Florida Gov. DeSantis hints at big plans for future
‘I have only begun to fight’
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis headlined a Pennsylvania event on Thursday night where he hinted at his future political ambitions, proclaiming, “I have only begun to fight.”
The 42-year-old governor spoke at the Republican Committee of Allegheny County’s annual Lincoln Day Dinner, where his remarks resembled a campaign speech, according to NBC News.
“While in all these lockdown states closed schools, shuttered businesses and destroyed lives were the norm, in Florida, we’ve had schools open the entire school year,” DeSantis said.
“Our businesses are thriving and we’ve saved millions of livelihoods from the brunt of lockdowns, and all I can say to any state that has not followed suit: Open your state. Open your schools. Take off these mask mandates. Let people live and thrive,” he added.
DeSantis highlighted his work to free citizens during the pandemic, contrasting Florida’s efforts to locked-down states like Pennsylvania.
“We did not suppress our society. Our schools have been open.”
The governor said, “Every parent has a right to send their kid to school in person in the state of Florida.”
Facebook removes pro-Israel page with 77 million followers
‘It was a very clever, deceptive plan by Islamic radicals.’
A pro-Israel page with over 77 million followers has been shut down by Facebook after a “cyber terrorism” campaign by “radical Islamic” groups targeted it with hate speech.
“Jerusalem Prayer Group” Founder Mike Evans said critics bombarded the page with “more than a million” comments, CBN reported.
“There was an organized attempt by radical Islamic organizations to achieve this objective,” Evans said.
“It was a very clever, deceptive plan by Islamic radicals,” he said.
Evans said the flood of complaints about supposed fake posts was “a complete scam and fraud.”
He told Arutz Sheva 7 that the page was flooded with anti-Semitic comments, including photos of and quotes by Hitler so they could complain about it violating the social media giant’s policies.
Evans added he got the unexpected message that Facebook had removed the page when he was in Israel ready to host a star-studded TV special.
Facebook stated the case was “complete,” and there was “no further action” to be taken.
Vaccine FAILURE cover-up: CDC limits tracking of “breakthrough” coronavirus infections that occur in fully vaccinated people
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) decided to limit its tracking of people who contracted the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) despite vaccination. It recorded more than 9,000 breakthrough COVID-19 cases – a tiny percentage of the total number immunized. The CDC’s move drew concern from scientists who remarked that it only made investigations on the breakthrough infections more difficult.
According to the public health agency, it would only report “patients with COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough infection that were hospitalized or died” effective May 14. It cited a need to “maximize the quality of the data collected” for the decision. The CDC nevertheless acknowledged that breakthrough cases are to be expected as no vaccine is 100 percent effective in preventing illness.
CDC official Dr. Thomas Clark elaborated that it shifted its reporting strategy due to “few worrying patterns” in their collected data. He continued that the agency’s current data suggested a focus on more severe cases. “I don’t think we’re missing out on this data. It’s just sort of a package of how we’re looking at these questions [regarding breakthrough infections],” Clark said in an interview.
However, the public health agency noted that the official numbers are probably an undercount. This is because its Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System is passive and relies on voluntary reporting from state health departments. These departments may be reporting incomplete figures, the CDC added.
Clark commented that the agency has planned other vaccine studies to look at the severity of COVID-19 cases in both vaccinated and unvaccinated people. It also planned to look at the frequency of infections caused by circulating Wuhan coronavirus variants in both groups. The CDC has partnered with a network of health centers for this particular purpose.
But some scientists have argued in favor of tracking and sequencing all breakthrough infections. They claimed that it helps figure out who may be more at risk, when vaccine protection decreases and if new variants bypass vaccine-induced protection. Scripps Research Translational Institute Founder and Director Dr. Eric Topol said: “We shouldn’t be narrowing the focus, [Instead,] we should be broadening and [developing] a systematic plan.”
Washington University in St. Louis Associate Vice Chancellor Michael Kinch said information on breakthrough COVID-19 cases should be recorded as much as possible. He added that cases that do not progress to hospitalization should also be tracked nevertheless as some patients could eventually go down that path. “It’s essential that we stay on top of this. If we let our guard down, we will pay the price,” Kinch said.
Tesla looking at Russia as a potential production hub – Elon Musk
Tesla CEO Elon Musk says the US electric carmaker is exploring opportunities for establishing a presence in Russia and opening production lines in the country.
Apart from the US, the automaker has already launched two production sites in the Chinese municipality of Shanghai, and is considering opening facilities in other parts of the world, Musk said via a video link at a forum on Russian education in Moscow on Friday.
The company is reportedly also planning to launch a production site in Germany, and to open a new plant in Austin, Texas in the US as soon as by the end of this year. Tesla is also considering entering the Indian market.
What Role Does China Play in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict?
Israel and Hamas were engaged in a military conflict this month. While the international community wants to restore peace through diplomatic mediations, China, which happens to hold the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council for May, has not condemned the violence. The Communist regime’s motive is questionable.
After a confrontation between Palestinians and Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem on May 7, Hamas began firing a large number of rockets at Israel. Subsequently, Israel launched an airstrike targeting senior Hamas leaders.
The conflict began with the incident at the mosque, but Hamas provoked the first military strike.
Speaking for the first time since the violence erupted, U.S. President Joe Biden on May 12 expressed hope that the military conflict would end as soon as possible, but also stated that Israel “has a right to defend itself.” The Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Israel and Palestine also went to the Middle East as a special envoy to mediate the conflict.
Western Countries Condemn the Violence
The U.N.’s Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland on May 11 warned “the cost of war in Gaza is devastating” and tweeted, “Stop the fire immediately.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated on May 12 that “we need to see a cessation of the violence and attacks,” and “the rocket attacks from Hamas are absolutely unacceptable.”
On May 12, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged Israel and the Palestinians to “step back from the brink” and called for both sides to “show restraint.”
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab tweeted on May 16: “The UK condemns Hamas’s attacks on civilians, and affirms Israel’s right to self-defence” and “All sides must avoid civilian casualties.”
Raab said he has spoken about the violence with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh.
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, on May 13 and strongly condemned the rocket launches against Israeli territory by Hamas and other terrorist groups. Meanwhile, Paris also restricted pro-Palestinian rallies to prevent serious disturbances to public order.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas blamed Hamas for the violence and said there would be “zero tolerance for attacks on synagogues in our country,” according to an interview with Funke media group on May 13.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a press conference on May 13, “We believe that Israelis and Palestinians deserve equal measures of freedom, security, dignity, and prosperity. That recognition will continue to drive our approach.”
Blinken stressed, “Israel has a right to defend itself from these rocket attacks and the fundamental difference between a terrorist organization in Hamas that is indiscriminately targeting civilians and Israel, which is defending itself and going after those that are attacking it.”
In a call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on May 17, President Biden expressed support for a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers. According to the White House statement, Biden “encouraged Israel to make every effort to ensure the protection of innocent civilians,” while expressing support for Israel.
Meanwhile, diplomats from Arab countries also aimed at restoring peace through diplomatic efforts.
School bus driver caught on video slapping 10-year-old girl for not wearing mask properly; student pleaded, ‘I get sick from masks’
A school bus driver has admitted to slapping a 10-year-old girl for not wearing her face mask properly. The Colorado school bus driver caught on video slapping the young girl has since been fired and faces multiple charges.
A surveillance camera caught Bertram Jaquez on camera smacking a student in the face over a mask dispute. The video shows the bus driver confronting the girl at her seat on the vehicle. She allegedly moved the mask under her nose because she said, “I get sick from mask[s],” according to a statement the girl wrote about the incident that occurred in Fremont County.
Other children on the bus told the unnamed girl to put her mask back on. The girl wrote that she “yelled at them and said you shut up your [sic] not involved in this.” When she didn’t put her mask on correctly, the other kids informed the bus driver.
The bus driver told the child to put her mask all the way on, but she refused. “Out of reaction, I slapped her once,” Jaquez said in a written statement to the school district.
Oregon First State to Require Vaccination Proof for Maskless Entry Into Businesses, Workplaces, and Churches
The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) is requiring that people in workplaces, businesses, and religious sites show proof of vaccination in order to be allowed maskless entry to the facilities.
The state’s health authorities updated their masking guidance on May 19, following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) rollback of strict mask mandates.
“Businesses, employers and faith institutions now have the option to adjust their masking guidance to allow fully vaccinated individuals to no longer wear a mask in their establishments,” the OHA declared in a statement.
“Businesses, employers and faith institutions doing so must have a policy in place to check the vaccination status of all individuals before they enter their establishment. Businesses, employers and faith institutions who do not create such policies will maintain the same masking guidance listed below, regardless of an individual’s vaccination status.”
The statewide policy is the first of the kind in the country and is raising concerns for those who don’t want to wear masks or take the vaccine due to a number of concerns including safety, side effects, efficacy, mistrust in pharmaceutical companies, and a lack of full FDA approval.
A spokesperson for Oregon Business and Industry, Nathaniel Brown, told the New York Times that they “have serious concerns about the practicality of requiring business owners and workers to be the enforcer.”
One Day After Biden Gifts Russia with Pipeline Waiver — Putin Vows to “Knock the Teeth Out” of Foreign Enemies If Arctic Base is Threatened
On his first day in office, Joe Biden killed off 42,100 jobs by ending construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline and the end of construction of the Trump border wall.
But on Tuesday Joe Biden gave Vlad Putin a kiss and waived sanctions on Russia’s gas pipeline to Germany.
That way Western Europe will become more reliable on Putin’s Russia and US energy companies lose more business with our allies in Western Europe.
One day later Putin lashed out at the US and vowed to “knock the teeth out” of foreign enemies who confronted Russia on its arctic military base.
Emails Show Ex-FBI Chief Gave $100,000 to Joe Biden’s Grandkid Trust, Seeking ‘Future Work’
Former FBI director Louis Freeh reportedly gave $100,000 to a trust for President Joe Biden’s grandchildren, seeking “some very good and profitable matters” with Biden, according to emails obtained by the New York Post.
The emails reportedly emanate from Hunter Biden’s water-damaged laptop and apparently show the gifts were made in April 2016, before Hunter Biden received an email from Freeh that he “would be delighted to do future work with you.”
The alleged emails show Freeh wrote on July 8, 2016, “I also spoke to Dad a few weeks ago and would like to explore with him some future work options. I believe that working together on these (and other legal) matters would be of value, fun, and rewarding.”
The emails also show Freeh wrote Hunter on March 12, 2017, saying he saw Hunter’s father, Joe Biden, walking back from church, noting, “I would still like to persuade him to associate with me and FSS—as we have some very good and profitable matters which he could enhance with minimal time.”
