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Tuesday, September 12, 2023

President Biden is First President to Not Show for 9/11 Remembrance at Major Sites

He deputized VP Harris to stand in for him. Spencer Brown: On Monday, the 22nd anniversary of the terrorist attacks which stole 2,977 innocent lives on U.S. soil, President Joe Biden will become the first U.S. president since the attacks to skip out on official remembrance ceremonies held at the White House, Ground Zero in Manhattan, the Pentagon, or the field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where Flight 93 met its tragically heroic end after passenger launched the first counterattack against those responsible for the horror of 9/11. It’s a disgrace for Biden to be skipping out on official events with family members, friends, colleagues, and other loved ones of those who were killed 22 years ago (Townhall). GOP Spokeswoman Madison Gesiotto Gilbert: Joe Biden will be absent tomorrow during 9/11 memorial services (X). New York Post: Vice President Kamala Harris stood between Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams at a ceremony honoring the victims of the 2001 attacks in Lower Manhattan. Harris smiled during a lively conversation with Hochul and stayed for about an hour before catching her return flight to Washington — as victim names continued to be read aloud by their relatives at the National Sept. 11 Memorial plaza (New York Post). Reporter Bonchie: Yikes. The White House tells Fox News that Biden not commemorating 9/11 at an attack site like other presidents is fine because presidents weren’t still visiting Pearl Harbor after 22 years (X).

Biden Approves $6 Billion Payment to Iran for American Hostages

The payment to a terror-supporting nation had been rumored for some time. It is announced as final on anniversary of 9/11. Fox News: The Biden administration has struck a deal with Iran to swap prisoners and release $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds. Per the deal, Iran will release five American citizens detained in Iran and the U.S. release five Iranian citizens being held in the U.S. The deal creates a blanket waiver to transfer $6 billion in frozen Iranian money from South Korea to Qatar without fear of violating U.S. sanctions. The United States classifies Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism (Fox News). Just the News: A notification from Secretary of State Antony Blinken, which the Associated Press obtained, indicates that the administration approved sanction waivers for the transfer last week. The prisoners could be released as early as next week. The deal is sure to draw criticism from Republicans, who have previously chastised the administration for its handling of deals to secure the release of Americans from the custody of a hostile nation (Just the News).

Nike Closes Iconic Portland Location Due to Crime, Theft in City

Post Millennial: Nike has officially closed an iconic Portland store due to the city’s rampant crime and retail theft. This after the athletic shoe giant had hoped to reopen its location on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd after making the decision to temporarily close the store earlier this year. In February, Nike went to great lengths to try to salvage its MLK Community Store and sent a letter to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and city officials asking for more police presence to combat ongoing retail theft. The company was open to creating an “intergovernmental agreement” with the city of Portland to directly fund full-time police officers who would be selected to police the store or would pay off-duty Portland Police Bureau officers as contracted security. That request was denied by the city due to the police department’s detrimental staffing crisis, and now the famous staple is yet another store that has succumbed to the crime-ridden city. The Soul District Business Association confirmed the location was closing on Friday, calling it “a major economic blow” (Post Millennial). Andy Ngo: Nike’s iconic store in Portland has closed for good due to theft & public safety issues. The store asked Mayor Wheeler if it could pay for police to be security but the request was denied due to police staffing issues stemming from the BLM-Antifa riots (X).

NYC Mayor to Cut OT for First Responders to Supplement Immigration Crisis

Townhall: New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ administration is looking to cut overtime for first responders to help pay for the illegal immigration crisis facing the sanctuary city. In a memo from Adams’ budget director Jacques Jiha, the city’s police, fire, sanitation, and corrections agencies are asked to “submit a plan to reduce year-to-year OT spending” to City Hall as well as monthly reports that “track overtime spending and their progress in meeting the reduction target” (Townhall). New York Post: The NYPD’s OT budget exceeded $700 million last year, and critics have long complained about high police overtime costs. The war on overtime is just one piece of an extensive plan Adams and his budget director laid out to trim spending in response to the skyrocketing costs the city has shelled out to care for the unrelenting influx of asylum seekers. The scalpel includes a hiring freeze — except for public health and safety and “revenue producers” — but even critical positions can only be filled to replace a vacancy, not add jobs (New York Post).

Massachusetts Mayor Asks State to Amend “Right-to-Shelter” Law

National Review: The Democratic mayor of a small Massachusetts city is urging state lawmakers to reform a 40-year-old “right-to-shelter” law that is putting immense strain on the area as thousands of migrant families arrive. Woburn mayor Scott Galvin said by Friday there were about 150 families living in the city’s hotels, an arrangement he called unsustainable for his 40,000 constituents. Under the 1983 right-to-shelter law, Massachusetts officials are legally required to offer housing to any homeless families seeking shelter in the state. The law now covers a rising influx of migrant families, although individuals are not covered under its provisions. Galvin said the law was “passed at a different time, and was not meant to cover what we’re seeing now” (National Review). New York Times: Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency on Aug. 8 in a bid for federal help, joining New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C., which have taken similar steps. On Aug. 31, Ms. Healey authorized more than 200 National Guard members to assist the more than 2,500 families living in hotels, a step meant to address a shortage of social service agencies to help incoming migrants. The state is also housing migrants on two college campuses and on a Cape Cod military base, and has opened two welcome centers to process arrivals, with many coming from the southern border, advocates said (New York Times).

FDA Approves Latest Covid Booster

Washington Post: The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved a reformulated coronavirus vaccine in a bid to provide increased protection ahead of cooler weather — even as the nation endures a late-summer uptick of covid-19 cases and hospitalizations. The shots, which target an omicron subvariant and were cleared for anyone 6 months and older, are manufactured by Moderna and by Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech. If the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signs off Tuesday, injections could be available in pharmacies, clinics and doctor’s offices by the end of the week (Washington Post). ABC: Next, an independent advisory panel from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will meet on Sept. 12 to provide recommendations on who should be eligible for the new booster. The final step will be a sign-off from the CDC director. The shots are expected to be available later this week as they are delivered to pharmacies and health care providers across the country, with likely meaningful supply starting next week (ABC).

Pope Francis May Force Traditional Bishop in Texas to Resign for Stance on Abortion

Life News: After the Vatican undertook an investigation of one of the most popular Catholic bishops in America, who is also one of the most outspokenly pro-life bishops, Pope Francis will reportedly calling the Catholic bishop to resign. In June, the Vatican launched an apostolic visitation to the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, and Bishop Joseph Strickland. The reasons for the investigation of Bishop Strickland were unclear, but appear to resolve around his social media posts — where he actively challenges abortion, takes on leftist woke culture and even questions the Catholic Church when he believes it is going the wrong direction. Now, Human Events reports that Pope Francis will apparently ask Bishop Strickland to resign. Earlier this year, Bishop Strickland called out Joe Biden, saying he’s a “fake Catholic” for falsely claiming the Catholic Church supports abortion (Life News).

California School District Shells Out $170,000 on Race Training for Faculty

Daily Wire: A California school district spent $171,000 for “equity trainings” from a Left-wing consulting firm that uses Critical Race Theory. The contract between the Riverside Unified School District and Epoch Education, a Left-wing education consulting firm, shows that the California school district purchased three different “equity series” coaching sessions and courses mired in Critical Race Theory. One of the three programs called the Equity Learning Series includes 20 hours of online courses focused on the core tenets of Critical Race Theory like “systemic racial inequity,” intersectionality, racial privilege, and implicit bias (Daily Wire). Epoch: Participants will learn about implicit bias and reflect on how it informs our beliefs, behaviors, experiences, and interactions with each other. Participants will deepen their understanding of historical and systemic racial inequity in order to identify how this important context impacts current organizational beliefs, practices and policies (Epoch).

Radical Left Protesters Take Over Office of Speaker Kevin McCarthy

Post Millennial: A group of far-left activists stormed the office of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on Monday and were seen angrily chanting in favor of the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a program that combats HIV/AIDS. Repeated declarations of “Pass PEPFAR now, McCarthy,” rang in the House speaker’s office. Posts on social media appear to indicate that at least one of the agitators was arrested over the incident (Post Millennial). Collin Rugg: Far-left activists have stormed U.S. Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s office. A very sad day for Democracy… will they be thrown in prison for years on end for this? The radical activists stormed McCarthy’s office to riot in favor of a 5 year reauthorization of PEPFAR, a program that addresses the HIV/AIDS epidemic. When Democrats do this, they are “occupying.” If Trump supporters do this, they are “traitors” (X).

10.

Biden Department of Education Launches Civil Rights Investigation of New College of Florida

National Review: The New College of Florida is already facing legal trouble as the newly rebranded school begins its first year under a conservative board installed by Governor Ron DeSantis. The U.S. Department of Education launched a federal civil rights investigation into New College’s alleged discrimination against those with disabilities, per the agency’s letter sent to the college’s interim president Richard Corcoran on Friday. The DOE’s Office of Civil Rights notified the college of its investigation after receiving an anonymous student, faculty, and staff complaint filed on August 22. The federal agency plans to investigate New College over disability discrimination to determine whether it “excluded qualified persons with disabilities from participation in, denied them the benefits of, or otherwise subjected them to discrimination in its programs, activities, aids, benefits, or services.” New College reportedly took down all-gender bathroom signs and removed its DEI office, among other state-backed measures. DeSantis prompted the board’s slate of divisive actions after he vowed left-wing indoctrination and “woke” initiatives have no place on its campus (National Review). Washington Examiner: New College of Florida trustee Chris Rufo vowed to stand firm against a Department of Education civil rights investigation, which he said was politically motivated by a Democratic administration. In a post on his Substack, Rufo called the investigation a “brazen attempt to subvert the democratic governance of New College and entrench left-wing ideological programs under the guise of civil rights law” (Washington Examiner).