Sorry, Not Sorry: Janet Jackson Says She Didn’t Authorize Apology to Kamala Harris

Chris Cella Jr.
-
0
Sorry, Not Sorry: Janet Jackson Says She Didn’t Authorize Apology to Kamala Harris

(Chris Cella Jr., Headline USA) Multiple-time Grammy-winning singer Janet Jackson revoked an unauthorized apology issued on her behalf to Vice President Kamala Harris concerning recent comments that called Harris’s ethnic background into question.

Jackson ignited controversy during an interview with The Guardian on Saturday, when she speculated that Harris may not be black but Indian.

“Well, you know what they supposedly said? She’s not black. That’s what I heard. That she’s Indian,” Jackson stated.

When pressed by the reporter, she further claimed, “I was told that they discovered her father was white.”

Harris’s presumptive father is Donald J. Harris, an economics professor emeritus at Stanford University and author of a well-known treatise on Marxist economic theory.

Harris is known to have been descended in part from an Irish slaveholder—thereby undermining his leftist daughter’s recent endorsement of reparations to black Americans and underscoring the logistical problem that such policies would create through arbitrary payouts that could potentially go to the descendants of those who were responsible.

It is unclear whether Jackson—the sister of the late, racially ambiguous pop superstar Michael Jackson—was referring to this or was calling Donald Harris’s paternity into question.

Regardless, her remarks prompted widespread outrage, with major news outlets expressing moral indignation over Jackson’s remarks.

The following day, an apology surfaced, but it was revealed that Mo Elmasri, who issued the statement, falsely claimed to be Jackson’s manager and acted without her consent.

The Jackson team clarified that Randy Jackson, her brother, is her actual manager, and Elmasri had no authority to speak on her behalf. The lack of clarity regarding Elmasri’s role has left many questions about his connection to Jackson and her team.

Legacy media quickly connected Jackson’s controversial comments to former President Donald Trump’s assertion that “Harris turned black” for political gain.

This connection sparked a wave of social media speculation regarding Harris’s true ethnic background, prompting Democrats to assert that the scrutiny over her ethnicity was rooted in racism.

Trump also raised questions during his Sept. 10 debate with Harris as to the reasons that her estranged father had been absent throughout her history-making presidential run.

The situation intensified when Harris’s birth certificate circulated online, identifying her mother as ‘Caucasian.’ However, a Reuters fact check concluded that Harris has both Jamaican and Indian heritage, despite the birth certificate listing.

Jackson’s team remains firm, as of Tuesday night, in its retraction of the unauthorized apology, emphasizing that the initial comments were made without malice.

The incident highlighted the complex interplay between celebrity statements and media interpretation, particularly in the context of race and identity.

Trump Threatens John Deere w/ 200% Tariff for Moving to Mexico

Contributing Author
-
0
Trump Threatens John Deere w/ 200% Tariff for Moving to Mexico

(Headline USA) Former President Donald Trump warned this week that he would hit John Deere with a 200% tariff if he wins November’s election and the iconic U.S. company outsources its manufacturing to Mexico, Fox Business reported.

Earlier this year, John Deere announced it was laying off thousands of workers at plants in Iowa and Illinois, while increasing its production team in Mexico. 

“As you know, they’ve announced a few days ago that they are going to move a lot of their manufacturing business to Mexico,” Trump said at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Monday. “I am just notifying John Deere right now that if you do that, we are putting a 200% tariff on everything that you want to sell into the United States.”

John Deere has defended its decision to move many of its jobs overseas, arguing that all the company is doing is “optimizing our factories for future products, making our operations more efficient, and taking advantage of locations in the U.S. and globally, with a growing labor force.”

Trump has made tariffs a central element of his economic plan. He’s called for expanding the tariffs his administration first implemented—tariffs that the Biden administration ultimately decided to keep in place. 

The former president specifically has proposed a 20% flat tariff on every foreign import coming into the U.S., and a tariff upward of 60% on imports from China.

“If you outsource, offshore, or replace American workers, you are not eligible for any benefits,” Trump explained during a speech at the Economic Club of New York earlier this month. “In fact, you will pay a very substantial tariff when a product comes in from another country.”

John Deere ran into trouble with conservatives earlier this year for implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion mandates.

The company insisted that “the existence of diversity quotas and pronoun identification have never been and are not company policy.” However, John Deere went on to note it still plans to “track and advance” the company’s diversity.

Johnny Cash Commemorated w/ Statue in U.S. Capitol

Victoria Cook
-
0
Johnny Cash Commemorated w/ Statue in U.S. Capitol

(Victoria Cook, Headline USA) Music legend Johnny Cash received a new honor Tuesday, being the first musician immortalized as a bronze statue in the U.S. Capitol, according to Rolling Stone.

Little Rock native Kevin Kresse sculpted Cash with a guitar strapped around his shoulder and a Bible in hand, humbly looking down. 

“I think the honesty of his work, the truth in his lyrics and the simplicity and straightforward way of getting that message across just spoke to me as an artist as well,” Kresse said.

The unveiling ceremony showcased bipartisan support with speakers from Democrat and Republican parties speaking favorably about Cash’s legacy. Speakers prioritized communicating Cash’s values and faith, which were evident in his music.

“He was a man who embodied the American spirit,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in his opening remarks.

He noted that Cash, in addition to his extensive creative output, left a legacy of family, with more than 100 family members in attendance. Some of Cash’s immediate family members, including his famous daughter Roseanne and sister Joanne, were responsible for unveiling his statue.

Cash joins other historical figures, such as Samuel Adams and Billy Graham Jr., located in the National Statuary Hall. Each state can choose two statue representatives for the hall, which often depict people of significant historical contribution.

Cash is the most recent representative for Arkansas, with Daisy Lee Gatson Bates, a civil rights activist, coming before. Bates and Cash replaced statues of attorney Uriah Rose and former statesman James P. Clarke.

“Throughout his life, he created a catalog of profoundly powerful works that cannot be ascribed to a single genre,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.

“At different times, he was country, blues, rock ‘n’ roll and gospel,” Jeffries added. “At all times, Johnny Cash was uniquely American.”

Tim Walz’s Admin. Created Segregated Training Groups for Teachers, Veterans

Contributing Author
-
0
Tim Walz’s Admin. Created Segregated Training Groups for Teachers, Veterans

(Headline USA) As Minnesota’s governor, Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz hosted segregated training sessions for teachers and veterans, according to the Washington Free Beacon.

These trainings were directly organized by Walz’s administration. In 2022, for example, Walz’s Department of Education hosted race-based trainings for public education officials and teachers.

White school employees were assigned to the “White Allies” training group, while minorities, or “people who personally identify as Black People, Indigenous People, and People of Color,” were assigned to the “People of Color Affinity Community” group.

This past year, Walz’s administration opened up the “People of Color Affinity Community” group to some white attendees, but only if they “embrace restorative practices in pursuit of equity.”

That same year, Walz’s Department of Education also released a manual encouraging agency employees to designate a “a space only for people of color to discuss the impact on them of the death of George Floyd, while white staff talk with each other about their response to the death.”

Not to be outdone, Walz’s Department of Veteran Affairs in 2022 held several diversity, equity, and inclusion training sessions for non-straight, non-white, homeless veterans.

A flier for the training noted it was reserved for homeless veterans who “identify as BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and/or Woman.” A straight white male veteran could attend, but only as a “stakeholder or ally,” according to the training session.

This is hardly the first example of Walz pushing a far-left agenda as Minnesota’s governor. At his direction, his Department of Education enacted an ethnic study curriculum that requires fourth-graders to “identify the processes and impacts of colonization and examine how discrimination and the oppression of various racial and ethnic groups have produced resistance movements.” 

He also signed into law a bill that mandated that at least two members of the state Department of Health’s pregnancy task force be “Black or African American.” 

Experts Say Current Mass-Poisoning Epidemic in U.S. Poses an ‘Extinction-Level’ Threat

Victoria Cook
-
0
Experts Say Current Mass-Poisoning Epidemic in U.S. Poses an ‘Extinction-Level’ Threat

(Victoria Cook, Headline USA) From processed foods to pesticides to plastics, a panel of experts at a Senate hearing Monday sought to expose the wide array of ways Americans may be poisoning themselves—and their kids—under the pretense of nutrition and nourishment.

“We are in the middle of an extinction level event,” fitness expert Jillian Michaels said during the roundtable on “American Health and Nutrition: A Second Opinion,” which was organized and led by Sen. Ron Johnson, R. Wisc., alongside former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Experts from nutritionists and trainers, such as Michaels, to politicians and lawmakers arrived to discuss and listen to the U.S. health crisis Americans are facing. Jordan Peterson, psychiatrist Chris Palmer and food activist/podcaster Alex Clark were a few of the notable members on the panel.

“The default human condition in the 21st century is obese by design,” Michaels explained.

She stated that the “catastrophic quartet of Big Farming, Big Food, Big Pharma and Big Insurance” had corrupted every institution of trust, and that the American people needed political intervention against greedy corporations.

Speakers like Casey Means, a medical doctor and bestselling author, agreed with Michaels and went into great detail about how the U.S. was facing unprecedented health dilemmas.

“I didn’t learn that 82% of independently-funded studies show harm from processed food, while 93% of industry-sponsored studies reflect no harm,” Means said. 

She elaborated that the medical industry did not educate her and others about the amount of poison that food companies put into their food.

Lead, microplastics, toxins and synthetic pesticides all have been found in U.S. food and water, leaving Americans with an uphill battle against obesity.

“We need a return to courage,” Means said. “We need a return to common sense and intuition. We need a return to awe for the sheer miraculousness of our lives.”

The panel unequivocally agreed that the U.S. food industry has manipulated the American people and sickened them. They went into detail about the history of businesses working to profit off of poisoning the people, with business owner and author Calley Means—the brother and co-author of Casey—citing doctors’ influence with nicotine addiction.

He stated that doctors were complicit in the chronic conditions that plague Americans today.

“This ultra-processed food consumption has been one of the most profitable dynamics in American history for the healthcare system as we’ve all been just decimated with chronic conditions,” Calley Means said.

Here’s Who Will Testify at the Trump Shooting Task Force’s 1st Public Hearing

Ken Silva
-
0
Here’s Who Will Testify at the Trump Shooting Task Force’s 1st Public Hearing

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The House Task Force investigating the first assassination attempt on Donald Trump will hold its first public hearing 9:30 a.m. Thursday on Capitol Hill.

Several key figures from the deadly July 13 Trump rally are scheduled to testify at the much-anticipated hearing. Those figures include Butler County Emergency Services Unit Commander Edward Lenz, Butler Township Police Department patrolman Drew Blasko, Pennsylvania State Police Lt. John D. Herold, and Allegheny County Medical Examiner Ariel Goldschmidt.

Additionally, former Secret Service agent Patrick Sullivan, who was not at Butler on July 13, will testify in his capacity as an expert of Secret Service security protocols.

As the leader of the Butler ESU, Lenz’s team included one of the snipers who was stationed in the same AGR building complex that was used by Thomas Crooks as a perch to shoot at Trump. It’s not clear why that sniper failed to see Crooks.

Blasko, meanwhile, is the patrolman caught on body camera footage lambasting the Secret Service for failing to cover the rooftop used by Crooks.

“I told them that fucking Tuesday,” he can be heard saying in the aftermath of the shooting. “I told them to post fucking guys over here.”

Headline USA is unsure what role PSP Lt. Herold played in the July 13 shooting.

Goldschmidt, meanwhile, is involved in the controversy over Crooks’s autopsy records. As has been previously reported, Crooks’s body was reportedly kept on the rooftop until 6 a.m. the day after the shooting. There, Butler County coroner William F. Young III allegedly examined Crooks’s body before sending him to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner for the autopsy.

Thursday’s hearing will come six days after the Secret Service released a summary of the findings of its Butler rally internal review.  Most of Secret Service’s internal findings have already been documented through congressional testimony, news media investigations and other public statements.

However, Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe did confirm last Friday that his agency’s snipers at Butler knew someone was on the rooftop by 6:10 p.m.—more than 90 seconds before Crooks opened fire.

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

House GOP Moves to Hold Blinken in Contempt after Committee Hearing No-Show

Headline USA Editor
-
0
House GOP Moves to Hold Blinken in Contempt after Committee Hearing No-Show

(Headline USA) Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee are moving Tuesday to hold Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt of Congress after a contentious back-and-forth with the Cabinet secretary over an appearance to testify on the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The contempt of Congress charge is the latest in a series of moves by McCaul and other House Republicans over the past 18 months to hold the Biden administration accountable for what they have called a “stunning failure of leadership” after Taliban forces seized the Afghan capital far more rapidly than U.S. intelligence had foreseen as American forces pulled out in 2021.

“Let the record reflect that for four months, I patiently asked for and waited on his availability in September,” McCaul said in his opening statement. “But instead of working with me, Secretary Blinken made false promises and accused me of politicizing this important issue.”

McCaul had first set a hearing for Blinken to testify last Thursday, while the secretary was in Egypt and France. He then changed the date to Tuesday, when Blinken was at the annual U.N. General Assembly gathering of world leaders in New York and attending President Joe Biden ’s speech at the time of the hearing.

McCaul said Tuesday that he would have let Blinken choose the day this month to come testify—but the secretary never responded.

As all secretaries of state have in the past, Blinken will spend the entire week in New York holding dozens of meeting with his counterparts on a variety of issues but this year with a focus on the Mideast situation and the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Democrats on the committee blasted Republicans’ contempt efforts as purely partisan.

“It’s not difficult for the American people to see this for what it is: political theater,” New York Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the committee, said in an opening statement. “Another attempt to put another senior Biden administration official name into negative headlines.”

Blinken, in a letter to Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said that he was “profoundly disappointed” in the chairman’s decision to advance contempt proceedings and urged him to find a resolution in “good faith.”

“As I have made clear, I am willing to testify and have offered several reasonable alternatives to the dates unilaterally demanded by the Committee during which I am carrying out the President’s important foreign policy objectives,” Blinken wrote in a Sunday letter.

Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly brought up the disastrous exit from Afghanistan in the campaign, trying to link it to his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris. Several watchdog reviews and a more than 18-month investigation by House Republicans have failed to pinpoint an instance where the Harris had a particular impact on decision-making on the withdrawal.

Miller said Blinken was willing to testify again if a mutually convenient time could be arranged but noted that Congress will be in recess from the end of this week until after the November election.

Earlier this month, House Republicans issued a scathing report on their investigation into the withdrawal, blaming the disastrous end of America’s longest war on the Biden administration while minimizing Trump’s role.

The partisan review laid out the final months of military and civilian failures, following Trump’s February 2020 withdrawal deal, which allowed the Taliban to conquer the country even before the last U.S. officials flew out on Aug. 30, 2021. The chaotic exit left behind many American citizens, Afghan battlefield allies, female activists and others at risk from the Taliban.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Report: Rocket-Propelled Grenades and Other Explosives Found Near Arizona Border

Ken Silva
-
0
Report: Rocket-Propelled Grenades and Other Explosives Found Near Arizona Border

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) NewsNation reported Monday that a cache of military-grade weapons were recently found on the Mexico side of the border near Ajo, Arizona.

“Weapons located, per the alert, include four rocket-propelled grenades and eight improvised explosive devices, also known as IEDs, as well as a large amount of ammunition. A scout site was also discovered and then dismantled by Mexican officials,” News Nation reported, citing an alert that was sent to Border Patrol agents.

According to NewsNation, the IEDs found are “consistent” with those being used by transnational drug cartels.

NewsNation’s sources said it’s unlikely the weapons would be used on American soil, since doing so would spark a major backlash from U.S. law enforcement. However, with cartels and migrant criminals becoming increasingly bold, the sources wouldn’t rule out the risk altogether.

“U.S. law enforcement should be concerned for their safety, especially along the border, because those missiles and those weapons easily come across the border,” Victor Avila, a retired supervisory special agent for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told the news outlet.

It’s unclear where the weapons came from. Last year, a Mexican news outlet reported Wednesday that an alleged member of the Cartel Del Golfo obtained an American-made Javelin anti-tank missile—the same weapon the U.S. has been sending to Ukraine to fight Russia.

That report, coupled with the recent weapons discovery, calls to mind the Operation Fast and Furious scandal, where the ATF purposely allowed illegal gun purchases under the guise of tracking organized crime. The operation never resulted in the arrests of any organized crime leaders, and it became a national scandal when Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed by a Fast and Furious firearm in 2010.

Former ATF official Peter Forcelli, who blew the whistle on Operation Fast & Furious, said earlier this year that he believes that the government is still allowing the streets to be flooded with illegal weapons.

Forcelli said that the Arizona U.S. Attorney is still hesitant to take “proffers,” which is when a suspect offers some information so law enforcement can determine whether they want to extend formal cooperation in exchange for more information. The USAO is supposed to answer proffers in writing, but the Phoenix office is only answering verbally to avoid having their responses documented.

“The U.S. Attorney is turning a blind eye to straw purchases, which is fueling what’s going on in Mexico,” he said.

“The prosecutors who work there haven’t changed their ways. They have a habit of kicking the can down the road and not taking straw purchase cases. These are not purchasers who are buying guns for target shooters. These are guys who are sending guns to Mexico to slaughter human beings.”

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

CNN Doubles Down on Delayed Election Results, Warns of ‘Red Mirage’

Jacob Bruns
-
0
CNN Doubles Down on Delayed Election Results, Warns of ‘Red Mirage’

(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) Hot on the heels of a New York Times piece warning that the results of the 2024 election may be suspiciously delayed for several days while absentee votes are counted, CNN published its own piece warning of a “red mirage” on election day followed by a spike in votes for Democrats.

CNN warned that election results could be delayed most of all in key swing states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

According to Seth Bluestein, a Republican city commissioner in Philadelphia, the chances of knowing the election results on or soon after election day in Pennsylvania are “almost zero.”

In Wisconsin, officials have already committed to a lengthy counting process.

“Wisconsin will not have full results on election night,” said Ann Jacobs, the Democrat chair of the Wisconsin Election Board.

The delay, CNN claimed, could lead to the appearance of a large Republican lead, since absentee ballots heavily favor Democrat candidates. CNN and its corporate media allies have taken to calling this a “red mirage.”

Despite the oddities in the ballot counting after the 2020 election, which seemed to universally help Democrat candidates, Democrat election officials assured CNN’s readers that the days-long ballotcounting process would ensure free and fair elections.

Centrist election officials, like Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt, a Republican, called the potential red mirage a “concern” because it could be “exploited by bad-faith actors to undermine the confidence in the outcome.”

In other swing states, like Michigan, Democrats have taken to beginning absentee ballot counting before Election Day itself to expedite the results.

Michigan state Sen. Jeremy Moss— a Democrat who introduced the bill in Michigan that has resulted in early absentee vote counting—argued that getting ahead on the count is the only way to prevent another Jan. 6 uprising from happening.

“I can’t understand why a state wouldn’t want to solve this problem when other states have the exact same frame for processing absentee ballots,” Moss noted.

According to Moss, the American electorate should stop worrying about election integrity and trust the elongated process to provide honest results.

“We’ve got to stop this language that somebody’s ahead or somebody’s behind,” said Moss. “The winner is the winner when the polls close.”

Michigan was one of several states where suspicious of bad-faith ballot-dumps after the polls closed were among the principal concerns of skeptics, along with votes that did not appear to come from legitimate voters.

Sen. Paul Urges Funding Vets’ Benefits by Voiding Green-Energy Loans

Matthew Doarnberger
-
0
Sen. Paul Urges Funding Vets’ Benefits by Voiding Green-Energy Loans

(Matthew Doarnberger, Headline USA) Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., introduced an amendment to fund veterans’ benefits without adding to the national debt.

The plan would involve eliminating the $2.9 billion in guarantees that had been allocated for green-energy loans through the Department of Energy.

Last week, Paul heavily criticized the excessive spending in Washington while speaking on the Senate floor.

“Washington’s fiscal recklessness is putting the American dream out of reach for millions of Americans,” he said.

“Historically high rates of inflation have made every American poorer,” he added. “As families across this country struggle to put food on the table, Washington seems content to continue spending without regard to the consequences.”

Paul then went on to cite the Department of Veterans Affairs when discussing the mismanagement of funds and how it has hurt former members of the military.

“[S]ometimes the consequences are too shameful to ignore,” he said.

“Congressional spending and financial mismanagement at the Department of Veterans Affairs are the latest examples, with both resulting in a $2.9 billion shortfall threatening the benefits of millions of veterans,” he continued. “Our veterans should not pay the cost for the federal government’s incompetence.”

Paul highlighted the fiscal mismanagement at the DOE and how it resulted in wasted taxpayer money.

“A 2015 Government Accountability Office report reveals the extent of the Department of Energy’s loan program failures,” he said. “That report lists five companies that defaulted on similar Department of Energy loans, including Solyndra, Fisker, Abound Solar, Beacon Power, and Vehicle Production Group, costing taxpayers a total of $807 million.”

The VA itself has been subject to misuse of funds in recent years, and Paul addressed the issue of wrongful payments.

“In fiscal year 2023, the VA issued $3 billion in improper payments—meaning the VA sent payments to the wrong people or in the wrong amount,” he said. “Over the past three years, it is estimated that such improper payments exceed $10 billion.”

A vote was granted on the amendment, but the measure failed 47-47. It would have needed 60 votes in order to pass.

The Senate approved a $3 billion funding shortfall with a day to spare as veteran payments will go out on Oct. 1 without delay.

1...1,0491,0501,051...3,850Page 1,050 of 3,850