Rampant Crime Takes Toll on America’s Small Businesses, New Survey Reveals

Small Business

Nearly one-third of small business employers in January said that crime has raised everyday business costs, according to a Job Creators Network Foundation (JCNF) poll obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Around 31% of small businesses surveyed in January said that neighborhood crime has increased business costs through added expenses associated with extra security or stolen inventory, with employers in the western U.S. being the most likely to say they were affected at 35%, according to the poll. Businesses with $100,000 to $250,000 in revenue in a year were the most likely to say that neighborhood crime has increased business costs, with 53% saying yes, followed by businesses with less than $100,000 in revenue at 47%.

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U.S. Census to Ask Questions on Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation for First Time

The United States Census is planning to introduce questions on gender identity and sexual orientation for the first time in its history, according to The Associated Press.

The questions will be sent to 480,000 households and can be answered online, by mail, via phone or during in-person interviews, with only half expected to respond, according to the AP. If approved, the bureau plans to include them in its annual American Community Survey and will ask respondents about their sex assigned at birth and their sexual orientation.

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US Navy’s STEM ‘Equity’ Program Prioritized Candidates, Internships Based on Race, Docs Show

Navy Test taking

The U.S. Navy approved more than $750,000 for a project that, while purporting to “equitably” increase the number of students interested in serving in the Navy’s STEM fields, prioritized recruiting underrepresented minority students, documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation show.

The University of Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC) proposed a way to encourage students to pursue degrees in fields of science, technology, economics and math (STEM) amid pressures for the U.S. military to out-compete adversaries in technological development, according to the since-approved application obtained by the Functional Government Initiative through a records request and provided to the DCNF. Although the project was framed as providing an opportunity for all students to break into the STEM fields based on the students’ qualifications, the Navy granted a budget extension to include 75 scholarships for underrepresented minority students and gave them first selection for the few on-campus paid research internships created through the program.

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Q1 2024: Most Illegal Border Crossers Apprehended at Northern Border in U.S. History

Illegal Immigrants

In the first quarter of fiscal 2024, more foreign nationals were apprehended illegally entering the northern border than at any time in U.S. history.

They totaled 60,602, according to new data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

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Commentary: Progressive Policies are Designed for Civilizational Suicide

Biden UN

We all understand, in the timeless words of the poet Robert Burns, that the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Most Americans are accustomed to assessing the various failed initiatives of our country’s leaders as well-intended actions that turned out badly. The Vietnam, Afghan, and Iraq wars, the 2008 financial meltdown, and the COVID pandemic overreaction, all in hindsight, can be viewed as simply the unfolding of human stupidity in the contingency of time.

In accordance, it is understandable that many are inclined to believe that our country’s current serious problems are, once again, merely the failed result of well-intentioned policies. But what if, we ask, seemingly fumbled programs were intended to be the initial throes of civilizational suicide? What if apparent missteps were actually directed at the purposeful destruction of a prosperous, free, safe, and secure society?

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Virginia Energy Bills Progressing in House and Senate

Solar Panel Installation

Virginia marches toward a greener future with its 2024 legislative session halfway through.

Clean energy enthusiasts in the House of Delegates and the Senate continue to build on the momentum gained by the passage of the Virginia Clean Economy Act, with legislation promoting the use of electric vehicles, energy efficiency, renewables, solar energy and greener buildings. Here’s a roundup of legislation that has been successful so far.

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Commentary: Congress Must Fight Modern Day Slavery

Sad Person

On February 13, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act with a vote of 414-11. The bipartisan legislation, authored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), will reauthorize the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 – which expired in 2021 – and provide approximately $1 billion in funding over five years for programs that combat the scourge of human trafficking.

Among the measures included in the comprehensive legislation are educational grants to provide situational awareness training and prevention for elementary and secondary students; funding reauthorization for the International Megan’s Law and Angel Watch programs; and authorization for programs that support survivors’ employment, housing, and education.

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