Cut to the News
Cut through the clutter to today's top news
June 15, 2021
Good morning
Welcome to today's top news.
Leading the News . . .
Sharing with you an Op-Ed that I have running today in Fox News. Also, I will be on Martha MacCallum's show tomorrow at 3:00 pm, speaking about the Biden-Putin Summit and other things-Russia. :-)
Ex-Defense Intelligence Agency Officer: Putin, Russia cyberattacks – get ready, there are many more on the way . . . Americans are already contending with the consequences of two major Russian cyberattacks, including gas shortages and price hikes due the Colonial Pipeline hack and potentially rising prices on steak and burgers after the JBS meat processing company was hit.
But get ready, because more is on the way. Moscow will likely further escalate its aggression against U.S. interests. U.S. officials, in charge of keeping America safe have not taken the Russian threat seriously enough. Because Russian President Putin’s goal is much bigger than the infliction of a few inconveniences. It is, rather, the unraveling of our society and the weakening of our nation, which Russia views as the primary threat against it. The Kremlin recently declared —
with typical intentional ambiguity — its intent to use "forceful measures," including "coercive use of force," "when necessary," against "unfriendly" countries. But this almost certainly refers to the United States. Fox News
Biden to NATO: Republican Party is ‘vastly diminished’ after Jan. 6 . . . President Biden said Monday that he‘s assured NATO allies that the Republican party is “vastly diminished,” and they need not fear a repeat of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“The Republican Party is vastly diminished in numbers, the leadership of the Republican Party is fractured, and the Trump wing of the party is the bulk of the party, but it makes up a significant minority of the American people,” he said at a press conference in Brussels. Washington Times
A very sad man.
Biden looking to build momentum for Putin meeting . . . President Biden is looking to build momentum heading into a highly anticipated meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. Biden has spent the last few days rallying allies in the Group of Seven (G-7) and NATO around the need to confront Russia and meeting privately with foreign leaders to gauge how he should approach his one-on-one with Putin. The communique
signed by G-7 leaders specifically called out Russia’s use of chemical weapons on its own soil, its aggression toward Ukraine and its crackdown on dissent. Biden raised Russia in each of his pull-aside meetings with fellow NATO leaders at Monday’s summit, and he has worked to carefully manage expectations for what can come out of the Putin meeting. The Hill
Biden allows 'less access than previous administrations' to US reporters during NATO summit . . . Frustrated U.S. reporters across several mainstream outlets called out President Biden on Monday for excluding them from a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the last minute, leaving them confused and forced to rely on Erdogan’s communications team for public updates. The move came just a day after Biden told reporters
during a press conference in the UK that he would "get in trouble" with his staff if he didn't wrap up his remarks. Fox News
Biden accused of violating royal protocol during visit with the Queen . . . President Biden is being slammed for violating royal protocol in his meeting with the Queen, after he couldn’t be bothered to take off his sunglasses when he greeted the monarch at Windsor Castle, and then went on to spill details to the press about what they discussed over tea. New York Post
Raised by wolves? I hope he didn't shake her hand, while wearing gloves. Thank goodness, it's summer.
Detained US marines' fates hang over Biden meeting with Putin . . . The families of two Americans and former Marines detained in Russia hope that the upcoming summit between President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin will be a step forward toward bringing their loved ones home. Trevor Reed, 29, and Paul Whelan, 51, have each been jailed in Russia for a combined five and a half years, detentions that their families and U.S.
officials maintain are unjust. Reed’s parents, Joey and Paula Reed expressed support for a prisoner swap that could bring their son home — something Putin himself has suggested he may be open to. The Hill
It's a dilemma. Exchanging the marines for high-value Russian criminals jailed in the U.S. will likely embolden Russia to snatch more Americans in Russia, if Putin's intelligence services could find a pretext. I hope Biden will find a way to bring these men home soon.
If you plan on traveling to Russia, please DO NOT bring your five passports, even if you are confused about what your nationality, citizenship, and loyalties really are.
Video || Biden’s worrying press conference in Brussels . . . President Biden’s foreign travel appears to have made him weary and more prone than ever to make gaffes. Remember, his finger is always on the nuclear button, whether he is tired or not. Here are
a few outtakes from his disastrous press conference following the NATO meeting in Brussels. White House Dossier
Trump releases list of claims he says he got right and media missed . . . Former President Donald Trump released a statement outlining several examples of claims that he says he was falsely maligned for and has now been vindicated on. In a pair of emails, Trump said he was “right about everything” leading up to the election and that legacy media outlets had disingenuously “lied” about his claims to make him look bad. Trump mentioned a
range of issues, including "hydroxychloroquine works;" “The Virus came from a Chinese lab;” “Hunter Biden’s laptop was real;” and the ‘Russian Bounties’ story was fake."
This is insane! Google must be censoring Trump-related information. I forgot to include the name of the source of the above article when I selected it. I was then trying to search for it and add a link. And I can't find it! If that is the case, it's totally Sovietesque.
Pompeo builds national profile with new political group . . . Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is launching an organization to support Republican candidates in the 2022 midterm elections and build his national political profile. Pompeo told POLITICO in a telephone interview that he was starting a political action committee that will allow him to travel the country and campaign, fundraise and donate to GOP office-seekers. The vehicle,
dubbed the Champion American Values PAC or CAVPAC, will be able to raise unlimited amounts of money and help candidates running for federal, state and local offices. Politico
Left demands Breyer retire after McConnell says he would not confirm Biden pick in 2024 . . . Ruth Bader Ginsburg hung on until the very end, and Amy Coney Barrett ended up replacing her. The Left is thinking they’ve seen this movie before. Some on the left are re-upping their calls for Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer to retire from the bench Monday after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would block a nominee from
President Biden in 2024 if Republicans are in the Senate majority. White House Dossier
Zuckerberg Millions Paid for Progressives to Work With 2020 Election Officials Nationwide . . . In the months leading up to November’s election, voting officials in major cities and counties worked with a progressive group funded by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and its allies to create ballots, strategically target voters, and develop “cure” letters in situations where mail-in ballots were in danger of being tossed out. The
Center for Tech and Civic Life provided millions of dollars in private funding for the elections that came from a $350 million donation from Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan. The Center for Tech and Civic Life gave “COVID-19 response” grants of varying amounts to 2,500 municipalities in 49 states. In exchange for the money, elections divisions agreed to conduct their elections according to conditions set out by the Center for Tech and Civic Life, which is led by former
members of the New Organizing Institute, a training center for progressive groups and Democratic campaigns. Daily Signal
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DOJ asks Supreme Court to revive Boston Marathon bomber death sentence . . . The Biden administration on Monday urged the Supreme Court to reinstate the death penalty against the Boston Marathon bomber in an apparent break with the president's stated opposition to capital punishment. In a 48-page brief, the Department of Justice (DOJ) asked the justices to reverse a Boston-based federal appeals court that vacated the death sentence for
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the lone surviving perpetrator of the 2013 attack. The Hill
Military Whistleblower Says Large BLM Flag Was Hung at US Naval Base in Africa . . . An alleged whistleblower who submitted a comment to Sen. Tom Cotton’s (R-Ark.) and Rep. Dan Crenshaw’s (R-Texas) offices said that while deployed in a combat zone in Africa, “a massive BLM flag, probably fifty feet long, by fifteen feet wide, had been hung from the third story of the barracks, draping over both the second and first rows
under it.” There were many service members that were wearing BLM t-shirts that sported additional BLM slogans, doo rags, and hats, all with BLM plastered on them. I am opposed to the BLM movement for many reasons, and seeing a constant reminder of this group daily, was offensive and distracting to me, especially in a combat zone,” the person said, adding that Black Lives Matter, to them, is a politically motivated group that “has no business” being advertised on a military installation. Epoch Times
FBI warns lawmakers of violence from QAnon conspiracy theorists . . . The FBI is warning lawmakers that QAnon conspiracy theorists may commit more acts of violence as the country grapples with the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Some of the conspiracy theory’s followers believe they "can no longer 'trust the plan'" established by the group’s standard-bearer, referred to as "Q," which is why they are changing their
strategies, according to an unclassified FBI threat assessment on QAnon sent to lawmakers last week. The Hill
Hmm.
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New Israel prime minister says renewing Iran nuclear deal 'mistake' . . . as US resumes negotiations, Israel says the 2015 deal, which US exited in 2018, fails to adequately protect it from Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapon. Naftali Bennett, Israel's new prime minister, says renewing the Iran nuclear deal is a "mistake." "Israel will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons and will maintain full freedom of action." Bennett's
statement echoes what predecessor Benjamin Netanyahu argued in 2015 when the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, commonly called the Iran nuclear deal, was negotiated. Just the News
But Joe Biden's -- excuse me, Barack Obama's - national security "experts" say JCPoA is good. Go figure.
Feds Investigating Chinese Spies’ Return to US Ahead of COVID Travel Ban . . . Intelligence officials are investigating why suspected Chinese spies returned to the United States on student and work visas at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to internal government documents reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon. Hundreds of Chinese nationals are the subject of a federal probe after law enforcement officials flagged their
travel at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chinese nationals returned to the United States earlier than expected in January 2020, often having modified their travel plans. Then-president Donald Trump signed an executive order restricting entry from non-citizens and residents from China on Jan. 31, 2020. Washington Free
Beacon
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Did anti-Trump bias blind science to evidence for COVID lab-leak theory? . . . Several public health experts and scientists have recently suggested scientific reluctance to investigate the hypothesis was due partly to Trump's embrace of the theory. They are signaling what could turn out to be a scandal among the U.S. scientific community: That many scientists last year opposed the COVID-19 "lab-leak" origin theory simply because
then-President Donald Trump had spoken favorably of it. Just the News
Pompeo has ‘high confidence’ Wuhan lab is linked to China’s military . . . Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he has “high confidence” in an assessment published by the State Department in January linking the controversial Wuhan Institute of Virology to the Chinese military. Mr. Pompeo, a former CIA director, was among the first government officials to press the case last year that the COVID-19 pandemic could have sprung from an
accident or viral escape from the Wuhan laboratory rather than naturally from an animal host. Washington Times
Vaccines Offer Significant Protection Against Covid-19 Delta Variant, U.K. Analysis Shows . . . Public health officials in the U.K. say they are increasingly confident that vaccines offer significant protection against the Delta variant of coronavirus, a hopeful sign as the highly transmissible strain spreads across the world. Separate studies from researchers in England and Scotland published Monday found that while protection against
infection was somewhat diminished against Delta compared with more established variants, two doses of vaccine offered considerable protection against severe illness and hospitalization. Wall Street Journal
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Your utility bill may rise as Biden pushes tax hikes . . . The federal corporate tax rate – which the Trump administration dropped from 35% to 21% – could jump to 28% if the Biden administration gets its way. Now, experts are warning that there could be some unintended consequences of the proposed tax hikes: higher utility bills. Fox Business
Climate czar Kerry wrong again: wind turbine plant to shut doors, 300 jobs lost . . . A major wind blade manufacturing plant is closing its doors in Aberdeen, South Dakota despite Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry claiming there would be plentiful jobs in the solar and wind turbine industries. Kerry made those claims just months ago as the Keystone Pipeline was nixed by President Joe Biden and many jobs were lost in the
coal and hydraulic fracturing markets. The Molded Fiber Glass company will shut its doors permanently in less than two months and roughly 300 jobs will be lost. Business & Politics Review
Why Express, Urban Outfitters and J.Crew Now Sell Items From All Over Online . . . Brands are opening up to third-party sellers to draw shoppers to their sites—and away from Amazon’s marketplace. That approach is an increasingly popular one as retailers like Express, Urban Outfitters and J.Crew Group look to benefit from listing products that are sold and shipped by other sellers. The goal is to increase the chances shoppers can find
what they need on the company’s site, boosting web traffic—and revenue—without veering too far off brand. Wall Street Journal
EU and US set to end Airbus-Boeing trade dispute after 17 years . . . The EU and US are poised to resolve a 17-year dispute over aircraft subsidies, lifting the threat of billions of dollars in punitive tariffs on their economies in a boost to transatlantic relations. Diplomats and officials confirmed on Monday night that two days of intensive negotiations in Brussels had left the EU and the Biden administration with a draft deal on subsidy
rules for Airbus and Boeing. The breakthrough is set to be finalised on Tuesday at US president Joe Biden’s first EU-US summit meeting in Brussels. Financial Times
Chinese Ride-Hail Firm Didi Expected to Raise Billions In US Listing Amid Increased Scrutiny . . . Chinese companies are going public on U.S. stock exchanges at a record pace this year. China’s ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing is the latest firm that’s poised to go public in New York, rebuffing an increased crackdown on U.S.-listed Chinese companies. Didi on June 10 filed a prospectus for its initial public offering (IPO), with a plan to
list its shares on either the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq. Dubbed “the Uber of China,” the company commands the largest market share in the country. It has a long list of prominent backers such as Tencent, Alibaba, Japan’s SoftBank, Toyota, and Uber. Epoch Times
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Trump confronts a skeptical book industry . . . The former president insists he has offers from two of the “most prestigious publishing houses.” None of the major five said they extended one. Trump didn’t reveal who the two publishers were. But in a statement on Monday afternoon to POLITICO, he insisted that “two of the biggest and most prestigious publishing houses have made very substantial offers which I have rejected.” Politico
Report: 40 Percent of Teachers Say Civics Education Should Focus On Critical Race Theory . . . More than 40 percent of teachers say civics education should be focused on critical race theory, according to a Heritage Foundation study released Monday.
The report found that 43 percent of teachers are familiar with critical race theory. Of those teachers, 55 percent supported the doctrine, which teaches that American institutions are inherently racist. Forty-one percent of teachers said civics education should focus on critical race theory, while 57.5 percent of teachers said critical race theory should be included in civics education. Parents were marginally less supportive of critical race theory compared to teachers. Washington Free Beacon
North Korean defector to US blasts woke Ivy League school she attended. . . A North Korean defector fears the United States' future "is as bleak as North Korea" after she attended one of the America's most prestigious universities. Yeonmi Park, 27, transferred to Columbia University from a South Korean university in 2016 and was deeply disturbed by what she found. "I expected that I was paying this fortune, all this time and
energy, to learn how to think. But they are forcing you to think the way they want you to think," Park said in an interview with Fox News. "I thought America was different but I saw so many similarities to what I saw in North Korea." She added that 'even North Korea was not this nuts.' Those similarities include anti-Western sentiment, collective guilt and suffocating political correctness. Fox News
American moms are taking a stand against Critical Race Theory: Devine . . . The sleeping giant of the American Mom has been awakened and is “filled with a terrible resolve,” as Japanese Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto once said of the United States after his country’s attack on Pearl Harbor. These mothers’ watershed moment is the hateful cult of “critical race theory” which is being shoved down their children’s throats under the guise of “equity”
and “anti-racism.” In reality, CRT is simply another version of a deadly old ideology that is Marxist and utopian in nature — only this time it seeks to divide people by race, rather than by class. Business & Politics Review
Liberal Activists Rebrand Sex Changes As ‘Gender-Affirming Medical Care’ To Bully State Officials Into Allowing The Mutilation Of Children . . . Liberal activists are rebranding sex change surgeries as “gender affirming medical care,” even when discussing these procedures for children. Former transgender people and conservative activists told the Daily Caller News Foundation that this is a deliberate effort to normalize the surgeries and make
them more accessible to children. Lawmakers have proposed at least 114 bills related to transgender issues as of June 2, according the LGBTQ activism organization GLAAD. Most media framing of these bills takes an activist approach rather than reporting the bills straightforwardly. Outlets use vague phrases like “gender affirming medical care” or “trans affirming medical care” instead of saying sex change surgery or gender transition surgery. Daily Caller
Child abuse and even worse. One possibly may be able to recover from child abuse. This stuff is irreversible and cannot be corrected if a kid grows up and decides that this 'transition' business was one big mistake. I have no problem with adults' decisions to mutilate themselves, but please, leave our kids alone.
YouTube Censors Video Of Uber Driver Assaulted In His Car . . . The Daily Caller’s Jorge Ventura sat down with Vincent Kang, an Uber driver who was assaulted by a mob in early May, and whose video of the assault has been censored by YouTube, despite other violent videos remaining untouched. Kang was assaulted May 9 in Morgantown, West Virginia, while waiting for his passengers. He got caught in the middle of a street fight between two
groups of people and was repeatedly beaten while buckled into his seat. Daily Caller
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Woman posts ‘My Cat Is A Thief’ sign next to her pet’s stolen items . . . She’s a cat burglar. An Oregon woman devised an unorthodox way to pay penance for her thieving feline — by posting a sign asking neighbors to reclaim items snatched by her klepto kitty, Esme. “The neighbors in my community know where to look for their stuff,” Beaverton’s Kate Felmet, 50, told Today of the marker, which reads “my cat is a thief” alongside a
picture of Esme clutching a glove in her mouth. Dangling from a clothesline next to it are gloves and other pilfered belongings, which Felmet encourages the rightful owners to take back. She had previously returned the items during door-to-door “apology rounds,” Insider reported.
Esme’s scavenging spree began in the summer of 2019, when she began bringing birds and pieces of trash back to the house as gifts. Then, at the start of the pandemic, the cat klepto started curating her collections by retrieving discarded masks like a furry Bowerbird. Esme reportedly amassed as many as 11 face covers in one day at the height of her PPE pilfering run. New York Post
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Rebekah Koffler
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