December 14, 2021 - The Virginia Star

Northam Announces New Grants That Will Push Virginia to 90 Percent of Universal Broadband Access

December 14, 2021December 13, 2021 Eric Burk

Governor Ralph Northam, Senators Tim Kaine (D-Virginia), Mark Warner (D-Virginia) and Representative Abigail Spanberger (D-Virginia-07) stopped in central Virginia Monday to announce the allocation of $722 million in grants to localities for Virginia’s universal broadband push. Northam’s announcement states that money, alongside over $1 billion in matching funds from partners, will push Virginia to 90 percent of its goal of universal broadband.

Commentary: One Chart Explains Biden’s Inflation Disaster

December 14, 2021December 13, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

We’ve told you before about Stephen Moore’s Committee to Unleash Prosperity and his must-read Hotline but the Friday, December 10 edition was a Pulitzer Prize winner, or would be if conservatives ever got Pulitzer Prizes. You can read the entire newsletter through this link and we highly recommend you do so, because in one edition it pretty well destroys the entire Biden Democrat agenda.

The lead article shows the effects of Biden’s inflation disaster in one chart. And Steve Moore explains “inflation isn’t going away. No, it isn’t transitory. And, sorry, no, CNN, it isn’t good for you!”

Progressive Lawmakers Offer Unwitting Path for January 6 Prisoners to Sue Federal Government

December 14, 2021December 13, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Some of the most progressive Democrats in Congress are supporting new legislation that could help an unexpected group: those who were arrested and imprisoned without trial for playing a role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Democratic Reps. Hank Johnson (Ga.) and Jamie Raskin (Md.) on Wednesday reintroduced the Bivens Act, which would allow citizens to recover damages for constitutional violations committed against them by federal law enforcement officials.

The bill, which the lawmakers first introduced last year, seeks “to provide a civil remedy for an individual whose rights have been violated by a person acting under federal authority.” It would do this by adding five words — “of the United States or” — to a longstanding provision enacted in 1871, known as Section 1983, which gives individuals the right to sue state or local officials who violate their civil and constitutional rights. The additional words would include federal officials in the statute.

Pro-Life Ad Mocks Pro-Choice Men — ‘Her Body, Her Problem’

December 14, 2021December 13, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

A new ad produced by the pro-life group Live Action mocks men who support abortion rights, pointing out that males benefit from abortion by avoiding responsibility and commitment.

Four men in the video explain why they are pro-choice, with reasons including disgust for women’s bodies, fear of women’s sexuality and the ability of males to avoid financial responsibility for any children they bear.

Environmentalists Are Blocking the U.S. from Controlling Its Renewable Energy Future, Experts Say

December 14, 2021December 13, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Regulations pushed by environmentalists for decades have hamstrung the American mining industry, making the U.S. renewable energy needs increasingly dependent on foreign adversaries, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Extensive permitting processes under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) make it extremely difficult to open mining projects in less than a decade, according to experts. The nation’s weakness in producing minerals required for technologies such as solar panels, electric vehicles and wind turbines has set it far behind the likes of China and Russia which have secured burgeoning green energy supply chains.

Clinton Says Critical Race Theory Was a ‘Stalking Horse’ for Anger About Remote Schooling

December 14, 2021December 13, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said critical race theory was a “stalking horse” used by Republicans in the Virginia gubernatorial race to capitalize on anger parents harbored toward remote schooling during the pandemic.

“One of the things that I think happened in Virginia, after having schools closed for so long, people were really focused on schools and education,” Clinton said in an interview on “Sunday TODAY with Willie Geist.

“I don’t think that the Democrats and Terry [McAuliffe] understood how disoriented parents, particularly moms, were about the experience that they had gone through,” she said.

Harry Potter Author Slams Police for Allowing Biological Men Identify as Women in Rape Reports

December 14, 2021December 13, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, criticized Scotland’s government for logging male rapists as “female” simply because they claim to be women.

“War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength. The Penised Individual Who Raped You Is a Woman,” Rowling posted Sunday on Twitter, alluding to George Orwell’s dystopian classic, “1984.”

Police in Scotland will record rapes as being committed by a woman in instances where the perpetrator has male genitalia and has not taken any steps to legally become a woman, as long as the rapist insists they are female, The Times reported.

U.S. Gymnasts Reach $380 Million Settlement in Larry Nassar Sexual Abuse Case

December 14, 2021December 13, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The organizations at the head of U.S. gymnastics have agreed to a $380 million payout for the victims of longtime team doctor Larry Nassar – a convicted child molester who sexually abused several members of the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics team, as well as hundreds of other aspiring gymnasts. He is currently serving 40-175 years in prison for his crimes.

The Wall Street Journal reports that it is one of the largest-ever payouts for victims of a sexual abuse scandal.

Pelosi Plans to Run Again, Stay on as Democratic Leader, Despite Earlier Promise, Report

December 14, 2021December 13, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly will continue on in her capacity as the chamber’s top Democrat after she turns 82 this year.

Pelosi will file and run for reelection in her northern California district next year (her 18th term) and is considering whether to stay in leadership, despite an initial promise to give up her role as top House Democrat, CNN reported over the weekend.

Pelosi will primarily spend the next year raising money for Democrats as they attempt to hold onto their narrow majority in the lower chamber.

37 Percent of Democrats in College Say They Refuse to be Friends with a Republican Voter

December 14, 2021December 13, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

A man with a track backpack walks across the BYU campus in autumn.

New polling from Axios and Generation Lab shows that Democrat college students are far more likely than their Republican classmates to refuse to date, work for, or even be friends with someone who voted for the other party’s presidential candidate.

71 percent of Democrats in college said they would not go on a date with someone who voted for the GOP presidential candidate. 41 percent would not shop at a business owned by the same. 37 percent would not be friends with someone who voted for that candidate, and 30 percent would not work for that person.

Republicans in college were far more tolerant of those with differing views. Though 31 percent said they would not go on a date with someone who voted for the opposing presidential candidate, only 7 percent said they would not work for or support a business owned by the same. 5 percent of Republicans in college said they would not be friends with someone who voted for the Democratic presidential ticket.

University Spent $80,000 on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Training for STEM Faculty

December 14, 2021December 13, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

A recent FOIA request filed by Campus Reform revealed that the University of Illinois, Chicago (UIC) spent $80,000 on a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion training created by the Kardia Group, LLC. The agreement was signed in 2018 and included two series of meetings and workshops for the Fall 2018 and Spring 2019 semesters.

The Kardia Group was founded in 2004 and describes themselves as a “leading strategic partner in the transformation of the culture, functionality, and success of the academic endeavor.” Its website lists resources and services ranging from Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to “transformational change for groups.”

California to Ban Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers, Lawn Mowers

December 14, 2021December 13, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

A California environmental regulator approved a measure banning new purchases of small off-road engines including leaf blowers and lawn mowers beginning in 2024.

The measure will also affect portable generators and recreational vehicle engines which will need to meet “more stringent standards” in 2024 and zero-emission standards in 2028, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) announcedThursday. The vote was part of the state’s aggressive climate program and goal to achieve a “zero-emission future” as outlined by an executive order Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed in September 2020.

“Today’s action by the Board addresses these small but highly polluting engines. It is a significant step towards improving air quality in the state, and will definitely help us meet stringent federal air quality standards,” CARB Chair Liane Randolph said in a statement. “It will also essentially eliminate exposure to harmful fumes for equipment operators and anyone nearby.”

Crom’s Crommentary Questions, ‘Where Does Moral Authority Come From?’

December 14, 2021 Julie Carr

Monday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael in studio for another edition of Crom’s Crommentary.

Stanford Administrators Unsure Whether Old Ropes Are Nooses, but Send Campus-Wide Email Anyway

December 14, 2021December 13, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Stanford University administrators sent a campus-wide email regarding two ropes with loops discovered in a tree along a walking trail — even though there was no indication that the ropes were hung due to racist intent.

As reported by The Stanford Daily, the Stanford University Department of Public Safety believes that the ropes had been present for up to two years. However, Vice Provost for Institutional Equity, Access and Community Patrick Dunkley and Senior Associate Vice Provost and Dean of Students Mona Hicks informed students that “a noose is a potent symbol of anti-Black racism and violence that is completely unacceptable under any circumstances.”

Dr. Christopher Weiss, Professor of Atmospheric Science at Texas Tech, Talks Tornados in Out of Season December

December 14, 2021 Julie Carr

Monday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at Texas Tech, Christopher Weiss to the newsmakers line to talk about last Friday’s out of season tornados that ravaged Kentucky and parts of Middle Tennessee.

Commentary: The Republican Party’s Multiethnic, Working-Class Coalition Is Taking Shape

December 14, 2021December 13, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

In the 2016 Republican Party presidential primary, decades of dissonance between the party’s aggrieved grassroots and its blinkered elite spilled out into the open. For years, the chasm widened between the GOP’s heartland base, the river valley-dwelling “Somewheres” from David Goodhart’s 2017 book, The Road to Somewhere, and the party’s bicoastal “Anywhere” rulers. The foot-soldier Republican “Somewheres,” disproportionately church-attending and victimized by job outsourcing and the opioid crisis, felt betrayed by the more secular, ideologically inflexible Republican “Anywheres.”

Donald Trump, lifelong conservative “outsider” and populist dissenter from bicoastal “Anywhere” orthodoxy on issues pertaining to trade, immigration, and China, coasted to the GOP’s presidential nomination. He did so notwithstanding the all-hands-on-deck pushback from leading right-leaning “Anywhere” bastions, encapsulated by National Review magazine’s dedication of an entire issue to, “Against Trump.” Trump’s subsequent victory in the 2016 general election sent the conservative intellectual movement, as well as the Republican Party itself, into a deep state of introspection.

Congressman Mark Green on Biden Army Navy No-Show, Tennessee Tornados, and Democrat Thirst for Authoritarianism

December 14, 2021 Julie Carr

Monday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Congressman Mark Green of Tennessee’s 7th District to the newsmakers line to weigh in on Biden’s absence from the Army-Navy football game, Build Back Better bill, and the Democrat desire for an authoritarian government.

Commentary: Union-Mandated School Shutdowns Are Having Major Consequences

December 14, 2021December 13, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Recently, a report compiled by Mike Antonucci for the Defense of Freedom Institute confirmed that the teachers unions had a heavy-handed role in the COVID-related shutdowns that consumed much of the country starting in March 2020. And the “never let a good crisis go to waste” unions were in prime form in the process. The California Teachers Association, for example, issued a “bargaining advisory” in May of 2020, in which it states, “When exercising a ‘get for the give’ approach to bargaining concessions, locals should consider strengthening or implementing consultation procedures language in the CBA (collective bargaining agreement).” The union added, “Now is the time to secure (contract) language improvements that we have wanted for some time.”

While the California Teachers Association was busy instructing its local teachers unions how to milk the shutdown, Antonucci notes that it was successful on a statewide basis by “winning a ban on teacher layoffs, a substantial reduction in required instructional minutes, and the elimination of public accountability data collections for 2020, including those for academics, absenteeism, graduation and suspension rates, and college readiness.”

Virginia General Assembly Hit by Ransomware Attack

December 14, 2021December 13, 2021 Eric Burk

The Virginia General Assembly has been hit by a ransomware attack affecting key legislative systems as legislators and staffers prepare for the 2022 session that begins on January 12. Multiple state agency websites were offline Monday afternoon.

The Legislative Information System (LIS), which hosts legislation and the Code of Virginia, warned in an error message, “We’re experiencing a service outage with some of our servers. The Budget Portal, Law Portal, Reports to the General Assembly, and some other data may not be accessible. Our team is currently working to restore the service. We apologize for any inconvenience.”