Legendary Patriots and Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady is reportedly set to retire after 22 record-smashing seasons in the NFL, according to media reports.
Read MoreTom Brady Reportedly Set to Retire After More Than 20 Seasons in NFL
Day: January 29, 2022
Virginia Attorney General Says College Mandate Vaccines for Students Illegal
Virginia’s Attorney General released a legal opinion Friday saying that under Virginia law, vaccine mandates for college students are illegal.
“Absent specific authority conferred by the General Assembly, public institutions of higher education in Virginia may not require vaccination against COVID-19 as a general condition of students’ enrollment or in-person attendance,” Attorney General Jason Miyares said in his opinion.
Read MoreCommentary: Meet the Capitol Police’s New Spy Chief
When most Americans hear the term “Capitol Police,” they likely conjure visions of uniformed officers manning metal detectors at the numerous congressional buildings or helping tourists navigate the sprawling Capitol grounds: a D.C. version of a mall cop.
That imagery, however, is in stark contrast to reality as Democrats have weaponized yet another federal agency to target their political enemies on the Right.
After January 6, 2021, Capitol Police officials announced plans to expand beyond the legislatively authorized purview of the agency and open offices in Florida and California, as well as in other states. Congress overwhelmingly supported a bill last year to fork over $2.1 billion in new funding to the Capitol Police. Now flush with cash and immune from any serious public oversight, the agency is returning the favor by spying on dissidents of the Biden regime.
Read MoreFacebook Exec Promises to Crack Down on ‘Falsehoods’ Targeting ‘Marginalized Communities’
Roy Austin, vice president of civil rights for Facebook parent company Meta, pledged to crack down on “misinformation” and alleged discriminatory conduct propagated by the social media platform.
“We’re living in a time and a society where there are people who propagate obvious falsehoods,” Austin said in an interview with Axios. “My position is, when those falsehoods injure historically and systemically marginalized communities, that they don’t belong.”
Read MoreCommentary: Regular Exercise Restructures the Brain
Physical activity can do wonders for the body. Exercise can trim weight, chisel muscles, and strengthen the lower back, among many other benefits. Less overt, but no less consequential, physical activity can also buff up your brain. Science is increasingly revealing that the brains of those who regularly work out can look very different compared to the brains of people who don’t.
Changes can start to occur in adolescence. Reviewing the scientific literature in 2018, researchers from the University of Southern California found that for teens aged 15-18, regular exercisers tended to have larger hippocampal volumes as well as larger rostral middle frontal volumes compared to healthy matched control teenagers. The hippocampus is most commonly associated with memory and spatial navigation, while the rostral middle frontal gyrus has been linked to emotion regulation and working memory. Studies suggest that these structural changes translate to improved cognitive performance and better academic outcomes.
Read MoreBiden Reportedly Plans to Regulate Crypto over National Security Concerns
President Joe Biden is set to announce guidelines for regulating cryptocurrencies in the coming weeks, Barron’s reported.
The initiative will involve the State Department, Treasury Department, National Economic Council, Council of Economic Advisers and White House National Security Council, according to Barron’s, and it will charge the agencies with developing a coherent regulatory framework for digital assets.
Read MoreCommentary: The Contentious Battle to Replace Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer
Wednesday’s announcement by Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer that he would be retiring at the end of the court’s current session has raised the obvious question of how contentious the battle over his replacement will be.
One thing is almost certain to be true: No matter who is nominated by President Joe Biden, there will be no 87-9 favorable vote – the tally when Breyer was nominated by Bill Clinton in 1994. Though there were occasional exceptions in the decade prior to Breyer, his vote totals were not unusual in that era. Antonin Scalia was approved 98-0, Anthony Kennedy 97-0, and Ruther Bader Ginsburg 96-3. However, no Supreme Court nomination since Breyer’s has received fewer than 22 negative votes, the number against Chief Justice John Roberts in 2005.
That was the year Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer (now majority leader) urged that senators should vote explicitly on the basis of candidates’ ideology rather than simply their qualifications. In reality, ideology had been the primary driving factor behind the rejection of Robert Bork’s nomination in 1987 and the tough, though ultimately successful, fight over Clarence Thomas’ nomination in 1991, but most opposing senators had attempted to preserve the fiction that judicial temperament or scandals were behind their “no” votes. Schumer opened the door to unabashed ideological and partisan warfare, and subsequent votes on Supreme Court nominations have shown it.
Read MoreRecord Gun Sales Fueled by 5.4 Million First Time Buyers
Gun sales surged to a record high in 2021, fueled by first-time gun owners, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF).
At least 5.4 million people purchased firearms for the first time in 2021, with roughly 30% of all gun purchases going to first-time buyers, according to the NSSF. The figure is a 10% decrease from 2020, when approximately 8.4 million people purchased firearms for the first time.
Read MoreAlaska Joins Texas Lawsuit Against Biden Vaccine Mandate for National Guard
On Thursday, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy (R-Alaska) announced that his state would be joining a lawsuit, originally filed earlier this month by Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R-Texas), against the Biden Administration for its mandate requiring vaccinations for all members of the National Guard.
Fox News reports that the lawsuit seeks to challenge the constitutionality of Biden’s mandate by claiming that it violates the sovereignty of the states and the state governors over their control of their respective National Guard units.
Read MoreConnecticut Republicans and Democrats Argue Congressional Map Case in Court
The state’s Supreme Court has until Feb. 15 to render a decision on how Connecticut’s congressional district maps will be drawn.
The court heard arguments Thursday from attorneys representing Republican and Democratic members of the Reapportionment Commission, who have been unable to reach agreement on how the state’s congressional districts will be drawn.
At the crux of the arguments are maps that are to be drawn with the least amount of change from current districts, with close approximations of the number of residents in each district, and how to address the “lobster claw,” a gerrymandered district that dates back to 2001.
Read MoreFauci: ‘Three-Dose Regimen’ of Pfizer Vax for Infants and Toddlers is Coming
The Biden administration is planning to recommend the experimental mRNA vaccines for babies as young as six months old, despite alarming safety signals and concerns that mass vaccination is making the pandemic worse.
White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci announced Wednesday that Pfizer vaccines for infants and toddlers are currently being tested, and once the shots are approved, a “three-dose regimen” will be recommended.
Read MoreSwimmer Says Her Team Is Uncomfortable Sharing Locker Room with Trans Swimmer Lia Thomas
A female swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania said the school brushed off her and her teammates’ concerns about sharing locker rooms with a male swimmer, the Daily Mail reported.
She and her teammates felt uncomfortable sharing locker rooms with transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, who has male body parts and is reportedly “attracted to women,” according to the Daily Mail.
Read MoreMissouri Considers Pension Changes to Solve Teacher Shortage
Legislators are considering changes to Missouri’s teacher and non-certified school employee pension plans to alleviate pandemic-related teacher and staff shortages.
HB2114, sponsored by Rep. Rusty Black, R-Chillicothe, will reduce restrictions on pensions if a retired public school teacher returns to the classroom or to a non-teaching position in a public school. The legislation also increases from two to four years the length of time a retired teacher or retired non-certified public school employee can work while still receiving their pension.
During testimony before the House pensions committee, Rep. Black, the committee vice chairman, said similar legislation was passed by the House and died in the Senate last year as the legislative session ended in May. He said the legislation simplifies and improves the amount retirees can earn before their pensions are restricted.
Read MoreIowa Schools Must Require Masking to Accommodate Students with Disabilities
Iowa schools must require masking when necessary as a reasonable accommodation for students with disabilities, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at St. Louis ruled Tuesday.
The court cited the Rehabilitation Act Section 504 in its determination.
What’s more, Iowa statute currently allows masking when federal law requires it, the court ruled, American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa said in an explainer of the ruling.
Read MoreVirginia General Assembly Off to Slow Start as Committees Evaluate Legislation, Youngkin Cabinet Picks
RICHMOND, Virginia – Most of the action in the General Assembly is occurring in committees as legislators decide which bills will survive to be voted on by the full Senate and House of Delegates. House Republicans have advanced some key bills on local gun control repeals, elections reform, and school misdemeanor reporting. Senate Democrats have advanced some key bills, but much of their work has been in killing Republican-introduced legislation.
“What has not surprised me is there has been a conspicuous partisan divide with Democratic pushback against Governor Youngkin’s agenda, particularly in the area of tax reform and education reform, and masks,” Senate Minority Leader Thomas Norment (R-James City) told The Virginia Star.
Read MorePoll: 44 Percent Approve, 42 Percent Disapprove of Youngkin’s Job Performance; More Disapprove on COVID-19 Performance
Governor Glenn Youngkin has a 44 percent favorable, 42 percent unfavorable rating, according to a new survey from Public Policy Polling conducted about a week-and-a-half into the new administration. However, only 44 percent of respondents approved of Youngkin’s job performance on COVID-19, while 47 percent disapprove — within the plus-or-minus 3.8 percent margin of error. On specific questions about COVID-19 policy, the poll found more separation, including that 55 percent disagree with Youngkin’s EO Two ending school mask mandates, versus 40 percent who agree.
“Virginians are also supportive of school boards across the state, agreeing that local school boards that oppose Youngkin’s order removing mask mandates in schools and have filed lawsuits are right. Voters support the school boards by a 15-point margin (55-40). By an even larger 25-point margin (56-31), Virginia voters say they think local school districts should set mask requirements themselves, rather than have the mask requirements set by Youngkin,” PPP reported.
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