Day: June 1, 2022

VA-07 GOP Race: Reeves’ New Ad, Green Beret PAC Backs Anderson, Vega Says No on Ukraine Aid Packages

Eric Burk

In the race for the GOP nomination for Virginia’s seventh congressional district, Derrick Anderson received an endorsement from a new PAC, Yesli Vega called for spending on the U.S. border, criticizing a recent Ukraine spending package, and Senator Bryce Reeves (R-Spotsylvania) launched his second television ad, highlighting his “anti-woke” stance.

“I don’t mean to trigger any woke liberals out there, but if you step onto my field talking politically correct nonsense, you probably won’t succeed. But Biden and the left celebrate when men win at women’s sports, and when we divide people by race,” Reeves says while video shows him as a football coach.

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Flash Cards Depicting Pregnant Man Used for Teaching Colors in North Carolina Preschool Classroom

Susan Berry, PhD

A North Carolina state representative responded to an email from a constituent alerting her to the use of LGBTQ-themed flash cards, including a card with the depiction of a pregnant man, to teach colors to preschool children in an elementary school in the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS).

Upon receiving an email containing the flash card, apparently from “Progress Pride Flag Rainbow Families Flash Cards,” that depicted a pregnant man,” state Rep. Erin Paré (R-Wake) contacted the principal at Ballantine Elementary School in Wake County, noted a press release from North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland).

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‘Brazen Crime of Hate’: Catholic Church’s 19th-Century Tabernacle Stolen, Eucharist Strewn on Altar, Statues Beheaded

Susan Berry, PhD

A Roman Catholic Church in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn, New York, was desecrated over the weekend when its antique tabernacle was cut out of its metal casing, its consecrated hosts scattered indiscriminately about the altar, and the angel statues that flanked it beheaded.

The Diocese of Brooklyn called the desecration of St. Augustine Church “a brazen crime of disrespect and hate.”

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Commentary: No, Senate Republicans, the FBI Does Not Deserve a Raise

Virginia Star Staff

The day before FBI Director Christopher Wray explained to a Senate appropriations subcommittee why his department deserves a $527.8 million raise in 2023, his agents were credited with foiling an ISIS-linked plot to assassinate George W. Bush. An Iraqi national was arrested on May 25 and charged with attempting to smuggle four other Iraqis into the United States then “murder” the former president in retaliation for the war in Iraq. (I will address the sketchiness of this story in a separate column.)

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Poll: Most Americans Blame Biden for Rampant Inflation

Virginia Star Staff

Most Americans believe President Joe Biden’s policies are the leading contributor to inflation in the U.S., a recent poll found.

The poll, conducted by the Trafalgar Group and the Convention of States Action from May 25 – 29, asked respondents to choose whether they believed Biden’s policies and spending or the war between Russia and Ukraine contributed more to inflation. The survey found that 59.9% of respondents blamed Biden’s policies and spending for inflation, compared to 31.6% who blamed the war between Russia and Ukraine and 8.5% who were unsure.

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‘Unprecedented Level of Federal Overreach’: 16 Governors Urge Biden to Rescind Costly Wall Street Climate Rules

Virginia Star Staff

A coalition of 16 Republican governors sent a letter Tuesday to President Joe Biden, urging him to rescind a proposal introducing a series of climate requirements for companies.

The recent Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposal, which forces publicly-traded companies to share so-called climate change risks and greenhouse gas emissions, would harm businesses and investors by adding high compliance costs, the governors argued in the letter addressed to both Biden and SEC Chairman Gary Gensler. The climate disclosure rule, they added, would also represent an overstepping of the SEC’s authority.

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Whisteblower’s Lawyer: Pfizer Got Away with Vaccine Fraud Because Government Was Co-Conspirator

Virginia Star Staff

Pfizer has asked a U.S. court to throw out a whistleblower’s lawsuit on the basis that the company can’t be guilty of fraud, abuse, and protocol violations in its COVID Vaccine clinical trials because its contract with the U.S. government allowed them to skirt regulations and federal laws that typically apply to government contracts.

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Budget Proposal Includes New Marijuana Misdemeanor, Blocks Richmond Casino License for Now

Eric Burk

The General Assembly is expected to vote Wednesday on a budget compromise hammered out by top money legislators from House Republicans and Senate Democrats. The proposal includes tax and spending policy, but also includes legislation that would fund lab schools, block a Richmond casino for now, and create new marijuana misdemeanors for possession of more than four ounces of marijuana in public.

Executive Director of Virginia NORML JM Pedini said in a recent update that there had been the potential for three class six felonies.

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