News of the World
09-15-2024, 06:01 AM
USA
LATIN AMERICA
Kamala's First Solo Interview with ABC
Quote:Vice President Kamala Harris sat down with an ABC affiliate for her first solo interview Friday, choosing the same network that got her through this week’s slanted presidential debate — but still managed to stumble through softball questions.
She answered five questions from Action News 6 ABC, a local affiliate of ABC News, in the interview that came just days after the moderators in the ABC debate with Donald Trump assisted her by providing fact checks on the former president but not her.
One of the ABC moderators for the debate, Linsey Davis, is a member of Harris’ sorority and Dana Walden, a Disney executive whose portfolio includes ABC, is one of the vice president’s close friends.
Action News 6 ABC anchor Brian Taff asked Harris, 59, what she would specifically do to bring down prices as president.
“Well, I’ll start with this. I grew up as a middle class kid. My mother raised my sister and me. She worked very hard,” she began, before going on about her neighborhood where people “were proud of their lawn.”
“We as Americans have beautiful character. We have ambitions and aspirations and dreams. But not everyone necessarily has access to the resources that can help them fuel those dreams and ambitions,” Harris went on.
She did not say how she would bring prices down but did highlight her proposed policy to give a $25,000 handout to new homeowners and giving tax breaks to new small businesses.
Harris also said she is “obviously not Joe Biden” because she offers an “opportunity economy” and “a new generation of leadership.”
“So, for example, thinking about developing and creating an opportunity economy where it’s about investing in areas that really need a lot of work,” she said, seemingly looking to find words.
The veep said she was not going take “anyone’s guns away” and that she supports the Second Amendment, but will ban “assault weapons” and “universal background checks.”
“They’re literally tools of war,” Harris said.
On what she thinks Trump’s appeal is to voters, Harris again took a few sentences to get to the core of the question.
“I, uh, based on experience and, uh, and, a lived experience know in my heart, I know in my soul, I know that the vast majority of Americans have in common so much more than what separates us,” she said.
“And I also believe that I am accurate in knowing that most Americans want a leader who brings us together as Americans and not someone who professes to be a leader who is trying to have us point our fingers at each other,” she said of Trump, arguing voters want someone with “common sense.”
“I think people are more willing now in light of the hate and division that we see coming out of Donald Trump to say, ‘Hey, let’s put country first.'”
Taff finally asked Harris if there was anything she wanted voters to know about her.
“I don’t know. I mean, probably it’s not very different from anybody watching right now. I love my family, um, one of my favorite things that I lately have not been able to do is Sunday family dinner. I love to cook. I have incredible friends,” Harris said.
“I have a career that really, and I said it the other day, you know, as a career prosecutor, I never asked a victim of crime where they were a Republican or a Democrat. The only thing I ever asked them was, ‘Are you OK?'” she said, arguing she thinks most Americans want that approach.
California Offering Cellphones to Illegal Aliens?
Quote:The sanctuary state of California may soon offer discounted cellphone service to low-income foreign nationals who do not have Social Security Numbers (SSNs), including illegal aliens.
A proposal before the California Public Utilities Commission would open up the state’s “LifeLine” program, which subsidizes phone bills for low-income Californians, to residents who do not have SSNs, including illegal aliens.
“… the California Universal LifeLine Telephone Service Program (California LifeLine) should extend eligibility to Californians without a Social Security Number (SSN). This decision establishes a process for Californians without an SSN to enroll in California LifeLine,” the proposal reads.
The move would come just after Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) vetoed legislation that would have used state taxpayer money to help illegal aliens buy homes in California.
Last year, though, Newsom expanded state taxpayer-funded health insurance policies to illegal aliens residing in California — becoming the first state in the nation to do so. About 1.2 million illegal aliens are expected to eventually be using subsidized health insurance.
Today, about 4.7 million illegal aliens and their United States-born children reside in California.
Illegal Alien Murders Family in New York
Quote:An illegal alien is accused of murdering a family of four in Irondequoit, New York, on August 31 as citizens suffer under President Joe Biden’s open border policies.
A native of the Dominican Republic, 34-year-old Julio Cesar Pimentel Soriano, was taken into custody on Saturday and charged with four counts of first-degree murder, the Democrat and Chronicle reported on Friday.
The outlet continued:
Fraime Ubaldo, 30, Marangely Moreno-Santiago, 26, and the pair’s two children — Evangeline Ubaldo-Moreno, 4, and Sebastian Ubaldo-Moreno, 2 — were all killed inside the family’s home at 329 Knapp St. Emergency responders were called to the home around 5:20 a.m. on Aug. 31 to battle a fire. Multiple fires were set around the home, which were extinguished by Irondequoit firefighters who then found the four bodies inside. Police said the fires were an apparent attempt to cover up the killings.
Authorities who are still investigating the case have not disclosed the family’s manner of death but said the individuals did not die as a result of the blaze:
In a social media post on Friday, the Irondequoit Police Department announced the arrest and detailed the suspect’s background.
Soriano is allegedly also wanted in the Dominican Republic for another murder in 2019. “It appears Mr. Soriano entered the island of Puerto Rico illegally and obtained fraudulent New York identification. With that identification, he was free to travel from Puerto Rico to the United States mainland,” the agency said:
Please see the update included on our homicide investigation.
Posted by Irondequoit Police Department on Friday, September 13, 2024
After the bodies were found, Irondequoit Police Chief Scott Peters said, “It’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen. I’ll remember it for life,” WXXI reported on September 2.
Peters offered more information during a press conference:
Officials are reportedly holding Soriano at the Monroe County Jail without bail, according to the Chronicle.
During his speech at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in July, former President Donald Trump, who is running against Vice President Kamala Harris for the White House in 2024, spotlighted the plight of Angel Families and their loved ones who have allegedly been killed by illegal aliens flooding over the border on Biden’s watch, according to Breitbart News.
Trump stated, “This is my vow: I will not let these killers and criminals into our country.”
Pennsylvania Town Has Way Too Many Haitian Immigrants
Quote:Charleroi, Pennsylvania, like Springfield, Ohio, is also experiencing a growing number of problems from a tidal wave of Haitian migrants flooding into their small town.
While the media focuses on the woes of Springfield, Ohio, and its recent flood of Haitian migrants putting pressure on the small town, other small towns are experiencing similar problems. One of them is Charleroi, Pennsylvania, nestled on the banks of the Monongahela River south of Pittsburgh in the western part of the state.
According to the activist group America-2100, the rural town has suffered a 2,000-percent increase in its population of Haitian migrants — and crime and traffic altercations have soared as a result.
Residents have been flooding social media with reports that migrants are attacking people on the street and mugging them, stealing cars, and ending up in traffic accidents throughout the area.
WPXI-TV reported in March that the rising number of immigrant children has stretched the local schools to the breaking point as administrators and teachers toil to educate migrant children, many of whom do not speak English, and some of whom have never gone to school in their entire young lives.
One 11th-grade student told the station that a big problem is that many of these migrant students are really not learning anything despite being enrolled in free schools because they don’t understand what is being said in class.
“The biggest challenge that every Haitian has is they don’t know what you are saying. For you, it’s like blah blah blah, you don’t say nothing you are just sitting in the class listening and you just don’t understand,” the child, who is also a Haitian migrant, said.
Charleroi schools superintendent Dr. Ed Zelich noted that the new students are costing his school hundreds of thousands of dollars spent to accommodate them.
“Just in the last year we had over $400,000, we had to add two ELL [English language learner] teachers, an ELL coach for our teachers, a registrar, an interpreter,” Zelich told WPIX.
Zelich added that the school is expecting another $300,000 to be spent next year and that they need even more from the state.
Star Asks People to Welcome More and More Haitians
Quote:Pop star John Legend is facing mounting public backlash after he lectured Springfield, Ohio, residents on the need to accept the invasion of Haitians who have overwhelmed the working-class town.
John Legend — whose net worth is estimated to exceed $100 million and is a supporter of Kamala Harris — posted a video to Instagram this week urging Springfield residents to “love one another” — specifically, the nearly 20,000 Haitians who have moved into their town in recent months thanks to the Biden-Harris administration’s resettlement of illegal aliens who are given protected status.
“I think all of us need to have the same kind of grace that we would want [for] our ancestors” with “our Haitian brothers and sisters,” he said.
The singer repeatedly emphasized that he grew up in Springfield and even referred to himself in the video using his real name — John R. Stevens. (He even put “John R. Stevens — Springfield, Ohio” in his Instagram bio.)
But his bid for authenticity didn’t ring true to many.
“He lives in a multimillion dollar mansion in Beverly Hills,” one online commenter observed.
“I just love when rich celebrities try to tell us how we should feel about certain situations,” another wrote.
“Maybe they should drop 15,000 immigrants into your neighborhood you live in now and you could experience the hardship yourself,” yet another wrote.
Some are posting a video of Legend and his wife, Chrissy Teigen, giving a virtual tour of their palatial abode.
In his Instagram post, John Legend made no reference to the horror stories Springfield residents have been forced to endure thanks to the Biden-Harris administration’s policies favoring illegal aliens.
In August 2023, a local child was killed when a Haitian driver without a license hit a school bus and forced it off the road.
Biden Doesn't Care About Nippon Steel Taking Over US Steel
Quote:President Joe Biden has voiced his opposition to Nippon Steel buying U.S. Steel, but the federal government appears to be in no hurry to block the deal
Biden administration appears to be in no rush to stop U.S. Steel takeover by Nippon Steel
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has voiced his opposition to Nippon Steel buying U.S. Steel, but the federal government appears to be in no hurry to block the deal.
White House officials earlier this month did not deny that the president would formally block the acquisition. But the necessary report from the government’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has yet to be submitted to the White House.
“It’s their process — it’s independent,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Friday. “We have to see the recommendation from CFIUS. That’s the process.”
The proposed takeover carries some heavy political weight in Pennsylvania, a state that both Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump view as a must-win in November’s presidential election. U.S. Steel is headquartered in Pittsburgh.
Biden, Harris and Trump have all come out against the deal. Biden is close with the United Steelworkers, the labor union whose members work for U.S. Steel and worry about the loss of job protections. Supporters of the merger note that U.S. Steel’s older mills could be shuttered without the improved corporate balance sheet that a merger could produce.
The Washington Post initially reported on Sept. 4 that the deal would be blocked by the federal government, only to then report on Friday that any ruling on the merger would be delayed.
Promote SS Agents that Fail Their Exams
Quote:Per Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), a whistleblower claims that the lead Secret Service agent on the day that former President Donald Trump was shot in the head had been promoted even after she failed at least one key training exam.
Despite this exam failure, former and disgraced Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle promoted the agent. The whistleblower says the agent in question is from the Pittsburgh office and was the advance agent that fateful day.
Hawley appeared on Fox News with Jesse Watters on Thursday. Here’s the clip:
HAWLEY: The lead advance agent that day in Pennsylvania, the agent in charge of Trump’s entire trip in Pennsylvania — this agent actually failed one or more of her training exams when she first joined the Secret Service. I mean, the pattern that is emerging here, Jesse, from whistleblowers who come to me over and over again is that the Trump rally was undermanned … they did not have people who had experience … and, now, this advance agent, I’m told, may have failed one or more of her training exams and was known not to be a top quality agent. This is absurd, and the fact that the director will not level with the American people about what’s going on here is just totally unacceptable.
Watters then connected the dots by reminding people that Cheatle had made it a priority “to make 30 percent of the Secret Service women.” So, if the whistleblower is correct, even after this woman failed at least one training exam, Cheatle put her in charge of protecting Trump during his entire Pennsylvania trip.
Hawley went on to say that he is being told that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) “is leaning on the Secret Service not to comply with [our] document requests.”
“There’s a cover-up going on,” Watters said, “now, that’s definitive.”
Yes, it is.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), one of the most partisan leftists on Capitol Hill, told reporters that he believes “the American people are going to be shocked, astonished, and appalled by what we will report to them about the failures by the Secret Service in this assassination attempt on the former president.”
“I think they also ought to be appalled and astonished by the failure of the Department of Homeland Security to be more forthcoming,” he continued.
Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) told Fox News that an “interim report” will be “coming out shortly,” but there is still “a lot more information that we need to find.”
That is two Democrats expressing their frustration with the DHS and Secret Service in an era where anything involving Trump becomes insanely partisan.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) said both parties are working together to release a bipartisan report. He also expressed frustration with acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe for slow-walking promised information.
“So, he’s making the commitment to, you know, provide more information,” Johnson said of Rowe. “But we’re hoping to get this preliminary report out before this work period.”
Trump was shot in the face on July 13, exactly two months ago, and we know no more about these unforgivable security failures today than we did then.
Biden & Starmer on Ukraine Launching Long-Range Missiles
Quote:British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Joe Biden on Friday delayed a decision to let Ukraine fire long-range Western-supplied missiles into Russia, a plan that sparked dire threats from Moscow of a war with NATO.
Starmer told reporters at the White House that he had a “wide-ranging discussion about strategy” with Biden but that it “wasn’t a meeting about a particular capability.”
Before the meeting officials had said Starmer would press Biden to back his plan to send British Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine to hit deeper inside Russia as allies become increasingly concerned about the battlefield situation.
But the Labour leader indicated that he and Biden would now discuss the plan at the UN General Assembly in New York the week after next “with a wider group of individuals.”
As they met with their teams across a long table in the White House, backed by US and British flags, Biden played down a warning by Russian President Vladimir Putin that allowing Ukraine to fire the weapons would mean the West was “at war” with Russia.
“I don’t think much about Vladimir Putin,” Biden told reporters when asked about the comments.
But while Biden said it was “clear that Putin will not prevail in this war,” he is understood to be reluctant to grant Ukraine’s insistent demand to be able to use long-range US-made ATACMS missiles against Russian territory.
US officials believe the missiles would make a limited difference to Ukraine’s campaign and also want to ensure that Washington’s own stocks of the munitions are not depleted.
The two leaders said they also discussed the war in Gaza, with Britain having recently suspended arms deliveries to Israel over concerns that they could be used to violate international humanitarian law.
The US, Israel’s main military and diplomatic backer, has held off such a step.
Biden and Starmer agreed on their “ironclad commitment” to Israel — but stressed the “urgent need” for a ceasefire deal and a “need for Israel to do more to protect civilians” in Gaza, the White House said in a readout.
The White House had earlier played down the chances of a Ukraine decision coming from Friday’s visit by Starmer, the Labour leader’s second to the White House since he took office in July.
“I wouldn’t expect any major announcement in that regard coming out of the discussions, certainly not from our side,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky however pushed Kyiv’s Western allies to do more.
Hochul's Chinese Aid Turned Spy in the White House
Report: Alleged Chinese Spy Who Worked for Kathy Hochul Toured White House While Under Investigation
Quote:A former aide to Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) who is allegedly a Chinese spy reportedly toured the White House in May.
Linda Sun was reportedly under federal investigation at the time, the New York Post reported on Friday, noting, “The May 8 visit was facilitated by Sun’s former boss, Queens Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY), the congresswoman’s office confirmed Friday.”
Sun previously worked as a high-ranking aide for Hochul and disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D).
The Post article continued:
Last week, Sun, 41, and her husband, Christopher Hu, 40, who also is listed on White House visitor logs, were slapped with sprawling charges of violating and conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act, visa fraud, alien smuggling and money laundering conspiracy. They have pleaded not guilty.
Brooklyn federal prosecutors allege Sun used her position under Hochul and Cuomo to turn the governor’s office into a virtual mouthpiece for the People’s Republic of China and Chinese Community Party.
In exchange, she allegedly received gifts and millions of dollars in bribes — which she and her hubby used to buy real estate, including their Manhasset mansion, and luxury cars like a 2024 Ferrari Roma.
Before the FBI arrested Sun and Hu, the agency raided their home in July, according to Breitbart News:
The outlet also reported that the couple was eventually arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn. The outlet then detailed some of the accusations against Sun:
Sun, in various instances, allegedly prevented Cuomo and Hochul from working, engaging, and speaking with Taiwanese officials. At the same time, Sun allegedly had Cuomo and Hochul make seemingly pro-China statements to appease CCP officials.
During the Chinese coronavirus pandemic in April 2020, for example, the Taiwanese government donated 200,000 masks to New York. When Taiwanese officials pressed why then-Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office had not made any public announcement about the donation, Sun allegedly phoned her contact in the CCP to make them aware that Hochul would be only privately calling to thank such Taiwanese officials for the donation.
Several New York Republicans are now calling for an investigation into Hochul after Sun, a naturalized American citizen who was born in China, was arrested, according to Breitbart News.
Biden-Harris CBP One Bus Full of Immigrants
Quote:Mexico’s National Institute of Migration (INM) announced the arrival of the first bus of migrants under its new “Secure Emerging Mobility Corridor” program. The program offers migrants free transportation, including meals and security from the Mexico/Guatemala border to ports of entry in the United States, where they will be admitted under the Biden-Harris CBP One app.
The first bus arrived early Wednesday morning in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico, located just across from McAllen, Texas. The bus carryied migrants from several Central and South American countries.
The government of Mexico provided the migrant’s travel under a program announced after a series of meetings between the Biden-Harris administration and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. The binational immigration meetings, held in August, expanded the geographic region in Mexico where migrants could access the CBP-One smartphone application to schedule admission into the United States to claim asylum and secure release into the country.
The new corresponding transportation program allows authorities in Mexico to better manage the timing of the flow of migrants traveling into the country’s interior by scheduling the free travel service with the migrant’s appointment enter the United States under the CBP One program. Up to 1,450 migrants are released into the United States daily under the Biden/Harris CBP One asylum application. The migrants are not required to pass a credible fear interview, which is usually the first hurdle to a successful asylum claim. Congress never authorized this immigration program.
The buses depart from two southern Mexico cities, Villahermosa, Tabasco, and Tapachula, Chiapas, and arrive at one of eight designated U.S. land ports of entry that allow for the entry of more than 500,000 migrants to enter under the CBP-One smartphone application yearly.
The government of Mexico’s National Institute of Migration (INM) first announced the new program in a Spanish-language notice issued in early September, referring to the initiative as the “Secure Emerging Mobility Corridor.” Before the geographic expansion of service under the CBP-One smartphone application and the coordinated free bus program in Mexico, appointments could only be made in central and northern Mexico. The new coordinated appointment and bus program will allow the Biden-Harris administration to regulate the flow of migrant travel through Mexico.
The CBP One smartphone application is separate from the recently reinstituted Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan program, which allows up to 1,000 migrants to fly into the United States daily. Between the two Biden-Harris programs, more than 800,000 migrants are released into the United States yearly to pursue asylum claims.
Court of Appeals Dismisses Trump's Request
Quote:New York’s highest court threw out former President Donald Trump’s request to lift his gag order in his business records case.
The New York Court of Appeals dismissed Trump’s appeal to lift the gag order that limits him from making public remarks against his prosecutors or their families.
Trump’s attorneys requested Judge Juan Merchan lift the order after his conviction, arguing the gag order limits his First Amendment rights and that lifting the order would be in the public’s interest before the presidential election.
Yet, the court’s ruling said that “no constitutional question is directly involved” in dismissing Trump’s appeal.
Despite Thursday’s dismissal, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s successful conviction of Trump may be in jeopardy.
Merchan recently delayed Trump’s sentencing until November 26, 2024 — after Election Day. After a previous delay, Trump’s sentencing had been set for September 18.
Trump requested Merchan throw out his conviction after a Supreme Court ruling in July that said that presidents enjoy presidential immunity for official acts. That request prompted the initial sentencing delay.
The former president also has accused Merchan of profiting financially from his prosecution. The House Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed his daughter, Loren Merchan, for all documents related to her company’s work for Democrat campaigns that fundraised on the trial over which Merchan sat.
The case is Trump v. Merchan, No. 2024-521, in the New York Court of Appeals.
Democrat Mayor Charges Taxpayers for Party
Quote:Tiffany Henyard, the Dolton, Illinois, Democrat dubbed as “America’s worst mayor,” is again under fire for throwing an $85,000 taxpayer-funded party featuring performances from R&B singer Keke Wyatt and rapper J. Holiday — with barely anyone attending.
Henyard, who has labeled herself as “Supermayor” of the Chicago suburb, is also a supervisor of Thornton Township, which encompasses Dolton.
At her “Taste of Thornton Township” party that took place in August, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request submitted by WGN Investigates revealed that Henyard paid Wyatt $30,000 to sing for 30 minutes and gave J. Holiday $20,000 for a set of the same length.
The township also rented inflatable bounce houses for $6,600 and paid for comedians, a sound system, event staff, and more — bringing the total bill for taxpayers to at least $85,769.
There have been unconfirmed claims circulating on social media that only 70 people attended the party, meaning that Henyard allegedly spent more than $1,200 per person:
Former Dolton Trustee Valeria Stubbs was one of the attendees and called it a “flop.”
Jennifer Robertz, a resident of the township’s village of Lansing, told WGN she was “flabbergasted” at the cost of the event.
“I was pissed off. That’s my money. That’s the people’s money.”
“This is all for the babies,” Henyard said in a Facebook video viewed by the outlet. “They don’t show you this side of Tiffany Henyard: The productivity.”
Henyard is currently the subject of a “special investigation” conducted by former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who was hired by the Village of Dolton to look into her outlandish spending habits and alleged abuse of office, Fox News reported.
Lightfoot revealed at an August village board meeting that the town’s general fund balance dropped from $5.61 million to a deficit of $3.65 million in just two years under the mayor:
The “special investigator” also shared that Henyard made many expensive purchases at retailers like Amazon, Target, Walgreens, and Wayfair with the village credit card, Breitbart News reported.
One credit card statement Lightfoot shared revealed a whopping $33,000 Amazon order made on January 5, 2023.
“These are somebody using the credit card and charging these amounts using your tax dollars,” Lightfoot told the angered people of Dolton, which has around 20,000 residents.
In a town where 20.2 percent of residents live in poverty according to U.S. Census records, Henyard has a salary of nearly $300,000 with her mayor and supervisor jobs.
Kirby Against Veterans
Quote:White House national security spokesman John Kirby trashed a group of veterans in an email sent in error to Fox News on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.
As Fox News reported on Wednesday, Kirby responded to an email query from Fox about criticisms by a veterans’ group about the Biden administration’s disastrous 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan by accidentally hitting “reply all” before disparaging the veterans.
Fox reported:
“Obviously no use in responding. A ‘handful’ of vets indeed and all of one stripe,” Kirby said in a “reply all” email chain Wednesday afternoon that appeared to be intended for White House staffers, but which also included Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital had reached out to the White House earlier Wednesday afternoon regarding critical comments from four veterans, including Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., who blasted Kirby for his Monday press conference that they said provided “cover” for the Biden administration’s 2021 withdrawal.
…
Kirby’s message was sent in error, with him following up with a Fox News Digital reporter, “Clearly, I didn’t realize you were on the chain.” Kirby sent the email while traveling with President Biden on the anniversary of 9/11.
On Monday, Kirby pushed back against a House Republican report on the Afghanistan withdrawal by blaming former President Donald Trump for, among other things, negotiating with the Taliban — ignoring the fact that talks with the Taliban actually began under the Obama administration, via Qatar, in 2013, in Obama’s second term in office.
Kirby retired from the U.S. Navy as a Rear Admiral. He served as Pentagon spokesman during the Afghanistan pullout, including the murder of 13 U.S. service members in the ISIS-K terror attack at Abbey Gate in August 2021.
Texas Border City Officials Arrested
Quote:Federal agents arrested two top border city officials who are accused of demanding cash bribes from a business owner.
Information provided to Breitbart Texas by the U.S. Attorney’s Office revealed that on Thursday morning in Edcouch, Texas, agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested City Manager Victor Hugo De La Cruz and City Councilman Rene Flores. The arrest came after a Federal Grand Jury handed down a four-count indictment accusing them of various bribery charges on September 2. The two city officials are expected to go before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Scott Hacker on Friday morning.
According to federal prosecutors, from June to September 2019, the two city officials demanded bribe payments from the owner of a marketing company in Brownsville. Prosecutors claim that the business owner collected two separate $3,000 payments for marketing work from the City of Edcouch, and he allegedly made two kickback payments of $1,000 to the city officials.
The arrests come almost a year after federal authorities raided the Edcouch City Hall in October 2023. In that same operation, authorities also raided the city hall of the neighboring city of Elsa. Details of the raids remain unclear; however, local news outlets claimed the case was tied to 8-liner businesses in the area.
Train Slams Into Military Artillery Vehicle
Quote:A freight train crashed into an 18-wheeler hauling a military artillery vehicle that became stuck on the tracks in South Carolina, video shows.
The semi-truck, which appeared to be carrying an M109 Paladin Howitzer, was crossing the train tracks in Goose Creek on Thursday afternoon when it was struck, Fox News reported.
Video captured by eyewitness Jennifer Clinton and her son shows the train blaring its horn at the obstacle before violently plowing through it, damaging the street crossing in the process:
“My son’s a little shook up, but yeah, we’re okay,” Clinton said, adding that “it was devastating to see.”
The outlet reported that a man seen running out of the semi-truck declined medical treatment.
Goose Creek Police said that no injuries were reported.
It is unclear where the Howitzer, a mobile weapon that is typically manned by a four-person crew, was heading or to what unit it belonged.
The extent of the damage to all vehicles involved is also not immediately known.
Aldi Raising Wages in California
Quote:Popular grocery store chain Aldi announced on September 4 that it is raising its minimum wage to $18 and $23 an hour due to the company’s growth.
Aldi’s press release further noted that it is looking to hire more than 13,000 store and warehouse workers nationwide as the holidays approach and the company opens additional stores.
The announcement continued:
Known for its commitment to competitive compensation, the new national average starting wages for open ALDI store and warehouse positions will be $18 and $23 per hour, respectively, based on market and position.
At ALDI, those working more than 30 hours a week have access to healthcare insurance, paid time off and more. In 2023, the retailer also introduced new perks in response to employee feedback, including flexible scheduling and 100% paid parental and caregiver leave.
It is important to note that California’s mandate that fast food workers receive a minimum wage of $20 an hour took effect in April, and Breitbart News pointed out, “Minimum wage hikes tend to eliminate jobs for the most vulnerable, least-skilled workers in jobs that do not produce enough revenue to support the high-wage level.”
Aldi is planning to add 800 stores across the United States in the next five years, the Associated Press (AP) reported in March. The news comes as people are grappling with inflation and trying to save money in President Joe Biden’s America.
“Inflation has led many consumers to change the way they shop. Tired of prices that remain about 19%, on average, above where they were before the pandemic, consumers are seeking new avenues to cut down on spending,” the AP article said, noting that shoppers are choosing store-brand items, buying at discount stores, or purchasing fewer items.
LATIN AMERICA
Sinaloa Cartel
Quote:A new wave of intense cartel fighting forced government officials to order the shutdown of school activities as locals locked themselves indoors in the state of Sinaloa. The measures follow several days of fighting as two factions of the Sinaloa Cartel clashed with minimal interference from federal police and military forces.
The Sinaloa Governor Ruben Rocha Moya sent multiple alerts and a video asking the public to remain calm and take precautions. In the video, Rocha Moya claimed that government police and military forces were working to minimize the effect of the cartel battles on the local public.
The violence began this week and followed weeks of tension as a faction loyal to recently captured Sinaloa Cartel boss Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada seeks revenge from the Chapitos faction for the betrayal and arrest of their leader. The Chapitos faction comprises the sons of jailed Sinaloa Cartel kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. It is believed that Los Chapitos blamed El Mayo for their father’s capture.
As Breitbart Texas reported, Joaquin Guzman Lopez allegedly called a secret meeting with El Mayo and some top politicians in late July. It was during that meeting that Guzman and his gunmen kidnapped El Mayo and put him on a plane that landed near El Paso, Texas, where U.S. authorities were waiting for them. Since then, both Guzman and El Mayo have been in U.S. custody awaiting trial.
The capture led to weeks of tension as locals awaited for war to break out between two of Mexico’s most powerful drug families. It is believed that the family of El Mayo had been quietly building up their forces before striking.
China-Nicaragua Free Trade Deal
Quote:The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed between Nicaragua’s communist regime and China has had little to no effect on improving the Nicaraguan economy, the local newspaper La Prensa reported on Friday.
China has reportedly only bought roughly one percent of Nicaragua’s exports since the start of the agreement, much less than expected.
Nicaragua and China signed an FTA last year that came into effect at the start of January 2024. Communist dictator Daniel Ortega described the agreement last year as a “lifeboat” for his Sandinista regime and “the best Christmas gift,” claiming that the deal with China was a “strategic” step to overcome U.S. sanctions.
Nicaraguan authorities offered very sparse details of what the FTA with China entails to local media weeks before its start, with little to no transparency on the information provided beyond listing textiles, meat, coal, paper, wood, and cardboard as some of the materials that Nicaragua would export to China through the agreement.
La Prensa, after reviewing official reports from the Nicaraguan Commerce and Trade Ministry, found that China only purchased 1.2 percent of Nicaragua’s total exports during the first eight months of the FTA, worth a total of $62.8 million.
The Nicaraguan newspaper pointed out that, despite tensions between the U.S. and Nicaragua due to Ortega’s “weaponization” of migrants against America, the United States represented 48 percent of Nicaragua’s total exports during the first eight months of 2024, paying the country a total of $2.45 billion.
Venezuela's Environmental Disaster
Quote:Environmentalists in the western Venezuelan state of Zulia denounced on Thursday that several marine animals were found dead and covered in oil in Lake Maracaibo — highly polluted by the constant oil spills that the socialist regime causes.
Lake Maracaibo is Venezuela’s largest lake and one of the oldest in the world, home to the Catatumbo lightning, a unique atmospheric phenomenon over the mouth of the Catatumbo River where it empties into Lake Maracaibo that causes a near-perpetual lightning storm in the lake.
The constant oil and chemical spills that the socialist regime has caused — which leftist activists and/or environmentalist organizations often fail to report and condemn — have heavily polluted the lake, leaving 70 percent of its roughly 5,200-square-mile-wide surface contaminated with oil, chemicals, and a highly toxic, foul-smelling, and potential carcinogenic bacteria locally referred to as verdín (“greenery”).
Venezuela’s Union Radio reported on Thursday that locals found a dolphin, a sea turtle, and a manatee dead and covered in oil in the vicinity of the Vereda del Lago, a park in Zulia’s capital city Maracaibo.
“We had never seen this scenario. The putrid smell that spreads throughout the city, the degraded scenery of Lake Maracaibo, the oil spills, the dead animals of … incredible biodiversity,” environmental biologist Adelso Pineda said. “We are talking about a manatee, a species that is on the verge of extinction.”
The heavily polluted state of Lake Maracaibo has dramatically affected the local fishermen, who depend on their trade to sustain themselves and their families. Union Radio reported that cleanup works in Lake Maracaibo have been “paralyzed” for two months.
“We cannot go out because the oil damages our nets, and there is no one to compensate us because this is a problem for everyone, for the oil company that is not aware of this and does not pick it up, as in previous times,” Edinson Araujo, a local fisherman, told Union Radio.
Araujo further asserted to the local outlet Caraota Digital that the Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA “is not concerned” about the situation and does not seek to deal with oil spills in the lake, stating that “they do not clean it [oil], as in previous times.”
The Maduro regime has not publicly commented on the discovery of the dead and oil-covered animals at press time. Instead, officials from the Institute for the Control and Conservation of Lake Maracaibo Basin (ICLAM) — an entity under the Maduro regime’s “Ecosocialism” Ministry — announced on Thursday that they held an “environmental monitoring day” at the lake and allegedly collected samples to be used on “physical-chemical analyses to determine the amount of nutrients in the water.”
Cuban Dissidents Claim EU is Supporting Cuban Regime
Quote:The Assembly of the Cuban Resistance (ARC) called this week for the European Union to cease its financial support of Cuba’s communist regime, denouncing the regime’s support of Russia in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Since 1988, the European Union has maintained direct relations with Cuba that have resulted in the communist regime receiving hundreds of millions of euros in financing, ARC leaders noted at an event in Lithuania.
The EU’s multi-million-euro financial assistance deal with Cuba appears to have had no effect on the improvement of living conditions of Cuba’s citizens, who are forced to live in conditions of extreme poverty and other inhumane conditions as a direct result of more than six decades of communist mismanagement.
Cubans are currently experiencing the collapse of their population and the worst migrant crisis in its history. The communist regime’s politics have forced Cubans to endure severe shortages of food, medicine, and other basic supplies in addition to constant power blackouts of up to 12 hours at a time, severe water shortages, rampant inflation, and a derelict healthcare infrastructure.
“We are in Spain raising our voices for a free Cuba and to demand the end of the European Community’s subsidy to the Castro dictatorship,” ARC secretary-general Orlando Gutiérrez Boronat told the independent outlet ADN Cuba on Tuesday.
Gutiérrez Boronat; Julián Obiglio, the president of the Union of Latin American Parties; former Cuban political prisoner Jorge Luis García “Antúnez,” and other activists held an encounter on Monday with Spanish senators in which they expressed their calls to end the European financing of the Castro regime. The Cuban activists also urged effective support from Western democracies to Cuban opposition and resistance.
“It is inconceivable that with more than a thousand political prisoners in Cuba, among them my brother Loreto Hernandez, that Europe continues to finance the dictatorship and repression on the island,” Garcia said.
The founder of the outlet ADN America, Gelet Martinez Fragela, emphasized that “every euro that the Cuban regime receives from the European community is an open letter for the continuation of repression in Cuba and an economic incentive for the Castro elite not to leave power.”
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Maranatha!
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My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
Give me a free copy of your completed game if you include at least 3 of my scripts!
Just some scripts I've already published on the board...
KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
Give me a free copy of your completed game if you include at least 3 of my scripts!
Just some scripts I've already published on the board...
KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE
