Month: August 2023

U.S. Authorities on Alert After Discovering New Chinese Migrant Smuggling Route in Florida

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by Jennie Taer   Federal authorities are growing increasingly concerned about a route Chinese migrants are utilizing to make their way to Florida illegally, according to an internal federal intelligence report obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The report states that law enforcement lacks information regarding who is coordinating the smuggling between the Bahamas and Florida, where the migrants are being staged in the Bahamas and why Chinese migrants are choosing the Caribbean island. It also references recent incidents of Chinese nationals entering Florida illegally via the Bahamas. There have been five such incidents of Chinese migrants attempting to “self-smuggle” from the Bahamas, according to the report. One incident took place on July 16 and involved a group of six Chinese migrants. “The Chinese purchased a Bahamian registered vessel in GBI [Grand Bahama Island] and tested the capabilities before leaving and being interdicted in Palm Beach. All 6 Chinese migrants were repatriated to the Bahamas,” the report stated of the latest interdiction. Border Patrol agents stationed in Florida have seen a spike in arrests of illegal migrants from China, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data. Agents apprehended 27 illegal migrants from China in Florida between October 2022…

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Governors Highway Safety Association Suggests Improvements to Prevent Accidents on Pennsylvania’s Rural Roads

The Center Square

Rural America has 20 percent of the country’s population and 46 percent of the nation’s car crashes. A lack of resources, both in cash and workers, poses a challenge to avoiding wrecks and deaths.

Though rural traffic studies have been of questionable quality, a new report from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) suggests broader cooperation to pool local resources, more public outreach, and better road design to curb collisions.

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Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds Set to Hold ‘Fair-Side Chats’ with GOP Presidential Candidates; Trump Has His Own Plans

M.D. Kittle

It’s State Fair time in the Hawkeye State, and with a little more than five months before Iowa’s first-in-the- nation primary that means one thing: Presidential candidates galore.

While Thrill Ville still thrills and food on a stick remains cuisine du jour, the Iowa State Fair — as it does every four years — is a showplace for presidential aspirants.

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U.S. Reps. Grothman and Biggs to Hold Joint Committee Field Hearing on Humanitarian Crisis at Southern Border

M.D. Kittle

U.S. Representative Glenn Grothman (R-WI-06) will hear from real Americans impacted by President Joe Biden’s border policies at a congressional field hearing on Tuesday in Arizona.

Grothman, chairman of the House Oversight Committee’s Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs, is teaming up with U.S. Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05), chairman of the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance, in holding the joint-committee hearing in Sierra Vista, AZ.

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Bernie Moreno and Kari Lake Rally Ohio Republicans to Vote in Support of Issue 1

Hannah Poling

On Monday, Republican businessman and candidate for U.S. Senate Bernie Moreno and Arizona Republican politician and former candidate for Arizona Governor Kari Lake rallied Republicans to vote in support of Ohio State Issue on August 8th.

Moreno and Lake attended a county Republican rally in Cleveland in support of Ohio State Issue 1 to raise the threshold to amend the state constitution. They spoke to hundreds of voters at the Get Out the Vote Rise and Shine Rally at the Strongsville GOP in Parma.

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Kari Lake Endorses Republican Businessman Bernie Moreno for U.S. Senate at Ohio GOP Rally

Hannah Poling

On Sunday, Arizona Republican politician and former candidate for Arizona Governor Kari Lake announced her endorsement for Republican businessman Bernie Moreno in his run for U.S. Senate against Ohio Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in 2024.

Lake made the announcement at a county Republican rally north of Columbus that she attended along with Moreno, Lt. Governor Jon Husted, and U.S. Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH-04) in support of Ohio State Issue 1 to raise the threshold to amend the state constitution. Lake spoke to about 500 people at the Union County Republican Party Summer Farm Fest in Marysville.

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The Number of Illegal Immigrants in Colleges Soar to Nearly 2 Percent of United States’ Population, Study Finds

Just the News

At least 408,000 students without legal documentation to be in the country enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities, yet another system impacted by the surge in illegal immigration, according to a new study.

The new report by the American Immigration Council and the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education, found that undocumented migrants now account for nearly 2 percent of the higher education population.

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Commentary: Could the Baby Boomer Retirement Wave and Labor Shortages Absorb the Recession?

Admin

The national unemployment rate dipped to 3.5 percent in July, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, once again hitting more than 50-year lows.

It’s still peak employment as far as the eye can see. Even with the past two years’ high inflation dropping dramatically and disinflation usually correlating with higher unemployment and a recession, that simply has not occurred yet, despite all the warning signs typically associated with an economic slowdown or downturn.

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Midwest Landowners Notch Big Win After Regulators Deny Permit for Green Pipeline Project

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North Dakota state regulators denied a permit for the route of a carbon capture pipeline project Friday amid local pushback, according to AgWeek.

The pipeline is a project of the Iowa-based company Summit Carbon Solutions, which told the Daily Caller News Foundation that it will resubmit the relevant paperwork and try to get the required permit again. The denial is a setback for the Biden administration’s green energy agenda, which relies in part on carbon capture and sequestration technology to bring down emissions in line with its goal of the U.S. reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, according to a White House fact sheet.

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Coyotes: The Lynchpin to Human Smuggling Operations and Purveyors of Misery

The Center Square

by Bethany Blankley   A coyote, a colloquialism for a human smuggler, is critical to Mexican cartel human smuggling operations. Combined, they cover thousands of miles primarily guiding foreign nationals first through Central America into Mexico, then through Mexico and into the U.S. They also operate along the U.S.-Canada border. Like a 4×400 meter track relay race with four athletes racing to pass a baton without dropping it, coyotes cover different parts of a dangerous journey to the U.S. Instead of passing a baton, they smuggle people, including children and babies. Instead of running 100 meters, they can cover several miles. Similar to a relay race where the fastest and strongest runner often runs last to ensure the race is won, the most important coyote is the last one tasked with smuggling people across the finish line, the Rio Grande River, into the U.S. without getting caught. Unlike some athletes who may have financial scholarships or sponsors, coyotes are paid through a global, organized criminal multi-billion-dollar enterprise profiting off of people. Before foreign nationals ever arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border, many are robbed, kidnapped, raped and abused. Those who aren’t kidnapped, and willingly hire coyotes to help them illegally cross…

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Judge Orders Catherine Herridge to Reveal Sources for Stories on FBI, Chinese American Scientist

Just the News

A federal judge ordered CBS News senior correspondent Catherine Herridge to reveal her sources for a series of stories about the FBI’s investigation of a Chinese American scientist back when she worked for Fox News.

The order last week from U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper in Washington D.C. comes after scientist Yanping Chen filed a lawsuit against the FBI, claiming that the agency violated the privacy act by improperly leaking information about her.

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DeSantis on NBC News: ‘Of Course’ Trump Lost The 2020 Election

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis admitted that “of course” former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden in an interview with NBC News that aired Monday.

The outlet’s Dasha Burns probed the Florida governor during the interview on whether he believes Trump’s argument that the 2020 election was stolen from him. While DeSantis conceded that he “doesn’t think it was the perfect election,” citing mail-in balloting, ballot harvesting and censorship from Big Tech companies, he said that “Joe Biden’s the president.”

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$700 Million in Pandemic-Era Loans Was Not Enough to Save Yellow Corp. Trucking

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Trucking company Yellow filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sunday after receiving more than $700 million in COVID-19 pandemic program loans from the federal government, according to a press release from Yellow.

The 99-year-old company ceased operations of its more than 12,000 trucks on July 30, ending its less-than-truckload business, a shipping service that does not require a whole truck to be filled and was utilized by companies like Walmart, Amazon and small businesses that did not have enough freight to ship in a full truck. The bankruptcy follows a history of financial trouble, with the company receiving $729.2 million in pandemic-era loans from the Trump administration in 2020, and had a total debt of $1.5 billion, according to The Associated Press.

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Court Records Confirm Millions Flowed to Biden Family from China

Just the News

In the end, there really was a silk road of money that flowed from China to the Biden family’s coffers, despite Joe Biden’s insistence to the contrary.

The U.S. Attorney’s office in Delaware — which charged  Hunter Biden with tax and gun crimes last month — released to a federal court last week a now-scuttled plea deal that affirmed the presidential son got millions himself from Chinese sources in 2017-18 alone. That included money from a Chinese energy firm as well as legal payments from a Chinese executive convicted of bribery.

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Iconic ‘Yellow Corp.’ Trucking Files for Bankruptcy, Blames Union for Downfall

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The Epoch Times U.S. trucking firm Yellow Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sunday after the company buckled under pressure from a mounting debt load as well as a standoff with employee union. “It is with profound disappointment that Yellow announces that it is closing after nearly 100 years in business,” said Yellow’s Chief Executive Officer, Darren Hawkins in an Aug. 6 press release. “Today, it is not common for someone to work at one company for 20, 30, or even 40 years, yet many at Yellow did. For generations, Yellow provided hundreds of thousands of Americans with solid, good-paying jobs and fulfilling careers.” The Nashville, Tennessee-based nearly 100-year-old company’s bankruptcy filing puts about 30,000 workers at risk at a time when the freight industry is already grappling with slumping volumes. READ THE FULL STORY   

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Bernie Moreno Commentary: The Biden Administration’s Cynical Ploy to Stop Trump Will Not Work

Admin

This week, the Biden Department of (in)Justice has, once again, displayed that they will stop at nothing to try to ruin the life and reputation of Donald Trump. It’s a disgrace. It’s a spectacle that belies its purpose: the Left’s palpable fear of facing Trump in the 2024 general election.

Even the numbers bear this out. A poll from Harvard/Harris just last week had President Trump dominating the GOP primary, and beating both Biden and Harris in a head-to-head matchup. Is it any coincidence that this poll proceeded additional bogus legal action from the DOJ?

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Google Unveils New Tools to Give Users Control over Personal Data

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Google revealed new tools and safeguards to assist users in managing personal data, privacy and online safety, in an announcement on Thursday.

The updated tools will enable users to remove personal information from Google search results such as “personal phone number, home address or email,” according to a blog post by the tech giant on Thursday. Google will also give users the choice to receive alerts about new search results that include their personal contact data, simplifying the removal process.

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Nearly 165,000 Apprehended at Southern Border in July

The Center Square

At least 164,753 foreign nationals were apprehended or reported evading capture after illegally entering the southwest border in July, according to preliminary Border Patrol data obtained by The Center Square.

This includes 137,593 apprehensions and 27,160 gotaways. “Gotaways” is the official U.S. Customs and Border Protection term that refers to the number of people who are known and reported to illegally enter the U.S. between ports of entry who intentionally try to evade capture and don’t return to Mexico. In July, the most gotaways were reported in El Paso and Tucson sectors, as they have been nearly every month this year.

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More than a Quarter of Homeowners in U.S. Are ‘House Poor’

The Center Square

Nationwide 27.4 percent of homeowners are considered “house poor,” meaning they spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs.

However, in some U.S. cities, far more Americans are living beyond their means, according to research from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In Hialeah, Florida, 59.3 percent of homeowners are spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs. While Hialeah has the highest percentage of homeowners spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs, it was not alone.

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Disillusioned Black Voters May Cost Democrats the 2024 Election

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Recent surveys suggest that black voters, the most loyally Democratic voting bloc in the country, may see a reduced turnout in 2024 that could cost Joe Biden his re-election bid.

As reported by the Washington Free Beacon, a recent poll by the New York Times shows President Donald Trump and Biden in a dead heat, at 43 percent each; the close race is attributed to Trump making “gains among black, Hispanic, male and low-income voters.”

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‘Democratic Socialists of America’ Building Ranks, Pushing Local Democrats to the Left

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The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is gaining steam in recent years and has been pushing the Democratic Party to the left, particularly in deep blue cities, advocating for policies that even moderate Democrats disagree with.

Democratic Socialists make up the left flank of the Democratic Party, supporting abolishing prisons, aggressive climate policies, rent controls and radical racial equity policies, according to the Democratic Socialist website. They’ve been aggressively adding to their membership over the past few years, as well as gaining ground in key deep blue cities such as New York City, Los Angeles and Minneapolis, calling for radical policy changes and opposing mainstream Democrats.

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Education Revenue from the Florida Lottery Down by $270M in 2023, Officials Predict

The Center Square

Florida officials predict that contributions to the state’s education system from the state lottery will decrease this fiscal year by $270 million.

Officials at the Florida Legislature’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research forecast that Florida Lottery and other sources such as slot machines will transfer $3.12 billion to the various education trust funds, which includes $560 million left over from the previous fiscal year.

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Joe Rogan: ‘Real Fraud’ Happened in Kari Lake’s Election, ‘Some Real Shenanigans’

Tom Pappert

Podcaster Joe Rogan asserted that “real fraud” happened in Arizona’s 2022 elections, calling the breakdown of election equipment on that day “shenanigans” that impacted the outcome of the race.

Rogan made his remarks about the Arizona election during an interview with Valuetainment founder Patrick Bet-David on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” asking the entrepreneur, “How much election fraud do you think is real,” before adding, “because I don’t think it’s zero.”

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Steve Cortes Commentary: Vote ‘Yes’ on Issue 1, Protect Ohio from Extremists Like the ‘School Porn Moms of Shaker Heights’

Admin

Why are the most radical groups in America, from BLM to the ACLU, suddenly so enthused about politics in Ohio?

After all, Ohio is a generally traditional, center-right state. But these leftists now seek to abuse the process of representative government in Ohio by compelling binding state constitutional referendums in lower turnout election cycles to inflict liberal policies that would never survive the normal lawmaking process.

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Hillary Clinton’s Political Fixer Leads Legal Effort to Restore Drop Boxes in Wisconsin

M.D. Kittle

The liberal D.C. law firm behind a legal challenge to the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s ruling striking down the use of absentee ballot drop boxes in the Badger State was founded by Hillary Clinton’s political fixer, the man who helped bankroll the infamous — and bogus — Trump-Russia dossier.

Marc Elias and his Elias Law Group filed a lawsuit last week in the liberal Dane County Circuit Court demanding the return of the widespread use of unsecured drop boxes, just as the Wisconsin’s high court is about to be led by liberals for the first time in a long time.

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Commentary: The Biden Admin Has a Bad Regulation for Every Room in Your House

Admin

2023 began with federal regulators targeting gas stoves, but we have since seen a host of other proposals going after washing machines, refrigerators, dishwashers, ceiling fans, water heaters, and others. They are all part of the Biden administration’s prioritization of the climate change agenda over the interests of consumers. Each runs the risk of boosting appliance prices, limiting choice, and compromising performance. And cumulatively, they add up to substantial headaches for homeowners that will only grow in the years ahead.

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Ohio Lawmaker Introduces Legislation to Allow Chaplains in Public Schools

Hannah Poling

A Republican Ohio lawmaker introduced a bill into the Ohio House of Representatives that aims to permit public schools statewide to employ chaplains to provide support services and programs for students.

House Bill (HB) 240 sponsored by State Representative Reggie Stoltzfus (R-Paris Twp.) would allow chaplains to serve as paid employees or volunteers in public schools without having to obtain a license from the state board of education.

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$13.5 Million in Grants Going to Train 8,500 Michigan Workers

The Center Square

About $13.5 million in taxpayer grants from the Going PRO Talent Fund will help train 8,500 workers across nearly 300 Michigan businesses to earn industry-recognized credentials and strong wages.

“The Going PRO Talent Fund is an investment in our state’s greatest asset – our people – helping them develop the skills they need to advance their careers and ‘make it’ in Michigan,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement. “These grants help us put thousands of Michiganders on paths to good-paying jobs and empower hundreds of Michigan businesses across the state develop the talent they need to compete in the global economy.”

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Educators Lay Out How Public Schools Are Failing Minnesota’s Kids at Groundbreaking Town Hall Event

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Alpha News journalist Sheila Qualls recently hosted a townhall panel discussion on the failures of Minnesota’s public education system.

Qualls is the host of the podcast “Trapped!: Chaos in the Classroom,” in which she investigates the public school system in Minnesota through interviews with students, parents, teachers, administrators, and school board members.

The townhall panel she hosted consisted of retired teachers, a school board member, a current private school educator, and a parents group director.

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Candidate for Arizona House of Representatives Andrew Jackson Outlines Policy Commitments

Hannah Poling

Arizona Republican longtime Gilbert resident Andrew Jackson has outlined 20 policy commitments he will focus on during his run for the Arizona House of Representatives to represent Legislative District 14 (LD) in 2024.

This follows Jackson telling The Arizona Sun Times last week that he had officially announced his candidacy to represent Gilbert in the Arizona House of Representatives.

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Commentary: A Second Trump Term Can Walk Us Back from the Brink of War

Admin

Voters should remember that a President’s role is primarily foreign affairs, which includes trade and border security. In 2016, and today, President Trump is the only candidate that has consistently focused on what the actual job of the president is, rather than what those with outsized influence want it to be.

President Trump is the first president to start no new wars since Jimmy Carter. Like Carter, he also affected a Middle East peace deal with Israel – not just one of them, but four. Arguably the first realist president since Richard Nixon, Trump’s combination of unpredictability enforced by blunt and brutal talk, credible military deterrence reinforced through a more robust military that was less used and overstretched, and a genuine and authentic desire to be a peace-maker created a moment in time for cooperation and peace through strength. Unfortunately, under Biden, the promise of peace has become a Shakespearean tragedy when considering our present dilemma in Europe and East Asia.

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LGBTQ Activist Org Awards Thousands to Schools Across the Country to Promote Gender Ideology

Admin

An LGBTQ activist organization awarded more than 70 public and charter schools throughout the U.S. and Canada thousands of dollars to promote gender ideology, support “Gender Sexuality Alliance” (GSA) clubs and put on Pride Week celebrations, according to the group’s website.

Throughout 2023, the “It Gets Better Project” has awarded at least 56 U.S. and 15 Canadian public and charter schools $10,000 each for a total of $625,000 in grants to fund LGBTQ initiatives, according to the organization’s website. Some school districts throughout the country are using the grants they received to fund “gender transition closets” and work with with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group that describes itself as a “leading-edge Order of queer and trans nuns,” to take transgender students “back-to-school shopping.”

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EPA Targeting Companies for Bypassing Vehicle Emission Controls

The Center Square

In the last two years, the Environmental Protection Agency has fined companies millions of dollars across the U.S. for installing illegal mechanisms that bypass vehicle emission controls known as “defeat devices.” 

One manufacturer, Sinister Diesel agreed on Aug. 1 to pay the $1 million after pleading guilty to conspiracy and the manufacturing and selling of illegal defeat devices over the last ten years.

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Virginia U.S. Rep. Bob Good Among Conservative Representatives Who May Push for Government Shutdown

Admin

As the federal government’s funding deadline of September 30th approaches, several conservative members of Congress have advocated for another government shutdown, calling it a positive thing.

As reported by Politico, some of the most conservative members of the House of Representatives have floated the idea in recent weeks. Congressman Bob Good (R-Va.) said last week that if the federal government were to shut down, “most Americans won’t even miss” it.

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Report: Government Needs to Determine If Troops-to-Teachers Program Works

The Center Square

The U.S. Department of Defense needs to figure out if its Troops-to-Teachers program is meeting its goal to reduce teacher shortages in high-need schools and key subjects such as math, science and special education. 

A report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that it is unclear if the Troops-to-Teachers program is meeting its goals because the Department of Defense lost access to participant data when it canceled the program in 2020, has not used the data from annual performance reports and has not worked with the Department of Education on the program as required.

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Commentary: ‘Vivek on Track to Eclipse DeSantis,’ Donor Memo Admits

RealClearWire

An internal memo circulated by the Vivek Ramaswamy campaign, and obtained by RealClearPolitics, outlines his pitch to donors ahead of the first GOP primary debate: The 37-year-old first-time candidate is surging as others stumble, going farther with fewer resources, and will soon “eclipse DeSantis.”

Until recently, those claims could be dismissed as so much bravado from an overeager, unknown biotech investor without any political experience whatsoever.

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While Trump Faces Host of Charges, None Filed in Biden Special Counsel Probe on Classified Memos

Just the News

While former President Donald Trump faces an array of federal charges in two separate cases as a result of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation, no one has yet been charged in a separate special counsel probe of President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents while he was vice president.

In January 2023, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Robert Hur special counsel to investigate the Biden case.

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Dolly Parton’s ‘Imagination Library’ Program Expands to All Washington Counties After $2 Million Taxpayer Allocation

The Center Square

Legendary singer, actress and philanthropist Dolly Parton is coming to Washington state to celebrate the expansion to every county of her Imagination Library program, which provides books to children ages 5 and younger.

While in the Evergreen State on Aug. 15, she will hold a fireside chat, perform and recognize those who helped the initiative cover the entire state, according to a Wednesday news release from Imagination Library.

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Breitbart Report: Devon Archer’s Wife Holds 10 Percent Stake in Same Chinese-State-Backed Fund as Hunter Biden’s Lawyer

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Breitbart News Devon Archer’s wife, Krista Archer, holds a ten percent stake in a Chinese-state-backed investment fund, BHR Partners, the same fund in which Hunter Biden’s lawyer controls a ten percent stake, according to legal documents unearthed by nonprofit Marco Polo and exclusively obtained by Breitbart News. Krista Archer’s stake in BHR Partners is notable because Devon Archer, Hunter Biden’s best friend in business and who co-founded BHR Partners in 2013 with the president’s son, testified on Monday before Congress regarding BHR Partners, a fund in which the Archer family has an ongoing interest. The documents raise questions about if Devon Archer divulged his family’s stake in BHR Partners to investigators. Such information could be relevant to the congressional probe into the Biden family. READ THE FULL STORY      

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Jobs Market Cools Following Unexpectedly High Economic Growth

Admin

The U.S. added 187,000 jobs in July, less than economists expected, as the unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data released Friday.

Economists had anticipated the country would add 200,000 jobs in July compared to 209,000 jobs in June and that unemployment would remain the same at 3.6%, according to Reuters. The U.S. economy grew 2.4% for the year in the second quarter of 2023, outdoing expectations of 2%.

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Illegal Biolab Discovered in California Tied to Chinese Medical Firms

Admin

The company that allegedly operated an illegal biolab in California housing infectious agents has ties to multiple related Chinese pharmaceutical firms, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation review of court filings and government records.

In mid-June, officials from Fresno County began removing medical waste from an “unlicensed” laboratory in Reedley, California, operated by Prestige Biotech Inc. (PBI), the successor of defunct Universal Meditech Inc. (UMI), Fresno County court records show. Inspectors at the site discovered at least 20 potentially infectious agents, such as Malaria and Dengue virus, on the property, according to the documents.

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