The New York Times/Siena national poll for June 2024 is out. It gives Donald Trump a higher share of Black voters than we are used to seeing. The poll shows that Donald Trump leads senile Joe Biden nationally at 48% to 42%. Another 10% are confused. If the election were held today, 30% of Blacks […] The post NY Times/Siena Poll Has Trump Leading Biden 48% to 42% appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

An illegal alien who entered the U.S. under President Joe Biden has been criminally charged for allegedly violently raping a young girl in New York after he threatened to beat her if she did not comply with his demands. The Turkish national, 21-year-old Sakir Akkan, allegedly raped the 15-year-old girl on May 14 after he threatened to beat her with a metal pipe if she did not get in the back seat of a car he was driving. After the girl got into the vehicle, he drove to an isolated area, ripped her clothes off and raped her, the Albany Times-Union reported. She suffered injuries as she tried to stop the man from raping her, the report said. Akkan, who was released into the U.S. by the Biden administration late last year, was arrested last week and charged with first degree rape. The newspaper said that the police “did not issue a news release or warn the public after the young girl was abducted as she walked on New Scotland Avenue in what appears to have been a random attack.” The police department claimed that they did nothing improper or out of the norm by not alerting the public that a dangerous child sex predator was roaming the area. “Had there been a perceived threat to the public, appropriate information would have been released,” a spokesperson claimed. “As far as the release or sexual assault reports and arrests that do not pose a threat to the public are generally not released in order to prevent retraumatization of the victim.” However, the newspaper noted that the department’s claim is not consistent with their past actions as they have released information on sexual assaults and rapes in the past, including just a couple weeks after the girl was raped. CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP The department claimed that its decision to not release a statement had nothing to do with the fact that the suspect was an illegal alien. A person involved in the investigation, who was not authorized to speak on the record, slammed the department’s decision to not release information and suggested that it was a cover-up related to his immigration status. “If an asylum-seeker snatching a kid (off a public street) and raping them and remaining on the loose is not a threat to public safety, then what is a threat to public safety?” the person said. Albany County Legislator Frank Mauriello slammed the department in a statement and suggested that it was trying to cover the story up. “A 15 yr old girl raped by an ILLEGAL ALIEN in the city of Albany and the public doesn’t get notified?” he posted on X. “We are suppose to believe this wasn’t covered up by the city administration? Bulls**t. This is a national story. What the hell went on here?”

Former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) told The Daily Wire that President Joe Biden’s handlers will pull out all the stops to make the aging politician “more alert” than he usually is. Zeldin’s statements came just hours before former President Donald Trump and Biden face off in the first presidential debate of the election cycle. “There should be higher expectations for President Biden. He’s been debating for decades. He will likely be more alert than you normally see him,” Zeldin explained in an interview with Daily Wire Investigations Editor Brent Scher. “However, his team manages to be able to make him more alert, I’m sure that they will be pulling whatever they can out of the hat.” Zeldin’s comments come as the former president has escalated calls for Biden to take a drug test ahead of the debate. “DRUG TEST FOR CROOKED JOE BIDEN??? I WOULD, ALSO, IMMEDIATELY AGREE TO ONE!!!” Trump wrote on his social media site, Truth Social. “So, a little before debate time, he gets a shot in the a** — they want to strengthen him up so he comes out, he’ll come out, okay, I say he’ll come out all jacked up, right?” Trump also said while addressing a crowd in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Trump was accused of using drugs, particularly cocaine, after one of his debate performances during the 2016 election. “Notice Trump sniffing all the time. Coke user?” former Democrat Governor of Vermont and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean tweeted during a 2016 presidential debate. Zeldin went on to explain why he thinks some people are setting their expectations of Biden unreasonably low. “When you’re talking policy, these are issues that he has been talking about for a long time. And, you know, memorizing a line or two for particular topics, it’s not hard,” he added. “I’m sure … President Biden’s going to be focusing hard on debate prep. So I think that it’s important not to set expectations too low on President Biden.” The former Congressman from New York also addressed how the rules and format of the debate could tip the scales in Biden’s favor, pointing out that “the hosts are two CNN moderators who favor President Biden and the Democrats.” So the situation is geared in President Biden’s favor as well. President Biden didn’t want an audience. Okay. So there won’t be an audience,” Zeldin went on to add. “The terms were set in a way where one might think, well, there’s just no way that President Trump’s going to agree to this.” “I’m confident that he’s going to be ready. I’m also confident that President Biden, when he shows up, is going to be a lot more alert than some people think,” Zeldin added. 

A sexual assault lawsuit against Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott has been dismissed by a Texas judge after a woman accused the NFL player of allegedly assaulting her in 2017. On Wednesday, Collin County Judge Angela Tucker dismissed the suit after Dallas police announced in May it had found “insufficient evidence” to charge Prescott or support a case against the Cowboys star, ESPN reported. The suit was filed in Collin County after a similar one in Dallas county was dropped. Earlier this year attorneys Bethen and Yoel Zehaie sent a letter on behalf of the woman who claimed Prescott assaulted her in the back of a car in a strip club parking lot. In the letter she said she was “willing to forego pursuing criminal charges, along with disclosing this information to the public, in exchange for compensating her for the mental anguish she has suffered,” putting the value at $100 million, the outlet noted. Prescott denied the claims and filed a countersuit against the woman and her attorneys, as well as extortion charges, all of which remain active, ESPN noted. ICYMI: A sexual assault lawsuit filed against Dak Prescott earlier this year has been dismissed. Details here ? https://t.co/TRPgg3IMOB pic.twitter.com/r2vK9q31xc — TMZ (@TMZ) June 27, 2024 “Despite [the woman’s] and her legal team’s relentless efforts to extort money and damage Dak’s reputation, justice has consistently prevailed and will continue to do so,” Prescott’s attorney, Levi G. McCathern, said in a statement to the outlet. “The original lies by (the accuser), her team, and their recent failed attempt to sue him civilly are all just a continuation of their extortion plot against Dak,” McCathern said in a statement to USA TODAY Sports. “These ploys distract from the trauma of legitimate sexual assault survivors and undermine the progress that our society has made in supporting them,” the statement added. Judge Tucker also set a hearing in September to determine if legal sanctions will be taken against the accuser and her attorneys, the outlet noted. In 2023, Prescott led the NFL with the most touchdown passes and was second in MVP voting. He was drafted in fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft by the Cowboys. During his career he’s won the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award and has been selected three times for the Pro-Bowl, USA Today noted. The Cowboys QB is in his final season of a four year deal worth $160 million, the outlet noted. Related: Tiger Woods’ Ex Drops Sexual Assault Lawsuit

Cancel Culture victims are legion, but no one has been targeted quite like J.K. Rowling. The “Harry Potter” author broke rank with fellow progressives in 2020, and she’s been paying the price ever since. Yet she persists, to tap a progressive catch phrase. So do other stars who refused to back down. They ended up even bigger as a result. Rowling’s Cancel Culture sin was agreeing with most people on one of the era’s most explosive issues. The author’s social media defiance on trans doctrine caused an immediate outcry. The media pounced and seized. So did fellow progressives and trans activists. This is the moment when many Cancel Culture targets begin their Apology Tour™. Not Rowling. She held firm at the time and has yet to flinch over four long years. John Phillips/Getty Images Over that time, she’s been targeting for death, watched her name repeatedly get erased and betrayed by the actors she helped make household names … “Harry Potter” franchise alum Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson.  Except her Harry Potter legacy is as powerful as ever. The video game extension of said franchise, “Hogwarts Legacy,” boasted sales above and beyond expectations despite attempts to cancel the title. Max decided to revive the Harry Potter franchise via an upcoming TV series, one of the streamer’s biggest projects to date. The platform even invited Rowling to vet the talent behind the saga. Rowling stood up to the mob and emerged a more powerful force. Comedian Tyler Fischer endured a very different brand of cancellation. No one “resurfaced” one of Fischer’s old gags to get him professionally pummeled. He simply fought back against DEI-style discrimination and for medical autonomy. Jason Davis/Getty Images for Bentkey Ventures Fischer decided early in the pandemic not to get the COVID-19 vaccine. He was young, healthy and had already survived a brush with the virus. The latter gave him natural immunity, something the medical powers that be downplayed at the time. His decision cost him both friendships and gigs at a time when his career was still a work in progress. Fischer didn’t get political, nor did he give up. He stuck to his principles, created viral-friendly impressions of Dr. Anthony Fauci and rebuilt a career without Hollywood’s help. He did fight back, though. He filed a lawsuit against his former management team for admitting they couldn’t find work for a straight white male. And he kept on hustling. He co-starred in not one but two DailyWire+ films: “Lady Ballers” and “Terror on the Prairie.” He paired with fellow rebel comics JP Sears and Ryan Long. He ingratiated himself to Fox News’ viewers via “Gutfeld!” And he just landed the most coveted spot for any modern comedian — The hot seat on “The Joe Rogan Experience.” Comedians once saw “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson” as the ultimate sign they had “made it.” If Carson invited you to the NBC coach after your set, it was the ultimate sign of respect. Now, a chat with Rogan serves a similar purpose. Fischer has officially made it, and he did so without betraying his values or free speech principles. Comic legend Roseanne Barr actually said something awful and should have apologized for it immediately. That’s exactly watch she did after she crudely compared former Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett to a “Planet of the Apes” character on Twitter. Apology not accepted, even if she had a track record of reaching out to minority scribes on her eponymous sitcom. ABC fired Barr from her own sitcom and killed off her iconic character, turning the series over to “The Conners.” Decades atop the Hollywood food chain ended with the speed of a Tweet. She was done. She laid low for a while, finally using a FOX Nation stand-up special as her official re-entry into showbiz. From there, she started a feisty podcast, co-starred on DailyWire+’s “Mr. Birchum” series and made herself a familiar face in Austin, Texas, the new comedy epicenter. She’s now an elder statesperson in the country’s hottest comedy scene, part of the Rogan revolution where free speech reigns supreme. Steven Ferdman/Getty Images In a way, Barr’s cancellation is ongoing. She won’t be welcomed on any late-night show or “Saturday Night Live” episode going forward. No Hollywood studio will tap her for a comic cameo or supporting role. She doesn’t need it anymore. Nor does Shane Gillis, but the feeling isn’t mutual. The affable comic snared the gig of a lifetime in 2019 when Lorne Michaels chose him to join “Saturday Night Live.” Gillis’ old material “resurfaced,” including a crude routine with Asian stereotypes. He got canned before the season’s first episode aired. Many might have called it a career. Not Gillis. He kept on creating, from stand-up gigs to his hilarious “Gilly and Keeves” YouTube sketch series. Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix Gillis also leaned on social media platforms to build his base, posting full-length stand-up specials on YouTube with dizzying results. His “Live from Austin” special has generated 28 million views since going live in 2022. Suddenly, “SNL” had second thoughts. The show invited Gillis to host the program that tried to cancel his career.  Meanwhile, Netflix ordered up a Gillis special, “Beautiful Dogs,” along with an original comedy series (“Tires”). It’s worth acknowledging that other stars have done and said far worse without a hint of cancellation. Alec Baldwin and Ezra Miller rush to mind. These canceled stars didn’t deserve the cultural punishments meted out by the modern Left. They proved too talented to stay canceled. * * * Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of HollywoodInToto.com. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at @HollywoodInToto. The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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The school year is over, and the results should leave parents and educators with more anxiety than relief. Achievement scores are near historical lows and student absenteeism is high. There is some bipartisan agreement, though, on classroom management that could help students begin to rebound in the fall: Prohibit smartphones in classrooms. Earlier this year, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican, adopted a proposal that prohibits students from using phones in class. Last week, the Los Angeles Unified School District school board voted to prohibit smartphones in classrooms. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has already signed a law that prompted policies such as the new provisions in LA and says he plans to do more on the issue while Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is also calling on lawmakers to ban phones in class. Florida enacted prohibitions last year. Smartphones are an easy distraction, inevitably pulling attention away from anything happening around us. And research continues to find that smartphone use is not without consequences. A longitudinal study (one that makes repeated observations over long periods of time) from the University of North Carolina found that when adolescents check their phones regularly for updates—text messages, social medial likes, or even just new posts to social media feeds—this behavior “changes how their brains respond to the world around them.” Specifically, the constant feedback they received made students hypersensitive to their peers’ responses, and while more research is needed, the sensitivity may contribute to compulsive social media activity in the future. The growing consensus against smartphones in class is not the first time such policies on electronic devices have been proposed. Dating as far back as 1988, New York City banned mobile devices such as pagers to prevent drug dealers from communicating, though educators found this difficult to enforce. Smartphones are easier to detect than beepers, as students’ eyes are glued to the devices. The U.S. Department of Education reports that in 2009-2010, 91% of public schools banned cellphones for nonacademic uses. This figure has fallen to 76% today. Still, smartphones have some defenders in classrooms, and the critics of phone prohibitions are worth answering so that parents and educators can defend the policies despite the howls of protest sure to come from teenagers. First, the phones are a distraction—and data demonstrate this fact: Children ages 8-12 spend some five hours per day on phones, and teenagers spend the equivalent of an entire workday on their phones. Research also finds that 42% of children have cellphones by age 10, 71% by age 12, and 91% by age 14. And with access comes significant usage. Second, some argue that if students cannot use phones during the day, they will not be prepared for the “real world.” Yet just because students cannot use phones in a classroom does not mean they cannot use the devices before school, at lunch, and after school. In the “real world,” if your boss finds you on your phone for eight hours per day, you should not expect to be employed by that boss for much longer. Third, educators say students may need phones to contact police or family in the event of an emergency, but state policies such as Indiana’s law accommodates for this. Teachers can easily pass around a basket to collect phones at the beginning of class, keeping the devices almost within arm’s reach if needed. Still others say that some students, such as alternative education students (students who struggle in traditional schools, such as students who drop out of school and return later to finish) or older teenagers, have to care for younger siblings or coordinate their work schedules. For these reasons, state lawmakers should be careful with blanket policies banning smartphones and give school boards, teachers, and parents discretion to design policies that fit their institutions. But the general accord around limiting smartphones is welcome. Educational games such as Kahoot! and resources such as online Spanish-to-English dictionaries are useful, but students will inevitably be tempted to check Snapchat in between assignments. Tools to quiz students and dictionaries existed well before the iPhone. Families and educators need students’ full attentions while in class. Social media creates enough anxiety—let’s help students remember there is more to life than how many clicks your post receives. That is the most effective preparation for the real world. The post Bans on Smartphones in the Classroom Gain Favor Across Political Spectrum appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Campaign slogans tend to focus on a single issue, such as an underperforming economy, crime, national security, or the likability of the candidate. But this election cycle is different. The current administration has opened our borders, shredded the value of a dollar, ballooned the debt, undermined America’s credibility abroad, turned a blind eye to crime, and abused the justice system—all at once—giving candidates running for office at any level a wealth of sloganeering opportunities. And there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. For instance, you can see a smorgasbord of options just by looking at winning presidential campaigns going back to World War II. Not all the lines below were official campaign slogans; some were turns of phrase that arose organically and happened to define their times. Unfortunately, pretty much any of them also define our times. The Buck Stops Here (Truman) This might make for a good inflation-related commercial outside a dollar store if they weren’t all going out of business. Originally, it was about accountability, however, which never goes out of style. Until you get elected, of course. I Like Ike (Eisenhower) If your name is Mike, go for it. If not, you can always promise what helped elect Dwight Eisenhower to a second term: “Peace and Prosperity.” Both are lacking these days. A Time for Greatness (Kennedy) The Greeks have a word, kakistocracy, which means government by the worst among us. If that doesn’t describe the current state of affairs in Washington, D.C., I don’t know what does. America Needs a Change (Goldwater) This line was not from the winning campaign, but the idea is evergreen. Besides, as with “I Like Ike,” Lyndon Johnson’s winning campaign slogan, “All the Way with LBJ,” doesn’t work unless your name is Ray (and these days, I wouldn’t recommend such a turn of phrase). Of course, you could go with Barry Goldwater’s more famous slogan, “In Your Heart, You Know He’s Right,” or frame your opponent with LBJ’s retort: “In Your Guts, You Know He’s Nuts.” Law and Order (Nixon) At the 1968 Republican convention, Richard Nixon used the promise of law and order to appeal to “the great majority of Americans, the forgotten Americans, the non-shouters, the non-demonstrators.” Yep, that was 1968, not 2024. Four years later, he went with “Now, More Than Ever.” Both shoes again fit. A Leader, for a Change (Carter) Jimmy Carter used the above slogan as well as “Why Not the Best?” and “Not Just Peanuts.” All three work in their own way; the last one referring to what average Americans wish they could still afford. Are You Better Off Than You Were Four Years Ago? (Reagan) This one speaks for itself. As does Ronald Reagan’s reelection slogan, “It’s Morning in America Again.” The night has gone on long enough. Kindler, Gentler Nation (Bush No. 41) A bit of a stretch these days, but we can always hope. Just don’t say anything beginning with, “Read my lips …” That didn’t work out so well. It’s the Economy, Stupid (Clinton) It is the economy, stupid. Again. Compassionate Conservatism (Bush No. 43) The only problem with this slogan was its presumption that conservatism needed an assist. There’s nothing more compassionate than preserving, protecting, and defending what makes for human flourishing. Change We Can Believe In (Obama) This year’s presidential race is a faceoff between two people who have already held the office, so their likelihood of success can be evaluated based on records, not rhetoric. I can’t see either one using this slogan, however, and you might want to stay away from it as well. The country is still smarting from the last time we heard it. Make America Great Again (Trump) The former president aims to “Make America Great Again” again. If you count Reagan’s original use of the slogan in 1980, this year’s campaign is the third iteration, so it’s “Make America Great Again. Again. Again.” But MAGAAA may be a little much (and doesn’t fit so well on a cap). As you can see, candidates running for office in these tumultuous times have a lot of options. Let’s hope they use them to good effect so we can turn things around soon. Otherwise, slogans going even further back will again become relevant: If the bug-eaters at the World Economic Forum have their way, any candidate that promises “A Chicken in Every Pot” will get my vote. The post Evening in America: Times Are So Bad, All the Old Campaign Slogans Still Fit appeared first on The Daily Signal.