Authored by Brad Jones and John Fredricks via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Some hospitals in Southern California are struggling with an influx of illegal immigrants amid the border crisis, while American patients are enduring longer wait times for doctor appointments due to a nursing shortage in the state, according to two health care professionals.

A health care worker at a hospital in Southern California, who asked not to be named for fear of losing her job, told The Epoch Times that “the entire health care system is just being bombarded” by a steady stream of illegal migrants in recent years.

Some migrants get hurt crossing the desert or injured climbing the border wall, while others are injured in accidents, especially when too many occupants are packed into one vehicle, said the health care worker.

Severely injured illegal migrants are often rescued by helicopter and flown to trauma centers in Southern California, she said.

“They’re falling off the wall,” she said. “They’re always flown. They’re never put in the back of an ambulance.”

With a typical helicopter rescue costing around $30,000, without factoring in the costs of medication and medical staff at the hospitals, “who pays for that?” she asked.

“Our health care system is so overwhelmed, and then add on top of that tuberculosis, COVID-19, and other diseases from all over the world,” she said.

Total U.S. apprehensions of illegal and inadmissible aliens in fiscal year 2023—from Oct. 1, 2022, to Sept. 30, 2023—were 3.2 million. In fiscal year 2022, it was more than 2.7 million. Counting “known gotaways”—those who Border Patrol agents record but don’t catch—more than 8 million illegal immigrants have entered the country in less than three years under the Biden administration.

Language Barrier

Illegal migrant patients are usually accompanied by their sponsors who advocate for them, but language barriers still pose a problem for doctors and other hospital staff, said the health care worker.

“Not everybody can speak the languages of these patients,” she said. “That’s another burden.”

Hospitals need to hire either translators or staff that can speak all the languages of the patients crossing the border from dozens of different countries, she said.

“Of course, there’s nothing wrong with learning another language or having people that can accommodate their health care,” she said. “Nobody wants to see somebody in pain or hurting in need of medicine. But, at the same time, it’s at the expense of others.”

The “others,” she said, are American patients, as well as taxpayers who are ultimately footing the bill.

Patients often have their doctor’s appointments “pushed back,” to accommodate the medical needs of illegal migrants, the health care worker said.

“They get in a lot quicker than our Veterans Affairs [VA] and retired military patients. They get in a lot faster, and they get the best care—probably better care than the VA patients do,” she said.

Typically, VA patients usually wait months to be seen by a specialist while illegal migrants who just crossed the border are seen the same week, she said.

“I’ve seen that firsthand,” she said. “We hear it from VA patients all day, every day.”

When Border Patrol agents bring patients to the hospitals, there is an “air of secrecy” that follows them.

“No one is allowed to talk to the media or public about why they are there or how they got there,” she said. “We keep them in this bubble of protection, which is the wrong approach. We should let the public know.”

The government is using “patient privacy” as a shield to hide what they’re doing.

“Patient privacy is a priority in the health care field, but when it comes to illegals, it’s branching off into elitism or a protected class,” she said.

ICE Detention Facility

An experienced doctor in Southern California, who spoke to The Epoch Times on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, said the influx of illegal migrants to San Diego and Imperial counties is “just outrageous” and the burden of care on hospitals is “overwhelming.”

He also said he is concerned about the secrecy surrounding non-government organizations, or NGOs, that are being paid to provide services to illegal migrants.

“Where’s the transparency?” he asked. “There’s been no transparency.”

The doctor said in 2020, at the outset of the pandemic, he was involved in a planned government contract for COVID testing, but it was canceled at the last minute.

“We started testing and treating patients and then … they kicked us out,”he said. “They said your contract has been terminated and replaced with some company that was from out of the area. So, they’re not even using local contractors … which takes away money, resources, and jobs from our community.”

Amid a statewide shortage of primary care doctors and nurses, the doctor said three nurse practitioners he trained at his practice were recruited with better pay and benefits to work at the Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) detention center in El Centro, Calif.

“It’s a huge place, and so there are lots of resources being used at that facility. A lot of nurse practitioners are being pulled from us,” he said. “It’s really hard to get doctors out in our area, so we have a lot of nurse-practitioners that help physicians in the community because they can see patients and prescribe medications.”

Increasingly, more patients are going to urgent care clinics because they can’t get in to see their primary care doctors, he said.

“There is a huge shortage of primary care in Imperial County,” he said. “Appointment times are weeks to months out.”

“Border cities are having to deal with the influx without having the resources. When you take from the resources that are currently available, you’re depriving the community of those resources,” the doctor said. “The unintended result is it backs up the system.”

Disease and Injuries

Tuberculosis (TB) patients, for example, can tie up hospital beds for month depending on the severity of infection, the doctor said.

“You can’t let them out, because it’s a public health issue, so they’re staying in the hospital. We had a patient stay for six months for full treatment, and the government is paying for all of it,” he said. “TB in the United States is pretty much gone except for in isolated border towns, but the rates in Imperial County are higher than I’ve ever seen anywhere, because of the influx from illegal migration.”

According to the Harvard Medical School’s Center for Global Health delivery, California’s Imperial County has reported an incidence of 38 TB cases per 100,000 people, nearly 10 times higher than the national average in the U.S., while Mexicali, Mexico—just across the border—has an incidence of 100 cases per 100,000, one of the highest rates in North America.

The center also indicates the number of TB cases are probably underreported, stating that “with more robust detection efforts, it’s likely that these rates would be much higher.”

Aside from TB and measles, sexually transmitted diseases such as, gonorrhea, syphilis, measles, and AIDS are on the rise, said the doctor.

“Very rarely do you see syphilis anymore, but cases have gone up,” he said.

Illegal migrants also need treatment for injuries from lacerations from razor wire,” the doctor said.

“They cut their hands and legs when they’re jumping the fence. They usually put a jacket or something over the razor wire, but sometimes it comes through,” he said.

Because so many medical professionals and resources have been tapped to treat illegal migrants, American patients, including military veterans have been neglected, the doctor confirmed.

“It takes forever for these VA patients to get seen at the clinic. It’s months to get appointment. There is very limited care for the veterans out here,” he said. “The VA program has been neglected as a result of having to put more money into funding for the ICE detention centers.”

Toll on Border Patrol Agents

The doctor, who also treats Border Patrol agents, said their job-related injuries “have gone through the roof.” He’s also noticed an increase in the number agents with mental health problems related to stress and anxiety.

Many agents say they’ve been taken out of the field to act as immigration processing clerks rather than doing what they were trained to do: patrol the border, he said.

“They’re really frustrated. They’re not being listened to. They’re not getting the resources they need. They feel like their hands are tied. And, they’re being silenced,” he said. “They’ve become processing agents, rather than really trying to catch the bad guys—the criminals and the drugs.”

The agents also witness the aftermath of heinous crimes, including the abuse and rape of women and girls at the hands of Mexican drug cartels.

“A lot of the girls coming across—there’s a good percentage of them that have been abused during the trek. We’ve seen a few of them. We’re talking young girls—12 years old, 13 years old—pregnant from the journey. It’s extremely sad,” he said. “And so that takes a toll … kids coming up by themselves, unaccompanied minors. You can see the human trafficking side of all of this as well. It does happen quite frequently.”

Suicides among agents have also increased. In 2022, 14 agents took their own lives, more than any other year since U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) began tracking these deaths.

“Working long hours and responding to high-stress situations, our men and women in green and blue are being pushed to their breaking point every single day,” said U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzalez in a Dec. 15 press release.

Between 2007 and 2022, CBP lost 149 people to suicide, which is “among the highest rates compared to other law enforcement agencies.”

Costs of Illegal Immigration

According to the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), a nonprofit organization that pushes for changes in immigration policy, the cost of health care for illegal immigrants in California through Medi-Cal was approximately $4.8 billion per year in 2022.

FAIR estimated the total federal medical costs for illegal immigration at more than $23.1 billion in 2022 and pegged the costs to cover unpaid hospital bills for uninsured illegal migrants at about $8.2 billion.

The total cost of illegal immigration in California was around $22.8 billion annually for education, health care, law enforcement, criminal justice system costs, welfare, and other expenditures. By comparison, the annual cost of illegal immigration in Texas in 2022 was $9.9 billion. In California, the taxpayer cost per immigrant in 2023 was $7,074 compared to Texas at $4,466.

The FAIR study estimates the gross cost of illegal immigration in the United States is $183 billion annually, up more than 35.7 percent since 2017. The cost incurred for each illegal migrant, including their U.S.-born children, has increased to $8,776 annually.

FAIR says its report covers “the full fiscal impact of illegal immigration,” and “includes the contributions of illegal aliens to the economy.”

“These include tax payments made directly to state and local jurisdictions, the federal government, as well as excise, property, and sales taxes. However, these receipts fall far short of covering the expenses incurred due to illegal immigration. Taxes paid by illegal immigrants only covered around 17.2 percent of the costs they created for American citizens,” the report states.

When the taxes paid by illegal aliens are factored in, the net cost of illegal immigration to U.S. taxpayers is $150.7 billion, according to FAIR.

As of June 2023, FAIR estimates about 16.8 million illegal migrants live in the U.S., an increase of 1.3 million since January 2022 and a 2.3 million increase since the end of 2020, indicating the illegal migrant population increased 16 percent nationwide in the first two-and-a-half years of the Biden administration.

“Illegal immigration’s annual net burden on the economy, now more than $150 billion, is greater than the annual GDP output of 15 U.S. states,” according to FAIR.

Ira Mehlman, a FAIR spokesman, told the Epoch Times that on top of the staggering costs of illegal immigration—with 12,600 illegal migrants crossing the border on Dec. 19 alone, the highest on record for a single day—the Biden administration is “playing Russian roulette with the safety and security of the American public.”

“They’re simply ignoring laws. The law explicitly says that if you were in the country illegally, you are subject to deportation, and Mayorkas has said no, just being in the country, in and of itself, is not sufficient to remove somebody,” he said. “We all expect that there will be some incompetence in government and maybe even neglect, but now what we’re seeing is overt sabotage of our immigration laws by people who were sworn to uphold those laws.”

At a press conference on Dec. 21, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre downplayed the border crisis, telling reporters the record number of illegal migrants at the southern border isn’t unusual.

“What we’re seeing here at the border, the migration flow, increased migration flows, certainly, it ebbs and flows,“ she said. “And we’re at a time of the year where we’re seeing more at the border, and it’s not unusual. This is an immigration system that has been broken for decades, and the president has taken this very seriously to try to do more.”

A Veteran’s View

Robert Hammond, a cancer patient and former Marine in Santa Ana, Calif., who retired early from his job as a school teacher because of his health, told The Epoch Times he was exposed to toxic chemicals in the water when he was stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

Mr. Hammond said he has seen doctor appointments for veterans, including his own, pushed back for months because of the border crisis.

He said he questions the Biden administration’s sense of priorities when it “coddles people who break our laws to come here, and gives them money, food, housing, clothing, [and] free medical,” but then “turns its back” on not only veterans but all American citizens.

“The people who are responsible for this are more interested in seeing us veterans die. That’s how I feel. They don’t want us because they know we won’t vote for them.” he said. “But, the people who are coming in illegally, well, there’s a good chance that they’ll vote for them. We are disposable.”

The money spent on illegal migrants should be used for better health care and cancer research to improve the quality of life of American citizens, he said.

Mr. Hammond said he’s also concerned about national security, considering the surge in suspected terrorists who have entered the country illegally during the border crisis.

With a combination of high interest rates and a slow return to office towers, the commercial real estate sector faces further declines as the new year begins. One of the most significant challenges facing office tower owners will be either repaying the full value of the loan or finding an institution, such as a regional bank, willing to offer refinancing. 

According to a new report by the Financial Times, which references data from the Mortgage Bankers Association, $117 billion in CRE office debt needs to be repaid or refinanced this year. Much of this debt is concentrated in major cities such as Manhattan, San Francisco, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

“It’s going to be a very difficult environment to be getting loans from the institutions that typically give these loans. That’s the bottom line, “Andrew Metrick, the Janet L. Yellen Professor of Finance and Management and director of the Yale Program on Financial Stability, recently said at the Alumni Real Estate Association Conference. 

The challenging environment can be attributed to several factors, including regional bank stress due to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, First Republic, and Signature Bank, among others, in the first half of 2023. The situation worsens for building owners because regional and community banks make up most of the CRE lending space. Additionally, the Federal Reserve’s most aggressive interest rate hiking cycle in decades has significantly increased the cost of borrowing.

Moody’s Analytics estimates about 605 office towers with mortgages will need financing this year. Of that, about 224 will have trouble refinancing – either because the property values have plunged and there is too much debt or perhaps a high vacancy rate. 

Meanwhile, stress is emerging as new Trepp data shows delinquencies on office loans financed by commercial mortgaged-backed securities topped 6% at the end of November, up from 1.7% a year earlier. 

Even with the low default rates, the potential losses on these loans are in the billions of dollars. A recent study by a group of US economists found that 40% of office loans on bank balance sheets were valued less than the loan amount, posing a risk for regional banks. 

“People should realize that regional banks are still very much exposed to the troubles in commercial real estate,” said Leo Huang, head of commercial real estate at Ellington Management.

Over the next three to four years, about two-thirds of the CRE space will require refinancing. With property values plunging and significantly higher interest rates, default rates will likely continue surging, causing even more trouble for exposed regional banks. 

CRE office turmoil is far from over. 

Authored by Aaron Pan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The percentage of full-time U.S. journalists who identify as Republicans has dropped significantly over the last decade, while journalists who said they are Democrats and Independents have increased, a study finds.

According to a survey by Syracuse University titled “The American Journalist Under Attack,” only 3.4 percent of journalists in 2022 identified as Republicans, compared with 36.4 percent of Democrats and 51.7 percent of Independents in the profession.

At the time the survey was concluded in April last year, 28 percent of Americans considered themselves Republicans, 28 percent identified themselves as Democrats, and 42 percent viewed themselves as Independents, according to a Gallup poll.

The survey found that the percentage of Republicans in the journalism industry has declined substantially over the decades.

In its first survey in 1971, 25.7 percent of journalists said they were Republicans. In 1982, the number dropped to 18.8 percent and further declined to 16.4 percent in 1992. It showed a slight increase in 2002 with 18 percent but plummeted to 7.1 percent in 2013 and to 3.4 percent last year.

The trend for journalists identifying as Democrats has remained relatively steady at around 35 percent over the decades. Last year’s figure of 36.4 percent marked the third-highest percentage of journalists identifying as Democrat since 1971, the survey noted.

Notably, the survey showed that 60.1 percent of journalists said journalism in the United States was headed in the wrong direction. In comparison, only 22 percent said it was going in the right direction.

“When asked about the ’most important problem facing journalism today,’ the journalists mentioned these issues most often: Declining public trust in the news media (20.8 percent); shrinking local and community news coverage (12.8 percent); perceived bias and opinion journalism (12.7 percent); fake news (9.9 percent); disrupted business model (9.3 percent).”

The survey is conducted nearly every decade and covers many topics in the journalism industry, ranging from using social media in their daily work to job satisfaction, journalists’ age, women in the journalism workplace, comparative pay between genders, and educational levels, among others.

The study was based on an online survey of 1,600 U.S. journalists in various media organizations and conducted from January to April 2022.

Public Trust in Media Declines

According to an October Gallup poll, 39 percent of Americans did not trust the mass media, while 29 percent held very little trust. Only 32 percent reported having trust in the mass media.

The poll also found sharp partisan divisions in Americans’ views of the media. Only 11 percent of Republicans trusted the media, whereas 58 percent of Democrats and 29 percent of Independents expressed a fair amount of trust in the media.

Democrats have historically placed more trust in the media overall than Republicans, but the current gap of 47 points is the smallest since 2016. Since last year, Democrats’ confidence in the media has decreased significantly, from 70 percent in 2022 to 58 percent this year.

Another Gallup poll in July found that Americans were losing confidence in U.S. institutions. In the journalism business, only 18 percent of Americans trust newspapers, and just 14 percent trust television news—two of the five worst-rated institutions.

In last year’s poll on the honesty and ethical standards across various professions, 42 percent of Americans said journalists have “very low” or “low” ethical standards, while 35 percent rated them as average and 23 percent viewed them high.

A survey from Pew Research Center revealed that journalists and the general public differ markedly with regard to their views on “both-sides-ism,” which refers to whether journalists must always look to give equal coverage to all sides of an issue.

While 55 percent of journalists in the survey insisted that every side does not always deserve equal coverage in the news, 76 percent of Americans wanted the news to cover all sides equally.

Naveen Athrappully contributed to this report 

The root origin of the controversial inclusion of trans (male) athletes in women’s sports was the argument by third-wave feminists that women and men are similarly biologically capable.  It is a trope that has infested every corner of entertainment media for years, so much so that many women have convinced themselves that it is true – Feminists really believe that males and females are physically equal.  

A cursory study of professional athletic records from almost any sport imaginable would tell them different, but woke activists have insisted on pressing the issue to the point that, in the US at least, fully developed male athletes posing as women are now crushing women’s chances to excel in multiple arenas.  

The consequences are very real, specifically in high schools and colleges where female athletes rely on athletic scholarships in order to further their education.  Multiple women have now had their scholarship prospects diminished by males claiming to be trans.  On top of this, multiple women’s sports records have also been broken by biological males because of trans inclusion.  

In 2023 we have had a number of mixed-sex sporting environments to appease the woke mob and the message should be painfully obvious by now – Women are not on par with men.  

Unfortunately, it seems a female boxing champ and notorious trash talker by the name of Claressa Shields didn’t get the memo. 

Shields has an exemplary record in women’s boxing, but this does not translate to winning against even average fighters in the male arena.

After calling out top male boxers and challenging them publicly, a video from 2018 was leaked by a little-known Latvian boxer out of Florida named Arturs Ahmetovs who knocked the female champ out clean in a sparring match.

According to Ahmetovs’ trainer, Derik Santos, the fighter had intended to keep the footage private out of respect and boxing etiquette, but became frustrated with Claressa Shields’ incessant and delusional boasting.  Santos described the situation as confusing, claiming that Shields trash talked throughout the sparring session even though she and her coach had asked the fighter to do them a favor by helping her train for a pro bout. 

Ahmetov had allegedly been asked to go easy on Shields in previous rounds and avoid hurting her.  But after her disrespectful display the fighter (with a minimal record) flattened her across the mat.        

Shields has since accused Santos of “removing padding” from Ahmetovs’ gloves, though Santos vehemently denies this. He noted that it was “just a sparring session.”  This kind of behavior has become a plague in women’s sports in the last few years (as we have seen in the WNBA and women’s soccer), and has only been tempered recently by the realization that transgender athletes are slowly but surely muscling out female competitors.  

The idea that men and women are deeply and fundamentally different on a biological level has never in the history of humanity been a contentious issue, until now.  In a move which seems like self destruction, third-wave feminists have set the stage for women to be put in harms way, in the field, on the court and in the ring all in the name of maintaining the lie of equality.      

Authored by Bill King via RealClear Wire

When I write on Social Security, I regularly have readers write and tell me the “real” problem with Social Security is that Congress has looted the Social Security trust fund and spent the money on other programs. I have as little respect for Congress as anyone and they are profligate spendthrifts, but this narrative is false.

Every year, the trustees who govern Social Security’s operations issue a Trustees’ Report. Included in that report is a cash flow statement going back to the inception of the program in 1937. It details the taxes paid into the plan, adds interest earned from the excess funds held by the system, and then subtracts the administrative costs and benefits paid.

In 69 of the 86 years since Social Security was created, the system has enjoyed a positive cash flow. This has resulted in the system building up a cushion over the years, which currently totals to about $2.7 trillion. So, where is that money?

The answer is that it is invested in U.S. bonds. Those bonds earn interest which help defray the cost of the program and in the 17 years that it ran a negative cash flow, it cashed bonds to make up the difference.

Those bonds are part of the overall debt issued by the federal government to finance its operations, albeit a relatively small amount of the total federal debt (~7-8%). Those who promote the “Congress looted Social Security” narrative have misinterpreted the use of the reserves by the federal government as part of its overall financing structure as evidence that the reserves have been used for other purposes.

Some critics go so far as to suggest that the bonds that Social Security holds are worthless and will never be repaid. This is nonsense, which is most clearly demonstrated by the fact that Social Security has redeemed over $100 billion on bonds in the last two years and in 14 other years when its cash flow went negative.

Beyond that, the market for U.S. securities is the deepest and most liquid in the world. The federal government auctions billions in securities on a weekly basis, which are regularly oversubscribed. While many, including your correspondent, worry about the long-term fiscal trajectory of the federal government, the risk of it defaulting on bonds held by Social Security is nil.

However, some have raised a fair question as to whether investing all of Social Security’s reserves in U.S. bonds is the best investment strategy. The interest rate paid on the bonds is determined by a formula adopted by Congress in 1960. It uses a rolling average of the rate on all U.S. bonds with maturities longer than four years. My rough calculation indicates this has resulted in about a 5.2% average yield since 1960. Currently, the rate is much lower because interest rates have been so low for the last decade, notwithstanding the increase in rates over the last year. According to Social Security Administration data, the average return for 2022 was 2.35%.

In contrast, the S&P 500 index has returned 10.15% since 1960. If the reserves had been invested in the S&P 500 during that time, the reserve balance today would be something around $30 trillion and we would not be facing any shortfall for decades. Of course, investing the reserve funds in stocks or other alternative investments would be hugely controversial and involve significant risks to the fund. Nonetheless, it would appear that a more diversified investment strategy would relieve some of the pressure on the system. (This is not a novel concept. George W. Bush proposed it in 2005 – and it was hardly a new idea then. The politics, though, are tougher than just crunching the numbers.)

But the real problem with the promotion of narratives like “Congress looted Social Security” is that they divert attention away from the real demographic problem that will continue to plague the system in the coming decades. How society will provide for its older citizens, and probably even what it means to be “retired,” is going to require a complete reset from our current notions. The sooner we accept the math of that new reality and begin to change our system and expectations, the less painful the transition will be.

A North Carolina pastor was arrested for assault and battery after allegedly walking into a McDonald’s and assaulting a cook who ‘disrespected’ his wife, according to a police report of the incident.

The man, 57-year-old Dwayne Waden, allegedly placed his hands around the cook’s neck, then pushed the cook toward the deep fryer and punched him in the face on December 28.

The victim “suffered a large contusion to the forehead and right eye, along with scratches on his neck, CBS News reports.

Officers were able to see footage from a surveillance video of the altercation. Waden, whose Facebook profile identifies him as pastor of Elevated Life International Ministries and a semitruck driver, was arrested on a charge of assault, according to a police report, and released on a $1,000 bond.

According to the local McDonald’s franchise, Waden’s wife is no longer with the organization, and said “the safety and security of our employees and customers is our top priority.”

Waden was transported to police headquarters, where he posted bond in the amount of $1,000. He’s due in court on Jan. 22 to face charges.

Authored by J.M. Phelps via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

More than 200 active service members and veterans have signed an open letter seeking accountability over the alleged harm caused by the Department of Defense’s (DOD) implementation of the now-rescinded COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

The open letter, published on Jan. 1, is directed to the American people, but names specific senior military leaders who the signers claim enabled lawlessness and betrayed the Constitution.

Some of the leaders specifically named in the letter include former and current joint chiefs of staff, service academy commandants, service inspectors general, and service surgeon generals.

The signatories state, “In the coming years, thousands within our network will run for Congress and seek appointments to executive branch offices, while those of us still serving on active duty will continue to put fulfilling our oaths ahead of striving for rank or position.

“For those who achieve the lawful authority to do so, we pledge to recall from retirement the military leaders who broke the law and will convene courts-martial for the crimes they committed.”

A number of the signatories are veterans who are now running for Congress and state-level political offices. These veterans also pledged to introduce legislation to seek accountability by reducing the alleged perpetrators’ retirement income to zero.

Many of the 231 signers of the letter are still on active duty. Several said they are taking on significant personal risk to stand up for what they believe in and to defend their unalienable rights that they feel have been trampled.

The Epoch Times spoke to Robert A. Green, Jr., an active duty Navy Commander and author of “Defending the Constitution Behind Enemy Lines.” As the author of the open letter, he employed the framework and phrasing of Thomas Jefferson’s words in the Declaration of Independence to address what he described as the current crisis of trust in the country’s military.

He and the other signatories hope to “rebuild trust through accountability” and signed the open letter as a way to emulate the founding fathers when they mutually pledged to each other their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor in the Declaration of Independence.

“Where our situation departs from the signers of the Declaration of Independence is that we do not seek separation,” Cmdr. Green said. “We do not want to be separated from the Constitution nor from what was handed down to us at so great a cost. Instead of separation, we want restoration through accountability.”

As a result, he said, the letter may be more appropriately called a “Declaration of Military Accountability.”

Bradley Miller, a former U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who previously served as a battalion commander in the 101st Airborne Division, said the allusions to the Declaration of Independence in the letter are “deliberate and meaningful.” According to him, the signatories of the letter “believe that we have suffered a long train of abuses that has come to a head with the unlawful COVID-19 shot mandate.”

“We would be negligent in our duty to uphold our oaths to the Constitution as well as negligible in our loyalty to our countrymen if we permitted the continued demise of one of our most hallowed institutions,” Mr. Miller said.

“For the senior leaders named, and for the thousands who were not named but who are equally complicit, I hope this [letter] is a wake-up call,” Cmdr. Green said. He went on to note that at the highest levels of military leadership, the decision-making processes are largely comprised of risk analysis and risk mitigations.

“Due to the Feres Doctrine [which prohibits service members from suing the federal government for wrongful injury or death], and the inappropriate deference paid to the Department of Defense by the legislative and judicial branches of our government, our senior leaders have rarely felt any personal risk for their decisions,” he said.

Cmdr. Green hopes the letter solidifies that “personal financial and legal risk is now part of the analysis our senior military leaders must take before deciding on policies that have implications for service members’ constitutional rights.”

Story continues below advertisement

Pledging to Seek Restoration

For Mr. Miller, the letter represents “a pledge that we, the signatories, have made with one another and also to the American people, that we will not stand idly by as our military self-destructs.”

Because of their faith in God, love of country, and oath to the Constitution, he said, “We consider it our duty to lawfully resist the concerted efforts of current military leadership to destroy the institution that has been entrusted to their charge.”

Mr. Miller said the country is witnessing “the wholesale destruction, from within, of one of our oldest and most important national institutions.” For him, “It’s not that our armed forces have decided to stand by neutral as our nation faces an onslaught of threats, but has instead become one of the greatest perpetrators in attacking the cultural fabric that has kept our republic together for two and a half centuries.”

According to Mr. Miller, the U.S. military has “a unique mission: the American people expect the people to carry out violence on its behalf.” In a series of questions, he said: “How can the people trust an institution to ethically carry out its mission if it wantonly violates the law? How can the American people trust a military that has harmed its own members, and rather than acknowledge that harm, doubles down by insisting that its course was lawful, productive, and necessary?”

The signatories are demanding “unequivocal acknowledgment of the unlawful nature of the COVID-19 shot mandate” and the harm it has caused, he said. “We demand full accountability for those responsible for perpetrating this deliberate disaster on our service members, their families, and by extension the nation, [and] we demand, inasmuch as possible, complete restitution for those harmed by this criminal activity.” Without this “complete reckoning,” he said, “our military will not recover from this ongoing nightmare.”

Mr. Miller emphasized he and the others are not advocating violence. Rather, he said, “We emphatically decry the physical and moral violence that has been inflicted on service members and their families through the unlawful mandate of these harmful injections.”

“We brook no interest in circumventing the law, [but] demand strict adherence to the law,” he said. “To this very end, we will tirelessly pursue the restoration of justice to our wayward armed forces.”

Fighting for Hope

Lt. Col. Carolyn Rocco has served over 20 years in the Air Force. For her, the letter serves two purposes. First, she said it is “a promise to the American people that there are service members who understand the significance of their oath to ‘support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.’”

Having encountered people who have expressed “feelings of hopelessness for our country’s survival,” she hopes the letter will encourage Americans to “have faith that all hope has not been lost at a time when many see the steady collapse of morals, character, and justice among politicians and military leaders alike.” According to her, “courage is contagious,” and she hopes the letter motivates the people of America.

Second, Lt. Col. Rocco said, the letter is “a way to inform the military leaders that the elephant in the room—the negative effects of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate—is not going away until accountability is had.”

“While many want to sweep it under the rug and press on as if the last two years did not happen,” she said, “that is not how it’s going to go, unfortunately.” She cited the lowest recruiting numbers since the 1970s as “evidence of the disaster the DOD is in.”

Senior leaders of the military, she said, were warned about “the grave dangers a vax mandate would have on the force,” but these warnings were ignored. “Making a public proclamation might make them realize this is a serious issue that will not be ignored.”

“Trust has been broken, and moral, emotional, and physical damage has been done,” Lt. Col. Rocco said. “The tens of thousands of us who were directly impacted, as well as our communities who witnessed the atrocity known as the DOD COVID-19 vaccine mandate, are the ones who are encouraging those we love to not join the military until it returns to an institution of honor and morals and becomes apolitical once again.”

“That will not happen until a formal and public apology is made, acknowledging what was done to thousands of service members was immoral, unethical, and unlawful,” she said.

“Those of us who signed this memo have made a promise to each other, as well as to the airmen, guardians, soldiers, sailors, marines, coasties, and American people, that we will not stop fighting for truth, justice, and most of all, accountability,” she said.

Cmdr. Green and Lt. Col. Rocco emphasized that their views don’t reflect those of the Department of Defense, the Department of the Navy, or the Department of the Air Force. Officials at the Pentagon didn’t respond by press time to requests by The Epoch Times for comment.

Authored by Nathan Worcester via The Epoch Times,

As the new year kicks off, political campaigns hit top gear to keep their candidate in the race.

The early primaries and caucuses will certainly weed out struggling candidates, although the most likely major party nominees are already clear cut—President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

1. When Does Primary Season Start and End?

The first big in-person event will be Iowa’s Republican caucus, which will take place on Jan. 15, 2024.

The state’s Democratic presidential preference voting technically starts earlier, as the party has chosen to use 100 percent mail-in voting this year.

Iowa Democrats can request voting cards from Jan. 12 through Feb. 19, and completed cards must be postmarked by March 5, with the results being released later that same day, also known as “Super Tuesday.”

Iowa Democrats will hold their in-person caucuses the same day as Republicans, on Jan. 15, but they’ll conduct only local party business. It’s a compromise with the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) commitment to make South Carolina’s primary, which will be held on Feb. 3, the first in the nation.

Although the DNC wanted South Carolina’s primary to come first, New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation status is enshrined in its state constitution, and the state has held fast to its tradition.

Both Republicans and Democrats will hold their first primaries on Jan. 23, in New Hampshire.

A woman takes a photo at a Make America Great Again Rally with former President Donald Trump, in Manchester, N.H., on April 27, 2023. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images)

President Joe Biden didn’t file to appear on New Hampshire’s Democratic primary ballot—and the state’s noncompliance with the DNC will likely mean that it receives fewer delegates during its summer convention in Chicago.

Presidential primary season ends on June 8, when Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands stage their Democratic caucuses.

State primaries for other, nonpresidential, races continue through mid-September.

2. Will Trump Be on the Ballot?

Lawsuits in states across the country have challenged former President Donald Trump’s presence on GOP primary season ballots.

The lawsuits generally allege that he’s disqualified under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Passed after the Civil War, the amendment bars “insurrection[ists]” against the Constitution from taking office. It was originally meant to keep unreconstructed Confederates out of power. By 1872, Congress extended amnesty to most secessionists barred from office by the amendment with the Amnesty Act, which passed the Senate 38–2. A final amnesty bill for Confederates was enacted in 1898 during the McKinley administration.

So far, in Michigan, Arizona, and Colorado, judges have ruled that President Trump may remain on their state’s primary ballots.

Former President Donald Trump sits in the courtroom with his attorneys (L–R) Todd Blanche, Susan Necheles, Joe Tacopina, and Boris Epshteyn during his arraignment at the Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on April 4, 2023. (Andrew Kelly-Pool/Getty Images)

A second ruling in Colorado, on Dec. 19 by the state’s Supreme Court, overturned the lower court’s decision and in a 4–3 decision, allowed President Trump to be removed from the state’s primary ballot. The U.S. Supreme Court is likely to take up the case and settle the issue.

3. What About Democrats Other Than Biden?

Marianne Williamson, Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), and other minor Democrats are working to appear on ballots alongside President Biden.

Interestingly, in the case of the first-in-the-nation primary held in New Hampshire, President Biden’s name will be absent, as he didn’t file to appear on it.

In other states, however, the Democrat Party has left Ms. Williamson, Mr. Phillips, and other Democrats off the primary ballots. The congressman is challenging those maneuvers in Florida, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Democrats in Florida have gone as far as to cancel that state’s primary in favor of choosing President Biden to win.

(Left) Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.). (Right) Democratic presidential candidate, author Marianne Williamson. (Gaelen Morse/Getty Images, Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

4. What About Robert F. Kennedy Jr.?

Mr. Kennedy is running as an independent candidate, meaning he won’t appear on Democratic or Republican primary ballots.

As of December, he’s fighting to appear on general election ballots in each state for the Nov. 5 election.

5. Will Other Seats Be Up for Grabs?

It depends on your state. Check here to see if the presidential primary or caucus in your state takes place on the same day as the state primary or caucus.

In Alabama, for example, voters pick their preferred party candidates for president as well as other federal, state, and local candidates on March 5, with a state primary runoff scheduled for April 2, if it’s needed. But in Arizona, the March 19 presidential preference election takes place months before the state primary on Aug. 6.

6. Are Caucuses Different From Primaries?

Yes. In typical caucuses, such as the Iowa Republican caucus scheduled for Jan. 15, political parties organize local events where delegates are chosen. The ultimate outcome is a set of delegates for one or more candidates. Those men and women will support those candidates at their party’s national convention in the summer of 2024.

The delegate selection process varies from state to state and across parties. In Iowa, Republicans will gather to vote at one of more than 1,600 precinct locations across the state’s 99 counties.

Primaries are more like typical elections. Voters go to a polling place and cast a secret ballot for the candidates of their choice. Primaries are organized by state governments, not by state parties.

Guests attend a fireside chat campaign event with Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in Bettendorf, Iowa, on Dec. 18, 2023. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Early voting, absentee voting, and mail-in voting may also be options in these races. Notably, Iowa’s Democratic presidential caucus will be conducted with mail-in “presidential preference cards” and no in-person voting at all.

Depending on the state, primaries and caucuses may be open to voters who aren’t registered with the party for which they wish to select a candidate.

7. When Will My Primary or Caucus Take Place?

You can find the dates here. If you intend to vote, make a plan sooner rather than later. You might also have to register with a particular party to participate—although that varies from state to state.

8. Will New Hampshire Hold the 1st Primary?

Yes. Although the DNC wanted South Carolina’s primary to come first, New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation status is enshrined in its state constitution, and the state has held fast to its tradition.

Both Republicans and Democrats will hold their first primaries on Jan. 23, in New Hampshire. Democrats will hold their South Carolina primary on Feb. 3.

President Biden didn’t file to appear on New Hampshire’s Democratic primary ballot—and the state’s noncompliance with the DNC will likely mean that it receives fewer delegates during the party’s summer convention in Chicago.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks at a rally after signing his official paperwork for the New Hampshire primary at the New Hampshire State House in Concord, N.H., on Nov. 8, 2019. (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

9. Can I Vote in Both the Republican and Democrat Presidential Primaries?

No. You can choose only one candidate for the presidential primary or caucus, and depending on your state, you may have to be registered with that party to vote in that race.

10. How Can I Vote if I’m Registered Independent?

It depends on your state.

Some presidential primaries and caucuses are closed, meaning that you have to be registered with a particular party to vote in its presidential primary or caucus.

Others run the gamut from semi-closed to fully open; in the latter case, independent voters need not register with a party to participate in its primary or caucus. The Open Primaries website has a comprehensive breakdown of the rules across the country.

11. Who Is Likely to Win the Republican Nomination?

As of late December, President Trump is ahead in the polls and strongly favored, according to aggregated polling data on RealClearPolitics.

While he seems likely to win the primary, entrenched opposition from Never Trump Republicans and various legal issues could still derail his nomination.

Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are vying for second place in important early states, with businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and others trailing behind.

(Left) Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump. (Center) Former U.N. ambassador and Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley. (Right) Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. (Scott Eisen/Getty Images, Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images, Scott Olson/Getty Images)

12. Who Is Likely to Win the Democrats’ Nomination?

President Biden, the incumbent, isn’t seriously threatened by any of his Democratic challengers in the polls, particularly after Mr. Kennedy switched to run as an independent candidate and not as a Democrat.

If President Biden fails to appear in the general election, it would stem from unusual but not impossible circumstances; if, for instance, illness or some other event leads him to bow out in the next few months, a brokered Democratic convention could ensue. That might elevate the likes of Vice President Kamala Harris or California Gov. Gavin Newsom to the hot seat.

13. What Happens at a Convention?

National conventions are the place where both parties develop their platforms and where major politicians deliver speeches. Most importantly, they’re where the delegates from each state and territory choose their party’s presidential candidate.

In modern times, one candidate typically racks up enough delegates during the primaries for his or her status as the nominee to be clear long before the convention.

But before the widespread adoption of presidential primaries during the late 1960s and early 1970s, conventions were often the scene of long, drawn-out battles among different political factions. In 1924, it took the Democrats 103 ballots to choose their nominee, John W. Davis.

The upcoming Republican National Convention will be held in Milwaukee in July 2024. The Democratic National Convention will take place a few weeks later, in August, about 100 miles south, in Chicago.

14. What Is a Brokered Convention?

A brokered convention is one in which one candidate fails to command a majority of delegates during the first vote, or ballot.

It opens up the prospect of additional ballots and, in the case of the Democratic National Convention, participation by super delegates.

Brokered conventions weren’t uncommon before the era of mass primaries, but the last that occurred was in 1952, when Republicans and Democrats alike took multiple votes to select as their nominees Dwight D. Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson II, respectively.

Sen. Richard Nixon (2ndL), Dwight D. Eisenhower (2ndR), and their wives attend the Republican National Convention in Chicago, on July 12, 1952. (I/AFP via Getty Images)

15. What Happens on Super Tuesday?

Super Tuesday will occur on March 5, 2024.

Super Tuesday can make a big positive (or negative) difference for campaigns, as many states and territories hold caucuses and primaries that day, meaning that many delegates are off the table afterward. In 2020, it elevated the position of then-former Vice President Biden. In 2016, then-candidate Trump won by a large margin on Super Tuesday, taking seven out of 11 states.

States and territories holding elections on Super Tuesday include: Alabama, Alaska Republican presidential caucuses, American Samoa presidential caucuses, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Iowa Democratic caucus mail vote, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah Democratic presidential primary, and Republican presidential caucuses in Vermont and Virginia.

A voting sign sits outside the Burlington Electric Department in Burlington, Vt., on March 2, 2020. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

16. What Are Delegates?

Delegates are people who are sent to a political party’s national convention to help select a nominee on behalf of their party’s primary voters.

Some delegates have to support particular candidates based on the outcomes of primary or caucus elections. Others aren’t tied to specific candidates prior to the convention.

Depending on the state, Republican primaries and caucuses can award delegates proportionally, through a winner-take-all formula, or through some other approach, which can be complicated.

Minimum and maximum voting thresholds also enter the picture in many states. In Texas, for example, candidates must get at least 20 percent of the vote to get any delegates—and if a candidate gets 50 percent or more of the vote, he or she takes all of the state’s delegates.

Democrats must meet a 15 percent threshold to get delegates, although depending on the contest, it may apply to a congressional district rather than the state as a whole.

17. What Are Super Delegates?

They’re delegates that aren’t pledged to a specific candidate when they arrive at their party’s national convention; they’re also called unbound delegates by Republicans.

While super delegates have historically played a critical role in the Democratic presidential nomination process, their overwhelming support for Hillary Clinton over Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) at the 2016 Democratic Convention made them a point of contention in recent times. Pledged delegates also favored Ms. Clinton, though by a much narrower margin.

Although Democrats have retained super delegates to this day, reforms passed in 2018 have excluded them from the first ballot. They would now only come into play in the event of a brokered convention.

On the Republican side, fewer than 5 percent of delegates will be unbound at the GOP’s national convention in Milwaukee.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) acknowledges the crowd before delivering remarks at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on July 25, 2016. (Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images)

18. How Many Delegates Does a Candidate Need to Win?

They need support from most of the delegates at the convention. Again, one candidate typically commands a large majority prior to the end of the primary season.

The Green Papers estimates that the winning Republican candidate will need roughly 1,215 delegates out of 2,429 total delegates.

The same website estimates that the Democrat candidate will require 1,973 delegates during a first ballot. That doesn’t count unpledged Democratic delegates, who would come into play in any subsequent ballots. All told, there are expected to be a total of 4,691 Democratic delegates, far more than the estimated 2,429 total Republican delegates.

19. Where Do I Vote?

It could differ from your regular polling place.

You can usually find the answer on the website of the party of your preferred candidate, or on your state’s Secretary of State elections website. Here’s where you can find it for New Hampshire, for example.

If you can’t make it to the caucus site or primary polling place, you might be able to participate through early in-person voting or mail-in voting, or by casting an absentee ballot.

Check the specific rules for your primary or caucus to see what options are available where you vote.

20. Can Democrats Vote in Republican Primaries and Vice Versa?

In some states, yes; in others, no.

In states with fully open presidential primaries, people don’t have to choose a candidate from the same party under which they registered to vote. That means, for example, a registered Democrat, independent, or unaffiliated voter can vote for a Republican candidate in the primary.

Voters cast their ballots at an elementary school during the U.S. midterm election in Midlothian, Va., on Nov. 8, 2022. (Ryan M. Kelly/AFP via Getty Images)

Other states’ contests are partially open or partially closed, imposing greater restrictions on voters.

Some states hold closed primaries, which limit a voter to choosing a candidate within the same party under which they’re registered to vote. Of course, registered members of a particular party can always vote for a candidate from a different party in the November general election.

Confusingly, the rules for state primaries can differ from those of presidential primaries within the same state. The National Conference of State Legislatures website breaks it down.

21. Can I Vote in the General Election If I Skipped the Primaries?

Yes.

22. Are Caucuses or Primaries Ever Contested or Controversial?

Yes. The 2020 Iowa Democratic Caucus was famously chaotic, with results delayed by days as multiple campaigns challenged results in various precincts. Mr. Sanders edged out his rivals in the popular vote, but Pete Buttigieg came out ahead in state delegate equivalents.

The Brookings Institution, a liberal think tank, dubbed the caucus a “tragedy.”

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg speaks during a rally in Oelwein, Iowa, on Feb. 1, 2020. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

23. Do I Need to Be Registered to Vote in the Primary or Caucus?

Generally, yes, but it varies. Some states, including Illinois, permit same-day registration for primary voters, while North Dakota doesn’t require voter registration.

The National Conference of State Legislatures website outlines same-day voter registration law state by state.

24. Am I Allowed to Vote in 1 State’s Primary and Another’s General?

If you move in between, it’s possible, but it also depends on the rules in your state(s) and when you move. Out-of-state college students with dual residency across multiple states might be expected to exercise this option—for example, if they don’t register in the state where they’re going to school until after their home state’s primary or caucus.

25. Could Newsom Be the Democratic Nominee?

California’s Democratic governor won’t be on any primary or caucus ballots. Mr. Newsom has repeatedly emphasized that he isn’t running for president, telling Mr. DeSantis during their recent debate that “neither of us will be the nominee for our party in 2024.”

While that declaration would seem to rule him out, others have noted that there are other avenues open to the well-connected wine merchant. Specifically, as analyst Chuck DeVore told The Epoch Times in November, if President Biden leaves the field before Election Day, Mr. Newsom could win through a brokered Democratic convention in summer 2024.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a campaign event with Vice President Kamala Harris in San Leandro, Calif., on Sept. 8, 2021. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

26. Will There Be Any More Debates?

Yes. CNN will host a Republican presidential debate in Iowa on Jan. 10, just days ahead of the Jan. 15 GOP caucus. The network will hold another Republican presidential debate ahead of the New Hampshire primary, which takes place on Jan. 23.

In keeping with his absence from the first four debates, there’s no sign that President Trump will participate.

After the primaries, there are three presidential debates scheduled and one vice presidential debate, with the first one on Sept. 16 and the last on Oct. 9.

27. Do Other Countries Have Primaries?

Yes, many countries do, although there’s great variation from place to place; for example, some primaries are organized by political parties, while others are held by the state.

Countries ranging from South Korea to Poland to Canada hold primaries or primary-like elections.

28. Can Primaries and Caucuses Be Canceled?

Yes. Florida, for example, has canceled its Democratic primary after omitting all names but President Biden’s from its proposed ballot. The situation isn’t without precedent from both major parties.

In 2020, multiple states canceled their Republican primaries or caucuses in the midst of President Trump’s reelection campaign. The same thing happened with several Democratic primaries in 2012, when then-President Barack Obama was seeking reelection.

29. Could Trump’s Legal Trials Make a Difference?

Not so far, but it’s hard to say for sure. The events now unfolding are unprecedented in the history of U.S. presidential contests, so it’s difficult to predict.

So far, President Trump has mostly withstood attempts to remove him from primary season ballots on 14th Amendment grounds.

If there are any major rulings in his criminal trials before the Republican National Convention in July, that could complicate things, particularly if unbound GOP delegates are marshaled against the former president following a close primary season, or if other delegates revolt against him after the first ballot at the convention.

Former president Donald Trump arrives at the courtroom at the Manhattan Criminal Court in New York on April 4, 2023. (Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images)

30. When Is a Winner Likely to Emerge During the GOP Primaries?

President Trump’s strong lead over his rivals means that support could crystalize earlier rather than later. In 2016, the future president became his party’s presumptive nominee by early May after he won Indiana’s Republican primary and his chief rival, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), dropped out.

This time, as of mid-December, the president is far ahead of his competitors in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada in polls aggregated by RealClearPolitics.

31. What’s Happening With the Nevada GOP Primary?

The state will hold both a state-organized Republican primary and a caucus organized by the Nevada Republican Party. Most, but not all, big-name Republican candidates are boycotting that primary, which takes place on Feb. 6, in favor of the caucus, which takes place on Feb. 8.

The caucus has been, up until recently, a decades-old tradition in the Silver State. But Nevada’s Democrat-controlled state Legislature adopted a primary system after the 2020 election. The state’s Republican Party filed a lawsuit against the state to retain its caucus.

Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar said his state is required to hold a primary once two candidates register for it. By October, two Republicans had registered. Ms. Haley opted for the primary ballot, along with several little-known candidates.

“Candidates that chose to appear on the state-run primary ballot did so knowing that decision meant they could not earn delegates by appearing on the caucus ballots,” the state GOP website states.

President Trump, Mr. DeSantis, Mr. Ramaswamy, Texas businessman and pastor Ryan Binkley, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are on the caucus ballot.

Nevada will also hold a Democratic presidential primary on Feb. 8.

Turkey has busted up what it says is a major Israeli spy plot on its soil, having arrested 34 suspects on Wednesday, alleged to have been plotting attacks on foreigners in Turkey, namely Hamas operatives.

In total 46 arrest warrants were issued, with the Chief Prosecutor’s Office in Istanbul says ongoing efforts are underway to capture the remain suspects at large. The are all suspected of conducing espionage activities specifically on behalf of the Mossad intelligence agency.

According to statements in Turkish media, “The investigation found that Israeli intelligence was behind activities targeting foreigners residing in Türkiye, from reconnaissance to assaults and abduction attempts.”

However, “No other details are available regarding the investigation, but Mossad was implicated in the past in investigations about attempts to kidnap Palestinians living in Türkiye.”

Indeed Hamas operatives and some of the group’s leadership have long been known to hide out and conduct business in Turkey. Israel has recently vowed to pursued the group’s leadership abroad, possibly in a Munich-style assassination campaign.

In early December, Turkish Intelligence warned of “serious consequences” if Israeli agents try to seek Hamas members abroad, or especially on Turkish soil. This had been in response to provocative words issued by Ronen Bar, head of Israel’s domestic security agency Shin Bet. He had said at the time, “The cabinet has set us a goal, in street talk, to eliminate Hamas. This is our Munich. We will do this everywhere, in Gaza, in the West Bank, in Lebanon, in Turkey, in Qatar.” 

Since then, Israel-Turkey relations have deteriorated, almost to the point of complete breakage in official diplomatic relations. President Erdogan has even recently liked his Israeli counterpart PM Netanyahu to Hitler. 

As for this current ‘spy round-up’ – Turkish authorities say hundreds of thousands in cash has already been recovered, as well as weapons and munitions: 

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya shared a video of operations jointly carried out by police and the National Intelligence Organization (MIT). On a social media post, Yerlikaya said an investigation into international espionage activities led to the operations. “We will not allow espionage targeting our national unity,” Yerlikaya said. The minister said authorities discovered more than 143,000 euros ($157,300) and more than $23,000 in the possession of suspects, along with one pistol and a large amount of munitions.

But in this atmosphere of weekly tit-for-tat denunciations and angry diplomatic displays between Israel and Turkey, it’s also easy to imagine that the arrest of 34 “Mossad spies” is all an exaggerated or even wholly fabricated event being choreographed by Ankara to generate headlines and further trash Israel’s reputation.

#Turkey Hundreds of thousands of people participate in a march in Istanbul, in support of Palestinians amid Israel’s attacks on besieged #Gaza.

”Killer Israel, get out of Palestine,” “Our blood, our lives sacrificed for Al Aqsa,” and “Greetings to Hamas”pic.twitter.com/jb7PDXBP94

— WORLD AT WAR (@World_At_War_6) January 1, 2024

Turkey arresting what are alleged to be Israeli spies and putting them on trial has been somewhat of a recurring event, going back to well before the current Gaza war. A senior Turkish intelligence officer warned on Monday, “In line with our earlier warning that any attempt to operate illegally in Turkey would have grave consequences, we discourage all relevant parties from engaging in similar activities.”

Authored by Bob Bishop via AmericanThinker.com,

The 2021 National Defense Authorization Act created the Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting rule to ostensibly target money laundering.

Beginning January 1, 2024, the Act mandates U.S. companies, regardless of size, to register their beneficial and controlling owners with the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). FinCEN claims the corporate ownership database will be used exclusively to identify anonymous shell companies involved in money laundering and terrorist activities. Once again, like the Patriot Act, it grants surveillance powers violating the Constitution. There is no provision for judicial oversight to protect individual rights as if that ever mattered.

Reporting requirements apply to an estimated 33 million reporting companies defined as corporations, limited liability corporations, or similar entities. There are twenty-three categories of companies that are exempt from reporting. They are nonprofits, banks, insurance companies, investment funds, public companies, broker-dealers, public accounting firms, money-transmitting businesses, and existing shell companies with no foreign owners, assets, or active businesses.

The main scope is Main Street businesses like small owner-operated businesses like restaurateurs, construction trades, professional service organizations, retailers, and other privately owned businesses. Reporting requirements take effect in 2024 for newly-formed entities and on January 1, 2025, for existing entities.

The law imposes its heaviest burdens on law-abiding U.S. citizens. At the same time, criminal enterprises will not report, manipulate, or avoid disclosure requirements undermining the law. This is similar to municipal gun control restrictions; criminals just ignore the law. The FinCEN database will be composed of law-abiding companies.

Reporting Requirements

“Beneficial owner” is defined as “an individual who, directly or indirectly, through any contract, arrangement, understanding, relationship, or otherwise exercises substantial control over the entity” or “owns or controls not less than 25 percent of the ownership interests of the entity.” For each of the covered individuals, the reporting company must furnish to FinCEN their full legal name, birth date, current residential or business street address, IRS Taxpayer Identification Number, and “unique identifying number from an acceptable identification document,” such as an unexpired passport or a state-issued identification card or driver’s license. Any changes in a covered individual’s address, a new driver’s license, or beneficial ownership must be reported.

Reporting companies that deliberately fail to comply with the reporting requirements are subject to a civil penalty of up to $500 per day, up to $10,000, two years’ imprisonment, or both a fine and confinement. An interesting dilemma is whether all beneficial owners will be assessed civil and criminal penalties. Will BOI or the IRS require banks to freeze the corporate entity’s account without due process?

The IRS agent staff is expanding, and it will have the muscle to take advantage of BOI’s corporate ownership database for targeted investigations and audits with the possibility of targeting political opposition. If you think I’m kidding; keep in mind the IRS targeted and relentlessly audited directors and officers of Tea Party nonprofits only because they were considered dissenters. BOI will be a tool of tyranny.

Will the Biden family crime syndicate comply by filing on its twenty-plus LLCs, which have no specific business interests?

FinCEN may share the reporting companies’ reported personal data with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and foreign governments with U.S. treaties. Also, financial institutions will use the corporate ownership database for customer due diligence provided the reporting company consents. We can anticipate financial institutions requiring mandatory access to do business.

BIO is a dragnet using suspicionless searches and compelled disclosures to look for potential financial crimes, which violates privacy. State entity formations don’t require disclosure of beneficial ownership, which provides privacy and prevents intrusion from the Federal government. Privacy is one of the most significant benefits of incorporation in Delaware. BOI is an unconstitutional usurping of a state’s power to charter and regulate an entity.

The release of personal data to various federal agencies without the consent of the reporting company is an unreasonable search and seizure violation of the Fourth Amendment. Compelling reporting is also self-incrimination and a violation of the Fifth Amendment, and an invasion of the right to privacy violates the Ninth Amendment. Further, BOI violates the First Amendment’s right to free speech and private association. BOI is unconstitutional.

*  *  *

Bob Bishop is a forensic investigator and retired CPA.