Gov. Lee’s Signature Makes Tennessee a Second Amendment Sanctuary

Guy shooting hand gun at gun range

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a bill Wednesday that makes the state a Second Amendment sanctuary.

Senate Bill 1335 prevents any “law, treaty, executive order, rule, or regulation of the United States government” that violates the Tennessee Constitution or the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution from being enforced in the state.

That violation would have to be determined by either the Tennessee or U.S. Supreme Court. The stipulation was added during debate of the bill in the Tennessee House, and the Senate concurred.

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Commentary: Honoring America’s Heroes on Memorial Day 

Soldier at gravesite of U.S. veterans

On Memorial Day, we commemorate and honor our fellow Americans who gave their lives in service to our country. 

Throughout America’s history, our military men and women have bravely defended our God-given freedoms against the evils of religious persecution, slavery, foreign enemies, and radical terrorism.   

The first defenders of American freedom were the courageous Continental Army and its leader, General George Washington.  As we noted in our documentary “The First American,” it was a monumental challenge for Washington to mobilize a poorly trained and under-equipped army to victory against the British. 

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Commentary: Concerns Grow About Critical Race Theory and Fostering Healthy Solutions in Williamson County Schools

Protestor with megaphone, talking

Critical Race Theory and its potential impact on students, and the broader community, has many parents worried in Williamson County. These worries have grown ever since Fostering Healthy Solutions (FHS) was hired – by unanimous vote by the WCS school board – to do an audit of the WCS system. FHS is Shan Foster’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion consultancy, which he co-founded with his mother, Anita Foster, in 2017. FHS was brought in to address charges of bullying and claims of incidents of racism in the WCS. The WCS School Board has paid FHS $55,000 over 4 months to help the district “provide a safe learning environment for all students by creating a cultural strategy plan”, according to an April 28 article in the Brentwood HomePage.

Fueling WCS parents’ concerns about FHS, are controversies regarding Critical Race Theory that are erupting in other school districts nationwide. The concern being, that firms like FHS are enacting programs in the name of “Diversity”, “Equity” and “Inclusion”, but hiding behind those nice-sounding terms is a bevy of lesser known CRT-based ideas. For example, concepts such as “white privilege”, “anti-racism” and “systemic racism”, as well as a “oppressor/oppressed” framework for understanding America. Oppressor/Oppressed narratives are rooted in Neo-Marxist philosophies and are usually presented as fact to faculty and students via DEI programs, rather than academic theory.

The Tennessee Legislature just banned the teaching of CRT in schools – with Governor Bill Lee signing HB 0580/SB 0623 – which penalizes funding to any school system that teaches CRT concepts. Still, the question many Williamson County parents have is, does CRT inform the worldview of the FHS’s founders?  And does FHS intend to use CRT concepts and ideas to guide discussions about DEI should their contract be renewed in July?

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Commentary: No Schools are Safe from Critical Race Theory – Even in Williamson County

Downtown Franklin, Tennessee

Williamson County? Never heard of it. What’s the big deal?

Well, a lot.

Williamson County, Tennessee is what you might call “Republican Heaven.” Just south of Democrat-stronghold Nashville, much of it is a gorgeous suburb, home to the likes of country star Luke Bryan of “American Idol” fame – on an 150 acre estate – and Senator Marsha Blackburn.

Its county seat, Franklin, has a downtown straight out of an updated version of Norman Rockwell, the kind of place you can get both great barbecue and haute cuisine.

That small city and county are growing like crazy in large part because they are also supposed to have one of the best public school systems in the country.

Supposed to…

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Biden Admin Plans to Direct $861 Million to Central American Countries So That Their People Won’t Invade the Border

Kamala Harris talking to Administration about immigration policy

The Biden administration aims to send $861 million to Central American countries to address causes of mass migration to the U.S., according to the budget released Friday.

The administration plans to provide $861 million in federal aid to El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico in order to “address the root causes of irregular migration,” according to the proposed budget for 2022. Vice President Kamala Harris asked private sector companies to “make new, significant commitments” to create sustainable economic opportunities aimed at ending the migration crisis at the southern border on Thursday, according to the White House.

“Our comprehensive strategy to address the root causes of migration will involve significant commitments of U.S. government resources to support the long-term development of the region—including efforts to foster economic opportunity, strengthen governance, combat corruption, and improve security,” the White House said in a statement.

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Inflation Spiked While Personal Income Dropped in April, Key Economic Report Shows

Two men in grocery aisle, shopping

A key measurement of consumer spending and personal income showed the economy experienced higher-than-expected inflation in April, according to the Department of Commerce.

The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index — a main inflation indicator used by the Federal Reserve that measures consumer price increases  — ticked up by 0.6% while the core PCE index, which excludes food and energy, increased 0.7% in April, the Commerce Department reported Friday. The Disposable Personal Income index, which measures how much after-tax income Americans have — decreased by 14.6%, or $3.22 trillion.

Economists had expected the PCE measure to come in lower than it did, CNBC reported.

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Missouri’s Treasurer Opposes Biden Administration’s Influence on Divesting in Fuel Companies

Gas station at night

Missouri Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick and 14 other Republican state treasurers are questioning President Joe Biden’s administration pressuring of U.S. banks and financial institutions to not lend to or invest in fossil fuel companies.

The group of chief financial officers sent a letter to presidential climate envoy John Kerry this week expressing concern about a reported strategy to eliminate the coal, oil and natural gas industries by cutting off loans or investments.

“While the pursuit of more renewable sources of energy is a noble cause, the fact is that fossil fuels remain critical to our country and the entire world,” Fitzpatrick said in a statement. “The Biden Administration’s failure to acknowledge this will result in increased costs for consumers and businesses. An energy independent America is vital for national security and strengthens our economy which impacts all Americans – especially our poorest citizens who feel rising prices at the gas pump and the checkout line most. Attempts to pressure financial institutions to cut off the fossil fuel industry amounts to nothing less than an abuse of power by the federal government and should not be tolerated by states.”

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Republicans Launch Election Investigations in Multiple States as Arizona Audit Forges Ahead

Governor Tony Evers gives his first State of the State address in Madison, Wisconsin, at the State Capitol building on Jan. 22, 2019. He addressed a joint meeting of the Assembly and the Senate. Seen here, from left, are Speaker Pro Tempore Rep. Tyler August, R-Lake Geneva, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester and President of the Senate Roger Roth, R-Appleton.

Republicans in multiple U.S. states are mounting investigations into the circumstances surrounding the 2020 election, moves that come amid the contentious ongoing audit of election results in Maricopa County, Ariz.

The Arizona audit — which includes a hand recount of over two million ballots — has reflected bitter partisan divisions in the state, with Republicans and Democrats squaring off in a series of volleys over the conduct of the audit and the political fallout surrounding it. Establishment media outlets have joined in Democratic attacks against the audit, with CNN claiming that the process is “bogus” and FiveThirtyEight calling it a “partisan inquisition.”

Nevertheless, efforts are underway in several states to undertake investigations similar to Arizona’s, though none are anywhere near as large in scope as is that in Maricopa, the state’s largest county.

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Job Searches Increased in Republican States Canceling Federal Unemployment Boost: Report

Person on laptop

Relative to the national trend, job searches temporarily increased in states that have announced they will no longer offer the pandemic-related federal unemployment boost, an economic report showed.

In states that are withdrawing from the federal unemployment program, interest in job postings increased 5%, according to the report released Thursday by job listings site Indeed. The increase was relative to a national average recorded during the final two weeks of April, before Republican governors began canceling the federal benefit.

“In May, job search activity on Indeed increased, relative to the national trend, in states that announced they would end federal [unemployment] benefits prematurely,” the Indeed report said.

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Amazon to Acquire MGM Studios for $8.45 Billion in Mega Media Deal

MGM building in Las Vegas, Nevada

Amazon acquired MGM Studios for $8.45 billion in a mega deal that will bolster Amazon’s entertainment profile, the companies announced Wednesday morning.

The deal will allow Amazon to give its subscribers access to MGM Studios’ entire portfolio of movies and television shows, according to the announcement. MGM Studios’ content library includes more than 4,000 films and 17,000 television shows.

“The real financial value behind this deal is the treasure trove of IP in the deep catalog that we plan to reimagine and develop together with MGM’s talented team,” Mike Hopkins, senior vice president of Prime Video and Amazon Studios, said in a statement. “It’s very exciting and provides so many opportunities for high-quality storytelling.”

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Wuhan Lab Researcher’s Wife Died of COVID-Like Illness in December 2019, Former Lead U.S. Investigator Says

The wife of a Wuhan lab researcher working on coronaviruses died of what appeared to be COVID-19 in December 2019, the leader of a State Department investigation under the Trump administration told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

It would have been an early clue that the virus could be transmitted among humans, yet Chinese authorities said that the virus was not transmissible for at least a month after they knew it was, allowing it to spread, according to David Asher, who led an investigation on COVID-19’s origins and served in the State Department under Democrat and Republican presidents.

China reported in mid-January that the virus was transmissible among humans.

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Fauci Once Argued That Gain-of-Function Research Was Worth Risking a Pandemic

Person in green protective gear in lab with safety glasses and mask on

Infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci argued in 2012 that the benefits of gain-of-function research were worth the risk of causing a pandemic through a lab accident.

In a paper for the American Society for Microbiology, unearthed by the Australian, Fauci wrote, “the benefits of such experiments and the resulting knowledge outweigh the risks.” He also wrote, “it is more likely that a pandemic would occur in nature.”

Gain-of-function research involves “juicing up” viruses to make them more infectious and deadly in humans.

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Plane Crash in Percy Priest Lake Kills Seven, Including Weigh Down Workshop and Remnant Fellowship Church Founder Gwen Shamblin Lara

Gwen Shamblin Lara

Rutherford County Fire and Rescue officials reported Saturday that health and wellness expert Gwen Shamblin Lara was among seven people who perished when the small private aircraft they were in crashed into Percy Priest Lake outside of Nashville.

The accident took place shortly before 11:00 a.m. Saturday morning, Rutherford County Fire and Rescue officials said, when the Cessna Citation 501 carrying seven passengers crashed into Percy Priest Lake located just outside of Nashville. The New York Times reported the private jet was on its way to Palm Beach International Airport in Florida.

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Big Banks Support Biden Amnesty Plan

Joe Biden at desk, looking over documents

The CEOs of six of the nation’s largest banks all voiced their support for Joe Biden’s plans to give blanket amnesty to as many as 22 million illegal aliens, Breitbart reports.

The chiefs of Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo all said as such during a Senate Banking Committee hearing. When asked about such an amnesty plan, the CEOs agreed that mass amnesty “would ultimately help us build a more robust, stronger economy,” even though there is no evidence to support such a claim.

It was Senator Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) who asked the question of the CEOs, and subsequently bragged about their answers on social media after the hearing. Referring to it as “good news for my colleagues who won’t take any action unless their friends on Wall Street give them the OK.”

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Israeli Coalition Says It Has Enough Votes to Replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Acoalition of opposition parties have said that they have sufficient votes to create a new government that would unseat Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from serving at the helm of the Jewish state in the post he has long held.

“We could go to fifth elections, sixth elections, until our home falls upon us, or we could stop the madness and take responsibility,” Naftali Bennett said via a televised statement on Sunday evening according to The Washington Post. “Today, I would like to announce that I intend to join my friend Yair Lapid in forming a unity government.”

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CNN Loses Nearly 70 Percent of Viewers Since Trump Left Office

CNN logo outside of Atlanta, Ga., headquarters

Ratings from Neilsen Media Research reported Tuesday showed that CNN lost 67% of its total viewers since January, and according to The Daily Caller, its since Donald Trump left the White House.

During the primetime hours of 8:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. (EST), CNN lost around 65% of its total viewers since January. In the critical 25-54 age demographic, the network lost 71% of its viewers for both the day and primetime, according to the report.

All the major cable news shows have experienced a drop, MSNBC had the second-largest loss in viewership since January, with 49% of its total viewership down between January and May. In the 25-54 age demographic, the network lost 63% of its viewers. During primetime hours, MSNBC lost 42% of its total viewers and 58% of viewers between the ages of 25 and 54.

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Florida Concert Promoter: Tickets Are $18 if You’re Vaccinated but $1,000 if You’re Not

Live concert

A concert promoter in Florida is selling $18 discounted tickets to an upcoming show for those who have been vaccinated and charging $999.99 per ticket for those who have not, ABC News reports.

Paul Williams of Leadfoot Promotions in Tampa Bay is organizing the concert which is set to take place on June 26 at the VFW Post 39 venue in St. Petersburg. It will feature performances from three punk rock banks: Teenage Bottlerocket, MakeWar and Rutterkin, according to the report.

Posters for the punk event feature an image of “Nightmare on Elm Street” killer Freddy Krueger with needles for fingers and the Leadfoot Promotions booking page advises attendees to bring their “COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card” showing they have had two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or one shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on or before 6/12/2021.

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Two Ohio Lawmakers Want State to Call for Convention of States

Rep. Riordan McClain

Two Ohio lawmakers plan to introduce a resolution next week calling for a convention of states to address the size of the federal government.  

State Reps. Riordan McClain, R-Upper Sandusky, and Craig Riedel, R-Defiance, said they plan to introduce the resolution, which would create a convention that could discuss the topics of “limiting the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, term limits for Congress and other government officials, and fiscal restraints for the federal government.”

“The size and scope of the federal government have long been unsustainable, and we have waited long enough for Congress to fix itself,” McClain said.

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Community Safety Program Announced to Curb Violence in Minneapolis

Minneapolis just announced a new community safety program in an attempt to stop the increase in violence that has occurred over the last year. 

This new initiative is backed by the mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, as well as other leaders in the community. The goal is to help stop the explosion of gun crime in recent days, through an effort called Community Safety Specialists (CSS).

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Noah Valenstein to Step Down as Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary

Noah Valenstein, Secretary for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), recently announced his resignation after serving in the position for almost four years.

Valenstein has worked for the Department under former Governor Rick Scott and current Governor, Ron DeSantis, who was updated on Valenstein’s decision on May 8th. On June 4th, Valenstein’s spot will be filled by Shawn Hamilton as interim DEP secretary.

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Michigan Undercounted Nursing Home COVID-19 Deaths, Reporter Says

Staff member at nursing home showing smartphone to elderly woman

ulitzer Prize-winning journalist Charlie LeDuff says Michigan has undercounted COVID-19 nursing home deaths.

The accusation follows a settlement between the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and LeDuff with legal services provided by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. LeDuff and the MCPP sued the government when it failed to provide public records as required by law.

“This data is an essential part of accurately understanding the effects of this pandemic and the public policy implemented in response,” Steve Delie, an attorney and the Mackinac Center’s FOIA expert, said in a May 21 statement. “It also leaves open the possibility that the state is undercounting the number of deaths of those in nursing homes.”

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Starkist Moving Headquarters from Pennsylvania to Virginia

Starkist Tuna

Packaged tuna manufacturer Starkist is closing up its headquarters in Pittsburgh and moving to northern Virginia, but most of the details about the move have not been revealed.

Starkist will close its office in the North Shore of Pittsburgh on March 31, 2022, but will maintain a presence in the area. Its new headquarters will open in northern Virginia in 2022, but the company did not say in which locality.

The company did not announce the reasons for its relocation. No announcements have been made related to taxpayer-funded subsidies or other incentives, which could be part of a deal.

Starkist has been owned by South Korea-based Dongwon Industries since 2008. It employs about 2,630 people and generates more than $24 million in revenue, according to Zippia.

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U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter Wants Wuhan Lab Investigated

On Sunday U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA-01) announced that he co-signed a letter to U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and demanded investigations into the Wuhan lab. Carter, in a newsletter he emailed to constituents Sunday, said “China allowed this virus to spread and they need to be held accountable” and that “we need to fully understand what happened and make sure it never happens again”. 

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Florida State Senator Annette Taddeo Looks to Challenge Charlie Crist for Democratic Nomination in 2022 Gubernatorial Election

Annette Taddeo

Florida Senator Annette Taddeo of District 40 is eyeing a run for Governor in 2022 that challenges her former running mate Charlie Crist for the Democratic nomination.

Taddeo’s announcement came Wednesday after initial speculation of her run circulated on Twitter the day before that stated her plan to run is in response to Florida Congresswoman Val Demings’ decision to run against Marco Rubio in 2022 for a seat in the U.S. Senate.

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Congressional Candidate Kiggans Signs Pledge to Support Term Limits Amendment

Senator Jen Kiggans (R-Virginia Beach) has signed a pledge to support a term limits Constitutional amendment if she is elected to Congress. The proposed amendment would limit U.S. representatives to three terms, and U.S. Senators to two terms. Of Virginia’s current federal legislators, only Congressman Bob Good (R-Virginia-05) has signed the pledge. Good is also a cosponsor of HJR 12 in the current Congressional session.

“Term limits on elected officials will help guarantee the will of the people, not special interests or career politicians, are being heard,” Kiggans said in a press release.

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Metro Nashville City Council Considering Increase on Sales Taxes Downtown

Downtown Nashville, Tennessee

The Metro Nashville City Council is considering a resolution to increase downtown sales taxes for generalized safety and cleaning. This .25 percent increase would apply to the Downtown Central Business Improvement District (CBID), and would result in an estimated $2.4 million in revenue. The Tennessee General Assembly authorized the increase during this past legislative session.

The resolution didn’t include an exhaustive list of what safety and cleanliness measures would be funded with this sales tax increase, but did note that it would include public safety, social services, and sidewalk cleaning. Additionally, the resolution noted that the funds would be deposited into the city’s event and marketing fund to assist in promotional materials and the recruitment of major conventions and group meetings.

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Arizona Rep. Mark Finchem in Tennessee: Our Elections Have Been Open to Manipulation and for Much Longer Than We Knew

FRANKLIN, Tennessee — Arizona State Rep. Mark Finchem (R-District 11) told a group of nearly 100 gathered in middle Tennessee that it has been revealed that our elections have been open to manipulation and for much longer than we knew, long before November 2020. 

Finchem said that “While many might think it’s a curse, America has been given a gift.”

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Commentary: Conservatives and Republicans Must Reclaim Memorial Day

Veteran cemetery with table set for lives lost who served America

In the face of the Far Left’s attempts to rewrite American history through the now-discredited 1619 Project and Critical Race Theory, Republicans and conservatives must reclaim the key dates and events in American history and there is no better place to start than Memorial Day 2021.

Memorial Day was created not as a “holiday” or an excuse for corporate merchants to advertise sales, but as a solemn commemoration of the dead of both sides in the American Civil War.

In that context Memorial Day commemorates a number of constitutional conservative values, not the least of which is the inviolability of the Constitution itself.

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Commentary: The Coverage of Cryptocurrencies on Television News

Dogecoin

How have cryptocurrencies been covered on television news? The timeline below shows total mentions of “cryptocurrency” and Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin over the past decade, showing an initial glimmer of mentions from 2013-2015, but that coverage of cryptocurrencies did not really take off until December 2017 when Bitcoin reached a valuation of $20,000 per coin. Mentions again took off in January of this year and have increased steadily month over month as it has attracted ever greater prominence.

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Texas Bill Banning Abortion If Roe Is Overturned Heads to Governor’s Desk

Baby sleeping

The Texas state Senate has sent a bill banning abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned to the pro-life governor’s desk for signing.

The Human Life Protection Act of 2021 is a trigger bill that would ban abortion if the United States Supreme Court overturns the landmark decision Roe v. Wade. The court announced in mid May that it had agreed to take up a major Mississippi abortion case that could directly challenge Roe v. Wade, sparking hope in pro-life advocates and fear among abortion proponents.

Under the Texas trigger bill, which the Senate voted to send to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk Tuesday night, doctors or individuals attempting to perform abortions would face a second degree felony, and if the unborn baby died “as a result of the offense,” the penalty would increase to a first degree felony with the potential of a life sentence.

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Thousands of Migrants Biden Said Would Be Allowed to Enter the U.S. Turned Back to Mexico

Thousands of migrants ordered to remain in Mexico as their asylum cases were processed were returned to the country indefinitely despite the Biden administration admitting most of the remaining cases into the U.S., the Associated Press reported Wednesday.

President Joe Biden ended former President Donald Trump’s Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) requiring migrants to “Remain in Mexico” and has admitted thousands of the 26,000 migrants with active cases into the U.S., the AP reported. Judges have terminated proceedings in nearly 6,700 MPP cases, according to Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC).

“Things have changed under the Biden administration and we’ve seen a little over 8,000 individuals previously in MPP have their cases transferred out of an MPP court, which suggests that they have been allowed into the US under the more standard asylum processing procedures,” Syracuse University Assistant Research Professor Dr. Austin Kocher told the Daily Caller News Foundation Thursday.

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Commentary: If He Wants to Unite the Nation, Biden Should Take Up School Choice

Joe Biden

Throughout his campaign and his presidency so far, Joe Biden has focused his message on fostering unity in the country. Newsflash: it’s not working. 

Despite the president’s stated goal of ending the “uncivil war that pits red against blue,” as he called it in his inaugural address, issues including health care, immigration, racial justice, and even Covid-19 continue to divide the American electorate. Ostensibly, few issues remain on which Republicans and Democrats can find common ground. 

That’s where school choice should come into the picture. Recent polling suggests that school choice may be the issue where a majority of Americans see eye to eye. If Biden really wants to unify, he should pick up the mantle of choice.

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Biden Administration Aid to the Palestinians Could Go to Hamas

Hundreds march in New York City to support Palestinians and resistance in Gaza

A spokesperson for the Biden Administration’s State Department confirmed the possibility that some of the aid being sent to the Palestinians could go to the terrorist organization Hamas, according to the Washington Free Beacon.

The administration is allocating up to $100 million of American taxpayers’ money to go to the Palestinians, but has repeatedly declined to confirm if there are any safeguards in the aid package that could prevent some of the funds from going to Hamas, the terror group that is responsible for thousands of unprovoked rocket attacks on Israel in recent weeks.

An unnamed senior official with the State Department said that “as we’ve seen in life, as we all know in life, there are no guarantees,” with regards to the possibility of terrorists getting their hands on some of the funds.

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Joint Special Operations Command Personnel Requested to Attend Conference on ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’

Both civilian and military personnel with the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) are being asked by the Pentagon to attend virtual conferences focusing on “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” in order to boost their “professional development,” according to a Breitbart exclusive.

The emails making the requests were sent in April and May by JSOC’s Civilian Training Office, claiming that the conferences that would normally cost “$500 a session per person” are now available “at no cost” to personnel, and would both be virtual and broadcast at JSOC’s compound in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

There were three different conferences promoted by the email: “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion,” “Change & Transformation,” and “Emotional Well-Being.” The diversity conference would include four different panels: “Inclusive leadership for building equitable organizations,” “psychological safety and belonging,” “restorative justice, community trauma, and the partisan divide,” and “racism, white supremacy, and anti-racism.”

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Ohio Taxpayer-Funded News Source Kicks Off Memorial Day Weekend with COVID Tribute Video, Gets Backlash

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Memorial Day is a federal holiday honoring and mourning the men and women who died while in performance of their duties in the U.S. Military.  An Ohio state-funded news outlet chose to kickoff Memorial Day weekend with a video tribute to Ohioans who suffered COVID-related deaths.

“This Memorial Day weekend, we remember some of the nearly 20,000 Ohio husbands and wives, parents and grandparents, siblings and loved ones lost to COVID-19 with the words of those who knew them best,” read the Tweet from the Statehouse News Bureau.

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Gainesville Officials Challenge Prohibition of Vaccine Passports

U.S. Passport with vaccine behind

Gainesville city officials are challenging a future state law, SB 2006, that prohibits local governments, schools, and businesses from requiring individuals to show proof of the COVID-19 vaccination to receive services or allowed entry.

For Gainesville city employees, the city has issued voluntary proof of vaccination, or vaccine passports, so that individuals who show proof can abide by looser CDC guidelines which involve not wearing a mask nor socially distancing for people who are fully vaccinated.

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Portsmouth City Council Approves Casino Rezoning, But Race Is on to Compete with Pending Norfolk Casino

The Portsmouth City Council approved rezoning and use permits for the Rivers Casino project in several five-to-two votes on Tuesday. Vice Mayor DeAndre Barnes and Councilman Mark  Whitaker opposed the changes. The council will have to confirm the votes in a follow-up meeting in June, and licensing from the Virginia Lottery is still pending according to WAVY.com. But pressure is on, since Norfolk has its own new casino project, the Headwaters Resort and Casino, expected to open in 2023. The Portsmouth casino is expected to open sometime in 2022 or 2023.

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Nikki Fried Backs Critical Race Theory in Florida Classrooms

Days before her likely official gubernatorial launch, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried announced her support for teaching Critical Race Theory (CRT) in Florida’s schools and classrooms.

Fried is making a major announcement on June 1, which most are speculating is a governor’s race campaign launch, and in preparation for statewide attention, attended a local community meeting on Tuesday night where she criticized Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for saying CRT is “divisive” and should not be taught in public schools.

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DeSantis Seeks Approval of Importation of Canadian Prescription Drugs

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is asking the Biden administration to approve a plan that would allow for the importation of FDA-approved Canadian drugs to the Sunshine State, which would lower costs, according to the governor. 

“Today, Governor Ron DeSantis called on the Biden Administration and leadership at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to approve Florida’s Section 804 Importation Proposal (SIP) for Florida’s Canadian Prescription Drug Importation Program,” a Friday press release said

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Congressman Cohen Hosted Forum Featuring Ex-Black Panther Implicated for Torturing, Executing Suspected Police Informant

Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) hosted a forum featuring an ex-Black Panther member implicated for torturing and killing a suspected police informant, as well as speakers who praised imprisoned cop killers. The May 10 congressional forum focused on Counterintelligence Program (COINTELPRO), an illegal and secret FBI program that surveilled, infiltrated, and disrupted political groups such as the Black Panther Party (BPP).

“The brunt of the program with its most outrageous abuses were reserved for people of color, particularly Black Americans. The Black Panther Party was literally in the FBI’s crosshairs,” asserted Cohen. “The United States was born of dissent, and alternative perspectives should be welcomed, not neutralized, and protests should be encouraged. We may disagree, but every American has the right and freedom to speak their mind, to petition their government, to protest to be engaged and active in civic life, and contribute their energy and efforts to pursue a more perfect union. The FBI attempted to snuff out minorities and minority viewpoints.”

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Governor Bill Lee’s Executive Order Last July Contradicts Claims to Sean Hannity That He’s Been Against Masking Kids

Governor Bill Lee claimed that he’s been against masking kids, but his executive order last July contradicts his remarks. Lee made that claim during a special panel interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity. Lee was featured alongside fellow Republican Governors Kristi Noem (South Dakota), Ron DeSantis (Florida), Kim Reynolds (Iowa), and Christopher Sununu (New Hampshire). Near the very end of Executive Order No. 55, Lee “strongly encouraged” schools to impose mask mandates.

Local education agencies, schools, and institutions of higher education are strongly encouraged to implement a policy requiring the use of face coverings by students and staff, with appropriate exemptions, and consistent with any policies issued by the Tennessee Department of Education. No policy, local order, or official may prohibit a student, teachers, school employee, or visitor from voluntarily wearing a face covering except to the extent that such face covering presents a safety or security risk. (emphasis added)

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Tennessee Legislature Committee to Probe Migrant Relocation

Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally and House Speaker Cameron Sexton will create a Joint Study Committee on Refugee Issues within the Tennessee General Assembly that will investigate refugee resettlement and immigration in the state of Tennessee. 

The establishment of this new committee comes in response to numerous reports of the Biden administration flying unaccompanied immigrant minors through the Chattanooga airport in the early hours of the morning. Many state officials have spoken out against the move by the Biden administration. 

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Commentary: Spinning Wuhan with ‘Intelligence’

Wuhan Institute of Virology

Joe Biden’s instruction to the U.S. intelligence community to report whether the novel coronavirus escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology is a comical attempt to avoid being discredited by the unraveling narrative that China’s role in the pandemic is another manifestation of racism. You know, the racism that results in Asian Americans being beaten in the streets by white Trump voters insidiously disguised as black Democrats. Having much invested in that narrative, the Democratic Party wants to distance itself from its unavoidable collapse.

Basic facts should be stipulated.

U.S. intelligence does not possess hard facts to prove exactly what happened in that lab. If it had them, it would have informed the previous president as well as the current one. 

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New Study Shows Masks Did Not Slow COVID Spread

Guy wearing a mask

According to a new study by University of Louisville the state mask mandates didn’t help slow the spread of COVID-19, Townhall reported.

The study found that “80% of US states mandated masks during the COVID-19 pandemic” and while “mandates induced greater mask compliance, [they] did not predict lower growth rates when community spread was low (minima) or high (maxima).” According to the report, the study used data from the CDC which covered multiple seasons and concluded that  “mask mandates and use are not associated with lower SARS-CoV-2 spread among US states.”

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