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Charlie Kirk, the conservative founder and president of Turning Point USA, said during an organizational event on Wednesday that gun deaths in exchange for the preservation of Second Amendment rights is part of America's reality. Kirk's comments come about one week after three children and three adults were killed at the Christian Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee. "I think it's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights, that is a prudent deal. It is rational, nobody talks like this, they live in a complete alternate universe." https://www.newsweek.com/charlie-kirk-says-gun-deaths-worth-it-2nd-amendment-1793113 Partial Transcript & Video: https://www.mediamatters.org/charlie-kirk/charlie-kirk-its-worth-have-cost-unfortunately-some-gun-deaths-every-single-year-so-we

Tesla workers shared videos of naked customers and could see inside Elon Musk’s own garage using cameras installed in the company’s vehicles. Ex-employees described watching footage of a man approaching his car naked, a car hitting a child at high speed and catching sight of “sexual wellness items” kept in private rooms. The videos were captured on cameras built into Tesla vehicles to assist with driving, despite the electric car company reassuring on its website that they were “designed from the ground up to protect your privacy”. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/tesla-workers-shared-footage-of-naked-customers-could-see-inside-elon-musks-garage-using-vehicles-cameras/YLZ5VMXGVZAFHD63PP52FDKSKM/

Troll post removed

Topic is not Disney. Off topic troll posts and their unsubstantiated claims removed along with replies

Tennessee’s Republican-controlled House of Representatives has voted to expel Rep. Justin Pearson, a week after he and two other Democrats led a gun reform protest on the House floor. The House earlier expelled Rep. Justin Jones over that protest, which followed a deadly mass shooting at a Nashville school. A vote to expel the third Democrat involved, Rep. Gloria Johnson, failed. The vote over rules violations for Pearson was 69-26. Johnson’s vote was 65-30. Expulsion from the House requires a two-thirds majority of the total membership. The vote for Jones split along party lines, 72-25. https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/06/us/tennessee-democrats-office-removal-vote/index.html

WASHINGTON — Classified war documents detailing secret American and NATO plans for building up the Ukrainian military ahead of a planned offensive against Russia were posted this week on social media channels, senior Biden administration officials said. The Pentagon is investigating who may have been behind the leak of the documents, which appeared on Twitter and on Telegram, a platform with more than half a billion users that is widely available in Russia. Military analysts said the documents appear to have been modified in certain parts from their original format, overstating American estimates of Ukrainian war dead and understating estimates of Russian troops killed. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/06/us/politics/ukraine-war-plan-russia.html RED MORE (archive)

UPDATE: Democrats vow action after report of lavish gifts to Clarence Thomas Democrats on Thursday angrily responded to a report that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife were longtime recipients of undisclosed luxury trips from a major Republican Party donor. The Pro-Publica report details how Clarence and Virginia Thomas accepted multiple expensive trips over 20 years from Republican donor Harlan Crow, including flying to Indonesia on Crow's private jet and spending nine days island-hopping on Crow's yacht. The trips, which also include weeks in the summer at Crow's private resort in the Adirondacks, were not included on Clarence Thomas' financial disclosures, the report said. https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2023/04/06/Justice-Thomas-lavish-trips-Crow/7481680806519/

IN LATE JUNE 2019, right after the U.S. Supreme Court released its final opinion of the term, Justice Clarence Thomas boarded a large private jet headed to Indonesia, he and his wife were going on vacation: nine days of island-hopping in a volcanic archipelago on a superyacht staffed by a coterie of attendants and a private chef. If Thomas had chartered the plane and the 162-foot yacht himself, the total cost of the trip could have exceeded $500,000, fortunately for him, that wasn’t necessary, he was on vacation with real estate magnate and Republican megadonor Harlan Crow, who owned the jet — and the yacht, too. For more than two decades, Thomas has accepted luxury trips virtually every year from the Dallas businessman without disclosing them, documents and interviews show, these trips appeared nowhere on Thomas’ financial disclosures, his failure to report the flights appears to violate a law passed after Watergate that requires justices, judges, members of Congress and federal officials to disclose most gifts, two ethics law experts said. READ MORE https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-scotus-undisclosed-luxury-travel-gifts-crow

More than 150 Catholic priests and others associated with the Archdiocese of Baltimore sexually abused over 600 children and often escaped accountability, according to a long-awaited state report released Wednesday that revealed the scope of abuse spanning 80 years and accused church leaders of decades of coverups. The report paints a damning picture of the archdiocese, which is the oldest Roman Catholic diocese in the country and spans much of Maryland. Some parishes, schools and congregations had more than one abuser at the same time — including St. Mark Parish in Catonsville, which had 11 abusers living and working there between 1964 and 2004, one deacon admitted to molesting over 100 children. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/06/maryland-church-sex-abuse-report-00090786

Twitter added a "state-affiliated media" tag to NPR's main account on Tuesday, applying the same label to the nonprofit media company that Twitter uses to designate official state mouthpieces and propaganda outlets in countries such as Russia and China. NPR operates independently of the U.S. government, and while federal money is important to the overall public media system, NPR gets less than 1% of its annual budget, on average, from federal sources. Noting the millions of listeners who support and rely upon NPR for "independent, fact-based journalism," NPR CEO John Lansing stated, "NPR stands for freedom of speech and holding the powerful accountable. https://www.npr.org/2023/04/05/1168158549/twitter-npr-state-affiliated-media

What’s the only thing better than having your own Gulfstream jet? Why, getting to claim millions in tax deductions for it. All you have to do is make a case you’re using it for business, which turns out to be surprisingly easy. Flying to Ireland to inhale the seaside air as you drive a golf ball into the scenic distance, crossing the country to reach your enormous yacht, which is ready for your Hudson River pleasure cruise, hosting a governor’s wife on your very own aircraft. These are only a few of the joys that the richest Americans have experienced in recent years through their private jets and what made them all the sweeter is that they came with a tax write-off. https://www.propublica.org/article/private-jets-yachts-wealthy-tax-deductions-irs-files

April 5 (UPI) -- A new study, looking back to the last ice age thousands of years ago, has revealed an alarming rate of ice melt, raising new concerns about future ice sheet retreat and rising sea levels. Researchers say the data, released Wednesday in the journal Nature, confirms a large ice sheet covering Eurasia -- between 15,000 and 19,000 years ago -- retreated at the rate of 2,000 feet per day, which is 20 times faster than any retreat rate measured from satellites over the last 50 years. Scientists say the ice melt rate is the fastest they have encountered and exceeds what they thought were the upper bounds for ice sheet retreat, the Eurasian Ice Sheet melt, thousands of years ago, outpaces today's glaciers in Antarctica, which are retreating as much as 160 feet a day. https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2023/04/06/norway-study-ice-age-data-reveals-fast-ice-melt/2801680752373/

Former Vice President Mike Pence will not appeal a judge's ruling that ordered him to testify to a grand jury in the U.S. Justice Department's investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, a spokesman for Pence said in a statement. "Vice President Mike Pence swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution, and his claim that the Biden Special Counsel's unprecedented subpoena was unconstitutional under the Speech or Debate Clause was an important one made to preserve the Separation of Powers outlined by our Founders. In the Court's decision, that principle prevailed," Devin O'Malley, the Pence spokesman, said, "the Court's landmark and historic ruling affirmed for the first time in history that the Speech or Debate Clause extends to the Vice President of the United States, having vindicated that principle of the Constitution, Vice President Pence will not appeal the Judge's ruling and will comply with the subpoena as required by law." https://www.npr.org/2023/04/05/1168244789/pence-appeal-trump-justice-special-counsel-grand-jury

Post removed for tedious false claims and conspiracies on covid vaccinations, masks.

Environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run for president in 2024 as a Democrat. The filing was confirmed Wednesday by his campaign treasurer, John E. Sullivan. The 69-year-old is the son of former New York senator, US attorney general and assassinated 1968 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy and the nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy. https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/05/politics/robert-kennedy-president-democratic-nomination/index.html

For weeks, Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, has come under heavy fire for pursuing a case against Donald Trump, potential charges were described as being developed under a novel legal theory and criticism has come not only from Mr. Trump and his allies, as expected, but also from many who are usually no friends of the former president but who feared it would be a weak case. With the release of the indictment and accompanying statement of facts, we can now say that there’s nothing novel or weak about this case. The charge of creating false financial records is constantly brought by Mr. Bragg and other New York D.A.s. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/04/opinion/donald-trump-alvin-bragg-indictment-charges.html READ MORE (no paywall)

The witness list for the Fox News $1.6 billion defamation trial now has more big names than a prime-time lineup. Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch could be forced to testify in person, the judge overseeing the trial said on Wednesday. Other high-profile Fox employees expected to testify in the case, which was brought by Dominion Voting Systems, include the hosts Tucker Carlson, Maria Bartiromo, Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro and Bret Baier. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/05/business/media/rupert-murdoch-testify-fox-dominion-trial.html READ MORE (no paywall)

April 5 (UPI) -- Conspiracy theories have become more prevalent than ever, and according to researchers, combatting conspiracies with factual evidence is largely ineffective in quashing conspiracy beliefs. Researchers from University College Cork studied the effectiveness of several intervention methods, including presenting rational arguments, and found most methods do not work once conspiracies take hold. The findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS One. READ MORE https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2023/04/05/conspiracy-theory-beliefs-research/4991680729162/

Off topic post about Hilary Clinton removed.

Nicola Sturgeon's husband, Peter Murrell, is understood to have been arrested in connection with an investigation into the funding and finances of the Scottish National Party (SNP). The former SNP chief executive is in custody and is being questioned by detectives. Officers are also carrying out searches at a number of addresses, the force added. https://news.sky.com/story/man-58-arrested-in-connection-with-snp-funding-and-finances-12850333

Out of date video removed with unproven claims that have now been established as incorrect since the charges were revealed

MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Democrats have scored a major off-year election victory in Wisconsin, winning the state's open supreme court seat and flipping control of the court to liberals for the first time in 15 years. Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz won the hotly contested race for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, according to a race call by The Associated Press, defeating former state Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly. Spending in the campaign shattered the previous national record for a state supreme court election. https://www.npr.org/2023/04/04/1167815077/wisconsin-supreme-court-election-results-abortion-voting-protasiewicz-kelly

A federal appeals court in Washington rejected an emergency bid by former President Donald Trump to block several top aides from testifying in the special counsel investigation of his effort to subvert the 2020 election. In a sealed order, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals denied Trump’s urgent demand to block his aides from being required to appear before special counsel Jack Smith’s grand jury. Trump’s emergency motion triggered a frenzied set of overnight filings ahead of the Tuesday morning ruling. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/04/trump-aides-testimony-capitol-riot-00090387

Months since it took effect, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signature law to censor books in Florida schools has found an unintended target: his own book. In a clever bit of trolling, Florida Democrats are subjecting DeSantis’ new tome—“The Courage To Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival”—to the rules that he and GOP lawmakers established to weed out books with allegedly inappropriate content on race, sexuality, and gender from school libraries. Fentrice Driskell, the minority leader in the Florida House, is leading an effort across 50 counties to see if any of them might review or ban DeSantis’ book based on his law’s vague and unwieldy criteria. https://www.thedailybeast.com/florida-democrats-try-to-use-florida-gov-ron-desantis-school-book-ban-on-his-own-book-courage-to-be-free

Astronomers have detected a repeating radio signal from an exoplanet and the star that it orbits, both located 12 light-years away from Earth, the signal suggests that the Earth-size planet may have a magnetic field and perhaps even an atmosphere. Earth’s magnetic field protects the planet’s atmosphere, which life needs to survive, by deflecting energetic particles and plasma that stream out from the sun. Finding atmospheres around planets located outside of our solar system could point to other worlds that potentially have the ability to support life. READ MORE https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/04/world/exoplanet-radio-signal-scn/index.html