Georgia Star News

Parents Announce ‘Not Domestic Terrorists’ Rally in Front of the Justice Department

October 17, 2021October 16, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

Parents protesting certain library books in children's schools

Northern Virginia parents plan to protest in front of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. Sunday, according to a flyer posted online.

A flyer reveals plans for a “Parents Are Not ‘Domestic Terrorists’ Rally Oct. 17. “Stand up, speak up, fight back!” the memo reads. “Bring friends, be heard … you can make a difference!”

News broke Wednesday that a Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) student was allegedly raped in a school bathroom in May by a male student who wore a skirt. The victim’s father, Scott Smith, was arrested at a LCPS school board meeting weeks later for resisting arrest, and the perpetrator – who was charged with two counts of forcible sodomy – allegedly assaulted another girl at the school he transferred to following the initial incident, Daily Wire reported.

Commentary: Biden Priorities Put Citizens, Not National Enemies, in the Crosshairs

October 17, 2021October 16, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

When 13 U.S. service members were killed by suicide bombers as American citizens were abandoned in Afghanistan last August—in perhaps the most ill planned military operation since our efforts in Somalia which resulted in naked U.S. servicemen being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu—it should have given us a clue about the Biden Administration’s priorities. Much as the Somalian disaster led to a massive influx of Somali immigrants, which is changing the makeup of the Midwest, we can soon expect a surge in Afghan immigration.

In retaliation for the Kabul airport bombings, the United States conducted a drone strike on what the world was told were ISIS-K members. When confronted about the irregularities of the operation, General Mark Milley described the air attack as a “righteous strike.” We later learned this “righteous strike” killed an innocent aid worker and nine members of his family. No one has been held accountable for this tragic political slaughter.

Biden Announces COVID Vaccine Rollout for Children as Young as Five

October 17, 2021October 16, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

Joe Biden delivered a short speech from the administration’s fake White House set, Thursday, urging all Americans, including children as young as five, to get vaccinated. Biden claimed that the administration’s draconian vaccine mandates are working, and boasted that the seasonal decline in COVID cases is due to his policies.

Biden stressed that there is still more work to do to get the remaining 66 million American holdouts injected with the experimental jabs.

Commentary: Educating Students About the Victims of Communism

October 17, 2021October 16, 2021 RealClearWire

Olbram Zoubek Communism Victims Memorial

Many Americans today assume that the threat of Communism subsided with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. But “We continue to see Communist and socialist regimes pop up and spread not only in Latin America – for example, in Venezuela and Nicaragua – but around the world,” says Ambassador Andrew Bremberg, president and CEO of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC). “These regimes regularly kill their own citizens and have a devastating effect on human rights and their national economies.” In fact, over 1.5 billion people – including those living in Laos, North Korea, Vietnam, Cuba, and, of course, China – currently live under oppressive Communist and socialist governments.

Founded in 1993 by a bipartisan, unanimous Act of Congress, VOC is “devoted to commemorating the more than 100 million victims of communism around the world and to pursuing the freedom of those still living under totalitarian regimes.”

Before coming to VOC, Bremberg served as the Trump administration’s Representative of the United States to the Office of the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva. During his time there, which he describes as a “profound and life changing experience,” he “became aware of the challenge of China,” which was “far worse” than he had realized. He notes that the U.N. International Human Rights Council made investigating the United States’ record on racism during the summer of 2020 its highest priority – putting it above China’s appalling human rights violations against Uyghurs, among other ethnic groups within its borders.

Seattle Elementary School Cancels Halloween Parade Because It ‘Marginalizes Students of Color’

October 17, 2021October 16, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

A Seattle elementary school cancelled its Halloween parade citing concerns that the annual event “marginalizes students of color who do not celebrate the holiday,” according to Jason Rantz of radio station 770 KTTH.

Benjamin Franklin Day Elementary (B.F. Day), part of Seattle Public Schools (SPS) also said black males do not celebrate Halloween, Rantz reported on 770 KTTH. The school administration said its decision to cancel involved “foundational beliefs around equity for our students and families.”

Commentary: January 6 and the FBI’s ‘Operation Cold Snap’

October 17, 2021October 16, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

Close up of Capitol with Trump and America flag in the wind

The tony, bucolic town of Dublin, Ohio would be one of the last places in America expected to host a convention of white supremacist militiamen. Nestled along the Scioto River, the Columbus suburb’s biggest claim to fame is hosting the PGA’s annual Memorial Golf tournament every summer.

But in June 2020, days after the nation was roiled by Black Lives Matter looting and rioting, a man from Wisconsin named Stephen Robeson sponsored a “National Militia Conference” at a Dublin hotel. (Yes, that was the real name of the event.)

According to BuzzFeed’s exceptional July 2021 investigative report on the FBI-led plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020, Robeson “helped organize the national meeting, and he was enthusiastically pushing people he knew to attend.” The purpose of the conference was to recruit people who ultimately would stoke “political violence” against governors who refused to reopen their states after lockdowns supposedly necessitated by COVID.

Ex-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe’s Pension Restored in DOJ Settlement

October 17, 2021October 16, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

Andrew McCabe, the disgraced former Deputy Director of the FBI, has reached a legal settlement with the Justice Department that allows him to receive his pension, as well as reimbursement for hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, CNN reports.

McCabe was one of the leading figures in the anti-Trump efforts from within the federal government, which ultimately led to the infamous “Russian collusion” hoax and subsequent federal investigation by Robert Mueller. Despite no evidence whatsoever of any such plot, McCabe continued to defend these efforts during his time as Deputy Director. In March of 2018, he was fired by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, on orders from President Trump, just two days before McCabe’s retirement date; this ultimately prevented him from being eligible for his pension and other retirement benefits.

Walgreens Closing Five Bay Area Locations Due to Spike in Shoplifting

October 17, 2021October 16, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

The pharmaceutical chain Walgreens will be closing five stores in San Francisco, California due to a spike in “organized” shoplifting impacting its locations, according to MarketWatch via MSN.

The decision was made by Walgreens’ parent company, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc., which will relocate all employees to new locations and ship all outstanding prescriptions to other stores within one mile of the original stores. The stores will be shut down sometime between November 8th and November 17th.

“Retail theft across our San Francisco stores has continued to increase in the past few months to five times our chain average,” the company revealed in the statement announcing the decision. “To help combat this issue, we increased our investments in security measures in stores across the city to 46 times our chain average, in an effort to provide a safe environment.”

Commentary: Ten Ways the Chinese Government Lied, Misled, and Messed Up Early on in the Pandemic

October 17, 2021October 16, 2021 RealClearWire

A plethora of politicians and government officials across the globe screwed up in their handling of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The Chinese government, however, was acutely damaging with its ineptitude, because it, more than any other entity, had a chance to limit the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus when it first emerged in late 2019. Instead of trying to contain the virus with the help of the international community, however, the Chinese government lied, misled, and stalled. All of humanity has experienced the disastrous result of this negligence.

In his new book, Uncontrolled Spread, physician, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb focused his considerable expertise on pointing out the ways in which the world’s response to COVID-19 fell short, and how we can better prepare for the next inevitable pandemic. Early on in the book, he chronicled numerous examples of the Chinese government’s inept, corrupt handling of what was then an emerging outbreak. Here are ten of them:

Biden’s Pick for Top Banking Regulator Refuses to Hand over Thesis on Marxism

October 17, 2021October 16, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

Saule Omarova, President Joe Biden’s nominee to head the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), is refusing to hand over to the Senate Banking Committee her university thesis on Marxism written during her time in the Soviet Union.

Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, ranking member of the committee, had sent a letter to Omarova on Oct. 6 asking the Cornell Law School professor to hand over her Moscow State University thesis, titled “Karl Marx’s Economic Analysis and the Theory of Revolution in The Capital,” by Oct. 13, citing the committee’s need to “fully assess the fitness of individuals to serve in Senate-confirmed executive and independent agency positions.”

Texas Democrats: Biden’s Energy Policies Will Cost Jobs, Create Dependence on Foreign Oil

October 17, 2021October 16, 2021 The Center Square

Seven Democratic U.S. representatives have asked Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, to not target the oil and gas industry in the budget reconciliation bill before Congress.

Despite the concerns they and those in the industry have raised, Democrats in the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee pushed through a section of the bill, which includes billions of dollars in taxes, fines and fees on the oil and gas industry in the name of climate change.

Committee Chair Raúl M. Grijalva, D-Ariz., said the section of the bill that passed “invested in millions of American jobs” and put the U.S. “on a more stable long-term economic and environmental path.”

Twitter Is Being Sued for Hiring Spies Who Allegedly Stole Data for Saudi Arabia

October 17, 2021October 16, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

A Saudi activist is suing Twitter for allegedly hiring two Saudi spies who, the activist claims, used their positions within the social media company to steal his personal information.

The complaint, filed by activist Ali Al-Ahmed on Wednesday a California federal court, alleges that two Saudi citizens and former Twitter employees, Ahmad Abouammo and Ali Hamad A Alzabarah, used their jobs to access Al-Ahmed’s email addresses, contacts, phone numbers, birth dates, and IP addresses between 2013 and 2015. The two men then sold this information to the Saudi government, the complaint alleged.

Leftists Are Waging a War on ‘Gifted’ Children

October 17, 2021October 16, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

Public schools across the country are eliminating gifted and talented programs, removing advanced courses and overhauling admissions processes to achieve equity across racial categories.

Removing gifted and advanced courses is a no-cost way to cover up the racial achievement gap while ignoring its root causes, according to Harry Jackson, president of the Thomas Jefferson High School Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA).

“Gifted programs and advanced courses provide a mechanism for low-income households to achieve a stellar education for their children and serve as a ‘great equalizer’ to those families that opt for private education,” Jackson told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “By eliminating gifted programs and advanced courses in the name of equity, they will create greater inequities,” he said.

Parents Allege Arizona School Disregarded Opt-Out from ‘Gruesome’ Curriculum

October 17, 2021October 16, 2021 Admin

The parents of a seventh-grade student in an Arizona school district claimed that a teacher disregarded an “opt-out” from an assignment while speaking before a school board Thursday.

“After being made aware of inappropriate racial and political content being taught in our daughter’s seventh-grade social studies class, we reached out to the teacher, then the principal, then the curriculum department, and finally the superintendent to obtain curriculum for us to review ahead of time,” Amy Souza told the Peoria Unified School District Governing Board in a video posted to Twitter by Free to Learn.

After relating how she and her husband finally obtained the curriculum following “exhaustive efforts to get it,” they determined an upcoming lesson would be “gruesome, violent, and inappropriate” for their daughter.

They emailed their concerns to the teacher, announcing they would “opt out” of that lesson. They stated in the video that the teacher emailed back, agreeing to an alternate assignment.

Arizona Public Universities to Follow Biden Mandate, Require Employees to Receive COVID Vaccine

October 16, 2021October 15, 2021 Cooper Moran

Two people sitting on yellow couch, talking to woman sitting on edge of a desk

Arizona’s public universities will follow an order handed down from the Biden administration and require all employees to receive the coronavirus vaccine.

The mandate, which will also affect student employees, will give staff until December 8th to upload proof of vaccination.

Commentary: A Call to Amend Section 230 for Social Media Transparency

October 16, 2021October 15, 2021 RealClearWire

Amid growing bipartisan agreement that increased regulation of social media platforms and their content moderation policies is needed, the path forward remains murky. Should Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act be discarded or strengthened? Should companies be broken up using antitrust laws? Should government set speech rules for the web? Should users decide them? Or should there be no rules at all?

There is no shortage of solutions being put forth to solve the challenge of social media censorship. The problem is that without a better understanding of how social platforms invisibly shape the public square of democracy today, we don’t know which of these possible solutions might have the greatest impact. In short, to fix social media, we first need a better understanding of its ills: Section 230 must be amended to legislate social platform transparency.

A new RealClearFoundation report, “Transparency Is the First Step Toward Addressing Social Media Censorship,” outlines the public data sets we need to usher in transparency and better understand the challenges we face.

Federal Reserve Begins Taking Steps to Fight Growing Inflation

October 16, 2021October 15, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

The Federal Reserve said in September that it would begin taking steps to combat growing inflation in the U.S. economy, according to notes from a Sept. 21 and Sept. 22 Open Market Committee meeting first obtained by The Wall Street Journal.

The Federal Reserve will be scaling back its $120 billion monthly purchases of U.S. Treasury and mortgage securities due to the growing surge in inflation and strong consumer spending leading to heightened demand, according to minutes from a September meeting released Wednesday by the WSJ. The reduction in spending, commonly referred to as tapering, will begin in mid-November, and experts believe it could end by June, according to the meeting notes.

U.S. Navy Preparing to Discharge Unvaccinated Sailors

October 16, 2021October 15, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

On Thursday, the United States Navy announced its intentions to discharge any and all sailors who have not yet taken the coronavirus vaccine, according to Fox News.

The Navy’s press release on the matter declares that November 14th is the final deadline for sailors to receive the vaccine, while the deadline for reservists is December 14th. In addition to being discharged, sailors who refuse to get the vaccine may also lose some of their veterans’ benefits.

“Those separated only for vaccine removal,” the statement reads, “will receive no lower than a general discharge under honorable conditions. This type of discharge could result in the loss of some veterans’ benefits.” In addition, the statement said that the Navy “may also seek recoupment of applicable bonuses, special and incentive pays, and the cost of training and education for service members refusing the vaccine.”

Military Levels Final Judgement on Marine Who Criticized Military Leadership over Afghanistan Withdrawal

October 16, 2021October 15, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

The Marine whose outspoken social media posts criticizing military leaders for the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan received a final judgement in his case Friday.

Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller was given a letter of reprimand and ordered to forfeit $5,000 of pay for one month, Fox News reported.

Counterterrorism Police Lead Investigation into Assassination of UK Lawmaker: British Reports

October 16, 2021October 15, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

The 25-year-old knifeman who killed British MP Sir David Amess Friday is believed to be a “British Muslim of Somali descent,” according to the Daily Mail.

Earlier, Essex police announced they were keeping an open mind on whether the stabbing was a terror incident, but the investigation is now being run by counterterrorism police, according to British reports.

John Kerry Refuses to Single Out China for Not Setting Climate Goals

October 16, 2021October 15, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

Climate envoy John Kerry applauded climate actions made by the U.S. and other countries, but refused to single out China for not setting substantive goals for cutting emissions.

“We have a lot of things to still come across the transom and that will sort of decide where we are overall and which countries have neglected to do what is responsible,” Kerry told the Associated Press in an interview.

‘Higher Bills for American Families’: House Republicans Demand Answers from Biden Administration on Energy Crisis

October 16, 2021October 15, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee urged the Biden administration to lay out its plans for tackling the looming energy crisis.

The representatives noted that the federal government was responsible for protecting U.S. energy security and ensuring Americans have access to affordable energy, in a letter Thursday addressed to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. They added that energy prices are directly tied to particular sectors of the economy and could further push inflation higher.

New January 6 Related Police Records, Transcripts Appear to Show Babbitt Clearly Unarmed Before Shot

October 16, 2021October 15, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

The conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch announced Thursday that it has received over 500 pages of documents from the D.C. Metropolitan Police regarding the fatal police shooting of protester Ashli Babbitt during the Jan. 6 Capitol breach.

Judicial Watch obtained the documents through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed in May after District officials failed to respond to requests made in April to the city’s police department and its Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for information related to Babbitt’s death.

The 35-year-old Babbitt was fatally shot trying to enter a secured area inside the U.S. Capitol Building. The 14-year Air Force veteran was unarmed at the time, as she tried to climb through a broken door window near the House chambers.

Joe Rogan Confronts CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta on Network’s COVID Lies

October 16, 2021October 15, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

CNN’s chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta came woefully unprepared for his interview with podcast host Joe Rogan Wednesday, and was forced to concede several key points that counter the COVID narrative of his network.

During Wednesday’s installment of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” Gupta admitted that is was wrong for his network to falsely claim that Rogan had taken “horse dewormer” as a COVID treatment, conceded that very few children have died from the virus, and agreed that Fauci and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded high risk coronavirus ‘gain of function’ research in the Wuhan lab.

Biden Admin Will Reinstate Trump’s Remain in Mexico Policy in November

October 16, 2021October 15, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

The Biden administration is planning to reinstate former President Donald Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy in November, CBS News reported on Friday.

A federal judge ordered the Biden administration to reinstate the policy in August after requests by the Texas and Missouri attorneys general, according to CBS News. The Biden administration criticized the “Remain in Mexico” policy that left 70,000 migrants who weren’t from Mexico to wait in Mexican border towns until their U.S. asylum hearings.

Commentary: The Movement of Black Lives Matter

October 16, 2021October 15, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

If Black Lives Matter were a civil rights organization, one would reasonably expect its patron figure to be Martin Luther King, Jr., and its aspiration to be King’s vision of a race-free America where individuals are judged on their merits and not by their skin color. Instead, the revered figure and inspirational icon for Black Lives Matter activists is a designated terrorist and convicted cop killer: Assata Shakur.

In the 1970s Shakur was a member of the Black Liberation Army, a group that robbed banks and murdered police officers to achieve a Marxist revolution. Shakur is still wanted for the 1973 murder of Werner Foerster, a New Jersey state trooper who stopped her for a broken taillight on her car, whereupon she pulled out a gun and shot him. The 34-year-old officer and Vietnam vet was lying wounded on the pavement pleading for his life when Shakur walked over and finished him off, execution-style. Foerster left behind a wife and two young children. Shakur was convicted of the murder but escaped from prison in 1979 with the help of left-wing terrorists, including Susan Rosenberg. With the help of Rosenberg and others, Shakur fled to Communist Cuba, where she has lived as a fugitive for nearly 40 years. After being pardoned by Bill Clinton, Rosenberg went on to become board vice chair of Thousand Currents, the left-wing nonprofit organization that served as Black Lives Matter’s fiscal sponsor from 2016 to 2020.

The dedication page of Patrisse Cullors’s memoir, When They Call You a Terrorist, contains these lines written by Shakur, which allude to the most famous incitement from Marx’s Communist Manifesto:

It is our duty to fight for our freedom.

It is our duty to win.

We must love each other and support each other.

We have nothing to lose but our chains.

Foreclosures Reportedly Spike as Pandemic Mortgage Benefits End

October 16, 2021October 15, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

Home foreclosures across the U.S. are starting to spike as COVID-19 pandemic benefits begin to expire, CNBC reported.

Private mortgage lenders started the foreclosure process on 25,209 homes in the third quarter of 2021, a 32% increase from the previous quarter and a 67% increase from the third quarter of 2020, according to mortgage data firm ATTOM, CNBC reported.

Commentary: ‘Woke’ Superman’s Mission Is Neither Bold Nor Brave

October 16, 2021October 15, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

DC Comics recently revealed that in an upcoming issue titled “Superman: Son of Kal-El,” the son of Lois Lane and Clark Kent would be bisexual, and that he’s going to fight “real-world problems” such as climate change, that he’ll protest the deportation of refugees, and date a “hacktivist.”

What exactly is a “hacktivist”? Isn’t hacking illegal? Is Superman supporting criminal activity? It’s a chore to keep up with all the different iterations of the current superheroes, but DC Comics is calling it a “bold new direction” for the character. I see nothing “bold” about it.

Former President Trump Urges Action to Strengthen Arizona Elections

October 16, 2021October 15, 2021 Cooper Moran

Former President Donald Trump on Friday raised concerns over absentee ballots in Arizona’s 2020 election and urged action to strengthen the integrity of the process.

Pointing to new accusations from Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai, Trump questioned the number of absentee ballots returned in Pima County.

Federal Judge Finds DC Jail Officials in Contempt, Demands Civil Rights Inquiry

October 15, 2021October 14, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

In a major rebuke of the Justice Department and D.C. Department of Corrections, District Court Judge Royce Lamberth today found the jail’s warden and director of the Department of Corrections in contempt of court for refusing to turn over records related to the care of Christopher Worrell, a January 6 detainee who suffers from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and a broken hand. He has been incarcerated under a pre-trial detention order sought by Joe Biden’s Justice Department and approved by the court’s chief judge since his arrest in March; Worrell has been in the D.C. jail used specifically to house January 6 defendants since April.

Lamberth scheduled the hearing on Tuesday after D.C. Jail Warden Wanda Patten and DOC Director Quincy Booth failed to comply with his October 8 order to submit the evaluation by an orthopedic surgeon, who determined in June that Worrell needed surgery for a broken hand he suffered in May, and also to submit Worrell’s medical requests related to needed cancer treatments. Jail officials and attorneys representing the department claimed the screw-up was a miscommunication but Lamberth rejected their argument. “I don’t accept that explanation,” Lamberth said. “No one noticed in jail that he’s sitting there in pain all the time? Does no one care?”

Commentary: America Might Be Headed for a Rome Versus Byzantium Scenario

October 15, 2021October 14, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

In A.D. 286 the Roman emperor Diocletian split in half the huge Roman Empire administratively—and peacefully—under the control of two emperors.

A Western empire included much of modern-day Western Europe and northwest Africa. The Eastern half controlled Eastern Europe, and parts of Asia, and northeastern Africa.

John Kerry Invested $1 Million in Chinese Fund Supporting Company Blacklisted for Human Rights Abuses

October 15, 2021October 14, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and his wife hold at least $1 million in a Chinese investment fund that owns a significant stake in a Chinese technology company that aided China’s human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims, records show.

Kerry reported holding an “over $1,000,000” stake in the investment fund, Hillhouse China Value Fund L.P., in his financial disclosure submitted in February. The fund is a part of the Hillhouse Capital Group, a private equity firm operated by Chinese billionaire Zhang Lei and known for its early investments in some of China’s top technology companies.

GOP Senators Pan McConnell Cave on Debt Ceiling as Gloating Schumer Adds Insult to Injury

October 15, 2021October 14, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

Republican senators are panning Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell’s surrender to Democrats on the short-term debt ceiling increase following a gloating floor speech by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that added insult to GOP injury.

The debt ceiling increase of about $500 billion through Dec. 3 passed the Senate last week and the House on Tuesday.

Over 94,000 Migrants in Southern Texas Released into the U.S. with Notices to Report, Leaked Docs Show

October 15, 2021October 14, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

Just over 94,500 migrants who entered the U.S. illegally were encountered by border officials in southern Texas and released into the country with notices to report, according to data obtained by Fox News on Wednesday.

The migrants were encountered in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley and Del Rio sectors since March 20, according to Fox News. Notices to report (NTR) direct migrants to check in with an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office within 60 days and are different from notices to appear (NTA), which require migrants to show up at an immigration court, according to the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project.

Senators to Introduce Bipartisan Antitrust Bill Taking Aim at Tech Platforms Prioritizing Their Own Services

October 15, 2021October 14, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

A bipartisan group of senators will introduce legislation Thursday designed to prevent large technology platforms like Amazon and Google from giving their own services preferential treatment.

The bill, titled the American Choice and Innovation Online Act, accompanies legislation of the same name advanced through the House Judiciary Committee in June, and it seeks to prevent “discriminatory” conduct by major online platforms, according to multiple reports. The bill is sponsored by Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who chairs the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust issues, and Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who serves as Ranking Member on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Weekly Jobless Claims Dip Below 300,000 for First Time Since March 2020

October 15, 2021October 14, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

Photo “Unemployment Insurance Claims Office” by Bytemarks. CC BY 2.0.

The number of Americans filing new unemployment claims decreased to 293,000 last week as companies are holding onto workers amid high demand for labor.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics figure released Thursday shows a 36,000 claim decrease in the number of new jobless claims compared to the week ending Oct. 2, when 326,000 jobless claims were reported.

Biden Administration Plans to Build Wind Farms to Power 10 Million Homes

October 15, 2021October 14, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

The Biden administration laid out an ambitious plan Wednesday for government-funded wind farms along the east coast, which it said would sustain millions of Americans’ energy needs.

Multiple federal agencies are planning to collaborate on the project, which will be completed by 2030, Interior Department Secretary Deb Haaland said during a renewable energy conference in Boston on Wednesday. Overall, at least 30 gigawatts will be produced by offshore wind farms by decade’s end.

Majority of Americans Think Government Is Doing Too Much, Poll Shows

October 15, 2021October 14, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

Most Americans believe that the federal government is now doing too much, a new poll shows.

More than 50% of respondents in the Gallup survey, released Thursday, said that the government was too involved in things that should be left to individuals or private businesses, while 43% said that the government should involve itself more in trying to fix the country’s problems.

Commentary: I’m Leaving My California Teachers’ Union

October 15, 2021October 14, 2021 RealClearWire

I have been a middle school special education teacher for 18 years. Every day I spend in the classroom is a joy – the work is hard, but so rewarding – and with almost two decades of experience, I know how my students learn best.

Imagine my surprise when the California Teachers Association – which spends zero days per year with students – tries to tell teachers how to run their classrooms.

NBC Host Katie Couric Says She ‘Protected’ Justice Ginsburg by Cutting Disparaging Remarks on Anthem Kneelers

October 15, 2021October 14, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

In her new memoir “Going There,” former NBC “Today Show” host Katie Couric acknowledges “protecting” the late-Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg for her criticism about Americans who kneel during the national anthem that the TV journalist thought would spark public backlash.

Couric writes that she cut from a 2016 interview with the justice part of the conversation in which Ginsburg said those who kneel during the anthem show “contempt for a government that has made it possible for their parents and grandparents to live a decent life.”

Steve Wariner Releases ‘Feels Like Christmas’ Today

October 15, 2021October 14, 2021 Bethany Bowman

Nashville, Tennessee – Multi-Grammy®, CMA, and ACM Award-winning performer Steve Wariner has released a new Christmas album, Feels Like Christmas Time, today, October 15. The album features newly imagined arrangements of Christmas classics including “Silent Night,” “The First Noel” and “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” as well as six original holiday tunes, all written by Wariner.

Border Patrol Agents Confiscate Counterfeit Vaccine Cards at Checkpoints Across U.S.

October 15, 2021October 14, 2021 The Center Square

While much attention has been focused on the fallout of increased illegal immigration and crime at the southern border, Customs and Border Patrol agents also say they are routinely finding packages shipped from China containing fake COVID-19 vaccination cards.

CBP says its agents have seized more than 6,000 counterfeit COVID-19 vaccination cards in Chicago, Memphis, Anchorage and Pittsburgh in the past few months.

Arizona Border Patrol Seizes 50 Pounds of Fentanyl

October 15, 2021October 14, 2021 Peter D'Abrosca

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) from the Tucson Sector Wednesday announced that it had seized a massive quantity of the extremely lethal drug fentanyl.

“U.S. Border Patrol agents working the Interstate 19 Immigration Checkpoint near Amado, Arizona, seized over 50 pounds of suspected fentanyl and arrested the driver of the vehicle Monday morning,” a CBP press release said.

Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai to Hold Forum on Arizona Audit Findings

October 14, 2021October 14, 2021 Cooper Moran

Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai, who wrote the portion of the Maricopa County ballot audit addressing the signatures on the return envelopes of mail-in ballots, is holding a forum on Thursday to discuss findings of the Arizona election audit.

When addressing the findings, Ayyadurai invited members of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to answer any concerns over the procedures.

Arizona Corporation Commissioner Justin Olson Launches U.S. Senate Bid

October 14, 2021October 14, 2021 Cooper Moran

Justin Olson, a member of the Arizona Corporation Commission, announced on Wednesday that he will run for U.S. Senate, representing Arizona.

The Arizona Republican joins a crowded GOP primary field, vying for an opportunity to take on incumbent Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ).

Commentary: Biden Reinstates Catch and Release with More Than 227,000 Illegal Aliens Released Since January 2021

October 14, 2021October 13, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

President Joe Biden has reinstated “catch and release,” a policy allowing illegal aliens to be released into the United States pending an immigration hearing — which had been discontinued under former President Donald Trump — resulting in more than 227,000 illegal aliens being released on their own recognizance through Aug. 2021.

That is out of 535,000 aliens apprehended in Fiscal Year 2021 by the U.S. Border Patrol, a porous 42 percent catch-and-release rate by Biden.

Judge Rules Against Arizona in Minimum Wage Lawsuit

October 14, 2021October 13, 2021 The Center Square

A county judge says Arizona cannot extract the additional cost of doing state business in a city that increased its minimum wage, making it more expensive to operate there.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge James Smith sided with the city of Flagstaff about whether a provision in the 2019 Arizona budget allowed the state to fine the city for the difference in doing state business at a higher minimum wage compared with the state minimum hourly rate.

Report: Vast Majority of Top Fossil Fuel Companies Don’t Plan on Abandoning Oil and Gas Anytime Soon

October 14, 2021October 13, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

The majority of oil and gas companies said that they don’t have plans to shift away from fossil fuels at any point in the future, according to an industry report released Tuesday.

Oil and gas company executives said hydrocarbons would be their long-term business and that fossil fuel demand would remain at current levels for at least another decade, according to Deloitte Insights. Of the 100 executives polled, 77% said fossil fuels would continue to serve as their main source of revenue for the foreseeable future.

Commentary: The FDA’s Power over Food and Drug Approval

October 14, 2021October 13, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

Competition tends to bring about a better product or service, at a lower price, than does monopoly. This is a basic premise held by virtually all economists, disputed by pretty much no one in the profession. The entire antitrust edifice of the American system is built upon this foundational aspect of the dismal science.

And yet when push comes to shove, our society jettisons this insight, at least when it comes to assuring the quality of our food and drugs.

The Food and Drug Administration is a monopoly agency entrusted with this task. Its word is final concerning such matters. No competition is allowed. If a private agency set itself up as an alternative, it would first be subjected to raucous laughter, and then its creators jailed.

The FDA is a licensing agency. If it does not approve of a food or drug, it is illegal to offer it for sale. What is the non-monopolistic alternative to this sad state of affairs? This is called certification. How, pray tell, does this work? It is simple. Different firms set themselves up as evaluators of the quality of food and drugs, and each of them subjects these products to their examinations. They certify some as approved, and list others as not approved.

Havana Syndrome Reported in Colombia Right Before Blinken’s Scheduled Visit

October 14, 2021October 13, 2021 Arizona Sun Times Staff

Havana Syndrome, a mysterious condition that has affected numerous U.S. officials while serving abroad, has been reported in Colombia, ahead of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s scheduled visit.

U.S. embassy officials in Bogotá, Colombia, have been experiencing “unexplained health incidents,” a term used to describe Havana Syndrome, since mid-September, according to emails sent by Ambassador Philip Goldberg and others and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. At least five American families have been afflicted.