Smithfield Releases Debut Album, ‘Country with Heart’

Smithfield

I first heard the duo Smithfield in 2018 on Sirius XM’s The Highway when their song “Hey Whiskey” was a big hit. Comprised of vocalists Trey Smith and Jennifer Fielder, they are lifelong friends who grew up near each other.

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Supreme Court Rules South Carolina Did Not Racially Gerrymander Congressional District Map

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 Thursday that a lower court “clearly erred” when it held that South Carolina racially gerrymandered its congressional district map.

The majority held that the “circumstantial evidence falls far short of showing that race, not partisan preferences, drove the districting process” behind the creation of the map.

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Louisiana Abortion Pill Reclassification Bill Heads to Governor’s Desk

Jeff Landry

The Louisiana state Senate approved a bill on Thursday that would place two abortion pills on the state’s list of controlled dangerous substances, sending the legislation to the governor’s desk for his signature.

The state’s House of Representatives passed the bill on Tuesday, which could make possession of the drugs a crime punishable by jail time or a fine. Surgical and medical abortions are already illegal in the southern state except in extreme cases, meaning it is already difficult to obtain the drugs legally. But now the possession itself without a prescription could get an individual up to five years in prison.

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Northwestern University President Admits to Getting an ‘F’ from ADL with Combatting Antisemitism

Northwestern University President Michael Schill

Northwestern University President Michael Schill admitted Thursday that he got an “F” rating from the Anti-Defamation League during a back and forth between him and Rep. Elise Stafanik, R-N.Y. during a hearing to address antisemitism.

“Isn’t it also true that Northwestern earned an ‘F’ for your failure to respond and combat antisemitism and they called for your resignation?” Stefanik asked Schill.

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The Castro Family’s International Businesses Expand Throughout the World

Rogelio Singh Luque

An investigation published by Yucabyte and the investigative journalism outlet Armando.info revealed on Friday  a network of companies ranging from Mexico to Cuba, passing through Miami, with close ties to descendants of the Castro family, including Héctor Santana Castro, Sandro Castro and his cousin, the model Antonio “Tony” Castro.

According to the investigation, Hector Santana Castro,  great-nephew of Raúl and Fidel Castro,  would manage the family business in Europe through his law firm.

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New Bill Would Have Exposed Alleged Conflicts in Biden, Trump Presidencies

President Joe Biden and Donald Trump (composite image)

Both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have faced ongoing ethics questions in recent years, but a new bill seeks to bring any such problems to the surface much sooner.

A new bipartisan piece of legislation would require presidents and vice presidents to disclose gifts received, conflicts of interest, foreign financial dealings and more ethical gray areas within two years of taking office.

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Businesses Blast New Biden Rule Allowing Union Reps to Inspect Job Sites

Construction site

Business groups are pushing back against a new Biden administration rule that would allow third-parties, including union representatives, to accompany federal inspectors of job sites.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued the final rule earlier this year, but critics say the rule goes beyond safety needs and panders to unions and their recruitment efforts. The rule would apply even to job sites where workers have not unionized.

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Trump Fundraising Surges, Outraising Biden by $25 Million, Even as Trial Limits His Campaigning

Donald Trump

Amid an ongoing criminal trial that has largely limited his ability to campaign in-person, former President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee managed to out-fundraise President Joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee by a hefty margin in April.

Collectively, Trump and the RNC raised $76 million last month, including $50.5 million raised at a single event in Florida. By contrast, President Joe Biden and the DNC managed to raise a combined $51 million over the same period.

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Commentary: States Lead a Happy Title IX Revolt

Our Bodies Our Sports rally

American federalism is alive and well after all. On April 19, the Biden Education Department announced its disastrous new Title IX rule that guts due process and imposes gender ideology in educational institutions. Within days, however, officials from eight states publicly instructed their schools to ignore it. Then, within a week, 16 states sued the administration alongside nonprofit groups such as Parents Defending Education and several Louisiana school districts. Since then, the number of states suing has climbed to 26—more than half the states in the nation. Their court filings say the rule violates not only the United States Constitution and the federal Administrative Procedures Act but also Title IX itself. Game on!

While feminists weaponized Title IX to their hearts’ content in the Obama years, alleging a phony campus rape crisis to rationalize their kangaroo courts and to silence those questioning their power, the world is a different place under Biden. Feminists have met their match in American parents and and in red states—especially their education officials.

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Commentary: The Most Important Trait for Yale’s Next President Is Courage

Yale University campus

On August 31, 2023, Yale’s 23rd president, Peter Salovey, announced he would be stepping down. Since this announcement, much has transpired in the world of American higher education: the resignation of Harvard and UPenn presidents, the creation of campus encampments nationwide, and the cancelation of commencements at Columbia and USC. These developments point to an American higher education system that is malfunctioning. The breakdown we are witnessing at Yale’s peer institutions will continue until leaders are chosen for their courage to apply wisdom to divisive issues.

America’s Founders understood the importance of higher education. Of all his great accomplishments, only three made it onto Thomas Jefferson’s headstone: Author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statue of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and the father of the University of Virginia. Jefferson knew that America’s ability to be great and good – UVA’s motto – depended on the presence of high-functioning universities. America’s first polymath, Ben Franklin, famously said, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” Framers like Franklin and Jefferson understood the value of academic pursuits, and their example lit a spark that motivated generations of Americans to pursue higher education.

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Prosecution Exhibit List Gives Roadmap of Hunter Biden Trial with References to Influence Scheme

Hunter Biden in courtroom (composite image)

Hundreds of documents and records set to be included as exhibits in Hunter Biden’s California tax trial are designed to prove he violated U.S. tax law, but also include significant evidence previously reported by Just the News and others showing how the younger Biden received millions from foreign sources and which pointing to Joe Biden’s involvement in those deals.

The list, submitted in court by Special Counsel David Weiss, includes several tax documents to bolster the focus of his case, namely, that Hunter Biden’s wrongdoing is centered on tax violations.

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Illinois Recommends Bonuses to Colleges for Black, Hispanic Students

Black college students

Illinois soon could give bonuses to universities for enrolling African American and Hispanic students under a proposal by a state government commission.

The recommendation by the Illinois Commission on Equitable Public University Funding aims to address “the historic inequities” in education “especially among students from low-income households, students of color, students from rural communities, and working adults,” according to a news release.

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Commentary: Pharmacy Benefits Are Essential for Tennesseans’ Well-Being

In Tennessee, the battle to protect pharmacy benefits is not merely a matter of policy, but a battle to protect our country from unnecessary government overreach by the extreme Left. I am deeply troubled by recent attempts at the federal level that target pharmacy benefits and our free market – all in one swoop.

People across our state are already experiencing immense financial strain as they grapple with the soaring costs of inflation and prescriptions, and we need to advocate for policies that will effectively lower these prices through free market competition.

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Alan Dershowitz Commentary: I Was Inside the Court When the Judge Closed Trump’s Trial — What I Saw Shocked Me

I have observed and participated in trials throughout the world. I have seen justice and injustice in China, Russia, Ukraine, England, France, Italy, Israel, as well as in nearly 40 of our 50 states.

But in my 60 years as a lawyer and law professor, I have never seen a spectacle such as the one I observed sitting in the front row of the courthouse yesterday.

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Federal Judge Issues Blow to ICE over ‘Knock and Talks’ with Illegal Immigrants

ICE Officers

California-based federal judge ruled that the way Immigration and Customs Enforcement executes “knock and talks” – by walking up to the door of a home to speak with an occupant and carry out civil immigration arrests – is unconstitutional.

California Central District Judge Otis D. Wright II, an appointee of President George W. Bush, ruled last week that the practice of entering the area around a home for the purpose of arresting an occupant without a specific warrant or express consent through “knock and talks” violates the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

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Courts Finally Scrutinize COVID Vaccine Mandates as Religious Infringement

COVID Vaccine Protest

Three years after COVID-19 vaccines became widely available to adults – at which point the CDC already knew they couldn’t stop transmission – courts are finally starting to put their foot down on the most basic legal question: Are mandates at least applied fairly, if not scientifically?

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals not only knocked down the University of Colorado medical school’s original and revised 2021 mandates for discriminating against employees seeking religious exemptions, but knocked the trial judge for “abuse of discretion” by reversing the burden of proof to moot the case.

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Former GOP Republican Presidential Candidate Buys Activist Stake in Left-Wing Outlet

Vivek Ramaswamy

Former Republican presidential candidate and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy purchased an activist stake in BuzzFeed, according to a May Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Ramaswamy purchased a 7.7% stake consisting of 2.7 million shares between March 14 and May 21 at costs ranging from $1.47 to $2.51 per share, according to the filing. The businessman asserted in the filing that he feels the company’s shares are “undervalued and represent an attractive investment opportunity.”

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Lawmakers Press Investigation into DEI Agenda at the Pentagon

Rep. Glenn Grotham with Rep Jim Banks (composite image)

A coalition of lawmakers is pushing forward the ongoing investigation into just how much taxpayer money Pentagon officials are taking away from national defense and putting toward diversity, equity and inclusivity initiatives.

The Pentagon has been under increasing scrutiny for its focus on DEI, even as the Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Hamas wars continue.

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Federal Scholarship Program Under Fire for Alleged Bias Against Conservatives

College Students

Lawmakers have threatened to revoke the appropriations for a federally-funded scholarship program that an audit found favors liberally leaning students over conservatives by a ratio of 10 to 1.

The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation was established in the 1970s to award scholarships to students who “demonstrate outstanding potential for and who plan to pursue a career in public service.”

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Northwestern University May Have Broken Federal Law by Failing to Report Crimes During Anti-Israel Protests

Northwestern University student protesters

Northwestern University may have violated a federal law by failing to report crimes on campus at least five times during recent anti-Israel protests.

Northwestern appears to have violated a U.S. law called the Clery Act by not taking and publishing police reports from students who say they were assaulted, battered, stolen from, or witnessed crimes committed by anti-Israel protesters on campus. Failure to do so would allow the university to report lower crime numbers and portray a false picture of campus safety.

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Maricopa County and Arizona Sec. of State Censored 2020 Election Audit Hearing, Elected Officials

The Arizona secretary of state’s office and Maricopa County worked together to censor information about the state’s 2020 election audit of the county and reported elected officials’ posts to social media companies.

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Commentary: A Corrupt Establishment Demands a Loyalty Oath

A memo must have gone out. Because in several prominent newspapers, the same propaganda appeared at nearly the same time.

The Washington Post said, “Top Republicans, led by Trump, refuse to commit to accept 2024 election results.” The New York Times similarly intoned, “Leading Republicans have refused to say flatly that they will accept the outcome of the presidential election if Donald Trump loses.” Rolling Stone chastised a former presidential candidate: “Tim Scott Embraces Trump’s Election Denialism, Won’t Commit to Accept Results.”

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Summer Road Repairs Begin in Four Michigan Counties

Road Construction

The Michigan Department of Transportation will begin four new road repair projects this week in Dickinson, Jackson, Marquette and Ontonagon counties.

The projects are all expected to be completed by the end of the summer, and officials say will support an estimated 2,022 jobs across the state.

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Connecticut Released Illegal Immigrant Convicted of Killing Two Children Despite ICE Detainer

Connecticut law enforcement officials released an illegal immigrant convicted of killing two young children in a drunk driving accident, despite a detainer request lodged against him, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

ICE agents apprehended Israel Alejandro Gonzalez-Arcinega, a 40-year-old Mexican national convicted of two counts of manslaughter, illegal operation of a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and other crimes in Connecticut, the agency announced in a press release on Monday. ICE is blasting local officials in the state for releasing the noncitizen back into the community despite an immigration detainer placed on him.

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Biden Admin Expresses ‘Official Condolences’ for Death of Iranian President Who Was Dubbed the ‘Butcher Of Tehran’

Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi

The Biden administration on Monday expressed condolences for the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.

Raisi and several Iranian regime officials were killed in a helicopter crash in northern Iran over the weekend. Raisi, known as the “Butcher of Tehran,” oversaw aggressive foreign policies that increased tensions with the West and authoritarian domestic policies to repress and abuse the Iranian population, whom he was deeply unpopular with.

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Commentary: FBI Authorized Use of Deadly Force During Mar-a-Lago Raid

Merrick Garland

An exhibit filed today by Donald Trump in a motion to suppress evidence seized during the FBI’s August 2022 raid of Mar-a-Lago revealed shocking new details about the bureau’s plans to use deadly force and even engage the former president and his security detail that day if necessary. The document is just one of many court filings recently ordered unsealed by Judge Aileen Cannon, who is presiding over the matter in southern Florida.

In an August 3, 2022 operations order for “Plasmic Echo,” the FBI’s code name for the government’s investigation into Trump’s alleged mishandling of national defense material, FBI officials furnished instructions on to proceed with the unprecedented raid. “FBI [Washington Field Office] and FBI [Miami] agents and [Evidence Response Team] will effect a search of designated locations within Mar-a-Lago (MAL) to locate and seize classified information, NDI, and US Government records as described in captioned search warrant,” the document read.

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Celebrated Transgender Inmate Charged with Raping Female Months Before Judge Tossed Related Suit

U.S. District Judge Jennifer Thurston

Three days after a federal judge dismissed a challenge to a California law that lets inmates with intact male genitalia and hormone levels choose women’s prisons based on gender identity, prosecutors laid out their evidence for rape charges against an incarcerated male transferred under that law, whom the judge also allowed to intervene in defense of SB 132.

U.S. District Judge Jennifer Thurston “clearly didn’t know about this rape case coming through the state court system” going back to March, Executive Director Sharon Byrne of the Women’s Liberation Front, which sponsored the lawsuit by female inmates Janine Chandler, Krystal Gonzalez, Tomiekia Johnson and Nadia Romero, told Just the News on Monday.

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Commentary: Big Tech Wants to Crush Your Entire World and Trap You in Virtual Hell

Woman wearing Apple Vision Pro goggles

Apple’s recent ad for a new, thinner iPad featured a hydraulic press smashing everything the new gadget could supposedly replace: paints, musical instruments, a clay bust, arcade cabinets, record players, books.

The new iPad promises a future in which humanity has forgotten the whisper of the brush over the canvas, the vibration of a guitar string, the joy of finding a note tucked into an old used book, and the easy camaraderie of children cheering each other on as they take turns at a challenging arcade game. The craftsmanship that went into these objects is now obsolete. You don’t have to go anywhere, touch anything.

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Music Spotlight: Matt Oakley

Matt Oakley grew up around all kinds of music. His dad was a DJ in the military in Germany.

He recalled, “We always had those little boomboxes going and those old CD players that were like small oval-shaped. We have our home videos. And almost everyone, whether it was on a desk or a kitchen table, or me and my sisters dancing around, we were always around music. And in car rides, when we would go on road trips, we would play music trivia or play the song. The first person to get what the song is and who it’s by gets a point.”

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Major Pharmacy Chain Settles with Christian Nurse over Contraceptives Case

Robyn Strader

CVS Health Corporation settled with nurse practitioner Robyn Strader after she sued the company after it stopped providing religious accommodations regarding “pregnancy prevention services.”

Strader said she had been granted a religious exemption for six years permitting her to not prescribe contraceptives, and filed the lawsuit in January 2023 after having been fired following the policy change in 2021, according to the press release. First Liberty Institute, which represented Strader, announced Monday that CVS had agreed to a settlement of which the terms “were not made public.”

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GOP-Led House to Vote Wednesday on Blocking Non-Citizens from Voting in D.C. Local Elections

The GOP-led House is set to vote Wednesday on legislation to block non-citizens from voting in Washington, D.C. local elections.

The proposed bill would “prohibit individuals who are not citizens of the United States from voting in elections in the District of Columbia.”

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Portland Could Sent Its Soros-Backed DA Packing After Crime Surge

Mike Schmidt and Nathan Vasquez

Voters in Multnomah County, Oregon, which encompasses Portland and its surrounding area, could boot left-wing District Attorney Mike Schmidt on Tuesday.

Prosecutor Nathan Vasquez, a Republican-turned-independent who worksunder Schmidt, could oust the district attorney in the head-to-head nonpartisan primary if he secures over 50% of the vote. Schmidt would be the latest left-wing prosecutor, funded by groups linked to George Soros, to not secure another term after critics argued they were soft-on-crime.

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Michael Cohen’s Testimony Implodes on Prosecutors in New York Trial Against Trump

At the conclusion of key prosecution witness Michael Cohen’s testimony Monday in Donald Trump’s so-called “hush money” trial, jurors were left to ponder a litany of damaging statements that have further cut into Cohen’s credibility and likely made the prosecution’s case harder to prove.

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Experts Divided on Biden’s New Student Loan Forgiveness Plan

President Joe Biden

President Joe Biden’s new student loan forgiveness plan has legal experts divided, with some citing similar problems to his previous plan struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Biden administration’s Saving on a Valuable Education Plan is an income-based student loan repayment plan that provides full loan forgiveness in certain cases.

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Republicans Rip Biden Admin Use of ICE Program that ‘Failed’ to Properly Monitor Illegal Immigrants

Border Crossing

A group of House Republicans is asking federal authorities for answers on a program meant to monitor illegal immigrants throughout the U.S., arguing it has failed to properly track enrollees and has essentially become a “social services scheme.”

Republican Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, along with 15 other House Republicans, sent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Executive Associate Director Daniel Bible a list of questions on how the agency is managing the Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program in a Friday letter. The lawmakers asked for details on the number of available ICE detention beds, the rate of enrollees showing up to their removal proceedings and information on how these enrollees are supervised, among other questions.

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Media Blame Climate Change for Soaring Insurance Rates, but Data Doesn’t Support Narrative

A tornado touchdown in a neighborhood

Homeowners across the U.S. are seeing skyrocketing insurance rates, increased deductibles, excluded protections, and canceled policies.

Insurers say that they’re having to adjust to changing conditions to remain profitable. Among the problems they blame is inflation, rising construction costs, and costs associated with regulatory compliance. But many insurers are also blaming climate change for driving extreme weather events and increasing losses, and much of the media coverage is zooming in on this narrative.

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Commentary: Hispanics Are Shaping A New Conservative Majority

Hispanic Americans

A new conservative, America First movement is building–and leading the formation of this new governing philosophy are Hispanics yearning for the American Dream they came here to realize. They are shaping and leading a new conservative majority that builds on their shared values of faith, family, freedom, and work.

This rapid shift of Hispanics to the conservative movement has shaken the Left to its core, who for years pinned their political hopes on demographic destiny and the idea that the Hispanic community would be a permanent fixture of their base.

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Commentary: More Defensive Gun Uses Undermine Government Claims About Armed Civilians

Hand Gun

It should be painfully obvious to anyone paying attention that the Biden administration distrusts an armed civilian population and is willing to fudge the truth time and again to defend its untenable positions. But for those living blissfully unaware of the Biden administration’s animosity toward gun owners, it once again demonstrated its animosity in clear terms.

Earlier this month, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security accidentally said the quiet part out loud: It thinks that only the government really can be trusted with firearms, even when the government at issue is notoriously corrupt.

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Commentary: The Disgrace and Fall of the American Elite Campus

Police controlling anti-Israel campus protest

Anti-Israel/pro-Hamas campus protests have engulfed hundreds of college campuses. But the more coastal, blue-state, and supposedly elite the campus was, the more furious the violence that sometimes followed these demonstrations.

Even rowdier and more vicious street analogs shut down key bridges, freeways, and religious services. Protestors often defaced hallowed American monuments, national cemeteries, and iconic buildings. Visa-holders were among the worst perpetrators, adding ingratitude to their criminality.

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Rubio, Consumer Advocate Want Chinese Online Retailers Investigated

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio

Lawmakers and consumer advocates are calling for a federal investigation into online Chinese retailers Temu and Shein.

The companies have spent billions of dollars in online American advertising with social media companies such as Meta, parent of Facebook and Instagram, and Google. The probe is warranted, critics say, because of anti-competitive practices skirting U.S. trade and public safety regulations; alleged use of slave laborers to make products sold at cut-rate prices; and advertising targeting children, low-income families and older Americans.

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Federal Judge Blocks Biden ATF Rule Expanding Gun Background Checks

ATF Agents

A federal judge temporarily blocked a background check rule issued by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Sunday night.

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the rule covering background checks for firearms purchases April 10, claiming it was based on bipartisan legislation passed in the wake of a deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. United States District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk of the Northern District of Texas issued a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of the rule until June 2.

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Commentary: Congress Unveils Plan to Hold Entire Internet Hostage Annually to Extort Big Tech

Cathy McMorris Roberts anf Frank Pallone Jr

“It would require Big Tech and others to work with Congress over 18 months to evaluate and enact a new legal framework that will allow for free speech and innovation while also encouraging these companies to be good stewards of their platforms. Our bill gives Big Tech a choice: Work with Congress to ensure the internet is a safe, healthy place for good, or lose Section 230 protections entirely.”

That was House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.) in a May 12 oped in the Wall Street Journal outlining their proposed draft legislation, the “Section 230 Sunset Act,” that would end Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act protections on Dec. 31, 2025 for millions of interactive computer services, including websites, e-commerce stores and other small businesses.

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Biden Wants Companies to Disclose Climate Risks, Pilot Program Unreliable

Six major American financial institutions struggled to accurately assess the extent of their exposure to climate change and related risks, according to the Federal Reserve.

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No Signs of Life After Helicopter Carrying Iranian President and Other Top Officials Crashes

No signs of life were detected at the site of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s helicopter crash, according to state media. His helicopter, which was carrying other top Islamic Republic officials, crashed during rough weather.

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Julie Kelly Commentary: The Audacity of Merrick Garland

FBI agents last week arrested a man from Maine for his involvement in the events of January 6. According to a Department of Justice press release, Lincoln Deming spent about 30 minutes inside the building after entering through an open door with Capitol Police standing by. Deming faces numerous charges including civil disorder and the dreaded “parading” in the Capitol misdemeanor.

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