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Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi on Wednesday is making his first official visit to Turkey since assuming power, after the two regional powers ended years of tensions. El-Sissi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are set to discuss bilateral relations, the conflict in Gaza and escalating tensions in the Middle East, among other topics. They are also expected to oversee the signing of more than a dozen cooperation agreements to strengthen the relationship between their nations, including in energy, defense and tourism. In February, Erdogan made his first visit to Egypt in more than a decade after the two countries agreed to mend ties and reappointed ambassadors. Erdogan declared that the two countries wanted to boost bilateral trade to $15 billion from the current $10 billion. Relations between Egypt and Turkey, a long-time backer of the Muslim Brotherhood group, soured after the Egyptian military ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi amid mass protests against his divisive one year of rule. Morsi was from the Muslim Brotherhood group, which has been outlawed as a terrorist organization in Egypt. In recent years, Ankara has stopped its criticism of el-Sissi’s government, aiming to repair strained relations with Egypt and other Arab nations while seeking investments during an economic downturn. In November 2022, Erdogan and el-Sissi were photographed shaking hands at the World Cup in Qatar. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry then traveled to Turkey in 2023 to show solidarity with the country after a deadly earthquake struck parts of southern Turkey and Syria. It is el-Sissi’s first visit to Turkey since he was elected president in 2014, a year after he led the military’s overthrow of Morsi. El-Sissi will be accompanied by a large delegation of officials and businessmen, Egyptian media reported. Egypt, together with Qatar and the United States, a key Israel ally, has been working for months to try and broker a cease-fire and the return of the remaining 100 hostages held by Hamas. The negotiations have been dragged out since Israel introduced new demands, including lasting Israeli control over the Philadelphi corridor between Gaza and Egypt and a second corridor running across the Palestinian enclave. Egypt has accused the Israeli prime minister of obstructing the negotiations. It is opposed to any Israeli presence along the Gaza side of its border and says it would threaten the decades-old peace treaty between the two countries, a cornerstone of regional stability. Hamas has tried unsuccessfully to have Turkey added as a guarantor in the cease-fire talks. (AP)

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has reportedly ordered the execution of up to 30 officials, following accusations that they failed to prevent severe flooding and landslides over the summer, which led to the deaths of approximately 4,000 people. This information comes from South Korean media sources.

A source within Kim’s regime revealed that these officials, ranging from 20 to 30 individuals, were accused of corruption and neglecting their responsibilities. According to TV Chosun, they were sentenced to death by the state.

“It has been determined that 20 to 30 cadres in the flood-stricken area were executed at the same time late last month,” the official shared with the media outlet.

Independent sources have yet to confirm the reports of these executions.

Earlier, the North Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim had directed authorities to “strictly punish” the officials in question after devastating floods hit the Chagang Province in July, resulting in around 4,000 deaths and the displacement of over 15,000 residents.

While the identities of the executed officials remain undisclosed, the report highlighted that Kang Bong-hoon, the Chagang Province Provincial Party Committee Secretary since 2019, was among those removed from their positions by Kim during an emergency meeting held amidst the disaster.

In the wake of this meeting, former North Korean diplomat Lee Il-gyu remarked to TV Chosun that provincial officials were “so anxious that they don’t know when their necks will fall off.”

Kim was also observed last month inspecting the flood-affected areas and interacting with the displaced residents, estimating that recovery and rebuilding efforts would take several months.

The North Korean leader also dismissed reports from South Korea concerning the death toll, challenging claims that thousands had perished.

This is not the first instance of Kim ordering executions in response to perceived failures. In 2019, Kim Hyok Chol, North Korea’s nuclear envoy to the United States, was reportedly executed for his inability to secure a successful summit between Kim and then-US President Donald Trump.

However, CNN later disclosed that Chol was actually in state custody, not executed.

According to the Korea Times, public executions are relatively common in North Korea, with an average of 10 occurring each year before the COVID-19 pandemic. The outlet suggests that this number has increased, with at least 100 executions reported last year.

{Matzav.com}

A former Maryland resident was sentenced on Tuesday to more than one year behind bars for making thousands of threatening and harassing telephone calls to dozens of congressional offices across the country, court records show. Ade Salim Lilly’s telephone harassment campaign included approximately 12,000 telephone calls over the span of 19 months to more than 50 offices for members of Congress, according to prosecutors. They said Lilly threatened to kill a congressional staff member during one of the calls. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly sentenced Lilly to 13 months of incarceration followed by three years of supervised release, according to online court records. Prosecutors recommended sentencing Lilly to 18 months of incarceration, arguing for a need to deter others from engaging in similarly threatening behavior. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger testified last year that threats against members of Congress had increased by approximately 400% over the previous six years. “This is an election year, and more and more often, criticism of a political position or viewpoint crosses the First Amendment line and leads to true threats of violence,” prosecutors wrote. “The pervasive rise in threats against elected officials creates a real risk that expressions of violence will become normalized.” Lilly pleaded guilty in May to two charges: one count of interstate communications with a threat to kidnap or injure and one count of making repeated telephone calls. Lilly moved from Maryland to Puerto Rico during his harassment campaign, which lasted from roughly February 2022 until November 2023. He called one lawmaker’s Washington office more than 500 times over a two-day period in February 2023, prosecutors said. (AP)

A Queens man was sentenced Tuesday to 13 months in prison for making more than 12,000 harassing phone calls to members of Congress over an 18-month period and threatening to kill a congressional aide.

Ade Salim Lilly, 35, pleaded guilty in May to one count each of making interstate communications with a threat to kidnap or injure, and making repeated telephone calls in 2022 and 2023. In court, he said he was “apologetic and remorseful,” though he claimed to be motivated by a desire to help the country.

“My intention was solely to better the future of the descendants of the founders of the United States, and serving our young people and families and future generations,” he said. “I will find alternative methods to address issues I believe need to be addressed.”

U.S. prosecutors sought an 18-month sentence, saying a stiff punishment is crucial to deter rising threats against elected officials. U.S. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger told lawmakers in March 2023 that threats against members of Congress increased fivefold over the previous six years.

Assistant federal defender Kathryn Guevara asked for a sentence of 10 months, which represents the time that Lilly has already served waiting for his case to be resolved.

“The pervasive rise in threats against elected officials creates a real risk that expressions of violence will become normalized,” Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander R. Schneider wrote in sentencing papers. In court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberley Nielsen said that threats to public servants performing their sworn duties must be “met with swift justice, and with harsh justice,” citing the July assassination attempt against former president Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania and the October 2022 attack on the husband of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly acknowledged the danger and the need for deterrence. “Our public officials and their staffs must be able to do their jobs without threats, harassment and without being subjected to violence. These are just basic rules of the road we need to have as a country, and we’ve got a real problem in this regard right now,” Kelly said.

Still, Kelly noted that Lilly had no prior criminal convictions. Addressing the defense’s argument that Lilly was motivated by childhood tragedy and a zealous belief that lawmakers must do more for the nation’s young people, Kelly added, “it is easy to see” how his offense might be the result of “good intentions gone wrong.”

According to court documents, beginning in February 2022 and continuing until his arrest in Puerto Rico in November 2023, Lilly made thousands of telephone calls to about 54 congressional offices across the country, with about half of the calls placed to offices in D.C.

Lilly placed the calls while he was in Maryland or Puerto Rico, and most were answered by congressional staff members or interns, prosecutors said. Lilly became angry and used vulgar and harassing language in the calls, and in at least one call, he threatened to kill or injure the person with whom he was speaking, according to court papers.

Staffers and Capitol Police repeatedly asked him to stop calling and warned that his unwanted calls were harassing and barred by law, but Lilly kept doing so and masked his phone number, prosecutors said.

“I will kill you, I am going to run you over, I will kill you with a bomb or grenade,” prosecutors said Lilly told an aide in a call to an office in D.C. on Oct. 21, 2022.

According to plea papers, Lilly called one congressional office 500 times and another office 200 times over different two-day spans in February 2023. Prosecutors noted that Lilly was arrested in Howard County for telephone misuse and had arrest warrants issued on Feb. 3, 2023, in Prince George’s County and May 31, 2023, in Anne Arundel County for misdemeanor threats of mass violence and telephone misuse, respectively.

“Despite being arrested for his conduct by Maryland authorities on Feb. 3, 2023, the Defendant’s harassment and threatening phone calls continued for months,” Schneider said.

Prosecutors said there was no evidence that Lilly actually planned to carry out the threats, which caused minimal disruption. Still, Schneider and Nielsen argued that Lilly’s listener took his statements as a serious expression of an intent to inflict harm.

Kelly approved a government request that Lilly be barred from contacting certain lawmakers and government offices without prior approval from his probation officer while on three years of supervised release following incarceration.

(c) 2024, The Washington Post · Spencer S. Hsu 

A Venezuelan judge has ordered the arrest of presidential candidate Edmundo González, who the United States and other governments say clearly beat the country’s authoritarian president, Nicolás Maduro, in its July 28 election.

Maduro’s attorney general filed a warrant for the arrest of the 75-year-old former diplomat as part of what he said was an investigation into the opposition’s publication of voting machine receipts showing their candidate won more than twice as many votes as the authoritarian socialist.

Venezuela’s electoral council, which is controlled by Maduro, declared him the winner of the election. Several independent reviews of the receipts from 23,000 voting machines, including by The Washington Post, suggest González won the election in a landslide.

The electoral council has not released precinct-level results from the election. Instead, Maduro’s government has cracked down on the opposition, arresting more than 1,600 people and forcing many opposition leaders into hiding.

“Maduro has lost all touch with reality,” opposition leader María Corina Machado posted on X on Monday evening. The former National Assembly member, who is Venezuela’s most popular politician, backed González after she was banned from running against Maduro herself.

“The arrest warrant issued by the regime to threaten President-Elect Edmundo González crosses a new line that only strengthens the resolve of our movement,” Machado said. “Venezuelans and democracies around the world are more united than ever in our quest for freedom.”

The Biden administration is “considering a range of options to demonstrate to Mr. Maduro and his representatives that their actions in Venezuela will have consequences,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Tuesday.

In the warrant, a prosecutor accuses González of crimes including usurpation, forgery of a public document, instigation and sabotage. Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab called on González for a third time last week to appear before prosecutors as part of the investigation. He has declined.

The warrant was approved by a judge in an anti-terrorism court. Maduro, who has ruled the South American country for more than a decade, has repeatedly used its judiciary to affirm his authority. Venezuela’s high court last month ratified Maduro’s election victory, a seal of institutional approval for another six-year term.

Maduro accused González of endorsing violence, and connected him to a nationwide power outage last week.

“This cowardly man … has the nerve to say he doesn’t recognize anything,” Maduro said in televised remarks Monday. “That is why the majority of the people who live in Venezuela agree that laws should work, that there must be order, the constitution should be respected and public government institutions should do their work.”

González has been in hiding in recent weeks as authorities have rounded up and arrested opposition leaders, sometimes on the street and in the middle of the day. González was last seen in public more than a month ago.

His lawyer, José Vicente Haro, told reporters Tuesday that he was staying at González’s residence with González’s wife to cooperate with authorities in case they arrive there. González is staying elsewhere, the lawyer said, and has not requested asylum in any foreign embassy.

The Biden administration, which has called on Maduro to respect the election results and stop repressing the opposition, condemned the warrant.

“Rather than recognizing his election loss and preparing for a peaceful transition in Venezuela, Maduro has now ordered the arrest of the democratic leader who defeated him overwhelmingly at the polls,” Brian Nichols, assistant U.S. secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere, said in a post on X. “Edmundo González has promoted national reconciliation, and we join the growing list of international partners condemning this unjustified arrest warrant.”

Administration officials have been backing an effort by the leftist leaders of Colombia, Brazil and Mexico to negotiate a way forward. But with Maduro showing no interest in talks that might lead to his exit, they’ve indicated a willingness to take further action.

Earlier Monday, the United States seized a luxury aircraft that officials said was illegally purchased and “smuggled” out of the country for Maduro to use. Later, Bloomberg News reported that the Treasury Department was close to announcing 15 individual sanctions on Maduro-affiliated officials.

Top officials from the European Union, the Organization of American States and several Latin American countries also condemned the arrest warrant.

“People are being detained for expressing their right to political participation,” Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, told reporters Tuesday. “It is a climate of fear in the country at the moment. We are urging the government to ensure that all steps are taken in line with international human rights law.”

(c) 2024, The Washington Post · Samantha Schmidt 

Hezbollah fired a heavy rocket barrage at the Galil close to noon on Wednesday, triggering red alert sirens in a number of yishuvim. Several rockets scored direct hits in Kiryat Shmona and Dishon, kindling fires and damaging property. Some rockets fell in open areas, sparking fires, and others were intercepted by the Iron Dome. Firefighters are currently working to extinguish fires in several areas in Galil.  (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

LISTEN:

https://matzav.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Bitachon4Life-Shiur-1307-Tikvah-Part-102.mp3

​​For more info, email bitachon4life@gmail.com.

An initial IDF investigation into Hamas’s murder of the six hostages in Rafah last week revealed that Hamas lookouts standing outside the tunnel saw IDF forces approaching the area,  prompting the terrorists to murder the hostages and flee the area, Kan News reported on Tuesday evening. According to the report, after the hostages’ bodies were located, the IDF discovered indications at the scene that Hamas lookouts were watching the IDF soldiers in real time. IDF forces operating in Rafah have been careful not to approach areas where live hostages may be held, according to intelligence information transmitted to the forces in real-time. However, in this case, there was no intelligence that hostages were being held in the area. On Monday, the Hamas terror group engaged in its usual inhumane cruelty and lies. After previously claiming that the six hostages were not murdered but were killed in an IDF airstrike, Hamas spokesperson Abu Obaida, in a post on Telegram, admitted to killing “the prisoners” but placed the blame on Israel, saying that “Netanyahu and the occupation army alone bear full responsibility for the deaths of the ‘prisoners’ after deliberately blocking any ‘prisoner exchange’ out of their own narrow interests.” Abu Obaida then hinted that Hamas will murder all the hostages rather than allow them to be rescued by the IDF, stating that following the rescue of the four hostages in the “Nuseirat incident” [Operation Arnon] in June, Hamas guards were issued new instructions about “how to treat the ‘prisoners’ if the occupation army approaches the area where they’re being held.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

LISTEN:

https://matzav.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Tefila4Life-Shiur-852-Only-Him.mp3

IDF air defense forces overnight Tuesday intercepted an enemy drone over Jordan headed toward Israel from “the east.” The drone did not cross into Israel and no injuries were reported. The Islamic Resistance terror group in Iraq claimed responsiblity for the launch and said it was directed at the port of Haifa. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

A Michigan judge ruled that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. must remain on the November presidential ballot, dealing a blow to his crusade to strategically remove his ticket from the battleground state. Kennedy suspended his campaign and endorsed former President Donald Trump in August. Since then, he has sought to withdraw his name in states — like Michigan — where the race could be close. At the same time, he is trying to remain on the ballot in states where he is unlikely to make a difference between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. Kennedy filed a lawsuit Friday in Michigan’s Court of Claims against Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, in an effort to withdraw his name. Michigan’s election officials had previously rejected Kennedy’s notice of withdrawal. The Associated Press asked the secretary’s office for comment on the Court of Claims order that came down Tuesday. In a post on X earlier in the day, Benson said under Michigan law, candidates who are nominated and accept a minor party’s nomination “shall not be permitted to withdraw.” Kennedy argued in the lawsuit that his notice of withdrawal was timely and the electorate’s votes could be “diminished and rendered invalid” if he remains on the ballot. He filed a similar lawsuit in North Carolina on Friday, where he is trying to withdraw his name from the ballot. Michigan Court of Claims Judge Christopher P. Yates concluded that the secretary of state rightly rejected Kennedy’s request to be removed from the ballot. “Elections are not just games, and the Secretary of State (SOS) is not obligated to honor the whims of candidates for public office,” Yates said in his opinion and order. Aaron Siri, an attorney for Kennedy in the Michigan lawsuit, said that keeping Kennedy’s name “upends ballot integrity.” “We agree with the judge that elections are not games, and that is precisely why the court should have let Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. withdraw from the ballot,” Siri said in a written statement. Speaking on Fox News Channel’s “The Story with Martha MacCallum” on Tuesday, Kennedy said, “We’re trying to get off the ballot in all the states where I might be a spoiler and cause harm to President Trump.” Wisconsin election officials said last week that Kennedy must remain on the ballot there, rejecting his request to withdraw. Last week, a different Michigan Court of Claims judge ruled that liberal independent candidate for president Cornel West must remain on the ballot, an opinion welcomed by West’s campaign. Kennedy and West, prominent third-party candidates, are at the center of multiple legal and political battles across the country as Democrats and Republicans seek to use the impacts of third-party candidates who could take support from their opponents. Republican allies in multiple battleground states such as Arizona and Michigan have sought to keep West on the ballot amid Democratic fears he could siphon votes from Vice President Kamala Harris. (AP)

Cam Ferguson gets to his spot on the street adjacent to Chase Field — home of Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks — about four hours before first pitch to set up his usual display of cold water, sports drinks, peanuts and candy. By game time, it’s about 103 degrees Fahrenheit (39.4 degrees Celsius) on this Labor Day afternoon in downtown Phoenix. Business is brisk. “Two for five, but it’s eight inside!” shouts another vendor, hawking water bottles. “Plus, they’re having some problems with the air conditioning in there.” It’s always hot this time of year in central Arizona, but 2024 is proving to be an endless summer with especially high temperatures in Phoenix. On Tuesday, the city hit its 100th straight day with at least 100 degree temperatures. That’s long since shattered the record of 76 days in a row set back in 1993, according to data from the National Weather Service. “That is definitely an eye-catching number,” NWS meteorologist Sean Benedict said. Scientists say climate change caused by human activities is dialing up the thermostat around the world and increasing the odds of dangerous temperatures. That is because the driver of global warming — the release of greenhouse gases from the burning of fuels like oil, gas and coal — continues all but unabated. Extreme weather events like heat waves, wildfires, intense storms, and prolonged droughts will continue, according to researchers. The temperature hit 102 F (38.9 C) in Phoenix on May 27 and has made it to triple digits every day since. Benedict said that long streaks of desert heat usually are broken up by rain, but the monsoon hasn’t delivered much. The persistent heat also got an early start, with the triple-digit days already piling up in May. It doesn’t look like a break is coming any time soon. Unseasonably high temperatures are expected this week across the western U.S., with an excessive heat warning forecast for Wednesday through Friday in Arizona cities including Phoenix and Lake Havasu City, as well as Las Vegas and other parts of Nevada, including Laughlin and Pahrump. The California desert communities of Palm Springs, Twentynine Palms, Needles and Barstow will also heat up, with highs of up to 118 F (47.7 C) in Death Valley’s Furnace Creek expected at week’s end. Public health officials in Arizona’s Maricopa County — where Phoenix is located, the hottest metro area in the U.S. — say that as of Aug. 24 there had been 150 heat-related deaths confirmed so far this year, with another 443 under investigation. There were 645 heat-related deaths last year in the county of some 4.5 million people. Pretty much any way the data is parsed, 2024 marks another record-breaking summer of heat in Phoenix. It’s been the hottest meteorological summer, which includes the months June, July and August. And it’s the same story throughout the western U.S. with several locations in California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico setting records or coming close. In Nevada’s Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, there have been 181 confirmed heat-related deaths so far this year. But the death toll is likely far greater, officials said, because it takes the Clark County coroner’s office up to three months to investigate the cause of death in about 90% of its cases. In 2023, there were […]

A man arrested last week at a Pennsylvania rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump had hoped to hang a banner to protest Trump’s policies, Johnstown’s police chief said Tuesday. Authorities announced that misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest were filed against Stephen A. Weiss, 36, of Pittsburgh, who was taken into custody at Friday’s Trump rally. Johnstown Police Chief Richard Pritchard said investigators do not know what the banner said because arena staff apparently discarded it. He said it was made from a bed sheet and that Weiss told a detective that he does not believe in Trump’s policies. Pritchard said Weiss faked a foot injury and concealed a tube of glue in a metal crutch. Weiss declined comment when reached by phone Tuesday, saying he was seeking legal advice. The arrest affidavit by a Johnstown police detective said Weiss “ran onto the arena floor, jumped onto the media stage (and) began to yell towards the main stage where President Trump was speaking.” Weiss allegedly would not release himself from steel barricade fencing “and force had to be used,” police said in the charging document. A man who accompanied Weiss to the rally told police he was unaware of Weiss’ plan, Pritchard said. The second man was not charged, the chief said. Weiss also was charged with disrupting a public meeting, a misdemeanor. The Secret Service questioned Weiss on Friday and he was released later that night. He has a court hearing scheduled for Oct. 9. A Trump campaign spokesman offered no immediate comment Tuesday. The disruption occurred shortly after Trump criticized major media outlets for what he said was unfavorable coverage. As Weiss was led away, the former president told the crowd: “Is there anywhere that’s more fun to be than a Trump rally?” There has been heightened scrutiny of security at Trump rallies since a gunman fired at him, grazing his ear, during an outdoor rally in July in Butler, Pennsylvania. Security at political events has been noticeably tighter since then. (AP)

According to a New York Post exclusive report, 75% of arrests made in Midtown Manhattan involve illegal migrants as sanctuary laws are making the metro migrant crisis difficult to control.

It’s putting a tremendous strain on the justice system.

 

22From The New York Post:

Jefferson Maldenado, a 31-year-old migrant from Ecuador, has been arrested in New York City five times since arriving in the US earlier this year.

His latest bust was for stealing a pair of pants and a beer from the Target near Herald Square.

Asked why he committed the crime, the migrant thief said, “I wanted to change my clothes and think.

“I wanted to sit down and think about my life, about what to do. Because this is not a normal world.”

He was just one of five migrants in a Manhattan courtroom for arraignment one night last week.

Across New York, recently arrived migrants are flooding the criminal justice system — at far higher rates than public officials have acknowledged.

Police sources shared with The Post a staggering estimate that as many as 75% of the people they’ve been arresting in Midtown Manhattan in recent months for crimes like assault, robbery and domestic violence are migrants. In parts of Queens, the figure is more than 60%, sources there estimate.

On any given day, Big Apple criminal court dockets are packed with asylum seekers who have run afoul of the law.

Full report over at The New York Post:

 

{Matzav.com}

• SpaceX satellite internet service Starlink said it will comply with court orders to block social network X in Brazil. Elon Musk owns both businesses. • Brazil’s supreme court ordered a suspension of X because it defied federal regulations concerning content moderation and the appointment of a legal representative in the country. • Musk has been publicly berating Brazil’s administration for months, threatening “reciprocal seizure of government assets,” in response to its court orders against his businesses.

In 2020 and 2021, COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loans were a lifeline for small businesses. But now some small businesses are having trouble paying them off. And a Small Business Credit Survey report from the 12 Federal Reserve banks shows that small businesses that haven’t paid off COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loans are in worse shape than other small businesses. Dwayne Thomas, owner of events lighting company Greenlight Creative in Portland, Oregon, got a roughly $500,000 EIDL loan in 2020, when all events shut down, crippling his businesses. EIDL loans were designed to help small businesses stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of these loans have a 30-year term with a 3.5% interest rate. With lower interest rates than typical loans, the loans were provided for working capital and other normal operating expenses. Thomas says his business would not have survived without the loan. But, at 64, his plan to sell his business in a few years and retire has been scuttled, since the 30-year loan has left his business saddled with debt, even though otherwise it’s a healthy business that turns a profit. “We’re as successful as we’ve ever been,” Thomas said. “It’s just that we have this huge thing hanging over us at all times. It is not going away on its own.” The SBA awarded about 4 million loans worth $380 billion through the program. More than $300 billion was outstanding as of late 2023. Unlike some other pandemic aid, these loans are not forgivable and must be repaid. The survey by the Federal Reserve Banks found firms with outstanding EIDL loans had higher debt levels, were more likely to report challenges making payments on debt and were less likely to be profitable as of fall 2023, when the survey was conducted. Firms with outstanding EIDL debt are also more likely to be denied when applying for additional credit. Half said they were denied for having too much debt. Still, the survey stopped short of saying the disaster loans were a negative for companies. Some companies said they would have gone out of business altogether if it weren’t from the loans. And it’s impossible to measure whether the companies that haven’t paid off these loans weren’t in worse shape from the start. Colby Janisch, a brewer at 902 Brewing Company in Jersey City, New Jersey, received a loan from the EIDL program of about $400,000. But unlike a loan for an asset that you can pay off, the loan just went to rent and other overhead costs. And Janisch said the outstanding debt stops them from taking on other loans for assets that could help the business. “It’s hindered us because we don’t want to take out any loans to invest in the company now because we have such outstanding (debt),” he said. “So it’s definitely like a weighing on us, of like what we do going forward.” (AP)

Efforts to protect Kamala Harris from the press continue…

According to a New York Post report, Kamala Harris has now resorted to faking a phone call in order to duck reporters who want to ask her about her numerous policy flip-flops.

 

From The New York Post:

Vice President Kamala Harris brushed past reporters and boarded Air Force Two on Monday with her cell phone out and headphones firmly planted in both ears, a time-honored trick in Washington to avoid pesky questions from the press.

The Democratic presidential candidate offered an awkward salute before shaking hands with a US service member and striding up the steps of her official jet, one hand pressed carefully to her ear as if listening intently to what she was being told.

Harris, 59, glanced back and waved at the scrum of reporters near the plane’s steps, pausing again at the top of the ramp to adjust her headphone while at the same time holding her phone held up to her left ear.

“She may not have been a senator long, but mastered the ‘Can’t talk, on a call’ play,” noted NBC News White House correspondent Mike Memoli on X.

More over at The New York Post:

{Matzav.com}

 

Even for Joe, this is strange…

While speaking at IBEW Local Union #5 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania over the holiday weekend, President Biden told a long story about how his grandfather was accused of being a “Molly Maguire” while running for office in 1906. It was a weird, rambling story and the audience didn’t know exactly what to make of it.

 

“I remember when my great-grandfather was only the second Catholic elected statewide in the state Senate here in Pennsylvania,” Biden told the audience. “And I remember they talked about – when they’d run against him in 1906 – they said, ‘Guess what? He’s a Molly Maguire.’”

“A lot of the English owned the coal mines and what they did was they really beat the hell out of the mostly Catholic population in the mines. Not a joke,” Biden continued. “But there was a group they called the Molly Maguires. And Molly Maguires, if they found out the foreman was taking advantage of an individual, they would literally kill him. Not a joke. And they would bring his body up and put him on the doorstep of his family.”

A visibly uncomfortable Kamala Harris nodded along.

“Kind of crude, but I gotta admit they accused my great-grandfather of being a Molly Maguire – he wasn’t, but we were so … disappointed,” Biden told the audience before assuring them, “That was a joke. That was a joke.”

Watch the moment above or below:

{Matzav.com}

Another death has been linked to dangerous Takata air bag inflators by U.S. regulators, the 28th in the United States. The driver was killed in 2018 in Alabama in a Honda vehicle, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said, but gave no further details. It says the death underscores the need for people to replace recalled air bag inflators. Takata used ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion to inflate air bags in a crash. But the chemical can deteriorate over time due to high heat and humidity and explode with too much force. That can blow apart a metal canister and send shrapnel into the passenger compartment. More than 400 people in the U.S. have been hurt. Worldwide at least 36 people have been killed by Takata inflators in Malaysia, Australia and the U.S. Honda said in a statement that the Alabama death occurred in Etowah County and involved a 2004 Honda Civic. It involved a high speed crash which complicated efforts to definitively determine the cause of death. Honda, the company that used more Takata air bags in its cars than any other automaker, said it has replaced or accounted for 95% of the recalled inflators in its vehicles. “Honda continues to urge owners of Honda and Acura vehicles affected by the Takata air bag inflator recalls to get their vehicles repaired at an authorized dealership as soon as possible,” the company statement said. Honda and Acura owners can check their for recalls at www.recalls.honda.com and www.recalls.acura.com. Owners also can go to nhtsa.com/recalls and key in their vehicle identification or license plate numbers. Potential for a dangerous malfunction led to the largest series of auto recalls in U.S. history, with at least 67 million Takata inflators involved. The U.S. government says many have not been repaired. About 100 million inflators have been recalled worldwide. The exploding air bags sent Takata into bankruptcy. (AP)

Good news for Donald Trump in the battlegrounds…

According to a pair of polls from Trafalgar Group and Insider Advantage, former President Donald Trump is up on Kamala Harris in nearly every swing state, including Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Nevada, and Arizona.

 

The race is still tight, but the Democratic Party’s shiny new candidate may already be losing her luster.

From The New York Post:

In the Wolverine State, Trafalgar has the former president scoring a narrow victory, 47% to 46.6%.

Pennsylvania shows a wider Trump lead: 47% to 45%.

While winning by 2% wouldn’t constitute a landslide, it would be a bigger win than Trump’s modest 0.72% victory in the state eight years ago.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin splits the two extremes, with Trump over Harris 47% to 46%. Though that margin seems narrow, Trump won the state by 0.77% in 2016 and lost it by 0.63% in 2020.

It’s worth noting that the RealClearPolitics polling average currently shows all three of these states going toward Harris, with Michigan having shifted on Aug. 29.

In Arizona, Trump leads 49% to 48% in the race for 11 electoral votes, a smaller margin than the 0.3% Biden win four years ago, and one that would trigger an automatic recount in the state. Trump leads by more than 12 points with independents.

A 9.5% lead with independents buoys Trump in Nevada to a 48%-47% lead, where six electoral votes are at stake. Trump lost the state in both 2016 and 2020.

Meanwhile, Trump leads Harris 49% to 48% in North Carolina, less than the 1.34% margin of victory he secured in 2020, and despite Harris leading with independents 50% to 46%.

More over at The New York Post: