Texas
Mariachi Band Trolls Ted Cruz Outside His Houston Home
Senator Ted Cruz may not have been able to carry out his tone-deaf vacation to Cancún, but some residents of Texas made sure that Mexico came to him. As The Independent reports, a Mariachi band held a lively performance outside of Cruz’s Houston home on Sunday, because as one organizer put it, “No one should go to Cancún and not listen to Mariachi.” Cruz, who is responsible for approximately 90% of the terrible haircuts in the Senate and at least 10% of its jowls, flew to Cancún on Wednesday, February 17th. The timing struck almost everyone as less than ideal, given that his home state of Texas had been rocked by catastrophic winter storms. With millions snowed-in without water or electricity, Cruz used the powers of his office to arrange a police escort to the airport and made a beel...
Coronavirus: Concern grows over potential superspreader event during US Capitol riot
Concerns are mounting about the health of lawmakers and other people in the Capitol last week, after the first member to test positive for the Coronavirus (COVID-19) since Wednesday’s chaos, said she believed she was exposed in a crowded hiding place with hundreds of other legislators. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., tested positive on Monday while experiencing mild symptoms, and said in a statement that she believes she caught the virus from her fellow lawmakers while hunkering down as Capitol Police struggled for hours to contain a Trump-inspired mob attack on the Capitol. Lawmakers were trapped in a room near the Capitol with hundreds of others, in some cases for hours, where at least one person who later tested positive for the coronavirus was present. The Office of the Attending P...
Moderna, McKesson, U.S. Army general begin rolling out new coronavirus vaccine
Distribution of Moderna Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine to more than 3,700 locations in the United States has begun, vastly widening the rollout started last week by Pfizer Inc, U.S Army General Gustave Perna said on Saturday. Moderna has already moved vaccines from its manufacturing plants to warehouses operated by distributor McKesson Corp where they are being packed into containers and loaded on to trucks on Saturday, Perna said during a news conference. Trucks will set out on Sunday and shipments will start reaching healthcare providers as soon as Monday, he said. The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved an emergency use authorization for Moderna’s vaccine, the second COVID-19 vaccine to be approved. The jab developed by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech SE was approved Dec. 11....
Benny The Butcher Reportedly Shot In The Leg In Houston
Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty Benny The Butcher is the latest rapper in the state of Texas to suffer from a gunshot wound to the leg, and his condition is still largely unknown. According to still-developing reports, the Buffalo, N.Y. rapper was at a local Walmart where a group of men attempted to rob him and his crew. TMZ has the breaking news: Houston PD tells TMZ … the New York rapper was in town Saturday and visiting a local Walmart with a couple friends in tow. While they were in their car in the lot, we’re told a car with 5 guys inside pulled up next to them and whipped out guns … demanding their chains. Apparently, Benny and co. were moving too slow for the alleged robbers’ liking … and cops say one of the 5 fired a round into Benny’s leg, which ca...
US election: Republicans hold back Democrats, narrowing path to Senate control
The battle for power in the Senate tightened into Wednesday as Democrats picked up a seat in Colorado, but suffered a setback in Alabama, and Republicans held their own in high-profile races in South Carolina, Iowa, Texas and Kansas, dramatically narrowing the political map. Republicans fought to retain their Senate majority by turning back a surge of Democrats challenging allies of President Donald Trump, and the Democrats’ various paths to seizing control were growing more limited. With several contests still too early to call, and one Georgia race heading to a January runoff, the final verdict is expected to drag on. Democrats gained a seat when ex-Gov. John Hickenlooper ousted GOP Sen. Cory Gardner in Colorado, a must-win to flip the Senate, but couldn’t hold on in Alabama, where forme...
President Trump Praises Supporters Who Boxed In Biden Campaign Bus In Texas, FBI To Investigate
Source: WENN/Avalon / WENN A harrowing scene unfolded over the weekend as a campaign bus for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris was essentially boxed in by a caravan of President Donald Trump supporters. Trump praised the so-called “Trump Train” drivers, claiming they were protecting the bus. Last Friday (Oct. 30, a Biden campaign bus is seen traveling along a highway in video footage and was suddenly surrounded by vehicles baring Trump campaign flags and the American Flag. One video showed a truck bump into another vehicle and there were reports that Biden’s camp decided to call off some campaign events due to the incident.” On Sunday, President Trump seemingly praised the caravan of supporters for their actions. “Did you see the way our people, they were, ya know, protecting this bus, because t...
Gold rises on renewed US stimulus hope, dollar falls
Spot gold rose 0.3 percent to $1,910.56 an ounce at 3:37pm, New York time, after falling as much as 0.5 percent. Gold rose on renewed optimism for a preelection aid package in the U.S., while the dollar fell to a one-week low. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said a bill for a compromise stimulus package is being written as she awaits a key phone call with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said his chamber would take up a comprehensive coronavirus package if an accord is struck. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index headed for the third straight decline. Pelosi said in a Bloomberg Television interview that while there are areas where more work is required to get a compromise, she was pleased with the Trump administration’s latest position on coronavirus testing ...
Nigerian doctor named one of TIME’s Most Influential People in the world
TIME named Nigerian physician Tunji Funsho to the 2020 TIME100, its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. The full list and related tributes are available now at time.com/time100, and Mr Funsho’s TIME100 profile is available here. The list, now in its seventeenth year, recognizes the activism, innovation and achievement of the world’s most influential individuals. Mr Funsho, a cardiologist based in Lagos, Nigeria, is the first Rotary member to receive this honour for the organisation’s work to eradicate polio, having played an essential role in ensuring Africa’s certification as wild polio-free in August of 2020. “I’m honored to be recognized by TIME for my part in ensuring that no child in Africa will ever again be paralyzed by wild polio, a disease that once disabl...
California fires force thousands to flee as governor asks for help
Some of California’s largest ever fires raged across the state Saturday, forcing tens of thousands from their homes as the governor called for international help to fight the blazes. About 12,000 lightning strikes hit across the state in 72 hours, officials said, sparking the fires that left thick smoke blanketing large areas of central and northern California. “We simply haven’t seen anything like this in many, many years,” California governor Gavin Newsom said on Friday. The two largest blazes — dubbed the SCU Lightening Complex and the LNU Lightening Complex — had burned a total of just under 600,000 acres (240,000 hectares) and nearly 500 structures. Wineries in the famed Napa and Sonoma regions, which are still reeling from blazes in recent years, are under threat by the SCU Complex —...
Black Texas Teen Wrongfully Suspended Over Locs Wins Lawsuit Against School
Source: hobo_018 / Getty A Black teen in Texas is walking away victorious after winning a lawsuit against his school for a wrongful suspension over the teen’s hairstyle choice. According to NBC News, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on Monday (Aug 17) to allow Kaden Bradford to keep his locs without facing suspension. Bradford’s “rights under the Equal Protection Clause and the First Amendment will be violated if his motion for a preliminary injunction is denied, and he has additionally shown that he will receive either inferior instruction or no instruction if his motion is denied,” the court stated. The case came after Bradford and his cousin, DeAndre Arnold, were punished by Barbers Hill High School officials because of their hair. Arnold was forced to miss his graduation...
China takes over closed US consulate in Chengdu
The American flag was lowered at the US consulate in China’s Chengdu city on Monday and Chinese authorities entered the building, as Beijing carried out a Cold War-style retaliatory closure of the mission. Earlier in the morning state broadcaster, CCTV showed footage of the flag being lowered, after diplomatic tensions soared between the two powers with both alleging the other had endangered national security. Beijing later confirmed the consulate had closed at 10am (0200 GMT). “Afterwards, Chinese authorities entered through the front entrance and took it over,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. Relations have deteriorated in recent weeks in an intensifying standoff, with the Chengdu mission Friday ordered to shut in retaliation for the forced closure of Beijing’s consulate in Hou...
Donald Trump orders US census to exclude illegal immigrants in setting Congress numbers
President Donald Trump ordered the US census Tuesday to exclude illegal immigrants in its population count for determining representation in Congress, a move that could boost long-term Republican strength. The unprecedented order challenges the long-accepted constitutional mandate to count every person in the country every 10 years, as the basis for determining representation in the 435 seat House of Representatives. “For the purpose of the reapportionment of representatives following the 2020 census, it is the policy of the United States to exclude from the apportionment base aliens who are not in a lawful immigration status,” Trump’s order said. Excluding undocumented migrants in setting Congressional districts “is more consonant with the principles of representative democracy,” the orde...
