Number of Migrants Intercepted by Coast Guard Has Doubled Since 2021

The number of migrants caught by the Coast Guard trying to illegally enter the U.S has doubled in recent years. That’s according to a witness who testified Tuesday at a U.S. House hearing on the rise of small vessels sneaking drugs and illegal immigrants into the country.

“The Coast Guard interdicted more than 12,000 migrants in both fiscal year 2022 and 2023 – more than double the fiscal year 2021 total, according to Coast Guard data,” Heather MacLeod, director of Homeland Security and Justice at the Government Accountability Office, said in prepared testimony.

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Analysis: The Unfinished Work Congress Is Leaving Behind as It Breaks for Thanksgiving

Congress

Both houses of Congress have adjourned for two weeks until after Thanksgiving even as major legislative work that must be completed before the year ends remains unfinished.

The Senate and House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown scheduled for Nov. 17 on Wednesday and Tuesday, respectively, the second such resolution since Sept. 30 amid efforts to pass appropriations bills for the upcoming fiscal year. Afterward, both houses adjourned until Nov. 27 and 28, even though they have not considered the following major legislative items, such as the Farm Bill and National Defense Authorization Act, which need to be passed before the end of the year.

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BLM Agitator John Sullivan Convicted of Multiple January 6 Crimes

A federal jury in the District of Columbia decided Thursday that left-wing agitator John Earle Sullivan didn’t just document the January 6 Capitol Riot—he was a participant, Fox 13 reported.

The jury convicted Sullivan, 29, of five felonies and two misdemeanor charges related to his conduct during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. He was found guilty of the following felonious offenses: “obstructing an official proceeding, obstructing officers during a civil disorder, entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a dangerous weapon, disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a dangerous weapon, and unlawful possession of a dangerous weapon on Capitol grounds or buildings.”

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Commentary: House Republicans Must Expose the Full Truth of January 6

On a near-daily basis, the Department of Justice announces new arrests related to the events of January 6. Authorities arrested a Minnesota man on Wednesday for allegedly obstructing law enforcement and other minor offenses; U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves, appointed by Joe Biden in 2021, trumpeted the news on his office’s X account.

Court proceedings for January 6 defendants fill the docket of the federal courthouse in Washington on any given day as the current caseload exceeds 1,200 Capitol protesters. Political prisoners wait out excessive sentences as appeals slowly make their way through the system.

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Exclusive: Former TN GOP Candidate Stewart Parks, Sentenced to 8 Months on Jan. 6, 2021 Conviction, Claims Obama-Appointed Judge ‘Colluded’ with Prosecutors

Stewart Parks is now looking at eight months in federal prison for, among other things, being in the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. He is marked by the Left as an “insurrectionist” on a conviction of five federal charges.

The 30-year-old Nashville man was sentenced on Wednesday by, according to Parks, a vindictive U.S. district court judge who helped the prosecution work out its case against him in the trial.

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Tennessee House Speaker Sexton Claims Nashville DA Funk ‘Doing Everything He Can to Put People Behind Bars’

Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) claimed in a Wednesday appearance on SuperTalk 99.7 WTN’s “The Matt Murphy Show” that Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk (D) is “doing everything he can to put people behind bars,” but said he could not comment on why Funk decided against launching appeals against court rulings in a bid to keep career criminal Shaquille Taylor in jail prior to the death of Belmont freshman Jillian Ludwig.

Sexton repeated his claim that the Tennessee General Assembly’s failure to pass HB 7036 in the special session means Funk is “doing all he can” but “law enforcement’s hands are tied.”

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Titans Agree to 20-Year Stadium Naming Deal with Nissan

The Tennessee Titans have agreed to a 20-year naming rights deal with Nissan for the team’s new stadium, set to open in 2027, but did not disclose the amount Nissan is paying for those rights.

That will make the new stadium Nissan Stadium, just like the current stadium has been since 2015. The deal agreed to by Metro Nashville’s council allows the Titans to retain stadium sponsorship money and not disclose the price.

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Speaker Mike Johnson to Post More than 40,000 Hours of January 6 Footage Online

January Six Riots

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday announced that he planned to post nearly all of the Capitol Hill security footage from the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot online for the public to view.

“When I ran for Speaker, I promised to make accessible to the American people the 44,000 hours of video from Capitol Hill security taken on January 6, 2021,” he said in a statement obtained by Punchbowl News’ Jake Sherman. “Truth and transparency are critical.”

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Faithful Catholic Colleges See ‘Unprecedented’ Enrollment Numbers, Financial Support

Catholic University of America

As most collegiate institutions grapple with disappointing enrollment, a slew of faithful Catholic colleges are reporting surprising enrollment numbers and financial support.

Their success is heralded by the Newman Guide, a list of higher education options consulted by Catholic parents throughout the world, as evidence of the positive impact that authentic Catholic education has upon society. The Newman Guide recognizes colleges that are determined to provide a thoroughly faithful Catholic education (and removes colleges from the list when they fall short).

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As Inflation Worries Investors, Wall Street Is Buying Up American Soil

Wall Street is moving to buy up U.S. farmland in hopes that it will be a safe bet to hedge against inflation and concerning economic conditions, according to Reuters.

Investment funds have accumulated over a million acres of farmland in the U.S., a small part of the 900 million acres in the U.S. but significant for the market when looking at the pace of acquisitions, according to Reuters. The move from investors is drawing the concern of some, including lawmakers, who see the quick constraint on supply as a barrier for the next generation of farmers who can’t buy at the elevated price.

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Pennsylvania Basic Ed Funding Hearings Wrap with Charter Schools

Student Homework

Pennsylvania’s Basic Education Funding Commission hearings ended in Harrisburg this week, where charter schools took center stage.

After months of painstaking reflection on the inadequacies of the state’s funding, charter school administrators were asked to defend against commentary from others within the educational community who believe that their schools are a drain on district budgets.

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Minnesota Left-Wing School Board Member Wins DFL Primary for South Metro House Seat

Bianca Virnig

A progressive member of Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan School Board who cast the lone dissenting vote among her colleagues in March 2022 to end masking requirements for students won a competitive DFL primary contest on Thursday for a vacant south metro seat in the state legislature.

Bianca Virnig beat out three other candidates all competing to affix the Democratic-Farmer-Labor label next to their name on the Dec. 5 ballot for the House District 52B special election.

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Florida’s DeSantis Signs Bills from Recently-Concluded Special Session

Ron DeSantis Signing Bill

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed all of the bills passed this week during the Florida Legislature’s special session.

The special session was called in response to several pressing issues, including communities in need of relief from recent Hurricane Idalia, increasing access to education funding for disabled children and violence that has erupted in the Middle East.

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Arizona State University Cancels Rashida Tlaib’s Speech Scheduled for Friday on Campus After Outrage

Arizona State University canceled a speech by controversial Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-12) a day before she was to speak there on Friday. A spokesperson stated that the organizers had not complied with ASU’s policies for events. Tlaib’s speech was titled “Palestine is an American Issue.”

“Organizers of ASU events using facilities must be properly registered with ASU and must meet all university requirements for crowd management, parking, security, and insurance,” the spokesperson said. “In addition, the events must be produced in a way which minimizes disruption to academic and other activities on campus. The event featuring Congresswoman Tlaib was planned and produced by groups not affiliated with ASU and was organized outside of ASU policies and procedures. Accordingly, that event will not take place today on the ASU Tempe campus.” 

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Stacey Abrams’ Brother-in-Law Arrested on Human Trafficking Charges

Jimmie Gardner

The brother-in-law of former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams was arrested on human trafficking charges, Florida authorities said.

Jimmie Gardner, 57, allegedly met a 16-year-old girl in a Tampa hotel and attempted to pay her for sex, according to a Friday release by the State Attorney’s Office for the 13th Judicial Circuit. He was charged with one felony count of human trafficking for commercial sexual activity (victim less than 18), according to a court document obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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Report: Virginia’s Court-Appointed Attorneys and Public Defenders Need More Support

Lawyer

Everyone is entitled to a defense, but those willing to serve as court-appointed lawyers in Virginia are growing scarce, and public defenders need more staff to serve their clients properly.

Virginia’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission presented a report to members of the General Assembly showing that state caps on court-appointed attorney fees are “embarrassingly low,” according to one judge, and there are neither enough public defenders to meet demand nor enough support staff.

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Arizona Inflation Slows in October, Though Residents Still Pay Thousands More

After months of experiencing some of America’s highest inflation rates, federal data shows many Arizonans are finally starting to see some relief.

A new report from the Common Sense Institute of Arizona reviews federal inflation data from October. The research organization found most aspects of the state’s Consumer Price Index have slowed from being among the highest in the nation at 9% in January.

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Commentary: The Surprising Christian Values in ‘The Exorcist’

In his four-out-of-four review of William Friedkin’s The Exorcist, film critic Roger Ebert wrote that the picture “transcends the genre of terror, horror, and the supernatural.” However, Ebert did not address perhaps the most compelling element of the 1973 classic horror film: that buried deep within the gruesome story of a demon-inhabited 12-year-old girl is one of the most authentically theological films ever made.

The protagonist of The Exorcist is not, as one might expect, either the possessed Regan MacNeil or her mother, Chris (each of whom take up a majority of the screen time). After all, neither of them complete a character arc during the film.

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Christian, Pro-Life Groups Push to Reauthorize Biden’s ‘Reimagined’ AIDS Program Promoting Abortion

Several Christian organizations have supported full authorization of an AIDS relief program even though the money has gone to organizations that advocate more abortions abroad. 

In several public statements, President Joe Biden’s White House has called for promoting abortion abroad, frequently in references to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, better known as PEPFAR. 

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Pentagon Fails Sixth Consecutive Audit

Pentagon

On Wednesday, the Department of Defense (DOD) failed its sixth consecutive financial audit, even after Pentagon officials vowed to make improvements from previous years’ performances.

As reported by the Daily Caller, auditors gave a clean audit to just 7 of the DOD’s 29 sub-agencies, essentially no different than the results of the 2022 audit. The DOD currently has assets of $3.8 trillion and liabilities of $4 trillion, which encompasses locations in all 50 states, and 4,500 sites globally.

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