Month: August 2024

Biden EPA Cuts Big Check for Pro-Defund the Police Activists to Pursue ‘Climate Justice’ for Convicts

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Climate Protest

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is sending up to $3 million to an activist group that advocates for slashing police budgets and prison closures to pursue “climate justice” for convicts and “reentry communities.”

The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights (Baker Center) and the Insight Garden Program were selected for receipt of between $1 million and $3 million to pursue “Environmental and Climate Justice in Prison and Reentry Communities.” The Baker Center has previously endorsed or advocated for left-wing activist positions like defunding the police, effectively decriminalizing shoplifting, closing prisons and more.

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Commentary: Let’s Leave the Marxism on the Capitol Steps

RealClearWire
Elizabeth Warren

The United States has become the largest market in the world, and at the same time it delivers the highest standard of living to its citizens compared to the world’s other major economies. Contrast this success with other large economies such as China, where despite being the world’s second-largest economy, its citizens have a standard of living that has more in common with the developing world than a global powerhouse. Now China is facing demographic challenges that raise the prospect that as a nation, it may get old before it gets rich. Layer its long-standing repression and authoritarianism on to its economic challenges, and one is hard-pressed to see a domestic policy regime worthy of emulation.

Likewise looking to America’s south, and one is struck by the generations of squandered opportunities for prosperity in South America. As a region, South America has been buffeted by financial collapses, runaway inflation, and geopolitical instability. For nations digging out from a legacy of ruinous fiscal and economic policies, there is no easy route forward, only difficult tradeoffs. Argentina has certainly charted a new course and there is hope that near-term pain may pave a path forward to stability and long-term growth. But the present pain is very real.

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Commentary: America’s Eroding Deterrent in the Face of China Aggression

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U.S. Navy Seventh Fleet

In March 2015, the former Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, Admiral Harry Harris, while giving a speech in Australia, dismissed the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) building of seven artificial islands in the South China Sea (SCS) as nothing more than a “Great Wall of Sand” that would not alter the U.S. Navy’s freedom of navigation operations or American deterrence capabilities in the region.

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Election Red Flag: Postal Service Watchdog Warns Some Mailed Ballots May Be Delayed, Not Counted

Just the News
Ballot

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) failed to deliver political and election mail on time between 2% and 3% of the time during the 2024 primaries and the mail service’s chief watchdog warns in a new audit that some mailed ballots might be delayed or not counted in the November election because workers aren’t following required procedures.

“We found that Postal Service personnel did not always comply with policy and procedures regarding all clear certifications, Election and Political Mail logs, and audit checklists,” the Postal Service Inspector General warned in a report made public this week. “In addition, we identified processes and policies that could pose a risk of delays in the processing and delivery of Election and Political Mail.

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Study: After COVID Pandemic, Only 40 Percent of Americans Now Say They Trust Doctors

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A stunning 50-state survey of U.S. adults has found that trust in physicians and hospitals collapsed during the COVID-19 pandemic, going from from 71.5 percent in April 2020 to 40.1 percent in January 2024.

Roy H. Perlis, MD, MS, Katherine Ognyanova PhD, and Ata Uslu, MS, researchers from the Center for Quantitative Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, Rutgers University, and Northeastern University, surveyed 443 455 individuals in every sociodemographic group aged 18 years or older residing in the US.

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Catholic Group Urges DOJ to Investigate Pro-Abortion Attacks on Churches, Pregnancy Centers

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A Catholic organization that tracks attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers and churches is urging the Justice Department to investigate over 400 known attacks since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

The organization, CatholicVote, requested a meeting to discuss probes of pro-abortion violations of the FACE Act in a letter to Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke that it shared with The Daily Signal.

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FDA Knew ‘Gender Affirming’ Puberty Blockers Increase ‘Suicidality’ in 2017, Promotes Them Today

Just the News

Five months before the Food and Drug Administration issued a health warning on puberty blockers widely used off-label to treat minors with gender confusion, undermining a Department of Health and Human Services office that claimed “early gender affirming care is crucial to overall health and well-being,” an FDA leader acknowledged other health concerns.

Pediatric patients exposed to “gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists,” most with central precocious puberty (CPP) and “a handful … transgender kids using the drugs off-label,” had an “increased risk of depression and suicidality, as well as increased seizure risk,” Division of General Endocrinology clinical team leader Shannon Sullivan told colleagues.

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Commentary: The DEI Trap

RealClearWire
Kamala Harris and KBJ

Kamala Harris’s sudden ascendancy within the Democrat Party, with nary a peep from other ambitious Democrats, spotlights the uncomfortable contradictions of identity politics and the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) movement. 

Americans universally believe that everyone should have a fair shot at opportunities regardless of sex or race, which is why the kind of racism and sexism that was once so prevalent is so rare today.

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Ohio Policy Group Says City, State Attempting to Deny Rights

The Center Square
Dave Yost

A Columbus-based policy group is calling the city of Columbus and the state’s attempt to move straight to the Ohio Supreme Court a fight for the rights of Ohio citizens.

In a brief filed with the Supreme Court, The Buckeye Institute wants the court to reject the argument from the city and state that preliminary injunctions can be appealed directly to the court rather than flow through the appeals courts.

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National Debt Reaches $35 Trillion for First Time in U.S. History

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National Debt

The national debt surpassed $35 trillion on Monday for the first time in U.S. history as exorbitant federal spending continues under President Joe Biden.

Since Biden was inaugurated, the national debt has increased by over $7 trillion, from $27.7 trillion on January 20, 2021 to now over $35 trillion as of July 29, 2024. If the debt were to be divided among the roughly 258.3 million adults in the U.S., each adult would have roughly $135,500.

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Commentary: Bias Lurks in Study Linking Bronchitis in Children with Poor Air Quality

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People wearing masks

A new study by a team of University of Southern California researchers claims that children exposed to poor air quality are at greater risk of (self-reported) bronchitis symptoms than are adults. But this health claim is tenuous.

Published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the study uses data sets from a 30-year-old Southern California Children’s Health Study cohort—with a long length of time between exposure and presumed response of self-reported bronchitis.

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Memphis Police Officer Killed in Crash After Responding to Shooting

Peter D'Abrosca
Demetrice Johnson

A Memphis Police officer died after a crash with an alleged suspect in a shooting early Friday morning.

“At 3:06 a.m., officers responded to a two-vehicle crash at Mississippi Boulevard and Danny Thomas Boulevard involving a gray Nissan and an MPD squad car,” MPD said in a statement. “Responding officers located three injured males, two of which are MPD officers, and the third male was the occupant of the Nissan. All were transported to Regional One Hospital in critical condition. An MPD officer and the driver of the gray Nissan were pronounced deceased at the hospital. The second MPD officer remains in critical condition.”

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Prosecution’s Key Witness in Trial Against Former Mesa County Clerk Repeatedly Claims He Doesn’t Remember Much

Rachel Alexander

The trial against former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters wrapped up its first week on Friday, featuring testimony by witnesses for the prosecution including IT professional Gerald Wood. Peters, who is charged with crimes related to making a copy of an election database since she was concerned that not keeping the files for two years would violate the law, hired Wood to help her with technical issues, but Wood repeatedly stated he couldn’t remember much when her attorney cross-examined him. 

Wood, who ended up not performing any work for Peters, spent much of his time on the witness stand distancing himself from the appearance that he was involved with Peters bringing in an outside IT expert to observe an upgrade of the Dominion voting machine software, since prosecutors alleged that a leak of computer bios passwords took place after IT expert Conan Hayes allegedly used Wood’s key card to enter the area where the upgrade was performed.

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State Rep. Gloria Johnson Celebrates U.S. Senate Primary Victory

Peter D'Abrosca
Gloria Johnson

A far-left member of the Tennessee House of Representatives Thursday night won her primary election, and now faces an uphill battle against incumbent U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).

“Thank you, Tennessee. I am running for office to represent you, to fight for you, and make life easier for all who call Tennessee home. I have never felt more ready to fight for a Tennessee that works for all of us. Let’s do this!” said State Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knovxille) when the primary results rolled in. 

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U.S. Job Growth Slows to a Crawl as Unemployment Rises

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Business Meeting

The U.S. added 114,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in July as the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3%, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data released Friday.

Economists anticipated that the country would add 175,000 jobs in July compared to the 206,000 added in initial estimates for June, and that the unemployment rate would remain stable at 4.1%, according to U.S. News and World Report. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell noted in a press conference on Wednesday that a continued slowdown in the labor market could be a sign of further softening in the economy and contribute to a possible cut to the federal funds rate and an easing in harsh credit conditions that have weighed on Americans.

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Diabolical 9/11 Plotter with Plea Deal from Pentagon Planned Even More Carnage for United States

Just the News

As the passage of 23 years fades the nation’s memory, the terrorist who has now received a plea deal from the Biden administration was a diabolical plotter who planned even more insidious carnage than what the terrorists achieved in the September 11 attacks on the United States.

The U.S. Department of Defense announced Wednesday that it had reached a plea deal with notorious 9/11 plotter Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two of his accomplices after more than 16 years after they were first prosecuted.

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Radical Anti-Fracking Activists Endorse Kamala Harris’ Campaign

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Kamala Harris

Vice President Kamala Harris has racked up endorsements from several hardline climate groups that oppose fracking, even after her campaign disavowed her previous support of a fracking ban.

The political arms of 350.org, Friends of the Earth, the Center for Biological Diversity, Food and Water Watch, Climate Hawks Vote, Clean Water Action and the Green New Deal Network have all endorsed Harris, even after her campaign told The Hill last Friday that she no longer would ban fracking. The groups — all of which oppose fracking — had not endorsed President Joe Biden before he quit the 2024 presidential race, and they join a growing list of major environmental groups backing Harris as Election Day approaches.

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Secret Service Whistleblowers: Acting Chief Cut Security Assets

RealClearWire
Secret Service

Just days after Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe denied playing a direct role in rejecting repeated requests for added security measures and assets for former President Trump, whistleblowers have come forward refuting those claims and blaming Rowe for some of the agency’s security failures that led to the July 13 assassination attempt that nearly killed Trump and left rallygoer Corey Comperatore dead and two others wounded.

Other whistleblowers are coming forward citing more systemic problems with the Secret Service, the vaunted agency whose primary job is to protect presidents, vice presidents and former presidents and their families.

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January 6 Bombshell: Secret Service Got Intel on ‘High Potential’ for Violence but Didn’t Tell Agents

Just the News
January Six Riot

The Secret Service developed intelligence that there was a “high potential for violence” before the Jan. 6 Capitol riot but failed to share that information with its agents guarding Donald Trump, Mike Pence or Kamala Harris that fateful day, according to a bombshell report delivered to Congress on Thursday that exposed a fresh round of failures by the presidential protection agency.

Homeland Security Inspector General Joseph Cuffari’s report was forced into the public by pressure from House Administration Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., and it confirmed earlier Just the News reporting, including that the Secret Service whisked Harris, then the Vice President-elect, within 20 feet of an undetected pipe bomb at Democrat National Committee (DNC) headquarters in Washington because it failed to employ its normal explosive detection tools.

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Michigan Secretary of State Announces ‘Panic Button’ for Poll Workers Ahead of Election

Just the News
Election Day

Michigan Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson this week announced that the state would implement a “panic button” system for the November election permitting election officials to quickly alert law enforcement in the event of a threat.

“I don’t believe this is announced yet, but we will be rolling out a panic button type of communication for every election worker if clerks work with us, to implement it in their particular voting location to be able to text if something occurs,” Benson said Monday.

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Florida Follow-Up Audit Finds Discrepancies with Economic Incentive Programs

The Center Square

The Florida Auditor General recently published a follow-up audit of the Sunshine State’s economic incentives programs and found some uncorrected issues remain.

The Florida Department of Commerce assists the governor in working with the Legislature, state agencies, business leaders, and economic development professionals. For fiscal 2023-24, state lawmakers appropriated approximately $1.8 billion.

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Navajo Nation, Energy Company at Odds over Uranium Ore Transportation

The Center Square
Navajo Nation

Navajo Nation leaders are unhappy with the transportation of uranium ore along the reservation on Tuesday.

President Buu Nygren said the transport from Energy Fuels was done without his permission and sent out law enforcement in hopes of stopping the transportation, which was unsuccessful. According to a news release, the nation is currently making guidelines for uranium ore movement.

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Commentary: The Crucial Importance of an Independent Judiciary

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Supreme Court

The independent judiciary established by our Constitution has inspired the world. Even British law, which developed and preserved constitutional liberties, and whose firm sense of political rights inspired the American Founders, has only in the last two decades undertaken to separate its judiciary from Parliament’s supremacy.

The Framers of the Constitution were keenly aware of how Britain’s constitution had failed them. Britain’s judiciary had no power to keep Parliament in check when it passed the Intolerable Acts and the other outrages to which the Declaration of Independence objected. Previously, the courts proved unable to rein in the Stuart kings’ grabs for supremacy; war resulted.

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Virginia A.G. Jason Miyares Demands Answers from Democrat Fundraising Platform ActBlue over Fraud Allegations

Tom Pappert
Jason Miyares and Act Blue

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares on Friday sent a letter to ActBlue, the top fundraising platform for Democrats and liberal issues, demanding answers over the money laundering and fraud allegations levied by journalist James O’Keefe and his O’Keefe Media Group.

Miyares posted his letter to the social media platform X, confirming his office questioned ActBlue over allegations of “fraudulent, deceptive, and/or otherwise illegal acts,” including “hundreds of thousands of dollars of contributions through individual donors” in Virginia who purportedly donated “in volumes that are facially implausible and appear suspicious.”

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Rochester Public Schools Threatened with Lawsuit over District’s Transgender Policy

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Classwork

A pair of non-profit public interest law firms have threatened to sue Rochester Public Schools (RPS) if the district utilizes its new pro-transgender policy to “transition a child without parental consent.”

Just weeks ago, the RPS school board gave final authorization to a new policy governing how the district will “address the needs and concerns of transgender and/or gender-expansive students” in its schools. According to that policy, if a child changes their name, or begins using a different bathroom, the school district will only alert the child’s parents if the parent specifically asks about such information.

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Connecticut’s Top Court Upholds Ban on Religious Exemptions

The Center Square
Kid Vaccine

Connecticut’s highest court has rejected another legal challenge to the state’s pandemic-era law repealing religious exemptions for school vaccine requirements.

Connecticut’s Supreme Court ruling rejected several claims by the plaintiffs in the case, who argued that the state’s 2021 move to eliminate religious exemptions violated the state and U.S. constitutions. However, justices agreed to sustain claims that the law violates Connecticut’s Religious Freedom and Restoration Act, sending the issue back to a lower court to decide.

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Georgia GOP Bans Former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan After Harris Endorsement, Urges National Action

Tom Pappert

Georgia Republican Party (GAGOP) Chair Josh McKoon on Friday announced that former Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan will be permanently banned from attending any of the state party’s events, including conventions and caucuses, after Duncan endorsed President Joe Biden then Vice President Kamala Harris.

McKoon additionally confirmed the GAGOP will issue a resolution condemning Duncan for his “self serving and hypocritical behavior,” and “expelling” him from the Republican Party, and that the GAGOP State Executive Committee “will consider action to permanently ban” Duncan from qualifying as a Republican candidate in the Peach State.

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Local Wisconsin Governments Get First Shared Revenue Payments

The Center Square
Tony Evers

Local governments across Wisconsin got their first billion-dollars from the state’s shared revenue plan after Gov. Tony Evers’ office recently announced the payment.

“This distribution marks a significant milestone as it includes the new supplemental county and municipal aid established under 2023 Wisconsin Act 12, which is specifically allocated to support essential services such as law enforcement, fire protection, emergency medical services, emergency response communications, public works, courts, and transportation,” the governor’s office said in a statement.

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South Carolina Supreme Court Approves Firing Squad, Other Execution Methods for Death Penalty

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South Carolina Supreme Court

The South Carolina Supreme Court granted approval for the state Wednesday to conduct executions by firing squad and electrocution.

The state passed a law in 2021 allowing the use firing squads and electrocution as execution methods, according to The Hill. However, the approval was temporarily halted due to death row inmates suing the state, despite death by electrocution becoming a default method when the state could not provide lethal injection drugs.

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USDA Sends $1.45 Million to Pennsylvania for Energy Projects

The Center Square
Solar Panels

The latest round of federal grants has sent $1.45 million to four projects in Pennsylvania to boost renewal energy and efficiency efforts.

Half of the money goes to Reinford Farms, a dairy farm and trucking business in Mifflintown to replace a motor for its anaerobic digester, which breaks down food and animal waste. The U.S. Department of Agriculture expects it to produce enough biogas to power almost 350 homes, about 3.7 million kilowatt hours every year.

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T. Graham Brown Releases ‘From Memphis to Muscle Shoals’

Bethany Bowman
T Graham Brown

You may remember the legendary T. Graham Brown and Opry member who has recorded 15 studio albums and charted more than 20 singles on the Billboard charts. He has had multiple No.1 hits in country, gospel, and blues. Though released well before streaming was a thing, hits such as “Wine Into Water,” “If You Could See Me Now,” and “Hell and High Water” have had millions of views and plays.

But you may not know that Brown got his start in R&B. He and his buddy would play on his college campus, where they had quite the student following.

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Trump Suggests Congress Could ‘Shut Down’ Tech Giant over Alleged Censorship

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Trump Google

Former President Donald Trump suggested on Friday that Congress could close down Google for its alleged bias and censorship.

Republican Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall demanded in a Wednesday letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai that the company provide answers relating to its apparent “censorship” of the Trump assassination attempt from the tech giant’s “autocomplete” feature. Trump on “Mornings With Maria Bartiromo” said the company could face additional congressional scrutiny and possibly closure for how its handled political issues.

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Few Americans Trust the Secret Service to Protect Presidential Candidates After Trump Shooting: Poll

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Secret Service Members

Few Americans trust the United States Secret Service to keep presidential candidates safe before the November election, according to a Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released Friday.

Only about three out of ten Americans say they are “extremely” or “very confident” that “the Secret Service can keep presidential candidates safe from violence before the election,” according to the AP-NORC poll. U.S Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle resigned from her position on July 23 following an evasive testimony before Congress about the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania.

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