September 6, 2021 - The Virginia Star

Americans Remain Hard Workers Even Through the Pandemic, Especially in Red States

September 6, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

With Labor Day upon us, it’s time to take a look at which are the hardest-working states in America, and why. It has been a year that daily and weekly work routines have dramatically changed for tens of millions of Americans.

Researchers for WalletHub, a personal finance website, have once again set out to determine which states are home to the hardest working Americans in their annual report. They compare the 50 states based on both direct and indirect work factors, and then apply 10 different metrics to reach an overall score to rank each state.

The direct work factors, according to WalletHub, include “average workweek hours, employment rate, the share of households where no adults work, the share of workers leaving vacation time unused, share of engaged workers, and idle youth.”

Advocacy Group Urges Northam to Generously Use Pardon Power

September 6, 2021September 5, 2021 The Center Square

A criminal justice reform advocacy group is urging Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam to use his pardon power generously before leaving office at the end of his term in January.

Families Against Mandatory Minimums, which works to repeal mandatory minimum sentencing laws nationally, wrote a letter to Northam and asked him to grant full or partial clemency to deserving inmates who have reformed while in prison and for those who were given excessive sentences for their crimes.

A Virginia law from the 1990s prohibiting discretionary parole limits options for felons who received harsh penalties, leaving a pardon as one of the only options remaining. The state also has various mandatory minimum sentences on the books, which require a certain length of incarcerated time for specific crimes.

Commentary: Fundamentally Transforming America

September 6, 2021September 5, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

“We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.”

That was the “composite character” David Garrow described in Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama, on the campaign back in 2008. By “we,” the composite character meant himself and running mate, Senator Joe Biden. In 2021, with the Delaware Democrat in the White House, an update on the transformation process is in order.

In 2008 the United States was already a democratic republic, in which the people had selected presidents as different as Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. After FDR’s New Deal and LBJ’s Great Society, the United States was already a top-heavy welfare state. Any fundamental transformation, therefore, would have to come through different channels.

Nikole Hannah-Jones Says Her Privately Funded School Program Won’t Teach Critical Race Theory

September 6, 2021September 5, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The New York Times’ 1619 Project creator Nikole Hannah-Jones said her free after-school literacy program in her hometown of Waterloo, Iowa, will teach black history, not critical race theory (CRT), the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported.

The privately-funded “1619 Freedom School” headed by Hannah-Jones will be for students in the Waterloo Community School District in Iowa. The program’s goal is to “improve literacy skills and develop a love for reading through liberating instruction centered on Black American history,” according to the 1619 Freedom School website.

NFL to Allow Far-Left ‘Social Justice’ Phrases on Helmets for Upcoming Season

September 6, 2021September 5, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

For the 2021 football season, the National Football League (NFL) will permit its players to display far-left propaganda on their outfits, and the league will even provide six different phrases for players to choose from for display on their helmets during games, as Fox News reports.

The six phrases that players can have emblazoned on their helmets are: “Black Lives Matter,” “End Racism,” “Stop Hate,” “Inspire Change,” “It Takes All Of Us,” and “Say Their Stories.” In addition, the league will allow home teams to have one of two phrases written across the end zones of their fields: “End Racism” or “It Takes All Of Us.”

Amazon Will Start Actively Looking for Content to Remove from Hosting Platform: Report

September 6, 2021September 5, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Amazon is creating a team dedicated to actively locating content that violates its policies and removing it from its cloud hosting platform, Reuters reported.

The company’s cloud services division, Amazon Web Services (AWS), is set to hire several people to monitor and remove abusive, illegal, and violent content, a source familiar with the plans told Reuters. The team will also work with outside researchers to review and identify offending content, the source said.

AWS provides data storage, machine learning, and cloud web-hosting, among other services. The division attracted controversy earlier this year when it kicked social media app Parler off its cloud servers over allegations the app was used to coordinate the Jan. 6 riots inside the Capitol building.

DOJ Prepares Second Antitrust Suit Against Google over Digital Ads

September 6, 2021September 5, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is readying an antitrust lawsuit against Google over its digital advertising practices, a source familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

The lawsuit will be based on the ongoing DOJ investigation into allegations Google illegally maintains a monopoly in the digital advertising market, and could be filed as soon as December, the source told Bloomberg. Though the decision to file the complaint has yet to be finalized, the suit would be the DOJ’s second antitrust challenge against Google, following an October lawsuit which took aim at Google’s search business.

U.S. Postal Service Workers Are Having a Lot of Vehicle Accidents, but Not Reporting Them: Report

September 6, 2021September 5, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The U.S. Postal Service had more than 144,000 vehicle crashes and more than 300,000 industrial accidents over the last five years, but most were not properly reported in the required tracking systems, according to a new investigative report by the service’s internal watchdog.

The report last week by the inspector general laid bare the extent of accidents — there were nearly $130 million in repairs since 2016 — as well as a laissez faire culture inside the Postal Service for ensuring required documentation for crashes and workplace accidents in the Employee Health and Safety and Solution for Enterprise Asset Management (SEAM) systems.

“Of the 147,192 nationwide accident repair-related work orders completed in SEAM, 108,126 (73 percent) did not have corresponding accident reports in EHS,” the report said. “Also, there were 23,301 (14 percent) accidents not reported in EHS within 24 hours of notification of the accident/injury.”

New Zealand Police Kill ‘ISIS-Inspired’ Terrorist After He Stabs Six People

September 6, 2021September 5, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

New Zealand police shot and killed a terrorist inspired by ISIS after he stabbed and wounded six people in a grocery store Friday.

The man entered a supermarket in the city of Auckland on Friday afternoon and took a knife off the shelves, said Andrew Coster, Commissioner of Police for New Zealand. He began attacking shoppers, stabbing six people before police were able to respond.

Police Officers, Firefighters Sue Oregon Governor Over COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates

September 6, 2021September 5, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Police and firefighters are suing Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, arguing her vaccine mandate for state workers conflicts with the U.S. and state constitutions.

The lawsuit filed in Jefferson County by the Oregon Fraternal Order of Police and the Kinglsey Firefighters Association asks the judge seeks to block the state from enforcing Brown’s executive order requiring COVID-19 inoculations fir all executive branch employees.

Music Spotlight: Ryan Curtis

September 6, 2021September 5, 2021 Bethany Bowman

Ryan Curtis is a gifted singer/songwriter whose newest debut solo album, ‘Rust Belt, Broken Heart’ is sure to strike a chord in the working man who has been there and done that.

Private Afghanistan Evacuation Team Criticizes Biden Administration Officials Who ‘Did Absolutely Nothing’ to Help Girls Escape Taliban

September 6, 2021September 5, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The Biden administration ignored several pleas for help from an American evacuation team in the waning days of the Afghanistan withdrawal, emails reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation show.

The team had contacted senior officials in the administration to help evacuate people from Afghanistan before the U.S. withdrawal, according to emails obtained by the DCNF. They were working to get Americans and vulnerable Afghans out of the country, but it was a difficult task to do alone, according to the team.

Robert Stryk, who earlier spoke with the DCNF about his frustrations with the administration before Aug. 31, said Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer failed to act on his team’s desperate pleas for help in getting hundreds of girls out of Afghanistan as the U.S. withdrawal deadline approached.

Gingrich Commentary: Celebrating Labor Day

September 6, 2021September 5, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

As Americans gather today to relax and enjoy Labor Day with their family and friends, it is a good time to reflect on what this traditional holiday means to working Americans in the 21st century.

The legislation which made Labor Day a national holiday was signed into law by President Grover Cleveland in 1894. It was created during a time of rapid industrialization and economic growth, as much of the United States shifted from an agricultural to industrial economy. This period of change created many challenges for working Americans as they had to learn new skills and work long hours.

The past year-and-a-half has also presented many challenges and changes for working Americans. The threat of a global pandemic reshaped work in ways we could not have imagined even a few years ago.

Pakistani Ambassador Doubts U.S. Intelligence Taliban Is Seeking ‘Retribution’ Against Afghans

September 6, 2021September 5, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The Pakistani Ambassador to the U.S. said he does not believe the Taliban is seeking “retribution” against Afghans, contrary to American intelligence, according to emails obtained by Politico.

Ambassador Asad Majeed Khan said in exchanges between the U.S. and Pakistan that the Taliban “were not seeking retribution, and in fact were going home to home to assure Afghans that there will not be reprisals,” based on “ground observations,” Politico reported.

U.S. State Department official Ervin Massinga noted that “he has seen reporting to the contrary and hopes the Taliban do not seek revenge.”

China Bans Effeminate Men on TV to Promote ‘Revolutionary Culture’

September 6, 2021September 5, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

China is banning effeminate men from appearing on television, the Chinese government announced Thursday.

Under a new directive issued by China’s National Radio and Television Administration, Chinese broadcasters must promote “excellent traditional culture, revolutionary culture and advanced socialist culture,” according to a translation by the Associated Press. Additionally, broadcasters must “resolutely put an end to sissy men and other abnormal aesthetics.”

Report: Top Health Officials Tell White House to Pause Vaccine Booster Plan

September 6, 2021September 5, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Top U.S. health officials told the White House pandemic coordinator on Thursday to scale back the Biden administration’s plan to administer the coronavirus booster shots to individuals in September, The New York Times reported.

Dr. Janet Woodcock, the acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeffrey D. Zients that they need more time to collect and analyze the necessary data relating to the booster shots, The New York Times reported.

The doctors told Zients that their agencies might be able to determine whether to recommend boosters for recipients of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in the coming weeks, according to the Times.

The two doctors presented their argument to Zients at a meeting on Thursday. It is unclear how Zients responded to the news.

Texas State Senator Debunks Myths About the New Heartbeat Act

September 6, 2021September 5, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Abortion advocates who insist Texas’ Heartbeat Act places bounties on pregnant women’s heads are misrepresenting the legislation, Republican Texas state Sen. Brian Hughes told the Daily Caller News Foundation Friday.

“I want to be very clear,” Hughes said. “There are no claims against the mother. We want to make sure folks realize that … I read a couple of places saying the mothers would receive criminal penalties. There are no criminal penalties in this bill at all. It’s driven by private civil enforcement against the doctor and against people who aid and abet the doctor and in doing illegal abortions.”

Larry Elder Says He’ll Replace Senator Feinstein with Republican if He Wins California Recall Election

September 6, 2021September 5, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Larry Elder said Friday that if he is elected California governor in the state recall of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, he will replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) with a Republican.

Elder told the “Mark Levin Show” that George Soros, President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) are getting involved in the California recall election because they’re concerned about the balance of power in the Senate.

Transgender Person Who Allegedly Exposed Himself at L.A. Spa Charged with Indecent Exposure

September 6, 2021September 5, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The transgender individual who exposed himself in front of women and children at a California luxury spa earlier this year, has been charged with indecent exposure, the New York Post reported Thursday. Darren Agee Merager, 52, is a registered sex offender with two prior convictions of indecent exposure, according to the Post’s law-enforcement sources. Merager is also facing “six felony counts of indecent exposure over a separate locker room incident in December 2018,” according to the Post.

As American Greatness previously reported, several women complained last June, when the biological male allegedly exposed his penis at the Wi Spa in Los Angeles.

Viral video footage of the incident showed a woman angrily confronting a staff member of the spa about a naked man who had apparently exposed himself in an area reserved for females.

Colorado High School Students Stage Walkout to Protest School Mask Requirement

September 6, 2021September 5, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

High school students in Douglas County, Colorado, staged protests Wednesday calling for the end of a classroom mask mandate, ABC 7 Denver reported.

Students from ThunderRidge High School walked out of class around 9:30 a.m. in protest of the classroom mask requirement, ABC 7 reported.

Afghan Refugees Undergo ‘Biometric and Biographic Vetting’ Before Coming to America

September 6, 2021September 5, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Afghan refugees are subject to security and health screening performed by Department of Homeland Security officials before they’re evacuated to the U.S. or a third country for additional processing, a Biden administration senior official said.

Afghans must clear biometric and biographic vetting including iris scans, palm and voice prints and photographs before they’re evacuated from the country, CNN reported. The refugees are also tested for COVID-19 and offered vaccinations before they’re released, the senior official said in a background press call on Aug. 24.

“That [security screening] process involves biometric and biographic security screenings conducted by our intelligence, law enforcement, and counterterrorism professionals who are working quite literally around the clock to vet all of these Afghans before they’re allowed into the United States,” the Biden administration senior official said on the call.

School Had ‘No Such Record’ of Complaints About Antifa-Supporting Teacher, Superintendent Says

September 6, 2021September 5, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The superintendent who will likely fire a pro-Antifa California teacher said his school district has not been able to find any reports from parents or students prior to a Project Veritas video catching him boasting about indoctrinating his students, Fox News reported.

Natomas Unified School District (NUSD) Superintendent Chris Evans asked any parent or teacher who had previously notified the school about the teacher, Gabriel Gipe, to reach out again, Fox News reported.

Michael Patrick Leahy on Narrative Journalism and Big Tech Alliances

September 6, 2021September 5, 2021 Julie Carr

Thursday morning on Frist Principles with Phill Kline, host Kline welcomed The Star News Networks CEO and Editor in Chief Michael Patrick Leahy to the phone lines to discuss the changing landscape of journalism and Big Techs’ partnership with social media titans.

Federal Reserve Could Soon Lose Control of Inflation Like in 1960s, Economic Historian Says

September 6, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Prominent economic historian Niall Ferguson said current inflation could be in line with where it was in the 1960s during the period that preceded a decade of high consumer prices, CNBC reported.

“What is interesting about disasters is that one can lead to another,” Ferguson said in a Friday interview with CNBC. “You can go from a public health disaster to a fiscal, monetary and potentially inflationary disaster.”

During the 1960s, inflation stayed low before shooting up in the 1970s, according to government economic data. Consumer prices ultimately peaked in 1980 before rapidly declining.

Quarantines and Virtual Days: Virginia School Officials Grapple with COVID-19 Cases Among Students

September 6, 2021September 5, 2021 Eric Burk

Danville Public Schools moved its middle and high school classes to virtual on Friday with about 1,100 out of the district’s total 6,900 students quarantined for COVID-19. The school is using the Labor Day weekend to do a deep-clean. Director of Curriculum and Instruction Brenda Muse said most of those cases were among middle and high school students.

“Those levels have been increasing, and so in consultation with our State Superintendent Dr. Lane and with our local health department we asked for some advice on what they felt we needed to do. And our health department said a deep cleaning would greatly assist at the secondary level,” Muse said.

Nearby Franklin County also had middle and high-school students attend classes virtually on Friday, with a plan to return in-person Tuesday.