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REMINDER: Trump’s hush money trial begins TODAY in New York City… this is something we will be watching closely!
AND GREAT / NERVE RACKING NEWS ABOUT OUR BILL! We are headed to the House floor for a vote THIS WEDNESDAY! We don’t know the time yet, and we may not know. But so far, our bill has been almost the FIRST order of business for each vote. So my plan is to get there early, and stay until the vote is heard. My stomach is in KNOTS, but I am also excited to get this bill to the floor. Stay tuned.
Mini stories:
- The US Senate is set to hold a hearing from Boeing about their manufacturing practices… Making sure they are complying with federal standards and whatnot… After so many mishaps, it’s hard not to believe the whistleblowers were onto something. We will certainly keep you guys posted, as I know this has a lot of flyers spooked.
- So there was a MALL Stabbing in Australia that left 6 dead, and a community shaken… This is a graphic detail so feel free to skip ahead, but a 9 month old baby was even stabbed by this assailant… the MAN who committed these awful acts was named Anthony Cooke and was killed on the scene my a police officer. It is believed he acted alone. Acts of mass violence are very rare in Australia, so this has really affected the entire nation there. Our prayers are up for the victims and their loved ones.
- A MAN drove a semi truck into Texas Department of Public Safety offices after he was denied the renewal of his commercial truck license. Fourteen people were struck in the offices, one killed, three airlifted to major hospitals, three more transported to smaller hospitals, and 8 treated at the scene for injuries. The man, Clenard Parker, was unharmed, was apprehended, and faces several felony charges. He has previously been arrested for arson and trespassing.
- Japan and the US are creating a strong alliance after a history of conflict… The Prime Minister of Japan just visited the White House again, and he alongside President Biden, announced a series of enhancements between the diplomatic relationship, from economics to military might. The relationship has become more important as of late, as both our nations face threats from both North Korea and China.
- Trump’s ex finance chief, Allen H. Weisselberg, has been sentenced to 5 months in prison for perjury, following false statements he made regarding Trump’s business transactions. At age 76, this is the SECOND time he’s done time for protecting Trump’s white collar secrets.
- Content warning: this story involves war
- Iran attacks Israel… And the US / Jordan intercede
On Saturday evening, Central Time, Iran attacked Israel directly with a barrage of missiles, bombs, and over 300 suicide drones.
There is one piece of good news about these attacks: almost NONE of the many rockets fired at Israel reached their intended targets. But unfortunately, the good news ends there.
The defense of Israel was provided by the Iron Dome technology Israel has to protect its citizens, as well as intercessions by both the US and Jordan. They shot down missiles midair. Iran and Israel have been locked in what experts call a “shadow war” for quite some time now. They strike each other’s proxies or their personnel on foreign soil… or provide weaponry to proxies, in order to further their own agendas. But this attack was something new… One of these two enemies, directly attacking one another. No more shadow boxing… These two are taking their fight right out into the daylight. Metaphorically, at least.
Hamas, of course, expressed support for the attack. Iranian leadership celebrated in the streets of Tehran… Although what they accomplished beyond a waste of weapons, I am not sure. Perhaps it was heightened global tensions they were after… And if so, they definitely accomplished THAT goal.
Whatsmore, the Houthis in Yemen actually just signed diplomatic agreement with China / Russia, allowing THEIR ships to pass safely, according to Bloomberg. This just further solidifies the relationship between The Houthi rebels, Iran, China, and Russia with FORMAL diplomatic agreements. All of this edges us in a direction we DO NOT want to go in. Especially with the US presidential election looming.
Given the significance of this officially becoming a tete-a-tete, I wanted to remind you guys what is at stake here… So I have re-shared our BONUS episode with Elica LeBon, a member of the Persian diaspora, or essentially, people who have been forced to live in exile from their homeland of Iran. Elica’s family has been part of the resistance against the Iranian regime for generations now… She is an attorney currently living and practicing in the US, and we interviewed her in the wake of the Woman, Life, Freedom protests. Since then, she has been invited to speak at the UN and teamed up with many other outlets to help people understand what the Iranian people are up against – mass torture and murder of their own people, at the hands of their own government. Iran’s treatment of its own people, as chronicled and confirmed by outside agencies such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, is about as evil as it gets… Listen to our BONUS episode, in your feeds now, to learn more.
- Content warning: this story involves a murder and graphic details
- OJ Simpson
If you’re older than me, you probably remember OJ Simpson as a star football player and TV / movie star, whose life took a dark turn. But if you’re my age or younger, you probably only remember the dark 1995 chapter… The glove that didn’t fit and the high speed police chase down the highway, the Robert Kardashian of it all. That’s what WE know. But that career leading up to his court case, really defined it. He was someone who was a household name, a beloved character… It was hard for a lot of people to even imagine he was capable of what it looked like he did. As we know, statistics show that the most dangerous time for an abused partner is not when they are WITH their abuser, but when they LEAVE their abuser. As per testimony in court, Nicole Brown Simpson had called police NINE times on her ex husband, OJ Simpson, for abusing her. On one of those occasions, the police found Nicole half naked hiding in the bushes of her own home, badly beaten and bruised at the hands of OJ Simpson. We also know that the confrontations did not stop when she divorced him. She called the police in late 1993 saying “he’s back” and attesting that he was stalking her and attempting to attack her at her new residence… in mid 1994, that is exactly where they would find her nearly decapitated body, and that of Ronald Goldman, a man she had been seeing briefly. And you have to think for ever time that it escalated to where she felt the need to dial 911, there may have been many more times where she didn’t.
Kris Jenner, who was a dear friend to Nicole Brown Simpson before her death (Kendall Jenner’s middle name is Nicole after her), told news cameras outside the trial that Nicole had confided in her multiple times that he told Nicole multiple times that he would kill her, and that he would get away with it. And maybe that’s what happened. No one will ever be able to say for sure.
But a civil trial after the infamous criminal one, actually found that OJ Simpson owed the families of Ronald Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson a total of $33 million… Not chump change now, and certainly not back then. But they have yet to recover those funds owed to them… In case you guys didn’t know, OJ later committed armed robbery and kidnapping and was convicted of all 12 charges against him. He spent 9 years in prison and was released in 2017, according to this New York Times obituary.
He also wrote a book entitled “If I Did It” outlining a hypothetical of how he would have carried out the crime IF he had done it… Absolutely disgusting, and something it is hard to imagine a kind, innocent person doing.
OJ Simpson died of cancer at age 76, he leaves behind 5 children, and complicated legacy.
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And in writing this story, I cannot help but think that if Nicole were to have fought back, if she were to have killed the beloved OJ Simpson in self defense…There is a very good chance SHE would have been locked up for it… And she would probably still be there. She was trapped in her abuse. And that’s why its vital we work to pass SENATE BILL 1470 here, and similar versions all around the country… Survivors don’t want to HAVE to defend themselves… But after calling the police over and over and over and getting no help, no safety… things DO often escalate to the point where victims are forced to defend themselves. And when they do, we need the court system to be as trauma informed as possible, to serve a punishment that ACTUALLY befits the crime.
Come out to the Oklahoma State Capitol with us THIS Wednesday to show your support for SB1470!
And that, is the News Du Jour!
Today, I wanted to leave you guys with the quote:
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”