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US News.
Trans-identified male violently beats female student in Oregon middle school: video
A young female student was violently beaten by a trans-identified male in the hallway of an Oregon public school.
The shocking incident reportedly occurred at Hazelbrook Middle School in the Tualatin School District, which is right outside of Portland, Oregon.
The brutal beatdown captured on video shows the trans-identified student, a biological male, throwing multiple blows to the female student’s head after he violently grabbed her hair, yanked her back and forth, then knocked her down flat in the school hallway.
He viscously grabbed the girl by the hair, dragging her across the ground before violently assaulting her further.
Nevada woman’s death after taking abortion pills spurs lawsuit, safety fears
The family of a Nevada woman who died of sepsis after taking abortion pills is suing for wrongful death, a case that is reigniting safety concerns as the Biden administration seeks to expand access by relaxing medical protocols.
Alyona Dixon, 24, died Sept. 28, 2022, less than a week after she was prescribed the two-pill abortion regimen at a Planned Parenthood clinic. The cause of death was “complications from septic abortion,” said attorney Mark Rouse, who represents the family.
Her husband, Michael Dixon, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit earlier this month against Dignity Health Emerus-Blue Diamond, the nonprofit health system that operates the emergency center in Las Vegas where she initially sought treatment for cramps and bleeding.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs law to raise minimum wage for fast food workers to $20 per hour
When it takes effect on April 1, fast food workers in California will have among the highest minimum wages in the country, according to data compiled by the University of California-Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education. The state’s minimum wage for all other workers — $15.50 per hour — is already among the highest in the United States.
Cheering fast food workers and labor leaders gathered around Newsom as he signed the bill at an event in Los Angeles.
“This is a big deal,” Newsom said.
Newsom’s signature on Thursday reflects the power and influence of labor unions in the nation’s most populous state, which have worked to organize fast food workers in an attempt to improve their wages and working conditions.
California city becomes first in nation to recognize legal rights of nonhuman animals
The Ojai City Council voted to adopt the ordinance introduced by Councilmember Leslie Rule (District 1) and developed with the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) by a vote of 4-1 on Tuesday night.
The ordinance defines and protects elephants’ rights to liberty, NhRP said in a press release.
“It’s indisputable that elephants suffer when deprived of their freedom and that animal welfare laws can’t end their suffering,” said NhRP Director of Government Relations and Campaigns Courtney Fern. “For elephants and the nonhuman animal rights movement, we are proud to support this first-of-its-kind ordinance and we commend the Ojai City Council for standing up for what is necessary and just.”
Study: Google Searches Remain Biased in Favor of Joe Biden, Against Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Republicans
The study is the second from the Media Research Center (MRC) on this topic, with the first one, in August, showing similar levels of bias.
The research shows that Google results are failing to reflect the choices and interests of American voters, showing results for candidates who are polling far behind the leading candidates.
Even a search for “republican presidential campaign websites” failed to display any of the frontrunning GOP candidates, with Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and Vivek Ramaswamy absent from the first page of results.
National Cathedral swaps out Civil War-themed stained glass for civil rights-themed windows
For nearly 65 years, the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., had four Civil War-themed stained glass windows featuring Confederate Gens. Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. They were allegedly installed in hopes of ameliorating postwar tensions between North and South.
On Saturday, the nation’s second-largest cathedral unveiled its civil rights-themed replacement windows, featuring faceless black protesters. They were ostensibly installed as a symbolic nod to ameliorating racial tensions.
The National Cathedral, official seat of the Episcopal Church, indicated in a statement that its four new windows “signify a new chapter in the Cathedral’s historic legacy of art and architecture.”
Baltimore police reveal how they caught felon accused of tech CEO murder and rapes, arson
A “psychopath” Baltimore felon with a history of sexual violence who police say murdered a tech entrepreneur and allegedly planned a brutal attack on another couple days earlier has been captured after a two-day manhunt.
Jason Dean Billingsley, a 32-year-old who served less than a third of his 30-year sentence for rape, is accused of bludgeoning Pava Marie LaPere to death in her West Franklin Street apartment building.
She was named to Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list earlier this year in the social impact category.
Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley revealed Thursday that although she was found Monday, the murder is believed to have taken place Friday night.
Police allege he entered a home on Edmondson Avenue and attacked the couple there, raping the woman and nearly killing them both before lighting it on fire with a 5-year-old inside as well.
Texas woman pepper sprays ride-share driver, steals his wallet for refusing to go through drive-thru: police
Surveillance footage from Sept. 6 shows the female suspect and the driver standing outside a car in a parking lot when the woman appears to suddenly pepper spray the man in his face.
The video also shows the woman going back to reach into the driver’s vehicle. Police said she stole his wallet from the car before leaving the scene.
Authorities say a grand jury subpoena was submitted to the ride-share company. Meanwhile, the Houston Police
Robbery Division is working to identify the suspect. Police described her as a 20-year-old Black female, standing about 5 feet, 5 inches tall and wearing a gray shirt and green shorts.
Youth pastor who allegedly tried to kill wife, 5 children was afraid of being evicted from home: affidavit
Matthew Richards, 41, is charged with five counts of attempted premeditated first-degree murder and one count of aggravated arson with risk of bodily harm in connection with the Sept. 16 incident.
“I stabbed my kids, detective. I stabbed my wife,” Richards apparently told Shawnee police before calling himself a “monster,” according to an affidavit.
Richards told police his family was going to be evicted the same day he allegedly tried to murder his family members, and he had not been honest with his wife about their financial standing.
He further told police “it would be better if they all died” rather than his family “find out the truth” about their financial situation, according to an affidavit filed in Johnson County.
Richards’ children, including a 19-year-old and four juveniles, and his wife all sustained “laceration injuries of varying degrees,” according to a press release from the Shawnee Police Department.
Philadelphia looting: Break-ins, 50 arrested as havoc continues for 2nd night leaving residents desperate
Philadelphia suffered its second night in a row of mass looting incidents and destructive social media-fueled mayhem on Wednesday, resulting in more than 50 arrests, police said.
On Wednesday, groups of thieves, apparently working together, destroyed property in several areas of the city, smashed their way into stores, and stole as much as they could before fleeing, authorities said.
Suspects also ransacked more than a dozen state-run liquor stores so thoroughly that the state announced it was closing its Philly locations until further notice.
Woman who killed mom with frying pan, knife over bad grades learns her fate
Judge Kelly McLaughlin gave 23-year-old Sydney Powell the minimum allowed under the law for the brutal killing of Brenda Powell, 50, over the objections of Summit County prosecutors who pushed for the maximum of 18 years to life.
Her attorney, Donald Malarcik, blasted prosecutor Brian Stano for pushing for the most severe penalty when her family had begged for leniency and testified on her behalf.
“The wishes of the victim are trampled upon yet again, I find [it] appalling,” he told the court.
ICE detentions highest since pandemic, data shows
Over 35,500 migrants were detained by ICE as of Sept. 10 — the first time the numbers have been that high since the pandemic began in March 2020, the agency reports
Detentions by U.S. Customs and Border Protection also are rising, with 25,362 detained in September, up nearly 10% from 23,119 in August, according to Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) of Syracuse University, which tracks U.S. immigration cases and information.
Nearly 200,000 migrants currently are being monitored under a form of Alternatives to Detention, including 175,000 monitored through the SmartLINK app, and over 10,000 tracked via GPS, according to new data.
America’s emergency oil reserve is at a 40-year low — and that could inflate oil prices, Goldman Sachs says
The federal government is currently keeping an offshore stash of 347 million barrels of oil — the largest supply of emergency crude oil in the world. The reserves, however, have fallen by nearly 300 million barrels in just two years, in a bid by the Biden administration to cushion the effects of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Earlier this month, the Saudi and Russian governments announced that they would be extending their 1.3 million-barrel-per-day cuts through the end of this year.
As analysts brace for $100-a-barrel oil by next year, a fact that appears exceedingly likely as the price per barrel continues to climb, a Goldman Sachs analyst says depleted U.S. oil reserves may be cause for concern when it comes to the government’s ability to soften the blow to consumers’ wallets.
“The American People Know The Fix Is In” – O’Reilly Warns Carlson “We Are In The Age Of Disorder Now”
The former Fox News anchor lays out how this has occurred:
“President Biden, in my opinion, is diminished mentally, doesn’t know what he’s really doing from day-to-day. You can see that in his public statements,” O’Reilly remarked, adding that “the progressives like that, because the people who control him inside the White House can tell him anything, and he’ll do it.”
O’Reilly said that Ron Klain and Susan Rice were the original string-pullers, but since their departure from The White House, their assistants took their place “basically telling Joe what to do and say.”
He argued that Biden has harkened in an “age of disorder” which has resulted in the emergence of Black Lives Matter, higher taxes, lax crime laws, and progressive indoctrination of children at young ages.
“The more money you take from people, the less power they have, and the progressives want to run everything, including telling your children what to think when they’re five years old,” O’Reilly said.
“And most Americans don’t get it, because the press is working with the progressive movement and suppresses all this.”
However, O’Reilly notes that, given the constant overwhelming bias evident in the Biden admin’s judicial actions, it is becoming too hard for media to suppress the reality of political persecution:
Man charged with murder, out on bail, among 52 arrested after Philly looting, rioting
An accused murderer was among one of the 52 individuals arrested in a looting spree that took place across Philadelphia on Tuesday evening.
Kenneth Frye, 24, was out on bail when he was arrested by Philadelphia police for allegedly ransacking the Fine Wine & Good Spirits store on Girard Avenue in West Philadelphia.
In 2022, Frye allegedly killed a gay man while working as a nightclub bouncer at the Tabu Lounge & Sports Bar in Center City. Frye is accused of sucker-punching 41-year-old Eric Pope outside the club, which killed him, Fox 29 reports.
World News.
National Armaments Directors Meet In Support Of Ukraine
National Armaments Directors from more than 40 countries, the European Union, and NATO gathered Wednesday in Brussels, Belgium under the auspices of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group to further ongoing efforts aimed at collaboratively solving industrial base and sustainment challenges in support of Ukraine.
Led by Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment William LaPlante, the session was the sixth meeting to date.
While focus remains on ensuring Ukraine’s immediate needs continue being met, the UDCG at both the ministerial and NAD levels are simultaneously addressing longer term requirements.
In total, the United States and Ukraine’s global partners have committed more than $76 billion in direct security assistance to Ukraine’s defense, including an additional $325 million military aid package announced by President Joe Biden Thursday.
“Our commitment to Ukraine isn’t just for the duration of one campaign,” Austin said in Ramstein. “It’s a commitment to long-term security in Europe and beyond. And it’s a commitment to our shared values of freedom and sovereignty.”
Over the coming weeks and months, focus will continue to be placed on long-term strategies for sustaining donated platforms, exploring opportunities for greater collaborative production, and identifying both mitigations to supply chain bottlenecks to expand global capacity—including domestically within Ukraine.
Rotterdam: 2 dead after twin shootings by same suspect
In a later press conference, police said that the suspect was thought to have first killed a 39-year-old woman at a residential address, caused a fire to start, and then to have moved on to a classroom at the medical center, killing a 46-year-old lecturer at the facility.
A 14-year-old girl, the daughter of the dead woman, was also injured in the residential attack.
Rotterdam Police Chief Fred Westerbeke said that the 32-year-old in custody was believed to have carried out both shootings and to have acted alone.
His possible motive was not yet clear, police said. He was armed with a handgun and wearing a bulletproof vest.
Several homes were damaged as part of the first stage of his attack, police said, one of which was the suspect’s own address. They described the attacks as targeted.
The suspected shooter had a prior criminal record, for animal abuse in 2021.
Spain: Teen stabs three teachers, two students
The incident took place at a high school in Jerez de la Frontera in the south of the country.
Police said the suspect was a 14-year-old who allegedly began repeatedly stabbing school staff and students after class had started.
“Police located the suspect on the third floor. He had in his possession the two knives used to attack three teachers and two students,” police spokesman Adrian Dominguez said from the scene, adding that the student had been taken to a police station.
Regional education minister Patricacia del Pozo said that four of the injured were being treated in hospital, with a teacher requiring eye surgery after having been stabbed.
Swiss court acquits Belarus ‘death squad’ member
In 2019, Garavsky contacted DW and spoke about his involvement in the kidnapping of Lukashenko’s opponents.
Former Interior Minister Yury Zakharenko vanished in May 1999, and in September, former Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Gonchar and his close friend, the businessman Anatoly Krasovsky, also disappeared.
Garavsky told DW the SOBR, had kidnapped Zakharenko and shot him dead in a nearby wood. He explained that the body had been burned in a crematorium on the outskirts of Minsk, the Belarusian capital.
Meanwhile, Hanchar and Krasovsky had been kidnapped near a public bathhouse and shot dead in a forest. Their bodies had been hidden in a grave that had been dug previously.
Taiwan unveils first domestically built submarine
Taiwan, which rejects China’s sovereignty claims, has increased defence spending – allotting a record US$19 billion (S$26 billion) for 2024 – to acquire military equipment, particularly from its key ally the United States, but its quest to obtain a submarine has faced obstacles.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen – strongly opposed by Beijing for her refusal to accept China’s authority over the island – launched a submarine programme in 2016 with the aim of delivering a fleet of eight vessels.
The first prototype, named Hai Kun, which means “mythical sea creature” in Chinese, was unveiled on Thursday at a ceremony in the southern port city of Kaohsiung.
“History will forever remember this day,” declared Ms Tsai, standing in front of the vessel draped in Taiwan’s flag colours.
US ATACMS Missiles and Abrams Tanks: Is Russia losing Crimea? | To the point
The conflict began in 2014, when Russia took Crimea. Now, Ukraine is trying to retake the Russian-occupied peninsula, where Moscow stationed its Black Sea Fleet.
Ukraine attacks military targets there almost on a daily basis. Overall, the Ukrainian counteroffensive is progressing slowly.
In his recent visit to the U.S., President Selensky appeared to have gotten a commitment by the U.S. government for the delivery of ATACMS missiles, which the Ukrainian army can use to attack more targets in Crimea.
And the first American Abrams tanks already arrived in Ukraine. So on To the Point we ask: US ATACMS Missiles and Abrams Tanks: Is Russia losing Crimea?
Kim Jong-Un pledges to accelerate production of nuclear arsenal | WION
Thai police seize drugs worth $11m in one of nation’s largest drug hauls
The so-called Golden Triangle where Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet has long been a hot spot for drug smuggling, particularly of methamphetamine, despite repeated crackdowns.
Officers raided a building in central Nakhon Pathom city late on Wednesday night, detaining four men at the premises and uncovering a huge stash.
“This is one of the largest amounts of drugs ever confiscated,” said newly appointed National Police chief Torsak Sukwimol.
He told reporters officers found roughly 15 million “yaba” pills – methamphetamine tablets that are produced and used across the region.
Covid-19 MRNA detected in breast milk | World News | WION
Israel levels a clear threat to Hamas in Gaza; IAEA urges Iran to cooperate TV7 Israel News 28.09
1) Israel asserts that while it does not aspire for war – it will not hesitate to react with full force against those seeking to harm Israeli citizens and IDF troops.
2) Israel’s Atomic Energy Commission Director General Moshe Edri warns the IAEA of Iran’s leap toward attaining nuclear weapon capabilities.
3) IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi proclaims that “Only full cooperation by Iran and tangible results” could provide for “the credible assurances that Iran’s nuclear program is exclusively peaceful.”
‘Torture and barbarism’ endemic in porn industry, finds study
The French High Council for Equality has laid bare violence and brutality in the porn industry, classifying pornography as an “illegal act of torture”.
Entitled “Pornocrime”, its shocking report, which called on the authorities to combat a “system that massacres women for profit”, was presented on Wednesday to Bérangère Couillard, France’s Minister for Gender Equality.
After analysing hundreds of videos, the organisation concluded 90% of pornographic content available online contains physical or verbal violence and is “criminally reprehensible”.
The independent public institution carried out a study of the internet’s four main pornographic platforms – Pornhub, XVideos, Xnxx and Xhamster.
Orbán: EU Deceived Us, Ukrainian Grain Meant For Africa Being Dumped in Europe
Hungary’s Prime Minister Orbán accuses the EU of deceiving Hungary by allowing cheap Ukrainian grain, meant for Africa, to flood the Hungarian market at lower prices, harming Hungarian farmers.
Israel and Germany sign ‘historic’ Arrow 3 missile defense deal
The contract, valued at approximately $3.5 billion, marks the most substantial deal ever for Israel’s growing military industry
Ukraine war: Kyiv’s counter-offensive ‘gaining ground’, Russian journalists sent pig heads
The Ukrainian counter-offensive against the Russian army is “gradually gaining ground”, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in Kyiv on Thursday, as he denounced Moscow’s “imperialist ravings”.
“Today your forces are advancing. They are facing fierce fighting, but they are gradually gaining ground little by little,” Stoltenberg said.
“Ukrainians are fighting for their families” and “their freedom” and “Moscow is fighting for its imperialist delusions”, he added.
The remarks were made during a visit by the Secretary-General, who met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Nuclear & Hypersonic, Russia Adds ‘Super Capability’ To Su-34 Frontline Bombers To Deter NATO
The RIA Novosti source did not name the newly integrated long-range cruise missile, but it is likely to be the Kh-101, a stealth missile that can carry a conventional or nuclear warhead. The nuclear-armed variant is named Kh-102.
The missile reportedly has an operational range of 4,500 km (2,800 miles). It features a guidance package that includes an inertial navigation system (INS), a terrain contour matching (TERCOM) system, a digital scene-matching area correlation (DSMAC) system, and a GPS/GLONASS receiver.
Compared with the older, conventionally-armed Kh-555 ALCM it replaces, the Kh-101 features significantly improved accuracy and a larger payload, making it suitable for use against hardened targets.
Hong Kong police arrest 6,400, including children, in HK$350 million anti-triad drugs bust
The operation involved more than 83,000 police officers and was coordinated with authorities in neighbouring casino hub Macau and the Chinese province of Guangdong, police said in a press release.
Around 3,100 sites were searched since June 12 and police cracked down on “gambling dens, vice establishments, unlicensed bars, and loan-sharks companies”, arresting 4,115 men and 2,285 women aged between 10 and 85, without specifying how many were minors.
Police said the ‘THUNDERBOLT 2023’ intelligence operation targeted the “illegal activities of triad societies and organised crime syndicates”.
Officers seized drugs valued at more than HK$350 million (US$45 million) and US$1.5 million in cash, along with illegal items such as weapons and gambling tools.
Enveloped In Smoke! Dramatic Footage Of Il-76 Heavy Airlifter Skidding On Runway Caught On Camera: Watch
In the accident on September 23, the Soviet-era plane touched down but could not stop, finally crashing and exploding in a huge blast, with dark smoke billowing from the wreckage, as seen in the horrifying video. This indicates that the Il-76 was being filmed from behind as it landed.
Since the crash, speculations have been rife that it belonged to the notorious private mercenary group Wagner, which had a fallout with Russia earlier this year after fighting for several months against Ukrainian forces.
Still unconfirmed, the linkages with Wagner garnered much attention in the Il-76 crash, mainly since the company made headlines for leading a mutiny against the Kremlin.
Politics.
Pritzker asks other Illinois communities to house growing number of non-citizens
Gov. J.B. Pritzker is asking communities outside of Chicago to help house and provide services to the continuing flow of non-citizen arrivals totaling at least 15,000.
Dozens of buses carrying the migrants have arrived in Chicago over the past year.
Just this week, the Chicago Tribune reports 27 buses carrying non-citizen arrivals have come since Saturday.
At an unrelated event in Chicago Thursday, Pritzker blamed Republican governors, but was confronted with even Democratic El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser sending migrants.
Chicago and Illinois are considered sanctuary cities for non-citizens migrants because of laws and policies Democrats at the statehouse have in place restricting cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
‘Very Disturbed About What I’ve Heard Here Today’: Gary Palmer Rips Dems During Impeachment During
Exclusive: Georgia Senate GOP Caucus Ousts Senator for Trying to Remove Fani Willis from Office
Kemp and State Senate Republicans apparently oppose working to investigate, defund, and impeach Willis, and instead ousted Moore.
“Today’s removal is a direct result of me calling on my Republican colleagues in the Senate to do their job and sign onto an emergency session to investigate Fani Willis,” Colton said in a statement exclusively obtained by Breitbart News:
The Georgia Constitution clearly outlines the legislature’s power to call an emergency session to investigate a judicial officer. After urging my Republican Senate colleagues to join me — they responded by acting like children and throwing me out of the caucus.
I stand by my Republican principles. I stand by the Republican platform. I will continue to serve as a Republican Senator from the great state of Georgia. Unfortunately, now I will be forced to refer to my colleagues, who ran on being “Trump conservatives,” as the RINO caucus.
The people of Georgia are 100 percent with me. This is the fight of our lifetime, and I will continue to double down to defend the rule of law and do what is right.
Recent Rasmussen polling shows that 82 percent of Georgia Republicans say Trump is unfairly prosecuted by Willis. Seventy-seven percent of Republicans also say they are not satisfied with tax dollars being used to prosecute Trump. Another 74 percent of Republicans support the Georgia legislature convening a special session to stop Willis from prosecuting Trump.
Democrat Party Seeks to Upend Your Freedoms by Employing Lenin’s Scheme of Thought and Word Control
Comer and Smith EXPOSE Evidence Against Biden to Open Impeachment Hearing
Turley testifies at Biden impeachment inquiry: ‘These are inescapable facts’
GWU law professor Jonathan Turley testified before House lawmakers during the first Biden impeachment inquiry hearing on Capitol Hill.
Jim Jordan lays out why Biden impeachment inquiry is necessary
House Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, asks Constitutional law attorney Jonathan Turley about what counts as influence peddling and the Biden administration’s ‘false statements’ in the first Biden impeachment inquiry hearing.
Hawley sends scathing letter to Mayorkas demanding termination of intel ‘experts group’
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., sent a letter Thursday to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding the termination of the newly-established “Homeland Intelligence Experts Group,” because at least three members helped suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story preceding the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
“Enlisting the support of these discredited officials as the nation prepares for the 2024 presidential election appears to signal that DHS will continue its attempts to censor speech that is inconvenient to the current Administration,” Hawley wrote.
Hawley joins a choir of GOP lawmakers in the House who also sent a letter to Mayorkas last week. Members on the Committee on Homeland Security wrote, “Your decision to appoint members to this group who have demonstrated political bias suggests misplaced priorities.”
Debate viewers declare Trump the winner for simply staying away
Of those who appeared on stage, some 35 percent of the 546 Republican respondents declared Ramaswamy to be the winner and 24 percent said DeSantis gave the best performance.
They were followed by former Vice President Mike Pence at 11 percent, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott tied at seven percent, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at six percent and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum at three percent.
James Johnson, co-founder of JLP, said: ‘In the absence of anyone landing a knockout blow, Trump was the big winner of last night’s debate.
‘This is a Trump-dominated electorate and a nominal Vivek Ramaswamy win in our debate poll is more a reflection of that than anything else.
‘Ron DeSantis can claim something of a win, having come across as the most presidential and competent, but he did not shine through in the way he needed to either. Christie and Burgum were the definitive losers, written off by Republicans as annoying and boring respectively.’
The poll was conducted online in the hour after the debate ended and carries a margin of error of 4.2 percent.
Biden impeachment inquiry hearing begins
The House Oversight Committee held its first hearing amid the Biden impeachment inquiry.
Expert estimates $25B of fraud annually in federal food stamp program
A security expert says Congress should reduce food stamp fraud as it faces a Saturday deadline to renew the Farm Bill.
Haywood Talcove is the CEO of LexisNexis Risk Solutions’ Government Group, which provides fraud prevention tools to 26 state unemployment programs and 50 U.S. banks.
He says about 20% of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s $127 billion annual budget, or $25 billion annually, is likely lost to criminals.
During the pandemic, criminals defrauded the Paycheck Protection Program and state unemployment insurance programs. Now, Talcove said criminals target food stamps, a U.S. Department of Agriculture program providing a social safety net to about 40 million people “at scale” and is likely taking between $24 billion and $36 billion annually.
In $11.3M federal fund maneuver, Planned Parenthood services expand
Tennessee and Oklahoma will receive a combined $11.3 million in federal Title X money in a workaround after the states were denied that money earlier this year.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that $3.9 million each in federal funds will go to both the Virginia League for Planned Parenthood and Converge Inc. in Mississippi to expanded services into Tennessee.
Meanwhile, the Missouri Family Health Council will receive $3.3 million to expand service into Oklahoma.
HHS withheld $4.5 million in federal Title X funds from Oklahoma earlier this year and more than $7 million from Tennessee.
Title X, according to the federal website, “is the only federal grant program dedicated solely to providing individuals with comprehensive family planning and related preventive health services.”
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said the maneuver was “wrong on many levels” and HHS should correct its actions.
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