https://twitter.com/jamescantorphd
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Cantor
https://www.hawley.senate.gov/hawley-delivers-national-security-speech-china-and-ukraine-time-truth
Hawley Delivers National Security Speech ‘China and Ukraine: A Time for Truth’
https://www.newsweek.com/putin-ally-lukashenko-belarus-biden-war-1781928
Putin Ally Lukashenko Invites Biden to Belarus 'To Stop the War'
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has invited his Russian and U.S. counterparts, Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden, to attend a summit in Minsk to "stop the war" in Ukraine.
"Even Putin will fly over to Minsk for the trilateral meeting: two 'aggressors' and the 'peace loving' president. Why not? For the sake of ending the war. If he wants to stop the war (Poland is nearby, I will send a plane, if anything, a Boeing for him), and we will host him," the BelTA news agency quoted Lukashenko as telling reporters on Thursday.
While Belarus, a loyal Kremlin ally, hasn't directly joined the Ukraine conflict, Russian troops have been allowed to do exercises on Belarusian territory since before the beginning of the war. The country was used by Russia to launch its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
"Why is Biden going to Poland? Why Poland?" Lukashenko said, referring to the White House's announcement this week that Biden will visit Poland this month to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The White House said Biden is planning to visit Poland from February 20 to 22, and that he would meet Polish President Andrzej Duda and other leaders.
"We're cool with that. But if he is willing we are ready to host him in Minsk and to have a serious conversation (please convey this to him through your channels). If he wants peace in Ukraine," Lukashenko said.
"We have international airports. His air force one can land here," the Belarusian president continued. "Clinton visited us once. Here, in your presence, the three of us (I guarantee you that Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin will come) will sit down and solve the problem. We will be able to solve all the issues here."
Lukashenko said he believes that Biden "won't come," but that "he should for the sake of ending the war, for preventing further loss of life."
"[Biden] will stay in Poland, because Poland is the hyena of Europe and plays the most active role in escalating the war in Ukraine today. Poland is the loudest today, even louder than the United States," the Belarusian president said.
"So I invite you and your president over to Minsk. We will ensure complete security, safety and comfort. And, most importantly, he will not regret this visit. Let's see how things may turn out."
Lukashenko even suggested inviting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the proposed talks, "if Biden is willing."
"[Zelensky] can fly right over the border, not through Warsaw. The Russians and I will guarantee his safe trip to Belarus. Forty minutes and he's here. From Kyiv to Minsk," Lukashenko said.
Separately on Thursday, Lukashenko outlined under what condition he would be prepared to join Russia in the conflict.
Lukashenko told reporters: "I am ready to fight together with the Russians from the territory of Belarus only under one circumstance—if at least one soldier from there comes to the territory of Belarus to kill my people."
"If they commit aggression against Belarus, the answer will be most cruel," he said, according to Belarusian state-owned news agency BelTA, adding that in such a scenario, "the war will take on a completely different character."
Lukashenko also said, "we know what war is and we don't want war," and that Russia is "our ally, legally, morally and politically."
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a think tank based in Washington, D.C., noted in its daily assessment of the conflict on Thursday that Lukashenko has parroted this narrative since February 2022.
"His decision to reiterate it today is likely part of long-running Russian information ops suggesting that Belarusian conventional ground forces might join Russia's invasion of Ukraine," the ISW said. "We continue to assess that Belarusian forces remain extremely unlikely to invade Ukraine with or without Russian forces."
>Ghislaine Maxwell hires Harvey Weinstein's lawyers
Grady Judd press conference
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd provides an update on a human trafficking bust that led to 213 arrests.
https://www.fox13news.com/news/more-than-200-arrested-in-polk-county-human-trafficking-bust
More than 20 women believed to have been trafficked into the U.S. and forced into sex work were rescued during a week-long operation in Polk County. More than 200 people were arrested during operation, as well.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said most of the women who were identified as sex trafficking victims are Cuban and were brought through the Mexican border.
Judd said they likely began as refugees traveling through Central America, but came in contact with a human smuggler, or "coyote," and were told they'd be helped with travel. Then were told they would have to engage in prostitution in order to pay off the debt. The women were also threatened with harm to their families back home if they did not comply with the traffickers.
A few of the women had arrived in the U.S. within the last 2 weeks, Judd said.
"The human trafficking victim is a very difficult victim to work with, because they are scared," said Sheriff Judd. "[They say] 'hey you can come to the United States, and they are going to open the border. Well I don't have the money to get there. I have a solution for you.'"
The women were being provided with assistance and counseling.
In addition to those identified as victims of trafficking, four people with a criminal history of prostitution were arrested during this operation. One of the customers also had a past arrest for soliciting prostitution.
Among the arrests was an elected official who is on a school board in San Diego, California. Judd said Dr. Scott Wooden was in town helping his elderly parents when he tried to solicit a sex worker for $200. He is a member of the Del Mar Union School District, a molecular biologist and used to own a massage parlor, Judd said.
The Del Mar Union School District released the following statement:
"We want to inform you that the Del Mar Union School District received notification that Scott Wooden has resigned from the District’s Governing Board of Trustees effective immediately.
The Board is currently exploring options to fill the vacancy. We will keep the community informed as the District moves through this process."
Another man caught up in the arrest is a sex offender who lives in Lakeland, but according to Judd, has decades of arrests related to prostitution and inappropriate sexual behavior. Christopher Pitasi was charged with soliciting prostitution.
The sheriff said victims are offered an opportunity to get linked with social service agencies to receive help, including One More Child, a non-profit in the southeastern United States. That agency said it is critical to get beyond myths of human trafficking that highlight kidnappings as the main threat.
"It most often looks like generations of cyclical poverty and individuals who are desperate to have their needs met for survival," said Jodi Domangue, the head of the anti-trafficking unit of One More Child.
Sheriff Judd said they are continuing to investigate where, how and who first offered the victims' trips across the Southern Border.
"We have caught the buyer and the seller," said Sheriff Judd. "That's what we've done today. But we know the buyer and the seller is only the beginning of the chain. It's not the end of the chain."
>Scott Wooden
https://www.kusi.com/del-mar-school-board-trustee-scott-wooden-jailed-on-suspicion-of-soliciting-prostitution/
Del Mar school board trustee Scott Wooden jailed on suspicion of soliciting prostitution
A 13-year member of the Del Mar Union School District Board of Trustees was jailed last weekend on suspicion of soliciting prostitution in Florida, authorities announced Thursday.
Scott Wooden, 60, was one of 213 people arrested during a weeklong crackdown on human trafficking in Polk County, according to law enforcement officials there.
Wooden, a married father of two who has served on the coastal San Diego County school board since 2010, was taken into custody Saturday during a sting operation, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office reported.
Wooden allegedly responded to a mock online sex-services advertisement and paid a deputy posing as a prostitute $200, at which point he was arrested, according to an affidavit filed in the case.
While being questioned while in custody, Wooden commented that he had been “caught doing something stupid,” the court document states.
He was released from jail Monday after posting a $500 bond, said Carrie Horstman, a Polk County sheriff’s spokesperson.
The Del Mar Union School District website listed Wooden’s responsibilities as, “Scott was elected to the School Board in November 2010 and is currently serving his fourth term. Dr. Wooden served as Board President in 2012. He has served several years as Board Clerk. He is currently serving as Board Representative to the Legislative Action Network (LAN) and alternates with other members as Board Liaison to the Del Mar Schools Education Foundation (DMSEF).”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinical_equipoise