Biden's $320M Gaza pier: Over budget and
under constant threat, a 'purely political' misadventure
Posted By: sunset, 5/25/2024 10:26:22 PM
The temporary piers established at President Biden’s order have run way over budget and caused several issues since USAID commenced deliveries, leading some lawmakers to question the value of the operation. "At the end of the day, it's unnecessarily putting our people in harm's way. It's costing a lot. It's pulling assets that should be used elsewhere, and I just don't think it's going to accomplish anything near what he's promised," Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital in an interview. President Biden, during his State of the Union speech in March, pledged to establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of the Gaza Strip..
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Biden's $320M Gaza pier: Over budget and
under constant threat, a 'purely political' misadventure 14 replies
under constant threat, a 'purely political' misadventure 14 replies
The temporary piers established at President Biden’s order have run way over budget and caused several issues since USAID commenced deliveries, leading some lawmakers to question the value of the operation. "At the end of the day, it's unnecessarily putting our people in harm's way. It's costing a lot. It's pulling assets that should be used elsewhere, and I just don't think it's going to accomplish anything near what he's promised," Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital in an interview.
President Biden, during his State of the Union speech in March, pledged to establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of the Gaza Strip..
The head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee has warned former White House press secretary Jen Psaki that she should submit to an interview about the botched US pullout from Afghanistan — or face a subpoena after the now-MSNBC host discussed the debacle in her recent book.
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) released a letter to Psaki’s attorney Wednesday noting he had initially requested an interview in September last year, which had been shot down by President Biden’s White House counsel — despite Psaki leaving government service in May 2022.
Palestinians on Wednesday marked the anniversary of their expulsion from what is now Israel facing a new mass displacement, as thousands more fled Rafah in the face of a deepening Israeli military operation. Hundreds of thousands of people have been driven out of the city in southern Gaza, once declared a “safe zone,” since Israel ordered evacuations and sent in ground forces. Defying U.S. pressure, Israel has pursued a campaign it says is focused on Hamas militants, but many Palestinians say the situation in Gaza is now a humanitarian catastrophe like the “Nakba” of 1948, when around 700,000 Palestinians were forced from their homes for the founding of Israel.
Today's U.S. v. Duarte, written by Judge Carlos Bea and joined by Judge Lawrence VanDyke, concludes that the Second Amendment protects some felons (at least after the end of their criminal sentences). The majority begins with the principle that:
[The Supreme Court's decision in] Bruen instructs us to assess all Second Amendment challenges through the dual lenses of text and history. If the Second Amendment's plain text protects the person, his arm, and his proposed course of conduct, it then becomes the Government's burden to prove that the challenged law is consistent with this Nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation. It reasons, much historical analysis later, with the view that:
CA Supreme Court ruling will change how
police interact with public when stopping, questioning 14 replies
police interact with public when stopping, questioning 14 replies
A new ruling by the California Supreme Court may change how police interact with the public.
Community groups say it's an important step to prevent over-policing.
But some police unions say it's going to make it harder for police to work effectively.
"I think it's a very important decision," says Sujung Kim, a managing attorney at the San Francisco Public Defender's Office.
She says with this ruling, the Supreme Court of California is finally recognizing instances of over-policing -- especially in communities of color.
Terry Clark Hughes Jr. is the 39-year-old suspect who opened fire at the scene where four law enforcement officers in Charlotte, North Carolina, were shot and killed on April 29, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police.
Hughes was not the only shooter, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings said in a news conference. “When they approached Hughes,” officers “were met by gunfire and returned the gunfire, striking” Hughes, who was found deceased in a yard, Jennings said. Officers then received “additional gunfire from inside of the residence,” he said. It was not immediately clear whose bullets struck which officers.
The Biden administration is slated to announce sanctions against the IDF’s Netzah Yehuda battalion for alleged human rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank, the Axios news site reported on Saturday. It would be the first time the US has ever taken such a step. The battalion has been at the center of several controversies in the past connected to right-wing extremism and violence against Palestinians, notably including the 2022 death of Omar As’ad, a 78-year-old Palestinian-American who died after being detained, handcuffed, blindfolded, and later abandoned in near-freezing conditions by soldiers of the battalion.
The reported US plan drew a scathing response from Israeli officials
Supreme Court to weigh whether bans targeting
homeless encampments run afoul of the Constitution 5 replies
homeless encampments run afoul of the Constitution 5 replies
The Supreme Court on Monday will weigh arguments in a case involving the homeless and bans on where they may sleep, the most significant one on the issue in decades. The dispute involves whether laws that punish homeless people with civil citations for camping on public property are outside the bounds of the Constitution. Cities have been searching for ways to address homeless encampments that they say threaten public health and safety. A decision will shed light on how far city and state officials can go to address homeless encampments and is likely to reach beyond the borders of the Oregon city at the center of the dispute.
Senators on both sides of the aisle are banding together to try and kill a House-passed addition to the bill reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that they argue would force more businesses to aid in government surveillance of foreigners.
An amendment from Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and others would strike from the bill a House provision that redefines what types of communications companies would have to comply with the law. The House amendment from Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Turner (R-Ohio) was intended to address a mysterious battle by the government to get one unnamed communications company to aid in overseas surveillance, with the FISC
Iranian Spy Ship MV Behshad Returns Home
After 3 Years At Sea After Regional Tensions Escalate 3 replies
After 3 Years At Sea After Regional Tensions Escalate 3 replies
The MV Behshad, a suspected Iranian spy ship, has returned to its home port in Bandar Abbas after three years at sea. According to tracking data compiled by Bloomberg, the vessel left its position near the Yemeni coast on April 4, 2024, and reappeared near the Strait of Hormuz on April 18, 2024. Iran characterises the MV Behshad as an intelligence and logistics vessel. It is scheduled to arrive at Bandar Abbas port later Thursday. US analysts and authorities have long suspected the MV Behshad, a cargo ship, of providing information and assistance with targeting to the Houthi Rebels,
The U.S. Navy has spent approximately $1 billion countering missile and drone attacks from Iran and the Tehran-backed Houthis in the Middle East, as detailed by Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro. This expenditure has been incurred over six months due to direct attacks on U.S. Navy and merchant ships, with air defense missiles like SM-2s, SM-6s, and SM-3s being used extensively. Del Toro highlighted the financial strain this has placed on military resources, emphasizing the urgent need for supplemental funding of $95 billion to replenish munitions.
Venezuela closes its embassy in Ecuador
to protest the police raid on the Mexican
Embassy there 4 replies
to protest the police raid on the Mexican
Embassy there 4 replies
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ordered the closure of his country’s embassy and consulates in Ecuador on Tuesday in solidarity with Mexico in its protest over a raid by Ecuadorian authorities on the Mexican Embassy in Quito. Maduro and other presidents participating in a virtual meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States expressed their support for Mexico’s request to have the United Nations suspend Ecuador from the world body over the April 5 raid. But Maduro was the only one to announce the closure of diplomatic outposts and recall of personnel.
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
Hillary Clinton blamed the fact that female voters abandoned her as her 2016 presidential campaign came to a close on her not being “perfect” in a recent interview.
“They left me because they just couldn’t take a risk on me because, as a woman, I’m supposed to be perfect,” the former secretary of state told the New York Times in an interview conducted in February and published Saturday.
She went on to argue that female voters took a “risk” on former President Donald Trump because he is a man. “They were willing to take a risk on [Trump] — who had a long list of, let’s call them flaws,
A construction crew working on a bridge in Alaska’s Denali National Park was ordered to remove their American flag from their equipment. The park official said it “detracted” from the park experience.
Alaska Watchman reported:
The crew working on a 475-foot-long bridge in Alaska’s Denali National Park was recently told that they could no longer fly the American flag from their trucks or heavy equipment, which are being used in the $207 million Federal Highway Administration project.
The bridge is being built by Granite Construction, after a 2021 rockslide took out a portion of the popular Denali Park Road
MINNEAPOLIS - When George Floyd died at the hands of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on Memorial Day in 2020, his death prompted protests and calls for change. Now, four years later, his memory is still a cause for people to take action. "We can never forget. We can never stop talking about George Floyd. We can never unsee what we saw in 2020," said Leslie E. Redmond, Executive Director of the nonprofit Win Back. Win Back organized its first annual Day Of Remembrance for George Floyd Friday. It started with an interfaith prayer service at city hall and continued
Redesigning Social Security
27 replies
How might we change the premise of Social Security to make it fully funded, more equitable, and sustainable indefinitely?
Social Security is societal insurance, not an individual retirement plan. It’s intended to protect individuals against income loss due to retirement, disability, or death. It supports disabled individuals, survivors, and children and reduces poverty.
Social Security protects taxpayers across American society. Without Social Security, millions would face poverty, straining families and state and local governments, increasing inequality, and destabilizing the economy.
Donald Trump spoke at the Libertarian Party Convention on Saturday night and, given the controversy over the invitation within the party, it wasn't surprising that many in the audience expressed their displeasure at the former president's presence.
Trump was trying to pry some Libertarian Party voters away from Robert Kennedy. who spoke earlier in the day to a sparse crowd.
Besides that, it took some courage to speak at a venue where he knew he would receive a mixed reception. Trump paid the crowd little mind, making his points and occasionally responding to the crowd. "You can keep going the way you have for the last long
President Biden repeated a claim about turning down an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, where he purportedly wanted to play football, during his commencement address at West Point on Saturday. Biden told West Point graduates that Republican Sen. J. Caleb Boggs, whom he defeated to become a U.S. senator, had "appointed" him to the Naval Academy years before they ran against each other in 1972.
The president recounted that before his interview, "I found out two days earlier they had a quarterback named Roger Staubach, and a halfback named Joe Bellino. And I said, I'm not going there. I went to Delaware. Not a joke."
California’s crime-friendly environment has led to numerous Legal Insurrection reports of smash-and-grab robberies, Beverly Hills becoming a ghost town, piracy in Oakland Bay, and a constant stream of organized retail theft. (snip) The California Senate recently passed SB 961, a measure which would require “passive speed limiters” to be installed in all new cars manufactured or sold in the Golden State by 2032.
The motion, introduced by Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), would make California the first state in the nation to enact the safety requirement, which is similar to a law in the European Union that is set to take effect in July.
Special Counsel Jack Smith filed a motion Friday night demanding President Trump’s condition of release in the classified documents case be modified to include barring him from criticizing law enforcement for authorizing deadly force in the August 8, 2022 raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida in a search for disputed alleged classified documents from Trump’s presidency. Trump reacted to the news of the deadly force authorization on Tuesday by saying the government had plans to kill him.
After it was revealed that Attorney General Merrick Garland, the FBI and DOJ added language to their search warrant permitting the FBI to use deadly force against President Trump and/or his security detail during the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago, President Trump responded with shock.
Special Counsel Jack Smith filed a motion to amend the bail conditions for President Trump on Friday night. Prosecutor Smith wants Judge Cannon to forbid President Trump from talking about the FBI agents who conducted the armed raid and used the search warrant. [PDF Court Motion Here]
Donald Trump's Crowd Size Under Scrutiny
22 replies
The size of the crowd at Donald Trump's latest rally has come under scrutiny with people giving varied accounts about the number of people who attended it. Trump, the presumptive nominee for the Republican Party's presidential nomination, held a large rally in a Democratic borough of New York City on Thursday to drum up support ahead of November's presidential election. He told supporters at Crotona Park, South Bronx, of his potential plans for the city if he is elected to the White House. The rally had a permit for 3,500 people, according to the New York Times which cited the
CNN's Ana Navarro has criticized fellow Latinos who support Donald Trump, labeling their attitudes towards immigration as 'very stupid.'
Navarro suggested that some Latino immigrants seem to forget their own roots and mistakenly believe that being anti-immigrant will help them assimilate better into American society.
Speaking on CNN on Friday night, the anti-Trump Republican expressed her frustration with such a mindset, saying it only serves to highlight how it contributes to a divisive atmosphere.
CNN Sounds Alarm on 'Troubling Sign' for
Biden Campaign: Trump's Black Support
Has More Than Doubled 21 replies
Biden Campaign: Trump's Black Support
Has More Than Doubled 21 replies
CNN's data reporter is sounding the alarm on a "very troubling" sign for the Biden campaign: Donald Trump's support among black voters has more than doubled.
"Look, if you look at 2024, Biden still leads among black voters over Donald Trump, 69% in an average of polls," CNN's Harry Enten said. "But look at this number for Donald Trump: 22%. Where was Donald Trump at this point? Four years ago in the poll, he was just at 9% of the vote."
"So he's seen more than a doubling in his support among African-Americans," he continued. "This margin, which was in the 70s, just four years ago, look at where it is
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An Army vessel was beached on Saturday attempting to retrieve a piece of the pier