News of the World

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Judge Unseals Mar-a-Lago Raid Warrant, Reveals Why FBI Is Investigating Trump

The seven-page warrant that authorized the FBI to search former President Donald Trump’s property earlier this week was unsealed Friday, and it shows that Trump is under federal investigation for obstruction of justice and other alleged violations.

Trump is under investigation for alleged violations of 18 USC 2071—concealment, removal, or mutilation; 18 USC 793 of the Espionage Act—gathering, transmitting, or losing defense information; and 18 USC 1519—destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations, according to the warrant, which was unsealed by Judge Bruce Reinhart on Friday afternoon. A conviction under these statutes can lead to imprisonment or fines.

The search and seizure warrant shows FBI agents targeted “the ’45 Office,’ all storage rooms, and all other rooms or areas within the premises used or available to be used by FPOTUS (former president of the United States) and his staff and in which boxes or documents could be stored, including all structures or buildings on the estate.”

Agents were granted authority to seize “all physical documents and records constituting evidence, contraband, fruits of crime, or other items illegally possessed,” according to the warrant. That includes documents with classification markings and presidential records that were drafted between Jan. 20, 2017, and Jan. 20, 2021—when Trump was in office.

Trump’s lawyers have argued that the former president used his authority as president to declassify the material before he departed office in early 2021.

And on Friday, Trump posted that the documents the FBI alleged seized were “all declassified” and agents “they could have had [the documents] anytime they wanted without playing politics and breaking into Mar-a-Lago.” He added, “It was in secured storage, with an additional lock put on as per their request.”

This just leaves me asking myself a single question: why isn't Hillary Clinton behind bars?
She definitely kept lots of emails in private servers and manipulated the evidence aka destroying it.

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Rand Paul Says US Espionage Act Should Be Abolished After Trump Raid

A longtime critic of concentrated state power, Paul argued on Twitter that the Espionage Act of 1917 has long “been abused” and was used to jail World War I dissenters.
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The Espionage Act was passed in June 1917 under President Woodrow Wilson’s administration, coming just weeks after the United States entered World War I. The act forbade relaying or copying information relating to defense with the intention of causing damage to the United States or to benefit other foreign nations.

Hornberger’s 2019 article argued that the Espionage Act was used to secure the criminal indictment of Julian Assange, who is currently detained in the United Kingdom and fighting an extradition order to the United States.

‘It’s About Intimidation’: Roger Stone Responds to FBI Raid After Seizure of Trump Clemency Letter

Roger Stone, a longtime ally of Donald Trump, said he found it “a little perplexing” that the former president’s grant of clemency for him topped the list of Mar-a-Lago materials FBI agents seized.

The clemency letter that Trump issued in December 2020 was among around 20 boxes of items the agents removed during a raid of Trump’s Florida residence on Aug. 8, along with documents marked as classified, top secret, and confidential, although Trump said that the documents were “all declassified.”
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Trump issued the pardon in December 2020 to Stone as his term as the 45th U.S. president was nearing the end, saying that the then-68-year-old had “numerous medical conditions” and had been “treated very unfairly” due to “prosecutorial misconduct.” 

Stone, who served briefly as a Trump campaign adviser in 2015, was arrested in January 2019 in connection with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into whether the Trump campaign had colluded with Russia in influencing the 2016 presidential election.

Mueller’s report in April 2019 stated there was no evidence Trump or his associates had knowingly conspired with Russia.

Stone acknowledged that he had made misstatements to Congress under oath but maintained that they were “all innocuous” and “immaterial.”

Let's recall how it's been impossible for Democrats o prove any connection with Russia and how the Steele dossier was nothing but a forgery.

Cartel Imposes Curfew on Border City Near California as US Embassy Issues Alert

The Jalisco New Generation Cartel threatened widespread violence over the weekend in Baja California, prompting warnings from the U.S. Embassy in Mexico.

A message reportedly sent out from the cartel threatened violence to urge the government to free captured members.

“Be warned. As of Friday at 10 p.m. through Sunday at 3 a.m. we’re going to create mayhem so the [expletive] government frees our people. We’re the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, we don’t want to hurt good people but it’s best they don’t go outside, we’re going to attack anyone we see on the streets on these days,” the cartel said, according to KSWB-TV and other outlets.

The U.S. Department of State, meanwhile, issued warnings to Americans in Baja California, including Tijuana. They said that U.S. government employees should shelter in place starting Friday. The shelter-in-place order ended on Sunday afternoon, according to the U.S. Embassy website.

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Sir Salman Rushdie attack suspect 'only read two pages' of Satanic Verses

Hadi Matar, 24, has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from the assault at an event in New York last week.

In an interview with the New York Post from jail, Mr Matar said Sir Salman was "someone who attacked Islam".

But he did not confirm that his alleged actions were driven by a fatwa issued by Iran in the 1980s.

In a court appearance on Thursday, a judge ordered Mr Matar be held without bail at Chautauqua County Jail, in New York state, after the accused entered a not guilty plea to second-degree attempted murder and assault charges.

Sir Salman published his famous and controversial novel The Satanic Verses in 1988, sparking outrage among some Muslims, who considered its content to be blasphemous.

The book's release prompted the Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to issue a fatwa calling for the writer's death in 1989.
...
Mr Matar also told the newspaper he was "surprised" to hear that Sir Salman had survived the attack.

So when Iranian authorities claim they did not issue the order to  kill Sir Salman, they were telling us the truth... up to some point.  They just forgot to mention how the order had been given decades ago.

Ray Epps Told FBI He Expected Bomb Attack Near the Capitol
on Jan. 6, 2021, Documents Show

Epps admitted to trespassing, directing protesters to go into the Capitol. 'I wish I could take that back,' he told agents.

When James Ray Epps Sr. first called the FBI regarding his January 2021 activities in Washington, he didn’t mention how he implored protesters in several locations to go inside the U.S. Capitol, but he later told an agent that he expected that a bomb would detonate on a side street near the building.
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Despite the admissions, the FBI never arrested Epps, and he wasn’t charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with any Jan. 6, 2021, crimes. The nonaction has fueled theories that he might have been working for the FBI or another agency.

Epps, 61, has repeatedly denied those suggestions through his attorney.

Epps recently sold his house and land in Queen Creek, Arizona, because of threats and harassment and has moved to Colorado, he told The New York Times in July. According to online records, the Arizona property sold for $2.2 million on April 28.

Epps at one time was No. 16 on the FBI’s Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach most-wanted page. His entry was later scrubbed from the list without explanation. He’s among a handful of persons of interest to have their photos deleted from the FBI site.
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In an interview with FBI agents on March 3, 2021, Epps said he brought a first-aid kit in his backpack to Washington because he expected a terror attack.
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Epps told the agents that the possibility of violence weighed heavily on his mind and that he originally didn’t plan to travel to Washington. It was only when learning that his son, James Epps Jr., was going to the Trump rally that the senior Epps decided to go and keep an eye on his son, he said.
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The agents didn’t press Epps on what led him to believe there would be an explosion, nor did they ask about the two alleged pipe bombs found outside the Republican and Democratic party headquarters, each just blocks from the Capitol. The Republican National Committee pipe bomb was placed near the corner of the Capitol Hill Club facing a side street, similar to the description Epps offered.

The devices didn’t detonate, and the FBI hasn’t arrested anyone in those cases.

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Public Has Right to View Anonymous Voted Ballots Without Delay: Texas AG

The decision allows the public and members of the Texas Legislature to view and copy ballots cast anonymously without delay. Anonymous ballots are those with no identifiable information about the voter, or ballots with voter-identifying data redacted.

Paxton said in a statement that the opinion, issued on Aug. 17, offers a crucial new tool to fight election fraud, which he has made a cornerstone of his office.
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Paxton’s opinion said anonymous ballots are election records under the Election Code, and the Legislature has established procedures aimed at both preserving those records and granting public access to them.

The opinion replaces Texas Attorney General Opinion 505, established 34 years ago, making cast ballots confidential during a 22-month preservation period after an election.

Hans von Spakousky, an election law expert at the Heritage Foundation, applauded Paxton’s action, saying that the prior opinion didn’t make sense. The requirements of preserving election records for 22 months shouldn’t negate public inspections of the ballots.

District Attorney: 70 Percent of Suspects Released on $0 Bail Committed New Crimes

A Northern California district attorney revealed more than 70 percent of suspects who were released on $0 bail between 2020 and 2021 in his county went on to commit new crimes.
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In April 2020, the California Judicial Council implemented the Emergency Bail Schedule which mandated $0 bail for most people accused of crimes amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Yolo DA’s office tracked individuals who were released on $0 and who were rearrested.

The Judicial Council rescinded the order in June 2020, but several California countries kept the bail schedule in effect, including Yolo County. It wasn’t until June 1, 2021, that the county enacted a new bail schedule and ended the $0 bail protocol, according to Reisig’s office, which also released a report (pdf).
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“Recent criminal histories of the 595 individuals released on $0 bail in Yolo County were reviewed for any new arrests in the state of California,” said the office on Monday. “Of the 595 individuals released, 420 were rearrested (70.6 percent) and 123 (20 percent of the overall number or 29 percent of those rearrested) were arrested for a crime of violence.”

That includes crimes of murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, domestic violence, robbery, and carjacking.

Resig’s office noted that one person who was released on $0 bail in Yolo County was charged with murder in Sacramento County in connection to a July 2021 shooting.
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An analysis released by the New York Post earlier this month revealed that 10 criminals netted nearly 500 arrests since the start of New York state’s controversial bail reform laws went into effect in 2020.

Why would it ever be fair not to ask some crooks   to pay their bails?
Isn't it better to keep them behind bars? Citizens do appreciate it when cops  arrest them and keep them away from the general population.

Judge Permanently Blocks Biden Oil and Gas Leasing Pause in 13 States

A federal judge issued a permanent injunction on Aug. 18 against the Biden administration’s pause of new oil and gas leasing in federal lands.

The injunction applies to the 13 states that sued the Biden administration over the moratorium in March 2021, including Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia.

Terry Doughty, U.S. district judge for the Western District of Louisiana, ruled that the White House overreached with the ban.

President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14008 on Jan. 27, 2021, banning all new oil and natural gas leases on federal lands and offshore waters. The order didn’t cancel existing leases on federal lands and offshore waters. Leases on private lands also weren’t affected.
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Thirteen states, led by Louisiana, sued the Biden administration, saying the lease ban violated the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), which governs offshore oil and gas leases, and the Mineral Leasing Act (MLA), which governs onshore land leases on federal lands.
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Days before the permanent injunction, a lease known as Lease Sale 257, which is also under dispute in the multiple-state lawsuit, was revived by Biden through the so-called Inflation Reduction Act.

Judge: Government Hasn’t Proven Trump Search Warrant Affidavit Should Remain Sealed

U.S. government officials haven’t presented sufficient evidence to keep a key document related to the search warrant executed at former President Donald Trump’s home shielded from the public, a federal judge ruled on Aug. 22.

Officials have claimed that an affidavit that convinced U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart to approve the warrant needs extensive redactions to protect FBI agents and witnesses, as well as the ongoing investigation into Trump.

The redactions would leave “very little—nothing of substance,” Jay Bratt, chief of the Department of Justice’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, told Reinhart during a recent hearing.

The government has met its burden of showing that its interests outweigh public access to unsealing the entire affidavit, Reinhart said in the new ruling. But the government hasn’t yet sufficiently shown that portions of the document shouldn’t be made public.

Reinhart ordered the government to file additional evidence supporting keeping the entire document under seal along with proposed redactions to the affidavit, which is a document authored by an FBI agent that outlines why the government believes it needs a warrant. The warrant was served on Aug. 8 at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.

Now it's clear, according to the judge, that the DOJ hasn't proved that they truly need to hide every single detail concerning the search warrant affidavit. Will they let the public learn what has motivated them to treat former president Trump in a different way than, let's say, Hillary Clinton?

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Search Warrant Affidavit for Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Home Released

The document that convinced a judge to approve a search warrant for former President Donald Trump’s home in Florida was made public on Aug. 26 in a heavily redacted form.

Government officials filed a copy of the search warrant affidavit, authored by an FBI agent, on orders from U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart.
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Though Reinhart ordered the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to release a copy of the affidavit, he agreed with every single redaction proposed by the government.

In the copy released on Friday, an FBI agent whose name was withheld said the government’s investigation was triggered by a referral from the National Archives and Records Administration, which has said it identified classified records in the tranche of boxes transferred to it from Mar-a-Lago in January.

After the referral, and after the Biden administration decided to reject Trump’s privilege claims, agents reviewed the boxes from May 16 to May 18, according to the affidavit. They identified documents with classified markings in 14 of the 15 boxes, totaling 184 documents.

Some of the documents “appear to contain National Defense Information,” the agent said.

Authorities sought the warrant because they believe Trump violated several laws, including one governing the possession and transmittal of national defense information.

Trump has said he declassified many materials, including those at Mar-a-Lago. Portions of the affidavit addressed that matter, but they were redacted.
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Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, said the affidavit “exposes how there was significant evidence of President Trump’s cooperation, a major legal dispute about the legal status of the records believed to be in Trump’s possession, and that the FBI abusively raided his home anyway.”

‘Someone Wanted to Get Me Killed’: Rep. Greene Responds to Being ‘Swatted’ 2 Nights in a Row

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) was sound asleep in her Floyd County home when the doorbell and knocks on her front door woke her up. There were flashlights and people outside her bedroom window.
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At her front porch were five police officers with their guns ready. They told the confused congresswoman that they were responding to a report of a fatal shooting at her house—a man shot five times in a bathtub, with a woman and children still in the residence—indicating violence could escalate.

“I think you got swatted,” the police told Greene after they realized what was happening. Swatting, the act of using prank calls to send tactical police to the victim’s home, is a federal crime and has previously led to serious consequences.

“So what that is is someone wanted to get me killed,” Greene said on “Capitol Report,” a program on The Epoch Times’ sister outlet NTD. “They wanted to send the police to my house, into a situation where they thought there was murder happening, in hopes the police would kill me or someone else in my home.”

The incident, which occurred in the early hours of Aug. 24, would mark the first of two successive swatting attempts in 26 hours targeting Greene over her stance on transgender issues.
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Greene a week earlier had proposed a legislation called the “Protect Children’s Innocence Act,” which would make it a class C felony for anyone to knowingly perform medical treatment on a minor meant to alter their biological sex. The penalty under her bill is 10 to 25 years in prison with a maximum fine of $250,000.

US Suspends 26 Chinese Flights in Retaliation for CCP COVID Policy

The decision will affect flights to China from Los Angeles and New York City by Chinese carriers Xiamen, Air China, China Southern Airlines, and China Eastern Airlines.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced the move late on Aug. 25 and cited China’s recent cancellation of 26 flights by American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines as the reason for the move.

The CCP revised its policies for flights entering China on Aug. 7. Under the new rules, if 4 percent or more of the passengers of a flight to China test positive for COVID-19, the flight must be suspended. If 8 percent or more test positive, then Chinese authorities suspend two flights.

USDOT told Reuters that the United States repeatedly raised objections with the CCP and said the rules place “undue culpability on carriers” since travelers can test negative before boarding their flight only to later test positive upon arrival in China.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told Reuters the USDOT retaliation was “extremely irresponsible.” He added that China’s COVID-19 measures were fair and transparent.

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Man Attempted to Establish ISIS ‘Safe Haven’ in Southern Border State: DOJ

Herman Leyvoune Wilson, 45, from New Mexico was arrested Friday for allegedly attempting to provide material support to the ISIS terrorist organization and attempting to obstruct, influence, and impede at least one official proceeding.

He allegedly attempted to create an “Islamic State Center” to “teach ISIS ideology, provide training in tactical maneuvers and martial arts, and serve as a safe haven for individuals preparing to travel and fight on behalf of ISIS in the United States and abroad,” the DOJ said in a statement.

Wilson allegedly set up an online platform to spread the ISIS terrorist ideology, promote the would-be Islamic State Center, and recruit potential members for the center.

Two of Wilson’s associates, Kristopher Matthews and Jaylin Molina, were arrested in September 2020 for providing material support to ISIS.

The two pleaded guilty in Texas and were sentenced in July 2022 to 20 years and 18 years in prison respectively.

Matthews and Molina told the authorities that Wilson radicalized them to ISIS’s ideology.

After the arrest of Matthews and Molina, Wilson attempted to obstruct the probe by instructing the online platform’s members to shut down the platform, and destroy and conceal online records and documents, a court document shows.

Wilson faces up to 20 years in prison for each charge.

Banks, crypto lobby clash with lawmakers over Fed digital dollar

Attorney General Merrick Garland has until Sept. 5 to determine what, if any, new laws are necessary for the Fed to move forward with a digital dollar.

A bipartisan campaign is underway to push the Federal Reserve to launch a digital dollar — a crypto-friendly breakthrough that could transform payment systems, big banks and the virtual asset industry itself.
But as lawmakers and the Biden administration position the potential central bank digital currency as a key tool for maintaining the dollar’s global supremacy, banking and crypto powerbrokers are building a case for Washington to stay away.
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A central bank digital currency, or CBDC, would mimic cash in many respects — allowing consumers to conduct transactions using digital wallets that would likely be maintained by banks or other financial intermediaries. Those services promise to offer speedier, cheaper and more secure services than what’s now available through commercial banks, fintechs or crypto.
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Banks and credit union groups have flooded the Fed, Treasury and Commerce Departments with letters calling CBDCs risky, unnecessary or — depending on its design — a slow-moving torpedo that would drain deposits from commercial banks. Digital asset groups and stablecoin businesses are making similar arguments, claiming that a digital dollar would disrupt the development of blockchain-based payment systems that facilitate trades for popular cryptocurrencies.
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That problem could be pressure from overseas. At least 25 countries have launched or piloted their own central bank digital currencies — a list that includes China, Russia and Saudi Arabia, according to the Atlantic Council. Roughly one-in-five Chinese citizens had downloaded a digital wallet linked to a pilot version of the digital yuan as of the end of last year.
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Fed officials say they have no intention of moving forward without “clear support” from Congress and the executive branch. But they did release a discussion paper in January — prior to President Joe Biden’s executive order directing the exploration of a digital dollar — that offers clues on how the central bank could proceed should it receive the green light.
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Unlike money deposited in commercial checking or savings accounts, which banks can then lend out and invest, customers’ digital dollars would be in the equivalent of a black box; banks couldn’t touch it. Those holdings would be considered a liability of the Fed — similar to cash — which means they wouldn’t need deposit insurance.

The banking industry fears that this “intermediated” model could prompt customers to withdraw money from their checking and savings accounts and pour it into new digital wallets, eliminating funding that banks use to dole out mortgages, car loans and other credit products. A retail model where the Fed issued digital dollars directly to customers — bypassing banks entirely — could be even more dangerous.
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And even though the Fed’s outline included language to ensure customer privacy, there are concerns about surveillance and the potential to block digital transactions.

“The prospect of government surveillance of Americans’ individual financial transactions through a CBDC and Fed accounts raises serious privacy concerns, not to mention concerns about government control and politicization of loans, online payments, credit scores, tax compliance, federal contracts, monetary policy and the like,” said Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), who also sits on the Financial Services Committee.

Of course, emphasis is mine.

Texas Governor ‘Accelerates’ Busing of Illegal Immigrants to New York City

“Texas is filling the gaps left in [President Joe] Biden’s absence at our border,” the Republican governor wrote on social media. “We’ve made over 19,000 arrests, seized over 335.5 [million] lethal fentanyl doses, [and] sent over 7,400 migrants on buses to DC,” he added.

Two buses carrying about 100 illegal aliens, mostly young men with several women, arrived in New York City this weekend from the Texas border, according to a Fox News reporter.

In a statement released on Friday, Abbott’s office said Texas authorities have sent more than 7,400 illegal immigrants to the District of Columbia. Meanwhile, Abbott has sent a growing number of illegal immigrants to New York City—about 1,500—in the month of August.
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Since Biden took office in January 2021, around 4.9 million people have illegally crossed into the United States from Mexico, according to a report released last week.
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“In addition to Washington, D.C., New York City is the ideal destination for these migrants, who can receive the abundance of city services and housing that Mayor Eric Adams has boasted about within the sanctuary city,” Abbott told media outlets earlier in August.

Both Adams and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, both Democrats, have publicly complained about Abbott’s busing program and have called on the federal government to provide federal support, including National Guard deployments. Both have been denied by the Pentagon.

Feds Declare Emergency in 4 States After Oil Refinery Fire in Indiana

The fire on Aug. 24 knocked out the electrical power and cooling water systems at BP Whiting in Indiana, causing it to shut down and undergo assessment, Reuters previously reported.

The U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrations said the “unanticipated shutdown of the BP Whiting refinery” due to the fire has affected the supply of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel throughout the four Midwest states.

The declaration provides the resources to immediately transport gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel to the four states, which are facing or are anticipated to face shortages. Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin usually collectively receive up to 25 percent of their fuel from the BP Whiting refinery.

By executing the emergency declaration, motor carriers and drivers who are directly assisting the emergency in the affected states will be exempt from the federal regulation 49 CFR § 395.3 that limits property-carrying vehicles to a maximum driving time.

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Iran Tried to Capture US Drone Ship, Pentagon Says

The U.S. Navy has foiled an attempt by Iran to capture an unmanned U.S. drone ship in the Persian Gulf, U.S. military officials confirmed on Aug. 30.
The U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet late on Aug. 29 discovered that an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ship was towing a Navy Saildrone Explorer unmanned surface vessel (USV) to detain it. A coastal patrol boat, the USS Thunderbolt, immediately responded and the 5th Fleet launched an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter from Bahrain, U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
Actions taken by U.S. Naval forces resulted in the Iranian vessel disconnecting the towing line to the USV, according to the statement.
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The Iranian Guard’s Shahid Baziar warship attached a line to the Saildrone Explorer in the center of the Persian Gulf in international waters, said Cmdr. Timothy Hawkins, a 5th Fleet spokesman. The vessel then began towing the unmanned ship, which carries cameras, radars, and sensors for navigation and data collection, Hawkins said.
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Iranian state-run Tasnim News alleged that “many unmanned American vessels have been deployed to international waters” in recent weeks, saying they pose a danger to “international shipping lanes from Bahrain.” The website didn’t provide evidence for the claim.

California Grid Warns of ‘Flex Alerts,’ Suggests Residents Not to Charge Electric Cars

Californians were warned by the state’s grid operator that they might be asked not to charge electric vehicles in the coming days to prevent blackouts amid a regional heatwave—coming less than a week after state regulators voted to phase out new gas-powered vehicles in favor of electric cars by 2035.
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“During a Flex Alert, consumers are urged to reduce energy use from 4–9 p.m. when the system is most stressed because demand for electricity remains high and there is less solar energy available. The top three conservation actions are to set thermostats to 78 degrees or higher, avoid using large appliances and charging electric vehicles, and turn off unnecessary lights,” the ISO said.
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In recent years, the California grid operator has issued flex alerts and made similar statements calling on residents to hold off on charging electric cars.
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The unelected California Air Resources Board (CARB) last Friday voted unanimously to ban the sale of new gas-powered vehicles, other than some plug-in hybrids, by 2035 as it attempts to transition toward electric vehicles. The state also set targets to require 35 percent of new vehicles sold in the state to produce “zero emissions” by 2026 and said that by 2030, 68 percent of new vehicles need to do the same.

As part of the rule, California regulators will issue fines of up to $20,000 for every vehicle that doesn’t meet the production target by 2035, CARB Chairwoman Liane Randolph told the New York Times.
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While Randolph and others have said electric vehicles will go down, the data shows otherwise.

The average price of an electric vehicle in July 2022 was $62,893, up about 15 percent from $54,797 a year earlier, said Edmunds, a car pricing service.

 So how can you ask drivers to go green if that's too expensive and the electric grid is quite unreliable?

Russia Halts Gas Flows to Europe via Key Route, Germany Sees ‘No Cause for Alarm’

Russia halted gas supplies via a key European supply route on Aug. 31 citing maintenance issues, in a move that some European countries see as retaliation for backing Ukraine in the war and that sent prices on a wild ride intraday.

Russian state energy giant Gazprom stated that Nord Stream 1, the biggest pipeline carrying gas to its top customer, Germany, will be out for maintenance until Sept. 3.
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The pipeline’s operator, Nord Stream AG, confirmed on the morning of Aug. 31 that no gas was flowing via the Nord Stream 1 route.

The supply cut sent the price of gas in Europe surging by more than 5 percent on the London ICE exchange, with prices later retreating to trade down at about 7 percent by 7:30 a.m. EDT.

European countries have been racing to fill up their gas storage facilities ahead of winter in order to blunt the impact of reduced flows from Russia, with some analysts crediting the growing reserves cushion for the gas price rally fizzle.

The European Union also plans to intervene in energy markets to keep costs stable, a move that has also put downward pressure on prices in recent days.
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European gas prices have soared to record highs amid reduced supplies from Russia. Prior to the Aug. 31 shutdown, flows via Nord Stream 1 had been running at 20 percent capacity, with Moscow citing equipment problems.
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Gazprom said on Aug. 30 that it would suspend gas deliveries to France because of a payments dispute, which France’s energy minister called an excuse.

Firms Gave Newsom $1.6M in Contributions, Got $5B in California Contracts

The 30 firms—including Big Tech giants, some of the best-known banks in the United States, a select group of public utilities, and five health care titans—are the biggest winners among the more than 201,000 vendors that in 2021 received a total of $87.2 billion in payments from the state government headed by Newsom since 2019.
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The data made public on Aug. 31 by OpenTheBooks.com (OTB), the Illinois-based nonprofit that in 2021 filed more than 47,000 Freedom of Information/public records requests at all levels of government across the country...

All but 27 of the agencies responded, which enabled the nonprofit to publish on its website the 50th state government “checkbook,” along with most federal spending since 2001 and the spending of more than 15,000 municipal governments across the country.
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The biggest winner among the 30 firms is Anthem Blue Cross, which contributed a total of $69,305 to Newsom’s campaigns for governor and received just short of $845 million in payments from the state.
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Second on the list is another health industry giant, United Health Group, which made $120,900 in Newsom campaign contributions and received nearly $545 million in state payments.
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Third, with $13,026 in Newsom contributions, was Bank of America, which was the recipient of nearly $509 million in state money.
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The fourth firm among the top 30 is Granite Construction Co. Watsonville, California-based Granite sent $15,000 in campaign contributions to Newsom and received more than $393 million from the state government.

Fifth is Pacific Gas & Electric, the San Francisco-based public utility that contributed almost $124,000 to Newsom’s campaigns and was the recipient in 2021 of nearly $324 million in payments from the state of California.
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New York-based Citigroup contributed $171,250 to Newsom campaigns and received $264.7 million from California.

Invest in Gavin Newsom's campaigns and you'll become rich  in no time or so it seems.

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‘They Are Trying to Assassinate’: Bannon Accuses Biden
of Stirring Anti-Right Hatred After Home ‘Swatted’ Again

Former White House adviser Steve Bannon has accused President Joe Biden of stoking hatred after police descended on Bannon’s Washington home over a fake report of a gunman on the loose. The incident occurred shortly before Biden’s Thursday speech attacking MAGA Republicans.

Firefighters and police officers were sent to Bannon’s home on Sept. 1 evening, where he broadcasts his “War Room” radio program, DC’s Metropolitan Police Department told The Epoch Times. They left after finding no shots fired and no one hurt.

It was the second time Bannon has been a victim of swatting, a harassment tactic of calling the emergency police line with a false claim of criminal activity so as to dispatch a law enforcement team to a particular address. Such practices can be traumatizing for the targeted person and have turned fatal in the past.

“These are attempts to have the police kill me,” the 68-year-old, who was not home at the time, told The Epoch Times on Sept. 2. The previous hoax call in July prompted some 80 officers to swarm Bannon’s home, he said.

First Trump, then a GOP member, later on Marjorie Taylor Greene and now even Steve Bannon!
How many other GOP members or allies will be harassed one way or another?

White House, Big Tech colluded to censor ‘misinformation’: lawsuit

The Biden administration worked in tandem with social media giants like Facebook and Twitter to censor statements they deemed “misinformation” about topics including the COVID-19 pandemic, two Republican state attorneys general said Thursday as they pushed for the release of emails between top executive branch officials and Big Tech titans.

In a petition filed Wednesday in Louisiana federal court, state Attorney General Jeff Landry and his Missouri counterpart Eric Schmitt charged that “dozens of federal officials across at least eleven federal agencies” engaged in a “massive, sprawling federal ‘Censorship Enterprise,'” with the “intent and effect of pressuring social-media platforms to censor and suppress private speech that federal officials disfavor.”

The Biden administration has not been shy about leaning on social media companies to police their content. On July 15, 2021, then-White House press secretary Jen Psaki admitted her colleagues were “flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation.”
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The following day, Biden accused platforms like Facebook of “killing people” by allowing so-called “misinformation” to propagate unchecked.
...
Shortly after Biden’s comments, an email from an unidentified Facebook official to Surgeon General Vivek Murthy read in part: “I know our teams met today to better understand the scope of what the White House expects from us on misinformation going forward.”

Seven days later, on July 23, the same Facebook official proudly informed officials at the Department of Health and Human Services that the company was taking action against a group dubbed the “disinformation dozen” for their posts about COVID-19 vaccines.

Moderna Vaccine Trials Contained ‘Mostly Irrelevant Studies’ and ‘Deceptive Practices’: Veteran Pharma Analyst

Moderna’s internal documents regarding their COVID vaccine trials, obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request by Judicial Watch, show that most of their studies submitted for approval to the FDA were “irrelevant” and did not follow Good Laboratory Practices (GLP), according to a former pharma executive.

The 700 pages contain a portion of the formal Biologics Licensing Application (BLA) package that a manufacturer is required to submit to the FDA for approval.

Four hundred of these pages were on non-Spikevax products.
...
Moderna’s nonclinical program consisted of studies of “irrelevant” and unapproved mRNAs, which are completely different chemical entities from Spikevax, Latypova told The Epoch Times.

“Moderna claimed that the active substance mRNAs of SPIKEVAX does not need to be studied for toxicity and can be replaced with any other mRNA without further testing,” she said.

“The FDA did not push back on this preposterous claim. The company is claiming that the active drug substance of a novel medicine does not need to be tested for toxicity.”
...
Latypova has worked in more than 60 pharmaceutical companies, mainly focusing on creating and reviewing clinical trials, many of which were submitted to the FDA.

According to her research, Moderna skipped entire categories of safety and toxicology testing.

The FDA approval document released in January acknowledges that the toxicity test done on the correct mRNA (1273) is non-GLP.

GLP is a system for quality control to ensure consistency and reliability, as well as integrity for the tests.

So articles like the one posted above would have been targeted by Facebook and the rest of the Big Tech as well just for posting inconsistencies and denouncing bad scientific / pharmaceutical practices. All of this done on behalf of Joe Biden's administration.  

If any group wants people to trust any treatment they're offering, shouldn't they focus on transparency and submitting precise and up-to-date information to the corresponding authorities?

Plus, there's no ground breaking medication that won't cause side effects to patients at some point. We humans are fallible so we need to keep testing stuff till it's proven that it's safe for the average joe to use. Thus findings on flaws and possible side effects should be published in time to allow authorities and other groups to make wise decisions based on available data. If we can't rely on such data, how can they claim that they strongly believe in the scientific method at all?

[kyonides]

Black Lives Matter grassroots chapters sue global foundation over funds

A coalition of Black Lives Matter chapters has filed a lawsuit against the BLM Global Network Foundation, a non-profit organization that grew out of the protest movement, accusing the foundation of defrauding the local activist groups.

The complaint was filed on Thursday by BLM Grassroots, an entity made up of 26 BLM chapters in the US, UK and Canada.

The local organizers allege that the foundation, which has been a clearinghouse for donations to support BLM over the years, has fundraised off the work of the chapters, but mismanaged the funds and had shut local chapters out of decision making.

The grassroots group, which includes BLM chapters in Los Angeles, Michigan, Atlanta and Boston, also alleges that the foundation, which runs blacklivesmatter.com, has locked them out of the main BLM social media accounts.

And it alleges that the foundation isn’t abiding by a plan laid out by the BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors when she resigned last year to wind down the foundation and transition resources to BLM Grassroots.

“The assets that we built, the financial resources, the social media platforms and the name ‘Black Lives Matter’ have been taken from us and are under the control of consultants,” said Dr Melina Abdullah, the director of BLM Grassroots and a co-founder of the BLM Los Angeles chapter.

Some people might not like to hear this but whenever you've found a terribly corrupt organization, your best bet is to ditch it altogether and start a new project. Preferably with different goals.

Airport Support Staff Arrested
After Stealing Aircraft
and Threatening to Crash Into Walmart

A man has been arrested after he stole an aircraft and threatened to crash into a Walmart store in Tupelo, Mississippi, on Saturday.

Tupelo Police Chief John Quaka identified the suspect as 29-year-old Cory Wayne Patterson, who has been charged with grand larceny and making terroristic threats.

Patterson is a lineman in Tupelo Aviation, a fixed base operator (FBO) at the Tupelo Regional Airport, who provides full FBO services and fuels aircraft.

He has been with the company for 10 years and has access to aircraft, Quaka said.

He also has flight instructions, the authorities confirmed. However, Quaka said he is not believed to be a licensed pilot.
...
The police and fire department evacuated West Main Walmart and all the surrounding areas after receiving the threat.

 Haven't you noticed how often we read about some issues with the food chain and related stuff nowadays?
 I just hope we aren't facing some organized terrorist groups in the US and Canada.

US Maintains Trump-Era China Tariffs, While Review Continues

The U.S. government said that it will continue to impose tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods on Sept. 2, while continuing the statutory review of those tariffs initiated during the Trump administration.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said in a federal notice that the department received requests from more than four hundreds U.S. companies and interested parties this spring and summer to maintain the “Section 301” tariffs imposed on Chinese products in 2018 and 2019.
...
In response to the USTR’s decision, the Chinese communist regime’s official media Global Times published an article on Sept. 3. It said that the U.S. government has politicized the tariff issue, “treating it as a ‘leverage’ against China,” which has also caused inflation in the United States. The article claimed that the decision indicates the United States economy is “going downhill.”

Lawsuit Using Environmental Law Against Biden Immigration Policies Can Proceed: Judge

A District of Columbia federal judge did not dismiss a lawsuit that relies on the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to challenge Biden administration actions on immigration, marking an unmatched if still early success for the use of environmental law against illegal immigration.
...
The lawsuit pits immigration reformers, environmentalists, and ranchers against the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and the Department of State.
...
Smith says those border jumpers degrade the land, leaving behind trash or even buried drugs and guns.

“He [Smith] needs to bring a pistol at all times, even though he would prefer not to. However, he knows he is under threat of trouble from cartel members at all times when the border is not under control by law enforcement,” the suit continues.
...
It also refers to broader negative impacts of immigration-driven population growth, including urban sprawl, farmland loss, reduced biodiversity, and strain on water resources.
...
The surviving claims include challenges to State Department actions on refugee resettlement as well as other policy changes to refugee detention, fines, and related actions.

Notably, McFadden’s ruling did not dismiss a claim against Biden’s border wall policies.

Gazprom Piping Gas to Europe via Ukraine After Nord Stream Stoppage

Gazprom announced late Friday it had detected an oil leakage on equipment during Nord Stream 1 maintenance work and would not be able to resume flows. It set no timeframe for fixing the problem.

Siemens Energy, which normally services Nord Stream 1 turbines, said such a leak should not stop the pipeline from operating. It also said the Portovaya compressor station, where the leak was discovered, has other turbines to keep Nord Stream 1 operating.

 So is Russia pretending to be a good neighbor now?
I mean, Putin had Europe in his very hands once the so called oil leak had been reported. Why the sudden change now?  Why would it pump the gas through Ukraine? Does he think he has taken control over the Ukrainian pipelines already?

But what makes it totally confusing for political noobs like us is why isn't Gazprom pumping a lot more gas than the 42,7 million cubic meters of gas? Isn't that quite hypocritical?
I don't wanna even fathom how Putin will react once millions of Europeans might get close to death by (rapid) freezing  this upcoming winter.

[kyonides]

China Warns US to Stop Arms Sales, Military Interactions With Taiwan

China has warned the United States to cease its arms sales and military interactions with Taiwan after Washington agreed to sell anti-ship and air-to-air missiles worth billions of dollars to Taiwan.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, warned that China will “resolutely take legitimate and necessary countermeasures” in light of the recent U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.
...
The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said Saturday that it had formally informed Congress about the possible arms sale, which totals just over $1.1 billion.

It includes 100 Sidewinder anti-aircraft missiles and four tactical guidance units worth $85.6 million, 60 Harpoon anti-ship missiles and four Harpoon exercise missiles for $355 million, and a $665.4 million surveillance radar system.

The three contracts also include related military equipment, parts, as well as technical and logistic support services. This marks the sixth arms sale approved under the Biden administration, according to the DSCA.

IRS Official in Charge of 87,000 New Agents Played Key Role in Obama-Era Targeting Scandal

The Daily Signal first reported that IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig had appointed Nikole Flax, commissioner in charge of the IRS’ Large Business & International Division, to lead the establishment of the agency’s centralized office.

In 2014, Flax was among seven IRS employees who said their computers had crashed, making it impossible for them to provide information sought by the House Ways and Means Committee in investigating the agency’s targeting of tea party and other conservative groups.

Flax made 31 visits to the Obama White House from July 2010 through May 2013.
...
In an email sent May 8, 2013, Lois Lerner, head of the IRS’ tax-exempt organizations unit when the scandal erupted, told Flax that she received a call about working with the Justice Department to pursue certain political organizations that “lied” on IRS forms.

Lerner was the central figure of the Obama administration’s IRS targeting scandal. She said her computer also crashed.

Lerner invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself in testimony before the House Oversight and Reform Committee. After being placed on paid administrative leave, she retired later in 2013.

The IRS didn’t respond directly to the concerns raised by Flax’s background. Instead, the agency referred The Daily Signal to Rettig’s memo to staff announcing that Flax would run a new “centralized office” to implement elements of the tax and spending legislation that Democrats dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act. The package, signed into law by President Joe Biden, provides $80 billion for the IRS to add almost 87,000 new agents.

Despite the computer crash during the congressional investigation of IRS targeting, Rettig said that Flax would work with Congress and others in her new role leading the effort.
...
Flax became director of the IRS Large Business & International Division in 2021. Previously, she had been deputy commissioner for the division since 2017.

Flax also is a former chief of staff to IRS Commissioner Steve Miller and was assistant deputy IRS commissioner for services and enforcement.

Gov. Gavin Newsom Signs Fast Food Bill Decried as ‘California Food Tax’

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday announced that he signed legislation targeting some fast food franchises to lift minimum wages to $22 per hour and change working conditions. Opponents have described the bill as “hypocritical” and “ill-considered.”

The bill will create a 10-member Fast Food Council appointed by Newsom, a Democrat, and other state lawmakers.
...
"I’m proud to sign this legislation on Labor Day when we pay tribute to the workers who keep our state running as we build a stronger, more inclusive economy for all Californians.”
...
The council members who are bureaucrats, fast food restaurant employees, franchisees, and franchisors will be appointed by the governor. The state assembly speaker and Senate Rules Committee speaker will each appoint one member as an advocate for fast food restaurant employees, according to the legislation.

According to the bill, the state-appointed council will establish minimum standards on wages, working hours, and other working conditions for workers at fast food restaurants that have “100 or more establishments nationally that share a common brand, or that are characterized by standardized options for decor, marketing, packaging, products, and services.”
...
CRA also decried the signing of the bill while inflation in the United States is at record high levels, saying that consumers and small business owners will pay a 20 percent increase “to fund the outsourcing of the legislature’s duties to union-led bureaucracy.”

One Suspect in Saskatchewan Stabbing Rampage Found Dead, Brother Still at Large

Damien Sanderson, one of the two men wanted in connection to the stabbing rampage in Saskatchewan, has been found dead.

The body of the 31-year-old was discovered outdoors in a grassy area on the James Smith Cree Nation, the RCMP told reporters at a press conference in Regina on Sept. 5.
...
The other suspect, Myles Sanderson, 30, is still at large. Blackmore confirmed that the two are brothers.

“Myles Sanderson is facing three counts of first degree murder and is wanted,” said Blackmore, adding that he has a history of criminal record involving persons and property crimes. “We consider him armed and dangerous.”
...
Damien Sanderson’s death brings the count of the tragedy to 11 deceased, 19 injured, and 13 crime scenes, Blackmore confirmed.
...
Blackmore said previously that police believe some of the victims were targeted and others were randomly attacked. Police declined to provide details in order to preserve the integrity of the investigation.