Drones Increasingly Being Used for Drug Smuggling

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Border Patrol officials in Arizona report the use of drones to smuggle drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border is on the rise. Yuma Sector officials ask for the public’s help in spotting and reporting illegal drone activity.

“Drones, more formally called unmanned aircraft systems, have many positive and legitimate uses; however, drones are also frequently being used to smuggle illegal drugs across the international border from Mexico into the U.S.,” Yuma Sector Border Patrol officials said in a written statement. “They are operated from a distance by remote control and are most often used under the cover of night.”

Last month, Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents arrested two U.S. citizens who picked up nearly 25 pounds of methamphetamine that smugglers dropped from a drone, according to a November Border Patrol statement. The drone delivered the package of drugs near a residence near San Luis, Arizona. Agents arrested the two U.S. citizens and seize the $225,ooo worth of meth. (Read more from “Drones Increasingly Being Used for Drug Smuggling” HERE)

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Texas Sues Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin at Supreme Court Over Election Rules; Pence To Decide Race? Law Profs Say VP Allowed To ‘Count’ Electoral Votes

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By Breitbart. The State of Texas filed a lawsuit directly with the U.S. Supreme Court shortly before midnight on Monday challenging the election procedures in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin on the grounds that they violate the Constitution.

Texas argues that these states violated the Electors Clause of the Constitution because they made changes to voting rules and procedures through the courts or through executive actions, but not through the state legislatures. Additionally, Texas argues that there were differences in voting rules and procedures in different counties within the states, violating the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause. Finally, Texas argues that there were “voting irregularities” in these states as a result of the above.

Texas is asking the Supreme Court to order the states to allow their legislatures to appoint their electors. (Read more from “Texas Sues Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin at Supreme Court Over Election Rules” HERE)

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Pence To Decide Race? Law Profs Say VP Allowed To ‘Count’ Electoral Votes

By WND. An analysis by two prominent law professors published before the election concluded that if Electoral College votes remain in dispute after they are counted in Congress, the vice president, as presiding officer of the joint session, could choose not to allow certain disputed votes.

The scenario isn’t entirely remote, with lawsuits challenging the results in six states and the possibility the U.S. Supreme Court could weigh in.

John Yoo of California-Berkeley and Robert J. Delahunty of St. Thomas University wrote in an analysis published Oct. 19 by the Claremont Institute that Vice President Mike Pence can refuse to count some of the votes if they remain disputed.

The professors concluded that the “constitutional structure” favors President Trump if Election Day “fails to result in a clear winner.”

They cited the “unprecedented” circumstance of the COVID-19 pandemic on the election and envisioned a scenario in which “Trump appears to be the winner on the morning after Election Day, but a ‘blue wave’ begins in the days and weeks after, and Biden claims a belated, overtime victory.” (Read more from “Pence To Decide Race? Law Profs Say VP Allowed To ‘Count’ Electoral Votes” HERE)

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House Passes Compromise Defense Bill Over Trump’s Veto Threats

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The House overwhelmingly passed annual defense policy legislation Tuesday in the face of a veto threat from President Donald Trump.

Members easily approved the annual National Defense Authorization Act in a blowout 335 to 78 vote. The total far exceeds the two-thirds majority needed to overturn Trump, who is threatening to nix the $741 billion bill because it doesn’t include a repeal of legal liability protections for social media companies. . .

Leaders in both parties have been bullish that the bill will get a strong vote, but there may be some headwinds on an override. The top House Republican leader has said he won’t vote to override a veto and a bloc of conservative Republicans staked out their opposition to the bill.

In the days since rolling out their compromise bill last week, leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services committees have warned that it’s their bill this month, or bust. House Democrats have said they’ll cut a holiday recess short and return to Capitol Hill for a veto override. (Read more from “House Passes Compromise Defense Bill Over Trump’s Veto Threats” HERE)

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BLM Activist Arrested For Rioting Now Caught Burning Conservative Library Books

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Chattanooga-area Black Lives Matter leader Cameron “C-Grimey” Williams, who was arrested in July and charged with inciting a riot which hindered passage of an emergency vehicle, has now been placed on administrative leave from his library job for burning conservative books.

Christina Sacco, a spokeswoman for the Chattanooga Public Library told the Chattanooga Times Free Press on Friday that Williams, who served as a services coordinator, has been placed on a five-day leave.

According to U.S. News and World Report, Williams posted a video on Instagram last week burning copies of books authored by Ann Coulter and President Donald Trump while blaring “FDT” by YG and Nipsey Hussle in the background, a protest anthem of the left. Sacco told the Times Free Press that library officials were told of another video destroying more books.

Williams decried the idea he did anything wrong, claiming he followed proper protocol and called whoever reported him “a racist person.”

“It’s a perpetuation of white supremacy and racism,” Williams said. “It’s trying to hold back change.” (Read more from “BLM Activist Arrested For Rioting Now Caught Burning Conservative Library Books” HERE)

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Biden’s Pentagon Pick Was Accused Of Downplaying ISIS Threat

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Retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, who President-elect Joe Biden selected as his secretary of defense, was accused during the Obama administration of downplaying the threat posed by ISIS, allegations Austin vehemently denied at the time but could be a roadblock to his Senate confirmation.

The allegations stem from Austin’s tenure as commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which directed U.S. military operations in the Middle East against the Islamic State.

A Defense Department inspector general’s report released on Jan. 31, 2017, cited witnesses who claimed that Austin did not like to receive bad news about ISIS and that he painted a “rosier” picture of the fight against the terror group than was warranted.

“Several witnesses asserted that GEN Austin did not like to receive bad news from his staff regarding USCENTCOM’s counter-ISIL campaign. These witnesses believed that GEN Austin was the source of pressure to present a rosier picture of the effects of USCENTCOM’s operations against ISIL,” the report said.

Austin, who retired from the military on March 30, 2016, emphatically denied allegations laid out in the IG report. Two officers who worked under Austin also disputed the claims in interviews with the IG. (Read more from “Biden’s Pentagon Pick Was Accused of Downplaying ISIS Threat” HERE)

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Devastating: Poll Reveals the Financial Strain COVID Has Caused Small Businesses

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A poll released Tuesday found that 85% of small businesses will need federal funds to stay open during the coronavirus pandemic.

Alignable, an online referral network for small businesses, conducted the poll, which asked small businesses how important additional federal relief funds were to their ability to stay open through June 2021. 48% of small businesses said federal funds are “critical” to their survival, 37% said they are significantly important, 12% said they are somewhat important, and just 3% said that federal funds are not important.

Small businesses need an average of $110,000 per business in order to survive through June of 2021, according to the poll.

Business owners were also asked what they would spend the money on if they received another loan. The most common response was paying rent or employee salaries. Business owners also said that they would pay for additional bills, pay themselves, pay off other loans, invest in expansion plans, or participate in online education to become more virtual. (Read more from “Devastating: Poll Reveals the Financial Strain COVID Has Caused Small Businesses” HERE)

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FBI Surveillance: Chinese Spy had Sex with at Least Two Midwestern Mayors, Involved with Many Democrats

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A suspected Chinese intelligence operative developed extensive ties with local and national politicians, including a U.S. congressman, in what U.S. officials believe was a political intelligence operation run by China’s main civilian spy agency between 2011 and 2015, Axios found in a yearlong investigation.

The woman at the center of the operation, a Chinese national named Fang Fang or Christine Fang, targeted up-and-coming local politicians in the Bay Area and across the country who had the potential to make it big on the national stage.

Through campaign fundraising, extensive networking, personal charisma, and romantic or sexual relationships with at least two Midwestern mayors, Fang was able to gain proximity to political power, according to current and former U.S. intelligence officials and one former elected official.

Among the most significant targets of Fang’s efforts was Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.).

Fang took part in fundraising activity for Swalwell’s 2014 re-election campaign, according to a Bay Area political operative and a current U.S. intelligence official. Swalwell’s office was directly aware of these activities on its behalf, the political operative said. That same political operative, who witnessed Fang fundraising on Swalwell’s behalf, found no evidence of illegal contributions.

(Read more from “FBI Surveillance: Chinese Spy had Sex with at Least Two Midwestern Mayors, Involved with Many Democrats” HERE)

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It’s True: Workers Can Be Fired for Refusing to Get a COVID-19 Vaccine

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While most Ohioans will still have to wait months to get a coronavirus vaccine, what if you don’t want one? Could you even be fired from your job if you refuse?

Legal experts say yes.

“Employers can require their at-will employees to get a vaccine. That’s already law,” said Rema Ina, employment attorney at Cleveland’s Gallagher Sharp law firm, adding that many hospitals already require health care workers to get flu vaccinations as a condition of employment.

But there are exceptions. People with medical conditions are protected by the Americans with Disability Act. . .

An employee may also be exempt from a vaccine requirement under the religious accommodation provision of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, if a worker has “sincerely held” religious beliefs against being immunized. (Read more from “It’s True: Workers Can Be Fired for Refusing to Get a COVID-19 Vaccine” HERE)

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Elon Musk: Bye, California, I’ve Moved To Texas

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Speaking in an interview on Tuesday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed he has left California and moved to Texas.

Musk, who has had more than one home in Los Angeles and one in the Bay Area, made the announcement at the The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council annual summit in an interview with editor-in-chief Matt Murray.

Musk’s move comes after months of him openly criticizing the state of California’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the end of April, speaking on a Tesla earnings call on Wednesday, Musk ramped up his rhetoric about shelter-in-place orders around the nation, calling them “fascist.” Musk stated, according to The Verge. . .

In May Musk threatened to move from California after shelter-in-place orders forced him to shut down his sole car factory in the United States. In mid-May he gave an indication of how fed-up he was with the leftist governance of his home state of California, apparently urging followers on Twitter to join the conservatives of America as he tweeted succinctly, “Take the red pill.”

(Read more from “Elon Musk: Bye, California, I’ve Moved to Texas” HERE)

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House, Senate Bills Prioritize Foreign Nationals as 24.5M Americans Remain Jobless, Underemployed

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As roughly 24.5 million Americans remain jobless or underemployed, Republican and Democrat lawmakers in Washington, D.C. are advancing legislation to aid foreign nationals and their quest to permanently resettle in the United States.

With a mass unemployment crisis ongoing — where 10.7 million Americans are unemployed, 7.1 million are out of the labor force, and 6.7 million are underemployed — bipartisan political consensus to aid foreign nationals primarily from India and Hong Kong has taken priority. . .

NumbersUSA, which fights for less immigration to boost U.S. wages and open jobs for Americans, has come out against the giveaway:

Under the provisions of this bill, Congress would hand the keys to our immigration system over to employers seeking cheap labor. Statutory numerical limits on employment-based green cards would be nullified. The number of aliens indentured to U.S. employers would skyrocket. American workers would be the clear losers, not just in the tech industry, but virtually across the board, since early filing isn’t limited to H-1Bs.

The only winners in this legislation are big business, as Congress breaks the immigration system specifically to quench their thirst for cheap labor. At a time of massive unemployment and economic uncertainty, Congress should be focused on immigration policies that promote the jobs of Americans not the whims of industries that are already profiting mightily from the pandemic.

Read more from “House, Senate Bills Prioritize Foreign Nationals as 24.5m Americans Remain Jobless, Underemployed” HERE)

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