[EpochTimes] Eleven states filed a motion challenging the White House’s move to rescind a Trump-era policy that seeks to ensure that immigrants colonists can financially support themselves in order to become American citizens or obtain permanent residency.
The motion, led by Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, is part of a lawsuit that his office filed on Feb. 3 against a recent immigration policy issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that halts most deportations for 100 days.
But the new motion—filed in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals—pertains to the "Public Charge Rule" after the Biden administration abandoned the defense of the law in the Supreme Court.
"It is unconscionable to overwhelm our infrastructure and immigration personnel when we are dealing with the health and economic devastation of the pandemic," said Brnovich, a Republican, in a statement on March 11. "While regardless of one’s position on immigration reform, this reckless violation of federal law is only creating another national crisis and putting additional strains on our state and hardworking Arizona taxpayers."
Brnovich’s lawsuit (pdf) said that "invalidation of the Public Charge Rule will impose injury on the states" to the tune of about "$1.01 billion in foregone savings in transfer payments for all states annually."
The Supreme Court had agreed last month to hear challenges to the 2018 rule, but the current administration noted in its request that all parties agreed to ask the court to dismiss the case. Immigration advocacy groups, activists, and some Democrats said the rule was tantamount to a wealth test for immigrants colonists seeking citizenship or a green card.
"The Trump rule erected an invisible wall in the form of a wealth test that discriminated against people on the basis of race as a condition for regularizing their immigration status," the Legal Aid Society said last month.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas also said his agency stopped the implementation of the 2019 rule.
"The 2019 public charge rule was not in keeping with our nation’s values," Mayorkas said in a March 10 statement. "It penalized those who access health benefits and other government services available to them."
The DHS said a day before that it would revert to Clinton-era rules that instructed officials to deem immigrants colonists public charges if they were receiving government cash benefits or long-term care in hospitals or other care facilities.
"Under the 1999 interim field guidance, DHS will not consider a person’s receipt of Medicaid (except for Medicaid for long-term institutionalization), public housing, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits as part of the public charge inadmissibility determination," the department said in a statement. The agency also said that vaccination and other medical treatment for COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, won’t be considered public charge determinations.
Attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, Texas, and West Virginia joined Brnovich’s lawsuit.
In a separate case, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, filed a lawsuit against the White House’s 100-day deportation freeze. A federal judge in February temporarily paused the moratorium twice before placing an indefinite halt on the Biden order.
Arizona and Montana are also challenging the White House’s "Interim Guidance" that was issued by the acting director of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement on Feb. 18.
Homeland Security officials didn’t immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.
[ToloNews] Chris Alexandra, Canada’s former ambassador to Afghanistan, says that restoring peace in Afghanistan will not be possible unless Pakistain halts its "covert proxy war" in the country.
Talking to TOLOnews, the Canadian diplomat said that Pakistain’s army, particularly the country’s powerful military intelligence, the Inter-Services Intelligence ...the Pak military intelligence agency that controls the military -- heads of ISI typically get promoted into the Chief of Army Staff position. It serves as a general command center for favored turban groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, tries to influence the politix of neighboring countries, and carries out a (usually) low-level war against India in Kashmir... (ISI), "equips the Taliban ...Arabic for students... " and sends them to wage war against the Afghan government.
"There will be no peace in Afghanistan unless and until Pakistain stops its covert and now increasing covert proxy war in Afghanistan," he said.
Taliban has been persistently rejected any support from the Pak military.
According to the Canadian diplomat, the Taliban speaks on behalf of Pakistain’s intelligence agencies in the peace table not their own.
"If international community comes together to call out Pakistain’s bad behavior in this respect, its illegal behavior in this respect, things will change very quickly," he added.
Meanwhile, ...back at the pie fight, Bella grabbed the cocoanut cream... Hizb-e-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar ... who used to be known in intelligence circles as The Most Evil Man in the World but who now seems merely run-of-the-mill evil... has traveled to Pakistain on the invitation of senator Siraj ul Haq, the leader of Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... , a hardline religious party in Pakistain, and is expected to address supporters of Jamaat-e-Islami in the city of Lahore on Saturday.
"He will address a grand meeting of Pak religious scholars in the city of Lahore on 13 March," said Humayoun Jarir, a member of Hizb-e-Islami. "The main purpose of the visit to meet the Pak religious scholars and leaders of Pakistain’s mainstream political parties. Of course, he will discuss the grinding of the peace processor with those personalities who have got a role in the grinding of the peace processor."
At least five Afghan politicians have traveled to Pakistain in less than five months with some of the arguing that Pakistain’s approach towards Afghanistan has changed.
"In our perspective, Pakistain will have an important role in peace for two reasons: First, Pakistain is an important neighbor to Afghanistan like Iran. Second, Pakistain has close ties with the Taliban," Jarir said.
"We will soon achieve peace if Pakistain wants, but the fact is that the Taliban does not want peace, they act contradictory in their words and action," said Abdul Rashid Ayoubi, a presidential adviser.
[ToloNews] Ottoman Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Friday said the UN-led meeting on Afghan peace "is planned to be held in Istanbul in April."
What a wonderful idea the Turks have, to be sure.
"We were one of the few countries invited to this signing ceremony, and we are one of the most important actors in Afghanistan," the Ottoman Turkish minister said as quoted in a report by Anadolu Agency.
Important? How d’you figure that?
Meanwhile, ...back at the the conspirators' cleverly concealed hideout the long-awaited message arrived. They quickly got to work with their decoder rings... former president Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
Continued on Page 49
And now the Taliban expect various international parties to help them force the current republic, flawed as it may be, to let the Talibs to reestablish their Muslim emirate.
[ToloNews] Afghanistan has experienced at least seven political systems and 10 forms of government in the last 100 years that starts with absolute monarchy and ends with today’s republic.
Absolute monarchy, constitutional monarchy, socialist republic, republic, Islamic government, Islamic emirate and Islamic republic have been among key political systems in the country over the past 100 years.
Absolute monarchy under reign of former king Mohammad Zahir continued for at least four decades, the longest political system in the country.
Continued on Page 49
[LibyaReview] On Thursday, the Libyan Audit Bureau uncovered a series of irregularities and financial corruption at the Ministry of Interior of the Government of National Accord (GNA). It stated that the ministry’s total expenditures in 2019 amounted to 3.7 billion dinars.
In its report, the Bureau indicated that these expenditures were not approved or ratified, and that the ministry spent 60 million dinars, under miscellaneous expenses in 2018. As well as other expenses valued at 3.32 million dinars in the same year.
The report stated that the MoI was granted doubled budgetary allocations in 2019, in comparison with its allocations during the two previous years. It also noted that the ministry registered 869 million dinars as expenditures in 2016, while in 2019 it reached 2.4 billion dinars, an increase of 267%.
The report also revealed that the Defence Ministry transferred 30 million dinars to the Interior Ministry’s accounts. The reasons for such a transfer remain unknown.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2021 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Muslim Brotherhood
Great job, Antifa/City Council/Mayor Frey
[CBS Minn] Target announced on Thursday that the company is downsizing its Minneapolis office space by moving out of City Center, a move that decreases its downtown footprint by one-third. Well, ain't that a rat sack full of Minnehappiness!
In an email to corporate employees, Target executives said its post-pandemic "Flex for Your Day" policy—a hybrid model that will allow both remote and on-site work—requires less office space, driving the decision to stop its lease of nearly one million square feet at City Center.
The 3,500 employees who worked at that location will be relocated to another Minneapolis location or Brooklyn Park. There are no lay-offs due to the move.
Target’s announcement is poised to have impact far greater than just shedding office space. Businesses located in the heart of Minneapolis rely on foot traffic of people working downtown.
"That’s definitely going to have an impact on us," said Emanuel Sas, owner of Come Pho Soup and La Belle Catering, a cozy space on the Nicollet Mall. "I think that hybrid model is going to impact businesses like us that depend majorly on the businesses working downtown."
Steve Cramer, President and CEO of the Minneapolis Downtown Council, said Target’s move to downsize could mean the beginning of a new normal for office culture, which has changed dramatically since the pandemic upended how Americans live and work—reshaping downtown as a result.
Target is the largest employer in Minneapolis with 8,500 corporate workers.
"There is a period of adjustment here —there’s no question—and this announcement from Target is probably the clearest reflection of that reality we’ll be experiencing, as will downtowns all across the country," Cramer said. "Once we enter that new economic baseline, we’ll have a chance to build back from there."
The Minneapolis Downtown Council has a goal of reaching 70,000 downtown residents and expand office space and hotel capacity by 2025.
Late last month, the company said they would delay on-site return for its 12,000 HQ employees in downtown Minneapolis and Brooklyn Park. Originally scheduled to return in June, the decision was pushed back to the fall of 2021. In all, Target operates in more than three million square feet of office space throughout the Twin Cities.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/13/2021 00:00 ||
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#2
If SCOTUS can ignore the Constitution and assume the power to regulate commerce in the case to authorize states to tax on line purchases from out of state companies, could not cities tax income of people working remotely from the city but employed by a company within its boundaries?/rhet question
#8
Of those 12,000 Target HQ employees, I'll bet at least a quarter of them live downtown and walk to work on the Minneapolis Skyway System. A lot probably don't even own vehicles, but rent their parking spaces as extra income.
How do I know? A friend's son works at Target HQ and that's how he does it. My friend tells me that no small portion of the workforce there do the same, especially the millennials.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
03/13/2021 16:17 Comments ||
Top||
#9
...rent out their parking spaces...
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
03/13/2021 16:18 Comments ||
Top||
#10
"If I owned Minneapolis and Hell, I'd live in Hell and rent Minneapolis out."
#11
Reminds me about an old joke about when Texas was lobbying to become a state . " Sir all Texas needs is good people and water . " ," The same Sir could be said of Hell . "
[AlAhram] Commenting on the statements issued by various Ottoman Turkish officials in the past few hours concerning the resumption of diplomatic contact between The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...Qatar's satrapy in Asia Minor... and Egypt, an Egyptian official source clarified to MENA official news agency that there was nothing currently indicating the "resumption of diplomatic contact between the two countries". "The Source"
The source added in their statement that the Egyptian and Ottoman Turkish diplomatic missions are currently present and active in both countries at the charge d'affaires level who communicate with the state in accordance to established diplomatic norms.
The official source asserted to the state-run agency, that upgrading the relationship between the two countries required taking into account the legal and diplomatic frameworks that govern relations between countries on the basis of respecting the principle of illusory sovereignty and the requirements of Arab national security.
The source added that Egypt expects any country that aspires to establish normal relations with it, to abide by the rules of international law and the principles of good neighbourliness as well as, to stop attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of the countries of the region.
At the same time, the source stressed the importance of the strong bonds and ties between the Egyptian and Ottoman Turkish people.
The statement of the official source to MENA, who chose to stay anonymous, comes hours after the statement of the Ottoman Turkish Foreign Minister Muvlut Cavusoglus to Ottoman Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency that said Turkey had restarted diplomatic contracts with Egypt at the "intelligence and foreign ministry" with no pre-conditions for the talks.
Egypt has had a strained relation with Turkey since the 2013 ouster of Morsi, who was a close ally of Ottoman Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s government, Egypt then decided to recall its ambassador to Turkey in that same year.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2021 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important... said he would focus efforts to reform The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire... ’s economy on bringing down double-digit inflation and tightening state finances, under a keenly awaited package he unveiled on Friday.
Erdogan, whose has led a major emerging economy prone to booms and busts for 18 years and repeatedly declared his opposition to high interest rates, announced plans to set up price, financial stability and economic coordination committees to steer the changes through.
"An agenda point of priority is the battle with inflation. The goal is single-digit inflation," he said, adding that an "early warning system" was being developed for food prices. "We'll call it WIN. Whip Inflation Now"
With inflation pushing above 15% and the lira having lost half of its value since 2018, markets had been eagerly anticipating details of the program, and the currency trimmed earlier losses as Erdogan spoke.
A survey on Friday showed inflation forecasts continuing to rise, reinforcing predictions of tighter monetary policy. A Rooters poll forecast the central bank will raise its policy rate by 100 basis points to 18% at its next meeting on March 18.
Erdogan, who made no reference to interest rates in his speech, also said his government would increase Turkey’s potential growth through productivity, driven by investment, employment and exports.
"We will ... aim for a national and domestic economy where imports are lowered, and with added-value exports," he said.
Erdogan also announced the formation of a bond guarantee fund to support company bond auctions and said state-backed loans will be offered to small business hiring additional employees.
In a package he said was drafted in consultation with the private sector and non-government organizations, Erdogan said tax policies will be simplified, taking into account issues raised by international investors.
The lira stood at 7.5800 against the dollar at 1450 GMT, 1.5% weaker on the day but slightly firmer than the 7.5940 level before Erdogan spoke.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2021 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
#1
It's official, Floyd died of Covid. His family is being paid off with borrowed Covid relief money.
Democrats are on track to approve hundreds of billions of dollars in no-strings-attached aid for state and local governments in the latest coronavirus relief package, but new data suggests the funding may not be necessary after state tax revenues emerged from the pandemic largely unscathed.
The relief bill passed by the House last week includes $350 billion for the long-time goal, with $195.3 billion directed toward state governments and Washington, and $130.2 billion allocated for local governments. An additional $20 billion would be given to federally recognized tribal governments, while $4.5 billion would go to U.S. territories.
#3
US Congress passes $1.9T BAILOUT loaded with 100's of Billions of taxpayer $$$$ for these over spending, bankrupt cities and states due their Liberal Agenda.
Now suddenly Minneapolis has $$$$$ to pay $27M.
Well America you just footed that bill, not the city, or that state. This is "Taxpayer Privilege", $27M pay-out to a convicted Pregnant woman beating/assaulting, convicted Armed Robber, with long Drug history and a well known street thug with even more tainted history.
Who run from police due to Drug/Parole/Warrant violation.
Resisted arrest and as luck would have it. The City politically delayed the release of his autopsy report that clearly showed he died of a DRUG OVERDOSE that caused his breathing problem. For maximum Political Riot/Looting hay in up coming election year.
I have to wonder how many $millions will find it way back in to the City/State political elites pockets and the Socialist-Democrat bank accounts that "worked" out this deal of the year?
#4
^ who was that Frenchman who did an early analysis of the new American Democracy? You know, the one that said something like "Their Democracy will last only until they realize they can vote themselves largess from the public treasury."
#6
Alexander Tyler in 1787 about the fall of Athens:
“A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse doe to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.”
[OneIndia] The National Investigation Agency has filed a supplementary chargesheet against an ISI operative in connection with the Visakhapatnam espionage case.
The charges were filed against Imran Yakub Giteli a resident of Godhra, Gujarat ...where rioting seems to be a traditional passtime... . The case pertains to the conspiracy hatched by Pak ISI agents along with their associates based in India to carry out terrorist acts in India.
In furtherance of their conspiracy, they were involved in espionage activities by collecting sensitive and classified official information relating to vital defence installations in order to threaten the integrity, security and illusory sovereignty of India. NIA had re-registered the case and taken over the investigation. NIA had earlier filed charge sheet against 14 accused persons including three civilians with business interests in Pakistain.
Further, investigation has established that accused Yakub Imran Giteli was in contact with Pak agents and used to meet them during his visits to Pakistain. On the instructions of Pak ISI agents, he was transferring money into the accounts of Navy personnel in lieu of passing sensitive and strategic information. He was raising funds for terrorist activities in the garb of illegal cloth business.
Investigation has revealed an organised wide network of Pakistain based espionage activities in India utilising services of operatives like Imran Yakub Giteli.
[YNet] - Sri Lanka will ban the wearing of the burqa and shut more than a thousand Islamic schools, a government minister said on Saturday, the latest actions affecting the country's minority Muslim population.
Minister for public security Sarath Weerasekera told a news conference he had signed a paper on Friday for cabinet approval to ban the full face covering worn by some Muslim women on "national security" grounds.
[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini... slammed on Thursday the presence of US troops in Syria and Iraq, saying Washington should swiftly withdraw its forces from both countries.
"They (the Americans) refer to Iran’s presence in the region with hatred and resentment. While we do not have a military presence...Wherever we are present, we are there to defend legitimate governments at their own request. But they (Americans) themselves attack a country without permission and establish a military base," he claimed.
Khamenei accused the US of creating ISIS without offering any evidence.
A number of people have made that claim. To be fair, the Obama administration made a number of odd decisions during that period.
They allow ISIS to destroy and sell Syrian oil, "then they say ’we are fighting ISIS'," Fars agency quoted the Supreme leader as saying.
Khamenei then defended Iran’s role in both Syria and Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2021 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] Nearly 150,000 of Leb ...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... ’s poorest families could soon start receiving monthly cash handouts after politicians gave approval on Friday to a $246-million World Bank loan to ease the impact of the country’s financial meltdown.
But in a nation where many people blame the crisis on corruption and mismanagement, some analysts questioned MPs’ decision to cut at least $5 million from allocations for oversight and so-called capacity building to prepare for future shocks. That'll cut down on our grab for boodle! We can't have that!
The World Bank, which agreed the loan in January, could not immediately be reached to comment.
The financing aims to cut extreme poverty by half through household aid payments of up to 800,000 Lebanese pounds, equivalent to less than $100 per month, as well as boost social services and fund the education costs of 87,000 students.
Parliamentarians who backed the changes to the loan’s spending structure said more poor families would be able to benefit as a result.
Ibrahim Kanaan, chair of parliament’s finance and budget committee, said the alterations would reduce running costs and make the program "much better than it was before".
Kanaan told the Thomson Rooters Foundation he had lobbied to slash spending on capacity-building because "in the past this never did its job. Large portions where mis-spent ... there is a big margin for corruption".
Other changes voted by parliament included cutting funding for an independent third-party monitor by half and reducing the timespan of an external financial audit to one year from three.
Instead of hiring companies to verify the eligibility of families for the handouts and oversee the payments, parliament voted to hand that task to the social affairs ministry and volunteers.
Some financial analysts questioned the oversight cuts.
"What does Lebanon gain by slashing the budget for oversight and governance by a few million dollars while putting at risk the effective management of the $246 million program?" said Mike Azar, a senior financial adviser based in Beirut.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2021 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...Arabic for 
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
...Qatar's satrapy in Asia Minor...
...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important...
...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...
...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
