Daily News Roundup
NOTABLE QUOTES
Jales W. Ely, Jr. contributor to Hillsdale College: The framers of the Constitution treated private property as the cornerstone of a free society. “Perhaps the most important value of the Founding Fathers of the American constitutional period,” a prominent scholar cogently observed, “was their belief in the necessity of securing property rights.” As is well known, the Constitution and Bill of Rights contain numerous provisions relating to economic interests. Consistent with the property – conscious values of the framers, both federal and state courts were actively engaged in defending property and contractual rights from legislative abridgement until the New Deal era of the mid- twentieth century.
J.B. Shurk contributor to American Thinker: When cultural saboteurs attempt to rewrite America’s history as one replete with racism, murder, and hate, what they really desire is to brainwash Americans into forgetting who they are and why they fight. The U.S. government, like all governments filled with imperfect souls prone to corruption and ambition, will use the strengths and passions of the American people to fight all kinds of battles that have more to do with D.C.’s welfare than the country’s. Politicians will say, “We’re fighting for democracy,” or “against terrorism,” or so that “we don’t have to fight them over here.” Rarely, however, will you hear those politicians use freedom as a call to arms, even though America was forged and invigorated by an indomitable spirit yearning to be free.
John Mac Ghlionn contributor to The American Mind: According to a recent report by researchers at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), as the number of women entering higher education continues to climb, levels of free speech on college campuses experience an apparently commensurate decline.
Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio): “Everything about the RESTRICT Act threatens our First and Fourth Amendment rights. It creates a domestic police state that can be weaponized to restrict free speech that is fundamental to our election process. Its sponsor and cosponsors should repent and withdraw the bill.”
Thaddeus G. McCotter contributor to American greatness: For every penny dropped atop the national debt that causes it to weigh ever more heavily upon the body politic, your liberty and prosperity are being slowly asphyxiated; until, as in the peine forte et dure, the engorged federal Leviathan crushes our free republic.
Dave Walsh Mitsubishi Power Systems former president: 170 countries representing over 6.2 billion people are not onboard with decarbonization.
Russell Kirk contributor to the Imaginative Conservative: Order is the first need of all. One finds happiness in restoring and improving the order of the soul and the order of the republic—not in acts of devastation that make a desert of spirit and of society.
Auguste Meyrat contributor to The Imaginative Conservative: Rather than being condemned as a manipulative populist feeding the people’s paranoia, Tucker Carlson should be commended for asking us to reconsider the first principles of conservatism, and for addressing the same ideas that G.K Chesterton also believed to be a threat to society: materialism, imperialism, feminism, and progressivism.
John Fonte contributor to American Greatness: The role of some conservatives in supporting Educating for American Democracy provides a textbook case of accommodationism. In this vein, conservatives concede ground to the woke revolution and by their participation give bi-partisan legitimacy to a progressive project that aims to diminish the moral capital of historic America. With EAD the needle has moved not to the “reasonable center” (as envisioned by the accommodationists) but to the left.
Brian C Joondeph, MD contributor to American Thinker: What is unique and special about a woman if anyone can become one just by thinking it so? During the creation, God made man and woman, separate and unique. What’s changed? Is this as dystopian as it gets? What happens when all humans are nothing more than organ repositories or a collection of tissues and atoms, demeaning the entire human race into a supply chain for the whims of a tyrannical government or some super AI? If we don’t respect humanity and individuality now, why will those that follow us behave any differently? Brave new world indeed.
Bret T. on Twitchy: Liberals like to play deaf: They opposed the “Don’t Say Gay” law that kept sex education out of kindergarten classes. They’re all for “all-ages” drag shows and “drag camp” for kids. They want minors to be able to consent to “gender-affirming care” that alters their bodies for life. It’s the children, stupid.
Robert Weissberg contributor to American Thinker: It is the loss of masculinity as a virtue that is critical, and this is far more serious than picturing Dylan Mulvaney on a can of Bud Light. It will not be good news when many male high school graduates aspire to careers as a Victoria Secret lingerie model while female classmates hope to fly F-35s.
AMERICAN HISTORY 101
Ely, Jr.: Property Rights in American History
Why should anyone care about property rights? Before embarking upon an investigation of property rights over the course of American history we should briefly explore the role of private property in the establishment of representative self-government. I submit that property serves two vital and overlapping functions in a free society. The economic utility of property dovetails with libertarian political considerations to undergird a free society. First, stable property rights are a powerful inducement for the creation of wealth and prosperity, prerequisites for successful self-government. Conversely, as the English politician and author Edmund Burke declared:” A law against property is a law against industry.” John Marshall agreed that protection of property and contractual rights was crucial for economic growth. […] Second, property rights have long been linked with individual liberty. “Property must be secured,” John Adams succinctly observed in 1790, “or liberty cannot exist.” […] The future of property rights in modern constitutional law remains uncertain.
DEMOCRAT PARTY MARXIST PLAYBOOK: CANCEL THE FIRST AMENDMENT
Solomon: Trump’s Truth Social soars to best month ever, as lawmakers question SEC behavior in merger review
s former President Donald Trump’s social media platform soared to its best month ever, a growing number of Republicans in Congress are expressing concern that the Biden Securities and Exchange Commission may be slow-walking a compliance review to thwart a merger that could inject hundreds of millions of dollars into Truth Social from investors. The SEC has been investigating for more than a year the application from Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC), a special purpose acquisition corporation (SPAC), and its plans to merge with Trump Media and Technology Group, the parent of Truth Social. The long delay has frozen investors who put money into the SPAC hoping to help Trump’s platform or to own a piece of the combined company. Last week, some GOP lawmakers questioned the agency’s chairman, former Hillary Clinton campaign chief financial officer Gary Gensler, about why it was taking so long.
Mittlestadt: TikTok ban or Trojan horse? GOP rep warns new bill’s ‘election interference’ language chills speech
Senate bill being sold as a TikTok ban would prohibit anyone from “interfering in” federal elections, which could “be weaponized to restrict free speech,” warns Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio). The Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology Act, or RESTRICT Act, would give broad, largely unchecked powers to the secretary of commerce to identify and combat activity deemed to pose “an undue or unacceptable risk” of “interfering in” federal elections. […] Other lawmakers, such as Sen. J. D. Vance (R-Ohio) have raised concerns that the RESTRICT Act is a new Patriot Act, a law that granted the federal government extensive new surveillance powers following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. […] However, the RESTRICT Act also includes a section that assigns the Commerce Department broad new powers to crack down on activity that “poses an undue or unacceptable risk” of interference in federal elections. Section 3(a)(1)(C) of the bill says that the secretary of commerce “in consultation with the relevant executive department and agency heads, is authorized to and shall take action to identify, deter, disrupt, prevent, prohibit, investigate, or otherwise mitigate, . . .
Ghlionn: Gynocracy Rising
There was a time, not that long ago, when First Amendment rights were relatively stable and well-understood in America. Those days are long gone. Consider our country’s college campuses, where free speech is dying the most brutal of deaths. Why is this occurring? Who is to blame? From looking at recent data on this question, it seems that women are the main culprits. […] Women, we’re assured, are more rational than men. They’re also more tolerant. On college campuses, however, this doesn’t appear to be the case. Rationality and tolerance are in short supply, and this scarcity is harming free speech. […] Samuel J. Abrams, a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and a staunch defender of free speech on college campuses, told me that the female tendency to shut down opposing views poses a significant problem, “because expression and the associated debate is what makes true discovery and intellectual growth possible.” Moreover, “silencing dissent and inhibiting discussing ideas slows our progress and the educational process.” He’s right. Without diverse views and open debate, what’s the point in attending college? Higher education is supposed to prepare students for the real world, a place where one’s views are regularly challenged. What, if anything, can be done to turn things around?
Read more: https://americanmind.org/salvo/gynocracy-rising/
Turley: Antifa Attacks “Protect the Kids” Protesters Opposing Drag Show
A “Protect Texas Kids” protest this week was attacked by counter-protesters outside of the location of a planned drag show that would reportedly involve children. The incident was caught on videotape and shows how Antifa routinely, even cavalierly, resorts to violence to silence those with opposing views. Any doubt as to their association from their signature black outfits and tactics was dispensed by this picture clearly showing the Antifa flag. Despite the denial of its existence by figures like Rep. Jerry Nadler (D., N.Y.), I have long written and spoken about the threat of Antifa to free speech on our campuses and in our communities. This includes testimony before Congress on Antifa’s central role in the anti-free speech movement nationally. […] As I have written, it has long been the “Keyser Söze” of the anti-free speech movement, a loosely aligned group that employs measures to avoid easy detection or association. Yet, FBI Director Chris Wray has repeatedly pushed back on the denials of Antifa’s work or violence. In one hearing, Wray stated “And we have quite a number — and “Antifa is a real thing. It’s not a fiction.”
Read more: https://jonathanturley.org/2023/04/27/antifa-attacks-protect-the-kids-protest-against-drag-show/
Turley: Michigan Students Sue After Being Forced to Remove “Let’s Go Brandon” Sweatshirts
In Tinker v. Des Moines, the Supreme Court famously declared that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” That may be true but apparently they can shed their sweatshirts in Michigan. In a newly filed complaint, two middle school students are suing Tri County Area Schools after they were ordered to remove their sweatshirts featuring the anti-Biden slogan “Let’s Go, Brandon.” The lawsuit filed by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) makes a compelling case that the schools acted in an unconstitutional fashion in censoring the political message. “Let’s Go Brandon!” has become a similarly unintended political battle cry not just against Biden but also against the bias of the media. […] This is an important free speech case for that reason and FIRE is to be commended for taking up the cause for these middle school students. This was once the work of the ACLU, which has largely abandoned its signature commitment to free speech. FIRE is now filling that void and this is a great case to reinforce free speech rights in our schools.
Read more: https://jonathanturley.org/2023/04/26/204148/
U.S. SUPREME COURT
Dwyer: All 9 Supreme Court justices push back on oversight: ‘Raises more questions,’ Senate chair says
There’s no conservative-liberal divide on the U.S. Supreme Court when it comes to calls for a new, enforceable ethics code. All nine justices, in a rare step, on Tuesday released a joint statement reaffirming their voluntary adherence to a general code of conduct but rebutting proposals for independent oversight, mandatory compliance with ethics rules and greater transparency in cases of recusal. The implication, though not expressly stated, is that the court unanimously rejects legislation proposed by Democrats seeking to impose on the justices the same ethics obligations applied to all other federal judges.
Read more: https://abc7ny.com/supreme-court-justices-scotus-ethics-code-clarence-thomas/13192491/
Turley: Alito: I Know Who Likely Leaked the Dobbs Decision
In a surprising statement to The Wall Street Journal today, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito says he has a “pretty good idea” who leaked a draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. He strongly suggested that it was someone who opposed the opinion and wanted to pressure the justices not to go forward with the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Alito told the newspaper “I personally have a pretty good idea who is responsible, but that’s different from the level of proof that is needed to name somebody.” Alito’s confidence runs counter to the two-page statement of the court that the team led by Marshal of the Supreme Court Gail Curley “has to date been unable to identify a person responsible by a preponderance of the evidence.” That is a standard lower than “beyond a reasonable doubt.” It is often used in civil cases, but the evidence was viewed as below that standard. […] In a weird way, it seems even more troubling that the likely culprit may have been identified, but has proceeded into practice as an attorney. As I have previously written, this was a crushing blow to the Court and its traditions of integrity and civility. You cannot be an attorney after violating these core principles of our profession. This is akin to being an atheist priest or an arsonist architect. It is simply incompatible with our core identity, including being “officers of the court.”
Read more: https://jonathanturley.org/2023/04/28/alito-i-know-who-likely-leaked-the-dobbs-decision/
JUDICIARY
Swayer: North Carolina Supreme Court sides with GOP lawmakers in congressional map dispute
The previous ruling said the state GOP lawmakers had gerrymandered their map of congressional and legislative districts. After Republicans took control of the state’s highest court, however, the new GOP-majority bench reheard the dispute in a rare move. Then it issued a decision saying courts should stay out of the political process. “The courts are not designed to be thrust into the midst of various political disputes. Such engagement in policy issues forces courts to take sides in political battles and undermines public trust and confidence in the judiciary. Choosing political winners and losers creates a perception that courts are another political branch,” wrote North Carolina Chief Justice Paul Newby. “We are designed to be a government of the people, not of the judges. At its heart, this case is about recognizing the proper limits of judicial power,” he added.
Read more: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/apr/28/north-carolina-supreme-court-sides-gop-lawmakers-c/
GLOBALISM (GREAT RESET) & TRANSHUMANISM (HUMANS 2.0) ARE INEXTRICABLY LINKED
Wired: Brace Yourself for the 2024 Deepfake Election
No matter what happens with generative AI, its disruptive forces are already beginning to play a role in the fast-approaching US presidential race. […] It’s not a question of whether AI-generated content is going to start playing a role in politics, because it’s already happening. AI-generated images and videos featuring president Joe Biden and Donald Trump have started spreading around the internet. Republicans recently used AI to generate an attack ad against Biden. The question is, what will happen when anyone can open their laptop and, with minimal effort, quickly create a convincing deepfake of a politician?
There are plenty of ways to generate AI images from text, such as DALL-E,
Read more: https://archive.is/93Qia#selection-715.58-715.73
Cox: How AI is already changing the 2024 election
Artificial intelligence is already affecting the 2024 election in ways that could reshape how campaigns are run and how voters are informed — or misled. Why it matters: There are no rules for using AI in politics. Operatives in both parties are tapping the technology to identify donors and voters more efficiently — and to create photos and videos that reveal the potential risks of “deepfake” messages that could fool voters. “If 2008 and 2012 were the Facebook elections, this will be the AI election — but it’ll be massively more disruptive,” said Tom Newhouse, vice president of digital marketing at Convergence Media, a Republican firm that uses AI. “I would be willing to bet that the ‘October surprise’ next year is from AI,” he said, referring to the possibility of a game-changing event or revelation just before the November elections. […] AI is great for “a large candidate — that could be a presidential candidate or anyone who’s raising money from a lot more people,” says Jonathon Reilly, co-founder and COO of Akkio. “The larger your sorting problem, the more leverage you’ll get out of using AI.” Yes, but: AI technology also can be used to flood voters with disinformation.
Read more: https://www.axios.com/2023/04/29/how-ai-already-changing-2024-election
TYRANNY IN THE NAME OF CLIMATE: GLOBALIST POLITICIANS & BIG BUSINESS ACCUMULATE MORE POWER & CONTROL
War Room: U.S. Is One Of Only Nine Nations Actually Targeting Net Zero Carbon, Dave Walsh Explains
170 countries representing over 6.2 billion people are not onboard with this decarbonization.
Watch the 6:57 interview: https://rumble.com/v2l4mfo-u.s.-is-one-of-only-nine-nations-actually-targeting-net-zero-carbon-dave-wa.html
Kingson: Lawn wars consume America’s neighborhoods
The American lawn has become the latest front-line issue in neighborhoods across the country: Some are shelling out to maintain lush greens while others forgo mowing and chemical treatments.
Why it matters: Environmental campaigns like “No Mow May,” the “anti-lawn” movement, “Food Not Lawns” and “Climate Victory Gardens” are gaining steam — but prompting homeowner associations and other traditionalists to dig in their heels.
- The issue pits property values, aesthetics and “curb appeal” against concerns about drought, gas-powered mowers and biodiversity.
- Even among those who prize sustainability, there’s debate over lawn care techniques — but agreement that too much mowing is bad for pollinators.
Read more: https://www.axios.com/2023/04/30/lawn-wars-mow-may-bees-pollinator-turf
(Israel) Kasko: Fish filet created via 3D printer may be hitting market in the near future
An Israeli firm has created the first ever 3D bio-printed grouper — which is ready to cook upon “printing.” Steakholder Foods has created a non-traditional fish for eating, and it will not harm the environment, it claims. The grouper fish filet was created in partnership with Umami Meats and has a taste and texture similar to that of a real fish filet, SWNS reported. […] Steakholder Foods is a company whose goal is using cells from fish and other animals to grow meat within their ecosystem in order to preserve the welfare of animals, according to the company’s website. [NOTE: Next, beef cells that will eliminate cattle who globalists blame for global warming. A comment following the article: This is the current equivalent of Soylent Green.]
Read more: https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/fish-filet-created-via-3d-printer-hitting-market-near-future
FAUCI LIED. PEOPLE DIED.
Piper: FDA rejects experts’ petition to relabel COVID vax as federal research confirms poor performance
DC Director Rochelle Walensky, former White House COVID adviser Anthony Fauci and especially President Biden repeatedly and falsely told Americans throughout 2021 that COVID-19 vaccines will protect them from infection and transmission. Despite this trail of official misinformation, the Food and Drug Administration has rejected a “petition for administrative action” from prominent medical researchers to order vaccine manufacturers to set the public record straight through revised labeling requirements on trial design, results and adverse events. The agency’s rationale for inaction appears to undermine its own repeated warnings against treating COVID with ivermectin, an antiviral with a long safety record that few if any Americans are confirmed to have used unsafely in the COVID context.
Edwards: “Gold-Standard” RCT from Gates-Funded Company Proves Ivermectin Works Against COVID
For nearly two years, Dr. Pierre Kory has been trying to tell the United States and the world that Ivermectin is highly effective in preventing COVID-19. On January 5, following the release of “the 16th positive, statistically significant trial” reinforcing the effectiveness of the affordable drug, Kory reiterated that same message. Indeed, the latest study proving Ivermectin’s effectiveness was a gold-standard randomized clinical trial (RCT) conducted by MedinCell. The study, conducted on 399 patients, met its primary efficacy endpoint with a reduction of 75 percent of COVID-19 infection in the group treated with daily oral administration of Ivermectin compared to the placebo group. All participants were unvaccinated adults and had been exposed to the virus within five days of screening after documented close contact with a person who had a PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. After administering Ivermectin for 28 days, the drug showed acceptable safety and tolerability with zero unforeseen safety signals.
Remember this from the FDA? Why You Should Not Use Ivermectin to Treat or Prevent COVID-19: https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/why-you-should-not-use-ivermectin-treat-or-prevent-covid-19
Halligan: More “less bad news” – in the last week, 45 Americans were reported dead (amongst 67 reported to the US from around the world) – “NOBODY WANTS THE STEENKING VACCINES”
From here and here, there were 45 deaths amongst 1,937 adverse events (US only) reported for the week ended 21 April 2023. This lifts the cumulative number of US deaths reported to VAERS to 17,478 and the number of adverse events to 955,353,. Note there may be multiple adverse events for an individual.
More care can/must now be paid to background adverse events and deaths from non-C19 mRNA “vaccinations” such as those from flu injections and Remdesivir. Read more:
Read more: https://peterhalligan.substack.com/p/more-less-bad-news-in-the-last-week
Morrison: Fauci FINALLY admits Covid vaccine mandates he helped orchestrate fueled anti-vaxx movement across the US
America’s top infectious disease expert admitted that Covid vaccine mandates he championed may have fueled a dip in confidence in routine shots. In a rare admission of culpability, Dr Anthony Fauci said the policies were ‘counterproductive’ and turned vaccine skeptics off rather than gain their favor. Fauci has retired from a long tenure in the federal government, where the White House‘s top doctor was the highest-paid federal employee and made around $400,000 per year. Dr Fauci, who did not make policy but offered medical advice to people that do, was a vocal supporter of vaccine mandates throughout 2021.
Despite his admission that vaccine mandates backfired, the US still requires proof that travelers coming into the country have been vaccinated against Covid.
REPUBLICAN US HOUSE MAJORITY
Fred T.: Scalise tells Raddatz the truth: Joe Biden is clearly TRYING to create a debt crisis
Watch the 1 minute interview: https://therightscoop.com/scalise-tells-raddatz-the-truth-joe-biden-is-clearly-trying-to-create-a-debt-crisis/
Catenacci: House passes bipartisan bill striking down Biden’s Chinese solar handout
The House voted Friday morning in favor of striking down President Biden’s action last year which allows Chinese solar panel manufacturers to avoid Obama-era tariffs. In a 221-202 vote, the House approved the resolution with 209 Republicans and 12 Democrats voting in favor. A bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla., and joined by Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., first introduced the resolution in January, arguing tariffs were necessary to protect the fledgling U.S. solar industry which is dwarfed by Chinese industry. “Joe Biden’s decision to protect Communist China’s solar manufacturers from U.S. tariffs is another demonstration of weakness from an already spineless administration,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told Fox News Digital.
McCotter: Dead Weight Debt
Throughout medieval times until the early 18th century, one particularly excruciating European torture was peine forte et dure (French for “hard and forceful punishment”). The prisoner was bound, spread-eagled, face-up on the ground. A board was laid upon their torso, and heavy iron and stones were placed upon them until they ultimately asphyxiated. It could take several days for a victim to succumb. I was reminded of this historical inhumanity by the impending showdown over raising the debt ceiling between House Republicans and the Biden Administration and its Democratic Senate majority. Yes, a pox is on both parties’ houses regarding government spending.
Read more: https://amgreatness.com/2023/04/28/dead-weight-debt/
DECLARED REPUBLICAN 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES
War Room: Exclusive Sit Down With President Donald J. Trump
Watch the one hour interview: https://rumble.com/v2l13is-exclusive-sit-down-with-president-donald-j.-trump.html
Tober: NBC’s Todd Claims Scientific Research Proves There’s More Than Two Genders
Democrats claim to be the party of science, yet many of their highest-profile sycophants in the media regularly parrot anti-scientific claims like “gender is a spectrum.” This was the case on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday as moderator Chuck Todd argued with GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy over second-grade biology. After Ramaswamy made the perfectly rational point that “below the age of 18, I think it’s perfectly legitimate to say that we won’t allow genital mutilation or chemical castration through puberty blockers,” Todd jumped in to take issue with that stance. The following back-and-forth Ramaswamy had with Todd is a perfect illustration of what delusion looks like: . . . […] Leftists like Todd proclaim Republicans to be science deniers when it comes to so-called “climate change” yet he says with a straight face that there are more than two genders.
Read more/Watch the 1:51 minute exchange: https://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/kevin-tober/2023/04/30/nbcs-todd-claims-scientific-research-proves-theres-more-two-genders
CHINA: AMERICA’S MORTAL ENEMY
Schaefer: Why the Chinese Are Reading Plato, Aristotle, and… Leo Strauss?
The Chinese government of Xi Jinping has indicated, by word and deed, the intention of pursuing world hegemony—through its military buildup, aggressive posture toward Taiwan, and the Belt and Road initiative that extends across central Asia and beyond. It is also creating what sinologist Steven Mosher calls a world of “Sino States” from Cuba to Angola to Pakistan, obtaining strategic concessions such as seaports, discounted oil, and naval routes in return for unrepayable loans. Amid Xi’s claim to cultural, military, and political superiority over the West, Americans may be surprised to learn of a growing interest in Greek and Roman texts among Chinese academics—sometimes even cited in party editorials. This interest is especially remarkable, as University of Chicago classicist Shadi Bartsch observes, at a time when many American universities are closing their classics departments, sometimes claiming such studies are elitist or imperialistic.
Read more: https://freebeacon.com/culture/why-the-chinese-are-reading-plato-aristotle-and-leo-strauss/
BIDEN/HARRIS/OBAMA’S AMERICA LAST REGIME: RADICAL TRANSFORMATION OF FOREIGN POLICY
Rafizadeh: The Biden Administration’s Vacuum of Leadership
- The vacuum of leadership can also now be seen in Sudan conflict. The Biden administration has reportedly abandoned 16,000 US citizens in the country, who were left there to make “life or death decisions”.
- “[Y]ou had President Xi in Moscow with Putin earlier this week, you have a China negotiating relations and some sort of normalization between Saudi Arabia and Iran is all evidence of a vacuum that’s been created… It’s a vacuum of American leadership. It’s one of the reasons why we need strong bold leader, we’re the leader of the free world. And if America is not leading in the free world, the free world is not being led.” – Former Vice President Mike Pence, interview with radio host John Catsimatidis on WABC 770 AM, March 23, 2023.
- The ruling mullahs of Iran have also become a major exporter of weapons to Russia – and are not limiting themselves to exporting just drones.
- The vacuum that the Biden administration has left across the world as well as a result of its failure to lead is not only effectively handing the US over to China, Russia and Iran; it is also apparently viewed by these rogue states as a green light to act in whatever malign way they want.
- Russia is taking over Sudan, reportedly for its gold and to build a port that will be able to block shipping through the Suez Canal. Iran’s ruling mullahs have reportedly poisoned “hundreds of schoolgirls” to try to discourage them from receiving an education. Last week, another oil tanker was seized in the Gulf of Oman; and an interrogator recently broke the kneecaps of a 70-year old grandmother, a political prisoner serving 10 years in prison.
- Why is the United States allowing this monstrous Iranian regime to acquire nuclear weapons?
Read more: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19609/leadership-vacuum
Chastain: Biden Admin Says It’s Too Dangerous to Evacuate Americans From Sudan
France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Poland have even helped evacuate citizens of other countries and are still making efforts to evacuate citizens as our State Department implies Americans who chose to go to Sudan aren’t worthy to help. […] There are about 16,000 Americans stuck in Sudan. Two Americans have died in the violence. State Department Undersecretary for Management John Bass told the media last weekend the administration likely wouldn’t help evacuate. […] France evacuated 491 people, including Niger, Ireland, and American citizens. The French even took “the German ambassador and several other foreign ambassadors.” Germany took citizens from 20 countries. Italy helped Italians, Swiss, and other Europeans leave Sudan. Spain took citizens from Argentina, Colombia, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, and Poland. Poland helped Spain and France.
BIDEN/HARRIS/OBAMA’S AMERICA LAST REGIME: RADICAL TRANSFORMATION OF AMERICA
Sunday Morning Futures: Antony Blinken accused of lying under oath over his contact with Hunter Biden
Maria Bartiromo interviewed Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI )
Watch the 9:22 minute interview: https://www.foxnews.com/video/6326525856112
War Room: The United States’ “Trillion Dollar Trip” To Transition To Green Energy, Dave Walsh Explains
Deindustrializing with no real plan. Massive decisions will not allow for turning back.
Watch the 9:13 minute interview: https://rumble.com/v2l4qfk-the-united-states-trillion-dollar-trip-to-transition-to-green-energy-dave-w.html
War Room: One Million Migrants On Northern Mexican Border Mobilizing To Cross U.S. Border
As Title 42 ends on May 11th, 700,000 to 1 million migrants have gathered at the border. Biden administration has an excavator is bulldozing a path making it easier for migrants to walk.
Watch the 3:25 minute video: https://rumble.com/v2l4r42-one-million-migrants-on-northern-mexican-border-mobilizing-to-cross-u.s.-bo.html
The Center Square Staff: Biden administration pushing to expand entry to U.S. ahead of Title 42 ending on May 11
he Department of Homeland Security and Department of State announced unprecedented policies to expand entry to the United States while also claiming the border is closed ahead of the public health authority Title 42 ending on May 11.
Andrews: Another jab to the face of common sense: CDC sticks with Covid vaccine requirement for travelers coming to US – a policy that’s had NO effect on transmission rates
US health officials are pushing ahead with a Covid vaccine mandate for travelers entering the country — despite no evidence it reduces infection rates. There was an expectation the unpopular policy would be ditched when the federal government officially ends the nation’s public health emergency on May 11, when any still-standing pandemic measures are expected to be ended. But, in an announcement Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated the policy rather than dropping it. The US will allow travelers that have received at least one vaccine dose on or after August 16 into the country. The CDC says this is because many who have received a one dose since this date may have received the more-protective bivalent shot. [NOTE: Yet, Biden’s CDC doesn’t have the same policy for the millions of migrants crossing our open southern border.]
Shurk: Government without Consent Lacks Legitimacy
Why? Why would those in positions of power forsake freedom as a rallying cry when no other word better signifies who Americans are, what they have done, and what they will do in the future? The answer is that the American government has become no different than the English one it overthrew — intoxicated by its own power to such a degree that it has deluded itself into believing that control over those it purports to govern is its by right. In turn, individual freedom and the voluntary consent of the governed that only freedom can maintain have been abandoned, so that a cumbersome government bureaucracy may rise, beholden to none. If federal officials and corporate media pundits attempted to rally Americans into foreign battles under a banner of freedom, Americans would be reminded that the same people and institutions sending them into harm’s way have cheaply squandered their own birthright. A government that long ago abandoned any obligation to seek consent from those it claims to control cannot afford to remind Americans that they were once masters of their own fates. Doing so would risk inciting the passions of the people and turning those now quietly enslaved against their bureaucratic enslavers. Is it any wonder, then, that the Department of Justice defines anyone who dissents from official government policy as “extreme”? Diversity of opinion cannot be tolerated within any system predicated on public obedience for its survival. ]…] America’s constitutional system has been turned inside-out and upside-down. At no time did the American people provide their consent to these radical changes.
Read more at American Thinker.
Sundance: Wall St Journal Outlines Documents from Jeffrey Epstein Showing Contact with Highly Influential People, Including Current CIA Director Bill Burns and Clinton/Obama Lawyer Ruemmler
Despite no one knowing ‘how’ Jeffrey Epstein actually made his money, one of the great mysteries amid a labyrinth of rabbit hole mysteries, the network of government officials and high-profile names who associated with and met Epstein has never been fully outlined or absorbed. Other than a few random and specific names that surface from time-to-time, the lack of media curiosity into the bigger context of the Epstein story has always been somewhat perplexing. One would ordinarily think the opportunity for a Pulitzer might entice an intrepid media outlet to do a lengthy dive into the matrix of Epstein; alas, no effort toward that objective ever surfaced. Today, another fragment in the story seemingly finds its way to the surface as the Wall Street Journal outlines a list of names that were not included in the “black book” story, but nonetheless were intertwined with Epstein *after* his first conviction as a sex offender [STORY HERE].
Two of the names within documents, schedules and calendars attributed to the Epstein life include current CIA Director Bill Burns and former White House lawyer Kathryn Ruemmler. In addition to being the White House legal counsel, Ms. Ruemmer was also the foundation lawyer for Bill and Hillary Clinton as well as the personal lawyer for Susan Rice.
Fred T.: LOL!! Watch excruciatingly long AWKWARD silence as Biden voter struggles to name even ONE thing she likes about him
“Ummmmmmm…” That was the first best answer from a Biden voter interviewed by Martha Raddatz for ABC’s This Week on the question of what it is she likes about Joe Biden, who she voted for in 2020. It is a long pause. A hilarious pause. And awkward pause punctuated by an awkward laugh. It’s the logical reaction. Eventually, the young lady comes up with the single answer we all know was the only Biden answer all along, and the one they are still banking on right now for 2024. You know the one.
Read more/Watch the 33 second clip: https://therightscoop.com/lol-watch-excruciatingly-long-awkward-silence-as-biden-voter-struggles-to-name-even-one-thing-she-likes-about-him/
DEMOCRAT PARTY MARXIST PLAYBOOK: ANTI POLICE ANTI VICTIM PRO CRIMINAL
Westervelt: More people are getting away with murder. Unsolved killings reach a record high
More murders across America are going unsolved, exacerbating the grief of families already reeling and worsening the largely cracked trust between police and the public, especially communities of color most affected by gun violence. […] While the rate at which murders are solved or “cleared” has been declining for decades, it has now dropped to slightly below 50% in 2020 – a new historic low. And several big cities, including Chicago, have seen the number of murder cases resulting in at least one arrest dip into the low to mid-30% range.
Read more: https://www.npr.org/2023/04/29/1172775448/people-murder-unsolved-killings-record-high
Arama: Fox’s Bill Melugin Delivers Blow to the Leftist Narrative About Texas Shooter
We reported on the horrible shooting in Cleveland, Texas on Friday night where five people were killed, including one child. The shooter, Francisco Oropesa, shot his neighbors almost execution-style. […] Oropesa hasn’t been caught yet and is still on the loose, although the police do have the AR-15. The police say that they have “zero leads” about where he is, so he still represents a danger to anyone with whom he might come into contact. There’s an $80,000 reward for anyone providing information that leads to his arrest.
[…] It’s now been confirmed that not only is he an illegal alien (as many suspected), but according to Fox’s Bill Melugin, he’s been deported at least five times between 2009 and 2016. But he just keeps coming back.
THE DEMOCRAT LED WAR ON WOMEN
Joondeph, M.D.: A Woman by Any Other Name is Still a Woman
They are what they are, regardless of how we choose to name them. Such thinking was common sense for centuries, but now in our post-enlightenment culture, accepted descriptors are somehow verboten, requiring a new language with cumbersome verbosity replacing simple one or two syllable words. The first example is from Les Mills, an international fitness company founded in Auckland, New Zealand, providing on demand online workouts. When founded 50 years ago, their goal was fitness. Today they have additional goals, shared by most corporations around the world, of diversity, equity, and inclusion, as proclaimed on their website. Last year they published a news release entitled, “Fit for menopause: Advice for anyone with ovaries.” In the subtitle, they drift back to normal language and common sense saying, “The hormonal turbulence many women face during mid-life is rarely discussed.” Yet the headline specified “anyone with ovaries” rather than “women”, as if the two are different species. Despite what the Democrat party or the corporate media claims, men do not have ovaries. Women do, unless removed surgically or (rarely) born without.
Read more at American Thinker.
THE DEMOCRAT PARTY MARXIST PLAYBOOK: LEFTIST INDOCTRINATION, CHILD MUTILATION, CHILD SACRIFICE, CHILD SEXUALIZATION = CHILD ABUSE
AK KAMARA Tweet: Leigh Finke has supported grooming children, specifically kids in churches, with both critical queer and critical gender theory since at least 2020 Listen to his interview with a pastor from June of 2020. Disgusting and infuriating
[Note: Finke is a Democrat serving in the Minnesota State House.]
Watch the 2:45 minute video: https://twitter.com/realakkamara/status/1651457450594250752
THE DEMOCRAT PARTY MARXIST PLAYBOOK: PROMOTE & GLORIFY GENDER DYSPHORIA A MENTAL ILLNESS – IS TRANSABLED NEXT?
From Transgender to Transable: People are Now Choosing to Identify as Handicapped (VIDEO)
Since Democrats are already changing their genders, now they can also identify as “transabled.” The controversial social problem known as “transableism” is gaining a lot of attention these days, FOX News reported. Transableism is a term that refers to the desire to acquire a disability through choice rather than happenstance. It is an updated term for BIID or “Body Integrity Identity Disorder” to align with today’s trans community. According to Evolution News and Science Today, “The point of changing the identifier from a psychiatric condition (BIID) to an advocacy term (transableism) is to harness the stunning cultural power of gender ideology to the cause of allowing doctors to ‘treat’ BIID patients by amputating healthy limbs, snipping spinal cords, or destroying eyesight.” The website added that transableism is the “next abyss.”
Read more/Watch the videos: https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/05/from-transgender-to-transable-new-trend-shows-people-are-choosing-to-identify-as-handicapped-video/
Weissberg: America’s Transgender Craze
What is going on? Is America experiencing a mass psychosis where men wake up as “women” and demand to be treated as females? Has our water supply been massively contaminated by estrogen? Or are we just experiencing a harmless fad like purple hair? This men-becoming-women trend is the other side of what occurred decades back as women increasingly moved into traditional male fields. In a sense, it’s a socioeconomic version of Newton’s Third Law of Motion — Newton’s third law states that when two bodies interact, they apply forces to one another that are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction. The law of action and reaction. So as women replace men, men eventually replace women in domains once thought of as exclusively female. Further add an economic element — as women limit the economic opportunities of men, men seek these opportunities in fields once dominated by women.[…] The celebrated entrance of women into male-dominated fields is captured by the phrase, “breaking the glass ceiling.” The term “glass ceiling” was first coined in 1978 by Marilyn Loden to refer to the subtle barriers faced by women struggling up the corporate ladder, obstacles like the good old boy male culture. […] The transgendered are not merely human oddities. Their new prominence, often accompanied by aggressive political agitation, may be the beginning of a larger social shift regarding the definition of male and female. In some circles, “men” have been downgraded to “persons who produce sperm.” Not good to be a traditional, virile male these days, particularly a white male. Perhaps a harbinger of this shift in gender identifies is that between 2012 and 2021, the proportion of Americans identifying as LGBT+ doubled from 3.5% to 7.1%, and this change is especially pronounced in younger people — a fifth identify as non-binary. And these polls exclude children recently exposed to gay-themed books and drag shows in their schooling.
Read more at American Thinker.
Parker: Straight White Male Republican Identifies as Lesbian of Color, His Family Receives ‘Violent Threats’
Is America a place of liberty and identity for all? An Indiana politician appears to be putting equality to the test. Republican Delaware County Councilman Ryan Webb recently delivered life-defining news. On Facebook, the erstwhile straight white male wrote thusly: “After much consideration, I have decided to come out and finally feel comfortable announcing my true authentic self. It is with great relief that I announce to everyone that I identify as a woman…” Refinement followed: “…[A]nd not just any woman, but as a woman of color as well.” Furthermore: . . . […] The post featured a rainbow “Be You” image and was punctuated by a Pride flag and flexed-muscle emoji. Ryan also included a winking smiley face, which led 67-year-old Charlize Jamieson to suspect a ruse. Biological male Charlize decried such disrespect to The Star Press: . . .[…] Charlize — who sports a blouse and lipstick in a photo online, had a bit of back-and-forth with the newly-announced nonwhite homosexual… […] Others commenters were complimentary: . . .
AS GOES CALIFORNIA SO GOES THE NATION
DeMastri: California Votes To Ban New Diesel Trucks After 2036
California regulators voted Friday morning to implement a ban on new combustion truck sales after 2036, and mandate all trucks be zero emission vehicles by 2042, significantly tightening the state’s already strict trucking emissions rules. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) finalized the Advanced Clean Fleet rule, which would mandate that 50% of all state and local government vehicle fleet purchases be 50% zero-emissions by 2024, and 100% by 2027, and create a registry for drayage trucks. The rule — which comes one day after the board voted to implement the state’s first-ever rules to limit train emissions — would go even further than recent California rules approved by President Joe Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency, which would cut diesel truck sales in half by 2035.
EDUCATION INDOCTRINATION
Fonte: No To Conservative Accommodationism
ick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a leading figure of the establishment Right in education, asks if Americans can find “common ground in our history wars.” He answers in the affirmative. “Happily,” Hess tells us, “there is copious common ground to be found.” Unfortunately, he is wrong.
Hess points to polling data that suggests that “Americans, left and right, want schools to teach a robust, inclusive, and honest history that explores the good and the bad of our national story and explains why it matters today.” No doubt this is true, but what most Americans want is not what determines the content of history and civics in our schools. A progressive education establishment entrenched in state departments of education, university schools of education, and educational bureaucrats at the federal and state level determines what American students are taught about our country and its past. For decades (and increasingly since the George Floyd incident) this education establishment has embraced a vision of America as a nation built on slavery and the exploitation of marginalized groups, more a land of “oppression,” than of opportunity. As the Marxists would say the “correlation of forces” has shifted dramatically in favor of those who repudiate the traditional American way of life and seek revolutionary change. It is not the 1980s and “morning in America” anymore.
Read more: https://amgreatness.com/2023/04/21/no-to-conservative-accommodationism/
Miller: Equity and the Race to the Bottom
Over the last few years, the rallying cry of “woke” activists has become “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (often abbreviated to DEI). There is little reason to object to such principles on the surface. After all, America was founded on the principle that all people are created equal. Unfortunately, the meaning of words can change over time. Rather than the Founders’ vision of equal opportunity for all, the use of the word “equity” today denotes equal outcomes for all. The implementation of this “equity agenda,” however well-intentioned, will lead to terrible consequences. One of the prophets who warned us about the dangers of this understanding of equity was the great twentieth-century novelist Kurt Vonnegut. In his 1961 short story, “Harrison Bergeron,” Vonnegut imagined a society with perfect equity. “Nobody was smarter than anybody else,” the narrator says. “Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else.”
Read more at Real Clear Education.
TUCKER
Hoft: At White House Dinner Joe Biden Tells Regime Media It’s Over for Tucker Carlson to Vocal Gasps
Joe Biden gloated over Tucker Carlson’s removal from the FOX News linup last night at the annual White House press dinner. The regime media did not quite know how to react. Of course, they all hate Tucker Carlson and the MAGA voters, but they held back their cheers.
Read more/Watch the 34 second Biden clip: https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/04/at-white-house-dinner-joe-biden-tells-regime-media-its-over-for-tucker-carlson-to-vocal-gasps/
Victor Davis Hanson Gives Big Picture Perspective on Fox News and Tucker Carlson Firing
Victor Davis Hanson often has a unique big picture perspective on current events, linking and contrasting the disconnected high-brow outlook to the pragmatic perspectives of the modern populist movement. Hanson takes an academic approach to the reality of current social constructs, yet in his own unique way he can describe the current status in a thoughtful and practical way. In this analysis VDH contrasts the goals of the ideological media, specifically the goals of those in the Republican wing of the media control apparatus, to the reality they have created by removing the voice of Tucker Carlson.
Watch the 8:48 minute interview: https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2023/04/30/victor-davis-hanson-gives-big-picture-perspective-on-fox-news-and-tucker-carlson-firing/
Rockwell, Jr.: Why Tucker Carlson Had To Be Purged
The Fox Network’s firing of Tucker Carlson last week at first seems surprising. He was the station’s biggest attraction. He was close to President Trump and was able to interview him on his program. Getting ridding of him is a surefire way to lose ratings and money, and television networks don’t like to do that. In addition, his fans are angry, which will make even more trouble for Fox. Why then was he removed? The answer is simple. He raised issues you aren’t allowed to mention. He went after the CIA, saying he had information from an inside source the agency was involved in the Kennedy assassination. He was a vaccine skeptic and spoke about the interests of Big Pharma in killing us. The deep state couldn’t allow this. Therefore he had to go, and, we predict, he will be lucky if he isn’t arrested on some fraudulent charge. Here is one of the things that Tucker Carlson said on April 19 that the toxic left would like to throw down the Orwellian memory hole: “The channels took hundreds of millions of dollars from Big Pharma companies and then they shelled for their sketchy products on the air and as they did that, they maligned anyone who was skeptical of those products. At the very least, this was a moral crime. It was disgusting, but it was universal. It happened across the American news media. They all did it. So, at this point, the question isn’t who in public life is corrupt? Too many to count. The question is who is telling the truth?
Read more: https://www.lewrockwell.com/2023/05/lew-rockwell/why-tucker-carlson-had-to-be-purged-2/
OTHER NEWS, COMMENTARY, OPINION
Fox News: California sheriff’s detective saves choking baby’s life through CPR: video
Newly-released bodycam footage shows a Northern California sheriff’s detective saving an infant girl’s life through CPR. (Source: Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office)
Watch the 1:55 minute video: https://www.foxnews.com/video/6326335553112
Revolver.news: DeSantis bombshell… Beattie says donors are using him as the “Brian Kilmeade of politics”…
On Friday, Darren Beattie appeared as a guest co-host on Steve Bannon’s War Room, where he provided his usual insights into the ongoing 2024 GOP primary season, including the significance of the “DeSantis factor.” Beattie contends that the GOP establishment views Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as the “Brian Kilmeade” of politics. The gist is that the donors are using DeSantis as a billy club to use against Trump, which is causing DeSantis to become increasingly unpopular with the MAGA base; but if DeSantis fails to “take down Trump”, then they will just throw him under the bus. […] Darren’s analysis brings to the forefront the strategies employed by the GOP establishment to maintain its grip on the party. It begs the question whether Governor DeSantis will succumb to their demands or take a different approach.
Read more/Watch the videos: https://www.revolver.news/2023/04/desantis-bombshell-beattie-says-donors-are-using-him-as-the-brian-kilmeade-of-politics-2/
VDH: The Crazy Contours of the Crazier 2024 Election
We start with the likely American landscape over the next two years. Joe Biden has no choice but to focus on a purely negative message. So we already know his talking points for the next 18 months: “ultra MAGA” demons, “semi-fascist” insurrectionists, Trump!, Trump!, Trump!, and more Trump!, murdering fellow Americans by putting limits on partial-birth and early abortions, “censorship” as banning critical race theory indoctrination and grooming books, inciting racial tribalism, along with the corollary old boilerplate triad of isms—“fascism, sexism, and racism!” There will be no Democratic primary debates, even if support for Robert Kennedy, Jr. surges to 25-30 percent of the Democratic electorate. The latter is banking on his name, his gut instinct there are still some JFK-like Democrats and Independents in hiding, the decline of Joe Biden, and the pushback against all things woke. […] So why does the Left stick with Biden, . . . […]
As far as the Republicans, no one knows anything at this early stage and those who say they do know even less. […] When Trump currently cuts commercials focusing on the Biden catastrophic record, when he gives televised interviews in which he outlines his solutions to the current self-created messes, and when he omits reference to the “stop-the-steal” past and focuses on 2024, he wins. And when he detours from comparing his record and agenda to Biden’s and instead replays all the terrible injustices done him (and there were plenty) and goes full bore into ad hominem personal attacks against DeSantis and his sterling record in Florida, he loses the very constituencies he and other Republicans need to win—suburbanites, independents, Democrats terrified of cancel culture, and a few stray rhinos embarrassed by their past nihilistic votes for Biden.
Read more: https://amgreatness.com/2023/04/30/the-crazy-contours-of-the-crazier-2024-election/
Billingsley: 2026 and All That
Eleni Kounalakis is the daughter of real-estate tycoon Angelo Tsakopoulos. According to Greek USA Reporter, Angelo is a “top political donor to the Clintons as well as the Democratic Party,” whose “donations to former President Bill Clinton were rewarded with a night in the prestigious Lincoln Bedroom.” In 2013, Tsakopoulos “confirmed that Hillary Clinton will seek the Democratic nomination in the next Presidential election.” […] Eleni Kounalakis is the daughter of real-estate tycoon Angelo Tsakopoulos. According to Greek USA Reporter, Angelo is a “top political donor to the Clintons as well as the Democratic Party,” whose “donations to former President Bill Clinton were rewarded with a night in the prestigious Lincoln Bedroom.” In 2013, Tsakopoulos “confirmed that Hillary Clinton will seek the Democratic nomination in the next Presidential election.” Angelo’s daughter Eleni, a protégé of Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Boxer, raised more than $1 million for Hillary Clinton in 2008, and that money found its reward. On January 7, 2010, Clinton, as Barack Obama’s secretary of state, swore in Kounalakis as U.S. ambassador to Hungary. She served until 2013, and, like Hillary, she forms a two-for-one package with her husband. […] If China ever did anything with which Eleni Kounalakis disagreed, its hard to find.
Read more: https://amgreatness.com/2023/04/30/2026-and-all-that/
Cunningham: Feds Seize First Republic Bank in Second Biggest Bank Failure in U.S. History, JPMorgan to Assume Control
In another major blow to the U.S. financial sector, the FDIC has seized First Republic Bank and plans to hand over control of its assets to JPMorgan. The move heads off a near-collapse that would have further rocked an already sensitive financial sector still reeling from the collapse of tech-aligned banks Silicon Valley Bank and New York Signature Bank. The First Republic failure is the second largest bank failure in U.S. history and further complicates the economic status of the American economy.
Tuma: THE FIRST “WRONGFUL DEATH” CASE FOR HELPING A FRIEND GET AN ABORTION
Not only did Marcus Silva access the private conversations his ex-wife had with her friends, he also filed an unprecedented lawsuit in March accusing Carpenter, Loyola, and Texas abortion rights activist Aracely Garcia of wrongful death, alleging the trio “conspired” to help his ex-wife obtain medication to terminate her pregnancy with a self-managed abortion. Attorneys for Silva also hope to sue “into oblivion” the manufacturer of the abortion pills procured. The complaint, filed in state court in Galveston County, Texas, seeks a stunning $1 million in damages from each woman. In the first lawsuit of its kind since Roe was struck down, the legal filing, riddled with sensitive information, instills a chilling effect on anyone who wishes to assist in abortion care, raising the threat of surveillance and public scrutiny, legal experts say. Filed by an influential conservative legal figure, the lawsuit also offers a window into the anti-abortion movement’s growing push for fetal personhood. […] “The lawsuit gets the ball rolling on the idea of how to bring fetal rights claims forward.”
Read more: https://theintercept.com/2023/04/26/abortion-wrongful-death-texas-lawsuit/
Hubbard: Blue states suffer largest population, tax revenue losses, as red states see largest gains: IRS data
ven as Democratic governors such as California’s Gavin Newsom and Illinois’ J.B. Pritzker slam red state policies, their residents are fleeing in droves for Republican-controlled states. IRS migration data released late last week shows that California lost more residents than any other state, with a net loss of nearly 332,000 people and more than $29 billion in adjusted gross income in 2021. The state with the second largest population loss is New York, which saw a net loss of over 262,000 residents and $24.5 billion in income. Illinois, meanwhile, suffered a net loss of 105,000 people in 2021 and $10.8 billion in income.
[…] Massachusetts, for example, had a net loss of 44,000 people and nearly $4.3 billion in income, while Louisiana lost 28,500 people and $861 million in income. New Jersey, which lost fewer people, had a higher income loss, with 26,000 fewer people and $3.8 billion less in income. Florida gained the most residents, with a net gain of over 255,000 people and $39 billion in income, while Texas came in second with nearly 175,000 residents and $10.9 billion in income. Meanwhile, North Carolina had a net gain of nearly 77,000 residents, and South Carolina gained nearly 65,000.
(April 7, 2023 – Not a pay raise?) Elkind: House lawmakers reimbursed for rent, food, other expenses as new policy takes effect
New guidelines for Congress were finalized this week that will reimburse lawmakers for substantial portions of their rent, food and other expenses they incur while in Washington, DC – effectively giving members a pay hike. It’s an issue that members have complained about for years – many have said their $174,000 salary, while well above the U.S. median, isn’t enough to afford housing in DC and in their home district. It’s forced many to share apartments together and even sleep in their offices. […] Members will be able to get cash back for rent, hotel fees, food and travel for days that qualify as “official business” – when Congress is in session or days designated for lawmakers’ relevant committee work. Days when members are traveling in and out of Washington are covered up to 75%. Participation in the reimbursement plan is optional, but members who use it will see those disclosures become public record.
Read more: https://sports.yahoo.com/house-lawmakers-reimbursed-rent-food-191014385.html
INTERNATIONAL
Constable: What You Didn’t Know: How Sudan’s Civil War Matters To M&Ms, Coke
The gruesome civil war in Sudan might seem like a problem far from home, given the tiny size of the economy and its relative strategic importance. However, the ongoing calamity, which shows few signs of abating will, in all likelihood, impact the supply or prices of candy. When it’s not warring, Sudan is the top source of gum arabic, producing an estimated two-thirds of global supply, which in turn is heavily controlled by the Sudanese government. That begs the question of who’s in charge right now.
Read more: https://archive.fo/q5HHK#selection-787.0-805.118