Cut to the News
Cut through the clutter to today's top news
April 9, 2021
Good morning
Welcome to today's top news.
White House Dossier Virtual Happy Hour today at 6 PM Eastern . . .
Please join me today for our White House Dossier Virtual Happy Hour! You are welcome to bring a friend. :-) A link to a video-conferencing platform will be sent at 4:00 PM Eastern.
Given that President Biden’s nemesis, “killer” Putin, is hitting the news again, I thought it would be appropriate to give our Cut to the News and White House Dossier readers a preview of my upcoming book, “ Putin’s Playbook: Russia’s Secret Plan to Defeat America,”
which will be released this summer, on July 27.
We will chat about many things Russia: Putin’s motivations for Russia’s anti-American strategy, what drives Russia’s persistent cyberattacks on US government and corporate networks, the root cause of US-Russian disagreements, and why Putin authorized Russia’s intervention in our presidential elections in 2016 and 2020.
Get ready to share views, present ideas, and ask questions.
Given the grim topic, I trust you have stocked up liberally on “refreshments.” Russian Stolichnaya (or Stoli), Polish potato vodka Luksusowa, or a Lady Gaga bubbly ;-)) - anything will work! Can't wait to hear what you are drinking today. The winner of our WHD contest for the best toast will receive a secret gift. :-)
Looking forward to a libation to Liberty!
Rebekah
Number of COVID Vaccine Injuries Surpasses 50,000, CDC Data Show . . . Data released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the number of injuries and deaths reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) following COVID vaccines revealed steadily rising numbers, but no new trends. VAERS is the primary mechanism for reporting adverse vaccine reactions in the U.S. Reports submitted to VAERS require
further investigation before a causal relationship can be confirmed. Every Friday, VAERS makes public all vaccine injury reports received to the system as of Friday of the previous week. Current data show that between Dec. 14, 2020, and March 26, a total of 50,861 total adverse events were reported to VAERS, including 2,249 deaths — an increase of 199 over the previous seven days — and 7,726 serious injuries, up 631 over the same time period. Of the 2,249 deaths reported as of March
26, 28% occurred within 48 hours of vaccination, 19% occurred within 24 hours and 43% occurred in people who became ill within 48 hours of being vaccinated. In the U.S., 136.7 million COVID vaccine doses had been administered as of March 26. Children's Health Defense
My take away from the Vaxxed Out Episode on Fox Nation is this: the vaccine is safe for the majority of people but may not be for a small minority, such as young healthy people who already have had COVID but were asymptomatic. The brave doctor who was interviewed by Tucker Carlson for this program was willing to go on the record with very strong and clear argumentation, despite the fact that
his views did not clearly align with the conventional wisdom. His recommendation is that prior to being vaccinated, young healthy people should get an anti-bodies test first. Only then, if necessary, they should get the vaccine.
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Trump faces test of power with early endorsements . . . Former President Trump’s endorsements pose a test for him ahead of 2022 as he looks to flex his political muscle after leaving office. The former president has thrown support behind conservative figures who have been particularly loyal to Trump, including Alabama Senate candidate Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) and Arkansas gubernatorial candidate Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
Trump made his latest endorsements on Thursday, formally throwing his support behind one of his staunchest defenders, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) — who has yet to formally announce whether he is running for reelection — as well as Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). “As they’re looking at candidates, they’re trying to reshape the Republican Party away from what a lot would call a corporatist approach and more towards this America First approach,” said former Trump administration official Alexei
Woltornist. Despite losing his reelection battle in November, Trump continues to be seen as a leading figure within the party. The Hill
Illegal border crossings at the highest point in 15 years . . . “More than 172,000 people attempted to come across the border from Mexico illegally in March, marking the highest monthly total in 15 years and five times greater than the amount seen last March at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. “Biden’s first 100 days have been overtaken by the situation at the border, which Republicans have unsuccessfully urged him to declare a
“crisis.” Biden has yet to visit the southern border since moving into the White House and has been focused on economic recovery and infrastructure as the government rolls out coronavirus vaccines nationwide. White House Dossier
President Biden on the Second Amendment: 'No amendment is absolute' . . . President Biden on Thursday, in rolling out a set of executive orders on gun control, said "no amendment is absolute," while maintaining that "nothing" he is recommending "impinges" on the Second Amendment. "Nothing, nothing I am about to recommend in any way impinges on the Second Amendment," the president said, calling arguments suggesting that
those constitutional rights are at stake "phony." "No amendment, no amendment to the Constitution is absolute," he said. "You can’t yell 'fire' in a crowded movie theater — recall a freedom of speech. From the very beginning, you couldn’t own any weapon you wanted to own. From the very beginning that the Second Amendment existed, certain people weren’t allowed to have weapons." Fox News
Once the leftist radicals limit the Second Amendment, the next 'logical' step they will likely take is to abolish the First Amendment. They already have made significant strides in that direction. Having dismantled the First and the Second, nothing will stop the government from depriving its citizens of the rest of our rights and freedoms. George Orwell describes very clearly how this story ends. No American should tolerate such a monumental slide of our
country towards totalitarianism.
Biden Gun Speech Filled With Falsehoods . . . President Biden made numerous false and misleading statements while unveiling a package of gun-control actions on Thursday. Biden falsely described how federal firearm laws work as he called for Congress to amend those laws. He pushed the Senate to pass H.R. 8, which would ban private gun sales unless done through a licensed dealer, by claiming there is a special exemption for sales made at
gun shows. "Most people don't know, you walk into a store and you buy a gun you have a background check," Biden said in his speech at the White House. "But you go to a gun show, you can buy whatever you want and no background check." Most people do not know what the president said because it is not true. Federal law does not regulate gun sales based on where they occur. Instead, it regulates them based on who is involved in the sale. Washington Free Beacon
Biden Administration backs away from threat to boycott Beijing Olympics . . . The Biden administration sought Wednesday to tamp down speculation it is considering a boycott of next year’s Winter Olympics in China, amid growing pressure from human rights groups and the threat of a “forceful” response from Beijing if Washington tries to rally countries to pull out of the Games. White House Dossier
Oops! We’re sorry! Hope no one was offended! Please keep making iPhones cheaply and sending us low-priced toxic junk. Thank you.
Capitol Police watchdog: Agency failed to respond to 'long-standing issues' ahead of riots . . . A government watchdog found U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) was supplied with aging equipment and failed to follow up on additional intelligence head of the Jan. 6 attack. "One thing that is clear from the report is that many of the problems that contributed to the 6th were long-standing issues the department either knew and did not address in time
or did not address on a routine manner to prevent," according to a summary from the Office of Inspector General within USCP.
The report specifically highlights intelligence from the Department of Homeland Security sent to the agency on Dec. 21 warning of online chatter discussing the Capitol tunnels. The Hill
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'Foreign cybercriminals' hack Major DC insurance provider . . . CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield’s Community Health Plan District of Columbia (CHPDC) suffered a data breach carried out by what it described as a “foreign cybercriminal” group in January that potentially impacted sensitive data, the company told customers this week. The breach had taken place Jan. 28. The company said that it had notified both the FBI and the Office of
the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, and was working with cybersecurity group CrowdStrike in responding to the security incident. After analysis, CHPDC assessed the attack was likely carried out by a “sophisticated, foreign cybercriminal enterprise,” and that it was too early to say how many customers had been affected or what data was taken. The Hill
Putin upset over Biden's killer comments, moves 28,000 Russian troops to Ukraine border . . . Vladimir Putin was reportedly so angered when President Joe Biden called him a "killer" in his first sit-down interview after taking office, the Russian president left his quarantine, got a COVID vaccination and moved 28,000 Russian troops to the border with Ukraine. "It was really a shock. And it changed his behavior a lot," argues Pavel
Baev, a senior researcher at Norway’s International Peace Research Institute in Oslo. Russian Bear bombers went into action, forcing NATO to scramble 10 jets to intercept the Russian warplanes flying over the North Atlantic Ocean last week, a rare show of force near the Arctic. By testing the American and NATO response time with hypersonic weapons tests in the Arctic, a military build-up on the border with Ukraine, Putin is goading the White House to respond, putting Biden on
notice with a figurative "Your move, Joe!" Fox News
Respectfully non-concur with Pavel's assessment that Biden's "killer" comment changed Putin's behavior. An astute strategist and observant tactician, Putin simply is taking steps to achieve Russia's long-standing strategic goals during the window of opportunity presented to him by a weak US Presidency. Biden's "killer" comment simply served as a trigger and was exploited by the Judo-loving KGB Operative to launch a provocation that serves his agenda.
Biden administration plans show of force in Black Sea amid Russia buildup . . . The Biden administration is reportedly poised to send Navy ships into the Black Sea in a show of force supporting Ukraine amid a buildup of Russian troops along that country's border and Moscow's further militarization of the Crimean Peninsula. Russia began massing troops along the border and into Crimea, which it seized from Ukraine in 2014. Claiming it is
conducting military exercises, the United States may just do the same. “We have been routinely operating inside the Black Sea," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday. Kirby said he could not provide any operational specifics in the region, but a media report indicates a plan to send warships into the Black Sea is underway. Washington Examiner
Neither Washington, nor Moscow want a direct force-on-force confrontation because both understand very well the unacceptably high risk, associated with an outright war between the two nuclear superpowers. At today's WHD Virtual Happy Hour, we can talk about potential pathways to such a war.
Biden administration ready to cave to Iran . . . The Biden administration is preparing to lift sanctions against Iran in order to restart the Iran nuclear deal, which lets Iran have nuclear weapons – it just takes a little longer. “We are prepared to take the steps necessary to return to compliance with the JCPOA, including by lifting sanctions that are inconsistent with the JCPOA. I am not in a position here to give you chapter and
verse on what those might be,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters. White House Dossier
Revving up the money supply for terrorists. Money not used for terrorists can go to secret work on the nuclear weapons program.
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Britain's Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth, dies aged 99 . . . Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth who played a leading figure in the British royal family for almost seven decades, has died aged 99, Buckingham Palace said on Friday. The Duke of Edinburgh, as he was officially known, had been by his wife’s side throughout her 69-year reign, the longest in British history, during which time he earned a reputation for a
tough, no-nonsense attitude and a propensity for occasional gaffes. “It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh,” the palace said in a statement. Reuters
Under Biden's Admin, U.S.-Russian Relations Will Only Get Worse . . . U.S.-Russian relations are likely to get much worse. Russian President Vladimir Putin has defined his country’s interests in ways that are incompatible with the interests of the United States and its European allies. Putin considers the spread of democracy to be a threat to his regime and believes that having vulnerable neighbors, such as Ukraine, enhances Russian security. The
incoming U.S. president's goals for the U.S.-Russian relations are largely unachievable. The SolarWinds hack, Russian election interference, the conflict in Ukraine, and the poisoning and arrest of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny are just some of the issues that will hinder any return to a more positive U.S.-Russian relationship. But ever since Putin first became president more than 20 years ago, the bigger issue has been the clashing ambitions that U.S. and Russian leaders
have for the world and especially for Europe. Moscow’s and Washington’s conflicting visions will be on full display in the Biden years. Foreign Affairs
SECDEF Austin will meet with Europe, Israel officials amid heightened tensions with Russia, Iran . . . Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will travel to Europe to meet with U.S. allies as tensions increase over Russia’s decision to mobilize troops on the border with Ukraine. The top defense official on Saturday will meet with government and military counterparts in Germany, the United Kingdom, and at the NATO headquarters in
Belgium before traveling to Israel. Austin will address ". . . the United States’ commitment to deterrence and defense, burden sharing, and enduring trans-Atlantic security," the Pentagon said in a statement Thursday. Russia’s aggressive actions over the last week have prompted backlash from both NATO officials and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The White House expressed their concerns Thursday, saying Russia’s actions were "deeply concerning." Fox News
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China could use bitcoin as 'financial weapon against US': eter Thiel . . . Tech investor and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel believes China can use the cryptocurrency Bitcoin as a "financial weapon" against the U.S. Thiel is also the co-founder of Palantir, a data software company that has hundreds of millions of dollars worth of contracts with the U.S. and foreign governments that use its technology for
law-enforcement purposes. Palantir said in an August 2020 SEC filing that it does not "work with the Chinese communist party and have chosen not to host our platforms in China, which may limit our growth prospects." The Chinese "don’t like the U.S. having this reserve currency, because it gives us a lot of leverage over Iranian oil supply chains and all sorts of things like that," Thiel said Tuesday at the Nixon Seminar on Conservative Realism and National Security. Fox Business
How Wall Street Took Over Our Economy . . . Wall Street moves around billions, if not trillions of dollars every day. But the way companies are managing their assets may only be helping shareholders and stock prices without creating much real-world value, according to a recent study by the American Compass.
American Compass executive director Oren Cass found in a firm-level analysis of business investment that money once allocated to productive assets — including capital, wages and intellectual property — is mainly being diverted to shareholders. The report concluded that prioritizing these short-term payouts to investors over long-term investment is hindering growth and worsening inequality. Daily Caller
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Tik Tok censors PragerU . . . Tik Tok has permanently banned PragerU from its platform for "multiple violations" of their community guidelines. This is blatant censorship. Tell Tim Tok to reinstate PragerU. Sign and share the petition to help PragerU fight back against Big Tech censorship! PragerU Tweet
NARA online presidential library to revive Trump’s censored tweets, Twitter says 'No' . . . On Wednesday, the National Archives and Records Administration confirmed that they are working to create an online archive where former President Trump’s personal tweets will be made publicly available, even as Twitter declared that they are still banned from their platform. NARA claims to have a close working relationship with Twitter
but when it comes to Trump’s tweets, things are complicated due to the social media platform’s censorship of the former president. “NARA intends to provide public access to all captured and preserved Presidential Record social media, including any blocked or deleted tweets that have been transferred to us,” a National Archives spokesperson remarked in a statement. Only the National Archives will be sharing Trump’s more than 26,000 tweets. Business & Politics Review
Censorship is a characteristic of a totalitarian state. No American should not tolerate a typical Putin's Playbook feature in a free country.
Gaetz's female staffers defend boss amid DOJ probe . . . Female aides in embattled GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz's (Fla.) office are coming to his defense as the congressman faces a Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation over allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a minor and sex trafficking laws. The staffers said Gaetz has acted professionally in their presence and that they have not seen the GOP lawmaker act inappropriately, and
they stand by him. The statement was not signed by any staffers, and it did not specify how many women in Gaetz's office had signed off on it. It was signed by "the women of the office of U.S. Congressman Matt Gaetz." The Hill
Liberal media largely silent after two shootings within 24 hrs involving former NFL players, 7 total dead . . . Two separate deadly shootings within 24 hours of each other involving former National Football League players barely registered with most major media outlets, leaving some to speculate that the killings did not fit certain political narratives. In one, Phillip Adams, who played cornerback for six seasons (2010-2015) with six
different teams, was identified as the one who allegedly shot and killed five people in Rock Hill,, S.C. before shooting himself, according to reports.
A seventh-round pick in 2010 by the San Francisco 49ers, Adams, 32, went on to play with the New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks, Oakland Raiders, New York Jets, and, finally, the Atlanta Falcons. Business & Politics Review
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Army captain runs a mile in bomb disposal suit for world record . . . A U.S. Army captain broke a Guinness World Record by running a mile in 10 minutes, 23 seconds while wearing a bomb disposal suit that weighs more than 80 pounds. Capt. Katie Hernandez, the company commander of an ordnance disposal unit based out of Fort Campbell, Ky., donned the bomb disposal suit Saturday at George Mason University and ran a mile in 10 minutes and
23 seconds. Hernandez's time was enough to capture the Guinness World Record from Army 1st Lt. Ashley Sorensen, who completed the feat with a time of 11 minutes and 6 seconds in 2013. Hernandez said the bomb disposal suit weighs 84 pounds, with the helmet alone accounting for 12 of those pounds. The men's version of the record is held by British runner Mark Gibbs, who completed his run with a time of 7 minutes and 24 seconds in December 2017. UPI
Go Army! Congrats Captain Katie Hernandez!!
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Rebekah
Rebekah Koffler
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