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Pelosi calls GOP xenophobic

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Photo by Sergio Flores/Bloomberg via Getty Images

On Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called House Republicans "xenophobic" for inserting a provision in a House bill that would require vendors conducting background checks to notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement when the buyers was an illegal immigrant. That provision was a change from prior policy, that would allow vendors to notify ICE but not require them to do so.

The Republicans had used a motion to recommit before the House's vote on the legislation, allowing them as the minority party in the House to debate and amend a the bill before the Speaker called for a vote. On Wednesday, the House passed the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019, which included the GOP's provision, 240 to 190.

The amendment was initially introduced by Florida Republican Representative Greg Steube in early February, but had been voted down; Steube responded at the time:

Clearly, the Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee don't care about preventing gun violence, they simply are playing politics with Americans' Second Amendment rights. The fact that Democrats do not want law enforcement notified if an individual attempting to purchase a firearm fails a background check is truly troubling. In rejecting this Amendment, the Democrats have shown their true colors. It is clear they are not interested in preventing gun violence or stopping the illegal purchase of firearms, but rather they are only interested in limiting the rights of law abiding citizens to advance their own political agenda.

But on Wednesday, 22 Democrats who came from districts won by President Trump in 2016 election voted for the bill, according to Greg Giroux of Bloomberg.

On Thursday, in a press briefing, as Pelosi was being asked about the Democrats' response to the anti-Semitic remarks of Rep. Ilhan Omar, a reporter asked about H.R. 1, querying, "There was some concern about motions to recommit which your side has had. I know how important H.R. 1 is to your side, and that if you didn't address this right away, that that could be the motion to recommit and try to undercut what happened with the firearms bill last week and so on and so forth. So, was that part of the decision to go ahead at this point and get this done?"

Pelosi answered, "No."

The reporter pressed, "Explain why."

Pelosi said:

No, no. The Republicans will never fail to have their xenophobic motions to recommit as they did last week. It doesn't matter whether we have a resolution or not. So this has nothing to do with that. This has to do with (Long pause) I see everything as an opportunity. This is an opportunity once again (shaking her fist) to declare strong as possible opposition to anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim statements, white supremist (sic) attitudes, the president may think there are good people on both sides, we don't share that view. So it has nothing to do with that. However I do grant you that the Republicans will try to put these kinds of statements in their motions to recommit, but that's housekeeping. That's not a policy.

Video below at 8:38:

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WATCH: Pelosi Calls GOP 'Xenophobic' For Amendment Requiring Gun Sellers To Notify ICE When Illegals Buy Guns

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On Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called House Republicans "xenophobic" for inserting a provision in a House bill that would require vendors conducting background checks to notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement when the buyers was an illegal immigrant. That provision was a change from prior policy, that would allow vendors to notify ICE but not require them to do so.

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Rip El chompo

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Mom says teacher made her son urinate in trash can and then wear garbage bags all day

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mom says teacher made her son urinate in trash can and then wear garbage bags all day - cnn

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Mom says teacher made her son urinate in trash can and then wear garbage bags all day

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Sonia Mongol says her son was not allowed to go to the restroom at his South Los Angeles school and instead had to wear two plastic garbage bags and sit in his urine-soaked clothing, according to CNN affiliate KCAL.

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The man accused of kidnapping Wisconsin teen Jayme Closs and brutally murdering her parents told a Minnesota television station he plans to plead guilty because he doesn't want Closs and her surviving family members "to worry about a trial."

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The man accused of kidnapping Wisconsin teen Jayme Closs and brutally murdering her parents told a Wisconsin television station he plans to plead guilty because he doesn't want Closs and her surviving family members "to worry about a trial."

Jake Patterson, 21, of Gordon, was charged in January with two counts of homicide and one count of kidnapping. Even after Closs' miraculous escape from three months of captivity and Patterson's alleged confession to police, several elements of the story remain puzzling. In an attempt to solve some of the mysteries, KARE-TV reporter Lou Raguse wrote Patterson, who's being held at Polk County Jail. Patterson responded in a handwritten letter, postmarked Feb. 28, with his replies numbered to correspond to Raguse's questions.
JAYME CLOSS, WISCONSIN TEEN MISSING SINCE OCTOBER, FOUND ALIVE: A TIMELINE OF EVENTS
Patterson expressed concern for Closs and her family several times in the letter. Asked about his legal strategy in the case, Patterson wrote that he planned to "plead guilty," saying he didn't want Closs or her relatives to have "to worry about a trial." He also wrote that he confessed in part "so [authorities] didn't have to interview Jayme. They did anyways and hurt her more for no reason."

Patterson also wrote about feeling "huge amounts" of remorse.

"I can't believe I did this," he wrote. Later, Patterson added: "It was really stupid though looking back."

A photo of one part of the letter posted on the KARE-TV website showed the words "I'm Sorry Jayme!" written in large, balloon-type letters. In much smaller print, Patterson added: "For everything. I know it doesn't mean much."

The 21-year-old is accused of kidnapping Closs and killing her parents in a shocking Oct. 15 attack at the family's home in Barron. He targeted the girl after spotting her a single time, by chance, getting off a bus near her home, prosecutors have said. Patterson had no other prior contact with Closs or her family before the night he busted down her front door and started shooting. After absconding with Closs to his family's cabin in sparsely populated Gordon, he held her for 88 days until she managed to break free and flag down help. Patterson was arrested shortly thereafter.

He disputed telling officials that he planned the attack "thoroughly," claiming cops only attributed that to him "to cover up their mistakes." Instead, he wrote that he acted on "impulse" -- "I don't think like a serial killer." Patterson also assumed he would get caught, though he "thought [it] would happen a lot sooner."

"I followed [news of the kidnapping] through my phone. If something popped up on TV about it, I would change the channel," he wrote. [I] Would tell Jayme 'I'm sorry, I can't watch this.' IDK what she knew."

His motive for the attack remains a mystery, though.

At one point in the letter, he said his reasons were "not black and white." Later, he revealed "at the time I was really pissed. I didn't 'want' to." After a scribbled redaction, he added: "The reason I did this is complicated."

Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald told the station letters are given to inmates as long as they are addressed to them and any incoming or outgoing mail is inspected by jail staff. He added he was aware Patterson had sent a letter to KARE-TV and no one contacted by the station had a reason to doubt its authenticity.

The teen's family said police told them about the letter but declined to offer further comment, according to KARE-TV.
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Patterson is being held on $5 million bail pending a March 27 arraignment where he's expected to enter his plea.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Jayme Closs' kidnapper answers nagging questions in stunning letter: 'I don't think like a serial killer'

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The man accused of kidnapping Wisconsin teen Jayme Closs and brutally murdering her parents told a Wisconsin television station he plans to plead guilty because he doesn't want Closs and her surviving family members "to worry about a trial." Jake Patterson, 21, of Gordon, was charged in January with two counts of homicide and one count of kidnapping.

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She got fired over the phone while in labor. she is fighting to get her job back she is scared because she doesnt have a job and a new baby. she was a fire fighter.

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female firefighters from ghana launch first gender discrimination case - cnn

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She was fired over the phone while in labor. And she's still fighting to get her job back

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After Grace Fosu was dismissed from Ghana's National Fire Service she joined forces with fellow firefighter Thelma Hammond to fight the decision. It became Ghana's first gender discrimination case.

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A case was reopened over the murder of Sonya Wallace

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Sonya Wallace lived near the post office. It was just four blocks from her family's home in Rockdale, Texas.

So when Sonya, 15, left home on the afternoon of February 19, 1999, to go mail a letter, her family expected her back shortly.

Sonya never returned.

"Her family noticed right away that she didn't come back," Detective Rick Miller, now retired from the Williamson County Sheriff's Office, told Dateline.

Sonya's mother Linda Gonzalez told Dateline she wasn't home when Sonya left the house.

"I will regret this till the day I die - that was supposed to be my day off. But they called me in to work, and so I went to work" Linda told Dateline. "I didn't find out until I got back that night at 10:00 p.m."

Sonya's family reported her missing the following day. The Rockdale Police Department had originally been assigned to work the case, as that is where Sonya had last been seen. Authorities say investigators there interviewed dozens of people at the time, including Sonya's friends, family, and her fellow students at Rockdale High School.

Weeks went by with no sign of Sonya or leads in her case. But on March 14, about a month after Sonya disappeared, a local rancher made a gruesome discovery about 40 miles from Sonya's home.

"A rancher had cattle in the area and he saw activity below the bridge - vultures. He stopped to see what they were circling," Det. Miller said. They were circling what would later be identified as Sonya's remains. Detective Miller said Sonya had been bludgeoned to death, and the remains were in a state of severe decomposition.

"It was obvious that foul play was involved," Det. Miller told Dateline. "We have no evidence of where the actual murder occurred. My belief is that she was killed elsewhere and brought under the bridge."

Sergeant John Pokorny of the Williamson County Sheriff's Office told Dateline that his office then took over the case, since Sonya's remains had been found within their jurisdiction. He said evidence was gathered from the scene - Sonya's clothing, soda bottles - and the office's homicide team began an active investigation.

"I couldn't function. I wouldn't come out of the bedroom. My sister would drag me out and say I had to face the people who came to pay their respects," Sonya's mother Linda said. "Even after they found her, I would still see people in stores who looked like her. So I threw myself into my work. It still is hard, even to this day."

For nearly 18 years, few tips would come in as to what happened to Sonya Wallace. But soon after he was elected to the Williamson County Sheriff's Office in 2016, Sheriff Robert Chody formed a Cold Case Unit which was assigned to take a fresh look at the teen's case.

Linda said authorities came to her house when the Cold Case Unit was formed to tell her the news.

"They came to the house to see me and I was so excited," she said. "They are awesome. I honestly believe that they're the ones who are going to solve this."

Sgt. Pokorny said that while agencies across the country have different guidelines for what is considered a cold case, "For us, it's when a detective runs out of leads and it's at a standstill. The cases were investigated and worked, but then put in a corner."

Sonya's case is now one of 13 cold cases the Williamson County Sheriff's Office is reexamining.

"With any cold case, we are able to read the first page of the original report," Sgt. Pokorny told Dateline. "We kind of act like it had just happened. We go back to the crime scene. Policing has changed a lot since 1999, so now we can identify things that should have been looked at back then."

Twenty years after Sonya's disappearance, Sgt. Pokorny and his unit say they have identified 300 people who could know something about what happened to the teenager.

"She was in high school. She was very sociable," Det. Miller said. "We're going to talk to people one at a time, and see what we find. It's painstaking, but we have to do it."

Authorities say they've already spoken to about 30 of those people since re-opening Sonya's case. Linda told Dateline she believes her daughter's killer is someone Sonya knew. But even if someone is convicted in her daughter's case, Linda says, "It's not going to be relief. I don't believe in the death penalty. So I really don't know what kind of closure it would bring. There's no closure. There's never going to be any closure."

DNA recovery technology is also more advanced now than when Sonya's remains were first found, and the unit plans to re-scan Sonya's clothing and fingernails.

"In 1999, they used Q-Tips to swab her clothes," Sgt. Pokorny said. "[The new technology] goes into fibers of shirts to get DNA back much better than Q-Tips do."

Det. Miller, though now retired, still works in an official capacity on Sonya's case and says he speaks to Sonya's family on a regular basis.

"When a case lays dormant, the families get discouraged," Det. Miller said. He wants Linda and the rest of Sonya's family to know that even 20 years later, he and his fellow cold-case investigators are not giving up on Sonya's case.

"No matter how small or minute it may be, [people] need to report what they know because it could lead to something," Sgt. Pokorny said.

If you have any information on the circumstances surrounding Sonya Wallace's disappearance and murder, please call the Williamson County Sheriff's Office Cold Case Unit at 512-943-5204 or email coldcasetips@wilco.org. Tips may remain anonymous.

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Cold case detectives re-open murder case of Texas teen Sonya Wallace

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Sonya Wallace lived near the post office. It was just four blocks from her family's home in Rockdale, Texas. So when Sonya, 15, left home on the afternoon of February 19, 1999, to go mail a letter, her family expected her back shortly. Sonya never returned.

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High school student saves for over 2 years to buy his friend a new wheelchair

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One high school student's generosity and kindness toward a fellow classmate is warming hearts across the nation.

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Tanner Wilson, a senior at Caddo Hills High School in the rural town of Norman, Arkansas, bought an electric wheelchair for his classmate and friend, Brandon Qualls. It took Wilson more than two years to save up money from his part-time job to afford one.

"He's just been a really good friend and I wanted to do him a favor," Wilson told local television station KTHV in an interview last week. "I just felt like I needed to do it, and I wanted to do it."

For years, Qualls had been using a self-propelled wheelchair to get around.

"My arms would get really tired, and I would have to stop and take rests," Qualls told KTHV.

Wilson surprised Qualls with the new wheelchair during class on Feb. 26. A teacher helped decorate the chair with orange flames on the fenders and Qualls' last name written in orange flames on the back of the headrest. Orange is Qualls' favorite color.

"They came in and my face just blew up, crying everywhere," Qualls told KTHV. "Just like, 'Wow, can't believe he did that for me!'"

Wilson said seeing the smile on his friend's face made it "100 percent" worth it.

"There's many people out here that have troubles and need a little bit of help," he told KTHV.

Caddo Hills School District shared a photo of the two friends on Facebook that day. The post had garnered nearly 3,000 likes and almost 2,000 shares by Wednesday.

"We would like to share some love," the school district wrote in the Feb. 26 post. "Today Tanner Wilson, Caddo Hill's Senior, surprised his fellow classmate Brandon Qualls with a motorized wheelchair. We are so grateful for the heartfelt surprise from one Indian to another. Tanner has been saving for two years to show his appreciation and friendship for Brandon."

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High school student saves for over 2 years to buy his friend a new wheelchair

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One high school student's generosity and kindness toward a fellow classmate is warming hearts across the nation. Add Be Inspired as an interest to stay up to date on the latest Be Inspired news, video, and analysis from ABC News.

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Pilot lands airplane on a highway

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A pilot flew under traffic lights to safely land a small plane on a Michigan highway after experiencing engine trouble.

Flight instructor Steven Chanter was in the air with a student pilot Thursday when the plane's engine began to sputter and the oil pressure dropped.

Chanter says he took over flying and was certain the plane wouldn't make it to a small airport in nearby Sparta, so he landed on state highway 37.

Chanter told WOOD-TV he flew the plane under traffic lights at an intersection during the landing in Alpine Township, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) north of Grand Rapids.

No one was injured and the plane wasn't damaged. Chanter says: "Truly, God's watching over us."

The plane was hauled away on a flatbed truck. MLive.com reports that Chanter has been a pilot since 2000 and a flight instructor since 2003.

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Pilot lands small plane on highway after engine quits

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A pilot flew under traffic lights to safely land a small plane on a Michigan highway after experiencing engine trouble. Flight instructor Steven Chanter was in the air with a student pilot Thursday when the plane's engine began to sputter and the oil pressure dropped. Chanter says he...

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US women's soccer team sues for equal pay.

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The entire U.S. Women's National Team sued the U.S. Soccer Federation on Friday, claiming they are not paid the same as their counterparts on the Men's National Team, despite performing the same duties - perhaps more successfully.

In a class-action suit viewed by The Wall Street Journal, all 28 members of the team alleged gender discrimination, affecting not only pay but also where the team played and trained. The complaint was filed on International Women's Day.

The U.S. Soccer Federation declined to comment on matters of pending litigation.

The players are requesting back pay and damages.

A similar complaint was made three years ago by five members of the women's team. A collective bargaining agreement was struck in 2017 whereby players were said to have received raises in base pay and bonuses, among other things, according to The Associated Press.
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The team has won three FIFA World Cup titles and four Olympic gold medals.

The men's team has not made it past the World Cup quarterfinals in nearly 90 years.

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US women's soccer team sues for equal pay, treatment

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The entire U.S. Women's National Team sued the U.S. Soccer Federation on Friday, claiming they are not paid the same as their counterparts on the Men's National Team, despite performing the same duties - perhaps more successfully.

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Venezuela in chaos after massive power outage, Maduro's regime blames Marco Rubio

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Venezuela plunged into darkness Thursday evening following one of the largest power outages in years, spreading chaos in an already disrupted country facing political turmoil.

The blackout began as most commuters were leaving work for home, hitting 22 out of 23 Venezuelan states, including the capital Caracas that until now managed to avoid the consequences of collapsing infrastructure and frequent outages.

Thousands of commuters had to scramble to find a way back home as subway service stopped operating, while roads came to a standstill due to confusion over blackened stoplights.

The blackout forced hospital nurses to monitor patients, including premature babies in incubators, while holding candles.
COLOMBIA STOPS BID BY EXILED SOLDIERS TO FORCEFULLY DELIVER AID TO VENEZUELA
Venezuela's disputed president Nicolas Maduro, meanwhile, blamed the blackout as an "electrical war" perpetrated by the United States without providing any proof, the latest sign of a dictator who's losing the grip over the country.

Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez echoed Maduro and said right-wing extremists are causing mayhem in the country at the behest of Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, a claim mocked by the senator on Twitter.

"My apologies to people of Venezuela," he wrote in a tweet. "I must have pressed the wrong thing on the 'electronic attack' app I downloaded from Apple. My bad."

Rodriguez urged people to be patient and promised to restore power within the hours of the blackout. Yet the blackout continued into early Friday morning, with Venezuelans opening their windows and banging pots and pans in the dark as a protest against the government, while some also cursed at Maduro.

The outage comes amid political turmoil in Venezuela, with Maduro facing a challenge for legitimacy from opposition leader Juan Guaido, the head of congress who was recognized as the legitimate leader of the country by the U.S. and about 50 countries around the world.
HUNDREDS OF VENEZUELA'S MILITARY DEFECT IN FOUR DAYS AS COUNTRY SPIRALS INTO FURTHER CHAOS
Guaido attacked the socialist regime for the blackout on social media.

"How do you tell a mom who needs to cook, an ill person who depends on a machine, a worker who should be laboring that we are in a powerful country without electricity?" he wrote, using the hashtag #SinLuz, meaning without light. "Venezuela is clear that the light will return with the end of usurpation."

The shortage of goods and services has become a daily reality for Venezuelans, with many lacking food and basic medical supplies due to the failing socialist economy that made the country's currency worthless.
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The electrical system - once the envy of Latin America - has suffered years of mismanagement that was exacerbated amid dwindling financial resources that made it difficult for the government to continue subsidize the people's electricity bills.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Venezuela in chaos after massive power outage, Maduro's regime blames Marco Rubio

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Venezuela plunged into darkness Thursday evening following one of the largest power outages in years, spreading chaos in an already disrupted country facing political turmoil. The blackout began as most commuters were leaving work for home, hitting 22 out of 23 Venezuelan states, including the capital Caracas that until now managed to avoid the consequences of collapsing infrastructure and frequent outages.

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Man with one arm teaches people how to drive manual transmission cars

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Think driving a stick-shift car is hard?

There's a British man with one arm that can not only drive a car with a manual transmission, but teaches others how to do it.

Khuram Iqbal, 31, was certified as driving instructor in the U.K. seven months ago and has already seen eight of his students through the nation's difficult driving tests.

The 31-year-old was born without a left arm and has had a prosthetic limb since he was two-years-old.

"When I was little I used to get upset about being different, but, being the eldest, I wasn't raised as a boy who had one arm, I was raised as a boy who had four - I was always having to be here and there and do everything," the Yorkshire resident told SWNS.

Iqbal, who earned a law degree in 2008, but today runs a real estate agency with his father, learned to drive at age 20. British cars have right-side driver's seats, which means the left hand is used to operate the transmission.

"As I got older I thought I might be able to do it in an automatic, but when I told my mum I was thinking of learning to drive she told me I should learn to drive a manual car just like everyone else. She said that I should not rule out being able to do it until I, at least, tried."

He said his rubber hand is very sticky and grips the gearshift well. He passed his own driving test on the first try and scored top marks on his instructor exams. He teaches driving part-time.

"I want others to see that you can do anything if you put your mind to it." Iqbal said.

He's not the only one with that attitude. Iqbal's achievement was preceded by that of Gareth Almond, who became the U.K.'s first one-armed driving instructor in 2013.

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One-armed driving instructor teaches stick-shift skills

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Think driving a stick-shift car is hard? There's a British man with one arm that can not only drive a car with a manual transmission, but teaches others how to do it. Khuram Iqbal, 31, was certified as driving instructor in the U.K.

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57yo man faces life in prison after poisoning his colleagues' sandwiches.

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Driver backs into gas pump which starts fire in Massachusetts

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Massachusetts driver backs into gas pump, sparks fire at gas station

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A gas station in Massachusetts erupted into flames early Thursday after a car crashed into a gas pump.