Just in October 2024, plans for a controversial refugee shelter were halted. Still, only a few months later, the Weilheim-Schongau district office has imposed a new decision: an inflatable hall and residential containers for up to 150 migrants are to be built in the middle of the town.

Massive Opposition in the Community

The residents of Seeshaupt reacted with outrage. The most recent town council meeting was filled to capacity, with many people forced to sit on the floor.

Notably, media and citizens were not allowed to record the meeting, a clear indication that officials were delivering a diktat and not engaging in open discussion.

The meeting was not intended to gather public feedback but rather to inform residents of the decision that had already been made for them. […]

— Read More: rairfoundation.com

The Pandemic Unemployment Fraud Enforcement Act would provide a five-year extension on the statute of limitations for criminally prosecuting those who stole unemployment benefits.

During a recent Ways and Means Work and Welfare Subcommittee hearing, Work and Welfare Chairman Darin LaHood, R-Ill., shared details of the recent conviction in Pennsylvania of a man who stole $59 million in public benefits, including unemployment, and funneled the funds to his co-conspirators in China.

“This is a must pass bill,” said LaHood. “Federal law enforcement agencies are in the middle of litigating hundreds of cases with hundreds more yet to be litigated.”

According to the Department of Justice, there are still 157,000 open UI fraud complaints and 1,648 open investigations. The current statute of limitations is scheduled to expire on March 27, 2025, without Congressional action.

An estimated $100 billion to $135 billion of UI benefits from the pandemic were lost in the greatest theft of taxpayer dollars in American history. Of that, only $5 billion has been recovered.

LaHood said the same people who stole pandemic unemployment benefits are still at work.

“The same groups doing the same thing are happening now,” said LaHood. “This time, criminals are stealing disaster benefits owed to the Los Angeles fire and North Carolina hurricane victims.”

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, over 1,400 people have been convicted of unemployment insurance fraud since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The measure passed out of committee and is headed to the U.S. House floor. Similar legislation which extended the statute of limitations for PPP fraud was passed by Congress.

Large enough to fit 10 Pentagons, the new super large facility should not be a surprise – it is a logical and iterative next step of a long program of underground facilities by China. The command center is on the western outskirts of the capital city of Beijing.

In about 2011, stories began to appear around China’s “Underground Great Wall.”

“In March 2008, China’s state-run CCTV network broke the news about a 5,000-kilometre-long network of hardened tunnels built to house the Chinese Second Artillery Corps’s (sic) increasingly modern force of nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles,”

Hui Zhang of Harvard’s Belfer Center downplayed China’s Underground Great Wall and explained it was only “defensive in nature.” […]

— Read More: www.zerohedge.com

This project aims to alleviate traffic congestion and significantly reduce travel times across the city.

The Dubai Loop will feature a series of tunnels equipped with electric, driverless vehicles capable of transporting passengers at speeds up to 100 miles per hour (160 kilometers per hour).

The initial phase includes 11 stations strategically located to serve the city’s most congested areas, with a capacity to move over 20,000 passengers per hour.

Future expansions envision accommodating more than 100,000 passengers hourly, connecting major transport hubs and landmarks throughout the emirate. […]

— Read More: endtimeheadlines.org

Bolsonaro was among the 34 people facing charges, including attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law.

If the court formally accepts the case, Bolsonaro and others involved would officially become defendants, reports CNN.

To avoid any impact on Brazil’s 2026 presidential elections, Supreme Court justices aim to conclude the trial by the end of 2025. However, a decision on whether to proceed with the case or schedule preliminary hearings is not expected before early March.

In an 844-page indictment filed in November, federal police alleged that Bolsonaro had “full knowledge” of a plan to prevent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from taking office. The indictment further claims that Bolsonaro “planned, acted in, and led directly and effectively” the effort. […]

— Read More: humanevents.com

Many of the initiatives that the Trump administration seeks to undertake—such as constructing a wall along parts of the U.S. border with Mexico, removing illegal immigrants from the United States, and extending the lower income tax rates enacted in 2017—will require Congress to grant new funding.

Due to near-unanimous opposition from the Democratic Party, Republicans are seeking to use a budgetary process known as “reconciliation” to approve such funding, which would allow them to overcome procedural difficulties such as the Senate’s 60-vote cloture requirement that normally impedes most bills.

A reconciliation bill will only require a simple majority in both bodies of Congress to pass, which the Republicans currently hold.

“[The budget involves] securing the border, rebuilding our defense, and unleashing American energy. That starts this week with passing Chairman [Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)]’s budget,” wrote Thune on X, referring to the resolution sponsored by Graham, who chairs the Senate Budget Committee.

The reconciliation process requires each house of Congress to concurrently pass an identical “budget resolution” that establishes which areas of policy will see funding increases and, correspondingly, where spending will be cut. The Senate’s resolution calls for at least $325 billion in new spending on the U.S. military and homeland security matters, the latter of which includes immigration enforcement.

The reconciliation process cannot proceed unless either house capitulates and passes the other’s resolution, or a compromise is reached and a new resolution drafted.

Republican senators have expressed strong support for Patel, 44, citing his background as a prosecutor and national security aide in the first Trump administration. They have also praised his commitment to addressing concerns about political “weaponization” within the FBI and refocusing the agency on its core law enforcement responsibilities.

During Patel’s confirmation hearings, he vowed to end the weaponization of the FBI as well as censorship coming from the agency and said, “If confirmed I will work with congress to expose any corrupt activities the FBI has participated in, especially involved in the censorship of free speech.”

He also vowed to help expose the Epstein client list during the hearing, promising to Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) “I will do everything, if confirmed as FBI director, to make sure the American public knows the full weight of what happened in” the Epstein case, and “how we are going to countermand missing children and exploited children going forward.”

After Trump was elected, many in the GOP pushed him to nominate Patel for FBI Director, and when he announced the nomination, touted Patel’s experience, saying, “Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and ‘America First’ fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People. He played a pivotal role in uncovering the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, standing as an advocate for truth, accountability, and the Constitution.”

According to the General Services Administration, the Trump administration is directing federal agencies to no longer consider a company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion practices when deciding whether to procure its goods or services.

The Wall Street Journal reports that this reverses Biden’s policy of pushing companies to consider DEI when purchasing goods and services.

The GSA is also ending a federal effort to replace plastic straws with paper straws in federal operations, bringing procurement policy in line with President Trump’s executive order.

The Biden administration aimed to phase out federal procurement of single-use plastics from all federal operations by 2035.

Additionally, the GSA is overhauling federal procurement practices. The regulations grew to more than 2,000 pages.

“It’s burdensome, outdated, and doesn’t allow agencies to buy at the speed of need,” said Josh Gruenbaum, commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service.

It’s not clear how much can be done without Congress. Congress sets many preferences for certain types of companies, such as those owned by people with disabilities or Native American tribes.

This requires a more complex treatment and ramps up worries about the deterioration of his fragile health.

Reuters reported:

“Francis has been suffering from a respiratory infection for more than a week and was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on February 14.

The Vatican said in a statement that the pope had undergone a chest CAT scan on Tuesday afternoon which had revealed ‘the onset of bilateral pneumonia that requires further pharmacological therapy’.”

Bilateral (or double) pneumonia is a serious infection. It can inflame and scar both lungs, and has the impact of making breathing more difficult.

‘Laboratory tests, chest X-ray, and the clinical condition of the Holy Father continue to present a complex picture’, the Vatican said. It reiterated that the pope was suffering from a ‘polymicrobial infection’, saying this required corticosteroid and antibiotic therapy, which was ‘making treatment more challenging’.

‘Nevertheless, Pope Francis remains in good spirits’, the Vatican statement added.” […]

— Read More: www.thegatewaypundit.com

Delta Flight 4819 was involved in an accident at Toronto Pearson International Airport on Monday afternoon.

Pictures of the plane upside down on the runway swiftly went viral as the company revealed that there were 18 injuries, including two people in critical condition, but no fatalities.

Toronto was dealing with fast winds and winter weather at the time of the crash.

The incident came after multiple other high-profile aviation accidents and as the industry faces criticism for diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. […]

— Read More: www.westernjournal.com