Chinese Nationals Fastest Growing Segment of Border Crossers, Nevada Chooses "Nobody" Over Nikki Haley, Hamas "All But Wiped Out", Houthi Rebels Mad at US, Attack Greek Ship?! (The Five for 02/07/24)
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Lets dive into the news.
[one]
The controversial policy of Assisted Suicide took a heartbreaking turn over the weekend.
An autistic Dutch woman has died at home by assisted suicide, with her parents and best friend by her side, after sharing a harrowing final message to her online followers.
Lauren Hoeve, from the Netherlands, was diagnosed with ME, which is also referred to as chronic fatigue syndrome, in 2019.
Over the past five years, the book blogger battled extreme exhaustion and excruciating pain which left her bed-bound.
She also began to experience post-exertional malaise (PEM), where she would struggle with extreme nausea, pain and fatigue - which she described as 'absolute torture' on X, formerly known as Twitter.
In 2022, Lauren - who was also diagnosed with ADHD - began documenting her journey to euthanasia. Assisted death has been legal in the Netherlands for the past 22 years.
So, a woman not mentally fit to make the decision starts blogging about killing herself…and gets famous. At that point, the social pressure to go through with it must have been terribly high, and the autism diagnosis that should make us question whether or not Lauren had the mental capacity to understand the finality of her choice.
As far as the Chronic Fatigue diagnosis…famous patients include Justin Beiber, Morgan Freeman and Olivia Munn…shall we recommend they off themselves as well?
Assisted suicide is an insult to human dignity, and a crime. No doctor who kills their patient should be practicing. And Lauren’s family and friends?! Who just stands by someone’s bed with a thumbs up and a grin and says “nice knowing ya kid, now go ahead and push the death button!”
[two]
Chinese nationals are now the fastest growing group crossing the southern border.
CBS News interviewed some of the illegal Chinese entrants:
Sharyn Alfonsi: What countries did you go through?
College grad: Thailand, Morocco, Ecuador … Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica …Nicaragua.
Sharyn Alfonsi: Jeez.
Thirty minutes later, a smuggler's SUV raced along the border fence and dropped another group at the same spot. And 30 minutes after that…. another group.
Over four days, we witnessed nearly 600 migrants – adults and children- pass through this hole and onto U.S. soil…unchecked. We saw people from India, Vietnam and Afghanistan. Many of the Chinese migrants who came through will end up asking for political asylum.
The most conservative statistics are that 2.5 million people are illegally entering the U.S. every year, with up to 12-17 million illegal migrants total, larger than the combined population of Delaware, both Dakotas, Alaska, Washington D.C., Vermont and Wyoming.
Currently, immigration is the #1 issue on voters minds, even ahead of inflation and the economy. President Biden reversed many of the Trump era policies by executive order, but is crafting his messaging around blaming Trump for the illegal entries, according to a recent article in The Hill.
“Every day between now and November, the American people are going to know that the only reason the border is not secure is Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican friends,” Biden said.
[three]
If Israeli reports are to be believed, Hamas is mostly wiped out.
Breitbart reports:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday during a visit to Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops that half of Hamas’s terrorists had been killed or wounded, and that 18 of its 24 battalions had been destroyed thus far.
Netanyahu spoke at Latrun, a military site overlooking the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem road where British-trained Jordanian troops had held out against Israel in the 1948 war. Israel captured it in 1967 after Jordan joined in that war by shelling western Jerusalem.
The prime minister’s insistence that the goal remained “total victory” was a statement made as much for an American audience as for the Israeli soldiers around him, as reported emerge that the U.S. wants Israel to accept a ceasefire without destroying Hamas.
As Caroline Glick of the Jewish News Syndicate has noted, CIA director William Burns is trying to negotiate a deal through Egypt and Qatar, for Hamas to release the remaining 130 or so Israeli hostages, in return for which Israel would release possibly thousands of Palestinian terrorists, and stop fighting in Gaza for one-to-two months — a pause the U.S. reportedly hopes will make it harder for Israel to resume fighting. The Biden administration also wants a Palestinian state to emerge from the war.
At this point, the U.S. will not be sending another round of funding to Israel, with 166 House Democrats and 14 Republicans voting against a recent funding bill. The bill needs a 2/3 majority in the House to send funding.
[four]
Sea shipping through the Middle East region…is coming to a standstill, due to constant attacks from Iranian-backed Houthi pirates. Yesterday, Houthis fired anti-ship ballistic missiles at a Greek-owned-and-operated cargo carrier, but were unsuccessful at hitting the vessel. The Houthis blamed the attacks on “U.S. and British aggression,” proving that terrorists are as bad at geography as they are at accurately firing missiles.
Despite the lack of success, nobody much wants to ship goods through the area, due to the possibility of the cargo load winding up at the bottom of the sea, according to Tradewinds:
Houthi attacks on vessels in the Red Sea and beyond have slashed Gulf of Aden arrivals by 71% since December, Clarksons Research has revealed.
The figure was 65% on 23 January, according to the research division of the UK shipbroker.
Overall Suez Canal transits are down 62%.
Crude tanker arrivals in the Gulf of Aden have been chopped by 47% versus 21% in the first half of January.
Container ship transits have remained at very low levels, down 92%, with freight rates for the moment stabilising at levels two to three times higher than before the attacks began, Gordon said.
[five]
Finally, the lone challenger left in the Republican Primary to former President Trump…lost to nobody on Tuesday night.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley will lose Nevada’s nonbinding Republican primary to “none of these candidates,” an embarrassing defeat in a contest that did not feature former President Donald Trump on the ballot.
The outcome likely reflects many GOP voters’ preference for Trump in a state that gives them the option to express their dissatisfaction with all of the candidates on the ballot.
“Even Donald Trump knows that when you play penny slots the house wins. We didn’t bother to play a game rigged for Trump. We’re full steam ahead in South Carolina and beyond,” Haley campaign spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said in a statement to CNN. Haley is projected to receive the second-most votes in the primary.
The GOP primary carried little weight, because state Republicans opted to award their delegates through party-run caucuses, which Trump is expected to win Thursday. The party barred those participating in the primary, including Haley, from being eligible for the caucuses, which means Trump will face little competition.
Still, the outcome is an ignominious one for Haley, who is seeking to prove to Republican donors and voters that she remains a viable contender ahead of her next head-to-head contest with Trump in the February 24 South Carolina primary.
Until the next one,
-sth