BREAKING NEWS
Ready to rumble: Trump accepts Biden’s offer for two debates!
A debate offer by President Joe Biden posted in a video on X on May 15, was accepted within the hour by a reply post on Truth Social by former President Donald Trump.
President Biden said in a 15-second video that he won two debates against President Trump in 2020, stating “since then he hasn’t shown up” for another debate.
“Now he’s acting like he wants to debate me again,” President Biden said in the video. “Well, make my day, pal. I’ll even do it twice, so let’s pick the dates Donald—I hear you’re free on Wednesdays.”
President Trump responded, noting that in his opinion that President Biden is the “worst” debater he had ever faced and that the current president “can’t put two sentences together.”
“It’s time for a debate so that he can explain to the American People his highly destructive Open Border Policy, new and ridiculous EV Mandates, the allowance of Crushing Inflation, High Taxes, and his really WEAK Foreign Policy, which is allowing the World to ‘Catch on Fire.’ I am Ready and Willing to Debate Crooked Joe at the two proposed times in June and September,” President Trump said in his post on Truth Social.
President Trump was referring to dates proposed by the Biden campaign in a letter to the Commission on Presidential Debates on Wednesday, which noted the president would not be making an appearance at their pre-scheduled debates, instead calling for the campaigns to organize the debates themselves.
President Trump responded further in his post on Truth Social, adding: “I would strongly recommend more than two debates and, for excitement purposes, a very large venue, although Biden is supposedly afraid of crowds – That’s only because he doesn’t get them. Just tell me when, I’ll be there. Let’s get ready to Rumble!!!”
WORLD NEWS
Slovakian prime minister Robert Fico shot; suspect arrested!
The Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot during a public meeting in a mountainous central district of the country, a witness speaks of his head and chest having “bloody injuries”.
A gunman shot recently re-elected left-populist Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico on Wednesday afternoon in the central town of Handlova, in the mountainous Trenčín Region. Slovakian
publication Denník N reports Fico was meeting members of the public at a local cultural center when shots rang out. A witness is reported to have said: “When the shots rang out, they were deafening” and that she had seen Fico fall to the ground with “bloody injuries on his chest and head”.
An alleged gunman has been arrested.
The shooting was immediately met with anger in Parliament, Denník N reports. It is stated Richard Glück of Fico’s own party the left-wing-nationalist Direction – Social Democracy (‘Smer’) stormed into the parliamentary chamber and shouted at members of the opposition that Fico had been shot because of their rhetoric. Per the report, Glück was criticized by others for not acting with the decorum of a public official, and the Parliament’s speaker in turn said Glück should be given understanding for his emotional state has the head of his party had just been shot.
Massive manhunt in France underway after deadly prison break!
A massive manhunt was underway in France on Wednesday for an armed gang that killed two prison officers and seriously injured three others to spring an inmate they were escorting.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said “unprecedented” efforts were deployed, with hundreds of officers mobilized in the search for the escaped convict, Mohamed Amra, and the assailants who ambushed the convoy transporting him on Tuesday.
The violence of the attack shocked France. Prison workers held moments of silence Wednesday outside prisons in Paris and elsewhere to commemorate the officers who were killed.
Darmanin, speaking Wednesday on RTL radio, expressed hope that Amra could be caught “in the coming days.” Without giving full details about the extent of the manhunt, he said 450 officers had been deployed in the region of the attack to search for the assailants and clues about their whereabouts.
“The means employed are considerable,” he said. “We are progressing a lot.”
The convoy was transporting Amra back to jail in the Normandy town of Évreux after a court hearing in Rouen when it was ambushed on the A154 freeway.
Amra, 30, had a long criminal record, with at least 13 convictions for robbery and other crimes, the first when he was just 15, said Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau.
British intel chief: Russia is preparing to launch physical attacks against the West!
While Russia is already advanced in encouraging “non-state cyber actors” to attack the West, it is moving towards grooming other groups for “physical attacks”, the chief of Britain’s eavesdropping and cyber security bureau has said.
The West needs to be prepared for what may amount to state-backed terrorist attacks for Russia, the director of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) spy agency Anne Keast-Butler has warned in a rare address. As previously reported, however, several instances of such activity are alleged to have already been discovered by European police and security agencies, suggesting this new trend is already well underway.
While Keast-Butler’s comments on cyber security threats from Russia and China, as expressed at a government conference on the matter in Birmingham this week, are to be expected, the accompanying remarks on physical attacks are more unusual. She said GCHQ is: “increasingly concerned about growing links between the Russian intelligence services and proxy groups to conduct cyber attacks – as well as suspected physical surveillance and sabotage operations.”
In some cases the agency was seeing Russia “seemingly co-ordinating physical attacks against the West”. In the broader security sphere Keast-Butler said that while in the past Russia had created “the right environment” for non-state groups to thrive — by not arresting them, in other words — now they had moved into an active posture and were outright “nurturing and inspiring” non-state groups.
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
Speaker Mike Johnson attended the Trump trial yesterday; it’s a “travesty of justice”!
In a brief press conference held yesterday outside the Manhattan courthouse where former President Donald Trump’s New York trial is ongoing, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) strongly criticized the proceedings, calling them a “travesty of justice”.
Mr. Johnson, a former litigator and the current highest-ranking Republican, expressed his outrage at the legal proceedings and the broader implications for the American judicial system. He said he called President Trump and told him he wanted to be at the trial in person.
“I am disgusted by what is happening here—what is being done here to our entire system of justice overall,” Mr. Johnson said. “I wanted to be here myself to call out what is a travesty of justice, and I think everybody around the country can see that. President Trump is a friend, and I wanted to be here to support him.”
The press conference took place outside the courthouse, as Mr. Johnson noted that the court did not permit statements to be made inside the building. “That’s just one of the many things that are wrong here,” he added.
Mr. Johnson condemned the trial, now in its fifth week, as a deliberate attempt to hinder President Trump’s 2024 campaign efforts.
“They are doing this intentionally to keep him here and keep him off the campaign trail, and I think everybody in the country can see that for what it is,” he said.
The speaker did not mince words in his criticism of the key figures involved in the trial, accusing them of blatant partisanship.
“What we’ve got here is a partisan Democrat district attorney, we have a Biden donor judge, and we have an assistant DA who was recently a top official at the Department of Justice, Biden’s DOJ, and recently received over $10,000 in payments from the Democratic National Committee,” he said.
Mr. Johnson reaffirmed his commitment to supporting President Trump and fighting what he described as politically motivated trials.
“These are politically motivated trials, and they are a disgrace. It is election interference, and they show how desperate the opposition to President Trump is and how desperate they truly are,” he said. “The American people are not going to let this stand. Election day cannot get here soon enough, and we will continue to shine a light on all of this in Congress because we have that constitutional responsibility.”
Mr. Johnson voiced his discontent with the trial’s implications for the justice system.
“The people are losing faith right now in this country in our institutions. They’re losing faith in our system of justice, and the reason for that is because they see it being abused as it is being done here in New York,” he said.
Mr. Johnson emphasized the importance of facts in a trial, noting that President Trump’s actions had previously been reviewed with no charges filed.
“Now, eight years later, suddenly they’ve resurrected this thing, they brought it back. And why is that? Well, just apply common sense; everyone can see. It’s painfully obvious that we are now six months out from election day, and that’s the reason. That is the reason why they brought these charges here and across the country,” he said.
Mr. Johnson also singled out former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, the prosecution’s star witness, as lacking credibility. Mr. Cohen was on the stand for the second day inside the courthouse as Mr. Johnson spoke outside.
“This is a man who is clearly on a mission for personal revenge and who is widely known as a witness who has trouble with the truth. He is someone who has a history of perjury and is well known for it. No one should believe a word he says today,” Johnson said.
Mr. Johnson also criticized the charges of falsification of business records, pointing out that President Trump was not the bookkeeper for his company.
Prosecutors in the NY criminal Trump case say they won’t call any more witnesses!
Prosecutors in the New York trial of former President Donald Trump said that they will not call any other witnesses as former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen continues his questionable testimony in the case.
“First of all, we had indicated that there was a potential that we would call another witness, that was going to be another book publisher, but we’ve decided that we really don’t need to do that,” Manhattan District Attorney Joshua Steinglass said. “So, Mr. Cohen will be the last witness.”
Todd Blanche, the lead Trump attorney, told the judge that they expect their cross-examination of Mr. Cohen to take up most of the day on Thursday. The court isn’t meeting on Friday.
On Tuesday, Mr. Cohen was asked about multiple social media comments that he made that insulted President Trump and suggested that he is motivated by a personal animus against his former boss.
Mr. Cohen, who spent more than a decade working as President Trump’s attorney, answered prosecutors’ questions for about nine hours on the witness stand on Monday and Tuesday. He testified that President Trump allegedly told him to pay adult film performer Stormy Daniels in 2016 to stay quiet about an alleged 2006 affair, which the former president denied.
Mr. Blanche also suggested Mr. Cohen was motivated by money, revenge, and notoriety rather than justice, asking Mr. Cohen about the millions of dollars he earned from two tell-all memoirs and the millions of subscribers to his frequently anti-Trump podcast.
Under New York law, falsifying business records can be elevated from a misdemeanor to a felony if the crime helped conceal another offense. In President Trump’s case, prosecutors have argued the payment was effectively a secret contribution to his campaign, violating federal and state laws.
The former president has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and yesterday, the former president said that the payment to Mr. Cohen was a mere legal expense. He accused prosecutors and the judge of using the trial to keep him off the 2024 presidential campaign trail, where he is the leading Republican candidate.
NY Appeals Court upholds judge’s gag order targeting Trump in NY criminal case!
A New York court on Tuesday upheld a gag order that a lower court judge placed on former President Donald Trump in his ongoing criminal trial.
The order, imposed on the former president in March by Judge Juan Merchan, prohibits him from commenting on court staff, prosecutors, potential witnesses, and members of the jury. It was later expanded by Judge Merchan to include members of his own family, and the order doesn’t block President Trump from making comments about Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and the judge himself.
The judge “properly determined that the petitioner’s public statements posed a significant threat to the integrity of the testimony of witnesses and potential witnesses in this case as well,” read a decision from a panel of five judges on New York Supreme Court’s First Appellate Division, issued Tuesday.
Specifically, according to the ruling, Trump challenged restrictions on his ability to comment about Matthew Colangelo, a former Justice Department official who is a part of the prosecution team, and Judge Merchan’s daughter, the head of a political consulting firm that has worked for President Trump’s rival Joe Biden and other Democratic candidates.
“Notably, petitioner does not argue that the Restraining Order has impinged upon his Sixth Amendment rights, or that he is unable to receive a fair trial because of the Restraining Order,” the order continued, rejecting President Trump’s arguments that the order should be rescinded because it restricts “his ability to engage in protected political speech” or “may have some adverse impact on his campaign.”
Mr. Colangelo was targeted in a recent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by Republican Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who said he wants Department of Justice communications with prosecutors who have charged the former president with various crimes. The official said he is concerned that Mr. Colangelo is allegedly being directed by the federal government to bring a case against the former president.
NY judge’s daughter’s involvement in the Trump criminal trial could spell witness tampering!
The daughter of Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over former President Donald Trump’s porn-star case in New York, has ties to a far-left think-tank that helped plot the failed attempt to kick Trump off the ballot in several states earlier this year, according to Steve Bannon’s WarRoom.
Meanwhile, another high-profile client of hers has admitted to helping coach the prosecution’s star witness, raising potential questions about a mistrial.
Loren Merchan, daughter of Judge Merchan, is the president of the “digital strategy” company Authentic Campaigns, which works with a litany of high-profile left-wing clients.
That has included the George Soros-funded Brennan Center for Justice, a nonprofit think-tank at New York University that was integral in helping formulate the controversial plot to use the 14th Amendment’s so-called insurrection clause against Trump.
The Brennan Center an amicus brief with the Colorado Supreme Court, which controversially ruled against Trump, potentially igniting a constitutional crisis that would have allowed unelected partisan judges to disfranchise Republican voters on the basis of a wild and ambitious legal theory.
”The brief urges the Court to reject Trump’s attempts to revive the independent state legislature theory on appeal,” summarized the Brennan Center.
The Colorado ruling was later overturned in a unanimous decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, but not before the secretaries of state in at least two other blue states threatened to boot Trump off their ballots and potentially trigger a chain reaction.
The involvement of Loren Merchan raises further questions as to potential conflicts of interest surrounding her father’s appointment to preside over Trump’s Manhattan trial and his refusal to recuse himself.
After Trump flagged the widely reported conflict with Loren Merchan’s employment, which has earned some $93 million in profits from those seeking to undermine and defeat the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, the judge promptly imposed a gag order to prevent Trump from criticizing his daughter.
However, the Brennan Center was far from the only controversial client whose partisan interest in defeating Trump raised serious red flags.
Prior to the testimony this week of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., boasted that he had been busy coaching the witness.
“I have deposed Michael Cohen, I have been with him a number of times to prepare him,” Golden told MSNBC.
However, it quickly came to light that Goldman also was a client of the judge’s daughter.
Biden’s DOJ requests judge order Steve Bannon to begin his prison sentence!
U.S. officials on May 14 asked a federal judge to order Steve Bannon, an ex-adviser to former President Donald Trump, to prison.
Mr. Bannon was convicted of contempt of Congress in 2022 and sentenced to four months in prison, but his sentence has been on hold due to his appeal of the conviction.
A U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit panel on Friday upheld the conviction, ruling against Mr. Bannon.
A lawyer representing Mr. Bannon said that he would be asking the full appeals court to consider the case, but U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) lawyers said Tuesday that “there is no legal basis” to keep Mr. Bannon’s sentence on pause.
“There is no longer a ’substantial question of law that is likely to result in a reversal or an order for a new trial,’” they said, noting that the panel rejected all of Mr. Bannon’s arguments.
There are two steps that Mr. Bannon can take following the rejection. He can ask the full appeals court to consider the case or hold an en banc session. He can also take the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Bannon and his attorneys planned to ask the full appeals court to consider the case.
The DOJ officials said that, regardless of which steps Mr. Bannon takes, he should be ordered to report to prison.
They noted that federal law requires a person found guilty and sentenced to a term of imprisonment to be detained as an appeal is considered unless “the appeal is not for the purpose of delay and raises a substantial question of law or fact likely to result in reversal.”
Officials did not challenge Judge Nichols’ initial finding that Mr. Bannon raised “a substantial question of law,” but stated that, in light of the new ruling, there is no longer such a question.
Bannon’s counsel has until tomorrow to respond before anything happens.
Discharged U.S. Marine threatened to target white people in mass shooting, Feds say!
Federal prosecutors have charged a recently discharged U.S. Marine with making threats to attack white people in a mass shooting.
On Monday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey announced the arrest of Joshua Cobb, 23, on a single-count indictment of transmitting an interstate threat over the internet. According to a complaint filed in the case, Mr. Cobb authored a social media post on Dec. 17, 2022, indicating his interest in inflicting mayhem “on the white community.”
The author of the Dec. 17, 2022, social media post states, “I want to cause mayhem on the white community. The reason I specifically want to target white people is because as a black male, they will NEVER understand my struggles.”
The post’s author goes on to state he has already begun planning the attack, which he intended to carry out somewhere in New Jersey at some point in 2023, though he had not chosen an exact time.
“I have not chosen an exact date but I am going to be sure it is close to an important holiday to their race. I have a location in mind already which I have frequented for the past year and I am certain nobody there is armed to be able to stop me from spraying them to the ground,” the suspect’s social media post continues. “I have already acquired 2 of the 4 firearms I plan to use for my attack, and I also know my entry and exit points already after the mayhem.”
The social media post was published under the handle “NearbyUserl0l.” Investigators determined that social media activity was associated with an internet protocol (IP) address matching the Trenton, New Jersey residence in which Mr. Cobb resided at the time.
Federal prosecutors allege Mr. Cobb made subsequent posts on a second social media platform in the Spring of 2023, expressing homicidal ideations. A May 2023 social media post states, “Imagine the rush you’d feel while shooting some [expletive] up. Probably could get literally high off the adrenaline alone. I’d probably OD on my own adrenaline after the 10th body goes down.” Another May 2023 post states, “I hope I do progress into a serial killer because I [expletive] hate life man… But one day everyone will suffer. I promise I will make everyone feel my [expletive] pain. My deep, sincere, raw, & sharp pain.” Prosecutors say Mr. Cobb’s posts also indicated a plan to “continue training and buying more ammunition” until the day he could carry out his attack.
Louisiana moves to criminalize possession of abortion pills
Louisiana could soon become the first state to criminalize possession without a prescription of mifepristone and misoprostol, the two drugs used to induce a medicated abortion.
The move opens a new front in the fight over abortion pills and could threaten to further restrict access in a state that bans almost all abortions.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Red Lobster closed nearly 100 restaurants and began auctioning off furniture and equipment as the struggling seafood chain reportedly plans to file for bankruptcy.
The contents of nearly 50 Red Lobsters in 21 states were being auctioned off this week on RestaurantEquipment.bid, according to an email from liquidator TagEx Brands, which called it “the largest restaurant equipment auction ever.”
The auction list includes locations across the country, from Newport News, Virginia, to Salina, Kansas to San Diego. The auctions end tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. local time.
And according to Red Lobster’s website, 99 of its approximately 650 U.S. restaurants were closed as of Tuesday morning. That includes 17 in the chain’s home state of Florida, 11 in New York state and 10 in Texas.
The 649-unit chain is expected to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy before Memorial Day in an effort to ease its debt load and continue operating, according to a report Tuesday by the Wall Street Journal.
Red Lobster had not responded to a request for comment as of publication time.
Employees said the closures were sudden and unexpected, with some waking up Monday to texts or calls from co-workers with the news that they no longer had a job.
An employee of the Red Lobster in Olathe, Kan., told Restaurant Business that staff was informed Monday that the store was closing, just a day after a busy Mother’s Day service. No reason was given for the closure, but the employee assumed it was money-related because the location had good reviews.
HEALTH
Black Seed Oil — A Natural Ally in Maintaining Disease-Free Living
It features a potent compound that helps guard against inflammation, ease respiratory disorders and heal skin disorders – no wonder this unique oil has stood the test of time.
- Studies have shown black seed oil’s impressive potential to help protect against cancer, as well as other disorders like diabetes, asthma and even respiratory ailments
- Thymoquinone (TQ), black seed oil’s main bioactive component, is the primary compound responsible for its many benefits. This monoterpene molecule helps alter certain molecular and signaling pathways related to cancer and other inflammatory and degenerative diseases
- Thymoquinone helps reduce the risk of cancer by inhibiting cell proliferation, triggering apoptosis (cancer cell death) and preventing cancer cell migration, but without harming healthy cells
- Black seed oil contains 1.7 grams of linoleic acid per teaspoon, so only take it as a supplement
Power Mall Products of Interest:
Black Seed Oil Gelcaps (90 CT)
Black Seed-Plus Capsules (90 CT)
Black Seed Oil Infused with Spice Oils (12 fl oz)
Black Seed Oil Absorb-Max TQ (2 fl oz)
Black Seed Oil Cardio Plus (8 fl oz)
Vaping may damage the outer coating of the eye and impair vision!
Vaping is linked to certain health risks to the eye, especially pertaining to the outermost layers of the eye that play an important role in ocular comfort and vision.
According to a recent systematic literature review led by researchers at the University of British Columbia, the impact of vaping on the ocular surface is “not benign.”
“There are significant risks that vaping can pose to the ocular surface,” according to the authors of the review, published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine in late April. “Hence, it is necessary to develop appropriate risk communication tools given the increasing popularity of this activity.”
Dr. Tanya Khan, an oculoplastic surgeon who was not involved in the study, told The Epoch Times that she has been increasingly noticing younger people who vape, reporting dry eyes and redness.
“I think we are probably still seeing only maybe the short term effects,” Dr. Khan said, “As vaping has been a fad of maybe less than 10 years’ duration. So I’m sure over the coming years, we’ll start to see maybe some more long term data.”
Authors noted in their literature review both unintended and intended exposures of the eye to e-cigarettes that can cause damage. With regard to unintended exposure, they wrote that some eye damage can occur due to explosions of e-cigarettes, or due to the vaping liquid or other vaping products breaking off.
“These explosions are difficult to predict and therefore to avoid,” the authors wrote, noting that corneal trauma was the most common form of ocular surface injury from such explosions. According to the paper, e-cigarette explosions can also cause trauma to other parts of the eye’s surface, including bleeding underneath the conjunctiva, and the accumulation of black particulates in the outer eye surfaces.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Google is adding more AI to its search results!
Google is adding more AI to its search, assuaging fears that the company is losing market share to competitors like ChatGPT and Perplexity. It is rolling out AI-powered overviews to users in the U.S., Google said at its Google IO 2024 developer event on Tuesday. Additionally, the company is also looking to use Gemini as an agent for things like trip planning.
Google has been testing AI-powered overviews through its Search Generative Experience (SGE) since last year. Now it is rolling out to “hundreds of millions of users” this week in the U.S., with the intention of making it available to over a billion people by the end of the year.
Technocracy is not Socialism or Communism!
All who think we are fighting Socialism, Communism, or Fascism are in for a rude awakening when they are all thrown under the bus by Technocracy. All socialists, communists, and fascists will be there too. Technocracy is a scourge on humanity, destroying the souls of men, women, and children. It will destroy any political system that challenges its autocratic control. When it finally dawns on you, you will be looking straight into the face of Hell.
Technocracy will twist your mind like a pretzel, for it is “the science of social engineering” from the start. It will fool you into thinking that “system change” is possible, but this author correctly notes, that “close analysis quickly reveals that there is no system-change involved in technocratic designs, no restructuring of power relations, no uprooting of the accumulative capital logic, and no supplanting of social forms.”
Technocracy will kill all political systems. It will kill all economic systems. It will kill all educational systems. It will destroy what it means to be human.
There is no point pushing back against Technocracy. It will assimilate you like the Borg in an old Star Trek movie. There is only one way to destroy technocracy: pull it out by the root and throw it into the trash bin of history.
SURVEILLANCE STATE
Zuck’s surveillance dream: Meta working on AI-powered camerabuds that gather audio-video!
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, is diving headfirst into the world of AI-powered wearables with its “Camerabuds” project, combining audio, video, and AI to form the ultimate surveillance capitalism data gathering tool.
Android Authority reports that according to a report by the Information, Meta is developing AI- powered earphones equipped with cameras, internally codenamed “Camerabuds.” These earphones are designed to leverage AI capabilities for real-time object identification and foreign language translation, potentially revolutionizing how users interact with their surroundings, and providing Meta with an incredible amount of data about the personal lives of wearers–and anyone they come in contact with.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has shown a keen interest in the project, reviewing various design concepts for eithe
r in-ear earbuds or over-the-ear headphones. The company’s leadership sees AI-powered earphones as the next logical step in the evolution of wearable technology, with competitors likely to follow suit.
To explore the possibilities of this emerging technology, Meta has engaged with Ear Micro, a Kansas- based electronics company specializing in “smart” earphones. However, the project faces several technical challenges, such as potential camera obstruction by long hair and overheating issues, which need to be addressed before the product can become a reality.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Elon Musk, Tesla reverse course; rehires Supercharger team after widespread layoffs!
Elon Musk’s Tesla has begun reinstating some of the nearly 500 employees from its Supercharging team who were laid off in late April, a massive U-turn after Musk was criticized for decimating the company’s supercharger plans.
Bloomberg reports that the exact number of rehired workers remains undisclosed, and both Musk and other executives have not responded to requests for comment. The sudden dissolution of the Supercharging team sent shockwaves through the electric vehicle industry, as Tesla’s Superchargers are widely regarded as one of the company’s most innovative products. In the past year, Tesla successfully persuaded competitors to adopt its plugs as an industry standard and entered into agreements with many of the world’s largest automakers to grant access to its network.
Following widespread criticism, Musk pledged last week to invest “well over” $500 million in expanding Tesla’s charging network this year. This announcement came just days after the CEO stated that the company would slow down the pace of adding new chargers and instead focus on improving uptime and existing locations.
2ND AMENDMENT
RED-STATE OPINION: Florida Sheriff defends deputy who killed Florida-based airman!
On May 3, 2024, an Okaloosa deputy was again involved in an officer-initiated shooting, but this time, the deputy killed the man he was shooting at. The dead man, Roger Fortson, had done nothing wrong. He hadn’t been accused or arrested. He was in his own home and answered his door when the deputy knocked. The deputy, seeing Fortson holding a handgun below his waist, didn’t bother shouting any instructions; he just shot Fortson six times, killing him.
The interpretation of “reasonable belief” of eminent harm is an open question. But it is an objective, not subjective, test. Even if the deputy thought Fortson was a threat but a reasonable cop wouldn’t, then it is legally “unreasonable.” Okaloosa’s sheriff determined the shooting “reasonable” under the circumstances. The Sheriff has a share of supporters on X (Twitter), but not many. Most cops and current military and defense lawyers like me see this as the product of inadequate training and unreasonable fear that resulted in a death.
Fortson was holding a sidearm to his side. Most military special operators (current and retired) who I follow on X were appalled that anyone could justify this shooting.
In Florida, the rules for using deadly force by a police officer sound simple.
This case requires us to decide what constitutional standard governs a free citizen’s claim that law enforcement officials used excessive force in the course of making an arrest, investigatory stop, or other “seizure” of his person. We hold that such claims are properly analyzed under the Fourth Amendment’s “objective reasonableness” standard, rather than under a substantive due process standard. (Graham v. Conner, 1989, p. 388)
The “reasonableness” of a particular use of force must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, rather than with the 20/20 vision of hindsight. (Graham v. Conner, 1989, p. 396)
The calculus of reasonableness must embody allowance for the fact that police officers are often forced to make split-second judgments — in circumstances that are tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving — about the amount of force that is necessary in a particular situation. (Graham v. Conner, 1989, p. 396 & 397)
The investigation found that shooting to be objectively absurd and an overreaction. It was “objectively unreasonable.” Fortson never raised his weapon. He held it down at his side. The deputy never said “drop it” before killing Fortsom. Fortson never presented an objective threat that would justify this killing.
A former Air Force Special Operations Command officer named Scott Lacey was asked about the shooting. Lacey had served in the same command. He believes Fortson’s shooting wasn’t justified.
“When he just opens the door, sees him with a gun and unloads six rounds on the senior airman, to me that just screams unjust right away,” said Lacey, who spent time as an Arizona state trooper after leaving the military. “The airman didn’t raise his gun and showed no kind of hostile intent.”
Justifying that with a “shoot first” mentality doesn’t make it right and doesn’t make it “reasonable.” It was objectively a bad shooting, and it cost a man his life.
The longer that Okaloosa County Sheriff blindly defends this shooting, the worse it will get.
GARDENING, FARMING & HOMESTEADING
How A Sprinkle Of Baking Soda Can Make Your Tomato Plants Thrive
Baking soda, scientifically known as sodium bicarbonate, is a versatile substance commonly found in the kitchen. Beyond its culinary uses, it has become a handy tool in gardening, particularly in caring for tomato plants.
COVID RELATED NEWS
U.S. 9th Circuit appellates remove judge from criminal case over COVID-19 dispute!
A federal appeals court has removed a judge from a criminal case after he dismissed it twice due to a ban on jury trials during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The case against Dr. Jeffrey Olsen is being reassigned from U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said in its recent ruling.
Judge Carney, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, dismissed the case for a second time in 2022, even after the circuit court ordered him to schedule a trial.
In a 44-page ruling, the judge decried how the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California suspended jury trials over the COVID-19 pandemic starting in March 2020 and indefinitely in August 2020. The suspension lasted through May 2021.
“The central district explained its choice to continue to suspend jury trials indefinitely in just four sentences in the three-page general order, decreeing that the ‘ends of justice’ outweighed every individual’s right, the government’s right, and the public’s right to a speedy trial,” Judge Carney said.
“Troublingly, the decision was not based on a directive or recommendation from a local public health official. Nor was this decision based on a directive or recommendation from the Governor of California. In fact, the August general order provides no specific evidence, facts, or figures to justify the length of the delay it imposed,” he added.
The refusal by the officials to resume the trials, even when state courts were holding trials, violated the U.S. Constitution and federal law, the judge said, necessitating the dismissal of the case against Dr. Olsen.
The doctor was charged in 2017 with illegally prescribing drugs, including oxycodone.
The order “plainly instructed the district court to ’reinstate‘ the indictment, ’grant‘ a continuance, and ’set this case for a trial.’ The district court did not comply with any of those directives,” it added later.
Reassigning cases is unusual but was warranted because there are concerns over preserving the appearance of justice and that Judge Carney would have difficulty setting aside his views, according to the panel.
Judge Carney in one hearing, for instance, said that he was “disappointed and saddened” by the circuit court ruling and described the language used by the judges as “a little hostile.” The panel said, “These statements qualify as ‘unusual circumstances’ that justify reassignment.”
The panel ordered the case remanded again to the district level, with reassignment to a different judge.
CANCEL CULTURE
Target to limit LGBT products to online and select stores after last summer’s controversy!
Target has announced that its LGBT-themed merchandise will only be sold online and at select stores this June, a decision made after last year’s Pride Month marketing campaign divided customers and dragged down sales.
In a statement on its website, Target said that instead of prominently displaying its Pride Month collection in all its stores, it will be “offering a collection of products including adult apparel, home, food, and beverage items, curated based on consumer feedback.”
“The collection will be available on Target.com and in select stores, based on historical sales performance,” the company added, noting that it will also join Pride Month events in “our hometown of Minneapolis and around the country” over the summer.
ICYMI
Snopes update on Ashley Biden diary spells trouble for Joe Biden!
Snopes has updated its fact-check page on the diary, confirming both that the diary belonged to Ashley Biden and that the president’s daughter accused him of inappropriate behavior.
The page previously indicated that the claim that “a diary authored by U.S. President Joe Biden’s daughter, Ashley, describes inappropriate actions toward her taken by the president when she was a child” was “unproven.”
Up until this month, the Snopes entry indicated the claim was unproven because “the authenticity of this document or the images published by National File have not been confirmed.”
The fact-check outfit was compelled to change its tune after Ashley Biden, 42, once again confirmed the diary was hers in an April 8 letter to the judge overseeing Harris’ case in New York.
“I am deeply saddened that I even have to write this letter because my personal
private journal was stolen and sold for profit,” wrote Ashley Biden.
While admitting the document was hers, Ashley Biden attempted to cast doubt on the veracity of her various entries, suggesting they were “stream-of- consciousness thoughts.”
“Repeatedly, I hear others grossly misinterpret my once-private writings and lob false accusations that defame my character and those of the people I love,” added Ashley Biden.
In one of the more troubling entries in the diary, penned in January 2019, Ashley Biden explores the causes of her “sexual trauma” and apparent sex addiction.
“I know it’s not the healthiest way to deal with things but @ least it’s better than drugs,” wrote the president’s daughter.
Ashley Biden then indicated that her unchecked sex drive may have been the result of childhood trauma.
“Hyper-sexualized @ a young age. What is this due to? Was I molested. I think so — I can’t remember specifics but I do remember trauma — I remember not liking the Woolzacks house, I remember somewhat being sexualized with Caroline [Biden, her cousin]; I remember having sex with Friends @ a young age; showers w/ my dad (probably not appropriate), Being turned on when I wasn’t supposed to be.”
Biden boosters like Ed Krassenstein appear keen to downplay the contents of the diary. Others think Snopes’ about-face and the corresponding confirmation of the diary’s authenticity could change the outcome of the 2024 election.
Legal scholar Robert P. George, director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, noted that the Snopes update “strikes me as what Joe Biden might describe as a ‘big [expletive] deal.’ Imagine if it were Ivanka Trump making the accusation against her father. Does this give those Democrats who’ve been looking for an excuse to push Biden aside in favor of a more electable presidential candidate the justification they’ve been looking for?”
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