Beltway Insider: Biden Orders Retaliation, ISIS, Manhattan DA Targeted, Tik Tok Hearings, Deadly Weather, Nicholas Lloyd Webber

President Biden spoke clearly and directly to the Islamic Republic of Iran leader Ali Khamenei emphasizing while he did not "seek conflict" with the nation he was fully prepared to protect American citizens and U.S. Military in the region.

The President's job approval rating, according to the website fivethirtyeight.com, for the period ending March 26, 2023 increased by 0.4% to 42.9% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness increased by 1.3% to 52.8% of those polled who disapprove of his effectiveness. A slight 3% of the population polled have no opinion. Ratings are calculated weekly.


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Biden Orders Retaliation Air Strikes

President Biden issued immediate retaliatory air strikes against Iranian forces after a kamikaze style drone struck an American military base killing a U.S. contractor and injuring six, five American servicemen and another contractor.

"The United States does not — emphasize does not — seek conflict with Iran," said Biden, speaking in Ottawa alongside Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, after U.S. warplanes carried out retaliatory airstrikes for the death of an American contractor. "But be prepared for us to act forcefully to protect our people. That's exactly what happened last night," reported The Washington Post.

U.S. Central Commander General Michael Kurilla indicated U.S. troops are on the ready for "scalable operations" should the situation escalate, and the U.S. will not be led into battle but will determine the time and place for retaliation.

ISIS, a brutal terrorist organization that at its height waged a shocking campaign of death and destruction through much of Afghanistan and Syria. Under former President Barack Obama's leadership, a more than 60 nation coalition was united in dismantling and defeating the Islamic State terror organization.

As the coalition has largely defeated ISIS, a few remaining factions remain, and with Tehran assisting the potential for a resurgence of the brutality is possible. The recent deadly drone attack is believed to have funded and fueled by Iranian military and forces from Tehran.

"Two U.S. officials said the main air defense system at the base was "not fully operational" at the time, raising questions about whether the attackers had detected that vulnerability and exploited it, or just happened to send the drone at that time, according to people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation," reported The New York Times.

Iraq has continued its attack on Green Village, a military installation in Northeast Syria, which holds about 900 U.S. military personal, the shelling of about ten rockets, did little damage and no injuries were reported.

Geopolitics Shift

As the geopolitics in the region continue to shift, China has become a more central partner in the region, brokering conciliatory deals between Saudi Arabia, a long-term ally and partner to the United States, with Iran which will erase years of deep seeded distrust. China has continued to exercise its political diplomacy in the region reiterating its commitment to Russia. Xi-Jinping's visit was elevated by a summit of former Soviet nations to which he exhibited his authority over Putin and the region, underscoring Putin is only a friend of China, when China wants it to be.

"China's leader, Xi Jinping, has called a meeting of former-Soviet Central Asian countries, in an audacious power play in Russia's backyard the week of his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin," BusinessInsider.com reported.

Tik Tok Hearings

Tik Tok, the newest social media platform to create a phenomena wave through the United States and bring many users into the illusive influencer stratosphere, is owned by Chinese company ByteDance and CEO Shou Zi Chew, who felt the sting of the U.S. government as he testified to Congress in a grilling six hours session.

"Chew said TikTok for more than two years has been "building what amounts to a firewall to seal off protected U.S. user data from unauthorized foreign access. The bottom line is this: American data stored on American soil, by an American company, overseen by American personnel," Chew said," reported Reuters.com.

While Congress would not go as far as to call Chew disingenuous or guilt by association, he did little to assuage their fears over the underlying use of Tik Tok or China's control over the data mined by Tik Tok's 1 bn users worldwide.

Government officials, under the guise of public health and safety, have initiated the hearing indicating Tik Tok encourages "eating disorders, illegal drug sales, and sexual exploitation of minors."

The congressional hearings are on the heels of a December 2022, New York Times article, that exposed parent ByteDance stated "that an internal investigation found that employees had inappropriately obtained the data of U.S. TikTok users, including that of two reporters."

France has been the latest U.S. ally to follow its lead and ban the recreational social media platform from all government staff phones.

With government officials citing China has the number 1 threat to U.S. security to use of these seemingly insignificant videos provide another form of espionage into the foundations of American society. It's not the many or mass video's that are a concern, it is the few, the unknown that provide background information or limited government information that remains the concern of the U.S. government.


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Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg Sent Death Threat

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg received a typed death threat in an envelope filled with a non-lethal white powdery substance after announcements that the grand jury would not be hearing additional evidence in the case against the former president, leaving pundits to speculate an arrest was expected.

"ALVIN: I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!"″ said the typewritten note in a letter contained in an envelope addressed to Bragg, WNBC reported, citing law enforcement sources," CNBC.com reported.

The envelope, which had an Orlando, Florida, postmark, had been in the lower courthouse mailroom and was received at approximately 11:40am. The recent threat was one of hundreds that have been received since the announcement of the grand jury investigation into the former presidents payment of hush money to former porn star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign.

The former president who had expected to be arrested this week, has taken to social media to spread his usual brand of divisive politics including malicious lies, and ad hominin attacks against any person involved. He allowed himself to be pictured wielding a baseball bat, and warning of "potential death & destruction" and calling Bragg, a "degenerate psychopath."

Striking the same cord that carried him to the White House, Trump has called for protests throughout cities across America if he is arrested, and his devoted followers appear to be answering his call.

The Florida postmark allows federal and state officials an even wider berth to investigate the potential of a Florida-Tri-State connection into past capital crimes where local business or religious leaders gathered and groomed recruits to commit crime in the Tri-state area.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has reportedly been investigating the former president for several years and according to media reports has spoken with officials regarding logistics for the upcoming week as court sources expect an indictment soon.

Vaccine Totals

As of March 26, 2023, in the United States, 673,012,265 have been administered with a 7-day increase weekly increase of 936,160 doses. More than 90% of the population have received the two-dose vaccine. (Date from the CDC). As of March 26, 2023, 13,260,401,200 vaccines doses have been administered worldwide (Data from WHO).

Coronavirus Totals

Mandates have been altered or lifted in most urban areas with limited exceptions, and the population is encouraged to maintain personal protective practices. Masks are optional and tolerated. Vaccines and boosters are still considered the most effective agents against contracting the Coronavirus.

For the week ending March 26, 2023, the total of confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide reached 761,071,826 people, with a 7-day increase of 710,870 with a total worldwide death toll of 6,879,677 deaths. (Data from The World Health Organization).

COVID U.S. Totals

Infections rates in the United States are also on the rise. For the 7-day period ending March 26, 2023, the total confirmed cases rose to 103,957,053 people with new confirmed cases increasing by 155,232 with a 7-day average of 22,176 cases per day. The coronavirus has claimed 1,123,613 total deaths, adding 2,101 more deaths over the 14-day period. (Data from the CDC).

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Protecting for gain of function knowledge only aides those who initiated the constitutional violations. It does nothing to combat the homegrown terrorism or the narcissistic above the law belief. The best obtainable version of the truth.


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Tornados Rip Through South, Dozens Killed

A massive nighttime EF4 tornado, with wind speeds of 160mph, roared through Rolling Fork, Mississippi, leaving dozens dead and more injured in its wake as the wedge twister flattened the small rural community, shredding trees, splintering homes, tossing automobiles and semi-tractor trailer trucks like matchbox toys trucks.

The death toll stands at 26, across Mississippi and Alabama, as residents continue to search through the debris and destruction in hopes of finding loved ones alive. Striking at just after 8:00pm, Friday evening, residents had been warned the conditions were favorable to produce catastrophic devastation. As many of the Rolling Fork's 1800 residents resided in manufactured homes, which provide little protection from the destructive winds, the monster wedge tornado, with a base of 100 miles, obliterated the town, leaving little standing.

"Some storm chasers believe a "wedge" tornado may be to blame for the wreckage. That type of tornado appears to be wider than it is tall, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "Some of the largest and most destructive tornadoes in history" have been wedge tornadoes, AccuWeather said," reported The Washington Post.

The killer supercell storm was on the ground for nearly 120 minutes, before it bounced back into the system, reformed and touched down again in northern Alabama, cutting 100-mile swath through rural Mississippi and Alabama.

Mississippi remains under the threat of severe thunderstorms with the possibility of tornadoes, especially south of Jackson, where weather forecasters are predicting strong winds up to 70mph and hail the size of golf balls.

The National Weather Service has warned the 2 million residents from Jackson, Mississippi to Wilmington, North Carolina, an 800-mile track across the south of weather conditions with the potential to produce devastating high winds, damaging hail and severe thunderstorms.

Spring Weather Phenomena Strikes California

Residents of Montbello, California, were also surprised as a rare spring tornado, producing 110 mph winds, categorized as a EF1, touched down momentarily in the suburbs of Los Angeles, ripping roofs off buildings and creating flying debris. There were no report of deaths.

California and the west coast has seen an highly active "winter" storm season with a dozen atmospheric rivers deluging the drought ravaged region with much needed rain.

"While the storms have largely replenished reservoirs after a historically dry three-year stretch, they also have wreaked havoc. In the central part of the state this month, atmospheric rivers have repeatedly flooded neighborhoods, forced people to evacuate and closed major highways," The New York Times reported.

The weather phenomena flooded the rich crop producing central state region potentially causing the loss of the more than $5bn per annum in crop production. As California leads the way, producing much of the nations produce, the historic flooding could play a strong factor in the rise of produce prices, from lettuce to grapes, over the next year.


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Nicholas Lloyd Webber Dies

Nicholas Lloyd Webber, the son of theater composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, died this week, after a courageous 18-month battle with gastric cancer. He was 43.

Webber, who announced his son's death, said, "I am shattered to have to announce that my beloved elder son Nick died a few hours ago in Basingstoke Hospital," the statement read. "His whole family is gathered together and we are all totally bereft. Thank you for all your thoughts during this difficult time."

Recently, the elder Lloyd Webber had announced he would not be in attendance at the opening of the most Broadway production, Bad Cinderella, which he collaborated with Nicholas, as his son was gravely ill and would be entering hospice care.

Nicholas is survived by his father, Andrew, and wife, Polly. No further information is available.

For more information on President Joe Biden www.whitehouse.gov.

Sources: Various © Articles covered by Copyright protection.

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