June 27, 2023 - The Virginia Star

Navy, Marine Corps Shelling Out Thousands to New Enlistees Amid Unrelenting Recruitment Slump

June 27, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

The Navy and Marine Corps are bumping up enlistment bonuses for people looking to fill highly technical occupations as the military battles to find sufficient numbers of new recruits.

The Marine Corps announced recruits joining the cyber and crypto operations enlistment field would get up to an extra $15,000 for the remainder of fiscal year 2023, the largest enlistment bonus currently being offered, according to a memo posted Monday. Service officials have attributed recent recruiting struggles to a historically low number of Americans who are both eligible to serve and express an interest, as well as intense competition and often better-paying, less demanding offers from the private sector.

CDC Issues Malaria Advisory After First Cases Found in U.S. in Two Decades

June 27, 2023 Just the News

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health advisory for malaria after cases were found in Florida and Texas within the past two months, marking the first time in two decades that people acquired the disease from mosquitoes in the United States.

Supreme Court Rules Against GOP in North Carolina Election Law Case

June 27, 2023 Just the News

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled against North Carolina Republicans, who were fighting for a congressional map that would be in their favor.

The justices ruled 6-3, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett siding with the court’s three liberal members.

Impeachment Talk Moves up GOP House Agenda After IRS Whistleblower Revelations, Durham Testimony

June 27, 2023 Just the News

The Republican House agenda has in recent weeks been dominated by impeachment resolutions following testimony from former special prosecutor John Durham on the Russian collusion probe and IRS whistleblower revelations about the Hunter Biden investigation – with calls ranging from ousting Attorney General Merrick Garland to expunging the two impeachments President Trump received.

In addition to Garland, whom critics say runs a “two-tiered” justice system in America, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is also a target – largely over his handling of record migration and its often overwhelming consequences from U.S. borders to the rest of the country.

Endocrinologist Warns America on Wrong Track with Pushing Transgender Lifestyle on Children

June 27, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

Endocrinologist Dr. Roy Eappen warned that while other nations have already urged caution in the use of transgender hormone drugs for children and teens, America is “standing still, or, perhaps, going backward.”

Trump’s Lead Expanding, Ramaswamy Rising in Latest Morning Consult Poll

June 27, 2023June 27, 2023 M.D. Kittle

A new Morning Consult poll shows former President Donald Trump widening the gap against his closest competitors, while former Vice President Mike Pence and Ohio entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy make some noise among the crowded field of Republican Party presidential hopefuls.

REVIEW: Kari Lake’s New Book ‘Unafraid’ Is Chock Full of All the Juicy Details You’d Expect

June 27, 2023 Rachel Alexander

Kari Lake released her new book, Unafraid: Just Getting Started, on Tuesday. The Arizona Sun Times was provided with a review copy in advance. In the book, which contains a forward by Donald Trump, Lake went over the bias she discovered while working in media, her race for governor, election fraud, and other issues like border security that she has championed.

Academics: Allowing Kids to Opt Out of Drag Storytime Is a ‘Dangerous Setback’ for Gay Rights

June 27, 2023June 26, 2023 Admin

A pair of academics affiliated with York University in Canada believe that allowing parents to opt out their children from drag storytime events is a “dangerous setback for 2SLGBTQ+ human rights education.”

Writing in the Toronto Star, Beyhan Farhadi, a fellow at York’s Institute for Research on Digital Literacies, and “community educator”/York M.Ed student Joy Henderson say the Toronto School Board’s decision to allow opt-outs from the “family-friendly” activity “sends a message that [queer] rights are debatable.”

UN Takes Cues from Organizations That Seek to Censor Conservatives

June 27, 2023 Admin

by James Cohen A United Nations (U.N.) policy proposal that outlines how to combat online “mis- and disinformation and hate speech,” including through demonetization, is informed by work from groups that actively push to censor conservative speech online. The policy brief, titled “Information Integrity on Digital Platforms,” is intended to help…

Montana Republican Lawmakers the Latest to Receive Threatening Letters with White Powder

June 27, 2023 M.D. Kittle

Montana Republican legislators are the latest GOP state officials to be targeted, receiving threatening letters containing white powder after Tennessee and Kansas Republicans received similar suspicious mail in recent days, officials say.

Meanwhile, four days after the Cordell Hull Building legislative offices in Nashville were locked down upon Republican leaders received threatening mail, an FBI official tells The Tennessee Star that the incident remains under investigation and that the agency has no comment at this time.

Republican Votes Still Being Counted to Determine McPike’s Opponent for Virginia’s State Senate District 29 Seat

June 27, 2023June 26, 2023 The Center Square

With his Republican opponent still to be determined, Democratic State Sen. Jeremy McPike is a winner in Virginia’s District 29, accepting a concession on Sunday from Del. Elizabeth Guzman.

The Republican race from last Tuesday remains too close to call. In the most recent announced tabulation, only two votes separate candidates Nikki Rattray Baldwin, the leader, and Maria Martin.

Commentary: Democrats Are Starting to Panic as Trump’s Numbers Unaffected by Indictment over Documents

June 27, 2023 Admin

“Democrats have a deep bench. They had better prepare now to turn to it.”

That was former Bloomberg News executive editor Al Hunt writing for The Messenger on June 25, pontificating about the prospects of replacing President Joe Biden in 2024 as the Democratic Party nominee as the incumbent president’s poll numbers still appear gloomy even after Biden’s Justice Department brought his top political opponent, former President Donald Trump, who is standing for election once again in 2024, up on charges over documents retained after the Trump administration that Trump says he declassified.

DeSantis Lays Out Border Security Plan at Event in Eagle Pass, Texas

June 27, 2023 The Center Square

In a campaign stop in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis presented his border security plan as part of his platform to win the Republican nomination for president.

The plan includes reinstating several policies implemented by the Trump administration, including ending catch and release, reinstating the Remain in Mexico policy, among others. His plan also includes using the U.S. military to work with Border Patrol agents “on day one, and they’ll continue to help until the [border] wall is finished,” according to a campaign document obtained by The Center Square.

Teachers Union Had Hotline to Education Secretary on COVID Policy, Parents Had ‘No Voice’: Watchdog

June 27, 2023 Just the News

The country’s two largest teachers unions had direct access to the Education Department during the pandemic while parents had “no voice,” says a watchdog group of retired and former public servants.

Michael Chamberlin, the director of the group, Protect the Public’s Trust, made the claim in a recent episode of the “John Solomon Reports” podcast, saying research found “extensive coordination between … the two main teachers unions and high-level officials in the Department of Education,” namely the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association.

Children’s Hospital Charges Schools Thousands For Trainings On How To Teach About Gender Identity, Anal Sex

June 27, 2023 Admin

An Illinois children’s hospital is charging school districts thousands of dollars for a sex education workshop that features lessons on how to teach kids about anal sex and gender identity, according to documents obtained through a public records request by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago is charging school districts up to $1,500 for a presentation to educators on “inclusive sexual health ed practices” that promotes the National Sexuality Education Standards (NSES), a K-12 sexual education curriculum, according to a copy of the presentation obtained by the DCNF through a public records request. The presentation recommends that fifth graders should learn several different sexual orientations, while eighth graders should be taught about anal and oral sex.

Nearly Half of Californians Are Considering Fleeing the State: Poll

June 27, 2023 Admin

Nearly half of Californians are considering leaving the state, according to a June California Community poll.

The top cited reasons residents had for wanting to leave the state included the cost of living and political disagreement, according to the poll results. The poll was conducted between June 6 and June 16 and is an “ongoing partnership between Strategies 360 the Los Angeles Times,” the website reads.

SCOTUS Throws Out Dem Lawsuit Seeking Trump Hotel Records

June 27, 2023 Admin

The Supreme Court threw out Democratic lawmakers’ lawsuit seeking to compel an executive agency to disclose records relating to the Trump hotel formerly located in the Old Post Office building in Washington, D.C.

Though the Supreme Court agreed in May to hear the case, which questioned whether individual members of Congress can sue executive agencies to compel records disclosures, Democrats voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit in a June 7 filing. In an unsigned order Monday, the Supreme Court tossed the case.

Commentary: The Left Fears the Revolutionary Model it Bequeathed to America, for Good Reason

June 27, 2023 Admin

by Victor Davis Hanson The present-day Left bears little resemblance to the old civil-libertarian, integrationist Democratic Party that existed from the 1960s through 2000. The antecedents to its current madness were once previewed in the old party’s extremist wing of campus radicals of the 1960s and 1970s. They were…

GOP Lawmakers Introduce Bill That Would Bar Biden from Invoking a ‘National Climate Emergency’

June 27, 2023 Admin

Republican Texas Rep. August Pfluger and West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito introduced legislation Monday morning aiming to preempt any possible attempt by President Joe Biden to use emergency powers to circumvent congressional checks on his administration’s sweeping climate agenda.

“The Real Emergencies Act” would clarify that the president is unable to invoke emergency powers permitted by the National Emergencies Act, the Disaster Relief and Emergencies Act and the Public Health Service Act on the basis of a perceived climate change crisis. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other left-wing congressional lawmakers have called for Biden to declare a national climate emergency to further his administration’s aggressive climate agenda.