DELEITURAS

Translationg: ‘It is forbidden to discriminate against, mistreat or abandon baby girls’

The story of a Chinese ‘angel’ has come to the international stage after details of her rescue of 30 abandoned Chinese babies came to light.

Hailed as a hero, Lou Xiaoying, now 88 and suffering from kidney failure, found and helped raise 30 abandoned Chinese babies in the Eastern China as she struggled to make a living recycling rubbish.

The first child was found in 1972. She and her husband kept four children and passed others on to family and friends. Her youngest son Zhan Qilin, now 7, was found when Lou was 82.

DailyMail: “Even though I was already getting old I could not simply ignore the baby and leave him to die in the trash. He looked so sweet and so needy. I had to take him home with me,” she said.

I took him back to our home, which is a very small modest house in the countryside and nursed him to health. He is now a thriving little boy, who is happy and healthy.

My older children all help look after Zhang Qilin, he is very special to all of us. I named him after the Chinese word for rare and precious.”

China introduced its ‘policy of birth planning’ in 1978 to slow the country’s population explosion. Married couples are restricted to having one child. Those who follow the rules can receive an additional month’s salary every year until the child turns 14. The Chinese government claims that the policy has probably prevented more than 400 million births and in 2010 it was reported that for every 120 boys born there are 100 girls.

Critics inside China and around the world have condemned the policy and accused the government of enforcing abortions. Despite the fact that it is illegal to kill newborn babies in the country, female infanticide and the failure to report female births is widely suspected, especially in rural areas. Faced with governmental punishment many newborns are thought to be abandoned in dumpsters.

DailyMail: One fan of Lou explained: “She is shaming to governments, schools and people who stand by and do nothing. She has no money or power but she saved children from death or worse.’

‘In the local community she is well known and well respected for her work with the abandoned babies. She does her best. She is a local hero. But unfortunately there are far too many abandoned babies in China who have no hope of survival.”

This woman, poor by most standards, found the ability and means to give these 30 abandoned babies a second chance.

For more pictures visit: Whatsonshenzhen.

Several years after the tragic death of their little girl, a dollmaker and his wife welcome a nun and several girls from a shuttered orphanage into their home, soon becoming the target of the dollmaker’s possessed creation, Annabelle.

Evil has its beginnings. #AnnabelleCreation – in theaters August 11, 2017

House Democrats are questioning the legality of a Department of the Interior (DOI) decision to call back thousands of furloughed employees to work on offshore drilling permits.

A trio of Democrats sent a letter to the acting Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt Wednesday, alleging that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) broke federal law by allowing some federal employees to begin working again.

“This is an outrageous step, and the justifications provided in the BOEM contingency plan … are farcical and make it clear that the administration cares only about the impacts on its favorite industry and not about workers, their families, and ordinary families,” the letter said.

Democratic Reps. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, Betty McCollum of Minnesota, and Alan Lowenthal of California joined Grijalva in signing the letter. Grijalva chairs the House Committee on Natural Resources, which oversees the DOI.

BOEM changed its shutdown plan Jan. 8 to bring back employees to work on seismic permits and offshore lease sales because leaving the agency understaffed threatened to “negatively impact the Treasury and negatively impact investment in the U.S. Offshore Gulf of Mexico,” BOEM said according to the letter.

The Democrats demanded BOEM reverse course. If not, Bernhardt would likely be called in front of the House Natural Resources Committee, to defend the legality of BOEM’s actions, which “appear to be in violation of the Antideficiency Act,” according to the letter.

Thousands of other federal workers were called back to work Tuesday as agencies expand their definitions of “essential” personnel.

“We are recalling inspectors and engineers to perform duties to ensure continuous operational safety of the entire national airspace,” a Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson told Politico. “We proactively conduct risk assessment, and we have determined that after three weeks it is appropriate to recall inspectors and engineers.”

Aviation, food, drug and medical inspectors were some of the 50,000 federal employees called off of furlough and back to their positions. If the government shutdown stretches to Jan. 28, about 46,000 Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees return to their jobs for tax-filing season.

A survey released showed how Americans are reacting to the growing threat of gas skimming, where criminals implant devices on or in gas station fuel pumps with the intent of stealing the credit card information of unwitting customers.

Gas skimming is a growing threat to consumers at the gas pump — so much so that it has made an impact on how Americans pay for gas, according to a survey commissioned by CompareCards of American consumers who had purchased gasoline in the last 30 days. Forty-three percent of Americans said they’ve changed the way they pay for gas because of skimming concerns.

“One huge driver of this phenomenon is the fact that gas station pumps don’t need to be converted to accept EMV cards until October 2020,” said Matt Schulz, Chief Industry Analyst for CompareCards. “That makes those pumps low-hanging fruit for fraudsters.”

Key findings:

• Fifteen percent of Americans said they’ve been a victim of skimming at the pump.
• Forty-three percent of Americans said they’ve changed the way they pay for gas because of concerns about skimming.
• Millennials are most likely to have changed their gas-paying habits (48 percent versus 43 percent for Gen Xers and boomers).
• Women are slightly more likely to have changed than men (43 percent versus 48 percent).
• Paying inside versus at the pump is the most common way (20 percent) people have changed their habits because of the risk of skimming.
• Using cash to pay for gas is another method some have used to reduce the risk of credit card fraud

The younger you are, the more likely you are to claim you’ve been a victim of gas skimming.

Millennials seem to be the top target of skimmers. Of the millennials surveyed, 21 percent said they’ve fallen victim to gas skimming, while 15 percent of Gen Xers and 8 percent of boomers said they’ve had their credit or debit card information stolen at gas stations.

More people opt to pay inside versus at the pump.

To avoid having their credit card information stolen at the pump again, roughly two-thirds of those who claimed to be victims said they had changed how they pay for gas.

Of the victims who changed the way they pay, 45 percent said they use credit cards more, and 39 percent said they choose to pay for gas inside the gas station more. Another 16 percent said they use cash more.

“I think that ordering is really interesting,” Schulz said. “It shows that the message that ‘credit cards are safer’ is getting across. It also shows that people are taking this seriously and making changes when necessary.”

Hostess Brands, maker of the Twinkie and Snowball, returned to bankruptcy court today prepared to begin liquidation of all assets. Instead they announced that the company will enter mediation for one last try with the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco and Grain Millers Union.

Whether this was a brilliant marketing ploy or truly ‘a one last chance’ opportunity, it may be that the Twinkie will survive!

The BCTGM workers represent one-third of the Hostess workforce. All 18,500 jobs will be permanently eliminated if the Baker’s Union refuses to reconsider their position. They have only 24 hours to make their decision.

From the Hostess Brands Website: Hostess Brands Inc. announced today that it will follow a request from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York to enter a confidential mediation on Tuesday with the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco and Grain Millers Union (BCTGM).

Today’s hearing to consider Hostess Brands’ motion to wind down the Company and sell all of its assets has been adjourned until 11 a.m., EST, on Wednesday.

Production remains shut down.

Poppy Memorial installed at USAA’s headquarters in San Antonio in 2016. (PRNewsfoto/USAA)

USAA, in cooperation with the National Park Service, has announced that a temporary memorial installation is coming to the National Mall and Memorial Parks in Washington, D.C. this Memorial Day weekend. The Poppy Memorial is a translucent structure that measures 133 feet long, 8 1/2 feet tall and is filled with more than 645,000 poppy flowers —  honoring every man and woman that gave their lives in service of our nation since World War I.

Inspired by the World War I poem, “In Flanders Fields,” the poppy is a widely-recognized symbol of remembrance for these servicemembers. The Poppy Memorial is a somber and powerful display that represents the depth of national sacrifice by paying tribute to each individual.

“The poppy flower symbolizes those who gave the last full measure in defense of our freedoms,” said Vice Admiral (Ret.) John Bird, USAA Senior Vice President of Military Affairs. “The Poppy Memorial visualizes the magnitude of that sacrifice and reminds us all of the price that was paid. We are grateful to the National Park Service for allowing us to display this inspiring and educational exhibit among the permanent monuments, as a testament to the enduring bravery of our men and women in uniform.”

From May 25 through May 27, the Poppy Memorial will be open to the public daily for viewing from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET. The memorial will be displayed on the southwestern side of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool – with the Lincoln Memorial to the west, the Korean War Memorial to the south, the reflecting pool due north and the World War II Memorial to the east. The more than 645,000 poppies are a combination of VFW “Buddy”® poppies and poppies from the American Legion Family, both programs designed to encourage Americans to wear poppies in remembrance of the fallen.

Additionally, visitors to the installation on the National Mall will find on-site kiosks to dedicate a digital poppy. Those unable to visit the Poppy Memorial in Washington, D.C. can visit www.poppyinmemory.com to dedicate a digital poppy to a fallen loved one or as a gesture of appreciation for those who sacrificed all. The site also allows users to find previously dedicated poppies that memorialize the servicemembers lost since World War I, and to directly share a “Poppy In Memory” on Facebook and Twitter.

 

by Jason Hopkins

Booming U.S. oil production is wreaking havoc on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) influence of the international market.

American oil and gas companies — thriving from the country’s shale oil boom — are experiencing rapid rates of production. The U.S. experienced its largest annual increase of oil production in nearly 100 years in August. This rate is only expected to increase, with oil production forecasted to rise to 17.4 million barrels a day by the end of 2019.

America’s energy dominance puts the international oil cartel in a precarious situation. Should OPEC’s leader, Saudi Arabia, cut production and keep prices high, U.S. shale would prosper even further. At the same time, the Saudis need to make money and cannot allow prices to fall.

“The Permian will continue to grow and OPEC needs to learn to live with it,” Mike Loya, an executive for the Vitol Group, the globe’s biggest independent oil-trading house, said in a statement to Bloomberg.

This development is making it increasingly difficult for OPEC to dictate international prices. The oil cartel — which is made up of 15 member countries and works closely with other allies, such as Russia — is set to discuss the issue of booming U.S. production when they meet in Vienna on Dec. 6.

It wouldn’t be the first time OPEC members discussed their concern over the U.S. shale boom. OPEC officials circulated an internal document in October that warned of increased U.S. oil production and a seasonal buildup of oil stock that could put downward pressure on oil prices.

Much of this growth is centered around the Permian Basin, a shale oil formation in west Texas and New Mexico that is the most productive in the U.S. Production in the Permian Basin rose from 1.9 million barrels per day in January 2016 to 2.8 million barrels per day by December 2017, according to the Energy Information Administration. Natural gas in the region also experienced a high growth rate.

The Permian Basin been able to increase production while also lowering its methane emissions — a feat developers have celebrated.

“This is good news that we should be celebrating. Our rise to energy superpower status has not come at the expense of the environment,” Texans for Natural Gas spokesman Steve Everley said in a statement.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled for the Trump administration Monday in a case challenging its use of waivers to bypass environmental regulations in constructing parts of the border wall.

The state of California and several environmental groups sued President Donald Trump and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in September 2017 to stop construction of a border wall prototype and ongoing repairs to 14 miles of an existing barrier in San Diego.

“Under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA), the Secretary of the DHS has long had the authority ‘to install additional physical barriers and roads … in the vicinity of the United States border,’” the Ninth Circuit’s opinion states, quoting the IIRIRA.

The IIRIRA grants the secretary of the DHS “the authority to waive all legal requirements” as is “‘necessary to ensure expeditious construction’ of those barriers and roads,” according to the Ninth Circuit.

The Ninth Circuit’s three-judge panel ruled 2-1 in favor of the federal government. The dissenting judge, Consuelo Callahan, wrote that she supported the Trump administration’s argument, but thought the court lacked jurisdiction to review California’s appeal.

In 2017, the DHS waved provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act and the Coastal Zone Management Act, expediting approval to begin construction of the border wall prototype and repairs.

The ruling is Trump’s second legal victory in the case after U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel ruled against California in February 2018. Curiel found that “Congress delegated to its executive counterpart, the responsibility to construct border barriers as needed in areas of high illegal entry to detect and deter illegal entries.”

Trump accused Curiel of being biased against him in an earlier case involving Trump University. Curiel ruled against then-presidential candidate Trump on several points throughout the 2016.

“I think it has to do with perhaps the fact that I’m very, very strong on the border,” Trump told Fox News in February 2016. “Now, he is Hispanic, I believe. He is a very hostile judge to me.”

Trump eventually settled the case for $25 million.

French students are flipping over cars, looting shops and setting buildings on fire after joining protests and riots across the country over a proposed carbon tax, according to ABC News.

French President Emmanuel Macron temporarily suspended the carbon tax proposal Tuesday. The “yellow vest” protesters, named after the neon yellow vests they wear, called off talks with Macron’s administration Monday citing “security concerns” after being threatened by some within their own ranks.

The yellow vest protest is the longest lasting demonstration in the country since 1968. The riots began over carbon taxes that would have risen the price of gas and diesel and grew to encompass much of Macron’s agenda. Some protesters have called for the president’s resignation.

“No tax warrants putting the unity of the nation in danger,” Prime Minister Édouard Philippe told reporters Tuesday. “One would have to be deaf and blind not to see or hear the anger.”

The French populist rebellion against carbon taxes comes as the United Nations holds the Conference of the Parties conference over climate change in Poland this week. The U.N. has endorsed carbon taxes twice as high as those proposed by Macron in order to combat climate change.

Why is America the world’s richest nation? Is it mostly because of the government, or is it thanks to entrepreneurs and businessmen? Historian Burt Folsom of Hillsdale College explains.

Donate today to PragerU: http://l.prageru.com/2eB2p0h