[Independent] The jury awarded Zachary Young $5 million in compensatory damages and found that the security contractor was also owed punitive damages. The network eventually settled with Young on the punitive damages for an undisclosed amount.
A Florida jury found CNN ...formerly the Cable News Network, now who know what it might stand for... liable on Friday in a high-stakes defamation trial against U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young, who alleged that the network maligned him as an "illegal profiteer" with a report on Afghan evacuees being charged thousands of dollars to flee the country following the U.S. military withdrawal.
Following two days of deliberations, the jury ruled that CNN must pay Young $4 million in financial damages and $1 million for emotional damage, adding that Young is also owed punitive damages. After the trial entered a second phase to determine punitive damages, the network eventually settled with Young for an undisclosed amount.
"We remain proud of our journalists and are 100% committed to strong, fearless and fair-minded reporting at CNN, though we will of course take what useful lessons we can from this case," a CNN spokesperson said in a statement after the settlement was announced.
Once both sides had moved to arguie their case for how much additional money Young should be awarded, Judge William Henry told the jurors on Friday that during this second phase, the punitive damages against CNN could only apply to its actions in this specific case and not on any other stories or issues. Following an extended break in the testimony, during which the two legal teams engaged in discussion, Henry informed the jury that the two sides had settled.
One juror asked Henry if they could "have the privilege to know the settlement amount," only for the judge to look towards both legal teams before responding: "Apparently not."
Though the amount was not disclosed, the settlement came after a business expert for the plaintiff testified that, based on his review of CNN’s earnings, he estimated that CNN brought in roughly $150 million of revenue a month. He further suggested that it could be a fair amount to pay in punitive damages.
The verdict comes weeks after ABC News paid $15 million to Donald Trump ...Perhaps no man has ever had as much fun being president of the US... ’s presidential library fund and another million dollars to his legal team to settle the president-elect’s defamation lawsuit against the network — a move that First Amendment experts warned could have a "chilling effect" on the free press.
The jury in the trial, which was held in deeply conservative Bay County, Florida, was tasked with determining whether CNN acted with "actual malice" during its reporting on Young. The court defines actual malice as a reckless disregard of the truth while publishing false information. Additionally, the burden of proof in this case was lower because the judge ruled before the trial that Young was not a public figure.
Young, a security contractor who once worked for the CIA, sued CNN in 2022 over a story it ran the year before on private contractors charging desperate Afghans large amounts of money to help evacuate them from the war-torn country after the Taliban ...Arabic for students... retook control. The investigatory piece, reported by national security correspondent Alex Marquardt, was first aired on Jake Tapper’s show and warned of "exorbitant fees" from "black market" rescue operations that had "no guarantee of safety or success." Young was the only contractor named throughout the story.
In his complaint, Young said his inclusion in the story suggested that his activities were criminal, specifically because of an on-air graphic that used the term "black market." That banner was also used when the story ran on CNN programming and the network’s website. Young said that he only charged corporate sponsors to extract Afghans and never took money directly from residents, pushing back on the story’s implication that he was exploiting people fearful of the Taliban.
CNN’s legal team and witnesses, meanwhile, argued during the trial that their intention behind the use of the term "black market" was to show that evacuations in the region were taking place in an "unregulated market" and didn’t explicitly mean the actions were criminal. Young’s attorneys, however, noted that the dictionary defined the term as "illegal."
"Do not let CNN rewrite the English language to avoid liability in this case," attorney Devin Freedman told the jurors during his closing arguments on Thursday.
Young has argued that the CNN story destroyed his reputation and left him unable to make a living, claiming his yearly salary went from six figures to zero. He also said that the network caused psychological damage to him, prompting Freedman to urge the jury to "send a message that news organizations must be held accountable."
Months after the story first ran on CNN, the network issued an on-air apology after Young’s attorneys threatened legal action. Delivered by anchor Pamela Brown, who was substituting for Tapper, the correction stated that the term "black market" shouldn’t have been used in the report and the network "did not intend to suggest that Mr. Young participated in a black market."
During the trial, however, Marquardt and other CNN employees testified that they didn’t feel the correction was necessary and that it was merely issued at the behest of the network’s legal counsel to avoid a lawsuit. Well, that was effective, right?
Additionally, CNN’s legal team argued in court filings that at the "time of its reporting, CNN knew little about Young’s financials, his model, or whether he’d successfully evacuated anyone because whenever anyone [including CNN] asked Young to explain his business, he obfuscated, behaved unprofessionally, lied, and hid." They also stated last summer that Young’s "operation was very different from how he publicly portrayed it" and he never planned any evacuations.
"I reported the facts. I reported what I found. Everything in there was factual, accurate and, I believe, fair," Marquardt said on the stand on Monday, defending his reporting. He also took issue with his story being described as a "hit piece" by Young’s lawyers, claiming he wasn’t personally going after the security contractor.
"You needed a bad guy for your scandal story," Freedman told Marquardt at one point. "You hated him, did you not?"
Throughout the trial, Freedman presented a series of Slack messages and emails from Marquardt and other CNN staffers in which they referred to Young as a "s***bag" with a "punchable face." In one message to an editor, Marquardt said they were "gonna nail this Zachary Young mf***er," while an editor responded: "Gonna hold you to that one cowboy!" In another message, Marquardt said of Young: "It’s your funeral, bucko."
In depositions and court filings, CNN and its lawyers defended the harsh remarks as "banter" that’s part of a candid newsroom and that it didn’t impact the editorial process. "I hear a lot of profanity at work," one producer said. "Few things are more common in newsrooms than journalists using tough and indignant language to refer to persons whose misdeeds they believe they are in the process of exposing," the network acknowledged in a filing last month.
In a December court order, though, Judge William Henry stated that while the network "downplays the ’coarse and harsh language’" as "journalistic bravado," a "reasonable jury could find with convincing clarity that the news hounds acted with ill will, hostility or an evil intention to defame and injure Young or intended to personally harm him."
The jury may have tipped its hand on Wednesday when they repeatedly peppered CNN news hound Katie Bo Lillis — who first attempted to contact Young for the story — with pointed questions about the vague messages she initially sent the contractor. "Do you feel Americans are obligated to speak to you?" one juror asked, while another wondered: "At what point do you accept someone not wishing to speak or comment?"
Additionally, network lawyer David Axelrod ...a Chicago-based political hack, political adviser to Barack B.O. Obama since 2004. Following the 2008 election, he was appointed as Senior Advisor to Obama and we all see how well that worked out.... (no relation to the CNN pundit of the same name) was severely reprimanded by Henry on Wednesday for "blatant misrepresentations" he made about a document related to Young. Saying Axelrod’s credibility with him was "none," Henry urged the lawyer to apologize to Young for repeatedly calling him a "liar."
The network’s editorial process and fact-checking also came under intense scrutiny during the trial, especially since some editors seemed to express reservations about publishing the story. "The story is full of holes like Swiss cheese," breaking news editor Megan Trimble wrote, while senior national security editor Thomas Lumley replied: "Agree. The story is 80% emotion, 20% obscured fact lol."
"I’m never going to publish a story that is factually incorrect or unfair," Lumley said on Tuesday, insisting that he didn’t doubt the facts of the story. "That’s the red line."
The trial took part in the Florida Panhandle, a deeply red part of the country that voted overwhelmingly for Trump. It also comes at a time when CNN, which the president-elect has repeatedly called "fake news," and the rest of the mainstream media face ideologically polarized perceptions from the public. Conservative discontent has only grown more engrained as Trump has made legal and political threats against the press a regular occurrence.
Perhaps because of this, some legal observers called on CNN to settle before the case went to trial, especially in light of the "damning" text exchanges that had become public during discovery.
"The internal communications certainly make it sound as if the main journalist on the story wanted to ruin the plaintiff, and that there were reasons to believe that ... he was overplaying their hand factually," University of Florida law professor Lyrissa Lidsky told NPR earlier this month.
"My advice to CNN would be to cough it up. Settle," former Bloomberg News media legal counsel Charles Glasser added. "Admit you’re wrong. Admit your hyperbole was out of line, and move on."
#3
My guess would be a settlement offer Tuesday or Wednesday, while the rest of the world is going nuts over the Inauguration. Won't be nine figures, but you'll see it from there.
[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] The UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) announced on Thursday its stance on the partnership within the Presidential Leadership Council, loyal to the Saudi-led coalition.
During a meeting of its presidency, the STC stressed the need to reformulate the partnership in a manner consistent with the reality on the ground.
It emphasized the importance of building the partnership on fair foundations that guarantee an effective role for the South in making fateful decisions and ensure achieving justice, equality in various fields, and real participation in governance.
The STC's presidency also firmly rejected recent measures taken regarding the oil investment company ''Ycom,'' considering that the Leadership Council's attempts to impose management on the company from outside the oil concession areas are unacceptable.
It accused some leaders of the Leadership Council and the pro-coalition government of approving ''illegal agreements'', demanding a comprehensive and detailed investigation into the Block 5 file in Shabwah province and the developments that the region has witnessed over the decades until today.
Companies transporting their products around the world are not ready to return to the Red Sea trade route in the wake of a #Gaza#ceasefire deal because of uncertainty over whether #Yemen’s Houthis will continue to attack shipping, experts say.https://t.co/5HeY03PSOz
Posted by: Fred ||
01/18/2025 2025-01-18 00:11 ||
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[11140 views]
Top|| File under: Houthis
#1
Companies transporting their products around the world are not ready to return to the Red Sea trade route in the wake of a #Gaza #ceasefire deal because of uncertainty over whether #Yemen’s Houthis will continue to attack shipping, experts say.
...Well, 1) of course they're going to still attack shipping, and will continue to do so until someone(s) makes it too painful for them to continue and 2) they make a LOT more money going the long way.
[IsraelTimes] US Treasury Department designates Yemen Kuwait Bank, saying Houthis exploit Yemeni banking sector to launder money and transfer funds to Hezbollah, facilitate Iran oil sales
The US on Friday imposed sanctions on a Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... -based financial institution that Washington accused of financially supporting the Iran's Houthi sock puppets ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... s, as President Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. Sleazy Dem machine politician, paterfamilias of the Biden Crime Family... ’s administration sought to further pressure the hard boy group before Biden leaves office.
The US Treasury Department in a statement said it imposed sanctions on Yemen Kuwait Bank, accusing it of helping the Houthis exploit the Yemeni banking sector to launder money and transfer funds to allies, including Leb ...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration.... ’s Hezbollah.
The US additionally said the bank helped the Houthis establish and finance front companies to facilitate Iranian oil sales.
The Houthis seized power in Yemen in late 2014 and control over most parts of the country including the capital Sanaa.
According to the Israel Defense Forces, the Houthis have launched some 40 ballistic missiles at Israel as well as dozens of drone attacks since Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, starting the multifront war. Israel has responded by striking Houthi areas on several occasions.
The Iran-backed Houthis have also carried out more than 100 attacks on ships since November 2023. They have sunk two vessels, seized another, and killed at least four seafarers. The intensity of the attacks has disrupted global shipping and prompted route changes.
The attacks have disrupted international commerce, forcing some ships to take the long route around southern Africa rather than the Suez Canal, leading to increases in insurance rates, delivery costs, and time that stoked global inflation fears.
The US alongside Britannia launched a multinational operation in December 2023 to safeguard commerce in the Red Sea and has repeatedly conducted Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s on Houthi strongholds targeting weapons storage facilities.
Biden’s action, ahead of the inauguration on Monday of President-elect Donald Trump ...So far he's been unkillable, and they've tried.... , freezes any of Yemen Kuwait Bank’s US assets and generally bars Americans from dealing with it. Those who engage in certain transactions with it also risk being hit with US sanctions.
Earlier Friday, thousands of Yemenis crowded the capital to express their support for the Houthis, who say they will maintain pressure on Israel despite the imminent Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... ceasefire and hostage deal, due to begin Sunday.
Every week for the past 15 months, people have filled the center of the rebel-held city on the Moslem day of prayer and rest to chant their backing for the Paleostinians.
A Houthi rebel, Khaled al-Matri, told AFP he supported the ceasefire deal for Gaza.
But he added: "We will not give in until the disappearance of the Zionist state, God willing", before breaking into chants of "Death to America, death to Israel!"
[CBS] London - Britain's Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced Thursday that there would be a number of new central government-backed local inquiries into years-old allegations of child grooming gangs, weeks after Elon Musk accused British Prime Minister Keir Starmer of failings in relation to the handling of the crimes in a series of tweets. The crimes took place a decade ago when Starmer was the country's top prosecutor.
This has been going on for decades, plural, O CBS reporter. To say that for generations, plural, “Asian” grooming gangs, primarily Moslem Pakistanis, have made the poor, white schoolgirls of England their private hunting preserve would not be an exaggeration. And except for briefly exploding into the light from time to time, for all those years the authorities have brushed it under the rug with threats of punishment against the girls and their families so that England’s Moslem colonists would not feel judged and become restive.
Musk's tweets targeted Starmer personally, suggesting he should be in jail and that "America should liberate the people of Britain from their tyrannical government," thrusting the crimes back into the political conversation in Britain.
No matter what else he has done, for these tweets alone Elon Musk has a guaranteed reservation in Heaven.
Starmer defended his record and denounced the criticism as politically motivated.
The record is indefensible. The political interest is downstream from that.
"Those that are spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible, they're not interested in victims. They're interested in themselves," Starmer told reporters after Musk's tweets earlier this month, not mentioning the tech mogul and close associate of Donald Trump by name.
Keep trying, pervert protector. It’s already too late — your career is dead.
In 2012, a newspaper report on the grooming led to a major government inquiry, which two years later found that at least 1,400 children had been subjected to sexual exploitation in Rotherham, northern England, between 1997 and 2013. Similar exploitation was discovered in other towns, leading to a national inquiry.
A few “Asian” groomers went to jail. Most carried on without a ripple, secure in the knowledge that they were still protected by the police, local authorities and important peoole like Sir Keir Starmer.
#2
Musk's tweets targeted Starmer personally, suggesting he should be in jail and that "America should liberate the people of Britain from their tyrannical government,"
Apparently no love for Perfidious Albion. Who knew ?
#4
We really must start correcting language that seeks to obscure reality. They aren't "grooming gangs", they are *rape* gangs.
And its not "reproductive rights", its the right to kill the unborn. They already have "reproductive rights", what they are seeking is the opposite of reproduction.
[IsraelTimes] Nine people appear in a London court to deny offenses including burglary, criminal damage, violent mostly peaceful disorder and hitting a police officer with a sledgehammer, over an incident at a warehouse linked to Israeli defense firm Elbit.
The nine, who prosecutors have said were activists from the protest organization Paleostine Action, are accused of smashing their way into the Elbit Systems UK facility in Bristol, southwest England, in August.
At a previous hearing, prosecutors said a repurposed prison van was used to smash through fencing before some of the group damaged items in the warehouse using sledgehammers.
Four men and five women, aged between 20 and 51, appeared by video link at London’s Old Bailey Court. All nine plead not guilty to aggravated burglary and causing criminal damage which has been estimated at 1 million pounds.
Seven of them also deny a charge of violent mostly peaceful disorder, while one, Simon Corner, pleads not guilty to a charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, for allegedly striking a police officer with a sledgehammer.
Another nine people also charged with offenses over the incident appear at the hearing but do not enter pleas.
The first trial involving eight of the defendants is due to start in November, with the others appearing at two subsequent trials. A hearing will also be held to determine whether the cases should be treated as a terrorism matter.
Pro-Paleostinian protesters have repeatedly targeted Elbit Systems UK and other defense firms in Britannia linked to Israel in the wake of the conflict in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Paleostine Action has said the targeted site was Elbit’s new 35 million-pound ($43 million) research and development hub. Elbit’s website says its UK subsidiary employs 680 people at 16 sites, working on multiple programs for the British military.
#2
Palestine Action - Wikipedia
Palestine Action was established on 30 July 2020 when activists broke into and spray-painted the interior of Elbit Systems' UK headquarters in London. The organisation's co-founders are Huda Ammori, whose father is Palestinian, and Richard Barnard, a long-term left-wing activist.
We were told these marches were to bring about a cease-fire, not intimidate the Jewish community. We now have a cease-fire. The marches are carrying on regardless. https://t.co/wSxNK265ts
Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Palestinian Forum in Britain
Friends of Al-Aqsa
Stop the War Coalition
Muslim Association of Britain
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
shouting questions at Blinken about why he had kept "the bombs flowing when we had a deal in May?"
The heart burns, as Fred says. Which reminds me, I’m due to make another batch of chili con carne.
[FoxNews] Secretary of State Antony Blinken's final press conference quickly devolved into chaos Thursday after reporters had to be forcibly removed from the event, including one, an activist, who was physically carried out.
The men were upset that a cease-fire deal between Hamas and Israel had not been reached sooner, accusing Blinken of "genocide" and being a "criminal."
Writer and activist Sam Husseini had to be dragged out of the event by security. Another reporter, Grayzone News' Max Blumenthal, left more peacefully but still had to be escorted out after shouting questions at Blinken about why he had kept "the bombs flowing when we had a deal in May?"
"You pontificate about a free press?" Husseini erupted. "I'm asking questions after being told by Matt Miller that he will not answer my questions, and so I ask them. Wasn't – wasn’t the point of the May 31st statement to block the ICJ orders? You blocked the ICJ orders!"
Blumenthal questioned Blinken on why he had allowed "the Holocaust of our time," as he was escorted out, but that didn't stop the uproar. Blinken kept trying to get back on course amid the interruption, at one point asking people to "respect the process," but Husseini refused.
"Oh, respect the process?" Husseini yelled as he was being carried away. "Respect the process while everybody – everybody from the International – from Amnesty International to the ICJ’s saying that Israel’s doing genocide and extermination, and you’re telling me to respect the process. Criminal! Why aren’t you in The Hague?"
Three security guards ultimately had to grab Husseini in an attempt to remove him from the room. Husseini shouted as he clasped the table he was sitting at while he continued shouting at Blinken: "You're hurting me! You're hurting me!" "Really? How does this feel?"
The United States, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and Hamas agreed this week to a cease-fire deal – the basis of which was proposed by President Joe Biden in May. Israel still has to fully ratify the agreement, but it is a three-phase process that is expected to commence as early as Sunday. The deal marks the first reprieve in fighting since a short truce took place in November 2023, but fighting resumed several days later with both sides arguing violations of the agreed upon deal.
"Three hundred reporters in Gaza were on the receiving end of your bombs. Why did you keep the bombs flowing when we had a deal?" Blumenthal shouted at Blinken, after the secretary of state thanked members for their "hard questions" during the past four years of his tenure. "You all knew we had a deal. Everyone in this room knows we had a deal, Tony, and you kept the bombs flowing."
A spokesperson for the State Department told Fox News Digital that it is committed to advancing press freedom and values the opportunity to regularly communicate with members of the press. But they said the State Department also follows agency norms, which posit that anyone attending department press briefings must act in a professional manner, observe restrictions that may be laid out in advance and not impede other speakers.
[FOXNEWS] The FBI assistant special agent in charge who told the media and the public the New Orleans attack was "not a terrorist event" has been reassigned, Fox News has learned. She used the 'T' word
Multiple sources tell Fox News that FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alethea Duncan has been temporarily reassigned following her initial presser in which she stated: "This is not a terrorist event."
It was terrorism.
After the original presser, the FBI put out a statement using the word "terrorism." Attorney General Merrick Garland and President Biden also used the word "terrorism" in their statements.
No other details were offered about Duncan's new position, but she is still with the FBI.
The FBI declined to comment.
Authorities say that Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42,had an ISIS flag in his truck when he drove it into a crowd full of New Year's revelers on Bourbon Street, killing 14 and injuring dozens of others. After plowing through the crowd, he jumped out of his truck and began shooting at local coppers, who returned fire and killed him.
[FoxNews] Tren de Aragua has grown across states throughout the US
A Republican congressman, whose district covers part of the southern border, is introducing legislation that would take a step closer to declaring Tren de Aragua (TdA) and Mexican cartels foreign terrorist organizations.
Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, is introducing the "Security First Act" which would require the secretary of state to consider designating Mexican drug cartels and TdA as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs).
An FTO designation allows for targeted action against members, including financial penalties. It is illegal for anyone to provide support or resources to an FTO, and financial institutions must report those funds to the Treasury. According to the State Department, designations also deter donations and support efforts to curb financing.
Gonzales’ bill would also increase funding to Operation Stonegarden, which is a federal grant to provide resources to states and local law enforcement for border security. It would also demand a report on technology needed at the border to stop terrorists entering the U.S., and another report on Customs and Border Protection hiring practices.
The crisis at the southern border saw a sharp increase in the presence of TdA, a gang that is believed to have originated in Venezuelan prisons and moved north. Border officials told Fox last year that they see the gang as a top priority, as its presence has been felt in states like Texas, Colorado and New York.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced in September that he was declaring TdA an FTO and establishing a database to verify if arrestees are TdA members. Now, Gonzales wants to see more action from the incoming administration on the bloodthirsty gang.
"It's time to call them what they are, they're terrorist organizations, and they terrorize our community," he said. "I'm grateful President Trump is in there, and it's time for us to not only take the gloves off, but put some teeth in the legislation. So that way we throw the book at these guys."
While the bill does not itself declare TdA an FTO, and would require the secretary of state to consider it, Gonzales said he is confident that it would be in line with the administration’s thinking.
"Those of us that live along the border, you know, we don't need a commission to to tell us that we're being terrorized, but some people do, but I feel very confident with this administration, with the way Trump has handled things and talked about it, is they would go along with that route," he said.
Pam Bondi, Trump's pick to lead the Department of Justice, said this week at her confirmation hearing that she is in favor of designating Mexican cartels as FTOs.
"I personally went to Mexico. I personally dealt with these cartels when I was a state prosecutor. And they are a grave and violent threat to our country," she said.
Gonzales also stressed that the threat from the gang is not merely a border issue.
"They're not staying in Texas. One thing that I suspect is TDA is in all 50 states. So this isn't a border issue. This is an American issue," he said. "And how do we get TDA out of all 50 states? You label them as a terrorist organization, and you turn law enforcement loose to go after and scoop them up."
Gonzales has a record of bipartisanship over border security, often sponsoring bills that pick up Democratic support. He says that he is hopeful this bill will have a similar effect given a change in the temperature on immigration among some Democrats -- who have recently put their support behind bills like the Laken Riley Act.
"I think you're seeing the shift on that," Gonzales said. "House Democrats have seen, Democrats in general have seen, they lost the Senate, they lost the House, they lost the White House, and a big part of that is because of their positions on the border and on border security."
This bill already has the backing of sheriff groups in the area.
"The Security First Act will be a tremendous tool in bolstering the functionality and effectiveness of Operation Stonegarden, as well as designating cartels as terrorist organizations, and using new and updated technology to police and patrol areas of our southern border that are difficult to reach in a vehicle. We are in support of this bill," Clint McDonald, a retired sheriff and Executive Director of the Southwestern Border Sheriff's Coalition and Texas Border Sheriff's Coalition, said in a statement.
[TennesseeStar] Todd Bensman Uncovers Billions of U.S. Taxpayer Money Funding United Nations Agencies, NGOs Aiding and Assisting Illegal Migrants
Todd Bensman, a senior national security fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, is bringing attention to the billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars that are continuing to fund United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that work to aid and assist migrants in crossing into the country illegally.
In a recent article published by the Daily Wire, Bensman revealed that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) continue to be funded with billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars to support migrants “engaging in transit and onward movements” to the U.S. southern border.
Bensman’s report is based on data published in the UN’s 2025-2026 Regional Refugee and Migrant Response Plan.
“There are hundreds of these organizations that have grown very fat with profit, even though they’re nonprofits, to aid, assist, and abet the mass migration to our border. A lot of them are U.S.-based, a lot of other ones are international, but the United Nations put together an organization of them, a coordinated group, a conglomeration, of NGOs and about 15 UN agencies together in Latin America in 2019 and every year they’ve been spending $1.5 billion handing out food supplies, cash debit cards, transportation, shelter, basically supporting the migration and even incentivizing some of that to our border – predominantly paid for by U.S. taxpayers,” Bensman explained on Wednesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
“They’re just being showered with U.S. tax money. That’s how this whole thing works,” Bensman added.
Bensman said taxpayer money funding the UN-based groups encouraging illegal immigration into the U.S. is still expected to flow under the incoming Trump administration in an effort to “induce failure” during the new administration.
“They’re still looking at $1.4 billion to support all of those migrants, to keep the pressure on the U.S. border, maybe to induce failure, this is my speculation, or just to not to give up and keep 2.5 million migrants, foreign nationals, sustained and on the trail pushing ever forward or to just wait out the Trump administration and hope a friendlier Democrat gets into office in four years. The point is, it’s still going on there,” Bensman said.
Bensman said the funding of such agencies is a “legitimate public policy debate” which Republican lawmakers – given their majorities in the U.S. House and Senate as well as the White House – should discuss.
“Maybe there ought to be some defunding. Maybe there ought to be some accountability or transparency. Maybe they ought to be rolled back, because the American people don’t like this. They don’t like this,” Bensman said.
#1
Zero out those budgets. One of easiest cuts DOGE can recommend. Bring Michael Yon in to testify before Congress and then bring in the heads of the agencies and NGOs raking in the budgets.
[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] The Paleostinian resistance movement Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... has hailed the Paleostinians in the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip's triumphing against the Israeli regime during the latter's 15-month-long war of genocide against the coastal sliver.
Khalil al-Hayya, deputy head of the movement's Political Bureau, made the remarks in an address on Wednesday.
He thanked the Islamic Theocratic Republic, Leb ...home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade.... 's Hezbollah resistance movement, Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... 's Armed Forces, and the Iraqi Resistance®.
The official commended Hezbollah for offering ''hundreds of deaders, leaders and fighters, on the road to [liberation of the holy occupied city of] al-Quds, headed by His Eminence the Secretary-General, Sayyed ...Arabic term meaning your/his lordship. Groveling in His Exalted Presence is encouraged... His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ...The late, lamented satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...> .''
The official was referring to thousands of retaliatory operations that were staged by the group, the Yemeni troops, and Iraqi fighters towards responding to the regime's brutal military assault against Gaza and simultaneous escalated deadly aggression towards Lebanon.
He also thanked Paleostinian resistance fighters in the occupied West Bank ''especially in the heroic Jenin [refugee] camp, in al-Quds, and the occupied interior,'' who likewise brought pressure to bear on the occupiers during its (the regime's) atrocities.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/18/2025 00:37 ||
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Link ||
[11147 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
[IsraelTimes] Ministry official says new protocols differ ‘significantly’ from November 2023 hostage release, as captives to return from over 15 months in captivity
Dr. Hagar Mizrahi, head of the Health Ministry’s General Medicine Division, said the updated protocols differs "significantly" from those implemented for hostages released during the temporary ceasefire deal of November 2023, when 105 hostages were released.
Returnees will be emerging from more than 15 months in captivity.
"There is a risk that returning hostages may develop Refeeding Syndrome," Dr. Mizrahi explained. "This condition arises when individuals deprived of food during captivity attempt to compensate by consuming carbohydrates, potentially leading to serious harm."
Mizrahi said there will be documentation and collection of forensic evidence from any cruelties hostages have suffered. Among other things, hostages will undergo tests for sexually transmitted diseases, with female abductees given pregnancy tests.
The protocol advises a minimum hospital stay of four days for returning hostages. Mizrahi noted that some of the previously released hostages eventually regretted leaving earlier than recommended, suggesting extended stays could better support their recovery.
The guidelines emphasize the need for heightened attention to hygiene, due to concerns of potential exposure to pathogens during captivity.
The ministry also urges families and visitors to avoid taking photos or posting updates on social media from hospital premises, warning such actions could inadvertently harm the recovery process of those freed from Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... captivity.
Earlier in the week, before the agreement was signed, Dr. Noa Ziv of Schneider Children’s Medical Center said there was a major difference between the condition of the hostages returning now and the 105 civilians released during a week-long truce in late November 2023.
"We saw that the hostages then were in a difficult state, although they faced few medical issues," Ziv told The Times of Israel this week. "That was after about 50 days of captivity. One can only speculate about the complex health and mental states the hostages will be in after 466 days in captivity."
Ziv, who conducted a groundbreaking study about the 19 children and seven women who were released in November, said the hostages exhibited the effects of psychological terror due to warfare strategies that included isolation, intimidation, deprivation of food and water, and emotional abuse.
When Hamas released the 105 civilians, the hostages went to one of six Israeli hospitals: Soroka Medical Center, Sheba Medical Center, Wolfson Medical Center, Ichilov Medical Center, Shamir Medical Center, and Schneider Children’s Medical Center.
Israel says 98 hostages are currently held in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... , including the bodies of at least 36 confirmed dead by the IDF.
The agreed-upon first phase of the deal will see Hamas release 33 "humanitarian" hostages over 42 days — children, women, female soldiers, the elderly and the sick. Israel believes most of the 33 are alive but that some are dead. Jerusalem has not yet received word on each hostage’s status.
Analysts and diplomats believe the likelihood of direct #US or Israeli military action against #Iran’s nuclear facilities is now higher than ever, while prospects for a diplomatic solution remain slim.https://t.co/ouWK3gF5wx
#2
Get it over with. This can has been kicked down the road far too long. Same with the N.K. Forty plus and thirty odd years on ,respectively, it's time to deal with these piss ants.
[IsraelTimes] In joint press conference with Qatari PM, HTS leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa says Damascus will welcome presence of UN peacekeepers in demilitarized area between countries.
Though Sharaa’s comments appeared to show a hardened tone toward the Israeli incursion, his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham jihadi group has not commented on an Israeli strike targeting a weapons convoy in southern Syria Wednesday that was said to have killed several people, including military officials of the new government.
“Israel’s advance in the region was due to the presence of Iranian militias and Hezbollah. After the liberation of Damascus, I believe that they have no presence at all. There are pretexts that Israel is using today to advance into the Syrian regions, into the buffer zone,” said Sharaa, whose HTS spearheaded the rebel forces that toppled Assad last month.
“We’ve notified international officials that Syria honors the terms of the 1974 agreement and is willing to accept UN peacekeepers to protect them,” he said. “Everyone knows the advance was a mistake and that [we] should go back to the way things were.”
Sharaa made similar comments soon after Israel moved into the area in December.
Sharaa’s latest criticism of the Israeli incursion came a day after his foreign minister, Asaad al-Shaibani, also told reporters in Ankara that Damascus was committed to the 1974 agreement but that Israel had to “respect Syria’s sovereignty.”
Speaking in Damascus Thursday, Al-Thani also said Israel “must immediately withdraw” from the buffer zone, assailing the “reckless” entry into the area.
The two men’s press conference marked al-Thani’s first visit to Syria since rebels overtook Damascus, ending the country’s long civil war.
Sharaa said his authorities were counting on the support of Qatar to help stop Israel from making any further advances into Syrian territory.
Qatar “supports this view and will use all means available to exert pressure on Israel” to withdraw, he added, hailing Qatar’s “central role” in that pressure.
Al-Thani pledged Qatar’s support to Syria’s rehabilitation effort, saying his country “extends its hand to our Syrian brothers for future partnerships.”
Unlike the other Arab countries that broke with Damascus at the start of the war, Qatar never renewed diplomatic relations with the Assad regime. Together with Turkey, it was also one of the first to back the armed rebels. Upon Assad’s ouster, Qatar was the second state to recognize the new Syrian government after Turkey.
Last week, Syria’s national electricity company said Qatar and Turkey would send power plant ships to increase supply after the United States eased some sanctions on Damascus. Meanwhile, a diplomatic source said Qatar was weighing a plan to provide Syria with funds after Damascus decided to increase public sector salaries.
#1
Al-Thani pledged Qatar’s support to Syria’s rehabilitation effort, saying his country “extends its hand to our Syrian brothers for future partnerships.”
For more than a half-century the Thani family that rules Qatar has welcomed and supported the Muslim Brotherhood presence in Qatar. It has provided a home to the most radical of Islamists and to left-wing USA non=profits. The only people it has really fooled can be found in the Pentagon and Foggy Bottom.
[IsraelTimes] Investigation into 2020 explosion that killed more than 220 people, injured thousands and devastated swathes of Lebanon’s capital, restarts after 2-year hiatus
Lebanese judge Tarek Bitar resumed his investigation into the deadly 2020 Beirut port blast on Thursday, charging 10 people including security, customs, and military personnel, a judicial official said.
The fresh charges come after a two-year hiatus in the investigation into the August 4, 2020 explosion that killed more than 220 people, injured thousands, and devastated swathes of Leb ...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration.... ’s capital.
Authorities said the earth-shattering kaboom was triggered by a fire in a warehouse where a huge stockpile of ammonium nitrate fertilizer had been haphazardly stored for years.
But nobody has been held responsible for the blast, one of history’s largest non-nuclear explosions.
The probe stalled two years ago after Lebanese terror group Hezbollah had accused Bitar of bias and demanded his dismissal, and after officials named in the investigation had filed a flurry of lawsuits to prevent it from going forward.
The resumption comes with Hezbollah’s influence weakened after its recent war with Israel.
It also follows the election of a Lebanese president after the top position had been vacant for more than two years, with the new head of state Joseph Aoun last week pledging to work toward the "independence of the judiciary."
The judicial official told AFP that "procedures in the case have resumed," speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered... to discuss sensitive matters.
The official said that "a new charge sheet has been issued, charging three employees and seven high-ranking officers in the Lebanese army, in the General Security, [and] in customs" with negligence and "possible intent to commit murder."
Intent? Oh my.
Their interrogations would begin next month.
In March and April, "investigating sessions" would resume for those previously charged in the case, including former ministers, politicians, security and military officers, judges and port management employees, after which Bitar would ask public prosecutors to issue indictments, according to the judicial official.
’HOPE’
Analysts say Hezbollah’s weakening in its war with Israel last year allowed Lebanon’s deeply divided political class to elect Aoun last week and back his naming of Nawaf Salam as premier on Monday.
Salam, until recently the presiding judge at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, on Tuesday promised "justice for the victims of the Beirut port blast."
Hundreds of individuals and organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, had previously called for the United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... to establish a fact-finding mission on the disaster — a demand Lebanese officials have repeatedly rejected.
Cecile Roukoz, a lawyer whose brother died in the earth-shattering kaboom, said she was optimistic after "the promises made by the president and the prime minister, then the probe resuming."
"There is hope that the rights of the victims, for whom we never stopped fighting, won’t be forgotten," said the attorney, one of several representing the relatives of those killed.
’MUST BE HELD TO ACCOUNT’
Visiting Lebanon on Thursday, UN rights chief Volker Turk called for the "resumption of an independent investigation into the earth-shattering kaboom."
"I repeat that those responsible for that tragedy must be held to account and offer the support of my office in this regard," he said.
The probe has been repeatedly stalled since 2020.
In December of that year, lead investigator Fadi Sawan charged former prime minister Hassan Diab — who had resigned in the earth-shattering kaboom’s aftermath — and three ex-ministers with negligence.
But Sawan was later removed from the case after mounting political pressure, and the probe was suspended.
His successor, Bitar, also summoned Diab for questioning and asked parliament, without success, to lift the immunity of politicians who had served as ministers.
The interior ministry also refused to execute arrest warrants issued by Bitar, further undermining his efforts.
The public prosecutor at the time, Ghassan Oueidat, thwarted his attempt to resume investigations in early 2023 after Bitar charged him in the case.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [Regnum] On Friday, January 17, in the Kremlin,Russian and Iranian Presidents Vladimir Putin and Masoud Pezeshkian signed an agreement on a comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.
Let us wish them much joy of one another while they await President Trump’s next steps.
The signing of the agreement will give additional impetus to cooperation between the countries in all areas, Putin said earlier on January 17, during a meeting with Pezeshkian. The agreement will become a new, solid chapter in relations between Moscow and Tehran, the Iranian president said in turn.
During the signing ceremony, Putin called the agreement a breakthrough and noted that the document is aimed at creating conditions for stable and sustainable development. Relations between the two countries are built on the principles of equality, respect and mutual assistance, the head of the Russian state said.
The agreement will secure the status of relations between Russia and Iran as strategic partners. The document sets out the legal framework for further development of cooperation in the long term. The agreement will cover the defense sphere, the fight against terrorism, energy, finance, transport, industry, agriculture, culture, science and technology.
Currently, Russia and Iran are guided by the provisions of the Treaty on the Fundamentals of Relations and Principles of Cooperation. It was concluded in 2001 for a period of 10 years and was automatically extended every five years. The new treaty was concluded for 20 years.
As reported by Regnum News Agency, the official representative of the Iranian Foreign Ministry Esmail Bagai previously noted that the new agreement between Russia and Iran will affect defense and security issues. In the last 20-30 years, Moscow and Tehran have significantly increased the volume of cooperation, and there was a need to update the document, he said.
The agreement between Moscow and Tehran is not directed against third countries, noted the press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov. After the signing of the main agreement, one should also expect the conclusion of sectoral bilateral agreements, Peskov pointed out.
Though the agreement, which can be extended, does not specify arms transfers between the two countries, Putin said Moscow was willing to undertake more nuclear projects on behalf of Iran.
At their joint presser in Moscow, the two leaders, whose countries are subject to heavy Western sanctions, also expressed hope for the success of the Israel-Hamas ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,... ceasefire deal.
The agreement did not include a mutual defense clause of the kind included in a treaty between Russia and North Korea ...hereditary Communist monarchy distinguished by its truculence and periodic acts of violence. Distinguishing features include Songun (Army First) policy, which involves feeding the army before anyone but the Dear Leadership, and Juche, which is Kim Jong Il's personal interpretation of Marxism-Leninism, which he told everybody was brilliant. In 1950 the industrialized North invaded agrarian South Korea. Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force opposing the invasion, with the United States providing around 90% of the military personnel. Seventy years later the economic results are in and it doesn't look good for Juche... , which the West says has seen North Korean troops deployed to fight in Ukraine, something Moscow has neither confirmed nor denied.
The agreement made no specific mention of arms transfers, a topic of particular concern to the US and its allies, though the two sides said they would develop "military-technical cooperation."
Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... has already supplied Russia with self-detonating "Shahed" drones that Moscow fires on Ukraine in nightly barrages, according to Ukrainian and Western officials.
Iran, in turn, wants sophisticated Russian weapons like long-range air defense systems and fighter jets to help fend off possible attacks by Israel. Russia has supplied Iran with S-300 air defense missile systems in the past, and there have been reports in Iranian media of potential interest in buying more advanced systems such as the S-400 and acquiring advanced Russian fighter jets.
Tehran has long hoped to obtain advanced Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets from Russia to upgrade its aging fleet that’s been hobbled by international sanctions, but only received a few Yak-130 trainer jets in 2023.
However,
facts are stubborn; statistics are more pliable... speaking alongside Pezeshkian Friday, Putin said his country was open to taking on more nuclear projects in Iran despite delays in building new nuclear reactors there.
Russia built Iran’s first nuclear plant that was launched in 2013 and is building two more nuclear reactors there.
Posted by: badanov ||
01/18/2025 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11135 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Unlikely that either regime will survive Trump's term, much less 20 years.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
In 2012, a newspaper report on the grooming led to a major government inquiry, which two years later found that at least 1,400 children had been subjected to sexual exploitation in 
[FOXNEWS] The FBI assistant special agent in charge who told the media and the public the 
A Republican congressman, whose district covers part of the southern border, is introducing legislation that would take a step closer to declaring 
[TennesseeStar] Todd Bensman Uncovers Billions of U.S. Taxpayer Money Funding United Nations Agencies, NGOs Aiding and Assisting Illegal Migrants
...Arabic term meaning 
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration....
[Regnum] On Friday, January 17, in the Kremlin,Russian and Iranian Presidents Vladimir Putin and Masoud Pezeshkian signed an agreement on a comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
