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 Time was when conservatives and corporate America were on the same side, but the rise of woke companies acting at the behest of leftist advocacy groups has ignited a backlash on the right aimed at getting business out of the activism business. The corporate uprising against Georgia’s new election law has acted as a catalyst, prompting boycott calls from top Republicans such as former President Donald Trump and Sen. Rand Paul, as well as the launch of conservative campaigns aimed at persuading CEOs to cut the cultural and political agitating. “What I’m hearing is that people are just fed up,” said Alfredo Ortiz, president of the Job Creators Network. “I think people are finally saying, ‘You know what? Enough is enough. We don’t want politics in our sports, we don’t think there should be politics in the boardroom.’” The American Conservative Union (ACU), which hosts the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, announced this week a campaign to push back against the “leftward lurch of U.S. corporations,” saying it would demand meetings with CEOs and warning of consequences for those who stay on the woke path. Moscow claims it escorted U.S. spy plane away from Russian border  A Russian fighter jet escorted a U.S. spy plane over the Pacific Ocean recently and kept the American aircraft from violating Russian airspace, according to Russian media. Moscow’s state-run TASS news agency reported the incident Friday, though it did not give a specific date of the supposed escort. The news outlet cited a statement from the Russian Defense Ministry that claimed a Russian MiG-31 fighter jet was scrambled to escort a U.S. RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft near the Kamchatka Peninsula. Russian officials said the U.S. aircraft was “prevented from violating the Russian border” but did not provide detail on how close the American plane had gotten to Russian airspace. Border-jumping 'gotaways' spike 156% from last year 'Coming in by the droves' at Rio Grande  Illegal immigrants are escaping capture at more than double the pace of a year ago, according to Texas figures that show the surge of migrants being caught at the border is just a part of the problem the Biden administration is facing. The Texas Department of Public Safety, which runs its own camera system under Operation Drawbridge to track illegal entries, shows nearly 21,904 migrants who evaded capture from January through April 7, according to data shared with The Washington Times. That is up from 8,561 “gotaways,” as they are known, during the same period in 2020, which works out to a 156% increase. Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez in Val Verde County, along the Rio Grande, said that number is likely too low. Biden Administration to Spend $1.7 Billion to Track Covid Variants President Joe Biden’s administration is allocating $1.7 billion in funding to track the spread of Covid-19 variants, which are proving dangerous as they spread quickly and risk dragging out the pandemic. Biden will direct $1 billion to genomic sequencing, which helps federal agencies and states track which version of the virus is spreading. They also announced $400 million for epidemiological research and $300 million for health data and training. The announcement, with funding from the aid package Biden signed a month ago, comes as mutations of the virus fuel new outbreaks across the U.S. -- especially in the upper Midwest. Pompeo: Biden Administration Must 'Show Resolve' on China, Taiwan The Biden administration must "show resolve" with China, or Beijing is "much more likely to take action that will put the Taiwanese people at risk," former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday. "We only need to listen to what [Chinese leader] Xi Jinping says about Taiwan," Pompeo, now a Fox News contributor told Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo on "Mornings with Maria." "He wants to bring Taiwan inside of China … we know that China was never part of mainland China, but he's made a commitment. He keeps moving the timeline forward." Pompeo also said he thinks comments made by Adm. Philip Davidson, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, on the risk of a Chinese military attack on Taiwan should be taken seriously.
Steny Hoyer prods Biden on reparations for Black Americans: 'He can do it on his own' House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer on Thursday urged President Biden to create a commission to study paying reparations to Black Americans, which would keep the issue alive because a House bill to do it is likely doomed in the Senate. The House Judiciary Committee passed a Democratic bill to create the commission to explore reparations to Black Americans for slavery. “The chances of this bill in the Senate are pretty dim,” Mr. Hoyer told reporters. “The president ought to have a commission do that. He can do it on his own.” 8 dead in shooting at FedEx facility in Indianapolis, say police A gunman killed eight people and wounded several others before apparently taking his own life in a late-night attack at a FedEx facility near the Indianapolis airport, police said, in the latest in a spate of mass shootings in the United States after a relative lull during the coronavirus pandemic. Five people were hospitalized after the Thursday night shooting, according to police. One of them had critical injuries, police spokesperson Genae Cook said. Another two people were treated and released at the scene. FedEx said people who worked for the company were among the dead. A witness said that he was working inside the building when he heard several gunshots in rapid succession. Facebook Blocks NY Post Story on BLM Founder's Mansions Big tech is covering for liberal activists and censoring the New York Post again, blocking a story on the Black Lives Matter co-founder's multiple million-dollar homes. Facebook is preventing users from sharing the Post report, instead giving the error message: "Your content couldn't be shared, because this link goes against our Community Standards." The Post story "was removed for violating our privacy and personal information policy," a Facebook spokesperson told The Hill. Florida Senate Approves 'Anti-Riot' Bill Florida’s Senate has voted to approve an "anti-riot" bill supported by Republicans, and Gov. Ron DeSantis in particular, but criticized by Democrats and civil rights groups as limiting the right to protest in the state, the Orlando Sentinel reports. The newspaper notes that Democrats and civil rights organizations specifically point to the provisions in the bill that "grant civil legal immunity to people who drive through protesters blocking a road; prevent people arrested for rioting or offenses committed during a riot from bailing out of jail until their first court appearance; and impose a six-month mandatory sentence for battery on a police officer during a riot." The bill also states that a city cannot reduce its police budget without prior approval from the state, in an apparent response to the movement to redistribute some of the funding that goes towards police. 'Mortal threat': Communist China gaming free market to gain world domination, economists warn China is exploiting access to the capitalist economic system to achieve global dominance and ultimately seeks to control the world economy, two former Trump administration China experts warned a congressional commission on Thursday. Miles Yu, former State Department policy planning official for China, said the U.S. must demand strict reciprocity in dealing with the Chinese Communist Party to level the economic playing field and prevent Beijing from achieving its goals. “If there’s one thing that every American should understand about the People’s Republic of China, it is that it is a communist dictatorship ruled by a Marxist-Leninist party,” Mr. Yu told a hearing of the U.S.-China Economic Security and Review Commission. RBG and other liberal justices opposed Supreme Court expansion Only a handful of Supreme Court justices have publicly commented on proposals to add seats to the court, but those who have spoken out are fiercely opposed. That opposition doesn’t break along ideological grounds either, as justices appointed by both Republican and Democratic presidents have condemned previous efforts to expand the court. House Democrats on Thursday launched the most serious effort to pack the court since President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1937. Though the move was hailed by progressive activists and lawmakers, liberal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a strong opponent of the idea. What to expect at Prince Philip’s funeral Windsor Castle prepares for Prince Philip's funeral Prince Philip, the late husband of Queen Elizabeth II, requested a no-fuss funeral before he died April 9 at 99. But low-key for a British royal still means a high-profile affair. Every detail of the day has been meticulously planned to reflect both Philip’s life and the long tradition of royal pageantry. 9 Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Activists Sentenced For 2019 Protests Nine veteran activists and lawmakers in Hong Kong have been sentenced to prison terms of up to 18 months because of their participation in anti-government protests nearly two years ago. Media mogul Jimmy Lai received one year in prison, while prominent lawyers Margaret Ng and Martin Lee received suspended sentences of 12 and 11 months respectively, meaning if they are not convicted of another crime in the next two years, they will not have to spend time behind bars. The heaviest sentence of 18 months was meted out to Lee Cheuk-yan, an activist and former lawmaker. The nine are the most prominent figures in Hong Kong to be sent to prison thus far as Beijing mounts several waves of arrests in the aftermath of widespread protests against its control of the region. They were convicted earlier this month of participating in two unauthorized but peaceful protests in August 2019. Iran starts enriching uranium to 60%, its highest level ever While 60% is higher than any level Iran previously enriched uranium, it is still lower than weapons-grade levels of 90% Iran began enriching uranium Friday to its highest level ever, edging closer to weapons-grade levels to pressure talks in Vienna aimed at restoring its nuclear deal with world powers after an attack on its main atomic site. A top official said only a few grams an hour of uranium gas would be enriched up to 60% purity — triple the level it once did but at a rate far slower than what Tehran could produce. International inspectors already said Iran planned to do so above-ground at its Natanz nuclear site, not deep within its underground halls hardened to withstand airstrikes. The move is likely to raise tensions even as Iran negotiates in Vienna over a way to allow the U.S. back into the agreement and lift the crushing economic sanctions it faces. However, its scope also provides Iran with a way to quickly de-escalate if it chose. Democrats led by a whole Squad of ghoulish opportunists Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib weigh in on death of Daunte Wright There is a special breed of sewer rat in Washington who is willing to exploit any human catastrophe for personal political gain. Sadly, these vermin are no longer the rare exceptions in the Democrat Party; today, they are the face of the Democrat Party. Minnesota police pull over a 20-year-old for expired car registration and the driver winds up dead after a cop shoots him in a struggle — an unspeakable tragedy to be sure. But leave it to sick politicians in Washington to exploit the tragedy for their own twisted benefit. Students willing to change their liberal views when presented with facts New poll from Young America's Foundation shows cancel culture's progressive talking points can be refuted College and high school students have liberal views — which have moved further to the left during the past year. On the bright side, opinions shift when students are presented with data refuting progressive talking points. These are a few of the key findings in a new Tax Day poll released by Young America’s Foundation (YAF). Not surprisingly, 64% of students surveyed in the poll support the federal government eliminating student loan debt for all borrowers. However, more than half of respondents agreed that it was not fair for those who did not attend college to pay for student loan debt cancellation with their hard-earned tax dollars. An overwhelming majority of students, 69%, said they support a $15 federal minimum wage. However, their support dropped nearly 20 points when they learned of the Congressional Budget Office’s projection of 1.4 million jobs lost due to the wage increase. Again, it boils down to fairness. A higher minimum wage for some isn’t much consolation for those who face unemployment. Truth or Dare by Geoff Metcalf “The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.”
― Flannery O'Connor When NBC’s Lester Holt shrouded in self-righteous sophism proclaimed journalists don’t do ‘truth’, I said bad words. Joe Klaas was apparently correct when he noted, “The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.” When accepting the Edward R. Murrow Award for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism, NBC anchor Lester Holt said, “fairness is overrated”. "I think it’s become clear that fairness is overrated. ... The idea that we should always give two sides equal weight and merit does not reflect the world we find ourselves in," Holt said. Holt, either by plan or oversight said, “That the sun sets in the west is a fact. Any contrary view does not deserve our time or attention," Holt continued. "Decisions to not give unsupported arguments equal time are not a dereliction of journalistic responsibility or some kind of agenda. In fact, it’s just the opposite." Sophistry! Holt also railed against "providing an open platform for misinformation,” saying that allowing “anyone to come say whatever they want, especially when issues of public health and safety are at stake, can be quite dangerous.” And that is a good thing Lester. The key problem with the pretension of Holt et al saying news organizations should vet and triage controversial news is, who decides? What editor gets to decide the conventional wisdom when a group of experts claims we are about to enter a new Ice Age, or the only defense against a pandemic is isolation? April 28, 1975, Newsweek published a provocative article, “The Cooling World,” in which writer and science editor Peter Gwynne described a significant chilling of the world’s climate, with evidence accumulating “so massively that meteorologists are hard-pressed to keep up with it.” He when on to postulate shorter growing seasons and poor crop yields, famine, and shipping lanes blocked by ice, perhaps to begin as soon as the mid-1980s. Meteorologists, he wrote, were “almost unanimous” in the opinion that our planet was getting colder. Over the years that followed, Gwynne’s article became one of the most-cited stories in Newsweek’s history. However, he was wrong…way wrong. The obvious corollary is today’s politically correct contention that Global Warming will kill the planet. Notwithstanding THOUSANDS of for real scientists who naysay the Al Gore gang, Holt and his ilk would deny you, me, or anyone from hearing contradictory and/or mitigating science which does not comply with the elitists cause du jour. “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” said Oscar Wilde in The Importance of Being Earnest. Empirical facts cannot be disputed: who, what, where, when is going to be reported the same from the left and the right. However, the why and how is where the reader gets sucked into the editorializing muck. One man’s “freedom fighter” is another man’s “terrorist”…one man’s “objective scientist” is another man’s “bought and paid for sycophant”. According to a January Axios polls, just 46% of people trust traditional news media, and trust in social media has plummeted to 27%. Additionally, 56% of the poll respondents said they agreed that "Journalists and reporters are purposely trying to mislead people by saying things they know are false or gross exaggerations." “The truth." Dumbledore sighed. "It is a beautiful and terrible thing and should therefore be treated with great caution.” Aldous Huxley clearly noted, “Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” An editorial Star Chamber (which is kinda/sorta what Holt seems to want) can attempt to sequester politically incorrect facts or nuance from the unwashed masses, but they only serve to validate George Orwell. “In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” We are in that "time of deceit" and the mainstream media should be providing light not creating safe haven shadow lands for evil to fester and grow.
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