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Blinken Says U.S. Still Bullish on Ukraine’s NATO Membership

pgnewser December 19, 2024 0

US sets conditions for Ukrainian NATO membership — RT World News– www.rt.com
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Washington has long insisted that Kiev will join the bloc, but never clarified the exact timeline

Ukraine can only hope to join NATO if it reforms its military and succeeds in improving its democratic institutions, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said.

Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Wednesday, Blinken rejected the idea that the US, Germany, or other NATO allies are “standing in the way” of Kiev’s accession to the bloc. Ukraine has long aspired to become a full-fledged NATO member, and formally applied to join in the autumn of 2022 after four of its former regions overwhelmingly voted to join Russia.

The bloc, Blinken insisted, has “put Ukraine on a path to NATO membership” and taken concrete steps to advance this goal, while stopping short of clarifying the accession timeline.

“We set up for the first time in NATO’s history a dedicated command whose purpose is to help Ukraine along that path, to take the practical steps that it needs to take – in continuing to build and reform its military institutions, to continue to strengthen its democracy – that are necessary for membership,” he said.


 

The secretary of state admitted that it would be “very challenging for Russia” to agree to a peace deal over Ukraine that would not explicitly remove the prospect of Kiev joining NATO. However, he argued that Ukraine could potentially receive “other kinds of assurances, commitments, guarantees” that would be similar to Article 5 of the NATO Charter, which states that an attack on one member of the bloc is an attack on all.

In October, Politico reported that some NATO allies were not particularly happy with Vladimir Zelensky’s ‘victory plan’, which calls for Ukraine to receive an immediate invitation to join the bloc. The article identified the US and Germany as the countries opposed to his request over fears that it would draw them into a direct conflict with Russia.

Publicly, NATO has ruled out full membership for Ukraine as long as it is embroiled in the conflict with Russia. However, some Western officials have floated an option of “partial membership” for Kiev, an idea rejected by Zelensky, who argued that this would essentially mean that the country recognizes all of its territorial losses to Russia.

Moscow has long been opposed to NATO expansion towards its borders, seeing it as an existential threat. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Kiev’s ambition to join the bloc is one of the key reasons for the conflict, with Ukrainian neutrality, along with demilitarization and denazification, being Moscow’s main goals.

Bloated, Censor-Funding CR Fails, Exposes Johnson’s Weakness, Vulnerability

pgnewser December 19, 2024 0

Crumbled Omnibus Bill Is A Mess Of Speaker Johnson’s Making– thefederalist.com
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Speaker Mike Johnson is getting some well-deserved coal in his stocking from conservatives livid with the Louisiana Republican’s attempt to play Santa with a Christmas list stopgap spending bill.

The massive house-of-cards measure Johnson countenanced collapsed Wednesday amid scathing criticism from conservatives and an incoming president who urged Republicans to get “SMART and Tough” with Democrats.

Johnson loathes the descriptor, but the proposed resolution the speaker has presided over is nothing more than a bloated omnibus bill packed with pork, censorship, and sweetheart deals for Congress. Turning from his reported intentions to deliver a clean “continuing resolution” to keep the bloated federal government fully open for another few months, the simple spending plan has grown to a bloated 1,500-plus pages.

On Wednesday, the scam proposal included a possible pay hike for congressional members and a provision allowing senators and representatives to opt out of Obamacare for better taxpayer-funded insurance.

Rank-and-file lawmakers currently earn $174,000 annually, with higher pay for those in leadership posts. House members earlier this year blocked a proposed pay raise despite complaints from some.

Korea Spy Agency Says Election Was Clean

pgnewser December 19, 2024 0

No evidence of electoral fraud found during inspection, Korea’s spy agency tells lawmakers – The Korea JoongAng Daily
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The National Intelligence Service (NIS) recently reported to parliament that it found no evidence supporting suspicions of a rigged general election during its security inspection last year.

According to a report on Thursday by the JoongAng Ilbo, an affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily, multiple NIS officials said the agency informed the National Assembly, following President Yoon Suk Yeol’s televised public address on Dec. 12, that it had found no evidence of electoral fraud for the April 10 general election during a joint inspection with the Korea Internet and Security Agency on the National Election Commission (NEC) from July to September last year.
Yoon, who had previously raised suspicions of electoral fraud even during his presidential campaign, regarded the accusation as one of the reasons for justifying his brief declaration of martial law.

“How can our people trust election results when the computer system that manages the elections — the very foundation of democracy — is in such disarray?” Yoon asked during the address.

“For this reason, I directed the minister of national defense to inspect the NEC’s computer systems,” he added, further noting a hacking attack by North Korea that was detected by the NIS.

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Senate’s Defense Budget Bill Nixes DEI, Transgender Surgeries

pgnewser December 19, 2024 0

Senate passes military spending bill, cutting child sex changes, DEI | The Post Millennial– thepostmillennial.com
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Johnson told reporters about the efforts pushed to improve the military, “We improved housing for our military families and other benefits, and it’s also why we stopped funds from going to CRT in our military academies.”

The Senate passed a defense spending bill that also bans funding for child sex changes as well as goes after DEI in the military. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) will cost $895 billion.

After passing in the House last week and getting passed through the Senate, the NDAA goes to President Joe Biden’s desk for a vote. Although it passed with bipartisan votes, many Democrats were in strong opposition to House Speaker Mike Johnson slipping in provisions to ban military healthcare funds going to sex changes for minors as well as cuts to DEI, the Daily Mail reported.

The package is the most expensive one yet, nearing $900 billion, and is around $10 billion more than the funding that went to the military last year. The military spending vote is usually pretty bipartisan, however, with Johnson’s add-ons, some Democrats were obstinately against the military spending. This comes as there has been heightened conflict around the world, both in the Russia-Ukraine war as well as the warring nations and factions in the Middle East.

Biden Allegedly Pays Reuters to Write Hit Pieces on Musk that Justify “Investigations”

pgnewser December 18, 2024 0

A government budget disclosure has exposed $300 million was paid to “journalists” at Reuters, all of which then wrote scurrilous articles alleging criminal activity in his businesses. Shortly after that, Biden’s anti-American government insurrectionist agents began opening investigations against Musk on multiple fronts.

In addition to their economic compensation, Reuters also received a Pulitzer award specifically for “their work on Elon Musk and misconduct at his business.” At the very least, the connections are strong enough to warrant serious investigation from the Department of Justice once its halls are led by Americans once again.

Corrupt Biden Hands $300M in Contracts to Reuters which Turns around and Attacks Elon Musk– lidblog.com
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The disclosure of the huge amount of our tax dollars Joe Biden threw at wire service Reuters to use as a weapon against Elon Musk is a story of pure corruption.

Here is how the cycle worked:
-Joe Biden doled out $300 million in tax dollars to “journalists” at Reuters
-Reuters then used that money to target Elon Musk
-Then the corrupt “Pulitzer” system awarded Reuters with major awards

Over 1K Woke Activists to be Injected into Federal Government if Biden has his way

pgnewser December 18, 2024 0

The Biden administration is trying to hire as many as 1,200 “DEI” employees that they believe President Trump will not be able to fire in an attempt to cripple the Federal government from within before Americans regain control of the Executive branch.

Federal Government to Hire 1200 New ‘Woke’ Bureaucrats Before Trump Returns to White House– slaynews.com
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The federal government is scrambling to hire as many “woke” bureaucrats as possible before President Donald Trump is sworn into power next month.

The Biden administration is currently in the process of hiring as many as 1,200 employees to work on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

Those employees would be embedded into the permanent federal workforce headed by the Trump administration.

The news hires were revealed by the Daily Wire following an analysis of federal job opportunities.

The jobs have annual salaries of up to $310,000 and could add up to total salary payouts of $160 million a year.

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CNN Helped Free Assad Regime Torturer in Failed Hoax Report

pgnewser December 18, 2024 0

CNN Helped Release a Syrian ‘Prisoner’ Who Turned Out to Be a Notorious Torturer – PJ Media– pjmedia.com
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A story last week on CNN about a Syrian “prisoner” who the network claimed had been held for years and that correspondent Clarissa Ward called one of the most extraordinary moments I have witnessed” in her 20 years as a journalist turns out to have been a notorious torturer for the Assad regime.

He told CNN his name was “Adel Gharbal” from Homs and claimed he was arrested three months earlier after his phone had been searched. He was taken to Damascus, he says, and thrown in prison. He claims not to have seen sunlight for three months when the CNN crew released him.

 

After South Korean PM Declares National Emergency, Parliament Impeaches Him

pgnewser December 16, 2024 0

South Korea’s Yoon Suk Yeol declared a national emergency, claiming North Korean sympathizers had infiltrated the government. After police raided the parliament building, the besieged parliament voted to lift the emergency, with Yoo’s own party voting against him.

After the emergency order was rescinded, parliament moved to impeach the PM. After the impeachment, the highest court has already begun the trial to determine his guilt. The PM isn’t waiting for the results, pledging to step aside.

South Korea impeachment live: impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol vows to step aside | South Korea– www.theguardian.com
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South Korea’s impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday said he would “step aside” after parliament voted to remove him from office, urging an end to “politics of excess and confrontation”.

“Though I must now step aside for a while, the journey toward the future… must never come to a stop,” he said in a televised address.

Syria is no more

pgnewser December 16, 2024 0

In the span of less than 2 weeks, what started as a surge by anti-government forces in Syria turned into a complete rout, leading to the President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, fleeing the country to become a political refugee in Russia. This also led to Israel launching the largest airstrike since the 6-Day War in an effort to eliminate the Syrian army’s left-behind equipment and munitions.

Blinken confirms direct contact with Syria’s rebel leaders – nbcnews.com
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that the U.S. has made direct contact with Syria’s Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) rebels, as they transition from a militant insurgency toward a more legitimate governing authority.

“We’ve been in contact with HTS and with other parties,” Blinken said after talks in Aqaba, Jordan, with diplomats and representatives from several Arab nations.

The U.S. designates HTS a terrorist organization, making it legally impossible to work with the group, but contact underscores ongoing efforts to change that designation as the U.S. and its allies look to support Syria’s transition from Assad rule.

In a joint statement released after the meeting, the governments of the U.S., Turkey, E.U., and Arab Countries called for a “a more hopeful, secure and peaceful future” in Syria, stressing respect for women and minorities, and preventing “the reemergence of all terrorist groups.”

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Biden Pardons Child Traffickers, Pedophiles, and CCP Spies

pgnewser December 16, 2024 0

President Joe Biden has executed the largest single day of pardons in the history of the United States, issuing 39 pardons and 1,499 commutations of sentences. On the list of benefactors including a cash-for-kids judge who traded money for children’s freedom, CCP spies (including a pedophile), a Hamas terrorists’ brother, and a fentanyl queen.

The move comes following an unprecedented pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, who is declared immune from all Federal prosecutions for any crime he may have committed between 2014 and 2024. Rumors of more such pre-emptive pardons for DNC operatives like the Clintons and Obamas are gaining more credibility as not even Biden’s press secretary is denying them.

Biden Executes Largest Day of Pardons, Commutations Ever– www.dailysignal.com
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President Joe Biden released a list of 39 pardons and 1,499 commutations of sentences Thursday, setting the record for presidential clemencies in a single day.

The White House described the majority of those pardoned as having committed “nonviolent drug offenses.” The list did not go into detail on specific crimes.

The pardon list includes Mikhail Zemlyansky, a Long Island, New York, man who committed a $35 million fraud. New York City’s WNBC-TV reported prosecutors called it “the largest single no-fault car insurance fraud scheme ever prosecuted.”

John Paul Garcia’s name also appears on the list. The Las Vegas Optic’s jail log from July 26 reports Garcia was booked into the San Miguel County Detention Center for battery on a household member, despite the White House describing his crime as a “nonviolent offense.”

The full list of pardons and commutations can be found here.

The president is reportedly considering issuing preemptive pardons to President-elect Donald Trump’s political opponents, some of whom could include Dr. Anthony Fauci and former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo.

“America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances,” Biden said in a White House press release.

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Drone-pocalypse On U.S. East Coast Comes as Congress Considers Tightening Drone Regulations

pgnewser December 16, 2024 0

Drones might be the new 2nd Amendment frontier, and the new wave of unidentified drones being reported over East coast skies is causing the conversation about drone rights versus drone security to come to the public square. So far, the government is claiming the drones are legal and privately owned, but others allege foreign actors, CCP spying, and dirty bomb monitoring.

A bill making its way through congress called H. R. 8610 aims “To reauthorize and reform counter-unmanned aircraft system authorities, to improve transparency, security, safety, and accountability related to such authorities, and for other purposes.” In the wake of recent comments by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), that the government needs to use better drone-tracking technology to stop and prevent this drone-pocalypse, evidence suggests this might be the real source for the sudden appearance of so many unidentified drones.

Dem Rep Urges Biden Admin To Be More ‘Forthcoming’ On Drones, Warns How CCP May Be Accessing Backdoor Data– dailycaller.com
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The top Democratic member of the House committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, urged the Biden administration Sunday on Fox News to be more “forthcoming” with information regarding multiple drone sightings on the East Coast, warning that the CCP could be accessing data through them.

In early December, New Jersey residents began expressing concerns after witnessing a series of unidentified drones swarming the skies and flying in formation on some occasions, according to video footage obtained by the Daily Caller. On “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo,” host Maria Bartiromo asked the Illinois lawmaker if he had “any information” on the drones flying over the U.S., pressing him on whether he believes it’s Chinese surveillance. (RELATED: ‘People Are Misidentifying Them’: Mayorkas Downplays NJ Drone Concerns, Claims They’re Likely Store-Bought, Harmless)

“I don’t know. But what I do know is that I think that the administration needs to be more forthcoming with information that they have. If they believe that some of these lights in the sky are civilian aircraft, then show us,” Krishnamoorthi said. “Secondly, I’m getting a classified briefing along with my fellow Republicans and Democrats as to the nature of these drones. So we need as much information as possible. With regard to Chinese manufactured drones, I’m very concerned about that, Maria.”

“Actually, I and Elise Stefanik and others have gotten legislation put into the National Defense Authorization Act, which would prevent DJI drones and others potentially from flying over American airspace. Why? Because these Chinese manufactured drones allow for the CCP, the Chinese Communist Party, to access data in a backdoor manner and ultimately surveil Americans,” Krishnamoorthi added.

WATCH:

In September, Republican New York Rep. Elise Stefanik’s legislation, The Countering CCP Drones Act, passed the House. If approved by the Senate and signed by President Joe Biden, it would ban drones made by the Chinese-owned manufacturer Da Jiang Innovations (DJI) from operating on U.S. communications infrastructure.

Bartiromo continued to press Krishnamoorthi on how the FBI has been warning Americans about Chinese threats, asking why the U.S. government would buy drones from DJI, as the company has been flagged by the Department of Defense as a “Chinese military company.”

“Because they’re cheap,” Krishnamoorthi said. “But the problem is you are basically sacrificing our national security in the name of buying more inexpensive drones. In the process, you’re preventing a domestic drone industry from getting stood up. So what we’re saying is, ‘No, you cannot use tax dollars to buy this stuff.’”

“We are incentivizing American drone manufacturers to make more so that there are more trusted partners making these drones that law enforcement or others can buy,” Krishnamoorthi concluded.

Since the drone sightings, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have expressed concerns over the issue. On Thursday, a New Jersey homeowner reported that a drone had crashed into their backyard, with local authorities later revealing the object was “a hobby or toy type of drone” and not one used militarily, according to The New York Post.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

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Health Insurance CEO Assassinated, and the Left Celebrates

pgnewser December 16, 2024 0

UnitedHealth Group CEO Brian Thompson, 50, was assassinated in New York City allegedly by 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, who was arrested 5 days after the December 4 assassination at a McDonald’s in Altoona, PA, where he was found to have incriminating evidence on him, including the 3D-printed gun used in the killing.

Mangione is claiming he was set up, though many on the American left are convinced he is the killer, and for that he is being celebrated as a hero. Allegedly, Mangione killed Thompson due to the company’s policy of “deny, delay, and die,” to assure paying customers don’t get paid off when they actually get ill. The killer left three bullet cases at the scene that said Delay, Deny, Defend, which is also the title of a book about the health insurance industry’s unethical practices of denying coverage to save money.

UnitedHealth CEO Confronts Flawed System After Tragic Killing – kawsachunnews.com
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In an opinion piece for the New York Times on Friday, UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty critiqued the current for-profit U.S. healthcare system, stating it “does not work as well as it should” and that it was a system “no one would design on purpose.” These comments emerged while his industry faced significant public outrage after the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive.

Witty mentioned that his company, which is the parent organization of UnitedHealthcare and the largest private insurer in the country, is “ready to work with anyone—as we have always done—including healthcare providers, employers, patients, pharmaceutical companies, governments, and others to find ways to improve the quality of care and reduce costs.”

However, skeptics are questioning Witty’s commitment to transforming an industry that his company has significantly shaped and from which it has profited immensely. Witty was the top-earning healthcare executive in the U.S. last year, and since the Affordable Care Act was passed, 40% of the private insurance industry’s total profits have gone to UnitedHealth Group.

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Albertsons-Kroger Merger Nixed by Judge

pgnewser December 15, 2024 0

The $24.6 billion merger between food giants Albertsons and Kroger was shut down by a Federal Judge. The action triggered a lawsuit by Albertsons against Kroger, alleging Kroger didn’t do enough to prepare itself for a merger that would meet legal and regulatory requirements.

Tom Moriarity, Alberton’s general counsel, said of the suit, “Kroger’s self-serving conduct, taken at the expense of Albertsons and the agreed transaction, has harmed Albertsons’ shareholders, associates and consumers. We are disappointed that the opportunity to realize the significant benefits of the merger has been lost on account of Kroger’s willfully deficient approach to securing regulatory clearance.”

Albertsons sues Kroger after Oregon, Washington judges block $24.6 billion merger – salemreporter.com
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On Wednesday, the day after a federal judge in Oregon and a state judge in Washington blocked a merger between two supermarket giants, Albertsons canceled the $24.6 billion merger agreement and sued Kroger.

The grocery chain, which owns 24 Albertsons locations and 97 Safeway stores in Oregon, sued Kroger in the Delaware Court of Chancery, alleging the larger grocer didn’t do enough to secure regulatory approval for its 2022 agreement to buy Albertsons.

The Federal Trade Commission, joined by seven states including Oregon and the District of Columbia, sued to block the merger in U.S. District Court in Oregon earlier this year, and a federal judge in Portland temporarily halted the merger Tuesday. A state judge in Washington state also blocked the merger from proceeding there. Both judges agreed with federal regulators and state attorneys general that the merger would lead to reduced competition and harm both customers and grocery workers — customers with higher prices and lower-quality goods and workers with lower pay.

The complaint Albertsons filed in the Delaware court isn’t yet public, but the company said in a press release that Kroger “willfully breached” the merger agreement by ignoring feedback from regulators, refusing to divest assets needed for antitrust approval or find stronger buyers for divested assets and failing to cooperate with Albertsons.