Category: North America Union

Homeless Man With No Arms Stabs Tourist Aeron Kip – July 12th 2018 Homeless street painter stabs tourist from Chicago with scissors using his feet

Jonathan Dale Crenshaw, Miami-Dade Corrections

On Tuesday, July 10th, 46-year-old armless street painter Jonathan Dale Crenshaw was arrested after he grabbed a pair of scissors with his feet and launched himself towards 22-year-old Cesar Coronado and stabbed him with the instrument.

The arrest report stated that the incident occurred on the 1600 block of Collins Avenue, Miami, Florida. Coronado was walking with his friend Cindy Barrientos, 22, both from Chicago were visiting Miami Beach. Crenshaw claimed he was lying down on the street when Coronado allegedly punched him in the head.

Crenshaw stated in self-defense grabbed a pair of scissors with his feet and stabbed Coronado twice inflicting a stab wound on his left arm leaving him bleeding on the ground. Crenshaw placed the scissors back into his waistband and quickly fled the scene.

Read More

Eyes on the Sky as Chinese Balloon Shot Down over Atlantic

AP 4 Feb 2023

Eyes were locked on the skies Saturday as a suspected Chinese spy balloon slowly drifted toward the U.S. Atlantic Coast and remained in clear view over the Carolinas — where local authorities warned civilians against taking potshots at the floating orb — before it was shot down when it drifted over the Atlantic Ocean.

Eyes were locked on the skies Saturday as a suspected Chinese spy balloon passed over the U.S. Eastern Seaboard — where local authorities warned civilians against taking potshots with rifles — before it was shot down when it drifted over the Atlantic Ocean.

Software engineer and storm chaser Brian Branch captured photographs of the balloon high above western North Carolina just hours before it was shot down.

He could see a payload hanging from the round, white balloon, which officials have said was about the size of three school buses.

It was shot down off the Carolina coast Saturday afternoon and an operation was launched to recover the debris. The Biden administration had previously hesitated to shoot the balloon because of risks to people on the ground from falling debris.

Read More

Experts: Metallic object that crashed into New Jersey home was a meteorite

CAPTION ADDITION: CONFIRMED METEORITE: This image provided by Hopewell Township Police Department shows a confirmed meteorite on a hardwood floor at a residence in Hopewell Township, N.J. The meteorite punched a hole in the roof of the central New Jersey home, smashing into a hardwood floor and bouncing around a bedroom. The family who owns the home discovered the black, potato-sized rock in a corner — still warm. (Hopewell Township Police Department via AP)

HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — A metallic object that punched a hole in the roof of a central New Jersey home this week, smashing into a hardwood floor and bouncing around a bedroom, was a meteorite, experts announced Thursday.

Scientists with The College of New Jersey determined the 6-by-4-inch object, which weighs about 2.2 pounds, is a rare stony chondrite meteorite. They came to that conclusion after conducting a visual examination, making density measurements and scanning electron microscope images. They were assisted in their work by Jerry Delaney, a retired meteorite expert from Rutgers University and the American Museum of Natural History.

“Getting the chance to examine the meteorite (Wednesday) was a rare and thrilling opportunity for me, as well as for a group of physics students and professors at TCNJ,” said Nathan Magee, chair of the school’s physics department. “We are excited to be able to confirm that the object is a true chondrite meteorite, in excellent condition, and one of a very small number of similar witnessed chondrite falls known to science.”

Read More

Robber With Bad Handwriting, Arrested Lacy Kegan – April 24th 2017 A robber hands a handwritten note to a cashier, and hilarity ensues soon after

Dion Taylor, Youngstown police department

On Wednesday, April 19th,  22-year-old Dion Taylor entered Family Dollar, located in Youngstown, Iowa, and demanded money from the register via a handwritten note, but due to the robbers bad handwriting the clerk was unable to read his writing.

At approximately 7:30 am, Dion entered the Family Dollar on Market Street, he headed to the counter and passed the cashier the note, the cashier looked at the note which was filled with ineligible scribbles, passed Dion the note back and requested him to tread the note.

Read More

Science, Public Health Policy and the Law: ‘A win for the Amish is likely to be a win for all’.

By Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D.

The Post reported last month that Miller v. McDonald and other cases challenging efforts to ban religious exemptions in California and West Virginia could result in a “national legal win” for opponents of vaccine mandates.

“If the court does rule in favor of religious exemptions to vaccines, unless there is some caveat to the ruling, a Supreme Court ruling would be binding nationwide and thereby eliminate state action to remove religious exemptions,” said Leslie Manookian, president and founder of the Health Freedom Defense Fund.

One caveat, according to Kane, would be whether the Supreme Court issues a ruling that is applicable only to specific groups, like the Amish, instead of having broader applicability.

“You can’t rule in favor of one religious group to have the right to an exemption but then declare another religious group does not share that same right,” Kane said. “There is a chance the court could rule narrowly on the specifics of this case, but that will be hard in my view. A win for the Amish is likely to be a win for all.”

Another caveat, according to Manookian, is the Supreme Court’s willingness to take on a case involving vaccination.

“I would hope that case ends up at the Supreme Court, but find it difficult to predict what the court will do as it seems committed to avoiding the vaccine issue,” Manookian said.

The cases come at a time when religious exemptions have become a contentious issue in several states and have resulted in conflicting court rulings — a situation Glaser said is confusing for many parents.

“The Miller case highlights a chaotic legal landscape where lawyers and families face direct legislative confusion,” Glaser said. “Lower courts will continue splitting over the Equal Protection Clause until the Supreme Court provides the explicit clarity required.”

Just The News: Trump administration formally bans gain-of-function research.

By Misty Severi
Published: July 28, 2026 10:00pm
Updated: July 28, 2026 10:16pm

The State and Health and Human Services departments claim that although biomedical research has produced lifesaving vaccines and medical breakthroughs, it must never come at the expense of public safety or national security.

he Trump administration announced Tuesday it has officially banned gain-of-function research, claiming it has the potential to threaten lives and undermine national security if not properly restricted and controlled.

The State and Health and Human Services departments claim that although biomedical research has produced lifesaving vaccines and medical breakthroughs, it must never come at the expense of public safety or national security.

The policy change comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order last year that banned federal funding for gain-of-function research in countries like China, which is believed to be at the heart of the COVID-19 lab leak in Wuhan.

The two departments said in a joint statement that an “America First approach to scientific research means ensuring that taxpayer dollars are never used to support dangerous gain-of-function research … in the United States or abroad.”

The new policy also prohibits federal support for gain-of-function research, strengthens oversight of other high-risk life sciences research, and restricts funding for research conducted in countries that lack appropriate safety, security, and oversight standards.

“Scientific leadership requires both innovation and responsibility,” the departments said. “The United States will continue to support biomedical research that develops vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics, and other lifesaving medical countermeasures while ensuring that the highest-risk research is subject to rigorous safeguards.

“We encourage our international partners to join us in ending dangerous gain-of-function research and adopting strong biosafety and biosecurity standards that make the world safer, more secure, and better prepared for future biological threats,” they added.

The policy was developed by top officials including Undersecretary of State Tom DiNanno and NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya.
–

Breitbart: Grand Jury Indicts Hawaii Lt. Governor for COVID Testing in Alleged ‘Pay-to-Play’ Scheme

Lowell Cauffiel
26 Jul 2026

The COVID-19 pandemic has come back to haunt Hawaii Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke as a grand jury has indicted the Democrat on bribery charges for allegedly securing funding for virus testing sites in exchange for campaign contributions.

The alleged pay-to-play scheme took place when Luke was a state lawmaker.

Friday’s indictment follows state and federal investigations into the campaign finance scandal that also resulted in the indictment of a lobbyist and four other officials.

Prosecutors accused Luke of accepting campaign finance contributions in 2022 while she was a state lawmaker in exchange for securing funding for COVID-19 testing sites.

The Hawaii grand jury returned a 12-count indictment that includes charging Luke with “criminal conspiracy to commit bribery and falsifying candidate committee reports among other charges,” the Hill reported per the state’s Department of the Attorney General.

It’s alleged Luke accepted at least $35,000 in campaign contributions from lobbyist and businessman Tobi Solidum in exchange for supporting testing sites operated by the National Kidney Foundation.

Solidum, who was also indicted by the grand jury, was a lobbyist and consultant for the foundation.

According to court filings, Solidum forked two $5,000 campaign checks to Luke during a meeting at a Morton’s Steakhouse in January 2022 as they allegedly talked about state funding for COVID-19 testing sites.

Democratic Attorney General Anne Lopez said the indictments followed an investigation launched in January that followed a federal public corruption probe, according to news reports.

“From the outset of this investigation, I have repeated that we have a commitment to following the facts to where they lead, no matter how long it takes to get there,” Lopez told reporters at a news conference on Friday.

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green (D) suggested Luke should resign.

“The Attorney General announced significant developments in her department’s corruption investigation and has provided an update on their findings,” he said in a statement to Politico on Saturday. “The Lieutenant Governor needs to consider formally resigning to address this matter and so that the state of Hawaiʻi can move forward.”

Five other people were indicted on Friday. They are Solidum, former state Rep. Ryan Yamane (D), Hawaii Department of Transportation official Ford Fuchigami and former state Public Utilities Commission official Leo Asunción.

Voters elected Luke to serve as Green’s deputy in 2022. She took office in April when the campaign finance investigation first made headlines. She also ended her campaign for reelection at that time.

Governor Josh Green appointed Keith Regan, comptroller of the Department of Accounting and General Services, to serve as acting lieutenant governor in Luke’s absence.

The lieutenant governor has yet to comment on the charges.
–

News Max: Sen. Ron Johnson Expects Little From Fauci Testimony.

Sen. Ron Johnson said he expects little cooperation from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director, when he testifies before the Senate this week, as Republicans prepare to question the longtime public health official about the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Hill reported Sunday.

The Wisconsin Republican told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that “I don’t expect to get much out of him” during Fauci’s testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Johnson added, “I think [Fauci would] be very forgetful, completely unrepentant, arrogant — I mean, arrogant to the extreme.”

The senator said he intends to use Wednesday’s hearing to highlight what he views as failure in the government’s handling of the pandemic, stressing that “I’m going to try and lay out all the things that he did that were such a miserably failed response to COVID.”

The hearing comes after committee Chairman Rand Paul subpoenaed Fauci to testify as part of the panel’s investigation into the origins of COVID-19 and the government’s involvement in research conducted in China.

The Kentucky Republican has alleged that federal officials concealed information about U.S.-funded viral research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where he and other Republicans argue the virus that caused the pandemic may have originated.

U.S. intelligence agencies remain divided over COVID-19’s origins, and no definitive conclusion has been reached about whether the virus emerged from a laboratory incident or through natural animal-to-human transmission.

Paul has repeatedly accused Fauci of misleading Congress regarding research funding and has argued the former NIAID director should face criminal charges.

During a 2021 Senate hearing, Fauci denied that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases funded gain-of-function research involving the virus that causes COVID-19 at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

In previous interviews, Paul has said he expects Fauci to be untruthful during his upcoming testimony.

“I don’t expect him to be honest; he hasn’t been honest in the last six years,” Paul said recently.

Paul also said negotiations with Fauci over documents and testimony had dragged on for months before the committee issued a subpoena.

“We’ve been negotiating with him for material and for testimony,” Paul told CNBC last month. “This has gone on for some time. He slow-walked us and slow-walked us. Finally agreed to come in voluntarily … then last week he says he’s not coming in. With this subpoena power, we will bring him in, unless he fights this in court.”

Fauci, who retired from government service in 2022 after advising seven presidents dating back to the Reagan administration, received a preemptive pardon from former President Joe Biden before Biden left office amid concerns that the Trump administration could pursue legal action against him.

Wednesday’s hearing is expected to renew congressional scrutiny of the government’s pandemic response, including funding decisions, public health guidance, and investigations into the origins of COVID-19.

American Small Businesses Proving Resilient Despite Inflation and Labor Market Struggles

No matter how small or big your business is, the need to think outside the box is essential. (Giggsy25/Shutterstock)

 

When it comes to jumping economic hurdles, small business owners are digging deep and finding new ways to overcome the impacts of inflation and workforce shortages this year.

More than 31 million small businesses currently operate in the United States, with an anticipated 17 million new startups set to kick off by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, the post-pandemic challenges small entrepreneurs face are daunting.

During a 12-month period that ended in June, the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers increased 9.1 percent. This represents the highest inflation over the same length of time since 1981, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Read More