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More than one hundred suspects were arrested during a human trafficking and child sex sting in central Ohio this week.

Reports said the sting, called “Operation 4th and Goal,” was announced by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost on Friday and took nearly 30 law enforcement agencies and social service organizations to execute.

“Authorities went after human traffickers selling people for sex, men trying to buy sex and men trying to meet children online for sex,” according to WBNS 10.

At a press conference on Friday, Yost said, “Don’t buy sex in Ohio… You don’t know when a man buys sex whether it’s genuine consent or, rather, the victim is being forced with a baseball bat, a knife or the next hit of heroin.”

He continued:

When you hear a man talking about buying sex, he never says, ‘I’m buying a woman.’ He talks about a whore, a slut, a piece – and that’s because saying what is really happening is too close to the truth for them to handle. People who think and talk like that know in their heart of hearts – it’s slavery.

Leading up to the arrests, undercover agents with the Internet Crimes Against Children task force (ICAC) worked in online chatrooms, apps, and various websites, posing as underage girls to bait those suspects who were allegedly seeking sex with minors.

The attorney general’s office issued a press release Friday which stated:

A portion of the initiative focused on those seeking to engage in sexual activity with whom they believed to be minor children. This portion of the operation arrested 24 individuals for importuning and attempted unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. One individual faces additional charges of attempted rape and one individual faces an additional charge of disseminating matter harmful for juveniles. All charges are felonies.

In a joint statement, Cuyahoga County Sheriff David Schilling and Cuyahoga Regional Human Trafficking Director James Mackey said human traffickers operate solely on the basis of making money. They also noted that going after buyers of sex, or “Johns,” is a large part of combatting the horrific practice.

“Without the buyers of sex, traffickers will not have an effective avenue to make money,” the statement read. “Conducting proactive undercover sting operations is an effective tactic used to bring public awareness to human trafficking and education to the buyers of paid sexual services of the reality of human trafficking.”

A Seattle-area councilman’s plan to fix the city’s homelessness crisis would not only cost a pretty penny, but it would only shift the problem to other states.

King County Councilman Reagan Dunn, a Republican, detailed the plan, which would cost the county $1 million, to KOMO News earlier this week.

“It’s a family reunification option, free of charge for folks who are chronically homeless on our streets who think they can get better care or more help by going anywhere else across the country,” Dunn, who serves as vice-chairman of the council, said.

Dunn isn’t the first to float a plan like this.

There is already an established program in San Francisco, an area also grappling with a worrying homelessness crisis, that his plan mirrors. Homeward Bound only requires a contact at the destination location and no active arrest warrants before providing homeless recipients with one-way bus tickets and meal vouchers, assuming they are in good health.

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According to KOMO, the program considers every homeless person shipped out of the city a success story, and classifies the recipients as having found housing.

Dunn’s plan would place similar requirements on the homeless as San Francisco’s program.

“The city of Seattle and community organizers already offer free bus tickets as part of their broader approach to homelessness but Dunn’s proposal, unveiled Tuesday,  focuses on 1,000 homeless people who said they wanted to reconnect with family during a homeless count in King County back in January,” Fox News reported.

While Dunn’s proposal could be a godsend to homeless people stuck in Seattle, it ignores the bigger problem — namely, the reasons why people are homeless in the first place.

Homeless people disowned by their family, or those who never had family to begin with, will likely find no hope in Dunn’s plan.

The plan also fails to address crippling drug addiction and mental health problems that seem to plague many living on the streets, instead opting to simply ship people across state lines.

The same situations that caused these people to become homeless in the first place go unaddressed, but at least they’re not in Seattle any longer. Or at least this appears to be the way Dunn sees it.

Considering the massive homeless populations in Seattle, San Francisco and New York City, it seems unlikely that the number of people living on the street will be affected much, despite programs that would ship the homeless away.

Homeless “tent cities” are becoming a common sight in many areas.

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This is right off I-5 in Northgate. An actual village of homeless. This is Seattle. pic.twitter.com/ajnxODMHol

— (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) July 2, 2019

The fact that homelessness seems to be a major problem particularly in cities run by liberal politicians hasn’t escaped the notice of some influential figures, either.

Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh has theorized that the left plans to use the homeless population as proof that capitalism doesn’t work in order to make the transition to socialism more seamless.

While growing homeless populations and the seeming inability of local liberal governments to remedy the problem do give Limbaugh’s theory some weight, it’s still shocking to think the left would sink that low.

For those living in leftist mega-cities, homelessness is an everyday issue.

Programs like Dunn’s will only serve to export the problem nationwide while providing no relief for those suffering.

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

A nurse testified before Congress on Tuesday that an Illinois hospital where she was employed had a “comfort room” where babies born alive after an attempted abortion were taken to die.

The panel was held by House Republicans on Capitol Hill to hear expert testimony concerning the “Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act,” which thus far House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has refused to allow to come to the floor for a vote.

Pelosi even denied the GOP lawmakers the use of a regular committee room for the hearing, according to The Daily Signal.

Jill Stanek — who is a registered nurse and serves as national chair for the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List — told lawmakers that she knows firsthand that what Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam described would happen to babies born alive during late-term abortion procedures was already happening years ago at the Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Illinois where she worked as a registered nurse.

Northam said in January, “the infant would be kept comfortable,” while a discussion ensued between the mother and her physicians about whether to keep the child alive.

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Stanek told lawmakers that Northam is correct.

“I know because I cared for a dying baby on the other side of that decision,” she said. “If they were aborted alive, they were allowed to die without any medical care or intervention whatsoever.”

She wrote in an article there is a specific room born-alive babies were taken at the hospital.

“Before the Comfort Room was established, babies were taken to the Soiled Utility Room to die,” Stanek wrote in an article about her experience.

“It was not uncommon for a live aborted baby to linger for an hour or two or even longer. At Christ Hospital, one of these babies lived for almost an entire eight-hour shift,” she recounted. “Some of the babies aborted were healthy because Christ Hospital also aborted for life or ‘health’ of the mother and also for rape or incest.”

During her Tuesday testimony, Stanek related a specific example she experienced with one of these living babies.

“I couldn’t bear the thought of this suffering child dying alone,” Stanek said. “He had been aborted because he had Down Syndrome, and he was between 21 and 22 weeks old — about the size of my hand.”

She held him for about 45 minutes until he died.

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“After he was pronounced dead, I folded his little arms across his chest,” she said. “I tied them together with a little string. I wrapped him in a shroud, and I took him to the morgue, where we took all of our dead patients.”

Christ Hospital’s Soiled Utility Room eventually became the “Comfort Room,” according to Stanek.

The nurse provided pictures of the room to the members of Congress.

Nurse Jill Stanek told those at the Born Alive hearing today that she once worked at an Illinois hospital that had a “comfort room” – a room specifically designated for aborted babies to die in. https://t.co/dQp5cYITvq

— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) September 10, 2019

GOP Rep. Ann Wagner of Missouri, who introduced the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act in February, chaired Tuesday’s hearing.

More than two dozen Republican lawmakers participated in the panel, including House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, The Daily Signal reported.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy could not attend, but he did send a statement to be read into the record.

Rep. Debbie Lesko of Arizona contended there should not even be a debate whether survivors of abortion should receive medical care.

“If we can’t protect babies that are born alive, we have a major problem in our nation,” she said.

Wagner broke down during her remarks closing the hearing.

Tears are a fitting response to the violence & injustice Pelosi’s Democrats are supporting against defenseless babies – both in and out of the womb. 😢

Watch ➡️ @RepAnnWagner breaks down as she closes the #EndInfanticide hearing on Capitol Hill today: pic.twitter.com/2DeLXW86sZ

— Susan B. Anthony List (@SBAList) September 10, 2019

The congresswoman said, “I live for the day when abortion is not just illegal but it is unthinkable, and what is happening to these babies that are born, because they’re not wanted, is unconscionable in this country.”

Republican Sen. Ben Sasse has also introduced the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act in the Senate this year.

Christ Medical Center released a statement in response to Stanek’s remarks: “As a faith-based ministry whose purpose is to help people live well, we address these sensitive issues in dual consideration of our purpose and values, as well as the individual patient’s medical needs. Jill Stanek’s testimony grossly misrepresents how these sensitive issues are handled at our hospital, where she has not worked in nearly 20 years.”

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

Hardworking bomb-sniffing dogs are trained in America using taxpayer money, but are often gifted to an Arab nation that forces them to endure so much abuse that the canines die.

The sickening revelations are part of a September State Department Inspector General report that investigated K9s given to Jordan. The report found that at least 10 working dogs died in an 8-year period.

The Antiterrorism Assistance Explosive Detection Canine Program trains and provides dogs to partner nations to curb terrorism and provide local forces with equipment and tactics they would otherwise not have access to.

Countries selected to participate in the program include Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and others.

While dogs sent to most countries were found to be in good condition (even slightly overweight in some cases), those sent to Jordan fared much worse.

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The abuse detailed in the report is nauseating.

Multiple dogs provided by the U.S. program were found to be extremely malnourished. Working K9s require a much higher calorie intake and nutrition than non-working dogs, and it was obvious that these dogs were starved. Disease was found to have killed some of the animals.

Some dogs were found to be living in deplorable conditions, with fur matted from feces and mud. Kennel sanitation was described as “barely existent.”

Parasites were also a problem on dogs given to Jordan. Engorged ticks were found on several of the working animals, and the size of the bloodsuckers indicated they had been attached to the dogs for days.

One of the dogs was found to have several parasite-transmitted diseases, including one that has no known cure.

Disease outbreaks from parasites were common enough that the U.S. was forced to send flea and tick collars to the Jordan kennels.

Despite the poor conditions, these dogs were expected to work grueling hours with no shelter.

Several of the dogs were worked so intensely in the desert sun that they died from heat exhaustion.

One vet that worked with the program was so concerned, he recommended that “on-the-ground oversight should be required for Jordan or the canines would not receive proper care.”

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The report is an eye-opening look into how animals trained and paid for by the American taxpayer are being treated overseas.

Despite the abuse, the report makes it clear that the United States will not stop providing working dogs to Jordan.

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

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) warned that President Trump will lose in 2020 if he cuts a deal with Democrats regarding gun control.

Roll Call reports that Cruz offered this observation while speaking to reporters at a Thursday breakfast. He contended that conservative voters will stay home if Trump and the Republicans as a whole cave to Democrat demands.

He was asked about the possibility of Trump making a deal with gun control stalwarts Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Joe Manchin (D-WV).

Cruz said, “We’re going to see record-setting Democratic turnout. The only element missing is demoralizing conservatives so they stay home. I hope we don’t do that.”

He also noted, “If Republicans abandon the Second Amendment and demoralize millions of Americans who care deeply about Second Amendment rights, that could go a long way to electing a President Elizabeth Warren.”

Cruz also suggested it would be a big mistake for Trump to voice support for the Democrats’ background check bill, saying, “It would also be a serious mistake as a policy matter.”

On September 12, Breitbart News reported Cruz’s response to a gun control push by the GAP, Levi Strauss, Pinterest, Twitter, Yelp, and 140 other companies. Cruz suggested such gun control campaigns boil down to “social signaling at the country club.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News 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.

 

A state judge in Virginia ruled on Wednesday that the city of Charlottesville cannot legally move the two statues to Confederate generals that sparked mass protests.

Circuit Judge Richard Moore ruled that a Virginia state law created to protect memorials prohibits the city’s plans to remove the statues.

“Moore issued a permanent injunction preventing the statues from being moved at the beginning of a trial over a lawsuit brought against the city by groups that wanted to preserve the statues,” the Hill reported.

The law in question is the Code of Virginia “Memorials for War Veterans” rule, which states:

It shall be unlawful for the authorities of the locality, or any other person or persons, to disturb or interfere with any monuments or memorials so erected, or to prevent its citizens from taking proper measures and exercising proper means for the protection, preservation and care of same.

Moore’s ruling came as part of a lawsuit filed by a group hoping to protect the statues from the left-wing politicians looking to move them.

The suit, filed in March 2017, alleged that when the city council announced that it intended to destroy the statues to C.S. Gens. Robert E. Lee and Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson, it was violating the very law that Moore affirmed in his ruling.

Moore recognized that the statues have become controversial, but he was obliged to order that they stay where they stand. He wrote in the ruling:

While some people obviously see Lee and Jackson as symbols of white supremacy, others see them as brilliant military tacticians or complex leaders in a difficult time … and do not think of white supremacy at all and certainly do not believe in, accept or believe in such. In either event, the statues to them under the undisputed facts of this case still are monuments and memorials to them, as veterans of the civil war.

The statues, of course, became the focus of protests that eventually led to a mass riot in Charlottesville in August 2017, which saw forces of several white nationalist groups clashing with domestic terror outfit Antifa.

One woman was killed when a self-professed white nationalist used his car to slam into a crowd of left-wing protesters.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.