Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell Suffers Concussion in Fall, to Remain Hospitalized for ‘Few Days’

by Madeleine Hubbard    Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is expected to remain hospitalized “for a few days” after he fell in Washington, D.C., during a private hotel dinner, a spokesperson for the Kentucky Republican said Thursday. “This evening, Leader McConnell tripped at a local hotel during a private dinner,” spokesman David Popp told news outlets after the fall Wednesday. “He has been admitted to the hospital where he is receiving treatment.” McConnell fell at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, formerly known as the Trump International Hotel, in Washington, D.C. He is being treated for a concussion, Popp said. McConnell, 81, tripped and fell at his home in Kentucky in 2019 and underwent surgery for a shoulder fracture.  Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell suffered a concussion after a fall at a local hotel and remains hospitalized “for a few days of observation and treatment,” a spokesman said Thursday. The Kentucky senator, 81, was at a Wednesday evening dinner for the Senate Leadership Fund, a campaign committee aligned with him, when he tripped and was admitted to the hospital, his office said. The dinner was at the Waldorf Astoria Washington DC, formerly the Trump International Hotel, Washington D.C. Spokesman David Popp said McConnell is being treated for a…

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Eco-Conscious ESG Investors Among Top Shareholders in Rail Giant Under Fire for Toxic Spill

Three of the five top shareholders in Norfolk Southern — the freight rail carrier under the spotlight for its saftey and environmental record following last month’s toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio — have been aligned with the eco-conscious, socially aware ESG (environmental, social, governance) investing framework embraced by many leading financial firms in recent years.

Asset management firms BlackRock Fund Advisors, JPMorgan Investment Management, and The Vanguard Group were all part of the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, a coalition of ESG-minded money mangers committed to channeling investment capital to firms working toward the goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, as outlined in the Paris Climate Accord.

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Rep. Mark Green Re-Introduces Bill to Kick Communist China Out of Hollywood

U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07) on Wednesday re-introduced the Stopping Communist Regimes from Engaging in Edits Now or SCREEN Act to discourage Hollywood from bowing to censorship from Beijing.

Green originally introduced the SCREEN Act just over a year ago on February 28, 2022, during the second session of the 117th Congress as H.R. 6855. Around the same time, the combat veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq issued a scathing op-ed calling on the Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to put an end to Hollywood using the U.S. military for censorship by the Chinese.

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Ohio Middle School Scrubs Fifth Grade Gender Identity Lesson After Exposé

A middle school in Copley, Ohio, has eliminated a fifth-grade gender identity lesson from its health curriculum following exposure of the lesson at Libs of TikTok, a report Tuesday revealed.

At the outset of a letter sent to parents that was printed on the letterhead of Akron Children’s Hospital, Rachel O’Donnell, fifth-grade health teacher at Copley-Fairlawn Middle School, wrote the program would “cover the physical and emotional changes that can be expected during puberty” and would be taught in a way that was “age-appropriate, scientifically accurate, and non-judgmental.”

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THREATTOSCOTUS2022: FBI Whistleblowers Say Threat Tags Were Used to Target Conservatives

What do school parents, Catholic attendees of Latin Mass and pro-life activists have in common? They’ve all been branded by the FBI as potential domestic terrorist threats in what whistleblowers say is a growing trend of using intelligence threat tags to enforce cancel culture.

The latest revelation came this past weekend when House Republicans released testimony from an FBI whistleblower who alleged colleagues in the bureau flipped a terrorist threat tag originally created to flag threats against pro-life Supreme Court justices into a signifier that anti-abortion protesters were somehow a threat.

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Former New York Times Science Editor Testifies Fauci ‘Not Too Pleased to Hear’ Virus May Have ‘Escaped from Research His Agency Had Funded’

The former science editor at The New York Times testified Wednesday morning before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic there is now strong evidence the COVID-19 virus escaped from a Wuhan lab, but that “powerful scientific officials, such as [Anthony] Fauci and [National Institutes of Health Director] Francis Collins, kept researchers “in line” with their natural origins narrative with the knowledge the scientists were dependent on government grants to continue their research.

In his testimony, Nicholas Wade, who not only served as former science and health editor at the Times, but also as former editor at Science and at Nature, quickly got to the heart of the matter: the campaign to suppress the lab leak narrative.

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Poll: Plurality of Americans Believes We Are Heading for Next World War

As the war in Ukraine and tensions with China intensify, more Americans fear we’re on the brink of World War III, according to a new Convention of States Action poll. 

The survey of more than 1,000 U.S. voters, conducted Feb. 22-26 by The Trafalgar Group, finds more than 43 percent of respondents worry that Russia’s continued war and threats against other European nations, as well as China’s aggressive actions, have put the world on the precipice of another global conflict.

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Students Demand Catholic University ‘Eliminate’ Christian Group from Campus Due to Its ‘Discriminatory’ LGBTQ Views

Students at DePaul University, a private Catholic university in Illinois, are circulating a petition demanding the elimination of a Christian group after it posted a Q&A on its now-deleted Instagram page denouncing LGBTQ lifestyles, student newspaper The DePaulia reported.

Signees called on DePaul University officials to ban the group “from meeting on campus and promoting discrimination against members of the LGBTQIA+ community,” according to the petition titled “Eliminate Vessel.” Vessel is not an official student organization on campus and appears to have deleted their Instagram page soon after sharing that they are a “non-affirming” group and “do not agree that the LGBTQIA+ lifestyle is supported by biblical text. Below are verses which support this,” according to a screenshot obtained by the DePaulia.

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Border: 205,000 Apprehensions, Gotaways in February as Gotaways Increase in West

More than 205,000 foreign nationals were apprehended or reported as gotaways after illegally entering the southwest border in February, according to preliminary data obtained by The Center Square from a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent. The agent provided the information on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation; it only includes Border Patrol data and excludes Office of Field Operations data.

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Poll: Inflation Has Americans Worried About Covering Expenses After Job Loss

A majority of Americans polled said they couldn’t afford to pay emergency expenses or cover their living expenses for just one month if they lost their primary source of income, according to Bankrate’s latest Annual Emergency Savings Report. The main reason cited is record-high inflation.

The majority surveyed, 68%, said they’re “worried they wouldn’t be able to cover their living expenses for just one month if they lost their primary source of income.”

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Media Initially Criticized Tennessee Senator Blackburn for Her Scrutiny of Vindman

U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said this week that recent revelations about Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman make clear that leftists in the media and the political class should have originally scrutinized him as carefully as she did. 

Blackburn was among Vindman’s most outspoken critics after he testified in Congress’s first impeachment hearings concerning then-President Donald Trump in 2019. The Ukrainian-born retired U.S. Army officer was then serving as director for European Affairs at the United States National Security Council (NSC). Trump transferred him out of that position back to an Army command post the following winter. 

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Nunn Says Hearings on Biden’s Afghanistan Debacle a Long Time Coming

U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA-03) served three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, amassing some 1,000-combat flight hours. The freshman congressman said Wednesday’s House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on the debacle that was the Biden administration-led U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan was long overdue. 

“It’s unfortunate it’s taken us almost two years to get to this point,” Nunn told The Iowa Star Wednesday morning on NewsTalk 1040 WHO.

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Connecticut Sues Firearm Companies over ‘Ghost Gun’ Parts

Connecticut has filed a lawsuit against several gun manufacturers, accusing them of violating state law by selling components that are used to build untraceable ‘ghost’ guns.

The civil lawsuit, announced by Attorney General William Tong Tuesday, targets four out-of-state firearm companies accusing them of violating the state’s consumer protection laws, which carry fines of up to $5,000 per violation.

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Norfolk Southern CEO Pledges Pennsylvania Visit

Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw did not appear in front of Pennsylvania lawmakers on Wednesday, but is expected to do so later this month and provide documents that track the rail company’s response to the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

The Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee announced Shaw will testify March 20 and advanced resolutions to recognize the impact of the derailment on Pennsylvania communities along with an emergency grant program to provide financial relief to affected residents.

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State to Fund Public Safety Office in Atlanta’s Buckhead Community

A week after state lawmakers killed a proposal to de-annex and incorporate a portion of Atlanta as Buckhead City, state leaders announced they plan to fund a state patrol office in the community.

Last week, the state Senate voted 33-23 against Senate Bill 114, which would have allowed residents of the proposed Buckhead City to vote on the measure in November 2024. This week, House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, announced the proposed fiscal 2024 budget will include nearly $1.3 million for the state patrol’s “satellite post.”

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Top American High School Received More than $1 Million from Groups Tied to China

A prestigious U.S. high school reportedly received more than $1 million in donations from Chinese-linked organizations, a report from watchdog group Parents Defending Education indicates.

Thomas Jefferson High School, situated in Fairfax County, Va., focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education and ranks among the nation’s best high schools.

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Commentary: The Difficult Truths About Unrenewable ‘Renewables’

Today in America, there are obvious disconnects between observable reality and the narratives we get from the corporate special interests controlling the news we consume, along with politicians who are supposedly elected to represent us.

This is nothing new. Elites have defined America’s destiny throughout its history. The only difference today is that the internet, despite ongoing crackdowns, still manages to deliver an unprecedented volume of contrarian perspectives to millions of people. We aren’t any freer or less manipulated today than we ever were, we’re just more aware of it.

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Battery Supplier Asserts: Michigan Taxpayer Subsidies Imperative for North American Supply Chain

Electric vehicle battery supplier Our Next Energy says taxpayer subsidies are key to “accelerating” the buildout of a North American battery supply chain, stabilizing Michigan’s grid, and declaring energy independence from China.

Deeana Ahmed, Our Next Energy’s vice president of strategy and sustainability, testified Wednesday in front of the House Appropriations Committee.

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New Bill to Crack Down on Fentanyl Peddlers Passes Arizona State Senate

A new bill from State Sen. Anthony Kern (R-Glendale) aims to bring harsher punishments on those who traffic fentanyl passed through the Senate floor Tuesday with bipartisan support.

“The numbers speak for itself. Trafficking fentanyl is a deadly issue in our state that is only growing and tearing families apart,” said Kern. “These lethal pills are infiltrating our schools and communities. As a result, young and innocent people are losing their lives.”

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Mark Finchem Responds to Sanctions for Bringing Election Challenge over Voter Disenfranchisement in His Race

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Melissa Julian awarded sanctions last week against Mark Finchem and his attorney Tom McCauley over Finchem’s lawsuit challenging his election loss in the secretary of state’s race. Democrat Adrian Fontes, who won the race, asked the court for sanctions in December. Finchem and McCauley will be required to pay attorneys fees; the legal costs of Fontes’ and then-Secretary of State Katie Hobbs’ office defending against the lawsuit. 

Finchem issued a statement after the ruling. “The 6-page order by Judge Julian to award lawyer reimbursement to leftist litigators who represent the Sinaloa Cartel, now the installed Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, and Katie Hobbs, the installed Governor of Arizona, is contemptible judicial overreach beyond all statutory and Rules of Civil Procedure for the Superior Courts of Arizona,” he said. “This award is designed to quash any and all dissent where elections are in question. The Maricopa County 2022 election was the most embarrassing election in American history. As a result, 70% of Americans doubt the outcome of the 2022 elections in Arizona (Rasmussen Poll).” 

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National Transportation Safety Board to Investigate Norfolk Southern Following Train Derailments

After a train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed last month in East Palestine, Ohio, and a number of other “significant accidents,” the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced Tuesday that it will begin an investigation into Norfolk Southern.

The organization declared that it would investigate the railroad’s safety procedures and culture.
Only a few hours earlier, the railroad had reported that a conductor had been fatally injured at a steel mill in Ohio.

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Florida Republican Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Limit After Six Weeks

Republican lawmakers in Florida filed bills Tuesday that would ban abortion after six weeks pregnancy.

On the first day of the legislative session, GOP legislators introduced such bills to the House and Senate – with a Republican supermajority – that would cut down the abortion window from the previously approved 15-week mark. The bills also allow for exceptions in the case that a mother was raped or fell victim to incest so long as they could prove such a crime.

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Virginia County Board Members Advance Plan to Hike Their Pay 45 Percent amid Police Shortage, Crime Surge

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to move forward with consideration of a proposal to give themselves salary increases of up to 45 percent, even as the county, located just outside of Washington, D.C., faces a shortage of police in the midst of a crime surge.

With inflation still high, county residents are facing real estate taxes that have risen 7 percent on average. In addition, Virginia counties assess the value of personal vehicles and send “personal property tax” bills that residents must pay each year. These bills are at record levels due to the high values of used vehicles.

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Commentary: Gender Ideology is Losing and the Equal Rights Amendment Should, Too

Medical professionals and the public are pushing back against radical gender ideologies that have claimed the minds, bodies, and lives of too many children. Those at war against biological sex are losing — but only if the ERA is defeated, too.

On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee hosted its latest hearing on the Equal Rights Amendment. This time, to consider the merits of removing the amendments’ pesky expiration date.

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