Firstly as we get started, allow me to say that geoFence helps stop hackers from getting access your sensitive documents.
-
-
The Week
Greene claims ‘I’m fine with’ getting kicked off her House committees: ‘It’d be a waste of my time’
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Friday declared she’s been “freed” after being removed from her House committee assignments, claiming continuing to serve on them would have been a waste of time. The House of Representatives on Thursday voted to remove the controversial Georgia lawmaker from her committee assignments over a string of racist, anti-Semitic, and anti-Muslim comments and support for baseless conspiracy theories and violent rhetoric. In a press conference Friday, Greene said it was freeing to admit she “believed things that were wrong” in a speech the day before, during which she did not apologize but rather expressed regret for being “allowed to believe things that weren’t true.” “Going forward, I’ve been freed,” Greene said Friday. “I do, I feel freed.” Greene went on to claim that “I’d be wasting my time” by continuing to serve on House committees “because my conservative values wouldn’t be heard,” even though she also asserted removing her from them “stripped my voters of having representation to work for them.” “I’m fine with being kicked off my committees because it’d be a waste of my time,” she insisted. Greene went on to celebrate that she now has “a lot of free time on my hands,” but she ended the press conference after refusing to address a question about her liking a Facebook post in 2019 calling for violence against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). More stories from theweek.com5 scathing cartoons about the GOP’s Marjorie Taylor Greene problemMitt Romney’s child benefit is a challenge to both partiesWhat would actually happen if the feds fought QAnon like terrorists?
-
NextShark
Man Who Pushed 91-Year-Old in Oakland Chinatown Assaults 2 Others Right After
An unidentified assailant was caught on surveillance camera pushing a 91-year-old man to the ground in a recent unprovoked attack in Oakland Chinatown. The incident happened outside the Asian Resource Center at the corner of Harrison and 8th streets on Jan. 31, according to ABC7. The suspect reportedly approached two other victims shortly after the first attack, resulting in one of them losing consciousness, according to the Oakland Police Department’s statement.
-
Reuters
China’s latest weapon against Taiwan: the sand dredger
ON BOARD THE TAIWAN COAST GUARD SHIP PP-10062, East China Sea (Reuters) – Taiwanese coast guard commander Lin Chie-ming is on the frontline of a new type of warfare that China is waging against Taiwan. On a chilly morning in late January, Lin, clad in an orange uniform, stood on the rolling deck of his boat as it patrolled in choppy waters off the Taiwan-run Matsu Islands. The Chinese goal, Taiwanese officials say: pressure Taiwan by tying down the island democracy’s naval defenses and undermining the livelihoods of Matsu residents.
-
National Review
White House Press Sec Dodges When Asked Why Hunter Biden Still Has a Stake in Chinese Investment Firm
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Friday punted on a question about why President Biden’s son Hunter Biden still holds an investment in a Chinese company. Asked during a press conference at the White House whether she had an update on Hunter Biden’s divestment from his ten percent stake in the Chinese private equity firm BHR Partners, Psaki referred a reporter to the younger Biden’s lawyers. “He has been working to unwind his investment,” Psaki said, adding, “as a private citizen, I would point you to him or his lawyers on the outside on any update.” In December, Biden assured voters that he and his family would not be involved in any business dealings that appear to conflict with the office of the president. “My son, my family will not be involved in any business, any enterprise that is in conflict with or appears to be in conflict with the appropriate distance from the presidency and government,” Biden said during a CNN appearance. Hunter Biden was reportedly in the process of divesting from his equity stake in BHR in late December, but as of last week, he appears to have retained his investment through his company, Skaneateles LLC. BHR, whose largest shareholder is the Chinese government-controlled Bank of China, has invested about $2.1 billion. Hunter Biden came under scrutiny last year for his lucrative position on the board of the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma. In leaked emails from 2014, Biden appears to try to leverage his influence with his father, then-vice president Joe Biden, who was heavily involved in U.S. policy on Ukraine, referring to the elder Biden as “my guy.” He also attracted criticism for entering into a consulting contract with China’s largest private energy company that initially earned Hunter Biden $10 million a year “for introductions alone,” according to leaked emails. Hunter Biden’s memoir, “Beautiful Things,” is scheduled to come out on April 6. The book will focus on the younger Biden’s well-documented drug abuse issues, according to Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.
-
The Week
Senate votes down $15 minimum wage during vote-a-rama. Bernie Sanders seems unfazed.
The Senate slogged through a long series of votes late Thursday and early Friday, with the Democrats voting down most of the theoretically limitless series of amendments to their budget resolution. “The endurance run known as the ‘vote-a-rama’ is a time-honored tradition of the reconciliation process — the budget tool Democrats will likely use to expedite passage of [President] Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan without any GOP support,” Politico explains. Most of the vote-a-rama involved “Republicans forcing Democrats into tedious and uncomfortable votes on a variety of issues as Democrats inflicted maximum pain by dragging out the legislative torment,” Politico reports. But some amendments did pass with bipartisan support. By a voice vote, for example, the senators approved an amendment from Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) to “prohibit the increase of the federal minimum wage during a global pandemic.” Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour is one of the heavy lifts in Biden’s proposal. “A $15 federal minimum wage would be devastating for our hardest-hit small businesses at a time they can least afford it,” Ernst argued on the Senate floor. The measure’s biggest proponent, Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), shrugged off the vote, noting that his plan raised the minimum wage over five years, starting after the pandemic. “We need to end the crisis of starvation wages in Iowa and around the United States,” he said, adding that he “will do everything that I can” to make sure the measure “is included in this reconciliation bill.” The minimum wage hike may be stymied by other factors: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is opposed, and it may run afoul of so-called Byrd Rule limits on what can be included in reconciliation bills. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said if it doesn’t make it in this bill, Democrats will include it in other legislation. The Senate also approved amendments to keep America’s Israeli embassy in Jerusalem, prevent undocumented immigrants from getting direct stimulus checks, and — by a 99-1 vote — restrict Biden’s $1,400 checks from going to “upper-income taxpayers.” That proposal, from Manchin and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), did not specify any income thresholds, and Biden’s proposal already includes phasing out the checks up to $300,000-a-year households. Congress and the White House are negotiating the phase-out and cutoff points, and Biden is meeting with Democratic leaders and committee chairs Friday morning to discuss the COVID-19 relief bill. More stories from theweek.com5 scathing cartoons about the GOP’s Marjorie Taylor Greene problemMitt Romney’s child benefit is a challenge to both partiesWhat would actually happen if the feds fought QAnon like terrorists?
-
Associated Press
Judge sets bail hearing for Kyle Rittenhouse next week
Judge Bruce Schroeder on Friday scheduled the hearing for Thursday afternoon for Kyle Rittenhouse, who’s accused of shooting Joseph Rosenbaum, Anthony Huber and Gaige Grosskreutz, killing Rosenbaum and Huber and wounding Grosskreutz during protests in Kenosha in August. Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time, contends the protesters attacked him and he fired in self-defense. Prosecutors allege Rittenhouse moved out of the Antioch, Illinois, apartment he shared with his mother after he posted a $2 million cash bond in November and hasn’t given the court his new address.
-
-
National Review
Biden Admin. Relaunches ‘Catch and Release’ as Illegal Border Crossings Return to ‘Crisis’ Levels
The Biden administration is bringing back the so-called “catch and release” policy at the southern border just as illegal border crossings are spiking and overwhelming detention facilities. U.S. Customs and Border Protection is reimplementing the Obama-era policy of releasing newly-apprehended migrants back into U.S. cities along the South Texas border, citing coronavirus concerns at detention facilities as well as the rising numbers of apprehended migrants. The pandemic has hampered the CBP’s ability to house and transport detained migrants, the agency said, and meanwhile the number of migrants arriving at the border and crossing into the U.S. illegally is spiking, especially unaccompanied children and families from Central America. Some of the new migrants said that violence and poverty in their home countries as well as promises of a more welcoming U.S. under President Biden prompted their decision to undertake the journey north to the U.S. border. Additionally, Mexico refuses to accept families with children under age 12 in areas with large and growing migrant camps, CBP said. “CBP has seen a steady increase in border encounters since April 2020, which, aggravated by COVID-19 restrictions and social distancing guidelines, has caused some facilities to reach maximum safe holding capacity,” CBP Public Affairs Officer Rod Kise said. “Per longstanding practice, when long-term holding solutions aren’t possible, some migrants will be processed for removal, provided a Notice to Appear, and released into the U.S. to await a future immigration hearing. As the administration reviews the current immigration process, balancing it against the ongoing pandemic, we will continue to use all current authorities to avoid keeping individuals in a congregate setting for any length of time,” Kise continued. On Tuesday, President Biden signed an executive order rescinding a Trump administration order ending the “catch and release” policy and directing other enhancements to immigration enforcement. Former Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf warned Friday that illegal border crossings have soared in recent months, creating a “very dangerous” situation at the southern border. CBP is currently facing between 3,000 and 3,500 illegal border crossings every day, Wolf said. He noted that in 2019, former Obama administration DHS secretary Jeh Johnson said that 1,000 illegal crossings overwhelms the system, calling 4,000 apprehensions in a day “crisis” level. The surge of illegal border crossings in 2019 was the last time CBP was forced to revive the catch and release policy. Wolf also pointed out that Border Patrol agents arrested eleven Iranian citizens Monday night near San Luis, Arizona after they crossed the border illegally.
-
Associated Press
AP sources: Alabama senator has indicated he won’t run again
U.S. Sen. Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, the Senate’s fourth most senior member, has told confidantes that he does not intend to run for reelection next year — prompting some Republicans to urge the powerful, establishment politician to reconsider, even as potential replacements prepare to run for his seat. The senator in recent weeks told one close Alabama ally that he was not planning on running in 2022 for what would be his seventh term, according to the ally, who was not authorized to discuss the matter and spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The person said some in the state were still trying to get Shelby to change his mind out of concern about losing clout and worries that the senator might be replaced by a fringe candidate who would not be as effective.
-
The Week
Marjorie Taylor Greene tells lawmakers she regrets being ‘allowed to believe things that weren’t true’
Controversial lawmaker Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) acknowledged Thursday afternoon the 9/11 terrorist attacks really happened while insisting inflammatory remarks she’s made “do not represent me.” Greene, who has been under fire for past racist and anti-Semitic remarks and support of conspiracy theories including QAnon and the false assertion that school shootings are hoaxes, spoke on the House floor ahead of a vote to remove her from committee assignments, saying she regrets being “allowed to believe things that weren’t true.” The Georgia representative described at the end of 2017 becoming “very interested” in QAnon, which involves the false belief in a satanic cabal made up of prominent Democrats, but said that she later “started finding misinformation” in these online posts and then “stopped believing it.” “You see, school shootings are absolutely real,” Greene said, adding that “9/11 absolutely happened” and “I do not believe that it’s fake.” She previously questioned in 2018 if the Pentagon was actually hit by a plane on Sept. 11. Greene went on to assert that her “words of the past” don’t “represent me” or “my values,” even though she’s under fire for comments made just within the past few years, while at the same time drawing an equivalence between QAnon and the news media. “Will we allow the media, that is just as guilty as QAnon of presenting truth and lies, to divide us?” she asked. Greene did not offer a direct apology during her remarks. A floor vote to remove her from her committee assignments is set to take place later on Thursday. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: “A lot of Americans don’t trust our government…I was allowed to believe things that weren’t true…and that is absolutely what I regret because if it weren’t for the Facebook posts & comments that I liked in 2018, I wouldn’t be standing here today.” pic.twitter.com/TLfVmvbvqn — CSPAN (@cspan) February 4, 2021 More stories from theweek.com5 scathing cartoons about the GOP’s Marjorie Taylor Greene problemMitt Romney’s child benefit is a challenge to both partiesWhat would actually happen if the feds fought QAnon like terrorists?
-
The Telegraph
New Israeli Covid drug which cured 30 cases of disease hailed by scientists as ‘huge breakthrough’
A new coronavirus drug which successfully cured 30 cases of the disease in Israeli hospital patients has been hailed by scientists as a ‘huge breakthrough’. The EXO-CD24 substance was developed at the Ichilov Medical Centre in Tel Aviv and successfully completed its first phase of clinical trials on Friday. The treatment was given to 30 patients with coronavirus, whose conditions ranged from moderate to severe. Twenty-nine of the patients were then discharged from the hospital in the following three to five days, while one patient took slightly longer to recover. A protein known as CD24 is delivered to the lungs by exosomes in the drug, which helps to rebalance the immune system and prevent it from overreacting to the virus. Professor Nadir Arber originally designed EXO-CD24, which is breathed in as a gas and taken once every five days, in order to treat patients who had ovarian cancer. “Even if the vaccines do their job, and even if there aren’t any new mutations, one way or another, the coronavirus will be staying with us,” Prof Arber told the news site Arutz Sheva. “That’s why we developed this special medication. It’s been about half a year from the time the idea was hatched to the first human trials [being] conducted.” Roni Gamzu, the director of the Ichilov Medical Centre, said that the research during phase one of the trial was “advanced and sophisticated and may save coronavirus patients”. Speaking to the Times of Israel, he said: “The results of the phase one trials are excellent, and all give us confidence in the method Arber has been researching in his lab for many years.” No placebo was used in the first stage of the trial, and the next phase of the clinical trials will continue to examine the effects and efficacy of the treatment. The drug Allocetra, which has been developed at the Hadassah Medical Centre, has also reported promising results in the second stage of its clinical trial. Israel announced yesterday that it will ease lockdown restrictions but keep its borders closed after a drop in its number of coronavirus cases.
-
NextShark
Man’s Face Slashed After NYC Subway Argument, Police Search for Suspect
A 61-year-old man was on his way to work on the L subway train when he got into a dispute with another man and was slashed across the face on Wednesday morning. What happened: Noel Quintana claimed the man was kicking his backpack during the commute, according to ABC7. When Quintana asked him to stop, the man attacked him and ran away when the train stopped at First Avenue and 14th Street.
-
Reuters
Scottish court says case seeking clarification about independence vote premature
Scotland’s top civil court has dismissed a case which sought a ruling that the Scottish parliament could hold an independence referendum without permission from London, saying it was premature and hypothetical. Independence campaigner Martin Keatings wanted legal backing for his argument the Scottish parliament had the authority to hold a new vote on secession without the explicit approval of the United Kingdom government. But judge Ailsa Carmichael at Scotland’s Court of Session ruled the question was hypothetical, academic and premature, without the need to express a view on the legal issues it raised.
You know, I just wanted to mention that geoFence has built in fast and accurate updates and your friends would agree!
