#Nydia Velázquez

[corrupcionenpr]

Nydia Velázquez y AOC dominan la discusión pública a tan solo tres semanas de la elección

Anibal Acevedo Vilá dice las cosas como deben de decirse, y muy bien que no haya titubeado para decirle al partido Popular las cosas como son.

[lacolonia]

¡El Cambio Va!

Por: Pamela Hernández Cabiya

Publicado: Oct 16, 2024 01:32 PM

Juan R. Costa / NotiCel

Las congresistas Nydia Velázquez y Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (AOC) endosaron a los candidatos de La Alianza del MVC y el PIP

La Alianza entre el Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana (MVC) y el Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño (PIP), fue endosado hoy por las congresistas Nydia Velázquez y Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, asegurando que Puerto Rico necesita un cambio inmediato de gobierno.

Según se expresaron en conferencia de prensa junto a varios militantes de la Alianza, el endoso llega luego de entender que el Partido Popular Democrático (PPD), no representa los mejores intereses del pueblo puertorriqueño.

“Yo creo que este es un momento histórico para el pueblo de Puerto Rico. Estamos aquí para dejar inequívocamente claro que las campañas de miedo no nos amedrentan ni a mi ni a los cientos de miles de puertorriqueños que sueñan con un Puerto Rico diferente”, expresó Velázquez.

“Hoy de frente abrazo la esperanza y doy mi endoso a Juan Dalmau para gobernador de Puerto Rico, Ana Irma Rivera Lassén para la comisaría en Washington, Manuel Natal para alcalde de San Juan y el resto de los candidatos de la Alianza”, añadió.

Velázquez, que siempre se ha proclamado popular y quien fue impulsada por el propio exgobernador popular, Rafael Hernández Colón como directora del Departamento de Asuntos de la Comunidad Puertorriqueña en los Estados Unidos, resaltó que es una idea errónea la campaña de la llegada de la independencia si Dalmau es el electo por el pueblo.

“Algunos pensarán que mi presencia aquí se da como consecuencia de las expresiones que hice en contra de la desesperada campaña de miedo que han lanzado contra la Alianza y Juan Dalmau sobre la llegada de la independencia de forma automática…”, sostuvo la congresista.

“Los puertorriqueños ... no van a perder el Medicaid mientras ella (Alexandria Ocasio) y yo estemos en el Congreso”, prometió.

Juan R. Costa / NotiCel

Mientras, la congresista Ocasio Cortez que representa el Distrito 14 de Nueva York, añadió a las palabras de Velázquez que era momento de escoger líderes que trabajen por el pueblo y no para su propio beneficio.

“Estoy aquí porque yo se que Puerto Rico está listo para el cambio. No tengo que decir que el pueblo de Puerto Rico ha sufrido apagones, tormentas y dos tipos de desastres, porque hay dos tipos de desastres: los desastres naturales y los desastres de corrupción y liderazgo deficiente”, apuntó.

“Ya es momento de elegir un gobierno que trabaje para todo el pueblo y no para unos pocos privilegiados. El pueblo de Puerto Rico merece un gobierno libre de corrupción y escándalo. La corrupción nos ha costado demasiado…”, comentó.

Tanto Manuel Natal, candidato a la alcaldía de San Juan, como Ana Irma Rivera Lassén, candidata a comisionada residente, agradecieron el endoso y expresaron que este endoso es una muestra más de que van por buen camino.

NotiCel

Video: Juan R. Costa / NotiCel – jcosta@noticel.com

[iwriteaboutfeminism]

Signers include:

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Mark Pocan,Betty McCollum, Rashida Tlaib, Cori Bush, James McGovern, Mary Gay Scanlon, Raúl Grijalva, Pramila Jayapal, Joaquin Castro, Delia Ramirez, Henry Johnson, Greg Casar, Jesús “Chuy” Garcia, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Nydia Velázquez, Ayanna Pressley, Jonathan Jackson, Barbara Lee, André Carson, Jamaal Bowman, Summer Lee, Veronica Escobar, and Ilhan Omar.

If any of these are your Congresspeople, call to thank them!

If your Congressperson isn't listed here, call to say you want them to support a ceasefire.

Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121

[spicyseal]

18 Representatives out of 435 Representatives and 100 Senators.

That's how many U.S. Congresspeople support a ceasefire in occupied Palestine. That's how few of our leaders want peace. 18 Representatives and 0 Senators. Not even Bernie Sanders, the most progressive Senator, who campaigned for President on stopping endless wars, supports a ceasefire. Likelihood is, all of your elected representatives support Israel's genocide of the Palestinian people.

It is abhorrent, and yet not surprising, that the leaders of the United States have still not learned from this country's genocidal history. In fact, the people of the United States support a ceasefire even as our elected representatives do not:

A Data for Progress national poll conducted from October 18-19 found that 66 percent of voters in the U.S. support a ceasefire and de-escalation of violence in Gaza. Specifically, 80 percent of Democratic voters support a ceasefire, 57 percent of Independent or third party voters support a ceasefire, and 56 percent of Republican voters support a ceasefire. Americans support a ceasefire.

Ask yourself, why aren't our representatives following the will of the people who voted for them?

The only Representatives who support a ceasefire are:

Cori Bush

Jonathan Jackson

Jamaal Bowman

André Carson

Jesús "Chuy" García

Summer Lee

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Ilhan Omar

Ayanna Pressley

Delia Ramirez

Rashida Tlaib

Nydia Velázquez

Bonnie Watson Coleman

Gregorio Casar

Pramila Jayapal

Barbara Lee

Alma Adams

Maxwell Frost

Those Representatives are the ones who actually care about the lives of innocent Palestinians and who are actually listening to their voters. If your Representative is not on this list, take that into account when the 2024 primaries and general election come around. Your Senators are all not on this list, so take that into account as well. "Vote blue no matter who" and attitudes like that don't make your representatives work for you, because they know they have your votes anyway.

If you want your representatives to fight for the Palestinian people's freedom, then you must push them to. Tell them to support Palestine, and if they won't, then elect people who will. The vocal support for Palestine on social media is important, but voting accordingly would do even more to push the United States to end its support of Israel. At the end of the day, the United States is Israel's most powerful ally, and without U.S. support it would be much harder for them to continue their genocide.

Free Palestine.

[xxxjarchiexxx]

As of October 16, Hamas claims that twenty-two of the Israelis they took hostage have been killed by Israel’s air strikes. Though it’s impossible to know if this is true, it’s difficult to look at the massive destruction being doled out in Gaza and not think that at least some hostages have died in the bombardment. While Israel continues to bomb innocent Palestinians as well as the hostages they’re supposedly trying to save, the Israeli state has circulated images of stolen children around the globe in an attempt to justify its war crimes. Last week, after New York congresswoman Nydia Velázquez signed onto a US congressional resolution calling for a cease-fire, pro-Israel activists protested outside her office to get her to abandon the pro-peace position. The activists displayed posters bearing the faces of Israeli hostages with the words “Nydia Supports Terrorism” printed in big bold letters. Similar images of Israeli hostages can be seen postered around New York City subways, college campuses, and other public spaces. The aftermath of Hamas’s release of some hostages last week illustrated the importance of the captives to Israel’s framing efforts. One of the freed hostages, eighty-five-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz, gave a press conference at the Ichilov Hospital, where she was treated after being released, and said she had been held in good conditions. Afterward, a nurse treating Lifshitz reported that hospital staff had been instructed to not speak to the public about the treatment Lifshitz received in captivity, and Lifshitz’s family claims they received the same instructions. None of this is to suggest Hamas is necessarily treating all of the captives well, or that the hostages shouldn’t be released immediately as part of a cease-fire. But if Israel was serious about rescuing its hostages, it would not be bombing them or cutting off their access to food, water, energy, and medical care. It would not be refusing to trade any of its thousands of Palestinian prisoners for them. (The Iranian government also claimed on October 16 that Hamas would be willing to give up the hostages in exchange for an end to Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.) There are other reasons to doubt the sincerity of the Israeli government. It took until October 15, over a week after the hostages were taken, for Netanyahu to meet with representatives of their families. At the meeting, an attendee unknown to the other family members argued in favor of Netanyahu’s scorched-earth approach, telling them, “[I love my relatives] no less than the rest of you love your own family members. But at the end, we have to look at the people of Israel and the future of our existence here.” Many of the family members in the room and others in the Israeli media have since accused the attendee of being planted to shore up support for Israel’s war policy. In an interview, Yasmin Porat — an Israeli inhabitant of Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the kibbutzim attacked by Hamas on October 7 — testified that she and other hostages were held by Hamas for two days, until the arrival of the Israeli Defense Forces on October 9. She said that the Israeli soldiers killed Hamas militants and Israeli hostages alike, and an Israeli tank blasted buildings where hostages were held. During the fighting, according to another resident of the kibbutz who was away at the time, “at least 112 Be’eri people were killed.”

29 October 2023

[walohd]

En este episodio de exploramos las sorprendentes declaraciones de la congresista Nydia Velázquez. También, revivimos los tiempos de los memes en Twitter y las tensiones dentro del Partido Popular Democrático (PPD), todo bajo el característico humor ácido que distingue a Walo. ¡Prepárate para un recorrido lleno de risas, reflexiones y controversias políticas!

[wulf1]

IS YOUR ELECTED REP ONE OF THESE ?

The 158 Democrats who voted against the bill are:

Alma Adams, North Carolina

Pete Aguilar, California

Gabe Amo, Rhode Island

Jake Auchincloss, Massachusetts

Becca Balint, Vermont

Nanette Barragán, California

Joyce Beatty, Ohio

Ami Bera, California

Donald Beyer, Virginia

Sanford D. Bishop Jr., Georgia

Earl Blumenauer, Oregon

Suzanne Bonamici, Oregon

Lisa Blunt Rochester, Delaware

Jamaal Bowman, New York

Shontel Brown, Ohio

Julia Brownley, California

Cori Bush, Missouri

Salud Carbajal, California

Tony Cárdenas, California

André Carson, Indiana

Troy Carter, Louisiana

Greg Casar, Texas

Ed Case, Hawaii

Sean Casten, Illinois

Kathy Castor, Florida

Joaquin Castro, Texas

Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Florida

Judy Chu, California

Katherine Clark, Massachusetts

Yvette Clarke, New York

Emanuel Cleaver, Missouri

James Clyburn, South Carolina

Steve Cohen, Tennessee

Gerald Connolly, Virginia

Luis Correa, California

Jim Costa, California

Jasmine Crockett, Texas

Jason Crow, Colorado

Danny Davis, Illinois

Madeleine Dean, Pennsylvania

Diana DeGette, Colorado

Rosa DeLauro, Connecticut

Suzan DelBene, Washington

Mark DeSaulnier, California

Debbie Dingell, Michigan

Lloyd Doggett, Texas

Veronica Escobar, Texas

Anna Eshoo, California

Adriano Espaillat, New York

Lizzie Fletcher, Texas

Bill Foster, Illinois

Valerie Foushee, North Carolina

Lois Frankel, Florida

Maxwell Frost, Florida

John Garamendi, California

Jesús "Chuy" Garcia, Illinois

Robert Garcia, California

Sylvia Garcia, Texas

Dan Goldman, New York

Jimmy Gomez, California

Al Green, Texas

James Himes, Connecticut

Steny Hoyer, Maryland

Valerie Hoyle, Oregon

Jared Huffman, California

Glenn Ivey, Maryland

Jonathan Jackson, Illinois

Sara Jacobs, California

Pramila Jayapal, Washington

Hakeem Jeffries, New York

Henry "Hank" Johnson, Georgia

Sydney Kamlager-Dove, California

Bill Keating, Massachusetts

Robin Kelly, Illinois

Ro Khanna, California

Dan Kildee, Michigan

Derek Kilmer, Washington

Andy Kim, New Jersey

Raja Krishnamoorthi, Illinois

Ann Kuster, New Hampshire

Greg Landsman, Ohio

Rick Larsen, Washington

John Larson, Connecticut

Barbara Lee, California

Summer Lee, Pennsylvania

Teresa Leger Fernandez, New Mexico

Ted Lieu, California

Zoe Lofgren, California

Doris Matsui, California

Lucy McBath, Georgia

Jennifer McClellan, Virginia

Betty McCollum, Minnesota

Morgan McGarvey, Kentucky

James McGovern, Massachusetts

Gregory Meeks, New York

Rob Menendez, New Jersey

Grace Meng, New York

Kweisi Mfume, Maryland

Gwen Moore, Wisconsin

Joseph Morelle, New York

Seth Moulton, Massachusetts

Kevin Mullin, California

Jerrold Nadler, New York

Grace Napolitano, California

Richard Neal, Massachusetts

Joe Neguse, Colorado

Donald Norcross, New Jersey

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York

Ilhan Omar, Minnesota

Frank Pallone, New Jersey

Nancy Pelosi, California

Scott Peters, California

Brittany Pettersen, Colorado

Dean Phillips, Minnesota

Chellie Pingree, Maine

Mark Pocan, Wisconsin

Katie Porter, California

Ayanna Pressley, Massachusetts

Mike Quigley, Illinois

Delia Ramirez, Illinois

Jamie Raskin, Maryland

Deborah Ross, North Carolina

Raul Ruiz, California

C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, Maryland

Linda Sánchez, California

John Sarbanes, Maryland

Mary Scanlon, Pennsylvania

Janice Schakowsky, Illinois

Adam Schiff, California

Bradley Schneider, Illinois

Robert "Bobby" Scott, Virginia

David Scott, Georgia

Terri Sewell, Alabama

Brad Sherman, California

Darren Soto, Florida

Melanie Stansbury, New Mexico

Haley Stevens, Michigan

Marilyn Strickland, Washington

Mark Takano, California

Shri Thanedar, Michigan

Mike Thompson, California

Bennie Thompson, Mississippi

Rashida Tlaib, Michigan

Jill Tokuda, Hawaii

Paul Tonko, New York

Norma Torres, California

Ritchie Torres, New York

Lori Trahan, Massachusetts

David Trone, Maryland

Lauren Underwood, Illinois

Juan Vargas, California

Marc Veasey, Texas

Nydia Velázquez, New York

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Florida

Maxine Waters, California

Bonnie Watson Coleman, New Jersey

Nikema Williams, Georgia

Frederica Wilson, Florida.

Democrats proudly against citizen

VOTE TRUMP 2024

[corrupcionenpr]

Anticipado endoso de las congresistas Nydia Velázquez y AOC a candidatos de la Alianza

Aquí las reacciones al anticipado endoso que las congresistas Nydia Velázquez y Alexandria Ocasio Cortez darán a los candidatos de la Alianza

[lacolonia]

El peor enemigo de la estadidad

Captura de pantalla

Cómo NO lograr la estadidad para Puerto Rico:

• El que decide si un territorio se admite como estado es el Congreso.

• No hay plebiscito que obligue al Congreso hacer absolutamente nada. El Congreso es soberano.

• Los Republicanos del Congreso ya han declarado que ellos no votarán para darle la estadidad a Puerto Rico. Punto.

• Las congresistas Demócratas Nydia Velázquez y Alexandria Ocasio Cortez acaban de hacer público que no apoyan en nada al PNP.

• Los Demócratas del Congreso no votarán en contra de lo que digan Velázquez y Ocasio porque ellas tienen voz y voto en el pleno del Congreso. No te equivoques, boricua. Fíjate siempre cómo se bate el cobre en la realidad.

Conclusión: La estadidad no se le concederá a Puerto Rico mientras sea el PNP el que pretenda traerla.

Usa tu catrueca, estadista. El peor enemigo de la estadidad es el PNP.

No permitas que esos jaibas te sigan cogiendo de zoquete.

[plethoraworldatlas]

Nearly 40 House Democrats voted against a measure to send around $26 billion more to Israel as it continues its war on Gaza that human rights experts have deemed a genocide.

While the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act passed the Republican-led House by a vote of 366-58, party insiders said it was significant that such a large number of Democrats had opposed it, with more centrist lawmakers joining progressives who have called for a cease-fire since October.

"Despite the weapons aid package passing, this is the largest number of Democratic lawmakers to vote against unrestricted weapons aid for Israel in recent memory," senior Democratic strategist Waleed Shahid observed on social media.

...

Senior Democrats who opposed the funding included Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.)

The bill earmarks around $4 billion for Israel's missile defense systems and more than $9 billion for humanitarian aid to Gaza, according toThe Associated Press. However, while lawmakers approved of individual expenditures, they balked at giving more unconditional military aid to the far-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"U.S. law demands that we withhold weapons to anyone who frustrates the delivery of U.S. humanitarian aid, and President Biden's own recent National Security Memorandum requires countries that use U.S.-provided weapons to adhere to U.S. and international law regarding the protection of civilians," McGovern said in a statement explaining his vote. "To date, Netanyahu has failed to comply. It's time for President Biden to use our leverage to demand change."

Nearly 20 Democratic representatives released a joint statement explaining their vote. They were McGovern, Doggett, Watson Coleman, Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Becca Balint (D-Vt.), Greg Casar (D-Texas), Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), André Carson (D-Ind.), Jesús "Chuy" García (D-Ill.), Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.), and Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii).

"This is a moment of great consequence—the world is watching," the lawmakers wrote. "Today is, in many ways, Congress' first official vote where we can weigh in on the direction of this war. If Congress votes to continue to supply offensive military aid, we make ourselves complicit in this tragedy."

[sudorm-rfslash]

His name is Jerry Nadler (D-NY)! If you want to get rid of unconditionally pro-Israel politicians but keep the critics, familiarize yourself with your senators and your representative and where they stand on this issue so you don't withhold your vote from someone who actually agrees with you. I live in NY so both my senators (Chuck Schumer and Kristin Gillibrand) suck but my representative (Nydia Velázquez) has pretty good takes

"There was a time in this country where you had to have loyalty to Israel was considered an antisemitic slur ... The concept of 'dual-loyalty' was considered an antisemitic slur"

💯💯💯

[masterofd1saster]

CJ current events 18apr24

Amusing point by National Review

Senator Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) and other Senate Democrats are broaching an uncomfortable suggestion: Sonia Sotomayor should retire while the party still has the White House and 51 senators. They have a point, if a coldly calculating one: Sotomayor, who will turn 70 in June, may not be that old, but she requires a nurse to travel with her, and it could be years before Democrats have both the presidency and the Senate majority again. If Republicans were to replace Sotomayor with a conservative, they’d have a seven-justice bloc that could take a very long time to flip back to majority-liberal. But Supreme Court justices do not like to be told what to do, and identity politics is impeding Machiavellianism. Representative Nydia Velázquez (D., N.Y.), for example, railed against “forcing the only Latina on the Court to retire.” Pressure from the White House is unlikely because it would require Joe Biden’s team to acknowledge his vulnerability in this election—and the actuarial tables.

Let me know how that works out for you....

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Kill a few people, destroy a bridge on an interstate, and people will notice

The FBI has opened a federal criminal probe into the March 26 bridge collapse in Maryland, the Washington Post reported on Monday, citing two U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The investigation will at least partly focus on the Dali cargo ship and whether its crew left the port in Baltimore knowing the ship had serious problems with its systems, the Post said. Representatives for the FBI could not be immediately reached to comment on the report.*** https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/maryland-bridge-collapse/2024/04/15/id/1161028

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At what point did that seem like a good idea?

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What's the worst that could happen with bail reform? YOLO!!

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — More details are coming out after Memphis Police Officer Joseph McKinney was shot and killed while responding to a call early Friday morning.  According to court records, the man accused of killing him had previously been released from jail on felony charges without bail by a Shelby County judge. 18-year-old Jaylen Lobley was identified by the Memphis Police Association as the suspect who was shot and killed early Friday morning after Memphis Police said he shot and killed Officer McKinney, also shooting two other MPD officers in the incident.  Interim Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis said the suspect shot McKinney and the two other officers with a Glock switch, a device that converts a semi-automatic handgun into a fully-automatic sub-machine gun.  Lobley was arrested in March 2024 for possessing such a switch while stealing a car, admitting to stealing both an Infiniti Q50 and Dodge Charger, reported stolen March 2 and March 3 respectively.  Officers found the handgun after arresting him on March 5. The 18-year-old told investigators he took the gun from a car he was trying to steal about six months prior.  He was charged with two counts of motor vehicle theft, unlawful possession of a weapon, prohibited weapon and two counts of vandalism. On March 7, Lobley was released on his own recognizance — with conditions that included agreeing to weekly call-ins and curfew — approved by the General Sessions court. However, the judge who released the suspect without bond was not named in the Shelby County judicial system. *** https://www.localmemphis.com/article/news/crime/man-mpd-officer-killed-shooting-released-from-jail-by-shelby-county-judge/522-42482bcb-d8b3-4124-a32c-855c48a807f1

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Babylon Bee

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Shotguns make great attention getters

A group of thieves smashed up an Oakland jewelry store, stealing valuables from the broken glass cases before a man with a shotgun chased them off ... and, it was all caught on video. Eight people ran into Phuong Jewelry in Oakland's Chinatown neighborhood Wednesday ... bashing cases with hammers and making off with a ton of the store's pieces. Check out the vid ... the first person walks in holding what appears to be a gun and aiming it at the store's owner, Diane Trinh, and another person, forcing them to drop to the ground -- before the other assailants start to smash in the cases. After a few seconds, Diane runs to the back to get her 76-year-old husband ... who comes into the store with his own gun, chasing off the robbers who'd already grabbed a ton of jewelry. Diane and her son, Tony, spoke with KGO-TV about the attack ... reportedly telling the outlet the robbers made off with between 85-90% of their inventory in the quick strike.*** https://www.tmz.com/2024/04/12/oakland-robbers-ransack-jewelry-store-wild-video-shows-crime-gun/

They have no insurance.

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Go granny!!

The 85-year-old mother of a disabled son committed a "justifiable homicide" in Idaho when she shot an armed burglar who snuck into her home and threatened to "kill her multiple times," a county prosecutor said.

Christine Jenneiahn presented "one of the most heroic acts of self-preservation" that Bingham County prosecutor Ryan Jolley has ever heard of when she shot and killed 39-year-old Derek Condon, according to an incident review written Tuesday.***

She did the world a favor.

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bootcamp leave

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas - A member of the United States Marine Corps has been arrested and charged with several jewelry store heists after investigators say he stole more than a half million dollars worth of expensive goods.*** "He was being taken into custody and his dog tags fell out. He did tell us he was in the U.S. military," says Constable Herman. Marcelo Hernandez is just 18 years old. Investigators say Hernandez would wear black and burst into these stores overnight when they were closed. Yurman was hit days after the young Marine returned to town. "Actually, he just recently finished his boot camp in the Marine Corps about a week before one of our cases," the Constable adds. When the teenager was arrested, Constable Herman said three handguns, $11,000 in cash, and $500,000 worth of jewelry including diamonds and other precious stones were found in his car, a Mercedes-Benz GLA.*** https://www.fox26houston.com/news/u-s-marine-arrested-for-several-jewelry-store-heists

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You may think you went to a bad public HS, but

HOUSTON - A Houston teen and her mother spoke exclusively to FOX 26 after seeing Kedria Grigsby, a former Klein ISD cosmetology teacher, was arrested for solicitation of prostitution and sex trafficking on April 8. The young woman, who we'll refer to as Jane Doe, says she was a victim in the 2022 case that led to the arrest of Grigsby's son, Roger Magee, on similar charges and would interact with Grigsby often during her time with Magee. Doe, who was 15-years-old at the time, says she met Magee through a mutual friend while out shopping and told her Magee would take care of her and give her money. "She left out the part that I had to sell my body," she said. "When he (Magee) picked me up from the front of my apartment, he was running everything down to me. He basically told me I had no way out." Doe said she started out walking along the Bissonett track with other prostitutes. A week later, her pictures were placed on websites. She and two other young women would each have sex with at least 10 different men each night in various hotels, one of them being Hotel Royale off FM 1960. The young woman says she and her mother were arguing at the time of her disappearance. Oct. 7 2022 was the last time her mom says she heard from her. While searching, she gained access to her daughter's Instagram messages and reached out to a man she'd never seen before.*** [When people complained, the school district] said those claims were false. A spokesperson from the district stated they immediately contacted the Sheriff's office after the complaint was filed last year, and were told by investigators that Grigsby was not a suspect. They also stated action was immediately taken after Grigsby was arrested on April 8, and they take matters involving their students very seriously. Similar statements were made in a Friday morning email to all Klein ISD parents. "Kedria Grigsby continued to have a clear background check and clear criminal record until she was arrested on Monday, April 8, 2024," Klein ISD Superintendent Dr. Jenny McGown stated in the message. "We will continue working with the Harris County Sheriff's Office in their ongoing investigation, and we implore the criminal justice system to take every appropriate action to protect our children."*** https://www.fox26houston.com/news/houston-teen-victim-former-klein-isd-teacher-son-sex-trafficking-case

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Alec, you're next

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer sentenced Hannah Gutierrez Reed to 18 months in prison after a jury found her guilty of involuntary manslaughter. The "Rust" armorer was responsible for the firearms on the Western film set where cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot and killed on Oct. 21, 2021. Hutchins had been preparing a close-up shot when a gun Alec Baldwin was holding discharged. The 18-month sentence was the maximum time Gutierrez Reed could serve. She has currently spent about a month behind bars.*** Sommer slammed Gutierrez Reed's jailhouse calls, pointing out that the armorer spoke to someone about how "this is messing up her modeling career."*** Special prosecutors included summaries of Gutierrez Reed's phone calls in which she referred to the jury as "f---ing idiots." "Hannah says the jury was so f---ing stupid and they couldn't tell what was happening," Kari Morrissey wrote. "She calls the jury f---ing idiots."*** The prosecution largely focused on Gutierrez Reed's behavior as an armorer, alleging she didn't do her job correctly. "Hannah Gutierrez knew that Baldwin was loose. She knew it," Morrissey said during closing arguments. "She didn't do anything about it, even though it was her job. It was her job. It is her job to say to an A-list actor, if, in fact, that's what you want to call him, 'Hey, you can't behave that way with those firearms.' That is her job. That is what they pay her for. That is the job that she applied for. That is the job that she accepted."***

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About time

The Federal Bureau of Prisons is closing a women’s prison in California infamous for rampant sexual abuse against inmates. Federal Correctional Institution Dublin is set to close due to a violent reputation that contributed to its nickname as the “rape club,” the embattled BOP announced. The Associated Press exposed the prison’s problems in an investigation that revealed “rampant sexual abuse by correctional officers and even the warden,” where inmates said they “were often threatened or punished when they tried to speak up.”  Other issues such as hazardous mold, asbestos, and poor medical care, also plagued the prison.  Despite the federal agency’s attempted rehabilitation of the facility, which included moves to “address culture, recruitment and retention, aging infrastructure — and most critical — employee misconduct,” it still chose to close the prison. “Despite these steps and resources, we have determined that FCI Dublin is not meeting expected standards and that the best course of action is to close the facility,” BOP Director Colette Peters said in a statement to the outlet. “This decision is being made after ongoing evaluation of the effectiveness of those unprecedented steps and additional resources.”***

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California, not surprising

For a state that wishes to be one of the nation’s agenda-setters and serve as a model for the country, California is woefully weak when it comes to protecting children from sex crimes. GOP state Sen. Shannon Grove has introduced a bill that would make it a felony to purchase or solicit a child for sex. As you can assume based on that sentence, purchasing a child for sex in California is just a misdemeanor right now, with a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a fine of $10,000. Grove’s bill would make it a felony punishable by up to four years in prison and a $25,000 fine, and it would require offenders to register as sex offenders for 10 years. Efforts to do this have failed in California since 2014, meaning that for the past decade, California has considered the possibility of upgrading purchasing a child for sex to a felony and chosen against it. Even now, Grove said she is getting pushback from state legislators who are worried about giving more prison time to people who are found guilty of purchasing a child for sex.*** https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/beltway-confidential/2966768/why-is-california-so-slow-to-protect-children-from-sex-crimes/

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Free Press makes good points

It’s been a week since we published NPR veteran Uri Berliner’s essay detailing how the broadcaster has lost its way, and the fallout continues. NPR CEO Katherine Maher is still being haunted by her old tweets. A former senior NPR executive has said Berliner identified a “real problem.” And yesterday, NPR’s own media reporter revealed that Berliner was suspended without pay for a week and issued a “final warning” as punishment for writing for The Free Press. Oh, and the (second?) richest man in the world is keeping tabs.  The ongoing saga at NPR is of a piece with a growing closed-mindedness across the West, as are two other stories this week, one in Brussels and one at USC in L.A. Let’s start with Brussels, where police yesterday shut down a gathering of prominent European right-wingers after the local mayor banned the event to “ensure public security.” 

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Speakers at the National Conservatism Conference included Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, Brexit standard-bearer Nigel Farage, French politician Éric Zemmour, and Suella Braverman, who was, until recently, Britain’s home secretary. In other words, this was not a group of brownshirted goons planning a street fight, but major figures on the European political right, ranging from the mainstream to the more radical.  In a farcical-sounding standoff, a group of cops entered the event as Farage was speaking, then retreated. It was less of a shutdown and more a blockade: attendees were banned from entering or reentering. By all accounts, there was no violence, but a mighty media scrum at the door, major disruption, and understandably outraged attendees trapped in the building.    Look at any case of contemporary censorship and you will almost always find the same justification for silencing an unwelcome voice—safety. The rationale will invariably be light on specific threats—and is, in reality, a cowardly cover for an ulterior motive. 

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Yoram Hazony, the event’s organizer, said there was “no threat to public order” at the gathering. And I believe him. Belgian authorities have cited no specific threats. And as someone who has covered National Conservatism gatherings in the past, I find the idea that this tweedy crowd would get into any scraps difficult to believe. The only risk to my safety was nearly dying of boredom at a breakout session on common good constitutionalism.  But of course, public safety isn’t what this is really about. Hazony’s event was targeted because of objections to the ideas being discussed there.  Hazony takes it as a sign that he and his ideological comrades are onto something. “They tried to shut down this conference because they know that national conservatism is the greatest threat to the totalitarian, liberal NGO-cracy in Brussels,” he told The Free Press. (Note how such bans flatter the ideas they target: NatCon opponents should be among those most frustrated by this censorship.) 

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The second day of the conference is due to take place today and Hazony was adamant that the show would go on. “NatCon Brussels will continue undeterred.” Ayaan Hirsi Ali notes that Emir Kir, the mayor who ordered police to shut down the event, is no stranger to extremism. He was expelled from Belgium’s Socialist Party after he met with a delegation that included representatives of a far-right, ultra-nationalist Turkish party.  Hazony’s politics could hardly be more different to those of Asna Tabassum, an undergraduate at the University of Southern California, but she faced the same cowardly excuse for censorship this week: “safety.”

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Tabassum was selected as USC’s valedictorian, but as well as having a top-notch GPA, Tabassum appears to possess some, shall we say, robust views on Israel. Several student groups complained about her selection and pointed out that Tabassum’s Instagram bio links to a post full of noxious anti-Israel rhetoric, including a description of Zionism as a “racist settler-colonial ideology”—in other words, the sort of thing professors are teaching college kids at top schools across the country. One group, Trojans for Israel, said that by choosing Tabassum as valedictorian, USC had turned commencement into an “unwelcoming and intolerant environment for Jewish graduates and their families.”  USC is not famous for its commitment to free expression—it once suspended a professor for simply saying a Chinese word that sounded like a racial slur. And the school had a decision to make. Administrators could have said they had made a mistake in picking Tabassum because her views were at odds with USC’s values and stripped her of the role. Or they could have stuck by Tabassum and ridden out an uncomfortable commencement day in the name of free speech. Instead, they opted for a weaselly fudge, keeping Tabassum as valedictorian but preventing her from speaking. 

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“Tradition must give way to safety,” said Provost Andrew T. Guzman in a letter to the USC community. It made references to the “alarming tenor” of the response to Tabassum’s selection and “substantial risks relating to security and disruption at commencement” but was light on specifics.  Tabassum called the decision “cowardly” and accused the school of “succumbing to a campaign of hate meant to silence my voice.”  USC had no constitutional obligation to select Tabassum as valedictorian. It does have a duty to be straight with students and faculty about its decision-making. 

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Alex Morey, director of campus rights advocacy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), told The Free Press she thought USC’s decision was “a very calculated move” designed “to avoid censoring the student or yanking her valedictorian status, instead blaming ‘safety concerns.’ ”  “The suggestion is that authorities are concerned about true threats, but rarely is that the case,” says Morey. “If there are genuine safety concerns that local authorities simply can’t handle, the school must be as transparent as possible. The alternative is that they end up looking like censors trying to cover their tracks. That, of course, can chill campus speech.”  In Brussels and Los Angeles, the targets of censorship could not have been more different. But the insincere justification was the same. ***

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→ Why I fear FISA—and you should too: The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, is facing fresh scrutiny on the Hill as lawmakers consider its renewal. FISA is touted as a vital tool for national security. Its use, we’re told, is to gather intelligence on foreign governments and terrorist organizations to prevent another 9/11 from happening. That is all true. But the law has also enabled government agencies to wiretap and collect vast amounts of data on American citizens without any real oversight or transparency.  Last week, the House of Representatives voted not just to renew but vastly expand these surveillance powers, reauthorizing Section 702, which will enable the collection of communications of noncitizens located outside the U.S. without a warrant. It might seem like a common sense measure in theory, but in practice the FBI has misused its authority from Section 702 hundreds of thousands of times, targeting everyone from BLM protesters to January 6 rioters.  It gets worse. The proposed Turner-Himes amendment would allow, with very few exceptions, the government to compel any entity or business with “access to equipment that is being or may be used to transmit or store wire or electronic communications,” to fork over data. Have a phone or a Wi-Fi router? Sorry! You’re now obligated to help the federal government spy on Americans.  Even if you’re not too worried about the pesky Fourth Amendment, you should know that this law will continue to be used against American protesters, journalists, and political actors. If this vote passes the Senate and is signed into law by President Biden, we all have good reason to be afraid. —Isaac Grafstein ***

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NY Post core competency

A transgender woman who identifies as a vampire has been convicted of sexually assaulting a developmentally disabled girl — while already under investigation for allegedly strangling a man “possessed by a demon.” Adam Hetke, 35, who goes by the name “Sabrina,” was convicted in Wisconsin last week of first-degree sexual assault by threatening the use of a dangerous weapon and second-degree assault of a mentally ill victim, GMToday reported. Hetke was already a convicted sex offender — and under investigation for a homicide, with charges only filed since the disturbed attacker was busted for the sex assault. Hetke met her latest known victim — a 16-year-old girl with cognitive disabilities — at a gas station in July 2021, went to her home and sexually assaulted her while threatening to use a knife, according to the outlet. The girl said Hetke “told her that he was a vampire and that he would bite her if she didn’t do what he wanted,” according to a criminal complaint cited by GMToday that did not use the abuser’s preferred pronouns. The convicted sex offender, who was released from prison in November 2020, also faces charges in an open homicide case in Milwaukee, GMToday reported. She was arrested on a tentative charge of first-degree intentional homicide in the April 2021 death of Vydale Thompson-Moody, a 28-year-old who had a cognitive disability, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The victim was strangled with a cord inside a home in the Concordia neighborhood on Milwaukee’s west side, the news outlet reported.*** https://nypost.com/2024/04/16/us-news/trans-woman-who-identifies-as-vampire-sexually-assaulted-teen-charged-in-death-of-disabled-man/

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Nice BB dig at Sydney Powell -

Kind of a dig at Trump regarding his interest in young, attractive, blonde women.

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Cell phone videos are evidence

A North Carolina high school student was charged after he allegedly slapped his teacher multiple times during a viral profanity-laced classroom rant earlier this week. The rage-filled youngster, identified only as a minor, confronted the educator inside Parkland High School in Winston-Salem, where he violently attacked her, according to video posted to social media. After the initial impact, the teacher seemed unfazed by the slap as the student continued to run his mouth.*** “The f–k’s wrong with you, what you gonna do, still sit in that chair ’cause you a bitch. Ain’t nobody even coming, you got slapped,” says the student, seemingly singing and dancing. “Bitch go back to teaching.” Students behind the camera reacted to the slaps with laughter amid the classroom assault.*** He was charged with one count of communicating threats and two counts of misdemeanor assault, the Forsyth Sheriff’s Office announced.*** https://nypost.com/2024/04/17/us-news/north-carolina-high-school-student-charged-with-assault-after-slapping-teacher/

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Free Press -

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On Our Radar

→ Antisemitism and ‘Liquid Ass’ at Columbia: Columbia’s president Minouche Shafik and other university leaders were called to Washington yesterday to testify on how the school has become one of the country’s worst “hotbeds” of antisemitism. *** Lawmakers at the hearing also tackled the alleged “chemical attack” on anti-Israel protesters on Columbia’s campus in January. Victims claimed they had been attacked by fellow students with ties to the IDF, who they alleged used a chemical weapon called “skunk.” The Intercept jumped on the story, reporting that dozens of students said they experienced “burning eyes, nausea, headaches, abdominal and chest pain, and vomiting” in the wake of the “attack.” But in a lawsuit filed against the school on Tuesday, one of the students suspended for the alleged attack stated the smell came not from a “toxic chemical substance,” as Rep. Ilhan Omar described it, but rather from a “fart spray” purchased on Amazon called, um, Liquid Ass. ***

***

FBI needed another black eye

The Department of Justice is close to reaching a settlement with the sexual abuse victims of former U.S. gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar. According to the Wall Street Journal, the DOJ is expected to pay roughly $100 million to 100 victims of Nassar. The settlement was reportedly reached last fall, but the details are still being finalized. The settlement is in response to administrative tort claims filed by the gymnasts over the FBI’s failure to properly investigate the abuse claims against Nassar.*** Among Nassar’s victims included in the settlement with the FBI are star gymnasts Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Maggie Nichols, and Aly Raisman. Nassar abused dozens of gymnasts over his decadeslong career. Michigan State, the U.S. women’s national gymnastics team, the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, and the FBI were heavily criticized for covering up or failing to address complaints properly. The Justice Department’s inspector general found several failures in the FBI’s handling of the investigation, with Indianapolis agents failing on multiple levels.*** https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/2970224/doj-nearing-settlement-victims-larry-nassar-fbi-failures/

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Now it's only ok for Google to spy on you

The House passed a bill from Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) on Wednesday that prohibits the federal government from purchasing U.S. citizens’ data from third parties, a win for privacy hawks that brings an end to House Republicans’ uphill battle to renew the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The bill, introduced by Davidson and House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jerry Nadler (R-NY), would force federal agencies to obtain a court order to purchase commercially owned data of U.S. citizens, such as their online activity and location information. It was championed by Judiciary Committee members and their allies as an amendment to Section 702 of FISA, but it failed to make it into the final legislation that passed last week. A vote on Davidson’s amendment comes after months of infighting within the Republican Party over how to reform the key surveillance program, with House Judiciary and House Intelligence Committees at the center of the arguments. *** https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/house/2969992/house-fisa-saga-passage-fourth-amendment-not-for-sale-act/

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You can't recruit/retain bus drivers b/c of crime, and you do this?

A Democrat-controlled city announced $45 million in funding for programs to help deal with the skyrocketing number of migrant arrivals it is facing, resulting in over $8 million in budget cuts for the police department.  Denver Mayor Mike Johnston announced last week a package of $45.9 million to fully fund programs for "newcomers" for 2024 and avoid worst-case scenarios projected by the city. That’s in addition to $44 million in spending already secured for the program through previous budget moves. *** https://www.foxnews.com/politics/blue-city-mayor-defunds-police-force-more-than-8-million-aid-migrants

[connor-nisbet]

Statehood and Independence Bills

The list of current Puerto Rican Congresspeople are :

Anthony D'Esposito (NY-4) (R)

Ritchie Torres (NY-15)

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14)

Darren Soto (FL-9)

Nydia Velázquez (NY-7)

Puerto Rican at-large Congressperson (non-voting)

Jenniffer Aydin González Colón

Of these, Colón, Ocasio-Cortex, Velázquez and Soto are cosponsors of a Puerto-Rico self-determination bill, one also endorsed by Puerto Rican governor Rico Pedro R. Pierluisi - https://gonzalez-colon.house.gov/issues/statehood