April 11, 2023 | The Ohio Star

Manhattan DA Bragg Sues Jordan, House GOP in Attempt to Stop Their ‘Brazen and Unconstitutional Attack’ in Trump Case

April 11, 2023 Just the News

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Tuesday reportedly sued Rep. Jim Jordan to keep him and other congressional Republicans from interfering in his office’s criminal case against former GOP President Donald Trump. The 50-page suit was filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York and accuses Jordan, chairman of the powerful House Judiciary Committee, of a “brazen and unconstitutional attack” on the prosecution Trump and a “transparent campaign to intimidate and attack” on Bragg, according to The New York Times.

Lawsuit: Oregon State Officials Deny Woman’s Adoption Application Because of Her Christian Religious Beliefs

April 11, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed a federal lawsuit last week against the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) on behalf of a woman whose application to adopt siblings from foster care was denied because her Christian faith beliefs do not allow her to agree to support the “sexual orientation, gender identity, [and] gender expression” of children placed in her home. “Oregon’s policy amounts to an ideological litmus test: people who hold secular or ‘progressive’ views on sexual orientation and gender identity are eligible to participate in child welfare programs, while people of faith with religiously informed views are disqualified because they don’t agree with the state’s orthodoxy,” said ADF Senior Counsel Jonathan Scruggs, who runs the ADF Center for Conscience Initiatives.

Judge Threatens Parents with Massive Penalties for Challenging School Antiracism Dogma: Lawyers

April 11, 2023April 11, 2023 Just the News

Two teachers challenging the constitutionality of compelled antiracism training have been ordered to pay nearly $313,000 in their Missouri school district’s legal fees, under a ruling their lawyers called “overtly hostile” and “meant to scare off future lawsuits by parents and teachers.”

Call to Ban TikTok on Personal Phones Gaining Momentum

April 11, 2023 The Center Square

About 30 states have placed restrictions on the social media app TikTok mostly related to government devices, but there is momentum for a larger ban on personal devices.

A growing number of lawmakers in the U.S. have raised national security concerns about the short-form video app because of TikTok’s ties to China through its parent company ByteDance.

Environmental Groups Sue to Block Ohio Law to Accept Private Petitions for Oil and Gas Drilling in State Parks

April 11, 2023April 10, 2023 Hannah Poling

Four environmental groups have filed a lawsuit in an attempt to block a new law requiring Ohio to accept private petitions to drill for oil and gas beneath state parks.

House Bill (HB) 507 which Republicans passed at the end of the 134th General Assembly modified Ohio’s code so that state agencies must lease the properties they hold for oil and gas extraction, as opposed to just allowing them to. The legislation also instructed the Oil and Gas Land Management Commission to create a set of guidelines for applications.

Internal Memos Call into Question National Archives Narrative to Congress on Trump Documents

April 11, 2023 Just the News

For months, the National Archives and Records Administration has insisted it had nothing to do with the federal criminal investigation into memos containing classified markings that were found at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate since it referred the matter to the FBI in February 2022.

“When NARA identified items marked as classified national security information within the 15 boxes, NARA referred this issue to the DOJ,” acting Archivist Debra Wall wrote Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), now the House Intelligence Committee chairman, on August 16. “Since that time, the DOJ has been exclusively responsible for all aspects of this investigation, and NARA has not been involved in the DOJ investigation or any searches that it has conducted.”

Hundreds of Former Federal Surveillance Officials Have Moved to Jobs in Big Tech

April 11, 2023 Admin

Over 200 former employees of federal surveillance agencies have since joined the corporate ranks of Big Tech companies in recent years, thus increasing the likelihood of systematic censorship of conservative accounts by such platforms.

According to the Daily Caller, the four social media companies Google, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok have recruited 248 former employees from the FBI, CIA, Department of Justice (DOJ), and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as proven by searches of the professional job listing and networking platform LinkedIn. The bulk of these hires were made between 2017 and 2022, with some of the former federal employees moving on to top executive positions within the social media companies.

Ohio Governor DeWine Calls on Lawmakers to Consider Strengthening ‘Heartbeat Law’ Ahead of Potential Vote on Abortion Amendment

April 11, 2023April 10, 2023 Hannah Poling

In advance of a potential November referendum on an proposed constitutional amendment aiming to legalize abortion throughout the state, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said he wants the General Assembly to consider strengthening Ohio’s “heartbeat law.”

According to DeWine, to avoid passage of the abortion amendment, Ohio needs to revisit the heartbeat law and ensure that Ohio has sustainable legislation that voters will not overturn at the polls.

Commentary: The Interest Alone on the National Debt Will Hit $1 Trillion in 2024 as Reserve Currency Status Is Questioned

April 11, 2023 Admin

Gross interest owed on the $31.4 trillion national debt — that is, interest owed on both the $24.9 trillion publicly traded debt and the $6.7 trillion debt in the Social Security, Medicare and other trust funds — will reach a gargantuan $1 trillion in 2024 for the first time in American history, according to the latest data gathered by the White House Office of Management and budget.

To put that into perspective, that is more than is spent on national defense related spending, currently $814 billion.

Commentary: In Biden’s America, There Are No More Gas Stoves

April 11, 2023 RealClearWire

On February 1, 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) proposed an “energy efficiency standard” for gas cooking products. For those who are unaware, this is a blatant backdoor attempt to ban gas appliances—at least half of gas stove models sold in the United States today would not comply with this regulation according to DOE. The American people deserve answers to stop this draconian measure that would be detrimental for families, small businesses, and rural communities across our nation.

Switzerland Not Recommending COVID-19 Vaccine, Including for High-Risk Individuals

April 11, 2023 Admin

Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health said no COVID-19 vaccination is recommended this spring/summer season, including for people at high risk of becoming seriously sick from the virus.

“Nearly everyone in Switzerland has been vaccinated and/or contracted and recovered from COVID-19. Their immune system has therefore been exposed to the coronavirus,” the Swiss health agency said.