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‘Total Inaction’ — Tucker and Rand Paul Accuse Lindsey Graham Of Failing To Sink The Deep State
Sonoma County Fire Spreads Quickly, Forcing Evacuations - The Wall Street Journal
- Sonoma County Fire Spreads Quickly, Forcing Evacuations The Wall Street Journal
- PG&E Shuts Down Power In Parts Of 17 Northern California Counties NPR
- 500,000 Californians in the dark, more outages likely as fires rage in Sonoma, San Bernardino counties USA TODAY
- PG&E should belong to Californians. Not to its Wall Street shareholders Sacramento Bee
- Live updates: Firefighters responding to vegetation fire in northern Sonoma County San Francisco Chronicle
- View full coverage on Google News
Coast Guard suspends search for missing doctor whose plane likely crashed in the Gulf
UPDATE: The Coast Guard suspended its search for a small private aircraft and pilot in the Gulf of Mexico, Sunday.
Coast Guard crews searched over 62,565 square-nautical miles for approximately 21 hours but were unable to find the aircraft or pilot.
*****
GONZALES - The U.S. Coast Guard is combing the Gulf of Mexico for a small plane that never made its scheduled landing in Ascension Parish Wednesday.
The Coast Guard says the private aircraft piloted by Steven Schumacher of Missouri was scheduled to land in Gonzales around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. His family reported him missing later that night.
Officials say the last known location of Schumacher's Piper Aztec twin-engine plane was about 380 nautical miles south of Louisiana. His aircraft's tracking device suggests he was last recorded about 50 feet above the water.
Schumacher is believed to have been the only person on board.
The Mexican Navy is assisting in the search.
Schumacher, WBRZ learned, is an LSU-trained doctor with a trauma specialty. He worked for Saint Francis Healthcare System in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
He studied at the LSU School of Medicine and was a 1995 resident at Charity Hospital in New Orleans.
"St. Francis Family is keeping the Schumacher family in our thoughts and prayers as the search continues for him and his private aircraft," Dr. Maryann Reese, President and CEO of Saint Francis Healthcare System, said in a statement given to WBRZ Thursday.
One dead after 18-wheeler drives off Basin Bridge
WHISKEY BAY - A fatal accident involving a tractor trailer has occurred near the Whiskey Bay Hwy exit on I-10.
Louisiana State Police confirm that a tractor trailer exited the roadway on I-10 westbound at the Whiskey Bay exit, struck the bridge rail and caused an accident that left one person dead.
The Iberville Parish Sheriff's Office says the driver of the tractor trailer may have fallen asleep behind the wheel and accidentally driven off the bridge.
Louisiana State Police are leading an investigation into the incident.
President Trump Full Interview With Sean Hannity…
Walmart to participate in DEA’s national prescription drug take back events in Louisiana
More than 600 Walmart stores nationwide, including one store in Acadiana, is participating with local law enforcement agencies in an event aimed at safely disposing of unwanted, unused or expired prescription medications.
On Monday, Walmart announced stores across the US are participating in the Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, October 26.
At the event, you will be able to safely dispose of unwanted, unused or expired prescription medications with local law enforcement who will be set up in the parking lots of participating Walmart stores.
The Walmart store in Ville Platte is included.
Click here to find other locations.
Trump dropped plan to host G-7 at Doral after Republican criticism: report
RNC Raised Four Times More Than DNC In September, Breaking Off-Cycle Monthly Record
New Revelation on Hunter Biden Surfaces as Impeachment Probe Expands Beyond Trump Phone Call
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange loses court delay bid in U.S. extradition fight
Tulsi Gabbard Conspiracy Theories Go Mainstream as Hillary Clinton Accuses the Candidate of Being Groomed by Russia
Clinton suggests Tulsi Gabbard and Jill Stein are "Russian assets." Since announcing her 2020 presidential bid, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D–Hawaii) has been plagued by bizarre conspiracy theories, including rumors that she's in league with Russia and that she plans a third-party run. Now Hillary Clinton has joined the theorists levying the allegations. In a recent podcast, the Democrats' 2016 nominee warned that Russia was "grooming" Gabbard "to be the third-party candidate."
As a woman with anti-war beliefs, sometimes idiosyncratic policy positions, and an apparent allergy to parroting all of her party's preferred talking points, Gabbard has rankled a lot of establishment Democrats and picked up fans from several factions, including several conservatives.
That last part has further fueled rumors that Gabbard's run as a Democrat is just a prelude to an independent or third-party presidential campaign next year. Some figures have been fuming about that (very slim) possibility, just as they've fumed over the possibility that Rep. Justin Amash (I–Mich.) might do the same. Just as they fume anytime anyone dares challenge the idea that U.S. politics should mean a challenge between one Republican and one Democrat.
The more wacko speculation surrounding Gabbard is that she's linked to Russia. As in the 2016 election, there's a lot of careless conflation between the idea that she's a Russian plant and the idea that some people in Moscow would like her to do well.
Hillary Clinton combined both theories into one (while also roping in Jill Stein for good measure) on a podcast with David Plouffe. Clinton told Plouffe that she thinks a woman currently running in the Democratic presidential primary is being groomed by Russia to run as a third-party candidate:
I'm not making any predictions, but I think they've got their eye on somebody who is currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate. She's the favorite of the Russians. They have a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her so far…
Lest there be any doubt who she meant, a Clinton spokesperson subsequently confirmed that Clinton was talking about Tulsi Gabbard. ("Clinton spox @NickMerrill, when asked if HRC was referring to Gabbard: 'If the nesting doll fits,'" tweeted CNN's Dan Merica.)
Gabbard responded with a tweet thread accusing Clinton and her allies of running a "concerted campaign" to tarnish Gabbard's reputation. After calling Clinton "the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long," Gabbard thanked Clinton for having "finally come out from behind the curtain":
From the day I announced my candidacy, there has been a concerted campaign to destroy my reputation. We wondered who was behind it and why. Now we know—it was always you, through your proxies and powerful allies in the corporate media and war machine, afraid of the threat I pose. It's now clear that this primary is between you and me. Don't cowardly hide behind your proxies. Join the race directly.
The New York Post editorial board notes that Clinton's comments follow "last week's New York Times story hinting at the same conspiracy theory, which cited at least two former Clinton aides and which Gabbard slammed onstage at last week's debate."
During the Plouffe podcast, Clinton also accused 2016 Green Party candidate Jill Stein of being a "Russian asset." After talking about Russia's alleged new favorite, Clinton added:
and that's assuming Jill Stein will give it up, which, she might not 'cause she's also a Russian asset. She's a Russian asset, totally. They know they can't win without a third-party candidate.
Yikes.
Clinton is not the only prominent politician to insinuate that something is amiss with Gabbard. In July, after Gabbard slammed Sen. Kamala Harris (D–Calif.) for her record as a prosecutor, Harris' communications manager tweeted out the following, with a link to an NBC story titled "Russia's propaganda machine discovers 2020 Democratic candidate Tulsi Gabbard":
Reporters writing their stories with eyes on the modern-day assignment desk of Twitter, read this: "The Russian propaganda machine that tried to influence the 2016 election is now promoting the presidential aspirations of a controversial Hawaii Democrat"
Evan McMullin, who briefly ran as an independent candidate in 2016, tweeted on Friday:
I believe it's true. Tulsi Gabbard is with the Russians and the Russians are with Tulsi Gabbard. She confirms it every time she opens her mouth.
On Sunday, Center for American Progress President Neera Tanden said she didn't understand "why major media outlets aren't more concerned about Russian bot support of Tulsi than Hillary's statement."
Asked by NBC about the idea that Russian bots were backing her campaign, Gabbard said "I don't control them. I don't control what anyone else says or does."
.@HillaryClinton attacked @TulsiGabbard today, saying Russians "are grooming her to be the third-party candidate."
Politicians disgust me, and moreso when they are so eager to shed other children's blood. Here's my interview with Gabbard -- does she seem like a Russian plant? pic.twitter.com/ATf5pgNnDd
— John Stossel (@JohnStossel) October 18, 2019
FREE MINDS
Will Amash run for president? Rep. Justin Amash (I–Mich.) told Chuck Todd: "I wouldn't say 100% of anything. I'm running for Congress, but I keep things open and I wouldn't rule anything out." You can watch the interview here.
FREE MARKETS
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D–Mass.) says she's almost figured out how much her Medicare for All plan would cost and how the government should pay for it. "I've been working for a long time on this question about what the cost will be and how to pay for it, and I'm getting close," the 2020 presidential candidate told reporters over the weekend.
ELECTION 2020
The Buttigieg moment? South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg "was initially seen as a long-shot presidential contender," but he's now "surged within striking distance of former vice president Joe Biden and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses," according to USA Today. A new Iowa poll from the paper and Suffolk University places former Vice President Joe Biden at 18 percent, Warren at 17, and Buttigieg at 13.
QUICK HITS
I remember NYPD hanging around outside methadone clinics on Saturdays, when people would get 2 doses to cover Sunday too. Undercovers would pretend to be in withdrawal & beg for someone's extra dose. If someone was kind enough to give it to them, they got arrested. For a felony. https://t.co/H9EluQ3iC3
— Emily Galvin-Almanza (@GalvinAlmanza) October 20, 2019
- Mitt Romney's secret Twitter account has been discovered.
- Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson has admitted that he had "a few drinks" before passing out in his car at a stop sign.
- The drug war never dies, it just finds new targets.
- Doctors are lobbying to have breast-cancer warnings added to cheese.
WikiLeaks founder Assange appears confused at extradition hearing
Drug companies reach $260 million settlement, averting first federal opioid trial
Mitt Romney admits he ran a secret anti-Trump Twitter account
NEW YORK POST: Sen. Mitt Romney has admitted to managing a secret Twitter account which he uses under the alias [READ MORE]
The post Mitt Romney admits he ran a secret anti-Trump Twitter account appeared first on The Savage Nation.
Two Americans held in China accused of illegally moving people across country borders - Fox News
- Two Americans held in China accused of illegally moving people across country borders Fox News
- China arrests 2 Americans: Alyssa Petersen and Jacob Harlan of China Horizons detained today CBS News
- China Detains 2 Americans Amid Growing Scrutiny of Foreigners The New York Times
- Two Americans detained in China on ‘bogus’ charges, their families say The Washington Post
- Two Americans detained in China released on bail Aljazeera.com
- View full coverage on Google News
Ex-Miss Florida and wife of 'Tarzan' actor reportedly murdered at home
Update: At 2:30 p.m. PST Wednesday the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department sent out a news release confirming the victim's identity as actor Ron Ely's wife, Valerie Lundeen Ely, 62. The department also released that the identity of the suspect -- who was fatally shot on scene by four deputies -- is Ron and Valerie's 30-year-old son Cameron Ely. The full news release can be found at the bottom of this article. The story is still developing. We will update this article as more information becomes available.
Valerie Lundeen, former Miss Florida and the wife of "Tarzan" (1966-68) actor Ron Ely, was reportedly found dead in her Santa Barbara home on Tuesday night.
Authorities responded to reports of a domestic dispute at the actor's home around 8:15 p.m. on Tuesday night before discovering an elderly woman's body with apparent stab wounds.
According to CNN, an elderly man with impaired speech who was at the property at the time told authorities that another family member was involved in the fatal stabbing.
Assuming the suspect was still on the property, deputies launched a search for the suspect with the help of a back-up air support unit.
Once they located the suspect, Lt. Erik Raney of the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Office said the suspect posed a threat to officers before they opened fire.
My videographer Oliver Forster captured sounds of gunfire outside #HopeRanch home on Tuesday night before 10 pm pic.twitter.com/AqnrLZB9oe
— TRACY L. LEHR (@KEYTNC3Tracy) October 16, 2019
"We don't know exactly how many shots were fired. We did have several deputies that were involved in the shooting. Fortunately all of our deputies are OK," Lt. Raney told KEYT.
While Ely's relation to the elderly woman was not immediately clear, a man who claims to be a close friend of the actor's wife confirmed that it was Valerie Lundeen.
"My good friend Valerie Lundeen Ely was stabbed yesterday, RIP Valerie- great woman !! Bummed today," Dale Goodman wrote on Facebook Wednesday morning.
It is unknown if the 81-year-old actor was home at the time of the disturbance, but Ely was reported safe by the Santa Barbara Sheriff's department, according to CNN.
Ely starred in various television shows in the 1960s, but is most commonly known for playing the lead role in NBC's 1966 series "Tarzan."
The actor retired in 2001 and told the Fresno Bee that he stepped away from his career to spend more time with his family.
"I stepped out of acting to raise a family and be able to spend more time with them here in Santa Barbara," he said in 2014.
19-187 Hope Ranch Homicide Identities by The Western Journal on Scribd
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
The post Ex-Miss Florida and wife of 'Tarzan' actor reportedly murdered at home appeared first on WND.
Feds bust massive child porn sharing site—hundreds of users arrested
Enlarge (credit: Andrew Brookes / Getty)
Authorities have shut down a massive underground child pornography network, arresting 337 alleged users in the process, the Department of Justice announced on Wednesday. The mastermind, a South Korean man named Jong Wo Son, ran the Tor hidden service from a server in his bedroom, according to authorities.
The feds say the site hosted 200,000 video files. Users who uploaded videos to the site were rewarded with free access to videos uploaded by others. Users could also purchase access to the videos using bitcoin.
A notice on the upload page stated "do not upload adult porn." A search page listed popular search terms on the site including "PTHC" ("preteen hardcore") and "%4yo."
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French Epstein associate accused of sexual harassment
US Launched Airstrikes On Its Abandoned Ammo Storage & Command Center In Syria
In what appears a final major parting shot as the United States continues its rapid draw down from Syria, the Pentagon has revealed it conducted an airstrike on a munitions storage bunker at a US base on Wednesday to "reduce the facility's military usefulness" after invading Turkish forces threatened it.
An official US coalition statement identified the strike on a US military compound located between Kobani and Ain Issa near the Turkish border, specifically at the sprawling Lafarge Cement Factory, which had served as a de facto anti-ISIS coalition command center for the last couple years of the war since it had been wrested from Islamic State terrorists.
The military described that a pair of F-15 jets "successfully" conducted the targeting of the ammo storage site, destroying what the Pentagon wanted to ensure didn't get left behind, calling it a “pre-planned precision airstrike” before Turkish-backed fighters could take control.
This also included HQ facilities such as "latrines, tents and other parts of the Syria headquarters" which the US didn't want utilized by hostile forces.
It was part of the "show of force" against nearby Turkish-backed groups, which had been described in reports Wednesday as having come "too close" amid the 'deliberate' draw down of US forces.
"On Oct. 16, after all Coalition personnel and essential tactical equipment departed, two Coalition F-15Es successfully conducted a pre-planned precision airstrike at the Lafarge Cement Factory to destroy an ammunition cache, and reduce the facility's military usefulness," coalition spokesman US Army Col. Myles Caggins said.
Lafarge factory before the war, and even for the first few years into the conflict, had been Syria's largest cement factory, owned and operated by a French company.
The US destruction of the cement factory as a parting shot of its involvement in Syria is a sad coda on its role in this sordid affair.
— Joshua Landis (@joshua_landis) October 17, 2019
Photo is of the ISIS jihadis who took the factory in Sept 2014 from one of their videos pic.twitter.com/WfKtwyXl3z
Defense officials further said the US ensured no other forces were in the vicinity when operation occurred, given potential they would have mistaken it for an attack on their positions.
The US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) had also set fire to their part of the base just ahead of the airstrikes, according to reports, in what appeared a highly coordinated attempt to make sure it's no longer usable as a military post.
The base at Lafarge had also been central to the Pentagon's so-called 'train-and-equip' program for the Syrian Kurdish fighters, who have since struck a deal with the Syrian government to repel advancing Turkish forces together.
Ex-Florida officer who fatally shot retired librarian during drill gets no jail time - NBC News
Helen Hunt: Oscar-winning actor taken to hospital after car flips over in crash
'F*** you': Queen's Roger Taylor lashes out at 'sneering' critics of Bohemian Rhapsody
Maloney to serve as acting Oversight chairwoman after Cummings's death
300,000 Students Without School As Chicago Teachers Strike Begins: 13 Things That Matter
Submitted by Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner of Wirepoints
Chicago teachers are striking for the third time in seven years. The Chicago Teachers Union has rejected what Mayor Lori Lightfoot says is “the most lucrative CTU package in its history.” The union shunned 5-year, 24 percent teacher raises and continues to demand more, including thousands in new hires and additional benefits like affordable housing.
Over 25,000 teachers and 7,000 support staff will be on strike while 300,000 students will be left in the lurch.
It’s become standard operating procedure for the CTU to strike when it doesn’t like the school district’s contract proposals. In 2012, the union struck for one week over a contract dispute with then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel. It did the same again in 2016, when the union held a one-day walkout.
In both cases, the union’s demands drove Chicago deeper into its financial hole. Now this strike poses a new danger to the fiscal viability of the city and the school district. The simple fact is that Chicagoans can’t afford either the CTU’s demands or Lightfoot’s offer.
Regardless of how the strike ends, the massive costs inflicted on CPS will force Chicagoans’ tax bills to keep rising, the city’s population to keep shrinking and property values will continue to suffer. Neither side’s deal will help teachers or residents if the city and the school district move faster toward insolvency.
Here are 13 reasons why the strike spells trouble for Chicago:
Chicagoans can’t afford either the CTU’s demands or Lightfoot’s offer.
1. Chicago teachers are already among the highest paid in Illinois. Chicago already offers new teachers a starting salary of $56,665, the 6th-highest out of Illinois 870 school districts. That salary rises rapidly as teachers work more and achieve higher degrees. A career Chicago teacher with a masters degree is paid a maximum of $100,000 a year by CPS, still one of the highest in the state.
That level of compensation is far out of reach for most Chicagoans, but even younger teachers get paid far more than what the average Windy City resident can afford.
The average teacher salary in CPS equaled $78,211 in 2019. That’s 55 percent more than what the average full-time private sector worker makes ($50,356).
If the union agrees to Lightfoot’s contract proposal, that average salary will rise to nearly $100,000 by 2024.
2. High salaries translate into big pension benefits for career teachers. The average CPS teacher who retired in 2018 with 30-34 years of service had a final average salary of nearly $98,000 and a starting pension of over $70,000.
3. The district’s offer is unaffordable. Under the district’s proposal, the average teacher will get a salary hike of 16 percent over the five-year contract (24 percent if step and lane raises are included). The average teacher salary will be nearly $100,000 within just five years. Nurses’ average salaries will jump to $73,000 from $49,000 during those same five years, an increase of nearly 50 percent.
4. The CTU’s demands are even more impossible. The CTU’s demands include a 15 percent raise over a three-year contract and numerous additional benefits, including affordable housing benefits and thousands more in support staff, all of which Lightfoot says will “cost $2.5 billion that the city can’t afford.”
The union is demanding all those benefits at a time when both the school district and the city are mired in a deep financial crisis. Here’s how bad things are:
5. Chicago and CPS have some of the nation’s worst credit ratings. Both the city and the school district are already junk-rated by Moodys, Ba1 and B2 respectively. Only the city of Detroit has a lower rating than Chicago.
6. Both the city and school district are drowning in red ink. Chicago’s debts continue to grow steadily worse every year. The city alone is now stuck with a net position of negative $30 billion. And CPS has a negative $14 billion net position of its own.
7. The school district has been shrinking for years. District enrollment has dropped by 75,000 students, or 15 percent, since 2000.
8. Residents are already hurting from the $860 million in new annual taxes imposed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The list of new taxes and fees over the past few years include:
- A $543 million property-tax hike in 2015, the single largest in the city’s history.
- A separate $250 million property-tax hike by CPS to pay for pensions in 2016.
- Numerous fee hikes on garbage collection, utilities, permits and more.
- New taxes on ride sharing, online entertainment, e-cigarettes and more
9. Chicago is losing people. The city’s population has shrunk four years in a row, the only major metropolitan area in the country to do so.
10. Chicago homes have lost value. Real city home prices have fallen since 2000, making Chicago an outlier nationally. Home prices in the Chicago have grown just 44 percent since 2000. By comparison, inflation was up 46 percent over the same time period.
11. Chicagoans are drowning in retirement debt. Chicagoans are on the hook for a collective $150 billion in overlapping government retirement debts, based on Moody’s pension calculations. That’s nearly than $145,000 per Chicago household.
12. Chicago is an extreme outlier fiscally. Cities across the nation are dealing with deep pension problems, but Chicago is in a class of its own. The Windy City has the nation’s worst pension crisis under almost every measure.
J.P. Morgan compiled funding ratios for the country’s major cities and found Chicago pensions, at just 23 percent, were the nation’s worst-funded. They’re effectively insolvent. The Chicago Public Schools’ pension fund is just 50 percent funded.
The state’s pro-union collective bargaining laws are a big reason by Chicago has such a belligerent teachers union. Here’s what makes Illinois, and by extension the CTU, different:
13. Illinois is the only state among its neighbors that enshrines teacher strikes. In contrast, strikes are illegal in Wisconsin, Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky and Iowa. In fact, Illinois is one of just 12 states nationally where teacher strikes are legal.
Poll: About half of Louisiana voters view U.S. Sens. John Kennedy, Bill Cassidy favorably
Blizzard belatedly punishes college Hearthstone team for Hong Kong protest
Enlarge / The on-stream moment that eventually earned the AU Hearthstone team a six-month suspension from tournament play.
The American University Hearthstone team that held up a sign reading "Free Hong Kong Boycott Blizz" during a tournament stream last week has now received a six-month ban from competition, according to a tweet from team member Casey Chambers.
"We expect all players to follow the Hearthstone Collegiate Championship rules," the punishment letter reads, in part. "Every Voice Matters at Blizzard, and we strongly encourage everyone in our community to share their viewpoints in the many places available to express themselves. However, the official broadcast needs to be about the game and the competition, and to be a place where all are welcome."
The language in the AU punishment letter closely mirrors that found in a statement Blizzard released last Friday regarding Ng "Blitzchung" Wai Chung and an on-stream statement he made in support of Hong Kong protesters after winning a Hearthstone Grandmasters tournament last week. Blizzard's statement reduced Blitzchung's punishment to a similar six-month suspension and reinstated tournament winnings that had been denied in the immediate wake of Blitzchung's protest earlier that week.
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Trump humiliated by female astronauts who fact check his space blunder during live call - Express.co.uk
- Trump humiliated by female astronauts who fact check his space blunder during live call Express.co.uk
- NASA's first all-female spacewalk goes off without a hitch CBS This Morning
- NASA makes history with first ever all-female spacewalk Standard Digital
- NASA Astronauts Conduct First All-Women Space Walk NDTV
- NASA Astronauts Venture Out Of The International Space Station To Conduct The First Ever All-Women Spacewalk Swarajya
- View full coverage on Google News
