🚨 Called Shot – August 15 2024

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Lead: Negotiating Peace in Gaza

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Talks are happening today in Doha to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza. The U.S., Egypt and Qatar are helping to broker peace between Hamas and Israel after 10 months of fighting. Hamas representatives are not present in the meetings but they have said that they are still amenable to the ceasefire deal that has been on the table for weeks.

“The movement demands a clear commitment by the [Israeli] occupation to what was agreed upon on July 2, according to the clarifications conveyed by the mediators, and if that happens, the movement is ready to enter into the mechanisms for implementing the agreement,” Hamas member Suhail al-Hindi said.

According to Antiwar.com, “Hamas and Israeli negotiators have never been in the same room during negotiations…. Arab mediators recently said the only way a deal will be reached is if the US uses the significant leverage it has over Israel, which it hasn’t done.”

In fact, it has been done the other way around. Israel has put pressure on the U.S. to support its side unequivocally and the U.S. has abided. The U.S. now has warships, submarines and warplanes in the region to “deter potential attackers” but those U.S. service men and women are now directly in harm’s way for a conflict that has nothing to do with them.

WHO Declares Next Health Emergency 

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The World Health Organization has declared that monkeypox is a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). They are calling it mpox now though.

This is the second time this has happened in just five years. The WHO declared monkeypox a PHEIC in July of 2022 but that ended in May of 2023 after a decline in cases. The latest emergency is due to a new strain, according to the WHO.

Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said this: “The emergence of a new clade of mpox, its rapid spread in eastern DRC, and the reporting of cases in several neighbouring countries are very worrying. On top of outbreaks of other mpox clades in DRC and other countries in Africa, it’s clear that a coordinated international response is needed to stop these outbreaks and save lives.”

The WHO says that mpox is “spreading mainly through sexual networks.” There is a vaccine for monkeypox but it was not developed for this current strain. The WHO is calling for rapid development of a new one to be submitted for “emergency evaluation.”

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The New Coordinated Smear of RFK, JR.

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The Washington Post reports that independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tried to meet with the Kamala Harris campaign to grovel for a place in her potential administration if he agrees to endorse her. According to the Post, the Harris campaign ghosted him.

Kennedy says that is not true.

“I have no plans to endorse Kamala Harris for President. I do have a plan to defeat her,” he said on X.

Why would the Post try to present Kennedy as kissing the Harris ring? Because they are afraid that he will siphon off votes from Harris clearly.

Kennedy says, quite correctly, “VP Harris’s Democratic Party would be unrecognizable to my father and uncle and I cannot reconcile it with my values. The Democratic Party of RFK and JFK was the party of civil liberties and free speech. VP Harris‘s is the party of censorship, lockdowns, and medical coercion. Kennedy Democrats were anti-war. Kamala‘s is riddled with neocon warmongers. The RFK/JFK dems were allies of Main Street, cops, firefighters, and working people. VP Harris’s is the Party of Big Tech, Big Pharma and Wall Street.”

Baltimore’s Baby Bait and Switch

baltimore mayor brandon scott credit: balitmore sun

The City of Baltimore tried to do something good for new parents by giving them $1,000 for each new baby born in the city but the mayor and city council put a stop to it.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, along with the city council, sued to stop the payment program because, they claim, “the proposal is unconstitutional and should be blocked from the ballot because it would give voters too much say over legislative decisions, effectively ‘usurping those powers’ from their elected officials.”

City residents had secured the necessary 10,000 signatures to put the measure on the ballot in November. What is that process for then, if not to give voters a say?

The money would have been allocated from existing Baltimore taxpayer money. It was not meant to lead to an increase in taxes given that it would only amount “roughly 0.16% of the city’s annual operating budget, according to supporters.”

The bill was intended to help alleviate childhood poverty but it also could help to stimulate the declining birth rate in the U.S. The mayor says that he supports the objectives but just doesn’t want that on the ballot.

What’s Trending?

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Anna Paulina Luna is trending for being beautiful. She said on X that she has “indeed worn swimsuits” and is “biologically a woman.” This became a conversation after photos of her from 2016 resurfaced.

Ann Widdecombe has been trending all week for saying this most obvious thing in the most proper Queen’s English: “Nobody has the right to live their lives being protected from offense or from insults or from hurt feelings. It is an occupational hazard of living in society.”

Famous Amos is trending because Wallace “Wally” Amos, Jr., the founder of Famous Amos cookies, died at the age of 88 on Wednesday.

News By The Numbers

$30 million. That is how much Babe Ruth’s famous “Called Shot” jersey is expected to make when it is sold at auction next week.

56,050. That is how many people at the time of this writing have signed a Change.org petition directed at Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese asking him to “Hold Raygun Rachel Gunn & Anna Mears Accountable for Unethical Conduct Olympic Selection” after her abysmal performance as the Australian breakdancer. Signers want an investigation into how she made the team and whether or not she benefited from unfair competition. She responded to the controversy here.

15%. That is the pay raise that train drivers in England have negotiated from a strike.

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