August 30, 2021 - The Virginia Star

43,000 Absentee Ballot Votes Counted in DeKalb County, Georgia 2020 Election Violated Chain of Custody Rule

August 30, 2021August 29, 2021 Laura Baigert

43,907 of the 61,731 absentee ballots deposited in drop boxes in the November 2020 presidential election in DeKalb County, Georgia–72 percent–were counted in official tallies certified by the county and the state, despite violating chain of custody requirements set forward in Georgia Emergency Rule 183-1-14-1.8-.14 promulgated by the Georgia State Election Board at its July 1, 2020, meeting.

That rule states absentee ballots placed in drop boxes, “shall be immediately transported to the county registrar” by the two person collection team, which is required to sign a ballot transfer form indicating the number of ballots picked up, the time the ballots were picked up, and the location of the drop box, and that, “The county registrar or a designee thereof shall sign the ballot transfer form upon receipt of the ballots from the collection team.”

Analysis of DeKalb County, Georgia 2020 Election Absentee Ballot Transfer Forms Identifies Several Problems

August 30, 2021August 29, 2021 Laura Baigert

An analysis by The Georgia Star News of DeKalb County’s absentee ballot drop box transfer forms from the November 2020 election identified a number of problems that puts the documents out of compliance with the Georgia Board of Election Emergency Rule 183-1-14-1.8-.14.

The Star News reviewed 725 absentee ballot drop box transfer forms, obtained from the DeKalb County law department in response to an open records request, that were used by DeKalb County during the November 2020 election to document the chain of custody of the 61,731 absentee ballots deposited in drop boxes .

Rep. Ilhan Omar Urges Biden to Increase Refugee Admissions Cap

August 30, 2021August 29, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Rep. Ilhan Omar has joined a group of Democrats in urging President Joe Biden to increase the refugee admissions cap to 200,000 for the next fiscal year to meet the “massive humanitarian need” in Afghanistan.

With the Taliban now in control of the country, the U.S. Department of Defense could house as many as 30,000 Afghan refugees at military bases across America, including Fort McCoy in Wisconsin. That figure alone is nearly three times the number of refugees who were admitted to the U.S. last year under President Donald Trump.

President Biden revised the annual refugee admissions cap in May to 62,500 for the 2021 fiscal year, up from the “historically low number” of 15,000 set by the Trump administration. Biden said his goal is to increase that figure again to 125,000 for the next fiscal year.

Commentary: Schools with Mask Mandates Didn’t See Statistically Significant Different Rates of COVID Transmission from Schools with Optional Policies

August 30, 2021August 29, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Group of young students at table, reading and wearing masks

The ACLU on Tuesday announced it is bringing a lawsuit against South Carolina over its mask policy.

The Palmetto State is one of seven states—along with Texas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Arizona, Utah, and Florida— that have policies in place banning schools from having mask policies. Thirteen states, meanwhile, have laws that mandate masks in schools. The majority of states (30) allow school districts to determine their own mask policies.

Representative Waltz and Senator Graham Call on Biden to Designate the Taliban as Terrorists, Recognize Former Afghan Officials as Legitimate Government Reps

August 30, 2021September 11, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

In the wake of the deadly terrorist attack in Kabul that killed 13 American service members and at least 170 Afghans, Rep Mike Waltz (R- Fla.) and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) have called on Joe Biden to formally recognize former officials in Afghanistan as legitimate government representatives, and to designate the Taliban as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

The pair released the following statement on Friday after speaking with a number of Afghan government officials, including the former vice-president, who say they have established a safe zone for Americans and our afghan allies left behind in the now Taliban-controlled country.

Ed Asner, Winner of Seven Emmys and Star of ‘Mary Tyler Moore Show’ and Pixar’s ‘Up,’ Has Died

August 30, 2021August 29, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Ed Asner, the veteran actor who starred in the Mary Tyler Moore Show and the spinoff Lou Grant show, has died at the age of 91.

“We are sorry to say that our beloved patriarch passed away this morning peacefully,” read the tweet from Asner’s official Twitter account. “Words cannot express the sadness we feel. With a kiss on your head- Goodnight dad. We love you.”

Commentary: Joe Biden’s Top 10 Blunders

August 30, 2021August 29, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

As I’ve watched the events of the past few weeks – and thought about the nature of Joe Biden’s young presidency – I began to ask myself: How much more of this can we take?

In just seven months, President Biden has overseen a remarkable number of complete blunders. To make sense of them all and consider how to overcome them, I decided to make a list of them. Of course, it would take months of time and writing to list all the errors Biden has made in his 48 years in politics, so I decided to start at his inauguration in January. These are roughly in chronological order. It seemed impossible to rank them as so many of them could have lasting, unforeseeable consequences.

1 – Bipartisan Baloney

As I write in my upcoming book, Beyond Biden, which will be released on Nov. 2, the first major mistake Biden made was immediately failing to live up to the pledges he made in his inaugural address. In his inaugural address, Biden said: “Today, on this January day, my whole soul is in this: Bringing America together. Uniting our people. And uniting our nation.”

‘Element’ of Intelligence Community Believes COVID Leaked from Wuhan Lab, Biden’s 90-Day Review Shows

August 30, 2021August 29, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

An “element” of the U.S. intelligence community believes COVID-19 entered the human population due to a lab accident at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, according to a declassified summary of its 90-day review of the pandemic’s origins released Friday.

Overall, however, the 17 agencies that make up the intelligence community were unable to come to a conclusive assessment on the origins of COVID-19 as a result of the review, which was ordered by President Joe Biden in May. Some in the intelligence community believe COVID-19 came from nature, while others pin blame on the Wuhan lab, which prior to the pandemic was conducting risky experiments on bat-based coronaviruses to make them even more contagious.

University’s Redesigned Mascot is a Gender-Neutral, Climate-Change-Protesting, Social Justice Warrior

August 30, 2021August 29, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The New School’s mascot, a Narwhal named Gnarls, got a gender-neutral redesign for the Fall 2021 semester, the university reports.

Gnarls backstory includes an “unconventional” upbringing due to “distressing levels of ice loss” that forced the Narwhal’s family out of its Antarctica home.

Authorities to Shut Down New York Prison Where Jeffrey Epstein Died

August 30, 2021August 29, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Authorities on Thursday announced they plan to shut down a federal jail in New York City where alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein died in 2019.

Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in lower Manhattan, apparently due to suicide, The New York Times reported. The prison guards were later accused of sleeping and surfing the internet while on duty.

Seven Capitol Police Officers Sue Trump, Claiming He is Responsible for January 6

August 30, 2021August 29, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Seven Capitol Police officers filed a lawsuit on Thursday against President Donald Trump, claiming with no evidence that the president conspired with right-wing activists to organize the peaceful protests that took place at the Capitol on January 6th, according to Politico.

The lawsuit was filed with the U.S. District Court in Washington D.C., by the group Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; the suit claims that President Trump’s rhetoric leading up to January 6th, in which he called out widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election that may have ultimately swung the election results away from him and in favor of Joe Biden, violated the Ku Klux Klan Act.

Roughly One-Third of U.S. Population Had COVID-19 by the End of 2020, New Study

August 30, 2021August 29, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Roughly one-third of the U.S. population had been infected by the coronavirus by the end of 2020, according to a new study that appears to show how widespread but underreported the virus was.

The study was conducted by Columbia University researchers and published Thursday in the science journal Nature.

Active Duty and Retired Military Personnel Told They Cannot “Disrespect” Senior Government Officials

August 30, 2021August 29, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) has informed active duty and retired service members that they cannot “disrespect” President Joe Biden or other senior government leadership, even during the chaotic and deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The warning came in an email, according to The Daily Wire, from the ONI’s chief of staff, reminding service members, current and retired, that they are “prohibited from disrespecting senior government leadership (e.g. the President, Vice President, Congress, Secretary of Defense, Service Secretaries, etc.).”

Texas’ Elections Bill Clears State House, Setting Stage to Become Law

August 30, 2021August 29, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Texas’ controversial elections bill cleared the state House Friday afternoon, clearing its way to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk after a months-long battle that drove Democrats to flee the state in an attempt to block its passage.

Senate Bill 1 was lauded by Republicans as a means to better secure future elections, but was chastised by Democrats as an effort to restrict voting access following former President Donald Trump’s discredited claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent. It passed on an 80-41 vote that fell largely along party lines.

The Texas House considered dozens of amendments during a marathon session Thursday, and the bill now heads to the Senate for the provisions adopted to be approved before heading to the governor’s desk. Abbott, a Republican who has championed the issue, has vowed to sign it.

Former New York Times Journalist Alex Berenson Permanently Suspended by Twitter

August 30, 2021August 29, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Twitter has permanently banned Alex Berenson, a former New York Times journalist who has become a major critic of Big Tech censorship and coronavirus lockdowns and mandates.

Responding to an inquiry from Fox News, where Berenson has been a frequent guest during the pandemic, a spokesperson for Twitter replied that “The account you referenced has been permanently suspended for repeated violations of our COVID-19 misinformation rules.”

Berenson responded on his Substack page, where he posted a message titled “Goodbye Twitter.”

Department of Labor to Award $10 Million to Advance ‘Gender Proportionality’ in Mexico

August 30, 2021August 29, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

This week’s Golden Horseshoe is awarded to the Department of Labor for a $10 million grant to promote “gender equity” in the workplace in Mexico.

In its grant notice, the DOL’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) announces that the goal of the project is to “improve gender equity in the Mexican workplace by supporting actions to increase the number of women in union leadership, strengthen protections, address harassment at work and augment wages for women.”

North Carolina Senate Votes to Ban Critical Race Theory Concepts in Schools

August 30, 2021August 29, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The North Carolina Senate has approved legislation that prohibits K-12 schools from promoting more than a dozen concepts about racism and discrimination.

The legislation bans school districts from pushing critical race theory, which is centered around the idea that race is a social construct used to oppress people of color. The theory, developed by legal scholars in the late 1970s and 1980s, concludes racism in America is systemic.

New Documents Detail Behind-the-Scenes Turmoil at the University of North Carolina Journalism School Over Nikole Hannah-Jones Hiring

August 30, 2021August 29, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

A little more than a week ago, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced that Susan King, dean of the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media, would be resigning from her position.

King, who took over the dean position in 2012, announced she would be keeping the position until a replacement is named.

Marine Commander Relieved of Duties After Demanding Accountability from Military Leaders in Viral Video

August 30, 2021August 29, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

A Marine commander was relieved of his duties after he demanded accountability from top military brass in a video posted on social media after the deadly terrorist attack in Kabul Afghanistan. On Thursday, a suicide bomber detonated at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport, killing 170 Afghans, and 13 American service members, most of whom were Marines.

Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Scheller, an advanced Infantry Training Battalion commander at Camp LeJeune in Jacksonville, N.C., announced that he had been let go on his LinkedIn page.

Obama Education Secretary Compares Anti-Mask Americans to Kabul Suicide Bombers

August 30, 2021August 29, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Arne Duncan, the Secretary of Education under former President Barack Obama, compared individuals who choose not to wear a mask to the deadly terrorists who killed 13 American service members earlier this week.

In a tweet, Duncan claimed that people who do not wear a mask have a “strikingly similar” mindset to the terrorists who killed and injured dozens of American and Afghan citizens.

Commentary: Left-Wing Teachers Still Can’t Decide If They Do or Do Not Teach ‘Critical Race Theory’

August 30, 2021August 29, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

What is the deal with today’s K-12 teachers? They’re all over the place when it comes to Critical Race Theory, or CRT. On the one hand they vehemently deny even teaching it; on the other they defend its use in curricula.

Many of those in the latter group claim they just want to teach a “real” and “inclusive” history. They also assert that in these “real” and “inclusive” lessons, white people aren’t shamed and demonized.

New Mexico Governor’s Car Gets Less Than 13 Miles Per Gallon, Even as She Mandates 52 Miles Per Gallon for All State Vehicles

August 30, 2021August 29, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham drives a car with an average fuel economy of less than 13 mpg, according to records obtained by Power the Future and first reported by The Federalist.

At the same time, Lujan Grisham committed the state in 2019 to new energy efficiency standards that included requiring new cars sold in the state beginning this year to reach an average 52 mpg, a goal that hasn’t been achieved.

Showdown Coming at University of Wisconsin Over Coronavirus Rules

August 30, 2021August 29, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Republican lawmakers are talking about suing the University of Wisconsin over mask mandates and test requirements for those who haven’t received a coronavirus vaccine.

State Senator Steve Nass (R-WI) said he will ask permission to begin legal proceedings if the UW System doesn’t change its mind about coronavirus restrictions by next week.

Hurricane Ida Makes Landfall, Lashes Louisiana With Sustained Winds of Over 150 Miles Per Hour

August 30, 2021August 29, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Hurricane Ida made landfall Sunday afternoon near Port Fourchon in Louisiana. The hurricane had intensified overnight and went from a Category 2 to a Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 150 mph.

The National Hurricane Center said “to expect ‘extremely life-threatening’ storm surge inundation imminently within the area between Burns Point, Louisiana, to Ocean Springs, Mississippi.”

FDA Bans 55,000 Flavored E-Cigarette Products

August 30, 2021August 29, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned 55,000 e-cigarette products on Thursday for their failure to prove they didn’t pose a threat to public health.

The FDA announced that thousands of products from three vape companies, JD Nova Group LLC, Great American Vapes, and Vapor Salon, didn’t prove the benefit to adult smokers negated the “well-documented, alarming levels of youth use of such products.”

Newport News School Board Backtracks, Passes Transgender Policy

August 30, 2021August 29, 2021 Eric Burk

The Newport News School Board reconsidered its vote against a transgender policy. After frustration from transgender advocates and politicians including Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA-03) and Delegate Mike Mullin (D-Newport News), the board voted four to three in favor of the policy, flipping its previous vote of five to one with one abstention.

In the Thursday special meeting Member John Eley explained why he changed his vote: “As school board members we must uphold the law and follow the law. If we’re not in compliance with the law, we’re breaking the rules.”