Looks like this ‘whistleblower’ is doing less whistling and more blowing.
Facebook “whistleblower” Frances Haugen is a longtime Democrat donor, supporting campaigns for far-left extremists such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She has also donated money to activist groups actively attempting to derail the U.S. primary process that allows ordinary members of the public to beat out establishment, career politicians, The National Pulse can reveal.
Blowing the Establishment.
Haugen’s “whistleblowing” has been lauded by the corporate media: a sure sign that rather than being a sole actor attempting to call out corporate abuse, she is likely backed by some hefty interests. Haugen first anonymously leaked internal documents before revealing her identity and calling for mass censorship on the Facebook, but only of political ideas she opposes.
The National Pulse has thus far identified 36 donations from Haugen during her time as an employee of Facebook, Pinterest, and Gigster. All of the donations, which total nearly $2,000 since December 2016, have gone to Democrats including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
On January 13th, 2020, Haugen sent money to Ocasio-Cortez’s congressional campaign and a further contribution to her “Courage to Change” Political Action Committee (PAC).
“All endorsees will embody the ideals of racial, social, economic, and environmental justice,” promises the PAC.
Haugen’s most recent donation was August 4th, sending $100 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC).
Anti-Democracy Campaigners.
In-keeping with her wishes to purge political views other than hers from social media, Haugen has also donated to a left-wing “resistance” group which lists as one of its top priorities the dismantling of the U.S. primary process for elections.
America is somewhat unique on the world stage in its commitment to a decentralized process whereby ordinary citizens can become political party candidates. It is perhaps the most democratic part of U.S. elections.
But, in the words of the Haugen-backed “It Starts Today” campaign, “the modern partisan primary—particularly within the GOP—has turned out to have an unintended consequence: extremism in our elected officials and dysfunction in our legislatures.”
There is, of course, far more extremism on the political left in the U.S. Congress than on the political right. But as of June 2021, the group founded by ActBlue’s Jonathan Zucker decided that the way to beat Republicans was not to win the battle of ideas, but rather to stop real conservatives winning primaries.
Haugen donated twice to “It Starts Today,” and curiously claims that it “holds donations” for Democratic primary nominees until the end of the selection process.
Haugen’s loathing of free speech tracks with her disdain for the democratic process. Her previous roles include working at Google, which paid for her degree from the Harvard Business School.
How slippery is that slope? Apparently, not abiding by someone’s “preferred pronouns” is now a human rights violation.
What happened?
Jessie Nelson — whom the CBC described as “a non‐binary, gender fluid, transgender person who uses they/them pronouns” — was hired in 2019 as a server at a restaurant in Gibsons, British Columbia, a town not far from the northern United States border.
In a complaint, Nelson alleged that some of the restaurant staff was hostile. The bar manager Brian Gobelle reportedly refused to use Nelson’s preferred pronouns, instead using “she,” “her,” and other feminine names that are commonly used toward women. The situation reportedly boiled over just several days into Nelson’s employment, resulting in Nelson’s firing just four weeks after beginning work at the restaurant.
The restaurant owner reportedly told Nelson that the server had come off “too strong too fast,” was “militant,” had made people uncomfortable, and were not working well with the existing restaurant team.
Nelson later alleged discrimination on the basis of “gender identity and expression,” the CBC reported.
What did authorities say?
The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal handed down a decision last month finding the restaurant violated Nelson’s human rights by not intervening quickly enough to ensure that staff used Nelson’s preferred pronouns.
The tribunal also said Gobelle discriminated against Nelson.
In a 42-page ruling, tribunal member Devyn Cousineau said that “pronouns are a fundamental part of a person’s identity.”
“Using correct pronouns communicates that we see and respect a person for who they are,” Cousineau wrote. “Especially for trans, non‐binary, or other non‐cisgender people, using the correct pronouns validates and affirms they are a person equally deserving of respect and dignity.”
“When people use the right pronouns, they can feel safe and enjoy the moment,” Cousineau added. “When people do not use the right pronouns, that safety is undermined and they are forced to repeat to the world: I exist.”
Cousineau also awarded Nelson $30,000 in damages, one-third of which would be paid by Gobelle; the other two-thirds would be paid by the restaurant owners.
Cousineau also ordered “mandatory training for all staff and managers about human rights in the workplace” for the restaurant and told restaurant owners to update their employee policies to include a statement “that affirms every employee’s right to be addressed with their correct pronouns.”
Are pronouns fundamental to identity?
Perhaps someone should lend Cousineau a basic linguistics textbook.
Despite Cousineau claiming that “pronouns are a fundamental part of a person’s identity,” pronouns are merely grammatical devices used in language to refer to nouns or noun phrases that have either been stated already or are assumed by context.
Pronouns, in fact, almost always have an antecedent, which is made clear by the context in which the pronoun is used.
In theory, languages do not need personal pronouns (I, me, you, he, him, she, her, it, we, us, they, them), the type of pronoun in contention here (as opposed to demonstrative or interrogative pronouns, for example). Many highly inflected languages, in fact, mostly use personal pronouns for emphatic purposes because verbal morphology encodes person and number (1st, 2nd, 3rd person and singular or plural). Using a personal pronoun becomes redundant.
English used to be highly inflected (Old English), but grammatical gender, cases, and complex verb conjugation dropped from the language over time. Because English verbs no longer encode person, it has thus become necessary to regularly use personal pronouns to clarify agency.
Personal pronouns, then, are not “fundamental” to a person’s identity, dignity, or human rights.
Far-left activists harassed Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) on Sunday, following her into a bathroom, yelling at her, and recording her while she went into a stall.
The far-left activists threatened Sinema that if she did not pass Democrat President Joe Biden’s agenda, they would get her removed from office.
Among the things that they demanded was a pathway to citizenship for millions of illegal aliens.
Due to the very private nature of the footage, it will not be included in this report.
Things that the far-left activists said to Sinema while she was in the bathroom included:
“We need a Build Back Better plan right now.”
“We need solutions in the Build Back Better plan, need to pass the solutions that we need.”
“We knocked on doors for you to get you elected. And just how we got you elected, we can get you out of office if you don’t support what you promised us.”
“We need the Build Back Better plan right now.”
The incident comes after Sinema issued the following statement on Saturday slamming Democrat congressional leadership for the games that it has played over the $3.5 trillion social spending bill and the bipartisan infrastructure bill:
The failure of the U.S. House to hold a vote on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is inexcusable, and deeply disappointing for communities across our country. Denying Americans millions of good-paying jobs, safer roads, cleaner water, more reliable electricity, and better broadband only hurts everyday families.
Arizonans, and all everyday Americans, expect their lawmakers to consider legislation on the merits — rather than obstruct new jobs and critical infrastructure investments for no substantive reason. What Americans have seen instead is an ineffective stunt to gain leverage over a separate proposal. My vote belongs to Arizona, and I do not trade my vote for political favors — I vote based only on what is best for my state and the country. I have never, and would never, agree to any bargain that would hold one piece of legislation hostage to another.
Congress was designed as a place where representatives of Americans with valid and diverse views find compromise and common ground. That is why, when President Biden asked me to continue bipartisan infrastructure negotiations, I agreed and helped deliver the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act — a historic, broadly popular plan that reflects a key priority of President Biden’s. My commitment to delivering lasting results is also why I have engaged for months in direct, good-faith negotiations over the separate budget reconciliation proposal.
Good-faith negotiations, however, require trust. Over the course of this year, Democratic leaders have made conflicting promises that could not all be kept — and have, at times, pretended that differences of opinion within our party did not exist, even when those disagreements were repeatedly made clear directly and publicly. Canceling the infrastructure vote further erodes that trust. More importantly, it betrays the trust the American people have placed in their elected leaders and denies our country crucial investments to expand economic opportunities.
Canceling the U.S. House vote on the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act denies Americans millions of new good-paying jobs and hurts everyday families.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott released a video Saturday of Texas National Guard “gearing up” at the U.S. southern border in response to a large migrant caravan approaching the U.S. southern border.
“Texas National Guard is gearing up at the border for increased caravans attempting to cross the border caused by Biden’s open border policy,” Abbott tweeted. “They are working with the Texas Dept. of Public Safety to seal surge locations at the border & arrest trespassers.”
Texas National Guard is gearing up at the border for increased caravans attempting to cross the border caused by Biden’s open border policy.
They are working with the Texas Dept. of Public Safety to seal surge locations at the border & arrest trespassers.
Abbott made a similar tweet Sept. 28, writing, “Texas National Guard surge transports tactical vehicles to the border. The @TexasGuard continues to surge equipment & personnel to the Texas border to provide more support to address Biden’s ongoing crisis. Texas is securing the border.”
Texas National Guard surge transports tactical vehicles to the border.
The @TexasGuard continues to surge equipment & personnel to the Texas border to provide more support to address Biden's ongoing crisis.
Abbot’s move comes as a massive migrant caravan makes its way toward the U.S. southern border. In October, the Texas National Guard is doubling the number at the border by stationing approximately 2,500 troops.
Tracy Norris, who is the adjutant general of the Texas Military Department and commander of the Texas National Guard, told local ABC outlet KVUE that Abbott intends to stymie illegal drugs, illegal immigration and human trafficking.
“It will assist their situation,” Norris said regarding the surge. “More resources to the border, especially based on what’s happened in the last couple of weeks.”
Abbott also plans a fence along the border, which Norris said “will give you time to react because that’s what it’s about: it is about figuring out where people are trying to get across. If you slow them down and you can detect them with technology, then you have less people, but you can react a lot quicker to wherever they’re trying to get across.”
Norris also said he has “never seen the border like this. … One of our soldiers described it as like a Six Flags that in some places they’ll be lined up to come across.”
Jessica Berg Wilson’s obituary described the Seattle woman as “an exceptionally healthy and vibrant 37-year-old young mother with no underlying health conditions” who “died unexpectedly on Sep. 7 from COVID-19 Vaccine-Induced Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia (VITT).”
The obituary on Legacy.com continued: “Jessica fully embraced motherhood, sharing her passion for life with her daughters. Jessica’s motherly commitment was intense, with unwavering determination to nurture her children to be confident, humble, responsible, and to have concern and compassion for others with high morals built on Faith.”
“Jessica’s greatest passion was to be the best mother possible for Bridget and Clara. Nothing would stand in her way to be present in their lives,” it said. “During the last weeks of her life, however, the world turned dark with heavy-handed vaccine mandates. Local and state governments were determined to strip away her right to consult her wisdom and enjoy her freedom.
“She had been vehemently opposed to taking the vaccine, knowing she was in good health and of a young age and thus not at risk for serious illness. In her mind, the known and unknown risks of the unproven vaccine were more of a threat.
“But, slowly, day by day, her freedom to choose was stripped away. Her passion to be actively involved in her children’s education—which included being a Room Mom—was, once again, blocked by government mandate. Ultimately, those who closed doors and separated mothers from their children prevailed.
“It cost Jessica her life. It cost her children the loving embrace of their caring mother. And it cost her husband the sacred love of his devoted wife. It cost God’s Kingdom on earth a very special soul who was just making her love felt in the hearts of so many.”
This very sad story was made even worse by the Twitter Police.
When a Twitter user shared Wilson’s obituary on Friday, adding in the caption that she had not wanted to get vaccinated, the post was slapped with a warning label.
“This Tweet is misleading,” it said. “Find out why health officials consider COVID-19 vaccines safe for most people.”
It provided a link so users could “find out more,” adding, “This Tweet can’t be replied to, shared or liked.”
Seattle, WA — Jessica Berg Wilson, an "exceptionally healthy and vibrant 37-year-old young mother with no underlying health conditions," passed away from COVID Vaccine-Induced Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia. She did not want to get vaccinated. 😥
Here is a screenshot of the Twitter warning label, which apparently was removed after many users complained about it.
This is what popped up if you clicked on the retweet button.
Misleading? On the contrary, it’s very clear. A healthy young woman, who believed that the vaccine posed a greater risk to her health than contracting the virus itself, was forced to comply with the school’s vaccine requirement for visitors if she wanted to be involved in her children’s classrooms.
She took the vaccine and then died of a vaccine-induced blood clot. She was one of the unlucky ones.
The author of the tweet was not misleading readers, either. She was simply mourning the loss of a young mother who would not have gotten the vaccine (and therefore likely would not have died) had she not been forced to.
Nobody was trying to convince others not to take the vaccine or claiming that it will cause mass deaths.
I am not anti-vax. Vaccines are a potent tool in the fight against COVID. That said, these vaccines do pose a risk to some individuals. Some might have medical reasons for rejecting the vaccine, and others are highly skeptical about taking a vaccine that was developed so quickly. Not everyone needs to be vaccinated.
This is tyranny, and it’s hard to believe this is happening in America.
(The Guardian) Millions of documents reveal offshore deals and assets of more than 100 billionaires, 30 world leaders and 300 public officials.
The secret deals and hidden assets of some of the world’s richest and most powerful people have been revealed in the biggest trove of leaked offshore data in history.
Branded the Pandora papers, the cache includes 11.9m files from companies hired by wealthy clients to create offshore structures and trusts in tax havens such as Panama, Dubai, Monaco, Switzerland and the Cayman Islands.
They expose the secret offshore affairs of 35 world leaders, including current and former presidents, prime ministers and heads of state. They also shine a light on the secret finances of more than 300 other public officials such as government ministers, judges, mayors and military generals in more than 90 countries.
The files include disclosures about major donors to the Conservative party, raising difficult questions for Boris Johnson as his party meets for its annual conference.
More than 100 billionaires feature in the leaked data, as well as celebrities, rock stars and business leaders. Many use shell companies to hold luxury items such as property and yachts, as well as incognito bank accounts. There is even art ranging from looted Cambodian antiquities to paintings by Picasso and murals by Banksy.
The Pandora papers reveal the inner workings of what is a shadow financial world, providing a rare window into the hidden operations of a global offshore economy that enables some of the world’s richest people to hide their wealth and in some cases pay little or no tax.
There are emails, memos, incorporation records, share certificates, compliance reports and complex diagrams showing labyrinthine corporate structures. Often, they allow the true owners of opaque shell companies to be identified for the first time.
The files were leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in Washington. It shared access to the leaked data with select media partners including the Guardian, BBC Panorama, Le Monde and the Washington Post. More than 600 journalists have sifted through the files as part of a massive global investigation.
The Pandora papers represent the latest – and largest in terms of data volume – in a series of major leaks of financial data that have convulsed the offshore world since 2013.
Setting up or benefiting from offshore entities is not itself illegal, and in some cases people may have legitimate reasons, such as security, for doing so. But the secrecy offered by tax havens has at times proven attractive to tax evaders, fraudsters and money launderers, some of whom are exposed in the files.
Other wealthy individuals and companies stash their assets offshore to avoid paying tax elsewhere, a legal activity estimated to cost governments billions in lost revenues.
After more than 18 months analysing the data in the public interest, the Guardian and other media outlets will publish their findings over the coming days, beginning with revelations about the offshore financial affairs of some of the most powerful political leaders in the world.
They include the ruler of Jordan, King Abdullah II, who, leaked documents reveal, has amassed a secret $100m property empire spanning Malibu, Washington and London. The king declined to answer specific questions but said there would be nothing improper about him owning properties via offshore companies. Jordan appeared to have blocked the ICIJ website on Sunday, hours before the Pandora papers launched.
The Azerbaijan president, Ilham Aliyev, and his wife, Mehriban Aliyeva. The Aliyev family has traded close to £400m of UK property in recent years. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
The files also show that Azerbaijan’s ruling Aliyev family has traded close to £400m of UK property in recent years. One of their properties was sold to the Queen’s crown estate, which is now looking into how it came to pay £67m to a company that operated as a front for the family that runs a country routinely accused of corruption. The Aliyevs declined to comment.
The Pandora papers also threaten to cause political upsets for two European Union leaders. The prime minister of the Czech republic, Andrej Babiš, who is up for election this week, is facing questions over why he used an offshore investment company to acquire a $22m chateau in the south of France. He too declined to comment.
The Czech prime minister, Andrej Babiš, is facing questions over why he used an offshore investment company to acquire a $22m chateau in the south of France. Photograph: Milan Kammermayer/EPA
And in Cyprus, itself a controversial offshore centre, the president, Nicos Anastasiades, may be asked to explain why a law firm he founded was accused of hiding the assets of a controversial Russian billionaire behind fake company owners. The firm denies any wrongdoing, while the Cypriot president says he ceased having an active role in its affairs after becoming leader of the opposition in 1997.
Not everyone named in the Pandora papers is accused of wrongdoing. The leaked files reveals that Tony and Cherie Blair saved £312,000 in property taxes when they purchased a London building partially owned by the family of a prominent Bahraini minister.
The former prime minister and his wife bought the £6.5m office in Marylebone by acquiring a British Virgin Islands (BVI) offshore company. While the move was not illegal, and there is no evidence the Blairs proactively sought to avoid property taxes, the deal highlights a loophole that has enabled wealthy property owners not to pay a tax that is commonplace for ordinary Britons.
Tony and Cherie Blair bought a £6.5m office in Marylebone by acquiring a British Virgin Islands offshore company.Photograph: WPA Pool/Getty Images
The leaked records vividly illustrate the central coordinating role London plays in the murky offshore world. The UK capital is home to wealth managers, law firms, company formation agents and accountants. All exist to serve their ultra-rich clients. Many are foreign-born tycoons who enjoy “non-domicile” status, which means they pay no tax on their overseas assets.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, is also named in the leak. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who was elected in 2019 on a pledge to clean up his country’s notoriously corrupt and oligarch-influenced economy, is also named in the leak. During the campaign, Zelenskiy transferred his 25% stake in an offshore company to a close friend who now works as the president’s top adviser, the files suggest. Zelenskiy declined to comment and it is unclear if he remains a beneficiary.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, whom the US suspects of having a secret fortune, does not appear in the files by name. But numerous close associates do, including his best friend from childhood – the late Petr Kolbin – whom critics have called a “wallet” for Putin’s own wealth, and a woman the Russian leader was allegedly once romantically involved with. None responded to invitations to comment.
The Pandora papers also place a revealing spotlight on the offshore system itself. In a development likely to prove embarrassing for the US president, Joe Biden, who has pledged tolead efforts internationally to bring transparency to the global financial system, the US emerges from the leak as a leading tax haven. The files suggest the state of South Dakota, in particular, is sheltering billions of dollars in wealth linked to individuals previously accused of serious financial crimes.
Kenya’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta, will come under pressure to explain why he and his close relatives amassed more than $30m of offshore wealth. Photograph: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images
In Kenya, the president, Uhuru Kenyatta, has portrayed himself as an enemy of corruption. In 2018, Kenyatta told the BBC: “Every public servant’s assets must be declared publicly so that people can question and ask: what is legitimate?”
He will come under pressure to explain why he and his close relatives amassed more than $30m of offshore wealth, including property in London. Kenyatta did not respond to enquiries about whether his family wealth was declared to relevant authorities in Kenya.
The Pandora papers also reveal some of the unseen repercussions of previous offshore leaks, which spurred modest reforms in some parts of the world, such as the BVI, which now keeps a record of the real owners of companies registered there. However, the newly leaked data shows money shifting around offshore destinations, as wealthy clients and their advisers adjust to new realities.
He expected the Pandora papers to have a greater impact than previous leaks, not least because they were arriving in the middle of a pandemic that had exacerbated inequalities and forced governments to borrow unprecedented amounts to be shouldered by ordinary taxpayers. “This is the Panama papers on steroids,” Ryle said. “It’s broader, richer and has more detail.”Advertisement
At least $11.3tn in wealth is held offshore, according to a 2020 study by the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). “This is money that is being lost to treasuries around the world and money that could be used to recover from Covid,” Ryle said. “We’re losing out because some people are gaining. It’s as simple as that. It’s a very simple transaction that’s going on here.”
Some clients of Mossack Fonseca, the now defunct law firm at the heart of the 2016 Panama papers disclosures, simply transferred their companies to rival providers such as another global trust and corporate administrator with a major office in London, whose data is in the new trove of leaked files.
Asked why he was migrating the new company, one customer wrote bluntly: “Business decision to exit following the Panama papers.” Another agent said the industry had always “adapted” to external pressure.
Some leaked files appear to show some in the industry seeking to circumvent new privacy regulations. One Swiss lawyer refused to email the names of his high-value customers to a service provider in the BVI, following new legislation. Instead, he sent them by airmail, with strict instructions they should not be processed in any “electronic way”. The identity of another beneficial owner was shared via WhatsApp.
“The purpose of this way to proceed is to enable you to comply with BVI rules,” the lawyer wrote. Referring to Mossack Fonseca, the lawyer added: “You are obliged to keep secrecy for our clients and to not make feasible at all a second ‘Panama papers’ story that happened to one of your competitors.”
Gerard Ryle, the director of the ICIJ, said leading politicians who organised their finances in tax havens had a stake in the status quo, and were likely to be an obstacle to reform of the offshore economy. “When you have world leaders, when you have politicians, when you have public officials, all using the secrecy and all using this world, then I don’t think we’re going to see an end to it.”
Three Swiss Guards have resigned and three others have been suspended after refusing to comply with a Vatican mandate that they get the COVID-19 vaccination.
The Swiss Guards, colloquially known as the Pope’s bodyguards, had previously been ordered “to protect their health and that of the others they come into contact with as part of their service” by getting the jab.
The mandate was part of a broader instruction to all Vatican employees to get the COVID shot or face losing their jobs.
“Besides the three guardsmen sent back to Switzerland, at least three others were suspended from active duty after they agreed to vaccinate but have yet to receive their jabs,” reports RT.
The fact that there is no religious exemption against taking the vaccine within the Vatican tells you everything you need to know about the Vatican and the Pope.
Pope Francis has repeatedly amplified pro-vaccination narratives and refused to extend any understanding to Catholics who are hesitant to take the jab.
The Pontifical Academy for Life, the official bioethics academy of the Catholic Church, has also insisted that it is a “moral responsibility” for Catholics to take the vaccine.
“The Vatican has said that it considers it acceptable for Catholics to use vaccines, even those that use stem cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research,” reported the Mail.
The Italian government has also passed a decree applying to both the private and public sector ordering companies to withhold pay from workers who refuse to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
Those found working without the pass face fines of up to €1,500 euros after it was extended as a condition of entry for museums, stadiums, pubs, restaurants, and schools.
As we highlight in the video below, by enforcing vaccine mandates, the Pope is also enforcing vaccine passports, which some Catholics would argue represent something not too dissimilar from the Mark of the Beast from the book of Revelations.
Biden regime medical advisor Anthony Fauci insisted that the American people must “give up” their individual rights and freedoms for the “greater good” of society by injecting themselves with COVID vaccines and wearing masks even it goes against their beliefs.
“But you are a member of society… and as a member of society, reaping all the benefits of being a member of society, you have a responsibility to society,” Fauci declared. “And I think each of us, particularly in the context of a pandemic that’s killing millions of people – you have got to look at it and say, there comes a time when you do have to give up what you consider your individual right of making your own decision for the greater good of society.”
DR. FAUCI ON VACCINE MANDATES:
“There comes a time when you do have to give up what you consider your individual right of making your own decision for the greater good of society." pic.twitter.com/LCkPLOFlqy
Fauci made headlines in August after seeming to gloat that “things are going to get worse,” and forecasting “pain and suffering” for unvaccinated people:
“But things are going to get worse,” Fauci told ABC’s Jonathan Karl. “If you look at the acceleration of the number of cases, the seven day average has gone up substantially. You know, what we really need to do John, and we say it over and over again, it’s the truth, we have a hundred million people in this country who are eligible to be vaccinated who are not getting vaccinated.”
The controversial infectious diseases spokesperson continued, “So we’re looking, not I believe to lockdown, but we’re looking to some pain and suffering in the future because we’re seeing cases go up, which is the reason why we keep saying over and over again the solution to this is get vaccinated and this would not be happening.”
The National School Boards Association (NSBA) has written a letter to President Joe Biden, requesting “federal law enforcement and other assistance” to cope with angry parents concerned about their children wearing masks in school all day and learning concepts of Critical Race Theory (CRT).
The NSBA “respectfully asks for federal law enforcement and other assistance to deal with the growing number of threats of violence and acts of intimidation occurring across the nation,” the letter reads, and continues:
NSBA believes immediate assistance is required to protect our students, school board members, and educators who are susceptible to acts of violence affecting interstate commerce because of threats to their districts, families, and personal safety … Coupled with attacks against school board members and educators for approving policies for masks to protect the health and safety of students and school employees, many public school officials are also facing physical threats because of propaganda purporting the false inclusion of critical race theory within classroom instruction and curricula.
We sent a letter to President Biden this morning asking for federal assistance to stop threats and acts of violence against public schoolchildren, public school board members, and other public school district officials and educators: https://t.co/q6bHM0aawQ
— National School Boards Association | NSBA (@NSBAPublicEd) September 30, 2021
“This propaganda continues despite the fact that critical race theory is not taught in public schools and remains a complex law school and graduate school subject well beyond the scope of a K-12 class,” NSBA asserts, one month after the United States Conference of Mayors adopted a resolution during its annual convention in which its members pledged to support the teaching of CRT in K-12 schools.
“NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the nation’s mayors support the implementation of CRT in the public education curriculum to help engage our youth in programming that reflects an accurate, complete account of BIPOC history,” the mayors stated.
Remember that CRT is only in law schools. Couldn’t exist anywhere else. Remember when they told you that? https://t.co/DMUyI52Sgc
NSBA, however, continues the narrative of American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and numerous superintendents of schools throughout the country who have denied CRT is being taught in their school districts despite partnering with companies that train teachers in the tenets of CRT so that they are equipped to indoctrinate their students.
#CriticalRaceTheory is not taught in K-12 schools. The right’s culture warriors are labeling any discussion of race, racism or discrimination as such to try to make it toxic. They’re bullying teachers to try and keep them from teaching the truth. https://t.co/Plz2inkLke
Turning to mask mandates in schools, NSBA first thanks Biden profusely for his “leadership to end the proliferation of COVID-19 in our communities and our school districts.”
The group also introduces its comments with the statement: “Local school board members want to hear from their communities on important issues and that must be at the forefront of good school board governance and promotion of free speech.”
But, then NSBA makes its request:
Now, we ask that the federal government investigate, intercept, and prevent the current threats and acts of violence against our public school officials through existing statutes, executive authority, interagency and intergovernmental task forces, and other extraordinary measures to ensure the safety of our children and educators, to protect interstate commerce, and to preserve public school infrastructure and campuses.
Citing threats to school officials and local school board members that have been received in the mail and via social media, NSBA “asks that a joint collaboration among federal law enforcement agencies, state and local law enforcement, and with public school officials be undertaken to focus on these threats.”
“NSBA specifically solicits the expertise and resources of the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Secret Service, and its National Threat Assessment Center regarding the level of risk to public schoolchildren, educators, board members, and facilities/campuses,” the school board group states in its letter signed by Viola M. Garcia, Ed.D., the group’s president, and Chip Slaven, Esq., NSBA interim executive director and CEO.
NSBA also asks Biden to issue an executive order that would serve to protect school officials and school board members from parents by reviewing “appropriate enforceable actions against these crimes and acts of violence under the Gun-Free School Zones Act, the PATRIOT Act in regards to domestic terrorism, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, the Violent Interference with Federally Protected Rights statute, the Conspiracy Against Rights statute.”
People hold up signs during a rally against “critical race theory” (CRT) being taught in schools at the Loudoun County Government center in Leesburg, Virginia, on June 12, 2021. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
The school board group provides these incidents as examples of “threats or actual acts of violence against our school districts”:
An individual was arrested in Illinois for aggravated battery and disorderly conduct during a school board meeting. During two separate school board meetings in Michigan, an individual yelled a Nazi salute in protest to masking requirements, and another individual prompted the board to call a recess because of opposition to critical race theory.
In New Jersey, Ohio, and other states, anti-mask proponents are inciting chaos during board meetings. In Virginia, an individual was arrested, another man was ticketed for trespassing, and a third person was hurt during a school board meeting discussion distinguishing current curricula from critical race theory and regarding equity issues. In other states including Washington, Texas, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and Tennessee, school boards have been confronted by angry mobs and forced to end meetings abruptly. A resident in Alabama, who proclaimed himself as “vaccine police,” has called school administrators while filming himself on Facebook Live.
“Other groups are posting watchlists against school boards and spreading misinformation that boards are adopting critical race theory curriculum and working to maintain online learning by haphazardly attributing it to COVID-19,” NSBA continues.
According to Education Week, NSBA CEO Slaven responded to a question about whether his group thought local law enforcement intervention was insufficient to address situations that arose in the districts, by stating, “These incidents are beyond random acts. What we are now seeing is a pattern of threats and violence occurring across state lines and via online platforms, which is why we need the federal government’s assistance.”
On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration is exploring its options in response to NSBA’s letter, and added, “We’d encourage individuals to report any threats they face to local and state law enforcement agencies.”
Parents reportedly pleaded with the California Superior Court to remove chants and prayers to Aztec deities from the state’s curriculum.
CBN News reported that the Thomas More Society filed the temporary restraining order in the court in behalf of the parents and of Californians for Equal Rights last September 24 against the Department of Education to end the saying of the said prayers in the classrooms.
Thomas More Society Special Counsel Paul Jonna said there’s a difference between teaching about Aztec practices and from actually mandating to pray to their deities, which is already “offensive,” and which makes it “unconstitutional.”
“Our clients are not opposed to having students learn about different cultures and religions, including the practices of the Aztecs. But the California State Board of Education’s approved Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum goes far beyond that by directing students to pray to Aztec deities. This portion of the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum is not only offensive but blatantly unconstitutional,” Jonna said in a statement.
As previously reported, plans of the California Department Education to implement the 800-paged “Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum” came out in March. The Department of Education explained that the “Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum” intends to promote America’s “decolonization” through lessons on it, as well as, promote “unity” among the youth through through chants to Aztec Gods.
Parents then in August requested the State Board of Education through Limandri & Jonna LLP to remove Chapter 5 of the said curriculum, which particularly instructs the students to do the chanting and invoke the Aztec deities.
The Thomas More Society then followed-through with the filing of the lawsuit in September being a violation of the Establishment Clauses of the United States and of California’s Constitution. While the Californians for Equal Rights, an organization that advocates against discrimination, joined the lawsuit against the Department thereafter.
The Temporary Restraining Order, entitled “Californians for Equal Rights Foundation, et al. v. State of California, et al.”, raised the “harm’ the invocation of the said prayers and chants will do to the public schools. It also sought a block in the promotion of the said chants and prayers in the public schools of the state.
“Plaintiffs seek an order enjoining and prohibiting Defendants from authorizing, promoting, or permitting the use of Aztec prayers and the ‘Ashe’ chant in California’s public schools and also requiring Defendants to direct those under their authority not to use the Aztec prayer or ‘Ashe’ chant in public schools,” the Temporary Restraining Order said.
“This Application is made on the grounds that use of the prayers and chant violate the Establishment Clauses of both the U.S. and California Constitutions. (U.S. Const., amend. I; Cal. Const., art. I, § 4.) Further, immediate and irreparable harm will occur when the prayers and chant are used in California’s public schools,” it added.
The Thomas More Society disclosed that the California Superior Court agrees that public schools are to make children become aware of their religious neutrality since religious liberty is protected by the Constitution. The court pointed out that such protection given to religious liberty by the Constitution becomes “abridged” when the State itself sponsors a particular religious practice.
Californians For Equal Rights President Frank Xu echoed the said sentiments of the Superior Court in a statement, stating that the “Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum” is “alarming” for it “irresponsibly glorifies” the Aztecs whose religious rituals involved human sacrifice and dismemberment.
“The ESMC’s unequivocal promotion of five Aztec gods and the Yoruba religion through repetitive chanting and affirmation of their symbolic principles constitutes an unlawful government preference toward a particular religious practice. This public endorsement of the Aztec and Yoruba religions fundamentally erodes equal education rights and irresponsibly glorifies anthropomorphic, male deities whose religious rituals involved gruesome human sacrifice and human dismemberment. Alarmingly, this is only the tip of the iceberg with the ESMC being California’s trojan horse of CRT!” Xu stressed.
Pandora papers: biggest ever leak of offshore data exposes financial secrets of rich and powerful
(The Guardian) Millions of documents reveal offshore deals and assets of more than 100 billionaires, 30 world leaders and 300 public officials.
The secret deals and hidden assets of some of the world’s richest and most powerful people have been revealed in the biggest trove of leaked offshore data in history.
Branded the Pandora papers, the cache includes 11.9m files from companies hired by wealthy clients to create offshore structures and trusts in tax havens such as Panama, Dubai, Monaco, Switzerland and the Cayman Islands.
They expose the secret offshore affairs of 35 world leaders, including current and former presidents, prime ministers and heads of state. They also shine a light on the secret finances of more than 300 other public officials such as government ministers, judges, mayors and military generals in more than 90 countries.
The files include disclosures about major donors to the Conservative party, raising difficult questions for Boris Johnson as his party meets for its annual conference.
More than 100 billionaires feature in the leaked data, as well as celebrities, rock stars and business leaders. Many use shell companies to hold luxury items such as property and yachts, as well as incognito bank accounts. There is even art ranging from looted Cambodian antiquities to paintings by Picasso and murals by Banksy.
The Pandora papers reveal the inner workings of what is a shadow financial world, providing a rare window into the hidden operations of a global offshore economy that enables some of the world’s richest people to hide their wealth and in some cases pay little or no tax.
There are emails, memos, incorporation records, share certificates, compliance reports and complex diagrams showing labyrinthine corporate structures. Often, they allow the true owners of opaque shell companies to be identified for the first time.
The files were leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in Washington. It shared access to the leaked data with select media partners including the Guardian, BBC Panorama, Le Monde and the Washington Post. More than 600 journalists have sifted through the files as part of a massive global investigation.
The Pandora papers represent the latest – and largest in terms of data volume – in a series of major leaks of financial data that have convulsed the offshore world since 2013.
Setting up or benefiting from offshore entities is not itself illegal, and in some cases people may have legitimate reasons, such as security, for doing so. But the secrecy offered by tax havens has at times proven attractive to tax evaders, fraudsters and money launderers, some of whom are exposed in the files.
Other wealthy individuals and companies stash their assets offshore to avoid paying tax elsewhere, a legal activity estimated to cost governments billions in lost revenues.
After more than 18 months analysing the data in the public interest, the Guardian and other media outlets will publish their findings over the coming days, beginning with revelations about the offshore financial affairs of some of the most powerful political leaders in the world.
They include the ruler of Jordan, King Abdullah II, who, leaked documents reveal, has amassed a secret $100m property empire spanning Malibu, Washington and London. The king declined to answer specific questions but said there would be nothing improper about him owning properties via offshore companies. Jordan appeared to have blocked the ICIJ website on Sunday, hours before the Pandora papers launched.
The files also show that Azerbaijan’s ruling Aliyev family has traded close to £400m of UK property in recent years. One of their properties was sold to the Queen’s crown estate, which is now looking into how it came to pay £67m to a company that operated as a front for the family that runs a country routinely accused of corruption. The Aliyevs declined to comment.
The Pandora papers also threaten to cause political upsets for two European Union leaders. The prime minister of the Czech republic, Andrej Babiš, who is up for election this week, is facing questions over why he used an offshore investment company to acquire a $22m chateau in the south of France. He too declined to comment.
And in Cyprus, itself a controversial offshore centre, the president, Nicos Anastasiades, may be asked to explain why a law firm he founded was accused of hiding the assets of a controversial Russian billionaire behind fake company owners. The firm denies any wrongdoing, while the Cypriot president says he ceased having an active role in its affairs after becoming leader of the opposition in 1997.
Not everyone named in the Pandora papers is accused of wrongdoing. The leaked files reveals that Tony and Cherie Blair saved £312,000 in property taxes when they purchased a London building partially owned by the family of a prominent Bahraini minister.
The former prime minister and his wife bought the £6.5m office in Marylebone by acquiring a British Virgin Islands (BVI) offshore company. While the move was not illegal, and there is no evidence the Blairs proactively sought to avoid property taxes, the deal highlights a loophole that has enabled wealthy property owners not to pay a tax that is commonplace for ordinary Britons.
The leaked records vividly illustrate the central coordinating role London plays in the murky offshore world. The UK capital is home to wealth managers, law firms, company formation agents and accountants. All exist to serve their ultra-rich clients. Many are foreign-born tycoons who enjoy “non-domicile” status, which means they pay no tax on their overseas assets.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who was elected in 2019 on a pledge to clean up his country’s notoriously corrupt and oligarch-influenced economy, is also named in the leak. During the campaign, Zelenskiy transferred his 25% stake in an offshore company to a close friend who now works as the president’s top adviser, the files suggest. Zelenskiy declined to comment and it is unclear if he remains a beneficiary.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, whom the US suspects of having a secret fortune, does not appear in the files by name. But numerous close associates do, including his best friend from childhood – the late Petr Kolbin – whom critics have called a “wallet” for Putin’s own wealth, and a woman the Russian leader was allegedly once romantically involved with. None responded to invitations to comment.
The Pandora papers also place a revealing spotlight on the offshore system itself. In a development likely to prove embarrassing for the US president, Joe Biden, who has pledged to lead efforts internationally to bring transparency to the global financial system, the US emerges from the leak as a leading tax haven. The files suggest the state of South Dakota, in particular, is sheltering billions of dollars in wealth linked to individuals previously accused of serious financial crimes.
The offshore trail also stretches from Africa to Latin America to Asia, and is likely to pose difficult questions for politicians across the world. In Pakistan, Moonis Elahi, a prominent minister in prime minister Imran Khan’s government, contacted an offshore provider in Singapore about investing $33.7m.
In Kenya, the president, Uhuru Kenyatta, has portrayed himself as an enemy of corruption. In 2018, Kenyatta told the BBC: “Every public servant’s assets must be declared publicly so that people can question and ask: what is legitimate?”
He will come under pressure to explain why he and his close relatives amassed more than $30m of offshore wealth, including property in London. Kenyatta did not respond to enquiries about whether his family wealth was declared to relevant authorities in Kenya.
The Pandora papers also reveal some of the unseen repercussions of previous offshore leaks, which spurred modest reforms in some parts of the world, such as the BVI, which now keeps a record of the real owners of companies registered there. However, the newly leaked data shows money shifting around offshore destinations, as wealthy clients and their advisers adjust to new realities.
He expected the Pandora papers to have a greater impact than previous leaks, not least because they were arriving in the middle of a pandemic that had exacerbated inequalities and forced governments to borrow unprecedented amounts to be shouldered by ordinary taxpayers. “This is the Panama papers on steroids,” Ryle said. “It’s broader, richer and has more detail.”Advertisement
At least $11.3tn in wealth is held offshore, according to a 2020 study by the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). “This is money that is being lost to treasuries around the world and money that could be used to recover from Covid,” Ryle said. “We’re losing out because some people are gaining. It’s as simple as that. It’s a very simple transaction that’s going on here.”
Some clients of Mossack Fonseca, the now defunct law firm at the heart of the 2016 Panama papers disclosures, simply transferred their companies to rival providers such as another global trust and corporate administrator with a major office in London, whose data is in the new trove of leaked files.
Asked why he was migrating the new company, one customer wrote bluntly: “Business decision to exit following the Panama papers.” Another agent said the industry had always “adapted” to external pressure.
Some leaked files appear to show some in the industry seeking to circumvent new privacy regulations. One Swiss lawyer refused to email the names of his high-value customers to a service provider in the BVI, following new legislation. Instead, he sent them by airmail, with strict instructions they should not be processed in any “electronic way”. The identity of another beneficial owner was shared via WhatsApp.
“The purpose of this way to proceed is to enable you to comply with BVI rules,” the lawyer wrote. Referring to Mossack Fonseca, the lawyer added: “You are obliged to keep secrecy for our clients and to not make feasible at all a second ‘Panama papers’ story that happened to one of your competitors.”
Gerard Ryle, the director of the ICIJ, said leading politicians who organised their finances in tax havens had a stake in the status quo, and were likely to be an obstacle to reform of the offshore economy. “When you have world leaders, when you have politicians, when you have public officials, all using the secrecy and all using this world, then I don’t think we’re going to see an end to it.”