The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) announced Thursday it will decline to make a presidential endorsement in the 2024 election. The IAFF’s decision follows Teamsters declining to endorse a presidential candidate. According to POLITICO, the IAFF represents more than 300,000 career firefighters and emergency responders. “Today, the IAFF Executive Board, by a margin of 1.2%, voted to not endorse a candidate in the 2024 presidential election. Over the past year, the IAFF took unprecedented steps to hear our members’ views on the candidates and the policy issues that matter most to them,” the labor union said in a press release. A statement from @IAFFPresident following today's IAFF Executive Board meeting pic.twitter.com/D6K6eQFrF7 — International Association of Fire Fighters (@IAFFofficial) October 3, 2024 From POLITICO: Harris has won the endorsements of an overwhelming number of unions. But it’s the second notable union-related setback in recent weeks for her campaign, which is strongly banking on organized labor to boost its outreach to working-class voters on her behalf — particularly in key swing states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Both vice presidential candidates — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) — spoke at IAFF’s August convention in Boston as the union considered its options. IAFF’s late non-endorsement — with votes already being cast in some states — carries particular weight given that the union was the first to endorse President Joe Biden at the outset of his campaign to defeat Donald Trump in 2019. That was partly due to Biden’s decades-long ties with IAFF and its then-leader, Harold Schaitberger, who stepped aside in 2021. Under Schaitberger the IAFF had also preliminarily planned to endorse Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign but scuttled the idea after taking stock of its membership, The New York Times reported in 2015. The Firefighters Union, first out of gate to endorse @JoeBiden four (actually five) years ago, makes it official that it won’t endorse in 2024 race pic.twitter.com/kZ9CLcUwSb — Mike Memoli (@mikememoli) October 3, 2024 This is … not a good timeline if you are Kamala Harris. Say, what Democrat failed to receive the IAFF endorsement in 2016, and whatever happened to her? pic.twitter.com/kQGP533eX8 — Tim Murtaugh (@TimMurtaugh) October 3, 2024 The Hill reports: The union announced in April 2019, with the Democratic primary still in its early stages, that it was supporting Biden’s White House bid. The president spoke at the union’s 2023 legislative conference, where he told the firefighters in attendance, “I have your back.” The IAFF’s decision not to endorse comes after the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, one of the nation’s largest unions, announced it would not endorse a candidate in the White House race this year. While Teamsters leadership said they weren’t backing a candidate between Trump and Harris, numerous local Teamsters chapters quickly came out in support for the vice president. Harris has earned the support of several other major organized labor groups since she replaced Biden atop the Democratic ticket, including the United Auto Workers. Harris has signaled she will carry on with many of the same labor policies as Biden, who has often touted himself as the most pro-union president in history.

45th President Donald Trump raised over $160 million in the month of September, with most of it being brought in by small-dollar donations, the Trump campaign announced Wednesday. 

One of the two medical professionals accused of contributing to Matthew Perry's drug-related death entered a guilty plea to illegally providing the "Friends" actor with ketamine in exchange for cash payments.

Samantha Power wants to do more for Ukraine as an entire generation of Ukrainians are dying. Perhaps Ukrainians support this. We don’t know. They don’t have elections in Ukraine, and opponents are imprisoned. Voice of America said that United States Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power presented books for a local school in Kyiv, […] The post Samantha Power’s in Ukraine Asking What More We Can do appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

Scottish citizens fed up with their government’s adherence to radical gender ideology — often under threat from trans activists — protested en masse, disrupting the 2022 census by marking down their religious preference as “believer in biology.” A report detailing the write-in answers was published Thursday, and revealed that thousands had responded to a call to get involved and disrupt the 2022 census from pro-woman groups like For Women Scotland. “Fascinating to see from Scottish census data published today that nearly 3000 people identified their religion as ‘Believer in Biology’ in a coordinated protest led by @ForWomenScot,” Professor Sarah Pedersen wrote via X, sharing links to some of the relevant census data. You can find the write-in responses to the religion question hereScotland's Census 2022: write-in responses for Ethnicity, National Identity, Language and Religion topic | Scotland's Census (https://t.co/KfWwnABP2v) 2/ — Prof. Sarah Pedersen (@SarahPedersen2) October 3, 2024 The 2,883 Scots who participated in the protest responded to a question asking, “what religion, religious denomination or body do you belong to?” and wrote in, “believer in biology.” “This is the article in which I discuss Scotland’s census and Believers in Biology — all 3000 of them,” Pedersen wrote. This is the article in which I discuss Scotland's census and Believers in Biology – all 3000 of them. https://t.co/pS5yO9W6NM — Prof. Sarah Pedersen (@SarahPedersen2) October 3, 2024 Harry Potter author and women’s rights activist J.K. Rowling confirmed that she had been a part of the action: “I was one of those people.” I was one of those people. https://t.co/gFe5gGVMwX — J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) October 3, 2024 “This is great! Well done all who took part!” For Women Scotland also commented. Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here! This is great! Well done all who took part!#BelieverinBiology https://t.co/96XQNYysC6 — For Women Scotland (@ForWomenScot) October 3, 2024 The protest was aimed at Scotland’s Gender Recognition Act, which would make it easier for citizens to legally change gender identity, largely on the basis of self-identification, provided they had “lived with the acquired gender” for at least three months and promised that the change was to be permanent. The new law eliminated two key previous requirement for a legal change of gender, reducing the legal age to apply to 16 and removing a requirement of an official diagnosis of “gender dysphoria” from a doctor. The GRA passed Scottish Parliament in December of 2022, but the U.K. blocked the law from Royal Assent by invoking Section 35 of the Scotland Act — which allows the United Kingdom to intervene in Scotland’s legislative process — for the first time in history.

The deadly wildfire that killed 102 people and caused $5.5 billion in damages last year in Hawaii was caused by a downed power line, according to a report released Wednesday from local and federal investigators.  Officials with the Maui Fire Department and the ATF both said that the August 8 fire that blazed through the island was determined to be one fire that arose from a “single origin and cause.” The investigators said the fire had a morning and afternoon phase and ruled it accidental.  “The cause of the fire was the re-energization of broken utility lines which caused the ejection of molten metallic material (sparks) to fall to the base of pole 25, igniting the unmaintained vegetation below,” the report from the Maui Fire Department said, noting this happened at 6:34 a.m.  A separate, but similar report from the ATF was attached as an appendix to the Maui Fire Department report. Both reports identified the same cause.  Investigators added that the firefighters believed the blaze had been extinguished after they responded the morning of August 8.  “Following the morning phase of the fire, all available indications showed the fire fully contained and extinguished—no flames, no smoke, and no perceptibly combusting material had been observed for hours,” the report said. “Despite the extraordinary diligence of personnel and the significant number of resources at the scene, undetected smoldering material from the morning phase of the fire initiated the afternoon phase of the fire in a gully adjacent to the existing fire area at [2:52 p.m.].” The report said the surrounding vegetation made up of a variety of local grasses was highly flammable. The fire spread quickly due to “extreme winds” and most severely impacted Lahaina in West Maui.  Investigators said there was no evidence that the fire was a result of intentional human activity or caused by lightning.  Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here! When commenting on the report, Assistant Maui Fire Chief Jeffrey Giesea said there was no blame for the firefighters who responded to the morning blaze. “We want to make abundantly clear to the community that our firefighters went above and beyond their due diligence to be as confident as they could be that the fire was completely extinguished before they left the scene,” he said. State and local officials came under intense scrutiny over their handling of the fire. Some survivors said that police blocked roads leading away from the blaze, causing a traffic jam as people attempted to escape.  Earlier this year, Hawaii Governor Josh Green announced a $4 billion settlement to resolve a host of lawsuits brought by victims of the fire against a number of parties, including the state, county, and Hawaiian Electric company.

A girl kidnapped by ISIS terrorists in Iraq around 10 years ago was rescued in a secret operation coordinated between Israeli forces and the U.S. in Gaza, officials said on Thursday. Fawzia Amin Sido, a now 21-year-old Yazidi girl, was taken from her family by ISIS terrorists when she was just 11 years old and held hostage by a “Palestinian Hamas-ISIS member,” according to David Saranga, the director of the digital diplomacy bureau at Israel’s foreign ministry. Sido was reunited with her family in norther Iraq. The Yazidis are a Kurdish-speaking group in parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Iran. “Her story is a reminder of the brutality faced by Yazidi children, taken without a choice,” Saranga said. “Remember, there are still 101 Israelis being held hostage in Gaza.” Fawzia, a Yazidi girl kidnapped by ISIS from Iraq and brought to Gaza at just 11 years old, has finally been rescued by the Israeli security forces. For years, she was held captive by a Palestinian Hamas-ISIS member. She has now been reunited with her family. Her story is a… pic.twitter.com/nkVotqYdov — David Saranga (@DavidSaranga) October 3, 2024 The young woman was in good condition physically, but was traumatized from her decade-long captivity, according to Iraqi officials, Reuters reported. After being kidnapped in 2014 by ISIS terrorists who were ravaging Yazidi communities, Sido was trafficked to Gaza where she was held hostage until her rescue. Over 6,000 Yazidis were kidnapped by ISIS in 2014 alone with many of them sold into sexual slavery. “This is further proof of the connection between Hamas and ISIS, as well as the crimes against humanity committed by the terrorist organization in Gaza,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement. “We will continue to act to dismantle the Hamas-ISIS terrorist organization and free all hostages in Hamas captivity.” The IDF added that the Hamas member who was holding Sido hostage was recently killed in an Israeli airstrike, which freed the woman to get in contact with Iraqi authorities. The Iraqis then passed her information to U.S. officials, Reuters reported. After multiple attempts to get Sido failed over the past four months, she was finally rescued “in a complex operation coordinated between Israel, the United States, and other international actors,” the Israeli military said in a statement. Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here! Along with the 101 Israeli hostages still in Gaza, Israeli officials believe that four Americans are still alive and in Hamas captivity. Hamas leaders are known to place hostages near themselves as human shields as Israel seeks to take out the terrorists in Gaza. The war in Gaza is approaching its one-year mark after Hamas terrorists launched a brutal attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, killing over 1,200 people and taking hundreds hostage back into the Gaza Strip.

A spokesman for second gentleman Doug Emhoff reportedly denied Thursday that he assaulted his ex-girlfriend or any other woman. Semafor reported in its Thursday newsletter that an unnamed spokesman denied the Daily Mail’s explosive report that Emhoff had drunkenly and “forcefully slapped” his ex-girlfriend in 2012 at the Cannes Film Festival in France because he thought she was flirting with another man. The spokesman told Semafor that the Daily Mail’s report is “untrue” and that “any suggestion that he would or has ever hit a woman is false.” Neither the Harris campaign nor the White House has responded to The Daily Wire’s press inquiries on the matter. Emhoff is scheduled to speak at multiple campaign events on Friday and Saturday, according to Thursday press releases from the Harris campaign. The Daily Mail based its reporting on the stories of three different friends who said that Emhoff’s ex-girlfriend, whom the publication identified only as “Jane,” told them about the alleged incident shortly afterward. Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here! “Jane” is a “successful New York attorney” who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of Emhoff, the publication reported. She reportedly met Emhoff on a dating website and had been going out with him about three months before the alleged assault took place. The Daily Mail also included documentation showing that Emhoff and the woman were a couple: a photo of the couple, with the woman’s face blurred out, as well as their travel itinerary and email showing details about their 2012 stay in Nice, France. The publication also first reported in early August that Emhoff’s first marriage ended because he cheated on his ex-wife, Kerstin Emhoff, with his children’s nanny — whom he impregnated. In their Wednesday story on the assault allegation against Emhoff, the Daily Mail also cited a source claiming that Emhoff allegedly settled with the nanny for about $80,000, and had her sign an NDA.

A California school district is facing calls for the federal government to launch an investigation into its hiring practices, with one organization claiming that it systematically engages in racial discrimination through its “equity” policies. California’s La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District, located on the coast just outside of Silicon Valley, may have engaged in racial discrimination as it sought to attract “diverse” candidates, according to Parents Defending Education (PDE). “La Honda-Prescadero cannot discriminate based on their race when hiring or making other employment decisions,” PDE wrote in a letter to the Director and Regional Attorney of the San Jose Local Office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. “We ask that your office promptly investigate the allegations in this complaint, act swiftly to remedy unlawful policies and practices, and order appropriate relief.” PDE pointed to multiple documents from the school district that outline its approach to “equity” in hiring. One such document explained that one of the district’s goals is to “achieve an increase in diversity” of new hires. “By June 2024, district and site staff shall fully implement the LHPUSD hiring policy and achieve an increase in the diversity of the workforce in at least 75% of new hires,” the document reads. Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here! Another district document, called “Hiring and Retaining a Diverse Staff 2024-2025,” explains how this goal might be achieved. A list of “strategies to encourage diverse candidates” instructs hiring personnel to “prioritize messaging that centers diversity/POC” and “track demography of candidate pool throughout the entire hiring process.” The document even goes on to explain that hiring officials should be “purposeful about saying experience in lieu of degree” when advertising jobs in order to enhance the diversity of applicant pools. The documents both appear to have been created after the district commissioned an equity audit report from an outside group, which charged $19,500 for its services. The report claimed that the La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District “had room to improve how they recruit educators of color to increase the diversification of staff.” “Research supports the importance of encouraging racially diverse candidates to remain in districts at proportional rates and provide them with equitable opportunities to progress upwards in the organization,” the equity audit commissioned by the district claims. PDE warns that the measures taken by the school district to reengineer the demographics of their staff could run afoul of federal law. “PDE makes this investigation request as an interested third-party organization with members who are parents of school children throughout the country,” the organization explained, adding that “PDE and its members oppose racial discrimination and political indoctrination in America’s schools.” The call for an investigation into the La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District comes after PDE issued a similar call for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to investigate  New York state’s Rochester City School District for similarly implementing an “equity policy” that appeared to create a hiring preference for “African American, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American” job applicants who qualify as “staff of color.” The La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District did not immediately respond to a request for comment.