Anti-Trump Amash Leaves the House Freedom Caucus

/0 Comments/in , /by

By Townhall. Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) on Monday stepped down from the House Freedom Caucus and the board, saying he “didn’t want to be a further distraction from the group,” POLITICO reported. “I have the highest regard for them and they’re my close friends.”

The Michigan representative told CNN he stopped attending Freedom Caucus meetings months ago after clashing with members of the group. He did, however, attend a board meeting on Monday before resigning. . .

Although Amash is one of the group’s founding members, over the last year he has been at odds with others in the Caucus. Specifically, Amash has called for President Donald Trump’s impeachment following Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report. (Read more from “Anti-Trump Amash Leaves the House Freedom Caucus” HERE)

__________________________________________________

Trump on Impeachment and Nixon: ‘He Left. I Don’t Leave.’

By Politico. President Donald Trump, whose actions during the Russia investigation have prompted comparisons to the Watergate scandal, drew a distinction between himself and President Richard Nixon on Monday: “He left. I don’t leave. A big difference.”

He made the comment on the same day that John Dean, the former Nixon White House counsel, appeared before the House Judiciary Committee for a hearing on special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, which outlined possible obstruction of justice by Trump. Dean testified that he saw “remarkable parallels” between Nixon’s actions and Trump’s.

The president spoke to reporters a short while later from the South Lawn of the White House and answered questions about the possibility of impeachment.

“We have no collusion, no obstruction, no anything,” Trump said during an event honoring this year’s Indianapolis 500 champion, Simon Pagenaud, and Team Penske. “When you look at past impeachments, whether it was President Clinton or — I guess President Nixon never got there. He left. I don’t leave. A big difference. I don’t leave.” (Read more from “Trump on Impeachment and Nixon: ‘He Left. I Don’t Leave.'” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

SCOTUS Declines to Hear Case About Federal Regulation of Gun Silencers

/0 Comments/in , /by

(Editor’s note: Joe Miller represented Appellant Jeremy Kettler in this case and conducted the oral arguments for his case before the 10th Circuit. Joe was deeply disappointed in the Supreme Court’s decision to not take the case, but wasn’t surprised given the unprecedented and mysterious use of a suppressor – on only one of the guns fired – during the recent mass shooting at Virginia Beach. Following the shooting, President Trump announced his opposition to suppressors, as well)

In orders issued Monday morning, the Surpreme Court denied the petitions for hearing of a pair of cases involving gun “silencers” — or suppressors — amid a national debate about whether the firearm accessory should be banned.

The cases of Cox v. United States and Kettler v. United States, had to do with the National Firearms Act (NFA), which was first passed in 1934. The NFA does not ban suppressors, but it does create substantial bureaucratic and financial barriers to transferring them, such as filing paperwork with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and paying $200 for a tax stamp.

Shane Cox manufactured suppressors and sold them unregistered out of his army surplus store. Jeremey Kettler — a disabled Army veteran — bought one of those suppressors and then posted a video of it on social media. After that social media post some drew suspicion from ATF, Kettler was questioned about the purchase and charged with three felonies, including possession of an unregistered firearm. Cox was also charged under the NFA.

Kettler’s lawyers later argued that he thought the “purchase, possession, and use of such a suppressor was entirely lawful.” Both were later convicted under the federal statute.

Later, in federal court, Cox and Kettler raised the question of whether or not the federal government has the authority to regulate commerce between two private parties within one state and also said that the transaction was protected by Kansas state law. The lower courts disagreed, and now the Supreme Court has allowed those rulings to stand.

The justices did not comment on the decision to decline the cases. The Supreme Court’s Monday order list as well as Kettler’s 46-page petition in the case are out.

“Silencers” — more accurately called suppressors — reduce the sound of gunshots by functioning in a similar manner to a car muffler. They redirect the gas created by the combustion reaction of the gunpowder and introducing it more gradually to the surrounding environment.

Contrary to the misconception created by Hollywood action and crime movies, however, they do not completely silence a gunshot, but merely bring the sound level down to around that of a jackhammer.

The devices have existed since the early 1900s but have faced renewed focus from anti-gun activists in recent weeks after one was used at a recent shooting in Virginia Beach, Va.

During a recent interview while in the United Kingdom, President Trump said that he would “seriously look” at banning gun suppressors. He explained that he doesn’t “like” suppressors, but also doesn’t “love the idea” of banning them. (For more from the author of “SCOTUS Declines to Hear Case About Federal Regulation of Gun Silencers” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

No Sanctuary for the Unborn: These 42 Prosecutors Say They Won’t Enforce New Pro-Life Laws

/0 Comments/in , /by

A group of elected prosecutors from across the United States announced over the weekend that they would not enforce abortion restrictions in their jurisdictions.

“As elected prosecutors, we took an oath to uphold both the U.S. Constitution and the Constitutions of our individual states. Our U.S. Supreme Court, in deciding Roe v. Wade, determined that every woman has a fundamental right to privacy which is ‘broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy,’” a statement from the group reads. “As some elected prosecutors have noted, the broad restrictions in the laws passed by these states appear to be unconstitutional under Roe v. Wade.”

The group’s announcement comes in response to a wave of pro-life legislation across the United States. In addition to Alabama’s near-total outlaw of abortion last month, other states including Georgia, Ohio, Kentucky, and Iowa have enacted laws outlawing abortion after the child’s heartbeat has been detected.

“Not all of us agree on a personal or moral level on the issue of abortion,” the statement continues. “What brings us together is our view that as prosecutors we should not and will not criminalize healthcare decisions such as these – and we believe it is our obligation as elected prosecutors charged with protecting the health and safety of all members of our community to make our views clear.”

This group doesn’t look much like a groundswell of resistance from within pro-life jurisdictions, by any stretch. Of the group of 42 officials listed on the document, only three hold office in Georgia, one holds office in Alabama, and one is from Ohio. Others on the list come from states with far more permissive abortion laws, such as New York and California.

“Prosecutors are entrusted with immense discretion. With this discretion, comes the obligation to use it wisely to seek justice,” the group concludes. “And, at the heart of the pursuit of justice, must necessarily be the furtherance of policies and practices that protect the well-being and safety of all members of our community.” (For more from the author of “No Sanctuary for the Unborn: These 42 Prosecutors Say They Won’t Enforce New Pro-Life Laws” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Ilhan Omar Refuses to Comment on Terrorist Recruitment in Her District

/0 Comments/in , /by

By PJ Media. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) declined to address a report that found the highest level of terrorist group recruitment has taken place in her congressional district.

According to a Fox News report from February, “More men and boys from a Somali American community in Minneapolis have joined – or attempted to join – a foreign terrorist organization over the last 12 years than any other jurisdiction in the country.” The city of Minneapolis is located in Omar’s district.

“FBI stats show 45 Somalis left to join the ranks of either the Somalia-based Islamic insurgency al-Shabab, or the Iraq- and Syria-based ISIS combined. And as of 2018, a dozen more had been arrested with the intention of leaving to support ISIS,” stated the report. . .

“What steps are you taking to deter extremism and the recruitment from terrorist organizations going on in your district?” she was asked. (Read more from “Ilhan Omar Refuses to Comment on Terrorist Recruitment in Her District” HERE)

________________________________________________________

Ilhan Omar Owes Minnesota $4,000

By The Jerusalem Post. The Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board last week ordered Rep. Ilhan Omar to reimburse $3,469.23 in campaign funds that were improperly directed to accounting expenses and out-of-state travel. She must also pay a $500 civil fine.

Specifically, the board found that Omar made a $1,500 payment to her lawyer, which was used to reimburse the accounting firm Frederick and Rosen Ltd. The payment was made so the campaign committee could independently obtain Omar’s tax returns and rebut a blogger’s accusation that she married her brother.

“During the investigation, the Omar committee provided responses explaining that after Rep. Omar won the primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 60B in August 2016, a blog posted an article with allegations that Rep. Omar was not married to the person she referred to as her husband, and that she was actually married to her brother as part of an immigration scheme,” it explained in the report published by the State of Minnesota board. “The Omar committee created a crisis committee to respond to the allegations.” (Read more from “Ilhan Omar Owes Minnesota $4,000” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Why Do American Tourists Keep Dying at These Foreign Resorts?

/0 Comments/in , /by

By PJ Media. . .Sunday night, favorite son and sports legend David Ortiz was shot in the back in his native Santo Domingo. Big Papi will be flown to Boston so he can be treated by his personal physicians while recovering from surgery.

Wallace is the fourth American to die while visiting the Dominican Republic since the end of April. The other three all died at sister resorts that are less than a mile apart from each other. . .

Concerned tourists can use the travel info site TripAdvisor, which has been working to make it easier to filter and find traveler safety reviews.

There have been other reports in the past year of American tourists becoming ill while visiting the Dominican Republican. (Read more from “Why Do American Tourists Keep Dying at Foreign Resorts?” HERE)

_______________________________________________________

5 U.S. Tourists Have Died in the Dominican Republic Since April. Should You Cancel Your Trip?

By TIME. . .Since the beginning of 2019, there have been multiple high-profile cases involving American tourists dying or being seriously injured while staying in the Dominican Republic.

Miranda Schaup-Werner of Pennsylvania died on May 25 after she was found unresponsive by hotel staff in her Luxury Bahia Principe Bouganville resort hotel room. According to the hotel, which is located in San Pedro de Macoris, The National Institute of Forensic Sciences and the National Police Investigations Unit concluded the 41-year-old had suffered a heart attack. In a statement, Bahia Principe says that her husband, who she was traveling with, confirmed she had a history of heart conditions.

Five days later, on May 30, Maryland couple Cynthia Ann Day, 49 and Nathaniel Edward Holmes, 63 were both found unresponsive in their rooms by hotel staff the day they were scheduled to check out. Bahia Principe confirmed the couple was staying at the Grand Bahia Principe La Romana, which is less than a mile away from sister resort Luxury Bahia Principe Bouganville where Schaup-Wener stayed. According to Bahia Principe, there were no signs of violence and the case of Holmes and Day is still under investigation and awaiting results of toxicology test.

(Read more from “5 U.S. Tourists Have Died in the Dominican Republic Since April. Should You Cancel Your Trip?” HERE)

_______________________________________________________

Woman Attacked in Dominican Republic Says All-Inclusive Resort Is Trying to ‘Blame the Victim’

By People. The woman who says she was brutally attacked in January at a resort in the Dominican Republic has accused the all-inclusive of attempting to “blame the victim” after the hotel addressed the incident Wednesday in a statement.

Tammy Lawrence-Daley, 51, wrote in a May Facebook post that she was attacked and left for dead in an underground area at the Majestic Elegance Punta Cana Resort by a man wearing a hotel uniform. She and her husband have accused authorities and hotel staff of mishandling the case.

On Wednesday, nearly a week after the woman’s Facebook post, which received extensive media coverage, the resort issued a statement denying Lawrence-Daley’s allegations. The hotel’s statement also accused her of requesting $2.2 million in compensation, saying that when she did not receive a “positive response, she disclosed her version of the case, four months after it happened.”

A statement issued Friday on behalf of Lawrence-Daley asserts that she and her attorneys “feel confident that viewers and the public can see that the hotel’s attempt to blame the victim in this case is their last plea to avoid taking responsibility for their failures.” (Read more from “Woman Attacked in Dominican Republic Says All-Inclusive Resort Is Trying to ‘Blame the Victim'” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Christian Baker Sued for a THIRD Time

/0 Comments/in , /by

Masterpiece Cakeshop is again under fire, now the subject of a third discrimination lawsuit alleging that owner Jack Phillips “discriminated” against a customer by refusing to make a cake for an unspecified event.

Phillips, of course, won at the United States Supreme Court after suing a Colorado “human rights” commission that punished him for refusing to provide a wedding cake for a same-sex wedding in Denver, a task Phillips said violated his religious conviction that true marriage is between one man and one woman. Phillips offered to sell the couple a pre-made cake or refer them to another baker — solutions that would have allowed Phillips to avoid material participation in the same-sex wedding — but the couple weren’t satisfied and leveled a complaint with Colorado authorities.

Ultimately, in a decisive Supreme Court victory, Phillips won against the Colorado human rights commission, but the victory hinged on the behavior of the commission itself, which SCOTUS found to be harassing and discriminatory. The Supreme Court refused to issue a verdict on whether the First Amendment’s free exercise clause protects Christians from being forced to participate in same-sex weddings — or any event or action that violates their right of conscience. . .

“The latest lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Denver District Court on behalf of Autumn Scardina by attorneys Paula Greisen and John McHugh,” the outlet reports.

Scardina is the same woman who filed the previous lawsuit alleging discrimination after Masterpiece Cakeshop denied her request — made the day Phillips won his case — for a cake celebrating her gender transition. Reports on this newest lawsuit are vague on the theme of the pastry in question — they have said, so far, only that Scardina requested a “birthday cake” — but previous filings indicate that Scardina has gone out of her way on several occasions to request cakes Masterpiece Cakeshop clearly will not make. (Read more from “Christian Baker Sued for a Third Time” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Opinion: If a Straight Pride Parade Is Stupid, so Is a Gay Pride Parade

/0 Comments/in , /by

Personally, I agree with the people who say that the upcoming “straight pride parade” in Boston is a silly stunt. It’s not something that I would have any interest in attending, though I do appreciate the intentional irony of Milo Yiannopolous being named the parade’s grand marshal.

I believe I am on stable intellectual ground in calling the parade silly, as I have also said the same about gay pride parades. In fact, I think parades, in general — festive traffic jams, as I call them — are kind of stupid. But there are at least some justifiable reasons to throw one. Winning a war would be one good reason. Winning a Super Bowl would be another. If we are going to have a parade to announce our pride in something, it ought to be a real achievement. Or else it should at least be some occasion for actual celebration, such as a holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas. But your sexual orientation is neither an achievement nor a holiday. You have not accomplished anything simply by being attracted to one sex or another.

It is argued that the real purpose of a gay pride parade is to resist and protest the persecution of homosexuals. Heterosexuals are not persecuted for being heterosexuals, so the argument goes, and therefore a heterosexual pride parade is pointless. But if that’s the point of a pride parade, then why do they call it a pride parade? If it’s really a protest, then call it a protest, or a rally, or a demonstration. And in that case, why do they hold these “protests” in places like San Francisco and Los Angeles, rather than Tehran or Riyadh? It seems that these pride parades are held in precisely the places where gays are not persecuted.

All the evidence indicates that gay pride parades are indeed gay pride parades. That is, they are parades that give gay people the opportunity to announce their pride in being gay. Indeed, the New York City Pride Parade website calls its event a “pride celebration.” Another LGBT website puts it plainly: Gay people should “feel pride in being gay.” If you agree that gays should feel pride in their gayness, and that parades ought to be held across the country to celebrate that pride, and to “create inclusive places for self-expression” for homosexuals, then it would obviously be a ludicrous double standard to insist that heterosexuals are not entitled to a similar celebration for themselves. (Read more from “Opinion: If a Straight Pride Parade Is Stupid, so Is a Gay Pride Parade” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Mysterious Large Mass Discovered on Moon

/0 Comments/in , /by

A large mass of unknown material has been discovered on the largest crater on the Moon and scientists aren’t sure what it is.

According to an April 2019 study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, the researchers believe the mass could contain metal from an asteroid that crashed into the celestial satellite, which resulted in the aforementioned crater, known as the Lunar South Pole-Aitken basin.

“Imagine taking a pile of metal five times larger than the Big Island of Hawaii and burying it underground. That’s roughly how much unexpected mass we detected,” lead author Dr. Peter James, assistant professor of planetary geophysics at Baylor University, said in a statement. . .

“When we combined that with lunar topography data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, we discovered the unexpectedly large amount of mass hundreds of miles underneath the South Pole-Aitken basin,” James said. “One of the explanations of this extra mass is that the metal from the asteroid that formed this crater is still embedded in the Moon’s mantle.”

The anomaly – “whatever it is, wherever it came from,” James added – is weighing down the basin floor by more than half a mile. The team of researchers ran computer simulations that show the iron-nickel core of an asteroid could have been placed into the upper mantle of the Moon following impact. (Read more from “Mysterious Large Mass Discovered on Moon” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Kim Jong Un’s Assassinated Brother Was Supposedly a CIA Informant

/0 Comments/in , /by

Kim Jong Un’s half-brother was working as a CIA informant before he was brazenly murdered in a Malaysian airport in 2017, according to a report Monday.

Kim Jong Nam, the late North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il’s eldest son, “met on several occasions with agency operatives,” according to the report in The Wall Street Journal. . .

Little else is known about what Kim Jong Un’s older brother told the feds; however, the report did state he “was almost certainly in contact with security services of other countries, particularly China’s.” . . .

A Vietnamese woman tried in the case of Kim’s death was released from a Malaysian prison and returned to her native country earlier this month. Doan Thi Huong, the last suspect who’d been in custody after being charged in the death of Kim Jong Nam with VX nerve agent, said at the airport that “the case has come to a complete end.” . . .

In March, the Malaysian attorney general stunningly dropped the murder charge against Aisyah, following high-level lobbying from Jakarta. Huong sought to be acquitted after her co-defendant was freed, but prosecutors rejected her request. (Read more from “Kim Jong Un’s Assassinated Brother Was Supposedly a CIA Informant” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Wealthy Millennials Are Leaving These States – and Moving to These Instead

/0 Comments/in , , /by

By Fox Business. Wealthy millennials are not interested in trying to make it in the city that never sleeps. In fact, according to a new study, they are actually leaving New York state altogether.

Based on data provided by the IRS from the 2015 to 2016 tax year, a June 2019 SmartAsset study listed New York as the top state rich millennials are fleeing.

“Wealthy” or “rich” millennials were defined as those younger than 35 with a gross annual income of $100,000 or more. The data was compiled by deducting the number of affluent millennials leaving the state from the number of those moving in, which resulted in almost 5,000 departures for the year reviewed. . .

California topped the list, with a net inflow of 3,597 wealthy millennials into the state. They’re also moving to Washington State, Texas, Colorado and Florida.

“Rich millennials are moving to the coasts,” the survey noted. “Seven of the states in our top 10 are either on the East Coast or the West Coast. With Texas on the Gulf Coast, that makes Colorado and Tennessee the only landlocked states in the top 10.” (Read more from “Wealthy Millennials Are Leaving These States – and Moving to These Instead” HERE)

_______________________________________________________

Where Rich Millennials Are Moving in 2019

By Smart Asset. . .Rich millennials are moving to the coasts. Seven of the states in our top 10 are either on the East Coast or the West Coast. With Texas on the Gulf Coast, that makes Colorado and Tennessee the only landlocked states in the top 10.

The Northeast isn’t popular with wealthy millennials. Save for New Jersey, which made the top 10, the Northeast isn’t a popular destination for the wealthy under 35. Five of the bottom 10 states (Connecticut, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New York), plus the District of Columbia, are located in the Northeastern region of the U.S. (Read more from “Where Rich Millennials Are Moving in 2019” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE