Category: Opinion

  • World Leaders Shocked And Saddened By Events On Capitol Hill

    World Leaders Shocked And Saddened By Events On Capitol Hill

    The entire world watched as Wednesday’s events on Capitol Hill unfolded and many world leaders expressed their concern and condemned the violence that took place.

    United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted, “Disgraceful scenes in the U.S. Congress. The United States stands for democracy around the world and it is now vital that there should be a peaceful and orderly transfer of power.”

    Canadian Prime Minister told a Vancouver news outlet, “There is an important electoral process unfolding in the United States and I think we all want it and need it to unfold properly and peacefully. And so we certainly hope things will calm down.”

    Turkey’s foreign ministry urged calm in a statement and Parliament Speaker Mustafa Sentop emphasized the importance of “law and democracy” on Twitter.

    “We follow the events in the USA with concern and invite the parties to calmness,” said Sentop. “We believe that problems will always be solved within law and democracy. As Turkey, we have always been in favor of the law and democracy and we recommend it to everyone.”

    European Union leader Joseph Borrell Fontelles said, “In the eyes of the world American democracy tonight appears under siege. This is an unseen assault on US democracy, its institutions, and the rule of law. This is not America. The election results of 3 November must be fully respected.”

    Ukraine foreign affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba expressed his concern over the events on Capitol Hill.
    “Concerning scenes in Washington, D.C. I’m confident American democracy will overcome this challenge,” he said. “The rule of law & democratic procedures need to be restored as soon as possible. This is important not only for the U.S. but for Ukraine and the entire democratic world as well.”
    Several domestic leaders from both parties chimed in to condemn the rioting as well.
    House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy called the violence “so un-American” and told Fox News’ Bill Hemmer, “I condemn any of this violence. I could not be more disappointed in the way our country looks at this very moment. People are getting hurt.”

    Police confirmed that one woman has died from a gunshot wound sustained while protesters clashed with police officers.

  • House Speaker’s Own House Is Vandalised With Graffiti And Pig’s Blood

    House Speaker’s Own House Is Vandalised With Graffiti And Pig’s Blood

    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is facing some serious backlash over how she and other lawmakers handled the coronavirus stimulus bill. And for her, the consequences are hitting a little too close to home.

    Photos are being passed around social media showing the garage of Pelosi’s San Francisco home with a direct message from angry citizens spray-painted across the door.

    The graffiti reads, “$2K Cancel Rent! We want everything!” and “UBI!” referring to the idea of universal basic income.

    Taking things one step further, the vandals left a severed pig’s head covered in fake blood in the driveway.

    A San Francisco Police Department spokesman said officers responded to a call about vandalism around 2 a.m. Friday morning. It was reported that “Unidentified suspect(s) had painted graffiti on the garage door and left a pig’s head on the sidewalk.”

    Officers said the scene was in the 2600 block of Broadway but at that time did not confirm who owned the home or if anyone was there at the time.

    According to photos from a local San Francisco news station the graffiti was covered up with trash bags and the pig’s head and fake blook were cleaned up.

    Police have not confirmed if they have any suspects, but the message included two A’s with circles around them, a symbol typically associated with anarchism.

    The incident emphasizes tensions surrounding the ongoing coronavirus relief stimulus checks.

    Congress negotiations dragged over into the new year without signs of compromise. President Trump and Democrats are demanding $2,000 stimulus checks for every American but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell continues to block the bill calling it “socialism for rich.”

  • Prosecutors Fuming Over Teen’s Plea In Kenosha Shooting Case

    Prosecutors Fuming Over Teen’s Plea In Kenosha Shooting Case

    Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager who fatally shot two people during a protest in Kenosha, Wisconson, entered a plea of not guilty to all charges.

    The teen’s legal team argues that he acted in self-defense, maintaining that he only fired his weapon after being attacked from behind.

    Prosecutors accused Rittenhouse of traveling across state lines from his home in Antioch, Illinois, to Kenosha after he heard about a call for militia to protect businesses during the protest on August 25.

    John Pierce, the attorney representing Rittenhouse in civil matters related to the incident claimed, “If what happened in Kenosha is not self-defense for Kyle Rittenhousem the right to self-defense does not exist anymore in America.”

    After voluntarily turning himself in, the teenager told investigators that he had received blows to the head and neck with a baseball bat and skateboard. Several videos were circulating online showing scenes from the encounter.

    After the police shooting of Jacob Blake, protesters flooded the streets of Kenosha. Rittenhouse shot three people during the protests, two of them died and the third was seriously injured.

    In addition to the shooting-related charges, the teen, who was 17 at the time, is accused of violating curfew to attend the protest.

    Pierce said, “The charges should be dropped immediately. If the prosecutors have such poor judgment that they are intent on taking this case to trial, we will prove Kyle’s innocence and we will win.”

    The pleas were entered during a virtual hearing on Tuesday. Rittenhouse’s trial is scheduled to begin on March 29 but could be delayed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. A pretrial hearing is set for March 10.

  • Eleven Iranians Caught Sneaking Into The U.S. Through New Arizona Route

    Eleven Iranians Caught Sneaking Into The U.S. Through New Arizona Route

    Earlier this week U.S. Border Patrol agents were able to arrest 11 Iranian citizens after they were caught crossing the United States-Mexico border in Arizona.

    According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents detected the group near San Luis around 6 p.m. that evening, and agents quickly determined the group had illegally entered the U.S. from Mexico. The group was swiftly arrested and taken into custody. The CBP said the group was made up of six males and five females, all citizens of Iran.

    The CBP said it is not uncommon for Yuma Sector agents to regularly encounter people from all over the world crossing the border illegally, especially people from “Special Interest Countries.”

    Over the past several years, Border Patrol agents at the Yuma Sector have arrested more illegal crossers from Iran than any other Border Patrol sector combined. There have been 14 Iranian nationals apprehended in the Yuma Sector since October.

    Increased enforcement efforts in California and Texas over the years have forced migrants into more dangerous terrain in Arizona.

    Immigration scholars predict a wave of people from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador will try to cross the border from Mexico into the United States this year due to a pair of disastrous hurricanes in Central America and with a Joe Biden administration after four years of very strict policies under former President Donald Trump.

    The president of the nonpartisan Migration Policy Insitute wrote in Americas Quarterly magazine, “Heading north will continue to be seen as an option. President-elect Joe Biden has promised to do things differently, treating migrants and asylum-seekers with dignity.”

    Salee also warned that these sudden policy changes could encourage those intending to cross the border to flood north.

  • Teenager Who Fell Into A Coma Before The Pandemic Just Woke Up And Has No Idea

    Teenager Who Fell Into A Coma Before The Pandemic Just Woke Up And Has No Idea

    At just 19-years old Joseph Flavill fell into an 11-month long coma after being hit by a car on March 1, 2020, and receiving a severe brain injury. Now, he has woken up his family is struggling to find a way to explain to him about the coronavirus pandemic and all of the tragic events that took place over the past couple of months.

    The teen’s aunt said, “He won’t know anything about the pandemic as he’s been asleep for 10 months. A year ago if someone had told me what was going to happen over the last year, I don’t think I would have believed it. I’ve got no idea how Joseph’s going to come to understand what we’ve all been through.”

    While in a coma Joseph was kept at Leicester General Hospital before being transferred to Adderley Green neurological rehabilitation center in Stoke-on-Trent during which time get caught coronavirus twice but thankfully recovered.

    The family has decided to wait to explain the magnitude of the pandemic but they are letting him know through video chat that they can not be with him because of virus restrictions.

    “We don’t really have the time to go into the pandemic hugely – it just doesn’t feel real does it? When he can actually have the face-to-face contact, that will be the opportunity to actually try to explain to him what has happened,” his aunt explained.

    He has not yet made a full recovery but is able to move his limbs slightly and respond to family members through blinking and smiling.

  • Scientists Make Incredible Break Through With Coronavirus Fighting Plant

    Scientists Make Incredible Break Through With Coronavirus Fighting Plant

    According to groundbreaking new research in the United Kingdom, there is a plant-derived antiviral medication that may be “highly effective” in treating the coronavirus and could also be useful in fighting future pandemics.

    Researchers at the University of Nottingham discovered that antiviral thapsigargin not only fights COVID-19 but is also very effective against a common cold coronavirus called respiratory syncytial virus as well as influenza A.

    “Whilst we are still at the early stages of research into this antiviral and its impact on how viruses such as COVID-19 can be treated, these findings are hugely significant,” said Professor Kin-Chow Chang, who led the study along with colleagues at the Animal and Plant Health Agency, China Agricultural University and the Pirbright Institute.”The current pandemic highlights the need for effective antivirals to treat active infections, as well as vaccines, to prevent the infection,” he said.

    “Given that future pandemics are likely to be of animal origin, where animal-to-human and reverse zoonotic (human-to-animal) spread take place, a new generation of antivirals, such as thapsigargin, could play a key role in the control and treatment of important viral infections in both humans and animals,” Chang added.

    The scientists found that the antiviral, in small doses, triggers a “highly effective” immune response against the three major types of human respiratory viruses, including COVID-19.

    Thapsigargin, which has been tested in prostate cancer, is effective against viral infection when used before or during active infection, according to the study.

    Chang said, “Although more testing is clearly needed, current findings strongly indicate that thapsigargin and its derivatives are promising antiviral treatments against COVID-19 and influenza virus, and have the potential to defend us against the next Disease X pandemic.”

    According to the study, the plant is able to prevent a virus from making new copies of itself in cells for at least two days after a single 30-minute exposure.

  • Graham Warns Of Detrimental Consequences If Rep. Greene Were To Be Removed

    Graham Warns Of Detrimental Consequences If Rep. Greene Were To Be Removed

    Senator Lindsey Graham warned about the long-term consequences that could come from House Democrats pushing to remove Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene from her post.

    A vote was set to decide whether or not to remove Greene from the House Budget Committee and the Education and Labor Committee. After House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy criticized Greene’s past conduct Democrats moved forward with the resolution.

    “If successful, the partisan effort to strip @RepMTG of her committee assignments will set a terrible precedent for the House — with no end in sight,” said the House Leader. “I hope her comments today will go a long way in turning down the temperature and allow us to focus on the important issues the American people want us to address.”

    During her short time in Congress, Greene has faced a lot of criticism over her support of the QAnon conspiracy theory and Trump’s unproven claims of election fraud. When it was discovered that Greene had made and “like” several social media posts calling for violence against top Democrats and suggesting that many deadly mass shootings and 9/11 were staged critics demand she be removed from office.

    Greene’s remarks especially drew the ire of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell who called her “loony lies and conspiracy theories” a “cancer for the Republican Party and our country.”

    The Congresswoman has remained defiant in the face of calls for her removal but did, however, express remorse for her past QAnon comments during a floor speech before the House had a chance to vote.

    “I was allowed to believe things that weren’t true and I would ask questions about them and talk about them and that is absolutely what I regret,” said Greene. “If it weren’t for the Facebook posts and comments that I liked in 2018, I wouldn’t be standing here today and you couldn’t point a finger and accuse me of anything wrong, because I’ve lived a very good life that I’m proud of.”

  • Amazon May Never Be The Same After Bezos Made This A Huge Announcement

    Amazon May Never Be The Same After Bezos Made This A Huge Announcement

    Jeff Bezos is the wealthiest person on earth so it probably wouldn’t hurt his wallet to step down as C.E.O of Amazon and give someone else a turn.

    The multimillionaire has been at the top of the company since its conception in 1994 but he announced on Tuesday that he will be stepping down from his role in the third quarter of 2021.

    Bezos will be transitioning to executive chair of the company. Andy Jassy, who currently leads Amazon Web Services (AWS), is set to take over as CEO of the company, Amazon said in a statement. Jassy has been with the company for nearly 24 years, according to his LinkedIn.

    “In the Exec Chair role, I intend to focus my energies and attention on new products and early initiatives. Andy is well known inside the company and has been at Amazon almost as long as I have,” Bezos wrote in a letter to employees published online. “He will be an outstanding leader, and he has my full confidence.”

    “Being the CEO of Amazon is a deep responsibility, and it’s consuming. When you have a responsibility like that, it’s hard to put attention on anything else,” he added. “As Exec Chair I will stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives but also have the time and energy I need to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and my other passions.”

    Charlie O’Shea, lead retail analyst at Moody’s Investors Services, said Bezos’ departure and replacement with Jassy would be an “absolutely seamless transition.”

    “Andy has done a terrific job of AWS, I mean the numbers bear that out,” O’Shea added. “AWS continues to be the profit engine of the company and supports the retail business as a continuing investment.”

    Bezos’ announcement came parallel with Amazon’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings report, which exceeded expectations. As the third-largest company in the world revenue hit a record high of $125.56 billion compared to consensus estimates of $119.70 billion.

  • This State Will See Its First Tax Hike In Twenty Years

    This State Will See Its First Tax Hike In Twenty Years

    Governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Wolf, has announced his desire to raise taxes for his wealthier residents as well as the natural gas industry to help fund new investments for education and coronavirus relief in a new budget plan.

    This proposal from the governor calls for the personal income tax rate to increase from 3.07% to 4.49% making it the first personal income tax spike in nearly 20 years.

    The details of the budget followed a statement from Wolf’s office saying 67% of Pennsylvania taxpayers would see no change in their taxes or would receive tax cuts under his plan to lower costs for working-class households while raising billions for education and “workforce development.”

    “Now is the time to act boldly to remove the barriers to success Pennsylvania families are facing,” Wolf wrote in a tweet.

    The coronavirus pandemic also shined a light on the overwhelming inequities for low-wage workers, minorities, and the disabled. Wolf is directing billions of dollars toward the development of the workforce and “re-employment assistance” for those who lost their jobs during the COVID crisis.

    To offset those expenses Wolf’s office confirmed there are proposed new taxes on recreational marijuana and fracking.

    According to Wolf’s office, “Families with two children making less than $84,000 will receive a tax cut while a family of four making %50,000 will have their taxes eliminated.”

    Another part of his 2021 plan is proposing an increase to Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to $12 an hour and eventually $15.

    The 2021-2022 budget year is set to begin on July 1.

  • Former House Speaker Calls Out Elite Dems For Their Arrogance

    Former House Speaker Calls Out Elite Dems For Their Arrogance

    Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich compared the former Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry to a modern-day Marie Antoinette referring to his private jet rides while promoting climate advocacy as his latest example of liberal elitism. 

    Kerry, a former secretary of state whose wealthy wife is part of Heinz family ketchup royalty – said at the time the flight was “the only choice for somebody like me.” It took place in 2019 but was not reported in the U.S. media until this week.

    Kerry also noted that he had “offset” the emissions, a process that usually involves planting trees or cutting emissions elsewhere in exchange for a flight.

    It’s not so much about carbon footprint hypocrisy, Gingrich argued in a follow-up tweet. It was another example of the alleged do as I say, not as I do “arrogance” of some of the nation’s most visible Democrats.

    Gingrich pointed to Bill de Blasio, the far-left New York City mayor who refuses to take public transportation and drives across the city to his gym every morning, while many others have been closed for months, and wealthy California Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose recent lunch at the fancy French Laundry restaurant flouted his own coronavirus dining regulations and cost more than the monthly income of many California families. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ruffled feathers too, after Fox News exclusively obtained surveillance video showing her at a hair salon during the height of the country’s coronavirus shutdowns.

     

    Kerry, who was recently appointed as President Biden’s newly minted climate czar, flew across the Atlantic Ocean to Iceland aboard a private jet to accept an award for his environmental activism.