Report: A Majority of Border Crossings Occur in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley

Border officials reported that most encounters with migrants illegally entering the U.S. occurred in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, according to Customs and Border Protection data.

Immigration officials encountered 441,855 migrants in the Rio Grande Valley sector between January and August 2021, according to CBP data. More than 1.3 million migrants have been encountered at the southern border since January, according to CBP.

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Commentary: America’s Universities Are Learning the Legal Costs of Wokeness

As they reel from revenue losses connected to the pandemic, many colleges and universities are racking up other costs not likely to turn up in their glossy brochures or as line items on staggering tuition bills: untold millions of dollars in legal fees and settlements for allegedly violating the rights of students, professors, and applicants on free speech, admissions and other matters as the schools pursue social justice causes.

Harvard University’s legal costs fighting a continuing 2017 challenge to its racial admissions practices have surpassed $25 million, the cap of its primary insurer, and it is now suing a secondary legal insurer, the Zurich American Insurance Company, over its refusal to pick up the tab going forward.

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Florida Mom Calls for ‘Mass Exodus’ from Public Schools to Fight Indoctrination in the Classroom

A Florida mom called for a “mass exodus” from the public school system as the “only thing” left to do to fight indoctrination in public schools during a Family Research Council event Thursday.

The event, titled “Fighting Indoctrination on a National Scale,” from the annual Pray Vote Stand Summit in Leesburg, Virginia, featured remarks from Quisha King, who works for Moms for Liberty and drew national attention in June for comments she made in opposition to Critical Race Theory (CRT).

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Biden’s Vaccine Mandate Depends on Occupational Safety and Health Act Emergency Regulation

woman with a hard hat and safety glasses on

President Joe Biden is using what one court opinion called “the most dramatic weapon in OSHA’s enforcement arsenal” to back up his COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employers with 100 or more workers. 

But relying on this bureaucratic weapon could be a risky strategy in the face of litigation threats, since courts have struck down all or part of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s emergency regulations in four of the six legal challenges so far. 

Biden mentioned OSHA’s role Thursday in a speech promoting the need for Americans to get COVID-19 vaccinations during a trip to Elk Grove Village, Illinois, near Chicago. 

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Biden Continues Vaccine Push Even as Data Shows More Americans Have Died with COVID So Far in 2021 Than Died in 2020

The Biden regime continues to use coercive tactics to get “the vast majority” of Americans vaccinated, even though the data suggests that the vaccines have done more harm than good.

More Americans have died with COVID-19 under Joe Biden’s watch than during the first year of the pandemic under President Donald Trump, data from John Hopkins University show.

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Texas School Shooter Released on Bail One Day After Mass Shooting

A Texas high school student who opened fire on his campus and wounded four people has been released on bail the day after he carried out his shooting, as reported by the New York Post.

Timothy Simpkins, an 18-year-old African-American student of Timberview High School in Arlington, Texas, was on the run for a brief period of time after committing the shooting yesterday, with the story drawing national attention for several hours. He eventually turned himself in, accompanied by his lawyer, after an extensive manhunt.

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Vaccine Mandate Enforcement Threatens to Create a Second Economic Crisis

President Joe Biden announced a vaccine mandate on Sept. 9, causing experts to debate the potential economic impact of the rule.

Biden directed the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to create a rule requiring businesses with 100 or more employees to require that employees get vaccinated or undergo weekly testing.

The new mandate would affect roughly 100 million Americans, specifically private employees, health care workers and federal contractors who have yet to receive a vaccine, the Daily Caller reported.

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Hunter Biden Makes $375,000 off His Latest Paintings

Last month, Hunter Biden sold five prints of his latest artwork for $75,000 a piece, netting him another $375,000, as he plans to debut an art show next year, the New York Post reports.

Biden’s prints were sold out of the Georges Berges Gallery in New York City in September, according to an anonymous source. The unidentified individual said that, although the exact identities of the buyers are unknown, they are most likely “private collectors with the gallery,” and “people that Berges knows personally.”

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Commentary: Merrick Garland’s Disdain for Middle America

Are you upset that school officials force your kids to mask outdoors and teach them to hate themselves because of their skin color? You might be a terrorist, according to the Department of Justice.

Attorney General Merrick Garland this week issued a memo directing his agency to investigate and counter alleged threats to school board officials and teachers. The memo was prompted by spirited protests happening at school board meetings across the country. Parents are fed up with left-leaning bureaucrats and their insidious ideas for kids. It’s no surprise some parents get very passionate about these issues—it’s their own kids they’re trying to protect.

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Minnesota Lawsuit Forces Company to Accept Blood Donations from Transgender People

The recently announced outcome of a Minnesota lawsuit forces one of the nation’s largest plasma companies to accept blood from transgender donors who were previously considered too high risk.

CSL Plasma is one of three companies that are responsible for collecting over 75% of the total plasma donated in the U.S. For decades, the FDA has recommended caution when collecting blood and plasma from men who have sex with other men, as these individuals pose a higher than average risk of transmitting bloodborne diseases like AIDS. CSL apparently adhered to this guidance by not collecting plasma from biological men who identify as transgender women or nonbinary people, since these individuals are likely to engage in sexual relationships with other men.

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Trump to Hold Weekend Rally in Key Balloting State Iowa

Donald Trump

Former President Trump is scheduled to host a rally Saturday evening in key presidential balloting state Iowa, a move considered another significant sign that he’ll seek reelection again in 2024.

The Iowa Cause is the first-in-nation balloting in each presidential election cycle, with the Republican and Democratic winner of the balloting getting an early lead on the field of candidates, toward winning the respective party nomination.

The turnout and crowd reaction at the rally is also expected to be a good indication on whether Trump’s support extends beyond loyalists and into the more traditional GOP base.

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Commentary: McAuliffe’s War on Parents

Former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe thought his run at a second non-consecutive term for Virginia’s executive mansion would be a cake-walk. It would no doubt set him up for a serious run for president in 2024 or 2028. And why not? Virginia Democrats have won 14 statewide races in a row dating back to 2012 by ever increasing margins. VA DEMS won a House of Delegates majority in 2019, just three years after Republicans commanded a super-majority. They also captured the state senate in 2019. 

Republicans nominated an unknown business executive with no political experience, Glenn Youngkin for governor after a very contentious caucus selection process. McAuliffe meanwhile eviscerated several up and coming African-American candidates in a blow-out primary win. 

With all the money he could ever spend in a blue state that now rivals California, what could go wrong? 

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Georgia Gov. Kemp, Others Bash IRS Monitoring Plan as ‘Invasion of Privacy’

Gov. Brian Kemp and Georgia’s business and banking community are pushing back against a federal proposal that would allow the IRS to monitor bank accounts with more than $600.

The plan is part of Democrats’ $3.5 trillion spending bill currently being considered in Congress. Kemp and leaders of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Bankers Association said it violates most Georgians’ privacy.

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U.S. Economy Added 194,000 Jobs in September, Badly Missing Expectations

Person using a laptop, pointing to the screen

The U.S. economy reported an increase of 194,000 jobs in September, and the unemployment rate fell to 4.8%, according to Department of Labor statistics.

The number of unemployed people fell by 710,000 to 7.7  million, according to the Department of Labor statistics released Friday.   Economists projected that employers created 500,000f jobs in September, more than double the figure in August, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Despite the spike in employment, the labor market remains thin due to the pandemic, and job growth earlier in the year was considerably stronger, according to the WSJ.

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U.S. Projects Global Emissions Will Continue to Rise Rapidly Through 2050 Despite Shift to Renewables

The federal government released its annual international energy projection Wednesday, and the projection showed global emissions will increase by about 25% over 2020 levels by 2050.

While regional policies are expected to decrease emission intensity, or the rate of pollution relative to the energy produced, emissions will continue to increase due to the growth of developing nations, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported. The 38 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries will see a 5% growth in emissions by 2050, but non-members will produce 35% more emissions in that same time span.

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Several Dozen Killed in Friday Suicide Bombing at Afghan Mosque

Afghanistan mosque

Several dozen worshippers were killed Friday in a suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in Afghanistan’s northern city of Kunduz. The attack is the deadliest in the country since U.S. forces completely withdrew from the region in late August.

It is not yet confirmed which group is responsible for the attack, though it displayed key elements of those carried out by the Islamic State-Khorasan Province, an Islamic State regional affiliate that has targeted Shiite civilians in the past.

The attack was conducted at about 1 p.m. local time as weekly mosque-goers were attending a sermon. A spokesman for the provincial government reported that at least 46 people were killed, though that figure is expected to rise significantly. Hundreds of patients in critical condition were admitted to local hospitals following the blast.

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Manchin Condemns Schumer’s GOP Bash After Parties Compromise on Debt Limit, Says ‘Civility Is Gone’

Joe Manchin

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin was once again at odd with his party Thursday evening, as fellow Democrat and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer laid into his GOP colleagues during a floor speech following a vote to approve legislation that would temporarily raise the debt ceiling.

“Republicans played a dangerous and risky partisan game, and I am glad that their brinksmanship did not work,” said Schumer, beginning a series of remarks that would target his colleagues across the aisle, including 11 of whom voted to end debate on the debt ceiling measure, allowing for the full vote to happen.

Manchin, who could be seen seated direct behind Schumer, as the New York lawmaker made his remarks, appeared at first to be shaking his head disapprovingly before placing his head in his hands.

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Poll: A Majority of Americans Think Misinformation Is a Problem

The majority of Americans believe U.S. politicians and social media companies spread more misinformation than any foreign government, including adversaries like China and Russia, according to a new poll.

The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll, released Friday, found that about 75% of Americans believed politicians in the U.S., social media companies and social media users are the biggest drivers of misinformation. Just under half of respondents, however, thought that the U.S. government was responsible for misinformation, while just over half said the same for Russia and China.

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Commentary: January 6th Defendants and the Court of Public Opinion

Capitol Riot

George Tanios’ fiancée encouraged him to go to Washington on January 6 to hear President Trump’s speech. “You’re gonna regret it if you don’t go,” she said, hoping he could take a break from working 100-hours-a-week to run his popular sandwich shop in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Tanios and I both laughed after he told me that during a two-hour interview this week. (I was in contact with his fiancée, Amanda, as she cared for their three young children while he was incarcerated for five months.)

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Poll: 44 Percent of Republicans Want a Trump Presidential Bid in 2024

Donald Trump smiling

A Wednesday Pew Research Center poll found that nearly half of Republicans would like to see former President Donald Trump launch another presidential bid in 2024.

At least 44% of Republicans stated they would like to see Trump start a second presidential campaign in 2024. Furthermore, 67% of Republicans would like to see Trump remain a major political figure “for many years to come,” according to the poll.

Of the 67% of Republicans who want Trump to maintain his status as a major political figure, 22% stated they would rather Trump use his influence “to support another presidential candidate who shared his views in the 2024 election rather than run for office himself,” according to the poll. The poll also showed that 32% of Republicans would prefer Trump not “remain a national political figure for many years to come.”

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Federal Appeals Court Temporarily Reinstates Texas Abortion Law

A federal appeals court on Friday night temporarily reinstated Texas’ restrictive abortion law, staying a preliminary injunction granted earlier this week by a federal judge who sought to block the law.

The ruling by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday night handed a win to anti-abortion advocates and lawmakers in Texas who have sought to prohibit most abortions after six weeks of conception.

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Colorado Hospital Denies Kidney Transplant for Unvaccinated Patient

On Tuesday, the University of Colorado’s hospital system declared that it will no longer allow organ transplants for patients who have not yet received the coronavirus vaccine, as reported by The Daily Caller.

The decision was made after it was revealed that patient Leilani Lutali, who is currently on the system’s kidney transplant list, has not been vaccinated. Her would-be donor, Jamie Fougner, is also unvaccinated.

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Afghan Father Who Helped U.S. Forces Sues Feds for Not Saving His Sons Stranded In Afghanistan

aerial view of Kabul

An Afghan father and ally to American military operations in the country sued the U.S. in an effort to reunite with his two sons who are in hiding in Afghanistan, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.

Mohammad decided to request asylum in the U.S. after the Taliban sent a death threat to his home in Afghanistan where his wife and two sons were in 2019, according to the AP. He petitioned for visas for his wife and children before she died of a heart attack in 2020, forcing his sons to go into hiding with their grandmother and uncle.

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Commentary: Real Estate Scams Are on the Rise as the Housing Market Remains Hot

When Jeff, a retired marketing consultant from Chicago, was closing on his home sale, he received a new set of instructions at the last minute on where to send several thousand dollars in closing expenses. At first blush, the email looked legit with an official-looking logo and professional language specifying the amount owed and itemized expenses. But one thing caught his eye: The email address looked strange. Just to be safe, he called his mortgage broker.

“Don’t do that!” his broker told him in an alarmed voice. It was a scam. If he hit “send,” his closing fees would go to a thief who had been monitoring his emails. “I was a keystroke away from losing thousands of dollars,” Jeff recalled.

As the housing market sizzles across the country – with nearly 6 million homes bought last year – scammers have been finding new ways to tap into this once-secure market. Real estate transactions still demand reams of paperwork and regulations involving lawyers, brokers, title insurance companies and banks, but the fact that much of this work now takes place online gives thieves countless opportunities to exploit vulnerable buyers. Last year, more than 11,000 homeowners were scammed out of more than $220 million in closing funds alone, according to the American Land and Title Association, a trade group that represents professionals who perform property transactions.

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Biden Administration Downplays Rising Energy Prices, Says ‘Climate Crisis’ Is More Important

The White House downplayed surging energy prices in the U.S. and worldwide on Wednesday, arguing that the climate crisis was more important.

“Certainly, we all want to keep gasoline prices low, but the threat of the crisis — the climate crisis — certainly can’t wait any longer,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Wednesday.

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Report: America’s Top 25 Private Schools Are Pushing Anti-Racism, ‘Equity’ Initiatives

A website that tracks critical race theory (CRT) in K-12 schools and higher education institutions released a study Monday that shows CRT, “equity” and other initiatives are being pushed at the U.S.’ top 25 elite private schools, according to a database compiled by CriticalRace.org.

Some of the schools “have embraced CRT explicitly, while others have a continuum of programming, such as ‘antiracism,’ ‘equity,’ and ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ that does not easily fit into a Yes/No construct,” according to the CriticalRace.org database. The database found that seven of the 25 schools has a mandatory form of anti-racism training, while 20 of the 25 schools had some type of anti-racism, CRT or diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) requirement.

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Snapchat Tries to Stop Users from Buying Fentanyl on Its Platform, but It’s ‘Too Little Too Late’ for Some

Snapchat is putting in place new safety measures to try and stop young users buying and selling fentanyl on its platform, the company announced Thursday.

The company unveiled an in-app education portal called “Heads Up” in a blog post Thursday designed to provide young users with information from substance abuse advocacy groups including Song for Charlie, Shatterproof, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration on the dangers of fentanyl. Snapchat also said it is planning on adding health information from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention in the coming weeks.

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Music Spotlight: The Woods

Nashville, Tennessee – The Woods comprised of Raquel Cole, Dan O’Rourke, Leland Rooney are all incredible musicians, songwriters, and singers in their own right – and when they come together the sound is truly magical – think Little Big Town meets Midland. After hearing them play together at the Analog Room in the Hutton Hotel, I wanted to find out how this eclectic and diverse trio discovered each other.

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Senate GOP Releases Post-Election Report on Trump-Justice Dept, Contradicting Findings from Dems

Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday released their review of President Trump’s management of the Justice Department after the 2020 presidential election, concluding the former president’s fears about election fraud were based on “legitimate concerns” – one day after Democrats who lead the chamber said their findings show Trump tried to install a loyalist atop the agency to investigate unfounded fraud claims.

The GOP’s 140-page review, titled, “In their own words: A factual summary of testimony from senior Justice Department officials related to the events from December 14, 2020, to January 3, 2021” offers starkly different conclusions from those reached by chamber Democrats.

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Federal Judge Sides with Biden Admin, Halts Texas Abortion Law

A federal judge has halted the enforcement of Texas’ Heartbeat Act, which banned abortions in the state after a baby’s heartbeat can be detected.

“It is ordered that the State of Texas, including its officers, officials, agents, employees and any other persons or entities acting on its behalf, are preliminarily enjoined from enforcing Texas Health and Safety Code,” Judge Robert L. Pitman wrote in his 113-page ruling, The New York Times reported.

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Jobless Claims Drop to 326,000

The number of Americans filing new unemployment claims decreased to 326,000 last week as the economy continues to slowly recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and pandemic-related unemployment benefits wind down.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics figure released Thursday shows a 38,000 claim decrease in the number of new jobless claims compared to the week ending Oct. 2, when 364,000 jobless claims were reported.

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Commentary: The Collectivist Presumption Against Parents

Like religion, the traditional family poses a rival authority to liberalism’s arrogant conception of the state. Consequently, liberals view religious freedom and parental authority with suspicion and often hostility. Liberals are keenly aware that the fulfillment of their statist goals — pushing propaganda about abortion, transgenderism, critical race theory, socialism, and so on — depends upon isolating children from the influences of religion and family.

It is this view that drives liberalism’s opposition to parental consent and notification laws and its distaste for private education and homeschooling. Last year, a Harvard law professor argued for a ban on homeschooling, saying that it represents a danger to a “democratic society.”

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American Students from California Still Trapped in Afghanistan

Almost two months after the Taliban seized control of the nation of Afghanistan, dozens of American students and their relatives remain stuck in the nation that is now controlled by enemy forces, and with no more American military forces remaining, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The majority of the students are from the Sacramento area of California. The Times’ Justin Ray says that his investigations have led him to believe that there are still “dozens” of families still trapped in Afghanistan, with 38 students among them. The students are all from the San Juan Unified School District.

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Social Justice Groups Demand Netflix Pull Down Dave Chappelle Special over ‘Anti-Trans’ Content

Social justice groups are up in arms Thursday over what they have labeled “anti-transgender” bigotry from comedian Dave Chappelle, who recently released a new Netflix special called “The Closer.” 

In part of his standup routine, he discusses cancel culture, and how author J.K. Rowling was “cancelled” for an essay she wrote defending the idea of biological sex. For that, she was labeled a “Trans-exclusionary Radical Feminist” (TERF).

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Secretary Mayorkas Said Investigation into Border Patrol ‘Whipping’ Migrants Would Be Finished Weeks Ago

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said an investigation into the Border Patrol agents seen allegedly “whipping” migrants in Del Rio, Texas, would be completed in “days, not weeks,” and the two-week mark just passed, The Hill reported on Wednesday.

Mayorkas promised to investigate the incident in “a matter of days, not weeks” on Sept. 22, but the agency said the review was ongoing two weeks after his remarks, according to The Hill.

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World Renowned Psychiatrist: ‘Global Predators’ Fauci, Gates, Schwab Behind the COVID ‘Reign of Terror’

People walking in airport

A world renowned psychiatrist says that an evil cabal of powerful elites, including, NIAID Director Anthony Fauci, tech billionaire Bill Gates, and World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab, created the COVID pandemic to push the deadly vaccines on an unsuspecting public, and usher in a new world order.

The United States government began its vaccine rollout by enticing people to get the experimental shot using various bribes, then moved on to forcing the injections on unwilling people by threatening their employment, imposing higher health insurance rates, making it more difficult for them to travel, and even denying them health care.

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Oil Prices Hit a Seven-Year High as Industry Feud with Biden Administration Continues

Oil prices hit a 7-year high this week as American oil and gas companies continue to fight the Biden administration over policies restricting production.

As the economy began to reopen this year and the demand for fuel increased, President Joe Biden, through executive order, halted and restricted oil and gas leases on federal lands, stopped construction of the Keystone Pipeline, and redirected U.S. policy to import more oil from Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia (OPEC+) instead of bolstering American oil and gas exploration and production.

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Commentary: Biden’s Attack on Public School Parents Cannot Stand

President Joe Biden’s Attorney General, Merrick Garland’s memo directing the FBI to investigate parents who speak out at school board meetings has shocked the nation.

The Biden administration has gone into full attack mode against the First Amendment right to petition the government as Attorney General Merrick Garland has declared that parents opposing Critical Race Theory before their local school boards should be treated as terrorists under the Patriot Act.

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Commentary: The Left Can Finally Admit What It Wants

I remember a staggering conversation with my high school lunch table in the early 2000s. Everyone agreed with one kid’s statement that there was nothing special about living in America: Life in Canada, or anywhere else, would be identical except for maybe the weather.

At the time, I wondered what was going to happen to America when all these kids grew up. What happens when America’s young adults, far from having any intellectual commitment to freedom, don’t even understand what life would be like without it?

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Zuckerberg Responds to Whistleblower, Says Claims ‘Don’t Make Any Sense’

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg broke his silence on Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen late Tuesday, rebutting several of her allegations in a Facebook post.

“At the most basic level, I think most of us just don’t recognize the false picture of the company that is being painted,” Zuckerberg wrote in a letter to Facebook employees posted to his account. “Many of the claims don’t make any sense.”

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Charges Dropped Against Illegal Migrants Who Said They Were Transported to Private Property and Arrested for Trespassing

Criminal charges were dropped against 11 illegal migrants who said they were transported to private property and then arrested for trespassing in Val Verde County, Texas, The Texas Tribune reported on Tuesday.

The migrants told Democratic Val Verde County Attorney David Martinez that they were apprehended, restrained with zip ties, walked around 20 minutes to a fenced-in ranch and arrested by border officials for trespassing, according to The Texas Tribune. The migrants said border officials cut the fence around the private ranch to allow a police dog onto the property after making the migrants scale the 10-foot fence.

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GOP Governors Ignored by Biden Offer Solutions to Border Crisis Anyway

After a group of 26 Republican governors, spearheaded by Gov. Doug Ducey (R), sent a letter to the Biden Administration requesting to meet and discuss the ongoing crisis at the border, the group is pushing forward with solutions.

That letter, sent in late September, was ignored by the White House. 

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Commentary: Hyde Amendment Is New Obstacle to Biden Spending Plan

The White House is once again at odds with the senior senator from West Virginia.

Joe Manchin has made clear for months that the administration’s sprawling $3.5 trillion social spending package is too large, and just as progressives seemed to agree that the top-line number could be whittled down somewhat, the moderate Democrat drew another line in the sand, this one underscoring the Hyde Amendment.

The amendment represents a decades-long agreement by both parties that prohibits federal dollars from funding abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, or when the life of the mother is in danger. Manchin wants it included in the spending bill. The White House does not. Thus has emerged another obstacle to passing the president’s legislative agenda.

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