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Friday, January 12, 2024

Hamas Leader Wants to Build on October 7 Attack

Daily Wire: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh encouraged Islamic terrorists this week to “build upon” the “victory that took place on October 7” in which Palestinian terrorists murdered 1,200 Israelis in an unprecedented terrorist attack on Israel. Haniyeh made the remarks at a conference of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday. He called the people of Gaza the “front line trench for defense, as well as for offense,” saying that they are “not there only to defend, but also to attack” (Daily Wire). Memri: Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh: We Should Hold on to the Moment of the Victory of October 7 and Build Upon It; Time Is on Our Side; Donations to Gaza Are Not “Humanitarian Aid” but “Financial Jihad” (X).

US, UK Forces Prepare to Strike Houthi Forces in Yemen

Guardian: Britain and the US are poised to launch strikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen, as the leader of the rebel group promises to respond to any assault with fresh attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. Western defence sources indicated preparations were intensifying on Thursday in response to a Houthi attack of 21 missiles and drones aimed at US and UK warships on Tuesday night, although its scale and timing remain secret (Guardian). Sky News: The UK and US military forces have begun bombing sites used by Houthi fighters in Yemen, as part of retaliatory strikes against attacks on commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea (X).

Government Workers Warn of Potential Terror Attacks From Hezbollah

Spencer Brown: Federal officials have warned border agents to watch out for terrorists inspired by the Hamas massacre of Israelis on October 7, and FBI Director Chris Wray told Congress that he sees warning lights “blinking…everywhere I turn” while admitting there are significant “gaps” in what the FBI knows about terrorist organizations planning attacks on Americans. Now, new intelligence shows that the risk of attacks on Americans by Hezbollah — one of Iran’s terror proxies based primarily in Lebanon — is rising, according to officials who spoke anonymously with Politico. They believe that the Iran-backed terrorists “could be considering attacks on both U.S. troops or diplomatic personnel overseas.” Considering the lack of border security under Biden — which has already seen a significant number of illegal immigrants with identities that are flagged in U.S. terrorist databases — it’s ignorant to doubt the possibility of a Hezbollah attack in the U.S. It would also be foolish to think that Hezbollah terrorists have not already illegally entered the U.S. among the record number of known “got-aways” (Townhall). Amber Smith: They are already here. Who do you think has been coming across our southern border? American intel officials warn of risk of Hezbollah attacking US (X).

Iranian Navy Commandeers Oil Tanker in the Gulf of Oman

National Review: Iran has claimed responsibility for an apparent hijacking of an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman. The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations received a report around 10:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday of the tanker being boarded by four or five armed men “wearing military style black uniforms with black masks.” A few hours later, Iranian state TV said the country’s navy had carried out the attack. Iran is exacting revenge for a perceived slight involving the tanker. The vessel was the center of a dispute between Iran and the U.S. over the evasion of oil sanctions. Iran uses oil-smuggling proceeds to fund terrorism (Natioal Review). John Bolton: All Americans should be outraged by this news of Iran hijacking a vessel under the supervision of the US Dept. of Justice. The hijacking of the St. Nikolas is effectively an attack on a United States asset. I remained concerned about the safety of the crew, now Iranian hostages. Today’s actions show once again that the ayatollahs are not at all deterred by the United States (X).

DEI Officer from John Hopkins Medicine Retracts Definition of Privilege: "I retract and disavow the definition I shared”

End Wokeness: John Hopkins just sent out this hit list of people automatically guilty of “privilege” whether they know it or not: Males, Whites, Christians, Mid-aged people, Able-bodied people, Middle & owning class and English-speaking people. This message was emailed directly to employees from the DEI Office (X). Spencer Brown: After some significant and justified criticism online after the “Diversity Digest” was circulated, Chief Diversity Officer Golden decided to try retracting the definition of privilege outlined above. Golden referenced the definition in her message to the John Hopkins Medicine community and said it was something that “upon reflection, I deeply regret.” As such, Golden wrote that “I retract and disavow the definition I shared, and I am sorry.” Rather than taking full responsibility, however, Golden’s scrambling to do damage control saw her blame the “overly simplistic and poorly worded” definition she included in her message to the community. She noted that her alleged effort to create an inclusive environment “had the opposite effect of being exclusionary and hurtful to members of our community” (Townhall).

Report Reveals Inflation Rises 3.4 Percent in 2023

Spencer Brown: Despite the claims made by President Joe Biden and Democrats on Capitol Hill, inflation is still not “going down.” Instead, according to the latest Consumer Price Index released on Thursday, inflation increased again in December in a significant acceleration from November’s read on consumer prices. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), CPI inflation increased 0.3 percent in the final month of 2023, tripling the 0.1 percent increase recorded in the previous month. On an annual basis, the last 12 months saw inflation rise 3.4 percent — notably more than the Federal Reserve’s target inflation rate of just 2.0 percent (Townhall).

DA Fani Willis Has a History Riddled With Conflicts of Interest

Jennifer Van Laar: Just how politicized is Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ office and her prosecution of Donald Trump and 18 other Republicans? It’s been obvious since day one that this prosecution is all about politics, but in the last few days we’ve learned specific details about Willis’ conflicts of interest and her office’s apparent collusion with the White House. In May 2022, right around the time Willis seated a grand jury to investigate Donald Trump, a new part-time employee showed up at the office. The new hire, Pallavi Purkayastha, is a DNC Member, one of the top leaders in the Georgia Democrat Party. Indeed, she is the spokesperson cited in response to a recent court filing by defendant Michael Roman alleging an improper romantic relationship between Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade. In addition, at the time she was hired she was the fiancee of (and is now married to) Charlie Bailey, the 2022 Democrat nominee for Lieutenant Governor, and chairs a local PAC called Red Clay Democrats (Red State). PJ Media: If Charlie Bailey’s name sounds familiar, it’s because he ran for lieutenant governor in 2022 and lost to Republican Burt Jones. Willis actively campaigned for Bailey in 2022, and her involvement with his campaign led Judge Robert McBurney to bar Willis from investigating Jones due to her political conflict of interest. It’s also worth noting that Pallavi Bailey’s boss, Jeff Disantis, is an active Democrat political operative who owns a media firm that has raked in millions in ad buys from Democrat candidates. All of these shenanigans are taking place despite Fulton County’s policy on conflicts of interest (PJ Media).

Republican Warns of Rule Proposed by HHS Forcing Foster Families to Accept Radical Gender Theory

Daily Wire: Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) is warning about a proposed rule from the Department of Health and Human Services that could force foster parents to accept gender ideology and harm religious liberty (Daily Wire). Blaze Media: According to HHS and supporters of the measure, it would protect “LGBTQI+ youth” by providing “safe and appropriate placement.” State foster care systems would be prohibited from placing “LGBTQI+ identifying children with a provider who unreasonably limits or denies a child’s ability to express their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.” While families may apply for a religious exemption, the foster care system would be required to “assess whether applying the requirement furthers a compelling interest and whether there are less restrictive alternatives available.” If enacted, all states would be forced to comply with the measure (Blaze Media).

Republicans Introduce Bill to Prohibit States from Using Federal Tax Dollars to Subsidize Illegal Immigrant Care

Fox News: Top Republican on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., is introducing a bill to prohibit liberal states from forcing American citizens in other states to subsidize state programs that expand public healthcare benefits to illegal immigrants. The legislation, called the Protect Medicaid Act, would prevent federal funds from being used to administer state Medicaid benefits provided to noncitizens by American citizens. If a state opts to extend Medicaid benefits to undocumented residents, the bill mandates that the state bears the full financial responsibility without imposing any costs on taxpayers from other states. While federal law already prohibits illegal immigrants from receiving Medicaid, certain states, such as California, circumvent this restriction by using state funds from their public healthcare system, known as Medi-Cal, to extend Medicaid benefits to individuals without legal immigration status (Fox News). Daily Wire: The legislation comes as California expands its Medicaid program to provide free health care for about 700,000 illegal immigrants in the state. The expansion is projected to cost the state more than $3 billion. Oregon has a similar program on the books (Daily Wire).

10.

Canadian Police Officers Drum Up Assault Charges Against Reporter Asking Questions

Freedom of the press is gone in Canada. It is a good thing this was caught on video or else, the journalist would still be locked up Townhall: Canada is out of control. Our neighbor to the North has descended into authoritarian chaos ever since the COVID pandemic, which led to the great truckers’ rally in Ottawa over the vaccine mandates. Since then, we’ve had Nazis celebrated in parliament. Sikh leaders are getting assassinated reportedly by Indian agents. And now, reporters are arrested for doing their job. David Menzies of Rebel News attempted to ask Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland a question when her Royal Canadian Mountain Police detail arrested him. He was later released after it was determined he posed no serious threat to Ms. Freeland (Townhall). Rebel News: Rebel News reporter David Menzies was brutally arrested by police after he tried to ask Chrystia Freeland questions (X).