Author: J.P. Knowles

More than 50 people were killed and at least 100 others were injured when a truck loaded with migrants wrecked in Mexico on Thursday.

The head of the state Civil Protection Service, Luis Manuel García Moreno, said a truck carrying more than 150 people had overturned in what was the deadliest accident he had ever seen.

The truck was filled with passengers who were primarily migrants from Central America and was traveling at an “excessive” speed when it rounded a sharp curve and overturned. After flipping, the truck crashed into a pedestrian bridge.

“My solidarity is with the victims of the traffic accident,” Rutilio Escandón, the governor said, adding that as of Thursday night there were 105 people receiving medical treatment.

“I have given instructions to provide prompt attention and assistance to the injured,” Escandón said. “Responsibility will be determined according to the law.”

Migrants attempting to enter the U.S. are commonly crammed into vehicles and oftentimes face danger and violence along the way. In January the bodies of 19 migrants, were discovered in a charred pickup truck near the U.S.-Mexico border.

“The rising migrant death toll in the region is highly alarming,” said Michele Klein-Solomon, regional director of the International Organization for Migration for Central, North America, and the Caribbean. At least 750 migrants traveling north have been killed in Mexico since 2014.

The “Remain in Mexico” program, which has been criticized by human rights groups, requires migrants to wait until their hearing to come into the U.S., was reinstituted by the Biden Administration last week.

“Under the Remain in Mexico program, the United States and Mexico have knowingly put thousands of asylum seekers’ lives in danger,” Ari Sawyer, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, said in a statement Thursday.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki was called out during a press conference over President Joe Biden’s“racist” travel restrictions against African countries amid the Omicron variant. 

The Biden administration, along with other nations, imposed travel restrictions on South Africa and its neighboring countries on Nov. 29, under the advisement of White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci. South Africa had the first confirmed case of the variant, which has quickly spread to other parts of the world. 

Today News Africa reporter Simon Ateba stated that South Africa only accounts for 6% of the Omicron variant cases, however, nearly 70 countries have imposed restrictions solely on African countries. He challenged Psaki on why the U.S. had imposed restrictions on only eight African countries, rather than on all 57 countries that have confirmed cases of the variant.

“What would you say to those who believe that this is a racist ban, that it is only on African and black African nations?” Ateba pushed. 

“Simon, I would convey to you that that is absolutely not the intention, that is not our policy,” Psaki said. “This was a recommendation of the health and medical experts because there was a large number of cases in South Africa, and they made a decision early on out of an abundance of caution to protect the American people to slow the spread of the variant.” 

Psaki went on to say that the restrictions are not permanent and are not intended to punish any of these nations. She said the administration is seeking to lift the restrictions by listening to the recommendations of their COVID team, and will once they are advised to do so. 

The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres criticized nations, including the U.S, for the restrictions, calling it a“travel apartheid.”

The U.S. had its first confirmed case of the Omicron variant on Dec. 1 in California. Fauci announced Tuesday that the variant is“almost certainly” less dangerous than the Delta variant.

A Texas substitute teacher showed up to school last week prepared to teach a lesson that was complete with a disco ball and karaoke machine.

The unidentified substitute teacher broke out in a bizarre karaoke rendition of Toxic by Britney Spears, subsequently, he was dismissed from the school shortly after the first period at Austin’s Bowie High School on Friday.

School officials are still puzzled over what exactly the substitute teacher was trying to teach.

The perplexing performance was recorded by a student who watched in confusion as the teacher belted the lyrics of Britney’s iconic 2003 pop song, while multicolored disco lights flashed around him, especially since it was not a music class.

“With a taste of a poison paradise, I’m addicted to you. Don’t you know that you’re toxic?” he belted out, as a musical rendition of the song blared from the speakers.

Shortly after his strange performance, the teacher was “relieved of duty” because he “wasn’t following [the district’s] best practices.”

“I’ve heard worse Britney Spears covers, but the lights are a bit much,” one school representative said.

After watching his son’s recording, Andre Abelkis, was just as confused as his son.

The father said, “We didn’t know what this was all about until our son explained what it was. Yes, we were a little upset that a substitute teacher would not care about teaching the class and just do something for themselves. And, yes, I think the teacher should have been removed from class.”

Since his early dismissal from Bowie High School, the sub has surprisingly been allowed to teach at another local high school. Only time will tell what’s on his next playlist.

A Texas woman shot and killed a would-be robber Sunday morning.

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office responded to an early morning call Sunday about a man that had been shot.

Authorities found a dead man in the woman’s driveway who had been shot several times. The unidentified woman told police that when she had returned home, three men approached her and tried to rob her. She then shot the one suspect while two more fled the scene in a sedan.

She claimed that her boyfriend was home at the time of the incident and that he chased the other two but was unable to catch them. Authorities said the couple cooperating in the investigation and are not expected to face charges in the shooting.

During her show, television host Joy Reid accused Tesla chief executive Elon Musk of highjacking the term “Karen” from “black vernacular.”

In one segment of the show called “The Reid Out,” she took a shot at Musk, saying he is “opposed” to the Build Back Better Act and “wants to get rid of all government subsidies.” Reid also accused Musk of being “one of the most thin-skinned people on social media” after he got into a Twitter battle with Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Monday.

Reid shared Warren’s tweet during the segment, which suggested “changing the tax code” so Musk would “stop freeloading off everyone else” and “actually pay taxes.”

Musk countered with, “Please don’t call the manager on me, Senator Karen.”

“Elon did what he always did and stomped his little feet and insulted Senator Warren,” Reid said. She characterized his treatment of Warren as “selfish and disrespectful,” claiming he “appropriated” the term “Karen” from “black vernacular for misogynistic purposes.”

Warren made her “freeloading” comment about Musk after Time Magazine naming him as their 2021 “Person of the Year.”

Reid asked Warren to be a guest on her show where she gave her the opportunity to respond to Musk’s comments.

“The part that makes me really angry about this is on behalf of every public school teacher, every waitress, every computer programmer, every street cleaner who actually paid taxes, that means they paid more than Elon Musk did in federal income taxes,” said Warren. “That’s just not right. It means the system is broken and I and many others are trying to fix that.”

Warren also claimed that Musk was able to gain his wealth because he was “subsidized by the federal government and every waitress and public school teacher who paid their taxes” saying he needed to “eat a big dish of that.”

The term “Karen” is an insult typically directed towards white women.

After an expansive and lengthy search, the last two zebras that had escaped from a Maryland farm in August have been found and returned to their herd.

Three zebras had escaped from the Maryland farm, where approximately 40 live. The fugitive zebras roamed the Washington, D.C., suburbs, eluding authorities for months. County officials used food and fencing to slowly lure the animals back home.

One escapee zebra died after being caught in a snare trap and another was found dead at the farm in October, leading to animal cruelty charges against Jerry Holly, the zebras’ owner.

Holly’s attorney claimed that the zebras were well cared for and healthy. Holly said that he “looks forward to being able to show in court that there is no merit whatsoever to any of the charges pending against him.

Sightings of the animals created attention in the surrounding areas as locals hoped to get a glimpse of the creatures. “There’s a buzz. A lot of people are talking about it,” Rodney Taylor, the chief of the Prince George’s County Animal Services Division told said in September.

Auto executive, Erik Maund has been indicted for paying three men $750,000 to track down and murder his mistress and her boyfriend, who he said, had been blackmailing him, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Gilad Peled, the owner of Speartip Security who claims to have served in the Israeli Defense Forces; Bryon Brockway a former active-duty Marine who served in a Special Operations Capable unit; and Adam Carey, who previously served in the Marine Corps Special Operations Group, were hired by Maund as part of a kidnapping and murder scheme.

All four men were arrested Friday and have been charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping, kidnapping resulting in death, and carrying, brandishing, and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, each of them could face life in prison.

Maund, a married man from Austin, Texas, had gone to Nashville in February 2020 to visit family. While in Nashville, he contacted Holly Williams, a woman he had previously been involved with romantically, and asked her to meet with him.

BREAKING: Austin auto magnate Erik Charles Maund has been indicted in a murder-for-hire plot, federal prosecutors allege.

Maund allegedly paid more than $750,000 to an Austin security specialist and two others to kill his former mistress and her boyfriend https://t.co/uVpmf6ZCrR

— Austin Statesman (@statesman) December 13, 2021

Williams’ romantic partner, William Lanway, threatened to expose Maund’s relationship with Williams if Maund did not pay him to keep quiet.

Carey and the others traveled to Tennessee where they surveilled Williams and Lanway. They confirmed Williams’ address and license plate and that Lanway had been staying with Williams.

Brockway and Carey confronted Williams and Lanway on Mar. 12, 2020, in the parking lot of Williams’ apartment, where they shot and killed Lanway. The two men then kidnapped Williams and drove her and Lanyway’s body to a construction site, where they shot and killed her, then abandoned both bodies.

Amid a rash of car break-ins, car owners in the San Francisco Bay Area have started doing strange things to deter the crime.

Car owners have started leaving their car doors unlocked, rolling their windows down, and leaving their trunks open so would-be thieves can see that there are no valuables inside.

Former San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) Deputy Chief Garret Tom said that he was in shock over the drastic measures car owners are taking to protect their property.

“We’re in different times … that’s unbelievable,” he said. “[Thieves] could steal your batteries, your tires,” he said. “They could go into your glove compartment and find out where you live.”

However, interim SFPD Deputy Police Chief Drennon Lindsey remarked that “it doesn’t really surprise [her].”

“It’s out of control. We have people that are doing this – are breaking into cars in Nob Hill, then they go down to Fisherman’s Wharf, then they come out here. Then they go to another part of the city and the police can’t chase the cars, it’s considered a misdemeanor,” San Francisco Patrol Special Police Officer Alan Byard said.

San Francisco recently reported that the city sees roughly 3,000 car burglaries per month, or an estimated 74 per day — a 32% increase since 2020, according to local police.

San Francisco Democratic Mayor London Breed has begun to denounce left-wing reform policies and calling for a citywide crackdown on crime.

“It is time that the reign of criminals who are destroying our city … to come to an end. It comes to an end when we take the steps to be more aggressive with law enforcement, more aggressive with the changes in our policies, and less tolerant of all the bullshit that has destroyed our city. We are going to turn this around,” Breed said at a Tuesday press conference.

A group of House Republicans sent a letter Wednesday to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding information on reports that the 82,000 Afghans who were evacuated to the U.S. in August were not properly vetted before entering the country.

Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs spearheaded the letter that was signed by 16 other members of Congress. In the letter, the lawmakers cited a Republican Senate memo claiming that nearly all of the nearly 82,000 Afghans evacuated to the U.S.had not been vetted, meanwhile the Biden administration is claiming otherwise.

“The person in charge of our border security, Alejandro Mayorkas, must be removed from his position,” Biggs said.

In the letter the House Republicans Asked Mayorkas:

How many of the individuals granted parole were interviewed by a trained refugee officer prior to being granted parole?

How many individuals were denied parole based on information discovered during their interview?

There have been media reports of Afghan nationals who were brought to the United States committing crimes after their arrival.

How many individuals have had their parole terminated? How many individuals have been removed from the country?

“We’re asking him basic questions, who was allowed into our country, and were they properly vetted? Not providing this information out of fear it will reveal the extent of DHS’s failure to vet Afghan evacuees is not an acceptable excuse. His failure to comply with the law and submit a statutorily mandated report further demonstrates the administration’s contempt for the laws passed by Congress,” Biggs added.

The other Republicans who signed the letter include Wisconsin Rep. Tom Tiffany, Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry, Florida Rep. Bill Posey, Montana Rep. Matt Rosendale, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, South Carolina Rep. Jeff Duncan, North Carolina Rep. Ted Budd, Virginia Rep. Bob Good, Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert, Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar, Florida Rep. Greg Steube, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert, Texas Rep. Randy Weber, Texas Rep. Chip Roy, and Virginia Rep. Ben Cline.

Biggs and other Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter in early December to Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler demanding he schedule a hearing with Mayorkas due to the ongoing border crisis.

Republican New Mexico Rep. Yvette Herrell sent a letter Friday to House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney demanding she issues a subpoena to Mayorkas.

Herrell pointed out that the Biden administration missed the legal Nov. 29 deadline to submit a report on the Afghan evacuation and questioned the vetting that has taken place or lack thereof. The letter comes after multiple reports of Afghan men on various bases involved in child trafficking, spousal abuse and rapes.

A Denver, Colorado,-area public elementary school is taking heat for planning a “families of color playground night.”

Centennial Elementary School’s website promotes the event as taking place on the “2nd Wed. of the month at school, outside, as long as weather permits, at that point, it will be virtual, and probably later in the evening,” it read.

Exactly what the event would have looked like is unclear with one of the nation’s leading anti-critical race theory activists, Chris Rufo, tweeting what appeared to be a school sign advertising the event.

Denver Public Schools now promoting racially-segregated playtime—for "equity." pic.twitter.com/QO5XZXHfcX

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) December 14, 2021

“Denver Public Schools now promoting racially-segregated playtime—for ‘equity,’” Rufo said.

According to him, the event was organized by its “Dean of Culture” Nicole Tembrock, however, “The event was [canceled] due to COVID protocols, but they plan to reschedule in the new year,” he added.

The event was posted to the school’s Facebook advertising it as an opportunity to introduce parents to the “Community Equity Collective.”

“In this first session, we will introduce the Equity Book Study and Equity Discussions which will alternate each month,” it read.

“We will be meeting the first Wednesday of every month. The book we will be reading this year is How We Show Up: Reclaiming Family, Friendship, and Community by Mia Birdsong, which we will discuss in November, January, March, and May. In alternating months, we will discuss another resource, topic, or equity-related theme. This first month, we will focus on getting to know each other and learning about how we can contribute to equity at Centennial.”