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WORLD NEWS
Russia Puts NATO PM on Wanted List for Removal of Soviet-Era Monuments
Estonia´s prime minister has been put on a wanted list in Russia because of her efforts to remove Soviet-era World War II monuments in the Baltic nation, officials said Tuesday as tensions between Russia and the West soar amid the war in Ukraine.
The name of Prime Minister Kaja Kallas appeared on the Russian Interior Ministry’s list of people wanted on unspecified criminal charges. While independent Russian news outlet Mediazona first reported that Kallas was on the list, it said she has been on it for months. The list includes scores of officials and lawmakers from other Baltic nations. Russian officials said that Kallas had been put on the list because of her efforts to remove World War II monuments.
Kallas dismissed it as Moscow’s “familiar scare tactic.”
“Russia may believe that issuing a fictitious arrest warrant will silence Estonia,” she said. “I refuse to be silenced — I will continue to vocally support Ukraine and advocate for the strengthening of European defenses.”
Estonia and fellow NATO members Latvia and Lithuania have pulled down monuments that are widely seen as an unwanted legacy of the Soviet occupation of those countries.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago, numerous monuments to Red Army soldiers also have been taken down in Poland and the Czech Republic, a belated purge of what many see as symbols of past oppression.
Moscow has denounced those moves as desecrating the memory of Soviet soldiers who fell while fighting Nazi Germany.
The inclusion of Kallas – who has fiercely advocated for increased military assistance to Ukraine and stronger sanctions against Russia – appears to reflect the Kremlin´s effort to raise the stakes in the face of NATO and European Union pressure over the war.
“Estonia and I remain steadfast in our policy: supporting Ukraine, bolstering European defense, and fighting against Russian propaganda,” Kallas said, pointing to her family’s history of facing Soviet repression. “This hits close to home for me: My grandmother and mother were once deported to Siberia, and it was the KGB who issued the fabricated arrest warrants.”
It’s the first time the Russian Interior Ministry has put a foreign leader on a wanted list. Estonian Secretary of State Taimar Peterkop and Lithuanian Culture Minister Simonas Kairys also are on the list, which is accessible to the public, along with scores of officials and lawmakers from Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
Indonesians vote for a new president as Joko Widodo era comes to an end
More than 204 million people were registered to vote across the archipelago in one of the world’s biggest elections.
India police use drones to tear gas protesting farmers
Indian police have used tear gas and water cannon for a second day to stop farmers demanding minimum crop prices from marching on the capital Delhi.
The capital is ringed by razor wire, cement blocks and fencing on three sides to block their entry.
Mostly from Punjab state, the farmers are still 200km (125 miles) from Delhi – thousands of security forces are deployed to block their way.
Farmers say the government broke its word after protests two years ago.
In 2020, farmers blockaded national highways around the capital – their year-long protest was a major challenge and forced the authorities to roll back controversial agriculture reforms, but farmers say other demands have not been met. The government has invited farm leaders to hold talks.
The new protests come months before general elections in which the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of PM Narendra Modi is seeking a third consecutive term.
Video footage on Wednesday morning showed thousands of riot police and paramilitary troops deployed along Delhi borders to keep the protesters away.
Farmers allege that plastic and rubber bullets had been used against them, and they criticised the media, saying a perception was being created that farmers were “terrorists” or aligned with opposition parties.
“We have nothing to do with anyone else,” farm leader Sarwan Singh Pandher told reporters. “Our demands have been the same from the very beginning.”
At the Shambhu border point between Haryana and Punjab states north of Delhi, farmers have been distributing protective eyewear to protesters facing police tear gas shells.
Earlier, Mr Pandher told ANI news agency that there were approximately 10,000 people at the Shambhu border. Calling the attack on the farmers “shameful”, he said, “we are farmers and labourers of the country and we do not want any fight”.
Minimum support price (MSP) is a guaranteed price that allows farmers to sell most of their produce at government-controlled wholesale markets, or mandis. The farmers are also demanding that the government fulfil its promise of doubling their income, and withdraw court cases filed against farmers during the previous protest.
Farm leaders say at least a dozen farmers have been detained by the police since Tuesday, the day the protest march began after two rounds of talks between farm unions and federal ministers failed to break the deadlock.
On Wednesday, federal minister Anurag Thakur asked farmers to resume talks. “When we have met most of your [farmers’] demands, a solution can be found on the rest through discussions,” he told news channel NDTV.
Farm leaders said they were open to continuing talks after hearing about the offer through media. “Our priority is that the talks are held in Chandigarh or anywhere near the protest site,” said one of their leaders, Jagjit Singh Dallewal.
More than 200 unions are participating in the march and the farmers aim to reach the capital after crossing the state of Haryana.
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
CDC Responds to Claim It’s Planning to Drop Key COVID Guidance
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas on Feb. 13 became only the second presidential cabinet member ever to be impeached in the 236-year history of the United States government.
Mr. Mayorkas, who was appointed by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Democratic Senate in 2021, was impeached on two counts by a vote of 214–213 with all but three Republicans voting in favor and all Democrats opposing the action.
Former Secretary of War George Belknap resigned in 1876 after the House passed five counts of impeachment against him. The Senate failed to convict Belknap, who was appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant.
The House action came almost exactly a week after the lower chamber of Congress failed to impeach the embattled Homeland Security Secretary on a 215-215 vote. That tally was updated to 216 against and 214 for when Rep. Blake Moore (R-Utah) changed his Aye to a Nay in a parliamentary move to enable the House to reconsider the impeachment resolution.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), who was absent from the vote last week due to being treated for blood cancer, cast the deciding vote on Feb. 13.
Three Republicans who opposed the impeachment resolution last week voted the same the second time around. The trio includes Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado, Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin and Rep. Tom McLintock of California.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) slammed the result.
“House Republicans will be remembered by history for trampling on the Constitution for political gain rather than working to solve the serious challenges at our border,” Mia Ehrenberg, a DHS spokesman, said in a statement after the vote.
“Without a shred of evidence or legitimate Constitutional grounds, and despite bipartisan opposition, House Republicans have falsely smeared a dedicated public servant who has spent more than 20 years enforcing our laws and serving our country. Secretary Mayorkas and the Department of Homeland Security will continue working every day to keep Americans safe,” Ms. Ehrenberg continued.
The 20-page Impeachment Resolution contained two articles with multiple examples of laws Mr. Mayorkas is alleged to have ignored or refused to enforce and illustrations of his blocking congressional oversight, including not producing requested copies of documents.
Article I of the measure accuses Mr. Mayorkas of a “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” and claims that “in large part because of his unlawful conduct, millions of aliens have illegally entered the United States on an annual basis with many unlawfully remaining in the United States.”
“His refusal to obey the law is not only an offense against the separation of powers in the Constitution of the United States, it also threatens our national security and has had a dire impact on communities across the country,” it reads.
Article II accuses Mr. Mayorkas of breaching the public trust by having “knowingly made false statements, and knowingly obstructed lawful oversight of the Department of Homeland Security, principally to obfuscate the results of his willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law.”
With House passage of the impeachment resolution, the issue now goes to the Senate, which will convene as a trial to hear presentations by 11 House managers appointed by the House Speaker and defenses by attorneys representing Mr. Mayorkas.
The House managers, all Republicans, will include Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee, who is chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, Rep. Mike McCaul of Texas, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana, Rep. Ben Cline of Virginia, Rep. Michael Guest of Mississippi, Rep. Andrew Garbarino of New York, Rep. August Pfluger of Texas, Rep. Harriet Hageman of Wyoming, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and Rep. Laurel Lee of Florida.
Senators Smuggle Migration Funds into Ukraine Aid Bill
Senate leaders have included roughly $10 billion in migration funding in the national
security bill that provides $61 billion for Ukraine’s war with Russia.
The funding for migration is portrayed as aid for humanitarian needs in Ukraine and Israel, but the text allows it to be spent on “other vulnerable populations.”
This addition of “other vulnerable populations” leaves room for President Joe Biden’s pro-migration deputies to divert some of the funds towards migrants seeking to reach the United States — even if most of the money is used to move Arabs out of the line of fire in Gaza and to support the Ukrainian families and young men that have moved out to Western Europe.
For example, Biden’s deputies asked in August for funds to help run “Safe Mobility Offices” in several countries south of Mexico. The offices are intended to offer safe and supposedly legal pathways for economic migrants who would otherwise use coyotes and cartels to move into American society.
Biden’s deputies also fund U.N. groups that provide economic migrants with money, rest stops, and transport as they trek northwards from South America.
The $95 billion bill is titled ‘‘National Security Act, 2024.” It passed early Tuesday morning in a 70 to 29 vote with the help of 22 Republican senators under the leadership of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
The bill passed on Tuesday after GOP senators revolted on February 6 against an earlier bill that McConnell drafted. The prior bill included at least $5 billion in domestic spending to transport, house, feed, and hide Biden’s migrants during the 2024 campaign year.
The loss of funding for sanctuary cities has prompted protests from many Democrat politicians who recognize that their “sanctuary” migration policies are deeply unpopular with voters. Without federal funds, many of the poor migrants will end up begging on the streets or on local television segments that show migrants crowding into gyms, hospitals, libraries, and police stations.
GOP leaders in the House oppose the new version of the bill, saying it protects Ukraine’s border from Russia’s troops but does nothing to protect America’s borders from Biden’s migrants.
Democrats are working to push the bill through the House via the discharge petition process. The progress would allow the Democrat caucus — plus some GOP members — to bypass House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).
Democrats can smuggle taxpayer money to migrants via many routes, said Jessica Vaughan, the policy director at the Center for Immigration Studies.
Much of the funding flows to migrants via the “Northside migration cartel” of secretive, government- funded non-government organizations, such as Catholic Charities, she said.
“It’s very hard to track,” she told Breitbart News, adding, “They end up utilizing some of the already existing, long-standing federal grant programs to state and local governments that were originally established for other purposes, but which they slyly redefine, or write in the regulations that the state and local governments can have extra flexibility in how they’re spending the money. For example, there’s a fund of federal money that is intended to pour grants to school districts for homeless students … Over the years, they’ve allowed school districts to use that pot of money for support programs for [younger migrants dubbed [Unaccompanied Alien Children] UACs …”
She continued, “They take a ‘Whole of government approach’ to these things. So they’ll find every extra penny that they can find in every grant program, and try to make that available for state and local allies to cushion the blow.”
Florida sheriff warns terrorist attack ‘is on the way’ because of border crisis
Polk County, Florida Sheriff Grady Judd says the biggest problem with illegal border crossers is they’re coming “across the border specifically to commit crime.”
“They’re coming across the border hand over fist as a result of very organized systems and processes [created] by the criminal cartels out of Mexico. They’re bringing with them methamphetamine. They’re bringing with them fentanyl. We’re not just dealing with migrants coming here to better themselves,” he added. “That’s not the issue that’s creating the biggest problem. The biggest problem is that these folks are coming across the border … from all kinds of terrorist nations. … Cartels are flooding the U.S. with drugs and killing thousands of people a year and we don’t even know yet the end game of the terrorists who are sneaking across. That’s still oblivious to us.
“All the while we have Congress and politicians playing games. They’re not changing the system because there’s not been a major explosion or implosion, but trust me when I tell you, it’s on the way.”
Judd said he talks to constituents every day, including Republicans, Democrats, independents and unregistered voters. None, he said, “thinks it’s OK to bring fentanyl across that southern border and kill our kids. No one thinks that’s a good idea of any political stripe. No one that I talk to … thinks it’s OK for terrorists to come across the southern border … and we know they are, to plan their next attack against the people of this country. No one thinks that. So, if no one thinks that, why is it that our representatives that we send to protect us don’t recognize that?”
He said the most basic rule that should be in place “is you just don’t let people that you don’t know come into this country.”
Retired FBI counterintelligence officials warned Congress last month that a terrorist attack was likely imminent and preventable. They said, “It would be difficult to overstate the danger represented by the presence inside our borders of what is comparatively a multi division army of young single adult males from hostile nations and regions whose background, intent, or allegiance is completely unknown. They include individuals encountered by border officials and then possibly released into the country, along with the shockingly high estimate of ‘gotaways,’ meaning those who have entered and evaded apprehension.”
An estimated two million gotaways illegally entered since January 2021. Despite claims by the administration that the policies they put in place are preventing illegal entry, in the first quarter of fiscal 2024, apprehensions at the southern border were the highest in U.S. history, totaling over 785,000 and greater than the population of three U.S. states.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have also warned about terrorists and cartel operatives bringing fentanyl through the southern border to kill Americans.
Abbott has argued that in the president’s first year in office, fentanyl killed nearly 20 times more people than those killed in terrorist attacks over decades.
Since Abbott launched his border security mission, Operation Lone Star, in March 2021, a multi-agency effort in Texas, including from Florida, has seized more than 458 million lethal doses of fentanyl, enough to kill everyone in the U.S. and Canada.
In the first two fiscal years of Biden’s presidency, CBP agents seized enough fentanyl to kill nearly 5 billion people. Last year, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents seized more than 77 million fentanyl pills and nearly 12,000 pounds of fentanyl powder – the most the DEA seized in a single year in agency history. The quantity translates to more than 386 million deadly doses of fentanyl – enough to kill more than everyone in the United States.
In Florida, Judd said, “we’ve seized enough fentanyl in the last year to overdose and kill probably 8 or 9 million people.” Fentanyl being smuggled through the southern border “doesn’t stay at the southern border,” he said. “It affects every community in this nation. We used to think it was the big deal to seize a gram or an ounce of fentanyl. We’re seizing it by the multi kilo today.”
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody for years has called on the president to designate illicit fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction, warning it could be used by terrorists.
The amount that isn’t being seized is the leading cause of death of Americans between ages 25 and 45. According to the CDC, from May 2020 to April 2021, the estimated number of drug overdose deaths in the United States exceeded 100,000 over a 12-month period for the first time in U.S. history. The majority, 64%, involved synthetic opioids, “mainly illicitly manufactured fentanyl.” Drug overdose death rates involving fentanyl increased in 2021 by 279% from 2016 and by 24% from 2020, the CDC reported.
“But here’s the silent problem that we don’t know,” Judd said. “We don’t know how many terrorists have come into this country over that southern border that have not made any noise yet. But they’re coming here and they’re mustering and they’re planning for the next event and it’s going to occur.”
Rep. Stefanik Files Official Complaint Against New York AG Letitia James
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump, filed an official bar complaint on Feb. 12 against New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Ms. James had brought the high-profile, multimillion dollar civil fraud case against the former president, in which a judge is set to issue a ruling any day now.
In a statement, Ms. Stefanik said Ms. James’s conduct had been “nothing short of shameful” and that she showed explicit bias through inappropriate public comments.
“In just the first five weeks of the trial that began in October 2023—before I stopped counting—Ms. James made over 50 highly inappropriate and prejudicial comments on social media,” the complaint reads.
Ms. Stefanik said that while Americans have the First Amendment right to express their opinions, state attorneys are “held to a higher standard due to their unique role as officers of the court.”
She is asking the New York Attorney Grievance Committee to investigate Ms. James and temporarily suspend, permanently suspend, or disbar her.
New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron had presided over the bench trial and has been asked to consider penalties including a $370 million disgorgement of Trump Organization and to permanently ban President Trump from doing business in New York.
In November, Ms. Stefanik also filed a judicial ethics complaint against Justice Engoron, accusing him of bias based on the judge’s comments and gag order on President Trump.
The rules of professional conduct for New York attorneys state that officers of the legal system should uphold public confidence in the legal process and promote access to the legal system.
“A lawyer should further the public’s understanding of and confidence in the rule of law and the justice system because, in a constitutional democracy, legal institutions depend on popular participation and support to maintain their authority,” it states, as cited in the official complaint.
It also states that lawyers should not engage in conduct that “adversely reflects on the lawyer’s fitness as a lawyer,” and other attorneys have been sanctioned by the committee for inappropriate media statements.
During the course of the trial, Ms. James made several speeches and gave statements to the media claiming that President Trump lied repeatedly and that he used fraud to enrich his family. She also posted a series of infographics on the X platform promoting the fraud case and captioning it “Donald Trump’s art of the steal.”
Ms. Stefanik claimed that Ms. James pursued the case against President Trump as part of a “personal vendetta” that began since he first took office.
Ms. James had long been vocal about her opposition to President Trump taking office, and Ms. Stefanik cited quotes in which she said Ms. James “bragged” about her leadership in the “resistance” movement against him.
“Before she became a candidate for Attorney General, Ms. James displayed extreme partisan hostility toward President Trump. During President Trump’s first year in office, Ms. James led “die-in” protests against President Trump because ‘we are all being killed by this administration,” the complaint reads.
“I’ve been leading the resistance against Donald Trump in NYC and will only continue to do so in every way possible,” she said in an Associated Press interview in 2017.
In September 2023, when Ms. James brought the lawsuit, several articles about Ms. James’s history of targeting President Trump were published highlighting her record of “resistance.”
After the trial began on Oct. 2, 2023, the Trump campaign also uncovered several video clips of Ms. James from her time campaigning for the attorney general’s office. She had campaigned to “get Trump” and made comments about how she looked forward to going to work everyday, “suing him, and going home.”
It wasn’t just campaign speeches, Ms. Stefanik said, adding that Ms. James used her opposition to President Trump in fundraising as well, asking donors to help in her “fight against Donald Trump.”
All these serve as a basis for disciplinary action, as Ms. James should have instead distanced herself from any official action involving President Trump, the representative said.
“Despite her clear bias, Ms. James has launched frivolous investigations and lawsuits against President Trump, his family, and his businesses,” the complaint reads. “Ms. James also prejudged evidence she had not seen and called for criminal indictments on that basis.”
Ms. James’s comments and actions have drawn criticism from Democrats as well.
Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-N.Y.), who served as lead counsel in the impeachment of President Trump, told The New York Times that Ms. James’s conduct showed “an individualized vendetta.”“It’s essential that prosecutors maintain their neutrality and an objective view of the facts and the evidence, no matter the politics involved,” he said.
Chuck Rosenberg, a former acting administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration who also worked under FBI Directors Robert Mueller and James Comey, wrote two articles on Lawfare Media in which he argued that Ms. James should recuse herself from cases involving President Trump because of her very public comments that demonstrated “prejudgment of the facts and a political predisposition to the issues she now must manage apolitically and dispassionately.”
Supreme Court Asks Special Counsel to Respond to Trump Presidential Immunity Appeal
Chief Justice John Roberts has requested that the Justice Department (DOJ) respond to former President Donald Trump’s attempt to assert presidential immunity in his ongoing Jan. 6-related case in D.C.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit had just rejected President Trump’s attempt to overturn Judge Tanya Chutkan’s refusal to dismiss DOJ’s prosecution based on presidential immunity. Justice Roberts’ Feb. 13 request comes less than a week after the justices heard President Trump’s appeal a Colorado ruling that he was disqualified from appearing on the state’s ballot.
With a deadline of Feb. 20, the Court’s request points to a broader urgency for the judicial system to address relatively untested questions of law that could impact the 2024 presidential election.
President Trump criticized the appellate court in his Feb. 12 filing, arguing that it provided a tight timeline for asking the Supreme Court for relief before requiring Judge Chutkan to resume her pre-trial proceedings.
Judge Chutkan indefinitely postponed the scheduled trial date of March 4, which is looking increasingly unlikely amid the former president’s various appeals.
“[A] panel of the D.C. Circuit has, in an extraordinarily fast manner, issued a decision on President Trump’s claim of immunity and ordered the mandate returned to the district court to proceed with President Trump’s criminal trial in four business days, unless this Court intervenes (as it should),” President Trump’s application to stay the appellate court’s mandate read.
As President Trump’s brief noted, Special Counsel Jack Smith had requested the Supreme Court skip appellate proceedings and fast-track the issue, stating that “only” the Supreme Court could “definitively resolve” President Trump’s claims to immunity. The Supreme Court ultimately rejected Mr. Smith’s petition but is expected to eventually rule on the issue.
Presidential immunity is a relatively ambiguous area of law, but the Supreme Court held in Nixon v. Fitzgerald (1982) that the president had “absolute immunity” from civil liability that extended to the “outer perimeter” of his official duties.
But President Trump went too far, the appellate judges held, by asking for immunity from criminal liability. “Former President Trump’s claimed immunity would have us extend the framework for Presidential civil immunity to criminal cases and decide for the first time that a former President is categorically immune from federal criminal prosecution for any act conceivably within the outer perimeter of his executive responsibility,” the judges’ opinion read.
Meanwhile, President Trump maintained that Mr. Smith’s indictment targeted his official acts as president and that the Constitution afforded presidents’ discretionary decisions special protection from review by courts. Part of his argument rested on the Supreme Court’s decision in Mississippi v. Johnson, which held that “this court has no jurisdiction of a bill to enjoin the President in the performance of his official duties; and that no such bill ought to be received by us.”
In requesting the Supreme Court’s intervention, President Trump’s brief noted that his “claim that Presidents have absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for their official acts presents a novel, complex, and momentous question that warrants careful consideration on appeal.”
A poll examining the Republican primary race out of South Carolina is projecting a historic
defeat for presidential hopeful and former Gov. Nikki Haley.
The CBS News survey asked likely GOP primary voters in South Carolina who they plan to support in the upcoming February 23 primary, and Trump leads by a massive margin, garnering 65 percentage points to Haley’s 30 percentage points — a difference of 35 percent:
The survey finds that Haley has virtually no advantage going into her home state, as three-quarters of likely GOP voters say Haley being from South Carolina makes “no difference” to them. Only one in five say it makes them “more likely to vote for her,” and five percent say it makes them “less likely to vote for her.”
Additionally, 76 percent think Haley is clearly not part of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, and the vast majority, 89 percent, are more concerned with national issues than issues specific to the Palmetto State.
Trump voters are also more set in their decision to support him, as 87 percent have “firmly decided” they will support him, compared to 78 percent of Haley voters who say the same.
Trump has a higher approval rating as president, 82 percent, than Haley has as governor, 60 percent, among these likely GOP voters. Further, more voters believe that Trump fights for “people like you”— 81 percent to Haley’s 56 percent. Likely GOP voters are also more likely to describe Trump as “tough,” a “strong leader,” and “prepared” than Haley. However, Haley is more likely to be described as “likable.”
The survey was taken February 5-10, 2024, among 1,483 registered voters. It has a ± three percent margin of error and coincides with other surveys showing Trump leading Haley not only in her own backyard but in Super Tuesday states as well.
Regardless of South Carolina’s results, Haley has indicated that she plans to soldier on in the primary.
Democrat Tom Suozzi Wins New York’s Special Congressional Election to Replace George Santos
Former Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) has won the special election for New York’s Third
Congressional District in a blow to House Republicans’ already thin majority.
As of 10:06 p.m. ET, the Associated Press press called the race for Suozzi, who beat out Republican Mazi Melesa Pilip, a member of the Nassau County legislature who served as a paratrooper in the Israeli Defense Forces. As of 10:11 p.m. ET, the New York Times election results showed Suozzi secured 58.7 percent of the vote to Pilip’s 41.3 percent with an estimated 52 percent of the vote reporting.
Suozzi will fill the seat that was vacated when embattled former Rep. George Santos (R-NY) was expelled from Congress in December. Once Suozzi is sworn in, Republicans will only have a six-seat advantage over Democrats, at 219 seats to 213, amid key spending battles with the Democrat-controlled Senate and the Biden administration.
For reference as to how fragile the Republican majority is, the impeachment of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas passed by one vote on Tuesday at 214-213. Had Suozzi been in Congress, the vote likely would have been 214-214.
Suozzi previously served in Congress from 2017-2023 and did not seek reelection in 2022 in favor of a failed gubernatorial bid.
One GOP strategist focused on House races told Axios that Republicans faced an “uphill fight” heading into the election, while a Republican representative speaking anonymously predicted the “weather may cause a problem” in the district, which includes parts of Queens and Nassau County.
Congress voted 311-114 on December 1 to expel Santos from the House after he was federally charged with 23 counts in October, ranging from conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States to counts of wire fraud to counts of making materially false statements to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and more.
As Breitbart News noted, an Investigative Subcommittee (ISC) report on Santos released by the House Ethics Committee on November 16 found that the Santos campaign used donations for botox treatments, OnlyFans, and lodging in Atlantic City and Las Vegas.
However, the expulsion broke with hundreds of years of precedent. Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) noted that of the five members of Congress expelled before Santos was, three “fought for the Confederacy” during the Civil War while the other two were actually convicted of criminal wrongdoing.
Republicans’ majority was further wounded when former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who was ousted from the speakership through a motion to vacate in October, left Congress at the end of December.
Wall Street and Hollywood Titans Team Up to Back Biden
The rich and famous are ready to bankroll the Biden campaign, according to federal disclosures. Accounting for all of its financial mechanisms, the Biden campaign entered 2024 with more than $100 million on hand.
President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign will rely on two main fundraising political action committees: Biden For President, his principal campaign committee, and Future Forward (FF) PAC, a hybrid PAC, along with a joint fundraising committee, the Biden Victory Fund.
As a hybrid PAC, FF PAC can solicit and accept unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations, labor unions, and other political committees, according to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). It must maintain two bank accounts: one for independent expenditures on advertisements or voter drives, and another for making direct contributions to federal candidates.
The Biden Victory Fund is a non-qualified joint fundraising committee. According to the agency, that means it is a political committee working together with “one or more other political committees or unregistered organizations.”
A nonqualified fund, according to the FEC, can “receive limited financial and administrative support from a sponsoring organization that is not a corporation or a labor organization, such as a partnership or an unincorporated association.”
The three funds collectively took in about $262.6 million in 2023, according to their year-end reports filed with the FEC on Jan. 31. They spent about $157.8 million and had about $107.5 million on hand at the end of the year.
In terms of spending, Biden For President focused its expenditures on media buying and production. Two firms, Media Buying & Analytics LLC and Gambit Strategies LLC, were collectively paid more than $17 million.
Biden Victory Fund, for its part, sent huge sums to Biden For President, the Democratic National Committee (DNC), and state parties. Nearly $50 million was sent to Biden For President, while the DNC got more than $17 million.
The biggest donors chipped into FF PAC possibly due to limitations on how much can be given to the other funds. However, several notable donors sent nearly $1 million to the Biden Victory Fund.
The biggest individual donor to the Biden campaign is the nonprofit group Future Forward Action USA, which shares leadership and a name with FF PAC.Future Forward Action USA sent FF PAC about $8.3 million, or about a third of its total fundraising, in 2023.
As a 501(c)(4) group, Future Forward USA Action is not subject to the same disclosure requirements of other funds associated with political campaigns.
FF PAC, Joe Biden for President, and Biden Victory Fund must release their financial information to the public regularly under FEC rules. In 2024, they will report monthly.
A 501(c)(4) group is not limited in whom it can accept money from, nor how much it can spend, and doesn’t have to say who is donating to it. It also doesn’t report its activities as often as FEC-regulated funds do.
In 2020, Future Forward USA Action provided about 40 percent of FF PAC’s funding.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Inflation Hotter-Than-Expected at 3.1 Percent as Price Pressures Remain High
The annual rate of inflation came in hotter than economists expected at 3.1 percent in January, with some analysts expressing particular concern that the monthly pace of “core” inflation, which excludes food and energy, was much too high for comfort as it shows price pressures building steam.
The consumer price index (CPI), a common measure of inflation, fell to 3.1 percent year-over-year in January, down from 3.4 percent in the prior month, according to a Feb. 13 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
The reading was higher than the 2.9 percent that markets expected.
“Inflation—it’s like trying to lose 20lbs. The first 10 come off like butter. The last ten are a root canal,” Lawrence McDonald, former head of macro strategy at Soc Gen, said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
The headline month-over-month inflation reading was 0.3 percent, higher than the 0.2 percent notched in the prior month and another negative upside surprise for economists.
The “core” annual CPI, which is a measure that strips out the volatile categories of food and energy and reflects underlying inflationary pressures, moved down to 3.9 percent. While this was the lowest core inflation reading since August 2021, it, too, was above market estimates of 3.7 percent.
But perhaps the biggest negative surprise was that the core month-over-month pace of inflation came in at 0.4 percent, also higher than the 0.3 markets expected and higher than the prior month’s reading of 0.3 percent.
“A 0.4 percent outcome would be a huge negative surprise, one that would likely cause the probability for a May cut to move comfortably south of 50 percent,” ING analysts wrote in a note. “That would throw the easing inflation story up in the air, bringing US Treasury yield with them.”
Even a monthly core inflation reading of 0.3 percent, which would have been in line with market expectations, would have been too high for comfort because that would annualize to 4 percent, which ING analysts said would be “clearly too high.”
Paramount Global Begins Mass Layoffs After CBS Scores Super Bowl Ratings Victory
How is Paramount Global celebrating its Super Bowl ratings victory on CBS? By laying off hundreds of employees.
Paramount Global — which owns CBS, Paramount Pictures, Pluto TV, Comedy Central, BET, and numerous other media properties — is set to begin laying off around 800 employees, or 3 percent of its workforce on Tuesday, according to an internal memo from CEO Bob Bakish that was first obtained by Deadline.
Workers losing their jobs will be notified Tuesday. “These adjustments will help enable us to build on our momentum and execute our strategic vision for the year ahead — and I firmly believe we have much to be excited about,” Bakish reportedly wrote in the note.
HEALTH
Three reasons a heart loves garlic
Research shows that garlic has many different health benefits, including some that can help your heart.
- Garlic is an excellent source of antioxidants, which can help fight infection and cell damage.
- Several studies have shown that garlic can help lower blood pressure.
When it comes to lowering your cholesterol and improving heart health, there are a lot of foods that can help. But if you’re looking for a way to add flavor to a dish while also helping your heart, garlic may be the answer.
Some studies have shown that garlic and garlic supplements may have positive effects on heart health by preventing cell damage, regulating cholesterol and lowering blood pressure. Other research shows that garlic supplements may also reduce plaque buildup in the arteries.
Here are a few benefits to adding garlic or garlic supplements to your diet:
- Helps boost your immune system and protect cells
Our bodies need antioxidants to help prevent or slow cell damage caused by unstable molecules called “free radicals.” Free radicals can be naturally occurring in the body or can come from external sources such as radiation exposure, smoking, air pollution or chemicals. Too many free radicals can lead to oxidation stress, a condition linked to chronic illnesses, including heart disease.
Garlic is an excellent source of antioxidants, including selenium, vitamin C and quercetin (a phytochemical found in plants with anti-inflammatory capabilities). Garlic also has small amounts of manganese, an essential component of some antioxidant enzymes.
- Helps lower your blood pressure
High blood pressure is one of the key risk factors for cardiovascular disease. If left untreated, high blood pressure can cause the walls of your arteries to become overstretched. This can lead to damage and scarring. The American Heart Association reports that nearly half of American adults have high blood pressure.
A 2019 study published in Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine showed that garlic supplements helped lower blood pressure. Researchers determined that this change in blood pressure reduced the risk of cardiovascular disease by 16-40%. The results came from an analysis of 12 studies involving 553 people diagnosed with high blood pressure.
Another study published in 2016 showed that aged garlic extract supplements helped lower blood pressure and improved overall cholesterol levels.
- Helps combat atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries)
Healthy arteries are elastic and flexible. But as we age, they can become stiff, hard and may have plaque buildup — all of which restrict blood flow. Because garlic may help lower high blood pressure, it may also help prevent the scarring and hardening associated with atherosclerosis.
Some research has also shown that aged garlic extract can help reduce the amount of “soft plaque” in the arteries. Soft plaque is more likely to break off and cause a blockage that leads to a heart attack.
One small study, which involved 55 patients ages 40-75, tracked how the garlic supplement worked for a year. In the end, researchers found those who took the supplement saw an 80% reduction in soft plaque.
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Research shows ginger may play a role in maintaining a healthy heart
The human heart beats around 70 times a minute, non-stop for 80 years give or take, pumping more than 10 million liters of blood around your body every year. Without a break, it continues its steady, faithful beat. Sadly, many of us take our hearts for granted. Heart disease accounts for 1 in 4 deaths in the United States and around 600,000 people die of heart disease in the U.S. every year. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women.
Research shows that ginger may play a role in maintaining a healthy heart. Used in traditional Chinese, Indonesian and Ayurvedic medicine, ginger has been used for centuries to treat a variety of cardiovascular conditions. In theory, ginger helps reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke. But how does ginger do this?
Studies have shown that ginger contains anti-inflammatory properties that work much like the more common non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, often referred to as NSAIDs.1 Specifically, ginger inhibits the action of several of the genes involved in the inflammation process.
Ginger helps to reduce inflammation by actually blocking the very genes needed to create inflammation in the first place.
Power Mall Product of Recommendation: Strauss Kidney Support– recommended to use alongside Strauss Heartdrops
Skip candy this Valentine’s Day. Here are some healthier options
Forget love — for many, the biggest part of Valentine’s Day is all that candy.
Chocolate and other candy sales during the Valentine’s Day season came out to an estimated $4.2 billion last year, according to the National Confectioners Association.
When the holiday rolls around, most of those sweet options you tend to find in the average grocery store are processed and contain ingredients such as food dyes, which some studies have linked to behavioral issues in kids. So if you want some choices that offer sweetness and indulgence without the excessive sugar and empty calories, here are some alternatives.
Fresh fruit
It may seem boring, but fruits — fresh or dried — are a clear choice if you’re looking for something naturally sweet while also beneficial for your health. Berries in particular are rich in antioxidants and vitamins. Strawberries, for example, have lots of vitamin C and can support your immune system so you’re feeling your best for the holiday. What’s more, apples have some effects in common with brushing your teeth because they promote saliva production and freshen breath (obviously a must). Fruit basket arrangements can be a good gifting choice.
Cheese board
Although it may not be the sweet option you’re looking for, a cheese board can still be a romantic treat. While the benefits vary depending on what type you consume, cheese offers several nutritional benefits.
“Cheese has protein, vitamins, and minerals derived from the animal’s milk. It’s also quite salty and high in fat, so it falls in the category of enjoy in moderation,” said Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University.
Stay away from the overly processed kind, which tends to be higher in sodium. You can tell by looking at the ingredients on the food label to see whether it’s cut with non-cheese ingredients.
Chocolate-covered fruit or nuts
Giving chocolate is an age-old Valentine’s Day tradition since at least when the Aztecs were around, as it was believed to be an aphrodisiac. So naturally, it had to make this list. But it comes with an asterisk.
While cocoa does have compounds that are good for us, we may not get enough of those benefits when consuming the highly processed, highly sweetened kind. Those heart-shaped boxes are a culprit.
“Dark chocolate has antioxidant nutrients, but you would have to eat pounds of it to take in enough to make a difference,” said Nestle.
However, chocolate-dipped fruit or nuts is still a healthier alternative to chocolate alone. And dark chocolate with a high cocoa content would contain more antioxidants and less sugar than milk chocolate, for example.
Something homemade
Get creative and make something homemade, so you know exactly what’s going into what you eat.
“You have no idea what’s in pre-prepared food, whereas you know exactly what’s in the food you cook,” said Nestle. “Restaurant food is aimed at deliciousness, not necessarily health. Prepackaged foods have all kinds of additives — preservatives, colors, flavors, texturizers — to make the foods appear and taste good. These can encourage overeating.”
Some ideas include homemade energy balls, granola bars, healthy oat cookies using wholesome ingredients, protein-rich nut-butter cups, whole wheat pancakes, naturally sweet date-coconut balls and yogurt-covered treats drizzled with honey. Just be mindful of portion size. For a festive touch, arrange them in a heart shape and package in a decorative box.
Nonfood gifts
Something that isn’t food can be just as thoughtful, without the extra calories. When in doubt, flowers are a classic. You can also give a potted plant — plants have been shown to have a positive effect on mood. Other ideas include a book, a spa gift card or basket, a custom photo album or engraved jewelry.
Of course, objects can’t compare with the gift of experience; some ideas are a concert, cooking class, wine tasting, a full-body massage, a gift card to a day spa, a movie night or weekend getaway.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Your Carbon Footprint Will Set Your Carbon Passport
The summer of 2023 has been very significant for the travel industry. By the end of July, international tourist arrivals globally reached 84% of pre-pandemic levels. In some European countries, such as France, Denmark and Ireland, tourism demand even surpassed its pre-pandemic level.
This may be great news economically, but there’s concern that a return to the status quo is already showing dire environmental and social consequences.
The summer saw record-breaking heatwaves across many parts of the world. People were forced to flee wildfires in Greece and Hawaii, and extreme weather warnings were issued in many popular holiday destinations like Portugal, Spain and Turkey. Experts attributed these extreme conditions to climate change.
Tourism is part of the problem. The tourism sector generates around one-tenth of the greenhouse gas emissions that are driving the climate crisis.
The negative impacts of tourism on the environment have become so severe that some are suggesting drastic changes to our travel habits are inevitable. In a report from 2023 that analysed the future of sustainable travel, tour operator Intrepid Travel proposed that “carbon passports” will soon become a reality if the tourism industry hopes to survive.
What is a carbon passport?
The idea of a carbon passport centres on each traveller being assigned a yearly carbon allowance that they cannot exceed. These allowances can then “ration” travel.
This concept may seem extreme. But the idea of personal carbon allowances is not new. A similar concept (called “personal carbon trading”) was discussed in the House of Commons in 2008, before being shut down due to its perceived complexity and the possibility of public resistance.
The average annual carbon footprint for a person in the US is 16 tonnes – one of the highest rates in the world. In the UK this figure sits at 11.7 tonnes, still more than five times the figure recommended by the Paris Agreement to keep global temperature rise below 1.5°C.
Globally, the average annual carbon footprint of a person is closer to 4 tonnes. But, to have the best chance of preventing temperature rise from overshooting 2°C, the average global carbon footprint needs to drop to under 2 tonnes by 2050. This figure equates to around two return flights between London and New York.
Intrepid Travel’s report predicts that we will see carbon passports in action by 2040. However, several laws and restrictions have been put in place over the past year that suggest our travel habits may already be on the verge of change.
Targeting air travel
Between 2013 and 2018, the amount of CO₂ emitted by commercial aircrafts worldwide increased by 32%. Improvements in fuel efficiency are slowly reducing per passenger emissions. But research from 2014 found that whatever the industry’s efforts to reduce its carbon emissions, they will be outweighed by the growth in air traffic.
For emission reductions to have any meaningful effect, ticket prices would have to rise by 1.4% each year, discouraging some people from flying. However, in reality, ticket prices are falling.
Some European countries are beginning to take measures to reduce air travel. As of April 1 2023, passengers on short-haul flights and older aircraft in Belgium have been subject to increased taxes to encourage alternative forms of travel.
Less than two months later France banned short-haul domestic flights where the same trip can be made by train in two-and-a-half hours or less. Spain is expected to follow suit.
A similar scheme could also be on the horizon for Germany. In 2021, a YouGov poll found that 70% of Germans would support such measures to fight climate change if alternative transport routes like trains or ships were available.
Cruises and carbon
It’s not just air travel that’s being criticized. An investigation by the European Federation for Transport and Environment in 2023 found that cruise ships pump four times as many sulphuric gases (which are proven to cause acid rain and several respiratory conditions) into the atmosphere than all of Europe’s 291 million cars combined.
Statistics like these have forced European destinations to take action against the cruise industry. In July, Amsterdam’s council banned cruise ships from docking in the city centre in a bid to reduce tourism and pollution – an initiative that has shown success elsewhere.
In 2019 Venice was the most polluted European port, due to large numbers of cruise ship visits. But it dropped to 41st place in 2022 after a ban on large cruise ships entering the city’s waters reduced air pollutants from ships in Venice by 80%.
Changing destinations
Intrepid Travel’s report also highlights that not only how we travel, but where we travel will soon be impacted by climate change. Boiling temperatures will probably diminish the allure of traditional beach destinations, prompting European tourists to search for cooler destinations such as Belgium, Slovenia and Poland for their summer holidays.
Several travel agencies reported seeing noticeable increases in holiday bookings to cooler European destinations like Scandinavia, Ireland and the UK during 2023’s peak summer travel months.
Whatever the solution may be, changes to our travel habits look inevitable.
SURVEILLANCE STATE
Thirty House Republicans sent a letter to House Republican leadership on Tuesday, urging them to protect Americans’ Second Amendment rights while the House considers reauthorizing a controversial government surveillance program, Breitbart News has learned exclusively.
“We write to urge you to protect the Second and Fourth Amendment rights of innocent, law-abiding gun owners from the Biden Administration’s exploitation of a lawless government surveillance loophole,” the House Republicans, led by Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH), a staunch privacy advocate, wrote to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA).
The letter follows as the House moves closer to voting on legislation that would reauthorize the controversial Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Conservatives have argued that privacy reform must go further than merely reforming the abuses around Section 702, considering the number of abusive government practices.
The conservatives noted that, for years, federal government agencies and other law enforcement agencies have circumvented the Fourth Amendment by purchasing Americans’ private information, including phone location data, through data brokers. The lawmakers wrote that not only does this undermine Americans’ privacy, it also infringes upon the intent of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986:
Ordinarily, these agencies would need a judge-issued warrant before forcing phone or tech companies to turn over their customers’ location data. But creative government lawyers have decided that the Fourth Amendment does not apply to Americans’ sensitive, personal data — if the government buys it from data brokers. The embrace of this legal loophole by government agencies poses a serious threat to Americans’ privacy. It further undoes Congress’s clear intent in protecting precisely this kind of sensitive information through enactment of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986. Location information and other private information about Americans’ lives, including where an American prays, where and when they drive their children to school, and if they have visited a gun store or shooting range.
The 30 House conservatives said it is “vital” that any legislation the House considers to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), should close the data broker loophole, considering that Congress has a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity to protect Americans’ “right to privacy.” The lawmakers noted that the House Judiciary Committee has advanced two bills, the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act, which Davidson sponsored, and the Protect Liberty and End Warrantless Surveillance Act, led by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), which would end this controversial government practice.
The legislation is not only backed by some of the House’s most staunch conservatives; the Gun Owners of America (GOA) announced that they are urging all lawmakers to sign onto the Davidson letter and protect Americans’ Second Amendment rights. They have also endorsed Davidson’s The Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act. The National Association for Gun Rights also backs the move.
The Global Deep State: A Fascist World Order Funded by the American Taxpayer
The debate over U.S. foreign aid is a distraction.
That’s not to say that the amount of taxpayer money flowing to foreign countries in the form of military and economic assistance is insignificant. Even at less than 1% of the federal budget, the United States still spends more on foreign aid than any other nation.
The latest foreign aid spending bill includes $95 billion for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
Since World War II, the U.S. has given more foreign aid to Israel than any other country ($318 billion), with the bulk of those funds designated for Israel’s military efforts.
Even so, more than 150 countries around the world receive U.S. taxpayer-funded assistance.
As Forbes reports, “U.S. foreign aid dwarfs the federal funds spent by 48 out of 50 state governments annually. Only the state governments of California and New York spent more federal funds than what the U.S. sent abroad each year to foreign countries.”
Whether or not that some of that foreign aid is used for legitimate purposes, the global welfare system itself is riddled with corruption and waste. As Adam Andrzejewski rightly asks, “Do taxpayers instinctively know that they are funding choir directors in Turkmenistan, filmmakers in Peru, aid for poultry farmers Tanzania, and sex education workshops for prostitutes in Ethiopia?”
The problem is not so much that taxpayers are unaware of how their hard-earned dollars are being spent. Rather, “we the people” continue to be told that we have no say in the matter.
We have no real say in how the government runs, or how our taxpayer funds are used, but that doesn’t prevent the government from fleecing us at every turn and forcing us to pay for endless wars that do more to fund the military industrial complex than protect us, pork barrel projects that produce little to nothing, and a police state that serves only to imprison us within its walls.
This financial tyranny persists whether it’s a Democrat or Republican at the helm.
At a time when the government is spending money it doesn’t have on programs it can’t afford, the national debt continues to grow, our infrastructure continues to deteriorate, and our borders continue to be breached.
What is going on?
The “government of the people, by the people, for the people” has been overtaken by a shadow government—a corporatized, militarized, entrenched global bureaucracy—that is fully operational and running the country.
This powerful international cabal made up of international government agencies and corporations—let’s call it the Global Deep State—is just as real as the corporatized, militarized, industrialized American Deep State, and it poses just as great a threat to our rights as individuals under the U.S. Constitution, if not greater.
Clearly, we have entered into a new world order: fascism on a global scale.
It remains unclear whether the American Deep State (“a national-security apparatus that holds sway even over the elected leaders notionally in charge of it”) answers to the Global Deep State, or whether the Global Deep State merely empowers the American Deep State. However, there is no denying the extent to which they are intricately and symbiotically enmeshed and interlocked.
Consider the extent to which our lives and liberties are impacted by this international convergence of governmental and profit-driven corporate interests in the surveillance state, the military industrial complex, the private prison industry, the intelligence sector, the security sector, the technology sector, the telecommunications sector, the transportation sector, and in recent years, the pharmaceutical-health sector.
All of these sectors are dominated by mega-corporations operating on a global scale and working through government channels to increase their profit margins. The profit-driven policies of these global corporate giants influence everything from legislative policies to economics to environmental issues to medical care.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Are You and Your Family Really Ready For A Power Grid Failure?
The dangers to our aging, fragile electrical grid are numerous. Over the last few years, many of us have focused on the risk of an EMP, mostly fueled by North Korea’s nuclear and ICBM testing. But that may not be the biggest risk our power grid faces, according to Dan Coats, the National Director of Intelligence. According to a recent statement by him, cyber attacks against the grid have become so commonplace as to have “the light flashing red” right now. This is just as it was after the 9-11 World Trade Center disaster.
EMPs Aren’t The Only Threat To A Power Grid Failure
So, if you were breathing easier because the risk of North Korea causing mischief has gone down, don’t be hasty. In fact, North Korea is one of the four principal countries that are trying to infiltrate our government’s computer networks at all levels as well as our nation’s industry and power grid.
While this may not seem as serious a risk as an EMP shutting everything down, it very well could be. A well thought out attack, causing cascading failures, could shut down large parts of the grid. Worse, getting into the computers of power plants could cause serious damage to those plants. In the case of nuclear power plants, it could have catastrophic results.
Just in case you hadn’t heard, some hackers have gotten far enough into the computers running the grid (and in one case a power plant) to do just that. Why they didn’t is something we don’t know. They could just be waiting for the right time.
Are We Really Ready For A Power Grid Failure?
The question this leaves for you and I is: are we ready for a power grid failure? I don’t mean a temporary power outage which lasts for a few days, I mean really going down. I’m talking about something that would take months or even years to repair.
Many say that if that were to happen, we’d be thrown back into living like they did in the 1800s. There’s just one problem with that analogy, most of us don’t have what we need in order to live that way. It’s bad enough for those of us who call ourselves preppers. For those who aren’t, there’s little chance at all.
There are a number of key areas that I think many of us are lacking in. Let the list below serve as a checklist for you, and you should ask yourself if you are ready to deal with these things.
GARDENING, FARMING & HOMESTEADING
One of the sturdiest of all structures is the A-frame, whose skeleton consists simply of a row of triangles. The bases of the triangles are the joists that support the floor, and the sides are the rafters that hold the combined walls and roof. The simplicity of construction and comparatively low cost make it a popular choice for vacation cabins or an off-grid home. Any style of foundation can serve as its base.
Planning Your A-Frame House
The most common shape is equilateral — joists and rafters are equal in length and set at angles of 60 degrees to each other. You can use different angles to modify the shape, however (see “Common Floor-to-Rafter Angles,” below). An A-frame can be built to almost any size simply by varying the number of triangles and their dimensions, but a cabin with a sleeping loft must have rafters at least 20 feet long to allow adequate headroom on both floors. For a small structure like the one described here, three people can lift the assembled triangles into place without the assistance of special equipment. A structure with rafters greater than 24 feet may prove too unwieldy for a crew of amateurs. Frame doors and windows in the end walls. For a large A-frame, plan a lot of windows to keep the interior from being too dark.
2ND AMENDMENT
Visa, Mastercard, American Express Implementing Code to Track Gun Purchase Information in California
Visa, Mastercard, and American Express are implementing a special merchant code to
track gun and gun-related purchases in California.
CBS News reported that the new merchant code will be used to comply with a “California law that will allow banks to potentially track suspicious gun purchases and report them to law enforcement.”
This comes after major credit cards adopted then rescinded plans to use a new merchant code to track gun and gun-related purchases nationally.
On September 11, 2022, Breitbart News pointed out that Visa caved to pressure from gun control groups and New York Democrats, agreeing to flag gun and ammo purchases via a merchant code. The Associated Press observed that Mastercard and other major credit card companies also agreed to flag gun sales.
On March 2, 2023, Breitbart News noted that Discover was slated to begin tracking gun and ammunition purchases with the new merchant category code (MCC) in April 2023. This news created a feeling of momentum for the left, countered by a wave of pushback among conservatives.
On March 9, 2023, Breitbart News reported that Visa and Mastercard pivoted amidst the pushback and announced they would not begin tracking gun and ammunition purchases anytime soon.
But the major credit companies now plan to use a merchant code to track gun and gun-related sales to comply with a new law in California. The Washington Examiner noted that the California law goes into effect in 2025.
Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) commented on the plan to track gun purchases, saying, “Once again, credit card companies are attempting to track the information of lawful gun owners. This is yet another egregious ATTACK by the Far Left on Americans’ Second Amendment rights to bear arms.”
COVID RELATED NEWS
Canadian Auditor General Karen Hogan presented Canada’s Parliament with a blistering report on ArriveCAN, the application created in April 2020 to assist travelers and determine their health status during the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic.
Hogan’s report portrayed ArriveCAN as a disaster at every level, from software coding to financial records. Hogan said the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) did such a poor job of documenting the project that it was impossible for her office to “determine the precise cost of the ArriveCAN application.”
“This is probably the first example that I’ve seen such a glaring disregard for some of the most basic and fundamental policies and rules,” she said in testimony to the House Public Accounts Committee on Monday.
“We didn’t find records to accurately show how much was spent on what, who did the work, or how and why contracting decisions were made – and that paper trail should have existed,” she said.
Hogan noted that some 18 percent of the invoices submitted by outside contractors on the project lacked supporting documentation, and the project continued relying on outside contractors long after it should have transitioned to less expensive internal personnel. Her office believes up to 20 percent of the funding may have been spent on expenses unrelated to developing and maintaining ArriveCAN.
The auditor general could only make an educated guess on a final price tag of roughly $44.3 million in U.S. dollars for the pandemic application. She said it was not money well spent.
ArriveCAN is still up and running and can be used by travelers to make customs and immigration declarations before flying into most of Canada’s big airports. When the app was first created in 2020, using it was mandatory. After that requirement was lifted in October 2023, very few travelers continued using it.
Hogan’s report acknowledged that the Canadian government, like most others around the world, was panicked over the Wuhan coronavirus in 2020 and fumbled for solutions to control the pandemic. She said this state of alarm was no excuse for failing to “follow good management practices in the contracting, development, and implementation of the ArriveCAN application.”
Hogan told CBC Radio on Monday that she found emails from vendors to “individuals in the branch that was responsible for developing and implementing the ArriveCAN application” inviting them to mysterious “dinners and other activities.”
“We have no documentation to know whether folks attended those events or they didn’t,” she said.
“The agency has a code of conduct, and that code of conduct requires that a public servant inform their supervisor if they receive an invitation to a private function from a vendor. That disclosure is needed so that the supervisor can then decide if measures need to be put into place because this increases the risk that there is real or perceived conflict of interest or bias in making procurement decisions,” she explained.
The National Post noted that “certain employees and contractors” involved in the ArriveCAN debacle have been referred to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for investigation.
Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc told reporters on Monday that the picture of incompetence and wasted public money painted by Hogan’s report was “unacceptable.”
CDC Responds to Claim It’s Planning to Drop Key COVID Guidance
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) responded to reports that the agency would soon change its COVID-19 isolation guidance.
The Washington Post, citing alleged agency sources, said that the CDC would change the guidance in the spring to say that people don’t need to isolate once they have been without a fever for 24 hours and that their symptoms are improving or mild. The new recommendations would not apply to hospitals and other health care settings with more vulnerable populations.
With the new CDC recommendations, its guidance on COVID-19 will more closely align with how it treats flu and RSV, according to the Post.
In response to the report, the CDC told several news outlets Tuesday that the isolation guidance will not be changed “at this time.”
“We will continue to make decisions based on the best evidence and science to keep communities healthy and safe,” the federal health agency said.
The guidelines for isolation when testing positive for COVID-19 have not been updated since December 2021, when the CDC shortened the recommended isolation time for Americans with asymptomatic cases to five days from the previous guidance of 10 days.
The agency also recommends that individuals with the virus stay home regardless of whether they’re symptom-free. After five days, if the COVID-19 symptoms haven’t improved, people should continue to isolate until they feel better and have been without a fever for at least 24 hours, the agency recommends.
Those guidelines are followed by state and local health agencies and hospitals, although they are not mandated to do so.
Last month, California released updated guidelines to recommend that people who test positive and have mild symptoms can end their isolation if their symptoms improve and if they’ve been without a fever—without taking medication—for 24 hours or more.
PET NEWS
Animal Crisis at the Border so Bad It’s Time to Call up National Guard, US Veteran Says
In what a U.S. combat veteran compared to some of the most horrific sights he saw during his deployment in Iraq, thousands of dogs and cats left by illegal immigrants at the Texas border are suffering and dying from extreme exposure or starvation after having been tortured or run over and left to die on roadways.
“There are literally hundreds of dead dogs and cats laying everywhere here,” John Mr. Rourke, a retired Army staff sergeant who did two tours in Iraq, told The Epoch Times. Some of them, he said, have been attacked with machetes, others have been shot, while others, he said, are dying while giving birth to litters of puppies and kittens, which he and others say are strewn all along the 400-mile U.S. border.
The cruelty he has seen at the border includes a dog that had suffered scalding oil being poured on its face and a German shepherd mix found dead on the side of the road with its mouth taped shut. Both were found in Colony Ridge, an area known as a crossing for illegal immigrants and where the highest population of abandoned pets exists. Animal rescuers say Eagle Pass is also overrun with stray dogs that were left at the border.
Rebecca Chavez, director of development at the Yaqui Animal Rescue in Sullivan City, Texas, told The Epoch Times that by the time her organization got to two puppies in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) area, someone had cut off the front paws of one of the puppies and scalped it. The puppy was still alive, but the decision was made to euthanize it.
“We need more resources, we need vets, we need money to buy food supplies. We need people to care,” she said. Her group recently came across a dog reported laying dead in the road only to discover the dog was still alive and had been laying there for days. It couldn’t get up because its spine was severed.
Joining Mr. Rourke and Ms. Chavez in sounding the alarm, animal rescue organizations told The Epoch Times they are exhausted and emotionally wracked by the situation and are begging for help. After becoming aware of the animal crisis at the border, Mr. Rourke began using his moving van to transport some of the border dogs to Big Dog Ranch Rescue, a rescue organization in his home state of Florida. The nonprofit chronicles their rescue efforts in Texas on its website. He runs Blue Line Moving, which he bills as a conservative moving company that moves people from blue states to red states. He has done moving work for former President Donald Trump and his family. So far Mr. Rourke has moved 150 of the dogs—hardly a dent, he said, in what he estimates to be at least 10,000 dogs stranded along the border. What he believes really should be done is for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to call up the National Guard to address the animal crisis at the border. He pointed out that the National Guard has a staff of veterinarians and vet techs who provide care for border patrol dogs and feels it could set up on-site spay and neuter clinics and provide much-needed emergency medical care for the animals.
Ms. Chavez agreed that the priority should be spaying and neutering these animals. She said both dogs and cats left at the border are rapidly reproducing in an already poor area wracked with animal abuse problems where there are few resources for veterinarian care.
ICYMI
VIDEO: CNN Asks Chiefs Star Patrick Mahomes if NFL Rigged Super Bowl to Help Joe Biden
CNN just can’t seem to help itself. The network beclowned itself once again on Tuesday by asking Super Bowl-winning quarterback Patrick Mahomes if the National Football League fixed the game to help Joe Biden win the election in November.
This gem of a question was put to the Kansas City Chiefs star by CNN anchor Abby Phillip during her broadcast of CNN Newsnight.
“So, you might be aware — or may be not aware — there were some wild conspiracy theories that were fly around this season that, uh, that the Taylor Swift effect was all scripted to allow Taylor to use the Super Bowl for politics, basically,” Phillip said. “So, the president himself, President Biden, kinda got in on the joke a little there. What do you make of just how this has spiraled, not just the football, but the politics and all these different areas?”
The question certainly seemed to perplex the football star.
“Yeah, it’s been wild to see. I mean, I try to focus on football as much as possible,” Mahomes said, smiling. “But there’s always some conspiracy theories out there.”
Mahomes continued to avoid the absurd question deftly, adding, ” I just try to enjoy football and my family. And I gotta stay off social media as much as possible.”
Phillip responded, “I would say that that is wise,” seemingly unaware of how unwise her question was in the first place.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell blasted the conspiracy theories last week, saying that claims the Swift and Chiefs star Travis Kelce’s relationship was invented for ratings as “nonsense.”
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