In The News Feed: Daily Update. News and Headlines.5/3/2023.

US News, World News, Politics, Commentary.


US News:

America’s top CEOs now earn 288 times more than their employees

The bosses of America’s top firms are getting pay bumps — but you’re not.

The average pay for top CEOs jumped 7.7 percent last year to a record $22.3 million, new research shows, as big stock awards helped the elite club stay ahead of inflation while American workers’ pay fell behind.

Among those getting the biggest pay bumps were the CEOs of Jefferies Financial Group and Prologis, according to the study released on Wednesday by Equilar, which tracks corporate titans.

The top earners overall were Barry McCarthy, who took over the money-losing exercise bike maker Peloton last year, with a $168 million package, and Apple’s Tim Cook, who nets close to $100 million.

The study reviewed the 100 highest paid CEOs at US public companies with revenue of $1 billion or more that reported compensation as of March 31.


Liberals lose it over bar’s daily national anthem

Owner of Rainbow Oaks restaurant Jeanene Paulino discusses backlash for honoring veterans at her establishment.


Walmart employee fatally shoots customer, investigators say

An off-duty Walmart employee fatally shot a customer who tried to help a female employee who had gotten into a fight with the gunman, Florida law enforcement officials said Wednesday.

Tironie Sterling, 22, is charged with first-degree murder for Tuesday afternoon’s shooting at a suburban Fort Lauderdale Walmart, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office said.

According to investigators, Sterling went to the Lauderdale Lakes store to meet with a female colleague. They got into an argument that escalated into a fight, with Sterling dropping a handgun onto the floor.


Fed raises interest rates by a quarter point to fight inflation

“The Committee seeks to achieve maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the longer run. In support of these goals, the Committee decided to raise the target range for the federal funds rate to 5 to 5-1/4 percent,” the Fed said in an announcement about the rate hike. The rate was 4-3/4 to 5 percent.

The decision puts interest rates at their highest in 16 years.

The Fed has aggressively raised interest rates over the past year in an effort to bring down historic inflation, but the collapse of three major U.S. banks over the past two months has caused concerns about how the rate hikes will affect banks.


BREAKING POINT? How today’s bank crisis is SCARILY similar to 2008

In 2007, 25 banks failed and needed to be bailed out. The damage totaled 526 BILLION DOLLARS, over a 12 month period.

But today’s bank crisis isn’t too far behind.

In this clip, Glenn shares today’s banking crisis numbers that seem to be SCARILY similar to 2007, before the 2008 crisis hit.

What do these numbers mean, how is the Federal Reserve to blame, and what’s coming next for America’s economic outlook?


Charging Decision in Hunter Biden Case Near

A charging decision is near in the Hunter Biden investigation led by U.S. Attorney David Weiss of Delaware, sources told The Washington Post.

The news comes one week after Biden’s lawyers reportedly met with prosecutors to get an update on the case, although Newsmax legal analysis Alan Dershowitz said that meeting “probably” was for negotiations between Biden lawyers and prosecutors before a charging decision is made.

Biden has being investigated for four years on potential tax crimes and gun-related charges, sources told the Post.

The meeting in Washington, D.C., last week is one typical near the end of a case, and Weiss is near his conclusion on whether to bring charges, sources told the Post. Weiss was appointed in 2018 by then-President Donald Trump.

The long-running investigation reportedly has frustrated law enforcement officials, and President Joe Biden’s Attorney General Merrick Garland has come under scrutiny for having allegedly lied to Congress.


FBI file links Joe Biden to ‘criminal scheme’ per whistleblower — Comer subpoenas

First son Hunter Biden and first brother James Biden reaped millions of dollars from business relationships in foreign countries.
AP

“We have received legally protected and highly credible unclassified whistleblower disclosures,” Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Senate Budget Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray.

“Based on those disclosures, it has come to our attention that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) possess an unclassified FD-1023 form that describes an alleged criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions.”

The letter continues, “It has been alleged that the document includes a precise description of how the alleged criminal scheme was employed as well as its purpose.

Based on the alleged specificity within the document, it would appear that the DOJ and the FBI have enough information to determine the truth and accuracy of the information contained within it.

However, it remains unclear what steps, if any, were taken to investigate the matter.”

“The significant public interest in assessing the FBI’s response to this information, as well as growing
concern about the DOJ and the FBI’s track record of allowing political bias to infect their decision-making process, necessitate exacting congressional oversight,” Comer and Grassley wrote.


Atlanta mass shooting live updates: 1 killed, 4 hurt; suspect at large

Police have released these images of a suspect who they say is at large.

One person was killed and four were injured in the shooting at Laureate Medical Center in Atlanta, according to police.

“Officers are actively searching for the suspect and any other victims,” police said.

Northside Hospital tweeted that it’s “cooperating with law enforcement following the shooting at our midtown #Atlanta location earlier this afternoon. We urge people in the area to shelter in place and follow instructions from law enforcement on the scene.”


Mom of Atlanta hospital gunman ‘blames messed-up VA prescription for shooting that killed one woman, 39 and injured four others, saying: ‘All he wanted was an Ativan”

The mother of the Atlanta gunman who opened fire at a hospital, killing one woman and injuring four others, blamed a medication mix-up for the shooting. 

Officials have named the suspect as Deion Patterson, 24, and are warning members of the public not to approach him as he is ‘armed and dangerous’.

Three of the victims are currently in critical condition, with two being operated on by trauma surgeons. 

A 39-year-old woman was killed in the shooting in the hospital waiting room, with four other women, aged 71, 56, 39 and 25 all injured. 

Sources claim that  Patterson, who served in the Coast Guard for five years, was attending a medical appointment for himself and was accompanied by his mother before becoming ‘enraged’ in the lobby.

His mother, Minyone Patterson, told The Daily Beast: ‘The damn VA gave him some messed up medication. And all he wanted was an Ativan.’


The million dollar streets strewn with bodies contorted by the effects of fentanyl

We’re two streets away from the headquarters of Twitter, in a city district with more billionaires than anywhere on Earth, but this has become an open-air drug market.

Across San Francisco, bars are stocked with simple testing strips, often supplied by the charity Fent Check.

They allow drug users to check that their cocaine, or other substance, is not contaminated with fentanyl.

Jeff, a former drug dealer, says he helps one of the largest Mexican street gangs operating in the area test their drugs before they reach the street.


California reparations panel hints at $1.2 million payments to each Black resident

 (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

California is one of multiple states debating the feasibility of economic reparations for Black Americans whose ancestors were victimized by the Atlantic slave trade and its legacy, despite the fact California was designated as a free state when it joined the Union.

California, which frequently makes national headlines for experimental progressive policies, has recently reached an economic estimate.

“Economists advising California’s task force on reparations have, at long last, released an estimate of the damages caused by the state’s history of slavery and its many vestiges of white supremacy: up to $1.2 million per Black resident over a lifetime,” The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Tuesday. 


Oklahoma bans more than a dozen woke banks from doing business with the state

Oklahoma is taking action Wednesday to ban 13 major financial institutions from doing business with the state after a review determined the banks engaged in energy boycotts.

The move ultimately blocks the banks from managing billions of dollars in Oklahoma pensions, investments and other state entities.

“The energy sector is crucial to Oklahoma’s economy, providing jobs for our residents and helping drive economic growth,” Russ said in a statement. “It is essential for us to work with financial institutions that are focused on free-market principles and not beholden to social goals that override their fiduciary duties.”

The ban impacts some of the largest asset managers and banks in the country including BlackRock, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and State Street. BlackRock alone reported in April that it has a staggering $9.1 trillion in assets under management.


Top medical programs exposed for providing gender-affirming care to toddlers

Critics are sounding the alarm on “woke” medicine amid allegations that top medical schools in North Carolina are offering “gender-affirming care” to children as young as two years old.

Medical programs at Duke University, the University of North Carolina and East Carolina University are offering transitionary resources to children supposedly suffering from gender dysphoria, according to a new report from Education First Alliance

Founder of Education First Alliance Sloan Rachmuth and Dr. Nancy Anderson discussed their concerns and the broader dangers surrounding the access young children have to sex-based treatments during “Fox & Friends First.”


Ingraham: San Fran is ground zero for drugs

Fox News host Laura Ingraham takes to the streets of San Francisco to see the city’s drug crisis up close on ‘The Ingraham Angle.’


Nordstrom Closing 2 San Francisco Stores, Cites Crime

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW), owner of the Westfield Mall, where one of the Nordstrom stores is closing, said retailers are leaving in droves because of unsafe conditions despite the company begging city officials for help.

“A growing number of retailers and businesses are leaving the area due to the unsafe conditions for customers, retailers, and employees, coupled with the fact that these significant issues are preventing an economic recovery of the area,” URW said. “The current environment is not sustainable for the community, or businesses, and we are hopeful the city will implement the changes that are so urgently needed.”

The Nordstrom at Westfield Mall will shut down by the end of August, while the Nordstrom Rack on Market Street will close July 1, the New York Post reported.


Texas mass shooting: Authorities announce additional arrests after 4-day manhunt ends with fugitive’s capture

San Jacinto County Lt. Timothy Kean addresses the media Wednesday morning. Additional arrests have been made in the wake of the Cleveland, Texas, massacre. (KRIV)

The suspected gunman, Francisco Oropesa, was apprehended in Conroe, Texas, Tuesday evening after a four-day manhunt. The FBI said he was found hiding in a laundry closet. 

At a press conference early Wednesday, Lt. Timothy Kean, second in command at the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office, said additional arrests have been made. 

Kean said he would not provide the exact number, saying the amount is “fluid right now,” but not more than five. 

The Associated Press, citing Montgomery County Sheriff Rand Henderson, reported that Divimara Lamar Nava, 53, the wife of Oropesa, is among those in custody in connection with the Friday night shooting.


Tlaib’s tweet calling Israel ‘apartheid state’ gets torn apart by instant fact check

(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Twitter’s new fact checking system hit back at Rep. Rashida Tlaib after the Michigan Democrat called Israel an “apartheid state.”

Tlaib’s tweet, which was in response to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s post noting the “special relationship” between Israel and the U.S., was the subject of an instant fact check by Twitter, with notes below the post pointing out several errors.

The fact check first points out that Israel was created by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181, linking to the document at the U.N.’s official website. 

The fact check then points out that the “ethnic cleansing” Tlaib claimed happened “affected both Jewish and Arab communities caught up in the war initiated by 5 Arab states who opposed the existence of Israel.” To bolster the second point, the Twitter fact check linked to the State Department’s official history of the Arab-Israeli War of 1948.



World News:

Myanmar junta releases more than 2,100 political prisoners | Radio Free Asia (RFA)

All of the freed prisoners were sentenced under section 505(a) of Myanmar’s penal code, which covers fake news and incitement against government employees.


Boy, 13, who shot dead eight children at Belgrade school ‘had kill list’

The teenage suspect has been identified by police as seventh-grade student K.K. – only his initials due to his age.

Police have said he took his father’s gun before shooting his teacher and then fellow students and security guards at the Vladislav Ribnikar elementary school in the capital Belgrade on Wednesday morning.

The children who died were seven girls and one boy – all aged between 11 and 14.

According to the law on juvenile offenders and the criminal legal protection of minors, K.K. cannot be held criminally responsible because he has not yet reached the age of 14.

His father V.K., who is 48, was ordered to be detained for up to 48 hours on suspicion of committing serious offenses against general security.


Gaza militants launches 104 rockets at Israel; IAF Strikes at PIJ-Hamas in Gaza TV7Israel News 03.05

1) Palestinian Islamists launch over 104 rockets and mortar shells toward Israel’s southern communities – drawing two subsequent waves of IDF aerial strikes against Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip.

2) Following extensive mediation – Egypt managed to reinstate a fragile ceasefire along the Gaza-Israel front.

3) The United States and European Union condemn the rocket-fire against Israel – while urging all sides to exercise utmost restraint.


EU wants to ramp up ammunition production to help Ukraine

Ukrainian soldiers prepare their ammunition at the frontline positions near Vuhledar, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Monday, May 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Libkos)

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union announced fresh plans to ramp up the large-scale production of ammunition, seeking to both benefit Ukraine while the country is at war with Russia and to improve the bloc’s geopolitical credentials.

Ukraine is poised to launch a planned spring counteroffensive to recover Russian-occupied territory, but the country has burned through ammunition at a furious rate, according to analysts.

Western allies have provided ammunition, and the government in Kyiv has asked them to supply much more.

European Union nations, lulled into complacency by decades of peace and military protection from the United States through NATO, have badly under-invested in ammunition production. The 27-nation block now wants to make ammunition at a record pace as war is waged on its doorstep.


Plot to kill Putin: Russia warns Ukraine of retaliation | WION Fineprint

Russia says it had shot down two drones aimed at president Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin residence in what it called a Ukrainian terrorist assassination attempt.

Kyiv says it has nothing to do with the alleged attack and suggested it was staged by Moscow.


Russia accuses Ukraine of trying to assassinate Putin, Ukraine rubbishes charges | World News | WION

In a major news development, there has been a ‘failed’ assassination attempt on Russian President Vladimir Putin, claims Russia.

Russia said that two Ukrainian drones attacked Kremlin overnight and it downed the drones with no victims or material damage to the Kremlin.


Iran’s Revolutionary Guard seizes tanker in Strait of Hormuz

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard seized a Panamanian-flagged oil tanker in the strategic Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, the second such capture by Tehran in under a week amid heightened tensions over its nuclear program.

The taking of the oil tanker Niovi renewed concerns about Iran threatening maritime traffic in the strait, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all crude passes.

It also comes amid the disappearance of a crude oil tanker in southeast Asia believed to be carrying Iranian crude oil amid reports it may have been seized by the United States.

The U.S. Navy published surveillance footage shot by an aerial drone of about dozen Guard vessels swarming the tanker on Wednesday morning. 


Siberian Journalist Jailed For Anti-War Posts To Be Transferred Far From Children

Maria Ponomarenko (file photo)

Siberian journalist Maria Ponomarenko, who was sentenced to six years in prison in February on a charge of discrediting Russia’s armed forces over the invasion of Ukraine, says she will be transferred to a remote location from her native Altai region, which is a violation of her two children’s right to regularly visit their mother.

The Telegram channel RusNews carried Ponomarenko’s handwritten letter on May 2, in which the journalist said she expected to be transferred to Krasnoyarsk, 1,000 kilometers away from the city of Barnaul, where her children now live with their grandparents.

Ponomarenko wrote that her former husband had voluntarily joined the Russian armed forces.

Ponomarenko was arrested in St. Petersburg in April 2022 and later transferred to her native city of Barnaul in Siberia, where she had worked for the RusNews website.


U.S. and Philippines to share real-time military intel on China

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, far right, meets with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., far left, at the Pentagon in Washington on May 3.   © Reuters

WASHINGTON — The U.S. and the Philippines are moving toward real-time sharing of military information and greater coordination to guard against any coercive behavior by China in the South China Sea and around Taiwan.

The Pentagon released a fact sheet covering the U.S.-Philippine defense cooperation guidelines Wednesday after U.S. President Joe Biden and Philippine counterpart Ferdinand Marcos Jr. adopted them at their meeting in the White House this week.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin hosted Marcos at the Pentagon on Wednesday. The rare visit by a foreign leader to the Department of Defense indicates the urgency and resolve of both sides to increase defense cooperation.


Politics:

A Dual System of Injustice: The Hunter Biden Get Out of Jail Free Card


Member of audience storms stage of Voice debate involving Tony Abbott

A debate over the Voice referendum involving former prime minister Tony Abbott descended into chaos after an audience member stormed the stage.

Mr Abbott and broadcaster Joe Hildebrand debated opposing arguments for Member for Hughes Jenny Ware when things did not go as planned.


New Poll: RFK Jr’s Favorability SKYROCKETS +14% As Biden Approval PLUNGES

Robby Soave and Jessica Burbank react to new RFK Jr. polling.


DeSantis signs bill banning ‘woke’ government investments

“Through this legislation, Florida will continue to lead the nation against big banks and corporate activists who’ve colluded to inject woke ideology into the global marketplace, regardless of the financial interests of beneficiaries,” DeSantis said Tuesday after he signed the bill into law.

The bill, titled “Government and Corporate Activism,” also prohibits “banks that engage in corporate activism from holding public deposits” and bans “financial institutions from discriminating against customers for their religious, political, or social beliefs — including their support for securing the border, owning a firearm, and increasing our energy independence,” DeSantis’ office said.

Multiple Florida Republican officials, including Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, House Speaker Paul Renner and Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, all applauded the legislation.


Longtime Democrat campaign strategist charged with election fraud

James Devine via JamesDevine.org

Devine was McCormick’s campaign manager and sent the fake voter certifications to the New Jersey Secretary of State’s Division of Elections via email in April 2021, but the New Jersey Democratic State Committee challenged his attempt days later, arguing that all the forms featured the same style of signature and at least one of the named voters was deceased, Platkin said.

A judge subsequently took McCormick off the primary ballot, and Devine is now charged with third-degree offenses concerning nomination certificates or petitions, tampering with public records or information and fourth-degree falsifying or tampering with records.

“Fraudulent acts like this erode faith in our government and the rule of law, and there must be consequences,” New Jersey Office of Public Integrity and Accountability Executive Director Thomas Eicher said in a release. Devine could face more than five years in prison if convicted.


Commentary:

Kremlin Attacked- What do we know, What does it mean? Larry Johnson fmr CIA


Media/Biden Admin Get Far Too Cozy at WHCD—Revealing Rotten Core of US Journalism | SYSTEM UPDATE

This is a clip from our show SYSTEM UPDATE, now airing every weeknight at 7pm ET on Rumble. You can watch the full episode for FREE here: https://rumble.com/v2looka-system-upd…