Navy Error Costs 1,200 Servicemember Retirees $7 Million

Wire Editor
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Navy Error Costs 1,200 Servicemember Retirees $7 Million

(By Adam Andrzejewski, RealClear Wire) The U.S. Navy is trying to claw back $7 million from over 1,200 retired sailors after a system error resulted in overpayments for almost four years, according to NBC News.

The errors were a result of inaccurate service calculations for 1,283 retired sailors between August 2019 and February 2023, caused by its personnel system sending incorrect data to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service.

It counted inactive reserve service as active duty creditable service. That error leaves sailors with debts from $35 to $70,000 that the Navy now must attempt to recoup, with a median debt of $2,700 per sailor, NBC reported.

Defense Finance and Accounting Service will soon issue official debt notifications to retirees detailing how to pay the debt or request a waiver. On top of reduced retirement income since the error was discovered, retired sailors are bracing for tens of thousands of dollars in debt.

According to NBC, retired sailor Devin Morrison has seen his payments fall by $762 per month, and is expecting to be hit with a bill for around $30,000 in repayments. “Through no fault of my own, I’m going to be saddled with this pretty significant bill…That’s a hard pill to swallow,” Morrison told NBC.

This isn’t the first administrative mistake the armed services have made in recent years. The Navy found that 65 dentists and physicians owe three additional years of service after a similar computer error, and in another incident the Air Force found 600 aviation officers also owe three additional years of service.

Our brave men and women that serve in the military risk their lives to defend our country. The least we owe them is a competent administration and accurate information about their years of service and income.

Trump Indictment Suggests that Pentagon Had Secret Plan to Attack China

Ken Silva
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Trump Indictment Suggests that Pentagon Had Secret Plan to Attack China

Update: Leaked audio of the Trump conversation on June 26 revealed that the Pentagon had actually planned to attack Iran, and not China.

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The Justice Department’s newly unsealed indictment against former President Donald Trump suggests that the Pentagon had a secret plan to attack China.

On pages 15 and 16 of the indictment, prosecutors detail a conversation between Trump, a writer, a publisher and two of his staffers. Based on the timing, July 2021, and other circumstances of the conversation, it’s likely that Trump was talking to Bob Woodward about Army Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Around the final days of Trump’s presidency, Milley had supposedly feared that the president might attack China. Milley secretly contacted Gen. Li Zuocheng, the head of China’s military on two occasions to apprise him of developments in Washington, and to assure him that steps were being taken to prevent that possibility, according to Woodward’s book on the matter, Peril.

But according to the indictment, Trump told a journalist that it was Milley and the Pentagon who were behind secret plans to attack a country.

“Look was I found: This was [the Senior Military Official’s] plan of attack. Read and just show … it’s interesting,” Trump allegedly said, according to the indictment.

“He said that I wanted to attack [Country A]. Isn’t that amazing? I have a big pile of papers, this thing just came up. Look: This was him. They presented me this—this is off the record, but—they presented me this. This was him. This was the Defense Department and him.”

Later, Trump allegedly said, “This totally wins my case, you know … Except it is, like, highly confidential.”

Prosecutors used this conversation to support their case that he mishandled classified documents. Indeed, Trump allegedly admitted to the journalist that the secret Milley plan to attack the country was classified, and that he could no longer declassify it.

However, observers noted the much deeper implications of this conversation. Trump was the first president in decades to keep the U.S. out of new wars, and this conversation indicates that he had no plans to attack China—and that it was, in fact, his own Pentagon planning the attack.

“General Milley falsely claimed that Trump wanted to attack China. Trump cleared his name by proving it was Milley who wanted war,” said conservative commentator Mike Cernovich.

“This is the real reason they want to take out Trump, and will stop at nothing to do so.”

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.

Garth Brooks Rushes to Bud Light’s Defense, Calls Boycotters ‘A-Holes’

Corine Gatti
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Garth Brooks Rushes to Bud Light’s Defense, Calls Boycotters ‘A-Holes’

(Corine Gatti, Headline USA) Country music legend Garth Brooks has a nasty message for anyone who disagrees with him.

In a recent interview, Brooks said Bud Light will be served at his new Nashville bar, despite backlash surrounding the beer brand’s partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, and if you don’t agree with him, you’re an a-hole.

Brooks said he wanted to be the Chick-fil-A of honky-tonks by serving every brand of beer, he told Billboard magazine. “Our thing is this if you [are let] into this house, love one another. If you’re an a–hole, there are plenty of other places on lower Broadway.”

Brooks said his reason to sell Bud Light went beyond the current boycott of the weak brew.

“In my existence, one a**hole can turn the whole tide down there. My thing is, let’s create a place that you feel safe in,” Brooks said about his bar Friends In Low Places Bar & Honky Tonk being built on Broadway Street in Nashville.

But calling your target audience and potential customers who expressed opinions about pushing transgender rights as “a-holes,” is causing a stir on Twitter.

 

“What an ass this guy is,” tweeted another disgusted commentator. “Garth Brooks defends Bud Light, has nasty message for anyone who disagrees with him…”

Both singers John Rich and Kid Rock have bars on Broadway Street as well. They have both taken a stand against the popular beer due to its affiliation with Mulvaney and refused to sell it at their bars in Nashville.

Brooks has ticked off country fans in the past. He received backlash from country music fans for performing at the inauguration of President Joe Biden. Brooks explained that his decision to perform was based on his belief in the message of unity that was being promoted.

STUDY: Left’s Mass Deception about Gender Is Completely Failing

Molly Bruns
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STUDY: Left’s Mass Deception about Gender Is Completely Failing

(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) A recent poll by the Public Religion Research Institute revealed that far-left ideology is seriously out of step with the beliefs of the average American.

According to the Daily Caller, nearly two-thirds of Americans across generations, political parties and religions expressed the belief that there were only two genders—a 6% increase from 2021 data.

Half of Americans felt strongly about there being two genders, while 15% believe there are two but did not have particularly strong feelings about it.

Generation Z had the biggest spike in realization of truth, up from 43% to 57%; Millennials also rose from 51% to 60%. Baby Boomers and Silent Generation both sat around 70%.

Generation X was most supportive of the idea that there are only two genders at 71%, up from 65% in 2021.

On average, parents expressed greater support for the gender binary, with 70% in agreement that there were two genders. All races had greater agreement with the binary compared to 2021, with Hispanic and black Americans topping the charts with 65% and 70% belief in truth respectively.

Pollsters discovered that education had an effect on people’s investment in gender ideology. People with Bachelor’s degrees were 58% in favor of the gender binary; postgraduates were the least likely to agree at 53%.

A sizable majority of Americans agreed that people spent too much time thinking about and discussing gender and pronouns.

The poll also revealed that less than half of Americans believed young people were being peer pressured into social and surgical gender transitions, with 43% expressing concern and 55% in disagreement.

The divide by political party was much more apparent, with 90% of Republicans opting towards the gender binary, compared to 66% of independents and 44% of Democrats.

Over 5,000 adults from all 50 states participated in the online survey.

“The definition of gender has become a high-profile and controversial topic in the public discourse in recent years, receiving significant conservative media attention,” PRRI CEO Melissa Deckman said in a statement.

Deckman explained that these numbers indicated solidifying positions in the minds of Americans across the nation.

“We’re seeing a hardening of position in support of a gender binary nationally, informed largely by partisanship and news consumption,” she added. “It’s those who feel the most strongly about gender who are driving these conversations.”

Lawyer: DOJ Used Judgeship to Coerce Trump Valet’s Cooperation

Jacob Bruns
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Lawyer: DOJ Used Judgeship to Coerce Trump Valet’s Cooperation

(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) President Joe Biden’s partisan Department of Justice allegedly attempted to coerce former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago valet into cooperation with the federal government by bribing his lawyer, the Guardian reported.

Last November, in the wake of the DOJ’s militarized raid of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, prosecutors were attempting to gain the cooperation of valet Walt Nauta, who was under fire for allegations of helping Trump conceal subpoenaed classified documents.

Nauta’s lawyer, Stanley Woodward, was soon thereafter summoned to the justice department to meet with prosecutors regarding his client’s alleged role. At that meeting, prosecutors attempted to persuade Woodward to cooperate with federal investigators against the former president.

At the time, the prosecutors attempted to claim that Nauta had made false statements, and could otherwise be in legal trouble if he chose not to cooperate.

Prosecutors also affirmed that they did not believe Woodward to be a “Trump guy,” which could play to Woodward’s favor in his attempt to gain a judge position in the future—a position that could be offered to him if he played ball.

Woodward had previously applied for a federal judge position, and the DOJ has declined to comment.

The revelation comes in the wake of Thursday’s indictment of Trump in an attempt to interfere with the election and weaponize the legal system.

Precisely how Woodward’s allegations will affect the trial is unclear, but it was delivered in a letter filed under seal with the chief U.S. judge in Washington, James Boasberg, and could reveal the attempted coercion of a witness’s lawyer.

According to Joyce Vance, a former United States attorney, the charges are not serious enough to alter the outcome of the trial.

“Even if it’s true, it would not rise to the level of prosecutorial misconduct,” Vance said. “Prosecutors don’t have any influence over judicial applications and all the parties to the conversation would have known that.”

Democrats Double Down on Bill That Would Trample Right to Work

Ken Silva
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Democrats Double Down on Bill That Would Trample Right to Work

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) States that prohibit mandatory union membership have consistently outpaced non-Right to Work states in manufacturing output and GDP growth, according to data from the National Institute for Labor Relations Research.

Despite this, Democrats are again pushing legislation that would eliminate every single state Right to Work law in America. After failing to pass the bill in 2020 and 2021, left-leaning lawmakers, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Robert Scott, D-Va., have reintroduced the Protecting the Right to Organize Act.

The National Right to Work Committee has warned that the PRO Act would radically overhaul the country’s economy—for the worse.

“Right to Work brings freedom to American workers, accountability to American unions and jobs to American cities,” the organization said in a legislative analysis.

“The [PRO Act] seeks to rob [26] states of the benefits that their Right to Work laws have produced, and would preclude other states from also protecting their workers from forced fees.”

The PRO Act contains other provisions that are harmful to workers, according to the National Right to Work Committee. Those include provisions that would empower the National Labor Relations Board to unilaterally overturn a workplace election, prohibit businesses from using replacement workers and drastically limiting who can be classified as an independent contractor.

“The [PRO Act] is chock-full of provisions that, on their own, should each be enough to vote against the legislation,” National Right to Work Committee said.

“Taken as a whole, this Big Labor wish list amounts to nothing short of an unmitigated disaster for American workers and for our economy.”

The PRO Act faces a markup session in the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions later this month.

National Right to Work Committee’s vice president of legislation, Greg Mourad, said that luckily, the PRO Act has little chance of making it through this Congress. Voting for this “ridiculous big labor idea” would be political suicide for Democrats in Right to Work states, according to Mourad.

“If they could actually pass it, they might make that sacrifice. But they’re not going to cut their own throats for no reason,” he said.

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.

House Weaponization Subcommittee Accuses FTC of Targeting Twitter

Corine Gatti
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House Weaponization Subcommittee Accuses FTC of Targeting Twitter

(Corine Gatti, Headline USA) The GOP-led House Weaponization Subcommittee found new information on Thursday that suggested the Federal Trade Commission was targeting Elon Musk‘s Twitter.

The Gateway Pundit reported the FTC set its sights on Musk in May 2022 during the anticipation and acquisition of the company. At that time, Musk was facing FTC scrutiny over his initial Twitter stock purchase for possible failure to report to antitrust regulators, noted The Information. However, his $44 billion purchase of the social media platform was not under review for antitrust concerns.

The House Judiciary Committee on Weaponization said the FTC took action against Twitter in May 2022 as a result of Elon Musk’s anticipated acquisition of the company, stating that “This information only reinforces the Committee’s concerns about the FTC’s actions and underscores the need for relevant documents to inform potential legislative reforms.”

House Judiciary Chair Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, subpoenaed the FTC in April over their actions against Elon Musk’s Twitter. Jordan suggested the timing and frequency of the FTC’s demands on Twitter suggested a partisan motivation for their actions. 

“The FTC is doing so consistent with the approach that partisan actors and interest groups have urged it to do: misusing a revised consent decree between the FTC and Twitter to justify its campaign of harassment,” Jordan said.

 

In his letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan on Thursday, Jordan criticized the FTC for its abuse of authority in investigating Twitter. and not submitting subpoenaed documents. The FTC was also accused of harassing Musk’s Twitter and suggested a partisan motivation for their actions based on the timing, scope and frequency of demands.

The FTC’s claimed their refusal to provide subpoenaed documents was due to a pending investigation into Twitter. The FTC has until June 22 to provide relevant documents regarding Elon Musk’s Twitter.

This is “not a valid basis for your refusal to comply with a Congressional subpoena,” the Committee said on Thursday.

FBI Warns of Trending AI ‘Deepfake Sextortion’ Schemes on Rise

Molly Bruns
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FBI Warns of Trending AI ‘Deepfake Sextortion’ Schemes on Rise

(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Federal law enforcement warned that extortion via artificial-intelligence-generated pornographic content, also known as, “deepfake sextortion,” increased drastically since April.

According to Breitbart, the FBI issued the warning after a noticeable increase in blackmailing incidents.

Criminals take photos—often found on social media—and manipulate the victim’s image into explicit content.

“The photos are then sent directly to the victims by malicious actors for sextortion or harassment,” an FBI spokesperson said. “Once circulated, victims can face significant challenges in preventing the continual sharing of the manipulated content or removal from the internet.”

Blackmailers use the extortion scheme to demand money—or sometimes genuine explicit photos—from the victim.

Though this technology is not new, the FBI recommended that users practice caution when posting pictures of themselves and others.

In 2017, Reddit users created explicit content of female celebrities using deepfake technology. The technology has made several strides in the last few years, and also has become more widely available to the public.

Despite concern from its users and law enforcement across the globe, tech companies have continued to profit off the technology.

Facebook previously allowed suggestive deepfake ads to run on its platform featuring celebrities Emma Watson and Scarlett Johansson.

Legislators on both sides of the political aisle called for regulation around artificial intelligence, particularly after receiving a letter from Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

“AI systems with human-competitive intelligence can pose profound risks to society,” the letter read. “[They] should be planned for and managed with commensurate care. … Unfortunately, this level of planning and management is not happening.”

President Joe Biden reacted to the bipartisan concern by putting Vice President Kamala Harris in charge of the matter. She has not made any public moves outside of hosting a meeting with several AI CEOs.

Some argued that AI technology could help many, particularly Harris, who is often in desperate need of a speech writer.

GALLUP POLL: Americans Growing More Socially, Economically Conservative

Robert Jonathan
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GALLUP POLL: Americans Growing More Socially, Economically Conservative

(Robert Jonathan, Headline USA) Americans are purportedly turning socially and economically conservative at the highest rate in more than a decade according to Gallup’s latest “Values and Beliefs” survey.

“For most of the past eight years, Americans were about as likely to say they were liberal as conservative on social issues,” Gallup said “… The shift is mostly due to increasing social conservatism among Republicans, at a time when social issues such as transgender rights, abortion and other hot-button concerns are prominent in the national public debate.”

Indeed, the aggressive far-left agenda, which includes alarmingly radical stances on divisive gender ideology and critical race theory, along with massive government spending that has prompted a cost-of-living crisis, may have pushed those who once considered themselves moderates into the more conservative camp.

Extrapolating the polling data, Gallup indicated on Thursday that 38% of Americans are very conservative/conservative on social issues, representing an eight-point increase from two years ago, and equivalent to the same percent in 2012 during the Obama administration.

And nearly half of the respondents deemed themselves economic conservatives.

Self-described socially conservative independents increased to 29% (up from 26% and 24%, respectively, in 2022 and 2021).

By double digits, those in the 30-64 demographic have become the most socially conservative over the past two years, according to the data.

The survey also noted that Republicans have grown even more conservative by 14% from two years ago.

The same data, based on a random nationwide sample about 1,000 U.S. adults compiled in May, suggested that social-issue liberals have lost ground, dropping to 29% of America, a five-point decrease from a year and two years ago.

Those identifying as economic conservatives rose to 44%, the highest cohort ranking since 2012’s 46%, which includes 36% of independent voters.

“The survey comes at a time when many states are considering policies regarding transgender matters, abortion, crime, drug use and the teaching of gender and sexuality in schools,” Gallup explained at the outset of its summary.

“The increase in conservative identification on social issues over the past two years is seen among nearly all political and demographic subgroups,” it added.

Whether these findings result in 2024 election victories for conservatives remains to be seen—especially given the Democrat’s extensive ballot-harvesting operation funded by wealthy donors, a politicized legal system, Big Tech/Big Media bias and GOP disunity, among their other structural advantages.

A separate Gallup poll recently revealed that ex-Fox News host and now independent journalist Tucker Carlson is America’s favorite pubic person.

MLB-Backed ‘Crisis’ Line for LGBT Youth Redirects to Sexually Explicit Chat Room

Molly Bruns
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MLB-Backed ‘Crisis’ Line for LGBT Youth Redirects to Sexually Explicit Chat Room

(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) An emergency text line called the Crisis Text Line—which partnered with Major League Baseball as part of a community outreach initiative—was caught sending users to sexually explicit chat rooms.

The watchdog group known as the American Accountability Foundation directed one of their employees to pose as someone who “was born a boy but never totally felt very masculine.”

According to the Daily Wire, the text line directed the employee to the LGBT National Help Center and the Trevor Project’s “TrevorSpace,” an online community for LGBT young people ages 13 to 24.

But instead of providing age-appropriate guidelines and filters, the site appeared set up to facilitate child-grooming.

Parents and watchdog groups that entered the chat before discovered that users would discuss graphic sexual topics, such as masturbation and sex positions.

Chat users also directed other users to specific brands of chest binders and gender reassignment referrals.

Reports indicated that the website did not take any measures to confirm the ages of its users.

The AAF also discovered that the chat room has a “quick exit” button, allowing the user to shut down the chat screen and erase their browsing history to quickly conceal it.

“Major League Baseball’s actions are absolutely shocking. There is absolutely no excuse or explanation that could possibly make this ok,” said AAF President Tom Jones.

“Grooming kids for gender transition is so beyond the pale of morality and basic decency that it’s hard to see how MLB ever comes back from this,” he continued. “Shame on MLB, and shame on every player participating in this program. Leave our kids alone!!”

The Trevor Project claims to be a nonprofit fighting the alleged suicide epidemic among gay youths. Disgraced transgender luggage thief Sam Brinton worked as its chief advocacy officer prior to taking his role as deputy energy secretary for the Biden administration.

While he worked at the nonprofit, Brinton advocated for young children to hide their confusion from adults and even went as far to write and recommend policies for school faculty and administrators to keep vital information from parents.

The MLB did not comment on the revelation that they support grooming and gender transition for children.

The baseball league has had a rocky relationship with woke virtue-signaling in the past. After it weighed in on Georgia’s election-integrity laws by moving its All-Star Game from Atlanta to Denver in 2021, it faced a wave of backlash from boycotting fans.

More recently, the Los Angeles Dodgers faced criticism for allowing a blasphemous transgender group, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, to take the field at a Pride Night celebration, spurring several Christian players to speak out. Brinton was also a member of that group.

Some conservative members of Congress have discussed eliminating the league’s special anti-trust designation to allow other competitive baseball leagues in response to its political advocacy.

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