Month: June 2023

Dana Rivers, a longtime transgender activist, was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday for the 2016 murder of a lesbian couple and their son.

Rivers garnered national fame in 1999 for suing the Center Unified School District in Sacramento and winning a $150,000 settlement after being fired for talking to students about transitioning genders, according to Mercury News. Rivers attacked two women, aged 56 and 57, in their bed as they slept, shooting both women and their 19-year old son before stabbing one of the women 47 times and setting their garage on fire.

Texas Gov Abbott Signs Bills Banning DEI in Public Higher Education, Reforms Tenure

Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday signed two bills into law designed to reform public higher education institutions in Texas. One bans them from implementing DEI policies and another revises the tenure structure.

Both bills, authored by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, passed the legislature during the regular legislative session. Senate Bill 17 bans public colleges and universities from implementing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies that prioritize gender, race, ethnicity and ideological beliefs as factors for hiring or admission policies. Earlier this year, Gov. Abbott’s chief of staff sent a letter to public higher education institutions and state agencies saying if they were implementing DEI policies, they were violating federal law. In response, the heads of Texas colleges and universities said they were “pausing” and reviewing their DEI policies. The new law requires them to terminate them.

Medicaid Emergency Spending for Illegal Migrants Doubles in One Year to $7 Billion: GOP House

June 15, 2023 Just the News

Medicaid emergency spending for illegal immigrants more than doubled from fiscal year 2020 to fiscal year 2021, according to House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green.

During a congressional hearing Wednesday on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ job performance, Green said more people have entered the U.S. illegally under his roughly two-year tenure “than in the 12 years of the Obama and Trump administrations combined.”

Texas Sends First Bus of Illegal Border Crossers to Los Angeles

A bus of foreign nationals who illegally entered Texas and were apprehended and released by the Biden administration were taken to Los Angeles for the first time, Gov. Greg Abbott said. They were dropped off at the Los Angeles Union Station Wednesday evening.

“Texas’ small border towns remain overwhelmed and overrun by the thousands of people illegally crossing into Texas from Mexico because of President Biden’s refusal to secure the border,” Abbott said. “Los Angeles is a major city that migrants seek to go to, particularly now that its city leaders approved its self-declared sanctuary city status. Our border communities are on the frontlines of President Biden’s border crisis, and Texas will continue providing this much-needed relief until he steps up to do his job and secure the border.”

Tucker Carlson Mocks President Biden as a ‘Wannabe Dictator’ in Fourth Episode of ‘Tucker on Twitter’

June 15, 2023 Daily Caller News Foundation

In the fourth episode of his newest production, “Tucker on Twitter,” former Fox News primetime host mocked President Joe Biden as a “wannabe dictator.”

Largest Catholic Health Network Hospitals Providing Puberty Blockers to Minors and Gender Transition Surgeries: Report

June 15, 2023June 15, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

A watchdog organization dedicated to the defense of the Catholic Church released a report Sunday that claims the largest Catholic health system in the United States is “acting directly against Catholic moral teaching in direct defiance of its Catholic identity.”

It’s Official: Miami Mayor Francis Suarez Announces Run for President

June 15, 2023 Admin

Miami’s conservative Mayor Francis Suarez announced Thursday morning he’s seeking the Republican nomination for president in 2024, joining an increasingly growing GOP primary field.

Virginia to Receive $366 Million from Opioid Settlement

June 15, 2023June 14, 2023 The Center Square

Virginia is slated to receive approximately $366 million as part of the $17.3 billion nationwide settlements with opioid manufacturers Teva and Allegan and pharmacies CVS and Walgreens, Attorney General Jason Miyares announced.

“This milestone settlement with two major drug makers and two major pharmacies has been a long time coming,” said Miyares. “I look forward to seeing the positive impacts on our communities and lives this money will have across Virginia.”

Report: Intelligence Agencies Buying ‘Sensitive and Intimate’ Data of American Citizens

A recently-declassified report alleges that multiple U.S. intelligence agencies have been actively “flouting the law” by gathering massive collections of “sensitive and intimate” data on American citizens.

According to the New York Post, the claims were made in a report to Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Avril Haines, which was only recently declassified and is now being amplified by watchdog groups and privacy advocates. The report details a loophole that has allowed intelligence agencies, including the FBI, DHS, and NSA, to simply buy large troves of cell phone data for tracking purposes without needing a warrant.

Majority of Americans Believe Biden Family Took Foreign Influence Payments: Report

Over half of American voters believe that the Biden family has accepted payments from foreign nationals in order to influence politics in Washington D.C., according to a new poll from the Convention of States Action and the Trafalgar Group.

President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, is currently the subject of a House Oversight Committee investigation which is looking into his conduct and business transactions while overseas during his time on the board of the Ukrainian company Burisma. According to a new poll released Wednesday, 53.3% of respondents believed that the Biden family had accepted bribes from foreign officials, while 34% indicated that they believed in the family’s innocence.

Democrats Team Up with Anti-Trump Republicans to Crush Third-Party Org: Report

Democratic strategists and allies of President Joe Biden met with conservatives who oppose former President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C. last week to fight the centrist group No Labels’ third-party ticket in 2024, according to The Washington Post.

No Labels has been planning to run a third-party “unity ticket” in the event of a rematch between Trump and Biden in 2024, as the organization believes the two men represent the most extreme ends of their respective parties. As No Labels continues their efforts to gain ballot access in key states, the June 6 meeting attendees worry that such a ticket could take away votes from Biden and enable Trump to win a second term, according to the Post.

Virginia Attorney General Subpoenas School District over Merit Awards Investigation

June 15, 2023June 14, 2023 Just the News

Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) officials announced that they’ve been subpoenaed by the Virginia Attorney General’s Office to release a report on an investigation into the district’s failure to notify some students of their National Merit Awards. FCPS says it’s fighting the subpoena by taking “legal action.”

FCPS says it conducted an independent investigation into their notification process and released a summary of the investigation in March. The investigation concluded that educators did not do anything to intentionally harm students or their college applications, according to FCPS.

Commentary: Trump’s Indictment and the Collapse of Confidence in Our Institutions

June 15, 2023 RealClearWire

Democracies cannot thrive – and may not survive – when citizens lose confidence in their basic institutions. That is exactly what is happening in America today. This loss of confidence and a bitter ideological divide are our country’s most profound challenges. Those challenges form the essential backdrop for understanding the controversy surrounding Donald Trump’s indictment.

Before turning to the charges facing Trump, consider their larger political setting, which begins with any democratic government’s most fundamental responsibilities: preserving public order, ensuring its citizens’ safety, and applying the law fairly. The institutions charged with those responsibilities are crumbling at the local, state, and federal levels, and millions of voters on both sides of our gaping ideological spectrum know it. Each blames the other and accepts no blame for themselves.

Commentary: The EPA’s Proposed Carbon Capture and Storage Regulations Is a Trial Lawyer’s Dream

June 15, 2023 RealClearWire

In May, the US Environmental Protection Agency proposed new regulations that will require power plants to capture almost all their CO2 emissions, compress them, transport them via a network of pipelines, and store them underground. The plan is economic folly, but the problems go beyond money: CO2 injected underground may well escape into the atmosphere or contaminate underground water supplies, either of which could yield deadly results and create a feeding frenzy of litigation. The liability risks will be another nail in the coffin for the country’s reliance on fossil fuels to supply electricity, which in 2022 accounted for about 60% of all generation.

Watchdog: Feds Wasted $683 Million Per Day in Improper Payments in 2022

The federal government wasted over a half a trillion dollars in improper payments during the first two years of the Biden administration, a new analysis from a spending watchdog group found.

The analysis comes from Open The Books, which reports that 82 programs across 17 agencies made improper payments in fiscal year 2022 alone, averaging $20.5 billion per month, or $683 million per day.

Movement to Decide Presidency by Popular Vote Gains States, Momentum But Also Faces Challenges

June 15, 2023 Just the News

The effort to change how the United States elects its presidents – from the existing Electoral College process to a national popular vote – is gaining momentum, but critics are questioning its legality and whether it improves the country’s election system.

Sixteen states and Washington, D.C., have joined the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, with Minnesota being the latest and Michigan and Nevada considering it.

Biden DHS Rewards Sanctuary Cities, NGOs with $290 Million

The Biden Administration’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has awarded over $290 million in taxpayer money to various “sanctuary cities,” as well as pro-illegal alien non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

As reported by Breitbart, the nearly $300 million was taken from the Shelter and Services Program (SSP), a federal initiative that is funded by the U.S. Congress. The money was divided among 34 different cities, NGOs, and other entities.

USDA to Crack Down on False Labeling in Meat and Poultry Industry

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will be cracking down on false claims on labeling of meat claiming it is “grass-fed,” “free-range,” “raised without antibiotics,” or “no antibiotics ever.”

The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has received petitions, comments and letters asking the agency to boost oversight of marketing claims made by the meat and poultry industry, the agency said Wednesday in a news release. The agency will then determine if it needs to do more rulemaking on the industry’s claims.

Ohio U.S. Senator JD Vance Vows to Block Biden’s DOJ Nominees until Garland Stops ‘Harassing’ Political Opponents

June 15, 2023 Just the News

Sen. J.D. Vance says he is going to place holds on all of President Joe Biden’s Justice Department nominees following former President Donald Trump’s federal indictment for his handling of classified materials.

Vance, an Ohio Republican, wrote Tuesday on Twitter that he will halt all Justice nominees until Attorney General Merrick Garland “stops using his agency to harass Joe Biden’s political opponents.”

Multiple Target Stores Nationwide Receive Bomb Threats from Left-Wing Terrorists over ‘Betrayal of LGBTQ+ Community’

Multiple Target stores across the U.S. have received bomb threats from LGBTQ+ terrorists in recent days, apparently over the retail giant’s decision to remove some of its Pride Month merchandise.

Over the weekend, Target stores located in Oklahoma, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Louisiana, Ohio, Utah, and Pennsylvania received bomb threats that mirrored those made previously in Ohio, Utah and Pennsylvania, according to the Washington Post.

Commentary: Trump Should Fight Fire with Fire and That’s Exactly What He Says He Will Do

Fight fire with fire.

That was the message of former President Donald Trump to his supporters in Bedminster, N.J. on June 13 following his arraignment in federal court in Miami, Fla. for alleged violations of the Espionage Act over documents that Trump retained following his presidency that he says he declassified, warning that the “seal is broken.”

GOP House Settles Rift, Returns to Conservative Agenda in Passing Bill Protecting Gas Stoves

June 14, 2023 Just the News

The rift with within the Republican House Conference that shut down floor votes last week appears to have been resolved enough for the chamber to resume voting, with the Tuesday passage of a marquee conservative bill to stop Biden administration initiatives to further regulate gas-powered stoves.

The Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act passed 248-180, after failing to get a final vote last week because 11 conservative-leaning conference members – in a nearly unprecedented move – blocked a preliminary procedural vote, essentially over what they considered House GOP leadership’s mishandling of the debt-ceiling agreement with Democrat President Joe Biden.

Massachusetts Middle School Students’ Protest of Pride Celebration Draws Uproar

June 14, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

School officials and parents of LGBTQ students in Burlington, Massachusetts, are calling for greater diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training in the district following the actions of some middle-school students who organized a counter-protest of a “pride” celebration by reportedly tearing down “pride” stickers and chanting, “USA are my pronouns.”

Parents Furious at Wyoming School Board for Pushing LGBT, Sexual Content on Kids Despite Them ‘Opting Out’

June 14, 2023June 14, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

A district-wide library book policy has parents accusing a Wyoming school board of failing to stop the “sexualization” of their kids, according to ABC13 News.

Laramie County School District No. 1 (LCSD) has given parents the option to opt their kids out of particular LCSD library books by filling out a form asking them the reasoning for the request. During the school board of trustees meeting on June 5, the school board was criticized for how it handled library resources, causing parents to call for a change in the library book policy.

Tennessee U.S. Rep Mark Green Says He Has Evidence That Some Chinese Migrants Are Tied To CCP, PLA

June 14, 2023 Admin

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green possesses evidence that some Chinese migrants that crossed the southern border illegally and were released into the U.S. under the Biden administration are connected to the Chinese Communist Party and China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), he told the Daily Caller News Foundation during a press conference Wednesday.

‘Fake and Fabricated Charges:’ Trump Denounces Federal Indictment in Primetime Address

June 14, 2023 Admin

Former President Donald Trump denounced the federal case against him as “the most evil and heinous abuse of power in the history of our country” during a primetime speech from his Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

Biden to Extend Stay for More than 300,000 Immigrants: Report

June 14, 2023June 13, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

The Biden administration will extend the temporary legal status of roughly 337,000 immigrants from El Salvador, Nicaragua, Nepal and Honduras, CBS News reported Tuesday.

Immigrants from El Salvador, Nicaragua, Nepal and Honduras will be allowed to stay and work in the country for an additional 18 months under Temporary Protected Status (TPS), according to CBS News, which cited two current and former U.S. officials. TPS is granted due to either armed conflict, environmental disaster, an epidemic or other “extraordinary” conditions, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Inflation Rises Slightly in May

June 14, 2023 The Center Square

The latest federal data released Tuesday showed that inflation rose slightly last month.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its Consumer Price Index for May, a federal marker of inflation that rose 0.1% last month, part of a 4% increase in the previous 12 months. Most economists say 2% to 3% inflation is healthy for the economy.

Gallup Poll: Over Two-Thirds of Americans Oppose Transgender Participation in Sports

The latest poll from Gallup suggests that an overwhelming majority of Americans remain opposed to so-called “transgender” people participating in sports for the wrong gender, despite ongoing social and political efforts to normalize such practices.

As the Washington Free Beacon reports, the poll shows that a staggering 69 percent of respondents believe people who identify as “transgender” should remain in the sports that correspond to their actual biological gender. This marks a 7-point increase from a similar survey taken two years prior.

Report: Biden Administration Pushing LGBTQ Ideology Abroad to Alter Foreign Cultures and Eliminate Religious Freedom

June 14, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

A report released Tuesday by faith and family values organization Family Research Council (FRC) details how the Biden administration is not only forcing its LGBTQ agenda within the United States, but also pushing specific policies throughout the world in “a coercive attempt to change foreign cultures and laws” and eliminate “human rights like religious freedom.”

The authors of FRC’s report titled “Exporting LGBT Ideology: The Biden Administration’s Foreign Policy Priority” highlight how Biden has “systematically elevated the importance of LGBT ideology in American foreign policy, utilizing the resources and platform of the U.S. government to promote LGBT policies abroad.”

Commentary: The Founders Wouldn’t Recognize This ‘Justice’ System

Our Founders envisioned a Nation where the rule of law ensures justice for everyone before our legal system. Equal enforcement of our country’s laws, regardless of a citizen’s political affiliation or social status, was the primary hallmark of this system, which, although imperfect, has set a shining example for the rest of the world to follow. Unfortunately, our legal system has been transformed into one in which politics does matter, and personal connections can be the difference between being given a free pass or receiving a guilty verdict.

Commentary: Iowa and Minnesota Are Neighboring States That Show Different Futures for America

June 14, 2023 RealClearWire

There is no Berlin Wall or 38th Parallel separating Lyle, Minnesota, from Mona, Iowa, just 1.4 miles south along 1st Street, but the two towns are under governments with widely diverging visions. Iowa, once a “purple” state that leaned Democrat is now a “red” conservative state, while Minnesota, long a reliable Democrat state, has taken a radical, leftward turn. These neighbors exemplify the different visions for America that its citizens are likely to be offered in 2024.

Commentary: The Meaning of the Stars and Stripes

June 14, 2023June 13, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

by Representative Brad Wenstrup (R-OH-02) “What are you doing to celebrate Flag Day?” It’s a question you probably won’t hear in the checkout line at the grocery store or around the dinner table with friends this week. That’s because, unlike other hallmark holidays of summertime—Memorial Day, Fourth of July,…

Music Spotlight: Anne Wilson

June 14, 2023 Bethany Bowman

As I continued writing my Music Spotlight column, a new name kept popping up: Anne Wilson. In 2022, Wilson won a Dove Award for Pop/Contemporary Song of the Year, “My Jesus.” She won Songwriter of the Year and New Artist of the Year. She also sang a duet with Hillary Scott which won Bluegrass/Country Roots Song of the Year, “Mamas.”

The reason I had never heard of her before is because Anne Wilson, who is 22, has only been singing for a few years.

Federal Prosecutor in Trump Probe Reprimanded in Earlier Case for Secretly Recording Defense Lawyer

June 14, 2023 Just the News

A Justice Department prosecutor who helped secure last week’s indictment of former President Donald Trump was publicly reprimanded by a judge in 2009 for “gross negligence” in connection with secretly taping a defense lawyer and an investigator, an agency source has confirmed to Just The News.

The prosecutor, Karen Gilbert, is now serving as a deputy to Special Counsel Jack Smith, who on Thursday issued the 37-count indictment of Trump.

Glenn Jacobs Commentary: With the Uniparty’s Indictment of Donald Trump, the Die is Cast

When Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon with his army — an act Roman law strictly prohibited — he is reported to have said, “Alea iacta est,” Latin for “the die is cast.” Caesar, one of history’s most brilliant military and political minds, understood there was no turning back, even though the outcome was uncertain and quite possibly catastrophic.

History will question whether, during his occasional moments of lucidity, Joe Biden or his hubristic Justice Department experienced any such epiphany before crossing an American Rubicon, the indictment of a former President and Biden’s chief political rival, Donald Trump.

Illinois Finds 54 Percent Uptick in Abortions One Year After Dobbs Decision