Friday, 26 March 2021

Biden Spends 4 Times More to House Illegal Aliens Than on Troops

America’s soldiers sleep in the cold while the Democrat invaders sleep in hotels.

Fri Mar 26, 2021

Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical Left and Islamic terrorism.

When the Democrats decided to launch their unconstitutional military occupation of Washington D.C., they summoned 26,000 National Guard troops from all over the country to serve as a captive audience for Biden’s inauguration in an empty city living in fear. Those troops were made to sleep on cold marble floors in the Capitol and later in a cold parking garage. They were fed tainted meat, food with metal shavings and worms, resulting in illnesses and hospitalization.

The bill for this disastrous mess came to $483 million. Nothing but the best for the troops.

As the massive flood of illegal alien migrants poured across the border, some wearing Biden t-shirts, coming to receive the illegal amnesty that he had promised them, they got a better deal.

No cold parking garage floors for future Democrat voters and no food with metal shavings.

Instead, Biden delivered a $86.9 million contract to house 1,200 illegal migrants in hotels.

That’s nearly four times as much money being spent per migrant compared to the total amount of spending per soldier. And since only a portion of that $483 million even went to providing for the troops, the actual discrepancy behind those numbers is much higher than it appears.

In the past, Best Western, Comfort Suites, and Hampton Inn hotels have been used to house illegal migrant invaders. But the Biden administration and its Democrat allies sent 5,000 troops to rest on the floor of a parking garage with only two bathrooms in cold weather.

The Democrats tried to do as little as they could for the troops. Only when photos of soldiers sleeping on the floor in Congress went viral were cots actually provided for them. Then they were banished as an embarrassment, and only when the photos of the parking garage went viral was the order rescinded. Then again, only when photos of rotten food went viral, were there some feeble promises of an investigation, but no one was actually held accountable.

Unlike drug dealers, vagrant junkies, and illegal aliens, the Dems don’t care about the troops.

"The Guard is 90 some-odd-percent male, and only about 20% of white males voted for Biden," one Democrat House member told CNN "They're probably not more than 25% of the people that are there protecting us who voted for Biden.

Statistically, amnestied illegal aliens are going to provide much better voting returns than 25%. Why bother providing for Republican voters, when you can provide for Democrats instead?

The $86.9 million illegal alien contract spends an estimated $12,000 per migrant every month.

Or almost $400 a day.

Even those troops that were staying in hotels were getting $149 hotel rooms. That doesn’t buy you much in Washington D.C. Meanwhile illegal aliens are costing a fantastic $398 a day.

When President Trump brought in the troops to protect the White House from the Black Lives Matter hateful mob, they stayed at the Marriott Marquis for $256 a night. And the illegal alien migrant mobs were staying in Mexico: instead of being dumped in small towns in Texas.

Under Biden, our soldiers get the worst, and the invaders from across the border get the best.

What are the illegal aliens getting for $398 a day? Aside from the digs and the food, there are the social services. It’s their first taste of the generous free welfare system that brought them here. And which they’ll be encouraged to keep voting for, legally or illegally, by the Democrats.

When Bill Clinton took office, there were bumper stickers reading, “There are homeless vets on the street and a draft dodger in the White House.” These days, Joe Biden, who got five draft deferments for asthma despite being a high school and college football player, is in the White House, while soldiers were sent to take breaks outside, and illegal aliens are housed in hotels.

Biden’s illegal amnesty push even included eliminating the term “illegal alien”. You can’t criticise Open Borders Biden for favoring illegal aliens when the term can’t even be used.

"Would you have tried to do this when Donald Trump was president?" ABC News' Martha Raddatz asked an illegal alien invader from Brazil.

"Definitely not," he replied. "We have a chance now."

“So did you come here because Joe Biden was elected president?" she inquired.

"Basically," he replied.

Illegal aliens are a key Democrat demographic. Even when they don’t vote, they prop up the ghost districts that wrongly provide Democrats with legislative seats. It’s why Democrats and their media fought so hard against reforming the census to inquire about citizenship.

The Democrat culture of corruption begins with fake districts, fake votes, and fake news.

Biden and the Democrats know who their supporters are. It’s why they’re fighting for amnesty and it’s why they treat their illegal alien invaders so much better than our soldiers.

The border crisis is not unexpected. It was inevitable.

The Democrats want to pretend that the arrival of the illegal alien mobs caught them by surprise. That’s a lie. And they want to pretend to be helpless in the face of their crisis even while they dump hordes of future Democrats in red states without even giving them a court date.

And when they’re not dumping them in red states in a bid to flip them down the road, they’re spending $12,000 a month to house them, feed them, and take the best possible care of them.

At taxpayer expense.

While millions of Americans are still suffering from the pandemic and its lockdowns, the Biden administration is conspiring to bring infected migrants into this country. While millions of Americans are out of work, Biden is giving away their jobs to newly arrived illegal aliens.

And while millions of Americans had their votes stolen, Biden is giving their votes to illegals.

That’s not just a crime: it’s a declaration of war on America.

Why is Biden spending far more on illegal aliens than on the troops? Because the illegal aliens marching to the border in Biden t-shirts are his real army. They’re the electoral army of a political invasion that is inflicting the will of D.C., Wall Street, and Big Tech on America.

The Democrats built walls in D.C. while shutting them down on the border. A Silicon Curtain has fallen over the free speech of America under the administration of contractors like Amazon and Google. Meanwhile the border between America and the world is as wide open as it gets.

The future of the Democrats isn’t in the small towns and farmlands of America they once claimed. Democrats revile the coal miners and factory workers they promised to defend. They loathe the ordinary working class people and the small business owners who built this country.

In their new Red Dawn, the socialists who imposed a military occupation on Washington D.C. now look to an invasion from south of the border to protect their tyrannical grip on power.

Biden’s army isn’t in Washington D.C. It’s not in any of the forts he’s determined to rename.

It’s coming across the border one vote and $398 a day at a time.

America’s soldiers sleep in the cold while the forces of the Democrat invasion sleep in hotels.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/03/biden-spends-4-times-more-house-illegal-aliens-daniel-greenfield/

An unpalatable trade-off

South Africa: The Expropriation Bill an unpalatable trade-off

There are all too often no perfect solutions to the problems that confront us, merely trade-offs that provide an imperfect way forward.

We do what we can with the tools and in the circumstances that present themselves. Sometimes, it’s simply not possible for a course of action to produce desirable results in different areas. Recognised and acted upon, this is foundational to good policy.

Such an approach, though, is frequently anathema to those responsible for policy. A professional political class has every incentive to present society’s challenges as being open to simple and uncomplicated resolution. Follow a proposed path, and things will fall into place with a minimum of inconvenience for society – or at least for that part of society to whom the leadership seeks to appeal.

It was intriguing to see that the idea of trade-offs or ‘balancing’ was the basis for a parliamentary question. Public Works and Infrastructure Minister, Patricia de Lille, was asked, with reference to the recently completed submissions on the Expropriation Bill, what actions she would take to balance the need for land redistribution whilst safeguarding the legitimate property rights of private citizens in the country?

How, in other words, would the Expropriation Bill and the agenda behind it be reconciled with private property rights and the critical role they play in underwriting economic success?

This would be good for everyone, according to the Minister. ‘The Bill brings certainty to South Africans and investors because it clearly outlines how expropriation can be done and on what basis.’

She went on to claim that the Bill established a regime that was constitutionally compliant and procedurally just to all – and to disparage those who ‘twist logic and the ‘meanings of words’ to suggest otherwise.

Well, she would say that, wouldn’t she? Minister De Lille is a seasoned politician and this is how she is piloting this legislation.

So, the Bill – and by extension the Expropriation without Compensation agenda – is presented as an unqualified good. For everyone. Far from undermining the country’s future, it will underwrite it.

The reality is rather less salutary. Yes, in a way it provides ‘certainty’, though understand that ‘certainty’ has become a weasel word to justify nearly any course of policy action. The Bill sets out the steps to be followed when expropriation takes place, but in doing so prescribes a process heavily tilted towards the state.

No limits

The Bill requires the measures – which do indeed include negotiations – to settle on terms for expropriation amicably with the owner. But if this fails, the state may move to expropriation, issuing a notice to this effect, wherein it will set out the dates on which ownership and the right to possess the property will pass to it. This could involve mere weeks or even days, since the Bill sets no limits on this other than that the date when ownership is transferred may not predate the service of the notice.

Recourse to the courts is indeed provided for – although it is worth remembering that just prior to the pandemic, the African National Congress indicated that it wanted the constitutional amendment to vest expropriation powers in the executive to the exclusion of the courts, and it remains to be seen how this will play out.

But note that a challenge to the quantum of compensation offered does not affect the date of transfer. ‘Any delay in payment of compensation to the expropriated owner or expropriated holder … or any other dispute arising will not prevent the passing of the right to possession to the expropriating authority…unless a court orders otherwise.’

The state will get what it wants, when it wants it, and a court challenge may need to be made after the asset has already been taken. Court challenges are in any event expensive, all the more so when seen against the loss of an asset. The onus of proof will likely rest on the erstwhile owner. For most people in this unfortunate position, the Bill will create substantial pressures to settle and take what is on offer. As I have argued before, it is not unreasonable to believe that this is the intent behind them.

Does this amount to an ‘old-style land grab’, to use the minister’s words? Perhaps it would be better to see it as a tool for any contemplated ‘new-style asset grab’. As the minister is no doubt aware, the Expropriation Bill is not only about land, but about all assets; land may be an immediate target, but it will not be the only one. For a fiscally stressed state – and one in which patronage has become a key source of political capital – a quick and easy means to take private assets may be a crude lifeline. If real estate looks enticing, savings and pension funds may look even more so.

Indignantly, the minister declared: ‘It makes no sense that a democratic government will revert to apartheid-style practices of taking homes or business premises away from people.’

Really? Over the past few months there have been a disconcerting number of reports – none of which seem to have been rebutted – of black farmers, the beneficiaries of land reform, who have found themselves effectively dispossessed by bureaucratic fiat. These include successful farmers in Mpumalanga whose holdings formed part of the 700 000 hectares that government decided to ‘release’ for redistribution, as well as other (perhaps more concerning) cases where land reform beneficiaries have been instructed to move to make way for other operators who sport political connections. (The IRR has been in contact with some of the affected parties and will have more to say soon.)

Reality of governance

Whether this is a case of official lack of interest and incompetence, or corruption matters little – what these farmers have experienced is a reality of governance in South Africa, and the risk that comes with according the state the discretion and powers that this Bill implies.

And in this is the deeper trade-off that the Bill and the policy drive around it means for South Africa. Legislation that empowers the state over its citizens – motivated by ideological suspicion of private property and a delusional belief in the developmental capacity of the South African state – can be had at the cost of South Africa’s future prospects.

While those in power may be willing to make this trade-off, South Africa’s people should not.

IRR warns MPs on Expropiation Bill

The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) has told MPs that South Africa’s land reform problems stem largely from inefficiency, corruption and an absence of secure ownership, and the Expropriation Bill now before Parliament will not provide solutions.

This point was made in a presentation to Parliament’s portfolio committee on public works and infrastructure on the Bill by IRR head of policy research, Dr Anthea Jeffery, this week.

Jeffery also pointed out that the Bill covered far more than land, as was commonly thought.

The threat to property covered ‘homes, pensions, business premises, mining rights, shares, and unit trusts – all of which will fall within the Bill’s definition of ‘property’ – and all of which will be vulnerable to expropriation for ‘nil’ or inadequate compensation’, she said.

Contrary to government reassurances, the Bill was thus not limited to land reform, Jeffery pointed out, and it would not solve land reform problems, ‘which stem largely from inefficiency, corruption, and an absence of secure ownership’.

In a statement yesterday, Jeffery pointed out that, rather than contributing to land reform, the Bill threaten the property rights of all South Africans: from the 9.8 million people with home ownership (7.8 million of whom are black) to the roughly 18 million individuals with customary law plots, and the estimated 17 million people who belong to pension funds. It would also harm all business owners, both large and small.

“At the same time,” said Jeffery, “the economic fall-out from the Bill will further hurt the 11 million individuals now unemployed by reducing investment, limiting growth, and stalling any post-lockdown recovery.”

Jeffery argued that three ‘core amendments’ were required.

‘First, the bill must make it clear that a prior court order – which confirms the validity of the expropriation and decides on the just and equitable compensation to be paid –must be obtained before a disputed expropriation can proceed.

“Second, the bill must require that the full amount of compensation be paid prior to the transfer of ownership to the state. And third, the compensation payable must include damages for all losses resulting from the expropriation. Such damages would include moving costs, any loss of income, and any outstanding balance on a mortgage bond which the compensation paid would otherwise not be enough to cover.’

Added Jeffery: “South Africa needs new expropriation legislation that is fully compliant with the Constitution, but the current Bill does not meet that test. The IRR’s alternative bill, by contrast, will bring the Bill into line with the Constitution, with international best practice, and with the economic imperative to increase prosperity for all.”

Banks alarmed about land expropiation

Land expropriation without compensation could pose a significant risk to the banking sector.

That’s the warning from the Banking Association of South Africa, according to eNCA last night.

The association has told Parliament that market uncertainty around land rights has led to a marked decrease in the value of land-based property.

Basa says that there’s a reduced appetite from property buyers, which could destabilise the banking sector.

Banks have a R1.6-trillion exposure to land-based property in the form of mortgages.

The association says if a property that a bank has taken security over is expropriated, it could have a crippling effect on the borrower and the bank.

https://dailyfriend.co.za/2021/03/26/

Farm attackers poison 5 dogs, farmer fires off shots in his home, Heilbron

South Africa: Farm attackers poison 5 dogs, farmer fires off shots in his home, Heilbron

Oorgrens veiligheid

March 26, 2021

Farm attackers poison 5 dogs, farmer fires off shots in his home, Heilbron

A farmer was able to ward off an attack at 04:00, on the morning of 26 March 2021, on the farm Palestina, between Heilbron and Sasolburg in the Free State province of South Africa. An unknown number of attackers poisoned the farmers five dogs and then broke into the home by removing the burglar guards of the kitchen.

The attackers then broke down the second line of defence, a security gate, the noise alerted the farmer. Whilst the attackers were breaking down the security gate at the bedroom door, the farmer, Chris Labuschagne fired off warning shots.

The warning shots caused the attackers to flee. No one was injured during the invasion.

There is no other information available at this stage.

Read about more farm attacks here

Information supplied by Oorgrens veiligheid

South Africa Today – South Africa News

https://southafricatoday.net/south-africa-news/free-state/farm-attackers-poison-5-dogs-farmer-fires-off-shots-in-his-home-heilbron/

Farm attackers caught on camera, farmer assaulted, robbed, Joubertina

South Africa: Farm attackers caught on camera, farmer assaulted, robbed, Joubertina

A farm attack took place on 25 March 2021, at 18:00, in Fonteinskloof, krakeel, Joubertina, in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Donald Strydom (61) stopped at his residence and was suddenly approached by five black male attackers. Two males had firearms, one a pistol and one long rifle.

The attackers then took him inside the house and demanded money. At the same time his wife hid herself away in the garage.

The attackers then forced him to open the walk in safe. After he opened the safe they assaulted him with the firearms by striking him against the head. The wife then managed to activate the panic button.

The suspects then fled the scene in the farmers white double cab Ford bakkie with registration NV01WP.

All role players responded but there have been no arrests.

There is no other information available at this stage.

Read about more farm attacks here

Information supplied by Oorgrens veiligheid

South Africa Today – South Africa News

https://southafricatoday.net/south-africa-news/eastern-cape/farm-attackers-caught-on-camera-farmer-assaulted-robbed-joubertina/

Thursday, 25 March 2021

Throwback Thursday: Beef Stroganoff

By Tony Jackman• 25 March 2021

Sometimes the simplicity of a classic dish belies its beauty. Beef Stroganoff is more than just beef, sour cream and mustard. In fact, it’s the beef stock that really makes it sing.

This dish has its origins in Russia and the Stroganov family, the surname having been anglicised over time in the West. Though it is widely believed that the Stroganovs had French chefs working for them who invented the dish, it is more likely to be a refinement of an old Russian recipe. Either way, it calls for a tender cut of beef, mushrooms, sour cream, mustard and, not least, beef stock. Today, Dijon mustard is often called for.

The Hildagonda Duckitt of Russian cuisine, Elena Molokhovets, published a recipe in her book A Gift to Young Housewives in 1871 which called for marinating beef cubes in allspice and salt and then pan-frying them in butter. The resultant sauce, says Wikipedia, was “a simple roux mixed with prepared mustard and broth, and finished with a small amount of sour cream: no onions, no mushrooms and no alcohol”. Today, we define it as a dish of strips (not cubes) of beef with mushrooms, onions, mustard and beef stock.

Larousse Gastronomique got it wrong at first. Cites Wikipedia: “In 1891, the French chef Charles Brière, who was working in Saint Petersburg, submitted a recipe for beef Stroganoff to a competition sponsored by the French magazine L’Art culinaire. This led Larousse Gastronomique to assume that he was the inventor of this dish, but both the recipe and the name existed before then.”

Later recipes call for ketchup to be added. A 1938 version in Larousse calls for beef strips (which has stuck since then) “and onions, with either mustard or tomato sauce optional”.

The Beef Stroganoff we know, then, has been adapted over time and bears little resemblance to whatever dish was placed before the Stroganov family in Russia once upon a time. If it ever was. Nevertheless, the recipe we know today is worth holding on to, and I believe that the dish is at its very best if you start with the best beef stock that you can muster.

Most of us shy off making our own stocks, taking the easy route of buying a store-bought product, and some of them are fairly good. But none will quite give you the flavour punch of one you’ve made yourself by starting with roasting lots of bones. Come on, you can do it. It’s only stock. If you really have to use a store-bought one, choose a liquid beef stock or those superb fonds produced under the Nomu brand. Others such as Knorr and Ina Paarman are second-best, but a hard, overly salty stock cube is not gonna cut it.

I recommend doing what I did this week: ask your butcher for a couple of well marbled, thick steaks on the bone, such as ribeye or sirloin. You’ll need the fat and the bones for your stock (the fat gets skimmed off after cooking, but adds greatly to the flavour, so don’t discard it before making your stock). But also buy whatever other beef bones your butcher has to hand, especially ones that contain bone marrow or, as my local butcher calls it, “jelly”. I spent 15 bucks on a bag of miscellaneous beef bones that my butcher had to hand.

To make your stock: Put all the bones in a large, deep oven dish. Add 3 carrots, 3 sticks of celery, and 2 onions, all roughly chopped. Add 2 bashed garlic cloves, a few thyme sprigs, 4 bay leaves, and put them in a preheated 220℃ or 240℃ oven to roast for at least an hour. You want the aromas to beckon you from elsewhere in the house.

Transfer the contents (everything) to a large cast iron pot or other suitable stock pot. Cover with cold water, bring to a boil while covered, then remove the lid to cook for 3 to 4 hours or longer. If the liquid gets too low while you still want to cook it further (because the longer you cook, the more intense the flavour), top it up with water, bring it back to the boil and keep on cooking. You want the liquid stock left over to be about a fifth of the quantity of water you first put in.

Put a big bowl in the sink and put a colander on top of it. Pour the contents of the stock pot into the colander carefully and collect the juices in the bowl below. If there’s still plenty of life in the bones and other goodies in the colander, put them back in the pot, add more water, boil them up, and get some more lovely intensity out of it as the liquid evaporates once more.

But the stock is not made yet. Put the strained stock through a fine sieve into a large, deep saucepan and reduce on the stove until it has a pleasing thickness, richness and deep brown colour. Now you have the stock you need for your Stroganoff. Here’s what the completed beef stock should look like, followed by the Beef Stroganoff recipe…

Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients

750 g lean beef, preferably ribeye or sirloin, excluding fat and bones (reserve them to make beef stock)

3 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp canola or sunflower oil

1 punnet button mushrooms, sliced

1 large onion, halved and then sliced thinly

2 Tbsp plain flour

300 ml rich beef stock made from the beef bones (see how to do it, above)

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

200 ml sour cream

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Cut the “eye” of the steak (i.e. the meaty part) away, and trim any remaining fat and sinew. Place the steak on a board and roll it out with a rolling pin, as you would dough. The picture below shows the difference this procedure makes. Use the bone and fat for your stock.

Cut the steak into thin strips, season with salt and set aside.

Heat oil in a cast iron pan until very hot, then quickly sear the meat strips in batches, for less than half a minute on each side, turning once; remove immediately, then fry the rest a few pieces at a time. Tongs work best for turning them and removing them once cooked. Don’t be tempted to cook them for more than about 25 seconds on each side.

Add 2 Tbsp butter to the pan and add sliced button mushrooms, not too thin as they will reduce in size while cooking. When they’re nicely browned, remove and keep aside. Add 1 large thinly sliced onion. Cook, stirring, until softened. Return the mushrooms to the pan. Add 2 Tbsp plain flour and cook, stirring, until nicely browned, just a minute or two, stirring, then add 300 ml beef stock, stir, and whisk in 1 Tbsp of Dijon mustard and then 200 ml sour cream.

Season with pepper, taste, and salt more if needed, but remember that it is still going to reduce down a little which will strengthen the saltiness. Simmer for 4 or 5 minutes while the broth thickens. Small pasta pieces such as penne make a good accompaniment. Finally, scatter a few chopped chives over. DM/TGIFood

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-03-25-throwback-thursday-beef-stroganoff/

Farm attack, mom and daughter stabbed, mom seriously injured, Brakpan

South Africa: Farm attack, mom and daughter stabbed, mom seriously injured, Brakpan

Oorgrens veiligheid

March 25, 2021

Farm attack, mom and daughter stabbed, mom seriously injured, Brakpan

A farm attack took place on 25 March 2021, at 02:00, on a smallholding in Witpoortjie road, in Brakpan, in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Two black males overpowered and violently assaulted a woman (50) and her daughter (13) in their home. The attackers were armed with a knife and a bicycle spoke.

The woman was stabbed in the chest with the bicycle spoke and the attackers attempted to cut her throat with the knife. The daughter fought back attempting to protect her mother but was also stabbed in the arm.

The attackers, unable to completely overpower the two victims then fled out the back door. All role players responded but there were no arrests.

The woman was transported to hospital for urgent medical attention.

There is no other information available at this stage.

Read about more farm attacks here

Information supplied by Oorgrens veiligheid

South Africa Today – South Africa News

/southafricatoday.net/south-africa-news/gauteng/farm-attack-mom-and-daughter-stabbed-mom-seriously-injured-brakpan/

Armed groups attack Mozambique town closest to gas projects – sources

By Reuters• 24 March 2021

JOHANNESBURG, March 24 (Reuters) - Armed groups on Wednesday attacked the northern Mozambique town closest to gas projects worth some $60 billion, two sources told Reuters, striking ever closer to developments that have already stalled due to security problems.

The attack on the town of Palma, less than 25 km (15 miles)by road from a construction camp for the gas developments led by oil majors like Total, happened on the same day that the French company announced it would gradually resume works at the site after suspending them due to nearby attacks.

Mozambique‘s northern-most province of Cabo Delgado has since 2017 been home to a festering Islamist insurgency on the projects’ doorstep, which has escalated in the past year as insurgents, linked to Islamic State, began taking on the army to seize entire towns.

Portuguese state news agency Lusa first reported the attack, which was confirmed to Reuters by a security source and another source familiar with the matter.

Reuters was not able immediately to verify the reports with officials, as calls to the spokespeople for the defence and security forces as well as police were not answered. A local Total spokesperson could not immediately be reached.

Lusa, citing sources, said automatic gunfire could be heard in Palma and people were fleeing. It said later communication was cut off.

Initially known for beheadings, the insurgent group has in the past year managed to take control of entire towns, including one, Mocimboa da Praia, used as a transit point for goods and workers related to the gas developments.

Palma’s proximity to the projects means it has even more strategic importance, and is seen as a base for both the operations and workforce of many companies that have moved into the region in hopes of cashing in on one of the biggest gas finds in a decade

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-03-24-armed-groups-attack-mozambique-town-closest-to-gas-projects-sources/