Top Story, Except AZ: Gov. Abbott: Texas Has the Sovereign Authority to Defend Its Borders
Month: July 2023
01: Passionately Catholic
Top Commentary: The Solution to Pandemic Learning Loss Is Less Schooling, Not More
Gov. Abbott: Texas Has the Sovereign Authority to Defend Its Borders
Texas has a right to defend its own border, Gov. Greg Abbott said on Friday in response to the U.S. Department of Justice demanding the state remove marine barriers placed in the Rio Grande River in the Eagle Pass area of Texas.
“The State of Texas’s actions violate federal law, raise humanitarian concerns, present serious risks to public safety and the environment, and may interfere with the federal government’s ability to carry out its official duties,” the DOJ wrote to Abbott in a letter on Thursday. The DOJ gave Abbott until Monday to agree to remove the barriers. If he didn’t agree or reply, the DOJ said it would sue.
Read MoreVivek Ramaswamy Officially Meets RNC Fundraising, Polling Requirements for Debates
GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign announced Saturday that he has officially met the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) fundraising and polling criteria to participate in debates.
Read MoreCatholic Counselor Asks SCOTUS to Reverse Decision Allowing States to Limit Speech Outside Abortion Clinics
A Catholic sidewalk counselor petitioned the Supreme Court Friday to reverse a prior ruling that permits states to enforce laws targeting pro-life counseling outside abortion clinics.
In response to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in June 2020, Westchester County, New York passed a law creating a 100-foot “buffer zone” outside abortion clinics where it is illegal to approach another person to engage in “oral protest, education, or counseling” without consent. The law is similar to one the Supreme Court upheld in its 2000 Hill v. Colorado decision, which sidewalk counselor Debra Vitagliano, backed by Becket Law, now asks the justices to overrule.
Read MoreTSNN Featured Story: Vivek Ramaswamy Officially Meets RNC Fundraising, Polling Requirements for Debates
Italian Pageant Bars Males from Competition, Will Not Participate in ‘Glittery Bandwagon of Trans Activism’
The Miss Italia beauty pageant will not allow male contestants, the contest’s curator told Italian outlet Radio Cusano.
The pageant’s curator, Patrizia Mirigliani, told Radio Cusano that only biological women are allowed to participate in the beauty competition. Weeks earlier, a man who identifies as transgender drew international headlines after winning the Miss Netherlands beauty pageant.
Read MoreBudget Revisions at Impasse over Tax Cuts and Underfunded Virginia Schools
Virginia entered the fiscal year on July 1 without a revised budget for the first time in over 20 years due to a lack of consensus in the General Assembly – to the tune of roughly $1 billion.
Virginia operates on a two-year budget that is passed in even years, but revisions are made in odd years to keep up with state programs, priorities and changes in legislation.
Read MoreCommentary: The Solution to Pandemic Learning Loss Is Less Schooling, Not More
The latest data dump from the Nation’s Report Card reveals declining academic performance among US students. As with previous releases showing the same trend, especially over the past three years, the solution proposed by many education reformers and advocates is to double-down on the amount of schooling and school-like activities students get.
Read MoreCommentary: The Man Behind the Movie ‘Oppenheimer’
This weekend, thousands of Americans will go to movie theaters across the country to watch Christopher Nolan’s newest film, “Oppenheimer.” A star-studded cast of talented actors, including Cillian Murphy, Florence Pugh, Matt Damon, and Emily Blunt, will bring to the big screen the life of Robert Oppenheimer, the brilliant theoretical physicist often called “the father of the atomic bomb.”
Read MoreCommentary: The Storied Past and Clouded Future of Pro Golf
Riding the train from London to Liverpool, I’m filled with anticipation. Tomorrow is the first round of golf’s British Open – or, as they make a point of calling it here – just “The Open Championship.” It’s the final so-called “major” tournament of the year, the last chance for the 156 players teeing off to etch their name in golf history. With the exception of Tiger Woods, every player who has dominated the game of golf since I started paying attention will be teeing off.
Read MoreRepublicans Move to Defund John Kerry’s Climate Envoy Office
On Wednesday, over two dozen Republicans in the House of Representatives introduced a bill that would cut all funding for John Kerry’s newly-established “climate envoy” office at the State Department.
As Fox News reports, the No Taxpayer Funding for Climate Zealots Advancing Radical Schemes Act would forbid the use of any federal funds from being appropriated for the purpose of funding Kerry’s office, including for such purposes as travel, administrative, and salary expenses. Biden first created the office specific
Read MoreRuth Bader Ginsburg Gave $1 Million to Unknown Groups
After receiving a $1 million prize from a left-wing foundation, the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg vowed to donate the money to numerous different charities; to this day, it is unknown where the money went.
According to the Washington Free Beacon, Ginsburg was awarded the prize money by the Berggruen Institute, founded by left-wing billionaire Nicolas Berggruen, at its annual Philosophy & Culture Award dinner in December 2019. Ethics experts at the time pointed out that the amount was far greater than the $2,000 maximum that Judicial Conference regulations placed on honoraria, thus raising the likelihood of conflicts of interest for Ginsburg.
Read MoreJanuary 6 Security Footage: Secret Service Brought Kamala Harris Within Yards of Undetected DNC Pipe Bomb
U.S. Capitol complex security footage shows the Secret Service brought Vice President-elect Kamala Harris into a garage at the Democratic National Committee headquarters on Jan. 6, 2021, just a few yards from where a pipe bomb had been planted the night before by an unidentified suspect.
The video footage, obtained by Just the News and released on Friday, raised immediate concerns with experts on presidential security and top lawmakers in Congress on how the explosive device was overlooked during security sweeps.
Read MoreTrump Surges to 40-Point Lead over DeSantis, Vivek in Third: Poll
Former President Donald Trump has amassed a considerable lead over his Republican rivals, surging ahead of nearest rival Ron DeSantis by 40-points, a recent survey has revealed.
Read MoreAll States Top Story: Inflation Tanks Small-Dollar Donations to 2024 Campaigns
01: Passionately Catholic
All Stories Top Commentary: America Must Reclaim What the Left Has Attempted to Destroy
Inflation Tanks Small-Dollar Donations to 2024 Campaigns
As prices across the country remain high, small-dollar donations have decreased for 2024 political campaigns, Politico reported Friday.
Although inflation fell in June, prices are still above pre-pandemic levels, and candidates who previously reaped the benefits of grassroots donations are not receiving them at the same degree, according to Politico. The campaign arms of House Republicans and Democrats, as well as presidential candidates, saw a drop in small-donor donations compared to previous cycles.
Read MoreTSNN Featured Story: National Pro-Life Group Condemns Democrats and Media Allies for Encouraging Abortionists to Illegally Mail Abortion Drugs to Pro-Life States
‘The Chosen’ Overtakes Mainstream Shows in CW Network Broadcast TV Premiere
The 90-minute broadcast-TV debut Sunday of faith-based series The Chosen on The CW Network averaged “a far mightier audience” than other CW shows, such as Riverdale and Nancy Drew, which aired at the same times the week before, TVLine reported.
While The Chosen “averaged 520,000 viewers and a 0.1 rating, 200,000 viewers watched Riverdale and 400,000 viewed Nancy Drew, SpoilerTV also reported.
Read MoreNational Pro-Life Group Condemns Democrats and Media Allies for Encouraging Abortionists to Illegally Mail Abortion Drugs to Pro-Life States
A national pro-life group is shaming Democrats for encouraging abortionists to mail dangerous abortion-inducing drugs into pro-life states after the Washington Post touted such actions are legal.
“Mailing abortion pills into pro-life states is not legal, no matter how the Democrats and their media cheerleaders want it to be,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony (SBA) Pro-Life America, in a statement sent to The Star News Network. “And the strong majority of Americans agree it is not safe.”
Read MoreWhite House Plans for Zero-Emission Federal Fleet by 2035 Off to Slow Start
President Joe Biden’s executive order to convert the federal fleet of automobiles to all zero-emission vehicles by 2035 is off to a slow start, according to a new report.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office found that federal agencies subject to Biden’s executive order replaced or acquired about 45,000 vehicles in fiscal year 2021. About 260 of those 45,000 were considered zero-emission vehicles. That’s 0.58% of the total. While many federal agencies have started planning for an all-electric future, they face challenges such as limited vehicle availability, costs and limits on the ability to charge vehicles at federal facilities, some of which are leased, according to the Government Accountability Office report.
Read MoreZuckerberg’s Twitter Clone Continues to Crash in Popularity: Report
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s Twitter rival Threads has plummeted in popularity for a second consecutive week, according to market intelligence company Sensor Tower, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The so-called “Twitter Killer” has experienced a substantial fall in engagement, down to 13 million daily active users, which is a 70% drop from July 7, according to Sensor Tower estimates, the WSJ reported. Meanwhile, billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s Twitter steadily maintains around 200 million active daily users, who spend an average of 30 minutes on the platform.
Read MoreFederal Lawsuit Targets Race-Based Government Grant Decisions Alleged to Discriminate Against White and Other Business Owners
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling striking down affirmative action in college admisssions, a San Antonio-based government program that allegedly uses race-based preferences to hand out federal grants faces a federal discrimination lawsuit.
The lawsuit, filed this week by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL), could spark a national re-examination of such taxpayer-funded, race-focused initiatives.
Read MoreVirginia and Maryland Debate New Criteria for FBI Headquarters
In response to talks with Maryland and Virginia officials, the GSA – the government agency tasked with choosing a location for the new FBI headquarters – has again adjusted its criteria, leaving the neighboring states still jockeying for selection after years of indecision.
It took a decade of complaints about the security, space and functionality of the existing Washington, D.C., FBI headquarters for Congress to appropriate funds and authorize the search for a new one in 2012.
Read MoreCommentary: America Must Reclaim What the Left Has Attempted to Destroy
History remembers Independence Hall for the grave, soul-stirring words written there:
“All men are created equal …”
Read MoreDelaware Court Blocks Release of Biden’s Senate Papers
Delaware’s highest court has blocked a request by conservative groups seeking to access President Joe Biden’s Senate papers at a state university.
The July 6 ruling by the Delaware Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision that sided with the University of Delaware in denying a request from Judicial Watch and another group seeking access to the records, which Biden gifted to the public university in 2012.
Read MoreCommentary: Bidenomics Is Behind Jerome Powell’s Woke Turn
In February 2021, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told Congress, “We are not climate policymakers here who can decide the way climate change will be addressed by the United States. We’re a regulatory agency that regulates a part of the economy.” When Powell said that, less than a month into the Biden administration, inflation was 1.6%.
Just eight months later, in remarks on November 22, 2021, President Biden said Powell – then up for renomination and facing stiff opposition from congressional progressives – “made clear to me: A top priority will be to accelerate the Fed’s effort to address and mitigate the risks – the risk that climate change poses to our financial system and our economy.” At that time inflation was 6.8%, on its way up to a 40-year high of 9.1%.
Read MoreSecret Tapes and Coerced Payments: Top 10 Biden-Burisma Bombshells from FBI Informant Memo
Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley on Thursday published an unclassified FBI document containing confidential human source information related to an alleged bribery scheme involving Joe and Hunter Biden in which a Ukrainian gas company hired Hunter Biden to secure access to his father to help the firm stifle an investigation into its dealings.
The House Oversight Committee previously issued a subpoena to obtain the document, with which FBI Director Christopher Wray did not comply. Though he ultimately permitted the committee members to view the FD-1023 in a secure location, the contents remained unpublished until Grassley’s Thursday release.
Read MoreMeet The Veteran-Led Group Going to War with Human Trafficking in America’s Backyard
The Daily Wire It’s just past midnight and a man walks out onto the second-floor balcony of a decrepit motel located in one of the few neighborhoods in Nashville not frequented by bachelorette parties. Perched on a hill across the road that overlooks the motel and looking through a monocular,…
Read MoreJudge Announces Trial for Trump Classified Documents Case to Start May 2024
The criminal trial in federal prosecutors case regarding former President Trump’s retention of classified documents after leaving office is set to start May 20, 2024, a federal judge in Florida announced Friday.
Read MoreTop Story OH, MN, MI, VA, GA, FL, PA, CT: Two Prominent GOP Congressmen Say That Move to Impeach Biden Is Gaining Momentum
All Story Commentary: The Biden Family Caricatures
Two Prominent GOP Congressmen Say That Move to Impeach Biden Is Gaining Momentum
Representatives Greg Steube (R-Fl.) and Ralph Norman (R-Sc.) say the idea of potentially impeaching President Biden is gaining momentum with some of their colleagues in Congress.
“We’re actually working on our own impeachment resolution for President Biden on all this corruption, and all the laws and crimes that he violated,” Steube said on the Wednesday edition of the “Just the News, No Noise” TV show.
Read MoreTSSN Story: Frank LaRose Widens Lead in Ohio Senate Primary Poll
NYC Mayor Issues Flyers Warning Migrants That City Has ‘No More Room’
New York City will start issuing flyers at the southern border warning that the sanctuary city does not have room to house or support any more migrants, Democrat Mayor Eric Adams said on Wednesday.
The mayor said that there is “no more room” for asylum seekers and that migrants will be removed from the city shelter system after 60 days, Adams said during a press conference. More than 90,000 migrants have come to New York City since spring 2022, 54,800 of which are in city care, Bloomberg reported.
Read MoreMore than 175,000 Came Through Southern U.S. Border in June
Over 175,000 people came through the southern border in June, according to newly published U.S. Customs and Border Protection data and preliminary data first published by The Center Square.
The official CBP data published on Tuesday isn’t as straightforward as it normally is, possibly due to a recent shakeup at CBP with outgoing chiefs leaving June 30. A press release issued on Tuesday doesn’t include data typically published every month.
Read MoreBiden Administration Shuts Down Government Funding for Wuhan Lab
After years of scrutiny and controversy, the Biden Administration announced on Tuesday that it had severed all federal funding to the controversial Wuhan laboratory that many have said was the origin of the COVID-19 virus.
As reported by Daily Caller, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced its proposal to halt any further government funding to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) by barring it from participating in any government-funded programs.
Read MoreMaine Governor Signs Bill Allowing Access to Late-Term Abortions
Maine Governor Janet Mills (D) signed a bill into law Wednesday that expanded access to abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, making the state one of the least restrictive in the nation when it comes to ending the lives of unborn babies.
LD 1619, dubbed “An Act to Improve Maine’s Reproductive Privacy Laws,” states an abortion may be performed “after viability,” i.e. when the unborn baby can survive independently outside his or her mother’s womb, “when the abortion is necessary in the professional judgment of a licensed physician.”
Read MoreVirginia Ends Previous School Transgender Policies, Now Requires Parent OK to Student Pronoun Change
The Virginia Education Department announced new model policies regarding the treatment of transgender students in the state’s public schools in guidance that separates students by biological sex and gives parents the sole authority to change their children’s names and pronouns in school.
The policies, released Tuesday, deliver on a significant campaign promise from Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin to promote parents’ rights, as the guiding principles of the policies emphasize respecting all students and giving parents priority in making decisions for their children.
Read MoreCommentary: The Biden Family Caricatures
The Biden first family seems determined to confirm every stereotype of their antisocial behavior—to the point of dysfunctionality.
During the 2020 campaign at least eight women alleged that then presidential candidate Joe Biden in the past had serially and improperly touched, kissed or grabbed them.
Read MoreIraq Summons U.S. Ambassador over State Department Comments on Treatment of Catholic Priest
The Iraqi government called U.S. Ambassador Alina Romanowski to Baghdad after the State Department made critical remarks about the government’s dismissal of a Vatican-appointed bishop, according to Reuters.
Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid recently rescinded a decree recognizing Cardinal Louis Sako the head of the Chaldean Catholic church in Iraq and all of its assets, claiming that no other state entity should appoint religious leaders in Iraq, according to Reuters. Rashid called Romanowski to Baghdad Wednesday after State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the U.S. was disturbed by the Iraqi government’s decision.
Read MoreBiden Announces First Offshore Wind Lease in Gulf of Mexico
President Joe Biden will announce the first offshore wind lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico at an event Thursday afternoon to promote his administration’s economic agenda, according to the White House.
The lease will be spread across three areas, one roughly 100,000 acre area offshore of Lake Charles, Louisiana and two areas totaling roughly 200,000 acres offshore of Galveston, Texas, according to the White House. While the administration has previously held sales for offshore wind leases off the coasts of New York, the Carolinas and California, and is considering several additional projects off the east coast, the Gulf of Mexico sale — scheduled for August 29 — represents the first federal lease in the region.
Read MoreCommentary: Loan Forgiveness Hurts Taxpayers
A few weeks ago, I argued the Biden Administration would use the new SAVE plan to enact student loan forgiveness with or without the approval of the Supreme Court. Since then, the administration has announced details which highlight the SAVE plan offers even more generous forgiveness terms.
This talk about student loans has brought about a question for Ask an Economist this week. Garrett from Ohio says,“One of the most prominent arguments against student loan forgiveness is that the borrowers are forcing the greater population to pay off their debts for them.
Read MoreMusic Spotlight: The Dryes
The Dryes are a married, musical couple from North Carolina. I first heard of Katelyn and Derek Drye when they were featured in the Duke Spirits Masters Music Series. However, their biggest claim to fame was when they shared their extraordinary chemistry while performing on NBC’s The Voice. Their cover of Kenny and Dolly’s “Islands in the Stream” garnered them a spot on Blake’s team in 2022.
Read MoreFBI Informant Told Agents Hunter Biden Hired by Burisma to ‘Protect’ Ukrainian Firm from ‘Problems’
A trusted FBI informant told agents in 2020 that Hunter Biden was hired by a Ukrainian energy company dealing with corruption allegations during his father’s vice presidency to help “protect” Burisma Holdings from problems including an effort to “take care of'” a Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating the company for corruption, according to an explosive document released by Sen. Charles Grassley on Thursday.
Read MorePoll: Vivek Ramaswamy Ties Ron DeSantis for Second in GOP Presidential Race
Florida Politics A new survey of the 2024 Republican presidential race finds a dead heat for second place. The survey from Kaplan Strategies shows Gov. Ron DeSantis and businessman Vivek G. Ramaswamy are tied at 12% each. Both men are well behind Donald Trump’s 48%. The pollster says this latest survey is an example of Vivek-mentum. …
Read MoreTop Story MN, MI, VA, FL, WI, PA, CT, IA, NH: Senators Criticize CDC for ‘Chestfeeding’ Guidance: ‘Driven by Political Considerations Rather than Science’
