Elizabeth Guzman Says She Will Bring a Progressive Voice to the Senate as Virginia Lieutenant Governor

State Delegate Elizabeth Guzman (D-Prince William) is determined to bring a fresh progressive voice to the Democratic-controlled Virginia Senate and advocate for the Commonwealth’s working class if elected as lieutenant governor next November.

Guzman, who has represented the 31st House of Delegates District since 2018, announced her campaign for the 2021 Virginia lieutenant gubernatorial election at the beginning of October.

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Commentary: Cleaning Up the Mess of Our Electoral System

For those of us who are sane responsible citizens with some modicum of moral and ethical standards, it is time to admit that our electoral system is a complete and utter mess. 

What has transpired since November 3 does not take place in serious, advanced societies. It’s what takes place in countries teetering on the edge of becoming banana republics, in which elections are more an opioid for the masses than they are a means to the end of self-government. Our elections now seem designed to give people the impression that their voices and votes matter when in fact nothing could be further from the truth.

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CDC Tells Americans to ‘Stay at Home and Not Travel’ for Christmas

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discouraged Americans from Christmas travel due to the coronavirus pandemic during a telephone press conference Wednesday.

“We did put out a message to postpone and stay at home […] around Thanksgiving and we’re putting out the same message: The best thing for Americans to do in the upcoming holiday season is to stay at home and not travel,” Dr. Henry Walke, director of the Division of Preparedness and Emerging Infections (DPEI) in the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, said in the briefing.

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CBP Program to Collect DNA from Illegal Immigrant Detainees in ‘Full Force’ by the End of the Year

A pilot program to collect DNA samples from individuals in Customs and Border Protection custody will be fully implemented on Dec. 31, officials announced Thursday.

The pilot program began in January of this year and was given three years to meet the legal requirements to implement national collection, according to CBP. The program was expanded in monthly phases and is on track to reach nationwide operation capacity by the end of this year.

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Anthony Fauci Among People Magazine’s ‘2020 People of the Year’

Top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci was named one of People magazine’s four “2020 People of the Year,” the magazine announced Wednesday.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the long-time director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), received the honor alongside Hollywood stars George Clooney and Regina King, and singer Selena Gomez, according to People. Fauci has been at the forefront of the U.S. effort to stop the spread of coronavirus throughout the pandemic.

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Socialist Bernie Sanders Wants Georgia Residents to Send Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock to Washington, D.C.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Saturday endorsed Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock to represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate. “We’re all working as hard as we can to make sure that the two Democratic candidates win in Georgia,” Sanders, a socialist, said on MSNBC.

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Multiple Illegal Immigrants with Previous Deportations and Serious Crime Convictions Found in Texas by CBP

Over 20 illegal immigrants, including some with prior deportations, criminal histories, and gang affiliations, were arrested within a 24-hour period near Laredo, Texas, officials announced Thursday.

The arrests were part of a “troubling trend” of agents detaining large groups of illegal immigrants, including finding detainees with significant criminal histories, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Over the past 10 days, three illegal immigrants with prior sexual offense convictions were apprehended, the CBP said.

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Vice President Pence Urges Support for Senators Perdue, Loeffler During Savannah Rally

Following Vice President Mike Pence’s Defend the Majority rally Friday in Savannah, the Georgia Republican Party released a video highlighting his unwavering support for U.S. Sens. David Perdue (R-GA) and Senator Kelly Loeffler (R-GA).

The Georgia GOP tweeted, “NEW VIDEO @Mike_Pence: ‘Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock are wrong for Georgia and wrong for America.’”

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Pollster: Fraud Prone Drop Boxes Cost Trump and GOP the Election if Biden Wins GA; State Legislature Must Fix This Before Senate Runoffs

Drop-boxes will have cost President Donald Trump the election if Biden wins Georgia, and this points to the state’s most important concern for the upcoming Senate runoffs, Pollster John McLaughlin said in an exclusive statement to The Georgia Star News.

McLaughlin is CEO and partner of national survey research and strategic services company McLaughlin & Associates.

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December 8 Deadline for Selection of Electors Does Not Apply to Disputed States, Amistad Project Says

In a white paper released Friday, The Amistad Project of the non-partisan Thomas More Society is arguing that the current Electoral College deadlines are both arbitrary and a direct impediment to states’ obligations to investigate disputed elections.

The research paper breaks down the history of Electoral College deadlines and makes clear that this election’s Dec. 8 and Dec. 14 deadlines for the selection of Electors, the assembly of the Electoral College, and the tallying of its votes, respectively, are not only elements of a 72-year old federal statute with no Constitutional basis, but are also actively preventing the states from fulfilling their constitutional — and ethical — obligation to hold free and fair elections. Experts believe that the primary basis for these dates was to provide enough time to affect the presidential transition of power, a concern which is obsolete in the age of internet and air travel.

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Commentary: Ivy League Study Shows How U.S. Media Created a Climate of Fear Over COVID-19

On February 18, the Oxford Mail published an article headlined “Scientists working on a coronavirus vaccine in Oxford.”

The article explained that Sarah Gilbert, a British vaccinologist and professor at the University of Oxford, was leading a team of scientists at Oxford’s Jenner Institute in rapid development of a vaccine.

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President Trump Holds a Victory Rally in Valdosta, Georgia; Calls on Voters to Support Senators Perdue and Loeffler in Runoff

President Donald Trump spoke to raucous crowd of tens of thousands of Georgia voters Saturday evening in Valdosta, vowing to “never surrender,” in the important runoff in January.

Although Trump did not mention anything of a special session from Georgia Governor Kemp. As previously reported by The Georgia Star News, “legislators have petitioned for a special session ahead of the runoff election for several weeks.”

The president spoke on behalf of Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler. Both are running against Democratic candidates in the Georgia January 5 runoff election.

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Republican Party of Virginia Chooses Convention for 2021 Nominations

It was a “Motion from hell,” Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) Chair Richard Anderson said during the hours-long discussion of the RPV’s nomination method for 2021. 

Eventually, the RPV State Central Committee voted in favor of holding a convention instead of a primary to nominate the party’s 2021 Virginia candidates.

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