As CBS News and USA Today report, the devastation has reached “biblical” levels, or perhaps even “apocalyptic.” More than 100 people have been killed, and as yet, it does not appear that the federal or North Carolina governments have prepared for the scope of the catastrophe. Whole towns are cut off from communication and necessities. We […] The post The “Apocalyptic” Storm That Hit the Southeast appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

A Columbia University student who said “Zionists don’t deserve to live” is suing the school for suspending him after The Daily Wire brought his inflammatory remarks to light. Khymani James made those comments in a January post on Instagram, in which he said that “there should not be Zionists anywhere” and “the world is better without them.” James recorded the video during a meeting with the Center for Student Success and Intervention at Columbia, which had summoned James to discuss earlier anti-Semitic comments he had made. Columbia, which did not initially take action against James, suspended him one day after The Daily Wire reported his comments on April 25. In the lawsuit, James claims the university only suspended him to save face amid national backlash. READ MORE: ‘Zionists Don’t Deserve To Live’: Meet The Leader Of Columbia University’s Anti-Israel Encampment “The timing and language of the sanction letter makes it clear that Columbia acted in response to external forces and national media attention,” the suit, filed in the New York State Supreme Court, reads. “The University is allowing external forces, applying pressure to it, to dictate outcomes in individual student disciplinary cases.” James announced the lawsuit in a Friday post on X, accusing Columbia of discrimination, as well as “cowering” to “billionaire donors” and “fascist politicians.” In a follow-up tweet, he posted a picture of himself flipping off the camera on a jet ski. “James has been a victim of Columbia’s anti-Palestinian bias, severely punished, though not himself Palestinian, as a supporter of the rights of the Palestinian people,” the suit states. It goes on to claim that Columbia violated New York State’s Human Rights Law, New York City’s Human Rights Law, and standards for educational institutions outlined in the 1980 case Tedeschi v. Wagner College. Columbia University declined to comment. James’ attorney did not respond to a request for comment. In January 2024, James took to Instagram to warn Zionists who may want to “meet up and fight” that he “fights to kill.” According to the lawsuit, James made these comments after receiving hateful comments for sharing his “anti-genocide political beliefs” about the Israel-Hamas war. James had “no intention of harming anyone,” but merely wanted to “dissuade others from causing him physical harm,” the suit states. According to the lawsuit, James was in a “highly stressed and anxious mental state” when he live streamed a January 9 meeting with the Center for Student Success and Intervention at Columbia. He did so due to a “powerful sense of being endangered,” to seek sympathy, and to show “how universities repress voices of pro Palestine [sic] students, and especially people of color,” the suit states. During that meeting, James said he felt “very comfortable” calling for Zionists to die, and compared killing Zionists to killing Hitler. He added that “there should not be Zionists anywhere” and that “the world is better without them.” “Zionists don’t deserve to live comfortably, let alone Zionists don’t deserve to live,” he said during the live stream. “The same way we are very comfortable accepting Nazis don’t deserve to live, fascists don’t deserve to live, racists don’t deserve to live, Zionists, they shouldn’t live in this world.” “Be grateful that I’m not just going out and murdering Zionists,” James also said. “I’ve never hurt anyone in my life, and I hope to keep it that way.” In March, the Center warned James that live streaming the meeting had been added to the list of possible school policy violations he had committed, and that he had “used language that denigrates or shows hostility or aversion toward group members of a protected class.” The next month, James became a media liaison and “member of the safety team” for Columbia’s newly formed anti-Israel encampment. On April 19, the school notified James that he had violated school rules three times and placed him on disciplinary probation, which allowed him to continue his academic progress with the condition that more violations could lead to further disciplinary actions. “The April 19 letter finalizes and closes the investigation surrounding the December 2023 complaints, as well as the live streaming of the January 9 disciplinary hearing,” the lawsuit states. On April 25, The Daily Wire first reported James’ livestream, which quickly gained attention from both mainstream and conservative outlets. That same day, the lawsuit states, a Columbia associate dean contacted James and expressed concern for his safety. The school bought a train ticket home to Boston. The next day, James says he received a letter announcing his interim suspension for misconduct, based on an April 25 report citing his “disruptive behavior” at an unapproved anti-Israel encampment, where he allegedly “engaged in threatening behavior and made discriminatory remarks about other students.” James was barred from all Columbia facilities and prevented from completing his studies for the semester, according to the lawsuit, which adds that no other student was suspended that day for participating in the encampment — though some were suspended on other days. The suit claims that the timing of the new letter “makes it clear that Columbia acted in response to external forces” following The Daily Wire’s initial report. The suit cites Columbia telling CNN, the New York Times, and NBC that James was “banned from campus,” and an April 26 statement from Columbia trustees David Greenwald, Claire Shipman, President Minouche Shafik, and Provost Angela Olinto, that references his remarks and said “one individual whose vile videos have surfaced in recent days is now banned from campus.” In a since-deleted April post on X, James claimed he “misspoke” when he repeatedly called for Zionists to die in the January livestream. Here is the full Khymani James live-stream that includes his disciplinary meeting with Columbia University over making threatening social media posts. I saved you all the first 30 minutes where he rants with a friend and started with the school meeting. pic.twitter.com/DfN6mKdlbm — Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) April 26, 2024 In May, James received another letter for participating in a “human chain” at the encampment. A viral video showed James directing protesters to push pro-Israel students out of the encampment. The lawsuit states James was “reasonably engaged in peaceful self help” in this incident. “One step forward,” James was seen yelling as the crowd repeated after him in unison while stepping forward. Why are my friends and I being run off our own campus? We are not moving. pic.twitter.com/2T5JLSI0OH — Jessica Schwalb (@jessicaschwalb7) April 22, 2024 The lawsuit states that the school used the incident in a way that “piles on” to justify further proceedings against James, though it happened about a week before he received the sanction for participating in the protest. James received a letter in August notifying him that he was suspended for the academic year for his participation in the human chain, the suit states. James has received death threats and suffered from anxiety, fear, and depression since his suspension, the suit claims. The lawsuit then launches into a tirade against the House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce, comparing its hearings on college anti-Semitism to bringing “a new form orf [sic] McCarthyism to the American scene.” It goes on to claim that Columbia “privileges a class of self-described ‘Zionist Jewish’ people over everyone on campus who does not share their views.”

Former President Donald Trump mocked President Joe Biden during a visit to hurricane-ravaged Georgia on Monday, saying he had not discussed federal disaster relief efforts with the sitting president because he didn’t want to wake him. Trump made the comments during a planned stop in Valdosta, Georgia, where he planned to meet with emergency responders and speak with reporters in addition to handing out supplies to residents impacted by the storm. WATCH: "Have you reached out to President Biden about federal relief efforts?" President Trump: "No I haven't reached out to him. I think he's sleeping right now, actually." ?️? pic.twitter.com/doO4aS5zEs — Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) September 30, 2024 “Have you reached out to President Biden about federal relief efforts?” one reporter asked Trump. “No, I haven’t reached out to him. I think he’s sleeping right now, actually,” the former president replied. Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here! Trump praised the efforts of Governor Brian Kemp (R-GA) and continued to call out the Biden-Harris administration over its failure to address the situation that is still unfolding across the southeastern United States. WATCH: Former President Trump arrives in Georgia: "The Governor's doing a very good job. He's having a hard time getting the President on the phone…The federal government is not being responsive…the Vice President, she's out someplace campaigning looking for money." pic.twitter.com/2evEuyW6VF — CSPAN (@cspan) September 30, 2024 “The Governor’s doing a very good job. He’s having a hard time getting the President on the phone … The federal government is not being responsive … the Vice President, she’s out someplace campaigning looking for money,” he said. President Biden was also pressed on Monday about why he and Vice President Kamala Harris — who is currently running against Trump in the 2024 presidential race — had not returned to Washington, D.C., in order to better coordinate federal relief efforts. Biden responded by claiming he had been in “command” of the situation because he had spent two hours on the phone. WATCH: Reporter: "On the hurricane, why weren't you and VP Harris here in Washington commanding this this weekend?" Biden: "I was commanding. I was on the phone for two hours yesterday." (He was at the beach)pic.twitter.com/Wg2Y0ODlaJ — Greg Price (@greg_price11) September 30, 2024 Republican communications strategist Greg Price shared video of the exchange: “Reporter: ‘On the hurricane, why weren’t you and VP Harris here in Washington commanding this this weekend?’ Biden: ‘I was commanding. I was on the phone for two hours yesterday.'” Harris, who was fundraising over the weekend — raking in millions from Hollywood heavyweights — released a statement through the White House stating that she planned to visit some of the areas most impacted by the hurricane “as soon as it is possible without disrupting emergency response operations.” RELATED: Biden Claims He Was ‘Commanding’ Hurricane Response Away From Washington: ‘It’s Called A Telephone’

A high-profile clean-energy startup is running short on cash and may fail to obtain a $1 billion government loan promised by the Biden-Harris administration. Monolith, a company that makes a tire-strengthening material called carbon black and ammonia for fertilizer using a low-emissions process, is running out of the money it needs to expand its facilities, The Wall Street Journal reported. Part of the problem is the rising costs for the company’s planned expansion, which is a key part of the company’s future. The company is now in danger of running out of cash by the end of the year, according to company documents reviewed by WSJ. Some existing investors are expected to give Monolith more than $100 million to keep it going, but it needs several hundred million to get the company a $1 billion loan from the Biden-Harris administration. Of course, the government could still fund the loan even if Monolith doesn’t meet requirements, either in part or under different conditions. And given how Democrats regularly fund green-energy projects, it’s likely Monolith will still get its massive government loan. Monolith Chief Executive Rob Hanson told WSJ that he expects to start raising the needed cash for the expansion early next year, and a government Loan Programs Office spokeswoman told the outlet that Monolith is making progress on the milestones it needs to obtain the government loan. The deal to give Monolith a $1 billion government loan was made in December 2021 and was the first commitment from the Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office under Jigar Shah, himself a former clean-energy entrepreneur, the WSJ reported. Shah made a name for himself, working on green energy programs and advocating for solutions to climate change, both major leftist policies that have seen advocates become extremely wealthy without showing meaningful results. Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here! Once Monolith received the government loan deal, it was able to raise more than $300 million the next summer from investors – including TPG and Decarbonization Partners, which is owned by BlackRock and Temasek in Singapore. In total, the company has raised around $725 million in equity. As WSJ reported, Monolith is facing the same problems as similar companies, including a high-valued battery startup in Europe that has had to cut jobs and halt a factor expansion because people aren’t buying electric cars. The outlet noted that several climate startups have filed for bankruptcy in the past few months. It’s similar to the green tech boom and failure of former President Barack Obama’s first term when his administration handed out billions to green energy companies that either filed for bankruptcy or didn’t live up to expectations. The most famous example of Obama’s presidency was Solyndra, which received half a billion government loans before filing for bankruptcy in 2011.

Remember when logging into X (back when we called it Twitter) promised the possibility of a chuckle or maybe some witty insight from a very wise man?  It was a time not long ago when Donald J. Trump used the social media platform to share his every thought with the world. Even his harshest critics must admit in the deepest cockles of their ice-cold hearts that Trump has a way with words. He’s an innovator, a bold and fearless leader, and he’s never afraid to say what everyone else is thinking. Yes, he’s even a poet. Because those tweets spaced properly and bound between the pages of a book become something more – they become a story, a message, a beacon of hope. “The Collected Poems of Donald J. Trump” has been sold out in The Daily Wire Store for a while now for obvious reasons. Ever since the former president got kicked off Twitter back when the thought police still reigned, the people have been hungry for his insights. Having those thoughts bound and printed lends each verse the gravitas it deserves.  Now the book is back in stock, but don’t expect it to last long. This poetic masterpiece pulls from Trump’s most iconic period (2009-2019), transforming 280-character gems into verses that dare to challenge the status quo. From musings on foreign policy to cultural hot takes, each poem resonates with the unfiltered energy of a president who rewrote the rules on how to lead — and how to tweet. Perfect for your coffee table, this book isn’t just a collection—it’s a conversation starter, a piece of history, and, yes, a national treasure. Whether you’re gifting it to a fellow fan or keeping it for yourself, it’s the perfect way to spark that MAGA magic all over again. Get your copy now before it’s out of stock again and show the world you know a real one when you see it.

Halloween is just around the corner, and many families are getting ready for the spooky season. One of the highlights for kids this time of year is the annual tradition of Trick-Or-Treating. While this can be a fun night and a core memory for lots of kids, it can also be difficult for others. Not all children can fully participate in the fun for several reasons, but plenty of people are working to change that. @the.baby.dietitian The Teal Pumpkin Project is a simple way to make trick-or-treating safer and more inclusive for the one in 13 children living with food allergies, and many others impacted by intolerances and other conditions. Placing a teal pumpkin on your doorstep signals that, in addition to candy, you offer non-food trinkets and treats that are safe for all trick or treaters. Help us make this Halloween one to remember! By adding your home to the Teal Pumpkin Project Map, you are making your house easy to find for those on the hunt for non-food treats. The more houses added to the Map, the more inclusive (and therefore more fun) we can make Halloween! Reminders for Trick or Treating with a child with a food allergy: -Stock up on safe treats or inexpensive trinkets/toys to trade for any unsafe candies your child might receive while trick-or-treating. You can also use sorting through your child’s candy as an opportunity to teach him or her about hidden allergens and reading labels. -Enforce a “no eating while trick-or-treating” rule, so that you have time to review all food labels. -Avoid candy and treats that do not have an ingredient label. Always have an epinephrine auto-injector available, if prescribed. -Keep in mind that the mini-size, fun-size, or bite-size version of candy may contain different ingredients than their full-size counterparts. Make no assumptions, and read all labels carefully. Source: Foodallergy.org Will you be part of the teal pumpkin project this year? #tealpumpkinproject #babyledweaning #babydietitian #foodallergy #pediatricdietitian #thebabydietitian ♬ original sound – Cindy S. RD, IBCLC Keep An Eye Out For Colored Pumpkins This Year Black and orange are traditional Halloween colors but are not the only ones to look out for this year. You may notice teal and blue pumpkins popping up in retailers, and they’re there for a good cause. Food Allergy Research & Education helped start the Teal Pumpkin Project, which helps identify homes that offer non-food treats on Halloween for kids with allergies. “No child should ever be excluded from a celebration because of a disease. Food allergies are a disease of the immune system — not a diet — not a choice,” Sung Poblete, PhD, RN, CEO of FARE, explained to People. “We are grateful that Teal Pumpkin Project, which was created by one food allergy mom working to provide an inclusive experience for her child and other children with food allergies, is now a national initiative.” In addition to teal pumpkins, blue is also becoming a popular color at Halloween time. According to the National Autism Association, this movement went viral after a mom posted about her autistic son on Facebook. “If you see someone who appears to be an adult dressed up to trick-or-treat this year carrying this blue bucket, he’s our son! His name is BJ & he is autistic. While he has the body of a 21-year-old, he loves Halloween,” Alicia Plumer wrote. Colored buckets are a personal choice, and families should choose what makes them comfortable. But if you see them this year, now you know why. Happy Halloween to all! This story’s featured image is by EvgeniiAnd via Getty. The post People Are Displaying Blue & Teal Halloween Pumpkins This Year—Here’s Why appeared first on InspireMore.

Hailey Joel Osment was only ten years old when he earned an Oscar nomination for his performance in 1999’s The Sixth Sense. His performance made an impact on many people, including his co-star, Bruce Willis. He wasn’t even a teenager, but his acting abilities proved to be that of a veteran star. He and Bruce went their separate ways, but the adult actor continued to check in on the child star. It’s Been 25 Years Since Hailey Joel Osment Bruce Willis’ “The Sixth Sense” Debuted Hailey Joel Osment is now 36 and reflecting on his friend, Bruce Willis, 69. He told People that in the years after they worked together on The Sixth Sense, Bruce checked in on him a lot. “He would just call out of the blue … in the lead-up before travel. We went to Japan together twice … to open The Sixth Sense in different cities,” he added. “So [Bruce] would call ahead of that, and then sometimes I would just come home from school and the answering machine would be blinking and it’d be him going like, ‘Hey, Haley Joel. Just saying hi.'” Hailey Joel recalled seeing many of Bruce’s films before they worked together, so getting to know him was a big deal. “And that’s something that lasts your entire career, where you get to work with people who you’ve enjoyed watching in other things,” he told People. “It made a huge impression on me because that was the first gigantic celebrity that I’d worked with at an age where I was aware of his stardom.” Bruce Willis has lost his ability to communicate due to complications from frontotemporal dementia. His family has been outspoken about his illness and their gratitude for all the love and support they’ve received. Tallulah Willis shared an essay in Vogue that read in part, “I have hopes for my father that I’m so reluctant to let go of. I’ve always recognized elements of his personality in me, and I just know that we’d be such good friends if only there were more time.” This story’s featured image is by Getty Images / Handout. The post Hailey Joel Osment Shares Sweet Way Bruce Willis Kept In Touch Over The Years appeared first on InspireMore.

It is entirely normal to experience feelings of anxiety without having a “mental illness”. These kinds of emotions are part of the human experience, and can be triggered by a wide range of life events and circumstances, including: Stressful life events, such as the loss of a loved one, a breakup, financial difficulties, or work-related stress, can lead to feelings of sadness and anxiety. These emotions are often considered normal reactions to challenging situations.Major life transitions, like starting a new job, moving to a new city, or adjusting to a significant change in circumstances, can cause temporary feelings of anxiety as individuals adapt to the new situation.Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a type of depression related to changes in seasons, typically occurring in the fall and winter. This can lead to feelings of sadness and anxiety during certain times of the year.Physical health problems, such as chronic illness or chronic pain, can lead to emotional distress, including anxiety and sadness. These emotional responses are often a natural reaction to dealing with health challenges.Environmental factors, like exposure to excessive noise, pollution, or a lack of access to natural settings, can contribute to stress, which may manifest as anxiety and sadness.Conflicts, misunderstandings, or difficulties in personal relationships can lead to emotional distress, anxiety and sadness.Personal growth and transformation. For example, individuals may feel anxious when stepping out of their comfort zone or sad when reflecting on past experiences and changes in life goals. It's important to recognize that experiencing occasional anxiety or sadness does not necessarily indicate a mental problem. The way we see something affects how it impacts our health, mentally and physically, so it is important that we take the time to think about how we think about feelings like anxiety or sadness. Labels may give us security, but we should be careful of getting too comfortable, because we may end up avoiding doing the hard work needed to get to the root of our anxiety and create sustainable, positive change in our lives. We should avoid using labels as a coping mechanism; rather, they are descriptions that can help us better understand where we are and can be used to challenge ourselves to face and overcome what we are dealing with.Part of this process means learning how to manage our feelings of anxiety. This means reconceptualizing those anxious thoughts when they arise, rather than just accepting them as broken parts of us or as a “disease”, which can be overwhelming, hopeless and scary. Indeed, a label alone can lock us in, potentially shaping the way we see ourselves and our capacity to change and heal, and even stigmatizing our biology. Some people may view themselves as inherently lacking control and being unstable or dangerous to themselves and others, even if this is not the case.If this is you, and you are not sure where to start, here are 3 tips to help you manage your feelings of anxiety before they manage you:Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Marsell Gorska Gautier

'Tapping into this economic grievance'