WORLD NEWS
First US Soldiers Killed Since Gaza War Started, Pentagon Announces
The White House and military officials confirmed Sunday that the first U.S. troops were killed in the Middle East since the start of the Israel–Hamas conflict, with the president vowing to hold those responsible for their deaths responsible.
A statement provided by U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, said that three U.S. service members were killed in a drone attack overnight on a small U.S. base in Jordan, the Biden administration said in a statement, blaming Iran-backed groups for their deaths. At least two dozen other troops were injured in the incident, it said.
They were the first U.S. fatalities in months of strikes against American forces across the Middle East by Iranian-backed militias amid the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, increasing the risk of escalation. U.S. officials were still working to conclusively identify the precise group responsible for the attack but have assessed that one of several Iranian-backed groups is responsible.
US Issues Travel Warning to Bahamas Over Deadly Trend
The U.S. State Department this week issued a travel warning to the Bahamas amid a recent spike in murders and gang-on-gang violence in the island country.
An alert sent out by the U.S. Embassy last week advised Americans “to be aware that 18 murders have occurred in Nassau since the beginning of 2024” and that homicides have occurred “at all hours, including in broad daylight on the streets.” It cited gang violence for the spike in murders so far this year.
It warned American citizens to avoid travel to the eastern parts of New Province Island, where Nassau is located, including using caution when walking or driving at night, keeping a low profile, and being aware of the surroundings. American citizens should also not “physically resist any robbery attempt,” the advisory said.
On Friday, the U.S. State Department placed the Bahamas on a Level 2 alert, warning people to use “increased caution.” That bulletin said that danger persists in both tourist and non-tourist areas, adding that tourists should not answer their door at a local hotel or residence “unless you know who it is.”
The majority of crime, it added, takes place in New Providence and Grand Bahama islands. “Be vigilant when staying at short-term vacation rental properties where private security companies do not have a presence. Activities involving commercial recreational watercraft, including water tours, are not consistently regulated. Watercraft may be poorly maintained, and some operators may not have safety certifications,” the agency added.
The Mexico International Airport recently mentioned in a statement on Friday that a man opened an emergency exit door and walked onto the wing of a plane that was parked and waiting to take off on Thursday, according to AP.
The airport said the man had been turned over to the police. And while the incident seemed like just another case of airport misbehavior, it appears that many aboard the plane came to the man’s defense, signing a statement that said the airline had forced passengers to wait for hours without ventilation and water.
The report noted the authorities had taken photos of the statement that said other passengers supported the man’s decision, and that he acted “to protect everyone, with the support of everyone.”
CTV News reported that the airport released a statement, writing that “yesterday a passenger on a flight to Guatemala opened an emergency door on a plane while it was stationary at a remote position, stood on a wing and then re-entered the cabin, without affecting the aircraft or anyone else.”
“In line with international security regulations, this person turned himself over to the authorities.”
There were at least 77 passengers who signed the written statement, which was scrawled on notebook paper. The AeroMexico flight was prepared to leave from Mexico and make its way down to Guatemala City.
The written statement said “[t]he delay and lack of air created conditions that endangered the health of the passengers. He saved our lives.”
There was an incident report filed with airport authorities, and it appears the passengers were correct.
“Around 11:37 a.m., a Mexican airline reported the beginning of a disturbance due to passenger discontent on flight AM672,” according to the incident report.
“The flight had been due to lift off at 8:45 a.m. Thursday, but because of a maintenance alert on the plane, the captain had to return to the gate for the required maintenance.”
“The passengers were unhappy and one of them opened the emergency door and stepped out on the wing. This event required the plane to be changed.”
Authorities at the airport did not identify the man who stepped onto the wing of the plane, and they did not give any information on whether the man was still being held in custody.
Reports confirmed that the flight AM672 to Guatemala City was delayed for almost five hours on Thursday.
Tractors on TikTok: Europe’s farmers send a loud pre-election message
Five months before the European Parliament elections, angry European Union farmers are honking to be heard.
Amid a noisy line of vehicles obstructing the ring road of Bucharest, a farmer emerged holding a lamb with the flag of Romania around its neck.
“We became Europe’s slaves”, said Ghiocel, 47, his cheeks rosy from the freezing late January temperatures, as he stroked the young animal. “That is no longer possible!”
Beside him, a man waved a flag while the few dozen tractors and trucks disrupted traffic and honked incessantly.
“We have all that expensive diesel, gas, insurance … We, in our country, have everything and we end up working elsewhere,” Ghiocel said, referring to the migration of five million Romanians in the past three decades.
Walking among the crowd wearing a white woollen hat and a yellow visibility vest, Danut Andrus, an agricultural entrepreneur from Botosani, captured videos and uploaded them to his TikTok page with the hashtag #fermieri (“farmer” in Romanian). Some of his videos garnered more than 300,000 views.
Word about the farmers’ plight has been capturing a wider audience.
In Romania, the European Union country with the highest number of farmers (about 3.5 million, according to the European Commission), members of the agriculture and transportation sectors have been protesting since January 10, often in groups of tractors and trucks in locations around the country.
Their 47 demands, which are outlined in a 20-page document submitted to the government, include reducing diesel tax, lowering mandatory civil liability insurance for motor vehicles (RCA) and ending what is seen as unfair competition from Ukraine where drivers have fewer operating costs and don’t require transport permits to operate in the EU (this was lifted by the bloc following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022).
“It all began with a WhatsApp group,” remarked Andrus. He’s become one of the faces of the protest, negotiating the farmers’ claims with the Romanian government. He even attempted to establish a political party to advocate for farmers, he told Al Jazeera, but it was unsuccessful.
A protest planned for Bucharest on January 10 ended up on a road about 20km (12 miles) from the capital near a commune called Afumati, after some protesters were denied entry by police because they lacked authorisation. When permission was finally granted by the local government on January 21, the protesters alleged political interference from the far right and remained at Afumati.On January 14, Romanian farmers also blocked the Siret border crossing with Ukraine and two entrances to the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta, a key transit hub for Ukrainian grain.
The protesters’ concerns are also shared by some Romanian residents who are not farmers.
“[Vehicle] insurance is so expensive”, said Deaconu, who drives a taxi for Bolt. He and other drivers agree with the farmers’ claims, but do not participate in the protests.
There have also been accusations that many protesters “are not ordinary peasants, but rather small to medium-sized businesses in those sectors” with land and expensive farm equipment, explained Sorin Ionita, a consultant from the World Bank Group in Romania.
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
The potential for national conflict between the U.S. Corporate and the states continues!
https://www.givesendgo.com/takeourborderback
As you know (from the last news cycle) …
25 Republican governors released the following joint statement in support of Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Texas’ constitutional right to self-defense.
The statement comes as the Biden Administration continues to attack Texas and refuses to take action or responsibility for the crisis at the Southern border.
“President Biden and his Administration have left Americans and our country completely vulnerable to unprecedented illegal immigration pouring across the Southern border. Instead of upholding the rule of law and securing the border, the Biden Administration has attacked and sued Texas for stepping up to protect American citizens from historic levels of illegal immigrants, deadly drugs like fentanyl, and terrorists entering our country.
“We stand in solidarity with our fellow Governor, Greg Abbott, and the State of Texas in utilizing every tool and strategy, including razor wire fences, to secure the border. We do it in part because the Biden Administration is refusing to enforce immigration laws already on the books and is illegally allowing mass parole across America of migrants who entered our country illegally.
“The authors of the U.S. Constitution made clear that in times like this, states have a right of self-defense, under Article 4, Section 4 and Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution. Because the Biden Administration has abdicated its constitutional compact duties to the states, Texas has every legal justification to protect the sovereignty of our states and our nation.”
Signatories include: Governor Kay Ivey (AL), Governor Mike Dunleavy (AK), Governor Sarah Sanders (AR), Governor Ron DeSantis (FL), Governor Brian Kemp (GA), Governor Brad Little (ID), Governor Eric Holcomb (IN), Governor Kim Reynolds (IA), Governor Jeff Landry (LA), Governor Tate Reeves (MS), Governor Mike Parson (MO), Governor Greg Gianforte (MT), Governor Jim Pillen (NE), Governor Joe Lombardo (NV), Governor Chris Sununu (NH), Governor Doug Burgum (ND), Governor Mike DeWine (OH), Governor Kevin Stitt (OK), Governor Henry McMaster (SC), Governor Kristi Noem (SD), Governor Bill Lee (TN), Governor Spencer Cox (UT), Governor Glenn Youngkin (VA), Governor Jim Justice (WV), and Governor Mark Gordon (WY).
And Mitch McConnell is right in the middle of this secret deal we reported last week!
Biden Vows to ‘Shut Down’ Border If Congress Passes Deal
President Joe Biden on Jan. 26 vowed to use expanded authority to shut down the overwhelmed southern U.S. border should Congress pass a bipartisan deal that ties immigration security measures to Ukraine and Israel aid.
This comes after Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Friday the deal would be “dead on arrival” in the U.S. House of Representatives if reports on its terms are true. The terms are yet to be released.
In a statement late Friday, President Biden touted the negotiations between a bipartisan group of lawmakers and his administration on the supplemental funding package.
An alleged leaked draft of the deal, which has been refuted by Republican negotiators, appears to suggest the terms would allow for up to 5,000 illegal immigrants to be released into the country per day, on average over a week, or up to 8,500 in a single day, before border patrol agents must remove them. This is purportedly among other concessions.
President Biden urged Congress to support the package on Friday, saying the terms would be the “toughest and fairest” set of reforms ever to secure the border. The White House did not provide further details on the terms.
A key aspect of the proposed reforms includes granting the president new emergency authority to shut down the border when overwhelmed.
“It would give me, as President, a new emergency authority to shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed,” President Biden said, according to the White House.
He continued: “And if given that authority, I would use it the day I sign the bill into law.”
Earlier, the House speaker told his colleagues in the Senate that the legislation would not pass in the lower chamber if House Republicans felt that it did not adequately address the issue of record numbers of illegal immigrants crossing into the United States.
“I wanted to provide a brief update regarding the supplemental and the border, since the Senate appears unable to reach any agreement. If rumors about the contents of the draft proposal are true, it would have been dead on arrival in the House anyway,” Mr. Johnson wrote.
At least you can tell who the RINOs are!
Oklahoma Republicans censure James Lankford over effort to push bipartisan border deal
Oklahoma Republicans have censured Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) for leading negotiations with Senate Democrats on a bipartisan border security bill that has largely been rejected by House Republicans.
Mr. Lankford needs to “cease and desist jeopardizing the security and liberty of the people of Oklahoma and of these United States” with the measure, according to the resolution passed by Oklahoma Republican Party committee members.
“Until Senator Lankford ceases from these actions, the Oklahoma Republican Party will cease all support for him,” the resolution states. “Senator Lankford playing fast and loose with Democrats on our border policy not only disenfranchises legal immigrants seeking citizenship but it also puts the safety and security of Americans in great danger.”
And why did it take Congress 3 years to do this?
House GOP Unveils Mayorkas Impeachment Articles
House Republicans on Sunday unveiled two Articles of Impeachment against Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, citing him for refusing to enforce multiple immigration laws, creating new programs that specifically defy congressional intent, and lying to Congress about multiple aspects of the crisis on the U.S. border with Mexico.
The articles are due for markup on Tuesday before the House Homeland Security Committee.
In the first Article of Impeachment to be considered by the House Committee on Homeland Security, Mr. Majorkas is said to have “willfully and systemically refused to comply with federal immigration laws, in that: Throughout his tenure as Secretary of Homeland Security, [he] has repeatedly violated laws enacted by Congress regarding immigration and border security.
He wouldn’t dare, would he?
Texas Is ‘Prepared’ If Biden Federalizes State National Guard: Gov. Abbott
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said that his state is “prepared” to deal with President Joe Biden potentially federalizing its National Guard as the Lone Star State utilizes the troops to secure the border.
On Jan. 22, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal agents could not be blocked from removing the razor wire that Texas has placed along the U.S.-Mexico border. In response, Gov. Abbott announced that his state will not “back down from our efforts to secure the border.” This triggered Democrats to call on President Biden to federalize the National Guard.
The razor wire along the border was set up by the Texas National Guard and the state’s Department of Public Safety. In a Jan. 26 interview with Tucker Carlson, Gov. Abbott was asked about his response if President Biden goes ahead with the proposal.
“Well, first, I’d be shocked. That would be a boneheaded move on his part—total disaster,” Governor Abbott said. “For one, as you might imagine, we are prepared in the event that that unlikely event does occur to make sure that we will be able to continue exactly what we’ve been doing over the past month, and that is building these barriers.”
“Whatever we’ve been building, the Biden administration is now trying to attack us because of it, and we will continue to do exactly what we’re doing to expand our denial of illegal entry into the state of Texas.”
Gov. Abbott pointed out that state forces were already operating at the border and that he expects more forces to come to Texas from other state National Guards.
“There’ve been about ten [states] so far that have sent National Guard or other law enforcement … They now are joined together with us. This is a fight for the future of America, and they all know it. And so I believe that they will all be in on this effort.”
In an interview with Bloomberg on Thursday, the governor said that Texas was “adding more razor wire as we speak right now to make sure that we are doing even more to secure the border.”
Gov. Abbott insisted that his state has the authority to defy the U.S. federal government in accordance with the U.S. Constitution since the founding fathers believed that “there would be times when the federal government does not do its job and states have a right of self-defense.”
On Wednesday, Gov. Abbott accused the Biden administration of failing to fulfill the duties outlined in Article IV, Section 4, which asks the federal government to protect each state against “invasion.”
President Biden’s failure has triggered “Article 1, Section, 10, Clause 3, which reserves to this State the right of self-defense,” he said.
The governor declared an invasion under Clause 3 and invoked “Texas’s constitutional authority to defend and protect itself. That authority is the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary.”
The conflict between the federal government and Texas comes as the U.S. border patrol registered 302,034 encounters with illegal migrants along the southwest land border in December—the highest level since 2021.
Border Patrol Says Agents Will NOT Remove Texas Razor Wire Barriers
In defiance of the Biden Administration’s wishes, senior figures within Customs and Border Protection have stated that there are no plans to have Border Patrol agents remove razor wire barriers erected along sections of the border by the Texas National Guard.
Fox News reports that a high ranking CBP official told the network that their relationship with the Guard is “strong”.
“While this issue plays out in the courts, the relationship between Border Patrol, Texas DPS [Department of Public Safety], & TMD [Texas Military Dept.] remains strong,” the official said, adding “Our focus is and will always be the mission of protecting this country and its people.”
“On the ground, we continue to work alongside these valuable partners in that endeavor,” the official continued, adding “Bottom line: Border Patrol has no plans to remove infrastructure (c-wire) placed by Texas along the border.”
“Our posture remains the same. If we need to access an area for emergency response, we will do so. When that happens, we will coordinate with Texas DPS & TMD,” the official further declared.The Border Patrol Union also issued a statement outlining that agents will not interfere with Texas National Guard members carrying out “lawful” operations.
“TX NG and rank-and-file BP agents work together and respect each other’s jobs. Period. If TX NG members have LAWFUL orders, then they have to carry out those orders,” the statement notes.
“Rank-and-file BP agents appreciate and respect what TX has been doing to defend their state in the midst of this catastrophe that the Biden Admin has unleashed on America,” the statement continues, adding “We want to be perfectly clear, there is no fight between rank-and-file BP agents and the TX NG, Gov. Abott, or TX DPS.”
The development comes as Texas Governor Greg Abbott told Tucker Carlson the State is “prepared” for conflict with the federal government. Twenty five States have expressed support for Texas, with ten of them, according to Abbot, deploying their own National Guard to Texas to help.
One of those States is Oklahoma, with Governor Kevin Stitt saying Friday that “We have the right to defend our country against invasion.”
The White House has refused to rule out Democrat suggestions to federalise the Texas National Guard.
From Patrick Wood of Technocracy News … “Patriots could be walking into a trap!’
In my opinion, Gov. Greg Abbot’s declaration amounts to a Constitutional crisis when it starts with the words, “The federal government has broken the compact between the United States and the States.”
It doesn’t mean that there are breaches of the compact. It plainly states, “The federal government has broken the compact,” period.
Here, Abbott is applying the “compact of states” theory whereby individual states (and their citizens included) entered into a compact with the federal government. This theory is flatly disputed by the Biden administration, which holds that the entire body politic entered into such a compact, and not the states themselves.
This argument has raged for at least 200 years, including through the Civil War, and here we are going through it again. The 50 states are split down the middle, with 25 agreeing with Abbott and 25 agreeing with Biden et al.
According to the Center for the Study of Federalism …
First, national powers are strictly limited in that all powers remain in the states unless the federal Constitution explicitly declares otherwise. Second, states have the authority to nullify federal laws on constitutional grounds. Third, states retain the right to secede from the union. Indeed, this interpretation of the origins of the United States grants states primacy to interpret the U.S. Constitution…
Because of the resistance, Biden punishes Texas!
Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham says President Joe Biden’s recent decision to stop approval of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) exports looks “more like retaliation than a sound policy decision.” Biden’s announcement came one day after “Texas took a bold stand in defending our border against foreign invaders,” the commissioner added.
President Biden announced on January 26 that he was placing a “temporary pause on pending decisions of Liquified Natural Gas exports,” Breitbart News reported. January 26 was also the DHS deadline sent in a letter to the State of Texas demanding access to Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas. The State has not budged on opening up the park seized earlier this month.
“Texas is the largest exporter of natural gas in the nation and the third in the world,” Commissioner Buckingham told Breitbart Texas. “This reckless federal decision made merely a day after Texas took a bold stand in defending our border against foreign invaders appears more like retaliation than a sound policy decision.”
Arizona GOP Selects New Chair After Attempted Kari Lake Bribery Scandal
The Arizona Republican Party selected a new Trump-endorsed chair on Jan. 27 after the former party leader resigned following a bribery controversy.
“We proudly present our new Chairwoman [Gina Swoboda], alongside the dynamic new AZGOP Board!” the party said in a Jan. 28 post on social media platform X. “With a laser focus on the 2024 elections, our mission is clear: to win additional seats in the state legislature, reclaim our Senate and Congressional seats, take control of school boards, and win back the White House. We are ready for victory!”
Ms. Swoboda was elected at the annual GOP meeting held at Dream City Church in north Phoenix on Jan. 27, which was attended by more than 1,000 people. Previously, only elections for the party’s lower-level positions were scheduled for the day.
According to Republican state Sen. Wendy Rogers, Ms. Swoboda secured 67 percent of the votes.
FBI Official’s Anti-Trump Post Violated Federal Law: Watchdog
The former FBI official who whistleblowers say shut down an investigation into President Joe Biden’s son violated federal law with a social media post denigrating former President Donald Trump, a watchdog has found.
Timothy Thibault “engaged in modern-day leafleting on social media,” the U.S. Office of Special Counsel found after reviewing Mr. Thibault’s posts.
Mr. Thibault’s social media activity included sharing in 2020 a post from the anti-Trump political action committee Lincoln Project that itself included an article with the title, “Donald Trump is a Broken Man.”
That violated the Hatch Act, which bars federal employees from engaging in political activity while on duty. The law also imposes further restrictions on employees of some agencies, such as the FBI, such as prohibiting activity “in concert” with partisan political groups like the Lincoln Project.
“Although Mr. Thibault was on leave when he retweeted this message, the Hatch Act’s prohibition against acting in concert with a partisan political group applies to further restricted employees at all times, even when they are off duty and away from work,” the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) said in a Jan. 19 letter to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) that was reviewed by The Epoch Times. “Accordingly, because Mr. Thibault shared a message from a partisan political group on Twitter, OSC has concluded that he acted in concert with a partisan political group, in violation of the Hatch Act.”
The review of Mr. Thibault’s activity came at the request of Mr. Grassley.
Among Mr. Thibault’s other posts, while with the FBI, was a LinkedIn post of a Washington Post opinion piece that stated in part that the Trump administration had abused the justice system. He also told then-Rep Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) that her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, “was a disgrace.”
“The American people deserve to have confidence that the officials entrusted to lead the top echelon of our federal law enforcement agencies are not letting political bias infect their work. These federal employees should not blur their official business with their political viewpoints,” Mr. Grassley told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.
“The Office of Special Counsel confirmed that former FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Timothy Thibault failed to meet that standard. I’ve warned that this sort of political bias will erode public confidence in the FBI. It’s up to the bureau to restore that trust through transparency and cooperation with congressional oversight,” he added.
Biden Administration Sent 2 Letters to Fani Willis’ Office, Fulton County Prosecutor Confirms
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ office confirmed that it communicated with White House officials on two separate occasions for procedural purposes.
During Thursday’s hearing, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, addressing Alex Bernick, a prosecutor from her office, was asked: “Is there something that’s actually in writing that shows communication between the office and the White House counsel?”
“We did get a letter from the White House Counsel’s office … about logistics and procedures, as I stated before,” Mr. Bernick replied.
“You’re saying that the sole written communication … solely consists of one written letter?” the judge then asked.
“One written letter … well there were two written letters about procedures, about how we interview … former or current White House officials,” the prosecutor said, according to a transcript. “It wasn’t about obtaining any type of evidence,” Mr. Bernick added.
“The issue would be that a selective prosecution claim can be brought pre-trial if they think that there are grounds,” the judge said in response.
The comments and disclosure came during a hearing for Jeffrey Clark, a defendant in the sweeping election racketeering case that has ensnared former President Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and their allies. Harry MacDougald, an attorney representing Mr. Clark, a former Trump Department of Justice official, is seeking access to communications between the White House counsel and Fulton County prosecutors.
The lawyer argued that the election interference case against Mr. Clark and President Trump was meant to serve a “political purpose” and wanted access to those documents because the Biden administration has its “fingerprints on all four” prosecutions against the former president.
Later in the hearing, Judge McAfee said he wanted to review the relevant communications between Fulton County prosecutors and the White House before rendering a decision.
“Why don’t we start there?” he said. “After I’ve had a chance to review, I’ll make the findings … in a written order.”
Articles of Impeachment Filed Against Fulton County DA Fani Willis
A Georgia lawmaker filed a resolution on Friday to impeach Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, accusing her of various acts of “malfeasance, tyrannical partiality, and oppression.”
State Rep. Charlice Byrd, a Republican, said in a Jan. 26 statement that she has introduced H.R. 872, a resolution to vote on impeachment charges against Ms. Willis, who brought a high-profile election interference case against former President Donald Trump that he has denounced as politically-driven.
Accusing Ms. Willis of suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” Ms. Byrd alleged that the Fulton County DA used her office not to pursue justice but for political gain.
“Fani Willis has a laundry list of potential conflicts that make her unworthy and unfit to be the District Attorney in Fulton Count,” Ms. Byrd said in a statement. “Someone elected to that office is expected to uphold the law and not weaponize their office for political gain.”
Ms. Willis brought the 2020 election interference case against President Trump and over a dozen co-defendants under Georgia laws to fight organized crime.
A key focus of the case was a phone call President Trump made to Republican Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, asking him to find enough votes to declare him the winner in that state.
President Trump, who has described the phone call with Mr. Raffensperger as “perfect,” has called the investigation a “strictly political witch hunt.”
The 10-page state House resolution filed on Friday by Ms. Byrd outlines the case for charging Ms. Willis with violations of oath by a public officer under Georgia Code Section 16-10-1, which states that “Any public officer who willfully and intentionally violates the terms of his oath as prescribed by law shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than five years.”
The impeachment resolution comes on the same day that the Georgia State Senate voted to establish a committee that will investigate various allegations of misconduct against Ms. Willis, ranging from accusations of prosecutorial misconduct to questions about the use of public funds and allegations of an unprofessional relationship with the lead prosecutor in the case.
And while the Boeing Max 9’s are back in the air …
6 injured after American Airlines flight makes ‘hard landing’ in Hawaii
Six people aboard an American Airlines flight were hospitalized with minor injuries as the aircraft experienced a “hard landing” at Kahului Airport in Maui, Hawaii.
One passenger and five flight attendants made up those injured during the trip, the airline confirmed to NBC News.
American Airlines Flight 271 took off from Los Angeles International Airport before landing in Maui just after 2 p.m. local time. Paramedic units were dispatched to OGG at 2:21 p.m.
The airline said the aircraft was carrying 167 customers and seven crew members when it “experienced an issue upon landing.”
“The aircraft taxied to the gate under its own power and customers deplaned normally,” the airline confirmed.
The jetliner was then taken out of service to undergo inspection.
“The safety of our customers and team members is our top priority,” the airline said.
The FAA also said it was investigating the cause of the “hard landing.”
Data from the flight-tracking website FlightAware shows that American Airlines flight 271 was initially scheduled to arrive at Maui Airport at 12:47 p.m. but was delayed for nearly 79 minutes as it taxied at LAX before taking off.
The incident in Hawaii comes over a week after an American Airlines plane slid off the runway upon landing at New York’s Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport.
FAA and American Airlines officials said the Embraer E145, carrying 53 passengers, had just landed and was being taxied to the terminal around 4 p.m. when it slipped.
An American spokesperson said the scary incident was caused by “snowy airfield conditions” brought on by light snowstorms across the area.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
And you can thank this Democratic administration for this …
IRS to Launch Direct File Online Tax Filing System Soon
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is set to launch its free online tax filing tool Direct File in less than two months, with taxpayers from 12 states eligible to use the system in the initial pilot phase.
An IRS official demonstrated the Direct File tool to reporters during a press briefing on Thursday, according to news outlet NextGov. While the agency doesn’t have a fixed launch date for the tool, the official stated that it should be widely available to eligible taxpayers beginning sometime in mid-March, roughly a month before the 2024 tax filing season deadline of April 15. Direct File is different from the IRS’s existing Free File online program.
While the Free File program is only available for taxpayers with annual incomes less than $79,000, the Direct File tool is designed to be used by any taxpayer, irrespective of their income level.
Initially, Direct File will be launched in a pilot phase in 12 states—Arizona, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. Taxpayers from these states will be eligible to use it following the launch.
The IRS official said that the agency is intentionally starting small as it aims to analyze the pilot response, make necessary changes, and test if it is a viable option for the long term. The agency expects thousands of taxpayers to use the service in its pilot phase.
Direct File tool is designed to be mobile-friendly and can be accessed through desktop computers, tablets, and smartphones in both English and Spanish. During the demonstration, the tool was shown to work in a step-by-step format, displaying only relevant questions to taxpayers and avoiding unnecessary questions based on the information already entered by a user.
An eligibility screener will be shown initially to let the user know whether they qualify to use Direct File. Live phone and chat assistance will also be made available.
Direct File allows users to file part of their tax information, leave the tool, and then come back to finish filing at a later time.
Within the 12 states that offer Direct File, taxpayers can only use the tool to file their federal tax returns. The tool does not help in filing state returns.
Americans Flee New York and California in Droves Seeking Affordability, Quality of Life
Fed up with skyrocketing rents and home prices, high crime, a continual influx of migrants, and other quality-of-life issues, New Yorkers and Californians poured out of those states in record numbers over the past year.
A recent report from the U.S. Census Bureau named New York as the state with the highest population decline, with almost 102,000 people exiting the Empire State from 2002 to 2023. California was close behind, with almost 75,500 leaving.
Other heavy population loss states included Illinois at almost 33,300, followed by Louisiana at just over 14,000 and Pennsylvania at almost 10,500.
Conversely, Texas experienced the biggest incoming population of 473,453, and Florida, in second place, added 365,205 residents. Combined with North Carolina and Georgia, those four states were responsible for 93 percent of the country’s population growth in 2022 and 67 percent in 2023.
A United Van Lines 2022 study echoes the Census Bureau statistics, noting the highest outbound states as New York, California, Illinois, New Jersey, and Louisiana. Not surprisingly, the highest inbound states were North and South Carolina, New Mexico, Oregon, and South Dakota.
Published reports indicate that New York City took in more than 95,000 migrants in 2023 alone. While the New York Police Department’s Crime Report indicates violent crime, including murder and rape, was down more than 10 percent in 2023 from 2022, felony assaults were up more than 6 percent in 2023.
Richard Soto, owner of VIP Realty in Dallas, Texas, told The Epoch Times that the cost of living is the number-one reason driving New Yorkers to the Lone Star State.
“When they move to Texas, they’re in shock about what they’re able to afford for housing,” he said. “There’s also no state income tax here, plus significant savings on real estate taxes. Even the cost of average lunch at a nice restaurant here is around $14.”
In New York City alone, the current average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $3,652 and $5,028 for a two-bedroom unit, according to Apartments.com. In Manhattan, Realtor.com reports that the median listing price of a condo is $1.6 million.
“There’s also less crime here and people feel safer,” added Mr. Soto. “The climate overall is great except for July and August, when it can get pretty hot.”
Mr. Soto’s recent business trip to Manhattan’s west side was a real eye-opener as to why New Yorkers keep heading south.
“I talked with a lot of people who are just living paycheck to paycheck,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong. New York is beautiful if you’re wealthy, but if you’re just a day-to-day person, I don’t know how they do it when the costs of everything are so high.”
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.
This kit does not go far enough … more comments at the end!
Must-Haves for Your First-Aid Kit
First-hand experience has shown her how important having a well-stocked and maintained first-aid kit can be. “There are certain things you need to have on hand at the moment. In a crisis, you’re not going to have time to go to the store to get what you need,” Elkins points out.
The American Red Cross suggests that a first-aid kit for a family of four include the following items:
- A first-aid guide
- 2 absorbent compress dressings (5 x 9 inches)
- 25 adhesive bandages (assorted sizes)
- 1 adhesive cloth tape (10 yards x 1 inch)
- 5 antibiotic ointment packets
- 5 antiseptic wipe packets
- 2 packets of aspirin (81 mg each)
- 1 emergency blanket
- 1 breathing barrier (with one-way valve)
- 1 instant cold compress
- 2 pair of nonlatex gloves (size: large)
- 2 hydrocortisone ointment packets
- 1 3-inch gauze roll (roller) bandage
- 1 roller bandage (4 inches wide)
- 5 3 x 3-inch sterile gauze pads
- 5 sterile gauze pads (4 x 4 inches)
- A thermometer (non-mercury/non-glass)
- 2 triangular bandages
- Tweezers
Supplement basic items with personal needs and bleeding-control essentials. Things like a commercial tourniquet, bandages, and a felt-tipped pen. Take bleeding-control training to use such and prepare for a bleeding emergency.
Remove, throw away, or use and replace any supplies before they expire. Set a calendar reminder on your smartphone to update the supplies in your kit every six months and/or as the healthcare needs of your family change.
Customize your kit
Think about the healthcare needs of your family when putting together a first-aid kit. For example:
- If you have a family member with a severe allergy, include antihistamine medicine and an epinephrine injector.
- If you have elderly family members with fragile skin, including a roll of paper tape can be useful for protecting delicate skin.
- If you or a family member lives with diabetes, include a juice box, glucose tablets and gels, and an emergency glucagon injection kit.
- Chewable, baby aspirin might help someone who has coronary artery disease, provided the person is not allergic to aspirin.
Elkins also suggests attaching a note to your kit with instructions on where to find other items around the house and how to act in specific emergencies. For example, you can use a note to remind you where sugary drinks and foods are kept in case of a diabetic emergency.
A person who is using a first-aid kit in an emergency might need to call 911 for assistance. Having the home or office address written on the outside of the kit itself can give users a handy location reference for 911 operators.
First aid as practical skill
A first-aid kit is a tool, but any tool is only as good as the person using it.
First-aid kits are one place where personal needs and practical skills come together. There are ways to prepare for emergencies that have nothing to do with collecting supplies. This includes learning practical skills that you can use to protect yourself and others.
Many practical skills are easy to learn. Some require special certification or formal training. Others just education. Practical skills include learning how to:
- Perform hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
- Operate an automated external defibrillator (AED)
- Apply a tourniquet and control bleeding
- Administer seizure first aid
- Use the contents of a first-aid kit
Family, friends, coworkers, and bystanders—not first responders—are often first on the scene in a medical emergency. Elkins has seen this many times in the field. “One time, we had a patient who had a very bad accident with a circular saw,” she recalls. “There was a lot of blood on the floor. The patient’s coworker, who had no formal training, put all his body weight on the wound and used it to slow the bleeding. He yelled for help until others came and called 911. He saved his coworker’s life because he made the right decision and took action.”
You can take action today. “You Are the Help Until Help Arrives” and “Stop the Bleed” are examples of training that teach you how to provide first care. A good first-aid kit and the practical skill to use it can help you save someone’s life.
Additional items necessary, which require a certain amount of skill, would include:
- Kelly clamps (2; 4 if engaged in active combat)
- Forceps
- Retractor
- Bleed Stop (2 pkgs)
- At least a minimal amount of suture material for gunshot wound closures
- .05% Lidocaine Hydrochloride or other numbing agent (if you can get your hands on it)
Closing the Toilet Lid While Flushing Doesn’t Prevent Viral Spread: Study
Think closing the toilet lid while flushing keeps icky stuff like viruses inside the toilet? Think again.
While previous research showed that shutting the toilet lid before flushing can help prevent the spread of bacterial pathogens, a new study published in the American Journal of Infection Control indicates doing so doesn’t prevent aerosolized viruses from contaminating bathroom surfaces, making the bathroom—especially public ones—hotbeds for viruses.
Research has shown that people with COVID-19—even asymptomatic people—“excrete the SARS-CoV-2 virus in fecal matter and other excretions,” the researchers wrote. “Viruses contaminating urine and feces can be aerosolized in building restrooms during toilet flushing. … Because many viral infections may be asymptomatic, this is even more important in health care facilities where immunocompromised individuals are often present.”
The only way to reduce viral particles was to disinfect the toilet, toilet water, and nearby surfaces, the research team found. A separate study conducted by the same research team found that adding disinfectant to the bowl before flushing or using automatic disinfectant dispensers was equally effective in reducing contamination as a result of flushing.
“In healthcare settings, any potential means of pathogen transmission must be addressed to keep all of our patients—including the most vulnerable, such as immunocompromised individuals—as healthy as possible,” Charles P. Gerba, who has a doctorate in microbiology, is a professor of virology at the University of Arizona, and senior author of the study, said in a press release. “With results showing that closing toilet lids has no meaningful impact on preventing the spread of viral particles, our study highlights the importance of regular disinfection of toilets to reduce contamination and prevent the spread of viruses.”
In the study conducted at the University of Arizona, scientists analyzed the spread of viral particles induced by flushing the toilet, both with toilet lids open and closed, to see if there was any difference in the outcome.
They seeded the toilets with varied amounts of a nonpathogenic virus, flushed the toilets, and then collected samples from the toilet bowl water and surfaces of the toilet, floor, and walls. They conducted this experiment in both household and public bathrooms.
In the household bathroom, there was no statistical difference in the amount of virus collected from the toilet surfaces or nearby floor between flushes with the lid closed or open. The only difference closing the toilet made was changing the direction of the aerosol plume, researchers noted. For example, when flushing with the lid closed, surfaces in front of and to the left of the toilet were more contaminated than surfaces on the right. The impact of closing lids on public restrooms wasn’t measured since they typically do not have lids.
The findings are important to keep in mind when one member of a household is sick, particularly when the infection is causing stomach issues, the study noted. Making sure regular disinfectant practices occur during a bout of illness can help prevent or reduce the spread of infection to other individuals in the household, especially if the home has only one bathroom.
Cleaning with a disinfectant is the most effective way to reduce viral contamination; disinfectants have a viral kill rate of 99.99 percent on the toilet and 97.64 percent on the toilet brush.
Lower blood pressure naturally with THESE 3 foods
High blood pressure, a major risk factor for heart disease and strokes, affects a whopping 46 percent of American adults. Also known as hypertension, high blood pressure is characterized by readings that rise above 130/80 mm/Hg. Doctors typically treat high blood pressure with pharmaceutical drugs such as beta-blockers, diuretics, and ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme) inhibitors. And, while these medications may be required (in some cases for a short period of time), most people are unaware of the toxic side effects.
The good news is that a variety of tasty foods and spices (which may even be in your refrigerator right now) can help you lower blood pressure naturally.
In fact, a recent article found that diets rich in certain fruits and vegetables can contribute to healthier blood pressure. Let’s look at three appetizing choices that can help to get your blood pressure measurements heading in the right direction.
Anthocyanin-rich, colorful berries and juices help lower blood pressure
Vividly colored berries, such as blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and cranberries, are rich in anthocyanins, natural plant pigments with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. These helpful compounds can increase beneficial nitric oxide levels in the blood, helping to relax arteries and lower blood pressure. Berries are also high in potassium, which helps to ease hypertension. In a recent review of studies published in the European Journal of Nutrition, the authors confirmed that berries caused reductions in systolic (the upper reading) blood pressure. While the reductions were modest (about 3 mm/Hg), these decreases can be meaningful, especially in conjunction with other dietary changes and regular consumption of blood pressure-friendly foods.
When it comes to hypertensive effects, it seems to make little difference whether the berries are enjoyed fresh, frozen, or juiced. By the way, cranberry juice had the most noticeable effect, thereby showing – in this study at least – that it provides the most “bang for the buck.” For maximum benefit, make sure to opt for 100 percent pure, unsweetened cranberry juice. And, be sure to choose organic berries whenever possible or practical.
Crank up the flavor and reduce blood pressure with herbs and spices
Just because a food is good for you doesn’t mean that it has to taste bland. A mouth-watering array of seasonings and spices can help tame hypertension while sparking up the flavors in a meal. Celery seed, cilantro, cinnamon, ginger, oregano, black pepper, chili powder, basil, ginseng, garlic, and turmeric are all known to help combat hypertension. In one eye-opening new study published in the prestigious American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 71 people with risk factors for heart disease seasoned their food with 1.3 teaspoons of a mix of 24 different herbs and spices daily. (Another group used half of that amount). After four weeks, the “super-spicy” group had lower blood pressure when compared to those who received smaller amounts!
And there’s an additional benefit to spicing things up – herbs and zesty seasonings appear to cause people to use smaller amounts of sugar and salt. In an interesting sidelight, the researchers noted that seasoning vegetables with herbs and spices increased the selection of vegetables in university cafeteria settings. In other words, tasty herbs and spices seem to make people more likely to bypass the salt shaker and sugar bowl while simultaneously choosing healthier fare. That’s a win/win!
Carrots help support healthy blood pressure levels
These cheerful-looking orange root vegetables are high in a pair of antioxidant carotenoids, or plant pigments, known as lutein and zeaxanthin. A 2023 study found that the risk of hypertension dropped by 10 percent for every 100-gram serving of carrots (about a cup) eaten daily. This helps to reinforce an earlier animal study published in Nutrients, which showed that a carrot-enriched diet decreased both triglycerides (fats in the blood) and total blood pressure. That’s not surprising, as a single medium-sized carrot provides almost 10 percent of the recommended daily amount of potassium, which lowers blood pressure by relaxing artery walls.
Of course, these three foods aren’t the only blood pressure-friendly superfoods in town. Holistic doctors and nutritionists say that bananas, citrus fruits, watermelon, leafy greens, beetroot juice, legumes, tomatoes, oats, and kiwi fruit are also great choices.
Ward off hypertension with natural techniques
If you have hypertension (or simply want to avoid developing it in the first place), it makes sense to eliminate or sharply reduce your intake of sodium, added sugars, and factory-farmed (contaminated) fats. Getting sufficient exercise, steering clear of excessive alcohol consumption, and banishing cigarettes are also wise steps to take.
When it comes to maintaining healthy blood pressure, the Mediterranean diet is hard to beat. This healthy way of eating includes plenty of fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and whole grains, along with beneficial fats from olive oil, antioxidant spices, and limited quantities of lean protein.
It’s also important to stay hydrated with plenty of pure, filtered, or sparkling water. Other good beverage choices include fresh beet juice, lemon water, and cranberry juice.
Remember, no single food or combination of foods can lower blood pressure overnight. But, with a little effort, in just a few days the changes can be significant. Finally, an important note, don’t stop taking prescribed medication unless your doctor advises you to.
Bottom line, over the long haul, a healthy (organic) diet and sensible exercise routine can be just the thing to create positive blood pressure readings.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
FTC Launches Probe Into Big Tech AI Investments, Partnerships
The FTC is launching an investigation into multiple Big Tech firms and their recent investments and partnerships involving the rapidly growing generative artificial intelligence industry, officials have announced.
The regulatory agency’s probe targets Alphabet, Inc., Amazon.com, Inc., Anthropic PBC, Microsoft Corp., and OpenAI, Inc.
All of the tech firms have been issued compulsory orders requiring them to hand over information regarding recent investments and partnerships involving generative AI companies and major cloud service providers, including the decision-making process behind such investments, the FTC said in a recent press release.
The agency said it plans to examine whether any of those deals harms or undermines fair competition.
As part of the probe, officials will “scrutinize corporate partnerships and investments with AI providers to build a better internal understanding of these relationships and their impact on the competitive landscape,”
The FTC is using Section 6(b) of the FTC Act, which allows the agency to conduct studies to better understand market trends and business practices, and help it inform future Commission actions, it said.
Specifically, the FTC is seeking information regarding the “agreements and the strategic rationale” of the investments and partnerships, the “practical implications” of the investments and partnerships, including decisions around new product releases, governance or oversight rights, and the topic of regular meetings.
Officials are also analyzing the investments’ competitive impact, including “information related to market share, competition, competitors, markets, potential for sales growth, or expansion into product or geographic markets,” among other things, the agency said.
SURVEILLANCE STATE
Watchlisted: You’re Probably Already on a Government Extremism List
According to the FBI, you may be an anti-government extremist if you’ve:
- a) purchased a Bible or other religious materials,
- b) used terms like “MAGA” and “Trump,”
- c) shopped at Dick’s Sporting Goods, Cabela’s, or Bass Pro Shops,
- d) purchased tickets to travel by bus, cars, or plane,
- e) all of the above.
In fact, if you selected any of those options in recent years, you’re probably already on a government watchlist.
That’s how broadly the government’s net is being cast in its pursuit of domestic extremists.
We’re all fair game now, easy targets for inclusion on some FBI watch list or another.
When the FBI is asking banks and other financial institutions to carry out dragnet searches of customer transactions—warrantlessly and without probable cause—for “extremism” indicators broadly based on where you shop, what you read, and how you travel, we’re all in trouble.
Clearly, you don’t have to do anything illegal.
You don’t even have to challenge the government’s authority.
Frankly, you don’t even have to care about politics or know anything about your rights.
All you really need to do in order to be tagged as a suspicious character, flagged for surveillance, and eventually placed on a government watch list is live in the United States.
This is how easy it is to run afoul of the government’s many red flags.
In fact, all you need to do these days to end up on a government watch list or be subjected to heightened scrutiny is use certain trigger words (like cloud, pork and pirates), surf the internet, communicate using a cell phone, limp or stutter, drive a car, stay at a hotel, attend a political rally, express yourself on social media, appear mentally ill, serve in the military, disagree with a law enforcement official, call in sick to work, purchase materials at a hardware store, take flying or boating lessons, appear suspicious, appear confused or nervous, fidget or whistle or smell bad, be seen in public waving a toy gun or anything remotely resembling a gun (such as a water nozzle or a remote control or a walking cane), stare at a police officer, question government authority, or appear to be pro-gun or pro-freedom.
We’re all presumed guilty until proven innocent now.
It’s just a matter of time before you find yourself wrongly accused, investigated and confronted by police based on a data-driven algorithm or risk assessment culled together by a computer program run by artificial intelligence.
For instance, a so-called typo in a geofence search warrant, which allows police to capture location data for a particular geographic area, resulted in government officials being given access to information about who went where and with whom within a two-mile long stretch of San Francisco that included churches, businesses, private homes, hotels, and restaurants.
Thanks to the 24/7 surveillance being carried out by the government’s sprawling spy network of fusion centers, we are all just sitting ducks, waiting to be tagged, flagged, targeted, monitored, manipulated, investigated, interrogated, heckled and generally harassed by agents of the American police state.
Without having ever knowingly committed a crime or been convicted of one, you and your fellow citizens have likely been assessed for behaviors the government might consider devious, dangerous or concerning; assigned a threat score based on your associations, activities and viewpoints; and catalogued in a government database according to how you should be approached by police and other government agencies based on your particular threat level.
Before long, every household in America will be flagged as a threat and assigned a threat score.
Nationwide, there are upwards of 123 real-time crime centers (a.k.a. fusion centers), which allow local police agencies to upload and share massive amounts of surveillance data and intelligence with state and federal agencies culled from surveillance cameras, facial recognition technology, gunshot sensors, social media monitoring, drones and body cameras, and artificial intelligence-driven predictive policing algorithms.
These data fusion centers, which effectively create an electronic prison—a digital police state—from which there is no escape.
Yet this crime prevention campaign is not so much about making America safer as it is about ensuring that the government has the wherewithal to muzzle anti-government discontent, penalize anyone expressing anti-government sentiments, and preemptively nip in the bud any attempts by the populace to challenge the government’s authority or question its propaganda.
As J.D. Tuccille writes for Reason, “[A]t a time when government officials rage against ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation’ that is often just disagreement with whatever opinions are currently popular among the political class, fusion centers frequently scrutinize peaceful dissenting speech.”
These fusion centers are the unacknowledged powerhouses behind the government’s campaign to censors and retaliate against those who vocalize their disagreement and discontent with government policies.
It’s a setup ripe for abuse.
For instance, an investigative report by the Brennan Center found that “Over the last two decades, leaked materials have shown fusion centers tracking protestors and casting peaceful activities as potential threats. Their targets have included racial justice and environmental advocates, right-wing activists, and third-party political candidates.”
One fusion center in Maine was found to have been “illegally collecting and sharing information about Maine residents who weren’t suspected of criminal activity. They included gun purchasers, people protesting the construction of a new power transmission line, the employees of a peacebuilding summer camp for teenagers, and even people who traveled to New York City frequently.”
This is how the burden of proof has been reversed.
Although the Constitution requires the government to provide solid proof of criminal activity before it can deprive a citizen of life or liberty, the government has turned that fundamental assurance of due process on its head.
Each and every one of us is now seen as a potential suspect, terrorist and lawbreaker in the eyes of the government.
Consider some of the many ways in which “we the people” are now treated as criminals, found guilty of violating the police state’s abundance of laws, and preemptively stripped of basic due process rights.
Red flag gun confiscation laws. Gun control legislation, especially in the form of red flag gun laws, allow the police to remove guns from people “suspected” of being threats. These laws, growing in popularity as a legislative means by which to seize guns from individuals viewed as a danger to themselves or others, will put a target on the back of every American whether or not they own a weapon.
Disinformation eradication campaigns. In recent years, the government has used the phrase “domestic terrorist” interchangeably with “anti-government,” “extremist” and “terrorist” to describe anyone who might fall somewhere on a very broad spectrum of viewpoints that could be considered “dangerous.” The ramifications are so far-reaching as to render almost every American an extremist in word, deed, thought or by association.
Government watch lists. The FBI, CIA, NSA and other government agencies have increasingly invested in corporate surveillance technologies that can mine constitutionally protected speech on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in order to identify potential extremists and predict who might engage in future acts of anti-government behavior. Where many Americans go wrong is in naively assuming that you have to be doing something illegal or harmful in order to be flagged and targeted for some form of intervention or detention.
Thought crimes programs. For years now, the government has used all of the weapons in its vast arsenal—surveillance, threat assessments, fusion centers, pre-crime programs, hate crime laws, militarized police, lockdowns, martial law, etc.—to target potential enemies of the state based on their ideologies, behaviors, affiliations and other characteristics that might be deemed suspicious or dangerous. It’s not just what you say or do that is being monitored, but how you think that is being tracked and targeted. There’s a whole spectrum of behaviors ranging from thought crimes and hate speech to whistleblowing that qualifies for persecution (and prosecution) by the Deep State. It’s a slippery slope from censoring so-called illegitimate ideas to silencing truth.
Security checkpoints. By treating an entire populace as suspect, the government has justified wide-ranging security checkpoints that subject travelers to scans, searches, pat downs and other indignities by the TSA and VIPR raids on so-called “soft” targets like shopping malls and bus depots.
Surveillance and precrime programs. Facial recognition software aims to create a society in which every individual who steps out into public is tracked and recorded as they go about their daily business. Coupled with surveillance cameras that blanket the country, facial recognition technology allows the government and its corporate partners to warrantlessly identify and track someone’s movements in real-time, whether or not they have committed a crime.
Mail surveillance. Just about every branch of the government—from the Postal Service to the Treasury Department and every agency in between—now has its own surveillance sector, authorized to spy on the American people. For instance, the U.S. Postal Service, which has been photographing the exterior of every piece of paper mail for the past 20 years, is also spying on Americans’ texts, emails and social media posts.
Constitution-free zones. Merely living within 100 miles inland of the border around the United States is now enough to make you a suspect, paving the way for Border Patrol agents to search people’s homes, intimately probe their bodies, and rifle through their belongings, all without a warrant. Nearly 66% of Americans (2/3 of the U.S. population, 197.4 million people) now live within that 100-mile-deep, Constitution-free zone.
Vehicle kill switches. Sold to the public as a safety measure aimed at keeping drunk drivers off the roads, “vehicle kill switches” could quickly become a convenient tool in the hands of government agents to put the government in the driver’s seat while rendering null and void the Constitution’s requirements of privacy and its prohibitions against unreasonable searches and seizures. As such, it presumes every driver potentially guilty of breaking some law that would require the government to intervene and take over operation of the vehicle or shut it off altogether.
Biometric databases. “Guilt by association” has taken on new connotations in the technological age. The government’s presumptions about our so-called guilt or innocence have extended down to our very cellular level with a diabolical campaign to create a nation of suspects predicated on a massive national DNA database.
Limitations on our right to move about freely. At every turn, we’re tracked in by surveillance cameras that monitor our movements. For instance, license plate readers are mass surveillance tools that can photograph over 1,800 license tag numbers per minute, take a picture of every passing license tag number and store the tag number and the date, time, and location of the picture in a searchable database, then share the data with law enforcement, fusion centers and private companies to track the movements of persons in their cars. With tens of thousands of these license plate readers now in operation throughout the country, police can track vehicles in real time.
The war on cash. Digital currency provides the government and its corporate partners with a mode of commerce that can easily be monitored, tracked, tabulated, mined for data, hacked, hijacked and confiscated when convenient. This push for a digital currency dovetails with the government’s war on cash, which it has been subtly waging for some time now. In recent years, just the mere possession of significant amounts of cash could implicate you in suspicious activity and label you a criminal. Americans are having their bank accounts, homes, cars, electronics and cash seized by police under the assumption that they have been associated with some criminal scheme.
These programs push us that much closer towards a suspect society where everyone is potentially guilty of some crime or another and must be preemptively rendered harmless.
In this way, the groundwork is being laid for a new kind of government where it won’t matter if you’re innocent or guilty, whether you’re a threat to the nation, or even if you’re a citizen.
What will matter is what the government—or whoever happens to be calling the shots at the time—thinks. And if the powers-that-be think you’re a threat to the nation and should be locked up, then you’ll be locked up with no access to the protections our Constitution provides. In effect, you will disappear.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Geoengineering Watch Global Alert News, January 27, 2024, #442
Chemical flash freezes followed by flash flooding in the middle of winter, what’s wrong with this picture? And what’s coming after the relatively warm winter rains? More chemical ice nucleation cloud seeding ice storms are currently scheduled. On the wider horizon wars and rumors of wars, will global conflict be the final card played by the power structure? A “supercomputer” predicts that “25%” of life on Earth will soon be extinct. Does this seemingly dire estimation actually fall far short of how bad it already is? And how much worse will it very soon be? Will the vast majority remain completely asleep at the wheel until the moment of impact?
GARDENING, FARMING & HOMESTEADING
White Minnesota Farmer Sues State Over Discriminatory Program
A Minnesota farmer is suing the state over an agricultural grant program that discriminates on the basis of race and sex.
The program, called the Down Payment Assistance Grant Program, provides up to $15,000 in funding to help “emerging” farmers purchase farmland. It is administered by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Rural Finance Authority.
Applicants must be Minnesota residents who have never owned a farm, earn less than $250,000 annually in gross agricultural sales, will farm the land for at least five years, and who will provide most of the labor and management of the farm.
According to the department, to be eligible, applicants must be women, veterans, disabled, American Indian or Alaskan Native, 35 or younger, urban, “members of a community of color,” individuals who are “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, or asexual (LGBTQIA+),” or “any other emerging farmers as determined by the commissioner.”
The plaintiff, Lance Nistler of Kelliher, Minnesota, is a white man who wants to purchase 40 acres of farmland in Beltrami County, Minnesota, for growing soybeans, oats, and wheat. He currently works on his relatives’ farm.
He complied with all eligibility requirements when he sought the grant. Out of 176 applicants, Lance was selected ninth in the grant lottery, but he was placed at the end of the list. Unknown to him at the time, the program put a premium on “emerging” farmers—as the department defines them—when awarding funds, regardless of lottery results, according to the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF). The foundation, a Sacramento, California-based national public interest law firm that fights government abuses, is representing Mr. Nistler.
The state prioritizes grants to these emerging farmers, and any funding that remains may be awarded to non-emerging farmer applicants in the order of their lottery placement.
The legal complaint (pdf) in Nistler v. Walz was filed on Jan. 24 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.
The defendants are Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) and Thom Peterson, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. Both men are being sued in their official capacities.
Growing Tomatoes (Organically) – 11 Tips for Success
We have a love affair with growing tomatoes. That first taste of a perfectly ripe, fresh off the vine, sun-warmed tomato is pure awesomeness!
We’ll take you through growing tomatoes from planting to harvest without chemicals, plus companion plants and organic fertilizer tips to give you tons of tomatoes.
Even if you’re not a fan of fresh tomatoes, homemade spaghetti sauce, salsa and ketchup may make you a believer.
If you’re starting tomato seeds, please see “Grow Tomatoes from Seed” for tips to produce healthy seedlings ready for the garden.
When you’re ready to plant tomatoes in the garden (or a container), here are the main steps from planting to harvest.
- Start with healthy young plants.
- Choose a growing location with full sun (at least 6 hours of sun) and a soil pH between 6.2 and 6.8.
- If soil is cold, heat it up by covering it with landscape fabric or black plastic mulch. Soil temp should be at least 60F (15.5C) in the daytime.
- Amend the garden soil in the planting hole with organic matter and calcium.
- Plant tomato seedlings deep after the risk of frost is past. Tomatoes will grow a new root system from the buried stem.
- Mulch plants to maintain even soil moisture, prevent diseases, and keep fruit clean.
- Install a trellis, stake or cage to provide support for the plant.
- Add tomato companion plants to help with pests and diseases, and improve pollination.
- Water regularly and deeply at ground level, about 1 inch per week.
- As the plant gets larger, remove the bottom leaves.
- Harvest ripe tomatoes and store at room temperature.
CANCEL CULTURE
The FCC receives a variety of comments and complaints about the accuracy or bias of news networks, stations, reporters or commentators in how they cover – or sometimes opt not to cover – events. The Commission has a policy against “news distortion,” which dates back more than 50 years to the era when broadcast stations were the only form of electronic news. The FCC’s authority to take action on news distortion complaints has always been quite narrow, however. As discussed in “The FCC and the First Amendment” guide, the agency is prohibited by law from engaging in censorship or infringing on First Amendment rights of the press. Those protected rights include, but are not limited to, a broadcaster’s selection and presentation of news or commentary.
Accordingly, the FCC’s news distortion policy is more narrow than an informal understanding of the term might imply. In weighing the constitutionality of the policy, courts have recognized that the policy “makes a crucial distinction between deliberate distortion and mere inaccuracy or difference of opinion.”
What is the FCC’s responsibility?
The scope of the news distortion policy is limited in several respects. First, the regulation applies only to the broadcast medium, which means that the FCC has no power to enforce it against cable news networks, newspapers or newsletters (whether online or print), social media platforms, online-only streaming outlets or any other non-broadcast news platform.
Second, broadcasters are subject to sanction only if they can be proven to have deliberately distorted a factual news report. Errors stemming from mistakes are not actionable, nor are expressions of opinion (however unsubstantiated they may seem to some viewers or listeners).
Accordingly, the FCC will investigate a claim only if it first receives evidence, in addition to the broadcast itself, that makes a “substantial showing” that a broadcast news report was deliberately intended to mislead viewers or listeners. Such evidence may include testimony from persons who have direct personal knowledge of an intentional falsification of the news. Examples of such evidence include written or oral instructions from station management, outtakes, or evidence of bribery. Without such documented evidence, per the legal requirements governing the Commission, the FCC generally cannot intervene.
Moreover, any allegation of news distortion “must involve a significant event and not merely a minor or incidental aspect of the news report.” The FCC does not investigate mere claims of collateral inaccuracy in news reports or mere differences of opinion over the truth or validity of aspects of a news program.
What if I have comments or concerns about a specific broadcast?
All comments and/or concerns about a specific news broadcast or commentary should first be directed to the local station and network involved, so that the people responsible for making the programming decisions can become better informed about audience opinion.
If you are dissatisfied with the broadcaster’s response, you may file a complaint with the FCC. The fastest way to submit your complaint is through the agency’s online complaint portal for consumers, accessible here. Complaints should include the call sign and community of license of the station, the date and time of the broadcast(s) in question, a detailed description of the alleged distorted news, a transcript or recording of the broadcast(s) in question, and evidence that the broadcast news report was deliberately intended to mislead viewers or listeners.
Time to boycott Starbucks!
Two baristas who beat up two men who allegedly tried to rob a Starbucks in Missouri were fired by the coffee chain for their heroic efforts.
St. Louis police said 37-year-old Joshua Noe and 35-year-old Marquise Porter-Doyle rushed into a Starbucks on Dec. 17 with what looked like real handguns and demanded the employees hand over cash in the register.
When the employee said he wasn’t able to open the safe, Noe allegedly hit the employee in the head with his gun, but the gun shattered, and that’s when the victims realized they had fake guns.
Two of the baristas and some of the customers beat down the two would-be robbers and held Noe until police arrived. Porter-Doyle was able to escape, but police caught up with him later and arrested him.
The two alleged robbers are facing a combined 20 felony charges for robbery, attempted robbery, and assault
Instead of thanking the two employees, the company fired them.
An attorney for the former barista Michael Harris says they are filing a lawsuit against Starbucks, according to the St. Louis Riverfront Times. The other fired barista was Devin Jones-Ransom.
“Michael and Devin were promptly fired by the company without any explanation as to what, if any policy they violated, or what they should have done differently about the situation,” said attorney Ryan Krupp.
“Harris complied with the robbers’ demands until it was no longer an option for himself and others,” he explained.
Krupp says that Harris acted out of fear that he might be killed.
“I just wanted to do the right thing as a person and as an employee,” said Harris in a statement.
A representative for Starbucks released a statement about the lawsuit.
“The safety and wellbeing of our partners (employees) and customers is always our first concern,” the statement read. “All partners are expected to follow our carefully crafted protocols to ensure the safety of customers and partners during these situations.”
PET NEWS
Owner Brings Horses Inside Her House to Keep Them Warm in Sub-Zero Temperatures
When temperatures began to dip in Nebraska, one resident went above and beyond to ensure her horses stayed warm by opening her doors and welcoming them into her house.
Kelly Rowley, 47, who works for the Niobrara State Park, has two horses—a 19-year-old mare named Diamond, who has been with her since she was foal, and Rip, a 3-year-old stallion who has been with her for the last two years.
One weekend in January, Ms. Rowley was left in despair as she was suffering from a sinus infection, and her daughter, who lives with her, was away that weekend.
“That night, a Friday, I hardly slept at all,” Ms. Rowley told The Epoch Times. “The winds were reaching 40 miles an hour, and the temperature was below 17 degrees Fahrenheit, but it felt more like below 30. It was awful; it was like Antarctica out there.”The horses’ water was frozen solid so Ms. Rowley was bucketing water to them. Despite the wind cutting into her face, she chose to do it because Rip was constantly shivering even with a blanket on. Although Diamond wasn’t shivering, she had snow stuck to her hair.
The horses had their heads down and were constantly moving around to fight off the elements.
“It was so heartbreaking,” she said.
Each time Ms. Rowley woke up that night and looked outside at her beloved horses, she was saddened. With her elbows parked on the windowsill, forehead in her palms, she prayed that they’d get some peace from the “hell blizzard.”
As she grew more concerned, Ms. Rowley thought about leading them to her aunt’s house but realized going outside in the middle of a blizzard wasn’t a very safe or realistic option.
The next day, she offered the horses water, but they drank only a cup or two—they should have been drinking at least 10 gallons a day.
“I knew they weren’t getting enough, and now they wouldn’t even eat their grain so the panic set in,” she said.
On seeing them suffering, Ms. Rowley decided to take them inside her home and immediately got to work turning the dining room with its wooden floor into a big stall. Table, chairs, plants, and pictures were all hauled to the living room and, after removing the dog gate, she raced back outside.
“I didn’t even have to pull them in the house,“ she said. ”I just opened the door, and they ever so calmly followed me right in.”
The horses enjoyed being Ms. Rowley’s guests for an hour and a half and were able to get the snow and ice out of their coats and dry out.
Lulled by the moderate warmth, Ms. Rowley said they began to doze off.
“I was talking to them the whole time, brushing them with a dog brush because I hadn’t prepared a horse brush beforehand, just trying to get the ice balls melted off their faces, necks, and manes,” she said. “It wasn’t until they kind of started coming alive after an hour and a half that I decided, ‘Okay, they’re back! We’re good!’”
However, the whole time they were inside the house, they stood still like statues and didn’t move.
Later, Ms. Rowley led Diamond and Rip back outside and offered them water, which they eagerly took. When the blankets were properly dry, Ms. Rowley put them back on her horses.
She said one reason she took them into the house was because it’s going to be torn down in the spring or summer to make way for a new one.
9 Ways to Keep Your Dog Safe in the Snow
As idyllic as a winter with your pup might sound (who doesn’t love a dog in a chic coat?), harsh weather can be dangerous for humans and animals alike.
“It is very important to keep your pet safe and healthy during the winter season, especially during storms,” says Dr. Aaron Vine, a veterinarian at Central Veterinary Associates. “The extreme cold may have an adverse effect on your pet’s health, so pet parents must take the necessary precautions for their pets when bringing them outside. It is especially important during extreme weather circumstances to ensure that your pet is microchipped, which makes it easier to locate them. In the event they become ill as a result of being exposed to the elements, please bring them to a veterinarian immediately.”
Below, nine more winter safety tips from Dr. Vine.
- Keep bedding warm.
Make sure your dog has a warm place to sleep, off the floor and away from all drafty areas. A cozy pet bed with a warm blanket or pillow is the next best thing to letting your pup sleep in bed with you.
Save for extreme circumstances, you should never shave down your dog during the winter. Their long, thick coats are vital for protection from the cold. If you have a short-haired breed, consider getting them a coat or a sweater with coverage from the base of the tail to the belly.
- Shorten bathroom breaks.
If you have a puppy or senior pet who is sensitive to the cold, it may be difficult to take them outside. Shorten bathroom breaks to quick trips outside rather than long walks, or use pee pads on particularly nippy nights so your pet doesn’t hold it and risk getting a UTI. If your pet gets cabin fever from the limited exercise, turn to indoor interactive games to keep them mentally and physically stimulated. And when they do make it outdoors, always ensure they’re wearing a warm sweater or jacket.
If domesticated animals are left outdoors during winter months, they run the risk of health conditions caused by extreme temperatures. Cats are especially susceptible because they have free reign of the outdoors and can become lost during a storm. Just like in the summer months, you should never leave your pet alone in a car in cold weather; they could freeze and develop serious cold-related health conditions.
- Keep your pet on a short leash.
Never let your dog off leash on snow or ice, especially during a snowstorm, as they can lose their scent and easily become lost. More dogs are lost during the winter than any other season, so make sure that your dog always wears their identification tags. In addition, all pets should be outfitted with a microchipping device.
- Beware of ice melt (salt)
Salt and ice melt (most common in urban areas) can cause chemical burns on animals’ paws, so always ensure your dog is wearing booties or apply a paw wax to act as a barrier.
ICYMI
US Navy To Enlist Recruits Without High School Diplomas
Recruits that lack a high school diploma or a GED can now join the U.S. Navy, per changes announced by Chief of Naval Personnel Rick Cheeseman. The news marks an opportunity for people that don’t have either a diploma or a GED to test their way into the service, as those without the aforementioned credentials must score at least a 50 on the Armed Services Qualification Test, which is out of 99, the Associated Press reported.“We get thousands of people into our recruiting stations every year that want to join the Navy but do not have an education credential. And we just turn them away,” the Vice Adm. Rick Cheeseman told the AP in a Friday interview.
Last year, some 2,400 prospective sailors were denied admission because of the education requirement, Cheeseman explained. Under the new rules, Cheeseman estimated that some 500 or so of that lot could get in based on testing alone.
Although two branches met their recruitment goals last year: the Marine Corps and the Space Force, the Army, Navy, and Air Force all failed to meet their respective marks, according to the AP.
The Navy’s enlistment goal last year was set at 37,700, however, the service only brought in 31,834, per Cheeseman.
This time around, Cheeseman set the current goal thousands of bodies higher, coming in at 40,600, the outlet continued.
“I need these sailors. So it’s a stretch goal. We’re telling our recruiters to go get 40,600 people to join the Navy,” Cheeseman outlined.
“We don’t fully expect to get that many. But we’re going for it,” the Navy Admiral said.
The reduced standards moved some to suggest that the United States is preparing for war.
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