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Thursday, February 22, 2024

New York AG To Seize Trump’s Properties if He Refuses To Pay $355 Million Fine

Townhall: Days after Judge Arthur Engoron ordered former President Trump to pay $355 million in his civil fraud case, plus an additional $100 million in prejudgment interest, New York Attorney General Letita James said she’s prepared to seize the 45th president’s assets if he doesn’t pay up. “If he does not have funds to pay off the judgment, then we will seek judgment enforcement mechanisms in court, and we will ask the judge to seize his assets,” she told ABC News’ Aaron Katersky. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul attempted to address concerns over the weekend, saying law-abiding business owners have “nothing to worry about, because they’re very different than Donald Trump and his behavior” (Townhall). Simon Ateba: Donald Trump currently owes $87,500 in daily interest on a half-billion-dollar fine in his Manhattan case. This interest will continue to accrue until he settles the half-billion-dollar penalty. In other words, every day when you wake up, another $87,500 is added, and the same will happen the following day until he can pay it off. Even if he appeals, he will still have to pay upfront and only potentially get his money back if he wins (X).

Illinois Wants to Change Definition of “Abused Child” To Include Parents Who Deny “Gender Affirming Care”

Daily Wire: A recently-introduced bill in the state of Illinois would change the definition of “abused child” to include minors whose parents object to their children receiving puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, transgender surgeries, and abortions. House Bill 4876, which was introduced in early February, also shields doctors from liability if they prescribe such treatments to minors who do not have parental consent — and empowers the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) to step in and, if they deem it necessary, remove children from their biological parents based on the new definition of an “abused child” (Daily Wire). Billboard Chris: Parental consent for puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries will not be needed! And get this. Doctors “shall not incur civil or criminal liability for failure to obtain valid consent or professional discipline for failure to obtain valid consent if the health care professional relied in good faith on representations made by the minor.” Pritzker and the Democrats think your children belong to them (X).

Indiana Removes Child From Home After Parents Do Not Support Chosen Name, Pronouns

Fox News: A Catholic couple in Indiana is asking the Supreme Court to hold the state accountable for keeping their child out of their home after they declined to use his chosen name and pronouns. In M.C. and J.C. v. Indiana Department of Child Services, Mary and Jeremy Cox are appealing to the Supreme Court after they were investigated by Indiana officials for refusing to refer to their son using pronouns and a name inconsistent with his biological sex. Becket is pursuing the case on behalf of the Coxes, arguing state courts allowed Indiana to keep the child from living in his parents’ home due to their disagreement with the child’s gender identity because of their religious beliefs. Notably, upon completing the investigation, the state determined the allegations of abuse against Mary and Jeremy were unsubstantiated, but still argued that the disagreement over gender identity was distressing to their child (Fox News). Collin Rugg: Catholic Indiana couple appeals to Supreme Court after their child was taken from them after they refused to refer to him as his preferred pronouns. Utter insanity (X).

Assistant Principal Supports Children Reading Explicit Material

Townhall: An assistant principal of a Florida school said in remarks in a recent hearing that it is appropriate for an 8-year-old child to read about pornography and “dirty” magazines. Garrett Jones, the assistant principal of Terwilliger Elementary School in the Alachua County school district in Florida, made the revelation in a hearing last month. The hearing centered around a book that was offered to students that discusses a “transgender” child’s gender identity. The book, “Melissa,” was previously published as “George” and discusses intercourse, transgender procedures, among other things. In a video from the hearing, Jones was asked if 8-year-olds should be able to access books referencing “dirty magazines and pornography” (Townhall). Libe of TikTok: UNBELIEVABLE. Garrett Jones, assistant principal for an elementary school in Alachua Schools says he thinks it’s appropriate for 8-year-old kids to be reading pornography and dirty magazines in school (X).

Biden Cancels $1.2 Billion in Student Debt for 153,000 Borrowers

This will only increase tuition. National Review: President Joe Biden’s administration is set to forgive another $1.2 billion worth of student-loan debt for nearly 153,000 people. The White House announced Wednesday its latest debt-forgiveness plan will benefit people enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) repayment program for borrowers who have been repaying student debt for at least ten years and took out $12,000 or less in student debt. The SAVE plan is an initiative launched by the White House in August to expand income-based student debt repayment options at an estimated cost of $475 billion over ten years (National Review). CNBC: After the Supreme Court blocked Biden’s sweeping student loan forgiveness plan last June, his administration has explored all of its existing authority to leave people with less education debt. It has now canceled debt for almost 3.9 million borrowers, totaling $138 billion in relief (CNBC).

State Department Backs Memo Urging Staffers To Use Woke Language

Fox News: The State Department defended a memo from Secretary of State Antony Blinken this month that urged staffers to steer clear of gendered language such as “mother” and “manpower.” “If you look at that memo, as I have done, it’s a standard government practice to try to encourage people to just to be respectful of others, and use the terms with which others are comfortable, and talk to people the way that they would like to be addressed. And nothing more than that,” State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said Tuesday during a press briefing. “When speaking, avoid using phrases like ‘brave men and women on the front lines,’” Blinken’s Feb. 5 cable said. Instead, State staffers should “use more specific language such as ‘brave first responders,’ ‘brave soldiers,’ or ‘brave DS agents’” (Fox News). National Review: While Miller downplayed the cable, it appears to be part of an ongoing effort by Blinken and other Biden administration leaders to inject woke, left-wing identity-based activism into the federal bureaucracy (National Review).

Britain Being Held Down by “Economically Inactive” Citizens

Telegraph: This is the Dropout Generation. If we’re not getting what we want, we walk away – when we can be bothered. Academics have identified a curious phenomenon called quiet quitting, whereby employees stay in their job, they just do less of it, having neither the will to climb the ladder nor the energy to hop off. Britons are having less sex, marrying later – if at all – and putting off babies for good, causing populations to shrink. The replacement rate is circa 2.1 babies per woman; in South Korea it’s 0.78 (Telegraph). European Conservative: After around two decades of being told that mass immigration is good for the economy—essential, in fact, to keep it afloat—Britons have been informed that jobless legal migrants have cost them almost £24 billion (€28 billion) in just four years. This amount has been paid by taxpayers since 2020 to cover the costs of services and accommodation for “economically inactive” individuals who have moved to Britain and are neither in work nor looking for work, and so are not contributing to the economy (European Conservative).

Iran Gives Russia Ballistic Missiles To Use in Ukraine

Reuters: Iran has provided Russia with a large number of powerful surface-to-surface ballistic missiles deepening the military cooperation between the two U.S.-sanctioned countries. Iran’s provision of around 400 missiles includes many from the Fateh-110 family of short-range ballistic weapons, such as the Zolfaghar, three Iranian sources said. This road-mobile missile is capable of striking targets at a distance of between 300 and 700 km (186 and 435 miles), experts say (Reuters). Fox News: Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is seeing newfound success as resources dwindle for some Ukrainian defenders. Russia announced this weekend that it had captured the Ukrainian city of Avdiivka after Ukrainian forces, low on ammo and personnel, retreated. It was the first significant gain by Russia in months (Fox News).

Illinois Mayor Under Investigation by the FBI for Misconduct, Abuse of Power

New York Post: The FBI is probing self-described “super mayor” Tiffany Henyard over mounting accusations of misconduct and misuse of office — as the Illinois Attorney General shut down her charity Tuesday. The eccentric mayor — whose face is plastered across billboards in tiny Dolton, Ill. — is accused of spending taxpayer money on lavish an unnecessary trips and forking over one million dollars on a police detail then using them to retaliate against her perceived enemies. Lawrence Gardner, 57, said he visited an FBI office after Henyard shuttered his trucking business because he refused to renew a $3,500 political contribution (New York Post). Collin Rugg: Henyard has gone viral for comparing herself to Jesus, shutting down businesses who don’t donate to her, using money for music videos, hiring a child rapist as code enforcement officer, proposing a law to cut the salary of any mayor besides herself to $25k, spending taxpayer dollars on Las Vegas trips and much more. Henyard has sent her small village of Dolton, Illinois into $5 million in debt (X).

10.

Americans Spend the Most on Food in 30 Years

Wall Street Journal: Eating continues to cost more, even as overall inflation has eased from the blistering pace consumers endured throughout much of 2022 and 2023. Prices at restaurants and other eateries were up 5.1% last month compared with January 2023, while grocery costs increased 1.2% during the same period, Labor Department data show. Relief isn’t likely to arrive soon. Restaurant and food company executives said they are still grappling with rising labor costs and some ingredients, such as cocoa, that are only getting more expensive. In 1991, U.S. consumers spent 11.4% of their disposable personal income on food, according to data from the U.S. Agriculture Department. More than three decades later, food spending has reattained that level. In 2022, consumers spent 11.3% of their disposable income on food (Wall Street Journal).