News and Headlines: In The News, Politics, World News, commentary/Opinion.
In The News:
Oscar Mayer Weinermobile pulled over by Wisconsin cops
Oscar Mayer is currently taking applications for its next class of a dozen drivers, or Hotdoggers, who will begin training behind the wheel of the 27-foot vehicles in June.
The deadline to put your name in the bun is Jan 31.
In fact, an Oscar Mayer spokeswoman tells Fox News that the Wienermobile that got pulled over was on its way to The University of Wisconsin-Madison for a recruiting event.
She added that the company reiterated the importance of always driving within the law to the current drivers following the infraction.
New York public school reportedly forcing far-left ideas of gender ‘choice’ on preschool children
The Post’s Andrea Peyser revealed Monday night that one Brooklyn “nursery” — AKA a preschool — is teaching “racism and victimhood, plus transgender and ‘queer’ rights,” coupled with a “heavy dose of political indoctrination in the mix.”
Peyser wrote that teacher Rosy Clark at PS 58 sent an email to parents and guardians Jan. 16 in which she laid out a lesson plan to honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day and to usher in Black History Month, which is in February.
One such topic apparently close to Clark’s heart included Principle 6 of the Movement for Black Lives, which encourages “transgender affirming.”
“Everybody has the right to choose their own gender by listening to their own heart and mind,” Clark added. “Everyone gets to choose if they are a boy or girl or both or neither or something else, and no one gets to choose for them.”
Free speech wins as California DMV says Fulham soccer fan’s ‘Come on You Whites’ vanity plate is OK
Jon Kotler, a lawyer and constitutional scholar at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, has been a devoted fan of the London-based soccer team Fulham Football Club.
He wanted to show his support with a vanity plate of the team’s slogan: “Come on You Whites.”
But he ran into a roadblock when the DMV rejected his request for the vanity plate using an acronym for the team’s slogan, “COYW,” claiming it could carry “racial overtones” and “connotations offensive to good taste and decency.”
“The freedom to speak as one wishes in the face of government opposition to it is central to what it means to be an American,” Kotler said in a news release after the victory.
“My only regret is that it took a lawsuit to force the state of California to do what the law required of it.”
Taxpayers foot the bill for swanky Super Bowl hotels, media parties, and more while the NFL prepares to cash in on its biggest night
The fact that Miami-Dade taxpayers would be providing cash subsidies for this year’s Super Bowl has been well publicized.
What’s new are the details about where exactly the money is allocated and what the NFL is refusing to pay for, the Miami Herald reported.
According to county receipts, $1 million will be spent on rooms for players at two swanky Miami hotels, another $1 million will go to the NFL as a gift, and $370,000 will cover a media party Tuesday night at the county-owned PortMiami.
The county approved $4.5 million in “in kind” contributions along these lines last summer. The county will also award the Miami Dolphins $4 million as a reward to ownership for landing the big game.
Rep. Mike Gallagher Explains The Massive Spying Threat Posed By This Chinese Company
Congressman and former Marine Corps intelligence officer Mike Gallagher sits down with Daily Caller video columnist Maranda Finney to discuss the potential security threats involved with allowing Huawei to operate within the United States.
FDA warns Purell to stop claiming its hand sanitizers can stop flu, Ebola
The agency sent a warning letter to Gojo Industries laying out what it says are unproven claims made about Purell products.
These claims have been made on the company’s website and in social media posts, according to the FDA.
“You should take prompt action to correct the violations cited in this letter. Failure to promptly correct these violations may result in legal action without further notice, including, without limitation, seizure and injunction,” the FDA said.
Powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake strikes between Cuba and Jamaica
A powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Tuesday in the Caribbean Sea, between between Cuba and Jamaica, according to the United States Geological Survey.
New York Times reporter Carol Rosenberg tweeted that the “earth is literally shaking here” at the press room at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
Rosenberg was at Camp Justice at Guantanamo Bay covering a 9/11 pretrial hearing.
Harvard University Professor and Two Chinese Nationals Charged in Three Separate China Related Cases
The Department of Justice announced today that the Chair of Harvard University’s Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department and two Chinese nationals have been charged in connection with aiding the People’s Republic of China.
Dr. Charles Lieber, 60, Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University, was arrested this morning and charged by criminal complaint with one count of making a materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statement. Lieber will appear this afternoon before Magistrate Judge Marianne B. Bowler in federal court in Boston, Massachusetts.
Yanqing Ye, 29, a Chinese national, was charged in an indictment today with one count each of visa fraud, making false statements, acting as an agent of a foreign government and conspiracy. Ye is currently in China.
Zaosong Zheng, 30, a Chinese national, was arrested on Dec. 10, 2019, at Boston’s Logan International Airport and charged by criminal complaint with attempting to smuggle 21 vials of biological research to China.
Pentagon Working on Radical New ‘Lego’ Style Fighting System
In the secretive labs of the Pentagon, top military minds are working on a new fighting style.
Their novel vision for warfare isn’t about making bigger, faster, or even higher-tech kit. It is about getting numerous smaller, cheaper, perhaps lower-tech systems and deploying them in a radically new way.
The official term is Mosaic Warfare, but some strategists liken it to Lego.
Amazon Employees for Climate Justice Demand Jeff Bezos Cancel Fossil Fuel Contracts
As well as selling stuff, Amazon is a major player in the cloud computing market.
They help clients eliminate the hassle of managing their own computer hardware.
This hard won reputation for quiet, non-judgemental and reliable service is now under threat, from employees who demand Amazon apply a climate morality test to people with whom Amazon does business.
Jon Stewart joins cause of burn pit vets lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill
The former host of “The Daily Show” recently focused his philanthropic sights on bringing awareness to ongoing efforts on the issue, which occurred when service members and contractors were exposed to a toxic stew of airborne pollutants while stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“You deserve more than the country’s gratitude for your service,” Stewart says in a message directed to veterans in a two-minute public service announcement released in September 2019.
“You deserve full medical benefits to help you with your illness. Together we are going to work to get you justice and get you healed.”
Politics:
Schumer Rejects Proposal to Subpoena Bolton Manuscript for Impeachment Tria
Democrats rejected every Republican effort to call new witnesses during the House inquiry, even breaking the House’s own rules to deny Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee a “minority hearing.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told reporters Monday he was interested in the manuscript — but that if Bolton testified, Republican witnesses — including Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and the “whistleblower” –also would.
A judicial subpoena for Bolton’s manuscript would likely be swift, as the document itself would be subject to fewer constitutional problems with executive privilege than the live, unedited testimony of Bolton himself.
However, Democrats have apparently rejected the idea of obtaining the manuscript — even as an interim measure — in favor of demanding Bolton as a witness.
The goal appears to be simply to prolong the trial.
AOC attacks Trump’s migrant welfare rule: American dream isn’t a ‘private club with a cover charge’
The progressive Democrat was responding to news that the Supreme Court upheld the president’s rule, which would deny permanent residency or entry into the United States to certain immigrants considered likely to use government assistance.
On Twitter, Ocasio-Cortez received a wave of pushback as her tweet seemed to imply that avoiding government assistance was an unfair condition for entering the United States.
The Trump administration has defended the rule as a way to ensure immigrants remain financially self-sufficient.
Critics say it is designed to limit the number of poor immigrants who enter the country.
‘Disgusting’: Ivanka Trump tears into CNN panel for mocking President Trump supporters
“You consistently make fun of half the country and then complain that it is divided,” the first daughter tweeted Tuesday.
“The arrogance, mocking accents and smug ridicule of this nation’s ‘Real Elites’ is disgusting.”
Appearing on Don Lemon’s CNN Tonight over the weekend, panelists Wajahat Ali and Rick Wilson imitated what they believe a typical Trump supporter might sound or think like.
In addition to the president’s daughter, other Trump allies and members of conservative media blasted the CNN segment as well.
‘Know that I always seek truth’: Rashida Tlaib responds after retweeting false report that Israelis killed Palestinian boy
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat from Michigan, acknowledged that she spread fake information claiming that Israelis murdered a Palestinian boy.
Anti-Defamation League chief Jonathan Greenblatt demanded an apology from Tlaib on social media over the weekend.
“This is an example of how the blood libel works in 2020. @RashidaTlaib retweets a vicious lie steeped in centuries-old accusations used to demonize Jews, then says nothing when it’s disproven.
An apology is overdue,” he wrote.
Jay Sekulow cites FISA ‘attack’ in jab at Adam Schiff and other impeachment managers
Jay Sekulow, an attorney on Trump’s defense team, took an indirect swipe at House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, the lead impeachment manager who was in the Senate chamber on Tuesday, for his defense of wiretapping of former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, an American citizen who was suspected of being a Russian agent but was never charged with wrongdoing.
“Managers at this table right here said that any discussions on the abuse from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act utilized to get the warrants from the court were ‘conspiracy theories,'” Sekulow said.
Claiming that Trump was under “attack,” Sekulow cited the secret surveillance court’s acknowledgment in a recent court filing that the Justice Department found at least two of the FISA orders targeting Page in 2017 were insufficiently predicated.
Bernie Sanders’ Wealth Tax Would Be Bad For Workers
Commentary/Opinion:
Sanders recent rise is the culmination of a lifetime in politics preaching democratic socialist ideals.
And although the particulars of his political vision have shifted in largely unacknowledged ways over time, one throughline has remained remarkably consistent:
Sanders has always pitched himself as being a champion of the working class.
Yet Sanders has proposed a major new tax on wealth that, over time, would come to be paid mostly by workers, depriving them of more than a trillion dollars in wages.
Sanders’ plan to help the working class would, instead, make the working class worse off.
(It is worth noting that the Nordic countries that Sanders often positions as models of social democracy tend to tax middle-income households far more aggressively than the United States does.)
Longtime Bolton confidant: ‘Heads should roll’ if bombshell book manuscript was leaked from NSC
Commentary/Opinion:
Host Laura Ingraham noted Fleitz served under Bolton twice in government office and has known him for 30 years. She added that Bolton has appeared on her show multiple times.
“John is an old friend and I didn’t take any pleasure in writing this piece today,” Fleitz said of a column he published on FoxNews.com that called for Bolton to withdraw his manuscript.
Fleitz said presidents of both parties should be able to confide in their national security advisors and that the best confidants are the ones who give the officeholder peace of mind that their ideas and musings will not appear in the press or in books.
In his FoxNews.com column, Fleitz wrote that executive privilege exists for people exactly like Bolton — in sensitive positions and in close collaboration with presidents on national security matters where privacy is necessary.
Laura Loomer complains to feds over Twitter illegally helping her opponent
The issue is that Twitter previously had banned Loomer because of her opinions and commentary on, among other subjects, Islam.
When she became a candidate for office in Florida’s 21st congressional district things changed.
Because she was no longer just a private citizen.
“Specifically, by banning federal candidate Laura Loomer from its platform, Twitter is providing something of value to Loomer’s political opponents for the purpose of influencing the election in Florida’s 12st district. … when Twitter banned Loomer,
#Expose2020 Part IV: Two More Bernie Staffers Promote “Extreme Action” and Property Destruction
(Charleston, SC) In a new video released today by Project Veritas Action Fund (PVA), two South Carolina Field Organizers for the Sanders Campaign, Mason Baird and Daniel Taylor, are secretly recorded admitting that the Sanders campaign attracts “truly radical people.”
They are also recorded brushing off the human rights atrocities committed by the Soviet Union and planning violence as a back-up plan depending on the outcome of Sanders’ election effort.
Most revealing, Mason Baird says that these ideas are not “outward facing,” potentially signaling that the Sanders campaign wants to hide these intentions from the public.
World News:
Trump Offers Palestinians Peace and a State; Abbas Calls Him an SOB, Vows to ‘Escalate’ Resistance
(AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
“I want this deal to be a great deal for the Palestinians,” said Trump.
Prospects for that, however, are not good, as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas recently refused to take a call from Trump, and called him “a dog, son of a b**ch, a violent man who wants to force us into a program we’re not interested in.”
Abbas crowed: “They called me from Washington and I did not pick up the phone. I said no and I will continue to say no…
We are going for difficult days and we are beginning to bear the consequences of the refusal. Resistance must be escalated at all points of friction. All young people must be encouraged.”
Abbas is passing up a better deal than the Palestinians have been offered for years. Trump’s vision of a Palestinian state would be larger than Palestinian-controlled territory now, as Trump spoke about the “territorial sacrifices that Israel is willing to make for peace.”
U.S., Afghanistan probe Taliban’s role in USAF jet crash
Afghanistan may face a possible new escalations in fighting between U.S. forces and the Taliban terror group, following a controversial crash of a U.S. Air Force surveillance jet.
One America’s Kristian Rouz reports.
Franklin Graham responds after UK event canceled for ‘incompatible’ LGBTQ views
The son of the late Billy Graham was labeled a “homophobic hate preacher” by the Liverpool Labour LGBT Network, who wrote in a letter that they fear “Graham’s appearance may incite hateful mobilization and risk the security of our LGBTQ+ community.”
ACC Liverpool, where Graham was slated to speak in June as part of a tour in the U.K., made the announcement over the weekend, saying, “We can longer reconcile the balance between freedom of speech and the divisive impact this event is having in our city.”
“I’m not coming to the UK to speak against anybody, I’m coming to speak for everybody,” Graham wrote. “The Gospel is inclusive.”
Assad regime captures town in Syria’s last rebel-held territory
Government soldiers entered Maarat al-Numan in northwest Idlib province on Tuesday under the cover of heavy airstrikes, a war monitor and government media said.
The town sits on the M5 highway, one of the country’s economic arteries, making it a strategic prize.
Maarat al-Numan also has symbolic importance as one of the major centres for protest against Assad’s rule since the Syrian uprising began in 2011.
It has been bombed by Assad and his Russian allies for months, emptying the town of its 110,000 residents.
In recent days Assad’s troops have surged forward, capturing more than a dozen villages in the area and encircling the town on three sides.
Trump unveils Middle East peace plan with two-state solution, tunnel connecting West Bank and Gaza
Trump announced the proposal alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during remarks in the East Room of the White House at noon.
“My vision present a win-win situation for both sides,” Trump said. “Today Israel has taken a giant step toward peace.”
While Trump and Netanyahu praised the plan as a way toward ending the decades-long conflict between Israel and Palestine, odds of the peace plan taking shape are long given that the Palestinians have preemptively rejected the plan.
Female flogging force unveiled in Indonesia to publicly punish women who violate Sharia law
(CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN/AFP via Getty Images)
One of eight new female Sharia officers delivered her first punishment to an unmarried woman who was found in a hotel room with a man who was not family, AFP reported Tuesday.
The victim’s behavior is considered a morality crime in Aceh, where violators often face public whipping with a rattan cane.
The officer, wearing a cloth mask and a brown, full-body uniform, appeared to hesitate before unleashing a burst of lashes on the woman’s back, according to the report.
“I think she did a good job. Her technique was nice,” Banda Aceh Sharia police chief investigator Zakwan told AFP of the new recruit.