U.S. Reliance on China
A new report by the Arlington, Va. based data analytics firm Govini throws cold water on the idea of the U.S. going to war with China over Taiwan or the South Pacific. Govini reveals just how integrally Chinese manufacturers have integrated themselves into the supply chain for weapons the U.S. manufactures. According to the report, nearly all U.S. air-launched armaments require at least one Chinese supplier for electronics, fuzes, detonators, and other computer components. Obviously, there is cause for great concern here as the implications for national security cannot be overstated. The lack of domestic production will hurt readiness, notes Govini, and presents major risks for tampering and disrupted weapons production during conflicts.
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We Can Do a Lot
Many of the new Republicans running for office today have lost the plot. Take Arizona’s Kari Lake. Recently a reporter from National Review asked her how she was going to cut the deficit and rein in spending if she was promising to extend tax cuts passed under President Donald Trump that disproportionately benefited the rich and corporations and not touch military spending or Social Security and Medicare. She didn’t have an answer, saying, “I mean, we’re in a dire situation. I don’t think there’s a lot we can do. This is going to be difficult to pull ourselves out of this.” We suggest a great place for the U.S. to start cutting spending is with reckless military appropriations and the bloated federal agencies in Washington, D.C.
NATO Expands
On March 7, Sweden officially joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an alliance formed in 1949 for the purpose of countering the Soviet Union and the spread of communism in Europe. Despite the collapse of the Soviet Union—and there no longer being any threat of communism at least from Russia today—NATO lives on as nothing more than an extension of U.S. power in the Western world.
Whistleblower ‘Suicided’
A former longtime Boeing safety specialist, who has repeatedly raised serious concerns about the company’s standards, was found dead in Charleston, S.C., purportedly the victim of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, reports CNN. A news release from the Charleston County Coroner’s Office said John Barnett, 62, died on March 9 from suicide. Recently, Barnett had been testifying against Boeing about the company’s moves to cut corners and save money. Lawyers representing Barnett in a whistleblower retaliation case deny the man was depressed or suicidal. “We didn’t see any indication he would take his own life,” said his attorneys in a statement to reporters. “No one can believe it.”
Hannibal Directive
Another former Israeli hostage of Hamas has come forward in an interview with Israeli news to say the Israeli military killed Israelis on Oct. 7. In the interview, Shani Goren, a 29-year-old resident of Kibbutz Nir Oz, described how she was taken from her home at gunpoint by Palestinian fighters and transported to the Gaza Strip, where she was held for 55 days. She was released on Nov. 30. Right after she was taken, Goren said an Israeli attack helicopter began firing on the truck she was being transported in. When the gunfire finally stopped, Goren realized that the Israelis had killed all of her abductors, as well as one of her fellow captives, another Israeli woman from Nir Oz named Efrat Katz. The helicopter then just flew off, and more Palestinians came along to take her to Gaza. The killing of Israeli hostages is part of an official Israeli policy known as the “Hannibal Directive,” which authorizes the Israeli military to murder Israeli captives to avoid having to barter for their lives by freeing Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
Jailed for Stickers
In early March, a UK court sentenced British conservative activist Sam Melia—whose case has been covered in AFP in recent issues—to two years in jail for the crime of creating stickers that some people said were offensive. Even liberal media raised objections to this absurd case. “Think about this,” reported “Spiked,” a news and commentary website. “In our supposedly free country there is a man in a prison cell right now in part because he said ‘It’s OK to be white.’ ”
Scientist Mailed Ebola
Chinese scientist Xiangguo Qiu was recently removed from a laboratory in Canada after it was discovered that he had mailed the deadly Ebola virus to a location in China, reports popular UK tabloid Daily Mail. According to the report, in the past, Qiu had worked closely with scientists in the notorious Wuhan Institute for Virology in China, who have been implicated in genetically manipulating bat viruses in a laboratory that many suspect resulted in the creation of SARS-Cov2, the virus that causes Covid-19. Canadian intelligence warned, “Dr Qiu represents a very serious and credible danger to the government of Canada, and, in particular, at facilities considered high-security due to the potential for theft of dangerous materials attractive to terrorist and foreign entities.”
Gold Hits Record High
Gold hit a record high in March, with the growing expectation that the Federal Reserve was going to cut interest rates and further water down U.S. currency as well as continued world risks due to wars in Ukraine and Palestine. As AFP goes to press on March 14, spot gold was at $2160.90 per troy ounce, after touching its previous record high of $2,160 in early March.
Big Media Cleaning House
According to recent reports, mega-cable news outlet CNN will be cleaning house soon. The new CEO for CNN, Mark Thompson, is reportedly preparing ruthless cuts to remake the network as ratings plunge, leaving celebrity anchors like Anderson Cooper, Chris Wallace, Wolf Blitzer, and Jake Tapper facing dates with the axman, reports Yahoo News. “Anderson knows he’s on the chopping block because he makes a whopping $20 million a year,” a source told the news outlet. “Chris Wallace takes $8 million and figures he’s a likely target, too.” Blitzer currently pulls in $15 million per year, and Tapper nets $8 million annually. Not many people are going to miss these partisan hacks.
Go Woke, Go Broke
Outdoor clothing maker North Face is facing a massive backlash after the company offered 20% off to customers if they were able to pass an online “racial inclusion” course that teaches woke dogma. Ironically, in the past year, North Face has had to close multiple stores in major cities across the United States due to retail theft carried out largely by black criminals. The news prompted one news commentator to joke about a video showing three black women ransacking a North Face store in San Francisco, saying they obviously “didn’t take North Face’s anti-racism training course before looting the store.”
Nation’s Report Card
The federally mandated National Assessment of Educational Progress for 2023—more commonly referred to as the “nation’s report card”—is expected any day now. The program assesses proficiencies in multiple subjects including English and math. One of the more shocking statistics included in last year’s report card is that only 32% of American fourth graders are proficient at reading. Even worse, only 13% of eight graders could “understand complicated literary and informational passages, including material about topics they study at school.” Math wasn’t much better. Only 36% of fourth graders and 26% of eighth graders were considered to be proficient in mathematics. Something must be done.
