News and Headlines: In The News, Immigration, Politics, World News, Commentary/Opinion.

In The News:

American biker gang destroys dog fight rings and rescues animals from violent owners

Rescue Ink is a non-profit organization who fights for animal rights.

All volunteers, the team members are bikers, bodybuilders, former military personnel, police detectives, and even lawyers.

They made agreements with animal shelters and public organization and they cooperated with the authorities to reduce and even stop animal abuse.

Regular people and even famous artists joined their cause. So far, these kind people managed to offer a much better life for a lot of animals, as dogs, cats, horses, pigs and even fish.

And when those heros don’t save animals, they’re teaching children to be kind and lovely
with animals. They actually try to prove and to teach everyone that animal abuse is so wrong.

White Dallas cop who killed black neighbor after mistakenly entering his apartment told 911: ‘I’m going to lose my job’

Guyger, who had been with the Dallas Police Department for four years before she was fired after the incident, lived in the same apartment complex as the 26-year-old victim, Botham Jean.

Their apartments were on separate floors vertical to each other.

“I’m so tired,” Guyger said in the phone call, seeming confused as to how she ended up in the wrong apartment.

“Oh my god. I’m done. I didn’t mean to. I didn’t mean to. I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry,” she said, seemingly to Jean, who was born and raised on the
Caribbean Island of St. Lucia.

2 Tennessee sixth graders charged with plot to shoot up school, officials say

Cumberland County school and law enforcement officials said in a news release Monday that the two students planned to bring weapons and hide them in the locker room until the last day of school.

Investigators discovered a hand-drawn map.

The press release stated investigators discovered no weapons in searches of both students’ homes.

Officials began investigating after a South Cumberland Elementary school resource officer heard a rumor of a possible “hit list.”

Lawsuit seeks release of Boy Scout sexual abuse files

Attorneys for retired police officer Richard Halvorson filed the suit late Monday.

The troop leader was suspended in 1987.

The attorneys said he also worked as a schoolteacher and may have worked for another youth scouting organization.

The Boy Scouts have kept the files for decades. About 5,000 have been made public as a result of court action, but others remain confidential.

Sundance Film Festival Co-Founder Pleads Guilty to Child Sex Abuse

Sterling Van Wagenen entered the plea Tuesday during a court hearing in American Fork, Utah, south of Salt Lake City.

Van Wagenen’s attorney Steven Shapiro said that his client wanted to “acknowledge wrongful conduct.”

Prosecutors charged Van Wagenen earlier this month on accusations that he inappropriately touched a young girl on two occasions between 2013 and 2015.

Data breach of unknown entity exposes private data of 80 million U.S. households

The researchers’ report is posted on the vpnMentor website. According to the report, the database is 24GB and is hosted by a Microsoft cloud server.

And while the database doesn’t seem to contain such vital personal data such as Social Security numbers or credit card information, the report outlined other dangers of having other kinds of personal data exposed such as ransomware attacks, phishing scams, and identity theft.

According to PCWorld, a team of security researchers from a site known as vpnMentor discovered that the database contained unencrypted data that exposed information such as full street addresses, full names, ages, and dates of birth.

Most unsettling was the fact that the data also included “exact longitude and latitude” locations for individuals.

The researchers also reportedly found “coded references” to other pieces of personal information such as details on income, gender, marital status, and homeowner status.

Interestingly though, the data only seems to expose the information of people ages 40 and older

U.S. cyber spies unmasked many more American identities in 2018: U.S. report

The unmasking of American citizens’ identities swept up in U.S. electronic espionage became a sensitive issue after U.S. government spying on communications traffic expanded sharply following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and started sweeping up Americans’ data.

The report by the U.S. Director of National Intelligence (DNI) said that in 2018 cyber spies at the National Security Agency (NSA) unmasked the identities of 16,721 “U.S. persons”, compared to 9,529 unmaskings in 2017 and 9,217 between September 2015 and August 2016.

According to U.S. intelligence rules, when the NSA intercepts messages in which one or more participants are U.S. citizens or residents, the agency is supposed to black out American names.

But the names can be unmasked upon request of intelligence officers and higher-ranking government officials, including presidential appointees.

Mark Zuckerberg’s cringey laugh was a slap in the face of Facebook’s victims

Through encrypting messaging, focusing on ephemerality, and other measures, the company that invented putting your life online says it is fundamentally changing the company to ensure that its users’ private lives, opinions, and interactions stay private.

Yep, soak that in. If you find the assertion that Facebook is a privacy company now pretty rich, you are certainly not alone.

Zuckerberg was not blind to the skepticism with which many greeted his announcement.

But the way he chose to acknowledge the icky irony of the situation was just, well… watch for yourself.

Everything Facebook announced at F8 2019

Facebook’s F8 2019 keynote address came and went on Tuesday, leaving behind a bundle of upcoming feature updates and products to mess with in the coming months.

The event was lengthy and left us with a lot to talk about, but here’s a quick list of all the big announcements Facebook made at F8 this year.

Instagram: Wounded Veteran ‘Violated Community Standards’ by Posing with Trump Jr.

Shortly after Avila posted this photo, it was allegedly removed by Instagram for violating the site’s terms of service.

“INSTAGRAM IS AT IT AGAIN WITH THEIR BIAS DELETING POSTS,” wrote Donald Trump Jr. in his post on Instagram.

Trump Jr. further defended Avila in his post and included a screenshot of the removal notice that Instagram sent to Avila:

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model Halima Aden reacts to making history as the first to pose in hijab, burkini

“Being featured in this year’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue will have such a great impact on women and young girls who have never seen someone who looks like them represented in the public eye,” the Somali-American model told Fox News in a written statement.

“SI Swimsuit has been at the forefront of changing the narrative and conversation on social issues and preconceived notions.

I’m hoping this specific feature will open doors up for my Somali community, Muslim community, refugee community and any other community that can relate to being different.”

Marines’ Boot Camp Units Could Officially Be Going Coed, Next Commandant Says

Marine leaders could soon take steps to end the service’s long-held tradition of separating men and women into separate small units at boot camp, Lt. Gen. David Berger said in his Senate confirmation hearing to become the next commandant.

“I talked to the commandant this morning about it and … I said, ‘We have to look at this for perhaps next year,’ and he said, ‘Absolutely,'” Berger said. “I think it’s a discussion that he and I will have — and the Marine Corps will have.”

The first-ever coed training company graduated from Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in South Carolina late last month.

They were assigned to the typically all-male 3rd Recruit Training Battalion.

Immigration:

Migrant caravan goes global, attracts refugees from across world trying to enter US

Now, after six months of what Mexico’s Interior Secretary Olga Cordero calls a “phenomenon,” it appears the message of success in getting across and released quickly in America – has gone global.

Here, at the main shelter in Tapachula, just 25 miles north of Mexico’s Guatemala border, there are migrants we identified from more than 10 countries – Cuba, Haiti, Cameroon, Angola, Togo, India, Bangladesh, Congo and Guinea. They join migrants from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua.

Last week, more than 1,300 migrants escaped this shelter – most of them Cubans. Of those who escaped, about 600 remain on the loose.

Real News Insights w/ Steve Rogers

Congress should come back to D.C. now and FIX THE IMMIGRATION LAWS! There is a CRISIS at the Southern Border!

Politics:

Schumer says Trump agreed to $2T infrastructure package at White House meeting

Ahead of the session with Democrats, one of the president’s economic advisers said the White House would not be going into Tuesday’s meeting with a blueprint for an infrastructure bill.

“We’re going slowly on this,” said Larry Kudlow, director of the president’s National Economic Council. “We would like this to be bipartisan. We would like to work with them and come up with something both sides can agree to. It’s an important topic.”

Questions remain on how such a plan would be funded.

The nation’s top business groups and labor unions support increasing the federal tax, currently 18.3 cents a gallon since it was last raised in 1993.

Mexico weighs retaliatory tariff against U.S. over border slowdowns

The Mexican government says that U.S. efforts to step up the number of agents focused on migrants showing up at the border has left customs checkpoints understaffed and drastically slowed trade.

“We cannot allow this kind of unilateral measure by the United States to affect us,” Mexico Foreign Trade Undersecretary Luz Maria de la Mora said, according to the Mexico News Daily.

De la Mora called the collision of trade and immigration issues between the U.S. and Mexico “an unfortunate blend.”

Mexico approves labor code overhaul

The trilateral USMCA deal is getting some push-back by some labor groups and lawmakers regarding labor laws in Mexico.

However, Mexico now appears to be hearing the U.S. loud and clear.

One America’s Adonis Albright has those details.

‘Medicare-for-all’ battle kicks off with tense and emotional House hearing

Presidential candidates Pete Buttigieg, Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have all endorsed some version of the proposal, bringing the plan from the party’s fringes into the Democratic mainstream as the 2020 election nears.

The hearing was an emotional one, particularly during the testimony of activist Ady Barkan, who was diagnosed with ALS in 2016 and testified about his struggles with the health care industry in getting coverage for treatment for his condition.

Despite warnings that most “Medicare-for-all” plans would largely abolish private insurance, Democrats downplayed the claim from opponents that it would have negative effects on Americans.

AOC Scrambles To Revise Her VA Talking Points

Ocasio-Cortez has refined her criticism of VA reform, now arguing that the “myth” that all VAs are “broken” is being used to “starve” funds from public budgets.

US weighs designating Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Trump was consulting with his advisers and leaders in the region who share his concern about the Islamist movement with followers across the Middle East.

“This designation is working its way through the internal process,” she said.

Some people think the Muslim Brotherhood does not meet the legal criteria required for the designation.

Others think the organization is too diverse and spread out across nations, making it difficult to enforce a one-size-fits-all description.

There also questions about whether a designation would complicate U.S. diplomacy.

Rosenstein Resigns and Barr Threatens No-Show at Mueller Hearing

Today on Declassified Rod Rosenstein, the US Deputy Attorney General who appointed Mueller has just submitted his resignation and AG William Barr warns he might not appear at house committee hearing on Mueller report.

Prosecutors oppose giving unredacted Mueller report to Trump adviser Stone

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia has taken over handling Stone’s case from Mueller.

Stone’s attorneys have asked the judge to order the prosecution to provide an unredacted copy of Mueller’s report, saying in a court filing that it “contains the government’s evidence and conclusions on matters essential to Stone’s defense.”

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives separately have subpoenaed the Justice Department for an unredacted copy.

Kravis told Jackson during the hearing that Stone is not entitled to receive an unredacted copy, even for portions related to his case.

The prosecutor said redacted parts concerning the Stone case “relate to mental impressions and conclusions of government attorneys” that are exempted from disclosure rules.

World News:

Venezuela uprising turns violent after military armored vehicle plows into crowd of opposition supporters

In a video broadcast live on telecasts across the world, the armored vehicle can be seen driving over the center of a road, hitting a crowd of demonstrators purportedly throwing rocks at security forces. No injuries were immediately reported.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-FL., denounced the actions by Venezuelan security forces, saying that “military and security leaders must realize they are and will be held responsible for this,” he said on Twitter.

Trump accuses European nations of ‘refusing’ to take back ISIS prisoners from their countries

The president’s tweets come amid a months-long effort to convince European countries to take back their citizens captured on the battlefield in the Middle East.

The topic is a complicated one, as Islamic State prisoners held in Syria and Iraq are subject to the death penalty or torture if they remain in jail.

The European Union, though, opposes the death penalty.

The president has been met with resistance from European nations, as they consider how to bring their citizens fighting in Syria home for trial.

Men arrested after bodies of 2 women discovered in freezer at London home

The Metropolitan Police Department said in news release a 34-year-old man was arrest Tuesday on suspicion of murder, a day after a 50-year-old man was also detained.

Monk, who said there is a “large crime scene” at the home in east London, said the two men were arrested at two separate addresses in west and east London.

Neighbors told Sky News the older suspect had lived at the home and was disabled. Authorities had originally responded to the home around 11:45 a.m. on Friday on a welfare check out of concerns of the male resident.

Commentary/Opinion:

FULL MEASURE: April 28, 2019 – Media Madness

Today, we begin with a new Full Measure poll on the national news media.

As you might expect: the results aren’t very good. For the media.

Whether it’s coverage of the Russia investigation or the Covington High School kids, news consumers on all sides of the political spectrum report declining trust — in us.

We turn to two experts to analyze the current Media Madness.

Dems’ Pathetic & ENDLESS Investigations to Find ANYTHING on Trump

Now that the Mueller investigation is over, Dems are going after Trump on anything and everything they can think of to take him down.

They’re even threatening to change the law so that all 2020 candidates have to release their tax returns.

Of course, even they know they won’t find the incriminating evidence that they’re looking for, but in true leftist fashion, they will stop at nothing to try to make Trump look bad.

Why the Electoral College is Essential

The Left wants to get rid of the Electoral College. However, the Electoral College is necessary to preserve our republic.