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Monday, August 14, 2023

Death Toll in Maui Wildfire Rises to 93 Making it the Deadliest Wildfire in Over a Century

Associated Press: As the death toll from a wildfire that razed a historic Maui town reached 93, authorities warned Saturday that the effort to find and identify the dead was still in its early stages. It’s already the deadliest U.S. wildfire for over a century. Crews with cadaver dogs have covered just 3% of the search area, Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said (Associated Press). Citizen Free Press: Maui family survived the Hawaii wildfires by hiding in the ocean for hours (Twitter). Wall Street Journal: Residents and tourists who were briefly allowed to re-enter West Maui found a blackened landscape of destroyed homes, burnt-out cars and smoldering embers. It will cost over $5 billion to rebuild from the Lahaina fire, officials estimated (Wall Street Journal).

Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla) Introduces Four Articles of Impeachment Against President Biden

Fox News: Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., jumped ahead of his Republican colleagues on Friday and introduced articles of impeachment against President Biden. While several congressional committees are building a multipronged case to remove Biden from office, Steube said it was past time to take action. He filed articles of impeachment against Biden charging that the president had been complicit in his son Hunter’s alleged crimes and had worked to shield him from justice. Steube filed four articles alleging high crimes and misdemeanors by Biden (Fox News). Townhall: Steube also highlighted the “comingled and intertwined finances” between Biden and his son, claiming that “between 2010 and 2019, thousands of dollars of Biden family money was spent on illegal drug transactions and prostitution.” Stuebe, as well as other Republicans, accuse Biden of abusing his power by accepting bribes, committing major fraud, and Hobbs Act extortion while protecting his drug-addicted corrupt son (Townhall).

US Sees Highest Number of Suicides in 2022

New York Post: About 49,500 people took their own lives last year in the U.S., the highest number ever, according to new government data posted Thursday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which posted the numbers, has not yet calculated a suicide rate for the year, but available data suggests suicides are more common in the U.S. than at any time since the dawn of World War II. Experts caution that suicide is complicated and that recent increases might be driven by a range of factors, including higher rates of depression and limited availability of mental health services. U.S. suicides steadily rose from the early 2000s until 2018, when the national rate hit its highest level since 1941. That year saw about 48,300 suicide deaths — or 14.2 for every 100,000 Americans. Last year, according to the new data, the number jumped by more than 1,000, to 49,449 — about a 3% increase vs. the year before. The largest increases were seen in older adults. Deaths rose nearly 7% in people ages 45 to 64, and more than 8% in people 65 and older. White men, in particular, have very high rates, the CDC said (New York Post). Daily Wire: However, Native Americans tend to have the highest suicide rate with about 28 deaths per 100,000 people, according to older data from 2021. White people had the next highest rate with 17 deaths per 100,000 people (Daily Wire).

Arizona Public Universities No Longer Request Applicants to Make “Diversity Statements” on Their Applications

Daily Wire: Arizona’s public universities will no longer request “diversity statements” on their job applications in what free speech advocates called a “huge” win. A large portion of faculty job postings at Arizona State University, the University of Arizona, and Northern Arizona University required applicants to provide diversity statements as a condition of hiring, the conservative Goldwater Institute found earlier this year. At the University of Arizona, 28% of job postings had a mandatory diversity statement as of fall 2022. At Northern Arizona University, 73% of job postings required one, and Arizona State University had the highest portion with 81% of job postings requiring a diversity statement, according to the Institute’s report. The Arizona university system at times required job applicants to replace their traditional cover letter with a diversity statement, submit two full pages on the candidate’s activism or commitment to diversity, and sometimes even called on applicants to endorse progressive concepts like “intersectional personal identities” (Daily Wire).

Biden Administration Looking to Build Housing on Southern Border to Hold Illegal Immigrants

Axios: The Biden administration is asking Congress to approve a temporary housing program for migrant families that illegally cross the southern border — a plan that would give them more freedom than traditional detention, Axios has learned. The government has struggled to balance humanitarian concerns about detaining migrant children while enforcing immigration laws amid a rise in families illegally crossing the border to seek asylum. The administration’s ask is part of a $40 billion emergency funding request to Congress. The package includes nearly $2.7 billion for the Department of Homeland Security’s various border efforts. DHS wants the ability to use funds to set up new types of facilities to hold migrant families as they go through an expedited asylum and deportation process (Axios). Daily Wire: Biden’s $40 billion emergency spending request includes $4 billion to address the border crisis, which is $20 billion less than he requested be sent to Ukraine (Daily Wire).

Mob of Looters Ransack a Nordstrom in Los Angeles

KTLA: Video captured a mob of thieves swarming a Nordstrom in Canoga Park as they cleared out the store during a destructive robbery on Saturday. Chaos ensued as a large group of masked thieves clad in dark clothing scrambled around the store, grabbing armfuls of designer clothing, purses, accessories and more. Police said anywhere between 20-50 suspects are believed to be involved. The thieves were seen violently grabbing whatever merchandise they could carry, with many seen ripping the security devices attached to designer purses and luggage items. Store shelves and display racks were destroyed, knocked over and littered across the floor along with a ton of fallen merchandise. At one point, a security guard who tried to intervene was attacked with a chemical spray (KTLA). Clay Travis: The LA Nordstrom was looted this weekend. This is what Democrat soft on crime policies create — organized theft with no fear of punishment (Twitter).

New Woke Packaging from Skittles Draws Criticism Similar to Dylan Mulvaney

Daily Mail: Candy brand Skittles is facing backlash after partnering with GLAAD and altering some of its packaging to include ‘Black Trans Lives Matter’ messaging. Images of the packet on social media prompted an outpouring of criticism on Twitter today, with many likening the ‘woke’ marketing to Dylan Mulvaney being used in Bud Light advertising. It’s the fourth year Skittles has teamed up with GLAAD (the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) to ‘support the LGBTQ+ community by amplifying and celebrating their stories’, according to Skittles’ official website (Daily Mail). Libs of TikTok: Skittles is trying to turn your kids into BLM & LGBTQ+ activists. Their packaging also features a drag queen. Skittles have gone completely woke (Twitter).

Oklahoma Abortion Rates Drop to 0 After Pro Life Legislation

Life News: The Oklahoma health department has released its abortion stats for 2022 and they show thousands of babies saved from abortion thanks to Oklahoma’s abortion ban. After Texas, Oklahoma became the second state in the nation with an enforceable abortion ban protecting the lives of little babies before birth. Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed into law the most protective abortion ban in the country at the time when he signed it in May 2022. The measure was a Texas-style law that includes a private right of action as enforcement — but instead of protecting babies at six week when their heartbeat can be detected as the Texas law does, it starts protecting unborn children at conception when their life begins. The ban went into effect immediately and Oklahoma has since instituted a full abortion ban protecting unborn children (Life News). Stop Abortion Now: After Oklahoma passed a pro-life law protecting babies from abortion, abortions dropped to 0 (Twitter).

US Postal Service Hemorrhaging $87 Billion

Courier Tribune: The U.S. Postal Service reported a $1.7 billion loss in the third quarter adding to ongoing losses for the once self-sufficient agency. The U.S. Postal Service, an independent federal establishment that is mandated to be self-financing, said the third quarter losses were “almost exclusively to the non-cash impact of the Postal Service Reform Act in April 2022.” The act removed the Postal Service’s obligation to pre-fund retiree health benefits and eliminated all previously imposed pre-funding requirements that remained unpaid, among other changes. The law was intended to improve the Postal Service’s financial sustainability. Congress designed the U.S. Postal Service to be self-sustaining, but in fiscal year 2007, expenses overtook revenue. This has led to losses of $87 billion through 2020. The agency is further saddled with $188 billion in unfunded liabilities and debt. The U.S. Postal Service is the largest postal service in the world, delivering an estimated 49% of all mail sent globally (Courier Tribune).

10.

Better Internal Combustion Engines Allow Us to Drive Further Using Less Gas

Bloomberg: America’s drivers are racking up more miles than ever while using less fuel than they did before the pandemic. But it’s not because of electric vehicles — it’s better internal combustion engines. June broke a travel record for that month with 283 trillion vehicle miles. That’s more than any other June going back to 1998. Implied gasoline demand for the month was 5% below the 2019 level, government data show. This is because vehicles are much more fuel efficient today than just a few years ago, thanks to tough standards put into place more than a decade ago. These rules, strengthened by President Joe Biden, mean the era of peak gasoline is already in the rear-view mirror, even as Americans drive more (Bloomberg).