News and Headlines: In The News, Politics, World News, Commentary/Opinion.
In The News:
Judge Demands More Details on Facebook Data Breach Settlement
U.S. District Judge William Alsup accused lawyers for Facebook and a class of 4 million social network members of using “smoke and mirrors” to obscure what if anything in the agreement is new.
Facebook and lawyers for the plaintiff class reached a settlement last month which will require the company to adopt a series of data security enhancements, including increased suspicious activity monitoring. The company must also submit to annual data security audits by a third-party monitor for the next five years.
Alsup told the lawyers in court Thursday that he will not approve the deal until Facebook submits a sworn statement detailing precisely what commitments in the settlement are not already required under existing legal obligations.
“I’ve seen this game before,” Alsup said. “People agree to do something they’ve already agreed to do, and the plaintiff wants a lot of money for that. That’s a trick. We don’t allow tricks.”
Illegal Alien Spotted On Greyhound Bus Two Weeks After Company Banned Border Patrol Inspections
The apprehension came about two weeks after the major bus company declared it would no longer allow immigration checks on its premises without warrants, reversing a years-long policy.
Agents performing immigration checks at the Wellton Station Border Patrol referred a Greyhound bus for secondary inspection on Monday.
During this check, agents came across an individual who said he was a U.S. citizen and presented a birth certificate and a California ID card.
However, the individual did not resemble the man on his identification.
Amazing Video: NJ troopers save driver from fiery crash moments before truck explodes
(New Jersey State Police/Released)
Tarleton was on video handling a normal traffic stop when he witnessed the tractor-trailer run off the right side of the road before hitting a guardrail and then abutment of an overpass before catching fire.
After witnessing the crash Tarleton quickly told the stopped driver, “You’re good, get out of here,” and handed back the driver’s credentials before he raced to his police vehicle.
“As he drove to the scene, Trooper Tarleton calmly provided an update to dispatch before exiting his vehicle and sprinting to the burning tractor-trailer,” New Jersey State Police said.
Suspected Nevada murder-suicide leaves 4 dead, including 2 teens, police say
Police discovered the four bodies during a welfare check after friends and family were unable to contact a married couple and their two kids for several days, FOX11 Reno reported.
The two teenage victims were students at Damonte Ranch High School, police told the paper.
The deaths are the latest tragedy to hit the Damonte Ranch High School community this year. One student died by suicide, while two others died of fentanyl overdoses, according to KKOH-AM.
Illegal immigrants are voting in California and ‘it’s going to happen in your state soon’: Tomi Lahren
State officials and lawmakers from California and Texas to Pennsylvania and West Virginia are raising concerns over the threat that noncitizens on the voter rolls pose to the integrity of U.S. elections.
“California has managed to create a firewall by passing certain laws so that the secretary of state cannot access the list of noncitizens and illegal people from the DMV, which has a very complete list,” said EIPCa’s vice president, Ruth Weiss.
“They’re not allowed to access that list from the Department of Homeland Security,” said Weiss. “And yet they’re the ones responsible to make sure that only legitimate citizens get on the voter rolls.”
Trump moves forward with cutting off funds to sanctuary cities: ‘Do not protect criminals!’
“As per recent Federal Court ruling, the Federal Government will be withholding funds from Sanctuary Cities. They should change their status and go non-Sanctuary,” he said. “Do not protect criminals!”
Proponents of sanctuary cities have argued that it makes communities safer by encouraging illegal immigrant victims of crime or witnesses to cooperate with law enforcement.
But administration officials have pointed to a host of cases when an illegal immigrant has been sprung from custody after a detainer was ignored and gone on to re-offend.
Can coronavirus spread through your Amazon packages?
“We heard [National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director] Tony Fauci, the world’s expert in this area, comment on this and there is no evidence right now that the coronavirus can be spread through mail, no other coronavirus has been spread through mail,” Adams said on Thursday, responding to fears.
A statement from Amazon said, “We are recommending that employees in Seattle/ Bellevue who are able to work from home do so through the end of the month.”
“Here’s what I want people to know, Seattle actually has a lot of cases because of the nursing home situation, there is community spread going on there, it is much more likely that the person who works at Amazon in Seattle got it in the community than that he got it through the mail,” Adams said on Thursday.
Rosalind P. Walter, the first ‘Rosie the Riveter’, dies at 95
Rosalind P. Walter—one of the millions of women to assume the traditional man’s job of driving rivets into fighter planes during World War II—didn’t really need to join the movement.
Born on June 24, 1924, in Brooklyn, she grew up in a wealthy and genteel Long Island home as one of four children of Carleton and Winthrop (Bushnell) Palmer.
However, inspiring an icon for generations of women was just Walter’s first celebrated act. She went on to become a major philanthropist and one of PBS’s principal benefactors.
She also became the largest individual supporter of WNET in New York, helping finance 67 shows or series from the year 1978.
With numerous achievements to her name, Rosalind P. Walters passed away at the age of 95 on Wednesday at her home in Manhattan.
Politics:
Lawmaker proposes ammunition tax for school safety grants
State Rep. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, reacts to a bill to tax ammo 2 percent
House Bill 5651 from Jonathan “Yoni” Pizer, D-Chicago, would put an additional 2 percent tax on ammunition sales.
Revenue from the new tax would go to the Safe Schools and Healthy Learning Environments Grant Fund. The Illinois State Board of Education would administer the grants.
The proposed 2 percent tax would be on top of the state’s 6.25 percent sales tax.
State Rep. Darren Bailey, R-Louisville, said the idea was another in a series of measures at the statehouse that he said was meant to make it harder for people to exercise their rights under the Second Amendment.
Rep. Biggs Seeks Condemnation of Schumer
Republicans were outraged by Schumer’s remarks during a rally that the justices, President Donald Trump appointees Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, would “pay the price” for their decisions.
“Even after he was called out by many of his own colleagues and the Chief Justice, Leader Schumer would not apologize for his threats,” said Biggs.
“This threatening rhetoric has no place in the U.S. Congress — especially from a leader of one of our parties. I hope my colleagues will join me on this resolution.”
FBI agents in Carter Page probe barred from FISA court requests
(Ralf-Finn Hestoft / Getty Images)
The ban was imposed in an opinion issued Wednesday by the secretive court’s chief judge, James E. Boasberg.
“FBI personnel under disciplinary review in relation to their work on FISA applications accordingly should not participate in drafting, verifying, reviewing, or submitting such application to the Court while the review is pending,” Boasberg wrote.
The judge also said in his 19-page opinion that the same restrictions apply to any Justice Department attorney under disciplinary review, as well as any DOJ or FBI personnel who are the subject of a criminal referral related to their work on FISA applications.
Missouri case that toppled GOP governor boomerangs on Soros-backed prosecutor
Kimberly Gardner made history in 2016, roaring to an election victory as St. Louis city’s first African-American chief prosecutor on a campaign funded heavily by the liberal mega-donor George Soros.
Four years later, she finds herself under investigation and her chief investigator already indicted for a prosecution gone bad, one that forced Missouri’s Republican governor to resign in what some now believe may have been a political attack.
Investigators now allege the Greitens prosecution, which forced the governor to resign less than two years into his tenure, was built on lies that included perjury and hiding exculpatory evidence that would have helped demonstrate Greitens’ innocence, court documents show.
Romney could derail Republican subpoena targeting Bidens
The Senate Homeland Security Committee is set to vote next Wednesday on a subpoena for records from a Democratic public relations firm related to the panel’s investigation of conflict-of-interest allegations against the Bidens.
But Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), a member of the panel, has hinted that he could vote against issuing the subpoena, noting the committee’s investigation might look political in nature given Biden’s resurgence and the increasing likelihood that he’ll become the Democratic presidential nominee.
Another potential swing vote, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), said he, too, remains undecided and was unable to review the documents as of Thursday morning because he was chairing a hearing.
President Trump: Bidens’ Dealing With Burisma To Be Key Campaign Issue
During an interview Wednesday, the president said he sees no way for Biden to answer questions about his family’s ties to Burisma.
Concerns have been raised over claims Biden pushed for the removal of a Ukrainian special prosecutor in order to protect his son, Hunter, who was on Burisma’s board at the time.
President Trump went on to say the Bidens are “totally corrupt” and slammed the mainstream media for failing to call them out.
Elizabeth Warren Gets Emotional In First Appearance After Dropping Out, Declines To Endorse Any Democratic Candidate
She also addressed whether her supporters should support a different candidate.
“Let’s take a deep breath and spend a little time on that. We don’t have to decide that this minute,” Warren said, declining to endorse either former Vice President Joe Biden or Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Warren formally suspended her presidential campaign Thursday. President Donald Trump mocked her and blamed Warren for blocking Sanders from the Democratic nomination in a tweet.
World News:
Claim: Turkish Military Helping Migrants Cross Greek Border, Making Sure Smugglers Don’t Charge Too Much
The attempts at crossing the border have been met with some resistance from the Greek authorities and some media have claimed that Greek border guards shot and killed a Syrian migrant, a claim that Greek government spokesman Stelios Petsas dismissed as “fake news” and “Turkish propaganda”.
The claims that the Turkish military are helping to smuggle migrants into Greece comes just days after allegations that the government was using state-owned trains and unmarked buses to ship migrants to the Greek border area.
Turkish people smugglers have also allegedly dropped their prices to as little as £11, with one smuggler named Semih stating:
“Of course I see it as my duty. It’s money that motivates me. I want them to go away from here [the migrants] so that Turkey’s economy gets better. That’s all that matters to me.”
President Trump, Macron Agree To Join Efforts In ‘Scientific, Economic, Health’ Response To COVID-19
The two presidents spoke on the phone Wednesday to discuss the latest challenges to public health in the U.S. and France.
President Trump and President Macron said they will coordinate scientific, economic and health responses.
Earlier this week, Macron issued restrictions on mass gatherings in his country and advised people to avoid close personal contacts in public.
The French president said transparency is key to defeating the virus.
Israel reportedly strikes Syria; Cancels joint U.S.-IDF drill over COVID19-TV7 Israel News 05.03.2
1) Israel allegedly conducted deadly aerial bombardments in its northern neighbor, Syria.
2) Jerusalem announces its to ratchet-up preventative measures, as part of efforts to hinder the spread of the coronavirus.
3) Russia has further reinforced its military presence in Syria by Sea and Air, as President Vladimir Putin hosts his Turkish Counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Moscow to discuss the situation in Idlib.