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Thursday, August 10, 2023

Since the Afghanistan Withdrawal, the U.S. has Given the Taliban Over $2.3 Billion

Daily Mail: Since the fall of Afghanistan, the U.S. has forked over funds to groups under the brutal Taliban regime to the tune of $2.35 billion. That’s according to a new report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), released to the public on Tuesday. Another $1.7 billion ‘remained available for possible disbursement’ at the time of the report, dated July 30. The total amount of money appropriated for ‘reconstruction and related activities’ since 2002 dwarfs the figure from fiscal year 2022 and 2023. Over the past two decades, $147.06 billion in US funding has been appropriated to the war-torn Middle Eastern nation (Daily Mail). Townhall: Since then, SIGAR released a report at the end of July detailing how the Taliban are taking advantage of money still flowing towards programs that are meant to go towards women employment, education, and food security (Townhall).

Moody’s Downgrades Credit Ratings of 10 Banks

CBS: Moody’s is downgrading the credit ratings of 10 small- to mid-sized banks, citing growing financial risks and strains that could erode their profitability. The credit ratings agency also warned it is watching some of the nation’s biggest lenders for potential downgrades. The actions come after a banking crisis that started in March with the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, once the nation’s 16th largest bank, when depositors grew fearful of the bank’s solvency and made a classic bank run. Signature Bank and First Republic Bank soon followed, leading to more concerns about the banking industry’s stability (CBS). Daily Mail: A downgrade impacts a bank’s ability to borrow money so it may signal increased risk to customer funds (Daily Mail).

Los Angeles Schools Create “Rainbow Clubs” to Indoctrinate Children

Daily Wire: The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) created a guide to organizing “Rainbow Clubs” for elementary school students, which included lessons on “LGBTQ+ liberation,” activism, and “protest art.” The district explains in a document that the groups are “for LGBTQ+ elementary students and their friends.” It links to a 20-page “Rainbow Club Activity Guide” produced by LAUSD’s Human Relations, Diversity, and Equity department, which provides a detailed list of discussion topics and lessons (Daily Wire). Standing for Freedom Center: Los Angeles is promoting “Rainbow Clubs” in elementary schools to teach kids about “LGTQ+ liberation.” The Los Angeles Unified School District LAUSD created a guide for organizing the clubs for “LGBTQ+ elementary students and their friends.” The guide says it is “a space for celebrating many types of identities, including Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Nonbinary, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Ace and Two Spirit identities!” It even instructs students to watch a video featuring two male classmates with romantic feelings toward each other. Do you think this sort of indoctrination is coming to public schools near you (Twitter)?

President Biden Signs Executive Order Prohibiting Some Chinese Tech

Reuters: President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order that will narrowly prohibit certain U.S. investments in sensitive technology in China and require government notification of funding in other tech sectors. The long-awaited order authorizes the U.S. Treasury secretary to prohibit or restrict certain U.S. investments in Chinese entities in three sectors: semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies, and certain artificial intelligence systems. Biden said in a letter to Congress he was declaring a national emergency to deal with the threat of advancement by countries like China “in sensitive technologies and products critical to the military, intelligence, surveillance, or cyber-enabled capabilities” (Reuters). Axios: Major companies are restructuring their operations in China in response to growing scrutiny from both Beijing and Washington. Dentons, the biggest law firm in the world by employee size, is splitting off its Chinese division to comply with new Chinese data privacy and transfer laws, the company recently told clients. Last month, Morgan Stanley reportedly moved some of its mainland China-based tech staff out of the country, while starting to build new digital infrastructure to conform to local data restrictions. In a unanimous decision by senior partners, venture giant Sequoia said in June that it will separate its China and India/Southeast Asian businesses into two independent firms by March next year. The firm was seemingly under pressure from Washington to stop U.S. investments in Chinese tech that could threaten national security (Axios).

Democrats Rail Against Governor Abbott’s Border Protection Plan

Townhall: House Democrats decided to finally go to the southern border to see the crisis firsthand, but they are not really concerned about the continued high number of illegal crossings. Instead, they went to Eagle Pass, Texas to bemoan the buoys placed in the Rio Grande by the state of Texas to deter illegal crossings. Democrats like Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) claim there are “chainsaw devices” in the middle of buoys, which someone would encounter only if they decided to wade into the dangerous Rio Grande. Democrats who have all of sudden shown interest in the border crisis neglected to note last year saw the highest number of illegal immigrant deaths amid the historic number of unlawful crossings (Townhall). Democrat Joaquin Castro: Everyone needs to see what I saw in Eagle Pass today. Clothing stuck on razor wire where families got trapped. Chainsaw devices in the middle of buoys. Land seized from US citizens. Operation Lone Star is barbaric — and Gov. Abbott is making border communities collateral damage (Twitter).

Person Undergoing Gender Transition Surgery Did Not Know She Was Pregnant

Daily Mail: A transgender patient transitioning from female to male has tragically lost his unborn baby after undergoing a hysterectomy while being unknowingly pregnant. Jesse Pohlner, 38, was four months pregnant when he underwent a full hysterectomy at Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne during lockdown in 2021. He wished to remove his womb and ovaries as part of his transition process and was confirmed for surgery 10 days before the operation occurred (Daily Mail). Townhall: Pohler found out that she was in the second trimester of pregnancy and told reporters that “there was no pregnancy test performed.” “I would call it hospital negligence, their policy was to blame. The policy let my doctors down, they couldn’t perform their best work,” Pohler reportedly said. The night before the operation, a nurse reportedly used a chart and asked her a series of “yes or no” questions and ruled that a pregnancy test wasn’t required (Townhall).

Senator Rand Paul Refers Dr. Fauci for Criminal Investigation

Katie Pavlich: Republican Senator Rand Paul has officially referred Dr. Anthony Fauci to D.C. U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves for criminal investigation after repeatedly lying to Congress about his role in funding dangerous gain-of-function research (Townhall). Senator Rand Paul: Because of the DOJ’s inaction regarding Fauci’s lies to congress, I’ve now sent a criminal referral to D.C. U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves. I’m demanding an investigation (Twitter).

Texas Teacher Who is a “Black Supremacist” Fired for Massively Racist Social Media Posts

Julio Rosas: A woman who described herself as a “black supremacist” and made numerous racist posts on social media no longer works at Mesquite Independent School District and will no longer be able to work for the district ever again. The former first grade teacher made multiple unhinged posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, about how she vehemently disapproved of her sister dating a white man. In one video, she said she will do everything she can to sabotage the relationship, even going as far as to ask her boyfriend to kill her sister’s boyfriend (Townhall). Libs of TikTok: Self proclaimed “black supremacist” goes on unhinged racist tirade after finding out her sister slept with a white man. She vows to destroy the relationship before asking her boyfriend to “come and kill him for me.” She is reportedly a teacher in Texas and has a history of anti-white, racist tweets (Twitter). She has since been fired (Twitter).

Sen. Dianne Feinstein Taken to Hospital After She Falls in California Home

Yet, she refuses to retire. CBS: Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California was briefly taken to the hospital after falling at her home in San Francisco on Tuesday, her office said, the latest medical setback for the longtime Democratic lawmaker. The 90-year-old senator was away from Washington, D.C., for almost three months earlier this year after she was hospitalized with shingles and complications from the disease. She spent weeks recovering at home in California, delaying Senate business. The fall comes days after Feinstein has given power of attorney to her daughter, and as some of her colleagues have expressed concerns about her current health and capabilities (CBS). Associated Press: All of her scans were clear, and she returned home later Tuesday, said her spokesman Adam Russell, who provided no further details (Associated Press).

10.

Native American Group Demands NFL Team Washington Commanders Change Their Name Back to “Redskins”

Washington Examiner: A Native American group has threatened to boycott the Washington Commanders football team if the team does not revert to its older title, the Redskins. The group, Native American Guardians Association, has asked the team to change its name back to the Redskins in a letter dated Monday. The team decided to change its name in 2020, settling with the new name, the Commanders, in 2022. “Should we need to encourage a national boycott similar to what happened with Anheuser Busch which is now down $27 billion (note, not one brick thrown, not one highway blocked, not one bridge burned) – WE WILL DO JUST THAT,” the letter read (Washington Examiner). Native Americans Guardians Associations: Native American Guardian’s Association Founder & President Eunice Davidson Sent a Demand Letter Today to Washington “Commanders” Ownership & Key Leadership Formally Requesting The Team Revitalize it’s Relationship With The American Indian Community & Rightfully Change Their Name Back to “The Redskins” (Twitter).