Commentary: ESG Is Evil

The Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) scoring system is undergoing intense scrutiny. It also has become quite a political football, with conservative governors, attorneys general, and other officials pushing back against the movement while progressive politicians argue that ESG needs to go further.

This political tug-of-war has exposed the evil essence of ESG: It is an attempt by progressives to arm-twist the leaders of investment firms controlling the allocation of over $20 trillion in investment capital away from firms disfavored by progressives, including, most notably, producers of fossil fuels.

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Tennessee Public Charter School Commission Rejects Founders Classical Applications in Williamson and Sumner Counties

Despite massive turnout in support of two Founders Classical Academy charter schools, the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission (TPCSC) has rejected the schools’ bids to open campuses in Williamson and Sumner counties.

“I think it is clear that this school has a lot of community support,” Tess Stovall, TPCSC’s executive director reportedly said. “However, that is not the only thing that one needs for a school to be successful.”

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Clean Elections Commission Announces New Partnership and Time for Arizona Gubernatorial Debate

The Arizona Clean Elections Commission (CEC) announced Monday a new time and partnership for the previously rescheduled gubernatorial debate following Arizona PBS’s (AZPBS) decision to give Democrat gubernatorial nominee Katie Hobbs her own solo interview.

“Clean Elections has partnered with KAZT/AZTV7 to broadcast our gubernatorial event on Sunday, October 23rd at 5pm. Both campaigns have been informed,” tweeted the CEC.

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Florida AG Moody Launches 2022 Human Trafficking Summit, Registration Still Open

A Florida-led virtual 2022 Human Trafficking Summit launched Tuesday nationwide, engaging experts from across the country to collaborate on ways to more effectively combat human trafficking. More than 2,300 attendees registered and registration remains open at HumanTraffickingSummit.com.

The summit provides over 16 hours of educational content, which will remain accessible online through March 2023.

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JLARC Recommends Centralizing Gambling Regulation at the Virginia Lottery

Virginia’s gambling regulation should be centralized under the Virginia Lottery, according to a Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) report, which found that regulation is split between three different agencies, and two of them are understaffed. In addition to the lottery which regulates casinos and sports betting, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) regulates charitable gaming, and the Virginia Racing Commission (VRC) regulates live and historical horse racing (HHR).

“Gaming regulation is not the primary function of VRC and VDACS. Both agencies need more staff and better technology to ensure that all gaming under their purview operates with integrity,” the report summary states.

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Midterm Election in Georgia Sees Record Numbers as Early Voting Commences

Georgia saw a record number of voters turn out for a midterm election, state officials said.

As of Tuesday, 143,077 voters have cast ballots in Georgia — 131,318 voted early in person, while 11,759 voted via an absentee ballot. The number of in-person voters is an 85% increase from the 70,849 voters who cast ballots in person on the first day of early voting in the 2018 midterm election.

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Republicans Sue to Discard Undated Pennsylvania Absentee Ballots

Pennsylvania’s Republican Party and its national counterpart filed a lawsuit this week to prevent the state’s Democrat-run executive branch from requiring counties to count undated absentee ballots. 

A lawsuit that originated in 2021 to settle a dispute about whether such ballots should be tallied resulted in the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals answering in the affirmative this June. That ruling decided a race for Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas in favor of Democrat Zachary Cohen over Republican David Ritter. 

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End of Benefits, Rising Inflation Contribute to Food Insecurity in Connecticut

As benefits such as the enhanced child tax credit end and inflation increases, more Connecticut residents are facing food insecurity.

As DataHaven reports that 17% of Connecticut adults have been unable to afford food at some point in the past year, Julieth Callejas, who serves as executive director of End Hunger Connecticut, told The Center Square in an exclusive interview that many factors contribute to the trend. The percentage is the highest in the last five years.

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Minnesota Lawmakers: Walz Admin Broke the Law, Missed Clear Opportunities to Stop Fraud

Republican lawmakers hammered the Walz administration Monday for missing at least five clear opportunities to prevent the Feeding Our Future scandal and violating state law along the way.

In a stunning development, Sen. Mark Koran and Rep. Steve Drazkowski released a letter showing the Walz administration never alerted the Office of the Legislative Auditor to the suspected fraud.

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Miyares Joins Amicus Brief Supporting Oklahoma Law Regulating Pharmacy Benefit Managers

Attorney General Jason Miyares has joined 34 other attorneys general in an amicus brief supporting Oklahoma’s laws regulating pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). Miyares’ press release said Virginia’s laws are similar to Oklahoma’s, and the regulations are necessary to protect consumers and pharmacies against PBMs, which act as middlemen between insurance providers, pharmacies, and drug manufacturers.

“Virginians’ healthcare costs continue to rise, and PBMs are partially to blame. Virginia has enacted laws to protect consumers from abusive PBM practices—including laws I supported in the General Assembly. Now, as your Attorney General, protecting consumers is one of my most important jobs, and I will continue to fight for these laws and the consumers they protect,” Miyares said.

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Virginia Has Almost 250,000 Illegal Immigrants, Five Sanctuary Localities

Border surge

More than a quarter of a million people in Virginia immigrated to the country illegally, according to estimates, and five localities do not fully work with federal law enforcement regarding deportations.

Although the government does not have data on the exact number of immigrants who came to the country illegally, estimates for the Virginia population are usually somewhere between 250,000 and 275,000. Some proponents of stricter immigration control have warned the failure to enforce immigration laws has become a burden on local economies and has made communities less safe.

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Almost 15 Percent of American Voters Will Be LGBTQ by 2030, New Report Claims

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) suggested in a new report that one in seven voters will identify as LGBTQ by 2030.

LGBTQ voters are predicted to become the fastest growing voting bloc in the near future, with the report suggesting that one in five voters will be LGBTQ by 2040, according to the HRC and Bowling Green State University (BGSU). The report explained that 11% of voters are currently LGBTQ, and expects numbers to continually climb as Generation Z voters age and “come out.”

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AG Yost Rejects Proposal to Raise Ohio’s Minimum Wage

A citizen group trying to use a constitutional amendment to raise Ohio’s minimum wage eventually to $15 doesn’t need to start over but it does need to make changes to its plan if it hopes to eventually get it on the ballot.

Attorney General Dave Yost rejected the group’s proposal, calling it misleading to a potential signer. He also said it had numerous omissions.

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Fiscal Policy Report Card Gives Pennsylvania Low Grade

In a recent ranking of America’s governors, Pennsylvania’s Tom Wolf ranked at the bottom of the pack – 44th for his fiscal policies.

An annual fiscal policy report card from the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, graded the nation’s governors “from a limited-government perspective.” In their grading that emphasized lowering taxes and cutting spending, Wolf earned an “F.”

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ICE Tried to Spin Its ‘Indefensible’ 2021 Report Showing Massive Drop in Deportations, Arrests

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) attempted to spin the agency’s low arrest and deportation numbers in fiscal year 2021 by blaming them on the pandemic, a Trump-era rule and lack of cooperation with foreign countries, according to internal documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

ICE’s communications team acknowledged that the agency’s Fiscal Year 2021 Annual Report, which featured a massive decline in deportations and arrests, would likely be the subject of criticism, and prepared a response for acting Director Tae Johnson and acting Chief of Staff Jason Houser to downplay the low levels of interior immigration enforcement, according to internal communications obtained via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The report was also delayed, which ICE attributed to the fact that the report was a compilation of what would otherwise be multiple separate reports.

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Massive Migrant Caravan on Its Way to the U.S. Is Now Forming in Guatemala

A caravan of migrants hoping to enter the U.S. reached the Honduran-Guatemalan border over the weekend, Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei’s office told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The caravan, which is largely composed of Venezuelans, arrived Sunday and had around 2,000 migrants when it began amassing at Guatemala’s border with Honduras in the towns of El Cinchado and Corinto, Giammattei’s spokesman Kevin Oliva told the DCNF.

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Commentary: The FBI’s Million-Dollar Men

Proceedings underway in three U.S. courtrooms are providing a coordinated view into the abuse of the FBI’s confidential human source (CHS) program, a cash-flush operation now primarily used to bolster Democratic Party narratives instead of detecting and preventing crime.

As I’ve reported, the FBI spends an average of $42 million per year to pay informants and does so with absolutely no financial or legal accountability. Confidential human sources are paid in cash; they can offer their services for a variety of reasons including financial need or to obtain a change in immigration status. FBI agents are required to keep at least one informant on the books, an FBI whistleblower told me; successfully using a CHS to bust up a crime is one way to get promoted.

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Report: Biden Admin to Further Drain Strategic Oil Reserves Before Midterms

The Biden administration will announce the sale of 14 million crude oil barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) this week, set to lower gas prices before the November midterm elections, according to Reuters.

The administration will direct the Energy Department (DOE) to auction the remaining 14 million barrels after President Joe Biden authorized the sale of 180 million barrels of oil in March to bring down gas prices, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the situation. The White House is desperate to lower the price of gasoline due to concern that high prices could weaken the Democrats’ chances of winning key congressional and gubernatorial races on Nov. 8.

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Boston University Gain-of-Function Research Creates Lethal New COVID Strain That Kills 80 Percent of Mice

Boston University scientists have reportedly created a lethal new COVID strain by combining Omicron and the original Wuhan strain in a laboratory.

According to the DailyMail.com, the hybrid virus managed to kill 80 percent of mice in a gain-of-function research study that critics say shouldn’t have been allowed. The research has not been peer-reviewed, the Mail reported.

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Real Retail Spending Fell in September as Inflation Pinches Consumers

Retail spending held steady in September compared to August, but fell adjusted to inflation as consumers spent more on essentials, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

Despite the fact that consumers spent roughly the same as they did in August, $684 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, these results are not adjusted for inflation, which rose 0.4% on a monthly basis in September, indicating that consumers were getting less value from their spending, according to CNBC. For example, spending at bars and restaurants grew by 0.5% in September, but prices at the same establishments increased by 0.9%, the WSJ reported.

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Jury Finds Danchenko Not Guilty on All Counts of Lying to the FBI

A jury on Tuesday found Steele dossier contributor Igor Dancheko not guilty on all counts pursuant to charges of lying to the FBI about his relationship with the sources for the Trump opposition research documents. 

The case was led by Special Counsel John Durham who led much of the prosecution’s questioning of witnesses in the case and whose intent for the trial was at least in part intended to expose the FBI’s mishandling of the large Russia-2016 Trump campaign collusion probe.

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Missouri Withdraws Half a Billion Worth of Pension Funds from BlackRock’s Control

Missouri State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick announced on Tuesday that the state’s pension fund is selling all of its assets that are managed by BlackRock, a move that will divest up to $500 million from the asset manager.

The Missouri State Employees’ Retirement System (MOSERS) is withdrawing its assets from BlackRock’s control because the state believes that the company is using its control of pension funds to push a “left-wing” agenda as opposed to making money for its clients, according to a press release. Missouri joins several other Republican-run states that have also pulled funds from BlackRock for similar reasons.

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Report: Hunter Biden Reached $40 Million Real Estate Deal with Russian Billionaire While Joe Biden Was Vice President

In yet another revelation regarding the Biden family’s influence-peddling during Joe Biden’s vice presidential tenure, it has been reported that his son Hunter attained a Russian real estate deal worth $40 million back in 2012, while his father was still Vice President.

Breitbart reports that the deal was made between Hunter and Yelena Baturina, a Russian billionaire and the wife of the late former Mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov. The deal was made some time after Baturina had already paid a $3.5 million fee to Hunter’s real estate entity in exchange for access to the American business market. These details come from documents obtained by the Kazakhstani Initiative on Asset Recovery, an anti-corruption group, and were first reported by the Daily Mail on Monday.

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BlackRock Stock Downgraded over Investments in ESG

The asset management company BlackRock, which has been widely criticized for promoting multiple far-left concepts in the world of business, has seen its stock downgraded due to ongoing backlash.

According to The Daily Wire, UBS analyst Brennan Hawken downgraded the company last week due to its support for Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) policies. The target stock price was reduced from $700 to just $585, resulting in a one percent drop in BlackRock shares on Tuesday.

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Kari Lake Receives Endorsement from Ex-Democrat Tulsi Gabbard

Arizona’s Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake received a new endorsement Monday from former Hawaii Representative, ex-Democrat Tulsi Gabbard.

“For too long establishment leaders from both parties have sought to enrich themselves, play games, and build up their power while ignoring and even enabling the suffering of millions of hard-working Americans. Kari Lake is a leader who puts people first, is fighting for border security, energy independence, public safety, and other policies that actually make life better and more affordable for the American people,” said Gabbard.

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Tennessee Charter School Commission Executive Director Recommends Rejection of Two More Proposed Schools

The executive director of Tennessee’s Public Charter Schools Commission has recommended against two new charter schools, after last month battling to stop a charter school from opening in Rutherford County and another from opening in Williamson County. 

Tess Stovall reportedly agreed with the Memphis-Shelby County School Boards unanimous votes – one in April and another in July – and recommended against the opening of Binghampton Community School and Tennessee Volunteer Military Academy.

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FBI Whistleblower: Bureau Using Excessive Tactics to Ensure ‘Process is the Punishment’

An FBI agent in Florida says he chose to blow the whistle on his agency because it has not been following its own rules while investigating the Jan. 6 riot, designing cases to exaggerate the threat of domestic terrorism in America and using excessive tactics to ensure “the process is the punishment” even if a suspect is innocent.

“We took an oath, before our family and our friends and the Lord Almighty, and we are supposed to be people of integrity,” suspended FBI Special Agent Steve Friend told Just the News in a wide-ranging interview. “And that’s not a leisure pursuit. And if you are indeed a person of fidelity, bravery, integrity — the FBI motto — and you have to be willing to do things that aren’t easy, especially when they’re as simple as stepping up and pointing out when we are not meeting the standards that we have set out for ourselves.”

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Ohio Republican Legislators Appeal Congressional Map Ruling to the Supreme Court

Ohio’s Republican state legislators are in the process of appealing a state Supreme Court ruling on congressional redistricting to the U.S. Supreme Court. 

The state’s high court has repeatedly ruled against maps created by Ohio’s Redistricting Commission. Despite the GOP having a one-seat majority, Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor (R) has sided with the Democrats in redistricting cases. (O’Connor, who is 71, is retiring from the court after this year.) 

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Commentary: The Tentacles of the Social Media Octopus

Washington DC

by Victor Davis Hanson   A shared theme in all dystopian explorations of future and current totalitarian regimes – whether China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, or Cuba – is government control of all media information, fueled by electronic surveillance. A skeptical public learns to say one thing publicly but quite another privately. It nervously nods yes at the news while at work, but at home cynically assumes the opposite of whatever is publicly said to be true. RIP, First Amendment Such electronic propaganda has sadly become characteristic of the world’s oldest consensual government. In America we once believed our First Amendment prevented a government monopoly on information. But in the age of globalization, the Internet, and social media, the state has become the enemy – not the protector – of free speech. One obvious sign is that the Biden Administration keeps trying to create new sorts of ministries of truth or “Disinformation Governance Boards.” It alleges such Orwellian censors must combat “disinformation” and “misinformation.” In fact, these bureaucracies are designed to criminalize unwanted free expression while also advancing state propaganda. Among our Washington officials, the following myths were once declared the official version of the “truth”: Mounted border patrol agents “whipped”…

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Study: Market Can Support Casinos in Both Petersburg and Richmond

It is economically feasible to build casinos in both the City of Richmond and the City of Petersburg, according to a study from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC). Legislators ordered the study amid lobbying to give Virginia’s last casino license to Petersburg after Richmond voters rejected a casino in 2021.

“Demand is sufficient in the Petersburg market to support a casino,” said bullets in a JLARC briefing presented Monday

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Youngkin Announces Operation Bold Blue Line to Address Violent Crime in Virginia

Governor Glenn Youngkin called for increased funding to support law enforcement and partnerships with localities as part of the administration’s Monday announcement of Operation Bold Blue Line. The proposals were the result of his violent crime task force, which he said found Virginia lacks law enforcement officers, prosecutors, programs for at-risk youth, and support for witnesses and victims.

“It’s often said that our law enforcement heroes represent a thin blue line,” he said in a speech outside a City of Norfolk Library alongside Attorney General Jason Miyares and Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears.

“Friends, with nearly 40 percent law enforcement vacancy rates in some cities, with too few prosecutors actually prosecuting, with diminished community engagement and witnesses and victims less willing to come forward, that thin blue line is getting far too thin.”

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Arizona’s Graduating Class Average ACT Scores Declined in 2022, Missing College-Readiness Benchmarks

The national average American College Testing (ACT) score for 2022 high school graduates fell to 19. 8 out of 36 in 2022, the lowest average score recorded in over 30 years, and Arizona did not escape this decline either. Arizona’s average score was 18.4 in 2022, over a point worse than last year, and ACT CEO Janet Godwin called the downward movement alarming.

“The magnitude of the declines this year is particularly alarming, as we see rapidly growing numbers of seniors leaving high school without meeting the college-readiness benchmark in any of the subjects we measure,” said ACT CEO Janet Godwin.

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Murfreesboro’s First Responders Warn Citizens to Stay off Train Track After Two People Are Hit Within Two Days

Murfreesboro’s first responders are urging citizens to stay off the train tracks after two people were hit by trains within two days of each other.

“Walking on train tracks is dangerous and illegal. Most don’t realize how quickly a train can approach you, and it takes quite a bit of time for it to stop,” said Murfreesboro Police Department Lieutenant Greg Walker.

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Sumner, Rutherford County Sheriff Offices Warn of Scam Caller Falsely Claiming to Represent the Sheriff’s Office

The Sumner County Sheriff’s Office issued a warning to the public on Friday to be aware of an increase in scam calls impersonating the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office.

The Sumner County Sheriff’s Office released a statement on Facebook, saying, “Recently there has been an increase in scam calls. When the calls are answered, the subject claims to be from the Sheriff’s Office and will even provide a name, in some cases they have used a third-party application, so the caller ID shows the Sheriff’s Office phone number. When you check the number, it appears to be from the Sheriff’s Office. The caller will request payment for bond or claim you missed jury duty and need to pay a fine to avoid being arrested.”

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