Month: February 2023

February 23, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

President Joe Biden has yet to make a decision about running for a second term in 2024, and potential Democratic hopefuls and party donors are bracing for an open primary, according to Politico.

Biden aides noted that the president’s decision will likely come in April, despite being previously slated for February, Politico reported. Those close to the president still believe he will run, and that his decision has been prolonged due to current events, but others in the party aren’t so sure.

New York Democrat Steers Legislative Effort to Remove ‘Cuomo’ Name From Tappan Zee Bridge

New York Democrat State Senator James Skoufis (D-Woodbury) became the lead sponsor of a bill that would restore the name of the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge back to its original Tappan Zee Bridge.

“Everyone in the Hudson Valley still calls the bridge the Tappan Zee for a reason,” Skoufis told The New York Post Monday of the span that was newly completed in 2018 and renamed by disgraced former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for his father, Mario, who also served as governor.

Dem Reps Seek to Restrict Ammunition Sales to Americans

February 23, 2023February 23, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

Democratic lawmakers are seeking further restrictions on ammunition sales after submitting the “Stop Online Ammunition Sales Act of 2023” in late January, which would block online sales of ammunition and issue new guidance for brick-and-mortar stores.

The bill, H.R. 584, would require ammunition dealers to receive updated licenses and confirm the identity of any customer who attempts to purchase ammunition, further saying that online sales will be blocked and bulk purchases must be reported. Democratic New Jersey Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, a lawmaker backed by Michael Bloomberg’s anti-gun group Everytown for Gun Safety, introduced the bill alongside 23 House Democrats who co-signed the legislation.

Anti-Life Groups Propose Amendment to Enshrine Abortion in Ohio Constitution

Two anti-life organizations submitted language for a new ballot initiative Tuesday that would enshrine abortion in the Ohio Constitution despite existing pro-life laws.

Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom and Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights (OPRR) filed the language for their ballot initiative titled The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety amendment with Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R), according to a press release.

Florida Lawmakers Discuss Effects of Benefit Cliffs on Low Income Families

February 23, 2023February 22, 2023 The Center Square

The Florida House Subcommittee on Children, Families and Seniors met in Tallahassee Wednesday and discussed the phenomena of benefit cliffs with several programs and how they can provide a disincentive for work.

The subcommittee was given a presentation on the barriers that are present for Florida families, with the main focus being benefit cliffs — which refers to the sudden and often unexpected decrease in public benefits due to a small increase in earnings.

Commentary: The Right Cannot Afford to Abandon Public Education

In his latest offensive to rid Florida’s educational system of revolutionary Marxism, Governor Ron DeSantis announced what amounts to a new direction for one of the most liberal educational institutions in the state: the New College of Florida. DeSantis appointed a slew of new trustees to the college, including the anti-Marxist journalist Christopher Rufo, Claremont Review of Books Editor and political scientist Charles R. Kesler, and Matthew Spalding of Hillsdale College. The president of the New College, Patricia Okker, appeared before the board and said that she could not cooperate with the board or with DeSantis’ plan for the institution, and she was promptly terminated.

‘So Creepy’: Pete Buttigieg Taking Photo of DCNF Reporter Sparks Backlash

February 23, 2023 RealClearWire

Twitter users reacted to a Tuesday evening confrontation between a Daily Caller News Foundation reporter and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, with some calling Buttigieg out for taking a photo of the reporter.

DCNF investigative reporter Jennie Taer posted a 45-second video on social media of her asking Buttigieg if he had a message for residents of East Palestine, Ohio, the location of a train derailment that resulted in the spilling of toxic chemicals. Buttigieg referred her to comments he made in press interviews, said he was taking “some personal time” and took a photo of Taer at the end of the interaction.

Commentary: Oversight Committee Demands Account of All Economic, Military Aid to Ukraine

As President Biden boarded a European train destined for Kyiv, back in Washington, Rep. James Comer and his team drafted a long-expected letter.

Standing next to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Biden pledged Monday that the lifeline of economic and military aid to that nation, support already well in excess of $100 billion, would not slack, and that the United States would stand with Ukraine “as long as it takes.”

Key Dominion Exec Admitted Company Products ‘Riddled with Bugs’ Days Before 2020 Vote: Fox Lawyers

February 23, 2023 Just the News

Dominion Voting Systems employees have acknowledged serious problems with the company’s technology, saying, for example, that a bug led to “INCORRECT results,” according to discovery cited in the defense brief in Dominion’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News.

Dominion is suing Fox News for $1.6 billion for defamation after becoming a target of alleged conspiracy theories regarding its voting machines being hacked and flipping election results.

FDA Panel OKs Making Narcan Available for Over-the-Counter Use

February 23, 2023 The Center Square

A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel unanimously voted to recommend the agency approve Narcan, a life-saving drug for opioid overdoses, be made available to purchase over the counter without a prescription.

Narcan is accessible for free and low cost online, through a range of community organizations, and through pharmacies with and without a prescription and with or without insurance.

Georgia Jury Forewoman Says ‘You’re Not Going to Be Shocked’ on Trump Indictment Decision

February 22, 2023 Just the News

The forewoman of the Atlanta-area special grand jury that investigated alleged election interference by former President Donald Trump and his allies in Georgia said Tuesday that multiple indictments were recommended and “you’re not going to be shocked” about whether Trump was indicted. Forewoman Emily Kohrs said would not specifically say who the Fulton County grand jury recommended to be indicted, but stated, “It is not a short list,” The New York Times reported.

Big Tech Faces Potential Reckoning at Supreme Court

February 22, 2023February 21, 2023 Florida Capital Star Staff

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a landmark case that could see every major social media platform become liable for harmful content on their websites, changing the game forever when it comes to legal protections for such companies.

As reported by Politico, the case Gonzalez v. Google is centered around the family of a woman who was killed in the Paris terrorist attacks in November of 2015. Her family claims that the video-sharing platform YouTube, which is owned by Google, should be held liable for allowing pro-ISIS propaganda videos to be hosted on the site, which the family claims helped radicalize one of the attackers.

41,000 Catholic Clergy Members Mailed Instructions on Denying Communion to Pro-Abortion Catholic Politicians

Tens of thousands of clergy members will soon receive a copy of Cardinal Raymond Burke’s firm but clear instructions to Catholic priests and bishops on when to deny someone Holy Communion.

“The Church cannot remain silent and indifferent to a public offense against the Body and Blood of Christ,” a book with the instructions says.

Northern Border Sees Record Number of Illegal Immigrants Encounters

February 22, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

America’s southern border is not the only one experiencing a dramatic increase in the number of illegal migrants attempting to cross into the country.

Customs and Border Protection reports record numbers of encounters with illegal migrants at America’s northern border with Canada.

WHO Watchdog Warns ‘Pandemic Treaty’ a ‘Skillfully Crafted Decoy Designed to Take Attention Away From Proposed Amendments to International Health Regulations’

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Working Group on the International Health Regulations (WGIHR) is meeting this week to consider amendments to the regulations that will ultimately serve to increase the power of the global health agency, WHO watchdog James Roguski has been observing.

The International Health Regulations (IHR) are separate from the “pandemic treaty,” which some lawmakers are attempting to address through legislation.

Florida Senate Education Committee Approves School Choice Bill

February 22, 2023February 21, 2023 The Center Square

The Florida Senate Education Committee approved a bill that will further expand education choice in the Sunshine State on Tuesday.

Education Committee Chairman Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, introduced Senate Bill 202 which will give additional access and support to parents and students.

Commentary: The Cult-Like Transgender Recruitment Model

February 22, 2023 RealClearWire

Oh, the insecurities of youth! “Will I be popular?” “Can I play basketball as well as the other boys?” “Will the others let me hang out with them?” “Will boys like me?” “Will girls like me?” “Am I as strong/smart/good-looking/funny as the cool kids?”

Most kids and teens endure these doubts about themselves. It’s a normal part of growing up. This coming-of-age emotional agony was described as early as 1774 in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s novel The Sorrows of Young Werther. In this novel, young Werther’s sorrow over unrequited love eventually becomes so unbearable that he leaves his hometown. Next, he is greatly embarrassed when he encounters a gathering of aristocrats. They ask him to leave since he is not a nobleman. Rejected by a girl and now rejected by aristocrats—the exquisite agony! What’s a boy to do?

Commentary: Let’s Try Teacher Choice

The House Education and Workforce Committee convened a hearing last week entitled “American Education in Crisis.” The perennial left–right debate between promoting parents’ rights and protecting public schools was on full display.

Committee Chair Virginia Foxx, a Republican from North Carolina, used her opening statement to argue for extending “education freedom” and to defend parents’ prerogative to take their children and the public funding that goes with them to private, charter, or home schools. Representative Suzanne Bonamici, a Democrat from Oregon, countered by expressing her “strong opposition” to plans that would “funnel taxpayer dollars to unaccountable private schools and for-profit charter schools,” saying that such an approach would “undermine the effectiveness of public education.”

Craig Campbell Releases ‘The Lost Files: Exhibit A’

February 22, 2023 Bethany Bowman

NASHVILLE, Tennessee- Since the neo-traditional country artist, Craig Campbell launched his Grindstone Recordings label in 2020, he has released music and banking even more cuts over the last few years. Answering the call of his fans, he released The Lost Files: Exhibit A album on February 17.

He stated, “We had a hard time finding some of these songs because the hard drives got misplaced. Then with some, you had the hard drive, but they wouldn’t open. They were literally lost files.”

Commentary: Western Progressives Loved Stalinism and Maoism, Despite Their Horrors

February 22, 2023 Just the News

I recently had the opportunity to travel to the Texas Tech University School of Law to debate the merits of capitalism versus socialism with Ben Burgis, a columnist for Jacobin and philosophy instructor at Georgia State University Perimeter College.

It was a riveting discussion, and I hope students left with not just a better understanding of the horrors of socialism but with the inherent morality of capitalism, a system that relies on voluntary action instead of force and state coercion.

Police Make Arrest in Killing of Los Angeles Catholic Bishop

The suspected killer of Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell reportedly worked for the deceased prelate prior to allegedly killing him, police said this week.

Authorities arrested Carlos Medina reportedly after viewing surveillance footage indicating the suspect’s SUV in O’Connell’s driveway at the time of the killing.

Trump Pledges, If Re-Elected, to End Federal Programs Promoting Gender Transition

February 22, 2023 Just the News

Former President Trump says if reelected he will end President Biden’s policies on gender-affirming care and sign an executive order instructing federal agencies to end all programs promoting gender transitions.

“I will revoke Joe Biden’s cruel policies on so-called ‘gender-affirming care.’ Gender affirming? A process that results in the physical mutilation of minor children,” Trump said Monday in Palm Beach, Florida, at an event for Club 45 USA, which bills itself as the nation’s largest club of Trump supporters.

Seven Questions for ‘Capitalist and Citizen’ Vivek Ramaswamy as He Jumps Into the Race for President

February 21, 2023 M.D. Kittle

Vivek Ramaswamy went from “strongly considering” to a headlong plunge into the race for the White House.

EPA Takes over Management of Ohio Train Accident, Orders Railway to Clean Up Toxic Spill

February 21, 2023 Just the News

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday announced that it would be seizing oversight of the ongoing Ohio train derailment disaster, ordering the company behind the incident to submit to an EPA-approved cleanup plan as part of its management of the crisis. The EPA said in a press release that it would “approve a workplan outlining all steps necessary to clean up the environmental damage caused by the derailment.”

Biden Grants Sweeping ‘Racial Equity’ Power to Susan Rice in Executive Order Converting Entire Federal Government into ‘Woke DEI Cult’

February 21, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

Joe Biden issued an executive order Thursday that grants Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice power to transform all agencies of the executive branch into a radical “woke DEI cult,” warns America First Legal (AFL). With scant establishment media coverage, Biden issued his executive order that intends to completely make over all domestic federal agencies to an entirely Marxist worldview – without congressional approval.

Left-Wing Megadonor George Soros Touts Plan to ‘Repair the Climate System’

February 21, 2023February 20, 2023 Just the News

Liberal megadonor George Soros spoke in support of using an experimental weather control technology to alleviate global warming during a speech last week in Germany.

Soros, who has given millions of dollars to climate change groups through his nonprofit Open Society Foundations, touted a theoretical project to “repair the climate system” by creating white clouds that reflect sunlight away from certain warming areas with the goal of preventing ice sheets in Greenland from melting, Fox News reported.

School District Enlists ‘Black Lives Matter Task Force’ to Help Teach 7th Graders How They’re Implicitly Biased

February 21, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

A California school district enlisted its Black Lives Matter Task Force to help teach 7th graders about their implicit bias during Black History Month, according to the curriculum obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

In an effort to address “issues related to racial justice,” Anaheim Union High School District (AUHSD) requires 7th through 12th grade teachers to use a curriculum created by the schools’ Black Lives Matter Task Force, a coalition dedicated to creating equity for African American students and staff within the district, according to screenshots of the curriculum obtained by the DCNF. The curriculum teaches students about the “daily effects of white privilege” and “implicit bias.”

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya: ‘What Protections do Americans Have That Data Tracking the Unvaccinated Won’t Be Used Illegitimately?’

SOMERS, Connecticut – Stanford University School of Medicine Professor Jay Bhattacharya, M.D. said in an interview with The Star News Network Friday that Americans “should be asking” whether diagnostic code data now being utilized to identify patients who were either never vaccinated or not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will be used “illegitimately.”

Bhattacharya responded to a question about the recent implementation in the United States of new International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) diagnostic codes that requires doctors at clinics and hospitals to ask patients about their COVID mRNA vaccination status.

Two Dozen AGs Sue Biden’s ATF for Taxing, Registering Pistol Braces

February 21, 2023February 20, 2023 The Center Square

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey joined 24 other attorneys general in suing President Biden’s administration for implementing a rule outlawing pistol braces.

The regulation will “result in the destruction or forfeiture of over 750,000 firearms and will cost the private sector somewhere between $2 and $5 billion,” according to the filing.

Trump and DeSantis to Fundraise Back-To-Back in Palm Beach This Week

February 21, 2023February 20, 2023 Admin

Former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are both set to appear at fundraising events in Palm Beach, Florida, this week for their respective campaigns as the race for the GOP primaries intensifies.

MAGA Inc., a political action committee campaigning for a second Trump administration, is hosting an event at Mar-a-Lago, and DeSantis is gathering a group of conservative donors and leaders for a retreat just eight minutes from Trump’s estate the next day, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Commentary: The Toxic Racialist Obsessions of Joe Biden

Joe Biden ran on “unity,” which is critical in a multiracial America. He vowed to heal the divisions supposedly sown by Donald Trump. Instead, he is proving to be the most polarizing president in modern memory. Often his racialist rhetoric and condescension have proven demeaning to both blacks and whites. In a volatile multiracial democracy that demands tolerance and restraint, a highly unpopular Biden, for cheap political advantage, continually proves incendiary and reckless.

Commentary: Behind the Historically Inaccurate ‘1619 Project’ Lies a Marxist Agenda

The 1619 Project wraps itself in Old Glory — literally; actors in the Hulu version of the project often appear cloaked in the flag. But don’t let that fool you: the project is yet another attempt to brainwash you into believing your country is racist, evil, and needs revolutionary transformation.

The project’s founder, Nikole Hannah-Jones, deserves credit for chutzpah. She distorts the truth to forward this nefarious goal, but she’s gotten very far.

Commentary: The Libertarian-Socialist Axis

February 20, 2023 Just the News

On the surface, it might seem ridiculous to suggest libertarians and socialists work to further the same political agenda. Their ideologies are diametrically opposed. The extreme version of a socialist system is for all property to be owned and controlled by the government. The extreme version of a libertarian system is for all property to be privately owned. And yet the extremes meet.

The unwitting consequence of socialist and libertarian movements in the United States has been to assist in the formation of an unprecedented concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a corporatist elite that has perfected its ability to manipulate both movements.

James O’Keefe Confirms Departure from Project Veritas in Emotional Video Statement from Headquarters

James O’Keefe, the undercover journalist and founder of Project Veritas, posted a video to the website Vimeo on Monday, announcing he would be leaving PV amid a dispute with the nonprofit’s board of directors. One America News (OAN) reporter and Veritas-linked journalist Neil McCabe tweeted out the announcement late Monday morning.

Trump Blasts Biden for Choosing Ukraine on President’s Day Over Ohio: ‘They Were Abandoned’

February 20, 2023 Just the News

Former President Donald Trump on Monday blasted Joe Biden for spending President’s Day with Ukrainians rather than the victims of a devastating train wreck in Ohio, suggesting it sent a powerful message of neglect to voters in a key election battleground state.

House Speaker Releases Thousands of Hours of January 6 Surveillance Video to Tucker Carlson: Report

February 20, 2023February 19, 2023 The Center Square

According to an exclusive posted on Axios today, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has turned over the full trove of surveillance video captured by Capitol police security cameras on January 6 to Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

“Carlson TV producers were on Capitol Hill last week to begin digging through the trove, which includes multiple camera angles from all over Capitol grounds,” Mike Allen reported. “Excerpts will begin airing in the coming weeks.”

IRS Leaked Thousands of Americans’ Tax Filings; Congress Demands Answers

The new head of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee blasted the Biden administration for giving few answers after thousands of taxpayer files were leaked to an outside group.

House Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., sent a letter to Russel George, the Treasury Department’s Inspector General for Tax Administration, raising concerns about the leak of “confidential tax information” and the lack of accountability over that leak.

U.S. Trade Deficit Grew Last Year

February 20, 2023 The Center Square

It is growing relentlessly. The U.S. trade deficit, the gap between what the nation imports and exports in goods and services, increased to $67.4 billion in December, an increase of $6.4 billion from $61.0 billion in November, revised, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The month-over-month figures on the deficit are part of a long-term trend in America.

For 2022, the deficit in goods and services hit $948.1 billion, rising $103.0 billion from 2021. “Exports were $3,009.7 billion, up $453.1 billion from 2021. Imports were $3,957.8 billion, up $556.1 billion from 2021,” the Census Bureau and BEA reported.

Not a Single Student Is Proficient in Reading or Math at 55 Chicago Schools: Report

February 20, 2023February 19, 2023 The Center Square

In 55 Chicago Public Schools, not one student met grade level expectations in either math or reading during the 2021-2022 school year, according to a Wirepoints report.

Out of 649 Chicago Public Schools, 22 schools have zero students who met grade level expectations for reading while no students were proficient in math in 33 schools during the 2021-2022 school year, according to a Wirepoints report. The data analyzed is from the Illinois State Board of Education annual report which details how schools within the state are performing.

More Than 200 People Arrested in Human Sex Trafficking Ring in Florida

A multiagency operation led to the arrest of more than 200 people allegedly engaging in human trafficking in Polk County, Florida. More than half of the victims were smuggled into the U.S. illegally through the southern border, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said.

Of the 24 victims identified as being trafficked, “14 of these females are illegally in this country,” Judd said. “Did you hear that? Did you hear clearly what I said?

“Fourteen of them are here illegally in the country. To me the bombshell is 13 of them are Cuban, one is Mexican, all of them came to us through the southern border.”

Commentary: A Modest Proposal for Transforming the Universities

February 20, 2023February 21, 2023 Bethany Bowman

As the plague of woke totalitarianism continues to besiege American universities, I note that we are finally beginning to see a little pushback. Public universities in Texas offer typical examples of this yin-yang process.

Music Industry Spotlight: Crowd Surf Founders Cassie Petrey and Jade Driver

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – One of the things that has most surprised me as an entertainment journalist is how many people it takes for a song or singer to become notable. Besides the artist and the songwriter (who may or may not be the same person) there are backup bands, producers, and…

Commentary: ‘Economist’ Krugman’s Accounting of the National Debt is Jailworthy