October 5, 2021 - The Virginia Star

Stony Brook Student Beaten for Backing Amy Coney Barrett Faces Barrett-Backed Vax Rule Expulsion

October 5, 2021 Neil W. McCabe

Supreme Court Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett began her first full session on the high court with lingering doubts from a conservative student in her senior year at Stony Brook University facing expulsion with the loss of all semester credits and tuition, thanks to a Barrett ruling, less than one year after leftists beat the student for supporting Barrett confirmation.

“It definitely really upsets me, because I feel that I fight for good people on social media, and for Amy Coney Barrett in person, where I am physically assaulted, and then she goes ahead and does things that we did not vote her in for,” said Isabella Maria DeLuca, a political science-pre-law major at the school, which is part of State University of New York system.

Senator Kaine Votes Against Richmond Casino

October 5, 2021October 5, 2021 Eric Burk

Richmond voters are currently deciding if the ONE Casino +Resort proposal will be approved or not, and Senator Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) has said that he voted against the proposal.

“Senator Kaine voted on Monday, September 20. He voted against the casino proposal. He believes there are better ways to enhance economic development in Richmond,” Kaine’s office said in a statement.

Commentary: The Senate Must Defeat Communist Saule Omarova for Comptroller of the Currency

October 5, 2021October 4, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Every so often we receive a comment to the effect that we are paranoid and should stop seeing a Communist under every bed, however, it appears that based on the views expressed by Prof. Saule Omarova, President Biden’s nominee for Comptroller of the Currency, our concerns about the takeover of the Democratic Party by Socialists and Communists have received some very solid confirmation.

Indeed, Omarova is so far out in Communism’s Left Field that Janet Yellen, Biden’s Treasury secretary (a garden variety liberal Democrat) raised concerns about her taking the post.

And Secretary Yellin’s concerns are amply justified.
In 2019, Omarova posted to Twitter in support of the “old USSR” where there was “no gender pay gap.” She attempted to do damage control after being criticized for it, but failed to fully condemn the Soviet Union.

Conservative Tech Groups Slam Ex-Intelligence Officials for Defending Monopolies, Urge Passage of Antitrust Bills

October 5, 2021October 4, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Two conservative tech advocacy groups sent a letter to House lawmakers criticizing former national security officials for attempting to prevent the passage of antitrust bills targeting Big Tech.

The letter, sent by the Internet Accountability Project (IAP) and the American Principles Project (APP) to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy along with lawmakers responsible for overseeing antitrust legislation, urged Congress to pass six bills targeting major tech companies advanced beyond the House Judiciary Committee in June. The letter also criticized twelve former intelligence officials who sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy arguing against the passage of antitrust bills in mid-September.

‘We Will Use the Full Range of Tools’: Trade Representative Says U.S. Will Enforce Phase One Trade Deal with China

October 5, 2021October 4, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

President Donald J. Trump, joined by Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, sign the U.S. China Phase One Trade Agreement Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020, in the East Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the Biden administration would enforce the Phase One trade agreement negotiated by the Trump administration with China while giving a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Monday.

“For too long, China’s lack of adherence to global trading norms has undercut the prosperity of Americans and others around the world,” Tai said in prepared remarks. “China made commitments that benefit certain American industries, including agriculture, that we must enforce.”

China has fallen short on the purchase totals it agreed to as part of the agreement, increasing its purchases by only 69% as of July 2021, according to the non-partisan Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE).

More Than 500,000 Adverse Side Effects Reported Following COVID Vaccines

October 5, 2021October 4, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The most common disorders reported after COVID-19 vaccinations in the U.S. include temperature-related issues (226,457), skin problems (174,793), and a category that includes movement, muscle, nerve, neuropathy, numbness, and paralysis (164,200).

That’s according to an original analysis of the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).

Newly-Released ‘Pandora Papers’ Reveal Billions Hidden from Tax Laws by the Wealthy

October 5, 2021October 4, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

A new comprehensive study of 12 million internal files from 14 major international firms has revealed even more than previously known about how much the world’s wealthy elite have hidden their wealth from domestic tax requirements, according to CBS News.

The report, dubbed the “Pandora Papers,” was conducted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which consisted of over 600 journalists from 150 media outlets in 117 different countries. The findings, released on Sunday, included celebrities, politicians, businessmen, and religious leaders, among others; these and other figures went to great extents to hide their wealth in offshore assets such as yachts, mansions, beachfront properties, and other properties for the last 25 years.

Future Teachers will be Separated into White, BIPOC Affinity Groups at Education College

October 5, 2021October 4, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Bank Street Graduate School of Education recently touted its new “affinity groups” for White students and “students of color.”

The New York City-based college announced the groups in a September 23 blog post, telling prospective students that “becoming part of an ongoing conversation about race and ourselves as racial beings is one way to engage in this necessary aspect of the work we need to do.”

U.S. Authorities Seize 1.8 Million Illicit Pills Laced with Fentanyl, Point to Social Media for Rising Drug Traffic

October 5, 2021October 4, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

U.S. authorities criticized social media for an uptick in drug trafficking following a massive seizure of over a million fentanyl-laced pills and hundreds of drug dealer arrests.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced Monday that it, alongside various law enforcement partners, seized over 1.8 million fake pills laced with fentanyl and arrested over 800 alleged drug dealers over the course of a two-month drug bust beginning in August. Authorities have criticized social media companies that have failed to stop the sale of these illicit drugs on their platforms.

‘Non-Partisan’ Colorado Newsline Editor Quentin Young Demands Eliminating University’s Conservative Scholar Program

October 5, 2021October 4, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

In his recently published op-ed, Colorado Newsline editor Quentin Young has one demand for the University of Colorado Boulder: eliminate the school’s dedicated conservative teaching position.

Every year since 2013, the Conservative Thought and Policy Program at CU Boulder brings one scholar to campus to discuss conservative thought in the fields of “policy, military, and media communities, among others.”

Commentary: How the COVID IP Waiver Could Sabotage Crucial Cancer Research

October 5, 2021October 4, 2021 The Center Square

Doctor with mask on holding COVID-19 Vaccine

President Joe Biden craves a cure for cancer. In a speech to Congress this spring, he vowed to “end cancer as we know it.” And as vice president, he helped start the Cancer Moonshot initiative.

Yet by giving his backing to a global waiver of intellectual property (IP) rights for COVID-19 vaccines, President Biden may have endangered millions of Americans living with cancer.

Commentary: After Disastrous September and 2022 Midterms Looming, Biden May Have Lost His Mandate to Govern

October 5, 2021October 4, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Following a catastrophic U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan, the highest inflation since 2008,pushing unpopular COVID vaccine mandates, rationing COVID treatments to red states and finally, watching his domestic legislative agenda falter in Congress, President Joe Biden is already upside down on his job approval ratings, according to the latest average of polls compiled by RealClearPolitics.com.

Reuters/Ipsos on Sept. 29-30 had Biden’s approval at 46 percent and disapproval at 50 percent.

Congress Wants to Know What the Intel Community Is Doing to Make Spying More ‘Inclusive’ and ‘Diverse’

October 5, 2021October 4, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

A top House panel approved the 2022 intelligence community funding package, including a provision requiring officials to brief Congress on their diversity initiatives.

The Intelligence Authorization Act (IAA) — passed by the House Intelligence Committee in a bipartisan voice vote on Thursday — would require the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) to periodically issue reports with “demographic data and information on the status of diversity and inclusion efforts of the intelligence community,” according to the bill’s text.

Clint Eastwood Wins Millions in CBD Company Lawsuit over Fake Endorsements

October 5, 2021October 4, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Actor Clint Eastwood and the company that controls the rights to likeness won a $6.1 million lawsuit Friday against a Lithuanian company that used the actor’s image on its products without his consent, the New York Times reported.

Judge R. Gary Klausner of U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ruled in favor of Eastwood and his company Garrapata after Lithuanian company Mediations UAB did not respond to a summons in March, according to the NYT. The Lithuanian company was also ordered to pay for Eastwood’s $95,000 legal charges and is blocked from using his name again.

‘It was a Game’: ‘Roe’ Baby Says She Will Never Forgive Her Biological Mother for Trying to Use Her for Attention

October 5, 2021October 4, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Supreme Court with a cherry blossom in the foreground

Pro-abortion activists used Norma McCorvey, her troubled past and her unborn baby to send Roe v. Wade all the way to the Supreme Court. That former baby, who was born before the Supreme Court’s final decision, sat down with ABC News in an exclusive interview that will air live Monday evening.

Shelley Lynn Thornton told ABC that she has never forgiven McCorvey and that she never will. The “Roe baby” said that her mother, who passed away in 2017, should have been more “upfront” about wanting to meet Thornton for media attention.

“I can deal with that,” Thornton said. “I can’t deal with lies and treachery and things like that. To me, that’s like no, sorry, not playing that game with you. And that’s all it was. It was a game. It was a game. I was just a pawn, and I wasn’t going to let her do it.”

Bates College Considers Requiring All Students to Take Courses on ‘White Supremacy,’ ‘Power and Privilege,’ ‘Colonialism’

October 5, 2021October 4, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

A curricular working group of students and faculty at Bates College is recommending that all students should be required to take two courses that center around “race, white supremacy and colonialism, and intersecting experiences of power and privilege.”

To justify the recommendation, the working group asserts that an “essential part of liberal arts education” is to “critically discern, examine, and discuss the production and operation of difference, power, and equity.”

Schumer: Congress Must Raise Debt Ceiling This Week

October 5, 2021October 4, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told his caucus Monday that Congress must pass a bill to raise the debt ceiling this week.

“Let me be clear about the task ahead of us,” Schumer said. “We must get a bill to the President’s desk dealing with the debt limit by the end of the week. Period.”

Commentary: Vaccine Hesitancy, the Medical Establishment, and the COVID Apocalypse

October 5, 2021October 4, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

This month the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its Sixth Assessment Report. As with the previous five reports, it is bursting with dire “projections” about the future of the planet and civilization (they never say “predictions” because there is always some accountability and embarrassment when a prediction turns out to be wrong).

I’m no climate scientist, so I can’t claim to hold a research-based opinion on “global climate change,” as it is now known. But I remember exactly when I started taking the “projections” of bodies like the IPCC with a grain of salt. It was when the “Climategate” scandal came to light in 2009, in which a hacked server resulted in a leak of internal emails from climate scientists at the prestigious Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia in Great Britain.

The leaked emails clearly showed that researchers were withholding important information from the public—information that would undermine the apocalyptic claims of climate scientists. For example, illustrious expert Kevin Trenberth acknowledged to his colleagues that “The fact is that we can’t account for the lack of warming at the moment and it is a travesty.” But rather than admit this uncertainty, researchers colluded to “hide the decline” from the public.

Commentary: The Worst Campus in America for Free Speech is Indiana’s DePauw University

October 5, 2021October 4, 2021 RealClearWire

For the second straight year, survey data shows that a small private school in western Indiana is the nation’s worst college for free speech.

DePauw University again finished last in the 2021 College Free Speech Rankings, the second annual campus-speech-related survey and rankings project sponsored by the research firm College Pulse, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), and RealClearEducation. More than 37,000 students at 159 colleges and universities participated in the survey, and their responses helped determine each school’s place in the 2021 rankings.

North Carolina School District to Discipline Educators Who Teach America is Racist

October 5, 2021October 4, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

A North Carolina county school board has passed a policy that will discipline or fire teachers who undermine the U.S. Constitution, tell students that American historical figures weren’t heroes or portray racism as systemic in America.

The vote Friday by the Johnston County school board is part of a larger campaign to stamp out critical race theory from American schools.

Facebook Whistleblower Says Company ‘Paying for Its Profits with Our Safety’

October 5, 2021October 4, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Facebook knowingly chooses to prioritize its profits over the safety of its users, Frances Haugen, a whistleblower and former Facebook employee, said in an interview with “60 Minutes” on Sunday.

“The thing I saw at Facebook over and over again was there were conflicts of interest between what was good for the public and what was good for Facebook,” Haugen told Scott Pelley on “60 Minutes” Sunday night. “And Facebook, over and over again, chose to optimize for its own interests, like making more money.”

Haugen, a former Facebook product manager, leaked thousands of internal company documents to The Wall Street Journal last month which detail the inner workings of the company. The leaked documents showed that Facebook employs a separate content review system for high-profile accounts, the company has conducted research into the harms its Instagram platform has on teen users, and it stokes controversy by boosting inflammatory content.

After Backing McAuliffe in 2013, Virginia Black Caucus Endorses Youngkin

October 5, 2021October 5, 2021 Peter D'Abrosca

The Hampton Roads Black Caucus (HRBC), a group that endorsed former Gov. Terry McAuliffe in his successful 2013 campaign, has now endorsed McAuliffe’s opponent Glenn Youngkin as the for the same position.

“I am so honored and humbled, and it just reflects the fact that there is broad-based support for a platform that’s going to bring down our cost of living and cut taxes so people can keep more of their paycheck,” Youngkin said of the endorsement.