Mexican cartels adjusted to restrictions imposed by the global pandemic last year to smuggle huge amounts of narcotics into the U.S. and remain the greatest criminal drug threat to the country, expanding the market as methamphetamine deaths skyrocket. The government classifies them as Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCO) and in 2020 they flooded the nation with illicit drugs though a staggering 28,000 pounds of methamphetamine and millions of counterfeit pills containing fentanyl were seized by law enforcement agents. Bigger loads reached communities around the nation as deaths and seizures involving meth rise sharply and Mexican TCO’s increase the drug’s availability, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) National Drug Threat Assessment (NDTA).
The annual publication outlines the threats posed to the U.S. by domestic and international drug trafficking and the abuse of illicit drugs, which is at an all-time high. The document also addresses money laundering of drug proceeds and the role of domestic groups, such as violent street gangs, that traffic drugs. “While the COVID-19 pandemic plagues this nation, so, too, do transnational criminal organizations and violent street gangs, adjusting to pandemic restrictions to flood our communities with dangerous drugs,” said DEA acting Administrator D. Christopher Evans in a statement announcing the report’s release. Evans was the agency’s chief of operations before taking over and last year was appointed by then Attorney General William Barr to a presidential commission charged with exploring issues affecting law enforcement. The DEA chief added that this year’s NDTA “shows the harsh reality of the drug threats facing communities across the United States.”
The U.S. saw a record number of drug overdose deaths last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control, which put the figure at more than 81,000. The agency says that synthetic opioids, primarily illicitly manufactured fentanyl, appear to be the primary driver of the increases in overdose deaths. The DEA discloses that Mexican TCOs have established clandestine laboratories in Mexico for the synthesis of fentanyl, and Mexican authorities have encountered a rise in illegal fentanyl pill press and tableting operations. Mexican TCOs are also responsible for the production and trafficking across the Southwest Border (SWB) of the overwhelming majority of heroin available in the United States. Additionally, Mexican TCOs control most of the U.S. drug market and have established varied transportation routes, possess advanced communications capabilities, and hold strong affiliations with criminal groups and gangs in the U.S., the NDTA reveals.
The DEA names nine Mexican TCOs as having the greatest drug trafficking impact on the United States. Among them are the infamous Sinaloa and Juárez cartels, Los Zetas, La Familia Michoacána, Los Rojos and Guerreros Unidos. The TCOs maintain drug distribution cells in cities across the U.S. that report to leaders in Mexico and dominate the nation’s drug market. “The criminal activities of these organizations operating in the United States extend well beyond drug trafficking and have a profoundly negative impact on the safety and security of U.S. citizens,” the NDTA report states. “Their involvement in alien smuggling, firearms trafficking, and public corruption, coupled with the high levels of violence that result from these criminal endeavors, poses serious homeland security threats and public safety concerns.” Though they were temporarily challenged by disruptions associated with COVID-19, the Mexican criminal enterprises found new methods and used existing techniques to continue operating during the pandemic.
In a Homeland Threat Assessment issued just a few months ago, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) divulges that Mexican cartels pose the greatest threat to the U.S. because of their ability to control territory and co-opt parts of government, particularly at a state and local level. “They represent an acute and devastating threat to public health and safety in the Homeland and a significant threat to U.S. national security interests,” the DHS writes in the document.
The post Mexican Cartels Overcome Pandemic Hurdles to Remain Greatest Criminal Drug Threat to U.S. appeared first on Judicial Watch.
Skip The Scoop | Seek Understanding
‘COWBOY LOGIC’: Sid Miller Tells Tucker Child ‘Gender Modification Has Got To Stop’ In Texas
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller appeared on the Friday edition of Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight” to discuss the current efforts of Republican legislators to stall H.B. 1399, a bill that would ban the use of chemical castration, genital mutilation, and other gender transition-related procedures in Texas.
“Not a lot of Republican voters are in favor of [child castration], not a lot of Democratic voters, not a lot of sane people are for mutilating children, but some Republican are holding up on the ban on it, why?” Tucker Carlson asked.
“I can’t believe this, in Texas, really? We’re gonna let our children be mutilated?” Miller said. “Tucker, we don’t let our minors smoke cigarettes, we don’t let ’em drink alcohol, we don’t let ’em engage in sexual activity, you can’t even get a driver’s license if you’re sixteen. But we will let em be mutilated, mastectomies, castration, gene hormone therapy – this gender modification has got to stop. It’s just cowboy logic.”
Miller added, “I wish our governor, Greg Abbott, would use some of his political powers and political capital to get this [bill] moving, we’d get it passed, we’ve only got six days. Six days, if this bill doesn’t pass, it’s dead for two years, before the legislature can come back. And I’m fed up with it, it’s embarrassing for our state, some of these children have this done to them as young as two years old, can you believe that? It’s disgusting.”
“This gender modification has got to stop. It’s just cowboy logic.” pic.twitter.com/nR8y2QrE0M
— National File (@NationalFile) May 8, 2021
“He’s just silent on it, we need him to weigh in,” Miller said of Abbott. “I’m a statewide elected official, I’m the Ag Commissioner, but I’m weighing in. I think it’s that important.”
Miller recently appeared in an ad that fingered Texas Rep. Dustin Burrows for refusing to place the bill on the legislature’s calendar. “One man standing in the way, that’s your Rep. Dustin Burrows of Lubbock,” said Miller in the ad, which began airing on Texas radio stations on April 28. “Tell Dustin that sex change operations on minors are just flat wrong”.
The same activists who recruited Miller for the ad later released a second ad specifically naming Abbott as the person responsible for stalling the bill, with former U.S. House Candidate Chris Ekstrom telling National File “Abbott’s woke corporate cronies have decreed that we can’t be Texas anymore, and no one’s taken more money from them than Greg Abbott, no one in the country,” said Ekstrom. “Not even Joe Biden.”
French Police Find 78% of Unaccompanied Migrant “Children” are Actually Adults
In October 2015 1,200 migrants with beards entered Stockholm, Sweden in a single day claiming to be “refugee children.”
The migrants were carrying signs begging locals for assistance for child refugees. (Exponerat).
In Austria officials in 2016 officials found that HALF of refugees claiming to be children were adults.
In Sweden in 2017 officials found that 83% of refugee “children” were actually adults.
The dentist behind this studied was fired after releasing his results.
In 2019 a German study found that at least 40% of migrants claiming to be children were actually adults. . .
Democratic Rep. Cuellar: Biden Playing ‘Shell Game’ With Border (Migrant Children)
A Democratic congressman is suggesting that the Biden administration is misleading people about the border crisis. He accuses them of playing a “shell game” with migrant children.
Oklahoma Governor Signs Bill Banning Critical Race Theory in Public Schools
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a bill on May 7 banning the teaching of critical race theory in the state’s public and charter schools.
Critical race theory is a quasi-Marxist ideology that holds that racism is ingrained in the United States. Among other concepts, it labels people with white skin, including children, as oppressors who hold an inherent advantage over other races and should feel guilt due to their “privilege.”
“Now more than ever we need policies that bring us together, not rip us apart,” Stitt, a Republican, said in a video posted on Twitter. “I firmly believe that not one cent of taxpayer money should be used to define and divide young Oklahomans about their race or sex.”
The bill does not mention critical race theory by name and instead bans the teaching of some of the racist and sexist concepts promoted by the ideology, including that “one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex” or that “an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.”
The bill also prohibits teaching that “an individual should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment solely or partly because of his or her race or sex” or that “members of one race or sex cannot and should not attempt to treat others without respect to race or sex.”
“Nothing in this bill prevents or discourages those conversations,” he added. “We can and should teach this history without labeling a young child as an oppressor, or requiring he or she feel guilt or shame based on their race or sex,” Stitt said.
Teachers Union Gave Nearly $20 Million to Dems Before Influencing CDC School Reopening Guidance
The teachers union in the middle of a scandal for influencing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s official school reopening guidance gave nearly $20 million to Democrats in the 2020 election cycle, filings show.
Federal election filings reveal that the American Federation of Teachers and its local affiliates spent $19,903,532 on political donations during the 2020 cycle, with nearly all of the funds going to Democrats and liberal groups.
Last year’s AFT donations include $5,251,400 for the Democrats Senate Majority PAC and $4,600,000 for the Democratic House Majority PAC, according to data compiled by The Center for Responsive Politics’ Open Secrets database.
Besides PACs that supported Congressional Democrats, the AFT network also gave to groups like “For Our Future,” a liberal organization that received more than $1.5 million and heralded Biden’s inauguration on Twitter.
“There is so much to celebrate today,” the group wrote on inauguration day. “While we know there is ‘much to repair, much to restore, much to heal, much to build, and much to gain.’ And we’re ready, #PresidentBiden & #KamalaHarrisVP!”
AFT affiliates gave to Democratic federal Congressional candidates over Republicans more than 99% of the time in the 2020 cycle, filings show.
The AFT has come under fire recently for its role in shaping CDC guidance around schools reopening. The New York Post reported last weekend on emails between top White House, CDC, and AFT officials that show the AFT crafting language and overall working closely with the CDC. The communication intensified ahead of the CDC’s planned Feb. 12 announcement to recommend whether schools should reopen.
In that February announcement, the CDC ultimately sided with the teachers union and delayed issuing guidance that schools should resume fully in-person classes.
After the emails emerged, Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent a letter Wednesday to CDC Director Rochelle Walensky alleging that political influence from the teachers unions and White House influenced the federal agency’s official guidance. The Republicans argue the agency put “politics over science and Biden-Harris campaign donors over children.“ . . .
‘Sick Is the New Normal’ for Today’s Kids, Pediatrician Says
Dr. Michelle Perro is a renowned, California-based pediatrician of some 40 years standing. She began her career in acute care, where she went on to run an emergency department and then to work with sexual assault and abuse victims, including children.
But Perro’s professional life changed dramatically in 2006. A parent of a patient introduced her to the impact to a child’s health caused by environmental toxicants and genetically modified foods which ignited her deep passion for making change. Michelle Perro hasn’t looked back since.
Perro’s book, “What’s Making Our Children Sick?,” co-authored with Vincanne Adams Ph.D. in 2018, was prompted by her horror of the change in the landscape of children’s health. It offers a “bird’s eye view” of the effects of genetically modified organisms and associated pesticides on her patient’s health and what then goes wrong.
Perros is is also a co-founder and executive director of GMO Science, a science-based website focusing on the relationships between genetic modification, environmental toxicants and health. You can also find her column, “Pediatric Pearls,” in the integrative journal, The Townsend Letter.
Perro’s newest project is linked to the launch of a new website expected in July 2021. The project will include a weekly zoom meeting aimed at empowering parents to take back the health of their children and community. Her intent is to reach more parents who need her support and vast expertise wherever they may be in the world. The new initiative will be a membership program with barriers to access removed for the financially challenged.
Perro says:
“If I could use any meme for how children are today, I would say that sick is the new normal. And sick has become so commonplace that diseases that are indeed dis-eases have become normalized, such as chronic asthma, allergies, gut issues, neurologic issues — ADHD to autism spectrum disorders. And there are many others, obesity, metabolic disturbances and every other disorder is becoming normalized because they are so commonplace.”
Science today is very good at looking at individual factors that may be contributing to children’s health issues, but they don’t look at the combined miasma of chemicals and radiation to which kids are now exposed. Every disorder mentioned has increased in recent decades and many are now at epidemic proportions. Have you noticed the difference between the kids of the ‘60s and ‘70s and those of today? They just don’t look the same anymore on the outside — and that’s before you start looking at what might be happening within their bodies.
One of the few good things one might be able to say about the pandemic is that flawed science has been widely on display. Once people become more aware of this, it’s not inconceivable that the current, almost ubiquitous, blind worship of science, regardless of its quality, the extent to which data have been massaged or its biases, might become a thing of the past.
Genetic engineering, gain of function and the V
Perro says:
“I have been concerned about genetic engineering from many perspectives. In terms of microbes, in terms of gain of function … We’ve been experimenting with microbes and making them more harmful for decades … We’ve done some pretty good damage … Trying to make organisms more lethal for warfare.
“I don’t mind sharing that I’m of the mindset that it’s a genetically engineered organism. It doesn’t act like a typical virus. It acts very uniquely.
“By the definition of what a vaccine is — these jabs are not vaccines. These are genetically produced compounds made with messenger RNA that then tells your DNA what to transcribe … Some of these medical interventions have been created using adenoviruses. Adenoviruses are common infections in kids … That they don’t react with our own DNA is misguided.” . . .
Spotlighting a History of Slavery in N.Y.C.
“We’ve all been given this education around, ‘Slavery happened in the South, and the North were the good guys,’ when in reality it was happening here,” said Maria Robles, one of the people behind the initiative. . .
But months earlier, Mx. Waithe had stumbled upon records from the nation’s first census in 1790. It listed well-known New York families. To the right of their names was a category: “slaves,” with the number of Black people each family enslaved, from 14 for the Boerums to 87 for the Lefferts. . .
What other connections does New York have to slavery?
Slavery dates to the city’s very beginnings. And for enslaved people in the South who escaped to New York, a main stop on the Underground Railroad, permanent freedom was not guaranteed.
In the 17th century, Peter Stuyvesant, the namesake of sites like Stuyvesant High School and Stuyvesant Town, enslaved 15 to 30 people. The websites for the school and apartment complex do not mention that history — but the Slavers of New York stickers offer the additional information. . .
5 shot Thursday in Chicago
A 12-year-old boy was critically hurt in a shooting Thursday in the 3500 block of of South Rhodes Avenue.
Five people were wounded in shootings Thursday across Chicago, including a 12-year-old boy who was critically hurt in Douglas on the South Side. . .
Young adults are the biggest source of Maryland COVID cases. Officials say it’s critical that more of them get vaccinated.
They had Zoom calls all winter, moved outdoors when it got warmer and now, occasionally, go to public places so long as there is outside seating and there aren’t big crowds.
But Monica Duro, a 24-year-old Odenton woman, and her friends know other young adults no longer take so many COVID-19 precautions. Lifting restrictions on bars and restaurants likely sent a message about “normalcy,” she said.
“We may need a moment for a reality check,” Duro said. “We are still in a pandemic and we need everyone to be vaccinated first.”
Duro got her second COVID-19 shot Tuesday at the M&T Bank Stadium mass vaccination site, which has been, in addition to regular appointments, hosting “university days” with doses set aside for students and employees.
That’s part of the state’s “No Arm Left Behind” campaign, and public health officials say such efforts are crucial to reaching President Joe Biden’s goal of getting 70% of the nation at least partially vaccinated by July 4. But more immediately, the move is needed to stem infections among those age 18-49 — especially those 20-29, who make up the biggest share of infections in Maryland. . .
The Morning Briefing: Gretchen Whitmer Tries To Reclaim ‘Worst Governor In America’ Crown
The worst of the COVID prison states have been kinda/sorta reopening lately, and while it’s encouraging, it’s also sad that the petty tyrants who have caused so much misery are still getting away with being awful people. For the moment, anyway.
In California, Gavin Newsom will probably pay the price, but not quickly enough. Andrew Cuomo isn’t being held accountable for his stunningly awful handling of the pandemic, but because he’s a serial groper.
For several months, the third member of the Tyrant Triumvirate, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, has been hiding behind the noise surrounding the other two. She’s still been horrible, but she hasn’t been sexually assaulting anyone.
As far as we know, anyway.
The Emerging Movement for Police and Prison Abolition
Mariame Kaba, a New York City-based activist and organizer, is at the center of an effort to “build up another world.”
The murder of George Floyd last spring provoked an unprecedented outpouring of protests, and a rare national reckoning with both racism and police violence. Public officials across the country pledged police reform. On April 20th, Derek Chauvin, the officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, was found guilty of murder. It is rare for police to be prosecuted, let alone punished. I remember my incredulous reaction, in 1992, when my mother called to tell me that the four police officers who beat Rodney King, in Los Angeles, were found not guilty. I remember, in the summer of 2013, being at a Chicago restaurant, having dinner with my wife, and feeling the numbing shock of seeing in real time, on television, George Zimmerman acquitted for the murder of Trayvon Martin. We left the restaurant to join a protest downtown, crossing the street to catch the train. When I walked through the turnstile, a Black woman wearing the uniform of the Chicago Transit Authority looked at me with tears in her eyes, and mouthed, “They let him get away with it.” For most ordinary African-Americans who have watched helplessly, for years, as police act with violent impunity in their communities, the conviction of Chauvin feels like justice long delayed. For Floyd’s family, the verdict came as a relief. Philonise Floyd said that the conviction “makes us happier knowing that his life, it mattered, and he didn’t die in vain.” . . .
Atlanta Mayor Won’t Seek Re-Election
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms speaks in Washington in 2019. (Andrew Harnik/AP Photo)
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Democrat, announced on Thursday that she will not be running for a second term as mayor.
Bottoms made the announcement in a lengthy statement and an accompanying video after sharing her decision with friends and close associates.
“As Derek and I have given thoughtful prayer and consideration to the season now before us, it is with deep emotions that I hold my head high, and choose not to seek another term as Mayor,” Bottoms wrote in her letter (pdf), referring to her husband Derek.
“While I am not yet certain of what the future holds, I trust that my next season will continue to be one full of passion and purpose, guided by the belief that within each of us is the power and responsibility to make a positive difference in the lives of others.”
Walmart, CVS and Other Retailers Enter Mental Health Market
Finding a therapist can be a tough and time-consuming process involving multiple phone calls, waiting lists and insurance hurdles.
But what if you were able to walk into your corner drugstore for a bottle of shampoo and also had the option of scheduling a walk-in session for mental health treatment?
That’s the future that CVS, the largest retail pharmacy in the United States, is envisioning. Since January the company has added licensed clinical social workers trained in cognitive behavioral therapy to 13 locations in the Houston, Philadelphia and Tampa metro areas. The providers will offer mental health assessments, referrals and counseling either in person or via telehealth, a CVS spokeswoman said, and this spring the company plans to expand to 34 locations in those same regions.
Fascinating pictures show life in America’s ‘Cowboy Paradise’
Life in America’s ‘Cowboy Paradise’: Fascinating pictures show rodeos, barbecues and hoedowns in remote Nevada ranching town in the 1970s.
- Photos show what life was like living in the cowboy community of Paradise Valley in 1970s America
- Ranchers are pictured huddled around trestle tables, preparing meat for an annual charity event
- In another, a group of children attended a bible class in a church as the pastor read passages of scripture
A young man holds on to the back of a bull with one hand raised in the air in Paradise Valley, Nevada in these images from the 1970s. . .
May 7, 2021 | Nightly News Rebroadcast | Video: 50 Minutes 03 Seconds
Texas Moves Toward Permit-Free Gun Carrying; First Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Released in US. President Joe Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen comment on April’s lower-than-expected job reports, a Democratic congressman is accusing the White House of misleading people, and Texans will soon be able to carry handguns without a permit.
Bannon’s War Room | Morning Edition Hour 1 | Recorded May 7, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 32 Seconds
Episode 929 – MAGA Power Move … (w/ Boris Epshteyn, Dr. Peter Navarro).
Navarro says expect “trouble ahead,” especially if Biden gets his $5 trillion blank check for “BS crazy progressive Marxist stuff.” Guests are: Boris Epshteyn, Dr. Peter Navarro.
Still No Evidence of Armed Insurrection on Jan. 6
Commentary:
It almost seems like the narrative was created in advance.
As the nation’s capital descended into chaos on the afternoon of Jan. 6—including angry protests both inside and outside the Capitol building to object to Congress’s final certification of the 2020 election results—Democratic lawmakers were already spinning. “This is a violent insurrection,” Rep. Ted Deutsch (D-Fla.) wrote on Twitter at 3:40 p.m. as the mayhem escalated. “An attempted coup by Trump supporters at his encouragement.”
“This is how we make America great?” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), former chair of the Democratic National Committee, wrote at 3:09 p.m. ”Violence, storming the Capitol, attempting to block your duly elected successor by encouraging armed insurrection?” Lawmakers of both political parties echoed those sentiments throughout the day.
Less than 24 hours later, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) cemented the emerging storyline about the events of Jan. 6. “Yesterday, the President of the United States incited an armed insurrection against America, the gleeful desecration of the U.S. Capitol, which is the temple of our American democracy, and the violence targeting Congress are horrors that will forever stay in our nation’s history, instigated by the President of the United States,” Pelosi raged during a Jan. 7 press conference. “Justice will be done to those who carried out these acts, which were acts of sedition and acts of cowardice.”
The “armed insurrection” mantra was cited as key evidence in the Democrats’ second impeachment trial against former President Donald Trump.
But was it true? In February, I examined federal indictments filed against nearly 200 people charged in the Justice Department’s Capitol investigation, which top officials promised would be “unprecedented” in the agency’s history. At the time, only 14 people faced weapons violations. Items such as a helmet, riot shield, and pepper spray were described by government prosecutors as “dangerous or deadly weapons.”
Only two protestors, however, were found to be in possession of a firearm—and neither was inside the building on Jan. 6. They were detained later that night and charged for violating Washington, D.C.’s strict gun control laws. . .
Bannon’s War Room | Morning Edition Hour 2 | Recorded May 7, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 27 Seconds
Episode 930 – The Club for Globalists…Exposing Club for Growth and Bill Barr’s Role in the Big Steal. “Bill Barr would not play ball with team Trump,” Navarro said. “Between the cowardly acts of Bill Barr, the treasonous acts of Bill Barr and the fascist acts of the Biden Justice Department.” Guests are: Dr. Peter Navarro, Sonny Borrelli, Marylyn Todd, Melissa Huray.
Bannon’s War Room | Evening Edition | Recorded May 7, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 27 Seconds
Episode 931 – Invade Everywhere, Invite Everyone RINOs. Plus, Judd explains why the border patrol union endorsed Elise Stefanik. Judd said the number one thing Americans can do to support the border patrol is prayer. Guests are: Matt Gaetz, Raynard Jackson, Brandon Judd, Boris Epshteyn.
BREAKING: Maricopa County Did not Have ‘Admin’ Access to the 2020 Election – This Means They Ceded Ownership of Election to Their Outside System Provider
It would likely be impossible to run an election without these. The Maricopa County Election team claims they do not have ‘Admin’ access to their voting machines. If this is the case, then the County did not own the election process they ceded it to their external vendor.
A system administrator has the following duties:
System administrators are critical to the reliable and successful operation of an organization and its network operations center and data center. A sysadmin must have expertise with the system’s underlying platform (i.e., Windows, Linux) as well as be familiar with multiple areas including networking, backup, data restoration, IT security, database operations, middleware basics, load balancing, and more. Sysadmin tasks are not limited to server management, maintenance, and repair, but also any functions that support a smoothly running production environment with minimal (or no) complaints from customers and end users.
System administrators are individuals who have access to the systems at their highest levels. These individuals are able to perform all sorts of duties. They are able to perform most all the functions and changes in a system. They have complete and total control and can even delete or alter system logs.
The fact that the County does not have system administrators who have administrative access to the Dominion voting machines is a big concern. By allowing Dominion to have the administration access only, the County has basically turned over the system to the Dominion voting machine system people. There is no IT control here because that’s been ceded to Dominion.
By the way, in general, most frauds that include IT-related processes have at least one IT person involved in the fraud.
See the video below with OAN and Steve Bannon:
This shows that the election was not run by the County, it was in essence subcontracted to Dominion which is likely not provided for in the law. The election function should be run by County election employees, not some subcontractor.
The post BREAKING: Maricopa County Did not Have ‘Admin’ Access to the 2020 Election – This Means They Ceded Ownership of Election to Their Outside System Provider appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
SpaceX Starship Rocket Prototype Achieves First Safe Landing
SpaceX conducts a test launch of its SN15 starship prototype from the company’s starship facility in Boca Chica, Texas, U.S. May 5, 2021. (Gene Blevins/Reuters)
SpaceX achieved the first successful touchdown of its prototype Starship rocket during the latest test flight of the next-generation launch vehicle in south Texas on Wednesday, after four previous landing attempts ended in explosions.
The feat marked a key milestone for the private rocket company of billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk in its development of a reusable heavy-lift launch vehicle to eventually carry astronauts and large cargo payloads to the moon and Mars.
The Starship SN15 blasted off from the SpaceX launch site in Boca Chica, Texas, along the Gulf Coast and reached its planned maximum altitude of 6 miles, then hovered momentarily before flying nose-down under aerodynamic control back toward Earth.
Maneuvering itself back into vertical position under rocket thrust as it approached the ground, the 16-story, three-engine vehicle descended to a gentle touchdown on its landing gear.
GOP Rep. Jordan says ‘votes are there’ to remove Cheney from GOP leadership pos
Ohio GOP Rep. Jim Jordan says House Republicans have enough votes to oust Rep. Liz Cheney from Republican leadership.
“For sure, the votes are there, and I think it will happen most likely next Wednesday,” Jordan said on Fox News on Wednesday.
Cheney has created problem within the House Republican Conference, largely over her ongoing disagreement with former President Trump over 2020 election fraud, which members says has become a distraction to their larger political and legislative agenda that includes retaking the chamber majority in 2022.
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise has already publicly backed a replacement for Cheney as Republican House Conference chairwoman — New York GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik.
What’s the Origin of COVID? Did People or Nature Open Pandora’s Box at Wuhan?
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted lives the world over for more than a year. Its death toll will soon reach three million people. Yet the origin of pandemic remains uncertain: the political agendas of governments and scientists have generated thick clouds of obfuscation, which the mainstream press seems helpless to dispel.
In what follows I will sort through the available scientific facts, which hold many clues as to what happened, and provide readers with the evidence to make their own judgments. I will then try to assess the complex issue of blame, which starts with, but extends far beyond, the government of China.
By the end of this article, you may have learned a lot about the molecular biology of viruses. I will try to keep this process as painless as possible. But the science cannot be avoided because for now, and probably for a long time hence, it offers the only sure thread through the maze.
The virus that caused the pandemic is known officially as SARS-CoV-2, but can be called SARS2 for short. As many people know, there are two main theories about its origin. One is that it jumped naturally from wildlife to people. The other is that the virus was under study in a lab, from which it escaped. It matters a great deal which is the case if we hope to prevent a second such occurrence.
I’ll describe the two theories, explain why each is plausible, and then ask which provides the better explanation of the available facts. It’s important to note that so far there is no direct evidence for either theory. Each depends on a set of reasonable conjectures but so far lacks proof. So I have only clues, not conclusions, to offer. But those clues point in a specific direction. And having inferred that direction, I’m going to delineate some of the strands in this tangled skein of disaster.
Challenger lambasts Liz Cheney, says GOP must work with Trump
The remarks by Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., a one-time moderate who’s evolved into an ardent Donald Trump champion, came as Cheney seems likely to be tossed from her leadership post next week.
WASHINGTON — Rep. Elise Stefanik stated her case Thursday for replacing Rep. Liz Cheney as the No. 3 House Republican leader, implicitly lambasting Cheney’s battles with former President Donald Trump by saying, “We are one team and that means working with the president.”
The remarks by Stefanik, R-N.Y., a one-time moderate who’s evolved into an ardent Trump champion, came as Cheney seems likely to be tossed from her leadership post next week. Cheney, R-Wyo., has repeatedly rejected Trump’s false insistence that he lost the 2020 election because of widespread fraud, and has blamed him for inflaming followers who assaulted the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Speaking on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast, Stefanik said she is committed to “sending a clear message that we are one team and that means working with the president and working with all of our excellent Republican members of Congress.” Stefanik repeatedly used “president” in referring to Trump.
Facing opposition from Trump and the House’s two top Republicans — Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Whip Steve Scalise — Cheney has remained defiant.
In an opinion essay in The Washington Post, Cheney implored her GOP colleagues on Wednesday to pry themselves from a Trump “cult of personality” and declared that the party and even American democracy were at stake. “History is watching,” she said.
Trump issued a statement giving his “COMPLETE and TOTAL Endorsement” to Stefanik, 36, who’s played an increasingly visible role within the GOP.
Stefanik responded quickly, highlighting his backing to colleagues who will decide her political future.
“Thank you President Trump for your 100% support for House GOP Conference Chair. We are unified and focused on FIRING PELOSI & WINNING in 2022!” she tweeted.
The careers of Cheney and Stefanik are seemingly racing in opposite directions, as if to contrast the fates awaiting Trump critics and backers in today’s GOP. . .
Worst Worker Shortage Ever
Hiring surged again in April, but a record number of U.S. small firms were unable to find workers to fill their available positions. That’s according to the latest monthly employment report from the National Federation of Independent Business, due out later today.
“Strong job growth continued for small businesses in April. Firms increased employment by 0.31 workers per firm on average over the past few months,” says NFIB Chief Economist William Dunkelberg.
That’s the good news. The bad news for small companies is that between the competition from larger firms, supplemental unemployment benefits that discourage work, remote schooling that keeps parents at home and the lingering impact of the virus itself, it’s become nearly impossible for many employers to attract enough workers. . .
Pollster Frank Luntz: ‘I would bet on’ Trump being 2024 GOP nominee
Veteran GOP pollster Frank Luntz says that former President Trump “could never win” the 2024 general election, but that he “would bet on” Trump to be the GOP nominee.
New Zealand Weightlifter Poised to Become First Transgender Olympian
A man named Laurel Hubbard could be the first transgender athlete to compete in the Olympics if named to the New Zealand team that will take part in this summer’s Games in Tokyo.
A weightlifter from New Zealand, Hubbard, 43, benefits from a rule change approved by the International Olympic Committee that makes him automatically qualified for the women’s superheavyweight division.
FBI? No. Regular American Citizen Infiltrates Antifa | Antifa Caught On Tape Laughing About Killing Cops | Video: 5 Minutes 28 Seconds
Group leader: “It’s May Day, baby, like come out and take, take somethin’ over with us, I don’t, I don’t (bleep)-ing know.”
Member: “Let’s kill people. (laughs)”
Group Leader: “Let’s kill some cops.”
Member: “Yeah.”
Bloomberg Forum Moves Back to Singapore Amid Concerns Over Press Treatment in China
BEIJING—The Bloomberg New Economy Forum will move to Singapore this year, in part because of the “very concerning” conditions journalists face in China, according to comments by Bloomberg founder Michael Bloomberg reported by the Financial Times.
The Nov. 16-19 event will be limited to 400 participants, with sustainability as well as COVID-19 and how countries can recover from its impact among topics for discussion, according to a media release on Thursday.
Bloomberg, the billionaire founder of Bloomberg News and the former mayor of New York City, also cited “logistics” as a reason to hold the event in Singapore, the Financial Times reported.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for elaboration on his comments.
Seriously? Masked kiss between vaccinated Kamala Harris and hubby sends eyebrows to skies
Vice President Kamala Harris shared a smooch with second husband Doug Emhoff while both were masked on Wednesday, before she hopped aboard Air Force Two and he departed to catch a separate flight, though both are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Harris was headed to Rhode Island, where she later dropped by a local store and purchased four books, including one discussing ‘white male rage,’ the Daily Mail reported. Emhoff, meanwhile, traveled to visit a microbrewery in Pennsylvania.
But the shared kiss drew outsized attention given that the second couple is vaccinated and, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, vaccinated people need not mask up while outdoors.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Signs Election Integrity Bill into Law
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed an election integrity bill, SB 90, on Thursday, which implements a number of safeguards to protect elections in the Sunshine State, including limits on ballot box drop boxes, enhancements on voter ID requirements, and additional restrictions on voting by mail and ballot harvesting.
The bill itself prohibits the mass mailing of ballots — a point of national contention in the 2020 presidential election — while banning ballot harvesting, strengthening voter identification, and preventing “private money from administering elections in our state,” per a summary from the governor’s office:
While Florida already requires identification to vote, Senate Bill 90 will require additional identification information when changing any voter registration information, or requesting a vote by mail ballot, preventing fraud and securing the voter rolls.
The proposal strikes a reasonable balance for families and those in elder care facilities while simultaneously banning ballot harvesting by political operatives. Under this law, a person may not handle more than two ballots other than those of immediate family members. There is an exemption for ballots collected during supervised voting at assisted living facilities and nursing homes to make sure no undue burden is caused for Florida’s most vulnerable.
The proposal bans the mass mailing of ballots, ensuring that vote-by-mail ballots are only sent to the individuals that requested them, and only if requested for each election cycle they intend to vote by mail. The bill also increases election transparency, allowing each political party and candidate guaranteed access to observe signature matching reviews by the canvassing board, and allows for appointed watchers on their behalf.
May 6, 2021 | Nightly News Rebroadcast | Video: 52 Minutes 10 Seconds
Florida enacts a new election law, a congressman calls on the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to resign after uncovered emails show a union influenced certain reopening guidelines, and over 180 illegal immigrants are rescued from three stash houses in Texas.
Creepy Bill Gates Told Wife He Would Marry Her if She Allowed Him to Take 1 Beach Vacation a Year with Ex-Girlfriend
Bill Gates and former girlfriend Ann Winblad
Computer nerd Bill Gates made an arrangement with his wife before their marriage that he would spend a long weekend each year with his former girfriend Ann Winblad in North Carolina.
That’s a bit strange.
The New York Post reported:
After marrying his wife, Bill Gates would spend a long weekend every year at a cozy beach cottage in North Carolina — with his old girlfriend.
The billionaire Microsoft founder made sure the bizarre arrangement was part of the deal when he married Melinda French in 1994, he told Time magazine in a 1997 profile.
“We can play putt-putt while discussing biotechnology,” Gates said of his private getaways with fellow nerd techie and ex Ann Winblad — who is now happily married to actor Kevin Kline’s detective brother, Alex Kline, a source told The Post on Tuesday.
Gates even sought Winblad’s approval before proposing to his wife.
“When I was off on my own thinking about marrying Melinda, I called Ann and asked for her approval,” he said, adding that Winblad gave the other woman the thumb’s up.
The post Creepy Bill Gates Told Wife He Would Marry Her if She Allowed Him to Take 1 Beach Vacation a Year with Ex-Girlfriend appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
The Fact-Checkers’ Prevarication: In Study Biden Shown to Lie Just as Effectively as Trump
Joe Biden’s presidency has created a challenge for journalists. An industry conditioned with 24-hour grievance content suddenly was at a loss; how do they function when they only want to coddle the current occupant of the Resolute Desk, and how do they come up with ways to enrage their audience with their dependable target both muzzled and apathetic these days? For the self-described arbiters of the truth it has been especially hard, as they had to downshift from the perpetual nitrous-fed 5th gear full throttle coverage of Donald Trump to coasting in neutral and steering with their knees.
Between the unwillingness to cover real stories, such as the border crisis, or the already mounting inflationary realities, and the charisma-vacuum that is the real Joe Biden we see them struggle, offering up desperate bits which suggest that Biden’s boring demeanor is actually a cagey strategy. As the media in general show signs of embarking on a four year sabbatical, one sector has already seen its members submitting Travelocity expense reports — the fact-checkers.
At the Washington Post their resident expert-FC Glen Kessler made the early declaration that, unlike President Trump, his paper would be using the 100 days in office to mark the end of their fact-check database on the president.
Showing an equal amount of reticence towards his assigned duty was CNN’s Daniel Dale. He began this Joe-voidance during the election, when following a debate he gave Biden high marks for verite despite there being about a dozen major crimes against the facts. He recently established his own standard for laying off of the president due to his volume of truthfulness.
So here are two of the more prominent names in the fact check realm essentially declaring that Biden is not in need of their assigned duties. This has been something of a fable being sold to us since he took office; Joe is just so darned honest that holding him accountable is not needed. But this is a claim that itself needs fact-checking.
Over at NewsBusters they performed a study of sorts on another of the noted outlets from this media realm — PolitiFact. Some of the numbers they came up with are interesting, and echo those hands-off tendencies from Kessler and Dale. During Donald Trump’s first 100 days, PolitiFact checked on his veracity 52 times; Joe Biden was corrected only 13. At the outlet, however, they were far more energetic with running defense and fact checking comments concerning Biden; they looked into lies told about the president over 100 times.
Court Hears CHD’s Arguments Against Facebook, Zuckerberg and ‘Fact Checkers’
Judge Susan Illston of the Northern District of California Wednesday heard arguments for and against the defendants’ motion to dismiss in the Children’s Health Defense (CHD) lawsuit, which claims that Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg and three fact-checking operations censor truthful public health posts and engage in racketeering activities against CHD.
According to CHD’s complaint, Facebook has insidious conflicts with the pharmaceutical industry and its captive health agencies, and has economic stakes in vaccines, telecom and 5G.
Facebook currently censors CHD’s page, targeting factual information about vaccines, 5G and public health agencies. Facebook-owned Instagram deplatformed CHD Chariman Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on Feb. 10 without notice or explanation.
This is an important First Amendment case that tests the boundaries of government authority to openly censor unwanted critique of its narrative, attorneys Roger Teich and Jed Rubenfeld argued before the court. Attorneys Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Mary Holland, CHD president, also are lawyers on the legal briefs.
CHD is a nonprofit watchdog group that roots out corruption in federal agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and exposes wrongdoings in the pharmaceutical and telecom industries.
CHD has been a frequent critic of WiFi and 5G Network safety and of certain vaccine policies that place profits ahead of public health. CHD has fiercely criticized agency corruption at the WHO, CDC and FCC.
Facebook has publicly stated it is assisting efforts of the White House, the CDC and the WHO to censor unwanted speech about vaccines. While earlier court decisions have upheld Facebook’s right to censor user pages, CHD argues that the social media giant’s open collaboration with government makes it a proxy for government censorship, violating the First Amendment.
The government’s role in Facebook’s censorship goes deeper than its close coordination with the CDC and WHO — it began at the suggestion of powerful Democratic Congressman and Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, who in March 2019, asked Facebook to suppress and purge internet content critical of government vaccine policies.
Facebook, Schiff and many other government officials use the term “misinformation” as a euphemism for any statement, whether truthful or not, that contradicts official government pronouncements.
The WHO issued a press release commending Facebook for coordinating its ongoing censorship campaign with public health officials. That same day, Facebook published a “warning label” on CHD’s page, implying that CHD’s content is inaccurate and directing CHD followers to turn to the CDC for “reliable, up-to-date information.”
CHD’s lawsuit also challenges Facebook use of so-called “independent fact-checkers,” which, in truth, are neither independent nor fact-based, to create oppositional content on CHD’s page, superimposed over CHD’s original content, about matters of heated scientific controversy.
To further silence CHD’s dissent against government policies and the pharmaceutical industry, Facebook deactivated CHD’s donate button and uses a variety of deceptive technologies, including shadow banning, to minimize CHD’s reach and visibility.
In short, the lawsuit contends Facebook and the government collude to silence CHD and its followers. Such tactics violate the First Amendment, which guarantees the American public the free flow of information in the marketplace of ideas.
The First Amendment forbids the government from censoring private speech — particularly speech that criticizes government policies or officials. As Justice Holmes famously said, “The best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market.”
The ongoing COVID crisis makes the need for open and fierce public debate on health issues in our democracy more critical than ever.
Mark Zuckerberg publicly claims social media platforms shouldn’t be “the arbiters of truth.” Yet his acts to suppress critique of government officials and policies belie those pronouncements.
The court will decide whether Facebook’s new government-directed business model of false and misleading “warning labels,” deceptive “fact-checks” and disabling a nonprofit’s donate button passes muster under the First and Fifth Amendments, the Lanham Act and the federal racketeering statute. Those statutes protect CHD against online wire fraud and knowingly false statements disparaging to the organization, while the Constitution protects CHD against government censorship — even through third parties — and from uncompensated taking of its property interests.
“Mainstream media and social media giants are imposing a totalitarian censorship to prevent public health advocates, like myself, from voicing concerns and from engaging in civil informed debate in the public square,” said Kennedy.
Kennedy added:
“They are punishing, shaming, vilifying, gaslighting and abolishing individuals who report their own vaccine injuries. Anyone can see that this is a formula for catastrophe and a coup d’état against the First Amendment, the foundation stone of American democracy.”
CHD awaits Judge Illston’s ruling on the defendants’ motion to dismiss.
The post Court Hears CHD’s Arguments Against Facebook, Zuckerberg and ‘Fact Checkers’ appeared first on Children’s Health Defense.
Bannon’s War Room | Morning Edition Hour 1 | Recorded May 6, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 23 Seconds
Episode 926 – The Spirit of Saratoga … (w/ Elise Stefanik, Boris Epshteyn). “We still do not have an answer as to the origins of the covid-19 virus,” she said. “Every American deserves an answer from China.” Guests are: Elise Stefanik, Boris Epshteyn.
Josh Duggar Hearing: Homeland Security Agent Details Timeline of Child Porn Case
The agent said images allegedly found on Josh Duggar’s computer were “in the top five of the worst of the worst that I’ve ever had to examine”.
Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Gerald Faulkner, testifying for the prosecution, alleged Duggar downloaded computer files depicting child sex abuse on May 14, 15 and 16 of 2019.
The files were initially flagged by a police detective in Little Rock, Ark., and then allegedly traced to Duggar’s IP address on a computer at his workplace at the time, the Wholesale Motorcars dealership.
One file, according to Faulkner, depicted child sex abuse involving children ranging from 18 months to 12 years of age. Faulkner described the images as “in the top five of the worst of the worst that I’ve ever had to examine.”
According to Faulkner, when homeland security officials raided Duggar’s car dealership and asked to speak with him, without informing him they were investigating child pornography, Duggar “spontaneously” responded, “What is this about? Has someone been downloading child pornography?”
Bannon’s War Room | Morning Edition Hour 2 | Recorded May 6, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 10 Seconds
Episode 927 – The Woke Praetorian Guard … Biden’s Secret Police and the MAGA Purge from the Military. “This guy is a critical race theory zealot, a huge proponent of the notorious 1619 project, huge proponent of the Black Lives Matter movement, proponent of all kinds of riots that have been going on,” Beattie said. Guests are: Boris Epshteyn, Darren Beattie, Rudy Giuliani.
Bannon’s War Room | Evening Edition | Recorded May 6, 2021 | Video: 48 Minutes 58 Seconds
Episode 928 – The Most Dangerous Place on Earth … America’s Brexit and China’s Threat to Taiwan. “We’re trying to hold them accountable they have violated multiple rules over and over again,” Stutts said. “And the people have had enough.” Guests are: Cpt. Maureen Bannon, Boris Epshteyn, Nigel Farage, Pressly Stutts, Frank Gaffney.
Lamar Co., Texas Democrats retain their party chairman despite racist comment
The head of the Lamar County, Texas Democratic Party, Gary O’Connor, offered his resignation after he made a racist comment about South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.
O’Connor, who is white, called Scott, who is black, “an Oreo with no principles.”
After a furor over his remarks, O’Connor offered up his resignation.
However, the party reportedly turned down the resignation offer and is allowing O’Connor to retain his position.