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Walcher: Federal agencies should look in the mirror
Approved, Commentary, Greg Walcher

Walcher: Federal agencies should look in the mirror

By Greg Walcher | Guest Commentary, GregWalcher.com In the 1950 movie version of Grimm’s Fairy Tale, the cruel stepmother scolds Cinderella, “You clumsy little fool – clean that up!” But, of course, it was the stepmother, not Cinderella, who made the mess. Sometimes it seems like the world is full of people who expect others to clean up their messes. It is a recurring theme among critics of federal agencies, which often regulate and even fine others for environmental damage, but rarely admit the role they themselves played in creating the problem. A lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), filed by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC), has again focused attention on an agency blaming everyone but itself. Th...
Spending bill subsidizes State Department’s conservative censorship slush fund
Approved, Breitbart, National

Spending bill subsidizes State Department’s conservative censorship slush fund

By Bradley Jaye | Breitbart The government funding bill includes a one-year extension of the State Department’s Global Engagement Center (GEC), an agency that funds organizations that censor conservative media including Breitbart News. The provision extending funding for the program is on page 139 of the 1,537-page continuing resolution, which was unveiled Tuesday night just hours before the House will vote on the short-term spending bill. The Washington Examiner’s Gabe Kaminsky posted on Twitter that the bill “includes a one-year extension on the State Department’s Global Engagement Center — the agency me and Matt Taibbi reported has funded speech suppression efforts and is being sued by the Federalist and Daily Wire.” READ THE FULL STORY AT BREITBART
Supreme Court to weigh case on possible TikTok ban
Approved, National, Newsmax

Supreme Court to weigh case on possible TikTok ban

By Newsmax The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it will hear arguments next month over the constitutionality of the federal law that could ban TikTok in the United States if its Chinese parent company doesn't sell it. The justices will hear arguments Jan. 10 about whether the law impermissibly restricts speech in violation of the First Amendment. The law, enacted in April, set a Jan. 19 deadline for TikTok to be sold or else face a ban in the U.S. The popular social media platform has more than 170 million users in the U.S. READ THE FULL STORY ON NEWSMAX
Incoming Trump ‘border czar’ has a message for Aurora chief of police after arrest of suspected gang members
Approved, Fox News, National, State

Incoming Trump ‘border czar’ has a message for Aurora chief of police after arrest of suspected gang members

By Ashley Carnahan  | Fox News Incoming Trump "border czar" Tom Homan called on the Aurora chief of police to hand suspected Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang members over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents so they can be removed from the country. The Aurora Police Department arrested 14 suspected TdA gang members in a home invasion Tuesday at an apartment complex that was at the center of a viral video over the summer. Aurora Police Department Chief Todd Chamberlain provided an update on the arrests at The Edge at Lowry Apartments, saying the incident was "without question a gang incident." READ THE FULL STORY AT FOX NEWS
Garbo: The alarming normalization of murder in Brian Thompson’s death
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

Garbo: The alarming normalization of murder in Brian Thompson’s death

By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice A recent poll revealing that 41% of young voters find the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson acceptable is deeply troubling. This statistic underscores a dangerous shift in societal values, one that signals a disregard for the sanctity of life and a fundamental misunderstanding of justice. Such attitudes are symptomatic of a society in moral decay, where divisive rhetoric and a growing disillusionment with institutions have fostered a warped perception of right and wrong. Political polarization and incendiary rhetoric have created an environment where individuals increasingly see themselves as arbiters of justice. When leaders frame opposition as not just wrong but inherently evil, it legitimizes extreme ...
This university wants to use AI to boost China’s military — OpenAI keeps hiring its graduates
Approved, National, Washington Examiner

This university wants to use AI to boost China’s military — OpenAI keeps hiring its graduates

By Robert Schmad | Washington Examiner In 2018, a prestigious Chinese university announced to the world that it intended to harness the power of artificial intelligence to bolster China’s military. Since then, America’s top AI company has hired dozens of its graduates. Tsinghua University has gone all in on pursuing AI research and development for China’s People’s Liberation Army. You Zheng, one of the university’s vice presidents, went as far as to declare the institution’s enthusiastic involvement in the Chinese Communist Party’s “military-civil fusion” strategy.  “In accordance with the central government’s requirements, Tsinghua University has closely integrated the national strategy of military-civilian integration with the strategy of building a strong c...
Schumann: Socialist seeds in conservative soil? The new battle for Western Colorado’s identity
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

Schumann: Socialist seeds in conservative soil? The new battle for Western Colorado’s identity

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Beneath the wide-open skies of Western Colorado, a clash of ideologies is quietly unfolding that could shake the foundations of its conservative stronghold.  In towns like Grand Junction and Fruita, socialist ideology is finding fertile ground in the form of The Revolutionist, a grassroots publication distributed across 20 locations — from coffee shops to counseling offices and specialty smoking accessory stores.  This shift raises questions about whether the region’s core principles of free-market capitalism, individual liberty and the rule of law will remain intact, or if they’ll erode under the growing influence of socialist activism. The revival of The Revolutionist draws a direct line to the early 20...
‘Something is seriously wrong, and we’re going to try and fix it,’ APD Chief Chamberlain says in vision for future
Approved, Local, Rocky Mountain Voice

‘Something is seriously wrong, and we’re going to try and fix it,’ APD Chief Chamberlain says in vision for future

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice It was a long night for Todd Chamberlain and the Aurora Police Department. Oft the subject of news reports during the last year, The Edge at Lowry apartments were yet again the location of overnight police activity Tuesday, Dec. 17. This time, more than a dozen suspected Venezuelan gang members were arrested there in a home invasion. Two victims are hospitalized with non life-threatening injuries. Police are continuing to work toward identifying the suspects in custody, with their leader saying he wouldn't sleep until they did. "This is not an example that the city of Aurora is a gang-infested, drug-infested, crime-infested area," said Chamberlain, Aurora's new police chief. "There are definitely pockets that are problematic." He spent clo...
Grand jury indicts Luigi Mangione, 26, the suspected assassin of CEO Brian Thompson, on ‘act of terrorism’
Approved, National, National Review

Grand jury indicts Luigi Mangione, 26, the suspected assassin of CEO Brian Thompson, on ‘act of terrorism’

By James Lynch | National Review A New York grand jury has indicted the suspected assassin of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on charges of murder as an “act of terrorism” for the cold-blooded killing, Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg (D) announced Tuesday. The grand jury charged 26-year-old Luigi Mangione with first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism and two counts of second-degree murder, including one count for killing in the act of terrorism. Mangione is also facing an assortment of weapon possession charges and one count of carrying a forged document for the point-blank assassination of Thompson outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel earlier this month. “We allege that Luigi Mangione carried out the brazen, targeted and fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Bria...
Aurora picks Amsalu Kassaw to vacated at-large City Council seat
Approved, coloradopolitics.com, Local

Aurora picks Amsalu Kassaw to vacated at-large City Council seat

By Kyla Pearce | Colorado Politics via the Denver Gazette Aurora's councilmembers on Monday night picked a leader of the Ethiopian community for the council's at-large seat. The council split, 6-4, in appointing Amsalu Kassaw to the seat. The discussion at times delved into issues of race. Kassaw is the public relations director of the Ethiopian American Civic Council. He is also a lieutenant at GEO Group Inc.'s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center in Aurora, according to his application for the seat. Mayor Mike Coffman has worked with Kassaw when he served on his congressional advisory committee. READ THE FULL STORY AT COLORADO POLITICS