News and Headlines: In The News, Politics, World News, Commentary/Opinion.
In The News:
Michigan pot shops giving free joints to customers vaccinated for COVID-19
Two Michigan pot shops — Greenhouse of Walled Lake and UBaked Cannabis of Burton — promise to give away weed to adults who show up with proof of a pandemic vaccination.
“Our goal is to raise awareness of the importance of getting the COVID-19 vaccination as we, as a community, battle this horrible pandemic,” Jerry Millen, the owner of Greenhouse said.
“We support the safe and responsible use of cannabis and hope this is the beginning of the end of this insidious pandemic.”
Wakefield homicide: Man accused of killing his mother is shot by police
Timothy Martin is now expected to face charges for killing his mother, Pamela Wood, who was a speech therapist in Wakefield Public Schools.
Police then went to the basement, and found Wood who was pronounced dead at the scene.
As officers called for backup, a suspect identified as Martin emerged from a corner of the basement, according to Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan.
Martin ran at the officers as he held a knife above his head, Ryan said. Martin refused to put the knife down, and two officers discharged their weapons.
U.S. Army Soldier Arrested for Attempting to Assist ISIS to Conduct Deadly Ambush on U.S. Troops
Cole James Bridges, aka Cole Gonzales, 20, of Stowe, Ohio, was charged by complaint with attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and attempting to murder U.S. military service members.
The FBI and U.S. Army Counterintelligence arrested Bridges today, and he will be presented later today in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia.
“As alleged, Cole Bridges betrayed the oath he swore to defend the United States by attempting to provide ISIS with tactical military advice to ambush and kill his fellow service members,” said Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Audrey Strauss.
“Our troops risk their lives for our country, but they should never face such peril at the hands of one of their own.
Today, thanks to the efforts of the agents and detectives of the JTTF, and our partners in the Department of Defense, Bridges is in custody and facing federal terrorism charges for his alleged crimes.”
Farewell Address of President Donald J. Trump.
Pastor gets FBI visit after speaking at Trump event
He spoke at a pro-Trump event in Washington DC and shortly after before he knew it he had the FBI knocking on his door.
Joshua Feuerstein, a pastor for ‘American Church’ speaks to Newsmax TV about his experience. – via National Report with Shaun Kraisman and Emma Rechenberg,
Iranian Regime Booster Charged With Lobbying for Tehran
The Department of Justice charged a political scientist and frequent contributor to left-leaning foreign policy publications and mainstream newspapers with acting as an unregistered agent for Iran, according to an announcement from federal prosecutors.
Using the guise of a free-thinking academic, Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi has since 2007 been pushing regime propaganda in publications including the New York Times, Boston Globe, Washington Post, and the Nation magazine, as well as many academic journals.
Afrasiabi was formally charged on Tuesday with “acting and conspiring to act as an unregistered agent of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” according to an indictment unsealed in a Brooklyn federal court.
US Scientist That Condemned Wuhan Lab Leak Theory Admits He Was Shielding Chinese Scientists
The revelation is part of a fact sheet released by the U.S. State Department on Jan. 15, which slams the CCP for excessive secrecy around the origin of the CCP virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.
A team of experts led by the World Health Organization (WHO) arrived in the central Chinese city of Wuhan on Jan. 14 to investigate the origin of the CCP virus. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) called the WHO’s visit a “scientific research cooperation.”
The family member of a COVID-19 victim who died in Wuhan told The Epoch Times that he believed the WHO won’t find anything and is just being used by the Chinese regime as a scapegoat for the pandemic.
Texas Governor Decries Vetting of National Guard
“This is the most offensive thing I’ve ever heard,” Abbott, a Republican, wrote on Twitter. “No one should ever question the loyalty or professionalism of the Texas National Guard.”
Texas sent more than 1,000 guardsmen to Washington to help secure the nation’s capital before and during the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.
“I’ll never do it again if they are disrespected like this,” Abbott said.
12 National Guard members removed from inauguration mission after vetting
A dozen members of the National Guard have been removed from the mission to protect the presidential inauguration because of various problems in their pasts, defense officials said Tuesday.
Two of the troops made “inappropriate comments or texts,” prompting their removal from the Capitol, Gen. Daniel Hokanson, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, said in a news conference.
Problems with those two people were raised by the troops’ colleagues and by an anonymous tip.
South Los Angeles Shooting Victims Surge 742 Percent in 2021
LAPD Headquarters tweeted about the surge in shooting victims, noting there were 59 such victims by January 16, 2021, whereas there were only seven by the same time in 2020.
In a second tweet, LAPD Headquarters isolated fatalities, noting South LA homicides surged 150 percent during the first 16 days of January as well.
There were 10 homicides January 1, 2021 through January 16, 2021, as compared to four homicides during the same time-frame in 2020.
Ironically, Los Angeles is a Democrat-run, gun-controlled city located in California, a state with some of the most stringent gun controls in the country.
My Pillow CEO Says Bed Bath and Beyond, Kohl’s to Stop Selling His Products
“I just got off the phone with Bed Bath and Beyond. They’re dropping My Pillow. Just got off the phone not five minutes ago. Kohl’s, all these different places,” Lindell told Right Side Broadcasting Network.
The cancellation of Lindell’s products is the latest in punitive action taken against Trump and his supporters since the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol.
The president was banned from social media platforms and cut off by some banks, while some supporters have also been banned by Twitter and been fired by employers.
Deputy, K-9 and suspect killed in shootout on Cal Expo grounds, Sacramento County sheriff says
A Sacramento County sheriff’s deputy and a K-9 officer died after a shootout on Cal Expo grounds with a chase suspect who was also killed, Sheriff Scott Jones said early Tuesday morning.
Around 10 p.m. Monday, deputies tried pulling over a driver, who the sheriff said was a parolee, at Arden Way near Morse Avenue.
The driver initially stopped, but then took off in his vehicle — prompting a chase, the sheriff said. The suspect eventually crashed his car, ending the chase on the Cal Expo grounds near the horse track.
The sheriff said the suspect refused to comply with commands to roll down his windows or exit his vehicle.
Toledo Police officer killed during standoff with suspect
Around 3:30 p.m., officers with the Gang Task Force noticed a suspect in an earlier crime, Christopher Harris, 27, standing on the 2300 block of Fulton Street. Police believe he was the suspect who had vandalized a cathedral earlier Monday morning.
After he was approached, the suspect brandished a firearm and went into his home.
After several hours of attempting to negotiate with the suspect, the SWAT team fired gas canisters into the home in an effort to force him out.
Around 6:30 p.m., according to Chief Kral, the suspect came out with two handguns and began firing, hitting and killing 24-year-old Officer Stalker, who was stationed on the perimeter of the scene to keep residents out of the scene and line of fire.
FOOTAGE: Caravan Fights With Border Police; 9000 Migrants Headed to US | Facts Matter
9000 migrants left Honduras in a caravan headed for the United States. However, it looks like they are meeting resistance in Guatemala and Mexico.
In recognition of the Trump administration’s peace efforts, the king of Morocco has given President Trump the highest award that he can.
In Washington DC, streets are being closed, there are miles of fencing, barbed wire, and barricades, armed guards everywhere, and generally – it looks like a militarized zone.
VIRAL “TRUMPS NEW ARMY” VIDEO IS LIBERALS AT THEIR CRAZIEST AND SCARIEST
A new viral video calling on liberals to form “an army of citizen detectives” to gather information on Trump supporters and report their activities to the authorities has racked up thousands of shares and millions of views in just a few hours.
The hashtag #TrumpsNewArmy is trending on Twitter as of this writing due to the release of a horrifying video with that title from successful author and virulent Russiagater Don Winslow.
As of this writing it has some 20 thousand shares and 2.6 million views, and the comments and quote-retweets are predominantly supportive.
Politics:
Whitmer unveils massive COVID-19 recovery plan, includes millions for jobs, schools
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has a plan that she says will cripple COVID-19, get students back in schools and residents back to work.
State business and education associations joined Democrats in heralding the plan, saying it provides the funding and proposes support through legislation needed to help struggling shops, workers and teachers.
Pence, McConnell, and McCarthy Are Skipping Trump’s Departure Ceremony
That’s fine. He came in with the support of the American people and leaves with the support of the American people.
Having the establishment not show up is typically petty and not exactly going to ruin Trump’s day.
What it does tell you is everyone still recognizes that he’s actually still a powerhouse, and they remain as small as they were when he took office.
Every step they take which is actually an insult to 75 million voters, will be remembered.
McConnell says Trump ‘provoked’ the Capitol attackers
McConnell’s remarks come as the Senate is awaiting formal transmission of the House’s impeachment article passed last week, which charged Trump with “willful incitement of insurrection.”
The Kentucky Republican, who will soon become the minority leader when Democrats take control of the chamber later this week, has not yet said whether he would vote to convict the president in the Senate’s upcoming trial, which will begin after President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated and immediately once Pelosi sends the article across the Capitol.
“The mob was fed lies,” McConnell said on the Senate floor on the last full day of Trump’s presidency.
“They were provoked by the president and other powerful people.
House Armed Services cancels Austin waiver hearing
The House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday abruptly canceled its planned public hearing this week with retired Gen. Lloyd Austin, President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Pentagon.
Instead, the panel will likely hold a closed-door briefing with the nominee, according to two aides.
The public hearing, which was set for Thursday, was initially planned as part of the process of granting Austin a waiver, which would exempt him from the requirement that he be out of the military for at least seven years. Both the House and Senate must pass the waiver for Austin to serve.
FOX BUSINESS VIDEO: Will Biden push for ‘America last’ policies?
Former Trump 2020 campaign senior adviser and former White House senior adviser for strategic communication Mercedes Schlapp discusses Joe Biden’s plan to reverse Trump administration policies, specifically his approach to immigration.
Biden Picks Transgender Woman as Assistant Health Secretary
Biden also says that, in one of his first acts as president, he’ll ask Americans to wear masks for 100 days to slow the virus’ spread.
Levine joins Biden’s Health and Human Services secretary nominee Xavier Becerra, a Latino politician who rose from humble beginnings to serve in Congress and as California’s attorney general.
Businessman Jeff Zients is Biden’s coronavirus response coordinator, while Biden picked infectious-disease specialist Rochelle Walensky to run the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Vivek Murthy as surgeon general and Yale epidemiologist Marcella Nunez-Smith to head a working group to ensure fair and equitable distribution of vaccines and treatments.
The government’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, will also work closely with the Biden administration.
Jack Keane sounds off on Dem who called for vetting Nat’l Guard troops
Fox News senior strategic analyst Gen. Jack Keane (ret.) reacts to Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., suggesting White, Trump-supporting National Guard members could ‘do something’ to Biden.
Wyoming Republicans censure Cheney over Trump impeachment vote
That censure resolution has been submitted to be considered by the Wyoming Republican Party’s State Central Committee.
“Representative Cheney has violated the trust of her voters, failed to faithfully represent a very large majority of motivated Wyoming voters, and neglected her duty to represent the party and the will of the people who elected her to represent them,” the resolution states.
The Wyoming GOP has already condemned Cheney for the vote and demanded she “explain” her vote at its next meeting.
Democrat questions patriotism of National Guardsmen in Washington
Commentary/Opinion:
Victor Davis Hanson, Harmeet Dhillon and Dinesh D’Souza react on ‘The Ingraham Angle’ to Rep. Steve Cohen’s comments.
FOX NEWS VIDEO: Tucker: Democrats using military to send ‘power’ message to America
Commentary/Opinion:
For comparison, Lyndon Johnson sent a total of 13,600 federal troops and D.C. Army National Guardsmen to quell the race riots in Washington that followed the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Those riots injured hundreds of people and killed at least 13.
In 1864, as the Civil War raged on the other side of the Potomac and Americans died every day in large numbers on the battlefield, there were fewer federal troops protecting Washington, D.C., than there are right now.
But according to our leaders, the so-called “insurrection” of Jan. 6 was much worse than any of that.
Instead, unmistakably, the Democratic Party is using those troops to send the rest of us a message about power:
“We’re in charge now. We run this nation, from Honolulu to our colony in the Caribbean and everywhere in between, very much including where you and your family live.
Do not question us men with guns. We control the Pentagon.” And indeed, they do.
FOX NEWS VIDEO: Jason Whitlock: Elites using race as distraction to tear down America
Journalist tells ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ how American freedoms are being obliterated under the guise of installing equality.
World News:
Russia cautions of Israel-Iran war in Syria; Greece-Turkey tensions remain- TV7 Israel News 19.01.21
1) Russia is evidently frustrated with Israel’s alleged strikes against Iranian-linked targets which are situated on Syrian soil.
2) Israel and Syria reportedly hold a meeting under Russian auspices.
3) Germany voices hope that Turkish-Greek exploratory talks will lead to an improvement of ties between Ankara and the EU.
US ‘unsurprisingly’ stands against Aussie news media code and ‘protects’ big tech
Nationals Senator Matt Canavan says it is “fairly common” for the US to protect the interests of intellectual property companies in technology industries, following reports the US is pressuring Australia to relinquish its proposed media code.
“It doesn’t surprise me the US is taking this position,” he told Sky News.
Mr Canavan’s comment responded to reports the United States has called on the Morrison government to drop its plans to force Google and Facebook to pay for news content.
Under the proposed laws tech giants would face a mandatory code of conduct requiring them to negotiate a payment with Australian media companies in exchange for displaying their news content.
China Has Built 101 Houses Inside Indian Territory: US-based Imaging Company
Ranjan said it’s not clear from the media reports about how many people are staying in those houses but since infrastructure has been provided it indicates they will stay there.
He said the Chinese objective behind setting up a village in such a remote, forested region can be understood from theories of Chinese expansionism.
“So it’s to be clearly understood that China is maybe trying to set up PLA army in this border area. China can actually perhaps make a PLA settlement in the garb of a village,” said Ranjan, adding that despite all the speculation there’s still a lack of clarity on the situation.
“It’s obviously a big threat if some other nation constructs 101 houses inside [other nation’s territory] in a region where people are actually not staying,” said Ranjan.
Trump Administration Hits Venezuela With More Sanctions
The fresh sanctions target people and businesses linked with Alex Saab, a Colombian businessman who U.S. officials say is a close associate Maduro.
Saab is jailed in the African nation of Cape Verde while fighting extradition to the United States to face corruption charges.
Other figures targeted by the sanctions are Alessandro Bazzoni, Francisco Javier D’Agostino Casado, Philipp Paul Vartan Apikian, Elemento Ltd., and Swissoil Trading SA.
Starbucks customer compensated over ‘slanty’ eyes drawing on cup
The Workplace Relations Commission found Ms Foley was racially harassed under the Equal Status Act.
Ms Foley attempted to give a shortened version of her name at the counter as she made her order so it could be written on the cup.
Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) adjudication officer Kevin Baneham said it was not disputed that a Starbucks employee drew an image of a smile and what was referred to in the hearing as “slanty” eyes on the cup as a way of marking it as Ms Foley’s cup.
He said it was “clear that the visual depiction relates to her race” and it was “as offensive and as unimaginative as a 19th Century Punch cartoon”.
China Committing Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity, State Department Says
The State Department says the Chinese government has systematically imprisoned, oppressed, and committed genocide against the Uighur population, an ethnic minority group that has been forced into labor camps in the country’s Xinjiang province.
Humanitarian organizations have provided evidence that China forcefully sterilizes the population and abducts children born to Uighur families.
“Beijing’s atrocities in Xinjiang represent an extreme affront to the Uyghurs, the people of China, and civilized people everywhere,” Pompeo said. “We will not remain silent.
If the Chinese Communist Party is allowed to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against its own people, imagine what it will be emboldened to do to the free world, in the not-so-distant future.”
Moment a furious father confronts man, 22, accused of raping his 14-year-old daughter and holds him until police arrive after he set a trap by posing as the girl on Instagram and inviting him over
A father filmed himself furiously confronting a man accused of grooming and raping his 14-year-old daughter when he allegedly visited her home to try and abuse her again.
Jamil Chowdhury, 22, allegedly exchanged an ‘extraordinarily high’ number of messages with the girl on Instagram after meeting her online last year, Sydney’s Fairfield Court heard.
He is accused of engaging in oral sex with the girl and performing a sex act on her during a January 2 attack at her home in Villawood in Sydney’s west.
Study: Japan’s Suicides Jump 16% in Coronavirus Second Wave
Published by researchers at Tokyo’s Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology and Hong Kong University in the scientific journal Nature Human Behavior on January 15, the study found a larger increase in the suicide rates “among females (37 percent) and children and adolescents (49 percent).”
Friday’s findings contrast starkly with suicide data from Japan’s first coronavirus wave – February to June 2020 – when the country recorded a 14 percent decline in the number of suicides nationwide.
Scientists based the January 15 suicide study on Japanese health ministry data from November 2016 to October 2020.
“Unlike normal economic circumstances, this pandemic disproportionately affects the psychological health of children, adolescents and females (especially housewives),” the study’s authors wrote.
Italy Reports ‘Alarming’ Spike in Attempted Suicides Among Youth During Lockdowns
Hospitalizations of children for self-cutting and attempted suicide have increased by 30 percent since October, repeating a similar bump last spring during the first wave of the coronavirus, according to Dr. Stefano Vicari, head of the complex operating unit of Childhood and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry of Rome’s Bambino Gesù pediatric hospital.
As a point of comparison, during the entire year of 2011, the Bambino Gesù hospital only had 12 cases of hospitalization of young people for self-harm and attempted suicide, Dr. Vicari stated, “whereas in 2020, we had over 300, or nearly one every day.”
Similarly, in the Department of Child Neuropsychiatry of the Regina Margherita Hospital in Turin, admissions for attempted suicides in December increased from just 7 in 2009 to 35 in 2020 and while in 2009 only 10 percent of patients admitted in the psychiatric Day hospital had had thoughts of suicide, in 2020 a full 80 percent of patients had contemplated suicide.
Rights Groups Decry Rise in Forced Conversions, Religious Killings in Pakistan
Cecil Chaudhry, executive director of the National Commission of Justice and Peace, told UCANews that incidents of forced conversions and marriages, hate speech against religious and sectarian minorities, and killings in the name of religion had all increased in Pakistan during 2020, according to a report published Monday.
Pakistan stood at number 5 on the recently released World Watch List, an index of Christian persecution in countries around the world, compiled by the Christian aid organization Open Doors.
“Christians in Pakistan face extreme persecution in every area of their lives, with converts from Islam facing the highest levels,” Open Doors stated, and “all Christians are considered second-class citizens, inferior to Muslims.”
“Increasingly, Christian girls are at risk of abduction and rape, often forced to marry their attackers and coerced into converting to Islam,” the group found.
Germany to Place Quarantine Flouters into Detention Centres, Camps
Other states say they will use hospitals and juvenile detention centres to hold violators.
According to a report from the Daily Mail, state governments can forcibly detain violators under the Disease Protection Act, which the German federal government renewed in November.
Earlier this month, Chancellor Angela Merkel met with lawmakers from her party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and told them that lockdowns could last until April.
Migrants scale border fences to enter Spanish enclave
Of the 87 who made it, nine were taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries suffered in the crossing while the rest were taken to the city’s temporary migrant accommodation center while authorities study whether they can be deported. Most are normally released and ordered to leave Spain.
Efe said the crossing attempt was the biggest since last August when some 300 people tried but only 30 got across.
Separately, the Interior Ministry reported this week that migrant arrivals to Spain’s Canary Islands, one of the principal migrant routes from Africa, were up by more than 230% to 1,069 in the first two weeks of the year.
State Department: Wuhan Institute of Virology Has Worked on Secret Projects with China’s Military.
State Department: Wuhan Institute of Virology #WIV Has Collaborated on Secret Projects with #ChineseMilitary. #JackMa ’s Empire Involves 7 Top CCP Families.
Trump Admin Legacy in Middle East—Ellie Cohanim on Peace Deals with Israel & Combating Antisemitism
As a result of the Trump administration’s efforts in the Middle East, four nations have signed peace agreements with Israel, including the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Bahrain, and Sudan.
Alongside the peace agreements, there are also signs that Middle Eastern countries are agreeing to proactively tackle anti-Semitism.
In this episode, we sit down with Ellie Cohanim, the U.S. Deputy Special Envoy to Monitor & Combat Anti-Semitism.
To forward these efforts, the Moroccan NGO the Mimouna Association has partnered with the US State Department, a move lauded by Morocco’s ambassador to the US, Princess Lalla Joumala Alaoui.
New findings on Wuhan’s controversial lab; Biden’s ‘Asia tsar’ talks China policy
The U.S. reveals new findings surrounding China’s Wuhan virus lab. That’s the facility some claim leaked the CCP virus.
Leaked documents found by one outlet claim Canada may have helped Beijing cover up the pandemic.
The Director of National Intelligence says China did interfere in the 2020 election. The statement comes just days before Biden’s inauguration.
Biden’s State Department picks signal a possible change in U.S.-China policy.
Digital payment giant Paypal intensifies its business with China. It’s now the first overseas company to have full control over a Chinese e-payment platform.
And a surprising translation error leaves some Chinese netizens suspicious. That’s as the U-S accuses Beijing of breaking a major promise.
Commentary/Opinion:
Big Tech Censorship: Can Freedom of Speech Be Saved? | Ron Paul | DIRECT MESSAGE | Rubin Report
Dave Rubin of The Rubin Report talks to Dr. Ron Paul, libertarian and former Congressman, about Big tech censorship, threats to freedom of speech, and his being caught up in the social media purge which resulted in him being temporarily censored on Facebook.
Ron will discuss the power of social media censorship to silence platforms like Parler, sitting presidents like Donald Trump as well as any voices outside the mainstream.
He will also discuss how the Joe Biden cabinet is packed with people who, while decrying the violence of Trump supporters storming the Capitol building, have been involved in real coups around the world in previous administrations.
Hungary Mulls Sanctions Against Social Media Giants
Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga on Monday raised the prospect of sanctioning social media firms over what she called “systematic abuses” of free speech.
Varga said in her post the matter should be regulated at European Union level, but said swifter action may be needed: “Due to the systematic abuses, however, we may need to step up sooner,” she said.
Her comments come days after ally Poland also flagged possible action against big tech companies, with the justice minister saying companies that remove posts they deem offensive could face fines.
Rumble CEO: Google Censorship is Extremely Scary
Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski joins Mark Levin on Life, Liberty & Levin to discuss Google’s censorship.
