Wednesday, September 4, 2024

​ September 4, 2024 Good morning, Welcome to the news for independent thinkers ​ Leading the News . . . ​ Whistleblowers claim Secret Service 'woefully unprepared' to provide security . . . Whistleblowers have told Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., that Secret Service personnel are "woefully unprepared" and given inadequate training to properly protect candidates – including former President Trump. Hawley revealed whistleblowers' claims that when Homeland Security Investigations agents were reassigned to work on the protective details, they were given a single two-hour webinar on Microsoft Teams. The videos were pre-recorded, with whistleblowers allegedly saying that the videos were riddled with technical mishaps. Fox News​ Politics Report indicates local cops disabled Crooks before Secret Service killed him . . . A bombshell congressional report claims would-be Trump assassin Thomas Crooks was incapacitated by a local cop before he was killed by a Secret Service sniper. Two months after Crooks shot the former president's ear at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, a preliminary report from Rep. Clay Higgins offered a differing narrative to the official one pushed by the FBI. The congressman said the local cop's shot 'hit Crooks' rifle and fragged his face/ neck/ right shoulder area from the (gun) stock breaking up', which meant Crooks was unable to keep firing before he was killed. Daily Mail​ ​ Walz's older brother tries to walk back criticism . . . Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's older brother, Jeff, said he does not wish to influence voters despite his opposition to the Democratic vice presidential nominee's views. Jeff Walz's Facebook posts caused a stir in both mainstream and social media as he described the Minnesota governor as "not the type of character you want making decisions about your future." Despite saying to his Facebook friends that he had "thought long and hard" about publicly endorsing former President Donald Trump, he now wishes to be uninvolved in any political campaign. New Nation​ ​ ​Watch: Harris at rallies across the country repeats same speech in different accents​ ​ Hunter Biden's tax trial set to begin this week . . . Hunter Biden's second trial is set to begin this week in California after he was accused of withholding at least $1.4 million between 2016 and 2019. During that period his father was still vice president. The second trial comes as now-President Joe Biden's political career winds down after he surrendered the reigns to his vice president, Kamala Harris, following a disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump and pressure from within his own party to step out of the race. Hunter Biden's trial is set to officially begin September 5. Just the News​ ​ And . . . we're voting . . . Absentee voting for the presidential election will begin this week, two months before Election Day, as early in-person voting starts nationwide later this month amid lawsuits over election administration and election integrity concerns. The presidential election begins this week as absentee ballots are mailed to voters in one state, with others to follow in the coming weeks. However, election integrity concerns from the last presidential election remain as various courts determine how mail-in ballots and voter rolls are to be handled with only two months before the next president will be elected. North Carolina is the first state to send out absentee ballots. Just the News​ ​ Didn't absentee voting used to mean you were "absent"? We're at the point at which noncitizens don't have to get up from the couch to vote. Why not allow pet dogs to vote when they go to vet? You know, at least the smarter breeds. ​ ​Trump leads Harris in Michigan​ ​ Federal judge rejects Donald Trump's request to intervene in wake of hush money conviction . . . A federal judge on Tuesday swiftly rejected Donald Trump's request to intervene in his New York hush money criminal case, spurning the former president's attempt at an end-run around the state court where he was convicted and is set to be sentenced in two weeks. U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein's ruling — just hours after Trump's lawyers asked him to weigh the move — upends the Republican presidential nominee's plan to move the case to federal court so that he could seek to have his conviction overturned in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's presidential immunity ruling. Associated Press​ Culture Anti-Israel agitators back at Columbia . . . Anti-Israel students brought chaos to Columbia University on Tuesday morning, returning the campus to its new normal: dozens of keffiyeh-clad protesters blocked the entrance to the school, praising Hamas, vandalizing a statue, and clashing with police. At least one group involved aims to bring violence to America, while others called on their followers to help shut down the university. Agitators with Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) and the school's Students for Justice in Palestine chapter prevented students from entering campus, promising that "this is just the beginning." Washington Free Beacon ​ Ex-employee sues university for firing her after she converted to Christianity . . . Teona Pagan, who worked at CUNY's Research Foundation as the Fellowships and Public Service Program Coordinator, alleges she was denied a religious accommodation for an aspect of her job that required her to recruit students for a fellowship focused on the promotion of LGBT "rights and causes," according to the complaint filed Aug. 28. When Pagan converted to Christianity in April 2022 — months after beginning her job in November 2021 — she suddenly found her duties related to the fellowship in conflict with her sincerely held religious beliefs. Daily Caller​ National Security Former senior aide to New York governor arrested as Chinese agent . . . The former deputy chief of staff to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul was arrested by the FBI on Tuesday and charged with working as an influence agent for the Chinese Communist Party, prosecutors disclosed in an unsealed indictment. Linda Sun, the former aide, held several other positions in the administrations of Ms. Hochul and Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Ms. Sun, 41, and her husband, Chris Hu, 40, were arrested at their $3.6 million Long Island home. Washington Times​ ​ China paid pro-CCP agitators to clash with dissenters during Xi SF visit . . . China paid pro-Chinese Communist Party agitators to clash with dissidents in November 2023 when the country's president, Xi Jinping, visited San Francisco, a Washington Post investigation revealed on Tuesday. Chinese diplomats and diaspora groups organized demonstrations to "silence" anti-Beijing protesters gathered outside the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, where Xi met with President Joe Biden and other foreign leaders. The Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles paid for the hotels and meals of pro-CCP agitators to incentivize them to participate in the violent demonstration. Washington Free Beacon​ International Ukraine's Foreign Minister Kuleba resigns as Russian strikes kill 7 people in Lviv . . . Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, one of Ukraine's most recognizable faces on the international stage, submitted his resignation Wednesday ahead of an expected major government reshuffle. Russian strikes, meanwhile, killed seven people in a western Ukraine city, a day after one of the deadliest missile attacks since the war began. Kuleba, 43, didn't give a reason for stepping down. Four other Cabinet ministers tendered their resignations late Tuesday, making the Cabinet reshuffle likely the biggest since Russia's February 2022 invasion. Associated Press​ ​ Kim Jong Un reportedly ordered dozens of officials executed after deadly floods . . . North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un may have ordered at least 30 government officials to be executed after the devastating floods over the summer that killed thousands, according to a new report from South Korea. The South's TV Chosun reported Tuesday that North Korean authorities sentenced between 20 and 30 people to capital punishment last month for their failure to stop the deadly flooding. Fox News​ ​ Even if one is concerned about government bureaucracy, this seems to be taking things a little bit too far. ​ Someone is burning down France's churches . . . The Church of the Immaculate Conception went up in flames Monday in yet another instance of a French church burning to the ground, leading to speculations on the origins of their destruction. The church burnings highlight the tensions brewing in France's secular and multicultural country, and its immigration policies have come under increased scrutiny. Weak church structures, bias against Christians and mass immigration have all been brought up as potential factors in the onslaught of church burnings. Daily Caller​ Money Harris to propose expansion of small business startup tax deduction . . . Vice President Kamala Harris will propose a tenfold-expansion of a tax deduction for new small businesses and announce a goal of 25 million new small-business applications in her first term if elected president, according to campaign officials. Harris is expected to detail her plan in a speech in Portsmouth, N.H., on Wednesday. Harris would expand the startup-expense deduction for small businesses to $50,000. Currently, business owners can deduct up to $5,000 in startup expenses. Wall Street Journal​ ​ Biden's supercharged IRS eyes new 'marriage penalty' in tax audits . . . President Biden introduced a "potential marriage penalty" into the tax system when he ordered the IRS to conduct more audits of higher-income Americans, the agency's inspector general said.Mr. Biden had promised that agents would focus on those with annual incomes of $400,000 or more. The way the Treasury Department wrote the guidance, however, treats all "households" the same way. That means a family with two spouses making $220,000 each faces a higher chance of an audit than a single man who earns $390,000. Washington Times​ You should also know Scientists find 'aging waves' at 44 and 60 as they blow apart idea we gradually grow older . . . A new study published in the journal Nature Aging has revealed that the ageing process happens in pronounced 'waves' as opposed to a slow and steady climb. After extensive research, a team of Stanford scientists determined that age-related changes including slowing metabolism, wrinkling skin and increased proneness to diseases show significant peaks at age 44 and 60. Such changes can lead to weight gain or stronger effects from drinking alcohol. Daily Mail​ ​ Florida doctor removes wrong organ from patient, causing 'immediate' death . . . An Alabama husband died on a Florida operating table when the doctor mistakenly removed the man's liver during surgery before the surgeon attempted to pass off the organ as an "enlarged spleen," according to a lawyer representing the man's widow. William Bryan and his wife Beverly were visiting their rental property in Okaloosa County, Florida last month when he suddenly began experiencing lower left abdominal pain. The 70-year-old was admitted for further tests over concerns about an abnormality of the spleen. New York Post​ ​ Japanese dad claims he sleeps 30 minutes each day for last 12 years to double his life expectancy . . . A Japanese father and bodybuilder claims he is a "true master" and has "doubled" his life by only sleeping half an hour per night for a dozen years. Daisuke Hori, 40, says he has trained his body and mind to function normally and not feel tired as he targets between 30 to 45 minutes of sleep each night. Hori relies on remaining active and caffeine to keep awake and alert throughout his 23.5-hour day. New York Post​ ​ A Cut to the News investigation has revealed that in addition to an extra cup of coffee in the morning with breakfast, he eats generous portions of methamphetamine and cocaine for lunch. Guilty Pleasures Pastor used $3.5M in Covid relief funds to purchase a Tesla, eat out . . . Rudolph Brooks, a 48-year-old pastor from Cheltenham, Maryland, has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining over $3.5 million in COVID-19 Paycheck Protection Program loans and using part of these funds to purchase a Tesla. He inflated employee numbers and payroll expenses on PPP loan applications, securing millions, which he then misused for personal expenses. Notable purchases included a 2018 Tesla Model 3, a property in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, and lavish spending on groceries, retail items and restaurant meals. 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