Friday, September 20, 2024

September 20, 2024

Good morning,

Welcome to the news for independent thinkers

Leading the News . . .

Olivia Nuzzi on leave from New York magazine over alleged 'sexting' relationship with RFK Jr. . . . New York magazine's Washington correspondent Olivia Nuzzi was placed on leave after she had an alleged romantic relationship with former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. while covering his campaign. Nuzzi, without naming the 70-year-old Kennedy scion, admitted in a Thursday night statement that earlier this year, "the nature of some communications between myself and a former reporting subject turned personal." The 31-year-old star political reporter insisted the relationship was not physical in nature. New York Post

Politics

Harris outspends Trump by tens of millions online . . . Vice President Kamala Harris outspent former President Donald J. Trump by 20 to 1 on Facebook and Instagram in the week surrounding their debate, capitalizing on the moment to plaster battleground states with ads and to hunt for new donors nationwide. The lopsided spending — $12.2 million to $611,228 on Meta's platforms was hardly an outlier. Ever since Ms. Harris entered the race, her campaign has overwhelmed the Trump operation with an avalanche of digital advertising, outspending his by tens of millions of dollars and setting off alarm among some Republicans. New York Times

Democrats used to complain about money in politics, until they had more of it.

NC GOP governor nominee vows to keep running after report on racial and sexual comments . . . North Carolina Republican gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson vowed on Thursday to remain in the race despite a CNN report that he posted strongly worded racial and sexual comments on an online porn message board, saying he won't be forced out by "salacious tabloid lies."Robinson, the sitting lieutenant governor who decisively won his GOP gubernatorial primary in March, has been trailing in several recent polls to Democratic nominee Josh Stein, the current attorney general. Associated Press

Trump challenges Harris to disavow Hamas ahead of Oct. 7 attack anniversary

Trump warns Jewish voters they'll be partly to blame if he loses . . . Former President Donald Trump said at an event in Washington aimed at fighting antisemitism on Thursday that if he loses in November, "the Jewish people would have a lot to do with the loss." "It doesn't make sense," Trump said of Jews who vote for Vice President Kamala Harris. "Any Jewish person who votes for her should have their head examined. I find it hard to believe, part of it is a habit, I think." Politico

The very fate of Israel may rest on this election.

95% of media coverage after Trump second assassination attempt was negative . . . Establishment media coverage of former President Donald Trump was found to be 95 percent negative following the second attempt on his life, according to a Media Research Center (MRC) analysis.ABC, CBS, and NBC News all broadcasted overwhelmingly negative commentary on the Republican presidential candidate after Sunday's thwarted shooting at the Trump International Golf Course in Florida, MRC found. Breitbart

Don Lemon says he's not a Democrat, has some conservative leanings, but backs Harris

Kamala Harris threatens to shoot home intruders . . . Kamala Harris reaffirmed that she's a gun owner and will fire away if anyone tries to sneak into her house. The vice president made the statement in an attempt to burnish her credentials as a 'common sense' gun control candidate during her hour-and-a-half long livestream fundraiser with Oprah Winfrey. 'If somebody breaks into my house, they're getting shot,' she said, before showing off her trademark cackle. Daily Mail

Imagine that cackle being the last thing you hear.

RFK Jr. being investigated for collecting dead whale . . . A federal law enforcement agency confirmed it's opened an investigation into Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after he allegedly cut off the head of a dead whale and took it home two decades ago. Kennedy's daughter recalled the whale incident in a 2012 interview with Town and Country magazine. Kathleen Kennedy said when she was 6 years old, her dad got word that a dead whale had washed ashore. He got a chainsaw, cut off the whale's head and strapped it to the roof of their minivan for a five-hour drive home. Washington Times

Opinion: Kamala Harris failed Oakland and would do the same for America . . . Vice President Kamala Harris calls herself "a daughter of Oakland, California." What the daughter of Oakland — who was born in the troubled city but raised in Berkeley — never mentions is that there is not much dignity in being beaten, robbed or killed. Harris's hometown consistently ranks as one of the most dangerous cities in America. Crime rose dramatically in the few years after the pandemic shutdowns. Though the early part of 2024 has seen improvements in rape, burglary and homicide, robberies have increased — and the overall level of violent crime has not declined. Ying Ma for Fox News Digital

Culture

Army faces fresh heat over security briefing that labeled pro-life groups as 'terrorists' . . . Army officials were on the hot seat again Thursday as lawmakers on Capitol Hill pressed for answers over training materials meant to warn soldiers about potential threats while on guard duty. The program, which the Army has since repudiated, lumped in prominent pro-life organizations with other "terror groups." Washington Times

EPA officials retaliated against three scientists who expressed dissenting scientific views . . . Five different EPA scientists alleged to OIG that they had been subject to reprisals for expressing their differing scientific opinions about chemical assessments while former President Donald Trump was in the White House, and the watchdog's office ultimately concluded that three of them had been subjected to blowback for doing so. The three scientists who faced retaliation were variously harassed, given lower grades on performance reviews, missed out on bonus payments or reassigned to different posts within the bureaucracy. Daily Caller

Sesame Place spared $25M lawsuit after character is accused of ignoring black children . . . A federal jury in Philadelphia unanimously voted "no" on Wednesday after determining that SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, the company that owns the Pennsylvania-based amusement park, was not liable for any wrongdoing. The controversy ignited in July 2022 when a viral video showed an amusement park's character performer appearing to refuse to interact with or acknowledge two young black children during parades and meet-and-greets. New York Post

National Security

Liberals are starting to buy guns . . . Michael Ciemnoczolowski, a lifelong Democrat, supports stricter gun laws and contributes to Sandy Hook Promise, a gun-violence-prevention nonprofit. But this summer, the liquor store clerk in Iowa City, Iowa, for the first time in his life bought a gun. Apprehension about street crime, armed right-wing extremists, and "whatever else the world could possibly throw at us," drove his decision. "Domestic politics have grown increasingly acrimonious," says Ciemnoczolowski, 43. Wall Street Journal

The Second Amendment starts to look pretty good even to liberals when someone breaks into your house or business.

International

US officials say Gaza peace deal out of reach for Biden . . . After months of saying a cease-fire and a hostage-release deal was close at hand, senior U.S. officials are now privately acknowledging they don't expect Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement before the end of President Biden's term. The administration won't stop its pursuit of an agreement, seeing it as the only way to end the war in Gaza and stop a rapidly escalating conflict between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah. Wall Street Journal

Olympics judo star banned for 5 months after making sign of cross . . . Serbian judo world champion Nemanja Majdov vowed not to apologize after he was hit with a five-month ban for making the sign of the cross before he competed at the Paris Olympics. Majdov was accused of violating the International Judo Federation's religious code for "having shown a clear religious sign when entering the field of play" and was barred from participating in "all tournaments, camps and preparations." New York Post

Money

Trump hitches his campaign to the crypto crowd . . . Donald Trump this week pivoted to embrace a niche constituency that few would have expected him to champion—cryptocurrencies and the deep-pocketed investors who have made them their domain. The former president and onetime bitcoin skeptic on Monday helped launch a new crypto business with his family. On Wednesday, he bought a round of burgers for denizens of a bitcoin-theme dive bar in New York. Wall Street Journal

House Republicans defy Trump call for brinkmanship on shutdown . . . GOP leaders are discussing a bill that would keep federal agencies funded until mid-December, an idea in line with what Democrats have said they would support. The new proposal under discussions being led by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) could get a vote early next week and then head to the Democratic-run Senate. It leaves out any election-related provisions, which Democrats had called a poison pill. Congress needs to act by the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year to prevent a partial government shutdown. Wall Street Journal

You should also know

Prosecutors face hurdles to pin attempted murder charges on Trump's would-be assassin . . . Mr. Routh, who the FBI said positioned himself in the bushes near the sixth hole of Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida, did not fire any shots from the SKS-style rifle found at the scene. He was spotted several hundred yards away from Mr. Trump, who was playing the course on Sunday. He never had the former president in his line of sight because Mr. Trump had not reached the sixth hole, according to the Secret Service. Washington Times

New York City Covid czar partied while preaching social distancing . . . The official in charge of New York City's pandemic response participated in sex parties and attended a dance party underneath a Wall Street bank during the height of the pandemic, even as he was instructing New Yorkers to stay home and away from others to stop the spread of Covid-19. He acknowledged his transgressions on Thursday after being caught on hidden camera boasting about his exploits. New York Times

Of course. New evidence of the contempt public health officials hold for average Americans.

Kentucky sheriff is charged in killing of judge at courthouse . . . A judge in a rural Kentucky county was shot and killed in his courthouse chambers Thursday, and the local sheriff was charged with murder in the slaying, police said. The preliminary investigation indicates Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. Stines shot District Judge Kevin Mullins multiple times following an argument inside the courthouse, according to Kentucky State Police. Mullins, who held the judgeship for 15 years, died at the scene, and Stines surrendered without incident. Associated Press

Deadly medical blunders are rising in America . . . Doctors removed the wrong body parts or left medical equipment inside the bodies of hundreds of Americans last year, data shows. A story about a 70-year-old Alabama man who died when surgeons removed his liver instead of his spleen shocked the nation earlier this month. Overall, 1,411 American patients dealt with the outcome of one of these mistakes in 2023. Daily Mail

Guilty Pleasures

Putin wants Russians to have sex at work in bid to stem falling birth rates . . . Russia has told its citizens to have sex at work in a bold new initiative aimed at bolstering the county's dwindling birth rates. Putin, 71, made the "sex-at-work" push last week, which encourages tens of millions of Russian adults to procreate during lunch and coffee breaks at work. The current fertility rate in the largest country in the world is around 1.5 children per woman, far below the reported 2.1 rate required to stabilise the population. Sky News

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