Andy Steven Oliva-Lopez (27) from Oregon man pleaded guilty to a felony charge of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers during the 6 Jan 2021 attack on the US Capitol. He will be sentenced on 17 Jan 2025.
Oliva-Lopez drove from his home in Oregon with a friend to attend the 6 Jan 2021, “Stop the Steal” rally scheduled to take place on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. After attending the rally, Oliva-Lopez walked toward the Capitol and made his way to the West Plaza, which was, by that time overrun with rioters. At that location, US Capitol Police and MPD officers attempted to maintain lines of defense and were struggling to prevent rioters from advancing further to the building.
At about 2:04 PM, Oliva-Lopez, wearing a full-face respirator mask, sprayed streams of orange-colored bear spray at the faces and heads of police officers on the West Plaza. Over the course of several minutes, Oliva-Lopez did this on three distinct occasions. Police officers blinded by the bear spray testified that the intense pain levels were either eight or nine on a scale of ten.
Thanks to online sleuths, the FBI arrested Oliva-Lopez on 23 Jan 2024.
Oliva-Lopez’s plea agreement states his estimated sentencing guidelines range is 51 to 63 months in federal prison. Bureau of Prisons (BOP) officials will read his dossier and the pain Oliva-Lopez inflicted on the police officers defending the Capitol when he repeatedly sprayed them with bear repellant.
In the 44 months since 6 Jan 2021, more than 1,504 suspects have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to attacking the US Capitol, including more than 560 seditionists charged with feloniously assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The FBI investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.
Sources:
gov.uscourts.dcd.271080.28.0.pdf (courtlistener.com)
Israel Launches Intense Strikes on Lebanon
Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanese village of Khiam near the border, 19 Sep 2024.
Israeli forces carried out their most intense strike on southern Lebanon in nearly one year of war, increasing tensions between the two countries despite international calls for calm. IDF jets struck about 100 multiple-rocket launchers in more than 52 strikes. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The UK called for a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, and the US is “afraid and concerned about potential escalation,” White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.
Lebanese Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah acknowledged that this week’s deadly explosive attacks in Lebanon on the militant group’s communications devices were a “severe blow,” while contending that Israel had crossed a “red line” in carrying out the operation that killed at least 32 people and wounded another 3,000. Unsuspecting Hezbollah operatives and civilians answered messages on their pagers and tried to carry on conversations on their walkie-talkies, only to have them explode in their hands.
Because of the lethal devastation from the attacks, Lebanon has banned passengers flying from Beirut’s international airport from carrying pagers or walkie-talkies on board their flights. The ban applies to both checked and carry-on luggage, as well as cargo.
The longer Israel remains in a state of war, the longer Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delays his bribery and corruption trial in Jerusalem, and the approximate 100 Israelis remain hostage and vulnerable. The West should expect reprisal attacks from Lebanese Hezbollah or their allies against Israeli targets overseas.
Background Information:
In 1978, Israel invaded Lebanon to neutralize PLO fighters conducting cross-border raids. After a ceasefire was brokered, UNIFIL kept the peace. With Democratic President Jimmy Carter out of the White House in 1981, Israeli war-hawks found a friend in Republican Ronald Reagan. In 1982, Israel re-attacked Lebanon to stamp out remaining PLO fighters who were observing the ceasefire. Israel used the 1982 Abu Nidal assassination attempt on the Israeli Ambassador in London as a casus belli, or pretext, for the invasion. Yasser Arafat and the PLO had disavowed Abu Nidal, who was a rival to the PLO Chairman.
During the invasion, the IDF used a Lebanese Christian militia, the Phalange, as one of their proxies, resulting in the Sabra and Shatila massacre. Hezbollah was established by Lebanese clerics primarily to fight this 1982 Israeli invasion. Lebanese Hezbollah would receive aid from their fellow Shiites in the newly formed Islamic Republic of Iran. After a 22-year military presence, the IDF would finally leave Lebanon on 24 May 2000, under UN Security Council Resolution 425.
Now decades later, the battle is joined once again.
The Sabra and Shatila massacre was the 16–18 Sep 1982 mass killing of between 1,300 and 3,500 civilians—mostly Palestinians and Lebanese Shias—in the city of Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War. The mass murder was perpetrated by the Lebanese Forces, one of the main Christian militias in Lebanon, and supported by the IDF that had surrounded Beirut’s Sabra neighborhood and the adjacent Shatila refugee camp.
Many of the bodies found had been severely mutilated. Young men had been castrated, some were scalped, and some had the Christian cross carved into their bodies.
Sources:
Israel launches intense strikes on Lebanon (voanews.com)
Sabra and Shatila massacre – Wikipedia
US Treasury Targets Key Actors in Sanctions Evasion Scheme to Support Russia and North Korea
The US imposed sanctions on a network of five entities and Dmitry Yuryevich Nikulin for allegedly enabling payments between Russia and North Korea.
The entities and Dmitry Nikulin are based in Russia and the Georgian region of South Ossetia. They are accused of actions that “supported ongoing efforts to establish illicit payment mechanisms” between Russia and the North Korea.
Western powers have accused cash-strapped North Korea of selling ammunition to Russia in defiance of sanctions over the more than 30-month-old war in Ukraine, and North Korea has recently bolstered military ties with Russia. President Vladimir Putin made a rare visit to Pyongyang in June and signed a “comprehensive strategic partnership” that calls for mutual assistance in the event of an attack by a third country.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who met with Putin, said the agreement opened a new era of cooperation. Kim made further pledges to deepen ties with Russia after meeting last week with visiting Russian security chief Sergei Shoigu.
The new sanctions expose how the Kremlin uses illegal financial schemes to help North Korea access the international banking system in violation of UN Security Council sanctions.
The US has previously sanctioned many of the entities and individuals providing assistance to North Korea’s ballistic missile program. International sanctions against North Korea over Pyongyang’s nuclear program were imposed after its first nuclear test in 2006.
Sources:
Sanctions List Search (treas.gov)
U.S. Hits Network Allegedly Facilitating Russia-North Korea Sanctions Evasion (rferl.org)
Earth Will Have Second ‘Tiny Moon’ for Two Months
Earth will have a second moon when a small asteroid begins to orbit the planet later this month, space researchers have announced.
The celestial visitor, dubbed 2024 PT5, is from the Arjuna asteroid belt, according to researchers at the NASA-funded Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, or ATLAS, an asteroid monitoring system in South Africa. Researchers say Earth’s gravity will pull the tiny moon toward our planet and act a lot like the regular moon, orbiting the Earth in a horseshoe shape, but for just shy of two months, from 29 Sep to 25 Nov.
Other so-called non-Earth objects have entered the planet’s orbit in the past, but typically have not completed full revolutions, meaning they do not act like a typical “moon.”
When they do enter Earth’s orbit, like 2024 PT5, they are dubbed “mini-moons.” This particular asteroid is scheduled to return in 2055. 2024 PT5 won’t be visible to the naked eye or even with a consumer-grade, backyard telescope.
2024 PT5 will reach a distance of about 2.8 million miles away from Earth and slow to a speed of about 2,200 mph, allowing it to be affected by Earth’s pull, even if only temporarily.
Sources:
Earth will have a second ‘tiny moon’ for two months – UPI.com
‘Dangerous Antisemitism’: Donald Trump Condemned for Scapegoating Jews If He Loses Election
Dr. Anthony Fauci has a moment as President Trump speaks during a COVID-19 briefing at the White House on 20 March 2020. Photo: NBC News
Social media critics roundly denounced former President Donald Trump suggestion Thursday that if he loses the 2024 election to Vice President Kamala Harris, Jewish people would have a “lot to do with” it.
Trump made the comment at a summit about combating antisemitism in the country, which was hosted by Jewish philanthropist Miriam Adelson.
“In my opinion, the Jewish people would have a lot to do with a loss,” Trump said. “If I’m at 40%, think of it, that means 60% are voting for Kamala, who in particular is a bad Democrat. Democrats are bad to Israel. Very bad. They’ll never change because they have a section of their party now which has become amazingly, quickly very powerful vote-wise.”
Trump then repeated a campaign attack against Senate Majority Chuck Schumer (D-NY), calling him a “Palestinian.”
“Who would’ve thought that was going to happen? What the hell happened to him?” attacked Trump. “I saw him the other day. He was dressed in one of their robes. That’ll be next.”
“It’s only because of the Democrat hold, or curse, on you,” added Trump.
At the summit, Trump seemingly used Israel and American Jews interchangeably.
“Israel, I believe, has to defeat her,” Trump said of Harris on Thursday. “More than any people on earth, Israel has to defeat her.”
Trump’s remark earned widespread derision on social media, calling it “dangerous antisemitism” and could lead to violence against Jews. One critic called Trump’s language something that might be said before an imminent “pogrom.”
Source:
France Probes Online Threats Against Afghan Taekwondo Fighter Marzieh Hamidi
Marzieh Hamidi (C) chants slogans with the Paris crowd, including the “women, life, freedom” holding an Afghan flag, in support of Iranian and Afghan women, 8 Mar 2023. © Hans Lucas / Amandine Lauriol
Marzieh Hamidi, an Afghan taekwondo fighter and refugee, had suffered “cyber-harassment including death, rape, and other threats via social media,” Paris prosecutors allege. A special online hate unit was investigating the case.
“I want the terrorists threatening me with death to be identified and tried in court, so that I can live freely without fear and in full safety,” Hamidi said in a statement sent to France’s AFP news agency.
The martial artist is under police protection until the perpetrators are identified and prosecuted.
Hamadi did not qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics in her under-57 kg category, but she has been in the media spotlight in France for “speaking out publicly about women’s rights and the Taliban regime.” according to the complaint she filed on 3 Sep.
The current wave of threats followed her denunciation on social media of an August Taliban law barring women’s voices from being heard in public. Hamidi reiterated her opposition to the law in a press interview and launched the social media hashtag #letusexist.
Since 1 Sep, “a vast wave of hatred smashed down on her Afghan Whatsapp phone number which was shared; she received hundreds of calls and thousands of messages in the space of just a few hours,” the prosecutor’s complaint read.
Afghan taekwondo athlete Marzieh Hamidi, pictured at a Paris training center on 29 June 2023. Although under police protection, Hamidi feels like she lost her freedom and safety: “I don’t feel safe any more in Paris.” © AFP – JOEL SAGET
Hamidi’s complaint specifies the offences of sharing private information, malicious phone calls, death or rape threats, online harassment, and online sexual harassment. She told RFI she had been flooded with threatening messages since posting a video on social media at the end of August denouncing “gender apartheid” in her homeland.
Sources:
France probes online threats against Afghan taekwondo fighter Marzieh Hamidi (rfi.fr)
France and allies condemn Taliban decision to ban women from universities
Report: US Health System Worst Overall Compared to Other High-Income Countries
The Commonwealth Fund, a private research and advocacy foundation, analyzed different countries’ healthcare systems and ranked the US worst among ten nations surveyed.
The report compared Australia, Canada, France, Germany, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and the US. Australia ranked the top overall. The US was at the bottom for access to care and health outcomes.
The report was based on data that included international population and physician surveys from 2021, 2022, and 2023; plus the World Health Organization, Our World in Data, national data registries and published research.
The US came in second to last in rankings of equal care and how efficient the administrative process is.
Experts say one issue with the US health care system is the complexity of insurance. There’s a variety of insurance plans with different requirements, which impacts how providers get paid and how the patient’s bill is paid for.
“That leads to denials of service. It leads to the bargaining that goes on between doctors and hospitals and insurance companies and between patients and insurance companies. It leads to prior authorization and disapproval of ordered services,” said Dr. David Blumenthal, former Commonwealth Fund president. “The US lags both in having +20 million Americans still uninsured. 70% of the population, though a historic low, still very high by international standards. And it also lacks in terms of the ability of lower income people to get access to basic services.”
The US did rank high in some metrics, coming in second for care processes. That includes things like preventive care and patient engagement.
The term “medical bankruptcy” is not known in most of the world, except the US. Medical bills are reported to be the number-one cause of US bankruptcies. One study has claimed that 62.1% of bankruptcies were caused by medical issues. Another report suggests that over two million Americans are adversely affected by their medical expenses.
In 2011, Debt.org reported that people aged 55 and older account for 20% of total bankruptcy filings. Even with assistance from Medicare, the average 65-year-old American couple faces $275,000 in medical bills throughout retirement. Debts and unaffordable housing contribute to America’s homelessness problem.
Sources:
Mirror, Mirror 2024: An International Comparison of Health Systems | Commonwealth Fund
US health system worst overall compared to other high income countries (scrippsnews.com)
Medical Bankruptcy Statistics (thebalancemoney.com)
Study: Many Toxic Chemicals Enter Body Via Food Packaging
Plastic wrap around food is not benign. Photo by Adobe Stock/HealthDay News
A new study shows that more than 3,600 chemicals leach into food during the packaging process.
Of that number, 79 chemicals are known to cause cancer, genetic mutations, and endocrine and reproductive issues, a team of international researchers reported in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology.
While food packaging materials may comply with government regulations, the study shows these chemicals may not be completely safe.
One well-known and ubiquitous chemical the study detected in both food and the human body was bisphenol A (BPA), which was used in baby bottles, sippy cups and infant formula containers until parents boycotted those products more than a decade ago.
BPA has been linked to fetal abnormalities, low birth weight and brain and behavior disorders in infants and children, while it is linked to diabetes, heart disease, erectile dysfunction, cancer and a higher risk of early death in adults.
Then there were perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are present in the blood of an estimated 98% of Americans, according to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
Another chemical the researchers discovered in human bodies was phthalates, which have been linked with genital malformations and undescended testes in baby boys and lower sperm counts and testosterone levels in adult males. Other studies have linked phthalates to childhood obesity, asthma, cardiovascular issues, cancer and premature death.
The US Department of Health and Human Services has more information on food safety.
Copyright © 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Source:
Study: Many toxic chemicals enter body via food packaging – UPI.com
Homeowner Finally Relents to Stubborn Cat
Stella (circa Sep 2024)
L.P., a sane and sober contributor to a progressive website, related this story in the blogosphere. A persistent young feline kept coming around the back door of L.P.’s house who paid it little mind. But after repeated visits, L.P. finally relented and admitted the stubborn cat. Now named Stella, this affectionate five or six-month-old kitten soon adopted L.P.
L.P. advises that Stella will be taken to the vet for shots/fleas/worms protocols (and eventual spaying) before she eventually takes full command over L.P.’s home.
Coriolanus 