Day: February 18, 2023

Trump to Visit Ohio Town After Toxic Train Derailment

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Former President Donald Trump will visit East Palestine, Ohio, on Wednesday after a train derailment caused a toxic chemical plume to pollute the town, a source familiar with the plan told Fox News.

Trump will visit with members of the community who are dealing with the aftermath of a Norfolk Southern train derailment that occurred earlier this month, the source told Fox News. The derailment led to the evacuation of nearly 2,000 residents before a controlled release was performed to prevent an explosion, which subsequently released a hazardous mixture of chemicals into the air and water.

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Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson Reignites Effort to Protect America’s Sovereignty Against World Health Organization’s Pandemic Treaty

Susan Berry, PhD

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) reintroduced legislation Wednesday that seeks to protect the sovereignty of the United States against the World Health Organization’s (WHO) attempt to push through a pandemic treaty onto its member states.

Johnson led other Republican senators as he reintroduced the No WHO Pandemic Preparedness Treaty Without Senate Approval Act.

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Pentagon Will Pay for Travel to Other States for Abortions

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The Department of Defense (DOD) will pay for troops to travel to states that allow abortions and obtain so-called “reproductive health care” at non-military facilities, according to a new policy released Thursday evening.

The landmark Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court decision gave states the authority to determine localized abortion policies. The Hyde amendment bars DOD from administering abortions at military medical facilities, the new policy carves out provisions for expanded leave times and set-aside funding for servicemembers stationed in states that restrict abortions to cross state boundaries to obtain the procedure.

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Minnesota Democrats Want to Ban Gas-Powered Lawn Mowers, Zambonis

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Two Twin Cities lawmakers have introduced bills to ban the sale of new gas-powered lawn mowers and Zambonis in Minnesota.

Reps. Jerry Newton, DFL-Coon Rapids, and Heather Edelson, DFL-Edina, introduced HF 1715 and 1716 this week. The first would require all new lawn and garden equipment sold or distributed in Minnesota after Jan. 1, 2025, to be powered solely by electricity. This would apply to lawn mowers, leaf blowers, hedge clippers, chainsaws, lawn edgers, string trimmers, and brush cutters.

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Commentary: Biden Has Mastered the Art of Dodging Blame for Inflation

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It is frustrating that so many otherwise competent, knowledgeable economists and commentators are failing to land a punch on President Joe Biden regarding inflation.

It’s not that people don’t know the economy is floundering. They do. Almost 66% of Americans believe the country is on the wrong track, according to the latest RealClearPolitics polling average, a sentiment driven by inflation and the difficulties it has caused for people trying to keep up with household expenses.

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Virginia Senate Democrats Move Against Babies Who Survive Abortion and Women’s Need for Informed Consent

Susan Berry, PhD

Senate Democrats in Virginia joined to block two bills Thursday, one that would protect babies who survive botched abortions, and another that would require abortion facilities to provide women in the state with informed consent in writing prior to undergoing an abortion.

Democrats voted against HB 1795, a bill that would require medical care to be provided infants who survive an abortion – in the same way it would be rendered “to any other child born alive at the same gestational age,” and that abortion providers would “take all reasonable steps to ensure the immediate transfer of the infant who has been born alive to a hospital for further medical care.”

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More Plaintiffs Agree to Dismiss Challenge to Georgia’s Election Law

The Center Square

Georgia officials are claiming victory after three plaintiffs challenging the state’s new voting law petitioned the court to voluntarily dismiss their claims.

Critics have argued that the state’s new voting law, Senate Bill 202, the Election Integrity Act, is a burden on local election officials and made it more challenging for Georgians to cast ballots.

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Big Labor Growing Bolder in Badger State with Potential for Liberal Majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court

M.D. Kittle

A longtime Wisconsin factory worker charges the United Steelworkers threatened to have her fired for seeking to leave the union.  

It’s another brazen act by Badger State Big Labor, emboldened by a union-friendly governor and the prospects of the state Supreme Court taking a left turn, a worker’s freedom advocate tells The Wisconsin Daily Star. 

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Hobbs Revokes $210 Million in COVID-19 Relief Grants Awarded by Ducey

Rachel Alexander

Since becoming the governor of Arizona, Democrat Katie Hobbs has started undoing some of the work done by her predecessor Doug Ducey. This past week, Hobbs blocked $210 million in COVID-19 relief grants Ducey had awarded to businesses.

Hobbs’ administration said Ducey gave 19 grants to 16 businesses during his last three days in office; on Dec. 30-Jan. 1. Her aides claim he violated state procurement law, which requires competitive bids in order to award money. Those requirements were waived during COVID-19 through December 29 by the Arizona Department of Administration. After Ducey’s emergency declaration ended in March 2022, the waiver was extended twice. 

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Federal Judge Tosses Challenge to Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Law

Just the News

A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed a challenge to a Florida law that restricts the discussion of sexuality and gender identity with younger students, and that critics have maligned as an anti-LGBT “Don’t Say Gay” law.

U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor determined that the group of Florida students, parents and teachers who brought the challenge failed to prove that they had standing to bring the case to the federal bench.

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Pennsylvania State University Student Government Sets Aside Thousands of Dollars to Fund Transgender Name Changes

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Pennsylvania State University (PSU) student leaders voted on Wednesday to set aside $3,000 for transgender students to legally change their names, the student newspaper Daily Collegian reported.

The University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) unanimously agreed to cover the costs for students who want to change their legal name through the university’s Student Legal Service department, the Collegian reported. Students can receive a voucher to cover the costs associated with the service which can reportedly amount between $150 and $200 when a name is changed for reasons other than divorce.

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Spokesperson: Ohio Governor DeWine Agreed with Decision to Execute East Palestine Controlled Burn but Did Not Give Order

Hannah Poling

In an exclusive interview with The Ohio Star on Friday morning, Governor Mike DeWine’s spokesman Dan Tierney said he was unaware that legal authority was required to execute the February 6 controlled burn of vinyl chloride from five carriages of the Norfolk Southern train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio on February 3rd. He added that Norfolk Southern executed the controlled burn after consultation with representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and that DeWine agreed with the decision to execute a controlled burn – but was not the person who gave the order to execute the controlled burn.

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HHS, CDC to Deploy Toxicologists to East Palestine amid Train Derailment Fallout

Just the News

The Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will send toxicologists to a struggling Ohio town in the wake of a major train derailment and the release of hazardous materials from its railcars.

A Norfolk Southern train earlier this month derailed near the town of East Palestine, forcing authorities to evacuate the town and orchestrate a controlled release of the toxic materials from the train to prevent an explosion.

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Group of Black 6th Graders Allegedly Assaults White Students on Ohio School Playground for Not Saying ‘Black Lives Matter’

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A group of black elementary school students in Ohio reportedly assaulted several white students on the playground last week when the kids refused to say, “Black Lives Matter.”

The alleged assaults happened at Kenwood Elementary School last Friday, although Springfield Police weren’t notified about the incident until Monday morning, according to the incident report.

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CDC: 60 Percent Increase in High School Girls Contemplating Suicide

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On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) published a report revealing that the rate of high school-aged girls in the United States considering suicide or going through depression has increased dramatically over the last 10 years.

As reported by Fox News, the study shows that in 2021, 57 percent of all high school girls felt depressed or hopeless in 2021, compared to just 36 percent in 2011; this marks a staggering 58 percent increase over the 10-year period. Similarly, 30 percent of girls in 2021 contemplated suicide, a 60 percent increase from just 19 percent in 2011. And in another 60 percent increase, 24 percent of high school girls went so far as to make plans for their own suicide in 2021, up from 15 percent in 2011.

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FBI Whistleblower Resigns from Bureau, Warns Congress About Dangers of Case ‘Quota System’

Just the News

An FBI whistleblower has divulged to Congress that the bureau has created a case quota system that can incentivize agents to pursue frivolous cases or delay action on real crimes to attain statistical goals.

Steve Friend, a special agent and former SWAT team member who blew the whistle on alleged civil liberties violations in the Jan. 6 investigation, told Just the News on Thursday that he resigned from the bureau this week and gave the House Judiciary Committee an extensive interview detailing his concerns about the politicization of criminal cases and the growing manipulation of investigations to attain statistical and budget goals.

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Commentary: Recognizing Hard Truths About America’s History with Slavery

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Slavery is always and everywhere an unconscionable stain, an egregious error, a monstrous outrage, a mortal sin. Every human possesses a natural right to be his own master, so long as he does not deny that same right to others.

Most people take that truism for granted today but it wasn’t the governing rule of the past. Few people who have ever lived on this planet were truly free; most were either outright slaves or were serfs or subjects who lived in constant fear of tyrants. In world history, freedom is the exception, and mostly a recent one.

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