The Patriot Pony Bonus Section
Monday, June 6, 2022
'Top Gun: Maverick' Stands Up to China, Fires a Warning Shot at CCP By Randy DeSoto The Western Journal
EDITOR’S NOTE—This section is reserved as an editorial and may not necessarily reflect the policy of this publication.
An Arizona woman indicted in 2020 on accusations of illegally collecting ballots for the 2020 Presidential election apparently ran a sophisticated operation using her status as a well-known Democratic operative in the border city of San Luis to persuade voters to let her gather and in some cases fill out their ballots, according to records obtained by The Associated Press. There are at least 60 trafficking insurgencies. Also found was Maricopa County accepted at least 20,000 mail-in ballots after election day in 2020. ***** From Paul Sperry: Congressional investigators have met with Special Counsel Durham's team concerning at least "a dozen criminal referrals including perjury" involving former Hillary Clinton campaign officials and contractors and FBI officials who've testified regarding the Russiagate probe. There is a deep British connection to the TrumpAlfa Bank hoax. Just hours before Sussmann reached out to FBI, Hillary's "fixer" Sid Blumenthal had delivered memo alerting her top campaign officials and campaign lawyer Mark Elias to coming New York Times "bombshell" "Trump-Russia story." Elias, in turn, forwarded it to Sussmann, who texted Baker. Sid Blumenthal, who was working on second dossier with Cody Shearer, emailed Robby Mook on Sept 18, 2016 regarding "Trump-Russia story," proving Blumenthal was working w top Clinton campaign officials to smear Trump. (Sullivan had acted as liaison between Blumenthal and Secretary Clinton).
One change made to the blockbuster film “Top Gun: Maverick” reportedly had audiences in Taiwan cheering and Americans should do the same. As fans of the 1986 original “Top Gun” likely know, the sequel was supposed to be released in the summer of 2020, but COVID-19 scuttled those plans.
Maverick” movie. Advertisement - story continues below Having seen the film twice, I can report it is so. The image in the tweet below shows both versions of the jacket. The one on the right shows the Japan and Taiwan flags restored. “It is unprecedented,” Ho
Prior to the outbreak of the pandemic, Paramount Pictures released a trailer for the movie in July 2019. In that trailer, Tom Cruise, reprising his role as Navy aviator Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, puts on his iconic leather bomber jacket. But unlike in the original movie, a patch on it no longer shows the flags of Taiwan and Japan.
Siu Bun, a film critic in Hong Kong, told Vice. “Major film studios have never been shy about pandering to the Chinese market. And even if it is a simple scene, editing is very costly. So no one knows why they changed it back.”
Instead, there are nonsensical symbols, the website Vice reported.
Cheung wrote that some Taiwanese moviegoers, following the premiere of “Top Gun: Maverick,” flocked to buy copies of the bomber jacket going for $1,449 a pop.
The original patch commemorated the battleship USS Galveston’s tour of Japan, Taiwan and the western Pacific in 1963 and 1964. In the video below, the patches without the Japan and Taiwan flags can be seen at the 1:15 mark. The change to the patch in the trailer caused quite a response, with charges that Hollywood was once again genuflecting to communist China. Beijing does not recognize the independence of Taiwan, an island nation about 100 miles off the coast of mainland China. The Republic of China, Taiwan’s formal name, has maintained a separate government from the communist-ruled China since 1949. Vice’s Rachel Cheung reported audiences in Taiwan cheered when they saw their flag, along with Japan’s, had been restored in the “Top Gun:
According to Vice, a Taiwanese film writer, who goes by the moniker Knee Joint, wrote on Facebook, “To be honest, Tom doesn’t necessarily have to wear the same jacket in the opening scene. There’s no way film producers didn’t know the Republic of China flag would cross the Chinese Communist Party’s red line. But they still did it anyway.” Deadline reported Monday that the movie’s producers have not commented on the matter. On a related note, Chinese tech company Tencent Holdings Ltd., after initially investing millions to take a 12.5 percent stake in the “Maverick,” pulled out. “The reason: Tencent executives backed out of the $170 million Paramount Pictures production after they grew con-
Subscribe for free
$0.00—online only
Arizona AG prosecutes ballot harvesters, as GOP state lawmakers push to ban drop boxes
cerned that Communist Party officials in Beijing would be angry about the "We are making some progress, but it's not fast enough, and I want to see more," said Arizona company’s affiliation with a movie celebrating GOP Senate primary candidate Blake Masters. the American military, according to people facy and forgery and anmiliar with the matter,” other for ballot harvestThe Wall Street Journal ing — that were added reported. By Natalia Mittelstadt last October. Just The News “Association with a proAccording to investigaAmerican story grew In Arizona, Republican tion records obtained by radioactive as relations politicians are continuing the news wire from the between the U.S. and to investigate irregulariattorney general's office, China devolved, the peo- ties that marred the 2020 less than a dozen ballots ple added. The aboutpresidential election as could be linked to the face turned ‘Top Gun: state Attorney General former mayor. Maverick’ from a movie Mark Brnovich prosethat once symbolized cutes ballot harvesters Fuentes is due to be sendeepening ties between and state legislators vow tenced on June 30, and China and Hollywood to ban ballot drop boxes. Juarez's sentencing is into a fresh example of scheduled for June 16. the broader tensions Brnovich announced forming between the Thursday that Guillermi- "The crime carries a preU.S. and China.” na Fuentes, a former sumptive sentence of 1 Democratic mayor of year," according to the Well, it’s Tencent’s loss. San Luis and current plea agreement, with a school board member, minimum of 6 months Variety reported has pled guilty to ballot and a maximum of 18 “Maverick” took $160.5 harvesting during the months (or 2 years, if the million during its first August 2020 primary trial judge finds four days of release doelection. "exceptional circummestically, making it the stances"). most successful Memori- Fuentes, who serves on al Day debut of all time. the board of the Gadsden Arizona GOP Senate Elementary School Disprimary candidate Blake The movie took in anoth- trict, was part of a ballot Masters, who was ener $139 million overseas harvesting scheme in dorsed on Thursday by for a total global haul of Yuma County in which former President Donald over $300 million, acearly ballots were collect- Trump, said in an intercording to Variety. ed from voters and view Friday on the "Just dropped off at a ballot the News, Not Noise" China has not approved box on primary election TV show that he doesn't the film for release in its day. believe Brnovich — one market, according to the of his opponents in the Journal. Fuentes "knowingly col- primary race — is serilect[ed] ballots from anous enough about elecThose who have seen other person, and those tion fraud. “Maverick” love it. early ballots belonged to individuals for whom I "Brnovich gave this It earned an “A+” Cineam not a family member, woman a plea deal," said maScore rating from household member, or Masters, referring to audiences, the first movie caregiver," she admitted, Fuentes. "She's gonna get to do so in 2022. according to the attorney off light, they downgradgeneral's office. ed it to like the lightest So, hurray for Paramount felony, it will be treated Pictures and its producBallot harvesting is a as a misdemeanor. And tion partner Skydance class 6 felony in Arizona, it's like, why is Attorney Media for releasing an meaning that Fuentes General Brnovich not unabashedly patriotic will lose her ability to serious about prosecuting movie and not bowing to vote and must leave election fraud, right? the CCP. elected office. "Why can't we get the According to The Holly- The former mayor was state Legislature to even wood Reporter, China indicted in December have a vote on very comwas the world’s largest 2020 with Alma Juarez, monsensical election movie market in 2021, who pled guilty in March laws, you know, that with $7.3 billion in sales, to ballot harvesting. would tighten up the earso that took courage. Fuentes admitted to later ly voting and a lot of the providing the early balknown vulnerabilities? However, the decision lots to Juarez. And so I'm very frustratwas consistent with the ed. We are making some message of “Maverick” As part of the plea agree- progress, but it's not fast itself: America is at its ment with Fuentes, pros- enough, and I want to see best when it courageous- ecutors dropped three more — the American ly stands for freedom! additional felony charges people, the people of Ari— one each of conspira(Continued on page 16)
