Cut to the News
Cut through the clutter to today's top news
December 16, 2021
Good morning
Welcome to today's top news.
Leading the News . . .
NYTs columnist questions Biden’s mental status and says he shouldn’t run . . . Bret Stephens is an anti-Trump conservative. He wonders why President Biden’s current and future mental status is the big elephant in the room nobody wants to acknowledge. From his column in the New York Times:
In the 1980s, it was fair game for reputable reporters to ask whether Ronald Reagan was too old for the presidency, at a time when he was several years younger than Biden is today. Donald Trump’s apparent difficulty holding a glass and his constricted vocabulary repeatedly prompted unflattering speculation about his health, mental and otherwise. And Joe Biden’s memory lapses were a source of mirth among his Democratic primary rivals, at least until he won the nomination.
Yet it’s now considered horrible manners to raise concerns about Biden’s age and health. As if doing so can only play into Trump’s hands. As if the president’s well-being is nobody’s business but his own. As if it doesn’t much matter whether he has the fortitude for the world’s most important job, so long as his aides can adroitly fill the gaps. As if accusations of ageism and a giant shushing sound from media elites can keep the issue off the public mind. White House Dossier
Severe storms, suspected tornadoes slam Great Plains, Midwest; damage reported . . . Severe storms, possibly including tornadoes, struck Great Plains and upper Midwest states Wednesday. Affected states included Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota and Colorado, the reports said. There was no immediate word about deaths or injuries. Wisconsin also saw strong wind gusts. If two suspected tornadoes in Minnesota are confirmed, they'll
be the first December tornadoes ever recorded in the state, FOX 9 of Minneapolis reported. The suspected twisters struck near Albert Lea – with damage reported in Hartland -- and in Plainview, with damage there as well. In Kansas, strong winds as high as 98 mph arrived Wednesday after the state was rattled by earthquakes Tuesday and Wednesday, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported. More than 100,000 Kansas utility customers were without power Wednesday night and full service restoration was
expected to take several days. Fox News
Democrats threaten to play hardball over Cruz's blockade . . . Democrats are threatening hardball tactics as they try to break a blockade by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) that has left dozens of President Biden’s State Department nominees in limbo. Democrats and the conservative firebrand are struggling to make progress toward an agreement that would trade votes on some of Biden’s ambassador nominees for a vote related to Nord Stream 2
sanctions, a longstanding goal for Cruz, who has ensnared nominations across the State Department, the Treasury Department and the U.S. Agency of International Development.
Absent a deal, Democrats are warning that they are willing to keep the Senate in Washington, D.C., heading into Christmas. Senators had been scheduled to leave town for the year on Dec. 10 and the House left early Wednesday morning until January. The Hill
Hill-arious: Democrats laugh off Hillary Clinton 2024 talk . . . Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has been showing up — at conferences, on streaming services, on Twitter, and now in chatter over whether her party's problems create an opening for another White House bid. But not everyone is convinced it’s her moment. “People may feel that they want to have a woman and may feel that [Vice President Kamala] Harris isn’t
electable, but I do not think she’d be a serious candidate,” said Dick Morris, a political strategist and commentator and former President Bill Clinton’s chief campaign adviser until 1996. Morris, now a Republican, told the Washington Examiner that he does not see President Joe Biden on the ballot in 2024. “And I do not think they’ll run Harris either. I don’t think she can get the nomination,” he added. Washington Examiner
Liberal California Politicians Promise To Be Tough On Crime As Thefts, Shootings Increase . . . California Democrats are toughening their stance on crime amid increasing violence and homicides, with many politicians pledging to invest in law enforcement. Crime in California has skyrocketed over the past two years, with homicides in San Francisco jumping 15% in 2021 compared to 2020, and over 50% compared to 2019. Statewide, homicides,
property crime, violent crime and larcenies have all risen since before the pandemic. Retail thefts in particular have plagued the state, most notably in Los Angeles and San Francisco, where organized gangs of criminals will break into and loot storefronts of their merchandise. Daily Caller
Biden judicial nominee said Senate and Electoral College are ‘anti-Democratic’ . . . Typical of the radicals being appointed by this president, both to the judiciary and the administration.
Dale Ho, nominated to be a judge, is obviously no fan of the Constitution, given the way he expresses this. White House Dossier
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Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin discuss security cooperation against US . . . Chinese and Russian forces could soon expand their military exercises in a show of unity against the United States and allied democracies, following a new dialogue between Beijing and Moscow. Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the measures on Wednesday in a virtual meeting. The conversation occurred in a fraught
context for both leaders, as NATO suspects Putin of planning a new invasion of Ukraine and Xi is angered by Taiwan’s participation in President Joe Biden’s summit of democracies.
“China and Russia need to launch more joint actions to uphold the security interests of the two sides more effectively,” Xi told Putin, according to a Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry summary. “China and Russia need to step up coordination and collaboration in international affairs, be more vocal on global governance, come up with feasible solutions to the pandemic, climate change, and other global issues, and firmly uphold international fairness and justice in the process of resolving
international and regional hot spots.” Washington Examiner
China Poses Bigger Threat to Democracies After 2022 Winter Olympics, Expert Says . . . The communist regime in China is going to be a bigger threat to the international rules-based order after the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, a China expert warned. “The regime is going to become, I would expect, even more hostile to the established order than it has been before,” said Bradly Thayer, adding the Games would embolden Beijing to increase its
push against some democracies, particularly India and Taiwan. Thayer is one of the founding members of the U.S.-based group Committee on the Present Danger: China (CPDC), and coauthor of the book “How China Sees the World.” He sounded the alarm on Dec. 15 during an EpochTV webinar titled “China’s Genocide Games.” Epoch Times
Oswald met KGB before JFK assassination, delayed records dump shows . . . Lee Harvey Oswald met with a KGB agent just two months before the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, according to newly unsealed confidential documents stemming from JFK’s murder. The CIA memos, part of a trove of nearly 1,500 documents released Wednesday by the National Archives and Records Administration, also disclose that an anonymous tipster warned US
embassy officials in Australia a year earlier that Kennedy would be assassinated by the Soviet Union for a $100,000 bounty. But the tip was never passed on to the CIA. “Cabled to Canberra asking full details of the telephone conversation of 23 November and the call made 15 October 1962, a 1964 memo said. “It should be noted that CIA had not previously known of the 1962 telephone call.” New York Post
Biden national security officials warn of 'heightened risk' of 'malicious cyber' activities around holidays . . . The White House National Security Council is warning of a "heightened risk" of "malicious cyber" activities like ransomware surrounding the Christmas holiday, urging business leaders to update IT practices and to work with federal law enforcement to improve U.S. cybersecurity. Anne Neuberger, the deputy assistant to the
president who also serves as deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology, and Chris Inglis, the national cyber director, penned a letter to corporate executives and business leaders Thursday warning of potential breaches around Christmas and New Years.
"The holidays are an opportunity to spend time with our loved ones and enjoy some well-earned rest. Unfortunately, malicious cyber actors are not taking a holiday—and they can ruin ours if we’re not prepared and protected," they wrote. "Historically we have seen breaches around national holidays because criminals know that security operations centers are often short-staffed, delaying the discovery of intrusions. Fox Business
Israeli Military Leaders: Biden Nuclear Deal Poses ‘Significant Threat to Israel’s Security’ . . . A group of nearly 3,000 Israeli military leaders, soldiers, commanders, and intelligence officials are warning the Biden administration and Democrats in Congress that a new nuclear deal with Iran poses "a significant threat to Israel's security." These leaders, who organized under the umbrella group Israel's Defense and Security Forum
(IDSF), raise concerns that the United States will sign a deal that gives Iran the cash assets needed to fund terrorism and put it on a glide path to a nuclear weapon that will be used to destroy the Jewish state, according to a letter sent last week to Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Menendez (D., N.J.) and senior Biden administration officials. Washington Free Beacon
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France to block entry to UK tourists as Omicron surges . . . France will block entry to UK tourists, tightening its border restrictions in an effort to slow the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant. Travel from the UK will be largely limited to French nationals, residents and their families, although there are exceptions for students and some professions such as doctors who have a work-related reason to enter the
country. The prime minister’s office said the new curbs would apply from midnight on Friday. Financial Times
US concerns grow over potential Russian cyber targeting of Ukraine amid troop buildup . . . The increase in tensions between the United States and Russia due to Moscow amassing troops on the border with Ukraine is raising concerns Russia may not only put boots on the ground but also turn to hacking operations to put pressure on the U.S. and Ukraine. Those concerns are underlined by massive hacking efforts by Russia against Ukraine over
the past few years and the ransomware attacks linked to Russian hackers against critical U.S. organizations. Tracking Russian cyber activity is difficult, and no major cyber operations against Ukraine have come to light at this point in the troop build-up. But that does not mean that either the U.S. or Ukraine was in the clear headed into the holidays. The Hill
Germany expels Russian diplomats after court rules Moscow ordered murder of dissident . . . Germany expelled two Russian diplomats Wednesday after a Berlin court ruled a man had murdered a Chechen dissident on behalf of the Moscow government in what the presiding judge declared was an act of “state terrorism.” In 2019, the court found that the Russian citizen, identified as 56-year-old Vadim K., shot a former Chechen rebel commander of
Georgian origin named Tornike K. twice from behind with a pistol equipped with a silencer in Berlin’s Kleiner Tiergarten park before firing another “well-aimed shot at the back of the head of the victim, who was already lying motionless on the ground.” The court said Vadim K. “had received an order from a state agency within the government of the Russian Federation” to kill Tornike K., “because of his negative attitude toward the Russian central state and his role in the Second Chechen
War.” The presiding judge called the incident an act of “state terrorism” when he announced the verdict, sentencing the man to life in prison. The Russian ambassador to Germany, Sergej Netschajew, dismissed the verdict as “absurd” and threatened to retaliate. PoliticoEU
EU leaders weigh new sanctions on Russia amid 'series of attacks' . . . The European Union is under assault from Russia on multiple fronts and must unite behind new economic sanctions, Baltic and central European leaders said on Thursday, with Lithuania citing a risk of possible Russian military strikes from Belarus. The warnings at an EU summit were some of the most direct in recent weeks as the United States and its NATO allies seek to
deter any possible Russian attack on Ukraine and reduce Moscow's margin for surprise. Many NATO allies are also EU member states. "We really are facing a series of attacks. I see them all as associated," Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins told reporters, listing what he said was the weaponisation of Middle East migrants on Belarus' borders with the EU, artificially high prices for Russian natural gas, and Russian disinformation. Ukraine remains the main flashpoint between Russia
and the West. Reuters
This time, the sanctions should work.
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Ron Johnson demands records from medical journals that retracted COVID-19 studies . . . Sen. Ron Johnson has sent letters to two prominent medical journals demanding records related to the publication and subsequent retractions of two COVID-19 studies in 2020 that were based on a questionable dataset. One of the retracted studies, published in The Lancet in May 2020, found that the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine
caused a higher mortality rate in COVID-19 patients compared to those that didn't take the drug. The World Health Organization and other groups paused clinical trials of the drug due to safety concerns after the study was published. Washington Examiner
67% of vaccinated Americans favor COVID tax for the unvaccinated, poll finds . . . A recent survey finds that 67% of vaccinated Americans believe the unvaccinated should pay a “COVID tax” to cover businesses’ pandemic safety expenses, but most business owners and the unvaccinated themselves don’t believe in such fees. Skynova, an invoicing software for small businesses, conducted the digital survey of 1,075 Americans. The firm’s project
manager, Joe Mercurio, said the survey reflects a “consensus among people … that unvaccinated people should have to pay precautionary COVID-19 fees when visiting a business” to help cover the costs of personal protective equipment and other materials. “Plane tickets, movie tickets, and services within the hospitality industry are in high demand ahead of the holidays, and it’s notable that these are the top services people feel the unvaccinated should have to pay more for or even be denied
outright,” Mr. Mercurio said. Washington Times
Well, should we just round them all up and . . .
Although, hmm . . . I actually wasn't planning on getting that "booster" considering my body's reaction to the first two jabs. Darn.
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Opinion: Jen Psaki Tries to ‘Fake’ Out the CBO’s Build Back Better Score . . . Desperate to pass yet another gargantuan spending bill, President Biden has declared war on a federal agency Vice President Biden regularly praised—the Congressional Budget Office. In 2010, Mr. Biden described the CBO’s estimates as “the gold standard” and said of the office that “no Republican or Democrat questions it.” Later in his vice
presidency he declared that the agency is “widely respected on both sides of the aisle.” But now the CBO has become inconvenient to him. This week, White House press secretary Jen Psaki described as “fake” the CBO’s cost analysis of the president’s Build Back Better bill, which it released Friday.
The CBO found that the legislation’s true cost would be almost $3 trillion more than the $1.678 trillion authorized in the House bill. This means that Build Back Better wouldn’t add $365 billion to the deficit as advertised when it passed the House, but $3.01 trillion. Ms. Psaki took issue with this finding, saying it wasn’t “based on the actual bill that anybody is voting on.” Here, the president’s spokeswoman is being slippery. Wall Street Journal
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Planned Parenthood endorses nearly 200 House incumbents ahead of midterms . . . Planned Parenthood Action Fund rolled out its endorsements on Thursday for nearly 200 House incumbents running in next year's midterm elections as the debate over abortion rights heats up across the county. The organization's campaign arm threw its support behind 198 incumbents, including Reps. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Abigail Spanberger
(D-Va.), Cindy Axne (D-Iowa), Marie Newman (D-Ill.), Lucy McBath (D-Ga.) and Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-Ga.). The endorsements come after the Supreme Court heard oral arguments earlier this month in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which involves a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The case poses one of the biggest threats to Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in the U.S., in decades. The Hill
New York’s next mayor wants to save the city from the evils of olive oil . . . Mayor-elect Eric Adams, a former NYPD captain, traded jelly doughnuts for kale smoothies when diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes five years ago. Since then, he reversed vision loss and nerve damage, shed 35 pounds and anointed himself a spokesperson for a plant-based lifestyle. As he prepares to take over City Hall, a job that comes with a national bully pulpit, he
stands to turn his passion into policy. “We can save more lives with plant-based diet if people would only realize they are enslaved to fats, oil, sugar and things that are killing their body,” Adams said in produced by Forks Over Knives, a company that promotes a whole-foods diet. New York Post
Soviet Playbook. Love plant-based food, I eat that myself and recommend it to everyone. But for the government apparatchiks to dictate what people must eat is not only Orwellian, it's dangerous. Each person's body is different. Some bodies can't process veggie stuff. Remember what happened when the government "experts" built the food pyramid, pushing bread stuff and demonized meat? Everyone got fat.
Fentanyl Invades More Illicit Pills, With Deadly Consequences Opioid’s increasing prevalence in the drug supply pushes overdose deaths higher . . . “It robs you of any chance to get red flags,” said Laura Didier, Zachary’s mother. His parents said they didn’t know he was using pills recreationally before he died. Other dangerous opioids are also surfacing in the drug supply, researchers say, continuing a long-running cat-and-mouse
game as suppliers and users try to stay ahead of law enforcement. Fatal overdoses involving the combination of fentanyl with stimulants like cocaine and methamphetamines are also rising, research shows. Federal authorities say they are encountering more pills passing for medications such as oxycodone that contain fentanyl. By late September, they had seized more than 9.5 million fake pills, many containing fentanyl, a haul higher than in the two prior years combined, according to the Drug
Enforcement Administration.
“The supply of these pills is going up exponentially,” said Joseph Palamar, an associate professor and drug epidemiologist at New York University Langone Health. “They are easy to transport and difficult to track. Pills are the ultimate fake out. You can fake out your parents, your friends, your partner, law enforcement.”
The mass production of such pills by Mexican cartels has escalated the threat, according to the DEA. Wall Street Journal
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Festival of Whites: CNN Sweater Contest Reveals Stunning Lack of Racial Diversity . . . CNN appears to suffer from an alarming lack of racial diversity among its employees, according to photos posted online by network anchor Jake Tapper. "Some great entries for the annual CNN Christmas sweater contest!" he announced on Twitter before posting a series of pictures of white people wearing sweaters.
The stunning revelations come after CNN refused to promote a person of color to replace Jeffrey Toobin as the network's chief legal analyst. Toobin, who was fired by the New Yorker last year for masturbating on a Zoom call with coworkers, was reinstated at CNN in June after being given several months' worth of "time off while he deals with a personal issue."
Tapper's photos raise troubling questions about the prevailing culture of white supremacy at CNN, a network that claims to value racial diversity. Washington Free Beacon
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Come watch The Nutcracker this weekend with us at The Meridian High School in Falls Church VA:
or you can buy them at the door, subject to availability.
Rebekah Koffler
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