Society's ChildS


Question

Another commissioner bails on NYC amid turmoil, federal investigations

New York City Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan
© Matthew McDermottNew York City Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan (right) announced he'll be resigning at the end of the year.
City Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan announced Monday he'll be resigning at the end of the year - the latest person to leave the Adams administration while several city officials are targets of federal investigators.

Vasan, who has worked as New York City's top doctor since March 2022, told both City Hall and his own staff today about his plans — but said he'd stay on while Adams searches for a successor, The Post confirmed.

Vasan, who is not tied to any of the known investigations into city officials, joins a growing number of administrators who are leaving the administration.

Comment: This story from November 2023 seems to be ground-zero for all the investigations:
The home of a top fundraiser for New York City Mayor Eric Adams was raided by the feds early Thursday morning as part of an investigation over an alleged kickback scheme involving the Turkish government and a Brooklyn construction company.

Federal agents burst into the Brooklyn home of Brianna Suggs, a campaign consultant and lobbyist — just as Adams abruptly bailed on a slate of White House immigration meetings to fly back to the Big Apple almost as soon as he had landed in Washington DC, The Post confirmed.

The raid was connected to a broader public corruption probe by the feds looking into whether money was illegally funneled to Adams' 2021 mayoral campaign via a Williamsburg-based construction company - and was purposely conducted while the mayor was out of town, law enforcement sources said.

Investigators specifically sought evidence of whether Adams' campaign conspired with the Turkish government and the construction company to move foreign cash into his campaign accounts by using straw donors, the sources said.

The feds' warrant - which was obtained by The New York Times - said agents were looking for evidence of the theft of federal funds, wire fraud, conspiracy to steal federal funds and wire fraud conspiracy.

Investigators were looking for proof that the campaign kicked back benefits to principals and employees of KSK Construction Group - as well as Turkish officials.

Neither Suggs - whose firm has earned more than $150,000 from the mayor's campaign team since 2021 - nor Adams have been arrested or charged with a crime.

Adams said he hasn't been contacted by any law enforcement agency but flew back to the city to "be on the ground" and "find out exactly what was taking place."

Suggs, 25, is also extraordinarily close with Ingrid Lewis-Martin, the so-called Lioness of City Hall who acts as Adams' chief advisor and gatekeeper.

Suggs' company - Suggs Solutions LLC - is registered to a family-owned brownstone at 929 Lincoln Place in Crown Heights, according to property records.

Investigators also wanted documents about contributions to Adams' 2021 campaign, records of travel to Turkey by any of the campaign's employees or associates and documents that could shed light on the campaign's interactions with the Turkish government, the paper said.

The warrant also sought any electronic device she used, including cell phones, tablets and laptops.

City records show Suggs - who worked as an aide to Adams back when he was Brooklyn's borough president - is on a monthly retainer for Hizzoner's political work, and has also received more than $16,500 in personal payments from Adams' accounts, according to campaign finance filings.

Suggs was also paid more than $100,000 since January 2022 by Al Cockfield's PAC, "Striving for a Better New York," according to state campaign finance records.

Cockfield's daughter, Amaris Cockfield, also works as a spokesperson for the City Hall press office, where she earns $110,000 per year.

Suggs, who graduated from Brooklyn College with a Bachelors of Science in biology in 2020, reported making $1,500 between July and December of 2022 for lobbying City Hall to extend a business owner's lease on a strip mall in Chinatown - all while the mayor's campaign was retaining her for consulting and fundraising services.

The set-up irritated government watchdogs, who said it raised conflict-of-interest concerns and could lead to pay-to-play politics.

Representatives for KSK Construction declined to comment Thursday.

Adams canned his much-sought-after meeting with senior White House officials and fellow big-city Democratic mayors once he heard about the operation.

The mayor abruptly canceled his DC meetings Thursday. William Farrington

The parties were supposed to discuss the burgeoning migrant crisis that's swamped the Big Apple - the mayor even posted a short video from the plane on X where he described his mission.

"We are headed to DC to meet with our congressional delegation and the White House to address this real issue - the asylum and migrant issue in our city," Adams said in the brief clip. "We'll keep you updated as the day goes on."

But Hizzoner stood the White House up, and quickly boarded a plane back to New York.

"The mayor heard of an issue related to the campaign, and takes these issues seriously, so wanted to get back to New York as quickly as possible," Deputy Mayor for Communications Fabien Levy told The Post.

"He plans to return to DC and reschedule these meetings as soon as he can."

Adams later told reporters that he decided it was important for him to leave, trusting the mayors of Denver and Chicago would hit on important issues they all had previously discussed having in common.

A City Hall spokesperson referred inquiries to Adams' 2021 campaign counsel, Vito Pitta.

"Mayor Adams has not been contacted as part of this inquiry," Pitta told The Post. "He has always held the campaign to the highest standards ... The campaign will, of course, comply with any inquiries as appropriate."

While no charges have been filed, the raid could significantly wound the mayor in the city's cutthroat political arena, consultant Hank Sheinkopf told The Post.

Neighbors reported they "heard screaming" during the raid. New York Post

"This is someone who is close to him, who he trusts," Sheinkopf said. "There is no one more important in a campaign than the person who raises the money."

"His canceling a meeting with the White House is very significant - his political enemies are going to jump on this," he continued. "You can't focus on the migrant crisis when your attention is being diverted to investigations."

"The mayor went to DC to do the peoples' business," added veteran political consultant Ken Frydman. "He should've kept his White House meeting and let his campaign handle the fallout from the FBI raids."

Political opponents were already piling onto Adams - including Curtis Sliwa, whom Adams defeated in the city's 2021 mayoral election.

"I have been saying forever that Eric Adams always wants to be wined, dined, and pocket-lined," Sliwa said in a statement.

"At the start, Adams thought he would be on his way to the White House," he continued. "Now, it looks like he will be on this way to the Big House in chains and shackles because of political corruption."

As of Thursday afternoon, it was still unclear the extent to which the raid had to do with the mayor, or Suggs' work on his campaigns.

But veteran campaign finance attorney Lawrence Mandelker said the feds' decision to storm in with a search warrant shows it's a "potentially serious investigation."

He added that his campaign has "probably one of the strictest reviews" when it comes to vetting contributions and donations.

Yet, Suggs isn't the first of Adams' inner circle to draw scrutiny from law enforcement - ex-buildings department commissioner Eric Ulrich ran a lengthy scheme in which he doled out political favors in return for more than $150,000 in bribes, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office has alleged.



Arrow Down

There will never be a zero-emissions electricity system powered mainly by wind and sun - here's why

wind farm solar panels green energy
The government's focus is now on renewable energy supplies from solar and wind sites
"Net Zero" — That's the two-word slogan that has been adopted as the official goal of every virtuous state or country for decarbonizing its energy system. The "net" part is backhanded recognition that some parts of the energy system (like maybe air travel or steelmaking) may never be fully de-carbonized. Thus some kind of offsets or indulgences may need to be accepted to claim achievement of the goal.

But the "net" thing is not for the easy parts of decarbonization. And by the easy parts, I mean the generation of electricity, and the powering of anything that can be run on electricity or batteries. In electrifiable parts of the energy system, there is to be no tolerance for "net"; only "zero emissions" will do. The official line is that zero emissions electricity is easy and cheap because it can be provided by the wind and sun.

The official line is wrong. As the build-out of these wind and solar generation systems continues to progress, it has become increasingly obvious that there will never be a zero-emissions electricity system powered mainly by wind and sun.

Comment: Mother Nature will always have the last word:
hail damage solar panels
© Nebraska Public Power DistrictBaseball-sized hail took out a 5.2-megawatt solar farm in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, on June 26, 2023, as part of a giant supercell thunderhead that moved across eastern Wyoming and into Nebraska.



Police Car

If our cities already look like they belong in "Grand Theft Auto", what will they look like once the economy implodes?

street violence
As you will see below, video footage that was just captured on the streets of Philadelphia looks like it could have been pulled out of an extremely violent video game. If this is what our streets look like now, what are they going to look like once economic conditions become very harsh in this country? Just a few days ago, I wrote about the tremendous chaos that is erupting in cities all over America. When I wrote that article, I wasn't even aware of the drama that had just played out in the city of Philadelphia. From late on Saturday night through the early hours of Sunday morning, there were multiple clashes with police as authorities attempted to break up a series of illegal street takeovers...
Philadelphia continues its spiral into chaos under Democratic leadership, with violent mobs once again taking to the streets, this time attacking police officers and patrol cars in a brazen display of lawlessness.

According to reports from 6 ABC, hundreds of cars and massive crowds participated in illegal car meetups, causing widespread chaos that lasted from 9:30 p.m. Saturday until 4:30 a.m. Sunday.

At least 11 meetups took place, six of which turned into violent confrontations with police. The mayhem resulted in the hospitalization of one officer, while five police cars were heavily damaged.

Wolf

Former COVID Czar bragged about sex parties as he ordered New Yorkers to lock down, mask up

Dr. Jay Varma
The public official in charge of New York City's response to COVID-19 held sex parties and attended a dance party underneath a Wall Street bank during the height of the pandemic — while during the day he ordered New Yorkers to social distance and mask up.

The public official in charge of New York City's COVID-19 response held drug-fueled sex parties and attended a dance party underneath a Wall Street bank with more than 200 people during the height of the pandemic — while during the day, he ordered New Yorkers to social distance and mask up.

Dr. Jay Varma — New York's senior public health adviser under Mayor Bill de Blasio from April 2020 to May 2021 — was the chief architect of the city's COVID-19 vaccine mandates, lockdowns and bans on large gatherings.

2 + 2 = 4

America tried third-world immigration in the 1980s and the results were horrifying

Third-World Immigration
The American Founding Fathers built our nation on a core premise that has been long forgotten and this memory lapse is causing endless grief for current generations. What premise? That the rest of the world is not the responsibility of the US. We don't owe the world anything, we don't need to be involved in foreign wars, we are not beholden to foreign interests and we are not obligated to foreign peoples.

America is not a "melting pot." It never has been a melting pot. This phrase is used by leftists and open borders activists to suggest that there is no American culture; that we are nothing more than an economic buffet for far flung tribes to feast upon.

America is its own very separate and very distinct culture with comprehensive tradition, principles and ideals. If foreigners want to come here they have to play by our rules, learn our language, assimilate into our culture and respect our heritage or they can go back to whatever cesspool country they are running away from. It's that simple.

Target

"Wake-up call": Amid growing violence, more churches turn to faith-based security groups

Emanuel AME Church
© Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty ImagesA police officer stands guard outside Emanuel AME Church after a shooting took place, in Charleston, S.C., on June 20, 2015.
Carl Chinn, 65, is a man of deep faith who thought church was a place to go to find peace — until he locked eyes with an angry gunman 28 years ago.

On May 2, 1996, a man carrying a rifle, a handgun, and claiming to have explosives walked into the Focus on the Family ministry in Colorado Springs and took four hostages.

Chinn was one of those hostages, and his experience changed his outlook on the vulnerability of churches from that day forward.

Before then, "security wasn't even in the back of my mind," he said.

The suspect, a construction worker, carried out the attack four years after he injured himself while building the ministry's new 256,000-square-foot facility.

He filed for disability at the time, but his insurance ruled the injury was due to "horseplay" and substantially cut his benefits.

It took four years for the man's anger to reach critical mass — four years to come back to "exact his form of justice," Chinn told The Epoch Times.

Camcorder

Omnipresent AI cameras will ensure good behavior, says Larry Ellison

security camera
© A colorized photo of CCTV cameras in London, 2024. Enlarge Benj Edwards / Mike Kemp via Getty Images
"We're going to have supervision," says billionaire Oracle co-founder Ellison.

On Thursday, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison shared his vision for an AI-powered surveillance future during a company financial meeting, reports Business Insider. During an investor Q&A, Ellison described a world where artificial intelligence systems would constantly monitor citizens through an extensive network of cameras and drones, stating this would ensure both police and citizens don't break the law.

Ellison, who briefly became the world's second-wealthiest person last week when his net worth surpassed Jeff Bezos' for a short time, outlined a scenario where AI models would analyze footage from security cameras, police body cams, doorbell cameras, and vehicle dash cams.

"Citizens will be on their best behavior because we are constantly recording and reporting everything that's going on," Ellison said, describing what he sees as the benefits from automated oversight from AI and automated alerts for when crime takes place. "We're going to have supervision," he continued. "Every police officer is going to be supervised at all times, and if there's a problem, AI will report the problem and report it to the appropriate person."

TV

Waging cognitive warfare in the West

rt russia today Rossia Segodnia media outlet television radio
Rossia Segodnia is Russia's public broadcasting group. It produces six television channels (RT Group), news agencies (Sputnik, RIA-Novosti) and websites (Voice of Europe). It is now administratively banned throughout the European Union and soon in the USA.
In the West, censorship is nothing more than a method of government from another age. NATO is waging a cognitive war, not against ideas and reasoning, but to alter citizens' ability to take into account the way other cultures think. This war first led to the banning of the Russian media, RT, Sputnik and so on. Then, today, to exert very strong pressure against journalists, such as Scott Ritter or Jürgen Elsässer, who do not perceive Russians as enemies because they are capable of understanding them.

The Western vulgate on the conflict between the Anglo-Saxons and Russia does not tolerate contradiction. A number of personalities and companies who have reported on a different point of view have been subjected to arbitrary repression.

It all began, in France, during the May 2017 presidential election campaign. Two Russian media outlets, RT and Sputnik, relayed hacked files from candidate Emmanuel Macron's team and a deputy's remarks about his alleged off shore account in the Bahamas. Mr. Macron lodged a complaint against X (i.e. without naming the perpetrator), while the media concerned announced their intention to lodge a complaint for defamation (but the President could not be tried during his term of office). However, the situation remained unchanged until, a month later, Mr. Macron, who had been elected, held a press conference with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Versailles. He then described the Russian media as "an organ of influence [having] repeatedly produced untruths about my person and my campaign (...) Russia Today and Sputnik did not behave like press organs and journalists, but they behaved like organs of influence, propaganda, and misleading propaganda, nothing more, nothing less."

TV

Mass media suddenly covers Trump rallies again because potential assassination attempt is coming

Donald Trump pumps his fist
© Evan Vucci, APDonald Trump pumps his fist as he is escorted offstage by secret service at a rally in Butler, Pa.
These scumbags only cover rallies when they think there could be chaos...'

Conservatives started asking why the mainstream media suddenly decided to broadcast Donald Trump rallies, even though they've been avoiding doing that for a very long time.

According to the observant Americans, it is because they were informed in advance that the third assassination attempt on Trump would happen.

On Sept. 21, 2024, Trump War Room was the first to raise the question by posting screenshots from the propaganda industry's outlets like controlled opposition Fox News and openly leftist CNN, MSNBC and News Nation.


Comment: A deeply cynical but entirely accurate assessment of the US media as it functions in tandem with the rapidly imploding Washington blob and a dying Empire.


Bullseye

Slowing down the steal? Georgia election board approves rule to hand-count ballots

georgia state election board paper ballots
© Stanley Dunlap / Georgia RecorderAt a Georgia State Election Board meeting on Aug. 1, more than 100 people gathered inside the state Capitol to pressure election officials to switch to paper ballots before the 2024 election.
The Georgia State Election Board voted 3-2 on Friday to require counties to hand-count all ballots, in addition to machine tallies, in the 2024 election.

The decision, driven by the board's Republican majority, means that ballots in Georgia will be hand-counted by election workers the night of Nov. 5 in addition to the normal machine tallies that take place. The move was celebrated by allies of former President Donald Trump, who believe that the changes will help alleviate concerns of voter fraud the former president raised four years ago in relation to President Joe Biden's narrow victory in the Peach State.