Category: Opinion

Second gentleman Douglas Emhoff was visiting a high school Tuesday when Secret Service agents rushed him away due to a bomb threat.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband, was visiting Dunbar High School in northwest Washington for an event celebrating Black History Month when school officials alerted his security detail of a bomb threat, agents quickly ushered Emhoff out of the building. Once the Second Gentleman was clear the school carried out a general evacuation of the school.

Harris and President Joe Biden were transitioning from lunch to a weekly economic briefing at the time of the incident.

D.C. school officials said there were no injuries and the school had been cleared.

“We took the precaution of evacuating everybody, as you saw. I think everyone is safe,” D.C. Public Schools press secretary Enrique Gutierrez said. “The building is clear. But I don’t have any specific details at this moment.”

The source and intent of the bomb threat are still under investigation.

When asked about the incident during a White House press briefing on Tuesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said there were no updates.

The office of French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had vowed not to launch any new “military initiatives” in Ukraine.

French officials said Putin made the promise during talks between Putin and Macron in Moscow on Monday. France also said Putin had agreed to recall thousands of Russian troops massed at Belarus’ border with Ukraine once exercises are finished there this month.

“I secured an assurance there would be no deterioration or escalation,” Macron said before meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Macron said he had not expected Putin to make any “gestures” prior to the meeting, reiterating that the goal of the talks was to “prevent an escalation and open new perspectives. … That objective is met.”

French officials said the development “makes it possible to consider de-escalation.”

The Kremlin has denied reports that any sort of deal to de-escalate was reached with Macron, with Putin reminding the U.S. and NATO they had ignored Moscow’s demands. He indicated his readiness to continue discussions but again warned that Ukraine’s membership in NATO could trigger a war.

Olympic athletes competing in Beijing are complaining about a lack of food and dire conditions at the Winter Games.

German skiing coach Christian Schwaiger lamented the “extremely questionable” catering, criticizing the Olympic Committee for not providing hot meals to athletes.

“There are no hot meals. There are crisps, some nuts and chocolate, and nothing else. This shows a lack of focus on high-performance sport,” Schwaiger said, noting Team USA came prepared with bags of pasta and other items.

Meanwhile, Russian biathlon competitor Valeria Vasnetsova posted to Instagram that she missed her competition after testing positive for COVID-19. The athlete shared a picture of the meal she has been served for “breakfast, lunch, and dinner for five days already,” consisting of a little plain pasta, a few potatoes, charred meat on a bone, and an orange sauce.

Three-time gold medalist Eric Frenzel also tested positive for the virus, with the head of Germany’s delegation reporting that the hotel where the athlete was forced to quarantine had “unreasonable” conditions. The room was too small, dirty, and food deliveries were late.

“My stomach hurts, I’m very pale and I have huge black circles around my eyes. I want all this to end. I cry every day. I’m very tired,” her Instagram post read. Vasnetsova’s account has since been made private.

Athletes who test positive for the coronavirus are forced to quarantine and can only compete after producing two consecutive negative PCR test results, according to NPR.

Belgian skeleton racer Kim Meylemans shared a tear-filled post to Instagram detailing her confusing ordeal after she tested positive upon arriving in Beijing.

Meulemans said she was frightened over the city’s COVID-19 protocols, explaining that she thought she was being taken to the Olympic Village in Yanqing after testing positive for the virus but was taken by ambulance to a remote location instead.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) released a statement Monday noting their “ongoing commitment to delivering safe and splendid Olympic Winter Games.”

“Any issue – we have to address. No stone can be left unturned. And this is what we have to do until the very last day,” IOC Executive Director for Olympic Games Christophe Dubi said. “We also have a duty, and this is a point we have made on our side, within the Olympic family, and with you (the media) as well – it’s that everything we see, every issue we can identify at that point in time, we have to help the Organizing Committee to address.”

The financial news site Bloomberg accidentally posted a report saying that Russia had invaded Ukraine Friday afternoon with a headline on its homepage.

“Live: Russia invades Ukraine,” read a startling headline on Bloomberg’s homepage at around 4 p.m.

The post stayed up for about 30 minutes, according to Olga Lautman, a Russian analyst who posted the message on social media.

Readers who clicked on the disturbing story — which comes amid tensions as Russian troops mass on the Ukrainian border and US officials warn of a potential invasion — were shown an error page.

“I went on the site and saw the breaking news but knew it wasn’t real because I deal with Ukraine and will be one of the first to know,” Lautman said. “It is bizarre and a pretty big mistake to make considering this is a potential large-scale invasion and everyone is on edge.”

“We prepare headlines for many scenarios and one of those headlines was inadvertently published at around 4 PM ET today on our website,” a Bloomberg News spokesperson said. “We deeply regret the error.”

A Bloomberg News spokesperson said she had posted the pre-scheduled headline, “Russia Invades Ukraine,” in error.

“The headline has been removed and we are investigating the cause,” the spokesperson added.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on the post saying how dangerous the warmongering rhetoric from the West was. He did say that he did not believe the headline was intended as “a provocation.”

“This situation makes it clear how dangerous such tensions are, which have been triggered by daily aggressive statements that we keep hearing from Washington, European capitals, and London,” Peskov said.

A pickup truck took flight and crashed into the second floor of a New Jersey home Sunday, killing one person.

John Nunn, 27, was driving while intoxicated at the time of the incident. Nunn and one of the homeowners were both injured in the crash while Nunn’s passenger, Tyler Balog, 24, was killed.

The crash occurred around 2:30 a.m. when Nunn was driving on Route 57 in Washington Township and sped up in an effort to pass other vehicles. He lost control of his truck, hitting a mailbox and a stone pillar before going airborne and crashing into the home.

“He hit a landscaping structure that launched him into the second floor. He had a lot of speed going on there too,” Warren County Prosecutor James Pfeiffer said. “Talk about the odds of this. You have a better chance of winning the lottery than this happening.”

Nunn was thrown from the vehicle and found on the first floor with minor injuries while his passenger, Balog, was pronounced dead on the scene.

The homeowners were in at the time of the crash. One of the homeowners, a woman, was in a bedroom on the second floor when the vehicle crashed into the house and was severely injured. She was flown to Morristown Medical Center where she was listed in critical condition.

The other homeowner, a man, was in another part of the house during the crash and was not hurt although he was taken to Hackettstown Medical Center to be evaluated.

Nunn faces charges of death by auto, aggravated manslaughter, and DUI, which are pending alcohol test results.

The first U.S. troops sent to reinforce NATO allies in East Europe amid growing tensions at the Ukraine border, landed at a military base near the Poland-Ukraine border Saturday, a Polish military spokesman confirmed.

“As announced, the first elements of the brigade battle group from the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army have arrived in Poland,” the spokesperson said Saturday.

The U.S. Army has confirmed that the commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division, U.S. Army Major General Christopher Donahue, had departed to Poland, as preparations for the second deployment of about 1,700 U.S. service members continued at the base.

President Joe Biden approved an additional 3,000 troops to be deployed to Poland, Germany, and Romania Wednesday.

“These are not permanent moves,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Wednesday. “These forces are not going to fight in Ukraine.”

The move came amid growing fears of Russian military aggression towards Ukraine after nearly 130,000 Russian troops had been massed along the Ukrainian border.

The U.S. Department of State previously put 8,500 troops on high alert for potential deployment to the NATO allies in the region.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met in-person Friday with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to discuss a multitude of issues, including the growing tensions between Russia and the West that followed the escalation at the Ukrainian border.

The meeting of the world leaders resulted in a joint statement announcing China’s support of Russian opposition to further NATO expansion.

Republican Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson will introduce a bill Friday that would require executive branch officials involved in immigration policy to visit the southern border then submit reports about the conditions.

Vice President Kamala Harris’s handling of the immigration crisis inspired the bill, titled the Border Czar Accountability Act, Jackson said. Named Border Czar by President Joe Biden in March, Harris is in charge of immigration policy but has visited the southern border only once, while downplaying calls for her to make more visits to states like Texas and Arizona as “political games.”

“Biden’s push for open border policies and amnesty for all illegal immigrants has created and continued to bolster the worst border crisis in history. The current situation at our southern border is a public health crisis, a haven for criminal activity, and a threat to our national security. Despite alarming data coming in from the border, President Biden’s Senior Cabinet Member and so-called ‘Border Czar’ Kamala Harris has wholly dismissed and ignored her responsibility to address and solve this crisis,” Jackson said.

“President Biden appointed Vice President Kamala Harris as Border Czar 318 days ago, and she only visited the southern border once for a short photo op, far away from where the crisis is taking place, and only after receiving pressure from me and my Republican colleagues. Her visit proved to be nothing more than a failed attempt to quiet her critics. However, within the same 318 days, Border Czar Harris has found time to waste our taxpayer money on uneventful foreign trips to Northern Triangle countries.”

Jackson’s bill would require officials assigned to immigration matters to file a report upon appointment detailing the impact of Biden administration policies on migration levels and to visit the border once every 60 days. After visiting the border, the official would be required to submit a second report detailing meetings with law enforcement officials, as well as documenting contraband seized by those officials.

The White House has said that Harris’ main goal is to assess the “root causes” of migration. During a visit to Mexico and Guatemala, Harris was protested by Guatemalans, with President Alejandro Giammattei blaming the Biden administration for increased levels of migration. Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slammed the vice president after Harris told potential migrants not to make the trip.

“This is disappointing to see,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “The U.S. spent decades contributing to regime change and destabilization in Latin America. We can’t help set someone’s house on fire and then blame them for fleeing.”

Border agents encountered a record two million migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2021. They seized $3.31 billion in counterfeit goods, over 319,000 pounds of marijuana, over 190,000 pounds of methamphetamine, and over 97,000 pounds of cocaine.

Former male Olympian, transgender Caitlyn Jenner said that University of Pennsylvania transgender swimmer Lia Thomas should not “be able to compete” in the NCAA.

“From my standpoint, the immediate thing to do is I don’t think she should be able to compete at the highest level in the NCAA,” Jenner said Friday.

Sixteen members of the university’s women’s swim team sent a letter to the school that said their transgender teammate “should not be allowed to compete in the collegiate championship next month.” The letter argued Thomas has an “unfair advantage” over the competition in the women’s category.

The former Olympian said that she respects Lia Thomas’ “right to live her life authentically,” however Jenner agreed that when it comes to “fairness,” “biological boys should not compete against women.”

“We have to protect women’s sports,” adding that the NCAA’s rules on testosterone levels do not work.

“Lia Thomas in her event as a guy, she was ranked 462 in the world,” the former gubernatorial candidate of California said. “As a woman, she’s ranked number one in the world, so obviously it’s not working. So, they need to change the rules. Well, they [NCAA] kicked the can down the road a few weeks ago and said that the governing bodies are going to make the rules.”

“USA swimming came in and actually came in with a lot tougher rules on testosterone levels that have to be more comparable to what a woman has, and I think that’s a good thing,” Jenner added. “So Lia Thomas may not be able to compete in the NCAA, we will see, but it’s the rules.”

Jenner said it’s simply not fair for Thomas to compete at this level.

“From my standpoint, the immediate thing to do is, I don’t think she should be able to compete at the highest level in the NCAA,” Jenner explained. “I just don’t think it’s fair. So, I have no problem with that. Let’s rethink this thing and we will go from there.”

NBC, the channel that will be airing the Olympics, is refusing to air an ad critical of the Chinese government during the Olympics.

Florida Republican congressman Mike Waltz said Saturday that NBC is refusing to air his ad slamming the CCP for violating human rights. Also featured in the ad is Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter Freedom.

“NBC refused to air my Olympics ad with @EnesFreedom unless we censor U.S. corporate logos of the Genocide Games sponsors. We won’t let them silence us. Here’s the ad that NBC and the Chinese Communist Party doesn’t want you to see,” Waltz tweeted.

Furthermore, he said NCB can’t stop people from watching the $40,000 ad on Twitter.

Waltz said it’s high time for someone to hold a torch to the feet of the CCP, it’s a genocide and that’s what it should be called.

British police made a routine traffic stop Wednesday and discovered an elderly man who had been driving without a license or insurance for over 70 years, according to the police.

The driver who was born in 1938, had started driving when he was 12 years old and never had acquired the proper documents to drive. In 70 years this was the first time the man had been stopped by the police.

“Thankfully he had never had an accident, caused anyone an injury, and never made anyone lose out financially, by hitting them whilst uninsured!” the Bulwell, Rise Park, and Highbury Vale Police said in a Facebook post.

“Due to the increased number of ANPR cameras in Nottingham, even on the small trips, you are likely to hit a camera, so make sure your documents are in order…..because it will catch up with you…..one day…..,” the post said.

The post included the hashtags “#cantpaywelltakeitaway” and “#rodehisluck.”

Facebook users left comments in support of the elderly man. “Excellent driving record, hope the gentleman was apologized to for wasting his time and let on his way,” one user wrote.

“What a Legend. He deserves a Medal of Honour,” another person commented. The unknown driver was pulled over near a supermarket in his Mini Cooper near Nottingham, England.