Cut to the News
Cut through the clutter to today's top news
March 5, 2021
Good morning
Welcome to today's top news.
Leading the News . . .
Psaki Declines Setting Date for Solo Biden Press Conference Amid Mounting Pressure . . . White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Wednesday declined to outline when President Joe Biden will hold his first solo press conference, despite mounting pressure and calls for him to do so. More than 40 days into his presidency, Biden has come under increasing media spotlight for not holding a traditional open news conference—the longest stretch of
any president over the last century. In contrast, his 15 predecessors held solo press briefings within 33 days of their respective presidencies. Former president Donald Trump took questions after 27 days in office, while Barack Obama held a formal press conference 20 days into his first term. Epoch Times
Kamala Harris speaks to Benjamin Netanyahu . . . According to the White House, “Vice President Kamala Harris spoke today by phone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, and underscored the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to the U.S.-Israel partnership." What is going on here? This is the fourth major world leader Harris has spoken to. Macron, Trudeau, Morrison of Australia, and now Netanyahu. At least
Bibi has already talked with President Biden, although the call was quite delayed in a show of Biden’s distaste for the Israeli prime minister. But what’s odd is that, with Biden a not-particularly-robust 78, they are giving her this kind of role and experience. White House Dossier
The careful art of hiding Biden . . . Journalists, news organizations and maybe even the American public are quietly wondering why President Biden maintains such a low-key presence in one the most high-profile positions in the world. Mr. Biden has yet to give a solo press conference and has taken few questions. He also has not given the traditional presidential address before a joint session of Congress, a task accomplished by his predecessors
by late February. Some have wondered about this for a while. “Is the Biden campaign trying to hide the real Joe Biden? A campaign based on nostalgia and name recognition may be masking more serious problems with the candidate himself,” wrote Tina Nguyen, a reporter for Vanity Fair, on May 28, 2019. “He really has not been available,” Fox News morning host Steve Doocy told his audience Thursday. Washington Times
You've got to get out of the basement, Joe.
IRS paid $3 billion in interest to taxpayers because of late refunds . . . The Internal Revenue Service expects taxpayers to pay their taxes on time — and it also holds itself accountable for sending out late tax refunds. Last year, the agency sent out $3 billion in interest to taxpayers whose refunds were delayed, up 50% from the prior year. That's according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office, which assessed the
IRS' performance last year during the coronavirus pandemic and outlined some risks to the 2021 tax season. The reason for the surge in interest payments due to late refunds is tied to the coronavirus outbreak, which caused a backlog of paper tax returns and prompted the IRS to delay the tax filing season by three months. CBS News
Connecticut Lifting Most COVID Restrictions On Businesses . . . Democratic Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont announced Thursday the state would be rolling back a number of COVID-19 restrictions on businesses and recreation in the coming weeks. Lamont cited falling case numbers and increasing vaccinations in his announcement, which said restaurants, retail outlets, libraries, personal services, indoor recreation, gyms, museums, offices, and
houses of worship will all have their capacity limits fully lifted beginning March 19. The state will keep its mask mandate in place, and bars that only serve beverages will remain shut down. Daily Caller
Major stores will still enforce mask mandates in Texas and Mississippi despite lifted regulations . . . Major stores in Texas and Mississippi will still implement mask mandates in stores, despite recent moves from both states to scrap coronavirus regulations. Walgreens, CVS, Kroger, Target, Macy's, and Aldi announced they would continue to require face coverings amid loosening laws in the two Republican-led states. Many of the businesses
deferred to CDC guidance, which states individuals "should wear a mask, even if you do not feel sick." Target and Macy's said that previous face-covering mandates in stores will not change. Washington Examiner
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GOP Sen. Ron Johnson forces Senate to read all 628 pages of Biden's COVID bill . . . Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) is forcing Senate floor staff to read aloud the entire Democratic coronavirus relief bill, delaying a final vote on the legislation. Typically, the Senate waives the full reading of bills or amendments. But Johnson argued it would give senators time to craft amendments and for Americans to learn the
details of the legislation. Johnson, who is up for reelection in a state narrowly won by Biden, is taking a two-pronged approach to his hardball tactics: First, he’s forcing the Senate clerks to read the entire piece of legislation and then, he wanted Republicans to sign up for shifts so they could potentially force hundreds of amendment votes. "... So, so often we rush these massive bills that are hundreds, if not thousands, of pages long. You don't have time. Nobody has
time to read them," Johnson said on Thursday. The Hill
Way to go. It's time for politicians to read their own legislation proposals.
Biden forced to send senior aides to the border as children pour over it . . . After denying that there is a crisis at the border, the Biden White House is acting like there is a crisis at the border and is dispatching top aides to see what the heck to do about it.
According to Fox News, President Biden has ordered senior members of his team to visit the southern border and report back to him on how to handle the recent influx of migrant children, a White House spokesman said Thursday. White House Dossier
Biden Labor Board Blocks Construction Workers From Union Exodus . . . The Biden administration is blocking the exits for construction workers who unanimously voted to cut ties with their union. The National Labor Relations Board refused to allow a group of Indiana workers to hold a vote that would decertify their representation with the local carpenters' union despite the group's unanimous support for cutting ties. The group of workers
submitted the request to the regional NLRB, which blocked the attempt to decertify. The board's lawyers allege that the workers are engaging in "bad faith" bargaining, according to the case filing. Indiana is a right-to-work state, meaning the state allows employees to work without requiring union membership, but the board is blocking the vote under federal law on the grounds of bad faith bargaining. Washington Free Beacon
Living behind the Iron Curtain, when the totalitarian socialist government didn't allow its citizens to travel abroad, we had a joke that went something like this 'it cost one Rouble to get in (the USSR) and a hundred to get out.' No one, of course, had a hundred roubles of spare money.
Psaki defends Biden “Neanderthal” comment about Texas and Mississippi . . . White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki Thursday argued that President Biden was only saying that there was evidence of Neanderthal “behavior” in Texas and Mississippi.
Yeah, that’s not a distinction they would use of someone said a Democrat was acting like jerk. They’d say they were calling him – or her – a jerk. But Biden was frustrated and exasperated, like “many American people.” So I gather he has a right to call names and not apologize for it and pretend that he wants bipartisanship. White House Dossier
Cuomo advisers altered report on coronavirus nursing-home deaths: WSJ . . . Top advisers to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo influenced state health officials to remove data from a public report that showed coronavirus-related nursing-home deaths in the state had exceeded numbers previously acknowledged by the administration, a bombshell report by The Wall Street Journal says.
The final report focused only on nursing-home residents who died inside those facilities and did not include nursing-home residents who were transferred to hospitals after becoming sick. That means the state’s reported tally of 6,432 nursing-home resident deaths was significantly lower than the actual nursing-home death toll, sources with knowledge of the state report’s preparation told the newspaper. Fox News
Kissinger suggests Biden keep Trump's 'brilliant' Middle East policy . . . "We were just at the beginning of it," the former secretary of state said of what he considers good Middle East policy under Trump. Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger is suggesting the Biden administration continue with former President Trump's Middle East policy, which he called "brilliant." "I think that one of the great successes of the
previous administration was ... they had achieved two things in the Middle East," Kissinger said Tuesday in a speech. "One, to separate the Palestinian problem from all of the other problems so that it did not become a veto over everything else. "Secondly, of lining up the Sunni states in actual or potential combination against the Shiite states, which is Iran, that was developing a capacity to threaten them," he continued. "I think that this was a brilliant concept," Kissinger also
said. Just the News
Trump Brands Former Campaign Advisor Karl Rove a ‘RINO’ After Strategist Criticized Him . . . Donald Trump issued a lengthy statement on March. 4 returning criticism to Republican strategist Karl Rove after the adviser offered criticism of Trump’s first formal speech since leaving office. Rove, who served as George W. Bush’s chief strategist, penned an opinion article in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday in which he said that Trump’s
speech last Sunday to the CPAC was wanting. The former Trump 2020 campaign adviser also wrote of so-called “muted enthusiasm” for the former president, noting that in a straw poll of CPAC participants, only 68 percent wanted Trump to run for president again in 2024, while 32 percent did not want him to run or had no opinion. In a lengthy statement issued by Trump’s office in Palm Beach, Florida, on Thursday, Trump branded Rove a “Rino—Republican In Name Only. Epoch Times
Growing up in the USSR, there was a lot of bulling (including physical). My father would teach me, before I was heading out to school in the morning: "If someone hits you, you must hit them back so hard, that they don't come away thinking it was too little." Here's the original version for those who read Russian: "Дай сдачи так, чтобы мало не показалось." I have always thought that former President Trump must have attended my Dad's school of warfare.
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Alarm over voting machines using wireless technology dismissed . . . A federal elections panel recently adopted new voting equipment standards despite an outcry from cybersecurity professionals who warned that the changes will leave America’s digitized ballot boxes more vulnerable to hacks. The new standards from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, which lawmakers also protested, did not prohibit embedding wireless communications
hardware into voting machines as long as it is turned off. The prospect of a flip of a switch opening wireless access to the ballot box exacerbates widespread fears that the U.S. voting system is not safe or reliable. Two dozen cybersecurity, computer science and election integrity professionals organized by the nonprofit Free Speech for People wrote to the commission to warn that the public’s faith in voting would crater further if the commission allows the wireless technology, such
as wireless radios, chips and modems, which are more capable of connecting to the internet. Washington Examiner
Intelligence community investigates links between lawmakers, Capitol rioters . . . The intelligence community is investigating any links between lawmakers and rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, a U.S. official told CNN. The investigation so far has found that some alleged rioters had associations with lawmakers or direct contact with them before Jan. 6, but there has been no evidence that lawmakers were involved in the riot
or personally helped any of the rioters. Authorities have been able to arrest hundreds of those involved in the riot and continue to arrest those who stormed the Capitol. But officials are going to start focusing on those who planned the attack, who funded them and what connection, if any, lawmakers had. The Hill
House Dems, QAnon confounded as rumored Capitol rebellion fizzles . . . House Democrats and QAnon conspiracy theorists now share one thing in common: Both made predictions for Thursday that didn’t come true. House lawmakers fled the gated fortress that has become the U.S. Capitol, canceling sessions for Thursday and Friday over Internet rumors that QAnon supporters were planning to storm the building. QAnon believers, meanwhile, were
left scrambling to figure why their expectations that former President Donald Trump would return to power Thursday fizzled. Washington Times
FireEye finds evidence Chinese hackers exploited Microsoft email app flaw since January . . . Cybersecurity group FireEye on Thursday night announced it had found evidence that hackers had exploited a flaw in a popular Microsoft email application since as early as January to target groups across a variety of sectors.
FireEye analysts had observed the hackers — who Microsoft announced earlier this week were a Chinese state-sponsored hacking group known as “Hafnium” — exploiting vulnerabilities in Microsoft’s Exchange Server email program to target at least one FireEye client beginning in January. Since then, FireEye found evidence that the hackers had gone after an array of victims, including “US-based retailers, local governments, a university, and an engineering firm,” along with a Southeast Asian
government and a Central Asian telecom. The Hill
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Iraq gets ready for Pope’s historic first visit . . . This weekend’s visit by Pope Francis, the first papal visit to a Middle Eastern country devastated by sectarian violence since the US-led invasion in 2003, has been hailed by head of one of Christianity’s oldest congregations Cardinal Louis Sako as a chance to celebrate Iraq’s rich religious diversity and to underline the importance of tolerance. “Inside the Pope’s heart, I
feel there’s a sort of a call to come to a region that’s in flames,” said Sako, speaking as Iraqis smarten up churches, archaeological sites and even a stadium, all locations where Francis will deliver a rare message of hope. But the trip, the first by a head of state to Iraq for years and the Pope’s first overseas trip during the pandemic, has also sparked concern about security and the spread of coronavirus in a country that this week saw caseloads hit a record high. Financial Times
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Google Crushed Many Digital Ad Rivals. But a Challenger Is Rising. . . Alphabet Inc.’s Google has crushed almost all its competitors in the world of digital-advertising technology. But one rival is emerging as the best hope to challenge the tech giant—if it manages to keep up its momentum. The Trade Desk Inc., which specializes in helping companies buy online ads across publishers’ websites, did what others failed at:
eating into Google’s share of the market. While Google dominates that area of ad-buying with about 40% of the business, Trade Desk is up to nearly 8% and its share is growing faster than Google’s, according to ad-tech consulting firm Jounce Media. Trade Desk has made inroads versus Google by investing in online advertising segments like audio and streaming TV where Google hadn’t already cornered the market. Wall Street Journal
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Biden Attorney General Nom Pleads Ignorance on Gun Control Limits . . . President Biden's pick for the top law enforcement post in America told the Senate that he is uninformed about important gun issues, as he faces what could be a close confirmation vote. Merrick Garland told Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) he was unfamiliar with key gun policy areas in written answers made public Wednesday night. He said he did not
know enough about the topic to say whether Biden could unilaterally deny gun sales by permanently delaying background checks. "I am unfamiliar with this issue and cannot offer an opinion on that question," Garland said of the unilateral AR-15 ban, something Biden promised to make law during his campaign. If confirmed to be the next attorney general, Garland would advise President Biden on if and how he can pursue gun-related executive actions. Washington Free Beacon
Another Swampland creature who doesn't appear to be qualified to do the job he is being hired to do.
Track Athlete Resists Being Forced to Compete Against Biological Males . . . Alanna Smith, a high school track athlete from Connecticut, has been forced to compete against biological males who say they identify as females. In her state, two biological males have won 15 championship titles in girls track, depriving Smith and other girls of medals, athletic opportunities, and potential scholarships. Smith and three other female competitors
in high school track are taking a stand for fairness in girls and women’s sports. They filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Connecticut policy that allows transgender students to compete in girls athletics. The four young women are being represented by lawyers at the Christian legal nonprofit Alliance Defending Freedom. The Trump administration had supported the lawsuit, however, the Biden administration’s Justice Department and Education Department withdrew that support last week. Daily Signal
Canceled by Amazon: Clarence Thomas, Michael Brown documentaries, books on gender top growing list . . . Amazon, the online retailer founded by liberal billionaire Jeff Bezos, has developed a reputation for canceling content that doesn’t coincide with progressive politics. In recent memory Amazon has removed books from its online store, used its web services to deplatform a social media app popular with conservatives an even blocked a
film about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas from its streaming service. Fox News
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' Emotional support peacock' barred from United Airlines flight . . . A prominent Brooklyn artist ruffled some feathers at Newark Liberty International Airport when she attempted to board a United Airlines flight to Los Angeles with her emotional support animal - a rescue peacock named Dexter. The passenger, critically acclaimed Bushwick-based photographer and performance artist Venitko, had reportedly offered to pay a second seat to
accommodate Dexter. She stressed that she had a right to bring him on board as her emotional support animal, as her feathered friend perched on top of the artist's luggage cart. The airline denied her request to bring the large bird on board the flight. "This animal did not meet guidelines for a number of reasons, including its weight and size," Andrea Hiller said in a statement. "We explained this to the customer on three separate occasions before they arrived at the
airport." NZ Herald
It's a beautiful-looking bird on the photos. (This piece is from a couple years ago but I thought you'd like it.)
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Rebekah
Rebekah Koffler
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