Search This Blog

Wednesday, November 1, 2023

Biden unveils national strategy to fight Islamophobia day after poll shows Arab-American support tanking

 The Biden administration announced Wednesday it would establish a national strategy to counter Islamophobia just one day after a poll showed Arab-American support for the president and his fellow Democrats was tanking.

The announcement also comes a day after FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before the Senate Homeland Security Committee that despite being just 2.4% of the American public, attacks on Jewish-Americans accounted for "something like 60% of all religious-based hate crimes."

"We look forward to continuing our work with community leaders, advocates, members of Congress, and more to develop the strategy – which will be a joint effort led by the Domestic Policy Council and the National Security Council – and counter the scourge of Islamophobia and hate in all its forms," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

"For too long, Muslims in America, and those perceived to be Muslim, such as Arabs and Sikhs, have endured a disproportionate number of hate-fueled attacks and other discriminatory incidents," she added.

According to the Tuesday Reuters/Zogby poll, just 17% of Arab-Americans expressed support for Biden, a tremendous drop from the 59% support he got in 2020. His support from the group had already fallen to 35% before the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.

The poll also marked the first time since it was taken in 1997 that a majority of Arab-Americans did not identify as Democrats. 32% said they identified as Republicans and 31% as independents. 

Just 20% rated Biden's job performance as "good" while 40% said they planned to support former President Donald Trump should he be the Republican nominee in 2024.

Fox News Digital asked the White House if the strategy was related to the poor poll numbers among Arab-Americans, but a source familiar said the initiative had been planned for months. Additionally, the White House pointed to a strategy to combat antisemitism it announced in May.

The Biden administration said Tuesday it would also be partnering with colleges to combat the "alarming rise" of antisemitic threats and incidents on campuses across the country.

However, the administration indicated during Tuesday's White House press briefing that people in the U.S. making "violent antisemitic threats" were not going to be classified as "domestic terrorists."

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-unveils-national-strategy-fight-islamophobia-day-after-polls-arab-american-support-tanking

VC Firm Bioluminescence Ventures Launches with $477M in Assets

 The current environment for big and small biotechs has been harrowing over the last few months, with layoffs and pipeline cuts in a challenging business environment. However, that is not deterring some venture capital firms from investment such as Bioluminescence Ventures, which emerged from stealth on Wednesday with $477 million in assets across two funds.

Bioluminescence, led by former Andreessen Horowitz senior partner Kouki Harasaki, plans to invest in “transformative” biotech companies with first-in-class or best-in-class therapeutics that are “addressing large patient populations” with currently unmet medical needs. The firm’s investments will focus on industry breakthroughs in biology, drug discovery, genetic medicines and computational biology platforms.

Harasaki, founding and managing partner at Bioluminescence, has deep experience in biotech investment. He served as a partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and, before starting Bioluminescence, was the managing director at M12/Microsoft Ventures, where he led its life science investment arm.

“Innovation never stops, even when financing does. The recent COVID-19 global pandemic proved that biopharmaceutical innovation is rapidly accelerating. The 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis and the subsequent years of the biopharma sector downturn proved that venture firms that continue to invest in breakthrough platforms—especially during financial downturns—can help make a meaningful impact on patients while generating strong financial returns,” Harasaki said in a statement.  

Bioluminescence is looking to build out its team soon and will be bringing on board academic advisors and those familiar with the M&A and IPO environments. The VC firm will also announce its advisory board and team “in the coming weeks,” according to Wednesday’s announcement.

Harasaki and Bioluminescence have already invested in several biotechs, including Surge Therapeutics, which is developing a platform to improve the safety and efficacy of immunotherapy treatment. Bioluminescence led Surge's $32 million Series B financing in July 2023.

The fund also led the Series B for Nido Biosciences, which is developing a treatment for the neuromuscular disease Spinal and Bulbar Muscular Atrophy. Bioluminescence has also invested in mRNA and gene correction biotech ReCode Therapeutics and Takeda-backed genomic medicine company Ensoma.

“The best way to help Founders and CEOs right now is to partner with them to secure strong syndicates and close rounds. Post-investment, investors must be able to provide interdisciplinary support—more than ever—to help their companies advance programs through preclinical and clinical milestones in a capital-efficient manner,” Harasaki said.

https://www.biospace.com/article/biotech-vc-firm-bioluminescence-ventures-launches-with-477m-in-assets/

Canada caps immigration target amid housing crunch, inflation

 Canada's liberal government kept immigration targets unchanged for the next two years and said it would stop ramping up immigration from 2026 onwards, as the country grapples with high inflation and a housing crisis.

Canada is targeting 465,000 new residents this year, 485,000 in 2024 before hitting 500,000 in 2025 - a level it aims to maintain in 2026, Immigration Minister Marc Miller told reporters in Ottawa.

"These immigration levels will help set the pace of Canada's economic and population growth while moderating its impact on critical systems such as infrastructure and housing," Miller said.

Royal Bank of Canada said while the pause in targeted immigration levels was appropriate given housing challenges and eroding public support, Canada would need immigrants in the long term.

The annual immigrant intake of 1.3% of the population was not sufficient to stabilize the age structure of the population, which would require immigration of about 2.1%, the country's top lender said in a report.

Canada's population has grown mainly through immigration, and population growth has helped fuel economic growth in recent years.

Some economists have blamed immigration for worsening the country's housing shortage, even though some immigrants also work in industries like construction that are facing a labor shortage.

For this reason, the Bank of Canada has said immigration has been both a driver and a brake for inflation, which stood at 3.8% in September.

More consumers mean more demand, which pushes up prices, but immigrants entering the work force also help keep down labor costs.

A strong inflow of immigrants helped Canada's population to grow last year at its fastest pace since 1957, placing it among top 20 fastest growing countries in the world, Statistics Canada said, in part offsetting the effects of aging residents who are retiring and adding to healthcare costs.

An increasing number of newcomers to Canada have in recent years opted to leave, posing a challenge to a country heavily dependent on immigration for population and economic expansion, the Institute for Canadian Citizenship said earlier this week. 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/2-canada-caps-immigration-target-214651382.html

French told to stay indoors as storm Ciaran nears

 France's weather service put some northern and western regions, including Brittany, under high alert and authorities urged people to stay indoors, saying storm Ciaran was set to hit overnight with heavy rain and winds of up to 170 kph.

"To all those concerned, be careful ... and avoid moving around overnight," Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.

https://news.yahoo.com/french-told-stay-indoors-storm-174002123.html

Pakistan arrests migrants as expulsion deadline looms

 The removal of people to temporary holding centers began a day earlier than previously announced. The interior ministry said 140,322 people had already voluntarily left.

Trucks piled high with belongings and crammed with people have jammed major roads out of the country.

Afghans have made up the bulk of those leaving so far. Some have been living in Pakistan for decades.

Brushing off calls to reconsider from the United Nations, rights groups and Western embassies, Pakistan - citing security concerns - set the Nov. 1 start date last month for the expulsion of all undocumented immigrants, including hundreds of thousands of Afghans.

https://news.yahoo.com/pakistan-arrests-migrants-expulsion-deadline-171433484.html

Iraq Moves Further Out Of US's Influence With New Russia And China Deals

 By Simon Watkins of OilPrice.com

With the U.S.’s current primary Middle East focus being on trying to deter a widening of the Israel-Hamas War, China and Russia have been busy cementing their influence elsewhere in the region, most recently in Iraq. This remains a key target for Beijing and Moscow to expand their presence for three main reasons. First, it could easily become the world’s top producer of crude oil within a relatively short time if the endemic corruption in its hydrocarbons sector was curtailed. Second, its geographical positioning in the heart of the Middle East make it a vital link in building a network of logistical connections from the east of Eurasia into the west of Europe. And third, together with Iran under whose enduring influence its operates, it forms the core of the spiritual, political, military, and cultural Shia Crescent. A flurry of activity in the past couple of weeks involving Iraq, Russia, and China underline how seriously all these plans are moving forward. 

Firstly, plans to increase Iraq’s oil production and then to send that extra output to China in the first instance moved up a gear in last week’s Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani.

At the meeting, a senior source who works closely with Iraq’s Oil Ministry exclusively told OilPrice.com last week, the Cabinet agreed to increase crude oil exports to China by 50 percent – from 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 150,000 bpd. It was also agreed that the daily production capacity from Iraq’s largest oil field – Rumaila, featuring partners BP (47.6 percent), China National Petroleum Corporation (46.4 percent), and Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization (6 percent) – is increased from 1.3 million bpd to 1.4 million bpd by the end of this year. This is part of Iraq’s plan to increase its oil production to 8 million bpd by 2028. As analysed in depth in my new book on the new global oil market order, there is no fundamental reason why such an increase cannot be achieved – even 12 million bpd is perfectly feasible, given Iraq’s oil resources – with the only constraint being the pervasive corruption in its oil and gas sector that has hampered such progress for years.

Secondly, at the same Cabinet meeting last week, it was also agreed that Iraq should now give its full support to rolling out all aspects of the wide-ranging ‘Iraq-China Framework Agreement’ signed in December 2021, but agreed in principle more than a year before that.

This agreement is very similar in scope and scale to the all-encompassing ‘Iran-China 25-Year Comprehensive Cooperation Agreement’, as first revealed anywhere in the world in my 3 September 2019 article on the subject and fully examined in my new book. A key part of both deals is that China has first refusal on all oil, gas, and petrochemicals projects that come up in Iraq for the duration of the deal, and that it is given at least a 30 percent discount on all oil, gas, and petrochemicals it buys. Another key part of the Iraq-China Framework Agreement is that Beijing is allowed to build factories across the country, with a corollary build-out of supportive infrastructure. This includes, importantly for its ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ – railway links, all overseen by its own management staff from Chinese companies on the ground in Iraq. The railway infrastructure in Iraq will be completed out after the network in Iran has been finished, and this began in earnest in late 2020 with the contract to electrify the main 900-kilometre railway connecting Tehran to the north-eastern city of Mashhad. As an adjunct to this, plans were put in place to establish a Tehran-Qom-Isfahan high-speed train line and to extend this upgraded network up to the north-west through Tabriz. Tabriz - home to several key sites relating to oil, gas, and petrochemicals, and the starting point for the Tabriz-Ankara gas pipeline – is to be a pivot point of the 2,300-kilometre New Silk Road that links Urumqi (the capital of China’s western Xinjiang Province) to Tehran, and will connect Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan along the way, before it then runs into Europe, via Turkey. 

Thirdly, given the scale and scope of the infrastructure developments to be implemented, there will be an extensive presence of Chinese ‘security’ personnel at the key projects throughout Iraq, the Iraq source told OilPrice.com last week.

These will, in turn, be supported by security personnel attached to Iranian companies that will also be involved in the China-Iraq projects, notably those from Khatam al-Anbia – a massive conglomerate controlled by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The IRGC remains the key guardians of the ideas of Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution, whose messaging it achieves in large part from the funding, training, and logistical support of multiple proxy militias across the Middle East, including Hamas in Palestine, and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The expended presence of Iranian firms with heavy IRGC contingent in Iraq, such as Khatam al-Anbia, will further enable Iran to push ahead with its long-held plan to build a strategically crucial ‘land bridge’ to the Mediterranean coast of Syria. Additional personnel across all the key infrastructure development sites in Iraq will come from Rosoboronexport, Russia’s state-owned monopoly for the export of all military and dual-use products, services, and technologies. 

Russia’s long-term plans to control a unified Iraq (along with China) – including the currently semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan in the north – as also analysed in depth in my new book on the new global oil market orderhave also advanced in the last two weeks. October 11 saw Iraqi Prime Minister Al-Sudani meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, ostensibly to talk about the development of Iraq’s oil sector and the presence of Russian oil companies in it. In reality, according to the source who works closely with Iraq’s Oil Ministry, the discussions also included the future of oil exports from Kurdistan to Turkey, in which Russian oil giant, Rosneft, plays a key part, given its effective control over much of Kurdistan’s oil sector since 2017, as also covered in full in the book. Three days later, Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister for Energy and Oil Minister, Hayan Abdul Ghani, met with Alexander Dyukov, Chairman of Gazprom Neft to discuss future oil and gas projects in the south and north of Iraq.  

https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/iraq-moves-further-out-uss-influence-new-russia-and-china-deals

DC Mayor Implements 'Big Brother' Digital Vehicle Tracking Program Amid Rising Car Thefts

 DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) unveiled a new taxpayer-funded program that uses digital tracking tags to find stolen cars more easily. This comes as Bowser's failed progressive 'defund the police' policies have sparked a crime tsunami across the nation's capital. 

On Wednesday morning, Bowser's office stated that tracking tags will be available to residents who live in areas with the "greatest increase in vehicle theft." MPD will install the device in vehicles, allowing them to track stolen cars via a mobile device easily. 

This year, the nation's capital has recorded a surge in violent crimes: MPD crime stats show vehicle thefts have soared 101% this year, with a total of 5,916 in 2023. This is up from the 2,942 car thefts in 2022. Also, homicides hit the highest level in two decades in the first six months. Not even government officials are safe: Several lawmakers and staffers have been robbed.

Last week, Bowser introduced a new crime bill to finally enforce 'law and order.' 

"Last week, we introduced legislation to address recent crime trends; this week, we are equipping residents with technology that will allow MPD to address these crimes, recover vehicles, and hold people accountable," the mayor said. 

Bowser continued, "We have had success with similar programs where we make it easier for the community and MPD to work together – from our Private Security Camera Incentive Program to the wheel lock distribution program – and we will continue to use all the tools we have, and add new tools, to keep our city safe." 

It's not just Bowser. Democrat Mayor London Breed of San Francisco has also been forced to U-turn on her failed progressive policies amid a citywide crime wave. 

Despite the chaos, Democrats take zero responsibility for the mess they have created across major metro areas. 

On Tuesday, Elon Musk on Joe Rogan's podcast revealed who is funding these progressive politicians...  

We hate to break it to Bowser that some 'Big Brother' spy program won't solve out-of-control car thefts.

However, enforcing law and order will.

https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/dc-mayor-implements-big-brother-digital-vehicle-tracking-program-amid-rising-car-thefts