Chinese Chutzpah! Hanson Explains Why Western Middle Class Inflamed. Mass Media Have Failed America. Contribute To Judicial Watch. Playing With Fire.

When a husband and wife who worked for a circus went to an adoption agency, the social workers raised doubts about their suitability.

The couple then produced photos of their 50-foot motor home which was clean and well maintained and equipped with a beautiful nursery.

The social workers then raised concerns about the education and extraneous influences of circus life a child would receive while in the couple's care.

"We've arranged for a full-time tutor who will teach the child all the usual subjects, along with French, Mandarin and computer skills".

Then the social workers again expressed concerns about a child being raised in a circus environment.

"Our Nanny will be a certified expert in pediatric care, welfare and diet".

Finally, the social worker, satisfied at last asked, "What age child are you hoping to adopt?"

"It doesn't really matter, . . . as long as the kid fits in the cannon."

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Even the Chinese know how to engage in Chutzpah.  They steal our intellectual property and now are asking Verizon to pay for patents based on their theft.
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Why are the western- middle class so inflamed? The elites (substitute hypocrite progressive liberals)  profess to care for those beneath them  but  Hanson explains this borders on malarkey. (See 1 below.)

And:

What about ignored corruption by the mass media among the "elites" in Congress who get re-elected time and again? (See 1a below.)

Finally:

Steele stench reaching closer into Obama White House?

This is why I am a modest contributor to Fitton's "Judicial Watch" and encourage all freedom loving citizens to do likewise. The mass media once were the nation's ombudsman but they are now  and have been in the pocket of Democrats and no longer protect the nation's interests.  In fact they have become part of the problem because of their bias and reporting of fake news and desire to entertain for economic reasons. (See 1b below.)
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Iran and its surrogates are itching for their own destruction.  (See 2 below.)
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In terms of the market the extreme pop in the price of new public offerings is a disturbing feature of the current market. It reflects hyper activity that ultimately leads to trouble.

Yesterday a new cyber company issue jumped 70 plus% from it's offering price. That is a danger sign of over heating based on emotion and greed
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China is not our friend but then Biden found out they were and changed his mind. So glad to see he is changing his mind daily.  He has been wrong on just about everything since birth.(See 3 below.)
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Dick
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1)

Why Are the Western Middle Classes So Angry?

By Victor Davis Hanson

What is going on with the unending Brexit drama, the aftershocks of Donald Trump's election and the "yellow vests" protests in France? What drives the growing estrangement of southern and eastern Europe from the European Union establishment? What fuels the anti-EU themes of recent European elections and the stunning recent Australian re-election of conservatives?

Put simply, the middle classes are revolting against Western managerial elites. The latter group includes professional politicians, entrenched bureaucrats, condescending academics, corporate phonies and propagandistic journalists.

What are the popular gripes against them?

One, illegal immigration and open borders have led to chaos. Lax immigration policies have taxed social services and fueled multicultural identity politics, often to the benefit of boutique leftist political agendas.

Two, globalization enriched the cosmopolitan elites who found worldwide markets for their various services. New global markets and commerce meant Western nations outsourced, off shored and ignored their own industries and manufacturing (or anything dependent on muscular labor that could be replaced by cheaper workers abroad).

Three, unelected bureaucrats multiplied and vastly increased their power over private citizens. The targeted middle classes lacked the resources to fight back against the royal armies of tenured regulators, planners, auditors, inspectors and adjustors who could not be fired and were never accountable.

Four, the new global media reached billions and indoctrinated rather than reported.

Five, academia became politicized as a shrill agent of cultural transformation rather than focusing on education -- while charging more for less learning.

Six, utopian social planning increased housing, energy and transportation costs.

One common gripe framed all these diverse issues: The wealthy had the means and influence not to be bothered by higher taxes and fees or to avoid them altogether. Not so much the middle classes, who lacked the clout of the virtue-signaling rich and the romance of the distant poor.

In other words, elites never suffered the firsthand consequences of their own ideological fiats.

Green policies were aimed at raising fees on, and restricting the use of, carbon-based fuels. But proposed green belt-tightening among hoi polloi was not matched by a cutback in second and third homes, overseas vacations, luxury cars, private jets and high-tech appurtenances.

In education, government directives and academic hectoring about admissions quotas and ideological indoctrination likewise targeted the middle classes but not the elite. The micro-managers of Western public schools and universities often preferred private academies and rigorous traditional training for own children. Elites relied on old-boy networks to get their own kids into colleges. Diversity administrators multiplied at universities while indebted students borrowed more money to pay for them.

In matters of immigration, the story was much the same. Western elites encouraged the migration of indigent, unskilled and often poorly educated foreign nationals who would ensure that government social programs -- and the power of the elites themselves -- grew. The champions of open borders made sure that such influxes did not materially affect their own neighborhoods, schools and privileged way of life.

Elites masked their hypocrisy by virtue-signaling their disdain for the supposedly xenophobic, racist or nativist middle classes. Yet the non-elite have experienced firsthand the impact on social programs, schools and safety from sudden, massive and often illegal immigration from Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia into their communities.

As for trade, few still believe in "free" trade when it remains so unfair. Why didn't elites extend to China their same tough-love lectures about global warming, or about breaking the rules of trade, copyrights and patents?

The middle classes became nauseated by the constant elite trashing of their culture, history and traditions, including the tearing down of statues, the Trotskyizing of past heroes, the renaming of public buildings and streets, and, for some, the tired and empty whining about "white privilege."

If Western nations were really so bad, and so flawed at their founding, why were millions of non-Westerners risking their lives to reach Western soil?

How was it that elites themselves had made so much money, had gained so much influence, and had enjoyed such material bounty and leisure from such a supposedly toxic system -- benefits that they were unwilling to give up despite their tired moralizing about selfishness and privilege?

In the next few years, expect more grassroots demands for the restoration of the value of citizenship. There will be fewer middle-class apologies for patriotism and nationalism. The non-elite will become angrier about illegal immigration, demanding a return to the idea of measured, meritocratic, diverse and legal immigration.

Because elites have no answers to popular furor, the anger directed at them will only increase until they give up -- or finally succeed in their grand agenda of a non-democratic, all-powerful Orwellian state.

Victor Davis Hanson is a classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and the author of the soon-to-be released "The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won," to appear in October from Basic Books. You can reach him by e-mailing authorvdh@gmail.com.

1a)

How Long Can The Media Ignore The Fact That A Senior House Democrat Is Married To A Fraudster

So far the media has managed to avert its eyes and studiously ignore a major story of corruption and malfeasance in Congress because to cover said story would totally destroy a narrative and expose them to allegations that they are racist.

At the epicenter of this tale is the pustulent and rather dim Elijah Cummings from my current state of residence. Cummings is your typical product of the Maryland Democrat machine. The reek of corruption is always near him but never quite attaches to him because he is, as I said, the product of the Maryland Democrat machine and therefore bulletproof. Now all of that may be getting ready to change.

In late May, the National Legal and Policy Center filed an IRS complaint against Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, who is the wife of Elijah Cummings.

The Complaint describes a score of apparent Internal Revenue Code violations, including prohibited private benefit and inurement of the Cummings. CGPS has received millions in grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and, in late 2017, was granted a million-dollar contract from the General Services Administration. The funds were purportedly provided to fight childhood obesity. The Complaint asks the IRS to investigate whether “its organizers are getting fat off the grants.”

At the same time she heads CGPS, Mrs. Cummings heads a for-profit consulting firm called Global Policy Solutions, LLC, whose operations appear to have been indistinguishable from those of CGPS. The two entities have shared office space, telephones, etc., all of which are flagrant violations of the Internal Revenue Code.

With a Republican, the Washington Post would have been all over this, in this case, the Post sent out a stenographer to take down the denial:

“It appears a conservative front group and a news outlet . . . are pushing a hit piece filled with faulty research, lies and innuendo in an attempt to tarnish my personal reputation, professional work and public service as well as that of my spouse,” Rockeymoore Cummings said in a statement, calling the effort a “distasteful attempt to intimidate my family into silence at such a pivotal moment in our nation’s history.”

She declined to answer follow-up questions about her nonprofit’s work, donors and contracts.

And the Post, doing what it does best when dealing with favored and powerful Democrats, just let it drop.
Earlier this month, the NLPC released more details:

The amended complaint states that Rockeymoore Cummings “appears to have been paid twice for the same services,” noting that she collects a “substantial full-time salary” from her charity on top of the 5% management fee it pays her for-profit venture.

For example, Rockeymoore Cummings earned a salary of $152,155 from her charity in 2015, according to its Form 990 tax return that year. Also in 2015, her charity paid her consulting firm $78,178 in “management fees,” according to its audited financial statements.


1b) Top Hoyer Aide Coordinated Steele Dossier Work With Key Obama State Department Officials
BY MARK TAPSCOTT

WASHINGTON—Daniel Silverberg, then-House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer’s national security adviser, coordinated “work on Russia dossier materials provided by Christopher Steele” with Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and Special Envoy for Libya Jonathan Winer, according to newly released documents made public June 12 by Judicial Watch.

A series of emails between Sept. 26, 2016, and Dec. 10, 2016, demonstrate that Winer shared “Russia-related information” he obtained from Steele—whom he described as his “old O friend”—with Nuland, who then shared it with Silverberg.

Winer delayed a previously scheduled meeting with the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) in order to share the information with Nuland, according to Judicial Watch.

Multiple references in the emails to additional telephone calls and other contacts with unnamed or redacted parties, as well as discussion of “a possible working group meeting,” suggest an active response by Silverberg to the Steele dossier information he was provided by Nuland and Winer.

Steele’s firm was named Orbis Business Intelligence. He is the former British spy who created the infamous dossier bearing his name based on “salacious and unverified” information obtained from Russian intelligence sources alleging improper contacts and activities involving President Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign.

In a Nov. 28, 2016, email, Silverberg—while addressing Nuland as “Toria”—said: “It was a delight to speak today, notwithstanding the context. You’ve been a warrior on these issues, and I look forward to speaking further to preserve and wherever possible strengthen the important work you have done. I’ll follow up regarding a possible working group meeting.”

Nuland responded the next day, copying Winer and saying: “Thanks, Daniel. I look forward to continuing our collaboration in whatever capacity life brings. Copied here is Jonathan Winer, who has some legal ideas that may be of interest to you and Cong. Hoyer.”

Silverberg told Winer: “Great. Jonathan, I am all ears.”

In a Dec. 10, 2016, email, Winer tells Silverberg: “I’ve reached out per our call yesterday. Please call me to talk further at your early convenience. Weekend best but can also talk Monday.”

“These documents further confirm the Obama State Department was obviously a way station for Steele’s smear dossier and other anti-Trump activism,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement.

As of press time, Silverberg didn’t respond to The Epoch Times’ email request for comment.

Judicial Watch obtained the documents as a result of its April 25, 2018, lawsuit against the Department of State, after the government failed to respond to three separate Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests from the nonprofit government watchdog.

Judicial Watch also said on June 12 that it “previously released two sets of heavily redacted State Department documents showing classified information was researched and disseminated to multiple U.S. senators by the Obama administration immediately prior to [Trump’s] inauguration.” The documents concerned Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Among the senators receiving those documents were Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.); the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.); and then-Sen. Robert Corker (R-Tenn.). Corker, who didn’t seek re-election in 2018, was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The documents also showed “Russian political interference in elections and politics in countries across Europe. In a section of the documents provided to Cardin, titled ‘Political Parties’ and marked as sensitive, Russia reportedly sought to foster relationships with groups in Germany, Austria, and France, to include paying members to travel to conferences in Crimea and Donbas, ‘where they stoutly defend Russian policy,’” Judicial Watch said.

Contact Mark Tapscott at mark.tapscott@epochtimes.nyc.

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2) Oil Surges as Tankers in Gulf Suffer Another Suspected Attack

By Heesu Lee

·  Brent futures jump as much as 4.5% after slumping on Wednesday

Oil rebounded from the lowest in almost five months as two tankers were damaged in a suspected attack in the Gulf of Oman, just weeks after a previous incident in the region.

Brent crude soared as much as 4.5% following reports of an assault on ships near the Strait of Hormuz, a critical passage for cargoes from the Middle East. The Japanese owner of one of the vessels told local media it had been hit by a “shell.” The second tanker, owned by Norway’s Frontline, suffered three detonations, the Norway Maritime Authority said. Both ships were evacuated.

The incident comes just a month after four vessels, including two Saudi oil tankers, were sabotaged in what the U.S. said was an Iranian attack using naval mines. Tehran denied the charge, and nobody has claimed responsibility for the latest assault.

Tensions have flared in the region as U.S. President Donald Trump attempts to choke off Iran’s oil revenues with tighter sanctions, and turns to the Islamic Republic’s political adversaries -- the Saudis -- to keep global crude markets adequately supplied. The alarm is reviving prices that have faltered for weeks amid the U.S.-China trade dispute and swelling American inventories.

“In the past weeks, the market has been in a panic about the perceived weakness in oil demand,” said Eugen Weinberg, head of commodities research at Commerzbank AG. “We’ve been wondering what piece of news would break the dam, and lead to a jump in prices.”

Oil Risk

Two suspected attacks on tankers at the mouth of the Persian Gulf

Source: Marine Traffic

This latest incident could set the stage for a tense meeting when the OPEC cartel -- to which both Saudi Arabia and Iran belong -- and its allies gather in coming weeks to decide oil-production levels for the second half of the year. The group has been struggling to settle on an exact date as the Saudi-Iran dispute once again impedes its ability to make decisions.

Brent for August settlement advanced 3.4% to $62.03 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures Europe Exchange at 11:13 a.m. local time, after touching $62.64 earlier. It fell 3.7% on Wednesday to the lowest in almost five months. The global benchmark crude traded at a premium of $9.13 to WTI for the same month.

WTI futures for July delivery gained $1.53, or 3%, to $52.67 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices slumped 4% on Wednesday as U.S. government data showed crude stockpiles expanded by 2.2 million barrels last week.

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3) Sen. Rick Scott: China's growing influence in Latin America is a threat to our way of life

By Sen. Rick Scott, (R-FL)

Last month I traveled to Panama, Colombia and Argentina. The purpose of my trip was to get an update on the fight for freedom and liberty in Venezuela, to highlight the important economic relationships between Latin America and my state of Florida and to continue building on the progress made to stop narco-trafficking.

On all of those fronts we made important progress and had great conversations about the future.

I came away with another impression that I, quite honestly, hadn't expected. But it's one that is stark and unmistakable. All across Latin America, we're seeing the creeping influence of China in our hemisphere.We know that China is a bad actor. China is not our friend. China sees the United States as its global adversary and is taking the steps necessary to "win" the great power conflict of the 21^st Century.

We know they've been stealing our technology and our intellectual property. We know they manipulate their currency. We know they've been developing bases in the South China Sea. We know they've flooded the United States with dangerous fentanyl. We know their state sponsored technology companies like ZTE and Huawei have been accused of fraud, violating the Iran sanctions and stealing intellectual property.We know China consistently violates human rights. We know that China suppresses freedom of speech.

We know what China is. And yet, how many Americans realize that in countries just a few thousand miles (and in some cases a few hundred miles) away, China is taking every opportunity it can to gain influence and exert control. Latin America is the new battleground in the greatest geopolitical conflict of our time.

In Panama, the Chinese government is building its own port in Colon to exert more control over international trade between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres and drive out competition. Street restaurants in Panama have menus in English, Spanish and – you guessed it – Chinese.

Meanwhile, Colombia is experiencing a mass-influx of refugees from Venezuela. Venezuela's president Nicolás Maduro's policies are not only causing the deaths of thousands of his own people, he's also created a refugee crisis with millions of Venezuelans fleeing his brutal regime. Most have gone to Colombia, which is struggling to keep up with the migration.

China's president Xi Jinping knows what Maduro is doing to his own people. He knows that he's intentionally starving them, that he's using Cuban security forces to harass dissidents and beat children in the streets. Xi doesn't care. China is a willing participant in Maduro's genocide.

"If we take a stand against China now, American businesses and American consumers will come out on top. Our manufacturing sector will be stronger. America will export more products. Our trade secrets will be protected. The average American consumer will benefit."

China continues to prop up the Maduro regime, along with Cuba, Russia and Iran. Why? It's pretty simple. Venezuela, before the tyranny of Hugo Chavez and Maduro, was an economic hub with huge reserves of oil and other natural resources. It can become that again and China wants in on the ground floor.

Even after the revelations of their dubious dealings, Maduro announced that Venezuela would make major investments in Huawei and ZTE despite not being able to even feed his own people. China's support for Maduro is already paying off for them.

Almost 3,000 miles due south of Bogota, in Argentina, China is set to build a nuclear facility after signing an agreement with President Mauricio Macri. The deal includes a $10 billion loan from China.

Make no mistake. This is not by accident. Everything China does is on purpose. And right now, under our very noses, its purpose is to gain a foothold in Latin America by any means necessary, even if it means propping up ruthless dictators.

Politicians too rarely look at anything besides what's directly in front of them. It's hard for them to look beyond next week, let alone beyond the next election. So, I'll say something that very few people are willing to say. The so-called trade war with China is causing some pain in our country right now.

I believe some short-term pain is worth it if we're taking real steps to combat the greatest geopolitical foe we have. If we take a stand against China now, American businesses and American consumers will come out on top. Our manufacturing sector will be stronger. America will export more products. Our trade secrets will be protected. The average American consumer will benefit.

If we don't face this threat head-on right now, we will still face it eventually. But if we wait, we'll be in a much weaker position than we are now. China will just continue to walk all over us.

I think President Donald Trump is doing the right thing by standing up to China now. But there's another step that we can all take to stem the tide of China's growing influence in Latin America and around the world – support American businesses.

American taxpayers are funding China's aggression every day. Every time we buy a product "made in China" we are putting another dollar into the pocket of the people stealing our technology, denying their people basic human rights and supporting genocide in Venezuela. It's time to take a stand.

In my state, we take immense pride in products "Made in Florida." It's a driving force that led to our incredible economic turnaround. A return to this pride in home-grown businesses and products ensures America remains strong as the undisputed leader of the global economy.

I'm committed to supporting American businesses over Chinese products. I hope you'll join me.

Washington politicians have let this happen. They're too concerned with short-term political success and have ignored the long-term threats to our way of life. It needs to end, and it needs to end now.

Rick Scott is the junior United States Senator from Florida. He previously served as Governor of the state.

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