Virginia Gov. Northam Releases Draft Plan Allowing up to 5,000 People at Outdoor Graduations

Schools will be able to hold in-person graduations this year, according to a draft of preliminary guidance announced by Governor Ralph Northam on Wednesday. Outdoor graduations can have the lesser of 5,000 people or 30 percent capacity, while indoor graduations can have the lesser of 500 people or 30 percent capacity.

Read More

Commentary: The Xinjiang Genocide

In Xinjiang, located in western China, the Chinese Communist Party is aggressively working to eradicate the faith and culture of the Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minority communities.   

On March 10, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio provided a written statement for a U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom hearing entitled, “A Religious Minority Enslaved: Addressing the Complicity of U.S. Companies in Uyghur Forced Labor.”  He wrote, “When a regime deprives a people of their right to practice their faith freely, they are depriving those people of their full humanity.  They are cutting them off from the traditions that sustained their ancestors and defined who they are as a people.  This is precisely why Beijing has targeted the Uyghurs.” 

Read More

Judge Won’t Delay or Move Chauvin Trial, Despite $27 Million Civil Settlement with Floyd Family

Derek Chauvin

Despite a $27 million civil settlement between the city of Minneapolis and the family of George Floyd, the judge in the high-profile trial of ex-Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin will continue as scheduled. 

“Unfortunately, the pretrial publicity will continue no matter how long we continue [the trial],” Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill said Friday. 

Read More

U.S. Customs And Border Protection Refuses to Explain How Silencing Officials Adheres to Mayorkas’ Transparency Promise

CBP detainee

Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection officials refused to explain how restricting agents and border officers from sharing information with the media lives up to Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ promise of transparency.

The Biden administration reportedly told border officials they can only share limited information concerning the increase of migrants arriving at the southern border and media releases must first be approved by the national office, NBC News reported Thursday. Only certain employees are permitted to speak on behalf of the agency, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Mayorkas, the head of DHS, committed to keeping the department open and transparent during a White House press conference on March 1.

Read More

CDC Updates School Classroom Social-Distance Guidelines – from Six Feet to Three Feet

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that it is updating its physical distancing guidelines for children in schools by reducing the space between them from 6 feet to 3 feet.

The agency said the update was made in response to new data and recommended 3 feet with some qualification – including that each student is wearing a mask, according to CNN.

Read More

Commentary: Higher Ed Approaches the Antiracism Training Abyss

Free expression and open inquiry in higher education are under attack by ideologues seeking to impose neo-Marxist “critical” theories, most prominently critical race theory, which places race at the center of all political and social issues.

Critical race theory training, misleadingly characterized as “antiracism” training, has spread widely throughout higher education and is often compared to Maoist struggle sessions, where dissent incurs public shaming, job loss, and harassment. This training often turns into race-shaming and Kafka-trapping, using denial of racism as proof of racism. The result is self-imposed racial conflict and systemic retaliatory discrimination masquerading as “equity.”

Read More

Biden Calls Kamala Harris ‘President Harris’

President Joe Biden referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as “President Harris” on Thursday.

“Now, when President Harris and I took a virtual tour of a vaccination center in Arizona not long ago, one of the nurses on that tour injecting people and giving vaccinations said that each shot was like administering a dose of hope,” Biden said during an announcement at the White House.

Biden previously appeared to forget Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s name during a March 8 speech over the nomination of two female Air Force generals.

Read More

House Passes Two Immigration Bills as Border Crisis Intensifies

The House passed two separate immigration bills Thursday evening, marking the first time the 117th Congress has voted on the issue under President Joe Biden.

The pair of bills are the first immigration proposals to be voted on since a surge of migrants reached the southern border, resulting in heightened scrutiny on the Biden administration over its handling of what Republicans have labeled a serious crisis.

The House first passed H.R. 6, the American Dream and Promise Act of 2021 (ADPA), with nine Republicans voting with Democrats in favor of the bill. The act would provide a pathway to citizenship for so-called “Dreamers” who were brought to the United States as young children, as well as for Temporary Protected Status recipients and Deferred Enforced Departure beneficiaries. The legislation, sponsored by California Democratic Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, could give over 4.4 million people a path to permanent status, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

Read More

Consulting Firm Staffer Claims to Represent Republican Party of Virginia While Working for Glenn Youngkin

Glenn Youngkin’s gubernatorial campaign is facing criticism after a canvasser for a political consultant firm claimed to represent the Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) while canvassing door-to-door. The canvasser was caught when she visited RPV State Central Committee (SCC) Member Heather Stefl’s house, who pushed back until the canvasser admitted she actually worked for Vanguard Field Strategies, a company working for Youngkin’s campaign.

Read More