Author: J.P. Knowles

Twenty-one Chinese warplanes flew into Taiwan’s air defense zone on Tuesday, the same day House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taipei, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense.

The People’s Liberation Army Air Force planes — which included ten of its newer J-16 fighters, eight J-11 fighter jets, one KJ-500 airborne early warning, and control aircraft, one Y-9 electronic warfare plane, and one Y-8 transport aircraft — entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone.

The warplane’s entry into the ADIZ came the same day Pelosi traveled to Taiwan to visit a historic visit. She is the highest ranking US official to visit the self-governed island democracy in 25 years.

China repeatedly warned it would take some type of military action should Pelosi visit the island, saying the People’s Liberation Army would “not sit idly by.”

After her arrival late Tuesday night, China announced that the PLA would hold “targeted military operations” around the island in response. The Chinese military will hold live-fire drills in six areas surrounding Taiwan from August 4 to 7, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency and state-affiliated Global Times.

The drills, which began Tuesday night, not only involve air and maritime exercises, but also the firing of conventional missiles and long-range artillery.

San Francisco hosted a Sunday fetish festival popular among gay men despite growing concerns about the spread of monkeypox and the city’s declaration of a health emergency days ahead of the event.

The Up Your Alley festival is “usually described as a bit kinkier/nastier, more-gay male-centric” than other fetish festivals in San Francisco. The event draws thousands each year, with the festival website encouraging attendees to “wear your gear, your leather, or your birthday suit” while keeping “an open mind.”

“San Francisco showed during COVID that early action is essential for protecting public health,” Democratic Mayor London Breed said when she declared monkeypox a health emergency on July 28.

Despite Breed’s emphasis on taking “early action” to combat a health emergency, the well-attended kink festival still went on as planned.

Other promotional materials for Up Your Alley encouraged prospective attendees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The materials made no mention of the monkeypox vaccination or altering one’s habits to mitigate the risk of transmission.

Gay and bisexual men account for the overwhelming majority of monkeypox cases observed in the U.S. so far.

President Donald Trump is calling it as he sees it when it comes to Brittany Griner, accusing the “potentially spoiled” WNBA star of traveling to Moscow “loaded up with drugs,” and dismissing the idea of trading her for a Russian arms dealer.

Trump recently appeared on the “Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show” where he was asked about 31-year-old Griner’s detainment in Russia.

“She went in there loaded up with drugs into a hostile territory where they’re very vigilant about drugs. They don’t like drugs, and she got caught,” Trump said.

“And, now we’re supposed to get her out, and she makes, you know, a lot of money, I guess. We’re supposed to get her out for an absolute killer and one of the biggest arms dealers in the world. Killed many Americans. Killed many people.”

“Loaded up with drugs” isn’t exactly consistent with the known information. Griner, in court, admitted to accidentally bringing marijuana that she says was prescribed by a doctor in the States to help deal with the pain from previous basketball injuries, instead of taking powerful pain medications.

“It certainly doesn’t seem like a very good trade, does it? He’s absolutely one of the worst in the world and he’s gonna be given his freedom because a potentially spoiled person goes into Russia loaded up with drugs,” Trump said to Travis and Sexton.

The man the U.S is reported to be considering swapping Griner for, is Viktor Bout, known as the “Merchant of Death.”

U.S. Congressman Colin Allred said last week that it’s up to the Russians to accept the deal.

“The ball is entirely in the Russian’s court. I think we’ve made a very good offer to them based off what we know what they want,” Allred said.

The Congressman did not specifically mention Bout’s name or any other specifics of the proposed deal.

Griner has been detained since late February when Russian officials found hashish oil in her bag. She pled guilty and is awaiting her sentence. She faces up to 10 years in prison unless there’s a prisoner swap.

Justin Beiber is back in action… performing for the first time since his frightening facial paralysis.

Justin hit the stage in Lucca, Italy Sunday, where he sang, danced, and brought the house down like his old self.

Justin was previously diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt Syndrome, a rare virus that caused paralysis in his face, along with other symptoms.

Beiber took a month off from his world tour, but promised fans he’d be back at the end of July, and he was well enough to deliver.

He’s scheduled to perform in South America, South Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe, again … before making his way to the U.S.

Elon Musk’s disdain for his father likely just intensified, after his 76-year-old father, Errol Musk pretty much said his son is fat and he’s not proud of him.

Errol was a guest on the Kyle and Jackie O radio show in Australia Monday, where he told the hosts he’s not proud of his son for creating game-changing technology and becoming a billionaire, saying: “You know, we are a family that have been doing a lot of things for a long time. It’s not as if we suddenly started doing something.”

Errol was pretty clear that his favorite child is Elon’s brother, Kimbal, whom he called his “pride and joy.”

He also threw shade at Elon when asked about photos of his son on vacation in Greece, saying “Elon is very strongly built but he’s been eating badly,” and suggesting he take a weight loss product called Garcinia Cambogia.

He went on to say that while Elon does own a fleet of cars, he does not own a single Tesla.

Elon has made it clear, that he detests his dad and blames him for his family’s early struggles. This interview is not likely to change his mind.

Columbian pop singer Shakira could be looking at up to eight years in prison because Spanish prosecutors have accused her of tax fraud.

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, is facing six charges alleging she failed to pay the Spanish government nearly $15 million in taxes between 2012 and 2014. The prosecutors said they would also seek a fine of $24.5 million.

The singer “trusts her innocence and chooses to leave the issue in the hands of the law,” her public relations firm Llorente y Cuenca said in a statement Wednesday.

The 45-year-old singer’s tax fraud case is expected to go to trial after she rejected a settlement deal offered by prosecutors. A trial date has not yet been set.

If convicted, prosecutors are asking the court for a sentence of eight years and two months.

A judge can waive prison time for first-time offenders if they are sentenced to less than two years behind bars.

Prosecutors charged Shakira with tax evasion in December 2018, claiming that she failed to pay millions in taxes to the Spanish government between 2012 and 2014.

Shakira listed the Bahamas as her official residence for tax purposes during those years, but prosecutors allege that she was in fact living in Spain with her now-ex partner, Spanish soccer player Gerard Piqué, father of her two children.

Shakira testified before a judge in 2019 as part of an investigation into her alleged tax evasion and denied any wrongdoing. Her PR firm said she immediately paid what she owed with interest once she was informed of the debt by the tax office.

The entire case hinges on where she lived during the years in question.

Spanish Judge Marco Juberías wrote that his three-year probe found there existed “sufficient evidence of criminality” for the case to go to trial.

Chris Rock made a joke about the infamous Will Smith slap during his stand-up show, but made no mention of Smith’s recent video apology.

Chris performed in Atlanta at the Fox Theatre this weekend … his first appearance since Smith’s apology, and his jokes were on point.

He put a spin on a big issue in our country and weaved it into Oscar’s greatest hit … “Everybody is trying to be a f—ing victim. If everybody claims to be a victim, then nobody will hear the real victims. Even me getting smacked by Suge Smith — I went to work the next day, I got kids.”

Chris got in a few more jokes… “Anyone who says words hurt has never been punched in the face!

Will made an emotional apology to Chris during his video appeal, saying Chris wasn’t ready to talk with him. Chris had previously said that he was not going to talk to Will or accept his apology. Perhaps the video softened his position. Either way, based on his performance he’s healing.

Will didn’t say why it took him 4 months to speak out following the slap,but he did seem pained by his actions and sincere in his apology. It would appear that Smith has more healing to do than Rock. Nevertheless, it looks like this is Will’s reemergence. It’s a very good bet the whole thing will not affect Will’s career, long term.

President Joe Biden held his longest call yet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday morning amid rising tensions between the two powers.

The call, which was their fifth since Biden assumed office, started at 8:33 a.m. ET and lasted for two hours and 17 minutes, according to the White House.

Xi cautioned Biden against disobeying Beijing’s policy on Taiwan, according to a Chinese translation of the conversation.

According to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, the president expressed moral concerns about forced labor and ethnic genocide in China on Thursday.

The Chinese MFA denied the alleged exchange entirely, saying, “According to White House Press Secretary, ‘genocide’ & ‘forced labor’ came up in last night’s call between Chinese & US Presidents. That is disinformation.”

“Pure lies,” an MFA spokesperson said of the White House’s claim. “White House spokesperson said the issues of genocide and forced labor were mentioned in the call last night, that is false information.”

In the Xinjiang area, China is alleged to have wrongfully detained up to 3 million Uyghurs and performed forced sterilizations and abortions. According to Chinese authorities, the camps in the area serve as “re-education” centers that fight Islamic extremism.

According to White House Press Secretary, “genocide” & “forced labor” came up in last night’s call between Chinese & US Presidents. That is disinformation. pic.twitter.com/sKdZQfqVnJ

— CHINA MFA Spokesperson 中国外交部发言人 (@MFA_China) July 29, 2022

Chinese government officials have warned House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to cancel a planned trip to Taiwan, siting Chinese-U.S. foreign policy agreements.

“The call was a part of the Biden Administration’s efforts to maintain and deepen lines of communication between the United States and the PRC and responsibly manage our differences and work together where our interests align,” the White House said of the call.

A video of a fisherman’s encounter with an angry shark in the Florida Keys has gone viral.

Brett Reeder, of Parrish, spent the day fishing with his family, but the last catch of the day got him a ride to the hospital in a helicopter.

While trying to retrieve a hook from a 6-foot-long lemon shark, the beast grabbed his arm and nearly severed his pinky.

Video posted on social media has garnered more than 5 million views. Reeder’s wife Mandy posted the original video on her account with the caption, “Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.”

“I lost my g–damn pinky!” Reeder says in the video.

State police said Reeder made it back to the dock before being airlifted to Miami’s Jackson South Medical Center.

In a video update, Reeder appeared to be in good spirits, despite the cast on his arm.

“I got unlucky when he spun around and caught the top of my hand and started twisting. I could’ve sworn I heard a pop,” Reeder said.

“I kind of freaked out a bit,” he added, recalling his blood pressure dropping while medics gave him a blood transfusion on the helicopter.

https://youtu.be/471D195aOCA

Comments on the social media posts highlight the intensity of the video, which includes graphic content and shows the shark’s face covered with blood.

“By the amount of blood on the shark’s mouth, I think he got the pinky,” one person commented.

Others commented on how Reeder handled the accident. Right after the shark bite, he walks away from the camera and curses about the possibility of losing his pinky.

“That’s how people react when they drop their phone in the water,” another user wrote. “Not lose an appendage.”

According to Reeder, doctors say his pinky finger could still be saved, but it will take some time to find out for sure.

An argument between two families in line at Disney World got violent as it developed into a full-fledged fight.

Between Cinderella’s Castle and Peter Pan’s Flight in Fantasyland, the feuding families were trading fists and foul language while screaming bystanders screamed in the background. Before park staff and cops broke up the altercation at the theme park in Orlando, Florida, it persisted for a number of minutes.

“We came upon it, and it appeared as though it took about two minutes for two security personnel to arrive. Deputies arrived probably about five minutes after that,” an eyewitness recalled.

Disney World descends into chaos as 2 families brawl in huge Magic Kingdom fight https://t.co/0lDaIQ1MxU

— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 21, 2022

According to reports, the incident started when a female Disney tourist in line for Mickey’s PhilharMagic realized she had forgotten her phone on her electric conveyance vehicle and went to get it while her family stayed in line. Another family attempted to prevent her from re-joining the queue when she came back. Then, according to reports, her family confronted the other group while waiting outside the movie.

A member of their family reportedly said, “We don’t appreciate you guys pushing my younger sister.”

After that, the altercation turned into a yelling match, followed by a physical altercation, before security and police enforcement intervened. A facial laceration caused one of the guys involved to wind up in the hospital, while lesser bruises were sustained by the others. The hospitalization was confirmed by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, who also informed Fox News that three persons had been detained for misdemeanor violence.

This is not the first altercation to occur this year at the Disney park. In May, a woman reportedly smacked her head on the ground after a dispute she and her husband had with other park guests as they attempted to position themselves before a fireworks display, resulting in bleeding on the brain.