Day: November 9, 2021

Arizona Rep. Shawnna Bolick Demands Meeting with Mayo Clinic to Discuss Its Mandatory Vaccine Policy

Rachel Alexander
Shawnna Bolick

Private employers around the country are implementing COVID-19 vaccine mandates, some in response to the mandate implemented by President Joe Biden on businesses with 100 or more employees through the Occupational and Safety Health Act (OSHA), and Arizona Rep. Shawnna Bolick (R-Phoenix) is pushing back. Bolick sent a letter to Mayo Clinic in Phoenix demanding a meeting to discuss its vaccine mandate, stating that Biden’s OSHA mandate is unconstitutional and pointing out various reasons why Mayo should reconsider its policy. Bolick said that she has received dozens of emails from Mayo employees about it, including remote workers who work from home.

“During the height of the pandemic in 2020, these same health care heroes worked tirelessly for Mayo to care for the sick knowing they were potentially putting their own health and family’s health at risk,” she wrote. “Yet, just a year later, Mayo appears ready to show them the door considering the Biden/Harris administration’s lawless vaccine mandate.”

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Former Cuban Child TV Star and Political Refugee Launches ‘ADN América,’ a Nationwide News Organization for Hispanics and Latinos

Casey Owens
Gelet Fragela

Former Cuban child TV star and political refugee, Gelet Fragela, launched a brand-new, bilingual news organization for Hispanic-Americans on Monday, titled ADN América.

The organization will focus on providing the Hispanic-American market with real-time breaking news, in-depth analysis, and political reporting amid the “growing electoral influence among Hispanics across the country.”

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State Senator Mike Bell Announces He Will Not Seek Re-election in 2022

Kaitlin Housler

Tennessee State Senator Mike Bell (R-Riceville) will not be a candidate for re-election in 2022, according to a press release Monday from the Tennessee Senate Republican Caucus. Bell represents Senate District 9 which covers Bradley, McMinn, Meigs, Monroe and Polk Counties.

Bell was first elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives in 2006 before moving to the State Senate in 2010.

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Commentary: Establishment Republicans Snatch Defeat from Jaws of Victory Yet Again with the ‘Infrastructure’ Boondoggle

Admin
Adam Kinzinger

Having been in the D.C. area for over 20 years now, I’ve come to live by the maxim, “Always bank on the GOP snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.” I was proved right again this last week when 13 Republicans in the House helped pass the $1.2 trillion “Gateway to the Green New Deal” otherwise masquerading as an infrastructure bill. 

As I wrote back in August, only 23 percent of this bill is really for infrastructure. The other 77 percent is for things like the $213 billion “allocated for retrofitting two million homes and buildings to make them more “sustainable,” whatever that means. Or the $20 billion for racial equity and environmental justice. Or the mileage tax, as in yes, they want to explore taxing you for every mile you drive in your car.

In the wake of an absolutely stunning clean sweep for Republicans in Virginia from governor to House of Delegates—in a state Republicans hadn’t won statewide in a dozen years and where they’ve lost the last four presidentials—Republicans in D.C. just couldn’t find the nerve to simply say “No.” They couldn’t “Just say no,” kids. It is one of the most beautiful and underused words in the English language, but Republicans appear simply incapable of using it. 

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Antifa Harasses Judge After Decision to Bar Cameras from Kim Potter Trial

Peter D'Abrosca

Antifa and Black Lives Matter (BLM) protestors set out to harass Judge Regina Chu, presiding over the trial of former Brooklyn Center Police officer Kimberly Potter, at Chu’s home over the weekend.  

Potter is charged with first and second-degree manslaughter after killing 20-year-old Daunte Wright as Wright began to flee a traffic stop in April. Potter says she intended to shoot him with her taser, but shot him with her handgun instead. 

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Fed Official Sees Inflation Slowing in 2022, Future Price Increases Wouldn’t Be ‘a Policy Success’

Admin

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida said he expects the recent spike in inflation to dissipate as supply and demand imbalances ease and that future price increases in 2022 would cause problems for the central bank.

“I do continue to judge that these imbalances are likely to dissipate over time as the labor market and global supply chains eventually adjust and, importantly, do so without putting persistent upward pressure on price inflation and wage gains adjusted for productivity,” Clarida said in remarks prepared for delivery on Monday.

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College Bans ‘Caste’ Discrimination from Campus

Admin

A feminist professor has succeeded in banning discrimination based on “caste” at one Maine college.

According to an article from Bangor Daily News — to which Colby College media relations director George Sopko directed Campus Reform — the school added “caste” to a list of grounds for prohibited discrimination that includes race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, political beliefs, and other identity categories.

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As Fuel Costs Rise Heading into the Winter, Biden May Utilize Strategic Reserves

Admin
Jennifer Granholm

As the supply chain crisis continues to worsen, Americans can expect to pay higher energy costs in order to maintain heating in the coming winter, says Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm.

In an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday, Granholm said “this is going to happen…it will be more expensive this year than last year.”

While Granholm claimed that “we are in a slightly beneficial position…relative to Europe,” she nonetheless admitted that the United States has “the same problem in fuels that the supply chains have, which is that the oil and gas companies are not flipping the switch as quickly as the demand requires.”

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‘Social Responsibility Speaks’ Diversity Consultant Was Paid $4,000 for Her Talk on Right-Handed ‘Privilege’

Admin

Administrators had Greek life participants at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill to sit through an intersectionality seminar, which touched on a wide range of intersectionality-related issues — including the notion that right-handed people have a special degree of “privilege.”

Campus Reform obtained a copy of the contract for the event, which shows that the speaker, Christina Parle of Social Responsibility Speaks, earned $4,000 for her talk on right-handed “privilege.” 

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Amnesty International is Campaigning on Debunked Border Patrol Whipping Story

Admin

Amnesty International USA is campaigning to reform the immigration system by circulating debunked claims that border patrol agents used whips to engage illegal Haitian migrants.

The advocacy organization launched a Facebook ad campaign Friday featuring several ads advancing claims that mounted Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents used whips to disperse Haitian migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. The ads, each of which have an estimated audience size of over one million Facebook users and one of which has reached over 50,000 views, show images of CBP agents on horseback apprehending Haitian migrants.

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‘Propaganda’: Experts Rip CDC Study Claiming Vax Offers Stronger Protection than Natural Immunity

Admin

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published an “early release” study last week that uses a highly curated population to purportedly show that mRNA-vaccinated people have a much lower rate of reinfection by COVID-19 than naturally immune people, contradicting a much larger Israeli study this summer.

The CDC study concludes: “All eligible persons should be vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon as possible, including unvaccinated persons previously infected with SARS-CoV-2.”

The study analyzed “COVID-19–like illness hospitalizations among adults” across nine states from January through Sept. 2. Because public health authorities portrayed vaccination as the best way to avoid hospitalization, it’s less likely that vaccinated people would seek hospitalization, thus hiding their breakthrough infections relative to the naturally immune.

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Antifa Agitator Admits He Advanced on Rittenhouse and Pointed His Gun at Him Before He was Shot

Admin
Gaige Grosskreutz on the stand

The antifa agitator who was shot in the arm by Kyle Rittenhouse admitted on Monday that he was shot only after he had advanced on the teen and pointed his gun at him. Gaige Grosskreutz took the stand on the fifth day of the Rittenhouse trial, hoping to strengthen the prosecution’s case against the teen. Instead, one of the prosecuting attorneys was seen literally face-palming during his cross-examination.

Defense attorney Corey Chirafisi also forced Grosskreutz to admit that he’s “affiliated” with the violent Peoples Revolution, a Milwaukee-based communist militia group; that his gun permit had expired; that he had lied to the police shortly after the shooting; and that he has $10 million staked on Rittenhouse being found guilty.

Grosskreutz testified earlier that after hearing the initial gunshots, he had only followed Rittenhouse because he believed he was an active shooter. He also said that even though he was armed with a handgun, he did not intend to shoot Rittenhouse.

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Hackers Allegedly Breach Nine Companies Involved in Defense, Energy, and Other Vital Sectors

Admin
Ryan Olson

A security firm claims that foreign hackers have infiltrated at least nine companies in several crucial sectors of the economy and government, including defense, energy, technology, and others, according to CNN.

Palo Alto Networks (PAN) shared the information on the breaches with CNN, showing that other affected sectors include education and healthcare. They say that the National Security Agency (NSA) is working with cybersecurity researchers to expose this and other ongoing efforts by foreign entities to hack American infrastructure. PAN’s report included information contributed by a division of the NSA which focuses exclusively on threats against American industrial defense bases by foreign hackers.

Examples of the breaches include the inconspicuous theft of passwords, with the goal of using these passwords to remain inside these networks for a prolonged period of time without anyone even being aware that there was a breach. This would allow hackers to freely receive sensitive data sent over basic communications such as email or information contained on internal storage drives.

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Commentary: Chief Justice of the Court of Natural Law

Admin
Justice Clarence Thomas

Recently, the Heritage Foundation and the Scalia School of Law at George Mason University honored Justice Clarence Thomas on the 30th anniversary of his joining the Supreme Court. A day of panels featuring former Thomas clerks and prominent legal scholars commented on his legacy and future. The justice responded that evening. 

Yet even a full day of often enlightening panels and speeches, doubtless to be supplemented in the years to come by law review issues, articles, and books, misses the crucial fact about Thomas’ jurisprudence that has made him the indispensable justice: his overarching focus on natural law. 

In America natural law comes to sight in the principle of equality, which continues to confuse both conservatives and liberals. With the Democrats’ embrace of “equity,” they have cast aside equality as a principle. Conservatives have never been comfortable with equality to begin with, as Harry Jaffa consistently pointed out in his work. Equality does not mean socialism but rather government by consent, and all the institutions that follow from the preservation of this fundamental element of justice. The clearest expositor of this principle, as Thomas explains, has been Abraham Lincoln, when he attacked the evil of slavery. 

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‘Anti-Racist Transformation in Medical Education’ Commits 11 Universities to a $377k Undertaking

Admin
Person on laptop with stethoscope in front

Several leading medical schools across the United States will participate in a three-year Anti-Racist Transformation in Medical Education program.

The program, which is organized by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and funded by the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation, attempts to help medical students “dismantle systemic racism and bias in their work and learning environments” while sharing insights across institutions through a virtual learning platform.

The Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation — which believes that health professional education ought to contain a “strong social mission” — frequently funds diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. 

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ANALYSIS: PolitiFact and Facebook Spread Gravely Dangerous Falsehood About the COVID-19 Survival Rate

Admin

In a PolitiFact article titled “Why the COVID-19 Survival Rate Is Not Over 99%,” staff writer Jason Asenso argues that about 1.7% of U.S. residents who contract COVID-19 die from it. However, he uses a naive approach to calculate this figure, and legitimate methods show that the average COVID-19 survival rate is firmly over 99%.

Medical journals have documented the deadly harms of exaggerating the fatality rate of COVID-19. Nevertheless, Facebook is amplifying PolitiFact’s false claim by using it to censor genuine facts about this issue.

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Virginia Employment Commission Making Some Progress, but Still Has Serious Institutional Problems

Eric Burk

The Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) is starting to recover from over a year of unemployment insurance (UI) backlogs and call wait times brought on by unprecedented demand during COVID-19, according to a final report from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC.) But the VEC crisis highlighted long-term systemic problems in the agency, and the agency still has a long way to go.

“As you’ll hear, some backlogs have been reduced, and call center performance has been improved somewhat, but there are increasing backlogs in other areas. There remain substantial challenges for the agency in the coming weeks, months, and even years,” JLARC Director Hal Greer told legislators on Monday.

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Ellison Admits ‘Defund Police’ Slogan Was a Tactical Mistake for Progressives

Admin
Keith Ellison speaking

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison apparently thinks Democrats should have sought to defund the police without saying “defund the police.”

“I think allowing this moniker, ‘defund the police,’ to ever get out there, was not a good thing,” he recently told Washington Post reporter David Weigel. This comment followed an election in Minneapolis in which voters rejected a measure that would have replaced the police with a largely unarmed “Department of Public Safety.”

While Ellison’s most recent comment has drawn significant media attention, this position is not new — the AG has long wanted to reduce policing, only taking issue with the slogan his fellow progressives often use.

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Trump Calls on Arizona to ‘Decertify’ Election; Cites State’s Forensic Audit Report and Congressional Election Integrity Hearing

Cooper Moran
Donald Trump sitting at desk

Former President Donald Trump on Monday called lawmakers in Arizona to “decertify the Election,” referring to the state’s 2020 election results.

Citing the results of the recent Maricopa County audit and a congressional election integrity hearing, Trump urged officials in the state to take action.

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Commentary: Trump Justice Department Official Invoked Executive Privilege at January 6 Select Committee

Admin

In a 15-page letter obtained by American Greatness and prepared by his attorney, Jeffery Clark,  the acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s civil division in President Trump’s last few months of office, invoked executive privilege today before the January 6 Select Committee.

Clark, who has been under intense media scrutiny for attempting to address election illegalities in the 2020 presidential election, was subpoenaed by the committee on October 13. Committee chairman Bennie Thompson (D- Miss.) claimed Clark thwarted “the peaceful transfer of power.” Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee last month prepared a lengthy report accusing Clark of working with Donald Trump to overturn the election results.

Harry W. MacDougald, Clark’s lawyer, explained to Thompson why Clark would not testify. “Because former President Trump was properly entitled, while he held office, to the confidential advice of lawyers like Mr. Clark, Mr. Clark is subject to a sacred trust—one that is particularly vital to the constitutional separation of powers,” MacDougald wrote. “As a result, any attempts—whether by the House or by the current President—to invade that sphere of confidentiality must be resisted.”

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University of Wisconsin Begins Testing of COVID Vaccine on Infants 6 Months to 5 Years

Hayley Feland
an infant sleeping

The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health has begun testing the COVID vaccination on infants and toddlers aged six months to five years. They will be one of several vaccine sites across North America testing the Moderna vaccine, which has not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The testing will be conducted on around 4,000 very young children, a portion of which will be performed at the University of Wisconsin’s testing site. 

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Commentary: Virginia Conservatives – Don’t Let the Establishment Steal Your Election Victory!

Admin
Glenn Youngkin smiling next to a woman

While all the media and talking heads were atwitter over the statewide contests in Virginia last week, the real story and the real threat was on the local level.  When the dust settled, the GOP had gained 7 net seats in the Virginia Assembly, enough in theory to give them control of the House.  With control of the Virginia House of Delegates and through that the Committee Chairmen — coupled with the Governor and a very closely divided Senate and the tiebreaker being newly elected Republican Lt Governor Sears – the hope of repealing the radical agenda of the Democrats from the last two years would appear very possible.

But conservatives should not count their chickens before they are hatched.  You see, the vote in the Congress on Friday is a warning that all of us who want to see liberty installed in the Commonwealth need to heed.  While the Democrats were unable to push through their wasteful “infrastructure bill,” 13 RINOs came to their rescue.  Yes, 13 so-called Republicans voted with Nancy Pelosi and saved the Biden agenda item.

And, unless there is a mobilization now, this week, in Virginia, that same rotten, despicable tactic will be used to steal our majority in Virginia.

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Gov. Ducey Announces Investment into Arizona Boys and Girls Club, Will Boost ‘Life and Social-Emotional Skills Training’

Cooper Moran
Doug Ducey in classroom

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey on Monday announced an additional $1 million in federal funding will be awarded to the Arizona Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs.

According to the governor’s office, the funds will be used to support a one-year program that will provide up to 5,000 individuals with critical life and social-emotional skills training.

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Oil Prices Surge Again After OPEC Ignores Biden

Admin

Oil prices surged again Friday after foreign producers ignored the Biden administration’s repeated requests to boost output and resolve global shortages.

U.S. crude oil surpassed $80 per barrel while the lead foreign index broke $81 per barrel, both rising more than 1.5% compared to one day earlier, on Friday morning, according to the latest data. The Middle Eastern cartel Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its Russian counterpart, collectively known as OPEC+, rebuked the Biden administration Thursday and chose not to alter previously announced plans.

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Florida Democrats Working to Repeal Transgender Athlete Ban

Grant Holcomb
Kristen Arrington and Gary Farmer

Florida State Rep. Kristen Aston Arrington (D-FL-43) filed a companion bill to Florida Sen. Gary Farmer’s (D-FL-34) SB 212 to repeal a transgender athlete ban from last legislative session.

Last legislative session, Florida Republicans passed a transgender athlete ban which banned transgender women from competing in women’s sports in high school and college, and athletic participation is determined by sex assigned on a birth certificate. The ban, which many in the Florida Capitol thought was dead, was resurrected by Florida Rep. Kaylee Tuck (R-FL-55).

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Jacksonville Murder Case Involving Immigrant Creates Further Criticism of Biden’s Border Policy

Casey Owens
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Region IV Emergency Operations Center (EOC) personnel supporting Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) partners monitor final preparations for Hurricane Dorian. CBP Air and Marine Operations aircrews, U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) and Office of Field Operations (OFO) teams from Region IV are ready to deploy as needed for Hurricane Dorian response efforts. CBP Region IV is working closely with a far-reaching network of FEMA partners and local officials. CBP Region IV provides communications and coordination for all CBP surface, land and air assets in Region IV which includes Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, the Caribbean, Puerto Rico and the U.S Virgin Islands during major disasters and national emergencies.

The murder of a Jacksonville man has further stirred Governor DeSantis’ criticism of the Biden Administration’s border policies as news arose that the suspect of the crime was an immigrant who had faked his identity in order to cross the U.S.-Mexico border.

According to a report by News4Jax, 24-year-old Yery Medina Ulloa from Honduras – who pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder on Thursday – posed as a teenager at the border so that he could pass as an unaccompanied minor. However, federal officials have yet to comment on how Ulloa got to Florida.

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Deal Struck: Gilbert for Virginia Speaker of the House, Kilgore for Majority Leader

Eric Burk

Minority Leader Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah) and Delegate Terry Kilgore (R-Wise) have come to an agreement where Gilbert will run unopposed for Speaker of the House, and Kilgore will run unopposed for Majority Leader. The two delegates jointly sent a message to the caucus Friday afternoon, describing the agreement.

“We are writing to you today to let you know that we have come to an understanding with one another about our intentions with respect to seeking leadership roles. Todd is proud to endorse Terry for Majority Leader, and Terry is proud to endorse Todd for Speaker. Ultimately, any final decision will be left up to you,” they wrote.

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Senators Portman and Brown Laud Passage of Infrastructure Bill; Rep. Davidson Calls House GOP Supporters ‘Defectors’

Brian Ball

Passage of the Infrastructure Investment  and Jobs Act over the weekend brought accolades from a chief negotiator, U.S. Senator Rob Portman, R-OH, as well as U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, D-OH.

But conservative U.S. Reprepresentative Warren Davidson, R-OH-08, had harsh words for 13 GOP representatives who bucked the Republican leadership and helped pass the $1.2 trillion spending package Davidson dubbed “a trojan horse” for the pending Build Back Better legislation.

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Nashville Pastor Tackles Man Who Allegedly Pulled a Gun During Church Service

Chris Butler

The quick actions of a Nashville pastor and several of his parishioners saved a church from violence Sunday afternoon, according to the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD).

MNPD officials said in a press release that Dezire Baganda, 26, was sitting at the front of the Nashville Light Mission Pentecostal Church when he pulled out a gun and walked up to the altar where the pastor was praying with several members.

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