ActRight

The four-term Republican lawmaker chairs the Senate Budget Committee.

In a galaxy far, far away the battle there was between good and evil. Yoda was the Jedi teacher of the "Force". May the 4th with you today and always.

"I disapprove of what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it." These words, written by Evelyn Beatrice Hall to describe the philosophy of Voltaire, should be written on Mark Zuckerberg’s forehead in indelible ink.

Bureau of Land Management wants to build a wall around "Burning Man".

Outlandish fake news and the desperate impulse to brand all threats as “right wing” is showing up the sloppiness of mainstream media sources, even worse than already expected. Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan is a far Left, Islamic supremacist thug along with his crony supporters that constitute the Leftist-Islamic supremacist alliance. "WAPO, ATLANTIC RUSH...

Michael Knowles' latest stop on the Young America's Foundation campus tour brings him to the University of Missouri-Kansas City where he's bound to trigger s...

Following the banning of several controversial figures from Facebook and Instagram, rapper Snoop Dogg voiced his opposition to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan being removed from the platforms.

Earlier this week, while speaking before over 100 religious leaders at the National Day of Prayer dinner, President Donald Trump said prayer is the most powerful thing people can do, vowing that the United States would be a country that holds the practice in high esteem.

Facebook and Google increasingly influence Congress as the social media giants censor conservative and alternative voices, dominate the Internet, and violate Americans’ privacy. Facebook announced on Thursday that they have banned several conservative personalities such as Infowars host Alex Jones, Infowars contributor and YouTube personality Paul Joseph Watson, journalist and activist Laura Loomer, and Milo Yiannopoulus. The social media giant also banned Louis Farrakhan from its platforms. Facebook said that they banned these personalities because they were “dangerous.” Amid calls for greater regulation of social media companies’ potential anticompetitive behavior, censorship of conservative and alternative voices, and privacy violations, Facebook and Google have remained at the top of Open Secret’s database of top spenders lobbying Congress. So far in 2019, Facebook spent $3,400,000 and Google’s parent company, Alphabet, $3,530,00 in lobbying Congress. Alphabet also ranked as the eighth total highest spender in lobbying in 2018, spending $21,740,000, while Facebook spent $12,620,000. Facebook’s influence has continued to rise over the years. In the early years of President Barack Obama, Facebook spent below one million dollars in 2008 and 2009. From 2011 to 2018, Facebook’s lobbying spending skyrocketed and reached historic highs in 2018, when they spent $12.6 million. In 2019, Facebook lobbied heavily on H.R. 1644, the Save the Internet Act, a Democrat bill which would restore the Obama-era Federal Communications Commission (FCC) net neutrality regulations, which arose as the result of Google’s heavy lobbying of the Obama administration. In 2019, Google also lobbied on the Save the Internet Act. In 2018, one of Facebook’s bills on which they lobbied Congress was H.R. 2520, the Browser Act, sponsored by then Rep. and now Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), which would require social media companies such as Facebook and Google to obtain explicit permission from users for collecting their private data. The Browser Act would also stipulate that these social media companies cannot deny services to users who do not opt-in to these companies’ collection of their private data. In 2017, the Browser Act was the most important issue on Capitol Hill. Sen. Blackburn said that her legislation would establish one set of rules that would balance the relationship between ISPs and Facebook and Google. The legislation would also prevent the social media giants from unfairly profiting off of Americans’ private data without their explicit consent. “We need one set of rules for the entire internet ecosystem with the FTC as the cop on the beat,” said Senator Blackburn. “The FTC has the flexibility to keep up with changes in technology and its principal mission is consumer protection. The BROWSER Act will enable consumers to make more educated decisions regarding the nature of their relationship with tech companies.” In contrast, Alphabet’s most prominent issues in Congress in 2019 and 2018 related to labor and antitrust, as well as telecommunications and technology. Facebook and Google’s dominance on the Internet has become increasingly apparent as Google has approximately 90 percent of web search traffic, whereas in digital advertising, Google and Facebook amount to nearly two-thirds of American digital ad spending, with Amazon at a “distant third” at under nine percent. In 2018, Google lobbied Congress fourteen separate times on multiple pieces of legislation that would have increased liability for companies that enabled sex trafficking. Facebook and Google’s influence in Congress extends to its trade group, the Internet Association. In the fourth quarter of 2018, the Internet Association spent $840,000. In total, the social media giants spent $2.6 million in 2018 for lobbying. In 2019, the association has spent $690,000 so far. Over the last two years, the Internet Association has focused on the Save the Internet Act as well as on legislation that would increase edge providers’ liability for hosting content that enables sex trafficking. Facebook and Google influence political elections as well. During the 2018 election cycle, Alphabet donated : $223,269 to former Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s (D-TX) Senate campaign to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), a prominent critic of Silicon Valley censorship. $149,741 to Rep. Jacky Rosen’s Senate campaign (D-NV) to unseat Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV). $135,625 to Rep. Josh Harder’s congressional campaign. $124,508 to former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp’s unsuccessful re-election campaign. $97, 364 to former Sen. Claire McCaskill’s failed re-election campaign. During the 2018 midterm elections, Facebook donated : $75,005 to O’Rourke’s Senate campaign. $37,954 to Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL) 2017 special Senate election against former Alabama judge Roy Moore. $34,534 to Heitkamp’s Senate election. $31,326 to McCaskill’s Senate campaign. $29,387 to Rosen’s successful campaign to unseat Heller. As Facebook and Google and other social media giants continue to increasingly censor and blacklist conservative and alternative voices, more and more conservative voices have called for addressing the social media giants’ dominance of the Internet. Facebook and Google’s influence in Congress also relates to political confrontations; during a hearing in December 2018, the then-ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee delivered a sharp rebuke of Republican accusations of Google’s political bias affecting its search engines, even though Google was his top donor. During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in April, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said he envisions three potential remedies for big tech’s violation of free speech and dominance on the Internet. Cruz’s three solutions include: Amending Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act Antitrust measures to address big tech’s dominant status on the Internet. Addressing potential cases of fraud and deception. “No one wants to see the federal government regulating what is allowed to be said, but there are at least three potential remedies that can be considered by Congress or the administration or both,” Cruz said . https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/05/03/facebook-google-pour-big-money-into-lobbying-congress-while-blacklisting-conservatives/

With the bans of Paul Joseph Watson, Laura Loomer and others from Facebook and Instagram yesterday, for being what Mark Zuckerberg considers “dangerous,” those who promote non-establishment narratives online are wondering: who’s next, and where? One thing we’ve learned over the past three years of ever-tightening social media censorship is that where one tech giant goes, the others often follow. Just look at the mass-ban of Infowars that occurred last September. At the urging of CNN and others, one Silicon Valley company after another dropped the controversial independent media outlet from their platforms. First Apple, then Facebook, then Spotify, then YouTube, then Twitter — most of these in a 48-hour window. It’s a tech censorship domino effect. Remember that these companies are beset by constant pressure from left-wing advocacy organizations, from the mainstream media, and from their own far-left employees to censor and blacklist the right. When one company buckles, those forces have the ammunition they need to force other companies to buckle too. “Apple did something! Why aren’t we doing something too?” That’s probably how the conversation went among Facebook employees in the window between Apple’s ban of Infowars and Facebook’s. Thus the domino effect began. This time it’s Facebook raising the bar of censorship, with its introduction of politically motivated link-banning. Not only have they banned Paul Joseph Watson and Alex Jones’ personal account, but they’ve also promised to delete any links to Infowars that appear on the platform, and ban anyone who tries to post them too often. This is a formula not just for banning high-profile political targets, but masses of their supporters as well. It’s a tool for culling the anti-establishment grassroots. The second thing Facebook has done is set a public precedent for targeting individuals not just for alleged violations of the terms of service on their part, but also on the basis of their connections to banned figures. According to the Verge , a Facebook representative explained that one factor in yesterday’s bans was the fact that the banned individuals had appeared in videos or praised people like Gavin McInnes and Tommy Robinson, who have previously been banned by the platform. In other words, it’s not just posting links. If you praise the wrong person, pose for a selfie with them, or worse — appear in a video with them — you could be banned too. This is censorship on a new scale, censorship Facebook-style. The platform’s slogan was once “connect the world” — now it’s using its knowledge of those connections to censor not just individuals, but entire social networks and movements. The only question is, will other companies now follow suit? Will independent personalities on YouTube be banned for interviewing the wrong person? If you invite Alex Jones on your Periscope channel, will that be banned too? What about Amazon, Discord, Spotify? Game streaming platform Twitch is already ahead of the curve, having a person banned from Twitch on your Twitch stream can result in your own banning. Remember, this is far-left Silicon Valley we’re talking about. You can practically hear the employees of those companies, berating their upper management. “Facebook took a stand against hate speech! Why aren’t we?” https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2019/05/04/bokhari-beware-the-big-tech-censorship-domino-effect/

On April 22, 2019, the Muslim American Society Islamic Center in Philadelphia (MAS Philly) uploaded a video of an "Ummah...

Women have had to fight several battles in society all through out history to be where they are today in America. To be a women who works hard, provides, and is an amazing mother is well applauded …

The Washington Post ‘s editors stealthily changed the headline of a pessimistic article about the economy once it was made ridiculous by the good news in President Donald Trump’s April economic report. The early morning pessimistic headline on the Post ‘s website declared that “Trump faces string of setbacks to his efforts to juice U.S. economy.” But that headline was made ridiculous by the morning’s good economic news, which editors posted at 8:34 am. The good-news headline declared “U.S. 263,000 jobs in April, beating expectations as record hiring streak continues.” The good-news article said : The U.S. economy added 263,000 jobs in April, notching a record 103 straight months of job gains and signaling the current economic expansion shows little sign of stalling. The unemployment rate fell to 3.6 percent, the Labor Department said Friday, the lowest since 1969. The official unemployment rate has been at or below 4 percent for more than a year. The contradictory pair of pessimistic and positive headlines were kept on the home page for at least 24 minutes. But by 9:39 the Washington Post ‘s editors dropped the “juice” word, and posted a new front-page headline to the pessimistic article : “Trump faces string of setbacks to his efforts to intervene in U.S. economy.” The changed headline appears under the newspaper’s masthead, which declares that “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” The pessimistic article still touts several problems for Trump’s management of the economy: Mounting GOP opposition torpedoed conservative commentator Stephen Moore’s candidacy as a Federal Reserve Board governor Thursday, the latest in a string of setbacks that reveal hardening limitations on President Trump’s attempts to intervene in the economy. Despite his efforts, Trump has failed to arrest rising gasoline prices and demonstrated little influence over Senate Republicans and Fed officials when he has demanded leaders heed his directives for managing the global economy. … Trump’s effort to plant Moore on the Fed board was another in a string of attempts to use executive authority and the bully pulpit in ways that could goose the economy heading into the 2020 election. But the Post’ s negative waves were overcome by the good news. Breitbart News reported the April numbers: The U.S. economy created 263,000 jobs in April and the unemployment rate dropped to 3.6 percent, the Labor Department said Friday. That far exceeded the 180,000 estimated by economists surveyed by Econoday and follows a better than expected surge in April. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to hold steady at 3.8 percent. Unemployment is at the lowest level since December 1969 when it hit 3.5 percent. … he good news on wages continued in April as well. Average hourly earnings rose by 6 cents to $27.77. Over the year, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.2 percent. Inflation is running at 1.5 percent, so real average hourly earnings have gone up by 1.7 percent. Read it all here . https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/05/03/washpost-stealth-edits-headline-after-jobs-report-contradicts-spin-on-trump-economy/

Is the state of Tennessee practicing voter suppression? Tennessee House of Reps pass a bill to severely restrict voter registration drives.

The senator who has been the most vocal about how we must “believe all women” who make sexual assault accusations recently expressed anger to a decorated general because not everyone who is accused is convicted.

The U.S. jobs machine kept humming along in April, adding a robust 263,000 new hires while the unemployment rate fell to 3.6%, the lowest in a generation, the Labor Department reported Friday. Nonfarm payroll growth easily beat Wall Street expectations of 190,000 and a 3.8% jobless rate. Average hourly earnings growth held at 3.2% over the past year, a notch below Dow Jones estimates of 3.3%. The monthly gain was 0.2%, below the expected 0.3% increase, bringing the average to $27.77. The average work week also dropped 0.1 hours to 34.4 hours. Unemployment was last this low in December 1969 when it hit 3.5%. At a time when many economists see a tight labor market, big job growth continues as the economic expansion is just a few months away from being the longest in history. The unemployment rate for Asians fell sharply, plunging from 3.1% to 2.2%.While last month’s slump in the jobless rate came with strong increase in hiring, it also was helped along by a sharp decline in the labor force of 490,000. That brought the labor force participation rate down to 62.8%, exactly where it was a year ago.A broader unemployment gauge that includes those who have quit looking for jobs as well as the underemployed held at 7.3%, where it has been since February. The unemployment rate for Asians fell sharply, plunging from 3.1% to 2.2%. While last month’s slump in the jobless rate came with strong increase in hiring, it also was helped along by a sharp decline in the labor force of 490,000. That brought the labor force participation rate down to 62.8%, exactly where it was a year ago. A broader unemployment gauge that includes those who have quit looking for jobs as well as the underemployed held at 7.3%, where it has been since February. Those counted as not in the labor force surged by 646,000 to a fresh high of 96.2 million. “Leaving aside month-to-month fluctuations, the labor market is still very strong, adding almost double the number of workers needed to keep pace with new entrants to the labor force in any given month,” said Eric Winograd, AllianceBernstein’s senior economist. “Wages may have been slightly tepid this month relative to expectations but are still growing at just about the highest rate this cycle, and the unemployment rate is at multi-generational lows.” The level of unemployed people plunged by 387,000 in April, bringing the total level to 5.8 million. However, the ranks of the employed also declined by 103,000, according to the Labor Department’s household survey. Professional and business services led job creation with 76,000 new positions. Construction added 33,000, bringing to 256,000 the total new jobs created in the field over the past year. Health care rose by 27,000, bringing its 12-month total to 404,000, while financial positions increased by 12,000, rounding out an increase of 111,000 in the 12-month period thanks largely to growth in real estate and rental and leasing. Social assistance increased by 26,000, while manufacturing added 4,000. Retail, whose fortunes have fluctuated in recent months, saw a loss of 12,000 jobs. Previous months saw net upward revisions, with February going from a scant 33,000 growth to 56,000, though March’s total was reduced to 189,000 from 196,000, for a net gain of 16,000. Year to date, job gains have averaged 205,000 a month. April’s big increase comes amid a mostly positive backdrop of economic data. GDP increased 3.2% during the first quarter, far exceeding expectations, while productivity during the quarter jumped 3.6% for its best gain in five years. Pending home sales rose 3.8% in March, providing some hope in the real estate market so long as rates are held in check. Earlier this week, the Federal Reserve held the line on its benchmark interest rate, characterizing economic growth as solid even as inflation remains tame. The central bank watches metrics like the nonfarm payrolls report closely for clues both on job creation and wage pressures. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said current indications point to a prolonged period of holding pat on increases or decreases in rates. President Donald Trump has said he wants the Fed to cut rates by a full percentage point. Correction: An initial headline misstated the number of jobs that the Labor Department said was created in April. It was 263,000. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/03/nonfarm-payrolls-april-2019.html

In the Philippines -- where 76 million Internet users stay online the longest in the world -- just a handful of people spend a few hours each day to fight fake news about the upcoming midterm elections. The Commission on Elections has formed a team of 10 government workers to spot and report misleading online posts to Facebook Inc. , with whom the poll body has an agreement to quickly take down false information. Weeks before the May 13 elections, the group has already identified hundreds of fake news posts -- mostly those claiming ballots have been tampered with, or that the poll results are predetermined. “What we’re trying to do is to institutionalize this reporting process in a way that Facebook will not have any other recourse but to act on it,” Election Commission spokesman James Jimenez said in an interview. “Fake news could affect how people see the credibility of the elections and the mandate of the winner.” With more voters using social media now, the election body expects fake news to spread faster this time compared to the 2016 vote, when President Rodrigo Duterte won. Still, Jimenez said the team formed to fight fake news is not enough to adequately combat disinformation. “We only have 10 people, so you just cast as wide a net as possible to fight fake news as much as you can,” he said. Facebook last month removed 200 pages and accounts found to be misrepresenting themselves. It also earlier partnered with local media groups to debunk false posts on its platform. The social media giant is taking steps to prevent the spread of fake news on its platform in time for the elections, particularly by removing fake accounts and educating people on how to spot false posts, its Manila office said in a statement on Saturday. "We have invested heavily in people and technology to better identify and remove abuse, particularly around elections," it said. Fact-Check Team Three universities and 11 news organizations have also teamed up to spot fake news and fact check candidates’ statements. The group -- which calls itself Tsek.ph and follows a similar coalition in Indonesia called Cekfakta -- monitors online posts using an app and categorizes them as either accurate, false, misleading, no basis or needs context. It also accepts suggestions from Web users on sites that should be scrutinized. “ Tsek.ph is as much a user of social media as producer of verified information, so all we can really do is flag dubious sites,” said Rachel Khan, journalism professor at the University of the Philippines, a member of the consortium. “We will give the public a source of verified information and hope that it will influence them to make the right decisions.” While these efforts from government and the private sector can help limit the impact of disinformation on the elections, much still needs to be done, including educating Internet users on how to spot fake news, said research analyst Allie Funk from U.S.-based media watchdog Freedom House. “Ultimately, the issues relating to disinformation won’t be solved in a few months and with only a few tweaks here and there. This is a long-term challenge that will need long-term solutions." https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-04/world-s-top-internet-user-taps-fake-news-busters-for-elections

In a March 11, 2010 newspaper article in The Detroit News, Rep. Rashida Tlaib's (D-MI) father accused her of lying "big-time to get elected" by falsifying her address on an election affidavit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=33&v=jERBMRVnHyo

WASHINGTON (AP) — Clarence Thomas has been a Supreme Court justice for nearly three decades. It may finally be his moment. Many Americans know Thomas largely from his bruising 1991...

The Democrats and their media colluders are belching last gasps of impotent protest as their dreams of interfering with the 2016 presidential election come to a screeching halt.

Take one guess...

My wake-up call came when I developed signs of unchecked diabetes.

A number of changes to future Burning Man events are being recommended by the Bureau of Land Management, and it seems many of the suggestions aren't sitting well with the Burning Man staff, who are calling the new measures "unreasonable."

The media call almost everything an “existential threat” these days. But the threat from a natural or man-made electromagnetic pulse (EMP) really is one.