News and Headlines: In The News, Politics, World News, Commentary/Opinion.
In The News:
Dad shot daughter’s boyfriend after he allegedly attacked her and her mother, police say
The father and mother, who have not been identified, reportedly went to check on the situation when they heard their daughter screaming outside. When they looked outside they saw her boyfriend, 26-year-old Vincent Moore, beating her, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office announced in a Saturday morning news release.
“The daughter was bleeding from her mouth and face,” deputies said, adding that “the parents said they tried to break up the fight to no avail.”
At that point, the father allegedly fired a warning shot into the ground while his wife attempted to get Moore to stop the attack and leave. When Moore refused to listen and instead started attacking his girlfriend’s mother, the father fired off another shot, this time striking Moore.
NY Democratic Governor Cuomo says some COVID restrictions may be lifted imminently
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday said New Yorkers should prepare to see some coronavirus restrictions lifted in the state later this week, amid a respite in confirmed cases.
Cuomo says he expects to make a statewide announcement midweek loosening restrictions, as his administration believes New York is at the tail-end of the holiday-induced spike.
The New York Department of Health is currently reviewing state data, the Democratic governor said.
Items like elective surgies are likely to be affected.
Americans still awaiting coronavirus stimulus checks as Biden reportedly offers $4B to Central America
Americans still waiting on coronavirus relief, including stimulus checks, from the federal government may be surprised to learn that President Biden is reportedly offering $4 billion to Central American countries for development.
Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Saturday that Biden told him the U.S. would send $4 billion to help development in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala — nations whose hardships have spawned tides of migration through Mexico toward the United States.
Meanwhile, many Americans have not yet received their $600 stimulus checks that were approved as part of the $900 billion relief package passed in December.
California lifts regional stay-at-home order amid ‘positive signs’ of slower spread
According to a release by the California Department of Public Health, “nearly all” of the regions that were previously under a stay-at-home order will return to the state’s tier system for coronavirus restrictions in the most severe “purple” tier.In that tier, “most indoor businesses are closed,” but places of worship and many outdoor businesses may open with modifications.
Hair salons, tattoo parlors, nail salons and other similar places may also open with modifications in the purple tier.
Newsom has been highly criticized for his strict handling of the pandemic, and it has been a significant contributor to efforts to trigger a recall election.
The recall effort is nearing the number of signatures it will need to gather to force a recall election, which could be the best hope Republicans would have of winning a statewide election in the deep-blue state.
30 Shot over Weekend in Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Chicago
By Monday morning, the Sun-Times reported the number of fatalities rose to six when a 34-year-old man with multiple gunshot wounds was discovered at 4:50 a.m. Sunday morning. David Lopez was found in the 2800 block of West 23rd Street.
Mayor Lightfoot’s Chicago witnessed more than 4,100 shooting victims in 2020, and the Chicago Tribune reported 68 homicides in Chicago from January 1, 2020, through December 27, 2020.
The Tribune reports 156 people were shot in Chicago from January 1, 2021, to January 21, 2021, which is 46 more than were shot during the same time frame in 2020. The paper also points out that 32 people were killed in Chicago from January 1, 2021, through January 19, 2021, five more than were killed during the same period in 2020.
US military intel agency buys, uses bulk US phone location data without warrants
The DIA’s surveillance methods come despite a 2018 Supreme Court decision, Carpenter v. the United States, which ruled the government must obtain a warrant to compel cell phone companies to turn over location data.
The DIA memo suggests a loophole exists where the government may obtain commercially available phone location data through a purchase, rather than compelling a warrant.
Wyden addressed the DIA’s data collection practices during a Senate confirmation hearing to approve Avril Haines, President Joe Biden’s nominee to serve as the Director of National Intelligence.
Wyden said, “the government, instead of getting an order, just goes out and purchases the private records of Americans from these sleazy and unregulated commercial data brokers who are simply above the law.”
Police arrest 4 suspects between the ages of 12 and 14 after a teen girl was violently stabbed to death at a Louisiana Walmart and entire incident was streamed online
The stabbing reportedly took place during a fight with four other girls, all of whom were allegedly younger than the teen victim.
Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Tony Mancuso said that the kids reportedly “stole knives from the actual store where they were at.
“Mancuso added, “This is the third homicide in six months that we’ve had that involved juveniles that range from 11 to 16 years old. They come from all backgrounds, all races.”
This is not something we can police our way out of,” he added. “I just don’t feel like this is a police matter.
This is a parenting issue.
China continues to penetrate us | Gordon Chang
Gordon Chang on on the MIT professor charged with hiding information from the Chinese government, the tense relationship with the United States and more – via Newsmax TV’s ‘John Bachman Now.’
Supreme Court Tosses Emoluments Lawsuits Filed Against Trump While He Was President
No justices dissented from the rulings, which are victories for Trump. The novel lawsuits came about because Trump, a billionaire real estate developer, refused under intense pressure from his opponents to give up his business empire while in the White House.
Trump did step aside from managing his businesses while president but that did not satisfy his critics.
Two federal appeals courts allowed the lawsuits to move forward but in September the U.S. Department of Justice asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the cases.
Today the Supreme Court sent both cases back to those appeals courts “with instructions to dismiss [each] case as moot.”
Vaccines & Treatments | Full Measure
Beyond the vaccines, some novel new treatments for coronavirus seem to be working. We get the latest from Dr. John Dye, Chief of Viral Immunology at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases.
US Navy Seal sentenced to 10 years in prison for role in death of Green Beret
Tony DeDolph received the sentence Saturday from a jury of fellow service members at a Navy base in Norfolk, Virginia, the Navy said in a statement Monday. He had pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and related counts on 14 January.
DeDolph had placed Army staff Sgt Logan Melgar into a martial-arts-style chokehold to try to make him temporarily lose consciousness during what the Seal said was a prank. Melgar died of strangulation.
DeDolph is one of four service members – two Seals and two Marines – to be charged in Melgar’s 2017 death.
Tacoma protest: Dozens gather where police cruiser hit pedestrians, light fires, damage buildings
KIRO 7, a local station, reported that the Sunday crowd set multiple fires and damaged businesses across the street from the Pierce County courthouse. A reporter from the station posted a video that showed police officers standing in front of a business that had its windows shattered.
The station said that the incident on Saturday night involved a group of people who surrounded the police car and started to pound on the window.
Andy Ngo, a journalist who documents protests, posted videos on Twitter that purportedly showed scuffles breaking out in Tacoma. Another video appeared to show demonstrators blocking off city streets with blockades.
Minnesota bar owner faces lawsuit by state for defying ‘unconstitutional’ COVID-19 restrictions
Lisa Monet Zarza, the co-owner of Alibi Drinkery in Minnesota, told “Fox & Friends” on Monday that she decided to open despite coronavirus restrictions in the state because “our staff needed money” and she couldn’t get through another three-month shutdown.
The Minnesota Department of Health on Saturday filed a lawsuit against the restaurant and bar in Lakeville after Alibi Drinkery opened on Dec. 16 in spite of the state’s coronavirus restrictions.
“We also did it because it’s our right as a business owner to open and it was an unconstitutional executive order by our governor that singled restaurant industries out and shut us down with little to no data showing that we were the superspreaders that they were claiming,” she added.
Food Network’s ‘Worst Cooks in America’ season cut after winner charged with child murder
South Carolina woman Ariel Robinson, 29, a former teacher, and her husband, Jerry Robinson, 34, were charged in the death of their adopted 3-year-old daughter and are facing charges of homicide by child abuse, according to FOX Carolina.
The child was identified by the Greenville County Coroner’s office as 3-year-old Victoria Rose Smith and died as a result of blunt force injuries, according to a medical examination.
Episodes of her season are no longer available to stream on Food Network’s online platforms, including Discovery+, Hulu and YouTube.
NYPD releases video of attackers who beat and stripped man in Chinatown
A 26-year-old man had just gotten off a bus from Atlanta when he was attacked by a group of about a dozen suspects who beat him, cut him several times and stole his clothes, including his underwear, cops said Sunday.
The group of males and females began assaulting the victim around 11:30 a.m. Friday near Canal and Allen streets in Manhattan, cutting him with an unknown object, police said.
Police released video of the suspects and are seeking witnesses. The attackers took the man’s cell phone and removed his pants, underwear and shoes.
Indianapolis ‘mass murder’ leaves 6 dead, including pregnant woman, unborn baby
FOX59 Indianapolis’ Lindsey Eaton reported that the Marion County coroner’s office has identified the deceased victims as 13-year-old Rita Childs, 18-year-old Elijah Childs, 42-year-old mother Kezzie Childs, 42-year-old father Raymond Childs, as well as, 19-year-old Kiara Hawkins and her unborn baby boy.
Taylor said that police believe the victims were targeted by one or more people. No motive or information on the suspects has been released.
The incident occurred after the city recorded the most violent year in its history, according to the Indianapolis Star.
Politics:
Sen. Leahy to Preside Over Impeachment, Not Chief Justice Roberts
A spokesman for Leahy said the final decision is up to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said the hearing would be illegitimate if the chief justice does not preside, “and really goes to show that it’s not really constitutional to impeach someone who’s not president.”
Leahy voted to remove Trump in 2020’s Senate impeachment trial.
Biden pauses Trump order blocking Communist Chinese infiltration of US power grid
Biden’s new order says Trump’s order 13920 “is hereby suspended for 90 days” and “the Secretary of Energy and the Director of [Office of Management and Budget] shall jointly consider whether to recommend that a replacement order be issued.”
It’s unclear if Biden will reinstate the Trump-era order, replace it with a similar order, or revoke it entirely after the 90-day suspension.
China has suggested potential warming of relations with the U.S. under Biden’s leadership. Tensions between the U.S. and China rose throughout the Trump presidency, but in recent weeks, Chinese officials described the Biden presidency as providing a “new window of hope” for China’s relations with the U.S.
Election: Next Time | Full Measure
After the chaotic 2020 elections, there are bipartisan calls for election reform.
But little agreement between the political parties as to what the reforms should be.
The first bill brought by the new Democrat-led Senate: the “For the People Act.”
It’s the liberal version of what changes should take place. But how likely is election reform in America?
Scott Thuman takes a look.
BILL O’REILLY on what could ‘save’ Trump & allow for his successful return
Commentary/Opinion:
Bill O’Reilly recently joined Glenn to discuss whether or not President Trump will make a return to politics and if so, when?
O’Reilly explains why he believes a potential, coming FBI report could be what ‘saves’ Trump and what the former President should change if he wants to make a successful comeback.
But first, O’Reilly says, Trump should ‘pull back’ for a bit. But will he?
Mark Morgan warns ‘crisis has already begun’ under Biden immigration policy
As the threat of new caravans emerges, former CBP Acting Director Mark Morgan warns President Biden’s ‘open border strategy’ is putting politics ahead of public safety.
George Stephanopoulos tries to get Rand Paul to admit that election wasn’t stolen. Paul refuses, and sparks fly.
The senator traded verbal barbs with the former Clinton press secretary on Sunday.
The Republican lawmaker spoke to Stephanopoulos during Sunday’s “This Week,” where the two addressed reports of fraud during the 2020 presidential election.
Out of the gate, Stephanopoulos demanded, “Senator Paul, let me begin with a threshold question for you: This election was not stolen, do you accept that fact?”
Paul responded by pointing out that there’s a bigger — and perhaps more important — question at hand.
Growing Number of Republican Senators Oppose Holding Trump Impeachment Trial
Twenty-nine GOP senators have now spoken out against holding a trial, according to an Epoch Times tally, arguing it’s unconstitutional to try to convict a former office holder, or a waste of time.
“The first chance I get to vote to end this trial, I’ll do it,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) added on “Fox News Sunday.”
They and 27 other Republicans have said they don’t agree with holding a trial. The others include Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.).
House Oversight GOP says any FBI probe into Parler ‘role’ in Capitol riot ‘should include’ Facebook, Twitter
The Republicans pointed to Big Tech donations to Democratic candidates during the 2020 election cycle.
Comer and Steube went on to call Maloney’s request for an FBI investigation into Parler “a transparently political ploy taking advantage of the tragedy that occurred on January 6 to shut down speech Democrats dislike.”
“Perhaps more disturbing is a Silicon Valley willing to oblige these impulses,” they wrote.
“We request you amend your request for an FBI investigation to include Facebook and Twitter and the roles those companies played to contribute to the January 6 riot.”
Tammy Bruce touts Trump’s achievements
Commentary/Opinion:
FOX News contributor Tammy Bruce joins ‘The Next Revolution’ to discuss the achievements of Donald Trump’s presidency.
Former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced Monday that she is running for governor of Arkansas in 2022.
Former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced Monday that she is running for governor of Arkansas in 2022.
California campaign to fire Newsom nears threshold needed for ballot
Over the weekend, recall organizers said they have collected 1.2 million of the 1.5 million signatures needed by March 17 to qualify for a ballot.
Rescue California, one of two main groups organizing the campaign, said their goal is to collect 2 million signatures to account for the fact that many of the signatures will inevitably prove invalid.
San Diego’s KUSI reported Saturday that California’s secretary of state has confirmed 84% of the signatures collected so far are valid.
World News:
Google Workers Announce International Union Alliance
The Verge reports that Google workers worldwide are coming together to form a global union alliance called Alpha Global. The group is comprised of 13 different unions representing workers in 10 different countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland.
The announcement comes shortly after Google employees in the U.S. and Canada announced the Alphabet Workers Union. The union is associated with the Communications Workers of America and has grown from 230 members to more than 700 within a week.
Alpha Global is affiliated with the UNI Global Union which is a labor union federation representing 20 million workers worldwide, including Amazon workers. Parul Koul, executive chair of the Alphabet Workers Union and a Google software engineer, said in a statement:
US sends carrier into South China Sea as Chinese bombers fly near Taiwan
The U.S. sent an aircraft carrier strike group into the disputed South China Sea the same day China dispatched a fleet of 13 warplanes — including nuclear-capable bombers — into the southwestern corner of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ).
Earlier, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said that eight Chinese H-6K bombers, four J-16 fighter jets and a Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft had entered the ADIZ.
China, which claims Taiwan as an inherent part of its territory, has conducted almost daily flights near the island in recent months, usually involving surveillance aircraft. But the large size of Saturday’s contingent — and presence of the bombers — was unusual.
Israel closes its skies to intl. travel; Iran ‘lifting of sanction imminent’ – TV7 Israel News 25.01
1) Israel is set to close Ben Gurion International Airport today, at midnight, for all incoming and outgoing flight.
2) Jerusalem’s cabinet approves the normalization agreement with the Kingdom of Morocco.
3) Iranian first Vice President Isaq Jahangiri proclaimed that the crippling sanctions, which were imposed on the Islamic Republic under the Trump Administration, will soon be lifted.
Commentary/Opinion:
Trust in Media Hits Shocking Low & Demands to Recall Gavin Newsom | DIRECT MESSAGE | Rubin Report
Dave Rubin of The Rubin Report talks about the growing demand to recall Gavin Newsom, mainstream media hitting its lowest level of trust ever, Joe Biden being unable to handle YouTube’s comment section, James Comey wanting to burn down the Republican Party, and how the New York Times is saying we should now wear a double mask.
Dave discusses how never ending lockdowns, pointless outdoor dining bans may end up destroying the political career of California Governor Gavin Newsom as the Gavin Newsom recall petition crosses a major threshold and gets closer to ending up on voter’s ballots.
Mainstream media is also faring pretty poorly with levels of trust in media hitting all time lows. What institutions and public officials will be left after COVID?
The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast – Season 4 Episode 3: Douglas Murray
Douglas Murray and I discuss, among other topics, the collapse of grand narratives on the left and the right alike, the potential for the resultant explanatory and motivational void to be filled by more radical ideological ideas, and the dangers posed by the mutual recrimination that all-too-frequently characterizes relationships across the left-right divide.
No Past, No Future
Can we judge the past by the standards of the present?
Many seem intent on proving not only that we can, but that we must.
Social critic Douglas Murray doesn’t agree, and he explains why in this thought-provoking video.
First Amendment Rights Being Eroded by Technocrats: Director of Citizens for Free Speech
Wood believes that there is an agenda behind the censorship.
It would be almost statistically impossible to attack simultaneously all five elements of the First Amendment: freedom of religion, free speech, freedom of the press, the right to assemble, and the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances, Wood said in an interview for Epoch Times’ “Crossroads.”
Free speech has been at the heart of all human and economic progress in the last 200-300 years, Wood said.
“When you curtail free speech it becomes regressive to society; in other words, you’re going backwards when you start to censor it,” he added.