Month: May 2022

Less than a day after State Farm ended its partnership with a nonprofit that promotes “positive stories about transgender and non-binary kiddos,” several more corporations and a federal agency disappeared from the nonprofit’s partner page as well.

15 Years After Worst School Shooting, Most Recommendations Not Adopted as Tragedy Strikes Again

After 32 people were killed 15 years ago in a shooting at Virginia Tech, many state and federal safety recommendations were made, but not all were implemented.

Commentary: Parents Are Catching On to the Goals of Public Education

A recent viral video from the YouTube channel Fleccas Talks showed several man-on-the-street interviews testing young people in New York City on their knowledge of basic facts. Some of the questions focused on American history and civics, while others were simple, numerical-based ones. The results were depressing, as the following samples demonstrate:

FBI Reveals How Many Active Shooters Were Stopped by Citizens

The FBI announced Monday that citizens stopped six active shooters in 2021, according to a report on active shooting incidents.

Citizens stopped six active shooters, whom the FBI defines as “one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area,” in 2021, killing four of them, according to the report, “Active Shooter Incidents In The United States In 2021.” There were 61 active shooter incidents in 2021, 12 of which met the FBI’s criteria for a “mass killing,” up from 40 the previous year.

Biden DOJ Exposes Dangers of Insecure Border with Evidence in Bush Assassination Plot

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas may continue to insist the U.S. southern border is closed and secure — but President Joe Biden’s own Justice Department and its current FBI director are painting a picture of a border porous enough to tempt terrorists to assassinate a former president and drug cartels to operate with impunity.

Music Spotlight: Alyssa Jacey

May 27, 2022May 30, 2022 Bethany Bowman

I keep writing my Music Spotlight column because of the stories. And while we all appreciate the music that these singer/songwriters bring to us, it is the stories of these tireless individuals that keep me coming back to my computer to share what I have learned with my readers.

Sen. Petersen Opposes Washington Commanders Stadium Deal Amid Concerns over Dropping ‘Redskins’ Name

May 27, 2022May 27, 2022 Eric Burk

Senator Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax City) is opposed to efforts to bring the Washington Commanders football team to Virginia, in part due to concerns over the team’s recent name change.

“I have two concerns. One is that the development is too far removed from an urban setting, unlike Nats Park at The Navy Yard, which will make it solely dependent on vehicle traffic for access. More importantly, I don’t have confidence in The Washington Commanders as a viable NFL franchise,” Petersen said in Wednesday press release.

Briefs Filed in Virginia Supreme Court in Case of Teacher Fired for Not Using Preferred Pronouns

May 26, 2022May 25, 2022 Eric Burk

The Alliance Defending Freedom has filed its opening brief in the Virginia Supreme Court in the case of Peter Vlaming, a teacher who was fired after he declined to use a student’s preferred pronouns. Seven other organizations filed briefs supporting Vlaming on Tuesday, including the Office of the Attorney General on behalf of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

“Under our Constitution, Virginians have an absolute right not to be forced to publicly disavow their sincerely held religious beliefs—and that applies equally to public-school teachers. Even on pure speech grounds, the government cannot force its employees to falsely express their agreement with controversial messages they don’t believe without identifying a compelling state interest that cannot be achieved through significantly less restrictive means,” the ADF brief states.

Nancy Pelosi Defends Support for Abortion After Communion Ban, Blames Church for ‘Politicizing’ Procedure

May 26, 2022May 25, 2022 Susan Berry, PhD

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) blamed Catholics who live out their beliefs on the sanctity of unborn human life for politicizing abortion, claiming they use abortion as a “cover” for their wider political agenda.

During an interview Tuesday on leftwing MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Pelosi, who was recently banned from receiving Holy Communion following her aggressive support for a radical abortion bill, said “this is not just about terminating a pregnancy.”

Biden Admin Ties Federal Funds for School Lunches to Gender Identity

May 26, 2022May 25, 2022 Susan Berry, PhD

The Biden Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced that all state and local agencies that receive federal funding for meals, a category that includes schools, must not discriminate based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

In a press release dated May 5, the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) announced it would now interpret the ban on discrimination based on sex included in Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and food-related legislation and programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly the Food Stamp program, to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

Commentary: Tragedy Strikes and Opportunists Circle America

There are few words available to describe the shock and loathing in the wake of the murder of innocent children. The tragedy at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas crystallizes these feelings as people seek to grapple with what went so wrong with an eighteen-year-old that he would choose to murder children, an adult in the school as well as shot his own grandmother before traveling to the school.

Biden to Sign Executive Orders Cutting Police Supplies, Creating Bad Police Officer Registry

On Wednesday, Joe Biden is prepared to sign several executive orders aimed at further punishing American police departments for alleged “systemic racism” and “brutality.”

The New York Post reports that the executive orders, meant to commemorate the two-year anniversary of the accidental fentanyl overdose death of George Floyd, will create a national registry of police officers who have been fired for misconduct, as well as further pressuring local governments to ban aggressive police tactics such as chokeholds and no-knock warrants. Another order will reduce the transfer of surplus military equipment to police departments.

Commentary: Race-Based Illness at the Best of the Best

It looks like the long persecution of Professor Joshua Katz by his employer Princeton University has come to an end. The Washington Free Beacon reported last week that the school president “passed his recommendation that Katz be stripped of his tenure and fired to the university board of trustees,” and the board rubber-stamped it Monday. The whole episode nicely exemplifies the cowardice and incompetence of the liberals who run elite institutions in the United States today.

Schumer Says No Gun Control Vote Anytime Soon: ‘Americans Can Cast Their Vote in November’

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that he will not immediately hold a vote on gun control legislation, following the mass shooting Tuesday at a Texas elementary school.

The New York Democrat says he does not think any such measure will attract enough bipartisan support to move forward.

Bombshell: FBI Agent Testifies ‘Fired Up’ Leadership Pushed Trump Probe Despite Flimsy Evidence

In explosive testimony Tuesday in the Michael Sussmann trial, an FBI agent said “fired up” senior FBI leadership insisted on continuing the investigation into now-debunked allegations of a secret Trump back channel to Moscow via a Russian bank despite learning the story was unsubstantiated.

Indiana Bans Biological Males from Female Sports, Overriding Republican Governor’s Veto

The Indiana state legislature banned biologically male athletes from playing on women’s sports at public schools on Tuesday, overriding Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb’s veto on the legislation.

HEA 1041, set to go into effect July 1, requires public schools designate sports categories by sex and the genetics of the athletes. Holcomb originally vetoed HEA 1041 in March 2022, arguing at the time that the bill did not offer “one consistent state policy regarding the fairness in K-12 sports in Indiana.”

‘Pools of Blood’: Authorities Shut Down Florida Abortion Clinic for Endangering Patients

The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) shut down an abortion clinic last week with an emergency order for allegedly failing to follow safety protocols after two women were hospitalized following their second trimester abortions.

After Texas Shooting, Virginia Gov. Youngkin Gets School Safety Briefings, Calls for More Money for School Resource Officers

May 26, 2022May 26, 2022 Eric Burk

Governor Glenn Youngkin met with three of his cabinet members on Wednesday after a mass shooter killed children on Tuesday at a Texas elementary school.

“This morning, Governor Youngkin received a briefing from Secretary Robert Mosier, Secretary Aimee Guidera, Secretary John Littel, and State Superintendent Jillian Balow about actions taken to protect children in schools and the resources available at the state level to provide mental health access as needed in response to yesterday’s tragedy in Uvalde, TX,” spokesperson Macaulay Porter said in a statement.

Beto O’Rourke Crashes Texas Gov. Abbott’s Press Conference Following Mass School Shooting

May 25, 2022 Virginia Star Staff

Texas Democrat gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke on Wednesday crashed GOP Gov. Greg Abbott’s press conference addressing the Uvalde elementary school mass shooting in which19 children and two adults were fatally shot.

Over 1.2 Million Students Have Left Public Schools Since Pandemic

According to a recent survey, over 1.2 million students have abandoned public schools in favor of other alternatives in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, where many public schools shut down in-person learning in favor of “remote” learning.

The Daily Caller reports that the survey, conducted by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), discovered that over 1,268,000 students have fled public schooling since March of 2020. Enrollment initially fell by 2.5 percent in the Fall 2020 semester when lockdowns first began in the spring of that year. The following year, schools that returned to in-person learning restored some of those numbers, while the schools that remained on virtual learning continued to see steep declines.

Commentary: U.S. Spirals Toward Lawless Carnage; BLM and Woke Corporations Silent

May 25, 2022May 24, 2022 RealClearWire

Being “woke” once symbolized one’s awareness of the historical and present injustices faced by an individual or group in the pursuit of their advancement or being. It meant that the blinders of matters of racism and systems of oppression were removed so that one could fully awaken to the reality that racism exists. It is a continual and daily acknowledgement of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s words, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

I am a young, 26-year-old black man in America. I have seen true racism, and the racist carnage in Buffalo, Charleston, Houston, and other cities across our country, and it has stirred in me and in many others a desire to see justice served.

National Association of Attorneys General Blasted Again for Leftward Tilt

May 25, 2022May 24, 2022 Aaron Gulbransen

The National Association of Attorneys General was blasted again, this time by eight of its members in a letter sent on May 24 for its increasingly leftward tilt.

Kentucky Attorney General David Cameron sent the letter, which was signed by the attorneys general of Alaska, Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, and Virginia.

State Farm Announces End to Transgender Book Project Amid Backlash

May 25, 2022May 24, 2022 Susan Berry, PhD

State Farm has announced that, amid “news and customer inquiries,” it will discontinue its support for an LGBTQ+ activist group’s program that asked the insurance company to donate books, to schools, community centers, and libraries, that serve to indoctrinate young children into gender ideology under the guise of acceptance, diversity, and inclusion.

The company issued a news release Tuesday focused on an explosive leaked email obtained by Consumers’ Research that revealed State Farm urged its Florida insurance agents to donate radical books celebrating gender ideology that target children as young as age five.

Wisconsin Bishops Back San Francisco Archbishop Cordileone’s Ban on Nancy Pelosi Receiving Holy Communion

May 25, 2022May 25, 2022 Susan Berry, PhD

Wisconsin Bishops David Ricken of the diocese of Green Bay and Donald Hying of the diocese of Madison are among a growing number of Catholic bishops who have publicly expressed support for San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone’s declaration that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi not be admitted to Holy Communion due to her continued “aggressive promotion of abortion.”

“I wish to express my strong support for Archbishop Cordileone’s decision stating he has publicly declared that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi not be admitted to Holy Communion,” Ricken posted to Twitter following Cordileone’s notification to Pelosi that she is not to present herself for Holy Communion.

FBI Records 61 Active Shooter Incidents in 2021, Highest Total in 21 Years

On Monday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported that the United States experienced 61 “active shooter” incidents over the course of 2021, the highest annual total in over 20 years.

According to Reuters, the 61 incidents took place across 30 different states, and marked a 52 percent increase from the total of similar incidents in 2020. The 2021 total was also at least double the amount of shootings in each of the three prior years, and marks the highest annual total on record since the FBI first began keeping track of active shooter situations in 2000.

Bill Gates Funneled Hundreds of Millions to Organizations Attacking Elon Musk

New research reveals that Microsoft founder Bill Gates, formerly the world’s wealthiest man, has been donating hundreds of millions of dollars to dark money groups that have been publicly attacking Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the current wealthiest man in the world.

As reported by Breitbart, Gates’ foundation donated to 11 of the 26 organizations that signed onto an open letter last month demanding a boycott of Twitter by its advertisers over Musk’s recent purchase of the company. The report comes from the Foundation for Freedom Online (FFO), which traced the money from the signatories of the letter back to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Gas Prices Hit Record High Every Day for Past Two Weeks

May 25, 2022May 24, 2022 The Center Square

Gas prices have soared to new heights this month with the price of unleaded regular gas hitting a record high every day for the past two weeks. With Memorial Day weekend approaching, motorists face steep costs if they plan to travel.

According to AAA, the national average regular unleaded gas price Tuesday came in at $4.60, a record high. Diesel gasoline is at $5.55 per gallon, just below the record set last week.

Commentary: Foreshocks Warn Democrats of a Red Tsunami

An incoming tidal wave is often preceded by earthquakes on land, and last week several tremors signaled the Red Tsunami that will hit America in November. Liberal bulwarks toppled like dominoes across the cultural, legal, and political spectra. One shock felled a former shaky Republican president — from a dynasty of shaky Republican officeholders — to end his power line for the foreseeable future, probably forever. At the same time, a once moderately liberal tycoon became an even greater conservative hero. And, sensing the unsteadiness of the Left, two empires struck back, the first out of fear of the public, the other from fear of God.

General Assembly to Reconvene Budget Special Session June 1

May 25, 2022May 24, 2022 Eric Burk

The General Assembly will reconvene its special session on June 1, ahead of a June 30 deadline to complete the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Since the end of the session, budget negotiators have been tight-lipped about progress on a compromise, but have said they expect one in late May.

At Least 14 Students Dead in Texas Elementary School Shooting

May 24, 2022 Virginia Star Staff

At least 14 children are dead, as well as a teacher and the suspected gunman after a Texas elementary school shooting, Gov. Greg Abbott said.

The suspect is 18-year-old Uvalde, Texas, resident Salvador Ramos, Abbott told reporters at a press conference. It is believed the suspect was killed by responding law enforcement.

Drug Cartels Use Social Media to Lure American Teenagers into Human Trafficking

Dora Ortega knew her teenage son was hiding something when he arrived home at 2 a.m. He was wearing expensive new clothes that she knew he couldn’t afford with his warehouse job.

But it wasn’t until Ortega’s son finally admitted what he’d really been up to that she realized the gravity of the situation.

Youngkin Restores Rights for 3,469 Virginians

May 24, 2022May 24, 2022 Eric Burk

Governor Glenn Youngkin approved restoration of civil rights to 3,469 Virginians, according to a Friday announcement.

“I am encouraged that over 3,400 Virginians will take this critical first step towards vibrant futures as citizens with full civil rights,” he said. “Individuals with their rights restored come from every walk of life and are eager to provide for themselves, their families and put the past behind them for a better tomorrow.”

Exclusive: On Primary Election Eve, David Perdue Discusses His Campaign and His Path to Victory

May 24, 2022May 24, 2022 Julie Carr

Neil W. McCabe, the national political editor of The Star News Network, interviewed former senator David A. Perdue Jr. about his campaign against Gov. Brian P. Kemp in the May 24, 2022, Republican gubernatorial primary.

Victor Davis Hanson Commentary: Joe Biden and His Racial Demagoguery

Joe Biden has had a long history of racist outbursts. Can we even remember them all? The “put y’all back in chains” insults to an audience of black professionals, his dismissal of black interviewers variously as “you ain’t black” or ”junkie,” his he-man racialist Corn Pop mythologies, his recent condescending reference to a black professional as “boy,” and on and on.

The Left has always contextualized his racial outbursts in the same fashion his decades-long creepy touching, sexual harassment, grabbing, and blowing into the hair and ears of young women and teens were always “just Joe being Joe.”

Blake Masters: ‘Political Hack’ Mark Brnovich Wanted Trump to Lose in 2020 for AG’s Personal Political Gain

May 24, 2022May 23, 2022 Julie Carr

Neil W. McCabe, the national political editor of The Star News Network, interviewed Arizona GOP Senate hopeful Blake Masters about his primary opponent Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s failure to pursue evidence of election misconduct in the 2020 election.

Commentary: The Energy Security and Emissions Two-fer That Nobody Is Talking About

May 24, 2022May 23, 2022 RealClearWire

by Dan Byers Famed energy historian and author Dan Yergin recently remarked that the “energy divorce” between Europe and Russia is speeding up. With each passing day of the war, Yergin observes, the pertinent question becomes less about if it happens and more about when it happens—and which side initiates…

School Board Director to Host ‘Queer Youth’ Event at Sex Shop for ‘All Ages’

A Washington state school board director is set to host a “Queer Youth Open Mic Night” at a sex store for children aged “0-18” on June 1.

Jenn Mason, who sits on the board of directors of Bellingham Public Schools, owns the sex shop WinkWink Boutique, according to the store’s website, which is set to host the event. The “Queer Youth Open Mic Night” Facebook page invites “queer youth” of all ages to share poetry, music, or a story, according to the event’s Facebook page.

Senate Republicans Vow to Shut Down ‘Domestic Terrorism’ Bill

Republicans in the United States Senate appear united in opposition to a recently-passed bill that allegedly aims to combat “domestic terrorism” in the United States, which was passed in the aftermath of the Buffalo massacre.

According to The Hill, Republicans have called out the bill’s blatant partisanship, with Democrats immediately blaming Republicans for the shooting before introducing the bill as a mostly symbolic gesture.

Conservative Investors Launch Campaign to Take On America’s ‘Wokest’ Corporations