U.S. officials provided Taliban with names of Americans, Afghan allies to evacuate - POLITICO

U.S. officials provided Taliban with names of Americans, Afghan allies to evacuate - POLITICO: U.S. officials in Kabul gave the Taliban a list of names of American citizens, green card holders and Afghan allies to grant entry into the militant-controlled outer perimeter of the city’s airport, a choice that's prompted outrage behind the scenes from lawmakers and military officials. The move, detailed to POLITICO by three U.S. and congressional officials, was designed to expedite the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from Afghanistan as chaos erupted in Afghanistan’s capital city last week after the Taliban seized control of the country. It also came as the Biden administration has been relying on the Taliban for security outside the airport.

Pentagon Confirms Explosion Outside Kabul Airport: Casualties Unclear

Pentagon Confirms Explosion Outside Kabul Airport: Casualties Unclear: Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby on Thursday morning confirmed two explosions in Kabul — one outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport and another near the Baron Hotel, with a “number” of U.S. and civilian casualties. “We can confirm an explosion outside Kabul airport. Casualties are unclear at this time. We will provide additional details when we can,” he posted on Twitter. We can confirm an explosion outside Kabul airport. Casualties are unclear at this time. We will provide additional details when we can. — John Kirby (@PentagonPresSec) August 26, 2021

Report: Ashli Babbitt Shooter on January 6 Identified

Report: Ashli Babbitt Shooter on January 6 Identified: Ashli Babbitt’s shooter on January 6 was identified on Thursday as “Lieutenant Michael Leroy Byrd,” Newsweek reported. Terry Roberts, an attorney who represents the victim’s family, revealed the name, suggesting that Byrd’s identity was covered up by the U.S. Capitol Police, congressional staffers, and federal investigations because “no one would divulge it.” “The U.S. Congress wants to protect this man. He’s got friends in high places and they want to protect him,” Roberts said. “And they’ve done a pretty good job of it. … I don’t think it’s a proud moment for the U.S. Capitol Police or the U.S. Congress.” “Byrd’s attorney, Mark Schamel, did not dispute the positive identification,” Newsweek reported. Roberts apparently publicized the name after Byrd was set to be interviewed by NBC’s Lester Holt in a recorded interview. ““Roberts told Zenger Wednesday night that the shooter was "Lieutenant Michael Leroy Byrd." Byrd's attorney, Mark Schamel, did not dispute the positive identification.” Same guy who left his loaded gun in a public restroom while kids were on a tour. https://t.co/OvrODOnVpb — John Cardillo (@johncardillo) August 26, 2021

Beware Democrats’ big tax-hike plans in infrastructure bill

Beware Democrats’ big tax-hike plans in infrastructure bill: House Democrats are now writing their version of the $3.5 trillion “human infrastructure” bill, detailing all the wish-list items they mean to ram through with zero Republican votes — including a host of economy-killing tax hikes. No matter that the Trump-era tax cuts were bringing the best working-class wage gains in years before COVID hit: Dems mean to reverse them all and then some. The Senate blueprint for the bill, for example, moves the corporate income-tax rate to 28 percent from the 21 percent level set by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. It also follows President Joe Biden’s call to double the federal capital-gains tax.

Biden's intelligence agencies bow to Beijing, claim no conclusion on COVID

Biden's intelligence agencies bow to Beijing, claim no conclusion on COVID: The US intelligence community has told President Joe Biden it couldn’t come to a clear conclusion on COVID’s origins — because China wouldn’t provide the needed information. No kidding. China has been covering up from the start of the pandemic that’s killed 4 million worldwide, which is just one of many clues that COVID likely leaked from a Wuhan lab. But Biden’s intel agencies don’t want to go there.

De Blasio's legacy: A mass exodus from NYC's public schools

De Blasio's legacy: A mass exodus from NYC's public schools: Mayor Bill de Blasio and his Department of Education are ignoring the growing exodus of students from the city’s most coveted public schools — surely because it’s a response to the DOE’s failures and de Blasio’s war on excellence. Notably, PS 118 Maurice Sendak in Park Slope has seen its student roster lose 120 kids since the start of the pandemic. Its dismayed principal, Elizabeth Garraway, just emailed parents that the resulting budget crunch forced her to slash four teaching positions — while four others left for better opportunities. Sadly, that’s likely to send even more families fleeing.

NYC 17-year-old charged with murder at sweet sixteen party shooting

NYC 17-year-old charged with murder at sweet sixteen party shooting: A 17-year-old boy was arrested Wednesday and charged with murder over a shooting last year at a Brooklyn Sweet 16 party that left a woman dead and six other people wounded, police said. The unidentified minor was allegedly among multiple gunmen who opened fire during the celebration inside a building on Albany Avenue near Fulton Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant last November, according to cops. Dayjionna Long, a 20-year-old visiting from Virginia, was fatally shot in the hail of gunfire. Six other victims, ranging in age from 14 to 19, were also struck by bullets.

Duo in Mercedes steals more than $4M in pricey duds in NYC

Duo in Mercedes steals more than $4M in pricey duds in NYC: A pair of thieves in a Mercedes-Benz swiped a Richard Mille watch and other pricey jewelry — worth more than $4 million in total — from people who had just left Manhattan hotspots, cops said Thursday. Cops are hunting for the duo in a pair of incidents earlier this month — the first on Aug. 14, when two men were robbed after they left TAO Downtown around 4:20 a.m. and walked to West 30th Street and Broadway. One of the alleged robbers displayed a black handgun as the suspects swiped multiple pieces of jewelry from the men, ages 47 and 27, cops said.

US service members killed, 3 injured in ISIS bombing outside Kabul airport

US service members killed, 3 injured in ISIS bombing outside Kabul airport: At least 10 US service members have been killed and another three injured in the two suicide bombing attacks outside Kabul airport Thursday, according to reports. Fox News reported the grim new body count, citing US officials. The increased tally came after the US ambassador in Kabul informed staff earlier there had been at least 4 US casualties. Pentagon press secretary John Kirby also confirmed US troops had been killed but did not confirm the number.

Gruesome videos emerge following Kabul airport bombings

Gruesome videos emerge following Kabul airport bombings: Gruesome videos showing scores of bloody, apparently lifeless bodies lining a drainage ditch surfaced on social media following Thursday’s twin bombings outside the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. Some of the people shown in the unconfirmed recordings were lying face-down in the filthy water, while others, who appeared seriously wounded, were sitting and seemed to be waiting for help. One man’s head lolled about as he was being pulled from the ditch, and it was unclear if he was dead or alive in the 52-second clip posted on Twitter by the Askava News Agency.

23 California students stuck in Afghanistan after summer trip

23 California students stuck in Afghanistan after summer trip: Nearly two dozen California students and parents are among the thousands currently stranded in Afghanistan after taking a summer trip to visit family. Twenty-three students from the Cajon Valley Union School District, just outside San Diego, are stuck in Kabul with their parents after traveling to the war-torn country, the LA Times reports.

Twin Brazilian sisters reportedly killed in livestreamed execution

Twin Brazilian sisters reportedly killed in livestreamed execution: Twin sisters in Brazil have reportedly been fatally shot in the back of their heads in a horrific gang-related double execution that was livestreamed on Instagram. The 18-year-olds — both mothers named locally as Amália and Amanda Alves — were forced to kneel before being killed because they knew too much about a drug deal, the Sun reported, citing local media. The shocking footage of the murders behind a complex in Pacajus in the northeast state of Ceara has been viewed thousands of times, according to Brazilian news outlets.

Man breaks into California home, rapes 8-year-old: cops

Man breaks into California home, rapes 8-year-old: cops: A man broke into a San Jose house and raped a child in an apparently random attack, authorities said. Dupree Kenneth Hornsby, 24, grabbed the 8-year-old girl while she played in the Damsen Drive house the morning of Aug. 6, officials said. Hornsby allegedly locked the door and sexually assaulted the girl, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

NYC man charged with helping transport Nicole Flanagan's body in barrel

NYC man charged with helping transport Nicole Flanagan's body in barrel: A Queens man has been arrested for his alleged role in helping transport the body of a hooker from New York City to New Jersey, where she was found stuffed in a barrel, officials announced Tuesday.

Aquellio Parker, 29, is accused of helping to move the remains of Nicole Flanagan, 44, to the residential neighborhood of Ridgefield Park, where her body was found on Aug. 13 inside a 55-gallon drum, according to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office.

There was no sign of injury to Flanagan, of Queens, and authorities are still awaiting the results of toxicology tests.

Parker turned himself into the custody of the NYPD on Sunday, and is awaiting extradition back to New Jersey, officials said.

 

 

Hell on Rikers Island — but de Blasio doesn't care

Hell on Rikers Island — but de Blasio doesn't care: Hell has broken loose in city jails on Rikers Island as inmates run wild and guards fear for their lives. It’s another massive fail by Mayor Bill de Blasio and his team down at City Hall. Though the jail population is at an all-time low, conditions for both correction officers and inmates are worse than ever, with targeting by gang thugs. This month, an inmate attacked a correction officer, stole a set of keys, then freed a fellow gangbanger who joined him in beating and slashing a member of a rival gang in his cell. Just last week, hundreds of correction officers, captains and other staff protested the terrifying working conditions at Rikers. COVID and low morale have decimated their ranks. Guards are working triple and quadruple shifts.

Biden asks for ‘contingency plans’ to extend Afghanistan withdrawal in stunning reversal

Biden asks for ‘contingency plans’ to extend Afghanistan withdrawal in stunning reversal: President Joe Biden announced that he has asked defense officials to put together “contingency plans” for keeping American forces on the ground in Afghanistan beyond the end of this month — despite claiming earlier Tuesday that the White House would abide by the Taliban’s “red line” of a full withdrawal by Aug. 31. Biden said Tuesday that the completion of US forces’ evacuation operation at Kabul’s international airport by the end of this month “depends on the Taliban continuing to cooperate,” and confirmed that he had asked the Pentagon and the State Department for “contingency plans to adjust the timetable, should that become necessary.”

Retired SEAL's video on Afghanistan goes viral amid withdrawal

Retired SEAL's video on Afghanistan goes viral amid withdrawal: A retired Navy SEAL has gone viral after posting a video to Instagram in which he pretends to be the president of the United States giving a national address on the situation in Afghanistan — taking the blame for the chaos and “critical errors” made in the withdrawal process and offering his solution for how to extract stranded Americans. Jocko Willink uploaded the three and a half minute video to the social media site on Monday night with the caption, “If I were president, and I had put our country into the current situation in Afghanistan, I would tell America, our allies, our enemies, and the world, something like this…”

The Washington Post is so woke it just corrected a JOKE

The Washington Post is so woke it just corrected a JOKE: Earlier this month, Washington Post humor columnist Gene Weingarten wrote a column headlined, “You can’t make me eat these foods,” about his distaste for various cuisines, products, and spices — Old Bay, balsamic vinegar, anchovies, sweet pickles, and so on. (Listen, when you have weekly deadlines, you do what you must.) Weingarten wrote his column, as humorists often do, in a self-deprecating tone, casting himself as a troglodytic contrarian. One of the cuisines Weingarten mocked was Indian food — praising the subcontinent for its glorious contributions to the world but joking about his distaste for curry.

Cynthia Nixon trolls Andrew Cuomo for losing his Emmy

Cynthia Nixon trolls Andrew Cuomo for losing his Emmy: And the award for best put-down of a disgraced ex-governor by a former rival goes to… Former “Sex and the City” star Cynthia Nixon danced on former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s political grave Tuesday, following the rescinding of the Emmy he was awarded last year for his daily coronavirus briefings.

Families blast Cuomo for granting clemency to 1981 cop killer

Families blast Cuomo for granting clemency to 1981 cop killer: Relatives of the two cops killed in the infamous 1981 Brinks armored car heist in Rockland County blasted former Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday for his last-minute decision to give one of the murderers a shot at parole. “I think it’s an atrocity,” said Mary Crowley, the sister of slain Nyack police Sgt. Edward O’Grady. “I think it was his final nod to how he feels about the people of New York.” Rockland County Commissioner of Human Rights Constance Frazier, a cousin of slain Nyack Police Officer Waverly “Chipper” Brown, also said, “My family is devastated.” “Chippy is never coming back. O’Grady is never coming back. [Slain Brinks guard Peter] Paige is never coming back,” she said.