Man Acquitted in Gretchen Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Speaks Out

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A man acquitted in April regarding a plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) spoke out Friday after both sides rested their case in the retrial of two men charged in the conspiracy.

Brandon Caserta, a former member of the Wolverine Watchmen, said if it wasn’t for the fact that the government was involved in the alleged conspiracy, no one would be charged.

“People say things that are offensive and, you know, may sound violent but there’s a difference between actually physically doing violence or just being around a group of people and talking crap,” Caserta said, according to Local 4. “If the government wasn’t involved in this situation it would have never gotten to where it is now.”

Caserta, who has posted videos with anti-government rhetoric that he claims is “all talk,” invoked the Fifth Amendment in the retrial of Barry Croft Jr. and Adam Fox. A federal judge ordered a retrial for the men after a jury failed to reach a verdict during their first trial in April. Caserta and another member of the watchmen were found “not guilty” on all charges last spring. (Read more from “Man Acquitted in Gretchen Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Speaks Out” HERE)

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Mike Pence Has Second Thoughts on Testifying to Jan. 6 Committee

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Former Vice President Mike Pence has reneged on his previous statement that he would consider testifying before the House Jan. 6 committee.

Recently, Pence said he would consider appearing before the Democrat-led committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach. Meanwhile, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who is considered the face of the panel, recently told news outlets that Pence was in talks with the committee to testify.

But during an interview with The Washington Times over the weekend, Pence spoke with a more cautious tone and described the committee as “very partisan.”

“If the committee wanted to extend a formal invitation I would consider it, but we would reflect very carefully on my obligations to preserve the separation of powers and the constitutional framework that I served in,” he said.

Pence, who was a Republican governor of Indiana before becoming vice president, told the newspaper that he has “real concerns about the partisan nature of the Jan. 6 committee.” (Read more from “Mike Pence Has Second Thoughts on Testifying to Jan. 6 Committee” HERE)

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New York Defies Supreme Court With Unconstitutional Gun Permit Laws

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New York’s new gun control law takes effect in two weeks. The law turns New York into a giant “gun-free zone.” But it also requires an in-person interview with law enforcement and the sharing of all social media accounts in order to obtain a gun license.

By requiring that gun license applicants have “good moral character,” New York is still acting in defiance of June’s Supreme Court decision, New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, Inc. v. Brue. In a new court filing last week, New York Attorney General Letitia James claims that without these requirements, there would be an “entirely predictable chaos.” Democrats and gun control proponents have voiced similar fears in the other six states affected by the Supreme Court’s decision.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s opinion in Bruen stressed the importance of “objective” standards for gun permits, ones that don’t require “the exercise of judgment, and the formation of opinion.” He also noted that “there is no historical basis for New York to effectively declare the island of Manhattan a ‘sensitive place’ simply because it is crowded and protected generally by the New York City Police Department.” New York’s default position is that all private property is off-limits to lawful concealed carry unless the property owner notes “by clear and conspicuous signage” that guns are welcome.

There is no “chaos” coming our way. Since 1976, 18 states have eliminated subjective “proper cause” requirements, which require convincing a government bureaucrat of one’s need for a permit, in favor of “right-to-carry” policies. In these and other states, concealed handgun permit holders have proved extremely law-abiding. No right-to-carry state has ever even held a legislative hearing to consider moving back to a “proper cause” requirement. Over time states have also eliminated their gun-free zones as they have seen predictions of disaster not occurring. (Read more from “New York Defies Supreme Court With Unconstitutional Gun Permit Laws” HERE)

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Additional Exercise Potentially Linked to Longer Lifespans and Lower Death Rates, Study Shows

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. . .A new 12-page research article published in the American Heart Association’s Circulation Journal found that people who got extra exercise had a lower mortality rate compared to those who did not.

The study, which was conducted by researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, was published on Monday, July 25.

Over a 30-year period from 1988 to 2018, a total of 116,221 adults were monitored and submitted exercise reports that detailed their “leisure-time physical activity.”

Mortality reduction was observed in study participants who got 150 to 300 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week and 300 to 600 minutes of moderate physical activity.

Vigorous exercisers who participated in activities like jogging, running, climbing stairs, swimming, bicycling, aerobics, playing sports and working outdoors for 150 to 299 minutes, had a lower mortality rate between 21% and 23% for all causes of death. (Read more from “Additional Exercise Potentially Linked to Longer Lifespans and Lower Death Rates, Study Shows” HERE)

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Rand Paul: Fauci’s Retirement Won’t Stop a ‘Full-Throated Investigation’

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Dr. Anthony Fauci’s retirement will not stop a “full-throated investigation” into the origins of the Chinese coronavirus, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) warned on Monday following the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) announcing the end of his high profile roles come December.

Fauci, who also serves as the chief of the NIAID Laboratory of Immunoregulation and as chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden, announced on Monday that he will leave his roles in December “to pursue the next chapter of my career.”

While Fauci, 81, originally suggested he would leave his post at the end of Biden’s first term in office, his announcement moves up his retirement significantly to after the midterm elections, as Republicans hope to take control of both the House and Senate.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), however, warned that an early retirement will not stop Republicans in the House from putting the spotlight on Fauci as they investigate the origins of the coronavirus.

“Fauci’s resignation will not prevent a full-throated investigation into the origins of the pandemic. He will be asked to testify under oath regarding any discussions he participated in concerning the lab leak,” Paul stated:

(Read more from “Rand Paul: Fauci’s Retirement Won’t Stop a ‘Full-Throated Investigation’” HERE)

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‘Protect Pregnant Men From Climate Discrimination’: Conservative Group Runs Ads With Preposterous Messages That Highlight the Absurdity of Left-Wing Ideology

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A conservative organization called Citizens for Sanity is running ads that highlight the absurdity of woke left-wing ideology.

The group’s posts on Twitter indicate that its billboard ads include statements such as:

“Protect Pregnant Men from Climate Discrimination”

“Open the jails. Open the borders. Close the schools. Vote progressive this November.”

“Violent criminals deserve our compassion and respect. This fall, stand strong for progressive values.”

(Read more from “‘Protect Pregnant Men From Climate Discrimination’: Conservative Group Runs Ads With Preposterous Messages That Highlight the Absurdity of Left-Wing Ideology” HERE)

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FBI Seized Trump’s Papers for ‘Safety’

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Justice Department officials urged a federal judge to keep under wraps the search warrant used in the FBI raid of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, fearing he would destroy evidence, according to court documents unsealed Thursday.

In a motion filed three days before more than 30 armed agents stormed Mr. Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida, residence, the Justice Department said a public search warrant “poses a risk to [the] safety” of the materials sought in the investigation.

“The United States believes there is good cause [to keep the warrant sealed] because the integrity of the investigation might be compromised and evidence might be destroyed,” wrote Juan Antonio Gonzalez, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida.

The petition to keep the search warrant sealed was one of three documents ordered to be made public by U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart.

Also on Thursday, Judge Reinhart ordered the Justice Department to unseal at least a portion of the probable cause document, the filing that was used to obtain the search warrant. (Read more from “FBI Seized Trump’s Papers for ‘Safety’” HERE)

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U. Of Maryland Professor Created Surveillance Machine for Communist China

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University of Maryland (UMD) professor Dinesh Manocha, a decorated scholar in AI and robotics, created machine-learning software “useful for surveillance” that can read people’s personalities and “predict their behavior” for Chinese tech giant Alibaba.

Manocha built the software as part of a six-figure research grant from Alibaba, which wanted to “classify the personality of each pedestrian and identify other biometric features,” according to documents obtained by the Daily Beast. “These capabilities will be used to predict the behavior of each pedestrian and are useful for surveillance,” the document read.

The 2018 contract signed by the University of Maryland and Alibaba raises concerns that a U.S. tax-payer-funded university has directly contributed to the Chinese Communist Party’s surveillance capabilities.

“The bottom line is that Alibaba financed U.S. academic research that was tailor-made for China’s surveillance state,” Ryan Fedasiuk, an associate fellow at the Center for New American Security, told the Daily Beast. (Read more from “U. Of Maryland Professor Created Surveillance Machine for Communist China” HERE)

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American Academy of Pediatrics Ripped for Refusing to Say Surge in Trans Kids Comes From Social Contagion

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After a fierce attack was launched on the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) for its apparent refusal to acknowledge that the soaring number of children claiming to be transgender is due to social contagion, the AAP’s president, Moira Szilagyi, issued a weak rebuttal, insisting, “The AAP is committed to following the evidence and basing our recommendations on the best science.”

In an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal, pediatrician Julia Mason and Manhattan Institute fellow Leor Sapir cited a study in Pediatrics, flagship journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, which was used to buttress the claim that the surge in transgender identity was not due to social contagion.

Mason and Sapir offered evidence as to why the study, conducted by Dr. Jack Turban and his colleagues, was flawed, later noting, “Pediatrics published his highly flawed 2020 study alleging that puberty blockers reduce suicide in teens. The journal even chose the article as its ‘Best of 2020’ despite receiving rebuttals that pointed out the rate of attempted suicide was twice as high among the puberty-blocked group and Dr. Turban hadn’t controlled for the possibility that better mental-health outcomes might be the result of factors other than hormonal intervention.”

The pair recalled that last year the AAP voted down a resolution to inform the academy’s 67,000 members about the growing global skepticism of pediatric gender transition, claiming only 57 members out of 67,000 had endorsed it and thus it was “soundly defeated,” but the next year, when 53 members backed a resolution that supported affirmative intervention, the AAP permitted it to go through, claiming it had received “broad support.”

Mason and Sapir concluded of the AAOP, “Its preference for fashionable political positions over evidence-based medicine is a disservice to member physicians, parents and children.” (Read more from “American Academy of Pediatrics Ripped for Refusing to Say Surge in Trans Kids Comes From Social Contagion” HERE)

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Everything You Need to Know About the Gay Couple Accused of Sexually Abusing Their Adopted Boys

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A gay married couple in Georgia who were arrested on suspicion of sexually abusing their two young adopted boys to make child pornography are vehement LGBTQ activists, according to the pair’s social media activity.

On the night of July 27, authorities executed a search warrant around 11:30 p.m. “just hours after receiving information that there were children in harm’s way” at the Oxford home of 32-year-old William Dale Zulock Jr. and 35-year-old Zachary Jacoby Zulock, according to a press release from the Walton County Sheriff’s Office.

Earlier in the evening, detectives in the criminal investigation division raided a house in unincorporated Loganville after the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI)’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force was tipped off that a man was downloading child porn. Authorities learned during an interview with the unnamed individual that there was another suspect in the county who was “producing homemade child sexual abuse material with at least one adopted child who lived in the home with the perpetrator,” the sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook. “Evidence was obtained to corroborate these statements.” Deputies found evidence during the nighttime search-and-research effort that “the adoptive fathers of the sibling pair residing in the home were engaging in sexually abusive acts and video documenting this abuse,” according to the Facebook statement. . .

It appears William applied to be represented by a Walton County public defender. A letter viewed by Townhall that was addressed to William shows that the Indigent Defense Program determined that he is ineligible for a court-appointed defense attorney, citing tens of thousands in equity and his spouse’s income of $7,500 a week. A similar denial memo was sent to Zachary, pointing to equity and his own well-to-do weekly earnings.

Zachary’s since-deleted LinkedIn page said he was a branch coordinator at the SunTrust bank in Duluth. A bank supervisor said over the phone, “Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to make any comments,” and, “We can’t verify any information in regards” to Zulock’s current employment at the branch or how much he makes. (Read more from “Everything You Need to Know About the Gay Couple Accused of Sexually Abusing Their Adopted Boys” HERE)

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