September 3, 2021 - The Virginia Star

House Armed Services Committee Passes Bill Protecting Three Guided Missile Cruisers Based in Virginia

September 3, 2021September 2, 2021 Eric Burk

A major defense bill passed out of the House Armed Services Committee Thursday, with spending for Virginia. Congressman Rob Wittman (R-VA-01) said that Republicans led an effort to include an amendment that, in part protects three guided-missile cruisers based in Virginia from decommissioning. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2022 passed 57 to two. It includes a top-line spending level of $740 billion, up from President Joe Biden’s proposed $715 billion, according to Defense News.

“While defense is often and rightfully viewed as a national priority, here in Virginia, this additional funding fuels economic growth and the creation of jobs. This growth will further translate to funding for state priorities such as roads, schools, and law enforcement. With many of these ships built, maintained and repaired in Virginia, the Commonwealth’s economy especially stands to benefit from the passage of the FY22 NDAA,” Wittman said in a press release.

Commentary: Something Is Wrong with America’s Top Commanders

September 3, 2021September 2, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The fall of Kabul is not the end, as Joe Biden seems to think, of the Afghanistan nightmare.

It is the beginning of a never-ending bad dream. Biden and the Pentagon have managed to birth a new terrorist haven, destroy much of U.S. strategic deterrence, and alienate our allies and much of the country.

Commentary: Biden’s Job Approval Has Entered Dangerous Territory

September 3, 2021September 2, 2021 RealClearWire

In 1880, Americans did something momentous: They all elected their congressional delegations in the same year. Prior to that, elections had been a hodgepodge affair. For example, the first elections for the 28th Congress, which ostensibly met from 1843 to 1845, were held in Missouri on Aug. 1, 1842. But only five other states held elections that year; almost all other states held them over the course of the odd numbered year of 1843. Maryland finally got around to holding its elections on Feb. 14, 1844, a half-year before the presidential election and less than a year before the next Congress convened.

Even after 1880, a truly uniform Election Day did not arrive until 1960, when Maine gave up its stubborn insistence on holding its congressional elections in September. But for all intents and purposes, 1882 marks the birth of the phenomenon we know today as the midterm election year.

No Update on California Schoolchildren Stranded in Afghanistan

September 3, 2021September 2, 2021 Peter D'Abrosca

There is no update as of Thursday on the 30 American schoolchildren who are stranded in Afghanistan.

American troops packed up and left the Taliban-controlled nation at the end of last week, ending a nearly 20 year war in the country.

State Department Says It Doesn’t Have Data on Number of Americans Rescued Since Last Kabul Flight

September 3, 2021September 2, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

A spokesperson for the State Department said he did not “have data” on whether Americans have been rescued from Afghanistan since the last U.S. flight out of Kabul at a press briefing on Wednesday.

“I don’t have data to provide on that front,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said at the briefing when asked if he had a number.

January 6 Commission Taps Cheney as Vice Chair While Republicans Move to Oust Her from Their Caucus

September 3, 2021September 2, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Democratic Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson announced Thursday that he would tap Rep. Liz Cheney as the vice chair on the committee tasked with investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, a day after some GOP lawmakers called for the Wyoming Republican to be ousted from the House Republican caucus.

“Representative Cheney has demonstrated again and again her commitment to getting answers about January 6th, ensuring accountability, and doing whatever it takes to protect democracy for the American people,” Thompson said in a statement. “Her leadership and insights have shaped the early work of the Select Committee, and this appointment underscores the bipartisan nature of this effort.”

Biden: Supreme Court Abortion Ruling ‘Insults the Rule of Law’

September 3, 2021September 2, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

President Joe Biden condemned a ruling by the Supreme Court on Texas’ Heartbeat Act Thursday, saying the court’s decision “insults the rule of law.”

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 late Wednesday night to deny abortion providers’ requests for injunctive relief against Texas’ new law banning abortion after 6 weeks. The president weighed in on the ruling Thursday morning, calling it an “unprecedented assault on a woman’s constitutional rights under Roe v. Wade.”

Weekly Jobless Claims Sink to 340,000, Hit New Pandemic Low

September 3, 2021September 2, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The number of Americans filing new unemployment claims decreased to 340,000 in the week ending Aug. 28, as the economy continues to slowly recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics figure released Thursday represents a slight decrease in the number of new jobless claims compared to the week ending Aug. 21, when 354,000 new jobless claims were reported. That figure was revised from the 353,000 jobless claims initially reported last week.

Pro-Antifa Teacher in California to Be Fired After Project Veritas Video

September 3, 2021September 2, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

A schoolteacher in California who voiced his support for the far-left domestic terrorist organization Antifa is set to be fired from his job after his support for terrorism was revealed by a Project Veritas video, as reported by Fox News.

Gabriel Gipe, who taught social studies at Inderkum High School in Sacramento, was the subject of a 10-minute video by Project Veritas, a group of investigative journalists who specialize in going undercover within far-left organizations and secretly recording confessions of wrongdoing, radical beliefs, and other scandals.

Report: U.S. Left Behind Majority of Afghan Allies Who Applied for Visas

September 3, 2021September 2, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The U.S. abandoned more than half of all interpreters and Afghans who applied for special immigrant visas (SIV), a senior State Department official told The Wall Street Journal.

The official didn’t share specific information or figures, but estimated that a majority of the visa applicants were left behind in Afghanistan, the WSJ reported. The Department of State doesn’t have exact data on who was evacuated from the Middle Eastern nation after the Taliban took control of the capital city of Kabul, due to the urgent nature of the operation.

Michael Patrick Leahy Talks About Pop Up Nonprofits Used for Partisan Political Purposes

September 3, 2021September 2, 2021 Julie Carr

In a special interview, Thursday on First Principles with Phill Kline – host Kline talked with Michael Patrick Leahy, CEO, and editor-in-chief of The Star News Network who uncovered partisan non-profit popups in swing states and the importance of election integrity as the deciding fate of America’s constitutional Republic.…

At Least 45 Dead in the Northeast in Wake of Hurricane Ida

September 3, 2021September 2, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The death toll in the Northeast reached 45 on Thursday following the remnants of Hurricane Ida hitting the coast.

Those who were killed ranged geographically from Maryland to Connecticut, the Associated Press reported. At least 12 of those dead were in New York City, with 11 dying in flooded basement apartments and one in a car.

Richmond’s Robert E. Lee Monument to Come Down After Virginia Supreme Court Dismisses Lawsuits Blocking Removal

September 3, 2021September 2, 2021 Eric Burk

The Virginia Supreme Court dissolved injunctions blocking the removal of the Lee monument in Richmond, according to an opinion and an order published by the court on Thursday. In June 2020, Governor Ralph Northam ordered the removal of the monument, which sits on a small piece of land owned by Virginia in the middle of Richmond. Courts issued injunctions to prevent removal while considering two lawsuits challenging the legal authority to remove the monument.

In Taylor v. Northam, plaintiffs argued that documents from the late 1800s prevent the removal. But the court said that the restrictive covenants are unenforceable, and said that they unreasonably try to force government speech indefinitely.