Trump Orders Chinese Owner of TikTok to Sell U.S. Assets

President Donald Trump on Friday gave the Chinese company ByteDance 90 days to divest itself of any assets used to support the popular TikTok app in the United States.

Trump’s executive order said there is “credible evidence that leads me to believe that ByteDance … might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States.”

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White House Adviser Navarro: ‘No Question’ China Wants Biden to Beat Trump

A senior White House adviser said he agreed with an assessment by the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence that China prefers that President Trump lose re-election in November.

“Well, there’s no question that’s true,” Peter Navarro, White House Trade and Manufacturing Policy advisor, told Just the News in an interview. “Donald J. Trump is the toughest – only president -he’s the toughest and only president to stand up to China since Nixon and Kissinger went to China back in the 70s. I mean, every president since then, has allowed in some way, to let the Chinese Communist Party have their way with the United States economy, and also our defense sector.”

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School District Closes Schools, Charges Students $140 per Week to Attend ‘Learning Centers’

Shortly after announcing that the fall semester would begin online, the board of education of the Durham, North Carolina public school department said it will charge families $140 per week to send their children to “learning centers” at various local schools.

The school board, which last month said it planned to activate its “Plan C” and start school in the fall with virtual learning, this week “authorized the opening of six learning centers to provide support for students who need supervision” while schools remain online, according to the school district’s website.

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State Senator Joe Morrissey Commentary: Violent Protesters Have Gone Too Far

I condemn, in the strongest manner possible, the horrific violence that occurred in Richmond this past Saturday, July 25, 2020.  Setting fire to a $75,000 city utility vehicle, smashing scores of windows on the VCU campus and destroying the private property of innocent citizens on Monument Avenue and vicinity is despicable.  This type of behavior is not legitimate protest.  Rather, it is indefensible mayhem that should be prosecuted.

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Commentary: Trump’s Huge Middle East Win

Even The Washington Post’s David Ignatius had to admit President Trump hit a home run with the deal he helped negotiate for Israel and the United Arab Emirates to normalize diplomatic relations.

“This was, as he tweeted, a ‘HUGE’ achievement,” Ignatius wrote. It is viewed as an “’icebreaker” that could open the door to other countries, such as Bahrain, Omar and Morocco, opening diplomatic relations with Israel.

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In New Jersey, Rep. Van Drew’s Democrat Challenger – Wife of Patrick Kennedy – Raises Money to Bail out Rapists and Defendants Charged with Terrorism, Kidnapping, Murder

The leftwing Democrat running against Rep. Jefferson H. “Jeff” Van Drew (R.-N.J.) has put her money where her mouth is , and is raising money to bail out rapists and at least one defendant facing terror terrorism charges at the same time she is challenging the one-time Democrat, who switched parties after voting against impeaching President Donald Trump.

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Virginia Citizens Defense League Lobbies Virginia Localities to Become Gun ‘Sanctuaries’

Gun-rights activist group the Virginia Citizens Defense League is lobbying 193 local jurisdictions to declare they will not ban guns. The proposed Second Amendment sanctuary resolutions vary, but contain language stating that a jurisdiction “shall not exercise any authority granted to it … to regulate or prohibit the otherwise legal purchase, possession, or transfer of firearms or ammunition.”

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COVID-19-Era Public School Models Are Driving Increased Interest in Homeschooling

Virginia parents are increasingly interested in homeschooling due to fear of COVID-19 and frustration over new public school models. Organizations ranging from the state-level Home Educators Association of Virginia to local Facebook groups are providing advice, resources and counseling.

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Private Schools Offer In-Person Solution to Public Schools’ Online-Only Problem

While many public schools across Virginia will keep their doors closed in lieu of virtual classrooms this fall, a private school may be the in-person educational option parents and students are looking for.

Fork Union Military Academy (FUMA) (7-12, male-only) is one such option. The boarding military school is known for its “One Subject Plan.” Students are enrolled in one subject at a time, allowing them to focus on one specific area of study for 7 weeks at a time. FUMA will offer in-person classes and athletics programs during the fall while taking necessary precautions for the health of its students and staff.

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Expanded Unemployment Would Cost Virginia $45M a Week, but Fund Is Almost Dry

If Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam opts to expand unemployment benefits by $100 a week per person, it would cost the state an additional $45 million a week, but the unemployment insurance fund already is set to run out of money in September, state officials said.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order to extend federal unemployment benefits by $300 a week, but states would have to supply an additional $100 a week, increasing the benefit to $400 a week.

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The John Fredericks Show: Mayor Levar Stoney Responds to Richmond Riots and Looting by Demanding to Legalize Pot

Live from Virginia Friday morning on The John Fredericks Show –  weekdays on WNTW AM 820/ FM 92.7 – Richmond, WJFN FM 100.5 – Central Virginia, WMPH AM 1010 / FM 100.1 / FM 96.9 (7-9 PM) Hampton Roads, WBRG AM 1050 / FM 105.1 – Lynchburg/Roanoke and Weekdays 6-10 am and 24/7 Stream –  host Fredericks was dumbfounded by the recent letter written to the Governor of Virginia by Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney which revealed his top priority was marijuana legalization in the wake of Richmond’s violence.

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Mobile Sports Betting Is Coming to Virginia in 2021

Mobile sports betting will be launching in Virginia by January 2021 at the earliest. 

Since legislation was passed by the Virginia General Assembly and became effective July 1st, the Virginia lottery, who has been tasked with regulation and oversight, has been working to turn mobile sports betting for Virginians into a reality.

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Virginia Lawmakers Consider Removing Qualified Immunity for Law Enforcement Officers

The Virginia legislature is considering laws that would remove qualified immunity for law enforcement officers.

The proposed legislation would remove protection for police officers that prevents individuals from suing an officer in civil court under certain circumstances.

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As Richmond Burns, Mayor Stoney’s Top Priority Is to Let People Get Stoned

Even as rioting damages large sections of Richmond and the Virginia General Assembly convenes in a special session, Mayor Levar Stoney wants lawmakers to take action — not on fighting lawlessness, but to help people get stoned.

Stoney used his bully pulpit to call for the Assembly to legalize marijuana.

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Trump: Clinesmith Guilty Plea Is ‘Just the Beginning’ with ‘More to Come’

President Trump on Friday said that news of former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith’s plea deal with Department of Justice prosecutors was “just the beginning,” signaling that U.S. Attorney John Durham is zeroing in on other targets in his investigation.

Clinesmith is expected to plead guilty in connection with his alteration of an exonerating email during the Crossfire Hurricane (CH) investigation, which targeted members of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, including foreign policy adviser Carter Page.

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GOP Lawmakers Call on Trump Admin to End Tax Breaks for Abortions

Over 100 Republican members of Congress sent a letter Wednesday calling on President Donald Trump’s administration to end tax deductions for abortions.

In a letter addressed to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, 23 senators and 80 representatives urged the Department of the Treasury “to take swift action to issue new regulations to protect innocent human life by ending tax breaks for abortion under the guise of medical care.”

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Seattle Mayor Appeals Judge’s Decision That Could Result in Her Removal from Office

Democratic Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan urged the state supreme court Wednesday to overturn a lower court decision that allows efforts to remove her from office to proceed.

King County Superior Court Judge Mary Roberts has permitted a recall effort that could effectively remove Durkan from office, according to the Seattle Times. A total of five Seattle residents submitted the petition due to the mayor’s handling of the police response to protests and a weeks-long encampment in the city formerly known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP), the Times reported.

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NYT Report Suggests One-Third of TikTok Users Might Be Under 14

Roughly a third of TikTok’s 49 million daily users in the United States are 14 years old or younger, The New York Times reported Friday, citing internal documents.

The Chinese app’s workers noticed videos from children who appear much younger that remained on the video-streaming platform for weeks, a former employee told the Times. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), passed in 1998, requires internet companies to obtain parental permission before gathering data from adolescents under 13.

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Biden Raises $48 Million in 48 Hours After Picking Harris as VP

Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s campaign raised $48 million in the 48 hours after he selected California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate, campaign officials told Reuters Thursday.

The haul is a sign of Biden’s growing fundraising strength ahead of his party’s convention which begins Monday, Reuters reported. Biden is set to formally accept his party’s nomination Aug. 20.

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Remote Learning Is Leaving Working Parents with Few Options, Big Bills

Many public school districts across the country have shifted from offering some in-person learning options for students to offering only remote learning at the start of the school year.

The change in plans sent many working parents rushing to find either a place for their kids to go while they work or to find a caregiver they could pay to supervise remote learning at home. Either option could end up costing parents thousands of dollars. 

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Commentary: Fully Woke Joe

On the identity politics that used to be known as “civil rights” Sleepy Joe is fully woke.

Just as he prioritized sex and race identity for his vice presidential pick, Joe Biden would racialize his monetary policy by remaking the Federal Reserve banking system. Biden is thereby the most identity-focused candidate in American history since the 19th century. And with the force of the Democratic Party behind him, he lacks any guard rails. 

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Commentary: The Sneaky Trick a Public Health Official Used to Make Mask Mandates Look Super Effective

As of early August, 34 US states mandate the use of masks in public to limit the spread of COVID-19.

The efficacy of face masks has been a subject of debate in the health community during the pandemic. Because health experts disagree on their effectiveness, countries and health agencies around the world, including the World Health Organization and the CDC, have done a reversal on their mask recommendations during the pandemic.

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Ex-FBI Lawyer to Plead Guilty in Durham Probe of Russia Investigation’s Origins

A former FBI attorney will plead guilty to making false statements in documents used to obtain a surveillance warrant against former Trump aide Carter Page, his lawyer told the Associated Press Friday.

The guilty plea from Kevin Clinesmith is the first legal action taken in an investigation led by John Durham, a U.S. attorney looking into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe and other intelligence-gathering activities related to the Trump campaign.

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Kanye West Might Appear on Tennessee Presidential Ballot

Rapper Kanye West wants Tennessee officials to place him on the ballot for the 2020 presidential election.

An unidentified person representing West arrived at the Tennessee Division of Elections office Friday. That person picked up a petition that would allow West to run in the Volunteer State, said Tennessee Secretary of State spokeswoman Julia Bruck.

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Hillary Clinton Won’t Rule Out Serving in Biden Administration

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won’t rule out serving in presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s administration if he wins the November election, Clinton revealed in an article published Thursday.

Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, said that she will fundraise for the Biden-Harris campaign while advocating for organizations she thinks could enhance voter turnout and infrastructure, The 19th, a nonprofit news outlet, reported Thursday.

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Californians Are Violating Worship Restrictions to Stand up for Their Liberty, Pastor Says

California Pastor Rob McCoy says the thousands of people who attend services at his church in violation of California coronavirus restrictions are not only coming to worship — they are coming to exercise their liberties.

The pastor discussed action that authorities have taken against him and Godspeak Calvary Chapel in a Thursday interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation. The conversation came after the County of Ventura sought an additional restraining order after Godspeak Calvary Chapel continued to hold worship services despite an initial emergency restraining order issued August 7.

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Steve Bannon Presents: Alliance of Liberty India Independence Day Special

An all new LIVE STREAM of War Room: Pandemic starts at 9 a.m. Central Time on Saturday.

Former White House Chief Strategist Stephen K. Bannon began the daily War Room: Pandemic radio show and podcast on January 25, when news of the virus was just beginning to leak out of China around the Lunar New Year. Bannon and co-hosts bring listeners exclusive analysis and breaking updates from top medical, public health, economic, national security, supply chain and geopolitical experts weekdays from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon ET.

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Trump Says He’ll Accept the GOP Nomination at the White House

President Donald Trump said during a Thursday interview with the New York Post that he intends to accept the Republican presidential nomination on the White House lawn.

“I’ll probably be giving my speech at the White House because it is a great place. It’s a place that makes me feel good, it makes the country feel good,” Trump told the Post.

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Application that Alerts Virginia Users of Possible COVID-19 Exposure Downloaded More Than 300,000 times

COVIDWISE, an app that alerts users of possible COVID-19 exposure, has been downloaded 326,053 times in Virginia, according to the Virginia Department of Health (VDH).

The application was launched by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on August 5.

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Commentary: Joe Biden Goes All in on Defund the Police with Kamala Harris VP Pick

Former Vice President Joe Biden has selected U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) as his running mate and presumptive Democratic Party nominee for Vice President in the 2020 election as the Biden campaign goes all in on the defund the police issue.

In June Sen. Harris supported cutting $150 million from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) budget and taking the police force below 10,000 for the first time in more than a decade.

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National Retail Chains, Restaurants Flee New York

The New York Times reports that national retailers and restaurant chains such as J.C. Penney, Neiman Marcus, Le Pain Quotidien, and Subway are permanently closing locations in New York City in response to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s management of the coronavirus pandemic, which has led to a “mass exodus” of residents and businesses.

Business leaders warn that the city is facing a crisis of “historic proportions,” according to the Times.

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Kamala Harris Had Nearly 2,000 People Locked up on Marijuana Charges: Report

Sen. Kamala Harris, presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s running mate, reportedly prosecuted nearly 2,000 people on marijuana-related charges during her time as California attorney general.

A total of 1,974 people were sent to state prisons for marijuana-related offenses during Harris’s 2011-2016 tenure as the Golden State’s lead prosecutor, the Washington Free Beacon reported.

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White House Calls on Congress to Fund Another $105 Billion to Help States Reopen Schools

At a forum held at the White House Wednesday, the Trump administration said it is calling on Congress to authorize another $105 billion in funding to help states reopen schools.

“We believe many school districts can now reopen safely, provided they implement mitigation measures and health protocols to protect families, protect teachers, and to protect students,” President Donald Trump said.

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Commentary: Big Tech’s Double Standards on Islamist Hate Speech

When it comes to social media influencers, many might recognize Michelle Obama, Leonardo DiCaprio, Roger Federer, and Billy Joel. But what about the superstar Islamist clerics — Mohamad Al Arefe, A’id Al Qarnee, Salman Al Odah, and Othman Al Khamis — whose track records range from incitement of jihad, country-entry bans, and displays of bigotry?

Not only do members of the latter group attract more Twitter followers, but their Twitter fan bases are so large that if they were to unite and form a country, it would become the world’s 27th most populous.

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ACC, SEC and Big 12 Plan to Play College Football This Fall While Big Ten and Pac 12 Sit on Bench

The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), along with the Southeastern (SEC) and Big-12 conferences, is sticking with its plan to play football in the fall.

After the Big Ten and Pac 12 conferences postponed its football seasons on Tuesday, the ACC released a statement online that emphasized an established plan of listening to advice from authorities and medical experts as well as making adjustments in necessary.

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Trump Says UAE to Open Diplomatic Ties with Israel

The United Arab Emirates and Israel have agreed to establish full diplomatic ties as part of a deal to halt the annexation of occupied land sought by the Palestinians for their future state, President Donald Trump said Thursday.

The announcement makes the UAE the first Gulf Arab state to do so and only the third Arab nation to have active diplomatic ties to Israel.

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US Says Iran Briefly Seizes Oil Tanker Near Strait of Hormuz

The Iranian navy boarded and briefly seized a Liberian-flagged oil tanker near the strategic Strait of Hormuz amid heightened tensions between Tehran and the U.S., the American military said Thursday.

The U.S. military’s Central Command published a black-and-white video showing what appeared to be special forces fast-roping down from a helicopter onto the MT Wila, whose last position appeared to be off the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates near the city of Khorfakkan.

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Joe Biden Calls for Nationwide Mask Mandate

Joe Biden is calling for a nationwide protective mask mandate, citing health experts’ predictions that it could save 40,000 lives from coronavirus over the next three months.

”Wearing the mask is less about you contracting the virus,” Biden said. “It’s about preventing other people from getting sick.”

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Weekly Jobless Claims Fall Below One Million for First Time Since March

Around 963,000 Americans filed new unemployment claims last week, marking the first time the figure dropped below one million since March, according to the Department of Labor.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics figure released Thursday represented a decrease of 228,000 new jobless claims compared to week that ended August 1. That number also beat Wall Street analysts’ expectations, according to CNBC.

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Sumner Redstone, Who Built Media Empire Including CBS, Dies

Sumner Redstone, who joined his family’s drive-in movie chain in the 1950s and used it to build a vast media empire that included CBS and Viacom, has died. He was 97.

Under his watch, Viacom became one of the nation’s media titans, home to pay TV channels MTV and Comedy Central and movie studio Paramount Pictures. ViacomCBS Inc., which he led for decades, remembered Redstone for his “unparalleled passion to win, his endless intellectual curiosity and his complete dedication to the company.”

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Commentary: Baseball Season, Our Distorted View of COVID-19, and What the Facts Tell Us

If you’re not convinced that Americans have been sold a distorted view of COVID-19 risk, consider Major League Baseball.

Most of the league’s players are among the 46 million Americans between ages 25 and 34. A total of 992 people in this age group have died with COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s a mortality rate of 2 per 100,000.

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FBI Investigates Trump Support Detail Helicopter Shot Mid-Flight Over Virginia

The FBI is investigating the shooting of a military helicopter during a training mission this week in northern Virginia, injuring one crew member who was aboard, officials said Wednesday.

The Air Force helicopter was flying over Middleburg on Monday when it was shot from the ground nearby, according to authorities. The helicopter made an emergency landing at the Manassas Regional Airport, and federal agents were called to the scene to investigate, the FBI said in a statement.

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No Prosecution for Many Arrested at Portland’s Protests

People arrested in Portland since late May on non-violent misdemeanor charges during the protests that have racked Oregon’s largest city for more than two months won’t be prosecuted.

The new policy announced Tuesday recognizes the outrage and frustration over a history of racial injustice that has led to the city’s often violent protests and the practical realities of the court system, Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt said. It is running more than two months behind in processing cases because of COVID-19.

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Music Spotlight: Jamie O’Neal

Those who have been following country music their whole lives know already who Jamie O’Neal is as an artist. Off her first album, Shiver, released in 2000, she had two number one hits, “There Is No Arizona,” and “When I Think About Angels.” Her next top ten hit came in 2005, “Somebody’s Hero.”

I wanted to find out more about this country star who was born in Australia. Having no Australian accent, O’Neal said, “I was born in Sydney, Australia, where my parents (Jimmy and Julie Murphy) were performers who moved to America when I was two. I always say that I am the opposite of Nicole Kidman who was born in Hawaii and was raised in Australia. It was the opposite for me, I was born there but raised in the U.S.”

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Georgia School District Orders Quarantine for Over 900 Students and Staff After Reopening

A Georgia school district has ordered the quarantine of 925 students and staff following a local outbreak of the coronavirus in their school system, The New York Times reported.

The Cherokee County School District, located north of Atlanta, Georgia, opened for in-person learning on August 3 for over 30,000 students, but is now shuttering one high school in the school district and ordering the quarantine of hundreds of students and school officials.

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Commentary: RIP, Kamala

James Harris was born in Senatobia, Mississippi, in 1950, to parents who owned a furniture store.

But when James was four, his father was shot dead in an altercation involving a dice game. The comfort of his early youth thus being stripped away, he turned to sharecropping and burglary to help make his family’s ends meet, and then, following the advice of the local police chief that it would be best if he left the small town of Coldwater, Mississippi, where he was living at age 17, Harris moved to Florida to work as a truck driver and fruit picker.

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