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Wednesday, January 10, 2024

Dr. Fauci Claims He “did not recall” the Origins of Covid

Just the News: Dr. Anthony Fauci said he “did not recall” important information or conversations more than 100 times during his first day of a two-day transcribed interview with the House Coronavirus Select Subcommittee, but he also revealed major failures in the U.S. health system, Chairman Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, said. “Dr. Fauci’s testimony today uncovered drastic and systemic failures in America’s public health systems,” Wenstrup said Monday after Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, met with the subcommittee earlier that day (Just the News). New York Post: The Government Accountability Office issued a report in June 2023 that found NIH had contributed more than $1.4 million to Chinese research institutions between 2014 and 2019 despite serious biosafety concerns, including at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (New York Post).

Students at Brooklyn High School Forced to Take Online Class Due to School Housing Illegal Immigrants

New York Post: Students at a Brooklyn high school were kicked out of the classroom to make room for nearly 2,000 migrants who were evacuated from a controversial tent shelter due to a monster storm closing in on the Big Apple. The city made the move amid concerns that a massive migrant tent at Floyd Bennett Field would collapse from torrential rains and gusting winds — packing them instead into the second-floor gym at James Madison High School five miles away. The school’s neighbors were not keen on the last-minute decision (New York Post). End Wokeness: School buses are dropping off illegal migrants at Madison High School in Brooklyn. The school is closing tomorrow & all 2k students will be doing class virtually to accommodate the illegals (X).

Republicans Look to Impeach Against Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin

Washington Examiner: Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) is expected to file articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin when the House returns from recess, accusing the Biden administration official of violating his oath of office after failing to inform the White House and even some members of his own staff of his hospitalization last week (Washington Examiner). Katie Pavlich: The White House made it clear this week that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will face no consequences for failing to notify President Joe Biden about an elective surgery, which landed him in the intensive care unit for days. While Austin was unable to do his job, a deputy on vacation was also unaware of his condition and the National Security Council was not immediately informed. Biden was also left in the dark. National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told reporters onboard Air Force One Monday in an attempt to explain away the situation, “We’ll take a look at process and procedure here and try to learn from this experience. And if there’s some changes that need to be made, you know, in terms of process and procedure, we’ll do that.” Kirby then praised Austin’s “leadership” over the years, including the disastrous and catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan (Townhall).

University of Michigan Increases Number of DEI Positions to Over 500

College Fix: The University of Michigan continues to exponentially grow the number of staffers dedicated to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, with at least 241 paid employees now focused on DEI and payroll costs exceeding $30 million annually. The payroll costs are $23.24 million for salaries and $7.44 million for benefits, or $30.68 million, an amount that would cover in-state tuition and fees for 1,781 undergraduate students. Thirteen DEI staff members earn more than $200,000 and 66 earn more than $100,000 when factoring in benefits. The number of positions at Michigan’s flagship university advancing DEI exceeds more than 500 when including those who work full-time or part-time on DEI and factoring in open and unfilled positions (College Fix).

X Announces Three New Partners in Don Lemon, Tulsi Gabbard and Jim Rome

NBC: X is launching three new shows on the platform to be hosted by former CNN anchor Don Lemon, former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and sports radio commentator Jim Rome. The social media platform, which has been struggling to retain advertisers ever since Elon Musk’s takeover in 2022, announced the partnerships Tuesday. Lemon, Gabbard and Rome join ex-Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who launched his show on X last June after parting ways with Fox News (NBC).

Plans to Remove the Statue of William Penn Get Scrapped Thanks Citizens Voicing Their Opinions

Just the News: The statue of William Penn will remain in Philadelphia’s historic Welcome Park, state and federal officials said following public outcry over proposed plans to remove the statue. The National Parks Service said last week that it would remove a statue of Penn, the founder of the British colony of Pennsylvania, to “rehabilitate” the park to become “more welcoming, accurate, and inclusive,” but the agency reversed the decision on Monday (Just the News). Fox News: Pennsylvania’s top Republican state House member, Rep. Bryan Cutler, had accused President Biden of trying to “cancel” William Penn. In a statement, Cutler called it “another sad example of the left in this country scraping the bottom of the barrel of wokeism to advance an extreme ideology and a nonsensical view of history.” Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, meanwhile, took credit for the park service’s reversal, saying in a statement that “my team has been in contact with the Biden Administration throughout the day to correct this decision” (Fox News).

U.S. Sailor Caught Selling Military Secrets to China

Business Insider: A US Navy sailor has been fined $5,500 and sentenced to 27 months in prison for leaking military secrets to Chinese intelligence, federal prosecutors said on Monday. Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, 26, pleaded guilty in October 2023 to one count of conspiring with an intelligence officer and one count of taking a bribe, per court documents seen by Business Insider. Zhao, also known by the English name Thomas, was stationed at a naval base in Port Hueneme, a small beach city in Ventura County, California. He took just under $15,000 in total bribes, which were paid over 14 separate instances between August 2021 and May 2023, per the Justice Department (Business Insider). New York Post: Zhao, who held a security clearance, secretly collected and transmitted information to China related to Navy operational security, military trainings and critical infrastructure, according to the Justice Department. He specifically confessed to passing on plans for a large-scale maritime training exercise in the Pacific theater, operational orders, and electrical diagrams and blueprints for a Japanese radar system. Zhao, a naturalized US citizen born in China, was arrested last July and had been held in custody without bail (New York Post).

Leftist Pastor Jim Wallis Releases Book Labeling Trump, Constituents “Evil”

Washington Examiner: Jim Wallis, the Christian evangelical pastor who is a VIP in liberal political circles, has a new book coming out. It’s called The False White Gospel: Rejecting Christian Nationalism, Reclaiming True Faith, and Refounding Democracy. The book is timed to stir up acrimony and resentment leading into the 2024 election. The False White Gospel is a sermon aimed at the “Amen corner” of the Left. Wallis considers former President Donald Trump and his followers evil. The problem with his book is that, like so much of liberalism, the arguments are not specific. Wallis shouts about racist white pastors, yet he doesn’t name a single one. He condemns MAGA conservatives yet will not examine who they are and why they believe what they do. He preaches that America is awash in white supremacy yet offers no contemporary examples, instead falling back, as liberals always do, on old stories from America’s past. The one villain that Wallis does name, and obsessively so, is — you guessed it — Donald Trump. In Wallis’s theology, Trump is Satan, Herod, and Judas all rolled into one. The former president is ignorant, obnoxious, xenophobic, and racist, racist, racist. His supporters can’t be reasoned with (Washington Examiner).

Stop Antisemitism Labels Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) "2023 Antisemite of the Year"

Townhall: On Monday night, Stop Antisemitism awarded Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) the title of “2023 Antisemite of the Year.” She even beat out Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh for the top spot, as well as supermodel Gigi Hadid. A press release noted that the results came after nearly 15,000 people voted in an online poll. Included in a pinned post from the organization’s X account is a 90-second video highlighting the Squad member’s worst moments of antisemitism from the past year in response to Hamas perpetrating the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel, though it also details how there’s plenty of examples from previous years as well (Townhall). The video claims the title is “long overdue” (Stop Antisemitism).

10.

Cartels in Ecuador Took Over TV Station as Mass Prison Breaks Were Occurring

Washington Post: Armed, hooded men attacked an Ecuadorian television station during a live broadcast on Tuesday, forcing terrified staff onto the floor, as the country’s new president declared a state of armed conflict. Gunshots could be heard in the background, though police said no one was injured. Security forces detained about 10 of the alleged assailants, some of whom appeared to be members of the powerful gangs Los Tiguerones and Los Lobos. The TV station takeover was one of several attacks across the country in a chaotic 24-hour period, police said, including about 30 car explosions and the kidnapping of seven police officers. Riots have also broken out at several prisons, with reports that dozens of guards were held by armed men (Washington Post). HotAir: In response to this President Noboa has ordered designated the gangs as terrorists and ordered the military to kill them at will (HotAir).