Category: Opinion

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Pelosi Selects Republican Adam Kinzinger To Serve On Jan. 6 Panel : NPR

Kinzinger will join fellow Republican Liz Cheney at the committees first hearing Tuesday. Both supported impeaching Trump for Jan. 6, and were the only GOP members to support the committee’s creation.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has appointed Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, one of the rare vocal critics inside the Republican Party of former President Donald Trump, to serve on the special committee charged with investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol is set to hold its first hearing on Tuesday. Kinzinger will join Wyoming’s Liz Cheney as one of two Republicans chosen by Pelosi to serve on the nine-person panel. Both Cheney and Kinzinger voted in favor of impeaching Trump following the attack on the Capitol, and were the only GOP members to support the committee’s formation last month.

In a statement, Pelosi said that Kinzinger “brings great patriotism to the Committee’s mission: to find the facts and protect our Democracy.”

Kinzinger’s appointment follows Pelosi’s decision this past week to reject two of the five Republicans tapped for the panel by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. The two Republicans that Pelosi blocked — Jim Banks of Indiana and Jim Jordan of Ohio — are among Trump’s staunchest defenders in Congress and each voted against certifying the 2020 election results.

Source: Pelosi Selects Republican Adam Kinzinger To Serve On Jan. 6 Panel : NPR

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CNN panel agrees Hunter Biden art sales are a ‘huge’ optics, ethics issue: ‘Obviously, this is a problem’

 A CNN panel reacted to Hunter Biden’s plans to meet with potential buyers of his new artwork in New York City and Los Angeles, where his art could be sold for upwards of $500,000, calling it an “ethics problem.”

Source: CNN panel agrees Hunter Biden art sales are a ‘huge’ optics, ethics issue: ‘Obviously, this is a problem’

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Greg Gutfeld: Our government created an artificial danger to keep us divided

Greg Gutfeld asks why the Jan. 6 protesters are receiving harsh sentences while other violent rioters are walking free.

While crime spreads like a virus on a plane full of Democrats, at least we know true justice is being done.

A Florida man has been sentenced to eight months in jail for breaching the Senate chamber on Jan. 6 carrying a Trump flag. The only surprise: he didn’t get life without parole.

Now, we’re not liberals. We get it. You do the crime, you do the time.

We got that from Baretta, for anyone who’s reading who’s younger than 75.

But, you can still question the penalty. And, you know, if you were BLM, you would be a-ok. But it’s obvious that they overdid the sentencing. In fact, they even admit it.

As one assistant U.S. attorney said, “it will send a loud and clear message” so there won’t be a next time.

But you have to worry when you become a message because then you’re screwed. It’s a threat, like finding a horses’ head in your bed, or a book signed by Andrew Cuomo.

Sentencing should only be for the crime, and not for a greater message, especially a message so manufactured.

Source: Greg Gutfeld: Our government created an artificial danger to keep us divided

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Hasbro whistleblower claims CRT being pushed through toy packaging; training says 6 month olds can be racist | Fox News

An employee working on a project for Hasbro blew the whistle on reported critical race theory training inside the toy and boardgame giant on “Hannity.”

Source: Hasbro whistleblower claims CRT being pushed through toy packaging; training says 6 month olds can be racist | Fox News

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Bizarre arrest of FBI agent spotlights accusations of bureau corruption

. Some members of the Wolverine Watchmen are accusing the feds of entrapment.

The FBI agents took an active part in the scheme from its inception, according to court filings, evidence and dozens of interviews examined by BuzzFeed.

One FBI informant from Wisconsin allegedly helped organize meetings where the first inklings of the Whitmer plot surfaced, even paying for hotel rooms and food to entice people to attend, BuzzFeed reported. The Iraq veteran, identified as “Dan” by BuzzFeed, allegedly shelled out for transportation costs to militia meetings and apparently goaded members to advance the plot.

Kareem Johnson, a black, left-wing attorney representing Pete Musico, one of the 14 arrested, told The Post the FBI played an outsize — and, at the very least, inappropriate — part in the incident. Before the bureau was involved, Johnson and other attorneys said, the Watchmen weren’t even considered a violent threat.

“The FBI knew these people had some beliefs and were egging them on and providing help and ammunition,” Johnson said. “They encouraged, helped instigate and escalated the criminal conduct of those individuals. At the end of the day, there were almost as many FBI agents leading the group as the other people in the group.”

Source: Bizarre arrest of FBI agent spotlights accusations of bureau corruption

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Fact check: Arizona audit chief baselessly raises suspicion about 74,000 ballots – CNNPolitics

(CNN)Arizona’s Senate held a Thursday briefing on the ongoing Republican-initiated “audit” of the 2020 election in Maricopa County, where Joe Biden outperformed Donald Trump by enough of a margin to win the state.

The review is being conducted by Cyber Ninjas, a cybersecurity firm that has no experience in election auditing. And the company’s chief executive officer, Doug Logan, made some Thursday claims that were immediately called into question by the county and independent experts.

Source: Fact check: Arizona audit chief baselessly raises suspicion about 74,000 ballots – CNNPolitics

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Schizophrenia linked to marijuana use disorder is on the rise, study finds – CNN

 

(CNN)The proportion of schizophrenia cases linked with problematic use of marijuana has increased over the past 25 years, according to a new study from Denmark.

In 1995, 2% of schizophrenia diagnoses in the country were associated with cannabis use disorder. In 2000, it increased to around 4%. Since 2010, that figure increased to 8%, the study found.
“I think it is highly important to use both our study and other studies to highlight and emphasize that cannabis use is not harmless,” said Carsten Hjorthøj, an associate professor at the Copenhagen Research Center for Mental Health and an author of the study published in the medical journal JAMA Psychiatry, via email.
“There is, unfortunately, evidence to suggest that cannabis is increasingly seen as a somewhat harmless substance. This is unfortunate, since we see links with schizophrenia, poorer cognitive function, substance use disorders, etc,” Hjorthøj wrote.

Previous research has suggested that the risk of schizophrenia is heightened for people who use cannabis, and the association is particularly driven by heavy use of the drug. Many researchers hypothesize that cannabis use may be a “component cause,” which interacts with other risk factors, to cause the condition.”

Of course, our findings will have to be replicated elsewhere before firm conclusions can be drawn,” Hjorthøj continued. “But I do feel fairly confident that we will see similar patterns in places where problematic use of cannabis has increased, or where the potency of cannabis has increased, since many studies suggest that high-potency cannabis is probably the driver of the association with schizophrenia.”

Around the world tens of millions of people use cannabis. It’s legal for recreational use in 19 US states and Canada. In these and some other places, it’s also approved to treat some medical conditions.

Source: Schizophrenia linked to marijuana use disorder is on the rise, study finds – CNN

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Greensburg doctor pleads guilty to taking kickbacks over fentanyl spray | TribLIVE.com

A Greensburg doctor pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to taking kickbacks, health care fraud and conspiring to distribute controlled substances.

Thomas Whitten, 71, will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge William S. Stickman IV on Dec. 7.

According to prosecutors, Whitten received kickbacks from Arizona-based Insys Therapeutics from May 2013 to November 2015 in exchange for prescribing Subsys, a powerful opioid containing fentanyl. Subsys, which is a liquid that gets sprayed under a patient’s tongue, is only approved for the “management of breakthrough pain in cancer patients” who have developed a tolerance to other pain killers.

However, investigators said Whitten prescribed the drug to patients for whom it was not medically necessary and, therefore, it was not eligible for insurance reimbursement.

Whitten also pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute phentermine hyrocholoride and diethlpropion to patients at five weight-loss clinics from November 2017 to December 2019.

Source: Greensburg doctor pleads guilty to taking kickbacks over fentanyl spray | TribLIVE.com

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Letter: No one has been charged with sedition or insurrection | Letters To Editor | goskagit.com

Dear Editor,

In the July 13 edition of the Stanwood Camano News, a letter to the editor called for the removal from office those who aid and abet sedition and insurrection activities. The writer lists a number of Republicans who he believes are complicit. He’s right that that should not be tolerated, and elected officials should be held accountable.

But wait. How many of the rioters in the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol have been charged with sedition or insurrection? The answer is zero.

More than 500 people have been arrested in this riot, and rightly so. However one would think that if the Justice Department, especially after such an aggressive effort to track down and arrest the rioters, had a good case to charge them with sedition or insurrection, they would surely do so. But they haven’t. Why? Perhaps they don’t believe that that was really the crime.

Yet the letter writer wants the Republicans held accountable for a crime that in the eyes of the Justice Department they can’t prove. Maybe the writer wants the Republicans held accountable for Democrats’ talking points. On the contrary, I wonder if the writer is equally concerned with the assaults on one of our other equal and cherished institutions — the judiciary.

Antifa rioters have assaulted federal courthouses numerous times, doing severe damage and attempting to burn them. Yet despite Democratic lawmakers’ claims that Antifa doesn’t exist, the writer doesn’t call for their accountability. Can we look forward to a letter from him on their accountability?

Ron Manz

Camano Island

Source: Letter: No one has been charged with sedition or insurrection | Letters To Editor | goskagit.com

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Madison Cawthorn Says Jill Biden Is ‘Cruel’ to ‘Mentally Unstable’ Joe Biden

Representative Madison Cawthorn claims President Joe Biden is “mentally unstable” and said first lady Jill Biden should be called out for being “cruel” to her husband.

Cawthorn, a Republican who represents North Carolina’s 11th congressional district, spoke to Newsmax’s Chris Salcedo about his views on the president’s mental state and Jill Biden’s treatment of her husband.

Salcedo said that Biden “has lost control of the pandemic” and cited border crossings by unvaccinated individuals. He asked Cawthorn if Republicans should “hold Biden accountable” for “putting America in reverse” in terms of COVID.

Cawthorn said. “You know, I would love to have a congressional inquiry to understand exactly what Joe Biden’s reasoning is, but unfortunately I don’t think he could find his way to Congress.”

“I’m talking from a very objective standpoint here. I think we should indict Jill Biden – I’m not saying indict in terms of criminal – but I’m saying that we should call her out for being so cruel to her husband,” Cawthorn went on.

Source: Madison Cawthorn Says Jill Biden Is ‘Cruel’ to ‘Mentally Unstable’ Joe Biden

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Mississippi asks U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v Wade

By Pete Williams

WASHINGTON — Lawyers for the state of Mississippi urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to overturn Roe v Wade, taking a more aggressive approach than the one presented when they asked the court a year ago to hear the case.

The case for overturning the two main decisions that legalized abortion in the United States — Roe v Wade in 1973 and a later case, 1992’s Planned Parenthood v Casey — is overwhelming, the state said. “The conclusion that abortion is a constitutional right has no basis in text, structure, history, or tradition.”

By ruling that a state may not impose an undue burden on a right to abortion, the Supreme Court has placed itself “at the center of a controversy that it can never resolve.”

The state is appealing lower court rulings that struck down a law banning most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The Gestational Age Act would allow later abortions only in medical emergencies or cases of severe fetal abnormality.

Source: Mississippi asks U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v Wade

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Opinion: Officer who shot Ashli Babbitt wasn’t assigned to any Congress member’s security

A Facebook post claimed that an officer involved in the killing of a woman during the Jan. 6 capitol riots was “a bodyguard to a high-ranking Democrat in Congress.” That’s false.

Facebook post: A bodyguard of a high-ranking Democrat in Congress fired the shot that killed Ashli Babbitt on Jan. 6.

PolitiFact’s ruling: False

Here’s why: There are plenty of questions still unanswered about the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. For some Republicans, that includes identifying who shot one person who stormed the Capitol that day. In a recent email to supporters, former President Donald Trump asked, “Who shot Ashli Babbitt?”

Trump brought up the question again on July 11 during a discussion with Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo. But this time, he had a theory.

“I will tell you they know who shot Ashli Babbitt. They’re protecting that person,” Trump said in the phone interview. “I’ve heard, also, that it was the head of security for a certain high official — a Democrat — and we’ll see, because it’s going to come out. It’s going to come out.”

More:Capitol Police officer who shot Ashli Babbitt during Jan. 6 riot will not face charges, DOJ says

The comments set off a frenzy of social media posts, like this one shared on Facebook, that claim the high-ranking official the officer was assigned to was either Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer or House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The photo in the post shows a person in a suit wearing a face mask and holding a handgun in his right hand. By the background seen in the photo, he appears to be pictured in the House of Representatives. “He shot Ashli Babbitt,” the caption reads. “Pelosi’s or Schumer’s personal bodyguard. Prove me wrong!”

The officer involved was placed on leave while Babbitt’s death was being investigated by D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department, which shares jurisdiction with the Capitol Police.

The investigation concluded in April, and the Justice Department announced that it would not be pursuing criminal charges against the officer involved.

“Officials examined video footage posted on social media, statements from the officer involved and other officers and witnesses to the events, physical evidence from the scene of the shooting, and the results of an autopsy,” the department said in a statement. “Based on that investigation, officials determined that there is insufficient evidence to support a criminal prosecution.”

A Pelosi spokesperson declined to comment for this story, deferring to the Capitol Police statement. Schumer’s office did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Our ruling

Because official sources have not identified the officer involved in the shooting, we cannot verify or debunk any names being thrown around on the internet. But claims that the officer worked for Schumer or Pelosi are contradicted by the Capitol Police. They say that the person who fired the shot was not assigned to any Congress member’s security detail. We rate this post False.

Sources

  • Facebook post, July 11, 2021
  • Fox News, ‘Sunday Morning Futures’ on Trump’s Big Tech lawsuit, US-China relations, July 11, 2021
  • NBC News, Trump wrong about officer who shot Jan. 6 rioter Ashli Babbitt, law enforcement official says, July 12, 2021
  • Justice.gov, Department of Justice Closes Investigation into the Death of Ashli Babbitt, April 14, 2021
  • Email interview, Capitol Police, July 13-14, 2021
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SpaceX owns Bitcoin, Elon Musk and Nic Carter believe BTC is becoming greener

Coin Metrics’ Nic Carter is “glad” that Elon Musk has been reevaluating the facts regarding BTC mining but thinks that in any case “the environmental costs are offset by its enormous utility.”

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has revealed for the first time that his firm SpaceX owns Bitcoin (BTC).

The company is yet to officially announce how much Bitcoin it has purchased, however Musk’s other company Tesla purchased $1.5B of the cryptocurrency earlier this year which sparked a major Bitcoin price rally.

That rally came to an abrupt end after Tesla stopped taking Bitcoin payments due to environmental concerns, but speaking at “The ₿ Word” — a virtual Bitcoin (BTC) event — the erratic tech billionaire suggested Tesla was on the verge of accepting the cryptocurrency again following promising signs the percentage of renewable energy used for mining was increasing.

The changing narrative of Bitcoin going “green” may help reignite a rally, with Coin Metrics co-founder Nic Carter telling CNBC a few hours ago that BTC’s fundamentals are getting better in terms of sustainability.

Musk appeared alongside Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood, and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, and moderator Steve Lee from Square Crypto. Musk did not reveal any additional details about SpaceX’s purchase apart from saying:

“I do own Bitcoin, Tesla owns Bitcoin, SpaceX owns Bitcoin, and I do personally own a bit of Ethereum and Dogecoin of course.”

Source: SpaceX owns Bitcoin, Elon Musk and Nic Carter believe BTC is becoming greener

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Dubai making its own rain to beat 120-degree heat

Rainmaking has become common in dry countries such as the United Arab Emirates.

Officials in Dubai are using drones to artificially increase rainfall as the city grapples with oppressive heat, video this week shows.

The rainmaking technology, known as “cloud seeding,” was put into use as summer temperatures have surged past 120 degrees Fahrenheit in the United Arab Emirates city, the Independent reported.

Experts have said the technology aims to make rain form more efficiently inside clouds and in doing so, make more water come down.

Drones are used to shoot electrical charges into clouds, causing them to clump together and trigger more rainfall.

Footage shared on Sunday by the UAE’s National Center of Meteorology showed the intense showers flooding roads in addition to flashes of lightning.

Source: Dubai making its own rain to beat 120-degree heat

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Johnstown woman who organized help for restaurants amid pandemic has died of COVID | WJAC

Residents in Johnstown gathered to celebrate the life of Johnstown native Monique Knudson Tuesday evening. The Stone Bridge was lit up pink in her honor. She founded the Greater Johnstown Restaurants and Businesses Facebook page to help local businesses during the pandemic. According to those that know her, Monique lost her own battle to COVID at age 44 Thursday.

Source: Johnstown woman who organized help for restaurants amid pandemic has died of COVID | WJAC

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Judge forces US Capitol rioter to unlock laptop seized by FBI – CNNPolitics

(CNN)A federal judge forced a US Capitol rioter to unlock his laptop Wednesday after prosecutors argued that it likely contained footage of the January 6 insurrection from his helmet-worn camera.

The judge granted the Justice Department’s request to place Capitol riot defendant Guy Reffitt in front of his laptop so they could use facial recognition to unlock the device. The maneuver happened after the hearing ended and Reffitt’s lawyer confirmed to CNN that the laptop was unlocked.
Investigators seized the laptop and other devices earlier this year pursuant to a search warrant.
Reffitt has been in jail since his arrest in January. His case received national attention after his son spoke publicly about how Reffitt had threatened to kill family members if they turned him into the FBI.

Source: Judge forces US Capitol rioter to unlock laptop seized by FBI – CNNPolitics

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DC Firefighter’s Car Stolen From Station as He Responded to Emergency Calls – NBC4 Washington

A D.C. firefighter who spent the night responding to emergency calls returned to the fire station Tuesday morning to find his car was gone.

Engine 21 in the 1700 block of Lanier Place NW in Adams Morgan is one of the District’s busier fire stations and spent the night responding to back-to-back emergency calls.

The car thief entered the station and removed the victim’s keys from his locker, according to the police report.

The firefighter’s car was the second car stolen in that same block of Lanier Place in three days.

On Saturday evening, a driver who left her Toyota Camry running while making a delivery watched as someone drove away in her car.

Source: DC Firefighter’s Car Stolen From Station as He Responded to Emergency Calls – NBC4 Washington

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Latrobe councilman, former firefighter charged with stealing fire department funds | TribLIVE.com

Councilman Robert S. Forish, 58, and Fabian Giovannagelo, 65, were arraigned on charges of theft, theft by deception and misapplication of entrusted property in 2020. They are accused of using department funds to pay for a federal lawsuit filed against the fire company, Chief John Brasile, President Charles McDowell Jr., Latrobe Mayor Rosie Wolford and the city.

Giovannagelo co-signed checks totaling $21,000 for payment of legal fees related to the lawsuit, according to a complaint filed by Detective Randy Gardner.

Source: Latrobe councilman, former firefighter charged with stealing fire department funds | TribLIVE.com

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DNA test results awaited for human remains found in Somerset Township | News | tribdem.com

Retired FBI Special Agent Michael Hochrein (left) shows Dennis Dirkmaat a Total Station surveying instrument prior to a workshop with students participating in a short course on forensic anthropology at Mercyhurst University in Erie on June 11, 2019.

Three months after human remains were found in Somerset Township, investigators are now awaiting DNA results to help confirm an identity, said Cullen Swank, Somerset County chief deputy coroner.

Source: DNA test results awaited for human remains found in Somerset Township | News | tribdem.com

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Trump supporter who took part in Capitol riot sentenced to 8 months for felony | US Capitol attack | The Guardian

Lawyers for Paul Hodgkins, who pleaded guilty to one count of obstructing an official proceeding, ask for leniency
Hodgkins pictured during the riot. Prosecutors said he deserves some leniency for taking responsibility almost immediately and pleading guilty to the obstruction charge.
Hodgkins pictured during the riot. Prosecutors said he deserves some leniency for taking responsibility almost immediately and pleading guilty to the obstruction charge. Photograph: AP

A Florida man who breached the US Senate chamber carrying a Trump campaign flag is scheduled on Monday to become the first 6 January rioter sentenced for a felony, in a hearing that will help set a benchmark for punishment in similar cases.

Prosecutors want Paul Hodgkins to serve 18 months, saying in a recent filing that he “like each rioter contributed to the collective threat to democracy” by forcing lawmakers to temporarily abandon their certification of Joe Biden’s election victory and to scramble for shelter from incoming mobs.

Video footage shows Hodgkins, 38, inside the Senate, wearing a Trump 2020 T-shirt, a flag flung over his shoulder and eye goggles around his neck. He took a selfie with a self-described shaman in a horned helmet and other rioters on the dais behind him.

Source: Trump supporter who took part in Capitol riot to be sentenced for felony | US Capitol attack | The Guardian

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Speaker of Georgia House demands investigation into Fulton County election irregularities | Just The News

Georgia’s Speaker of the House David Ralston is demanding an investigation to “determine if any irregularities or willful fraud occurred” in the state’s largest metropolis last November, saying recent revelations about problems with vote counting in Fulton County merit an independent probe.

Ralston sent a letter late last week to Fulton County election officials requesting that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation be allowed to conduct the investigation.

The request comes after Just the News reported last month that an independent observer for Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger noted two dozen pages of irregularities in the Atlanta vote counting center last Nov. 3, including double scanning of ballots, insecure transportation of ballots and possible voter privacy violations.

Raffensperger told Just the News he believes the problems in Fulton County are so extensive that the state should take over running elections in the Atlanta area.

Separately, a watchdog group called VoterGA, which won court access to absentee ballot data, said last week its review found that Fulton County’s hand count audit of the November election was riddled with “massive errors and provable fraud.”

Source: Speaker of Georgia House demands investigation into Fulton County election irregularities | Just The News

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Greenland halts new oil exploration to combat climate change and focus on sustainable development – CBS News

The country’s agriculture minister said the government “takes climate change seriously.”

Greenland has suspended all new oil and gas exploration, the country’s government announced Thursday. Government officials said they believe the “price of oil extraction is too high,” citing both economic considerations and the fight against climate change.

“This step has been taken for the sake of our nature, for the sake of our fisheries, for the sake of our tourism industry, and to focus our business on sustainable potentials,” the government, called Naalakkersuisut, said in a statement.

Source: Greenland halts new oil exploration to combat climate change and focus on sustainable development – CBS News

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Judge won’t let contractor see Capitol Riot grand jury evidence – POLITICO

A federal judge has thrown a monkey wrench into the prosecution of more than 500 Capitol riot defendants by denying the Justice Department’s request to share grand jury materials with a contractor hired to organize the massive amounts of video, social media, email and other evidence in the cases.

The ruling Friday could complicate and drag out the prosecutions by requiring government personnel to be more involved in aspects of the process of sharing evidence with defense attorneys.

Source: Judge won’t let contractor see Capitol Riot grand jury evidence – POLITICO

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45M illegal robocalls lead to huge fine against N.J. firm, feds say

The owners of a New Jersey-based company that sells septic tank cleaning products will pay more than $1.6 million to settle charges that the firm and its telemarketer made illegal robocalls to consumers across the country, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The FTC’s complaint alleged that Environmental Safety International (ESI) of Ridgefield and Fairview made more than 45 million illegal calls, including 31 million to people who had signed up for the Do Not Call Registry.

Source: 45M illegal robocalls lead to huge fine against N.J. firm, feds say

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3 dead, 2 taken to hospital in suspected carbon monoxide exposure during Michigan music festival, police say – CNN

Three men were found dead inside a travel trailer Saturday at a country music festival in southern Michigan in what police believe is a case of carbon monoxide exposure, officials said.

Two other men inside the trailer were taken to a hospital after first responders found them unresponsive and performed CPR at the scene, the Lenawee County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
The pair were in critical condition and being treated for acute carbon monoxide poisoning, police said.
Emergency officials responded to the trailer after receiving a call around 1:27 pm Saturday regarding unresponsive people at a campground in Woodstock Township during the Faster Horses Festival, a multi-day country music festival.
“The caller was a friend of the five males and became concerned when he had not heard from them,” police said.
Police are investigating the “tragic incident” as suspected exposure to carbon monoxide from a generator that was located near the travel trailer.
“First responders stress the importance of keeping generators away from camping areas, tents, travel trailers, etc. as well as exhaust fumes from running vehicles,” police said.

Source: 3 dead, 2 taken to hospital in suspected carbon monoxide exposure during Michigan music festival, police say – CNN

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Mass Shooting Kills 18-Year-Old Woman Near Downtown Portland Food Carts – Willamette Week

A mass shooting in downtown Portland, shortly before last call on Saturday morning, killed an 18-year-old woman and injured six others near a line of food carts in what police described as “an extremely chaotic scene.”

Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell said the killing, along with another fatal shooting four hours later in the Parkrose neighborhood, in deep Northeast Portland, marked the city’s 50th and 51st homicides of the year. Portland saw 55 homicides in 2020, a 26-year record but one on pace to be broken by the end of July.

In the past 36 hours, Lovell said, Portland had 11 shooting incidents, killing two people and injuring at least 11.

In a press conference this afternoon, Lovell and Mayor Ted Wheeler described the Police Bureau as unprepared and outmatched by a wave of gunfire across the city.

“What we need is a plan,” Wheeler said. “The plan has to acknowledge that the public safety needs of this city are charging and they are changing rapidly. It’s clear to me that we do not have the adequate resources deployed on our streets in a proactive way.”

Lovell blamed a wave of officers leaving the force—125 in the last year, he said—leaving police incapable of patrolling all the neighborhoods hit by gunfire.

Source: Mass Shooting Kills 18-Year-Old Woman Near Downtown Portland Food Carts – Willamette Week

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Marlin Woods To File Papers To Run For Mayor Of Pittsburgh, Giving City Voters 4 Choices – CBS Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Pittsburgh voters will have four choices for mayor in this November’s election.

Move over, Democrat Ed Gainey. Step aside, Republican Tony Moreno – two independent candidates say they offer a better choice for Pittsburgh.

READ MORE:Church Run In Titusville Closes Due To Severe Flooding

“I don’t want to divide anybody,” said independent candidate Will Parker. “I think, sometimes, there’s partisan between Democrats and the Republicans. I’m in the middle. I think we can come together, see the best of both worlds in both parties, bring that together and unite the city.”

Parker, an independent from Garfield, filed nominating petitions in June. He is the nephew of Willie Stargel. Parker’s main focus is technology, saying only three percent of funding goes to African Americans.

“We need someone who is going to address that tech disparity throughout the city,” he said.

Parker is not the only independent in the race.

READ MORE:5-Year-Old In Leg Braces Runs 5K In Support Of Law Enforcement

“Next week, my team and I are turning in our signatures,” Marlin Woods said.

Woods, a small businessman from East Liberty, positions himself as the best choice.

Source: Marlin Woods To File Papers To Run For Mayor Of Pittsburgh, Giving City Voters 4 Choices – CBS Pittsburgh

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Pope reverses Benedict, reimposes restrictions on Latin Mass

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis cracked down Friday on the spread of the old Latin Mass, reversing one of Pope Benedict XVI’s signature decisions in a major challenge to traditionalist Catholics who immediately decried it as an attack on them and the ancient liturgy.

Francis reimposed restrictions on celebrating the Latin Mass that Benedict relaxed in 2007, and went further to limit its use. The pontiff said he was taking action because Benedict’s reform had become a source of division in the church and been exploited by Catholics opposed to the Second Vatican Council, the 1960s meetings that modernized the church and its liturgy.

Critics said they had never before witnessed a pope so thoroughly reversing his predecessor. That the reversal concerned something so fundamental as the liturgy, while Benedict is still alive and living in the Vatican as a retired pope, only amplified the extraordinary nature of Francis’ move, which will surely result in more right-wing hostility directed at him.

Francis, 84, issued a new law requiring individual bishops to approve celebrations of the old Mass, also called the Tridentine Mass, and requiring newly ordained priests to receive explicit permission to celebrate it from their bishops, in consultation with the Vatican.

Under the new law, bishops must also determine if the current groups of faithful attached to the old Mass accept Vatican II, which allowed for Mass to be celebrated in the vernacular rather than Latin. These groups cannot use regular churches; instead, bishops must find alternate locations for them without creating new parishes.

In addition, Francis said bishops are no longer allowed to authorize the formation of any new pro-Latin Mass groups in their dioceses.

Francis said he was taking action to promote unity and heal divisions within the church that had grown since Benedict’s 2007 document, Summorum Pontificum. He said he based his decision on a 2020 Vatican survey of all the world’s bishops, whose “responses reveal a situation that preoccupies and saddens me, and persuades me of the need to intervene.”

The pope’s rollback immediately created an uproar among traditionalists already opposed to Francis’ more progressive bent and nostalgic for Benedict’s doctrinaire papacy.

“This is an extremely disappointing document which entirely undoes the legal provisions,” of Benedict’s 2007 document, said Joseph Shaw, chairman of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales.

Source: Pope reverses Benedict, reimposes restrictions on Latin Mass

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