April 6, 2023 - The Virginia Star

Rep. Jim Jordan Subpoenas Former Manhattan Prosecutor in First Strike Against Office Prosecuting Trump

April 6, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan on Thursday subpoenaed a former Manhattan prosecutor who openly campaigned to criminally charge Donald Trump in the first significant strike at the office that brought the historic indictment against the former president this week.

Jordan’s subpoena to former Special Assistant District Attorney Mark Pomerantz comes just days after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg pointedly declined to provide documents and testimony to Jordan’s committee, calling it an interference in his investigation.

New Study Challenges Supposed Benefits of ‘Social Transition’ for Kids Who Think They’re Trans

April 6, 2023April 5, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

A new study out of the U.K. found no significant difference in mental health outcomes between gender dysphoric children who did and did not undergo social transition, the process of changing one’s name, pronouns and clothes to present as the opposite sex.

Therapists often advise social transition as the first course of action for children who believe they’re transgender, viewing the intervention as a harmless and reversible way to explore one’s gender identity while alleviating the anguish of gender dysphoria. There were no significant differences in pathological indicators such as mood disorders, anxiety and suicide attempts between gender dysphoric adolescents who did and didn’t socially transition in the new study, which was published Tuesday in the Archives of Sexual Behavior.

DOJ Won’t Make Inmates Sent Home During COVID Go Back to Prison

April 6, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

Thousands of inmates sent home during the COVID-19 pandemic will be able to complete the rest of their sentences there as long as they remain compliant, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Tuesday.

A final DOJ rule released Tuesday clarifies that inmates placed on home confinement under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act will not be automatically sent back to prison when the Biden administration lifts the public health emergency, though the Bureau of Prisons retains discretion to impose sanctions on or return inmates who commit infractions. After multiple extensions, the Biden administration announced in January it would allow the public health emergency to expire on May 11.

North Carolina to Have GOP Supermajority in Legislature as Democrat Expected to Switch Parties

April 6, 2023 Just the News

North Carolina Republicans are slated to have a supermajority in the General Assembly if state Rep. Tricia Cotham, a Charlotte Democrat, switches parties as expected Wednesday.

Cotham is slated to announce her decision to join the GOP during a press conference, according to Axios. Republicans are one seat away from having the supermajority, and the switch would give the party more power to override any vetos from Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.

GOP Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy Says President Joe Biden Should Pardon Former President Donald Trump

April 6, 2023 M.D. Kittle

Highly partisan Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is setting a “dangerous precedent” that will likely lead to more “politically targeted prosecutions,” GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy writes in a new op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal.

If President Joe Biden wants to avoid this danger and truly unify the country, he will pardon his predecessor and potential challenger in 2024, Donald Trump.

Illegal Entries at U.S. Northern Border Continue to Surge

April 6, 2023 The Center Square

Temporary processing facilities in Donna, Texas, safely processes family units and unaccompanied alien children (UACs) encountered and in the custody of the U.S. Border Patrol March 17, 2021. The facility will bolster processing capacity in the RGV while the permanent Centralized Processing Center in McAllen is renovated. CBP Photo by Jaime Rodriguez Sr.

Federal agents patrolling the U.S.-Canadian border in Vermont, upstate New York and New Hampshire continue to apprehend record numbers of foreign nationals illegally entering the U.S. from Canada.

Last month, Border Patrol agents reported 816 apprehensions and 371 gotaways, according to preliminary data obtained by a Border Patrol agent on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. The data only represents Border Patrol data and excludes Office of Field Operations data, meaning the numbers are likely higher. Agents also reported 19 people they identified who illegally entered the U.S. but turned back to Canada.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Will Challenge Biden in 2024

April 6, 2023 Just the News

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will challenge President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination in 2024.

The son of late presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, the younger bearer of the name has attracted attention for his opposition to COVID-19 lockdown measures and has been a long-time advocate against vaccinations more broadly.

Transgender EMT Who Claims Sex Is Not Binary Stumped by Matt Walsh’s Common-Sense Question

April 6, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

A transgender emergency medical technician (EMT) who attempted to use his medical training to rationalize that sex is not binary was confounded when author and journalist Matt Walsh asked him how he would deal with a patient with a penis who claimed to be having a miscarriage.

Virginia Gov. Youngkin to Visit Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea

April 6, 2023April 5, 2023 The Center Square

Amid speculation that he could be weighing a potential presidential run in 2024, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin will travel to Taiwan, Japan and South Korea as part of his first intentional trade mission as governor later this month, his office announced Tuesday.

While overseas, the governor is slated to meet with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, as well as other government officials, business associations, company executives and global industry leaders, according to Youngkin’s office. The trip is scheduled for April 24 through April 29.

Commentary: Prosecute Alvin Bragg

April 6, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

It’s Jim Crow Alabama. In an old plantation town, a young black man—a sharecropper’s son—wants change. He walks up great steps of the county courthouse to dead silence. Proudly he marches under the glare of a puff-chested man chewing on a piece of straw. Stoically, that young man arrives at the counter of the county clerk, and there drops his petition to make it official: He’s to run for mayor.

The straw-chewing man, the town’s current mayor—with thumbs hooked into his silver-plated belt and a hard face shadowed by a cowboy hat—resolves to stop him. So he calls central casting for an evil Southern sheriff.

Commentary: Climate Alarmism Killed Real Environmentalism

April 6, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

The environmentalist movement is a political weapon. It unites the most powerful special interests in the world behind an agenda that will further centralize power and wealth, eliminate any hope of financial independence for the vast majority of people, and transition previously free and independent nations into managed, sham democracies that have lost their sovereign agency.

The overwhelming theme of environmentalism today, designed to obscure its true agenda, is the alleged “climate crisis.”

Kansas Legislature Approves Bill That Would Bar Biological Men from Women’s Bathroom

April 6, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

The Kansas Senate passed a bill on Tuesday that would prohibit biological males from using the women’s bathroom.

In a 28-12 vote, the state Senate approved Senate Bill 180, which would require individuals to use any public bathrooms and locker rooms on the basis of biological sex rather than gender identity. The state House passed the legislation in March and the bill now heads to Democratic Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly’s desk.

Johnson & Johnson Shells Out Nearly $9 Billion to Settle Cancer Allegations

April 6, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

Johnson & Johnson agreed to dole out $8.9 billion to numerous people who alleged the pharmaceutical giant’s talcum powder products led to cancer on Tuesday, according to a proposal released in filing Tuesday.

The plaintiffs include the relatives of people who perished from ovarian cancer and mesothelioma allegedly due to Johnson & Johnson products; if the settlement is approved, it will put an end to their long legal saga, according to The New York Times. Under Johnson & Johnson’s proposed settlement, the giant would pay the nearly $9 billion over the next 25 years to the plaintiffs.