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The Trump administration took another step toward expediting construction of a border wall, announcing it is waiving federal contracting regulations to fast track construction in four states, including Arizona. The targeted regulations, dealing with contracting, pricing and wage regulations, need to be waived “to ensure the expeditious construction of barriers and roads” to stop drugs at the border, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said in a notice set to be published in the Federal Register. A Department of Homeland Security statement said the agency will “waive procurement regulations in six high-traffic border sectors to build an additional 177 miles...

Former president Barack Obama on Wednesday called on South Carolina television stations to stop running an ad from a super PAC supporting President Trump that uses Obama’s words out of context in a misleading attack on former vice president Joe Biden. The Committee to Defend the President, a pro-Trump group, circulated an ad that falsely suggests that words Obama spoke in the narration of his own 1995 book were meant to describe Biden.... The ad then runs audio of Obama reading an unrelated passage from his book, “Dreams from My Father,” about a conversation he had with a barber in...

“Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet” (Proverbs 27:5-6).

BOTHELL, Wash. — The superintendent of Northshore School District said Wednesday in an email to families one of its high schools will be closed Thursday after a staffer's family member was placed in quarantine for possible coronavirus. Northshore School District superintendent Michelle Reid said Bothell High School will be closed Thursday "out of an abundance of caution." Reid said a staff member at Bothell High School returned to work Monday after a week of international travel. The staffer said a family member traveling with them became sick Tuesday and was taken to the hospital. The family member is being treated,...

A woman in Japan tested positive for the coronavirus for the second time on Wednesday, as the country grips with 190 cases separate from the Diamond Princess cruise ship outbreak, according to multiple reports. The tour bus guide in her 40s first tested positive in late January and was released from the hospital after recovering. She was readmitted after having a sore throat and chest pains, according to the local government. It's a first known case of a second positive test in Japan, which prompted Health Minister Katsunobu Kato to inform Japan's central government of the need to review previous...

Donald Trump has at least five strong historical arguments for his re-election. One, he is an incumbent. Incumbent presidents have won 14 of 19 re-election bids since 1900. The few who lost did not enjoy positive approval ratings. In a Gallup poll from earlier this month, Trump enjoyed his highest approval rating since his inauguration, squeezing out a 49 percent favorable rating vs. 50 percent unfavorable. Two, the public perception of the economy usually determines any presidential election -- as incumbents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush and Herbert Hoover learned the hard way. Currently, the U.S. is...

Today’s CG from The Arkansas Gazette. Everyone by now should recognize the author's first name, then it's off to the final lap of the Daytona 500. BWZ HBBO JWZAOBVZ UY GBMVF J PBQRTZ BE KUBHMJNFL. —GUQQUJT ZQQZML AFJWWUWH

I came across the NY Times article, “Why Kids Can’t Write,” and I couldn’t help it. I had to click on it. Silly me, I got sucked into it, and wasted an afternoon and most of my patience on it. So complicated, she gets fisked. As usual, the original is in italics, and my commentary in bold. On a bright July morning in a windowless conference room in a Manhattan bookstore, several dozen elementary school teachers were learning how to create worksheets that would help children learn to write

A new proposal on the docket in Boston on Wednesday could determine how much residents pay for parking tickets. The Boston City Council was to meet at noon Wednesday to discuss new legislation which will include a hearing order for potential income-adjusted fines on parking violations. Recently elected city councilor at-large Julia Mejia filed the hearing order on Monday and has been vocal about the idea on Twitter. "I am introducing legislation on income-adjusting parking tickets so low-income families don’t have to decide between paying a parking ticket or putting food on their table," she wrote.

On Monday, an Iranian lawmaker in the Iranian city of Qom reported that at least 50 people who reside in the city have died from the coronavirus, alternatively referred to as COVID-19. Ahmad Amiriabadi Farahani (pictured above) made the shocking revelation to media outlets and his claim was carried by Iran’s semiofficial ILNA news agency. The city of Qom is considered to be a holy city by some Iranians and others who practice Shia Islam. That is significant because the city attracts devout Shia pilgrims and tourists, making it a transit point for spreading the virus to other regions. Indeed,...

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au·thor·i·tar·i·an·ismnoun the enforcement or advocacy of strict obedience to authority at the expense of personal freedom.With his latest wave of accolades heaped upon homicidal communist dictator Fidel Castro, Bernie Sanders equivocated his praise for Cuba’s “literacy programs” with the reminder that he "happens to believe in democracy, not authoritarianism." Does he though? For that matter, do any of the final Democrat candidates for the presidential nomination? “I believe in Democracy, not authoritarianism” is a strange phrase as it presupposes that democracy is an antonym to authoritarianism. It isn’t, really. Tyranny, totalitarianism, dictatorship, monarchy, those are contradictory systems to democracy. Democracy...

Twenty nine years ago today, on February 26, 1991, units of the American Second Armored Cavalry Regiment engaged the armor of the Iraqi Republican Guard Tawakalna Division in the Battle of 73 Easting. The furious action lasted twenty-three minutes. The troop stopped when there was nothing left to shoot. Sporadic contact ranged from nuisance machine gun fire to one company-sized counterattack of T-72s and BMP armored personnel carriers. Tanks and Bradleys destroyed enemy vehicles at long range from the dominating position on the ridge. Three Bradleys from first platoon, led by Lieutenant Michael Petschek, encountered and destroyed four T-72s as...

Previously Chairman Lindsey Graham promised to hold public hearings on reforms needed to the FISA process prior to any reauthorization vote. However, with two weeks remaining until current FISA authorization expires the Senate Judiciary Committee has yet to hold a single hearing, and the senate calendar is empty. In November of 2019 buried deep in the congressional budget Continuing Resolution (CR) was a short-term extension to reauthorize the FISA “business records provision”, the “roving wiretap” provision, the “lone wolf” provision, and the more controversial bulk metadata provisions [Call Detail Records (CDR)], all parts of the Patriot Act. As a result...

Ahoy, suckers! Conservative, Inc., is back at it again, trading in its classic cruise ship motif for a figurative dinghy in its never-ending quest to separate you from your money and themselves from the shredded tatters of their ruined dignity. Woke Rule No. 1 is that anything with “Principles” in its name is a grift. Now, something called “Principles First” – ugh – is trying to shoehorn into CPAC’s spotlight with its “National Summit on Principled Conservatism” to be held in D.C. on February 29th, and for the low, low, almost certainly lib tech tycoon-subsidized price of $10, you can attend...

There used to be a social stigma against believing and behaving as if one is entitled to tell perfect strangers how to speak, what to do, or how to live. Sadly, that stigma is all but gone today. More people than ever are willing to use the force of government to compel their fellow citizens to comply with their own changing set of mandates. I am fascinated by the causes that have compelled so many Americans to lose perspective on this fundamental principle of freedom. Take Michael Bloomberg, please! What drives this man with the freedom to enjoy his wealth...

If you missed President Trump’s press conference on the Coronavirus yesterday evening, you should take time to watch it. – The full stream of it can be found at this link: Full Trump Presser. This was President Donald Trump at his best: Fully in command of the room and the facts, speaking in measured tones, obviously in charge of the situation. Other than some formal international ceremonies, it was with out doubt the most “presidential” event of his entire time in office. He took every question from the enemies of the people assembled in the White House briefing room and...

A group of Sen. Bernie Sanders supporters attempted to intimidate an Illinois Democratic congressional candidate into supporting the socialist's agenda. The Vermont senator's supporters on Monday live-streamed their activity on social media while Betsy Dirksen Londrigan concluded a campaign appearance in Champaign, Illinois. Following the event, the group challenged Londrigan to debate Illinois socialist candidate Stefanie Smith. "Where did she go?" one person in the video can be heard asking. "She's going out. Let's go." The Sanders supporters then surrounded Londrigan's vehicle, telling each other to "block her in" and to "get by her window!" One of the agitators can...

An Israeli company has developed a kit for precise diagnosis of the coronavirus. .....

U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is calling for a suspension of flights to Hawaii from South Korea and Japan amid growing concerns about the coronavirus. “It is irresponsible for our leaders to endanger the health and well-being of Hawaii’s people by continuing to allow travel from Japan and South Korea," Gabbard said, in a statement Wednesday. “I know there will be economic hardship, but it will pale in comparison to the cost in lives and economic damage to Hawaii and our country if we don’t suspend travel from these countries.”