Month: November 2023

Commentary: Elon Musk Is Going ‘Thermonuclear’

RealClearWire

Elon Musk is going “thermonuclear.”

No, this has nothing to do with SpaceX or any of his other wild technology projects – but it’s how Musk described the lawsuit he was filing against Media Matters for America this week. The lawsuit is in response to a Media Matters report last week that X, the Musk-owned social media platform formerly known as Twitter, was placing ads for major brands such as Apple and IBM next to “pro-Nazi content.” After some prodding from Media Matters, within a day of their report, a slew of major corporations, such as IBM, Disney, Comcast, Sony, NBC, and Warner Brothers, announced they were pulling ads from X.

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Twin Lawsuits, Fraud Probe Mark Bad Day for News Media in Already Bad Year

Just the News

Monday marked a particularly bad day for the news media as a pair of lawsuits and a fraud investigation took aim at separate instances of allegedly false reports and threatened to impose expensive consequences upon an industry already facing financial adversity.

Myriad lawsuits, such as the high-profile litigation between Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems, as well as a general downturn in outlook for media outlets have led to large-scale layoffs.

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Missouri Supreme Court Deals Blow to Republicans in Abortion Ballot Case

Admin

The Missouri Supreme Court ruled against Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s request to change the language of a proposed abortion amendment’s language Monday, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

An appeals court had ruled earlier this month that Ashcroft’s summaries of the amendment were “argumentative” and “politically partisan” because of his use of terms like “unborn child,” which the court considered “problematic.” Ashcroft appealed the decision to the state Supreme Court but the justices declined to hear his appeal, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

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Tennessee Gov. Lee Sends Highway Patrol to Confront ‘Rising Crime’ in Memphis, Urges Local Officials to ‘Hold Criminals Accountable’

Tom Pappert
Governor Bill Lee

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee (R) announced on Monday that he ordered an increased Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) presence on highways and interstates in Shelby County to help contend with the criminal element in Memphis.

Lee issued a press release unveiling “a surge of approximately 40 additional troopers” beginning this week. On November 27, wrote Lee’s office, “an additional 15-20 troopers from other districts across the state will join the surge” and remain in Shelby County “for the foreseeable future.”

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Biden Admin Granted 34,000 Special Visas to Refugees After Botched Afghanistan Withdrawal

Admin
Afghanistan Refugees

The State Department has granted tens of thousands of visas to Afghans who aided the U.S. government following the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, according to a Thursday report from the lead inspector general to the United States Congress.

The Biden administration withdrew all American forces from Afghanistan in 2021, leading to a widespread takeover of the region by the Taliban and the displacement of millions of Afghans, according to the Wilson Center. As part of the U.S. effort to bring in refugees escaping Afghanistan, the State Department has issued approximately 34,000 special immigrant visas (SIV) to Afghans and their immediate family members, according to the Inspector General report released Thursday. 

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Food Trucks Challenge Mt. Juliet $100/Day Permit Fee While Locals Charged $100/Year

Admin

Food truck operators from outside of Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, filed a lawsuit Monday that challenges the city’s $100 per permit fee, while local trucks pay $100 a year.

The Beacon Center of Tennessee filed a federal civil rights lawsuit for two food truck operators, saying the ordinance violates the operators’ right to earn a living and their right to equality before the law.

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Cost of Thanksgiving Meal Up 14 Percent, Study Finds

Peter D'Abrosca
Turkey Dinner with all the Trimmings

According to a University of Tennessee (UT) study, American families will be spending more on this year’s Thanksgiving dinner. 

A team from the university, led by Professor and Consumer Economics Specialist Ann Berry, surveyed grocery store pricing for Thanksgiving staples between November 1 to November 8, “including turkey and stuffing, cranberry sauce, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, English pea salad, deviled eggs, pumpkin pie with whipped cream and rolls.”

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Commercial Real Estate Mortgages Nearly Double Delinquency Rate in a Single Year as Vacancies Climb

Admin

The commercial real estate sector is facing the possibility of a substantial number of bankruptcies that could ultimately hamper economic recovery and threaten the wounded banking industry, according to experts who spoke to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Overall 30 day+ delinquencies on commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), meaning the number of borrowers for commercial properties that failed to make a required payment in at least the last 30 days, increased from 2.96 percent from one year ago to 4.63 percent as of October, according to a report from market research group Trepp. The delinquencies are indicative of danger in the commercial real estate sector, as they indicate that many of those could become bankruptcies, threatening an already hurting banking industry and exacerbating any economic downturn, according to experts who spoke to the DCNF.

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Man Arrested for ‘Street Takeover’ Near Nashville Airport Posted Bond After Previous Arrests in March, June

Tom Pappert

One of the men arrested in connection to the weekend “street racing takeover” near the Nashville airport, which police say involved more than 60 vehicles, was previously arrested and released on low bonds in March and June.

Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) said in a press release that officers found more than 60 vehicles engaged in “dangerous driving stunts” at about 1 a.m. at the intersection of McGavock Pike at Century Boulevard. Media reports indicate that while other vehicles blocked traffic, a white Dodge Charger was “doing donuts and burnouts” when officers witnessed a man fire a gunshot into the air from the vehicle.

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Mohave County Supervisors Vote 3-2 Against Conducting Hand Count in 2024 Election After Arizona AG Threatens Them with Prosecution

Rachel Alexander
Mohave County Board of Supervisors meeting Nov 20 2023

In a close 3-2 vote, the Mohave County Supervisors vetoed a move to conduct a hand count during the 2024 election on Monday. State Senator Sonny Borrelli (R-Lake Havasu) told The Arizona Sun Times prior to the vote that there were enough votes to approve it, but after the supervisors received a threat to prosecute them from Democratic Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes at the last minute, one of the supervisors, Chair Travis Lingenfelter, switched his vote.

Borrelli said Lingenfelter is part of the powerful establishment in the county, with deep family roots in the area. “They all caved to a radical leftist attorney general’s abuse of authority,” he told The Sun Times. “I’m disappointed they didn’t have enough courage to stand up against the tyrannical left. If you don’t go along, we’ll put you in the Gulag.”

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Fani Willis Seeks to Begin Georgia Trump Trial in August 2024

Tom Pappert
Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis asked in a Friday filing to begin the racketeering trial of former President Donald Trump on August 5, 2024. If granted by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, this would correspond with Willis’ plans for Trump’s trial to be active on Election Day, as she told a crowd of reporters gathered at The Washington Post’s headquarters last week.

Willis requested Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee to schedule the trial after a final plea hearing on June 21, 2024. According to Willis, the August trial date “balances potential delays” from Trump’s “other criminal trials” while respecting the rights of his co-defendants to have a speedy trial.

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YoungkinWatch: Democrats Release Plan to Put Abortion in Virginia Constitution, Ban Guns after Governor Promises Bipartisan Agenda

Tom Pappert
Gov. Glenn Youngkin

Democrats in the Virginia General Assembly announced joint legislative plans on Monday to enshrine abortion access into the state’s constitution, raise the minimum wage, automatically restore voting rights for felons, and ban AR-15 rifles. The plans were released after Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) said he would pursue bipartisan legislation in the Democrat-controlled General Assembly.

Virginia Democrats in both chambers of the legislature say they submitted four bills on Monday, the first day of prefiling for the 2024 General Assembly Session, which seek to make good on the party’s campaign partisan campaign promises.

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Commentary: Trump Is Winning Ballot Access Cases

Admin

The ongoing campaign by progressive activists to deny former President Trump a place on state ballots received yet another serious setback late Friday. After a weeklong bench trial, Denver District Court Judge Sarah Wallace issued a 102-page opinion in Anderson v. Griswold concluding that “Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment does not apply to Trump.” She ordered Colorado’s Secretary of State Jena Griswold to place his name on Colorado’s presidential primary ballot. This is the fourth state in three weeks to reject efforts to keep Trump off their ballots.

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Tennessee Could be Next State to Call for Convention of States on Congressional Term Limits

M.D. Kittle

After sailing through the Tennessee House of Representatives in March, a resolution proposing congressional term limits via constitutional amendment stands a solid chance of passing in the Senate, according to resolution proponents.

“I think it will go okay,” State Senator Richard Briggs (R-Knoxville), who recently announced that he will serve as Senate sponsor of House Joint Resolution 5, told The Tennessee Star.

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Impeachment Inquiry Sharpens Focus on Millions in Loans to Biden Family

Just the News

There are red flags aplenty: Loan repayments between Joe Biden and his brother; millions in promissory notes between Hunter Biden and a Democrat-donating Hollywood lawyer; and debt deals from Ukraine to China. 

As the House impeachment inquiry heats up, investigators are increasingly focused on a trail of red ink that has become a recurring theme in evidence chronicling the first family’s finances.

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NRSC Launches Arizona Ad Campaign, Labels Rep. Gallego, Sen. Sinema ‘Deadbeat Dad’ and ‘Liberal Democrat’

Tom Pappert

The influential National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) released a new advertisement targeting Arizona voters on Monday that labels Representative Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-03) a “deadbeat dad” and Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) a “liberal Democrat.” The ad is the latest indication the political action committee will support Lake, should she secure the Republican nomination.

In a 30-second ad, the narrator bemoaned “Rotten Ruben Gallego” for being “a spokesman for a crooked bank that targeting immigrants,” referencing a March report exposing a bank he founded that was meant to cater to illegal immigrants. Federal regulators eventually determined the bank’s founder illegally sold shares.

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American Express, Visa Plow Millions in Grants to Far-Left Groups Through Corporate Foundations

Admin

Charitable foundations funded by credit card companies and managed by their executives are pouring millions of dollars into liberal advocacy organizations, tax filings show.

The American Express Foundation and the Visa Foundation, philanthropic arms of two of the largest credit card companies in the world, gave grants to several major left-wing groups between 2019 and 2021. Executives from Visa and American Express sit on the boards of their respective foundations, both of which have taken millions from the corporations that established them.

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Forty Pro-Palestinian Protesters Arrested at University of Michigan

Admin
Pro-Palestine, anti-Israel protest at the University of Michican

University of Michigan police arrested 40 people on campus Friday after breaking up a pro-Palestinian protest of hundreds, some of whom had forced their way into an administrative building.

“At least 200 people gathered Friday, calling for the university to divest from Israel,” Michigan Live reported Saturday. “Around 4 p.m., the demonstrators moved from the central campus Diag area to the Ruthven Administration Building.”

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$33 Million in Federal Funding to Support Tucson Area Water Resources

The Center Square

Funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will be used to for water cleaning resources by developing a new treatment center in Tucson. 

Specifically, the facility would focus on PFAS chemicals, which the United States Environmental Protection Agency describes as “widely used” and “long-lasting,” but could also have negative health consequences when they make their way into water and other consumables. Out of $10 billion targeted toward getting chemicals out of water in the act, $33,520,000 is Tucson bound, according to a news release. 

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Report: China Is Closing the Submarine Gap with the U.S.

Admin
USS Nevada, Ohio-class submarine

China is rapidly closing the gap in critical submarine capabilities that challenge decades of unmitigated U.S. dominance in the deep sea and could have critical implications in a Taiwan scenario, The Wall Street Journal reported.

In 2023, China put to sea a nuclear-powered attack submarine equipped for the first time with a noise-reducing pump-jet propulsion system, marking a major advance in submarine technology to match the way the U.S. equips its own submarines. The quieting systems will allow them to evade detection by American submarines and patrol aircraft, while construction on an “underwater great wall” of complex sensors will allow China to identify incoming enemy assets, Chinese military and academic texts say.

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Illinois Library Marks Christmas with Book About a Santa Who Is ‘Black and Gay, Married to an Equally Cheery Man’

Admin
Santa's Husband

A library in Chicago’s suburbs has marked the Christmas season with “books that also introduce homosexual sex to children,” reports DuPage Policy Journal.

One of those books is Santa’s Husband, which offers a “fresh twist on Kris Kringle, a clever yet heartfelt book that tells the story of a black Santa, his white husband, and their life in the North Pole.”

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After Fifth Circuit Ruling, Gulf Lease Sales Scheduled for December 20

The Center Square
Offshore Oil Platforms

After the  Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ order last week, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced that it scheduled Lease Sale 261 in the Outer Continental Shelf in the Gulf of Mexico for December 20.

In September, a federal judge ruled the Biden administration must go through with offshore lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico by September 27 as originally planned and under original conditions. The Fifth Circuit concurred but amended the ruling, pushing back the lease sale date to November 8.

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Newly Released January 6 Video Recordings Raise Questions as Supreme Court Prepares to Hear Riot Cases

Just the News
Capitol Police converse w citizens in the capitol on Jan 6

Newly released footage from the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot is raising new questions about the events that transpired and the subsequent criminal charges as the U.S. Supreme Court is set to decide whether to hear the first two January 6 appeals. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Friday that he plans to release 44,000 hours of January 6 footage to the general public. The first batch containing about 90 hours of footage was released that day, and the remaining 44,000 hours are expected to be released over the next several months. Additionally, starting Monday, the House Administration Oversight Subcommittee will allow any U.S. citizen to review U.S. Capitol Police video footage from January 6 by scheduling an appointment to view the videos in person. 

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Argentina Makes History, Voters Deliver Clear Mandate with Election of Free Market Libertarian Javier Milei by Double-Digits

ADN America

Libertarian candidate Javier Milei of the “La Libertad Avanza” (Liberty Moves Forward) party, will become the president of Argentina on December 10. The free market capitalist obtained 55.86 percent of the votes, with 91.81 percent of the polling stations counted, a stunning victory for the right that resulted in the defeat of ruling party candidate Sergio Massa, who only garnered 44.13 percent of the votes.

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Elon Musk Announces Plan File ‘Thermonuclear’ Lawsuit Against Media Matters Alleging Misrepresentation to Readers and Advertisers

Admin

On Saturday, X owner Elon Musk announced that he would sue the left-wing publication Media Matters after the group smeared his social media site as anti-Semitic.

As reported by Breitbart, Musk declared in a post on the site, formerly known as Twitter, that “the split second court opens on Monday, X Corp will be filing a thermonuclear lawsuit against Media Matters and ALL those who colluded in this fraudulent attack on our company.”

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New IRS Guidelines for Electric Car Tax Credit ‘Recipe for Fraud,’ Tax Watchdog Warns

Just the News
EV Charging Station

New Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidelines for the federal electric vehicle (EV) tax credit are a “recipe for fraud,” warns the head of the Tax Foundation.

Consumers will now be able to automatically claim the tax credit at the point of sale on new or used EV purchases, rather than wait to claim it on their tax return, according to the latest Treasury Department guidance.

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45 Republicans Vote Against Defunding Refugee Resettlement Head Salary over Missing Children, Abuse Allegations

The Center Square
Robin Dunn Marcos

Forty-five U.S. House Republicans voted with Democrats against an amendment to remove an agency head at the center of ongoing allegations of child abuse and neglect. 

After debate on Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Arizona, filed an amendment on Wednesday using the Holman Rule to remove Robin Dunn Marcos, director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) in the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Under the Biden administration, Marcos oversees ORR’s scandal-plagued Unaccompanied Children Program, which has funneled an unprecedented number of unaccompanied minors (UAC) into the U.S., arriving at the southern and northern borders. ORR is responsible for vetting sponsors and placing UACs in homes and facilities nationwide.

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DeSantis, Haley, and Ramaswamy Among the 2024 GOP Presidential Hopefuls with Plans to Bolster the U.S. Navy

Admin
USS Crommelin

Several 2024 Republican primary candidates laid out their plans to strengthen and increase the size of the U.S. Navy if president in statements to the Daily Caller News Foundation after the third GOP debate moderators pressed contenders on the topic.

Some Republican candidates have criticized President Joe Biden for allowing the Navy to atrophy in recent years as China’s military threat to the U.S. grows, pledging to strengthen the fleet should they become president in comments to the DCNF. The 2024 hopefuls explained how they would overcome weaknesses in the industrial base, recruiting and overall strategy to reverse the Navy’s decline.

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YoungkinWatch: Sen. Tim Kaine Reportedly Claims Governor May Mount Senate Bid in Fundraising Email

Tom Pappert

Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) reportedly warned donors that Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) could launch a campaign for his U.S. Senate seat in 2024 in a fundraising email on Friday. Youngkin is term limited, and cannot seek another term as the commonwealth’s governor.

In a fundraising email, Kaine reportedly stressed the importance of maintaining the Democrats’ current Senate majority, citing the decision of Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) to retire, before addressing “speculation” about Youngkin’s future political ambitions, according to The Washington Examiner.

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Commentary: Flirtation with Evil Will Not End Well for the Progressive Left

Admin

Has the TikTok Left just jumped the shark?

Well, yes. Imagine seizing on Osama bin Laden’s 2002 “Letter to the American People” as a revelation to justify your wounded adolescent narcissism and historical ignorance? This past week, a bunch of videos from the Chinese owned data-hoovering and propaganda-peddling app took the meme-world by storm by showering some love on the defunct Islamic terrorist and kicking America in the process.  Quoth one fragile female as she brushed her teeth: “Trying to go back to life as normal after reading Osama bin Laden’s ‘Letter to America’ and realizing everything we learned about the Middle East, 9/11, and ‘terrorism’ was a lie.” Another client of this new experiment in juvenile mind control bleated that the mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks taught her that America was a “plague on the entire world.”

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Poll Shows Widespread Support for Education Tax Credits in Georgia

The Center Square

An education choice advocacy group says personal education tax credits are popular with parents nationwide, and Georgia lawmakers could soon move on education reform.

With education tax credits, an alternative to Education Savings Accounts, parents or guardians receive a credit when they choose a non-public school for their dependent’s education. According to the group yes. every kid., states can use existing tax mechanisms for these policies, and parents or guardians receive a tax refund by indicating on a tax form or an application their dependent isn’t enrolled in public school.

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State Bar of Arizona Under Fire as Complaints and Action Against Republican Attorneys Increase

Rachel Alexander

Considerable scrutiny has been placed on the State Bar of Arizona recently following its decision to pursue investigations and disciplinary actions against attorneys representing clients and causes associated with the Republican Party – particularly election attorneys. The Arizona bar is investigating and has found probable cause against Kari Lake’s attorney Bryan Blehm, and he expects they will disbar him. Former Maricopa County prosecutor April Sponsel recently underwent a disciplinary trial for charging violent Antifa rioters with gang charges, and is waiting to find out if the bar’s disciplinary judge will suspend her license for two years.

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Schumer Called Sinema ‘Extremely Helpful’ Before Vote to Thwart Tuberville’s Pentagon Abortion Protest

Tom Pappert
Senator Chuck Schumer

Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) received high praise from Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) prior to the successful vote of a bill she championed that is aimed at thwarting the effort of Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL). Tuberville is stalling promotions of high ranking military officials until the Pentagon ends its new policy of funding abortion travel for its employees.

Sinema successfully passed legislation last week that will allow the U.S. Senate to vote to confirm the promotions of more than 300 high ranking military officials at once, which she said is necessary because the Senate would otherwise struggle to handle the volume once Tuberville’s protest ends or is bypassed.

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Arizona State University Investigating Pro-Palestinian Protesters Disrupting a Meeting on Campus

The Center Square
Arizona State University

Arizona State University leaders are responding to a situation where pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted a student government meeting on campus, inferring there might be criminal charges.

The incident started with a student government meeting on November 14 where members of Students for Justice in Palestine demanded the school back away from its previous statements of support for Israel in its current military actions against Hamas for the terrorist organization’s invasion of the Jewish nation on October 6. Students for Justice in Palestine also demanded a resolution pushing the school to boycott and divest from Israel be considered, according to an Instagram post.

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Jamie O’Neal And Ty Herndon Bring Us ‘Merry Christmas Baby’

Bethany Bowman

Two of the biggest voices from the early 2000s, Jamie O’Neal and Ty Herndon, have joined together to bring us the original Christmas song, “Merry Christmas Baby.” Last year, O’Neal put out a memorable Christmas record, Spirit & Joy, which I have added to my collection of favorite Christmas CDs.

This year, O’Neal released a deluxe edition of her holiday album, which includes the original song “Merry Christmas Baby” and a cover of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Both songs follow the same theme of missing someone you love at Christmastime.

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Study: Life Expectancy Gap in the U.S. Favors Women over Men

Admin

A new study indicates that, on average, American men are dying about six years before their female counterparts.

According to Axios, the report was published on Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The study shows that the overall life expectancy gap between the two genders increased further in 2021, building off a trend that has been ongoing since 2011.

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