Month: December 2023

Biden Energy Efficiency Crackdown Leaves No Appliance in American Home Untouched

Just the News

New York City’s effort in the 1990s to regulate toilets and shower heads to cut down water usage ignited consumer outrage, even inspiring a 1996 Seinfeld television episode in which the character Kramer was so fed up with his apartment’s low-flow shower head that he purchased a high-flow head on the black market.

Three decades later, the Biden administration is leaving few appliances in the home untouched in its quest to regulate the amount of water and energy Americans use for their household chores.

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Julie Kelly Commentary: Lower Courts Dare SCOTUS to Act with Lawless Rulings, But Will They?

Julie Kelly

Throughout 2020, both Republicans and Democrats warned that the U.S. Supreme Court would ultimately determine the winner of the presidential election — albeit for different reasons.

Democrats feared a conservative majority would uphold what they called “voter suppression” laws to tighten voting requirements that might benefit President Trump. Republicans worried how the court would handle cases related to lax absentee voting measures enacted as a result of the coronavirus pandemic that gave Joe Biden a big advantage.

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Commentary: Verses for the New Year’s Poetry

Admin
Woman Reading

Christmas brings us a feast of words and music: songs played 24/7 on some radio stations, classic literature like A Christmas Carol and “A Visit From St. Nicholas,” a stocking full of new children’s books every year along with the classics like How the Grinch Stole Christmas, films enough to watch every day from Advent throughout Christmastide. And that’s not to mention the ubiquitous Nutcracker performances, kids’ plays at churches and schools, and carolers strolling the corridors of nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

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Religious Liberty Had Major Court, Legislative Wins in 2023

Admin

Advocates for faith won several major victories this year through the legislature and the court, despite a growing hostility toward religious communities.

There were several examples of anti-religious sentiment over the past year, some of which included an FBI-drafted memo targeting traditional Catholics as “potential domestic terrorists” and the University of West Virginia’s transgender training labeling Christians as oppressors. However, 2023 also boasted several victories for religious Americans in schools, the workplace and the pro-life movement.

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Honduran Nationals Accused of Running Fentanyl Trafficking Rings in Major U.S. Cities

Admin
Fentanyl

Honduran nationals are running fentanyl trafficking rings in cities across the western part of the U.S., according to Willamette Week.

Law enforcement agencies have been investigating a cartel using “Honduran nationals to distribute bulk amounts of fentanyl…in the western United States,” according to Willamette Week, citing a criminal complaint filed Dec. 12 in U.S. District Court in Portland. The trafficking operations have been identified in Portland, Seattle, Oakland, Denver and Salt Lake City.

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U.S. Public Pensions Invest over $68 Billion in China

Admin
NYSE Money

American public pension funds have invested tens of billions into Chinese companies over the last three years, according to a new study.

As reported by Axios, the study from the trade advocacy group Future Union shows that a total of $68 billion has been invested in various private Chinese entities in the last three years as of June 30th. There has been at least one public pension fund with investments in China in 42 different states.

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Senators Sinema, Kelly Praise Border Patrol Overtime Pay Increase

The Center Square

Some Border Patrol agents will now get increased overtime pay thanks to an amendment pushed by Arizona Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, as well as Republicans and Democrats.

The increase put into the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act applies to GS-12 agents who will get 50 percent more of their “hourly rate of basic pay or extra ‘half-time’ pay for any hour(s) worked between 81-100 per pay period.” The boost is in addition to their normal hourly rate, the National Border Patrol Council explained in a statement. 

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Abe Hamadeh Files a Petition for Writ of Quo Warranto to Remove Attorney General Kris Mayes from Office

Rachel Alexander

Republican Abe Hamadeh, who is still contesting his election loss to Democrat Kris Mayes in the attorney general’s race by 280 votes, filed a Petition for Writ of Quo Warranto & Writ of Mandamus Civil in Maricopa County Superior Court on December 28 asking to remove Mayes from office. He also asked to purge Maricopa County’s voter registration records of any “inappropriate signatures” from vote-by-mail affidavit envelopes, void its canvass in the attorney general’s race, and either order the county to redo signature verification from the election using voters’ signatures on their voter registration or order a new election.

Hamadeh posted on X, quoting his attorney Ryan Heath, “NEW LAWSUIT FILED. Arizonans deserve JUSTICE. My legal team has filed a writ of quo warranto to remove Kris Mayes from office. ‘Kris Mayes, has usurped, intruded into or unlawfully holds or exercises the public office of Arizona’s Attorney General.’ – @Ryan_L_Heath”

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Commentary: DEI Resistance Is Advancing

Admin

While it certainly hasn’t been done away with, the anti-quality, anti-fairness, and anti-American “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” hustle is taking some hits. This ugly form of tribalism pits men, whites, and the rich (oppressors) against women, blacks, and the poor (the oppressed.) With a language all their own, DEI-ists have wormed into just about every facet of American life. The government, its schools, the military, and corporations have all embraced the sect.

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30 Years Later, TBI’s Most Wanted Prison Escapee Remains at Large

Peter D'Abrosca
Robert Sanders

One of Tennessee’s most wanted fugitives, who escaped from prison in 1990, remains on the lam 30 years after being placed on the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) Most Wanted list.

Robert Houston Sanders, serving an 81-year sentence for kidnapping and armed robbery, escaped from the Tennessee State Prison on April 20, 1990 and disappeared. Sanders has been on TBI’s Most Wanted list since its inception in 1993. He is the only most wanted fugitive in the state with that distinction and is still considered “armed and dangerous.”

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Lawmaker Wants Stricter Penalties Following Christmas Swatting Incidents

The Center Square

by T.A. DeFeo   A state lawmaker said he plans to push stronger penalties for anyone who makes a swatting call, a hoax 911 call reporting a fake emergency prompting authorities to respond to an unsuspecting house. The move comes after several Georgia lawmakers were swatted during the Christmas holiday. “I plan to work with Senators from both sides of the aisle during the 2024 Legislative Session to introduce legislation strengthening penalties for false reporting and misuse of police forces,” State Sen. Clint Dixon (pictured here), R-Gwinnett, said in a statement. “This issue goes beyond politics — it’s about public safety and preserving the integrity of our institutions,” Dixon added. “We will not stand for these threats of violence and intimidation. Those involved in swatting must be held accountable under the full extent of the law.” Dixon, state Sen. John Albers, R-Roswell, State Sen. Kim Jackson, D-Stone Mountain, State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, R-Marietta, and Lt. Governor Burt Jones, a Republican, were among the lawmakers swatted. “It serves as a stark reminder of the challenges faced by our law enforcement agencies in distinguishing between genuine threats and false alarms,” Kirkpatrick said in a statement. A push for new legislation addressing swatting…

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Commentary: Study Shows Teens with Very Conservative Parents Most Likely to Have Excellent Mental Health

Admin
Family Dinner

Adolescents who have “very conservative” parents are 16 to 17 percent more likely to have good or excellent mental health compared to teenagers with liberal parents, according to new research by Gallup.

The fascinating finding was made in June 2023 and features in a comprehensive report published last month by the independent, non-partisan Institute for Family Studies (IFS).

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Commentary: Conservative Methodist Exit Nears End Point

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People Praying

The window that opened in 2019 to allow United Methodist churches to depart their embattled denomination closes in a week or so, at the end of the year, and at this late hour, approximately one-fourth of the member churches that constitute Protestantism’s second-largest denomination have climbed through that window.

In the largest U.S. church schism since Civil War times, nearly 7,700 churches of the roughly 30,000 in the United Methodist Church (UMC) have voted to take their property and go elsewhere.

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California’s Free Medi-Cal to Cover Illegal Immigrants amid Healthcare Shortage

The Center Square
Doctor and Patient

Beginning January 1, illegal immigrants will be able to qualify for and use Medi-Cal, California’s taxpayer-funded free and low-cost healthcare plan for low-income residents. Experts warn that the state is already facing a healthcare shortage as a new $25 healthcare minimum wage threatens to reduce staffing levels — and doctors who accept Medi-Cal’s low reimbursement rate — even further. 

By expanding Medi-Cal eligibility to illegal immigrants between the ages of 26 and 49 under SB 184, an omnibus spending bill, California will add an estimated 700,000 users to the Medi-Cal system at a cost of $2.7 billion per year. 

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Market Share for Green Bonds Slumped for Another Year Following Backlash

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New York Stock Exchange

Bonds that consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors for their investors made up just 2% of all bond issuance in the U.S., the lowest point in terms of market share since 2020 after also declining in 2022, according to Bloomberg.

ESG bond issuance as a percentage of the market reached an all-time high in 2021 and is not expected by analysts to reach that same high in 2024 as interest rates make the bond market pricier and backlash to the ESG label inhibits sales, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. ESG has come under fire by conservatives who see it as a left-wing initiative infecting the financial world, most recently leading Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, to send subpoenas to financial firms Vanguard, Arjuna Capital, BlackRock and State Street Global Advisors over alleged ESG collusion, arguing it violates antitrust law.

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American Medical Association Restricts Two Scholarships on the Basis of Race

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Science Lab

The American Medical Association (AMA) Foundation is offering students at least two scholarships on the basis of race, according to its website.

One of the scholarships is for black, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian and native Alaskan medical students, and the other is for black students only, according to its website. Similar scholarships have come under fire from conservative legal organizations, and one legal scholar said that scholarships selective on the basis of race may violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

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Bidenomics: Unemployment Insurance Claims Leap as over 1.8 Million Americans Receive Benefits

Just the News

State unemployment insurance claims rose last week by 12,000 while the number of people who are receiving benefits reached 1.875 million for the week ending Dec. 16, according to seasonally adjusted data released Thursday by the Labor Department. 

Seasonally adjusted initial claims hit 218,000 for the week ending Dec. 23 after rising by 12,000, according to the latest data. 

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ICE Report Unmasks Staggering Toll of Biden Border Crisis: Illegal Alien Cases Hit 6 Million

Just the News

The Homeland Security Department agency entrusted with removing illegal immigrants is providing a staggering portrait of America’s border crisis, revealing the backlog of aliens inside the United States awaiting decisions has nearly doubled under President Joe Biden to more than 6 million while arrests of suspected terrorists and violent offenders have also exploded.

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Gov. Mike DeWine Who Vetoed Trans Bills Received over $40,000 from Children’s Hospitals Supporting Sex Change Procedures

Admin

Republican Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio received thousands of dollars in donations from donors who provided transgender medical services or opposed efforts to ban the procedures for minors.

DeWine vetoed House Bill 68 on Friday, which would have prohibited doctors from prescribing puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for minors and banned boys from competing in girls’ sports, just hours before the deadline. A review of donations from 2018 to 2023 found that the governor received $40,300 from the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association (OCHA), Cincinnati Children’s, Nationwide Children’s Hospital and ProMedica Children’s Hospital, all of whom support transgender medical care.

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Alabama U.S. Senator Tuberville Home Swatted in Auburn

Admin

1819News U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) was the target of a swatting call in Auburn on Monday, according to WRBL. According to the outlet, Tuberville was the target of an alleged swatting call at a family-owned residence of Tuberville’s in Auburn on Christmas night.  Swatting involves making a prank call to emergency services to bring a large number of armed police officers or a SWAT team to a particular address. Swatting is dangerous to both first responders and victims. In some cases, it has led to the deaths of innocent victims. READ THE FULL STORY    

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Tennessee Prisons Want 600 New Correctional Officers Following Report Showing Critical Staffing Shortages, High Attrition Rate

Tom Pappert
Corrections Officer

A Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC) official explained on Wednesday that the agency seeks to hire and retain 600 new correctional officers following an audit which revealed Tennessee prisons continue to face “critical staffing shortages” and a high turnover rate for employees.

As TDOC seeks to fill these positions across Tennessee, NewsChannel 5 recently reported the agency is offering incentives, including a $5,000 signing bonus. One prison warden told the outlet the work is challenging but rewarding. Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation warden Taurean James explained, “it is a job for individuals seeking a structured environment” and “looking to help individuals.”

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Journalists, Medical Groups, Big Business Emerge as Biden Allies in Social Media Censorship Case

Just the News
Journalists Press

President Joe Biden’s administration is getting some big-name allies as it defends against a landmark free speech infringement lawsuit. Their argument: protecting Americans from indirect censorship by government officials undermines the First Amendment, national security, and public health.

Advocacy groups for journalists, academics, doctors, technologists, and big business, and a powerful senator, made various forms of these arguments in friend-of-the-court briefs to the Supreme Court in the days before and after Christmas. 

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Disaster Unemployment Assistance Available in Seven Tennessee Counties Affected by the December 9 Severe Storms

Kaitlin Housler

The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD) announced the availability of Disaster Unemployment Assistance for seven Tennessee counties affected by the severe storms and tornadoes.

On December 9, severe thunderstorms and a recorded eight tornadoes ripped through Middle Tennessee, causing six fatalities, dozens of injuries, significant damage to nearly 1,900 homes, and the destruction of over 500 homes.

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Tennessee Democrat Claims ‘Flawed Letter Grades’ Fail to Reflect Schools After 43 Percent in Her City Receive Failing Grades

Tom Pappert
Raumesh Akbari

Tennessee State Senate Minority Leader Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis) claimed the new letter grades assigned to every Tennessee school are “flawed.” Akbari represents Memphis, where more than 40 percent of schools did not receive passing grades.

Akbari released a statement on Thursday declaring the “flawed letter grades will never define a school, their students and families, or their teachers and staff.” She asserted the grades instead reflect what she claimed is inadequate state funding for education.

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Ken Chesebro Will ‘Poison’ Case Against Trump If He Testifies in Georgia Election Trial, Anti-Trump Lawyer Warns

Tom Pappert

A lawyer and author known for his critiques of the Trump administration told CNN on Friday that lawyer Ken Chesebro, who signed a plea agreement with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, would likely help former President Donald Trump if called to testify in Georgia.

Elie Honig, a former U.S. Assistant Attorney for the Southern District of New York, called Chesebro a “mixed bag” who may not help Willis prove her case.

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HealthPartners Faces Wrongful Death Lawsuit over Use of Remdesivir for COVID

Admin
Regions Hospital

Two Minnesotans have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against HealthPartners, Regions Hospital, and affiliated healthcare workers relating to the hospital’s protocols for treating COVID-19. The lawsuit claims that these protocols caused the deaths of two patients.

Specifically, the civil suit alleges that the plaintiffs’ spouses “were given Remdesivir against their wishes as part of a protocol which actually harmed them; and which protocol has served to financially enrich Health Partners, Inc., and Regions Hospital.”

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Commentary: Trump Is Correct About Presidential Immunity

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Trump Mount Rushmore

The media has driven itself into a tizzy in recent days, claiming that despite serving as president of the United States (and being poised to reclaim that office in less than a year’s time), Donald Trump should not be granted the same kinds of immunity and executive privilege that every other chief magistrate enjoyed before him. Showcasing their ignorance of both the Constitution and history, the mainstream media has framed the concept as something of a novel innovation for President Trump’s lawyers, who are advocating for “broad immunity,” implying that no other presidential officeholder has ever made that claim. Nothing could be further from the truth.

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New England Outages Point to Grid Issues That Are Often Blamed on ‘Extreme Weather’

Just the News
Power Grids

Storms in New England over the weekend have left thousands of people without power. Government data and studies show that these weather-related outages are becoming more frequent and lasting longer, which is often attributed to climate change, but analyses of grid resilience and research into disaster costs question that conclusion.  

In New York, about 55,000 people were without power on Monday morning after a storm brought high winds and two to four inches of rain, according to The New York Post. The same storm left as many as 45,000 households without power Monday morning, NJ.com reported. As of 10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time Monday, 226,626 residents of Maine were without power, and local Maine television stations say the worst may be yet to come.

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Florida Bill Would Expand Prison Incentive Program Designed to Reduce Recidivism

The Center Square
Danny Burgess

Nonviolent offenders in the Sunshine State could be part of a new incentive program if a new bill becomes law.

Senate Bill 1048 is sponsored by state Sen. Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills. It would expand the Florida Department of Corrections’ incentivized prison program, which provides education, life skills, and discharge planning to reduce recidivism.

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Commentary: Biden’s Sliding Poll Numbers

RealClearWire
Joe Biden Miguel Cardona

President Biden’s sliding poll numbers have set off alarm signals among Democrats who are beginning to see that he might lose the 2024 election to Donald Trump. Those polls have also gotten the attention of pundits who have confidently said for three years now that Trump could never again win a national election. The polling results published over the past few months suggest otherwise: Trump is currently the favorite to win next year’s election.

The most recent RealClearPolitics Average has Trump leading Biden by 2.6 percentage points, a switch of about four points since late summer when Biden led 45%-43%, and in a long-running decline of seven points for Biden since he won the 2020 election with 51% percent of the popular vote.

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Commentary: 50 Years Later, ‘The Exorcist’ Continues to Possess Hollywood’s Imagination, Reflecting Our Obsession with Evil

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The Exorcist

When the “The Exorcist” premiered 50 years ago, in December 1973, some theatergoers fainted or broke down in tears. A few even vomited.

The film, which cast a young Linda Blair as a girl claiming to be possessed by the devil, was an almost instant success, with moviegoers waiting in line for hours to secure tickets. It went on to gross over US$440 million worldwide.

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Commentary: The Battle for Higher Education

RealClearWire
College Student

Higher education is making news these days.  In Congressional testimony, the Presidents of Harvard, MIT, and Penn couldn’t tell whether calling for the genocide of the Jews constituted harassment without knowing the context.  The effects of their testimony reverberate.

Days later, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) issued a lengthy report condemning “Political Interference and Academic Freedom in Florida’s Public Higher Education System.”  Prominently featured was a detailed complaint about New College of Florida, where I serve as admissions director.

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Mayors of Democratic Cities Demand Biden Give Them More Money for Illegal Aliens

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Blue City Mayors

Several far-left mayors of major cities in the United States have formed a coalition to demand that the Biden Administration provide them with even more federal funding to deal with the flood of third-world illegal aliens pouring into their cities.

As reported by Breitbart, the mayors of New York City, Chicago, and Denver – Eric Adams (D-N.Y.), Brandon Johnson (D-Ill.), and Mike Johnston (D-Colo.) – held a meeting and released a joint statement calling for Biden to give more resources to the city governments, as all three cities and other so-called “sanctuary cities” continue to deal with the illegal influx.

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Oregon Mother Appeals Court Ruling Denying Her Ability to Adopt Children After Not Accepting ‘Gender Ideology’

Admin

A mother of five in Oregon appealed a ruling on Dec 13. prohibiting her from adopting children due to her refusal to adopt the tenets of “gender ideology” because of her Christian beliefs, according to a press release.

Jessica Bates wanted to adopt a sibling pair in 2022, but after going through the application process, she was told by Oregon’s Department of Human Services (ODHS) that she would need to support her adopted child’s desire to change his or her sex and to “affirm” their “gender identity.” Bates filed a lawsuit against the state on religious grounds challenging the gender identity policy in Oregon, which an Oregon district court ruled against in November, and Bates appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

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Reagan Day Dinner Returns: Davidson County GOP Chair Lonnie Spivak Unveils New Plans, Initiative for 2024

Tennessee Star Staff

Davidson County Republican Party Chairman Lonnie Spivak joined Friday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss the return of the Reagan Day dinner scheduled for January 25, 2024.

Spivak shares details about the event to be held at the prestigious Cordell, and the event will feature Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs as the keynote speaker and hints at potential surprise guests.

Spivak offered listeners a peek behind the scenes of party political operations to mention one of the initiatives underway to mobilize Republicans who only vote in presidential elections with the roundtable of in-studio guests including author Roger Simon and original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael.

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Europe on Alert for New Year’s Eve Terror as France Deploys 90,000 Cops amid ‘Very High Risk’ of Attacks

Admin

The U.S. Sun Fears of terror attacks over New Year’s Eve celebrations have forced officials to ramp up security measures as Europe remains on “high alert.”  France is set to deploy 90,000 cops across the country amid a “very high terrorist threat” due to the ongoing conflict in Gaza. A total of 6,000 will be in Paris, where French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said over 1.5 million people are expected to attend celebrations on the Champs-Elysees. READ THE FULL STORY                 

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California Secretary of State Keeps Trump on Ballot as Dems Call for His Removal

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CA Secretary of State

California’s Secretary of State has decided to keep former President Donald Trump on the state’s presidential primary ballot as other states are disqualifying him based on the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment.

For his actions in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021, Trump has been disqualified by two states, Colorado and Maine, with the former temporarily reversing its decision pending a ruling from the Supreme Court on the matter. On Thursday, California’s Democratic Secretary of State, Shirley Weber, announced the state’s presidential primary ballot with Trump included.

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Commentary: The Anti-Capitalist Attack on Therapy

Admin
Therapy session

There is a common criticism that therapy has become too mainstream and commercialized, feeding into snowflake culture. From influencers receiving sponsorships to promote mental health apps to the prominence of online therapy advertisements on social media, it seems like there’s a movement to push therapy on young people who arguably might not need it.

As the substack writer Freya India writes on the matter: “Maybe you’re struggling because [therapy] companies are taking your human need for connection, your normal feelings of stress and sadness, and using all this to sell solutions that leave you more anxious and alone. Because again: what could be more profitable?”

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