Let's Just Get This Out of the Way Regarding Trump and Kamala Harris

posted by Matt Vespa at Townhall 

As the market melts, one stock is primed for a reset: the political capital accrued with Kamala Harris. Her candidacy is a textbook political bubble. And we’ve seen this movie before—it’s as if everyone forgot her 2020 campaign, which was a complete and utter disaster. She dropped out before a single Democratic primary voter could vote for her. That’s what’s so perverse about this switcheroo—it’s definitionally undemocratic. And if we lose this year, only one thing needs to happen.

Should defeat come, the Republican Party must retire from national politics. The Republicans’ chances of holding the House increased with Joe Biden on the ticket. The Senate map is laughably favorable for the GOP, and Trump was cruising to a 1980-like drubbing of Biden. They were also preparing for Biden to quit the race since May, so why does it seem like the Trump camp doesn’t know how to attack this joke of a candidate? 

It's not shocking, but it is scary how the media has adopted this nonchalant attitude toward what’s arguably a coup: Biden was forced out by party bosses, donors, and top congressional Democrats, and his candidacy transferred to a woman no Democrat has ever voted for in a primary. It was only done because she’s the only person who could legally inherit Biden’s war chest. Yet, given how much money she raised in 72 hours, I’d think a Ficus plant with zero infrastructure would have raised the same amount; Democrats just wanted Biden gone. Then again, the Democrats had no one else—no rising star or governor wanted to be part of this political mess. Governors Newsom and Whitmer are looking to 2028, as are other Democrats with presidential ambitions. 

With less than 16 weeks to go, Harris has temporarily fixed the Democrats’ fundraising and voter enthusiasm issue. Yet, there’s a race to define her candidacy and find a running mate, which will be announced supposedly later today. The fact that the best one—Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro—might be a problem for the br because he’s Jewish and pro-Israel says all you need to know about the foot soldiers of this party: they’re all antisemitic and pro-Hamas. 

It makes winning this year even more crucial, not to state the obvious. When will Harris return to Earth? Because she doesn’t have the political skill to win, Barack Obama’s former team is racing to prop her up. But Kamala is not Obama, and this candidacy will barely be out of its infancy once the debates begin…if they happen. Trump isn’t obligated to debate Harris since she’s a do-over candidate, and all negotiations were made when Biden was still the nominee. Trump hasn’t backed out of anything, though Harris has retreated from her debate with JD Vance if we want to play this silly game. 

The media and some Democrats trying to sell the narrative that Trump is afraid to debate Kamala is only adding more hot air to buoy this vapid woman. It will make her potential destruction on the debate stage even more devastating since there is no third bite of the apple. Trump must find someone in his debate prep who can get under his skin and get used to it when the vice president thinks she does it. It’s like water rolling off a rock or tech suit since the 2024 Summer Olympics are happening. The former president must be as cool as a cucumber when Harris attacks him on that stage, keeping the persona he masterfully adopted when Biden imploded. Then, redirect in a calm, presidential way and keep her away from the scripted attacks; Kamala is lost without her talking points. If Trump can make her enter word salad territory and keep her there, it’s the ballgame. 

But if we lose this election to Harris—everyone in the GOP should be fired. And something new should be put in its place. It’s our election to lose still. And it’s a shame that a woman as unqualified, messy, and chaotic as Harris is riding this high. Can Trump detonate her candidacy as he did with Biden, or will she implode alone? With Iran pushing us toward war in the Middle East and the markets melting down, will the media press on what a “President Kamala” would do? They should, but the vice president has decided to avoid the press because we all know she would say something that carries the risk of making us all dumber.  

Trudeau's Immigration Minister Personally Signed Citizenship Papers for ISIS Terrorist

 We have just learned a shocking and deeply troubling revelation that demands your immediate attention and the resignation of senior Trudeau cabinet ministers.

Ahmed Fouad Mostafa Eldidi, a 62-year-old Toronto resident recently arrested for planning a terrorist attack in Canada, was granted citizenship despite allegations of his involvement in an ISIS beheading before he immigrated to Canada. Even more alarming, we have discovered that Justin Trudeau's own Immigration Minister personally signed Eldidi's citizenship papers.

The Details:

• Eldidi and his 26-year-old son, Mostafa, were arrested at a hotel north of Toronto while allegedly preparing to launch a terrorist attack for ISIS.
• Authorities seized a machete and an axe from them.
• The Trudeau Liberals have declined to explain how Eldidi, with such a dangerous background, was allowed into our country.
• The Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) and other officials are passing the buck, leaving Canadians in the dark.
• Critical Revelation: Trudeau's Immigration Minister personally signed the citizenship papers, allowing a known terrorist to gain Canadian citizenship.

The Threat: This terrifying incident highlights the catastrophic failures and dangerous oversight in Trudeau's immigration policies, which have recklessly endangered Canadians. Every year, nearly 500,000 permanent residents are brought into Canada under policies that clearly lack stringent security measures.

Kamala Can’t Win

by Josiah Lippincott for American Greatness

Megan Thee Stallion can twerk all she wants, but Kamala Harris remains the weakest Democratic presidential candidate since Walter Mondale.

The conservative influencers despairing at the apparent “energy” behind the DNC’s astroturfed social media rollout for Harris are in error. This race is Trump’s to lose. Kamala has no shot at legitimately winning the 2024 Presidential election. 

She is an absurd candidate running a ridiculous campaign. She is clearly not the consensus pick of the Democratic party for the presidency. We know this because no voter ever cast a ballot for her in the primary. Moreover, her appearance in the race is entirely inorganic—the product of Democrat insiders deposing the sitting president from running again for an office he very much insisted he should hang onto. 

Kamala is not a legitimate candidate for President. She is not popular. She is not inspiring. She has no base of support. She has no cogent policy proposals to better the country. She is a terrible public speaker with little to no grasp of national politics. She was airdropped into the 2024 campaign because her boss couldn’t string together a coherent sentence. She was selected as VP in the first place because she is a Black woman. 

Should the DC regime install Kamala, it will mean the end of our constitutional order and of free and fair elections. Kamala cannot legitimately win the presidency. Should the media declare her the winner on November 6, it would be an absurdity on the scale of journalists insisting that North Korean elections are free and fair.

Kamala’s campaign is the ultimate ritual humiliation for the American electorate. The 2020 results were bad enough. The DNC coup to remove Biden from the 2024 ticket was a stunning public admission that he was never the “most popular candidate” of all time and that the 81 million “votes” he “won” in 2020 were a mirage cooked up by ballot-harvesting, COVID protocols, and outright fraud.

American voters stomached, barely, that illegitimate result because Trump always had the potential to come back. As long as there was a reasonable possibility of Trump winning, voters were willing to tolerate the absurdity of the Biden “victory.” The legitimacy of the American electoral system therefore rests entirely on Trump’s shoulders.

The regime cannot survive the installation of another astroturfed and unpopular political leader into the highest office in the land. The weight of the sheer ridiculousness of it all will bring faith in our system of government crashing to the ground.

No reasonable person can believe that Kamala has any shot in this race. The entire Democrat campaign for the presidency has had to retool on the fly—they need new signs, a new rally schedule, and a new message—with only a dozen weeks to go in the race. Kamala possesses the worst of both worlds. As vice president, she both completely owns the legacy of the current administration but also has no real policy accomplishments to point to. Her brief foray as “border czar” was an unmitigated disaster

Harris has no real contact with voters either. In the 2020 Democratic primary, Kamala did so badly in early polls and was beaten so soundly by Tulsi Gabbardin an early debate that she had to drop out before voting in Iowa even occurred.

Kamala Harris isn’t just bad with voters; even her closest allies and staff dislike her. As California attorney general, she insisted that her subordinates greet her every day with a “Good Morning, General” and refused to engage with low-level employees. Her office as vice president was known to be a hive of discontent with an extremely high turnover rate.

Harris is a political radical once labeled the most liberal senator by GovTrack. She raised bail money for communist rioters during the 2020 riots. She supports gun confiscation and giving free healthcare to illegals. This isn’t popular among any significant sector of the American electorate. 

As it stands now, only a few thousand voters have even seen Kamala in person as a candidate. I have yet to see a single yard sign with her name on it anywhere I go here in Michigan. She is behind the power curve by months. Trump has already made multiple enormous public appearances in all of the swing states. Kamala isn’t even close to that kind of ground game. 

Whatever anyone in the media might say, politicians actually need to campaign. Kamala Harris cannot simply argue that she can win a national election by simply existing. The media already did that with Biden in 2020, with terrible results for Americans’ faith in our democratic form of government. 

Not only is Kamala a train wreck in her own right, but Donald Trump has never been more popular than he is right now. The lawfare cases against him are in freefall. His rallies have never been bigger, his message has never been sharper, and his supporters have never been more vocal. Major Silicon Valley figures and investors like Elon Musk are lining up behind Trump

To top it all off, Trump miraculously survived an assassination attempt on live television in heroic fashion. Trump’s enormous display of physical courage in the aftermath is one of the most iconic images in American electoral history. His chant of “fight, fight, fight” continues to energize his supporters.

The media and DNC can pretend that didn’t happen, but voters will remember Trump’s awe-inspiring display of virtue.

Trump is an unstoppable force in American politics. He has enormous support from the American middle and working class. His signs dot the landscape. The lines for his rallies stretch for miles outside of every venue where he speaks. 

Kamala doesn’t stand a chance. Only outright fraud could possibly elevate her to the presidency, and that move would instantly destroy the last pillar of legitimacy holding up our political order.

Kamala is a line in the sand. If she can be installed in the presidency, then there is no reason to keep holding elections; the DNC and its media apparatchiks can simply make or break the presidency with a snap of the fingers. In this scenario, there is no longer any reason for patriotic Americans to serve or support the regime in DC. They must withdraw their consent and search for new guards for their future security. 

The 2024 Trump campaign sent the liberal hivemind into fits of hysteria. There is nothing these people wouldn’t do in order to keep Trump and his centrist policies of preserving our sovereignty and national renewal out of the White House. This is a deeply unstable time in American life. 

We can be certain of one thing, however: Kamala is not going to win a fair election in November. It is impossible.

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Media Are Waging An All-Out War On J.D. Vance Because Of His Pro-Family Policies

Vance believes that the tax burden should be lighter on young parents, who are rearing the next generation of social capital.

Robert W. Patterson reporting for The Federalist

When labor champion Theodore Roosevelt became president after William McKinley succumbed to an assassin’s bullets, establishment kingmakers such as Sen. Mark Hanna, R-Ohio, went into shock. Equally threatened when Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016, the monied class suffered another coronary after the former president named Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, his running mate three weeks ago, sealing his commitment to remake the GOP into a working-class coalition.

Fearful of losing their grip on the party, the editors of The Wall Street Journal (along with anonymous GOP-establishment backbiters) joined the corporate media and Kamala Harris’ desperate campaign in smearing Ohio’s junior senator the last two weeks. The latter two manufactured chattering-class outrage over his 2021 observation that certain high-profile Democratic officeholders, whom he deemed “childless cat ladies,” did not have a direct physical stake in the country, claiming the remark offended American women.

The Journal admonished the combat Marine for disrespecting “people who make different life choices,” even as his admitted sarcasm was limited to a few Democrats currently running the country, surely fair game during election season. Indeed, as Vance explicitly clarified in another venue at the same time, he was not disparaging childless women in general, including those who may not long to wed and bear children, or those who struggle to conceive.

Yet Vance’s real offense, per the Wall Street-K Street axis of power: his belief that the tax burden should be lighter on young parents but relatively heavier on their peers who are not rearing the next generation of social capital, a position that free-market fundamentalists find appalling. Family considerations, the Journal fears, create “complications that add distortions” to the tax code. Steeped in discredited supply-side economic theories, Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper of record has for decades claimed the popular child tax credit, which Vance wants to expand and make permanent, also smacks of social engineering, and now adds the bipartisan provision is “bad politics.”

Family-Centered Economics

Longing for a return to pre-Trump days, these skeptics conveniently forget that the Midwesterner’s instincts find root in American policy. It was President Ronald Reagan’s appointees to the National Commission on Children that persuaded the bipartisan panel chaired by Sen. John Rockefeller IV, D-W.Va., to recommend the creation of a $1,000 per-child tax credit for all youngsters through age 18, which a Republican Congress scaled back but nonetheless adopted under Bill Clinton.

Just as the same Beltway conservative groupthink ignores that the Party of Lincoln was founded on tariffs and industrial policies that made America great, it likewise overlooks that Theodore Roosevelt went further than Vance’s family-centered economics. In his last book, The Foes of Our Own Household, the 26th president argued: “In taxation, the rate should be immensely heavier on the childless and on the families with one or two children, while an equally heavy discrimination should lie in favor of the family with over three children.”

Inspired by the father of six, the 1948 Congress upped an already progressive tax code not in terms of income but by marital and parental status. Overriding President Harry S. Truman’s veto, the GOP delivered tax reforms for working- and middle-class families by favoring wedlock over divorce and singleness, fertility over childlessness, and married households over all other living arrangements via full-income splitting and generous personal and dependent exemptions. While the Journal recently dismissed such statecraft as mean-spirited culture warring, TR and the GOP in its better days championed winning policies that helped spur the Baby Boom and create Henry Luce’s American Century.

The destructive and treacherous backbiting from party insiders is not new. The slandering of Vance started at least a month ago, as Murdoch and his newspapers’ editors lobbied Trump to pick anyone but the Buckeye native; they recognized the veep selection would signal the party’s future. What surprises is the convergence of the Journal and the Democrats’ standard-bearer on social and economic issues.

The Establishment’s Agenda

In attacking Vance, the Harris campaign has now effectively called for repealing the child tax credit, while gaining the financial backing of billionaires who want Harris, if she wins, to fire Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan for restoring antitrust enforcement and to cease the Biden’s administration continuation of Trump’s tariffs. Sounds strikingly similar to the GOP’s old-guard agenda.

It’s almost as if Murdoch and his minions secretly want Trump-Vance to go down in flames. Their trashing of the national ticket suggests they would prefer to lose an election on terms they set rather than win one under priorities championed by Trump. It’s all about control of conservative institutions and the party structure going forward.

No wonder the GOP remains the Stupid Party, like the Conservative Party across the pond. As former Trump speechwriter Frank Buckley laments, it’s “legal fiction” to think elected Republicans share “the same political party.” Per his accounting, we’ve got Trump’s national or presidential party (broadcast from Milwaukee two weeks ago), representing the voting class, vying against congressional party factions — from the Main Street Partnership and Freedom Caucus to maverick senators making a name for themselves — captive to the donor class.

Unlike the unified Democrats, who quickly circled the wagons around a vulnerable Harris, and whose raison d’être is social liberalism or cultural Marxism, the GOP doesn’t know what to stand for, with insiders piling on Vance, afraid of being consigned to the dust heap of political history.

But if the Trump-Vance team can break through the all-out media war against the ticket, a full-court press being cheered on by GOP saboteurs, the Republicans will not only win back the White House but also ensure a future for the party and country that would make Theodore Roosevelt proud.

Zelensky Cuts Oil Supply to Hungary and Slovakia

Poster's comment:  Why people aren't going to vote themselves out of this anymore, they've amassed too much power and ruling by persistent fear is the new "paradigm" moving forward. When Poland and Hungry went up against the globalist and their demands to use parts of funding, taxpayer funded funding at that, to invest in renewables, the EU withheld two billion in covid funds, and somehow mysteriously every fish in a major waterway somehow died.  Hungry had to finally relent after billions in aid was withheld from them for refusing to use parts of the funds for renewables.  This is how they intent to play the game.  You may think, this is Europe not the US, but we are moving in that direction, it just a matter of time.  Don't like women getting abortions in your state, no federal funding, don't like gay marriage, no federal funding, don't like men in women's sports, no federal funding, don't want to accept a man can be a woman and vice versa, no federal funding. Don't want to invest in renewables, no federal funding.  This is what happens when the elites have figured out a way to equalize your vote to theirs, even if you want to be in denial of it now, you'll find once you can't vote your way out of it anymore, how very true it's become.

*********** 

 In a recent video, economics and geopolitics YouTuber Lena Petrova discusses a significant move by Ukraine, supported by the European Union, to cut off the oil supply to Hungary and Slovakia. This decision is seen as part of a broader geopolitical strategy amidst tensions in Europe, particularly in light of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s peace initiatives, which challenge the prevailing narrative on the Ukraine conflict.

As Lena Petrova highlights, energy security is becoming a critical issue in Europe, especially with persistent high inflation and the increased cost of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States. These factors are expected to put pressure on EU consumers this winter. The recent decision to cut oil supplies is a strategic move with potential repercussions for the economies of Hungary and Slovakia, which are already feeling the strain of rising energy costs.

Petrova suggests that Hungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, is being punished by the EU for his diplomatic efforts to promote peace between Russia and Ukraine. Orban’s historic peace mission, which included visits to Kyiv, Moscow, Beijing, and Washington, stands in contrast to the EU’s more aggressive stance. Ukraine, with EU backing, has halted the transport of Russian oil through the Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline, a critical supply route for Hungary and Slovakia.

According to Lena Petrova, the actions against Hungary and Slovakia reflect a broader reluctance to engage in diplomatic solutions within the EU. Petrova criticizes the stigmatization of peace and negotiation efforts, noting that the EU’s current approach is a departure from its past practices of encouraging dialogue and diplomacy in conflict resolution.

The decision to cut oil supplies affects both Hungary and Slovakia significantly. Slovakia’s Prime Minister, Robert Fico, who also advocates for negotiation and peace, has been vocal about the detrimental impact of this move. According to Petrova, Slovakia relies heavily on diesel fuel supplies from Ukraine and has made it clear that these shipments will cease unless the oil flow through the Druzhba pipeline is restored.

Petrova argues that the decision to sever ties with Hungary and Slovakia as winter approaches is unwise, particularly for Ukraine. The loss of transit royalties from the pipeline represents a significant revenue stream for Kyiv, which is already facing economic difficulties. The move is seen as a decision made at the expense of Ukrainian citizens, further exacerbating the country’s financial challenges.

In response to the oil supply cut, Hungary is preparing to take retaliatory measures. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has announced that Hungary will not approve €6.5 billion from the EU’s Peace Facility Fund for weapons to Ukraine unless the EU pressures Kyiv to resume oil transit. This standoff highlights the complex interplay of energy politics and diplomatic relations within the EU.

Petrova notes that Ukraine’s actions are reportedly coordinated with Brussels, indicating a unified EU stance on this issue. However, the lack of oil flow to Hungary and Slovakia raises questions about the EU’s willingness to compromise energy security for political objectives. The move has sparked discussions about the EU’s commitment to its member states’ economic stability.

The situation underscores the challenges facing Europe as it navigates energy security, political alliances, and economic stability. Petrova argues that the EU’s approach could have long-term consequences, not only for Hungary and Slovakia but also for Ukraine, which is already grappling with significant debt and economic instability.

In conclusion, Lena Petrova’s analysis sheds light on the geopolitical dynamics at play in Europe as Ukraine and the EU make strategic moves that affect energy supplies to Hungary and Slovakia. The decision to cut off oil supplies is a complex issue with far-reaching implications, highlighting the intricate balance between diplomacy, energy security, and political alliances in the region. As winter approaches, the consequences of these actions will become increasingly apparent, raising questions about the future of EU-Ukrainian relations and the broader geopolitical landscape.

Zelensky Cuts Oil Supply to Hungary and Slovakia (msn.com)

America's Agricultural Workers and Immigration: A Changing Landscape

 Farm workers are essential to America’s critical food infrastructure. Despite abundant and fertile land, our food supply of fresh fruit and vegetables relies increasingly on imported produce as labor shortages in the crop production industry persist. 

To shed more light on this worrying trend, we analyzed data from the United States Department of Agriculture and American Community Survey on the U.S.’ fruit and vegetable supply, on the workers who harvest these crops, and the trends affecting America’s agriculture industry over the past decade. We find that immigrants play a crucial role in our nation’s food supply chain, and they will continue to do so as essential workers harvesting America’s fruits and vegetables.

Generally, the overall availability and market for fruits and vegetables has increased for the past three decades. Most of this increase is due to population growth and increased consumer demand for fresh produce. In fact, over the past two decades, rather than increasing the home grown supply of fruit and vegetables, the U.S. has increasingly relied on imported produce to meet consumers’ demands.

The share of imported fresh fruit sold in the United States has more than doubled

Nearly 43%, or 12.5 billion lbs, of the United States’ fresh fruit supply, excluding bananas, which have always been nearly all grown abroad, was imported in 2019. That’s more than twice the share of fresh fruit that was imported in 2000, when only 20.1% was imported. Today, in addition to bananas, some fruits are now almost all completely imported. For instance, less than one percent of pineapples, ten percent of avocados, and thirty percent of raspberries are grown in the U.S. Increased dependence on imported fruits and vegetables not only decreases American food security, but it also has an economic cost. 

Vegetable imports have also increased significantly

Similar to our fruit supply, over 31% of the fresh vegetables consumed in the United States in 2019 were imported (16 billion lbs). This is 50% higher than the share of vegetables that were imported into the United States in 2000. Today, six in ten tomatoes and 99% of asparagus come from outside the United States.

Similar to our fruit supply, over 31% of the fresh vegetables consumed in the United States in 2019 were imported (16 billion lbs). This is 50% higher than the share of vegetables that were imported into the United States in 2000. Today, six in ten tomatoes and 99% of asparagus come from outside the United States.

As vegetable and fruit imports increase, the amount of U.S. land dedicated to farming fruits and vegetables has shrunk.

According to the USDA Farm Census, over 7.5 million acres were used to harvest fresh fruits and vegetables, excluding potatoes in 2002. Over 56% were devoted to vegetables.

By 2017, farmland used for fruit and vegetables declined by 6.7%. The biggest decrease was in the citrus industry, which saw a 17% drop in acres farmed.

Fruit and vegetable crop production has high labor costs.

Compared to other parts of the agriculture industry, fruit and vegetable production is burdened by with high labor costs. For most farms, labor costs are equal to approximately 10% of total farm income. For fruit farms, the share of the labor cost is nearly three times higher (27.7%), and vegetable production is over two times higher (23.1%).

On top of this, high labor costs have continued to rise and are expected to rise even more due to an aging crop production workforce and a decline in younger workers interested in working in fruit and vegetable harvesting.

Wages for crop workers have far outpaced even those for college graduates.

Although the overall number of farm workers in the U.S. has stabilized, rapid wage growth among crop workers suggests that there are still not enough farm workers to meet demand. To determine the size of labor costs and the crop worker shortage, we took average wage growth for crop workers from USDA survey data and salary data from the the U.S. Census Current Population Survey from 2005 to 2020.During this time, crop worker wages grew faster than the wage growth of high school graduates and college graduates. Wages for crop workers even outstripped college graduates in the top 10 percent of earners, a group whose skills were in particularly high demand during this time.

In 2019, almost 57 percent of crop production workers were immigrants.

Despite difficulties estimating the number of immigrant crop workers due to the seasonal nature of farm work, using data from the American Community Survey, we estimate that the share of workers that were foreign-born has decreased slightly since 2014, which was 61.4%. This decrease is consistent with other data sources that have shown a decrease in migrant farm workers and younger farm workers, likely due to a decrease in the undocumented population in the United States.

Today, undocumented immigrants make up nearly 31% of crop production workers. Given the trends just discussed, the number of undocumented has also been been decreasing for the past few years.

America’s immigrant farm workers

The current agriculture labor shortage is exacerbated by the fact that younger immigrants are not taking on crop production jobs. This has caused the average age of the farm worker labor force to increase. Since 2006, the average age of immigrant crop workers rose by 6 years. Today, the average age among foreign-born agricultural workers is 41.6 years old. Meanwhile, the average age of their U.S. born counterparts is 36.7. In addition to the economic impacts of an aging workforce, there are many health implications for these essential workers who face risks from COVID infection and heat stress from rising temperatures due to climate change. 

The number of temporary farm worker visas has nearly tripled in ten years.

The H2-A visa program was created to help agricultural employers hire seasonal workers to grow and harvest their crops. The program limits visa holders to 10 months to work in the U.S. for an authorized employer. Although the number of undocumented crop workers has decreased the past few years, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, the number of H2-A farm workers has nearly tripled since 2010.

The states to see the largest increases were Florida, California, Georgia, Washington, and Michigan, which were all at least 5 times higher than their 2010 count. The fresh produce most specified in H2-A visa applications were all fruits that need gentle handling: apples, blueberries, and strawberries.

In Major Antitrust Case, Judge Finds Google’s Search And Ads Monopolies Illegal

Jordan Boyd reporting for The Federalist 

In a ruling that likely carries big implications for the future of several other Big Tech antitrust lawsuits, a federal judge found Google abused its amassed power to illegally dominate at least two U.S. search and advertising product markets.

U.S. District Judge of the Washington D.C. District Court, Amit Mehta, decided Monday that Google’s attempt to secure exclusive distribution agreements that guaranteed it would be users’ default search engine amounts to monopolistic behavior that deserves rebuke.

y paying smartphone and web browsing companies such as Apple and Samsung tens of billions of dollars, the Alphabet technology company violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act, which prohibits unfair monopolies, and harmed competitors’ abilities to make gains in both the general search services and general text advertising markets.

“After having carefully considered and weighed the witness testimony and evidence, the court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” Mehta wrote in the 277-page ruling.

The lawsuit, first brought by former President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice and 11 state attorneys general in 2020, alleged that Google, “one of the wealthiest companies on the planet” with a track record of censorship, became a “monopoly gatekeeper to the internet for billions of users and countless advertisers worldwide.”

“For years, Google has accounted for almost 90 percent of all search queries in the United States and has used anticompetitive tactics to maintain and extend its monopolies in search and search advertising,” the DOJ press release stated. “As alleged in the Complaint, Google has entered into a series of exclusionary agreements that collectively lock up the primary avenues through which users access search engines, and thus the internet, by requiring that Google be set as the preset default general search engine on billions of mobile devices and computers worldwide and, in many cases, prohibiting preinstallation of a competitor.”

During the weeks-long trial, Google’s legal team and CEO Sundar Pichai repeatedly argued that they simply maintained an edge on search engine technology that other companies could not rival. Mehta, however, disagreed stating that the current system “puts rivals in no position to compete with Google for the increased ad revenue that accompanies greater query volume.”

He noted that Google went to great lengths to cover up any semblance of antitrust violations and that he was “taken aback by the lengths to which Google goes to avoid creating a paper

trail for regulators and litigants” but ultimately declined to impose sanctions on the Big Tech company.

Mehta also did not immediately state any penalties or recourse for the company’s anticompetitive behavior because he wanted to first establish Google’s liability. He did, however, hint at a remedies trial, which the New York Times warned might force Google “to change the way it runs or to sell off part of its business.”

Automation threatens to replace hundreds of thousands of agri-food sector jobs: report

 One-third of agriculture jobs and one-fifth of food and beverage jobs are at risk of being replaced by automation over the next decade, according to a new study released by the Conference Board of Canada.

When combining the number of employees in Canada working in the agriculture and food and beverage manufacturing sectors, a total of 563,000 Canadians worked in those industries in 2023, according to the report. Of these, 103,665 jobs in the agriculture sector and 56,130 jobs in the food and beverage manufacturing sector are at risk of automation in the next decade.

Jobs most vulnerable to automation include repetitive labour roles, such as livestock labourers, harvesting labourers, and labourers in food and beverage processing. 

“In the agriculture industry, precision agriculture, advanced machinery, and sensor technology tools have the highest potential to automate repetitive tasks, improve efficiency, enable data-driven decision-making, and optimize resource management,” reads the report.

For the food and beverage manufacturing industry, robotics, automation, artificial intelligence, and advanced analytics have the greatest potential to increase efficiency and consistency, enable data-driven decision-making, and improve performance overall, according to the research.

While the agri-food sector employed 563,000 people in 2023, or 2.8% of Canada’s total employment, it generated $72.1 billion, contributing 3.3% to Canada’s GDP. Agriculture contributed 1.7% to the GDP, while the food and beverage manufacturing industry contributed 1.6%.

The adoption of technology will lead to an increased demand for workers with high levels of education and skills, such as cognitive skills, technological literacy, and specialized knowledge, according to the report.

Emerging roles like data scientists and software engineers are expected to grow significantly.

Despite having tens of thousands of seasonal foreign workers, job vacancies in the agriculture industry have been 11% above the country’s average over the past four years. The industry also has workers who are older than other industries and will face higher retirement rates. About 30% of the workforce is expected to retire between 2023 and 2030. 

Despite potentially losing 33% and 20% of jobs in the agriculture and food and beverage manufacturing industry by 2033, respectively, the study argued that embracing automatic and technological advancement could increase productivity and competitiveness. 

To facilitate the transition, the Conference Board of Canada offered four recommendations. 

The recommendations include investing in education and professional development programs and promoting the role of farming and food production to attract tech-focused individuals. 

The board also calls on the government and industry to support small and medium-sized farmers with in-house and manufacturing training for their staff.

Lastly, the board calls on policy-makers and industry to create initiatives that promote mentorship so that the knowledge accrued by farmers over generations is not lost.

https://tnc.news/2024/08/04/automation-threatens-agri-food-sector-jobs/

99 Illegal Aliens on Terror Watch List Released Into U.S. While Harris Served as Border Czar

Rebecca Downs reporting for Townhall 

A new report from the House Judiciary Committee, "TERROR AT OUR DOOR: HOW THE BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION’S OPEN-BORDERS POLICIES UNDERMINE NATIONAL SECURITY AND ENDANGER AMERICANS," revealed some pretty chilling findings about our crisis at the southern border thanks to the Biden-Harris administration. The report focused particularly on the national security risks posed by such failures.

From fiscal year 2021-2023, 250 illegal aliens on the terror watch list had been encountered at the southern border. At least 99 of them were released into the country. 

The repot also highlighted how potential members of ISIS were released into the country, and that they even made use of the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) One app. 

"Of the eight Tajik nationals with potential ISIS ties that ICE arrested in June 2024, three were released into the country after using the Biden-Harris-Administration’s CBP One phone application to schedule an appointment at a port of entry, four were initially encountered by Border Patrol while crossing the border, and one arrived at a port of entry without scheduling a CBP One app appointment," one bullet point in the report read. 

"The activities of that ISIS-affiliated smuggling network are far from an isolated incident, as a press report in June 2024 exposed how Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested eight illegal aliens from Tajikistan who had 'potential ties to ISIS.' According to one of the reports, '[t]he targets had all crossed the southern border and initial vetting by federal authorities didn’t turn up any negative information tied to their names,'" the report also later read. "That reality exposes the dangers of the Biden-Harris border crisis, as even potential terrorists can overcome 'vetting' at the southwest border."

"For instance, three of the aliens were released into the United States after using CBP One, a phone application 'the Biden [A]dministration created to allow migrants to book appointments to claim asylum.' The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force 'began monitoring' the eight illegal aliens as part of its investigation into 'a potential terrorist threat originating in central Europe,'" the report further explained. 

Another finding highlights concerns with how an immigration judge granted bond to a potential terrorist because that judge didn't know about such a threat.

"The Biden-Harris border crisis has exposed national security loopholes in multiple departments related to the use of classified information in immigration court proceedings. With an immigration judge granting bond to a potential terrorist earlier this year after not being told the alien was a national security threat, the nation’s Chief Immigration Judge admitted to the Committee that only about five percent of immigration judges are able to access top secret information," one bullet point read, highlighting how this is indeed a larger issue. "The official also conceded to the Committee that she 'imagine[d] there may be' gaps in the information that DHS shares with immigration judges about whether an illegal alien should be detained due to being a danger to the community or a flight risk."

"That lack of information also may explain why immigration judges granted bond to at least 27 watchlisted aliens who were encountered between ports of entry at the southwest border between fiscal years 2021 and 2023," the report also mentioned. "Additionally, at least four watchlisted aliens were granted asylum by an immigration judge, with at least two additional known or suspected terrorists having their cases terminated by an immigration judge, allowing them to remain in the U.S. indefinitely."

The Trump-Vance campaign and the RNC have been focused on highlighting Harris' failures on immigration, especially when it comes to how the vice president had such a direct role as the border czar, a title President Joe Biden bestowed upon her in March 2021. 

A post from the Trump War Room called the release of these 99 suspected terrorists "UNFORGIVABLE."

"This isn't just incompetence — it's criminal negligence," warned an email from Jake Schneider, the Rapid Response Director for the RNC. 

"Under Border Czar Kamala, illegal aliens on the terror watchlist have been encountered from at least 36 different countries — most of which hate us. In fact, tens of thousands of illegals from "countries that could present national security risks" have illegally crossed the southern border in FY2024 alone," the email continued. "Many of them were subsequently shipped to communities across the country."

Both Schneider and the press release from the Trump-Vance campaign highlighted how there are plenty of other concerns about Harris and her record, from the stock market crashing and how Biden and Harris have reacted to such concerns, to the rise in unemployment revealed in last Friday's jobs report for July, to how "U.S. economy is careening towards a Kamala Recession" and foreign policy concerns with how the "planet is teetering on the brink of World War III amid Harris-Biden's feckless foreign policy."

An email from the Trump-Vance campaign from Monday, "15 DAYS: Kamala Crashes Into a Dumpster Fire of Her Own Doing," also referenced these 99 illegal aliens on the terror watch list, highlighting a post from Fox News' Bill Melugin.

"The stock market has completely cratered and the Kamala inflation crisis continues to be a boot on the neck on every American trying to survive. We are on the brink of witnessing World War III erupt while Kamala pussyfoots around with terrorists. And the Kamala Border Crisis continues to rage on with criminals and terrorists streaming across the border wreaking havoc into every American community," a statement from Steven Cheung, the Trump Campaign Communications Director read in part.