News and Headlines. In The News, Politics, Immigration, World News, Commentary/Opinion.
In The News:
CDC confirms 10 new cases of rare polio-like neurological condition
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday it has confirmed 10 more cases of an extremely rare, polio-like condition, across 24 states.
The CDC had earlier this month confirmed about 62 cases of acute flaccid myelitis that causes the muscles and reflexes in the body to become weak. Most of the cases reported so far are people under 18 years of age.
Workers’ Pay Rises at Fastest Rate Since 2008, Outpacing Inflation
Wages are rising faster than prices, giving American workers more buying power.
Compensation for U.S. workers was up 2.8 percent compared with a year ago in the third quarter, the Labor Department said Wednesday.
That outpaces the 2.3 percent rise in the consumer price index.
The employment-cost index, which measures wages and benefits, rose 0.8% in July through September.
The means wage gains are accelerating from the second quarter’s 0.6 percent gain.
Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh Turns Down $600,000 From GoFundMe Fundraiser
New Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh has officially declined the $600,000 raised by supporters for his legal fees after he was hit with multiple sexual assault allegations during the confirmation process.
During the extended confirmation process, Kavanaugh’s supporters started a fundraiser on the GoFundMe website that ended up garnering over $600,000. But he will not accept the funds, representatives of the justice told PJ Media columnist John Hawkins, who launched the campaign.
Houston police: FBI agent’s claims ‘not supported’ by review
HOUSTON – An FBI agent’s explanation for why he fatally shot a hostage during a rescue attempt in Houston “is not supported” by evidence reviewed by police investigators, the Houston police chief said Wednesday.
Chief Art Acevedo said “the totality of the evidence and statements in this investigation” are not consistent with the agent’s claims in the January shooting of 47-year-old Ulises Valladares.
Priest arrested, accused of impregnating teenage altar girl
A Catholic priest in Ohio was arrested after his diocese said he admitted to a three-year relationship with a now-pregnant 17-year-old girl.
Father Henry Christopher Foxhoven, 45, a priest from the Diocese in Steubenville, was charged with eight counts of sexual battery after allegedly engaging in sexual conduct with a minor between Aug. 17 and Oct. 25,
The first photos of two Saudi Arabian sisters whose bodies were found duct-taped together near a New York City river were released Wednesday as authorities continue to investigate their mysterious deaths.
New York City police released images of Tala Farea, 16, and Rotana Farea, 22, who were found dead on Oct. 24 near 68th Street and Riverside Park in Manhattan’s Upper West Side neighborhood. Their bodies, bound by tape and facing each other, were on rocks near the Hudson River, leading authorities to believe they may have washed ashore.
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch released 49 pages of new State Department documents showing top Soros representatives in Romania collaborating with the State Department in a program jointly funded by, among others, Soros’s Open Society Foundations – Romania and USAID, called the “Open Government Partnership.”
On September 16, 2016, the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Senior Program Designer Jennryn Wetzler sent an email announcing that the featured speaker in a State Department-sponsored “Open Government Partnership” conference call would be longtime Soros foundations official in Romania, Ovidiu Voicu. Voicu is the Executive Director of a Romanian non-government organization (NGO) called the Center for Public Innovation, which describes itself as a “spin-off” of Soros’ Open Society Foundation Romania.
Judicial Watch Lawsuit Seeks Records on Hillary Clinton’s Security Clearance
(Washington, DC) — Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. State Department requesting all records regarding the security clearance status of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and four of her top aides during her tenure at the State Department.
Clinton’s security clearance reportedly was withdrawn at her request on August 30 – which is nine days after Judicial Watch filed an August 21 FOIA request seeking information on the former Secretary of State’s security clearance status.
Court documents unsealed earlier this month provide ample evidence that the Obama administration’s “Operation Choke Point” program pressured financial institutions into cutting ties with lawful businesses, including gun dealers, in ways the Mafia could only dream of getting away with.
According to a news release from the Community Financial Services Association of America (CFSA), “top government officials and federal agencies” worked to push banks and other lending institutions into financially punishing businesses and industries the Obama White House opposed on political grounds. Reference ↓
Exclusive: Cruz, Lee Attempt to Take Down Operation Choke Point
Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah plan to introduce a bill today that attempts to unravel the Justice Department’s controversial program Operation Choke Point, The Daily Signal has exclusively learned.
“Under President Obama’s reign, the DOJ has abandoned its longstanding tradition of staying out of politics and has instead become a partisan arm of the White House,” Cruz said. “The Obama administration initiated Operation Choke Point to punish law-abiding small businesses that don’t align with the president’s political leanings. The DOJ should not be abusing its power by trying to bankrupt American citizens for exercising their constitutional rights.” Reference ↓
August 18, 2017 : DOJ Ends Operation Choke Point.(Operation was accused of unfairly targeting financial access for firearms and short-term lending industries.)
The Department of Justice announced in a letter on Friday that it had ended all activities associated with Operation Choke Point.
In a written letter to the House Judiciary Committee, Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd called the program “a misguided initiative conducted during the previous administration” and promised the DOJ was no longer pursuing it.
“All of the Department’s bank investigations conducted as part of Operation Choke Point are now over, the initiative is no longer in effect, and it will not be undertaken again,” Boyd said.
Vulnerable Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly (IN) made some cringeworthy comments Tuesday evening during his debate with Republican challenger Mike Braun.
In an effort to tout the diversity of his Senate office, Sen. Donnelly awkwardly phrased a remark praising Indian American and African American staff members.
Some black voters reconsidering commitment to Democrats
Could leftists cause racial shift among Democrats? Insight from founder and president of the Center for Urban Renewal, Star Parker on ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’.
Former TV CEO Says U.S. Should Ban ‘Straight White Males from Voting’
WASHINGTON – Steven Clifford, author and former CEO of the King Broadcasting Company and National Mobile Television, told PJM that the federal government should “prohibit straight white males from voting” in U.S. elections as a way to “save” democracy.
“I think it’s the only hope for democracy in America and I will be leading a great movement to prohibit straight white males, who I believe supported Donald Trump by about 85 percent, from exercising the franchise and I think that will save our democracy,”
Too Shocking for Google? Marsha Blackburn Ad Flagged Over Footage of Left-Wing Protesters
Google Ads is being accused of trying to censor a campaign ad from Republican Senate candidate Marsha Blackburn because it contained “shocking” footage of left-wing protesters.
In the 30-second video, Stop the Mob, protesters are shown screaming at Blackburn at a campaign event last weekend as she tried to hold a moment of silence for victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue attack.
Democratic Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill sparked a fierce backlash from a Democratic legislator in her home state after listing her as an example of a “crazy Democrat.”
In a scathing series of tweets on Monday and Tuesday, Missouri Democratic state Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal referred to McCaskill as “Dixie Claire,” described her as a “piece of shit,” compared her to a slave owner and accused “McCaskill and her racist democratic friends” of alienating the party’s base voters.
REPORT: Democrat Andrew Gillum has strong ties to several radical left-wing groups
Florida’s Democrat gubernatorial candidate is once again coming under fire for his past affiliations with left-wing activist groups. One America’s Kara McKinney explains.
Conn. Lost $2.6 Billion in 2016 Revenue Due to High Earners Leaving State
The state of Connecticut forfeited $2.6 billion in government revenue in 2016 as residents, particularly high-earners, fled the state for a lower cost of living, according to a recent study by the Cato Institute.
The study, released ahead of a tight gubernatorial election that has focused heavily on the state’s high tax burden, found that Connecticut lost 12,254 tax filers over the course of 2016, the sixth highest lost in the country over that period.
Report: Pentagon Identifies 7,000 American Troops for Mexico Border
The Pentagon said it has identified about 7,000 U.S. troops that could be deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border, according to Reuters.
An unnamed U.S. official, who spoke to Reuters, said that the number could change.
“The total number of troops deployed will change each day as military forces flow into the operating area, but initial estimates indicate the Department of Defense has identified approximately 7,000 troops to support, if required, Operation Faithful Patriot,” the official, who was not named, told Reuters.
Top Republicans are pointing to an impassioned 1993 speech by then-Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, in which the future Democratic Senate majority leader argued that “no sane country” would award citizenship to children of illegal immigrants born on its soil and promoted his own legislation to end the practice here.
In his speech, Reid concurred, although he advocated passing a law to enact the change — one that would grant citizenship only to the children of mothers in the U.S. legally.
Fox News Video: Tom Homan: Border security is national security
Former acting ICE director on the importance of sending the U.S. military to the border.
Ex-Trump adviser on the birthright citizenship controversy
Former Trump national security official Michael Anton examines the history and misreading of the 14th Amendment on ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’.
Two in Migrant Caravan Wanted for Murder, Drug Trafficking–Deported by Mexico
Mexican authorities identified two fugitives in the migrant caravan that’s working its way north to the United States through Mexico.
Mexico’s Federal Police, the National Migration Institute, the Honduran National Police, and Interpol cooperated in the identification and arrest of the men, according to the country’s Secretary of Interior.
Immigration officials detained the two men at separate immigration checkpoints in the state of Chiapas and deported them to Honduras.
New Migrant Caravan Departs Salvadoran Capital for US
SAN SALVADOR—About 2,000 migrants began walking north from El Salvador’s capital on Oct. 31, the latest of several groups trying to reach the United States, even as President Donald Trump increases pressure to halt the flow of people.
The migrants departed in two groups, including men and women pushing strollers and others with children on their shoulders. On Sunday, a separate group comprising about 300 people set off for the U.S. border from the Salvadoran capital.
BEHIND-THE-SCENES VIDEO SHOWS TRUMP SURPRISING OVERJOYED PITTSBURGH HOSPITAL STAFF
Many media outlets covered the protests and the demonstrators’ message to the president.
Pittsburgh resident Sheryl Mascio, however, captured a behind-the-scenes moment of the president as he visited survivors of the shooting at a nearby hospital. Mascio posted the video on Twitter and it quickly went viral.
The video shows Trump and Melania stopping on their tour of the hospital to greet doctors and nurses who were tending to the victims.
World News:
9/11 terrorist gets hero’s welcome back home after serving just 15 years for attacks
A terrorist jailed over the September 11 attacks has been mobbed by supporters back home in Morocco after being freed early.
Mounir el Motassadeq was sentenced to just 15 years behind bars for accessory to murder in 2006.
He received credit for time served after his initial arrest in 2001 — and was freed shortly before finishing even that stretch to be deported to his homeland.
North Korea preparing to let international inspectors visit nuclear test site, report says
North Korean officials are reportedly preparing to let foreign inspectors visit the nuclear test site the Hermit Kingdom promised to shut down, a report said Tuesday.
Rep. Kim Min-ki of South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party said there have been “signs” North Korean officials are preparing to allow “outside experts” to survey the country’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing South Korea’s National Intelligence Service.
Commentary/Opinion:
‘Socialism’ Is Popular Only Because People Don’t Know What It is
The Sandernistas say that “democratic socialism” is a more benign variant, akin to what is practiced in Scandinavia. Yes, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark are clean, prosperous, and beautiful countries with robust social safety nets. They are also small and not particularly socialist.
Their tax rates may be high, but they have thriving private sectors and no minimum wage laws. Their economies rank as “mostly free,”the same category as the United States, in the Heritage Foundation’s annual index of economic freedom.
Socialism is traditionally defined as the government owning the means of production, and it just as traditionally leads to authoritarianism.
Maybe it’s cool to think of oneself as a socialist now that we are decades away from Stalin’s Great Terror and Mao’s Great Leap Forward. With a body count in the millions, you’d think “socialism” would be hard to rebrand. But thanks to Bernie, being a socialist is in vogue.
Tucker: Election Day becoming referendum on immigration
We’ve moved past Russian Facebook ads, Stormy Daniels and other childish diversions designed to prevent you from thinking clearly. This is a core debate.
Ingraham: When birthright goes wrong
The annual cost to the U.S. taxpayers of children born to illegal aliens is a staggering $2.4 billion.