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FEMA Workers Change Some Hurricane-Recovery Efforts In North Carolina After Receiving Threats

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Raleigh, North Carolina – FEMA paused and then changed some of their hurricane-recovery efforts in North Carolina, including abandoning door-to-door visits, after receiving threats that they would be targeted by a militia, officials said, as the government response to Helene is being targeted by runaway disinformation.

The threats appeared over the weekend. The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Monday that it received a call on Saturday about a man with an assault rifle who made a comment “about possibly harming” FEMA employees working in the hard-hit areas of Lake Lure and Chimney Rock in the North Carolina mountains.

FEMA Workers Change Some Hurricane-Recovery Efforts In North Carolina After Receiving Threats

Authorities obtained a description of a suspect’s vehicle and license plate, eventually identifying him as William Jacob Parsons, 44, of Bostic, a small village about 60 miles west of Charlotte. According to sheriff’s officials, Parsons, who was armed with a handgun and a rifle, was charged with “going armed to terrorize the public,” a misdemeanor. He was released after posting a bond.

According to the sheriff’s office, initial reports suggested that a “truckload of militia” was responsible for the threat, but additional inquiry revealed that Parsons acted alone.

Messages left requesting comment at phone numbers for Parsons and a suspected relative were not responded to immediately.

In a Facebook post, Ashe County Sheriff B. Phil Howell stated that FEMA halted some operations while it assessed the threats.

“Stay calm and steady during our recovery, help folks and please don’t stir the pot,” Howell told us on Sunday.

FEMA stated in a statement on Monday that it has modified operations. It noted that disaster recovery centers remain open and that FEMA “continues to assist the people of North Carolina in their recovery.”

Workers from the agency’s disaster-assistance teams, who assist survivors in applying for FEMA aid and connecting them with additional state and local resources, have stopped going door to door and are now working from fixed locations while potential threats are assessed, according to a source familiar with the situation. The individuals talked on the condition of anonymity because they were unable to share operational matters in public.

The individual emphasized that FEMA was making the revisions “out of an abundance of caution.”

FEMA did not immediately disclose details about the risks.

Gov. Roy Cooper’s office said in a statement Monday that they were aware of “reports of threats to response workers on the ground,” as well as “significant misinformation online.” Cooper asked state law enforcement personnel to collaborate with local authorities to discover “the specific threats and rumors.”

According to the Washington Post, the United States Forest Service, which is assisting with hurricane recovery efforts, issued a message to numerous government agencies on Sunday informing them that FEMA had instructed all federal responders in Rutherford County to evacuate immediately.

The message claimed that National Guard members had spotted “armed militia” who were “out hunting FEMA.”

FEMA has encountered widespread misinformation regarding its reaction to Hurricane Helene, which struck Florida on September 26 before moving north and wreaking havoc across six states.

Former President Donald Trump and his supporters have used the storm’s aftermath to propagate false information about the Biden administration’s response in the last weeks before the election. Their discredited claims include misleading comments that victims can only receive $750 in aid, that emergency response funding was redirected to immigrants, that people who accept government relief money may have their land taken, and that FEMA is blocking trucks loaded with supplies.

FEMA Workers Change Some Hurricane-Recovery Efforts In North Carolina After Receiving Threats

Meanwhile, there is a misunderstanding about what the agency does and does not do when a tragedy happens.

State or tribal administrations can request federal help. However, the crisis must be larger than their ability to respond, therefore not all disasters receive government assistance. The president approves catastrophe declarations.

Once an emergency is declared, FEMA can provide numerous forms of assistance. Much of what the organization does is distribute money immediately after a disaster and for years to come.

Individuals affected by disasters may receive aid in the form of $750 payments to cover immediate requirements such as medicines or diapers. It may also require additional funds to rent an apartment because their home has been destroyed or to pay for a storage facility.

Helene destroyed isolated Appalachian towns, left millions without power, disrupted cellular connectivity, and killed at least 243 people. It was the most deadly hurricane to strike the U.S. mainland since Katrina in 2005.

SOURCE | AP

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Canada to Expedite the Rejection of Bogus Refugee Claims

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Canada to Fast-Tracking Refugee Refusals

Canada’s immigration minister, Marc Miller, has announced that he intends to suggest reforms to the nation’s refugee system. These reforms could expedite the rejection of cases with a low likelihood of success.

“I intend to bring up additional initiatives. I intend to reform the system. “It is not working as it should,” Immigration Minister Marc Miller told a parliamentary committee on Monday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been shifting his government’s friendly posture toward migrants. He promises to limit immigration and Canada’s population over the next two years as his party falls in polls and Canadians express waning support for new arrivals.

The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, an independent adjudicator of refugee claims, is receiving claims from “people with increasingly fewer hopes to stay in Canada and being counseled to file, I believe unjustly, asylum claims where they should not be able to do so,” Miller added.

In recent months, Canada has seen an all-time high number of refugee claims. Although the monthly total fell to roughly 17,400 in October from above 20,000 in July, the number of claims pending was the highest ever, at more than 260,000 last month.

Statistics Canada reports that more than 265,000 non-permanent residents arrived in Canada during the second quarter of 2024.

Miller has called into question the legitimacy of thousands of refugee petitions filed by international students.

The reforms would try, in part, to discourage people who planned to utilize their international studies as a gateway to permanent residency in Canada from submitting refugee claims as a last-ditch effort to stay now that new laws have closed that avenue.

According to the Immigration and Refugee Board, 46,736 people have sought asylum in Canada since March of this year. This represents a 62% increase over 2023, with a backlog of 186,000 claimants.

An increase in temporary immigration has been connected to Canada’s housing crisis. In April, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cautioned that the situation needed to be “under control,” claiming that temporary immigration had “grown at a rate far beyond what Canada has been able to absorb.”

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Notorious Serial Killer Paul Bernardo Denied Parole

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Serial killer Paul Bernardo
Serial killer Paul Bernardo makes third attempt at release before Canada parole board

Paul Bernardo, a notorious serial killer, has been denied parole for the third time during a hearing before the Parole Board of Canada.

The parole board stated that, while Bernardo has made some progress while incarcerated, there is still great worry about his potential for sexual recidivism and narcissistic personality disorder, given the “extremely violent” nature of his crimes.

Paul Bernardo, a dangerous offender, is serving an indeterminate life sentence for the kidnapping, sexual assault, and murder of Kristen French, 15, and Leslie Mahaffy, 14, in the early 1990s near St. Catharines, Ontario.

The 60-year-old told the board that his primary goal was to obtain day parole at a halfway house or, at the very least, escorted absences from jail so that he could attend a community program for sex offenders.

Leslie’s mother, Debbie Mahaffy, arrived in person on behalf of both families. Meanwhile, Kristen’s mother, Donna French, delivered her victim impact statement virtually.

Tim Danson, the families’ lawyer, noted, “Unfortunately, Donna French will be unable to attend the hearing due to PBC’s short notice and last-minute change in position. “She will deliver her victim impact statement virtually.”

Bernardo also killed his sister-in-law, Tammy Homolka. Karla Homolka, his ex-wife, served a 12-year sentence for manslaughter in the French and Mahaffy murders.

Last year, Bernardo’s transfer from a maximum-security prison to a medium-security facility in Quebec sparked widespread outrage.

The victims’ family presented an emotional case against Bernardo’s release, claiming they had been re-traumatized every time his parole hearings came up.

After about 30 minutes of deliberation, the parole board decided at the end of a daylong hearing at the La Macaza Institution in Quebec, where Bernardo is now housed.

About Paul Bernardo

Paul Bernardo is a Canadian serial rapist and murderer. During the 1980s and early 1990s, he committed heinous atrocities alongside his wife, Karla Homolka.

They were jointly responsible for the sexual assault and murder of several young women, including Karla’s sister, Tammy Homolka. Bernardo also became known as the “Scarborough Rapist,” having committed more than a dozen sexual assaults in the Toronto region.

In 1995, he was convicted of many offenses, including first-degree murder and aggravated sexual assault, and sentenced to life. His case is still one of Canada’s most prominent criminal investigations.

 

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‘Keep Calm and Gobble On’: Joe Biden Holds Trump’s Final Turkey Pardon.

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Joe Biden
AFP

(VOR News) – Vice President Joe Biden delivered a message to the American populace during his concluding Thanksgiving turkey pardon ceremony on Monday, encouraging them to “maintain composure and gobble on.”

Prior to Donald Trump’s potential return to the White House, this communication was conveyed.

The 82-year-old U.S. Vice President Joe Biden guaranteed that the birds Peach and Blossom would not be served at the American dinner table over the forthcoming holiday.

Joe Biden has observed this peculiar tradition for a long time.

Vice President Joe Biden, addressing a large audience on the South Lawn of the presidential palace, asserted that Blossom’s mindset was characterized by “no foul play,” while Peach adhered to the principle of “keep calm and gobble on” in a series of remarks. The audience was the intended recipient of these statements.

The two avian creatures “remained composed and continued to gobble, and they are still gobbling” as they journeyed from the Minnesota farm of their origin to Washington, he elaborated. During their relocation from Minnesota to Washington, he made this statement.

Notwithstanding this, the Democrats’ claims that the turkeys indeed emitted gobbling sounds on multiple occasions conveyed a melancholic sentiment as Obama readies to leave the White House on January 20.

Republican Donald Trump is poised to dismantle numerous programs established by Vice President Joe Biden following his victory over Biden’s vice president, Kamala Harris, in the November election.

Uncertainty has emerged in the United States and other nations due to Trump’s pledges to execute extensive deportations, dismantle the federal bureaucracy, and levy substantial tariffs on imports from foreign countries.

Biden remarked, in a more solemn tone, that this would be “my final opportunity to address you as your president during this season.” Biden’s address was intended to conclude on a momentous note. He also stated that it was “my final opportunity to address this audience.”

Following a disastrous televised debate with Trump in July, Biden exited the race, stating, “Let me express that it has been the honor of my life, and I am eternally grateful.” “I am eternally thankful,” he stated in conclusion. Finally, he expressed, “I will be eternally grateful.”

Ruffled feathers

Notwithstanding this, the outgoing president has pledged to refrain from creating any complications during the transition to Donald Trump’s government. This stands in stark contrast to his opponent, who persistently claims, without basis, that his loss to Biden in the 2020 race was due to a fraudulent campaign.

The White House confirmed on Monday that Vice President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will attend the Republican swearing-in ceremony on January 20. This occurred despite President Trump’s absence at the Democrats’ inauguration in 2021.

During a Thanksgiving dinner in New York with Vice President Joe Biden, Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates informed reporters, “He perceives this as a significant affirmation of our democratic principles and a tribute to the people’s will.”

In a press conference, Bates and Joe Biden spoke.

Vice President Joe Biden’s attention will soon transition to the personal pardons customarily issued by the president of the United States before leaving the White House, as the conclusion of his one-year term approaches. This is because these pardons are often granted by the President of the United States.

Vice President Biden quipped to reporters, “I am informed that there are 2,500 individuals present today seeking a pardon.” However, Biden has declared that there is one that he would not bestow upon his son, Hunter Biden, at this moment.

One of the gravest offenses is falsifying drug use, a charge for which the younger Biden was convicted this year in relation to a firearm purchase. Moreover, he has admitted guilt in a second legal proceeding for tax avoidance. Both charges culminated in convictions earlier this year.

The determination of whether Hunter Biden, whose little son Beau participated in the turkey pardoning event, will face any punishment remains unresolved in both instances. This matter remains unresolved.

On Monday, the White House issued a statement indicating it had no further remarks regarding Vice President Biden’s previous comments about his son’s prospects for obtaining a pardon.

SOUREC: NDTV

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