What great timing! Elon Musk was scheduled to give a TED talk today, which happens to be the same day Elon announced his intentions of buying far-left social media giant Twitter. The interview turned quickly to Elon’s $43 billion offer to buy Twitter.
Elon Musk described his intentions in purchasing Twitter.
Elon Musk: It’s important for the function of democracy. It’s important for the function of the United States as a free country among many other countries. And to help, actually to help freedom in the world more importantly than the US. And so, I think it’s, the situational risk is decreased if Twitter the more we can increase the trust of Twitter as a public platform. And so I do think this is going to be something somewhat painful. I’m not sure that I will actually be able to acquire it. The intent is to retain as many shareholders as is allowed by the law… This is not a way to make money. I think this is, my strong intuitive sense is to have a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important for the future of civilization.
The Pentagon is going to help keep the war going in Ukraine, by sending $800 million worth of weapons to the country. The delivery of weapons to be sent to Ukraine will include artillery, armored vehicles, and helicopters.
“The steady supply of weapons the United States and its allies and partners have provided to Ukraine has been critical in sustaining its fight against the Russian invasion. It has helped ensure that Putin failed in his initial war aims to conquer and control Ukraine. We cannot rest now,” Biden said in a statement released by the White House, after his call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
In addition to more of the “highly effective” Javelin anti-tank missiles and Stinger anti-aircraft rockets, the US will now send “new capabilities tailored to the wider assault” it expects Russian forces to launch in eastern Ukraine, Biden said.
The Pentagon on Wednesday afternoon provided some details about the new aid, which is valued at $800 million – about $50 million more than estimated in leaks to the media on Tuesday. –RT
The United States also plans on sending Ukraine 18 155mm howitzers, some 40,000 rounds of ammunition, as well as 10 counter-artillery radars, two air surveillance radars, 200 M113 armored personnel carriers, 100 Humvee armored cars, and 11 Mi-17 helicopters. Other weapons listed by Kirby included 30,000 sets of body armor and helmets; chemical, biological, and nuclear protective equipment; anti-personnel landmines; C-4 explosives; and drone boats, described as “unmanned coastal defense vessels.”
“We tailored this list specifically to meet the needs that they have asked for with respect to what’s going on in eastern Ukraine,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters, adding that the US will start sending the equipment “right away.”
Russia has already seen this move as a provocation and previously warned NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) that any convoys transporting weapons and equipment to Ukraine will be considered legitimate military targets. The S-300 air defense systems that Slovakia sent to Ukraine last week were reportedly destroyed in a cruise missile strike in Dnepropetrovsk – a city Ukrainians call Dnipro – on Sunday, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
This can be seen as nothing less than an attempt by the ruling class of the U.S. to not only keep a war going, but expand it and empower the military-industrial complex. The cost will be life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
INFLATION IS RUNNING AT 40-YEAR HIGHS!
NEGATIVE INTEREST RATES ARE TAXING SAVERS,
CREATING FOOD SHORTAGES
AND MAKING LIFE MISERABLE IN THE UNITED STATES!
There’s Little Time Left Before the REAL DISASTER occurs!
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill at Osceola County on Thursday banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy into law which takes effect July 1.
“We are here today to defend those who can’t defend themselves,” Governor DeSantis said. “I will be signing House Bill Five, which protects the rights of UN, unborn children starting at 15 weeks.”
“This is a time where these babies have beating hearts. They can move, they can taste, they can see, they can feel pain, they can suck their thumbs, and they have brain waves. And so this will represent the most significant protections for life that have been enacted in this state in a generation,” DeSantis added.
“If you look what’s going on in certain segments of our society, particularly amongst people who are affiliated with the far left of our political spectrum, of course, that’s overrepresented in places like Hollywood, in the media, and obviously in one of our major political parties. But they are now taking the position that babies can be aborted up to the 9th month, literally,” he continued.
The legislation allows for abortions past 15 weeks only in situations involving a “fatal fetal abnormality,” and makes no exceptions for rape or incest. The law limits the time an abortion is legal by nine weeks, as abortions were previously banned in the state past 24 weeks.
DeSantis emphasized that the legislation is not the only aspect of his pro-life agenda, adding that the bill also allocates funds to increase the number of infant mortality review boards across Florida.
DeSantis was joined by numerous pro-life activists at the bill signing event. Some of the activists shared stories of abortions they regretted, others of adopting children who had survived abortion attempts.
“There are two types of people that have led me to speak up,” said Heather Grall-Barwick, who said she had an abortion when she was 21. “The women who say that abortion does not cause mental distress, and the women in their 70s who had abortions and testified that just now they’re able to speak about them and the regret that they have felt for over 40 years.”
“I made a mistake that I cannot change, but I can let others learn from my mistake,” she added.
El Shafee Elsheikh, a member of the infamous ‘Jihadi Beatles,’ who assisted in the kidnap and murder of American citizens James Foley, Steven Sotloff, and Peter Kassig has been convicted on eight counts of hostage-taking and murder in Virginia today.
Elsheikh, 33, was a member of the ISIS beheading squad that released gruesome propaganda videos featuring ‘Jihadi John,’ the group’s leader, torturing and slowly decapitating Western victims. He is the last of the terrorists to face justice, but will not be executed for his role due to a deal struck between former Attorney General William Barr and the United Kingdom following the British refusal to cooperate with the prosecution if the death penalty was on the table.
Elsheikh was identified as ‘Jihadi Ringo’ after a group of Kurdish militants discovered him posing as a refugee during his attempt to flee Syria during the downfall of ISIS leadership in 2018. He and fellow Jihadi Beatle Alexanda ‘George’ Amon Kotey, were both high-ranking members of ISIS when they were captured by Syrian Democratic Forces while attempting to cross into Turkey.
“The evidence demonstrates that they grew up together, radicalized together, fought as high-ranking ISIS fighters together, held hostages together, tortured and terrorized hostages together,” prosecutor Raj Parekh said during the trial. “What these horrific crimes left behind is a legacy of brutal killings and shattered families.”
The Jihadi Beatles were all naturalized citizens of the United Kingdom who, according to fellow ISIS terrorist Omer Kuzu, were members of the “ISIS aristocracy.”
If it were not for a stroke of luck at the Turkish border, these murderous criminals could have ended up in the United States, granted refugee status, given taxpayer money, and settled in the former communities of the same American men they murdered.
Now, Elsheik will spend the rest of his days in a supermax prison with little to no human contact.
The Gateway Pundit previously reported on the testimony of one of Elsheikh’s victims who described the sexual, physical, and psychological torture that captives underwent at the hands of the Jihadi Beatles.
Martha Williams, the former head of Montana’s Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the new director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the agency that oversees America’s national wildlife refuges and hatcheries, enforces the Endangered Species Act, and collects and distributes millions of dollars annually in taxes paid by buyers of guns, ammunition, and fishing tackle.
Martha Williams becomes the 26th director of the Service, the origin of which dates back to 1871, and which serves as the nation’s first and last conservator of fish and wildlife species and the habitats they require.
Martha Williams is the new U.S. Fisheries and Wildlife director for the Biden administration. USFWS
A Virginia native and graduate of the University of Virginia, Williams received her law degree from the University of Montana and then went to work as an attorney for Montana FWP. She then spent two years as a deputy solicitor for the Interior Department, which oversees the USFWS. Following those stints in government service, Williams returned to the University of Montana as an assistant professor specializing in environmental law. She later co-directed the law school’s Land Use and Natural Resources Clinic. Early in 2017, she was picked by Montana’s then-Governor Steve Bullock to lead FWP as its director.
In that role, she mediated a number of contentious issues, including implementing a wolf hunting season and expanding visitor services. She also convened a major rebranding of FWP, designed to make the fish-and-wildlife agency relevant to customers who might never fish or hunt but who appreciate and advocate for Montana’s wild places. In her tenure, terms such as social justice, racial equity, and the logo “The Outside Is In Us All” entered FWP’s lexicon. But Williams was also unafraid of inviting entrenched opponents to talk through issues, according to those who worked with her.
Williams was an early pick to serve in the Biden administration, working for more than a year as principal deputy director of the USFWS before her appointment as director was confirmed in February.
Given her her legal experience and background in state-level resource management, and the Service’s wide-ranging authority and influence over America’s wildlife, habitats, and our hunting and fishing culture, Outdoor Life wanted to hear how Williams views both her new job and the priorities of the agency. We secured a 30-minute phone interview with her, which has been edited below for brevity and clarity.
Outdoor Life: Let’s lead with grizzly bears, which are still under federal endangered-species protection though population benchmarks for recovery have been met. Governors of three Western states have petitioned your office to delist bears in the Yellowstone ecosystem. Has your perspective of grizzly management changed with your office?
Martha Williams: I’d say my perspective has broadened because my new role allows me to work alongside conservation and community leaders, not just the states, but tribes, NGOs, and other federal agencies. I’ve gone from appreciating the on-the-ground piece of [bear management] and really knowing the importance of place and taking that knowledge and thinking of it in this broader perspective.
I have to broaden my context and yet remember to stay really grounded with what I’ve learned throughout my career, understanding what it means to live in these communities with species like grizzly bears. The balance is seeing the issue of predators in the West—grizzly bears and wolves—from the perspective of the people who have lived there for generations coupled with the perspectives of others in the United States and the world who see it differently because they’re not living with those species. But they want to know that they’re there.
Williams, center, near the incubation trays at Little White Salmon National Fish Hatchery in Washington last month. Brent Lawrence / USFWS
OL: Population numbers are generally the triggers for listing species as threatened or endangered, and population numbers are also the benchmark for recovery of those species. By most accounts, grizzly bear populations have reached levels where they could be removed from federal protection. Are those numbers correct, or should they be revisited?
MW: At USFWS, we always have to be grounded in the science, so the numbers are important. Yet with species like grizzly bears, we have a sense that as predators are recovering, the social piece is also really important. And that social piece—not putting the onus just on the tolerance of communities that live with bears or wolves, but also those who don’t like to see management-dependent species—they want to see species that aren’t reliant on state or federal management. So we have to factor shifting values in this country, and those shifting values are adding pressure to an already complicated issue.
OL: While we’re on the topic of recovery and management of predators, let’s talk about wolves, which were removed from federal protection but which have been aggressively managed under state authority, to the degree that some have petitioned that Western wolves be returned to federal protection. Does the Interior Department worry about what recovery looks like—for grizzlies and wolves—under state management?
MW: Our charge is implementing the Endangered Species Act, so we’re always going to pay close attention, and the fact that we are in litigation, that we have a 12-month finding that we’re currently working on, means that we’re even more involved in thinking through management alternatives. I have always been fascinated by what recovery means, and what does it mean for the FWS to ensure that these species stay recovered. That to me is very much what we have to think about when we think about wolves and bears and other predators: how do we make sure that recovery is continuous? And how do we support all the partners it takes to have a species on the landscape that stays recovered. That’s a total collective effort. It’s not all one or the other.
OL: I’d like to pivot to a topic that’s been top of mind in the hunting and shooting community. It’s the Service’s response to a lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity that demands the prohibition of lead ammunition and fishing tackle on national wildlife refuges. The specific concern is that prohibitions like that run counter to the Service’s ambition to expand hunting and fishing opportunities on its properties.
MW: I can’t comment on the litigation specifically, but I do wonder about the underlying concerns about the litigation. I think it will help for people to know that this administration—the Department of the Interior and Fish and Wildlife Service—are still really committed to increasing access to the outdoors. We still understand now more than ever after COVID, just how important it is to people and communities for their well-being, for food, for physical and emotional well-being, for that economic support for communities. So we remain really committed to always looking for increased opportunities for access, including providing access to the outdoors on national wildlife refuges to those who haven’t had access before. We’re thinking about access across the board and how to we allow people to feel that they belong in the outdoors on our public lands and on our wildlife refuges. So if the underlying concern with the litigation is, are we committed to expanding opportunities on refuges? Absolutely.
A whitetail buck at Lacreek National Wildlife Refuge in South Dakota. USFWS
OL: Can you provide some specifics?
MW: We’re embracing access in an even larger context—how do we support communities and allow people to feel like they belong on our wildlife refuges. It started with a real effort on urban wildlife refuges, but what we’re learning is applicable across the board, including in rural communities. What does the community need? What does the community want? How do we meet them where they are? And then how can we support these efforts? How do we get more people to understand or want to care about birds or plants or water, much less big game? I feel like we’ve come a long ways, from saying ‘this is who we are and you can join us or not.’ We want everyone to feel welcome, and do what we can to feel they belong in the outdoors.
OL: Wildlife refuges, like many national parks, are showing their age. Interior received a large amount of funding from the federal infrastructure bill. How will that money be spent?
MW: I’m excited to have resources that we haven’t had in a long time, and not just dollars. We have this infusion of belief in what we do, whether it’s through the infrastructure bill or the Great American Outdoors Act. The first priority for the refuge system and the GAO money is to try to catch up on our deferred maintenance. It’s awesome that [USFWS] got $95 million for deferred maintenance, but we have a $1.5 billion maintenance backlog. It’s wonderful and we’ll put it to use really quickly, but when you own and manage these places for the public and the public trust, it’s an ongoing responsibility and commitment. So there are always going to be costs. Our focus right now is that maintenance backlog. Another piece of the GAO Act is that it also funded 70 wage-grade positions around the country. These are maintenance action teams have really focused on the smaller infrastructure projects in communities—fishing platforms or hunting blinds or nature trails or auto routes. Every little piece and investment allows people to build support for the refuges and to see that we care about investing in them, too, people and communities.
OL: The public and private conservation communities have been working to implement President Biden’s America The Beautiful initiative, which would permanently conserve at least 30 percent of America’s land and waters. It’s an ambitious idea, but it’s been controversial in some rural communities, who view this as federal overreach. How do you communicate conservation benefits of this initiative to skeptical rural constituents?
MW: I’ve thought about this a lot. And I talk about the America the Beautiful a lot because it’s such a priority for this administration. Lucky for us at USFWS, it fits squarely within our wheelhouse in delivering conservation. Whether someone likes the initiative or not, I think its principles are so solid because they build on what we’ve all collectively learned works. Local led, locally initiated projects are the way to go. It recognizes private property rights. It recognizes the need to build on existing tools, like Partners for Fish and Wildlife and Sentinel Landscapes, programs that are all about voluntary efforts, locally led efforts where we add value and provide technical assistance to work happening within local communities.
We’re always respecting private property rights, recognizing tribal sovereignty, and I think America the Beautiful amplifies these efforts and it’s how we can get work done to conserve this country’s land and waters. The infrastructure will support many of these America the Beautiful projects, funding things like fish passage structures and habitat restoration projects that help create jobs and help build communities. I’d like my son to learn how to do restoration projects and have employment opportunities in that arena into the future. That’s what America the Beautiful is all about. I can understand there’s worry about it. But how do we get over that worry? As you do in all leadership, you show the way. You just put your head down and do good work and try to recognize it and build trust along the way.
A bull moose crosses the Green River on the Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge. Tom Koerner/USFWS
OL: That’s a good topic to end on: building trust and partnerships. It seems to me that sportsmen and women have a conflicted relationship with the USFWS. On the one hand, the Service provides access, essential fish and wildlife management and funding, and facilitates things like the federal duck stamp. On the other hand, it can seem punitive, especially when enforcing species protections. Can you talk through ways of easing that conflict?
MW: The FWS does so much more than implement the ESA. That’s a really important part of what we do. But there are international wildlife fairs, there’s refuges, there’s fisheries and aquatic conservation, there’s science application, there’s the Partners program. There’s so much incredible work that builds partnerships, even in the context of ESA implementation. I’d point to the ground work and partnerships that culminate in the Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances as an example of that.
Sometimes I think the conflict is a perception, but I also know it’s real. I’d love to get to the place where we’re on our front foot and can better prevent species from even needing to be listed. Unfortunately, you and I both know that climate change is a wallop and will challenge that. But I’m hopeful that we can get to that more proactive stance and work with all our partners to prevent the need for listing where we can, and then to recognize the climate crisis and biodiversity crisis, we are going to have to continue to work to list species and get them to recovery. But ultimately, It’s all about not needing to list and about getting species to recovery. Ultimately, I think we address conflict by getting more people to care and getting more people engaged.
Having surged higher on Musk’s initial bid, TWTR shares have now plunged back to earth and erased all the day’s gains as investors either a) take profits on Musk-driven spikes, or b) dump the stock in anticipation of the board’s rejection and the subsequent liquidation of Musk’s holdings…
Moments ago, the Saudi prince who has a large stake in Twitter announced that Musk’s proposal to purchase the company was too low.
In addition Zerohedge reports on Twitter’s response to Musk:
Glen Greenwald had the best analysis of what’s going on:
Twitter is a great tool with horrible management. Quite frankly they appear to be possessed.
Now there are reports of a company-wide meeting this afternoon to discuss today’s events.
Another obvious must be asked – why would Twitter want Saudis running their business rather than an American who is for free speech?
As The Gateway Pundit’s Cassandra Fairbanks reported on Wednesday, President Donald Trump’s political action committee has sent $500,000 to a group working to defeat Georgia Governor Brian Kemp in the upcoming Republican primary.
Trump’s Save America PAC sent the massive contribution to the Get Georgia Right Super PAC at the end of March.
Get Georgia Right is a federal Super PAC organized to “make Georgia Red Again,” according to their website.
The Georgia gubernatorial primary takes place on May 24, and Trump has endorsed former Sen. David Perdue in his challenge against the incumbent.
On Thursday The Gateway Pundit spoke with Gregg Phillips who is the senior adviser with Get Georgia Right PAC.
Gregg Phillips has been in conservative politics for 40 years, working with committees, parties, campaigns and election intelligence operations. He has built political apps including GROUND, ARC and IV3. Gregg was also a founder and Managing Partner of the pro-Gingrich SuperPac, Winning Our Future, and election intelligence company, OPSEC Group. Gregg is currently working with Catherine Engelbrecht from True the Vote in their historic investigation of Democrat ballot trafficking in the 2020 election.
Phillips and Get Georgia Right recently released a devastating new ad that should knock Kemp from the race.
Since receiving the donation from Save America PAC on March 25, the anti-Kemp Get Georgia Right super PAC began running a TV ad saying that Kemp “dismissed concerns about voter fraud in the 2020 election.” The ad argued that “if Kemp can’t beat voter fraud, he won’t beat [Democratic candidate] Stacey Abrams” in the November general election.
The commercial is running in the more conservative parts of the state, with an eye toward driving Trump supporters out to the polls for Perdue. The super PAC’s senior adviser is Gregg Phillips, a conservative activist whom Trump name-checked in a 2017 tweet, after Phillips made the unfounded claim that 3 million votes were cast fraudulently in the 2016 election.
“President Trump has demonstrated a strong interest in making sure the truth emerges about what happened in Georgia. He has also stated that the best way to solve this problem is electing people who acknowledge it and are committed to improving election integrity,” said Jessica Freese, a Get Georgia Right spokeswoman.
Obviously, Politico did not watch the Get Georgia Right ad and there is a reason that they did not link to the ad. IT’S DEVASTATING!
There is no fake news mainstream outlet in the country that can watch this video and similar videos and claim the election was not filled with fraud or stolen.
Joe Biden was paid $1 million by UPenn but he never taught a single class.
VIDEO:
Joe Biden repeated the same lie just a few minutes later when he delivered remarks!
“For four years, I was a full professor at the University of Pennsylvania,” said Biden on Thursday.
WATCH:
Last week Biden told the attendees at the bill signing event that he was a practicing professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
Joe Biden is a legend in his own mind.
Biden was never a “professor” or teacher after serving as Vice President in 2017.
Biden was paid $1 million to do nothing, as the Daily Caller noted:
When the Daily Caller asked whether Biden had in fact taught any courses since being hired, UPenn Vice Provost for Faculty Anita Allen did not list any, saying his work was instead based in Washington.
If you are an IWI X95 owner you know that there is a factory pistol grip option. I wrote a review on this factory pistol grip a while back. Well, almost six years later the pistol grip is still hard to get. Six years ago, 3D printing was not as it is now. Now you […]
The United States government is already blaming Russia for a future cyber-attack, warning that there could be a “cyber tool” created that allows hackers to gain “full system access” to multiple control systems, including the power grid.
Use your discernment, because this could be a false flag. The United States could very easily take down the grid and blame it all on Russia as an excuse to get more involved in the war. The government has effectively now “warned” so they can wash their hands of this once it is done. Hopefully, it’ll never happen, but if it does, apply critical thinking to everything.
Multiple US government agencies issued a joint alert Wednesday warning of the discovery of malicious cyber tools created by unnamed advanced threat actors that they said were capable of gaining “full system access” to multiple industrial control systems, according to the Guardian.
The public alert from the Energy and Homeland Security departments, the FBI, and National Security Agency did not name the actors or offer details on the find. But their alleged private-sector cybersecurity partners said the evidence suggests Russia is behind the tools and that they were configured to initially target North American energy concerns.
One of the cybersecurity firms involved, Mandiant, said in a report that the tools’ functionality was “consistent with the malware used in Russia’s prior physical attacks” though it acknowledged that the evidence linking it to Moscow is “largely circumstantial”. It called the tools “exceptionally rare and dangerous”.
The U.S. has been warning of a cyber attack since Russia “invaded” Ukraine.
The CEO of another government partner, Robert M. Lee of Dragos, agreed that a state actor almost certainly crafted the malware, which he said was configured to initially target liquified natural gas and electric power sites in North America.
Lee referred questions on the state actor’s identity to the US government and would not explain how the malware was discovered other than to say it was caught “before an attack was attempted”.
“We’re actually one step ahead of the adversary. None of us want them to understand where they screwed up,” said Lee. “Big win.” – The Guardian.
There are several things going on right now that require our attention, not fear. Stay prepared and aware of what’s going on. There seems to be a lot of different things that could quickly go wrong right now and it’ll take only one mainstream media report to panic the masses into a really disastrous, riotous, and fear-based reaction.
If you are an IWI X95 owner you know that there is a factory pistol grip option. I wrote a review on this factory pistol grip a while back. Well, almost six years later the pistol grip is still hard to get. Six years ago, 3D printing was not as it is now. Now you […]
