China is on the verge of recession as it pumps up the printing of money to keep things running. Xi is paying moms to have kids since they don’t any longer. They are slashing interest rates and down payment requirements, cutting the reserve requirement on banks to get money into the wild, and pouring more […] The post China’s on the Verge of Recession, Threatening Worldwide Recession appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

A large body of information shows that the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) union, whose leader rejected 50% raises and threatened to “cripple” the United States unless greater demands were met, has pervasive and enduring ties to the Mafia. Just a few years ago, the union responded to anti-mob investigations by the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor by successfully lobbying New Jersey politicians to neuter the oversight body, despite uncertainty of whether that was even legal. The Waterfront Commission was formed in the 1950s to police mob activity at shipping ports, and in recent years, the International Longshoremen’s Union argued it should be abolished because it slowed down hiring and was no longer necessary. But a Daily Wire review of the Commission’s recent annual reports shows that the hiring holdup was because it found that nearly 1 in 5 of the union’s proposed hires were connected to the Mafia, and 1 in 3 had other ethical barriers to employment. The union often steers what they call “special packages” to mobsters, giving them pay of up to $500,000 for largely no-show work. These “special packages” have only grown in recent years, according to Commission reports. In 2020, 18 port workers made salaries more than $450,000, 41 made salaries of $400,000 to $450,000, and 82 made $350,000 to $400,000. Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here! “Today, every terminal within the Port still has special compensation packages given to certain ILA longshore workers, the majority of whom are white males connected to organized crime figures or union leadership. Based on the industry’s reported figures, the Commission has again identified over 590 individuals who collectively received over $147.6 million dollars last year in outsized salaries, or for hours they never worked,” the Commission found. Two decades ago, current ILA boss Harold Daggett was acquitted of racketeering in a trial related to mafia ties in which co-defendant, alleged Genovese capo Larry Ricci, disappeared during the trial and was found dead in the trunk of a car. Last month, Daggett said if his demands were not met, including a ban on automation and raises of 60% to 80%, “I will cripple you, and you have no idea what that means.” Shipping companies on Thursday folded to many of the union’s demands after President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris sided with the union, putting a quick “tentative” end to a strike — at least until after the election. General Foreman Paul Moe, Sr. was convicted in 2017 of wire fraud for collecting nearly $500,000 in pay while showing up as little as eight hours a week. But instead of disavowing him, others in the union seemed to go to great lengths to continue sending money to his family. “Just one week after Moe’s conviction, the NYSA-ILA Employee Benefit Funds contacted his wife – a high school graduate who had not been employed for 47 years – and gave her a newly-created $70,000 a year job which had never been advertised and for which she had never applied. The very same week that Moe was arrested, the industry submitted his grandson to be a longshoreman. Incredibly, citing contrived dire labor shortages – the industry actually enlisted the unwitting assistance of the New Jersey Governor’s office in efforts to get Moe’s grandson through the hiring system,” the Commission found. Longshoreman Peter Boragi made more than $350,000 a year, purportedly working 25 hours a day in some days. The lucrative, union-blessed pay may have had to do with mob ties: Boragi submitted a character letter to the judge on behalf of Louis Romeo, a Colombo crime family associate, and visited him in prison. The Commission said that in one of its hearings, one of the defense’s own witnesses conceded that “the mob has exercised its control of the docks by determining who get work, who gets which position, and who gets overtime.” In another case, Genovese family soldier and former longshoreman Stephen Depiro was sent to prison for forcing union workers to turn over Christmas bonuses to the Mafia. After that, the union kept referring relatives of Depiro for jobs. Checker Dock Boss Patrick Cicalese, who was paid a $487,000 a year “special package,” surrendered his employment after wiretaps picked up conversations between him and Depiro, as well as Depiro’s girlfriend. The Commission’s 2019 report said the mafia problem was only getting worse, with an “increased number of mob-connected union referrals this year,” including “members of the Genovese, Gambino, Lucchese, Bonanno, and Bruno-Scarfo organized crime families.” Gambino associate Anthony Pansini II pleaded guilty to exerting “control over the Brooklyn and Staten Island piers and, in particular, over International Longshoremen’s Association, AFL-CIO (ILA) Local 1814 in a conspiracy to control the awarding of union jobs.” The union might have claimed that Pansini was a bad apple who was victimizing the union without its knowledge—except that after Pansini was busted and the union nominally put him on a list of barred individuals, the Local President “sponsored Pansini’s son, Anthony D. Pansini III, to be a longshoreman. He was allowed to ‘jump the line,’ and was referred by the union for employment ahead of 40 other prequalified union candidates.” One of the Commission’s main roles was to vet new hires proposed by the union before giving them the greenlight. Many of the interviewees seemed to adopt the Mafia ethic against “rats” in these interviews. For example, Pansini III claimed to be unaware of his father’s mob ties, as well as those of other associates, despite them being widely publicized. The union president who tried to get him on the payroll, meanwhile, claimed that he didn’t realize Pansini III was the son of his disgraced predecessor. A former president of ILA Local 1235, Thomas Leonardis, was also a Genovese mafia family associate, and was convicted of collecting tribute payments to the mob from union members “based on actual and threatened force.” The Commission found that records showed that after that, Leonardis and another mobster were in contact, from prison, with longshoreman Nicholas Atria. The now-defunct Commission’s papers are replete with specific documentation of the mob’s penetration of the waterfront and the ILA. For example, the union attempted to put on the waterfront’s payroll Michielangelo Palumbo, who was tied to alleged mobsters including “Frankie Jupiter” Martini, who convicted of RICO, and another convicted of conspiracy to commit arson. One requested hire was a felon who struck a victim in the head with a baseball bat and whose uncle was a “made man.” Yet another lived at the home of, and shared a credit card with, a Colombo family soldier convicted of racketeering. The Commission also sometimes removed longshoremen from the waterfront after they were hired because of mob ties. Longshoreman Vito Lavignani surrendered his job following charges of organized crime associations and stealing a police officer’s phone. Lavignani claimed that he didn’t know his associate “Tough Tony” Federici was a capo with the Genovese crime family, and that his associate “Mickey the Leach” Generoso was a mob underboss convicted of racketeering. Another waterfront worker was Joseph Ferdico, who for seven years worked for Anthony Calabrese, a convicted racketeer and Bonanno soldier. In April 2019, a port warehouseman was suspended for possessing an improvised explosive device. Access to international ports allows for drug and human trafficking. In February 2019, $77 million of cocaine was seized at the port. One man charged with promoting prostitution following a Waterfront Commission investigation “claimed to have ‘extradited’ women from Colombia to work in his brothels.” Union “checkers” can have enormous salaries and potential for abuse. Checker John Riccobono was removed from the ports after the Commission found that he attended crew dinners where the Gambino crime family discussed business, and communicated with Gambino capo “Sonny” Juliano in prison. Andrew Marano Jr.’s referral to work as a checker was blocked by the Commission after claiming he was “completely unaware” that his girlfriend’s father, “Charlie Tuna” Giustra, was in the mafia, despite having dinner with him the night before he went to prison. In September 2019, former longshoremen were sentenced related to a loansharking and gambling scheme involving Genovese solder Vito Alberti. In 2020, longshoreman James Gunsherfksi Jr. was suspended after being arrested for assaulting a woman with a frying pan, and longshoreman Robert Florio was suspended after being arrested for allegedly possessing an illegal firearm with a filed-off serial number. Efforts to discredit the Waterfront Commission’s work as unnecessary and overly restricted only seemed to make the opposite case: One of the people who sued claiming that the Commission’s background checks were slowing down hiring too much was the son of Pasquale “Pattty the Clubber” Falccetti, Sr., “a capo in the Genovese organized crime family who was convicted multiple times of extortion conspiracy and racketeering activities on the waterfront.” Another who took to the courts to try to block the Commission’s actions was Frank Ferrera, a purported maintenance man with a $355,000 “special package” who denied knowing anyone in the mob, but who was associated with Falccetti, Genovese soldier “Little Carm” Della Cava, and Andrew Gigante, the son of former Genovese boss Vincent “The Chin” Gigante. “Expert testimony during the trial revealed that Gigante had served as a messenger between his father and Falcetti regarding ILA matters,” the Commission said, with a judge noting “the uncontroverted power over waterfront labor and industry exercised by the Genovese crime family.” In 2017, the Commission bounced the application of Anthony Battaglia, who wanted to be a “maintenance man.” Battaglia is the son of “Sally Hot Dogs” Battaglia, a former Local 1181 president who was sent to prison for taking bribes. The younger Battaglia also had his own history at the center of labor and the mob. New Jersey withdrew from the bistate Waterfront Commission, leaving only a significantly weaker New York version, following lobbying by the ILA. The Democrat legislature passed a bill to do so, but Republican Gov. Chris Christie intially vetoed it, saying nothing in the law permitted one state to unilaterally withdraw. But on his last day in office, he signed it. The courts went back and forth on whether the withdraw was legal or not, until the Supreme Court said it was. That meant the last public report documenting the ILA’s mob ties was in 2020. Daggett did not return a request for comment from The Daily Wire.

Tom Selleck is a beloved actor known for many iconic films such as Three Men and a Baby and In and Out and popular TV shows such as Magnum P.I., Friends, and Blue Bloods. Speaking of Blue Bloods, Tom Selleck recently got candid and shared unhappy thoughts about the show’s cancellation. Tom Selleck Gets Candid Blue Bloods is a drama series about a multi-generational family fighting against crime in New York City. The show has had 14 successful seasons but is now set to end. While some people may be satisfied with the show’s long run, others feel that it could continue being a success. Fox News shared Tom Selleck’s reaction to the show’s cancellation. He stated, “I’m kind of frustrated. During those last eight shows, I haven’t wanted to talk about an ending for Blue Bloods but about it still being wildly successful.” He further proved that point by explaining that Blue Bloods “ranked nine out of 100 in the Top 100 Shows of 2023-2024.” Additionally, the star shared his frustration at the timing and how people processed the show. He claimed that the show was programmed “in the worst time slot” but it still did exceptionally well. Furthermore, Tom Selleck felt people took the show for granted. He stated, “My frustration is the show was always taken for granted because it performed from the get-go.” Life After Blue Bloods Tom Selleck also admitted that it is going to take time for him to get over the cancellation of Blue Bloods. He shared this realization with Fox News, saying, “I remember after the weekend [ of the final episode shoot], I said, ‘I’ve got to get to bed early tonight because I have to do my dialogue for Monday.’ Well, there was no Monday. It’s just going to take a while.” While we are sad about Tom’s feeling of loss, we have no doubt that he will find another incredible opportunity. This 79-year-old has proven that he is far from the end of his career. We cannot wait to see what adventure awaits him next. The source of the featured image is here. The post Tom Selleck Shares Raw & Candid Thoughts On “Blue Blood” Cancelation appeared first on InspireMore.

'The longshoreman are a sort of labor aristocracy'

'look like Fourth of July'

allegedly threatening to assault and murder a federal judge

'We expect these charges to be dismissed'

A few days ago, Iran launched approximately 200 ballistic missiles at Israel. Some of Iran’s missiles were hypersonic missiles traveling 10,000 miles an hour. Israel, the United States, and other allies were mostly able to stop the missiles. A few days before, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Iran was within weeks of producing enough uranium for a nuclear bomb.  Iran showed itself capable of reaching any target in the Middle East and will, within the year, be able to launch nuclear warheads. Iran is undoubtedly being helped by Russia and North Korea. Inexplicably, President Joe Biden declared, after Iran’s show of force, that he is opposed to Israel destroying Iran’s nuclear capabilities. This is another reason to vote for Donald Trump for president.  Additionally, while North Carolina and the Southeast U.S. are suffering the effects of Hurricane Helene, the dockworkers announced a strike. The head of their union announced his intentions to cripple the economy at a time supplies were critical to relief and recovery efforts in the Southeast. Vice President Kamala Harris is standing with the union and against the suffering souls in North Carolina. This too is a reason to vote for Trump.  [The union representing 45,000 striking U.S. dockworkers reached a deal Thursday to suspend a three-day strike until Jan. 15 to provide time to negotiate a new contract, The Associated Press reported.] On top of all of that, it turns out the Biden-Harris administration has knowingly allowed criminals to cross into the United States. The Biden-Harris administration has seemingly engaged in a massive coverup to avoid publicly revealing how many illegal aliens it has allowed into this country who had known criminal records in their countries of origin. According to Fox News reporter Bill Melugin: “[T]he data shows there are tens of thousands of illegal aliens convicted of homicide, rapes, and other violent felonies currently roaming in the US.” Again, this is a reason to vote for Trump.  But what are we getting with a second term?  I have donated to the former president’s reelection campaign and intend to vote for him. The last person I supported in a Republican primary who went on to be the nominee was George W. Bush in 2000. By 2004, writing at RedState.com, I regularly criticized Bush’s growth of government. His war effort was paid for. His domestic initiatives kept growing the national debt.  I opposed both John McCain and Mitt Romney in their GOP primaries. They were too willing to grow government, too unwilling to unwind the federal bureaucracy. They lost, despite my vote, as the Republican nominees in the general elections of 2008 and 2012, respectively. Though I did not support Trump in his first run for office, I appreciated much of what he did. His foreign policy and much of his domestic policy was run-of-the-mill Republican with a conservative bent. It just got overshadowed by the tweets and drama.  But on Tuesday night, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio articulated a vision of what MAGA stands for that was not much different than what his vice presidential debate counterpart, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, offered. Instead of seeking to rein in the size and scope of the federal government, Vance advocated more government spending, more government programs, more government mandates on businesses, and more control over our lives. Essentially, we had two New Deal Democrats arguing over who should control the power and how much more they should grow it. One just happened to be mostly pro-life and the other explicitly pro-choice.  I could criticize Bush, McCain, and Romney and their teams would take it in good faith, without outrage. To speak against Trump is to be denounced as a RINO, even though what I want is actual Republican policies. He and his supporters’ intolerance of Republican dissent suggests they are not confident of their control of the party.  I am a conservative because I am a Christian. I know we are all sinners, so I want as few in charge of me as possible. Instead, the Trump-Vance vision is more sinners in charge of all of us with more power to structure our economy and lives. Eventually, Democrats will take over and use that power against us. Neither side wants to end Washington’s power.   The Trump agenda has much more to offer conservatives and people of faith than the Harris agenda. But buyer beware. The future of the GOP looks too much like Walter Mondale’s vision for America, and Americans once rejected that in a landslide.  COPYRIGHT 2024 CREATORS.COM  We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post Caveat Emptor  appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Whistleblowers at the Federal Emergency Management Agency have come forward in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene to accuse the agency of misappropriating funds and generally mismanaging its responsibilities. This is according to a letter sent by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., to Homeland Security Secretary Alexandro Mayorkas, whose department includes FEMA. FEMA has come under fire for its response to Hurricane Helene, which ravaged North Carolina, Georgia, and other states and left over 200 dead. Mayorkas said in an interview Wednesday that FEMA “does not have the funds” to address the rest of the hurricane season. Gaetz wrote in his letter, which he also posted on X: “Numerous whistleblowers came forward to my office this week to sound the alarm on FEMA’s severe mismanagement issues, which have left first responders on the ground to assist with Hurricane Helene recovery efforts without deployment orders.” Gaetz said FEMA’s mismanagement impeded the federal government’s response to the hurricane. “FEMA has wasted taxpayer funds, misappropriated funds, and left other federal, state, and local responders without deployment orders on the ground,” Gaetz wrote to Mayorkas. “As reported and further confirmed by my office, hundreds if not thousands of service members were deployed by the Department of Defense to North Carolina and have sat idle, waiting for FEMA.” The Florida Republican also wrote that FEMA had deployed its own employees who were simply waiting in hotels and that pre-disaster aid is being withheld. “It is also public that NGOs [nongovernmental organizations] have purchased airline tickets for migrants through the use of FEMA funds,” Gaetz wrote to Mayorkas. According to the Federalist, FEMA has spent more than $1 billion since 2022 addressing the border and illegal immigration crisis. The New York Post reported that DHS allocated “$640.9 million this year in FEMA-administered funds to aid state and local governments coping with the influx” of illegal aliens and asylum-seekers. Mayorkas said the money couldn’t be used for hurricane relief efforts because it was specifically authorized by Congress to address the illegal immigration crisis. Others have warned that FEMA was prioritizing illegal immigrants over its core purpose. Heritage Foundation senior research fellow Simon Hankinson wrote in September 2023 that “the Department of Homeland Security, in its fiscal year 2024 budget … asked for a directly appropriated $83.5 million for FEMA Shelter and Services Program grants to ‘nonprofits and local entities to provide support to noncitizens released from DHS custody.’” Hankinson also wrote last year that “DHS asked for $800 million—$650 million more than last year—’for communities to support migrants who have been released from DHS custody pending the outcome of their immigration proceedings.’” The post FEMA Whistleblowers Say Agency Wildly Mismanaged appeared first on The Daily Signal.

NPR Public Editor: Our Story Attacking Rich Lowry was Junk