Flying the flag for woke imperialism - "Secretary of state Antony Blinken has authorised US embassies to fly the Black Lives Matter and rainbow Pride flags... Blinken and his State Department claim that flying these flags merely signals the US’s support for the rights of ‘people of colour’ and ‘LGBTQI+ persons’. But this does not explain why Pride and BLM, which are political movements, enjoy such a privileged status. Although the Biden team may imagine these movements to be unquestionably good, they are far from universally endorsed within the US. Only half of Americans support BLM, according to a recent poll by Civiqs. Same-sex marriage does have majority support, according to a recent poll. But it is still a divisive issue. Meanwhile, trans rights are hotly contested at the moment. There is a good reason why embassies, until now, have avoided taking sides in domestic political controversies. Imagine the outcry if US missions abroad displayed the flags of other disputed political organisations within the US, like the National Right to Life Committee or the National Rifle Association. What’s more, as the woke elites fly the BLM and Pride flags, they have started to look down on the American flag. The BLM flag is almost viewed as an antidote to the Stars and Stripes. BLM protesters say it represents ‘slavery, genocide and war’. Burning the American flag was commonplace during last year’s BLM riots. Meanwhile, the rainbow image is ubiquitous in American society. Displaying the Pride flag is a way to let everyone know you are a morally good person. Pride marches have become a bigger deal than Memorial Day marches. All wings of elite culture celebrate Pride (including on kids’ TV shows aimed at four-year-olds). Today’s chattering classes consider the American flag to be a symbol of Neanderthal backwardness... By flying the BLM and Pride flags abroad, the Biden administration is trying to spread this woke ideology around the world. This deployment of ‘soft power’ should be seen for what it is – a type of cultural imperialism. It could have destabilising consequences within countries and possibly stir up conflicts between countries. Indeed, BLM might be considered America’s most successful cultural export ever... global elites were short-sighted. In exchange for bathing in the glow of anti-racist virtue-signalling, they opened the door to a movement that is just as corrosive in Sydney and London as it is in Washington. In its global form, BLM does not limit itself to protesting against what goes on in the US. Everywhere it operates, BLM has a more fundamental objective. That is, to undermine the legitimacy of political structures and constitutions by painting each nation’s respective founders and great leaders as racist. Hence, BLM movements in Canada and Australia denounce their nation’s founders for the genocide of Indigenous people. In the UK, BLM highlights slave traders and colonisers, while dismissing heroes like Winston Churchill for their bigotry. While some international elites have welcomed American-style wokeness into their countries, others are trying to resist it. French president Emmanuel Macron, a technocratic globalist himself, has come out against ‘le wokisme’ . Countries with more traditional attitudes to religion, family and sexual orientation, particularly in Africa and eastern Europe, also feel threatened by the promotion of woke American causes. An academic study of the promotion of rainbow flags and other gay-rights symbols finds it is often not well-received, because such symbols are associated with outsiders: ‘LGBTQ symbols originating in the West, such as Pride and rainbow flags, have backfired in many places, such as Uganda and Russia, where nationalists and conservatives argue they are symbols of foreign degeneracy, antithetical to local mores.’ At times, it feels like the US and Russia are about to break out into a full-blown culture war. The list of US complaints about Putin and Russia is long – including interference in US elections, the cyber-hacking of US pipelines and crackdowns on anti-Kremlin demonstrations. But it is criticisms of Russia’s culture, as patriarchal and sexist, that provide Washington with a much greater sense of moral superiority. In this arena, Putin gives as good as he gets, presenting himself as the protector of tradition, denouncing the US and other Western nations as ‘genderless and infertile’... We also need to challenge this new cultural imperialism. The woke elites claim they want to ‘decolonise’ everything, but they are quite happy to pursue their own form of cultural colonialism around the world. This new woke imperialism might appear benign, but it has the potential to be very destructive indeed."
Benny Johnson on X - "Remember when Joe Biden brought Dylan Mulvaney to the White House? Or when Joe Biden celebrated ‘Trans Day of Visibility’ and there was a bunch of topless activists at the White House? Nobody cares about these things when your Maslow’s hierarchy of needs are not being met- when you can’t afford rent, food, gas, shelter, or when you don’t feel safe in your own community. That is why Joe Biden now has the worst approval rating of his entire career."
Will Biden Cross a Line on Poverty? - WSJ - "A new report from the National Academy of Sciences seeks to redefine poverty. The NAS presents the effort as a matter of science: “An accurate measure of poverty is necessary to fully understand how the economy is performing across all segments of the population and to assess the effects of government policies on communities and families.” But the report’s real purpose could be to expand the welfare state. If the Census Bureau adopts the new poverty definition, millions more Americans could automatically be made eligible for benefits—leading to at least $124 billion in additional government spending over the next decade, all accomplished by administrative fiat. There is no scientific basis for any particular poverty line. Advocates of redistribution push for a higher poverty line because they want more people to count as poor and qualify for government assistance. But scientists aren’t supposed to be advocates. The 13 authors of the recent NAS paper appear to have been selected along partisan lines: 12 of them have contributed to Democratic causes or worked for Democratic administrations... The new poverty line would be significantly higher. It would also break with more than 50 years of precedent by establishing a relative standard. People could become better off and still be classified as “poor”; poverty would decline only if income at the bottom of the distribution increases more quickly than in the middle class... Raising the poverty line would increase government spending on entitlements by more than $124 billion over the next decade—$47 billion for SNAP and $78 billion for Medicaid. ObamaCare subsidies, Medicare Part D low-income subsidies and the school-lunch program would grow as well, not to mention the effects on dozens of nonentitlement programs. As consequential is the potential reallocation of government assistance across states. The poverty line under the Supplemental Poverty Measure is higher in states like California and New York, where housing is more expensive, and lower in states like West Virginia and Mississippi, where housing is cheaper. If state-specific poverty lines were used to determine program eligibility, residents of states with cheaper housing would receive a smaller share of assistance. Yet poor people in low-cost states tend to be more deprived than poor people in high-cost states."
The Numbers Are In on How Biden-Era Funding Is Skewing Scientific Research Ever-Wokeward - "While pushing record spending for research and development, the Biden administration is working not just to advance science but also progressive ideology. In line with the administration’s “whole of government” commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, recent grants and requests for proposals from the National Science Foundation encompass research that:
Examines how artificial intelligence may exhibit bias against “disadvantaged groups.”
Looks at the negative experiences of minorities studying engineering and finds ways to create a culture that makes “diversity, equity, and inclusion a priority in the engineering enterprise.”
Creates “equitable mathematics” by exploring how math instruction “may serve to marginalize students.”
Critics, including some scientists, claim such projects are outside the scope of the National Science Foundation, whose $10 billion annual budget is one of the government’s prime mechanisms for supporting basic research in the non-medical sciences... “People should realize that [we] are paying tax money to fund science that should be going to help improve people’s lives,” said Leif Rasmussen, a research Ph.D. student at Northwestern University who has analyzed NSF research grant funding in a white paper titled, “Increasing Politicization and Homogeneity in Scientific Funding.” “That money isn’t always going to that [and] is instead pushing an agenda in which people have to use the right words,” Rasmussen adds. His research shows that the emergence of politically driven science did not begin with the Biden administration. He found that 3% of successfully executed NSF grants in 1990 included indicative terms such as “equity,” “inclusion,” or “diversity.” In 2020, such words appeared in 30% of grants. And the number rose to 36% of all executed grants in 2021, the first year of the Biden administration and the last year he has numbers for. “These types of grants claim diversity is inherently beneficial to scientific progress, but ironically, that statement has not come anywhere close to being validated scientifically”... “There is plenty of research that can no longer get funded by the NIH due to political correctness,” said Michael Bailey, a professor of psychology at Northwestern University. Sexuality, for example, is very difficult to research objectively, as progressive definitions blur distinctions between male and female. “Both political sides have been less concerned about the truth over the years, but these days, the left is far more deranged and destructive than the right”... Government-funded research for science has long been considered the most objective way to learn about the world and its workings. In the past, private funding sources have delivered results influenced by outside interests... In today’s echoes of the tobacco and sugar industries, publicly funded research derives results favorable to supporters ranging from top-notch medical schools to the federal government to political advocates. Research that aligns with a political stance is celebrated as “the science” for validating activist claims of existential threats from a climate crisis or the contested benefits of “gender-affirming” care. Such research is often rooted in assertions of systemic or institutional “racism” espoused mostly by progressives... Critics argue that the grants approved only tell part of the story of social justice diktats in research: There is the research not executed because it does not align with the prevailing narrative. Studies of correlations between race and IQ, for example, are nearly verboten... “It’s a political game now. The death of science should be a source of skepticism. A reality check on government programs is now gone, it’s just not there anymore.”"
This doesn't stop liberals and commies from claiming that there is no left in the US and that Biden is right wing
Collin Rugg on X - "JUST IN: The Biden Department of 'Justice' is suing Elon Musk's SpaceX for refusing to hire refugees and asylum seekers. Musk should change his name to Hunter Biden and coerce foreign entities to get rich so the DOJ ignores him. “The lawsuit alleges that, from at least September 2018 to May 2022, SpaceX routinely discouraged asylees and refugees from applying and refused to hire or consider them, because of their citizenship status, in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act,” the Justice Department said. “Our investigation found that SpaceX failed to fairly consider or hire asylees and refugees because of their citizenship status and imposed what amounted to a ban on their hire regardless of their qualification, in violation of federal law,” US Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said. Our selective justice system strikes again."
Tom Mueller on X - if I let a non-US citizen see our rocket hardware, I go to ITAR jail, but if i don't hire a non US citizen I get sued by DoJ. Got it"
Elon Musk on Xs - "Exactly. SpaceX was told repeatedly that hiring anyone who was not a permanent resident of the United States would violate international arms trafficking law, which would be a criminal offense. We couldn’t even hire Canadian citizens, despite Canada being part of NORAD! This is yet another case of weaponization of the DOJ for political purposes."
Surging oil prices: Blame Biden's 'put America last' energy policies - "Thanks to OPEC production cutbacks, global oil prices surged to $87 a barrel this week. This means gas prices will soon rise well above $4 a gallon nationally... there’s another villain here: President Joe Biden’s “put America last” war against our domestic fossil fuels. Our best estimate, based on data from the Department of Energy’s forecasts, is that if we had stuck with Trump policies (rather than the constraints on anti-oil and gas imposed by Biden climate-change policies and related ESG initiatives), by today the United States would’ve produced roughly another 1.2 billion to 3.5 billion more barrels since Biden took office. This added production could’ve completely neutralized the effects of OPEC production cuts and price hikes... The value of the oil production lost due to this war on American energy and the reduced drilling ranges from $104 billion to $396 billion — so far. This is also a national security self-inflicted wound, given the geopolitical importance of oil and gas production. More bitter irony: These price spikes come even as Biden has just canceled drilling on several million acres of prime oil and gas lands in Alaska. He already removed 11 million acres of rich oil resources from the Gulf of Mexico and has killed oil and gas pipelines. He’s pushing new emissions standards to effectively ban the sale of new gas cars and proposes new taxes on the oil and gas industry — even as he’s sending over $300 billion in tax money to the green energy movement. The White House and the media claim that under Biden is now producing more energy than ever, as if he’s suddenly big oil’s best friend. Yes: As oil prices keep soaring, US drilling has risen. But the current 12.7 million barrels a day is still below the 13 million barrels per day back in the 2019 when the price was roughly $60 a barrel, not $87 a barrel. Biden boasts one day that America is producing more oil than ever, then the next day assures his green allies that he has put the country on a path to “net zero” emissions — which means a complete cessation of all oil and gas drilling. Sorry, Mr. President. These both can’t be true."
5th Circuit rules Biden administration violated First Amendment - The Washington Post - "The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit on Friday ruled that the Biden White House, top government health officials and the FBI likely violated the First Amendment by improperly influencing tech companies’ decisions to remove or suppress posts on the coronavirus and elections. The decision, written unanimously by three judges nominated by Republican presidents, was likely to be seen as victory for conservatives who have long argued that social media platforms’ content moderation efforts restrict their free speech rights. But some advocates also said the ruling was an improvement over a temporary injunction U.S. District Judge Terry A. Doughty issued July 4. David Greene, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the new injunction was “a thousand times better” than what Doughty, an appointee of former president Trump, had ordered originally... The judges wrote that the White House likely “coerced the platforms to make their moderation decisions by way of intimidating messages and threats of adverse consequences.” They also found the White House “significantly encouraged the platforms’ decisions by commandeering their decision-making processes, both in violation of the First Amendment.”... The appeals court judges found that pressure from the White House and the CDC affected how social media platforms handled posts about covid-19 in 2021, as the Biden administration sought to encourage the public to obtain vaccinations. The judges detail multiple emails and statements from White House officials that they say show escalating threats and pressure on the social media companies to address covid misinformation. The judges say that the officials “were not shy in their requests,” calling for posts to be removed “ASAP” and appearing “persistent and angry.” The judges detailed a particularly contentious period in July of 2021, which reached a boiling point when President Biden accused Facebook of “killing people.”... The judges also zeroed in on the FBI’s communications with tech platforms in the run-up to the 2020 elections, which included regular meetings with the tech companies. The judges wrote that the FBI’s activities were “not limited to purely foreign threats,” citing instances where the law enforcement agency “targeted” posts that originated inside the United States, including some that stated incorrect poll hours or mail-in voting procedures... Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey celebrated the decision as a victory in a statement. “The first brick was laid in the wall of separation between tech and state on July 4,” he said. “Today’s ruling is yet another brick.”"
Liberals are going to be very upset. They were claiming the government flagging "disinformation" was not censorship since it was just bringing material to the company's attention, so the Twitter files were a nothingburger
Clearly the EFF is fascist because they believe the government shouldn't be censoring
Greg Price on XS - "Here is an email from White House Digital Director @RFlaherty46 telling Facebook to censor @TuckerCarlson and @TomiLahren. They respond “running this down now.” This is completely insane and a total violation of the first amendment."
Hunter Biden made millions amid ‘non-stop debauchery’ - "He made more than US$2.1 million in 2018. According to the agreement, these high earnings came as his drug addiction continued to worsen. The documents cite his own memoir, in which he describes “a spring and summer of non-stop debauchery” in 2018."
Joe Biden baffles audience by ending his speech with ‘God save the Queen’ - "Joe Biden left an audience baffled on Friday night when he ended a speech with his latest gaffe, saying: “God save the Queen”. Uttering a phrase possibly not heard on American soil since about 1776, the US president confused gun safety advocates as he cut off an address in Connecticut... It is unclear if the president was referring to Queen Camilla, the late Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Charlotte – who as wife of King George III was the last British queen to preside over the American colonies – or perhaps the Sex Pistols song... The White House press office clarified Mr Biden’s remarks on Friday night. A spokesperson told The Independent that the president “couldn’t do the full ropeline due to weather, and was commenting to someone in the crowd”."
🇺🇸Travis🇺🇸 on Twitter - "SHOCKING: the Burisma accountant who was a cooperating witness set to testify in the Biden bribery scheme has been found dead. The woman, who was the wife of former executive Mykola Lisin, was found dead before she had a chance to testify. Her Husband also died in 2011 in a mysterious car accident when Biden was VP. Their son was also beaten and kidnapped in Kyiv, Ukraine. Also, even though Lisin was an MP in Ukraine and prominent businessman, his entire history has been almost completely scrubbed from the internet. It’s starting to appear as if Biden will once again get away with it thanks to mysterious deaths and assistance from the FBI in hiding the details of the case."
President Biden on Twitter - "Today, the People's House – your house – sends a clear message to the country and to the world. America is a nation of pride."
Gad Saad on Twitter - "It seems as though every single tweet that you post is about the LGBTQ community. You are the president of all Americans. How about the thousands of people killed from overdoses? How many tweets do they deserve? What about the people who are unable to afford their next meal? How many tweets do they get? Get some temperance. Get some perspective. Stop with this orgiastic platitudinous faux-empathy. It’s truly unbelievable."
🇺🇸Travis🇺🇸 on Twitter - "Happening Now: Biden family has been selling out America for years and the FBI is allowing it. According to records obtained by the House Oversight Committee, Joe Biden and his family have been receiving millions from China and Romania and other countries for years. According to rep James Comer the family has no business or income generating assets. It appears the only thing they’re selling is influence. Apparently the FBI has been running cover for the Biden family instead of investigating any of this. Director Wray even denied the existence of the FD-1023 and only turned it over once threatened with contempt."
SHOCKING: Trans TikTok influencer goes topless in front of families during Biden’s White House Pride celebration - "Trans model and TikToker Rose Montoya celebrated Pride at the White House last week, posing in photos with Joe Biden and former "trans kid" Jazz Jennings, as well as going topless alongside a topless woman who has undergone a double mastectomy and clearly identifies as a man. Pride at the White House, of course, is a family friendly affair, and kids and families were present during the festivities... For Montoya, the message of belonging from the Biden's was apparently an invitation to drop his top and flaunt his feminized breasts for the camera. Montoya then went topless, grabbed his breasts, and shook them around. Next to Montoya stood a trans man in a traditional strong man pose showing off her mastectomy scars. "Are we topless at the White House?" Someone joked with mock scandal. It is hard to imagine any other circumstance where public nudity would be not only condoned but celebrated on the White House lawn. At the Pride celebration, Biden spoke of the need to "affirm" trans kids, saying that the laws protecting children are dangerous, and that as a result "... families across the country [are] facing excruciating decisions to relocate to a different state to protect their child from dangerous anti-LGBTQ laws."... Montoya, like Biden, advocates for sex changes for minors. Montoya posed with Jazz Jennings, who was transitioned as a child on reality television... The White House later issued a statement saying that all of those who posed nude in the video would not be invited back. “This behavior is inappropriate and disrespectful for any event at the White House,” a White House spokesperson reported to The Messenger when asked. “It is not reflective of the event we hosted to celebrate LGBTQI+ families or the other hundreds of guests who were in attendance. Individuals in the video will not be invited to future events.”"
Biden laughs off FBI bribery claims as evidence against him and Hunter mounts - "he laughed at a question about “damning evidence in an FBI file” that he allegedly took a $5 million bribe from a Ukrainian energy company in return for a policy decision when he was vice president... “Where’s the money?” he quipped, before calling the allegation “a bunch of malarkey.” Forgive us if we don’t take the president at his word, because he has lied before about his involvement in the international “pay to play” scheme run by his son Hunter and brother Jim during his vice presidency... If you were frustrated that the Delaware investigation into the president’s wayward 53-year-old son has failed to reach a conclusion after five long years, you won’t be surprised to hear about efforts to derail the case... James Comer (R-Ky.), the House Oversight chairman, forced the FBI, under threat of contempt charges, to show him an unclassified document, known as an FD-1023, dated June 30, 2020, detailing allegations by a trusted, paid, long-term FBI informant that Joe and Hunter Biden received $5 million apiece as a bribe during his vice presidency. The same informant had made a similar allegation at least once before, in 2017, which also was buried in the FBI database, says Comer. Contrary to claims by Comer’s Democratic counterpart Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) that the bribery allegations were “debunked” and the case “closed down” in August 2020, then-Attorney General Bill Barr says the FD-1023 containing the bribery allegation was provided to Weiss to use as part of his ongoing investigation into Hunter. But key investigators on Weiss’ team were unaware of the specific bribery allegation until they read about it in the media last week, according to legal sources, and at least one is believed to have approached Congress to say so under oath... the FBI did not investigate the Biden bribery allegation... According to the Brady source and three congressional sources who viewed the new FD-1023 last week, the document is very detailed, referring to multiple meetings and phone calls with Zlochevsky with other people present. It details a bribery scheme in which Zlochevsky said he had to pay Hunter and Joe Biden $5 million each to make sure there were “no problems” for Burisma, including in a potential acquisition of an American oil and gas company."
Biden family members who allegedly got foreign money identified - "House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer identified nine members of President Biden’s family Wednesday who allegedly received foreign income after teasing the bombshell for weeks. “Since you asked, I’ll tell you,” Comer (R-Ky.) told a rapt room of reporters at the Capitol after laying out new bank record evidence showing first son Hunter Biden received $1 million from a corrupt Romanian businessman while his dad was vice president. “Joe Biden’s son [Hunter], Joe Biden’s brother [James], Joe Biden’s brother’s wife [Sara], Hunter Biden’s girlfriend or Beau Biden’s widow [Hallie], however, you want to write that, Hunter Biden’s ex-wife [Kathleen Buhle], Hunter Biden’s current wife [Melissa Cohen], and three children of the president’s son and the president’s brother,” Comer said... Bank records indicate $80,000 transferred from Romanian businessman Gabriel Popoviciu from 2015 to 2017 went to accounts identified only by the name “Biden,” for example — and a March memo from the committee indicated $70,000 from Chinese company CEFC China Energy did as well. Hunter Biden and first brother James Biden were well-known for years for seeking millions from nations including China, Mexico, Romania, Russia and Ukraine — but the involvement of other family members was only more recently alleged by Comer."
FBI tip says Burisma bribed Bidens — prez asks, 'Where's the money?' - "Hunter Biden earned up to $1 million per year from 2014 to 2019 to serve on the board of Burisma, despite having no relevant industry experience... Hunter wrote in emails retrieved from his former laptop that he had to share up to “half” of his income with his father, though Joe Biden has denied ever discussing business interests with his relatives."
Heroic African Reporter Kicked Out of White House Correspondents' Assoc. for Challenging Karine Jean-Pierre - "Karine Jean-Pierre’s handlers have apparently pulled some strings behind the scenes to get African reporter Simon Ateba, her arch-nemesis, pulled from the press pool... Simon Ateba is an American hero. He is the only reporter who asks KJP tough questions – which is why she never calls on him and ignores his constant pleas to just get a single question answered. He makes Fox News’ Peter Doocy – the only other guy in the room who takes a remotely antagonistic approach to questioning – look milquetoast... Ateba crashed KJP’s coronation as she replaced Jen Psaki when she departed to join MSNBC state media. It was supposed to be a bittersweet, magical moment – the first immigrant lesbian Person of Color™ replaces the beloved ginger slay queen in a solemn changing of the guard – but Ateba ruined it with unauthorized questions."
Muffling the media is not a bad thing if you're a Democrat
Biden: Latino community is diverse, ‘unlike the African American community’ - "Joe Biden said in remarks on Wednesday that the Latino community is “incredibly diverse,” “unlike” the Black community. “Unlike the African American community, with notable exceptions, the Latino community is an incredibly diverse community with incredibly diverse attitudes about different things,” Biden said. “You go to Florida, you find a very different attitude about immigration than you do in Arizona. So it’s a very diverse community.”... Biden also drew criticism in May for saying that “you ain’t Black” if “you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump.”"
From 2020
Biden says he 'started the vaccination program' despite Trump rollout - “Biden exaggerated when he claimed that vaccinations have ‘nearly doubled’ on his watch.”
From 2021
Meme - "Find someone who kisses you the way Joe Biden kisses his granddaughter"
They didn't get the memo that you can only mock Trump for what he did with Ivanka
Where the money went: The Bidens and Biden associates who received Chinese cash - "House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer revealed on Thursday that on March 1, 2017 — less than two months after Joe Biden left office as Barack Obama’s vice president — State Energy HK Limited, a firm affiliated with Chinese Communist Party-backed energy company CEFC China Energy, wired $3 million to Biden family associate Rob Walker. The windfall was subsequently divvied up over a period of about three months to at least three members of the Biden clan, and two Biden family associates."
Group accuses Biden of using executive order to target whites and Asians with more IRS audits - "A conservative legal group is accusing the Biden administration of directing the Internal Revenue Service to audit more white and Asian Americans in an effort to boost 'equity.' The America First Legal Foundation, a nonprofit that seeks to fight executive overreach, filed a Freedom of Information Act request on Tuesday claiming that an executive order President Biden signed last week encourages the IRS to alter its algorithms to audit more white and Asian taxpayers — and fewer black taxpayers"
