ActivityPub Viewer

A small tool to view real-world ActivityPub objects as JSON! Enter a URL or username from Mastodon or a similar service below, and we'll send a request with the right Accept header to the server to view the underlying object.

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{ "@context": "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams", "type": "OrderedCollectionPage", "orderedItems": [ { "type": "Create", "actor": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114", "object": { "type": "Note", "id": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/entities/urn:activity:1208597577129103360", "attributedTo": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114", "content": "NEWLY RELEASED IRS DATA SHOWS THAT THE TRUMP TAX CUTS DID INDEED DECREASE MIDDLE CLASS TAXES, WHILE INCREASING THE SHARE THAT THE WEALTHY PAID<br />by Kevin Ryan<br /><br />When President Trump and Republicans passed tax reform in 2017, just about everyone on the left (and many in the media) said it would increase the tax burden on the working class, and decrease it on the wealthy.<br /><br />Well, data is finally out, and it turns out the opposite is true: the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 increased the share of taxes paid by the wealthy, and decreased the share paid by the working class.<br /><br />The IRS data shows that the top 1% paid 40.1% of all income taxes after the tax reform went into effect. That’s an INCREASE from the year before, when they paid 38.5%, and it’s the highest share that the 1% had paid since data began being recorded forty years ago.<br /><br />The bottom 50% of earners, on the other hand, with adjusted gross incomes of less than $43,614, saw their share of overall income taxes fall from 3.1% in 2017 to 2.9% in 2018. <br /><br />In other words, the “Trump tax cuts” increased the share paid by the wealthy and decreased the share paid by the middle class.<br /><br />Also, the share of income earned by the middle class went up, while the share earned by the wealthy went down.<br /><br />The bill did this by doubling the standard deduction and expanded the child tax credit, while lowering tax rates for nearly everyone. <br /><br />Despite the rhetoric at the time (Nancy Pelosi said it was the worst bill ever, and Chuck Schumer said “It’s completely focused on the wealthy and the powerful - not the middle class”), one person did accurately predict what the bill would do: <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/UnbiasedAmerica/posts/730332250486106\" target=\"_blank\">https://www.facebook.com/UnbiasedAmerica/posts/730332250486106</a><br /><br />SOURCES: <a href=\"https://www.irs.gov/statistics/soi-tax-stats-individual-income-tax-rates-and-tax-shares\" target=\"_blank\">https://www.irs.gov/statistics/soi-tax-stats-individual-income-tax-rates-and-tax-shares</a><br /><a href=\"https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2017/oct/09/charles-schumer/does-trumps-tax-plan-do-nothing-low-income-earners/\" target=\"_blank\">https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2017/oct/09/charles-schumer/does-trumps-tax-plan-do-nothing-low-income-earners/</a>", "to": [ "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams#Public" ], "cc": [ "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/followers" ], "tag": [], "url": "https://www.minds.com/newsfeed/1208597577129103360", "published": "2021-02-17T02:15:17+00:00", "source": { "content": "NEWLY RELEASED IRS DATA SHOWS THAT THE TRUMP TAX CUTS DID INDEED DECREASE MIDDLE CLASS TAXES, WHILE INCREASING THE SHARE THAT THE WEALTHY PAID\nby Kevin Ryan\n\nWhen President Trump and Republicans passed tax reform in 2017, just about everyone on the left (and many in the media) said it would increase the tax burden on the working class, and decrease it on the wealthy.\n\nWell, data is finally out, and it turns out the opposite is true: the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 increased the share of taxes paid by the wealthy, and decreased the share paid by the working class.\n\nThe IRS data shows that the top 1% paid 40.1% of all income taxes after the tax reform went into effect. That’s an INCREASE from the year before, when they paid 38.5%, and it’s the highest share that the 1% had paid since data began being recorded forty years ago.\n\nThe bottom 50% of earners, on the other hand, with adjusted gross incomes of less than $43,614, saw their share of overall income taxes fall from 3.1% in 2017 to 2.9% in 2018. \n\nIn other words, the “Trump tax cuts” increased the share paid by the wealthy and decreased the share paid by the middle class.\n\nAlso, the share of income earned by the middle class went up, while the share earned by the wealthy went down.\n\nThe bill did this by doubling the standard deduction and expanded the child tax credit, while lowering tax rates for nearly everyone. \n\nDespite the rhetoric at the time (Nancy Pelosi said it was the worst bill ever, and Chuck Schumer said “It’s completely focused on the wealthy and the powerful - not the middle class”), one person did accurately predict what the bill would do: https://www.facebook.com/UnbiasedAmerica/posts/730332250486106\n\nSOURCES: https://www.irs.gov/statistics/soi-tax-stats-individual-income-tax-rates-and-tax-shares\nhttps://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2017/oct/09/charles-schumer/does-trumps-tax-plan-do-nothing-low-income-earners/", "mediaType": "text/plain" } }, "id": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/entities/urn:activity:1208597577129103360/activity" }, { "type": "Create", "actor": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114", "object": { "type": "Note", "id": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/entities/urn:activity:1206859186674532352", "attributedTo": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114", "content": "BREAKING NEWS: IN A PRIVATE CALL, CUOMO ADMINISTRATION ADMITTED IT HID NURSING HOME DEATH TOLL TO AVOID DOJ INVESTIGATION<br />by Kevin Ryan<br /><br />New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s top aide Melissa DeRosa privately told Democratic lawmakers today that the administration withheld the state’s nursing home death toll out of fear the true numbers would “be used against us” by federal prosecutors.<br /><br />DeRosa said during a video conference call with state Democratic leaders that the Cuomo administration had refused to comply with a legislative request for data on nursing home deaths last August because “[President Trump] directed the Department of Justice to do an investigation into us. And basically, we froze.”<br /><br />“We weren’t sure if what we were going to give to the Department of Justice… was going to be used against us,” DeRosa said, added: “That played a very large role into this.”<br /><br />She then apologized…<br /><br />to Democratic politicians.<br /><br />“So we do apologize,” she said. “I do understand the position that you were put in. I know that it is not fair. It was not our intention to put you in that political position with the Republicans.<br /><br />DeRosa then, astonishingly, appeared to announce that the DOJ has now dropped their investigation into New York’s nursing home deaths.<br /><br />“All signs point to they are not looking at this, they’ve dropped it,” she said. <br /><br />The New York Post, which broke the story this evening, calls it “a stunning admission of a cover-up”.<br /><br />Indeed Cuomo essentially stonewalled lawmakers and the media and fought a Freedom of Information lawsuit to keep secret the total number of nursing home residents who’d become sick and died. The cover up likely stemmed from an effort to hide the true impact of an order New York issued at the start of the pandemic forcing nursing homes to take in people with the virus, even to the point of prohibiting them from requiring a test before admission.<br /><br />It took an investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James to finally determine that actual deaths of nursing-home residents was 50% higher than the Governor’s administration was letting on.<br /><br />When the truth came out last month, Cuomo’s Health Commissioner Howard Zucker tried to explain their actions by saying “There was no undercount of the total death toll. The word ‘undercount’ implies there are more total fatalities than have been reported; this is factually wrong.” He said that the reason that the Governor’s count was so low was that it only included nursing home residents who actually, physically died in their nursing home, and excluded anyone who died after being hospitalized.<br /><br />And Governor Cuomo tried to completely dismiss the scandal, saying a death is a death, no matter where it happened.<br /><br /> “Who cares [if they] died in the hospital, or died in a nursing home?” he said last month.<br /><br />SOURCES: <a href=\"https://www.foxnews.com/us/cuomo-aide-nursing-home-data-trump-doj\" target=\"_blank\">https://www.foxnews.com/us/cuomo-aide-nursing-home-data-trump-doj</a><br /><a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/new-york-andrew-cuomo-us-news-coronavirus-pandemic-nursing-homes-512cae0abb55a55f375b3192f2cdd6b5\" target=\"_blank\">https://apnews.com/article/new-york-andrew-cuomo-us-news-coronavirus-pandemic-nursing-homes-512cae0abb55a55f375b3192f2cdd6b5</a><br /><a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/28/nyregion/nursing-home-deaths-cuomo.html\" target=\"_blank\">https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/28/nyregion/nursing-home-deaths-cuomo.html</a><br /><a href=\"https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2021-nursinghomesreport-final.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2021-nursinghomesreport-final.pdf</a><br /><a href=\"https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Judge-orders-DOH-to-turn-over-detailed-15921672.php\" target=\"_blank\">https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Judge-orders-DOH-to-turn-over-detailed-15921672.php</a>", "to": [ "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams#Public" ], "cc": [ "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/followers" ], "tag": [], "url": "https://www.minds.com/newsfeed/1206859186674532352", "published": "2021-02-12T07:07:32+00:00", "source": { "content": "BREAKING NEWS: IN A PRIVATE CALL, CUOMO ADMINISTRATION ADMITTED IT HID NURSING HOME DEATH TOLL TO AVOID DOJ INVESTIGATION\nby Kevin Ryan\n\nNew York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s top aide Melissa DeRosa privately told Democratic lawmakers today that the administration withheld the state’s nursing home death toll out of fear the true numbers would “be used against us” by federal prosecutors.\n\nDeRosa said during a video conference call with state Democratic leaders that the Cuomo administration had refused to comply with a legislative request for data on nursing home deaths last August because “[President Trump] directed the Department of Justice to do an investigation into us. And basically, we froze.”\n\n“We weren’t sure if what we were going to give to the Department of Justice… was going to be used against us,” DeRosa said, added: “That played a very large role into this.”\n\nShe then apologized…\n\nto Democratic politicians.\n\n“So we do apologize,” she said. “I do understand the position that you were put in. I know that it is not fair. It was not our intention to put you in that political position with the Republicans.\n\nDeRosa then, astonishingly, appeared to announce that the DOJ has now dropped their investigation into New York’s nursing home deaths.\n\n“All signs point to they are not looking at this, they’ve dropped it,” she said. \n\nThe New York Post, which broke the story this evening, calls it “a stunning admission of a cover-up”.\n\nIndeed Cuomo essentially stonewalled lawmakers and the media and fought a Freedom of Information lawsuit to keep secret the total number of nursing home residents who’d become sick and died. The cover up likely stemmed from an effort to hide the true impact of an order New York issued at the start of the pandemic forcing nursing homes to take in people with the virus, even to the point of prohibiting them from requiring a test before admission.\n\nIt took an investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James to finally determine that actual deaths of nursing-home residents was 50% higher than the Governor’s administration was letting on.\n\nWhen the truth came out last month, Cuomo’s Health Commissioner Howard Zucker tried to explain their actions by saying “There was no undercount of the total death toll. The word ‘undercount’ implies there are more total fatalities than have been reported; this is factually wrong.” He said that the reason that the Governor’s count was so low was that it only included nursing home residents who actually, physically died in their nursing home, and excluded anyone who died after being hospitalized.\n\nAnd Governor Cuomo tried to completely dismiss the scandal, saying a death is a death, no matter where it happened.\n\n “Who cares [if they] died in the hospital, or died in a nursing home?” he said last month.\n\nSOURCES: https://www.foxnews.com/us/cuomo-aide-nursing-home-data-trump-doj\nhttps://apnews.com/article/new-york-andrew-cuomo-us-news-coronavirus-pandemic-nursing-homes-512cae0abb55a55f375b3192f2cdd6b5\nhttps://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/28/nyregion/nursing-home-deaths-cuomo.html\nhttps://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2021-nursinghomesreport-final.pdf\nhttps://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Judge-orders-DOH-to-turn-over-detailed-15921672.php", "mediaType": "text/plain" } }, "id": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/entities/urn:activity:1206859186674532352/activity" }, { "type": "Create", "actor": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114", "object": { "type": "Note", "id": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/entities/urn:activity:1205395811292803072", "attributedTo": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114", "content": "TAMPA BAY BEATS KANSAS CITY AS TOM BRADY GETS HIS RECORD SEVENTH SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP<br />by Kevin Ryan<br /><br />Tom Brady threw three touchdowns, including two to former New England teammate Rob Gronkowski, as Tampa Bay beat the reigning champion Kansas City Chiefs, 31-9.<br /><br />The game pitted all-time great Brady and Patrick Mahomes, 25, widely regarded as the best young quarterback in a game that the Chiefs were favored to win.<br /><br />But the Buccaneers were never seriously challenged, led by a suffocating Tampa Bay defense that kept one of the best offenses in football to single digit points.<br /><br />Brady, 43, was the game MVP, and claims an incredible seventh Super Bowl ring, the first six of which came with the New England Patriots.", "to": [ "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams#Public" ], "cc": [ "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/followers" ], "tag": [], "url": "https://www.minds.com/newsfeed/1205395811292803072", "published": "2021-02-08T06:12:35+00:00", "source": { "content": "TAMPA BAY BEATS KANSAS CITY AS TOM BRADY GETS HIS RECORD SEVENTH SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP\nby Kevin Ryan\n\nTom Brady threw three touchdowns, including two to former New England teammate Rob Gronkowski, as Tampa Bay beat the reigning champion Kansas City Chiefs, 31-9.\n\nThe game pitted all-time great Brady and Patrick Mahomes, 25, widely regarded as the best young quarterback in a game that the Chiefs were favored to win.\n\nBut the Buccaneers were never seriously challenged, led by a suffocating Tampa Bay defense that kept one of the best offenses in football to single digit points.\n\nBrady, 43, was the game MVP, and claims an incredible seventh Super Bowl ring, the first six of which came with the New England Patriots.", "mediaType": "text/plain" } }, "id": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/entities/urn:activity:1205395811292803072/activity" }, { "type": "Create", "actor": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114", "object": { "type": "Note", "id": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/entities/urn:activity:1204499869508472832", "attributedTo": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114", "content": "$15 MINIMUM WAGE VOTED DOWN BY THE SENATE<br />by Kevin Ryan<br /><br />The plan to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour was removed from the Democrat’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan this morning when an amendment from Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) prohibiting the increase was approved.<br /><br />Ernst’s amendment barred raising the federal minimum wage during the pandemic. “A $15 federal minimum wage would be devastating for our hardest hit small businesses at a time when they can least afford it,” Ernst said.<br /><br />The reality for Democrats is that their wage increase does not have 50 supporters and would have scuttled the entire plan, with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) staunchly opposing it. That made its removal all but necessary if Democrats want to pass the stimulus, even using reconciliation.<br /><br />However, supporters of the $15 minimum wage say they will continue to attempt to include it in the final deal. Ernst’s amendment is technically nonbinding, meaning the wage increase could be put back into the bill if a deal is reached with Manchin.<br /><br />If it does not make it back into the plan, however, Democrats would likely have to pass it on a stand-alone basis. And that would subject it to the 60-vote filibuster, unlike the stimulus plan that is being passed by reconciliation and thus only requires a simple 50-vote majority. And if they can’t find 50 votes to pass it, they will have an even harder time finding 60 votes.<br /><br />Even if it does make it back into the bill, it may not pass the strict rules of the reconciliation process, which mandate that reconciliation bills only deal with taxes and spending.<br /><br />SOURCES: <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/04/us/politics/biden-stimulus-senate-vote.html\" target=\"_blank\">https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/04/us/politics/biden-stimulus-senate-vote.html</a><br /><a href=\"https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/05/a-15-minimum-wage-is-out-of-the-latest-stimulus-package-for-now.html\" target=\"_blank\">https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/05/a-15-minimum-wage-is-out-of-the-latest-stimulus-package-for-now.html</a><br /><a href=\"https://www.c-span.org/video/?508636-1/senate-debates-budget-resolution-votes-amendments\" target=\"_blank\">https://www.c-span.org/video/?508636-1/senate-debates-budget-resolution-votes-amendments</a>", "to": [ "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams#Public" ], "cc": [ "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/followers" ], "tag": [], "url": "https://www.minds.com/newsfeed/1204499869508472832", "published": "2021-02-05T18:52:27+00:00", "source": { "content": "$15 MINIMUM WAGE VOTED DOWN BY THE SENATE\nby Kevin Ryan\n\nThe plan to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour was removed from the Democrat’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan this morning when an amendment from Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) prohibiting the increase was approved.\n\nErnst’s amendment barred raising the federal minimum wage during the pandemic. “A $15 federal minimum wage would be devastating for our hardest hit small businesses at a time when they can least afford it,” Ernst said.\n\nThe reality for Democrats is that their wage increase does not have 50 supporters and would have scuttled the entire plan, with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) staunchly opposing it. That made its removal all but necessary if Democrats want to pass the stimulus, even using reconciliation.\n\nHowever, supporters of the $15 minimum wage say they will continue to attempt to include it in the final deal. Ernst’s amendment is technically nonbinding, meaning the wage increase could be put back into the bill if a deal is reached with Manchin.\n\nIf it does not make it back into the plan, however, Democrats would likely have to pass it on a stand-alone basis. And that would subject it to the 60-vote filibuster, unlike the stimulus plan that is being passed by reconciliation and thus only requires a simple 50-vote majority. And if they can’t find 50 votes to pass it, they will have an even harder time finding 60 votes.\n\nEven if it does make it back into the bill, it may not pass the strict rules of the reconciliation process, which mandate that reconciliation bills only deal with taxes and spending.\n\nSOURCES: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/04/us/politics/biden-stimulus-senate-vote.html\nhttps://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/05/a-15-minimum-wage-is-out-of-the-latest-stimulus-package-for-now.html\nhttps://www.c-span.org/video/?508636-1/senate-debates-budget-resolution-votes-amendments", "mediaType": "text/plain" } }, "id": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/entities/urn:activity:1204499869508472832/activity" }, { "type": "Create", "actor": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114", "object": { "type": "Note", "id": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/entities/urn:activity:1202077536799686656", "attributedTo": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114", "content": "BLACK LIVES MATTER NOMINATED FOR NOBEL PEACE PRIZE<br />by Kevin Ryan<br /><br />The Black Lives Matter movement has been nominated for the 2021 Nobel peace prize.<br /><br />Norwegian MP Petter Eide nominated the movement, saying “Black Lives Matter has become a very important worldwide movement to fight racial injustice.”<br /><br />Eide dismissed criticism that the group was behind widespread violence in US cities. “Studies have shown that most of the demonstrations organised by Black Lives Matter have been peaceful,” he said. “Of course there have been incidents, but most of them have been caused by the activities of either the police or counter-protestors.”<br /><br />Eide represents the Socialist Left party in the Norwegian parliament. <br /><br />His written nomination concludes: “Awarding the peace prize to Black Lives Matter, as the strongest global force against racial injustice, will send a powerful message that peace is founded on equality, solidarity and human rights, and that all countries must respect those basic principles.”<br /><br />Nominations for the Nobel peace prize are accepted from any politician serving at a national level. The Nobel committee will prepare a shortlist of the most prominent nominees in March, with the winner chosen in October. <br /><br />Last year’s prize was won by the World Food Programme. Former President Donald Trump has also been nominated for this year’s award for his role brokering Middle East peace deals.<br /><br />SOURCES: <a href=\"https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/equality/536547-black-lives-matter-movement-nominated-for-nobel-peace-prize\" target=\"_blank\">https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/equality/536547-black-lives-matter-movement-nominated-for-nobel-peace-prize</a>", "to": [ "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams#Public" ], "cc": [ "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/followers" ], "tag": [], "url": "https://www.minds.com/newsfeed/1202077536799686656", "published": "2021-01-30T02:26:57+00:00", "source": { "content": "BLACK LIVES MATTER NOMINATED FOR NOBEL PEACE PRIZE\nby Kevin Ryan\n\nThe Black Lives Matter movement has been nominated for the 2021 Nobel peace prize.\n\nNorwegian MP Petter Eide nominated the movement, saying “Black Lives Matter has become a very important worldwide movement to fight racial injustice.”\n\nEide dismissed criticism that the group was behind widespread violence in US cities. “Studies have shown that most of the demonstrations organised by Black Lives Matter have been peaceful,” he said. “Of course there have been incidents, but most of them have been caused by the activities of either the police or counter-protestors.”\n\nEide represents the Socialist Left party in the Norwegian parliament. \n\nHis written nomination concludes: “Awarding the peace prize to Black Lives Matter, as the strongest global force against racial injustice, will send a powerful message that peace is founded on equality, solidarity and human rights, and that all countries must respect those basic principles.”\n\nNominations for the Nobel peace prize are accepted from any politician serving at a national level. The Nobel committee will prepare a shortlist of the most prominent nominees in March, with the winner chosen in October. \n\nLast year’s prize was won by the World Food Programme. Former President Donald Trump has also been nominated for this year’s award for his role brokering Middle East peace deals.\n\nSOURCES: https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/equality/536547-black-lives-matter-movement-nominated-for-nobel-peace-prize", "mediaType": "text/plain" } }, "id": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/entities/urn:activity:1202077536799686656/activity" }, { "type": "Create", "actor": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114", "object": { "type": "Note", "id": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/entities/urn:activity:1201984674826448896", "attributedTo": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114", "content": "LAWYER WHO DOCTORED EMAIL TO SECURE FISA WARRANT AGAINST CARTER PAGE GETS OFF WITH NO JAIL TIME<br />by Kevin Ryan <br /><br />The only person charged in the investigation into the origins of the Russia probe has received no jail time.<br /><br />Former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith today received probation from U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg.<br /><br />Clinesmith admitted that in June 2017 he altered evidence to help secure an extension of wiretaps on Carter Page.<br /><br />The Justice Department inspector general also found the FBI made 17 “significant” errors and omissions that had a material impact on the application to surveil Page.<br /><br />Page gave an emotional speech at Clinesmith’s sentencing hearing, saying his life was turned upside down by the FBI probe into Russian collusion with the Trump campaign. The probe eventually ended without evidence of collusion being discovered.<br /><br />Prosecutors argued that Clinesmith's misconduct was so serious that it warranted prison time. The maximum sentence for a felony false statement is five years in prison. Federal guidelines called for up to six months in prison.<br /><br />According to Politico, “Texts Clinesmith sent in 2016 contributed to suspicion that his actions were part of a deliberate effort to smear Page and target the Trump campaign.”<br /><br />The day after Trump’s election in 2016, for example, Clinesmith wrote “The crazies won finally. This is the tea party on steroids. And the GOP is going to be lost, they have to deal with an incumbent in 4 years. We have to fight this again.”<br /><br />Two weeks later, when a colleague asked Clinesmith whether he would the FBI since Trump won, Clinesmith replied “Hell no… Viva le resistance.”<br /><br />Prosecutors say his “strong political views and/or personal dislike of [President Trump] made him more willing to engage in the fraudulent and unethical conduct to which he has pled guilty.”<br /><br />SOURCES: <a href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/29/fbi-lawyer-trump-russia-probe-email-463750\" target=\"_blank\">https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/29/fbi-lawyer-trump-russia-probe-email-463750</a><br /><a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/kevin-clinesmith-fbi-john-durham/2021/01/28/b06e061c-618e-11eb-afbe-9a11a127d146_story.html\" target=\"_blank\">https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/kevin-clinesmith-fbi-john-durham/2021/01/28/b06e061c-618e-11eb-afbe-9a11a127d146_story.html</a>", "to": [ "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams#Public" ], "cc": [ "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/followers" ], "tag": [], "url": "https://www.minds.com/newsfeed/1201984674826448896", "published": "2021-01-29T20:17:58+00:00", "source": { "content": "LAWYER WHO DOCTORED EMAIL TO SECURE FISA WARRANT AGAINST CARTER PAGE GETS OFF WITH NO JAIL TIME\nby Kevin Ryan \n\nThe only person charged in the investigation into the origins of the Russia probe has received no jail time.\n\nFormer FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith today received probation from U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg.\n\nClinesmith admitted that in June 2017 he altered evidence to help secure an extension of wiretaps on Carter Page.\n\nThe Justice Department inspector general also found the FBI made 17 “significant” errors and omissions that had a material impact on the application to surveil Page.\n\nPage gave an emotional speech at Clinesmith’s sentencing hearing, saying his life was turned upside down by the FBI probe into Russian collusion with the Trump campaign. The probe eventually ended without evidence of collusion being discovered.\n\nProsecutors argued that Clinesmith's misconduct was so serious that it warranted prison time. The maximum sentence for a felony false statement is five years in prison. Federal guidelines called for up to six months in prison.\n\nAccording to Politico, “Texts Clinesmith sent in 2016 contributed to suspicion that his actions were part of a deliberate effort to smear Page and target the Trump campaign.”\n\nThe day after Trump’s election in 2016, for example, Clinesmith wrote “The crazies won finally. This is the tea party on steroids. And the GOP is going to be lost, they have to deal with an incumbent in 4 years. We have to fight this again.”\n\nTwo weeks later, when a colleague asked Clinesmith whether he would the FBI since Trump won, Clinesmith replied “Hell no… Viva le resistance.”\n\nProsecutors say his “strong political views and/or personal dislike of [President Trump] made him more willing to engage in the fraudulent and unethical conduct to which he has pled guilty.”\n\nSOURCES: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/29/fbi-lawyer-trump-russia-probe-email-463750\nhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/kevin-clinesmith-fbi-john-durham/2021/01/28/b06e061c-618e-11eb-afbe-9a11a127d146_story.html", "mediaType": "text/plain" } }, "id": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/entities/urn:activity:1201984674826448896/activity" }, { "type": "Create", "actor": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114", "object": { "type": "Note", "id": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/entities/urn:activity:1200937674679496704", "attributedTo": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114", "content": "FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS BIDEN’S DEPORTATION FREEZE<br />by Kevin Ryan<br /><br />A federal judge has blocked the Biden administration from enforcing its 100-day deportation freeze. <br /><br />Judge Drew Tipton issued a temporary restraining order against the Department of Homeland Security that will apply nationwide. It will remain in effect while a lawsuit against the freeze filed by Texas plays out.<br /><br />“Texas has thus far satisfactorily demonstrated it is entitled to immediate and temporary relief from the January 20 Memorandum’s 100-day pause on removals,” wrote Tipton for the U.S. District Court.<br /><br />Tipton was appointed by President Trump.<br /><br />SOURCE: <a href=\"https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/535947-judge-temporarily-blocks-biden-administrations-deportation-freeze\" target=\"_blank\">https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/535947-judge-temporarily-blocks-biden-administrations-deportation-freeze</a>", "to": [ "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams#Public" ], "cc": [ "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/followers" ], "tag": [], "url": "https://www.minds.com/newsfeed/1200937674679496704", "published": "2021-01-26T22:57:33+00:00", "source": { "content": "FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS BIDEN’S DEPORTATION FREEZE\nby Kevin Ryan\n\nA federal judge has blocked the Biden administration from enforcing its 100-day deportation freeze. \n\nJudge Drew Tipton issued a temporary restraining order against the Department of Homeland Security that will apply nationwide. It will remain in effect while a lawsuit against the freeze filed by Texas plays out.\n\n“Texas has thus far satisfactorily demonstrated it is entitled to immediate and temporary relief from the January 20 Memorandum’s 100-day pause on removals,” wrote Tipton for the U.S. District Court.\n\nTipton was appointed by President Trump.\n\nSOURCE: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/535947-judge-temporarily-blocks-biden-administrations-deportation-freeze", "mediaType": "text/plain" } }, "id": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/entities/urn:activity:1200937674679496704/activity" }, { "type": "Create", "actor": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114", "object": { "type": "Note", "id": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/entities/urn:activity:1200931516698832896", "attributedTo": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114", "content": "45 OF 50 REPUBLICAN SENATORS VOTE THAT THE IMPEACHMENT TRIAL IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL, SIGNALING THAT THE DEMOCRATIC EFFORT IS ALL BUT DOOMED TO FAIL<br />by Kevin Ryan <br /><br />45 Republican Senators supported a measure by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) to declare the impeachment trial of former President Trump unconstitutional, the clearest sign yet that Trump is heading toward a second acquittal.<br /><br />Seventeen Republicans would need to vote to convict the ex-president, assuming every Democrat also did. But if 45 out of the 50 Republican senators don’t even think the trial is constitutional, it’s now highly doubtful the effort will succeed.<br /><br />There is no precedent for a former president to be impeached, but Democrats point to an 1876 impeachment of a cabinet official that took place shortly after he resigned in an attempt to avoid trial. Even so, that official was acquitted.<br /><br />Sen. Paul warned that the Democrat’s effort would create a very dangerous precedent.<br /><br />“If we are going to put every politician in jail, are we going to impeach every politician who has used the words 'fight' figuratively in a speech? Shame,” he said. “I want this body on record. Every last person here.”<br /><br />Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) said in a statement that “Congress would be opening itself to a dangerous standard of using impeachment as a tool for political revenge against a private citizen.”<br /><br />However, five Republican senators indicated with their vote today that they believe the trial is constitutional. The five: Sens. Mitt Romney (Utah), Ben Sasse (Nebraska), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), and Pat Toomey(Pennsylvania). <br /><br />SOURCES: <a href=\"https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/535925-senate-rejects-paul-effort-to-declare-trump-impeachment-trial\" target=\"_blank\">https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/535925-senate-rejects-paul-effort-to-declare-trump-impeachment-trial</a><br />", "to": [ "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams#Public" ], "cc": [ "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/followers" ], "tag": [], "url": "https://www.minds.com/newsfeed/1200931516698832896", "published": "2021-01-26T22:33:05+00:00", "source": { "content": "45 OF 50 REPUBLICAN SENATORS VOTE THAT THE IMPEACHMENT TRIAL IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL, SIGNALING THAT THE DEMOCRATIC EFFORT IS ALL BUT DOOMED TO FAIL\nby Kevin Ryan \n\n45 Republican Senators supported a measure by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) to declare the impeachment trial of former President Trump unconstitutional, the clearest sign yet that Trump is heading toward a second acquittal.\n\nSeventeen Republicans would need to vote to convict the ex-president, assuming every Democrat also did. But if 45 out of the 50 Republican senators don’t even think the trial is constitutional, it’s now highly doubtful the effort will succeed.\n\nThere is no precedent for a former president to be impeached, but Democrats point to an 1876 impeachment of a cabinet official that took place shortly after he resigned in an attempt to avoid trial. Even so, that official was acquitted.\n\nSen. Paul warned that the Democrat’s effort would create a very dangerous precedent.\n\n“If we are going to put every politician in jail, are we going to impeach every politician who has used the words 'fight' figuratively in a speech? Shame,” he said. “I want this body on record. Every last person here.”\n\nSen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) said in a statement that “Congress would be opening itself to a dangerous standard of using impeachment as a tool for political revenge against a private citizen.”\n\nHowever, five Republican senators indicated with their vote today that they believe the trial is constitutional. The five: Sens. Mitt Romney (Utah), Ben Sasse (Nebraska), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), and Pat Toomey(Pennsylvania). \n\nSOURCES: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/535925-senate-rejects-paul-effort-to-declare-trump-impeachment-trial\n", "mediaType": "text/plain" } }, "id": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/entities/urn:activity:1200931516698832896/activity" }, { "type": "Create", "actor": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114", "object": { "type": "Note", "id": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/entities/urn:activity:1200617569852399616", "attributedTo": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114", "content": "HEADLINES DECLARING THAT BIDEN IS “OVERTURNING TRUMP’S BAN ON TRANSGENDER PEOPLE IN THE MILITARY” ARE MISLEADING AT BEST<br />by Kevin Ryan<br /><br />Headlines today are blaring that President Biden’s first order aimed at the military is to “overturn President Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the military”.<br /><br />The New York Times: “Biden overturns Trump’s transgender military ban.”<br /><br />NBC: “Biden reverses Trump's transgender military ban”<br /><br />USA Today: “Biden overturns Trump's ban on transgender troops in first moves for Defense Sec. Austin”<br /><br />Politico: “Biden repeals Trump-era ban on transgender military service”<br /><br />The headlines are entirely misleading.<br /><br />First of all, the “ban” was in place for the entirety of the Obama presidency. It was the stated policy of the Obama administration that transgender people were not allowed to enlist. Under 2012 guidance, people with “[c]urrent or history of psychosexual conditions, including but not limited to transsexualism, exhibitionism, transvestism, voyeurism, and other paraphilias” were barred from enlisting. <br /><br />It wasn’t until the final days of the Obama administration that the Department of Defense began considering changes to its policies on transgender people in the military. In June 2016, Obama’s secretary of defense Ash Carter announced that those currently serving would be allowed to continue serving. However, new enlistment remained prohibited…<br /><br />…until January 1, 2018, one year into the Trump administration, when a policy was enacted allowing transgender enlistment. Three months later, on March 23, 2018, Secretary of Defense Mattis qualified the policy with a restriction that “transgender persons with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria—individuals who the policies state may require substantial medical treatment, including medications and surgery—are disqualified from military service except under certain limited circumstances.”<br /><br />This is the policy that people are reporting as a “ban,” even though it specifically allows transgender individuals who are already serving openly to remain, as well as any who would serve “in accordance with their birth gender.” In other words, it allows people to serve as long as they aren’t looking to charge the government for the expenses related to gender reassignment (gender reassignment surgery costs an average of $132,000 per surgery).<br /><br />While reasonable people can argue whether this is sound policy, it doesn’t represent the “ban” that media headlines today claim.<br /><br />And the courts agreed. <br /><br />In 2019, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the policy is not a “blanket ban” because “not all transgender persons seek to transition to their preferred gender or have gender dysphoria.”<br /><br />Indeed a more accurate headline today would probably be “Biden orders military to pay for gender reassignment surgeries.” But, as is often the case, the media has instead chosen to cater to the bias of their readers, putting sensationalism and demagoguery over accuracy.<br /><br />SOURCES: <a href=\"https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/01/25/president-joe-biden-overturns-donald-trumps-ban-transgender-troops/4235238001/\" target=\"_blank\">https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/01/25/president-joe-biden-overturns-donald-trumps-ban-transgender-troops/4235238001/</a><br /><a href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-reverse-trump-s-transgender-military-ban-n1255522\" target=\"_blank\">https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-reverse-trump-s-transgender-military-ban-n1255522</a><br /><a href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/25/biden-repeals-transgender-military-service-ban-462186\" target=\"_blank\">https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/25/biden-repeals-transgender-military-service-ban-462186</a><br /><a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-allows-trump-restrictions-on-transgender-troops-in-military-to-go-into-effect-as-legal-battle-continues/2019/01/22/e68a7284-1763-11e9-88fe-f9f77a3bcb6c_story.html\" target=\"_blank\">https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-allows-trump-restrictions-on-transgender-troops-in-military-to-go-into-effect-as-legal-battle-continues/2019/01/22/e68a7284-1763-11e9-88fe-f9f77a3bcb6c_story.html</a><br /><a href=\"https://www.heraldnet.com/nation-world/ruling-restriction-on-transgender-troops-can-stand-for-now/\" target=\"_blank\">https://www.heraldnet.com/nation-world/ruling-restriction-on-transgender-troops-can-stand-for-now/</a>", "to": [ "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams#Public" ], "cc": [ "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/followers" ], "tag": [], "url": "https://www.minds.com/newsfeed/1200617569852399616", "published": "2021-01-26T01:45:35+00:00", "source": { "content": "HEADLINES DECLARING THAT BIDEN IS “OVERTURNING TRUMP’S BAN ON TRANSGENDER PEOPLE IN THE MILITARY” ARE MISLEADING AT BEST\nby Kevin Ryan\n\nHeadlines today are blaring that President Biden’s first order aimed at the military is to “overturn President Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the military”.\n\nThe New York Times: “Biden overturns Trump’s transgender military ban.”\n\nNBC: “Biden reverses Trump's transgender military ban”\n\nUSA Today: “Biden overturns Trump's ban on transgender troops in first moves for Defense Sec. Austin”\n\nPolitico: “Biden repeals Trump-era ban on transgender military service”\n\nThe headlines are entirely misleading.\n\nFirst of all, the “ban” was in place for the entirety of the Obama presidency. It was the stated policy of the Obama administration that transgender people were not allowed to enlist. Under 2012 guidance, people with “[c]urrent or history of psychosexual conditions, including but not limited to transsexualism, exhibitionism, transvestism, voyeurism, and other paraphilias” were barred from enlisting. \n\nIt wasn’t until the final days of the Obama administration that the Department of Defense began considering changes to its policies on transgender people in the military. In June 2016, Obama’s secretary of defense Ash Carter announced that those currently serving would be allowed to continue serving. However, new enlistment remained prohibited…\n\n…until January 1, 2018, one year into the Trump administration, when a policy was enacted allowing transgender enlistment. Three months later, on March 23, 2018, Secretary of Defense Mattis qualified the policy with a restriction that “transgender persons with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria—individuals who the policies state may require substantial medical treatment, including medications and surgery—are disqualified from military service except under certain limited circumstances.”\n\nThis is the policy that people are reporting as a “ban,” even though it specifically allows transgender individuals who are already serving openly to remain, as well as any who would serve “in accordance with their birth gender.” In other words, it allows people to serve as long as they aren’t looking to charge the government for the expenses related to gender reassignment (gender reassignment surgery costs an average of $132,000 per surgery).\n\nWhile reasonable people can argue whether this is sound policy, it doesn’t represent the “ban” that media headlines today claim.\n\nAnd the courts agreed. \n\nIn 2019, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the policy is not a “blanket ban” because “not all transgender persons seek to transition to their preferred gender or have gender dysphoria.”\n\nIndeed a more accurate headline today would probably be “Biden orders military to pay for gender reassignment surgeries.” But, as is often the case, the media has instead chosen to cater to the bias of their readers, putting sensationalism and demagoguery over accuracy.\n\nSOURCES: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/01/25/president-joe-biden-overturns-donald-trumps-ban-transgender-troops/4235238001/\nhttps://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-reverse-trump-s-transgender-military-ban-n1255522\nhttps://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/25/biden-repeals-transgender-military-service-ban-462186\nhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-allows-trump-restrictions-on-transgender-troops-in-military-to-go-into-effect-as-legal-battle-continues/2019/01/22/e68a7284-1763-11e9-88fe-f9f77a3bcb6c_story.html\nhttps://www.heraldnet.com/nation-world/ruling-restriction-on-transgender-troops-can-stand-for-now/", "mediaType": "text/plain" } }, "id": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/entities/urn:activity:1200617569852399616/activity" }, { "type": "Create", "actor": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114", "object": { "type": "Note", "id": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/entities/urn:activity:1199130965143867392", "attributedTo": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114", "content": "ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT FILED AGAINST PRESIDENT BIDEN<br />by Kevin Ryan<br /><br />Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has filed articles of impeachment against President Biden.<br /><br />Greene says the articles accuse Biden of abusing his power while vice president by allowing his son Hunter to serve on the board of a Ukrainian energy company.<br /><br />“President Joe Biden is unfit to hold the office of the presidency. His pattern of abuse of power as President Obama's Vice President is lengthy and disturbing. President Biden has demonstrated that he will do whatever it takes to bail out his son, Hunter, and line his family's pockets with cash from corrupt foreign energy companies,” Greene said in a statement.<br /><br />Greene announced she would file the articles a week ago, saying “we cannot have a president of the United States who is willing to abuse the power of the office of the presidency and be easily bought off by foreign governments, foreign Chinese energy companies, Ukrainian energy companies.”<br /><br />Although the text of the articles are not immediately available, Greene has in the past cited allegations that Biden used his power as VP to influence foreign policy in order to benefit his family.<br /><br />“President Biden is on tape admitting to a quid pro quo with the Ukrainian government threatening to withhold $1,000,000,000 in foreign aid if they did not do his bidding. President Biden residing in the White House is a threat to national security and he must be immediately impeached,” Greene added.<br /><br />At the time, Biden threatened to withhold $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees to Ukraine if the country didn’t fire a prosecutor who was investigating the Ukrainian gas company that Biden’s son Hunter was serving as a member of.<br /><br />Biden has denied that his decision was related to his son's position with the company.<br /><br />Since Democrats currently have control of the House, there is little chance the articles will be taken up. <br /><br />SOURCES: <a href=\"https://thehill.com/homenews/house/535317-rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-files-articles-of-impeachment-against-biden\" target=\"_blank\">https://thehill.com/homenews/house/535317-rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-files-articles-of-impeachment-against-biden</a><br /><a href=\"https://thehill.com/homenews/house/534178-marjorie-taylor-greene-says-she-will-introduce-impeachment-articles-against\" target=\"_blank\">https://thehill.com/homenews/house/534178-marjorie-taylor-greene-says-she-will-introduce-impeachment-articles-against</a>", "to": [ "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams#Public" ], "cc": [ "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/followers" ], "tag": [], "url": "https://www.minds.com/newsfeed/1199130965143867392", "published": "2021-01-21T23:18:20+00:00", "source": { "content": "ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT FILED AGAINST PRESIDENT BIDEN\nby Kevin Ryan\n\nRep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has filed articles of impeachment against President Biden.\n\nGreene says the articles accuse Biden of abusing his power while vice president by allowing his son Hunter to serve on the board of a Ukrainian energy company.\n\n“President Joe Biden is unfit to hold the office of the presidency. His pattern of abuse of power as President Obama's Vice President is lengthy and disturbing. President Biden has demonstrated that he will do whatever it takes to bail out his son, Hunter, and line his family's pockets with cash from corrupt foreign energy companies,” Greene said in a statement.\n\nGreene announced she would file the articles a week ago, saying “we cannot have a president of the United States who is willing to abuse the power of the office of the presidency and be easily bought off by foreign governments, foreign Chinese energy companies, Ukrainian energy companies.”\n\nAlthough the text of the articles are not immediately available, Greene has in the past cited allegations that Biden used his power as VP to influence foreign policy in order to benefit his family.\n\n“President Biden is on tape admitting to a quid pro quo with the Ukrainian government threatening to withhold $1,000,000,000 in foreign aid if they did not do his bidding. President Biden residing in the White House is a threat to national security and he must be immediately impeached,” Greene added.\n\nAt the time, Biden threatened to withhold $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees to Ukraine if the country didn’t fire a prosecutor who was investigating the Ukrainian gas company that Biden’s son Hunter was serving as a member of.\n\nBiden has denied that his decision was related to his son's position with the company.\n\nSince Democrats currently have control of the House, there is little chance the articles will be taken up. \n\nSOURCES: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/535317-rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-files-articles-of-impeachment-against-biden\nhttps://thehill.com/homenews/house/534178-marjorie-taylor-greene-says-she-will-introduce-impeachment-articles-against", "mediaType": "text/plain" } }, "id": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/entities/urn:activity:1199130965143867392/activity" }, { "type": "Create", "actor": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114", "object": { "type": "Note", "id": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/entities/urn:activity:1198367667875041280", "attributedTo": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114", "content": "U.S. FORMALLY DECLARES CHINA IS COMMITTING GENOCIDE AGAINST UIGHURS<br />by Kevin Ryan<br /><br />The Trump administration has today declared that China is committing genocide against Uighurs. The determination of genocide is a rare action, and is the harshest denunciation yet by any government against China’s policies in Xinjiang. Before this, the strongest statement by a government entity came from a Canadian parliamentary subcommittee. <br /><br />Genocide is, according to international convention, “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group.”<br /><br />Chinese security forces have sent upwards of a million Uighurs and Kazakhs to indoctrination camps intended to turn them into loyal supporters of the Communist Party and break down adherence to Islam. The use of forced sterilizations, birth control, and family separations to destroy Uighur identity were said to be key elements in the determination that genocide was occurring. Uighur women have been forced to undergo permanent sterilization or have birth-control devices inserted in an effort to stem the growth of the Uighur population.<br /><br />The finding could complicate diplomacy for the incoming administration of Joe Biden, who has at times been noticeably lax on Beijing.<br /><br />“Come on, man, I mean, you know, they’re not bad folks,” Biden famously said of the Chinese government in 2019, provoking withering criticism from both sides of the aisle. He has since stiffened his tone, and in August he released a statement calling China’s actions “genocide”.<br /><br />President Trump also initially took a less confrontational tone on the issue during trade negotiations, but has ratcheted up the pressure. In 2019, the administration blacklisted Xinjiang authorities and several Chinese companies, and last year issued other sanctions, including against senior Communist Party officials. Last week it announced a ban on imports of products from the area.<br /><br />The Chinese government says the camps are benign vocational training schools.<br /><br />“This utterly untethered fabrication of ‘genocide’ regarding Xinjiang is the conspiracy of the century,” Xu Guixiang, a deputy director of propaganda for Xinjiang told the news conference. “People of all ethnic groups independently choose safe, effective and appropriate birth control measures. There has been no such a problem of ‘mandatory sterilization’ in the region.” <br /><br />SOURCES: <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/19/us/politics/trump-china-xinjiang.html\" target=\"_blank\">https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/19/us/politics/trump-china-xinjiang.html</a><br /><a href=\"https://jamestown.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Zenz-Internment-Sterilizations-and-IUDs-UPDATED-July-21-Rev2.pdf?x92269\" target=\"_blank\">https://jamestown.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Zenz-Internment-Sterilizations-and-IUDs-UPDATED-July-21-Rev2.pdf?x92269</a><br /><a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/09/world/asia/trump-china-sanctions-uighurs.html\" target=\"_blank\">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/09/world/asia/trump-china-sanctions-uighurs.html</a><br /><a href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/biden-s-comments-downplaying-china-threat-u-s-fires-pols-n1001236\" target=\"_blank\">https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/biden-s-comments-downplaying-china-threat-u-s-fires-pols-n1001236</a>", "to": [ "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams#Public" ], "cc": [ "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/followers" ], "tag": [], "url": "https://www.minds.com/newsfeed/1198367667875041280", "published": "2021-01-19T20:45:15+00:00", "source": { "content": "U.S. FORMALLY DECLARES CHINA IS COMMITTING GENOCIDE AGAINST UIGHURS\nby Kevin Ryan\n\nThe Trump administration has today declared that China is committing genocide against Uighurs. The determination of genocide is a rare action, and is the harshest denunciation yet by any government against China’s policies in Xinjiang. Before this, the strongest statement by a government entity came from a Canadian parliamentary subcommittee. \n\nGenocide is, according to international convention, “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group.”\n\nChinese security forces have sent upwards of a million Uighurs and Kazakhs to indoctrination camps intended to turn them into loyal supporters of the Communist Party and break down adherence to Islam. The use of forced sterilizations, birth control, and family separations to destroy Uighur identity were said to be key elements in the determination that genocide was occurring. Uighur women have been forced to undergo permanent sterilization or have birth-control devices inserted in an effort to stem the growth of the Uighur population.\n\nThe finding could complicate diplomacy for the incoming administration of Joe Biden, who has at times been noticeably lax on Beijing.\n\n“Come on, man, I mean, you know, they’re not bad folks,” Biden famously said of the Chinese government in 2019, provoking withering criticism from both sides of the aisle. He has since stiffened his tone, and in August he released a statement calling China’s actions “genocide”.\n\nPresident Trump also initially took a less confrontational tone on the issue during trade negotiations, but has ratcheted up the pressure. In 2019, the administration blacklisted Xinjiang authorities and several Chinese companies, and last year issued other sanctions, including against senior Communist Party officials. Last week it announced a ban on imports of products from the area.\n\nThe Chinese government says the camps are benign vocational training schools.\n\n“This utterly untethered fabrication of ‘genocide’ regarding Xinjiang is the conspiracy of the century,” Xu Guixiang, a deputy director of propaganda for Xinjiang told the news conference. “People of all ethnic groups independently choose safe, effective and appropriate birth control measures. There has been no such a problem of ‘mandatory sterilization’ in the region.” \n\nSOURCES: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/19/us/politics/trump-china-xinjiang.html\nhttps://jamestown.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Zenz-Internment-Sterilizations-and-IUDs-UPDATED-July-21-Rev2.pdf?x92269\nhttps://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/09/world/asia/trump-china-sanctions-uighurs.html\nhttps://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/biden-s-comments-downplaying-china-threat-u-s-fires-pols-n1001236", "mediaType": "text/plain" } }, "id": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/entities/urn:activity:1198367667875041280/activity" }, { "type": "Create", "actor": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114", "object": { "type": "Note", "id": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/entities/urn:activity:1197950519093166080", "attributedTo": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114", "content": "DEVELOPING STORY: INAUGURATION REHEARSAL SUDDENLY EVACUATED AS WARNING SIRENS BLARE; ATTENDEES SEEN RUNNING FROM BLEACHERS; SMOKE RISING FROM NEARBY BUILDING<br />by Kevin Ryan<br /><br />A rehearsal for the Wednesday’s upcoming inauguration was abruptly evacuated due to an 'external security threat' around the same time that smoke was seen rising from behind the Capitol. <br /><br />Footage shows people running from bleachers while an evacuation warning played in the background. <br /><br />Staffers were sent text messages telling them to stay away from windows. A security message sent to congressional offices said “All buildings within the Capitol Complex: Due to an external security threat located under the bridge on I-295 at First and F Streets SE, no entry or exit is permitted at this time. All personnel currently on the Capitol Complex are advised to stay indoors and away from windows and doors.”<br /><br />Reports now say the frantic evacuation may have been caused by a fire at a nearby homeless encampment.<br /><br />The scare came as officials are concerned about an “insider attack” from service members deployed to the inauguration. The concerns are prompting the FBI to vet all 25,000 National Guard troops in the city.<br /><br />Developing story…<br /><br />SOURCES: <a href=\"https://twitter.com/nbcnews/status/1351193226884083721?s=21\" target=\"_blank\">https://twitter.com/nbcnews/status/1351193226884083721?s=21</a><br /><a href=\"https://www.foxnews.com/politics/live-updates-biden-inauguration-1-18-2021\" target=\"_blank\">https://www.foxnews.com/politics/live-updates-biden-inauguration-1-18-2021</a>", "to": [ "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams#Public" ], "cc": [ "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/followers" ], "tag": [], "url": "https://www.minds.com/newsfeed/1197950519093166080", "published": "2021-01-18T17:07:39+00:00", "source": { "content": "DEVELOPING STORY: INAUGURATION REHEARSAL SUDDENLY EVACUATED AS WARNING SIRENS BLARE; ATTENDEES SEEN RUNNING FROM BLEACHERS; SMOKE RISING FROM NEARBY BUILDING\nby Kevin Ryan\n\nA rehearsal for the Wednesday’s upcoming inauguration was abruptly evacuated due to an 'external security threat' around the same time that smoke was seen rising from behind the Capitol. \n\nFootage shows people running from bleachers while an evacuation warning played in the background. \n\nStaffers were sent text messages telling them to stay away from windows. A security message sent to congressional offices said “All buildings within the Capitol Complex: Due to an external security threat located under the bridge on I-295 at First and F Streets SE, no entry or exit is permitted at this time. All personnel currently on the Capitol Complex are advised to stay indoors and away from windows and doors.”\n\nReports now say the frantic evacuation may have been caused by a fire at a nearby homeless encampment.\n\nThe scare came as officials are concerned about an “insider attack” from service members deployed to the inauguration. The concerns are prompting the FBI to vet all 25,000 National Guard troops in the city.\n\nDeveloping story…\n\nSOURCES: https://twitter.com/nbcnews/status/1351193226884083721?s=21\nhttps://www.foxnews.com/politics/live-updates-biden-inauguration-1-18-2021", "mediaType": "text/plain" } }, "id": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/entities/urn:activity:1197950519093166080/activity" }, { "type": "Create", "actor": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114", "object": { "type": "Note", "id": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/entities/urn:activity:1197718713885872128", "attributedTo": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114", "content": "BREAKING NEWS: REPORT SAYS BIDEN TO CANCEL KEYSTONE PIPELINE PERMIT ON FIRST DAY IN OFFICE<br />by Kevin Ryan <br /><br />Joe Biden is planning to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline permit by executive order on his first day in office.<br /><br />The words \"Rescind Keystone XL pipeline permit\" appeared on a list of executive actions scheduled for the first day of Biden's presidency this coming Wednesday. The move has not been officially announced.<br /><br />The Biden team has announced plans to sign dozens of executive orders on their first few days in office, including re-joining the Paris climate accord.<br /><br />SOURCES: <a href=\"https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/biden-keystone-xl-1.5877038\" target=\"_blank\">https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/biden-keystone-xl-1.5877038</a><br /><a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-biden-keystone/biden-to-cancel-keystone-xl-pipeline-permit-on-first-day-in-office-cbc-idUSKBN29N00A\" target=\"_blank\">https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-biden-keystone/biden-to-cancel-keystone-xl-pipeline-permit-on-first-day-in-office-cbc-idUSKBN29N00A</a>", "to": [ "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams#Public" ], "cc": [ "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/followers" ], "tag": [], "url": "https://www.minds.com/newsfeed/1197718713885872128", "published": "2021-01-18T01:46:33+00:00", "source": { "content": "BREAKING NEWS: REPORT SAYS BIDEN TO CANCEL KEYSTONE PIPELINE PERMIT ON FIRST DAY IN OFFICE\nby Kevin Ryan \n\nJoe Biden is planning to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline permit by executive order on his first day in office.\n\nThe words \"Rescind Keystone XL pipeline permit\" appeared on a list of executive actions scheduled for the first day of Biden's presidency this coming Wednesday. The move has not been officially announced.\n\nThe Biden team has announced plans to sign dozens of executive orders on their first few days in office, including re-joining the Paris climate accord.\n\nSOURCES: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/biden-keystone-xl-1.5877038\nhttps://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-biden-keystone/biden-to-cancel-keystone-xl-pipeline-permit-on-first-day-in-office-cbc-idUSKBN29N00A", "mediaType": "text/plain" } }, "id": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/entities/urn:activity:1197718713885872128/activity" } ], "id": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/outbox", "partOf": "https://www.minds.com/api/activitypub/users/1195021317976367114/outboxoutbox" }