Fascism Is Actually a Merger of State and Corporate Power, Stamping Out Dissent

“Fascism should more appropriately be called corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power.”

While this was originally written by Italian philosopher Giovanni Gentile, Benito Mussolini took this statement and made it his own

The word “fascism” gets tossed around a lot, but let’s look at the history behind it so we can better understand this political movement. Mussolini used to confidently declare that the 20th century would be the century of fascism. And while he was roundly defeated in World War II, his ideology may have been the winner in the long run.

Fascism was never a well-developed school of thought, in the way Marxism and Leninism were. It emerged as a response to socialism in the aftermath of the First World War.
Mussolini’s fascism

While Italy was technically one of the Allies during World War I, most Italians did not want to fight. Italy still had a far lower standard of living than most of the rest of Europe at this time. Mussolini loved fighting, though, and published opinion pieces in the pro-war newspaper he founded, Il Popolo d’Italia (The People of Italy). As an example of his mindset, you can read his article “Trenchocracy” about the new spiritual elite he believed would emerge as a result of engaging in warfare.

In this 1917 article, he also refers to “an anti-Marxist socialism, a national socialism,” which, as history nerds know, is what Hitler called his political movement, too.

After World War I, when Italy did not get the territory it had been promised, the Italians were humiliated. Mussolini wrote up a manifesto in 1919 that included a mixture of progressive and conservative demands. For example, while Mussolini loved war and soldiers, he hated arms manufacturers and proposed an 85% tax on war profits. He also advocated abolishing the monarchy.
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In 1921, however, when Mussolini officially formed his Fascist party, he dropped the progressive demands for a free republic and supported the monarchy.

Why the change?

Well, between 1919 and 1921, the landowning class decided they really liked Mussolini. Wealthy Europeans had watched in horror as Bolshevik revolutionaries in Russia slaughtered the royal family and proceeded to throw Russia into absolute chaos.

Italy had its own share of leftist agitators, too, who absolutely terrified the genteel classes. Mussolini had been a socialist for a while, but he separated himself from them in his glorification of war. Because Mussolini didn’t like socialists and because he enjoyed organizing gangs to fight against anyone he didn’t like, the landowning classes were more than happy to use him to fight against socialist groups. They supplied him with trucks and weapons and let him do their dirty work.

Mussolini’s Fascist party won very few elections. But they were put into power by a wealthy elite that feared communism above everything else.

And once in power, Mussolini worked to make it complete. In 1922 he coined the word “totalitarianism” to describe his idea of a state that encompassed all facets of life. Of course, Mussolini personally failed. But his ideas lived on.

How fascism is different from communism

Communism and fascism are similar in that both states discount the importance of the individual. The cults of personality involved in Communism have made those regimes easily identifiable. Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, and the Kim family of North Korea: all these men created regimes so obviously horrible that very few people claim to want communism anymore.

But fascism is a little different in that it allows for more independent business functions as long as those businesses support the aims of the ruler. While Mussolini created a cult of personality for himself, it’s not as necessary to the fascist system, especially with our 21st-century mega-corporations. We may not see posters of our leaders all over our walls, but corporate logos are so ubiquitous we don’t even notice them anymore.

And with fascism, corporations can be the arm that wields the whip.
Meanwhile, in America, corporations punish dissenters.

The U.S. and the rest of the Western world like to talk a good game when it comes to democracy, but how truly democratic are our societies? How are dissenters treated? We like to think that the Western world is a beacon of freedom because people like Alex Jones and Joseph Mercola aren’t locked up. But are they treated like equal citizens?

The OP knows personally what happens to truly independent media outlets. We’ve been the victim of downgrading, which affects advertising and how the site earns money. We’ve also been targeted for deliberate defunding.

And we’re hardly alone.

Dr. Mercola was recently debanked, as we wrote about here. He wasn’t being accused of any crimes. His voice is merely inconvenient for the establishment. Law enforcement can’t get him for anything, so they got the corporate powers to punish him.

Some anonymous women have made rape and harassment allegations against Russell Brand. Though he hasn’t been found guilty of anything, his YouTube channel has been demonetized. Once again, even though charges against him have not been verified in a court of law, corporate powers have been used to punish him.

American Express slashed outspoken Trump supporter and MyPillow founder Mike Lindell’s business account by 90% without explanation. Again, Mike Lindell didn’t break any laws. He’s not going to jail, but corporate powers are making his life miserable and affecting his ability to earn a living.

Modern sensibilities make the average citizen laugh at Mussolini’s war-glorifying, marching, shouting, macho persona. However, we are undoubtedly living under a kind of soft fascism, where corporations work with the state to further its agenda. Business still goes on as usual in many sectors, which is why most of us are still living in somewhat comfortable houses and are not starving yet. But we do not have the same kind of government we had 80 years ago.
You might be wondering why this matters.

You may be thinking to yourself, we know who the bad guys are. Who cares what we call them?

Language affects our ability to work together. If we don’t agree on how to identify the enemy, how can we support each other against it? In Genesis, when people get too uppity by building the Tower of Babel, how does God throw a monkey wrench in the project? He makes people unable to understand each other’s languages, which takes away their ability to collaborate.

Language matters.

Do you think the other side doesn’t understand this? Antifa calls itself “antifascist,” while it might very well be the organization most perfectly aligned with Mussolini’s original fascists. They wear black, smash things, and are supported by wealthy interest groups just like Mussolini’s thugs.

Inconvenient history is rewritten.

More importantly, as the press insists on calling Trump a fascist while totally ignoring Antifa, we are living in an age of rewriting history. Just look at what happened in Canada.

When Ukrainian President Zelensky attended a meeting of the Canadian Parliament on September 22, Speaker Anthony Rota introduced Jaroslav Hunka as a war who fought for the First Ukrainian Division “against the Russians.”

Time out. Russia was on the side of the Allies, fighting with the Canadians in World War II.

So, what was Ukrainian Jaroslav Hunka up to during that time?

Turns out that the First Ukrainian Division was also known as the Waffen SS Galicia Division or the SS 14th Waffen Division, a voluntary unit under the command of the Nazi division. The Canadian Parliament gave a standing ovation to a member of the Nazi SS.

The Germans recruited this unit specifically to...

GOP Senator: Biden is Allowing Iranians and Russians to Negotiate Iran Deal With No Americans in the Room

Senator Jim Risch (R-Id.) charged during a press conference on Wednesday that not only is the Biden regime allowing Russia to work with Iran on a nuclear deal, it is allowing our two adversaries to negotiate together behind closed doors with no American negotiators present.

“It is absolutely stunning that this deal is being negotiated by two of our worst enemies on the planet,” Risch said. “You’ve got the Iranians and the Russians. They won’t even let the Americans in the room!”

Risch advised the Biden administration to walk away from the deal. “This is not right,” he said emphatically. “We should walk!”

News of Russia’s inclusion in the negotiations come after the U.S. and its European allies imposed sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine.

“Mr. President, you’re the only one in America doing business with the Russians, stop doing business with the Russians,” Risch added, slamming his hand on the podium. “Don’t have them negotiating for us, walk on this deal.”

Other Republican senators sharply criticized Biden for working with Russia on a nuclear deal with Iran at the same time Russian President Vladimir Putin is invading Ukraine.

“This Iran Deal if and when it is announced will be a massive win for Vladimir Putin,” Texas Sen. Cruz said during the press conference. “Because the Biden administration has been eager to tell Putin and tell the Ayatollah of course we will have a carveout for the Iran deal on Russia sanctions which means Putin will make billions in oil and gas transactions, in nuclear transactions, and in weapons transactions.”

Cruz added that the Biden administration is “incoherently” announcing sanctions on Russia while also “creating a massive subsidy” for Russia which “makes no sense.”

The Texas senator echoed former State Department official Gabriel Noronha, who recently wrote in Tablet: “This isn’t Obama’s Iran deal. It’s much worse.”

Cruz said Thursday that Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran was “catastrophically dangerous,” but Biden’s incoherent deal is “even worse.”

Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wy.) noted that even while the Russians invade Ukraine, they are “doing the negotiations” on the U.S.’s behalf.

“It’s the Russians who are doing the negotiations on behalf of the United States,” he said. “You turn on the TV and radio and see what the Russians are doing in Ukraine. How in the world can we allow them to negotiate on our behalf?”

Senator Joni Ernst (R-Ia.) called the Biden Regime’s foreign policies “insane.”

“Russia, this is the country with tanks running over Ukraine right now killing innocent civilians,” Ernst said. “Children, women, people that we care about and yet they’re using those Russians to negotiate a deal with yet another one of our near-peer adversaries, Iran.”

Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) blasted Biden for seeking oil deals with U.S. adversaries, rather than enacting policies in the U.S. to open up...

Australian police burn anti-mandate protesters with directed energy beams

The use of short thread on LRAD/DEW Directed Energy Weapons against peaceful Australian protestors likely violates the Geneva Convention and could therefore constitute a war crime since it is prohibited to use weapons which cause excessive suffering against civilians.

A spokesman for ACT Policing has confirmed that LRADs were deployed during the anti-vaccine protests.

Last weekend in Canberra the Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw complained that the grassroots movement against forced jabs were a “challenge” for law enforcement. Videos from the march show huge crowds rising up against their government’s dictates which is why pro-mandate government officials retaliated.

The police deployed long-range acoustic devices (LRADs), which transmit at high volumes and frequencies. Even if they are referred to as “non-lethal weapons”, Canberra protesters (including women and children) were badly burned by directed microwave energy beams, complaining of blisters on their faces, arms, and torsos. Concentrated microwave radiation can inflict painful burns on the skin from long distances away.

Protesters were also reporting feeling nauseous, and suffering from vertigo and dizziness – outcomes associated with acoustic crowd control weapons.

In the US it is known as “Active Denial technology”, developed expressly as a crowd-control weapon. Unveiled in 2001, these wavelengths heat the outer surface, penetrating only the surface of the skin. But this is deep enough to affect great pain and trigger the same reflex reaction as being scalded by hot tea. It has an effective range of several hundred meters and can be aimed very easily.

The manufacturer, Raytheon, actually built a miniature Active Denial system which appears to be the same one which the Australians have deployed. The Australian police purchased LRAD devices as early as 2016.

According to the Geneva Convention:

Desperate For More Recruits, Army Offers $50,000 Signing Bonus

drtiki · Darth Vader Breathing

So... Demonizing White People, Patriotic Americans, Straight Males, Christians, And Trump Supporters Reduces Military Recruitment?? Who Would Have Thunk It??

Two years into the pandemic, and now with Department of Defense-wide vaccine mandates threatening early discharge for all troops not in compliance, the US Army is struggling to meet its enlistment quotas, especially for jobs deemed "critical" and highly skilled, for which the military typically spends a lot - sometimes millions - for training.

To lure new recruits, the Army is rolling out with its maximum enlistment bonus of $50,000 - to be offered on a broader scale for all "highly skilled" recruits who agree to sign a six year contract, according to the Associated Press.

Aside from the likelihood that many young people are surely turned off to the prospect of enduring already rigorous boot camp and training in a mask and other social distancing practices, military recruiters say they had a tough past couple years during rolling school closures and restricted campuses, due to pandemic shutdowns and distance learning.

Covid testing protocol, image: US Army

In addition, youth sporting events are typically places where recruiters are present, but these have also been sporadically halted. Recruiters say the current spike in the Omicron variant is also playing a role in keeping interested people away, and increasing numbers of 18- or 19-year-olds are opting to take a 'gap year' off before they decide on either college or military service.

"We are still living the implications of 2020 and the onset of COVID, when the school systems basically shut down," the chief of Army Recruiting Command, Maj. Gen. Kevin Vereen, told AP. "We lost a full class of young men and women that we didn’t have contact with, face-to-face."

"We’re in a competitive market," Vereen added. "How we incentivize is absolutely essential, and that is absolutely something that we know that is important to trying to get somebody to come and join the military." Up to this point, the maximum the Army offered for the top jobs which are highly skilled has been $40,000. But not everyone qualifies for the top-tier bonuses. Among careers that can come with the big signing bonus on a six-year contract include:

• Signals intelligence analyst
• Special Forces units
• Fire control specialists overseeing advanced weapons
• Cryptologic Linguist
• Human intelligence collector

Many of the above, particularly special forces and intel-related positions, also including highly technical jobs, require special tests and successful passage of special training programs.

The report indicates that February through May typically see the lowest numbers of the year in terms of attracting new recruits, even in pre-pandemic times. The Army being able to advertise a full...

Afghan “Refugee” Flight Overwhelmingly Filled With Fighting-Age Males

A military cargo plane departing Kabul’s besieged airport with so-called “refugees” is overwhelmingly filled with fighting-age males, raising questions about the wisdom of accepting hundreds of thousands of Afghani migrants supposedly in need of asylum in western, predominantly Christian countries.

Imagery of a US Air Force flight containing hundreds of Afghans fleeing the country emerged on Monday, with 640 passengers authorized to board on the basis of their supposed connection to US military forces who have fought in the 20-year occupation of Afghanistan. The flight was bound for Qatar, where visa and migrant processing for those onboard will continue in third party countries with the understanding the “refugees” will eventually reach the United States.

A few women and children can be seen in the lower left of the picture, paling in comparison to the hundreds of men. Gender segregation is widely practiced in Afghanistan, with women unlikely to sit among throngs of men they’re unrelated to.

Human rights advocates have drawn attention to the plight of Afghanistan’s women, who stand to face restrictions on their rights and daily lives under the impending Taliban government. However, the failed state’s young men appear to be the ones fleeing the Islamist terrorist group, rather those who wouldn’t be expected to actually fight against the organization.

A crowd overwhelmingly composed of young men was also seen mobbing a military cargo plane on the runway of the Kabul Airport, with some even going so far as to tie themselves to the taxiing aircraft, later falling to their deaths from the plane in flight. Afghans have generally declined to accept similar risks in fighting the Taliban, who has taken all of the country’s provincial provinces with minimal bloodshed in the nation’s capital without firing more than a few shots.

With Afghanistan’s supposedly heroic and brave youth opting for flight from their homeland over picking up weapons and firing back at the far-from invincible Islamist organization, citizens of western countries forced to pay welfare, housing, food and...

Federally Funded Nuclear Weapons Lab Made White Male Employees Participate in Racial Reeducation Training

Sandia National Laboratories, a government-contracted nuclear weapons laboratory, required its white male employees to participate in a racial reeducation seminar, leaked documents reveal.

At the three-day training session, called, "White Men’s Caucus on Eliminating Racism, Sexism, and Homophobia in Organizations," participants were encouraged to examine their privilege as white, heterosexual men. Christopher Rufo, a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation and contributing editor at City Journal, leaked documents from the seminar, which took place in September 2019, in a tweet on Wednesday.

Trainers asked participants to think of words associated with white male culture, and created a list which included "KKK," "privileged," and "MAGA hat." An example of systemic privilege, according to one document, is having role models in the public eye that "outweigh" the "Ted Kaczynskis of white maleness."

"I routinely witness and benefit from the many positive white male role models displayed in the media, politics, and entertainment that far outweigh the Tim McVeighs and Ted Kaczynskis of white maleness," the document reads.

One document said, "rugged individualism," a "can-do attitude," and "operating from principles and conscience" are vestigial attitudes that once helped white men survive. Another listed statements of privilege, which included assertions like, "White privilege is being the first in line: first to be served; first to be noticed; first to be listened to, etcetera" and "Men can ogle women and get a pass from their colleagues."

Participants wrote apology messages to white women, people of color, and other groups as a reflection at the end of...

Two New York women inspired by radical Islam who pleaded guilty to planning to build bombs for US terror attacks face up to 20 years in jail

• The women pleaded guilty in New York City on Friday to teaching and distributing information about the manufacture and use of explosive weapons
• Asia Siddiqui, 35, and Noelle Velentzas, 31, face up to 20 years in prison 
• The pair taught each other chemistry for creating explosives and other devices
• They discussed devices used in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and 1993 World Trade Center attack

Noelle Velentzas, (pictured), and another woman pleaded guilty to teaching and distributing information about the manufacture and use of explosive weapons

Two women inspired by radical Islam pleaded guilty in New York City on Friday to teaching and distributing information about the manufacture and use of explosive weapons, federal prosecutors said.

Asia Siddiqui, 35, and Noelle Velentzas, 31, who are American citizens and both from the borough of Queens, face up to 20 years in prison when they are sentenced.

Between 2013 and 2015, Velentzas and Siddiqui planned to build a bomb for use in a terrorist attack in the United States.

The women taught each other chemistry and electrical skills for creating explosives and building detonating devices.

They also carried out research on how to make plastic explosives and how to build a car bomb. The pair also shopped and collected items to be used in an explosive device.

Disturbingly, they also discussed similar devices used in past terrorist incidents, including the Boston Marathon bombing, Oklahoma City bombing and 1993 World Trade Center attack.

The New York Post reported that the pair visited a Home Depot store in Queens to look for materials to make explosives with a woman called 'Mel.'

Noelle Velentzas, 31 (left) and Asia Siddiqui, 35 (right) who are American citizens researched how to make bombs to be used in the US. They are pictured above in a courtroom sketch from 2015

She was an undercover agent who recorded them talking about their plans to unleash terror in public places.

'Noelle, Mel and I discussed the need to prepare for jihad,' Siddiqui told Brooklyn federal Judge Sterling Johnson Jr., reading from a prepared written statement earlier this year.

They also researched potential targets of attack, focusing on law enforcement and military-related targets.

Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers said the guilty pleas were entered before United States District Court Judge Sterling Johnson Jr.

In a statement he said: 'Inspired by radical Islam, Velentzas and Siddiqui researched and taught each other how to construct bombs to be used on American soil against law enforcement and military targets.

'They were thwarted by the excellent work of...

A Short List Of Some Of Trump's Accomplishments...

Economic Growth

• 4.2 percent growth in the second quarter of 2018.
• For the first time in more than a decade, growth is projected to exceed 3 percent over the calendar year.

Jobs

• 4 million new jobs have been created since the election, and more than 3.5 million since Trump took office.
• More Americans are employed now than ever before in our history.
• Jobless claims at lowest level in nearly five decades.
• The economy has achieved the longest positive job-growth streak on record.
• Job openings are at an all-time high and outnumber job seekers for the first time on record.
• Unemployment claims at 50 year low
• African-American, Hispanic, and Asian-American unemployment rates have all recently reached record lows.
• Women’s unemployment recently at lowest rate in nearly 65 years.
• Youth unemployment recently reached its lowest level in more than 50 years.
• Veterans’ unemployment recently hit its lowest level in nearly two decades.
• Unemployment rate for Americans without a high school diploma recently reached a record low.
• Rate for disabled Americans recently hit a record low.
• Blue-collar jobs recently grew at the fastest rate in more than three decades.
• Poll found that 85 percent of blue-collar workers believe their lives are headed “in the right direction.”
• Last year, job satisfaction among American workers hit its highest level since 2005.
• Nearly two-thirds of Americans rate now as a good time to find a quality job.
• Added more than 400,000 manufacturing jobs since the election.
• 100,000 new jobs supporting the production & transport of oil & natural gas.
• African-American unemployment hit a record low of 5.9 percent in May 2018.
• Hispanic unemployment at 4.5 percent.
• Asian-American unemployment at record low of 2 percent.
• Female unemployment dropped to 3.6 percent in May 2018, the lowest since October 1953.
• July 2018’s youth unemployment rate of 9.2 percent was the lowest since July 1966.
• July 2018’s veterans’ unemployment rate of 3.0 percent matched the lowest rate since May 2001.
• 68 percent reported receiving a pay increase in the past year.
• Optimism about the availability of good jobs has grown by 25 percent.
• Manufacturing employment is growing at its fastest pace in more than two decades.

American Income

• Median household income rose to $61,372 in 2017, a post-recession high.
• Wages up in August by their fastest rate since June 2009.
• Paychecks rose by 3.3 percent between 2016 and 2017, the most in a decade.
• Council of Economic Advisers found that real wage compensation has grown by 1.4 percent over the past year.
• Some 3.9 million Americans off food stamps since the election.
• Median income for Hispanic-Americans rose by 3.7 percent and surpassed $50,000 for the first time ever in history.
• Poverty rates for African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans have reached their lowest levels ever recorded.
• Home-ownership among Hispanics is at the highest rate in nearly a decade.
• American Optimism
• Small business optimism has hit historic highs.
• Manufacturers are more confident than ever.
• Consumer confidence is at an 18-year high.
• 12 percent of Americans rate the economy as the most significant problem facing our country, the lowest level on record.
• Confidence in the economy is near a two-decade high, with 51 percent rating the economy as good or excellent.
• NFIB’s small business optimism index broke a 35 year-old record in August.
• SurveyMonkey/CNBC’s small business confidence survey for Q3 of 2018 matched its all-time high.
• 95 percent of U.S. manufacturers are optimistic about the future, the highest ever.
• American Business
• Investment is flooding back into the United States due to the tax cuts.
• Retail sales have surged. Commerce Department figures from August show that retail sales increased 0.5 percent in July 2018, an increase of 6.4 percent from July 2017.
• ISM’s index of manufacturing scored its highest reading in 14 years.
• Worker productivity is the highest it has been in more than three years.
• Steel and aluminum producers are re-opening.
• Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and NASDAQ have all notched record highs.
• Over $450 billion dollars has already poured back into the U.S., including more than $300 billion in the first quarter of 2018.
• Dow hit record highs 70 times in 2017 alone, the most ever recorded in one year.
• Deregulation
• Achieved massive deregulation at a rapid pace, completing 22 deregulatory actions to every one regulatory action during his first year in office.
• Signed legislation to roll back costly and harmful provisions of Dodd-Frank, providing relief to credit unions, and community and regional banks.
• Federal agencies achieved more than $8 billion in lifetime net regulatory cost savings.
• Rolled back Obama’s burdensome Waters of the U.S. rule.
• Used the Congressional Review Act to repeal regulations more times than in history.

Tax Cuts

• Biggest tax cuts and reforms in American history by signing the Tax Cuts and Jobs act into law
• 9 in 10 American workers are expected see an increase in their paychecks thanks to the tax cuts, according to the Treasury Department.
• More than 6 million of American workers have received wage increases, bonuses, and increased benefits thanks to tax cuts.
• Over 100 utility companies have lowered electric, gas, or water rates thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
• Ernst & Young found 89 percent of companies planned to increase worker compensation thanks to the Trump tax cuts.
• Established opportunity zones to spur investment in left behind communities.
• Provided more than $5.5 trillion in gross tax cuts, nearly 60 percent of which will go to families.
• Increased the exemption for the death tax to help save Family Farms & Small Business.
• Nearly doubled the standard deduction for individuals and families.
• Enabled vast majority of American families will be able to file their taxes on a single page by claiming the standard deduction.
• Doubled the child tax credit to help lessen the financial burden of raising a family.
• Lowered America’s corporate tax rate from the highest in the developed world to allow American businesses to compete and win.
• Small businesses can now deduct 20 percent of their business income.
• Cut dozens of special interest tax breaks and closed loopholes for the wealthy.

Worker Development

• Established a National Council for the American Worker to develop a national strategy for training and retraining America’s workers for high-demand industries.
• Employers have signed Trump’s “Pledge to America’s Workers,” committing to train or retrain more than 4.2 million workers and students.
• Signed the first Perkins CTE reauthorization since 2006, authorizing more than $1 billion for states each year to fund vocational and career education programs.
• Executive order expanding apprenticeship opportunities for students and workers.

Domestic Infrastructure

• Proposed infrastructure plan would utilize $200 billion in Federal funds to spur at least $1.5 trillion in infrastructure investment across the country.
• Executive order expediting environmental reviews and approvals for high priority infrastructure projects.
• Federal agencies have signed the One Federal Decision Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) streamlining the federal permitting process for infrastructure projects.
• Rural prosperity task force and signed an executive order to help expand broadband access in rural areas.

Health Care

• Signed an executive order to help minimize the financial burden felt by American households Signed legislation to improve the National Suicide Hotline.
• Signed the most comprehensive childhood cancer legislation ever into law, which will advance childhood cancer research and improve treatments.
• Signed Right-to-Try legislation, expanding health care options for terminally ill patients.
• Enacted changes to the Medicare 340B program, saving seniors an estimated $320 million on drugs in 2018 alone.
• FDA set a new record for generic drug approvals in 2017, saving consumers nearly $9 billion.
• Released a blueprint to drive down drug prices for American patients, leading multiple major drug companies to announce they will freeze or reverse price increases.
• Expanded short-term, limited-duration health plans.
• Let more employers to form Association Health Plans, enabling more small businesses to join together and affordably provide health insurance to their employees.
• Cut Obamacare’s burdensome individual mandate penalty.
• Signed legislation repealing Obamacare’s Independent Payment Advisory Board, also known as the “death panels.”
• USDA invested more than $1 billion in rural health care in 2017, improving access to health care for 2.5 million people in rural communities across 41 states
• Proposed Title X rule to help ensure taxpayers do not fund the abortion industry in violation of the law.
• Reinstated and expanded the Mexico City Policy to keep foreign aid from supporting the global abortion industry.
• HHS formed a new division over protecting the rights of conscience and religious freedom.
• Overturned Obama administration’s midnight regulation prohibiting states from defunding certain abortion facilities.
• Signed executive order to help ensure that religious organizations are not forced to choose between violating their religious beliefs by complying with Obamacare’s contraceptive mandate or shutting their doors.

Combating Opioids

• Chaired meeting the 73rd General Session of the United Nations discussing the worldwide drug problem with international leaders.
• Initiative to Stop Opioid Abuse and Reduce Drug Supply and Demand, introducing new measures to keep dangerous drugs out of our communities.
• $6 billion in new funding to fight the opioid epidemic.
• DEA conducted a surge in April 2018 that arrested 28 medical professions and revoked 147 registrations for prescribing too many opioids.
• Brought the “Prescribed to Death” memorial to President’s Park near the White House, helping raise awareness about the human toll of the opioid crisis.
• Helped reduce high-dose opioid prescriptions by 16 percent in 2017.
• Opioid Summit on the administration-wide efforts to combat the opioid crisis.
• Launched a national public awareness campaign about the dangers of opioid addiction.
• Created a Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis which recommended a number of pathways to tackle the opioid crisis.
• Led two National Prescription Drug Take Back Days in 2017 and 2018, collecting a record number of expired and unneeded prescription drugs each time.
• $485 million targeted grants in FY 2017 to help areas hit hardest by the opioid crisis.
• Signed INTERDICT Act, strengthening efforts to detect and intercept synthetic opioids before they reach our communities.
• DOJ secured its first-ever indictments against Chinese fentanyl manufacturers.
• Joint Criminal Opioid Darknet Enforcement (J-CODE) team, aimed at disrupting online illicit opioid sales.
• Declared the opioid crisis a Nationwide Public Health Emergency in October 2017.

Law and Order

• More U.S. Circuit Court judges confirmed in the first year in office than ever.
• Confirmed more than two dozen U. S. Circuit Court judges.
• Followed through on the promise to nominate judges to the Supreme Court who will adhere to the Constitution
• Signed an executive order directing the Attorney General to develop a strategy to more effectively prosecute people who commit crimes against law enforcement officers.
• Launched an evaluation of grant programs to make sure they prioritize the protection and safety of law enforcement officers.
• Established a task force to reduce crime and restore public safety in communities across Signed an executive order to focus more federal resources on dismantling transnational criminal organizations such as drug cartels.
• Signed an executive order to focus more federal resources on dismantling transnational criminal organizations such as drug cartels.
• Violent crime decreased in 2017 according to FBI statistics.
• $137 million in grants through the COPS Hiring Program to preserve jobs, increase community policing capacities, and support crime prevention efforts.
• Enhanced and updated the Project Safe Neighborhoods to help reduce violent crime.
• Signed legislation making it easier to target websites that enable sex trafficking and strengthened penalties for people who promote or facilitate prostitution.
• Created an interagency task force working around the clock to prosecute traffickers, protect victims, and prevent human trafficking.
• Conducted Operation Cross Country XI to combat human trafficking, rescuing 84 children and arresting 120 human traffickers.
• Encouraged federal prosecutors to use the death penalty when possible in the fight against the trafficking of deadly drugs.
• New rule effectively banning bump stock sales in the United States.
• Nominated and confirmed Justice Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

Border Security and Immigration

• Secured $1.6 billion for border wall construction in the March 2018 omnibus bill.
• Construction of a 14-mile section of border wall began near San Diego.
• Worked to protect American communities from the threat posed by the vile MS-13 gang.
• Fighting to stop the scourge of illegal drugs at our border.
• Released an immigration framework that includes the resources required to secure our borders and close legal loopholes, and repeatedly called on Congress to fix our broken immigration laws.
• Authorized the deployment of the National Guard to help secure the border.
• Enhanced vetting of individuals entering the U.S. from countries that don’t meet security standards, helping to ensure individuals who pose a threat to our country are identified before they enter.
• ICE removed over 226,000 illegal aliens from the United States in 2017.
• In 2017, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested more than 127,000 aliens with criminal convictions or charges, responsible for
• Created the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office in order to support the victims and families affected by illegal alien crime.
• More than doubled the number of counties participating in the 287(g) program, which allows jails to detain criminal aliens until they are transferred to ICE custody.
• ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations division arrested 796 MS-13 members and associates in FY 2017, an 83 percent increase from the prior year.
• Justice worked with partners in Central America to secure criminal charges against more than 4,000 MS-13 members.
• Border Patrol agents arrested 228 illegal aliens affiliated with MS-13 in FY 2017.
• ICE HSI seized more than 980,000 pounds of narcotics in FY 2017, including 2,370 pounds of fentanyl and 6,967 pounds of heroin.
• ICE HSI dedicated nearly 630,000 investigative hours towards halting the illegal import of fentanyl.
• ICE HSI made 11,691 narcotics-related arrests in FY 2017.
• Stop Opioid Abuse and Reduce Drug Supply and Demand introduced new measures to keep dangerous drugs out the United States.
• Signed the INTERDICT Act into law, enhancing efforts to detect and intercept synthetic opioids.
• DOJ secured its first-ever indictments against Chinese fentanyl manufacturers.
• DOJ launched their Joint Criminal Opioid Darknet Enforcement (J-CODE) team, aimed at disrupting online illicit opioid sales.
• These procedures were upheld in a June 2018 Supreme Court hearing.
• ICE rescued or identified over 500 human trafficking victims and over 900 child exploitation victims in 2017 alone.
• Over 76,000 with dangerous drug offenses.
• More than 48,000 with assault offenses.
• More than 11,000 with weapons offenses.
• More than 5,000 with sexual assault offenses.
• More than 2,000 with kidnapping offenses.
• Over 1,800 with homicide offenses.

Trade

• Negotiating and renegotiating better trade deals, achieving free, fair, and reciprocal trade for the United States.
• Enacted steel and aluminum tariffs to protect our vital steel and aluminum producers and strengthen our national security.
• Conducted 82 anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations in 2017 alone.
• Confronting China’s unfair trade practices after years of Washington looking the other way.
• Withdrew from the job-killing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
• Secured access to new markets for America’s farmers.
• OK’d up to $12 billion in aid for farmers affected by unfair trade retaliation.
• Agreed to work with the European Union towards zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers, and zero subsides.
• Deal with the European Union to increase U.S. energy exports to Europe.
• Litigated multiple WTO disputes targeting unfair trade practices and upholding our right to enact fair trade laws.
• Finalized a revised trade agreement with South Korea, which includes provisions to increase American automobile exports.
• Negotiated an historic U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement to replace NAFTA.
• Agreement to begin trade negotiations for a U.S.-Japan trade agreement.
• Secured $250 billion in new trade and investment deals in China and $12 billion in Vietnam.
• Established a Trade and Investment Working Group with the United Kingdom, laying the groundwork for post-Brexit trade.
• 25 percent tariff on $50 billion of goods imported from China and later imposed an additional 10% tariff on $200 billion of Chinese goods.
• Conducted an investigation into Chinese forced technology transfers, unfair licensing practices, and intellectual property theft.
• Imposed safeguard tariffs to protect domestic washing machines and solar products manufacturers hurt by China’s trade policies
• Recent deal with Mexico included new improvements enabling food and agriculture to trade more fairly.
• Recent agreement with the E.U. will reduce barriers and increase trade of American soybeans to Europe.
• Won a WTO dispute regarding Indonesia’s unfair restriction of U.S. agricultural exports.
• Defended American Tuna fisherman and packagers before the WTO
• Opened up Argentina to American pork experts for the first time in a quarter-century
• American beef exports have returned to china for the first time in more than a decade

Energy

• Presidential Memorandum to clear roadblocks to construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline.
• Presidential Memorandum declaring that the Dakota Access Pipeline serves the national interest and initiating the process to complete construction.
• Opened up the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge to energy exploration.
• Coal exports up over 60 percent in 2017.
• Rolled back the “stream protection rule” to prevent it from harming America’s coal industry.
• Cancelled Obama’s anti-coal Clean Power Plan and proposed the Affordable Clean Energy Rule as a replacement.
• Withdrew from the job-killing Paris climate agreement, which would have cost the U.S. nearly $3 trillion and led to 6.5 million fewer industrial sector jobs by 2040.
• U.S. oil production has achieved its highest level in American history
• United States is now the largest crude oil producer in the world.
• U.S. has become a net natural gas exporter for the first time in six decades.
• Action to expedite the identification and extraction of critical minerals that are vital to the nation’s security and economic prosperity.
• Took action to reform National Ambient Air Quality Standards, benefitting American manufacturers.
• Rescinded Obama’s hydraulic fracturing rule, which was expected to cost the industry $32 million per year.
• Proposed an expansion of offshore drilling as part of an all-of-the above energy strategy
• Got EU to increase its imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States.
• Issued permits for the New Burgos Pipeline that will cross the U.S.-Mexico border.
• Held a lease sale for offshore oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico in August 2018.

Foreign Policy

• Moved the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
• Withdrew from Iran deal and immediately began the process of re-imposing sanctions that had been lifted or waived.
• Historic summit with North Korean President Kim Jong-Un, bringing beginnings of peace and denuclearization to the Korean Peninsula.
• Imposed strong sanctions on Venezuelan dictator Nicholas Maduro and his inner circle.
• Executive order preventing those in the U.S. from carrying out certain transactions with the Venezuelan regime, including prohibiting the purchase of the regime’s debt.
• Responded to the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime.
• New Cuba policy that enhanced compliance with U.S. law and held the Cuban regime accountable for political oppression and human rights abuses.
• Changed the rules of engagement, empowering commanders to take the fight to ISIS.
• More than a dozen American hostages have been freed from captivity all of the world.
• Action to combat Russia’s malign activities, including their efforts to undermine the sanctity of United States elections.
• Helped win U.S. bid for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
• Helped win U.S.-Mexico-Canada’s united bid for 2026 World Cup.
• Treasury has issued sanctions targeting Iranian activities and entities, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force
• Since enacting sanctions, Iran’s crude exports have fallen off, the value of Iran’s currency has plummeted, and international companies have pulled out of the country.
• All nuclear-related sanctions will be back in full force by early November 2018.
• The two leaders have exchanged letters and high-level officials from both sides have met resulting in tremendous progress.
• North Korea has halted nuclear and missile tests.
• Negotiated the return of the remains of missing-in-action soldiers from the Korean War.
• Rolled out sanctions targeting individuals and entities tied to Syria’s chemical weapons program.
• Directed strikes in April 2017 against a Syrian airfield used in a chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians.
• Joined allies in launching airstrikes in April 2018 against targets associated with Syria’s chemical weapons use.
• Treasury and State are working to channel economic activity away from the Cuban regime, particularly the military.
• ISIS has lost virtually all of its territory, more than half of which has been lost under Trump.
• ISIS’ self-proclaimed capital city, Raqqah, was liberated in October 2017.
• All Iraqi territory had been liberated from ISIS.
• Expelled dozens of Russian intelligence officers from the United States and ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Seattle, WA.
• Banned the use of Kaspersky Labs software on government computers, due to the company’s ties to Russian intelligence.
• Imposed sanctions against five Russian entities and three individuals for enabling Russia’s military and intelligence units to increase Russia’s offensive cyber capabilities.
• Sanctions against seven Russian oligarchs, and 12 companies they own or control, who profit from Russia’s destabilizing activities.
• Sanctioned 100 targets in response to Russia’s occupation of Crimea and aggression in Eastern Ukraine.
• Enhanced support for Ukraine’s Armed Forces to help Ukraine better defend itself.

Defense

• Executive order keeping the detention facilities at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay open.
• $700 billion in military funding for FY 2018 and $716 billion for FY 2019.
• Largest military pay raise in nearly a decade.
• Ordered a Nuclear Posture Review to ensure America’s nuclear forces are up to date and serve as a credible deterrent.
• Released America’s first fully articulated cyber strategy in 15 years.
• New strategy on national biodefense, which better prepares the nation to defend against biological threats.
• Administration has announced that it will use whatever means necessary to protect American citizens and servicemen from unjust prosecution by the International Criminal Court.
• Released an America first National Security Strategy.
• Put in motion the launch of a Space Force as a new branch of the military and relaunched the National Space Council.
• Encouraged North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies to increase defense spending to their agree-upon levels.
• Executive order to help military spouses find employment as their families deploy domestically and abroad.
• In 2017 alone, there was an increase of more than 4.8 percent in defense spending amongst NATO allies.
• Every member state has increased defense spending.
• Eight NATO allies will reach the 2 percent benchmark by the end of 2018 and 15 allies are on trade to do so by 2024.
• NATO allies spent over $42 billion dollars more on defense since 2016.

Veterans affairs

• Signed the VA Accountability Act and expanded VA telehealth services, walk-in-clinics, and same-day urgent primary and mental health care.
• Delivered more appeals decisions – 81,000 – to veterans in a single year than ever before.
• Strengthened protections for individuals who come forward and identify programs occurring within the VA.
• Signed legislation that provided $86.5 billion in funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the largest dollar amount in history for the VA.
• VA MISSION Act, enacting sweeping reform to the VA system that:
• Signed the VA Choice and Quality Employment Act in 2017, which authorized $2.1 billion in addition funds for the Veterans Choice Program.
• Worked to shift veterans’ electronic medical records to the same system used by the Department of Defense, a decades old priority.
• Issued an executive order requiring the Secretaries of Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs to submit a joint plan to provide veterans access to access to mental health treatment as they transition to civilian life.
• Increased transparency and accountability at the VA by launching an online “Access and Quality Tool,” providing veterans with access to wait time and quality of care data.
• Signed legislation to modernize the claims and appeal process at the VA.
• Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act, providing enhanced educational benefits to veterans, service members, and their family members.
• Created a White House VA Hotline to help veterans and principally staffed it with veterans and direct family members of veterans.
• VA employees are being held accountable for poor performance, with more than 4,000 VA employees removed, demoted, and suspended so far.
• Signed the Veterans Treatment Court Improvement Act, increasing the number of VA employees that can assist justice-involved veterans.
• Consolidated and strengthened VA community care programs.
• Funding for the Veterans Choice program.
• Expanded eligibility for the Family Caregivers Program.
• Gave veterans more access to walk-in care.
• Strengthened the VA’s ability to recruit and retain quality healthcare professionals.
• Enabled the VA to modernize its assets and infrastructure.
• Lifted a 15-year limit on veterans’ access to their educational benefits.

Germany: Police Thwart ‘Imminent’ Deadly Islamic Terror Attack

Merkel's Migrant Policies Have Led To The Rape Of Hundreds Of German Women.

Cologne – site of the mass migrant sex attacks on New Year’s eve. Seems nothing has changed – most especially Merkel’s malignant migrant policies.

18 years after 9/11, first and foremost, do not DARE talk about motive, ideology and root cause.

The raids occurred on Thursday and saw officers from the city of Cologne and the city of Düren arrest the six men, one of who –, a 30-year-old Lebanese-German — is said to have been a part of Berlin’s radical extremist Salafist scene, Deutsche Welle reports.

“We had up-to-date covert knowledge that an attack could be imminent,” said Klaus-Stephan Becker, who heads the Criminal Division in Cologne.

According to police, the 30-year-old suspect had previously attempted to make contact with members of the Islamic State terror group by travelling to land that had formerly been occupied by the organisation. He is said to have attempted the journey on several occasions.

Another suspect, a 21-year-old man, is said to have declared loyalty to the Islamic State in the past and was reported to have a “considerable affinity for guns.”

The raids were primarily focused on six apartments in Düren but also on a construction site in Cologne after officials say they received a tip.

The arrests are not the first alleged terror plots foiled by the German authorities this year. In March, 11 individuals were arrested in Berlin, accused of plotting a terror attack using firearms and a vehicle.

The suspects, all German citizens aged between 20 and 42, had rented a vehicle and contacted known weapons dealers prior to their arrest.

In January, three Iraqi migrants were arrested in Dithmarschen in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein, where they were allegedly attempting to use fireworks and a detonator they had ordered from the United Kingdom to build an explosive device.

Last month, Tunisian migrant Sief Allah H., along with his wife Yasmin, faced charges of plotting a terror attack with the deadly biological compound ricinafter being arrested last year for possession 84 milligrams of the substance in...

10 Offbeat Stories You Might Have Missed This Week (5/25/19)

With another week gone, let’s wind down and check out some of the stories that made the headlines. Click here to read about all the strange stuff that happened last week.

There is a party atmosphere to this week’s list, as we have stories on LSD, cannabis, New Coke, and ancient beer. Speaking of ancient, we also find out how scientists recovered the oldest Scandinavian DNA from a piece of very old chewing gum.

In the animal world, we learn just how involved bonobo mothers are in their sons’ sex lives, and we also read about firemen who had to fight a blaze inside a house filled with hundreds of snakes.

10Ancient Gum Yields Ancient DNA

Photo credit: Natalija Kashuba/Stockholm University

Scientists have recovered the oldest Scandinavian human DNA from 10,000-year-old chewing gum.Huseby-Klev is an early Mesolithic village that has been excavated since the 1990s. Among the ancient items recovered at the site was a primitive form of chewing gum. It consisted of lumps of birch bark which were masticated. Eventually, they turned into a glue-like substance which was sometimes used to attach arrowheads or sword handles.For years, the notion of retrieving DNA from the site was considered impossible because few bones were found in the village, and they were too degraded to obtain viable samples. However, two Norwegian scientists from the University of Oslo thought that the birch bark material might still contain DNA from the saliva of the people who chewed it.They were proven right. Researchers extracted and sequenced enough DNA to show that it came from at least three people: two women and one man.[1] These people came from the south. Meanwhile, the weapons and tools they used were Russian in style. This discovery lends credence to one hypothesis that claims there are two distinct lineages to the early settlers of Scandinavia.

9A Bonobo Mother’s Work Is Never Done

If you feel that your mother is too pushy when it comes to your love life, just be glad you’re not a bonobo. A new study by German primatologists published in Current Biology showed that male bonobos that still live with their mothers are three times more likely to have offspring than those on their own because their mothers take a very active role in their sex lives.Bonobo society is dominated by females, so mothers of high rank are able to go to great lengths to ensure that they become grandmothers. They chaperone their sons when they are meeting females. During the act itself, they act as bodyguards and ensure that the mating couple is not disturbed by other males who might charge their sons.The mothers are also willing to get physical in order to provide more opportunities for their offspring. They will charge at other males who are trying to woo fertile females. In rare instances, researchers reported that the high-ranking females literally dragged unrelated male bonobos off their sexual partners.[2]A team from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig observed wild bonobos in the Congo and compared them to chimpanzee populations in Uganda, Tanzania, and Ivory Coast. Chimp females had no apparent impact on their offspring’s reproductive success. Moreover, while bonobo mothers were active in their sons’ sex lives, the same was not true for daughters. However, bonobo females typically leave to start their own group.

8New Kilo On The Block

After 130 years, there is a new definition for the kilogram. From now on, the unit of measurement will no longer be based on a “prototype kilogram” stored in France but on a fundamental figure in physics called the Planck constant.For over a century, the kilogram was defined by an actual piece of shiny metal dubbed “Le Grand K,” which was stored in a vault in Sevres. However, despite our best efforts, the prototype did not remain completely unchanged. Repeated cleanings and exposure to air caused Le Grand K to lose around 50 micrograms. That’s why at an international conference last November, representatives from 60 countries voted to change the definition to something truly universal and stable.The new standard went into effect this Monday.[3] From now on, the kilogram will be defined using Planck’s constant and measured using an extremely sensitive instrument called a Kibble balance. Modern definitions for other units also went into effect, such as the Kelvin, the mole, and the ampere.

7Snake House

What is scarier than a house filled with snakes? The answer is a house filled with snakes that is on fire.That was the scenario that a group of firefighters from Arizona faced this week.[4] They had to fight a blaze which engulfed a building that was home to hundreds of snakes and other reptiles. Phoenix fire captain Greg Hawk said the whole experience will leave a memorable mark and that it was “outside-of-the-box crazy.”Because of the unusual nature of the event, firemen decided to fight the fire from the inside instead of the outside. This way, they could save as many animals as possible. Some of them were dousing the flames with water, while others were next to them, wrangling snakes into buckets.All of the reptiles that survived the blaze were taken in by the Phoenix Herpetological Sanctuary. In addition to the scaly critters, firefighters also rescued a couple of dogs and cats.

6New New Coke

Photo credit: Coca-Cola Co.

One of the biggest marketing flops in history is going to get a second chance, as Coca-Cola is bringing back New Coke after 34 years.Back in 1985, the soft drink giant changed the formula of its flagship drink. People hated it, though, and just three months after New Coke was introduced, the old version was brought back as “Coca-Cola Classic.” The response was so negative that, even to this day, some believe New Coke was intentionally bad as part of a marketing ploy to revive interest and sales in the classic drink.New Coke will be featured in the upcoming third season of Stranger Things, an ultra-popular Netflix show that is part horror, part tribute to the 1980s. The latest season is set in 1985, so, naturally, one of the most notorious pop culture moments of that year had to make an appearance.Coca-Cola is hoping that a hefty dose of nostalgia will help New Coke become more popular the second time around. Even so, the drink won’t be available to buy in shops. It will be bundled with limited-edition Stranger Things Coke bottles and cans and packed into special vending machines inspired by the show.[5]

5The Drink Of The Pharaohs

Photo credit: EPA

Israeli scientists have made a breakthrough in the field of experimental archaeology by brewing beer using ancient yeast from thousands of years ago.Researchers from multiple Israeli institutions collaborated on a project which saw them collect yeast colonies that survived on beer and wine vessels which were up to 5,000 years old. Then, relying on modern techniques and with the help of a master brewer, they used the yeast to make a drink akin to...