In The News Today:
Iraq rocked by drone strike as US kills ‘top commander’ who planned deadly Jordan attack
A US drone strike in Baghdad is believed to have killed a senior Kataib Hezbollah commander on Wednesday after a missile struck a car in the Al-Mashtal area, east of Baghdad.
There were unconfirmed local media reports that two top Kata’ib Hezbollah commanders were killed – the group is suspected of launching the attack on a US base in Jordan that killed three US soldiers.
US CENTCOM confirmed the strike on X writing: “At 9:30 p.m. February 7, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted a unilateral strike in Iraq in response to the attacks on US service members, killing a Kata’ib Hezbollah commander responsible for directly planning and participating in attacks on US forces in the region.
Oakland Pizza Restaurant Employees Fight, Fend Off a Fourth Robbery
Now Sanchez might have to close the restaurant.
Sanchez, a Mexican immigrant, described the pizzeria as her “American dream.”
“I believe it’s going to the trash now,” lamented Sanchez.
But it’s not just the robberies: “Sales are down because nobody wants to come out, they’re scared for their safety. We’ve seen a drop in sales and we’re worse than during the pandemic.”
Sanchez and her husband will keep their store open in San Francisco.
Oakland lost its Denny’s and In-N-Out due to break-ins and robberies. Kaiser Permanente, Oakland’s largest private employer, asked employees to eat lunch at work due to robberies.
KTVU pointed out that other spots have closed near the airport: Black Bear Diner, Subway, and Starbucks.
Report: Border Agents Encountered Over 1,000,000 Migrants Since Oct. 1
Last year, at the same time, agents encountered 909,000.
Chinese migrant encounters continue to climb, too. Agents have encountered over 19,600 since October 1. They encountered 37,000 total in fiscal year 2023.
That’s around 150 Chinese migrants each day.
None of these numbers include those agents see but do not encounter. Who knows how many sneak past without anyone seeing them?
Military housing needs more public-private partnerships to fix poor living conditions, lawmakers say
Read more at: https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2023-09-20/military-barracks-life-11428579.html
Source – Stars and Stripes
Members of the House Armed Services Committee’s readiness subpanel suggested such changes could help fix a military housing system that continues to grapple with mold, cockroach and rodent infestations, sewage overflow, broken air conditioning and other issues.
Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., the chairman of the panel, said he was put off by conversations with service leaders that discussed how Marines, for example, could be better trained to oversee heating, ventilation and air conditioning.
“I want those Marines better trained to do bad things to bad people and not managing buildings,” Waltz, a former Green Beret, said Wednesday during a hearing on military infrastructure. “We have entities in the United States of America that can do this incredibly well.”
Air Force seeks retirees to come back to active duty
The service announced Wednesday that it will reopen a recall program to fill as many as 1,000 mid-career commissioned and enlisted jobs, including pilots, combat systems officers, recruiters, air traffic controllers and more. The move comes as the Air Force looks to plug critical staffing holes, facing renewed tensions in the Middle East and possibility of conflict with China.
The application window for the Voluntary Retired Return to Service Program opens Thursday, the Air Force said in a release. Applications must be submitted by Jan. 31, 2026, to serve on active duty for no more than 48 months. Those selected can expect to return to uniform between four and six months after they apply.
The program is limited to commissioned officers who held the rank of captain through lieutenant colonel, as well as former enlisted staff sergeants through senior master sergeants.
Corps is searching for 5 Marines after helicopter found in California
After civil authorities in California on Wednesday located a Marine Corps helicopter that had gone missing the previous night, the Corps is searching for the five Marines who were aboard the aircraft.
The five crew members from Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 361 were conducting a routine training flight of a CH-53E Super Stallion when the helicopter was reported overdue Tuesday, meaning it hadn’t appeared by the expected time and contact couldn’t be made with it, according to a news release Wednesday from 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. The helicopter had been flying from Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California.
At 9:08 a.m. local time Wednesday, a multiagency search-and-rescue team that had begun work in the early hours of the morning discovered the aircraft in the San Diego County community of Pine Valley, California, according to the news release and previous Marine Corps Times reporting.
In response to a query from Marine Corps Times about whether any human remains had been found at the crash site, Marine spokeswoman Capt. Stephanie Leguizamon said the Corps couldn’t provide any further updates yet.
Baltimore’s former top prosecutor found guilty of mortgage fraud
Marilyn Mosby, former state’s attorney in Baltimore, faces up to 30 years in federal prison after being found guilty of one count of mortgage fraud.
She staved off a second mortgage fraud conviction.
Mosby’s guilty verdict marks the third conviction in the last few months. Federal prosecutors say the incidents occurred while Mosby was a state attorney.
Prosecutors said Mosby made false claims on loan applications to purchase two vacation homes in Florida.
Mollie Hemingway At “Zuckerbucks” Hearing: “The American System Of Self-Governance Is Under Attack”
Mollie Hemingway, editor-in-chief of “The Federalist” and author of “Rigged,” spoke at a hearing Wednesday in the House Administration Committee about the influence “Zuckerbucks” have had on election administration.
You can watch the full hearing below:
Full Committee Hearing, “Confronting Zuckerbucks, Private Funding of Election Administration.”
Harnwell: Ukraine’s Parliament votes to extend martial law for a further 90 days
Martial law will now be extended from February 14 until 13 May 2024. The significance is that presidential elections were set for 31 March — but under Ukraine’s constitution, elections while martial law is in place are prohibited.
So in less than two months President Zelensky’s democratic mandate will have expired, and he will officially be an unelected dictator
Senator Vance: Democrats Plan To Jam Ukraine Package Deal Through Without Border Components, Vote No
Speaker Johnson Appoints Top Trump China Hawk Cliff Sims to US-China Commission
This appointment is significant, as Sims comes directly from Trumpworld, having served as Trump’s Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Strategy and Communications.
During that time, he worked with director of national intelligence John Ratcliffe, focusing on competition with China. He served as a key player, helping Ratcliffe author a “provocative letter to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees asserting that China sought to influence the outcome of the 2020 U.S. presidential election to prevent Trump’s reelection.”
He worked on several other China-related issues as well, including pushing for the declassification of coronavirus origins intelligence.
Axios affirmed the widely held sentiments, remarking that “Sims is viewed as one of Trumpworld’s most vocal and aggressive China hawks — signaling the speaker plans to pursue a hawkish China policy.”
Terrorist Bombing Campaign Kills 28 in Pakistan on Day Before Heated Election
The deadly explosions on Wednesday, which local outlets have not attributed to any individual or terrorist organization in particular at press time, followed a string of at least nine bombings on Tuesday in which terrorists on motorcycles hurled grenades at polling stations.
Pakistani officials have vowed to hold the elections on Thursday despite the wave of violence and accusations of suppression of the Islamist Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, whose leader, former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, was sentenced to 24 years in prison in two separate sentencings the week before the election.
Khan, a radical Islamist who polling indicates is the most popular politician in the country, lost the prime ministership via a vote of no confidence in April 2022.
Uniparty is running this thing, cutting deals: Tim Burchett | Newsline
On Wednesday’s “Newsline,” Rep. Tim Burchett slams the Republican failure to impeach DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Israel ‘war objectives within reach’; Congress fails to pass aid bill for IDF TV7 Israel News 07.02
1) Israel remains unwavering, in-spite of mounting international pressure, eager to achieve its war-objectives – to completely eradicate the Islamist Hamas throughout the Gaza Strip and beyond.
2) U.S. President Joe Biden refers to Hamas’s response to the Qatari-Egyptian proposal for a humanitarian pause as “a little over the top.”
3) The U.S. House of Representatives failed to pass a bill to provide Israel with a 17.6 billion dollars military aid package.
President Trump Wins Nevada Without Being On The Ballot
Trump 2024 National Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says Nevada voters know Nikki Haley is “more Democrat” than she is Republican.
Why is Western Media Threatened by Tucker’s Interview with Putin?
Former NSC Deputy Chief of Staff Tera Dahl says Tucker Carlson’s interview with Putin is crucial to understanding both sides of the Ukraine-Russia war: “America needs to know what’s going on because we are paying for this.”
Lawmakers investigate where Ukraine funds, munitions are going
The U.S. House Oversight Committee is investigating U.S. taxpayer funding for Ukraine after a watchdog report found a large percentage of the equipment has gone unaccounted for since last June.
House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., joined by Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and other Republicans on the Oversight Committee, sent a letter to Department of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin raising concerns about the funding and asking for documentation of how it has been distributed.
Lawmakers have become increasingly critical of funding to Ukraine as the figure grows and questions arise about how the taxpayer money is being spent.
The Inspector General for DOD released a watchdog report last month furthering those concerns. The report found that a significant portion of the equipment inventory were “delinquent.”
PM Netanyahu delivers statement responding to Hamas’s proposal
Israeli PM Netanyahu delivers statement responding to Hamas’s proposal, addressing the hostage families and updating on the state of the IDF’s operation.
Ted Cruz calls upon McConnell to step down
Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., reacts to Sen. Ted Cruz’s call for the senate minority leader to resign, the border and appropriations bills as well as the House’s failed Alejandro Mayorkas impeachment vote.
Welp, looks like journalism is illegal in Europe. Come read the details on this one.
According to Newsweek, Tucker Carlson may be sanctioned by the EU because he dared to interview Vladimir Putin.
Tucker Carlson’s interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin could see the conservative pundit targeted by European Union lawmakers, current and former members of the European Parliament have told Newsweek.
The lawmaker — who has called for the EU to explore imposing a “travel ban” on Carlson — described Carlson as ‘a mouthpiece’ of former President Donald Trump and Putin, adding: ‘As Putin is a war criminal and the EU sanctions all who assist him in that effort, it seems logical that the External Action Service examine his case as well.’
Megyn Kelly on Russia: ‘Hate the government and not the people’
Former J6 Political Prisoner Ryan Zink Is Running for Congress in Texas – Ryan Recently Spoke at the Save Our Borders Rally in Texas (VIDEO)
He was arrested and kept in Lubbock County, TX for days during a snowstorm, but was later moved to the “Gulag” in Washington D.C. where he was held for six weeks in solitary confinement.
Around week five of his detainment in the Gulag, Ryan called his father in tears and told him “Dad, I don’t mind getting beaten every night at 9 o’clock when we say the Pledge of Allegiance and sing the National Anthem. But the guy that was beaten next to me, I could hear what they did for a very long time. They ended up having to take him to the infirmary. I don’t know if he’s alive or dead or whatever. They are now trying to kill us inside of this Gulag. You’ve got to get me out.” They were able to fund $80,000 to get him out of the Gulag, but he is now under gag order and being kept at an undisclosed location for his own safety.
Ryan Zink, a Texas Tech student and devout Christian faced time in federal prison despite having never entered the Capitol and yelling at protesters to leave the police alone and let them do their jobs in arresting a vandal who was destroying federal property.
Zink was there to document the historic event as part of his father’s congressional campaign.
Ingraham: Biden only has this in his quiver after border bill fail
Fox News host Laura Ingraham breaks down why the Senate’s border security bill really appears to be dead on arrival on ‘The Ingraham Angle.
Biden’s Treasury won’t deny surveillance scheme against Americans
FOX Business’ Hillary Vaughn provides details on Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen’s testimony and her inability to refute allegations of surveillance and tracking of MAGA Americans’ personal banking information. Fox News contributor James Freeman weighs in.
US military helicopter with 5 Marines onboard goes missing in Southern California
“The 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing coordinates search and rescue efforts with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and the Civil Air Patrol. The most up-to-date information will be released as it becomes available,” the statement continued.
Early Wednesday morning, local first responders were contacted about the event. The “atmospheric river” storm that was hitting the area prompted the San Diego Sheriff’s Office to postpone dispatching a helicopter in an attempt to begin the search immediately.
When California firefighters arrived at the last known location of the CH-53E Super Stallion aircraft over the Cleveland National Forest, they found nothing.
Leftists Celebrate Death of Country Music Star Toby Keith by Rehashing Dixie Chicks Feud
Others on the left feted Toby Keith’s passing by rehashing the singer’s political feud with fellow singer Kris Kristofferson.
The country music star was unabashedly patriotic and masculine, putting out hit singles including “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue,” “I Love This Bar,” and “Should’ve Been a Cowboy.”
His unapologetic public persona made him an enemy of the left, which sought to discredit his music.
In 2003, the Dixie Chicks’ Natalie Maines spoke out against “Courtesy of the Red White and Blue,” describing the hit single as “ignorant.”
Kid Rock remembers the life and career of Toby Keith
Musician Kid Rock pays tribute to the life of country music star Toby Keith.
Palestinian migrant who arrived via Mexico allegedly beat homeowner over his support for Israel: video
While Lehbeib claimed to be looking for work at the time of the attack Sunday afternoon, video shows him walking through a residential neighborhood before he took a flag and a banner out of someone’s yard.
Police said he allegedly took issue with a sign that said “I stand with Israel” and a combination U.S.-Israeli flag.
The homeowner caught up with him down the block and tried to regain his property. Video shows violence broke out immediately.
“When he approached and confronted the subject, he was met with an overhead right cross to his head,” said Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Smith. “The subject continued to swing wildly and struggle with the victim, and at one point threw the victim to the ground.”
He allegedly headbutted the victim at least once and left him with bruises, swelling and “substantial pain to his head.”
Infant’s decapitation during delivery at Southern Regional Medical Center ruled a homicide
The baby — Treveon Isaiah Taylor, Jr.—reportedly became stuck due to shoulder dystocia. Dr. Tracy St. Julian allegedly tried for hours to deliver the child vaginally. Shortly before midnight, the decision was made to perform a Cesarean section and the infant’s body was delivered.
The head was delivered vaginally.
When Ross and Taylor demanded to see and hold their child, the baby was reportedly tightly wrapped in a blanket with his head “propped on top of his body” to conceal the fact that he was decapitated.
The family was ultimately told about the decapitation by the funeral home, according to the family’s lawyer.
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