Posts

Department of Education Investigating University Over Links to Wuhan Lab

/0 Comments/in , /by

The United States Department of Education is investigating the University of Texas over links to the Chinese lab in Wuhan potentially involved in the origin of the Chinese virus, along with the university’s ties to companies including Huawei and Zoom, the popular video conferencing app criticized for its poor security.

The U.S. Department of Education has requested for the University of Texas System to provide documents involving records or gifts from the Wuhan Institute of Virology and its researcher Shi Zhengli, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

The report added that the Education Department’s probe into the university is part of a broader investigation into potential improper financial disclosures of foreign money by the University of Texas System.

The Education Department is also asking the university system to provide documents regarding possible ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), as well as about two dozen Chinese universities and businesses — including Huawei Technologies Co. — according to a letter obtained by the Wall Street Journal.

The government is also asking for documents involving the university system’s alleged contracts or gifts from Eric Yuan, the chief executive officer of Zoom Video Communications. (Read more from “Department of Education Investigating University Over Links to Wuhan Lab” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Houston Hit by Plague of Crime

/0 Comments/in , /by

Houston, we’ve got a problem.

Ultimately, there is a limit to how much we can stop a plague from God, once we neglectfully let it into our country with universal travel from China, before it runs its course. However, bending the curve of crime is all in our hands. Sadly, it appears that Houston and other blue-city politicians want to worsen the God-made plague with a man-made crime epidemic.

As I predicted, crime is spiking in Houston following the release of 1,000 prisoners. “Right now, burglaries have spiked 20 percent,” Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo told Breitbart Texas in a phone interview. “Some people are seeing the shutdown of businesses as a target-rich opportunity. Habitual burglars should not be released.”

In a dynamic where business owners could be arrested for simply opening a business while following CDC health guidelines and criminals are told they won’t be arrested for burglarizing those stores, it doesn’t take a genius to foresee the results. And it’s not just “low-level” offenders being released. Some violent criminals, according to KTRK ABC13, have been released on bond as low as $10. So, they are both releasing existing convicts from prison and also trying as hard as they can not to incarcerate new criminals.

This is why, according to Chief Acevedo, in addition to the increase in burglaries, aggravated assaults similarly increased by 19.3 percent.

It’s truly hard to overstate the impact of jailbreak policies. With the universal fear of going outside due to the virus and the fact that so many people are off the streets, without jailbreak policies, you’d expect crime to be close to zero. Yet the jailbreak and lack of deterrent against new criminals is so strong that it’s increasing crime by 20 percent above the baseline of normal day-to-day activity!

Isn’t it a shame that the criminals didn’t take the advice of Mayor Sylvester Turner to “chill” and “stay home”? What, in fact, the mayor was really conveying is that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to commit crime and get away with it.

What’s interesting about the coronavirus jailbreak is that it is the perfect case study for the entire criminal justice debate. The bipartisan de-incarceration movement is telling us that our prisons are filled with a bunch of “nonviolent, low-level offenders,” and that if we would just release them, we’d save money and society would be fine. Well, if such “low-level” offenders are willing to go out and steal when the media has convinced everyone they will die of the plague, you can imagine how much crime they’d commit under normal circumstances.

Meanwhile, we have coronavirus fascists like Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins sending officers down to Hobby Lobby to shut them down. Well, would he have the officers arrest people for looting the store?

Where is Congress? Where are our legislatures? As governments move closer to more draconian versions of martial law against everyday Americans, is it too much to ask that they lock up the criminals? (For more from the author of “Houston Hit by Plague of Crime” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Governor Declares Religious Services ‘Essential’ During Coronavirus

/0 Comments/in , /by

As authorities arrest pastors for holding Sunday services in defiance of social distancing orders, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Tuesday that religious services are to be considered essential in his state.

Abbott issued an executive order relating to state-wide continuity of essential services and activities during the coronavirus pandemic. The order mandated that all Texans will minimize social gatherings and in-person contact with people who are not in the same household, and, among other statutes, clarified that religious services conducted in churches, congregations and houses of worship are to be considered essential services.

“‘Essential services’ shall consist of everything listed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in its Guidance on the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce, Version 2.0, plus religious services conducted in churches, congregations, and houses of worship,” the order stated. “Other essential services may be added to this list with the approval of the Texas Division of Emergency Management.”

The governor encouraged those involved in essential services to practice good hygiene, environmental cleanliness, sanitation, social distancing and working from home when possible.

(Read more from “Governor Declares Religious Services ‘Essential’ During Coronavirus” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Human Smugglers Leave Pregnant Migrant, Unborn Child to Die After Fall From U.S. Border Wall

/0 Comments/in , /by

Mexican cartel-connected human smugglers abandoned a pregnant Guatemalan woman at a border wall near Clint, Texas, on Saturday night and encouraged her to climb the 20-foot barrier. She fell and landed on her back, causing injuries that eventually took her life and that of her unborn child.

El Paso Sector Border Patrol agents patrolling near Clint came upon a critically injured pregnant woman who fell from the barrier according to her male companion, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials reported. Doctors were unable to save the unborn child as well.

“Despite the best efforts of our Border Patrol agents and medical professionals, sadly more lives have perished at the hands of human smugglers,” El Paso Sector Chief Gloria Chavez said in a written statement. “Someone in Mexico guided this eight-month pregnant woman from Guatemala to this section of the border and encouraged her and helped her climb the steel mesh border barrier. We will engage our law enforcement partners in Mexico to find those responsible for placing these lives in danger.”

CBP officials said the human smugglers encouraged her to try and climb the wall, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.

CBP Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan told reporters that the woman, identified by Guatemalan officials as Mirian Stephany Girón Luna and her male partner were taken to the border by smugglers and left them there in the darkness. He said they were attempting to climb the barrier when she fell. (Read more from “Human Smugglers Leave Pregnant Migrant, Unborn Child to Die After Fall From U.S. Border Wall” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Judge Rules 11-Month-Old to Be Taken off Life Support Against Mom’s Wishes

/0 Comments/in , /by

On Thursday, a Texas Judge Sandee Marion ruled that 11-month-old Tinslee Lewis can be taken off life support against the wishes of the child’s mother Trinity Lewis.

To the disagreement of Ms. Lewis, doctors say Tinslee is in pain and will never recover from her rare heart condition and other medical issues.

Ms. Lewis’ request to “issue an injunction to ensure that the Cook Children’s Medical Center doesn’t end her daughter Tinslee Lewis’ life-sustaining treatment” was denied by Judge Marion, the chief justice of Texas’ Fourth Court of Appeals, CBN News reported.

Tinslee was born premature and suffers from a rare heart defect, chronic lung disease, and severe chronic high blood pressure, according to CBN. “She hasn’t come off a ventilator since going into respiratory arrest in early July and requires full respiratory and cardiac support, deep sedation and to be medically paralyzed. The hospital said doctors believe she’s suffering,” the report noted. . .

Asked about the law ordering her daughter to be taken off life support, the young mother told reporters, “It’s not fair and I don’t feel it’s their right to take somebody’s life because they want to stop treating them.” (Read more from “Judge Rules 11-Month-Old to Be Taken off Life Support Against Mom’s Wishes” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Anti-Gun Priest Suggests He’d Rather Let His Parishioners Die Than Allow Guns in Church

/0 Comments/in , , /by

By Pluralist. Following a Texas church shooting on Sunday, which was stopped when an armed parishioner shot and killed the gunman, some Christians spoke out against the arming of congregations.

Fr. Jeremy Zipple, associate pastor of St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church in Belize City and former executive editor of America Magazine, reacted on Twitter to the deadly shooting Sunday at West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas.

Zipple dismissed those who claimed the incident showed why parishioners should be permitted to carry guns at church. . .

(Read more from “Anti-Gun Priest Suggests He’d Rather Let His Parishioners Die Than Allow Guns in Church” HERE)

_____________________________________________________

Journalist ‘Smears’ Six Texas Churchgoers Who Pulled Their Guns on White Settlement Shooter

By Pluralist.Gun rights advocates accused an Arizona journalist of “smearing” armed parishioners who drew their firearms on the perpetrator of a shooting at a Texas church over the weekend.

Elvia Diaz, a columnist for the Arizona Republic, had nothing but praise for Jack Wilson, the armed parishioner who on Sunday shot and killed a gunman at West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas.

Wilson, a firearms instructor and member of the church’s volunteer security team, “was exactly the kind of man you want around with a firearm,” Diaz wrote in an opinion piece published by USA Today on Wednesday.

However, Diaz didn’t extend such sentiments to the six other churchgoers who drew their guns on Keith Thomas Kinnunen, the man seen in livestream video footage shooting and killing two victims, before being fatally wounded by Wilson.

According to Diaz, “we know nothing about the at least six other parishioners who also appeared to draw their handguns at West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas.” (Read more from “Journalist ‘Smears’ Six Texas Churchgoers Who Pulled Their Guns on White Settlement Shooter” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Texas Church Shooter Had Massive Rap Sheet – With Almost No Prison Time

/0 Comments/in , /by

Keith Thomas Kinnunen, the shooter who killed two people at the West Freeway Church of Christ in Texas on Sunday, was not allowed to own a gun. Under current law, it was 100 percent illegal for him to own or carry any firearm. He had a massive rap sheet dating back to 1998, including gun felonies. Yet he wasn’t locked up. That is why he was able to kill two people in the church. Thank God, Texas allows citizens to carry concealed weapons, so he was stopped before he could shoot and kill more. But the ugly fact is that most mass shooters are repeat offenders and known to law enforcement. If we actually had criminal control, almost all of these attacks would be prevented.

If the Left really wants to prevent most mass shootings, how about we bring back and reinforce mandatory minimum sentencing on gun felons? Throughout Americans cities, so many violent offenders have rap sheets full of gun violations, yet they are not seriously punished. How about we start “doing something” about mass shootings by punishing people like Keith Thomas Kinnunen and not deterring heroes like Jack Wilson who stopped the shooter before he could kill dozens of others?

A quick glance at Kinnunen’s criminal record shows at least a dozen arrests dating back to 1998. Here is what I was able to piece together from his arrest and court records in several states, as well as from some local news reports:

May 4, 1998: Arrested in Tucson for carrying a firearm without a license. He was found guilty, but given no jail time.

June 25, 1999: Arrested for misconduct involving weapons in Tucson. Charges dismissed.

August 6, 1999: Arrested for theft and endangerment in Tucson. Found guilty on theft charge.

August 18, 1999: Arrested for spilling load onto highway in Pima County, AZ. Found guilty.

2000: Convicted for driving without a license in Arizona.

August 25, 2004: Arrested for disorderly conduct in Tucson. Charges dismissed.

December 3, 2008: Arrested in Fort Worth, Texas, for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He was found guilty the next year but was sentenced to just 90 days.

August 12, 2009: Arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in Tucson.

December 8, 2010: Charged with theft in Tucson and numerous failures to appear in court. Never served any new prison time.

August 11, 2011: Charged with assault, disorderly conduct, and failure to appear in Tucson.

November 29, 2011: Arrested in Grady County, Oklahoma, for domestic violence and felony aggravated assault. Plead guilty to misdemeanor assault and served 90 days with credit for time served.

February 9, 2012: A warrant for his arrest was issued for arson in Grady, Oklahoma. He was eventually arrested for lighting tampons on fire and burning a cotton field. He paid a $4,500 fine.

December 10, 2013: Arrested for theft in Fort Worth, Texas. Found guilty.

March 25, 2014: Charged with assault knowingly causing injury in Tucson and illegally possessing a weapon.

June 16, 2015: Arrested in River Oaks, Texas, for unpaid parking tickets.

September 12, 2016: According to MyCentralJersey.com, he was arrested in Linden, New Jersey, for possession of a 12-gauge shotgun while he was taking pictures of an oil refinery. At the time, New Jersey police also found a contempt of court warrant stemming from an aggravated assault case in Oklahoma.

Notice that despite numerous charges and convictions for assault with a deadly weapon and felony possession of a weapon, this man barely served time and was out on the streets to commit this horrible attack on the church this week. This is what should be the subject of a national debate – why there are so many people with serious violent felonies and firearms violations who are not punished in a meaningful way, and what can be done about it.

Criminals like Kinnunen are the rule, not the exception, in the system. Even the most violent criminals barely serve time. Just last week, an Oregon man who pleaded guilty to raping three teens was sentenced to just 14 months in prison, and with early release programs, he will be out even earlier. It used to be that violent criminals were held before trial in jail, serving as a deterrent. But across the nation, we are seeing judges release the most egregious repeat violent offenders on low bail. Last week, a previously convicted rapist with weapons and robbery convictions was arrested for torturing and raping a 21-year-old woman in the Minneapolis area, a beacon of jailbreak policy. He was released on just $20,000 bail.

Why are politicians not speaking out about the epidemic of under-sentencing and parole violators rather than complaining about too much incarceration? As Rafael Mangual of the Manhattan Institute observed last week at the New York Post, the most violent cities like Chicago and Baltimore are revolving doors for serious gun felons. “A third of Baltimore homicide suspects in 2017 committed their alleged offenses while on probation or parole, despite having an average of nearly 10 prior arrests. In Chicago, those arrested for shootings or homicides in 2015-16 had an average of 12 prior arrests.” (For more from the author of “Texas Church Shooter Had Massive Rap Sheet – With Almost No Prison Time” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

VIDEO: Man Shoots and Kills 2 Inside a Texas Church Before Parishioners Fatally Shoot Him; Biden Called Texas Governor ‘Irrational’ for Allowing Guns in Places of Worship; Pastor Thanks God His Congregants Had the Right to Defend Themselves

/0 Comments/in , , /by

By CNN. A man shot and killed two people during a church service in White Settlement, Texas, on Sunday morning before two members of the church security team shot and killed him, authorities said.

City Police Chief J.P. Bevering said the shooter entered West Freeway Church of Christ and sat down in the sanctuary, then stood, pulled out a shotgun and shot two parishioners. . .

(If the video of the Texas church shooting doesn’t appear in your browser, please click HERE)

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said the incident was over within six seconds thanks to the quick response of the security team members. Recent changes in Texas law allow licensed gun owners to carry firearms into houses of worship.

“Two of the parishioners who are volunteers on the security force drew their weapons and took out the killer immediately, saving untold number of lives,” he said. (Read more from “Man Shoots and Kills 2 Inside a Texas Church Before Parishioners Fatally Shoot Him” HERE)

__________________________________________________

Flashback: Biden Called Texas Governor ‘Irrational’ for Allowing Guns in Places of Worship

By Townhall. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden criticized the Governor of Texas for signing a bill that allows law-abiding Texans to defend themselves with firearms in places of worship. On Sunday, an armed man stopped a gunman in Texas after the gunman opened fire during church services. . .

Joe Biden recently told reporters that it was “irrational” to allow law-abiding worshipers to defend themselves in church.

“With all due respect to the governor of Texas,” Biden began, “it is irrational what they’re doing. On the very day you see a mass shooting … and we’re talking about loosening access to have guns, to be able to take them into places of worship … I mean it’s just absolutely irrational. It’s totally irrational.”

(Read more from “Flashback: Biden Called Texas Governor ‘Irrational’ for Allowing Guns in Places of Worship” HERE)

__________________________________________________

Pastor Thanks God His Congregants Had the Right to Defend Themselves

By Daily Caller. West Freeway Church of Christ Senior Minister Britt Farmer responded to the tragic shooting in his Texas church Sunday by saying that he’s thankful his congregants had the right to defend themselves.

After thanking Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and law enforcement for their quick responses to the unfolding tragedy, Farmer added, “We lost two great men today, but it could have been a lot worse. I’m thankful our government has allowed us the opportunity to protect ourselves.”

(Read more from “Pastor Thanks God His Congregants Had the Right to Defend Themselves” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Beto Gets Brutally Mocked for Saying Church Shooting Shows Texas Gun Laws ‘Clearly’ Don’t Work; Leftists Celebrate on Social Media After Shooter Identified as White Man

/0 Comments/in , /by

By Pluralist. Failed Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke reacted to a weekend church shooting in White Settlement, Texas by criticizing the state’s gun laws.

O’Rourke, a proponent of stringent gun control measures who has called for national confiscation of firearms, said on Sunday in a tweet that the shooting shows “Clearly what we are doing in Texas, what we are doing in this country, when it comes to guns is not working.” . . .

Commenters on social media, especially gun rights advocates and conservatives, pushed back against O’Rourke’s remarks, arguing that the White Settlement shooting was an example of firearms measures working as they should.

A number of new laws designed to ease restrictions on firearms for Texans went into effect in September.

One of the bills, Senate Bill 535, enabled licensed handgun owners to carry in churches and other places of worship.

(Read more from “Beto Gets Brutally Mocked for Saying Church Shooting Shows Texas Gun Laws ‘Clearly’ Don’t Work” HERE)

________________________________________________

Leftists Celebrate on Social Media After Shooter Identified as White Man

By Pluralist. Some users on social media appeared to welcome the news that the gunman who perpetrated a weekend church shooting in Texas was identified as a white male.

The victims of Sunday’s shooting, identified as Anton Wallace, 64, of Fort Worth and Richard White, 67, of River Oaks, were also members of the security force at West Freeway Church of Christ, the state’s attorney general said.

Jack Wilson, the head of the security detail, fired a single shot that took down the gunman, identified as Keith Thomas Kinnunen, 43, of River Oaks. . .

Commenters on social media floated the idea of Kinnunen being motivated by white supremacy.

(Read more from “Leftists Celebrate on Social Media After Shooter Identified as White Man” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

‘I’m Thankful to God’: Hero Security Guard Speaks out on Texas Church Shooting; Anti-Gun Leader: The Security Guards Shouldn’t Have Been Armed

/0 Comments/in , /by

By Townhall. Jack Wilson has been identified as the heroic security guard who killed the shooter that attacked West Freeway Church of Christ during one of its Sunday morning services.

Wilson, who is running to be county commissioner in Hood County, shared on Facebook that while he is sad he lost “two dear friends and brothers in CHRIST,” he thanks God for being able to protect the congregation because evil does exist in the world.

“I just want to thank all who have sent their prayers and comments on the events of today. The events at West Freeway Church of Christ put me in a position that I would hope no one would have to be in, but evil exist and I had to take out an active shooter in church,” Wilson wrote.

“I’m thankful to GOD that I have been blessed with the ability and desire to serve him in the role of head of security at the church. I am very sad in the loss of two dear friends and brothers in CHRIST, but evil does exist in this world and I and other members are not going to allow evil to succeed,” he added. “Please pray for all the members and their families in this time. Thank you for your prayers and understanding.”

(Read more from “‘I’m Thankful to God’: Hero Security Guard Speaks out on Texas Church Shooting” HERE)

________________________________________________

Anti-Gun Leader on Texas Church Shooting: The Security Guards Shouldn’t Have Been Armed

By Townhall. . .Yet, even if armed security wasn’t there, the congregation had more than a few people with concealed carry permits in the church. The point is simple: a good guy with a gun stopped a bad guy with a gun. Or in this case, multiple good guys with guns were ready to defend themselves and others in the church. It’s a no-brainer position that the anti-gun Left mocks or ignores because real life has slapped them so hard, they’re intellectually disabled. Good people with firearms defend their lives and the lives of others on a daily basis. While it’s not the Second Amendment’s intent, the self-defense aspect that comes with it is a popular position, hence the bunker mentality anti-gunners have for situations like this. Yet, it wouldn’t be the Left to just let this tragedy slide without offering their own garbage takes. Enter Shannon Watts, a Bloomberg lackey:

(Read more from “Anti-Gun Leader on Texas Church Shooting: The Security Guards Shouldn’t Have Been Armed” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE