Turkey: 1,000 boats filled with Leftists head to Gaza to try to disrupt maritime trade coming into Israel

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/11/turkey-1000-boats-filled-with-leftists-head-to-gaza-to-try-to-disrupt-maritime-trade-coming-into-israel;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

“Among the 1,000 vessels would be 313 boats filled with Russian activists, and 104 filled with Spanish activists…”

Once again, these self-righteous useful idiots have no idea what they’re enabling. Or if they do, it would be even worse.

“1,000 boats said set to leave Turkey for Gaza waters in new ‘Freedom Flotilla,’” by Gianluca Pacchiani, Times of Israel, November 21, 2023:

Approximately 1,000 boats will gather in Turkey on Wednesday before heading toward Gaza in an attempt to break the Israeli blockade and disrupt maritime trade coming into Israel during the war with Hamas, in an apparent repeat of similar attempts from over a decade ago.

In an interview with Turkish news website Haber7, Volkan Okçu, one of the organizers of the protest, indicated the boats will carry 4,500 people from 40 countries, “including anti-Zionist Jews.”

Among the 1,000 vessels would be 313 boats filled with Russian activists, and 104 filled with Spanish activists, he said. Only 12 Turkish vessels will join the flotilla, he told Haber7.

However, Okçu said in a later tweet that he expected the number of Turkish vessels to be much higher, at least 1,000, and insisted that the initiative is not associated with the Turkish government. He did not explain the discrepancy in numbers.

The activist indicated to Haber7 that the flotilla is scheduled to leave Turkish coasts on Thursday. The maritime convoy is set to make a first stop in Cyprus before continuing toward the Israeli port of Ashdod. Some participants in the flotilla will also reportedly take their spouses and children on board.

Okçu said that the main objective of the operation would be to cause disruption in international waters off the Israeli coast to the maritime trade heading for the port of Ashdod, in order to interrupt the supply of goods to Israel for a week or even up to 10 days….

Target Hasn’t Learned Its Lesson, Doubles Down on Grooming Kids

AP Photo/Seth Wenig
This summer, a few short months after Bud Light destroyed its brand by partnering with Dylan Mulvaney, retail giant Target also experienced the wrath of consumers for not only offering merchandise and clothing with trans-friendly slogans and books pushing radical leftist gender ideology to children but also placing these displays front and center in their stores. A boycott ensued, and the company lost billions in market value.

Target’s situation wasn’t much different from Bud Light’s. After angering its consumer base by partnering with Mulvaney, Anheuser-Busch tried to walk back its disastrous partnership with him, which only angered LGBT activists, prompting them to boycott the company as well. Target similarly tried to contain the damage of the child-grooming merchandise scandal by moving its pride displays to the back of a handful of stores in select markets, causing a similar outrage from LGBT activists.

But the company didn’t really learn a lesson from it all and continues to push woke merchandise. Images on social media show that Target is selling a disabled black Santa Claus in a wheelchair ornament and LGBTQ pride nutcrackers.

Santa Claus in a wheelchair? Last time I checked, the incline of your typical gabled roof isn’t ADA-compliant.

As for the pride nutcrackers, a search of Target’s website shows they have several variations.

"Show your love and support for the LGBTQIA+ community with this Pride Nutcracker Figurine from Wondershop™,” the product description for one of the nutcrackers reads on the Target website. “This charming nutcracker figurine with a light purple beard and hair wears a blue and white jacket with golden trim and rainbow lapels, black and blue dress pants, and a rainbow hat, and it also holds a Pride flag in hand. Supported on a flat base with embossed ‘2023' for easy placement on any flat surface, it makes a great option for displaying on your mantel, shelf, or tabletop, either alone or as part of a larger holiday display."

Yeah, no thanks.

It actually isn’t all that surprising that Target is still pushing woke products despite the backlash it experienced for its transgender attire for children. After the initial backlash, Target CEO Brian Cornell insisted that he thinks that going woke is good for the company, and Christina Hennington, the chief growth officer for Target, said that the company believes it can simply wait out the storm and that eventually the backlash will die down.

“We anticipated some of the headwinds at play throughout the second quarter, including the continued pullback in discretionary spending,” Hennington said in an earnings conference call. “Other headwinds were incremental, including the strong reaction to this year’s pride assortment.”

Target’s stock prices haven’t recovered from the initial backlash yet, so clearly, they haven’t gotten the message. Here at PJ Media, we’ll continue to expose the woke grooming efforts of companies like Target — even when doing so puts us at risk of being censored or demonized. The good news is that you can help us survive the censorship by becoming a PJ Media member today. 

VIP members have access to a wealth of exclusive content. VIP Gold subscribers get even more. With VIP Gold, members can access all of the VIP content across the Townhall Media family (Townhall, RedState, PJ Media, and more) and participate in live chats — a nearly $300 value.

With your support, we can continue exposing the truth about these woke corporations that are trying to groom our children. Use the promo code WOKE for a 25% discount today.

A Crackdown on Pro-Hamas Nonprofits in the US Begins

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/11/a-crackdown-on-pro-hamas-nonprofits-in-the-us-begins;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

“Make your US tax-deductible donation today”

The emphasis is on ‘starting’. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Here at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, we developed an extensive list of tax-exempt and other terror-funding ‘charities’.  The one that has appeared in multiple articles, the Alliance for Global Justice, including in a recent roundup of pro-Hamas attack charities, is now finally being cut off by the Ford Foundation and other leftist megadonors.

The Alliance for Global Justice, founded to support Marxists in Latin America, in addition to sponsoring a variety of extremist leftist groups, including BLM chapters, served as a fiscal sponsor for Samidoun, a terror front group banned in Israel and recently banned in Germany, which makes no secret of its backing for Hamas.

New Venture Fund and Windward Fund, two charities managed by the Democratic-linked dark money consultancy Arabella Advisors, announced this week they will not be donating anymore to Alliance for Global Justice, a nonprofit organization that has faced congressional scrutiny and legal pressure for its ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terror group. Now, the Ford Foundation, which reported a staggering $20 billion in assets on its most recent tax forms, is doing the same.

The revelation comes as various organizations, including an LLC called Arnold Ventures funded by ex-Enron executive and retired hedge fund manager John Arnold and his wife, former Cobalt International Energy lawyer Laura Arnold, seek to distance themselves from Alliance for Global Justice following the deadly Hamas terrorist attacks in early October against the Jewish state of Israel. PayPal, Stripe, Salsa Labs, and Deluxe have all stopped processing payments in 2023 for Alliance for Global Justice — which has crippled the group’s fundraising operation.

A source close to the Schmidt Family Foundation, which was founded by ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife, Wendy Schmidt, told the Washington Examiner the group has no plans to keep supporting Alliance for Global Justice and opposes antisemitism. It gave hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2020 to Alliance for Global Justice, tax forms show.

Samidoun’s response to the Hamas atrocities was a round of applause.

Samidoun responded to the Hamas attacks by promoting banners featuring “solidarity with Al Aqsa Flood”, the name of the Hamas operation, a rally calling for “solidarity with the heroic resistance”, and another one urging “let’s celebrate”.

Samidoun’s support for Hamas atrocities, including the kidnapping of Israeli women and children, was made clear in its Instagram post boasting that, “the resistance” is “seizing occupation settlers” and hailed the “resistance operation, titled the Al-Aqsa Flood by Mohammed Deif, commander in chief of the Izz el-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas”.

Samidoun does not bother to disguise what it is. It describes terrorists as “resistance fighters” and “martyrs”, and urges support for the “resistance”. The cheerleading for terrorists is accompanied by a call, “Make your US tax-deductible donation today, and donate safely and securely from around the world.”

The IRS however has still failed to pull AFGJ’s nonprofit status. However, in Virginia, Attorney General Jason Miyares is taking action against another group, American Muslims for Palestine.

Attorney General Jason Miyares today announced that the Office of the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Section has opened an investigation into AJP Educational Foundation, Inc., also known as American Muslims for Palestine, for potential violations of Virginia’s charitable solicitation laws.

The Attorney General’s Office has reason to believe that the organization may be soliciting contributions in the Commonwealth without first having registered with the Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. In addition, the Attorney General will investigate allegations that the organization may have used funds raised for impermissible purposes under state law, including benefitting or providing support to terrorist organizations.

As Discover the Network’s profile of AMP shows,

In April 2016, Jonathan Schanzer confirmed and expanded upon IPT’s revelations when he reported that seven current AMP officials and/or affiliates were former members of groups that had been shut down or held civilly liable by the U.S. government for funneling money to Hamas.

FDD’s research further shows that AMP’s donor list includes groups and entities whose members, affiliates, or associates maintained ties to various terrorist groups including the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Qassam Brigades (Hamas’s military arm), and al-Qaeda.

This is a small beginning, but it’s more than we’ve had since the Holy Land Foundation era. Leftist megadonors are starting to pull back and state investigations can get results where the feds won’t.

Biden Offshore Drilling Plan Is the Most Restrictive In US History

If it’s taken you a month to recover from all the whoppers contained in the first “Biden 2024” ad – especially its claim that ol’ Joe engaged in “passing laws” that “make us more energy independent” – get ready for another Biden-created insult to your intelligence and attack on your wallet.

How Bad Is Crime in Philadelphia? Bad Enough for a Cheesesteak Joint to Hire Armed Security

How Bad Is Crime in Philadelphia? Bad Enough for a Cheesesteak Joint to Hire Armed Security
Whenever someone gears up to pay the historic city of Philadelphia a visit, one of the first things they want to know is which establishment makes the best cheesesteak sandwiches. The age-old question was usually decided by whether or not you wanted Cheeze-Whiz or provolone on it. Nowadays, with the skyrocketing crime rate in the city, thanks to disastrous soft-on-crime policies instituted by Democrats, the best cheesesteak joint is the one with armed guards. Tragic, that this is what the City of Brotherly Love has become in Biden’s America.

According to a new report from TheBlaze, Jim’s West Steaks and Hoagies has hired armed guards to provide protection for customers who come to their establishment for the simple pleasure of a good sandwich. It’s absolutely atrocious this is now necessary. But hey, what do you expect when officials in our country’s major cities push for shorter prison sentences, defunding police forces, and all manner of bills that favor criminals? The whole point of having a legal system is the protection of the innocent and discouraging the bad guys from doing bad things that harm society.

If the consequences for doing bad things that harm society consist of slaps on the wrist, we should not be surprised when our deterrent no longer deters.

One of the main reasons the restaurant decided to hire armed guards is because they are a super popular place that usually has lines of people going down the block, which leaves them open to assault and other forms of crime while waiting in line.

The chief financial officer of Jim’s West spoke with local media outlet WPVI-TV, saying, “The violence has spiked. It goes up and down. You want people to feel safe and be safe. So when they come out and eat, they don’t have to worry about no type of harm.”

The owner of Presidential Protection Services, Kevon Darden, has actually gotten out on the streets in front of the famous hoagie establishment and guarded customers. He said that the guards protecting patrons have been certified by the State of Pennsylvania to perform the duties required of security professionals. Many of these individuals have either military or law enforcement backgrounds. In other words, these aren’t random dudes off Monster or Indeed. These are guys who know exactly what they are doing and perform at the highest level of their industry.

Landers commented that the threat of violence on the street is so pervasive right now that many local businesses are being forced to drop a load of extra cash to try and keep both workers and their customer base safe. This is money that many of these smaller companies can’t really afford to part with. So, in light of that, they are forced to offset the cost, which means raising prices for goods and services. And that’s a drain on the bottom line, as it will inevitably reduce business and profit. Reduced profits mean jobs being cut. The company downsizes instead of expanding. The economy of the whole city takes a punch to the gut.

All of this is because leftists, desperate to remain in power, are doing their best to ensure criminals get off lightly for their behavior so they can ultimately restore their right to vote and fluff up their voter rolls. Gross, right?

Related: Far-Left Philly Lawyer Shocked, Shocked to Discover His Son Is Accused Terrorist

The Philly Voice stated in a recent report that, back in 2015, Jim’s West was the target of several armed robbers who ended up only getting $215 in cash out of the register and from customers who were patronizing the establishment at the time.

One of the customers weighed in on the armed guards, saying, “If it deters it (crime), I can’t complain. I’m not a big fan of guns, but I get it.”

Another individual, likely a bonehead liberal, said that seeing an armed guard “walking around with a machine gun, it’s not family-friendly.”

I hate to break it to this person, but given the crime rate in Philly, I’d say the whole city is no longer “family friendly.”

Auto Strike is Threatening the Economy & Inflation~Biden is destroying the auto industry~Vehicle Prices Could Increase~Ex-Chrysler, Home Depot CEO Speaks to Bartiromo

Former Chrysler and Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli explains why he thinks the UAW strikes will 'go on for a while.'

'ACTIONS NOT WORDS': UAW president withholds Biden endorsement

Former Michigan gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon discusses the ongoing UAW workers' strike, Biden's self-described role as a 'pro-union president', and voters' concerns that Biden isn't healthy enough to serve.

Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., discusses the United Auto Workers strike's impact on the economy and his support for a continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown.

‘Circumstantial but Devastating’ Video Resurfaces of Joe and Hunter Biden Talking Business With Potential Clients

‘Circumstantial but Devastating’ Video Resurfaces of Joe and Hunter Biden Talking Business With Potential Clients
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
A potentially devastating video from 2005 has resurfaced showing Hunter Biden socializing with then-senator Joe Biden and potential clients, discussing “the weather.” I’m just kidding. They weren’t talking about the weather; they were talking business.

The video, which was taken after a speech in South Carolina, was recently featured on Newsmax’s “Greg Kelly Reports,” and it captures a moment where Hunter Biden stands on the sidelines while Joe Biden interacts with attendees, “working the room,” as Kelly describes it. After waiting patiently for the right moment, Hunter eventually joins the conversation to greet a couple with whom he had apparently discussed a potential business opportunity linked to his lobbying firm.

“At the right time, Hunter moves, all right, Hunter moves in as soon as it turns to business. Watch and listen here,” Kelly observed, before showing the exchange that occurred.

“Maybe we can work something out,” Joe Biden says to the couple in the video.

“Yeah, yeah, that is what we will do,” the woman excitedly replies.

“Hunter was just telling me about his law firm in Washington, his law firm,” replies the man next to her.

“Yeah,” Joe Biden says, clearly not surprised.

“Do you have a [business] card by any chance?” the man asks Hunter.

“I don’t, but I’ll give you my, uhh—” Hunter replies.

“Well let me give you mine,” the man offers.

“Yeah, then I’ll give you my [inaudible]… I gave ’em all away,” Hunter explains.

At this point, the woman starts engaging with Joe, while Hunter and the man go off to the side to have a separate conversation that the camera can’t pick up.

“You see it right there. That’s how it worked,” Kelly observed. “Circumstantial but devastating.”

Related: The Hunter Biden Indictments Are a Ruse. Here’s Why.

This took place while Joe Biden was a senator. He wasn’t even vice president yet, and it appears that he and Hunter had been working political events for years to make business deals. For sure, business only got better when Joe Biden became vice president and yielded more influence. That they were doing this out in the open with a camera on them tells you how little shame they had and leaves me wondering how many more deals were done similarly out of sight of the cameras or behind closed doors for years.

While the new impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden involves influence-peddling during his time as vice president, it’s quite clear the shady Biden family business was going on well before that.

Biden Admin Agrees To Prisoner Swap Deal With Iran, Releases $6 Billion In Frozen Iranian Funds

Biden Admin Agrees To Prisoner Swap Deal With Iran, Releases $6B In Frozen Iranian Funds

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - FEBRUARY 11: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at a joint press conference of the Quad Foreign Ministers meeting at the Park Hyatt on February 11, 2022 in Melbourne, Australia. The foreign ministers of Australia, the United States, Japan, and India are meeting to discuss the countries cooperation in areas including the economy, security, and the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at a joint press conference of the Quad Foreign Ministers meeting at the Park Hyatt on February 11, 2022 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

OAN’s James Meyers
3:32 PM – Monday, September 11, 2023

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/biden-admin-agrees-to-prisoner-swap-deal-with-iran-releases-6b-in-frozen-iranian-funds/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

The Biden Administration announced on Monday that they have agreed to a deal with Iran to swap prisoners and in exchange release $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds. 

In the deal, Iran will release five American citizens detained in Iran and the U.S. will release five Iranian citizens who are being held in the U.S. 

Additionally, the deal will create a blanket waiver for international banks to transfer $6 billion in frozen Iranian money from South Korea to Qatar without fear of U.S. sanctions.

This comes after Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed off on the sanctions waivers last week, which was a month after U.S. and Iranian officials said an agreement in principle was in place. 

However, Congress was not informed of the waiver decision until Monday, according to the notification obtained by The Associated Press. 

The transfer of the $6 billion was the key part of the deal, which saw four of the five American detainees transferred from Iranian jails into house arrest last month. 

Several European countries stayed away from the deal, due to multiple U.S. sanctions on foreign banks that engage in transactions aimed at benefiting Iran. 

According to Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who focuses on Iranian security, he said that this new deal “will only feed Tehran’s appetite to keep taking hostages.” 

“And as the case of the recently revealed Swedish diplomat illustrates, dual-nationals and foreign citizens are not the only targets. Tehran even intends to extort foreign government officials!” Taleblu said. 

Experts of the deal anticipate that the detainees will be released sometime next week. 

The American prisoners involved in the deal include Siamak Namazi, who was detained in 2015 and was later sentenced to 10 years in prison on internationally criticized spying charges. Emad Sharghi, a venture capitalist sentenced to 10 years, and Morad Tahbaz, who was arrested in 2018 and given a 10-year sentence, and the fourth and fifth prisoners were not identified in the deal. 

“To facilitate their release, the United States has committed to release Iranian nationals currently held in the United States and to permit the transfer of approximately $6 billion in restricted Iranian funds held in (South Korea) to restricted accounts in Qatar, where the funds will be available only for humanitarian trade,” Blinken wrote. 

The sanctions waiver applies to banks and other financial institutions in South Korea, Germany, Ireland, Qatar, and Switzerland.

Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts

Biden Touts Job Report As Unemployment Rate Rises

Biden Touts Job Report As Unemployment Rate Rises

US President Joe Biden arrives to board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, on September 2, 2023. Biden travels to Florida to visit communities ravaged by Hurricane Idalia. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds / AFP) (Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
US President Joe Biden arrives to board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, on September 2, 2023. (Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN’s Roy Francis
1:28 PM – Saturday, September 2, 2023

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/biden-touts-job-report-as-unemployment-rate-rises/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

President Joe Biden delivered a speech on Friday, remarking on the number of jobs that have been added to the job market.

The president said that the United States is in one of the “strongest job creating periods in our history,” after the recently released Bureau of Labor Statistics report said that 187,000 jobs were added in the month of August, an increase from the 157,000 in July.

“We came to office determined to build the economy in a different way, from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down,” Biden said. “While I’m proud of the historic legislation my administration has passed and the policies we’ve enacted, the real heroes of this story are the American people, average Americans. They’re the ones getting up every day, putting their heads down, going out that door and going to work.”

However, while the amount of jobs that have been added has increased, the unemployment rate rose as well in the month of August to 3.8%, bringing the number of people without employment to 6.4 million.

The current rate of unemployment is the highest that the country has seen since February 2022, according to the Labor Department.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics also showed that rent, transportation, food, and gas prices have all been on the rise as well.

Meanwhile, according to a recent LendingClub report, 61% of adults say that they are living paycheck to paycheck. Almost three-quarters of consumers that earn less than $50,000 annually, and 65% of those who earn between $50,000 and $100,000, have also been living paycheck to paycheck.  

While touting “Bidenomics,” Biden slammed President Donald Trump for leaving office with “fewer jobs than when he entered.”

“It wasn’t that long ago that America was losing jobs,’ he said. ‘In fact, my predecessor was one of only two presidents in history, who entered his presidency and left with fewer jobs than when he entered.”

However, the previous administration had seen massive job growth until the economic shutdown across the country due to COVID-19 forced people home, leading to a stall in economic growth.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the industries that saw the most job growth in August were health care, leisure and hospitality, social assistance, and construction.

Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts

Team Biden Continues Two-Pronged Assault on 2nd Amendment and Small Businesses

The Morning Briefing: Team Biden Continues Two-Pronged Assault on 2nd Amendment and Small Businesses
AP Photo/Haven Daley

Top O’ the Briefing

Happy Friday, dear Kruiser Morning Briefing friends. Ertenzo felt most purposeful when adding a secret fourth bean to his three-bean salad for the annual Cornhole Club picnic.

The commie puppet masters who run Joe Biden’s brain have made no secret of their contempt for the Second Amendment and law-abiding American gun owners. They’ve had their senile mouthpiece babbling about “assault weapons” almost from the moment he was installed in the Oval Office.

Democrats don’t have a lot of luck with sweeping gun control legislation for a couple of reasons. First, they keep passing laws that make gun owners who have adhered to the law criminals overnight. These laws eventually find their way to a judge or a court that says, “Yeah…no.”

The other reason — and this is the big one — is that there are a lot of Democrats who own guns and are fond of their Second Amendment rights. Most of them are in flyover country, which is why a lot of the D.C. Dems are out of touch with reality.

Team Biden is nothing if not relentless in its pursuit of an anti-American agenda, however. Instead of the legislative process, the bureaucracy is being used to choke the life out of the Second Amendment, which Catherine wrote about yesterday:

The Biden administration, failing to get enough congressional cooperation to trample on the Second Amendment, continues its war against gun dealers.

Bingo.

As we examine the story further, it’s important to remember that Democrats have contempt for small business owners. People who can’t be forced into unionizing and stuffing the coffers of the Democratic Big Labor slush fund are useless to them.

Here’s more from Catherine’s post:

I previously wrote a VIP post about how hundreds of gun dealers suddenly lost their licenses to Biden’s ATF, in what the gun industry says is a back-handed way of undermining gun rights (if you’re not already a VIP subscriber, join today!). Some dealers informed the media that the federal government is hurting a major ally in identifying “suspicious gun buyers” by targeting legitimate gun dealers. But the Biden administration is successfully hurting gun dealers’ business. “We were making $1 million a year, now it’s less than $100,000,” gun dealer Anthony Navarro told the Wall Street Journal. “This policy is designed to be a backdoor violation of the Second Amendment.” Now there’s the new ATF rule, also aimed at gun dealers.

I’m an Arizona resident. Rules regarding private gun sales are practically nonexistent. Both parties have to be Arizona residents and after that, YOLO. The Grand Canyon State has functioned with minimal gun laws for a very long time. My grandfather owned a gun store when I was a kid, so I know whence I speak (write). What the feds want to do now is get their fascist little fingers all over the transactions between individuals, which Ryan Petty explains at our sister site Bearing Arms:

The White House outlined that under the suggested guidelines, individuals would be expected to obtain a federal license and conduct background checks if they meet one or more of several conditions. These include frequently selling firearms shortly after purchasing them, offering guns in near-new condition, selling multiple units of the same gun model, or selling business inventory as a previously federally-licensed dealer without transferring it to a personal collection for at least one year, effectively targeting the so-called fire sale loophole. The proposed rules would establish criteria around the frequency and type of gun sales by unlicensed sellers, along with the condition of the firearms.

The Second Amendment infuriates leftists because the federal government hasn’t been able to wrest control of it from the states. It’s a perfect example of how the country is supposed to work. My good friend, colleague, and “Unwoke” podcast co-host Kevin Downey Jr. once asked me if all of my guns were legal. I replied, “In this state they are.” Were I to move back to California, the story would be different.

The anti-2A crowd is fond of saying, “We don’t want to take away your guns.”

They do, of course, but until they can, they’d like to make the legal acquisition of firearms so onerous that people just give up.

Biden Administration Auctioning Off Unused Border Wall Parts

Biden Administration Auctioning Off Unused Border Wall Parts

The sun sets behind a gap along the border wall at the Morelos Dam between the US and Mexico in Yuma, Arizona on May 31, 2022. - The stream of impoverished humans flowing into the United States via Mexico runs through the country's public discourse, dividing its politics and coloring relations with nations to the south. The issue of migration is set to loom large at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles this week, even without the presence of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who is boycoting the meet in protest at the exclusion of Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba. (Photo by Patrick T. FALLON / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
(Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN’s Roy Francis
1:58 PM – Saturday, August 19, 2023

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/biden-administration-auctioning-off-unused-border-wall-parts/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

The Biden administration has been selling away parts that were made and intended to be used to extend the southern border wall.

According to The New York Post, the unused parts of the border wall that the Biden administration has been quietly auctioning off are worth millions of dollars. Since April, GovPlanet, an online auction house that specializes in military surplus has sold over 80 lots of “square structural tubes.”

The parts that have been sold were intended to be used as vertical bollards in the border wall along the southern border. So far, the auction house has brought in around $2 million from the parts that have been sold.

The move by the Biden administration comes as the Senate passed a Republican-sponsored bill as part of its annual defense appropriation package which is aimed at forcing the president to stem the worsening migrant crisis at the southern border.

The Finish It Act would force the administration to extend the border wall or send the unused material to border states, such as Texas, so they can put them to use along their southern borders.

Republicans have claimed that since President Joe Biden took office, around $300 million worth of taxpayer-funded wall parts have been left unused.

The bill’s sponsor, Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) denounced the decision by the administration to auction the parts away labeling it as “outrageous, behind-the-scenes maneuvering.”

“This sale is a wasteful and ludicrous decision by the Biden administration that only serves as further proof they have no shame,” Wicker told The New York Post.

The GovPlanet website reportedly increased its sales efforts in May when the bill was first introduced, and again just days after the bill passed on a bipartisan vote.

An anonymous source from the auction website told the Daily Upside, a financial newsletter, that they are under instruction to not speak on the issue.

“We are legally not allowed to mention these are the border wall materials, or we could lose our jobs,” the source told the financial newsletter.

In 2021, the Biden administration was criticized for spending around $2 billion on storage costs and termination fees as he tried to cancel the contracts for the border wall that were agreed to under President Donald Trump.

Trump had spent around $15 billion during his presidency to install a total of around 700 miles of border wall after he promised to build “an impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful southern border wall.”

On Biden’s first day in office, he canceled the project calling it “a waste of money.”

As the border wall was canceled, illegal immigrants surged across the open border. U.S. Customs and Border Protection documented around 1.7 million migrant encounters along the southern border in fiscal year 2021 and around 2.4 million in 2022.

All the proceeds that GovPlanet receives from auctioning off the border wall parts will be heading back toward the Pentagon’s budget.

Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts

O’Keefe Media Group Unearths Best Buy’s Discrimination

O'Keefe Media Group Unearths Best Buy's Discrimination
(AP Photo/John Locher)
You may find this hard to believe, but there were times in my life when I was in charge of important things. Once upon a time, I was the program director and operations manager for two radio stations. No, really. As such, I had the power to hire people. That could prove to be a real rodeo from time to time, but that’s another story.Remember that this was a good twenty years before the dog days of DEI, so no one was breathing down our necks with rules, seminars, and classes designed to mandate who we hired. And we did reach out to minorities. Mainly, we tried to hire members of the local tribe. We reached out through the tribe’s newspaper, and we even actively recruited a few members, not because we had to but because we wanted to give a chance to anyone who had some talent or who wanted to develop their broadcasting skills. There was never much interest. This could have been attributed to the fact that our AM product was mainly conservative talk, but I honestly don’t know why.

Nowadays, discriminatory employment practices are legion — either because companies have gone woke or want to appear woke to avoid the twin ban-hammers of DEI and CRT. There has been some decline in that respect, but there are still pockets of it here and there, and I suspect it will be a feature of American companies for some time to come.

For example, the O’Keefe Media Group (OMG) recently uncovered the fact that Best Buy, that bastion of the Geek Squad and tons of fascinating technology that you never knew you needed (and probably don’t), is engaged in discriminatory HR practices. The flyer below is a little hard to read, even if you click on it, but it is an invitation to enroll in McKinsey & Company’s management training program. Many of the requirements are perfectly reasonable, but one requirement is not. Interested applicants must “Identify as Black, Latino, Hispanic or Pacific Islander.” It’s even a box that has to be checked on the application.

But wait! There’s more!

OMG talked with Enis Sujak, who is a member of the Geek Squad. Sujak told OMG that he witnessed religious bias on the job, along with an LGBTQ preference. Sujak reached out to OMG after walking out on a mandatory LGBTQ training. He was also sick of seeing rainbow flags, decorations, and paraphernalia around the buildings. Christian decorations were out because LGBTQ people might not like them. Sujak’s manager called him anti-LGBTQ. Sujak said that he is not anti-anything. He simply prefers not to be preached to or indoctrinated.

You can see OMG’s full report below. Pay attention at the end when a Best Buy employee tries to evict O’Keefe from a mall parking lot. (An ad may be included. Sorry.)

Sujak is more than likely out of a job. His chances of getting employment at a similar company are probably pretty bleak. But Sujak, a Serbian immigrant, understands something that most native-born people do not and that we have collectively forgotten. Sometimes standing up for what is right can carry a heavy cost, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it.

Inflation Ticks Up in July. And That’s Not the Worst of It

Inflation Ticks Up in July. And That's Not the Worst of It
AP Photo/Susan Walsh
After 12 straight months of the inflation rate coming down, prices rose in July — .02% over the price rise in June and 3.2% over prices from a year ago.

“We’ve made this progress while maintaining the broad strength of our economy,” Biden said in a statement, noting that unemployment remained near 50-year lows.

“I’m sure they’ll find something,” Biden joked during a speech in New Mexico, referring to GOP criticisms of “Bidenomics.”

Where do you want us to start, Joe?

How about housing?

Newsweek:

From the fourth quarter of 2020 to the fourth quarter of 2022, the U.S. housing market experienced one of the most significant increases in housing prices in American history. Data provided by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis show that over that two-year period, the average sales price of a home skyrocketed more than 36 percent, from $403,900 to a whopping $552,600.

For the first time in history, the 12-month increase in home prices topped 15 percent for seven quarters in a row, beginning in the second quarter of 2021.

Many current homeowners celebrated the unprecedented rise in housing values, but those rapid increases came with an important caveat: whenever housing prices increase as quickly as they have in recent years, an economic, stock market, and/or housing crash is almost certain to follow.

Then there’s the rest of the consumer price index, still making life miserable for most Americans.

Daily Signal:

The food index rose 0.2%, the energy index rose 0.1%, the fuel oil index rose 3%, the utility (piped) gas service index rose 2%, and the shelter index rose 0.4%, while the energy services index decreased 0.1%, the electricity index decreased 0.7%, the used cars and trucks index decreased 1.3%, and the medical care services index decreased 0.4%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Biden doesn’t drive his own car much, so he probably hasn’t noticed that gas prices are on the rise again. Gas is up 8% since July 1.

Yahoo Finance:

According to eToro global market strategist Ben Laidler, the move in gas prices from $3.09 in December 2022 to the national average price on Monday at $3.83 is an extra annual cost of roughly $101 billion for US consumers in total (based on the estimate that Americans use roughly 375 million gallons of gas each day).

With where gas prices stand — and they should remain elevated — that means consumers have less money to spend elsewhere, such as discretionary purchases.

The last time gas prices surged, Biden decided to draw down the Strategic Petroleum Reserve by about 300 million barrels. Biden won’t have that fallback reserve if prices spike again — something that could very well happen given OPEC+ and their desire to squeeze the West. The cartel has finally got Saudi Arabia on board for steep production cuts, and The Kingdom doesn’t appear ready to do the West any favors and boost output anytime soon.

Alfredo Ortiz, chief executive officer and president of Job Creators Network, said in a Thursday statement, “This accelerating inflation shows the inflation fight is far from over, no matter what Democrats and the media say.”

“The Fed’s historic interest rate hikes have caused significant problems for small businesses and dramatically reduced their access to credit, but they haven’t been enough to overcome the Biden administration’s reckless spending and anti-energy policies responsible for persistent Bidenflation,” he added.

Talk of “recession” has faded among the moneymen and high priests of finance on Wall Street. But 60% of Americans still give Joe Biden terrible marks on the economy. As American kids head back to school, the economic outlook is forcing parents to rein in their spending as they take a wait-and-see attitude toward the future.

Trump: President Biden is the most ‘incompetent’ and ‘corrupt’ President ever

Former President Donald Trump speaks in Montgomery, Alabama at the State GOP Summer Meeting and blasts the DOJ about his latest indictment, attacks President Biden, rips apart Gov. Ron DeSantis, and more.

Trump: Democrats are running cities into the ground

Former President Donald Trump speaks in Montgomery, Alabama at the State GOP Summer Meeting and discusses his pro-life values, destroys "Bidenmonics," rips apart the current border policy, and woke agendas.

Tucker Carlson Interviews Hunter Biden’s Ex-Business Partner DEVON ARCHER

PART 2

Tucker Found the SMOKING GUN!!!

This is ‘rising to the level of treason’: GOP rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., argues 'it is time' to get 'tough' on a Biden impeachment inquiry.

Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe discusses the Hunter Biden laptop story amid the ongoing probe into the Biden family's business dealings, former President Trump facing more charges, and the UFO whistleblowers' testimonies.

What Devon Archer Told Congress About Joe Biden Is Damning

Here’s What Devon Archer Told Congress About Joe Biden… and It’s Damning
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
It seems like it was only Monday that Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) told the entire country Devon Archer testified that Joe Biden merely exchanged pleasantries with Hunter Biden’s foreign business partners. According to Goldman, Joe Biden merely spoke of the weather and didn’t even know who he was talking to during the more than twenty times he participated in their meetings.Without a transcript of the testimony, Goldman could claim anything, no matter how absurd, and the media would echo those claims — which they did. Even the White House attempted to laugh off the testimony as a nothing burger.

“It appears that the House Republicans’ own much-hyped witness today testified that he never heard of President Biden discussing business with his son or his son’s associates, or doing anything wrong,” White House spokesperson Ian Sams told Fox News Digital. “House Republicans keep promising bombshell evidence to support their ridiculous attacks against the President, but time after time, they keep failing to produce any.”

But Fox News Digital has obtained the transcript of Archer’s testimony, and there’s really no way to spin it as anything but damning.

According to the transcript, Archer testified that Hunter Biden used his “very powerful name” to “add value” in pitching and securing foreign business ventures. But Hunter was sly about it: he wouldn’t “overtly” say that he’d use his dad as leverage.

“Defensive leverage that the value is there in his work,” Archer explained. “The value that Hunter Biden brought to it was having—you know, there was—the theoretical was corporate governance, but obviously, given the brand, that was a large part of the value,” Archer continued. “I don’t think it was the sole value, but I do think that was a key component of the value.”

Archer testified that Hunter put his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, on speakerphone during meetings with their business partners at least 20 times to sell “the brand.”

“Obviously, that brought the most value to the brand,” Archer said. “It was Hunter Biden and him.”

When questioned about whether Archer and Hunter Biden would convey to their business partners that they had “unique access” due to Biden’s position, Archer concurred. “Yes, we would say we had a unique understanding of D.C. and how it operates and how that, you know, could positively reflect on the terms of our business.”

That unique access was critical to Hunter and Archer getting high-paid board positions at Burisma. Archer testified that Hunter Biden used the Biden “brand” to get “doors opened,” which “sent the right signals” for Burisma to “carry on its business and be successful.”

Related: Wipe That Smile Off Your Face, Peasant: Biden Regime Pressured Facebook to Ban Jokes

In fact, access to Joe Biden was so critical, that Archer said he believes “Burisma would have gone out of business if it didn’t have the brand attached to it,” and that Burisma was “able to survive” for as long as it did “just because of the brand.”

Joe Biden infamously pressured the Ukrainian government to fire Viktor Shokin, who was investigating Burisma at the time, by leveraging a $1 billion loan appropriated by Congress. Archer testified that Burisma CEO Mykola Zlochevsky and Vadym Pozharskyi asked Hunter to call “D.C” to help them out of that situation.

“They requested Hunter, you know, help them with some of that pressure,” Archer said. “You know, government pressure from Ukrainian government investigations into Mykola, et cetera.”

Archer testified that Hunter Biden placed a call to his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, after the request for help, but he did not hear the phone call that took place. Five days following Hunter Biden’s call to his father, Joe Biden traveled to Ukraine.

In short: they weren’t talking about the weather.

Read the full transcript:

Devon Archer Transcript by PJ Media

House Committee Launches Investigation Into BlackRock And MSCI

House Committee Launches Investigation Into BlackRock And MSCI

FILE PHOTO: The BlackRock logo is pictured outside their headquarters in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., May 25, 2021. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo
The BlackRock logo is pictured outside their headquarters in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., May 25, 2021. (Photo via REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo)

OAN’s Noah Herring
5:10 PM – Wednesday, August 2, 2023

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/house-committee-launches-investigation-into-blackrock-and-msci/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

The House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have announced that they are launching an investigation into BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, and MSCI, one of the world’s largest providers of index funds. 

The committee reportedly sent letters to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and MSCI CEO Henry Fernandez on Monday notifying them that it is launching an investigation regarding their affairs with certain Chinese companies.

“Our review has shown that, as a direct result of decisions made by MSCI, these Americans are now unwittingly funding PRC companies that develop and build weapons for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)—the PRC’s military—and advance the CCP’s stated mission of technological supremacy,” wrote the Select Committee’s Chairman, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), and its ranking member, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.).

The letter further indicated that by sending large amounts of money to companies linked to the Chinese military and human rights abusers, BlackRock and MSCI are “exacerbating an already significant national security threat and undermining American values.” 

The committee claimed that BlackRock invested more than $429 million across five funds linked to Chinese companies that “act directly against the interests of the United States.” 

They also found at least 40 companies listed on the MSCI indexes that are on governmental “red-flag” lists.

“The majority of our clients’ investments in China are through index funds, and we are one of 16 asset managers currently offering U.S. index funds investing in Chinese companies,” BlackRock said in a statement. “With all investments in China and markets around the world, BlackRock complies with all applicable US government laws. We will continue engaging with the Select Committee directly on the issues raised.”

MSCI indicated that they have complied with all U.S. laws and are currently in the process of reviewing the committee’s request for information. 

Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts

1 2 3 24