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Take no chances on violent non-citizens: Begich III co-sponsors bill to deport alien criminals

Suzanne Downing
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Take no chances on violent non-citizens: Begich III co-sponsors bill to deport alien criminals

Men, women and children in America are increasingly facing assaults by illegal immigrants — crimes like rape and murder, which have already become a widespread across Europe and the United Kingdom, due to unchecked immigration from northern African muslim men.

Alaska Congressman Nick Begich III, in office for just two weeks, has cosponsored the “Preventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act,” legislation aimed at strengthening U.S. border security and ensuring that foreign nationals, including illegal immigrants, who commit violent crimes are held accountable and deported.

“Securing our borders is both a matter of national security and a matter of protecting those closest to us—family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and indeed all Americans,” Begich said. “Foreign nationals who commit domestic violence, stalking, child abuse, child neglect, or child abandonment have no place in our nation, and I am proud to support a bill that gives law enforcement the tools they need to make our nation safer. This bill sends a clear message that foreign nationals who choose to commit violence in our nation are not welcome in our nation.”

H.R. 30 gives law enforcement additional tools to safeguard communities and protect American citizens and their families.

“No family should endure the heartbreak the families of Laken Riley, Mollie Tibbetts, Karina Vetrano, and Maddie Hines have experienced. Every woman and every girl deserves to feel safe in their own community,” said Rep. Nancy Mace, prime sponsor of the legislation.

“The radical left doesn’t agree with this. 145 liberals in Congress love illegal immigrant rapists and murders,” she said. “House Republicans united to expand protections for women and put the safety of Americans first. This isn’t complicated—keeping criminal illegal aliens out of our country and off our streets is just common sense. Women should be able to walk down the street without fear, and families should feel safe in their own neighborhoods.”

The bill add clauses to the Immigration and Nationality Act, such as:

  • Sex offenses: A non-citizen convicted of, admitting to committing, or one who has committed acts constituting a sex offense would be considered inadmissible to the United States.
  • Domestic violence and similar crimes: Any non-citizen convicted of or admitting to committing the following crimes would be inadmissible:
    • A crime of domestic violence
    • A crime of stalking
    • A crime of child abuse, neglect, or abandonment
    • A violation of a protection order concerning threats of violence or harassment

The act amends the deportable offenses section of the Immigration and Nationality Act to include:

  • Sex offenses: Non-citizens who have been convicted of a sex offense will be classified as deportable.
  • Domestic violence and similar crimes: Non-citizens convicted of domestic violence, as defined in applicable laws, would be deportable, whether or not the jurisdiction has federal grant funding related to violent crime control.
Begich III votes in favor of Laken Riley Act to crack down on illegal immigrant criminals
Invasion by design? Peltola votes for illegal immigrants to be counted toward reapportionment, Electoral College

Tim Murtaugh: Zuckerberg would censor Trump all over again, if he thought it would help him or Meta

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR
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Tim Murtaugh: Zuckerberg would censor Trump all over again, if he thought it would help him or Meta

By TIM MURTAUGH | TOWNHALL

Under Mark Zuckerberg’s leadership, Meta Platforms – what most people think of as Facebook – has demonstrated a pattern of actions that starkly contradict its professed commitment to free speech. This duplicity not only undermines public trust but also raises serious concerns about the company’s role in shaping public discourse.

A glaring example of Meta’s hypocrisy is its handling of political figures. 

Don’t forget that they proudly throttled posts about Hunter Biden’s laptop in the final weeks of the 2020 presidential election to protect Joe Biden, even having a Facebook spokesman post on Twitter that they were doing so. This was hugely significant, because the laptop contained emails and texts that linked Joe Biden to his family’s lucrative scheme of selling access to him to foreign moneymen from around the globe.

Meta’s actions in censoring posts about the laptop were never based on “misinformation,” but were instead part of a larger effort to influence the outcome of the 2020 election and help Biden against incumbent President Donald Trump. Meta’s decision to limit the spread of factual information on a major political issue speaks volumes about the company’s willingness to suppress speech when it aligns with its political interests.

And their work paid off. Polling information published in the weeks after the election showed that a significant percentage of people who voted for Biden would have changed their minds if they had known about the laptop – in numbers enough to tilt battleground states and the whole election back to Trump.

Afterwards, in January 2021, Meta took the unprecedented step of banning Trump, which was hailed by some and defended by the company as necessary for public safety following the riot at the U.S. Capitol. Meta issued a statement that claimed, incredibly, that “the risks of allowing President Trump to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great.”

Nonsense.

It was really just politics – the unwarranted banishment of a former president of the United States – that not-so-accidentally aligned with the authoritarian bent of the incoming Biden administration. It also happened to go right along with the mood in the new Biden White House, where people loathed Trump so much it made them vibrate with hatred.

Yes, there was no doubt that with the Biden team, Zuckerberg was all in.

However, as political tides shifted, so did Meta’s stance. When it became clear that Trump could return to the White House, Meta reinstated the banned accounts and began courting favor with the former president’s political circle. And now that Trump has won and is preparing to take office once again, Zuckerberg is trying to round the corner, even co-hosting a reception with other billionaires during Trump inaugural festivities.

The rampant inconsistency shows that Meta policies of all kinds are less about principle and more about aligning with the political winds. So, anyone tempted to believe that Zuckerberg’s new tune is permanent ought to keep this recent history in mind.

Meta’s hypocrisy extends beyond its relationships with politicians to its approach toward its competitors. The company has actively lobbied for the banning of its most significant rival, TikTok, a short-form video platform that, unlike Meta, never suspended Trump. Instead of fostering healthy competition, Meta has pushed for government intervention to remove a platform that many people think has reshaped the social media landscape. 

Seeking to ban a competitor is not the action of a company truly committed to free speech. In fact, it’s exactly what Biden encouraged Meta to do to Trump.

None of this should have been a surprise.

Meta’s role in the censorship of content during the Covid-19 pandemic further revealed its willingness to abandon free speech and bow to governmental demands when it served its political or business interests. In a recent interview, Zuckerberg admitted that the Biden administration exerted pressure on Meta to suppress certain content. He said government officials “screamed” and “cursed” at Meta employees to ensure the removal of posts, even those that were factually accurate. This capitulation to governmental pressure illustrated Meta’s willingness to compromise its stated values for political expediency.

And, naturally, what Zuckerberg failed to mention in that interview is that Meta willfully participated in these censorship meetings. Unlike the aforementioned TikTok, which did not attend the Biden Administration’s COVID censorship sessions, Meta was a willing partner in the suppression of content. 

The bottom line is this: while Meta publicly champions free expression, its actions reveal a different story—one of opportunism and hypocrisy. And beware Zuckerberg’s revamped political stances, since they will most certainly shift as soon as his self-preservation requires it.

Because you know it’s true that if Mark Zuckerberg thought it would help him and Meta, he’d ban Trump all over again.

Tim Murtaugh, the founder and principal of Line Drive Public Affairs, served as a senior advisor on the 2024 Trump campaign and as communications director on the 2020 Trump campaign. This column first appeared at Townhall.com.

Biden ‘get off my lawn’ farewell speech falls flat

Biden ‘get off my lawn’ farewell speech falls flat

Suzanne Downing
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Biden ‘get off my lawn’ farewell speech falls flat

President Joe Biden, sitting at his desk in the Oval Office with Jill Biden, Kamala Harris and his son Hunter Biden looking on from the side, mumbled his way through his farewell speech to the nation on Wednesday evening.

Former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino gave the speech a failing grade:

“To me, it felt like Biden’s farewell address speechwriters have already left the building, and they asked ChatGPT to write a speech for Joe Biden in which he doesn’t remember he was president for the last four years.”

Biden warned that the nation is becoming controlled by an “ultrawealthy oligarchy” that must “pay their fair share of taxes.”

He was talking about Elon Musk, who now owns X and is part of the Donald Trump orbit, and he wasn’t talking about George Soros, who has been financing Democrats and their causes for years. Or his own son, Hunter Biden.

Just before Hunter’s sentencing in December for tax fraud, Biden granted his felonious adult child and possible criminal partner an unprecedented pardon that spanned 10 years, shielding him from any and all tax fraud charges. The pardon went back to the time when Biden was vice president.

But Biden wants the ultra rich and connected to pay their fair share of taxes, although he doesn’t specify what that is. While his son was dodging taxes, Elon Musk has paid more taxes than any American in history.

Biden went after social media, saying the companies are “giving up on fact-checking.” He again called for censorship.

He was talking about Musk again, who bought Twitter from Jack Dorsey and quickly shut down the so-called fact-checkers, who were censoring conservatives.

And Biden may have been talking about Mark Zuckerberg, primary owner and CEO of Facebook, who has recently stated that his fact-checkers were biased toward Democrats and that he was doing away with them.

“The free press is crumbling,” he said without evidence. It’s true that newspapers are crumbling because of their archaic business structure, due in part to the rapid and free flow of information that newspapers no longer can control, as they have for centuries.

“In the past four years, our democracy’s held strong and every day I’ve kept my commitment to be president for all Americans through one of the toughest periods in our nation’s history,” Biden said. He did not mention the millions of illegal immigrants who have stormed the borders under his watch.

He claimed to have brought violent crime to a 50-year low in America, although that has proven to be not true. The only way he could get to that conclusion is because New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, didn’t submit their data. In October, the FBI revised its statistics that had showed a drop in violent crime by 2.2%. It had actually gone up 4.5% in 2022. Gangs roam the streets of cities and arsonists are burning down Los Angeles.

He claimed to have created the most jobs in history, although those jobs were simply ones that people returned to after the Covid pandemic led to policies that shut down the economy.

Some of the low-lights of what critics are saying is evidence of Biden’s incapacity to lead:

Democrats continue quest to game state elections

Suzanne Downing
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Democrats continue quest to game state elections

Democrats in high places in Alaska are unhappy that 1,303 ballots mailed in by presumed Democrat voters in the 2024 general election were not counted. They were rejected by officials for having one or more indicators of fraudulent voting.

The ballots didn’t have proper witness signatures or identification, which Democrats believe is inherently unfair. Rather than create education accountability measures to ensure Alaska’s voters are literate by the time they can vote, Democrats yearn for a law that would eliminate the witness signature requirement altogether.

Some 340,981 voters cast ballots in November’s election. The 1,303 ballots that were mailed in and rejected as illegal ballots represent less than 1/2 of 1% of the overall ballots. Many of the bad ballots came from rural Alaska, where literacy rates are lower and where election fraud has been detected numerous times in recent years (Buckland and Shungnak, and Kipnuk).

Of those ballots, over 520 had  “insufficient or improper witnessing,” which means the voter did not have someone else sign the ballot envelope as a witness. That’s 40% of the 1,303 rejected ballots.

Fully 11% of the rejected were from people trying to game the system by mailing their ballots in after Election Day.

Another 13% of the rejected ballots didn’t have proper identification, such as the voter’s date of birth voter ID number or last four digits of their Social Security number. Some of these may have been illegal ballots mailed in by nonvoters who accessed the ballots in places like Post Office trash cans.

And 8% of the rejected ballots didn’t have a voter signature. Why? Possibly because these were more trash can voters, picking up ballots that had been tossed and filling them out.

Sen. Bill Wielechowski told the Anchorage Daily News that it’s “reprehensible” for ballot to be rejected for “dumb bureaucratic reasons, meaningless reasons,” and he will fill legislation to allow voters to “cure” or correct their ballots. Such a curing process would likely extend the already dragged-out election process. Ranked-choice voting already extends the time when election results can be known to Nov. 30, and with a built-in timeframe for recount requests, the elections are not completed for well over one month after Election Day. Allowing for a timeframe to correct ballots would burden an already burdensome election system that has become a national poster child for “what not to do.”

The miracle of Buckland
Throwdown: District 40 election challenged
Hotbed of socialism in Kipnuk? The village voters who went wild for Cornel West

Eight Republican governors order U.S. flags back to full staff for Inauguration Day. Will Dunleavy?

Suzanne Downing
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Eight Republican governors order U.S. flags back to full staff for Inauguration Day. Will Dunleavy?

The U.S. flags at American government buildings and embassies overseas are flying at half staff for a 30-day period following the death of former President Jimmy Carter on Dec. 29.

But eight Republican governors so far have ordered flags at full staff on Jan. 20, in honor of President Donald Trump’s inauguration that day. The flags would return to half staff on Tuesday until sunset on Jan. 28.

The governors who have ordered their flags to fly at full staff include: Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Idaho Gov. Brad Little, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

There are 27 Republican governors. Gov. Mike Dunleavy has been on an overseas mission to the United Arab Emirates. The fact that he has not directed the flag at full staff does not mean he won’t do it when he returns to Alaska.

As is customary, President Joe Biden ordered flags at half-staff “in honor and tribute to the memory of President James Earl Carter, Jr., and as an expression of public sorrow, do hereby direct that the flag of the United States be displayed at half-staff at the White House and on all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions for a period of 30 days from the day of his death.  I also direct that, for the same length of time, the representatives of the United States in foreign countries shall make similar arrangements for the display of the flag at half‑staff over their embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.”

Passing: President Jimmy Carter, 100, the president who signed ANILCA

Sullivan says Greenland is fine, but don’t forget about Alaska’s strategic defense and resource role

Suzanne Downing
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Sullivan says Greenland is fine, but don’t forget about Alaska’s strategic defense and resource role

In a column published by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, Sen. Dan Sullivan addressed the idea raised by President Donald Trump — America buying Greenland.

Sullivan isn’t opposed to it necessarily, but made the case that there is already a state that offers all that Greenland does; it’s his home state of Alaska.

“The problem is that the Biden administration has spent its time trying to turn the Last Frontier into a giant national park rather than recognizing it as a great strategic asset,” Sullivan said.

While Greenland would provide the U.S. a gateway to the Arctic, America is already an Arctic nation, thanks to Alaska, he said.

“The Russians and Chinese know my state is at the forefront of great-power competition. In the past two years, there have been 12 air incursions into the state’s air-defense identification zone, including an unprecedented joint Russian-Chinese strategic bomber operation, and large-scale joint Russian-Chinese naval task forces in our waters,” Sullivan wrote. Missile defense for America is properly placed in Alaska.

“Any missiles launched by Russia, China or North Korea against the U.S. would likely fly over the state. That’s why it hosts the vast majority of America’s radar systems and ground-based missile interceptors. To create an Iron Dome for America—a priority of Mr. Trump—we need to add to our national ballistic-missile interceptor capability in Alaska and build a robust layered missile defense and space-based missile sensor capability,” Sullivan wrote.

Trump has ben talking about adding Greenland as a US territory since his first term as president. In recent days, the Danish government reached out to Trump’s team privately and said it is willing to negotiate military and economic deals pertaining to Greenland, but privately with Trump, not in public.

Sullivan went on from national security to talk about minerals, oil, and gas, all resources rich in Alaska that America needs — if only the federal government would get out of the way.

The full column is at this link but behind a paywall. You can have it read to you for free by tapping the “listen” icon at the top of the story.

Greenland, USA: What are Alaskans saying about Donald Trump bringing in a new territory?

Murkowski says D.C. is colder than Alaska, and that’s a problem

Suzanne Downing
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Murkowski says D.C. is colder than Alaska, and that’s a problem

In committee vetting Energy Secretary nominee Chris Wright, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski bemoaned how it was colder in Washington, D.C. than it was in Alaska, and that the thermostats are “out of whack.” It’s a problem, she was explaining. Alaska is not cold, and D.C. is.

Directing her remarks at Wright, she then said technologies can help Alaskans adapt to climate change.

Wright was appearing for his first Senate grilling in the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, where much of the talk from Democrats was about climate change.

This week in Washington, D.C. it is chilly, for the district at least. It’s in the 20s to the low 40s. It will be even chillier next week, during the outdoor Inauguration of Donald Trump as president. Temperatures are expected to reach a low of 11 degrees.

Often, when the temperatures in the continental United States drop, Alaska will experience a warm spell. This curiosity has been happening regularly this winter, with bitter cold weather south, and warmer air moving into Alaska, where today in Utqiagvik it is -6 degrees, in Kotzebue it’s 11 degrees and Nome is a balmy 19, at this writing.

“We’re living with it, we’re dealing with it, we’re feeling it,” Murkowski said to Wright. “We’re feeling it in Alaska right now. I wish I could tell you it’s as cold in Alaska as it is in Washington, D.C.”

Actually, it was colder in Alaska today. Except in Ketchikan, where it is 46 and raining.

Alaska has been going through a warm super cycle for many years, but at least it is not as warm as when dinosaurs roamed Alaska, around 120-million years ago. It was as warm in Alaska then as is current day Puget Sound.

But back to Murkowski’s declaration of coldness in D.C. There’s an explanation.

Meteorologist say that when tropospheric ridges develop in the jet stream over Alaska, it flips the Eastern Pacific Oscillation to negative, and that creates polar air coming over the north pole from Siberia and into Canada and the Lower 48.

This winter in Alaska, the main pattern has been a southerly flow of warm air coming across the warm Pacific Ocean.

These flips in temperatures between the Lower 48 and Alaska happen with frequency, and this particular episode of cold weather for D.C. is not that noteworthy.

“In February 1899, a two-week period of exceptionally cold weather culminated in what weather historian David Ludlum (1970) describes as ‘the greatest Arctic outbreak in history.’ Temperatures fell to 0°F (-18°C) along the beaches of the Gulf Coast and ice flowed from the mouth of the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico,” says a report for NASA/Goddard Space Center in 1988. Read more about the phenomenon at this link.

Meg Zaletel named in lawsuit against Anchorage homelessness industrial complex organization

Suzanne Downing
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Meg Zaletel named in lawsuit against Anchorage homelessness industrial complex organization

Anchorage Assemblywoman Meg Zaletel, who double-dips as the CEO of the Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness, is named in a lawsuit by a “Jane Doe,” a former employee, who accuses her and the organization of wrongful termination.

In the lawsuit, the complainant accuses Zaletel of routinely yelling at and berating employees.

Zaletel is not running again in April for her seat on the Assembly, which provides millions of dollars to her organization. In 2024, the Assembly gave her $1.4 million to solve homelessness in Anchorage, which has only worsened under her leadership. She has been on the Assembly since 2019, and has headed up the homelessness business since 2021.

Wesley Early of Alaska Public Media broke the story about the alleged financial mismanagement by Zaletel, and the claims that Zaletel created a toxic workplace at the nonprofit and that people working there are demoralized.

“Doe further alleges that when she brought her concerns to the board of directors, she was fired. The 37-page complaint also names board chair Nathan Johnson and vice chair Jacob Lyons as defendants,” Early writes.

The case is 3AN-25-04029CI Jane Doe vs. Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness.

Early’s report on the complaint can be read at this link.

Trump announces hostages will be released, ceasefire

Suzanne Downing
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Trump announces hostages will be released, ceasefire

President Donald Trump, still five days away from being sworn in at his inauguration, announced that dozens of Israeli and American hostages will be released from Gaza, where they have been held for since the Hamas raid on Israel over 15 months ago.

“This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November, as it signaled to the entire World that my Administration would seek Peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans, and our Allies. I am thrilled American and Israeli hostages will be returning home to be reunited with their families and loved ones,” Trump wrote on his social media platform TruthSocial.com, where he breaks news.

The White House has not confirmed the news. But Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, who is close to the president, affirmed the report:

“Americans have been held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza for 467 DAYS. Thank you @realDonaldTrump, @SteveWitkoff and the Trump National Security Team for making this deal a reality. This is Peace Through Strength. This is the Trump-Effect IN ACTION. BRING THEM ALL HOME,” Donalds wrote on X/Twitter.
 
“With this deal in place, my National Security team, through the efforts of Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, will continue to work closely with Israel and our Allies to make sure Gaza NEVER again becomes a terrorist safe haven. We will continue promoting PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH throughout the region, as we build upon the momentum of this ceasefire to further expand the Historic Abraham Accords. This is only the beginning of great things to come for America, and indeed, the World!” Trump wrote.
 
“We have achieved so much without even being in the White House. Just imagine all of the wonderful things that will happen when I return to the White House, and my Administration is fully confirmed, so they can secure more Victories for the United States!” said Trump, who will return to the White House on Jan. 20.

By afternoon on Jan. 15, President Joe Biden was taking full credit:

“Today, after many months of intensive diplomacy by the United States, along with Egypt and Qatar, Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire and hostage deal. This deal will halt the fighting in Gaza, surge much needed-humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, and reunite the hostages with their families after more than 15 months in captivity.

“I laid out the precise contours of this plan on May 31, 2024, after which it was endorsed unanimously by the UN Security Council. It is the result not only of the extreme pressure that Hamas has been under and the changed regional equation after a ceasefire in Lebanon and weakening of Iran — but also of dogged and painstaking American diplomacy. My diplomacy never ceased in their efforts to get this done.

“Even as we welcome this news, we remember all the families whose loved ones were killed in Hamas’s October 7th attack, and the many innocent people killed in the war that followed. It is long past time for the fighting to end and the work of building peace and security to begin. I am also if thinking of the American families, three of whom have living hostages in Gaza and four awaiting return of remains after what has been the most horrible ordeal imaginable. Under this deal, we are determined to bring all of them home. 

“I will speak more about this soon. For now, I am thrilled that those who have been held hostage are being reunited with their families,” he said in a statement on the White House website.

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