Monday, August 5, 2024

August 5, 2024

Good morning,

Welcome to the news for independent thinkers

Leading the News . . .

US and allies prepare to defend Israel as Netanyahu says it's already in 'multi-front war' with Iran . . . Israel is already in a "multi-front war" with Iran and its proxies, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a Cabinet meeting Sunday, as the United States and allies prepared to defend Israel from an expected counterstrike and prevent an even more destructive regional conflict. Tensions have soared following nearly 10 months of war in Gaza and the killing last week of a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon and Hamas' top political leader in Iran. Iran and its allies have blamed Israel and threatened retaliation. Associated Press

Politics

Harris wants a reparations commission . . The reparations bill supported by Vice President Kamala Harris would set up an independent commission similar to the one in California that called for sweeping changes to the criminal code in addition to monetary payouts to black Americans. Te Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act, which was reintroduced in April 2019 and cosponsored by then-senator Harris, would create a 13-member commission to "study and consider a national apology and proposal for reparations for the institution of slavery, its subsequent de jure and de facto racial and economic discrimination against African-Americans." Washington Free Beacon

Harris spent her entire Senate career opposing border security

Harris campaign launches "Republicans for Harris" . . . Vice President Harris's campaign launched "Republicans for Harris" with more than 25 GOP endorsements, including former secretaries Chuck Hagel and Ray LaHood, as well as former GOP governors and lawmakers. The campaign announced Sunday that Trump-era White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham and Olivia Troye, ex-national security adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence, also endorsed Harris. Additionally, former Reps. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) and Susan Molinari (R-N.Y.) put their support behind Harris in November, along with Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.). The Hill

Black guys at PA barbershop tell reporter that Harris isn't black . . . A group of black men at a Pennsylvania barbershop said that they do not consider Vice President Kamala Harris to be black in a clip aired by CNN on Saturday. Former President Donald Trump suggested during his Wednesday appearance at a National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) event in Chicago that Harris only recently started to identify as black rather than Indian. Several black men at a barbershop in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, told local CBS affiliate reporter Joel Smith that they do not think Harris is black. Daily Caller

Trump's strategy, which may work, was to remind black voters that she is only half black.

Axelrod: Harris momentum leaning heavily on 'irrational exuberance' . . . Democratic strategist David Axelrod warned that much of the enthusiasm among Democrats about Vice President Harris's campaign is just "irrational exuberance," as the race remains neck and neck. Harris's campaign has come out to a quick start, breaking fundraising records and significantly cutting into former President Trump's previous lead in polls since she replaced President Biden at the top of the ticket. "She has a lot of momentum, but if you do look at the polling, this is still a really tight race," he said. "This is going to be a hard fight for either side. It's based on the numbers we're seeing right now." The Hill

The current hysteria will fade. Remember, no one considered Harris a great candidate. She may become one, but that remains to be seen.

Sen. Tim Scott maries at 58

Obama bros fluant wealth, bust unions, sleep withi subordinates . . . Pod Save America? More like Pod Damn America. That's right, the former Obama bros who started a podcasting empire have finally been exposed by their employees for flaunting their wealth, sleeping with subordinates, and flouting their progressive ideals like total hypocrites. Bloomberg reports that Pod Save America founders Jon Lovett, Jon Favreau, Tommy Vietor, and Dan Pfeiffer have created a work environment that many of their young staffers find toxic and stifling. One-third of the employees at Crooked Media, the liberal entertainment conglomerate, have left since January 2023. Washington Free Beacon

Pelosi says US should add Biden to Mount Rushmore . . . The 81-year-old commander in chief is "such a consequential president of the United States, a Mount Rushmore kind of president," Rep. Pelosi (D-Calif.), 84, claimed in a clip aired on "CBS Sunday Morning Show." "You have Teddy Roosevelt up there. And he's wonderful. I don't say take him down. But you can add Biden," she insisted when pressed about whether the incumbent president is really worthy of the honor of getting his massive mug engraved in rock at the iconic South Dakota national monument. New York Post

She wants in on Mount Rushmore much less than she wanted him off the ticket.

Culture

Students gearing up for round 2 of anti-Israel protests . . . Demonstrators say all forms of protest are still on the table, despite the more than 2,000 arrests so far, as students try to figure out a new strategy to demand their schools divest from Israel, among other goals. "What we will see [is] the students will continue their activism, will continue doing what they've done in conventional and unconventional ways. So not only protests, not only encampments, kind of any — any available means necessary to push Columbia to divest from from Israel," said Mahmoud Khalil, student negotiator on behalf of Columbia University Apartheid Divest. The Hill

A growing number of young adults say they are unlikely to have children . . . That's according to the Pew Research Center, which found the share of adults under 50 who say they are "unlikely to ever have kids" climbed 10 percentage points between 2018 and 2023. A new report by Pew published last week looked at the reasons why childless adults from all age groups said they didn't or would likely never have children. "The top response (39%) for those ages 50 and older is that it just didn't happen," the survey conducted in April to May of 2024 says. "Meanwhile, those in the younger group are most likely to say they just don't want to have kids (57%)." Fox News

National Security

Illegal immigrant accused of sexually assaulting 14-year-old girl . . . An illegal alien is accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in March in Taylor County, Texas. Roberto Javier Toruno-Cruz, an adult illegal alien, has been arrested and charged with child sexual assault offenses. According to Taylor County officials, the mother of the 14-year-old girl had found videos on her daughter's phone allegedly depicting Toruno-Cruz sexually assaulting the girl, prompting her to go to police with the footage. Breitbart

International

Ukraine receives first F-16 fighter jets: Zelensky . . . Ukraine has received its first American-made F-16 fighter jets, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. "F-16s in Ukraine. We did it," President Zelensky said at a ceremony at an unnamed airbase, flanked by two of the planes. Ukraine's leader thanked allies for what they were once very hesitant to provide - though he added that many more were needed. The arrival of the jets marks a crucial milestone in boosting the capabilities of Ukraine's air force, which largely relies on old Soviet-era jets. BBC

King Charles refuses to take Harry's calls . . . King Charles is said to not be taking any of Prince Harry's phone calls – and for one royal author, it's easy to see why. "When Harry branded his stepmother Camilla a 'villain' in his book and revealed that both he and William initially begged their father not to marry her, Harry committed what Charles regards as a cardinal sin," Christopher Andersen, author of "The King," told Fox News Digital. "No one disses Camilla in royal circles and gets away with it – not even a son of the king," Andersen warned. Fox News

Money

Stocks plunge: Nikkei down 13%, European shares near six-month lows . . . A global stock-market selloff intensified Monday, led by a more than 12% drop in Japan's Nikkei 225. Tech-focused Nasdaq-100 futures were down more than 4%, paring some earlier losses, while Dow and S&P 500 futures fell at least 1.5%. A selloff in tech shares continued premarket Monday, with Nvidia, Meta and Apple each losing 6% or more. Concerns about a slowing U.S. economy are front and center for investors after job growth slowed sharply in July. Investors are worried that the Federal Reserve has moved too slowly and will need to play catch up in cutting rates. Wall Street Journal

You should also know

Hurricane Debby to bring catastrophic flooding to Florida, Georgia and S. Carolina . . . The center of Hurricane Debby is expected to reach the Big Bend coast of Florida early Monday bringing potential record-setting rains, catastrophic flooding and life-threatening storm surge as it moves slowly across the northern part of the state before stalling over the coastal regions of Georgia and South Carolina. Debby was located about 45 mileswest north west of Cedar Key, Florida, with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph. The storm was moving north northeast at 10 mph, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said early Monday. Associated Press

Gorsuch: Too many laws threatening freedom . . . Gorsuch said, "I think that might be true. Some professors say there are now so many federal laws on the books that every American over the age of 18 commits one felony a day. That's happened in my lifetime. 1970 to the present we've seen maybe a doubling the number of federal crimes on the books. And this just counts within the U.S. code passed by Congress and the tip of the iceberg because federal agencies have been busy." Breitbart

USA sprinter Noah Lyles wins first Olympic gold in epic men's 100M final . . . After talking the talk for quite some time and dominating the world championships last year, the Gainesville, Florida, native is now walking the walk, as he won the men's 100-meter final on Sunday in Paris. Lyles crossed the finish line in 9.784 seconds, a personal best, and winning by five-thousandths of a second. A long photo finish review was necessary to officially crown Lyles champion, as he looked on intently alongside Jamaican Kishane Thompson, whom the broadcast thought won with the naked eye. When the result was official, he had seven words: "America, I told you, I got this!" Fox News

Olympic gold medalist Thomas Ceccon spotted sleeping in park after ripping Olympic Village conditions

Guilty Pleasures

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he left a dead bear in Central Park as a prank . . . Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. once retrieved a bear that was killed by a motorist and left it in New York's Central Park with a bicycle on top, sparking a mystery that consumed the city a decade ago. He said he wanted to sking it. Eventually, he says, he was in Manhattan and needed to get the bear carcass out of his vehicle. His friends, fueled by alcohol, concocted the Central Park plan as a prank, he said, adding he was not drunk himself. At the time, bicycle accidents were getting significant media attention, so Kennedy and his friends thought it would be funny to make it look like the bear was hit by a bicycle. Associated Press

That's actually kind of funny.

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