In the fifth episode of his newest production, “Tucker on Twitter,” former Fox News primetime host Tucker Carlson discussed Hunter Biden’s plea deal in connection to federal charges.
Read the full storyDay: June 20, 2023
New York State’s ‘Best Practice’ Document Urges Schools to Keep Child’s Gender Transition from Parents
The New York State Department of Education (NYSED) published a “legal update and best practice” document last week that encourages schools to keep a child’s claim of a new gender identity from parents.
“The student is in charge of their gender transition and the school’s role is to provide support,” the document states. “Only the student knows whether it is safe to share their identity with caregivers, and schools should be mindful that some TGE [transgender and gender-expansive] students do not want or cannot have their parents/guardians know about their transgender status.”
Read the full storyRamaswamy: Plea Deal Keeping Hunter Biden out of Prison Is a ‘Joke,’ the ‘Perfect Fig Leaf’
GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is blasting a plea deal announced Tuesday that will keep President Joe Biden’s troubled son out of prison on two federal misdemeanor counts of failing to pay his taxes and a separate felony charge of possession of a firearm by a known drug user.
Multiple news outlets are reporting that Hunter Biden and his attorneys have reached an agreement in which U.S. Attorney David Weiss would recommend probation on the tax violations. The younger Biden also would avoid prison time on the gun possession charge, “subject to a pretrial diversion agreement,” his attorney said in a statement.
Read the full storyHunter Biden Reaches Plea Deal on Gun, Tax Charges
Hunter Biden has struck a deal with federal prosecutors to avoid prison by pleading guilty to two tax crimes and admitting to a gun charge that could be dismissed, court records released Tuesday show. Under the deal, President Joe Biden’s son will plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges. Prosecutors also charged him with felony possession of a firearm while using illegal drug, but that charge would be dismissed if he successfully completes a two-year probation.
Read the full storyNashville Hotel Tax Increase to Begin July 1 as Part of Titans Stadium Deal
A 1 percent increase to Davidson County’s Hotel Occupancy Tax rate will begin next month to begin paying for the approved Tennessee Titans $2.1 billion stadium deal, according to the Metro Nashville Finance Department.
Read the full storyMayo Clinic Professor Michael Joyner Suspended after Saying Testosterone Improves Athletic Performance
A Mayo Clinic College of Medicine professor was recently suspended — and remains under the threat of termination — after he told a news outlet his stance on trans-athletes in women’s sports and plasma treatments for COVID-19.
Administrators suspended Professor Michael Joyner without pay for a week, citing his “use of idiomatic language” and comments he made in a June 2022 New York Times article as justification for the disciplinary actions, according to a March 5 disciplinary letter that recently came to light.
Read the full storyTennessee Congressman Will Lead House Oversight Committee in UFO Hearing
A U.S. Congressman from Tennessee will lead an upcoming House Oversight Committee hearing on the topic of UFOs, which has recently been headline news on more than one occasion.
The hearing has been years in the works, according to a report in the Daily Wire.
Read the full storyClimate Activists Livestream Attempt to Bodily Shut Down Ports, Bridge
Several climate activists attempted to blockade three key Australian coal ports Sunday in protest of fossil fuels while broadcasting their actions over the internet, according to The Guardian.
Climate activists belonging to the climate protest group Blockade Australia placed themselves in harm’s way to disrupt thoroughfares essential to operations of the ports of Newcastle, Brisbane, and Melbourne, doing so while live-streaming the protests until police removed them, according to The Guardian.
Read the full storyTennessee AG Skrmetti Secures Settlement Payout from Lawsuit Against Online Retailer
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti recently announced he and 31 other state attorneys general have secured a $2.35 million payout from a multistate settlement with an online lingerie retailer.
Read the full storyState Commission Votes to Temporarily Ban Memphis Officer Involved in Tyre Nichols Case from Practicing Law Enforcement in Tennessee
Former Memphis Police Officer Preston Hemphill can no longer practice law enforcement in the State of Tennessee for the time being, according to a state commission.
Read the full storyRFK Jr. Polling Numbers Rise, Trump Up Big in Another Iowa Poll
It would appear Democratic presidential contender Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is better liked than the present president, his predecessor, and other GOP presidential contenders, according to a new poll.
Meanwhile, yet another poll shows former President Donald Trump’s huge lead growing in kick-off caucus state Iowa.
Read the full storyRepublican Lawmaker Want Pennsylvania Corporate Tax Reduced Further
State representative Dallas Kephart (R-PA-Clearfield) wants to reduce Pennsylvania’s corporate net income tax (CNIT) to four percent by 2025.
Last year, lawmakers budgeted a gradual decrease in the CNIT from 9.99 percent to 4.99 percent over the coming decade. Before the change, the Keystone State charged corporations the highest state business tax in the U.S., behind New Jersey’s 11.5 percent rate. Now at 8.99 percent, Pennsylvania’s levy is 8.99 percent — the fifth highest. Assuming other states’ rates stay constant, Pennsylvania’s CNIT will end up roughly in the middle in terms of corporate taxes in 2031.
Read the full storyGovernor Kemp Touts Georgia’s Economic Climate While Meeting with Business Leaders at the Paris Air Show
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is meeting with leaders of aerospace industry companies this week at the Paris Air Show to promote economic development opportunities in the Peach State.
Read the full storyAfter Wisconsin Line 5 Ruling, Michigan Business Leaders Say Build the Tunnel
A federal court on Friday ordered Canadian oil company Enbridge to cease the flow of oil and decommission within three years the segment of its Line 5 pipeline in Wisconsin trespassing on the reservation of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians.
Concurrently, Michigan’s business leaders urged the United States Army Corps of Engineers to give the approval needed for the construction of the Great Lakes Tunnel.
Read the full storyCommentary: Trump Lawyers Targeted by Dark Money Group
Among the unusual features of last week’s arraignment of former President Trump in Miami involved the difficulty he had finding a qualified attorney to represent him in the classified documents case brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith. The corporate media inevitably made much of this issue. The Washington Post, for example, quoted various anonymous sources who claimed that Trump’s reputation as a “challenging client” caused several prominent lawyers to turn him down. In reality, the problem resulted from an intimidation campaign by a radical pressure group called the 65 Project, whose explicit mission is to ruin any lawyer willing to represent Trump.
Read the full storyCalifornia Gov. Gavin Newsom Claims Florida Gov. DeSantis ‘Weaponized’ Issue of Men Competing in Women’s Sports
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California claimed Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida was among those who “weaponized” the issue of men competing in women’s sports.
“I think the trans issue has — has come on as a more divisive issue in the context, particularly of sports, where it’s also been weaponized, and issues around pronouns,” Newsom said during a Wednesday interview with Fox 11 reporter Elex Michaelson. “I remember the first time I was on Zoom, and all of a sudden I saw these different pronouns. And that even took me, I was like, ‘What’s this?’ I didn’t fully understand that.”
Read the full storySchool Boards Can Now Circumvent Voters in Renewing Minnesota Property Tax Levies
School boards just gained more control over your property taxes, thanks to a new law that took effect across Minnesota last month.
In May, Gov. Tim Walz signed the state’s largest ever education bill that increases spending for K-12 education by 10.2 percent, or about $2.26 billion, over the next two years — for a total of $23.2 billion.
Read the full storyVirginia U.S. Rep. Wittman Introduces Legislation to Decrease Shark Depredation
Virginia U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA-01) is co-sponsoring legislation designed to decrease shark depredation to protect sharks from “unsafe conditions and food sources.”
Shark depredation occurs when sharks bite or consume marine animals that fishermen are trying to catch, which both recreational and commercial fishermen experience.
Read the full storyOhio Republican Party Pushes Back Against ACLU Stance on Ohio Parents’ Bill of Rights
The Ohio Republican Party is pushing back against the “radical extremist” group, the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio’s (ACLU), opposition to House Bill (HB) 8 which aims to require school systems to have policies in place that allow parents to be more active in their child’s education.
House Bill (HB) 8, known as the “Parents Bill of Rights,” aims to require school systems to alert parents before using materials with explicit sexual content in class, gives parents the option to review curriculum for sexually explicit content and request alternate education, requires school systems to inform parents of any changes to the mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being services given to their kids, and requires school systems to develop a parent-approved health care plan for each student.
Read the full storyMemphis Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Pandemic-Era Crime Spree
A Memphis man has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for robbing Walmart and Kroger stores in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi, according to the Western District of Tennessee U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Read the full storyCommentary: Energy Companies Are Finally Backtracking on Their Absurd Green Goals
Is the public finally waking up to the inherent absurdities taking place in the energy space in the U.S. and across the Western world in recent years? Recent votes taken on ESG and climate change-related shareholder initiatives at major oil company annual board meetings indicate that may well be the case.
Though it has received scant attention across the legacy news media in general, the Financial Times reported recently that such shareholder initiatives were overwhelmingly rejected by shareholders of both ExxonMobil and Chevron, with most receiving less than 10 percent support. Similar initiatives in the previous few years would typically generate support in the 30-40 percent range, with a handful even gaining majority support.
Read the full storyOhio Supreme Court Rules August 8th Special Election Can Continue as Planned
The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the August 8th special election to vote on Ohio State Issue 1 aimed at altering the process of how initiative petitions can propose constitutional amendments can legally proceed as scheduled.
Ohio State Issue 1 if approved by voters would mandate a 60 percent approval percentage for any future constitutional amendments, call for signatures from all 88 counties, and do away with the opportunity to “cure” petitions by collecting additional signatures if necessary.
Read the full storyIndependent Stave Company to Open Stave Mill in Overton County Through $30 Million Investment
Independent Stave Company officials recently announced that the company will invest $30 million to establish new manufacturing operations in Overton County, which is categorized as an “economically distressed” county by the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD).
Read the full storyLawmaker Proposes Hiking Penalty to $2,000 Against Pennsylvanians for Eagle Killings
Bald and golden eagles could get more protection as a proposed bill would greatly increase fines for killing the bird of prey.
Current law levels a penalty of only $200 for anyone convicted of killing the national symbol, though replacing the bird can run more than $2,000.
Read the full storyStudy: Federal Biopharma Policies Could Cost Arizona 11,000 Jobs
A new study by the Vital Transformation and We Work for Health organizations estimates that recent federal drug policies could result in more than 11,000 jobs lost in Arizona.
The study states that in addition to job losses, fewer drugs and therapies would be approved over a ten-year period. These negative developments would all be due to the market controls put in place by the Senate-introduced SMART Prices Act, an extension of the Inflation Reduction Act.
Read the full storyOhio House Unanimously Passes Legislation Simplifying Remote Work Tax Filing
The Ohio House unanimously passed Republican-backed legislation that aims to streamline tax reporting requirements for remote workers.
House Bill (HB) 121 sponsored by State Representatives Monica Robb Blasdel (R-Columbiana County) and Adam Mathews’ (R-Lebanon) looks to modernize the municipal net profits tax filing requirements for remote workers and allow employers to designate qualifying reporting locations to consolidate their filings to a single central business location.
Read the full storyThe World’s Oldest Secret Society Is Being Torn Apart Over Transgenderism
The Freemasons, an all-male secret society whose history goes back to the Middle Ages, have been struggling to deal with the transgender movement infiltrating their ranks over the past several years, according to members who spoke with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
In 2018, the United Grand Lodge of England, founded in 1717 and considered by Masons to be the most senior of all lodges, announced that it would allow transgender individuals to retain their membership at the lodge or be eligible for membership if they were transitioning to a man, according to the BBC. In the U.S., the issue is far from settled, with conservative Masons in states like Texas clashing with the more liberal fraternities on the coasts, and according to several Masons who spoke with the DCNF on the condition of anonymity, the issue is splitting the society with real consequences for those not falling in lockstep.
Read the full storyCommentary: Recent Headlines Claiming Sucralose ‘Damages DNA’ Are Scary, But What Does the Study Really Say?
When I went back to the U.S. for the first time in several years last year, I made an incredible discovery. It’s called Sparkling Ice and is sold separately or in 12-packs of 17 ounces (curious size) and has a ton of flavors that mostly taste alike but taste very good. Sparkling ice contains the artificial sweetener sucralose and is also lightly carbonated (low carbon footprint!) so that I didn’t drink it like water; I essentially drank it instead of water.
But lo! Newsweek headline: “America’s Most Popular Artificial Sweetener Damages Our DNA, Scientists Say.” You know, like atomic bomb victims. The alleged result is a leaky gut, and you don’t have to know exactly what that means to know it’s probably not good. Except it may not even be real; but we’ll get to that.
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