In The News Today, and other things.

Entitled Porsche driver attacks elderly man who asked him to stop revving his engine

Da Silva tried to talk with Juliรฃo, who responded by punching him multiple times and causing him to fall near a tree.

Even while the retiree was on the ground, Juliรฃo continued to land multiple blows before two male bystanders intervened and pulled him away.

Da Silva at one point was lying on the road lane, where Juliรฃo proceeded to kick him.

A person who appeared to be recording the assault with a smart phone could be heard begging bystanders to call the police and paramedics before Henrique fled.

Da Silva was found unconscious by paramedics and rushed taken to an area hospital.

On Thursday, a Sรฃo Paulo court granted police an order to arrest Juliรฃo and ruled that he would be placed on pretrial detention.

The assault comes two years after Juliรฃo beat his ex-girlfriend and mother of his one-year-old son, Ana Bianca, 22, according to CNN Brasil.

Juliรฃo assaulted Bianca in a hotel room, where he locked her in a bathroom and repeatedly kicked and punched her.

Bianca was later beaten by Juliรฃo at her place of employment. He attempted to jump out of window but was stopped by Bianca.


Embattled Federal Agency Failed To Verify Ukraine Aid Partners Werenโ€™t Enabling Sex Trafficking

A foreign aid agency under scrutiny from President Donald Trump did not properly vet humanitarian groups it funded to prevent sexual abuse of Ukrainian war victims, a watchdog report says.

A Thursdayย reportย by the agencyโ€™s inspector general office at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) found the agency did not follow its own policies on approving aid for war-torn Ukraine and refused to fully follow the reportโ€™s recommendations to fix the problem.

The probe adds to ongoing criticism of USAIDโ€™s handling of taxpayer dollars as the Trump administration moves to shut the agency downย โ€“ย to the dismay of some on the left.

The inspector generalโ€™s office found that more than 90% of Ukraine funding awards โ€œbetween February 2022 and September 2023โ€ lacked โ€œprevention and reporting measuresโ€ required to show that aid groups were protecting Ukrainians from rampant human trafficking dangers.

Media reports and international advocacy groups warned that Ukrainian women fleeing the war with Russia are a prime target for sex traffickers, some of whom have reportedly been spotted near aid shelters in Europe.

The inspector generalโ€™s office noted that โ€œapproximately 90 percent of the people who fled the countryโ€ after Russia invaded in 2022 โ€œwere women and children, with women at the greatest risk of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), human trafficking, and forced prostitution.โ€

The aid groups were required to explain their measures to safeguard their clients when applying for USAID funding, the report said. Many applications โ€œlacked sufficient detailโ€ on the issue and did not meet USAIDโ€™s standards, but the agency funded the organizations anywayย โ€“ย to the tune of around $750 million…


Polish officials offer US more defense buys, joint ammo production

Poland’s Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz (R) and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (L) inspect the honor guard during a welcoming ceremony at the Ministry of Defence headquarters in Warsaw on Feb. 14, 2025. (Wojtek Radwanski/AFP via Getty Images)

As Polandโ€™s defense budget is set to reach an unprecedented level in the countryโ€™s history, at 4.7 percent of gross domestic product, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has called on countries in the region to similarly ramp up their military expenditures.

Polish defense leaders, in turn, said they want to engage the U.S. industry in joint ammunition manufacturing.

On the last leg of his European tour, during which he also stopped in Germany and Belgium, Hegseth visited Poland where he held talks on Friday with Polish President Andrzej Duda and Wล‚adysล‚aw Kosiniak-Kamysz, the countryโ€™s deputy prime minister and defense minister.

In the aftermath of Russiaโ€™s attack against Ukraine in February 2022, Poland has positioned itself as one of the invaded countryโ€™s staunchest allies. Warsaw has delivered large volumes of weapons and gear to Kyiv, but also pushed for Ukraineโ€™s future accession to the alliance.

However, on Feb. 12, two days before Hegsethโ€™s talks in Warsaw, Kosiniak-Kamysz conceded during a press conference in Brussels that, as Washington opposes inviting Ukraine to join NATO, โ€œthere will be no such invitation.โ€

In Warsaw, Hegseth praised Poland for continuing to raise its defense spending, saying the country was โ€œleading by example on a lot of things.โ€

โ€œI do want to emphasize that itโ€™s quite intentional that our first European bilateral is right here, in Poland. The symbolism is not lost. In fact, it is intentional,โ€ Hegseth said at a joint press conference with Kosiniak-Kamysz. โ€œWe see Poland as the model ally on the continent, willing to invest not just in their defense, but in our shared defense, and the defense of the continent.โ€..


Pete Hegseth works out with soldiers in the snow as military reasserts pride in strength

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spent Friday morning working out in the snow with US forces in Poland โ€” as new military ads reflect a renewed pride in power and strength.

Hegseth, who arrived in Warsaw Thursday for his first official overseas trip, shared photos of himself jogging and doing pre-dawn pushups with members of the US Army V Corps and Polish forces who work with them there.

โ€œTough, disciplined, ready to fight,โ€ he posted on X.

โ€œReadiness starts with physical and mental toughness. No excuses,โ€ he wrote alongside a video clip of him jogging with the troops.

One of the latest online videos from the US Army โ€”ย viewed nearly 7 million timesย on X by Friday โ€” shows a tattooed Special Forces soldier aggressively training in a dark gym.


As Israel fields Iron Beam, Gulf states are pining for the technology

Israeli company Rafael has created Iron Beam, a high-energy laser weapon. (Courtesy of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems)

 Interest in direct-energy weapons is rising in the Gulf region, a technology in which Israel has proclaimed itself a leader with the fielding of the Iron Beam.

Absent the breakthrough capability, militaries in the region are stuck with the costly proposition of shooting interceptor missiles at incoming threats, an economic calculus untenable for some.

Mastering the technology of disabling missiles, drones and smaller projectiles with lasers has long been the holy grail of air defense. Few nations have succeeded so far, with Israel and the United States among the ones closest to this pursuit.

Israeli defense company Rafael has been working for over a decade on the Iron Beam โ€“ which it is expected to deploy before the end of this year.

The intention is to integrate the system into the Iron Dome, which relies on kinetic interceptors, to render the package more effective. In the setup, Iron Beam would direct a large amount of small beams on the most vulnerable spot of incoming threats, incapacitating them.

At the 2023 edition of the IDEX trade show in Abu Dhabi, Rafael exhibited a mock-up of the Iron Beam, signaling an interest in possibly exporting the system to regional customers in the future….


Man showed up in bloody clothes to pharmacy and confessed to murdering his mother and aunt after they evicted him: Police

ย (KCTV). Inset: Luke Anthony Howard (Clay County Sheriffโ€™s Office).

Aย Kansasย man allegedly shot his mother and aunt after he was evicted from their home โ€” and then fled toย Missouri, where he reportedlyย confessedย to the crime at a pharmacy.

Luke Anthony Howard, 34, was being held in custody in Missouriโ€™s Clay County on $5 million bond, according toย reportingย from KCTV, a local CBS affiliate. He is awaiting extradition to Johnson County in Kansas, where the countyโ€™s district attorney said Howard murdered his mother, Valerie Howard, 63, and his aunt Joyce Austin, 71.

According to court documents obtained by KCTV, Howard had been living with the two women and was given anย eviction noticeย by Austin before he allegedly shot them.

Court documents, including an arrest affidavit, stated that on Feb. 12, Howard turned up at a pharmacy in Liberty, Missouri, about 30 miles away from the Lenexa, Kansas, home where he lived with his mother and aunt.

According to the affidavit, Howard was observed by the pharmacy staff to have blood on his clothes as he reportedly told them that he needed to turn himself into police. When police arrived, Howard allegedly confessed to double murder….


How USAID Laundered Money to the Taliban

Freedom Center Investigates has a new article on how USAID laundered money to the Taliban.

I believe itโ€™s an important article, but I also thought it might be a good idea to have a briefer more visual explainer of how the scheme worked. SIGAR, the governmentโ€™s Afghan war watchdog, already provided a good visual breakdown of some of the scheme.

But letโ€™s start here.

1. In 2021, Afghanistanโ€™s central bank, controlled by the โ€œfinancier of the IEDsโ€ that had killed over 1,000 U.S. soldiers, began tweeting pictures of shipments of blue bags of hundred dollar bills as โ€œhumanitarian aidโ€.

Australiaโ€™s ABC even featured a photo of the blue bags on the tarmac at Kabul International Airport containing $40 million. One of several such shipments.

Where was the money coming from? Us.

2. Hereโ€™s how I break it down in โ€˜USAIDโ€™s Taliban Money Laundering Schemeโ€™.

USAID put the money into pooled UN accounts which it did not control allowing it to deny sending money to the Taliban.

3. The UN bought and shipped billions in hundred dollar bills to Afghanistan. Then deposited them in a private bank and transferred money to โ€˜non-profitsโ€™ on the ground. This let the UN deny it was giving money to the Taliban.

4. The non-profits then exchanged the money with โ€˜Afghanisโ€™ from a Taliban-controlled bank.

Here are SIGARโ€™s graphics for this arrangement….


Zeldin Cancels $50 Million Contract for Environmental Group Working for a โ€˜Free Palestineโ€™

Lee Zeldin, Trumpโ€™s new administrator at the Environmental Protection Agency, has just cancelled a Biden-era contract with a supposed environmental group, that also happens to be a โ€˜free Palestineโ€™ organization.

Is there a better example of the progressive concept of โ€˜intersectionalityโ€™ than this?

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin announced Thursday that he had canceled a Biden-era contract awarded to the Climate Justice Alliance, a group that claimed it was working toward a โ€œFree Palestine.โ€

The phrase โ€œFree Palestineโ€ has genocidal implications, as many of the people who use that slogan imply that โ€œPalestineโ€ should replace the existing state of Israel and its 10 million people, including its 80% Jewish majority.

This is part of a wider effort by Zeldin, with the help of DOGE, to recoup billions that were handed out by Biden to environmental groups as he was on his way out the door…


Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orban on USAID, Trump, Immigration, NATO, and the Russia/Ukraine War

Hungaryโ€™s Viktor Orban is by far the longest serving head of state in Europe, and by this point has been vindicated on pretty much everything.

So when he says that going forward itโ€™s Ukraine, not Russia, that may be the biggest threat to the west, itโ€™s worth paying attention.


Eric Burlison Plays Video For Democrats At DOGE Hearing To Show Them ‘What Your Party Believed In’

At today’s House Oversight Committee’s Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency, Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) played a video to show Democrats what their party once believed in.


Yemenโ€™s Houthis threaten the US & Israel; France says UNIFIL should replace IDF TV7Israel News 14.02

1) The looming deadline, as part of which Hamas is required to release all of the hostages by Saturday noon, with the Israeli Defense Establishment preparing for all contingencies.

2) France is calling on Israel to allow UNIFIL to replace the IDF in Lebanon โ€“ after the U.S. consented Israel maintain five strategic military outposts in Southern Lebanon.

3) Iran voices outrage over reports that Israel is preparing to strike its nuclear infrastructure.


EXPOSING the Aid Industrial Complex | Tomi Lahren is Fearless

Tomi Lahren does a deep dive into USAID with Prospera Africa Co-Founder, Magatte Wade.


Throw Them Out | Matthew Goodwin

This is a clip from our recent podcast release with Matthew Goodwin. In it, he and Dr. Jordan B. Peterson discuss the UK conservative party, their failure to represent stated values, and the need for wholesale political change.


Border czar Homan refers AOC to Justice after her office’s advice to illegals on how to avoid ICE

President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, says he referred New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, among the Democrat Party’s most liberal members, to the Justice Department after her office’s presentation that gave illegal migrants tips on how to avoid U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

“Is she crossing the line?” Homan asked aloud during a Fox News Channel interview Thursday evening. “So I’m working with the Department of Justice and finding out, where is that line that they crossed?

“So maybe AOC is going to be in trouble now, but I need the AOG to opine on that, because there’s an impediment, it’s impediment in my opinion, I’m not a prosecutor, but we need some further guidance on that.”

Homan said he made the referral to the agency’s deputy attorney general.

The comments follow Ocasio-Cortez’s office on Wednesday hosting a webinar that was about migrants knowing their rights if ICE agents came to their door. While she did not attend the webinar, it did appear on her Facebook page, according to The New York Post.…


THIS IS HUGE… IT’S ALL ABOUT TO COME OUT!


Professor Nalapat: USAID And The CCP Have The Same Objectives


BREAKING: Gavin Newsom Forced To Veto $50 Million Illegal Alien Sanctuary Bill


Trumpโ€™s border czar Tom Homan blasts โ€˜embarrassmentโ€™ Hochul over New Yorkโ€™s sanctuary status, lax immigration laws โ€” and calls for her ouster

โ€œGov. Hochul is an embarrassment to the position she holds,โ€ Homan raged during a joint sit-down with Mayor Eric Adams on Fox Newsโ€™ โ€œFox & Friends.โ€

โ€œGov. Hochul, she needs to be removed.โ€

Homan laid into the governor over the stateโ€™s โ€œGreen Light Law,โ€ which grants driverโ€™s licenses to illegal immigrants but bans the DMV from providing the feds with personal information about immigration status.

โ€œAfter someone is burned alive on a subway, she stands in front of TV cameras and says, โ€˜I think criminal aliens should be removed too,’โ€ he said, referring to the death of a woman on a subway in December at the hands of an illegal migrant.

โ€œBut sheโ€™s got the Green Light Law,โ€ Homan continued. โ€œOn one point, sheโ€™s saying, โ€˜Well, I think criminals should be removed too.โ€™ But then she locks us out of the DMV data.โ€

Homan argued the law prevents ICE officers from running license plates in New York state during traffic stops โ€” putting them in danger.

โ€œSheโ€™s putting men and women at risk every day,โ€ he said. โ€œThe job is already dangerous.โ€

Adams, for his part, sat stone-faced as Homan railed against the mayorโ€™s fellow Democrat.

Homanโ€™s takedown of Hochul came just days after the Department of Justice slapped the Empire State with a lawsuit over the โ€œGreen Light Lawโ€ โ€” specifically how it limits cooperation with federal immigration enforcement…


Stargate, mRNA, And The Internet of Bio-Nano Things

Today the Independent Media Alliance brings you a panel focusing on the new Stargate Project, its focus on mRNA and artificial intelligence, and how this connects to the Internet of Bodies, the Internet of Things, and where they intersect, in the Internet if Bio-Nano Things.

This is where our world has been for some time, unfortunately many are still unaware of this alarming reality. Today we will be discussing our concerns regarding this project and where this all appears to be going.


DOGE shows up at IRS, sending taxmen into panic

The Department of Government Efficiency has managed in just a few weeks to inspire dread among various contributors to and beneficiaries of government waste.

After making its penetrating gaze felt at over a dozen federal agencies, including the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the DOGE set its sights on the Internal Revenue Service.

Sure enough, bureaucrats at the organization that the Obama administration weaponized against conservatives have begun to panic.

Two unnamed sources said to be familiar with the matter told Reuters that one of Elon Musk’s top DOGE staffers, Gavin Kliger, arrived at the IRS Thursday to scrutinize the agency’s operations.

Kliger reportedly met with top executives at the agency who were separately instructed in an email to identify all “non-essential” contracts for termination.

“Consistent with the goals and directives of the Trump administration to eliminate waste, reduce spending, and increase efficiency, GSA [General Services Administration] has taken the first steps in a government-wide initiative to eliminate non-essential consulting contracts,” said the email.

According to CNN, Kliger apparently asked for a description of what each business unit in the agency did, what it sought to accomplish in the next 90 days, and what risks it currently faces. Despite the straightforward nature of the DOGE member’s questions, Kliger’s visit reportedly left IRS staffers on edge…


Trump aide Ric Grenell threatens to run against Kamala Harris for California gov

 President Trumpโ€™s envoy for special missions Ric Grenell said Friday that heโ€™s considering running against Kamala Harris for California governor next year.

Grenell, 58, told reporters at the Munich Security Conference that he believes the former vice president is vulnerable if she attempts a political comeback after her blowout loss to Trump on Nov. 5.

โ€œIf Kamala Harris runs for governor, I believe that she has such baggage and hundreds of millions of dollars in educating the voters of how terrible she is, that itโ€™s a new day in California, and that the Republican actually has a shot,โ€ Grenell said.

California Democrats are reeling from the aftermath of last monthโ€™s wildfires in Los Angeles, which caused more than $250 billion in damage. Outraged residents and Republicans blame local Democratic policies for contributing to the infernos and lack of water available to extinguish them.

Grenellโ€™s amorphous current role includes serving as Trumpโ€™s point person on Los Angeles reconstruction. Heโ€™s also served as a foreign emissary โ€” including recently traveling to Venezuela to broker the release of six Americans and an agreement by socialist strongman Nicolas Maduro to accept deportees.

He additionally is Trumpโ€™s interim executive director of the Kennedy Center in Washington…