'He has a record and he has policies'

Socialism is not about socializing or engaging in neighborly behavior; it is about the government equalizing outcomes.

'A Chameleon'

'I work for the county'

'Real grotesque racist slip'

DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—The Department of Justice launched an investigation into Americans with ties to Russian state media this month in what it says is an attempt to prevent Russia from influencing U.S. elections, The New York Times reported Wednesday. Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided the home of United Nations weapons inspector Scott Ritter on Aug. 7 and the home of 2016 Trump campaign adviser Dimitri K. Simes on Aug. 13, according to the Times. Both men have links to Russia’s state television networks, with Ritter working as a contributing writer for Russian global news channel RT and Simes hosting a weekly talk show on Russian broadcaster Channel One. The investigation is reportedly centered around a law requiring lobbyists to disclose they are operating on behalf of a foreign country as well as violations of economic sanctions against Russia, the outlet claimed. Dmitri Simes has been regularly appearing on the popular Russian television show, The Great Game, which he co-hosts alongside Vyacheslav Nikonov—the staunchly pro-Kremlin grandson of Stalin protege Vyacheslav Molotov. https://t.co/p3xHpIJRIX pic.twitter.com/pMEBnf9Trg— Kath (@mopeng) August 16, 2024 Simes, a Soviet-born American citizen who served as an adviser to former President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, denies the claims, telling Russian media organization Sputnik that the DOJ investigation is an “attempt to intimidate, not only somebody from Russia, but just anyone who goes against official policies and particularly against the deep state.” Ritter, who is an “outspoken defender” of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to the Times, also denies the allegations, claiming he believes his views have made him the target of a deeper national security interest. “The only reason why I can believe that they’re doing this,” Ritter told the Times in an interview, “is if there’s some national security interest where they believe somehow I am actively conspiring with Russia against the interests of the United States, that I have become more than just a propagandist, that I become something more like, you know, a weapon of disinformation.” The investigation follows a July 9 announcement from the DOJ stating it had uncovered and was attempting to stop a Russian influence campaign that sought to use a “generative AI-enhanced social media bot farm” to undermine international support for Ukraine and escalate political partisanship in the U.S., Europe, and Israel, the Times reported. “Moscow is leveraging Russia-based influence-for-hire firms to shape public opinion in the United States, including with election-related operations,” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a July 29 statement. “These firms have created influence platforms, directly and discreetly engaged Americans, and used improved tools to tailor content for U.S. audiences, while hiding Russia’s hand.” The DOJ declined to comment. Originally published by the Daily Caller News Foundation The post DOJ Launches Russia Collusion Investigation in Effort to Combat Russian Election Influence appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. In Germany, the current authorities seem willing to dramatically depart from what have until now been Western democratic traditions, where law enforcement must have a crime to investigate, and a warrant to do so before it engages in searches and surveillance. However, the government in Berlin plans to allow the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) the legal right to enter homes secretly (including for the purpose of installing spyware on people’s phones and computers.) In addition, BKA would be given the power to, also secretly, search homes. The draft, seen by the German press, was cooked up at the Federal Ministry of the Interior and was explained by a spokesman as a needed reform of the BKA law in order to prevent “the dangers of international terrorism” and chose to single out “Islamist terrorism” as an example. The promise here is that the BKA would use the new rights only to fight what they choose to consider terrorist activity, along with “a high bar” in place determining which case qualifies for this kind of treatment. Judging by the statement of the same spokesman, German law enforcement now clearly doesn’t have “appropriate powers” to tackle the problem, hence the necessity to reform the law. As for any details that would further clarify the situation, the Interior Ministry would not provide them as the planned reform is “still at a very early stage of internal government coordination.” Among the early critics of this is the German Journalists’ Association, whose chairman Mika Beuster said that “secret break-ins are reminiscent of the methods of police states, not of liberal democracies.” Meanwhile, such a shift in the way terrorist threat is investigated has the opposition – notably the rising Alternative for Germany (AfD), suspect that this will be used as yet another tool to go after political opponents. AfD, and even media outlets supportive of its policies, have recently faced an unprecedented crackdown, led by Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser. And now, the draft amendment of the law, also coming from her office, is dismissed by AfD MP Beatrix Von Storch as appearing to use the fight against terrorism as the pretext – “and the reason is more likely to be that she intends to further intimidate and monitor citizens and, last but not least, to persecute any government critics.” If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Berlin’s Brave New World: Secret Police Powers Spark Fear of Orwellian Overreach appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

The Harris Campaign Turned Her Greatest Weakness Into a Strength. How Long Can That Last?

UAW Demands Palestinian Activist Speaker Tonight. Do They 'Have a Point'?

President Joe Biden, at the Democratic National Convention, said, “Donald Trump and the Republican friends, they not only can’t think; they can’t read very well. Seriously, think about it. Look at their Project 2025.” OK, let’s take Biden up on his offer “seriously” to think about those who “can’t read very well.” The convention is in Chicago, the adopted hometown of former President Barack Obama and the hometown of former first lady Michelle Obama. They spoke at the DNC about “hope” and about the importance of everyone living up to his or her potential. For many Chicagoans, that’s a tall order. In 2022, according to the Illinois State Board of Education, there were 53 Illinois public K-12 schools, mostly in Chicago, where 0% of the students could do math at grade level. There were 30 public schools, mostly in Chicago, where 0% of the students could read at grade level. According to Wirepoints, an Illinois research nonprofit, there are “622 schools where only 1 out of 10 kids or less can read at grade level. That’s a whopping 18 percent of the state’s 3,547 schools that tested students in 2022. And only 1 out of 10 kids can do math at grade level in 930 schools.” Do not blame lack of money. In 2019, Illinois had enough K-12 money to spend $18,000 per student. In 2021, it came to $24,000 per student. And in 2024, the total amount is about the same, $24,000 per student. Despite these results, schools that by any normal standard should be considered failing are rated by the Illinois State Board as “commendable,” the second highest rating. Wirepoints wrote: “Take Collins Academy High School on Chicago’s West Side. With 219 students and 55 employees, Collins spends $27,163 per student. The Illinois State Board of Education declares the school ‘commendable’ ... Not a single student tested was proficient in reading or math in 2023. And yet 79% of students there graduated.” The Obamas’ daughters attended a private elementary school run by the faculty at the University of Chicago, where Barack Obama taught as a lecturer in the law school. When the Obamas moved to Washington, the girls attended an expensive private school Young Barack Obama lived in Indonesia with his mom and stepfather, an executive with an oil company. There Obama attended a private school run by the company. Obama’s mother then sent him to Hawaii, where he lived with his grandparents and attended the finest prep school in Hawaii. As for Michelle, she attended a public high school in Chicago, but it wasn’t the school closest to her home. Her parents considered that school inferior. So, Michelle rode a bus some distance from home to attend a better school. Today, we call that school choice. But the Democratic Party, beholden to the teachers union, opposes school choice. Where do public school teachers send their own school-age kids? The Daily Signal writes: “Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates and Illinois Education Association official Sean Denney send their kids to private schools while devoting their time to fighting against poorer parents’ rights to send their children to similar schools.” In Chicago, DNC speaker after speaker gleefully attacked former President Donald Trump, that is, when they were not advocating “mutual respect.” Given the festive nature of the convention, one almost forgets that two-thirds of Americans consider the country on the “wrong track”; that inflation hit a 40-year high, which translates into grocery prices 20% higher than they were 3 1/2 years ago; that last year, according a Payroll.org survey, 78% of Americans lived “paycheck to paycheck,” up 6% from 2022; that 80% of Americans consider eating at a fast-food restaurant a “luxury”; and that the average family of four spends roughly $1,200 a month more for the same goods and services it bought 3 1/2 years ago. Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris says her goal of “equitable treatment means we all end up in the same place.” That’s quite a hurdle, particularly when many urban kids the Democrats purport to care so much about cannot read.