is applying for employment or admission or by a “unit, official, or employee of the State or a political subdivision of the State of a person who applies for a license, permit, registration, or governmental service.”
That Maryland code also says that a person does not need to reveal information about an expunged charge when answering a question concerning a criminal charge that did not result in a conviction.
However, the nonprofit law firm Maryland Legal Aid notes that it is probably prudent to disclose expungement records when applying for certain types of jobs that require a security clearance, such as government or military jobs, since these types of employers are still going to be able to see the criminal charges in a person’s background.
Mark Robbins, who served as general counsel of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management under former Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump, believes that a DOJ nominee should indeed disclose an expunged arrest when specifically asked.
Robbins noted that though the expungement processes are typically determined by state law, presidential nominees for Senate confirmation go through a political process. There are two sets of paperwork relevant to a nomination, he said: the first from the White House for clearance before nomination, and the second from the relevant Senate committee.
Both of these sets contain questions about criminal and civil legal actions, Robbins said, as well as an open-ended question to the effect of: “Is there anything else that could even unfairly be seen as a potential hurdle to confirmation?”
“An arrest with an expungement likely has a background and explanation,” he said. “Why not disclose it? It isn’t particularly relevant what the legal consequence of expungement is. The issue is the political consequence of an arrest becoming public during or after the confirmation process, thus embarrassing the administration and Senate.”
Robbins concluded: “In my service as general counsel at two federal agencies, if a nominee asked me whether to disclose an arrest and expungement, I certainly would advise to either disclose in the paperwork with an explanation, or at the very least, note for the record that you would like to discuss this personally with someone in the White House or on the Senate committee staff.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland, with Associate Attorneys General Vanita Gupta, left, and Kristen Clarke, right, speaks during a press conference on March 8, 2023, in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo: Luke Sharrett/Getty Images)
According to the Center for Presidential Transition, every person hired for a federal job is asked to complete a background check, and nominees are asked to complete either a “Questionnaire for National Security Positions,” the SF-86, or a “Questionnaire for Public Trust Positions,” an SF 85P.
The SF-86, for example, specifically says that applicants must report information “regardless of whether the record in your case has been sealed, expunged, or otherwise stricken from the court record, or the charge was dismissed” (though it notes that applicants don’t need to ‘report convictions under the Federal Controlled Substances Act for which the court issued an expungement order under the authority of 21 U.S.C. 844 or 18 U.S.C. 3607.’”
Screenshot of Section 22 of the Standard Form 86
Every presidential administration has its own version of another form that supplements the SF-86—the SF-86 Supplement, according to the Center for Presidential Transition. That form includes questions about whether “you or your spouse” have been “the subject of any civil or criminal case, administrative proceeding, or government investigation, other than a minor traffic incident.”
It also asks: “With as much detail as possible, please provide any other information, including information about other members of your family, which could suggest a conflict of interest, be a possible source of embarrassment, or be used to coerce or blackmail you.”
Clarke, as a nominee for a DOJ position, would have also been required to fill out a “Questionnaire for non-judicial nominees” from the Senate Judiciary Committee—questionnaires submitted before the hearing.
This would include a confidential section, accessible to the Senate Judiciary Committee staff and members, in which Clarke could have revealed the expunged information.
A source with prior experience in the confirmation process told The Daily Signal that it is unlikely Clarke disclosed the arrest and expungement in the confidential portion. If she had disclosed such an arrest, the source said, members would have likely taken the opportunity to request one-on-one meetings with her to discuss, to hold a closed hearing, or to ask her to discuss the matter publicly.
In 2022, for example, Republicans brought up 6th Circuit nominee Andre Mathis’ three traffic tickets and his “failure to appear in court” related to “extended periods of driving without a license”—information they learned about during his vetting process, as Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley said at the time.
“Mr Mathis has agreed to discuss this issue publicly and that made possible his appearance today and I thank him for agreeing to do that,” Grassley said, according to a transcript of the hearing, acknowledging that Mathis had agreed to making the tickets public.
“It just speaks to how the process works–when something comes up in the FBI’s background investigation, it’s shared with all the members on the committee and if they want to ask about it either the nominee waives confidentiality or we have a closed portion of the hearing,” a source close to Clarke’s confirmation process explained to The Daily Signal.
A copy of Clarke’s questionnaire obtained by The Daily Signal does not contain any information or questions about possible arrests. The Daily Signal was not able to obtain a copy of the confidential questionnaire.
Multiple sources familiar with the confirmation process told The Daily Signal that they do not believe Clarke disclosed the arrest, not only because they would have been aware of the matter, but also given the nature of Cotton’s written questions, submitted after her confirmation hearing but before the committee voted on her nomination.
“It’s strange beyond strange that Clarke wouldn’t reveal this in the first place,” said appellate litigator Judd Stone, former Texas solicitor general of Texas and former chief of staff to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. “Just deeply strange … if you reveal it, and it turns out you can’t get through committee, then they tell you quietly that you can’t proceed with the nomination, it doesn’t go out to the press, you don’t get tarred and feathered, and you go back to what you’re doing.”
“I can’t imagine a Republican nomination getting away with this,” he added.
The Fourth of July Incident
Jones, head of the American Accountability Foundation, began digging into Clarke’s background during her Senate confirmation process. He reached out to Avery as part of his investigation, and text messages between Avery and Jones illustrate the alleged events of the July 4, 2006, incident.
“I was seeing another woman,” Avery shared in the May 2021 text message exchange. “She was angry. Attacked me with a knife. I instinctively grabbed it. As I said earlier, I’m not blameless.”
“That’s the story,” Avery insisted. “That’s what happened. She went to jail.”
Avery confirmed to The Daily Signal that his text conversations with Jones accurately represent what took place that night, including that he did not ultimately press charges and that he was not contacted by federal authorities about the incident. He declined to comment further.
Prince George’s County Police Department records show that the department was called on nine different occasions by someone at Avery’s and Clarke’s Upper Marlboro, Maryland, household between May 2003 and December 2007.
Seven of those calls were for a “threat” or some type of domestic violence, but most were cleared without a report. The July 4, 2006, call was made by “Mr. Reginald” (Avery’s first name) and accompanied by a 760 code, according to a mainframe print-out from Prince George’s County computer-aided dispatch system obtained by The Daily Signal.
That 760 code is the department’s clearance code for “arrest,” the Prince George County Police Department confirmed.
That call was not cleared for four hours, and Avery maintains it was Clarke who was arrested. Clarke has not addressed the matter, though given multiple opportunities to respond.
The DOJ official’s ex-husband also shared with Jones that on the night of the incident, he called 911 due to his injury and the “cops came because [his] finger was cut off.” (Avery clarified to The Daily Signal that the finger was sliced to the bone, not cut off.) Police allegedly decided to arrest Clarke, and Avery said he went to the emergency room in Bowie, Maryland, for the injury. He does not have photos of the injury.
Jones and Avery speculated via 2021 text messages about why Clarke would hide the arrest: “I assume she just thinks she won’t get caught,” Jones queried, to which Avery responded, “Yes, the arrogance has always been there. But I don’t understand lying on a federal application.”
Staffers who worked on Senate Judiciary Committee during Clarke’s confirmation say that, while they looked into rumors of an arrest and contacted Avery, they never had access to the expungement order or charge dismissal notice. The Daily Signal is reporting first on the existence of both documents.
Avery refused to speak to the Senate staffers who reached out to him in 2021, a Senate source familiar with Clarke’s confirmation process told The Daily Signal. Staff felt they could not just sling allegations at Clarke without more evidence, the source said, but Cotton’s question to Clarke about violent crime was a direct result of the numerous Republican judiciary committee staff discussions surrounding Clarke, Jones’ findings, and the July 4, 2006, incident.
Jones questioned why Avery’s story was not thoroughly examined during the Senate’s review of Clarke’s record and why Clarke’s ex-husband was never contacted by federal officials during the confirmation process.
Jones also published some of his findings online, in which he noted that “congressional staff” confirmed that Avery had never been contacted by the FBI. The FBI declined to comment on the matter to The Daily Signal.
“Speaking to an ex-spouse is some of the most basic type of investigations that one should do when vetting a senior official,” Jones told The Daily Signal.
The DOJ did not respond to requests for comment for this story.
Clarke Faces More Scrutiny
Clarke did face scrutiny during her nomination process for remarks and social media posts made before her DOJ role, such as calling Alliance Defending Freedom a “hate group” and Liberty University a “fundamentalist Christian school.” She also said that those protesting Dr. Anthony Fauci should be “publicly identified and named, barred from treatment at any public hospital if/when they fall ill and denied coverage under their insurance.”
Clarke similarly criticized Republican politicians from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, to former President Donald Trump. She supported the allegations of Christine Blasey Ford, submitted testimony to the U.S. Senate that Amy Coney Barrett was unfit to serve as a justice because she would likely rule to overturn Roe v. Wade, critiqued pro-life laws and courts that upheld them, and called a law protecting Down syndrome babies “draconian.”
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who now heads the Tucker Carlson Network, ran multiple segments highlighting Clarke’s comments about racial superiority as well as her role in organizing a 1994 event while at Harvard University that hosted a professor who accused Jews of persecuting black people. Clarke, who was the president of Harvard’s Black Students Association, has since said it “was a mistake” to host the professor.
At the time of the event, Clarke defended professor Tony Martin when he received backlash, writing, “Professor Martin is an intelligent, well-versed Black intellectual who bases his information on indisputable fact.”
The Daily Signal previously reported that Clarke, who oversees investigations into violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, has used FACE to charge dozens of pro-life individuals since the overturn of Roe v. Wade. This includes Mark Houck, a Catholic father of seven arrested at gunpoint by the FBI and charged with violating FACE in September 2022 (a jury found Houck was not guilty in January 2023, and the DOJ has not commented on this verdict publicly).
Enacted in 1994, the FACE Act prohibits threats of force, obstruction and property damage intended to interfere with reproductive health care services. It applies not only to abortion clinics, but also to pro-life pregnancy centers and houses of worship.
Though Clarke is the helm of the DOJ’s FACE Act enforcements, she is a vocal abortion proponent who has denounced pro-life pregnancy centers, as the Washington Free Beacon’s Chuck Ross previously reported.
The DOJ has charged only five pro-abortion individuals with violating the FACE Act when they attacked pro-life pregnancy centers, even though hundreds of pregnancy centers and Catholic churches have been attacked since May 2022, when the Supreme Court’s draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was leaked, indicating Roe v. Wade would soon be overturned.
DOJ’s Civil Rights Division has charged zero individuals with FACE for attacking Catholic churches, though it has charged other individuals with hate crimes with defacing a synagogue with neo-Nazi symbols and attempting to burn down a church that planned to host drag show events.
LifeNews Note: Mary Margaret Olohan writes for Daily Signal, where this article originally appeared.
The post Kristen Clarke, Who Targets Pro-Life Americans, Lied Under Oath During Her Confirmation Hearing appeared first on LifeNews.com.
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Site: Zero HedgeFed Policies Turn The Wealth Gap Into A ChasmTyler Durden Wed, 05/01/2024 - 11:30
Authored by Michael Lebowitz via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,
In an op-ed for the Washington Post on November 5, 2010, Ben Bernanke did a victory lap, praising the Fed’s efforts in stemming the financial crisis. In the article, he discusses how QE and other Fed policies eased financial conditions, bolstering investor confidence.
And higher stock prices will boost consumer wealth and help increase confidence, which can also spur spending. Increased spending will lead to higher incomes and profits that, in a virtuous circle, will further support economic expansion.
If Bernanke wants credit for his Fed policies that boosted stock prices, he should also take responsibility for the costs. Those same monetary policies, which have been repeated many times since 2008, have played an important role in exacerbating the wealth gap in America. Accordingly, we should question his use of the term “virtuous circle” to describe how modern monetary policy works.
Graphing The Wealth Gap
Inspiration for this article comes from our recent article, Wealth Gap and the Road to Serfdom.
Before discussing the Fed’s role in widening the wealth gap, we put context to the problem. The graphs and quote below are from the article.
For 80% of Americans, the end game of too much debt, an aging demographic, and the push for “socialistic policies” is the continued extraction of wealth from the “middle class” to the “rich.”
Trickledown Economics and Monetary Policy
“Trickledown economics” was coined by John Kenneth Galbreth in 1982 and made famous by President Ronald Reagan. The expression is another name for supply-side economic policy. The policy theorizes that the populace benefits when government interference in the economy is minimal. For example, lower taxes and reduced regulations should promote economic activity and prosperity for the entire populace.
The theory is logical, but politicians have done a poor job enacting it.
In 2008, the Fed took a page from the supply-side economic playbook to stem the financial crisis. From that point forward, the Fed’s modus operandi has been trickle-down monetary policies.
Does QE Trickle Down?
Ben Bernanke wasn’t the first Fed Chair or central banker to use QE. But he did make it a household name and seemingly a permanent tool in the Fed’s toolbox.
QE has two significant impacts on the financial markets and the banking system.
First, removing assets from financial markets alters the supply-demand balance in favor of higher prices. Additionally, when investors believe QE is positive for asset prices, as is the case, demand increases, which provides even more impetus for higher asset prices.
Second, the Fed buys bonds from the banks with reserves. Reserves are a form of money that is only viable in transactions between banks or with the Fed. Reserves support bank loans and asset purchases. Therefore, when more reserves are available, banks can more easily make loans and buy assets. Further, some bank loans, specifically margin or repo loans, generate additional demand for assets.
The scatter plot below shows the positive correlation between the one-year percentage change in margin debt and the Fed’s balance sheet.
Higher stock and asset prices coupled with more leverage is a winning combination for investors.
The Graph of All Graphs
With that explanation of how trickledown monetary policy bolsters asset prices to accomplish the Fed’s goals, we share a graph explaining why the Fed’s policies widen the wealth gap.
Since 1990, the dollar’s purchasing power has declined by over 50%. At the same time, the S&P 500 has risen by over 1,300%. Those with a sufficient portfolio of stocks could more than offset the decline in the dollar’s purchasing power. Those without stocks are left behind.
Further, it doesn’t help that real household income for the lowest 20% has been unchanged since 1990. Over the same period, they have risen by about 50% for those in the upper 20% of incomes.
Share Of Wealth
The wealthier have seen their wages and the value of their financial assets rise much more than inflation. At the same time, the lower wealth and income classes have seen marginal real income gains at best and little in the way of benefits from rising stock prices.
The two graphs below show how the percentage of the wealth owned by the top 1% and the change in the S&P 500 are well correlated.
On the contrary, the aggregate wealth of much of the bottom half of the nation, as a percentage of total wealth, has a negative relationship with the S&P 500.
There is a straightforward explanation as to why the correlation between the share of the wealth of the rich versus that of the rest of the population has opposing correlations to the S&P 500. 10% of the population holds nearly 90% of the stocks.
Trickledown Monetary Policy Handicaps Capitalism
QE and other Fed policies may help the economy on the margin and save some jobs. However, there is little evidence that, over the longer term, the economic benefits increase the prosperity of most of the populace. Further, as we share, there is compelling evidence it further exacerbates the wealth gap.
Capitalism has proven to be the best economic system for growing the wealth of the entire population. A key tenant of capitalism promises financial incentives for those who work hard and have unique skill sets. That incentive results in productivity gains, which benefit economic growth and allow for higher wages and a broad distribution of wealth.
Unfortunately, when financial incentives are not only a function of capitalism but also an offshoot of government and Fed policies, the benefits of capitalism are reduced.
For example, Elon Musk is extraordinarily wealthy and should be rewarded handsomely for everything he has accomplished. However, how much of his wealth is based on his hard work and ingenuity, and how much was gifted to him by the Fed via their stock-boosting monetary policies. While slightly off-topic, we should also question how much of his wealth is attributable to government subsidies for electric vehicles.
Summary
President Biden’s poll numbers on economic confidence are poor despite robust economic growth and a historically low unemployment rate. While there are many reasons for the odd divergence, we think it’s fair to say that the benefits of the post-pandemic growth spurt have disproportionately accrued to those in higher-income classes and those with stocks. Those left behind, representing a large majority of the population, are not confident in Biden’s handling of the economy and suffer from higher prices.
Most Americans continue to see wages that cannot combat inflation and have little to no wealth invested in the stock market. Can you blame them for lacking confidence?
QE may have served as an emergency way to add bank reserves to the system and boost confidence. However, its continued use, even during economic prosperity periods, only makes the wealth gap wider.
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Site: LifeNews
The city of Beverly Hills is embroiled in a legal battle for allegedly stopping a late-term abortion clinic from opening in the city due to concerns about the inconvenience of pro-life protests.
CalMatters reported that DuPont Clinic was set to open in Beverly Hills in 2023. Its reputation as one of the most left-leaning cities in the most pro-abortion state initially led the Washington D.C.-based provider to believe that the town, famous for the lavish residences of Hollywood actors and movie moguls, would support the clinic.
As the provider prepared to move into its new location last year, members of pro-life advocacy group Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust began protesting outside the Beverly Hills office.
Pro-life advocates also spoke at a city council meeting in April 2023, urging the council to stop the clinic from opening. CalMatters additionally reported that at the same meeting, Beverly Hills City Manager Nancy Hunt-Coffey warned council members that “Late-term abortion clinics can be the focus of protests, rallies and unfortunately other more violent actions on occasion.”
According to CalMatters, Councilmember Sharona Nazarian appeared concerned about the possibility of increased protests and action in downtown Beverly Hills, asking Hunt-Coffey how the clinic was approved in the first place.
The city subsequently placed a hold on DuPont’s preparations to move in as it conducted an investigation into whether the building could be used for abortions.
DuPont’s landlord, Douglas Emmett, Inc., eventually rescinded the lease in June 2023, allegedly after the city asked if there was any way to “simply prevent DuPont from opening its clinic.”
HELP LIFENEWS SAVE BABIES FROM ABORTION! Please help LifeNews.com with a donation!
“Emails show that in the weeks that followed, city officials, including from the police department, continued to meet with Douglas Emmett representatives about safety concerns and drafted a letter for distribution to other tenants of the building,” CalMatters reported. “It warned that they could face violence, vandalism, harassment and intimidation because an unnamed ‘new reproductive health care provider’ was opening.”
DuPont then sued the city in October 2023, alleging breach of contract, interference, and misrepresentation, according to the Beverly Press. The provider also filed separate litigation against the property owner, Douglas Emmett.
CalMatters reported that the city said it did not make the decision to rescind the lease. Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust has taken the responsibility for stopping the clinic from opening.
The first hearing in the lawsuit was on April 29, 2024. In February, Beverly Hills filed an anti-SLAPP motion, which attempts to dismiss a lawsuit on the grounds that a defendant was exercising free speech rights.
“To respond to the anti-SLAPP motion, DuPont clinic has requested a discovery, or an exchange of information between the two parties in the case, to prove that the city acted in a matter that went beyond truthful freedom of speech,” the Beverly Press reported.
CalMatters reported that a pro-abortion group called Beverly Hills for Choice began trying to raise support for DuPont last summer, but largely failed. Petitions and demands for an independent investigation and new abortion ordinances were ignored by residents. In addition, Beverly Hills for Choice attempted to solicit help from Democratic politicians in the area, but were refused.
The next legal steps in the Beverly Hills lawsuit are unknown at this time.
LifeNews Note: Joshua Mercer writes for CatholicVote, where this column originally appeared.
The post Leftists Want to Open Beverly Hills Abortion Clinic That Would Kill Babies for Hollywood’s Elite appeared first on LifeNews.com.
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Site: non veni pacem
Crowds of Russians are visiting a new exhibition showing off NATO military hardware captured by Russian forces in Ukraine.
The display of war “trophies” features U.S.-made armored fighting vehicles, tanks and European armored personnel carriers. The exhibition opened in Moscow Wednesday, attracting large crowds of visitors.
Here are some pictures of the opening-day of the exhibition open to the public over the next month:
People look at a US M2A2 Bradley APC captured by Russian forces in Ukraine.Alexander Nemenov | Afp | Getty Images
People visit an exhibition showing Western military equipment captured by Russian forces in Ukraine, displayed at the WWII memorial complex, on May 1, 2024.Alexander Nemenov | Afp | Getty Images
People visit an exhibition showing western military equipment captured by Russian forces in Ukraine.Alexander Nemenov | Afp | Getty Images
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Site: LifeNews
On Tuesday Governor Sanders signed a budget measure providing $2 million to support pregnancy help organizations and maternal and infant wellness in Arkansas.
The funding will provide grants to pregnancy resource centers, maternity homes, adoption agencies, and other organizations that provide material support to women with unplanned pregnancies.
For years, states across America have taken steps to provide pregnancy resource centers with state and federal tax money to support the services they provide.
This funding helps serve families at the local level without creating new government programs.
In 2022 Family Council worked with the legislature and the governor to secure $1 million for pregnancy centers. This funding provided grants to more than 20 pregnancy help organizations.
Last year we worked with lawmakers to renew this funding, and since then more than two dozen good organizations across the state have applied for this money and used it to give women and families real assistance when faced with an unplanned pregnancy.
Get the latest pro-life news and information on X (Twitter). Follow @LifeNewsHQ//
S.B. 64 makes improvements to the grant program. It increases state funding from $1 million per year to $2 million. This puts Arkansas’ funding on parr with funding other states.
The law also clarifies that “pregnancy help organizations” include nonprofit organizations that promote infant and maternal wellness and reduce infant and maternal mortality by:
- Providing nutritional information and/or nutritional counseling;
- Providing prenatal vitamins;
- Providing a list of prenatal medical care options;
- Providing social, emotional, and/or material support; or
- Providing referrals for WIC and community-based nutritional services, including but not limited to food banks, food pantries, and food distribution centers.
The measure includes language preventing state funds from going to abortionists and their affiliates.
This legislation is something Arkansans can be proud of. Family Council is grateful to the General Assembly for passing S.B. 64, and we appreciate Governor Sanders signing it into law. We look forward to seeing the state implement the expanded grant program in the coming fiscal year.
LifeNews Note: Jerry Cox is the president of the Arkansas Family Council.
The post Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders Signs Pro-Life Bill to Support Pregnant Women appeared first on LifeNews.com.
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Site: Saint Louis Catholic
‘Month of May, month of Mary! The heart of every Christian turns spontaneously toward his heavenly Mother, with a desire to live in closer intimacy with her and to strengthen the sweet ties which bind him to her. It is a great comfort on our spiritual way, which is often fatiguing and bristling with difficulties, to meet the gentle presence of a mother. One is so at ease near one’s mother. With her, everything becomes easier; the weary, discouraged heart, disturbed by storms, finds new hope and strength, and continues the journey with fresh courage.
“If the winds of temptation arise,” sings St. Bernard, “if you run into the reefs of trials, look to the star, call upon Mary. In danger, sorrow, or perplexity, think of Mary, call upon Mary.” There are times when the hard road of the “nothing” frightens us, miserable as we are; and then, more than ever, we need her help, the help of Our Mother. The Blessed Virgin Mary has, before us, trodden the straight and narrow path which leads to sanctity; before us she has carried the cross, before us she has known the ascents of the spirit through suffering. Sometimes, perhaps, we do not dare to look at Jesus the God-Man, who because of His divinity seems too far above us; but near Him is Mary, His Mother and our Mother, a privileged creature surely, yet a creature like ourselves, and therefore a model more accessible for our weakness.
Mary comes to meet us during this month, to take us by the hand, to initiate us into the secret of her interior life, which must become the model and norm of our own.’
–from Divine Intimacy, by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, OCD
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In the 1960 calendar, today is also, fittingly, the Feast day of the great Spouse of Mary, under the title of St. Joseph the Worker. Through his powerful intercession, may our work be blessed, productive, and salvific in our states of life. Pray, too, for all those searching for work and the means to provide for their families.
Regina Caeli, ora pro nobis!
St. Joseph Opificis, ora pro nobis!
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Site: Mises InstituteFeminist theorist Judith Butler is calling for mandatory education to confront children with modern gender theory. As David Gordon points out, she wants to use coercion to force people to accept her theories.
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Site: Steyn OnlineMark takes questions from Steyn Club members around the world...
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Site: Steyn OnlineWelcome to the thirteenth episode of our current Tale for Our Time: The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie - although John Wilson, a First Week Founding Member of The Mark Steyn Club, is beginning to doubt that: This tale reads more like John Buchan
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Site: Steyn OnlineMark fields questions on many topics, from the Islamisation of the western left to the precipitous decline in screen acting. All that plus a few thoughts on the impending seventh birthday of The Mark Steyn Club...
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Site: Ron Paul Institute - Featured Articles
The American governmental scheme is sliding ever closer towards a pervasive authoritarianism.
The American people, the permanent underclass in America, have allowed themselves to be so distracted and divided that they have failed to notice the building blocks of tyranny being laid down right under their noses by the architects of the Deep State.
This steady slide towards tyranny, meted out by militarized local and federal police and legalistic bureaucrats, has been carried forward by each successive president over the past fifty years regardless of their political affiliation.
Biden, Trump, Obama, Bush, Clinton: they have all been complicit in carrying out the Deep State’s agenda.
Frankly, it really doesn’t matter who occupies the White House, because it is a profit-driven, unelected bureaucracy—call it whatever you will: the Deep State, the Controllers, the masterminds, the shadow government, the corporate elite, the police state, the surveillance state, the military industrial complex—that is actually calling the shots.
In the interest of liberty and truth, here’s an A-to-Z primer that spells out the grim realities of life in the American Police State that no one seems to be talking about anymore.
A is for the AMERICAN POLICE STATE. A police state “is characterized by bureaucracy, secrecy, perpetual wars, a nation of suspects, militarization, surveillance, widespread police presence, and a citizenry with little recourse against police actions.”
B is for our battered BILL OF RIGHTS.
C is for CIVIL ASSET FORFEITURE.
D is for DRONES. Nearly 1500 police departments across the U.S. include drones as part of their technological arsenal, and that number is growing.
E is for EMERGENCY STATE. From 9/11 to COVID-19 and beyond, we have been the subjected to an “emergency state” that justifies all manner of government tyranny and power grabs in the so-called name of national security.
F is for FASCISM. A study conducted by Princeton and Northwestern University concluded that the U.S. government does not represent the majority of American citizens. Instead, the study found that the government is ruled by the rich and powerful, or the so-called “economic elite.”
G is for GLOBAL POLICE.
H is for HOLLOW-POINT BULLETS. The government’s efforts to militarize and weaponize its agencies and employees is reaching epic proportions, with federal agencies stockpiling millions of lethal hollow-point bullets.
I is for the INTERNET OF THINGS. This “connected” industry propels us closer to a future where police agencies can apprehend virtually anyone if the government “thinks” they may commit a crime.
J is for JAILING FOR PROFIT.
K is for KENTUCKY V. KING. In an 8-1 ruling, the Supreme Court ruled that police officers can break into homes, without a warrant, even if it’s the wrong home as long as they think they may have a reason to do so, leaving Americans with little real protection in the face of all manner of abuses by law enforcement officials.
L is for LICENSE PLATE READERS, which enable law enforcement and private agencies to track the whereabouts of vehicles, and their occupants, all across the country.
M is for MAIN CORE. Since the 1980s, the U.S. government has acquired and maintained, without warrant or court order, a database of names and information on Americans considered to be threats to the nation who can be rounded up in times of martial law.
N is for NO-KNOCK RAIDS. Owing to the militarization of the nation’s police forces, more than 80,000 of these paramilitary raids are carried out every year.
O is for OVERCRIMINALIZATION. Thanks to an overabundance of 4500-plus federal crimes and 400,000 plus rules and regulations, it’s estimated that the average American actually commits three felonies a day without knowing it.
P is for PATHOCRACY. What we are experiencing is a pathocracy: tyranny at the hands of a psychopathic government, which “operates against the interests of its own people except for favoring certain groups.”
Q is for QUALIFIED IMMUNITY.
R is for ROADSIDE STRIP SEARCHES. The courts have increasingly erred on the side of giving government officials—especially the police—vast discretion in carrying out strip searches, blood draws and even anal and vaginal probes for a broad range of violations, no matter how minor the offense.
S is for the SURVEILLANCE STATE.
T is for TASERS.
U is for UNARMED CITIZENS SHOT BY POLICE.
V is for OPERATION VIGILANT EAGLE. One of several government initiatives that call for heightened scrutiny of those who challenge the government’s authority, this particular program calls for surveillance of military veterans, characterizing them as extremists and potential domestic terrorist threats because they may be “disgruntled, disillusioned or suffering from the psychological effects of war.”
W is for WHOLE-BODY SCANNERS. Using either x-ray radiation or radio waves, scanning devices and government mobile units are being used not only to “see” through your clothes but to spy on you within the privacy of your home.
X is for X-KEYSCORE, one of the many spying programs carried out by the National Security Agency that targets every person in the United States who uses a computer or phone.
Y is for YOU-NESS. Using your face, mannerisms, social media and “you-ness” against you, you are now be tracked based on what you buy, where you go, what you do in public, and how you do what you do. Facial recognition programs are being rolled out in states all across the country.
Z is for ZERO TOLERANCE.
None of these dangers have dissipated in any way, and yet suddenly, no one seems to be talking about any of the egregious governmental abuses that are still wreaking havoc on our freedoms.
As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries, this is how freedom dies.
If there is any means left to us for thwarting the government in its relentless march towards outright dictatorship, it may rest with the Tenth Amendment, which affirms that “we the people” (in the form of juries and local governments) have the power to invalidate governmental laws, tactics and policies that are illegitimate, egregious or blatantly unconstitutional.
Nullify everything.
Nullify the court cases. Nullify the laws. Nullify everything the government does that flies in the face of the Constitution.
It’s time to rein in our runaway government, reclaim our freedoms, and restore justice in America.
Reprinted with permission from The Rutherford Institute.
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Site: PeakProsperityPlease enjoy the replay of yesterday’s Peak Insider Live conversation with. Topics discussed include: Flight MH370, Bitcoin and government interventions, Japanese Yen, University Unrest and the upcoming Election Cycle, Mortgage debt and its relationship to the great taking, Transgender issues and how the NIH in the UK is handling it, Donald Trump and the upcoming […]
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Site: LES FEMMES - THE TRUTH
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Site: LifeNews
Florida’s new heartbeat law that prohibits abortions on unborn babies who have a detectable heartbeat at 6 weeks takes effect today.
The pro-life law will save thousands of babies from abortions and end Florida’s status as an abortion destination in the southeast. Florida is surrounded by states with pro-life laws in effect that protect babies and help women and the abortion industry has been directing customers to Florida for abortions instead of helping women and unborn children.
As a result, thousands of babies are expected to be saved from abortion and will get a chance at life.
According to 2023 data from the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, about one-third of all abortions in the South occurred in Florida. The data showed more than 9,300 of those abortions involved people who traveled from other states. These babies will now be protected and their mothers can find pro-life alternatives.
The Heartbeat Law includes exceptions, such as rape, incest, and human trafficking, all of which must be officially documented. The law retains the exceptions from the 15-week law, such as: to preserve the life of the mother, which includes ectopic pregnancies; fatal abnormalities where the unborn baby is unexpected to survive outside the womb; and to “avert a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment or a major bodily function of the pregnant woman other than a psychological condition.”
In addition, before an abortion is performed under any of the exception categories, Florida abortion laws require giving a pregnant woman an option to view an ultrasound, a 24-hour reflection period unless there is an emergency, and informed consent.
HELP LIFENEWS SAVE BABIES FROM ABORTION! Please help LifeNews.com with a donation!
The law also requires doctors to use more than just an ultrasound to determine the gestational age of an unborn child. Doctors are now required to utilize a more objective physical measurement with calipers to measure “crown to rump” length, or top of the head (crown) to the bottom of the buttocks (rump), which can more accurately determine the unborn child’s gestational age.
The Heartbeat Law will also provide $30 million in reoccurring state funding to support pregnant women and their families. This support includes:
- Clothing
- Cribs
- Car Seats
- Formula
- Diapers
- Pregnancy Testing
- Counseling (for mothers and fathers)
- Mentoring
- Education Materials
- Pregnancy Classes
- Parenting Classes
- Adoption Classes
- Life Skills Training
- Employment Readiness
- Wellness Services
Florida also has 167 pregnancy centers across the state where pregnant women and their families can receive aid and support.
Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “On May 1, Florida will become a sanctuary for life. The Heartbeat Law will save countless lives, some of whom may become world leaders in science, medicine, and technology that will benefit the world. The Heartbeat Law protects the valuable lives of both the unborn child and the mother and provides a wide range of options and support for women. The Heartbeat Law will provide $30 million in public funds to help pregnant women and their children. Florida is now on the side of life.”
Implementation of the new pro-life law comes after the Florida Supreme Court upheld pro-life legislation.
On April 14, 2022, Governor Ron DeSantis signed HB 5, known as the “Reducing Fetal and Infant Mortality Act,” to protect the lives of Florida’s most vulnerable by prohibiting all abortions after 15 weeks of gestation. Florida Planned Parenthood affiliates and a group of independent abortionists sued the state on June 1, 2022. The complaint alleges that the 15-week ban violates a right to privacy within the Florida Constitution.
Later, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation to save babies from abortions who have beating hearts.
DeSantis made Florida the next state to officially protect the lives of unborn children after Roe was overturned. Pro-Life Americans from across the country celebrated the new law, which protects babies whose heartbeats can easily be detected and whose lives have existed for a month and a half starting at conception.
The law would save tens of thousands of lives annually and provide $25 million in aid to women and families but it was held up by the same lawsuit.
Earlier this month, the state’s high court upheld both the 15 week and heartbeat laws. In a 6-1 ruling, the Florida Supreme Court upheld Florida’s law protecting preborn children from most abortions after 15 weeks. The decision paves the way for additional protections for preborn babies beginning at 6 weeks.
“This is a big win for life and the Florida constitution,” stated Lynda Bell, president of Florida Right to Life. “We salute the Florida Supreme Court for getting this right!”
Another pro-life group also applauded the ruling.
“Today’s victory for unborn children who have a heartbeat and can feel pain is in line with the views of the majority of Floridians who want to protect babies and serve mothers and families. As Florida faces what may be its biggest ballot fight yet, Gov. Ron DeSantis must be at the forefront of protecting Florida from Big Abortion’s attempt to eliminate the rights of unborn children, parents, women, and girls. Gov. DeSantis signed protections for babies who feel pain and have a heartbeat into law and now he must lead in defending those protections,” said SBA ProLife State Policy Director Katie Daniel of Tampa in response to the ruling.
Polling shows the heartbeat law is right in line with the views of Florida residents.
Not only do a majority of Floridians support protecting babies from abortion, they support the heartbeat law by a strong 62% margin.
Polling conducted by Ragnar Research for SBA Pro-Life America and the Florida Family Policy Council shows likely Florida voters strongly support protecting human life in the womb once a heartbeat can be detected. Almost three-quarters of voters oppose allowing abortion on demand up until birth. The poll, with a ±4% margin of error, surveyed 500 Floridians statewide from February 27-March 2.
Key poll findings include:
- 62% of Floridians support legislation to protect unborn babies when a heartbeat is detected, with exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother.
- 61% of Independents and 58% of women surveyed support such legislation.
- Hispanic voters were even more likely than others to support the legislation, at 76%.
- Only 22% of likely voters support allowing abortion until the moment of birth.
DeSantis signed the bill immediately so it could be defended in court. The bill would also provide $25 million in aid to women and families.
“We are proud to support life and family in the state of Florida,” DeSantis wrote in a statement. “I applaud the Legislature for passing the Heartbeat Protection Act that expands pro-life protections and provides additional resources for young mothers and families.”
The post Florida Heartbeat Law Now in Effect, Will Save Thousands of Babies From Abortion appeared first on LifeNews.com.
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Site: The Orthosphere
“It is absurd and deplorable for those who pretend to represent the political ‘Right’ to fail to leave the dark and small circle that is determined by the demonic power of the economy. . . . We must . . . uphold that beyond the economic sphere an order of higher political, spiritual, and heroic values has to emerge . . . an order [of] the things worth living and dying for.”
Julius Evola, Men Among the Ruins: Postwar Reflections of a Radical Traditionalist (1953)*
The Z-man’s latest post discusses the rise of a Romantic Right. He wrote this post in response to am on-line kerfuffle over some video celebrating the mundane joys of contemporary Babbittry, or what might be called the Griller Dream. Apparently some Griller posted a video of himself living the Griller Dream, and the new Romantic Right sent up a digital howl of derision.
“There’s more to life than Work and Grilling! Or at least there ought to be!”
The Z-man sort of gets it and sort of does not, since the American “Right” almost always sees Romantics as men of the Left. This is both a consequence and a cause of the profound philistinism of the American Right, and I would say one large reason for its failure. If an American Griller would only set down his hamburger flipper and think for a moment, he would realize that materialism has always been the rock and foundation of the Left. If he unfuddled his head by cutting back on the brewskies, this Griller might even begin to suspect that there is something distinctly Lefty about his beloved Capitalism
“Nothing is more evident than that modern capitalism is just as subversive as Marxism. The materialistic view of life on which both systems are based is identical; both of their ideals are qualitatively identical, including the premises connected to a world the center of which is constituted of technology, science, production, ‘productivity,’ and ‘consumption.’”*
These lines are again from Julius Evola, than whom very few men can claim to be farther Right. And he is correct. Capitalists and Marxists disagree over details of administration, but they answer with one voice when asked what life is all about.
It is about going to work and grilling!
In other words, Capitalism and Marxism are the two schools of what Thomas Carlyle called “Pig Philosophy.”
“The Universe . . . is an immeasurable Swine’s-trough . . . . Moral evil is unattainability of Pig’s wash; moral good, attainability ditto . . . . Paradise [is] unlimited attainability of Pig’s-wash . . . . and the duty of all Pigs, at all times, [is] to diminish the quantity of unattainable and increase that of attainable. All knowledge and device and effort ought to be directed thither only; Pig Science, Pig Enthusiasm and Devotion have this one aim. It is the Whole Duty of Pigs.”**
The boast of Capitalism is that it fulfills the Whole Duty of Pigs efficiently. The boast of Marxism is that it fulfills the Whole Duty of Pigs equitably. Beyond that, there is not a speck of difference.
The real Right has always rejected Pig Philosophy with profound disgust, protesting that Pig’s-wash is nothing but a means to higher ends. To say otherwise is as upside-down and backwards as putting businessmen—or even worse, workers—at the head of Church and State. The real Right has never touted “bourgeois values”—safety, respectability, a careful calculation of profit and loss. The real Right has instead championed “aristocratic values.” It has taught that some things are worth dying for, honor is more important than respectability, and that all bean-counting economists and statisticians should go to hell.
Or as Evola put is,
“We must declare in an uncompromising way that in a normal civilization the economy and economic interests—understood as the satisfaction of material needs and their more or less artificial appendices—have always played, and always will play, a subordinate function . . . . that beyond the economic sphere an order of higher political, spiritual, and heroic values has to emerge . . . an order solely in terms of which are to be defined the things worth living and dying for.”*
We are so far sunk in bourgeois values and Pig Philosophy that even supposed men of the Right find it hard to say just what “higher political, spiritual, and heroic values” might be. Our politics is nothing but a wrangle between Capitalists and Marxists over the correct way to manufacture and distribute Pig’s-wash. Our Churches are little more than soup kitchens with stained glass windows. And when it comes to “heroic values,” one’s choice is limited to giving one’s life to the spread Pig Philosophy on either Capitalist or Marxist lines.
Stripping away all on-line drama, the Alternative Right was always, at heart, a rejection of Pig Philosophy (i.e. materialism) in both its bourgeois and proletariat forms. It was almost entirely a movement of romantic young men who felt in their souls that,
There’s more to life than Work and Grilling! Or at least there ought to be!
* * * * *
“But it is not the danger of the noble man to turn a good man, but lest he should become a blusterer, a scoffer, or a destroyer.”
Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spake Zarathustra (1883-1885)
What Nietzsche called a “good man,” I have called a Griller. Nietzsche’s “good man” is respectable, he plays it safe, he makes careful calculations of profit and loss. Nietzsche’s “noble man,” on the other hand, lives by aristocratic values—values that transcend Pig’s-wash and are not universal in the herd. Death is not for hi, the greatest evil. He places his sense of personal honor before the demand for social respectability. And he says to hell with all bean-counting economists and statisticians.
A “noble man” is higher than a “good man,” but as Nietzsche says, he can all too easily become something far worse. A noble man falls into ignobility through disillusionment.
“Ah! I have known noble ones who lost their highest hope. And then they disparaged all high hopes.”***
They become that most pathetic of all pests, the cynic who has lost his faith and now insists that others must lose their faith as well.
Outwardly the fallen noble man may resemble a Griller, but he has none of the redeeming qualities of that amiable buffoon. He is not generous; he is not cheerful; he knows no joy, He is rather cold, and bitter, and addicted to pleasure in its crudest (i.e. gourmet) form.
“Then lived they shamelessly in temporary pleasures, and beyond the day had hardly an aim. ‘Spirit is also voluptuousness,’ said they.”***
The fallen noble man carries about him an offensive odor because he is what our old colleague Thomas Bertonneau called “subscendent,” appeasing his frustrated hunger for transcendence with food of the flesh. What is worse, the fallen noble man becomes a destroyer of nobility, and of the longing for nobility, because he hates what he has lost. His cynicism is at bottom a form of jealous spite.
“Then broke the wings of their spirit; and it creepeth about, and defileth where it gnaweth. Once they thought of becoming heroes; but sensualists are they now. A trouble and a terror is the hero to them.”***
We should welcome the rise of a Romantic Right because this is a return of the real Right, and we should damn the phony bourgeois “Right” to hell. But we must never forget that this higher path is the more dangerous path, because a noble man has farther to fall.
“But my love and hope I conjure thee: cast not away the hero in thy soul! Maintain holy thy highest hope! Thus spake Zarathustra.” ***
*) Julius Evola, Men Among the Ruins: Postwar Reflections of a Radical Traditionalist, trans. Guido Stucco, ed. Michael Moynihan (Rochester, Vt.: Inner Traditions, n.d.), pp. 166-167.
**) Thomas Carlyle, Latter-Day Pamphlets (London: Chapman and Hall, 1850), pp. 28-29.
***) Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spake Zarathustra, trans. Thomas Commons (New York: The Dial Press, 1928), chap. 8. -
Site: PaulCraigRoberts.org
The Death of Ireland and Replacement of the Irish People
The Conquest of Ireland and the UK Nears Completion
Paul Craig Roberts
Gaza is not the only genocide. Genocide is taking place all over Europe and in the US.
https://www.globalresearch.ca/conflict-migrant-centres-ireland-uk/5856071
All over Europe and the US governments prefer immigrant-invaders over their own citizens.
“The migrants are eligible for free accommodation, free social welfare, free medical care, food, clothes, and various other perks. Whilst at the same time that the Irish government is facilitating mass immigration there are 14,000 Irish homeless people on the streets.” And many more homeless Irish citizens are on the way. Migrants are given free accommodation in hotels and country estates throughout the land, while the Irish people are seriously struggling to make ends meet in a rigged inflationary system, with a never-ending story of sky-high rents, high taxes, inflation, and an ongoing extremely serious accommodation crisis. Many young Irish citizens are left with little option but to live with their parents or emigrate to countries such as Australia as they cannot afford to live in their own country.
This is an extremely important article. It shows that the West is being intentionally destroyed by its own governments. The threat that all citizens in the West face comes not from Russia, China, Iran, but from their own government.
Irish citizens who peacefully protest their replacement by immigrant-invaders are brutally beaten–even mothers and children–by police, which emphasizes the second class status of Irish ethnicity. “Many of the Irish police in balaclavas that are enforcing these tactics against the Irish people are not Irish at all, but are more akin to non-Irish hired mercenaries, or more like an EU army.”
“The stark reality is the Irish government is not really the Irish government it is just a puppet of the EU bureaucracy. Ireland has been a fully controlled vassal state of the banker-controlled EU, in particular since the controversial (and rerun) Lisbon referendum 14 years ago, which hammered a nail in the coffin of Irish sovereignty.”
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Site: PaulCraigRoberts.org
The Ukraine Conflict Is Spinning Out of Control
Paul Craig Roberts
In my effort to awake humanity to its extinction in the nuclear war that is advancing upon us, I have pointed my finger at Putin and Xi’s mistaken belief that the way to avoid it is to ignore provocations and wait for Washington to come to its senses.
This shows diplomacy at its highest level, but it is mistaken. The ignored provocations encourage more and worst provocations.
The Asia Times, if the story can be believed, reports that NATO has begun deploying troops in Ukraine’s defense. https://asiatimes.com/2024/04/nato-starts-deploying-troops-as-russia-races-to-win/ \
“NATO is starting to deploy combat troops to Ukraine. Soldiers from Poland, France, the UK, Finland and other NATO members are arriving in larger numbers.
“Although Russia says there are over 3,100 mercenaries in Ukraine, these newly arriving troops are not mercenaries. They are in uniform, home country proclaimed via insignia. They mostly are concentrated in the western part of the country, although in some cases they are close to the actual fighting in the east.
“NATO is putting out the word these are not combat soldiers but are in Ukraine to operate sophisticated western hardware. But if they are firing at the Russians the only proper way to interpret their presence is that they are playing an active part in the shooting war.”
It is the same plan as Washington’s intervention in Vietnam. What will the sequel be?
Putin and XI are diplomats. But they have no comprehension of Washington. Their naiveness has blinded them to reality. Consequently, they are walking into Armageddon by betting that Washington is rational.
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Site: PaulCraigRoberts.org
Russian Philosopher Tells Tucker Carlson that Putin is More American than Biden
https://www.rt.com/russia/596797-philosopher-cause-west-russophobia/
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Site: PaulCraigRoberts.org
Did the EU’s Von der Leyen Sell Out Europeans’ Health for Big Pharma’s Money?
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Site: LifeNewsPro-Life Pregnancy Centers Sue New York Attorney General Letitia James for Trying to Stop Their Work
Pregnancy centers in New York State are fighting back against New York Attorney General Letitia James for trying to shut down their abortion pill reversal efforts. They help women who change their mind after taking the first part of the abortion drug so they can save their babies and begin a wonderful journey into motherhood.
But James has other plans. She doesn’t want women to be able to have the choice to reverse the abortion pill process — because that would be tantamount to admitting that abortions kill babies and harm women.
As they informed LifeNews, CompassCare along with Heartbeat International and 10 other Christian pro-life pregnancy centers preemptively filed a lawsuit against New York Attorney General Letitia James in New York State Supreme Court in Rochester, New York.
The national pro-life public interest law firm, Thomas More Society, based in Chicago, is representing the pregnancy centers in Heartbeat, …CompassCare, et al v James.
The suit alleges that the NY Attorney General is intentionally and maliciously using her office to restrict the Constitutional and Civil Rights of pro-lifers. Attorneys from TMS seek to block James’ “imminent, ruinous legal action.” Prosecution by James violates pro-life Christian groups’ First and Fourteenth Amendment rights U.S. Constitutional rights giving pro-lifers redress under USC 42, Section 1983, the Third KKK Act of 1871.
Get the latest pro-life news and information on X (Twitter). Follow @LifeNewsHQ//
Previously, abortion activist politician Letitia James, without any evidence of complaint or injury to women by pro-life pregnancy centers, notified a dozen pro-life organizations of her intent to sue within five business days, alleging the use of “misleading statements or omissions in the advertising of the Abortion Pill Reversal (“APR”) protocol.”
Rev. Jim Harden, CEO of CompassCare, told LifeNews he’s not surprised that James and other pro-abortion politicians are trying to shut down their pro-life efforts.
“On April 22, abortion activist politician Letitia James, without any evidence of complaint or injury to women, notified pregnancy centers of her intent to sue within five business days alleging the use of “misleading statements or omissions in the advertising of the Abortion Pill Reversal (“APR”) protocol.” This is a copy-cat move by James after allegations were filed against pro-life groups by California Attorney General Rob Bonta,” he said.
“If politicians like Letitia James get their way and hamstring pro-life groups and doctors, New York will be engaging in forced abortion. These blue-state AGs like James and Bonta reveal that, for politicians, abortion has never been about choice,” Harden added. “Nearly 90% of all women served by CompassCare who wish to reverse the effects of chemical abortion save their pregnancies through the use of natural progesterone therapy, a course of treatment found to be safe and effective for that purpose in a review of 16 different medical studies.”
He continued: “This is only the most recent move by pro-abortion political extremists in a two-year, multi-layered, blue-state, pattern of attack against pro-life pregnancy centers—similar to Marxist-style allegations of misinformation leveled by Jane’s Revenge terrorist group against pro-lifers. The attacks on pregnancy centers began on June 7, 2022, with the firebombing of CompassCare’s medical office in Buffalo, injuring two firefighters. They have simply exchanged bombs for lawyers.”
“CompassCare and Heartbeat International along with 10 other pro-life groups are filing a preemptive suit against NY Attorney General Letitia James. The suit notes that Letitia James’ action will result in shutting down Christian pro-life action and speech, violating our 1st Amendment rights of free exercise of religion and speech. Beyond that, if James wins it could spell financial ruin for pro-life pregnancy centers run on a shoestring,” he continued.
Harden said pregnancy centers help women while the abortion industry injures them.
“If James and Bonta were really interested in protecting women from malpractice and fraud, they are suing the wrong people. We’ve never sent a single woman to the emergency room or morgue. Compare that little fact to the billion-dollar abortion empire’s record. Beyond that, according to the federal Comstock Act, nearly all of the 630,000 annual chemical abortions in the U.S. are illegal,” he said.
Harden said it’s ironic that James is going after centers that save black babies from abortion.
“In her hometown of Brooklyn, for every 100 black babies born, 99 are aborted. Generally, the black community represents 14% of the population but bears the burden of nearly 40% of all abortions,” he added.
Harden told LifeNews that if James really cared about women she would go after the abortion industry.
“Recent studies show that 1 in 17 women who start the chemical abortion process wind up in the ER with sepsis, hemorrhaging, or un-diagnosed ectopic pregnancy. Meanwhile, 60% of those ER visits are miscoded as a miscarriage. Chemical abortion is fraudulently called ‘safer than Tylenol.’ Additionally, the shipment of these drugs across U.S. borders and state lines is a violation of Federal law carrying a $250,000 fine and jail time per instance,” he said.
The post Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers Sue New York Attorney General Letitia James for Trying to Stop Their Work appeared first on LifeNews.com.
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Site: Novus Motus LiturgicusIn yesterday’s post about Saints Catherine of Siena and Francis of Assisi being made the patron Saints of Italy, I explained a bit about the state of cold war that existed between the Papacy and the kingdom of Italy in the period of the so-called Risorgimento, and how the Popes from 1870 until 1929 were confined to the Vatican. A friend then brought to my attention this video from the Gregory DiPippohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13295638279418781125noreply@blogger.com0
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