Month: July 2023

Angel Studios’ ‘Sound of Freedom’ Projecting to Cross $100 Million in Box Office Revenue

Susan Berry, PhD

Crowdfund platform Angel Studios announced Sunday its July cumulative-to-date box office revenue for its true-life child trafficking thriller Sound of Freedom is projected to be over $85 million through Sunday with the anticipation of crossing the $100 million mark this week.

Angel Studios, which has also distributed the blockbuster faith series The Chosen, said Sound of Freedom, driven by its star Jim Caviezel, showed a $27 million box office draw in the second week of the film’s release in America since it opened July 4, and earned the top spot at the box office with the help of its Pay It Forward fans.

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It Could Take ‘Decades’ to Refill America’s Oil Reserves Drained by Biden, Experts Say

Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

It may take decades to refill the U.S. strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) after President Joe Biden released unprecedented amounts from its supply in 2022, according to Bloomberg News.

Aging infrastructure, higher oil prices and budget constraints have impeded the administration’s efforts to substantially replenish the SPR after Biden tapped its supply to tame spiking energy prices in the lead up to the 2022 midterms, according to Bloomberg. The massive underground salt caverns that hold the SPR oil now sit half-empty with no easy route to replenishment, and experts say it could take decades to refill the reserves, according to Bloomberg.

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‘Anti-Woke’ Alternative to Amazon to Go Public This Month

Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

A new online marketplace that promotes itself as a conservative and patriotic alternative to Amazon is preparing to ring the bell on the New York Stock Exchange and take the company public.

According to the Daily Mail, the San Diego-based PublicSq, which first launched in August of 2022, has already drawn the support of prominent America First figures such as Donald Trump Jr. and former Arizona Senate nominee Blake Masters. The company plans to attract more investors by highlighting its status within the so-called “parallel economy” of conservative alternatives to larger, left-wing businesses, according to excerpts from an investor call on Tuesday.

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University Slaps Trigger Warning on Hemingway’s ‘Old Man and the Sea’ over ‘Graphic Fishing Scenes’

Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

A university in a prominent Scottish fishing sector cautions its students that a classic Ernest Hemingway novel contains “graphic fishing scenes” that may upset some readers.

Students at the University of the Highlands and Islands are informed prior to their reading assignment that “The Old Man and the Sea” includes descriptive fishing passages, reported the Daily Mail, which obtained a copy of the warning through a public records act request.

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Elite NYC All-Boys School to Start Admitting Biological Girls

Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

A historic all-boys school in New York City will begin allowing trans students who identify as male, according to the New York Post.

Browning School is an elite K-12 school on the Upper East Side that costs $62,500 a year per student and was founded to educate Percy and John D. Rockefeller, according to the Post. The school will “consider for admission any child who (i) identifies as a boy or (ii) was assigned male at birth, who wishes to join a boys’ school and is well-served by our mission,” according to their website.

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Obama-Appointed Judge Reinstates Kentucky Ban on Child Sex Change Procedures

Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

A federal judge ruled Friday that Kentucky can enforce its state law which prohibits sex change treatments for minors, according to Reuters.

U.S. District Judge David Hale, an Obama appointee, decided that Kentucky can prohibit the use of puberty blockers and hormone treatments for minors after ruling in June that the state law likely violated the U.S. Constitution, according to Reuters. The decision was made because a federal appeals court reinstated a similar ban in Tennessee ahead of the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hearing both state’s cases together.

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DeSantis, Trump Lead in Fundraising Gains by the 2024 Republican Presidential Hopefuls

Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

Presidential candidates filed their second quarter totals on Saturday, which provided a glimpse into how much hard cash the 2024 GOP hopefuls have heading into the third fundraising period.

Candidates had until the end of day Saturday to file their Q2 totals with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump reporting the highest receipts among the crowded field of GOP contenders. The cash on hand totals provided a clearer picture as to how many hard dollars the respective campaigns have going into the fall, and indicated South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott sits just behind the former president, according to the FEC filings.

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Cycling Officials Boot Men from Competing in Women’s Division

Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

The International Cycling Union (UCI), the world cycling governing body, announced Friday that it will bar biological males who transition after puberty from competing in the women’s division, the Associated Press reported.

Recent public outcry over transgender athlete Austin Killips, the first openly transgender athlete to win a U.S. race in the female division, prompted the cycling officials to review the transgender athlete policy and ban males from the woman’s division.

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Commentary: Michelle Obama Could Really Be the Choice of the Democrat Establishment

Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

The Democratic establishment is laying the groundwork to dump Joe Biden. When the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, Axios, and the Atlantic desert a liberal president, you know the knives are out. Which raises two questions: when will they stick the shiv into Biden? And how do they plan to deal with the “Kamala problem”?

To all but her most ardent fans, it is obvious that having Kamala on the 2024 ticket would be a disaster for the Democrats. Her 2020 campaign collapsed before a single vote was cast. Biden made her his running mate, not because she was a good candidate, but solely because he had backed himself into a corner when he promised he would choose a black woman as his running mate.

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Gallup Poll: Fewer Americans Have Confidence in Higher Education

Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

On Tuesday, a new Gallup poll suggested that Americans across all demographic groups are less confident in the institution of higher education than they were several years ago.

According to Axios, the Gallup survey in question shows that just 36 percent of Americans report having confidence in colleges and universities. In 2018, that number stood at 48 percent, which itself was a drop from 57 percent in 2015.

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Jan. 6 Defendant Appeals to Supreme Court in Case that Could Upend Hundreds of Riot Charges

Just the News

Jan. 6 defendant Edward Jacob Lang is asking the Supreme Court to hear his challenge against one of the 11 charges he was indicted on – obstruction of an official proceeding – in a case that could upend legal proceedings against hundreds of other defendants indicted on charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot. 

The obstruction charge could be levied against “anyone who attends at a public demonstration gone awry,” attorneys for Lang wrote in an appeal to the Supreme Court last week. The proceeding for which the charge was brought refers to the event where Congress certifies the Electoral College votes to confirm the president.

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Largest U.S. Bank Notches Massive Profits Following Government-Assisted Acquisition

Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

The biggest bank in America announced huge profits Friday after previously striking a deal with federal regulators to buy the failed First Republic Bank.

JPMorgan Chase reported $14.5 billion in net income for the second quarter of 2023, which is up 67% compared to the previous quarter and 40% excluding First Republic, according to JPMorgan’s earnings release. First Republic failed in May after a bank run, requiring federal regulators to seize the bank and have other large banks bid on its sale, leading JPMorgan to acquire the bank and maintain funds for depositors.

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World Health Organization Labels Aspartame as a Possible Cancer Cause, FDA Disagrees

Just the News

A World Health Organization (WHO) committee has released a report that finds the well known sweetener aspartame is a possible cause of cancer.

The new classification is based on a review of “limited evidence.” The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), however, disagrees with the report released Thursday, according to NPR.

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Commentary: Who’s Up, Who’s Down, and Who’s Out After Tucker Carlson’s Blow-Out Interviews in Iowa

Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

Who won the Republican blow-out interview lalapalooza with Tucker Carlson in Iowa Friday night? Besides Tucker himself—who was on the Q side of this extended Q & A—the participants were South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, former Vice President Mike Pence, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Let me say straight off that the biggest beneficiary was probably Tucker himself. He is a master interviewer, outgoing and friendly in manner, informed about the issues, unrelenting in his questioning. Some of his hosts at the Family Leadership Summit, which with Blaze Media sponsored the event, were so impressed with his performance that they suggested to the audience that Tucker himself should run for president. It’s an idea that has been in circulation for a while and it got a notable “trending” uptick as the evening unfolded. Tucker himself has dismissed the idea in no uncertain terms, but it is worth noting how widespread his support is among the politically mature.

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Sanctuary City Hospital Reverses Course After Emergency Room Overrun with Migrants Seeking Shelter

Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

A Boston hospital became overwhelmed by a surge in illegal immigrants seeking shelter, leading it to change its policy allowing them to stay overnight in the emergency room, according to recent local reports.

The hospital is working to get the migrants out of its care if they’re not needing medical attention, it said in a statementshared with WCVB-TV Boston. The hospital reports an influx in migrant arrivals amid an uptick in illegal immigration at both the southern and northern borders in recent years.

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Trump Pledges to ‘Obliterate the Deep State’ and Create ‘Truth and Reconciliation Commission’

Just the News

Former President Donald Trump pledged to end corruption in Washington, D.C., by obliterating the deep state and creating a “Truth and Reconciliation Commission” that would declassify all information about government spying, censorship and corruption.

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U.S. Gives Roughly Double What EU Provides Ukraine in Military Aid, Renewing Debate over NATO

Just the News

The United States has given roughly twice as much military aid to Ukraine during the first year of Russia’s invasion as European Union countries, a disparity that has renewed debate among U.S. lawmakers.

The U.S. gave $47 billion in the first year, according Kiel Institute for the World Economy data reviewed by The New York Times. 

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Fauci Privately Admitted ‘Highly Credible Doctors’ Suspected Wuhan Lab Leak One Week Before Calling the Idea a ‘Conspiracy Theory’ in Public

Wisconsin Daily Star Staff
Anthony Fauci

Newly unredacted emails reveal that former NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci was aware that risky gain-of-function research was occurring in Wuhan, China, prior to the emergence of COVID-19, even though he referred to this fact in public as a “conspiracy theory.”

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Court Sides with Catholic School That Let Employee Go over Her Gay Marriage

Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against a former Catholic school employee Thursday whose contract was not renewed after disclosing her same-sex marriage.

Michelle Fitzgerald, the school’s former co-director of guidance, filed a lawsuit in 2019 after the Archdiocese of Indianapolis and Roncalli High School informed her that the school did not intend to renew her contract for the next year because she had violated her terms of agreement by being in a same-sex relationship, according to the lawsuit. Judge Richard Young rejected Fitzgerald’s appeal to a previous ruling, noting that she had violated the terms of her contract by entering into a same-sex relationship, which goes against the Archdiocese’s beliefs about marriage.

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Bipartisan Bill Bans JROTC Programs at Chinese Communist Party-Linked Schools

The Center Square

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, introduced a measure that would prohibit the Department of Defense from establishing or maintaining a Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program at any private school operated by entities linked to the People’s Republic of China, Chinese Communist Party, or the People’s Liberation Army.

U.S. Reps. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., and Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., introduced the Deterring Egregious State Infiltration of Schools’ Training Act in the U.S. House of Representatives, according to a news release. 

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Wisconsin Republicans Pitch ‘Federal Solution’ for State’s Election Rules

The Center Square

A pair of Republican Wisconsin congressmen is pitching what they are calling a “federalist solution” to elections across the country.

Republicans Bryan Steil and Derrick Van Orden this week introduced legislation that would implement some of Wisconsin’s election rules nationwide.

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Commentary: It’s Time to Acknowledge America’s Education Crisis

Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

The recent Supreme Court ruling regarding college admissions has once again thrust America’s educational system into the spotlight. A major question that has come from this ruling is whether America’s children are being intellectually and academically prepared to even enter or succeed in these colleges and universities. The tragic answer is that America’s public education system is failing to equip our youth with the tools necessary to succeed in higher education and in their future professional lives. We are failing America’s most valuable asset—our children.

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Commentary: Limiting Short-Term Health Care Plans Will Hurt Americans

RealClearWire

Mike Pirner had emergency gall bladder surgery shortly after buying short-term medical insurance plan (STM), for $150/month. The costs associated with the procedure were $100,000 — Mike only had to pay his $2,500 deductible, which was also his out-of-pocket maximum. President Biden has proposed rules released Friday of the July 4th week that would limit these plans to three months, with one additional month possible. Currently, these plans can last up to three years. 

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Chinese Hackers Allegedly Gained Access to Top Biden Officials’ Emails

Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

In a massive breach of two dozen organizations, Chinese hackers managed to gain access to the confidential emails of at least two senior officials in the Biden Administration.

As previously reported, Microsoft had announced that a Chinese hacking group called Storm-0558 had been behind the breach of 25 different companies and government agencies.

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Democrats Lost 26 Points with Hispanic Voters in 2022 Midterm Elections, Says Pew Research Center

Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

The Republican Party saw significant gains during the 2022 midterm elections in large part due to Hispanic voters, according to a new poll released by the Pew Research Center on Wednesday. 

Pew Research Center found that while most Hispanic voters still favor Democratic candidates overall, the Democratic advantage among Latino voters decreased by 26 points, from a 47-point margin in 2018 to 21 points in 2022. 

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Maine Governor Signs Bill Allowing Teenagers to Obtain Cross-Sex Hormones Without Parental Consent

Susan Berry, PhD

Maine Governor Janet Mills (D) signed into law legislation this week that eliminates the requirement of parental consent for 16-17-year-old minors to be provided cross-sex hormones to change their physical appearance to correspond to their gender identity at a given point in time.

L.D. 535, titled an Act Regarding Consent for Gender-affirming Hormone Therapy for Certain Minors, states “a health care professional may provide gender-affirming hormone therapy and follow-up care to a minor without obtaining the consent of the parent or guardian of the minor,” with the requirements being that the minor is at least 16 years old; has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria; has been judged by a healthcare professional to be experiencing “harm” from not obtaining cross-sex hormones; and the minor’s parents do not support the hormone treatment.

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Dozens of House Republicans to Join Group Pushing ‘Climate Solutions’

Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

Twenty-nine House Republicans are joining 29 House Democrats to resurrect the bipartisan House Climate Solutions Caucus, E&E News reported Friday.

The caucus will seek to find bipartisan compromise on green energy and climate initiatives, which the Biden administration has committed to spending hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to facilitate. The bipartisan group is the latest iteration of the Climate Solutions Caucus, which sought to pursue bipartisan climate compromise during the trump administration and counted 90 representatives among its ranks before going effectively dormant after the 2018 midterm elections, according to E&E News.

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Fired Diversity Official Sues College for ‘De-Centering Whiteness’

The Center Square

Silicon Valley community college officials said “White gays and lesbians” were not welcome in its LGBT center, called Jews “White oppressors” and refused repeated requests to address antisemitism, and forced staff to mouth a “land acknowledgment” that misidentified local indigenous tribes, according to a former diversity official.

The First Amendment lawsuit by Tabia Lee builds on allegations she made against De Anza College, Foothill-De Anza Community College District and officials after they declined to renew her contract this spring, which she called retaliation for challenging its “empty ‘antiracism’ gesture[s]” that reinforce racial stereotypes such as the “noble savage” and for acting like “an ‘uppity’ Black woman.”

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Probe Launched into FBI’s Targeting of House Intelligence Committee Staffers

Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

On Thursday, the House Judiciary Committee formally opened an investigation into claims that the FBI spied on two Republican staffers with the House Intelligence Committee while the “Russian collusion” probe was ongoing.

As reported by Just The News, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray addressing prior reporting by Just The News that the bureau had seized from Google the private email of Kash Patel, who had served as the chief investigator for then-Chairman of the Intelligence Committee Devin Nunes (R-Calif.).

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Commentary: Don’t Believe the Leftist Media Narrative About the State of the 2024 Race

Wisconsin Daily Star Staff

To the surprise of no one, the leftist corporate media’s coverage of the 2024 presidential race has been abysmal. Predictably, their reporting is full of omissions, half truths, and wishful thinking. Once again, they only report their preferred narratives, in a desperate attempt to persuade stupid people and gullible news outlets into believing them, including Conservative Inc.

As usual the leftist coastal elites are attempting to shape their perceptions into reality.

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DeSantis and Haley Well Received by Evangelical Christians at Iowa Faith and Leadership Summit

M.D. Kittle

In closing the nationally watched Family Leadership Summit late Friday afternoon, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ratcheted up the political rhetoric and sounded more fired up than he’s been at some of his previous campaign trips to Iowa.

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