News and Headlines: In The News, Politics, World News, Commentary/Opinion.
In The News:
No charges against Wisconsin officer who shot Jacob Blake
Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley said Tuesday that he “would have to disprove the clear expression of these officers that they had to fire a weapon to defend themselves.”
He added: “I do not believe the state … would be able to prove that the privilege of self-defense is not available.”
Graveley said he had informed Blake of the news before a news conference to announce the decision.
Authorities Investigate Explosions In Pittsburgh
According to a report Monday, authorities in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania are searching for a white pick-up truck. They believe an aerial firework was thrown out of the moving vehicle, igniting into flames and striking a parked car.
While no injuries were reported, witnesses described the first explosion as “too close for comfort,” and added many children frequent that street and could have been injured.
“A truck actually showed up like 30 seconds after the explosion. It matched the pictures on Twitter earlier,” witness Jared Rackley said. “The house started to shake like, sort of inside its core. It was so loud, and the whole neighborhood just shook.”
California Official: Insurance Must Cover Double Mastectomies for Young Girls with Gender Dysphoria
Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara asked the California Department of Insurance to issue a notice stating young girls cannot be denied coverage for elective double mastectomies on the basis of their age, the Post Millennial reported Sunday:
“For far too long, individuals diagnosed with gender dysphoria have had to battle a host of challenges to get access to gender-affirming care in order to be their true selves,” Lara stated in a press release,
According to the press release, Lara’s office has received “complaints” via San Diego’s TransFamily Support Services that young people with gender dysphoria and their parents reported insurance companies were denying coverage for elective double mastectomies and other radical transgender surgeries for people under the age of 18.
NY Gov. Cuomo to Hospitals: Speed up Vaccination or Face Fines, Get No More Doses
Cuomo blamed hospitals for the slow vaccine rollout amid growing concerns that his administration’s strict prioritization guidelines for who can get the vaccine could be slowing down the process, Fox News noted.
Cuomo, however, dismissed those concerns.
“The hospitals are doing the administration, and that was purposeful,” Cuomo told reporters.
“This is a management issue of the hospitals. They have to move the vaccine, and they have to move the vaccine faster.”
NYSE Backs Down From Delisting Chinese Companies Following CCP Threats
Shares of the three companies plummeted after the exchange’s New Year’s Eve announcement, prompting the Chinese government to threaten “necessary countermeasures” to oppose the delisting on Saturday.
The companies surged as trading began Tuesday. China Mobile increased by 10 percent, while China Unicom increased by more than 13 percent. Shares of China Telecom also increased by 7 percent in the wake of the exchange’s reversal.
It remains unclear whether the exchange’s flip-flop will put it in conflict with Trump’s executive order, which banned Americans from trading shares of Chinese military-linked companies after Jan. 11.
Horowitz: With no lockdown or mask mandate, Florida has roughly same hospitalization level as 2018 flu season
There is much debate over how to count a COVID hospitalization given the rampant and unprecedented testing of people relative to past flus.
But one easy way to observe an apples-to-apples comparison to past flu seasons is to compare the overall average daily census of hospitalizations now to previous years and adjust those numbers per capita to existing population.
In other words, if all of the COVID patients are legitimately there because of COVID, we would see an enormous excess in the total number of people in the hospital at any given moment for any ailment.
Florida is simply not seeing a gigantic increase.
Woman threatens to bomb Catholic school for sharing same-sex marriage announcements
Sonia Tabizada, 36, threatened to commit “terrorism” against the Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School, an all-girls Catholic school, after they said they would allow same-sex marriage announcements to be published in the school’s alumni magazine, according to the Justice Department (DOJ).
Tabizada said she was planning to burn and bomb the school and that she would kill school officials and students in multiple calls made to the school on May 15, 2019, according to the DOJ.
She left an additional voicemail saying she would commit “terrorism” by blowing up the school.
First female Green Beret facing charge for accidentally firing gun in apartment
“While the handgun was discharged inside an apartment, no injuries occurred. Because the incident occurred off-post, local authorities have jurisdiction,” Lessard said of the incident.
“We will continue to coordinate with local authorities and closely monitor the civilian case as it moves towards resolution in municipal court.”
Lt. James Sokolik of the Colorado Springs Police Department told Military.com the Green Beret faces a “minor misdemeanor charge” and is likely to appear in court in January or February.
Because no one was injured in the alleged incident, Sokolik again said this is an “extremely minor charge.”
Border Patrol arrests MS-13 gang member previously deported after illegally reentering US
The man was taken to El Centro for an immigration and criminal history screening, and records showed he is a 44-year-old from Honduras and an MS-13 gang member, the agency said.
The records showed he had previously been convicted of entering the U.S. illegally and of multiple drug offenses in Los Angeles, according to the CBP. He was ordered removed from the U.S. on Oct. 2 of last year.
Hawley: Washington Post printed ‘outright lies’ to defend ‘Antifa scumbags’ who congregated at his home
Hawley said late Monday that “Antifa scumbags” arrived at his Washington, D.C., home and threatened his wife and newborn daughter while he was in his home state of Missouri.
“They screamed threats, vandalized, and tried to pound open our door,” Hawley said.
However, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday that “activists said they had staged a peaceful vigil… on the sidewalk in a Northern Virginia suburb.”
The liberal paper then noted that Hawley “had a different description for the scene outside his family’s home,” noting that the Republican lawmaker called it “leftwing violence.”
3 Florida men in custody after attacking, running over FWC officer with ATV, sheriff says
Lazaro Milian, 50, Michel Amalfi, 45, and Rodrigo La Rosa, 27, face multiple charges, including attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest.
A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation (FWC) officer responded to reports of night hunting, or poaching, around 9 p.m. to an area about one hour inside the grounds, Judd said.
The officer heard a gunshot and approached the three suspects, officials said. He took their shotguns and attempted to detain the trio.
Proud Boys leader to appear in court as DC preps for pro-Trump rallies, Electoral College certification
Tarrio was arrested by Metro Police Department officers Monday “upon entering the District of Columbia and pursuant to a D.C. Superior Court Arrest Warrant,” police spokeswoman Alaina Gertz confirmed to Fox News.
He was charged with destruction of property related to an offense that occurred on Saturday, Dec. 12, in the 900 block of 11th Street, Northwest.
A video circulated online in connection to the December incident at Asbury United Methodist Church showed a group of people call out, “We are proud of our boys” before pouring an apparent accelerant on a BLM banner and setting it ablaze in the street.
Others cheered and cursed Antifa. Someone is seen walking up about a minute later and uses a fire extinguisher to put out the flames.
Tucker investigates the 180-day countdown to UFO disclosures
Former UK Defense Official Nick Pope joins Tucker Carlson to talk about what could happen when classified briefings of UFO findings are released to Congress.
The MSM’s 6 biggest lies of 2020
Maybe in the new year the mainstream will lie to you LESS, but who are we kidding?
Politics:
FNC’s Carlson: Trump-Raffensperger Call Used by Democrats, Media to ‘Divert Your Attention’ from GA Senate Race
Commentary/Opinion: The President, as you may have heard, believes the election was stolen from him. Georgia’s Secretary of State whose job it is to oversee elections disagrees. You can listen to the call yourself. It’s online and you can make up your own mind about who is right on that question.
But no matter what you conclude about vote counting in Georgia, we’re willing to bet that you won’t decide Donald Trump’s latest phone call is the single most important thing happening in the world right now. Probably not even close.
And yet CNN is claiming that it is. Why are they doing that? Well, that’s a good question and worth pondering. Maybe they’re trying to divert your attention again. But divert it from what? Well, here’s one guess.
Judge Denies Trump Bid to Invalidate Georgia Election Result
Trump’s lawyer, Kurt Hilbert, said in court that the president failed to challenge Georgia’s March settlement agreement with Democrats over how the state would manage mail-in ballots during the pandemic because Trump didn’t know how the election would play out, according to the person.
Trump had asked the judge to issue an order declaring Georgia’s election “null and void” and directing the state to “de-certify” Biden’s victory.
That would have paved the way for Georgia’s legislature to choose electors for Trump.
Patriots Rally In Freedom Plaza – Washington, DC
Millie Weaver interviews Trump supporters who showed up in Washington DC to help President Trump fight for election integrity.
AOC plans to push Biden admin ‘hard’ to cancel student loan debt
Progressive congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) plans to push the Biden administration to cancel student loans and won’t rule out challenging Senator Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
Victoria Nuland, Who Biden Will Reportedly Nominate For Top Government Post, Boosted Steele Dossier At The State Department
President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to serve in a top State Department post played a key role in disseminating the now-debunked Steele dossier at the agency during the Obama administration and was privately criticized by FBI officials for asking too many questions about the bureau’s investigation of the Trump campaign’s possible ties to Russia.
Biden will select Victoria Nuland to serve as undersecretary of state of political affairs, according to Politico. She served as head of State’s Bureau of European and Eurasian affairs during the Obama administration. Biden has selected Tony Blinken, who served as deputy secretary of state, to lead the agency.
Nuland, who is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a liberal foreign policy think tank, played a key role at the State Department in the agency’s dealings with Christopher Steele, the former British spy who compiled the dossier on behalf of the Clinton campaign and DNC.
Raphael Warnock’s Trouble Paying His Taxes and Fees in Fulton County, Ga.
In 2010, the county imposed a tax lien of $611.19. That lien was resolved in 2013. In 2012, the county imposed a tax lien of $605.35.
In 2015, the county imposed a tax lien of $704.98. In 2016, the county imposed a tax lien of $673.52.
The liens for 2012, 2015, and 2016 were referred to Investa Services, a private collections agency.
According to his financial disclosure forms, Warnock is paid $275,000 per year by Ebenezer Baptist Church, in addition to making $55,000 in speaking fees, including $5,000 from the private-equity investment firm Grain Capital.
World News:
Iran Denies Holding South Korean Tanker and Crew Hostage
The tanker Hankuk Chemi was seized in the Persian Gulf on Monday by a swarm of speedboats operated by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a designated terrorist organization.
The ship and its crew of 20 were taken to the IRGC port facility in Bandar Abbas and detained, ostensibly because the ship was “polluting” the Persian Gulf.
The company that operates the tanker, DM Shipping Co. Ltd., dismissed those allegations as “absurd.”
The South Korean government protested the seizure of the ship, underlining its protest by dispatching an anti-piracy squad called the Cheonghae Unit to the Persian Gulf.
WHO Chief ‘Very Disappointed’ China Has Not Let In Coronavirus Experts
“Today, we learned that Chinese officials have not yet finalized the necessary permissions for the team’s arrival in China,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference in Geneva.
“I have been in contact with senior Chinese officials and I have once again made it clear the mission is a priority for the WHO,” he told reporters.
Trump Admin: Breakthrough Reached in Gulf Dispute With Qatar
A breakthrough has been reached in Qatar’s three-year-old dispute with Saudi Arabia and three other Arab countries and an agreement aimed at ending their rift is to be signed in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, a senior Trump administration official said.
The development is the latest in a series of Middle East deals sought by Washington — the others involving Israel and Arab states — aimed at building a united front against Iran.
As part of the deal, Saudi Arabia will reopen its airspace and land and sea border to Qatar as of Monday, Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Ahmad Nasser al-Sabah said on Kuwait TV ahead of a Gulf Arab summit in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
Man viewed extreme Isis content before Reading knife attack, court hears
A hearing at the Old Bailey to determine if the attacks were terrorist acts and therefore subject to a higher sentence, was told that Saadallah viewed extremist material in the days before the attack and had a longstanding interest in extremism.
It also heard that Saadallah, 26, bought the knife from a supermarket the day before the stabbing spree in which he stabbed three people to death, wounded three others, and shouted: “Allahu Akbar”.
He has already admitted to three murders and three attempted murders at an earlier hearing.
China calls Biden admin ‘new window of hope’ for US-China relations
In an interview with China’s Xinhua News Agency, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed aspirations for China-U.S. relations in the next administration, saying, “China-U.S. relations have come to a new crossroads, and a new window of hope is opening.”
Yi claimed that China is prepared to “restore normalcy” and develop a relationship with the U.S. “based on coordination, cooperation and stability.”
Yi said that the U.S. has been attempting to “suppress China and start a new Cold War” under the Trump administration, efforts which he said has caused harm to the people of both nations and disrupted the world.
Pompeo says China is hiding ‘world’s fastest-growing nuclear arsenal’
In an op-ed written for Newsweek called “China’s Nuclear Madness,” shared by the U.S. State Department, Pompeo said China is refusing to disclose how many nuclear weapons it has and how many it plans to develop.
Pompeo explained that during the Cold War, the U.S. and Soviet Union both understood their national security was based on understanding each other’s nuclear capabilities and, “We established a framework to handle potentially deadly misunderstandings.”
“Today, China allows no such transparency for the world’s fastest-growing nuclear arsenal,” Pompeo wrote. “Beijing refuses to disclose how many nuclear weapons it has, how many it plans to develop, or what it plans to do with them.”
Health Worker Dead Two Days After COVID19 Vaccine Injection
A Portuguese health worker has died two days after getting the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine.
Sonia Acevedo, 41, suffered a ‘sudden death’ at home on New Year’s Day 48 hours after receiving the jab.
An autopsy is expected to take place later today or tomorrow.
The mother-of-two, who worked in paediatrics at the Portuguese Institute of Oncology in Porto, is not said to have suffered any adverse side-effects after being vaccinated.
Ms Acevedo’s father Abilio Acevedo told Portuguese daily Correio da Manha:
‘She was okay. She hadn’t had any health problems.
Sonia Acevedo, 41, suffered a ‘sudden death’ on New Year’s Day just 48 hours after receiving the jab
‘She had the Covid-19 vaccine but she didn’t have any symptoms.
I don’t know what happened. I just want answers.
Mercedes Employee Smashes More Than 50 Cars With Hijacked Bulldozer
A Mercedes-Benz factory employee in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Northern Spain, was fired after protesting the imminent threat of mass layoffs, according to an initial report from El Correo, Carbuzz reports.
The 38-year-old factory worker actually hijacked a Caterpillar heavy bulldozer located outside the facility, rammed it through the front gate, and wreaked havoc through more than 50 vehicles on the night of December 30.
After his path of destruction, the man moved on to the facility’s production line — the final stage, to be precise. His main goal was to gain entry into the robotic assembly line — where fewer human employees are needed, and layoffs are likely.
But security guards stopped him before he could demolish the robotic line.
Commentary/Opinion:
‘Failure Rate Is Going Up’: School Choice Advocate On Virtual Learning Impact
Corey DeAngelis, the director of school choice at the Reason Foundation, spoke with the Daily Caller News Foundation’s Samantha Renck about President Donald Trump’s recent executive order on school choice, why he believes schools are being kept closed, and more.
Exclusive: Sec Mike Pompeo: China’s Communist Party Is ‘Inside the Gates’ | American Thought Leaders
When it came to the Soviet Union, President Ronald Reagan said America should “trust, but verify.”
Now, as the Chinese Communist Party has broken promise after promise, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo calls for a policy of “distrust but verify.”
In this episode, we sit down with Sec. Pompeo to discuss why it is important to distinguish between the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese nation, why religious freedom is at the core of U.S. foreign policy, and what it will take to protect the American republic from the Chinese communist regime.