News and Headlines: In The News, Immigration, Politics, World News, Commentary/Opinion.
In The News:
Rush Limbaugh echoes Lou Gehrig in return to radio, says he’s ‘one of the luckiest people alive’
A resilient Rush Limbaugh returned to his golden EIB microphone on Friday after missing three episodes to undergo cancer treatment just in time to mock the “implosion” of the Democratic Party and downplay his diagnosis as something with which “millions of Americans” are also dealing.
He also thanked supporters for making him feel like “one of the luckiest people alive.”
“What a week. What an incredible week,” Limbaugh said at the top of the program, on the heels of Monday’s shock announcement that he’s been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer and being presented with the Medal of Freedom at President Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday.
Limbaugh told listeners that the Democrats have “lost their entire moral foundation” because they became consumed with hatred.
ICE slams California sanctuary city laws after data shows thousands of criminal illegal immigrants released in one county
The data shows that more than 2,000 illegal immigrants were released from custody in Orange County alone in recent years, and more than 400 of them re-offended in that county.
“I applaud Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes for his continued efforts to explain why these sanctuary policies do not make sense when it comes to public safety,” the statement from acting ICE Director Matthew Albence said.
The statement said the crimes committed by illegal immigrants who have been released from custody are “preventable,” and they affect “preventable victims.”
“All communities are safer when local law enforcement works with ICE,” the statement concluded.
Earlier this week, Barnes said, “SB 54 has made our community less safe.”
New York man attacked by MS-13, who was set to testify against them, found dead
The bludgeoned body of 36-year-old Wilmer Maldonado Rodriguez was found Sunday outside an abandoned home in New Cassel, the Nassau County Police Department announced Wednesday.
Investigators said Rodriguez in October 2018 came to the defense of two boys who were being threatened by the gang — only to be beaten with a bat and stabbed, according to Newsday.
Singas says prosecutors tried to keep Rodriguez’s identity secret by obtaining a protective order in December 2018.
But last December, ahead of looming changes to New York’s criminal justice system, including reforming the pre-trial discovery phase – during which prosecutors reveal evidence to the defense for preparation – the judge in the case issued a new order.
Exclusive – Families Told Soldiers Who Deployed to Middle East amid Iran Crisis Are Coming Home
The troops in question are elements of the 82nd Airborne who deployed to the Middle East on January 1, 2020, as part of an immediate reaction force.
Specifically, they include paratroopers who deployed as part of Task Force White Devils, as well as those attached to them.
No dates have been announced as to when they are expected home.
An 82nd Airborne spokesman said, “For operational security purpose we don’t talk about troop movements.”
California wants to scrap student-fitness tests because they treat boys and girls as boys and girls
The state uses FITNESSGRAM assessment recognized by the Obama administration, “which has six parts including timed running assessments, push-ups, curl-ups and ‘sit and reach’ stretches.”
California children actually do pretty well on it: About 60 percent of those tested score in the “healthy fitness zone” on aerobic capacity.
H.D. Palmer, spokesperson for [Gov. Gavin] Newsom’s Department of Finance, said the move comes after complaints from parents that the test is discriminatory to students with disabilities and to non-binary students, since it includes a Body Mass Index screening that offers only male or female options.
The Newsom administration suspects that the assessment – again, explicitly recognized by the Obama administration – runs counter to its mission of “[d]ispelling myths, breaking down stereotypes and improving school climate” by enabling “bullying” against transgender and special education students, Palmer said.
School Calls Police On 6-Year-Old Girl With Down Syndrome After She Made Finger-Gun Gesture At School
Margot Gaines’ mother says that in November her daughter was frustrated and gestured with finger guns at a teacher, saying “I shoot you.”
The Tredyffrin-Easttown School District in Pennsylvania opened a disciplinary investigation and concluded no one was in harm’s way, but the district still contacted the police.
Gaines went public in January, also contacting Pennsylvania state Senator Andrew Dinniman, who said in a statement that he was “alarmed that a school seems to be acting as an extension of the police department in promulgating data and records on children as young as kindergarteners.”
James Woods returns to Twitter, immediately goes on tirade against AOC, others
He immediately criticized Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s explanation of a popular, yet misunderstood U.S. phrase at a House Oversight subcommittee hearing on poverty earlier in the day.
Ocasio-Cortez spoke about the common expression “to pull yourself up by your bootstraps,” which is used to describe achieving success without any outside help.
“I’ve tried so hard this past year to live without the wealth of knowledge available on Twitter, but this kind of blazing insight can be found nowhere else, so… I’m back! #AOCStillAMoron,” he wrote.
4 Cruise Ship Passengers Taken to New Jersey Hospital After Coronavirus Screening
The Royal Caribbean cruise ship Anthem of the Seas docked in Bayonne. Approximately two dozen passengers of concern were screened, Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis said in a statement.
Four of those screened were taken to a hospital in the area “for further screening,” he said.
All other passengers were allowed off the ship.
At least one of the people transported from the ship was wheeled off on a stretcher, according to video footage.
Immigration:
House OKs bill letting illegal immigrants seek damages from employers
The Democrat-sponsored “Protecting the Right to Organize” (PRO) Act seeks to expand labor protections and boost unions across the board.
Like California’s controversial Assembly Bill 5, one of the PRO Act’s stated purposes is to end worker misclassification and stop employers from denying workers benefits by doing so.
It passed in a 224-194 vote, mostly along party lines.
But the bill has picked up plenty of support from 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls. Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., have all sponsored the Senate version of the legislation.
Tucker Carlson: Criminals would be protected from deportation under bill AOC and other House Democrats back
At this moment there is a bill pending in Congress called the New Way Forward Act. It’s received almost no publicity, which is unfortunate as well as revealing.
The legislation is sponsored by 44 House Democrats, including Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
At roughly 4,400 words, it’s almost exactly as long as the U.S. Constitution.
Like the Constitution, this legislation is designed to create a whole new country.
The bill would entirely remake our immigration system, with the explicit purpose of ensuring that criminals are able to move here, and settle here permanently, with impunity.
You may think we’re exaggerating for effect. We’re not – not even a little.
The New Way Forward act is the most radical single piece of legislation we’ve seen proposed in this country.
Tucker: Left downplaying MS-13 threat, making America less safe
Commentary/Opinion:
Immigrants who commit serious crimes allowed to stay in the U.S.
“House Bill New Way Forward”
Politics:
Mainstream media slam Trump post-acquittal speech as ‘vindictive’
Commentary/Opinion:
The press go as far to suggest that President Trump demonstrated ‘deep psychological distress’ during his White House address; reaction and analysis on ‘Outnumbered.’
Virginia poised to nix day honoring Robert E. Lee and make Election Day a state holiday instead
The bill, which passed this week after the Virginia Senate approved an identical bill last month, seeks to make Election Day a holiday. Elections are held the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, has expressed support for the legislation being pushed by the Democratic-controlled legislature and said allowing Virginians to have the day off would give them better access to the polls.
“We need to make Election Day a holiday,” Northam said during last month’s State of the Commonwealth speech. “We can do it by ending the Lee-Jackson holiday that Virginia holds … It commemorates a lost cause. It’s time to move on.”
Sanders ‘honored’ by radical Muslim who defended al-Qaida propagandist
“Abdul-Samad, a Des Moines Democrat, has served in the Iowa House of Representatives since 2007 and has been seen at campaign events for several candidates seeking the Democratic nomination, though he had so far not endorsed any of them,” the Des Moines Register reported Saturday about the endorsement.
“The candidate that resonated with me and that has come closest to my passion for justice in the world is Sen. Bernie Sanders,” Abdul-Samad said.
“I look forward to working with the senator and the team to continue addressing the issues that are not only dividing us here in America, but in the world.
The struggle is real. We can and must win!”
Sanders enthusiastically trumpeted the endorsement on Twitter:
A really good week for President Trump keeps getting better: 225,000 jobs added in January, crushing estimates
To top it off, on Friday, news came that the U.S. economy added 225,000 jobs in the month of January, beating economists’ estimates by 67,000 jobs.
The new numbers make the average monthly gain over the past three months to be 211,000 jobs.
Additionally, average hourly wages increased by a healthy 3.1%, slightly outpacing December’s annual rise of 3%.
This is good news for workers, said CNBC, adding that last month’s increase marks “18 consecutive months of wage gains above 3%.”
Wage growth was the missing ingredient to a strong job market that evaded the American economy in the decade following the recession.
Bloomberg will pay you $150 to say nice things about him on Instagram
In the latest round of “what will Mike Bloomberg buy next” (he has already been accused of buying his way into the presidential race) Bloomberg is offering $150 a pop to Instagram influencers willing to shill for his campaign on social media, according to the Daily Beast.
The Bloomberg campaign is using the social marketing agency Tribe to recruit influencers.
Tribe specializes in “drool-worthy, branded content” and works with 68,862 influencers according to its website.
According to the Daily Beast, the advert asks influencers to submit still images or videos using text to explain why the influencer supports “Mike” – and describes the billionaire as “a middle-class kid who worked his way through college”.
Appeals court rejects Democrats’ emoluments suit against Trump
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals decision did not address the legality of Trump’s business dealings, but held that the more than 200 Democratic senators and House members who banded together in 2017 to bring the suit against the president lacked legal standing to do so.
The unanimous ruling from an ideologically diverse three-judge panel suggested that if the House or Senate had formally authorized the suit, it would have been allowed to proceed, but the lawmakers acting as plaintiffs in the case did not have standing to pursue it on their own.
World News:
U.S. ‘deal of the century’, projections and implications – Jerusalem Studio 486
Commentary/Opinion:
When President Donald Trump unveiled his long-awaited vision for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, last week – it drew, as expected, both praise and criticism.
While Trump was given credit for trying to succeed where his predecessors failed; he was also faulted for various details of his so-called “Deal of the Century”.
Panel:
- Jonathan Hessen, host.
- Amir Oren, analyst.
- Dan Diker, Senior Fellow, Project on Political Warfare, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
- Dr. Fadi Essmaeel, Research Fellow, ICT/IDC.
Coronavirus: Hong Kong imposes quarantine rules on mainland Chinese
Visitors must isolate themselves in hotel rooms or go to government-run centres, while returning Hong Kong residents must stay inside their homes.
Anyone caught flouting the new rules faces a fine and a prison sentence.
Tens of thousands of travellers queued at the Chinese border city of Shenzhen ahead of the midnight deadline.
Outside China, 270 cases have been confirmed in at least 25 countries, with one other fatality – in the Philippines.
Commentary/Opinion:
Acquitted Forever
Democrats like to say that Trump is impeached forever.
Well I got some news for you guys. He’s been acquitted forever as well.
Check out Jason’s take on Pelosi ripping up Trump’s State of the Union Speech and what she might be up to.
Unborn Babies Are Children, Not a Choice
The left loves to say: Our bodies, our choice.
Before you make up your mind on abortion, here’s what you need to consider.