Ohio Senate candidate Mike Gibbons says middle-class Americans don't pay 'any kind of fair share' of income taxes

Mike Gibbons, who is currently the leading Republican Senate candidate from Ohio, finds himself in hot water for previously saying that the American middle-class doesn't pay "any kind of fair share" of the country's income taxes.

Gibbons, a millionaire investment banker turned politician, made the comments in a September episode of "The Landscape" podcast at a media event in 2021.

Gibbons said, "The top 20% of earners in the United States pay 82% of federal income tax — and, if you do the math, and 45% to 50% don't pay any income tax, you can see the middle class is not really paying any kind of a fair share, depending on how you want to define it."

The Associated Press reported that Gibbons's comments could "take on new resonance" after United States Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) — who leads the Senate Republicans' campaign apparatus — debuted a policy strategy that called to raise taxes on Americans who currently don't earn enough money to pay federal income taxes. The tax hike would increase taxes on millions of Americans.

In the video where Gibbons makes this comment, the candidate is sitting in front of a campaign backdrop and condemns Democrats for spreading an "absolutely false" narrative suggesting that "the middle class is getting screwed and the wealthy, the elite, are cheating everybody."

https://www.theblaze.com/news/ohio-senate-candidate-mike-gibbons-says-middle-class-americans-don-t-pay-any-kind-of-fair-share-of-income-taxes

Texas Land Office eyes Big Tech ad buy on public dime as agency head George P. Bush seeks AG nod

Office hopes to promote its work on Twitter, Facebook just weeks before GOP runoff election in state attorney general race pitting Land Commissioner Bush against incumbent AG Ken Paxton.

The Texas General Land Office (GLO) is seeking to use taxpayer money to buy Twitter and Facebook ads touting its work just weeks before Land Commissioner George P. Bush squares off in a primary runoff for state attorney general.

The timing raises questions about whether the ad push is politically motivated and meant to boost Bush's campaign for attorney general on the taxpayers' dime.

Last month, the GLO sought to purchase ads on Twitter and Facebook to promote the agency's activities.

According to the notices of intent for the bids, the purpose is for Twitter and Facebook "to provide strategically placed advertisements for the Texas General Land Office on [their] social media platforms. These advertisements shall focus on the Texas General Land Office's initiatives and missions. These advertisements will also have a strategic focus on serving the citizens of the State of Texas by promoting the GLO's programs."

The ads haven't been placed yet. It's unclear how much the ad buys will cost, but the notices of intent state the two tech giants "will charge at the current rate that is associated with the service and delivery of the advertisements."

The GLO's purchase order will be valid through August. The runoff for the attorney general race will be on May 24, about two months after the notices of intent were posted.

A spokesperson for the GLO denied that the ads are connected to Bush's bid for attorney general.

"As part of the Texas General Land Office's outreach efforts to inform Texans of the work of our agency's initiatives and missions (Save Texas History, Adopt-A-Beach, Oil Spill, and Energy Resources to name a few) and Veterans of the benefits they have earned (through the Veterans Land Board), we, like many state and federal agencies use social media as an avenue to reach audiences," said GLO communications director Stephen Chang. "Under state law, certain programs administered by the agency require the use of marketing to inform Texans of the services available to them."

"The GLO has made advertising buys for these same platforms dating back to 2015," he continued. "This posting of this notice of intent is standard and ongoing protocol and is unrelated to Commissioner Bush's candidacy for attorney general."

Chang provided screenshots to Just the News showing GLO media purchases from 2015.

The GLO has paid tens of thousands of dollars for Facebook ads in recent months, according to a review of the tech company's ad library.

One potential issue for Bush could be giving money to Twitter and Facebook, which have come under heavy fire from prominent conservatives who accuse the tech companies of censoring conservative content.

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/timing-texas-land-offices-big-tech-ad-push-raises-questions-about

LA County sheriff’s deputy suspected of child sex abuse

A deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has been arrested on suspicion of child sex abuse, authorities said.

The 51-year-old deputy could face charges including lewd or lascivious acts and committing oral copulation with a child under the age of 14, the department said in a news release late Friday.

The investigation by the sheriff’s Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau and Special Victims Bureau began after authorities received a report of suspected child abuse, the department said.

Officials did not say when the investigation started or who the suspected victim was.

Sheriff Alex Villanueva said in a statement that he was “appalled and saddened” by the allegations and committed to seeing justice served.

https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-arrests-child-abuse-1ed3fd91a39f105529766f4c59c820a5

Undercover Sting Operation: County resident arrested in child sex probe

A Columbia County man is one of several people arrested during a months-long undercover operation to identify suspects victimizing children online.

According to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSD), five arrests were made for attempting to meet and have sex with juveniles in Jackson County. The Southern Oregon Child Exploitation Team (SOCET) joint inter-agency task force made the arrests over a two-day period April 1 and April 2.

The suspects arrested spanned the ages of 35 to 72 years old, and traveled from throughout Oregon including Warren, Redmond, and Klamath Falls, as well as Montague, California. One suspect local to the Rogue Valley was arrested in Gold Hill.

According to the JCSD, William Henry Trapnell, 72, of Warren, agreed to meet with a juvenile in Medford to engage in sexual contact. Trapnell then drove five hours from Warren to Medford to meet with the child in person. He was arrested attempting to contact the child by SOCET. Trapnell is charged with first and second degree online sexual corruption of a child, and luring a minor and was lodged in the Jackson County Jail.

The complex undercover operation involved police and investigators from JCSO, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), United States Marshals Service, Oregon State Police (OSP), Sutherlin Police Department (SPD), Grants Pass Police Department (GPPD), and Medford Police (MPD); as well as prosecutors from the US Department of Justice and the Jackson County District Attorney’s office.

Due to the complexity of the operation and the dangers involved in the arrests, SOCET also enlisted assistance from other local police task forces including Medford Area Gang and Drug Enforcement, Illegal Marijuana Enforcement Team, and Pacific Northwest Violent Offenders Task Force, according to the JCSD.

During the arrests, investigators seized digital devices which will be examined by the Southern Oregon High Tech Crimes Task Force (SOHTCTF) in Medford. SOHTCTF examiners will forensically examine the devices for further evidence of child exploitation. During this investigation, an individual was discovered trading nearly 400 child pornography videos of prepubescent children. This child porn case is an ongoing investigation of a suspect believed to be residing in the US.

SOCET enables local law enforcement agencies to collaborate with federal partners such as HSI, to effectively investigate and prosecute out-of-state suspects when they victimize children in our community. SOCET is a joint inter-agency task force that started in June of 2020 to combat child exploitation and human trafficking. The task force consists of investigators from JCSO, MPD, GPPD, and HSI; as well as prosecutors from our local, state and federal law enforcement partners in Jackson and Josephine County.

https://www.thechiefnews.com/news/undercover-sting-operation-county-resident-arrested-in-child-sex-probe/article_22a27a0a-b770-11ec-9f7d-2713a641599d.html

Nuclear weapons and compulsory national service were once unthinkable for Australia. But with China trying to build a base on our doorstep and Europe at war, spies say EVERYTHING has changed

Defence strategists are growing more concerned about Australia's east coast

China is paving the way for a permanent military presence in the South Pacific

Among options to better protect Australia are nuclear weapons, military service

Debate has increased over the controversial subjects amid global tensions

Nuclear weapons and compulsory national service were once deemed 'unthinkable' in Australia, but now defence experts say all options are on the table in the face of an increasingly unpredictable China.

Dr Marcus Hellyer, a former intelligence agent and high-level advisor to the Department of Defence, told Daily Mail Australia that while Canberra remains a signatory of several nuclear non-proliferation treaties, the rise of hostile authoritarian powers like China and Russia has 'fundamentally changed' the equation.

Moscow's bloody invasion of Ukraine at a time when Beijing is busy paving the way for a permanent military base in the South Pacific, has left defence strategists scrambling for better ways to protect Australia's east coast.

'Things that not long ago seemed unthinkable are now entirely thinkable,' Dr Hellyer said.

'If China could establish a military presence in the Solomon Islands then pretty much all of the east coast of Australia would be in range of Chinese ballistic missiles.

'In the past that distance has protected us, but now it is being eroded.'

Dr Hellyer, who is now a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said while it's important to state that China's new security agreement with Honiara does not mean Beijing will be looking to station guided missiles on Australia's doorstep, it is a prospect 'we need to think about'.

'So how do we defend Australia against long-range conventional missiles? Well one way is by getting a nuclear deterrent capability,' he said.

'If you are a small power wanting to deter a big power, nuclear weapons are a path that countries have gone down.'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10690725/Nuclear-weapons-national-service-Australia.html

Transgender killer who has changed from male to female now says she identifies as a baby and demands nappies, baby food and a dummy in her prison cell

Dubbed 'Hannibal Jr', Sophie Eastwood strangled her cellmate with shoelaces

She is now demanding nappies to wear and food to be blended like a baby's

Eastwood has already been given a dummy by staff at Polmont prison, Falkirk

'The prison service has no protocol for prisoners who decide they are babies'

She was jailed for life 17 years ago and says she would be free if she wasn't trans

A convicted killer and transgender woman has been given a dummy by prison guards after claiming she now identifies as a baby.

Sophie Eastwood, 36, who received a life sentence for strangling her cellmate with shoelaces, has also asked for nappies and baby food.

She is locked up at Polmont prison, Falkirk after killing 22-year-old Paul Algie in 2004.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10702865/Trans-killer-says-identifies-baby-demands-baby-food-dummy-prison-cell.html

When the cops cover it up this happens!

WFH council worker who gave sex offender's address to paedophile hunters before they sent mob to his house threatening to kill him is fined £500

Chloe Carr, 23, sent the highly sensitive information to paedophile hunters in the Hull area telling them the sex offender 'deserves all he gets' and was 'disgusting'

She asked them not to reveal she was the source of the confidential information because of her job as a Customer Services Assistance at Hull City Council

A mob turned up at the sex offender's home shortly after she shared the address

She admitted unlawfully disclosing private data to an online website without consent and denied misconduct in a public office with the latter charge dropped

A Hull City Council worker forwarded the address of a sex offender to an anti-paedophile group, who sent a 30-strong mob to the property, threatening to kill him and burn down his home.

Customer Services Assistant Chloe Carr sent the highly sensitive information to paedophile hunters, telling them that the sex offender 'deserves all her gets' and was 'disgusting', Hull Crown Court Heard.

The 23-year-old asked the hunters not to reveal that she had passed on the confidential information.

The sex offender was moved to a new address, as the court heard that Carr's actions helped to 'whip up a frenzy' and were 'not a public service at all' as they 'destabilised' convicted criminals and risked making them 'unpredictable.'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10702357/Council-worker-leaked-sex-offenders-address-paedophile-hunters-sent-mob-house.html

Goldman Sachs plans to pay $30 MILLION one-time bonus to CEO David Solomon and $20M to its COO in a move that's been slammed as 'excessive' by shareholder

David Solomon, the CEO, is in line for $30 million while John Waldron, the COO, is being offered a $20 million one-time bonus

The multi-million dollar stock awards will not be paid out until October 2026, but will be approved or denied at a shareholder meeting on April 28

One shareholder advisory firm recommended against the payouts, describing them as 'excessive'

Solomon took over as CEO in October 2018 and takes home $33 million a year in salary and stocks

The 60-year-old is known for his DJing - he will perform at Chicago's Lollapalooza festival in July - and for his love of fine wine and sport

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10701373/Goldman-Sachs-pay-30-MILLION-one-time-bonus-CEO-David-Solomon-slammed-excessive.html

>>16044337

they shut them down so they could use these mental cases to push their narrative