When I see ‘OMG’ I say Oh My Gosh – not wanting to take the Lord’s name in vain. But now ‘OMG’ has a new meaning: ‘O’Keefe Media Group’ and many of us are very happy about that!
O’Keefe rose to prominence with the launch of his undercover videos of “community organizing” group ACORN in 2009. Breitbart.com founder Andrew Breitbart rolled out O’Keefe’s investigation to launch Big Government, the second of the “Big” blogs (after Big Hollywood) that were the predecessors to today’s Breitbart.com website.
Later, O’Keefe founded Project Veritas, which went on to continue his undercover investigative journalism. The project broke many stories, including one that revealed Democrats’ role in instigating violence at Trump rallies.
He faced constant challenges, however, including a federal raid in 2021, purportedly linked to questions about a diary belonging to President Biden’s daughter, Ashley. The raid was (belatedly) condemned by the ACLU.
Later, private memoranda from Project Veritas lawyers ended up in the hands of the New York Times, whom O’Keefe had sued for defamation. A federal judge ultimately orderedthe FBI to stop extracting data from O’Keefe’s smartphone, and appointed a special master to review the evidence before the FBI could use it.
O’Keefe’s ouster at Project Veritas, ostensibly over financial management issues, stunned the conservative media world.
The new OMG, O’Keefe says, will continue his investigative work, and “will never be shut down.” Source
Spc. Jaykob Pruitt with the Oklahoma National Guard (Army Times)
A junior soldier in the Oklahoma National Guard died earlier this month after a physical fitness test at the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant in McAlester, Oklahoma.
On March 4, Spc. Jaykob R. Pruitt, 19, from Bennington, Oklahoma, collapsed and died after completing the two-mile run portion of the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT).
“A 19-year-old Specialist assigned to the Army National Guard, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on Title 32 drill status died in an on-duty sports, recreation and physical training mishap 4 March 2023 in McAlester, Oklahoma, at 1045 local. After completing the 2-mile run portion of the Army Combat Fitness Test, the Soldier walked away from the track, fell to the ground and was found unresponsive,” according to a preliminary loss report published by the service.
CPR was performed, and the emergency medical services (EMS) were called. Pruitt was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where he was declared dead.
“Since 2018, the Army has lost an average of one Soldier a year to on-duty sports, recreation and physical training mishaps. This was the third on-duty sports, recreation and physical training mishap of FY23 and above the number of on-duty sports, recreation and physical training fatalities from this time last year,” the report added.
SPC Pruitt enlisted in the Oklahoma Army National Guard on October 21, 2020. He then joined B Troop as a Cavalry Scout after completing his training at Fort Benning, GA in October 2021, per Oklahoma National Guard Retirees.
Funeral services to honor Jaykob were held on Saturday, March 11, 2023, at 12:00 PM at the Bennington High School Gymnasium.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jaykob’s family, friends and our fellow Soldiers,” said Maj. Gen. Thomas H. Mancino, adjutant general for Oklahoma. “Together, we are mourning the devastating loss of a promising young man and Soldier.”
Tributes flood in following the news of Pruitt’s sudden passing.
We are celebrating our Senior students and would like to share their accomplishments and future plans.
🐻 BENNINGTON SENIOR SHOWCASE 🐻
Jaykob Ray Pruitt is the son of Michael and Bobbie Pruitt. He is the grandson of Brenda Jerrold, Joyce Ladner-Rupp, and Dennie Anderson. He has participated in FFA and National Honor Society during high school. He has also studied Welding Technology at Kiamich Vo Tech in Durant and is a member of the National Guard. He plans on going to basic training, finishing his Welding certification then attending college after graduation. He then intends to transfer to the Army and earn his silver and gold spurs, become a sniper, receive his sniper and mountain training as well as air assault. He would eventually like to change his military occupational specialty and become a ranger. source
Sun seekers gather at Clearwater Beach in Clearwater, Fla, on July 4, 2020. (Drone Base/Reuters)
A seaweed blob spanning 5,000 miles, nearly twice the width of the United States, is heading toward the Florida Gulf coast, with officials warning that the thick mat of algae poses environmental and health concerns as it approaches the shore.
Known as sargassum, the brown seaweed floats in open oceans, and is considered mostly harmless—while serving as a habitat for fish and crustaceans. Sargassum blooms are not a unique phenomenon, but the current one is noteworthy, mainly owing to its enormous scale: it is so big that it can be seen from space.
Another aspect that makes the giant blob currently heading for the Gulf of Mexico dangerous is the presence of harmful algal blooms caused by the microscopic algae species Karenia brevis, commonly known as the “red tide.” The red tide can lead to respiratory illnesses and cause eye irritations, while killing marine life, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
“Over the next 36 hours, some beaches may experience a moderate to high risk of respiratory irritation from Karenia brevis (red tide) in Collier, Lee, Manatee, Pinellas, and Sarasota counties,” said the agency in a forecast on Tuesday. The red tide “is also present along the coast at concentrations that may cause respiratory irritation with onshore winds in Charlotte, Monroe and Pasco counties.”
When the seaweed mass hits the shoreline, the algae decomposition may lead to adverse health reactions from those residing in the region. “Rotting sargassum causes the production of hydrogen sulfide gas which smells like rotten eggs,” and the gas can “irritate the eyes, nose, and throat,” according to Florida Health (pdf).
“If you have asthma or other breathing illnesses, you will be more sensitive to hydrogen sulfide. You may have trouble breathing after you inhale it.” However, hydrogen sulfide levels in open air areas like beaches are not expected to have long-term health effects, and are not known to cause serious diseases like cancer.
Sargassum itself does not sting or cause rashes. However, tiny sea creatures living within the sargassum bloom can cause skin irritations to beachgoers.
Besides this, the seaweed blob can result in detrimental effects on local ecosystems, as excessive algae growth takes over reef-building coral or prevents coral bleaching by blocking sunlight and reducing water temperatures.
Sargassum-Impacted Shores
Ocean currents are currently pushing the sargassum west, toward beaches across the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.
Algae is already a problem on Florida’s Gulf Coast, where a red tide has caused dead fish to wash ashore, driving away tourists flocking to the area for the spring break. Beaches in the area could be surrounded by the incoming sargassum, and the situation has the potential to turn severe.
Coastal areas in part of Mexico were issued a warning earlier in the week to make preparations for up to three feet of sargassum build-up.
Accumulation of the algae material can lead to boats and other vessels getting ensnared, and block valves to power plants and desalination plants, along with disrupting marinas.
After a considerable amount of sargassum washed up on its shores last summer and impacted water production capabilities on St. Croix, the U.S. Virgin Islands declared a state of emergency. Maintenance efforts were increased to clear up debris affecting desalination plants and restore water production in the region.
“I want to assure St. Croix that we don’t anticipate any impact on public health from this annual invasion of sargassum in our waters, including the stench that we all, unfortunately, have learned to live with every summer,” Virgin Islands Governor Albert Bryan said at the time. “However, the seaweed overrunning our beaches also brings the potential for disruption to businesses and other negative financial impacts to our economy.
Taking Precautions
Sargassum is found abundantly in the ocean, according to NOAA. It consists of leafy appendages, branches, and berry-like structures. These round structures are filled with oxygen enabling the plant structure to stay afloat.
A wide range of marine life, from fishes and turtles to marine birds and shrimps, set up breeding grounds on the sargassum. At the end of its life, the seaweed blob loses its buoyancy and sinks to the ocean floor where it becomes part of the deep sea.
According to Florida Health guidelines, officials have instructed beachgoers to avoid touching or swimming near seaweed to prevent getting stung by organisms that live within the sargassum. Gloves are recommended when handling seaweed. People are warned to stay away in case of developing breathing problems. People suffering from asthmatic conditions are advised to limit their time on the beach.
When the harmful algal blooms of Karenia brevis are broken up by waves along the shore, a toxin that causes irritations is released into the air. It combines with sea spray and leads to eye and respiratory irritations, including coughing and itching, for beachgoers. The effects subside with reduced exposure but some people may have persistent ailments and should avoid visiting the affected regions, NOAA says. source
Sounds like a science fiction movie but it’s real. Can’t blame this on the Dems…or can we?
Does this shock me? Not in the least! I just told my husband that I would love to be a fly on the wall when Creepy Joe and his wife are in private conversation. I’m sure that derogatory names for Blacks and Jews proceed from their mouths often.
Palestinian schools run by the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees — to which President Joe Biden has given almost a billion dollars since entering office — still teach inciting content against Israel, including “regularly calling for the murder of Jews,” a new report by an Israeli watchdog showed.
The report by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-SE), an Israeli watchdog that analyzes Palestinian textbooks, and co-authored by the U.N. Watch nonprofit, found dozens of instances of glorification of violence by UNRWA teachers and staff, despite multiple pledges by the agency to adopt a a zero tolerance policy on the matter.
The U.N. agency’s staff and schools, throughout the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, “regularly call for the murder of Jews, and create teaching materials that glorify terrorism, encourage martyrdom, demonize Israelis, and incite antisemitism,” IMPACT-SE said.
The report “captures evidence taken from inside UNRWA classrooms, showing the teaching of these materials, and revealing how UNRWA’s own content directs students to study specific hateful passages in Palestinian textbooks — which the organization claims teachers are told to skip.”
File/A Palestinian man rides his horse past the UNRWA relief and social programme office in Gaza City on January 8, 2018. (MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images)
It “identifies 133 UNRWA educators and staff who were found to promote hate and violence on social media, and an additional 82 UNRWA teachers and other staff affiliated with over 30 UNRWA schools involved in drafting, supervising, approving, printing, and distributing hateful content to students.”
Last year, a similar report revealed that Palestinian children in UNRWA schools were given mathematics problems using martyrs from the First Intifada to formulate equations, told to “defend the motherland with blood,” and told the lie that Israel dumps radioactive and toxic waste on purpose in the West Bank in order to harm Palestinians.
Even then, UNRWA, which serves millions of Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, Gaza, Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East, promised that the issue had been resolved and that the material in question had not been in use since 2020.
In one of its first acts, the Biden administration made a decision to resume funding for UNRWA after the Trump administration cut all funds to the agency for being “irredeemably flawed.”
In December, Biden’s newly appointed U.S. Special Representative for Palestinian Affairs, the anti-Israel Hady Amr, boasted the administration had “elevated” the Palestinian cause, in part because of the hundreds of millions of dollars in funding it had funneled to UNRWA.
President Joe Biden's massive $6 trillion budget proposal includes hundreds of millions of dollars in restored aid to the Palestinian. https://t.co/VPLYRNBEoO
“We’ve given about $680 million to UNRWA over the last 18 months and we are going to stay committed to supporting that organization,” Amr said, and added that the U.S. was now the agency’s largest donor.
Israel has called for permanently shuttering UNRWA, citing its perpetuation of the conflict as well as its terrorist ties. Palestinian so-called refugees are the only “refugees” in the world that pass that status on to their descendants in perpetuity. One of the core issues in the conflict is the Palestinian demand for the “right of return” that would see those refugees and their descendants — who now number around 5 million — return to Israel in any final status agreement. Israel has categorically rejected this demand, deeming it a bid to destroy the Jewish state by demographics.
The U.N. agency, which drew international criticism in 2019 a leaked internal report alleged corruption, sexual misconduct and mismanagement at the agency’s highest levels, was also found to be employing members of terror organizations in the past. Breitbart News previously exposed an UNRWA summer program that was indoctrinating Palestinian children to hate Jews by exposing them to videos denying the Holocaust and pictures celebrating Hitler.
The U.N. itself released a report in 2015 that found Palestinian terror groups used three empty UNRWA schools in Gaza as a weapons cache. Moreover, it said that in at least two cases terrorists “probably” fired rockets at Israel from the schools during the 50-day summer conflict in 2014 between Israel and Hamas. As recently as December, UNRWA announced the discovery of another terror tunnel under one of its schools in Gaza. Source
