VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS (Flicker/Gage Skidmore).

Vice President Kamala Harris, speaking to a conference of Black journalists, urged those in public life to be aware of the impact on people of “inflammatory” language and –without mentioning former president Donald Trump by name – urged voters to make sure such speakers “can’t have that microphone again.”

The Democratic presidential nominee was referring to accusations made by Trump – the Republican presidential nominee – that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio were stealing and eating household pets such as dogs and cats. 

In the wake of that, there have been bomb and other violent threats in that city, which have closed schools and other public buildings despite no evidence the claims are true, according to The Associated Press.

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance agreed that political rhetoric is “getting too heated” but agued that liberals were more to blame than conservatives.

Nine killed as pagers explode

Exploding hand-held pagers killed nine people and injured others in Lebanon Tuesday at the same time.

According to The New York Times, American and other officials believe the attack was aimed at members of the Iran-aligned militant group Hezbollah by the Israeli military.

The theory is that hundreds of pagers made in Taiwan were purchased, then had small amounts of explosives inserted and sent to Lebanon.

Six of the nine killed were Hezbollah fighters, the group told The Times. Many of the wounds were to eyes, faces and hands as the person carrying the “beepers” raised them to read the display and the explosions were triggered remotely.

Injuries were also reported in Syria. United Press International reports that the total number of those injured reached 2,750.

Federal charges loom agains “Diddy” Combs

SEAN COMBS

Entertainer Sean “Diddy” Combs is now facing federal charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and engaging in transportation to engage in prostitution.

According to UPI, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams announced the charges on Tuesday, additional charges could be forthcoming and he pronounced Combs to be a “danger to the community.”

In the indictment, he is accused of transporting commercial sex workers across state and international borders and “manipulated women” into sex performances with the use of drugs and physical violence.

Combs plans to plead not guilty. He was denied bail.

Weather: Steady, until Saturday

The temperatures in our West Orange County cities should stay steady until a new warming trend starts on Saturday. The forecast for Wednesday calls for a daytime high of 74, which will continue through Friday with overnight lows in the low 60s. The thermometer will rise to 80 during the day on Saturday.

Great thoughts

“That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history.”

– Aldous Huxley.