‘Shot’ From the Secretary: RFK Jr. Issues 2 Orders to Rein In HHS

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There’s no doubt that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has had in a mind a thorough rebuild of the American health care system for his tenure as secretary of Health and Human Services.

He’s long objected to some parts of America’s vaccination regime, and has been a harsh critic of the fact there are so many chronic diseases in children.

He just started on his agenda, with two orders.

The Daily Mail reports he has pulled a campaign that was intended to promote flu shots to Americans, and he has postponed a meeting of a team of vaccine advisers.

The first order concerned the CDC’s “Wild to Mild” flu shot promotions, the report said. They “juxtaposed” a lion next to a kitten in a claim that the shot “tamed” the virus. (Read more from “‘Shot’ From the Secretary: RFK Jr. Issues 2 Orders to Rein In HHS” HERE)

In Ukraine Interview, Rubio Gives Master Class In Handling Foreign Affairs

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio laid out a common-sense approach to U.S. foreign policy by suggesting American diplomacy should work in American interests, and that when countries like Ukraine receive billions from U.S. taxpayers, it’s not too much to expect some “gratitude.”

In an interview with former CBS reporter Catherine Herridge published on X Thursday, Rubio outlined those interests by first reminding viewers that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s antagonism against the White House predates the Trump administration.

“Joe Biden had frustrations with Zelensky, people shouldn’t forget it,” Rubio said.

The State Department chief referenced reports that then-President Biden lost composure with the Ukrainian president because, rather than saying “thank you for all your help,” Zelensky “is immediately out there messaging what we’re not doing, or what he’s not getting.”

(Read more from “In Ukraine Interview, Rubio Gives Master Class In Handling Foreign Affairs” HERE)

Russian Military Aircraft Enter Alaska’s Air Defense Identification Zone

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The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) reported Thursday that Russian military aircraft were detected in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on Tuesday and Wednesday. NORAD said such activity “occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat.”

The ADIZ is a zone that extends outward from the sovereign air space of a nation, forming a buffer zone between sovereign and international air space. Planes that enter an ADIZ are identified and tracked to ensure they do not behave in a threatening or provocative manner.

NORAD said the Russian aircraft tracked on Tuesday and Wednesday did not attempt to enter either American or Canadian airspace.

Tensions along the northern frontier have been elevated since an incident in January where an unusually large number of Russian warplanes were spotted in the Arctic, prompting U.S. and Canadian fighters to scramble in response. (Read more from “Russian Military Aircraft Enter Alaska’s Air Defense Identification Zone” HERE)

School District Defies Trump Orders, Won’t Tell Parents If Children Identify As Transgender

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A Virginia school district insists it will not tell parents if a child begins identifying as a different gender, despite the Trump administration’s warning that schools promoting gender ideology will lose their federal funding.

Albemarle County Public Schools in Charlottesville sent an email to parents on February 3 reminding them about the district’s transgender and anti-racism policies. The transgender policy states that students are “not required to obtain parental consent” to be called a new name and pronoun by teachers and school staff, who are expected to “honor” the student’s request.

“School administration will not contact a student’s parents in relation to such a request unless asked to do so by the student,” the policy reads.

“Recent events have highlighted the importance of standing together against bullying, harassment, and discrimination,” Dr. Daphne Keiser, Assistant Superintendent for School Community Engagement wrote to families.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month warning that schools promoting ideas like Critical Race Theory or gender ideology would see their federal funding stripped. Another executive order bans trans-identifying males in girls’ sports by threatening to rescind funds from schools that allow them to. (Read more from “School District Defies Trump Orders, Won’t Tell Parents If Children Identify As Transgender” HERE)

NSA Emphasizes ‘Strong Defensive Posture’ as It Responds to Report It Hacked China

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A new analysis exposing the National Security Agency’s alleged hack of a Chinese university sent shock waves through the cybersecurity community this week, with granular details of the communist country’s investigative findings spilling out into the open.

The Australia-based researcher Lina Lau, who uses the pseudonym @inversecos online, published a detailed breakdown of China’s work to hunt the NSA hackers that Beijing believes penetrated Northwestern Polytechnical University, located in the city of Xi’an.

Asked about the accuracy of Ms. Lau’s work, an NSA senior official offered a lengthy statement that criticized China’s cyber operations — but contained no denial that the U.S. agency had hacked the university.

“NSA is unwavering in its commitment to equipping network defenders with timely, actionable guidance to safeguard critical infrastructure against the growing and evolving landscape of cyber threats,” the official said. “We recognize the importance of maintaining a strong defense posture, and we remain dedicated to strengthening the security of our digital networks and those of America’s defense industrial base.” (Read more from “NSA Emphasizes ‘Strong Defensive Posture’ as It Responds to Report It Hacked China” HERE)

White House Warns Zelensky to ‘Tone Down’ Trump Criticism and Sign Rare-Earths Deal as Peace Talk Tensions Simmer; Zelensky Praises ‘Productive Meeting’ With Trump Envoy

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By New York Post. National security adviser Mike Waltz warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday to “tone it down” when it came to his “unacceptable” criticism of President Trump.

Zelensky, 47, has lashed out at Trump, 78, for excluding Kyiv from US-Russia talks held in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday and batted down a reported offer for Washington to take 50% ownership of Ukraine’s rare-earth deposits valued at $500 billion.

“For all the administration has done in his first term … and all the United States has done for Ukraine — is just, it’s unacceptable,” Waltz said in a morning appearance on “Fox & Friends.”

“They need to tone it down,” the former Florida Republican congressman added, “and take a hard look and sign that deal.”

In an afternoon White House press briefing, Waltz said Zelensky had lobbed “insults” at the American president.

Waltz also claimed that the proposed rare-earths deal had included “the best security guarantee that they [Ukrainians] could hope for, much more than another pallet of ammunition.” (Read more from “White House Warns Zelensky to ‘Tone Down’ Trump Criticism and Sign Rare-Earths Deal as Peace Talk Tensions Simmer” HERE)

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Zelensky Praises ‘Productive Meeting’ With Trump Envoy Keith Kellogg

By Breitbart. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday he had a “productive meeting” with retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, who was acting as President Donald Trump’s envoy for Ukraine and Russia.

The upbeat meeting seemed to scale back a growing confrontation between Zelensky and Trump over bilateral U.S. peace negotiations with Russia.

“I had a productive meeting with Special Envoy Kellogg – a good discussion, many important details. I am grateful to the United States for all the assistance and bipartisan support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people,” Zelensky said on social media Thursday afternoon.

“It’s important for us – and for the entire free world – that American strength is felt,” the Ukrainian president said.

“We had a detailed conversation about the battlefield situation, how to return our prisoners of war, and effective security guarantees,” he said. (Read more from “Zelensky Praises ‘Productive Meeting’ With Trump Envoy Keith Kellogg” HERE)

Thanks To Democrat Gov. Katie Hobbs, Arizonans Can Keep Expecting Delayed Election Results

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In recent years, Arizona has gained a reputation for failing to provide voters with definitive election results on election night. And thanks to the latest move by Democrat Gov. Katie Hobbs, that’s going to be the state’s reality for the foreseeable future.

On Tuesday, Hobbs vetoed legislation (HB 2703) passed by Arizona’s GOP-controlled legislature that sought to enhance election officials’ ability to deliver timely election results to voters. The measure cleared the state House and Senate in party-line votes last week, with Republicans supporting the bill and Democrats opposing.

Among the most notable changes proposed in HB 2703 is a provision moving up the deadline by which voters must return early ballots. As Arizona GOP Chair Gina Swoboda previously noted to The Federalist, Arizona’s late production of election results is largely due to an issue within current law, which allows voters to drop off their early mail ballots by 7 p.m. on Election Day.

In Arizona, all early ballot voters are required to provide their signature on the ballot envelope affidavit, which is then compared to the one in their registration records. Once election workers confirm the signatures match, the ballot is processed and tabulated.

The week of the Nov. 5, 2024 presidential election, election officials estimated Maricopa County alone received more than 200,000 early ballots from voting locations on Election Day. All of those Maricopa early ballots, as well as those returned on Election Day in other counties, were required to go through the aforementioned signature verification process — a review that took Maricopa County officials weeks to complete. (Read more from “Thanks To Democrat Gov. Katie Hobbs, Arizonans Can Keep Expecting Delayed Election Results” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Starmer Rebuffs Trump, Reassures Zelensky It’s ‘Perfectly Reasonable’ to Cancel Elections in Wartime

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British Prime Minister immediately offered Volodymyr Zelensky affirmation over his democratic status after President Trump blasted Ukraine for cancelling its elections and enforcing martial law on its citizens.

Sir Keir Starmer spoke to Ukrainian President Zelensky overnight, with his Downing Street office revealing the Prime Minister had told the Ukrainian he is not a dictator and that it had been “perfectly reasonable” to suspend democracy because of the Russian invasion.

The comments follow Donald Trump airing his views on the state of Ukrainian democracy, saying if Ukraine’s leadership wants a seat at the table, the Ukrainian people should be consulted on who they will send to sit at the table. Later remarks were more strident — perhaps in response to Zelensky’s angry answer to the initial comments, and accusing Trump of repeating Russian “disinformation — and called Zelensky a dictator.

President Trump had said: “A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left… I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job, his Country is shattered, and MILLIONS have unnecessarily died”.

These remarks likely come as part of a strategy of pre-positioning by the United States ahead of the coming U.S.-Russia peace talks, and the United Kingdom government was fast to counter-signal against them. Downing Street said of Starmer’s call with Zelensky: “The prime minister spoke to President Zelenskyy this evening and stressed the need for everyone to work together. The prime minister expressed his support for President Zelenskyy as Ukraine’s democratically elected leader”. (Read more from “Starmer Rebuffs Trump, Reassures Zelensky It’s ‘Perfectly Reasonable’ to Cancel Elections in Wartime” HERE)

Video: Official Admits Dept. Of Education Is Spending Tax Dollars On Illegals And Dodging DOGE Oversight

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Department of Education staff remove citizenship requirements from legislation, offer programs to illegal immigrants, and are using a messaging app to avoid oversight from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), according to an undercover video published Feb. 20 by Project Veritas.

“If Congress actually knew that we don’t ask that [citizenship status], there would be a lot of, probably, a lot of uproar,” said DOE Branch Chief Travis Combs. “You know how they have like sanctuary cities? We would be a sanctuary program where we’re spending federal dollars on illegal immigrants.” . . .

Combs is a branch chief in the DOE’s office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education, according to LinkedIn. He said in the video he oversees seven staff who “develop professional development projects for teachers and adult education.” He said the programs focus on areas including GED [general educational development], high school diploma, ESL [English as a second language], and citizenship.

“The one nice thing about this program that I work in is we don’t ask [citizenship] status, and we’ve been able to keep that out of our federal statute,” he said. “We don’t ask them when they enroll what their status is.”

Combs said “undocumented” people can take part in these programs “as long as they follow the process.” He said recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) “have to follow the rules for DACA,” but “if they’re illegal, illegal, it’s going to be pretty hard.” (Read more from “Video: Official Admits Dept. Of Education Is Spending Tax Dollars On Illegals And Dodging DOGE Oversight” HERE)

2 Teenage Girls Plotted to Attack High School With Pipe Bombs and Guns, FBI Says

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The Federal Bureau of Investigation said it thwarted a mass casualty plot intended at a Texas high school within 30 minutes of being tipped off about the alleged plan.

The two girls, who have not been publicly identified because of their ages, allegedly planned to attack Memorial High School in the Houston suburb of Hedwig Village with guns and pipe bombs.

The 16-year-old was charged with making a terroristic threat, a third-degree felony, while the 15-year-old was placed into custody on unrelated charges.

“We received troubling information, conducted a rapid investigation, shared findings with LE partners, & ultimately saved lives,” read a statement from the FBI office in Houston.

KPRC-TV reported that the older girl had previously been a student at Memorial High School before she moved to an alternative school, and the younger girl was a student at Willis High School. (Read more from “2 Teenage Girls Plotted to Attack High School With Pipe Bombs and Guns, FBI Says” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr