Biden Withholds Annual Report on Deportations . . . The Biden administration has yet to release a report that details the number of illegal immigrants removed from the United States in 2021, keeping the public in the dark about its handling of the immigration crisis. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not release its annual report in 2021, a departure from standard agency practice since at least 2011. In each of the last nine years, ICE released the report in the final weeks of the calendar year, most recently on Dec. 23, 2020 during the Trump administration.  It is unclear whether ICE has completed the report, which provides a lengthy summary of the agency’s enforcement and removal operations, as well as immigration-related security threats. A spokeswoman for the immigration agency told the Washington Free Beacon a release date for the report has not been determined. Washington Free Beacon

 

 

 

The Capitol Riot’s Ripple Effects in U.S. Politics . . . A year after pro-Trump rioters attacked the U.S. Capitol, lawmakers and Americans remain divided over what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, and who is to blame. WSJ journalists look at changes in Congress since then, and what it could mean for the 2022 midterm elections. Wall Street Journal

 

 

Military Bases Housing U.S. Forces Attacked in Syria and Iraq . . . Rockets and indirect fire struck bases hosting U.S.-led military coalition forces in Iraq and Syria in at least three separate attacks Wednesday, the third day in a row that Iran-aligned paramilitary groups have targeted America and its partners in the Middle East. The latest spate of attacks started on Monday as the militias marked the second anniversary of the American strike that killed senior Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in January 2020. Iran and its allies in the region have sworn to avenge Gen. Soleimani’s death by attacking U.S. forces and driving the American military out of the region. None of the attacks have caused any casualties or major damage, but the persistence of the rocket and drone attacks raises the risk of a broader conflagration Wall Street Journal

 

 

North Korea tests hypersonic missile in snub to Seoul’s peace overtures . . . North Korea said it has conducted its second test of a “hypersonic” missile, as Pyongyang shuns South Korea’s efforts to revive a stalled peace process. The ballistic missile was launched from North Korea’s Chagang province on Wednesday morning and travelled 700km towards the Sea of Japan, according to KCNA, the state media agency. The warhead made a 120km horizontal manoeuvre designed to defeat missile defenSe systems, KCNA said, adding that the launch had also successfully tested a new fuel transport system in freezing temperatures. Analysts said that the missile appeared to be a manoeuvrable re-entry vehicle that the North Korean regime displayed at a defence exhibition in October. Pyongyang claimed its first hypersonic missile test last September. Financial Times

 

Russia sends troops to Kazakhstan to put down deadly uprising . . .  Russia sent paratroopers into Kazakhstan on Thursday to help put down a countrywide uprising after deadly violence spread across the tightly controlled former Soviet state. Police said they had killed dozens of rioters in the Central Asian country's main city Almaty. State television said 13 members of the security forces had died, including two found decapitated. A presidential residence and the mayor's office in the city were both ablaze, Reuters journalists said. By Thursday afternoon, the city's airport, seized earlier by protesters, was under firm control of military personnel. Burnt out cars littered the streets. Earlier on Thursday, several armoured personnel carriers and scores of troops had entered the main square of Almaty, and gunshots could be heard as troops approached the crowd, Reuters correspondents reported from the scene. Later, the square appeared peaceful, with 200-300 protesters still gathered and no troops around. Reuters

 

EU warns US and Russia against new ‘Yalta’ deal to divide Europe . . . The EU’s top diplomat has warned Russia and the US against creating “spheres of influence” in Europe ahead of talks between the two countries next week regarding proposals from Moscow that would reshape the continent’s defence and security architecture. Russia, which has stoked fears of a potential military attack on Ukraine after deploying more than 100,000 troops close to its border, has demanded the US and Nato agree to security pledges that would ban former Soviet states from joining the western military alliance and restrict where US troops could be stationed in eastern Europe. Next week’s negotiations will see Russian officials hold meetings with a US delegation and with Nato, overlooking demands from the EU that it deserves a seat at the talks. Financial Times

 

2021 COVID-19 Recap: 200 Million Vaccinated, 450,000 Dead . . . 2021 became the second year defined by the COVID-19 virus pandemic and the global response to it. Compared to 2020, last year was deadlier, but also more complicated. Issues such as virus variants, vaccine resistance, and vaccine efficacy have come to the forefront. Epoch Times

 

 

Babies Born During Pandemic Have Lower Developmental Scores: Study . . . Babies who were born during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic had lower developmental scores compared to pre-pandemic, a study suggests. According to research published on Tuesday in JAMA Pediatrics, COVID-19 infection during pregnancy does not appear to affect infants’ brain function, but the pandemic itself may be having an impact.
A group of researchers in New York City studied 255 infants born between March and December 2020, including 114 whose mothers had COVID-19 during pregnancy. It found that some born during the pandemic experienced slight developmental delays.

 

Overall, compared with 62 infants born before the pandemic, the babies born during the health crisis had slightly lower scores on tasks involving large muscles, tasks requiring small muscle movements, and personal interactions.
“Both exposed and unexposed infants born during that period had significantly lower scores on gross motor, fine motor, and personal-social subdomains compared with a historical cohort of infants born before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the study says. Epoch Times

 

Biden Administration Blocks Natural Gas Project In New England . . . The Biden administration approved a plan to block a new natural gas power plant that would’ve powered 500,000 homes from being built in Connecticut. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the plan proposed by utility company ISO New England — an electricity provider in the northeast — effectively killing the project, E&E News reported on Wednesday. In November, ISO New England submitted the plan to block the Killingly Energy Center project over delays. “The ISO’s decision to terminate the capacity supply obligation is based on our lack of confidence that the project would meet its deadline for commercial operations,” ISO New England spokesperson Matt Kakley told E&E News.
But the proposal to build the energy center had been criticized by environmentalists and state officials in Connecticut where it would’ve been constructed. While the power plant would’ve boosted electricity supply in the New England region, opponents of the plan said it would be counterproductive to local climate goals. Daily Caller

 

Black Americans Embracing 2A . . . The COVID pandemic — or, more accurately, the governmental response and specifically some state governments’ authoritarian overreach in the name of “protecting lives” — as well as the Black Lives Matter-inspired violence and murder sweeping the country, have awakened many Americans to the wisdom behind the Founders’ inclusion of the Second Amendment in our Constitution. The past two years have seen more records set in firearms purchases, with 2020 setting an all-time high of 22.8 million guns sold, and 2021 coming in just behind. The people driving the surge in firearms sales may come as a bit of a surprise to some. Black ownership of firearms has increased by 58.2% since the pandemic began, followed by 51.9% for whites, 49.4% for Hispanics, and 42.9% for Asians. Patriot Post

 

Fentanyl From China Is Killing Americans in Record Numbers . . . In November, President Joe Biden remembered all those who had died from drug overdoses in 2020—more than 100,000 Americans–a new milestone in the nation’s escalating crisis. However, in remembering the dead, the president failed to call out China. In America, use of drugs, illicit or otherwise, is rampant. Nevertheless, the addiction epidemic plaguing the nation doesn’t take anything away from the fact that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) appears to be playing a key role in funneling narcotics into the United States. Every 5-and-a-half minutes, somewhere in the United States, a person dies from a drug overdose. Many of these deaths involve opioids.  Epoch Times

 

Trans Activists Refuse To Publish Unfavorable Data On Trans Youth In Sports Debate . . . A trio of left-wing organizations refused to publish their full data set on Americans’ opinions on trans youth in sports after admitting that women’s sports advocates “win the debate on trans youth in sports against any and all arguments we have tried,” according to a messaging guide from the organizations. ASO Communications, a self-defined “progressive” communications firm, published a messaging guide in coordination with the Transgender Law Center and a Democratic research firm, Lake Research Partners. Activists are told to build on the existing “Race Class Narrative” — which dubs anything other than social justice activism as racist — to persuade American voters to favorably view biological men competing in women’s sports. “This new approach builds on the Race Class Narrative to demand to tell a convincing story of how our opposition uses strategic racism and transphobia to harm us all,” the guide reads. Daily Caller

 

Jordan Peterson's Motivational Speech . . . 

Jordan Peterson is a Canadian professor of psychology, clinical psychologist, and author. His views on cultural and political issues are often described as conservative. We hope this motivation from Jordan Peterson will help you in your life.