Paradise News

Tag: United States

  • Rudy Giuliani Announces That is Suing Joe Biden

    Rudy Giuliani, the former Mayor of New York City and personal attorney to former President Donald Trump, made an announcement on Wednesday regarding his intention to file a lawsuit against President Joe Biden.

    Giuliani shared his newsvia a live broadcast from New Hampshire, utilizing X (formerly known as Twitter) as the platform for his statement. In a resounding declaration, the prominent figure stated, “I’m suing Joe Biden.”

    During the livestream, Giuliani strongly criticized Joe Biden, characterizing him as a “pathological liar” and asserting that Biden’s falsehoods have had serious consequences, including threats to national security and loss of lives. Giuliani highlighted incidents in Ukraine and Afghanistan, arguing that these crises would not have occurred if not for President Biden’s actions and decisions.

    Furthermore, Giuliani referenced personal damages he claims to have suffered, both in terms of his reputation and finances. He claimed that accusations and statements made by President Biden, amplified by various media outlets, have significantly harmed his legal practice and diminished his audience on platforms such as YouTube. Giuliani explained that being labeled a “Russian pawn” and accused of disseminating Russian disinformation has resulted in substantial financial losses, amounting to “millions and millions of dollars.”

    !function(r,u,m,b,l,e){r._Rumble=b,r[b]||(r[b]=function(){(r[b]._=r[b]._||[]).push(arguments);if(r[b]._.length==1){l=u.createElement(m),e=u.getElementsByTagName(m)[0],l.async=1,l.src=”https://rumble.com/embedJS/u4870v”+(arguments[1].video?’.’+arguments[1].video:”)+”/?url=”+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+”&args=”+encodeURIComponent(JSON.stringify([].slice.apply(arguments))),e.parentNode.insertBefore(l,e)}})}(window, document, “script”, “Rumble”);

    Rumble(“play”, {“video”:”v3kfw37″,”div”:”rumble_v3kfw37″});

    While Giuliani pledged to provide precise figures at a later time, he emphatically addressed the damage inflicted on his reputation, vehemently asserting that these accusations are “completely baseless and utterly untrue.”

    The relationship between Biden and Giuliani turned adversarial in the lead-up to the 2020 Presidential election. Giuliani played a central role in advocating for investigations into Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine, which ultimately led to President Trump’s first impeachment by the House of Representatives in December 2019. Trump was charged with abuse of power for requesting Ukraine to investigate the Bidens. However, the Senate acquitted Trump of these charges in February 2020. Following the 2020 election, Giuliani continued to play a prominent role in challenging the election results on behalf of President Trump, alleging widespread voter fraud by both courts and election officials.

    Just two weeks ago, attorneys representing Hunter Biden filed a lawsuit against Giuliani, accusing the former advisor to Trump of “hacking” Hunter’s allegedly lost laptop and unlawfully disclosing personal materials to the public. The lawsuit contends that Giuliani bears “primary responsibility” for the “complete destruction” of Hunter’s public image and invasion of his digital privacy.

    “For the past many months and even years, Defendants have dedicated an extraordinary amount of time and energy toward looking for, hacking into, tampering with, manipulating, copying, disseminating, and generally obsessing over data that they were given that was taken or stolen from Plaintiff’s devices or storage platforms, including what Defendants claim to have obtained from Plaintiff’s alleged ‘laptop’ computer,” Biden’s attorneys wrote in the complaint, claiming that the data was not even from a “laptop,” but from an “external drive.”

    President Biden’s aides had previously sought to discredit the laptop by labeling it as a product of Russian disinformation.



    Source

  • 'Happy Face Killer' victim identified 29 years after she was found dead near highway

    OKALOOSA COUNTY, Fla. (TCD) — Officials have positively identified the last unknown victim of the infamous “Happy Face Killer” thanks to advancements in DNA technology and genome sequencing.

    On Tuesday, Oct. 3, Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden announced a Jane Doe who was found deceased on the side of a highway in September 1994 has been named as Suzanne Kjellenberg. She was likely the sixth of eight victims brutally murdered by Keith Jesperson, who was notoriously known as the “Happy Face Killer” because he sent letters to the press and signed each correspondence with a smiley face.

    Jesperson is currently locked up at Oregon State Penitentiary serving seven life sentences for murdering seven people between 1990 and 1995. Prosecutors are charging him in connection with Kjellenberg’s death.

    Kjellenberg was killed in August 1994 and her body was left in a tree line off Interstate 10 near Holt in the Florida Panhandle. Inmates working on the side of the highway discovered her remains on Sept. 14, 1994. According to Othram Inc., the company that helped positively identify Kjellenberg, she was found wearing a long button-up dress with flowers and lots of jewelry, including a cord bracelet with beads, a cord necklace with pendants, a charm bracelet without a charm, and more.

    At the time, an investigation determined the Jane Doe was a white female between 35 and 55 years old. Kjellenberg was 34 years old when she was killed.

    Law enforcement caught Jesperson in 1995. His crimes spanned the United States, with victims in California, Nebraska, Wyoming, Oregon, Washington, and Florida. He worked as a long-haul truck driver at the time of the murders. He spoke with Okaloosa County officials in 1996 and admitted to killing a Jane Doe in the area and leaving her body near Holt. He reportedly told a detective he “believed the woman’s name was Susan or Suzette.”

    At the end of 2022, the District 1 Medical Examiner’s Office teamed up with Othram to identify the Jane Doe whose identity eluded investigators for over 25 years. The Medical Examiner’s Office sent DNA samples to Othram, who created a genealogical profile of the victim. The genetic genealogy team at Othram located a family member, who submitted a DNA sample. The sample came back as a 100% DNA match, which led investigators to identifying the victim as Kjellenberg.

    In September, exactly 29 years after Kjellenberg’s body was found, investigators and an assistant state attorney traveled to Oregon for an unannounced interview with Jesperson. Aden said Jesperson “talked openly about the murder and how it took place.”

    Jesperson told the investigators he picked up Kjellenberg at a truck stop in Tampa, then drove her up to the Panhandle, where they stopped at a rest area. He was reportedly parked next to a security truck, and when he sat down next to a sleeping Kjellenberg, she allegedly started screaming “and wouldn’t stop.” He became nervous because he could not have any unauthorized people in his truck.

    Aden said Jesperson described “brutally” killing Kjellenberg by allegedly using zip ties and his fist to cut off her airways.

    Aden shared, “Thanks to the tireless efforts of so many over so long, the remains of Suzanne Kjellenberg, the final unidentified victim of Jesperson’s cross-country murder sprees, can finally leave the Medical Examiner’s Office, and return home.”

    Source

  • Menendez Corruption Case: Will He Beat the Rap Again?

    The government’s September indictment on corruption charges of Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, opened with a bang. Prosecutors displayed sensational photographs of gold bars, a Mercedes Benz, and piles of cash—more than $480,000—found at the home of Menendez and his wife, Nadine.

    Justice may endeavor to be blind, but the prosecution of politicians is inherently political. The Justice Department failed to convict Menendez in a high-profile 2017 corruption case and doubtless is eager to take another shot at him. And while reliably liberal on many issues, Menendez has taken a hard line on Cuba and Iran as chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, often thwarting Biden—and earlier Obama administration—initiatives. He’ll have zero support from the White House and Democratic Party establishment as he fights the new charges.

    Menendez and his wife are charged with bribery, honest services fraud, and extortion. Also charged are three businessmen with ties to Egypt. U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said the conspirators were engaged in “a corrupt relationship” that included payments by the businessmen to the Menendez couple of “hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes, including cash, gold, a Mercedes Benz, and other things of value—in exchange for Senator Menendez agreeing to use his power and influence to protect and enrich those businessmen and to benefit the Government of Egypt.”

    Corruption concerns have swirled around Menendez for decades. A product of the famously corrupt Hudson County, New Jersey, political machine, Menendez was schooled in the amoral world of Union City Mayor William Musto, who hired him as aide in the 1970s. By the early 1980s, he had turned on Musto and testified at the mayor’s corruption trial. By 1986, in a campaign touting his Cuban roots and “reformer” image, he was elected mayor of Union City. From there he rose through state government and into the halls of Congress.

    Judicial Watch has been ringing alarm bells about Menendez for more than a decade. In 2012, we put him on our list of Washington’s “Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians.” In 2014, we highlighted concerns about Menendez and a “never-ending saga of political corruption and cronyism.”

    In 2017, it looked like the jig was up for Menendez. The Justice Department indicted him and an old friend and benefactor, Florida ophthalmologist Salomon Melgan, on charges of bribery and honest services fraud. The government charged that the duo conspired to corruptly influence Menendez’s “official acts” and defraud the U.S. of the “honest services of a public official.” Sound familiar?

    In the new case, the government similarly charges that Menendez “agreed to take a series of official acts and breaches of his official duty” in return for bribes from the three Egypt-connected businessmen.

    First, the government charges, Menendez “improperly pressured” an Agriculture Department official about an Egypt-related business directly benefiting the co-defendants.

    Second, Menendez tried to “disrupt” a New Jersey state investigation related to the co-defendants.

    Third, Menendez recommended appointment of a U.S. Attorney that he believed would be more friendly to one of the co-defendants under federal investigation.

    Back in 2017, Judicial Watch took a close look at that first Menendez federal corruption case. We noted that a year earlier, the Supreme Court had significantly narrowed the definition of official acts and honest services fraud in the McDonnell ruling. Prosecutors now needed to prove a direct “official action” connected to an illegal payment. An “official act” must be more than “setting up a meeting, talking to another official, or hosting an event,” the court ruled. We were skeptical that prosecutors in 2017 could meet that standard. It turned out, we were right. Menendez beat the rap.

    Will history repeat itself in the new Menendez prosecution?

    Let’s go back to those gold bars and piles of cash. The meaning of the photos is of course to suggest corrupt intent. How could gold bars and $400,000 in cash stashed at home not be corrupt? That’s a smart media play by the prosecution.

    But Menendez struck back. The cash and the gold? Blame the communists—blame Cuba—an argument that may find sympathetic ears at a jury trial. “For 30 years,” he told the media in a statement that highlighted his hardscrabble Cuban background, “I have withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings account, which I have kept for emergencies and because of the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba.”

    Weightier perhaps is how Menendez will exploit McDonnell. We’ll have more to say on this as the trial nears, but based on the current indictment, the government could have trouble drawing a quid pro quo that will satisfy a jury. The co-defendants may have provided something (the quid, the cash, the gold) but what did they get in return (the quo)? Given what we currently know about the case, Senator Menendez appears to have been singularly unsuccessful in delivering for his friends.

    ***

    Micah Morrison is chief investigative reporter for Judicial Watch. Tips: mmorrison@judicialwatch.org

    Investigative Bulletin is published by Judicial Watch. Reprints and media inquiries: jfarrell@judicialwatch.org

     

    Source

  • Fact Check: Facebook posts – No metal detector needed. Magnetic meat is not for sale in the U.S.

    Social media users are telling consumers to think twice about buying meats from grocery store coolers, suggesting the meats contain dangerous substances.

    An Aug. 6 Facebook video shows a person putting a small magnet on top of packaged beef and claiming the magnet is sticking to the meat because it contains metal.

    The video also suggests this supposed magnetic beef is linked to lab-grown, or cultivated from cells, meat. The captions reads, “Lab grown meat approved for sale in America.”

    The person in the video also referred to lab-grown meat.

    “Now that they’ve given the OK to sell lab-grown meat in the United States, I figured it would be time to return to Walmart and see if they’re still selling magnetic meat with this tiny, very strong rare-earth magnet. And right away, I found that it’s still magnetic,” the person says.

    This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

    Screengrab from Facebook

    Keep those magnets on the refrigerator — there’s no evidence grocery store meat is magnetic.

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service works to ensure that meat, poultry and eggs are safe to eat and properly labeled.

    Meat and poultry establishments must have a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point system “to prevent, eliminate or reduce to a safe level any biological, chemical or physical hazard that is reasonably likely to occur in the product,” an agency spokesperson told PolitiFact in a written statement.

    Metal pieces are a physical hazard. Many establishments install metal detectors or X-ray devices to screen their products for unexpected metal pieces. Food Safety and Inspection Service employees also conduct regular inspections to ensure products are safe for consumption.

    The magnet in the video may be sticking to the packaged meat because of the meat’s texture or moisture or the angle at which the package is held. But that doesn’t mean it contains metal, a statement from the Food Safety and Inspection Service said.

    Meat and poultry with the USDA inspection marker have been assessed for safety, wholesomeness and proper labeling, the statement said.

    The Facebook post also mentions lab-grown meat, but currently cell-cultured meat is not sold in U.S. stores.

    Cell-cultured meat is typically made by growing animal cells — which come from the tissues of living animals or a “bank” of stored cells — in steel tanks. Cultivated meat is harvested and prepared using conventional food processing and packaging methods, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

    In June, the USDA gave Upside Foods and Good Meat permission to offer cell-cultivated chicken and meats. Both companies began by putting the products on the menu at restaurants owned by famous chefs.

    The two companies also received FDA safety clearance to sell chicken directly grown from animal cells. Cell-cultivated beef or seafood has not been approved for sale.

    FDA spokesperson Veronika Pfaeffle said that based on the manufacturing methods for these foods “there is no scientific reason or credible basis to expect that food products produced with animal cells would be magnetic.”

    Lab-grown meat must adhere to the same safety requirements as all other foods, Pfaeffle said.

    We rate the claim that a video shows magnetic meat for sale in U.S. grocery stores False.

  • Fact Check: Ron DeSantis exaggerates number of migrants in US illegally under President Joe Biden

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently vowed that, if elected president, he will deport all migrants who have entered the U.S. illegally under President Joe Biden.

    “Everyone that has come illegally under Biden, we gotta, we’ll send them back. That’s going to be first priority,” DeSantis said at a Sept. 29 campaign event in California. “That’s probably 6 or 7 million people right there. It’s going to require a lot of effort.”

    But DeSantis is conflating the number of times border patrol agents have encountered migrants at the border with the number of migrants who entered and remain in the country, an error also made by others who previously vied for the Republican presidential nomination.

    When contacted for comment, DeSantis’ campaign pointed us to his immigration policy, which outlines broad plans to handle deportations, including hiring “more border patrol agents and more removal agents” and allowing “ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers to do their jobs.”

    What is not reflected in DeSantis’ figure

    U.S. Customs and Border Patrol data shows that the figures DeSantis cited are close to the nationwide number of migrant encounters at and between ports of entry since Biden took office. But that figure doesn’t show how many migrants remained in the U.S.

    Biden was inaugurated Jan. 20, 2021. From February 2021 through August 2023, there were about 7.2 million encounters across all points of entry nationwide, CBP’s data shows.

    Encounter data does not reflect the number of individual immigrants stopped. For example, if one person tries to cross the border three times and is stopped each time, that would be counted as three encounters.

    The data also does not reflect expulsions.

    “The CBP encounters include nearly 3 million expulsions — in other words, enforcement activity that ensures people do not remain in the United States,” said Michelle Mittelstadt, communications director for the Migration Policy Institute, a progressive think tank.

    Mittelstadt also said some people apprehended at the border are initially detained and eventually removed from the country.

    CBP data confirms Mittelstadt’s point that millions of encounters led to removals. From February 2021 to May 2023, there were about 2.5 million expulsions under Title 42, a COVID-19 pandemic-era policy that allowed border officials to quickly expel migrants who crossed the southwest border. Besides the Title 42 removals, CBP data shows there have been about 591,000 removals initiated by border authorities during Biden’s tenure.

    There is no available data that shows the number of migrants who have been allowed to stay in the country after entering.

    PolitiFact reached out to CBP and the Department of Homeland Security but did not receive a reply.

    Mass deportations aren’t simple

    DeSantis is not the only Republican presidential candidate who has promised mass deportations; Former President Donald Trump also made that promise during his tenure, and we rated it Promise Broken.

    The highest number of deportations in a single year came in 2013, when the Obama administration deported around 438,000 people.

    Experts say that instituting mass deportations is easier said than done.

    “Deporting millions of people summarily is an implausible and fantastical idea that has been brought forward from time to time for political purposes only,” said Mario Russell, the executive director at the Center for Migration Studies, a nonpartisan think tank.

    “It is not practical or achievable as it would require a huge increase in enforcement resources, court expenditures and more,” said Russell.

    Our ruling

    DeSantis said 6 million or 7 million people have “come illegally under Biden.”

    His estimate misrepresents the data. Since Biden took office, border patrol agents have encountered migrants about 7.2 million times at and between ports of entry. But that doesn’t mean that many migrants entered and remained in the U.S. That data shows events, not individuals, and one person can be recorded multiple times.

    CBP data also shows that millions of encounters led to removals.

    DeSantis’ statement contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate it Mostly False.

    Source

  • Judicial Watch Files Lawsuit against U.S. Department of Education for Records on Book Bans, Moms for Liberty, and Ron DeSantis

    (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit on behalf the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF) against the U.S. Department of Education (ED) for records regarding book bans, the organization Moms for Liberty, and Ron DeSantis (Daily Caller News Foundation v. U.S Department of Education (No. 1:23-cv-02768)).

    The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the Department of Education failed to respond to separate August 8, 2023, requests for:

    • All email records (including attachments, URL links and electronic database links) of Miguel Cardona to or from (President of the National Education Association (NEA)) Rebecca (Becky) Pringle and (President of the American Federation of Teachers) Rhonda “Randi” Weingarten from June 1, 2023, to July 15, 2023, on the ed.gov domain.
      • All communications about book bans or book banning.
      • All communications about Moms for Liberty and/or Ron DeSantis.

    And:

    • All email records (including attachments, URL links and electronic database links) sent and/or received by Miguel Cardona to or from any/all: President of the American Library Association Emily Drabinski, from June 1, 2023, to July 15, 2023, on the ed.gov domain.
      • All communications about book bans or book banning.
      • All communications about Moms for Liberty.

    On July 4, 2023, EducationWeek reported on a speech Cardona gave on July 3 in Orlando, FL, at the NEA’s annual representative assembly. Cardona addressed statements regarding “woke ideology” and “indoctrinating” students made by Republican presidential candidates at the Moms for Liberty National Conference in the days prior to the NEA event:

    Cardona dismissed that type of rhetoric as “divisive drama,” slamming conservative policymakers who have pushed for book bans, restrictions on instruction about racism, limitations on the rights of LGBTQ+ students, and school choice policies that divert public money to private schools.

    Moms for Liberty was founded in 2021 in Florida by two former school board members. The group was initially fought against mask mandates in Florida schools. The group then expanded its mission to support parental rights legislation to give parents more say in their children’s education. The parents group has come under increasing attack by the extremist left.

    “The Biden administration can’t be allowed to hide this information from the American people,” said Daily Caller News Foundation Editor-In-Chief Michael Bastasch. “Citizens have a right to know if their government is plotting against moms or working behind the scenes to keep pornographic books in schools.”

    “This lawsuit aims to uncover the truth about the desperate new effort by the Biden administration and its leftist teachers’ union allies to smear and target parents who oppose sexually explicit and other extremist content being made available to schoolchildren,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

    Separately, Judicial Watch filed suit in June against the U.S. Department of Justice for all FBI communications from bureau officials using several systems and databases regarding investigations carried out after an October 4, 2021, memo from Attorney General Merrick Garland instructing investigators to target American parents due to an alleged “increase in harassment, intimidation and threats of violence against school board members, teachers and workers in our nation’s public schools”

    ###

    Source

  • NY Gov. Kathy Hochul Regrets Welcoming Illegal Migrants, Pushes Back on Biden’s Open Border Policy

    New York Governor Kathy Hochul called on Congress to establish tighter regulation of the border to keep illegal migrants out of the country.

    Hochul, remarkably, expressed concerns about masses of people from various parts of the world arriving and requesting asylum, and a significant number of them ending up homeless on the streets of New York.

    The Empire State’s governor pushed back on Biden’s open borders policy during her appearance on CBS’s “Face The Nation.”

    !function(r,u,m,b,l,e){r._Rumble=b,r[b]||(r[b]=function(){(r[b]._=r[b]._||[]).push(arguments);if(r[b]._.length==1){l=u.createElement(m),e=u.getElementsByTagName(m)[0],l.async=1,l.src=”https://rumble.com/embedJS/u4870v”+(arguments[1].video?’.’+arguments[1].video:”)+”/?url=”+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+”&args=”+encodeURIComponent(JSON.stringify([].slice.apply(arguments))),e.parentNode.insertBefore(l,e)}})}(window, document, “script”, “Rumble”);

    Rumble(“play”, {“video”:”v3jnzqy”,”div”:”rumble_v3jnzqy”});
    “But it’s stunning that a trillion dollars is not is not sufficient,” Brennan noted. “I want to ask you as well about the other crisis you’ve been raising alarms about not is the strain due to migrants. There were no border provisions in this congressional bill that just passed. And I know you’ve said you’ve had to manage without help from Washington. What would you ask Congress to get done in the next 45 days?”

    “Well, shame on Speaker McCarthy and the Republicans in Congress, including the nine from New York state who are complaining like crazy about the migrants, but refuse to work with President Biden and come up with a sensible border strategy,” Hochul said. “It can be done. This can be done in a bipartisan way, comprehensive immigration reform…”

    “What specifically do you want?” Brennan asked.

    “Well, we want them to have a limit on who can come across the border,” she said. “It is too open right now. People coming from all over the world are finding their way through, simply saying they need asylum, and the majority of them seem to be ending up in the streets of New York and that is a real problem for New York City. One hundred and twenty five thousand newly arrived individuals, and we are being taxed.”

    “We are always so proud of the fact that New York has the Statue of Liberty in our harbor,” she continued. “We are one of the most diverse places on earth because of our welcoming nature and it’s in our DNA to welcome immigrants. But there has to be some limits in place. And Congress has to put more controls at the border and not in this budget threat, shutdown threat. Talk about eliminating positions for Border Patrol, well, we actually need to double or quadruple those numbers. So get back to work and do your jobs.”

    On Thursday, Hochul was on CNN, where she said that New York has “hit our capacity.” She then asked for “other areas to embrace these individuals.”

    “I will be very clear about the values of New Yorkers, we have always been a place that has welcomed immigrants,” Hochul said. “So, we’ll always be that place. But it’s also a question of capacity right now. We have been welcoming. We have been gracious. We have been supportive. But we have to point out the fact and make sure people coming across the border who think there are plentiful hotel rooms and services in New York City, we hit our capacity. So, we’re asking other areas to embrace these individuals. But we’re not going to compromise who we are as a state with the Statue of Liberty in our harbor. So, that’s what I want to be clear about. That’s important. We’ll retain that. But we just need a slowing right now to help us manage the people who have already come and let people know it’s not the way it was a year ago. We’re at capacity. But getting people out of the shelters is our number one priority, full stop.”

    This is quite a turnaround for a New York governor who said in 2021 about illegal migrants that “we want them to come here,” adding, “you are welcome here.”

    What changed, Kathy?

    The post NY Gov. Kathy Hochul Regrets Welcoming Illegal Migrants, Pushes Back on Biden’s Open Border Policy appeared first on Becker News.



    Source

  • Nashville man arrested for allegedly shooting pregnant woman, killing her unborn child

    NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TCD) — A man has been arrested several days after he allegedly shot a pregnant woman in a car, causing her unborn child to die.

    On Oct. 3, Metro Nashville Police announced detectives from the Specialized Investigations Divisions located 23-year-old Demarius Claybrooks and took him into custody on a charge of criminal homicide. Davidson County jail records show he is also being charged with aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury.

    Claybrooks allegedly shot the 23-year-old woman, who was eight months pregnant, while she sat in the front seat of a car on Lewis Street. According to police, Claybrooks allegedly shot at another car after a passenger from that vehicle got out. He then reportedly released a can of bear spray at a group of people and got back in his vehicle.

    The gunshot hit the pregnant woman in her abdomen.

    Police initially said there was a group of people standing near Lewis and Lafayette streets when a woman in a Nissan Maxima allegedly approached and discharged the spray. Police claimed that woman got back in the same car as the victim, then a man followed and started shooting. The driver reportedly transported the victim to Vanderbilt Hospital, then ditched the Maxima.

    However, a detective from the Youth Services Division identified Claybrooks as the suspect who allegedly shot the victim and sprayed the crowd.

    According to Nashville Police, “The spraying of the bear Mace is believed to be related to an ongoing dispute between several females in the area.”



    Source

  • Covid Vaccine Mandates are Back — This Time in the ‘Deep Red’ State of Texas

    Covid-19 vaccine mandates are back in one “deep red” state: Texas.

    “The implementation of vaccine mandates at one of the largest institutions in the red state of Texas has raised concerns over the diminishing state of health freedom while a law that would provide Texans with vaccine choice remains stalled by lawmakers,” the Epoch Times reported.

    “Last week, Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), a prominent medical school and research center based in Houston, Texas, made an announcement,” the report added. “They declared their intention to require the latest COVID booster shot for all students, faculty, and employees.”

    “An updated Covid vaccine has been approved by the FDA and is now available,” the Sept. 28 statement from the school reads. “A single dose is recommended for individuals 6 months and older. Because protection from prior vaccination fades over time and this updated vaccine better matches the currently circulating strains the updated dose is recommended. Baylor faculty, staff, and students must get the COVID vaccine, or request a medical, religious, or personal exemption by Nov. 30.”

    “Because of the concern in case numbers, some entities have reinstated mask mandates. BCM does not have a mask mandate, but if you are at high risk you may consider making a personal choice to wear a mask in enclosed indoor areas,” the statement adds.

    As of 2022, BCM reported a workforce comprising 11,288 employees. The institution is situated within the Texas Medical Center, renowned as the world’s largest medical center.

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has publicly declared that his state “should be leading the fight against the COVID tyranny.”

    Nevertheless, significant publicly funded institutions still retain the authority to enforce vaccine mandates.

    In September, Governor Abbott signed Senate Bill 29 into law, which bars local governments from enforcing COVID-related mask mandates, vaccine mandates, or business closures. Nonetheless, a distinct piece of legislation, known as “The Texas COVID-19 Vaccine Freedom Act,” aimed at preventing any Texan entity, including hospitals and private businesses, from mandating COVID vaccines for their employees, has yet to make significant progress.

    Texas State Representative Brian Harrison, an advocate for a statewide prohibition on vaccine mandates, has urged Governor Abbott to convene a special session of the legislature to safeguard patient rights.

    “This is Texas. We should not tolerate this here,” said Rep. Harrison. “The governor should demand we pass the Covid Vaccine Freedom Act in a special session. This makes no sense that people aren’t protected. The Senate has passed it, the governor has called for it, and members of the House overwhelmingly support it. Now we need to do it.”

    Despite widespread support for the bill, it has encountered obstacles on its path to the legislative floor. Rep. Dustin Burrows, a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives who oversees the Calendar Committee, has reportedly prevented its advancement, as stated by Mr. Harrison.

    “The chairman waited until the very last day when a bill could be heard then he put it on page nine or 10 knowing that mathematically there would be no chance for the bill to be heard in time,” said Mr. Harrison.

    “If not for his act, 30 million Texans would have freedom from COVID vaccine mandates and because of his actions Texans still have to choose between their health and their livelihood,” he added.

    Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, a Texas-based practitioner and the founder of the Coalition of Health Freedom, expressed to The Epoch Times that the resurgence of mandates, particularly in the traditionally conservative state of Texas, has taken many people by surprise.

    “Too many people have fallen into this mindset that COVID is behind us and that we don’t have to worry about mandates anymore,” said Dr. Bowden. “Well, COVID mandates are alive and well in Texas and this could just be the beginning.”

    “Texas is not as red as many people would think,” she added.

    The inability of the U.S. Congress and the state legislatures to resolve the assault on civil liberties that took place during the Covid pandemic has led to a state of affairs where public and private institutions feel justified in imposing “mandates” that violate Americans’ personal health decisions.

    Covid-19 vaccines do not stop the spread of the virus; therefore, there is not even a “public health” justification for imposing them. The vaccines also have known side effects, such as myocarditis, that predominately affect the young, who are additionally at the least risk from Covid.

    But the differentiation of risk factors is a matter to be assessed by personal doctors, who subsequently makes recommendations to patients; it is not an authority to be usurped by public health bureaucrats who issue mandates that violate personal health decisions. And compounding this moral breach, it is not legally feasible to sue vaccine companies for adverse effects due to “liability shields,” and additionally, the state has immunity.

    This is not only a violation of individual rights, but an undermining of democratic accountability. America hasn’t learned its lesson from the Covid pandemic. Many of the ethical issues that the pandemic response raised remain unresolved.

    Source

  • Kansas man arrested for allegedly raping and killing 5-year-old girl

    TOPEKA, Kan. (TCD) — A 25-year-old man was arrested this week for allegedly sexually assaulting and killing a 5-year-old girl near a local gas station.

    According to KSNT-TV, on Monday, Oct. 2, at around 6 p.m., Topeka Police Department officers responded to a gas station where paramedics were aiding 5-year-old Zoey Felix. Medics transported her to a nearby hospital with life-threatening injuries, but she died.

    Police later arrested Mickel Cherry on charges of first-degree murder and rape where the offender is older than 18 years old and victim is less than 14 years old. He is in custody at the Shawnee County Jail, where his bond is set at $2 million.

    WBIW-TV reports Cherry is homeless and knew the victim.

    Source