It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.
(Voltaire)
=========================
Migrants who pick fruits and vegetables in the US are now persecuted. Farmers are suffering because of lack of workforce AND Trump's tariffs that have dried up foreign demand for US farm products.
So, if they are the fools that Voltaire refers to, then they will, again, vote for Trump.
Farmers leave staple crops to rot following unexpected crisis: 'It's horrible … when so many American families are struggling'
Christine Dulion
Photo Credit: iStock
California
farmers say they're facing a painful reality this growing season:
watching food go unharvested as financial pressures make it harder to
bring crops to market. As trade disputes and labor shortages collide,
growers say it's pushing some farms to the brink.
What's happening?
Sacramento
County farmers said federal tariffs and trade disruptions have cut
demand for agricultural products, including wine grapes — historically
the county's top crop.
Canada, for example, has slashed its demand
due to costly tariffs. As a result, vineyards are struggling to sell
their harvests. "You don't see a bottle of California wine in Canadian
stores, and they were 40% of our exports," said Ken Oneto, director of
the Sacramento County Farm Bureau, to KOVR.
In
2025, wine grape sales in Sacramento County generated more than $167
million, but growers said profits have dropped so steeply that farmers
have been forced to leave grapes unpicked on the vine. Other crops are
also going unharvested.
U.S. Rep. Ami Bera, who met with farmers
to hear their concerns, said, per CBS13: "It's horrible that crops would
go to waste when so many American families are struggling to put food
on their table."
Making things worse is a shortage of farm labor, exacerbated by immigration policy changes and uncertainty over the future.
Why are these farming challenges concerning?
Agriculture
generates more than $500 million annually in Sacramento County,
supporting farmworkers, truck drivers, processors, and rural
communities. When farmers can't afford to harvest, those economic
effects spread beyond the farm itself.
The
waste is also concerning. Unharvested crops mean lost water, energy,
fertilizer, and labor — all used to grow food that ultimately feeds no
one. This mirrors what's happening in the Mississippi Delta, where rice
farmers face a crop surplus. At the same time, many households have seen
rising grocery bills and are even struggling to put food on the table.
"I
hear from folks every day that they're going to the grocery store,
they're spending the same amount of money, but now they've only got a
[half] bag of groceries," Bera said, per CBS13.
If farmers don't
see relief, it could push them to sell their land to developers, reduce
planting in future seasons, or exit agriculture altogether. Ultimately,
that affects our food security and increases our reliance on imports.
What's being done to help farmers?
Lawmakers
said they're working to address the crisis, though relief may take
time. Bera said passing a long-delayed federal farm bill is a priority.
Local farm groups are urging federal officials to reconsider trade
policies that disproportionately affect agricultural exports, warning
that farmers are often the first casualties in trade disputes.
In
the meantime, individuals can help by supporting local farms at
farmers' markets and pushing for policies that protect growers. While no
solution will fix the issue overnight, growers warn that if nothing
changes, more food could continue to go to waste.
This image released by the Hamburg State Opera shows, from left, Eric
Jurenas as Tuckey, Andrew Watts as Mickey, Georg Nigl as The
King-President and Kristina Stanek as Bampi during a rehearsal of Olga
Neuwirth’s “Monster’s Paradise” at the Hamburg State Opera on Jan. 28,
2026. (Tanja Dorendorf/Hamburg State Opera via AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — Tobias Kratzer spoke in disbelief ahead of the world premiere
of “Monster's Paradise” by Olga Neuwirth and Elfriede Jelinek, which
features a gluttonous, ravenous, insatiable President-King, lampooning
U.S. President Donald Trump.
“The metaphor has become a reality,”
the Hamburg State Opera artistic director said in his office Sunday
morning. “I’m really hoping in — what is it, eight hours? — the piece is
not completely outdated because up until now it has always gone closer
and closer to not being a satire but being reality.”
Jelinek, 79
and winner of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Literature, collaborated with
Neuwirth for the first time in two decades, the Austrian duo combining
on a German-language libretto. The 57-year-old Neuwirth won the 2022
Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, three years after she became the
first woman composer with a work presented at the Vienna State Opera.
Chorus
members dressed as zombies and roamed the foyers before the opera and
during the intermission, along with Disney-styled princesses and dancing
hot dogs. The opera began with a Las Vegas-style LED sign and action on
a passerelle.
A 19th-century satire was the starting point
Alfred
Jarry’s 1896 play “Ubu Roi” was the inspiration, a profane,
scatological work that had a one-performance run in Paris, cut short by
an angry audience response.
Aspects of Jarry’s King Wenceslas and
Ubu characters were adapted into The President-King for what Neuwirth
and Jelinek call a Grand Guignol opera, which has a six-performance run
through Feb. 19. It moves to the Zurich Opera from March 8 to April 12
and next season to Austria’s Oper Graz. An audio recording is planned.
The
President-King entered in a gilded Oval Office with a Coca-Cola filled
refrigerator. A golden crown sat on his desk along with a red button
that jettisoned visitors such as an Elvis Presley impersonator in the
manner of a TV game show as a trio of red X-shaped lights flashed. A
woman resembling Melania Trump lurked in the background.
“I have
long known Jarry’s play, but when Trump came to power, I instantly
thought of it,” Jelinek said in an emailed response to questions
translated from German.
Vampi and
Bampi, a pair of pun-prone vampires sung by Sarah Defrise and Kristina
Stanek, are avatars of the authors during five scenes that unfold over 2
hours, 45 minutes, and they frame action in the manner of Wagner's
Rheinmaidens and Norns. The President-King (sung by Georg Nigl) is
opposed by Gorgonzilla (Anna Clementi), a monster spawned by a nuclear
accident. One of the early titles was “Godzilla,” but it was changed
because of a rights issue.
Mickey and Tuckey, the President-King's
adjutants sung by countertenors Andrew Watts and Eric Jurenas, were
patterned after Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, according to Kratzer, who
directed the production. They sing lines such as: “Nobody has such high
numbers as you.”
Charlotte Rampling, in several projected videos,
portrays a character called The Goddess who defends nature and
civilization. Gorgonzilla devours the The President-King, but the
creature also becomes an authoritarian. The opera ends with video of the
vampires drifting on a platform along the Elbe while playing Schubert
on a Bösendorfer piano, worrying the Earth has been destroyed by its
leaders.
Outlandish portrayal of Trump-like character
The
President-King grows to huge dimensions while wearing a diaper and
golden necktie in Rainer Sellmaier's set and costume design, and he
plants a golf club on Gorgonzilla's rock, much like the White House AI
photo of Trump landing on Greenland. The President-King boasts of
winning “Ohoho” and “Tuxus,” and his lead in “Pennsilfania” isn't even
close.
Wearing Kermit the Frog and
Miss Piggy masks, the vampires attack The President-King with
sledgehammers and saws, which have no impact. The one resembling Miss
Piggy mimics missing with a rifle, prompting The President-King to raise
a fist in defiance.
“People of power are always afraid of humor,”
Neuwirth said. “For example, Hitler was so afraid of Charlie Chaplin’s
`The (Great) Dictator' — he watched it secretly in his room in Berlin —
because they are afraid to be laughed at. They have this ego, which is
not allowed to be questioned.”
Neuwirth composed for a
Mozart-sized orchestra adding an electric guitar and a drum kit, as
characters often used Sprechstimme — spoken-word singing. Conductor
Titus Engle melded Neuwirth's many musical genres.
“I’m not
playing the American president, but it’s very close,” Nigl said. “I am
playing a misogynist. I am playing a braggart. I am playing a fraudster,
a despiser.”
Nigl portrayed Russian President Vladimir Putin last
year in Gordon Kampe’s “Die Kreide im Mund des Wolfs (The Chalk in the
Wolf’s Mouth).” Nigl said his most important words in this opera are
when he sings: “He who has millions does not need voters.”
Trump's reaction is on their minds
Neuwirth vowed “I’m never going to write an opera again,” adding she will reveal her reason at a later date.
She is aware she could face repercussions from the U.S. administration.
“I’m kind of a little bit afraid because I want to still enter the United States,” she said.
Jelinek remained unconcerned.
“I am not afraid. I am a small, unimportant European woman,” she wrote in her emailed responses.
Jewish state senator introduces Virginia bill defining Judeophobia as hate crime in assault cases
An Israeli-American state senator from Virginia has introduced a bill to criminalize Judeophobia.
The bill,
introduced by state Sen. Benjamin Netanya Shomo, would define
"Judeophobia" "as it relates to the crime of assault and battery as
malicious prejudice or hatred directed toward Judaism or Jews."
The
summary for Shlomo’s bill says that the Judeophobia definition "applies
regardless of whether the victim is actually a practitioner of Judaism,
provided that the perpetrator targeted such victim based on a perceived
adherence to such faith. The bill also clarifies that religious conviction includes Judaism."
The
bill "directs the Department of State Police, in consultation with the
Office of the Attorney General and the Office of Diversity, Equity, and
Inclusion, to include the bill's definition of ‘Judeophobia’ in its hate crime reporting central repository."
Shlomo represents Virginia's district 37, which includes all of Fairfax City and Falls Church City, and parts of Fairfax County.
Shlomo currently serves on several high-profile Virginia studies and
commissions, including the Joint Commission on Technology and Science
(JCOTS) Blockchain Advisory Committee, Joint Commission to Oversee the
Transition of the Commonwealth into a Retail Cannabis Market, Virginia
Child Support Guidelines Review Panel, Electric Vehicle Rebate Program
Advisory Council, Information Technology Advisory Council, Virginia
Commission on Intergovernmental Cooperation, and the Northern Virginia
Transportation Commission. He represents Virginia's district 37, which includes all of Fairfax City and Falls Church City, and parts of Fairfax County.
Muslim state senator introduces Virginia bill defining Islamophobia as hate crime in assault cases
A Bengali-American state senator from Virginia has introduced a bill to criminalize Islamophobia.
The bill,
introduced by state Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim, would define
"Islamophobia" "as it relates to the crime of assault and battery as
malicious prejudice or hatred directed toward Islam or Muslims."
The
summary for Salim’s bill says that the Islamophobia definition "applies
regardless of whether the victim is actually a practitioner of Islam,
provided that the perpetrator targeted such victim based on a perceived
adherence to such faith. The bill also clarifies that religious conviction includes Islam."
The
bill "directs the Department of State Police, in consultation with the
Office of the Attorney General and the Office of Diversity, Equity, and
Inclusion, to include the bill's definition of ‘Islamophobia’ in its hate crime reporting central repository."
Salim represents Virginia's district 37, which includes all of Fairfax City and Falls Church City, and parts of Fairfax County.
Salim currently serves on several high-profile Virginia studies and
commissions, including the Joint Commission on Technology and Science
(JCOTS) Blockchain Advisory Committee, Joint Commission to Oversee the
Transition of the Commonwealth into a Retail Cannabis Market, Virginia
Child Support Guidelines Review Panel, Electric Vehicle Rebate Program
Advisory Council, Information Technology Advisory Council, Virginia
Commission on Intergovernmental Cooperation, and the Northern Virginia
Transportation Commission. He represents Virginia's district 37, which
includes all of Fairfax City and Falls Church City, and parts of Fairfax
County.
Fill in the blanks with your own favorite primitive or modern religion
________ state senator introduces Virginia bill defining _______ phobia as hate crime in assault cases
A _______-American state senator from Virginia has introduced a bill to criminalize _______phobia.
The bill,
introduced by state Sen. ______ _______ _______, would define
"_____phobia" "as it relates to the crime of assault and battery as
malicious prejudice or hatred directed toward ______ or _______s."
The
summary for ______’s bill says that the ______phobia definition "applies
regardless of whether the victim is actually a practitioner of ______,
provided that the perpetrator targeted such victim based on a perceived
adherence to such faith. The bill also clarifies that religious conviction includes ______."
The
bill "directs the Department of State Police, in consultation with the
Office of the Attorney General and the Office of Diversity, Equity, and
Inclusion, to include the bill's definition of ‘______phobia’ in its hate crime reporting central repository."
_______ represents Virginia's district 37, which includes all of Fairfax City and Falls Church City, and parts of Fairfax County.
_______ currently serves on several high-profile Virginia studies and
commissions, including the Joint Commission on Technology and Science
(JCOTS) Blockchain Advisory Committee, Joint Commission to Oversee the
Transition of the Commonwealth into a Retail Cannabis Market, Virginia
Child Support Guidelines Review Panel, Electric Vehicle Rebate Program
Advisory Council, Information Technology Advisory Council, Virginia
Commission on Intergovernmental Cooperation, and the Northern Virginia
Transportation Commission. He represents Virginia's district 37, which
includes all of Fairfax City and Falls Church City, and parts of Fairfax
County.
Texas primary between Crockett, Talarico turns ugly
Caroline Vakil
The
Senate Democratic primary in Texas has taken an ugly turn, with the
increased infighting threatening to complicate the party’s chances of
flipping the seat in November.
The most notable incident came this
week when former Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas), the Democratic nominee
for Senate last cycle, ripped state Rep. James Talarico (D) for
allegedly calling him a “mediocre Black man.” Talarico said the
allegation was a mischaracterization and that he had referred to
Allred’s method of campaigning as mediocre, not Allred personally.
Yet
the escalating feud between Talarico and primary rival Rep. Jasmine
Crockett (D-Texas) — who quickly threw her support behind Allred in a
statement without mentioning Talarico by name — is rattling some
Democrats, who view it as an unhelpful distraction ahead of the March 3
primary.
“We’re taking our eye off the ball,” Texas Democratic
consultant Joel Montfort said. “But that this is what Democrats are very
good at doing. … We become distracted and we start infighting over
things that aren’t particularly beneficial to winning races.”
The
race for the Democratic nod for Sen. John Cornyn’s (R-Texas) seat has
started to ramp up in recent weeks amid heated conversations around
electability and polling suggesting the primary is getting tighter.
Crockett,
a Black former Texas state lawmaker and civil rights attorney currently
serving in the House, is seen by some as a controversial Senate
candidate, given some of her online and viral exchanges, including
referring to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who is in a wheelchair, as “hot
wheels,” and former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) as having a
“bleach-blonde, bad-built butch body.”
Last month, two comedians
apologized after they said on a podcast not to support Crockett over
Talarico, a white Presbyterian seminarian and former middle school
teacher.
The discourse has irked some members of the party, who
believe the conversation is aimed at discouraging voters from backing
the Black candidate in the race.
“You’re running in the Democratic
primary against U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett and there’s been a lot of
discourse around her electability, and some would say that is code for
they don’t think a Black woman can win statewide,” “The View” co-host
Sunny Hostin told Talarico during his appearance on the show Monday.
Talarico
said during that appearance he would fully back her if she became the
nominee and believed she could win statewide in Texas, calling her a
“friend” and saying he had “deep love and respect for her.”
Meanwhile, Punchbowl News reported last
week, citing a top Crockett supporter, that the House member’s campaign
is planning a rollout of attack ads targeting Talarico.
Although
Crockett’s team has not confirmed the reporting, Talarico responded with
a statement stressing that the primary “should be a positive race”
focused on their records.
The back-and-forth came just days after the Democratic rivals squared off in their first debate, a largely cordial event that saw both sides emphasize points of agreement.
Both
Democrats are seen as ideologically similar, making the race more about
approach and tone, with Talarico perceived to be more measured and
Crockett cast as a firebrand.
“It
becomes … seemingly inevitable that almost all of these things start
devolving into some sort of negative vein as we get closer to the
elections,” Montfort said.
Although voters do respond to negative
primary material, there’s “a huge risk” it could backfire in the general
election, he argued.
“It can completely undermine their campaign.
You’ve got to be very careful what you do in the primary, because it
can come back in the general with your real opponent.”
The primary
took a surprising turn this week when a TikTok user posted a series of
videos alleging Talarico described Allred as a “mediocre Black man” and
Crockett as a “formidable” and “intelligent Black woman” during a
private conversation last month. The influencer said she didn’t have a
recording of the conversation but defended the accuracy of it.
The comments angered Allred, who slammed the Texas state lawmaker and said he would endorse Crockett in the race.
“First
of all, let me just give you some free advice, James: If you want to
compliment Black women, just do it. Just do it,” Allred said in a video.
“Don’t do it while also tearing down a Black man.”
Talarico in a
statement argued the remarks mischaracterized his comments, saying he
was referring solely to Allred’s campaign strategy.
“It’s
unfortunate that at the start of Black History Month, this is what we’re
facing,” Crockett said in her statement supporting Allred.
Monique
Alcala, a former executive director for the Texas Democratic Party who
worked closely with Allred’s Senate campaign last cycle, thought
Talarico’s comments were “in poor taste.”
Yet she suggested
Democrats could still keep themselves competitive heading into November
“as long as we’re focused on working together and not all … this petty
infighting and letting influencers drive the discourse.”
Democratic strategist Caitlin Legacki also suggested the recent infighting was unlikely to make a dent among voters in the fall.
“I
have a hard time believing there are any voters — persuadable or
otherwise — who are going to make their voting decisions in November
based on [a social media] spat in February,” she told The Hill in a text
message.
Recent polling has shown an increasingly tight race
between the two Democrats as they vie for the nomination next month. An
early January Emerson College Polling/Nexstar Media survey found
Talarico up 9 points over Crockett in the primary, with 15 percent
undecided.
A Texas Public Opinion Research poll released last week
found the Democratic rivals neck and neck, with 38 percent supporting
Crockett and 37 percent for Talarico. Another 21 percent were undecided.
Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) also appear to be in a dead heat on the GOP side.
In
hypothetical general election match-ups, the Emerson poll found Cornyn
bested Talarico by 3 points and Crockett by 5 points. Talarico and
Crockett both tied Paxton in their respective match-ups.
The
infighting couldn’t come at a worse time for Democrats, who were riding
high after flipping a Trump-won state Senate seat in Texas over the
weekend, making them more bullish about their chances there in November.
The results have raised concerns among Republicans about what it could
mean for them in the fall.
“It’s going to be really up to these
candidates to be able to really draw a distinction with themselves,”
said Matt Angle, a Democratic strategist who founded the
Democrat-focused Lone Star Project.
“There’s something to be said
for a competitive primary in order to really suss out the stronger
candidate, and a part of that is being able to take a punch and throw a
punch. And so I think that’s what we’re going to see over the next
several weeks.”
None of the US-Born White American criminals are migrants or immigrants. They are all bred and raised in the family-values conservative states of the union. Some are evangelical "pastors". Underage girls in the US are under constant threat from white American male predators, in what experts say is an epidemic, perhaps incited by the Epstein Files and by Donald Trump's own salacious lifestyle of adultery and sexual abuse, and his friendship with the notorious pedophile.
===============================================
Two White American Men from Illinois Tried to Kidnap a Kentucky Teen and Take Her to Texas for Sexual Abuse
Gabriel Waibel - Laurel County Correctional Center
The two men appeared in a Kentucky courtroom after police arrested them for trying to kidnap a teenage girl right from her home. The two men — Gabriel Waibel, 19, and Chad Goffinet, 43 — were arrested on Saturday, January 31, after getting a call from the teen's mother. The mom told county dispatchers Waibel and Goffinet showed up at their London home before 6 a.m. and informed her that they would be leaving with her daughter.
Waibel even told the mother that her child was his girlfriend, according to a statement from police.
The mother said that she told the two men to leave, which they did — in a silver vehicle. She then called 911 with a description of their car.
Within minutes, deputies caught up with the men — who are both from Peoria — in a nearby business' parking lot and questioned them.
Other deputies arrived at the home to find footprints in the snow leading up and away from the home. The same footprints were found around an accessory building and other areas of the property, police explained in the statement.
Investigators eventually learned that the girl, who is 17, had been communicating online with Waibel for the last two months.
Police said that they believe the two suspects were planning on traveling to Texas with the teen. It was unclear what they planned on doing once they arrived there, but are suspected to wanting to sexually abuse the underage girl.
Waibel was formally charged with attempted kidnapping of a minor, first-degree unlawful transaction with a minor, illegal sex act with a minor under 18, and first-degree sexual abuse. Chad Goffinet - Laurel County Correctional Center
Meanwhile, Goffinet, who was driving the silver car, was charged with complicity in the kidnapping of a minor and possession of marijuana.
Waibel is being held on a $75,000 bond while Goffinet has been remanded on a $50,000 cash bond. It was unclear how the two men knew each other. It was also unclear what led to the sexual abuse charge.
Waibel is facing a serious amount of jail time if convicted. First-degree unlawful transaction with a minor is punishable by up to 12 months in jail. He could be sent to prison for up to 20 years if he's convicted on the attempted kidnapping count.
Meanwhile, a Long Island white man kidnapped and 11-year-old girl and she was found naked in his bed.
A kidnapped 11-year-old girl was found naked in the bed of a Long Island, New York, man after he met her online. Prosecutors in Suffolk County say that Nicholas Wieber, 28, entered not guilty pleas to two counts of kidnapping and one count of child endangerment during his arraignment on Friday, January 9.
Investigators say that Wieber drove more than an hour and close to 40 miles to Queens to meet with the victim, who he met through the communication and gaming application Discord. Wieber had been grooming the underage girl since last December 2025. Wieber's messages to the girl "quickly became sexual in nature", say the investigators in the case.
According to police, the victim's mother went to pick her daughter up from the bus after school on December 12, only to realize that the girl wasn't even on the bus. The victim's mother frantically started calling her daughter's friends to see if the girl was with them. But they all told her that the girl had left in a car that was being driven by an older man. The mother then called New York State Police and officers began searching for the girl. Several hours later, police would learn the girl had been chatting with Wieber online and that he had allegedly driven the female victim back to his home in Bay Shore.
Police showed up at Wieber's residence on December 13, 2025 and officers forced their way in and immediately arrested Wieber after they discovered the girl in naked in his bed. The young girl has been reunited with her family and it remain unclear if the girl has been raped or suffered injuries of a sexual nature.
Wieber is being held on $250,000 cash, $500,000 bond, or a $2.5 million partially secured bond. Prosecutors said that he is due to face a judge on February 17. If he is convicted on the kidnapping count alone, Wieber could be sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
=========================================
13-year-old
Wynter Wagoner went missing from Kentucky for over two months. She was found in Maryland after a tip led authorities to a home in Silver Spring
where she was located with Christian Alexander Delgado, who has been
charged with her kidnapping.
Delgado was arrested at the scene and has been formally charged with Wagoner's kidnapping. Police were dispatched
to the residence — on Dalewood Drive — around 6:00 p.m. on December 26 after receiving a tip. Wagoner had called her aunt to share the address
she was at in Maryland, and her aunt then called the U.S. Marshals. When they arrived at his home, officers and U.S. Marshal deputies found Delgado, 37, inside with Wagoner.
Delgado
told officers that he had met Wagoner online and said that he drove
from Florida to Kentucky to pick her up. He then claimed that he took
her back to Florida before they eventually ended up in Maryland.
Before
she was found safe, Wagoner was last seen by her foster parents on
October 14 in Rockcastle County. Her disappearance sparked an extensive
search effort, which involved her family and several volunteers who
worked hard to make sure people knew what she looked like as the search
for her continued.
===============================================
WBOY Clarksburg
Hearing held for West Virginia pastor accused of sexually abusing girls for years Joey Rather Tue, February 3, 2026
Video is previous coverage.
WESTON, W.Va. (WBOY) — Tuesday marked the first hearing in Lewis County court for John Radcliff, a former pastor accused of sexually abusing young girls over a period of several years.
Tuesday began the pre-trial motion hearing. Prosecutor Christina Flanigan moved to continue the case until the June term and informed the court that the investigating officer has learned of another named alleged victim who lives out of state.
Flanigan requested that the prosecution be given time to track down this new alleged victim to potentially pursue additional charges against Radcliff. The defense did not object to this motion, which was granted by Judge Jacob Reger.
The next pretrial hearing in Radcliff’s case is scheduled for June 3 at 9:15 a.m. Jury selection is set for June 15 at 9 a.m.
Radcliff was indicted in Lewis County in July 2025 on 47 felony charges against eight victims, including sexual assault, sexual abuse and incest. During Tuesday’s hearing, the charge count was reduced to only 42, pending the addition of more by the alleged victim, who lives out of state.
Criminal complaints filed at the time of Radcliff’s arrest list some of the victims as being as young as 3 or 4 years old at the time of the alleged abuse. Multiple victims told investigators that Radcliff has forced them to touch his genitals and perform oral sex on him, the complaint said.
Radcliff is also facing charges in Braxton, Harrison and Nicholas counties.
American "Christians" believe in competition and the laws of the jungle. They are Darwinian to the bone, but reject Darwin's Law of Evolution by Natural Selection. But one of Christ's main teachings is counter to Darwinian principles: Do nor pursue money and wealth (Evangelicals do love money and wealth). Keep politics separate from religion (Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's), but Evangelical pseudo-Christian criminals, like their Muslim Taliban or Iranian Mullah counterparts, want religion to superseed and manage politics. Love your enemy, says Christ. Hate your enemy say the Evangelical barbarians. And so on and so forth. Love the poor, the stranger and the destitute, says Christ; Hate the poor, the migrant and the destitute, say the American Evangelical Christians.
So, when a Texas Senate candidate says that people from other religions and people without religion are better "Christians" than those who claim to be Christian, he's onto something. Religion did not discover ethics and morality. In fact, religion was - and still is - more often than not used against ethics and morality. The human species discovered the "Golden Rule" long before the emergence of religions in human societies: Humans discovered that "cooperation" is a better formula for survival than warmongering, violence and plunder and mayhem. The only reason the human species has been so successful is because of cooperation and living together, the hallmarks of all morality and ethics.
I don't need God, Allah, Dieu, Gott, Dios...or whatever the name of the Big Zombie in the Sky is to understand the basis of all human morality: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you".
American Christians are Christian only in name. Don't believe them. Believe what your heart and your mind tell you.
Texas Democrat U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico is being praised for his courageous comments on God and faith after saying on a podcast that atheists are "more Christ-like than" some of his Christian colleagues in the Texas House. Naturally, the barbarian fake Christian conservatives and white supremacists are not happy. Like their Muslim counterparts of the Taliban or the Iranian Mullahs, they cannot accept dissent from the pernicious religious dogmas they want to impose on people in order to maintain their control of the "herds".
"Instead of putting the 10 Commandments in every classroom, instead of forcing school children to read the Bible against their wills, why don't we, all of us, look inward and figure out how we can be more Christ-like, even when it's uncomfortable," Talarico, a Democrat in the Texas House, said on the "Politics War Room" podcast published Friday. The podcast is hosted by journalist Al Hunt and Democratic strategist James Carville.
"I have met so many Hindus, Buddhists, Sikh Jews, Muslims, atheists, agnostics who are more Christ-like than some of the Christians I serve with in the Texas legislature," Talarico said. "It is about how you treat other people."
State Rep. James Talarico addresses the crowd during a campaign rally after launching his Senate campaign for the seat held by John Cornyn in Round Rock, Texas, Sept. 9, 2025. (Getty Images)
The Texas Democrat is running to serve as a U.S. senator by unseating Republican Sen. John Cornyn. "There is a backlash growing in Texas against the extremism and the corruption that we're seeing at all levels of our government, and I'm seeing it everywhere I go," Talarico explained of what he's seeing from the campaign trail to flip the seat blue.
Talarico is a former school teacher and Presbyterian seminarian. He says he leans on his Christianity as he works in the "halls of power" while taking aim at conservatives. "Christian nationalism, you see people's faith growing out of their politics, right?" he said. "They're baptizing their partisanship, and they're calling that Christianity. And it's why it doesn't resemble the life, death and teachings of Jesus Christ, right?
"These Christians in Congress, these Christian nationalists, they want a Christian nation unless it means providing health care to the sick, unless it means funding food assistance for the hungry or raising the minimum wage for the poor."
His remarks were welcomed by large swaths of American citizens who feel oppressed by the obscurantist resurgence of Trump's ultra-religious barbarians who are Christian in name only, but have nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus Christ. Most Americans can tell a phoney from a genuine human being. Unfortunately, an ignorant illiterate segment of Americans have fallen for the lies and the bigotry, and were instrumental in bringing the fake Christian criminal and cheater Donald Dumb to power.
Talarico has a long history of speaking the truth about God, Jesus, Christianity and religion in general. He's an educated Christian seminarian and he knows more about Chrustianity than any of the criminal Evangelical bigots who take offense at his telling the truth. State Rep. James Talarico, a Democrat from Texas and U.S. Senate candidate, joined Joe Rogan’s podcast in September 2025, where he also claimed the Bible permits abortion.
In an interview with a New York Times podcast in January, Talarico said that his Christian faith has grown "by learning more about Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism," adding that "these beautiful faith traditions are circling the same truth about the universe, about the cosmos. And that truth is inherently a mystery. He is still entrenched in the cocoon of religious supersititions, but he has taken a major step toward liberating the poor MAGA morons from the grip of Evangelical oppression and control. We need him to liberate backward Texas from the jail of ultra-barbarian religion.
Nothing cleaner than the truth from the mouth of former liars. If Marjorie Taylor Greene has changed her mind, and has only now discovered that Trump's MAGA was one big lie, doesn't she bear any responsibility for having believed the lie in the first place?
Isn't it the job of a politician to know in advance what is good and what is bad for their constitutents and for the country? If they can't have a long term view on the consequences of their actions or affiliations, then why become politicians? If any jackass citizen can jump into the arena of politics, make tragic mistakes, then turn around and say, "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know...", then why have these expensive and long campaigns? Why not elect our representatives with a coin toss or a lottery?
Marjorie Taylor Greene was a big enabler of Donald Trump during his two terms. She now is telling the country she was wrong and Trump was a big liar. Fine. But many of her rivals and adversaries were telling her all through the past ten years that Trump was a criminal, a liar, an idiot, and all she had to do was to look at his political actions - the seditious attack on Congress, his "partnerhsip" with Vladimir Putin, etc. - and his own personal life of crime, adultery, cheating.... Couldn't she foresee, like many average citizens did, that he was unfit to the office?
You can't judge a politician by his/her campaign promises because delivering on these promises requires the convergence of many factors that are often outside the reach of the politician. That is why voters should judge candidates on the basis of their history, character and integrity. With the first of these three criteria as a guide, we all knew that Trump had the character of a thuggish and stupid adolescent who lacked the slightest shred of integrity.
Marjorie Taylor Greene should be held responsible for her part in bringing Trump to power. If she runs again for office, voters should remind her of that fact. You can't ride the easy part then bail out when the ride becomes rough, and claim you didn't know. It's like all these Epstein friends who now say they didn't know. ==============================================
Marjorie Taylor Greene Bluntly Declares MAGA ‘Was All a Lie’ in Scalding Take on Trump’s GOP Sean James Sun, February 1, 2026
Former Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene went absolutely nuts on President Donald Trump in a new interview, branding his Make America Great Again movement a “big lie” and accusing the president of ignoring U.S. citizens so that he can focus on waging “war on behalf of Israel.”
The ex-lawmaker shared her eyebrow-raising thoughts in an interview with political commentator Kim Iversen on YouTube on Thursday.
“MAGA is — I think people are realizing it was all a lie. It was a big lie for the people,” Greene said.
She said Trump has completely turned on his base and is more worried about serving the “big big donors” who send money to his PACs and have pitched in for his new ballroom.
“Those are the people that get the special favors, the government contracts, they get the pardons,” Greene said. “And it’s the foreign countries that are running the show here. It’s the major big corporations and what is best for the world. That’s really what MAGA is.”
Greene then accused the president of caring more about Iran than what’s going on in the USA.
“I’m sorry, we’ve got civil war practically breaking out in Minnesota, can we not care about that?” she said.
Greene then moved to bashing Israel, which she said Trump is fixated on. She accused him of overlooking “murdered” Gazans so that he can eventually build a new Trump hotel.
“We’re seeing war on behalf of Israel,” Greene fumed. “We’re seeing the people in Gaza — innocent people in Gaza, hundreds of thousands of them completely murdered, so that they can build some new real estate development and money can pour in and everyone can get rich there in New Gaza.”
Her comments come a few weeks after Greene resigned from Congress. She announced she was leaving public office last fall amid her feud with Trump, which largely stemmed from her accusing the president of not moving fast enough to release files on dead sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump in return gave her the nickname Marjorie “Traitor” Greene and said his former ally had “some sort of act going on.”
Watch via The Kim Iversen Show.
The post Marjorie Taylor Greene Bluntly Declares MAGA ‘Was All a Lie’ in Scalding Take on Trump’s GOP first appeared on Mediaite.
They voted for Trump who promised them heaven and earth. Now they find themselves stuck with crops they can't sell because no one wants to buy from the country that has a vulgar, hostile, inimical and stupid president. It's the tariffs, idiot. And beneath the tariffs is a president who hates and bullies the rest of the world. If you have two suppliers, one that works with you and operates honestly within the rules, while another spews hateful comments, issues threats and makes sneaky deals, which one would you work with?
Contrary to what the Moron-in-Chief says, the world is abandoning the US because of Trump. All countries are developing their workarounds in all aspects of life, trade and the economy to avoid having to deal with an erratic unstable US. And who pays the price? Not the MAGA pedophile-protector billionaire elites who run Trump's government. Those who pay the prince are the farmers, small businesses, hotels, manufacturers, and restaurants whose businesses are shrinking because tourists no longer come to the US, because tariffs send buyers and suppliers elsewhere, to other countries. The Europeans, the UK and Canada have recently struck free trade deals with China just to avoid having to deal with a country led by thugs and criminals. Trump's stupid America First might have worked in the late 19th century and early 20th century. It doesn't work anymore. In this 21st century, America First means America Alone. And that is not good for business.
Ignorant, racist and xenophobic US farmers of the hinterland who voted en masse for the dumb criminal seem to prefer to be beggars on the welfare rolls of a US government they despise. When will they ever learn?
Farmers consider leaving staple crops to rot following unexpected crisis: 'What am I supposed to do with 2.2 million pounds of [this]?' Noah Jampol Mon, February 2, 2026
Photo Credit: iStock
Farmers in the Mississippi Delta are dealing with a nightmarish 2025 with an unsolvable problem. They simply have too much of their rice crops with nowhere to sell them. What's happening?
The New York Times reported on the confluence of factors leaving farmers in Mississippi unable to sell their rice, despite many betting heavily on the crop.
Prices reached $7 a bushel last spring, which led farmers like Jack Westerfield to commit additional land to the crop. That decision backfired quickly. Global rice prices have tumbled 30% to around $5 a bushel. India lowered restrictions on exports, raising supply. Meanwhile, Latin America, a key market, is choosing other countries' rice over American varieties.
That is leading farmers in the Delta to store unheard-of quantities of rice in grain bins.
"What am I supposed to do with 2.2 million pounds of rice?" Westerfield asked the Times rhetorically.
Westerfield is far from alone in this quandary for American farmers. This situation parallels challenges faced by soybean producers dealing with trade tensions, as they are compelled to offload surplus produce.
At a Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation meeting, attendees proposed the idea of a government-backed program where farmers would get compensated for simply getting rid of their surplus rice. [But I thought they hate government interfering with their business, or is it hate government when you can and love it when you must?].
Why are the struggles of Mississippi Delta farmers important?
The financial prospects for farming remain bleak, and the appeal for newcomers to come in is waning.
"Who wants to come out here and work as hard as you have to work and climb this mountain of debt you might not see the top of until the end of your life?" Westerfield asked.
Meanwhile, established farmers are questioning the future, wondering how many more years in the red they can take. At the core of the problem is that American farmers, including those in the Delta, rarely grow food that gets sold on the U.S. market. That means that they're at the mercy of demand overseas, which can be impacted by tariffs, rival production, and changing market preferences. In years where demand doesn't match supply, acres of farmland are wasted on crops that can't sell. That means all of the fuel, water, and labor go to waste.
What's being done about Mississippi farmers' struggles?
Farmers are getting a lifeline through a $12 billion bailout, with rice growers compensated on the higher end. Still, the $132-per-acre buyout for rice falls well short of the roughly $1,000-per-acre price to cultivate the unsold crops.
Another proposed idea is changing over crops to higher-priced ones that Americans eat like fresh fruit, vegetables, and nuts. The problem is that doing so will require a paradigm shift for American agriculture.
Everything from university research, federal government insurance, financing from banks, the supply chain, and a network of buyers would need to be reworked to support a transition.
That's too tall an ask, according to some farmers.
"We could grow strawberries or whatever, but there is nowhere to take it," farmer Wayne Dulaney told the Times.
===============================================
Read about Canada's irreversible divorce from the US:
They may be sycophants who pay the despot to keep him off their backs. They may be crude capitalists who would not shy away from exploiting other countries' oil resources and screwing the environment when there's dirty money to be made. But when the despot demands they invest in a losing scheme - to resurrect the Venezuelan oil industry in a highly unstable environment - they discover a limit to their sycophancy, they balk and sulk and invent words like "uninvestable".
They also know that stealing another country's oil, which is what Trump wants them to do on his behalf, is illegal and could cost them dearly when Trump vanishes into his twilight.
Remember that one of them, former Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson, who tried to work as Trump's Foreign Secretary, slammed the door as he left the Outhouse and referred to Trump as a MORON. ==================================================
Exxon and Chevron decline new spending in Venezuela while taking a wait-and-see approach for the years ahead Jordan Blum Updated Sat, January 31, 2026
Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods (far right) at a meeting with President Donald Trump and other oil company executives in the East Room of the White House, Jan. 9. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI—AFP/Getty Images)
U.S. Big Oil giants Exxon Mobil and Chevron said Jan. 30 they have no plans to increase their capital spending in Venezuela this year while they wait and see how legal and political reforms unfold to make the country more inviting to foreign oil investments.
Since forcibly removing leader Nicolás Maduro from power, President Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted U.S. oil companies will spend more than $100 billion in Venezuela to dramatically rebuild its dilapidated infrastructure. But Exxon Mobil chairman and CEO Darren Woods infamously drew Trump’s ire earlier this month when he told the president that Venezuela is currently “uninvestable” until major reforms are enacted and the country sees real stability. After all, Exxon had its oil assets expropriated in Venezuela less than 20 years ago.
Trump later said Woods’ remarks were “too cute” and that he may be inclined to keep the world’s largest Big Oil player out of Venezuela.
Woods said Jan. 30 on his fourth-quarter earnings call that he does believe the Trump administration is committed to making the necessary changes to eventually turn Venezuela into a viable investment option. How soon remains to be seen. Venezuela’s National Assembly began approving reforms to its oil and gas laws on Jan. 29.
“Venezuela has those challenges that I mentioned, which I believe in time will get addressed,” Woods said, arguing the other challenge is the high cost of extracting and processing the extra-heavy grade of tar-like crude oil in Venezuela.
He said Exxon already has the expertise in producing heavy oil sands in Canada that can translate.
“We think we bring an advantaged approach that will lead to lower-cost production, higher recovery, and therefore, more economic barrels onto the marketplace. That’s I think the opportunity set that will play out over time,” Woods said, adding that Exxon is still committed to sending a small technical team to Venezuela to assess the situation in the near term.
Chevron, on the other hand, is the only U.S. company currently producing oil in Venezuela, thanks to a special license. Chevron churns out nearly 250,000 barrels a day of oil—about a quarter of Venezuela’s almost 1 million barrels of daily output.
Chevron chairman and CEO Mike Wirth reiterated that his company could hike its oil flows by 50% in less than two years, but that would only mean raising Venezuela’s overall output to just above 1.1 million barrels per day for a country—with the world’s largest proven oil reserves—that peaked decades ago with an output of nearly 4 million barrels.
Notably, Wirth said Chevron’s Venezuelan activity is self-funded through its joint ventures with the state oil company PDVSA, and there are no current plans to add additional capital spending just yet.
“I think it’s a little early to say what our longer-term outlook is,” Wirth said on his earnings call. “You should expect us to remain focused on value and capital discipline. It’s a large resource that has the opportunity to become a more sizable part of our portfolio in the future, but we also need to see stability in the country. We need to have confidence in the fiscal regime.”
Wirth said Chevron is reviewing the new hydrocarbons law that was tentatively approved and that there are a “number of signposts” Chevron will be watching.
“Like anywhere we invest, fiscal terms, stability, regulatory predictability are important. So it will have to compete in our portfolio versus attractive investments in many other parts of the world,” Wirth added. “With the right changes, we certainly could see our operations and the footprint expand in Venezuela. And we’re working with the U.S. government and the Venezuelan government to try to create circumstances that would enable that.” Earnings beats
Exxon and Chevron both posted quarterly earnings beats, but they also are both facing declining profits primarily owing to deflated crude oil prices—the same lower prices that make Venezuelan investments more challenging for now.
In spite of the weaker commodity environment, Chevron reported its largest oil and gas production volumes in its history, while Exxon touted its greatest output in more than 40 years.
Exxon’s stock dipped slightly by 1%, while Chevron stock rose by more than 1%.
More than half of Exxon’s production came from the still-booming Permian Basin in West Texas and its rapidly rising output from offshore Guyana, which borders Venezuela. Chevron, which is the second-largest Permian producer after Exxon, became Exxon’s top partner in Guyana after it closed its $53 billion acquisition of Hess last year.
Woods said Exxon is awaiting an International Court of Justice arbitration ruling over an international waters border dispute between Guyana and Venezuela. A favorable ruling could unlock more offshore exploration for Exxon and Chevron.
“Obviously, with the developments in Venezuela, perhaps we’ll see an opportunity with less naval patrols that will make it a little more friendly environment,” Woods said, adding that he’s optimistic. “We will have an opportunity to do what we need to do in that portion of the [exploration] block when it’s available to us.”
Exxon reported fourth-quarter earnings of $6.5 billion, down 15% year on year from $7.6 billion. Full-year 2025 earnings came in at $28.8 billion, down 14% from $33.7 billion in 2024.
Chevron reported quarterly earnings of almost $2.8 billion, down year on year almost 15% from more than $3.2 billion. Full-year profits were $12.3 billion, down 30% from $17.7 billion the year prior.
Trump and Putin have a joint plan for destroying the European Union.
Trump is manhandling the Europeans with tariffs and threatening to annex Greenland and Canada while claiming that these two countries are a greater danger to US interests than his own border with Russia in Alaska.
Putin is depleting the European Union of its resources in a protracted war in Ukraine that neither he nor Trump seem too eager to bring to an end. Trump always lies. When he said he can solve the Ukraine war in 24 hours, he knew he was lying to his MAGA herd of morons; in fact he meant the exact opposite. He is as interested as Putin is in dragging the Ukraine war as long as they can to keep weakening the EU: Trump on the western flanks of Europe and Putin on its eastern flanks.
Now we learn that Putin's next step, should an agreement be reached over Ukraine, is to dispatch thousands of his criminal Russian soldiers, terrorists and rapists into the EU to wreak havoc there. In the agreement, Putin will insist in the ceasefire agreement on open borders and limited restrictions on travel by Russians into the EU.
Move over Islamic terrorism. Welcome Russian terrorism. ================================================= Putin ‘will send thousands of criminals to wreak havoc across Europe’ Joe Barnes Sun, February 1, 2026
Vladimir Putin could send Russian soldiers to Europe to wreak havoc, according to the Estonian foreign minister
Vladimir Putin is preparing to send hundreds of thousands of former soldiers to wreak havoc across Europe after any ceasefire in Ukraine, Estonia’s foreign minister told The Telegraph.
Margus Tsahkna has proposed a blanket ban on Russian soldiers who fought in Ukraine from the European Union’s Schengen free-travel zone in response to the Kremlin’s plans to dispatch “ex-prisoners and rapists” to wage hybrid war in the bloc.
He invited the UK to join the scheme to boost collaboration in order to prepare the continent for what could be “very, very sudden security risk for Europe” after a potential peace deal.
“We have close to one million combatants in Russia right now,” Mr Tsahkna told The Telegraph on the sidelines of an EU meeting in Brussels.
“Russia and Putin are already using different people to commit attacks on our societies, but when there will be peace, we can imagine that we will have hundreds of thousands of ex-combatants coming to Europe.
“And they’re definitely not going with good plans to earn their own salaries and pay taxes. They come with real bad plans. We already see the special agencies of Russia organising different attacks in Europe.” Margus Tsahkna wants a blanket ban on Russian soldiers who fought in Ukraine - David Rose for The Telegraph
The Estonian’s fear is Putin will use any pause in the fighting in Ukraine to refocus his aggression on Europe through hybrid warfare.
Europe and Britain have seen a sharp rise in Russian-linked sabotage operations since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of its neighbour.
In 2024, Kremlin proxies were linked to an arson attack on an east London warehouse which was storing satellite communication devices for Ukraine.
While counter-terror police investigating an alleged arson attack on a property owned by Sir Keir Starmer last year are looking into Russian involvement.
Similar, often mysterious, high-profile incidents have been reported across mainland Europe in recent years.
Over the past six months Estonia’s security services have been looking into how Putin could use former soldiers to further ramp up his hybrid war against Nato.
“They are perfect for this mission, ” Mr Tsahkna said. “But they definitely have a very bad background, and also mentally, you know they have been killing, raping… so this is a very, very sudden danger for European security.”
That is why Mr Tsahkna has asked his EU colleagues to consider a blanket ban on entry for former Russian combatants from the Schengen zone, as well as an embargo on work visas and residence permits.
The bloc’s free-movement zone covers 29 countries, spanning from the Balearic islands to the Baltics.
In a diplomatic note circulated to EU foreign ministers, seen by The Telegraph, Estonia warned that there are an estimated 1.5 million Russian citizens who have taken part in the war in Ukraine, with around 640,000 still in active service.
“We see ex-prisoners and rapists, all of these crazy guys, on the battlefield, and Putin doesn’t want that in Russia,” Mr Tsahkna warned.
“They will be weaponised. They will be sent to Europe… And we know exactly how to fight against the Russian military as Nato, but this is more dangerous, and we need to act now while they’re still stuck on the battlefield.” The warning from Estonia is the latest from a Nato country arguing that Europe needs to be more vigilant against the Russian threat - Jeff J Mitchell/Getty
The minister said individual EU countries are already capable of implementing their own embargo on former Russian soldiers entering at the bloc’s external borders.
Estonia imposed a ban on 261 ex-combatants earlier this month amid fears that criminal offences were being committed by former service personnel.
“Up to 180,000 convicted prisoners were recruited directly from Russian penal colonies into special military units,” Estonian intelligence presented in its document.
“Many returnees have already committed serious crimes. The total number of which has reached a 15-year high in Russia in the first of 2025, and this upsurge is likely linked to the mass return of ex-combatants.”
Mr Tsahkna said he had been given positive feedback from his colleagues for his proposals for an EU-wide ban, and said the bloc’s prime ministers and presidents could issue political guidance at their next Brussels meeting.
Tallinn is already sharing the names of suspected Russian soldiers who could attempt to travel to the EU after any ceasefire in Ukraine. ‘We need to do this now’
Asked whether Britain could play a role in the blanket ban, the minister told The Telegraph: “We are already collaborating a lot if you’re talking about terrorists and these kinds of not good persons who want to enter.
“I see lots of opportunities to co-ordinate this as well with states who are not members of Schengen.
“But we need to do it right now, we’re not ready for peace, Europe is not ready for peace.”
The UK, even while a member of the EU, was not a part of the bloc’s Schengen free-movement zone. However, Sir Keir’s post-Brexit reset in relations with Brussels has attempted to secure better access to EU crime and migration databases for the UK.
In theory, Britain could gain access to any EU list of former Russian soldiers to implement its own ban, while also sharing intelligence in the opposite direction.
A UK government spokesman said: “Border security is national security, and we have strict measures at our disposal to protect our country against the threat from Russia.
“We will continue working in partnership with our allies to bring our full capabilities to bear against those who seek to threaten our values, harm our citizens, and undermine our collective security.”
And it's an ex-MAGA Republican Senator from the formerly pro-slavery southern state of North Carolina who made the announcement.
Tillis unloads on Noem and Miller, comparing them to ‘sycophants’ Sarah Davis Sat, January 31, 2026
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) compared Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller to fictional villains on Friday, calling them both a “sycophant” as tensions rise over the administration’s immigration enforcement efforts.
“A sycophant is more than just a ‘yes-man,’” Tillis wrote in a lengthy post on social platform X. “It refers to someone who acts excessively servile toward someone important in order to gain an advantage.”
He added, “They aren’t just being nice, they are using excessive flattery, often insincerely, to get what they want, whether that’s a promotion, social status or favor.”
The senator compared Miller to Grima Wormtongue from “The Lord of the Rings,” who is an adviser to a king.
“He uses whispers and false flattery to control the King’s decisions, all while secretly serving Saruman,” the North Carolina Republican continued in his post. “He is a classic example of a sycophant who uses his position to poison a leader’s standing for his own benefit.”
Additionally, the senator compared Noem to Dolores Umbridge from “Harry Potter,” calling her a “bureaucratic sycophant.”
“She is terrifyingly sweet while she is around those she considers her superiors and she sucks up to authority to gain the power she needs to bully those ‘beneath’ her,” he said.
Tillis has made a marked split from the Republican Senate majority in the last year, after he announced he would not seek reelection in November. He has now become an outspoken critic of the Trump administration and its policies, including recently joining Democrats’ calls for Noem to resign.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has faced mounting scrutiny in recent weeks over the administration’s massive immigration crackdown in Minnesota and immigration enforcement officers’ use of force. Protests spread across the state after two Minneapolis residents — Alex Pretti and Renee Good — were fatally shot by federal agents in two separate incidents earlier this month.
DHS has maintained that the officers were acting in self-defense and Trump officials have blamed Pretti and Good for the incidents, claiming the protesters tried to cause harm to federal immigration authorities.
Democrats, and some Republicans like Tillis, have lashed out at Noem and threatened possible impeachment proceedings. President Trump, however, has stuck behind her and she doubled down on her criticism of the protesters on Friday.
“What [Noem’s] done in Minnesota should be disqualifying. She should be out of a job,” the senator said Monday. “It’s just amateur-ish. It’s terrible. It’s making the president look bad on policy that he won on.”
He included Miller in his earlier critique of the Minnesota operation, saying Trump’s top aide and the DHS chief told the president that Pretti was “a terrorist.” After the ICU nurse was killed last Saturday, Miller also called him a “domestic terrorist” in a post on X.
Why are Israel-First superPAC billionaire Zionists Paul Singer, Miriam Adelson, and John Paulson desperate to prevent the American people from accessing the Epstein Files? Are they friends of the pedophile? Have they visited his island? Or are they just paying criminal Trump back for his servile friendship with the criminal Zionists in Palestine?
Either case, this shows the power of American Zionist money in its collusion with, and directing of, American policy in Palestine. If you've ever wondered why the US "cannot" escape from the Zionist leash, this is one of million explanations. Forget common interest; the US has many more interests with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states. Forget the ambiguous and troubling "alliance" between the US and its mercenary outpost in Palestine; none of it matters. What matters is that Zionist American billionaires do "buy" this alliance by paying off members of the US Congress and administrations.
Singer Adelson Paulson
=================================================
Massie hits critics after latest Epstein files release: ‘It was not a hoax’ Sarah Davis Sat, January 31, 2026
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) hit back on Saturday amid a mounting effort from [Israel-First] superPAC to replace him in the upcoming midterm elections, saying he is being unfairly targeted for pushing for the release of the Epstein files.
“It was not a hoax, I cannot be bullied, I am not done, and this is why those in power are doing everything in their power to defeat me,” Massie wrote on the social platform X on Saturday.
Super PAC “MAGA KY” raised $2 million from June 19-30 last year, the group disclosed in a new Federal Election Committee filing. The fund’s top donor is American hedge fund owner Paul Singer, who contributed $1 million. John Paulson donated $250,000 to the group.
Massie said these two donors are targeting him because of his involvement in a bipartisan group of legislators pushing for the release of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The Republican representative alleged that Paulson appeared in Epstein’s “black book,” a contact log kept by the disgraced financier.
“Within hours of the Epstein file release, a superPAC funded by Israel-first billionaires Miriam Adelson, Paul Singer, and John Paulson, who himself appears in Epstein’s black book, bought another $800,000 of TV ads against me,” Massie said in a second post on X. “I’ll still win, but if I lose, it was worth it.”
Due to Massie and other House members’ efforts, Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which went into effect on Nov. 19. The law directed the Justice Department to release all files related to its probe into Epstein, with exceptions made for victim privacy.
The Justice Department released an additional 3 million documents in their final Epstein file release on Friday — well after Congress’s Dec. 19 deadline. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a court filing earlier this month that the department needed additional review time due to the sheer number of documents.
Massie is being challenged by Trump-endorsed GOP candidate Ed Gallrein, a retired Navy SEAL officer. President Trump, who has heavily criticized Massie, called Gallrein “A WINNER WHO WILL NOT LET KENTUCKY DOWN” in a Truth Social post announcing his endorsement. In the same post, Trump called Massie a “Third Rate Congressman.”
The Kentucky legislator attributed the criticism to his refusal to “rubber stamp foreign aid, endless deficits, and unnecessary wars” in an X post responding to Trump’s endorsement of his opponent.
“I’m also exposing sex traffickers,” he added.
Massie defended his decision to push for the files’ release in another Saturday post, urging voters to check their representative’s stance on these efforts ahead of the midterm elections.
“If your representative, Democrat or Republican, is still silent about the Epstein files, or claiming it’s ‘much ado about nothing,’ it’s time to elect a new one,” Massie said. “Check their public statements today.”
White trash Americans, like Trump, think they are civilized because they have "beautiful white skin". But their sordid criminality is proof that the US never outgrew its age of "Far West" violence, what with all the guns that they buy and worship, then use like idiots on other Americans. To outsiders: There is no American dream. There is only an American nightmare of violence and depravity that characterize the country from the day it was born over the hard labor and torture of Black African slaves, the corpses of the indigenous Amerindian owners of the land, and the sweat, blood and tears of all the immigrants who built - and continue to build - this country.
All the criminals below are white trash Americans. Yet Donald Dumb is going after the handful of dark-skinned migrants and immigrants who commit crimes, while ignoring the millions of his own kind - the white trash Americans - whose depravity pauses an existential threat to this country. Jeffrey Epstein and his coterie of wealthy, but still white trash, elite American pedophiles are only the tip of the iceberg. The Republican "trickle-down" depravity goes across all sectors of white America, down to every trailer and garbage-strewn hillibilly shack, and especially among the ultra-religious bigots of Evangelical protestantism who go around lecturing people around the globe about their "family values". I thought protestantism saved us from the Catholic Church garbage of the Dark Ages; instead it has not changed a thing.
===================================== Pennsylvania Man Sentenced After Shooting Wife in Wheelchair During Fight Over Cooking Dinner Alex Stone Sat, January 31, 2026
Lancaster County District Attorney's Office
A judge ordered a Pennsylvania man to serve two life sentences in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of his wife and her elderly aunt after a domestic dispute over cooking turned fatal.
Last October, Santiago Payano-Sanchez and his wife, Ana Gutierrez-Cedano, got into a "senseless" verbal fight over who would cook dinner, according to Assistant District Attorney Jessica Collo. The altercation turned violent when Payano-Sanchez, 64, took out a gun and shot Gutierrez-Cedano, 59, who was in a wheelchair at the time.
Following the initial attack, Payano-Sanchez’s adult son attempted to take the gun away from his father, but he was shot in the stomach sometime during the scuffle. Payano-Sanchez then went upstairs and killed his wife’s 74-year-old aunt, Dominga Cedano-Cedano.
While Payano-Sanchez’s son, 33 — who was not publicly named in the press release from the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office — survived the shooting, his wife and her aunt both died at the scene before emergency services could arrive and provide life-saving measures. Two children, who were reportedly 2 years old and 7 years old at the time of the incident, were also in the home during the attack, but they were physically unharmed.
“Payano-Sanchez’s son was taken to a hospital with serious injuries while Payano-Sanchez himself was treated for superficial self-inflicted injuries,” the press release on the incident read, noting that bullet fragments still remain in the son’s body. “West Hempfield Township Police initially requested a Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) be dispatched to the residence for a report of a barricaded gunman, though Payano-Sanchez surrendered to police at the scene before they departed.”
The charges against Payano-Sanchez were later filed by West Hempfield Township Police Det. Sgt. Robert Bradfield.
On Friday, January 30, Payano-Sanchez pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal homicide, one count of attempted criminal homicide, one count of aggravated assault, one count of endangering the welfare of children and one count of possession of an instrument of crime.
Prior to his sentencing, Cedano-Cedano’s daughter wrote a letter to the court in which she explained that her mother’s death “left a void that can never be filled.” She described the deaths as a “ trauma” the family would have to carry “for the rest of our lives.”
Payano-Sanchez, who spoke through an interpreter in court, couldn’t or wouldn’t explain why he’d committed the horrible crime. Although he asked his family for forgiveness, he admitted, “I need to face what the law is imposing on me.”
His double life sentence will be followed by 20 to 40 years in state prison. Payano-Sanchez was also ordered to pay $11,000 in restitution. In addition, he is legally not allowed to have contact with the victims’ families for as long as he lives.
A 27-year-old
California man has been convicted in the double murder of his parents,
who prosecutors said he fatally shot during an early morning inside
their San Francisco home, with his younger sister there.
Irvin Hernandez-Flores was found guilty of two counts of second-degree murder
and one count of child abuse more than three years after the 2022
killings, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office announced in a
Monday, January 26, news release.
“No
child should have to witness the murder of her parents like the victim
did in this tragic case,” Assistant District Attorney John Roman said in a statement.
Information on Hernandez-Flores’ legal representation was not immediately available.
After
2:30 a.m. on August 13, 2022, Hernandez-Flores drove to his father and
stepmother’s Bayview home, where “he scaled a locked security fence to
the property” and broke into their house before shooting them to death,
prosecutors said.
His father, Jose Hernandez, 47, was shot five times, according to prosecutors, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. His stepmother, Yesenia Soto, 41, was then shot six times, prosecutors said.
The
deadly shootings unfolded in front of Hernandez-Flores’ younger
half-sister, who was 11 at the time, according to the newspaper.
“This horrific crime left a young woman without her parents and rocked a community,” District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in a statement.
Hernandez-Flores’
father immediately died after the shooting, but his stepmother died
later at a hospital, according to the district attorney’s office.
They were sleeping when he shot them, KTVU reported.
Following the shooting, Hernandez-Flores started an online livestream, according to the outlet.
Randy Quezada, a spokesperson for the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, previously told the San Francisco Chronicle
in 2022 that Hernandez-Flores had livestreamed after the shooting, and
in the footage, “appears proud and happy with himself, all while you can
clearly see his father laying in a pool of blood, and his step-mother slowly dying from her multiple gunshot wounds.”
From
jail, Hernandez-Flores previously spoke with KTVU about the murders,
saying that he “drank heavily” before he headed to his parents’ Bayview
home. Though he said he went there with a gun, he told the TV station
that he did not plan to kill them.
Hernandez-Flores said he shot his father first, after he awoke and reportedly “charged at him,” according to KTVU.
"Once
I emptied the clip, I turned on the lights and I see him on the floor,”
Hernandez-Flores recalled. “I see his suffering and then I stopped his
suffering."
After shooting his step-mother, Hernandez-Flores recalled that his then 11-year-old sister was “shocked.”
“She needed my help to get in contact with [emergency services],” he told KTVU.
Hernandez-Flores
also shared that he had been angry with his father before the shootings
after he heard a relative accused him of sexual abuse.
"I
want to apologize,” he said to KTVU while in jail. “I didn't
voluntarily want to do this. Our heavenly father knows I didn't do this
with the intent to kill my father — especially my sister's mom, who had
nothing to do with this."
During
Hernandez-Flores’ interview from jail, he said that he served with the
U.S. Marine Corps for more than four years before being honorably
discharged, KTVU reported. He also shared that he had been hoping to
join the San Francisco Police Department ahead of the killings.
Hernandez-Flores is set to be sentenced on February 27, according to the district attorney’s office.
=================================================
Bucks County District Attorney
Kevin Castiglia, 55, has been charged with murdering his parents and sister in their Bucks County home, allegedly confessing to the killings after being taken into custody by police.
Police in Pennsylvania have accused a 55-year-old man of murdering his parents with a massive knife and then killing his sister soon after she found their bodies.
Kevin Castiglia is in police custody with no bail after being charged with numerous criminal counts, including criminal homicide, possession of an instrument of crime, terroristic threats with intent to terrorize another, and abuse of a corpse. The murders happened in his parents' home in Northampton Township, located in Bucks County.
Castiglia allegedly killed his 84-year-old mom, Judith Castiglia, and her 90-year-old husband, Fred, as they slept, he allegedly told officials after the killings, according to court documents shared with Us Weekly.
He also murdered Deborah Castiglia, his sister, who was 53.
Police started looking into the welfare of Castiglia's parents and sister on Monday, January 26, after Deborah's boyfriend called police to tell them he had been unable to reach her.
He told police he even stopped by her residence, where he was met by Kevin, who was donning a robe and wielding a "Psycho type" chef's knife. Kevin allegedly told the boyfriend Deborah was "probably" on vacation before allegedly warning him, "Don't ever come here again, or I will kill you."
Police went to the Castiglia home on Monday, and were allegedly confronted by Kevin, who answered brandishing the large knife in one hand and another blade in the other. Police said he started speaking "incoherently" and despite their best efforts, were unable to talk Kevin out of the home.
What followed was an hours-long standoff and a barricade situation that ended when a SWAT team breached a window at the rear of the residence and located Kevin in a room on the second floor. Police tried tasing Kevin, who just pulled the probes from his body before slamming the door shut and locking it.
Once inside the home, police discovered the three dead bodies. Deborah was found dead in the kitchen, according to documents, while the two others were found in a nearby room.
Autopsies on the victims were performed Tuesday, January 27, but causes of death were still pending at press time.
Bucks County DA Joe Khan lauded the efforts of the Northampton Township Police and the South Central Emergency Response Team.
"Despite being confronted by an armed individual, under excruciatingly difficult circumstances for roughly five hours in the bitter cold, officers utilized every tactical resource available to take the suspect into custody alive, preventing further tragedy," Khan said.
After officers took Kevin into custody, he was brought to a local hospital for an examination. According to the court documents shared with Us Weekly, Kevin allegedly told the doctor, "I hurt someone."
Later, he allegedly continued confessing, telling hospital staff, "I killed my parents in their sleep" and "I killed my sister when she found them."
According to local reports, Deborah was a teacher for the Centennial School District for 26 years.
Kevin is set to appear in court for a February 12 hearing.
==============================================
Elementary School Employee Asked Minors for Sexual Content Over Snapchat and Twitch Julia Marnin Updated Sat, January 31, 2026
[White trash sex criminal Charles Lucas Dingman - he's a white arse American]
Bucks County District Attorney’s Office
An elementary school employee was “immediately” fired after he was arrested for allegedly asking minors for sexually explicit content over Snapchat and the live-streaming platform Twitch, according to law enforcement and school officials.
Charles Lucas Dingman, 29, who worked part-time at Holland Elementary School in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, has been arrested on child pornography charges, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office announced in a Thursday, January 29, news release.
Dingman, of Yardley, was an instructional assistant at the school, which is a part of the Council Rock School District, according to the office. He has also worked as a substitute teacher and coached soccer at other school districts in Bucks County.
Information on Dingman’s legal representation was not immediately available.
Detectives began investigating Dingman on January 16, following three concerning cybertips from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, prosecutors said.
The tips involved accusations Dingman had solicited sexually explicit content from underage individuals online.
Dingman is accused of posing as a 13-year-old on Snapchat, which he used to message minors and encourage them “to send explicit images,” the district attorney’s office said.
Additionally, while using the streaming platform Twitch, Dingman told a girl to “perform suggestive acts” during a livestream, according to prosecutors.
Investigators found evidence that the alleged digital activity was tied to Dingman’s home, the district attorney’s office said.
When officers arrested him on January 29, according to a criminal complaint, Dingman “admitted that child sexual abuse material would be found on his cellular device.”
In a letter written that same day, Council Rock School District Superintendent Dr. Andrew J. Sanko informed school district families of Dingman’s arrest.
“The employee was immediately terminated, and we are fully cooperating with the investigation, which is being handled by the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office and local law enforcement,” Sanko wrote in the letter, which was provided to Us Weekly on Friday, January 30.
Dingman had worked at Holland Elementary for about three months before his arrest, school district staff confirmed to the district attorney’s office.
The office said that no “local students or Holland Elementary students” were connected to the child sexual abuse material that Dingman was found to have.
Dingman appeared in court for an arraignment the morning of his arrest, according to prosecutors. He is facing charges of knowingly photographing or filming a child sex act, possession of child pornography, unlawful contact with a minor, and criminal use of a communication facility.
After a judge set his bail at $250,000, Dingman bonded out hours later on January 29, the district attorney’s office said.
Law enforcement is continuing to investigate him.
“There is no doubt that this information is deeply troubling for parents, staff, and the broader community,” Sanko wrote in the letter sent to the school community. “Crimes involving children are intolerable. Council Rock School District has zero tolerance for any form of child abuse, exploitation, or conduct that threatens the safety of students.”
The district attorney’s office encourages anyone with information relevant to the investigation to contact Bucks County Detective Eric Landamia at (215) 348-6354.
=============================================
Santa-for-Hire and Former Teacher Arrested in New Jersey on Child Porn Charges
By Chris Harris
A former elementary school teacher who works during the holidays as a
Santa-for-Hire has been arrested in New Jersey, where authorities have
alleged he both possessed and distributed child pornography.
Mark Paulino, was arrested by a multi-agency task force on Friday, December 5, inside the 64-year-old’s Hamilton Township home.
Investigators moved quickly on a tip that they received the day
before regarding a person in Paulino’s town who was allegedly uploading
multiple files to the internet — all containing illegal images of
children being sexually exploited.
A press release from Mercer County Prosecutor Janetta D. Marbrey fails to mention how police tracked the images to Paulino’s residence.
“According to his website, Paulino recently retired from the Hamilton
Township School District as an elementary school teacher and is now a
Santa character available for photographs and private, corporate and
organizational events,” it is explained in the press release. “Due to
his active engagement with young children in that role, detectives
worked around the clock to obtain a search warrant.”
Police raided Paulino’s home, and sources told Us Weekly
that electronics and other items of “evidentiary value” were removed
from the home last week as part of the investigation, which authorities
claim is still ongoing.
Paulino
has been charged with one count of second-degree distribution of child
sexual abuse material, one count of second-degree possession with the
intent to distribute child sexual abuse material, one count of
third-degree possession of child sexual abuse material, and one count of
endangering the welfare of a child.
He faces 20 years in prison if convicted on the distribution and
intent to distribute charges alone, according to Mabrey’s release.
On his website,
Paulino wrote that he “began working with children in 1984 as a
substitute teacher,” and later, as a lifeguard and swimming instructor.
He wrote that he also taught special education before retiring from teaching in 2021.
“My love of dogs has led me to dog sitting/dog walking,” Paulino wrote. “Now, I’m pursuing my lifelong wish to be Santa Claus.”
He wrote on his site that he’s been married for over 20 to his wife, who is also an educator.
“We have two fine young men as sons,” he continued, before noting
that he’s also an avid snowshoer, hiker, biker, and football fan.
Paulino’s website also features several videos depicting him dressed about as Santa Claus.
Paulino will remain behind bars without bond as he awaits trial. It
was unclear on Tuesday if he had entered pleas to the charges he faces.
Us Weekly was also unable to determine if he is being represented by an attorney who could comment on the allegations on his behalf.
Us Weekly left messages at numbers listed for Paulino, but had not heard back by press time.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact the prosecutor’s ICAC
Unit at (609) 989-6568. Tips can also be submitted anonymously online
at www.mercercountyprosecutor.com.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
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