theblaze--2020-12-09--Several more states' AGs offer support for Texas' Supreme Court election lawsuit

Several more states ' AGs offer support for Texas ' Supreme Court election lawsuit

Attorneys general in several additional states — Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Missouri — appeared to throw their support behind a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton this week alleging that four battleground states exploited the coronavirus pandemic to make unconstitutional changes to mail-in voting rules.
In the lawsuit filed directly with the Supreme Court late Monday night, Paxton accused officials in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin of "violat[ing] statutes enacted by their duly elected legislatures" in order to allow for increased mail-in balloting, thus violating the equal protections clause and skewing the 2020 election results.
The lawsuit is seeking a delay to the Electoral College vote until investigations into potential election fraud can be completed.
"Their failure to abide by the rule of law casts a dark shadow of doubt over the outcome of the entire election," Paxton stated in a Tuesday news release about the complaint. "We now ask that the Supreme Court step in to correct this egregious error."
Other states are backing Texas
As of Wednesday morning, attorneys general in at least four additional states have expressed support for the lawsuit.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall seemed to indicate on Twitter that his state would join the suit, if it was granted a hearing by the Supreme Court.
"The unconstitutional and fraudulent votes in other states not only affect the citizens of those states, they affect the citizens of all states — of the entire United States. Every unlawful vote counted, or lawful vote uncounted, debases and dilutes citizens' free exercise of the franchise," he wrote in a statement. "The State of Alabama will continue to pursue any legal remedy available to protect her people from such disenfranchisement."
Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced after reviewing the lawsuit that she would "support the motion by the State of Texas in all legally appropriate manners."
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry also endorsed the lawsuit, noting in a statement that "millions of Louisiana citizens, and tens of millions of our fellow citizens in the country, have deep concerns regarding the conduct of the 2020 federal elections. Deeply rooted in these concerns is the fact that some states appear to have conducted their elections with a disregard to the U.S. Constitution."
"Louisiana citizens are damaged if elections in other states were conducted outside the confines of the Constitution while we obeyed the rules," he added.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt made no qualms about his state's position, saying plainly, "Missouri is in the fight."
"Election integrity is central to our republic. And I will defend it at every turn. As I have in other cases — I will help lead the effort in support of Texas' #SCOTUS filing today. Missouri is in the fight," Schmitt said in a tweet.
Anything else?
In his statement of support, Landry, the Louisiana attorney general, also made mention of a filing he and attorneys general from nine other states submitted last month that petitioned the Supreme Court to look into Pennsylvania's election conduct.
"In states like Pennsylvania, the judicial branch attempted to seize control of these duties and obligations and to set their own rules. These actions appear to be unconstitutional," he wrote. "If it is unconstitutional for Pennsylvania to take this action, it is similarly unconstitutional for other states to have done the same."
This filing is wholly separate from Texas' most recent filing, but nonetheless has been confused with the Texas filing by some on social media.


theblaze--2020-12-09--Many California ICUs maxed out on space as health officials say the peak hasn't even come: 'It is th

Many California ICUs maxed out on space as health officials say the peak hasn't even come: 'It is the worst we have seen'

Many California ICUs maxed out on space as health officials say the peak has n't even come : 'It is @ @ @ @ @ '

Many intensive care units in California hospitals are entirely overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients, according to a Wednesday report from the Los Angeles Times.
The disturbing news comes on the heels of newly announced stay-at-home orders as coronavirus surges across the state.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University estimate that there have been at least 1,422,341 confirmed COVID-19 cases in California at the time of this reporting, with at least 20,275 fatalities attributed to the virus.
It seems fair to point out that the state of California has had some of the strictest lockdown orders and mask-wearing mandates across the country since the start of the pandemic.
At the time of this reporting, all California residents are ordered to shelter in place "except for permitted work" and "local shopping or other permitted errands."
What are the details?
Dr. Rais Vohra, Fresno County's interim health official, said that the county's intensive care units have hit a 0% capacity rate. Fresno County boasts a population of approximately 1 million residents.
"All the things that you're hearing about how impacted our hospitals are, about how dire this situation is with our ICUs is, it's absolutely true," Vohra added. "That really is the reason that we want everyone to stay home as much as possible, at least for the next few weeks until we get this surge under control, as we try to work through the hospitalization that are just coming in so quickly and try to provide the best care."
Fresno County Emergency Medical Services Director Dan Lynch said that the county is aiming to activate an alternate care site — which could hold 123 people — for overflow patients beginning on Monday.
The Times reported that at least three counties in the San Joaquin Valley area have also reached maximum capacity in their ICUs and pointed out that the area — California's agricultural hub — is the first in the state to be maxed out.
California Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly addressed further staffing shortages at San Joaquin Valley hospitals on Tuesday and said that the situation is quickly becoming insurmountable.
"We're fulfilling what we can," he said. "But it is getting harder. We know that staff is our main scarce resource. Our requests, both across the state and the nation, are hard to fulfill because of what's happening across America with COVID."
Dr. Ahmad Kamal of Santa Clara County — where health officials estimate there is less than 10% of the county's ICU capacity available — said that the alarming rise in hospitalizations is only getting worse.
"It is the worst we have seen, and it's continuing to worsen," Kamal said.
"Though Central California is the first area in the state to hit 0% ICU capacity, it will not be the last," the Times noted. "The latest data show that the entire San Joaquin Valley's ICU capacity is down to 5.6%, and the Southern California region is hovering around 10.1%."
Vohra added, "I don't think we've seen the peak. I think the peak is yet to come, and I'm very concerned that our hospitals will not be able to meet the demands that will be placed on them."
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) ordered on Dec. 3 a "Regional Stay Home Order" as well as a supplemental order which "clarifies retail operations" and prohibits "private gatherings of any size, close sector operations except for critical infrastructure and retail, and require 100% masking and physical distancing in all others."
"Once triggered, these orders will remain in effect for at least 3 weeks," according to California's COVID-19 information portal. "After that period, they will be lifted when a region's projected ICU capacity meets or exceeds 15%. This will be assessed on a weekly basis after the initial 3 week period."
This post has been updated for clarity.


theblaze--2020-12-10--Outgoing Democratic Rep. Joe Kennedy says America is plagued by greed in farewell speech to House

Outgoing Democratic Rep. Joe Kennedy says America is plagued by greed in farewell speech to House The 40-year-old claimed , @ @ @ @ @ before the ink was dry '

Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Joe Kennedy III delivered what The Hill called "bittersweet remarks" in his final address to the House of Representatives on Wednesday, telling the lower chamber that while he was "proud and hopeful" of what could be accomplished after his departure, America is a nation plagued by greed.
What are the details?
Kennedy, 40, served four terms in Congress, and instead of running for re-election to the House in 2020, he made a failed attempt to challenge fellow Massachusetts Democrat Sen. Ed Markey for his seat. Markey, 74, beat Kennedy by 10 points.
In his farewell speech, Kennedy began by calling his service to his district "an honor" before extending his gratitude to his wife, several fellow members, constituents, and aides.
The Democrat said that he leaves the House "proud and hopeful," while calling the U.S. a "complicated and messy country."
"We violated our founding promises before the ink was dry," Kennedy asserted. "We boldly declared 'we the people' and promptly defined 'we' as rich, white, Protestant male."
He continued, "We staked out moral high ground of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and paid for it with human bondage, abuse, and suffering that we carry to this day."
Kennedy went on to voice encouragement that progress has been made, before pointing to "the great lie of our times: that the American pie is finite. That for my family to survive, yours must suffer. That the richest nation on Earth is somehow plagued by scarcity, rather than greed."
Rep. Joe Kennedy gives bittersweet farewell speech on House floor www.youtube.com
The New York Times reported that with Kennedy's departure, "2021 will be the rare year since 1946" that a member of his famous family will not have a seat in Congress.
The Associated Press noted:
Kennedy is the grandson of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, D-N.Y., who was assassinated in 1968. A member of that Kennedy family has been in Congress with little interruption since Robert Kennedy's brother, the future President John F. Kennedy, entered the House from Massachusetts in 1947.
The Democrat did not hint at what his plans are for the future during his farewell address, besides promising his children that he has "breakfast, bath, school drop-off duty for the next 15 years or so."
According to the Boston Herald, Kennedy said he has been in talks for a possible post in the Biden administration.
The outlet further reported:
Kennedy's also been floated as a top contender for a special Senate election in the increasingly unlikely chance U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren gets tapped for a position in President-elect Joe Biden's administration. But his spokeswoman, Emily Kaufman, recently told the Herald, "Joe does not plan to run for Senate next year if a seat opens up."


theblaze--2020-12-10--Massachusetts nursing home to begin accepting coronavirus patients and some people are sounding the

Massachusetts nursing home to begin accepting coronavirus patients and some people are sounding the alarm '' This is putting the @ @ @ @ @ way ''

A Massachusetts nursing home is set to begin accepting coronavirus patients as some people are sounding the alarm that it might lead to deaths among those most susceptible to the virus.
Willow Manor in Lowell announced on Tuesday that they would have a portion of their facility isolated in order to accept COVID-19 patients. Some staff members and residents will be dedicated to those patients and not intermix in order to prevent spread of the virus.
State Rep. Marc Lombardo criticized the move and called it "insanity" in a tweet.
"While we are restricting people from attending Church due to COVID concerns, MA is allowing long term care facilities like Willow Manor in Lowell to take in outside COVID patients," he tweeted.
"MA has nearly 7000 deaths already (65% of all MA deaths) in long term care facilities. Insanity," he added.
Lombardo said in a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders that he would seek a ban on coronavirus patients being sent to nursing homes.
"Given the vulnerability of the populations and the extremely high COVID death numbers to date, why on earth would we ever permit a long-term care facility to create a new COVID positive unit?" wrote Lombardo in the letter.
Willow Manor officials said that they were asked to open the facility to coronavirus patients because of a spike in hospitalizations.
"This new COVID unit will allow for proactive collaboration and seamless care coordination with local hospitals, as we are able to provide patients a safe environment for their continuum of care needs," said center executive director Monica Roman.
The families of the residents at the facility are worried.
"I can't think of a worse idea," said Darlene Torre, who has two relatives at Willow Manor. "This is putting the most vulnerable in harm's way."
Coronavirus patients at nursing homes became a flashpoint for lockdown debates when New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo sent the afflicted to facilities that saw a spike in coronavirus cases and deaths. Despite facing massive public criticism, Cuomo has praised his pandemic response effort and written a book to glorify his policies.
Here's more about Cuomo's disastrous nursing home policy:


theblaze--2020-12-10--Canada planned 'winter training' for Chinese troops next door to US, documents show

Canada planned 'winter training ' for Chinese troops next door to US , documents show The engagement was called off @ @ @ @ @ purportedly expressed concern

A trove of documents obtained by Canada's Rebel News Network show that the Canadian armed forces planned several exercises with the Chinese People's Liberation Army last year, including a "winter survival training" at a military base in Ontario, which borders the United States.
The engagement was called off by Canada's chief of defense staff, a decision that received pushback from the country's Global Affairs department who voiced concern that the cancellation might damage relations between Ottawa and Beijing.
What are the details?
Ezra Levant, the founder of Rebel News, tweeted Wednesday, "The biggest scoop I've ever had in my life. Trudeau invited Chinese troops to learn winter warfare tactics at the Canadian Forces Base [Garrison Petawawa]. 34 unredacted pages of cowardice and appeasement towards China, hostility towards America."
Garrison Petawawa is located in Ontario, which borders the U.S. states of New York, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.
The documents cited by Levant may be viewed at thechinafiles.com. Rebel News reports that the Canadian government provided the records in response to a request from the outlet after it sought to corroborate "a Russian report that Canada had sent a delegation to China for the 70th anniversary celebrations for the [People's Liberation Army] Navy" — just months after two Canadians were arrested in China following Canada's arrest of Huawei DFO Meng Wanzhou, who the U.S. has accused of conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions against Iran.
The documents, marked "SECRET//CANADIAN EYES ONLY, " show details of several engagements set for 2019 that had been "potentially paused," including the winter training in Ontario, along with meetings between Canadian and Chinese officers on military education and defense coordination at the "1-star or 2-star level" on Canadian soil.
The Globe and Mail, Canada's newspaper of record, also reviewed the documents, and noted that Canada's Global Affairs department objected to Canada's defense chief scaling back exercises with China's military, reporting that "the United States had raised concerns about joint military exercises that could benefit the PLA."
The outlet pointed to a February 2019 memo sent by then-Canadian deputy minister of foreign affairs, Ian Shugart, who wrote to the country's deputy minister of defense, "Should Canada make any significant reductions in its military engagement with China, China will likely read this as a retaliatory move related to the Meng Wanzhou case."
The two Canadians arrested in China immediately following Wanzhou's arrest are Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. A third Canadian, Robert Schellenberg — who has been held in China since 2014 on allegations of drug smuggling — was sentenced to death shortly after Kovrig and Spavor were arrested. All three men remain imprisoned in the communist country.
The day the documents were revealed, Liberal Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted, "For the past two years, we've been working tirelessly to secure the release of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor — and we'll continue to do so until they're safe at home. We'll keep standing up for them and standing with their families."
In reaction to the documents, Canada's Conservative (opposition party) foreign affairs minister Michael Chong and defense minister Jame Bezan released a joint statement condemning Trudeau, saying in part:
"Documents revealed today demonstrate that Global Affairs Canada and National Defence are not coordinated in Canada's policy toward China and were at odds with each other over the terms of engagement between the Canadian Armed Forces and the People's Liberation Army. Furthermore, despite the fact that China has kidnapped our citizens, punished our farmers and threatened Canadians in Hong Kong, the Liberal government is willing to jeopardize our Five Eyes intelligence alliance to avoid offending the communist regime in Beijing.
Chong and Bezan concluded:
"Enough is enough. Canada needs a government that is willing to stand up to China and for our values of freedom, democracy and the rule of law. Instead of spurning the advice of our allies, it is time to listen, and to ensure that Canada stands on the right side of history."


theblaze--2020-12-11--Dan Crenshaw says AOC exemplifies the 'worst stereotypes of the millennial generation' after latest

Dan Crenshaw says AOC exemplifies the 'worst stereotypes of the millennial generation' after latest outburst of 'victimhood'

Dan Crenshaw says AOC exemplifies the 'worst stereotypes of the millennial generation ' after latest outburst of 'victimhood' '' It @ @ @ @ @ victimhood as a virtue ''

Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas issued a fiery response to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) after she accused Republicans of mocking her background as a waitress.
The latest feud was sparked when Ocasio-Cortez compared her previous job as a waitress and bartender to her conservative congressional colleagues who she characterized as sitting on chairs all day.
"The thing that these conservative Senators don't seem to understand is that I've actually had a physically difficult working-class job without good healthcare most of my adult life. I bring that work ethic to Congress & to my community. They sit around on leather chairs all day," she tweeted.
When some pushed back on her sweeping generalization, she added another missive complaining that her critics mock her for her bartending experience.
"Republicans like to make fun of the fact that I used to be a waitress, but we all know if they ever had to do a double they'd be the ones found crying in the walk-in fridge halfway through their first shift bc someone yelled at them for bringing seltzer when they wanted sparkling," she mocked.
'Victimhood as a virtue'
Crenshaw took aim at the comments while being interviewed by Megyn Kelly on her podcast Thursday.
"There's multiple members of Congress, on the Republican side, missing body parts. To say that we just don't know hardship — and there's multiple businesses, multiple people that have real-life experiences, and for you to just dismiss that, it just shows how out of touch she is truly and how insulting she is all the time," said Crenshaw.
Crenshaw is a former Navy SEAL who lost his eye while serving his third deployment in Afghanistan.
"And that playing the victim thing, she really embodies sort of the worst stereotypes of the millennial generation. And it gives us a bad name, and I wish she'd stop," he continued.
"It really is about elevating that victimhood as a virtue," Crenshaw concluded.
Here's more from Crenshaw mocking AOC:
Dan Crenshaw mocks AOC in Georgia runoff remarks www.youtube.com
[H/T: The Washington Examiner.]


theblaze--2020-12-11--Leaked audio catches Joe Biden admitting Republicans 'beat the hell out of' Democrats over the 'Defu

Leaked audio catches Joe Biden admitting Republicans 'beat the hell out of' Democrats over the 'Defund the Police' slogan

Leaked audio catches Joe Biden admitting Republicans 'beat the hell out of ' Democrats over the 'Defund the Police ' @ @ @ @ @ civil rights leaders that he was on board

Former Vice President Joe Biden was caught in a leaked audio admitting that Republicans "beat the hell out of" Democrats by using the "Defund the Police" slogan to scare voters away from supporting the party at the ballot box.
The audio was leaked from a private "listening session" made on Tuesday with civil rights leaders.
"I also don't think we should get too far ahead of ourselves on dealing with police reform in that, because they've already labeled us as being 'defund the police.' Anything we put forward in terms of the organizational structure to change policing, which I promise you will occur, promise you," said Biden on the leaked audio.
"Just think to yourself and give me advice if we should do that before January 5th, because that's how they beat the living hell out of us across the country, saying that we're talking about defunding the police," he continued.
"We're not," Biden added. "We're talking about holding them accountable."
A Biden transition official released a statement defending the comments.
"President-elect Biden is the same person behind closed doors that he is public; honest, direct and realistic about the challenges facing our nation the day he is sworn in," the statement read.
"As he made clear throughout the campaign, he believes in supporting bold and urgent reform to our criminal justice system while continuing to support law enforcement's mission to keep our communities safe," the statement concluded.
Not surprisingly, leaders from the "Black Lives Matter" organization complained that they had not been invited to the private meeting where Biden talked down the "Defund the Police" slogan.
Biden's leaked commentary is the latest in a heated battle between centrist moderate establishment Democrats and their far-left progressive counterparts.
In another leaked audio from a caucus phone conference after the election, Democratic leaders berated those members who used far-left rhetoric for feeding into the narratives created by the right to defeat Democrats in moderate districts.
Despite polling predictions that Democrats would significantly increase their power in the U.S. House of Representatives and a systemic scheduling advantage in the 2020 election, Democrats suffered significant losses that had many questioning their leadership.
Here's a report about Biden's leaked audio:


theblaze--2020-12-10--Glenn Beck rips CNN for finally acknowledging the Hunter Biden scandal AFTER the election

Glenn Beck rips CNN for finally acknowledging the Hunter Biden scandal AFTER the election Remember when it was all `` @ @ @ @

If you've been listening to the Glenn Beck Radio Program over the past year, you already know about Hunter Biden's alleged business dealings in China while his father Joe Biden was vice president. You also know that Hunter Biden's alleged laptop appeared to contain even more proof that something fishy was going on. But if you watched the mainstream media, you were told it was all a conspiracy theory, or Russian disinformation, or a smear tactic to benefit President Donald Trump.
Now reports have dropped that Hunter Biden's taxes have been under investigation since 2018 and CNN even acknowledged on Wednesday that Hunter's business dealings in China are front-and-center.
On the radio program Thursday, Glenn Beck ripped into CNN and other mainstream media for waiting to aknowledge the controversy surrounding Hunter Biden until after the presidential election.
Watch the video below to hear more from Glenn:
Want more from Glenn Beck?
To enjoy more of Glenn's masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution and live the American dream.


theblaze--2020-12-10--Rose McGowan backs Matthew McConaughey on hypocrisy from illiberal left elites: 'Hollywood has been

Rose McGowan backs Matthew McConaughey on hypocrisy from illiberal left elites: 'Hollywood has been condescending'

Rose McGowan backs Matthew McConaughey on hypocrisy from illiberal left elites : 'Hollywood has been condescending '

Actor Matthew McConaughey chastised people on the "illiberal left" for being condescending and patronizing toward conservatives in an interview last week. Rose McGowan completely agreed with McConaughey's assertion of far-left members being arrogant, including the Hollywood elite.
"There are a lot [of people] on that illiberal left that absolutely condescend, patronize, and are arrogant towards the other 50%," McConaughey told Russell Brand during an appearance on the "Under the Skin" podcast.
Early Thursday morning, McGowan voiced her support of the fellow actor's position on how leftists and "elite media liberals" are condescending.
"Matthew McConaughey is right. Hollywood has been condescending, northern elite media liberals, too & it trickles down," McGowan tweeted. "Far before Trump presidency illiberal condescension & patronization has formed how too many think. Break the class structure."
The actress-turned-activist has become an outspoken critic of Hollywood, the elite, and Democrats in recent years.
In October, McGowan pointed out the hypocrisy of "liberal intellectuals" defending Jeffrey Toobin after the New Yorker reporter was allegedly caught masturbating on a work Zoom video call.
In August, the "Charmed" actress slammed Democrats for supporting Bill and Hillary Clinton, as well as Joe Biden. She also called out Democrat Kamala Harris for previously accepting donations from convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein.
McGowan is currently suing Weinstein and his team of "fixers," but the actress hit a roadblock this week. McGowan filed a lawsuit against Weinstein in October 2019, "claiming they stole a pre-publication copy of her memoir 'Brave' in 2017 and tried to 'silence' and 'portray her as increasingly unglued' to thwart her rape allegation against the movie mogul," according to the New York Daily News.
"Harvey Weinstein was able to perpetrate and cover up decades of violence and control over women because he had a sophisticated team working on his behalf to systematically silence and discredit his victims," McGowan said in the lawsuit.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright rejected nine of her 11 claims, including racketeering. In the judge's ruling, McGowan still has plausible claims of fraudulent deceit and common law fraud against the defendants.
Weinstein is currently serving a 23-year sentence at Wende Correctional Facility in Alden, New York, after he was convicted of rape and sexual assault.


theblaze--2020-12-10--Judge rules LA County banned outdoor dining 'arbitrarily' without appropriate 'risk-benefit' analysi

Judge rules LA County banned outdoor dining 'arbitrarily' without appropriate 'risk-benefit' analysis

'The county acted arbitrarily and its decision lacks a rational relationship to a legitimate end '

Los Angeles County acted "arbitrarily" and failed to conduct a proper "risk-benefit" analysis when it ordered restaurants to end all outdoor dining to slow the spread of the coronavirus, a judge ruled Tuesday. However, new state coronavirus restrictions will keep restaurants from serving people in-person for the time being, the Los Angeles Daily News reports.
A regional stay-at-home order imposed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom supersedes the judge's ruling, requiring all restaurants in the area designated as "Southern California" to limit their services to takeout and delivery because remaining ICU capacity in regional hospitals has fallen below 15%.
Despite having consistently some of the strictest lockdown measures in the country since the start of the pandemic, Los Angeles County on Wednesday reported 9,243 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, the second-highest daily total since the pandemic began, according to KTLA-TV. As cases began surging last month, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Nov. 24 voted to uphold restrictions recommended by the Department of Public Health to temporarily ban in-person restaurant dining outdoors. The restrictions were met with outrage from restaurant owners who, already struggling because of the pandemic, fear that new mandates prohibiting them from conducting business will cost them their livelihoods.
In response, the California Restaurant Association and restaurant owner Mark Geragos each filed lawsuits seeking a court injunction to block the county from enforcing the ban on dining.
Superior Court Judge James Chalfant, in a 53-page opinion, said that "by failing to weigh the benefits of an outdoor dining restriction against its costs, the county acted arbitrarily and its decision lacks a rational relationship to a legitimate end."
"Plainly, the County established that the surge is legitimately concerning, particularly hospitalizations, ICU load, and deaths," Chalfant wrote. "The principal question is: Does the action of closing outdoor restaurants have rational support in furthering the reduction of this risk?"
Defending the ban on outdoor dining, lawyers for the county argued that surging COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations necessitated the measures taken by the health department. They pointed out that the coronavirus spreads when people sit next to each other in close proximity without face coverings, eating and drinking, and projecting their voices toward one another.
Judge Chalfant agreed that the county showed increased COVID-19 cases are "burdening the health care system and action is necessary," but said they only presented "generalized evidence" of an increased risk of transmitting the virus via outdoor dining.
The county's argument "only weakly supports the closure of outdoor restaurant dining, because it ignores the outdoor nature of the activity, which the CDC (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) says carries only a moderate risk, and less with mitigations," Chalfant wrote.
"While the County had generalized evidence that outdoor dining necessarily means that diners will not wear masks while eating, and that not wearing masks in proximity to another increases the risk of COVID transmission, Petitioners had specific evidence that outdoor dining does not involve any significant COVID risk."
Additionally, Chalfant noted that, "although not widely publicized, the evidence shows that the pandemic is not so overwhelming that the public should live in fear."
"It is sadly true that large numbers of people have died from COVID: 282,000 in the United States, 19,876 in California, and 7,886 in the County. But the mortality rates have gone down as healthcare professionals have learned to treat the disease and the vulnerable groups are known."
That being said, nothing in the restaurant group's argument "undermines the County's conclusion that the mortality from COVID is serious and that the Department must take action to protect those vulnerable and to avoid long-term effects for those who recover."
But the county did not prove "any link between outdoor dining and COVID transmissions, hospitalizations, or mortality."
The statewide lockdown order will remain in place until Dec. 27 at least. Should the county seek to reimpose its restrictions on outdoor dining, which will expire on Dec. 16, it will first have to conduct "an appropriate risk-benefit analysis."
The judge said that the court cannot determine exactly what an appropriate analysis should include, but suggested that the county consider "the economic cost of closing 30,000 restaurants, the impact to restaurant owners and their employees and the psychological and emotional cost to a public tired of the pandemic and seeking some form of enjoyment in their lives."
"The court cannot adequately balance the harms without the County's performance of a risk-benefit analysis," Chalfant wrote. "While the County clearly may take action to reduce COVID's impact on hospital bed space and ICUs, it is not clear that the closure of restaurants may aid in reducing that stress to the system or that the benefits of doing so outweigh the costs."
"The Court today followed the rule of law, and confirmed that the decision process of County Public Health Departments is not free from judicial scrutiny. While their decisions are entitled to great deference, their ability to act is not unbridled. Their decisions must be supported by evidence and rationally related to the interest they seek to protect – public health. Here, there is no evidence supporting an increased risk of COVID transmission through outdoor dining at restaurants, and thus the Court rightfully issued an order prohibiting the Los Angeles County Restaurant Closure Order." said Dennis S. Ellis, an attorney for the plaintiffs.
Editor's Note: This story was updated with a comment from Dennis S. Ellis, of Browne George Ross O'Brien Annaguey & Ellis LLP.


theblaze--2020-12-10--Democratic socialist AOC seems concerned as she watches Joe Biden make his Cabinet picks: His agenda

Democratic socialist AOC seems concerned as she watches Joe Biden make his Cabinet picks: His agenda is 'a little hazy'

Democratic socialist AOC seems concerned as she watches Joe Biden make his Cabinet picks : His agenda is ' a @ @ @ @ @ for rabid progressivism be ignored ?

During the 2020 presidential election cycle, far-left progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), a self-described democratic socialist, made no bones about her agenda and hopes for the race for president.
The lawmaker endorsed avowed socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) during the Democratic primary. When his campaign ultimately failed, she threw her support to the eventual nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden.
But she had some demands and expectations — namely that should Biden win, he would implement a progressive agenda that aligned with her own.
Now that Biden is making Cabinet picks for a presumed Biden administration come Jan. 20, Ocasio-Cortez revealed that she's bit flummoxed by what he's up to, calling his agenda "a little hazy" Wednesday, The Hill reported.
What did AOC say?
The socialist New York lawmaker — who famously called for the defunding of police but refused to accept blame for the impact her and her fellow travelers' radical agenda played in the Democratic Party's dismal performance in the congressional and state elections — said during and after the campaign that the left would need to work to ensure that President Biden met their demands.
Ocasio-Cortez, co-author of the infamous Green New Deal and co-chair of the Biden campaign's climate change task force, said in September that she believed the far left could "likely push Vice President Biden in a more progressive direction" should he win the presidency.
In a September Instagram post, she declared, "We have a whole new world to build. We cannot accept going back to the way things were, and that includes the Dem Party."
"Mass movements are the answer," she added.
She repeated her promise to get Biden to move toward the far left in an October interview with CNN, saying it was her "job" to push the whole Democratic Party leftward and force party leaders to ignore the "idea of bipartisanship" and fulfill their "obligation" to demonstrate a left-wing agenda.
A few days after the election, a senior Biden campaign official promised AOC that she and her ilk would not be disappointed: Biden, the official said, would "make good" on his promises to implement "an incredibly progressive and aggressive agenda."
But now Ocasio-Cortez appears a bit confused as to whether Biden really will "make good" on his progressive promises, and she said his recent Cabinet picks are making his agenda "a little hazy."
Without apparently naming a pick that was causing her consternation, the representative told reporters that the Cabinet needs "a more cohesive vision," The Hill said, and that she wasn't quite sure if some of the appointments were "bold enough or ambitious enough."
"You have an individual appointment here, an individual appointment there," she said. "We can wrestle about whether they are bold enough or ambitious enough, especially given the uncertainty and what kind of Senate we're going to have."
But so far, looking at the potential Biden Cabinet, AOC doesn't understand what the "overall message" is.
"I think one of the things I'm looking for, when I see all of these picks put together is: What is the agenda? What is this overall vision going to be?" the lawmaker said, according to The Hill. "And to me, I think that's a little hazy."
AOC said she still wants to know what the "mission" these Cabinet members are being given.
"What is the mandate here?" she asked, adding, "I just think that's something that we're looking to see is — it's something that I hope will be pushed."


theblaze--2020-12-10--Biden rejects flippant use of executive power pushed by his 'progressive friends' in newly leaked au

Biden rejects flippant use of executive power pushed by his 'progressive friends' in newly leaked audio

Biden rejects flippant use of executive power pushed by his 'progressive friends ' in newly leaked audio But says he @ @ @ @ @ every single damn thing ' that President Trump has done over the last four years

Democratic nominee Joe Biden recently rejected the notion that he should use executive authority to accomplish policy goals pushed by his "progressive friends," noting he doesn't want the "next guy" to come along and be able to undo everything.
What are the details?
Biden's remarks — which came during a closed-door meeting with several civil rights leaders including Rev. Al Sharpton and Rep. Cedric Richmond — were obtained by The Intercept's Ryan Grim and published Thursday morning on his podcast, "Deconstructed."
During the meeting, a defiant Biden pushed back at suggestions from the civil rights leaders that he use executive orders to accomplish objectives such as setting up a national database on police misconduct or banning assault weapons.
Though he did vow to use executive power to "undo every single damn thing" that President Trump has done over the last four years.
"So there's some things that I'm going to be able to do by executive order, [and] I'm not going to hesitate to do it," he said. "But what I'm not going to do is I'm not going to do ... when you'd have some of the people you were supporting saying, 'On day one I'm gonna have an executive order to do this!' Not within the constitutional authority. I am not going to violate the Constitution."
"Executive authority that my progressive friends talk about is way beyond the bounds," he continued.
"As one of you said, maybe it was you, Reverend Al, whether it's far left or far, right, there is a Constitution. It's our only hope. Our only hope and the way to deal with it is, where I have executive authority, I will use it to undo every single damn thing this guy has done by executive authority," Biden stated.
"But I'm not going to exercise executive authority where it's a question, where I can come along and say, I can do away with assault weapons. There's no executive authority to do away that," he continued. "And no one has fought harder to get rid of assault weapons than me, me, but you can't do it by executive order. We do that, [the] next guy comes along and says, 'Well, guess what? By executive order, I guess everybody can have machine guns again.' So we gotta be careful."
What else?
Biden's remarks could have serious implications for how the Democratic Party goes about enacting changes over the next couple years should he become president, and will likely frustrate the left wing of the party.
Progressives likes Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) have urged Biden to bypass Congress and exercise his executive power on a number of issues, including "civil rights protections, student debt cancellation, raising the national minimum wage, and prioritizing the climate and clean energy," the Daily Caller reported.
In response to the leaked audio, one progressive commentator called Biden "a dope" and "a f**k."
"Biden's worried if he overuses executive authority the next guy will do even worse. The next guy is going to end democracy unless you take really aggressive steps to safeguard it, you dope," the commentator wrote on Twitter.
Anything else?
In another interesting segment, Biden warned leaders that the Democratic Party should be more careful about how they go about implementing police reform.
He claimed that the Republican Party's ability to define the party as in favor of defunding the police is "how they beat the living hell out of us across the country."


theblaze--2020-12-10--Transgender male to compete in 'RuPaul's Drag Race' for first time in show's history

Transgender male to compete in 'RuPaul 's Drag Race ' for first time in show 's history 'It makes no @ @ @ @ @ happen to be assigned female at birth , I can not also be a feminine @ @

A transgender male will compete in VH1's "RuPaul's Drag Race" for the first time in the show's history when Season 13 commences on Jan. 1, the Wrap reported.
What are the details?
Celebrity makeup artist Gottmik — a biological female who transitioned to male and underwent breast removal surgery — is a self-described "trans man who is changing the face of drag," the outlet noted.
The show has cast transgender contestants before, but the Wrap said they all identified as trans women.
"This is my third time trying out. If I got on before this time, I literally would've been depressed," Gottmik told Entertainment Weekly. "Out of drag, I wasn't transitioning [when I applied in the past], so I wasn't happy as a person. I wasn't where I wanted to be physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, any of it, so I took a break from auditioning for a year or two so I could focus on the out-of-drag part of me. Now that I'm in a good place out of drag, I'm in the best place in drag, and I'm going to kill this."
Gottmik — who's based in Los Angeles — uses male pronouns out of drag and female pronouns in drag, the magazine noted.
"It's kind of confusing on paper when you just put it down," Gottmik told Out in a story about "being a transmasculine person who does high femme drag."
"I thought, 'All of these guys around me are so feminine, and no one's questioning their masculinity or anything…. It makes no sense that just because I happen to be assigned female at birth, I cannot also be a feminine man,'" Gottmik — who began doing drag at 18 before transitioning — added to Out.
Gottmik added to EW: "The trans guys I saw [in media before this] weren't me. Too masculine, too straight…. I looked around like, all of my guy friends are so feminine, that means I can be feminine, too! When I realized that, it was game over. I'm so excited and in such a good place and I'm ready to fight for my community and represent them down. The main thing I want to make so clear is that the gender spectrum is really crazy, and I feel like me doing feminine drag is confusing to a lot of people. I want to show everyone that no matter what you transition to, boy or girl, there's a whole gender spectrum in between that you can play with and have fun with, and it doesn't mean that your identity is any less valid."
RuPaul's Drag Race | Season 13 First Look youtu.be
Anything else?
RuPaul hasn't always appeared sympathetic to the transgender cause.
During early seasons, RuPaul would address contestants via video at the beginning of the show with the catchphrase "You've got She-Mail" — and the Wrap said the term "she-male" is considered transphobic.
More from the outlet:
In 2014 he came under fire for a segment on the show called "Female or She-Male," where contestants had to guess if a fellow competitor was cisgendered (not trans) or not based on partial photographs. Since then, several of the show's transgender contestants have spoken out about RuPaul's apparently casual transphobia — he also said in 2018 that transgender women who compete as drag queens are "cheating."
RuPaul later apologized for the comments, and said on Twitter, "the trans community are heroes of our shared LGBTQ movement. You are my teachers."


theblaze--2020-12-10--JK Rowling demands end to 'climate of fear' in trans debate; received 'heartbreaking' stories of wom

JK Rowling demands end to 'climate of fear' in trans debate; received 'heartbreaking' stories of women regretting irreversible gender surgeries

JK Rowling demands end to 'climate of fear ' in trans debate ; received 'heartbreaking ' stories of women regretting @ @ @ @ @ Potter ' author likely to cause more outrage with her latest opinons

British author J.K. Rowling has called for an end to the "climate of fear" regarding the debate about transgender individuals in a new interview that is certain to spur an uproar.
"Many are afraid to speak up because they fear for their jobs and even for their personal safety," Rowling said in an interview with Good Housekeeping magazine. "This climate of fear serves nobody well, least of all trans people."
Since Rowling has been speaking her mind on the trans debate, she has received harsh condemnation as well as death and rape threats. But the 55-year-old writer alleges that "more than 90 percent of the letters and emails have been supportive."
"My correspondence have included medical staff, social workers, prison workers, workers in women's refuges, and members of the LGBT community, including trans people," Rowling claimed.
"I believe everybody should be free to live a life that is authentic to them, and that they should be safe to do so," the "Harry Potter" author said. "I also believe that we need a more nuanced conversation around women's rights and around the huge increase in numbers of girls and young women who are seeking to transition."
Rowling claimed to have received "heartbreaking letters" from young women, who "regret the irreversible surgeries they've undertaken." She said these stories from women regretting their irreversible gender reassignment surgery "need to be told."
This follows the Keira Bell case in Britain, where the 23-year-old sued the British National Health Service's gender-identity youth clinic for prescribing her puberty blockers at the age of 16. Bell blamed the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, which runs the U.K'.s only gender identity development service for children, for not doing enough to "challenge" her decision to transition to a male.
Earlier this month, the judges' ruling stated, "It is highly unlikely that a child aged 13 or under would be competent to give consent to the administration of puberty blockers."
"It is doubtful that a child aged 14 or 15 could understand and weigh the long-term risks and consequences of the administration of puberty blockers," the judges said.
"In respect of young persons aged 16 and over, the legal position is that there is a presumption that they have the ability to consent to medical treatment," the ruling read.
Bell had a double mastectomy at age 20 with hopes to "achieve happiness." When the surgery didn't bring joy, Bell began to de-transition last year, describing the situation by saying, "It was heartbreaking to realize I'd gone down the wrong path."
Rowling has had a history of weighing in on trans issues. In September, transgender activists called Rowling a "transphobe" for writing about a character in one of her books that was a cross-dressing serial killer.
Over the summer, Rowling was heavily criticized for saying that hormone therapy and gender reassignment surgeries are too often over-prescribed.
The author penned a lengthy essay detailing how she was allegedly targeted by the transgender lobby.


theblaze--2020-12-10--Video: Florida deputies repeatedly plead with suspect not to grab gun before shooting him dead

Video : Florida deputies repeatedly plead with suspect not to grab gun before shooting him dead Suspect Dylan Ray Scott @ @ @ @ @ 'die via suicide by cop '

Newly released videos show several Florida deputies pleading with and begging a suspect to put up his hands and not grab his gun before they were forced to shoot him, according to the New York Post.
Police fatally shot the suspect, Dylan Ray Scott, on Tuesday after police attempted to take him into custody on warrants for grand theft and resisting arrest.
According to reports, Scott previously told his mother in a letter that he wanted to "die via suicide by cop" and had what the Post referred to as a "history of attacking cops."
What are the details?
Body-camera footage of the incident shows Scott fleeing from officers in his truck, which appeared to be in a commercial parking lot. Scott's vehicle can be seen tearing into the nearby roadway, but comes to an immediate halt after another vehicle strikes the truck.
When officers approach Scott, who crawls over to the passenger side of his vehicle, he warns them that he had a gun in his waistband.
The footage then shows officers begging Scott not to reach for the weapon before fatally shooting him.
"C'mon, man, it's not worth it," Hillsborough County Sheriff's Deputy Timothy Miskell can be heard pleading with Scott. "We do not take anything personally, and I do not want to shoot you, but if you don't show me your hands, that's what's gonna happen. Put your hands up. Please don't make me do this."
Miskell continues, "You are gonna die right there in that passenger seat if you don't show me your hands. ... The warrants you have right now, you'll get a bond. But if you make a bad decision right now, it could cost your life. And I'm begging you not to make that choice. ... C'mon, man. Please don't."
Another unnamed officer add, "You'll be out of jailed of jail tomorrow, man, just show us your hands."
Scott then lunges out of the vehicle without warning, according to the outlet, and shots begin to ring out, striking him.
First responders on the scene transported Scott to nearby Tampa General Hospital, where he died of his injuries.
Upon investigation, no weapons were found on Scott's person or in his vehicle, despite his assertions otherwise.
Authorities placed Miskell and three other officers involved in the shooting on administrative leave according to protocol.
In a statement on the incident, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said, "These deputies did a textbook job of trying to get this suspect to surrender himself. They pleaded with him to show his hands, stopping short of begging him not to reach for the firearm he repeatedly said he had. There is no perfect outcome in situations like this, but I am thankful that none of our deputies were hurt, and that we were able to keep innocent citizens on the roadway safe as this situation unfolded."
What else?
According to Eugene O'Donnell, professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice as well as a former NYPD officer and Queens, New York, prosecutor, the suspect forced the officers' hands and left them "unfairly branded" as killers.
"No matter what videos like these show, there will still be people who will just call him a 'killer cop,'" O'Donnell told the outlet. "Especially in this unforgiving climate, officers like this just get unfairly branded, and even 10 years from now it will be used against them if they are ever again made to use deadly force."
O'Donnell added, "It's a big ask of a public servant to be forced into a situation where he has no choice but to snuff out another person's life, especially when they've been face to face with them like this. ... It's not unusual for officers to take this kind of pain to the grave.
"No matter what," he continued, "there's going to be a cohort of people who believe that cops should wait until they get shot, that any preemptive force is inappropriate. These officers are our surrogates doing the hard things that we don't want to have to do — and they often bear the costs to their death."
(Content warning: Graphic footage):


theblaze--2020-12-10--Black Lives Matter movement turns on Joe Biden, says no BLM leaders were invited to meeting with civ

Black Lives Matter movement turns on Joe Biden, says no BLM leaders were invited to meeting with civil rights leaders

Black Lives Matter movement turns on Joe Biden , says no BLM leaders were invited to meeting with civil rights @

The official Black Lives Matter movement is apparently unhappy with former Vice President Joe Biden after learning that reportedly none of the movement's leaders were invited to a relevant meeting Tuesday with the leader.
What are the details?
The organization tweeted Wednesday, "Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Rep. Cedric Richmond met with several civil rights groups yesterday. @blklivesmatter — as the largest social justice movement in history — was not invited."
The group later added, "The night of their victory, we sent @joebiden and @kamalaharris a letter requesting a meeting. It has now been 32 days and we have yet to receive a response. To set up a meeting with civil rights leaders, without BLM, is unacceptable."
The organization insisted that it deserves a "seat at the table," and displayed a petition calling for Biden and Harris to meet with the group.
What else?
The group was unhappy that they were apparently left out of the meeting following Biden's announcement that Richmond, a Louisiana Democrat, would lead the White House Office of Public Engagement.
According to a Politico report, the meeting — which took place virtually on Tuesday — addressed administration positions, as well as the type of attorney general Biden should nominate to head up the Justice Department.
From Politico:
The conversation was centered on racial justice and equity — racial equity is among the four pillars Biden laid out as top priorities on his transition website. Race was also a key issue in the presidential election, as Americans all over the country took to the streets to protest racial injustice amid a pandemic that has disproportionately affected black and brown communities. Plus, black voters not only saved Biden's presidential primary campaign but also helped elevate him to the White House in November.
The meeting, according to the outlet, centered on topics such as voting rights, judges, criminal justice reform, equality, and executive appointments.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, according to the outlet, recalled telling Biden during a news conference, "You cannot respond by not having an attorney general that has a background in civil rights. My preference, I said to him, is to have a black attorney general. ... I said, however, the least we could have is someone that has a proven civil rights background, not someone that's gonna handle this heightened, racist, bigoted atmosphere with on-the-job training."


theblaze--2020-12-10--NJ gym owner has been fined over $1.2 million for defying lockdown. No COVID-19 cases have been trac

NJ gym owner has been fined over $1.2 million for defying lockdown. No COVID-19 cases have been traced to his gym.

NJ gym owner has been fined over $ 1.2 million for defying lockdown .
No COVID-19 cases have been traced @ @ @ @ @ just passed the 83,000 visit mark with not a single case of COVID tracked back @ @ @ @

The owner of a New Jersey gym who has defied Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy's lockdown orders since May said he's fined every day for keeping his gym open but not one case of COVID-19 has been traced back to his facility.
Ian Smith and his partner Frank Trumbetti, the owners of Atilis Gym in Bellmawr, New Jersey, have kept their business open despite an executive order shuttering New Jersey gyms and other businesses during the coronavirus pandemic. Smith appeared on "America's Newsroom" Thursday to discuss the gym's rebellion against the lockdown and the consequences of challenging the state.
"We open every single day. Gov. Murphy has thrown everything he possibly could to shut us down," Smith told Fox News. "He has arrested my partner and I. He's given us over 60 citations, some of them criminal. He fines us $15,497.76 per day for every day that we're in operation."
He estimated that the total sum of the fines punitively inflicted on his business is more than $1.2 million. Regardless, Atilis Gym remains open and sees anywhere from 500 to 700 visitors daily. He explained that the gym uses safety protocols including proper sanitation and social distancing to mitigate the risk of spreading the coronavirus.
"We just passed the 83,000 visit mark with not a single case of COVID tracked back to the facility," Smith proudly proclaimed.
He disputed the effectiveness of controversial lockdown policies adopted across the nation to slow the spread of the coronavirus, lamenting the harms inflicted on businesses.
"What's happening to the middle class and small businesses in America is nothing short of a complete tragedy, and I would go so far as to call it criminal," Smith said. "You're putting people out of business for good.
"You're making them reliant on big government and you're taking away their civil liberties under the guise of pretending like you care about public health," he continued. "But you're not providing any science and you're certainly not providing any data that would prove that your actions have any real basis in reality.
"And on top of that, you're not offering any help at all," he added.
Businesses across the country are reeling as state governments reimpose stay-at-home orders and other restrictions in response to a surge in positive coronavirus cases. While many Americans face economic hardship during the pandemic, Congress has been slow to pass a new coronavirus relief package for American businesses and families. President Trump in October offered to sign a $1.8 trillion relief bill that would provide $1,200 stimulus checks too every American adult, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) rejected the compromise, insisting on her $2.2 trillion that included bailouts for state and local governments facing budget shortfalls.
Now, after the election, a bipartisan group of lawmakers have put together a $908 billion coronavirus relief package and Democratic leaders have signaled support for the package as a starting point for new negotiations.
But for business owners like Smith, a new stimulus package won't give them what they really want — to be open for business.
"People are ready to get back to life," Smith said. "We can do so in a safe manner without shutting down businesses and closing them for good."


theblaze--2020-12-10--Pro-life activists claim they were arrested, charged with trespassing for protesting on a public sid

Pro-life activists claim they were arrested, charged with trespassing for protesting on a public sidewalk

Pro-life activists claim they were arrested , charged with trespassing for protesting on a public sidewalk 'This is an unlawful @ @

Pro-life activists in San Francisco say they are being unlawfully silenced for speaking out about a local research university's use of aborted babies for publicly funded research.
What are the details?
The group of activists were reportedly arrested and charged for trespassing despite peacefully demonstrating on a public sidewalk outside the University of California San Francisco's Zuckerberg Hospital last month, the Federalist reported.
Video footage from the event posted on YouTube by Pro-Life San Francisco appears to show the protesters being arrested by police before they ever stepped foot off public property. Only after being detained and physically moved by officers did the protesters cross onto hospital grounds.
Pro-Lifers Arrested Outside UCSF's Fetal Harvesting Facility youtu.be
"Our position is that this is an unlawful arrest, as the pro-lifers were engaged in constitutionally protected speech on a public sidewalk," Alexandra Snyder, executive director of Life Legal Defense Foundation, the organization representing the protesters, said in a statement to the Federalist.
Martin Cannon, senior counsel for the Thomas More Society, who is representing one of the activists, Terrisa Bukovinac, argued his client was "arrested ... on a sidewalk, basically just for showing up."
"She did not have a megaphone, she wasn't calling out at all. She didn't even have a sign. They arrested her for being within an area that the hospital arbitrarily declared was too close to the entrance," Cannon added of Bukovinac, who serves as the executive director if Pro-Life San Francisco.
"The problem here is that they got arrested, when they made no noise. They got arrested for showing up because the cops are thinking they might make some noise," Cannon said. "They got arrested anticipatorily."
What else?
The attorneys representing the activists argue that the actions taken against their clients unlawfully injured their free speech and point to a double standard among law enforcement.
"This appears to be an attempt to suppress the dissemination of information in order to protect UCSF," Snyder said.
Cannon added, "The same people that will let the protesters bash windows and burn buildings and steal everybody's inventory and call it 'lawful protest — we can't do anything,' will respond where there's half a dozen pro-lifers on the sidewalk and start building constraints against them."
The pro-life activists were protesting against the research hospital's use of aborted fetuses for publicly funded experimental studies, according to the Federalist. The hospital reportedly has a long history of using the tissue of aborted babies for research studies, "including some in which fetal intestines and reproductive tracts were transplanted into rodents," the outlet added.
In September 2018, the Health and Human Services department even canceled a contract between UCSF and the National Institutes of Health that provided researchers with two fetuses a month for six years.
TheBlaze reached out to the the San Francisco Sheriff's Department for comment, and the department's public information officer replied with the following statement: "On November 17, 2020, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital Administrators determined that four people were trespassing upon private property. San Francisco Sheriff's deputies issued warnings to the individuals and cited them when they did not leave."
Editor's Note: This article has been updated to include a response from the San Francisco Sheriff's Department.


theblaze--2020-12-10--Thomas Jefferson name dropped from school due to pain his legacy can cause black students, board say

Thomas Jefferson name dropped from school due to pain his legacy can cause black students, board says

Thomas Jefferson name dropped from school due to pain his legacy can cause black students , board says Yet a @ @ @ @ @ of parents were against dropping Jefferson moniker

A Virginia elementary school named after Thomas Jefferson is dropping the name of the third president of the United States, author of the Declaration of Independence, and iconic Founding Father after the Falls Church School Board voted 7-0 for the change, WTOP-FM reported.
The station said the board also voted Tuesday night to change the name of a high school named after George Mason, another Founding Father.
What are the details?
"After deep and careful consideration of everything I've heard and read, I conclude that renaming both schools is in the best interest of our students and a necessary part of our equity work," board Chairman Greg Anderson said Tuesday, WTOP said.
The move to drop the schools' names began in the summer at the height of social unrest sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the station said.
Some school board members said their thinking evolved over the months in favor of changing the school names, and they began to understand the hurt the Jefferson and Mason names can cause black students, WTOP reported.
"The voice of some African Americans in our community who spoke up pushed me off the fence on to the side of seeing that it is essential we change the names," board member Shannon Litton told the station. "What I heard from them is that this matters."
Board Vice Chairwoman Shawna Russell said students should not feel marginalized or uncomfortable, WTOP said: "We must serve all the children. … We need to find names welcoming to all."
Most parents against name changes
The board's unanimous vote to drop the names came despite a community survey that found 61% of the parents of Thomas Jefferson students and 57% of George Mason High parents were opposed to the idea, the station said.
A major reason survey participants said they were against changing the school names is because Jefferson and Mason were Founding Fathers who greatly contributed to Virginia and the nation, the station added.
"I considered the survey results and the community discussion that followed, and I revisited our public hearings … I conclude that the public is split, and if you go beyond the simple number, I've heard reasoned perspectives from those in favor of retaining the names and from those in favor of changing the names," Anderson said, according to WTOP.
One of the speakers at the board meeting, Dr. Jennifer Santiago, said she represented those in the minority who favored dropping the names, the station noted.
"While there are many times majority rules works in issues of equity, it is the opposite that is needed," Santiago said, WTOP reported. "If the majority rule worked for traditionally marginalized groups, we would not have systemic racism."
Former student William Henneberg — who attended the elementary and high schools — said the name change is a bad idea, the station reported.
"Do not encourage our students to be victims or to use offense as a means to shut others down," Henneberg said, according to WTOP. "Encourage our children to be critical thinkers."
But Santiago disagreed, saying the majority's decision-making has ruled for a long time and that those in the minority are most impacted in this case, the station said.
"We need to listen very strongly to the minority response to this survey," Santiago said, according to WTOP. "Because the voices making up that number are the ones most negatively affected by the lives and legacies of these two men."
The renaming process will begin with the board's meeting next Tuesday, the station said.
'Petty tyrants'
On her Wednesday night show, Fox News' Laura Ingraham called the Falls Church board members "petty tyrants" for their vote, which she said sides with the "purgers of history."
Here's her segment, which explores the woke educational trend nationwide:
Ingraham: School board bows to 'radical activists' youtu.be
(H/T: The College Fix)


theblaze--2020-12-10--President Trump announces another peace deal — this time between Israel and Morocco

President Trump announces another peace deal — this time between Israel and Morocco It 's the fourth Arab-Israeli peace deal @ @ @ @

President Donald Trump has announced another breakthrough peace deal between Israel and an Arab nation, making it the fourth time his administration has brokered such an agreement in the past four months.
What are the details?
Trump said Thursday that Israel and Morocco have agreed to normalize relations, which includes the immediate reopening of liaison offices in Tel Aviv and Rabat, the forthcoming opening of embassies, and the allowance of joint overflight rights for airlines, the Associated Press reported.
The White House noted that Morocco's King Mohammed VI promised to "resume diplomatic relations between Morocco and Israel and expand economic and cultural cooperation to advance regional stability."
Reuters reported that Trump sealed the agreement in a phone call Thursday with the Moroccan king. As a part of the deal, Trump revised longstanding U.S. policy and recognized Morocco's sovereignty over the Western Sahara.
Trump celebrated the achievement on Twitter, calling the deal an "historic breakthrough."
In a pair of separate tweets, Trump noted that Morocco had been the first country to recognize the United States' sovereignty, just one year after it declared independence in 1776.
"It is thus fitting we recognize their sovereignty over the Western Sahara," he said.
For decades, Morocco has been involved in a territorial dispute in the Western Sahara with the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, which Reuters describes as "a breakaway movement that seeks to establish an independent state in the territory."
"The president reaffirmed his support for Morocco's serious, credible, and realistic autonomy proposal as the only basis for a just and lasting solution to the dispute over the Western Sahara territory and as such the president recognized Moroccan sovereignty over the entire Western Sahara territory," the White House said.
Before Israel was established in 1948, Morocco was home to a large Jewish population, many of whose ancestors migrated to North Africa from Spain and Portugal during the Spanish Inquisition. Today, hundreds of thousands of Israeli Jews trace their lineage to Morocco, the Associated Press reported.
What else?
The agreement comes on the heels of three other separate peace deals between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Sudan.
More agreements could be coming, as well. During a September meeting with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump signaled that "five or six" more countries were eager to end hostilities with the Jewish nation.
"We'll have at least five or six countries coming along very quickly and we're already talking to them," Trump said.
"They want to see peace," he added. "They've been fighting for a long time. They're tired. They're warring countries but they're tired, they're tired of fighting. So you're going to be seeing further announcements."
Also in September, Trump was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to establish peace deals in the Middle East by a member of Norway's Parliament.


theblaze--2020-12-10--Texas AG believes all states have a vested interest in a lawsuit headed to the Supreme Court

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton told Steven Crowder he believes all states have a vested interest in a lawsuit currently headed to the Supreme Court.
In this clip, Paxton outlined his concerns about the integrity of the 2020 election. Steven Crowder's attorney, Bill Richmond, asked Paxton why he believed states should want their state attorney general to join the fight in the case of Texas versus four other states.
"Because I think they are being disenfranchised," Paxton said. Paxton detailed how a "federal election could be affected if one state produced election results that were based on state law as required by the U.S. constitution and another state did not."
Crowder asked for Paxton's next steps in the event the Supreme Court declined to hear the case. Paxton explained that the Supreme Court is the only place he can file this case and his belief that the case deserved to be heard.
Crowder later asked if Americans could expect more Republicans to "grow a backbone" and join the fight headed to the Supreme Court. Paxton expressed an understanding of citizens' disappointment in Republican officials and that he is "grateful that more people are focusing on the issue."
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theblaze--2020-12-10--CNN finally covers the Hunter Biden story, omits name of key witness, faces backlash for waiting unt

CNN finally covers the Hunter Biden story, omits name of key witness, faces backlash for waiting until after the election

CNN finally covers the Hunter Biden story , omits name of key witness , faces backlash for waiting until after @ @ @ @ @ report in October ?

After going quiet in the months before the election, CNN is now actively reporting the federal investigation into the business dealings of Hunter Biden.
Now that the election is over, the media reporting of Hunter Biden's business deals with foreign governments has entered a new phase as federal prosecutors in Delaware, along with the IRS Criminal Investigation agency and the FBI, have issued subpoenas and are seeking interviews in their investigation. Biden's finances are being scrutinized, as federal authorities want to know whether he or his associates violated tax and money-laundering laws in their business deals with China and other foreign countries.
CNN reported that after it contacted Biden's attorney and the Joe Biden campaign for comment about the investigation, Hunter Biden released the following statement:
I learned yesterday for the first time that the U.S. Attorney's Office in Delaware advised my legal counsel, also yesterday, that they are investigating my tax affairs. I take this matter very seriously but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors.
But according to CNN, the scope of the investigation goes beyond Biden's taxes, covering business transactions involving individuals the FBI believes may have sparked counterintelligence concerns.
Two sources that spoke to CNN indicated that Hunter Biden has been under investigation since at least 2018.
CNN credited Sinclair Broadcast Group with reporting the existence of the FBI criminal investigation on Oct. 29. CNN did not cover the federal investigation when it was reported, just days before the 2020 U.S. presidential election. CNN also at the time ignored the "smoking gun" New York Post report about emails obtained from a laptop allegedly belonging to Hunter Biden showing Biden pursuing "lasting and lucrative" business ties with a Chinese energy company. A former business associate of the Biden family, Tony Bobulinski, publicly corroborated the Post's reporting and implicated former vice president Joe Biden's involvement in his son's business dealings.
To the extent that CNN did cover the story in the weeks leading up to the election, the network sought to discredit the New York Post's reporting and allege that the emails obtained from the laptop were part of a Russian disinformation campaign.
Now, CNN reports that the FBI took possession of the laptop in 2019 and that it is "unclear whether the laptop's contents are relevant to the ongoing federal probe and whether investigators can even use them, given potential chain of custody requirements for evidence."
CNN's report makes a reference to "a former Hunter Biden business associate who publicly made claims about potential wrongdoing" but does not mention Tony Bobulinski by name or report the claims he made about the Biden family.
Freelance writer Drew Holden noted on Twitter that a search for "Bobulinski" on CNN's website turns up no results.
Others have criticized CNN's lack of coverage on the Hunter Biden story. Former Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell responded to CNN anchor Jake Tapper after Tapper shared the story, demanding to know if he was "instructed" not to report the Hunter Biden investigation when the story broke in October.
Journalist Piers Morgan, a self-described liberal and former CNN employee, bashed his former employer in a blistering op-ed criticizing the mainstream media for its "shameful dereliction of journalistic duty driven by the inherent liberal bias," noting that he publicly said so at the time "as a liberal myself."
Predictably, and equally shamefully, the media responded by then trying to censor me too: I was dropped from an appearance on Brian Stelter's CNN media show after going on Fox News and lambasting news organisations like my former CNN employers for refusing to follow up the Post's Biden exposé.
They were happy to buy into Joe Biden's line that it was all a hoax driven by nefarious Russians to discredit him.
Now the same CNN is reporting that the federal investigation is 'examining multiple financial issues, including whether Hunter Biden and associates violated tax and money laundering laws in business dealings in foreign countries, principally China.'
"If I were appearing on Stelter's show this Sunday, I might ask him if he is still comfortable that CNN refused to pursue the Post's story before the election?" Morgan continued. "And what would they have done if it had been about Donald Trump Jr instead?"
As Morgan pointed out, CNN is not the only mainstream media outlet that initially ignored the Hunter Biden story only to just now decide that a federal criminal investigation into the son of a major presidential candidate is newsworthy. The Daily Beast covered CNN's report, noting that documents providing evidence of a federal investigation were made public in October but went "largely unnoticed." Hot Air's Ed Morrissey was quick to observe that conservative media and right-of-center publications certainly took notice and widely covered the story even as social media companies attempted to suppress the report and the Biden campaign and the rest of the media claimed it was Russian disinformation.
Glenn Greenwald, formerly of the Intercept, published an article Thursday calling out various reporters and big tech for promoting this claim without mentioning the FBI investigation into Biden before the election.
"That's the choice these media outlets made. They got the election outcome they wanted. But they and their reputations and legacy will have to live with this choice," Greenwald wrote.


theblaze--2020-12-10--Companies connected to Gov. Gavin Newsom received nearly $3 million in federal PPP loans: report

Companies connected to Gov .
Gavin Newsom received nearly $ 3 million in federal PPP loans : report One business @ @ @ @ @ amount for a small business of in similar size

At least eight companies partially owned by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) received millions of dollars through the Paycheck Protection Program, according to a new report.
PlumpJack, a wine business Newsom started in 1992, received nearly $3 million in PPP loans, according to a report from KGO-TV. The Small Business Administration's loan program "helps businesses keep their workforce employed during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis."
PlumpJack Management Group LLC includes five restaurants and bars, four Napa Valley wineries, a ski resort, and retail establishments, according to the company. At least nine companies affiliated with the PlumpJack Group received PPP loans, the report states.
One of the companies featured in the report is Villa Encinal Partners Limited Partnership, which has 14 employees and received a loan for $918,720 on April 14, 2020, just 11 days after the lending program launched, according to SBA data. Villa Encinal Partners Limited Partnership is linked to the PlumpJack winery in Napa, according to state records.
The Small Business Administration requires companies to spend 60% of PPP loans on wages.
"Hypothetically, if divided equally, each of them would've received around $40,000 to cover their payroll over a period of three months — that would amount to an annual salary of around $160,000 per employee," KGO-TV stated.
California wineries that received more than $900,000 in PPP funding had an average of 148 employees, according to the report.
Analysis from the report found that small businesses in California with 14 employees received an average PPP loan amount of $128,000; Villa Encinal Partners LP received seven times that amount.
"It's unexpected for a 14 employee organization to get nearly $1 million," said Sean Moulton, a senior policy analyst with the nonpartisan Project on Government Oversight. "The purpose behind this program was to save entry-level jobs, people going in and working on that paycheck. That was what we put this out there for, to stop unemployment.
"It seems to be a small business but it got a lot of money," Moulton added. "I'm not sure how the company justifies taking that much money when there were a lot of companies looking to get assistance. You hope they're using it wisely because there's an opportunity cost there — that money didn't get used for another small business that may be out of business now."
Moulton, who specializes in tracking PPP funds, said the companies could have been given preferential treatment "not because the governor asked for it, but because of all the connections that exist."
In 2018, Newsom placed his ownership interests in the PlumpJack Group into a blind trust. The Democratic governor of California is listed on the PlumpJack Group website as the founder, and his sister Hilary Newsom is listed as the company's president and partner.
The PlumpJack Management Group released a statement:
Like many other companies facing extreme financial duress during the pandemic, we used loan monies to protect our workers and keep them employed. Our staff members and their loved ones have depended on these programs for their livelihoods. Gavin Newsom is not affiliated with the operation of the companies in any way. Any suggestion otherwise is unequivocally false.
Jesse Melgar, Newsom's communications director, responded by saying, "Before taking office, the Governor transferred title and control of the businesses he founded to a blind trust, a step that goes beyond anything required by law."


theblaze--2020-12-10--Ben & Jerry's and Colin Kaepernick debut brand-new ice cream flavor to help 'amplify calls to defund

Ben & Jerry's and Colin Kaepernick debut brand-new ice cream flavor to help 'amplify calls to defund and abolish the police'

Ben & Jerry 's and Colin Kaepernick debut brand-new ice cream flavor to help 'amplify calls to defund and abolish @ @ @

Vermont-based ice cream manufacturer Ben & Jerry's has announced that it is releasing a new frozen confection flavor in honor of NFL player-turned activist Colin Kaepernick and his work in equality and in eradicating police brutality.
What are the details?
In a Thursday press release, the company announced that the new dessert — a non-dairy flavor in an apparent nod to Kaepernick's veganism — is called "Change the Whirled" and features a caramel sunflower butter base with fudge chips, graham cracker swirls, and chocolate cookie swirls.
The new flavor, according to the company's release, "celebrates Kaepernick's courageous work to confront systemic oppression and to stop police violence against black and brown people."
"Ben & Jerry's believes Kaepernick represents the very best of us, willing to use his power and platform in the pursuit of equity and justice rooted in a commitment to love and resistance," a statement from the company revealed.
According to a Thursday report from TMZ, the company added, "We are so inspired by Colin Kaepernick's bold activism for racial justice that we did what we do best: We whipped up a euphoric flavor to honor his work. ... We're proud to be working with a dedicated activist like Colin Kaepernick, whose work helped spark the international conversation around racial justice."
What else?
Kaepernick himself issued a statement on the new flavor and said that he is "honored" to partner with the popular company to debut the flavor.
"Their commitment to challenging the anti-black roots of policing in the United States demonstrates a material concern for the wellbeing of black and brown communities," Kaepernick said in a statement. "My hope is that this partnership will amplify calls to defund and abolish the police and to invest in futures that can make us safer, healthier, and truly free."
In case there was any confusion about Ben & Jerry's stance on police reform, Chris Miller — Ben & Jerry's head of global activism strategy — told USA Today, "That very much is our approach, this idea we can help normalize and reinforce these ideas to a more mainstream, general population audience. It's not a particularly radical notion to suggest that police forces and policing probably are not the best way to handling things like mental health crises and substance abuse, and contextualize them for people what a different vision of public safety looks like."
The flavor will be a full-time flavor and will be available at participating retailers beginning in 2021.


theblaze--2020-12-10--Horowitz: Rep. Eric Swalwell’s Chinese spy scandal shows perfectly why we must end the Chinese forei

Horowitz: Rep. Eric Swalwell’s Chinese spy scandal shows perfectly why we must end the Chinese foreign student program

Horowitz : Rep. Eric Swalwell ’ s Chinese spy scandal shows perfectly why we must end the Chinese foreign student @

It's a form of Chinese water torture that chokes America to death. The cycle goes something like this. China, with the help of its leftists allies in America, seeds millions of Chinese students in our universities over the decades, which enables the students to obtain jobs with access to sensitive information; engage in trade theft, counterintelligence operations, and espionage on behalf of China; and influence universities, companies, and politicians to promote more policies that further facilitate the cycle of Chinese subversion. Will the revelation about the latest Chinese spy, Christine Fang, finally force policy changes in this country?
If there is one thing the China virus and all its economic fallout have revealed about our dependence on China for everything, it is that we need a global divorce from this evil country. But that would first require us to stop opening our front door to China at every turn. The bombshell case of accused Chinese spy Christine Fang is exhibit A.
On Tuesday, Axios published the culmination of a year-long investigation that shows California Rep. Eric Swalwell (D) and other California politicians developed close relationships with Christine Fang, who the FBI suspects was a Chinese spy. Fang established close ties with California Democrats between 2011 and 2015 and, according to the Axios story, developed romantic relationships with two Midwestern mayors. In 2015, FBI investigators informed Swalwell of the concerns with Fang, and she immediately left the country. According to Axios, "U.S. officials believe Fang's real reason for being in the U.S was to gather political intelligence and to influence rising U.S. officials on China-related issues."
The real headline of this story is that Fang was enrolled as a student at California State University East Bay and served as the president of the school's Chinese Student Association. She used this platform to influence political events on and off campus. It's this fact that is so concerning, because we have allowed China to monopolize our F visas to the point that every year, there are over 350,000 Chinese students studying in America. While not all of them are spies, there are a lot of others like Fang, and we have no good vetting system. "She was just one of lots of agents," said a current senior U.S. intelligence official to Axios.
The reason we know the Chinese student visa problem is the most important takeaway from this story is the fact that lead author Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian said on Twitter, "The worst (and most inaccurate) possible lesson to take away from the story of Christine Fang is that Chinese students on campus are a threat."
Nope. This is an extremely accurate takeaway. The Chinese foreign student program is the antecedent to the entire Chinese espionage food chain that leads to the workplace, political world, governmental employment, and trade theft.
We hand out roughly 70,000 to 85,000 green cards to Chinese nationals every year, more than to nationals of any country besides Mexico. In addition, we have, by far, more foreign students from China than from any other country. In fact, 372,532 Chinese nationals were here on student visas for the 2019-2020 academic year, more than one-third of the growing total of over 1 million foreign students every year.
How in the world could we possibly vet these people and be sure that the Chinese either did not initially send any of them as operatives or are not manipulating those they know are here studying technical fields with bribes and threats to their relatives back home? Any wonder why China is stealing our research and development left and right?
This is not some right-wing theory. This has been obvious to our government for years. The director of national intelligence warned in the 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment, "China's intelligence services will exploit the openness of American society, especially academia and the scientific community, using a variety of means." The U.S. attorneys' website is replete with cases of Chinese nationals facing indictment over fraud or espionage-related activity in academia or the workplace.
Noted right-wing outlet CNN reported in 2019, "The sheer size of the Chinese student population at U.S. universities presents a major challenge for law enforcement and intelligence agencies tasked with striking the necessary balance between protecting America's open academic environment and mitigating the risk to national security."
According to a bipartisan Senate Homeland Security subcommittee report, there are 10,000 Chinese nationals conducting research in the Department of Energy's National Labs. The report found that agencies and departments conducting scientific research like the National Institutes of Health and the State Department do not "systematically track visa applicants linked to China's talent recruitment plans."
The report found that foreign-born researchers working for various U.S. scientific research agencies were being paid by China under the Thousand Talents Plan run by the communist government. It concludes, "American taxpayer funded research has contributed to China's global rise over the last 20 years," because it allowed China to go "from brain drain to brain gain."
In the case of foreign students, it's really the god of public education, which is being subsidized happily by the Chinese. The universities get cash from the Chinese government, while the Chinese get operatives and intelligence officers into the country to work in academic fields and occupations. The rest of the American people lose.
In 2018, FBI Director Christopher Wray told the Senate Intelligence Committee that "the level of naïveté on the part of the academic sector" about the espionage threat from Chinese foreign students and the Confucius Institutes that organizes their influence peddling "creates its own issues."
"I think in this setting I would just say that the use of nontraditional collectors, especially in the academic setting, whether it's professors, scientists, students, we see in almost every field office that the FBI has around the country," said Wray in response to a question from Marco Rubio about "the counterintelligence risk posed to U.S. national security from Chinese students." "It's not just in major cities. It's in small ones as well. It's across basically every discipline," added Wray.
Last year, a U.K. parliamentary committee warned how China uses its foreign student diaspora and the accompanying funding stream through the Confucius Institutes to take over college campuses and stifle freedom of speech. The House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee warned in a report, "There are strong signs that the [government] is not treating the issue of interference in academia as the priority it should be."
In America, China uses this diaspora to influence dirty politicians like Swalwell. As a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Swalwell constantly projected upon Trump and his family the allegation that they were bought out by Russia. Meanwhile, he was going on TV downplaying the threat of Chinese subversion.
What's quite evident is that we need social distancing from China today. Our politicians are bought and paid for by China. Evidently, while there are some Chinese spies who are literally in bed with the politicians, the politicians are all proverbially in bed with the Chinese government. The effort to reverse this influence begins with placing a moratorium on F-1 visas for Chinese students. Why should they be here anyway, with campuses too cowardly to open in-person learning because of fear of the very virus that emanated from China?
Rather than passing a National Defense Authorization Act that contains a provision harming small businesses and renaming military bases, Republicans should demand a provision cutting off F-1 visas.
Why is the NDAA the appropriate vehicle?
None other than former Secretary of Defense James Mattis noted in his resignation letter that Russia and China are our biggest strategic threats and that we must "be resolute and unambiguous in our approach to those countries" and "use all the tools of American power to provide for the common defense." Well, if nothing is more quintessential for the common defense than countering China and Russia, cutting off student visas that allow them to subvert us from the inside out belongs in the annual defense bill itself.


theblaze--2020-12-10--Unprompted pay-it-forward chain lasts 2 days, 900 cars at Minnesota Dairy Queen

'This is what the world needs a little more of '

One drive-thru customer's spontaneous act of kindness resulted in a two-day, 900-car pay-it-forward chain at a Dairy Queen restaurant in Brainerd, Minnesota, last week.
According to Twin Cities-Pioneer Press, in the end, about $10,000 worth of food was paid forward during the multi-day chain, which quickly sparked national attention.
It all started when one customer offered to pay the cost of the food ordered by the next customer in line. When that customer came to the payment window they were told there food was paid for and asked if they'd like to cover the cost of the following customer's meal, and that trend continued through the night.
"Everybody paid something forward — either what their bill was or paid for the next car, depending on what they could do," restaurant manager Tina Jensen said.
She noted by the end of Thursday night, $10 was left over in order to keep the chain going the following day. Then another customer called in to donate $80 to the cause, which brought the surplus total to $90. That was enough to propel the chain forward through Friday and well into Saturday.
Pay-It-Forward Chain At Brainerd Dairy Queen Passes $10,000 Mark youtu.be
Jensen said that while pay-it-forward chains tend to happen once every few months, they usually last only about 15 to 20 cars before fizzling out. She said she had never seen something last for more than a day, until this time. She said one customer even came through the line twice.
"There's all different types of ways to help people," Jensen told CNN. "I think this touched a lot of people that we didn't even know it touched, deeper than we know. And you don't know what's going on in a person's life."
"Wow.. It's hard for us to come up with the right words to say," Jensen wrote on the restaurant's Facebook page Wednesday. "You brought smiles and maybe even a little tears to our whole Crew and we're sure to you as well. This is a great act of Humanity, this is what the world needs a little more of. Whether it be to make someone's day, the Holiday Spirit or to just feel like a kid again. Thank You Fans for letting [us] serve you one red spoon at a time! Keep the positivity going, spread the love!"
One customer who participated in the chain, Heidi Bruse, said, "During times like these it kinda restores your faith in humanity a little."
"The way the world is now you see a lot of anger, tension, and selfish behavior. What we witnessed was pure kindness and it was a breath of fresh air really," she added.