This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Experts are sounding alarms on the burgeoning threat directed toward the U.S. from the People's Republic of China, as Chinese nationals living in America maintain close ties with the Chinese Communist Party, infiltrating American political offices, and businesses.
During an interview with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on "Mornings with Maria," Gatestone Institute senior fellow Gordon Chang said China views the U.S. as an existential threat, especially to communist rule.
Chang noted the Chinese are willing to go to great lengths to undermine America, including its elections. after Microsoft recently reported China, Russia, and Iran have been caught attempting to influence the upcoming presidential vote.
"China is putting much more effort on down-ballot contests, and it's far down the ballot. So for instance, in June in the New York State Democratic Party Primaries, they went after a candidate in New York City who they felt was very much against CCP interests. So it's not just senators, it's not just congressmen, it's through the ballot," Chang said.
Chang pointed out the Chinese have been "grooming" politicians throughout the Midwest and added many Chinese nationals still maintain ties with the Chinese government.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill has filed an emergency lawsuit against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and other Biden administration officials after a Chinese migrant with rare, drug-resistant tuberculosis entered the U.S. illegally and has now potentially exposed hundreds of people to the disease.
"This particular migrant was released into the general population while she still had tuberculosis, so that is certainly a dangerous line. This says to Beijing that they can do what they want in terms of spreading disease in the U.S. Remember that secret Chinese biological weapons lab in Reedley, California, had at least 20 pathogens and almost 1,000 mice that had been genetically engineered to spread disease," Chang said.
Chang noted nothing is stopping China from developing more transmissible, and deadly diseases in the U.S., including diseases like Ebola.
"China can develop a disease, it will not affect the carrier, but it will sicken or kill everybody else, and right now with releasing these people into the United States, it means that China says 'why don't I send over a whole pack of migrants with something like ebola … Ebola has a 50% natural kill rate, now China we know is weaponizing this at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, if they can figure out how to make it more transmissible or maybe more fatal, they have a disease to exterminate the American population, and remember extermination is a topic that is permitted in China's controlled public square, and Chinese officials have secretly talked about exterminating every American," Chang said.
When asked why it always feels like America is playing catch-up and why does the U.S. not anticipate the extreme lengths that China could go to in the U.S., and prevent them before they happen, Chang said it is simply because Americans are choosing to ignore their enemy.
"We think that God has given us a right to ignore what our enemies are saying and doing. We did that with Osama Bin Laden until one day, and we're doing it with China right now. China is not hiding what it is saying, it declared a people's war on us, which they say is a toll war, they talk about us in malicious terms almost every day, and we have a political system that says 'Oh we can cooperate with the Chinese,' well no, they believe they must destroy the U.S.," Chang said.
Chang pointed out that the relationship between the U.S. and China can never flourish while the CCP remains in power in China because they despise American culture and values.
"They believe we're an existential threat, and it's not because of anything we say or do … it's because of who we are. They're worried about the inspirational impact of American values in the form of governance on the Chinese people, which means we'll never have amicable relations with China as long as the Chinese Communists rule it," Chang said.
The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency has released its latest report on some of the biggest challenges facing the U.S., and the People's Republic of China, specifically its expanding nuclear program, is causing the greatest amount of concern.
According to the report; Nuclear Challenges: The Growing Capabilities of Strategic Competitors and Regional Rivals – China has outpaced previous growth estimates, stockpiling 500 nuclear warheads since 2018. It is estimated China will further accelerate its stockpiles, doubling it by 2030 to over 1,000 operational nuclear warheads – which are able to reach the U.S.
Furthermore, China wants more lower-yield nuclear warhead capability to use as a backup if China's larger nuclear weapons fail to deliver.
"China is undergoing the most rapid expansion and ambitious modernization of its nuclear forces in history – almost certainly driven by an aim for enduring strategic competition with the U.S. and a goal to actualize intensified strategic concepts that have existed for decades but are now being realized," the report states.
The report notes this buildup of nuclear capabilities will be the fastest and the largest in China's history, which includes ground-mobile, air-launched, and submarine-launched weapons, to challenge the global world order.
"China probably will introduce new capabilities which carry the potential to destabilize the status quo over the next decade as it develops concepts for new systems' use and integrates them into its broader warfighting and deterrence doctrine," the report states.
Beijing has had a non-first-use policy regarding the use of nuclear weapons for decades, calling for a collective commitment from other nuclear powers to do the same. However, the DIA stated in the report that China could consider striking first if threatened with nuclear force and added a nuclear strike is also possible if China was faced with defeat over Taiwan – which China claims in its entirety.
"Coupled with PLA [People's Liberation Army] officers downplaying the risks of imperfect information management during crises, inexperience managing nuclear crises, and their perceptions that they can elicit intended adversary responses while maintaining sufficient battlefield awareness, Beijing may accept greater risks as its nuclear doctrine and capabilities mature," the report states.
The DIA further noted China is planning to continue upgrades to "all three legs of its nuclear triad," including upgrades to existing weapons systems.
"This force is intended to ensure China can inflict unacceptable damage with both proportionate and overwhelming retaliatory capabilities, thus denying an adversary victory if a conflict escalates to the nuclear domain," the report states.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The Energy Information Agency published its first report about Iran's petroleum exports as mandated by the Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum (SHIP) Act enacted earlier this year. It showed Iran sold $144 billion of oil in the first three years of Biden's presidency – more than $100 billion more than in the last two years under President Trump.
After Iran fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles on Oct. 1 at Israel, the Jewish state announced that it would respond. The leaked documents don't include specific targets that Israel plans to strike but do include surveillance information.
Recovered docs show slain Hamas leader Sinwar never intended to agree to any ceasefire
New reporting reveals that as the hunt for him ramped up, this brutal killer gave orders that after his death, Hamas should refuse any concessions Israel might offer.
Air traffic in and out of Ben Gurion International Airport halted twice in the space of hours over Hezbollah missile threat
The Israel Aviation Authority briefly halted and then resumed takeoffs at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport on Monday evening and again on Tuesday morning, amid an apparent escalation in Israel's offensive against Hezbollah.
IAF continues to target Hezbollah-affiliated banks in Beirut
Israel has recently targeted the physical buildings of banks associated with Hezbollah, and Monday night saw a continuation of this strategy. Warnings were given before the strikes for civilians to vacate the area.
Biden envoy Hochstein visits Middle East as Israel sets down conditions for Lebanon ceasefire
U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein visited Beirut Monday to coordinate talks with Lebanese officials regarding a possible ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Alan Dershowitz, a longtime leftist and law professor, says he knows how Joe Biden can "save the world" before leaving office.
But he explains he's also confident it is unlikely to happen, and, he explains, "The result of inaction will be a terrorist regime with a nuclear arsenal, followed by a global nuclear arms race."
All because of "the 'Chamberlain' Democrats."
It is in a column posted at the Daily Caller News Foundation that he explains himself, and he cites the threat of a rogue regime in Iran, the world's primary sponsor of terror and the handler for terror proxies such as Hezbollah and Hamas.
"There is only one way to end this threat completely: that is by regime change. The people of Iran have been yearning for regime change since at least 2009. Iran's unpopular ruling mullahs do not represent the more secular, westernized, and even pro-American majority of the country's population," he wrote. "Regime change is always risky because it is impossible to predict what will replace even the most evil regime. The end of Iran's monarchy in 1979, with the abdication of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was seen by many as progress, only to backfire with its replacement by the mullahs and their Islamic Republic. The threat of Iraq under deposed President Saddam Hussein has been largely replaced by a more adventurous Iran. Similar results have occurred following other regime changes."
He said an alternative would be for the U.S. to work with Israel to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear arsenal, using "a military attack against its nuclear facilities."
Dershowitz pointed out that, "The legacy of the last two Democratic presidencies — President Barack Obama's and President Joe Biden's — will be the appeasement of Iran in its efforts to dominate the Middle East and eventually expand its influence through the acquisition of a nuclear arsenal."
He described Obama as the "Chamberlain" for attempting to appease Iran.
"In 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain thought he had a secure peace treaty with Hitler — 'Peace in our time,' he promised the British — only to have Hitler break it at the first opportunity by invading the rump Czechoslovak Republic," he explained.
"Like Chamberlain, Obama, Biden, and Harris seem to believe that 'peace in our time' can be achieved by appeasing Iran and strengthening its economy. The result has been an entirely predictable disaster: by receiving sanctions relief and a humongous increase in oil revenues, Iran has been enabled to expand its proxy war against Israel and the United States through its surrogates in Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq, Yemen, and possibly Sudan," he wrote.
Biden and Harris have only succeeded in making Iran "even stronger and more dangerous."
That had not been developing under President Donald Trump, he pointed out.
"Under the Trump administration, Iran was considerably weakened economically and thus militarily. Now it is on the verge of acquiring a nuclear arsenal, which will allow its proxies to operate under the protection of Iran's nuclear umbrella," he warned.
Those "proxies" could include terror-fomenting organizations like Hamas or Hezbollah.
"Historians will understand that today's Iran is the modern-day version of Nazi Germany and its attempt — for a time successful — to control all of continental Europe. This is not to say that Iran will ever become what Hitler's genocidal Germany became, but it is to express concern about Iran's dangerous regional aspirations, based on religious apocalyptic doctrines," he warned.
So the solution would be regime change or at least strategic military destruction of Iran's nuclear program.
"Although the United States, even as far back as the Obama administration, has pledged to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear arsenal, there is no reason why Iran should believe that, considering U.S. appeasement tactics under Democratic administrations," he said.
He said if Biden can stop Iran "from having a nuclear arsenal would … be a great accomplishment and a lasting positive legacy for the Biden presidency."
The problem? "At the moment, the current administration does not seem to be willing even to allow Israel to go it alone," Dershowitz said.
So the fault for a "terrorist regime with a nuclear arsenal" will rest "squarely with the 'Chamberlain' Democrats."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Former President Donald Trump says he'll use an executive order to "end all sanctuary cities immediately" should he win the race for the White House in November.
"We are going to end all sanctuary cities immediately. We're gonna end it," Trump said during an all-women, town-hall meeting Wednesday in Cumming, Georgia, hosted by Harris Faulkner of Fox News.
He was answering a question from Nancy, the mother of a Georgia Bulldog college student who was on campus the day schoolmate Laken Riley was murdered by an illegal alien.
Mentioning the sanctuary city of Athens, Georgia, Nancy asked: "How quickly can you remove those threats to our society so our children can go out on a run as they rightfully should be able to do in a park in the daytime by themselves? It should not be like that."
When Trump said he would put an and to all sanctuary cities, Faulkner asked: "Is that an executive order you do that with?"
Trump responded: "I can do it with an executive order. I'll have to do it with an executive order. You can do it with the Aliens Act of 1798, we can do things in terms of moving people out. We can move them out of the sanctuary cities.
"You have some liberal crazy people that they fight – you know, normally you like to understand the opponent. Like in business, you want to understand what the opposites, why they want this. Why do they want open borders? Why do they want to do this? Why do they want sanctuary cities? Sanctuary cities are meant for one thing. To protect criminals. That's what they've become.
"We're going to end all sanctuary cities in the United States and we're gonna go back to normalcy. And we're gonna have law and order.
"We have to reinvigorate our police. We have great police. They're not allowed to do their job. If they do their job with gusto, which is what we want. We want them to be fair. The sad thing is you will always have a bad apple. Hundreds and hundreds of arrests, one bad arrest, and it's on the front page of every newspaper and these people are incredible. They want to do their job just like the Border Patrol.
"We're gonna let them do their job and I'm gonna give them immunity. We're gonna protect them because they do things and they end up getting sued. They lose their family, they lose their house, they lose their pension, they lose everything. The police officers in this country are law enforcement and sheriffs, everything else, they have to be given back their dignity. They want to do their job. But we've become so politically correct.
"You look at New York and Chicago and L.A. and every city. All are run by Democrats, OK? Liberal, stupid Democrats — no, and our country — [cheers and applause] Our country has lost its way. It is a good question. In other words, we're gonna have law and order."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Smurfing with campaign donations has become an epidemic in America, probably involving tens of thousands of victims and millions, likely hundreds of millions of dollars.
It involves a criminal using someone else's identity in order to make a political contribution.
Such operators can, through the schemes, direct massive amounts of money to individual candidates and causes without doing a lot of reporting and documentation.
Star investigative reporter James O'Keefe of O'Keefe Media Group, has documented the problem:
Those whose names are used often never even find out about it, and mostly they are not in a position to hire lawyers, do investigations, and find those who are abusing them.
Until now.
Now someone has used the name of a longtime Republican political strategist, Mark Block, who has gone to court to uncover the details of the thievery, and get it stopped.
A report at the Gateway Pundit explains that he's charging his personal information was stolen and used in recent months to launder money 385 times to 62 different campaigns and political groups.
At the center of the controversy is ActBlue, the behemoth that collects money for multiple Democrat interests.
He found out, the report said, when he got a receipt, at an old email address, recognizing his $7.50 donation to LGBTQ Equality PAC, an organization he explains he would never, ever support.
His legal filing, in court in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, seeks injunctive relief for the operation. He cites Kamala Harris' fundraising boasts, but points out, "Unfortunately, however, at least some of those donations – and similar donations to campaigns and organizations across the country – have been fraudulently made."
The filing explains there have been documented more than 385 donations from "Mark Block" to 62 campaigns and candidates in just the past few weeks. They total $884.
He explains, "Specifically, federal law does not require campaigns to itemize contributions from donors when the aggregate amount totals less than $200. Campaigns that receive contributions below $200 can simply bundle the donation into a list of un-itemized contributions. Small dollar donations have seen explosive growth in recent years, with the number of reported transactions increasing by 400% just between the 2016 and 2020 elections."
But "bad actors" can skew elections by "smurfing," putting huge sums into campaigns through small-dollar donations illegally using the names of other people.
Block explained that the donations all were made from "the same American Express card … with an expiration date of July 2026, and tracked to the zip code 90403 located in Santa Monica, California. Upon investigation, plaintiff discovered that the UPS location was used as a mailing address for a 'Cain Companies Construction' … Cain Co. was administratively dissolved by the California Secretary of State in 2013."
The principal there was listed as Bernard L. Cain, Jr. but Block has no connection to him.
Multiple attempts to contact Bernard L. Cain Jr. were fruitless.
The Gateway Pundit noted, "Some of the individuals accused of this fraudulent scheme include Soros-funded Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, Soros Funded Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Democrat Senator Tammy Baldwin (WI), Democrat Senator Raphael Warnock (GA), and Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz."
The perpetrators, identified at this point as "John Doe," violated the "Wisconsin Organized Crime Control Act" with the actions, and the filing charges.
Requested is a Temporary Restraining Order to stop the ""repeated and fraudulent use of plaintiff's PII" and expedited discovery in the matter "for all discovery requests issued between the date of this Order's entry and the determination [of] John Doe's true identity."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – The Israel Defense Forces, or IDF, released footage Sunday of a significant captured Hezbollah weapons cache. The other – perhaps more consequential factor – was not so much what was found, but rather where the Israeli soldiers found it, namely a few dozen meters from a United Nations International Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) outpost.
This weapons store is not the first the IDF has encountered since it began what was supposed to be a limited incursion into Lebanon, although at least two divisions have been added to its fighting strength since that time. The presence of Hezbollah weapons caches pockmarks much of southern Lebanon's terrain, and much of it was successfully carried out under the watchful eye of the very peacekeepers who are supposed to be both disarming the Iranian proxy and ensuring against their encroachment south of the Litani River.
At least according to the U.N. Resolution 1701, this was the plan. It is likely the sheer scale of the weapons found were meant to be used in an Oct. 7-style infiltration into Israel's Galilee region, led by Hezbollah's commando Radwan force, as per seized documents and equipment, which show this to have been in an advanced stage of planning. As in Gaza, significant weapons stores have been found in civilian homes.
It is impossible to escape the realization that under both the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Gaza, and UNIFIL in Lebanon, genocidal jihadist Islamist organizations – both of which Iran trains and funds – have been able to arm themselves to the point where Hamas, in the case of Gaza could storm across Israel's border, and Hezbollah in Lebanon has been able to fire missiles, rockets, and drones – the most recent of which killed four Israeli soldiers on Sunday – for more than a year. When is it permissible to ask what good these U.N. bodies, which not only fail – seemingly deliberately – to fulfill their actual mandates but facilitate the terrorism against which the IDF is fighting?
This has serious real-world consequences, not least because there is currently an extensive diplomatic dispute between Israel, the United Nations, and countries whose troops make up part of the UNIFIL mission.
In Israel, which considers it to be fighting an existential war for its survival, there is a sense the UNIFIL soldiers have had it good for too long; they have turned a blind eye – and who knows, may even have profited from doing so – to Hezbollah's flagrant contravention of the U.N. resolution they are supposed to uphold.
On Sunday, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appealed directly to the U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, requesting – rather than demanding as Irish president Michael Higgins suggested about the Irish contingent – that UNIFIL troops be moved away from "Hezbollah strongholds and the firing zone," according to an official readout.
"The IDF has requested this repeatedly and has met with repeated refusal, which has the effect of providing Hezbollah terrorists with human shields. Your refusal to evacuate UNIFIL soldiers has turned them into hostages of Hezbollah. This endangers both them and the lives of our soldiers," he added.
UNIFIL has accused the IDF of deliberately hitting several posts, including the Naqoura HQ. At least five UNIFIL soldiers have been wounded in a spate of recent incidents that have also included shootings which the UN neither attributed to the IDF or Hezbollah, which reading between the lines, almost certainly means it was the Lebanese-based terrorists.
Netanyahu said Israel "regrets the injury" to the peacekeepers, and it is doing whatever it can to prevent such incidents.
"But the simple and obvious way to ensure this is just get them out of the danger zone," the prime minister added. Indeed, according to the IDF, some 25 attacks against Israel have been launched from the vicinity of UNIFIL posts.
Meanwhile, in the wake of the deadly drone strike on an army base in Israel's Binyamina region on Sunday, the Israeli Air Force has made it a top priority to eradicate Hezbollah's 127 Unit, which is responsible for UAV production and operation. Earlier on Monday, the IAF eliminated the head of the Radwan anti-tank missile unit, Muhammad Kamal Naim, in the southern Lebanese area of Nabatieh.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
U.S.-Middle East:
Is the Biden administration negotiating directly with Iran for M.E. ceasefire?
Israel's Channel 12 News reported that the Biden administration is bypassing Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, and along with several Arab states is negotiating directly with Tehran to establish a comprehensive ceasefire.
Biden expected to call Netanyahu on Iran situation after weeks of silence
Since then, much has changed in the Middle East, including the elimination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and another Iranian ballistic missile strike on the Jewish state.
Woodward book lifts lid on fractious Biden-Netanyahu relationship
Forthcoming book reveals President Joe Biden's candid and often profanity-laced private assessments of world leaders, including Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The outgoing U.S. president labels Netanyahu a "Son of a b—-," and a "bad f—– guy."
ISRAEL:
Hezbollah rocket kills two civilians in Kiryat Shmona, 6 wounded in barrage on Haifa
An Israeli man and woman were killed from shrapnel wounds in the far northern town of Kiryat Shmona on Wednesday, following a volley of rockets fired by Hezbollah over the Lebanese border. In addition, six people were wounded following another barrage of rockets at Israel's third-largest city, Haifa.
Two separate stabbing attacks in Hadera, wounds 6, at least 2 seriously
Six people were wounded in two separate stabbing attacks in the northern Israeli city of Hadera.
Irish U.N. peacekeepers deny IDF requests for them to leave their posts in southern Lebanon
Irish President Michael Higgins said it was "outrageous the Israel Defense Forces threatened this peacekeeping force" and sought to have them evacuate the villages they are defending,
IDF locates and destroys Hezbollah cross-border attack tunnel
The IDF destroyed an unfinished cross-border Hezbollah attack tunnel, Tuesday, in which weapons and anti-tank missiles, among other items were found. Despite not having an aperture at its end, this is the first-known tunnel to cross into Israeli territory.
Hamas leader Sinwar calls for a return to suicide bombings
Reports surfaced in the Arab press and published in the Wall Street Journal which said Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, on taking full control of the organization following Ismail Haniyeh's elimination in Tehran, demanded a return to suicide bombings inside Israel.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
China's President Xi Jinping has ordered his public sector employees to hand in their passports after a colossal expansion of travel restrictions was imposed by the Chinese Communist Party.
Public sector employees are subject to "personal travel abroad management," in which the government controls who travels, how often they travel, and to where.
According to the Daily Mail, China has expanded the list of employees on the "management" list, which now includes school teachers and employees of universities, local governments and state-owned groups.
The Financial Times reported a teacher in the Sichuan region said while teachers are technically able to travel, the permit to do so would likely be denied. Xi has recently elevated the state's involvement in cracking down on official corruption, while simultaneously increasing the Chinese government's campaign to stop foreign spies, and tightening its grip on society.
Further, public sector employees who refuse to hand over their passports could be referred to the Chinese anti-corruption authority, face "criticism and education," and be slapped with a travel ban of two to five years.
In early September, Bloomberg reported the passports of investment bankers from at least three state-backed brokerages in China were seized. The bankers were detained by Chinese authorities, and were told they must seek permission for both professional and personal travel.
Meanwhile, the South Korean Coast Guard has seized two Chinese-owned vessels after they were allegedly caught in South Korea's economic exclusion zone – which extends 200 miles from a country's coastline – fishing illegally. Tensions are currently high between China and South Korea, after the U.S. has been conducting joint military training
South Korea's Coast Guard said the vessels were located 7.5 miles within restricted waters 50 miles from Socheong Island, according to a report from Newsweek.
China is well known for its practice of illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, which poses a threat to fishing grounds and ecosystems. China currently has over 500,000 fishing vessels making it the largest fleet in the world.
During an earlier incident this year, China denied it was encroaching into South Korean waters and allowing fishing vessels to illegally catch fish, with the Chinese embassy in the U.S. telling Newsweek in a statement China was simply exercising its rights to develop and use fishing resources.
"China exercises the right to develop and use the fisheries resources on the high seas in accordance with relevant international law including the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Seas," the Chinese embassy said.
However, China has been upping its aggression toward its neighbors, attempting to bully them away from fishing grounds and oil and gas reserves in the South China Sea. In response, South Korea and the Philippines have agreed to deepen their maritime cooperation to counteract the actions of China.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos in Manila Monday, where both agreed closer ties between the two nations are essential.
"President Yeol's visit marks an important milestone in our bi-lateral relations with the Republic of Korea. This year, we celebrate our 75th anniversary of the diplomatic ties between our two countries. Those ties have been enriched and strengthened by moments of solidarity, including during the Korean War of 1950," Marcos said.
Marcos added the Philippines and South Korea have had a long partnership of cooperation, and have enjoyed a cordial relationship over that time which spans political, defense, economics, social, cultural, maritime, and many other fields across various levels of engagement.
"President Yeol and I likewise exchange views on regional and international issues such as the West Philippine Sea, and in the Korean peninsula. I welcome the Republic of Korea's efforts to promote peace and stability in the Korean peninsula. The audacious initiative in the August 15th reunification doctrine, are important efforts in this regard."
A free-trade agreement between the Philippines and South Korea has been ratified, and the two nations have further agreed to establish strong supply chains for critical raw materials.
"It's my pleasure to announce that we have signed the following key agreements that will propel the momentum of our strategic partnership in the decades to come. To strengthen understanding, mutual trust, and confidence for the purpose of promotion, preservation, and protection of our mutual maritime interests, including maritime order and safety in the Asia-Pacific region," Marcos said.
Yeol and Marcos signed a memorandum of understanding between the Philippine Coast Guard and the Korean Coast Guard on maritime cooperation, while also signing the memorandum of understanding on the Economic Innovation Partnership Program. This establishes a framework for cooperation between the two nations for the advancement of national, regional, and urban development in the Philippines.
Yeol said the agreements between the two nations has "opened a new chapter" and they will be cooperating on keeping maritime security a top priority.
"Today, President Marcos and I opened a new chapter of our partnership, elevating our relationship to a strategic partnership … First, our two countries concurred to strengthen strategic partnership in the security front, we agreed to our cooperation in defense industry … our two countries will reinforce maritime security partnership in such areas as tackling transnational, information sharing and conducting search and rescue," Yeol said.
Yeol stated economic cooperation will be boosted through mutual trade agreements, and South Korean companies will be playing a major role in infrastructure projects in the Philippines.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The First Amendment in America right now protects a citizen's right to criticize the GOP candidate for president, President Donald Trump.
It also protects the right to criticize Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Tim Walz.
But what if the federal government suddenly said, in its opinion, criticizing Trump was fine, but no one would be allowed at any time going forward to say anything critical of the Biden-Harris-Walz triumvirate?
Not possible?
Actually, one of America's top constitutional experts says that threat is very real.
"We are living through the most dangerous anti-free speech movement in American history. We have never before faced the current alliance of government, corporate, academic and media forces aligned against free speech. A Harris-Walz administration with a supportive Congress could make this right entirely dispensable," explained Jonathan Turley, the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University and the author of "The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage."
He's not only testified before Congress as an expert on the Constitution but has represented members in disputes over the Constitution in court.
His comments were triggered by "the most chilling moment from the Vance-Walz debate when the Democratic nominee showed why he is part of the dream ticket for the anti-free speech movement."
During that debate, Democrat Tim Walz responded to comments from GOP candidate JD Vance about Kamala Harris' support for censorship.
"Walz proceeded to quote the line from a 1919 case in which Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes said you do not have the right to falsely yell fire in a crowded theater. It is the favorite mantra of the anti-free speech movement. It also is fundamentally wrong," Turley said.
He explained that while Walz misrepresented the opinion to affirm one can't shout fire in a crowded theater, the actual opinion included two qualifications to that, that the shout is "false" and that it triggers a panic.
Holmes said, "The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic."
Turley called out Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., for being among those misunderstanding and misrepresenting the Holmes' comment.
"For example, when I testified last year before Congress against a censorship system that has been described by one federal court as 'similar to an Orwellian 'Ministry of Truth," Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., interjected with the fire-in-a-theater question to say such censorship is needed and constitutional. In other words, the internet is now a huge crowded theater and those with opposing views are shouting fire," Turley commented.
He added:
Goldman and Walz both cited a case in which socialists Charles Schenck and Elizabeth Baer were arrested and convicted of violating the Espionage Act of 1917. Their "crime" was to pass out flyers in opposition to the military draft during World War I.
Schenck and Baer called on their fellow citizens not to "submit to intimidation" and to "assert your rights." They argued, "If you do not assert and support your rights, you are helping to deny or disparage rights which it is the solemn duty of all citizens and residents of the United States to retain." They also described the military draft as "involuntary servitude."
Holmes used his "fire in a theater" line to justify the abusive conviction and incarceration. At the House hearing, when I was trying to explain that the justice later walked away from the line and Schenck was effectively overturned in 1969 in Brandenburg v. Ohio, Goldman cut me off and said, "We don't need a law class here."
But, he said, the debate showed Walz revealed that and he and other Democrats "most certainly do need a class in First Amendment law."
He cited Harris as a "champion of censorship in an administration that supports targeting disinformation, misinformation and 'malinformation.'"
And Walz has made clear his opposition to others' free speech to MSNBC, where he said, "There's no guarantee to free speech on misinformation or hate speech, and especially around our democracy."
That, of course, was the point of the First Amendment, to protect objectionable speech, as there are no disputes over speech everyone wants.
Turley called out Walz, explaining his statement is "entirely untrue and shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the right called 'indispensable' by the Supreme Court. Even after some of us condemned his claim as ironically dangerous disinformation, Walz continues to repeat it."
Turley warned, "Where President Joe Biden was viewed as supporting censorship out of political opportunism, Harris and Walz are viewed as true believers."
He cited the movement already under way to destroy speech.
"University of Michigan Law School professor and MSNBC legal analyst Barbara McQuade has said that free speech 'can also be our Achilles' heel.' Columbia law professor Tim Wu, a former Biden White House aide, wrote a New York Times op-ed with the headline, 'The First Amendment Is Out of Control.'"
There already have been instances of government speech control that creates great damage. For example, the FBI's election interference during the 2020 election including falsely claiming that the Biden family scandals detailed in Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop were "disinformation." Feds told media and tech corporations to suppress that and they did.
But the scandals were true, and later polling showed had that information been reported in an ordinary way to Americans, Joe Biden almost certainly would have lost the election, and his promotions of abortion and transgenderism, the more than 21% inflation Americans have endured, the world conflicts that erupted because of a weak American policy, may not have happened in exactly the same way.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A federal judge has shot down, at least temporarily, California Gov. Gavin Newsom's ban on political parody online.
The Washington Examiner describe the state's newest censorship law as an attempt to hold down "political disinformation."
"The ruling is the result of a lawsuit filed by Chris Kohls, known as 'Mr Reagan' on X. Kohls is the original poster of an AI video that replicated Vice President Kamala Harris' voice and went viral on X this summer. The video caught Newsom's attention and prompted him to create the law. X owner Elon Musk reposted the video, making it even more widespread."
He said the law, a "hammer" in his opinion, "hinders humorous expression and unconstitutionally stifles the free and unfettered exchange of ideas."
WND had reported only a day earlier on a request from a legal team from the ADF for the parody ban be halted.
"California's war against political memes is censorship, plain and simple. We shouldn't trust the government to decide what is true in our online political debates. Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed two laws punishing political speech, with one law taking effect immediately, just as the election season heated up – a time when we need more speech, not less," explained Jonathan Scruggs, a lawyer with the organization.
"That includes political parody and satire, a type of expression that has been used throughout our nation's history. While lawmakers act as if posting and sharing memes is a threat to democracy, these laws target speech California officials don't like."
WND previously reported as the battle heated up and Newsom, who has faced mockery for his state's high taxes, extremism on social issues like abortion and transgenderism, attempts to interfere with other states and their rights, took chutzpah to a new level.
That, by the way, derives from a Hebrew word meaning "insolence," "cheek" or "audacity."
He signed a law banning parody.
The report said video creator Christopher Kohls is charging Newsom with violations of the First and 14th Amendments with Newsom's "anti-deepfake measure" that was signed into law this week.
California's governor was offended by a parody released by "Mr. Reagan" recently:
In it "Kamala Harris" confirms she is the Democrat candidate for president because Joe Biden "exposed his senility at the debate."
She confesses she is the "ultimate diversity hire," as a woman and a "person of color."
"So if you criticize anything I say you're both sexist and racist."
The mockery continues.
The video uses AI-generated audio clips, and it was shared by Elon Musk, collecting more than 100 million views.
Newsom responded:
The lawsuit in federal court in California charges that Newsom's scheme is a flagrant use of "state power to force private social media companies to censor private citizens' speech by purging election-related AI-generated content."
Musk's comment? "You're not gonna believe this, but Gavin Newsom, just announced that he signed a LAW to make parody illegal, based on this video."
He concludes California needs "new leadership."
However, taking on Newsom directly was the Babylon Bee, which prominently announced it has "'obtained this exclusive, official, 100% real Gavin Newsom election ad."
In it, "Newsom" states:
This is a message for the people of America, given in my authentically recorded non-AI voice. Thanks to my leadership over the last several years, California has become a world leader in extremist left-wing governance. My policies were so effective that almost 1 million people are now fleeing the state every year. We even ran out of U-Hauls.
During the COVID pandemic, I locked everyone in their homes and shut down businesses for months. Not the French Laundry, though. That's my favorite restaurant. Last year, I cleaned up the dangerous, messy streets of San Francisco. You know, because Chinese Communist President Xi was coming. And I really wanted to impress him. He's my boss, after all.
This year, I signed legislation that allows me to take custody of your kid if you refuse to give him artificial hormones and chop off his genitals. Because if you don't do that, you're a bigot. And bigots shouldn't be allowed to have kids. I've also led the way in green energy by banning all cars that don't run on electricity. Then I banned almost all the electricity. This is smart leadership.
On my watch, the cost of living and homelessness have skyrocketed. Schools are failing. Drug dealers and human traffickers are pouring across the border. And poop has covered the sidewalks of San Francisco. This is the positive, joyful vision we offer as Democrats.
That's why I'm enthusiastically endorsing Kamala Harris for president in 2024. She'll do to the country everything I did in California. Anyway, I'm California Governor Gavin Newsom, and I approve this 100% real message, which is a recording of my voice without the assistance of any AI whatsoever.
This isn't a deepfake. And you can rest assured that it isn't, because I just signed an unconstitutional law outlawing deepfakes. No one would dare violate it. Thank you, and science bless America.