A 29-year-old man is in federal custody after an FBI investigation into videos that were found on the dark web that allegedly showed multiple men sexually assaulting toddlers at the Galleria Mall in Houston‚ the largest mall in the state. Arthur Hector Fernandez‚ who worked at the mall‚ was taken into custody late last month after the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) contacted the FBI in early December to report that they had discovered disturbing videos of child sexual abuse posted in a private forum on the dark web‚ USA Today reported. Fernandez abused one of the young children in a public restroom‚ authorities said. He allegedly had access to the child because he was friends with her mother‚ who also worked at the mall‚ and she would leave her daughter with him sometimes. “The evidence in this case is overwhelming and revolting‚” the judge wrote in a court order requiring Fernandez to remain detained pending trial. “I cannot allow (him) to abuse any other minors and there are no conditions or combination of conditions that can alleviate a danger to the community. This is not a close call.” Fox 26 Houston reported that the videos of the sexual assaults of the two small children‚ ages 2 and 3‚ involved “at least six other men.” Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) responded to the news story by posting on X: “Death penalty now.” Dr. Bob Sanborn‚ President and CEO of the organization Children at Risk‚ mentioned potential signs that parents should look for in their children if they suspect their child may have been abused. “Kids‚ after they’ve been out with someone who you thought you trusted them‚ they will sort of withdraw‚” he said. “They’ll be more quiet. Look for those changes in your children; bedridden‚ not eating. All these things are sort of signs that something’s not right with your child. In this case‚ we’re talking about toddlers. They really couldn’t communicate. They don’t know what’s right and wrong.”

the Left is creating historic‚ anti-democratic precedents

'Into the hands of our greatest geo-strategic enemy'

'Resonates with the youth'

Of course‚ no dissident of the progressive regime would ever get treated with these kid gloves

Quinn Ewers is headed back to Austin

U.S. defense and diplomatic officials improperly tracked almost $2 billion in weapons provided to Ukraine as part of the Biden administration’s efforts to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s invasion‚ raising questions about the government’s ability to monitor foreign aid‚ according to an inspector general report. The investigation focused on how the Defense Department kept tabs on nearly 40‚000 items that were considered sensitive and especially vulnerable to smuggling operations‚ according to The New York Times‚ which received a copy of the report. As of June 2‚ the U.S. had transferred to Ukraine at least $1.7 billion in items that by law qualify for enhanced end-use monitoring‚ but Pentagon officials failed to compile full or timely inventories on 69% of the total value‚ according to the report‚ released Thursday in a redacted form. The Defense Department’s inability to input items into government databases or confirm their location in a timely manner “may increase the risk of theft or diversion‚” the report found. “Achieving a complete picture of EEUM-designated defense articles in Ukraine will be difficult as the inventory continues to change‚ and accuracy and completeness will likely only become more difficult over time‚” the report says. The items under end-use monitoring‚ or EEUM‚ requirements include relatively small items such as Javelin anti-tank weapons‚ Stinger anti-aircraft weapons‚ one-way attack drones‚ and night vision goggles‚ according to the report. Figures depicting the total number of items are redacted in the public copy. But as of June‚ the U.S. had provided to Ukraine more than 10‚000 Javelins‚ more than 2‚5600 Stingers‚ 750 Switchblade suicide drones‚ 430 medium-range air-to-air missiles‚ and 23‚000 night vision devices‚ the Times reported. Lawmakers received a copy of the report Wednesday‚ according to the Times. The inspector general’s review didn’t determine whether arms dealers actually had stolen the weapons. “It was beyond the scope of our evaluation to determine whether there has been diversion of such assistance‚” the report states. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022‚ officials in charge of monitoring the equipment as it passes through transport hubs in Poland (and eventually reaches Ukraine’s front lines) failed to meet a 90-day reporting requirement‚ the inpsector general concluded. That was mostly due to a lack of staff and travel restrictions within Ukraine‚ limiting how far U.S. officials could trace the equipment. Although tracking has improved with introduction of handheld scanners and more “robust” procedures‚ those same challenges continued to limit monitoring through the end of the report’s investigation period. In addition‚ the Defesse Department didn’t have any policies in place for tracking EEUM items in areas with active hostilities‚ inserting some confusion and delays into the tracking process‚ the report says. Lawmakers in recent months intensified pressures for increased oversight of weapons‚ equipment‚ and humanitarian assistance devoted to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion. The items in the watchdog report represent just a fraction of the nearly $45 billion in security aid the U.S. has committed to Ukraine and highlights the challenges of end-use monitoring in a warzone. The Pentagon did not dispute the finding of delayed or incomplete accounting in a response included in the report. But it reiterated that the ultimate objective of the program—to ensure relative confidence in a foreign partner’s ability to meet end-use commitments—was being achieved. “Real-time accuracy” in the database “is not practical under wartime conditions‚” Alexandra Baker‚ acting under secretary of defense for policy‚ wrote. This report originally was published by the Daily Caller News Foundation Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com‚ and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state.   The post US Improperly Tracks Nearly $2 Billion in Weapons for Ukraine‚ Pentagon Watchdog Finds appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Former Harvard President Claudine Gay’s expansion of campus diversity bureaucracies quashed academic freedom and chilled free speech on campus‚ according to current and former professors. Gay resigned as president on Jan. 2 after facing multiple plagiarism allegations and pushback from failing to say whether calls for genocide violated the school’s code of conduct at a Dec. 5 congressional hearing on campus antisemitism. She was involved in a series of diversity‚ equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives on campus during her time as a dean and as president‚ including creating new DEI positions and creating a task force that recommended portraits of white men be taken down. Gay joined Harvard’s faculty in 2006 as a professor and became a part of the Harvard administration in 2015‚ serving as the dean of the social sciences at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) at Harvard‚ according to the Harvard Gazette. She then served as the Edgerley Family Dean of FAS starting in 2018 before ascending to the university presidency in July 2023. Gay announced a slew of “racial justice” initiatives as FAS dean in August 2020 following the George Floyd riots‚ according to Harvard Magazine. She created a “visiting professorship in ethnicity‚ indigeneity and migration” to “recruit leading scholars of race and ethnicity to spend a year at Harvard engaged in teaching our undergraduates.” She also announced a “study of the hiring‚ professional development‚ and promotion practices that may contribute to the low representation of minority staff in managerial and executive roles‚” according to Harvard Magazine. The study was designed to “identify concrete steps” Harvard could take “to increase racial diversity of senior staff.” Gay also announced the addition of an associate dean of diversity‚ inclusion‚ and belonging‚ according to Harvard Magazine. “Instead of enhancing polarization by subscribing to the far left of the political spectrum‚ academia should heal societal tension and represent the diverse set of views within American society. The students should witness dialogues where opposing ideas are debated on campus‚ so they can make their own choice. Faculty should not be afraid to speak their mind‚” Avi Loeb‚ theoretical physicist at Harvard‚ told the Daily Caller News Foundation. Gay also formed the “Task Force on Visual Culture and Signage” in 2020‚ a group designed to assess the imagery around campus for its effects on students‚ to “advance racial justice‚” according to The Harvard Crimson. The task force recommended changing “spaces whose visual culture is dominated by homogenous portraiture of white men‚” according to its report. It called for the redecoration of the walls of Annenberg Hall‚ which in December 2021 contained 23 portraits‚ of which 20 were white men‚ according to the Crimson. “While it’s unclear how much the DEI bureaucracy has contributed to this hostile environment for free speech‚ the rise of DEI on campus has certainly coincided with a devaluing of free speech principles at Harvard. Additionally‚ much of the censorship at Harvard is directed at those opposed to liberal and progressive ideas‚ which suggests that the DEI bureaucracy has influenced the culture of free speech on campus‚” Zachary Greenberg‚ senior program officer for campus rights advocacy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE)‚ told the DCNF. Harvard is ranked last on FIRE’s 2024 free speech report ranking universities in the U.S. “The components of DEI are often defined in ways that bring them into conflict with free speech. For example‚ many proponents of DEI believe ‘inclusion’ requires others to refrain from saying certain things that are deemed ‘harmful‚’” Steve McGuire‚ Paul and Karen Levy fellow in Campus Freedom at the American Council of Trustees and Alumni‚ told the DCNF. Harvard psychology professor Steven Pinker‚ alongside 70 other professors at the university‚ announced the creation of the Council on Academic Freedom at Harvard in April 2023‚ which advocates for more free speech on campus‚ according to the Crimson. “Many of the assaults on academic freedom (not to mention common sense) come from a burgeoning bureaucracy that calls itself diversity‚ equity‚ and inclusion while enforcing a uniformity of opinion‚ a hierarchy of victim groups‚ and the exclusion of freethinkers. Often hastily appointed by deans as expiation for some gaffe or outrage‚ these officers stealthily implement policies that were never approved in faculty deliberations or by university leaders willing to take responsibility for them‚” Pinker wrote in a December op-ed for the Boston Globe. Harvard law professor J. Mark Ramseyer said that DEI was partially to blame for the fall of free speech on Harvard’s campus in an email shared on X‚ formerly Twitter‚ by former Harvard lecturer Carole Hooven. Eloquent and heartbreaking. From Harvard Law Professor Mark Ramseyer's email to a Harvard list (with permission). I came for my PhD in '99‚ he came as a prof in '98. We were each publicly attacked for our views in '21. "Harvard is a vastly less tolerant place than it was when I…— Carole Hooven (@hoovlet) December 18‚ 2023 “Better alignment of campuses with the diverse set of values within American society would have helped avoid the recent turmoil. It could also help universities recruit the very best scholars and students from all parts of the political spectrum and develop good relationships with both Democrats and Republicans‚” Loeb told the DCNF. Gay came under fire after staying silent following the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israel‚ after which more than 30 student organizations signed a letter blaming the “Israeli colonial occupations” for the attacks. The university created an antisemitism task force in November; however‚ one of the members of the group‚ Rabbi David Wolpe‚ quit on Dec. 7 and argued that it was infected by Marxist ideology. “The system at Harvard‚ along with the ideology that grips far too many of the students and faculty‚ the ideology that works only along axes of oppression and places Jews as oppressors and‚ therefore‚ intrinsically evil‚ is itself evil‚” Wolpe said. The House Committee on Education and the Workforce opened an investigation into several universities following its hearing in December. After the resignation of Gay‚ the committee said it would not be halting its investigation and expanded it to include DEI on campuses. Harvard University and Pinker did not respond to the DCNF’s requests for comments. Gay could not be reached for comment. Originally published by DailycallerNewsFoundation.org Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com‚ and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state. The post Ex-Harvard President Had History of Pushing DEI  Long Before Promotion to Top Job appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Marvel's Echo is Spoiled by the Heavy Hand of Politics

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