Gov. Northam Directs Virginia Agencies to Consult Tribal Nations Before Certain Permits

Before Virginia agencies offer permits that could affect environmental, historical and cultural resource protection, they must now consult the commonwealth’s Tribal Nations.

Gov. Ralph Northam signed Executive Order 82, which puts this policy in place. The order is meant to provide the tribes with formal input in these permit decisions to ensure their cultural and environmental concerns are considered before the approval of proposed development projects, according to the governor’s office.

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Commentary: Red China Persecutes Tennis Star Peng Shuai

Peng Shuai with tennis racket in hand

In early November, the Chinese (PRC) tennis star Peng Shuai wrote on her blog that she had been aggressed in 2018 by a Communist Party boss and vice-premier, Zhang Gaoli, who made her his concubine. The blog post, on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, was removed in less time than it takes to play a set, 20 minutes. 

Peng’s glory days as an athlete were in the mid-teens, when she was the first Chinese tennis player to reach a no. 1 ranking; hers was in doubles. In that format she won Wimbledon 2013 and Roland-Garros 2014, partnering with the Taiwan (Free China) player Hsieh Su-wei (at a time when the Chicoms were offering Hsieh big bucks to defect to their side); Peng was also strong in singles, ranked no. 14.  

Peng has not been seen in public or heard from since her blog was censured. 

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Biden Asks Asian Countries to Release Oil Reserves as Administration Scrambles to Combat High Gas Prices: Report

Joe Biden

The Biden administration asked China, Japan, South Korea and India to tap into their emergency oil reserves as the president continues to grapple with rising gasoline prices, Reuters reported.

The effort to simultaneously release oil reserves represents a rebuke of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the cartel that controls oil production throughout the Middle East, several anonymous sources familiar with the request told Reuters on Wednesday. OPEC has repeatedly rejected requests from President Joe Biden and other top administration officials to increase oil production amid rising gasoline prices.

The four Asian nations the president appealed to represent some of the largest energy consumers and greenhouse gas emitters, according to a University of Oxford database.

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Election Handicapper Says Three Major 2022 Senate Races Now a ‘Toss-up,’ a Boon to Republicans

Raphael Warnock

Hotly contested Senate seats in Georgia, Arizona and Nevada are now well within the realm of a “toss-up” in next year’s races, a notable political forecaster is predicting.

The Cook Political Report, a longtime newsletter that specializes in U.S. election predictions, this week moved those races to its toss-up column for the 2022 elections.

In Georgia, Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock faces re-election after narrowly winning a special election this year. His victory helped tip the Senate in favor of Democrats.

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College Instructor Charged with Battery of Anti-Mask Mandate Demonstrator

A North Idaho College instructor has been charged with Misdemeanor Battery for allegedly assaulting a person holding a sign in support of the college’s Board of Trustees decision to repeal the university-wide mask mandate.

Rachelle Ottosen stood at the September North Idaho College Board of Trustees meeting holding a sign picturing a red circle with the words “Medical Fascism” inside and a slash through it. Ottosen told Campus Reform that she brought the sign to show her support for the Board’s August decision to repeal its mask mandate.

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Report: Manhattan School Plans to Divide Students by Race for Social Justice Discussions

A Manhattan school plans to separate students by race during discussions scheduled for next week related to identity and social justice topics, the New York Post reported.

The Lower Manhattan Community School plans to divide students into affinity groups, based on skin color to “undo the legacy of racism and oppression in this country that impacts our school community,” according to an email sent to parents, the NYP reported.

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Facebook Silent on Whether It Will Allow Pro-Kyle Rittenhouse Posts

Facebook is remaining silent as to whether it will change its content policy regarding Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse, who was found not guilty of several charges Friday.

During riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August 2020 after the shooting of Jacob Blake, Rittenhouse, then seventeen years old, shot three men in self-defense during an altercation, killing two of them. Rittenhouse was later arrested and charged with intentional homicide before being acquitted on all charges Friday afternoon.

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John Deere, United Auto Workers Union Reach Agreement, Ending Strike

United Auto Worker (UAW) John Deere production and maintenance members struck an agreement and went back to work Thursday after five weeks of striking. The strike was the first at the company since 1986.

The majority (61%) of the members approved a six-year contract with the billion-dollar manufacturer headquartered in Moline, IL, the union said in a news release. The workers had rejected two earlier offers from the company.

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Commentary: There Is No Room for ‘Privileging Feelings’ in the Marketplace of Ideas

Person holding a phone, group of people taking a photo together

In 2015, the University of Chicago issued a statement, referred to as the “Chicago Statement,” in response to “recent events nationwide that have tested institutional commitments to free and open discourse.”  Through the statement, the University reaffirmed its steadfast commitment to free speech and expression, including its “overarching commitment to free, robust, and uninhibited debate and deliberation among all members of the University’s community.”  

The statement emphasized that:

“[E]ducation should not be intended to make people comfortable, it is meant to make them think. Universities should be expected to provide the conditions within which hard thought, and therefore strong disagreement, independent judgment, and the questioning of stubborn assumptions, can flourish in an environment of the greatest freedom.”  

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Marriott Refused to Host Conference on Uyghur Genocide Because of ‘Political Theme’

Marriott Marquis Chicago in 2021

The Marriott hotel in Prague refused to host a conference on its premises for activists and leaders fighting for the rights of Uyghurs in China, Axios reported.

In an email sent to the World Uyghur Congress, which has attempted to shine a spotlight on the genocide of Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang region of China, the hotel cited the need for “political neutrality” as the reason the conference was denied the venue, Axios reported.

“Unfortunately, I have to inform you that we are not able to offer the premises,” the email read, Axios reported. “We consulted the whole matter with our corporate management. For reasons of political neutrality, we cannot offer events of this type with a political theme. Thank you once again for your time and understanding.”

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Rand Paul Urges Whistleblowers to Expose Biden Administration Abuses of Civil Liberties

Rand Paul

Sen. Rand Paul sharply criticized the “politicized” FBI and the Department of Justice, calling for more whistleblowers to expose government trampling of American liberties. 

“I think anytime someone is breaking the law in government, it’s a good idea to hear about it,” the Kentucky Republican said in a Thursday interview with The Daily Signal. “And so, frankly, yes, I think it is a good idea for people to reveal when the government’s breaking the rules.”

Paul’s remarks follow news that the head of the FBI’s Criminal and Counterterrorism divisions reportedly ordered agents Oct. 20 to identify threats against school board members and teachers with a “threat tag”—although Attorney General Merrick Garland told lawmakers the next day that the FBI was not using counterintelligence tools to target parents. 

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National College Democrats Organization Implodes as Members Cancel Each Other over Old Tweets

group of many students in the College Democrats of America

The College Democrats of America (CDA) has been rocked by public accusations of bigotry against its leadership and calls for members to step down.

Nourhan Mesbah, the group’s vice president, is undergoing impeachment proceedings after a tweet she posted at age 13 was shared by the CDA Jewish Caucus, Politico reported. “I blame this debate on the yahood,” Mesbah tweeted during a 2016 presidential debate. “Yahood” is an Arabic word used as a slur against Jews, Politico wrote.

Mesbah apologized for the tweet, reportedly saying “my comment was in no way rooted in malice or anti-semitism, especially as a 13-year old, relatively new immigrant from North Africa, with a different regional dialectic linguist comprehension … while I take responsibility for my actions, I am hurt by the Islamophobia and xenophobia that continues to unfold.”

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Marco Rubio Calls Biden Bank Nominee a ‘Communist’

Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio blasted President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, saying she supports communist policies on Friday.

“Saule Omarova supports abolishing private bank accounts, using govt to bankrupt energy companies & creating a Soviet style ‘National Investment Authority,’” Rubio wrote on Twitter.

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Bill to Streamline Campaign Finance Reporting Gets Pennsylvania Senate Approval

Legislation authored by Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Pat Browne, R-Lehigh, to bring transparency and efficiency to Pennsylvania’s campaign finance reporting system was approved by the state Senate.

Under Senate Bill 140, all candidates for office and political action committees will be required to file with the secretary of the commonwealth by utilizing the Pennsylvania Department of State’s online filing system to provide campaign finance reports.

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Media and Higher Education Establishments Jeer New University That Challenges Academic Groupthink

Epic clown show.” “The best cancel culture grift yet.” “A Bible college for libertarians.”

And perhaps most damning: a “conservative university.”

A newly created university is facing an onslaught of accusations, assumptions and jeers from the higher education and media establishments for its self-described mission to build an institution “dedicated to the fearless pursuit of truth.”

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YouTube Demonetizes Video on Missing Chinese Tennis Star

YouTube prevented a video about a missing Chinese tennis star from receiving advertising revenue on Friday.

The video, titled “Chinese Star VANISHES After Rape Accusation I Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar” and appearing on the Breaking Points channel, was demonetized early Friday, according to a tweet from the channel’s host Saagar Enjeti.

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California Teachers Association Conference Instructed Teachers to Undermine Parents on Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation

California’s largest teacher’s union instructed members at a meeting in October about the best ways to undermine parents and conservative communities regarding gender identity and sexual orientation issues, according to leaked documents and audio obtained by Abigail Shrier.

The California Teachers Association (CTA) held a conference on Oct. 29-31 in Palm Springs, California. During workshops, teachers said they surveilled students’ Google searches, online chats and hallway conversations to identify and personally invite sixth grade students to join LGBTQ school clubs, according to the leaked documents and audio reviewed by Abigail Shrier, which were authenticated by three conference attendees.

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Students Behind Viral Arizona State University Video Face Code of Conduct Charges, Faculty Say That Is Racist

Screen cap of student with a laptop that has a "Police Matter" sticker on it.

Faculty members are pushing back against Arizona State University for charging Code of Conduct violations against the female students who attempted to kick out two White men from the school’s Multicultural Community of Excellence Center earlier this year.

Campus Reform obtained a copy of the email asking faculty and staff to sign an “internal letter requesting that the University Administration revoke Code of Conduct violation charges against” the students behind the now viral video from September.

Leah Sarat, an associate professor of Religious Studies, sent the mass email, which was co-signed by 11 other individuals, on Nov. 2.

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Study: Some Subsidized Medicine Michigan Programs Don’t Fulfill Goal

A taxpayer subsidy program intended to help vulnerable people afford medicine isn’t working as intended, according to a new study from the California-based, free-market Pacific Research Institute.

The 340B program, named for section 340B of the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992, is administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The 340B program aims to provide discounted drugs to boost vulnerable populations’ access to medicine. Participating manufacturers provide qualifying clinics and hospitals discount up to 50% or more of the costs for outpatient drugs, otherwise, their drugs will not be covered by Medicaid.

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Illinois School Board Association Ends Membership with National School Boards Association over Parent-Threat Letter

The Illinois Association of School Boards voted Thursday to end its membership with the National School Boards Association after the national group sent a letter to President Joe Biden asking for federal intervention to investigate unruly parents who protest at local meetings.

“The decision follows previous attempts by IASB to initiate changes to the governance structure, transparency, and financial oversight of the national association,” a news release from IASB says. “IASB suspended payment of dues to NSBA for 2021-2022 but continued to work to try to bring about needed changes.”

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Commentary: A Former Prosecutor’s Take on the Rittenhouse Trial and Verdict

Could Kyle Rittenhouse face another trial? Does Rittenhouse have grounds to sue media outlets for defamation? What about the behavior of the prosecutors during the trial? The Heritage Foundation’s Zack Smith, a former prosecutor, joins Tim Doescher of “Heritage Explains” to answer these questions and more. Watch the full interview here or read, below, an edited and abridged transcript.

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In Settlement, Dominion Energy Virginia Customers Get $330 Million Refund, While Utility Keeps $309 Million For Reinvestment

Virginia’s Dominion Energy customers will get $330 million in refunds due to a settlement. On Thursday, the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) approved the settlement put forward in October, closing the agency’s triennial financial review of the utility. SCC staff found that the company may have overcharged customers as much as $1.1 billion, according to a September report. Dominion Energy can deduct some items from that before issuing refunds, including a $309 million Customer Credit Reinvestment Offset (CCRO) that allows reinvestment in offshore wind, solar, and grid transformation projects.

The settlement also includes a rate reduction that will reduce customers’ bills.

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