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Thursday, December 7, 2023

12/7 WAKE-UP CALL: Report...Prof Went On Campus Shooting Spree

 

A lone shooter opened fire on the main campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, on Wednesday, killing three people and wounding a fourth before the suspect was shot dead by police, authorities said at a news briefing hours afterward. Police declined to publicly identify the assailant, going so far as to avoid any mention of the suspect's gender, nor did they give any information about the four victims struck by gunfire - three fatally - or their connection to the university. The surviving gunshot victim was listed in stable condition, according to Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. He said several other people suffered panic attacks during the pandemonium, and a number of officers were treated for minor injuries sustained during a search of the sprawling campus for any additional victims or suspects. None were found. No mention was made of a possible motive for the violence, and police did not disclose the type of firearm used.

Unconfirmed reports said the gunman who killed three at the University of Nevada on Wednesday was a 67-year-old professor who had been rejected for a job at the college, according to reports. The unnamed shooter had connections to Georgia and North Carolina, CNN reported. His failed job application was reported by 8 News Now, with sources telling the site that he may also have had connections to a person who works on campus. The three people who died have not been named. A fourth victim was shot but is in a stable condition, said Sheriff Kevin McMahill, speaking at a press conference on Wednesday night.

➤SUSPECT ARRESTED IN MULTIPLE TEXAS SHOOTINGS: Police in Travis, Texas, have charged a suspect in multiple deadly shootings carried out across a wide area on Tuesday. Shane James allegedly killed his parents in San Antonio before shooting four other people dead in four separate locations in Austin. A police officer was wounded during the ordeal.

➤SENATE BLOCKS ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN: Republicans in the U.S. Senate blocked a bill to ban the sale of semiautomatic weapons and expand background checks for gun buyers. The National Rifle Association condemned the bill as a violation of Americans’ Second Amendment rights.

➤DEBATE MUD: Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie called tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy "the most obnoxious blowhard in America." Ramaswamy said former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is "the only person more fascist" than Democratic President Joe Biden. Later in the fourth Republican presidential debate on Wednesday, he waved a handwritten note reading "Nikki = Corrupt," as the audience audibly groaned. The four candidates on stage in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, showed little reticence in attacking each other in what could be their last face-off before the Iowa caucuses, which kick off the 2024 Republican presidential nominating contest in less than six weeks' time.

  • Christie and Ramaswamy, in particular, did not hold back on the insults during fiery exchanges. Ramaswamy, who sits in fourth place in most national polls and has frequently attacked his rivals at previous debates, was particularly acid. At one point, he appeared to poke fun at Christie's weight, while referencing a past scandal in which allies of the former governor closed a bridge to exact retribution on political rivals. "Chris, your version of foreign policy experience was closing a bridge from New Jersey to New York," Ramaswamy said. "So do everybody a favor, just walk yourself off that stage, enjoy a nice meal and get the hell out of this race."
  • Nikki Haley’s Republican presidential nomination rivals attacked her for being too cozy with American corporations during a debate Wednesday night that showcased her ascent in the race and the party’s sharp populist turn. The former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador took heat for receiving support from wealthy Democratic donors on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley, holding a lucrative seat on Boeing’s board, and calling for technology companies to verify users who post online. “I love all the attention, fellas,” Haley said to the three men who joined her on the stage. “Thank you for that.”
  • Ron DeSantis  vowed to 'get the inflation down and the interest rates down' which he plans to accomplish by 'vetoing a lot', if elected. The Republican candidate told audiences in Alabama that 'student loans are going to be backed by universities' and not taxpayers. 'I don't support having a truck driver paying a student loan that got a degree in gender is studies, that's wrong, but I'm going to get to the root cause of the problem,' DeSantis said.

➤U-S URGED TO SHOW RESTRAINT WITH SHOPPING TERORISTS: Saudi Arabia has asked the United States to show restraint in responding to attacks by Yemen's Houthis against ships in the Red Sea, two sources familiar with Saudi thinking said, as Riyadh seeks to contain spillover from the Hamas-Israel war. The Iran-aligned Houthis have waded into the conflict that has spread around the Middle East since war erupted on Oct. 7, attacking vessels in vital shipping lanes and firing drones and missiles at Israel itself. The group which rules much of Yemen says its attacks are a show of support for the Palestinians and has vowed they will continue until Israel stops its offensive on the Gaza Strip - more than 1,000 miles from their seat of power in Sanaa. The Houthis are one of several groups in the Iran-aligned "Axis of Resistance" which have been attacking Israeli and U.S. targets since the start of the conflict on Oct. 7, when their Palestinian ally Hamas sparked the war by attacking Israel.

➤BIDEN PUSHES FOR AID TO UKRAINE: President Biden’s push to pass tens of billions in new aid for Ukraine stalled in the Senate on Wednesday, but the setback could inject new urgency into bipartisan talks over border-security measures that Republicans have demanded as a condition for their support. Democrats’ sweeping foreign-aid measure providing $110.5 billion for Ukraine, Israel and other global hot spots was blocked by Republicans in an initial procedural vote. Forty-nine senators backed the measure and 51 were against, falling short of the 60-vote threshold needed to advance.


Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) had originally voted in favor, but he changed his vote in order to preserve the right to bring the bill up again. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), who caucuses with Democrats, also voted against the measure.  In remarks just ahead of the vote, Biden warned that failure by Congress to pass new aid for Ukraine could ultimately lead the U.S. into direct conflict with Russia if it won and continued to march westward. He said the administration is willing to work with Republicans to do “significantly more” on border security to get a deal done while also chiding GOP lawmakers. 

➤McCARTHY TO RETIRE FROM CONGRESS: Kevin McCarthy plans to quit Congress and leave at the end of the year. The announcement comes two months after the California Republican was ousted as House speaker less than a year into the role, an unprecedented move that thrust the chamber into weeks of chaos until Republicans coalesced around Louisiana’s Mike Johnson to succeed him. McCarthy, whose House career began in 2007, didn’t immediately lay out his future plans, but he said in a WSJ opinion article that he would “serve America in new ways. I know my work is only getting started.” The departure will further whittle down the House GOP’s narrow majority, which currently stands at 221-213.

➤MINIMUM WAGE RISES IN 7 STATES: Minimum wage workers in 22 states will get a pay increase on January 1st. That will bring the number of states that pay $15 an hour or more to seven, plus the District of Columbia, CNN reports. Some city and county governments are getting ahead of their states on wage increases. The minimum wage in Tukwila, Washington, will be a highest-in-the-nation $20.29 per hour on January 1.


➤MENTHOL CIGARETTES STAY ON THE SHELVES: A federal ban on menthol cigarettes that was supposed to be effective this month has been delayed until at least March. Health advocates fear it will be delayed beyond the 2024 elections to avoid any political blowback. They say banning menthol will save 654,000 lives within 40 years. About 85 percent of Black Americans who smoke choose menthol cigarettes compared to just 30 percent of white smokers. Research indicates that they’re harder to give up.

💸DISGRACED CONGRESSMAN IS RAKING IN CASH (LEGALLY): George Santos, the man who lied and cheated so much it got him expelled from the U.S. Congress, is now raking in cash in a perfectly legitimate (if slightly tacky) enterprise. Santos has signed up with the celebrity video platform Cameo, which allows people to pay for personally tailored video messages from celebrities. Just as an example, Santos created a holiday greetings video to an employee group hoping that their festivities would be “as genuine as my campaign promises.” Cameo’s CEO says Santos is a sensation on the platform, up there with Sarah Jessica Parker and Bon Jovi in terms of demand.

➤DIDDY ACCUSED OF GANG-RAPE: Hip-hop star Sean "Diddy" Combs was accused in federal court on Wednesday of taking part in the gang rape of a 17-year-old girl in his Manhattan recording studio in 2003, marking the fourth lawsuit leveling sexual assault allegations against him in recent weeks. Combs, 54, founder of the landmark label Bad Boy Records and a hugely successful rap performer, issued a statement on Wednesday categorically professing his innocence and declaring his accusers were "looking for a quick payday." The plaintiff in the latest lawsuit was identified as Jane Doe, described as a high school student at the time she met associates of Combs in a Detroit-area lounge 20 years ago.

The complaint says they flew her on a private jet from Michigan to the New York area, then drove her to the New York City studio where Combs and two other men plied her with drugs and alcohol. According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff was then raped in a bathroom of the studio by Combs and the two other men, one after the other, as she slipped in and out of consciousness.

➤CONSUMERS ARE FICKLE: Walmart’s top executives said Wednesday consumer behavior would be tougher to predict next year as financial strain pushes customers to be more cautious about spending their dollars. The retail bellwether saw “anomalous type of behavior” from customers which “made us sit up in our chair” about the health of the consumer and what the purchasing behavior was, Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey said at the Morgan Stanley Global Consumer & Retail Conference. About spending in the last two weeks of October being off trend compared to prior months, Rainey said it was “puzzling,” but the retailer did not intend to be “alarmist” in any way. Walmart’s stock had dropped 8% on Nov. 16 when the company first hinted at October spending during its quarterly earnings. Rainey at the conference also added that there is nothing “about what we have seen in the consumer” and deflationary pricing that makes the retailer rethink its long-term plans.

➤CLIMATE CONFAB; WHO'S GONNA PAY? A central discussion at the COP28 climate summit focuses on who will pay to move people displaced by climate change. Many of them live in places that historically have produced little greenhouse gas emissions. Developing countries asked rich ones to double their annual funding for climate adaptation by 2025, up from $20 billion in 2019. They said that they will then need tens of billions of dollars more every year for new housing for climate refugees and protective infrastructure that will allow people to stay put. Last week, negotiators said rich countries would start contributing to help such communities. Separately, bitcoin-mining operations this year are expected to use more than 591 billion gallons of water, raising environmental concerns, research found. Bitcoin advocates say the industry became more energy efficient and that most of the water is recycled or returned to the environment.

⚾YANKEES GET SOTO: The Yankees, one of MLB’s worst offenses in 2023 is adding one of the game’s best hitters, with the Yankees on Wednesday finalizing a deal to land Soto from the Padres in a blockbuster move at the winter meetings wrapped up. Along with the superstar slugger, the Yankees will receive outfielder Trent Grisham in exchange for Michael King, Drew Thorpe, Randy Vasquez, Jhony Brito and Kyle Higashioka, The Post’s Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman reported. The trade, which became official late Wednesday night, brings a much-needed splash for the Yankees, who are coming off a season that GM Brian Cashman labeled a “disaster” and led to Hal Steinbrenner pledging changes. Steinbrenner said last month that some of the changes might be subtle, but the addition of Soto is hardly that.

🏈WHAT’S UP WITH ZACH WILSON:  The New York Jets announced yesterday that Zach Wilson will start at quarterback in Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans. This wouldn’t be so surprising if he hadn’t been demoted to third string only two weeks ago. The alternatives were Tim Boyle, who was abruptly released on Tuesday, and Trevor Siemian, who was seen as underperforming in last Sunday’s 13-8 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

🏈PANTHERS’ HURST DIAGNOSED WITH AMNESIA: A head injury suffered by Carolina Panthers tight end Hayden Hurst has led to a diagnosis of post-traumatic amnesia, his father said in a post on the social site X. Hurst has been out indefinitely since he was injured in the November 9th game against the Chicago Bears. Hurst returned to practice this week as a limited participant. Hurst is in his first season with the Panthers after five seasons playing for the Baltimore Ravens, the Atlanta Falcons and the Cincinnati Bengals.

🏈DOLPHINS’ TAGOVAILOA IS A FAN FAVORITE: Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is the clear fan favorite in the early round of voting for the 2024 Pro Bowl lineup. The NFL announced yesterday that he received 59,680 votes, compared to about 44,000 for C.J. Stroud of the Houston Texans in second place. Tyreek Hill of the Miami Dolphins and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs round out the top four vote-getters so far.
  • CHECK IT OUT: Click here to vote before December 25th.


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