Day: July 1, 2020

Commentary: USMCA Begins New Trump-Led Era of America First on Trade in July

Virginia Star Staff

President Donald Trump was elected in 2016 on the very important promise of implementing an America first posture on trade, promising to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada, and to begin to restore hundreds of billions of trade balances with China using pressure and tariffs China after more than a decade of being treated unfairly.

President Trump succeeded on both counts, winning adoption of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) earlier this year and achieving the first ever U.S.-China trade deal that was completed right before the COVID-19 pandemic became public knowledge.

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Conservatives Praise Supreme Court for Ruling States Can’t Discriminate Against Religious Schools

Anthony Gockowski

The U.S. Supreme Court said Tuesday that states can’t cut religious schools out of programs that send public money to private education in a 5-4 ruling. 

Hailed as a victory for religious freedom, the justices upheld a Montana scholarship program that allows state tax credits for private schooling in which almost all the recipients attend religious schools.

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Video Appears to Show Mob Attacking Catholics Praying at St. Louis Statue

Anthony Gockowski

Multiple videos recorded after a Saturday prayer vigil in St. Louis appear to show Black Lives Matter agitators assaulting Catholics who participated in the event.

“Yesterday, while praying for peace and unity in our city and the protection of the St. Louis statue, Black Lives Matter protesters started to harass, berate, and assault the Catholics that were peacefully praying. We did nothing in retaliation,” Conor Martin, a candidate for Bedford Township Republican committeeman, claimed on Twitter.

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Exclusive: ‘Truth Conductor’ Tells Why He Protected Journalist Jack Posobiec from Antifa, BLM Mob

Neil W. McCabe

  The black Washington resident and tour guide calling himself “Truth Conductor” told the Star Newspaper Group he stepped forward to protect One America News reporter Jack Posobeic  at Friday night’s Antifa and Black Lives Matter rally in Washington’s Lincoln Park, because it was the right thing to do. “They…

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McGrath Wins Kentucky Dem Primary; McConnell Showdown Awaits

The Associated Press

Former Marine pilot Amy McGrath overcame a bumpier-than-expected Kentucky primary to win the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination Tuesday, fending off progressive Charles Booker to set up a bruising, big-spending showdown with Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Voting ended June 23, but it took a week until McGrath could be declared the winner due to the race’s tight margins and a deluge of mail-in ballots. The outcome seemed a certainty early in the campaign but became tenuous as Booker’s profile surged as the Black state lawmaker highlighted protests against the deaths of African Americans in encounters with police.

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Carl Reiner, Beloved Creator of ‘Dick Van Dyke Show,’ Dies

The Associated Press

Carl Reiner, the ingenious and versatile writer, actor and director who broke through as a “second banana” to Sid Caesar and rose to comedy’s front ranks as creator of “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and straight man to Mel Brooks’ “2000 Year Old Man,” has died. He was 98.

Reiner’s assistant Judy Nagy said he died Monday night of natural causes at his home in Beverly Hills, California.

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Music Spotlight: Tyler Rich

Bethany Bowman

Tyler Rich grew up in Northern California in the small town of Yuba City. He grew up listening to country music with his mom and rock n roll with his dad.

“My Uncle [Tim] always had his guitar at every family function. He was always playing. He didn’t know genres, he just knew good music,” he said. “He would play, Tom Petty, Credence Clearwater, George Strait, Brooks, and Dunn or Garth Brooks. He even played Michael Jackson and the Beatles as long as it was good music.”

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Hong Kong Security Law Takes Aim at Protester Actions

The Associated Press

China on Tuesday approved a contentious national security law for Hong Kong that takes direct aim at some of the actions of anti-government protesters last year, in a move many see as Beijing’s boldest yet to erase the legal firewall between the semi-autonomous territory and the mainland’s authoritarian Communist Party system.

Details of the law remained under wraps until 11 p.m. (1500 GMT, 11:00 a.m. EDT), when it was published and took effect immediately.

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Commentary: High School Runner Who Lost to Transgender Athletes Will Compete in College

Virginia Star Staff

By now, millions know the story of Selina Soule, the high school track star from Connecticut who missed qualifying for the New England track and field regionals by two spots in her top event. Those two spots were taken by biological boys who identify as girls.

Soule, who is wise beyond her years, was well aware that she could face consequences for speaking out about being forced to compete against biological males. But she recognized a greater need.

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Armstrong Williams Commentary: It’s Time to Talk About Recession

Virginia Star Staff

Is America in a recession? It’s an unpopular question to ask, but it has now been over 3 months since COVID-19 restrictions were initiated and it is time for us to get realistic about where we are economically so that we can take the proper steps to minimize further damage to our economy. At this point, the unfortunate reality is that regardless of what we do, it is likely that it will take at least several years to see a partial recovery of economic loss and the time that it will take for a complete recovery remains unknown at this point. 

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‘Enough Is Enough’: Seattle Police Chief Rips CHAZ, Gets Heckled at Press Conference

Virginia Star Staff

Seattle’s police chief was heckled while she ripped the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) following fourth shooting in the area at a press conference Monday.

Chief Carmen Best demanded that people still in the area, also known as the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP), leave immediately for the sake of everyone’s safety. A 16-year-old died and a 14-year-old is still being treated following a drive-by shooting that took place early Monday morning in the zone, Seattle police said in a press release Monday.

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