Two people were arrested in New Orleans in connection to a wacky ransom plot involving a $500,000 Confederate monument stolen from an Alabama cemetery and threats to use it as a toilet unless certain demands were met.
Jason Warnick and Kathryn Diionno were charged with possession of the stolen property last week for allegedly pilfering the Jefferson Davis Memorial Chair from a cemetery in Selma, Alabama, according to Nola.com.
They were also charged with blackmailing the women’s group that owns the 500-pound stone relic, according to a press release sent to CNN from the New Orleans Police Department.
The chair was returned to the Alabama chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy last Thursday and the suspects are in police custody, AL.com reported.
The NOPD is searching for a third suspect in connection with the theft.
The bizarre events unfolded in late-March, when an “anti-racist” group called “White Lies Matter” claimed responsibility for stealing the Jefferson Davis chair from the Old Live Oak Cemetery in Alabama.
The thieves then emailed a ransom note to the United Daughters of the Confederacy, demanding the group hang a large banner from its Virginia headquarters touting a quote by convicted cop killer Assata Shakur, according to AL.com.
Shakur — who was a member of the Black Panthers and the Black Liberation Army — was jailed in 1973 for murdering New Jersey state trooper Werner Foerster.
Concerns over adverse reactions, blood clots, reports of breakthrough COVID cases in vaccinated people, vaccine contamination and scrutiny over CEO pay have plagued the roll-out of the company’s COVID vaccine.
It’s been a bumpy ride for Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) COVID vaccine rollout.
Those weren’t the only negative headlines. Last week, J&J vaccine sites in four states had to shut down after reports of adverse reactions. There also were multiple reports of COVID breakthrough cases in people who received the vaccine, marketed under its subsidiary, Janssen.
J&J is on notice regarding investigations by European and U.S. regulators for reports of blood clots in individuals who received the vaccine.
And today, the company faced more backlash from investors after its CEO was awarded a 17% pay raise while billions are being paid out for the company’s role in the nation’s opioid epidemic.
Here’s a breakdown of the five reasons J&J is having a very bad month:
1. Vaccination sites shut down in four states after more than 45 people suffer adverse reactions.
A vaccination site in Colorado, three sites in North Carolina, one in Georgia and one in Iowa shut down last week after more than 45 people suffered adverse reactions to the J&J shot.
Centura Health, which helped run the community vaccination center at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, said in a statement that 11 patients who received the vaccine experienced reactions. Two people were transferred to the hospital after medical staff determined they required additional observation. Centura officials did not specify what reactions were observed or their severity.
Health officials in Wake County, North Carolina, paused COVID vaccinations on Thursday after 18 people at the PNC Arena experienced adverse reactions and four were transferred to area hospitals. A few hours later, UNC Health’s Friday Center and Hillsborough Campus vaccination sites also stopped administering J&J’s vaccine.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analyzed the vaccine lot used at the PNC Arena and UNC sites and recommended J&J vaccinations continue.
Georgia was the third state to temporarily pause vaccinations after the Georgia Department of Public Health said eight people suffered adverse reactions at the Cumming Fairground site Wednesday. The CDC said it analyzed the vaccine lots and found no concerns.
The Pottawattamie County Health Department in Iowa paused operations April 7 after three of 35 people who received J&J’s COVID vaccine experienced adverse reactions. The site consulted with the CDC and determined the shot was safe.
Operations resumed on Thursday but the county now requires people to stay for 30 minutes instead of 15 minutes after their appointment to be monitored, KCCI News reported.
2. Reports of COVID in people fully vaccinated with J&J’s vaccine continue to mount.
A New Jersey man is in the hospital fighting for his life after being fully vaccinated against COVID, reported ABC7 NY. A woman reported she and her husband got J&J’s vaccine on March 6, but tested positive for COVID on April 1. The husband is hospitalized in critical condition and is also being treated for pneumonia.
According to the CDC, J&J’s vaccine was 66.3% effective in clinical trials, with people having the most protection two weeks after receiving the shot. Clinical trial data also indicated the vaccine was highly effective at preventing hospitalization in those who did get sick, according to the company.
Chief Health and Science Officer for the American Medical Association, Dr. Mira Irons, said on March 26 J&J’s COVID vaccine has “100% efficacy against hospitalization and death from the virus.”
Irons noted that White House Chief Medical Adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci, among other top experts said “it’s really important to focus on the severe end of the spectrum, preventing hospitalization and death.”
A Brooklyn woman, Ashley Allen, managed to avoid catching COVID during 2020, but was diagnosed with the disease three weeks after being vaccinated with J&J’s vaccine. Even after getting the one-shot vaccine, Allen said she continued to take precautions against the virus — masking up and washing her hands frequently.
“I definitely was very confused by it,” Allen said Monday, thinking perhaps it was a false positive.
As The Defender reported March 31, an increasing number of “breakthrough cases” of COVID in fully vaccinated people (including people vaccinated with Pfizer, Moderna and J&J vaccines) have been reported in Washington, Florida, South Carolina, Texas, New York, California and Minnesota. The cases included some people who required hospitalization, including at least three who died.
3. U.S. and European regulators are reviewing cases of blood clots in people who received J&J’s vaccine.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating rare blood clots in people who received the J&J vaccine, Fierce Pharma reported today.
The news came after Europe’s drug regulator said Friday it is reviewing reports of blood clots in people who received J&J’s COVID vaccine, Reuters reported.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said three serious cases of clotting and low platelets occurred in the U.S. during the rollout of J&J’s vaccine, and one person died from a clotting disorder reported during a clinical trial.
On April 7, the EMA confirmed a “possible link” between AstraZeneca’s COVID vaccine and blood clots. Like AstraZeneca, J&J uses a modified adenovirus vector as opposed to the mRNA technology used in the Moderna and Pfizer’s COVID vaccines.
J&J said it was aware of the reports of rare blood clots in individuals given its COVID vaccine and was working with regulators to assess the data and provide relevant information. The company also noted there was no causal relationship between these “rare events and the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine,” in a statement to Reuters.
U.S. lawmakers on April 12 condemned the latest attack on The Epoch Times’ printing press in Hong Kong, saying it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was behind the incident, in an attempt to silence reporting that’s critical of the regime.
In the early hours on April 12, four men wearing face masks—two of whom wielded sledgehammers—barged into the printing warehouse and smashed machinery and computers for around two minutes before leaving with a computer.
No staff members were injured during the incident.
The intruders caused extensive damage and the newspaper’s Hong Kong edition has been forced to suspend its operations for the foreseeable future.
The attack is the fifth time the site has been vandalized since its establishment in 2006, and came less than 18 months after four masked intruders set fire to the same facility during the height of the pro-democracy protests in the city. Those perpetrators were never caught.
“The repeated, violent attacks on The Epoch Times shock the conscience,” Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement. “Clearly, the Chinese Communist Party and its street thugs cannot abide any media outlet reporting the f
CHD Chairman Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Dr. Joseph Mercola discuss how the narrative perpetuated by Big Pharma and Big Tech — that “vaccines are the only way to restore normalcy” — is leading to the destruction of our Constitutional rights.
In the latest episode of “TRUTH” with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Kennedy interviews Dr. Joseph Mercola on the fear-driven COVID-19 narrative, ongoing efforts to resist government restrictions and the loss of freedom seen around the world.
Highlights from their wide-ranging discussion include:
Notes about the soon-to-be-released book “The Truth About COVID-19,” by Mercola and Ronnie Cummins. Kennedy, who wrote the forward to the book, says the pandemic is being used to shift wealth upwards, abolish civil rights and destroy democracy. The official release of the book is April 29.
The massive effort from the get-go to sell the idea that the only possible way to control COVID was through masks and lockdowns.
How the public was largely conditioned to believe the world needed to wait on a vaccine for any meaningful intervention against COVID.
How government officials and the media suppressed information about potential treatments such as hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin.
How personal data collected by Google over the past nearly two decades is being used to manipulate public behavior.
How Google searches steer people away from anything that goes against Pharma’s narrative including natural health, chiropractors and nutrition.
The Democrats for Life of America hosted a “Save Hyde National Day of Action.” The flagship rally took place in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, with the U.S. Capitol Building in the background.
Satellite events took place in 21 different locations nationwide. Dan Green, DFLA’s national communications director, estimated in an interview with The Christian Post that up to 1,000 people would likely attend the events.
The day of action comes just one month after President Joe Biden signed into law a coronavirus relief package that did not have Hyde Amendment protections guaranteeing that federal tax dollars can’t be used to pay for abortions in most cases.
“If [Democrats] keep going down this road, where they want to fund abortion and ignore the needs of women, … it’s going to be a tough 2022 for Democrats,” DFLA Executive Director Kristen Day told CP.
The Hyde Amendment has existed in some form since 1976, three years after the Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade. Every year, the amendment has been affirmed by Congress as part of a Department of Health and Human Services appropriations bill. The most recent version of the measure included exceptions for Medicaid funds to fund abortions in the case of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother.
Both before and after the 2020 presidential election, top congressional Democrats vowed to do away with the Hyde Amendment. Polling has shown that restrictions on tax dollars being used to fund abortions enjoy wide support among the American public.
Between three and four dozen people gathered in front of the Supreme Court to show support for the measure.
While Democrats for Life of America hosted the event, the event featured speakers and attendees from all political persuasions and religious backgrounds.
A new financial report confirmed President Trump’s assertion he not only did not profit off the presidency, but actually grew less wealthy as a result of his service to the American people.
This is according to estimates by Forbes, which were published in their annual Billionaires List on Tuesday. It assessed his net worth at $2.4 billion, which is down from $3.5 billion in 2017 at the onset of the Trump administration.
That means despite four years of accusations from the left that President Trump was enriching himself from the White House, his time in office actually cost him about 32 percent of his total wealth. This confirms the truth behind his numerous statements on the matter.
“I think I will, in a combination of loss and opportunity, probably it’ll cost me anywhere from three to $5 billion to be President,” he previously stated. “And the only thing I care about is this country…couldn’t care less, otherwise.”
Moreover, the analysis performed by Forbes and verified by industry experts also projected that had President Trump sold off all his assets and used the proceeds to invest in the stock market, he would have made himself $1.6 billion richer.
This is due to the thriving stock market overseen by the Trump administration and boosted by a business-friendly overhaul of the U.S. tax code, which was spearheaded by President Trump. According to Forbes, he refused to “cash in on a market boom he helped propel.”
Biden needs to ‘enforce the law’ to control border surge, argues Tom Homan
Former acting ICE director Tom Homan told FOX Business’ “Mornings with Maria” that the Biden administration sending taxpayer money to Central Americans to stop them from coming to the U.S. will not actually deter them. Homan went on to say that it will actually help illegals pay an “alien smuggler” to get them across the border.
TOM HOMAN: …as far as sending payments to Central Americans not to come? That’s the single most dumb idea I’ve heard in my entire career. You’re going to send money down. That’s not what we’re going to do. They’re going to turn around, take that cash and hire an alien smuggler to get into the United States. So now we’re actually going to finance the criminal conspiracy from here down there. Taxpayer money, U.S. taxpayers money being given to them to hire alien smugglers. And let’s say they don’t hire an alien smuggler. At what point is this just all foolishness? Why don’t we start paying U.S. citizens money so they don’t break the law? This is just ridiculous.
People on the volcano-stricken island of St. Vincent have been told by the country’s Prime Minister that they won’t be rescued if they haven’t taken the COVID vaccine.
Yes, really.
Cruise ships were dispatched to evacuate the island after the 4,000-foot high volcano La Soufrière erupted on Friday.
However, Ralph Gonsalves, the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, gave a press conference warning that those who hadn’t taken the jab would be left to fend for themselves.
“The chief medical officer would be identifying the persons already vaccinated so that we can get them on the ship,” Gonsalves said.
We went from vaccine passports being a conspiracy theory to “fuck you, die” so fast though pic.twitter.com/DULibV7gLn
16,000 people are being evacuated from the ‘red zone’ areas of the island that are most at risk, but that number won’t include those who for whatever reason haven’t taken the shot.
The leaders of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said Sunday they are “flattered” to be on the list of those the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has sanctioned.
Gayle Manchin and Tony Perkins, the chairman and vice chairman of the USCIRF, wrote in Sunday’s Wall Street Journal that the CCP sanctions represent “a desperate attempt to silence international scrutiny of Beijing’s abysmal human-rights record, particularly its genocidal policies against the Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang and its persecution of other religious minorities.”
“We won’t be intimidated or silenced,” the chairmen stated, and “we are proud that USCIRF has long been at the forefront in exposing the Communist Party’s egregious religious-freedom violations.”
They went on:
In fact, we’re flattered by the Chinese government’s recognition for our work in defending religious freedom in China, as we join an increasing list of courageous American, European and other officials on whom the party has likewise applied sanctions for standing up to a regime that has violated its obligations under the Genocide Convention.
As Breitbart News reported, last summer the USCIRF accused the Chinese government of creating “an Orwellian surveillance state with an unprecedented ability to gather private information about its citizens,” which it is using to monitor Christians and other religious minorities.
“Those who believed shared all things in common; they would sell their property and goods, dividing everything on the basis of each one’s needs.”
Thus does the Acts of the Apostles describe the “communal life” of the early Christians.
This, I think, is the root of the attraction some Catholics feel toward the communist ideal: what we might call the “commune-ism: of the early Church, as distinct from modern day communist systems.
Indeed, Catholics drawn to the communist ideal will point out that “true communism” has never actually existed on a large scale, national level. I would submit that it never will, because it never can.
The communal approach of the early Church is easily seen as the Christian ideal. It has flourished, in various forms, throughout the history of Catholicism, in monastic life, among certain religious orders, in some lay movements and communities.
It works for several reasons: it is voluntary, the communities are small, and all who participate believe in and are committed to its ideals.
And these are precisely the reasons that large scale, government-imposed communist systems do not work—and are morally unacceptable.
They deny human freedom. One does not have to be a “greedy capitalist” to want one’s own property—to be in business for oneself, to work one’s own land, or just to have a home for one’s family.
As Pope Leo XIII made clear in Rerum Novarum, his seminal encyclical on Catholic social teaching, the Church upholds the right of the individual to own property as the just fruits of one’s labor.
We are all free to voluntarily give away what we have, or decline to possess anything of our own. And yes, our Church teaches that we ought not hoard more than we need, while others suffer from want. But it is morally wrong for a coercive government to dispossess us of what is rightfully ours, to force us into a communal way of living that we do not choose for ourselves.
The vastness and diversity of large-scale communist societies also make them unworkable and morally problematic.
It is one thing for a small group of like-minded people to come together voluntarily in a commune, all holding the same beliefs and values and agreeing to the same rules and practices, the appropriate use of their shared resources, and the relinquishing of personal freedom and individual possessions.
It is quite another thing to force together an entire nation of diverse people, with different values, different religious beliefs, different priorities in their lives, require them to surrender any freedom to act according to their beliefs, values, and priorities, and deny them the discretion to use the resources they have earned in furtherance of those beliefs, values, and priorities.
