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

In The News:

Joliet Police Sergeant Who Alleged Police Misconduct In Death Of Eric Lurry Has Been Arrested

 A Joliet police sergeant who went public with allegations of police misconduct in the death of a suspect has been arrested, CBS 2 Investigator Dave Savini has learned.

Sgt. Javier Esqueda was charged with two counts of official misconduct and was booked at the Kendall County Jail. Bond was set at $5,000.

Esqueda, 51, blew the whistle on the death of Eric Lurry and had been stripped of his police powers and placed on administrative leave. Joliet police withheld the video of the arrest for five months.

There are calls to fire the two officers involved in Lurry’s death.

Hawaii cites hundreds in week 1 of tourism plan

The Honolulu Police Department says officers issued 4,500 warnings and 470 citations for not wearing masks or failing to social distance since the launch of the traveler testing program Thursday.

Police say they do not separate visitors and residents on their list of citations and warnings.

Officers also arrested several people for violations of the city’s emergency orders. Supporters of reopening say tourists pose fewer risks than large gatherings of residents.

Top U.S. Universities Caught Underreporting Funding From China, Other ‘Foreign Adversaries’

A new report released by the Department of Education shows multiple U.S. universities accepted funding from China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and other “foreign adversaries,” but did not report all they received.

The findings, reported by the Associated Press, are part of an ongoing investigation by the department spurred by the Trump Administration to crack down on foreign theft of intellectual property, research, and technology in higher education.

“Potential enforcement against specific institutions” will come from the Department of Justice.

Together, the universities reportedly failed to “disclose a combined $6.5 billion in foreign funding that was previously unreported.”

Woman rescued from burning car by police officer in California

Police footage shows an officer pulling out a driver from her burning vehicle, which had caught fire following a crash.

The woman was subsequently arrested for driving under the influence in the city of Davis, California.

Illegal immigrant in Houston allegedly shoots and kills one police officer and wounds another

According to KHOU-TV, the suspect, Elmer Manzano-Martinez, 51, has a lengthy and violent criminal record and was the subject of two domestic violence reports submitted to the Houston Police Department in the week preceding Tuesday’s incident.

In one of them filed on Sunday, Manzano-Martinez’s estranged wife reportedly told police her “ex-husband was walking around with a gun” and she was “in fear of her life” because “she didn’t know what her ex-husband will do to her.”

On Tuesday morning, Manzano-Martinez allegedly opened fire on the two officers, Sgt. Harold Preston and Officer Courtney Waller, while they talked with his ex-wife in the parking lot of their apartment complex.

Criminal history: Who is Elmer Manzano, the man accused of shooting 2 HPD officers

Manzano’s criminal history dates back to 1994 and includes multiple violent crimes. He has been arrested in Houston, Harris County as well as in Dallas.

Navy Destroyers Will Carry New Missiles Touted By Trump

“The Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike program will provide hypersonic missile capability to hold targets at risk from longer ranges,” O’Brien said.

“This capability will be deployed first on our newer Virginia-class submarines and the Zumwalt-class destroyers. Eventually, all three flights of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers will field this capability.”

According to Politico, hypersonic missiles are a deadly and advanced missile system able to travel five times faster than the speed of sound.

In the past two weeks alone, the Chinese and Russian militaries have reportedly either tested or displayed hypersonic weapons, with Russia testing a hypersonic missile on President Vladimir Putin’s birthday.

Army rules Vanessa Guillen death as ‘in line of duty,’ grants benefits

Army officials spoke with the Guillen family of Houston, saying the new classification would allow them to receive Army benefits on behalf of the 20-year-old who is thought to have been killed by a fellow soldier on post, Fort Hood officials said in a written statement.

Typically, those benefits include compensation to help the family with expenses, a funeral with full military honors, life insurance and final pay and allowances.

Investigators believe a fellow soldier, Spc. Aaron David Robinson, beat Guillen to death with a hammer the morning of April 22.

Army prepares robotic air assault technology for wars of the future

In other words, it is by no means inconceivable that a small fleet of robotic assault helicopters could not only transport soldiers, ammo, weapons and equipment over a river but use heavy-lift technology to airdrop larger platforms by sling loading them underneath the aircraft.

The Army’s Chinook helicopter can already move M777 artillery cannons and tactical vehicles and mounted vertical maneuver technology continues to reach new levels of performance capability.

Strategically speaking, these technical developments reinforce the current Army thinking about how tactics will need to adjust in the future to prepare for newer kinds of combat and warfare conditions.

For example, the Army is making a large push to become much more expeditionary, mobile and deployable, so having an ability of this kind naturally enables the Army to move and operate better in unpredictable terrain.

OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma to plead to 3 criminal charges

Purdue Pharma, the company that makes OxyContin, the powerful prescription painkiller that experts say helped touch off an opioid epidemic, will plead guilty to three federal criminal charges as part of a settlement of more than $8 billion, Justice Department officials announced Wednesday.

The company will plead guilty to three counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and violating federal anti-kickback laws, the officials said. The resolution will be detailed in a bankruptcy court filing in federal court.

The deal does not release any of the company’s executives or owners — members of the wealthy Sackler family — from criminal liability, and a criminal investigation is ongoing.

Nobel Winner Michael Levitt Cancelled for Coronavirus Wrongthink

Professor Michael Levitt, who won the Nobel prize for Chemistry in 2013, was due to be the keynote speaker in December at a virtual conference on his areas of special expertise – computational biology and biodesign.

But the First International Biodesign Research Conference withdrew his invitation – according to Levitt because they had received ‘too many calls’ from other speakers ‘threatening to quit’ because of his views on Chinese coronavirus.

He has long maintained that the threat is overblown and that ‘we’re going to be fine.’

Minneapolis residents sue city over police shortages amid violent crime wave: ‘We want law and order’

According to KMSP-TV, eight residents have sued the city over what they say is insufficient policing that has left residents fearing for their lives amid the violent crime wave.

In fact, the lawsuit claims there are currently fewer sworn officers employed with the Minneapolis Police Department than what is required by the city charter.

Minneapolis police officers found the riots following George Floyd’s death on May 25 so traumatic, in fact, that as of July, about 200 officers, or 20% of the city’s police force, had applied to leave the force, the New York Times reported.

And apparently, the city is not in a hurry to find replacements.

Kamala Harris Failed to Prosecute Illegal MS-13 Gang Member Months Before He Murdered Bologna Family

The murder case rose to prominence as Harris, who is now Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden’s running mate, was San Francisco District Attorney. Despite a plea by Angel Mom Danielle Bologna to seek the death penalty against Ramos, Harris refused and instead sought a life sentence.

Ramos, three months before the Bologna murders, had a run-in with San Francisco police officers. According to the San Francisco Gate, police had warned Harris’ office that Ramos was a known MS-13 Gang member with multiple run-ins with the law.

Despite his record, Harris’ office did not prosecute Ramos, the San Francisco Gate reported in 2008:

Man and his girlfriend viciously beaten over their pro-Trump flag in Oklahoma City, police say

A witness told KOCO-TV that the fight was politically motivated and began when the couple arrived at a gas station with a large “Trump 2020” flag attached to the tailgate of their truck.

“The victim stated he and some other people pulled up to a gas pump,” said Sgt. Megan Morgan of the Oklahoma City Police Department.

The police said that the man and his girlfriend were beaten so badly that they were bleeding from their nose, mouth, and both eyes. KOCO reported that friends of the couple said on Facebook that they had to receive staples in their heads over their injuries.

Politics:

[ATL Extra] Gordon Chang: Communist China Fueling Unrest Ahead of U.S. Election | Recorded 8.5.20

In this ATL Extra phone interview, we speak with China analyst Gordon Chang about the Chinese Communist Party’s role in this COVID19 pandemic and in President Trump contracting the virus, how Beijing is interfering in the U.S. election, and why it’s a good decision to ban all Chinese Communist Party members from entering the U.S.

Missouri Dem Calls to Defund Pentagon

Bush, the Democratic nominee in Missouri’s First Congressional District, attracted the attention of Sen. Ed Markey (D., Mass.), who endorsed her campaign and touted a bill he and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) have to slice the Pentagon’s budget by 10 percent.

Bush was a surrogate for Sanders’s failed 2020 presidential campaign and was endorsed by the far-left Justice Democrats.

Bush has also been endorsed by Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Nicole Galloway, who has fundraised alongside her and is challenging Missouri governor Mike Parson (R.).

Parson slammed Bush’s tweet as “irresponsible and unacceptable” anti-military rhetoric. 

Joe Biden Flip-Flops Again: My Coronavirus Plan ‘Starts with a Mask Mandate Nationwide’

Biden has continually flip-flopped on promoting a nationwide mask mandate as a federal response to the Chinese coronavirus, calling for a nationwide mask mandate on several occasions over recent months.

In June, when asked about using federal leverage to issue the mandate, Biden said, “Yes, I would from an executive standpoint, yes, I would.”

However, he backtracked in September, proclaiming himself as a Constitutionalist and adding, “You can’t do things the Constitution doesn’t allow you the power to do.”

Days later, he told Arizona’s CBS 5 that there is a “constitutional issue whether the federal government can issue such a mandate.”

“I don’t think constitutionally they could, so I wouldn’t issue a mandate,” he said:

These five people are allowed to tweet but one of America’s oldest newspapers can’t

Twitter has refused to unlock the New York Post’s account since last Wednesday unless the outlet deletes multiple tweets about its reporting on 2020 Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, the Post reported.

But while the Big Apple tabloid is gagged online, Twitter allows the likes of Louis Farrakhan, Richard Spencer, Ali Khamenei, Nicolas Maduro and O.J. Simpson to tweet freely.

Political satirist Tim Young, who has built his brand on Twitter, blasted the social media giant for silencing the Post.

“It’s reprehensible that the New York Post is still locked out of their Twitter for reporting the news when murderers, dictators and racists are still active.

Google’s Head of Global Analysis: “Platforms are influencing you in a way you didn’t sign up for”

One of the most senior leaders in Google’s Cloud division told a Project Veritas journalist exactly how the search engine and social media giant manipulates how users act and feel politically.

“All of the social media and the online platforms know your political leanings,” said Ashwin Agrawal, the head of global competitive analysis at Google Cloud.

“Now, the more you see a Biden ad, the more, you know, passionate or the more sort of leaning you’re going to come for Biden.”

James O’Keefe, the founder and CEO of Project Veritas, said, “Google is the most dominant Big Tech company in the world and its power to shape our politics is very scary.”

Here’s why Hunter Biden’s emails are a HUGE deal

Commentary/Opinion:
Make no mistake, it is the scandal of the year if Joe Biden received payments, held by Hunter, from the Chinese. Liz Wheeler.

World News:

Mark Esper: U.S. troops leaving Germany likely to stay in Eastern Europe

While the initial plan involved the return of troops to the United States, Esper said he would work to position troops closer to the Russian border to bolster allies.

“You don’t need to be Napoleon or MacArthur to look at the map and realize that the further east you are, the more reassurance you can provide for those allies and partners on the frontlines, whether it’s — in the northeast it’s the Baltic states, Poland just due east of Germany, or in Bulgaria and Romania in the southeast along the Black Sea,” Esper said.

The U.S. Army has already announced eastward troop movements, starting last week with the formal reactivation of the Fifth Corps, or V Corps.

Although headquartered at Fort Knox, Ky., it will rotate 230 troops at a time though its forward deployment in Poznan, Poland.

Drones to spy on Melburnians illegally celebrating the AFL grand final

Victoria Police will be using drones and helicopters to spy on footy-mad Melburnians illegally celebrating Saturday’s AFL grand final.

The air wing and drone unit will be monitoring crowds at parks, beaches and other hot spots in Melbourne due to concerns footy fans will defy lockdown restrictions.

The metropolitan ‘ring of steel’ will also be bolstered and expanded to back roads.

Gaza fires at Israel; Iran’ proxies bombed in Syria; China eyes Gulf States-TV7 Israel News 21.10.20

1) Palestinian Islamists launched a rocket last night, from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, toward the southern communities of Israel – drawing retaliatory bombardments.

2) Iranian militant installations were targeted in Syria overnight – in an unidentified attack attributed to Israel.

3) Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi proposed building up a multilateral dialogue platform for the Arab and Persian Gulf region – as part of Beijing’s declared efforts to alleviate tensions surrounding the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Under Pressure from Trump, Allies Up NATO Contributions

“We expect this trend to continue,” Stoltenberg said. “Allies are also investing more in major capabilities … and continue to contribute to our missions and operations.”

Canada and European countries’ spending increased this year at a rate of 4.3 percent.

Ten NATO member countries—Romania, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Lithuania, France, Norway, the United Kingdom, Greece, and the United States—now meet the benchmark of 2 percent GDP spending on defense, up from only three member states in 2014.

Less encouraging are Germany and Canada’s defense budgets, which are still under 1.6 percent of their GDPs.

Pope Francis backs same-sex civil unions

Pope Francis has backed civil unions for same-sex couples.

The pontiff made the comments in the documentary film “Francesco,” which was screened at the Rome Film Festival on Wednesday.

“Homosexual people have the right to be in a family,” the pope said.

“They are children of God and have a right to a family.

Nobody should be thrown out or made miserable over it.”

Horowitz: Czech mega-surge of cases shows dramatic failure of mask mandates

All those European countries that thought they beat the virus with a lockdown were in for a rude awakening.

Now they have nothing to show from the destruction wrought by lockdowns but a massive surge in coronavirus cases.

Less than two months ago, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis boasted that his country was among the “best in Covid.”

They credited their strict mandate to wear masks inside and outside the home.

The Czech government is in such as state of panic at this point that Prime Minister Andrej Babis is building emergency field hospitals.

With hospitalizations six times higher than the initial peak in the spring (before universal mask-wearing), Babis warned, “We don’t have time—numbers are catastrophic.”

Nigeria Sars protest: Unrest in Lagos after shooting

Authorities have imposed an indefinite round-the-clock curfew on the city and elsewhere, but some defied the order.

Buildings were set alight across the city and police put up roadblocks. A major Nigerian TV station with links to a ruling party politician was on fire after people attacked with petrol bombs.

Police in different districts of Lagos fired shots in the air on Wednesday to disperse protesters defying the curfew, the BBC’s Nduka Orjinmo reports from the capital, Abuja.

He also reports that the palace of the most senior traditional leader in the city was looted, though the leader was evacuated beforehand.

Crowd crush at Afghan stadium leads to death of at least 11 women

Attaullah Khogyani, spokesman for the governor of the eastern Nangarhar province, said a further 13 people, mostly women, were injured at the Jalalabad stadium, where they were trying to get visas to enter Pakistan.

He said most of those who died were elderly people and they came from across Afghanistan.

Separately, at least 36 Afghan police were killed in an ambush by Taliban militants in northern Afghanistan, officials said.

More Hunter Biden’s alleged ties to CCP exposed; 4 countries to hold naval exercise to counter China

Hunter Biden’s business partner may have helped set up meetings between White House officials and Chinese tycoons.

That’s according to more leaked emails from the former vice president’s son.

China’s GDP numbers are out. But are they telling the truth?

Hanging the national flags of the US, UK, and Australia from an apartment’s windows attracts the attention of police in China. But someone is still doing just that.

Students in mainland China seem to be taking inspiration from Hong Kong protesters’ slogans. Hongkonger’s tactics also resonate with Thailand and Korea.

And the US, Japan, India, and Australia will hold a naval exercise. Japan will export weapons to Vietnam. And this, amidst Chinese military aggression in the South China Sea.

Commentary/Opinion:

Stories of Us — Marathon

NEW RELEASE! Stories of Us, a new PragerU series, features Americans who have denounced leftism and are helping others to find a better life.

These important stories of ideological transformation expose the left’s lies and manipulative agenda for millions to see. Enjoy!

Workplace Diversity Trainings Are Backfiring Horribly | Karlyn Borysenko | POLITICS | Rubin Report

Dave Rubin of The Rubin Report talks to Karlyn Borysenko (Psychologist and Author) about how the field of organizational psychology is being taken over by critical race theory.

Karlyn has built her career working to help companies develop more cohesive and healthy workplaces.

Since the Black Lives Matter protests started she has seen diversity and inclusion training dominate the type of training that workplaces are using.

Karlyn jumps into the critical race theory debate by saying that these identity politics based diversity trainings are backfiring and harming team cohesion and organizational productivity.

Karlyn also discusses how many people are living in fear of expressing their opinions on big tech controlled social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook.

Shelby Steele: How Black Victimhood Became Black Power—With Eli Steele | American Thought Leaders

“The tragedy of America’s history is that now in freedom, we embrace slavery; we embrace subservience; we embrace victimization—even as we’re free,” says Shelby Steele.

So, “What Killed Michael Brown?” This is the question posed by the new documentary film starring and written by Hoover Institution senior fellow Shelby Steele and directed by his filmmaker son Eli Steele.

In this episode, we sit down with Shelby and Eli Steele to discuss the film, and why they believe Amazon is censoring it.