Business Owner Accused of Hiring a Hitman to Kill a Cop. You Won’t Believe Why

/0 Comments/in , /by

A Houston business owner was arrested on Tuesday, accused of a murder-for-hire plot. The suspect allegedly sought out a hitman to kill a police officer who had issued him several citations for nuisance violations. . .

Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo announced the arrest of Mohammed S. Mohamed, who owns a logistics and shipping business. After repeatedly being ticketed for having too many vehicles in his commercial parking lot and other violations, authorities say Mohamed sought to put an end to the citations by hiring out a hit on the police officer writing them.

Acevedo told reporters, “The suspect wanted the officer dead because he believed that the officer was interfering with his business operations. In order for the suspect to get his business [in line] with code, he indicated to a witness that it would’ve cost him tens of thousands of dollars to accomplish it.”

And the alleged plot was rather elaborate. At first, Mohamed is said to have told an undercover officer (who was posing as the hitman) that he wanted the ticket-writing officer maimed. Acevedo said, “He wanted someone to carry out an attack on the officer and disable him by throwing acid in his face.”

But the chief added that Mohamed soon changed his mind: “Due to the possibility of the suspect getting more tickets and additional penalties, he ended up deciding that, ‘No, that’s not enough. I don’t want to just maim this officer. I don’t want to just injure this officer. I want him killed because that’s the only way that this will go away.’ The suspect specifically wanted to hire a hitman.”

(Read more from “Business Owner Accused of Hiring a Hitman to Kill a Cop. You Won’t Believe Why” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

With Obama’s Deal Falling Apart, Here’s What’s Happening in Iran

/0 Comments/in , /by

Iran’s atomic energy agency (AEOI) said on Wednesday that it has reopened a nuclear plant that had been closed for nine years, as reported by Reuters. . .

President Trump announced last month that the U.S. would be withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear accord from 2015 — which the participating European countries (and the Obama administration) saw as a way to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

But with the U.S. backing out, the deal is seen as vulnerable. Weeks ago, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave the go-ahead for AEOI to resume uranium enrichment in case JDPOA falls apart completely. . .

In a statement on its website, the AEOI insists that “The Islamic Republic of Iran regards (the) use of nuclear and chemical weapons as a cardinal and unforgivable sin,” and says their country’s motto is, “Nuclear energy (for) all, nuclear weapons for none.” . . .

With President Trump’s rejection of JCPOA, economic sanctions will be reimposed on Iran in the coming months. This has led to elevation tensions between Iran and the U.S.; on Wednesday, Iranian president Hassan Rouhani told Iranians to “bring America to its knees.” (Read more from “With Obama’s Deal Falling Apart, Here’s What’s Happening in Iran” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Households Earning $117,000 a Year Now Considered ‘Low Income’ in This City

/0 Comments/in , /by

According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, $117,000 in annual income for a family of four is considered “low income” in San Francisco. . .

In the Department’s most recent annual assessment of income limits for determining the need for assistance like public housing and Section 8 vouchers, the low income limit for three Bay Area counties is now at $117,400 for a four-person household.

Low income for a one-person household is at $82,200 in San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin Counties in California, with the median home price sitting at $935,000. . .

Cole says that he believes the continued rise in housing prices shows that lower-income people have already been priced out of the market. As experts blame the housing shortage on the area’s booming tech industries, there’s no sign of a slow-down in rates for rent or real estate purchases.

And current residents are resistant to any initiatives that could increase traffic congestion or take away from green space, but Cole says there will need to be some sort of compromise. He added: “You’re going to have to trade off higher-cost housing for it in this area. And you’re gonna have to put up with people sleeping on the sidewalk.” (Read more from “Households Earning $117,000 a Year Now Considered ‘Low Income’ in This City” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

To Ensure ‘Safe Place for Everyone,’ Facebook Purges 10,000 Accounts

/0 Comments/in , /by

As part of its ongoing effort to address serious concerns about user safety and security, Facebook this week announced a widespread purge of pages deemed to be in violation of its terms of services.

The move was announced on Tuesday in a blog post by Nathaniel Gleicher, the company’s head of cybersecurity policy.

In explaining the decision to erase thousands of pages, he cited the importance of making sure “the conversations taking place on our service every day are authentic.”

Facebook has announced previous efforts to combat bad actors on the platform following an array of troubling reports of improper data sharing and Russian hackers attempting to influence the U.S. electoral system.

“As part of our broader efforts to prevent abuse and ensure Facebook is a safe place for everyone, we recently took down more than 10,000 fake Pages, Groups and accounts in Mexico and across Latin America because they violated our Community Standards,” Gleicher wrote. “The content we’ve found broke our policies on coordinated harm and inauthentic behavior, as well as attacks based on race, gender or sexual orientation.”

Declaring that there is “no place on Facebook for this kind of behavior,” he added that Facebook is exploring other methods for addressing potentially harmful content.

“For example, we took down 837 million pieces of spam and 2.5 million pieces of hate speech and disabled 583 million fake accounts globally in the first quarter of 2018 — much of it before anyone reported the issue to Facebook,” he wrote.

While many see Facebook’s efforts as a step in the right direction for the beleaguered social media titan, others are concerned the recent purge could be a signal that the company could use similar actions to wipe out unpopular political or religious views.

“The phrase ‘attacks based on race, gender or sexual orientation’ leaves a lot of room for interpretation and Facebook has not been forthcoming about exactly what speech is not permitted,” wrote PJ Media‘s Paula Bolyard. “Can we discuss race at all on Facebook anymore or are all such conversations considered an ‘attack’? Are discussions and comments about sexual ethics off the table? Is every guy who complains about women going to be dumped by Facebook?”

Though his blog post dealt in generalities regarding the types of abusive behavior and overall efforts to combat it, Gleicher confirmed Facebook will be “using technology like machine learning, artificial intelligence and computer vision” to “proactively detect bad actors and take action more quickly.”

He noted that the timing of the company’s latest efforts were coordinated to address issues ahead of midterm elections later this year in the U.S.

“This kind of action is especially important in the run-up to elections, when people use Facebook to connect with candidates, debate hard issues, and get information about the decisions they face,” he wrote. “It’s why we’ve been working so hard to prevent election interference by doubling down on fake accounts that spread misinformation; working with third-party fact-checkers to stop the spread of false news; and making advertising much more transparent.” (For more from the author of “To Ensure ‘Safe Place for Everyone,’ Facebook Purges 10,000 Accounts” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Moscow and Washington Strike Deal to Hold Putin-Trump Summit

/14 Comments/in , /by

By Reuters. Moscow and Washington have struck a deal to hold a summit soon between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters on Wednesday.

Ushakov said the summit would take place in a mutually-convenient third country and that several more weeks were needed for preparations. (Read more from “Moscow and Washington Strike Deal to Hold Putin-Trump Summit” HERE)

_____________________________________________

India Among Top Five Friends, Beijing Moscow’s Top Ally: Russia Poll

By Times of India. Despite a significant cooling between traditional strategic partners Russia and India, India can still count itself as one of the top five “friends” of Russia. And for all the talk about Russia moving towards Pakistan, an annual opinion poll by one of Moscow’s most respected think tanks shows Pakistan does not yet cross Russian consciousness.

The Levada Centre, the only non-governmental pollster in Russia, and labelled a “foreign agent” by the Kremlin in 2016 is distinguished by the comprehensive Russian opinion polls they publish. In their latest 2017 poll, which came out in 2018, Russians identified Belarus as their country’s top ally, followed by China, Kazakhstan, Syria and India.

While Indians may feel reassured that the “druzhba-dosti” relationship remains intact, it is more important to note that China is seen as Russia’s top ally. At the government level, Russia in China’s embrace is a common sight, this poll makes it clear that this embrace has percolated to the popular level too. The declining ties between India and Russia received a fresh lease of life after an informal summit between Modi and Putin several weeks ago, where the two leaders spent a lot of quality time together to reaffirm strategic convergences.

Identifying the top enemies of Russia, the poll picks on the US, specifically Donald Trump for top spot, with Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania and Germany occupying the big ‘foes’ spaces. Afghanistan remains a designated enemy, though the Russian system is now reputed to be working closely with the Taliban. Interestingly, the average Russian identified radical Islamism and Islamic extremism as an important threat/enemy. They consider Trump, Ukraine, Europe, ISIS and radical Islam and corruption to be the greatest threats to Russia. (Read more from “India Among Top Five Friends, Beijing Moscow’s Top Ally: Russia Poll” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Parents of Kids Killed by Illegal Aliens: We Asked Trump to Sign Photos of Our Children

/0 Comments/in , /by

On Friday, the legacy media successfully turned the focus away from the heartbreaking stories of families who have been permanently separated from their loved ones because of crimes committed by illegal immigrants and instead focused on how narcissistic President Trump supposedly is.

At an event at the White House hosting 11 “angel families” whose relatives suffered gruesome deaths at the hands of illegal immigrants, the president signed large photographs of the young victims. According to Trump’s detractors, that made him a “sociopathic ghoul,” as one person tweeted.

“He really will put his name on anything,” writer Johnny McNulty tweeted.

Filmmaker James Gunn tweeted: “This tone deaf oaf actually autographed photographs of murdered children.”

Entire articles were written about the furious fallout from the event caused by Trump’s signatures on the children’s photos. But apparently none of these people felt compelled to ask: Did these families want Trump’s signature on the photos of their deceased loved ones?

An article in The Hill stated definitely, “It is unclear when Trump autographed the images or if the families requested it.”

Well, it would have been pretty clear had The Hill writer simply asked. But since no one else was willing to, we did.

Sabine Durden, who lost her son Dominic in a fatal vehicle accident caused by an illegal immigrant in California, told CRTV: “I asked [President Trump] myself if he would please do me the honor to sign [my son’s] picture. He gladly agreed and obliged. The other Angel parents also asked for his signature on their poster.” She said, “It’s a true treasure to me. How very sad that [President Trump’s] signature on our pictures is now an issue instead [of] the reason why we only have pictures left.”

Chris Stansberry, who lost his daughter Tierra in a fire prosecutors allege was set by an illegal immigrant, told us that “all of us families ask[ed] President Trump to sign” the photos.

“It has nothing to do with his ego,” said Laura Wilkerson, a mother whose son Joshua was tortured, beaten to death, tied up, and set on fire by an illegal immigrant. She added that all the families would “much rather be at home with our children and never know President Trump.”

Steve Ronnebeck’s son Grant was shot and killed over a pack of cigarettes. The accused killer is an illegal immigrant. He also confirmed to CRTV that the families asked Trump to sign their pictures. “The President did not offer,” he told us. “He was requested to sign them.”

On Friday night, White House social media director Dan Scavino Jr. clarified on Twitter that the Trump autographs were “REQUESTED by family members after their private meeting and visit to the Oval Office.”

But the incurious media ignored his tweet, continued promoting a false narrative, and distracted from the real separation stories and the true immigration crisis: illegal immigrants and the sanctuary cities that harbor them.

“You know you don’t hear these stories, and some of our media won’t talk to you about it, but this is permanent separation,” Ronnebeck said at the event Friday.

If more were willing to cover these stories – instead of made-up stories about Trump’s ego – we might have a shot at starting to mend the permanent family separation crisis that plagues the nation. (For more from the author of “Parents of Kids Killed by Illegal Aliens: We Asked Trump to Sign Photos of Our Children” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Socialist Logic: Raising Taxes Will Pay for Everything for Everybody

/0 Comments/in , /by

After winning the Democratic primary for her congressional district in New York Tuesday night, 28-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appeared on MSNBC to talk about how she would implement some of her campaign promises if elected.

Ocasio-Cortez, whose viral campaign video emphasized the financial struggles of working-class New Yorkers, promises Medicare for all, a federal jobs guarantee, and tuition-free public universities. When asked how she planned to financially support these extensive social systems, Ocasio-Cortez slammed the GOP tax cut.

“Not only did we have a $400 billion GOP tax cut that could’ve actually forgiven every single federal student loan in America, we spent that money in December, and we spent it on tax cuts for the corporations and the very rich,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

“It means reviewing the Bush tax cuts, it means making sure also that we understand the power of the purse that Congress has,” she said. (For more from the author of “Socialist Logic: Raising Taxes Will Pay for Everything for Everybody” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

FBI Looking More Like Dating Service as 2 More Anti-Trump Lovebirds Surface

/0 Comments/in , /by

By Conservative Tribune. Is the Federal Bureau of Investigation a serious agency full of professionals, or a middle school full of hormonal teenagers texting smiley faces to each other while playing favorites? . . .

But it appears Strzok and Page weren’t the only two FBI officials playing the dating game. Two others were cited in the Justice Department’s inspector general’s report about the bureau’s investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails. Like Strzok and Page, the two were dating and exchanging revealing text messages on their government-issued phones. . .

“Aside from the frequent texting between Strzok, an FBI agent, and Page, a bureau lawyer assigned to the Office of General Counsel, two others labeled ‘Agent 1’ and ‘Agent 5’ on Comey’s team were in a personal relationship that predated Operation Midyear, the FBI name for the investigation,” Fox reported.

“According to the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report, on page 411, Agents 1 and 5 also were consumed with texting — even using ‘sick face’ emoticons when sharing their disgust for then-candidate Donald Trump and his supporters,” the news outlet continued.

As with Strzok and Page, these were not just random FBI employees. At least one of the two included in the OIG report was assigned to interview Hillary Clinton as part of the email server investigation — yet they had an obvious political bias in her favor. (Read more from “FBI Looking More Like Dating Service as 2 More Anti-Trump Lovebirds Surface” HERE)

______________________________________________

DOJ Watchdog Report Sheds Light on Love Lives of 2 More Anti-Trump FBI Employees (And Their Emoticons)

By Fox News. The Justice Department watchdog’s bombshell report on the FBI’s actions in the Hillary Clinton email investigation shed light on anti-Trump texts from two other FBI employees, beyond bureau lovebirds Peter Strzok and Lisa Page . . .

The pair were not shy about using emoticons on their FBI-issued devices. Their text messages exploded on Oct. 28 after the FBI reopened the email investigation, announcing that State Department emails had been found on former Rep. Anthony Weiner’s laptop, just days before the hotly contested U.S. presidential election. The IG report noted the “sick face” emoticon usage in their exchange . . .

13:46:48, Agent 5: “jesus christ… Trump: Glad FBI is fixing ‘horrible mistake’ on clinton emails… for f—‘s sake.”

13:47:27, Agent 5: “the f—‘s sake part was me, the rest was Trump.”

13:49:07, Agent 1: “Not sure if Trump or the fifth floor is worse…”

(Read more from “DOJ Watchdog Report Sheds Light on Love Lives of 2 More Anti-Trump FBI Employees (And Their Emoticons)” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Flashback: That Time the NYT Editorial Board Pleaded With Justice Kennedy to Not Retire…Ha Ha Ha

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Maybe deep down the Left knew this day was coming. It doesn’t make it any less devastating for them. Rumors of Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement have been swirling for years—and now that day has arrived. On July 31, he will be making his exit. And the Trump White House has another vacancy to fill, the second in 18 months. Conservatives are primed to have a solid majority on the high court, which could expand in the coming years. Trump will remain president until 2020 and right now, it’s very likely he’ll win a second term. A new Supreme Court nominee added to the bench will greatly improve his chances, which means we shouldn’t be shocked if the Left goes barbarian horde on whoever is selected. Yet, that’s for another time. Let’s go back to April, where The New York Times editorial board printed an open letter to Justice Kennedy to not retire for the sake of the country:

Dear Justice Kennedy,

As you have no doubt heard, rumors of your impending retirement are, for the second year in a row, echoing around Washington and across America. While you and your colleagues on the Supreme Court were listening to the final oral arguments of the term in recent days, those rumors were only growing more insistent.

How can we put this the right way? Please don’t go.

Sitting between the four liberal justices and the four conservatives, you are the most powerful member of the most powerful court in the country, as you have been for at least a decade. Your vote, more than that of any other justice, has delivered landmark legal victories for Americans of all political stripes, from gays and lesbians seeking equal rights to African-American college students seeking a better education to deep-pocketed corporations seeking to spend more money influencing politics.

(Read more from “Flashback: That Time the NYT Editorial Board Pleaded With Justice Kennedy to Not Retire…Ha Ha Ha” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

The End of Roe v. Wade? Planned Parenthood and Pro-Life Groups React to Justice Kennedy’s Retirement

/0 Comments/in , /by

By Townhall. Following Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s announcement that he is retiring from the Supreme Court, abortion advocates and pro-life groups are emphasizing that a pro-life Trump appointee could mean the end of Roe v. Wade.

Justice Kennedy has long been considered the swing vote on the court with four conservative and four liberal justices. If President Trump chooses another conservative, pro-life justice from his promised list, then that could bring about a major change in the court’s decision-making when it comes to abortion access.

Planned Parenthood tweeted shortly after the announcement that “with Kennedy retiring, the right to access abortion in this country is on the line.”

The abortion advocacy group NARAL said that the “right to access legal abortion is in DIRE, IMMEDIATE danger.”

“Justice Kennedy’s retirement from the Supreme Court marks a pivotal moment for the fight to ensure every unborn child is welcomed and protected under the law,” SBA List president Marjorie Dannenfelser said. “The most important commitment that President Trump has made to the pro-life movement has been his promise to nominate only pro-life judges to the Supreme Court, a commitment he honored by swiftly nominating Judge Neil Gorsuch.”

(Read more from “The End of Roe v. Wade? Planned Parenthood and Pro-Life Groups React to Justice Kennedy’s Retirement” HERE)

_______________________________________________________

Top Researcher at Planned Parenthood’s Favorite Research Org Fired for Sexually Harassing Females

By Life Site News. The Guttmacher Institute, the pro-abortion research organization that began as a part of Planned Parenthood, announced Friday it has fired one of its top researchers for allegedly sexually harassing female staffers.

According to a joint statement by Guttmacher’s Board Chair Mary Shallenberger and President and CEO Ann Starrs, the organization received an anonymous report on June 15 accusing vice president for domestic research Dr. Lawrence B. Finer of sexual harassment, at which point he was placed on administrative leave. It also reveals that rumors about Finer’s conduct, including a formal complaint, had actually arisen months earlier, but “we believed at the time that we had resolved the complaint adequately.”

Following this month’s allegation, an internal investigation found that Finer had “engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior against a number of current and former Institute employees,” leading to his termination Friday.

“[W]e now know that the actions we took were not nearly enough to address the problem,” the statement admits. “We have failed to create and nurture a culture within our organization where predatory behavior is condemned and where staff feel supported to report such behavior as soon as it occurs. That is inexcusable.”

Guttmacher’s statement pledges that the organization will “conduct an independent and thorough review of our practices and policies” to “do right by the victims of this behavior and to restore the trust of our staff, our donors, our colleagues and all those who rely on Guttmacher’s work.” (Read more from “Top Researcher at Planned Parenthood’s Favorite Research Org Fired for Sexually Harassing Females” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.