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Former Biden White House Adviser Susan Rice melted down on X after the Washington Post refused to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris, marking a highly embarrassing moment for her campaign.
Rice, who critics said actually was a de facto president under Biden, blasted the leftist outlet in a series of tweets Friday afternoon, first saying she is “disgusted.”
“As a DC native and lifelong subscriber to the Post, I’m disgusted. You have lost us,” she wrote in her first post.
Rice’s rage did not let up. Three minutes later, she mocked the Post’s slogan, “Democracy Dies in Darkness.”
“So much for ‘Democracy Dies in Darkness,'” she began. “This is the most hypocritical, chicken shit move from a publication that is supposed to hold people in power to account.”
David Folkenflik @davidfolkenflik Former WaPost Executive Editor Marty Baron on paper's decision not to endorse in WH race:
"This is cowardice, a moment of darkness that will leave democracy as a casualty. "
Moments later, Rice was back at her keyboard, responding to a post from CNN’s Brian Stelter. According to Stelter, one of his sources in the Post’s editorial department said that the outlet’s owner, billionaire Jeff Bezos, decided not to endorse in the race.
The New York Times notes Bezos, the second richest man in the world, has several large contracts with the government through other businesses.
Brian Stelter @brianstelter A member of the Wash Post editorial department tells me: Bezos's decision not to endorse is "an outrageous abdication of responsibility. Democracy doesn't die in darkness, it dies when people anticipatorily consent to a fascist's whims."
“So what are they going to do about it?” Rice wrote of the editorial department in response to Stelter. “The whole Post editorial department should walk out.”
Brookings Institute Senior Fellow Robert Kagan resigned from his position as contributing columnist at the paper after the non-endorsement, CNN correspondent Hadas Gold reported.
Hadas Gold @Hadas_Gold
I have confirmed, Robert Kagan has resigned from the Post over this non endorsement.
This is the first time the Post has opted not to weigh in on a presidential race in 36 years, as Breitbart News noted. The embarrassing moment for Harris comes days after her hometown paper, the Los Angeles Times, also refused to back her in the race.
The Post further said it would not be endorsing candidates in future elections.
“We are returning to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates,” Post CEO William Lewis wrote.
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Childish Liberals Install Statue of ‘Giant Bronze Poop’ Sitting on Nancy Pelosi’s Desk in DC.
Childish liberals have installed a statue of a “giant bronze poop” sitting on “Nancy Pelosi’s desk” on the National Mall to “honor” January 6 protesters. The turd-shaped statue will remain on display until October 30 with approval from the National Park Service.
A faux-stone base features a plaque that states the following:
“This memorial honors the brave men and women who broke into the United States Capitol on January 6th, 2021 to loot, urinate, and defecate throughout those hallowed halls in order to overturn an election.”
The plaque continues, “President Trump honors these heroes of January 6 as ‘unbelievable patriots’ and ‘warriors.’ This monument stands as a testament to their daring sacrifice and legacy.”
The plaque does not feature an artist’s name or who commissioned it.
A group called Civic Crafted LLC. had applied for a permit to display the crap statue, which is referred to as “The Resolute Desk.”
This desk represents the heart of democracy, where decisions are made, voices are heard, and the future is shaped,” the statue’s permit states.
“More than just a place for work, it is a testament to the ideals of transparency, accountability, and representation. Here, the power of the people finds its expression through the diligent efforts of those who serve the public good. When rioters broke in to destroy these ideals, this desk stands firm, so too must the principles of equality, justice, and freedom that it represents.”
The Mirror reports, “According to the permit, there will be another sculpture, Tiki Torch, showing a hand rising up from a pool while holding the object scheduled to go up. The newest installation is reportedly set to be unveiled at 7am on October 28 at Freedom Plaza, on Pennsylvania Avenue, between the Capitol and the White House.”
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https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/10/childish-liberals-install-statue-giant-bronze-poop-sitting/
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Over the course of his life, President Trump has proven to have a knack for the unpredictable and a strong sense of humor. Both were on full display in a somewhat unexpected place Thursday night.
AS TGP readers know, Republican vice presidential nominee and Ohio Senator JD Vance participated in a town hall in Detroit with NewsNation’s (and former CNN hack) Chris Cuomo. During the event, Vance fielded several questions from Republicans, Democrats, and undecided voters.
But roughly two-thirds of the way through the town hall, Cuomo had some unexpected news to share with Vance and told him he would want to sit down for it. He noted that, much like Beetlejuice, if one invokes Trump’s name too many times in a row, he will respond.
And guess what? Trump picked up the phone and called into the town hall to weigh in. And he had a question which had the entire room (including Cuomo) in stitches.
Read more and watch video,
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https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/10/watch-hilarity-ensues-when-president-trump-calls-jd/
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Facebook will block new ads about politics, elections, and social issues in the week leading up to the 2024 election on November 5.
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has announced that it will implement a “restriction period” on new political ads in the week leading up to the 2024 election. The company confirmed that from Tuesday, October 29, through Tuesday, November 5, new ads about politics, elections, and social issues will not be allowed on the platform.
This is not the first time Facebook has taken such a step. The company implemented a similar ban on new political ads in the week leading up to the 2020 presidential election. Meta explained the reasoning behind the restriction period, stating that it recognizes “there may not be enough time to contest new claims made in the ads” during the final days of an election.
The announcement has been met with criticism from various groups, with some arguing that the restriction period poses “a serious obstacle to candidates and any groups promoting or opposing ballot initiatives appearing on the November ballot.” Others claim that the ban will only make it harder for certain groups to mobilize voters rather than effectively stopping the spread of misinformation.
Despite the criticism, Meta is standing firm on its decision. The company has clarified that ads that have delivered an impression – meaning they have appeared on someone’s feed at least once – before Tuesday, October 29, can still run during the restriction period. However, major edits to these ads will not be allowed.
It is important to note that the restriction period only applies to new ads related to politics, social issues, or the election. Facebook users can still post about these topics on their personal feeds. But when individuals post about politics, Mark Zuckerberg’s platform bury the posts, reducing visibility by as much as 63 percent.
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In just over 2 months every small business owner in America is required to be registered with the Federal Government’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The Biden/Harris administration rolled out this unconstitutional law, known as the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), on January 1st, 2024.
The CTA requires all small business owners in the United States, with revenue under 5 million and less than 20 full time employees to self-report to FinCEN, housed under the Department of Treasury.
According FinCEN’s website:
“FinCEN is a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The Director of FinCEN is appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury and reports to the Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. “
Your failure to report into this terrorism and intelligence database by January 1st, 2025 means that you will be subjected to fines of $591 per day and you could face a penalty of up to 2 years in federal prison. Small business owners in the United States could be jailed for up to 2 years for committing no crime, other than failing to turn over their personal, protected data to Big Brother.
Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and Senator Warren Davidson (R-OH) seem to be the only two elected officials moving seriously against this unconstitutionality. Both offices have introduced the aptly named “Big Brother Overreach” Bill, but it has fallen on deaf ears.
With current elections being as close as they are in Ohio, perhaps Senator Sherrod Brown should be asked where he stands on this issue?
It is shocking that this has not been a national campaign issue already and, unfortunately, millions of small business owners don’t even know this law exists. Nor do they know that they will automatically be in violation of this law on January 2nd. Talk about an “October Surprise.”
Why has the legacy media, on both sides of the aisle, been silent on this? Why is this dangerous piece of legislation not being exposed for the tyranny that it is?
President Trump vetoed the NDAA in 2019, effectively stopping the CTA, but it resurfaced and was passed with a veto proof majority in 2021, which makes it even more urgent to get this issue in the public eye.
What is FinCEN?
Enforcement of the CTA falls under The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN); a bureau within the Department of Treasury. FinCEN’s mission statement reads:
“FinCEN’s mission is to safeguard the financial system from illicit activity, counter money laundering and the financing of terrorism, and promote national security through strategic use of financial authorities and the collection, analysis, and dissemination of financial intelligence”
The first question that we need to be asking is why are innocent small business owners being asked to provide all of their personal information to a federal database that reports directly to the Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence? Does the federal government classify all small business owners in the United States as “terrorists”?
Secondly, the Department of Treasury is not known for its track record of impartiality. Non-profit organizations have previously been targeted by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), also housed under the same Department of Treasury.
In 2013, the IRS, under Lois Lerner’s leadership targeted conservative non-profit groups with the name “tea party”, “patriot”, etc., and in a brazen act of political warfare, denied and/or revoked their non-profit status.
The Corporate Transparency Act is nothing more than the “for profit” equivalent of the same non-profit Department of Treasury scandal of years back. Where is the guarantee that this database, housed under the Department of Treasury, will not be weaponized?
FinCEN is creating a massive federal database of every single small business owner in the United States, with the potential of jail time for failure to self-report and massive fines. However, if your revenue is over 5 million, and you have 20 or more full time employees, you are exempt from this intrusive law and regulatory nightmare. This law does not apply to Blackrock, Pfizer, Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook, etc. This law has been set up, exclusively, to target small business owners.
Even more concerning is the fact that the National Department of Treasury Union has openly and unapologetically endorsed Kamala Harris for President. Partisan enforcement of CTA, by an unelected bureaucracy, against political enemies is not a question of “if”, but “when”.
One especially alarming part of FinCEN’s mission statement reads:
“…….security through strategic use of financial authorities and the collection, analysis, and dissemination of financial intelligence”
“Dissemination” to who? Who does FinCEN share this data with?
A World Wide Web of data sharing
FinCEN is a member of the Egmont Group, and it serves as the United States’ Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) for the Egmont Group, as part of a wider network of 177 international FIU’s.
In the UK the equivalent is the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) or the National Crimes Agency (NCA), who are also member FIU’s of the Egmont Group. The equivalent office to FinCEN in Canada would be the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), also focused on Terrorism finance, and if you are “down under” in Australia it would be the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC).
Why is this important and concerning? Well, because under data sharing and cooperative agreements that FinCEN and the Egmont Group are a party to, this means that your information, to include your residential address, could be shared and made available around the world with the push of a button or a database query, and you would never know.
Who are the Egmont Group?
The Egmont Group, of which FinCEN is a member FIU, was founded in Brussels in 1995 as an international network to facilitate information sharing and dissemination to counter anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing. It has been headquartered in Canada since 2008.
According to its website:
“As a global organization, the Egmont Group both facilitates and prompts the exchange of information, knowledge and cooperation amongst member FIUs.”
The fact that information is shared, not only with allied “five eye” nations, but much wider through the Egmont Group’s FIU network, is of immediate concern.
The Council for Financial Activities Control in Brazil, another member FIU, could conceivably have access to this shared information. Remember that Brazil is controlled by the far left socialist leadership under Lula da Silva. Do you want your information being shared with comrade Lula? Let’s not forget that Lula’s government is currently targeting Elon Musk, who has the resources to fight this, but what about “mom and pop” small business owners across the United States, who don’t have the same financial resources?
The French equivalent to FinCEN is TRACFIN. No sane person would want their personal financial information being shared with Emmanuel Macron or his government. What about Mexico? Do you really trust your information with the Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera? Or what about Russia’s FIU? Or Venezuela’s FIU? How about Palestine?
You can find the full list of Egmont Group FIU member states, including FinCEN here:
Earlier this year FINTRAC, the Canadian equivalent to FinCEN was hacked. Canadian authorities still have no idea how bad this data breach actually was. Your information could be shared among multiple databases and FIU’s, including FINTRAC, exposing your personal and sensitive financial data, with no guarantees of security or privacy.
Putting international data sharing concerns aside, the Federal Government in the US doesn’t have a positive track record for protecting personal data, either. Perhaps the best example of this was the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) breach, in 2015, under the Obama administration.
But don’t worry, I’m sure the sensitive personal and financial data of millions of innocent small business owners will be safe with FinCEN.
Most concerning is that the Egmont Group is based in Canada. Every FIU, including FinCEN, sits under a separate entity under Canadian jurisdiction. Does anyone really trust Justin Trudeau’s Canada and his unelected bureaucracy any more than they trust the unelected bureaucracy in America? Here is a list of the Egmont groups’ affiliate organizations:
Vice President Kamala Harris wants to tout her “Opportunity Agenda” and her support of small businesses, yet her administration, of which she is the sitting Vice President, is moving at lightning speed to regulate and criminalize millions of small business owners in the United States. This includes massive fines and up to 2 years in federal prison..
The CTA is a clear violation of the 4th amendment, the 5th amendment and the 10th amendment. State Attorney General’s need to weigh in, urgently. Entity creation and registration has always been a States’ right issue. This is the largest first step the United States has ever taken towards nationalizing private business ownership under a federal umbrella.
So what if you decide you want to close your business and not be forced to hand over your personal data to this terrorism and intelligence database? According to FinCEN, enforcement is retroactive. As long as you operated a small business for even one day in 2024, you are still required to self-report, even though you no longer own that business or it has been dissolved. Again, your failure to do so could land you in prison.
The Corporate Transparency Act is not about “transparency” or “compliance”, it is about “control”. Unfortunately, without more citizen engagement, and without this being a front and center campaign issue, it seems that little will be done to stop this massive government overreach. If the legacy media won’t cover this then the alternative media like The Gateway Pundit, and citizen journalists will.
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Mexican Army soldiers killed 19 cartel gunmen and arrested a local crime boss during a shootout this week in the war-torn state of Sinaloa. The shootout comes as two rival factions of the Sinaloa Cartel wage a fierce turf war, leading to hundreds of murders and forced disappearances.
The shootout took place this week in an area about six miles east of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico’s Army revealed to Breitbart Texas in a prepared statement. In that location, a group a convoy of Mexican soldiers pulled up to a house but were met with gunfire from more than 30 gunmen. The military forces fought off the attack, killing 19 of the gunmen and arresting their leader. The rest of the gunmen managed to escape.
Among the individuals they arrested is a man identified as Edwin Antonio “El Max” Rubio Lopez, a cell leader with the Sinaloa Cartel. According to authorities, El Max is a lieutenant within the faction loyal to the family of jailed kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada. During the operation, military forces seized four mounted machine guns, 17 rifles, five handguns, one .50 caliber rifle, seven vehicles, and various sets of body armor and helmets.
The large-scale shootout comes as the state of Sinaloa has been ground zero for a fierce turf war between a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel loyal to El Mayo and a faction loyal to Los Chapitos.
As Breitbart Texas reported, the fighting is attributed to the perceived betrayal by Los Chapitos, who called El Mayo to a meeting on July 25 only to capture him and fly him to El Paso, Texas. They turned him over to U.S. authorities. The ongoing turf war has led to hundreds of forced disappearances and murders in Sinaloa.
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France’s new crackdown on cyberbullying sees seven charged in “first wave” of arrests against those who trolled the creator of the Paris 2024 Olympics LGBT-themed opening ceremony.
Seven people have been arrested across France this week, accused of making death threats, insults, and of cyberbullying of figures involved with the 2024 Paris Olympics including most prominently the artistic director of the much-criticised opening ceremony, Thomas Jolly. The opening ceremony grabbed headlines globally for its overt political and social themes, with many decrying it as ‘woke’ and extravagantly anti-Christian.
Those arrested are six men aged between 22 and 79 years old, and a 57-year-old woman. France’s Le Figaro cites a source inside the investigation said “some” of those arrested had “worrying profiles”, and said one is allegedly seen by the government as being a “professional hate monger”.
They made clear others who had insulted the creator of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony and his colleagues should fear the arrival of police officers shortly, saying: “This is a first wave of arrests, there will be others, the investigators will go all the way”.
The Associated Press, which hailed Jolly’s creation as a “daring blend of French tradition and LGBTQ+ expression” notes Jolly experienced “homophobic and antisemitic abuse” for his direction of the Olympics show, and those found guilty of cyberbullying could expect “potential prison sentences and significant fines”.
The investigation into hate speech against the Paris Olympics ceremony has been spearheaded by the Paris prosecutors’ National Center for the Fight against Online Hate (PNLH) and the Paris Central Office for Combating Crimes Against Humanity and Hate Crimes (OCLCH). Jolly himself was reported at the time to have filed a complaint with police over his treatment by the public within days of the opening ceremony being staged. The Mayor of Paris offered Jolly her unwavering support, Politico having reported she said at the time of the criticism of the city’s showpiece event: “Fuck the reactionaries, fuck this far right, fuck all of those who would like to lock us into a war of all against all”.
The PNLH is cited by the French government “Ministry of Gender Equality and the Fight Against Discrimination” in a document on the “National Plan for quality and the fight against anti-LGBT hatred and discrimination”, an initiative of President Emmanuel Macron going back to 2017. The body is listed as a partner agency in the fight against “LGBTphobia”, it states.
The Paris Prosecutor said on Friday that those cyberbullying the Olympics creative team online were allegedly seeking to “intimidate and silence expressions of inclusivity”. The hearing for those arrested so far has been set for early March 2025.
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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — In anticipation of three Taylor Swift concerts, which could draw around 150,000 visitors to New Orleans’ Superdome this weekend, state authorities on Wednesday began clearing a nearby homeless encampment.
Roughly 75 people who were living in tents beneath an overpass would be relocated roughly two blocks away, Louisiana State Police said. Advocates said the sweep would disrupt progress in finding long-term, permanent housing for those affected. Other people without shelter living in the historic, tourist-dependent French Quarter neighborhood would also be moved to the same location, officials said.
Gov. Jeff Landry’s spokesperson said the move was taken to address homelessness and safety issues, linking the effort to the upcoming concerts and February’s Super Bowl.
“As we prepare for the city to host Taylor Swift and Super Bowl LIX, we are committed to ensuring New Orleans puts its best foot forward when on the world stage,” Landry’s communications director, Kate Kelly, said in a statement issued to local media.
Later, in a statement to The Associated Press, Kelly stressed that the move only involved a short distance and that safety was a concern. “Only the most dangerous blocks — where homeless regularly walk across busy streets — are being shut down,” she said.
Initial plans to break up the encampment near the dome came to light Monday. It is unclear when plans were made to move to the location roughly two blocks away.
City Council member Lesli Harris, whose district includes the area, said she and housing advocates had been told the move would be made Thursday. “They’re suddenly here, on Wednesday morning, springing this on us,” said Harris.
Martha Kegel, executive director of Unity of Greater New Orleans, a nonprofit that seeks permanent housing for unsheltered people, said moving the encampment was better than disbanding it as advocates had initially feared. But she said it was still a needless and harmful endeavor, as well as a waste of state and federal tax money earmarked for sheltering those without homes.
Many of those in the camp have mental illnesses and are distrustful of authorities and those trying to help them, Kegel said.
“Some people were frightened and left, and that’s not good,” she said. “Because then all the work that we did to assess them and document their disabilities and, you know, work with them on their housing plan has now been wasted.”
Among those making the move Wednesday was Terrence Cobbins. Taking a break from gathering his belongings, he said he was told to move because of the upcoming concerts. “They ain’t never did it before for other people,” he said. “Why Taylor Swift?” He said he wasn’t happy about the disruption, “I can’t do nothing about it.
City Council President Helena Moreno issued a statement calling for better state and city coordination to address homelessness.
Kegel said her agency should have been contacted, noting that the concert dates were announced months ago. “We could have accomplished what the governor wanted in a humane and rational way and not just push people a couple of blocks away or scatter them,” she said.
There was no indication that Swift or the NFL — which, four years ago, set the 2025 Super Bowl for New Orleans — had any input in the decision to move the camp. Emailed requests for comment were sent to Swift representatives and the league Wednesday afternoon.
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Republican Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill is suing Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and various security agencies after an illegal immigrant entered the state with a rare, drug-resistant form of tuberculosis.
Governor Jeff Landry joined Murrill on Wednesday to allege U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials shuttled the infected Chinese national around in detention, putting them in contact with at least 200 other detainees and staff.
The lawsuit specifically names Mayorkas and claims “through his official capacity” as security secretary he allegedly allowed the peripatetic detainee to be shared around ICE facilities.
The New York Post reports the lawsuit seeks to prevent federal immigration officials from releasing “potentially infected detainees” that came in contact with the Chinese national – who has a “rare, aggressive, and drug-resistant form of tuberculosis which carries high mortality rates” – while she was in the custody of immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“ICE has announced its intent to release potentially infected detainees from its two contract facilities [in Louisiana] — without being medically cleared by the Louisiana Department of Health — if an order requires release,” the complaint states.
“By ICE’s telling, its hands are tied once its immigration-based detention authority runs out,” the lawsuit continues, warning that migrants who may have contracted the disease will be released “onto Louisiana streets, its bus stations, and its airports.”
“This is utterly wrong,” Murrill argues, per the Post report. “The Surgeon General’s standing orders require detainees at the two facilities in question to be held unless and until they are medically cleared by the Louisiana Department of Health.”
“That is a quintessential exercise of the State’s sovereign prerogatives, the exercise of its police powers, and its obligation to protect the public health within its borders,” she adds, noting that the two facilities where the infected migrant was held are not owned by ICE.
The Chinese citizen crossed illegally into California through the southern border in July, the lawsuit states. She was later flown with 100 other detainees to Alexandria, Louisiana. She was then bussed to another facility with more detainees.
Murrill estimates over 200 detainees and “untold numbers of non-detainees” may have been exposed to the disease as the TB-infected migrant.
She added there was no indication the public was now in any immediate danger.
The lawsuit against Mayorkas is ongoing in federal court.
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Controversy struck a Spanish women’s soccer team after two bearded players transitioning from female to male appeared in their last game.
One of those bearded players even scored the game-winning goal.
Club Esportiu Europa allowed Alex Alcaide Llanos and Nil Alcon Labella to play in a Catalan women’s league match against Terrassa last weekend, Marca reported.
Both players are banned from playing in the men’s league because they have not yet completed the medical transition process.
The participation of the transitioning players, as well as the fact that one of them, Llanos, scored the game-winning goal in Club Esportiu Europa’s 3-1 victory over Terrassa FC, prompted one local politician to speak out against what he saw as the unfair inclusion of two players who have both received a substantial amount of hormone therapy.
“Our girls from the @TerrassaFC, they lost against Europa because among their rivals there were two bearded guys who now consider themselves women,” Alicia Tomas, a conservative local councilor who reps the area, wrote on X.
“Decades of struggle to have our place in sport, only for the perverse gender ideology to want to erase our presence. We are governed by sick people.”
In a shocking twist, Europa defended its decision to include the transitioning players and blamed the outrage on trans hate.
“In light of the violence perpetrated against two of the players from the women’s reserve team, we at Club Esportiu Europa say no to transphobic and LGBTIphobic violence and to any type of violence,” the club said in a statement posted to X.
“Throughout its century-long history, our club has stood out for its values of sportsmanship, fair play, and compliance with current sporting regulations. It also works and fights for the right of all people to live lives free from all forms of violence. Lives that deserve to be lived.”
The club added, “Combating hate crimes and transphobic violence is a collective duty that challenges all of society. We, therefore, reiterate and say loudly that we remain firm. Against aggression and fascism, we say ‘not one step back.’”
Llanos insists that playing in the women’s league is still appropriate because the player’s driver’s license still says “female.”
“As long as my ID card still has the F for female, I’m playing in the category that corresponds to me,” Llanos told Beteve in 2022.
“I started the transition of my body early; it hasn’t changed that much. I’ve always had this male body, and hormones help me to build muscle sooner, not to build more muscle. The moment I feel superior, with advantages, I’ll quit, I’ll step aside.”
According to Beteve, Llanos has been undergoing hormone treatment for at least five years. The outlet is uncertain when Labella began treatment.
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The Irish parliament passed hate crime legislation on Wednesday evening, which includes within it a redefinition of gender based on transgender ideology.
Ireland’s Criminal Justice Bill passed the Dáil Éireann legislature in Dublin on Tuesday by 78 votes to 52, meaning it can now be signed into law, public broadcaster RTE reports.
The bill will mean that for the first time in Irish history, there will be increased prison sentences for crimes which were found to have involved an element of hatred.
Under the law, a hate crime element is defined as having been motivated by so-called “protected characteristics” such as race, colour, nationality, religion, national or ethnic origin, descent, gender, sexual characteristics, sexual orientation, or disability.
The champion of the legislation, Justice Minister Helen McEntee, said, “We are determined to stamp out hate-motivated crimes and we are determined to protect vulnerable communities,” adding: “It is not acceptable that some people live in fear simply because of who they are.”
Others were less enthusiastic about the bill’s passage, including Freedom Party leader Hermann Kelly, who said it was an “unconstitutional move away from equality of all citizens before the law.”
The legislation was significantly watered down last month, with a vast swath of provisions removed from the bill criminalising so-called hate speech, which even included prison time for merely “possessing material likely to incite violence or hatred”.
Justice Minister McEntee said that she decided to press on with the hate crime legislation without the hate speech provisions because there was not a “consensus” among lawmakers.
However, upon the passage of the bill on Tuesday, the neo-liberal Fine Gael politician said that she “absolutely believes” that the fight to implement hate speech restrictions will continue in Dublin.
The legislation passed on Monday may provide some framework for doing so. The law lays out a gender definition based on the transgender ideological notion of self-identification.
The bill defined gender as: “The gender of a person or the gender which a person expresses as the person’s preferred gender or with which the person identifies and includes transgender and a gender other than those of male and female.”
Irish schoolteacher Enoch Burke, who has spent hundreds of days in prison for refusing to abide by a court order barring him from attending his school after he was dismissed for refusing to use a student’s “preferred pronouns”, described the new definition of gender as “anti-Christian” and warned that “the youth of our country will be the victims of this harmful ideology if it passes into law.”
“The Minister for Justice has repeatedly lied to the public about the true implications of this bill,” Burke added.
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If North Korean soldiers enter the Ukraine conflict on Russia’s side, they will become “legitimate military targets” for Kiev’s forces, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby has declared.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin claimed on Wednesday that there are currently an unknown number of North Korean servicemen in Russia, and that the Pentagon does not know “what exactly they’re doing.” Austin added that it would be a “very serious issue” if North Korea intended “to participate in this war on Russia’s behalf.”
In a briefing later on Wednesday afternoon, Kirby told reporters that “at least 3,000” North Korean soldiers entered eastern Russia earlier this month, and have since been dispatched to “multiple Russian training sites.”
Kirby said that the US does not know what kind of training these soldiers have supposedly received. However, he speculated that they “could travel to western Russia and then engage in combat against the Ukrainian military.”
“If these North Korean soldiers decide to join the fight against Ukraine, they will become legitimate military targets,” he added.
Pyongyang has dismissed claims that it sent troops to Russia as “groundless and stereotype rumors.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said that cooperation between Russia and North Korea is “our sovereign right,” but that Moscow has seen “a lot of contradictory information” on the matter.
Rumors of the DPRK’s involvement in the conflict began earlier this month, when Ukrainian media outlets reported the deaths of North Korean troops in Donetsk Region. However, no evidence was given to back up these reports.
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky claimed two weeks later that North Korean “officers and technical staff” had been spotted near the front line, and that Pyongyang was planning to send 10,000 soldiers to take part in the conflict.
South Korea’s spy agency, the NIS, claimed last week that North Korea had sent 1,500 troops to Russia for training. These soldiers “are expected to be deployed to the front lines once their adaptation training is completed,” the agency added.
Russia and North Korea signed a landmark Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in June, during a visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Pyongyang. The agreement includes a pledge by Russia and North Korea to assist each other if either is “put in a state of war by an armed invasion.”
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https://www.rt.com/news/606293-north-korean-legitimate-target/
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A small town in southern Mexico voted to kick out U.S.-bound migrants who had been staying in their community during their journey north. The vote to expel the migrants comes after at least one of them is believed to have killed a local woman.
The crime occurred on September 29 in Barras de Copalita, Oaxaca, the local station Encuentro Radio reported. The victim, 28-year-old Rebeca Hernandez Flores, was in her house when at least one migrant who was working a construction job nearby barged in, assaulted her and beat her to death.
In the days after, authorities arrested a migrant identified only as Jose Enrique A.E., who is from Honduras. The Honduran migrant had been part of one of the caravans headed north but had remained in town for at least two months, working odd construction jobs. It remains unclear if other individuals were involved in the violent killing. The state attorney general’s office announced the suspect’s arrest and classified the case as femicide, a particular classification under Mexican law for female killings due to their gender. The offense can carry stricter penalties than a traditional homicide.
According to a report from Mexico’s Proceso, local town officials and officials from the municipality of San Miguel del Puerto voted in their local assemblies to kick migrants out of their town and to stop migrants in transit from settling there. Authorities are planning to carry out operations where they will ask migrants to leave their community, Proceso reported.
The controversial measure comes when immigration remains a top issue in Mexico. Earlier this month, six Middle Eastern migrants and several others were injured in the border state of Chiapas after Mexico’s military mistook the convoy that human smugglers were moving the migrants in for a convoy of cartel gunmen, Breitbart Texas reported.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management.
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Communist North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un inspected the readiness of nuclear-capable missiles, state media reported on Wednesday, to ensure that Pyongyang could fire if necessary in response to the allegedly “ever-increasing threat” posed by the United States.
The North Korean state newspaper Rodong Sinmun published images of Kim, clad in a leather coat, in front of what appeared to be massive warheads at a “strategic missile base.”
The visit appeared to be a move to intimidate South Korea and its allies in light of growing concerns that the repressive communist state is offering troops to ally Russia to fight in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine. South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) claimed last week that North Korea was planning to deploy 12,000 troops to fight Ukraine. Ukrainian officials released a video this weekend allegedly showing North Korean soldiers waiting to receive Russian military gear. The Pentagon confirmed that it had intelligence suggesting a North Korean military presence in the Ukraine war on Wednesday.
Both North Korea and Russia deny that Pyongyang has sent troops to Russia’s war effort. North Korea referred to the reports as “groundless, stereotype rumors aimed at smearing the image of the DPRK [North Korea] and undermining the legitimate, friendly, and cooperative relations between sovereign states.”
The troop movement following the signing of a mutual defense agreement by Kim and Russian strongman Vladimir Putin during the latter’s visit to Pyongyang in July. The government of South Korea, which remains technically in a state of war with the North, has suggested that it would considering aiding the Ukrainian war effort in response to Kim’s involvement, elevating levels of global distress about the potential escalation of the war.
The Pyongyang state-run flagship Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Wednesday that Kim inspected unspecified “strategic missile bases” to ensure the “readiness for action of the strategic deterrent directly related with the security of the country, including the functions and capabilities of the elements of launch-related facilities.” North Korea regularly refers to its nuclear weapons as its “strategic deterrent.”
“As I have stressed on several occasions recently, the U.S. strategic nuclear means pose an ever-increasing threat to the security environment of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” Kim reportedly said during his visit, “and the prospective threats urgently demand that the DPRK bolster up its war deterrent definitely and take a thoroughgoing and strict counteraction posture of its nuclear forces, he said.”
Contrary to Kim’s claim, the U.S. government, under the auspices of outgoing President Joe Biden, has largely disregarded the escalation tensions between North and South Korea, save for monitoring the situation surrounding the Ukraine invasion. North Korea dramatically escalated its actions against Seoul this summer, launching hundreds of balloons carrying trash and feces into South Korea and, more recently, accusing South Korea of flying a drone into Pyongyang. The North Korean regime has offered no evidence for this allegation and Seoul has denied doing so.
The North Korean state nonetheless appears most concerned about the possibility of an American nuclear strike, if the pages of its propaganda outlets are an indication. On Tuesday, shortly before Kim Jong-un’s statements at the missile base, his sister and top official Kim Yo-jong published an angry screed in which she threatened to use nuclear weapons in response to reports of North Korean involvement in Ukraine.
“A military provocation against a nuclear weapons state may be led to horrible situation, unimaginable for politicians and military experts in any big or small country in the world with their normal thinking to experience,” Kim’s statement read. “So, there will be no such instance except one recently made by lunatics of the ROK [South Korea] and Ukraine.”
Kim disparaged both South Korea and Ukraine as “bad dogs bred by the U.S.”
The government of South Korea, which has diplomatically supported Ukraine against the Russian war effort, suggested on Tuesday that it would consider “phased measures” to counter the expansion of North Korean military influence into Europe.
“If the illegal military cooperation between North Korea and Russia continues, we will not stand by, but will respond firmly in collaboration with the international community,” South Korean Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo said on Tuesday.
“We would consider supplying weapons for defensive purposes as part of the step-by-step scenarios, and if it seems they are going too far, we might also consider offensive use,” he added.
Some in Ukraine have welcomed the potential cooperation and encouraged more action against North Korea. South Korean news outlets shared comments this week by a senior member of Ukraine’s Nazi-affiliated Azov Brigade in which the officer, Bohdan Krotevych, suggested South Korea invade the North while thousands of its troops were stationed in Ukraine as a means to end the technically active Korean War. Many in South Korea balked at the suggestion, given North Korea’s status as a nuclear power that regularly threatens to use those weapons.
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North Korean service members have arrived in Russia, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has claimed, adding, however, that Washington so far has no idea what their plans in the country are. Pyongyang previously rejected the accusation, while the Kremlin has pointed out the “contradictory information” on the issue.
Speaking to reporters in Rome on Wednesday, Austin said that “there is evidence of DPRK troops in Russia,” adding that “what exactly they’re doing is left to be seen.” According to the secretary, Washington is trying to obtain additional information about the alleged deployment.
However, he stressed that it would be a “serious issue” if North Korea intended “to participate in this war on Russia’s behalf.” Austin also would not say how many troops had allegedly arrived in the country, and where they were located...
Last week, Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky accused North Korea of having dispatched a military contingent to support Russian troops in the hostilities. On Monday, the same concerns were voiced by South Korea, which summoned the Russian ambassador to Seoul and “strongly called for the immediate withdrawal of North Korean troops and [to] stop relevant cooperation” with Pyongyang while threatening to “respond with every possible means” if this does not happen.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said that North Korea is Russia’s “close neighbor… we are developing relations in all areas.” He added that the cooperation between the two “is our sovereign right, and no one should be worried, because cooperation is not directed against third countries… We see a lot of contradictory information,” he said, referring to Seoul’s accusations and the Pentagon’s claims that it was unable to confirm them at the time.
North Korea has dismissed claims it has sent troops to Russia as “groundless and stereotype rumors,” adding that the accusations were aimed at “smearing the image of the DPRK and undermining the legitimate friendly and cooperative relations between sovereign states.”
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https://www.rt.com/news/606238-pentagon-north-korean-troops-russia/
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South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) director Cho Tae-yong told lawmakers on Wednesday that 3,000 North Korean troops are already in Russia, training and preparing for deployment against Ukraine.
The U.S. government confirmed for the first time that it has seen evidence of North Korean troops in Russia.
South Korean parliamentarians who attended the briefing with Cho said the North Korean troops have been split up between several Russian military bases for training, including the use of Russian drones. Russian instructors are reportedly somewhat frustrated by the language barrier and the North Koreans’ lack of familiarity with modern military tactics.
Cho’s report said the Russians are bringing in more interpreters to help with overcoming the language barrier. He said the North Korean troops are being paid about $2,000 per month each, which is much higher than typical wages in the harsh Communist country.
Meanwhile, the North Korean government is reportedly taking steps to “isolate” the family members of soldiers deployed to Russia, to keep them quiet. This was evidently necessary because rumors of the troop deployments are spreading through North Korea like wildfire, but both Pyongyang and Moscow are still officially denying that North Korean soldiers are in Russia.
Cho’s estimate of 3,000 troops already training in Russia is double the previous estimate offered by South Korean intelligence. Cho said North Korea plans to have 10,000 troops in Russia by the end of December.
Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Directorate, said on Tuesday that Russia plans to send its North Korean mercenaries to take back the Kursk region of Russia, which was invaded and occupied by Ukrainian troops in August.
Budanov said he expected the first North Korean forces to arrive in Kursk imminent, perhaps even as early as Wednesday.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Wednesday became one of the first U.S. officials to offer public support for South Korea’s claims.
Austin said the U.S. has seen “evidence that there are DPRK troops in Russia.”
“What exactly they are doing? Left to be seen. These are things that we need to sort out,” he said.
Austin added that if North Korean soldiers join the war against Ukraine on Russia’s side, it would be a “very, very serious issue.”
South Korean officials have threatened to respond if Russia deploys North Koreans on the battlefield. The response could include sending weapons to Ukraine.
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By John Nolte 23 Oct 2024
The far-left New York Times found one “witness” to vouch that Kamala Harris worked at a McDonald’s and hid the fact this so-called witness also happens to be a Harris campaign surrogate.
Over the weekend, the Times — a left-wing propaganda outlet that spreads fascism, conspiracy theories, and antisemitism — wrote an absurd defense of Kamala’s claim she worked at a McDonald’s during the summer of 1983. I’ll get to the absurdities in a bit, but the most convincing part of the defense (that, as I’ll also explain, isn’t very convincing) was Kamala’s one witness. Here’s how the Times presented this witness:
But The New York Times interviewed a friend who had known Ms. Harris as a teenager and remained in touch with the family for years afterward. Wanda Kagan, a close friend of Ms. Harris’s when they attended high school together in Montreal, said she recalled Ms. Harris having worked at McDonald’s around that time.
Answering questions by email, Ms. Kagan said that Ms. Harris’s mother, who died in 2009, had told Ms. Kagan about the summer job years ago. Ms. Kagan said she herself had also worked at one of the fast-food chain’s many franchises in those years. [emphasis added]
The bold part is a bald-faced lie according to the Washington Free Beacon, the outlet that originally broke this story two months ago.
You see, the Times presents Kagan this way — “a close friend of Ms. Harris’s when they attended high school together,” which is deliberately misleading. The Times wants you to believe that the only time Kagan and Kamala were friends was all the way back in high school. In other words, why would someone from Kamala’s past with no agenda come out of the blue after 40 years and vouch for her if it isn’t true?
But.
Here’s what the Free Beacon found:
What the Times did not tell its readers is that Kagan is a full-throated Harris supporter who has appeared alongside the vice president at several campaign events. She also served as a surrogate for her old friend on television during the Democratic National Convention.
Kagan even appeared on MSNBC on behalf of Harris.
Why would the Times lie like that?
I’ll tell you why… The Times knows Kamala is lying about this summer job and is doing everything in its power to run out the clock for her until Election Day. The Times also know that if the truth about Kagan is reported, her story is way less convincing.
Even at face value, Kagan’s story isn’t convincing, and let me tell you why.
Believe it or not, I also worked at a McDonald’s in 1983, the same year Kamala “Stolen McValor” Harris didn’t, and even though it’s been 41 years, to verify this fact, I could easily name a dozen people off the top of my head who could vouch for me — people I worked with at the time, friends who knew I worked there.
But look at the shit the gerbils at the Times are willing to eat for Word Salad Kammy:
The campaign did not make any of Ms. Harris’s friends or family members available for interviews about their recollections of her experience there.
There is no excuse for the Harris campaign no producing witnesses. None. Believe me, if there were some, the would be made very available. And still the Times is so unethical and partisan it’s willing to carry this water and even go so far as to compare Trump’s perfectly reasonable skepticism to birtherism.
It gets worse… Get a load of this…
As with the birtherism conspiracy theory, this one puts Ms. Harris and her aides in something of a bind. Tracking down pay stubs or other documentation from so long ago would be a difficult task for almost anyone. McDonald’s corporate representatives have ignored media requests for corroborating information. And trying to knock down Mr. Trump’s claims could also breathe life into them. [emphasis mine]
Again, the bold part is a lie. Kamala Harris is the vice president of the United States. All she has to do is call the IRS or the Social Security Administration for the documentation. Even if Kamala made so little she didn’t file a tax return, McDonald’s would have paid Social Security taxes on her. One phone call and this is resolved.
It’s really something watching a once-respected outlet like the New York Times debase itself like this.
Listen, unlike the New York Times I don’t hide behind a phony shield of objectivity. I’m a partisan. Everyone knows who I support and what I believe, but I’m going to tell you something…
All things being the same but it’s Trump claiming he worked at McDonald’s instead of Kamala… If Trump asked me to write this story, there’s no way. You want me to defend your claim you worked at McDonald’s based on the word of a campaign surrogate? No. You want me to attack your opponent as a liar when you refuse to give me the names of a few people who know you worked there? No. Give me the Social Security information and I’ll back you 100 percent, but you are not going to make a fool of me. Oh, and there’s no way in hell I will hide the fact your only witness is a campaign surrogate.
It’s bad enough that these fake journalists are biased, but they have no pride in their work or in themselves. You have to be a craven, amoral gerbil to put your byline on something this dishonest.
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The McDonald’s outlet where former President Donald Trump worked the cooker and served customers Sunday has been flooded with fake bad reviews on Yelp.
Such has been the determinedly negative response that Yelp, where customers rate local businesses online, has temporarily disabled the review function for the restaurant in Feasterville-Trevose, Pennsylvania.
Trump visited the site and undertook a range of tasks from cooking to drive-through service with the public during his shift, as Breitbart News reported.
The campaign stop served to build on allegations Vice President Kamala Harris never worked at a McDonald’s during her college career as she apparently claimed on her resume.
McDonald’s released a statement Sunday affirming it has no record of Harris ever working there; the fast-food company also noted, “…we and our franchises don’t have records for all positions dating back to the 80s….”
Yelp has been quick in the days since to make clear its position on the fake reviews that followed Trump’s efforts.
“While we don’t take a stand one way or the other when it comes to this incident, we’ve temporarily disabled the posting of content to this page as we work to investigate whether the content you see here reflects actual consumer experiences rather than the recent events,” a message on Yelp said to users.
Before Yelp disabled the review function, scores were posted to the site, ranging from comical to more serious political statements about the stunt, the Independent notes.
Yelp policy is to flag and temporarily disable reviews on businesses that have received increased public attention.
In 2023, there were 986 total alerts placed on business pages related to the business receiving public attention, the company said. It’s removed almost 50,000 reviews as a result of these alerts.
Most of McDonald’s locations are independently owned and operated, meaning although franchise owners have to agree to certain guidelines, they’re more or less free to invite whomever they want to run the drive-through.
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A group of Silicon Valley power brokers, led by Elon Musk, are using their wealth and influence to help put Donald Trump back in the White House in 2024.
The New York Times reports that a new guard of Republican donors has emerged from the tech industry, aiming to leverage their fortunes and media platforms to secure another term for former President Donald Trump. This group, which includes Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and David Sacks, among others, represents an ascendant class of GOP benefactors who operate differently from traditional funders.
With seemingly limitless financial resources and their own media profiles, these tech moguls are making a public show of support for Trump, sometimes even announcing donations on social media. Driven by self-interest and a reactionary worldview, they are pouring money into the Trump campaign and allied super PACs.
Musk, who was initially reluctant to publicly endorse Trump, has taken on an especially active role. He is secretly building his own super PAC, America PAC, through which he plans to provide at least $140 million to fund a nationwide canvassing operation aimed at turning out up to 1 million Trump voters in key swing states.
Other members of this new donor class include Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, venture capitalists who were previously Democrats but have soured on the party over antitrust enforcement and proposed taxes on the wealthy. Crypto entrepreneurs like the Winklevoss twins have also joined the Trump train as the industry faces increasing regulatory scrutiny. Peter Thiel and his network of protégés and associates, like Blake Masters, remain some of Trump’s strongest backers in Silicon Valley.
These new donors are different from the traditional donor class who historically bankrolled the GOP. Figures like Musk and Thiel see themselves as visionary founders on a mission to reshape the world. With their companies transcending borders, they view themselves as bigger than any political party. Supporting Trump is a means to an end – creating an environment where they can pursue their dreams of space travel, brain-computer interfaces, and unregulated digital currencies with minimal government interference.
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President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’s parole pipeline has welcomed nearly 1.4 million migrants into American cities and towns — surpassing the populations of eight states.
On Tuesday, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas released figures for September showing that Biden and Harris’s parole pipeline is continuing to release tens of thousands of migrants into the U.S. interior via the southern border and commercial flights every month.
From January 2023 through September 2024, almost 1.4 million migrants were released into American communities through the “CBP One” migrant mobile app at the border and the CHNV program, which allows migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to fly to the U.S.
The number of migrants welcomed to the U.S. through Biden and Harris’s parole pipeline now surpasses the populations of Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Delaware, Rhode Island, and Montana.
Since CBP One’s inception, the Biden-Harris administration has brought more than 852,000 migrants to the U.S. Those arriving via the app are primarily from Venezuela, Cuba, Mexico, and Haiti. The app allows migrants to schedule appointments at the border for their release, with parole, into the U.S. interior.
Likewise, the CHNV program — which was shut down for weeks by DHS due to widespread fraud — has brought more than 531,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaruagans, and Venezuelans to American towns.
Harris, if elected president next month, is hoping to codify the parole pipeline into federal law to ensure a constant stream of migrants arriving in the U.S. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump and Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) have vowed to shut down the parole pipeline.
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Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday during a surprise visit to Ukraine announced $400 million in U.S. military aid to Kiev — the second approximately $400 million aid package sent within one week.
Austin told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky he was “honored” to be back for his fourth visit to Ukraine.
“Under President Biden’s leadership, the United States remains committed to keeping up this support. And so, I’m pleased to announce today the commitment of a $400 million presidential drawdown package to provide your forces with additional munitions, armored vehicles, and anti-tank weapons,” he told the Ukrainian president.
Austin said while the “focus on Ukraine’s immediate needs goes on,” the U.S. was also committed to supporting Ukraine as outlined in a bilateral security agreement he and President Joe Biden signed in July.
Just six days ago, the White House announced a package of military support of $425 million, after Biden spoke to Zelensky via phone.
Biden was planning to host a meeting in October of countries supporting Ukraine, but cancelled in advance of Hurricane Milton to help coordinate a response from Washington, after being in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, during Hurricane Helene. The meeting will now take place virtually in November, which sets up another opportunity for Biden to announce more aid.
The Biden-Harris administration’s aid to Ukraine was announced the same day former President Donald Trump visited North Carolina, where residents are still recovering from the deadliest hurricane in the continental United States since Hurricane Katrina.
Zelensky thanked the “American people, President Biden and bipartisan support.”
“We are very thankful for all the support from the United States that’s been done for Ukraine from the very beginning of this war,” he said.
Zelensky added, “And by the way, thanks for the last package supporting our soldiers,” saying that he and Biden “discussed a lot of important things about victory plan, about preparing for winter with our air defense capabilities, how to strengthen all this.”
“And we discussed also some details [about] next packages which are crucial for us, especially now this challenging winter period,” he said. “So — and we discuss all this with the president. I want to continue. Maybe we will have some results — no, I’m sure that we will have some important results.”
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Filmmaker Spike Lee said on Monday on MSNBC’s “The Beat” that if former President Donald Trump wins the election, it will be a “doomsday.”
Host Ari Melber said, “What does your work have to say about the choice in this election over these next 15 days?”
Lee said, “Well, I’m voting my sister, the vice president. She used the language, the word forward, not backwards. This guy, I don’t call him by his name, I say Agent Orange and the stuff that he is saying, he’s not being shy, he is saying exactly what he wants to do if he becomes the next President of the United States. He said there should be no more elections.”
He continued, “I don’t know how people can be true Americans and just go along with that path, it would be a doomsday. I’m not the only one that says this possibly could be the most important presidential election in history of this country. That’s how dire this is. It’s not a joke, it’s not funny, this is like life and death.”
Lee added, “So I urge people not likely to vote get with the program now. Let’s move this country forward, forward, not backwards.”
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The producer of the hit movie Sound of Freedom has blasted Kamala Harris and Joe Biden over their failed border policies that have resulted in untold numbers of missing children, saying “Kamala and Biden are the biggest human traffickers in history.”
Sound of Freedom producer Eduardo Verástegui appeared alongside former President Donald Trump at an event Tuesday for Latino American voters.
“There’s more than 300,000 children that came in through the border, they released them, and we don’t know where they are. Kamala, where are the children?” he said.
“Kamala and Biden are the biggest human traffickers in history.”
Verástegui also thanked Trump for hosting a screening of Sound of Freedom last year at his club in Bedminster, New Jersey, to raise awareness of the plight of children kidnapped into sex slavery.
“Thank you for putting the children first,” he said.
A new report found that child-sex trafficking has tripled under Kamala Harris’ watch, due in large part to her open-border policies that have allowed criminal activities to flourish along the border.
Trump spotlighted the child trafficking crisis during a September press conference in California.
“Under this administration, 325,000 migrant children are missing,” Trump said. “Take the biggest stadium in California and you can fill it up five or six times. Those are all missing children. Many of them are dead. Many of them are sex slaves and slaves of [a] different nature.”
“There could be no bigger scandal than this,” he said.
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Senate Democrats attacked McDonald’s on Tuesday for price gouging while it continues to “grow” profits and serve the needs of customers.
The letter, written by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Bob Casey (D-PA), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), underscores the success of former President Donald Trump’s campaign stop on Sunday when he worked a McDonald’s drive-thru window in Pennsylvania.
Images and video of the former president helping customers to McDonald’s finest foods nearly broke the internet. Many of Trump’s critics heralded the gesture as great retail politics and a stroke of political genius.
Senate Democrats, however, appeared very upset by Trump’s success.
In a letter addressed to McDonald’s Chief Executive Officer Chris Kempczinski, the senators sought information about the fast-food restaurant’s “increases in fast food prices over the last several years and seeking information regarding McDonald’s pricing decisions.”
The letter made no mention of the policies implemented by the Biden-Harris administration that fueled inflation.
The Senators wrote:
While McDonald’s is not the only fast food restaurant that has increased prices significantly in recent years, its dominant market position as the largest fast food chain in the United States has an outsize impact on American consumers. While working families are trying to make ends meet, McDonald’s and its corporate counterparts have continued to grow their profits.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, fast food prices have consistently outpaced inflation,1 squeezing consumers who for decades were able to rely on restaurants like McDonald’s for a meal at a fair price. However, Americans are now leaving fast food establishments and are increasingly choosing to spend their food dollars on at-home consumption. Since 2020, the Consumer Price Index has increased by 20 percent, but McDonald’s may have increased its menu prices for certain items by substantially more. A recent analysis of six popular fast food chains (McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Chick-fil-A, In-N-Out Burger, Burger King, and Jack in the Box) found that 27 out of 30 menu items experienced price increases that outpaced inflation.
Corporate profits must not come at the expense of people’s ability to put food on the table. As we seek to investigate and understand the increased consumer costs in the economy, we hope McDonald’s will help us to understand why its prices have risen so high.
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The top commander of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) in Iraq has been killed, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announced on Tuesday.
The announcement confirms a statement on the killing of Jassim Al-Mazrouei, also known as Abu Abdul Qader, issued by the US Central Command (CENTCOM) late last week.
In a post on X, the prime minister wrote, “I congratulate our honorable people on the killing of the so-called (Wali of Iraq) in the terrorist organization IS, and (8) of the organization’s senior leaders…”
Al-Sudani highlighted that the “exceptional operation” was carried out by the country’s counter terrorism and national security services under the supervision of the Joint Operations Command (JOC) in the Hamrin Mountains in northeastern Iraq.
The PM praised the security forces, stressing “There is no place for terrorists in Iraq. We will pursue them to their hideouts and eliminate them until the land of Iraq is cleansed of them and their heinous acts.”
The JOC said that the operation to eliminate the IS commanders was supported by technical assistance and intelligence from ‘Global Coalition’ forces.
Iraqi forces intensified their operations against IS in 2024. In an interview with Bloomberg last month, al-Sudani claimed that the Middle Eastern nation no longer needs US troops on its territory, because “Iraq in 2024 is not the same as Iraq in 2014” and added that “We have moved on from wars to stability.”
In September, Iraq and the US issued a joint statement saying Washington would conclude the American-led international mission in Iraq over the next 12 months. The Pentagon, however, later clarified that while the US mission is changing, it will not constitute a full withdrawal.
The US invaded Iraq in 2003 without UN sanction, claiming it possessed weapons of mass destruction – a claim later found to be false. The US ‘shock and awe’ bombing campaign devastated Iraq and toppled Saddam Hussein’s government, leaving the country in chaos and creating fertile ground for extremist groups such as IS.
Following the spread of IS across parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014, US troops returned to the country. Coalition military operations wrapped up in 2021, leaving approximately 2,500 American troops in place.
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https://www.rt.com/news/606123-islamic-state-commander-iraq-eliminated/
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