Author: J.P. Knowles

President Biden is facing massive backlash after he gave a list of 16 key infrastructure entities that are “off-limits” to Russian-based cyberattacks to Putin. National security experts are getting vocal on how this list gives Russians a green light to target everything not on the list without facing any repercussions.

Russian cybercriminals are believed to be behind a pair of recent cyberattacks targeting the Colonial Pipeline and meat-processing company JBS Holdings. Both companies paid multi-million dollar ransoms to regain access to their systems.

Biden told reporters, “I talked about the proposition that certain critical infrastructure should be off-limits to attack — period — by cyber or any other means. I gave them a list if I’m not mistaken — I don’t have it in front of me — 16 specific entities; 16 defined as critical infrastructure under U.S. policy, from the energy sector to our water systems.”

“As soon as you draw red circles around things you don’t want Russia to attack, you’re both telling Russia what is most valuable to you and that they can attack anything else without serious consequence,” Rebecca Heinrichs, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, told Fox News.

“It could actually entice Russia to increase attacks against all the other entities besides those 16 things. We should be complicating Russia’s calculations not making them simpler and certainly not essentially green-lighting any kinds of attacks,” Heinrichs added.

“I’m very circumspect about Biden’s actions in this summit because we’re supposed to impose costs when cyberattacks occur and when they meet a level of attribution to a state,” said Kara Frederick, a research fellow in technology policy at the Heritage Foundation.

“Most cybercriminals in Russia operate with tacit state approval,” Frederick noted. “Instead of painting a target on 16 of these things, we should be disrupting their networks,” she added.

Those criticisms were echoed by a long list of Republicans on Capitol Hill, whose reactions to Biden’s list ranged from incredulity to anger.

Co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Meghan McCain of “The View” got snippy during a heated discussion over President Biden’s treatment of the press after his highly anticipated summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The argument, which revolved around Biden snapping at CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins after she asked him a question, erupted as Goldberg angered McCain by comparing Biden’s encounters with the press to former President Donald Trump’s.

“Part of my problem with the Kaitlan Collins moment is that just because Trump was so bad it doesn’t absolve Biden’s bad behavior. What he just did was 100% Trumpy,” McCain said after Goldberg asked for her reaction to Collins’ clash with Biden. “I think I would just like a little intellectual consistency. If Trump had done that, we would be screaming at the top of our lungs in one way or another.”

“Well it’s the press’ job to speak truth to power,” McCain said. “Just because Biden has gotten a pass so far, which he has and continues to do, it’s in no one’s best interest to treat him like it’s state TV.”

Goldberg turned the focus to Trump, claiming she never saw him apologize to any reporters, unlike Biden.

“With all due respect, I don’t care,” McCain interrupted, to which Goldberg responded, “Let me just finish what I’m saying.”

The two began arguing over each other, becoming more annoyed with each other.

“With all due respect, I don’t care if he’s apologizing. He just embarrassed himself. And he looks like Trump,” McCain said.

“I don’t care that you don’t care! Just hear what I’m saying!” Goldberg yelled, to which McCain yelled back, “Well I don’t care that you don’t care Whoopi, so we’re even!”

The show unexpectantly cut to a commercial with McCain and Goldberg appearing to have cooled off after returning from the break.

CNN Sunday anchor Abby Phillip responded to Vice President Kamala Harris’ trainwreck interview when she was questioned about her presence, or lack thereof, at the U.S. southern border since being appointed to manage the growing crisis by President Joe Biden.

“It’s just a little cringeworthy,” Phillip said of the interview, “and I know that her allies in the White House and elsewhere are watching it and just kind of wondering what is going on.”

CNN’s Abby Phillip on Kamala Harris’ first foreign trip: “Cringeworthy,” Harris allies are “wondering what is going on?” pic.twitter.com/vkfotrzN0r

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 13, 2021

Her comment is in reference to Harris’ botched interview with NBC anchor Lester Holt earlier this week when the vice president was pressed on the out-of-control migrant crisis and noted that she has yet to visit the southern border.

“At some point, you know, we are going to the border. We’ve been to the border,” Harris said. “So this whole, this whole, this whole thing about the border. We’ve been to the border. We’ve been to the border.

“You haven’t been to the border,” Holt pointed out.

“And I haven’t been to Europe,” Harris responded. “I don’t understand the point that you’re making.”

The interview was considered a joke and sparked bipartisan backlash at the administration’s handling of the crisis.

As part of her responsibilities appointed to her in overseeing the crisis, Harris led a diplomatic effort to slow the flow of migrants last week. The vice president took her first foreign trip to Guatemala and Mexico nearly three months after being assigned the role and spoke with the countries’ leaders to address corruption and find the root cause as to why migrants are fleeing their native countries.

According to CNN Political Analyst, Laura Barron-Lopez, the interview didn’t go according to plan.

“It didn’t go the way the White House wanted it to go,” she said. “Again, immigration, as you mention, is a hot potato no one wants to touch, and Harris has been dealt it and so she has to handle now what Biden had to handle when he was VP which is relationships with the northern triangle.”

Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Texas for a way over due visit to the southern border. Harris was tapped by President Biden to take the lead in finding the “root causes” of the rise in migration.

When she arrived in El Paso at a processing center and Border Patrol facility for an operational briefing, the VP was clearly frazled by the experience. Harris nearly bit the head off of a reporter who questioned her about why she had wasted so much time since being appointed to handle the crisis at the border.

Vice President Kamala Harris arrived in Texas on Friday for a long-awaited border visit, and she snapped at a question about why it had taken her so long to visit after more than 90 days since she was appointed to lead the effort to tackle the causes of the migrant crisis.

It comes after Harris was hammered by both Republicans and Democrats over her failure to visit the border, instead visiting Mexico and Guatemala and unveiling a range of initiatives to end root causes like violence, poverty and climate disruption in Central America.

“It’s not my first trip, I’ve been to the border many times,” she snapped back, apparently referring to visits she made to the border as senator.

According to Harris, this visit is just a prequel to the work that will be done in Guatemala and Mexico.

“Because as I’ve long said, I said back in March I was going to come to the border so this is not a new plan, but the reality of it is we have to deal with the causes and we have to deal with the effects,” she said.

“And being in Guatemala, and being in Mexico talking with Mexico as a partner frankly on the issue, was about addressing the causes and coming to the border at the advice and invitation of [Rep. Veronica Escobar] is about looking at the effects of what we have seen happening in Central America,” she said.

https://youtu.be/2rXKk0J49lI

After touring the locations, Harris is set to hold a conference with advocates from faith-based nongovernmental organizations as well as shelter and legal service providers. The Vice President, joined by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin and Representative Veronica Escobar, will speak to the press and take questions.

Thursday afternoon Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis officially declared a state of emergency in Miami-Dade County after a tragic accident that left many trapped and at least one dead.

The Executive Order stated that 100 people are still considered missing as a result of the early morning collapse of a multi-level condo building. Part of the official order allows the state officer in charge of coordinating extensive search efforts to bring in federal agencies for extra assistance.

UPDATE: Seventeen hours after the deadly partial collapse of the Champlain Towers condominium in Surfside, Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for Miami-Dade County Thursday, enabling federal rescue, housing and financial assistance.https://t.co/F0gfgwuGTS

— Miami Herald (@MiamiHerald) June 25, 2021

The 12-story condo building collapsed without warning around 2:00 a.m. Thursday morning. Emergency workers worked to pull all survivors from the rubble just after 8:00 a.m., according to Frank Rollason, Director of the Miami-Dade Emergency Management.

“The TV doesn’t do it justice,” DeSantis said of the remains of the building. “I mean it is really, really traumatic to see the collapse of a massive structure like that.”

More than 80 men and women from nearby Miami-Dade Fire Rescue units responded to the collapse, according to a Twitter post from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.

“Ann and I are praying for everyone impacted by the terrible tragedy in Surfside and all of our brave first responders working search and rescue,” said Republican Florida Sen. Rick Scott

According to breaking reports, tech entrepreneur John McAfee, founder of the McAfee antivirus software company, has died by apparent suicide in a Spanish jail cell just hours after an extradition order to return to the United States on various financial charges.

Spanish police sources reported to Spain’s El Pais newspaper that McAfee was found dead within his cell at the local Barcelona’s Brians 2 prison.

It has been reported that “everything points to a suicide.”

The news concerning the suicide comes within hours after a Spanish court agreed to extradite McAfee to the United States, where he faced a slew of financial related charges including tax evasion, according to the Post.

“The extradition was approved by the high court in the country and revealed in a court filing on Wednesday that was reviewed by Reuters,” The Post noted.

McAfee had been arrested “and charged with tax evasion, allegedly earning millions in income from promoting cryptocurrencies” back in October.

The indictment alleged that McAfee, 75 at the time, evaded U.S. taxes by having his income “paid into bank accounts and cryptocurrency accounts in the names of others, while also using the names of others to conceal ownership of property and assets including a yacht,” CNN reported in October.

As The Daily Wire stated, “The Justice Department (DOJ) announced the charges after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced it has filed civil charges against McAfee, alleging he made more than $23 million in undisclosed compensation by recommending seven cryptocurrency offerings on Twitter that the SEC claims were false or misleading.”

“McAfee leveraged his fame to make more than $23.1 million in undisclosed compensation” by recommending at least seven initial coin offerings (ICOs) to his Twitter followers, the SEC said. He tried to sell “virtually worthless” cryptocurrency tokens by urging investors to buy the securities without disclosing his own holdings, the SEC alleged.

The DOJ also claimed that McAfee did not file tax returns from 2014 to 2018. McAfee “faces five years in prison on each count of tax evasion and a maximum of one year for each count of willful failure to file a tax return,” CNN reported.

“Prison sources have confirmed that the American tycoon John McAfee, creator of the famous eponymous antivirus, has been found dead in the cell he occupied in module 1 of the Brians 2 Penitentiary Center (Sant Esteve Sesrovires). He was seventy-five years old,” reported Spanish news outlet, El Mundo. “This morning the National Court had finally given the go-ahead to extradite McAfee in the United States.”

It was “reported that the surveillance professionals and the prison medical services have intervened immediately to practice resuscitation maneuvers, but finally the doctors have certified the death,” El Mundo added, according to the translated report.

“The judicial procession has traveled to the prison and is investigating the causes of death. Everything indicates that it could be a death by suicide,” they said in a statement.

A massive condominium in the Miami area partially collapsed during the early morning hours on Thursday. There has been one confirmed dead on the scene with numerous serious casualties. A massive response of over 80 units of first responders is currently on the scene trying to locate any other survivors.

“We’re on the scene so it’s still very active,” said Sgt. Marian Cruz of the Surfside Police Department. “What I can tell you is the building is twelve floors. The entire backside of the building has collapsed.”

Miami Dade Fire Rescue said that they had a tremendous amount of first response units on scene with assistance from municipal fire departments to assist with the ongoing recovery efforts.

MBPD and @MiamiBeachFire are assisting the Town of Surfside at a partial building collapse located at 8777 Collins Avenue in Surfside, Florida. Multiple police and fire agencies from across Miami-Dade are assisting. Please follow @MiamiDadeFire for updated information. pic.twitter.com/8tORIfZfjY

— Miami Beach Police (@MiamiBeachPD) June 24, 2021

“The collapse sent a cloud of debris through the neighborhood, coating cars up to two blocks away with a light layer of dust,” The Associated Press reported. “Photos and video from the scene show the collapse affected half the tower. Piles of rubble and debris surrounded the area just outside the building. The department has yet to say what may have caused the collapse near 88th Street and Collins Avenue.”

“The building, one of these huge buildings, gone, right there beside us, the craziest thing I’ve ever heard in my life,” one witness told local media. “Look at the building, it’s gone.”

Watch: At least one person was killed in the partial collapse of a Surfside high-rise condo building. Read more: https://t.co/s7Nf5Uaedd pic.twitter.com/eDfqit5zxK

— CBS News Miami (@CBSMiami) June 24, 2021

“I was able to just see probably a third, if not half of the building, literally collapsed,” another witness said. “I just can’t put into words, it looks like a bomb hit, it looks like something in one of these ‘Third World’ countries that just literally collapsed, like a pancake straight down, and there’s just an incredible pile of rubble.”

There has been a push for critical race theory to be taught in schools across America. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) demolished Critical Race Theory on Friday explaining just how “racist” it is. Critical Race Theory applies Marxism’s theory of economic class conflict to all races.

Cruz recounted a conversion the senator had with a reporter up on Capitol Hill when the reporter asked him to define CRT while speaking at the Faith & Freedom Coalition Road to Majority Conference in Orlando.

“Apparently he thought I would turn to him and say, ‘Gosh I have no idea,’” he said.

“It’s a theory that derives from Marxism,” Cruz said he explained to the reporter. “Karl Marx viewed the entire world as a conflict between classes, between the owners of capital and the working men and women, the proletariat; a fundamental battle in society. Critical Race Theory takes that same Marxist concept, except it replaces class with race.”

“And it says all of America and all of the world is a battle between the races. Critical Race Theory says every white person is a racist. Critical Race Theory says America is fundamentally racist and irredeemably racist. Critical Race Theory seeks to turn us against each other, and if someone has a different color skin, seeks to make us hate that person.”

“And let me tell you right now, Critical Race Theory is bigoted, it is a lie, and it is every bit as racist as the Klansmen in white sheets,” Cruz said to applause from the crowd.

“As a Christian and as an American, I love my brothers and sisters, whatever skin color you are, whatever ethnicity you are, whatever faith you are, whatever creed you are. We are commanded to love, period, the end,” he added. “And those who would divide us, those who would spread lies, it is evil. It is exactly that, it is evil.”

WATCH:

Critical Race Theory is bigoted. It is a lie. And it is every bit as racist as a Klansmen in white sheets. pic.twitter.com/i2lDGVLfkw

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 18, 2021

One Democratic and two Republican lawmakers from Texas are calling on President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to take a trip to the Lone Star State so the two leaders can pay a visit to the border during the growing crisis.

Senator John Cornyn and Representatives Tony Gonzales and Henry Cuellar are worried that the United States is on track to receive “the highest number of total yearly border crossings in two decades” after close to one million immigrants, including “almost 80,000 unaccompanied children” have crossed the American border illegally over the past 8 months.

The lawmakers pointed out that the number of border crossings has skyrocketed during the Biden administration.

“The momentum for this crisis has been building for months, but no significant action has been taken to address it.” the lawmakers wrote. “The president and vice president have yet to even visit the border.”

The Texans lambasted Harris for saying “she is interested in doing work that leads to real results as opposed to ‘grand gestures,’” writing they shared the same interests.

“We agree, which is why we’ve spent significant time meeting with officials in Texas who are on the front lines of this humanitarian crisis,” they wrote, adding they’ve seen the effects of the cartels and criminal organizations abusing the U.S. immigration system.

The Texas lawmakers also noted their work with Cornyn’s fellow senator, Kyrsten Sinema on bipartisan legislation along with the “feedback” of “law enforcement, nongovernmental organizations, and community leaders who are expected to make up for the failures of the federal government” at the southern border.

“They lack the facilities and resources to fairly and humanely process the current influx of migrants, let alone many tens of thousands more every month,” the Texans wrote. “As the administration considers the best path forward, there has never been a more important time to hear from the men and women who live and work in border communities and have for decades.”

“Our message to President Biden and Vice President Harris is: Come to Texas. Visit the border. Listen to locals,” they concluded the opinion piece. “Take a look at our bipartisan bill. And let’s address this humanitarian crisis together.”

The three lawmakers warned that without a “transition plan, the administration will invite a complete and immediate overload of the system,” adding that “Border Patrol agents are already spread thin” due to the crisis that has grown out of control.

Apparently, it is now okay for “sex work” to be a viable source of income for college students after a University of Ottawa adjunct professor went to Twitter to voice her opinion.

Naomi Sayers, adjunct professor, and attorney made the comments over Twitter that “sex work on the side” is the “best thing” young people can do early in their careers.

“Unpopular opinion: the best thing young people can do early in their careers is do #SexWork on the side because your early career prospects will be unstable, unpredictable, low pay, likely contract work and very much exploitative,” Sayers wrote.

Sayers continued her Twitter comments by comparing sex work to capitalism.

“That’s how capitalism works… People out here saying young people can be exploited in sex work. Literally, that’s capitalism. Lol. And quite literally, that’s any kind of work,” she wrote.

Sayers added that capitalism and prisons should both be abolished, advocating instead for free education and other progressive wish list items.

“Also, if you really want young people to not be exploited, provide them with livable wages, access to safe housing, clean water, and free education. Literally. Abolish capitalism… Actually, abolish prison but whatever,” she stated.

Alex Krause, Sayers’ publicist, when asked what Sayers really meant by her tweets, told Campus Reform that Sayers was making a nuanced argument comparing sex work and capitalism.

“Naomi is IN NO WAY promoting or suggesting that anyone should pursue sex work, her point was to facetiously criticize capitalist society, to quote her initial tweet ‘…early career prospects will be unstable, unpredictable, low pay, likely contract work and very much exploitative,’” Krause told the outlet.

It sure doesn’t appear that Naomi wasn’t promoting young college students to pursue sex work.