WORLD NEWS
South Africans head to the polls today with a “chance for change”!
South Africans headed to the polls Wednesday for general elections in which the ruling African National Congress (ANC) has a chance of losing power at the national level for the first time since multiracial democracy began in 1994.
The South African electorate is frustrated with the ANC’s persistent and debilitating corruption, as well as high crime; electricity and water shortages; and economic stagnation that has included unemployment rates well over 30%.
The opposition, led by the centrist Democratic Alliance (DA), hoped to keep the ANC below 50% for the first time — and to outflank the radical Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a far-left party that may form a coalition with the ANC.
Polls in the months leading up to the election varied widely, though the ANC seemed to be closing strong as it revved up its turnout machine and held large rallies around the country. The DA was expected to gain at the national level, while maintaining a majority at the provincial level in the Western Cape, the only one of the country’s nine provinces where it governs. It will take several days to count the votes.
Ballots are cast in person, for one day, and only upon presentation of a government-issued ID. An independent electoral commission then counts the ballots by hand.
Argentina’s President Javier Milei is in San Francisco, meeting with top-level executives from Google, Meta and Apple during a weeklong trip to the United States. He is expected to speak at the Bay Area Council’s Pacific Summit and Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, a think tank which promotes limited government, and meet with the university’s chancellor and the think tank’s director, Condoleezza Rice, who served as U.S. Secretary of State and National Security Advisor in the administration of former U.S. President George W. Bush.
Milei is also scheduled to meet with economists from the think tank as well as investors and entrepreneurs linked to artificial intelligence (AI).
The president is set to fly back on Friday evening, after a stopover in El Salvador where he will attend the inauguration of the second term of President Nayib Bukele, who won a landslide re-election in February.
Putin warns the West not to let Ukraine use its missiles to hit Russia!
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West yesterday that NATO members in Europe were playing with fire by proposing to let Ukraine use Western weapons to strike deep inside Russia, which he said could trigger a global conflict.
More than two years into the deadliest land war in Europe since World War Two, Putin has increasingly spoken of the risk of a much broader global conflict as the West grapples with what to do about the advance of Russian troops in Ukraine.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg recently stated that alliance members should let Ukraine strike deep into Russia with Western weapons, a view supported by some NATO members but not by the United States.
“Constant escalation can lead to serious consequences,” Putin told reporters in Tashkent. “If these serious consequences occur in Europe, how will the United States behave, bearing in mind our parity in the field of strategic weapons?”
“It’s hard to say – do they want a global conflict?”
Putin said Ukrainian strikes on Russia with long-range weapons would need Western satellite, intelligence and military help – so the West would be directly involved. He said sending French troops to Ukraine would be a step towards a global conflict.
Speaking of NATO members in Europe, Putin said that small countries there “should be aware of what they are playing with”, as they had small land areas and very dense populations.
Sweden to send $1.2-billion to Ukraine in military aid!
The Swedish government said today that it will donate $1.23 billion in military aid to Ukraine, in the largest package of assistance Sweden has so far donated.
“It consists of equipment that is at the top of Ukraine’s priority list,” Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch said. It includes air defense, artillery ammunition and armored vehicles.
Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonsson reiterated that the country has ruled out for now sending any Swedish-built JAS 39 Gripen jets to Ukraine, saying the focus on the Ukrainian side is on implementing a F-16 fighter jet program.
Several countries have said they want to donate F-16s. Yesterday, Belgium pledged 30 F-16 jets to Ukraine.
Jonsson said Sweden “is still working on possibly being able to contribute with the Gripen system later.”
The donation also includes two Swedish-made SAAB ASCC airborne early warning and control airplanes, which Jonsson said would have the “greatest effect on the Ukrainian air defense” because it would complement and reinforce the promised donations of American F-16 fighter jets.
“You can identify incoming cruise missiles, you can identify drones and identify targets both on land and at sea,” he said.
“The overall assessment is that a donation of the ASCC 890 radar reconnaissance and command aircraft would be the most impactful for the Ukrainian Air Force right now,” Jonsson added.
U.S. NEWS, POLITICS & GOVERNMENT
Former President Donald Trump’s attorney on Tuesday said a key witness in his New York criminal trial lied to the jury, while saying that his client is innocent and broke no laws.
The remarks were made during closing arguments in the case in which the former president is accused of 34 counts of falsifying business records.
Defense attorney Todd Blanche told the jury that the prosecutors’ star witness, Michael Cohen, a former Trump associate and lawyer, lied to the court about several matters.
At one point, he said that Mr. Cohen lied about speaking to President Trump about an Oct. 24, 2016, phone call regarding an arrangement to pay off an adult film performer, Stormy Daniels, to buy her silence about an alleged affair that the former president has denied.
“It was a lie,” Mr. Blanche said. “That was a lie and he got caught red-handed.”
He then called Mr. Cohen “literally like an MVP of liars,“ adding: “He lied to Congress. He lied to prosecutors. He lied to his family and business associates.”
“He lied to you repeatedly. He lied many, many times before you even met him. His financial and personal well-being depends on this case. He is biased and motivated to tell you a story that is not true,” the attorney told jurors before he ended his closing arguments.
A key part of prosecutors’ claims is that Mr. Cohen wasn’t being paid for legal work in 2017, but rather was being reimbursed in a veiled way for the Daniels payment.
But Mr. Blanche pointed to emails and testimony showing that Mr. Cohen did indeed work on some legal matters for President Trump that year.
While Cohen characterized that work as “very minimal,” Mr. Blanche said it wasn’t the case. “Cohen lied to you. Cohen lied to you,” he said.
See also: Closing Arguments
DATED: By the time this post becomes available, Judge Merchan will have already given the jury instructions on the matter and the jury will have begun deliberations in the case.
Meanwhile, actor Robert DeNiro, on behalf of the Biden campaign, showed up outside the Trump trial courthouse, blasting Trump claiming if he gets elected he will ruin democracy, which in turn, prompted he hastily made his way into his SUV and drove away.
Illinois Senator: We raised your taxes $1-billion to spend on migrants!
Illinois has passed its largest tax hikes in state history with nearly one billion in new taxes in a $53 billion budget. But the state has also dispersed nearly as much as the tax hike on migrant spending alone.
The tax hike disgusted Republican State Senator Dan McConchie. He noted almost the entirety of the tax hike is going to more spending on Joe Biden’s migrant problem in Illinois, and he told his constituents that the legislature “raised your taxes just to spend on migrants.”
After hours of closed-door discussions not open to the public or the media on Sunday, the state’s Democrat-dominated senate hammered out a budget that total in at $53.1 billion for fiscal 2025 that will begin on July 1.
The budget was passed on a 38-21 vote with no Republicans voting in support, according to the State Journal-Register.
The initial proposal included $1.1 billion in new revenues through tax increases, the paper reported. But by the final vote, that huge glut of new taxes was whittled down slightly to a total of $870 million in new taxes.
One staggering increase was the tax on sports wagering which could range as high as 40 percent, a hike that had the betting industry warning that they will likely stop investing in the Illinois gaming sector.
The tax hikes, though are barely adequate just to cover the huge amount that Illinois Democrat Gov. J.B. Pritzker is spending on Joe Biden’s wave of border crossers.
Early last year, Pritzker had already spent $475 million on the migrant influx, but by Nov., the Gov. had added another $160 million to that total. And according to WTTW, early this year, Pritzker insisted that he was going to throw in another $182 million to kick off fiscal year 2025.
That is more than $817 million, which is nearly the entire amount of the $870 million in new taxes the new budget is set to impose on the state.
The spending is shocking to Republican Senator Dan McConchie of Lake Zurich said the state had raised taxes merely to turn around and spend it all on migrants and noted that he voted “no” on the bill.
“We’ve just passed the largest budget in Illinois State history. Over $53 billion, includes almost a billion in tax increases and nearly a billion dollars on the migrant crisis. So, we actually raised your taxes just to spend on migrants,” he said on a video posted to social media.
Gov. Pritzker touted one tax cut, though, that he claimed was important for Illinois families in these tough times of Bidenflation.
Pritzker proposed that the state tax on food be dropped for 2025. Local municipalities, though balked at the plan and succeeded in convincing Democrats to nullify the tax cut.
Instead of the cut being implemented for the 2025 budget, the cut was put off until 2026, but senate Democrats also slipped in a provision allowing towns and cities to implement their own tax on food, a move that will void the elimination of the state tax.
Louisiana Governor makes forcing abortion pills on pregnant women a crime!
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) signed a first-of-its-kind bill on Friday criminalizing the act of poisoning unsuspecting pregnant women with abortion drugs.
The law, SB 276, also classifies the two drugs used in medication abortions — mifepristone and misoprostol — as controlled substances and places them in the same category as opioids and other dangerous medications.
The law makes it illegal for people to possess abortion drugs without a prescription in Louisiana, a state which outlaws all abortions except to save a pregnant woman’s life, to prevent a serious adverse health risk, or if the baby is not expected to survive the pregnancy.
Anyone found guilty of being in possession on abortion pills without a valid prescription could face up to five years in prison.
Pregnant women themselves are exempted from the law, and the law makes an exception for the use of the same medications for non-abortion reasons.
The bill also created a new category of crime called “coerced criminal abortion,” which bars someone from fraudulently using abortion drugs to cause or attempt to cause an abortion on a pregnant woman without her knowledge or consent. That crime is punishable by between five and ten years in prison, along with a fine of $10,000 to $75,000.
Lawsuit seeks to end lawless, non-citizen voting in Pennsylvania!
The conservative advocacy group America First Legal (AFL) filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania Department of State, seeking to end a directive that allows noncitizens to vote in state and federal elections.
The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002 requires that an individual applying to vote must mention a current and valid driver’s license and the last four digits of their Social Security number on the voter application form.
HAVA mandates that local election officials confirm the numbers are valid and current by using available databases.
“However, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania maintains a voter registration system that blatantly violates this federal law,” the May 21 complaint alleges.
HAVA prohibits a state from accepting or processing a voter application registration that does not fulfill its identity proof provisions.
In 2018, the Secretary of the Commonwealth issued a “HAVA Matching Directive” which states that a voter registration application “may not be rejected” solely based on the fact that an applicant’s driver’s license and Social Security number do not match any database.
Under the directive, the Secretary of the Commonwealth asked “all 67 county boards of election to ignore HAVA’s verification mandate and to register any applicant” to vote even if the individual does not fulfill identification requirements.
“This lawless directive does not just violate federal law; it creates a regime where an untold number of ineligible voters, including non-citizens, can register to vote in all state and federal elections in the Commonwealth,” the lawsuit said.
Democrats to “virtually nominate” Biden to ensure Ohio ballot access!
President Joe Biden will be virtually nominated as the Democrat’s presidential nominee before the party’s national convention in August to secure his spot on Ohio’s general election ballot.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) was notified months ago that President Biden’s name would not appear on the state’s general election ballot unless he was nominated by the state’s deadline of Aug. 7. The Democrats’ national convention, where the party would typically nominate its chosen candidate, is scheduled for Aug. 19–22 in Chicago.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine called a special legislative session to address the issue last week, though lawmakers had not agreed to a solution by the DNC’s announcement yesterday.
A date for the virtual nomination was not announced, though it is expected to come within the weeks following the committee’s rules and bylaw committee’s vote on changes to the roll call process on June 4th.
The virtual process is expected to mirror the format the party used in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the traditional in-person convention will still take place, it will be largely ceremonial.
Supreme Court rejects lawyer Michael Avenatti’s bid to overturn conviction!
The U.S. Supreme Court on May 28 said it was rejecting a bid by lawyer Michael Avenatti, known for representing adult film actress Stormy Daniels, to overturn his conviction in a Nike-related case.
The justices did not explain their decision. The court said Justice Brett Kavanaugh, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, did not participate in the decision to turn down Mr. Avenatti’s writ for certiorari, or review of a lower court ruling.
Mr. Avenatti had previously represented a woman who accused Justice Kavanaugh of sexual assault.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
T-Mobile buys most of US Cellular’s operations in a $4.4-billion deal!
T-Mobile has announced that it has agreed to acquire substantially all of UScellular’s wireless operations. This includes UScellular’s wireless customers and stores, as well as certain specified spectrum assets.
Upon closing, T-Mobile’s leading 5G network will expand to provide millions of UScellular customers, particularly those in underserved rural areas, a superior connectivity experience, moving from a roaming experience outside of the UScellular coverage area to full nationwide access on the country’s largest and fastest 5G network. Additionally, UScellular customers will have the ability to fully participate in the Un-carrier’s industry-leading value-packed plans filled with benefits and perks, and best-in-class customer support with the opportunity to save UScellular customers hundreds of millions of dollars. T-Mobile customers will also get access to UScellular’s network in areas that previously had limited coverage and the benefit of enhanced performance throughout UScellular’s footprint from the addition of the acquired UScellular spectrum to T-Mobile’s network. And wireless consumers across the country will benefit from the enhanced choice and competition that this proposed transaction will create.
CATO Institute Report: Fiscal effects of school choice!
School choice reforms are spreading across the nation. Governments in 33 states are now providing financial support for private schooling through 80 different programs, as shown in this figure from EdChoice. About one million students are benefiting from these reforms.
Spending on choice programs represents a small share of overall school spending even in leading reform states. Arizonaʼs ESA program enrolled 77,571 students this year at a cost of $759 million, which is about
5 percent of public school spending in the state. Iowaʼs ESA program enrolled 16,757 students, costing $124.2 million, which was less than 2% of public school spending in the state.
As choice programs grow, states should reduce funding for public schools that have declining pupil counts. Taxpayers should enjoy savings because the average per‐pupil costs of choice programs are substantially less than the costs of public schools.In Arizona, the average per‐pupil ESA funding is $9,785, but if the type of student in the ESA program was the same as the average student in public schools, it would be $7,111. That figure compares to $13,541 for average public school costs in the state.
In Iowa, the average per pupil ESA funding is $7,413, which compares to $15,283 for the average public school costs in the state.
FTX exec-turned-witness against Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 7.5 years in prison!
Ryan Salame, a former top lieutenant of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, has been sentenced to 90 months, or seven and a half years, in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Salame has also been ordered to pay more than $6 million in forfeiture and more than $5 million in restitution.
The sentence is a heavier penalty than the five to seven years that prosecutors had suggested, and well beyond the 18 months that Salame’s defense team had requested.
In September, Salame pleaded guilty to conspiracy to make unlawful political contributions, defraud the Federal Election Commission, and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business.
Judge Lewis Kaplan sentenced Sam Bankman-Fried to 25 years in prison in March.
HEALTH
Magnesium deficiency is linked to metabolic syndrome. Here’s how to boost intake:
In our pursuit of optimal health, an often-overlooked mineral has quietly emerged as a potential game-changer: magnesium.
More than half of the American population—with some estimates suggesting a staggering 75 percent—are failing to meet the recommended dietary intake of this vital nutrient, possibly hurting their metabolic health.
Magnesium is essential for optimal bodily function, acting as a cofactor in numerous enzymatic reactions. It regulates cardiovascular physiology, stress responses, inflammation, and hypertension and enhances glycemic control when combined with vitamin D, making it crucial for metabolic health. Magnesium deficiency is prevalent among obese individuals.
Common symptoms of magnesium depletion include muscle cramps, headaches, eye twitches, insomnia, fatigue, irritability, and a sensation of a “lump” in the throat. These symptoms stem from magnesium’s role in supporting the gamma-aminobutyric acid brain system, essential for relaxation and stress reduction.
Magnesium plays a crucial role in various aspects of digestive health. It helps with producing digestive enzymes, nutrient absorption, and peristalsis, the wave-like motion that propels food through the digestive tract. Insufficient magnesium can lead to constipation and bloating.
Continuously low magnesium levels affect insulin function, rendering it less effective and impeding metabolism. As a result, magnesium deficiency can contribute to weight management challenges, Type 2 diabetes and prediabetes.
Power Mall Item of Interest: PurelyMin Magnesium Comple
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Ohio billionaire plans a trip to visit the Titanic using a 2-man submersible!
Less than a year after the loss of Everett, Wash.-based OceanGate’s submersible and its five-person crew during a dive to the Titanic, Triton Submarines is planning a trip to the shipwreck in a completely different kind of vessel with backing from a billionaire real-estate investor, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The Journal quoted Triton’s co-founder and CEO, Patrick Lahey, as saying that the trip was conceived as a way to “demonstrate to the world” that his company was capable of making the 12,500-foot-deep dive safely and repeatedly — and that OceanGate’s Titan sub was a “contraption.”
Lahey reportedly plans to make the journey with Larry Connor, a billionaire who has made his mark as an adventurer as well as an Ohio-based investor and tech entrepreneur. Connor, 74, served as the pilot for Axiom Space’s first privately funded mission to the International Space Station two years ago. In 2021, Connor made three submersible dives with Lahey in the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench, descending to depths in excess of 35,000 feet.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Study confirms: Cows do NOT cause climate change!
A bombshell new study has debunked the globalist narrative that emissions from cows are causing “climate change” while proving that cattle herds actually lower methane gas levels in the atmosphere.
In recent years, unelected foreign organizations such as the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the United Nations (UN) have been demonizing the agriculture industry while calling for limits, or even bans, on the general public’s consumption of meat and dairy products.
The WEF, UN, and green agenda politicians argue that methane gasses from cattle, or “cow farts,” cause “global warming.”
This so-called “settled science” on alleged cattle emissions has led to increasing scrutiny of farmers around the world.
Global governments have responded by ramping up regulations for the agriculture industry in an effort to shut farms down.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that 11.1% of emissions worldwide come from livestock production.
The FAO released a report last year urging Americans to eat less meat.
The UN argues that if people “fight climate change” by eating less meat, there will be less demand for cows.
If there are fewer cows, there will be fewer emissions, according to the UN.
However, new research from Alltech and Archbold suggests that these anti- cow claims from globalists are a hoax. According to the new study, blaming cows for methane emissions ignores cattle’s relationship with the land. The researchers found that, if grazing cattle were removed from pastures, emissions would actually go up, not down.
Besides trying to convince people to change their diets so we can get rid of more cows, other efforts seek to attack the emissions at the source.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded a $4.8 million grant to a London-based company to develop gas masks for cows. The masks are a similar concept to carbon capture technology. 00 Other research is looking into food additives that go into the cows’
Porsche reveals it has come up with a hybrid version of its 911 model!
After 60 years, Porsche is finally turning the 911 into a hybrid.
Well, one model of the 911, anyway, and it’s not close to being a slouch. For 2025, Porsche is giving its beloved 911 a light update, which includes powertrain updates for the base Carrera models, as well as a new hybrid powertrain for its 911 GTS models. Joining these powertrain upgrades are updates to the suspension and some styling changes for the new model year.
Base Carrera power still comes from a turbocharged 3.0-liter boxer mill. This base powertrain get new turbochargers from the outgoing GTS models, which push fresh air through the intercooler lifted from the 911 Turbo. These changes help add 9 hp to the base Carrera and crank out up the output to 388 hp and 331 lb-ft of torque.
Porsche says that this updated Carrera can sprint to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds, or 3.7 seconds if you tack on the Sport Chrono package. Porsche also says the updated 911 Carrera tops out at 183 mph, a 1 mph bump over the outgoing model.
COVID RELATED NEWS
Former New Jersey gym owner arrested for staying open during COVID lockdowns wins big in court!
In the spring of 2020 Ian Smith became a nationally-recognized figure because he and his associates defied local and state demands that they keep their business, Atilis Gym in Bellmawr, New Jersey, closed due to COVID concerns.
Smith was eventually arrested, and he and co-owner Frank Trumbetti ultimately lost hundreds of thousands of dollars simply for keeping their gym doors open.
Now four years later, Smith has scored a major legal victory: A New Jersey court has dismissed with prejudice all 80+ municipal charges against him in what appears to be government overreach.
It was also expensive. In addition to legal fees and court costs, Atilis Gym was fined $15,497.76 for each day it was open in defiance of the shutdown order. “That was enough at the time to drain our bank accounts,” Smith said.
In all, Smith estimates that the government seized more than $200,000 from the business and personal accounts of Smith and Trumbetti. “Including loss of wages and stuff like that, between the two of us, we’re probably [out] close to $1.5 million if not way more,” he said.
To date, none of those seized assets have been returned, the men said.
ICYMI
Former South Dakota mayor charged in triple homicide after sexual assault charges filed!
The former mayor of a South Dakota town is accused of murdering three people after becoming enraged over a neighbor allegedly sexually assaulting a family member.
Jay Edward Ostrem, 64, was arrested on Monday and is currently being held in Minnehaha County Jail on $1 million cash-only bond, according to the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office.
Ostrem was the mayor and city councilor of Centerville in 2010, KELO reported, citing previously filed lawsuits against the suspect.
The incident took place around 9:44 p.m. Monday night, when a “frantic” man called 911 and said that his relative had been fatally shot, court papers obtained by KELO said.
Officers then found a .380 handgun in Ostrem’s pocket, as well as spent shotgun shell casings and at least one spent rifle casing.
When the police entered the home where the 911 call was made from, they found three people dead from apparent gunshot wounds.
The investigators moved on to Ostrem’s house, where one of his adult family members told them that a neighbor had been at their home on Thursday night, while Ostrem was sleeping.
The family member claimed that she and the neighbor were drinking, and then he forcibly kissed her, exposed himself to her, and pressed himself against her, the court papers said.
The woman explained that she told Ostrem about the assault on Monday, and then “got up and went raging out of the house.”
Ostrem did not say anything as he left, and she did not know where he was going, the woman claimed. She also said that she did not see Ostrem again until law enforcement arrived at the scene. Ostrem was former law enforcement, and had weapons in the home and possibly in his car, the woman added.
The incident is now under investigation by the South Dakota’s Division of Criminal Investigation.
The three victims have not been publicly identified pending family notification, the Attorney General’s Office said.
“Jay Ostrem has been arrested and charged with three counts of First Degree Murder, and law enforcement has secured the scene,” said Attorney General Jackley. “There is no further threat to the public.”
More Stories
Today’s News: September 03, 2024
Today’s News: August 30, 2024
Today’s News: August 27, 2024