Sister Mary walks into the Mother Superiors office and confesses "I have been having sex with the new Minister at St. Judes, what shall I do for penance?"

The Mother Superior says "first you can suck a lemon"

"Oh" says Sister Mary "will that make me holy again"

"No" says the Mother Superior "but it will take that contented smirk of your face"

*.*

Mayor Pete has been getting some heat.

I don't know if you saw this.

He attended a big fundraiser in Napa at a winery with a, quote, "wine cave."

And everybody was so mad that he did this.

But why would you be mad about a wine cave?

It celebrates the two things Democrats are known for, whining and caving.

*.*

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The American state department has come up with an ingenious plan to solve China's democratic protest problems and make our nation great again in one fell swoop.

Through some great negotiating on the part of Donald Trump, we've struck a deal to trade all of our country's Communists for Hong Kong's democratic protesters.

After the deal was made, the military began rounding up the Communists---who didn't complain, as they're all for an authoritarian state---and putting them in cargo planes. They were then flown across the Pacific Ocean and dropped off in Hong Kong before the democratic protesters in China were loaded up into the now-empty planes and flown back to America.

"This is the best deal, maybe ever," said Trump. "We'll get rid of some wackos on the left, my buddy Xi will be happy with his new commie followers, and we'll gain some great new citizens who will be really appreciative to me and never complain about anything. Greatest deal in the history of deals."

*.*

An old man goes to the doctor for his yearly physical, his wife tagging along. When the doctor enters the examination room, he tells the old man, "I need a urine sample, a stool sample and a sperm sample."

The old man, being hard of hearing, looks at his wife and yells: "WHAT?"

"What did he say? What's he want?"

His wife yells back, "He needs your underwear."

*.*

Q: How do you get the gender-studies major off your porch?

A: Pay for the pizza.

Quote of the Times;
Shut. Your. Fucking. Mouth. That works 99 percent of the time. If no one has asked you for help or assistance, stop trying to give it to them. If no one has asked you about something, stop trying to teach, help, criticize, or otherwise talk to them about it.

Link of the Times;
https://www.wnd.com/2019/12/infuriates-swamp-trump/

Issue of the Times;
Trump List Shows 319 Results and Promises Kept In Three Years by Paul Bedard

“We are making America stronger, prouder, and greater than ever before.” – President Donald J. Trump

PROMOTING ECONOMIC PROSPERITY FOR ALL: President Trump’s pro-growth policies have led to an economic boom that is lifting up Americans of all backgrounds.
• Since President Trump’s election, more than 7 million jobs have been added to the economy.
• For the first time on record there are more job openings than unemployed Americans.
o There are more than 7 million job openings, outnumbering job seekers by more than 1 million.
o Nearly two-thirds of Americans rate now as a good time to find a quality job, empowering more Americans with rewarding careers.
• This year, the unemployment rate reached its lowest level in half a century.
o The unemployment rate has remained at or below 4 percent for the past 21 months.
o The unemployment rate for women reached its lowest rate in 65 years under President Trump.
• Under President Trump, jobless claims hit their lowest level in half a century.
• The number of people claiming unemployment insurance as a share of the population is the lowest on record.
• American workers of all backgrounds are thriving under President Trump.
o The unemployment rates for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and those without a high school diploma have all reached record lows under President Trump.
• The booming economy is putting more money in Americans’ pockets.
o Wages are growing at their fastest rate in a decade, with year-over-year wage gains exceeding 3 percent for the first time since 2009.
o November 2019 marked the 16th consecutive month that wages rose at an annual rate of at or over 3 percent.
o Median household income surpassed $63,000 in 2018 – the highest level on record.
• President Trump’s policies are helping forgotten Americans across the country prosper, driving down income inequality.
o Wages are rising fastest for low-income workers.
o Middle-class and low-income workers are enjoying faster wage growth than high- earners.
o When measured as the share of income earned by the top 20 percent, income inequality fell in 2018 by the largest amount in over a decade.
• Americans are being lifted out of poverty as a result of today’s booming economy.
o Since President Trump took office, over 2.4 million Americans have been lifted out of poverty.
o Poverty rates for African Americans and Hispanic Americans have reached record lows.
o Since President Trump’s election, nearly 7 million Americans have been lifted off of food stamps.
• Americans are coming off of the sidelines and back into the workforce.
o The prime age labor force has grown by 2.1 million under President Trump.
o In the third quarter of 2019, 73.7 percent of workers entering employment came from
out of the labor force rather than from unemployment, the highest share since the series began in 1990.

• President Trump’s pro-growth policies are helping businesses of all sizes thrive like never before.
o Small business optimism broke a 35-year old record in 2018 and remains historically high.
o The DOW, S&P 500, and NASDAQ have all repeatedly notched record highs under President Trump.
• President Trump is following through on his promise to revitalize American manufacturing, with more than a half million manufacturing jobs added since the election.
• President Trump has prioritized workforce development to ensure American workers are prepared to fill high quality jobs.
o The President has worked to expand apprenticeship programs, helping Americans gain hands-on training and experience with no student debt.
o Since President Trump took office, over 660,000 apprentices have been hired across the country.
o President Trump established the National Council for the American Worker, tasked with developing a workforce strategy for the jobs of the future.
o Over 370 companies have signed the President’s “Pledge to America’s Workers,” pledging to provide more than 14.4 million employment and training opportunities.
o President Trump signed an Executive Order prioritizing Cyber Workforce Development to ensure that we have the most skilled cyber workforce of the 21st century.
• President Trump signed the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act in 2017 – the largest tax reform package in history.
o More than 6 million American workers received wage increases, bonuses, and increased benefits thanks to the tax cuts.
o $1 trillion has poured back into the country from overseas since the President’s tax cuts.
• President Trump is revitalizing distressed communities through Opportunity Zones, which encourage investment and growth in underserved communities.
o More than 8,760 communities in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and 5 Territories have been designated as Opportunity Zones.
o The White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council has taken more than 175 actions to encourage investment and promote growth within Opportunity Zones.
o The White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council is engaging all levels of government to identify best practices and assist leaders, investors, and entrepreneurs in using the Opportunity Zone incentive to revitalize low-income communities.
• The President is ensuring that America is prepared to lead the world in the industries of the future, by promoting American leadership in emerging technologies like 5G and AI.
o The Administration named artificial intelligence, quantum information science, and 5G, among other emerging technologies, as national research and development priorities.
o President Trump launched the American AI Initiative to invest in AI research, unleash innovation, and build the American workforce of the future.
o President Trump signed an Executive Order that established a new advisory committee of industry and academic leaders to advise the government on its quantum activities.
• President Trump has made supporting working families a priority of his Administration.
o President Trump signed legislation securing historic levels of funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, helping low-income families access child care.
o During his Joint Address to Congress and each State of the Union Address, the President called on Congress to pass a nationwide paid family leave plan.
o The President signed into law 12-weeks of paid parental leave for federal workers.

o President Trump’s tax reforms provided a new tax credit to incentivize businesses to offer paid family leave to their employees.
o The President’s historic tax reforms doubled the child tax credit, benefitting nearly 40 million American families with an average of over $2,200 dollars in 2019.

LIFTING THE BURDEN OF OVERREGULATION: President Trump’s historic deregulation efforts are driving economic growth, cutting unnecessary costs, and increasing transparency.
• President Trump has delivered on, and far exceeded, his promise to slash two existing regulations for every new regulation.
o Since taking office, President Trump has rolled back nearly 8 regulations for every new significant one.
• The Trump Administration’s deregulatory efforts have slashed regulatory costs by more than
$50 billion.
• In the coming years, the average American household is projected to see an income gain of
$3,100 per year thanks to President Trump’s historic regulatory reform.
• Once fully in effect, 20 major deregulatory actions undertaken by the Administration are expected to save American consumers and businesses over $220 billion per year.
• President Trump signed 16 pieces of deregulatory legislation that are expected to result in a
$40 billion increase in annual real incomes.
• President Trump established the Governors Initiative on Regulatory Innovation.
o This initiative is working to reduce outdated regulations at the State, local, and tribal levels, advance occupational licensing reform, and align Federal and State regulation.
• The President signed legislation eliminating regulatory barriers that made offering retirement benefits difficult for small businesses.
• The President took action to increase transparency in Federal agencies and protect Americans from administrative abuse.
o This year, President Trump signed two Executive Orders to guard against secretive or unlawful interpretations of rules and prevent Americans from being hit with unfair and unexpected penalties.
• President Trump has followed through on his promise to repeal the Obama-era Waters of the United States Rule, lifting a burden off American farmers.
• President Trump ended the previous Administration’s war on coal.
o President Trump signed legislation repealing the harmful Obama-era Stream Protection Rule.
o President Trump replaced the overreaching Obama-era Clean Power Plan with the Affordable Clean Energy Rule, which respects States’ rights and promotes economic growth while lowering power-sector CO2 emissions.
• In 2017, the President announced the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, which would have killed millions of American jobs.
• The Administration has worked to undo the Obama-era fuel economy regulations by proposing the SAFE Vehicles Rule to lower the cost of new and safer cars.
• President Trump helped community banks by signing legislation that rolled back costly provisions of Dodd-Frank.
• President Trump established the White House Council on Reducing Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing Development to bring down the costs of housing across the country.
• The President’s deregulatory actions are removing government barriers to personal freedom and consumer choice in healthcare.
• In 2017, President Trump corrected Obama Administration overreach by right-sizing Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
 
FIGHTING FOR FAIRER TRADE: President Trump is negotiating better trade deals for the American people after years of our country being taken advantage of.
• President Trump negotiated the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement (USMCA) to replace the outdated North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
o USMCA includes tremendous wins for American workers, farmers, and manufacturers, generating over $68 billion in economic activity and creating 176,000 new jobs.
• President Trump negotiated two tremendous deals with Japan to boost America’s agricultural and digital trade with the world’s third largest economy.
o Thanks to President Trump’s efforts, Japan will open its market to approximately $7 billion in American agricultural exports.
o The President’s negotiations will boost the already approximately $40 billion worth of digital trade between our two countries.
• President Trump fulfilled his promise to renegotiate the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement, providing a boost to American auto exports.
o These efforts doubled the number of American autos that can be exported to South Korea using United States safety standards.
• President Trump reached a historic phase one trade agreement with China that will begin rebalancing our two countries’ trade relationship.
o As a result of President Trump’s leadership, China has agreed to structural reforms in areas of intellectual property, technology transfer, agriculture, financial services, and currency and foreign exchange.
o China will be making substantial purchases of American agricultural products, marking a monumental win for American farmers.
• President Trump fulfilled his promise to withdraw from the disastrous Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
• President Trump achieved a mutual agreement with the European Union to work together towards zero tariffs, non-tariff barriers, and subsidies on certain goods.
• President Trump has worked to prepare for post-Brexit trade and made Congress aware of his intent to negotiate a free trade agreement with the United Kingdom (UK).
• President Trump imposed tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum to protect our vital industries and support our national security.
• President Trump imposed tariffs to protect American-made washing machines and solar products that were hurt by import surges.
• The United States scored an historic victory by overhauling the Universal Postal Union (UPU), whose outdated policies were undermining American interests and workers.
• President Trump has expanded markets for American farmers to export their goods worldwide, for example:
o The European Union has opened up to more American beef and increased imports of American soybeans.
o China lifted its ban on American poultry and opened up to American beef.
o South Korea lifted its ban on American poultry and eggs and agreed to provide market access for the greatest, guaranteed volume of American rice.
• The Trump Administration has authorized a total of $28 billion in aid for farmers who have been subjected to unfair trade practices.

SECURING THE BORDER: President Trump has taken historic steps to confront the crisis on our Nation’s borders and protect American communities.
• President Trump is following through on his promise to build a wall on our southern border.
o The Administration expects to have approximately 450 miles of new border wall by the end of 2020.

• The President struck new agreements with Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to help stop the flood of illegal immigration.
o The President worked with Mexico to ensure they would improve their border security.
o The United States is working with Mexico and others in the region to dismantle the human smuggling networks that profit from human misery and fuel the border crisis by exploiting vulnerable populations.
o The Administration negotiated agreements with El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to stem the surge of aliens arriving at our border.
o President Trump negotiated the Migrant Protection Protocols, requiring certain migrants to wait in Mexico during their immigration proceedings instead of allowing them to disappear into our country.
• Thanks to the President’s swift action, border apprehensions fell by more than 70 percent from May – the peak of the crisis – to November.
• The Trump Administration is stopping deadly drugs and violent criminals from flowing across our borders and into our communities.
o Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized more than 163,000 pounds of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl at the southern border in FY 2019.
o The United States Coast Guard seized more than 458,000 pounds of cocaine at sea in FY 2019 and referred nearly 400 suspected drug smugglers for prosecution.
o U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) seized over 1.4 million pounds of narcotics and made more than 12,000 narcotic- related arrests in FY 2019.
o Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized over 50,000 kilograms of methamphetamine and over 2,700 kilograms of fentanyl in FY 2019.
o CBP apprehended 976 alien gang members in FY 2019, including 464 aliens affiliated with MS-13.
o ICE HSI made over 4,000 arrests of gang members in FY 2019, including over 450 arrests of MS-13 members.
RESTORING THE RULE OF LAW: President Trump is upholding the rule of law, restoring integrity to our asylum system, and promoting immigrant self-sufficiency.
• President Trump released an immigration plan to fully secure our border, modernize our laws, and promote an immigration system based on merit.
• President Trump is working to combat the abuse of our asylum system that drives illegal immigration.
o The Administration took action to close the Flores Settlement Agreement loophole and ensure alien families can be kept together through their proceedings.
o The President released an order that makes aliens ineligible for asylum if they passed through another country in transit to our border and did not apply for asylum in that country first.
• Since taking office, President Trump has stepped up enforcement to ensure there are consequences for breaking our laws.
o In FY 2019, the Department of Justice prosecuted a record breaking number of immigration related crimes.
o ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested 143,099 aliens in FY 2019, 86 percent of whom had criminal records.
o ICE ERO removed more than 267,000 illegal aliens from the United States in FY 2019.
• The Trump Administration is cracking down on sanctuary cities and increasing cooperation at the local level on immigration enforcement.
o The Administration has more than doubled the number of jurisdictions participating in the 287(g) program, enhancing local cooperation on immigration enforcement.

• The Administration took action to protect taxpayers by ensuring that aliens wishing to enter or remain in our country are able to support themselves and not rely on public benefits.
• The President issued a proclamation to ensure immigrants admitted to America do not burden our healthcare system.
• The President has taken action to reduce nonimmigrant visa overstays, a problem that undermines the rule of law, impacts public safety, and strains resources needed for the border.
• President Trump made our country safer by ordering the enhanced vetting of individuals attempting to come to America from countries that do not meet our security standards.
• The President is taking a responsible approach to refugee admissions, prioritizing refugee resettlement in jurisdictions where both State and local governments consent to receive them.
o This order is designed to ensure that refugees are placed in an environment where they will have the best opportunity to succeed in their new homes.
CREATING SAFER COMMUNITIES: President Trump’s policies are supporting our brave law enforcement officers and making America’s communities safer.
• Violent crime fell in 2017 and 2018, after rising during each of the two years prior to President Trump taking office.
o Since 2016, the violent crime rate in America has fallen nearly 5 percent and the murder rate has decreased by over 7 percent.
• President Trump signed the First Step Act into law, making our criminal justice system fairer for all while making our communities safer.
• President Trump has promoted second-chance hiring to give former inmates the opportunity to live crime-free lives and find meaningful employment, all while making our communities safer.
o The Department of Education is expanding an initiative that allows individuals in Federal and State prisons to receive Pell Grants to better prepare themselves for the workforce.
o The Department of Justice and Bureau of Prisons launched a new “Ready to Work” Initiative to help connect employers directly with former prisoners.
o The Department of Labor awarded $2.2 million to states to expand the use of fidelity bonds, which underwrite companies that hire former prisoners.
• President Trump has revitalized Project Safe Neighborhoods, bringing together Federal, State, local, and tribal law enforcement officials to develop solutions to violent crime.
• The President is standing up for our Nation’s law enforcement officers, ensuring they have the support they need to keep our communities safe.
o The President established a new commission to evaluate best practices for recruiting, training, and supporting law enforcement officers.
o The Administration has made available hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of surplus military equipment to local law enforcement.
o President Trump has signed an Executive Order to help prevent violence against law enforcement officers.
o The President also signed legislation permanently funding the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, aiding our Nation’s brave first responders.
• The President has taken action to combat the scourge of hate crimes and anti-Semitism rising in America.
o President Trump signed an Executive Order making it clear that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies to discrimination rooted in anti-Semitism.
o The Administration launched a centralized website to educate the public about hate crimes and encourage reporting.

o Since January 2017, the Civil Rights division at the DOJ has obtained 14 convictions in cases involving attacks or threats against places of worship.
• The President signed the Fix NICS Act to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals.
• President Trump signed the STOP School Violence Act and created a Commission on School Safety to examine ways to make our schools safer.
• The Trump Administration is fighting to end the egregious crime of human trafficking.
o In FY 2019, ICE HSI arrested 2,197 criminals associated with human trafficking and identified 428 victims.
o The President signed the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, which tightened criteria for whether countries are meeting standards for eliminating trafficking.
• President Trump established a task force to help combat the tragedy of missing or murdered Native American women and girls.
ADVANCING AMERICA’S INTERESTS ABROAD: President Trump is putting America first and advancing our interests across the world.
• President Trump’s maximum pressure campaign is countering Iran’s influence and pressuring the corrupt regime to abandon its malign activities.
o The President removed the United States from the horrible, one-sided Iran nuclear deal and re-imposed all sanctions that were lifted by the deal.
o In response to Iran’s aggression and gross human rights violations, the President authorized crippling sanctions on the regime’s leadership, including the Supreme Leader.
o President Trump is working to vigorously enforce all sanctions to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero and deny the regime its principal source of revenue.
• President Trump has held two historic summits with North Korea and earlier this year became the first President to cross the DMZ into North Korea.
o The Administration has maintained tough sanctions on North Korea while negotiations have taken place.
• Since taking office, President Trump has taken historic steps to support and defend our cherished ally Israel.
o This year, President Trump acknowledged Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights and declared Israeli settlements in the West Bank are not inconsistent with international law.
o The President made good on his promise to recognize Jerusalem as the true capital of Israel and move the United States Embassy there.
o The President removed the United States from the United Nations (U.N.) Human Rights Council due to the group’s blatant anti-Israel bias.
• President Trump has successfully urged North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members to increase their defense spending and to focus on modern priorities.
o NATO Allies will increase defense spending by $130 billion by the end of next year.
• The Administration has worked to reform and streamline the U.N., cutting spending and making the organization more efficient.
• Earlier this year, the President took action to protect our Second Amendment rights by announcing the United States will not join the misguided Arms Trade Treaty.
• President Trump has promoted democracy throughout the Western Hemisphere and imposed heavy sanctions on the regimes in Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua.
• The President reversed the previous Administration’s disastrous Cuba policy.
o President Trump has enacted a new policy aimed at stopping any revenues from reaching the Cuban military or intelligence services, imposed stricter travel restrictions, and reaffirmed the focus ensuring the Cuban regime does not profit from U.S. dollars.
o Earlier this year, the Trump Administration put a cap on remittances to Cuba.

o President Trump is enabling Americans to file lawsuits against persons and entities that traffic in property confiscated by the Cuban regime, the first time that these kind of claims have been available for Americans under the Helms-Burton Act.
• President Trump has stood with the democratically elected National Assembly and the Venezuelan people and worked to cut off the financial resources of the Maduro regime.
o President Trump recognized Juan Guaido as the Interim President of Venezuela and rallied an international coalition of 58 countries to support him.
o Earlier this year, President Trump blocked all property of the Venezuelan Government in the jurisdiction of the United States.
o President Trump has sanctioned key sectors of the Venezuelan economy exploited by the regime, including the oil and gold sectors.
o The Administration sanctioned Maduro’s key financial lifelines, including the Venezuelan Central Bank, the Venezuelan Development Bank, and Petroleos de Venezuela.
• The Trump Administration has secured the release of Americans unjustly imprisoned abroad, including Kevin King, Xiyue Wang, Danny Burch, and more.
• The President and his Administration have worked to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific region, promoting new investments and expanding American partnerships.
• The President negotiated the return from Finland of approximately 600 tribal ancestral remains and other sacred objects for the American Indian and Pueblo communities from which they came.
• The Trump Administration released an economic plan to empower the Palestinian people and enhance Palestinian governance through private investment.
• The President created the first-ever whole-of-government approach to women’s economic empowerment through his Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative.
• In June of 2019, the President released the U.S. Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security, which focuses on increasing women’s participation to prevent and resolve conflicts.
REBUILDING OUR NATION’S DEFENSE: President Trump is investing in our military and ensuring our forces are able to defend against any and all threats.
• President Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year (FY) 2020, authorizing a historic $738 billion in defense spending.
o President Trump continued to invest in rebuilding our military, after signing legislation to provide for $700 billion in defense spending in FY18 and $716 billion in FY19.
• President Trump signed a 3.1% pay raise for our troops, the largest increase in a decade.
• The President signed legislation establishing the Space Force as a new branch of the Armed Forces, the first new branch since 1947.
• The United States Space Command was relaunched in August 2019.
• The President is modernizing and recapitalizing our nuclear forces and missile defenses to ensure they continue to serve as a strong deterrent.
• The President upgraded our cyber defenses by elevating the Cyber Command into a major warfighting command and reducing burdensome procedural restrictions on cyber operations.
• President Trump is protecting America’s defense-industrial base, directing the first whole-of- government assessment of our manufacturing and defense supply chains since the 1950s.
• Under the President’s leadership, the United States is taking the fight to terrorists all around the globe.
o ISIS’ territorial caliphate has been defeated and all territory recaptured in Iraq and Syria.
o The United States has brought Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the founder of ISIS, to justice.
• The President has taken decisive military action to punish the Assad regime in Syria for the barbaric use of chemical weapons on its own people.
• The President also authorized sanctions against those tied to Syria’s chemical weapons program.
o
o HONORING OUR VETERANS: President Trump is standing up for America’s veterans by ensuring they receive the proper care and support they deserve.
• President Trump signed the VA MISSION Act, revolutionizing the VA system, increasing choice, and providing quality care for our veterans.
o This legislation reformed and expanded many of the existing programs to give veterans improved access to healthcare providers and offered entirely new options such as allowing veterans to get urgent care in their local communities.
o The VA MISSION Act put veterans at the center of their healthcare decisions, not bureaucracy.
• The Trump Administration has expanded veterans’ ability to access telehealth services, including through the “Anywhere to Anywhere” VA health care initiative.
• President Trump has brought accountability to the VA, as promised.
o President Trump signed the Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act to ensure VA employees are held responsible for poor performance.
o Over 8,000 VA employees have been relieved of their duties at the VA since the beginning of the Administration.
• Veterans are seeing an improvement in quality of care under President Trump.
o In the last year, the VA saw its highest patient experience ratings in history.
o The Veterans of Foreign Wars found in its annual survey that more than 90 percent of respondents would recommend VA care to other veterans.
• President Trump signed the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017 to expedite the veteran appeals process.
• The Administration is working to seamlessly align the VA’s and DoD’s electronic health records.
o This new electronic health record system is on pace to launch next year in select areas.
• Under President Trump, the VA launched a new tool that provides veterans with online access to average wait times and quality-of-care data.
• Just as he promised, President Trump opened up a 24/7 White House VA Hotline to provide veterans access to help at all times.
• President Trump has committed his Administration to addressing the horrible tragedy of veteran suicide.
o President Trump signed the PREVENTS Initiative, which created a task force to develop a revolutionary roadmap to tackle the problem of veteran suicide.
o President Trump signed an executive order to improve access to suicide prevention resources for veterans.
• President Trump is expanding educational resources, promoting economic opportunity, and making sure our veterans have the support they need when they return home.
o This year, the veteran unemployment rate reached its lowest level since 2000.
o President Trump signed an executive order that paves the way for veterans to more easily join the Merchant Marine, providing quality job opportunities.
o President Trump signed the Forever GI Bill, allowing veterans to use their educational benefits at any point in their lives.
o President Trump expedited the process of discharging Federal student loan debt for our Nation’s totally and permanently disabled veterans.
o President Trump signed the HAVEN Act to ensure that veterans who’ve declared bankruptcy don’t lose their disability payments.
• President Trump signed legislation providing a pathway for Alaska Natives who served in Vietnam to receive the land allotments to which they are legally entitled.
COMBATING THE OPIOID CRISIS: President Trump has made battling the opioid crisis a top priority for his Administration, and the results couldn’t be clearer.

• President Trump brought attention to the opioid crisis by declaring it a nationwide public health emergency.
• To address the many factors fueling the drug crisis, President Trump launched an Initiative to Stop Opioid Abuse and Reduce Drug Supply and Demand.
• Thanks to the President’s efforts, landmark new Federal funding and resources have been dedicated to help end this crisis.
• President Trump signed the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, the largest and most comprehensive piece of legislation to combat the opioid crisis in history.
• The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded nearly $9 billion over 2016 to 2019 in grants to address the opioid crisis and improve access to prevention, treatment, and recovery services in partnership with State and local officials.
• Nearly $1 billion in grants were recently awarded for the HEAL Initiative to support development of scientific solutions to help prevent and treat addiction.
• President Trump announced a Safer Prescriber Plan that seeks to decrease the amount of opioids prescription fills by one third within three years.
o From January 2017 to September 2019, the total amount of opioids prescriptions filled in America dropped by 31%.
• This year, the President launched FindTreatment.gov, a newly designed website that makes it easier to find substance abuse treatment locations.
• The President implemented new efforts to educate Americans about the dangers of opioid misuse.
o These efforts include an ad campaign on youth opioid abuse that reached 58 percent of young adults in America.
• President Trump and his Administration aggressively worked to cut off the flow of deadly drugs into our communities.
o In FY 2019, ICE HSI seized 12,466 pounds of opioids including 3,688 pounds of fentanyl, an increase of 35% from FY 2018.
o The Administration shut down the country’s biggest Darknet distributer of drugs, seizing enough fentanyl to kill 105,000 Americans in the process.
o Under President Trump, a DOJ strike force charged more than 65 defendants collectively responsible for distributing over 45 million opioid pills.
o The Administration has brought kingpin designations against traffickers operating in China, India, Mexico and more who have played a role in the epidemic in America.
o The Administration secured the first-ever indictments against Chinese fentanyl traffickers.
o This year, President Trump convinced China to enact strict regulations to control the production and sale of all types of fentanyl.
• Evidence suggests that President Trump’s efforts are making a real difference across the Nation.
o Preliminary data shows overdose deaths fell nationwide in 2018 for the first time in decades.
o Many of the hardest hit states – including Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia – saw drug overdose deaths drop in 2018.
o Since 2016, there has been a nearly 40 percent increase in the number of Americans receiving medication-assisted treatment.
PUTTING PATIENTS FIRST: President Trump is working hard to give Americans better quality care at a lower cost.
• The Administration is delivering quality healthcare and promoting innovative treatment options for American patients.

o Earlier this year, President Trump signed an order to protect and improve Medicare for our seniors, encouraging even more competition and promoting innovative benefits.
o President Trump signed and implemented the Right to Try Act, which has expanded treatment options for terminally ill patients.
o The President has taken action to combat childhood cancer, initiating an effort to provide $500 million over the next decade to improve pediatric cancer research.
o The President signed legislation providing an additional $1 billion in Alzheimer’s disease research funding.
o The Administration launched a plan to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic in America in the next decade.
o President Trump took action to increase the availability of organs for patients in need of transplants and provide more treatment options and improve care for patients suffering from kidney disease.
o The President signed an order to modernize the influenza vaccine.
• The Administration is making healthcare more affordable and transparent.
o The Administration is requiring hospitals to make their prices negotiated with insurers publicly and easily available online.
o The President is working to expand Association Health Plans, which would make it easier for employers to join together and offer more affordable health coverage to their employees.
o President Trump extended access to short-term, limited-duration health plans, giving Americans more flexibility to choose plans that suit their needs.
o The Administration expanded the use of Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs). Now, HRAs allow employers to help their employees pay for the cost of insurance that they select in the individual market.
o The Administration has successfully worked to reduce Medicare Advantage and Part D premiums to their lowest in years.
o The Administration has improved access to health savings accounts for individuals with chronic conditions.
o The President has worked to reduce the burden felt by Americans due to Obamacare and eliminated Obamacare’s individual mandate penalty.
o President Trump released legislative principles to end surprise medical billing and is working with Congress to give patients the control they deserve.
• President Trump is following through on his pledge to combat high drug prices.
o President Trump released a blueprint to reduce drug prices and expand affordability for American patients.
o The Administration’s efforts to lower drug prices led to the largest year-over-year decrease in drug prices ever recorded.
o The President has advanced efforts to import prescription drugs from Canada in partnership with several states, including Florida and Colorado.
o The President launched an initiative to stop global freeloading in the drug market, proposing a new way for Medicare to pay for certain drugs based on prices other developed nations pay.
o The President signed legislation to end pharmacy gag clauses, which prevented pharmacists from letting patients know when it would be cheaper to buy drugs without their insurance.
o
o SAFEGUARDING LIFE AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY: President Trump has made it a priority of his Administration to uphold the sanctity of life and safeguard religious liberty for all.
• President Trump is unequivocally committed to protecting the sanctity of every human life.
o The Administration issued a rule preventing Title X family planning funds from supporting the abortion industry.
o President Trump has called on Congress to end late-term abortions.
o The Trump Administration cut all funding to the U.N. population fund, due to the fund’s support for coercive abortion and forced sterilization.
o HHS rescinded an Obama-era guidance that prevented states from taking certain actions against abortion providers.
o President Trump reinstated and expanded the Mexico City Policy in 2017, ensuring that taxpayer money is not used to fund abortion globally.
o The President has taken action to end federal research using fetal tissue from abortions.
• President Trump is protecting healthcare entities and individuals’ conscience rights—ensuring that no medical professional is forced to participate in an abortion in violation of their beliefs.
• The Administration provided relief to American employers like Little Sisters of the Poor, protecting them from being forced to provide coverage that violate their conscience.
• President Trump has taken unprecedented action to support the fundamental right to religious freedom.
o In 2018, President Trump signed an Executive Order establishing the White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative.
o In 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Order upholding religious liberty and the right to engage in religious speech.
o The Department of Justice created a Religious Liberty Task Force in 2018.
o The Trump Administration continues to vigorously defend religious liberty in the courts at every opportunity.
o President Trump reversed the Obama-era policy that prevented the government from providing disaster relief to religious organizations.
o The Administration is preserving a space for faith-based adoption and foster care providers to continue to serve their communities consistent with their beliefs.
o The Administration reduced burdensome barriers to Native Americans being able to keep spiritually and culturally significant eagle feathers found on their tribal lands.
o The Administration has allowed greater flexibility for Federal employees to take time off work for religious reasons.
• The Trump Administration has stood up for religious liberty around the world.
o The Administration has partnered with local and faith-based organizations to provide assistance to religious minorities persecuted in Iraq.
o President Trump hosted the Global Call to Protect Religious Freedom at the 2019 U.N. General Assembly, calling on global and business leaders to bring an end to religious persecution and stop crimes against people of faith.
o The Administration dedicated $25 million to protect religious freedom, religious sites and relics.
o The State Department has hosted two Religious Freedom Ministerials, with the 2019 Ministerial becoming the largest religious freedom event of its kind in the world.
o In 2019, the Administration imposed restrictions on certain Chinese officials, internal security units, and companies for their complicity in the persecution of Uighur Muslims and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.
o
o TRANSFORMING THE COURTS: President Trump is transforming the Federal judiciary by appointing a historic number of Federal judges who will interpret the Constitution as written.
• Working with the Senate, President Trump has now had 187 judicial nominees confirmed to the Federal bench.
o President Trump’s remaking of the judiciary is only accelerating with 103 Federal judges confirmed in 2019, more than 2017 and 2018 combined.
• The President named Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, fulfilling his promise to appoint justices who will uphold the constitution as written.
• President Trump has appointed 50 Circuit Court judges – more than any other President at this point in their Administrations.
o More than a quarter of all active Circuit Court judges were appointed by President Trump.
o The average age of Trump-appointed circuit judges is less than 50 years old, ensuring that these qualified jurists will continue to have an impact for decades to come.
• President Trump has flipped the Second, Third, and Eleventh Circuits from Democrat-appointed majorities to Republican-appointed majorities.
USHERING IN AN ERA OF ENERGY DOMINANCE: President Trump’s policies are ushering in a new era of American energy dominance.
• President Trump has rolled back the burdensome regulations of the past Administration and implemented policies that are unleashing American energy.
• The United States is the largest oil and natural gas producer in the world.
• American oil production reached its highest level in history in 2019.
o The United States became a net exporter of crude oil and petroleum products in September 2019, the first time this has occurred since records began in 1973.
• Natural gas production is projected to set a record high in 2019, marking the third consecutive year of record production.
• President Trump is opening up more access to our country’s abundant natural resources in order to promote energy independence.
o Department of the Interior energy revenues soared in fiscal year FY 2019, nearly doubling since FY 2016 to $12 billion.
o Applications to drill on public lands have increased by 300 percent since FY 2016, and the time it takes to complete these permits has dropped by half.
o President Trump signed legislation to open up Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to energy exploration.
• President Trump is promoting energy infrastructure to ensure American energy producers can deliver their products to the market.
o This year, President Trump signed two Executive Orders to streamline processes holding back the construction of new energy infrastructure, like pipelines.
o In 2017, the Administration took action to approve the Dakota Access pipeline and the Keystone XL pipeline.
o The Administration issued permits for the New Burgos Pipeline that will export American petroleum products to Mexico.
o The Administration has streamlined Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal permitting.
o In 2019, the Department of Energy granted 11 new long-term LNG export approvals.
• American energy exports have reached historic highs.
o LNG exports have increased by 247% since 2017, hitting record highs in 2019 and are projected to continue increasing next year.
o In 2017, the United States became a net natural gas exporter for the first time in 60 years.

o The United States has exported LNG to five continents and 37 countries, marking 19 additional countries from the beginning of the Trump Administration.
• President Trump strengthened America’s domestic energy production and supported our Nation’s farmers by approving year-round E-15.
• President Trump worked to ensure greater transparency and certainty in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
• President Trump has promoted domestic energy production and economic growth while working to ensure Americans have access to safe drinking water and a clean environment. o The United States environmental record is one of the strongest in the world and America
continues to make environmental progress in clean air and clean water.
o Under President Trump’s leadership, the EPA took action to protect vulnerable Americans from lead exposure by proposing changes to the Lead and Copper rule.
o Under President Trump’s leadership, in FY 2019 the EPA completed cleanup on the most superfund sites on the National Priority List in 18 years.
o Emissions of all criteria pollutants dropped between 2016 and 2018.
PROMOTING EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY: President Trump is working to ensure all Americans have access to quality education.
• President Trump signed into law a modernization of our country’s career and technical education system to ensure more Americans have access to high-quality vocational education.
• This year, the Administration proposed Education Freedom Scholarships to expand education options for students of all economic backgrounds.
o This plan will invest up to $5 billion in students through a tax credit for donations for state-based, locally-controlled scholarships.
• President Trump is expanding education and training opportunities for incarcerated individuals to learn how to make a living before their release.
• The President signed legislation reauthorizing the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program.
• Thanks to President Trump’s historic tax reform, parents can now withdraw up to $10,000 tax- free per year from 529 education savings plans to cover K-12 tuition costs.
• President Trump has made supporting Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) a priority of his Administration.
o President Trump signed the Farm Bill that included more than $100 million dollars for scholarships, research, and centers of excellence at HBCU land-grant institutions.
o The Administration has enabled faith-based HBCUs to enjoy equal access to Federal support.
o President Trump signed legislation providing $255 million dollars of permanent annual funding for HBCUs and other Minority Serving Institutions.

News of the Times;

1. https://www.ibtimes.com/google-could-no-longer-use-tax-loopholes-avoid-paying-taxes-2020-2893758?amp=1&__twitter_impression=true

2. https://nypost.com/2020/01/01/hate-crime-suspect-tiffany-harris-finally-kept-in-custody-after-three-arrests/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

3. https://www.zerohedge.com/political/judge-hunter-biden-paternity-case-mysteriously-recuses-hours-after-new-allegations-filed

4. https://www.nas.org/blogs/statement/nas-commends-president-trumps-executive-orders-no-more-law-by-dear-colleague-letter

5. https://www.dailywire.com/news/report-more-than-a-thousand-christians-have-been-killed-this-year-in-nigeria?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=benshapiro

6. https://www.unz.com/article/how-the-pro-war-left-fell-for-the-kurds-in-syria/

7. https://bigleaguepolitics.com/reminder-president-obama-gave-guns-to-mexican-cartels-who-used-them-to-murder-of-border-agent-brian-terry-didnt-get-impeached/

8. https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/12/will-a-white-supremacist-please-step-forward.php

9. https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2019/12/26/professional-hacker-reveals-car-industry-spies-drivers/

10. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/child-sex-predator-arrests-rise-by-18-to-3-771-in-fiscal-2019

I didn't know being sick was a contest.

Until I got married.

*.*

CHICAGO - The city of Chicago is steadily recovering from an overnight snowstorm that delayed hundreds of murders this Friday morning and will likely continue to push numerous homicides across the city drastically behind schedule, public authorities announced. “As we speak, maintenance crews are working diligently to restore public transportation, de-ice roads, and clear back alleyways so that Chicagoans can quickly resume murdering again,” Department of Streets and Sanitation spokesman Dave Michelson said of the heavy blizzard, which caused numerous homicide cancellations this morning at peak murder times. “Unfortunately, we’re backed up by about 35 deadly shootings at the moment, but we hope to restore regular death tolls as soon as possible. We apologize to anyone forced to postpone shootings or other killings today and assure concerned murderers that they will be able to resume slayings by the early afternoon.” At press time, authorities reported that murders were up and running in many parts of the city, with four teenagers already gunned down on Chicago’s South Side.

*.*

Wife: How is the new secretary?

Husband: Ok.

Wife: How does she dress?

Soon to be ex-Husband: Quickly.

*.*

Employee: I was just checking in to see if I could get the day off to help my wife get ready for our annual New Year’s party?

Boss: Absolutely not.

Employee: Thank you so much, I knew I could count on you.

*.*

A vegan once told me that eating meat was gross.

I then replied a man who sells fruit and vegetables is grocer.

Quote of the Times;
Chinese state media reported last week that gangs were exploiting the African swine fever crisis by deliberately spreading the disease by using drones to drop infected items on to pig farms. The farmers are then forced to sell meat cheaply to the gangs, who then sell it on as healthy stock, according to China Comment magazine, which is affiliated to state news agency Xinhua. – Zuo

Link of the Times;
https://thefederalist.com/2019/12/20/12-stories-the-media-got-horribly-wrong-in-2019/

Issue of the Times;
A New Study Reveals Queens Were MUCH More Warlike Than Kings by Ashley Cowie

Scientists have proven historical queens were “38.8%” more likely to declare war than kings.

When Canadian cognitive psychologist and author Steven Pinker claimed men instigated “almost all the world's wars and genocides” US researchers formally tested whether there was indeed more peace under female rulers , but their results showed the very opposite: that female rulers “caused wars” much more often.

In myths, legends, folklore, and fairy tales strong male kings are portrayed as declaring and fighting in great wars and it has long been projected that women were less conflictive and more likely to maintain peace than go to war. But a new study reveals that queens waged war over the centuries a shocking 39% more than kings.

Tipping Stereotypes On Their Heads

A working paper by political scientists Oeindrila Dube, of the University of Chicago, and S. P. Harish, of McGill University, analyzed a selection of mostly European kings and queens who reigned between 1480 AD and 1913 which covered 193 rulers in 18 countries. A Daily Mail article says the 400 years of European history included female rulers such as Catherine the Great , who made Russia a waring nation in the 18th century, Britain's Elizabeth I , who defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588, and Isabella I of Castile , who led Spain to dominate the world in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Over 193 reigns the researchers found that states ruled by queens were 39% more likely to wage war than those ruled by kings. Not only did the team of researchers find that states ruled by queens were more likely to fall into conflict and war than those led by kings, but females were also more likely to gain territory and were attacked more often. Co-author Oeindrila Dube told The Times that there’s this general stereotype that men are greatly responsible for wars and genocides and that women are natural peace-makers, but “our research turns this stereotype on its head”.

Marriage Mattered Little

It is a common social perception that because women are (on average) physically weaker than men they are therefore less violent and more peaceful. But the authors say their findings “contradict” these misconceptions. They played with the idea that queens, more so than kings, had to show that they were not weak but they concluded that this was “unlikely” because queens were not only war-thirsty at the beginning of their reigns when a greater need to show strength existed, but also throughout the duration of their reigns.

The study also shows single queens were attacked more than single kings, probably because threatening foreign powers perceived female rulers as a “soft touch” and that their territories were more vulnerable. However, according to Sputnick News , at the same time, married queens were also more likely to attack than married kings and this was partly because they would “enlist their husbands to help them rule” while kings would rarely turn to their spouses to handle this responsibility.

Were Males Pushing the Queens into War?

The authors of the new paper explained that queens often put their spouses in charge of the military or fiscal reforms and this greater spousal division of labor might have enhanced the capacity of queenly reigns, “enabling queens to pursue more aggressive war policies”. The roles of male advisors pushing queen’s foreign policies towards war wasn’t factored in and the researchers said that this male influence on war should be “even larger among monarchs who acceded at a younger age” since they were more likely to be influenced by their male advisors. However, the paper says, “we do not observe this type of differential effect”.

Violence Stats Change On The Street

Putting this new paper in perspective, while the study proves historical queens were more violent than kings, on the street, quite the opposite is and has always been the case. A quick glance at the statistics tell that today men commit much more acts of violence than women and in 2007 the U.S. Department of Justice sponsored a National Crime Victimization Study that found “75.6% of all offenders” were male and only 20.1% were female. Therefore, when not wearing a crown, men commit violent crimes more than three times as often as women.
Even taking into account the possibility that many crimes in which a woman commits violence go unreported, this disparity can't be ignored and it would take thousands of unreported violent acts to balance up these numbers. But are men really hardwired to be violent? It looks like the answer might be “no” and that woman have the same blood-thirsty tendencies when they get crowned.

News of the Times;
1. https://www.unz.com/sbpdl/his-name-is-levi-cole-ellerbe-white-six/

2. https://nypost.com/2019/09/21/democrats-are-dancing-around-the-real-health-care-problem/

3. https://www.zerohedge.com/political/muslim-police-officer-hired-promote-diversity-ends-being-part-grooming-gang

4. https://www.dailywire.com/news/walsh-asia-responsible-vast-majority-air-and-water-matt-walsh

5. http://thespiritscience.net/2016/06/08/did-jp-morgan-sink-the-titanic-to-remove-rivals-form-the-federal-reserve/

6. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7511587/500-men-boys-freed-house-torture-sexually-abused-years-Nigeria.html

7. https://fee.org/articles/the-cobra-effect-lessons-in-unintended-consequences/

8. https://www.unz.com/article/how-the-cia-mossad-and-the-epstein-network-are-exploiting-mass-shootings-to-create-an-orwellian-nightmare/

9. https://www.dailysignal.com/2019/10/10/woke-history-is-making-big-inroads-in-americas-high-schools/

10. https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/09/04/the-left-has-a-500-million-dark-money-atm-machine-called-arabella/

Kids these days…

My nephew came over the other day and he was wearing a helmet, shoulder pads, knee pads and gloves.

He said, "I'm gonna ride my bike."

I thought . . .Where? . . . Through a minefield?

*.*

An expectant mother was being rushed to the hospital, but didn't quite make it.

She gave birth to her baby on the hospital lawn. Later, the father received a bill, listing "Delivery Room Fee: $500."

He wrote the hospital and reminded them the baby was born on the front lawn. A week passed, and a corrected bill arrived:

"Greens Fee: $200."

*.*

A Florida man is being accused of forcing a small alligator to drink beer... even after it insisted it was more of a wine gator.

A study says climate change could cut production of Vermont maple syrup. IHOP not.

In Vienna, a Kenya runner--Eliud Kipchoge--became the first person to run an entire marathon in less than two hours. In case you're wondering, he was able to catch his bus.

The first rule of No Rules Club is that there are no rules.

A man walked out of a San Francisco art gallery on Tuesday with a $20,000 Salvador Dali painting. It was surreal. And so was the painting.

With my luck, if I became a zombie, I'd have a people allergy.

Bologna is just hot dogs for people who like pancakes.

The Patriots have suspended tight end Michael Bennett for a week for conduct detrimental to the team. Apparently, he was acting “too Seahawkian.”

Pete Rose feels his lifetime ban from baseball has probably cost him around $100 Million. In fact, he’s so sure, he’d bet on it.

Portland, Oregon was named as the city with the worst drivers in the U.S.. Not surprising, a city representative on their way to pick up the award got into an accident.

The world’s first self-navigating ship is going to attempt a journey across the Atlantic. We’ll know something went terribly wrong if it ends up in Nebraska.

*.*

After you've been with someone for awhile, you wind up with
your own way of communicating. For example, the other day
April hollered at me, "What are you looking for in that closet?"

"Nothing," I hollered back.

"Well," she shouted, "it's not in there. Look under the bed!"

*.*

Chris and Paul were having a beer at the neighborhood bar.

"What's the matter?" asked Chris of his buddy. "You look kind of down."

"My wife just told me that my lovemaking is just like a news bulletin."

"Why's that?"

"Because it's brief, unexpected and usually a disaster."

Quote of the Times;
“I’ll agree to let you outlaw hate speech if you agree to let me define hate speech.”

Link of the Times;
https://www.commentarymagazine.com/american-society/less-of-a-man-men-boys/

Issue of the Times;
I established a terror movement in Australia, and I quit by Corrine Barraclough

Shayne Hunter established the far-left and violent Antifa movement in Australia. After four years the Brisbane man quit. Here’s why.

ANTIFA is a growing extreme group who believe violence is legitimate.

I got radicalised in Sydney. I was originally concerned about Western intervention in Syria. Radical left wing people dominated rallies and I started to associate with them more. My so-called ‘normal’ friends drifted away.

We would hang out at an anarchist library in Sydney. Here a bunch of people on the dole gather enough money to rent out the space and run a bookshop. It’s like extremist networking.

I came to believe that war was a symptom of bigger systems at play in society and they were the real enemy, like white supremacy and patriarchy. Antifa believe these systems need to be smashed through a process of ‘de-platforming’ to save the world. People who don’t necessarily agree on everything are united to attack their common enemy — anyone in the right wing of politics.

This micro-society became my life for four years.

They believe historically their roots were fighting Nazi oppression. They run a website which is updated every couple of weeks with a hit list of right wing names. They believe if these people are allowed to speak, society will suffer. So, they must be pushed back.

There is no mission statement, rather, it’s a dangerous rhetoric. There are a lot of very damaged people who are drawn to it.

Lots of activists came from Sydney University. They invited me along to some of their lectures. When I was organising the ‘Reclaim Australia’ rally and pushing Antifa into Brisbane, we delegated roles out across the gathering. Someone would print pamphlets that got our propaganda out there. Someone else would look after social media and online, we all gathered people to come.

I read that Antifa in the US is training people to shoot and punch. It’s the same here. Antifa in Sydney are doing martial arts to, as they would put it, ‘fight the Nazis’. It’s a paramilitary mindset.

It’s more dangerous than ISIS.

I was ideologically possessed for four years. I would speak louder on public transport so people could hear me speak, hoping they would hear my message.

The radical left of Antifa presents itself as being about compassion and empathy; it’s a Trojan horse. All conversations are about entitlement and rights, not responsibility. When these people talk about freedom, they really mean freedom from responsibility.

Often the people who are drawn to this cult don’t have a strong identity outside it. I’m not a psychologist but, like ISIS, it gives people a sense of belonging to something and having purpose.

A ‘social justice warrior’ cringe video appeared on my social media feed. I didn’t watch it at first. A couple of weeks later it popped up again so I pressed play. It was like seeing the entire cult through an outside lens. It woke me up. I realised that everything I had started to believe was wrong.

You don’t know humiliation until you’ve left a cult; I wasted four years of my life.

I cut ties over time. I’m still in contact with some ex-cult members but I don’t see anyone who’s still active.

In my 20-something generation, social media plays the role of a 24/7 preacher — like a pocket preacher. Each day you’re being validated by the echo chamber on your phone.

Antifa would say there is nothing good about Australian society. Their minds project that belief, and everything is filtered through this ideology.

Without doubt it’s a huge and growing threat to Australian society. It’s a miserable mindset. When I got out of it and stopped feeling oppressed, I finally felt like I could take control of my life. That’s what I intend to do now.

News of the Times;
https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/article/climategate-ten-years-later

https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2019-11-9-nobody-will-stop-africa-from-developing-its-fossil-fuel-resources

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/08/here-it-is-complete-list-of-clinton-associates-who-allegedly-died-mysteriously-or-committed-suicide-before-testimony-including-jeffrey-epstein/

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-us-can-slash-health-care-costs-75-with-2-fundamental-changes-and-without-medicare-for-all-2019-08-15

https://www.infowars.com/whistleblower-eric-ciaramella-hosted-2016-wh-meeting-ordering-ukraine-officials-to-drop-probe-into-hunter-biden/

A woman pregnant with her first child paid a visit to her obstetrician’s office.

After the exam, she shyly said, ’’My husband wants me to ask you...,’’ to which the doctor replies, ’’I know, I know,’’ placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. ’’I get asked that all the time. Sex is fine until late in the pregnancy.’’

’’No, that’s not it,’’ the woman confessed. ’’He wants to know if I can still mow the lawn.’’

*.*

Motorcyclist Who Identifies As Bicyclist Sets Cycling World Record

NEW YORK, NY—In an inspiring story from the world of professional cycling, a motorcyclist who identifies as a bicyclist has crushed all the regular bicyclists, setting an unbelievable world record.

In a local qualifying race for the World Road Cycling League, the motorcyclist crushed the previous 100-mile record of 3 hours, 13 minutes with his amazing new score of well under an hour.

Professional motorcycle racer Judd E. Banner, the brave trans-vehicle rider, was allowed to race after he told league organizers he's always felt like a bicyclist in a motorcyclist's body.

"Look, my ride has handlebars, two wheels, and a seat," he told reporters as he accepted a trophy for his incredible time trial. "Just because I've got a little extra hardware, such as an 1170-cc flat-twin engine with 110 horsepower, doesn't mean I have any kind of inherent advantage here."

Banner also said he painted the word "HUFFY" on the side of his bike, ensuring he has no advantage over the bikes that came out of the factory as bicycles.

Some critics say he needs to cut off his motor in order to make the competition fairer, but he quickly called these people bigots, and they were immediately banned from professional cycle racing.

*.*

In The News:

The Nissan Rogue is under investigation for an emergency brake that turns on for no reason. In other words, your Rogue may go rogue on you.

Maine will receive $2-million to study lobsters, not including the cost of melted butter.

A study says air quality in Beijing has improved over the past five years and most days, the skies are usually a healthier lighter shade of brown.

A $4.99 app called Streaks helps people form good habits. That is, unless, you have a habit of buying apps you never use.

A Missouri woman is fighting to keep her three emotional support monkeys. To think, she's just 997 more monkeys and a thousand typewriters away from creating Shakespeare.

Monday was National Guacamole Day. Looking at my calendar, I can see Monday has already turned brown... .

The CDC is telling people not to kiss their chickens. I suppose the key is to only buy ugly ones.

Las Vegas has been ranked as the most fun city in the U.S.. To be clear, it was not "The most fun you can talk about city... "

First, there was Jefferson Airplane. Then they changed their name to Jefferson Starship. I would think that today, they should probably change it to Jefferson e-scooter, just to keep up with the times.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says voting is more important than sex. I’m guessing I must be doing one of them wrong.

Now Justin Trudeau has to decide between doing a remake of the Al Jolson story or running for governor of Virginia.

This is the time he wishes there was only egg on his face.

You know, I’m actually old enough to remember when I didn’t know everyone’s politics. Yes, there was a time…

A study says the average American family spends $7,000 more than they budget for every year. One question: what’s this ‘budget’ thing they speak of?

*.*

There are these two guys named John and Cliff. They were best friends and were so obsessed with baseball that they would go to 60 games a year and analyze every scoreboard.

They even promised each other that when one of them goes to heaven, the deceased one would come back and tell the other whether there was baseball in heaven or not. One night Cliff dies in his sleep after watching a Chicago White Sox game - Chicago won, so at least he died a happy man.

The next day Cliff returns to earth to see his friend.

"Hi, John."

"Cliff, is it really you?"

"Hey, I told you I’d be back to tell you what’s up. And, you know John, there’s good news and bad news."

"Okay. What’s the good news?"

"There is baseball in heaven."

"The bad news?"

"You’re pitching tomorrow night."

*.*

There’s a senior citizen driving on the highway.

His wife calls him on his cell phone and in a worried voice says, ’’Herman, be careful! I just heard on the radio that there was a madman driving the wrong way on Route 280!’’

Herman says, ’”I know, I know, but there isn’t just one, there are hundreds!”

Quote of the Times;
“The point of disinformation is not just to get people to accept a lie. It is to annihilate truth and to exhaust people’s defense of the truth.” - Kasparov, chess grandmaster and Russian political activist.

Link of the Times;
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ukraine-dummies-and-congressmen

Issue of the Times;
China's Long Con: A Paper Tiger In A Fragile Economy by Andrew Moran

We typically imagine the Chinese entrepreneur crunching numbers, working around the clock to boost the economy, and repeating Communist propaganda about the West being the supreme devil. But we might have it wrong. Considering that the major source of funding for tens of thousands of companies in China originates from the central bank’s printing press, the reality could be businessmen and employees getting plastered on baijiu and beating each other to death with Pokémon cards during office hours. Think of it as the Eastern version of The Wolf of Wall Street.

The Three Rs

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) recently announced that it would inject $126.35 billion into the financial system by cutting the reserve requirement ratio – the number of reserves that financial institutions are mandated to hold. This represents the seventh reduction to the RRR in the last 18 months, totaling $510 billion in net liquidity.

According to the central bank, the RRR will be lowered by 50 basis points for all commercial banks, effective September 16. Smaller institutions will be given one additional percentage point. The RRR for larger organizations will be dropped to 13%. PBOC officials are attempting to spur lending, economic activity, and financial support as the world’s second-largest economy continues to slump amid its trade war with the US.

In a statement, the bank assured markets that it will maintain a conservative monetary policy and will not flood the economy with stimulus. However, officials did say that they will increase counter-cyclical adjustments and extend immense volumes of liquidity when necessary.

Even prior to the trade war, the Chinese government had employed a series of measures to reverse the slump. Thanks to the dispute with the Americans, Beijing’s growth prospects are bearish, projected to fall to a 30-year low of 6.2% in the second quarter of 2019. Because of this, analysts anticipate the PBOC will impose another 50-basis-point RRR decrease. In addition, observers prognosticate that the central bank could cut at least one of its key policy interest rates later this month. This would be the first time since 2015.

The routine intervention and stimulus have ostensibly metastasized the economy into an addict, reliant on its next fix. So, can the Chinese economy survive without the state?

Every Yuan Needs Debt

In the last five years, China’s M2 money supply – a measurement of the money supply that includes cash, checking deposits, and liquid assets – has ballooned 120%. Since the country is being paralyzed by the trade spat and other negative trends that threaten its foundation, China is not showing any signs that it is ready to hit the pause button on money-printing. In fact, judging by previous remarks by PBOC heads, Beijing might rev it up even more, especially if the downturn intensifies.

But can China print to infinity? It may have to because seemingly every area of the economy counts on being propped up by the Communists through cash injections, stimulus projects, and bailouts.

This past summer, several interesting reports shone a negative light on the Asian juggernaut.

Fitch Ratings warned that Chinese banks might not have enough capital to lend out in the event of a steep slowdown. Analysts noted that banks’ earnings have only been enough to sustain mandated capital levels. It then makes sense as to why the PBOC is approving many RRR cuts: Beijing is depending on the quasi-private sector to resuscitate the economy through lending.

When it was discovered that the nation’s smaller banking outfits were running into trouble, China absorbed a handful of these entities and merged many of these weaker banks. But the problem may be much worse than the local media and the government are letting on. Nearly two dozen major organizations have not published up-to-date financial reports, causing consternation in the finance industry – at home and abroad.

There are nearly 200,000 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) within China, all receiving some sort of support from the government. Many cheered when it was reported that these government-sponsored businesses posted record profits, despite the trade war and economic hiccups. But they should hold the applause because this process is comparable to passing money from your left hand and giving it to your right and declaring you’re rich.

President Xi Jinping has promised that China is seeking free-market reforms and will open its economy to the rest of the world. But many skeptics say that it would be impossible for several reasons: There are too many SOEs, there has been too much debt incurred, and a significant portion of the money printed and given to state-run banks are earmarked to keep these indebted SOEs open – they are in a coma and running on life support.

Consider this February 2019 Bloomberg report:

“In 2018, private enterprises missed payments on more than 7 percent of bonds issued, HSBC estimates. As early as 2015, even state-owned companies counted themselves among the list of defaulters. And yet not a single local government-affiliated issuer has defaulted, ever.”

Liberty Nation recently reported a new study that found if borrowing were eliminated most of the developed economies in the world would see a negative gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. The analysis concluded that China would be one of the few states to see a gain in a borrowing-free universe, mainly because of its immense currency and gold reserves. But if the market is running mostly on debt, then wouldn’t the economy be wiped out, too?

This could explain why China has been on a gold-buying spree in the last few years, acquiring billions of dollars worth of the yellow metal as a hedge against volatility and perhaps its own inevitable demise.

The Long Con

Guo Wengui, an exiled Chinese billionaire who is the Asian version of Peter Schiff and considered a man of mystery by the Western press, sat down with US hedge fund manager Kyle Bass. Wengui explained that the Chinese economy is fake and that the Communists cheated the world, citing a litany of data and problems to support his claims.

Put simply, the Chinese economy is one giant Ponzi scheme that depends on new investors to cover the bad debt, mask its weakness, and con the rest of the world. The revenues derived from the Ponzi are used to launder money for the nation’s leaders and well-connected elite. This is what modern-day communism looks like; forget the proletariat, Karl Marx, and Stalin-esque facial hair. It is about utilizing the power of the state, with a modicum of the enterprise system, to generate enormous wealth.

Yet, no matter how interconnected everything is, the rules of basic economics and finance will always intervene to blow down the house. Are we witnessing the fall of the international finance order? It was only a matter of time before the fiat hegemonic experiment blew up in everyone’s face.

News of the Times;
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/nov/13/more-600-children-recycled-migrant-smugglers-borde/

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/14/im-the-google-whistleblower-the-medical-data-of-millions-of-americans-is-at-risk?utm_source=digg

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/11/08/syrian-afghan-asylum-seekers-attack-german-village-disco-machetes/

https://www.brianniemeier.com/2019/10/the-finders-keepers.html

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/11/what_the_university_of_alabamas_football_stadium_tells_us_about_co2.html

Michael Moore said he'd go on a hunger strike until Trump is impeached.

Doctors have given him 25 years to live.

*.*

Thoughts:

A new study says that marriage helps prevent dementia. That was my last hope.

Kim Kardashian says her life is too busy for any more kids. This, according to her nanny.

Tattoo sleeves used to mean you rode with a motorcycle gang and would kill someone. Now, it means you're a chef that makes a lovely pork belly with balsamic drizzle.

A group of scientists who searched Loch Ness in Scotland for their mythical monster now theorize that it could have just been a giant eel. Of course, they haven’t seen the eel. Then again, maybe the monster ate it.

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz says he is NOT running for president. He considered it an omen when he asked some of his baristas to make up campaign signs for him and none of them got his name right.

A 74-year-old woman in India has given birth to twins after a round of in vitro fertilization using donor eggs. Of course, the big question - where were the parents?

Republican Dan Bishop defeated Democrat Dan McCready for a North Carolina Congressional seat. Yes, for voters, once again it was Dan if you do and Dan if you don't.

28 counterfeit NBA Championship rings were seized at LAX. Security became suspicious because NBA championship rings in Los Angeles are very rare these days.

*.*

With no warning and clear out of the blue, a husband said to his wife, "Honey, I have invited a friend home for supper tonight."

His wife replied, "What? Are you crazy? The house is a mess, I didn't have time to go shopping, all the dishes are dirty, and I don't feel like cooking a fancy meal tonight!"

The husband said, "I know all that."

"Then why in the world did you invite your friend for supper tonight?" asked the wife.

The guy answered, "Because the poor fool is thinking about getting married."

*.*

A woman's husband dies. He had left $30,000 to be used for an elaborate funeral.

After everything is done at the funeral home and cemetery, she tells her closest friend that "there is absolutely
nothing left from the $30,000."

The friend asks, "How can that be?"

The widow says, "Well, the funeral cost was $6,500. And of course I made a donation to the church -- that was $500,
and I spent another $500 for the wake, food and drinks -- you know. The rest went for the memorial stone".

The friend says, "$22,500 for ... My God, how big is it?"

The widow says, "Four and a half carats."

*.*

You pick a phrase, you pick a rhyme,
Repeat the sound another time,
Five lambs, then an extra beat will do ya.
Another rhyme, a rising note,
Congratulations, you just wrote
Another stupid verse to Hallelujah.

Quote of the Times;
If the news media will run interference for a serial child rapist in the middle of an election, all because he's connected to a left-wing politician they adore, is there any thing they won't cover up?

Link of the Times;
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/was-there-another-reason-electricity-shutdowns-california

Issue of the Times;
Al-Baghdadi and Trump's Syrian chess board by Caroline Glick

U.S. President Donald Trump's many critics insist he has no idea what he’s doing in Syria. The assassination of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi last weekend by U.S. special forces showed this criticism is misplaced. Trump has a very good idea of what he’s doing in Syria, not only regarding ISIS, but regarding the diverse competing actors on the ground.

Regarding ISIS, the obvious lesson of the al-Baghdadi raid is that Trump's critics' claim that his withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria's border with Turkey meant that he was going to allow ISIS to regenerate was utterly baseless.

The raid did more than that. Al-Baghdadi's assassination, and Trump's discussion of the mass murderer's death, showed that Trump has not merely maintained faith with the fight against ISIS and its allied jihadist groups. He has fundamentally changed the U.S.'s terror-fighting doctrine, particularly as it relates to psychological warfare against jihadists.

Following the Sept. 11 attacks, the Bush administration initiated a public diplomacy campaign in the Arab-Islamic world. Rather than attack and undermine the jihadist doctrine that insists that it is the religious duty of Muslims to conquer the non-Muslim world and establish a global Islamic empire or caliphate, the Bush strategy was to ignore the jihad in the hopes of appeasing its adherents. The basic line of the Bush administration's public diplomacy campaign was to embrace the mantra that Islam is peace, and assert that the United States loves Islam because the United States seeks peace.

Along these lines, in 2005, then secretary of state Condoleezza Rice prohibited the State Department, FBI and U.S. intelligence agencies from using "controversial" terms like "radical Islam" and "jihad" in official documents.

The Obama administration took the Bush administration's obsequious approach to strategic communications several steps further. President Barack Obama and his advisers went out of their way to express sympathy for the "Islamic world."

The Obama administration supported the jihadist Muslim Brotherhood against Egypt's long-serving president and U.S. ally Hosni Mubarak and backed Mubarak's overthrow with the full knowledge that the only force powerful enough to replace him was the Muslim Brotherhood.

As for the Shi’ite jihadists, Obama's refusal to support the pro-democracy protesters in Iran's attempted Green Revolution in 2009 placed the United States firmly on the side of the jihadist, imperialist regime of the ayatollahs and against the Iranian people.

In short, Obama took Bush's rhetoric of appeasement and turned it into America's actual policy.

The Bush-Obama sycophancy won the United States no goodwill. Al Qaeda, which led the insurgency against U.S. forces in Iraq with Iranian and Syrian support, was not moved to diminish its aggression and hatred of the United States due to the administration's efforts.

It was during the Obama years that ISIS built its caliphate on a third of the Iraqi-Syrian landmass, opened slave markets and launched a mass campaign of filmed beheadings in the name of Islam.

In his announcement of al-Baghdadi's death on Sunday, Trump unceremoniously abandoned his predecessors' strategy of sucking up to jihadists. Unlike Obama, who went to great lengths to talk about the respect U.S. forces who killed Osama bin Laden accorded the terrorist mass-murderer's body, "in accordance with Islamic practice," Trump mocked al-Baghdadi, the murdering, raping, slaving "caliph."

Al-Baghdadi, Trump said, died "like a dog, like a coward."

Al-Baghdadi died, Trump said, "whimpering and crying."

Trump posted a picture on his Twitter page of the Delta Force combat dog who brought about al-Baghdadi's death by chasing him into a tunnel under his compound and provoking him to set off the explosive belt he was wearing, and kill himself and the two children who were with him.

Trump later described the animal who killed Allah's self-appointed representative on earth as “our K-9”, as they call it. I call it a dog. A beautiful dog — a talented dog."

Obama administration officials angrily condemned Trump's remarks. For instance, former CIA Deputy Director Mike Morell said he was "bothered" by Trump's "locker room talk," which he said, "inspire[s] other people" to conduct revenge attacks.

His colleague, former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff retired Admiral James Winnefeld said that Trump's "piling on" describing al-Baghdadi as a "dog" sent a signal to his followers "that could cause them to lash out possibly more harshly in the wake."

These criticisms are ridiculous. ISIS terrorists have richly proven they require no provocation to commit mass murder. They only need the opportunity.

Moreover, Trump's constant use of the term "dog" and employment of canine imagery is highly significant. Dogs are considered "unclean" in Islam. In Islamic societies, "dog" is the worst name you can call a person.

It is hard to imagine that al-Baghdadi's death at the paws of a dog is likely to rally many Muslims to his side. To the contrary, it is likely instead to demoralize his followers. What's the point of joining a group of losers who believe in a fake prophet who died like a coward while chased by "a beautiful dog — a talented dog?"

Then there is Russia.

Trump's critics insist that his decision to abandon the U.S. position along the Syrian border with Turkey effectively surrendered total control over Syria to Russia. But that is far from the case. The American presence along the border didn't harm Russia. It helped Russia. It freed Russian President Vladimir Putin from having to deal with Turkey. Now that the Americans have left the border zone, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is Putin's problem.

And he is not the main problem that Trump has made for Putin in Syria.

Putin's biggest problem in Syria is financial. The Russian economy is sunk in a deep recession due to the drop in global oil prices. Putin had planned to finance his Syrian operation with Syrian oil revenues. To this end, in January 2018 he signed an agreement with Syrian President Bashar Assad that effectively transferred the rights to the Syrian oil to Russia.

But Putin hadn't taken Trump into consideration.

U.S. forces did not withdraw from all of their positions in Syria last month. They maintained their control over al-Tanf airbase, which controls the Syrian border with Jordan and Iraq.

More importantly from Russia's perspective, the United States has not relinquished its military presence adjacent to Syria's oil facilities in the Deir ez-Zor province on the eastern side of the Euphrates River. Indeed, according to media reports, the United States is reinforcing its troop strength in Deir ez-Zor to ensure continued U.S.-Kurdish control over Syria's oil fields.

To understand how high a priority control over Syria's oil installations is for Putin, it is worth recalling what happened in February 2018.

On Feb. 7, 2018, a month after Putin and Assad signed their oil agreement, a massive joint force comprising Russian mercenaries, Syrian commandos and Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards forces crossed the Euphrates River with the aim of seizing the town of Khusham adjacent to the Conoco oil fields. Facing them were 40 U.S. Special Forces deployed with Kurdish and Arab Syrian Democratic Forces troops. The U.S. forces directed a massive air assault against the attacking forces which killed some 500 soldiers and ended the assault. Accounts regarding the number of Russian mercenaries killed start at 80 and rise to several hundred.

The American counterattack caused grievous harm to the Russian force in Syria. Putin has kept the number of Russian military forces in Syria low by outsourcing much of the fighting to Russian military contractors. The aim of the failed operation was to enable those mercenary forces to seize the means to finance their own operations, and get them off the Kremlin payroll.

Since then, Putin has tried to dislodge the U.S. forces from Khusham at least one more time, only to be met with a massive demonstration of force.

The continued U.S.-Kurdish control over Syria's oil fields and installations requires Putin to continue directly funding his war in Syria. So long as this remains the case, given Russia's financial constraints Putin is likely to go to great lengths to restrain his Iranian, Syrian and Hezbollah partners and their aggressive designs against Israel in order to prevent a costly war.

In other words, by preventing Russia from seizing Syria's oil fields, Trump is forcing Russia to behave in a manner that protects American interests in Syria.

The focus of most of the criticism against Trump's Syria policies has been his alleged abandonment of the Syrian Kurds to the mercies of their Turkish enemies. But over the past week we learned that this is not the case. As Trump explained, continued U.S.-Kurdish control over Syria's oil fields provides the Kurdish-controlled SDF with the financial and military wherewithal to support and defend its people and their operations.

Moreover, details of al-Baghdadi's assassination point to continued close cooperation between U.S. and Kurdish forces. According to accounts of the raid, the Kurds provided the Americans with key intelligence that enabled U.S. forces to pinpoint al-Baghdadi's location.

As to Turkey, both al-Baghdadi and ISIS spokesman Abu Hassan al-Mujahir, who was killed by U.S. forces on Tuesday, were located in areas of eastern Syria controlled by Turkey. The Americans didn't try to hide this fact.

The Turkish operation in eastern Syria is reportedly raising Erdogan's popularity at home. But it is far from clear that the benefit he receives from his actions will be long-lasting. Turkey's Syrian operation is exposing the NATO member's close ties to ISIS and its allied terror groups. This exposure in and of itself is making the case for downgrading U.S. strategic ties with its erstwhile ally.

Even worse for Turkey, due to Trump's public embrace of Erdogan, the Democrats are targeting the Turkish autocrat as Enemy Number 1. On Tuesday, with the support of Republican lawmakers who have long recognized Erdogan's animosity to U.S. interests and allies, the Democratic-led House overwhelmingly passed a comprehensive sanctions resolution against Turkey.

The al-Baghdadi assassination and related events demonstrate that Trump is not flying blind in Syria. He is implementing a multifaceted set of policies that are based on the strengths, weaknesses and priorities of the various actors on the ground in ways that advance U.S. interests at the expense of its foes and to the benefit of its allies.