What a difference a day makes! Dramatic before and after photographs show how flood of migrants crossing El Paso border has reduced to a trickle after Title 42 was extended

 UK Daily Mail

• Photos show a stark difference in the amount of migrants crossing the border
• Title 42, which is a Covid-era public health policy, was extended on Tuesday
• It allows border agents to immediately expel migrants, many of which believed they stood a better chance of crossing into the US and remaining if it was canned
• Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to keep Title 42 in place hours before it was set to end

"Migrant surges at the US-Mexico border already appear to be dropping off since the extension of Title 42 on Tuesday, law enforcement officials have said.

"Just 24 hours after the Supreme Court’s announcement, several of the large groups which had gathered at the border in El Paso, Texas, had dispersed.

"Before and after photographs also show a stark contrast with the chaotic scenes that have played out through December.

"The Supreme Court ruled by a 5-4 vote to keep Title 42 in place just hours ahead of its planned end at midnight on Tuesday. 

"The Covid-era public health policy, which allows border agents to immediately expel migrants, will now remain in place for at least several more months.". . .

Here’s A Better Reason To Cheer For The Supreme Court’s U.S. Border Reprieve 

More on that one point shortly, but for now consider what celebrating Tuesday’s order represents — applauding the judiciary acting as legislators. That is most assuredly not a conservative response. Yes, our borders need protecting. Yes, the Biden Administration, Congress, Democrats, and Republicans have failed. And yes, the damage to the country and ordinary Americans is great. But the answer is not five justices sticking their fingers in the morass.

 Margot Cleveland is The Federalist's senior legal correspondent. She is also a contributor to National Review Online, the Washington Examiner, Aleteia, and Townhall.com, and has been published in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. Cleveland is a lawyer and a graduate of the Notre Dame Law School, where she earned the Hoynes Prize—the law school’s highest honor.. . .

A Christmas Story star speaks out

Don Surber

"Some conservatives bemoan the fact that so few celebrities are willing to speak for us. I think they are doing a great job for us by remaining liberal."

"Remember the recent story, "A Christmas Story star berated by homeowner after taking photos outside famous house: ‘Get the f*** out’"?

"The star was Yano Anaya, who played Grover Dill, the flunky of Scut Farkas.

An even bigger star in that movie, Imelda Steele, who played the girlfriend of Flick, is in the news seemingly daily as she speaks out for social justice. Her tweets are legendary.

"She tweeted yesterday, "Listening to President Biden deliver his Christmas speech, you can’t help but be struck by his kindness, his compassion, his decency, his humanity. At times like this, I’m so grateful we have him."

"Yes, especially to his 4-year-old granddaughter who he refuses to acknowledge.

"Maybe she won't shower with him.

"Imelda Steele's role as Flick's girlfriend has blossomed into international fame. Recently she went to Greece and a reporter asked her if she saw the Parthenon. She said, "I can’t really remember the names of the clubs we went to."

"Imelda Steele won't go just anywhere. She said, "I’ve never really wanted to go to Japan. Simply because I don’t like eating fish. And I know that’s very popular out there in Africa."

"She also straightened out a reporter by saying, "No, no, I didn’t go to England, I went to London."

"Hers is an inquisitive mind. She once asked, "So, where’s the Cannes Film Festival being held this year?' ". . .

Does it matter that the Pope won’t call a fetus a “person”?

 Bookworm Room

"What’s it mean if the Pope recognizes the fetus as a living human but denies its legal status as a person?"

"Someone emailed me a link to an article in LifeSiteNews discussing Pope Francis’s recent statement about fetuses. Before I go further, I should state my bias up front: I don’t like Pope Francis. I think he’s a leftist in Pope’s clothing. In 2013, I wrote about why there was reason to believe that his thinking was influenced by Liberation Theology (pure Marxism), which swept through Latin America’s Catholic churches. I won’t repeat myself here.

"Over his nine years in the papacy, Pope Francis has doubled down on his Marxist economics and has been extremely supportive of the LGBTQ agenda. The one thing he was stalwart about, though, was his opposition to abortion. I wonder, though, if he’s clearing the ground to back off of that opposition.

"In an interview in America Magazine, the interviewer asked the Pope about abortion, and he responded (to my mind) peculiarly:

Purvis: Holy Father, abortion is a heavily politicized issue in the United States. We know it is wrong. And the United States Supreme Court recently ruled that there is no constitutional right to abortion. However, it still seems to plague the church in the sense that it separates us. Should the bishops prioritize abortion in relation to other social justice issues?

Pope Francis: On abortion, I can tell you these things, which I’ve said before. In any book of embryology it is said that shortly before one month after conception the organs and the DNA are already delineated in the tiny fetus, before the mother even becomes aware. Therefore, there is a living human being. I do not say a person, because this is debated, but a living human being. And I raise two questions: Is it right to get rid of a human being to resolve a problem? Second question: Is it right to hire a “hit man” to resolve a problem? The problem arises when this reality of killing a human being is transformed into a political question, or when a pastor of the church uses political categories.

"Is it me, or is Francis’s answer nonsensical? In all Western cultures, “persons” have legal protections. As the Pope, shouldn’t he enthusiastically endorse that? Why is he waffling on about the fetus being a “living human being,” while refusing to call it a “person” with legal rights?". . .

Merry Christmas, Kamala -- Love, Texas

Anthony Gonzalez

"Kamala Harris received a Christmas gift from the great state of Texas. As the clock struck midnight, and December 24th became December 25th, Kamala Harris looked outside her window, encountering three busloads of illegals. Based on Harris’ record as the “border czar” for Joe Biden, and her statements on illegal immigration, she should be very happy that the illegals were brought close to home. For Kamala, this was a magical Christmas indeed!

"The New York Post reports, “About 110 to 130 men, women, and children were let off near the Naval Observatory in temperatures that hovered around 15 degrees on Saturday night, Christmas Eve.” Of course, the Naval Observatory is the residence of the Vice President. If the illegals were suffering from the cold weather, why didn’t the Vice President let them into

her home? How immoral. Soon, the charlatan media will say that Governor Greg Abbott is such a horrible person for playing politics with the lives of illegals. However, the one at fault is Kamala Harris. Harris and Joe Biden are directly responsible for the argosy of illegals that are pouring through our southern border, and yet they keep saying that our border is “secure.”

"Then came the attacks. “White House spokesman Abdullah Hasan called the bus drop-offs a “cruel, dangerous, and shameful stunt.” A stunt? Where was the White House when the illegals started crossing the Rio Grande into Texas, Arizona, Nevada, and other states?". . .

The new, new antisemitism

Might Whoopi Goldberg claim, "It isn't racism - racism"?

Victor Davis Hanson

"Jewish-American groups remain predominantly liberal. And too often, they conveniently overlook black antisemitism, given the demands of left-wing intersectional solidarity.So, expect the new, new antisemitism to grow more common — and more toxic."

"The old antisemitism was more a right-wing than a left-wing phenomenon — perhaps best personified by the now-withered Ku Klux Klan.

"A new antisemitism followed from the campus leftism of the 1960s. It arose from and was masked by a general hatred of Israel, following the Jewish state's incredible victory in the 1967 Six-Day War.

"That lopsided triumph globally transformed Israel in the leftist mind from a David fighting the Arab Goliath into a veritable Western imperialist, neocolonialist overdog.

"On campuses, Middle-East activism, course instruction, and faculty profiles are now virulently anti-Israel — and indistinguishable from anti-Jewishness.

"When columnist Ben Shapiro spoke at Stanford University in 2019, left-wing posters were plastered around campus depicting Shapiro as an insect menace. A "BenBGon" bug spray bottle in Nazi fashion unsubtly suggested that a chemical agent is the best remedy to make sure Jews "be gone" from the premises.

"The avowed socialist Representative Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., retweeted the old propaganda boast, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."

"Tlaib knew well "to the sea" could mean only the extinction of Israel itself and its 9 million Jews. She deleted her tweet, but only after an outcry of protest.

"Anti-Zionists and leftist Palestinian activists Linda Sarsour and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. — "it's all about the Benjamins" — often made no effort to hide their antisemitism.

"Yet now a dangerous new, new antisemitism is trending, predominantly among African-Americans — especially prominent politicians, celebrities, and billionaires.

"The old trope that blacks inordinately were prejudiced against Jews due to past inner-city stereotypes of exploiting Jewish landlords has been recalibrated. It is now repackaged by black elites claiming that their careers are overly profitable to and orchestrated by "the Jews." . . .

The First World War 'Battle Of The Somme' like you've never seen before

From the comments section:  IfYouDidn'tDoAnything YouGotNothingToWorryAboutbout  

            

  A.I. enhanced and in color!  "The Battle of the Somme took place between 1 July 1916 and 18 November 1916. It was one of the major battles of World War 1, fought between the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire and took place along the banks of the French river Somme, East of the town of Albert. The full 72 minute enhanced and colorized version of this film can be viewed here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32Wju...

"This film concentrates on the battles around the 1 July 1916 and is viewed entirely from a British perspective with a substantial amount of glorification of the battle results. "The army of the British Empire is often referred to as "Kitchener's Army" or even "Kitchener's mob" in view of the fact that it largely comprised of volunteers drafted as the result of an agressive "Call to Arms" campain setup by Field Marshall Lord Kitchener in August 1914. Kitchener who originally was a succesful British commander of the Egyptian army, had been appointed as Secretary of State for War by prime minister Herbert Asquith. His army initially consisted of traditional batallions manned by lower class soldiers. However, after forming socalled "Pals" battalions, huge numbers of middle class recruits joined as well to form groups that were separate from the lower class battalions. "By the summer of 1916 the recruitment had been so successful that the British were able to form no less than 5 armies comprising of approximately 2 million men. Unalike WWII there was no role for women in WWI. "To avoid a misconception, Lord Kitchener was never directly involved in the Battle of the Somme, simply because he was already dead at that time. Kitchener was on his way to Russia on HMS Hampshire to attend negotiations with Tsar Nicholas II when on 5 June 1916 it was struck by a German mine near the Orkney islands, Scotland. It sank taking Kitchener down to a seamans grave as one of the 737 casualties. Preceeding the main attack on 1 July, a severe bombardement of the German lines started on 24 June, the so called drum fire or Trommelfeuer, which lasted until it peaked at "Zero Hour" on 1 July. Kitchener's men could only hope that this bombardement had stunned the enemy into submission. "Once the attack started, the British and French soldiers were pushed towards "no mans land" into a stream of machine gun fire and under continuous bombardements from both sides of the line. Kitchener's men underwent a fate of mixed success and failure, largely related to the leadership, terrain, the width of no-mans land and other local circumstances. "The losses on the British side were staggering, with 19,420 men dead and 35,493 wounded in that first day. 2,737 men went missing or became POW resulting in a total number of losses of 57.000 men. It was the bloodiest day in British military history ever. In particular at Serre, and at La Boisselle heavy losses were due to strong German resistance. "In the months thereafter the battle continued, but at a less intense level until it died down on 18th November due to rain and winter conditions. "This film starts with splended shots of battallions preparing for the attack at the end of June followed by many shots behind the combat lines of men preparing for attacks, resting after the attacks on 1 July, wounded being carried away from the battle scene, being treated for their injuries and soldiers marching away to regroup for new attacks in the days and weeks ahead. "The original B&W film was clearly shot in the lee of the actual battle as it hardly contained any close up views of the atrocities that took place. In view of Youtube's rules, the remaining scort scenes with combat fatalities are not shown. It is quit obvious that the results of the British army were glorified in the making of this film. "This is a 16 minute summary. You will be able to view the full 75 minute film soon on my channels. Just follow the link at the end of the video and in the description once it becomes available. The full 72 minute enhanced and colorized version of this film can be viewed here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32Wju... "I am not Peter Jackson with a budget of millions, but as a mere film restoration hobbyist and colorizer with basically no budget, I am quite proud of these results. Watch the original poor quality footage on archive.org do make a comparison! NOTE: There are no atrocities nor dead, mutilated casualties shown in this film.

Argus Hamilton's Rogue Report

  Argus Hamilton (jewishworldreview.com) Dec. 21, 2022 "Miss Manners notes the recent sharp decline in etiquette and social manners in public. However last week in L.A., I hopped on the bus to go pick up my car in service. Just when I'm on the verge of thinking that all chivalry is dead, I saw an elderly woman stand up and give her seat to a pregnant man.

• President Biden gleefully mocked Donald Trump Friday for issuing a limited set of trading cards as NFT for $99 on the crypto market. Then they took off and soared to $22,000 per card. Now Biden wants to issue his own trading card, but he's terrified they'll put his career stats on the back of the card.

• The World Cup in the Persian Gulf kingdom of Qatar drew universal praise for the host country for how well the crowds behaved. Qatar boasted there was no violence, no hooliganism, no alcohol-fueled rioting. They said it shows that in the past World Cups it was the gays who caused all the trouble.

• North Korea's dictator Kim Jung Un was on hand for the launch of two intercontinental ballistic missiles Sunday which were to prove he could attack the United States. They just made it into the ocean. Kim Jung Un was reported to be so angry, he stormed back to the palace, kicked his dog, and then ate it.. . .

. . .• The January 6 Committee issued a criminal referral on Trump, citing a 14th Amendment article written in 1866 to keep Confederate officers from re-entering politics after the war. That's not all. They want Florida, New Jersey and California to tear down all the Trump statues on his golf courses.

What Is a Woman? Elon Shows Pendulum May Be Swinging Back to Reality With Hilarious Babylon Bee Video

RedState

SEN. BLACKBURN: "Can you provide a definition of the word 'woman'?"
JACKSON: "No, I can't"
BLACKBURN: "You can't?"
JACKSON: "I'm not a biologist" pic.twitter.com/i7Rg83z5Y4

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 23, 2022

"Lol, “X doesn’t make that sound.”

"The video was from June, but they were suspended from Twitter in March over calling Rachel Levine a man, so they posted the video again on Wednesday. But under Twitter 1.0, you weren’t have been allowed to see that kind of humor or that speech skewering the present problem with the left. Now you can again, and that’s positive movement. Indeed, it was the Babylon Bee suspension that got Musk interested in buying Twitter, to begin with, because of his belief in free speech. He’s also spoken about the dangers of the “woke mind virus.”

"The pendulum may be swinging back a bit toward reality, at least on Twitter.

All the Presidents' Insurrections

 Ann Coulter

Mohammad Haroon Imaad was among the first batch of beloved Afghan "translators" brought to America last year. He was still living on the Fort McCoy military base in Wisconsin when he was charged with beating and choking his wife. She explained that he beat her all the time back in Afghanistan, once blinding her in both eyes.

"Well, the Jan. 6 committee has produced its long-awaited report. In a surprise move, the committee referred former President Donald Trump for criminal prosecution, accusing him of inciting insurrection, among other crimes.

"In fairness, Jan. 6, 2021, was the day that Trump announced he would open our southern border and allow nearly 5 million unvetted illegal immigrants into our country, whereupon they would be flown to various cities around the U.S. and given full access to all our welfare programs.

"Obviously, this constitutes insurrectionary behavior. The committee had no choice but to demand criminal charges.

"LATE BULLETIN: It was NOT the former president who did this, but the current president, Joe Biden. In another development, it turns out that engineering a foreign invasion of our country has been redefined as a "humanitarian mission."

"When will this "humanitarian mission" end? Apparently, never -- not until all 7 billion humans living in places less luxe than America have moved here, at which point America won't be so hot anymore, so no one will want to come.

"Thus, The New York Times quoted Jennifer Quigley, of Human Rights First, saying of our intervention in Afghanistan: "We can't claim mission accomplished. There are still too many vulnerable people abroad."

"After spending billions of dollars trying to build a semblance of civil society in that stone-age culture, evidently now we're supposed to open our doors to everyone who lives there. Even granting that absurd notion, I can't help but notice that Quigley seamlessly shifted from "Afghanistan" to "people abroad."

"So we have to take in every "vulnerable" person who doesn't already live in the U.S.? Is there any other way to interpret her statement?" . . .

CNN Admits to Being a Propaganda Operation

 CNN Admits to Being a Propaganda Operation - The American Way of Life (claremont.org)    

In its response to the Trump lawsuit, “the most trusted name in news” no longer seeks to hide its true nature from its viewers.

"Recently, CNN filed its response to former President Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit. It is not surprising that CNN’s attorneys seem to have the stronger legal argument. After all, the controlling precedents make it notoriously difficult for a public figure to prevail in a defamation action. It is surprising, however, and more than a little revealing, that CNN’s filing nevertheless tends to support the political complaint that animates Trump’s suit: namely, that CNN, contrary to its branding, is not exactly a beacon of journalistic objectivity and honesty.

"Before coming to his specific defamation claims, Trump’s own submission set

s the stage by claiming that CNN has a history of smearing him in order to advance its own anti-Trump political agenda. Thus, for example, Trump alleges that CNN broadcast an interview with a psychiatrist, Allen Frances, who stated — outlandishly — that “Trump is as destructive a person in this century as Hitler, Stalin, and Mao were in the last century. He may be responsible for many more million deaths than they were.” On another occasion, Trump claims, CNN’s Anderson Cooper interviewed Linda Ronstadt — yes, that Linda Ronstadt, the pop singer — about her views on Trump’s similarities to Hitler. Finally, Trump asserts that a CNN producer — filmed undercover by Project Veritas — admitted that the network’s coverage of Trump’s presidency was a kind of “propaganda” designed to get him “out” of office.

"Given how damaging these claims would be to the reputation of a serious news network, you might expect CNN to launch a defamation suit of its own against Trump. CNN has not done so, however. Indeed, it cannot dispute these claims, for the simple reason that they are all absolutely true and easily verifiable. In fact, Trump’s suit reminds us that these ridiculous and humiliating examples are accurate descriptions of the network that bills itself as “the most trusted name in news.”

"Indeed, CNN does not even deny Trump’s general complaint that its negative coverage of him is motivated by political animus. It merely notes that, under the prevailing legal standards, evidence of political animus is not sufficient to establish the “actual malice” necessary for a public figure to win a defamation case. “Actual malice” is a legal term of art. It means that the person or entity being accused of defamation made defamatory claims knowing that they were false, or with reckless disregard for whether they were true. CNN’s lawyers are no doubt correct that political animus does not establish actual malice. But it would also be nice if “the most trusted name in news” could credibly deny that its reporting is motivated and shaped by political animus. Alas, it cannot do so.". . .

There Certainly Was an Insurrection, But Not by Trump

The January 6 Committee issued a criminal referral on Trump, citing a 14th Amendment article written in 1866 to keep Confederate officers from re-entering politics after the war. That's not all. They want Florida, New Jersey and California to tear down all the Trump statues on his golf courses. Argus Hamilton

There Certainly Was an Insurrection, But Not by Trump  . . ."The deep state is the real insurrectionist, using their immense power, influence, and money to control in Orwellian fashion what Americans hear, see, and think, and if that isn’t enough, to use their might to install a government of their choosing.

"How Trump got elected in 2016 is a mystery, as it caught the deep state by surprise. But never again as subsequent elections demonstrated. Republican leaders are happy to go along with it all, possibly due to their lack of resolve, but more likely as they are a part of the deep state cabal, enjoying the perks of power and wealth in exchange for offering only a façade of resistance.

"It's Donald Trump and his 80 million supporters who are the last bulwark against the deep state embedding its tentacles so deep in government and society that the pretense of a Constitution and Abraham Lincoln’s government of, by, and for the people is relegated to the ash heap of history.

Instead, the focus is on Trump and his supporters, silencing them in a financial or judicial gulag via special counsels, indictments, raids, harassment, and censorship, making a mockery of the Constitution.

"Who again are the real insurrectionists?"

"Criminal prosecution is the wrong idea. Use the 14th Amendment on Trump."

Ann Althouse

"Write Bruce Ackerman and Gerard Magliocca (in The Washington Post).

Legislation already proposed by Democratic Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.) and Jamie B. Raskin (Md.) would grant special jurisdiction to a three-judge federal court in the District of Columbia to determine, within three months, whether Trump’s involvement in the assault on Capitol Hill amounted to an “insurrection.” The panel’s decision would receive automatic Supreme Court review.

This is urgent business. If Congress does not move quickly to enact the Schultz-Raskin proposal, the issue of Trump’s political future will drag into 2024, when the next election will rev into high gear and courts will be inclined to let the voters decide.

"Yes, hurry up! Wouldn't want to leave it to the voters to decide. Democracy is at stake.

"You know, I wish Trump would go away. But these efforts to subvert the democratic process using the courts and the 14th amendment are not the way to make it happen. I know there's a tremendous fear that if allowed to run for President, Trump might win. But if you give into that fear and look for some way other than fighting him politically, you are blatantly displaying your mistrust of democracy."