Searchable News & Info From Reliable Online Sources.
- The Long, Weird Tale of Comet Ping Pong
Editor’s Note: This story is one in a three-part series commemorating the 10-year anniversary of Pizzagate, a conspiracy theory that led to a shooting at the Washington, D.C., restaurant Comet Ping Pong in 2016. Read Kaitlyn Tiffany’s analysis on the legacy of Pizzagate and Charlie Warzel’s profile of the Pizzagate shooter, Edgar Maddison Welch. James Alefantis had an excruciating hangover when he first learned that his restaurant, Comet Ping Pong, was the suspected site of a global sex-trafficking organization. It was late October 2016, and he’d just thrown a 10-year anniversary party for the Washington, D.C., pizzeria. There had been much to celebrate: After grinding through a few slow years, Comet had become a favorite among families in the city’s prosperous Northwest quadrant and also, improbably, an important venue for punk bands. Alefantis had hired a band to play the party and, like many of the hundreds of guests who showed up, he overindulged at the open bar. The next morning, he was barely conscious when his general manager called to say that a reporter had been in touch with some questions about a thing called “Pizzagate.”Alefantis was, as you might imagine, surprised to hear that people on 4chan and Reddit had identified Comet’s basement—which does not exist—as the headquarters of a pedophilia ring run by Bill and Hillary Clinton. “It sounded like the dumbest thing ever,” he told me earlier this month. The theory was based on a bizarre reading of leaked emails sent by John Podesta, who was the chair of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign at the time, and knew Alefantis socially. Cheese pizza was said to be Podesta’s code word for “child pornography,” and pasta his word for “little boy.”WikileaksExcerpt from a leaked email to John Podesta from December 2015 with the header “Cheese.”Alefantis’s first instinct was to brush it off. He figured that Pizzagate was just another one of those downs that tend to follow ups in the restaurant business, like when you have a great weekend and then on Monday, your hood fan goes on the fritz. People say lots of crazy things online, especially when the national mood is inflamed by a presidential election. After Donald Trump won a few days later, Alefantis allowed himself to hope that the fever would break.Jason Andrew for The AtlanticComet Ping Pong’s owner, James Alefantis, sits for a portrait in a booth at the restaurant on October 23,… [TheTopNews] Read More.6 days ago - He Wanted to Save Children. Instead, He Unleashed Chaos.
Editor’s Note: This story is one in a three-part series commemorating the 10-year anniversary of Pizzagate, a conspiracy theory that led to a shooting at the Washington, D.C., restaurant Comet Ping Pong in 2016. Read Kaitlyn Tiffany’s analysis on the legacy of Pizzagate and Ross Andersen’s story about Comet Ping Pong. In the video, recorded from the dashboard of his Toyota Prius, he looks at times like he’s on the verge of tears. Edgar Maddison Welch makes a point to look into the camera when he speaks. That’s because the video is for his two children. He speaks slowly; it’s unclear whether he’s weighing each word or simply unsure of what to say. Somewhere in the back of the car are the AR-15, the shotgun, and the .38-caliber revolver he’s brought with him.“I can’t let you grow up in a world that’s so corrupted by evil without at least standing up for you, and for other children,” he says. His demeanor is calm and there’s resignation in his voice. “Like I’ve always told you, we have a duty to protect people who can’t protect themselves and do for people who can’t do for themselves. That’s what I’m trying to do. I hope you understand that one day.”Back home in Salisbury, North Carolina, his girlfriend was not pleased. He’d left the children with her early that morning, while she was still asleep. He’d texted her that he loved her, and she’d responded with a barrage of angry replies; “idk what the fuck Ur doing it’s really starting to freak me out,” she’d written. “Jus know that the ppl u love R suffering too back home.” This impromptu six-hour road trip was nothing more than a “selfish lil adventure.”He did not see it that way. This was God’s work. Not long after leaving home, he’d texted a friend a verse from the Book of Isaiah: “He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.” Tattooed on his back was a different verse from the same book—that “those who hope in the Lord” will be made strong in his image. “They will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”Welch, who went by his middle name, Maddison, must have felt, in that moment, like he was living the scripture. Near the end of his journey, he texted… [TheTopNews] Read More.6 days ago - The Epstein-Pizzagate Connection
Editor’s Note: This story is one in a three-part series commemorating the 10-year anniversary of Pizzagate, a conspiracy theory that led to a shooting at the Washington, D.C., restaurant Comet Ping Pong in 2016. Read Ross Andersen’s story about Comet Ping Pong and Charlie Warzel’s profile of the Pizzagate shooter, Edgar Maddison Welch. Earlier this year, on his very popular podcast, Tucker Carlson brought up a “semi-forgotten story” that he had once found absurd. “I didn’t take Pizzagate as seriously, maybe, as I guess I should have at the time,” he said.The time he was referring to is the late fall of 2016, just before and after the first election of Donald Trump, when the details of an imagined pedophilia ring that was organized by powerful Democrats began to spread online. The Pizzagate conspiracy theory was drawn from a batch of hacked emails from Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta, who had corresponded with the owner of a Washington, D.C., pizza restaurant called Comet Ping Pong. Podesta had sent a bunch of emails about pizza. It’s not worth your time for me to explain why some people became convinced that these were full of coded references to child sex slaves.The important thing to know or remember is that, by early December, the theory was spilling over into practice. Edgar Welch, a 28-year-old North Carolina man, arrived at Comet one Sunday afternoon with a revolver and an AR-15, under the assumption that he would find and free the children being kept there. Now everyone could see that the aspersion-casting had gone too far. One of the leading Pizzagate influencers, Alex Jones, publicly apologized to Comet’s owner, presumably to avoid a lawsuit, and one of Trump’s favored far-right influencers, Jack Posobiec—a guy who had once barged into the restaurant himself, with a camera rolling—backed off too, eventually insisting that he had never even claimed the conspiracy was real. Pizzagate had become embarrassing, even to its early promoters.But any trace of shame is now a distant memory. Ten years after its inception, Carlson is interested in Pizzagate—and regretful that he wasn’t interested before. In this, he’s not alone. Last January, when the government released millions of pages of files related to the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein, one subset of internet sleuths began by searching them for mentions of “pizza.” They found many. On his podcast, Carlson said he was intrigued by several in… [TheTopNews] Read More.6 days ago - Grote 4SEE Camera Uses Existing Seven-Way Connector for Trailer Video
What does the new camera offer? Grote Industries has introduced a next-generation 4SEE rear-view camera that sends video through the existing J560 seven-way electrical connection. The company demonstrated it at ATA’s 2026 Management Conference & Exhibition in Charlotte, North Carolina. The design aims to improve backing visibility without requiring another tractor–trailer cable or wireless pairing. Grote says video arrives with virtually no delay after the normal tractor–trailer hookup, without pairing wireless devices. Andrew Grose, vice president of Grote Networks, said this approach simplifies backing visibility and provides bandwidth for additional cameras. The company aims to reduce backing collisions, yard damage, insurance claims, and downtime. However, the announcement does not quantify expected reductions in crashes or operating costs. How can the connector carry more data? Grote’s Adam Slade told Heavy Duty Trucking that the new technology can reliably transmit tens of megabits per second through the existing harness. That capacity supports multiple camera feeds alongside tire and lighting information. He distinguished the physical connector from older power-line communication systems, which had more limited bandwidth. During the demonstration, Grote used standard seven-way cords from other suppliers. Therefore, the technology did not require a Grote-branded coil cord. The approach avoids adding another hookup for drivers or another connection for maintenance teams to service. How does the camera integrate with 4SEE? The camera expands Grote’s smart-trailer platform, which connects devices through a digital wiring harness. Grote says fleets can add the camera to trailers already equipped with 4SEE. The standard connector provides the tractor–trailer link, but the system still relies on compatible 4SEE equipment. Accordingly, the announcement concerns adding a camera to an equipped trailer, not simply plugging one into any existing trailer. The broader platform combines information from lighting, tire monitoring, and cargo sensors. Its web portal and app provide diagnostic information and alerts, including individual lamp failures. This centralized approach helps fleets review trailer conditions without treating each device as a separate system. However, Grote states that its monitoring tools supplement rather than replace routine pre-trip inspections. When will it launch, and what comes next? Grote said it was moving into production, with release planned for the fourth quarter of 2026. Meanwhile, two-way truck–trailer communication remained an upcoming capability rather than an already available feature. This would allow information to travel from the tractor to trailer equipment, not just carry camera images back to the cab. For example, Slade described transmitting… [TheTopNews] Read More.6 days ago - ‘Like cutting up a Picasso’: AI microdrama edit of Neighbours worrie...
A micro-drama will use AI-assisted technology to edit old episodes of the Australian TV soap to focus on Margot Robbie's character. [TheTopNews] Read More.7 days ago - RFK Jr. to ease access to unapproved peptides, draft policy states
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took steps Wednesday that could open up access to certain unapproved peptide drugs that are being promoted for wellness. [TheTopNews] Read More.7 days ago
The Searchable USWebDaily.com and TheTopNews NewsBank Helps You Be Better Informed, Faster! Spread The Word.
