Saturday PM ~ TheFrontPageCover

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TheFrontPageCover
~ Featuring ~
Education Secretary Threatens Union Power
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Louis DeBroux  
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scumbag/liar-nObama’s Homeland Security 
IG Indicted On Fraud, Theft Charges
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By Tristan Justice
{ thefederalist.com } ~ Former Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Charles Edwards and his former aide Murali Yamazula Venkata were indicted Friday on charges of stealing government property to defraud the U.S. government... Yamazula was also charged with destroying records. The indictments handed down by the Justice Department allege that Edwards and Venkata were working with others within the inspector general’s office to orchestrate a scheme to steal confidential and proprietary software that includes sensitive information on government employees. Prosecutors say Edwards was attempting to resell a revamped package of the software as a product of his firm, Delta Business Solutions to the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.“The indictment further alleges that, in addition to stealing DHS-OIG’s software and the sensitive government databases, Venkata and others also assisted Edwards by reconfiguring his laptop so that he could properly upload the stolen software and databases, provided troubleshooting support whenever Edwards required it, and helped him build a testing server at his residence with the stolen software and databases,” the Department of Justice said in a press release announcing the indictments. “As further part of the alleged scheme, Edwards retained software developers in India for the purpose of developing his commercial alternative of DHS-OIG’s software.” Their operations, according to the indictment lasted from 2014 to 2017. Edwards officially left the Department of Homeland Security in December of 2013 but prosecutors say the former watchdog of the agency leveraged his relationship with Venkata and other employees within the office to conduct his scheme.  https://thefederalist.com/2020/03/06/obamas-homeland-security-ig-indicted-on-fraud-theft-charges/?utm_source=The+Federalist+List&utm_campaign=560ce1a0c2-RSS_The_Federalist_Daily_Updates_w_Transom&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_cfcb868ceb-560ce1a0c2-83771801   

Trump Admin Rips International Criminal Court Decision to Probe U.S. Conduct in Afghanistan
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By Adam Kredo
{ freebeacon.com } ~ The Trump administration will fight efforts by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate American personnel for alleged war crimes in Afghanistan... according to top U.S. officials who described the court's efforts as a dangerous sham. The ICC ruled on Thursday that it has jurisdiction to investigate and potentially prosecute American service members for alleged war crimes perpetrated in Afghanistan during America's 18-plus years in the country. The decision marks a reversal of the court's initial findings on the matter and prompted fierce pushback from the Trump administration, which maintains the ICC is conducting a politically motivated stunt meant to undermine America's efforts to foster peace in the war-torn nation. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ripped the court's decision in comments to reporters at the State Department. "I received word this morning that the ICC Appeals Chamber authorized an investigation into the activities of the Taliban and U.S. and Afghan personnel there," Pompeo said. "This is a truly breathtaking action by an unaccountable political institution masquerading as a legal body." The United States is not a member of the ICC and will fight efforts to target American military members, Pompeo said. He added that the timing of the decision showed disregard for ongoing U.S.-led peace efforts with the Taliban. "It is all the more reckless for this ruling to come just days after the United States signed a historic peace deal in Afghanistan, which is the best chance for peace in a generation," Pompeo said. "Indeed, the Afghan government itself pleaded with the ICC not to take this course. But the ICC politicians had other goals." "I will reiterate one more time: The United States is not a party to the ICC, and we will take all necessary measures to protect our citizens from this renegade, unlawful, so-called court," the secretary added. Gerard Filitti, senior counsel at the Lawfare Project, an independent organization that litigates cases on behalf of the pro-Israel community and others, told the Washington Free Beacon that the court's decision could endanger American military members serving abroad...  https://freebeacon.com/national-security/trump-admin-rips-international-criminal-court-decision-to-probe-u-s-conduct-in-afghanistan/?utm_source=actengage&utm_campaign=FreedomMail&utm_medium=email  

Coronavirus: China's War on the Truth
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by Giulio Meotti
{ gatestoneinstitute.org } ~ "On current course, China is liable to do significant damage to the rest the world, by accident or intent," wrote columnist Daniel Henninger in the Wall Street Journal on January 29... "The Chinese Communist government increasingly poses an existential threat not just to its own 1.4 billion citizens but to the world at large", wrote the noted historian Victor Davis Hanson on February 20. "Chinese laboratories identified a mystery virus as a highly infectious new pathogen by late December last year, but they were ordered to stop tests, destroy samples and suppress the news, a Chinese media outlet has revealed. "A regional health official in Wuhan, centre of the outbreak, demanded the destruction of the lab samples that established the cause of unexplained viral pneumonia on January 1. China did not acknowledge there was human-to-human transmission until more than three weeks later. "The detailed revelations by Caixin Global, a respected independent publication, provide the clearest evidence yet of the scale of the cover-up in the crucial early weeks when the opportunity was lost to control the outbreak." In a speech on December 31, 2019, Xi Jinping was already triumphantly heralding a new year of "milestone significance in realising the first centenary goal". "Censorship. It can have deadly consequences," said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on February 25. "Had China permitted its own and foreign journalists and medical personnel to speak and investigate freely, Chinese officials and other nations would have been far better prepared to address the challenge." Unfortunately, the World Health Organization did the opposite, "praising" China for fighting the virus. Europe has also been busy appeasing China...
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FISA Court bans officials involved 
in Carter Page wiretaps
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By M. Dowling
{ independentsentinel.com } ~ In case you didn’t hear, the FISA court banned officials involved in Carter Page wiretaps from seeking surveillance warrants... the NY Times reports. That’s a temporary measure. It doesn’t do a thing to prevent illegal surveillance in the future. It does shed light on the egregious nature of Sen. Lindsey Graham”s (R-SC) insistence that the President sign a clean FISA bill with no improvements. Senate Majority Leader McConnell wants the same with changes made later. That’s the later that never comes. The President, for his part, announced he will not sign a clean bill and demands the Republicans and Democrats come up with a bipartisan bill and he will sign it. Judge James Boasberg issued a 19-page opinion on Wednesday, ordering that “no DOJ or FBI personnel under disciplinary or criminal review relating to their work on FISA applications shall participate in drafting, verifying, reviewing, or submitting such applications to the Court.” “Any finding of misconduct relating to the handling of FISA applications shall be promptly reported to the Court,” the U.S. District Court judge added. In December, DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz released a damning report that enumerated 17 significant “errors and omissions” in the spying of Carter Page. Boasberg said, “The frequency and seriousness” of the errors found by the DOJ independent watchdog “called into question the reliability of the information proffered in other FBI applications.” The judge said the government has been “acknowledging its deficiencies” and “undertaking multiple remedial measures” in response to Horowitz’s report and to court orders but also noted that “the errors the OIG pointed out cannot be solved through procedures alone” and that everyone at the DOJ and FBI “must fully understand and embrace the heightened duties of probity and transparency” in the secret court proceedings...
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Darrell Issa appears to edge out GOP 
rival in House comeback bid
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By Marisa Schultz
{ foxnews.com } ~ Darrell Issa, the former combative House Oversight Committee chairman who took on the scumbag/liar-nObama administration, inched closer to making his political comeback after Super Tuesday... With all the precincts reporting, Issa had nearly 5,000 more votes than Carl DeMaio, a former San Diego City Councilman, and appeared to secure his name on the general election ballot for California's 50th Congressional district that is currently vacant. The top two finishers advance to the November election. The Democrat vying for the San Diego County seat, Ammar Campa-Najja, was in first place with 34 percent of the tally and over 42,300 votes. The Associated Press hadn't yet called the second-place finisher slot yet, but Issa so far had secured more than 30,600 votes (25 percent) compared to DeMaio, with 25,800 votes (21 percent). Issa, the wealthy car alarm magnate, served in the House for 18 years and announced  in 2018 he wouldn’t seek re-election in his 49th congressional district. The open seat flipped blue to Democrat Mike Levin two years ago. But Issa staged a comeback bid this year in the 50th district, a neighboring seat that is solidly red. He's been locked in a nasty, expensive race with DeMaio, a radio talk show host. The winner in November will succeed former Rep. Duncan Hunter, who resigned from office in January after pleading guilty to a single count of conspiracy to misuse at least $150,000 in campaign funds for personal expenses. Hunter, whose dad was a congressman before him, will be sentenced March 17. DeMaio, the first openly gay man on the San Diego city council and well-known political commentator, and Issa have slugged it out over who is more loyal to Trump. Both have accused each other of lying. Trump has not endorsed in the race. The San Diego Union-Tribune, the largest local newspaper, was fed up with both candidates and declined to endorse either Issa or DeMaio, who don't live in the district. The paper supported Democrat Campa-Najja, who received  the most votes, and Republican state Sen. Brian Jones on the GOP side, who finished a distant fourth place.  https://www.foxnews.com/politics/issa-mounts-a-comeback-in-california  
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Are We a Nation of Bigots?
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By Janice Shaw Crouse
{ americanthinker.com } ~ Pundits of all political stripes are taking note of the fact that the 2020 election is bringing to the fore just how deep and bitter are the cultural divisions within our nation... The glaring decline in political comity rivals that of the days leading up the Civil War. While the political divide is obvious and bitter, the growing religious divide is also increasingly obvious, and, perhaps, this development has been a stronger factor in the social and cultural divisions of the American public than has been previously acknowledged. It has been little noted in the mainstream media, but the percentage of American adults who identify as non-Christian — those individuals who are labeled "none" in terms of religious identification — "continues to change at a rapid pace," according to the Pew Research Center after its telephone interviews in 2018 and 2019. Most recently, "65% of American adults describe themselves as Christians — down 12 percentage points over the past decade." Fully "17 percent of Americans describe their religion as 'nothing in particular' — up from 12% in 2009." In sum, non-Christian religious affiliations are growing as a share of the adult population. Not surprisingly, Americans also say "religion is losing influence in American life." Although most adults think private religious observance is a good thing, nearly two thirds think the church should stay out of political matters. Though not made an issue by the legacy media, the decline in Christian and patriotic influence has been evident in the recent primary campaign events for the Democrat party. The televised Democrat debates showed no American flags. Social media, on the other hand, pointed out that, appallingly, the flags were intentionally removed to avoid offending anyone.  Democrats and the various fact-checking sites responded to this criticism by pointing out that red, white, and blue flag colors and the stars and stripes imagery were everywhere and that some candidates wore flag lapel pins. But the basic fact of this departure from longstanding political tradition remains: no actual American flags were on the stage with the candidates. Another telling sign of the shifts that are happening manifests itself in the fact that some "43 percent of Americans say socialism would be a good thing for the country." As Kay James, president of the Heritage Foundation put it, "the rising tide of socialism in America is reaching a critical point as more Americans warm up to the idea of bigger, more intrusive government." Who would have dreamed that a whole-hearted socialist — actually a closet communist — commie-Bernie Sanders, would be a viable option for the Democratic presidential nomination? Who would have dreamed that commie-Sanders would praise a murderous communist dictator like Fidel Castro or that he would dodge the question when he was asked if Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro is a dictator? Byron York argued that the cultural divide goes deeper than the signs and symbols of patriotism; he notes several small indicators from the commie-Bernie Sanders rallies that indicate a departure from typical campaign rallies: the absence of the Pledge of Allegiance; lack of an invocation; and an obviously "woke progressive crowd," where disdain for the stories of American history is common, where military service is ignored, and where 36% say they "never" go to church. Byron's assessment? Democrat rallies are not a place where you get a "recite-the-pledge, hand-over-the-heart kind of feeling." Moreover, hand-in-hand with the desertion of patriotic themes, we are seeing virulent anti-religious bias from all the candidates. Perhaps it might be clearer to say there is greater and greater open hostility toward anyone who holds to a traditional understanding of Judeo-Christian moral teaching...
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Education Secretary Threatens Union Power
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Louis DeBroux  Since nearly the moment she was announced as President Donald Trump’s selection for education secretary, Betsy DeVos has been under relentless fire from Democrats and their allies in the education establishment. The most ruthless attacks come from national teachers unions like the NEA (National Education Association) and the AFT (American Federation of Teachers) and their state affiliates.

The NEA launched the “Fire DeVos Pledge,” declaring her to be the least qualified secretary of education in history. The claims include: “Her education freedom scholarships are ‘degrading’ to public schools, ‘threaten students’ civil rights,‘ 'widen educational inequity,’ are a personal attack on teachers, and are ‘dangerous.’”

Nor are the attacks limited to rhetoric. Thanks to threats from the teachers unions and their thugs, American taxpayers now spend $6 million per year for a security detail to protect DeVos. And she personally covers their travel expenses.

What atrocities have occurred at the direction of Secretary DeVos that warrant such hostility?

She is an enormous advocate for educational freedom, supporting mechanisms like vouchers and ESAs (Educational Savings Accounts) that put power over children’s education back in the hands of parents instead of bureaucrats. This allows poor children in failing schools the same opportunity for a quality education that children of the affluent and politically connected receive.

The ugly truth is that America’s education system is mediocre at best, an anachronism of the industrial age, ill-equipped to develop the minds of our children in the information age. Our children are placed in educational assembly lines, in batches by age, taught the same things in the same way, regardless of the strengths and weaknesses of each child, and regardless of their interests.

Our children suffer as a result, and teacher-union bosses couldn’t care less.

Al Shanker, former president of the American Federation of Teachers, when asked about the impact four teacher walkouts in less than a year would have on the children, famously retorted that he would “start representing kids when they started paying union dues.” Nothing has changed.

DeVos seeks to expand educational freedom and drastically reduce the size, scope, and reach of Washington politicians and bureaucrats, as well as teachers unions, which have an incestuous, symbiotic relationship. Unions provide (almost exclusively Democrat) politicians an army of campaign workers and millions in member dues in the form of campaign contributions, and the politicians block measures that allow parents the ability to move their children out of failing schools.

The politicians and union leaders thrive, but the children suffer.

Yet as noted by Rebecca Friedrichs, founder of “For Kids & Country,” a 28-year public-school teacher, and the plaintiff in a 2016 Supreme Court case that dealt an enormous blow to unions, “Freedom for families means fewer educators paying union dues — a threat to union power.”

All over the country, when “right to work” laws are passed, union membership plummets. While government-sector union membership stands at 37%, private-sector union membership barely registers at just 6%.

Unable to compel workers, union participation falls precipitously. Fewer union members means less in union dues, which means less money to pay off the politicians who give power and taxpayer money to union leaders.

Choice is the death knell for unions, which is why union leaders have long engaged in threats, intimidation, and even violence to protect their power. Those that threaten their power are subjected to character assassination and harassment by union mobs and their willing accomplices.

The federal Department of Education was established in 1979, with a budget of $12 billion. That grew to $70 billion in FY2017, Barack scumbag/liar-nObama’s last year, for a department employing more than 4,000 bureaucrats who do nothing but micromanage the decision-making of countless thousands of schools around the country.

Yet after four decades and hundreds of billions of dollars, the academic achievement of American children is stagnant in math and reading, and worse in science. As Secretary DeVos correctly notes, government can’t fix public schools.

The American people would never tolerate federal bureaucrats and their union cronies dictating where we select our groceries, especially if the stores we were forced to shop at offered no selection, stale bread, moldy fruit, and rotting meat.

Yet that is exactly what government forces us to do with our children, our most cherished possessions: feed them the educational equivalent of stale bread and rotting meat.

President Trump and Secretary DeVos are fighting the unions to obtain quality education and choice for our children. Every American should join them in that fight.   ~The Patriot Post

https://patriotpost.us/articles/68987?mailing_id=4902&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.4902&utm_campaign=snapshot&utm_content=body  

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