Cut to the News
Cut through the clutter to today's top news
January 14, 2022
Good morning
Welcome to today's top news.
Leading the News . . .
Europe at greatest risk of war in 30 years, Poland warns . . . Europe is nearer war than it has been in 30 years, Poland's foreign minister warned during the third round of diplomacy this week aimed at defusing tensions over Russia's demand that Ukraine never be allowed to join NATO. Addressing envoys from the 57 members of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Zbigniew Rau did not name Russia, but listed a
string of conflicts in which Moscow's involvement has been alleged. "It seems that the risk of war in the OSCE area is now greater than ever before in the last 30 years," Rau said in a speech outlining his country's priorities as it holds the OSCE's rotating chairmanship this year. "For several weeks we have been faced with the prospect of a major military escalation in Eastern Europe." Poland is among the NATO members that are most hawkish in confronting what it sees as Russia's
revisionist ambitions in Eastern Europe. Reuters
U.S. Diplomats in Geneva, Paris Struck With Suspected ‘Havana Syndrome’ . . . Officials serving at U.S. diplomatic missions in Geneva and Paris are suspected to have been afflicted with the mysterious neurological ailment known as Havana Syndrome and at least one was evacuated back to the U.S. for treatment, people familiar with the incidents said. Suspected attacks on U.S. officials serving in the two European cities were reported
internally last summer to officials at those posts and eventually to the State Department in Washington. The diplomats joined as many as 200 others who came down with suspected Havana Syndrome while stationed in China, South America, and elsewhere in Europe.
At least three Americans serving at the consulate in Geneva, a city that hosts nearly a dozen major multilateral organizations, were suspected to have been afflicted by the syndrome, which the Biden administration has dubbed an “anomalous health incident.” At least one of those officials was medevaced from Switzerland to the U.S. for treatment. The mission’s leadership later informed staff about the incidents during a town hall meeting. In Paris, senior embassy officials informed diplomats via
email about a suspected case, the officials said, and encouraged others to report any unusual symptoms. Wall Street Journal
Biden White House reeling after week of defeats, setbacks, and policy flops . . . President Biden is on track for what could be one of the worst weeks of his presidency as his poll numbers continue to crater at the same time his legislative agenda stalls and court battles fail. The Supreme Court blocked President Biden’s push to force employers across the country with over 100 employees to vaccinate their workers in a 6-3 ruling that
dealt a sizable blow to the administration’s vaccination push. That ruling came down as the president was on Capitol Hill trying to lobby support for his party’s bill that would overhaul the federal election system in the United States. As part of that push, the president gave a racially charged speech Tuesday linking his GOP opposition to Democrat segregationists like George Wallace and called for the filibuster to be suspended to pass the bill. Fox News
Sinema, Manchin curb Biden's agenda . . . President Biden for a second time in two months on Thursday saw his agenda limited by a senator from his own party, curbing the White House’s influence and power and raising questions about what accomplishments his party will bring to this year’s midterms.
This time it was Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) effectively pulling the plug on Biden’s hopes of taking action on voting rights. Sinema said she would not vote to change the filibuster despite her support for voting rights legislation in a floor speech just before Biden was to speak to the Senate Democratic caucus.
It cut off any slim hope of movement ahead of the high-profile meeting in an effective rebuke of the president. Just weeks ago, it was fellow centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) cutting the legs from the White House with a surprise statement on “Fox News Sunday” that he would oppose Biden’s Build Back Better climate-and-social-spending legislation already approved by the House.
Manchin on Thursday followed Sinema’s move with his own statement reiterating his opposition to changing the filibuster. The Hill
Pennsylvania Republicans to draft bill to relocate migrants on Biden DHS flights to Delaware . . . Republicans in the Pennsylvania State Senate plan to draft a bill that would relocate migrants entering the state on Biden administration-sponsored flights to the president's home state of Delaware. State Sen. Mario Scavello, a Republican from Mount Pocono, issued a memo to colleagues asking them to support the forthcoming bill. "In the
very near future, I intend to introduce legislation to address the influx of illegal immigrants being relocated into Pennsylvania," Scavello wrote, adding that his legislation will be fashioned after similar intentions voiced by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The legislation would implement a transportation program for the relocation of migrants from the commonwealth to the neighboring state of Delaware, according to Scavello's memo. Fox News
MSM decides Biden is always late because he’s a hard-working family man . . . Biden is always late. He was two and a half hours late for an event in Switzerland. Fox News calculated that he’s an average of 22 minutes late per event. But Politico has discovered why: Biden is a notorious “over-prepper,” sources say. His meetings to help him prepare for other meetings or remarks can take an hour or more. Often joined by communications
director KATE BEDINGFIELD or press secretary JEN PSAKI and subject area experts, Biden will go into Socratic seminar mode–pushing and prodding those briefing him with follow-up question after follow-up question. Sometimes the follow-ups then require another meeting before a decision can be made. And he is known to tinker with speeches up to the last moment. He’s late because he’s like Socrates! Sources say. Who are those sources? Biden aides spinning his lateness, no doubt. White House Dossier
Leave it to the MSM to take an obvious flaw by a Democratic president and turn it into something wonderful
Republican Sen. Marshall plans to introduce 'Fauci Act' after doctor called him a 'moron' . . . Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., is planning to introduce legislation named after Dr. Anthony Fauci after the nation's top infectious diseases expert made headlines for calling Marshall "a moron" on a hot mic earlier this week.
Marshall's bill, which will be titled the Financial Accountability for Uniquely Compensated Individuals (FAUCI) Act, will mandate that the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) provide a list of all confidential filers within the government whose financial disclosures are not public, as first reported by The Hill. Fauci and Marshall sparred Tuesday on Capitol Hill when the senator asked about Fauci’s financial interests. Fox News
Florida bill would designate Nov. 7 as Communism Victims Day . . . Legislation moving through the Florida House would designate Nov. 7 as an annual Communism Victims Day and also teach high school students about the ills of communist governments. Florida is home to tens of thousands of people who have fled communist governments, especially Cubans who left after Fidel Castro took power on the island in 1959. Nov. 7 is the day in 1917
when Russia’s Bolshevik Revolution installed a communist government there. The House Secondary Education & Career Development Subcommittee approved the bill Thursday on a unanimous vote. It has two more House committee stops and a similar measure is pending in the Senate. Republican Rep. David Borrero, one of the lead sponsors, said the Communist Victims Day is an important remembrance for those who suffered under those governments and that teaching students about its realities is
necessary for them to understand that. Washington Times
Trump takes a shot at DeSantis . . . Florida Gov. DeSantis is seen as the main alternative to Donald Trump by a lot of conservatives should Trump decide not to run.
But it appears Trump may be concerned that DeSantis will run whether Trump does or not. According to CNN: Former President Donald Trump appeared to take a shot at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over his refusal to disclose whether he’s received a Covid-19 booster shot in a new interview with the far-right channel One America News. Trump, who announced at an event last month that he had received a booster shot in addition to being vaccinated, decried “gutless” politicians who have
declined to be similarly transparent with their own booster status. His comments came just weeks after DeSantis sidestepped a question about being boosted during a December appearance on Fox Business — a response that his staff later claimed the governor had given because it was a “private medical” matter. White House Dossier
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Russia Suggests Military Deployment to Venezuela, Cuba if Tensions With U.S. Remain High . . . Russia’s deputy foreign minister said talks with the U.S. over the security situation in Ukraine had stalled and suggested that Moscow could dispatch a military deployment to Venezuela and Cuba, as the Kremlin seeks to pressure Washington to meet its demands to halt Western military activity that Russia claims poses a threat.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Thursday that Moscow couldn’t exclude dispatching “military infrastructure” to Venezuela or Cuba if tensions with Washington—which have soared in recent weeks over a huge buildup of Russian troops on Ukraine’s border—continue to rise. “I don’t want to confirm anything, I will not rule out anything…. Depends on the actions of our American colleagues,” Mr. Ryabkov told privately owned Russian-language television network RTVi in an interview Thursday
in Moscow. Mr. Ryabkov said he saw no immediate grounds for fresh talks with the U.S., after several rounds of negotiations this week yielded little progress in defusing the crisis in Ukraine. Wall Street Journal
Ray Epps uncharged in Capitol riot, but feds arrested woman engaged in similar conduct . . . Defenders of Ray Epps contend he has not been arrested because he didn't break the law during the Capital riots, but a woman caught on video standing next to him is facing up to a year in prison for being in a "restricted area" — something Epps was also filmed doing. Raechel Genco was seen on video standing just feet away from Epps on Jan. 6 as
he whispered into the ear of her boyfriend, Ryan Samsel, who promptly led a mob that stormed a police barricade. But unlike Samsel, the 38-year-old Pennsylvania woman simply stood by. And unlike Epps, Genco was not seen a day earlier encouraging a crowd to enter the Capitol illegally.
That incident took place just outside the restricted area, but Epps was later filmed well inside the forbidden zone, as was Genco. But of the two, only Genco was charged with a sole count of trespassing on restricted Capitol grounds. She faces up to a year in prison if convicted. Prosecutors presented a single frame of video footage showing Genco walking on restricted Capitol grounds in their criminal complaint. Epps was also filmed on the steps of the Capitol building in front of a
police line, well inside the restricted area. Washington Examiner
House Republicans probing historically low ICE arrests . . . The Biden administration is changing the rules so it doesn’t have to go after illegal immigrants. Of course! Why would they want to export so many future Democratic voters? Republicans on the House Oversight and Reform Committee are probing the “historically low” rate of arrests of illegal immigrants by ICE, saying it appears the Biden administration, unwilling to abolish
the agency outright, is instead paring it down through policy memos . . . In a late-September memo, (DHS Secretary) Mayorkas declared that being in the country illegally is no longer sufficient grounds for arrest or deportation. Agents and officers must justify arrests by studying their targets and balancing criminal records against “mitigating” factors such as ties to the country or hardship they or their family might face if they are deported. White House Dossier
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Russia Moves More Weaponry Toward Ukraine, Keeps the West Guessing . . . As diplomats were holding negotiations over the Ukraine crisis this week, Russia began moving tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, rocket launchers and other military equipment westward from their bases in its Far East, according to U.S. officials and social-media reports.
While the equipment is still in transit, officials and analysts are debating whether it represents the next phase in the Kremlin’s buildup that has already placed more than 100,000 troops near its country’s border with Ukraine.
“This stuff is almost certainly going to Ukraine,” said Rob Lee, an expert on the Russian military and fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a U.S. think tank. The military hardware, he said, is believed to be the first to be shifted in the current crisis from Russia’s Eastern Military District, on the opposite end of the country. Wall Street Journal
Hackers Bring Down Government Sites in Ukraine . . . Hackers brought down several Ukrainian government websites on Friday, posting a message on the site of the Foreign Ministry saying, “Be afraid and expect the worst.” It was the latest in a long line of cyberattacks targeting the country amid its conflict with Russia.
The attack on Friday was ominous for its timing, coming a day after the apparent breakdown of diplomatic talks between Russia and the West intended to forestall a threatened Russian invasion of Ukraine. The message appeared in Ukrainian, Russian and Polish on the foreign ministry website. “As a result of a massive cyber attack, the websites of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a number of other government agencies are temporarily down,” the ministry said in a statement. Diplomats and
analysts have been anticipating a cyberattack on Ukraine, but proving such actions is notoriously difficult. New York Times
Swedes Step Up Military Contingency Over Russian Activity . . . A top military chief in Sweden said Friday that there is increased Russian activity in the Baltic Sea which “deviates from the normal picture,” leading the Scandinavian nation’s military to raise its preparedness. Sweden, which is not part of NATO, has among other things noticed a number of landing craft from Russia’s northern navy which have been entering the Baltic
Sea. Claesson who is the operations manager at the Swedish Armed Forces, said that some of the measures taken by the Swedish military will be visible and others will not be. “We will act in different locations in Sweden, in different manners,” he said, adding they would be visible on the strategically important Baltic Sea island of Gotland that sits a little more than 300 kilometers (186 miles) from the Russian Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad. RealClearDefense
Iran Seeks Closer Ties With China as Nuclear Talks Drag On . . . As talks between Iran, the U.S. and other world powers to revive the 2015 nuclear deal continue, the Islamic Republic is trying to strengthen ties with China, Russia and other nations that could help it get around American sanctions that are battering its economy. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian met his Chinese counterpart on Friday to discuss a
wide-ranging economic and security cooperation agreement signed between the two countries in Tehran early last year, among other issues, according to his ministry. Implementing the 25-year agreement to boost trade and the nuclear talks in Vienna, of which China is a part, are high on the agenda, an Iranian official said. China became a vital economic lifeline for Iran after the Trump administration withdrew the U.S. from the multilateral nuclear accord in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on
Tehran. Wall Street Journal
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International authorities sour on COVID boosters, while FDA promotes them for recovered people . . . "We should be careful in not overloading the immune system with repeated immunization," European Medicines Agency official warns. International authorities are falling out of love with boosters as a COVID-19 mitigation strategy, even as U.S. regulators continue unqualified promotion of the third shot for mRNA vaccines and second for
Johnson & Johnson's downgraded vaccine. Reconsideration of the booster binge comes amid further scrutiny of rare but higher-than-expected — and possibly undercounted — heart inflammation reports following vaccination, particularly in boys and young men. The World Health Organization all but accused wealthier countries of hoarding shots while large swaths of the globe, particularly Africa, have not received the "primary series" of vaccination against COVID. Its
Technical Advisory Group on COVID-19 Vaccine Composition released an interim statement Tuesday on how the rise of the mild but immune-evasive Omicron variant should change booster considerations. Just the News
The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. . . . The mandate is no “‘everyday exercise of federal power,’” it adds, citing Sixth Circuit Chief Judge Jeffrey Sutton. “It is instead a significant encroachment into the lives—and health—of a vast number of employees.” The Court’s major questions doctrine requires Congress to give clear statutory direction for economically and politically significant actions. Congress never passed a law
authorizing the mandate, though in their dissent the three liberal Justices purported to find one in the emanations and penumbras of the OSHA law. A Senate majority voted last month to disapprove it. OSHA also violated administrative law by not tailoring the mandate to workplace risk. While OSHA provided narrow exemptions for employees who work remotely or outdoors 100% of the time, the Court notes these “exemptions are largely illusory.” Only 9% of landscapers qualify as working
exclusively outside. The rule “otherwise operates as a blunt instrument,” the Court writes. Wall Street Journal
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House Democrats top House GOP reelection committee last year in midterm cash race . . .
The Democrats’ House reelection arm outraised their GOP rivals last year, as both major parties build resources ahead of what’s expected to be a bruising battle for the House of Representatives majority in November's midterm elections. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) reports hauling in what it described as a "whopping" $146 million in 2021, which the committee said shattered by $22 million its previous off-election year fundraising record. The DCCC, which shared
their fundraising figures first with FOX Business on Friday, also reported bringing in $39.7 million in the October-December fourth quarter of fundraising, which it highlighted was its best odd-year fundraising quarter in history. Fox News
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Gun Sales Soar as Crime Waves Hit LA . . . A gun store owner in Beverly Hills is seeing a growing number of customers lately—from celebrities to university students—who are terrified by the increase of crime in the area.
Elias Chalhub, owner of Bear Arms Defense, said his shop stays busy from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day. “It’s been a steady increase since the summer,” Chalhub told The Epoch Times. “There’s a palpable fear of violent crime … people are in the store every day, all day, looking for home defense weapons and business defense weapons.” Locals are “absolutely terrified” by the uptick in robberies targeting wealthy and celebrity residents, according to Chalhub. Criminals have also
targeted shops in the area with “smash-and-grab” burglaries. Epoch Times
CDC report: U.S. abortion rate rose for second consecutive year . . . Newly released data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that the U.S. abortion rate increased in 2019 for the second consecutive year, marking an apparent statistical reversal of a long-term decline. The CDC’s most recent Abortion Surveillance report indicated that the U.S. abortion rate among reporting states increased by 0.9%, from 11.2 to 11.3
abortions per 1,000 women ages 15-44 from 2017 to 2018, and also by 0.9%, from 11.3 to 11.4 abortions per 1,000 women from 2018 to 2019. Actual figures are likely higher because the CDC’s abortion data is not comprehensive or complete. Several states haven’t consistently reported their annual numbers to the agency, and California, the nation’s most populous state, hasn’t reported its data to the CDC since 1997. And the CDC noted a sharp increase in chemical abortion, also known as the
“abortion pill.” Washington Times
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The Argument for a Properly-Armed Citizenry: Is it Time to End the Gun Control Experiment? . . . 2021 could perhaps be called the "Year of Self-Defense" as there were high-profile legal victories for armed citizens protecting themselves as well as others and numbers of justifiable homicides in the US surpassed those by law enforcement. In light of these facts, recent happenings and skyrocketing crime numbers in cities with
hefty gun control laws, there is a logical argument to end the authoritarian gun control experiment. In this edition of Thought to Action, presented by the London Center for Policy Research, LCPR Sr. Fellow LTC (Ret, British Army) Tim Wilson and LCPR Distinguished Fellow Navy Capt (Ret) Pete O'Brien discuss the arguments supporting continued support of the 2nd Amendment of the US Constitution and against government-induced gun control using evidence from not only within US borders but
around the world. Thought to Action
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