%%Post image thumbnail below.%%  # Episode Overview > - **Date Aired:** [[11-11-2023]] > - **Title:** Odds & Ends > - **Episode:** 258 > - **Description:** A roundup & discussion type show. > - **Link:** <https://rumble.com/v3v6bt4-big-dig-energy-258-odds-and-ends.html> # Replay <iframe src="https://rumble.com/embed/v3sky1s/?pub=6eeyh" allow="fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" style="height:100%;width:100%; aspect-ratio: 16 / 9; "></iframe> <br> # Greetings & Announcements  # Segments ## US Military Recruitment Going Poorly Archive: <https://archive.is/hUgvz>  > It's becoming a familiar story for the U.S. military as the country's armed forces - and the recruiters who work to enlist new Americans - find, yet again, that they are facing challenges with recruitment. > > With hefty bonuses, loosened requirements and new ways of conducting boot camps, the U.S. military said that out of the five Defense Department service branches, only two met their active-duty enlisted recruitment goals. **The Takeaway:** Our military is facing the highest shortage it has seen since 1999 [according to](https://archive.is/7jo7U) Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Bryan Ewing, and is at a critical point. The military must recruit 184,000 people every year if it wants to replace people who leave the service, according to the Labor Department. But the military isn't the only institution facing a reckoning. ## Pope Francis Removes Bishop from Texas Archive: <http://archive.today/ftgB3>  This is Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, leading a protest in June against the Los Angeles Dodgers for honoring a pro-L.G.B.T.Q. group.  Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, one of the loudest American voices against Pope Francis within his own church, recently responded to a Vatican investigation into his leadership and talk of his potential resignation with a public letter stating, "I cannot resign as Bishop of Tyler because that would be me abandoning the flock." He added he would step aside only if the pope removed him. Today, Francis did just that. > In a rare move that is a measure both of Bishop Strickland's outspoken criticism of the supreme pontiff of his faith and Francis' frustration with ultraconservatives in the United States who have emerged as the financial center, and media megaphone, of the resistance to his papacy, the pope removed the prelate from his post. > > "The Holy Father has relieved from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Tyler," Bishop Strickland, the Vatican said on Saturday in a routine statement of global staffing changes. It added that Francis had appointed Bishop Joe S. Vásquez of Austin as the apostolic administrator of the sede vacante, or temporarily vacant seat, of Tyler. > In the past year, he has accused the pope of undermining the Catholic faith, questioned whether Vatican officials even qualified as Catholics, and warned that the global meeting of bishops and lay people in October, which is key to Francis' vision of the church, was a vehicle to threaten "basic truths" of Catholic doctrine. Twitter: <https://twitter.com/BishStrickland>  But it's not all bad news: ## Appeals Court Rules Against Biden ATF Definition Change Archive: <https://archive.is/isbH5>  > The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against a Biden administration ATF rule that sought to regulate guns without serial numbers and redefine the term "firearm." > > The court on Thursday said that the ATF had no legal authority to put forth a rule that would require gun vendors to treat firearm parts like pistol grips and firing mechanisms as fully completed firearms, meaning they would need to have serial numbers. The rule, which was first rolled out in April 2022, was intended for the ATF to be able track homemade guns. > > Judges at the Fifth Circuit unanimously said the ATF had usurped legislative authority and that the ATF was trying to take broader regulatory authority than it actually had. > > "Where an executive agency in what is, for all intents and purposes, 'law making,' the legislature is deprived of its final function under our Constitution, and our citizens are robbed of their right to fair representation in government. This is especially true when the executive rule-turned-law criminalizes conduct without the say of the people who are subject to its penalties," Judge Kurt Engelhardt wrote. > > "ATF, in promulgating its Final Rule, attempted to take on the mantle of Congress to 'do something' with respect to gun control," Engelhardt added. "But it is not the province of an executive agency to write laws for our nation. That vital duty, for better or for worse, lies solely with the legislature." Archive: <https://web.archive.org/web/20231111142658/https://aboutblaw.com/bbpJ> <div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 60%;"><iframe src="https://docs.google.com/viewer?embedded=true&url=https://aboutblaw.com/bbpJ" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> > The rule had been allowed to stay in place by the Supreme Court during lower court adjudication. The [[DOJ|Department of Justice]] will likely appeal the Fifth Circuit's decision to the Supreme Court. > > Judge Andrew Oldham was critical of the ATF's new rule, saying that it would allow a broad swath of regulations not explicitly spelled out in the rule. > > "The Final Rule is limitless. It purports to regulate any piece of metal or plastic that has been machined beyond its primordial state for fear that it might one day be turned into a gun, a gun frame, or a gun receiver," he wrote. "And it doesn't stop regulating the metal or plastic until it's melted back down to ooze." Now onto some things that I missed earlier this month: ## RFK Jr. Flew on the Lolita Express Archive: <http://archive.today/ZF6YW>  > [[Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]] has clarified the nature of his relationship with [[Jeffrey Epstein]], after it was revealed that the presidential hopeful had flown on the convicted sex offender's private jet. > > The independent 2024 presidential candidate was among a number of high-profile people who in 2021 were named as passengers on Epstein's jet, which was often used to transport guests to the financier's private Caribbean island, Little Saint James. > Amid mounting curiosity over Kennedy being listed as one of the passengers, a spokesperson for the former Democrat exclusively told [[Newsweek]] that he had "flown one time on [[Jeffrey Epstein]]'s private plane. It was in 1993 from New York City to Palm Beach, Florida to visit RFK Jr.'s mom for Easter." > > The spokesperson added that the private jet trip was made possible by Kennedy's then-wife, Mary Richardson Kennedy, who was friendly with Epstein's partner at the time, Ghislaine Maxwell. Richardson Kennedy passed away in 2012. Kennedy has been married to Curb Your Enthusiasm star Cheryl Hines since 2014. > > "Mary, Kennedy's wife, and two of their kids were on the flight," the representative said. "Mary knew Epstein's girlfriend [[Ghislaine Maxwell]], who learned that they were going to Palm Beach for Easter and offered their family a ride." Black Book Names: <https://epsteinsblackbook.com/all-names> ## Bad Week for Pedos & Predators ### Omegle Shut Down Archive: <https://archive.is/EsNhb>  > Omegle, a popular video chat service that randomly connects users with strangers, has shut down after 14 years amid misuse of the platform and increased scrutiny by online safety regulators. In a lengthy statement announcing the closure, website founder Leif K Brooks said that operating Omegle is "no longer sustainable, financially nor psychologically," and that fighting to prevent it from being misused is "simply too much." While the website remains live to host Brook's statement, its anonymous video chat function is no longer accessible.  > Omegle gained a reputation as a breeding ground for sexual abuse of minors, leading to a prominent lawsuit in which the website was accused of pairing an 11-year-old girl with a sexual predator. The decision to shut down the platform comes at a time when global lawmakers are introducing strict online safety regulations to prevent child sexual exploitation, such as the UK's Online Safety Bill. ### DOJ Busts High-Profile Trafficking Ring Link: <https://thenationalpulse.com/2023/11/09/doj-busts-sex-ring-frequented-by-politicians-military-pharma-execs/>  Massachusetts District Attorney Press Release: Archive: <http://archive.today/DKjFT> > Three individuals have been arrested in connection with operating sophisticated high-end brothels in greater Boston and eastern Virginia. Commercial sex buyers allegedly included elected officials, high tech and pharmaceutical executives, doctors, military officers, government contractors that possess security clearances, professors, attorneys, scientists and accountants, among others.  ### Another One Archive: <https://archive.is/s6et5>  ### Another One… FBI Edition Archive: <https://archive.is/aLw9A>  > Janes pleaded guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of children, including using children to produce CSAM, and one count of receipt of child pornography. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 27, 2024, and faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. ## VAERS Broken? Archive: <http://archive.today/ywhMT>  %%Footer Starts Here%% ---  --- # Keep Digging %%Space%% ## Tags #Stream/BDE ### Footnotes & References