News and Headlines: In The News, Politics, World News, Commentary/Opinion.
In The News:
Kansas town named best place to raise a family
(The Center Square) – Overland Park, Kan., was named the best American city in which to raise a family, according to a new study by WalletHub.
The Kansas City suburb with 195,000 residents received an overall score of 72.5, receiving high marks for education and the top ranking for affordability.
The study compares 182 cities – the 150 most populous plus at least two of the most populated cities in each state – across five categories: family fun, health and safety, education, affordability and socioeconomics.
WalletHub then evaluated those categories using 48 metrics with weighted scores. Each metric is graded on a 100-point scale, with 100 representing the most favorable conditions.
‘Disgruntled’ firefighter shoots dead co-worker at Santa Clarita fire station before driving home, barricading himself inside, setting property alight and killing himself
He opened fire at Fire Station 81 in Santa Clarita on Tuesday at 10.55am, killing one firefighter and wounding another, before fleeing.
The shooter has not been named but he is a veteran firefighter who was described as a ‘disgruntled employee’.
It’s unclear when he left the fire department or why. Neither the victim nor the injured firefighter has been named.
Time to take back our streets from the criminals: Ted Williams
Former D.C. homicide detective Ted Williams argues citizens are suffering as cities see a crime surge amid calls to defund the police.
Objecting to critical race theory almost got this parent banned from his child’s graduation
Shawn McBreairty, a parent of twin girls, said he was banned from their graduation over objections to critical race theory being taught in their school, telling ‘The Faulkner Focus’ that ‘we need education, not indoctrination.’
Three Points of Perspective on COVID-19
The risks of COVID-19 spreading outdoors, children not having to wear masks outside, and the science behind it.
The three points of perspective on COVID-19, debunking the CDC rationale, and the new vaccine lottery rules in California.
Mike Slater discusses it all.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis bans transgender women and girls from school sports
The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act prohibits biological males from participating in athletic teams or sports designated for female students and requires that a student’s school or institution “request a certain health examination and consent form or other statement from the student’s health care provider to verify the student’s biological sex under certain circumstances.”
“The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act will empower Florida women & girls to be able to compete on a level playing field,” DeSantis tweeted Tuesday.
“This will help ensure that opportunities for things like college scholarships will be protected for female athletes for years to come.”
“We believe in the state of Florida of protecting the fairness and integrity of women’s athletics,” DeSantis said before signing the bill, according to WFLA. “I can tell you that in Florida, girls are going to play girls’ sports and boys are going to play boys’ sports.”
UPDATE: New York Times FILES MOTION FOR STAY of Discovery Process in Veritas’ Defamation Case
[WESTCHESTER, N.Y. – Jun. 1, 2021] Project Veritas Founder and CEO James O’Keefe issued a video response regarding the organization’s ongoing defamation lawsuit against The New York Times today, after the Old Gray Lady asked the court to delay the discovery process by filing a Motion to Stay.
Tesla none too happy that it will have to ship its Texas-made cars out of state in order to sell them to Texans
Musk cited California’s failing liberal policies that hamper successful businesses as well as the state’s refusal to allow Tesla’s factory to reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, Tesla is finding out that at least one Texas policy is keeping the auto manufacturer from capitalizing on selling the cars it will be building in the Lone Star State.
Musk cited California’s failing liberal policies that hamper successful businesses as well as the state’s refusal to allow Tesla’s factory to reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In order for a Texan to purchase a new Tesla, The Drive said, the company will have to ship the Texas-built vehicles out of state before selling and shipping back to Texas buyers.
FDA greenlights targeted therapy for lung cancer mutation
The accelerated approval stemmed from modeling and a study involving 124 lung cancer patients with the specific mutation. Researchers were assessing whether the treatment destroyed or reduced patients’ tumors and the duration of response.
Results indicated 36% of patients benefited from treatment and 58% saw responses lasting for at least six months.
The treatment was granted accelerated approval, and requires an additional trial to assess whether a lower dose could result in the same clinical effect.
Common side effects include diarrhea, musculoskeletal pain, nausea, fatigue, liver damage and cough, according to the FDA. Providers should halt treatment upon suspected interstitial lung disease, and end treatment if the disease is confirmed.
Amazon slammed for allowing ‘Blue Lives Murder’ apparel on site: ‘Dehumanizing and demoralizing’ for cops
Sutton, the founder and CEO of The Wounded Blue, an organization that provides support to officers injured or disabled in the line of duty, also explained the “real-world consequences” of Amazon selling the “Blue Lives Murder” apparel.
Sutton argued that the left has chosen what he called the “DDD strategy,” which he explained is defunding, demoralizing and dehumanizing the police and that by selling the merchandise, Amazon is feeding into that.
In a recent letter, the Detectives’ Endowment Association demanded Amazon stop selling the “disgusting” items, the New York Post reported, noting that the merchandise is now appearing on Amazon nearly one year after similar anti-police items first appeared on the website.
Bongino torches ’embarrassing’ mainstream media for covering up Hunter Biden, Wuhan lab stories
“The media is worse than Pravda. I mean at least Pravda, in the old Soviet Union, everybody understood it was a big scam,” Bongino told “Fox & Friends.”
Hunter Biden confirmed late last year that he is under federal investigation for his “tax affairs” surrounding his overseas business dealings. The FBI has since been in possession of his laptop.
Twitter and Facebook famously suppressed sharing of the New York Post’s original story about Hunter Biden’s laptop last year, in an unprecedented example of Big Tech censorship.
Bongino’s comments came after the New York Post blasted the media for failing to the events surrounding Hunter Biden’s entanglement with a Ukrainian gas company in which President Biden apparently profited off of his son’s relationship with the entity during his tenure in the Obama administration.
3 killed, at least 34 wounded over Memorial Day weekend in Chicago. South Side hit hardest by gun violence
While the overall tally was the same as in 2018, this past weekend was less deadly than three years ago when seven were killed and 30 others wounded. Last year, 10 people were shot dead and 39 others wounded over the holiday weekend.
In preparation for the weekend, the Chicago Police Department canceled days off and put officers on 12-hour shifts. Community groups also fanned out across the city to draw people out of the line of fire.
Statistics released by Chicago police show the number of shooting victims has risen 24% over the same period last year. Through the end of May, 1,386 people have been shot in Chicago, a jump from 1,116 during the same time in 2020.
Murders have risen 5% compared to 2020, with the police department reporting 252 murders so far this year.
Nolte: Blacks Murdered at ‘Near-Historic Rates’ in Democrat-Run Portland
“Portland is a White city, overwhelmingly so — African Americans account for just 6 percent of the population,” the Post writes. “But it is Black people … who are dying at near-historic rates and filling churches with grief.”
By the end of April, the Portland police reported more than twice the number of shootings (348) as those reported during this same time in 2020.
If anything is contributing to the ongoing riots and exploding violence in Portland it’s that the city’s new district attorney, who won 77 percent of the vote, chose not to pursues cases against some 550 charged with interfering with police officers during last year’s riots and protests.
Asian woman randomly slugged in the face outside NYC restaurant
Twitter.
Surveillance video posted on Twitter by Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou, whose district covers Chinatown, captured the horrifying daytime assault on Bayard Street, near Mott Street.
The 55-year-old victim can be seen walking by the Kong Sihk Tong café around 6:15 p.m. — when a man in an orange hoodie and denim jacket whacks her unprovoked.
The woman falls backward onto the pavement, and the attacker begins ranting as two people dining outside sit in stunned silence, the footage shows.
A man then rushes over to check on the victim, whose back was leaning up against a column of the eatery’s outdoor dining setup.
San Francisco cop rescued by bystanders after brazen attack caught on video
The Asian officer responded to a call about an individual who was making racially motivated threats.
The suspect was identified by police as Gerardo Contreras, 33, according to reports.
Surveillance video shows the officer ordering the man in the video to put his hands on his head.
The man appears to comply, but when asked if he had any weapons in his possession, he becomes violent, the video appears to show.
Fmr. Minn. BLM Leader Reveals ‘Ugly Truth’ Behind Movement
A former Black Lives Matter leader explains why he decided to leave the movement. One America’s Zach Petersen has more.
Politics:
Michigan Court of Appeals approves recall petitions for Whitmer, Gilchrist; uphill battle remains
The petitions allege Whitmer exceeded her authority in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic, which included extending a promised “15-day pause” of indoor dining to 75 days, as well as other wide-ranging economic restrictions.
Petitioner Chad Baase’s recall alleges Whitmer violated the separations of powers clause in the Constitution when the Michigan Supreme Court on Oct. 2. tossed many of her orders, yet she continued issuing orders through the state health department. He contends Michigan’s leaders haven’t been held accountable.
“Gretchen Whitmer’s continued actions which show an ‘It’s OK for me but not for thee’ mentality is not the Mentality of an Effective Leader to bring Success and Growth to Michigan,” Baase told The Center Square in an email.
Whitmer and Gilchrist had argued that the challenged petitions did not “adequately describe the authorities cited as reasons for the recall.”
Russia, China, and Coups
Former Deputy National Security Advisor to President Trump, KT McFarland joins us to talk about President Biden’s response to Russia and China and Michael Flynn’s alleged comments about a Myanmar-style coup in the US.
GOP Senators Fight Against Democrat Attempts To Weaponize IRS
This came in response to Obama-era practices of agents targeting people who donate to conservative leaning organizations. Additionally, it blocks provisions of the For the People Act that they said would make the IRS and Federal Election Commission (FEC) weapons of the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
According to reports, the majority of the GOP caucus led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) are trying to pass the Don’t Weaponize the IRS Act. The bill aims to prevent the agency from doxing donors to non-profits of all ideologies.
While nearly all GOP senators have supported the bill, no Democrats have signaled their support for the legislation.
Now it’s Texas’ turn to face RIDICULOUS voting bill backlash from Democrats
Commentary/Opinion:
First Georgia faced extreme backlash from the Democrats, and now it’s the Lone Star State’s turn.
Well, almost their turn…because while Texas Republicans TRIED to pass new voting legislation, Democrats WALKED OUT to avoid the vote altogether.
This time, Democrats say the bill is racist because it keeps early voting polls closed on Sundays until 1 o’clock — to allow for poll workers to attend church.
Glenn and Stu explain why the backlash is just another RIDICULOUS display of hypocrisy from the left…
Matt Gaetz Takes Aim At Liz Cheney, George W. Bush, Mitt Romney At Ohio Political Summit
Speaking at the Ohio Political Summit, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) took aim at familiar targets in the GOP “establishment,” calling them out over foreign and immigration policy.
Democratic radical left treats anti-Semitism with double standard compared to other hate crimes: activist
Hikind said many victims were scared to report incidents to the police out of fear their names would eventually become public – putting them at risk of future harassment.
“I think that’s part of the problem with social media. People are being intimidated, threatened,” Hikind said.
“When you start getting threatened and you go public and you say things, and the next thing your life is being threatened with the nastiest things on social media. It creates even more fear.”
Hikind said the political left – namely Reps. Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Sen. Bernie Sanders among others – are controlling the agenda of the Democratic Party, whereas “a lot of other so-called decent people are missing in action.”
Jewish members of Congress such as Rep. Jerrold Nadler and Sen. Chuck Schumer have remained silent and might be intimated by the left, he speculated.
Vandals Deface Republican Nancy Mace’s House on Memorial Day with Profanity, Antifa Symbols
Mace explained her frustration over the event:
We should all be able to feel safe in our own homes, regardless of our political beliefs. I sincerely appreciate law enforcement doing all they can to find the criminal trespassers.
This is the 2nd time I’ve been targeted for vandalism in the last few months.
There is a significant difference between nonviolent protests and criminal acts of intimidation and vandalism. I’m concerned, too, for my neighbors who’ve been impacted by this appalling criminal behavior.
Barack Obama: Joe Biden ‘Finishing the Job’ with My Former Staff’
“I think that what we’re seeing now, is Joe and the administration are essentially finishing the job,” he said in an interview with New York Times columnist Ezra Klein.
“And I think it’ll be an interesting test. Ninety percent of the folks who were there in my administration, they are continuing and building on the policies we talked about…”
“I think we’re now in an environment where if we just get some big pieces in place, building on what we did before, people will notice,” Obama said. “And it will have a political impact.”
Report: Ariz. Auditors Hand Count 1M Ballots
Arizona ballot counters make headway in their quest to uphold election integrity. One America’s Christina Bobb has more from Phoenix.
World News:
Turkey to send Russian missile experts home in signal to Biden
But Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who said the system would be under Turkish control when the experts left, reiterated Ankara would not budge on Washington’s broader demand to get rid of the missiles in order for related U.S. sanctions to be lifted.
“The S-400s will be under our 100% control. We’ve sent many technicians for training.
The Russian military experts won’t stay in Turkey,” Cavusoglu said on a visit to Greece, state-run TRT television reported Monday.
But he rejected U.S. calls on Turkey not to activate the missiles. “It is not possible to accept calls from another country to “not use” them,” he said.
China confirms first human case of H10N3 bird flu strain
A 41-year-old man in China’s eastern province of Jiangsu has been confirmed as the first human case of infection with the H10N3 strain of bird flu, although health officials in China said the risk of large-scale spread remained low.
The man, a resident of the city of Zhenjiang, went to hospital on 28 April after developing a fever and other symptoms, China’s national health commission said.
He was diagnosed as having the H10N3 avian influenza virus on 28 May, the commission said though it did not give details about how the man had been infected with the virus.
Iran Rearming Hamas with ‘Thousands of New Rockets’
Following a two-week-long war with Israel this month in which Hamas and other terror groups bombarded the Jewish state with missiles funded and provided by Iran, Hamas is moving to restock its weapons cache.
“With the end of the Israeli regime’s latest aggression, the Palestinian resistance has resumed the process of rocket production,” Fathi Hamad, a member of Hamas’s politburo, was quoted as saying over the Memorial Day weekend by Iran’s state-run Fars News Agency.
“Our factories and workshops have restarted producing thousands of rockets to stop [Israeli prime minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s intransigence in Al-Quds [Jerusalem] and Tel Aviv.”
Hamas leaders also said that despite the current calm between the sides, “This war will last forever.”
Israel won’t hesitate vs Iran; Egypt works to secure long-term ceasefire – TV7 Israel News 01.06.21
1) Mossad Director Yossi Cohen says his intelligence agency shook Iran’s “personal confidence and arrogance” and exposed its nuclear weapon aspirations.
2) The International Atomic Energy Agency warns of Tehran’s refusal to provide truthful answers about undeclared nuclear materials affects the ability of the Agency to provide assurance of the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program
3) Egypt is making relentless efforts to guarantee a long-lasting ceasefire arrangement between Israel and the Islamist organizations in the Gaza Strip.
Russia arrests ex-opposition leader on plane
A former director of opposition group Open Russia has been removed from a plane in St. Petersburg and arrested, a monitoring group reported on Tuesday. Edward Baran reports.
Cyberattack hits world’s largest meat supplier
JBS is also Australia’s largest meat and food processing company, with 47 facilities across the country including abattoirs, feedlots and meat processing sites. JBS employs around 11,000 people.
JBS USA said in a statement from Greeley, Colorado, on Monday that it was the target on Sunday of an “organized cybersecurity attack” affecting some of its servers supporting its North American and Australian IT systems.
Littleproud said it was too early to say whether it was a ransomware attack or who might be responsible.
Australian staff learned of the attack when they were turned away from their workplaces on Monday.
Chinese seafood company banned over forced labor; China announces families can have three children
Beijing now allows couples to have up to three children. But the major policy shift is seeing mixed reactions.
Questions circulate surrounding the pandemic lab leak theory. A video captures scientists at Wuhan’s Virology institute using lax safety precautions.
Hong Kong democracy figure Jimmy Lai and other activists are getting extra prison time. That’s as authorities attempt to stop a long-time Hong Kong tradition, honoring the Tiananmen Square massacre.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seize 30,000 Chinese-made necklaces. The makers claim they can protect people from the virus. But American authorities say they could actually poison people.
And the family members of a Chinese dissident based in Australia may face punishment in China. Beijing is looking to silence the man by using his child as collateral.
Commentary/Opinion:
Has BLM Accomplished ANYTHING For The Black Community? Will & Amala Live
Activists are often more motivated by power than by peace.
Why There are Now So Many Shortages (It’s Not COVID)
Roundabouts are “safer. They save lives. They cost less!” Carmel, Indiana mayor Jim Brainard explains.
Roundabouts vs Traffic Lights
He’s replaced nearly every stoplight in his town with a roundabout. His town now accounts for about 2% of all roundabouts in America.
Roundabouts are safer. A study in Wisconsin found that when roundabouts replaced typical intersections, deaths fell 38%.
Crashes actually rose 12%, but they were more minor crashes.
“Instead of a T-bone, you get a sideswipe,” Brainard explains.
Roundabouts pass cars through intersections faster, they look nicer, save tax money, and pollute less.
Yet America’s politicians have been slow to adopt them. Europe has about 200,000 roundabouts — compared to America’s roughly 6,000.
Why so slow? I ask Jim Brainard in the video above.