Norwegian prog metal quintet Leprous will release new album Melodies Of Atonement in August

Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Whatley said on Tuesday that the RNC has had tremendous success laying the groundwork for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to win the upcoming election this fall. Whatley made the remarks during an interview with Just The News’s John Solomon while discussing the aggressive strategy that the RNC has deployed to stave off any problems it encountered in 2020, ranging from having election monitors to filing lawsuits well in advance to ensure that laws are enforced. “First off, we want to make sure that the rules of the road are the right rules of the road, and it is absolutely critical for us to ensure that every state is going to enforce the law that only American citizens can vote,” he said. “That is the law of the land in federal elections, and we need every single state to enforce it. We also look at states like Arizona, where they say that only US citizens can vote in the state election. That’s critical, and that’s why we want to make sure that we’re working to protect that.” He said that the RNC is also working to make voter ID the law of the land and forcing states to clean up their voter rolls so that there is no question about the legitimacy of the election. WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘AM I RACIST?’ — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI “The other critical aspect is that we want to make sure that we’re in the room,” he added. “We were very excited to announce earlier this week that we have already recruited over 157,000 volunteers all across the country to our Protect The Vote Campaign.” “We had set an initial goal of 100,000 when Lara Trump and I took over the RNC just four months ago, and the response has been completely overwhelming,” he said. “People are going to protectthevote.com signing up. We are getting them registered, we are getting them into training, and we’re going to have them in a position where we can deploy them as poll workers and poll observers on election day, and frankly, throughout all of the election period.” WATCH: RNC Chair Michael Whatley announces the recruitment of over 157,000 election integrity volunteers and stresses the importance of cleaning up voter rolls. “We want to make sure that we’re in the room. We were very excited to announce earlier this week that we have already… pic.twitter.com/aHaKlhL5JN — KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) August 14, 2024

The Home Depot issued a warning about the direction of the U.S. economy as consumers pulled back spending at the home improvement store during the second quarter of fiscal year 2024. The company said its sales decreased by 3.6% during the second quarter and it expects sales overall for the year to drop 3-4% compared to last year. “During the quarter, higher interest rates and greater macro-economic uncertainty pressured consumer demand more broadly, resulting in weaker spend across home improvement projects,” said Ted Decker, chair, president and CEO. “However, the team continued to navigate this unique environment while executing at a high level.” CNN noted that consumer spending at Home Depot is considered a bellwether of consumers’ moods about the economy and the housing market in general, as its business is closely tied to the housing market. WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘AM I RACIST?’ — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI The demand for housing far outpaces the supply of available homes in the U.S., thus leading to a housing shortage and exorbitantly priced homes. The situation is made even worse by high interest rates triggered by the inflation crisis that the Biden-Harris administration accelerated with reckless government spending during their first weeks in office. “Interest rate decisions matter more to Home Depot than they do to an average retailer, if only because a large chunk of home improvement demand is tied to the housing market,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData. “High interest rates have, and still are, acting as a brake on house moves.” Saunders added that Home Depot’s revised outlook for the year “suggests more negative sentiment around the consumer economy from management and reflects a more cautious rate cutting stance from the Fed than was expected earlier in the year.”

Far-Left Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) survived her Democratic primary race on Tuesday, winning by a more comfortable margin than her 2022 race when she was nearly upset.  Omar, who was seen as vulnerable after two of her fellow “Squad” members lost primary races earlier this year, won the Democratic nomination for Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District with 56% of the vote. Challenger Don Samuels received 42.9% after almost pulling off an upset two years ago when he lost to Omar by just 2,500 votes.  In a statement on X, Omar claimed that her win was a defeat for “special interests” and a win for “our movement.”  “Whether it’s universal school meals, student debt cancellation, climate action, or a just foreign policy that reflects our values – the Fifth District showed tonight that we want to drive the nation toward a better future,” she said. “And our work is far from over. From protecting reproductive healthcare to reforming the Supreme Court to ending the genocide in Gaza to combatting the climate crisis–we will continue to fight for a more just world.” Omar built a substantial fundraising advantage over Samuels, reportedly raising around $6.2 million compared to Samuels’ $1.4 million. Polling before the race also indicated that Omar would win, with one poll from July showing her with a 27-point lead.  Earlier this year, Omar’s fellow “Squad” members Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) lost widely watched primaries. Those members, along with Omar, have come under sharp criticism for their opposition to Israel. The United Democracy Project, a super PAC affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), targeted Bowman and Bush with $24 million in spending. The super PAC did not spend money against Omar this cycle.  During the race, Samuels tried to highlight his more pro-Israel views in contrast to Omar, who he called a “pawn for Hamas.” WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘AM I RACIST?’ — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI Omar, whose district is solidly Democratic, said she would now focus on backing Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign. She previously praised Harris’s decision to add Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to the ticket, citing his support to legalize recreational marijuana and “protections for reproductive rights.”

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons, which represents 92% of all board-certified American plastic surgeons, has broken with the general consensus among medical associations, indicating it disagrees with “gender-affirming care” for minors. In July, ASPS informed Leor Sapir of the Manhattan Institute that it “has not endorsed any organization’s practice recommendations for the treatment of adolescents with gender dysphoria,” adding that there is “considerable uncertainty as to the long-term efficacy for the use of chest and genital surgical interventions” and that “the existing evidence base is viewed as low quality/low certainty.” ASPS follows Doctors Protecting Children, a group part of a nonprofit that issued a declaration on July 6 that stated in no uncertain terms how it felt about “gender-affirming care,” saying: Given the recent research and the revelations of the harmful approach advocated by WPATH and its followers in the United States, we, the undersigned, call upon the medical professional organizations of the United States, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the  Endocrine Society, the Pediatric Endocrine Society, American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry to follow the science and their European professional colleagues and immediately stop the promotion of social affirmation, puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries for children and adolescents who experience distress over their biological sex.  Instead, these organizations should recommend comprehensive evaluations and therapies aimed at identifying and addressing underlying psychological co-morbidities and neurodiversity that often predispose to and accompany gender dysphoria. We also encourage the physicians who are members of these professional organizations to contact their leadership and urge them to adhere to the evidence-based research now available. “As the U.K.’s Cass Review pointed out, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) and the U.S. Endocrine Society were especially important in forging this consensus, and they did so by citing each other’s statements, rather than conducting a scientific appraisal of the evidence,” Sapir noted, adding, “The U.S. is one of the few Western countries where minors can receive gender surgeries, according to a new report.” WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘AM I RACIST?’ — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Sheila Nazarian told Sapir, “We are physicians with responsibility for the health and well-being of our patients. We can get input from other clinicians, but ultimately the responsibility for determining medical readiness lies with us. That means that we have to examine all the data and studies available to us. Furthermore, you can’t help people by ignoring the reasons they want to go under the knife.”

In a critical decision reinforcing constitutional protections, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that lawful gun ownership does not provide law enforcement with the grounds to conduct a warrantless search of a vehicle. The ruling came in the case of Basel Soukaneh, who was subjected to an illegal search and seizure by Officer Nicholas Andrzejewski of the Waterbury, Connecticut police department. This landmark decision highlights the tension between Second Amendment rights and Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. The incident that led to the court's ruling occurred during a routine traffic stop. Soukaneh, a legal gun owner with a valid concealed carry permit, was pulled over by Andrzejewski. Upon presenting his permit and informing the officer of his firearm, Soukaneh was violently handcuffed and detained in the back of the police vehicle for over 30 minutes. Andrzejewski proceeded to search Soukaneh’s car and trunk without obtaining a warrant, solely based on the presence of the firearm. FISA PASSED! Warrantless searches of Americans allowed but of course we exempted Congress. #Disgusted pic.twitter.com/hQCG9qIuNm — Tim Burchett (@timburchett) April 12, 2024 Soukaneh later sued Andrzejewski, arguing that the officer’s actions violated his Fourth Amendment rights. Andrzejewski sought to have the case dismissed, claiming qualified immunity—a legal doctrine that often shields law enforcement officers from lawsuits unless they violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights. However, the district court rejected this defense, ruling that the officer was not entitled to qualified immunity due to the nature of the search and detention. When Andrzejewski appealed to the Second Circuit, he argued that the lawful possession of a firearm provided him with the probable cause necessary to conduct the search. He further attempted to justify his actions by noting that the stop took place in a “high crime area,” suggesting that this context increased the likelihood of criminal activity​. Odor Alone No Grounds for Warrantless Vehicle Searches, Minnesota Court Ruleshttps://t.co/YHzax2IUwF#cannabis #cannabiscommunity #weed #marijuana #thc #cbd #cannabisculture #cannabisnews pic.twitter.com/9WP7ogx7k7 — MjLink.com, Inc. (@Mjlink_com) June 23, 2024 The Second Circuit decisively rejected these arguments. The court emphasized that the mere possession of a legally owned firearm does not strip an individual of their Fourth Amendment protections. The panel of judges, which included two appointees of President Joe Biden and one of President Barack Obama, unanimously found that the search was unconstitutional. They stated that without any evidence indicating that the firearm was illegally possessed or that Soukaneh was engaged in criminal activity, Andrzejewski had no valid reason to conduct a warrantless search​. The court's decision is particularly significant as it sets a precedent that could impact how law enforcement interacts with legal gun owners in the future. The ruling affirms that exercising one's Second Amendment rights does not diminish other constitutional protections, particularly those guaranteed under the Fourth Amendment. The judges made it clear that lawful gun ownership cannot be used as a blanket justification for searches and detentions, especially in the absence of any suspicious behavior or evidence of a crime​. Legal experts have noted the importance of this ruling in curbing potential abuses of power by law enforcement. It sends a strong message that the rights of legal gun owners must be respected, and that law enforcement officers cannot infringe upon these rights without proper legal justification. The ruling also reflects a broader judicial recognition that the Second Amendment is not a secondary right and must be balanced with other constitutional protections. The case has been remanded to the district court, where further proceedings will determine the final outcome. Meanwhile, Andrzejewski may seek an en banc review by the full Second Circuit or appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. However, given the strong stance taken by the Second Circuit, it appears unlikely that higher courts would reverse this decision. The post 2nd Circuit Rules Against Warrantless Searches Based on Lawful Gun Ownership appeared first on The Conservative Brief.

'State Republicans will continue to fight'

Rising prices and elevated interest rates