Cut to the News
Cut through the clutter to today's top news
June 11, 2021
Good morning
Welcome to today's top news.
Leading the News . . .
Other countries likely view U.S. as having 'a bunch of clowns in charge,' congressman says . . . The Missouri congressman says, "It shows a weakness of our leadership team with Harris and Biden." Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.) criticized the leadership of the Biden administration, saying that other countries have "got to look at us and say, 'Well, you've got a bunch of clowns in charge of your country right now.'" "It shows a
weakness of our leadership team with Harris and Biden," Luetkemeyer said on the "John Solomon Reports" podcast. "I think she's sitting there like a teenager, sort of laughing and chuckling and trying to hope that 'you don't ask me a really tough question and hope you think my smile and my little giggle here is going to get me off the hook.' Just the News
White House tells federal agencies to prepare return-to-work plans . . . The White House on Thursday lifted a cap on employees working in federal buildings and directed agencies to prepare plans to allow employees to return to work in-person. The move is the latest sign of conditions in Washington returning to normal as more and more people get vaccinated against COVID-19 in the United States. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
memo sent to agency heads directs them to complete plans for “reentry” by July 19 that detail when and how an increased number of employees can return to in-person work. The Hill
Maybe the apparatchiks ought to just stay at home and "telework." Better for all of us. Safer for the country.
Biden opens European tour with slap at Brits . . . The president is reviving the National Lampoon series on his trip to England for the G-7 summit. Like the Griswolds’ summer vacations, these trips are planned to the last detail, only for everything to go wrong. On Wednesday night, as President and Dr. Griswold bedded down on Air Force One, the British papers broke the story that Yael Lempert, the new American ambassador to the UK, had
issued Boris Johnson’s government with a demarche. A demarche is diplo-speak for putting your enemies on notice. Or, as in this case, insulting your closest ally and making a delicate situation worse. Last week, Lempert warned that Johnson and Brexit were “inflaming” tensions in Northern Ireland. She conditioned a US-UK trade deal on Britain surrendering to the European Union’s terms as Britain and the EU haggle out the details of their economic relationship. New York Post
Oy Vey!
Biden greets G-7 with global minimum tax push in hand . . . President Biden will meet with Group of 7 finance leaders on Friday, where they will make a push for global economic fairness through his proposed global minimum tax. The White House said in prepared remarks that leaders will endorse a "strong global minimum tax of at least 15%," after finance ministers reached an agreement on the policy last weekend. "This U.S. priority is
a critical step towards ending the decades-long race to the bottom that pushes nations to compete over who can offer the lowest tax rate to large corporations at the expense of protecting workers, investing in infrastructure, and growing the middle class," the White House said in a press release. Fox News
Al Gore lobbied Biden to not scale back climate plans in infrastructure deal . . . Former Vice President Al Gore reportedly urged President Biden in private to keep climate-focused policies in his expansive infrastructure bill as he struggles to shore up GOP support for the bill. Gore, an extremely prominent environmentalist, made the call to Biden last month after being encouraged to do so by former White House Chief of Staff John
Podesta. Gore also asked Biden to block the planned Byhalia Pipeline, which transport crude oil through predominantly Black neighborhoods in Memphis and could potentially affect drinking water. The former vice president also spoke to Biden aide Steve Ricchetti about climate and infrastructure. The
Hill
Kamala Harris snaps at Univision anchor while pressed on when she'll visit border: 'I'm not finished' . . . Vice President Kamala Harris had a tense exchange with Univision anchor Ilia Calderón over when she will visit the southern border. During an interview on Thursday, Calderón pressed Harris, who was assigned by President Biden to handle the border crisis, on how she herself has yet to make it down to the US-Mexico border to see the
migrant crisis in person. "I've said I'm going to the border," Harris told the anchor. "And I-" "When are you going to the border, Vice President?" Calderón asked during a remote interview. Fox News
The Partisan Bureaucracy . . . Would the IRS violate your privacy to further Democratic policy objectives? The lesson of this week’s leak of billionaires’ tax returns isn’t that taxes are too low, the rich should pay more or any of the other claims the leak was designed to support. The lesson is that Republicans must realize that Democrats are no longer their only political foe. They face an equally potent and dangerous federal
bureaucracy—committed to destroying GOP officials and propelling a liberal agenda. Opinion. Wall Street Journal
‘Hundreds’ of Whistleblowers Say Military Forcing ‘Anti-American Indoctrination’ on Them . . . Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) told Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on June 10 that “hundreds” of military whistleblowers have reported being forced to receive “anti-American indoctrination” training, including critical race theory (CRT). In a Senate hearing with Austin, Cotton claimed that within the military, there’s “plummeting morale, growing
mistrust between races and sexes where none existed just six months ago and unexpected retirements and separations based on these trainings alone.” One whistleblower, Cotton alleged, said that military history training was replaced with training about police brutality, “systemic racism,” and “white privilege.” Another said that his unit had to read “White Fragility” by feminist author and critical theory proponent Robin DiAngelo. In May, the Space Force confirmed it relieved Lt. Col.
Matthew Lohmeier, a former instructor and fighter pilot, as commander of the 11th Space Warning Squadron. Epoch Times
The other day, I had lunch with one of my DIA buddies who has recently retired. In his retirement, my friend, bravely blasted DIA leadership for insulting the entire US military with accusations of extremism, racism, and other garbage. My friend is a honorable American, a former missilier, who during the Cold War guarded U.S. nukes, sitting deep underground in a capsule, ready, if ordered, to unlock the keys, in order to protect America from the Russian nuclear
attack. He felt insulted by SECDEF Austin's 'woke' policies, poisoning US military and intelligence. I am proud of my former colleague.
Joint Chiefs Chairman Clarifies Biden Remark That Global Warming Is ‘Greatest Physical Threat’ To America . . . America’s top military officer said Thursday that China and Russia remain the greatest military threats to America after President Biden said that the Joint Chiefs told him that the greatest physical threat facing America was global warming. “Climate change does impact, but the president is looking at a much broader angle
than I am. I’m looking at it from a strictly military standpoint. And from a strictly military standpoint, I’m putting China, Russia up there,” Army Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a congressional panel Thursday morning. Daily Caller
Yep.
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Biden won’t build the wall, so Texas Gov. Abbott will . . . With President Biden having put a stop to construction of the border wall, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has decided to seize back common sense. “I will announce next week the plan for the state of Texas to begin building the border wall in the state of Texas,” Abbott said.
“The border crisis is no laughing matter,” he said. “It’s not a tourism site for members of Congress to visit and then return to D.C. and do nothing.” White House Dossier
You go, Sir!
Wray grilled on FBI's handling of Jan. 6 . . . FBI Director Christopher Wray was largely on the defensive Thursday as lawmakers and Democrats in particular picked apart the bureau's actions surrounding the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, as well as its approach to domestic extremists. Wray’s appearance before the House Judiciary Committee follows a report from senators investigating widespread failures across a number of intelligence and
law enforcement agencies ahead of the riot. The Hill
Jan. 6 video mystery: Senator asks about officer 'gesturing toward' doors as intruders file past . . . The top Republican on one of the Senate's most powerful investigative panels says video footage from the Jan. 6 riot shows more than 300 people gained unauthorized access to the Capitol through a single doorway, and he is demanding answers from the police officers who were nearby.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.), the top Republican on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, sent a letter late Thursday to U.S. Capitol Police Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman divulging the findings of his security footage review and asking whether the officers present during the episode have been interviewed. Just the News
Top CDC official warns US not ready for next pandemic . . . The number two official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning that without consistent, long-term funding of public health, the U.S. won't be any better prepared for the next pandemic. On Wednesday, Anne Schuchat, the CDC’s principal deputy director, said the U.S. was not prepared for COVID-19 due to years of inadequate investment in public health
infrastructure. Schuchat is set to retire this month after 33 years at the agency.
Well, why WOULD we be prepared? The mission of the country's readiness for national security disasters belongs to the government, right? What was the lady doing for 33 years in the bureaucracy? Perhaps if we didn't fund the Wuhan Lab's virus "research" with U.S. tax payers' money, we could have used some to prepare for fighting off pandemics? Just saying.
Biden Removes Chinese Military Tech Company from Blacklist . . . President Joe Biden issued an executive order dropping a ban on investment in a Chinese technology company known for its cooperation with the Chinese military and the surveillance of Uyghur Muslims. Sugon, a Chinese company blacklisted by the Trump administration in November 2020, did not appear on the updated blacklist of Chinese companies announced by the White House this
month. The United States had prohibited Americans from investing in Sugon over the company's sale of supercomputers to the Chinese military for nuclear weapons research. The company's cloud computing and facial recognition technology has reportedly been used for the surveillance of Uyghur Muslims. Washington Free
Beacon
Ransomware Attack Roiled Meat Giant JBS, Then Spilled Over to Farmers and Restaurants . . . While plants were closed, prices of beef and pork climbed and farmers sought new buyers for their livestock. Employees at the U.S. division of JBS, the world’s largest meat company, noticed something wrong in their computer systems over Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial kickoff for the busy summer grilling season. The culprit, a
ransomware attack, didn’t just hit its target—it roiled the U.S. food industry, from hog farms in Iowa to small-town processing plants and New York restaurants. The hack set off a domino effect that drove up wholesale meat prices, backed up animals in barns and forced food distributors to hurriedly search for new suppliers. The attack was the latest clash between cybercriminals and companies integral to the functioning of the U.S. economy. Wall Street Journal
Keith tells me I've got too much national security-related news in CTTN, probably because, as a former intel officer, this is my professional interest and passion. I can't do much about the Biden Administration's weakness that is provoking all kinds foreign adversaries and non-state actors to attack America. If you think CTTN is becoming overly focused on national security, at the expense of other important topics, please drop me an email. Thanks in advance for your
feedback.
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Russia fined Facebook, Telegram for unlawful content . . . Russia has fined social media platform Facebook and messaging app Telegram for not taking down content the government deems unlawful. Tt is unknown what content the apps failed to remove, but the Russian government has recently been going after content that is anti-government. Facebook was fined $236,000 and Telegram was fined $139,000. Russia has a long history
of speech suppression, including censoring social media and messaging platforms like Facebook, Telegram and Twitter. Russia went after social media companies early in the year as they were being used to organize protests for the arrest of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Putin has escalated his anti-Navalny actions to gain negotiated leverage over Biden during the upcoming summit on July 16. When Biden starts lecturing the Russian Spy Master about human rights, Putin may release Navalny from prison, like he did with Khodorkovsky. He will look magnanimous to the starry-eyed Western leaders while giving nothing to the U.S. in return.
We've got two jailed U.S. marines rotting in Russia, on trumped-up charges. Biden should bring these men back home. Unfortunately, having pegged this U.S. president as weak, Putin is unlikely to give in. Unless Washington releases a notorious Russian cyber criminal, who is 'not rotting' so much in an American jail. See, our leaders often care more about the human rights and sovereignty of foreign citizens and countries than those of our own.
Imagine that.
Iran to acquire Russian satellite for tracking Mid-East military targets . . . A Russian-made advanced Kanopus-V satellite able to track Israeli and US military targets across the Middle East will soon be in Iran’s hands. This was disclosed by the Washington Post on Friday, June 10 shortly before President Joe Biden was to meet Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Geneva. While the Kanopus-V is marketed for civilian use, leaders of Iran’s Islamic
Revolutionary Guards Corps have made several trips to Russia since 2018 to help negotiate the agreement. “This capability will allow Iran to maintain an accurate target bank, and to update that target bank within a few hours” every day, said a Russian official. DEBKAfile
In addition to the Russian Doctrine & Strategy, space warfare doctrine was my account at the Defense Intelligence Agency. While I can't provide detailed comments on this issue, Kanopus-V, and Russia's entire space order of battle present a major threat to the U.S., including our troop movements.
I can't tell you how many times I had debates with the Russia "experts" in the Intelligence Community, trying to convince them that civilian and military use of space assets, when it comes to the Russian Doctrine, is largely a false distinction. This similarly applies to the Russian Cyber Doctrine. I routinely faced the same type of obstinance and incompetence that likely drove the Biden Administration to conclude that Putin's recent cyber assault on
our burgers and gas pumps was staged by Russia-based hackers. These are the type of clowns who are 'safeguarding Amerca's security.
The Ruthless Hackers Behind Ransomware Attacks on U.S. Hospitals: ‘They Do Not Care’ . . . A ransomware attack on a national hospital chain nearly brought Las Vegas hospitals to their knees. Another attack in Oregon abruptly shut down alerts tied to patient monitors tracking vital signs. In New York, one county’s only trauma center briefly closed to ambulances, with the nearest alternative 90 miles away. Multiple attacks were carried out
in recent months against U.S. hospitals, suspending some surgeries, delaying medical care and costing hospitals millions of dollars. An Eastern European group known as Ryuk has hit at least 235 facilities, raking in more than $100 million. The Wall Street Journal tracked the most disruptive attacks to one group: a notorious gang of Eastern European cybercriminals once called the “Business Club,” with ties to Russian government security services, according to threat analysts and former
law-enforcement officials who closely follow Eastern European cybercrime operations. Wall Street Journal
How dare the WSJ contradict the Biden Administration's official conclusion that it was just 'Russia-based' hackers, who have nothing to do with Putin?! De-platform the WSJ for spreading misinformation!
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Fauci: Le Science, c’est moi . . . Mr, Fauci needs to have a thicker skin. He chose to be a public official, no doubt enjoys being a grand authority, and needs to understand that criticism comes with the territory. Instead, he chooses to attack his critics as anti-science because they disagree with him and they point out what they see as his inconsistencies. “A lot of what you’re seeing as attacks on me, quite frankly, are attacks on
science,” the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director told Meet the Press Daily on Wednesday. White House Dossier
Précisément! ;-)
Legal watchdog sues DNI, State Dept. for coronavirus origin documents . . . Two lawsuits seeking documents from the State Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on the origin of the COVID-19 virus have been filed. Judicial Watch announced the lawsuits Thursday, saying they were filed after document requests under the Freedom of Information Act had been ignored. The lawsuits are seeking all documents held
by intelligence agencies and cables from the State Department since 2017 on the Wuhan Institute of Virology, increasingly suspected as being a virus origin point. The group also wants documents related to intelligence on the virus origin. Washington Times
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The Biden economy: Inflation soars to highest rate in 13 years . . . The reasons for the growing and sustained, at least for now, inflation rate are complex and debatable. But there are a number of Biden administration policies that could be contributing to it, including massive government “stimulus” spending and wage increases caused by disincentives to work, like $300 weekly unemployment checks. Companies have to offer people more money
to get them back in the labor force, and the cost is passed on to consumers. Similarly contributing to labor costs is the nationwide drive backed by Democrats for a $15 minimum wage. Whether inflation will come down again or start to become a permanent feature, like it was in the 1970s before it was painfully driven out of the economy by Fed chief Paul Volker and his tight money policies, is anyone’s guess. U.S. consumer prices continued to climb strongly in May, surging 5% from a year
ago to reach the highest annual inflation rate in nearly 13 years. White House Dossier
Half of the pandemic's unemployment money may have been stolen by criminals, funneled out of the country . . . Unemployment benefits handed out by the federal government over this past year may have been largely stolen by criminals. As much as half of the coronavirus-related stimulus aid intended for people in the United States never reached them. Instead, it was pocketed by crime syndicates who mostly took the money and fled the
country. Haywood Talcove, the CEO of LexisNexis Risk Solutions, a company that provides predictive insights and fraud prevention, said most of those stolen funds, at least 70%, were then sent to criminal networks in other countries, including China, Nigeria, and Russia. Washington Examiner
Anything the government touches, turns into a pile of 💩.
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Eighth-grade girl blasts school board for policy that would allow 'boys into girls' locker rooms' . . . A 14-year-old in Virginia is speaking out about what she says is a sexist move by Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) to allow "boys into girls' locker rooms." The policy followed a previous one, 1040, that committed the county to providing an equitable, safe and inclusive working environment regardless of "sexual
orientation, gender identity" and other individual characteristics. The more recent proposed policy – 8350 – states in a draft that "students should be allowed to use the facility that corresponds to their gender identity." Grover is an eighth grader whose mom pulled her out of an LCPS school last year after seeing various controversial policies emerging. She is currently homeschooled. Fox News
Even for an eighth-grader, it's a no-brainer that boys have no business roaming around girls' bathrooms. Why do our politicians find it such a hard concept to grasp?
Former Vice President Mike Pence buys $1.93 million mansion in home state of Indiana . . . Former Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, purchased a 10,349-square-foot home for $1.93 million on the outskirts of Carmel, Indiana, at the end of May, according to property records. The seven-bedroom, seven-and-a-half bathroom residence sits on 5 acres with a "beautiful Dock looking onto the awesome pond." He declined to comment.
The home was listed on April 1 for $1.8 million. The sale price indicates the Pences offered more than the asking price and closed on the deal on May 25, according to property records. Fox Business
Poor Mike Pence is probably realizing that he ain't coming back to the Swampland, at least as future POTUS, any time soon.
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So-- you wanna homeschool your kid, huh? Read on for a list of reasons homeschooling may completely ruin your kid.
1. Homeschooling makes your children much more likely to grow up to become cisgender: Is that what you want, Mom and Dad? Another cis-normative oppressor making trans people feel unsafe?
2. If you homeschool, your child will miss out on up-to-date works of literature written by trans people of color: Do you really want them to settle for outdated works like The Bible?
3. Homeschool proms are really awkward.
4. Homeschooled girls will never experience the magic of sharing a locker room with a 6'4" trans woman named Larry: Don't let your kids miss out on this important life experience.
5. Homeschooled kids usually grow up to be really polite: This is not a very useful character quality for social revolutionaries.
6. They will miss out on delicious school lunches: Square pizza and ultra-pasteurized skim milk from a cardboard box? Scrumptious!
7. Children may learn that human beings have inherent value as made in God's image: Children who learn that their dignity comes from God and not race, class, or gender identity are not very useful for revolutionary Marxist social change-- er, we mean, a meaningful movement towards greater equity. Babylon Bee
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Rebekah Koffler
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