Day: November 5, 2021

Breakthrough COVID-19 Cases Surge in Arizona to Almost 50,000

Rachel Alexander
Sick person talking to CDC employee

Although the COVID-19 vaccine has been widely available since spring, so-called “breakthrough” cases, where someone contracts the coronavirus after being vaccinated, are spiking in parts of the country including Arizona. Nearly 18 percent of new COVID-19 infections in September were among the vaccinated. The majority of them received the Pfizer vaccine, although substantial numbers of breakthrough cases happened after receiving the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, in mid-April, there were 495 breakthrough cases in Arizona. Now, there are 49,962. Of those, 376 people have died, although their cause of death wasn’t specified. 

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Texas Education Agency Opens Backdoor to ChiCom Surveillance of Students Through Virtual Tutorial Firm

Neil W. McCabe

  The Texas Education Agency contracted with a virtual-tutorial marketing company through the end of the 2022-2023 school year that relies on tutorial services from VIPKids, the Beijing-based company backed by the Chinese technology conglomerate Tencent tied to surveillance and censorship. “We believe all students deserve equal access to rigorous and engaging instruction,” said Michael Lombardo, the founder and CEO of BookNook. “We are confident that our efforts in Texas, in partnership with the Texas Education Agency, will have a meaningful impact on student performance.” BookNook is the exclusive provider of K-8 literacy in the state. Lombardo, a founding Advisory Council member of the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, President Barack H. Obama’s signature initiative focused on supporting boys and young men of color, said BookNook is about collaborative learning. “At the heart of BookNook is our commitment to collaborative learning. We believe that using synchronous learning technology can better support the important person-to-person interactions at the center of great instruction,” said the one-time fellow at the Honolulu-based East-West Center. BookNook is now part of TEA’s Vetted Texas Tutor Corps, which is the program the education agency uses to address the new Texas law requirements that require accelerated tutoring for students…

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U.S. Trade Deficit Hits New Record as Inflation Grows and Supply Chain Issues Worsen

Admin

The U.S. trade deficit hit a record high of $80.9 billion in September as exports fell sharply while imports increased amid supply chain problems and growing inflation.

The trade deficit of goods and services grew 11.2%, driven by demand for items like computers, electrical equipment and industrial supplies, the Commerce Department announced Thursday.

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Jobless Claims Drop to 269,000, a Post COVID-19 Low

Admin

The number of Americans who filed for new unemployment claims decreased to 269,000 in the week ending Oct. 30 as the labor market continues to improve and the economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics figure released Thursday shows a 14,000 claim decrease compared to the week ending Oct. 23, when jobless claims dropped to 283,000. Thursday’s release marks the lowest number of initial claims since March 14, 2020, when the number of new jobless claims was 256,000.

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Immigration Advocates in Biden Administration Were Totally Unprepared for Border Crisis, AP Says

Admin

Immigration advocates working as advisers for the Biden administration were completely unprepared for the border crisis rolling back former President Donald Trump’s immigration policies would create, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday.

Supporters of immigration on the Biden administration’s transition team dismissed estimates predicting increased migration to the U.S. if Trump’s policies were repealed and instead tried to see how fast they could get rid of the practices, according to obtained internal documents and interviews conducted by the AP.

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Federal Reserve Scales Back Bond Purchases as Inflation Rises

Admin

The Federal Reserve announced Wednesday that it would begin scaling back its monthly bond purchases in November, marking the first step towards ending its pandemic stimulus as inflation surges.

The scaling of bond purchases, more commonly known as tapering, will start “later this month,” the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) said in a statement. The Federal Reserve will reduce its purchases by $15 billion each month — $10 billion less in Treasury bonds and $5 billion less in mortgage-backed securities — from the current $120 billion figure.

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Judge in Rittenhouse Trial Slams Media for ‘Totally Bizarre’ Statements About Case

Admin

The judge presiding over the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse criticized the media’s “totally bizarre” coverage of the case on Wednesday.

Judge Bruce Schroeder made the comments as prosecutors attempted to play video footage from the night Rittenhouse allegedly shot three people, killing two of them, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, during a Black Lives Matter riot.

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Commentary: The Migrant Surge at the Southern Border Fuels Massive American Fentanyl Overdoses

RealClearWire

On a September afternoon, Allyssia Solorio wondered why her energetic young brother hadn’t emerged from his bedroom in their Sacramento, Calif., home. When she opened his door, she saw 23-year-old Mikael leaning back on his bed with his legs dangling over the side. She rushed to her brother and shook him, but to no avail. He was dead. A counterfeit pharmaceutical pill laced with illicit fentanyl had killed him.

Mikael Tirado was one of an estimated 93,331 overdose fatalities in the United States last year – an all-time high. Nearly five times the murder rate, the deadly overdose toll was primarily caused by fentanyl, a highly lethal synthetic opioid. It’s manufactured mostly by Mexican cartels with ingredients imported from China, and then smuggled over the southwestern U.S. border. Fentanyl has been arriving in larger quantities each year since at least 2016.

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Russian Analyst, Primary Source for Steele Dossier Charged with Repeatedly Lying to FBI

Admin

Special Counsel John Durham on Thursday unsealed a federal grand jury indictment charging the primary source for the now-discredited Steele dossier with repeatedly lying to the FBI during the Russia collusion investigation that falsely tarred Donald Trump’s presidency.

The 39-page indictment alleges Russian analyst Igor Danchenko misled the FBI about his contacts with Russian government officials and a Democrat-connected public relations executive, falsehoods that materially affected the FBI’s investigation and its representations to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to get warrants targeting Trump’s campaign and one of its advisers.

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Republican Truck Driver Who Spent $153 on Campaign Unseats Top Democrat in Stunning Upset

Admin

Edward Durr, a Republican truck driver and political newcomer, officially unseated New Jersey Senate president Steve Sweeney.

Durr, who spent just $153 on his New Jersey State Senate campaign, was declared the winner Thursday morning, the Associated Press reported. Almost half of Durr’s campaign funds were reportedly spent at restaurant chain Dunkin’ Donuts, according to The Washington Free Beacon.

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Fulton County Elections Director Is Resigning Following Criticism of Chronic Election Failures

Admin

Fulton County, Ga. Registration and Elections Director Richard Barron is stepping down on Dec. 31, according to County Board of Commissioners Chair Robb Pitts.

The Fulton County Election Board had voted in February to fire Barron following scathing criticism of his handling of the 2020 elections, Fox 5 Atlanta reported. However, the county’s commissioners overruled the electoral board’s decision, according to Georgia Public Broadcasting.

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Amherst County Grassroots Blocks Rosie’s Referendum with Under $9,000

Eric Burk

Amherst County voters killed a proposal to bring a Rosie’s Gaming Emporium by the Colonial Downs Group, voting 54.06 percent to 45.94 percent of about 13,000 total votes, according to partial unofficial results. A couple of hours’ drive away, Emporia voters approved a similar proposal, 65.63 percent to 34.37 percent of about 2,000 total votes. The referenda were to approve pari-mutuel wagering, a slots-like gaming experience based on horse racing results.

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Anti-Critical Race Theory Candidates Elected to School Boards Across the Minnesota

Admin

Candidates opposed to Critical Race Theory and COVID-19 mandates won school board seats across Minnesota Tuesday night, often in areas controlled by Democrats.

In one of the most stunning upsets of the night, Matt Audette defeated opponent Dave Dirkswager by well over 30 points in Anoka-Hennepin. Audette’s campaign was centered on his opposition to Critical Race Theory, mask mandates, and “forced COVID vaccinations.”

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Danville Approves Sales Tax Increase, Pittsylvania’s Sales Tax Increase Hangs in the Balance

Eric Burk

Danville voters resoundingly approved a referendum for a one percent sales tax increase to pay for school renovation projects 60.43 percent to 39.57 percent according to unofficial results. But their neighbors in Pittsylvania County may have barely killed a similar proposal; the sales tax referendum is losing by just 44 votes out of 25,404 — 0.18 percent. Elections officials are still counting mail-in ballots, according to Pittsylvania County Schools (PCS) Superintendent Mark Jones.

He said elections officials think there are more than 44 outstanding ballots, and final results will be certified Friday.

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Ohio Attorney General Yost Files Lawsuit Against Biden’s Vaccine Mandate

Brian Ball

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the authority of  the Biden administration to requiring all federal contractors to require staff COVID-19 vaccinations, calling the mandate a threat to public safety.

Yost filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court fin Frankfort, Ky., in conjunction with the attorneys  general of Kentucky and Tennessee; the sheriff’s office of Seneca County, Ohio; and the prosecuting attorney and sheriff’s office of Geauga County, Ohio even as the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced extension of  COVID vaccination and masking requirements for up to two-thirds of  the private-sector workforce.

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AOC Complains Progressives Weren’t Invited to Help McAuliffe Campaign

Peter D'Abrosca

Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY-14) complained on Instagram that the far-left wing of the party was not called in to help failed gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe in Virginia. 

“I know that Virginia was a huge bummer,” she said, “and honestly, if anything, I think the results show the limits of trying to run a a fully, 100 percent fully moderated campaign that does not excite, speak to, or energize a progressive base. And frankly, we weren’t really even invited to contribute on that race.” 

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September General Revenue in Florida Exceeds Economic Forecasts

Casey Owens

Florida’s general revenue collections in the month of September were $442.2 million, or 15.7%, more than what economist for the Office of Economic and Demographic Research (EDR) expected in their predictions made at the General Revenue Estimating Conference in August.

The estimated total for general revenue in September was $2.809 billion, while the actual total was $3.251 billion. Additionally, September was the 14th consecutive month that the state of Florida recorded more than what the EDR predicted.

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Lawsuit Alleges Michigan Secretary of State Failed to Maintain Accurate Voter Rolls

Cooper Moran

A lawsuit, initiated by the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF), on Thursday alleges that Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has continuously failed to maintain accurate and current voter rolls, as required by federal law.

The suit, filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan, details that Benson has failed to remove deceased registrants from the voter rolls.

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