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Wednesday, September 4, 2024

Former Aid to Two New York Governors Charged with Being an Agent for China

Associated Press: A former aide to two New York governors was charged Tuesday with acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government who used her state positions to subtly advance Beijing’s agenda in exchange for financial benefits worth millions of dollars. Linda Sun, who held numerous posts in New York state government, including deputy chief of staff for Gov. Kathy Hochul and deputy diversity officer for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was arrested Tuesday morning along with her husband, Chris Hu, at their $4 million home on Long Island. Prosecutors said Sun, at the request of Chinese officials, blocked representatives of the Taiwanese government from having access to the governor’s office and shaped New York governmental messaging to align with the priorities of the Chinese government, among other things. In return, her husband got help for his business activities in China — a financial boost that prosecutors said allowed the couple to buy their multimillion-dollar property in Manhasset, New York, a condominium in Hawaii for $1.9 million, and luxury cars including a 2024 Ferrari, the indictment says (Associated Press). Townhall: Sun worked in state government for approximately 15 years… In a statement to reporters, Hochul’s office said that Sun was fired after “discovering evidence of misconduct” (Townhall).

NYPD States 75 Percent of Crime in Manhattan Committed by Illegal Immigrants

New York Post: Across New York, recently arrived migrants are flooding the criminal justice system — at far higher rates than public officials have acknowledged. Police sources shared a staggering estimate that as many as 75% of the people they’ve been arresting in Midtown Manhattan in recent months for crimes like assault, robbery and domestic violence are migrants. In parts of Queens, the figure is more than 60%, sources there estimate (New York Post). Daily Wire: Last week, Democrat New York City Mayor Eric Adams defended the city taking in tens of thousands of illegal immigrants and said it’s up to the city council to revise “sanctuary city” laws. He added that he believes migrants “who commit violent acts” should be deported after serving time behind bars (Daily Wire).

Turkish Youth Mob Attacks Two U.S. Marines

Fox News: A mob of Turkish nationalists attacked U.S. Marines in western Turkey on Monday, resulting in the arrests of 15 people. The incident took place in Izmir, which is located on Turkey’s Aegean coast. In a statement, the Izmir governor’s office said the assailants belonged to the Youth Union of Turkey, which is connected to the nationalist Vatan Party. The governor said that the victims, who were assigned to the USS Wasp, were “physically attacked.” The service members were identified as “soldiers” by authorities, but are U.S. Marines… Five U.S. service members intervened during the incident, and authorities eventually arrested all 15 of the men who attacked the Marines. The U.S. Navy said the two Marines, aided by other Marines in the area, were taken to a local hospital as a precaution but were not injured, adding that the attacked Marines have returned to the USS Wasp (Fox News). CBS Mornings: Two U.S. Marines on a port visit in Turkey came under attack Monday. Video of the incident shows a group of men forcing a bag over the head of one of the Marines as they restrain him, chanting, “Yankee, go home” (X).

U.S., Syrian Forces Capture ISIS Leader Who Assists Prison Escapees

Townhall: The United States captured an ISIS leader who assisted members of the terror group after they escaped from a Syrian detention center in Raqqah. Working with Syrian Democratic Forces, U.S. Central Command forces captured Khaled Ahmed al-Dandal in the early morning hours of Sept. 1 (Townhall). U.S. Central Command: A primary objective of ISIS remains to free their fighters currently held in detention and subsequently fuel an ISIS revival (X). New York Post: Al-Dandal’s arrest comes after five “ISIS foreign terror fighter” detainees fled the detention center Thursday (New York Post).

Brazil’s Supreme Court Unanimously Upholds X Ban

Just the News: A Brazilian Supreme Court panel on Monday unanimously decided to upheld a previous ruling from one of its judges to block the social media platform X nationwide. X owner Elon Musk criticized Justice Alexandre de Moraes for his ruling, describing it as an authoritarian move. The panel that upheld the decision included five of the 11 justices on the Supreme Court, including de Moraes. The ban stems from X not designating a local legal representative. According to the ruling, the ban will stay in place until X names a representative and pays outstanding fines, which are in excess of $3 million to date (Just the News). Axios: Musk claims Justice Alexandre de Moraes is “destroying” free speech “for political purposes,” while X accused the judge of “censorship” when it announced the immediate closure of its Brazil offices last month as it refused to comply with the judge’s order (Axios). Censorship is coming to the United States too. Abigail Shrier: Social media platforms—but not their users—can sue the government to stop the impermissible suppression of speech, according to Murthy v. Missouri, decided in June. The Court held that social media users could not establish a causal link between government pressure and the suppression of their posts because “the platforms had independent incentives to moderate content and often exercised their own judgment.” In an America where platforms’ interest in censoring disfavored views often align with the government’s, who is in a position legally to stop it (Free Press)?

Venezuelan Dictator Nicolás Maduro Issues Arrest Warrant for Opposition Leader

BBC: A judge in Venezuela has issued an arrest warrant for Edmundo González, the opposition’s candidate in the country’s recent presidential election. It comes after a request by the public prosecutor’s office, which is loyal to President Nicolás Maduro. Mr. Maduro was declared the winner of July’s election by the country’s electoral council – which is stacked with government loyalists. But the government has yet to publish any evidence to support its claim of victory, while the opposition says their polling data shows Mr. González won easily (BBC). CNN: Gonzalez has denied the accusations against him. The Prosecutor’s Office has previously said it is also investigating opposition leader Maria Corina Machado for the same alleged crimes. Machado said Monday that the threat of arrest would only help to unite the opposition (CNN).

U.S. Seizes Plane Belonging to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro

CBS: The U.S. seized a plane belonging to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and brought it to the U.S. on Monday, the Justice Department said in a statement, claiming the jet was exported from Florida in violation of U.S. sanctions. The plane, identified as a Dassault Falcon 900EX, was seized in the Dominican Republic and transported to Florida, the department said. The department said Maduro’s associates arranged to purchase the jet from a U.S. company in south Florida for $13 million in late 2022 and early 2023. The plane was shipped to the Caribbean and then to Venezuela, the statement said, in violation of U.S. sanctions and export controls (CBS). CNN: The Venezuelan government described the seizure as “piracy” in a statement on Monday, and accused Washington of escalating “aggression” toward Maduro’s government following a contested presidential election this July (CNN).

Drug Use Increases for Third Year in a Row, Surpassing Historical High of 1979

Seth Leibsohn: The government reported last month that illegal and dangerous drug use increased in the United States. Again. But it didn’t just increase. For the third year in a row, it increased above and beyond our historical high watermark of drug use in 1979, which set off a major societal, political and cultural effort to combat it. Combat it we did. With concerted efforts among law enforcement, political leaders, educators, the sports and entertainment industries and nearly every part of our culture, we reduced drug use by nearly 60%. Over the course of many messaging and policy missteps and lack of attention to the issue, however, illegal and dangerous drug use has broken records, and we are now a very high society indeed — and a deadly one. Today, regular illegal drug use is nearly 20% higher than it was in what every expert in the field used to identify as our worst year, 1979… Today, and for the past several years, we have been losing more Americans to drugs than we ever did to AIDS at its worst — far more. In fact, controlling for population, if drug deaths today were compared to AIDS deaths at their peak, the AIDS body count would be 30,000 higher. We are losing 50% more Americans to drug deaths than we did to AIDS in its worst year (Washington Times).

Mass Christian Persecution in Nigeria Leads to Record Deaths, Displacement

Christian Post: More than 16,000 Christians were killed in Nigeria in four years between 2019 and 2023 as more followers of Christ were victims of violence than adherents of other religions, according to data collected by the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa. ORFA released a four-year data project Thursday documenting 55,910 fatalities from 9,970 attacks, including both civilians and combatants, across Nigeria. Of those killed, 30,880 were civilians. Christian victims totaled 16,769, significantly outnumbering the 6,235 Muslim fatalities — the ratio of Christian to Muslim deaths being 6.5:1. Radicalized Muslim Fulani herdsmen were responsible for 55% of the Christian deaths (Christian Post). Fox News: The report highlights how persecution has forced Nigerian Christians to flee to other parts of the country and to become Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)… Christians, the report adds, “have been singled out for violence, face harsh living conditions and experience faith-based challenges throughout their displacement journey.” The situation is getting worse. In total, in 2014, the report claims there were 1.1 million IDPs in Nigeria. “As of 2023, there are 3.4 million” (Fox News).

10.

Amazon’s “Alexa” Devices Give Different Answers When Asked Why They Should Vote for Trump or Harris

Fox News: Amazon Alexa gave starkly different answers when asked why to vote for Republican Donald Trump versus Democrat Kamala Harris. When asked, “Why should I vote for Trump?” Alexa declined to provide such information. “I cannot provide responses that endorse any political party or its leader,” the virtual assistant responded… Directly afterward, Alexa was asked why someone should vote for Harris. The responses given to that question were drastically different. “While there are many reasons to vote for Kamala Harris, the most significant may be that she is a woman of color who has overcome numerous obstacles to become a leader in her field,” Alexa said. “Additionally, her experience as a prosecutor and her record of accomplishment in the areas of criminal justice and immigration reform make her a compelling candidate” (Fox News). End Wokeness: Amazon’s Alexa gives a list of reasons to vote for Kamala, won’t do it for Trump (X). Libs of TikTok: In addition to only listing reasons to vote for Kamala and not Trump, Amazon’s Alexa was also claiming Trump wasn’t shot at. Jeff Bezos should have to answer for this election interference (X).