Houston police chief retires suddenly after questions raised
Story by Andy Rose, CNN 5-9-2024
About More than 260,000 Suspended Investigations
Houston’s police chief unexpectedly retired from the force Tuesday night amid questions about a department policy that allowed hundreds of thousands of cases to be suspended, including sexual abuse cases, according to the mayor’s office.
Troy Finner had served as the chief of the Houston Police Department since 2021, capping off a 34-year career with the department.
“I consider Troy Finner a friend. It was tough to accept his retirement, but it was in the best interest of Houstonians,” Houston Mayor John Whitmire said in an impromptu news conference Wednesday.
The retirement announcement came hours after an internal email obtained by CNN affiliate KHOU showed Finner referring to an investigation being suspended due to “lack of personnel,” in 2018, three years before he had said he was aware of the policy.Finner was executive assistant chief over patrol operations at the time the email was written.
At a February news conference, Finner said he didn’t know about the practice until 2021, the year he became chief, when he ordered the department’s Special Victims Division to stop using the “lack of personnel” code to suspended investigations.
Finner said in April the police department had made progress reviewing about 264,000 investigations that were suspended since 2016 citing only lack of personnel. More than 4,000 of those cases involved allegations of adult sex crimes.
An independent review committee is also investigating.
In a statement issued Tuesday night after the KHOU report aired, Finner said, “I have always been truthful and have never set out to mislead anyone about anything, including this investigation.
The outgoing chief said he did not know about the “suspended lack of personnel” codes used by Houston police at the time, despite it being mentioned in the email.
Finner’s statement promised he would “address the media and the public” once the investigation was complete. The mayor informed the city council of Finner’s retirement later that night.
Larry Satterwhite was appointed acting police chief by Whitmire Wednesday. Satterwhite served as executive assistant chief under Finner. The mayor declined to say whether he had asked for Finner’s retirement.
“It was affecting operations at HPD. That’s the bottom line,” Whitmire told reporters Wednesday. “I dealt with it because it was a distraction to the mission of the men and women in HPD.”
Finner did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNN
As of Wednesday afternoon, the police department had not officially announced the change of leadership.
Troy Finner--- Thank you HPD family and my Houston community.
The Great Ukraine Robbery is Not Over Yet
by Ron Paul | May 7, 2024
The ink was barely dry on President [Joe] Biden’s signature transferring another $61 billion to the black hole called Ukraine, when the mainstream media broke the news that this was not the parting shot in a failed U.S. policy. The elites have no intention of shutting down this gravy train, which transports wealth from the middle and working class to the wealthy and connected class.
Reuters wrote right after the aid bill was passed that, “Ukraine’s $61 billion lifeline is not enough.” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell went on the Sunday shows after the bill was passed to say that $61 billion is “not a whole lot of money for us…” Well, that’s easy for him to say—after all it’s always easier to spend someone else’s money!
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, was far from grateful for the $170 billion we have shipped thus far to his country. In an interview with Foreign Policy magazine as the aid package was passed, Kuleba had the nerve to criticize the U.S. for not producing weapons fast enough. “If you cannot produce enough interceptors to help Ukraine win the war against the country that wants to destroy the world order, then how are you going to win in the war against perhaps an enemy who is stronger than Russia?”
How’s that for a “thank you”?
It may be understandable why the Ukrainians are frustrated. Most of this money is not going to help them fight Russia. U.S. military aid to Ukraine has left our own stockpiles of weapons depleted, so the money is going to create new production lines to replace weapons already sent to Ukraine. It’s all about the U.S. weapons industry. President Biden admitted as much when he said, “we are helping Ukraine while at the same time investing in our own industrial base.”
This is why Washington Is desperate to make sure that if Donald Trump returns to the White House, the “Ukraine” gravy train cannot be shut down by his—or future—administrations. Last week news broke that the Ukrainian government was in negotiations with the Biden Administration to sign a ten-year security agreement that would lock in U.S. funding for Ukraine for the next two and a half U.S. Administrations. That would unconstitutionally tie future presidents’ hands when it comes to foreign policy and would leave Americans on the hook for untold billions more dollars taken from them and sent to the weapons industry and to a corrupt foreign government.
The U.S. weapons industry and its cheerleaders in Washington DC are determined to keep Ukraine money flowing…until they can figure out a way to gin up a war with China after losing the current war with Russia. That, of course, depends on whether there is anything left of us when the smoke clears.
When President Biden signed the $95 billion bill to keep wars going in Ukraine and Gaza and to provoke a future war with China, he called it “a good day for world peace.” Yes, and “War is peace.” Debt is good. Freedom is slavery. We are living in a post-truth society where billions spent on pointless wars are “not a whole lot of money.” But the piper will be paid and the debt will be cleared.
This article was originally featured at the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity and is republished with permission.
About Ron Paul
Ron Paul is a doctor, author, former member of Congress, Distinguished Counselor to the Mises Institute, and Chairman of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity.
Student Protests Prove Who Truly Stands For Free Speech
THE LAST AMERICAN VAGABOND - MAY 4, 2024
The hysterical response from the establishment media, in addition to the US and Israeli governments, to the overwhelmingly peaceful student protests across the United States has propelled the issue into the spotlight and purposefully caused confusion on the nature of the demonstrations. Meanwhile, members of the alternative right-wing media, who built their reputations on defending freedom of speech and "the facts", have performed a 180 degree pivot on their formerly held "free speech absolutism".
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TROOPS ON THE GROUND: BIDEN’S PLAN FOR UKRAINE
by Ted Snider | May 1, 2024
Despite billions of dollars of military aid, equipment maintenance, training, intelligence, and planning from the United States and its partners in the political West, the war in Ukraine is going very badly.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, says “the situation at the front has escalated.” He says that Russia has “concentrated major efforts in several sectors, creating a significant advantage in forces and means. They attack actively along the entire front line. In some sectors,” he admits, “they achieved tactical gains.”
The Russian Armed Forces are methodically pushing west as several small villages fall and several strategic ones are threatened. The Ukrainian Armed Forces have been compelled to fall back to a new defensive line three miles west of the captured town of Avdiivka, but that line, too, has now been overwhelmed by Russian forces. Russia is now threatening Chasiv Yar, a town located on a strategic high ground whose capture would put “the main supply point for Ukrainian forces along much of the eastern front” in Russia’s line of fire. There are reports that a number of top Army brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are refusing orders and abandoning positions or refusing to fight.
Meanwhile, attempts to weaken Russia politically, economically, and militarily have failed. Their economy remains strong with the IMF saying that Russia’s GDP increased by 3% in 2023. Politically, Russia has turned from the West and forged closer ties with India, Eurasia, Africa, the Global South and, especially, China. And on April 11, General Cavoli, chief of the U.S. European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told the U.S. Senate that “Russia is on track to command the largest military on the continent and a defense industrial complex capable of generating substantial amounts of ammunition and materiel in support of large scale combat operations. Regardless of the outcome of the war in Ukraine, Russia will be larger, more lethal, and angrier with the West than when it invaded.” Despite efforts to weaken the Russian Armed Forces, Cavoli told the Senate that Russia’s “army is actually now larger—by 15 percent—than it was when it invaded Ukraine.”
The United States and its partners in the political West are arriving at a point at which they must either admit defeat and push for negotiations with Russia or escalate and do something different. Instead, on April 24, the United States did more of the same when President Joe Biden signed into law another $61 billion in aid for Ukraine. Though the new flood of weapons may help slow the Russian advance and prolong Ukraine’s pain, it is unlikely to change the inevitable long-term outcome of the war.
French President Emmanuel Macron has suggested putting Western “troops on the ground” in Ukraine “to counter the Russian forces.” But Washington responded by saying that Biden “has been clear that the U.S. will not send troops to fight in Ukraine.” But despite Biden’s long insistence that American troops “are not and will not be engaged in a conflict with Russia in Ukraine,” it has since been revealed that there are American personnel on the ground in Ukraine.
In a transcript of an intercepted February 19 conversation between senior German air force officials, one official says, “It’s known that there are numerous people there in civilian attire who speak with an American accent.” A recent New York Times report based on interviews with more than two hundred current and former officials revealed that there were “scores” of CIA officers in Ukraine. According to the report, those American boots on the ground “help the Ukrainians” by providing “intelligence for targeted missile strikes” and “intelligence support for lethal operations against Russian forces on Ukrainian soil.”
And there are not just intelligence officers in Ukraine. There are American soldiers on the ground too. According to Defense Department documents leaked in March 2023, there were, at that time, at least 97 NATO special forces in Ukraine, including 14 Americans. At the time, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby refused to confirm the number but confirmed “a small U.S. military presence” there.
And now, as the battlefield situation continues to dangerously deteriorate in Ukraine, the United States is considering sending more military personnel to Ukraine. Pentagon spokesperson General Pat Ryder explained, “Throughout this conflict, the DOD has reviewed and adjusted our presence in-country, as security conditions have evolved. Currently, we are considering sending several additional advisers to augment the Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC) at the Embassy.” Two U.S. officials have said that the number of additional advisers would be up to sixty.
There has been a lot of speculation about what their role in Ukraine will be. Ryder said that they would perform “a variety of advisory and support missions” but that they would be “non-combat.”
But the “non-combat” claim is becoming increasingly blurred, and what may matter is less whether the Pentagon perceives the role as non-combat than whether Russia does. The United States has just promised billions of dollars of new weapons. According to U.S. officials familiar with the plan, the new American troops would be in Ukraine to “support logistics and oversight efforts for the weapons the U.S. is sending Ukraine” and to “help the Ukrainian military with weapons maintenance.”
That is a risky role to play. “One of the tasks the advisers will tackle,” Politico reports, “is helping the Ukrainians plan sustainment of complex equipment donated by the U.S.”
In March 2023, the Biden administration secretly sent “a number of Army Tactical Missile Systems with a range of nearly 200 miles” to Ukraine. National security adviser Jake Sullivan called it a “significant number.” The Ukrainian Armed Forces have already used the long-range missiles twice: once against a military base in Crimea and once against Russian forces near the Sea of Azov. More long-range ATACMS will be included in a new $1 billion military aid package announced after Congress approved the $61 billion in aid, and the aid bill approved by the House of Representatives calls on the White House to send more ATACMS to Ukraine “as soon as practicable.”
That intercepted transcript of February 19 between senior German air force officials suggests that long-range missiles can only be operated in Ukraine with highly trained Western personnel on site. Discussing how German Taurus long-range missiles could be operated in Ukraine, one official says that the Germans “know how the English do it…They have several people on-site.” On February 26, defending his decision not to send Germany’s long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that sending them would require the presence of Germans in Ukraine to match their British and French counterparts. He explained, “What is being done in the way of target control and accompanying target control on the part of the British and the French can’t be done in Germany.”
If the up to sixty additional personnel the United States is considering sending to Ukraine to “support logistics and oversight” as well as “maintenance” of “complex equipment donated by the U.S.” are being sent to assist with long-range missiles that can target Crimea, then this decision is fraught with risk. Russia has shown restraint with the incrementally growing Western involvement in the war, but if they perceive direct involvement with the logistics and oversight of long-range missiles to be active involvement in firing on what they perceive to be Russian territory, that could conceivably cross the escalatory red line.
As the West decides what to do in the face of a deteriorating Ukrainian battlefield, increasingly dangerous decisions will have to be made, including whether they should send long-range missiles and, more provocatively, the personnel to help operate them.
Congress threatens ICC over Israeli arrest warrants
Apr 29, 2024 - Politics & Policy by Andrew Solender
The International Criminal Court is being warned by members of Congress in both parties that arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials will be met with U.S. retaliation — and legislation to that effect is already in the works, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has gone so far as to urge President Biden to intervene to help prevent the warrants, Axios' Barak Ravid reported.
- The ICC has been investigating allegations of war crimes against both the Israeli military and Palestinian militia groups dating back to 2014.
- The White House declined to comment on Netanyahu's call with Biden but said "the ICC has no jurisdiction in this situation and we do not support its investigation."
Driving the news: House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) issued a statement on Monday calling the reported warrants "disgraceful" and "lawless."
- "If unchallenged by the Biden administration, the ICC could create and assume unprecedented power to issue arrest warrants against American political leaders, American diplomats, and American military personnel," Johnson said.
- Johnson called for the Biden administration to "immediately and unequivocally demand that the ICC stand down" and "use every available tool to prevent such an abomination."
- The speaker joins several Republican lawmakers who have harshly criticized the ICC in recent days.
What we're hearing: One Republican House member told Axios there is already legislation being drafted to respond to any warrants.
- House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) told Axios he expects a House version of Sen. Tom Cotton's (R-Ark.) bill to sanction ICC officials involved in investigating the U.S. and its allies, but added: "We hope it doesn't come to that."
- Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) said the U.S. should "think of whether we stay a signatory" to the Rome Statute — the treaty that established the ICC.
- "We have to think about talking to some of the countries that have ratified [the treaty] as to whether they want to support the organization," he added.
Zoom in: It's not just Republicans lashing out and warning the ICC that warrants could be met with a legislative response.
- Staunchly pro-Israel Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) and Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) have both criticized the reported warrants, with Torres calling for "strong consequences from both Congress and the President."
- "I know Congress will ensure consequences for such an absurd decision," Sherman said in a post on X.
- An ICC spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The other side: "The ICC is an independent body, and it needs to proceed with what they need to do," said Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), a vocal critic of Israel.
- Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.), another progressive Israel critic, said "it's not a matter for Congress to be telling them what to be doing."
Between the lines: Several Democratic lawmakers who have been critical of Israel said they believe it's premature to weigh in on the potential warrants before they are unveiled.
- "Why don't we see what happens, and then we can evaluate based on whatever comes out," Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) told Axios.
- Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) said he has "concerns about the prosecution of the war" but "it's always a good idea to get the facts before making a judgment."
Editor's note: This article has been updated with more reporting.
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FCC Knew Phones Exceeded Radiation Limits, Hid Information
FCC testing showed popular cellphone brands exceeded the agency’s safety limits for human exposure to wireless radiation
ETIENNE DE LA BOETIE2
APR 29, 2024
By Suzanne Burdick, Ph.D.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) knew for years that certain popular smartphones exceeded the agency’s safety limits for human exposure to wireless radiation when held close to the body, according to data obtained by the Environmental Health Trust (EHT) via Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
Rather than going public with the testing results, the FCC hid them — even when important lawsuits concerning cellphone radiation’s impact on people’s health were underway.The outcome of such lawsuits might have been different, had the agency been honest about what it knew, said W. Scott McCollough, lead litigator for Children’s Health Defense’s (CHD) Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) & Wireless cases. McCollough called the FCC’s actions “scandalous.”
Miriam Eckenfels-Garcia, director of CHD’s EMR program, told The Defender:
“While we are not surprised that the FCC is hiding information and prioritizing the protection of big industry over people’s health, seeing the FCC’s actions play out in this way reminds us why the work we are doing in this program is hugely important and why CHD is proud to be on the forefront of holding the FCC and telecom industry accountable through our litigation, education and advocacy.”
Eckenfels-Garcia and McCollough commended the nonprofit scientific research and education group EHT for getting the information out to the public.
“EHT deserves great credit for digging this out,” McCollough told The Defender, “and exposing the FCC’s extraordinary efforts to protect the industry it is supposed to regulate, rather than protecting the people whose health it should be safeguarding, by concealing information people need to know.”
Five phones surpassed FCC radiation limit
According to EHT, the FCC undertook the 2 millimeter (mm) testing on Aug. 30 through Sept. 23, 2019, after an Aug. 21, 2019, Chicago Tribune investigation reported that some cellphones exceeded the FCC’s wireless radiation limits when tested 2 mm from the body.
The FCC typically uses a separation distance of roughly 10mm, or potentially more, for premarketing cellphone testing.
The Chicago Tribune chose 2mm to mimic the real-world experience of those who carry their cellphone in a tight pants pocket or against their skin, EHT said.
The FCC didn’t release its 2 mm testing results until Sept. 29, 2023, in response to EHT’s FOIA requests seeking documents related to cellphone radiation tests performed by the FCC from January 2017 through April 2020
The FCC’s testing results showed that five of 11 cellphone models it tested exceeded the FCC’s safety limit of 1.6 watts per kilogram (W/kg) when tested at a distance of 2 mm from the body:
- Apple’s iPhone XS, measured at 2.34 W/kg and 1.99 W/kg.
- Samsung’s Galaxy S9, measured at 4.52 W/kg and 4.38 W/kg.
- Samsung’s Galaxy J3, measured at 5.20 W/kg and 5.14 W/kg.
- Motorola’s Moto g6 Play, measured at 1.98 W/kg and 1.98 W/kg.
- BLU’s Vivo 5 Mini, measured at 2.2 W/kg and 2.75 W/kg.
McCollough said he suspected the FCC hid its results because releasing them would have supported the Chicago Tribune’s investigation results.
“The FCC was intent on hiding this information because they knew how bad it would reflect on the commission and the industry it serves.”
“The FCC has abandoned its primary mission, and is now just a servant to telecom industry masters, conspiring against the public’s interest,” McCollough added.
According to McCollough, the Chicago Tribune’s investigation led to some lawsuits — “most famously Cohen v. Apple.”
The plaintiffs in that lawsuit alleged that Apple failed to warn iPhone users that they would receive excessive radiation if they placed the phone close to their body
McCollough said the case’s dismissal in 2020 relied on the fact that the FCC claimed to have tested Apple phones and found them compliant with FCC exposure regulations.
“The separation distance was addressed there too, but one has to believe that if the court there had known about the other results — now exposed by EHT — it may have made a different decision in that case,” he said.
Additionally, McCollough said, “Had we known this when CHD and EHT were challenging the FCC’s exposure limits before the D.C. Circuit” — referring to CHD and EHT’s historic win in 2021 that challenged the FCC’s safety limits — “it would have turned out even worse for the FCC.”
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the FCC failed to consider the non-cancer evidence regarding adverse health effects of wireless technology when it decided that its 1996 radiofrequency (RF) emission guidelines protect the public’s health.
The court sent the case back to the FCC and said the agency had to “provide a reasoned explanation for its determination that its guidelines adequately protect against harmful effects of exposure to radiofrequency radiation.”
The FCC has still not complied with the court’s mandate.
If the court had known about the 2 mm testing results, “that court might have done more than just send the case back without any deadline for compliance with the mandate,” McCollough said.
Joe Sandri, a lawyer for EHT, pointed to another set of lawsuits — still ongoing — that might be affected by the testing results.
The roughly 80 plaintiffs in the consolidated set of cases, Motorola Inc. v. Murray, allege injuries and fatalities — mostly but not exclusively through brain cancer — may have been caused by the wireless radiation emitted by their cellphones.
“The industry has been working hard to keep out evidence, and this has impeded those lawsuits’ progress,” Sandri told The Defender.
‘Phones should be tested the way they are used’
When the FCC finally released the results to EHT, the agency noted it was doing so “with the caveat that the 2 mm separation distance test results are inconsistent with FCC practice … and are misleading because they reflect extreme conditions.”
Theodora Scarato — EHT’s vice president for policy and education who filed the FOIA requests — pointed out that using a 2 mm separation distance isn’t “misleading” or “extreme.”
“It is outrageous that the U.S. allows phones to be tested with whatever separation distance the comanies want. Phones should be tested the way they are used,” she said in a press release.
“Children and adults use and carry phones pressed to their body for hours every day. … It is time for a new approach to cell phone testing, one that reflects the way people use phones today,” Scarato said.
Scarato also recommended the U.S. adopt “a strong oversight and compliance program, including post-market RF emission and health effect surveillance.”
FCC still withholding documents
When the FCC sent EHT its 2019 testing results, the commission refused to share seven related documents — including intra-agency communications containing “pre-decisional internal deliberations” — claiming that doing so would “chill deliberations within the Commission and impede the candid exchange of ideas.”
EHT, via Scarato, on Dec. 28, 2023, appealed the FCC’s decision to deny public access to the seven documents, noting that the public health implications for withholding the information are far-reaching.
Sandri said EHT waited until now to go public with releasing the FCC’s testing results obtained last September because it wanted to give the FCC — which has a new administration — a “civil amount of time” to comply with the 2021 court remand and the FOIA appeal.
“Now that this delay has gone on, it’s time to go public,” he said
In EHT’s appeal letter, Scarato pointed out that scientific research has found adverse effects from cellphone radiation exposure at levels well below FCC limits. The adverse effects include cancer, the induction of oxidative stress, epigenetic effects, damage to neurotransmitters, memory, brain development and the immune, endocrine, hematological and reproductive systems.
The public interest in releasing the documents outweighs the public interest in withholding them, Scarato said.
“If there is a balance to be weighed between protecting deliberative privilege and the notification of the public of harmful interference the balance should be on the side of transparency and public health.”
The FCC has not yet responded to the appeal.
The FCC did not immediately respond to The Defender’s request for comment about its 2019 testing results and the seven related documents it is withholding from public view.
The Daily News from the Art of Liberty Foundation is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Senate Passes Bill That Could Ban TikTok in the US
by Madison Hall, Hannah Getahun Updated April 24. 2024 on Business Insider
The Senate just passed a TikTok "ban" as part of a larger foreign-aid bill.
Once President Joe Biden signs it into law, ByteDance will have 270 days to sell TikTok.
Donald Trump tried to institute a similar ban via executive order, but it was struck down in court
The Senate passed a multifaceted bill on Tuesday evening that will effectively ban TikTok from the US app store once President Joe Biden signs it, as he has signaled he will. The final vote was 79 in favor and 18 opposed.
The House of Representatives passed a series of bills over the weekend to provide foreign aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan and humanitarian funding for the Gaza Strip. Tucked into the foreign-aid bills was text forcing TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, to sell the social-media service to an American company or face a ban.
The House passed a similar bill in March, pressuring ByteDance to divest within 180 days. The newer version gives ByteDance 270 days to divest, a decision that appears to have been enough to sway the chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, Sen. Maria Cantwell.
Cantwell didn't support the previous TikTok bill, saying she was unsure it could pass legal scrutiny. This is a problem other senators have pointed out, given the legislation specifically identifies ByteDance by name.
Biden has said for months that he'll pass the legislation once it reaches his desk. In his last year in office, former President Donald Trump tried to force ByteDance to sell to an American company via executive order, but a federal district court struck down the order.
The bill's passage in the Senate has come after months of TikTok lobbying against it. The app prompted its users to reach out to their representatives, and its CEO personally traveled to Washington, DC, to try to stop it. China itself has apparently lobbied against the bill, too. Politico reported earlier in April that officials from the Chinese Embassy met with congressional staffers to voice their displeasure with the legislation.
TikTok has vowed to challenge the bill in court once Biden signs it.
Enacting the TikTok "ban" could hurt Biden's chances at reelection in November, given the app's popularity among younger demographics and the likelihood of a close final vote. Trump may have picked up on that, too — earlier in the year, he spoke against banning TikTok despite his actions while president.
Read the original article on Business Insider
Who owns TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance?
TikTok’s parent company ByteDance was founded by Chinese entrepreneurs. ByteDance is a privately-held global company, with roughly 60 percent owned by global institutional investors (such as Blackrock, General Atlantic, and Susquehanna International Group), 20 percent owned by the company’s founders, and 20 percent owned by its employees—including over 7,000 Americans. It is not owned or controlled by any government or state entity.
The Senate just passed a TikTok "ban" as part of a larger foreign-aid bill.
War Funding and TikTok: Senate Sells Out America
Biden Signs Ukraine Aid, Israel Funding and TikTok Crackdown Into Law
The Senate passed the long-awaited foreign aid package Tuesday, in a 79-18 vote. Fifteen Republicans and three Democrats voted against the legislation. The House passed the package on Saturday.
The package includes $60 billion in aid to Ukraine that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said would give his country “a chance at victory” against Russia. It also includes $26 billion in assistance to Israel and humanitarian relief in Gaza, in addition to $8 billion for security in Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific.
And it will give TikTok’s China-based parent company nine months, which the president could extend to a year, to sell the popular social media platform or be banned in the U.S. That puts TikTok closer than ever before to a prohibition while ensuring that it won’t be banned until after the 2024 election. TikTok has said it will fight the law in court once it is signed into law.
A TikTok spokesperson responded to the House’s vote over the weekend by saying, “It is unfortunate that the House of Representatives is using the cover of important foreign and humanitarian assistance to once again jam through a ban bill that would trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, devastate 7 million businesses, and shutter a platform that contributes $24 billion to the U.S. economy annually.”
A source within TikTok shared an internal memo sent after the House passed the bill that said that once Biden signs it into law, it "will move to the courts for a legal challenge."
President Biden is expected to sign the three bills passed by Congress this week to send war funding to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan today. The President begged Congress to pass these bills and he got his way. Taxpayers are now on the hook for an additional $95 billion to be sent abroad for wars that American people do not support.
Our lawmakers have sold us out.
Senate Passes Surveillance Bill April 19, 2024
Senate Passes Surveillance Bill Despite Contentious Debate Over Privacy Concerns
TED BARRETT, MORGAN RIMMER, CLARE FORAN, AND KATIE BO LILLIS CNN April 20, 2024 at 7:02 AM
The Senate voted late Friday to reauthorize a key surveillance authority, avoiding a lapse in the controversial program.
Lawmakers voted 60-34 to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, after the House passed the measure late last week.
The House passed the bill after a new version was put forward for a two-year reauthorization instead of five years, a change that helped appease conservatives who had initially revolted against the legislation. A two-year reauthorization would allow former President Donald Trump to overhaul the law if he wins the upcoming presidential election.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan on Saturday applauded the reauthorization, calling the program “one of the United States’ most vital intelligence collection tools.”
He added that President Joe Biden “will swiftly sign the bill into law, ensuring that our security professionals can continue to rely on Section 702 to detect grave national security threats and use that understanding to protect the United States.”
Congress had been up against a Friday deadline after authority for Section 702 was extended through that date as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.
Whether Congress would avert the lapse remained in question earlier in the day as senators struggled to reach a deal to renew the key intelligence community surveillance tool.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had told lawmakers to be prepared to work over the weekend, but by Friday evening, locked in a negotiated agreement to vote. “All day long we persisted and persisted and persisted in hopes of reaching a breakthrough, and I’m glad we got it done,” the New York Democrat said, referencing the stalled negotiations that threatened the program.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell also pressed for passage of the FISA bill, which he said had a number of changes in it to address past “abuses” by the FBI. The Kentucky Republican also warned that some critics of the bill were “fear mongering” that the legislation would allow spying on Americans in coffee shops and other places and should be ignored.
Supporters argue Section 702 is a critical tool for safeguarding national security, but it has come under scrutiny from some lawmakers over alleged misuse.
Under FISA’s Section 702, the government hoovers up massive amounts of internet and cell phone data on foreign targets. Hundreds of thousands of Americans’ information is incidentally collected during that process and then accessed each year without a warrant — down from millions of such queries the US government ran in past years. Critics refer to these queries as “backdoor” searches.
The trove of data, including a large portion of US internet traffic, is meant to provide US intelligence agencies with quick access to data regarding foreigners in other countries.
According to one assessment, it forms the basis of most of the intelligence the president views each morning and it has helped the US keep tabs on Russia’s intentions in Ukraine, identify foreign efforts to access US infrastructure, uncover foreign terror networks and thwart terror attacks in the US.
The complicated politics surrounding the law have long united strange bedfellows: Some conservative Republicans have joined forces with progressive Democrats to push for reforms to the authority, while security-focused Democrats and Republicans have opposed major new restrictions.
On Friday, senators argued over an amendment that would require the intelligence community to get court warrants for spying. The program is currently warrantless, in large part because it is aimed at foreigners not Americans, but US citizens do get swept up in the surveillance when they are interacting with targets abroad. A similar amendment failed in the House, but on a tied vote.
Another amendment at issue was from Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, a member of the Intelligence Committee. His amendment, which was co-sponsored by several of the most liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans in the chamber, would strike a new part of the program that he argued would lead every day Americans into helping the government spy if they have “access to equipment that is being or may be used to transmit or store wire or electronic communications.”
Last week, in a setback for House GOP leadership, a group of conservatives initially revolted against the bill and brought down a key procedural vote after Trump called on Republicans to “KILL FISA” in a post on Truth Social.
That move threw the fate of the measure into question, but leadership ultimately steered a modified version of the surveillance bill to final passage.
Attorney General Merrick Garland on Saturday praised the bill’s passage, saying it will help keep the country safe.
“This reauthorization of Section 702 gives the United States the authority to continue to collect foreign intelligence information about non-U.S. persons located outside the United States, while at the same time codifying important reforms the Justice Department has adopted to ensure the protection of Americans’ privacy and civil liberties,” Garland said.s.
Corporate Layoffs Sweep Across Major US Companies Posing Impact on Millions of Workers
Story by Sajda Parveen
Several major American companies, including Nike and Intel, are getting ready to lay off a lot of employees in the next year. This shows that the job market is getting tougher and businesses are changing how they operate.
By the end of 2023, big companies like Nike, Intel, and Citigroup are planning to reduce their workforce significantly in 2024.
This isn’t just happening in one industry. It’s affecting many areas like technology, finance, media, and retail, which means it’s going to be hard for a lot of workers.
Nike, known for its sports gear, is planning to save $2 billion over three years, starting in the second quarter of its fiscal year. They’re expecting to spend between $400 million and $450 million on severance pay in the third quarter.
These layoffs are part of a bigger plan to use more technology and automation and make their products simpler. The goal is to make things run smoother and be more efficient.
More Layoffs at Intel
Intel, a big name in technology, isn’t holding back on its plans to cut costs. They began letting go of 235 employees at their Folsom, California campus in December of 2023, and they’re also planning more layoffs.
These cuts are part of a bigger plan to speed up their strategies and save money. A spokesperson from Intel says they’re making these tough decisions with care for the employees involved.
Changes at Citigroup
Citigroup, a major player in finance, is following a similar path. They announced a big change called “Project Bora Bora” in September. It’s all about getting rid of extra layers of management to make decisions faster.
This restructuring will likely lead to a big drop in the number of employees, with rumors suggesting up to 10% could be cut from some parts of the company. These changes started in November and are set to continue into February 2024, aiming to simplify things and make operations run smoother.
Impact on the Industry and AI’s Role
This trend isn’t just happening at a few companies; it’s affecting the whole industry. A survey of around 900 business leaders by ResumeBuilder found that 38% expect layoffs in 2024, and half think their companies will stop hiring.
Many companies are worried about a possible recession, and they’re also using more artificial intelligence, which could mean fewer jobs.
About 40% of those surveyed think AI will lead to job cuts.
The combination of economic troubles and new technology is changing how companies work, forcing them to adjust to new challenges.
While these changes might worry workers, they also bring chances for growth and new ideas. Both individuals and companies need to be open to change and find ways to succeed in today’s digital world.
As we head into 2024, both workers and companies will need to be flexible and ready for whatever comes next in this tough economic climate.ate and personalized home health care services to our clients. We strive to improve the quality of life for those we serve, while prioritizing their safety and well-being.
RENEWAL OF FISA SPYING
House Renews FISA Spying with 2-Year Extension Without Warrants
April 15, 2024
by NBC, Washington Examiner and New American
The House voted to renew the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) two days after a band of 19 conservative privacy “hawks” revolted against Republican leadership and blocked the legislation on the floor when their demands for warrants were not met. The conservative rebels ended their blockade and allowed the FISA bill to move forward after striking a deal with Republican Speaker Mike Johnson who was criticized for casting the “tiebreaker” vote. Under the agreement, the reauthorization period of the spy powers — known as Section 702 of FISA — would be cut to two years from the original proposed five years.
FISA was used by the Obama regime to spy on Trump, who said this week that he wanted to “kill” FISA. Republicans said that the 2-year re-authorization would give Trump a chance to make his mark on the law if he wins back the White House.
Analysts from the New American revealed that the Department of Justice broke the law at least 287,000 times using FISA. FISA allows the NSA to intercept wide swaths of foreign communications without court orders. But this wide net regularly captures communications of Americans on US soil and it violates the Fourth Amendment. Lawmakers who opposed renewal simply want intelligence communities to get a warrant for spying on you.
They explained that globalists and foreign policy leaders under the influence of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) flock to the State Department because one world government may be brought in through treaty law that has been allowed to supercede the Constitution.
From NBC
The House voted to renew a powerful surveillance program on Friday, two days after a band of 19 conservative privacy hawks revolted against Republican leadership and blocked the legislation on the floor when their demands were not met.
The vote was 273-147 and was overwhelmingly bipartisan, with both Republicans and Democrats voting in favor of the legislation. Of those who supported the legislation, 126 were Republicans and 147 Democrats. It followed a dramatic vote to narrowly reject an amendment that would have required a warrant for surveillance in more situations.
Earlier Friday, the conservative rebels ended their blockade and allowed the bill to move forward after striking a deal with Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and his team. Under the agreement, the reauthorization period of the spy powers — known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) — would be cut to two years from the original proposed five years.
Republicans said that would give former President Donald Trump, who said this week he wants to “kill” FISA, a chance to make his mark on the law if he wins back the White House.
“We just bought President Trump an at bat,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., a top Trump ally and one of the 19 rebels. “The previous version of this bill would have kicked reauthorization beyond the Trump presidency. Now President Trump gets an at bat to fix the system that victimized him more than any other American.”
Ahead of the vote, Johnson set up a secured room just off the floor where lawmakers could review classified documents.
The conservatives also secured a floor vote on a bipartisan amendment led by one of the 19, Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., that would require law enforcement to obtain warrants to search the communications of U.S. citizens and permanent residents collected while surveilling foreigners overseas. And Johnson agreed to hold a floor vote next week on a bill by Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, that would require the government to obtain a warrant to purchase private data of U.S. citizens from brokers.
“I’m disappointed with where we’re at today, but it was going to be worse,” Davidson said in an interview after voting for the procedural rule Friday that he had helped tank two days earlier. “We don’t work in a think tank, we work in a legislature, so you make progress where you can.”
The bill is expected go to the Senate next week ahead of an April 19 deadline to renew or sunset FISA Section 702. Some Republicans have blocked transmission to the Senate as they use a procedural move to try to force another vote on the entire bill.
The successful House vote comes just hours before Johnson is set to meet with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida for an event on “election integrity”; GOP lawmakers said they expect FISA will be among the other issues they will discuss.
Strange bedfellows for privacy rights
Prior to passing the bill, the House voted 212-212 on bipartisan amendment proposed by a rare left-right coalition designed to rein in the government’s use of warrantless surveillance of U.S. persons. The tie vote meant the amendment failed. In addition to Biggs, it was championed by Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash.; Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y.; Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.; Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio; and Davidson.
The White House fought to kill the amendment, with Attorney General Merrick Garland and national security adviser Jake Sullivan making calls to lawmakers on Friday morning encouraging them to vote against it, said two sources familiar with the calls.
In the end, 128 Republicans and 84 Democrats voted for the amendment. Johnson voted against it, earning more ire from his conservative critics.
“Speaker Johnson was the final vote. He was the one that caused the warrant amendment to fail,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who is threatening to oust him from power. “And I think that’s going to tell a lot of people what I’ve been saying is true: What’s the difference between Speaker Pelosi and Speaker Johnson, and there’s not one.”
Officials told lawmakers it would prohibit the government “from accessing lawfully collected information already in its possession to identify and disrupt critical threats to the American people,” according to talking points one source provided to NBC News, which added that the measure would make the U.S. “less safe.”
Nadler, in a rare clash with the Biden White House, called the FISA bill “completely inadequate” and said it “does not represent real reform” without the warrant requirement. After he spoke, Jayapal, the Progressive Caucus chair, took to the floor Friday to dispute the intelligence community’s arguments for the necessity of the current law, calling the changes a needed balance between protecting security and civil liberties. She said Congress must end a “back door search loophole” that impedes the privacy of Americans.
Jordan, in a moment of camaraderie with his usual foes, said he wants to “thank the Democrats” on his committee for “working together to defend a fundamental principle.”
But Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, the chair of the Intelligence Committee, sided with the White House and said passage of the amendment would mean the “Communist Party in China, Hezbollah and Hamas get to fully recruit in the United States” as it’d require a warrant for the government to access their communications.
“We would go blind,” Turner said. “Our nation would be unsafe.”