According to a review of its expenditures, rapper Jay-Z’s college scholarship fund does not seem to be doing much good for the few students who receive its grants.

The singer’s Shawn Carter Scholarship Fund gave out what might seem like an impressive $407,250 in grants last year. However, it appears that individual students did not find the grants very helpful, according to the New York Post.

Individual students only got between $1,000 to $2,500 each, “barely enough to cover books,” the paper wrote.

The money reportedly went right to the colleges, not to the students, with $32,000 going to Virginia State University for an undisclosed number of students.

The fund, administered by the singer’s mother, Gloria Carter, took in $742,118 in 2018, most of which came from Jay-Z himself.

The charity claims it tries to help needy students, but it also charges the students $200 each to participate in the program and only 32 students signed up last year.

It also appears that large amounts of the fund’s money go to cover special events. For instance, the fund spent $44,581 to pay for a bus tour of traditionally black colleges last year. And its annual toy giveaway at Marcy Houses in Brooklyn cost $8,452.

The Shawn Carter fund was not the only spending the “Dirt Off Your Shoulder” singer put toward education. With 2018 earnings estimated at $76.5 million, Jay-Z and his pop star wife, Beyonce, dolled out ten scholarships of $100,000 each this year, the cash going for the 2019 school season.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.

California, a state with every gun control imaginable, witnessed an 18 percent rise in firearm homicides from 2014 to 2016.

This rise in firearm homicides comes despite the fact that Democrats, gun control groups, and the establishment media constantly claim that states with the strictest gun controls see lower rates of violence and death.

California has universal background checks, gun registration requirements, red flag laws (i.e., Gun Violence Restraining Orders), a ten-day waiting period for gun purchases, an “assault weapons” ban, a one-gun-per-month limit on handgun purchases, a minimum firearm purchase age of 21, a ban on campus carry, a “good cause” restriction for concealed carry permit issuance, and controls on the purchase of ammunition. The ammunition controls limit law-abiding Californians to buying ammunition from state-approved vendors–all of whom are in-state sellers–and adds a fee to any ammunition bought online, also requiring that ammunition to be shipped to a state-approved vendor for pickup.

Additionally, the state mandates gun free zones in businesses where alcohol is sold for on-site consumption. Therefore, the few concealed carry permit holders in the state must enter myriad restaurants without any means of self-defense. This provides a target-rich environment for attackers who want to be sure no one can shoot back when they strike. We last saw this on November 7, 2018, when an attacker opened fire with a handgun in the gun-free Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, California.

Despite all the stringent gun controls a bill filed by Assemblyman Marc Levine (CA-D-10) admits California firearm homicides were up between from 2014 to 2016. The bill says, “Although California has the toughest gun laws in the nation, more effort is necessary to curtail gun violence. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation found that from 2014 to 2016 gun homicides increased 18 percent.” In light of this gun control failure the language of the bill goes on to suggest more gun control.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.

If we are to treat campaign finance reporting violations as grave offenses, the first person in the dock ought to be Hillary Clinton — not Donald Trump.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s sentencing memorandum for Michael Cohen on Friday repeated claims that Cohen violated campaign finance rules at the direction of then-candidate Donald Trump.

The media and their Greek chorus of Democrats are delighted, with incoming House Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler (D-NY) calling the alleged crimes “impeachable offenses,” and incoming House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff speculating about jail time.

It is not clear, however, that Trump broke the law.

First of all, the payment of “hush money” — the key issue — had a personal purpose quite separate from the campaign.

And as Alan Dershowitz noted when the claims first surfaced, “if Cohen was merely acting as a lawyer for Trump and advancing the payments, with an expectation of repayment, then it would be hard to find a campaign finance crime other than failure to report by the campaign.” He added: “Failure to report all campaign contributions is fairly common in political campaigns in the United States.”

Moreover, it is a matter of public record that the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) paid Fusion GPS via an intermediary, the Perkins Coie law firm, to conduct opposition research on Trump — which became the dubious Russia “dossier,” which led to the FBI investigation of Trump’s aides.

Furthermore, the Clinton campaign and the DNC falsely reported their expenditures to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) as “legal services.” The amount of money was in the range of several millions of dollars — more than ten times the $280,000 that Trump is alleged to have paid to women claiming to be his mistresses.

As Kimberly Strassel of the Wall Street Journal noted in August:

The Clinton campaign paid Fusion GPS to compile a dossier against Mr. Trump, a document that became the basis of the Russia narrative Mr. Mueller now investigates. But the campaign funneled the money to law firm Perkins Coie, which in turn paid Fusion. The campaign falsely described the money as payment for “legal services.” The Democratic National Committee did the same.

Prosecutors can claim all they want that they are applying the law equally, but if they only apply it to half the suspects, justice is not served. Mr. Mueller seems blind to the national need for—the basic expectation of—a thorough look into all parties.

Mueller is not the only one who is blind. The media and the Democrats are deliberately creating a double standard for one reason: to oust Trump — for a likely non-crime, unrelated to Russia “collusion.”

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

ICE warned New Jersey. Update to this story.
More here.

Via Washington Examiner:

Foreign nationals from 24 countries — including four people with Interpol warrants for their arrests — were among the 105 arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement during a five-day sweep.

The agency announced the arrests Friday in a news release.

“Our focus has been and will continue to be on arrests of illegal aliens who have been convicted of serious crimes or those who pose a threat to public safety,” said John Tsoukaris, director of the Newark field office.

The people arrested ranged in age from 18 to 65 years old. The agency said more than 80 percent had either prior convictions or pending charges for a variety of crimes, including sexual assault on a minor, child abuse, possession of narcotics, distribution of narcotics, extortion, DUI, fraud, domestic violence, theft, possession of a weapon, robbery, promoting prostitution, aggravated assault, resisting arrest, endangering the welfare of a child, credit card fraud, insurance fraud, shoplifting, and illegal re-entry.

The agency said the pre-planned sweep targeted criminal aliens, illegal re-entrants, and other immigration violators.

Keep reading…

English clergyman Frederick William Robertson best summed it up about hypocrisy.

“There are three things in the world that deserve no mercy: Hypocrisy, fraud, and tyranny,” Robertson famously said.

Hollywood, at least in 2018, seems to hit at least two of those check marks, if not all three.

As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, comedian Kevin Hart has been removed as the host of the Academy Awards telecast after internet sleuths dug up old comments he had made regarding gay people.

“One of my biggest fears is my son growing up and being gay. That’s a fear,” Hart said in his 2010 stand-up special “Seriously Funny.”

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“Keep in mind, I’m not homophobic, I have nothing against gay people — be happy, do what you want to do,” Hart joked. “But me, being a heterosexual male, if I can prevent my son from being gay, I will. Now with that being said, I don’t know if I handled my son’s first gay moment correctly. Every kid has a gay moment, but when it happens, you’ve got to nip it in the bud.”

Hollywood, ever the self-proclaimed bastions of “tolerance,” pounced on Hart for his comments from eight years ago. Blind leftist followers similarly followed suit and attacked Hart, slamming him as a “clueless” bigot.

Not everyone in Hollywood was willing to attack Hart, however. Fellow comedian and entertainer Nick Cannon quickly took up the mantle to slam the fraudulent and hypocritical behavior of his peers.

“Interesting, I wonder if there was any backlash here,” Cannon pondered on Twitter in response to comedian Chelsea Handler flippantly using a gay slur to describe a photo of a bird.

Next, Cannon took aim at “Wreck It Ralph” voice actress and comedian Sarah Silverman, who also used a gay slur to describe a contestant on “The Bachelorette.”

Finally, Cannon called out comedian and actress Amy Schumer, who used a similar slur when talking to her Twitter followers about the movie “Skyfall.”

As Cannon pointed out, where was the outrage over these comments?

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Oh, that’s right, it was nowhere to be found.

Now, I don’t want to laud the notoriously anti-Trump Cannon too much here, but he certainly deserves credit for his willingness to lambaste his peers over their blatant hypocrisy.

One more thing worth noting is that Hart apologized on Twitter for his comments and to the gay community. The comedians that Cannon called out have offered no such remorse.

I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year’s Oscar’s….this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past.

— Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) December 7, 2018

The way in which Hollywood elites pick and choose victims for their outrage of the week is nothing short of tyrannical.

And hey, that’s the Frederick William Robertson trifecta. Hollywood truly deserves no mercy.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

As a huge football fan, few developments were more infuriating than the proliferation of anthem protests in the league.

Maybe the only thing other more infuriating was the sheer incompetence of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in dealing with the protests, but that’s a lengthy rant for a different time.

To be fair, anthem protests within the NFL are at an all-time low since they began in 2016, and it’s probably not a coincidence that NFL ratings are on an upswing after some precipitous falls.

It certainly helps that the majority of NFL players are patriots (not of the New England variety.)

But even having just two players kneeling for the national anthem are two players too many.

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Look, a part of me gets it — NFL players are well within their American rights to peaceably protest.

But there’s a time and a place for everything, and the national anthem simply isn’t the time or place for socio-political discourse.

You can’t blame the countless Americans who find the act of kneeling during the anthem to be the ultimate form of disrespect to the flag, the military and law enforcement.

But while the NFL continues to figure itself out, college football has been notably absent from such melodrama.

In fact, college football’s reverence for the national anthem and the American flag was never more clear than the 119th game between the Army Black Knights and the Navy Midshipmen.

Army won its third straight game against Navy on Saturday with a solid 17-10 win, but the best moment came before a single snap was played.

President Donald Trump was in attendance for the game, and he has been as vocal of a critic of the NFL’s anthem protests as anyone.

The NFL players are at it again – taking a knee when they should be standing proudly for the National Anthem. Numerous players, from different teams, wanted to show their “outrage” at something that most of them are unable to define. They make a fortune doing what they love……

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 10, 2018

Keeping his sharp NFL criticisms in mind, Trump was standing at full attention for the playing of the anthem before the Army-Navy game.

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The Army-Navy joint rendition of the National Anthem is perhaps the most beautiful rendition you will ever hear.

It will give you chills 🇺🇸

God bless America.

God bless the young, kickass men and women of our Armed Forces. pic.twitter.com/rfIIXueTrp

— Benny (@bennyjohnson) December 8, 2018

It was a truly beautiful and goosebump-inducing rendition of the anthem played before the game.

And to be clear, the anthem was made all the more amazing because the leader of this awesome country stood tall and proud for the anthem.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

Pictures and video of an armoured personnel carrier emblazoned with the European Union flag helping to crush Gilet Jaunes protesters in Paris have gone viral on social media, with many suggesting it shows what might be in store for Europe once the bloc gets the unified army it is planning.

Tens of thousands of regular and paramilitary police were deployed in the French capital to defend Emmanuel Macron’s presidential palace and confront protesters as the worker-driven “Yellow Jackets” or “Yellow Vests” commenced “Act IV” of their mass protests against the globalist leader, with an astonishing 1,400 people arrested across the country.

Baton charges, stun grenades, and tear gas have been a regular feature of the protests since they began four weeks ago — with an 80-year-old woman actually being killed when an errant gas cannister flew into her apartment and hit her in the face last week — but the December 8th protests marked the first time the authorities deployed military-style armoured vehicles against the people.

Images and video of at least one of the APCs thundering down the Champs-Elysees with the European Union flag emblazoned on its hull were shared widely on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, causing considerable alarm — particularly among people who are already concerned about the EU’s ambitions to establish a common army, border force, and gendarmerie (paramilitary police) force.

I don’t think people realise how profoundly concerning this is: it isn’t just the symbolism; it’s the EU contra the #GiletsJeunes #YellowJackets #YellowVests; the European Union against the French people. ‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.’ https://t.co/biJ6Tc05rU

— Adrian Hilton (@Adrian_Hilton) December 8, 2018

“I don’t think people realise how profoundly concerning this is: it isn’t just the symbolism; it’s the EU contra the [Yellow Vests]; the European Union against the French people,” cautioned Adrian Hilton, a British academic and former adviser to leading Tory politician Michael Gove.

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” he warned, paraphrasing Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana’s famous aphorism.

Les blindés entrent en action avenue de Friedland @A2PRL pic.twitter.com/jdM8hgXdyP

— Boris Kharlamoff (@BorisKharlamoff) December 8, 2018

“My goodness! What have we all become as a result of the EU?” asked one Twitter user rhetorically. “Very, very discontented people.”

“It’s terrible optics,” chimed in another. “[S]ending in anti-riot police with EU flags instead of French ones on them just sends out the message that France’s own authorities are against the French people.”

“[The EU is] nowhere near a ‘project for peace’,” asserted a third.

The EU flag on the APC may have denoted participation in the European Gendarmerie Force (EGF/EUROGENDFOR) — an embryonic Europe-wide paramilitary police force which, like the Eurocorps military force often seen raising the EU flag outside the European Parliament building, is not technically an EU organisation, but often involved in EU projects.

The organisation had not responded to a request for confirmation by the time this article was published.

Brussels police blocking protesters from getting close to the European institutions#GiletsJaunes #Bruxelles pic.twitter.com/zuJz60F4nv

— Mehmet Solmaz (@MhmtSlmz) December 8, 2018

Footage from sympathy protests in Brussels, Belgium, also showed police lined up at barricades with batons drawn and water cannons behind them, to keep Yellow Vests away from the European Union’s headquarters buildings.

Another video showed police blocking the path of a small knot of demonstrators who had reached an entrance to the European Parliament, hitting them with pepper spray when they came too close.

Protesters outside the European Parliament in Brussels#GiletsJaunes #Bruxelles pic.twitter.com/sYzr2GKn1y

— Mehmet Solmaz (@MhmtSlmz) December 8, 2018

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California’s Democrat lawmakers are pushing a tax on the sale of handguns and semiautomatic rifles to generate revenue for a program that funds gun control.

The tax is contained in Assembly Bill 18, sponsored by Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-CA-10).

The language of AB-18 explains that the Democrats’ goal is “an excise tax on the sales of handguns and semiautomatic rifles,” to in turn give the resulting revenue to the California Violence Intervention and Prevention Grant Program (CalVIP).

On July 5, 2017, Highland News reported CalVIP is as a funding program lauded by Gabby Giffords’s gun control group. And on June 29, 2017, FilAmStar reported Giffords’ gratitude toward Gov. Jerry Brown (D) for allowing CalVIP funding to be used for gun control efforts in the state.

The bottom line — handguns and semiautomatic rifles would be taxed to fund a program which, in turn, funds gun control efforts. And the language of AB-18 admits as much by making clear that that the failure of California’s extant gun controls justifies the passage of more gun laws and policies:

Although California has the toughest gun laws in the nation, more effort is necessary to curtail gun violence. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation found that from 2014 to 2016 gun homicides increased 18 percent. Therefore California needs to bolster violence prevention initiatives so that they are commensurate with the state’s gun laws and the violence prevention programs of other states.

Assemblyman Levine did not say whether he will go a step further and seek a tax on First Amendment rights in order to fund efforts against speech with which Democrats disagree.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.

 

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