Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin to Meet Chinese Defense Minister amid Taiwan Tensions
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Breitbart ^
| 05/30/2024 | JOHN HAYWARD
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is scheduled to meet with Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun in Singapore this weekend, holding the first face-to-face bilateral defense meeting in 18 months. The
unusual dialogue comes only a week after China held aggressive military drills around Taiwan to “punish” the island for electing a president Beijing does not like. Austin’s previous meeting was with one of Dong’s predecessors, Wei Fenghe, at a regional summit in Cambodia. Wei retired and was replaced by Gen. Li Shangfu in March 2023.
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Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to temporarily transfer duties to deputy for follow up medical procedure
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CNN ^
| May 24, 2024 | Natasha Bertrand
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will undergo a “minimally invasive” and “non surgical” procedure at Walter Reed Medical Center on Friday night, Pentagon spokesman Major Gen. Patrick Ryder said on Friday. He will transfer his authorities temporarily to his deputy, Kathleen Hicks, Ryder said. The
procedure is related to a bladder issue Austin suffered as a result of a surgery he underwent to treat prostate cancer earlier this year.
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WATCH: Lloyd Austin Confirms U.S. Withholding Arms from Israel over Rafah
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Breitbart ^
| 05/08/2024 | JOEL B. POLLAK
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin confirmed Wednesday at the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense that the U.S. is withholding a shipment of weapons to Israel over concerns about its ongoing attack on Hamas in Rafah. Austin, while claiming that the Biden administration’s commitment to Israel’s security was “ironclad,” said that the U.S.
had concerns about Israel’s potential use of large bombs in Rafah and had therefore paused a bomb shipment. “We’ve been very clear… from the very beginning that Israel shouldn’t launch a major attack into Rafah without accounting for and protecting the civilians that are in that battlespace. And...
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Professional protestors of Texas unmasked: Elementary school teacher, costumer designer and Palestinian store-owner among adults who infiltrated University of Austin demo
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UK Daily Mail ^
| May 3 2024 | MARYANN MARTINEZ
These are the professional protesters who descended on the University of Texas's Palestinian demonstration earlier this week despite having no connections to the school. Among
them is a former elementary school teacher, a costume designer, a Palestinian store-owner and an interpreter. Their ages range from the early 30s to one man who is 59, and none are enrolled at the college.
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Austin Police Investigate 51 Suspected Overdoses That Left 8 Dead
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KXAN ^
| April 30, 2024 | Will DuPree, Erica Pauda, Sam Stark
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin Police said Tuesday they’re launching an investigation into who provided drugs that resulted in 51 suspected overdoses and possibly eight deaths throughout Austin. During a news conference Tuesday afternoon, detectives told reporters they detained at least two people, calling them persons of interest in this deadly overdose investigation.
One of those people is now facing a felony charge of in possession of a firearm, police said. However, more charges and arrests could be forthcoming. “It is apparent there is a deadly batch of illicit narcotics in our community,” APD Asst. Chief Eric Fitzgerald said, adding police...
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HOPE FOR AMERICA! Texas Cops Go to Work in Austin – Dirty Booger-Haired Leftists Scooped Up, Zip-Tied, and Hauled Off like Baby Calves at UT Campus
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Gateway Pundit ^
| April 29, 2024 | Staff
Make America Texas Again Austin police today took down the impromptu pro-Hamas hippy encampment on the University of Texas campus this afternoon. There
was a lot of screaming by the dirty leftists. Booger-haired girl got carried off by no-nonsense police. VIDEO AT LINK...................... She was not as talkative as she was earlier.
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UT-Austin president defends shutting down anti-Israel protests
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Fox News ^
| 04/25/2024 | Lawrence Richard
"Today, our University held firm, enforcing our rules while protecting the Constitutional right to free speech. Peaceful
protests within our rules are acceptable. Breaking our rules and policies and disrupting others’ ability to learn are not allowed. The group that led this protest stated it was going to violate Institutional Rules. Our rules matter, and they will be enforced. Our University will not be occupied," the president added.
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Austin Murphy, longtime congressman, regional political leader, dies at 96
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Observer-Reporter ^
| 4/17/24 | Brad Hundt
Murphy retired from the U.S. House the year Democrats lost 54 seats and became the minority party in the House for the first time in 40 years. He
was succeeded by fellow Democrat Frank Mascara. When he was out of elected office, allegations of wrongdoing swirled around Murphy for a final time in 1999, when he was indicted by a Fayette County grand jury for allegedly forging absentee ballots for residents of a nursing home. He was charged with forgery, conspiracy and tampering with public records. In a deal with prosecutors, all but one of the voter fraud charges were...
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UT-Austin students hold pro-Palestinian protest on campus, at least 20 protesters arrested
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austin american statesman ^
| 4/24/24 | Lily Kepner Skye Seipp
<p>At least nine protesters were handcuffed and loaded into police cruisers at a peaceful, pro-Palestinian protest Wednesday at the University of Texas hosted by the Palestine Solidarity Committee, a registered student group and a chapter of the national Students for Justice in Palestine. And several more were arrested at the university's South
Lawn.</p>
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Police arrest pro-Palestine protesters at UT Austin; more than 200 in demonstration
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MSN, Fort Worth Star=Telegram ^
| 4/24/24 | Sneha Dey, William Melhado
Law enforcement officers on Wednesday handcuffed and removed at least 10 people participating in a student protest on the University of Texas at Austin campus in support of Palestine amid the Israel-Hamas war. UT
Austin students demanding that the university divest from manufacturers supplying Israel weapons in its strikes on Gaza gathered outside the university’s Gregory Gym with plans to march to the South Lawn, where they said they would sit down throughout the day. More than 200 students had gathered as of noon.
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Austin: Ukraine's attacks on Russian oil could threaten global energy market
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https :// kyivindependent . com / us - defense - secretary - austin - ukraines - attacks - on - russian - oil - refineries - could - impact - global - energy - situation / ^
| 4/10/24 | Kateryna Hodunova
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned that recent Ukrainian attacks targeting Russian oil refineries could have a "knock-on effect" on the global energy market, Bloomberg reported on April 9. Ukrainian
forces have launched a series of drone strikes aimed at damaging Russia's oil industry. A total of 12 Russian oil refineries were reportedly successfully hit in multiple regions deep inside Russian territory as of March 17.
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UT Austin lays off dozens who worked in DEI roles, citing new state law
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https://www.washingtonpost.com ^
| Apr 3, 2024
The University of Texas at Austin is laying off dozens of employees who previously worked in diversity, equity and inclusion roles in response to a state law that banned such programs, according to the Texas chapter of the American Association of University Professors. Employees who had previously worked in DEI roles received
layoff notices Tuesday. That came months after the university had reassigned them from those positions to comply with the legislation, which went into effect Jan. 1. The school declined to provide a specific tally of the number of people affected, though the AAUP said 60 is a “conservative...
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University of Texas at Austin eliminating nearly 60 staff who once worked in DEI roles, civil rights and faculty groups say
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Yahoo/CNN ^
| 04/04/2024 | Nicquel Terry Ellis, CNN
The University of Texas at Austin has sent layoff notices to an estimated 60 staff members who previously worked in diversity, equity and inclusion roles, according to the Texas NAACP and the Texas Conference of American Association of University Professors. The staffing cuts come as the university works to comply with the
state’s anti-DEI law, or SB17, that bans public colleges and universities from maintaining DEI offices, holding mandatory DEI training, and having departments focused on “promoting differential treatment” based on race, sex or ethnicity. In a statement released Wednesday, the Texas NAACP and AAUP said impacted staff members were...
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Austin [TX] ISD to Host LGBT ‘Pride Week’ for Students
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Texas Scorecard ^
| March 14, 2024 | Emily Medeiros
As government schools continue to show their commitment to promoting sex and gender ideology to children, Austin Independent School District is preparing to host its annual “Pride Week” pushing teachers and kids to “celebrate LGBTQIA+ students, staff and families.” Austin
ISD said the event, set for March 18-23, will “highlight the district’s commitment to creating a safe, supportive, and inclusive environment.” According to the district’s website, each campus will receive a guide of suggested resources and activities staff can put on for students. Staff are advised to reach out to coordinators of their campus Genders and Sexualities Alliances (formerly known...
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YouTube Music staff laid off in middle of meeting about employment rights with Austin City Council
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Complete Music Update. ^
| 4 Mar 2024 | adios
A group of YouTube Music staff found out that they had been made redundant while speaking at a council meeting in Texas, urging councillors to support them in their efforts to get the Google-owned company to negotiate with their union. Google
says they were contractors whose agreements have expired ..."Then, as he began to expand on that point, a colleague of Benedict's stepped forward to let him know that the entire team had been laid off. "
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In a Deep-Blue City, Will Locals Get Tough on Crime?(Austin,TX)
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thefp ^
| 03/05/2024
AUSTIN, TX — Early last December, a billionaire named Daniel Lubetzky, who had moved to Austin, Texas, from New York City during the pandemic, hosted a meeting of civic leaders and businesspeople in the city. The
number one subject on everyone’s mind was Austin’s troubling crime rate. According to FBI crime statistics, as of October 2023, crime was higher in the Texas capital than the average number of murders, aggravated assaults, and robberies in the rest of Texas—and the nation. Violent crime, for instance, was nearly 40 percent higher in Austin than the national average. Meanwhile, since 2021, felonies were...
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YouTube Music workers say they were ‘laid off’ during Austin City Council meeting (Texas)
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Fox Business ^
| 3-3-24 | Bradford Betz
Workers contracted with YouTube Music made headlines this weekend for saying they’d been laid off in the middle of an Austin City Council meeting. A
clip of last Thursday’s city council meeting shows Jack Benedict, a member of the Alphabet Workers Union (AWU-CWA), appealing to the city council to pass a resolution in support of the workers. As he’s speaking, one of his coworkers, Katie Marschner, walks up and tells him: "Not to interrupt but they just laid us all off."
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Austin 'at the brink of disaster' as police shortages hit crisis level: 'God help us all'
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Fox News.com ^
| 3/3/2024 | Elizabeth Heckman
Austin, Texas residents are expressing outrage over police staffing shortages and longer 911-call response times in the aftermath of the city council's vote to defund the department in 2020. In
February, a section of the city was notably left without a single police officer for a few hours on a Saturday due to the ongoing shortages. Austin Police Association President Michael Bullock, who called attention to the vacancy on X, told Fox News Digital that a steady decline in public safety has put the city on the "brink of disaster."
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NATO Will Be Drawn Into War With Russia if Ukraine Loses: Lloyd Austin
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Newsweek ^
| 2/29/24 | Newsweek
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned on Thursday that NATO will be drawn into war if Ukraine is defeated by invading Russian forces. Speaking
at a Republican-led House Armed Services Committee hearing to discuss his recent absence while hospitalized for complications from prostate cancer surgery, Austin predicted that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not "stop" if Moscow wins the war in Ukraine. Austin made the remarks after being asked about Congress failing to approve a $60 billion military aid package for Ukraine, as requested by President Joe Biden. Despite significant bipartisan support for Ukraine aid, the measure has stalled amid...
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Lloyd Austin Grilled in Congress Over Being AWOL
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X ^
| 2/29/24 | C Span
Austin attempts to explain away his incompetence.
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