DailyMail.com has unearthed a decades-old photo of JD Vance posing with three female classmates during his senior year of high school in Ohio. But the state of Donald Trump’s campaign is no laughing matter as you will read below. Note that then-JD Vance in this photograph is the same age as Barron Trump today.
The Trump campaign is flatlining and in shambles. Recent polling analysis indicate that VPOTUS hopeful JD Vance is less popular than Sarah Palin, Senator John McCain’s 2008 running mate. On average, only 33% of Americans have a favorable opinion of Sen. JD Vance, while 42% have an unfavorable one. Meanwhile, 38% of Americans have a favorable opinion of Gov. Tim Walz, while 33% have an unfavorable opinion of him.
Financial disclosure statements reveal the modest Walz family owns no stocks or securities. But the young 40-ish Vance family are somehow already multi-millionaires, including owning a sizeable amount of cryptocurrency. The three 529 accounts Vance lists for his children are worth between $31,000 and $115,000 in total.
Does the average Republican in Anytown, USA, whose support JD Vance and Donald Trump are counting on, have this much lucre?
In terms of campaign finance, Team Kamala has been breaking fundraising records and closing the gap between Trump’s huge coffers.
Ex-POTUS Trump recently hired five new political strategists and allegedly asked his teenage son Barron for advice on reaching out to the youth vote. An adolescent pupil who graduated the elite private Oxbridge Academy (annual tuition and full board = $41,500) will probably advise his father on the desires and whims of America’s wealthy elite offspring.
Vanity Fair reported that the 45th President is constantly re-watching the 13 July 2024 attempted assassination of him in Butler, PA. Informants say he’s mesmerized by the video and that Trump may be suffering from PTSD. The former president has not held an outdoor rally since that fateful day.
Worse for the GOP presidential hopeful, he’s relying on futile ad hominem attacks on Kamala Harris. But the syntax, elocution, and logic of his recent aspersions have been simply horrendous. The Philadelphia Inquirer editorialized: “Trump’s Rash of Bizarre Claims and Wild Tangents is No Laughing Matter.”
After listening to the GOP presidential hopeful, retired decorated four-star US Army General Barry McCaffrey summed it up aptly on ‘X’:
“It’s almost impossible to believe that Trump as a Presidential candidate could sound this ignorant. Disordered language. Incoherent thinking. 5th grade stuff.”
On top of the campaign chaos, the former President must deal with catastrophic financial liabilities. A New York judge ordered Trump to pay $454 million in a civil fraud case, while a federal jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million in damages for a defamation case. And for his 34 NYS felony convictions, Citizen Trump must face an imminent sentencing date on 18 Sep 2024.
All of these personal issues, as well as possibly harboring second thoughts about JD Vance as a running mate, must be taxing the 78-year-old Republican nominee for the highest office of the land.
Sources:
Donald Trump May ‘Legit Have PTSD’ Over Shooting: Report – Newsweek
Trump’s rash of bizarre claims and wild tangents is no laughing matter | Editorial (inquirer.com)
Donald Trump V. Kamala Harris 2024: Which Campaign Raised More Money (forbes.com)
JD Vance is more unpopular than Sarah Palin – ABC News (go.com)
https://time.com/6999522/jd-vance-net-worth-estimations-trump-vice-president-pick-background/
FBI Raids Home of Russian-American Political Analyst Dmitri Simes
Dimitri Simes poses a question to Russian President Vladimir Putin during the June 2023 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in Russia.
The FBI raided and searched the Virginia home of Dmitri Simes, an author who hosts a current-affairs program on Russia’s state-run Channel One television. Simes was born in Moscow in 1947 and emigrated to the US in 1973. He served as an informal adviser to former POTUS Richard Nixon and regularly traveled with him to the USSR and other Eastern bloc countries. Simes also advised the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump and arranged an important 2016 foreign-policy speech in which Trump outlined a vision for greater cooperation with Russia.
Simes’s name was mentioned more than 100 times in the 2019 report by US Special Counsel Robert Mueller entitled Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election.
Earlier this month, Fox News reported that FBI agents had raided the New York home of Scott Ritter, a former UN weapons inspector in Iraq who has been a frequent contributor to Russian government media including RT and Sputnik. An FBI spokesperson told Fox the search was part of an “ongoing” investigation.
Ritter has supported Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine and in January he addressed thousands of Chechen soldiers on a central square in the Chechen capital, Grozny. In June, US authorities seized Ritter’s passport and prevented him from travelling to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Sources:
FBI Raids Home Of Russian-American Political Analyst Dmitri Simes (rferl.org)
READ: Mueller Report PDF On Russia Investigation : NPR
Former Alabama Police Sergeant Pleads Guilty to Civil Rights Offense for Using Excessive Force
The Alabama chapter of the ACLU asked that something be done about police brutality in the Heart of Dixie and the Justice Department complied.
Former Daleville Police Department sergeant Ryan Phillips pleaded guilty to depriving an arrestee of his civil rights under color of law. The defendant lost his composure and beat an arrestee inside his cell, striking him in the face and upper body without cause or reason.
According to documents submitted and statements made in court, Phillips willfully used unreasonable force against an arrestee identified as D.M. Specifically, while D.M. was inside a jail cell, he and Phillips had a verbal altercation. Phillips removed his badge and firearm, entered D.M.’s cell and hit D.M. in the upper body and face multiple times resulting in bodily injury to D.M., including lacerations and bruising.
With the plea agreement, Phillips admitted that he had no legitimate law enforcement purpose for engaging in this conduct, that he acted willfully and that D.M. suffered bodily injury.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for 13 November. Phillips faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, but prosecutors are recommending a sentence of 22 months in prison.
Sources:
We Need to Address Police Brutality in Alabama | ACLU of Alabama (aclualabama.org)
Canada: Ukraine May Use Donated Tanks in Russia
The four-man crew Leopard 2A4 tank is a third generation German main battle tank (MBT).
Ukraine‘s armed forces are now authorized to use donated Canadian military equipment inside Russian territory, Canada’s Department of National Defense confirmed. Ottawa joined several other countries like Britain and Germany that have already given Ukraine the green light to use donated weapons inside Russia’s territorial border.
Canada donated eight Leopard 2A4 tanks, several dozen armored combat support vehicles, hundreds of armored patrol vehicles and 4,200 M72A5-C1 rocket launchers. Ottawa has also provided ammunition and air defense systems.
Overall, Canada has provided around $4.5 billion in military assistance to Ukraine since 2022. The Canadian government has pledged to continue military support until at least 2029.
Source:
Canada says Ukraine can use donated tanks in Russia – UPI.com
Chinese Censors Clamp Down on Social Media Posts About Grisly Body-Snatching Case
Mourners stand outside crematorium as white smoke pours out of chimneys in Beijing, 31 Dec 2022. (Ng Han Guan/AP)
Investigators from the Ministry of Public Security are investigating reports that Shanxi Aurui Biomaterials had been involved in trading thousands of dead bodies or body parts, on suspicion that the company engaged in “theft of, insult to, or intentional destruction of human remains.”
Social media posts about these horrific allegations on Weibo and Caixin.com have been deleted by the authorities during the investigation.
Shanxi Aorui is accused of “illegally purchasing human remains and body parts from Sichuan, Guangxi, Shandong and other places for processing into bone grafts worth 380 million yuan (US$53 million) between January 2015 and July 2023”, an official media outlet reported, adding that the police had seized “more than 18 tons of human bones” and “more than 34,000 articles of finished product.’
Bodies were allegedly sent to the company from funeral homes across Shanxi, Sichuan, and Guangxi provinces, with thousands of bodies in Sichuan alone. Their bones were used to create dental bone implants. Families received ashes that may not have been those of their relatives or the remains may have been incomplete.
Source:
Chinese censors clamp down on posts about grisly body-snatching case — Radio Free Asia (rfa.org)
Turkish MPs Brawl During Debate on Jailed Opposition Lawmaker
Turkish ruling and opposition lawmakers duke it out with each other in the Grand National Assembly of Turkiye in Ankara on 16 Aug 2024.
A fistfight broke out in Turkiye’s parliament when an opposition deputy was attacked after calling for his colleague Can Atalay to be admitted to the assembly. Atalay was jailed on charges of organizing anti-government protests but had since been elected a member of the parliament.
Ruling AK Party MPs rushed to punch Ahmet Sik at the lectern and dozens more joined the melee, while others tried to restrain their colleagues. Blood spattered the white steps of the speaker’s podium and the deputy parliament speaker declared a 45-minute recess after the donnybrook.
Atalay was sentenced to 18 years in 2022 after being accused of trying to overthrow the government by allegedly organizing the peaceful nationwide Gezi Park environmental protests in 2013 with philanthropist Osman Kavala, also now jailed, and six others. All deny the charges.
Despite his imprisonment, Atalay was elected to parliament in May 2023 to represent the Workers’ Party of Turkey (TIP). Parliament stripped him of his seat, but on 1 Aug 2024 the Turkish Constitutional Court declared his exclusion null and void.
Brawls are not uncommon in Turkish parliament. In June, ruling AK party lawmakers scuffled with pro-Kurdish DEM Party MPs over the detention and replacement of a DEM Party mayor in southeast Turkiye for alleged militant links.
Source:
Turkish MPs brawl during debate on jailed opposition lawmaker (voanews.com)
Anti-US Government Militia Member Sentenced for Illegal Gun Possession
Convicted felon and anti-government extremist Joshua Colston (50) of Corinth, MS, participated in aborted plans to kidnap and attack federal officials. He was sentenced in the Middle District of Florida to serve 48 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Colston previously pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon on 18 Oct 2023.
The FBI learned that Joshua Colston and other militants discussed a plan to kidnap or attack elected federal officials on Thanksgiving Day 2022. Ultimately, the attack plan never developed due to the group’s lack of resources and the poor health of the members. Colston, a felony convict, was arrested in Georgia and found with an illegal arsenal of firearms: a 9mm pistol, .40 caliber pistol, .22 semiautomatic rifle, semiautomatic shotgun and .44 lever-action rifle. The semiautomatic rifle was reported stolen in Alcorn County, MS,
In addition to the firearms, Colston had a bulletproof vest and more than 3,500 rounds of ammunition, including armor-piercing rounds. The FBI also believes that Colston had training in explosives. This miscreant has prior state convictions in Texas for felony theft and felony criminal mischief.
For at least four years, the FBI neutralized this dangerous fanatic.
Sources:
South Korean Health Authorities Find Toxic Substances in Shein and Temu Products
Authorities in South Korea report that women’s accessories sold by Shein, Temu, and AliExpress, contained toxic substances sometimes hundreds of times above acceptable levels.
In a recent inspection, 144 products from Shein, AliExpress, and Temu were tested, and multiple products from all companies failed to meet legal standards.
Shoes from Shein were found to contain significantly high levels of phthalates — chemicals used to make plastics more flexible — with one pair 229 times above the legal limit.
“Phthalate-based plasticisers affect reproductive functions such as sperm count reduction, and can cause infertility and even premature birth,” an official from Seoul’s environmental health team reported.
Formaldehyde, a chemical commonly used in home building products, was detected in Shein’s caps at double the allowable threshold. This chemical “is classified as a human carcinogen by the International Cancer Institute, so special care should be taken to avoid long-term contact with the human body.”
Two bottles of nail polish from Shein were found to have dioxane — a possible human carcinogen that can cause liver poisoning — at levels more than 3.6 times the allowed limit and methanol concentrations 1.4 times above the acceptable level
Sandals manufactured by Temu contained lead in the insoles at levels more than 11 times the permissible limit.
Health authorities in Seoul requested that these products be removed from sale. In April 2023, the European Union added Shein to its list of digital firms for stricter safety rules — including measures to protect customers from unsafe products and those that could be harmful to minors.
Source:
Seoul Authorities Find Toxic Substances In Shein And Temu Products | IBTimes
US Arrests Reputed Gang Leader Wanted for 23 Murders in Peru
Gianfranco Torres-Navarro is the the leader of the “Los Killers” gang in Peru. © National Police of Peru.
A reputed gang leader suspected in 23 killings in Peru was arrested in the tiny village of Endicott, NY, by US immigration authorities. Gianfranco Torres-Navarro, the leader of “Los Killers” is being held at a federal detention facility near Buffalo. After killing retired police officer Cesar Quegua Herrera and shooting a municipal employee at a restaurant in San Miguel in March, Torres-Navarro fled Peru and entered the US via the Texas-Mexico border.
ICE agents also arrested Torres-Navarro’s girlfriend, Mishelle Sol Ivanna Ortiz Ubillus, described as his right hand, cashier, and lover. She is being held at a processing center in Pennsylvania. Ubillus had a sizable following on the social media platform TikTok where she showed off their lavish lifestyle, including designer clothes, resort vacations, as well as target shooting at a gun range.
Colonel Franco Moreno, head of Peru’s High Complexity Crime Investigations Division, said they tracked phone calls, geolocations, and messages from Torres-Navarro and members of his gang
“[Torres-Navarro] is a highly dangerous criminal who believed he was untouchable and responsible for 23 murders, including other gang leaders who ended up dead along with their families, all in order to increase his criminal leadership,” Moreno concluded.
Source:
US arrests reputed Peruvian gang leader wanted for 23 killings in Peru (voanews.com)
Democratic VPOTUS candidate Tim Walz’ rescue cat, “Honey.” As Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz also provided free school meals to all pupils regardless of income. Who wouldn’t want a man with this kind of heart to be their Vice-President?
Coriolanus 