Month: May 2023

Target’s market value plunged $9 billion in one week after anger erupted over the store’s new “PRIDE” collection, which features clothing for children and babies as well as a chest-binding swim top and a “tuck-friendly” women’s bathing suit.

Social media users and conservative activists began calling for boycotts of Target following the release of their PRIDE line last week. The company was valued at $160.96 per share on May 17, at a market value of $74.3 billion; as of Thursday morning each share was valued at $139.84, the lowest in over a year, at a market value of $64.54 billion, according to MarketWatch data.

Commentary: The Left Has Pushed the Envelope

The Left is waging a full-fledged cultural revolution against traditional America. And the Maoist results are often as absurd as they are terrifying.

Special-counsel John Durham just issued his final report on wrongdoing within the FBI, CIA, and the Department of Justice.

Radical Anti-Life Gender Justice Group Backing Ohio Ballot Initiative Revealed to Be Pushing End to ‘Unethical’ Parental Involvement Laws

May 26, 2023May 26, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

Tweets by a key leftist organization pushing the Ohio abortion ballot initiative that could end parental involvement in minors’ medical decisions reveal that the goal of Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity’s (URGE) is to cut parents out of their children’s lives.

Protect Women Ohio (PWO), a self-described “coalition of concerned family and life leaders, parents, health and medical experts, and faith leaders in Ohio,” posted a thread to Twitter Tuesday showing URGE has been “working to abolish parental consent and notification laws for years.”

Trump, DeSantis, Ramaswamy, and More: News and Notes from the Presidential Campaign Trail

May 26, 2023 M.D. Kittle

A glitchy start to the Ron DeSantis campaign, Tim Scott fires back at “The View,” Vivek Ramaswamy takes on Target, and Nikki Haley gets a CNN Town Hall.

There’s no rest for the weary on the expanded presidential campaign trail.

Parents Sue Minnesota Government for Barring Colleges with ‘Faith Statements’ from State Funding Program

A group of parents in Minnesota filed a lawsuit against Democratic Gov. Tim Walz Wednesday over a new law amending the Post Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program to prohibit granting funds to schools that require a “faith statement.”

Walz signed a $72 billion budget Wednesday that included an amendment to the PSEO program, barring students who wish to attend a school requiring a “faith statement” from using funds from the program, according to the budget. Several parents filed a lawsuit later that day with Becket Law against the governor, state Commissioner Of Education Willie Jett and the state Department of Education (DOE) over the new rule, arguing that it unfairly discriminates against their children who wish to attend Christian colleges.

Commentary: Send Them Back

Only a country that has lost the will to survive would tolerate the invasion underway all across America. There is no longer a southern border to speak of. From Arizona to Maine, towns are under siege by a relentless, surging mass of humanity. The lowly citizen has been trampled underfoot to make lebensraum for the hallowed “asylum seeker,” whose conquering steps are greeted with suppliant knee.

GOP Lawmakers Demand FBI Briefing on January 6 Pipe Bomb Investigation Following Whistleblower Disclosures Regarding Suspect

Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee are demanding an FBI briefing on the status of their January 6 Pipe Bomb Investigation following disclosures that the feds have enough information to identify a suspect.

In a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and Rep. Bill Posey (R-Fla.) said the slow progression of the Bureau’s investigation into the pipe bombs “raises significant concerns about the FBI’s prioritization of that case in relation to other January 6 investigations.”

South Carolina Becomes 23rd State to Protect Babies with Heartbeat

May 26, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) signed the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act Thursday morning, legislation that protects babies in the state from abortion from the time a heartbeat is detected.

McMaster’s signature on the bill now makes South Carolina the 23rd state to protect babies with a heartbeat, and marks that half of the United States is now protecting babies from abortion at or before 12 weeks.

McCarthy Says Debt Deal Will Require Spending Cuts

May 25, 2023May 24, 2023 The Center Square

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Wednesday that the White House must agree to spending cuts as part of a debt deal.

“You have to spend less than you did last year,” McCarthy said at a news conference. “That’s not that difficult to do, but in Washington, somehow, that is a problem.”

COVID Vaccine Injury Victims Sue Biden Officials, Alleging They’ve Been Victimized by Censorship

May 25, 2023 Just the News

The Biden administration is using “threats, pressure, inducement, and coercion” to censor social media groups for COVID-19 vaccine injuries and prevent them from raising money, according to a new First Amendment lawsuit based in part on legal discovery from ongoing state-led litigation.

Plaintiffs Brianne Dressen, Shaun Barcavage, Kristi Dobbs, Nikki Holland and Suzanna Newell allege they “suffered –and continue to experience – serious and debilitating medical injuries within days (and, in many cases, hours)” of COVID vaccination. And plaintiff Ernest Ramirez says his 16-year-old son died of cardiac arrest five days after the boy’s first Pfizer dose.

Senators Want to Know Why Former FBI Officials Refused to Cooperate With Durham Investigation

May 25, 2023 M.D. Kittle

U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) want Special Counsel John Durham to explain why former high-level government officials refused to cooperate with his investigation exposing the FBI for its many failures in the bogus Trump-Russia collusion probe.

Grassley, ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, and Johnson, ranking member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, sent Durham a letter Tuesday asking why former FBI Director James Comey, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, and former FBI Assistant Director of the Counterintelligence Division Peter Strzok declined to fully cooperate.

NATO Countries Talk Big About Beefing Up Defense Spending, But Most Haven’t Backed Up Pledges

Most NATO countries have failed to meet pledges to inflate defense spending made in reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine despite voicing concerns about the intense security environment in Europe, according to The Wall Street Journal.

NATO countries on the eastern flank, most notably Poland, are girding for war as the conflict in Ukraine shows no sign of abating in the near term, prompting renewed commitments to beefing up their own and Ukraine’s militaries in line with the U.S., according to the WSJ. Others believe that Russia’s poor performance in Ukraine, illustrated in recent days by an incursion of pro-Ukrainian partisans into a Russian border territory with little initial resistance, means there is less urgency to increase spending on weapons and military equipment than previously imagined, according to the outlet.

Tax Documents Show Black Lives Matter Lost Millions in 2022

The official Black Lives Matter organization lost millions of dollars in 2022, according to recently unearthed tax returns.

According to the Washington Free Beacon, the Black Lives Matter Global Foundation Network saw a deficit of $8.5 million in 2022, and also lost $10 million from its investment accounts. In addition, the group recorded a loss of $961,000 on a securities sale of $172,000, amounting to a roughly 85 percent loss as a result of the transaction.

South Carolina Lawmakers Send Heartbeat Bill to Governor’s Desk

May 25, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

The South Carolina Legislature gave final approval to its heartbeat bill Tuesday, one that would ban abortions from the time a fetal heartbeat is detected and a move that will continue the trend in the southern states to restrict abortion.

The state senate passed the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act (S. 474) Tuesday by a vote of 27-19 and sent the measure to the desk of Governor Henry McMaster (R), who said he “look[s] forward to signing this bill into law as soon as possible.”

Commentary: The Corruption of Climate Science

“We need to criticize the people who got us here,” says Alex Epstein, founder of the Center for Industrial Progress and author of Fossil Future. “We can’t keep treating these designated experts as real experts. They are not real experts, they are destroyers. They are anti-energy, non-experts. And that needs to be made clear.”

Commentary: Mask Mandates Unmasked

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci said, “There’s no reason for you to be walking around with a mask.” But the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) soon changed his stance. Although not 100 percent effective, Fauci said, wearing masks is “a symbol for people to see that that’s the kind of thing you should be doing.”

Non-Binary Ex-Biden Official Sam Brinton to Be in Men’s Jail over Suitcase Theft Charges: Sheriff

May 25, 2023 Just the News

Ex-Energy Department official Sam Brinton, believed to have been the first non-binary person to be a top-level government official, will be placed in a Maryland men’s jail while waiting to be sent to Virginia for charges related to alleged suitcase theft.

Brinton, 35, is in a “pre-placement” hold at the Montgomery County Jail and will be placed with the “general population” in the men’s jail next week, a county sheriff’s deputy told The New York Post on Tuesday.

House Follows Senate in Voting for Resolution to Halt Tougher EPA Vehicle Emission Standards

The GOP-led House on Tuesday voted in favor of a resolution to strike down the Environmental Protection Agency’s emissions restrictions for heavy-duty trucks.

The joint-chamber resolution, which passed the House by a 221-203 vote, was introduced by Republican lawmakers in February via the Congressional Review Act (CRA) – a law that allows Congress to reverse rules made by a federal agency.

TikTok Sues Montana over Total Statewide Ban

May 25, 2023 Just the News

Chinese social media platform TikTok on Monday filed suit against a Montana law barring the platform from operating within the state and forbidding app marketplaces from offering it for download.

“We are challenging Montana’s unconstitutional TikTok ban to protect our business and the hundreds of thousands of TikTok users in Montana. We believe our legal challenge will prevail based on an exceedingly strong set of precedents and facts,” the company wrote in a complaint filed to the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, per Politico.

BlackRock’s Board Fends Off Climate Proposals from Left-Wing Shareholders at Annual Meeting

Investing giant BlackRock’s board of directors recommended voting against two climate report proposals at its annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday, and investors followed the firm’s advice.

Each proposal demanded reports from BlackRock; left-wing activist organization CODEPINK requested a report from BlackRock concerning the climate-related risks of its aerospace fund. Paul Rissman, co-founder of Rights CoLab and a fellow for the George Soros-founded Open Society Foundations, requested a report on engineering decarbonization and its impact on pension fund returns; BlackRock’s board of directors recommended voting against both because the firm argued they do not provide the best results for shareholders.

DeSantis Announcement Met with Major Tech Issues, Trump Reacts with Meme

May 24, 2023 Just the News

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s Twitter campaign rollout got off to a rough start Wednesday when the livestream crashed, prompting Trump to respond with a video meme contrasting it with his campaign announcement in November.

Los Angeles Archdiocese Condemns Dodgers for Reinviting ‘Queer and Trans Nuns,’ Calls for Catholics to ‘Stand Against Bigotry’

May 24, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has released a statement condemning the Los Angeles Dodgers for reinviting the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence,” a self-described group of “queer and trans nuns” that puts on exhibitions that desecrate the Catholic faith.

2023 Fiscal Year Illegal Border Crossings Surpass 2019-22 Totals in Northern Sector

May 24, 2023May 23, 2023 The Center Square

Border Patrol agents working in the busiest sector along the northern border are apprehending record numbers of foreign nationals attempting to enter the U.S. illegally from Canada.

In the first seven months of fiscal 2023, Border Patrol agents apprehended and encountered more illegal foreign nationals crossing a 295-mile stretch of the Canada-U.S. border than the previous four fiscal years (FYs 2019-2022) combined, Swanton Sector Border Patrol Chief Robert Garcia said.

Leaked Policy Exposes Fox News Stances on Woke Ideology

Fox News employees are allowed to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity, rather than their biological sex, and permitted to dress in alignment with their preferred gender. They must also be addressed by their preferred name and pronouns in the workplace.

These are just a few of the policies outlined in the company handbook, dated January 2021, a copy of which was shared with The Daily Signal. Fox also offers to help employees come up with a “Workplace Transition Plan” to ease their gender transition at work.

Trump Vows to Reduce Abortions Through Incentivized Adoptions

May 24, 2023 Just the News

Former President Donald Trump says his remaking of the Supreme Court helped overturn Roe v Wade and gave pro-life activists “the upper hand” in fighting abortion, and if he returns to the White House he will focus on reducing abortions by incentivizing adoptions.

“I think it’s very important that if I win, and I hope I’m going to win, we’re winning by a lot right now, we’ll be pressing the adoption option,” Trump said in a wide-ranging interview Monday night with Just the News, No Noise television show on the opening night of the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) convention in Orlando, Fla.

Georgia Proposal Will Help First Responders, Teachers to Buy First Home

May 24, 2023May 23, 2023 The Center Square

U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Georgia, says proposed federal legislation will make it easier for first responders and teachers to buy houses in the communities where they work.

Ossoff is co-sponsoring the “Homes for Every Local Protector, Educator, and Responder (HELPER) Act of 2023” with U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida.

Commentary: America’s Radical Criminal Justice Reform Disaster

May 24, 2023 RealClearWire

Over the past decade or so, America has undertaken a radical experiment with criminal justice reform. The consequences have been devastating.

The number of people arrested in America each year has fallen sharply over the past two decades. Public prosecutors now prosecute significantly fewer cases. Those that are convicted can generally expect shorter sentences. The combined effect of all this is that America’s prison population is now 25 percent lower than it was in 2011.

Commentary: Everyone Is Protecting Ray Epps

Over the past month, speculation has swirled around why Fox News honchos ousted the nation’s most popular cable news host just hours before he was set to begin his nightly monologue. Tucker Carlson reportedly was stunned by the news, which was announced in a terse statement released by the network on April 24: “FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.”

Biden Admin Pulls the Plug on $200 Million Grant to China-Backed EV Battery Maker

The Biden administration has decided against offering a $200 million grant to a lithium battery-maker that has been heavily criticized for its close ties to China.

The Department of Energy (DOE) had selected electric battery maker Microvast as one of its intended recipients to receive grant funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. However, the DOE confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation that it was no longer in negotiations with Microvast concerning the grant, which would have been used to develop an electric vehicle battery production facility for General Motors, according to Reuters.

Christian Teacher Banned from the Classroom for ‘Misgendering’ Student