July 8, 2023 - The Virginia Star

Biden Administration Considers $20,000 Fine, Prison for Boaters Who Exceed 11.5 mph in Florida Gulf

July 8, 2023 Just the News

President Joe Biden’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is moving a step closer to imposing a 10-knot speed limit for large boats in the Florida waters of the Gulf of Mexico, with violations potentially resulting in a felony charge punishable by a $20,000 fine and up to one year in prison. The agency closed a public comment period Thursday on a petition seeking to impose the limit.

Nation’s Largest Teachers’ Union Vows to Embrace Radical LGBTQ Agenda in Government Schools

July 8, 2023July 7, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

Delegates at the National Education Association’s (NEA) annual representative assembly in Orlando, Florida, passed a measure this week that pledges the union will organize against what it perceives as anti-LGBTQ legislation and so-called “book banning,” as it also bolsters protections for LGBTQ teachers.

The measure addresses “the prevalence of discrimination and violence targeted” at LGBTQ individuals, reported Education Week, and includes “mobilizing against legislative attacks, providing professional development on LGBTQ+ issues for educators, and strengthening contract protections for LGBTQ+ educators.”

ACLU Asks New Acting ICE Chief to Close Detention Centers, Stop Local Police from Arresting Illegal Immigrants

July 8, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is urging the new acting chief of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to limit arrests of illegal immigrants made by local law enforcement and close detention centers.

The Biden administration’s ICE named Patrick “P.J.” Lechleitner as the new acting chief of the agency at the end of June. The ACLU wrote Thursday that Lechleitner should close ICE detention centers and stop an agency program that allows local law enforcement agencies to make immigration-related arrests.

Biden Admin to Form Global Coalition Against Fentanyl Without China

July 8, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

The Biden administration is set to form a global coalition of countries to target fentanyl trafficking, but it doesn’t appear that China, a major source of the synthetic drug, will participate.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to host a meeting Friday with representatives from 84 countries to discuss efforts to disrupt the global supply chains of illicit fentanyl, the State Department said Thursday. However, there’s no indication China intends to participate despite the country being the source of precursor chemicals used by the cartels in Mexico to make the synthetic drug.

Biden Admin Asks for Emergency Order Stopping Ban on Big Tech Censorship Coordination

July 8, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

The Biden administration requested an emergency order Thursday night to pause the preliminary injunction issued by a federal judge to prevent officials from communicating with social media platforms to censor protected speech.

The administration asked to immediately halt the injunction, issued by Western District of Louisiana Judge Terry A. Doughty on Tuesday, or to issue a seven day administrative stay while their appeal to the Fifth Circuit, which was filed on Wednesday, is pending. Doughty’s injunction bars federal officials in the Department of Health and Human Services, FBI and other agencies from communicating with social media platforms for “the purpose of urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech.”

Constitutional Law Center Urges over 150 Medical Schools to End Race-Based Admissions Following Supreme Court Decision

July 8, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

A nonprofit law center whose mission is to defend the constitutional rights of Americans has sent a letter to more than 150 medical schools throughout the country, calling upon them to end their race-based admissions policies in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that struck down affirmative action.

Liberty Justice Center, which won a major victory for First Amendment rights in June 2018 after the Supreme Court ruled in Janus v. AFSCME that non-union government workers cannot be required to pay union fees as a condition of working in public service, has now announced efforts to inform the schools of their “legal obligation to end race-based admissions policies” in response to the Court’s recent ruling in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College.

Vivek Ramaswamy Vows to End Birthright Citizenship If Elected

July 8, 2023 Kaitlin Housler

GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy announced his support of ending birthright citizenship via Constitutional amendment for all individuals whose parents have entered the United States illegally.

Judge Orders Attorneys in Trump Documents Case to Get Security Clearance

July 8, 2023 The Center Square

A federal judge ordered all the attorneys involved in former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case to move forward with the process to get security clearance.

U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon told all the attorneys to “complete all outstanding applicant tasks required to obtain the requisite security clearances in this matter” by July 13.

Virginia Reps Introduce Bill That Could Have College Savings Plans Applied to Certifications, Workforce Training

July 8, 2023July 7, 2023 The Center Square

Virginia Reps. Abigail Spanberger and Rob Wittman are leading a bipartisan effort to diversify how college savings accounts can be used.

The Freedom to Invest in Tomorrow’s Workforce Act would increase the number of eligible expenses for 529 savings accounts. Like Roth IRAs, 529 plans are investment accounts allowing individuals to use their after-tax contributions to pay for educational expenses. The earnings from the plans generally aren’t subject to federal or state income tax when used for qualified expenses.

Commentary: SCOTUS Affirmative Action Decision Ignores Elephant in the Room

July 8, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

Growing up in the Jim Crow South, my parents grew up dreaming of a world where they didn’t have to use “colored-only” restrooms, sit in the back of the bus, attend segregated schools, and could sit in restaurants together with other Americans – regardless of their race, creed, or nationality.

They dreamed of equality for all. Yet, almost 70 years after the Supreme Court struck down “separate but equal,” the recent decision to strike down affirmative action makes it clear that many black progressives like Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson – who benefited from the Brown v. Board of Education decision – still view the issues of race and equality through rose-colored glasses.

Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson Calls on Biden to Urge NATO Allies to Meet Their Defense Spending Commitments

July 8, 2023 M.D. Kittle

As President Joe Biden prepares for this weekend’s North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit, U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) is asking the president to hold NATO accountable.

Johnson joined 34 of his Republican colleagues in sending Biden a letter asking that he remind NATO allies to honor their commitment to spend at least 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense.

Interior Department Included Wuhan Lab Funder on Early COVID Pandemic Research Team

July 8, 2023 Just the News

Officials at the U.S. nonprofit that passed taxpayer money to the Wuhan Institute of Virology – whose coronavirus bat research is now suspected by the FBI to be the source of the pandemic – helped the Interior Department research possible transmission of COVID-19 between humans and North American bats, according to newly released government memos.

Lightly redacted documents provided to government watchdog Protect the Public’s Trust in response to a Freedom of Information Act request show the “fingerprints” of the EcoHealth Alliance “at key points” of the resulting U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) paper in June 2020, the group said Wednesday.

Commentary: As Hiring Slows Down, So Does the Economy

July 8, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

The U.S. economy added 209,000 jobs in June, according to the latest establishment survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, less than expected as 306,000 were added in May, as hiring slowed down nationwide. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate remained about the same at 3.6 percent.

Historically, when hiring slows down by establishments, that usually coincides with economic slowdowns and recessions. In the recent cycle, the 2020 and 2021 recovery from Covid notwithstanding, hiring peaked at about 5.2 percent annualized increase in Feb. 2022. Now, it’s down to 2.5 percent.