WORLD NEWS
Ecuador Laughs Off Partnership with Socialist Venezuela, Seeks U.S. Help with Gangs
President Daniel Noboa of Ecuador on Tuesday laughed off Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro’s offer of security assistance against gang members, ignoring Maduro’s warning to steer clear of entanglements with the United States.
“Thank you, but no thank you,” Noboa said after Venezuela’s socialist strongman suggested asking for his help instead of accepting “interventionism” and “colonialism” from the U.S. Southern Command.
President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro during a meeting at Humboldt Hotel on September 21, 2023, in Caracas, Venezuela. (Carlos Becerra/Getty)
“I don’t have a fight with Nicolas Maduro. I have enough fights here in this country,” Noboa added to the website interviewing him on Tuesday. “Simply no, thank you very much.”
Noboa was also humorously dismissive of domestic critics who said his anti-gang policies are little different from those of his predecessor, Guillermo Lasso.
“It is a good joke,” he said. “I think the vast majority of Ecuador has seen a big difference, so I leave that to the people to decide.”
Maduro piped up on Monday after Noboa met with U.S. representatives on Monday to discuss security cooperation. Noboa said he requested weapons, technology, and training from the U.S. for his security forces, and also hoped the U.S. would help him refinance Ecuador’s external debt, “so that we are not financially hanged while we fight this war.”
Saudis, China Announce Joint Petrochemical Project
The Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) on Sunday announced an investment plan to build a petrochemical complex in China’s Fujian province, in cooperation with the Fujian Fuhua Gulei Petrochemical company.
Chinese state media celebrated the announcement as evidence that China and Saudi Arabia are growing closer, both economically and politically.
Abdulaziz bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, center, speaks during a news conference following the 33rd meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC countries in Vienna, Austria, on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022. (Akos Stiller/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
China’s state-run Global Times hailed the SABIC Fujian Petrochemicals Company created by Sunday’s announcement as an example of “the fruitful industrial cooperation between China and Saudi Arabia.”
The Global Times looked at Saudi Arabia’s $6.4 billion investment in the Fujian project as the petrochemical engagement ring for a geopolitical romance built upon the Saudis feeding China’s voracious appetite for fossil fuels.
Analysts quoted by the Chinese paper pointed to other agreements between big Chinese corporations and Aramco, the Saudi national oil company, as other signs of the increasing harmony between Beijing and Riyadh.
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
A number of Senate Republicans are extremely concerned with the ongoing border deal negotiations between the White House and GOP leadership, expressing their frustration with a number of leaked proposals that are being considered and saying they would never vote for the bill, in exclusive conversations with the Daily Caller.
According to sources engaged on the border bailout, the proposals go beyond past already reported leaks. The current framework under consideration would drastically change immigration law in the U.S. Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, Utah Sen. Mike Lee and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz all spoke with the Caller about what they have heard about the ongoing negotiations and reacted to leaked proposals obtained by the Caller.
Here Are Some Leaked Proposals In The Current Framework, According To Sources:
- Legally establish 5,000 illegal aliens entering the country per day as the new norm, requiring the crisis hit that number before the president could invoke Title 42-esque authority, effectively forcing Americans to, at minimum, accept 1.8 million illegal aliens a year.
- Provide amnesty to a “documented Dreamer” class, taking care of 250,000 people whose parents replaced American workers under the deeply flawed H-1B guest worker program.
- Keep mass parole programs in place — provided illegal immigrants enter through American airports, not at the border.
- Give quicker work permits to illegal aliens likely committing asylum fraud by ending the 180-day wait period.
- Expand the already vast network of free benefits like legal services for illegal aliens—adding to the services American taxpayers already fund to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars per year.
- Funnel billions of dollars to the corrupt NGOs that profit off the border crisis by transporting, lodging, and helping illegal aliens enter the country every day.
Lee introduced a resolution Wednesday that would force a public debate amongst Senate Republicans’ “border deal” before it can be voted on, in order for members to truly understand what is in the package. It has picked up the support of at least nine others in the Senate GOP.
“The idea behind it, as the text suggests, we just want to make sure that this thing doesn’t get rushed. These ongoing conversations that have been going on privately for months, once they culminate, the theory is that with something like this, there must be a rush to get it to the floor, and there might be a sort of a wave of unfettered exuberance over the fact that a deal has been reached by those few involved in those discussions, and we just want to make sure that we have a chance to know what’s in it. And there are some provisions in there that we’ve been very concerned about. And so unless this thing is very different than what we imagined, then we’ve got an issue,” Lee said.
The Caller then asked Lee about the leaked proposals listed above, to which he said he has heard of “most of them” and explained many of his concerns.
“So that part about the 5,000 per day, this is one of many things that has me concerned. Now there are 1000 ways this could be written. But what the proponents of the bill, when they share it, say that this is a new title 42-like tool that would allow us to effectively shut down illegal immigration on our southern border anytime daily encounters exceed 5,000 per day. Now, the part about being able to shut down illegal immigration sounds great, of course, but why 5,000 per day, especially when the Border Patrol has told us they can process about 500 per day? So why set the threshold for when this new authority kicks in? Only at 10 times what they can handle per day?” he continued.
“It seems very, very problematic to me. We keep being told ‘Oh, but you haven’t seen the whole thing. So don’t criticize it.’ But, what we’re talking about are the only things that we have heard. The only things that we have heard just give us cause for alarm, like these work permits. If you come in and you apply for asylum, and then you’re released out there right now, they give them work permits,” Lee said. “Now, I don’t think they should be doing that. I think they should shut down the whole asylum process as soon as they’re getting more than they can handle each day because you’re supposed to detain them until their claims are adjudicated.”
“We know that 90 to 99% of them are ultimately not found eligible for asylum. But right now they just release them into the public, buy them a plane ticket. And then after an 180 day wait, they’re given a work permit so they can work over the next decade or so, while they wait for their asylum immigration hearings,” he went on.
“This is perhaps my number one concern with this whole thing. I feel that we’re setting this up in such a way that Republicans take the blame for the current border surge and the border crisis. Republicans take the blame for it, and it sends the message incorrectly, that the border surges are happening for want of adequate legislative authority. And that just isn’t the case,” Lee added. “The exact same laws that are on the books today were on the books when Donald Trump brought these border surges down to a minimum.” (RELATED: House Dems Float Trading Border Deal In Exchange For Helping Save Mike Johnson’s Job)
Hawley, who is supporting Lee’s resolution, echoed many of the same concerns and said he does not know how any Republican could vote for some of the proposals in the deal. He also tore into Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, saying McConnell supports the deal. Hawley also said he thinks Senate Leadership will try to push something forward in the next few days on the floor. (RELATED: Biden’s DHS Demands Texas Authorities Stand Down At Southern Border As Legal Battle Intensifies)
“I certainly don’t trust Biden with more money or more authority. I think he’s the source of the problem. I often point out that the law isn’t changed at all between the Trump administration and the Biden administration, and yet we now have record high border crossings. Everybody knows that the only thing that’s changed is the President and his refusal to enforce the law. In fact, it’s worse than that. It’s the red carpet, you know, I mean, come on over to the cartels to all of the huge caravans, so I’m really, really skeptical that giving him more authority or money is going to do anything, number one. Number two, in terms of some of the items that you mentioned, it sounds like you know more about it than I do, which by the way, it’s typical,” Hawley told the Caller.
“I mean, we’ve been told now for literally a month that this is a great deal, and we should all get behind it, but we’re not going to let you see it. And then what does leak out? Things like 50,000 more green cards every year and 5,000 illegal crossings a day before you can close the border. Frankly, that sounds terrible to me. I mean, why would we ever agree to that? I mean, this sounds like a total giveaway. But then as soon as you criticize it, you’re told ‘Oh no, no, just wait for the text. Just wait for the text. At this point my patience has worn thin with this. I think this sounds, from what I know, this sounds like a terrible deal. If the people who say it’s wonderful really believe it is then show us. Show the world, publish the text but quit hiding behind closed doors and saying, ‘Well, wait, wait, wait. You’re gonna love it when you see it.’ I mean, I just I think this is really gotten to the point of absurdity,” he continued.
Hawley then said McConnell is in favor of this deal and added that if the proposals the Caller listed out to him are in it, he in no ways will be supporting it. He also said he will not be supporting anything he cannot actually read.
“This is something that’s negotiated between McConnell and Schumer and the White House. McConnell is the biggest cheerleader for this,” Hawley said. “It’s McConnell who said that we had a deal. ‘We have a deal,’ past tense. He said that two weeks ago. He’s the one who keeps telling us every time we get together, Republicans, ‘Oh you know, you need to support this.’ And yet nobody’s seen it. So I really think that this is between the two leaders, Schumer and McConnell, and sure they’ve got people on their teams, but they’re the ones who are who are making the final decisions here. And as I say, from everything I hear, this sounds terrible.”
“McConnell has said that he is for this deal. Now again, he keeps saying it’s a great deal and it’s the best deal we could possibly get. I’m like, ‘Well, if what we’re hearing out there in the press, if that’s the deal, that’s a horrible deal. If it’s better, produce it. Let’s see it. To me it’s very telling that they won’t produce any text over there. We’re just told to take it on its face and love it and line up to support it, but they won’t let us or the public see a word. Again, my patience has worn out with this. I think that that is an absurd way to proceed. I’d say I’m not gonna support it. There’s no way I’m supporting any of the things you just listed. And there’s no way I’m going to pledge that I’m supporting some deal that I haven’t even got to read,” he added.
Cruz, who is also supporting Lee’s resolution, mentioned things got heated during a Tuesday weekly private Senate GOP luncheon after he asked Republican leadership why they were trying to push a bill through that does not have support from a majority of the party.
“This so-called border deal is utterly foolhardy. Republican leadership and in particular, Mitch McConnell, is trying to ram this through. As of today, virtually no Republican Senator has seen the text of the bill. They are keeping it secret, hidden in Chuck Schumer’s basement. But the elements you’ve described are all elements that have been generically mentioned, but nobody’s read even a sentence of statutory text,” Cruz told the Caller.
“Yesterday at lunch, we had a very heated argument about this bill. I asked leadership why they were trying to ram through a bill that would get every Democrat and get the votes of 10 or 12 Republicans — predictably, Republican senators who are not on the ballot this year, who are not running for reelection or who are about to retire — and produce a bill that has a 0.00% chance of passing the House of Representatives. I asked leadership, ‘What in the hell are you accomplishing? Other than giving Chuck Schumer a talking point and enabling House Democrats to attack Republican leadership in the House?’ As I said at lunch, I understand why Schumer would want this bill. This bill could be called the Hakeem Jeffries Speaker Election bill. Because the only purpose I can ascertain is for Senate Republican leadership to use this bill to attack House Republican leadership. The Democrats do not want to secure the border. They have zero interest in securing the border,” he continued.
“The border crisis is not because the Democrats are lazy. It’s not because they’re incompetent. It’s not because they’re negligent. This is the outcome Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and Chuck Schumer and the rest of the congressional Democrats want. Joe Biden created this border crisis, and he did so unilaterally. He did so by halting construction on the border wall by reinstating the disastrous policy of catch and release and by pulling out of the incredibly successful remain in Mexico agreement. That is what caused this crisis,” Cruz added.
“Joe Biden could end this crisis tomorrow by reversing those three decisions, by building the wall, ending catch and release and by reinstating remain in Mexico. He does not wish to do so. As we sit here Joe Biden is actively suing the state of Texas, trying to stop the state of Texas from securing the border. And yet Republicans are like Charlie Brown with Lucy and the football where they keep running and falling on their ass. Because Surprise, surprise, Lucy Schumer pulls the ball away.”
The Caller contacted Republican Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford’s office, who was appointed by McConnell to lead the border negotiations. They did not deny that the obtained leaked proposals are being considered and said: “negotiations are still ongoing.”
McConnell’s office directed the Caller to Lankford’s office.
Maine Supreme Court Rejects Appeal by State’s Top Election Official in Trump Ballot Case
Maine’s Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected an appeal by the state’s top election official to review her decision to ban former President Trump from Maine’s presidential primary ballot.
The state’s high court rejected the appeal by Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and has sent the case back to Maine Superior Court for further action, pending a similar case in Colorado under review by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The justices said in their written decision that they adhere to a final judgment rule that “requires a trial court’s decision to be final before we consider an appeal.”
“Because the appeal is not from a final judgment, we dismiss the appeal as interlocutory and not justiciable,” the justices wrote in their decision (pdf).
The final judgment rule saves appellate courts from deciding on issues that may ultimately be rendered moot.
The justices added that they “would run a high risk of issuing an advisory opinion if we decided the matter on the merits before a final judgment has been entered.”
On Jan. 17, the Maine Superior Court ruled that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Colorado case could make the final decision on President Trump’s eligibility to hold office. Whether Ms. Bellows can proceed with removing President Trump from the state’s presidential primary ballot will have to wait for that ruling.
Ms. Bellows appealed the Superior Court decision two days later.
She was given until Tuesday to file a memo on why her appeal should not be “dismissed as interlocutory” to the case before the Supreme Court.
Ms. Bellows stayed her removal of President Trump from the ballot pending a higher court decision. If the Supreme Court fails to settle the issue before Maine’s primary on March 5, she plans to lift the stay, which would result in President Trump being removed from the ballot. This would occur after early voting ballots have already been sent out.
There have been challenges made to President Trump’s eligibility as a candidate under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment in 30 states across the country. While most state secretaries have declined to take an official position on the candidate’s eligibility for a presidential primary, Ms. Bellows argued that Maine law compels her to do so, even if it means adjudicating issues of “insurrection.”
She argued, in a court filing opposing President Trump’s appeal of her decision, that he “knowingly incited an attack on the Capitol to prevent the peaceful transfer of power.”
This, she wrote, permits her to conclude “that Mr. Trump engaged in insurrection and is accordingly not qualified for the office of the President by operation of Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment.”
Lawyers for the former president have argued that Ms. Bellows lacked authority to rule on his eligibility.
Trump Becomes First Non-Incumbent Republican to Win Iowa and New Hampshire
Former President Donald Trump made history with his Republican primary win in New Hampshire on Tuesday.
With his victory over former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in the state, President Trump has become the only non-incumbent Republican to win both Iowa and New Hampshire, according to multiple analyses.
Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, now a Utah senator, came close during the 2012 contest. However, while he won New Hampshire, he lost Iowa by 24.
As of Wednesday morning, the former president garnered about 54.5 percent of GOP primary voters in New Hampshire. Ms. Haley, meanwhile, received about 43.3 percent of the state’s vote so far. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who announced he left the race on Sunday and backed President Trump, received about 2,100 votes, while several other candidates who have dropped out received a few thousand in total.
President Trump is also the second non-incumbent Republican to get a majority of GOP primary votes in the Granite State in modern history. The only other one to do it was then-candidate Ronald Reagan in 1980, according to historical data. The former president also received the largest share of the state’s primary vote, with President Reagan only getting about 50.2 percent at the time.
NOTE: Think about the significance of the foregoing statement!
While the final margin was still unclear Wednesday, the result bolstered Republican calls for Ms. Haley to leave the race to unify around President Trump. However, she said in a speech and before the primary that she would persist.
Her campaign vowed in a memo earlier on Tuesday to push forward until Super Tuesday on March 5, when Republicans in 15 states and one territory vote in the primary.
The next competitive contest is scheduled for Feb. 24 in South Carolina, where Ms. Haley served two terms as governor. Despite her ties to the state, however, President Trump has racked up endorsements from most of the state’s Republican figures, and opinion polls show him with a wide lead.
Among those who called on Ms. Haley to leave the 2024 contest was Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, who until now had resisted publicly calling on candidates to leave the race. The party should rally around President Trump for the 2024 general election, she said Wednesday.
“Donald Trump is the first ever to win both [the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary]. I’m looking at the math and the path going forward, and I don’t see it for Nikki Haley,” Ms. McDaniel said during a Fox News interview.
With the results in New Hampshire, “there is a message that’s coming out from the voters, which is very clear,” she added. “We need to unite around our eventual nominee, which is going to be Donald Trump, and we need to make sure we beat [President] Joe Biden.”
One of Ms. Haley’s surrogates, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, pushed back on the calls for Ms. Haley to leave the contest Wednesday. Several months ago, the governor endorsed Ms. Haley, who also served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under the Trump administration.
Remember the EV, then think twice about what consumers of your products think!
United Auto Workers union endorses Joe Biden for president
The powerful United Auto Workers (UAW) formally endorsed Joe Biden’s re-election campaign on Wednesday at the union’s national community action program conference in Washington DC.
Both the US president and rival Donald Trump have courted the union and supported its successful strike action against the US’s big three automakers last year. Biden became the first president to walk a picket line in support of the union.
“Joe Biden bet on the American worker while Donald Trump blamed the American worker,” UAW president, Shawn Fain told the conference. “If our endorsement must be earned, Joe Biden has earned it.
“Donald Trump is a scab. Donald Trump is a billionaire and that’s who he represents,” Fain said. “This election is about who will stand up with us and who will stand in our way.”
Just blame AI … LOL
Kari Lake Calls for Arizona GOP Chair to Resign After Leaked Audio
Arizona GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake called for the state’s Republican Party chair, Jeff DeWit, to resign after an audio recording surfaced of him appearing to present Ms. Lake with an offer of money to leave politics.
The recording, published by The Daily Mail, dates back to last March and features a conversation between Ms. Lake and Mr. DeWit. The audio suggests that the Arizona GOP chair brought an offer from unspecified “powerful people” in exchange for Ms. Lake stepping away from the political scene for two years.
“He’s got to resign,” Ms. Lake insisted during an interview with an NBC reporter on Tuesday night, just before former President Donald Trump’s appearance at his New Hampshire primary victory party.
“We can’t have somebody who’s corrupt and compromised running the Republican Party,” she added.
In the recording, Mr. DeWit is heard suggesting that powerful figures want Ms. Lake to stay out of the Senate race for two years. Ms. Lake, however, vehemently rejects the proposal, emphasizing her commitment to standing with President Trump against corruption in Washington, D.C.
“There are very powerful people who wanna keep you out. But they’re willing to put their money where their mouth is in a big way. So this conversation never happened,” Mr. DeWit is heard saying in the recording.
Ms. Lake responds firmly: “This is crazy though. They should want me. I’m a great candidate. People love me. These people are corrupt.”
As the conversation progresses, Mr. DeWit implies that the motive behind the offer is not control or agenda but the ability to raise money to win elections. Ms. Lake, however, remains resolute, expressing frustration that unnamed figures would attempt to buy her out rather than work with her.
The recording reveals Mr. DeWit making multiple offers, even suggesting that Ms. Lake could take a pause for a couple of years and then resume her political career. Ms. Lake adamantly rejects each offer, stating that the issue is not about money but the good of the country.
After being asked to name her price, Ms. Lake responds that she could not be bought for even a billion dollars. She appears frustrated with the attempt to influence her political decisions and expresses a commitment to standing with President Trump against Washington corruption.
Following the publication of the recording, Ms. Lake said: “I want corruption rooted out of our government. I don’t care if it’s on the Democrat side or the Republican side. We are going to root out corruption.”
She expressed admiration for President Trump, highlighting his resistance to corruption and pledging to give the government back to the people.
Last March, Ms. Lake teased that she had been presented with a bribe on behalf of “some powerful people back east” to stay out of the Senate race. The recording has now been released 10 months later, ahead of the state party’s annual meeting on Saturday.
The Epoch Times could not independently verify the recording and contacted Ms. Lake’s team and the Arizona GOP for additional comment.
Here is a summary of the audio recording:
“There are very powerful people who wanna keep you out. But they’re willing to put their money where their mouth is in a big way. So this conversation never happened,” Mr. DeWit says in the recording.
Ms. Lake replies: “This is crazy though. They should want me. I’m a great candidate. People love me. These people are corrupt.”
The Arizona Senate candidate expresses frustration that these unnamed figures would rather bribe her to leave politics than work with her “because they don’t own me.”
He denies that it’s about ownership or control but that “they want you to be on their team.”
“But if they’re pushing a globalist agenda, I can’t do that,” she says. “So what do they want?
What do they want me to do?” Ms. Lake asks.
“They want you to stay out for two years.”
Ms. Lake scoffs and laughs.
Arizona GOP Chairman Resigns Amid Kari Lake Bribery Allegations
Arizona Republican Party Chair Jeff DeWit said he resigned from his position on Wednesday after a recording of him was leaked that apparently showed him offering candidate Kari Lake money to stay out of the Senate race.
In his resignation statement, Mr. DeWit suggested that Ms. Lake’s team allegedly secretly recorded their conversation before leaking it to the media. He also accused her team of threatening to release more recordings, which he described as being taken out of context, although he provided few details.
“I said things I regret, but I realize when hearing Lake’s recording that I was set up,” Mr. DeWit said in a statement Wednesday. “I believe she orchestrated this entire situation to have control over the state party and it is obvious from the recording that she crafted her performance responses with the knowledge that she was recording it, intending to use this recording later to portray herself as a hero.”
Democratic Presidential Candidate Calls Trump Supporters ‘Thoughtful’
Democratic Minnesota Congressman and presidential candidate Dean Phillips calls former President Donald Trump’s supporters “thoughtful, hospitable, friendly” after attending a rally for Trump’s 2024 run.
“I saw the line of people waiting in the cold for hours, and I thought, ‘What the heck, I’m going to be a leader who actually invites people, doesn’t condemn them,’” he said. “I met probably 50 Trump people waiting in line. Every single one of them: thoughtful, hospitable, friendly.”
However, they were frustrated, he said, because they felt no one was listening to them but Trump, adding that the crowd was “diverse.”
He felt his party, however, had become “completely delusional.”
“And somebody had to wake us up, and if that’s my job, so be it,” he said.
His words echo a shift in how Trump supporters are being discussed, as heard in JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon’s interview on CNBC when he stated that Democrats should be more respectful when talking about MAGA, referring to the Trump slogan “Make America Great Again.”
He told MSNBC that Democrats are scapegoating Trump supporters, who he said aren’t voting for Trump for his “family values,” but because of his effectiveness in office.
“Just take a step back—be honest—he was kind of right about NATO, kind of right about immigration,” Mr. Dimon said. “He grew the economy quite well. Tax reform worked. He was right about some of China. … He wasn’t wrong about some of these critical issues, and that’s why they’re voting for him.”
Because they are fellow citizens, Democrats should refrain from disparaging Trump voters as they have been doing, he said.
One host agreed, saying it’s “hard to hate 75 million of your fellow Americans.”
Mr. Dimon said that framing Trump supporters as “deplorables” who are “hugging onto their Bibles and their beer and their guns” is not going to help Democrats.
“I mean, really, could we just stop that stuff and actually grow up and treat other people with respect and listen to them a little bit?” Mr. Dimon said. “I think this negative talk about MAGA is going to hurt Biden’s election campaign.”
BORDER SHOWDOWN: DHS Sends 2nd Demand Notice to Texas over Seized Park Access
Department of Homeland Security General Counsel Jonathan Meyer sent a second demand letter to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton demanding the state of Texas grant full, unimpeded access to a border city park and boat ramp. The Texas Military Department seized Shelby Park in early January. Tuesday’s letter sets a deadline of January 26, for the state to grant the Border Patrol full access to Shelby Park and other areas along a 2.5 mile stretch of the Rio Grande in the small Texas border town of Eagle Pass.
The letter, attached below, directly addresses Monday’s U.S. Supreme Court order freeing the Border Patrol to cut wire and fencing installed by the state to gain access to the border under their statutory authority to enter private lands without warrant within 25 miles of the border. The 5-4 decision paused a lower court’s ruling that had previously blocked such action.
The letter addresses the issue by saying, “As you are aware, yesterday, the Supreme Court vacated the injunction prohibiting the Department from cutting or moving the concertina wire that Texas had placed along the border except in case of emergency, and restored the Department’s right to cut and move the concertina wire placed by Texas in order to perform their statutory duties. The Department must also have the ability to access the border in the Shelby Park area that is currently obstructed by Texas.”
The letter demands unfettered access to several areas in and around the park stating,
“In sum, we require full access to the Shelby Park area currently obstructed by Texas, including but not limited to the following locations to patrol the border and directly monitor the Rio Grande River consistent with U.S. Border Patrol’s responsibility and statutory authorities:
Access to Eagle Pass International Bridge Port of Entry II, also known as Camino Real International Bridge, from the Loop 480 access road, 24 hours a day. This is to include beneath the port of entry as well.
Access through the federal border barrier entrances described above located on Ford Street, Main Street, near the intersection of Rio Grande Street and Ryan Street, and the two entrances on the end of Ryan Street, for Border Patrol to move through and conduct line watch duties and patrol within the Shelby Park area 24 hours a day.
Full access to the boat ramp located at Shelby Park Main Street entrance, consistent with the perpetual easement.
Unrestricted access to the entire Shelby Park area during emergency circumstances, including but not limited to, assistance to other agents and officers as well as medical and rescue operations.
“By January 26, 2024, please confirm that the State will provide U.S. Border Patrol with the access described above,” the letter continues. “If the State refuses the requested access in part, but not in whole, please specify what access you intend to deny.”
The first DHS letter to Paxton was sent on January 10 in response to the seizure of Shelby Park and did not result in resolution by the specified deadline. The letter claimed the state was failing to honor the statutory authority granted to Border Patrol agents to patrol private lands within 25 miles of the border without a warrant by denying access and setting conditions upon the Border Patrol for entry placed into the park.
In addition, the DHS letter asserted the placement of the temporary gates at the entrance of the park, put in place by state authorities, were on federal land. The land in question was acquired by the federal government after an intense legal battle with the City of Eagle Pass over the right to erect a border fence as required by the Secure Fence Act of 2006.
Supreme court declines to halt first US nitrogen-gas execution in Alabama case
The US supreme court on Wednesday rejected a bid to halt Alabama from proceeding with the nation’s first execution using nitrogen gas to carry out the death penalty on convicted murderer Kenneth Smith, who survived a botched lethal injection in 2022 that helped prompt a review of the state’s death penalty procedures.
The justices denied Smith’s request to stay his execution, which is scheduled for Thursday. They also declined to hear his legal challenge contending that a second execution attempt by Alabama – after the first failed attempt caused him severe trauma – would violate the US constitution’s eighth amendment’s protections against cruel and unusual punishment.’
4.5 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Southern California
A 4.5 magnitude earthquake hit southern California on Wednesday night, originating in San Bernardino and generating a shockwave that could be felt between Los Angeles and Palm Springs.
“4.5 earthquake occurred 2km WSW of San Bernardino, California at 03:43 UTC!” Earthquake Alerts announced on X immediately after the initial shake.
No current damage has been reported out of the San Bernardino epicenter, which serves as home to Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear, but people immediately took to social media to reflect on the one natural disaster that Californians have to face.
The latest earthquake came just several weeks after a 4.1 magnitude earthquake rocked Los Angeles on New Year’s Day.
“A 4.1 magnitude earthquake shook the Los Angeles County area on New Year’s Day,” KTLA 5 noted at the time. “The temblor struck off the coast about 12 miles south of Rancho Palos Verdes and south- southwest of San Pedro at 8:27 a.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey.”
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
RECALL WARNING:
Ford Recalls Nearly 2 Million Cars As Parts Could Fly Off In Traffic
Ford Motor Company will recall nearly 2 million vehicles over concerns that a vehicle part could fly off in traffic and cause a crash, authorities said this week.
Ford notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of the safety recall, which potentially will affect 1,889,110 2011-2019 Explorer vehicles, the NHTSA acknowledged in a letter.
“The A-pillar trim retention clips may not be properly engaged, allowing the trim to detach,” the letter read. “A detached trim piece can fall off the vehicle, becoming a road hazard and increasing the risk of a crash.”
Dealers would inspect and replace the affected part without charge, the NHTSA added, according to the letter. Ford reportedly would issue alert owners of the safety risk via interim letters to be mailed March 13, 2024, and would mail follow-up letters once the remedy was available.
Another Boeing Plane Sees Critical Failure as 757’s Nose Wheel Falls Off Before Takeoff
A Delta Airlines Boeing 757 jet taxiing on the runway with 184 passengers on board at Atlanta’s international airport was forced to abort takeoff when a nose wheel fell off and parted ways with the stricken flight.
The wheel “came off and rolled down the hill” as the flight was waiting to begin its journey, according to a report from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The plane is 32 years old.
Delta confirmed the incident on the plane scheduled to fly from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to Bogota, Colombia.
“Delta Flight 982 ATL/BOG was taxiing for departure when a nose gear tire came loose from the landing gear,” Delta said in a statement Wednesday, NBC News reports.
“All customers and their bags were removed from the aircraft, transferred to the gate and onto a replacement aircraft. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.”
The plane was put back into service the next day, Delta said.
None of the passengers or six crew members were hurt in the incident, according to the FAA’s preliminary report.
Those events come as another blow to Boeing’s name.
On Jan. 5 an Alaska Airlines jet had a door plug blow out shortly after takeoff when the plane was at
16,000 feet, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the jet, as Breitbart News reported.
Nobody was seriously injured in the blowout on the Alaska Airlines flight, but the FAA grounded 171 Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes and launched a safety investigation.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was also grounded in Switzerland last Wednesday after his Boeing plane had a “critical failure” due to an oxygen leak.
A second plane was quickly dispatched to whisk him back home, thus leaving the globalist elites gathered at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos in his wake, the BBC reports.
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun was in Washington, DC, on Wednesday to meet with lawmakers about the safety of the Max 9, AP reports.
Chipotle looks to lure 19K Gen Z workers for ‘burrito season’ with mental health perks
Chipotle on Wednesday rolled out enhanced benefits to attract and retain Gen Z workers that prioritizes financial and mental health as it looks to hire 19,000 workers for the upcoming “burrito season.”
The California-based chain said it would match up to 4% of an employee’s salary through contributions to their 401(k) if they make their student loan payments so that “employees who qualify no longer have to choose between paying off student debt or saving for retirement.”
The new hires will also be offered access to Cred.ai, which has been dubbed “the Tesla of banking” because of its high-tech Visa credit card that is designed to limit spending so that customers don’t fall into debt. (DANGER: Being roped into convenience furthers the CBDC agenda!)
Chipotle is also partnering with SoFi to give employees access to a “financial well-being education platform” that includes “an assessment of current financial outlook” as well as “suggestions and tools to improve.”
Along with the financial perks, the company is also giving employees six free sessions with a licensed counselor or mental health coach.
The new benefits are part of a plan to beef up hiring during the busy “burrito season,” which is from March to May.
“More than 73% of Chipotle’s restaurant employees are Gen Z, and these new benefits cater to the challenges they are facing,” the company said in a statement.
The restaurant chain, which has more than 3,100 locations nationwide, offers full-time crew members annual salaries and bonuses that add up to around $43,000, according to its website.
A kitchen leader earns around $49,200, while the general manager of a restaurant pulls in $89,900.
A recent study by Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation found that less than half of Gen Z is “thriving” in life — a much lower rate than millennials at the same age.
While just 41% of Gen Z members between the ages of 18 and 26 said they were thriving, around 60% of millennials at the same age were thriving, according to the study.
Gen Z is the colloquial term for anyone born from 1997 onward while millennials are defined as those born between 1981 and 1986.
Pink Slip Auction: eBay Is Laying Off 9% of Its Workforce
eBay joins other tech giants in massive layoffs, announcing the dismissal of 1,000
employees, which constitutes nine percent of its full-time workforce.
The Verge reports that in a significant restructuring move, eBay is set to lay off approximately 1,000 employees, representing nine percent of its full-time staff. This decision follows similar actions by other tech companies such as Google, Discord, and Twitch. Despite reporting a profit of $1.3 billion in the last quarter, eBay’s CEO Jamie Iannone emphasized the need for the company to become more nimble and make quicker decisions for long-term sustainable growth.
The company’s rapid hiring practices in recent years have been identified as a key issue, with Iannone stating that eBay’s overall headcount and expenses have outpaced its business growth. eBay has communicated the layoff news to its employees, requesting all U.S. employees to work from home to process this development.
In an internal memo, Iannone highlighted eBay’s growth and resilience, noting the necessity to reorganize for speed and decision-making efficiency. The layoffs and reduction in the number of contractors over the coming months are part of these changes.
Affected employees will be notified soon, with managers and team leaders communicating the news directly. Iannone also expressed confidence in eBay emerging as a more focused, agile, and responsive company, poised to create more economic opportunities for all.
Federal Agency Issues Security Alert for Millions of iPhone, iPad Users
The U.S. Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), an arm of the Department of Homeland Security, issued an advisory to millions of Apple iPhone and iPad users and administrators to review and update their products as soon as possible due to a security issue.
“Apple has released security updates for iOS and iPadOS, macOS, Safari, watchOS, and tvOS. A cyber threat actor could exploit some of these vulnerabilities to take control of an affected system,” said the agency. It then recommended the update.
It came this week after Apple released iOS 17.3 with a warning to update iPhones and other devices due to security fixes that are currently being targeted by malign actors.
As usual, Apple provided few details about the fixes in the latest update, which applies to iPhones and iPads. But one of the issues that was fixed, known as CVE-2024-23222, was a vulnerability in WebKit, which runs the Safari browser, that could allow an actor to execute code on a device.
“Processing maliciously crafted web content may lead to arbitrary code execution. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been exploited,” the Cupertino-based tech giant said on Jan. 22.
Several other bugs that impact WebKit, Safari, reset services, mail, kernel (the core of an operating system), and more were fixed in the update, according to Apple’s support page.
Two WebKit issues also could lead to remote code execution, while the kernel problem could allow an attacker to execute code through an app, it said.
The fixes target devices that use these Apple operating systems and programs: iOS 17.3 and iPadOS 17.3, iOS 16.7.5 and iPadOS 16.7.5, iOS 15.8.1 and iPadOS 15.8.1, macOS Sonoma 14.3, macOS Ventura 13.6.4, macOS Monterey 12.7.3, Safari 17.3, watchOS 10.3, and tvOS 17.3.
Sean Wright, head of application security at Featurespace, told Forbes magazine that the kernel-based issue could be “chained with the WebKit vulnerabilities,” allowing a malign actor to take over a device remotely.
Other than the bug fixes, the update will add Apple Music features that have been tested since late last year. It also added a “stolen device protection” service that can provide a new “layer of security” for accounts connected to a device.
“When Stolen Device Protection is enabled, some features and actions have additional security requirements when your iPhone is away from familiar locations such as home or work.
“These requirements help prevent someone who has stolen your device and knows your passcode from making critical changes to your account or device,” Apple’s website says.
“In the rare cases where a thief can observe the user entering the passcode and then steal the device, stolen device protection adds a sophisticated new layer of protection,” Apple also said when the beta was released last month.
For many iPhone users, the update will be automatic, but it depends on the users’ phone settings.
Users can go to the iPhone’s Settings before tapping General, then tapping Software Update to download and install iOS 17.3 (or iOS 16.7.5 or iOS 15.8.1 for older models) as well as the aforementioned security fixes. The download can be accessed regardless of whether the user has automatic updates turned on or off.
HEALTH
Please note: The information provided on this site is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other health care professional.
What do you know about the free range eggs and organic meat you eat?
When purchasing meat, poultry, and other animal products, consumers don’t always get what they think they are paying for. That’s because labels such as natural, organic, and free-range are marketing terms, defined by vague standards, often with little government oversight; they are not based on Webster’s dictionary or animal husbandry principles as we know them.
White Oak Pastures describes the ambiguity of the terms applied by the food industry:
Cage-free, Free Range, pasture-raised, organic: poultry and eggs come advertised with a head-scratching number of “labels” and descriptions. Although these labels may sound similar, some qualifications are more regulated than others and they all indicate completely different levels of animal welfare.
Understanding the designations
Cage-free vs free range
White Oak explains the difference between cage-free and free-range based on legal requirements, noting that both terms may be applied to birds “crammed” into dense spaces, as follows:
Cage-Free definition:
- Poultry don’t live in cages.
- These birds can still be crammed 20,000-40,000 to a barn, effectively unable to move, without any access to the outdoors.
Free Range definition:
- Poultry have access to as little as 2 square feet of outdoor area per bird, but this doesn’t mean that the birds ever see the outdoors.
- Hens designated Free Range may still be crammed into a barn, with even just one small access point to the outside.
- Free Range chicken requirements do not specify government oversight to the quality or amount of time hens have access to the outdoors. (Emphases added).
Wikipedia provides a behavioral definition of free range emphasizing the connection between density and debeaking:
A behavioral definition of free range is perhaps the most useful: “chickens kept with a fence that restricts their movements very little.” This has practical implications. For example, according to [Animal Husbandry author Morley A.] Jull, “The most effective measure of preventing cannibalism seems to be to give the birds good grass range.”[6] De-beaking was invented to prevent cannibalism for birds not on free range, and the need for de-beaking can be seen as a litmus test for whether the chickens’ environment is sufficiently “free-range-like”. (Emphases added).
Pasture-raised
White Oak Pastures published a video on regenerative farming and pasture-raised poultry detailing how those practices improve soil and animal health. The video is titled, “Animal Impact: How Poultry Impacts Our Land.”
Pasture-raised animals, as opposed to so-called “free range” animals, White Oak explains, have a better and healthier life:
Pasture-raised definition:
- Poultry is raised in a way that’s consistent with how chickens would naturally live: in pasture, with the ability to freely roam, scratch, and peck, improving the soil at the same time. (In the words of Will Harris, “the hens could walk to Atlanta if they wanted to”.)
- When pasture-raised poultry and eggs are paired with a Certified Humane label, this indicates that hens are given 108 square feet of outdoor space per bird, as well as access to a barn or structure for shade and cover.
- Pasture-raised chickens eat a diet made up of provided feed and foraged grubs and insects, which is the natural diet of healthy birds. (Emphases added).
Natural
Similarly, there is a great deal of misconception around the term “natural.” As Alternative Daily enlightens its audience, “natural” can be used even if the animal received growth hormone shots:
[T]he “natural” label does not require certification. So, there is no governing body for all-natural meat products. It’s actually a common myth that meat labeled as natural has not received growth hormones or antibiotics. The fact is, each individual producer can decide if their animals will receive growth hormones and/or antibiotics, according to the USDA. A natural label represents a meat product that contains no artificial ingredients or added color and is only minimally processed. Minimal processing suggests that the product was processed in a manner that does not primarily alter the product. And of course, the label must include a statement defining the term natural, such as “no artificial ingredients and minimally processed.” (Emphases added).
Organic
“USDA Organic” chicken implies a great degree of regulation, as described by Consumer Reports:
[T]he chicken had to have been fed not just a vegetarian diet, but a diet that does not include any genetically modified ingredients or toxic synthetic pesticides. It also means that antibiotics can not be used for anything other than medically necessary antibiotics(though some may argue that there are farmers who stretch the boundaries of what is medically necessary). However, chickens can be provided with antibiotics during their first day of life; the drug-free rule kicks in the day after the shell breaks open.
Organic certification, which requires annual inspections, mandates that access to the outdoors be provided for the chickens, but sets no specific standards for the size of the outdoor area, the size of the door leading between inside and outside, or the amount of time the birds spend outdoors.
No antibiotics: These chickens are never given antibiotics, including in the egg. That said, there is no inspection process to verify this label before it is employed. (Emphases added).
Even still, regarding the actual conditions under which organically raised animals may live, Alternative Daily explains that loopholes permit overcrowding:
. . . just because an animal has been raised organically it doesn’t mean they are living a lifestyle that is more humane than conventionally raised animals. For instance, according to the USDA, when meat is labeled organic this is an indication that animals must have access to pasture and be allowed to participate in their own natural behaviors.
However, PETA paints a different story. Animals typically raised organically spend most of their time confined to crowded sheds or mud-filled pens. That’s because many organic farmers can find loopholes to keep animals confined since the USDA decided that animals may be temporarily confined for health and safety reasons or to protect soil or water quality. Cruel animal practices still exist on organic farms. (Emphases added).
Organic but not natural
Chickens are not vegetarians so it’s curious that a vegetarian diet is required for chickens to be labeled organic. Chicken breeder Jane Cowan, of Once Upon a Chicken, writes the following:
Chickens are neither herbivores, nor carnivores — chickens are omnivores, eating both plants and meat.
It makes sense if you think about [it:]
Insects and other bugs and slugs are animals, and these critters make up a major part of a chicken’s natural diet.
You will have noticed your chickens are opportunistic, adventurous eaters and most certainly will benefit from raw meat in their diet. (Emphasis added.)
Nonetheless, it appears that “USDA organic” chickens are not receiving meat, though they may find insects to eat if they are not caged. Ironically, pasture raised chickens receiving a natural and organic diet which includes meat, would not be “USDA organic.”
Grain-fed vs grass-fed
US Wellness Meats explains the difference between grain-fed and grass-fed cattle.
Grain-fed and finished cattle:
After weaning from their mothers, the grain-fed, conventional cows are moved to mass feed lots called Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). . . .
Feeding practices vary, but usually, their diet consists of corn or soy-based feed that is sometimes supplemented by dried grass. Some examples of diet ingredients include corn, wheat, soybean mill, and hay. If there is not an appropriate amount of roughage, the animal’s pH balance will become too acidic. This will ultimately cause numerous health problems. These cows are given drugs such as antibiotics and growth hormones to maximize harvest. (Emphasis added.)
[Grain-fed livestock are generally fed GMO corn and soy, which multiple studies show, are harmful to both the animals and the people who consume them].
Grass-fed cattle:
[N}ot all grass-fed cows are raised the same. Some grass-fed cattle are raised in a lot/pasture combination but fed grass only. . . . According to the USDA, the standards to qualify for “grass-fed” are the animal must eat grass and forage exclusively after weaning and have continuous access to pastures during the growing season. What the USDA doesn’t specify is how much feed must be from a field. Other grass-fed cattle are raised in open pastures to graze.
[P]asture-raised cattle . . . spend their lives roaming for grass in open fields. Before industrial farming, this was the way cows lived. Because of their natural roaming lifestyle, these cows do not require antibiotics or growth hormones to thrive. The process is slower for grass-fed cows. They often roam in pastures for at least six to eight months before being harvested, and they are given adequate time to mature. (Emphasis added.)
Summary
It may be difficult to keep in mind all the distinctions between the terms applied to animal products. The following chart by Organic Facts shows the USDA definitions for the different classifications of meat.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Top cancer researchers at Harvard have been accused of scientific fraud affecting 37 studies. The researchers are also accused of manipulating data images with simple methods such as copy-and-paste and Adobe Photoshop.
The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, is retracting six scientific studies and seeking to correct 31 others that were published by its top researchers, including the hospital’s CEO, according to a report by Ars Technica.
Data sleuth Sholto David and his colleagues on PubPeer, an online forum for researchers to discuss publications, reportedly brought forward the allegations on January 2, when David posted a lengthy list of possible data manipulation from DFCI researchers to his research integrity blog, For Better Science.
In his blog post, David pointed out several data figures that appeared to feature pixel-for-pixel duplications. Researchers are accused of manipulating images of data that include what are known as “Western blots” — used to see proteins in a complex mixture.
The allegations are against DFCI President and CEO Laurie Glimcher, Executive Vice President and COO William Hahn, Senior Vice President for Experimental Medicine Irene Ghobrial, and Harvard Medical School professor Kenneth Anderson.
Moreover, all four of the implicated researchers have faculty appointments at Harvard Medical School.
DFCI Research Integrity Officer Barrett Rollins responded to the allegations, telling the Harvard Crimson that the school is “committed to a culture of accountability and integrity,” and that “every inquiry about research integrity is examined fully.”
Rollins also noted that David had contacted DFCI with allegations of data manipulation involving 57 studies, adding that the institute’s internal review found that there are 38 papers in which DFCI researchers “have primary responsibility for the potential data errors.”
Now, the institute is retracting six studies and contacting scientific publishers to correct 31 others, bringing the total to 37 affected studies so far. Meanwhile, the 38th remaining study in question is still under review.
Of the remaining 19 studies in question, three were cleared of allegations, and 16 were determined to have had the possibly manipulated data collected in labs that were outside the DFCI. Rollins told the Harvard Crimson that those studies are still under investigation.
Rollins also insisted that finding false data and manipulated images is not necessarily “evidence of an author’s intent to deceive,” and that the institute has yet to determine if any scientific misconduct occurred.
“That conclusion can only be drawn after a careful, fact-based examination which is an integral part of our response,” Rollins said. “Our experience is that errors are often unintentional and do not rise to the level of misconduct.”
Notably, the data discrepancies were detected amid a pushback against academic fraud that now appears to be ramping up while the klieg lights shine on Harvard in the wake of its recently ousted president president, Claudine Gay, being found to be a serial plagiarist.
Transhumanists Seek Immortality By Freezing Their Bodies After Death
Suspended in a deep freeze, the growing number of ‘patients’ at the world’s biggest cryo-preservation facilities are taking a dice roll at another life.
Despite the current odds being vanishingly small, they represent an increasing number of people opting for an indefinite existence at -196C after their legal deaths.
The sleek white vats stood in rows at the Cryonics Institute (CI) storage facilities in Michigan contain bodies, body parts and pets from around the world.
Those frozen in liquid nitrogen awaiting possible future technological advances to revive them include chefs, students, secretaries and professors, with Brits being the most keen takers outside the US.
CI president Dennis Kowalksi tells Metro.co.uk that he regards the centersInside the main, hangar-like facility, ‘cryostats’ housing around 250 patients stand in neat rows.
The occupants at CI West include Thea Ettinger, the first patient, who went into cryo-suspension in 1977. Thea was born in 1899 – meaning a possible future that truly spans the centuries.
Her son Robert C. W. Ettinger, a decorated World War Two veteran regarded as the founding father of cryonics, is also in indefinite storage, along with his first and second wives.
The 7,000 square foot centre in Clinton Township, otherwise known as a farming community, is now at capacity so newcomers who have paid for full-body preservation at prices starting at $28,000 (£22,000) are being stored at a new facility nearby. Around 10 or 20 places have been taken up so far.
‘While we are the largest cryonics company in the world with the most patients in suspension, our two centres in Michigan are not as sci-fi as you might imagine,’ Mr Kowalski explains.
‘It’s more practical. We are affordable to the average person through life insurance and we are non-profit, with all of our records open to public scrutiny.
‘I guess if anything, when I walk between the cryo-stats, I feel a sense of responsibility and awe.
‘We don’t know if this will work but we believe life is precious and that there is no greater value than the love of our family and friends who we wish to save.’
as a place of ‘awe and responsibility’. But it’s more of a waiting game than a place worthy of a sci-fi imagining, with the oldest patient having been in her sub-zero waiting room for more than 40 years.
Mr Kowalski conjured the visions of Leonardo da Vinci as he spoke of his conviction that humankind will one day be able to reverse engineer nature, and achieve the CI’s holy grail of reanimating the clinically dead.
‘Ironically, while the number of members is growing, I’m only surprised that we’re not more popular,’ he says.
‘What we are doing is pretty rational when you think about it.
‘Cryonics is like an ambulance ride to a future hospital that may or may not exist some day.
‘While we give no guarantees, if you are buried or cremated your chances of coming back are zero.
‘We are therefore a Pascal’s wager, or a gamble with little to lose and all to gain.’
OPTICS: You are therefore, a bunch of dreamers trying to play God. We’ll see what happens when the Lord returns.
CNBC: Mark Zuckerberg’s Fiddling with the Facebook Algorithm Is Sending Shockwaves Through the Media
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta made a decisive shift away from the news distribution business on Facebook and Instagram in 2023, which CNBC reports has had a massive impact on the media industry.
CNBC reports that Meta’s withdrawal from its role as a distributor of news content has marked a significant change in the digital news media ecosystem — with many publishers claiming they’re facing a major reduction in traffic following the change. This strategic shift, initially announced in September 2023, has led to the “deprecation” of its Facebook news tab around the world. This move was part of Mark Zuckerberg’s claimed goal of aligning its investments with products and services that users value most.
According to a study by Chartbeat, which analyzed 1,930 news and media websites, Facebook’s contribution to overall social traffic, measured by page views, plummeted from 50 percent to 33 percent as of December 2023. This decline was also reflected in referral volumes from social media and search engines, with Facebook’s share dropping significantly.
Zuckerberg’s decision to pull away from news distribution was influenced by a number factors, including years of public relations challenges related to misinformation and account censorship controversies. These issues had brought intense scrutiny and criticism from various political spectrums, with conservative politicians accusing the company of leftist bias, and others criticizing its role in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election.
Publications like Mother Jones reportedly experienced a drastic reduction in traffic referrals from Facebook. The decline in traffic from Facebook has forced many media outlets to adapt their strategies for audience engagement and revenue generation. This adaptation has included a greater emphasis on other distribution channels, such as Google, which has seen an increase in its share of external traffic to news sites.
Some media companies have also been exploring alternative platforms like YouTube and diversifying their content strategies to include newsletters and apps. The changing dynamics of news distribution and consumption patterns have also seen newer platforms like China’s TikTok gaining popularity as news sources, although their role in driving traffic to media outlets remains limited.
SURVEILLANCE STATE
FBI OVERSTEPPED AUTHORITY IN WARRANTLESS SEARCH OF HUNDREDS OF SAFE DEPOSIT BOXES, COURT RULES
The FBI’s seizure of contents from safe deposit boxes during a raid violated the U.S. Constitution, a federal appeals court ruled on Jan. 23.
In 2021, agents raided U.S. Private Vaults, a business in California that allowed people to rent safe deposit boxes anonymously, based on the belief that criminals were using the service.
The search warrant stated that agents could only open the boxes to inventory their contents and identify the owners for the return of their property. However, agents brought drug-sniffing dogs and planned to set aside cash worth more than $5,000, with the intent to seize the money.
The FBI searched the contents of about 700 safe deposit boxes.
When people who rented boxes asked the FBI for their belongings back after the raid, the bureau refused, saying it was going to file for forfeiture or transfer ownership to the government. The renters of the boxes then sued.
A U.S. district judge previously ruled in favor of the government, finding the search was covered by what’s known as an inventory exception to the requirement for a warrant in the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment.
That exception, though, does not apply to the raid on U.S. Private Vaults, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled.
The ruling hinged largely on how the exception requires searches to operate on standardized instructions and highlighted how the FBI, in the Beverly Hills raid, used supplemental, customized instructions.
“Once the government begins adding a set of ‘customized’ instructions to a ’standardized‘ inventory policy—particularly the type of custom instructions presented by this case—the entire search stops being conducted pursuant to a ’standardized’ policy,” U.S. Circuit Judge Milan D. Smith Jr. wrote in the ruling.
During oral arguments, the appeals court panel compared the search to the “writs of assistance,” or unlimited searches executed by British authorities in pre-founding America.
Many of the plaintiffs have already got their belongings back from the FBI but pressed forward with the case for an opinion in their favor.
The ruling remanded the case back to U.S. District Judge Robert Klausner, who previously dismissed the case, for a ruling that directs the FBI to destroy records the bureau collected on the box renters who are members of the class-action case.
The opinion “draws a line in the sand, to ensure something like this never happens again,” Rob Johnson, a senior attorney with the Institute for Justice, which was representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement. “If this had come out the other way, the government could have exported this raid as a model across the country. Now, the government is on notice its actions violated the Fourth Amendment.”
“This is a good day for our country and the principle that the government’s power to search our property has limits,” Jennifer Snitko, who was among the box renters, added.
The FBI did not respond to a request for comment.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
If it’s anything like their iPhone, you probably want to “steer clear” of it!
iCar: Apple Plans to Release an Electric Vehicle in 2028
Apple has announced a 2028 release date for its much-anticipated electric vehicle,
codenamed Project Titan, which has been developing since 2015.
9to5Mac reports that Project Titan, Apple’s electric vehicle project, has been largely secretive about details since its inception in 2015. However, the journey has not been smooth, with the project encountering numerous delays and experiencing significant executive turnover. Initially, Apple aimed to create a fully autonomous vehicle without a steering wheel, however, these goals have proved harder to reach than previously thought as the limitations of modern technology have become more apparent.
Apple Vice President Kevin Lynch, who has been leading the project since 2021, has set a new target for the vehicle’s launch in 2028. While Apple has been exploring autonomous driving technology for almost a decade, the company has had to confront the impracticality of a car without a steering wheel. The 2028 model of the Apple vehicle is expected to offer limited autonomy features, aligning more closely with what other electric vehicle manufacturers like Elon Musk’s Tesla currently provide.
The Apple car will require driver engagement, meaning passengers must pay attention and be ready to take control during autonomous driving on roads and highways, similar to Tesla’s Autopilot system. This would make the Apple vehicle a Level 2+ autonomous system, a step back from the originally planned Level 4 autonomy.
As the international regulatory landscape for autonomous vehicles continues to evolve, there is a possibility of enhancing the system over time through software updates. This adaptive approach could allow Apple to incrementally improve the vehicle’s capabilities and align with future technological advancements and regulations, providing a better experience for the users.
The development of Project Titan has faced a number of internal challenges, such as Apple’s board pressuring CEO Tim Cook last year to present a definitive plan for the project’s future, debating pressuring CEO Tim Cook last year to present a definitive plan for the project’s future, debating between progressing with the initiative or scrapping it altogether. Until now, the project has yet to produce a viable prototype. Some employees have expressed skepticism over the project, viewing the first Apple car as potentially being a “me-too product,” at odds with the innovation typically associated with Apple’s products.
GARDENING, FARMING & HOMESTEADING
A majority of Americans are fed up with imploding progressive metro areas transforming into violent crime hellholes because Soros-backed District Attorneys refuse to enforce common sense law and order. Americans are tired of radicals in the Biden administration who knowingly push for open southern borders. At the same time, tax-payer-funded non-governmental organizations facilitate the greatest invasion this nation has ever seen of unvetted individuals – some of whom are on the FBI’s Terror Watch List. The president’s collapsing polling data is a symptom the American people have rejected this mumbling, silent generation president who should be in a nursing home or on a La-Z-Boy recliner at his beach house in the elite-only beach town of Bethany.
In recent years, the tyrannical overreach of government during Covid, BLM riots, and nationwide violent crime eruption, plus the 30-year fixed mortgage rate under 3%, unleashed the greatest-ever exodus of Americans from Demcorat-controlled states and metro areas for safer areas in red states.
The migration trends of the Covid period are still happening today, just less because of housing affordability woes.
However, an entirely new trend is emerging: a venture fund in rural Kentucky is building a new community for folks who want to escape all the chaos of progressive cities.
Called the “Highland Rim Project” (HRP), venture fund New Founding is developing “rural towns and communities nestled in the bucolic hills of the Eastern Highland Rim area of Tennessee and Kentucky.”
RP’s website stated, “Our nation is in the midst of a generational people movement to small towns and rural areas.”
“Remote work enables a revolution in where people live and how they organize themselves into communities. People are, especially since Covid, proactively seeking communities that align with their values and way of life. The knowledge economy worker can now work and live in a small town, uplifting areas that have struggled with economic depression for decades,” it pointed out.
The firm said HRP is a partnership with “business owners, pastors, and other community leaders.”
Joshua Abbotoy, Managing Director of the New Founding organization, said the community’s leadership would be predominantly Protestant Christians.
“The whole point of it is to plant a flag and say this small town is where our people are gathering. And the question is: who is going to grab the land? Is it going to be good, based people who want to build something inspiring that’s culturally authentic to the region’s history? Or is it going to be Bill Gates and BlackRock and hippies from California?” Abbotoy said in a video.
Leftist corporate media outlets called Abbotoy’s HRP a place for the ‘far-right community’. Abbotoy said on social media platform X that HRP has “struck a nerve” with corporate media.
He said the number of people signing up to be on a waiting list for HRP is “overwhelming.”
How can progressive media be mad at HRP for wanting to build a “Rural Renaissance” for families when far-left Democrats build trash-covered ‘autonomous zones.’
To sum up, Americans who are sick of progressives destroying cities and the nation should keep voting with their feet.
2ND AMENDMENT
A gun-toting 17-year-old attempted to hold up a Chicago area Taco Burrito King this week; however, one of the restaurant’s patrons was a concealed-carry customer who took issue with the suspect and opened fire, AFTER the store clerk gave the teen the money in the cash register. Unfortunately, the concealed carry customer missed, forcing the teen to flee the establishment, driving away in a black SUV before he crashed it and was apprehended after fleeing the accident scene. Chicago police report the teen suffered a graze wound but didn’t say where the wound might have been inflicted.
CANCEL CULTURE
The 5 types of people who abandon you when you get canceled
This article was written by Gavin McInnis for Blaze Media …
In 2018, I gave a talk, and members of the men’s club I started, the Proud Boys, got into a small fight with Antifa. It wasn’t a big deal, but the Democrats and their media lackeys decided to use the incident as a counter to all the left-wing violence going on at the time. The midterms were coming, and they needed bad guys to tar Donald Trump’s side. What followed was a smear campaign that turned my family and me into pariahs and landed two Proud Boys in prison.
Some stood by us. Of those who did, I couldn’t help but notice every single one of them had been through some kind of trauma. They were betrayed by friends during their divorces. They lost a loved one to illness. They dug themselves out of abject poverty. They had a handicapped son.
(Full disclosure: My cancellation included being fired by Blaze Media on my first day there, but it was under a different board back then, so I forgive them.)
I also noticed that the people who stuck by us were disproportionately black. I think the reason is they don’t read garbage lefty blogs and generally see the whole “war on racism” as a white-on-white thing.
But I don’t want to talk about those who stood by us. As the saying goes, “Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.” So I want to talk about the “weak men” who will abandon you. They include friends, family, and strangers and fit into the following five categories.
1) The Sheep
These people don’t feel passionate about politics. They might even be on your side, politically. They just don’t want to stick their necks out.
Sheep are your neighbors, coworkers, strangers, and even some extended family. The dumbest thing you can do is try to reason with them. They don’t care how innocent you are; they just want to avoid trouble.
I think the sheep are the most vile of the five. In the event of a war, these people would be the first to turn you in. These are the women whose heads they shaved in France in 1944 for sleeping with the enemy or “collaboration horizontale.” At least the people who hate you have the courage of their convictions. Not the sheep. As Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
2) The Shockers
Within the category of cancelers you know, this group is the strangest. About 5% of the people who cut you out of their lives are people you once trusted deeply. These are friends and family who knew the “real you” and yet decided to take the word of some recent college grad at the Daily Beast over yours. This might be the baby sister you taught how to ride a bike or even your mother. They tend to have really low IQs, but besides that, I can’t figure this group out. It’s like “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”
I can think of four people who truly stupefied me. My wife’s best friend of 35 years said, “I need to take a break from our friendship for a while,” to which my wife responded, “What do you want me to do, divorce him?”
My old bandmate, a man I’ve known since I was 14, stopped taking my calls. So did an old babysitter for my kids and a former neighbor. The strange thing about the last two is they used to tell incredibly racist jokes and were some of the least politically correct people I knew. I responded to one of them by saying, “Was it the part where I said all blacks need to go back to Africa, or was it denying the Holocaust?” She didn’t laugh.
3) The Activists
This group is almost always female, disproportionately Jewish (secular), and either childless or in a disastrous marriage. In my case, they were all obsessed with the Proud Boys, and some of them have built entire careers investigating the club.
This group includes “Hate Watch” journalists who have dedicated their lives to catching a straight, white, conservative male saying something “inappropriate.” Imagine choosing journalism as a career and focusing on such an irrelevant part of American life. Our borders are wide open, 30 black people are killed by other black people every day, and half a dozen Americans overdose every hour! But, yeah, some NASCAR driver’s dad said the “N-word” in the 1980s, so let’s ruin his life.
Amy Siskind is a local activist who threatened to hold a vigil near my home following the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting in 2018 to show my family that “hate has no home here.” We went to Siskind’s house and explained to her that wasn’t happening. Siskind is an out-and-proud lesbian with two kids whose same-sex affair destroyed her marriage.
Farah Kathwari is another local activist. She put a sign on my lawn that said, “Hate Has No Home Here.” (They think in the same clichés.) Kathwari’s brother dropped out of medical school to become a jihadist and died for Allah in Afghanistan. I’m told her marriage was destroyed when her husband drunkenly groped another woman at a party.
These bitter interventionists have shattered their own lives and seem determined to ensure we share their pain. They are particularly obsessed with getting me deported. That wouldn’t kill my ideas, of course. I can do my show anywhere. But it would upend my family and hurt my children. That’s the goal. The left hates families.
4) The Agree-to-Disagrees
There are some people you can’t even be mad at. They might even ride out a controversy or two.
When I was fired for saying, “Trans people are just mentally ill gays,” many in this category stood by. But when the Proud Boys s**t hit the fan, they had to cut me loose.
Because Hollywood is so alarmingly woke, my actor and comedian friends didn’t really have a choice. Being seen with me would have ended their careers, and I have no interest in costing anyone his livelihood.
We had one couple who held an epic Christmas party every year, and every single one of their friends said they wouldn’t come to the party any more if my wife and I attended. I told him to choose the Christmas party.
I don’t think the non-canceled understand how over the top the cancelers are. My brother’s wedding was canceled because the catering staff boycotted it after discovering he was my brother. He also had his career as an app developer destroyed. He works in construction now.
Now, I realize some of you might say, “Why do you give the agree-to-disagrees a pass when you’re so tough on the sheep?” Because the sheep have nothing to lose. They wouldn’t be fired for not putting a sign on their lawn or letting their kids play with mine. They’re participating in cancel culture out of sheer cowardice. That’s despicable.
5) The Shrugs
This group is kind of a combination of the agree-to-disagrees and the sheep. They do whatever their team tells them to. If the DNC says dump your GOP friends, they obey.
I had a good friend in the comedy world, and our families took vacations together because we had kids of similar ages. Our favorite thing was complaining to each other about the way our wives stacked the dishwasher. I’d send him a picture of a bowl upright on the top rack with the caption, “Please explain to me how she thought this wasn’t just going to fill with hot water.”
After five years, he ended our friendship with a text that read: “Opened an annoying dishwasher the other day. But didn’t text you about it because I felt that day may have come that we both knew was probably coming.” I thought he was kidding. Then he clarified: “Trump might be a dealbreaker.” This happened at the very beginning of my cancellation but before things really went nuts. Leftist media had instructed their followers to choose sides, and everyone got in line.
This last group may be the most boring and the most interesting of the five. Their departure is mundane, but the dynamic behind it is fascinating. We have gone through a national divorce. Like a regular divorce, there can be no turning back. Ask someone who’s been divorced for a couple of years what the odds are of them reconciling with their ex. They usually dry-heave.
Also, as with divorce, you’re forced to choose sides. Nobody remains Switzerland for very long. You can’t invite Mike and his new girlfriend to dinner and expect his ex-wife to join you. It would be like an MMA weigh-in.
So, to the shrugs, I shrug back. We’re done. It isn’t polarizing to turn your back on half the country when half the country has lost its mind.
Ideally, the side we chose will win the next election, and Donald Trump will put all these spoiled brats in their place. Because if the sheep, the shockers, the activists, the agree-to-disagrees, and the shrugs get their way, we are headed for some very hard times.
PET NEWS
How to Find Free Pet Food Near You
Animals are expensive. It’s not the most fun thing to talk about, but it’s a fact of pet parenthood. Even after the initial splurges (adoption fees, spay and neuter surgeries, vaccinations, microchipping, and basic necessities, such as crates and collars), there’s the ongoing need to keep our pets’ bellies full — and those bowls of chow can add up.
No matter how ready we might feel when we first bring home a pup or kitty, unexpected financial difficulties can happen to any of us. With inflation tightening our budgets even more these days, many people understand feeling unstable or uncertain.
Local animal shelters
Some shelters have programs that provide food to pets in need. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) keeps a list of shelters with assistance programs. Not every shelter that offers assistance is included on the list, though, so it’s worth reaching out to a shelter in your area to double-check even if they aren’t listed.
Pets of the Homeless is another incredible resource for pets and pet parents in need. The website keeps a database of free food programs; you just type your city into the search bar, press enter, and browse the options closest to you.
Local food banks
Many food banks and human-focused shelters also collect pet food donations and are able to assist with feeding your pets. Call a food bank near you and ask if they have dog or cat food available. Pets.findhelp.com is a great place to start: after inputting your zip-code and selecting “pet food pantries,” you can view a list of food banks in your area that offer pet assistance.
Meals on Wheels, an organization that provides free food for seniors, has partnered with PetSmart Charities to help create delivery programs for pet food, cat litter, and other pet necessities. Their services vary based on location and not all programs participate. Using their search function, you can search by zip code to find the phone numbers of programs near you and then call to check on their pet-care capabilities.
Veterinarians
Some vet offices keep free and low-cost pet food on hand for qualifying patients. Even if your vet is not able to give you free food, they may be able to recommend more resources; it’s their job to keep your pet safe and healthy, and they’re likely knowledgeable about many local pet programs.
Remember, if you are feeling stressed about feeding your pet, you don’t have to feel that way alone — or for long. There are plenty of people and organizations who get it and want to help you and your best pal get through your tough spot.
ICYMI
Bryn Spejcher, now 33, got high on marijuana in 2018, stabbed her boyfriend over a hundred times, knifed her dog and then herself, and yet received no jail time because defense experts deemed that she experienced “cannabis-induced psychosis”—a conclusion which the judge amazingly agreed with.
To put it bluntly, this is absolute lunacy. Or, to be even more to the point, this is bat guano crazy.
Bryn Spejcher kiIIed her boyfriend Chad O’Melia by stabbing him 108 times.
Bryn was sentenced to just two years of probation and 100 hours of community service.
No prison time.
The judge classified this as involuntary due to the fact that she took a hit of cannabis, which she claims led to psychosis.
Despite ingesting a single toke of a standard pot leaf, Spejcher was launched into an extended rage, stabbing the 26-year-old accountant 108 times.
Lawyers for Spejcher, an audiologist, argued that she wasn’t responsible for the bloody slaying because of her intoxicated state.
The Ventura County District Attorney initially charged Spejcher with manslaughter, before a new DA downgraded the rap to involuntary manslaughter. The lesser charge carried a maximum term of five years. But Ventura County Superior Court Judge David Worley declined to impose any jail time, instead opting for two years of probation and community service.
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