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Please note that news, news articles, and current events can also be discussed on /pol/; however /news/ is exclusively for recent news articles, and not general discussions of politics, social phenomenon, or world events.
FBI Director Christopher Wray revealed during a marathon testimony on Wednesday that investigators still do not know if former President Donald Trump was grazed by a bullet or a piece of shrapnel during his attempted assassination.
Twice during the hours-long session, Wray told lawmakers that the FBI was still working to determine what exactly struck the former president on his right ear during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. “My understanding is that either it [a bullet] or some shrapnel is what grazed his ear,” Wray told Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA).
Later during the hearing, Committee Chair Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) asked Wray if investigators knew where all eight bullets fired by Thomas Crooks ended up after the shooting.
>“There is some question about whether or not it was a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear, so it is conceivable, as I sit here right now, I don’t know whether that bullet, in addition to causing the grazing, could have also landed somewhere else,” Wray testified.
>Jordan did not follow up with any questions about the shrapnel.
Speaking at the Republican National Convention just days after the assassination attempt, Trump said the bullet “came within a quarter of an inch of taking my life.”
“I heard a loud whizzing sound and felt something hit me really, really hard on my right ear,” the former president described the scene.
Trump’s former White House physician, Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), later told a conservative talk show that he examined the wound in the days immediately after the shooting. “It [the bullet] was far enough away from his head that there was no concussive effect from the bullet, and it just took the top of his ear off.”
https://nypost.com/2024/07/25/us-news/trump-gunman-thomas-crooks-used-gab-to-support-biden-ceo/
Trump gunman Thomas Crooks likely had a Gab account that he used to ‘support’ President Biden, site’s CEO says
The gunman who tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump appears to have used the controversial alt-right favored social media platform Gab to spread messages “in support of President Biden,” according to the platform’s founder.
Gab CEO Andrew Torba said he learned Wednesday that Thomas Matthew Crooks “may have had an account on our platform” after getting “an emergency disclosure request from a law enforcement agency.”
The account @epicmicrowave — which the CEO stressed he has been “unable to confirm” was definitely Crooks’ — “posted on the site nine (9) times total,” Torba tweeted just 30 minutes after getting the law enforcement request.
“While the account made very few posts on the site, the majority of them were in support of President Biden,” said the CEO of the platform launched in 2016 as a completely free-speech alternative to Twitter.
“A number of posts in particular expressed support for President Biden’s COVID lockdowns, border policies and executive orders.”
In one, the poster mocked someone sharing an election projection, writing in February 2021: “Didn’t you also think Biden would lose in a landslide yeah I would not be very confident in your election predictions.”
In another thread, the user defended Biden’s border policies with a study that compared crime statistics for undocumented immigrants, legal immigrants and American citizens in Texas.
https://qns.com/2024/07/six-indicted-voter-fraud-2023-gop-primary-northeast-queens-da/
A Queens grand jury indicted six defendants for voter fraud related to the 2023 City Council primary in District 20 in northeast Queens.
The six individuals are variously charged in a 161-count indictment with submitting fraudulent absentee ballot applications while volunteering for the campaign of Yu-Ching James Pai, who was a candidate in the June 2023 GOP primary election for City Council. Five of the six defendants surrendered Thursday at the office of Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz and were arraigned hours later.
Defendants include the candidate’s daughter, Sydnee Pai, 19; Li Zhen Wan, 46; Yee Ping Yam, 53; Lisbeth Cheg, 24; and Crystal You were arraigned before Queens Supreme Court Justice Leigh K. Cheng on charges of criminal possession of a forged instrument, falsifying business records, illegal voting and other crimes in an alleged scheme to submit falsified absentee ballot applications for the Pai campaign.
Pai edged candidate Dany Chen by just 181 votes in the GOP primary in June before losing to Council Member Sandra Ung in last November’s general election.
“Our democracy relies on integrity at the voting booth,” Katz said. “And we will not allow that to be compromised in Queens County.”
According to the charges, between approximately March 1, 2023, and June 27, 2023, while the defendants were volunteers for Pai’s campaign, they visited the city Board of Elections office in Forest Hills to pick up ballots for voters who purportedly wanted to cast absentee ballots in the GOP primary election of June 2023. The defendants were listed as the person authorized to pick up the ballots and they later returned to do so.
Barbie has announced two new additions to its growing line of diverse and inclusive dolls: a blind Barbie and the first Black Barbie with Down syndrome.
Mattel announced the two new dolls on Tuesday as part of Barbie's 2024 Fashionistas Line, an inclusive range of dolls with over 175 varieties of skin tone, eye color, hair color and texture, body types, disabilities and fashions.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, buoyed by a recent US Supreme Court decision, issued an executive order Thursday calling on state officials to begin taking down homeless encampments.
The move to begin dismantling thousands of encampments throughout California comes after the high court ruled last month in favor of an Oregon city that ticketed homeless people for sleeping outside. The ruling rejected arguments that such “anti-camping” ordinances violated the Constitution’s ban on “cruel and unusual” punishment.
“This executive order directs state agencies to move urgently to address dangerous encampments while supporting and assisting the individuals living in them — and provides guidance for cities and counties to do the same,” Newson said in a statement. “There are simply no more excuses. It’s time for everyone to do their part.”
The order calls on state officials “to adopt humane and dignified policies to urgently address encampments on state property.”
Christopher Wray personally apologies to Trump for fueling baseless conspiracy theories of the left
https://nypost.com/2024/07/26/us-news/fbi-confirms-trump-hit-by-would-be-assassin-thomas-matthew-crooks-bullet/
FBI confirms Trump hit by would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks’ bullet after bureau director’s ‘shrapnel’ suggestion
The FBI confirmed Friday that a bullet struck Donald Trump’s ear during the July 13 assassination attempt in Butler, Pa. — two days after the top official at the bureau said there was “some question” about what hit the former president.
“What struck former President Trump in the ear was a bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces, fired from the deceased subject’s rifle,” read a statement released by the FBI.
The bureau’s acknowledgment that Trump, 78, was indeed hit by one of the rounds fired by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks comes after the ex-commander in chief fumed over FBI Director Christopher Wray’s testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
“With respect to former President Trump, there’s some question about whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear,” Wray told lawmakers.
The Republican nominee for president asserted hours after the assassination attempt that he “felt the bullet ripping through the skin” after the shots rang out at the rally.
Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), who was Trump’s former White House physician and attended to the ex-president after the shooting, noted Friday that there is “absolutely no evidence” that what struck Trump’s ear was “anything other than a bullet.”
In response to the FBI’s statement, Trump said that he “fully accepted” Wray’s “apology.”
Michael Berkheimer was dining with his wife and friends at a wing joint in Hamilton, Ohio, and had ordered the usual — boneless wings with parmesan garlic sauce — when he felt a bite-size piece of meat go down the wrong way. Three days later, feverish and unable to keep food down, Berkeimer went to the emergency room, where a doctor discovered a long, thin bone that had torn his esophagus and caused an infection.
Berkheimer sued the restaurant, Wings on Brookwood, saying the restaurant failed to warn him that so-called “boneless wings” — which are, of course, nuggets of boneless, skinless breast meat — could contain bones. The suit also named the supplier and the farm that produced the chicken, claiming all were negligent.
In a 4-3 ruling, the Supreme Court said Thursday that “boneless wings” refers to a cooking style, and that Berkheimer should’ve been on guard against bones since it’s common knowledge that chickens have bones. The high court sided with lower courts that had dismissed Berkheimer’s suit.
“A diner reading ‘boneless wings’ on a menu would no more believe that the restaurant was warranting the absence of bones in the items than believe that the items were made from chicken wings, just as a person eating ‘chicken fingers’ would know that he had not been served fingers,” Justice Joseph T. Deters wrote for the majority.
The dissenting justices called Deters’ reasoning “utter jabberwocky,” and said a jury should’ve been allowed to decide whether the restaurant was negligent in serving Berkheimer a piece of chicken that was advertised as boneless.
https://apnews.com/article/boneless-chicken-wings-lawsuit-ohio-supreme-court-231002ea50d8157aeadf093223d539f8
BY BRETT SAMUELS - 07/25/24 8:42 AM ET
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4792101-donald-trump-urges-jail-sentence-burning-flags-protests/
Former President Trump said there should be a one-year jail sentence for anyone who desecrates the American flag in the wake of anti-Israel protests over the war in Gaza outside Union Station in Washington, D.C., that included a group burning an American flag.
Trump, who has previously called for criminalizing burning the flag, scoffed at those who point out it’s not illegal to do so.
"You should get a one-year jail sentence if you do anything to desecrate the American flag,” Trump said Wednesday on “Fox & Friends” when asked about the protests.
“Now, people will say, ‘Oh, it’s unconstitutional.’ Those are stupid people. Those are stupid people that say that,” the former president continued. “We have to work in Congress to get a one-year jail sentence. When they’re allowed to stomp on the flag and put lighter fluid on the flag and set it afire, when you’re allowed to do that — you get a one-year jail sentence, and you’ll never see it again.”
In the 1989 case Texas v. Johnson, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that the act of burning an American flag is constitutionally protected free speech under the First Amendment.
Republicans and Democrats have both condemned the demonstrations outside Union Station on Wednesday while Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke down the road in the U.S. Capitol to members of Congress about his country’s ongoing war with Hamas.
Protesters took down an American flag and replaced it with a Palestinian flag and at one point burned the U.S. flag before someone ran into the crowd and snatched it away.
The ex-Prez sat down for an audience with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Friday ... and, pics are now circulating of his uncovered right ear -- and, ya gotta see them 'cause there's seemingly no lasting damage. That, or he's healed up in record time.
Check out the photos for yourself ... it's obviously not taken right next to the ear, but there's no major scarring/scabbing to see -- surprising given his former doctor Ronny Jackson told a couple interviewers the bullet blew off part of his ear, so you'd expect some damage.
Speaking of Trump's doctor ... Jackson provided another update on Trump's condition ... and, directly contradicted FBI Director Christopher Wray.
He says there's no evidence to suggest Trump was hit with shrapnel instead of a bullet like Director Wray claimed in his testimony to Congress earlier this week ... calling Wray's comments totally out of line.
As we told you ... immediately after the shooting, a source who had spoken to the Secret Service told us a piece of glass had broken off something and cut Trump's ear -- at least, it was one possibility the Service was looking into.
But, Jackson's convinced a bullet grazed the president ... yet, no lasting damage to his ear as far as these photos go -- which certainly won't stop people online from speculating on what hit Trump during the terrifying shooting.
Trump himself has repeatedly blown up at claims he wasn't shot ... and, his campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung called Wray's claims "conspiracy bulls***."
In any case ... looks like Trump's experiencing a miraculous recovery -- and, he's still got both ears to hear everything world leaders like Netanyahu have to say!
https://www.tmz.com/2024/07/26/donald-trump-seen-no-bandage-first-time-since-shooting-injury/
“This suit is likely a preview of where the Texas GOP – and national Republicans – stand on attacking contraception access,” says Mary Ziegler, a professor at University of California, Davis, School of Law and reproductive health expert. “While Republicans say they don’t want to take aim at contraception, this is another sign that this is actually where we’re headed.”
Title X, created in 1970, offers comprehensive family planning and preventive health care services for low-income and uninsured residents. Texas is among a handful of states that require parental consent before a teenager can get birth control – but Title X-funded contraception was the exception. Under the program, minors can receive contraception confidentially.
Texas has the highest repeat teen birth rate and one of strictest abortion bans in the US.
In 2022, US district judge Matthew Kacsmaryk dealt a blow to Title X when he ruled that the program denied Texas father Alexander Deanda’s “fundamental right to control and direct the upbringing of his minor children”. Texas now stands as the only state that requires Title X-funded clinics to mandate parental consent before granting teens birth control.
An appeals court largely upheld Kacsmaryk’s decision in March, finding that Title X does not supersede Texas parental rights law, but left in place a Title X rule that explicitly forbids clinics from requiring parental consent before providing services.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/26/texas-teenage-birth-control-lawsuit
>'Nuclear fusion prototype will be 'UK's Nasa moment'
A nuclear fusion energy plant being built in Nottinghamshire has been described as the "UK's Nasa moment" as it races to become the first of its type in the world.
The experimental work, based at the decommissioned West Burton A power station near Retford, is aimed at creating a new energy source.
The project, called Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP), was showcased at a launch event on Tuesday in Gainsborough, just over the border in Lincolnshire.
Nuclear fusion recreates the same process that powers the sun and if plans are approved, backers said the project was expected to be constructed by 2040.
Zambada founded the Sinaloa Cartel along with now-jailed drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, and he faces a litany of indictments for crimes relating to drug trafficking and organized crime in the United States.
U.S. federal prosecutors in February charged Zambada with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute fentanyl, which U.S. officials say is the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45.
https://nypost.com/2024/07/25/us-news/mexican-drug-kingpin-ismael-el-mayo-zambada-who-co-founded-sinaloa-cartel-in-us-custody-sources/
Ripping up outgoing President Joe Biden’s playbook of mostly behind-the-scenes pressure on Israel, the vice president said after meeting Netanyahu that it was time to end the “devastating” war.
“What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating. The images of dead children and desperate hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time,” Harris told reporters.
“We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering and I will not be silent.”
The 59-year-old — now the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee after Biden said over the weekend he would not stand in November’s election — said she pressed Netanyahu on the dire situation in the “frank” meeting.
She said she “expressed with the prime minister my serious concern about the scale of human suffering in Gaza, including the death of far too many innocent civilians”.
“And I made clear my serious concern about the dire humanitarian situation there.”
Biden, for his part, held Oval Office talks with Netanyahu and called on him to swiftly “finalize” a deal on a Gaza ceasefire and the release of hostages, and “reach a durable end to the war in Gaza,” according to a White House readout of the meeting.
Harris also called for the establishment of a Palestinian state and, similar to Biden, urged both Netanyahu and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire and hostage release deal to end the war.
“As I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu, it is time to get this deal done,” she said.
https://www.thejournal.ie/kamala-harris-says-she-will-not-be-silent-on-gaza-suffering-6446728-Jul2024/
The disappearance of Loan Danilo Peña has revealed a harsh reality in the Argentine interior: the extreme poverty that affects many communities. In regions such as northern Corrientes, where families struggle to survive, the lack of opportunities becomes fertile ground for manipulation.
In this context, political figures such as "Vice President Kamala Harris" and "Joe Biden", both North American Democrats, begin to look towards these vulnerable communities. With promises of financial aid and job opportunities, they try to attract desperate inhabitants, offering money in exchange for political support or participation in questionable activities.
As communities become trapped in this web of empty promises, many begin to accept offers that are questionable, such as selling their children.
The 145 line, dedicated to receiving complaints about trafficking and exploitation, begins to register an increase in cases related to the exploitation of vulnerable people by these networks. In 2024, 812 complaints were reported, many of which come from areas where poverty is most acute and desperation most palpable.
The disappearance of Loan Danilo Peña becomes a symbol of the intersection between poverty, vulnerability and political ambition.
As the investigation progresses, it is expected that the authorities will take measures not only to solve the case, but also to dismantle the networks that exploit vulnerable communities,https://www.lanacion.com.ar/seguridad/donde-esta-loan-la-sospecha-de-un-ritual-la-pista-intrafamiliar-las-redes-de-trata-y-los-ninos-nid28062024/
![harris-trump-women-black-18-29[1]](https://i.4cdn.org/news/1721920274194666s.jpg)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kamala-harris-trump-biden-poll-analysis-cbs-news/
https://assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com/hub/i/r/2024/07/22/7ce8e4b2-1628-4257-a2f2-df5241ba2008/thumbnail/620x349/b034eda4384a99415be02e37c1578b30/harris-trump-trial-heat.png?v=5501038cbc281520ff9fdc308faab7dc
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https://assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com/hub/i/r/2024/07/22/62652d9f-f9e2-458a-9624-7645ac206f03/thumbnail/620x349/96bb3bc06a152b9fb88a100090fa6bb4/harris-vs-biden-black.png?v=5501038cbc281520ff9fdc308faab7dc
https://assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com/hub/i/r/2024/07/22/1d8d2104-7d42-4cb7-b508-37b90e68a0aa/thumbnail/620x349/f1d27a97e2788e882094a52cc41607ba/harris-vs-biden-women.png?v=5501038cbc281520ff9fdc308faab7dc
https://assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com/hub/i/r/2024/07/22/3d4e9660-3da5-425a-a4cd-44b919182531/thumbnail/620x349/c69ee6050e4621e63753e16747b69d58/harris-vs-biden-under-45.png?v=5501038cbc281520ff9fdc308faab7dc
https://assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com/hub/i/r/2024/07/22/b2cafd21-e4bd-44e8-875e-75da95f407a7/thumbnail/620x349/0f250ef0a486119cdf021b53d1b7bd75/harris-trump-independents-white-college.png?v=5501038cbc281520ff9fdc308faab7dc
https://assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com/hub/i/r/2024/07/22/ce18a8ec-39c8-417c-a775-9f3aedcd507b/thumbnail/620x349/f570fa3c0627e2f4a3cce69ce6da8956/harris-trump-men-seniiors.png?v=5501038cbc281520ff9fdc308faab7dc
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So they started to descend the mountain, but it's very steep and became slippery because of the rain. Grace slipped off and fell to her death.
https://www.sfgate.com/california-parks/article/college-student-death-half-dome-yosemite-19591633.php
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-greets-netanyahu-mar-a-lago-says-world-war-iii-could-happen-harris-wins
Former President Trump claimed Friday that conflicts in the Middle East could escalate into a third World War if he loses the 2024 election.
The Republican nominee for president made those remarks as he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort home. Netanyahu traveled to Florida to meet with Trump after meeting with President Biden and the presumptive Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, in Washington, D.C., earlier this week, following his address Wednesday to a joint session of Congress.
At Mar-a-Lago, Trump told reporters Harris is "worse" on Middle East issues and claimed Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza could expand into a wider regional conflict if she succeeds Biden, who announced Sunday he would not seek re-election.
"We'll see how it goes. But if it all works out, if we win, it'll be very simple. It's all going to work out. And very quickly," Trump said. "If we don't, you're going to end up with major wars in the Middle East. And maybe a third World War. You are closer to a third World War right now than at any time since the Second World War. We've never been so close because we have incompetent people running the country."
“Folks, I’ve been a person that when sometimes I’ve gone over the line, I’ve wanted to make sure that I set the record straight, so, I do owe an apology to Diet Mountain Dew,” Beshear said at the press conference.
Beshear’s apology comes after he went after Vance for comments he made about Diet Mountain Dew at a Monday rally in Ohio. The Kentucky Governor has recently been among a few names being floated as possible vice presidential picks for Vice President Harris, and he has been targeting Vance over his connections to the Appalachian region.
When talking about voter identification at the rally, Vance said Democrats “say it’s racist to do anything.”
“I had a Diet Mountain Dew yesterday, and one today, I’m sure they’re gonna call that racist too but — it’s good,” Vance said.
In response to Vance’s comments, Beshear said they were “weird” in an interview on CNN Monday and questioned, “Who drinks Diet Mountain Dew?”
At his press conference Thursday, Beshear said he doesn’t “believe that government should be making your decisions.”
“So if you enjoy Diet Mountain Dew, you be you, we wanna support you,” Beshear continued. “And, to Diet Mountain Dew, very sorry, didn’t mean to say negative things about you.”
According to a frequently asked questions page about Mountain Dew, the drink “was invented in the 1940s by Tennessee beverage bottlers Barney and Ally Hartman and was first marketed in Marion, Virginia; Knoxville, Tennessee and Johnson City, Tennessee.” A significant portion of Tennessee and Virginia are considered to be a part of Appalachia, alongside Beshear’s home state of Kentucky.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4793125-beshear-apologizes-to-mountain-dew-after-knocking-vances-weird-joke/
Vivian Wilson, who legally changed her name and gender after her 18th birthday, took to Threads to say that her father is distorting the facts around her transition
MILES KLEE
JULY 25, 2024 1:56PM EDT
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/elon-musk-daughter-vivan-wilson-response-1235067148/amp/
In a disjointed two-hour conversation streamed live on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, Jordan Peterson and Elon Musk discussed topics ranging from Christian imagery to the “carnivore diet.” But it was Musk’s comments about his estranged trans daughter, Vivian Wilson — whom he deadnamed and misgendered repeatedly — that caused the biggest stir.
Now, Wilson, 20, has started to tell her side of the story.
Musk had painted himself as a victim of Wilson’s gender transition and legal name change (she took the surname of her mother, Justine Wilson, in 2022), claiming that he had been “tricked” into signing paperwork that allowed Vivian to go on puberty blockers. Referring to Wilson with male pronouns and by her birth name, Musk lamented that his “son” had been “killed” by “the woke mind virus,” admitting that this family affair inspired his turn toward far-right politics in recent years.
Gab founder claims Trump gunman had account on platform—and replied to Catturd
The claim could not be immediately verified.
Photo of Marlon Ettinger Marlon Ettinger Tech
Posted on Jul 24, 2024
Updated on Jul 24, 2024, 5:01 pm CDT
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Andrew Torba, the founder of alt-social media site Gab, claimed on Wednesday that the site “learned” that the attempted Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks posted on his site.
Where’d they find him? In Catturd’s mentions, of course.
The Daily Dot couldn’t immediately confirm if the posts Torba shared in a post on X actually are Crooks.
However, an account the Daily Dot found that matches up with the images shared by Torba appears to have been removed from the site.
Torba later confirmed the account’s name matched the one the Daily Dot identified as @epicmicrowave. It’s since been put back up.
Torba said in a statement on X that Gab saved the account data and are ready to turn it over pending a search warrant.
It is unclear if Gab found the account itself or if it was informed by authorities.
“Approximately 30 minutes ago, Gab learned that Thomas Crooks, the deranged Joe Biden supporter who attempted to assassinate President Donald Trump, may have had an account on our platform. We are unable to confirm that the account in question actually belonged to him,” Torba wrote at 2:34pm on Wednesday. “The account was last active on the site in 2021. As far as we are aware, the account did not use the site to send any direct messages. He posted on the site nine (9) times total.”
Torba shared two screenshots of pro-Biden comments, with the handle blacked out.
Far-right National Security Minister MK Itamar Ben-Gvir endorsed former US president and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in an interview with Bloomberg published on Wednesday.
“I believe that with Trump, Israel will receive the backing to act against Iran," Ben Gvir said in the interview. "With Trump, it will be clearer that enemies must be defeated,” he said.
Provisional satellite data published by Copernicus on Wednesday showed that Monday broke the previous day’s record by 0.06 degrees Celsius (0.1 degree Fahrenheit).
Climate scientists say it’s plausible that this is the warmest it has been in 120,000 years because of human-caused climate change. While scientists cannot be certain that Monday was the very hottest day throughout that period, average temperatures have not been this high since long before humans developed agriculture.
But it’s a difficult determination to make, said University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Michael Mann, because data from tree-rings, corals and ice cores don’t go that far back globally.
The temperature rise in recent decades is in line with what climate scientists projected would happen if humans kept burning fossil fuels at an increasing rate.
“We are in an age where weather and climate records are frequently stretched beyond our tolerance levels, resulting in insurmountable loss of lives and livelihoods,” Roxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology.
“Deaths from high temperatures show how catastrophic it is not to take stronger action on cutting CO2,” which is the main heat-trapping gas, Cornell University climate scientist Natalie Mahowald said in an email.
Copernicus’ preliminary data shows the global average temperature Monday was 17.15 degrees Celsius (62.87 degrees Fahrenheit).
https://apnews.com/article/hottest-day-ever-climate-change-weather-heat-extreme-global-warming-8e2b0b7fa0360ecb931ca333a832c694
this is why I always vote in every election and always vote straight ticket republican
>each of the top 3 teams had a male cyclist
https://www.foxnews.com/media/transgender-cyclists-take-top-3-spots-washington-womens-relay-championship
Transgender athletes won first, second and third place at a recent women’s cycling competition held in Washington.
The annual Marymoor Grand Prix kicked off on Friday at the Jerry Baker Memorial Velodrome with at least three transgender athletes taking part in a 2-person relay of the Elite Women’s division.
According to results made available on Jerry Baker Memorial Velodrome’s website, the top three teams each had one biological male. They included Jordan Lothrop, Jenna Lingwood and Eva Lin.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Jerry Baker Memorial Velodrome for comment.
Lingwood, who placed second, was previously referenced in an amicus brief filed by Hannah Arensman, a 35-time winner on the national cyclocross circuit, to the Supreme Court in 2023. Arensman revealed that she had retired from cycling after being forced to compete with Lingwood and another transgender athlete.
https://buffalonews.com/news/local/97-rock-slick-tom-tiberi-fired-facebook-meme-donald-trump/article_722e1716-4844-11ef-9a1e-9bd6d5c40542.html
Longtime 97 Rock DJ “Slick Tom” Tiberi was fired after he reposted a meme on social media that showed former President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin lying in side-by-side coffins with text that wished for their deaths.
Tiberi said he shared the “edgy” and “dark-humored” image on his personal Facebook page before the attempt on Trump’s life earlier this month and took down the post soon afterward.
But he said “far-right” users of Facebook and other sites successfully orchestrated a campaign to press Cumulus Media, the owner of the radio station, to fire Tiberi. He learned of the company’s decision on July 16 and shared the news with his Facebook followers last week.
“I upset a small group of people and they blew it out of proportion and took it out of context – misrepresented me. And the company folded under the pressure,” Tiberi said in an interview Monday. “And that’s just the way it happens these days.”
Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., will resign next month after he was found guilty on all 16 counts in a federal bribery and corruption trial.
Menendez officially informed Gov. Phil Murphy of his decision in a letter Tuesday.
"This is to advise you that I will be resigning from my office as the United States Senator from New Jersey, effective on the close of business on August 20, 2024," Menendez said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by NBC News.
He said he chose that date to "give time for my staff to transition to other possibilities, transfer constituent files that are pending, allow for an orderly process to choose an interim replacement, and for me to close out my Senate affairs."
Murphy, a Democrat, said in a statement that he’d received the letter and that he will “exercise my duty to make a temporary appointment to the United States Senate to ensure the people of New Jersey have the representation they deserve.”
Two sources familiar with the matter said earlier Tuesday that Menendez had informed some of his staff members of his plans. The New Jersey Globe first reported his departure date.
As NBC News first reported last week, Menendez had begun telling allies in calls that he would step down from the Senate after a jury convicted him on July 16 of accepting bribes, including gold bars and cash, for official actions to benefit Qatar and Egypt. He is set to be sentenced Oct. 29 and has vowed to appeal.
Nearly every Democratic senator, as well as House members and other key elected officials in New Jersey, had said Menendez needed to resign, making it untenable for him to continue. Some had threatened to force a vote to expel him from the Senate if he didn’t leave voluntarily.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/rcna163285
Donald Trump slammed Fox News on Tuesday for inviting Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz onto their program, where he said the Republican Party was “stuck with Donald Trump.”
“Why did Fox News put up Tim Walz, Governor of Minnesota, where I am leading? They make me fight battles that I shouldn’t have to fight!” the former president wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Walz hit back on X that Trump “knows nothing about rural America” and will lose “Minnesota. And Wisconsin. And Michigan. And Pennsylvania.”
A Fox News spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from POLITICO.
Minnesota has not gone for a Republican for president since Richard Nixon in 1972, but Trump has become fixated on the idea that he can flip the state to expand his map. He lost Minnesota to Hillary Clinton in 2016 with a close 2-point margin — one that President Joe Biden only widened in 2020.
A Russian man has been arrested in France on suspicion of plotting acts of "destabilisation" during the Paris Olympics, prosecutors have said.
Local media reports that a 40-year-old man was arrested on Sunday and an investigation opened into the possible passing of "intelligence to a foreign power in order to arouse hostilities in France".
The alleged plot is not believed to have been for a terror attack.
It comes just days before the games get under way, with the opening ceremony set to take place in central Paris on Friday.
Prosecutors said a search had been carried out at the man's Paris apartment at the request of the French interior ministry.
A source close to the investigation told Le Parisien agents had discovered evidence that suggested the man was preparing "pro-Russian operations" to destabilise France during the games.
Another source said the alleged plot was a "large-scale project" that could have had "serious" consequences.
No further details have been given other than that the investigation is being carried out by specialists in counter-espionage, not counter-terrorism.
The man was indicted on Tuesday evening and placed in pre-trial detention.
The crimes being investigated are reportedly punishable by a prison sentence of up to 30 years.
During the interview, which was hosted on Musk’s platform, X, Peterson asked Musk if he had “shocked” himself by donating a substantial amount of money to Trump’s campaign. Musk – who has previously criticized Trump, calling him a “bull in a china shop” – paused to correct the “media.”
“What’s been reported in the media is simply not true,” Musk said. “I am not donating $45 million a month to Trump.”
The Wall Street Journal first reported on the claim, citing sources “familiar with the matter.” The outlet has not yet issued a retraction or follow-up article altering its reporting.
Musk did note that he created a super PAC, called the America PAC, to help support Trump. A super PAC is a group that can raise unlimited amounts of money for a campaign’s independent expenditures—such as for ads, or for day-to-day operations— but doesn’t donate directly to the campaign. They have become prominent among both Democrats and Republicans since a 2010 D.C. appeals court decision that authorized the existence of the super PACS. For a normal PAC, donors are limited to gifts of only $5,000 a year.
Several tech company leaders have donated to America PAC, including Ken Howery, an early executive at Paypal along with Musk, Antonio Gracias, a private-equity leader, Sequoia Capital’s Shuan Maguire, and the Winklevoss twins.
The super PAC is also led in part by Joe Lonsdale, a co-founder of the software company Palantir and politically ambitious venture capitalist in Austin who is close to Musk, according to the New York Times.
https://fortune.com/2024/07/23/elon-musk-backs-down-from-45-million-a-month-pledge-to-trump-says-he-doesnt-subscribe-to-cult-of-personality/
"Hell hath no fury like a certain childless cat lady who has yet to endorse a presidential candidate," one X user posted in response to Vance's prior comments, which have recirculated after he and Vice President Kamala Harris have emerged as opponents on the 2024 presidential campaign trail.
Resurrected footage, shared Monday by the editor-in-chief of MeidasTouch Network, shows Vance on Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight" in 2021, criticizing multiple Democratic figures as "childless cat ladies" and saying people without children don't have a "direct stake" in America's future. Vance made the TV appearance while he was running for the Ohio senate seat he eventually won.
The video had more than 25 million views on X as of Wednesday and Vance's "childless cat ladies" comments had sparked an uproar from Swiftie fans and beyond.
Swift, who endorsed now-President Joe Biden and Harris back in 2020, has not yet endorsed anyone for president in 2024.
"When it hits you that Taylor Swift is childless and has cats... The armageddon is coming for him," one X user posted Tuesday night.
Another user posted: "Vance attacked childless women who love cats. Taylor Swift would probably like a word. Release the kraken (meowww)."
One fan suggested she use his comments "right back at him" if she were to endorse Harris, while another lobbied for Swift-inspired "Democratic fundraising merch."
Internet users drew the connection between Vance's comments and Swift because she has three cats and proudly posts about them on social media.
Swift, 34, is not married and does not have children.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2024/07/24/taylor-swift-jd-vance-childless-cat-ladies/74525531007/
https://x.com/MotherJones/status/1816180369110270435
How to pay for these farms? Kennedy had an answer. With money generated through a sales tax on cannabis products, Kennedy said, “I’m going to dedicate that revenue to creating wellness farms—drug rehabilitation farms, in rural areas all over this country,” he said. “I’m going to make it so people can go, if you’re convicted of a drug offense, or if you have a drug problem, you can go to one of these places for free.”
On the farms, he said, residents would grow their own organic food—which would help them recover from addiction, “because a lot of the behavioral issues are food related. A lot of the illnesses are food related.” The idea that addiction is connected to consuming non-organic food is not backed by robust science—but it’s in line with many other unfounded claims that Kennedy has made in the past about pesticides and non-organic food causing chronic disease, behavioral problems, and autism.
Cell phones and other screens, he said, would be prohibited. “We’re going to re-parent people and restore connection to community,” he promised. “We have a whole generation of kids who are dispossessed, they’re alienated, their marginalized, their suicide rates are exploding; the second largest killer for young people is drug addiction.” Kennedy has suggested in the past that 5G cell phone technology could cause health problems.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/07/rfk-jr-wants-to-send-people-on-antidepressants-to-government-wellness-farms/
He’s no longer the presumptive Democratic nominee trying to convince the nation that he still has the stamina and faculties to take on former President Donald Trump in an election in which he warned nothing less than democracy itself is in the balance. Instead, he’s now a lame-duck, having thrown his political weight behind his vice president, Kamala Harris, after being convinced by fellow Democrats that he is politically incapable of seeking a second term in office. His speech at 8 p.m. ET will be his first extensive remarks since his announcement Sunday that he was not running and will serve as the first time many Americans see him since he tested positive for Covid-19 last week.
The president intends to use the prime-time remarks to reveal to the American people how he arrived at the painful decision, sources told CNN, which he said in his letter Sunday he believed was “in the best interest of my party and the country.”
Oval Office addresses have historically been serious moments for presidents to speak to the American people at times of national crisis or to make major policy announcements. It will be only the fourth time Biden has addressed the nation from the setting as president. And it’s the second time in just 10 days, following Biden’s remarks to the country earlier this month following the assassination attempt against Trump. He’s also used the setting to speak about Hamas’ attack on Israel last year and to laud the passage of a bipartisan budget agreement.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/24/politics/biden-oval-office-address-2024/index.html
Former President Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke multiple times in the span of a few days this month, multiple people familiar with the conversations told ABC News, including an in-person meeting in Milwaukee during the Republican National Convention where the two presidential candidates discussed ways Kennedy could be involved in a second Trump administration.
At least one idea floated, according to two people with knowledge of the talks, was for Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic who speaks often about the perils of chronic disease, to oversee the Health and Human Services Department under a possible Trump administration.
According to one source, the in-person meeting, which took place the Monday of the convention, never reached a point where Trump and Kennedy had a deal in place for Kennedy to exit the race and endorse the former president in exchange for a role in the administration. Rather, it was an "informal," "free flowing" conversation, the source said.
The two men initially spoke by phone on the evening Trump survived an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally, one source told ABC News, adding that they agreed on that phone call to meet in Milwaukee the next week.
![kamala-harris-30-willie-brown-85364374_886db6[1]](https://i.4cdn.org/news/1721886417424067s.jpg)
https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/michigan-authorities-investigating-politically-motivated-incidents-80-year-old-man-ran-over-atv/
July 23, 2024
ATV driver accused of running over Michigan 80-year-old who was putting up Trump sign found dead
(CBS DETROIT) — A Michigan man who allegedly ran over an elderly man with an ATV and vandalized vehicles — in what police say were politically motivated incidents — has been found dead.
The Hancock Police Department was contacted by a man on Monday who said they wanted to "confess a crime involving an ATV driver within the last 24 hours." The man instructed police to "send someone to pick me up."
When Hancock police and deputies with the Houghton County Sheriff's Office arrived at the man's residence in Quincy Township in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, they found a 22-year-old man dead from a single self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Through a search warrant for the home, deputies retrieved several electronic devices and found the ATV that was used and the clothing the suspect wore during the incident.
On Sunday, Hancock police responded to three incidents that appeared to be politically motivated. Police say the victims displayed political yard signs for former President Donald Trump and law enforcement appreciation flags and stickers.
In two of the incidents, the suspect intentionally vandalized vehicles, according to a release from Hancock Police Chief Tami Sleeman.
Then, at 5:45 p.m., officers responded to the 1600 block of Anthony St. after the same suspect driving an ATV allegedly intentionally drove through a yard and ran over an 80-year-old man who was putting up a political sign in his front yard.
The 80-year-old was taken to a local hospital in critical condition.
The investigation is ongoing.
He then asked the pier staff for a trash bag while holding the dead seagull. The police were called and he refused to cooperate with their investigation, leading to his arrest.
On July 18, he was charged with third-degree animal cruelty after officers obtained witness statements and photos, investigators said.
https://6abc.com/post/franklin-zeigler-arrested-seagull-decapitated-cape-may-nj/15081860/
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3271678/north-korea-rejects-trumps-overtures-shrugs-us-election-outcome-we-do-not-care
On Tuesday North Korea snubbed Donald Trump once again by brushing off a suggestion by the former president that he would improve relations with the country if elected president in November.
Trump told the Republican National Convention he got along with Kim, and that the North Korean leader probably wanted him back in the White House. “I think he misses me, if you want to know the truth,” Trump said.
An anonymous commentary in the North Korean Central News Agency, or NKCNA, a state-controlled media organization whose content reflects official thinking, indicated that no matter who was elected in the U.S. presidential elections, relations between the two are unlikely to be warm.
“No matter what administration takes office in the U.S., the political climate, which is confused by the infighting of the two parties, does not change and, accordingly, we do not care about this,” said the commentary in NKCNA.
North Korea is a small, economically weak regime. But it has a nuclear weapons program and spends roughly 16 percent of total government expenditure on defense, making it a thorn in the side of American foreign policy officials.
Donald Trump has always had a complicated relationship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. Sometimes bromance, sometimes bitter rivalry, the two have long traded barbs.
Biden endorsed Kamala Harris as his replacement on Sunday after he announced he would no longer be running as the Democratic party's nominee for President amid concerns over his health and age.
"My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it's been the best decision I've made. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats—it's time to come together and beat Trump. Let's do this," he wrote in a post on X.
Following the announcement, Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, immediately seized on Democrats, claiming that the GOP would challenge the party's right to switch Joe Biden for Kamala Harris.
"I think they've got legal hurdles in some of these states," Johnson told CNN on Sunday. "And it'll be litigated, I would expect, on the ground there."
But a possible legal challenge is not the only sign that the Republicans may be nervous about Biden's decision.
Trump decried Biden's decision to drop out in a post on Truth Social on Sunday, writing that his team would have to "start all over again" and asking to be reimbursed for the cost.
Reports have also emerged that Trump regrets choosing J.D. Vance as his running mate as much of the former president's campaign, including the decision to tap the Ohio Senator as his Vice President, has been structured around attacks on Biden.
"Most striking thing I heard from Trump allies yesterday was the second-guessing of JD Vance—a selection, they acknowledged, that was borne of cockiness, meant to run up margins with the base in a blowout rather than persuade swing voters in a nail-biter," Atlantic staff writer Tim Alberta posted on X.
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-cold-feet-jd-vance-1929088
BYEVA ROYTBURG
July 23, 2024 at 5:35 PM EDT
https://fortune.com/2024/07/23/elon-musk-backs-down-from-45-million-a-month-pledge-to-trump-says-he-doesnt-subscribe-to-cult-of-personality/
Elon Musk is not spending $45 million a month to elect former President Donald Trump, though he has created a new super political action committee (PAC) to fund the Republican candidate, the billionaire told conservative commentator Jordan Peterson during an interview Monday evening.
During the interview, which was hosted on Musk’s platform, X, Peterson asked Musk if he had “shocked” himself by donating a substantial amount of money to Trump’s campaign. Musk – who has previously criticized Trump, calling him a “bull in a china shop” – paused to correct the “media.”
“What’s been reported in the media is simply not true,” Musk said. “I am not donating $45 million a month to Trump.”
The poll, conducted on Monday and Tuesday, followed both the Republican National Convention where Trump on Thursday formally accepted his party's nomination and the Biden announcement on Sunday he was leaving the race and endorsing Harris.
Harris, whose campaign says she has secured the Democratic nomination, led Trump 44% to 42% in the national poll, a difference within the 3-percentage-point margin of error.
Harris and Trump were tied at 44% in a July 15-16 poll, and Trump led by one percentage point in a July 1-2 poll, both within the same margin of error.
While nationwide surveys give important signals of American support for political candidates, just a handful of competitive states typically tilt the balance in the U.S. Electoral College, which ultimately decides who wins a presidential election.
Some 80% of Democratic voters said they viewed Biden favorably, compared to 91% who said the same of Harris. Three quarters of Democratic voters said they agreed with a statement that the party and voters should get behind Harris now, with only a quarter saying multiple candidates should compete for the party's nomination.
When voters in the survey were shown a hypothetical ballot that included independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Harris led Trump 42% to 38%, an advantage outside the margin of error. Kennedy, favored by 8% of voters in the poll, has yet to qualify for the ballot in many states ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/harris-leads-trump-44-42-us-presidential-race-reutersipsos-poll-finds-2024-07-23/
Secret Service officials encouraged Donald Trump’s campaign to stop scheduling large outdoor rallies and other outdoor events with big crowds after the assassination attempt on the former president in Butler, Pa., according to people familiar with the matter.
In the aftermath of the shooting, agents from the Secret Service communicated their concerns about large outdoor rallies going forward to Trump campaign advisers, three people familiar with the matter said.
The people familiar with the matter spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private discussions.
For upcoming events, Trump’s team is scouting indoor venues, such as basketball arenas and other large spaces where thousands of people can fit, people familiar with the request said. The campaign is not currently planning any large outdoor events, a person close to Trump said.
A Trump campaign spokeswoman declined to comment. A spokesman for the Secret Service said the agency does not comment on its protective methods.
A new report from CNN reveals more evidence that Trump vice presidential pick J.D. Vance once believed accusations of sexual assault against his running mate.
Earlier this month, Mediaite reported that, in a 2016 MSNBC appearance, Vance said he believed Jessica Leeds’s accusation that Trump groped her. Sarcastically noting Trump’s tendency to lie, he said, “This is sort of he said/she said, right? And at the end of the day, do you believe Donald Trump who always tells the truth? Just kidding, or do you believe that woman on the tape?”
On Tuesday, CNN reported that Vance repeatedly expressed similar sentiments online.
In October 2016, after the Access Hollywood tapes were released, Vance tweeted a since-deleted post asking, “What percentage of the American population has @realDonaldTrump sexually assaulted?”
Vance also reportedly liked tweets that read, “Maybe the Central Park 5 could take out a full-page ad to condemn the coddling of thug real estate barons who commit serial sexual assault,” and, “I wish there was a 2nd Vice Presidential debate just to see [Mike Pence] deny that Trump said he grabbed p*ssy.”
On Facebook, he shared a Washington Post op-ed by a Southern Baptist Convention leader, who condemned conservative religious leaders’ support of then-presidential candidate Trump “following the disclosure of his sexually predatory recorded comments.” Vance posted an excerpt of the article that read, in part, “[Trump] has reaffirmed who he is over and over again, even during this campaign—from misogynistic statements to racist invective to crazed conspiracy theorizing.”
The unearthed social media activity—piling atop a mountain of examples of Vance once railing against his current running mate—has fueled ongoing conversations questioning his convictions and speculating that Trump may be regretting his vice presidential pick.
![d0d[1]](https://i.4cdn.org/news/1721787110645194s.jpg)
>top kek at harris being underwater on the only thing that matters
Alexander Love, 29, was charged with first-degree attempted murder with a deadly weapon and attempted premeditated murder, according to an arrest report from the Miami-Dade Police Department.
Officers responded to Terminal J around 11:30 p.m. after reports of a stabbing, officials said in a news release. The victim was eating a meal while sitting on the floor when, officials say, Love attacked her without provocation, stabbing her about 18 times in her face, head, arms, shoulders, neck and legs before he tried to throw her over a safety retaining glass, officials said.
"The victim was able to escape the attack and ran down the stairs to the third-floor level, which is where the officers found her," police said.
She was taken to a local medical center in critical condition and had emergency surgery, officials said. Her condition Tuesday afternoon was not available.
Love was taken into custody shortly after the attack by Customs and Border Patrol, the arrest report says. Officials said that at the police station, Love admitted to being involved in the attack and said he had become acquainted with the victim beforehand.
"The defendant added he was possibly drugged and someone inserted an unknown object in his rectum," the report says. "Although the defendant is not certain the victim is responsible for this, the defendant made a statement indicating he needed to hurt whoever hurt him and was prompted to purchase the knife at a Target store near Miami International Airport."
Police said they recovered a knife from the scene.
Love was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, according to online records. It's not clear whether he has an attorney.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-accused-stabbing-transgender-teen-18-miami-airport-rcna163259
![6ec[1]](https://i.4cdn.org/news/1721787781671655s.jpg)
#stop asian hate
Leadership warned lawmakers during a closed-door meeting to focus on the vice president’s record, not her race.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/23/gop-race-comments-harris-00170735
House Republican leaders told lawmakers to focus on criticizing Vice President Kamala Harris’ record without reference to her race and gender, following caustic remarks from some Republicans attacking her on the basis of identity.
During a closed-door meeting Tuesday morning, chair of the House GOP campaign arm Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) and others issued the warning after a series of comments by their members that focused on Harris’ race as well as claims she is a “DEI” pick, according to two people in the room.
In the 48 hours since President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race, Republican leaders have tried to train their criticism of the presumptive Democratic nominee on her handling of the border and her plan to skip Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before Congress.
But several Republicans immediately took the criticism in a different direction. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said Monday that Harris was a “DEI vice president” and Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) over the weekend questioned if Democrats are sticking by her “because of her ethnic background.” If nominated, Harris would be the first Black and South Asian woman to be a major party nominee.
This should not be about personalities. It should be about policy. And we have a record to compare,” Speaker Mike Johnson told POLITICO as he left the Tuesday meeting, saying Harris would have to answer for Biden’s record. “This has nothing to do with race. It has to do with the competence of the person running for president, the relative strength of the two candidates and what ideas they have on how to solve America’s problems. And I think in that comparison, we’ll win in a landslide.”
During a private meeting at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic, then-president Donald Trump reportedly mused aloud about whether people with disabilities would be better off dead instead of causing more expenses for their caregivers.
The shocking remark is included in a new book, All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way, by the former president’s nephew, Fred Trump III, who makes other startling claims about his uncle.
According to an excerpt of the book published by Time, Fred Trump III — the brother of psychologist and author Mary Trump and the eldest son of Donald Trump’s late older brother, Fred Trump Jr. — claims his uncle made the offensive remark during a private meeting in May 2020.
Fred Trump III writes that he, then-President Trump, then-Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and White House Covid Task Force member Dr. Brett Giroir, along with other disability rights advocates, spent 45 minutes discussing the needs of people with disabilities at the White House.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-nephew-disability-memoir-b2585139.html
Following the White House meeting, Fred Trump III said he was ushered back into the Oval Office with his uncle and Azar at Donald Trump’s request.
His uncle greeted him: “Hey, pal — how’s everything going?”
Fred Trump III told him things were “good” and thanked him for meeting.
At that point, he writes that his uncle started to speak again.
“Those people ...” he said, trailing off. “The shape they’re in, all the expenses, maybe those kinds of people should just die,” he suggested, according to the book.
Democrats have poured $81m (£62m) in donations into Vice-President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race on Sunday.
It is the largest 24-hour period of campaign funding in presidential history with more than 888,000 donors making contributions of less than $200 in the day after Mr Biden stepped aside.
“Grassroots supporters are energized and excited to support her as the Democratic nominee,” ActBlue, the progressive donation platform, said on X.
Donors who had pulled back their funding over concerns about Mr Biden’s age say they now intend to resume their support for the party.
The party raised over $27.5m in the first five hours of Ms Harris’ presidential campaign. That number nearly doubled by the end of the day. In 24 hours, the sum broke a presidential fundraising record.
The new funds mark a significant turn for the Democratic party, which had seen support erode from major donors after Mr Biden’s poor performance in June’s presidential debate against Donald Trump.
Grassroots funding from small donors had also diminished, according to Biden campaign insiders cited in US media.
But soon after Mr Biden’s announcement to drop out of the race and his endorsement of Ms Harris’ bid for the White House, Democrats went online to contribute at a startling pace.
Win With Black Women, a group of black women leaders, held a Zoom call with more than 44,000 participants on Sunday night to throw their support behind the vice-president.
The 36-minute video released via the Illinois State Police includes body-camera footage from each of the two Sangamon County Sheriff’s deputies who responded to Massey’s house after midnight on July 6 after Massey called 911 to report a possible “prowler” at her home in Springfield, according to a court document filed by prosecutors.
In the footage, deputy Sean Grayson and another deputy speak calmly with Massey in her home when she goes to the stove to turn off a pot of boiling water. She then picks up the pot and the other deputy steps back, “away from your hot steaming water,” he says.
“I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” she says in response.
“Huh?” the deputy says.
“I rebuke you in the name of Jesus,” she repeats.
“You better f**king not or I swear to God I’ll f**king shoot you in the f**king face,” Grayson says.
He then draws his firearm and points it at her, and she ducks and says, “I’m sorry” while lifting the pot, the video shows.
“Drop the f**king pot!” both deputies yell.
Three shots are heard. After a few seconds of silence, one deputy says “shots fired” and calls for EMS.
“Dude, I’m not taking f**king boiling water to the f**king head. And look, it came right to our feet, too,” Grayson says.
Minutes after the shooting, Grayson speaks to another law enforcement figure. “She had boiling water and came at me with boiling water,” he says in the video. “She said she was going to rebuke me in the name of Jesus and came at (me) with boiling water.”
https://files.catbox.moe/afbhhn.mp4
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/22/us/sonya-massey-police-shooting/index.html
And they did it in front of the entire world.
https://www.rawstory.com/us-secret-service-chief-resigns/
U.S. Secret Service chief resigns after Trump assassination attempt
U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has resigned, MSNBC reported Tuesday.
Cheatle appeared before the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Monday at which members of both parties berated her over the failures of the agents at a rally where Donald Trump was shot in the ear in an assassination attempt.
Despite spending decades working her way up the ranks, Republicans attacked Cheatle as a "DEI hire," suggesting she was only hired because she was a woman.
EXCLUSIVE:Trump’s ‘secretary of retribution’ has a ‘target list’ of 350 people he wants arrested
Cheatle was berated at Monday's meeting for being cagey about the reasons the building where the shooter climbed on the roof was not secured or why it didn't have agents on it. Another unanswered question was how the service knew about a "suspicious person" but Trump was allowed to take the stage.
Cheatle said the USSS Inspector General is conducting an investigation and the USSS is also doing it's own internal probe into the failures on July 13 during the attack.
For customer support contact [email protected]. Report typos and corrections to [email protected].
https://nypost.com/2024/07/20/business/the-odd-yet-interesting-choice-of-who-trump-may-tap-to-be-his-treasury-secretary/
"Donald Trump has aligned himself with yet another active player in the crypto industry. Larry Fink, the founder of BlackRock."
"Trump has chosen Larry as his pick for US Treasury Secretary. This might sound like an odd match since Larry is something of a leftie, but the two have a history together, and they share a mutual respect that has grown over the years."
"Last week, there was rumors that Trump was considering JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, but reports say it’s really Larry who has been Trump’s go-to guy for economic advice. This partnership goes back to when BlackRock managed Trump’s investment portfolio. "
The former president fired off a series of messages from shortly before midnight until a little bit after, including one where he attacked Harris for having “absolutely terrible pole numbers against a fine and brilliant young man named DONALD J. TRUMP!”
The “young man” named Trump is 78, making him nearly 19 years older than Harris. With Biden leaving the race before accepting the nomination, Trump is the oldest presidential candidate from a major party in U.S. history.
It’s also likely the former president meant poll numbers rather than “pole numbers.”
Trump has been workshopping attacks on Harris, but seems to be running out of ideas. He has previously called her “Laffin’ Kamala,” but since that hasn’t picked up any traction is now experimenting with “Lyin’” instead.
Just one problem: “Lyin’” ― with the apostrophe instead of the “g” ― was also his nickname for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) during the 2016 primaries. Trump at that time also attacked Cruz’s wife and father. Cruz responded by turning into one of Trump’s most devoted supporters.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-pole-numbers_n_669f5c65e4b030a2640ad14e
Trump shooter Thomas Crooks was likely 'acting out a fantasy': Extremism expert
“Crooks could easily have become a mass killer – the Secret Service snipers prevented that," says Jytte Klausen
Christina Coulter By Christina Coulter Fox News
Published July 22, 2024 6:00am EDT
https://www.foxnews.com/us/trump-shooter-thomas-crooks-likely-acting-out-fantasy-extremism-expert
BETHEL PARK, Pa. – An expert in extremism and terrorism said that Thomas Matthew Crooks' assassination attempt on former President Trump was likely not politically motivated – instead, the 20-year-old was likely "acting out a fantasy," and seeking a target that would bring him "attention and fame."
Jytte Klausen, a political science professor at Brandeis University, has studied terrorist networks and violent extremism for two decades, putting together a methodology for forensic biographies of perpetrators and radicalization trajectories.
She is currently writing a book called "How to Become a Terrorist" that dives into incels, homegrown Islamists, neo-Nazis and other groups.
"He wanted to become somebody – he wanted to make a mark," Klausen posited about Crooks, who unleashed the attack on Trump's campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. "He appears not to have been particularly politically motivated, I think, based on what we know about his search history… there's no sense he wanted to effect the election."
A study from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Brazil has now found evidence sharks are in fact being affected by drugs polluting the ocean.
The scientists dissected 13 wild Brazilian sharpnose sharks that were bought from small fishing vessels, as the species spend their entire lives in coastal waters and were therefore most likely to be affected by pollution.
Muscle and liver tissue were then tested using a standard technique called liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry - where molecules are separated in a liquid - to look for cocaine and benzoylecgonine, the main metabolite in the drug.
All 13 sharks were positive for the drug, with a concentration as much as 100 times higher than previously reported for other aquatic creatures, the scientists found.
It marks the first study to find the presence of cocaine in free-range sharks, and found the substance was more prevalent in muscle tissue than in the shark's livers.
However, the study said the field of research was "very limited" and the impact of cocaine or benzoylecgonine on aquatic life is not fully known.
https://news.sky.com/story/sharks-off-brazil-coast-test-positive-for-cocaine-13183543
https://newrepublic.com/post/184097/trump-elon-musk-causing-kamala-harris-problems
Following Kamala Harris’s announcement that she is running for president, users on Elon’s Musk Twitter found themselves banned from following the vice president’s political campaign account.
When users went to follow @KamalaHQ, the official rapid response page for Harris’s campaign, they were greeted with a message that said they had reached their “limit” and could not follow any more accounts at this time.
This message usually is deployed to prevent spam or “rate limiting,” for instance if one account is following hundreds of others. But it seems that the Harris account is the one being limited, rather than the users’.
An initial search for KamalaHQ on The New Republic’s Twitter account also found that the campaign account is limited. The campaign account showed up in repeated subsequent searches, seeming to suggest the issue is being resolved.
This all may look a little suspicious considering Elon Musk’s growing relationship with Donald Trump. Just last week, Musk promised to donate $45 million a month to help Trump get reelected.
In the past several days, Musk has continued to post right-wing and pro-Trump memes. Following Joe Biden stepping down, Musk retweeted former Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy saying, “We’re not running against a candidate. We’re running against a system.”
Musk has also attacked Harris more directly. “Democrats destroy democracy in pursuit of power,” a QAnon-linked influencer wrote with Biden’s resignation letter attached. “The Democratic elite, corporate media, and billionaire donors successfully pressured the candidate chosen by Democratic primary voters to drop out because he’s down in the polls and losing.”
Musk reposted the statement, simply writing, “Exactly.”
Why it matters: Concerns over Biden's age and mental fitness were central to calls for his replacement as the Democratic nominee. Trump, at 78, becomes the oldest nominee in U.S. history if Harris or someone else younger than Trump succeeds Biden atop the Democratic ticket.
Reality check: Twelve U.S. presidents were 60 or older at the time of their inauguration.
Biden and Trump were the only presidents older than 70 at the start of their terms.
Catch up quick: Biden's performance during the first presidential debate against Trump on June 27 led to calls from constituents and politicians for him to step down.
Zoom out: All three branches of federal government have prompted conversations about America's gerontocracy.
The 118th Congress, one of the oldest in U.S. history, drove debates last year about term limits and fitness for office.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) stepped aside in 2022, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced he'd retire as the head of Senate Republicans following the 2024 election.
On the Supreme Court, 74% of Americans favor a maximum age limit for justices, according to Pew polling from last year.
Former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer signaled support for age and term limits in March.
He said it would have helped him avoid "going through difficult decisions" in deciding whether to retire in 2022 as the oldest member of the court at the time.
https://www.axios.com/2024/07/21/kamala-harris-age-presidential-nominee
A Lot Has Changed for Women Since 2016. What Does That Mean for Kamala Harris?
Voters eager to elect the first female president pointed to anger over a loss of abortion rights, but also acknowledged a fear that sexism would remain difficult for Ms. Harris to overcome.
In the eight years since Hillary Clinton failed to win the American presidency, the work force for the first time grew to include more college-educated women than college-educated men. The #MeToo movement exposed sexual harassment and toppled powerful men. The Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion.
Will any — or all — of it make a difference for Vice President Kamala Harris?
Ms. Harris seems almost certain to become the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee after President Biden’s decision not to seek re-election. As such, she faces, fairly or not, some of the same electability questions that Mrs. Clinton confronted in a nation that, unlike many of its peers around the globe, has yet to pick a woman as its leader.
A presidential contest pitting Ms. Harris against former President Donald J. Trump would represent a rematch of sorts: Mr. Trump would again have to run against a woman who held a top administration position and served in the Senate. He defeated Mrs. Clinton in 2016 in spite of her winning the popular vote by a wide margin.
But the dynamics would be unquestionably different. Ms. Harris has neither the political legacy nor the baggage of Mrs. Clinton. Mr. Trump, having served a turbulent term in office, is now a known quantity. Ms. Harris is Black and of South Asian descent.
Biden, 81, could not reverse growing sentiment within his party that he was too frail to serve and destined to lose to Donald Trump in November.
His withdrawal caps a singular national political career, bookended by Richard Nixon’s fall and Trump’s rise. He mounted four presidential bids. He spent 36 years in the US Senate representing tiny Delaware. He rose to the chairmanships of the powerful judiciary and foreign relations committees. And he served eight years as Barack Obama’s vice president.
Biden’s decision to exit the race less than a month before his party’s convention and a few months before voters head to the polls is unprecedented in the modern political era. The last sitting president to abandon a reelection bid was Lyndon Johnson, whose expansion of the Vietnam War in the 1960s split the Democratic Party. But Johnson’s announcement came in March 1968 — eight months before that election.
“We’re in uncharted waters,” said Barbara Perry, a presidential studies professor at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center. “No president has dropped out or died this close to the convention.”
Replacing Biden atop the Democratic ticket is likely to set off internal Democratic tremors as ambitious officials maneuver to become his successor. Factions have already formed around sitting Vice President Kamala Harris and prominent governors, including Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer and California’s Gavin Newsom.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/president-joe-biden-drops-2024-presidential-race-rcna159867
Cheatle’s resignation, which was first reported by NBC News citing sources, came a day after she was blasted by members of a House committee at a hearing on the Secret Service’s actions leading up to Trump’s July 13 rally in Butler Township.
Cheatle rejected calls at that hearing to resign, saying she was the best-qualified person to head the Secret Service, which is responsible for protecting the president, vice president, their family members and leading presidential candidates.
The director angered members of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee by refusing to answer many questions about the Secret Service’s actions surrounding Trump’s rally, where the Republican presidential nominee narrowly avoided being killed by 20-year-old gunman Thomas Crooks. One man died in the shooting, while two others were critically injured.
On Tuesday, Cheatle in a letter wrote to Secret Service staff, “In light of recent events, it is with a heavy heart that, I have made the difficult decision to step down as your Director.”
“The Secret Service’s solemn mission is to protect our nation’s leaders and financial infrastructure. On July 13th, we fell short on that mission,” said Cheatle, who served in the agency for nearly 30 years.
“The scrutiny over the last week has been intense and will continue to remain as our operational tempo increases,” she wrote. “As your Director, I take full responsibility for the security lapse.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/23/secret-service-resigns-trump-shooting.html
I need help understanding retardicunt shill logic. Help me out, /pol/fags.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/22/donald-trump-kamala-harris-donation
‘A wise investment’: Trump’s $6,000 gift to Kamala Harris comes back to bite him
Records show Donald and Ivanka Trump made donations to vice-president’s California attorney general re-election bid
US election – live updates
Ed Pilkington
Mon 22 Jul 2024 09.06 EDT
Last modified on Mon 22 Jul 2024 12.15 EDT
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Donald Trump has moved swiftly to turn his attack machine on to the vice-president in the wake of Joe Biden dropping out of the presidential race, dusting off his derisive nickname for her: “Laffin’ Kamala Harris”.
But as the Republican nominee refocuses his campaign to target Harris, there is one awkward truth that Trump will have to face. What about that check for $5,000 dated 26 September 2011, bearing Trump’s distinctive signature, and made payable to one “Attorney General Kamala D Harris”?
Within hours of Biden’s historic decision breaking on Sunday, and with a new possible Trump v Harris battle heaving into view, Trump’s uncomfortable donation resurfaced on social media. Jared Moskowitz, a Democratic congressman from Florida, posted a photo of the check on his X feed with the words: “Was a wise investment.”
Michael Steele, former chair of the Republican National Committee, snarked: “When Trump wrote that check to re-elect Kamala Harris in 2011, I bet he didn’t think she’d cash it in 2024!”
https://www.tmz.com/2024/07/20/ronny-jackson-viriginia-medical-license-expire-treating-trump/
The doctor treating Donald Trump’s gunshot wound is so “concerned” about the former president’s health that he’s been offering his services to the former president daily–apparently without a valid medical license, according to TMZ. Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), Trump’s former White House physician, appears to have lost his medical license in the state of Virginia after it expired in May, 2020. Jackson still retains a certification from the American Board of Emergency Medicine until 2025, which allows him to provide emergency medical services only, TMZ noted, citing a 2023 article from The Dallas Morning News. In Florida, TMZ added, Jackson’s license is listed as “Military Active,” meaning he is only able to administer medical treatment at army facilities.
According to a memo Jackson released Saturday morning, he started administering care to Trump after the former president saw an emergency doctor, raising questions about whether the care he is continuing to give Trump still counts as emergency services. “I have been with President Trump since that time, and I have evaluated and treated his wound daily,” Jackson wrote. “He is doing well.” Jackson accompanied Trump to his rally in Michigan on Saturday, and will remain by his side for the remainder of the weekend.
https://www.daytondailynews.com/local/at-least-1-injured-in-2-vehicle-crash-sunday/RZWLZMJB3FEJLLPHP244W7CACA/
A two-vehicle crash in Miamisburg injured at least one person early Sunday.
Crews responded to reports of an injury crash at Miamisburg Centerville Road near SR-725 at I-75 around 12:31 a.m., according to the Montgomery County Regional Dispatch.
NEW: U.S. highway in Clark County open again after 3-vehicle, multiple-injury crash
https://www.whio.com/news/local/multiple-injuries-reported-3-car-crash-that-shuts-down-us-highway-clark-county/CBKLQVDX7VETTEJDKICDNBBV7I/
By WHIO Staff
July 21, 2024 at 11:37 am EDT
CLARK COUNTY — UPDATE @ 11:35 a.m.: U.S. 42 has reopened, according to Ohio State Highway Patrol dispatch.
INITIAL REPORT
U.S. 42 in Clark County has been shut down until further notice for a multiple-car crash with several injuries.
https://www.aol.com/two-die-woman-seriously-injured-142225066.html
Two people have died and a woman is in hospital with life-threatening injuries after a crash involving two cars.
Two die and woman seriously injured in car crash
https://www.aol.com/two-die-woman-seriously-injured-142225066.html
Northamptonshire Police said a Ford Fiesta and a Ford Puma collided on the A45, between the junction for Raunds and the A14 at Thrapston, at 11:45 BST on Saturday.
A security camera recorded the killing, inside the bedroom they shared on July 15 in Humboldt, Tennessee, the county prosecutor said.
The recording shows the older child using bedding to suffocate her cousin as the younger girl slept in the top bunk, Gibson District Attorney Frederick Agee's statement said. After the child died, “the juvenile cleaned up the victim and repositioned her body,” Agee said.
A relative told WREG-TV in Memphis that the girls had been arguing over an iPhone after coming from out of town to stay with their grandmother.
The girl was charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence after authorities obtained the video on Wednesday.
“I consider this to be one of the most disturbing violent acts committed by either an adult or juvenile that my office has prosecuted,” Agee wrote in the statement.
He said he would petition a judge to prosecute the girl, who turns 13 later this month, in adult court, which would allow for “a lengthier sentence, whether that will be through incarceration or supervision with court-ordered conditions.”
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/12-year-girl-accused-smothering-8-year-cousin-112129326
https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2024/07/18/heres-how-kamala-harris-performs-in-polls-against-trump-as-she-emerges-as-most-likely-biden-replacement/
Vice President Kamala Harris is the most likely replacement for President Joe Biden if he drops his 2024 presidential bid—which some top Democrats think could happen as soon as this weekend—and she is performing about the same as Biden in head-to-head polls with Trump.
YouGov Biden would lose to Trump 41% to 43%, while Harris would perform slightly worse, losing to Trump 39% to 44%.
Reuters found both Biden and Harris are virtually statistically tied with Trump, but 69% of respondents see Biden as too old
Five Thirty Eight found Found Biden’s odds of winning swing states and the Electoral College against Trump are better than Harris’—48% to 31%.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (who is not among the Democrats commonly floated as potential Biden replacements) would beat Trump by a slightly wider margin, 43% to 41%, according to the Bendixen & Amandi poll. When the poll tested Biden replacements with potential running mates, a ticket with Clinton at the top and Harris as the vice presidential nominee outperformed all other hypothetical Biden-replacement scenarios, showing them beating Trump 43% to 40%. Former First Lady Michelle Obama (another long-shot replacement prospect) would also far outperform Harris, Biden and other potential replacements against Trump, according to the Reuters/Ipsos poll that showed her leading Trump 50% to 39%.
International Brotherhood of Teamsters VP at large John Palmer announced he is mounting a challenge to current President Sean O’Brien after he gave a speech at the Republican National Convention.
“This administration rode into power on a wave of excitement generated by our members’ desires and frustration. We were promised a more engaged leadership and a more militant union. What we have received so far is a PR blast furnace of misinformation and betrayal,” Palmer wrote in the letter, first reported by In These Times’ Kim Kelly.
Of the many speeches given at the RNC this week, one of the first ones was delivered by O’Brien. Palmer laid out several reasons why O’Brien has shown he is not fit for his leadership position, including fear of retaliation among members and failing to support members in contracts.
“This has all culminated in his presence at the anti-union, anti-worker Republican national convention, kissing the ring of a man that scabbed a picket line, failing to pay workers, discriminating against people of color as a landlord, falsely accusing five black men in New York of murder, orchestrating an insurrection against the United States, dodging the draft, and appointing Union busters from the Jones Day law firm to create the most anti-union Labor Board in history,” Palmer wrote.
Palmer argued it's “naïve to believe” that people who attended the RNC will support unions in “any way, shape, form, or manner.” “We have successfully estranged ourselves from the rest of the labor movement through the actions of one man. Should we really go out and seek more enemies right now?” his letter said.
AFL-CIO and SEIU statements:
https://aflcio.org/press/releases/afl-cio-president-liz-shuler-responds-trump-vice-president-announcement
https://www.seiu.org/2024/07/seius-verrett-trump-vance-ticket-will-protect-the-wealthy-and-corporations-at-the-expense-of-working-people
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1e5xpdzkd8o
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced Sunday that he will end his presidential re-election campaign, bringing an abrupt and humbling conclusion to his half-century-long political career and scrambling the race for the White House just four months before Election Day.
Biden, 81, could not reverse growing sentiment within his party that he was too frail to serve and destined to lose to Donald Trump in November.
"While it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term," Biden wrote in a letter posted on X. "I will speak to the Nation later this week in more detail about my decision."
Biden thanked Vice President Kamala Harris for "being an extraordinary partner" but did not endorse her to be his replacement as the Democratic Party presidential nominee in his letter.
PCGamer
By Rich Stanton published 12 hours ago
URL at the bottom of post.
"Disney has suffered a massive leak of employee and company information, after hackers claimed one of its software managers was the victim of a Trojan horse malware attack. A whopping 1.1 tebibytes of data has been leaked online, including personal information and details of unannounced products, including videogames. And the hackers say they're furries, and cite the shutdown of Club Penguin in March 2017 as justification."
"The so-called hacktivist group is called Nullbulge and let me do you a favour: don't Google that word. It's one of those fanart terms referring to a prominent groinal bulge that usually has a giant lock illustration on it..."
https://www.pcgamer.com/software/security/a-furry-hacktivist-group-has-breached-disney-leaked-11tib-of-data-and-says-its-because-club-penguin-shut-down/
https://abcnews.go.com/US/fbi-assassination-attempt-trump-motive-investigation-phone-suspect/story?id=112057259
July 18, 2024
Trump rally shooter's duffel bag and range finder first sparked suspicions, sources say
Investigators are trying to determine a motive for Thomas Matthew Crooks.
New details have emerged about the suspected shooter at former President Donald Trump's rally over the weekend, including what first brought Thomas Matthew Crooks under suspicion.
Multiple law enforcement sources confirmed to ABC News that suspicions about the suspect were first aroused at the site by other attendees when they spotted him with a range finder and duffel bag.
Attendees then notified law enforcement, according to sources.
The suspect, who was 20, had two cell phones -- one on him and a second one found at his home, sources said.
Sources also told ABC News that Crooks came to the rally site in Butler, Pennsylvania, on the morning of the shooting, stayed there for an hour, left and then came back sometime in the early 5 p.m. ET hour.
Cont.
>Illinois deputy charged with murder shot woman in face after ordering her to move pot of water
A sheriff’s deputy charged with murder in the death of a Black woman shot her in the face during a tense moment over a pot of water in her home.
>SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois sheriff’s deputy charged with murder in the death of a Black woman shot her in the face during a tense moment over a pot of water in her home and then discouraged his partner from trying to save her, authorities said Thursday.
>The details were in a court document filed in support of keeping fired Sangamon County Deputy Sean Grayson in custody without bond. County Circuit Judge Ryan M. Cadagin agreed, denying Grayson pretrial release at a hearing Thursday in Springfield.
>In a courtroom guarded by a dozen sheriff’s deputies with three more patrolling the hall, Cadagin described the actions the former deputy is accused of as “such a departure from the expectations of a civil society.”
>Sonya Massey, 36, was killed at her home in Illinois’ capital city, about 200 miles (322 kilometers) south of Chicago, after deputies responded to her 911 call about a possible prowler early on July 6.
>Prosecutors alleged that after Grayson allowed Massey to move a pot of water heating on the stove and she set it on a counter, Grayson then “aggressively yelled” at Massey over the pot and pulled his 9 mm pistol. Massey then put her hands in the air, declared “I’m sorry” and ducked for cover before being shot in the face. Grayson also discouraged the other deputy from getting his medical kit, prosecutors said.
>“The other deputy still rendered aid and stayed with Ms. Massey until medical help arrived,” First Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Rodgers wrote. Grayson “at no time attempted to render aid to Ms. Massey.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna159867
The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 324, one of four unions that together represent 14,000 workers at Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, Downtown Disney and the Disney hotels, said in a statement late Friday that 99 percent of the coalition’s members who voted backed a strike. It did not reveal how many members took part in the vote.
The decision does not necessarily mean that workers will go on strike but provides the option to do so if further talks fail. UFCW Local 324 said the unions are set to meet with Disney again on Monday and Tuesday, adding that “a strike is always a last resort.”
“We greatly appreciate the important roles our cast members play in creating memorable experiences for our guests,” Disneyland said in a statement, “and we remain committed to reaching an agreement that focuses on what matters most to them while positioning Disneyland Resort for growth and job creation.”
The company added that the strike authorization “is not unusual as part of a negotiations process” and said that Disneyland Resort “continues to welcome guests.”
On Wednesday, more than 1,000 union members held a rally outside the entrance to Disneyland Resort, according to a union statement.
“We’re make the magic for guests,” Dee Dee Miranda, a candymaker at Disneyland and a member of the bargaining committee, said in the statement. “We are the ones to provide them with a once in a lifetime experience. It’s time for Disney to value what we do.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/2024/07/20/disneyland-vote-strike-unions-california/
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Chloe Sargeant
JULY 19, 2024
https://www.starobserver.com.au/news/republican-national-convention-grindr-superbowl-outages/232096
The internet has dubbed the Republican National Convention (RNC) the ‘Grindr Superbowl’ after the app has reportedly been heavily crashing since the convention recently began in Milwaukee.
The Republican National Convention began earlier this week, with high-profile Republican politicians and conservative speakers such as former secretary of state Mike Pompeo, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, Donald Trump’s son Eric, and Fox News host Tucker Carlson.gracing the stage.
Today is the last day of the Convention. Former president Donald Trump appeared on stage today, and is expected to accept the presidential nomination for the Republican party.
The site Downdetector showed that Grindr has had a high level of outage reports in major cities such as New York City, Washing DC, Chicago – and in the last week, Milwaukee.
The 1 week polls are in after Crooks failed assassination plot. And it doesn't look too good for Biden.
https://www.newsweek.com/poll-that-could-convince-joe-biden-drop-out-1927850
The Polling That Could Convince Joe Biden to Drop Out of the Race
Joe Biden has said he would withdraw from the presidential race only if polling shows there is "no way" he can beat Donald Trump, but some political experts say recent surveys suggest he could still win.
Biden is facing growing calls from Democrats to step down from the race amid concerns about his ability to win following his debate performance against Trump last month. Sounding hoarse, Biden, 81, stumbled through several answers and appeared to lose his train of thought, doing little to quell concerns about his age and mental acuity. As of Friday, more than 30 Democratic lawmakers have said he should pass the torch to a younger candidate.
However, the president has resisted calls to step aside, arguing that he remains the candidate best suited to beat Trump, despite polls that show him trailing the former president in key battleground states. Biden's team continues to say he is staying in the race
During a press conference earlier in July, Biden was asked if he would step aside if polling showed Vice President Kamala Harris performing better than he would against Trump.
"No, unless they came back and said, 'There's no way you can win,'" he said. "No one's saying that. No poll's saying that."
As remarkable as the past few weeks have been in the wider political universe, they have been equally turbulent inside the tightknit Biden family, unfolding as the latest chapter in the clan’s long story of resolve amid tumult. Family members have flashed through a range of emotions, people close to them say — sadness, anger, determination — and are deeply frustrated by what they see as the betrayal and second-guessing of a man who has spent a half-century as a dedicated leader of the Democratic Party.
This picture of the Biden family in its patriarch’s hour of peril is based on interviews with multiple people with direct knowledge of the family’s thinking and private actions. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters related to the president’s innner
Former President Donald Trump closed the Republican National Convention by accepting the presidential nomination and offering a speech that began somber and turned combative.
First, he recounted surviving an assassination attempt five days earlier in Butler, Pennsylvania.
"You’ll never hear it from me again a second time because it’s too painful to tell," Trump told a hushed audience. "I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of Almighty God."
When Trump said, "I'm not supposed to be here tonight," the audience chanted, "Yes you are. Yes you are." Onstage, Trump kissed the firefighter’s uniform of Corey Comperatore, whom Trump’s would-be assassin killed.
After about 20 minutes, Trump’s speech shifted. He countered Democrats’ claims that he endangers democracy, praised the federal judge who dismissed the classified documents case against him and called the legal charges "partisan witch hunts."
Though he criticized the policies of his opponent, Democratic President Joe Biden, Trump said he’d avoid naming him.
Trump occasionally offered conciliatory notes, but more often repeated questionable assertions we’ve repeatedly fact-checked. Here are some.
>Immigration
Immigrants are "coming from prisons, they’re coming from jails, they're coming from mental institutions and insane asylums."
False.
When Trump said earlier this year that Biden is letting in "millions" of immigrants from jails and mental institutions we rated it Pants on Fire. Immigration officials arrested about 103,700 noncitizens with criminal convictions (whether in the U.S. or abroad) from fiscal years 2021 to 2024, federal data shows. That accounts for people stopped at and between ports of entry.
Not everyone was let in. The term "noncitizens" includes people who may have legal immigration status in the U.S., but are not U.S. citizens.
Tyler Bradley Dykes, of South Carolina, was an active-duty Marine when he grabbed a police riot shield from the hands of two police officers and used it to push his way through police lines during the attack by the mob of then-President Donald Trump’s supporters on Jan. 6, 2021.
Dykes, who pleaded guilty in April to assault charges, previously was convicted of a crime stemming from the 2017 white nationalist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Dykes was transferred to federal custody in 2023 after he served a six-month sentence in a state prison.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell sentenced Dykes, who’s 26, to four years and nine months of imprisonment, the Justice Department said.
Federal prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of five years and three months for Dykes.
“He directly contributed to some of the most extreme violence on the Capitol’s east front,” prosecutors wrote.
Dykes’ attorneys requested a two-year prison sentence. They said Dykes knows his actions on Jan. 6 were “illegal, indefensible and intolerable.”
“Tyler hates his involvement in the Capitol riot,” his lawyers wrote. “He takes complete responsibility for his actions. Tyler apologizes for those actions.”
Dykes, then 22, traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend the Republican Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally with two friends from his hometown of Bluffton, South Carolina. After parting ways with his friends, Dykes ripped snow fencing out of the ground and pulled aside bicycle rack barricades as he approached the Capitol.
Later, Dykes joined other rioters in breaking through a line of police officers who were defending stairs leading to the Capitol’s East Rotunda Doors.
https://apnews.com/article/marine-capitol-riot-ea3478197e15b21810aa97b3351663c6
Former President Trump took the stage with a bandaged ear only days after surviving an attempted assassination in Pennsylvania to accept the GOP presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention Thursday night. He left it after roughly 90 minutes of a mostly familiar stump speech.
Why it matters: While his speech — widely viewed as a test of his plea for unity — began on a personal tone, it soon returned to Trumpian talking points, misleading statements and lies.
Trump has received a week of relatively positive press while his Democratic opponent President Biden faces mounting calls from his party to exit the race.
The former president described the assassination attempt at the top of his speech, saying that it's the only time he'll talk about it, "because it's too painful to tell."
State of play: He focused primarily on foreign policy, the economy and immigration.
At on point, he described a "massive invasion at our southern border" and a planet "teetering on edge of World War III," a likely reference to the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza that have begun since his successor took office.
The big picture: The GOP tried to appear as a unified front this week, with many of Trump's onetime presidential rivals appearing as campaign surrogates. Democrats have been in disarray over the top of their ticket.
Trump's running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), spoke Wednesday night, leaning into his personal story as a Rust Belt native — a signal of the campaign's strategy ahead to win vital swing voters in key states.
Trump this year has been convicted of a felony, juggled multiple court cases with the campaign trail, and this week saw one of the federal cases against him dismissed.
Several supporters of former President Donald Trump wore bandages on their ears to the third night of the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Members of the RNC's Arizona delegation said they were wearing the bandages as a sign of solidarity with the former president after he survived an assassination attempt.
One supporter said she had bandaged her own ear to help Mr Trump "set a new fashion statement" and to let him know "how much we love him".
Mr Trump has appeared at the convention wearing a bandage after he was shot in the ear while he was speaking at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday.
The former president is due to deliver a speech at the convention on Thursday, when he is expected to be confirmed as the Republican Party's 2024 presidential nominee.
Longtime U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, who helped lead federal efforts to protect women from domestic violence and recognize Juneteenth as a national holiday, has died. She was 74.
Lillie Conley, her chief of staff, confirmed that Jackson Lee, who had pancreatic cancer, died in Houston Friday night with her family around her.
The Democrat had represented her Houston-based district and the nation’s fourth-largest city since 1995. She had previously had breast cancer and announced the pancreatic cancer diagnosis on June 2.
“The road ahead will not be easy, but I stand in faith that God will strengthen me,” Jackson Lee said in a statement then.
Bishop James Dixon, a longtime friend in Houston who visited Jackson Lee earlier this week, said he will remember her as a fighter.
“She was just a rare, rare jewel of a person who relentlessly gave everything she had to make sure others had what they needed. That was Sheila,” he said.
Jackson Lee had just been elected to the Houston district once represented by Barbara Jordan, the first Black woman elected to Congress from a Southern state since Reconstruction, when she was immediately placed on the high-profile House Judiciary Committee in 1995.
“They just saw me, I guess through my profile, through Barbara Jordan’s work,” Jackson Lee told the Houston Chronicle in 2022. “I thought it was an honor because they assumed I was going to be the person they needed.”
Jackson Lee quickly established herself as fierce advocate for women and minorities, and a leader for House Democrats on many social justice issues, from policing reform to reparations for descendants of enslaved people. She led the first rewrite of the Violence Against Women Act in nearly a decade, which included protections for Native American, transgender and immigrant women.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The leader of a conservative think tank on Thursday misrepresented partisan differences in political violence in the United States, wrongly suggesting that people associated with left-wing causes commit more violence than those on the right.
___
HERITAGE FOUNDATION PRESIDENT KEVIN ROBERTS: “Most political violence in the last 25 years has been initiated by the left.”
THE FACTS: Roberts’ remarks came in response to questions about comments earlier this month in which he said the country was in the midst of “the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”
He told reporters Thursday that he considers himself a historian of the American Revolution and that his comments about a second revolution were a reference to “ambitious policy plans” that Republicans have should former President Donald Trump win the 2024 election. Roberts’ organization has proposed a sweeping overhaul of the federal government known as Project 2025.
Roberts said his comments about political violence were meant to be seen in the historical context.
A deeper look at the available evidence, however, shows that right-wing groups have committed more acts of political violence in recent U.S. history.
Two years ago a team of researchers from four universities examined court records and other data relating to 3,500 extremists active in the U.S. between 1948 and 2022. The individuals were split into three groups — left wing, right wing and relating to Islamic extremism. While some in the database had committed violent acts, others had raised money for extremist groups, volunteered or spoken out in favor of them.
Right-wing extremists were just as likely to commit violent acts as those motivated by Islamic extremism, the researchers found. Left-wing extremists were a distant third.
Thomas regularly mocked his classmates for supporting trump
https://nypost.com/2024/07/17/us-news/thomas-matthew-crooks-mocked-classmate-for-supporting-trump-in-2016-he-did-not-like-our-politicians/
Would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks mocked classmate for supporting Trump in 2016: ‘He did not like our politicians’
Would-be Donald Trump assassin Thomas Crooks became “smug and arrogant” in class whenever students talked politics — and questioned why a classmate would support Trump, according to a former classmate.
“He just did not like politicians, especially with the choices that we had,” said Vincent Taormina, who went to high school with Crooks in 2016 when Trump, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were all in the presidential race.
“He did not like our politicians,” Taormina told Fox News Digital, recalling how Crooks once mocked him and insinuated he was “stupid” for supporting Trump
“I brought up the fact that I’m Hispanic and, you know, I’m for Trump. And he said, ‘Well, you’re Hispanic, so shouldn’t you hate Trump?'” Taormina said, recounting an English class discussion where Crooks came after him.
“No. He’s great. He was a great president. He [Crooks] called me stupid — or insinuated that I was stupid,” Taormina said.
similar condescending attitude would emerge from the otherwise reclusive Crooks whenever subjects came up he thought he knew well — especially politics and math.
“He would just talk, talk and act like he knew everything, especially politics-related, and he would say it in a tone that was like, ‘I’m better than you,’ in a type of way,” said Taormina.
And though Crooks often kept to himself, Taormina said he did have a friend group — but that they were suspected of threatening a school shooting
A teenage boy followed a 15-year-old girl for 45 minutes around a town centre before he stabbed her to death.
The boy has admitted killing Holly Newton (in Hexham, Northumberland), but denies he intended to harm her.
Jurors were told Holly was stabbed "many, many times" in an alleyway next to a pizza shop in January 2023.
The 17-year-old defendant, who was 16 at the time and cannot be identified, admitted manslaughter but denies murder.
Opening the trial, prosecutor David Brooke KC said the boy did "not dispute being responsible for stabbing Holly to death", but claimed his "mind went blank" during the attack.
Holly was stabbed in an alley at 5pm on 27 January 2023.
Her alleged murderer, who was known to her, had been "careful not to be seen" as he followed her for 45 minutes before the attack.
Passers-by and staff from the pizza shop heard Holly's screams and pulled the youth "forcibly" off her as he was "still stabbing her" with a kitchen knife he had brought from home.
Holly was taken to [hospital] but declared dead soon after, while the defendant was arrested at the scene.
She had 36 injuries, including 12 stab wounds and 19 caused by the slashing of a knife which broke during the attack.
The prosecutor said the assault lasted for at least a minute during which the "angry" boy stabbed Holly "many, many times".
His "intention was obvious", jurors were told.
The youth also denies wounding another teenage boy who was injured while trying to rescue Holly, the court heard, but has admitted illegal possession of a knife.
Mr Brooke told jurors the "violent death of a child" was "obviously shocking" and would "naturally arouse strong emotion".
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/17/politics/nancy-pelosi-biden-conversation/index.html
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi privately told President Joe Biden in a recent conversation that polling shows that the president cannot defeat Donald Trump and that Biden could destroy Democrats’ chances of winning the House in November if he continues seeking a second term, according to four sources briefed on the call.
The president responded by pushing back, telling Pelosi he has seen polls that indicate he can win, one source said. Another one of the sources described Biden as getting defensive about the polls. At one point, Pelosi asked Mike Donilon, Biden’s longtime adviser, to get on the line to talk over the data.
This phone call would mark the second known conversation between the California lawmaker and Biden since the president’s disastrous debate on June 27. While the exact date of the conversation was not clear, one source described it as being within the last week. Pelosi and Biden also spoke in early July.
None of the sources indicated whether Pelosi told Biden in this conversation that she believes the president should drop out of the 2024 race.
Pelosi has spent the weeks following the debate listening to concerns from her colleagues. Pelosi made waves when she said in an interview last week: “It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run. We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short.”
As Trump is about to accept his third consecutive GOP nomination for president, Biden is off the campaign trail with Covid.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna162494
July 18, 2024, 1:12 PM EDT
By Natasha Korecki, Carol E. Lee and Monica Alba
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s political world is collapsing. Top allies have either publicly or privately called on him to step aside. Major donations have fallen off a cliff. Grassroots fundraising is not keeping up with the demands of a campaign that needs to aggressively scale up three months before the presidential election. Members of his own re-election effort have already declared he has no path to victory.
Since a disastrous debate in Atlanta upended the trajectory of his campaign three weeks ago, Biden has again and again attempted to dig in, bucking efforts to dislodge him from power.
But there is now a palpable sense that the ground has shifted underneath him, according to five people with knowledge of the situation, even among some of the president’s most defiant internal backers who now believe the writing is on the wall.
“We’re close to the end,” a person close to Biden said.
That person, who previously doubted Biden would ever step aside, acknowledged that it’s still the president’s decision but joined in the array of Biden allies who say he is nearing a point of no return.
As the extraordinary events have unfolded, the president tested positive with Covid on Wednesday and retreated to his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, taking him off the campaign trail. Once again, it offered a sharp contrast with former President Donald Trump, who, even after his brush with death on Saturday, will appear at a raucous coronation at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Thursday night.
CrowdStrike -- an American cybersecurity technology firm that provides cloud workload protection, threat intelligence and cyberattack response services -- said the outage, which sparked chaos for many, was not a cyberattack. Instead, there was an issue with software and a fix had been deployed.
"CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed," said Crowdstrike CEO George Kurtz on social media Friday morning. "We refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website. We further recommend organizations ensure they’re communicating with CrowdStrike representatives through official channels. Our team is fully mobilized to ensure the security and stability of CrowdStrike customers."
American Airlines, United and Delta asked the FAA for global ground stop on all flights, according to an alert from the FAA on Friday morning and, as of 6:25 a.m. ET, at least 540 flights in the U.S. have been cancelled.
“Earlier this morning, a technical issue with a vendor impacted multiple carriers, including American. As of 5 a.m. ET, we have been able to safely re-establish our operation. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience," the statement read.
The FAA told air traffic controllers to tell airborne pilots that airlines are currently experiencing communication issues.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/american-airlines-issues-global-ground-stop-flights/story?id=112092372
https://www.yahoo.com/news/republicans-lay-groundwork-deny-2024-023008536.html
MILWAUKEE — Four years ago, Republicans sought to throw out the 2020 presidential election results and disenfranchise millions of Americans based on false allegations of widespread voter fraud, fueling a violent riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Now, despite Trump’s triumphant return to the top of the Republican Party, and polling that shows him positioned to retake the White House, Republicans are making election fraud a running theme at this week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
And there’s one group the GOP is stoking fears about more than any other ahead of the November election: illegal immigrants.
“We cannot allow the many millions of illegal aliens they allowed to cross our borders, harm our citizens, or disrupt our elections. We will not allow it,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who led the legal effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, said in a speech on Tuesday.
Other top Republicans were even more explicit about a supposed plot by Democrats to flood the country with illegal voters.
“Democrats cynically decided they wanted votes from illegals more than they wanted to protect our children,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said in his own remarks Tuesday night.
“[Democrats] want illegals to vote now that they opened the border,” added Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), who voted to overturn the 2020 election.
It’s illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections, and they rarely do. Johnson acknowledged earlier this year that his illegal voter conspiracy theory has “not been something that is easily provable.” But that’s not stopping Republicans from talking about it.
Trump, the GOP’s presidential nominee, who was impeached and criminally charged for trying to steal an election, accused Democrats of doing the same this time around in a recorded video message shown to RNC delegates.
Republicans Feel Invincible Right Now
Donald Trump has never enjoyed an RNC like this one.
The 2024 Republican National Convention is a happy place. That’s unusual. In recent cycles, whether the nominee has been John McCain, Mitt Romney, or Donald Trump, there have always been substantial pockets of discontent within the arena.
The sunny vibe is especially unusual because the now-official party nominee was shot in the ear on Saturday, coming literally within an inch of his life. What could explain the way delegates and other conventiongoers so quickly moved beyond that trauma and pivoted to joy?
The only way to put it is that Republicans are feeling invincible.
Trump was already leading the election before Joe Biden’s catastrophic debate performance kicked off an ongoing multiweek spectacle of the Democratic Party’s destroying itself in the broad light of day. Trump was then leading by more. Then he survived an assassination attempt. If possible, he is now likely leading by even more. Republicans are riding a euphoria they have never quite experienced during Trump’s time in politics. It’s unusual. They can’t help but speculate about divine intervention.
I'm calling on all anons to dig into footage from past Trump rallies. Let’s analyze and see if there’s a trend of overlooked security gaps that could potentially allow a lunatic to slip through. If you’ve got access to videos, expert analyses, or even insider info on rally security setups, this could be big.
Let’s compile our findings and see if there’s more to the story. Could this have been an overlooked flaw all along? Time to put on our detective hats and find out. Any contributions or insights are welcome.
TL;DR: Need help examining past Trump rally security for consistent lapses. Let’s uncover the truth together.
Milwaukee Police confirmed the report to The Associated Press and said the 21-year-old man was arrested and charges are pending against him.
U.S. Capitol Police spotted the man around 1 p.m. Monday “looking suspicious, wearing a ski mask and a large tactical backpack in the street,” police said in a statement. Capitol police stopped him and determined he had a concealed gun without a concealed-carry permit, police told AP.
The arrest comes after the attempted assassination on former President Trump on Saturday, which led to increased security at the RNC. Authorities said Thomas Crooks tried to shoot Trump with an AR-15. He killed one rallygoer in Butler, Pennsylvania, before a counter-sniper fatally shot him.
On Tuesday, police fatally shot a man blocks away from the convention perimeter, near 14th and Vliets streets in Milwaukee. Witnesses said two men were fighting in King Park and one pulled a knife.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/masked-man-with-ak-47-and-full-magazine-arrested-outside-rnc-reports/ar-BB1q766L
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/republican-national-convention-super-bowl-123024009.html
This isn't the first time the Grindr's had an uptick at the RNC. They've been collecting data on this for years. People have even commented on this for months leading up to the big event.
There are a number of out-and-proud Republicans, even if they go by George Santos, but even they know it’s better to hide when you’re in a room full of them — because it’s likely all the closeted ones are there with their wives.
That’s speculation, of course, but the 26-year-old DL Military guy who’s “Taken. Here for a week. Looking to see what I’m missing” with a “size 13 if it matters” is probably there with someone he doesn’t want to know he’s gay.
While this is humorous on the one hand, it’s actually a little revolting and infuriating on the other. This is the party of "Don't Say Gay," is notoriously against same-sex marriage, and they also have Project 2025 in the works that makes it seem like being queer will legally “cease to exist.”
Since there are so many gay Republicans, and perhaps a number of them within Congress or other governmental branches, the attacks continue to come from a perspective of internal shame because these people don’t feel comfortable in their own skin.
A Florida man was arrested Monday and charged with making threats against President Biden and other federal officials, according to the Justice Department.
Jason Alday, 39, allegedly made threats against Mr. Biden on June 25 from a mental health facility in Tallahassee, Florida, and in a series of social media posts in late June and July, after he was released from a different hospital. He was ordered detained pending trial, according to the Justice Department.
Court filings state that the Secret Service received a call from an intake coordinator at the mental health facility about Alday, who told an agent that during the intake process, he stated, "I don't like President Biden. I want to kill him, slit his throat."
The coordinator said Alday had been transported to another hospital in Tallahassee for medical attention that was not related to mental health concerns, according to an affidavit filed with the federal district court in North Florida.
A Secret Service agent, accompanied by deputies with the Gadsden County Sheriff's Office, interviewed Alday on July 1 at his parents house. He said he couldn't recall making statements about Mr. Biden when he was at the mental health facility, according to the court filing. He also denied making the threatening remark about the president but acknowledged that he did not like Mr. Biden, the affidavit from a Secret Service agent stated.
On July 11, the Secret Service found several posts by an unidentified user to the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, targeting Mr. Biden, the court filing states. One post from July 11 read, "I'll kill joe biden today!!" and another, shared on June 30, stated, "sources: Joe biden's health is declining rapidly. Not doing too good at all. Should I finish him off?"
The law bans school rules requiring teachers and other staff to disclose a student’s gender identity or sexual orientation to any other person without the child’s permission. Proponents of the legislation say it will help protect LGBTQ+ students who live in unwelcoming households. But opponents say it will hinder schools’ ability to be more transparent with parents.
The legislation comes amid a nationwide debate over local school districts and the rights of parents and LGBTQ+ students.
“This law helps keep children safe while protecting the critical role of parents,” Brandon Richards, a spokesperson for Newsom, said in a statement. “It protects the child-parent relationship by preventing politicians and school staff from inappropriately intervening in family matters and attempting to control if, when, and how families have deeply personal conversations.”
The new law comes after several school districts in California passed policies requiring that parents be notified if a child requests to change their gender identification. That led to pushback by Democratic state officials, who say students have a right to privacy.
https://apnews.com/article/gender-identity-schools-california-law-af387bef5c25c14f51d1cf05a7e422eb#
Newly minted Republican vice presidential nominee Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance delivered a speech to delegates heavy on his biography and economically populist views, zeroing in on the Midwest’s manufacturing heritage and future.
"President Trump represents America’s last best hope to restore what is lost and may never be found again," Vance said in the final speech on the Republican National Convention’s third night. "A country where a working-class boy born far from the halls of power can stand on this stage as the next vice president of the United States of America."
At 39, Vance would be one of the youngest vice presidents in U.S. history, and the first millennial in the office, should former President Donald Trump win the presidential election in November.
Vance, who was elected to the Senate in 2022, was born in Middletown, Ohio, and rose to fame in 2016 after publishing his bestselling memoir "Hillbilly Elegy." Vance wrote about growing up amid poverty, detailing the isolation, violence and drug addiction that often surrounds poor white communities in Appalachia and the Rust Belt.
Vance served in the U.S. Marine Corps and worked as a corporate lawyer and venture capitalist.
During the 2016 presidential election, Vance was a frequent and vocal critic who questioned whether Trump was "America’s Hitler" and called him "reprehensible" and an "idiot."
But during his Senate campaign, Vance mended ties with Trump. In recent months, he became a staunch Trump defender, as his name surfaced as a potential vice presidential pick.
Here, we fact-check five of Vance’s statements from his convention speech.
"There’s this chart that shows worker wages, and they stagnated for pretty much my entire life until President Donald J. Trump came along. Workers’ wages went through the roof."
The poll, conducted by Morning Consult of 2,045 registered voters on Monday, reveals that Trump is leading Joe Biden by just one percentage point with 46 percent, compared to the president's 45 percent. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points.
The findings also reveal that Trump's lead has narrowed slightly since the firm's previous survey, conducted between July 12 and 14, which put Trump two percentage points ahead with 44 percent to Biden's 42 percent.
In the week before the shooting, national polls had Trump as the favorite to win the White House, leading narrowly in the six key battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, with some of the results falling within the statistical margin of error.
Winning those states would likely allow Trump to comfortably claim victory in the Electoral College.
The latest poll, where Biden has narrowed the lead, could come as a surprise to the many analysts who predicted that Trump would see a surge in polls after surviving the assassination attempt. One analyst predicted it would be a unifying moment for the nation which would propel him to "total victory in November."
The now iconic image of the bloodied Republican candidate defiantly pumping his fist at the cheering crowd was circulated across the world, with international newspapers leading with "Trump Defiant," and "Trump wins election here."
Biden is hoping to close the gap while defending his place on the Democratic ticket while facing enormous political pressure for him to step down from some members of his own Democratic Party.
Following the shooting, the president has toned down his political attacks on Trump.
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-no-poll-boost-after-assassination-attempt-us-election-1925680
Booth at the Milwaukee convention promises attendees the chance a win to an AR-15 rifle
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/rnc-trump-assassination-attempt-gun-b2580875.html
Days after Donald Trump was shot with an AR-15-style weapon, at a campaign rally, attendees at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee can get their hands on one for free.
The assault weapon is part of a giveaway at a booth for the U.S. Concealed Carry Association, an advocacy organization that promotes gun ownership for safety purposes.
On their table, the group had a flyer promoting the AR-15 giveaway from Daniel Defense, an arms manufacturer whose firearms were used in the 2022 Robb Elementary School mass shooting and found in the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooter’s stockpile.
Those interested can enter the giveaway by following the QR code on the flyer to a browser that asks for an email and phone number, according to Rolling Stone.
Some have called it "a full on frontal assault on conservatism"
See how trump and Vance have radically revolutionized the Republican party.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/17/rnc-republican-party-transformation-maga-00168933
A new kind of Republican Party is forming at the RNC
The GOP is dramatically transforming. Just listen carefully to the RNC.
A new kind of Republican Party is revealing itself at its national convention.
All the markers of a MAGA jamboree are on display, from hulking Donald Trump iconography inside the convention hall to rhinestone Trump cowboy hats and red Trump-Vance placards.
But look closer and the party is changing — increasingly embracing economic populism at home and isolationism abroad, shifting its decadeslong position on abortion and not only leery of, but hostile to, certain business interests.
Trump’s newly announced running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, has said that the GOP is in a “late Republican period,” and the party needs to “get pretty wild, and pretty far out there.”
And that’s exactly what’s unfolding in Milwaukee. It wasn’t just Trump’s selection of Vance, the opponent of Ukraine aid who once said “I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another.” It was also the party’s adoption of a slimmed down abortion platform and the criticisms of corporations it heard on the RNC floor.
It’s the result of a confluence of economic, demographic and cultural changes — including a newly ascendant labor movement, which the GOP finds itself increasingly attracted to, at least nominally. Together, those forces have only accelerated the GOP’s flirtation with a renovation of the party.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13640823/microsoft-lays-dei-team-mass-business-email.html
Microsoft sparked internal revolt after it fired its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) team, leading the program's leader to slam the company's 'changing business needs.'
The tech giant's move was exposed in an email obtained by Business Insider, which appears to show the DEI internal team leader criticizing the fact diversity was 'no longer business critical.'
Microsoft joins a number of tech companies in walking back DEI commitments that were made in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, including Google, Meta and Zoom.
It is unclear how many employees were laid off, and Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment when contacted by DailyMail.com.
In a statement to Business Insider, Microsoft insisted that its 'D&I commitments remain unchanged.'
But according to the reported email leak, the former DEI team leader felt the company had quietly given up on the DEI initiatives it pushed during the BLM protests.
This included spending $150 million on DEI programs, and mandating training on racial allyship and privilege for all non-Black employees.
CEO Satya Nadella previously insisted such moves would not be a 'one-time event.'
However, the email reportedly scathed how in the time since, 'true systems-change work associated with DEI programs everywhere are no longer business critical or smart as they were in 2020.'
It comes amid further questions over the company's pledge in 2020 to double the number of Black leaders it employs at the top of the company by 2025.
Microsoft's progress on this promise appears to be unclear, and the company did not immediately respond to a request for an update.
“Regrettably, I was just on the phone with President Biden and he shared his deep disappointment at not being able to join us this afternoon. The president has been at many events, as we all know, and he just tested positive for Covid," said Janet Murguia, president of UnidosUS.
Biden had been expected to deliver remarks at the group's event in Las Vegas and had been about an hour and a half late before the announcement was made.
In a statement, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden tested positive earlier in the day "following his first event in Las Vegas."
"He is vaccinated and boosted and he is experiencing mild symptoms," Jean-Pierre said. "He will be returning to Delaware where he will self-isolate and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time. The White House will provide regular updates on the President’s status as he continues to carry out the full duties of the office while in isolation."
Biden has kept a full schedule in Nevada this week, following questions about his health and capabilities after a dismal debate performance in late June. He last tested positive for Covid in 2022.
News of his Covid test was first announced by a conference leader where the president was scheduled to speak Wednesday.
“Regrettably, I was just on the phone with President Biden and he shared his deep disappointment at not being able to join us this afternoon. The president has been at many events, as we all know, and he just tested positive for Covid," said Janet Murguia, president of UnidosUS, which bills itself as the largest Latino advocacy organization in U.S.
Biden was expected to deliver remarks at the group's event in Las Vegas.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/president-joe-biden-tests-positive-covid-19-rcna162435
The jury’s verdict was still being read Tuesday at a federal courthouse in New York City.
Over a nine-week trial, prosecutors said the New Jersey Democrat abused the power of his office to protect allies from criminal investigations and enrich associates, including his wife, through acts that included meeting with Egyptian intelligence officials and helping that country access millions of dollars in U.S. military aid.
Menendez did not testify, but insisted publicly he was only doing his job as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He said gold bars found in his New Jersey home by the FBI belonged to his wife.
The conviction comes four months before Election Day and potentially dooms any hope Menendez had of campaigning for reelection as an independent candidate.
https://time.com/6999212/sen-bob-menendez-convicted-trial-bribes-gold-cars-cash/
There’s no indication that Thomas Matthew Crooks, the would-be assassin who attempted to kill the former president on Saturday, was connected to the plot, the sources said.
The existence of the intelligence threat from a hostile foreign intelligence agency — and the enhanced security for Trump — raises new questions about the security lapses at the Saturday rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and how a 20-year-old man managed to access a nearby rooftop to fire shots that injured the former president.
A US national security official said the Secret Service and Trump campaign were made aware of the threat before Saturday’s rally.
“Secret Service learned of the increased threat from this threat stream,” the official told CNN. “NSC directly contacted USSS at a senior level to be absolutely sure they continued to track the latest reporting. USSS shared this information with the detail lead, and the Trump campaign was made aware of an evolving threat. In response to the increased threat, Secret Service surged resources and assets for the protection of former President Trump. All of this was in advance of Saturday.”
The Trump campaign would not disclose whether it was made aware of the Iran threat. “We do not comment on President Trump’s security detail. All questions should be directed to The United States Secret Service,” the campaign said in a statement.
Secret Service officials have warned the Trump campaign repeatedly against holding outdoor rallies, which pose greater risks than events to which the agency can better control access, people briefed on the matter said.
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/07/16/politics/iran-plot-assassinate-trump-secret-service/index.html
Thomas Matthew Crooks Had Donald Trump Signs in His Yard—Neighbor
Published Jul 16, 2024 at 5:38 AM EDT
Updated Jul 16, 2024 at 10:13 AM EDT
https://www.newsweek.com/thomas-matthew-crooks-donald-trump-sign-yard-neighbor-assassination-attempt-1925678
A neighbor of the 20-year-old who tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump said there have been pro-Trump signs on display in the yard of his family's home.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/police-fatal-shooting-rnc-convention-milwaukee-columbus-b2580929.html
A man has been shot and killed near the Republican National Convention by an officer pulled in from out of state to work security for the event.
According to local media, the individual – a 43-year-old Milwaukee resident identified by friends as Samuel Sharpe – had brandished two knives near police before being shot and killed near the Fiserv Forum on Tuesday.
Milwaukee law enforcement later confirmed that the incident had involved members of police from Columbus, Ohio. No officers had been injured, a statement from FOP Lodge 9 said. Columbus police confirmed the incident and said it did not appear to be connected to the convention. Columbus police referred questions to Milwaukee officials.
Milwaukee police later released a statement that stated the incident happened around 1:10 p.m. Officers observed a man armed with a knife in each hand engaged in a fight with another unarmed individual.
Despite the officers identifying themselves as police officers and making several commands to the man to drop the knife, he did not and instead charged at the other individual.
“At this time, several officers discharged their firearms subsequently striking the suspect,” the police statement said.
The man died following the incident, though no other injuries were reported. Two knives were recovered from the scene.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said Sharpe lived in one of the tent encampments, was known by the nickname “Jehovah” and took care of a dog, a pit bull named Isis, the newspaper reported.
Local radio host Dan O’Donnell later reported a woman identifying herself as the sister of the dead man told police at the barricade that he lived “on the street" and was "bipolar schizophrenic.”
Two senior U.S. officials familiar with the intelligence said the Biden administration has gathered information from various sources, including human sources, on threats from Tehran that are linked to physical acts of violence — acts that could kill Trump, they said, without providing further details.
Iran has for years considered a plan to get back at Trump for his killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in 2020. But the officials said the intelligence has ratcheted up in recent months and officials have become more confident in Tehran’s intentions. They also said there may be more attempts on Trump’s life in the coming weeks.
Both officials were granted anonymity to speak about sensitive intelligence.
CNN previously reported that the U.S. received intelligence about an Iranian plot to assassinate Trump before Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, tried to kill the former president at his rally in Pennsylvania Saturday. The two officials stressed to POLITICO that there was no evidence Saturday’s shooting had a connection to Iran.
The Office for the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment. The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“We have repeatedly and consistently briefed the public and Congress on the existence of these threats. We have repeatedly met at the highest levels of our government to develop and implement a comprehensive response to these threats,” said NSC spokesperson Adrienne Watson. “We have invested extraordinary resources in developing additional information about these threats, disrupting individuals involved in these threats … and directly warning Iran.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/16/iran-plot-assassinate-trump-00168830
URL: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cv2g4ywezv3o
https://archive.md/pGgA5
Donald J. Trump’s selection of Ohio Senator J.D. Vance to be his vice-presidential nominee pairs him with a kindred spirit on trade, taxes and a tough stance on China. But it is their shared affinity for a weak dollar that could have the most sweeping implications for the United States and the global economy.
“As your president, one would think that I would be thrilled with our very strong dollar,” Trump said in 2019, explaining that U.S. companies like Caterpillar and Boeing were struggling to compete. “I am not!”
It is not clear how Trump would go about weakening the dollar. His Treasury Department could try to sell dollars to buy foreign currency or try to persuade the Federal Reserve to just print more dollars.
“I know the strong dollar is sort of the sacred cow of the Washington consensus, but when I survey the American economy, and I see our mass consumption of mostly useless imports on the one hand, and our hollowed-out industrial base on the other hand, I wonder if the reserve currency status also has some downsides, and not just some upsides as well,” J.D. Vance said.
Mr. Powell responded by noting that the United States benefits from its reserve currency status, which makes it possible to buy goods all over the world with dollars. He also said there was not an obvious currency to replace it.
The 2024 Republican Party platform calls for keeping the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, but Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance could still try to weaken it if elected this year. Robert Lighthizer, Mr. Trump’s former trade adviser, who could be a candidate to be his next Treasury secretary, has been mulling ways to devalue the dollar if the former president wins, Politico reported this year.
Trump has called for imposing a 10 percent levy on all imports and a 60 percent duty on imports from China.
In two 2016 audios uncovered by CNN’s Andy Kaczynski, Vance appeared on a podcast to promote his book The Hillbilly Elegy and argued that Trump is a fraud who preyed on white voters’ fears to achieve victory.
“I don’t think he actually cares about folks,” said Vance on The Matt Jones Podcast in August 2016. “I think I’m going to vote third party because I can’t stomach Trump. I think that he’s noxious and is leading the white working class to a very dark place,” he told NPR that same month.
https://x.com/KFILE/status/1813212585010794840
Vance criticized Trump throughout his press tours at the time. “I’m definitely not gonna vote for Trump because I think that he’s projecting very complex problems onto simple villains,” Vance told CNN’s Jake Tapper before the 2016 election. “Trump makes people I care about afraid. Immigrants, Muslims, etc. Because of this I find him reprehensible. God wants better of us,” he wrote in October 2016.
Vance built his early political brand on being a “Never Trump” Republican, and the receipts show it. He called Trump a total fraud in public and asked if Trump may be “America’s Hitler” in private. Before the election, in a since-deleted tweet, Vance claimed he would be writing in Evan McMullin, a former CIA officer who ran as an independent. In 2018, he revealed that he did in fact vote for a third-party candidate in 2016.
Since winning his Senate seat in 2022 with Trump’s backing, Vance has changed his tune, deleted tweets, and retracted his negative statements about the former president.
https://newrepublic.com/post/183892/audio-jd-vance-hated-trump
That's right.
Weekend at Bernie's part III: The Democrat Nominee is losing to The Man Who Can't Be Killed in every swing state
Every.
Single.
Swing.
State.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4774563-donald-trump-joe-biden-2024-election-swing-states/
Trump leading Biden in all 7 major swing states
Former President Trump is leading President Biden across seven major swing states, according to recent polling.
The new survey from The Times/SAY24 found Biden trailing Trump in the swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The closest races, according to the polls, were in Michigan and Pennsylvania. You may remember the latter from a recent event where a Democrat donor later registered as a Republican and tried to murder trump. It was on TV and the Internet. Not sure if you heard, but there was a lot of discussion about it. He missed his shot and the images that merged are historic.
As mystery continues surrounding the possible motivations of the 20-year-old Pennsylvania man accused of trying to kill Donald Trump at a campaign rally, one former classmate of his has come forward to describe him as being “definitely conservative” while they were in school together.
“It makes me wonder why he would carry out an assassination attempt on the conservative candidate,” Max R Smith told the Philadelphia Inquirer of the shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks.
The FBI has not disclosed any details on a possible motive in connection with Saturday’s shooting, which killed one spectator, injured two others and wounded one of the former US president’s ears – before Crooks was shot to death himself by US Secret Service agents.
Agents were seen Monday canvassing Crooks’ neighborhood, knocking on people’s doors and asking them if they knew anything about him. They had previously seized several of his electronic devices in an effort to piece together some of his communications before the rally.
Smith’s recollection potentially adds contours to the emerging, complicated portrait of Crooks, who donated $15 as a 17-year-old to a progressive political action committee in early 2021 – and then registered to vote as a Republican months later at age 18, according to federal finance records and Pennsylvania voter data.
https://apnews.com/article/trump-classified-documents-smith-c66d5ffb7ba86c1b991f95e89bdeba0c
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal judge presiding over the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump in Florida dismissed the prosecution on Monday, siding with defense lawyers who said the special counsel who filed the charges was illegally appointed by the Justice Department.
The decision by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, which can be appealed and may be overruled by a higher court, brings at least for now a stunning and abrupt conclusion to a criminal case that at the time it was filed was widely regarded as the most perilous of all the legal threats the Republican former president confronted.
Though the case had long been stalled, and the prospect of a trial before the November election already was an unrealistic scenario, the judge’s order is a mammoth legal victory for Trump as he recovers from a weekend assassination attempt and prepares to accept the Republican nomination in Milwaukee this week.
In one of four criminal cases against Trump, he had faced dozens of felony counts accusing him of illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and obstructing FBI efforts to get them back. He had pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.
Defense lawyers filed multiple challenges to the case, including a legally technical one that asserted that special counsel Jack Smith had been illegally appointed under the Constitution’s Appointments Clause because he was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, rather than being confirmed by Congress, and that his office was improperly funded by the Justice Department.
https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-response-donald-trump-shooting-assassination-attempt-blue-anon-1925328
As Biden Appeals for Unity, He Is Called Out for His 'Blue Anon' Problem
Joe Biden has faced scrutiny from a number of critics following his call for unity after the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, with some arguing he is responsible for the current political climate and has garnered his own "Maga-like cult."
The U.S. President addressed the nation from the Oval Office on Sunday, condemning the violence which took place on Saturday, when Trump's ear was shot during an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Biden on Sunday said, "There's no place in America for this kind of violence—for any violence ever. Period, no exceptions. We can't allow this violence to be normalized
"You know the political rhetoric in this country has gotten very heated—it's time to cool it down. We all have a responsibility to do that.
"Yes, we have deeply felt strong disagreements. The stakes in this election are enormously high. Disagreement is inevitable in American democracy, it's part of human nature. But politics must never be a literal battlefield, and God forbid, a killing field."
Biden critics quickly responded to the message.
"You turned it into a literal battlefield when you tried to throw Trump in prison for 700 years, called him Hitler and a dictator, and nearly got him murdered (on Saturday night)," free-speech activist Philip Anderson wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. "Unless you are going to apologize- SHUT THE F**K UP."
In a separate post, Anderson added, "You and your ret***ed supporters have caused all the extremism and fury."
Former radio and TV host Kurt Schemers also commented on Biden "You lead with the political persecution of Trump. Meaningless words won't change that."
Conservative figures regularly criticize Biden, but the backlash has not been exclusive to them.
Four minutes after the first report of a shooting at a rally for Donald J. Trump on Saturday, an anonymous account on X posted, “Joe Biden’s antifa shot President Trump.”
Within half an hour, another account on X with links to the QAnon conspiracy theory claimed without proof that the attack against Mr. Trump had most likely been ordered by the Central Intelligence Agency. Shortly after that, the far-right activist Laura Loomer posted on X about some recent remarks that President Biden made about Mr. Trump and then wrote, “They tried to kill Trump.” She did not provide evidence.
An hour later, with official details of the assassination attempt still scant, the narrative that President Biden and his allies had engineered the attack on Mr. Trump was being amplified by Republican lawmakers, Russian sympathizers and even a Brazilian political scion. By the time 24 hours had elapsed, posts about the unverified claim had been viewed and shared millions of times.
The idea that President Biden was behind the shooting of Mr. Trump was perhaps the most dominant conspiracy theory to emerge after the attack in Butler, Pa., on Saturday. The unproven conjecture surfaced almost instantly, hardened into a narrative and then catapulted between platforms large and small, even as information about the incident was limited. It was a striking example of the speed, scale and stickiness of rumors on social media, which often calcify into accepted truth far more efficiently than efforts to debunk or pleas for restraint.
https://www.reuters.com/legal/jury-reaches-verdict-us-senator-bob-menendezs-corruption-trial-2024-07-16/
He says on his Truth Social Network that, “After lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of the Great State of Ohio.”
https://apnews.com/article/trump-vice-president-vance-rubio-burgum-rnc-6cc438a8370a21b2631f5a53b06b71d0
https://www.dailydot.com/debug/jonathan-willis-4chan-secret-service-sniper-fired/
After the attempt on former President Donald Trump’s life at a rally in Butler, Pa., on Saturday, July 13, multiple people shared a post online claiming to be from a sniper working at the rally.
The viral post, which originally appeared on the online message board 4chan but spread to other social media platforms, says, “My name is Jonathan Willis, I’m the officer in the famous photo of the two snipers on the roof at Trump’s rally. I came here to inform the public that I had the assassin in my sights for at least 3 minutes, but the head of the secret service refused to give the order to take out the perp. 100% the top brass prevented me from killing the assassin before he took the shots at president Trump.”
Several VERIFY readers, including Alicia and Rob, asked us to look into the post’s legitimacy.
THE QUESTION
Is a viral post claiming to be from a sniper at Trump’s rally legitimate?
THE SOURCES
Secret Service spokesperson
Pennsylvania State Police spokesperson
Butler Police Department
RevEye, a reverse image search tool
Original photo taken by the Associated Press
The silence from Trump contrasts with an attempted call from President Biden, which the Comperatore family declined. Helen Comperatore, speaking from her home in Sarver, PA, told the New York Post in an exclusive interview, "I didn't talk to Biden. I didn't want to talk to him," adding, "My husband was a devout Republican and he would not have wanted me to talk to him."
Newsweek contacted Trump's campaign via email on Monday for comment.
The shooting Saturday unfolded on the grounds of the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, where the 50-year-old Comperatore, former chief of the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company, attended the Trump rally. Approximately six minutes into Trump's speech, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on the crowd in the attempted presidential assassination.
In the ensuing chaos, Comperatore's final act was one of selfless heroism. "He just said, 'get down!' That was the last thing he said," Helen told the Post, her voice thick with emotion. "He's my hero."
The shooting left Trump with a minor ear injury and two others critically wounded. Secret Service personnel "neutralized" and killed the gunman on a nearby rooftop.
PA Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, praised Comperatore's sacrifice in a Sunday news conference. "We lost a fellow Pennsylvanian last night," Shapiro said. "Corey died a hero. He dove on his family to protect them."
The tragedy has sparked nationwide discussions on campaign security, gun control and political rhetoric. Biden spoke out following the assassination attempt from the Oval Office on Sunday, urging Americans to "lower the temperature" in an increasingly heated political climate.
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-joe-biden-corey-helen-comperatore-wife-called-rally-1925577
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iran-plot-against-trump-detected/
Almost all mainstream news outlets appear to be reporting these exact same details simultaneously.
By Nicole Sganga, Allison Elyse Gualtieri, Pat Milton
Updated on: July 14, 2024 / 5:05 PM EDT / CBS News
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/trump-rally-gunman-identified/
Who was the shooter?
In a statement, the FBI said:
"The FBI has identified Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the subject involved in the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump on July 13, in Butler, Pennsylvania. This remains an active and ongoing investigation, and anyone with information that may assist with the investigation is encouraged to submit photos or videos online at FBI.gov/butler or call 1-800-CALL-FBI."
Federal investigators said the gunman was not carrying identification, so they analyzed his DNA to provide a biometric confirmation of his identity.
Crooks was from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, a Pittsburgh suburb about an hour south of Butler. The town in Allegheny County is home to about 30,000 people and has one high school with about 1,300 students.
Bethel Park School District confirmed to CBS Pittsburgh station KDKA that Crooks was a 2022 graduate of Bethel Park High School. School officials pledged to work with law enforcement investigating the shooting, and offered condolences to those affected by the attack.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/14/cool-heads-needed-as-political-fringe-dwellers-spread-disinformation-after-trump-shooting
Cool heads needed as political fringe dwellers spread disinformation after Trump shooting
Partisans on the left and the right are weaponizing the attack and spreading lies faster than journalists can offer facts to counter them
Disinformation researcher Amanda Rogers has described the polarized, unhinged, conspiracy-driven noise in social media responses to the shooting of Donald Trump as “a self-sustaining spiral of shit”.
Rogers, a fellow at the progressive thinktank Century Foundation, has seen this before. But the scale is new and troubling, she said. Conversation on social media – and the mainstream media – is focused on the motivations of the shooter and the impact on the election, she said. Bad actors want to turn a moment like this into a broader call for violence. And they will spread lies to get there, she said.
“The fact that this is the perfect storm environment for dis-info from every single point on the political spectrum, is something that worries me immensely,” Rogers said. “Because it’s an accelerationist’s wet dream … But we need to have voices in the media that are speaking to the fact that this is a breaking situation. People need to calm down about speculation.”
Accelerationists are those on the political fringes – right and left – who want a civil war to burn the country to ash so they can start anew from the rubble. Notably, the term “Civil War” began trending in the wake of the Trump shooting.
https://philasun.com/local/house-lgbtq-equality-caucus-calls-for-action-after-murder-of-transgender-teen/
HARRISBURG, Pa.–– After the murder of a 14-year-old transgender individual in Mercer County, members of the PA House LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus released the following statement:
“We mourn the death of Pauly Likens and refuse to stand idly by while LGBTQ+ Pennsylvanians are targeted because of who they are. It’s unacceptable that current hate crime laws in our commonwealth are not applied to crimes motivated by a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
“As incidents of violent hate crimes continue to rise across the nation, we urge our colleagues in the state Senate to pass H.B. 1027 and send it to the governor’s desk. It’s far past time to update Pennsylvania’s hate crime statute so that charges may reflect the especially heinous nature of hate-based violence.”
Sponsored by state Reps. Dan Frankel and Napoleon Nelson, H.B. 1027 would amend PA’s Ethnic Intimidation Statute to ensure protections for victims targeted because of their race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, and disability, including autism. The bill would also provide victims with a civil cause of action against offenders.
The state House passed the legislation on a bipartisan vote in October of 2023, but it has yet to be considered by the state Senate’s Judiciary Committee.
“Not only has a light gone out with the loss of Pauly Likens, but the LGBTQ+ communities across our commonwealth are shaken and fearful,” Frankel (D-Allegheny) said. “The federal government and dozens of other states have acknowledged that these groups are targets for hate crimes, and they’ve provided tools to law enforcement accordingly. Who are we as a commonwealth if we refuse to protect vulnerable people?”
But when shot he's on the Eastern side of the building where the car park is. Why the reporting of the West side shooter? Every MSM diagram shows this.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cljy6yz1j6gt
Law enforcement authorities have identified the man who made an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
The FBI said the shooter, who is dead, was identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. A motive was not clear.
The gunman was immediately “neutralized” by the Secret Service, chief of communications Anthony Guglielmi said.
Bethel Park is a predominantly white, relatively well-to-do city in the southern reaches of greater Pittsburgh. The site of the rally, Butler, is about an hour’s drive north of Pittsburgh.
Pennsylvania voter records listed a Thomas Matthew Crooks with the same address and birth date as a registered Republican, though it was not clear from the records when that was put in place.
At a news conference Saturday night, law enforcement said the investigation was close to making a positive identification of the shooter, who did not have identification on him, state police Lt. Col. George Bivens said.
"The shooter has been tentatively identified," he said. "It’s a matter of doing biometric confirmations."
Investigators have also prioritized finding a motive and determining whether the shooter had accomplices, authorities said at the news conference.
Details around the incident were not immediately forthcoming. A spokesperson for the Secret Service said in a statement that Trump was safe, and it would release more information when it became available.
“This was clearly an assassination attempt on President Trump,” said U.S. Sen. Rick Scott. “There is ZERO tolerance for violence. I hope this monster is already caught and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” Pictures of a defiant Trump, holding a fist high, quickly began to circulate on social media.
https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2024/07/13/assassination-attempt-florida-reacts-incident-donald-trump-rally/
Anyone see the resemblance now? They tried to mock him, then they tried to silence him. They tried to jail him, and now they tried to kill him.
Suspected shooter is killed by Secret Service, and Donald Trump says he felt bullet rip through his ear; the Pennsylvania rally shooting is being investigated as assassination attempt.
LIVE UPDATES
Suspected Gunman Killed at Trump Rally Shooting, Ex-President Wounded in Ear
Suspected shooter is killed by Secret Service, and Donald Trump says he felt bullet rip through his ear; the Pennsylvania rally shooting is being investigated as assassination attempt
Last Updated:
July 13, 2024 at 10:27 PM EDT
Former President Donald Trump said on social media he was "shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear' when gunfire erupted at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., Saturday. The Secret Service shot and killed a suspected gunman.
Federal authorities are investigating the shooting as an assassination attempt.
One spectator was killed and two others were critically injured after "multiple shots" were fired, the Secret Service said on social media.
Details on the suspected shooter weren't immediately available.
The gunman used a rifle and fired from an elevated position outside of the rally, the Secret Service added.
President Biden declared there is “no place in America for this sort of violence. It’s sick.”
Messages of concern and support for Trump poured in immediately from top Democrats and top Republicans as well as former presidents—all decrying political violence.
Some Republicans blamed the shooting on Biden's rhetoric; but Trump said motive is not clear.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/he-had-a-rifle-trump-rally-attendee-says-he-warned-police-gunman-was-crawling-on-roof/ar-BB1pVW2L
“Probably five to seven minutes of Trump speaking… we noticed a guy crawling – bear crawling – up the roof of the building beside us, fifty feet away from us,” the man said.
The man continued:
We’re standing there, we’re pointing at the guy crawling up the roof. He had a rifle. We could clearly see him with a rifle. Absolutely. umm, we’re pointing at him. The police are down there, running around on the ground and we’re like, “Hey, man. There’s a guy on the roof with a rifle.” And the police were like, “Huh, what?” They didn’t know what was going on.
The man said he repeatedly warned officers that he believed Trump was in danger but his warnings went unheard.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A New Mexico judge dismissed the involuntary manslaughter case against Alec Baldwin over the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in a sudden move Friday.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case based on the misconduct of police and prosecutors over the withholding of evidence from the defense. She said the case cannot be filed again.
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer of the film “Rust,” was pointing a gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal on the set outside Santa Fe in October 2021 when the gun went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the gun fired.
He and other producers still face civil lawsuits from Hutchins’ parents and sister, which white collar defense attorney Mark Sedlander told The Associated Press are more common for workplace accidents like the fatal shooting.
“By civil law standards, it is common for someone like Mr. Baldwin to be held responsible for what happened, but it is relatively unusual in the criminal context,” Sedlander said in an interview before the case was dismissed.
Elon Musk has reportedly donated to America PAC, a super political action committee working to elect former President Trump.
Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the donations, said that the SpaceX and Tesla CEO donated an undisclosed amount of money to the pro-Trump PAC.
The PAC is next required to disclose its list of donors on July 17, the outlet noted.
Musk has not publicly endorsed a candidate for the 2024 race, but has increasingly weighed in on politics on X.
In the months leading up to the election, Musk scorched President Biden on X for his immigration policies and unambiguously sided with conservatives.
In September, he visited the U.S.-Mexico border at Eagle Pass, Texas, declaring the "situation is beyond insane and growing fast."
He has also criticized the Biden administration following the brutal killing of Augusta University nursing student Laken Riley in Athens, Georgia by an illegal migrant.
"Dems won’t deport, because every illegal is a highly likely vote at some point," Musk wrote.
The poll, published on Friday, asked registered voters across the country — “including leaners” — whom they would vote for if the presidential election was held today. Fifty percent of those polled said they would vote for Biden, 48 percent said they would vote for Trump. The margin of error in the poll was 3.3 percentage points, making the numbers basically split down the middle. Marist noted that their poll one month ago, conducted before the presidential debate, had each candidate at 49 percent.
If a third party candidate was introduced, both candidates polled slightly lower — Trump at 43 percent, Biden at 42 percent, independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at 8 percent, Cornel West at 3 percent, Jill Stein at 2 percent, and Chase Oliver at less than one percent. The race remained a statistical tie.
Both Trump and Biden had trouble with unfavorable numbers, with Trump’s numbers a bit higher — among voters who had unfavorable views of both candidates, Trump was seen as more unfavorable by four points (47 percent) over Biden (43 percent). That number is an improvement for Trump over last month’s pre-debate poll, which had Trump more unfavorable by 7 points.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/biden-pulls-ahead-of-trump-in-new-major-post-debate-poll-despite-mental-fitness-concerns/ar-BB1pT0TI
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/07/12/congress/hispanic-caucus-to-meet-with-biden-00167820
House Dem tells Biden directly: Time for someone else to lead
It happened during a virtual meeting between the president and the political arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and the host ended it shortly after
A House Democrat who has called for Joe Biden to step aside confronted the president directly on a virtual meeting Friday, telling him it was time for someone else to lead, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The host of the meeting — between the Congressional Hispanic Caucus' political arm and Biden — ended it shortly after Rep. Mike Levin's (D-Calif.) comment. Biden responded to Levin, according to a member on the call, by reiterating that he is running. The president held meetings with various factions of House Democrats anxious about his future on the ticket on Friday and has more planned over the weekend.
Shortly after the meeting wrapped up, Levin, who hails from a purple district, put out a statement calling on Biden to end his reelection campaign.
Several others in that group, however, are among Biden’s more vocal proponents on the Hill. Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas) and Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.) appeared to be "pre-selected" to ask questions, according to a person familiar with the call.
“He sounded very lucid, sharp, engaged,” said another pro-Biden Democrat who attended the meeting, who declined to speak about members’ private comments.
But the discussion still left Biden-skeptical Hispanic Democrats feeling unsatisfied with his campaign. Biden showed up an hour late to the Hispanic Caucus meeting.
Brian Steven Smith received 99-year sentences each for the deaths of Kathleen Henry, 30, and Veronica Abouchuk, who was 52 when her family reported her missing in February 2019, seven months after they last saw her.
“Both were treated about as horribly as a person can be treated,” Alaska Superior Court Judge Kevin Saxby said when imposing the sentence.
“It’s the stuff of nightmares,” Saxby said.
The remaining 28 years were for other charges, like sexual assault and tampering with evidence. Alaska does not have the death penalty.
Smith, a native of South Africa who became a naturalized U.S. citizen shortly before torturing and killing Henry at an Anchorage hotel in September 2019, showed no emotion during sentencing.
He also displayed no emotion when a jury deliberated for less than two hours and found him guilty after a three-week trial in February.
During the trial, the victims were not identified by name, only initials. Saxby said during sentencing that their names would be used in order to restore their personhood.
Smith was arrested in 2019 when a sex worker stole his cellphone from his truck and found the gruesome footage of Henry’s torture and murder. The images were eventually copied onto a memory card, and she turned it over to police.
Smith eventually confessed to killing Henry and Abouchuk, whose body had been found earlier but was misidentified.
Both Alaska Native women were from small villages in western Alaska and experienced homelessness when living in Anchorage.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/man-gets-226-year-prison-sentences-killing-2-111897984
He also stormed off after the debate in a fit of abrupt anger, a common tell-tale sign of dementia
https://www.newsweek.com/joe-bidens-chances-becoming-president-after-press-conference-1924428
Joe Biden's Chances of Becoming President Crash After Press Conference
odds of Joe Biden winning the 2024 presidential election in November collapsed from 4/1 (20 percent) on Thursday morning to 8/1 (11.1 percent) on Friday, following a series of gaffes from the president during media events, according to U.K.-based bookmaker Betfair.
Biden mistakenly called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky "President Putin" and described Vice President Kamala Harris as "Vice President Trump" at two separate events on Thursday during the NATO summit in Washington, D.C.
Concern about the age and mental agility of 81-year-old Biden surged following his first presidential debate against Donald Trump on June 27, in which the Democratic incumbent at several points appeared to lose his train of thought mid-sentence.
In response, several prominent Democrats have called for Biden to step down, including members of Congress and actor and Democratic fundraiser George Clooney, who wrote a piece for The New York Times titled "I Love Joe Biden. But We Need a New Nominee."
The William Hill odds on Biden not being the Democrats' 2024 presidential nominee also surged from 1/2 (66.7 percent) on Thursday to 1/3 (75 percent) on Friday morning.
Corresponding to Biden's decline in chances, the odds of Vice President Kamala Harris winning the presidency in November shortened from 15/2 (11.8 percent) on Thursday to 7/2 (22.8 percent) Friday morning.
William Hill spokesperson Lee Phelps said: "Biden's news conference at the NATO summit was another test of his credentials following last month's disastrous performance.
reddit and 4chan riddled with bot farms of anti trump trolls
Former President Donald Trump has tried to distance himself in recent days from the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, despite telling the group in 2022 that they were crafting the “groundwork and detailed plans for exactly what our movement will.”
NBC News’s Vaughn Hillyard shared a clip from Trump’s keynote address at Heritage’s annual leadership conference, in which the former president said, “Our country is going to hell. The critical job of institutions such as Heritage is to lay the groundwork.”
“And Heritage does such an incredible job at that. This is a great group, and they’re going to lay the groundwork and detailed plans for exactly what our movement will do and what your movement will do when the American people give us a colossal mandate to save America. And that’s coming, that’s coming,” Trump declared.
The Heritage Foundation and its Project 2025 have been front and center in the 2024 presidential campaign as Democrats sound the alarm over the plan.
Project 2025 is a sweeping 920-page plan that would reshape the U.S. government and institute many of the hard right’s long-sought-after desires, including more limits on abortion, abolishing the Department of Education, ending workplace protections for LGBTQ people, limiting the U.S. role in NATO, and a dramatic build-up of nuclear weapons.
NBC News reported on Project 2025’s designs for reshaping the federal workforce:
"The proposal’s most dramatic shift would be to reclassify thousands of federal jobs, allowing Trump to fire career employees and replace them with his picks. This would be the most dramatic shift in the federal workforce since the 1880s, when reformers ended the partisan “spoils system,” which led to incompetence, graft and corruption within federal agencies."
Days after former President Donald Trump sought to distance himself from Project 2025, former Trump adviser Stephen Miller is following suit, aiming to distance himself and his organization from the controversial plan for Trump's potential next term.
As Democrats intensify their efforts to spotlight the connections between Trump and Project 2025 ahead of next week's Republican convention, Miller's organization, America First Legal, reached out to Project 2025, requesting removal from the website's list of advisory board members, sources familiar with the situation told ABC News.
As recently as Thursday, America First Legal was among the numerous conservative groups listed on the advisory board webpage for Project 2025, a 922-page plan to overhaul the federal government led by the Heritage Foundation.
In a statement to ABC News, Miller said, "I have zero involvement with Project 2025. Zero. None. I made an advice video a long while back for students. I have no involvement with the project whatsoever."
Project 2025 representatives did not respond to request for comment from ABC News.
Despite Trump's public attempts to distance himself from Project 2025, reports continue to highlight their intertwined relationship. Miller, who recently assisted Trump with his debate preparation and served as a surrogate in the spin room following the CNN presidential debate earlier this month, was also featured in Project 2025's educational "presidential administration academy" video.
Story by Sarah K. Burris • 19h
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/other/far-right-project-2025-chief-makes-ominous-promise-to-hackers/ar-BB1pPisT
Mike Howell, the executive director of the Heritage Foundation and the creator of the rightwing Project 2025, is threatening to ensure that hackers who broke into the group's blog site get raped in prison for releasing information about the organizations' funders and contractors.
Hacktivist group SiegedSec apparently engaged in a conversation with Howell over Telegram, which it published online. In the discussion, Howell asked the hackers what they wanted, The New Republic reported.
“Mike Howell reached out to us, at first, to ask questions to understand our motives and why we breached his organization,” SiegedSec said in a July 11 post, Cyber Daily reported. “Then, he proceeded to throw insults, threats, and claimed our existence was against nature.”
“We tried answering things in a way to hopefully help him understand. But as his insults grew, so did our impatience. So we are releasing all of our chat logs with Mike Howell.”
In it, the hackers claimed there action was to let Americans know who is behind the Heritage Foundation, which is drawing up Project 2025, a guide for a second administration crafted by allies of Donald Trump.
It includes plans for a mass takeover of the federal government, the firing of civil servants and their replacement with political loyalists.
Trump appeared to fall to the ground as he was giving a speech. He was quickly surrounded by armed security and stayed down for around a minute.
He then rose to his feet and put his fist in the air, before being escorted off stage and into a vehicle, and then driven away from the scene.
Video appeared to show blood on his ear as he was taken away. The former president appeared to be clutching the side of his head as he fell to the ground.
Republican senator for Ohio, J.D Vance, said in a post on the X social media platform: "Everyone join me in praying for our President Trump and everyone at that rally. I hope everyone is ok."
https://news.sky.com/story/shots-fired-at-donald-trump-rally-as-former-president-rushed-off-stage-13177651
“I have no idea who is behind it,” the former president recently claimed on social media.
Many people Trump knows quite well are behind it.
Six of his former Cabinet secretaries helped write or collaborated on the 900-page playbook for a second Trump term. Four individuals Trump nominated as ambassadors were also involved, along with several enforcers of his controversial immigration crackdown. And about 20 pages are credited to his first deputy chief of staff.
In fact, at least 140 people who worked in the Trump administration had a hand in Project 2025, a CNN review found, including more than half of the people listed as authors, editors and contributors to “Mandate for Leadership,” the project’s extensive manifesto for overhauling the executive branch.
Dozens more who staffed Trump’s government hold positions with conservative groups advising Project 2025, including his former chief of staff Mark Meadows and longtime adviser Stephen Miller. These groups also include several lawyers deeply involved in Trump’s attempts to remain in power, such as his impeachment attorney Jay Sekulow and two of the legal architects of his failed bid to overturn the 2020 presidential election, Cleta Mitchell and John Eastman.
To quantify the scope of the involvement from Trump’s orbit, CNN reviewed online biographies, LinkedIn profiles and news clippings for more than 1,000 people listed on published directories for the 110 organizations on Project 2025’s advisory board, as well as the 200-plus names credited with working on “Mandate for Leadership.”
Overall, CNN found nearly 240 people with ties to both Project 2025 and to Trump, covering nearly every aspect of his time in politics and the White House – from day-to-day foot soldiers in Washington to the highest levels of his government. The number is likely higher because many individuals’ online résumés were not available.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13627731/Gavin-Plumbs-plans-kidnap-Holly-Willoughby-security-guard.html
A depraved 35-stone security guard who plotted to kidnap, murder and rape Holly Willoughby has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 15 years.
Gavin Plumb had plotted to ambush the former This Morning presenter at her London home in the dead of night, using chloroform to knock Ms Willoughby and her husband Dan Baldwin.
In his twisted plan, he would have taken the 43-year-old captive, holding her in an isolated 'dungeon' which he described as 'death row', repeatedly raping her before slitting her throat and murdering her.
Handing Plumb concurrent life sentences with a minimum term of 16 years for each of his three offences – minus 280 days spent on remand – the judge said they had been 'particularly brutal and degrading'.
While Plumb's 'gross obesity' meant the plot was 'unlikely to succeed', Mr Edward Justice Murray added: 'It's fortunate you didn't' succeed in finding one or more others who were physically more able.'
The defendant, who stood as the sentence was read out, initially showed no reaction but after hearing the words 'take him down', he turned to the female security guard and muttered: 'Fifteen years to kill myself.'
Turmoil has engulfed Washoe County, Nevada, the home of Reno and the second-most populous area of Nevada outside the Las Vegas metropolitan area, after Republicans on the county commission refused to certify an election.
According to USA Today, the three Republican members of the commission, which make up a majority of the five seats, refused to certify the results of the primary, claiming that the recounts for candidates Mark Lawson in Washoe County Commission District 4 and Paul White in Washoe County School Board Trustee District G, both Republicans who narrowly lost, require "further investigation," in the words of Commissioner Clara Andriola.
At issue in the decision to not certify the result was a printing error in a small precinct during early voting in May, and issues with tabulation machines that caused a delay in counting — but per acting Washoe County registrar Cari-Ann Burgess, the recount did not turn up any discrepancies.
Ironically, Andriola was herself the candidate Lawson was running against. She had drawn the anger of local Republicans by consistently voting to certify elections the rest of the party disputed, but in this case she finally moved to reject the results herself.
Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar and state Attorney General Aaron Ford, both Democrats, have stated that the commissioners have violated state law, and will be asking the state Supreme Court to order them to certify the election. "It is unacceptable that any public officer would undermine the confidence of their voters," said Aguilar.
The disputed recounts were both funded by Robert Beadles, a local businessman and GOP donor who has pushed election fraud conspiracy theories.
Man says he's suing a hotel after getting an interview. Here's why
Michigan resident Dwight Jackson filed an employment discrimination lawsuit against the Shinola Hotel in Detroit, Michigan, alleging the hotel only Claremore Centrilift offered him a job interview after he changed the name on his résumé, according to a copy of the lawsuit obtained by CNN
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/11/house-democrats-biden-00167711
Dems had a plan to win the House. Then Biden melted down.
To win back the House, Democrats were already going to have to outrun the president. Now it’s even harder.
House Democrats anguished over President Joe Biden’s spiral are consumed by one question: Can anything save their chances of flipping the House?
So far only three endangered Democrats have publicly called for Biden to leave the presidential race. But behind the scenes, the dozens of battleground members and candidates whose races will determine the House majority are in a “hair-on-fire” level of panic, in the words of one House aide.
Battleground members have placed urgent calls to leadership and Biden’s team, commissioned new polls back home and even mulled sending a letter to Biden himself, according to more than a dozen lawmakers, aides and operatives who work on competitive congressional races.
And one group of battleground Democrats even told House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries this week that Vice President Kamala Harris would be a better than Biden, according to a person familiar with the exchange.
They always knew they would need to outperform Biden in their districts. Many fear the political gravity may be too much to overcome — and Republicans will win full control of the federal government
“Is he going to take the whole ship down?” one House Democrat close to leadership said, speaking to describe the party’s turbulence.
So far 14 members — and counting — have called on Biden to bow out of the race, mostly from safe blue seats. Others have said he has no chance to beat former President Donald Trump and started to position themselves as a check on his power. The rest are watching and waiting nervously, some with pre-drafted statements in case of another Biden flub.
That's according to Google Trends graphics making the rounds on social media that show rising interest when it comes to the GOP's plan to overhaul the federal government compared with the pop mega-superstar and America's most popular sport.
A graphic shared Tuesday evening by the pro-democracy group Resolute Square showed Project 2025 overtaking Swift in early July.
"Keep it up, America. The more people that learn about Trump's Authoritarian plan for America, the more Americans will show up at the polls to stop him.Real Patriots hate fascists! (& love Taylor too)," the group wrote on X.
And on Wednesday afternoon, MSNBC's "The Beat with Ari Melber" shared a graphic compiled by the Biden-Harris Campaign showing searches for Project 2025 overtook the NFL and Swift around the same time.
Since the debate, Biden has pushed for Americans to look closer at the coalition's plan, writing on X this week: "Google Project 2025." His campaign even created a website highlighting what it calls (in all caps) "Trump allies' 920 page plan to give Trump more power over your daily life, gut Democratic checks and balances, and consolidate power in the Oval Office."
The plan — cobbled together by numerous Trump allies, though he denied knowledge of its agenda — would dramatically expand presidential power and replace up to 50,000 government workers with Trump loyalists.
https://www.rawstory.com/project-2025-2668724780/
The naked samaritans—Pete Sferra of San Jose and Lloyd Fishback of San Francisco—were letting it all hang out on a July 2 stroll through the neighborhood when they spotted a “crazy kind of pirate guy” threatening a man with a blowtorch.
A video from the scene shows an onlooker snag the blowtorch just before the attacker starts to punch the tourist. Petros Fanourgiakis, owner of the nearby Aegean Delights, said the attacker threatened to burn the tourist’s face.
“My buddy Lloyd is a quiet, respectful guy,” Sferra said. “But he didn’t waste any time and nailed the guy with a right hook.”
Fishback followed up the punch with an underhand smack to the face, after which the attacker walked away.
Shirts 0; skins 1.
Sferra, who emphasized that Fishback is the hero, said he and at least two other people called the police as the incident unfolded. Fishback declined to comment for this story as the nudist values his privacy.
A spokesperson for the San Francisco Police Department identified the suspect as 38-year-old Zero Triball. He’s suspected of assault with a deadly weapon and remains in county jail, according to official records.
Nearby business owners said Triball has a history of causing problems in the Castro.
“He’s a known problem in the neighborhood,” said Terry Asten Bennett, president of the Castro Merchants Association. “He’s erratic and violent.”
Bennett said Triball entered her store Cliffs Variety several years ago and began shouting at employees and throwing merchandise at them. She added that the nearby Castro Country Club obtained a restraining order against Triball in March 2021 but opted not to renew it because it was too costly.
https://sfstandard.com/2024/07/11/nudists-save-tourist-attack-castro/
Some donors who attended the June 15 event at L.A.’s Peacock Theater said this week that they noticed Biden seemed slow. He seemed frail. As he greeted donors lined up for photos, he trailed off or spoke too quietly to be heard.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/12/george-clooney-joe-biden-fundraiser/
Based on a true story, the film tells of the courageous men and women who risk their lives every working day, pitting their fishing boats and rescue vessels against the capricious forces of nature. Their worst fears are realized at sea on Halloween of 1991, when they are confronted by three raging weather fronts which unexpectedly collide to produce the greatest, fiercest storm in modern history -- "The Perfect Storm."
Joe Biden in danger of repeating Ruth Bader Ginsburg's error
Remember, it was Dick Cheney who said, “In our nation’s 246-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump.”
But others were wondered whether we are seeing a new version of the lasting consequences of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s decision to put off her retirement from the Supreme Court while Barack Obama was president and Democrats controlled the U.S. Senate.
President Joe Biden made a succinct warning on Wednesday about Project 2025, the right-wing blueprint for a second Donald Trump presidency pushed by dozens of conservative groups and members of Trump’s last administration.
“Project 2025 will destroy America. Look it up,” Biden said in a video posted to social media, linking to a page on his campaign website outlining the agenda.
Project 2025 will destroy America.
00
Look it up. We made it easy for you:
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 10, 2024
Project 2025 is a 900-page collection of policy proposals put together by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. It outlines a plan to consolidate power in the executive branch, reclassifying thousands of public service roles as political appointees and paving the way for a government steeped in Christian nationalist values.
Items on the agenda include establishing a nationwide abortion ban, expanding gas and oil drilling, cutting back on food stamp access, ending free school meals, eliminating the Department of Education, cutting Medicaid funding, ramping up deportations and denying disaster relief funds to states that don’t abide by federal immigration laws.
Trump has distanced himself from Project 2025, saying he knows “nothing” about it or “who is behind it,” despite the project involving several former members of his administration, including Paul Dans, Roger Severino, Ken Cuccinelli, Christopher Miller and Russ Vought. All of them are possible contenders for jobs in Trump’s second administration if he wins in November.
“I disagree with some of the things they’re saying and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal,” Trump wrote on Truth Social last week in regard to Project 2025. “Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them.”
So far, it doesn’t appear that users have figured out how to easily create nonconsensual AI-generated images of celebrities using Cici AI, as they often do when using these apps. I have seen a series of pornographic images of two different celebrities that users claim were made with Cici AI, but was unable to reproduce those images in my testing. But the news shows how users are able to easily bypass guardrails in generative AI tools designed to prevent certain types of content, even when they are produced by the biggest technology companies in the world.
In January, Forbes first reported that ByteDance had quietly launched the app, called Cici AI, “in the past three months,” as well as two other generative AI apps, all of which are at least partially powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT, accessed through a Microsoft Azure license. Cici AI, which is developed by a ByteDance subsidiary named Spring (SG) Pte. Ltd, is an “AI assistant” which functions like many other chatbots and can answer questions and generate images based on written prompts.
Earlier this month, I started to see AI-generated pornographic images in the Telegram and 4chan communities that had previously spread the AI-generated nonconsensual sexual images of Taylor Swift that went viral on Twitter in January, and which were generated with Microsoft’s Designer tool.
The Cici AI-generated images are far more graphic than the images users were able to generate with Microsoft’s Designer before Microsoft closed the loophole that allowed users to generate those images, but so far I have not seen it generate the likeness of a real person.
https://archive.vn/B1sr0