Massive protests broke out in Cuba on Sunday, with citizens shouting “freedom!” as they demonstrated against the corrupt and incompetent Communist regime. Cubans trapped in dire economic conditions took to the streets in over 32 Cuban cities, according to the Washington Times.
“Down with the dictatorship,” “We want liberty!” protesters reportedly chanted.
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The White House hasn’t addressed the court-ordered injunctions against President Joe Biden’s loan forgiveness program that excludes white farmers. The latest ruling came late last week through a Tennessee farmer’s challenge to the program’s alleged racial discrimination. United States District Judge Thomas Anderson agreed with the Tennessee farmer’s take on the program’s discriminatory practices, ruling the program unconstitutional and issuing a nationwide injunction to halt it on Thursday in the case, Holman v. Vilsack et al. Another federal judge in Wisconsin issued a similar ruling last month, and a little over two weeks ago a federal judge in a similar Florida case offered a concurring ruling.
The Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF) and Mountain States Legal Foundation (MSLF) brought the case with the latest ruling on behalf of Tennessee farmer Rob Holman. According to the Biden Administration’s loan forgiveness program in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Holman was ineligible for forgiveness on his farm loans solely because he’s white. According to the law, only “socially disadvantaged groups” were eligible for the program granting up to 120 percent of loan forgiveness, re-application for government backed loans, and a cash gift of 20 percent of the loan’s value to cover any income tax liability. Socially disadvantaged groups were defined as those with members who faced racial or ethnic prejudice.
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Chairwoman Maxine Waters and Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee are considering a dramatic overhaul of the credit reporting system within the United States.
The legislation, the Comprehensive CREDIT Act and the Protecting Your Credit Score Act of 2021, was passed out of committee before the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. The bills were previously introduced by a member of the Democratic “squad” and would implement a new system — similar to that of China.
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For Big Tech billionaires, these are the best of times, and the worst of times.
Why the best? Because the long arm of social media and online commerce has never reached further and deeper into Americans’ culture, spending habits, lifestyles, and worldview. Likewise, the net worth of these billionaires has risen to undreamed-of heights. COVID was, for tech barons, a blessing in disguise: it trapped Americans indoors, where they could do little else but browse the web, consume digital entertainment, and spend their stimulus dollars on imported Chinese doohickeys. Even as the dreaded virus has retreated, Big Tech has successfully locked in its gains.
Why the worst of times, though? The very rise of Big Tech has portended greater scrutiny. The debasement of Big Tech’s competitors and natural enemies—from brick-and-mortar stores to Trump supporters—has ensured that the drumbeat of criticism of social media companies and online retailers has never been more stridently percussive.
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Former President Trump took the stage to a standing ovation and a rowdy crowd, while headlining the large gathering of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas on Sunday.
In his speech that lasted approximately 90 minutes, the former commander-in-chief highlighted a variety of key areas that Republicans across the country are focused on, including the 2022 midterms, the Biden administration’s policies, and his lawsuit against Big Tech platforms.
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Democratic Govs. Andrew Cuomo of New York, Gavin Newsom of California, and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan shatter everything they touch. Ron DeSantis, conversely, seems to get everything right. The Florida Republican has emerged as America’s governor.
“We’re standing with our folks. We’re going to do the right thing. We leaned into it, and we stood strong,” DeSantis told Fox News host Tucker Carlson recently.
Rather than snip a tax, kill a regulation, and then doze off, as too many Republicans have done, DeSantis is a tireless, full-spectrum conservative. He has authorized a host of economic, cultural, and law enforcement initiatives that are buoying Florida and transforming him into the Great Right Hope.
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A popular gripe about Californians moving into nearby states is they bring their politics with them. The newest complaint could be they’re bringing high home prices as well.
Property data provider CoreLogic released its monthly Home Price Index on Tuesday, reflecting May values. It showed home prices in every state increased from average listing prices in May 2020. In states with a disproportionate number of relocated California residents, home prices increased well above the national average of 15.4%.
Of the 165,355 California taxpayers that left in the tax year 2019, 29,050 taxpayers and their dependents moved to Arizona. CoreLogic’s report showed Arizona’s home prices grew 23.4% from May 2019 to May 2020.
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Youtube removed a video posted by the America First Policy Institute, which captured former President Trump’s press conference announcing a class action lawsuit against Big Tech giants.
President and CEO of the America First Policy Institute Brooke Rollins, who joined Trump at the press conference, argued that the video’s removal is yet another instance of the censorship of conservatives.
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Fully vaccinated Americans do not need to receive a booster shot to protect against the Delta variant, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Food and Drug Administration said in a press release.
“People who are fully vaccinated are protected from severe disease and death, including from the variants currently circulating in the country such as Delta,” a joint statement said on Thursday.
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Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials won’t detain most migrant women who are new or expecting mothers for deportation, The Washington Post reported Friday.
The new policy is aimed at the “health and safety” of most pregnant, nursing and postpartum migrant women, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials said in a statement, according to the Post. The policy overturns a Trump-era practice where officials detained thousands of new or expecting mothers.
The policy also acknowledges “the time needed for infant development and parental bonding,” the officials said, the Post reported.
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Nicole Solas was surprised to find her name listed on the meeting agenda of her local school board, especially since it said the board was considering taking legal action against her in response to her many requests for public records.
The Rhode Island mother of two began filing records requests with the South Kingstown School District several months ago, when she learned that teachers were incorporating critical race theory and gender ideology in the curriculum.
But she didn’t expect the school board to talk about suing her.
“I was shocked,” Solas, 37, told The Daily Signal in a recent phone interview. The school board, she said, “did not tell me that [the requests were] a problem.”
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On Saturday, several Metro Nashville Public School (MNPS) leaders were featured in a panel discussing anti-racist teaching, learning, and leading in the classroom. The Educators Cooperative (EDCO) hosted leaders Christiane Buggs, MNPS Board Chair, and Ashford Hughes, MNPS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Executive Officer as two of their four keynote panelists.
Buggs and Hughes were part of a larger EDCO conference, titled “Keeping What Works After Trying It All: A Celebration of Educator Brilliance.” Their panel specifically focused on a follow-up to the EDCO series, “Antiracist Teaching, Learning, and Leading from the Classroom.” The goal of their keynote panel on Saturday was to review educator progress on assumptions and practices that either build up or detract from culturally responsive classrooms. EDCO identified Buggs and Hughes as leaders in equitable education.
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The “National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism,” released last month by the National Security Council, claims to take a “narrowly tailored” approach. Something along those lines is indeed evident throughout the document.
In 2016, readers learn, “an anti–authority violent extremist ambushed, shot, and killed five police officers in Dallas.” The national strategy document does not identify the killer, Micah Johnson, an African American veteran who hated cops. Johnson actually shot a dozen officers but managed to kill only five, and he had bomb-making materials in his home. This killer only opposes “authority” and his murder victims remain unidentified in the NSC document.
In 2017, according to the National Strategy “a lone gunman wounded four people at a congressional baseball practice.” Readers are not told this was James Hodgkinson, a Bernie Sanders supporter who hated Republicans and targeted them for assassination. That should easily qualify as domestic terrorism but here Hodgkinson is only a “gunman.” The National Strategy does not reveal that the “wounded” included Representative Steve Scalise (R-La.), who barely escaped with his life. The NSC document fails to mention that Hodkinson also shot Capitol Police special agent Crystal Griner, an African American.
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Top figures on the Aspen Institute’s recently-formed Commission on Information Disorder have themselves previously spread inaccurate information and pushed misinformation, a Daily Caller News Foundation review has found.
The group consists of top media figures, former government officials, tech executives, and academics who have jointly set out to pinpoint the causes of misinformation and disinformation and to propose solutions to combat their spread.
Some of the most recognizable names on the commission include Prince Harry, who recently criticized the First Amendment, and frequently sues the media, Katie Couric, who has broadcast misleading content, as well as Kathryn Murdoch, who supports left-leaning causes.
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With her newest album, ‘Canyon Road,’ Kimberly Dawn has focused on creating inspiring music for others in a genre that has always spoken to her.
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YouTube deleted the American Conservative Union’s (ACU) video featuring former President Trump announcing his class-action lawsuit against Big Tech, citing an alleged violation of its COVID-19 terms and conditions.
The ACU, which hosts the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), received “a strike” on their account from YouTube on July 9, preventing them from uploading new content for a week. This includes ACU’s CPAC 2021 Part 2 in Dallas, Texas, and Trump’s CPAC speech scheduled for Sunday, the organization said in a statement.
In the deleted YouTube video of Trump’s announcement of a lawsuit against Big Tech, which includes Google, he also cited a medical study on hydroxychloroquine as a therapeutic for COVID-19.
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With each passing day in Afghanistan the Taliban grows stronger, and the pro-American government forces grow weaker. Anecdotally, you can see the momentum building in the news coverage.
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Long War Journal, which has been tracking war in Afghanistan for years, estimates that as of Sunday the Taliban controlled 213 districts. It reports that the government controls 70 districts, and some 115 districts are being contested. Thus, after the United States, NATO, and our Afghan allies spent 20 years fighting to create a post-Taliban country, the evidence is growing that we have lost.
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U.S. Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA-08) said grocery products are rising in price due to the increased cost of inputs farmers are facing. Scott addressed the matter in a newsletter to his constituents Sunday.
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Half of all Arizonans have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services’ most recent data released Thursday morning.
Of Arizona’s population of 7,189,020, the ADHS said that the 50% mark was hit with Thursday’s update that 3,594,004 people have now received at least one dose of vaccine. Of those, 3,186,689 people are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of July 8, with a total of 6,590,483 vaccine doses administered in the Grand Canyon state.
Arizona vaccine distribution peaked in April and began to downturn in May. The ADHS opened several state-run vaccination sites in Maricopa, Pima, and Yuma counties, all of which closed by the end of June.
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U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, introduced a bill that would prohibit the federal government from creating and maintaining a federal database of every American who has received COVID-19 vaccines.
Cruz introduced the bill after White House officials announced a plan to use taxpayer dollars to pay individuals to go door-to-door in regions of the country where there are relatively low vaccination rates.
In response to statements made by President Joe Biden and White House press secretary Jen Psaki about the door-to-door outreach initiative, Cruz tweeted, “When the Biden admin calls for ‘targeted’ ‘door-to-door outreach’ to get people vaccinated, it comes across as a g-man saying: ‘We know you’re unvaccinated, let’s talk, comrade.’ My bill to ban federal vaccine passports prohibits the feds from maintaining a vaccine database.”
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FirstEnergy customers in Ohio will see nearly $30 million in refunds on their electric bills after the Public Utility of Commission of Ohio ordered the money returned.
The PUCO ordered implementation of the recently passed and signed House Bill 128, which was one of the many bills introduced this year in the Ohio General Assembly aimed at tackling the House Bill 6 scandal that led to the indictment and eventual removal from office of former House Speaker Larry Householder.
The bill, which became effective June 30, dealt with “decoupling,” which Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has referred to as designed to allow FirstEnergy to overcharge customers.
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A construction company out of Hillsborough County, Gale Force Roofing and Restoration, LLC, challenged the new property-insurance law in Florida that took effect on July 1st.
The case, filed in June and reviewed by Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker on Friday, argues that a section of the new law (SB 76) violates the company’s first amendment rights by prohibiting them from certain advertisements that encourage homeowners to file roof-damage insurance claims.
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The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio wants a court to force Republican lawmakers to turn over records related to redistricting it says it asked for five months ago and never received.
The group has filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of Ohio, seeking the records as the state closes in on the release of U.S. Census Bureau data and a constitutional mandate to redraw congressional and state representative district boundaries.
House Speaker Bob Cupp, R-Lima, and Rep. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, have not responded to open records request made in February, the lawsuit said. The ACLU said the records will help it monitor the redistricting process.
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U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA-11) and three other congressmen have introduced legislation that aims to modernize the United States’ digital identity infrastructure and protect Americans from having their personal information stolen. This, according to an emailed newsletter that Loudermilk sent his constituents Friday.
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Six months after the incidents at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) announced they will be opening two field offices. One will be in Florida and another in California to investigate threats against members of Congress.
The Florida field office will be located in Tampa, despite Tallahassee being Florida’s capital city. USCP selected the two states because they said it is where a large portion of threats originate.
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U.S. Representative Byron Donalds, from Florida’s 19th congressional district, recently slammed Critical Race Theory in an opinion article from a very personal perspective. Donalds, who is African-American, has a White wife and biracial children. Donalds, like many other critics of CRT, views the movement as tool of the left used to divide the country. Donalds wrote, “If the issue were that American schools aren’t teaching the complete and accurate history to our school children, then I’d agree wholeheartedly, but that is not what CRT peddlers are saying. The Marxist race hustlers and charlatans at the New York Times and in the Democrat Party aren’t in the business of pushing for equity; they are in the business of division.” The National Education Association recently decided to take a strong position supporting CRT and other controversial positions. Donalds also sees CRT as opposed to the views promoted by Martin Luther King. Donalds said those “proposing this wicked curriculum would like to live in an America where every American is judged based on the color of their skin and not the content of their character, which, if I remember my history correctly, is the complete opposite of the teachings of Dr. King…
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For the second time, the Michigan Supreme Court has ordered the State Board of Canvassers certify the Unlock Michigan petition that will likely revoke Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s 1945 emergency powers.
On June 11, the top court ordered the State Board of Canvassers to certify the petition after the board deadlocked 2-2 on multiple motions. But Keep Michigan Safe (KMS) lawyer Mark Brewer filed a motion asking the top court to reconsider the order.
The top court answered, again ordering the petition to be certified.
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The political action committee for former Georgia state lawmaker and gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams has raised over $100 million in the first two years of its existence, making it one of the top fundraising PACs in the country.
The Fair Fight PAC was created by Abrams after she failed to win the 2018 Georgia governor’s race. She has since devoted much of her efforts toward fundraising and get-out-the voter efforts for fellow Democrats running for office.
Of the $104 million so far raised, $90 million was part of the 2020 election cycle, $8 million was for this year’s special Senate elections in Georgia, in which Democrats took both GOP-held seats, and the other $6 million has been raised since February, according to The Hill newspaper.
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Attorney General Keith Ellison announced Minnesota will get $50 million from the settlement of the state’s lawsuit against the Sackler family’s company Purdue Pharma, which manufactured the opioid drug Oxycontin that contributed to the deadly opioid crisis nationwide.
The resolution will make public more than 30 million documents related to Purdue’s role in the opioid crisis and require the Sacklers to pay $4.3 billion for prevention, treatment, and recovery efforts in communities across the country.
Minnesota’s share of those payments is expected to exceed $50 million over nine years, the spending of which will be overseen by the State’s Opioid Epidemic Response Advisory Council.
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Stand Up Virginia (SUV), an organization that is trying to recall Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, announced a recall effort aimed at Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney Buta Biberaj, alleging that her progressive prosecutor policies are harming victims.
“Miss Buta Biberaj, you do not do your job, nor have you done your job since the year ago when you were elected,” SUV President Brenda Tillett said at a Thursday press conference.
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The Republican Party of Virginia is requesting the University of Virginia perform an ethics investigation into the university’s Center for Politics, alleging its director has shown strong partisanship toward Democrats in his taxpayer-funded role.
The Center for Politics was created by Dr. Larry Sabato, a political scientist and analyst, for the purpose of inspiring people to engage with politics and instill the values of freedom, justice, equality, civility and service, according to its website. Sabato is the current director of the center and labels it as nonpartisan.
Rich Anderson, the chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia sent a letter to UVA President James Ryan requesting the university investigate statements by Sabato for potentially violating the university’s Code of Ethics. In the letter, Anderson said certain Tweets show “bitter partisanship,” which “a reasonable taxpaying citizen can readily conclude.”
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CPAC chairman Matt Schlapp failed to ask Gov. Bill Lee (R-TN) a single question on Saturday about the “woke” policies of his administration as implemented by two cabinet members appointed by the governor: Commissioner of Education Penny Schwinn, and Commissioner of Human Resources Juan Williams.
Schlapp moderated a panel at Saturday’s CPAC in Dallas on ‘A Conversation on Leadership, Justice, and Jobs in the Age of Wokeism’ with a two-member panel of Republican governors, Gov. Stitt of Oklahoma and Gov. Lee of Tennessee.
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