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HIGHER EDUCATION

Billions in undisclosed gifts

come from Middle East
Colleges that accepted donations accused of antisemitism
BY VALERIE RICHARDSON
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
The same U.S. universities that in-
creasingly are seen as breeding grounds
for antisemitism have taken billions of
dollars in previously undisclosed dona-
tions from the Middle East — and their
critics don’t believe in coincidences.
The Lawfare Project filed a lawsuit
ASSOCIATED PRESS
this week on behalf of former Carnegie
CONCERNS OF INFLUENCE: The Lawfare Project filed a suit on behalf of a former Mellon University student Yael Canaan,
Carnegie Mellon student who said she was discriminated against because she’s saying she was subject to “pervasive
Jewish. The group said the college was “one of the largest recipients of Qatari money.” anti-Jewish discrimination” and tying
her allegations to the half-billion dollars
received by the university since 2021
from Qatar.
“Carnegie Mellon happens to be one
of the largest recipients of Qatari money,”
said the Lawfare Project, which works
with the online movement End Jew Ha-
tred. “The question one must ask is, what
is the money being used for?”
Concerns about the influence of for-
eign money in academia for years have
focused on China and its Confucius In-
stitutes, but that was before widespread
anti-Israel protests broke out on college
campuses following the Oct. 7 Hamas
terrorist attack on Israeli civilians.
Recent reports of Middle Eastern
nations funneling billions into higher
education prompted the House last week
to pass bipartisan legislation toughening
up financial reporting requirements,
despite the objections of the American
Council on Education, which said the bill
would curtail international research as
well as cultural and academic exchanges.
Harvard President Claudine Gay
» see DONATE | A4

UKRAINE ACCOUNTABILITY

Ukrainian soldiers face peril from skies The money split:

Millionaires took
unemployment
IRS: Rich taking jobless benefits
BY STEPHEN DINAN
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
The crisis days of the pan-
demic were easing in 2021, but
plenty of people still rushed to
collect unemployment, including
more than 300 people the IRS
says made at least $10 million in
income that year.
They were among nearly
15,000 mega-millionaire taxpay-
ers — those who earned at least
$1 million that year alone — who
also took government-funded
jobless benefits.
All told, the IRS figures the
million-dollar club got nearly half
a billion dollars in unemployment
benefits in 2020 and 2021.
Sen. Joni Ernst, Iowa Republi-
can, called it “welfare for the well-
off ” and said it’s time Washington
shuts it down.
“Perhaps nothing better rep-
resents the out-of-touch, upside-
down priorities of Washington
than this reverse-millionaires tax
that takes from small businesses
and workers living paycheck to
paycheck to reward the idle rich
living their best lives,” she said.
Known officially as Unem-
ployment Insurance, the benefits
are a federal-state partnership.
The federal government oversees
it, but each state runs its own op-
eration and provides the funding,
» see BENEFIT | A5

PUBLIC HEALTH
ASSOCIATED PRESS

DEVASTATION AND DESTRUCTION: People stand near a crater in the yard of a damaged building after a Russian attack at residential
neighborhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday. The Russian military is using drones in its fight against Ukraine.
Where are the teens?
Russian forces $75 billion already sent to Ukraine in 22 months
They’re online more
use drones to B D R. S M G Pentagon’s own arsenals for contained in a recent survey
Y AVID ANDS AND IKE LENN
than anywhere else
outmaneuver the weapons, ammunition and by Jonathan Masters and Will
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
other equipment to be sent to Merrow, U.S. bilateral aid to Survey finds rise in internet use
foes in war How much money has the Ukraine’s forces. The other half Ukraine between Jan. 24, 2022,
United States provided Ukraine is earmarked for intelligence — a month before the war began B S S Y EAN ALAI
as its war to fight off an invad- support, humanitarian aid and — and Oct. 31, 2023, totaled THE WASHINGTON TIMES
BY GUILLAUME PTAK ing Russian army nears the 22- assistance to Mr. Zelenskyy’s $75.4 billion, of which $46.3 bil-
SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES month mark? Let us count the government for emergency re- lion (61%) was for weapons, More teenagers than ever
ways. sponse, development and other equipment, grants for military spend most of their free time in
CHASIV YAR, UKRAINE | In the The math has become even accounts. purchases, training, logistics the online worlds of TikTok and
early hours of a cold November more pressing as President What has already been and other support. Instagram than in the physical
morning, a worn-out pick-up Biden faces increasing resis- sent to Ukraine — for defense, The remainder of the funds world with family and friends,
truck barrels down a potholed tance on Capitol Hill to his for humanitarian aid and for was for humanitarian relief, in- according to recent research.
road in the region of Donetsk in request for another $61.4 bil- economic rebuilding — can cluding money for refugee sup- Nearly half of teens aged 13 to
eastern Ukraine. Dawn is still a lion for Kyiv. Ukrainian Presi- be parsed in many ways. The port, and budgetary aid to Kyiv 17 say they use the internet “al-
couple of hours away. A thick fog dent Volodymyr Zelenskyy Council on Foreign Relations to help support the economy. most constantly,” roughly double
shrouds much of the surrounding made a hastily arranged trip to and the German-based Kiel In- Ukraine has been by far the the 24% who said the same in
countryside. Washington this week to plea stitute for the World Economy largest foreign recipient of U.S. 2014-2015, the Pew Research Cen-
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Yet, the car’s headlights are with lawmakers for continued have compiled running tabs of military aid in that time. Even ter found in a survey released this
turned off even as it swerves support. the totals, as well as what has the emergency defense request week. And nearly 1 in 5 say they CONNECTED: Researchers from
wildly to avoid potholes and in- Half of the new package been pledged in the pipeline. use YouTube or TikTok “almost the Pew Research Center found
coming armored vehicles. It’s the would go to restocking the According to the CFR totals » see AID | A4 constantly.” that smartphone ownership is
new reality as the danger from The nonprofit research center “nearly universal” among teens.
Russian drones has increased noted that social media use has
in both quantity and lethality outpaces that of Ukraine. sophisticated defensive array in- UAV manufacturer DroneSpace, remained “relatively stable” since
along the perilous front — being In a recent interview with volving trenches and redeploy- Ukrainian companies are able to a previous poll in spring 2022, de- backgrounds,” Pew researchers
spotted here can quickly mean German media Deutsche Welle, ments, is credited with effec- produce only about 50,000 FPV spite warnings from public health Monica Anderson, Michelle Fa-
being dead. Giorgi Tskhakaia, an adviser to tively blunting a highly touted drones a month — Russian com- officials and government efforts verio and Jeffrey Gottfried wrote
While the Ukrainian army was the Ukrainian minister for digital Ukrainian counteroffensive this panies can churn out six times to ban Chinese-owned TikTok. in a report on the poll.
an early proponent of drone war- transformation, said Ukraine had year. Ukrainian commanders re- that number, at a cost of less than Most teens used smartphones The findings come as some
fare, and initially boasted both a increased domestic drone pro- ported that any significant offen- $1,000 per drone. to go online this year, with 95% mental health advocates have
qualitative and quantitative ad- duction “100-fold, in some cases sive movements were instantly “The simple fact is that we see saying they had one. blamed social media for fueling
vantage in the nearly 22-month 150-fold, possibly even more,” yet picked up by Russian surveillance everything the enemy is doing “Smartphone ownership is an “epidemic of loneliness” that
war, Russian forces have quickly the country’s armed forces still drones. and they see everything we are nearly universal among teens has increased anxiety, depression
adapted their tactics. The Krem- remain in critically short supply. According to Maksym of different genders, ages, races
lin’s UAV production now far Russian drone use, plus a more Sheremet, founder and CEO of » see UKRAINE | A5 and ethnicities, and economic » see TEEN | A5

POLITICS NATION WORLD SPORTS VOLUME 41, NUMBER 255

Trump urges backers Use of ‘morning after’ $886 billion defense bill Rams defender Donald
to come out strong in contraceptive doubled approved by House, on poses challenge for
Iowa caucuses. A3 before pandemic. A6 way to Biden’s desk. A8 Commanders’ line. B8 7 02803 87040 7

INDEX Commentary B1 | Comics B6 | Dear Abby B5 | Editorials B2 | Horoscope B5 | Inside the Beltway A2 | Letters B2 | Nation A6 | Politics A3 | Puzzles B6 | Region A10 | Sports B8 | World A8
A2 | POLITICS ☆R FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2023

5.5 million viewers. Republican-led states are the ones creating jobs

BELTWAY
IIN
NSIDE TTHE
INSIDE HE
BY JENNIFER HARPER
MADE IN AMERICA
Yes, the clock is ticking on the Christmas and
holiday shopping rush. Here’s one possibility that
could offer some quick insight and a little help to
the nation as well.
The nonprofit, nonpartisan Alliance for
American Manufacturing is offering its 10th anni-
versary edition of the Made in America Holiday
Gift Guide, a helpful and charming annual list of
American-made gift ideas from all 50 states, the
District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
The organization says this guide is its biggest
edition ever. It features 200 companies that show-
case items made in America, and in 24 categories
— items as varied as socks, kitchenware, outdoor
fare, food, handbags, toys and cool stuff for dogs.
The organization has also conducted a poll
that found that 81% of U.S. adults would prefer
to purchase holiday gifts made in the U.S. if pre-
sented with the option — convinced it will boost
the economy, create more jobs and support small
businesses.
That’s good.
Find the guide and much more at American-
manufacturing.org.
FOX NEWS: EIGHT YEARS ON TOP
Fox News is the still the champ.
The network has remained cable television’s
most-watched network for the eighth consecutive
year in 2023, besting news and non-news com-
petition alike, according to year-end data from
Nielsen Media Research.
In prime time, Fox News average 1.9 million
nightly viewers — more than the combined totals
of MSNBC with 1.2 million viewers and CNN
ALLIANCE FOR AMERICAN MANUFACTURING
The Alliance for American Manufacturing’s 10th
anniversary Made in America Holiday Gift Guide
offers American-made gifts from all 50 states, the
District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
with 586,000. Throughout the day, Fox News
averaged 1.2 million viewers, compared with
MSNBC (784,000) and CNN (482,000).
“During yet another unprecedented news
cycle, cable viewers continued to choose Fox
News Channel. From moderating debates to
reporting in war zones and many stories in
between, I am honored to work alongside this
unrivaled team of journalists and opinion hosts
as they continue to exceed expectations,” said
Suzanne Scott, CEO of Fox News Media, in a
written statement shared with Inside the Beltway.
Fox News also aired the six most-watched
cable news programs of all. “The Five” ruled
the airwaves with an average daily audience of
2.9 million viewers, followed by “Jesse Watters
Primetime,” “Hannity,” “Special Report With Bret
Baier,” “The Ingraham Angle” and “Gutfeld.”
Political coverage has also paid off for the
network.
The first Republican primary debate in
August, co-moderated by Mr. Baier and Martha
MacCallum, drew an astonishing 13 million view-
ers. The second GOP debate — also featuring
Mr. Baier and Ms. MacCallum — had 9.5 million
viewers. Meanwhile, a bout between Florida Gov.
Ron DeSantis and California Gov. Gavin Newsom
called “The Great Red State vs. Blue State De-
bate” and moderated by Sean Hannity — netted
We can’t overlook late-night host and funny-
man Greg Gutfeld.
“Gutfeld! continued to disrupt the late-night
landscape, outpacing broadcast shows CBS’ ‘The
Late Show with Stephen Colbert,’ NBC’s ‘The
Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,’ ABC’s ‘Jimmy
Kimmel Live!’ and beating all of cable late night
in viewers,” Fox News said.
WHERE’S TRUMP?
Pondering the whereabouts of former Presi-
dent Donald Trump? He’s on the campaign trail,
of course — headed for New Hampshire for an
appearance Saturday in Durham — a seacoast
town settled in 1635.
“Durham has long been a Democratic strong-
hold when it comes to New Hampshire politics.
So, is the Trump campaign aiming to make a
statement by bringing the former president to
one of the bluest spots in the crucial northeastern
battleground state? The Trump campaign says lo-
gistics rather than politics was behind the choice
of venue location,” reported the Valley News, a
local news organization.
“We’re trying to get the president to different
parts of the state. We were over in Claremont
a couple of weeks ago over in the western part
of the state. We were over in Wolfeboro in the
lakes region, and we haven’t been over to the
seacoast,” Steve Stepanek, the Trump campaign’s
senior adviser in New Hampshire, told the news
organization.
REPUBLICAN KNOW-HOW
Republican-governed states are at the top of
the heap when it comes to practical and produc-
tive economic management. An analysis released
Thursday by the Republican National Committee
offers the proof.
“President Biden deserves no credit for jobs
that have been created – he paid Americans not
to work for months and stifled economic growth.
and leading economic growth,” said the report,
which is based on current numbers from the
Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“The latest state jobs report shows that eight
of the top 10 states for jobs recovered since the
coronavirus pandemic are led by Republican
governors, and all 10 states have Republican-
controlled legislatures. Out of the top 25 states
with the lowest unemployment rates, 17 are led
by Republican governors,” the report said.
WEEKEND REAL ESTATE
For sale: Historic Tudor-style house built of
stone and brick in 1925 on 14 wooded acres with
a pond, near Waite Hill, Ohio. Six bedrooms,
10 baths, dramatic great room, vaulted ceilings,
design embellishments and woodwork through-
out; 12,516 square feet. Eight fireplaces, expansive
chef’s kitchen, recreation wing includes bowling
alley, lounge and second kitchen. Five-car garage
with guest apartment, private ski slope, a “trophy
property for the most discerning buyer.” Priced
at $4.4 million through TheAgencyre.com; enter
4498766 in the search function.
POLL DU JOUR
• 18% of registered U.S. voters describe their
political beliefs as “very conservative.”
• 21% describe their political beliefs as “some-
what conservative.”
• 29% describe their political beliefs as
“moderate.”
• 14% describe their political beliefs as “some-
what liberal.”
• 13% describe their political beliefs as “very
liberal.”
• 5% don’t know what their political beliefs
are, or did not answer.
SOURCE: A WALL STREET JOURNAL POLL OF 1,500 REGISTERED U.S.
VOTERS CONDUCTED NOV. 29-DEC. 4 AND RELEASED THURSDAY.
• Follow Jennifer Harper on X @HarperBulletin,
on Facebook @HarperUniverse.

HOUSE

McCarthy bids farewell to Congress with gratitude and optimism

BY TOM HOWELL JR.
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy thanked
his constituents and lawmakers Thursday as he
prepared to exit Congress midway through the
term, saying he “loved every single day” despite
the ignominious end to his speakership in October.
A conservative rebellion ousted the California
Republican from the top job in the House after just
269 days wielding the gavel.
Yet Mr. McCarthy, a longtime GOP leader, struck
notes of optimism and gratitude on his last day.
“To America, I loved every single day. Less than
13,000 people have ever been given the privilege or
the honor to serve in this body,” Mr. McCarthy said
after lawmakers hailed him in a retirement party of
sorts on the House floor.
Rep. Ken Calvert, California Republican, kicked
off the tributes, which included remarks from Rep.
Patrick McHenry, a North Carolina Republican and
key McCarthy ally who served as interim speaker
after Mr. McCarthy’s ouster. Mr. McHenry recently
announced that he would not seek reelection.
House lawmakers also lined up to take a photo-
graph with Mr. McCarthy.
He said he had no regrets about the decision
he made as speaker, pointing to efforts to fund
the government and make sure troops were paid
despite repeated threats to knock him out of the
speaker’s chair.
“Do not be fearful if your philosophy brings
people more freedom,” Mr. McCarthy said. “Do
not be fearful that you could lose your job over it.”
Mr. McCarthy has served in Congress since 2007,
rising to majority whip and majority leader before
he won the speaker’s gavel in January after a series
of difficult votes in the new GOP majority.
His speakership was fraught from the start due
to constant threats from conservatives to oust him
over spending matters and other decisions.
Mr. McCarthy defended his record, pointing to
efforts to secure the southern border and reverse
local D.C. efforts to weaken penalties for crimes
ASSOCIATED PRESS
like carjacking.
“So if you come across that question of whether “To America, I loved every single day,” former House
you should do what’s right out of fear of losing your Speaker Kevin McCarthy said after lawmakers
job, do it anyways. Because it’s the right thing to hailed him in a retirement party on the House floor.
do, and this is what the nation requires,” he said. “I Thursday was Mr. McCarthy’s last day in Congress.
think putting people before politics is always the
right answer.”
He said America remains in good hands. serve. I will be departing, but that doesn’t mean
“I know the potential of this nation,” he said. I’ll stop serving.”
“I am so thankful to be given the opportunity to • Alex Miller contributed to this article.

“As I told Politico a week ago, ‘There is no

POLITICS
INSIDE
SPECIAL ELECTIONS — U.S. HOUSE
GOP picks candidate for Santos’ ex-seat
Republicans have selected Nassau County leg-
islator Mazi Melesa Pilip, a former Israeli para-
trooper, to run in the special election to replace
former Rep. George Santos, the Republican who
was expelled from Congress earlier this month.
Ms. Pilip, a 44-year-old Ethiopian-born Jew,
currently represents the 10th state legislative dis-
trict on Long Island. She hails from Great Neck
and has held her position since 2021.
At 18, she joined the Israel Defense Forces
where she served as a paratrooper.
She will be up against former Democratic Rep.
Tom Suozzi, who is well known in that district,
having held the position for six years before Mr.
Santos won the seat.
National Republican Congressional Commit-
tee Chairman Richard Hudson said Ms. Pilip’s life
“stands in stark contrast to career politician Tom
Suozzi, who uses his office to make life better for
himself instead of his community.”
— Mallory Wilson
FOREIGN POLICY
Harris team denies split on Israel
A spokeswoman for Vice President Kamala
Harris on Thursday rejected reports of a split
between her and President Biden over the plight
of civilians in Gaza amid Israel‘s onslaught.
Politico reported that Ms. Harris pushed Mr.
Biden to the plight of Palestinian civilians killed
by Israeli counterattacks against the Islamist ter-
ror group Hamas over its Oct. 7 rampage in Israel.
Kristen Allen, a spokeswoman for Ms. Harris,
pushed back on the report.
daylight between the president and vice presi-
dent nor has there been,’ and media should be
cautious and discerning about including anony-
mous ‘sources’ who are not privy to their private
conversations,” Ms. Allen wrote on X.
— Jeff Mordock
VETERANS AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT
GOP wants discipline for antisemitism
Eighteen Republicans are calling on the Vet-
erans Affairs Department to discipline one of its
attorneys for mocking Israelis.
House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman
Mike Bost, Illinois Republican, led the Republi-
cans, including House GOP Conference Chair-
woman Elise Stefanik of New York, in writing a
letter to VA Secretary Denis McDonough urging
the department to hold Shekeba Morrad account-
able for her “disturbing conduct.”
A video surfaced in November of the attor-
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ney mocking Israelis for calling for the return of
hostages taken by Hamas terrorists. In the video, The first lady posted a video featuring dancers from the New York City tap company Dorrance
she sarcastically says, “We just want our hostages Dance. The dancers wear colorful outfits and danced through part of the White House.
back. Give us our 200 hostages.”
— Mallory Wilson WHITE HOUSE
NORTH CAROLINA
First lady draws fire for tap-dance troupe traipsing through White House
The annual White House Christmas video Stephen Miller, an adviser to former
Nickel won’t seek reelection is giving critics a case of “blunder and joy.” President Donald Trump, called the video “a
Rep. Wiley Nickel, North Carolina Democrat, The video posted by first lady Jill Biden, crime against Christmas.” Others described
said Thursday he won’t seek reelection to Con- featuring a tap-dancing troupe perform- the show as “Disney presents ‘Clockwork
gress next year, the result of congressional redis- ing an interpretation of “The Nutcracker Orange’” and “an embarrassment.”
tricting by Republican state legislators this fall. Suite” through the White House, has been Sarah Fields, president of the Texas Free-
Mr. Nickel also said he is interested in a U.S. slammed by some on social media as “tacky” dom Coalition, noted that Dorrance Dance
Senate election that is almost three years away. or reminiscent of the “Hunger Games.” has a website linking visitors to groups such
The decision by the first-term congressman The two-and-a-half-minute video shows as Black Lives Matter.
means three incumbent House Democrats from sequined dancers in colorful costumes and “The Biden Administration is intent on
North Carolina won’t run in 2024. headdresses tapping their way through the driving a wedge between the American
Reps. Jeff Jackson of Charlotte and Kathy main floor of the White House decorated for people,” she posted on X. “It is quite literally
Manning of Greensboro also blamed the recon- the holidays. The dancers are from the New all they can think about.”
figured lines — now the subject of litigation — York City tap company Dorrance Dance. — Dave Boyer
that they say make it futile for them to run.
— Associated Press

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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2023
Politics
CAMPAIGN 2024
Trump urges supporters to come out in ‘big numbers’
Former president rails against his
rivals, warns against complacency
BY THOMAS BEAUMONT
AND MICHELLE L. PRICE
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CORALVILLE, IOWA | Donald
Trump made his third trip to Iowa
this month and urged his support-
ers to turn out in “big numbers”
when Republicans cast the first
presidential nomination votes in
32 days.
The former president, who has
remained far ahead of his rivals in
national polls and those of likely
Iowa caucus-goers, pressed his
supporters not to be complacent
despite his front-runner status.
“We have to put big numbers
up, really big numbers,” Mr. Trump
said. Addressing Iowa voters di-
rectly, he said: “We are leading by
a lot but you have to go out and
vote. That margin of victory is so,
so powerful.”
He also insulted his GOP rivals
and President Biden and boasted
about everything from keeping
Iowa at the forefront of the Re-
publican nominating process to
bringing back the phrase “Merry
Christmas.”
He vowed that if he won the
November 2024 election, the econ-
omy would be thriving again by
Christmas of that year.
Though he has faced a bevy
of legal problems, including four
criminal cases, Mr. Trump cam-
paigned regularly in Iowa through-
out the autumn, far more than in
any other early-voting state for the
2024 Republican nomination. His
event on Wednesday marked his
11th visit since September.
His “Commit to Caucus” event
CONGRESS
Schumer busts Senate’s recess
for border policy, war aid vote
House heads home for holidays, dealing blow to Biden
BY STEPHEN DINAN
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Congress decamped from
Washington on Thursday without
reaching an agreement on bor-
der security, signaling President
Biden’s broader $106 billion na-
tional security spending bill will
have to wait until the new year.
Senators were told to come
back to town next week in prepara-
tion for a vote on a final deal, but
the House adjourned for the start
of what’s scheduled to be a three-
week vacation, meaning even if
senators do approve a bill, it can’t
clear Congress until 2024.
The delay is a major blow to
Mr. Biden, whose Ukraine policy
depended on getting Capitol Hill
to approve more than $60 billion
in new assistance for the country’s
war against Russian invaders. The
White House says that without
more money this month, U.S. sup-
port will dry up and Ukraine could
begin to lose ground.
But Mr. Biden has been unwill-
ing to meet GOP demands for
an overhaul of border policy, and
Republican lawmakers have made
it clear that no bill to fund other
countries’ wars overseas will pass
until the U.S. takes steps to secure
its own boundaries.
“There is no way we can fix our
border security problems until the
Democrats change their attitude.
It’s not about time. It’s about atti-
tude,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, South
Carolina Republican, said.
Senate Majority Leader Charles
E. Schumer, New York Democrat,
said senators will vote on some
spending bill next week, though
whether it’s a bipartisan compro-
mise or Democrats’ partisan pro-
posal will depend on the pace of
negotiations.
“Members need to be here next
week. We have to get this done,”
Mr. Schumer said. “Our Repub-
lican colleagues who have said
action on the border is so urgent
in the eastern city of Coralville
near Iowa City was part rally, part
“caucus 101.” Besides Mr. Trump’s
address, it featured an explanatory
video featuring an animated char-
acter and a panel of local organiz-
ers instructing Iowa Republicans
on how and where to participate
in the in-person meetings.
Before Mr. Trump arrived, hun-
dreds wound around the hotel,
waiting to enter the ballroom
where he was to speak.
About a quarter of the crowd of
more than 1,000 people raised their
hands to indicate that it was their
first time participating in a caucus.
“That is an expansion of the
electorate only President Trump
can do,” Republican state Rep.
Bobby Kaufmann, an Iowa ad-
viser for Mr. Trump’s campaign,
said onstage.
Mr. Trump closed out his re-
marks with a performance he has
been frequently tacking onto his
speeches, where he speaks in a
soft, lilting voice over an instru-
mental song that adherents of the
QAnon conspiracy theory have
claimed as their anthem.
Speaking over the music ris-
ing and falling, Mr. Trump de-
scribed America as a country in
ruin, “where free speech is no
longer allowed and where crime is
rampant” and where “once revered
airports, those beautiful, beautiful
airports, are dirty.”
“And now they sit and wait for
hours and then are notified that the
plane won’t leave. And they have
no idea when they will.”
“With you at my side, we will
demolish the ‘deep state.’ We will
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Senate Majority Leader Charles
E. Schumer said senators will
vote next week on some form of
national security spending bill.
should have no problem with con-
tinuing to work next week.”
He and others involved used
words like “good progress,” and the
White House is now fully invested
in the talks, according to Republi-
cans who complained that things
could have been much further
along had Mr. Biden stepped up
earlier.
Presidential spokeswoman Kar-
ine Jean-Pierre said negotiations
are “going in the right direction,”
and repeated the White House’s
hope for a bill to clear this year.
“Here’s what the president be-
lieves: He believes we need to fix
what’s happening with the bro-
ken immigration system,” she said.
“That needs to get fixed and he’s
willing to find a bipartisan com-
promise to get that done.”
She also insisted the White
House has been “in constant com-
munication” with the Congres-
sional Hispanic Caucus on the
direction of talks.
That contradicts what se-
nior Hispanic lawmakers said
Wednesday.
Sen. Robert Menendez, New
Jersey Democrat, said the caucus
was left out entirely. He said it
would be equivalent to negotiat-
ing changes to the Voting Rights
Act without including Black
Democrats.
He is part of a cacophony of
Audience members in Coralville, Iowa, listen to former President Donald Trump urge his supporters to turn out to vote in “big numbers.”
drive out the globalists. We will
cast out the communists. We will
throw off the sick political class.
We will rout the fake news media.
We will drain the swamp and we
will liberate our country from the
tyrants and villains once and for
all,” he said, drawing whoops and
cheers.
This election cycle, his cam-
paign organization is more dis-
ciplined in the mechanics of the
process as he seeks the nomination
a third time. When he first ran in
2016, the businessman and reality
television star was unfamiliar with
a caucus, and the need for intense
organization to turn out support-
ers at hundreds of local meetings
immigration rights and Hispanic
voices who question why Mr.
Biden is negotiating at all.
“The GOP’s cynical politics
and lopsided demands shouldn’t
dictate the confines of an immigra-
tion debate no matter how badly
you need to overcome Republican
opposition to defending Ukraine,”
said Vanessa Cardenas, executive
director of America’s Voice.
Mr. Schumer tried to power a
bill without GOP border changes
through his chamber last week.
Republicans led a successful fili-
buster, maintaining complete unity
in blocking it.
Should a bill clear the Sen-
ate, House Speaker Mike Johnson
could call his troops back for a vote.
But that seems unlikely.
“The border is not just a crisis,
it’s a catastrophe. The House took
action to secure our border. It’s
time for the Senate and the White
House to do the same,” Mr. John-
son, Louisiana Republican, said on
social media.
He was referring to a bill the
House passed, with only Repub-
lican votes, to revive border wall
construction, limit asylum claims,
expand deportation authority and
increase the capacity to detain
illegal immigrants until they can
be deported.
Democrats have said that bill is
unacceptable.
Many Democrats are now say-
ing Mr. Biden bungled the handling
of the bill by linking border secu-
rity in the first place.
The president’s October pro-
posal called for $14 billion in new
spending on processing the surging
population of illegal immigrants, in
a move Mr. Biden thought might
entice some Republicans.
It backfired. Republicans said
policy changes — not money — are
needed to solve the problem. The
GOP message has been boosted by
the situation on the ground, where
Homeland Security has seen re-
cord illegal entries this month.
☆R
around the state. his campaign firing off a statement
Mr. Trump lost Iowa in 2016. over the weekend that said Florida
In a foreshadowing of the false Gov. Ron DeSantis and his wife had
claims of fraud he still relentlessly a “plot to rig the Caucus through
makes about the 2020 presidential fraud.”
election, he claimed rival Ted Cruz In an interview on Fox News
stole the caucus based on “fraud” on Friday, Casey DeSantis issued
and demanded a do-over. He didn’t a call for supportive “moms and
provide proof of fraud in the cau- grandmoms” to come to Iowa,
cus results but pointed to a mailer saying that people “do not have to
sent by Mr. Cruz’s campaign that be a resident of Iowa to be able to
aimed to drive voters to the polls participate in the caucus.”
by showing their voting history The Iowa Republican Party
and a false rumor spread by a Cruz limits the selection process to resi-
surrogate warning that another dents. Casey DeSantis attempted
candidate was dropping out. to clarify her remarks in a post on
Mr. Trump’s campaign has al- X by noting that while voting was
ready started reviving the fraud limited to Iowa residents, others
claims in 2024’s Iowa race, with could volunteer.
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POLITICS | A3
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mr. DeSantis echoed that ratio-
nale when speaking to reporters,
but the Trump campaign on Sat-
urday condemned the comments.
Mr. DeSantis has wagered his
candidacy’s future on Iowa, and
has predicted he will win there.
A Des Moines Register NBC
News Mediacom Iowa Poll taken
last week showed the Florida gov-
ernor running a distant second
with support from 19% of likely
GOP caucus-goers, the same
support he had in the Register’s
August survey, and trailing Mr.
Trump by 32 percentage points.
Mr. DeSantis and former United
Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley
are battling for second place.
Sunday
Sunday
Tuesday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Sunday
A4 | POLITICS ☆☆ R FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2023

CAMPAIGN 2024

West downplays worries of playing spoiler, targets moral decay

BY SETH MCLAUGHLIN
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Independent presidential can-
didate Cornel West dismissed
Democratic concerns that his
long-shot bid for president would
jeopardize President Biden’s re-
election push and give former
President Donald Trump a boost.
Mr. West, the Ivy League
scholar and liberal activist, said
he’s running to blow up the duo-
poly that has dominated American
politics and ushered in moral and
civic decay, adding he’s poised
to give voters a choice next year.
“To me, brother Donald Trump
is a bona fide gangster and fas-
cist,” Mr. West said at a breakfast
Thursday hosted by the Christian
Science Monitor.
Turning to Mr. Biden, Mr. West
said the Democrat has been a
milquetoast neoliberal on the
domestic front and too much of
a military adventurist overseas.
“We have one who is pushing
us toward a second civil war at
home, and the other is pushing us
toward WWIII abroad,” Mr. West
said. “That’s the choice?”
He added, “That is what brings
tears to my eyes. Neither one of
them represents anywhere near
the best, whatsoever.”
Mr. West said he is raising his
voice because he believes people
of all political stripes are hungry
for change.
When he announced his in-
dependent bid in June, he said he
was running to “end the iron grip”
of the ruling class and be a voice
for working-class Americans fed
up with the corporatization of the
parties and American institutions.
Mr. West believes his message
can resonate with young voters
ASSOCIATED PRESS
and Trump supporters.
Independent presidential candidate Cornel West said he’s running for the White House to blow up the Mr. West first must get on the
duopoly that has dominated American politics and ushered in moral and civic decay. ballot in every state.
The former Harvard and
Princeton professor said he’s on
the ballot in Alaska and has raised
half a million dollars for his cam-
paign, with 18,000 volunteers.
Mr. West said his policy vision
is to lift people out of poverty and
end homelessness. He said a two-
state solution is not the answer to
end the Israel-Palestinian conflict
and said he would pull the U.S.
out of NATO.
He said a lot could change
between now and Election Day,
suggesting Mr. Biden and Mr.
Trump might not even be their
parties’ nominees.
“I am thoroughly convinced
Biden may have an LBJ moment
and decide he may not do it,” Mr.
West said. “How long is he going
to last?”
As for Mr. Trump, is he “actu-
ally going to be the candidate? He
might be on his way to jail,” Mr.
West said.

MASSACHUSETTS

Boston mayor hosts party for elected officials ‘of color,’ dividing city council
BY MALLORY WILSON
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
The Democratic mayor of
Boston is taking heat for holding
a holiday party only for “electeds
of color,” while the invitation was
sent accidentally to all councilors,
including Whites.
Mayor Michelle Wu is the
city’s first Asian-American mayor.
Her invitation for the “Electeds
of Color Holiday Party,” held
Wednesday, was sent by her aide
to all 13 councilors instead of the
six of color. The aide, Denise Dos-
Santos, later sent out an apology
email for inviting everyone.
“I wanted to apologize for
my previous email regarding a
Holiday Party for tomorrow,” Ms.
DosSantos’ email said, according
to Daily Mail. “I did send that
to everybody by accident, and I
apologize if my email may have
offended or came across as so.
Sorry for any confusion this may
have caused.”
The email did not include an
apology for planning the party
that excluded White councilors.
City Council Frank Baker, who
is White, told the Boston Herald
that he found the whole scenario
“unfortunate and divisive.”
“I find it unfortunate that with
the temperature the way it is,
that we would further division,”
he said, adding that he was not
personally offended by the party.
Councilor Michael McCor-
mack said this type of party
was not typical of the mayor’s
office and that previous may-
ors would’ve invited the entire
chamber.
“The problem is that Boston
and race, unfortunately, are syn-
onymous,” Mr. McCormack said.
“I’m just hoping it was a mistake.
It’s not something that anyone
in the mayor’s office should be
proud of.”
In a statement to WCVB -TV,
the mayor said the initial emailed
invitation was a “mistake in the
recipient.”
She said holiday gatherings
for all elected officials are also
planned, and that she “looked
forward to celebrating with ev-
eryone at the holiday parties that
we have besides this one, as well.”
Black City Councilor Brian
Worrell said the “elected of color”
party was to make sure all “spe-
cific groups” in the city govern-
ment are recognized.
“We make space and spaces
for all kinds of specific groups
in the city and city government.
This is no different, and the
Elected Officials of Color has
been around for more than a
decade,” Mr. Worrell said in a
statement.
Ms. Wu’s spokesman, Ricardo
Patron, said that the group, Elect-
eds of Color, had asked Ms. Wu to
host the annual party. He added
that the host and the location of
the party changes every year.
He also said it was just one
party out of multiple that was
happening during the holiday
ASSOCIATED PRESS
season, and that Ms. Wu has a
larger holiday party that she is Boston Mayor Michelle Wu held
planning for next week for all a holiday party only for “electeds
cabinet members, city councilors of color,” while the invitation was
and the legislature. mistakenly sent to all councilors.

AID combined had committed through Oct.

From page A1
from the White House for Israel is just
one-fifth of the $64 billion sought for
Ukraine.
As it lobbies for congressional ap-
proval of the new aid, the administration
has been dipping into existing accounts
at the Pentagon, including a $200 mil-
lion military aid package Mr. Biden an-
nounced during Mr. Zelenskyy’s visit
this week.
Some 47 countries around the world
have provided military aid to Kyiv, but
the Kiel Institute and Council on Foreign
Relations numbers show that the U.S.
through Oct. 31 was by far the biggest
single source of support, with more than
twice the total of Germany, the next larg-
est donor.
The 27 nations of the European Union
31, 2023, just more than $80 billion in
bilateral aid to Ukraine, slightly above
the U.S. figure.
As a percentage of the gross do-
mestic product, however, a number
of states have provided more military,
humanitarian and economic aid than
the U.S., led by Norway and the Bal-
tic states of Lithuania, Estonia and
Latvia.
And with the status of U.S. support
to Ukraine in question, Kiel Institute
analysts say the European Union has
surged past the U.S. in future pledges
of aid, including a planned $53 billion
support package through 2027 approved
this summer.
“For the first time, the U.S. is now
lagging behind by a large margin, also
because there have been no meaningful
new U.S. pledges over the past months,”
said Kiel Institute Research Director
Christoph Trebesch, head of the team
producing the institute’s Ukraine Sup-
port Tracker. “The doubling of EU aid
is a notable shift compared to the first
year of the war, when the U.S. clearly
led the way.”
The funding impasse also comes
as a report Wednesday suggested the
Kremlin was poised to boost its own
spending on the war.
Russian defense spending would rise
sharply in 2024 under a new budget
President Vladimir Putin signed into
last law month. The measure is a strong
signal that Moscow is committed to
continuing its two-year-old war against
its smaller neighbor, according to an
analysis by the Stockholm International
Peace Research Institute.
The just-released SIPRI report
estimates that Russia’s 2024 military
budget — $140 billion — will be 29%
higher than the year before. It means
the Kremlin will earmark 35% of all
government expenditures to military
and war-related spending.
“With planned reductions in mili-
tary spending in 2025-26 after a sharp
increase in 2024, and with the Russian
presidential election due in 2024, Putin
appears to be showing his intent to
bring the war to a successful conclusion
within the year,” SIPRI Director Dan
Smith said Wednesday.
The military hardware the U.S. has
sent to Ukraine covers the broad land-
scape of modern war, according to the
Council on Foreign Relations report,
including 100,000 Javelin and other
anti-armor systems; a Patriot air de-
fense battery and Hawk air defense
systems; more than 250 155 mm and 105
mm Howitzers with ammunition; 20
Mi-17 helicopters; 168 Bradley infantry
fighting vehicles and 31 Abrams tanks;
combat and surveillance drones; 2,000
Humvees and over 1,000 tactical and
light tactical vehicles; and two Harpoon
coastal defense systems and 62 patrol
boats.
Critics say the administration has
cried wolf before on Ukraine funding,
with the Pentagon finding new pots
of money to keep the aid flowing. But
the White House insists this time the
shortfall is for real.
“I want to be clear: without con-
gressional action, by the end of the
year we will run out of resources to
procure more weapons and equipment
for Ukraine and to provide equipment
from U.S. military stocks,” Shalanda
D. Young, the director of the Office
of Management and Budget, wrote
last week in a letter to congressional
leaders. “There is no magical pot of
funding available to meet this mo-
ment. We are out of money — and
nearly out of time.”

DONATE
From page A1
insisted at last week’s House Education
and the Workforce Committee hearing
that the university has “strict policies”
on which gifts and contracts it accepts
and that donors do not influence its
policies. Advocates for Jewish students
on campus were skeptical.
“No matter what the universities
say, it is hard to imagine that foreign
entities are pouring vast amounts into
American institutions and not expect-
ing that they will receive something in
exchange,” Kenneth Marcus, president of
the Brandeis Center, told The Washing-
ton Times. “What they want is influence.”
Those worries accelerated after the
Network Contagion Research Institute
released an explosive report last month
showing that universities reported more
than $13 billion in Section 117 gifts, or
those received from foreign sources,
for the five-year period ending in 2019.
Many of those donations weren’t
reported until the Trump administra-
tion prodded universities to update their
Section 117 filings in the aftermath of a
2019 report to the Justice Department
by the Institute for the Study of Global
Antisemitism and Policy on its “Follow
the Money” project.
“The project revealed, for the first
time, the existence of substantial Middle
Eastern funding (primarily from Qatar)
to U.S. universities that had not been
reported to the Department of Education
(DoED), as required by law,” the institute
said in its Nov. 6 report, “The Corruption
of the American Mind.”
The list of foreign donors from 2014-
19 was topped by Qatar, at $2.7 billion;
followed by England, at $1.4 billion;
China, at $1.2 billion; and Saudi Arabia,
at $947 million.
Harvard University’s president said the school is careful not to accept gifts from
sources on restricted lists and said the funding doesn’t affect decision making.
Carnegie Mellon was the leading
recipient, with $1.47 billion; then Cornell
University, which received $1.3 billion;
Harvard, which took $894 million; the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
with $859 million; Texas A&M, with
$521 million; and Yale, which received
$495 million.
The report went a step further by
looking at campus antisemitism, con-
cluding that from 2015 to 2020, universi-
ties that had accepted gifts from Middle
Eastern donors saw on average “300%
more antisemitic incidents than those
institutions that did not.”
Not only that, but campaigns to cen-
sor speakers and scholars were also
more prevalent at the universities receiv-
ing support from the Middle Eastern
regimes.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The report concluded that a “massive
influx of foreign donations to American
institutions of higher learning, much of
it concealed and from authoritarian re-
gimes, with notable support from Middle
Eastern sources, reflects or supports
heightened levels of intolerance towards
Jews, open inquiry and free expression,”
the report said.
The National Association of Scholars
reported last year that Qatar had become
a “major donor to U.S. universities,”
contributing at least $4.7 billion from
2001 to 2021.
In her lawsuit, Ms. Canaan said she
was subjected to a “cruel campaign of
antisemitic abuse” at Carnegie Mel-
lon, including a professor who said she
should focus her studio project on “what
Jews do to make themselves such a hated
group.”
Carnegie Mellon said that it is
evaluating the lawsuit, which was filed
Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the
Western District of Pennsylvania.
“We are steadfast in our commitment
to create and nurture a welcoming, inclu-
sive and supportive environment where
all students can reach their potential
and thrive,” a spokesperson for Carnegie
Mellon told The Washington Times. “We
take any allegations of mistreatment or
harassment seriously.”
A question of influence
Ms. Gay defended the foreign-based
giving at the House Education and the
Workforce Committee’s Dec. 5 hearing
on campus antisemitism, saying that
Harvard is careful not to accept dona-
tions from sources on restricted lists.
“We go further and only accept gifts
that align with our mission and provide
autonomy for research and faculty,” Ms.
Gay said. “We have alumni all over the
world and their philanthropy supports
student aid and scholarships and cutting-
edge research.”
She also denied that the funding
has any impact on Harvard’s decision-
making when asked why the university
allows the pro-Hamas group Students for
Justice in Palestine to remain on campus.
Hamas has been designated a terrorist
group by the State Department.
“Our donors do not influence how we
run the university, how we enforce our
policies or how we keep our students
safe,” Ms. Gay said.
Her assurances failed to assuage the
House, which the next day passed the
DETERRENT Act [Defending Educa-
tion Transparency and Ending Rogue
Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Trans-
actions] with 215 Republican and 31
Democratic votes.
The legislation would strengthen
Section 117 reporting requirements, in-
cluding lowering the threshold on indi-
vidual gifts from $250,000 to $50,000,
and eliminating the floor entirely for
“countries of concern”: China, Russia,
Iran and North Korea.
The measure, which now goes to the
Senate, also would require institutions
of higher learning to report such gifts
within the same calendar year. Colleges
that fail to do so — a 2019 Senate report
found that 70% of universities were out
of compliance with Section 117 — would
face fines and loss of Title IV funding.
Rep. Michelle Steel, the California
Republican who sponsored the bill with
Rep. Virginia Foxx, North Carolina Re-
publican and chair of the House educa-
tion committee, said that “there is no
such thing as a free lunch.”
“When foreign governments give
money to our universities, they don’t do
it out of the goodness of their hearts; they
want something in return,” Ms. Steel said.
“Whether it’s terror-friendly states like
Qatar and Iran, or brutal human rights
abusers like the Chinese Communist
Party, our campuses must not become
puppets of countries who hate America.”
Opposing the legislation are 17 higher-
education groups led by the American
Council on Education, which called the
new restrictions “duplicative” and “un-
necessary,” pointing out that universities
have stepped up their reporting since
2018.
The Education Department reported
Nov. 21 “nearly 5,000 additional foreign
gifts and contracts transactions valued
at nearly $4 billion since ED’s last data
release as of Oct. 13, 2023.”
“The largest dollar amounts of gifts
and contracts reported to ED between
April 6, 2023, and Oct. 13, 2023, were
from sources in Germany, Kuwait, Qatar,
China, and France,” the notice from the
Federal Student Aid office said.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2023
BENEFIT
From page A1
based on a tax on employers.
It’s meant to be a lifeline for those who
find themselves jobless through no fault
of their own. And states are forbidden
from using someone’s income to deny
them benefits.
During the pandemic, Uncle Sam
stepped in and ordered more generous
benefits, with federal taxpayer money
covering the cost.
Overall use jumped from 3.1 million
beneficiaries in 2019 to 18.1 million ben-
eficiaries in 2020. The average payout
surged from $5,137 to $13,477.
Among the mega-millionaires, the
IRS didn’t even report how many col-
lected unemployment in 2019 because
the numbers were so small they could
have implicated individual taxpayers’
privacy rights. But the year before, in
2018, the tax agency said 3,274 peo-
ple with at least $1 million in income
UKRAINE
From page A1
doing,” respected Ukrainian Commander
Gen. Valerii Zaluzhny wrote in The
Economist last month.
The result: Ukrainian forces, who
took back nearly 8,700 square miles of
territory in a stunning offensive in the fall
of 2022, have reclaimed just 200 square
miles of land from the Russians in 2023.
Russia emboldened
Clad in bulletproof vests and hel-
mets, the pick-up truck’s four passen-
gers — drone operators of Ukraine’s
28th Mechanized Brigade — are silent,
occasionally glancing at their phones or
taking a drag of their e-cigarettes.
This morning, they are headed toward
the small town of Chasiv Yar, which has
become over the past months a flash-
point of the fighting as emboldened
Russian forces step up their efforts to
capture the entirety of the Donetsk
region, a region that President Vladimir
Putin has already unilaterally declared is
now part of Russia’s sovereign territory.
As the pick-up gets closer to the
front, the rumble of artillery grows in-
creasingly louder in the distance, each
detonation followed by the orange glow
of an incandescent projectile tearing
through the night sky: Ukrainian air
defenses are hard at work, though their
target remains unseen.
After a 30-minute drive through ru-
ined villages and barren, frozen fields,
the pick-up finally comes to a halt near
a snow-covered tree line, located about
TEEN
From page A1
and suicide risks among young people
since the COVID-19 pandemic. Others
say social media is more a symptom than
the cause of an emerging youth mental
health crisis.
“We are seeing a surge of mental
health concerns and general fragility
in the culture, especially in younger
people,” Theresa Sidebotham, a lawyer
who advises schools and churches on
youth suicide prevention, told The Wash-
ington Times. “Addictive social media
takes them on a downward spiral. This
plays out in high anxiety, lack of tough-
ness, increased suicide rates and many
other symptoms.”
Social media parent companies Meta,
ByteDance, Alphabet and Snap insist
they have been scapegoated for these
problems. In statements to The Times,
some of them touted parental consent
guidelines, content moderation policies
and algorithms that direct material to
age-appropriate audiences as evidence
of their concern for teens.
“At YouTube, the privacy, safety,
mental health and well-being of young
people has long been foundational to our
work,” said a spokesperson for the video-
streaming website owned by Alphabet’s
Google. “We recognize the important
role that YouTube can play in the life of
teens and are deeply committed to en-
suring time on the platform is time well
spent. In close collaboration with outside
experts, we develop age-appropriate
experiences and protections for young
people and family controls for parents.”
Instagram, Facebook, Threads and
WhatsApp have developed “over 30 tools
and resources” to help teens and their
parents use the apps responsibly, said a
spokesperson for parent company Meta.
They include privacy settings and ways
for parents to set limits on screen time.
A spokesperson for ByteDance-
owned TikTok said the platform auto-
matically limits the screen time of users
aged 13-18 to 60 minutes a day, disables
notifications for teens late at night, lets
parents link accounts with their children,
filters out mature content, offers mental
health resources and employs “more
than 40,000 safety professionals” to
censor dangerous or misleading posts.
During pandemic lockdowns of
schools and social outlets, screen time
WELL-OFF WELFARE
The IRS estimates that nearly 15,000 taxpayers with adjusted gross
incomes of $1 million or more collected unemployment benefits in 2021.
Income
$1,000,000 under $1,500,000
$1,500,000 under $2,000,000
$2,000,000 under $5,000,000
$5,000,000 under $10,000,000
$10,000,000 or more
SOURCE: IRS Sources of Income 2021 data
received jobless benefits.
That surged to 19,015 in 2021, then
dropped to 14,972 in 2022.
Surprisingly, the average payout to
mega-millionaires rose, from about
$13,900 to nearly $14,300.
The idea of millionaires receiving
unemployment has some defenders.
Amid the Great Recession, when
Congress also approved enhanced ben-
efits and millionaire numbers rose, The
Atlantic, a left-leaning publication, rose
A Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, left behind this crater. Russia’s usage of FPV
drones have become a major threat on Ukraine’s frontline. And Ukraine’s lack of air-
defense systems has left its artillery crews especially vulnerable to the drones.
500 yards away from the nearest Rus-
sian positions. Without missing a beat,
the soldiers jump out of the truck and
grab their gear — a relay connecting to
the constellation of Starlink satellites
overhead, four commercial drones and
a black suitcase labeled “FPV,” adorned
with hand-drawn smiley faces.
One of the men curses upon discover-
ing the position, a rudimentary trench
snaking across the tree line. The once-
frozen ground has thawed and turned
into a thick layer of treacherous black
mud. “You start setting up the drones,
I’ll find the bucket,” orders 25-year-old
Andrii (by custom, Ukrainian troops
on the front lines are identified only by
A Gallup survey earlier this year found U.S. teens spent an average of 4.8 hours a day on at least one of seven social media apps.
for children and teens soared alongside
a rise in mental health complaints. Re-
cent reports show both have remained
elevated as COVID-19 restrictions fade,
with few parents using parental controls
to limit their children’s online activity.
In a survey of parents and their ado-
lescent children released Oct. 27, Gallup
found U.S. teens spent an average of 4.8
hours a day on at least one of seven social
media applications this year: YouTube,
TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,
WeChat and WhatsApp.
The polling company found that 41%
of teens who use those apps for five
or more hours a day reported feeling
intense anger, anxiety and depression
that increased their suicide risks. By
comparison, only 23% of those who spent
less than two hours daily on the apps
Number that claimed
unemployment
8,021
2,944
3,154
550
303
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
to defend the idea, saying the million-
aires had likely paid into the system for
years and were owed when hard times
hit. Besides, they didn’t qualify for many
tax breaks aimed at the poor, so “they
may as well cash in this once.”
“Only a fool wouldn’t do that,” wrote
then-associate editor Daniel Indiviglio.
The Congressional Research Service
last year issued a report saying states
might struggle to administer a program
that requires them to check income.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
a first name), as he removes his bullet-
proof vest and starts shoveling mud out
of the trench.
Another soldier takes up position in
the dimly lit dugout and begins care-
fully strapping fragmentation shells
to their drones, fastening the payload
with zip ties. For the past months, An-
drii’s team has been using the set-up to
drop explosives on Russian armored
vehicles, infantry positions and — on
at least one occasion — a Soviet-built
T-64 tank.
“As you can see, we now have to drive
at night, under the cover of darkness,
to avoid Russian drones,” says Andrii, a
veteran of the war in Ukraine’s eastern
experienced those negative emotions.
‘A help or a hindrance’
According to mental health experts,
such findings highlight the reality that
more adults have outsourced their par-
enting to virtual babysitters, leaving
young people to face anxiety and de-
pression on their own. They point to
research showing that children who use
the virtual world as a primary source
of relationships are more likely to be
stunted emotionally.
“There is no substitute for parental
involvement,” said Amanda Bacon-Davis,
the self-described mother of a “severely
anxious” daughter and author of a best-
selling children’s book on anxiety. “It
takes time and energy to help our kids
manage through stress and anxiety.”
☆R
Using the federal tax code to recap-
ture the money is another option, but
CRS said that “may further complicate
an already complicated tax form.”
Besides, CRS averred, it could chase
some people away from applying for
benefits they are entitled to.
“While conditioning eligibility for UI
benefits based on income may decrease
expenditures, the policy may erode the
underlying goal of providing insurance
against involuntary unemployment for
all workers,” CRS said.
It’s also likely that some of the tax-
payers are joint filers where one spouse
earned almost all of the income and the
other claimed unemployment.
According to the IRS’ data, 1.7% of all
mega-millionaires claimed unemploy-
ment in 2021.
The rate for those making $100,000
to $1 million was 6.7%, and for those
making $50,000 to $100,000 was 8.3%.
Those making less than $50,000 claimed
unemployment at a 14.1% rate.
The idea of millionaires receiving
Donbas region. “They’re absolutely
everywhere.”
Ubiquitous threat
Cheap, easy to maneuver and lethal,
FPV drones have become a ubiquitous
threat on Ukraine’s sprawling frontline.
According to Evguenii, an officer of
the 28th brigade interviewed a couple
of days earlier in the center of Kram-
atorsk, the Russians are using FPV
drones to devastating effect to disrupt
Ukrainian supply lines and target troop
concentrations.
“They’ve basically rendered entire
portions of the front line inaccessible.
I’d say that now 90% of the casualties
are from FPV drones — on both sides
of the front,” he observes.
The lack of air-defense systems has
left Ukrainian artillery crews especially
vulnerable to Russian drones.
“We simply don’t have enough air
defense to cover all of the frontline,
and that has seriously impeded our
work,” says Andrii, a captain of Ukraine’s
47th brigade fighting near Kupyansk, in
the Kharkiv region, gesturing toward a
charred portion of the tree line in which
his unit has taken position.
A couple of weeks earlier, a Russian
FPV drone had destroyed one of their
2S1 self-propelled howitzers, though the
crew had escaped unscathed.
“Even traveling at night might not
be an option for much longer,” says Bo-
hdan, a soldier of the 10th “Edelweiss”
Mountain Assault Brigade. “More and
more of [the Russian drones] are now
outfitted with thermal imagery cameras,
or night vision.”
BUSINESS WIRE
In an annual survey of families re-
leased Dec. 5, the Deseret News found
most parents supported government
regulation of social media companies
amid concerns over online predators,
screen time and inappropriate content.
Most also took no steps to restrict their
children’s social media use.
Deseret found more than 6 in 10 par-
ents allowed their children aged 10-18 to
access Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
More than 5 in 10 said their children used
Facebook and Snapchat.
Joshua Goldman, a licensed therapist
at the national telehealth network Grow
Therapy, said many parents also struggle
to be emotionally healthy.
“Unfortunately, most parents are
in the very difficult position of hav-
ing to work full-time jobs, face major
FROM PAGE ONE | A5
unemployment payments has irked law-
makers for years.
In the wake of the 2008 financial
collapse, then-Sen. Tom Coburn got
his colleagues to pass legislation to
bar those with million-dollar incomes
from getting the benefit. It cleared on a
100-0 vote in 2011, but the House took
no action.
Instead, the House approved a plan
to tax unemployment benefits for high-
income taxpayers, rising to a 100% tax on
those with a gross income of $1 million
or more. That plan also failed to clear
Congress.
That meant millionaires were still
eligible to sign up when the pandemic
struck and Congress rushed to pass gen-
erous new payment terms for the jobless.
Ms. Ernst said it’s time to revisit the
issue.
“My bipartisan bill will kick thou-
sands of millionaires off the public dole,
but I do want to wish each of them the
best of luck with their job search,” the
senator said.
Near miss
Just days prior to our conversation,
Bohdan and another officer narrowly
survived an encounter with a Russian
FPV drone: “They spotted us as we were
getting to the position, so we had to jump
into a nearby basement. The pilot tried
to fly the drone through the door but he
missed, and it exploded about 10 meters
away from us.”
As the sun finally rises on Chasiv Yar,
a firefight breaks out a couple of hundred
yards away from the tree line.
Automatic gunfire and the distinctive
crack of outgoing mortar rounds echo all
around, yet Andrii and his fellow soldiers
have more pressing issues: In spite of
the rain and the mud, they’ve finally
managed to set up the Starlink satellite
connection, and have just received the
coordinates of a target.
But despite their best efforts, the
drone won’t take off.
“When it’s cold, the batteries don’t
last as long, and the humidity interferes
with the signal,” says Andrii, as another
soldier climbs out of the trench to move
the antenna.
“I’ve got it,” the pilot exclaims tri-
umphantly as the drone finally takes
off and roars toward the Russian posi-
tions — before promptly crashing in a
nearby field.
Cursing loudly, the dejected soldiers
head back inside the dugout. They
can’t afford to lose another drone to the
weather, so their work for the day is over.
Now begins the long, dull wait until
night, when they’ll finally be able to
make their way back under the cover
of darkness.
challenges, and still have to show up for
their children to be good role models,”
Mr. Goldman said. “Many children end
up relying too much on media consump-
tion, which often leads to poor outcomes,
as well as school systems, which are
mostly antiquated in their approach to
fostering curiosity, creativity, and rela-
tionship building.”
But not everyone blames YouTube,
TikTok and Instagram for these trends.
Some experts point out that social media
can help young people who use it in
careful and limited ways.
“It can be a help or a hindrance,” said
John Perry, a sports psychologist at the
University of Limerick in Ireland. “If [so-
cial media] didn’t exist, people would
socialize in other ways that would also
likely have a mixed effect on mental health.”
Writing Monday in JAMA Pediat-
rics, Boston University public health
researchers Monica L. Wang and Kather-
ine Togher noted that social media mis-
information about vaccines, diseases and
diets makes girls and marginalized teens
more statistically likely to adopt “harm-
ful behaviors” such as eating disorders.
“However, blanket restriction of so-
cial media use among adolescents is not
necessarily the answer to these chal-
lenges,” they wrote. “Under the proper
guardrails and with informed support,
social media has enormous potential
to facilitate positive connections and
enhance rather than undermine mental
well-being.”
Other experts say social media ad-
diction points to a deeper problem.
They argue that rising numbers of over-
whelmed single parents, divorced fami-
lies and unmarried parents have fueled a
breakdown of the traditional structures
that once nurtured children.
The growing absence of in-person
relationships leads young people to
lack empathy and falsely believe they
are alone in the universe, said Phil Brad-
field, a counselor and clinical director
at WinShape Homes, a Christian foster
care program started by the founders of
Chick-fil-A restaurants.
“Too many adults are asking ‘what is
wrong with kids today’ instead of ask-
ing ‘what is happening with kids today.’
With the advances of technology and
social media, people are exposed to more
bad news in one day than previous gen-
erations would get in their lifetime,” Mr.
Bradfield said. “These advances are out-
pacing society’s ability to gain wisdom.”
A6 | NATION
Nation
ABORTION
Judge weighs challenge to Wyoming’s abortion restrictions
Laws include first explicit ban on pills to end pregnancy
BY MEAD GRUVER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHEYENNE, WYOMING | Attor-
neys for both sides in a challenge
to Wyoming abortion restrictions
that include the nation’s first ex-
plicit ban on medication to end
pregnancy urged a judge Thurs-
day to uphold or strike down the
new laws without holding a trial.
A ruling either way would
likely be appealed to the Wyo-
ming Supreme Court.
PUBLIC HEALTH
Survey finds ‘morning after’ pill use doubled before pandemic
CDC reports the rate of teen sexual activity declined
BY SEAN SALAI
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Use of Plan B “morning after”
pills more than doubled after
women started buying them over
the counter, and teen sex rates
declined before the pandemic, a
federal survey shows.
The Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention on Thursday
released a pair of reports on a
national survey of 21,441 men and
women, including 3,812 teenagers.
The reports track sex and birth
control habits among teens and
contraceptive methods used by
women aged 15-44.
Among teen girls and adult
women who had intercourse with
male partners, 26.6% reported
using emergency contraception
Fight over court involves Black voter rights
Critics argue
equality would
be undermined
BY EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
JACKSON, MISS. | The con-
stitutional right of equal treat-
ment under the law is at the
center of a monthslong legal
fight over a state-run court in
part of Mississippi’s majority-
Black capital city, Jackson.
A federal judge is set to
hear arguments Tuesday over
the Capitol Complex Improve-
ment District Court, which is
scheduled to be created Jan. 1.
The new court would be
led by a state-appointed judge
and prosecutors, and it would
be the equivalent of a mu-
nicipal court, handling misde-
meanor cases.
Municipal judges and
prosecutors in Mississippi are
typically appointed by local
elected officials, but legislators
who created the CCID Court
said it was part of a package to
fight crime.
The Department of Justice
says the new court would con-
tinue Mississippi’s long history
of trying to suppress Black
people’s right to participate in
government.
“Just like many past efforts
to undermine Black political
power, [the law] singles out the
majority-Black City of Jack-
son for loss of local control of
its judicial system and ability
to self-govern and enforce its
own municipal laws,” wrote
Kristen Clarke, assistant at-
torney general for the depart-
ment’s Civil Rights Division,
and Todd Gee, the U.S. attor-
ney for south Mississippi, in a
Dec. 5 federal court filing.
The state’s Republican
attorney general disagrees,
Teton County District Judge
Melissa Owens in Jackson didn’t
immediately rule after the ar-
guments, however, saying the
complex constitutional questions
in the case would take time to
assess.
A three-day bench trial is
set for April 15 if Judge Owens
chooses not to rule before then
on the two new laws. One bans
abortion except to protect to a
pregnant woman’s life or in cases
involving rape and incest. The
pills from 2015 through 2019. That
was up from 10.8% in an earlier
survey covering 2006 through
2010.
While the federal agency did
not explain the surge, it corre-
sponds to the increased availabil-
ity of Plan B. Approved for medi-
cal prescriptions by the Food and
Drug Administration in 1998, Plan
B became available in drugstores
without a prescription in 2006.
Mary Ziegler, a leading histo-
rian of contraception and abor-
tion policies who was not involved
in the survey, said the findings
suggest emergency contraception
has become more popular than
barrier methods for some women.
“If it reflects women visiting
gynecologists less often, it’s con-
cerning,” said Ms. Ziegler, a law
MISSISSIPPI
Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike Randolph has
criticized a lawsuit to block creation of a court in Jackson with a
judge and prosecutors who would be appointed, not elected.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke and Todd W. Gee, U.S.
attorney for southern Mississippi, say a state-run court in Jackson
would suppress Black voters’ participation in government.
saying in a separate filing
Thursday that the NAACP
and Jackson residents who are
suing the state have failed to
prove they would be harmed.
Mississippi Attorney Gen-
eral Lynn Fitch and Rex Shan-
non, a special assistant state
attorney general, wrote on be-
half of Ms. Fitch, Mississippi
Public Safety Commissioner
other made Wyoming the only
state to explicitly ban abortion
pills, though other states have
instituted de facto bans on the
medication by broadly prohibit-
ing abortion.
Judge Owens has shown sym-
pathy for arguments that the bans
violate women’s rights under the
state constitution. Three times
over the past year and a half, the
judge has blocked the laws from
taking effect while they were
disputed in court.
professor at the University of Cali-
fornia, Davis. “It’s a warning sign
that women need better access
to their doctors and information
about what’s out there.”
Among sexually active female
teens, the CDC found that 22.3%
said they had used emergency
contraception through 2019, up
from 13.7% in 2010.
Despite the surge in emergency
contraception, one report noted
that “similar percentages of sexu-
ally experienced women … had
ever used any method of contra-
ception” in both periods: 99.1% in
2006-10 and 99.2% in 2015-19.
The percentage of women who
had used intrauterine devices
grew nearly threefold, increasing
from 7.7% in 2006-10 to 21.4% in
2015-19.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOGRAPHS
Sean Tindell and Capitol
Police Chief Bo Luckey that
blocking creation of the new
court would cause irreparable
harm.
“The Legislature estab-
lished the CCID Court to
address Jackson’s clearly-
recognized, ongoing public-
safety and criminal-justice
emergencies,” Ms. Fitch and
☆R
The laws were challenged
by four women, including two
obstetricians, and by two non-
profit organizations. One of the
groups, Wellspring Health Ac-
cess, opened as the state’s first
full-service abortion clinic in
years in April following an arson
attack in 2022.
The bans could harm their
health, well-being and livelihoods
in ways the Legislature did not
consider or care about, an attor-
ney for the groups and women,
Peter Modlin, told Judge Owens
during Thursday’s hearing.
“The statutes would have a
Over the same two periods, the
share of women who used a com-
bination of withdrawal and male
condoms increased from 59.6% to
66.9%, and the share using only a
condom grew from 93.4% to 95.1%.
However, the share of women
using oral contraceptive pills
dropped from 81.9% to 78.2%.
“Among women who had ever
discontinued use of the pill or
intrauterine devices due to dis-
satisfaction (and not for seeking
a pregnancy), side effects were
the most common reason,” CDC
researchers Kimberly Daniels and
Joyce C. Abma wrote in the report.
In the other report, the CDC
found 38.7% of never-married
teen boys and 40.5% of never-
married teen girls said they had
sex from 2015 through 2019. That’s
the equivalent of 3.8 million each.
That represents a decline for
teen boys from the 41.8% who
Mr. Shannon wrote. “Those
emergencies gravely affect not
just those living in Jackson, but
all Mississippians.”
Plaintiffs are asking U.S.
District Judge Henry Wing-
ate to block creation of the
new court in the district that
includes state government
buildings downtown and some
residential and business areas,
including predominantly
White neighborhoods.
The court would consider
misdemeanor cases, with a
judge appointed by the state
Supreme Court chief justice
and prosecutors appointed by
the state attorney general —
both of whom are White and
politically conservative.
Opponents say the new
court would affect not only
people who live or work in the
district but also those who are
ticketed for speeding or other
misdemeanor violations there.
Mississippi legislators
voted this past spring to ex-
pand the territory for the state-
run Capitol Police to patrol in-
side Jackson. They also voted
to authorize the chief justice
to appoint four judges to serve
alongside the four elected cir-
cuit judges in Hinds County,
of which Jackson is the county
seat, and to create the Capitol
Complex Improvement Dis-
trict Court.
Opponents of the changes
said Republican Gov. Tate
Reeves and the Republican-
controlled and majority-White
Legislature were usurping
local autonomy in Jackson and
Hinds County, which are both
majority-Black and governed
by Democrats.
Justice Department offi-
cials wrote that creating a new
municipal-level court with a
state-appointed judge and
prosecutors unconstitution-
ally treats Jackson residents
differently from other Missis-
sippi residents.
devastating impact on women’s
health in Wyoming,” he said.
Mr. Modlin described research
showing that pregnancy is statisti-
cally far more deadly for women
than abortion, particularly when
mental health — namely suicide
— is taken into account.
The women and nonprofits
also say the bans violate a 2012
state constitutional amendment
saying competent Wyoming resi-
dents have a right to make their
own health care decisions, an
argument Judge Owens in previ-
ous rulings has said had merit.
Wyoming voters approved the
reported ever having sex from
2006 through 2010. It was also
down from 45.7% of male teens
in 2002 and from 44.2% in 2011-15.
The rate was lowest for White
males, with 33.1% saying they
were sexually active through 2019.
By comparison, the CDC noted
that the share of female teens hav-
ing sex remained “stable across
the four-time points.”
For both sexes, the report said
“family and demographic charac-
teristics” helped determine each
teen’s level of sexual activity.
“For example, the percentages
of male and female teenagers who
had ever had sex and who had sex
within the past 12 months and past
3 months were higher for teenag-
ers who did not live with both
biological or adoptive parents,
or whose mothers had their first
births before age 20,” wrote CDC
researchers Abma and Gladys M.
KENTUCKY
State Supreme Court
upholds GOP-drawn
legislative districts
Justices reject gerrymandering claim
BY BRUCE SCHREINER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kentucky’s Supreme Court
on Thursday upheld Republican-
drawn boundaries for state House
and congressional districts, re-
jecting Democratic claims that
the majority party’s mapmaking
amounted to gerrymandering in
violation of the state’s constitution.
The court noted that an al-
ternative proposal would have
resulted in nearly the same lop-
sided advantage for Republicans
in Kentucky House elections and
would not have altered the GOP’s
5-1 advantage in U.S. House seats
from the Bluegrass State.
The new district boundaries
were passed by the GOP-dom-
inated Legislature over Demo-
cratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s vetoes
in early 2022. The new maps were
used in last year’s election.
The justices referred to re-
districting as an “inherently po-
litical process” assigned to the
Legislature.
“An expectation that appor-
tionment will be free of partisan
considerations would thus not only
be unrealistic, but also inconsistent
with our constitution’s assignment
of responsibility for that process to
an elected political body,” Justice
Angela McCormick Bisig wrote
in the majority opinion.
The court concluded that the
once-a-decade mapmaking did
not violate the Kentucky Con-
stitution. It upheld a lower court
ruling that had concluded the new
boundaries amounted to “partisan
gerrymanders,” but said the con-
stitution doesn’t explicitly forbid
the consideration of partisan in-
terests om redistricting.
The new maps were chal-
lenged by the state Democratic
Party and several individuals,
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2023
amendment following approval
of the federal Affordable Care Act
and its initial mandate that people
have health insurance.
Special Assistant Attorney
General Jay Jerde told Judge
Owens that abortion isn’t health
care, but an “ordinary social in-
terest” and not an implicit right
under the state constitution.
“The plaintiffs have a bur-
den to show the statutes are
unconstitutional beyond a rea-
sonable doubt,” Mr. Jerde said.
“The fact they disagree with the
policies does not make them
unconstitutional.”
Martinez.
Some outside experts said
the findings confirm earlier re-
search showing that teen dating
and sexual activity have declined
gradually since the early 1990s.
There are “several plausible
explanations” for why teen boys
have become less active sexu-
ally over that time, said Michael
New, a professor of social re-
search at the Catholic University
of America.
“Some have theorized that the
prevalence of social media has
made this current generation of
teenagers more risk averse,” Mr.
New said. “It should be noted
that there has also been a larger
investment in abstinence-only
sex education since the 1990s.
While the impact of these pro-
grams is disputed, it is possible
that these programs are having
some impact.”
including Democratic state Rep.
Derrick Graham. Their lawsuit
asserted that the new boundar-
ies reflected “extreme partisan
gerrymandering” in violation of
the state constitution. It claimed
the state House map divided some
counties into multiple districts to
“dilute the influence” of Demo-
cratic voters.
With the new districts in effect
in last month’s midterm election,
Republicans increased their leg-
islative supermajorities. Several
Democratic state House members
lost their reelection bids after
having Republican-friendlier ter-
ritory tacked on to their districts.
Democrats’ biggest objection
to the redrawn congressional
boundaries focused on an exten-
sion of the sprawling 1st Congres-
sional District, situated mostly
in western Kentucky, to include
Franklin County, home of the
capital city of Frankfort in central
Kentucky.
The 1st District is represented
by Republican U.S. Rep. James
Comer. Mr. Comer has been at
the center of the House GOP’s im-
peachment inquiry of President
Biden as chairman of the House
Oversight Committee.
Mr. Comer and his wife have
homes in Monroe and Franklin
counties in Kentucky. They pur-
chased the Franklin County home
when he was state agriculture
commissioner, when his work was
based in Frankfort.
For decades, Democrats
wielded complete control in set-
ting legislative boundaries, and
then shared that power once the
GOP took control of the state
Senate.
Last year was the first time the
Legislature had redrawn districts
since Republicans consolidated
their control of the Legislature.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2023 ☆R NATION | A7

CULTURE

Earliest version of Mickey Mouse set to become public domain in 2024

BY ANDREW DALTON writes an annual Jan. 1 column
ASSOCIATED PRESS for “Public Domain Day.” “I kind
of feel like the pipe on the steam-
LOS ANGELES | M-I-C-K-E-Y will boat, like expelling smoke. It’s so
soon belong to you and me. exciting.”
With several asterisks, qualifi- U.S. law allows a copyright to
cation and caveats, Mickey Mouse be held for 95 years after Con-
in his earliest form will be the gress expanded it several times
leader of the band of characters, in Mickey’s lifetime.
films and books that will become “It’s sometimes derisively re-
public domain as the year turns ferred to as the Mickey Mouse
to 2024. Protection Act,” Ms. Jenkins said.
In a moment many close ob- “That’s oversimplified because it
servers thought might never come, wasn’t just Disney that was push-
at least one version of the quintes- ing for term extension. It was a
sential piece of intellectual prop- whole group of copyright holders
erty and perhaps the most iconic whose works were set to go into
character in American pop culture the public domain soon, who ben-
will be free from Disney’s copy- efited greatly from the 20 years of
right as his first screen release, the extra protection.”
1928 short “Steamboat Willie,” fea- “Ever since Mickey Mouse’s
turing Mickey and Minnie Mouse, first appearance in the 1928 short
becomes available for public use. film Steamboat Willie, people have
“This is it. This is Mickey associated the character with Dis-
Mouse. This is exciting because ney’s stories, experiences, and
it’s kind of symbolic,” said Jen- authentic products,” a Disney
nifer Jenkins, a professor of law spokesperson said in a state-
and director of Duke’s Center for ment to The Associated Press.
the Study of Public Domain, who “That will not change when the
a global ambassador for the Walt
Disney Company in our storytell-
ing, theme park attractions, and
merchandise,” Disney’s statement
said.
Not every feature or personal-
ity trait a character displays can
necessarily be copyrighted, how-
ever, and courts could be busy
in the coming years determining
what’s inside and outside Disney’s
ownership.
“We will, of course, continue
to protect our rights in the more
modern versions of Mickey Mouse
and other works that remain sub-
ject to copyright,” the company
ASSOCIATED PRESS
said.
The earliest version of Disney’s most famous character, Mickey Mouse, Disney still solidly and sep-
created by Walt Disney, will become public domain as of Jan. 1. arately holds a trademark on
Mickey as a corporate mascot
and brand identifier, and the law
copyright in the Steamboat Willie “Steamboat Willie” that has be- forbids using the character de-
film expires.” come public. ceptively to fool consumers into
Current artists and creators “More modern versions of thinking a product is from the
will be able to make use of Mickey, Mickey will remain unaffected original creator. Anyone starting
but with major limits. It is only by the expiration of the Steamboat a film company or a theme park
the more mischievous, ratlike, Willie copyright, and Mickey will will not be free to make mouse
nonspeaking boat captain in continue to play a leading role as ears their logo.
Disney’s statement said it “will
work to safeguard against con-
sumer confusion caused by unau-
thorized uses of Mickey and our
other iconic characters.”
“Steamboat Willie,” directed
by Walt Disney and his partner
Ub Iwerks and among the first
cartoons to have sound synced
with its visuals, was actually the
third cartoon featuring Mickey
and Minnie the men made, but
the first to be released. It features a
more menacing Mickey captaining
a boat and making musical instru-
ments out of other animals.
In it, and in a clip from it used
in the introduction to Disney ani-
mated films in recent years, Mickey
whistles the 1910 tune “Steamboat
Bill.” The song inspired the title of
the Buster Keaton film “Steamboat
Bill Jr.,” released just a few months
before “Steamboat Willie,” which
in turn may have inspired the title
of the Disney short. The copyright
wasn’t renewed on the Keaton
film, and it’s been in the public
domain since 1956.

a rise of antisemitism in the Dr. Merle Berger, now-retired the medical school, but his pri- lot about 3 miles from the sta- Thursday by the Atlanta
BRIEFLY United States and worldwide.
In the U.S. alone, antisemitic
professor of obstetrics, gynecol-
ogy and reproductive biology,
mary place of employment was
at Harvard-affiliated hospitals
tion, according to a statement
from Newark Public Safety
Journal-Constitution through
an open records request, were
THE NATION incidents rose 35% from 2021 to in 1979 to discuss intrauterine that the school does not own or Director Fritz Frage. The bull handwritten and terse.
2022. insemination. operate. will be sent to a local animal Neither letter acknowledges
The Canton synagogue case Ms. Depoian said Dr. Berger — Associated Press sanctuary, Mr. Frage said. the legitimacy of Democrat Jo-
came to light on Sept. 1 and was told her the sperm would come No injuries were reported, seph R. Biden’s win in Georgia’s
OHIO reported to law enforcement, from an anonymous donor NEW JERSEY the director said. 2020 election nor denounces
according to court documents. “who resembled her husband, Exactly how the bull came the conspiracy theories they
Boy accused of planning A hearing is set for Dec. 20. who did not know her, and
Escaped bull finds way to be loose, who owns it and pushed to claim Mr. Trump was
shooting at synagogue — Associated Press whom she did not know,” ac- onto train tracks other details about the bovine’s cheated out of victory through
CANTON | A 13-year-old boy cording to the lawsuit filed in NEWARK | A loose bull in walk around Newark weren’t fraud.
has been charged with allegedly MASSACHUSETTS the U.S. District Court for the New Jersey’s largest city found immediately clear. “I apologize for my actions
planning a mass shooting of a District of Massachusetts. its way onto train tracks, snarl- — Associated Press in connection with the events
Jewish synagogue.
Ex-Harvard doc accused The artificial insemination ing rail traffic for a while Thurs- in Coffee County,” Ms. Powell
The teenager, who is un- of impregnating woman that Dr. Berger performed day before it was captured, GEORGIA wrote in a letter dated Oct. 19,
named in court documents BOSTON | A former professor resulted in a successful authorities said. the same day she pleaded guilty
because he is a minor, is at Harvard Medical School and pregnancy, and Ms. Depoian’s The ruddy brown bull with
Trump lawyers’ apologies to six misdemeanors accusing
charged with inducing panic founder of one of the nation’s daughter, Carolyn Bester, was long, dark-tipped horns stood each one sentence long her of conspiring to intention-
and disorderly conduct, both largest fertility clinics is being born in January 1981. on the tracks at Newark Penn ATLANTA | The apology let- ally interfere with the perfor-
misdemeanors. accused of secretly impreg- Earlier this year, Ms. Bester Station, prompting a police ters that Donald Trump-allied mance of election duties.
He is accused of posting nating a patient in 1980 after conducted a home DNA test response and holding up train lawyers Sidney Powell and Ken- “I apologize to the citizens of
a detailed plan to complete promising the sperm would and discovered Dr. Berger was traffic between New Jersey neth Chesebro were required the state of Georgia and of Ful-
a mass shooting at Temple come from an anonymous her biological father, according and New York Penn Station for to write as a condition of their ton County for my involvement
Israel in Canton, a city south donor, according to a lawsuit to the lawsuit. nearly an hour, according to plea deals in the Georgia elec- in Count 15 of the indictment,”
of Akron, on the live streaming filed Wednesday. A spokesperson for Harvard New Jersey Transit. tion interference case are just Mr. Chesebro wrote in a letter
platform Discord. Sarah Depoian, 73, said she Medical School said Dr. Berger Police officers eventually one sentence long. dated Oct. 20.
The charges come amid and her husband first went to was academically affiliated with cornered the animal in a fenced The letters, obtained — Associated Press

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A8 | WORLD
World
MIDDLE EAST
Israeli official predicts drawn-out war in Gaza
Defense minister says it will take ‘more
than several months’ to destroy Hamas
BY NAJIB JOBAIN AND KAREEM CHEHAYEB
ASSOCIATED PRESS
RAFAH, GAZA STRIP | Israel’s defense
minister said Thursday it will take “more
than several months” to destroy Hamas,
predicting a drawn-out war even as his
country and its top ally, the United States,
face increasing international isolation
and alarm over the devastation from
Israel’s campaign in Gaza.
Yoav Gallant’s comments ahead of
talks in Tel Aviv with U.S. National Secu-
rity Adviser Jake Sullivan underscored a
dynamic that has held between the two
allies for weeks.
The Biden administration has shown
unease over Israel’s failure to reduce
civilian casualties and its plans for the
future of Gaza, but it continues to offer
wholehearted support for Israel’s cam-
paign with weapons and diplomatic
backing. Meanwhile, Israeli leaders have
repeatedly said they plan to pursue their
military assault until Hamas is crushed,
though any hopes of a swift victory have
vanished.
A deadly Hamas ambush on Israeli
troops in Gaza City this week showed
the group’s resilience and called into
question whether Israel can defeat it
without wiping out the entire territory.
Mr. Gallant said Hamas has been
RUSSIA
Putin vows no peace until Russia’s goals are met
BY HARRIET MORRIS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MOSCOW | Emboldened by battlefield
gains and flagging Western support for
Ukraine, a relaxed and confident Presi-
dent Vladimir Putin said Thursday there
would be no peace until Russia achieves
its goals, which he says remain unchanged
after nearly two years of fighting.
It was Mr. Putin’s first formal news
conference that Western media were
allowed to attend since the Kremlin sent
troops into Ukraine in February 2022.
The highly choreographed session, which
lasted over four hours and included ques-
tions from ordinary Russians about things
like the price of eggs and leaky gymna-
sium roofs, was more about spectacle
than scrutiny.
But while using the show as an op-
portunity to reinforce his authority ahead
of an election in March that he is all but
certain to win, Mr. Putin also gave a few
MILITARY
House approves $886 million defense bill, sends to Biden
BY BEN WOLFGANG AND MIKE GLENN
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
The House approved the National
Defense Authorization Act on Thursday
with a strong bipartisan majority back-
ing the $886 billion bill and sending it to
President Biden’s desk.
The nearly 3,100-page measure, which
cleared the Senate a day earlier, includes
a 5.2% pay raise for American troops and
clears the way for hundreds of billions
of dollars in military spending for the
next fiscal year, including funding to aid
Ukraine and to strengthen U.S. capability
in the Pacific.
Pentagon officials praised the devel-
opment, with Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, a top
Defense Department spokesman, saying
it “directly invests in America’s national
security and military power projection to
meet the challenges of the 21st century.”
Several Republicans also had positive
things to say, with House Speaker Mike
Johnson of Louisiana asserting the legisla-
tion “will strengthen our national security
against adversaries like China and Russia,
and support our service members by
providing them with the tools neces-
sary to continue to be the most lethal
and effective fighting force in the world”
at a moment when “America is facing
unprecedented threats across the globe.”
However, the compromise version of
NDAA that cleared the House by a vote
of 310-118 and the Senate by a vote of 87-13
lacked several proposals put forward
by conservative Republicans, many of
whom had hoped to use the legislation
as a vehicle to roll back what they see as
woke initiatives in the Pentagon.
building military infrastructure in Gaza
for more than a decade, “and it is not
easy to destroy them. It will require a
period of time.”
“It will last more than several months,
but we will win, and we will destroy
them,” he said.
Israel has imposed a total siege on
northern Gaza, including Gaza City,
and has flattened much of it in what
is already one of the 21st century’s
most devastating military campaign.
Mr. Sullivan’s visit comes days after
President Biden said Israel was losing
international support because of its
“indiscriminate bombing.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Ne-
tanyahu has vowed to fight to the end,
“even given the great pain and the inter-
national pressure,” saying late Wednes-
day that “nothing will stop us.”
The Palestinian telecommunications
provider Paltel said Thursday that all
communication services across Gaza
were cut off due to ongoing fighting,
severing the besieged territory from the
outside world.
Heavy fighting has raged for days
in areas around eastern Gaza City that
were encircled earlier in the war. Tens of
thousands of people remain in the north
despite repeated evacuation orders, say-
ing they don’t feel safe anywhere in Gaza
President highlights nation’s successes,
the flagging support by Ukraine’s allies
rare details on what
Moscow calls its
“special military op-
eration” in Ukraine.
He said that a
steady influx of
volunteers means
there is no need for
a second wave of
Putin mobilization of re-
servists to fight in
Ukraine — a move
that was deeply unpopular. He said there
are some 617,000 Russian soldiers there,
including around 244,000 troops who
were mobilized a year ago to fight along-
side professional forces.
“There will be peace when we will
achieve our goals,” Mr. Putin said,
Religious expressions, displays get new protection under bill
BY MARK A. KELLNER
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Aggrieved atheists, annoyed agnos-
tics and others troubled by a Nativity
display, Hanukkah menorah or a poster
celebrating Eid al-Fitr at a U.S. military
base, might now have a harder time
succeeding.
According to a provision in the
just-passed National Defense Authori-
zation Act, such complaints will have
to be evaluated at a higher level of the
Defense Department, which religious-
freedom advocates say will discourage
“knee-jerk” overreactions.
Previously, low-level personnel
could determine there was no room
at the military inn for a Baby Jesus.
Now, such complaints will have to
be evaluated by a military department
secretary, a defense agency, or a field
activity head.
Decision makers would also have
An initial House version had proposed
barring the Pentagon from paying the
expenses for service members travel-
ing to another state for an abortion. It
also wouldn’t have covered hormone
treatment and sex change surgeries for
transgender service members or their
families.
While those proposals were left out
of the compromise version that passed
Israeli soldiers take part in a ground operation this month in Gaza City’s Shijaiyah
neighborhood. Israel has imposed a total siege on northern Gaza, including Gaza City,
as heavy fighting has raged for days in areas around the city.
or fear they may never be allowed to
return to their homes if they leave.
The military released footage Thurs-
day showing Israeli troops leading a line
of dozens of men with their hands above
their heads out of a damaged building it
said was the Kamal Adwan Hospital in
the north Gaza town of Beit Lahia. Men
brought out four assault rifles and set
them on the street along with several
repeating a frequent Kremlin line. “Vic-
tory will be ours.”
Mr. Putin, who has held power for
nearly 24 years and announced last week
he is running for reelection, was greeted
with applause as he arrived in the hall in
central Moscow. He didn’t hold his tra-
ditional news conference last year amid
setbacks in Ukraine.
But with Ukrainian President Volody-
myr Zelenskyy pleading for more U.S
aid amid a stalling counteroffensive and
fracturing Western support, he decided to
face reporters once more — even though
only two Western journalists were called
on for questions.
Mr. Putin highlighted what he claimed
were Russia’s successes in Ukraine and
the flagging support by Kyiv’s allies.
to consult with either the chief of
chaplains in the case of a military
department secretary, or the Armed
Forces Chaplains Board, as well as
a civilian attorney working for the
DOD or an attorney from the Judge
Advocate General’s office.
The new rules will “force the de-
cision to be made at a higher level
where people can be held account-
able,” said Mike Berry, external affairs
vice president of First Liberty Institute.
“It’s going to force [complaints] to at
least undergo some form of scrutiny
and legal review before a knee-jerk
reaction is made.”
Labeled Section 1049, the provision
directs the defense secretary to “pre-
scribe regulations that establish the
procedure for the timely determina-
tion of a covered complaint or request
regarding a public display or public
expression of religion on [Defense
Department] property.”
Thursday, House Republicans circulated
a summary emphasizing how the bill will
ban the teaching of Critical Race Theory
at service academies and Defense De-
partment schools; slash the Pentagon’s
diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)
bureaucratic infrastructure; and prohibit
the display of any unapproved flags, such
as the LGBTQ Pride flag.
Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, the
☆☆ R
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ammunition magazines.
In the video, a commander said mili-
tants had fired on troops from the hos-
pital and that troops were evacuating
those inside while detaining suspected
militants. The claims could not be inde-
pendently verified. Earlier in the week,
a Gaza Health Ministry official said the
weapons inside belong to the hospital’s
guards.
“Ukraine today produces nearly noth-
ing, they are trying to preserve something
but they don’t produce practically anything
themselves and bring everything in for
free,” he said. “But the freebies may end at
some point and apparently it’s coming to
an end little by little.”
Mr. Putin noted “an improvement in
the position of our troops all along” the
front line.
“The enemy has declared a big coun-
teroffensive, but he hasn’t achieved any-
thing anywhere,” he added.
The session dealt mostly with Ukraine
and domestic issues, but a few interna-
tional topics were addressed. Notably,
Mr. Putin said he wanted to reach a deal
with Washington to free U.S. journalist
Evan Gershkovich and U.S. businessman
Paul Whelan, both held in Russia on
espionage-related charges. “We’re not
refusing to return them,” Mr. Putin said
but added an agreement that satisfies
Moscow was “not easy.”
Once a complaint is received at a
Defense Department installation, it
would have to be forwarded to the
person who is authorized to decide
within 10 days. The decision-maker
would have to rule within 30 days
and offer a “timely” notification to the
complainant of the decision.
Mr. Berry, a Marine reservist and
an attorney, told The Washington
Times that the new provision should
slow down “knee-jerk” reactions from
lower-level commanders who receive
complaints from “radical activists.”
He said this would cover times
when “somebody complained about
[a] nativity scene, so we have to re-
move the nativity scenes, or some-
body complained that there was a
Christmas tree so we got to take down
the Christmas tree. Of course, those
decisions have no basis in law or the
Constitution, but they nevertheless
seem to happen.”
chairman of the GOP-led House Armed
Services Committee, said the NDAA
both supports the military and “guts”
President Biden’s “woke” agenda.
The bill brings a $28 billion increase
over last year’s Pentagon budget. It also
funds more than $2 billion in service
chief and combatant commander priori-
ties that were left unfunded by the Biden
budget, House Republicans said.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2023
BRIEFLY
THE WORLD
GERMANY
Purported Hamas members
among suspects in custody
COPENHAGEN | Denmark and Ger-
many announced Thursday arrests
of several terror suspects, including
alleged Hamas members suspected of
plotting attacks on Jewish people and
institutions in Europe over the latest
Israel-Hamas war.
It was unclear how the arrests were
connected and if they were the result
of coordinated actions.
Danish police said three people
were arrested across Denmark while
a fourth person was detained in the
Netherlands on suspicion of plotting to
carry out “an act of terror.”
In the Netherlands, police said a
57-year-old Dutch man was arrested
in Rotterdam based on a request from
German authorities.
In Germany, authorities said three
other suspected members of the Pales-
tinian militant group Hamas who were
planning attacks on Jewish institutions
in Europe were arrested on Thursday.
The four arrested in Germany and
the Netherlands were identified only
by their first names and initial, in ac-
cord with German privacy laws. They
are Abdelhamid Al A., born in Leba-
non; Egyptian national Mohamed B.;
Dutch national Nazih R. and Ibrahim
El-R., born in Lebanon.
— Associated Press
FINLAND
Authorities again close border
with Russia over migrant influx
HELSINKI | Finland’s government has
decided to seal again, effective Friday,
the Nordic country’s entire eastern bor-
der due to a continuing stream of mi-
grants at the two crossing points on the
border with Russia that were reopened
on a temporary basis Thursday.
The Finnish Border Guard reported
that dozens of migrants without
proper documentation or visas had
arrived at the two checkpoints by late
Thursday.
The number of migrants was pre-
dicted to increase rapidly at Vaalimaa
and Niirala checkpoints, prompting
the Finnish government’s to react
quickly and close them as of 8 p.m.
Friday until Jan. 14, authorities said.
— Associated Press
MEXICO
Search for missing people
finds almost 17,000 alive
MEXICO CITY | The Mexican govern-
ment announced Thursday that its
hotly debated effort to look for people
falsely listed as missing has turned
up 16,681 people who had returned
to their homes but not notified the
authorities.
The nationwide effort was widely
viewed as an attempt by President
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to pare
down the country’s politically embar-
rassing total of 113,000 “disappeared”
people, a number that has skyrocketed
under his administration.
Instead of looking for the clandes-
tine graves and crematoriums that
dot the country, the government sent
about 5,000 police and other officials
to perform more than 111,000 visits to
homes to look for people who might
have shown up on tax roles, hospital or
bank records.
And 17,843 people who appeared to
have used a credit card or applied for
government benefits while listed as
disappeared could not be found.
— Associated Press
EUROPEAN UNION
Economic bloc opens pathway
to membership for Ukraine
BRUSSELS | The European Union
decided Thursday to open acces-
sion negotiations with Ukraine and
Moldova.
European Council President
Charles Michel called it “a clear signal
of hope for their people and our
continent.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelenskyy welcomed the decision as “a
victory for Ukraine. A victory for all of
Europe.”
The development came as EU lead-
ers struggled at the start of a two-day
summit Thursday to keep intact their
two most basic promises to Ukraine at
war — to give it the money and where-
withal to stave off the Russian invasion
and maintain its hope that one day it
will join the wealthy bloc.
— Associated Press
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2023 ☆R WORLD | A9

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A10 | REGION
Region
REGION
Victims’ lawyers hit archdiocese’s call to dismiss suit
Plaintiffs: State acted within power to ‘remedy a societal ill’
BY MARK A. KELLNER
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Lawyers for three men who
claim to have been sexually abused
by priests in the Archdiocese of
Washington decades ago are criti-
cizing the Catholic enclave’s at-
tempts to dismiss their lawsuit
under Maryland’s Child Victims
Act of 2023.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys dis-
pute the archdiocese’s claim that
a 2017 law granted it immunity
from lawsuits brought by child sex
abuse victims more than 20 years
after they turn 18. The archdiocese
last month asked a court to throw
out the class-action lawsuit, saying
the Child Victims Act’s extension
of the statute of limits for abuse
litigation is unconstitutional.
PENNSYLVANIA
Lawmakers pass bills
to fund private schools,
child care tax credits
BY MARC LEVY AND BROOKE SCHULTZ
ASSOCIATED PRESS
HARRISBURG, PA. | Lawmakers
moved past a monthslong budget
feud in Pennsylvania’s Capitol on
Wednesday, advancing legislation
to tie up loose ends and send mil-
lions more to subsidize private
school tuition and child care tax
credits for parents.
After days of negotiations that
typically play out before the end
of eacj fiscal year June 30, the
House and the Senate traded a
flurry of just-unveiled legislation,
each agreeing to concessions in
bills that Democratic Gov. Josh
Shapiro said late Wednesday he
would sign.
Mr. Shapiro suggested that the
dragged-out process of passing
budget legislation carried a silver
lining, in that leaders of the politi-
cally divided General Assembly
overcame partisanship to finish
important pieces of legislation
long in the making.
“I think it’s important to note
that we learned how to work
together, and that is critically
important,” Mr. Shapiro said.
In addition to subsidies for
private schools and parents who
send kids to child care, lawmakers
agreed to raise the monthly fee on
telephone bills by 30 cents, from
$1.65 to $1.95, to help raise $60
million for county 911 emergency
response services.
Raising the fee to $2.30 a
month has been a top priority of
counties that say they are forced
to raise property taxes because
they are paying a growing share
of the cost of the service.
Education funding had be-
come a key sticking point in the
spending plan, with the Republi-
can-controlled Senate aiming to
expand private school subsidies
and the Democratic-controlled
House pressing for more aid for
the poorest public schools.
In the end, Democrats dropped
a demand that Republicans
VIRGINIA
Court revives lawsuit by teacher fired for not using student’s preferred pronouns
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Former teacher Peter Vlaming
had his lawsuit over his firing
for refusing to use a student’s
preferred pronouns reinstated.
But the plaintiffs’ attorneys
contend that the Maryland Gen-
eral Assembly “acted well within
its power to remedy a societal ill
of enormous proportions. The leg-
islature established, as the public
policy of Maryland, that sexual
predators, their accomplices, and
their facilitators must be called
to account in civil court for their
actions.”
The alleged abuse survivors
resided in Maryland counties that
are part of the Archdiocese of
Washington. The victims, who
were between 9 and 12 years old at
the time of the alleged attacks, said
various members of the clergy
assaulted them.
The archdiocese’s headquar-
ters are in Hyattsville, and its ju-
risdiction includes the District and
had opposed to send another
$100 million to the poorest public
schools.
In exchange, Republicans
agreed to transparency mea-
sures sought by Democrats in a
program that allows businesses
to receive tax breaks for donat-
ing money to defray the cost of
tuition at private and religious
schools.
Under the bill, the state will
expand that private school tax
credit program by $130 million —
from $340 million to $470 million.
Republicans also agreed to scale
back the amount of money that
middleman administrators could
keep — from 20% down to 10%
— and to require the disclosure of
more demographic information
about the students who benefit.
The bill also boosts the
amount of tax credits — from
$12 million to $60 million —
for donations that go to private
schools that serve a larger pro-
portion of students from lower-
income families.
Public school advocates have
criticized the program as dis-
criminatory, saying many of the
eligible schools cherry-pick the
students they want to teach and
have policies that discriminate
on the basis of religion, LGBTQ
status, disability or another
reason.
They also say it siphons
money away from public schools
at a time when a landmark court
decision found that the state’s
system of school funding is vio-
lating the constitutional rights
of students in the state’s poorest
districts.
Another key concession won
by Democrats is the expansion
of a year-old state child care and
dependent tax credit.
The bill raises the current
child care tax credit from 30%
to 100% of the federal child care
and dependent tax credit, at an
annual cost of hundreds of mil-
lions of dollars to the state.
BY DENISE LAVOIE
ASSOCIATED PRESS
RICHMOND | A lawsuit filed by a
Virginia high school teacher who
was fired after he refused to use
a transgender student’s preferred
pronouns was reinstated Thurs-
day by the state Supreme Court.
Peter Vlaming, a former
French teacher at West Point
High School, sued the school
board and administrators at West
Point High School after he was
fired in 2018. A judge dismissed
the lawsuit before any evidence
the Maryland counties of Prince
George’s, Montgomery, Charles,
Calvert and St. Mary’s.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys initi-
ated the lawsuit on Oct. 1, the day
the Child Victims Act took effect.
The law removed time limits for
filing claims for child sex abuse.
The archdiocese filed a motion
last month to dismiss the suit,
calling the 2017 law a “statute of
repose” that provides it special
rights that cannot be retroactively
overturned by lawmakers. It said
the 2017 law provided “an air-tight
guarantee that non-perpetrator
defendants would never face [the]
revival of expired claims.”
The plaintiffs’ attorneys say the
archdiocese’s argument “rests on
a game of semantics, hoping by
alchemy to change what plainly
Republican state lawmakers defeated legislation to send more than $35 million to the
University of Pennsylvania’s veterinary school over criticism for tolerating antisemitism.
Penn funding defeated amid
antisemitism stance criticism
ASSOCIATED PRESS
HARRISBURG, PA. | Penn-
sylvania’s House of Repre-
sentatives defeated legisla-
tion on Wednesday night to
send more than $33 million
to the University of Penn-
sylvania’s veterinary school
after the university’s presi-
dent resigned amid criticism
that the school has tolerated
antisemitism.
The legislation won a ma-
jority in two different votes,
but it failed to reach the two-
thirds majority required by
the state Constitution.
Most Republicans op-
posed the funding, while
every Democrat voted in
favor of it. The House Re-
publican floor leader spoke
against it, saying the resig-
nation of President Liz Ma-
gill was a start but that the
university must do more to
make it clear that it opposes
antisemitism.
“Until more is done at
the university in terms of
rooting out, calling out and
making an official stance on
antisemitism being against
the values of the university,
was heard in the case. But the
Supreme Court overturned that
ruling and said the lawsuit can
proceed to trial.
Mr. Vlaming claimed in his
lawsuit that he tried to accom-
modate the student in his class
by using his masculine name and
avoiding the use of pronouns, but
the student, his parents and the
school told him he was required
to use male pronouns.
Mr. Vlaming said he could not
use masculine pronouns to refer
to a biological female because
of his “sincerely held religious
☆R
is a statute of limitations by its
operation and effect into a stat-
ute of repose, then bootstrapping
wholesale immunity to it.”
In a statement, the archdiocese
said it remains concerned for vic-
tims, despite its challenge to the
class-action lawsuit.
“The Roman Catholic Archdio-
cese of Washington is asserting its
legal defenses in the cases filed
against it,” it said. “We remain
committed, however, to our long-
standing efforts to bring healing
to survivors through pastoral care
and other forms of assistance that
are available apart from the legal
process.”
The archdiocese said it re-
mains “committed to maintain-
ing our robust safe environment
policies that have been in place for
decades to ensure the protection
of all those who are entrusted to
our care.”
PENNSYLVANIA
I cannot in good conscience
support this funding,” House
Minority Leader Bryan Cut-
ler, Lancaster Republican,
said during floor debate.
Ms. Magill resigned Sat-
urday amid pressure from
donors and criticism over
testimony at a congressional
hearing last week where she
was unable to say under re-
peated questioning that calls
on campus for the genocide
of Jews would violate the
school’s conduct policy.
The funding is an annual
appropriation that normally
draws strong bipartisan sup-
port because of the school’s
frontline role in helping train
veterinarians and fight infec-
tious disease outbreaks in
Pennsylvania’s agricultural
sector. It represents about
18% of the budget of Penn’s
veterinary school.
However, Republicans
have begun drafting legisla-
tion to require that institu-
tions of higher education in
Pennsylvania that receive
state aid first adopt codes of
conduct that make it clear
that calling for genocide is
and philosophical” beliefs “that
each person’s sex is biologically
fixed and cannot be changed.”
Mr. Vlaming also said he would
be lying by using male pronouns.
His lawsuit, brought by Al-
liance Defending Freedom, ac-
cuses the school of violating
his constitutional right to speak
freely and exercise his religion.
The school board argued that
Mr. Vlaming violated the school’s
anti-discrimination policy.
All seven justices of the state
Supreme Court agreed that two
of Mr. Vlaming’s claims should
The Maryland law has gener-
ated controversy since its passage
this year. Anticipating a raft of
new lawsuits, the Archdiocese
of Baltimore filed for bankruptcy
protection on Sept. 29, just before
the measure took effect.
At the same time, Cardinal
Wilton Gregory, archbishop of
Washington, said in an open let-
ter: “What I can and must do is
express again how profoundly
sorry I am for past acts of abuse
that occurred within our cher-
ished Church.”
A total of 34 clergy associated
with the archdiocese were listed
as being “credibly accused” of
sexual abuse and removed from
ministry, including former arch-
bishop Theodore E. McCarrick.
Once a cardinal and an influential
member of the church’s hierarchy,
he was defrocked by Pope Francis
in February 2019.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
bullying or harassment.
Penn last month launched
a task force to write a plan
to fight antisemitism on the
campus, led by the dean of
Penn’s dental school, and a
separate presidential com-
mission to fight hate on
campus.
Universities across the
U.S. have been accused of
failing to protect Jewish stu-
dents amid rising fears of
antisemitism worldwide and
fallout from Israel’s inten-
sifying war in Gaza, which
faces heightened criticism
for the mounting Palestinian
death toll.
Even before her congres-
sional testimony, Ms. Magill
had been under fire from
some donors and alumni this
fall over the university’s han-
dling of various perceived
acts of antisemitism.
That included allowing
a Palestinian literary arts
festival to be held on its
campus in September fea-
turing speakers whose past
statements about Israel
had drawn accusations of
antisemitism.
move forward to trial: his claim
that his right to freely exercise
his religion was violated under
the Virginia constitution and his
breach of contract claim against
the school board.
“Absent a truly compelling rea-
son for doing so, no government
committed to these principles can
lawfully coerce its citizens into
pledging verbal allegiance to ideo-
logical views that violate their
sincerely held religious beliefs,”
Justice D. Arthur Kelsey wrote
in the majority opinion, joined
by three other justices.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2023
BRIEFLY
THE REGION
DISTRICT
Allen blames Bowser for
Wizards, Capitals moving
D.C. Council member
Charles Allen blamed Mayor
Muriel Bowser on Wednesday
for the Washington Wizards and
Washington Capitals’ plan to
relocate to Virginia.
The Ward 6 Democrat said
the mayor’s office took the Wiz-
ards and Capitals for granted
while courting the Washington
Commanders franchise to re-
turn to the RFK Stadium site.
He said he had urged the
city earlier this year to work
with Ted Leonsis, who owns
the two sports franchises, and
help modernize the 26-year-old
Capital One Arena.
Mr. Leonsis announced
Wednesday he wants to move
both teams to the Potomac Yard
area of Alexandria by late 2028.
— Matt Delaney
VIRGINIA
AMHERST
Students treated for
fentanyl-laced gummies
A group of elementary school
students sought medical attention
this week after eating gummy
bears from a bag that contained
residue that tested positive for
fentanyl, according to the Am-
herst County Sheriff ’s Office.
Seven students at Central El-
ementary School experienced a
reaction after eating the gummy
bears at school on Tuesday.
School administrators notified
the children’s families and five of
the seven students sought medi-
cal treatment, Amherst County
Public Schools officials said.
Two were taken to hospitals
by county EMS and three by
their parents. The students were
experiencing nausea or were
vomiting or lethargic.
The gummies tested nega-
tive for foreign substances, but
residue in the plastic bag that
contained the gummies tested
positive for fentanyl in a field test.
The sheriff ’s office executed
a search warrant at a house and
arrested two people who were
charged with contributing to
the delinquency of a minor. One
was also charged with posses-
sion of a schedule I or II drug
and the other was charged with
possession of a firearm by a
convicted felon.
— Associated Press
PENNSYLVANIA
PHILADELPHIA
Wounded man faces
charges from shootout
A man who authorities say
engaged in a shootout with
police that left him and two
officers wounded is facing
numerous charges includ-
ing two counts of attempted
murder, prosecutors announced
Wednesday.
Dioul Devaughn, 40, also
faces four counts each of ag-
gravated assault and assault
on a law enforcement officer
stemming from the shootout. He
remained hospitalized in critical
condition Wednesday.
— Associated Press
But the court was split on
some aspects of the lawsuit. In
a dissenting opinion, Justice
Thomas Mann, joined by two
other justices, wrote that the
majority’s opinion on Vlaming’s
free-exercise-of-religion claim
was overly broad and “establishes
a sweeping super scrutiny stan-
dard with the potential to shield
any person’s objection to practi-
cally any policy or law.”
Alliance Defending Freedom
has brought at least six similar
suits — three in Virginia, and one
each in Ohio, Kansas and Indiana.
 ▶ Editorial: A Christmas query / B2 LEGAL ADS INSIDE B5

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2023

COMMENTARY ☆ R SECTION B

Politics A holiday calamity in Virginia

of wrath Festival organizer rejects menorah lighting
to avoid ‘choosing a side’ in Israel-Hamas war
Zombie apocalypse By Mary Vought Ms. Vermillion also coupled her political bias with the type of
casual prejudice popular among “woke” social justice warriors. By
vs. MAGA, part II

T
his holiday season, a proposal to light a menorah conflating the Jewish religion with support for Israeli military ac-
at a Williamsburg, Virginia, community celebra- tion — as she so callously put it, “killing/bombing of thousands of
tion turned into a Festivus-style “airing of griev- men, women, and children” — she perpetuated the stereotype that

H
ell hath no fury like a Democrat scorned. ances” — with a side of antisemitism for good all Jews agree with the policies of the Israeli government of the day.
Long bankrupt of a hopeful vision for America measure. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin rightly called out Ms. Vermil-
or any productive ideas, Democratic politi- Rabbi Mendy Heber had approached a Wil- lion and her group’s actions as “absurd and antisemitic.” Even some
cians in Washington are left selling nothing liamsburg community group seeking to have a Democrats objected, with Delegate Eileen Filler-Corn, Virginia’s
but fear and vindictiveness. menorah lighting as part of a monthly community first Jewish speaker of the House, calling the incident “shocking and
That’s why President Biden is tapping Hillary Clin- outrageous.”
ton to help him in his doomed reelection campaign. arts festival on Dec. 10, the Sadly, this incident rep-
Nothing says “hope” and “change” like Hillary Clinton, fourth night of Hanukkah. resents the latest instance
queen of the zombie apocalypse. No matter how many Publicly, organizers said of the “woke” left condi-
stakes American voters drive into her political heart, that they did not include tioning the acceptance of
she keeps charging back with crazed eyes and flashing religious events in their speech on the willingness
fangs. monthly gatherings, re- of individuals to adhere
Hillary Clinton gives nightmares nightmares. gardless of the denomina- to its dogma. Witness too
Now Democrats are freaking out because former tion involved. the university leaders who
and future President Donald Trump is vowing to be But the story doesn’t would not condemn before
“your retribution.” end there. The festival’s Congress calls for geno-
Seriously? These are the people who put their founder, Shirley Vermil- cide against Jews yet read-
political enemies in actual, real-life jail for trespassing lion, sent Rabbi Heber ily punish students who
through the Capi- a private text message “use the wrong pronouns”
tol. And they are stating that she would when talking in class.
upset that Donald nix the menorah lighting These leaders have
NUCLEARR
OPTION
Trump vows to be “unless we could get an much in common, in that
the “retribution” of Islamic group to partici- most spend far more time
the people? Against pate at the same time. We adhering to their new civil
BY CHARLES HURT the overreach of are about Peace, Love, religion — cultural Marx-
government? and light. … Don’t want to ism, which characterizes all
And their immediate solution to this threat of “ret- make it seem we’re choos- individuals and groups as
ribution” is to hurry up and put Mr. Trump in actual, ing a side — supporting either “oppressors” or “op-
real-life jail? the killing/bombing of pressed” — than contem-
Amazing. thousands of men, women, plating any divine being.
As always, the problem with Donald Trump in this and children.” Therein lies the true
broken world is not that he is a narcissist or a fabulist When the rabbi tragedy of this event,
or says mean things about political opponents. It’s that protested, stating that which illustrates perfectly
he does it openly, without apology, and so much more the lighting would have why we need commemo-
effectively than all the politicians in Washington who nothing to do with Israel rations like the menorah
have been doing the exact same thing for decades. or events in the Middle lighting. With our nation
He’s a narcissist! Really? Have you ever met a East, Ms. Vermillion stated and our world facing
politician? that “our board members hatred and strife, we need
And they just kicked George Santos out of Congress said they’d be okay with to come together in peace
for being a liar and a thief. If that is the new standard, proceeding if you’d do it to celebrate our shared
Washington is going to turn into a ghost town. under a cease fire banner.” humanity and celebrate
Hello, tumbleweeds. There will be nobody left in To borrow a popular this special time of year.
the nation’s capital for armed 13-year-olds to carjack. phrase, these text mes- The holiday season
The media in particular have been apoplectic over sages said the quiet part should represent a time
Mr. Trump’s vowed retribution. Yet they report not a out loud. After claiming of joy, a time of hope, an
ILLUSTRATION BY LINAS GARSYS
word about Mr. Biden’s Department of Justice locking that the festival rejected occasion to allow the light
up Trump supporters for trespassing inside the Capitol the menorah lighting so as to avoid appearing political or favoring — of one another’s company, and of Divine Providence — to enter
instead of teenagers carjacking innocent citizens driv- one denomination over another, Ms. Vermillion turned around and our hearts. Here’s hoping that the Williamsburg community and all of us
ing the streets of D.C. did just that. She stated that the board would approve the lighting can embrace that light to bring peace to our families and our world.
ceremony, but only if Rabbi Heber endorsed a cease-fire in Gaza —
which many Israelis believe would leave Hamas able to perpetrate Mary Vought is a Virginia resident and the founder of Vought
more terror on the heels of the Oct. 7 atrocities. Strategies. You can follow her on X @MaryVought.

What the CIA

can teach us
about caring for
Hillary Clinton
ASSOCIATED PRESS
one another
As the reality of a Trump return to the White House Agency’s mission is shielding
settles into the minds of people around here, they have
agreed upon their new line of attack. Mr. Trump is a Americans’ life and liberty

A
threat to democracy who will rule as a dictator and
throw his enemies in jail. few years back, when I was serving as
Forget for the moment how uninspiring this line of station chief in a South Asian war zone,
attack is and forget for the moment that it is Demo- my CIA colleague Sean visited our town
crats who are doing the very thing they are warning house late one evening to drop off a
that Mr. Trump will do. present for my older son, who was celebrating his
This line of attack is most obviously absurd because fifth birthday.
voters already know exactly how Mr. Trump will Sean surprised my wife, Kim, who was caring
behave if he gets into the White House: exactly as he for our two young children while I was overseas
behaved the last time he was in the White House. serving an unaccompanied assignment. Sean gave
Let us, for the moment, consider the case of Hillary my son a toy helicopter and told him how much
Clinton, queen of the zombie apocalypse. his dad wished he could have been with him on
During the 2016 campaign, Mr. Trump said Mrs. his birthday were it not for the important work
Clinton belonged in jail for her nefarious deeds span- he was doing for our country with his colleagues
ning a long, corrupt political career. He said publicly overseas.
that if it were up to him, she would be jailed. And dur- Kim
ing massive campaign rallies, Mr. Trump savored thun- was deeply
derous chants to “lock her up” from his supporters. touched. Sean
THE BI
THE BIG
BIIGG
PICTURE
Being merely a candidate for president of the had already
United States, however, Mr. Trump did not jail Mrs. put in a busy
Clinton. He did not have the authority. day at work BY DANIEL N. HOFFMAN
In that election, voters drove the biggest stake into and took a
Mrs. Clinton’s political heart. Mr. Trump became detour before
president. going home to his own family so that he could do
As president, Mr. Trump may have had the raw something special for mine.
power to jail Mrs. Clinton and his other political en- A senior intelligence officer who has since
emies. But he wisely understood that it would be reck- retired, Sean did not tell me beforehand of his
less political persecution. It would destroy the country. plan. His selfless and munificent gesture warmed
So, Mr. Trump did not lock up Hillary Clinton. my heart thousands of miles away. What mattered
Everything Mr. Trump touches turns to gold, in- most to me and the colleagues with whom I had
cluding the toilet on his Boeing 757. He has excelled at the honor of serving was that life was going on
real estate, celebrity self-promotion, reality television, back home as it should.
golf, parenting and presidential politics. And when you think about it, that’s the essence
Finally, we have found something the former and fu- of the CIA’s mission.
ture president is not very good at: being a dictator. Agency officers serve overseas, often in
harm’s way, to detect and preempt threats to the
Charles Hurt is the opinion editor at The Washington
Times. ILLUSTRATION BY GREG GROESCH » see HOFFMAN | B3
B2 | EDITORIAL ☆R FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2023

COMMENT & ANALYSIS

A Christmas query
Festivities provoke curiosity over the First Cause

E
ach holiday season, festivities
for their own sake, complete
with mouthwatering delica-
cies and eye-opening gifts, are suf-
ficient for some. For others, the key
to a merry Christmas is appreciation
of the religious nature of the season:
the gift of new life bequeathed by the
Creator through the birth of Christ.
Then there is a middling course
— an attitude of gratitude for being
alive, but interest in pondering the
origin of human existence, not so
much. Skipping past the elementary
question of from whence we came,
though, risks a painful void of mean-
ing that no amount of merriment
can fill.
48% presume the natural world is
filled with invisible forces.
“Overall,” the survey concludes,
“70% of U.S. adults can be consid-
ered ‘spiritual’ in some way, because
they think of themselves as spiritual
people or say spirituality is very
important in their lives.”
Earlier Pew polling has found that
the growth of spirituality has come
at the expense of classic religious
beliefs that include the notion of God
as the First Cause. Christianity, the
faith that engendered the Christmas
festivities enjoyed by believers, non- BOOK REVIEW
believers and everyone in between,
has shown declining popularity in
America since 2007. It is, after all,
By Paul Davis Christmas

T
his holiday season, one might
A new survey by the Pew Research
Center reveals where contempo-
characteristic of this era that the
trendy is valued over the traditional.
want to buy the crime aficionado
on your shopping list one or more
reading under
rary Americans stand regarding re-
ligion, spirituality and the distinction
Despite the 21st century’s rapidly
expanding body of knowledge, mod-
of this year’s fine true crime or
crime fiction books.
the tree
Here’s a roundup of some of the best
between the two. Most telling, a erns are apparently less inclined to crime books:
A roundup of true crime and
preponderant majority, 83% of re- ponder penetrating questions about crime fiction for aficionados
spondents, claim an embrace of the the origin of the life they enjoy. ‘INDEPENDENCE SQUARE’
I’ve been reading Martin Cruz Smith’s about the crooks he was chasing.
spiritual — including the belief in the Rather, clever cinematic fictions crime novels about his Russian Siringo also wrote a bestselling autobiog-
existence of a spirit or soul beyond such as “The Matrix” offer edgy exis- investigator Arkady Renko since raphy, “A Texas Cowboy,” in 1881. The book
the physical body. tential sidetracks, like the notion that his first, 1981’s “Gorky Park.” influenced future authors, and Siringo later
A similar cohort of 81% adhere to human consciousness is simply the Son of a Soviet general, Renko is stub- advised actor William S. Hart and other
born, insubordinate and anti-authoritarian, Hollywood filmmakers in the 1920s.
the notion of an encompassing invis- function of a sophisticated computer and he bucks Vladimir Nathan Ward
ible dimension beyond the natural simulation, a theory in which even Putin’s regime just “Son of the Old West”
world. And 74% assert there are phe- Elon Musk has dabbled. as he did the Soviet Grove Atlantic, 368 pages, $28
regime. He is also a
nomena that science cannot explain, To be sure, there is nothing wrong superb investigator. ‘QUEEN OF CUBA’
and 38% express a conviction that with holiday festivities, which echo In his latest novel, Former Defense Intelligence Agency
someone who has died was com- with the call to “eat, drink and be “Independence analyst Ana Montes was recently released
municating with them from beyond. merry.” But the disconcerting re- Square,” Mr. Smith from prison after serving a long term for
covers the days before spying for Cuba.
Pew polled respondents on mainder of that biblical idiom — Mr. Putin’s invasion At the agency, Ms. Montes was the go-to
whether they accept various con- “for tomorrow we die” — is worth of Ukraine. Renko expert on Cuba, and her colleagues called
cepts of the afterlife: 71% embrace recalling. With a reminder of human discovers he is suffering from Parkinson’s her the “queen of Cuba,” but they were
the existence of heaven, 61% believe mortality comes an incentive to ask: disease (which the author also suffers from), unaware that she was also spying for the
when he is asked to find a friend’s daughter, communist nation.
in hell and 60% lend credence to Does God exist as the creator and an anti-Putin activist. Becoming romanti- Retired FBI Special Agent Peter J. Lapp
both. consummator of life? cally involved with the girl’s roommate, a recounts his part in uncovering Ms. Montes’
Also examined were views on ani- That query is noticeably absent Ukrainian Tatar, they search for the girl in espionage. Ms. Montes is the daughter of a
Russia and Ukraine and encounter Russian former U.S. Army colonel, sister of an FBI
mistic beliefs usually associated with from Pew’s new spirituality survey, agents and Russian mafia goons. translator, sister of an FBI agent, and briefly
primitives. Somewhat surprisingly, but it’s one that Americans — the Martin Cruz Smith the girlfriend of a defense analyst for the
57% of modern Americans embrace spiritual, the religious and neither — “Independence Square” Southern Command.
notions of a spirit or spiritual energy owe themselves to ask. It was Christ Simon and Schuster, 272 pages, $26.99 But she led a double life, working as
an analyst for the DIA
residing in animals, 50% believe un- — the subject of Christmas — who ‘MOSCOW X’ and as a spy for Cuban
seen powers inhabit graveyards and urged, “Seek and ye shall find.” “Moscow X” also intelligence. Mr. Lapp
takes the reader to Russia. and his co-author, Kelly
Moscow X is a CIA unit Kennedy, not only
run by an aggressive and describe the counterin-
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR bold female chief who
wants to cause mayhem
telligence investigation
that brought Ms. Montes
in Mr. Putin’s inner circle. She sends in two down but also delve into her lonely and
There is no Palestine operatives to take advantage of a power
struggle between two of Mr. Putin’s mil-
troubled life.
Peter J. Lapp and Kelly Kennedy
There has never been a place called al-Husseini. The British gave him the Yasser Arafat, an Egyptian, became lionaire underlings. One of the operatives “Queen of Cuba”
Palestine, nor a people called the Pal- title of grand mufti of Jerusalem, but a Palestinian and chairman of the PLO. is a female CIA officer and the other is a Post Hill, 272 pages, $28.99
estinians (“Wartime Palestinian poll his heart was in Berlin. He was a Nazi. It should have been inconceivable Mexican man, a CIA asset, who runs a horse
shows surge in Hamas support, close Al-Husseini launched pogroms for Israel to agree to the 1993-1995 Oslo ranch in Mexico. ‘BARTLEBY AND ME’
to 90% want U.S.-backed Abbas to against Middle Eastern Jews from the Accords with the PLO. Israel and the The two operatives initiate contact with Gay Talese, one of the founders of
resign,” web, Dec. 13). 1920s to the 1940s. He spent World West believed the Jewish state could one of the feuding millionaire Russians New Journalism, looks back on some of his
There was the Roman province of War II in Germany, where he inter- get peace if the PLO got some land to through horse selling with the millionaire’s celebrated work.
Syria Palaestina from the early second vened to send 4,000 Jewish Hungar- call their own. But Arafat assured his thoroughbred horse farm in Russia, in Now 91, he writes that he was inspired
to the late fourth century. It was so ian children to the gas chambers. He supporters the agreement with Israel which Mr. Putin is a partner. From horses by Herman Melville’s great short story
named to obscure the Jewish nature had Hitler’s permission to extend the was like the Prophet Muhammad’s to gold bars, the novel covers intrigue in the “Bartleby, the Scrivener,” so he calls his
of the region. Its capital was Caesarea Holocaust into the Middle East as soon treachery against the Quraysh Jews. worlds of high finance, spies and family ties. book “Bartleby and Me.”
Maritima in Judea. as Rommel’s armies cleared out the There was never going to be peace. David McCloskey, a former CIA officer, Mr. Talese wrote a fine true crime book
After World War I and the collapse British, but Rommel was defeated at If the people we now call Pales- offers one of the best spy thrillers I’ve read about organized crime called “Honor Thy
of the Ottoman Empire, the victors set El Alamein, just west of Cairo. tinians are to ever have a state, it this year. Father,” and I would have liked to read more
up mandates to be governed by Britain From the 1920s on, only Jews were will be at the generosity of Israel. David McCloskey about his time with the Bonanno crime fam-
and France until Palestine, Lebanon, called Palestinians. Arabs identified What Oct. 7 taught Israel is that its “Moscow X” ily, but the story is mentioned only briefly.
Syria, Iraq and Transjordan could be with their families, tribes or place of borders must never be insecure. Norton, 464 pages, $29.99 His 1966 Esquire magazine piece “Frank
self-sustaining. Palestine was to be a origin. And the worldwide Islamist dem- Sinatra Has a Cold” is a classic profile,
homeland for Jews, Lebanon one for In 1964, the Soviet Union engi- onstrations should be a warning to ‘SON OF THE OLD WEST’ and he writes more about Sinatra and his
Christians and all the others would neered a masterful propaganda cam- Western nations that they are being Nathan Ward offers the incredible true entourage. He also writes a fascinating piece
be Muslim. paign to diminish the Big Satan’s in- targeted, too. story of Charlie Siringo, a cowboy, detective called “Dr. Bartha’s Brownstone,” about a
During the mandate, the Arab fluence. They created the Palestine and writer. From cattle drives to catching physician who in 2006 blew up himself and
population doubled by immigration Liberation Organization. They sim- LEN BENNETT rustlers, to meeting Billy the Kid and other his New York City brownstone rather than
from neighboring countries. Jewish ply renamed Israel “Palestine” and Author, “Unfinished Work: Letters in Defense famous historical characters from the Wild give in to his ex-wife.
migration was hampered by the Brit- renamed all the Arabs living there of Israel, the Jewish People and the Truth” West, Siringo led a fascinating life. Gay Talese
ish and local Arab leader Haj Amin “Palestinians.” Deerfield Beach, Florida Siringo became a Pinkerton detective “Bartleby and Me”
and was sent to Western boomtowns and Mariner Books, 320 pages, $28.99
out on the lawless Plains in pursuit of crimi-
Biden, staff should resign now nals. He often went undercover and joined
outlaw gangs in order to learn information
Paul Davis’ On Crime column covers true
crime, crime fiction and thrillers.
It’s time for our buffoon-in-chief (unlike President Biden and his This is downright disgusting.
and his anti-American staff to resign staff ). They demand money for a Mr. Biden could have started a hot
(“Biden pleads with Congress for war in Ukraine that most Americans war with Russia with his destructive
more Ukraine funding,” web, Dec. 6). don’t care about, saying that if they rhetoric. It’s time for him to resign.
They have the unmitigated gall don’t get the funds, the administra-
to threaten U.S. citizens, especially tion will send U.S. sons and daugh- STEPHEN PHILLIPS
those who have served their nation ters to fight Russia. Odenville, Alabama Published by The Washington Times LLC

THOMAS P. McDEVITT, Chairman

Putting illegal immigrants before citizens CHRISTOPHER DOLAN, President & Executive Editor

The main function of government is
to protect and support its citizens.
President Biden’s immigration policy
is directly affecting American citizens.
Billions of dollars are being spent on il-
legal immigrants, with citizens forced
to foot the bill for everything from
transportation to education, health
care and telephones — even, in some
cases, credit cards.
To put this in perspective,
Tennessee just experienced a devas-
tating storm that basically wiped out
entire communities. Many of these
victims were soldiers stationed at Fort
Campbell. Is the government going to
support them at the same level it sup-
ports illegal immigrants? I think not.
Instead, appeals will be sent out for
American citizens to help.
Focusing on illegals to the detri-
ment of U.S. citizens is a hallmark
of the Biden administration. It is an
affront not just to our citizens, but
to all our taxpayers who have had
their hard-earned money spent on
policies they don’t support.
Do we think Mr. Biden would
take in illegal immigrants at his
beach house?
THOMAS WINTHROP
Fairfax, Virginia
NEWS EDITORIAL AND OPINION
CATHY GAINOR, Managing Editor CHARLES HURT, Opinion Editor
ANN WOG, Managing Editor Digital
BUSINESS
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Senior Director, Digital Strategy and Audience Development
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DESHONDA MURRAY,
MARIA STAINER, Assistant Managing Editor
Director of Human Resources and Building Operations
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2023 ☆R OPINION | B3

Remittance charges in the name of border security are wrong

Taxing legal immigrants who send their families money is contrary to the American dream
By Bryan Bashur pay wages and salaries for Border Patrol According to the World Bank post,
agents. “taxing outward remittance flows” is a

I
mposing new taxes on While border security is of the utmost terrible idea because “taxing remittances
Americans sounds a lot like importance, expanding the size of the amounts to double taxation for tax-paying
a Democratic policy ploy. Treasury Department and its capabilities migrants.”
But Republicans in Congress would open Pandora’s box to a laundry Taxing remittance flows, it said, also
and the red state of Florida list of bureaucratic slush funds that would affects poor families disproportionately.
are proposing new taxes on justify taxing private transactions in the Not to mention that a remittance tax “is
immigrants who are trans- name of safety and security. unlikely to raise enough funds and will
ferring funds to family and Rep. Andy Biggs, Arizona Republican, also directly tax many Americans.”
friends abroad. also introduced a bill to impose a 5% tax There are other ways to defend the
Lawmakers should swiftly reject on remittances in the name of safety and border from illegal crossings without
any proposal to establish new taxes on security. expanding the federal government and
remittances. Once such a tax is in place, it The most egregious aspect of these imposing new taxes on international
will likely move in only one bills is that neither one money transfers. Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas
direction: up. There are other differentiates between legal Republican, has continuously been
Rep. Nathaniel Moran, ways to defend and illegal immigrants. So a staunch advocate of defending the
Texas Republican, intro- the bills impose a new tax border and holding illegal immigrants
duced a bill to apply a the border from on legal immigrants who accountable.
government-mandated 37% illegal crossings want to send money back Mr. Cruz has proposed several pieces
“fee” on remittances. This, without expanding to family or friends. This is of legislation and policy proposals to
however, is a fee in name the federal an insult to the American solve the border crisis without introduc-
only. For all intents and government and dream. ing new taxes for Americans. And the
purposes, this is a 37% tax on In Florida, misguided Republican-backed Secure the Border
Americans seeking to remit
imposing new taxes proposals to tax remittances Act of 2023 does not impose any new
funds to their loved ones in on international are taking shape. Ostensibly taxes and has already passed the House
other countries. The fees money transfers. to enhance immigration of Representatives.
collected from this bill are security and bolster safe- Enhanced border security can be
deposited in the Treasury Department’s guards against money laundering, a grand achieved without introducing new taxes
general fund. Half of the deposited fees jury in Florida issued a report recom- that will give the IRS and state agencies a
are sent to a “Reimbursement Fund,” mending that the state enact a 1.5% tax on new avenue to audit individuals and small
ILLUSTRATION BY HUNTER
while the other half is deposited in the remittances. The report cites Oklahoma businesses.
“Security Fund.” law as a paradigm for a new tax in Florida state government. Conservatives should In 2017, the World Bank wrote a blog post Lower taxes and improved border
The secretary of homeland security on remittances. vehemently oppose this new tax. outlining nine reasons why taxing remit- security is a platform worth pursuing.
can use the Reimbursement Fund to This proposal would also apply to Improving border security and com- tances is a bad idea. The post describes Lawmakers would be wise not to intro-
reimburse states for border security legal immigrants. The state government bating money laundering can be achieved how at the time, countries considering a duce new taxes heading into an election
expenditures. The secretary can use could rebate the tax collected from the without introducing new taxes. remittance tax included Bahrain, Kuwait, cycle.
the Security Fund to deploy technology customer, but taking away a portion of Taxing remittance flows that are ser- Oman, Saudi Arabia, the United States
to detect and prevent unlawful border the remittance in the first place is a net viced by banks, credit unions, or nonbank and the United Arab Emirates — strange Bryan Bashur is director of financial policy
crossings, install physical barriers, and increase in the growth and power of the financial institutions is regressive policy. bedfellows indeed. at Americans for Tax Reform.

igher education is no longer defined by

Campuses have become were asked if it was OK if someone said they were

H liberal bias or even liberal indoctrina-

tion. Sadly, these schools are now almost
fully under the control of leftists who are
hellbent on the radicalization of the campuses
they oversee.
Three presidents of elite institutions of higher
learning testified last week before the House Com-
mittee on Education and Workforce. Each of them
stumbled when asked by Rep. Elise Stefanik, New
York Republican, if calling for the genocide of Jewish
people violates their school’s rules or codes conduct.
University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill, a
“legal scholar,” responded that it is a “context-depen-
dent decision.”
In what context is calling for the killing of people
based on their religious beliefs acceptable? She and
the other presidents were given several opportunities
to clarify their answer but failed miserably to do so.
The bipartisan outrage to their remarks came
quickly, including condemnation
from the Democratic governor of
Pennsylvania.
Ms. Magill resigned on Satur-
day after a semester filled with
problems that began with a Pales-
tine Writes Literature Festival on
campus. Donors, including one
threatening to pull a $100 million
SCOTT commitment, fueled the backlash.
WALKER Welcome to the movement.
At Young America’s Foundation,
we’ve been warning for years
about the radicalization of college campuses. We’ve
suggested that donors stop giving to their alma mater
if the school is using their funds to teach students to
hate America and our shared values.
While the resignation of the former Penn
president was a success, the situation with Harvard
President Claudine Gay is not. I fear this is more
indicative of the culture on most campuses.
Harvard University’s highest governing board
released a statement on Tuesday: “As members of
the Harvard Corporation, we today reaffirm our
support for President Gay’s continued leadership
of Harvard University. Our extensive deliberations
affirm our confidence that President Gay is the right
leader to help our community heal and to address
the very serious societal issues we are facing.”
Actions speak louder than words.
In the recent congressional hearing, Ms. Stefanik
asked Ms. Gay, “Can you not say here that it is
against the code of conduct at Harvard?”
Ms. Gay’s response was at best evasive: “We
embrace a commitment to free expression even
of views that are objectionable, offensive, hateful
— it’s when that speech crosses into conduct that
violates our policies against bullying, harassment,
intimidation.”
Does anyone think that the president of Harvard
or the others would have been unclear if they
hubs of radical activism
going to “kill the gays” or “murder the Muslims”?
All moral people would say those statements are
wrong.
So why was it so hard to say the same thing about
violent statements against Jewish students?
The answer is clear. The radicals are interested
Why is it so hard for university presidents to condemn only in pursuing their agenda via victim classes.
They justify actions against White students by not-
violent statements against Jewish students? ing the perceived victimization of ethnic minorities.
They do the same against male students because of
the victimization of women.
The latter becomes confusing as they also call
those who do not stand with transgender athletes
transphobic, even if they raise concerns about the
inherent unfair advantages of those individuals in
sports. Evidently, one victim class can trump another.
In the case of the “Free Palestine” movement, they
label Israel as “colonizers” and “oppressors.” This is
ironic, since women are treated poorly under Hamas
rule, with few rights, restrictions on travel, and limits
on association. Hamas also treats gays, lesbians and
transgender people poorly.
Over 700 members of the Harvard faculty sent
a letter saying that they urge “in the strongest
possible terms to defend the independence of the
university and to resist political pressures that are
at odds with Harvard’s commitment to academic
freedom, including calls for the removal of Presi-
dent Claudine Gay. The critical work of defending
a culture of free inquiry in our diverse community
cannot proceed if we let its shape be dictated by
outside forces.”
What a bunch of hypocritical nonsense. These
are some of the same people who are eager to ban
conservative voices from their campuses.
Often, they claim that a conservative defending
the rights of women in sports, or speaking about the
sanctity of life, or even about the benefits of market-
based capitalism over government-driven socialism
is somehow threatening to members of the student
body.
They write editorials claiming conservative
speakers are a threat to their security while remain-
ing silent about the plight of Jewish students bar-
ricaded in a library while protesters call for them to
be murdered.
Colleges and universities are no longer places of
higher education. They are hubs of radical activism.
Donors must stop giving to institutions that seek
to counter their values.
Governors and state lawmakers must pull fund-
ing for institutions that do not protect free speech,
provide diversity of thought, and ensure the safety of
students.
We must undo the radicalization of our college
campuses.
Scott Walker is president of Young America’s
Foundation and served as the 45th governor of
ILLUSTRATION BY HUNTER Wisconsin.

Hoffman be no contact with their loved ones back

home for the duration of their mission.
officers to focus on their specific part
of the agency’s global mission.
the counterterrorism mission I had
undertaken.
ruthless adversaries have every one of
the fundamental freedoms enshrined
From page B1 And of course, they protect their During that overseas assignment Yes, the work was secret, but it was in our Constitution directly in their
invaluable sources and the sophisticated in South Asia, my intelligence com- also true that no one was clamoring to crosshairs.
homeland. That’s what Charles Kraut- methods by which intelligence is col- munity colleagues, often in partner- know the details either. People were That’s what my sons and I will be
hammer meant by “forward defense:” lected as if their lives depend on it. Many ship with our allies in the region, focused on their jobs, caring for their thinking about this holiday season as
Better to deal with times, it does. delivered some extraordinary coun- kids, or just going to a ballgame. we remember and express our deepest
our enemies “over One of my CIA terterrorism successes that helped And that’s the way it should be. The gratitude to my former CIA colleagues,
there” rather than mentors, who was keep our nation safe. best measure of success is when ordi- heroes who are standing the watch on
inside our borders. known for pithy I never expected our fellow citi- nary Americans are able to go about our behalf so that we can enjoy this
Just about axioms, liked to zens to have any interest in tracking their business without worrying about blessed family time together.
everything about a say that “the secret our round-the-clock efforts to take whether the CIA is doing its job.
CIA officer’s work of our success is the fight to the terrorists. They just So let’s honor the brave men and Daniel N. Hoffman is a retired clan-
life is secret, start- the secret of our trusted us to do it. women patriotically serving the CIA destine services officer and former
ing with the mission success.” If you do There was congressional oversight mission overseas this holiday season chief of station with the Central In-
to recruit spies and not have a need to and the rare newspaper article about a by celebrating at home with the ones telligence Agency. His combined 30
steal secrets. Often know, then you do deceased al Qaeda operative. we love. years of government service included
officers cannot not need to know. But I found on visits home dur- Let’s enjoy the freedom, liberty and high-level overseas and domestic posi-
reveal their true location — even to their That need-to-know principle is ing the 19 months I spent in that democracy they help underwrite every tions at the CIA. He has been a Fox
families. Sometimes they operate in an not only how the CIA protects its se- assignment that my family and day. News contributor since May 2018. Fol-
“alias persona,” which means there can crets but also an opportunity for CIA friends were blissfully ignorant of And let’s never forget tjat our low him on X @DanielHoffmanDC.
Classified
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2023 ☆R LIFE | B5

Estate
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Show Cause Notice
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2023
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
Ohtani dodges injury questions
in Dodgers news conference
LOS ANGELES | Shohei Ohtani
opened his first news conference with
the Los Angeles Dodgers by dodging
questions about whether he had a sec-
ond elbow reconstruction surgery.
“At the time of the announce-
ment, we didn’t know which way we
were going to go. That’s why I never
said what type
of procedure
was going to be
SPORTS done,” Ohtani said
BRIEFS
Thursday at a
news conference
to discuss his re-
cord $700 million,
10-year contract.
It was Ohtani’s first time speak-
ing with the media since Aug. 9, two
weeks before a pitching injury that
required surgery with Dodgers head
team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache
on Sept. 19 and will keep him off the
mound until 2025. Ohtani had elbow
reconstruction surgery with ElAt-
trache on Oct. 1, 2018.
“I’m not obviously an expert in the
medical field, but it was a procedure,”
Ohtani said. “I’m not sure what it’s
called, I know it was completely differ-
ent from my first time, so I don’t know
what you what to call it. You could
probably talk to my doctor about that.”
Ohtani refused to say what other
teams he negotiated with before the
agreement last weekend.
Rays says name change could
threaten stadium deal
ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. | They began
as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1998,
then shortened their name in 2007 to
simply Tampa Bay Rays. Now, as plans
for a new ballpark take shape, there’s
talk about changing the name again to
reflect the team’s actual location: the
St. Petersburg Rays.
The St. Petersburg City Council
debated the possibility Thursday, ulti-
mately voting for a resolution seeking
options to elevate the city’s promi-
nence with the MLB team that could
include a name change. Council mem-
ber Gina Driscoll said she brought the
idea forward because many constitu-
ents think Tampa Bay really just means
the city of Tampa.
It is not something the Rays want,
team co-president Brian Auld told the
council, suggesting such a requirement
could torpedo the entire $6.5 billion
ballpark and downtown redevelop-
ment project.
Mayor Ken Welch, however, agreed
with the Rays. Welch, the city’s first
Black mayor, has made the new ball-
park a cornerstone of redeveloping
the Gas Plant District that was home
to a thriving Black community before
Tropicana Field and an interstate
highway displaced those homes and
businesses.
NBA
Two-time ABA champion
George McGinnis dies at 73
INDIANAPOLIS | George McGinnis, a
Hall of Fame forward who was a two-
time ABA champion and three-time
All-Star in the NBA and ABA, died
Thursday. He was 73.
The Indiana Pacers said he died
early Thursday morning following
complications from a cardiac ar-
rest suffered last week at his home.
McGinnis also struggled to walk in
recent years after undergoing multiple
back surgeries because of a hereditary
condition.
His trademark one-handed jump
shot helped him become an instant
cornerstone in Indiana’s two title runs
as well as the Philadelphia 76ers turn-
around in the mid-1970s.
The result: He earned multiple
all-ABA and all-NBA honors and was
named the 1973 ABA playoff MVP in
just his second pro season. And after
making the ABA’s all-rookie team in
1971-72, he took home all-NBA honors
in his first season (1975-76) in the more
established league, too.
NFL
Flacco signs 1-year deal with
Browns, can earn incentives
BEREA, OHIO | Joe Flacco’s officially
signed and sealed with Cleveland. He’s
already delivered.
Flacco got a one-year, $4.05 million
contract — loaded with incentives —
on Thursday from the Browns, who
brought in the veteran quarterback last
month while in emergency mode after
losing starter Deshaun Watson for the
season with a right shoulder injury.
Flacco’s deal means the 38-year-old
moves from the practice squad to the
active roster. And while it was more
procedural than anything, it assures
he’ll be with the Browns (8-5) as they
try to clinch a playoff spot.
The team elevated Flacco from the
practice squad in each of the past two
weeks to start games against the Los
Angeles Rams and Jacksonville.
From wire dispatches and staff reports.
SKIING
Bennett shocks favorites to win World Cup downhill
Associated Press
SELVA DI VAL GARDENA, ITALY | Ameri-
can skier Bryce Bennett surprised the
favorites by winning the Val Gardena
downhill with a late start number as the
men’s World Cup speed season finally
opened on Thursday a month later than
scheduled.
The previous two stops on the circuit
were wiped out due to bad weather.
Bennett, who also won this race two
years ago, took advantage of improving
light on the Saslong course with bib
No. 34 and edged two-time defending
downhill standings leader Aleksander
Aamodt Kilde by 0.03 seconds.
Two-time defending overall World
Cup winner Marco Odermatt was
pushed down to third, 0.05 back.
The two-meter (6-foot-7) Bennett
used his tall frame to absorb the ter-
rain in the technical Ciaslat section that
characterizes the course, and crouched
NFL
From page B8
Offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy
also understands the importance of the
final weeks of the season. He’s received
interviews for head coaching positions
before, and is likely to again once this
season ends.
During his Thursday press confer-
ence, Bieniemy insisted he’s “focused
on the now” instead of whatever might
come next.
As for his time in Washington, he
thinks the adversity will ultimately be
FOOTBALL
From page B8
off the field, it’s exactly what you want,”
Howell said.
“He has a right to be frustrated. You
want people to be frustrated when
they’re not getting the ball as much as
they should be getting the ball. That’s
what you want from those good players,
those good receivers.”
With a new ownership group in
Washington, led by Josh Harris, Allen
and McLaurin would represent poten-
tial value to a new regime looking to
stockpile draft picks, just as pass rushers
Chase Young and Montez Sweat were
dealt at the trade deadline.
McLaurin said he doesn’t want to
focus on the future until that time comes,
and like Allen, he sees no shortage of
desire to finish strong in an otherwise
forgettable season.
“I’ve been through it before,” said
McLaurin, who was a part of a 3-13 season
in 2019. “You just handle it as it comes.
But right now we look forward to having
these last four games of the season, en-
joying this team we’ve got, enjoying the
guys we have around here. Because we
do have a really good group. I’ve enjoyed
playing with these guys. So we’re gonna
go out there and try to win these games
as we finish up.”
One player who may have an ad-
ditional showcase opportunity down
the stretch is running back Antonio
Gibson. He had been splitting carries
with Brian Robinson Jr., but Robinson
missed Wednesday’s practice with a
hamstring injury.
Gibson is on the final season of his
rookie contract. He said even as the
LOVERRO
From page B8
That Italian heritage connected the
Rizzos to one of Chicago’s legendary
sports heroes — Cubs third base-
man Ron Santo, who grew up in the
Seattle neighborhood known as “Garlic
Gulch.”
“He was really into the Italian
heritage thing, and ... he had a huge
following in [Chicago’s] Little Italy,”
Rizzo said.
Now Rizzo will join Santo, Yogi
NCAA
From page B8
waivers on a case-by-case basis.
According to the NCAA, the per-
centage of college athletes who have
transferred multiple times and sought
immediate playing eligibility in recent
years is minuscule: 0.17%.
John Holden, an Oklahoma State
business professor specializing in sports
law and regulation, said he doesn’t an-
ticipate a “huge desire” among athletes
to transfer, especially in the next two
weeks. Some will take advantage of the
window, “but much like every other
student on campus that we don’t make
sit out for a year, this is really just putting
into an aerodynamic tuck to make up
time on Kilde and Odermatt in the steep
final gates.
When he saw the result, Bennett held
his arms out wide in apparent disbelief
and flashed a wide smile framed by his
mustache. Then he started screaming.
“I didn’t expect that at all. I woke up
this morning and I had to let (out) all
the doubt that’s been kind of following
me,” Bennett said. “I just needed to ski.
I needed to ski free and do a run that I
know I’m capable of and trust myself
and, yeah, it worked. That was quite
the surprise to land and see green in
the finish.”
Kilde, who started 10th, had already
celebrated as if he won after edging
Odermatt, who started sixth. Kilde and
Odermatt were giving interviews when
Bennett came down, prompting them
to turn around and see what happened.
“That’s how ski racing is and that’s
helpful as he seeks to foster resilience
in players.
“Sometimes without bad luck, some
of us wouldn’t have any good luck
at all,” Bieniemy said. “Because it
forces you to look within. And once
you look within, now you can help
yourself to grow. You can’t be afraid
of being vulnerable and asking for
honest opinions.”
An ESPN report during the bye week
detailed that some players were un-
happy with Bieniemy’s practice struc-
ture, which is much more intense than
the team has had in past seasons.
Bieniemy himself is known to work
Commanders receiver Terry McLaurin has played for three different coaches and had three team names. However, his leadership
has been lauded by young Commanders players. He has voiced concerns, but in a tactful way that shows team commitment.
season has slipped away, he hasn’t seen
a decline in practice habits.
“Regardless of how it’s going and
how it went, we put in the work,” Gib-
son said. “We come here, day in and day
out. We’re away from family a lot. We
spend a lot of time with each other. I’d
just say finish strong, you know, fight
for yourself. For pride. Not giving up
these last four weeks, and going out
there and putting some good stuff on
film.”
The final stretch starts Sunday with a
Berra, Roy Campanella, Tony LaRussa
and other Italian-Americans who had
careers in baseball worth honoring.
There are more than 270 inductees
in the Hall, with a display of sports
memorabilia that includes Mario
Andretti’s Indianapolis 500 race car,
Marciano’s heavyweight championship
belt and the last coat worn by Lom-
bardi when he was coaching the Green
Bay Packers.
Maybe they could put one of
Rizzo’s cigars on display.
Rizzo has had one of those careers
worth honoring. He won a World
them in the same position as though
they are any other student on campus,”
Holden said.
Patrick Stubblefield, a sports attorney
and a former college compliance official,
said that if the second-time transfer rule
is overturned and the college transfer
portal becomes a free-for-all, incoming
recruiting classes potentially could find
it more difficult to earn a roster spot if
there’s a larger pool of athletes changing
schools.
“It’ll shift things a little,” Stubblefield
said. “There’s going to be some trickle-
down effects, I would presume. But I
don’t necessarily know how to quantify
that as good or bad.
“Athletes for the most part are able to
take agency over their own situations and
☆R
why we love it,” Kilde said.
Bennett rode BMX bikes as a kid, so
the bumps in the Ciaslat suit his style.
He’s never won anywhere else.
Still, it was a sharp improvement for
Bennett after his best finish last season
was 10th.
“This season I really want to move it
forward,” Bennett said. “I want to move
it forward to Bormio, to Wengen, to Kitz-
bühel, to Chamonix, and just really have
competitive runs all season long. Because
if I get the downhill globe, you will never
see me ever again. I am boots off in the
finish, on a plane, fishing boat, Mexico.”
The U.S. team has won the open-
ing men’s and women’s downhills after
Mikaela Shiffrin beat Sofia Goggia in St.
Moritz, Switzerland, last weekend.
It was the sixth victory for the U.S.
team in Val Gardena. The recently retired
Steven Nyman won three downhills and
Bode Miller won a super-G.
early mornings and late nights, and he
said he’s hopeful players have learned
what it takes to compete at the highest
levels in the NFL.
“The only way that’s going to get
done, collectively, we have to be ac-
countable to one another and continue
this process,” Bieniemy said. “Because
when it’s all said and done with, if we
have the personal pride in who we are as
men, collectively, there’s a lot of things
we can do together.”
For Washington’s defensive unit, the
upcoming final four games represent an
opportunity for Washington to climb out
of a statistical cellar. The Commanders
road game against the Los Angeles Rams,
then includes back-to-back matchups
against dominant defenses, the Jets and
the 49ers.
That’s bad news for a potential turn-
around for a team not officially elimi-
nated from the playoffs, but potentially
good news for draft position. Entering
Week 15, Washington holds the No. 4
overall selection.
Inside the team’s Ashburn facil-
ity, there was an acknowledgment on
Wednesday that the focus now shifts to
Series championship with the Arizona
Diamondbacks in 2001 when he was
director of scouting. He was named
Executive of the Year by the publica-
tion Baseball America in 2012 and 2019.
He was also given that honor in 2019
by the Boston chapter of the Baseball
Writers Association of America. He
was also named the baseball executive
of the year by the Italian-American
Baseball Foundation.
He is trying to build on that resume
by putting together another Nation-
als championship contender after the
team’s seven-year run of winning from
determine for themselves, for whatever
reasons they so choose, what is going to
be in their best interests.”
Among the multi-transfer athletes
already taking advantage of the court’s
decision was UNLV’s Keylan Boone, who
previously played at Oklahoma State
and Pacific. He played in UNLV’s game
Wednesday night against No. 8 Creigh-
ton, scoring 10 points and grabbing six
rebounds in the Rebels’ 79-64 win.
West Virginia is mulling its options
with two players who have each trans-
ferred twice, RaeQuan Battle and Noah
Farrakhan. They could play in three
games before the lawsuit is addressed
again. Battle, who previously played at
Montana State and Washington, has a
year of eligibility left. Farrakhan, who
SPORTS | B7
Bennett’s ski technician is Leo Mussi,
who used to also work with Nyman —
and four-time Val Gardena downhill
winner Kristian Ghedina before that. In
all, Mussi has accounted for nine wins
on the Saslong.
In perfect conditions on a shortened
course following snowfall a day earlier,
Nils Allegre was 0.13 behind in fourth
with bib No. 25 to narrowly miss out on a
first career podium result. World super-G
champion Jack Crawford was fifth.
The race was rescheduled from the
yet-to-be-run Zermatt-Cervinia cross-
border event last month. Speed races
in Beaver Creek, Colorado, were also
canceled a couple of weeks ago.
A super-G is scheduled for Friday
on the Saslong, followed by another
downhill on Saturday. Then there are
giant slalom races in nearby Alta Badia
on Sunday and Monday for a series of
five races in five days.
rank 32nd in the league in yards and
points allowed.
The unit hasn’t created a turnover in
more than a month. It has an opportu-
nity to get right against the Rams and
Jets, teams known for their defenses
this year who have struggled at times
offensively.
For McLaurin, the game is another
opportunity to show the progress that
has been elusive this year.
“No matter what the record is, you
still go out there and try to win each
and every game, because if you’re not
trying to do that, it’s probably not for
you,” McLaurin said.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
individuals playing for their own futures,
instead of the initial team goal of a playoff
appearance.
“Everybody’s got something to gain,
whether it’s the coaches, whether it’s the
players, we all have something personal
to accomplish, whether you’re a rookie
trying to make it or you’re an old guy
still trying to get it done,” said tight end
Logan Thomas. “So for us, you take that
approach, you play for the man next to
you, and all those things will fall into
place.”
2012 to 2019, culminating with a World
Series championship. His team, full of
prospects and spare parts with a low
payroll, managed to jump 16 wins last
year, from 55 in 2022 to 71. In Sep-
tember, Rizzo, 62, who has been the
general manager since 2009, was given
a multiyear contract extension by the
Lerner family, owners of the Nationals.
He’s done a few things. But he is
especially proud of this.
“This is right up there with one of
the great honors of my life,” Rizzo said.
⦁ You can hear Thom Loverro on
The Kevin Sheehan Show podcast.
had attended Eastern Michigan and East
Carolina, has two.
“We just need some more clarity,
more than anything,” West Virginia in-
terim coach Josh Eilert said Thursday.
“We’ve got to think of the student-athlete
and how it affects their overall eligibility.
If the decision is overturned and they’ve
played during this course of the season,
they lose that year of eligibility. That
doesn’t seem like we made the right
decision by the student-athlete.
“So I want all of the facts to be laid
out for everybody involved before we
make those decisions.”
The states involved in seeking the
restraining order were Colorado, Illinois,
New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennes-
see and West Virginia.
SPORTS
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2023
NFL
Donald looms large for offensive line
as Commanders prepare for Rams
BY MICHAEL PHILLIPS
SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Logan Thomas says it’s easy to find
Aaron Donald on a football field — just
listen for the noise.
Donald first sacked Thomas, then
Virginia Tech’s quarterback, in a 2012
Pitt victory. The next year, Thomas got
some payback with a win in Blacksburg.
Sunday, they’ll renew what has be-
come an ongoing rivalry. As a tight
end now, Thomas will be responsible
for helping to keep Donald away from
Commanders quarterback Sam Howell.
“He’s not hard to miss — that mouth
runs a decent amount,” Thomas said with
Bracing for the future
“At the end of the day, I just want to be competitive, and I want to compete,” said Commanders lineman Jonathan Allen, who considered asking for a trade this offseason.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Since being drafted in 2017, Jona-
than Allen has played for three differ-
ent coaches, while representing three
different team names, all in Washington.
At 4-9, more change is possible after
the season for the Commanders. Enter-
ing the bye week, Allen said in a radio
interview he is considering asking to be
traded to a contender instead of enduring
another cycle of rebuilding.
“At the end of the day, I just want to be
competitive, and I want to compete,” he
said Wednesday. “And I think we can do
that here. I really do. Like I said, my goal
is to win, and I’m gonna do everything
in my power to put myself in a position
to help an organization do that, and help
this organization do it.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The NCAA sent a document to schools
clarifying that the redshirt rule for
transfers still applies if a court’s decision
of immediate eligibility is reversed.
a laugh. “I think the last time we played
him he was a little more mild. He’s older
like I am, so it probably comes with age.”
Last time around, Thomas was too
busy getting sacks to have much to say.
The Rams defensive tackle logged four
sacks in a 2020 victory over Washington.
“Four sacks, period, is crazy, but as an
interior guy it’s even crazier,” said Com-
manders receiver Terry McLaurin, who
was a part of that game. “It’s a testament
to his work ethic, the kind of player he is,
and obviously you’ve got to account for
where he is. I know we’re gonna have a
good plan for that, I know our linemen
are going to be up for that challenge.”
Washington’s offensive line has
COMMANDERS
Veterans’ individual goals up for grabs
while facing another likely team rebuild
After some rest and relaxation in
Florida during the bye week, Allen said
he’s committed to finishing out the sea-
son strong, and that motivation won’t be
an issue for the defense, last in the league
in points allowed, over the season’s final
four weeks.
While making the playoffs is unlikely,
individual goals remain up for grabs for
several members of the Commanders,
especially those with expiring contracts.
“For a lot of guys in the locker room,
a lot of them are playing for the fame, a
lot of them are playing for money, so it
NCAA
NCAA fears lawsuit loss opens door for athlete free agency
BY JOHN RABY
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHARLESTON, W.VA. | College basket-
ball programs with multiple-transfer
athletes are pondering whether to let
them play after a federal judge gave
them a small window to compete as part
of a ruling in a lawsuit that the NCAA
suggests would open college athletics
to free agency.
U.S. District Judge John Preston Bai-
ley in West Virginia issued a temporary
restraining order against the NCAA on
ON WASHINGTONTIMES.COM
Follow us on X @WashTimesSports
and Facebook at Washington Times Sports
■ Dear Abby | Horoscope B5 ■ Comics B6
struggled to rise to those occasions this
season, and Howell is currently on pace
to tie David Carr’s record for most times
sacked in a season (76).
Still, Thomas said, even as the Com-
manders are slumping, and the Rams
chase a playoff appearance, there won’t
be any letdown against Los Angeles.
Getting the opportunity to face Donald
as an offensive line only increases that.
“You don’t play a Hall of Famer every
single week, and that’s what he’ll be,”
Thomas said. “First ballot, no question.
Best defensive player in our generation,
most likely.”
» see NFL | B7
really just depends,”
he said. “But for me,
besides competing
to win, I’m playing
for the legacy, and
the name on the
back of my jersey.”
Receiver Terry
McL aur in has
McLaurin also played for all
three coaches (Jay
Gruden, Bill Cal-
lahan and Ron Rivera), and all three
team names (including the interim
Wednesday. The ruling said athletes
who previously were denied the chance
to play immediately after transferring a
second time can compete in games for
14 days.
As some schools with athletes im-
pacted by the ruling consulted with
their internal legal teams to determine
the next steps, a document circulated by
the NCAA to its member schools clarifies
that the redshirt rule for athletes would
still apply if the court’s decision is re-
versed: Basketball players who compete
during the two-week window would be
☆☆ washingtontimes.com/sports
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Commanders face a tough test
Sunday in Rams defensive tackle Aaron
Donald, who recorded four sacks the last
time the two teams played in 2020.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
“Washington Football Team”).
With only 694 receiving yards this
season, he’s in danger of missing the
1,000-yard mark for the first time since
his rookie season in 2019.
Still, his veteran leadership has been
lauded by young Commanders players,
including quarterback Sam Howell.
They said McLaurin has voiced his
concerns and frustrations, but in a tact-
ful way that shows a commitment to
the team.
“I think the way he’s handled it, the
way he’s been just so professional ever
since I’Ve been here about everything,
just the way he goes about his life and
just how he handles things on the field,
» see FOOTBALL | B7
using a season of eligibility.
The court ruling comes while the
transfer window is open for football and
creates an opportunity for players who
have already transferred using their so-
called one-time exception for immediate
eligibility to enter the portal again and be
cleared to compete next season.
A hearing on the restraining order is
set for Dec. 27. The lawsuit filed by seven
states could have a profound impact on
college sports if successful. In court
documents, the NCAA said the plaintiffs
“seek to remake collegiate athletics and
SECTION B
Proud Rizzo
to take his
place among
Italian greats
W
ashington Nationals gen-
eral manager Mike Rizzo
grew up in Chicago hearing
stories from his father, the
legendary scout Phil Rizzo, about Ital-
ian sports icons like Joe DiMaggio and
Rocky Marciano.
Now the younger Rizzo will take his
place alongside DiMaggio, Marciano
and other greats from his ethnic heri-
tage when he is inducted Friday night
into the Italian-American Sports Hall
of Fame in his Chicago hometown.
“This would
be just his kind of
event,” Mike Rizzo
said, speaking of
his father, who
passed away in
2020 at the age of
90. “He would be
so proud of me
making it with
the big boys of his
THOM
LOVERRO
generation.
“It’s a real
honor,” Rizzo said.
“My family and
my friends will be there. That’s pretty
cool.”
The Italian-American Sports Hall of
Fame was founded in 1978 by George
Randazzo as a nonprofit educational
institution. The first class included
such greats as the DiMaggio brothers,
Joe and Dom, jockey Eddie Arcaro and
NFL great Gino Marchetti. Mrs. Vince
Lombardi also accepted the posthu-
mous induction of her late husband.
On its website, the Hall says its
mission is to “promote the history and
heritage of Italian-Americans in sports
through a number of causes that are
important to our organization and its
founders.”
In 1988, the Hall of Fame moved
from its original headquarters in Elm-
wood Park to Arlington Heights. Ten
years later, the Hall received a boost
with fundraising efforts by Phoenix
Suns Chairman/CEO Jerry Colangelo,
a 1994 Inductee and Chicago Heights
native, who headed a new Hall of Fame
building project in Chicago’s Little
Italy — not far from where Phil Rizzo
grew up.
“We would often go back and visit
his old neighborhood,” Mike Rizzo
said. “His heritage and where he came
from was important to him. My father
was full Italian — Sicilian — and my
mother was half Italian, Calabrese. He
honored it and respected it greatly.
These kinds of things were important
to him and his culture.”
» see LOVERRO | B7
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo
will be inducted Friday night into the
Italian-American Sports Hall of Fame in
his Chicago hometown.
replace it with a system of perpetual and
unchecked free agency.”
NCAA rules allow underclassmen to
transfer once without having to sit out
a year. But an additional transfer as an
undergraduate generally requires the
NCAA to grant a waiver allowing the
athlete to compete immediately. Without
it, the athlete would have to sit out for a
year at the new school.
Last January, the NCAA implemented
stricter guidelines for granting those
» see NCAA | B7
WASHINGTON COMMANDERS
AT
LOS ANGELES RAMS
DECEMBER 17, 2023 - 4:05 P.M. ET.
SOFI STADIUM;
INGLEWOOD, CA
TELECAST: CBS

The Washington Commanders are coming out of the bye week

rested and ready to take on the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi
Stadium on Dec. 17. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. and will be
televised on CBS.

There are four games left on the Commanders’ schedule, and all
of them will feature opponents fighting for a spot in the playoffs.
The Rams, who have won three of their last four games, are first
up for Burgundy & Gold after the break. Although last week’s
37-31 overtime loss to the Baltimore Ravens was a speed bump
for them, the Rams put themselves back into the postseason
discussion with three straight wins against the Seahawks,
Cardinals and Browns. Matt Stafford is still a consistent leader
for them this year with 19 touchdowns and nine interceptions,
but they have been paced by a solid ground game, spearheaded
by Kyren Williams, and the emergence of rookie wideout Puka
Nacua, who has 1,113 yards and four scores on 82 receptions. He’s
racked up five 100-yard performances this year, including 163 in
the Rams’ overtime win against the Colts.

While it is still mathematically possible for Washington (4-9) to

make the playoffs, the team’s primary focus is on playing fast
and taking a one-game-at-a-time mentality. The Commanders
want to see whether Sam Howell, who is still among the top five
most productive quarterbacks in the league, can continue to
improve against the gauntlet of defenses left on the schedule.
They also want to keep an eye on some of their younger players,
like Emmanuel Forbes and KJ Henry, to see if they can make the
proper adjustments to being professional players. The Rams, who
are just one game back from the seventh seed, should provide a
good test for them to show how much they have learned in the
first three quarters of the season.

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