Facebook has been accused by a UK child protection watchdog of fuelling a spike in online grooming of children during the pandemic – with “risky design features” in Instagram and other popular apps being exploited by offenders.
In a new report, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) noted that the various Facebook-owned platforms – including Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger – accounted for nearly half of some 5,441 ‘sexual communication with a child’ offences recorded by police since April 2020.
However, the charity said the actual scale of online grooming was “likely to be higher” as a result of “tech failures” by the social media giant that resulted in a drop in the removal of abuse material during the 12-month period ending in March 2021.
According to data from 42 police forces across England and Wales, Instagram was the most common site used by groomers. It was flagged by police in 32% of the crimes where a platform was identified. Since 2017, the number of cases linked to the picture- and video-sharing site has almost doubled, police data showed.
Meanwhile, Snapchat was the second most flagged platform – linked to a quarter of the cases where a platform was identified. In all, the “big four” of the Facebook apps and Snapchat were responsible for nearly 75% of all cases where the platform used for grooming was known to police.
Noting that “online child abuse is inherently preventable,” NSPCC child safety online policy head Andy Burrows told The Herald newspaper that the high figures were caused by the “inaction of social media firms” and their adoption of a “piecemeal approach … instead of taking proactive steps to make sure that their sites are safe.”
As an example of the “far easier” ways for offenders to “contact and exploit children,” Burrows noted that groomers are able to simply “refresh the page” on some of the worst-performing platforms to “get a fresh list of children to contact as a result of the site algorithmically recommending them.”
In response, Facebook said it “works quickly to find, remove and report” this “abhorrent behaviour.” It claimed that changes were made earlier this year to “block adults from messaging under-18s they are not connected with” and said it had “introduced technology that makes it harder for potentially suspicious accounts to find young people.”
Although the tech firm said it scans images and videos on Instagram and Facebook to flag exploitative material so that it can be removed, the NSPCC said it had “removed less than half” of the child abuse content it had done previously over the last six months of 2020.
According to Burrows, this meant less “actionable intelligence” was passed to police during the “perfect storm” of a pandemic – at a time when children were online more than ever before. The NSPCC also called on Facebook to ensure its end-to-end encryption tech does not “compromise” child-protection tools.
Despite safety measures announced recently by Facebook, Apple and other firms, the charity said the platforms were “playing catch up” due to “historically poorly designed sites that fail to protect young users” – even though sending sexual messages to children has been a crime since 2015.
It said this showed the importance of the draft Online Safety bill – to be considered by a parliamentary committee next month – that holds “named managers personally liable for design choices that put children at risk.”
About whether he ‘disregards’ the Ten Commandments Pope Francis said, ‘No. I observe them, but not as absolutes, because I know that what justifies me is Jesus Christ.’
“I observe them, but not as absolutes,” Pope Francis said of the Ten Commandments at a general audience on August 18, 2021.
Pope Francis made the statement in the context of how Christians live a moral life. He began the discourse by asking the audience a rhetorical question. “How do I live?” he said.
He responded to his own question by saying, “Do I live in fear that if I don’t do this or that I will go to hell? Or do I also live with that hope, with that joy of the gratuitousness of salvation in Jesus Christ? That’s a good question.”
The Catholic Church teaches that anyone who dies not having repented of just one mortal sin does indeed go to hell.
The Holy Father continued his message with a second question about the nature of the Commandments. “And also a second question: do I disregard the Commandments?”
The answer Pope Francis gave to this question addressed whether or not he views the Ten Commandments as binding moral laws. About whether he “disregards” the Ten Commandments he said, “No. I observe them, but not as absolutes, because I know that what justifies me is Jesus Christ.”
The audience applauded as the Pope finished speaking.
At General Audience, Pope Francis asks two questions: "Do I live in the fear that if I don't do this or that I will go to hell?"; and "Do I despise the Commandments? No. I observe them, but not as absolutes, because I know that what justifies me is Jesus Christ." pic.twitter.com/nY7kRoon17
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states about the Ten Commandments: “They were written ‘with the finger of God’… They are pre-eminently the words of God” (CCC 2056).
The Catechism also states that “in fidelity to Scripture and in conformity with the example of Jesus, the tradition of the Church has acknowledged the primordial importance and significance of the Decalogue [the Ten Commandments]” (CCC 2064).
He said the Law was formerly seen as “a series of prescriptions and prohibitions,” but according to the Spirit it “became life.” The Pope explained that this meant that the Ten Commandments were no longer norms but that “the very flesh of Christ who loves us, seeks us, forgives us, consoles us and in His body recomposes communion with the Father, communion that was lost through the disobedience of sin.”
In a general audience on August 11, 2021, the Holy Father spoke again of the Ten Commandments, as well as the Mosaic Law. The Ten Commandments and the Mosaic Law are not the same thing, although the Commandments were of course revealed to Moses. Pope Francis said, “When Paul speaks about the Law, he is normally referring to the Mosaic Law, the law given by Moses, the Ten Commandments.” In the opinion of the Pope, when Saint Paul speaks about the Law, it includes the entirety of the legal realities associated with the revelation given to Moses.
This led the Holy Father to say in the same audience, “According to various Old Testament texts, the Torah – that is, the Hebrew term used to indicate the Law – is the collection of all those prescriptions and norms the Israelites had to observe by virtue of the Covenant with God.”
In his estimation, it was not only the Laws of Moses applicable to the Old Covenant, but also the Ten Commandments themselves that were part of the norms for the Israelites at the time.
He continued by asking a rhetorical question, “But one of you might say to me: ‘But, Father, just one thing: does this mean that if I pray the Creed, I do not need to observe the commandments?’”
He then answered, “No, the commandments are valid in the sense that they are ‘pedagogues’ [teachers] that lead you toward the encounter with Christ.” He concluded the audience by telling those in attendance that “the encounter with Jesus is more important than all of the commandments.”
Jesus Christ said, “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). In addition, in Canon XX of the 6th session of the Council of Trent states: “If any one saith, that the man who is justified and how perfect soever, is not bound to observe the commandments of God and of the Church, but only to believe; as if indeed the Gospel were a bare and absolute promise of eternal life, without the condition of observing the commandments; let him be anathema.”
During a July 8 press conference, President Joe Biden estimated Taliban forces at approximately 75,000, and contrasted them to the 300,000 troops in the US-trained Afghan army. It now appears that those numbers were wildly off, by as much as double the estimate.
According to Biden, Afghanistan has “300,000 well-equipped [troops], as well-equipped as any army in the world, and an air force against something like 75,000 Taliban,” and said at the time that a Taliban takeover was “not inevitable.”
According to a new report, the Taliban may have a fighting force of 150,000 to 200,000 in Afghanistan. Dr. Antonio Giustozzi, an international conflict and security studies professor at King’s College London, wrote a 2018 report that stated Taliban’s largest number of fighters, approximately 90,000, are recruited from local militias. Giustozzi estimated Taliban, including non-combatants, totaled 200,000.
Bill Roggio, editor of the Long War Journal and senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, wrote in 2018, “Based on press releases, the Defense and Interior Ministries claim that between 30 to 50 Taliban fighters are killed daily. If this is averaged out over the course of a year, the Taliban would incur 11,000 to 18,000 fighters killed each year.
“There are few fighting forces that could take such high levels of casualties and still remain a dominant player on the battlefield. Given these facts, the Taliban’s strength is likely to number well over 100,000 fighters.”
The Biden administration has also likely over-counted the size of the Afghan army, according to an Inspector General report released July 31. Though Biden cited 300,000, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley testified in June that the Afghan army and police numbered 325,000-350,000.
According to The Daily Caller, “…records show the Afghan army consisted of about 182,000 soldiers and the police forces numbered about 118,000.” Roggio told the outlet that those numbers are likely inflated, citing the prevalence of “ghost soldiers” which “exist on paper for the purpose of salaries and provisions, but have either died, deserted or never existed in the first place.”
Delta Air Lines employees who are unvaccinated against COVID-19 will be charged an extra $200 a month for health insurance starting in November to help cover costs related to treatment of the disease, the CEO announced Wednesday. All of the Delta employees who’ve been hospitalized in recent weeks with COVID-19 were not vaccinated, CEO Ed Bastian wrote in a memo to employees.
The average hospital stay for each person cost the company $50,000.
Bastian said 75% of Delta’s 75,000 employees are vaccinated. More than 150,000 doses were given to employees, their family members and friends at Delta clinics around the world.
“While we can be proud of our 75% vaccination rate, the aggressiveness of the variant means we need to get many more of our people vaccinated, and as close to 100% as possible,” he said of the more contagious Delta variant, which has become the dominant strain in the United States.
In addition to a spike in insurance premiums, all unvaccinated employees are required to wear masks in all indoor Delta settings and must take a COVID-19 test each week starting Sept. 12.
Delta started requiring new employees get the vaccine earlier this year, CNBC reported.
United Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines have mandated vaccines for their employees.
Airlines have been among the hardest-hit companies by the pandemic, as travel has been limited.
Military, defense minister believe a credible threat of an Israeli attack on Tehran’s nuclear facilities is only way US will be able to negotiate better deal with Islamic Republic
(Times of Israel) The Israel Defense Forces is working full tilt to develop its plans to strike Iran’s nuclear program in light of the Islamic Republic’s ongoing march toward the technology needed for an atomic weapon, and the stalled negotiations between Washington and Tehran on the matter, IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi told reporters this week.
“The progress in the Iranian nuclear program has led the IDF to speed up its operational plans, and the defense budget that was recently approved is meant to address this,” Kohavi said, speaking to military correspondents ahead of the Jewish New Year.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz issued a similar threat on Wednesday, telling foreign diplomats that Israel may have to take military action against Iran.
“The State of Israel has the means to act and will not hesitate to do so. I do not rule out the possibility that Israel will have to take action in the future in order to prevent a nuclear Iran,” Gantz said.
“Iran is only two months away from acquiring the materials necessary for a nuclear weapon. We do not know if the Iranian regime will be willing to sign an agreement and come back to the negotiation table and the international community must build a viable ‘Plan B’ in order to stop Iran in its tracks towards a nuclear weapon,” he added.
Though Iran is believed to be two months away from obtaining the fissile material needed for a bomb, the IDF has assessed that it would take at least several more months from then before Tehran would be capable of producing a deliverable weapon, needing that time to construct a core, perform tests and install the device inside a missile.
The public combative comments by Gantz and Kohavi came shortly after Prime Minister Naftali Bennett touched down in Washington for his first in-person meeting with US President Joe Biden and his staff, with Iran’s nuclear program at the top of the agenda.
“At the end of the day, the goal is to reach a ‘longer, stronger and broader’ agreement than the previous one,” Gantz said Wednesday. “The Iranian nuclear program could incite an arms race in the region and the entire world.”
As more celebrities and elected officials announce they are “really really sick” despite being fully vaccinated, questions swirl around whether the vaccines work and why the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention isn’t doing more to track breakthrough cases.
As the number of breakthrough COVID cases continues to climb, there is growing concern fully vaccinated people may be more vulnerable to serious illness than previously thought — and some fully vaccinated people now sick with the virus are speaking out.
According to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were 9,716 breakthrough cases resulting in hospitalization or death as of Aug. 16. However, the agency states those numbers are underreported. On May 1, the CDC made a decision to stop tracking all breakthrough cases and instead only track cases in the fully vaccinated that resulted in hospitalization or death.
In an interview with PBS News Hour, Jessica Malaty Rivera, an infectious disease epidemiologist and research fellow at Boston Children’s Hospital and former science communications lead at the COVID Tracking Project, said not tracking breakthrough data with as much granularity as we would hope is “basically creating blind spots in our understanding of the true impact of the virus, especially the variants that are circulating so widely in the United States.”
Rivera said she has yet to see an explicit explanation for why the CDC stopped tracking all breakthrough cases. “I’ve heard rumors of things like lack of resources, lack of funding, lack of staff. But to me, it seems pretty, from an epidemiology standpoint, not defensible,” she said.
A breakthrough case refers to a person who is diagnosed with COVID after being fully vaccinated. A person is considered fully vaccinated 14 days after receiving the second dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna COVID vaccine, or two weeks after receiving the single-dose Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine.
The New York Times recently published data from seven states — California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Virginia — that keeps particularly detailed records on breakthrough cases.
Analysis showed that in six of the states, breakthrough infections made up 18% to 28% of all newly diagnosed cases of COVID in the past several weeks, and 12% to 24% of all COVID-related hospitalizations, with reported deaths higher than the CDC’s original estimate of .5%.
The figures on non-hospitalized breakthrough infections are also assumed to be underestimations since many fully vaccinated people who become infected may not feel sick enough to be tested for the virus, The Times reported.
About 30% of the new COVID cases in Los Angeles are breakthrough cases, Deadline reported. The number is up from 13% in July and 5% in April.
As of Aug. 17, more than 12,500 fully vaccinated Massachusetts residents had tested positive for COVID and an additional 18 had died, according to NBC Boston.
Fully vaccinated celebrities, elected officials speak out after getting COVID
Melissa Joan Hart, the former “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” star is “really mad” she has a breakthrough case. Hart shared on Instagram Aug. 19 that despite being vaccinated, she got COVID.
“I never do videos but I feel like this is important,” Hart, who recently moved to Tennessee, told her 1.6 million followers. “I got COVID. I am vaccinated. And I got COVID. And it’s bad. It’s weighing on my chest, it’s hard to breathe.”
Heart’s oldest son, Mason, also tested positive for COVID, as did her youngest son — who experienced no symptoms. Her middle child tested negative and her husband is still waiting for his results.
Hart blamed the vaccine’s failure to protect her on her kids not having to wear masks in school. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Aug. 16 signed an executive order allowing parents to choose whether their child should wear a mask in school.
“I’m mad, really mad,” Hart said, “because we tried, and we took precautions and we cut our exposure by a lot. But we got a little lazy, and I think as a country we got lazy. And I’m really mad that my kids didn’t have to wear masks at school because I’m pretty sure that’s where this came from.”
Celebrity Hilary Duff, revealed she had COVID on Instagram Aug. 20. Duff said she was experiencing a bad headache, brain fog, sinus pressure and a loss of taste and smell despite being vaccinated.
“That Delta … she’s a little b****,” Duff wrote, referring to the variant that accounts for 98.8% of current U.S. infections, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Slipknot singer Corey Taylor, 47, was devastated after testing positive for COVID and was forced to call off his upcoming appearance at a Michigan pop culture convention this weekend, Rolling Stone reported.
“I wish I had better news,” said Taylor in a recorded video message last week on Facebook. “I woke up today and tested positive and I’m very, very sick.”
The singer assured fans he “should be okay” because it’s the flu and he’s vaccinated.
Rev. Jesse Jackson, and his wife, Jacqueline, remained under doctors’ observation Monday at a Chicago hospital after getting COVID. Both were “responding positively to treatments,” Politico reported.
The couple was admitted to Northwestern Memorial Hospital Aug. 20 so physicians could carefully monitor their condition, one of the couple’s five children, said in a statement.
Jackson, a Chicago civil rights leader, was fully vaccinated and received his first dose in January during a publicized event where he urged others to receive the vaccine as soon as possible.
Three U.S. senators — John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Angus King (I-Maine) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) — announced Aug. 19 they tested positive for COVID despite being fully vaccinated, CBS News reported.
“Despite taking precautions and receiving the vaccine, this morning I tested positive for COVID-19,” King tweeted. “While I am not feeling great, I’m definitely feeling much better than I would have without the vaccine.”
The news came days after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who also was fully vaccinated, tested positive for COVID.
Illinois state Sen. Dan McConchie announced Aug. 21 he had a “breakthrough” case of COVID. The Republican leader of the Illinois Senate said in a statement he was vaccinated against the virus this spring, and he urged others to get vaccinated.
COVID data show waning immunity
Of 514 patients in Israel hospitalized with COVID as of Aug. 15, 59% were fully vaccinated, according to an article from Science. The article cited national data tracked by Israel’s largest health management organization. The figures suggest breakthrough infections may be more common than previously thought.
Most of the vaccinated patients who were hospitalized, about 87%, were at least 60 years old.
“This is a very clear warning sign for the rest of the world,” said Ran Balicer, CIO at Clalit Health Services, Israel’s largest health maintenance organization. “If it can happen here, it can probably happen anywhere,” Balicer told Science.
Israel has one of the world’s highest COVID vaccination levels with 78% of the population over age 12 fully vaccinated — mostly with Pfizer’s vaccine. The country now has one of the highest infection rates in the world.
Brian Hooker, Ph.D., P.E., Children’s Health Defense chief scientific officer and professor of biology at Simpson University, said “What we’re seeing is virus evolution 101.”
Hooker said the more a variant deviates from the original sequence used for the vaccine, the less effective the vaccine will be on that variant, which could explain why fully vaccinated people are getting infected with the Delta variant.
This isn’t the case for natural immunity, Hooker explained:
“The vaccine focuses on the spike protein, whereas natural immunity focuses on the entire virus. Natural immunity — with a more diverse array of antibodies and T-cell receptors — will provide better protection overall as it has more targets in which to attack the virus, whereas vaccine-derived immunity only focuses on one portion of the virus, in this case, the spike protein. Once that portion of the virus has mutated sufficiently, the vaccine no longer is effective.”
As The Defender reported Aug 2, vaccinated people may play a key role in aiding the evolution of COVID variants.
Scientific Reports research: highest risk for establishing a vaccine-resistant virus strain occurs when large fraction of population has already been vaccinated but transmission is not controlled.
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) August 3, 2021
According to research published July 30 in Scientific Reports, the highest risk for establishing a vaccine-resistant virus strain occurred when a large fraction of the population has already been vaccinated but the transmission is not controlled.
The data was consistent with a CDC study, also released July 30, which showed vaccinated people may transmit the Delta variant just as easily as the unvaccinated.
According to a pre-print study published Aug. 10 in The Lancet, vaccinated individuals carry 251 times the load of SARS-CoV-2 viruses in their nostrils compared to the unvaccinated.
The study, by the Oxford University Clinical Research Group, demonstrated widespread vaccine failure and transmission under tightly controlled circumstances in a hospital lockdown in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam.
**UPDATE: Beck announced on Tuesday a third flight has taken off taking the total number of Christians evacuated up to 1,200.
Original Story
“While we slept, The Nazarene Fund was busy loading planes. This was the second plane load of Afghanistan Christian refugees leaving Kabul.”
That was the update from national radio host Glenn Beck, which included a touching picture to go along with the news that scores of Afghan Christians were being led to safety.
Beck’s calls for people to get involved through the Nazarene Fund were met with an astounding response. In just 3 days, Beck’s audience had donated over $22 million to fund the evacuations of Afghan Christian refugees.
Beck staff told Faithwire that total donations have now ballooned to $28.6 million. This stunning number comes with no help from the mainstream media and, for that matter, most other media at all – a quick Google search showed scant attention.
Beck took to Instagram yesterday to explain what is happening, saying that “yesterday was one of the more frustrating days” while explaining that “we just kept spinning wheels, there’s just chaos at the airport.”
“However, we have lots of people on the tarmac now, these Christians we told you about, and more coming. We have engaged twenty 757’s minimum all lined up, ready to go. Because you donated to the Nazarene Fund, we can do this.”
“By the end of the week, we will be able to move 7,000 Christians. It’s pretty remarkable,” Beck said.
As for prayer requests, Beck explained that “We need your prayers for people in countries who get cold feet” because anyone seen helping these refugees will be putting themselves at risk of retaliation.
“There’s been amazing response from the international community. Zimbabwe said they’ll take Christians. That’s a country struggling itself. We’ve had an amazing outpouring of countries that will take Christians.”
Beck added that some of those countries they’ve worked with want to help, but are very nervous. “The spiritual warfare going on right now. Everything has been a battle. It’s a battle of good vs. evil,” Beck explained.
Watch Beck’s full statement, which he released ahead of the first pictures of Christians being evacuated.
Joe Biden supplied the Taliban terrorist organization and their Islamist accomplices with billions of dollars worth of US armaments.
Rather than destroying the equipment before leaving the country, Joe Biden decided to leave the nearly $85 billion worth of US military equipment to the Taliban.
As The Gateway Pundit reported on Sunday — Joe Biden left 300 times more guns than those passed to the Mexican cartels in Obama’s Fast and Furious program.
A more complete list was created with public information and help from other intelligence sources. The list does not include all the extra kinds of nonlethal equipment, everything from MRE’s, Medical Equipment, and even energy drinks.
The big story might be the pallets of cash the Taliban have been posting videos of pallets of weapons and stacks of $100 bills they have seized.
Earlier this week we posted a more complete list of US-supplied equipment abandoned to the Taliban by Joe Biden.
It also appears the Taliban seized way more ScanEagle drones than the government is saying they did. There is no accounting on the number of crashed units.
Direct quote from report:
“This also raises concerns about how NAVAIR justified procuring 105 ScanEagle vehicles totaling over $32 million and spare parts totaling over $52 million, and future planned procurements.”
This week, the SIGAR audit on the $174 million drone loss disappeared from its website. Here is the link that was removed.
From 2017 to 2019, the U.S. also gave Afghan forces 7,035 machine guns, 4,702 Humvees, 20,040 hand grenades, 2,520 bombs, and 1,394 grenade launchers, according to the since removed 2020 SIGAR report
The numbers keep growing.
Here is a breakdown of estimated vehicle costs:
Armored personnel carriers such as the M113A2 cost $170,000 each and recent purchases of the M577A2 post carrier cost $333,333 each.
Mine resistant vehicles ranges from $412,000 to $767,000. The total cost could range between $382 million to $711 million.
Recovery vehicles such as the ‘truck, wrecker’ cost between for the base model $168,960 and $880,674 for super strength versions.
Medium range tactical vehicles include 5-ton cargo and general transport trucks were priced at $67,139. However, the family of MTV heavy vehicleshad prices ranging from $235,500 to $724,820 each. Cargo trucks to transport airplanes cost $800,865.
Humvees – ambulance type (range from $37,943 to $142,918 with most at $96,466); cargo type, priced at $104,682. Utility Humvees were typically priced at $91,429. However, the 12,000 lb. troop transport version cost up to $329,000.
Light tactical vehicles: Fast attack combat vehicles ($69,400); and passenger motor vehicles ($65,500). All terrain 4-wheel vehicles go up to $42,273 in the military databases.
Newsmax scored a gigantic ratings win with its wall-to-wall coverage of former President Donald Trump’s Save America rally in Alabama over the weekend.
Ratings show Newsmax doubled its audience compared with Trump’s July rally in Phoenix.
”This is a huge win for Newsmax,” said Jason Villar, vice president of research and analysis. ”We had a tremendous audience performance.”
According to Nielsen data, Newsmax coverage — including the pre-rally show hosted by Shaun Kraisman — had a reach of more than 3.3 million total viewers for Saturday’s rally, while Trump’s speech averaged a whopping 1.7 million viewers per minute.
Newsmax estimates that more than 2 million tuned in to the network through streaming devices, yielding an audience over 5 million viewers.
In addition to Newsmax’s vast cable audience, it is available for free through most OTT streaming platforms and on the Newsmax smartphone app.
Newsmax also outstripped its cable news competition for the coveted 35-64 age demographic, grabbing 647,000 viewers per minute, according to Nielsen.
Fox News, which did not carry the rally, pulled just 602,000 per minute viewers in the same time period, while CNN drew 476,000 and MSNBC was way behind at 85,000.
Newsmax also led all news networks in the key Nielsen Coverage Rating, drawing a 1.42 share to Fox’s 1.04.
The Coverage Rating measures networks on an apples-to-apples basis based on viewership over the total homes the network actually penetrates.
Fox News is available in more than 20 million more homes than Newsmax. The Coverage Rating indicates that in homes that carried both networks, Newsmax ratings were about 30% higher than Fox’s.
And those figures far exceed the ratings numbers from Trump’s rallies in Phoenix, Sarasota, Florida, and Ohio earlier this summer.
Newsmax’s P2+ reach of 3.3 million was more than double Trump’s Phoenix rally with more than 1.4 million total viewers.
Newsmax’s Saturday night programming — which was carried live from York Farms in Cullman, was to highlight Trump’s backing of Rep. Mo Brooks, who is running for U.S. Senate from Alabama.
The evening climaxed with a fiery speech by Trump, who insiders say is seriously considering a run for president in 2024 and using the rallies as a way to measure his popularity and raise campaign funds.
“I warned the entire country of the disastrous consequences of a Biden presidency,” Trump told the cheering crowd of up to 50,000 supporters. ”I understood; a lot of you understood it.”
The former commander in chief said Saturday’s rally raised a record $1.2 million for his PAC.
Pelosi was ultimately able to secure yes votes from nine moderate House Democrats for the resolution which expands the social safety net in the U.S. with new federal programs
The Democratic-led House on Tuesday authorized $3.5 trillion of spending in a party-line vote, as the national debt climbs to a record $29 trillion.
The final vote was 220-212. Of the members voting, 96 lawmakers submitted proxy letters to allow them to cast their votes remotely under a system the House adopted at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
Using budget reconciliation allowed Democrats to bypass the filibuster in the Senate and push through the $3.5 trillion resolution without votes from Republicans in the 50-50 Senate. Democrats adopted the same strategy to pass the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act, which was the second largest stimulus bill in U.S. history.
The resolution authorizes $3.5 trillion in spending on new programs like universal pre-K, tuition free community college, support for child care, Medicaid expansion, legal status for certain categories of illegal immigrants and other provisions. The formal legislative language of the reconciliation bill has not been drafted yet.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was ultimately able to secure yes votes from nine moderate House Democrats who were hesitant to vote on a $3.5 trillion resolution before voting on the Senate-passed $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill.
As part of the resolution authorizing the $3.5 trillion, Pelosi included a Sept. 27th deadline for a vote on the separate $1.2 trillion Senate-passed bill, which garnered support from moderates such as New Jersey Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer, co-chair of the House Problem Solvers Caucus.
Ahead of the vote, a fiscal watchdog group urged Democrats to oppose the resolution, estimating that it will result in $1.75 trillion of borrowing and add to the national debt. So far in the fiscal year, the deficit is $2.54 trillion. According to Treasury data, the national debt is approaching $29 trillion.
As Bennett meets Biden, IDF ramps up plans for strike on Iran’s nuke program
Military, defense minister believe a credible threat of an Israeli attack on Tehran’s nuclear facilities is only way US will be able to negotiate better deal with Islamic Republic
(Times of Israel) The Israel Defense Forces is working full tilt to develop its plans to strike Iran’s nuclear program in light of the Islamic Republic’s ongoing march toward the technology needed for an atomic weapon, and the stalled negotiations between Washington and Tehran on the matter, IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi told reporters this week.
“The progress in the Iranian nuclear program has led the IDF to speed up its operational plans, and the defense budget that was recently approved is meant to address this,” Kohavi said, speaking to military correspondents ahead of the Jewish New Year.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz issued a similar threat on Wednesday, telling foreign diplomats that Israel may have to take military action against Iran.
“The State of Israel has the means to act and will not hesitate to do so. I do not rule out the possibility that Israel will have to take action in the future in order to prevent a nuclear Iran,” Gantz said.
“Iran is only two months away from acquiring the materials necessary for a nuclear weapon. We do not know if the Iranian regime will be willing to sign an agreement and come back to the negotiation table and the international community must build a viable ‘Plan B’ in order to stop Iran in its tracks towards a nuclear weapon,” he added.
Though Iran is believed to be two months away from obtaining the fissile material needed for a bomb, the IDF has assessed that it would take at least several more months from then before Tehran would be capable of producing a deliverable weapon, needing that time to construct a core, perform tests and install the device inside a missile.
The public combative comments by Gantz and Kohavi came shortly after Prime Minister Naftali Bennett touched down in Washington for his first in-person meeting with US President Joe Biden and his staff, with Iran’s nuclear program at the top of the agenda.
“At the end of the day, the goal is to reach a ‘longer, stronger and broader’ agreement than the previous one,” Gantz said Wednesday. “The Iranian nuclear program could incite an arms race in the region and the entire world.”
Read the full story here.