Month: October 2023

by Will Kessler As long as President Joe Biden continues his high government spending policies, inflation is not likely to return to previously normal levels without seeing economic repercussions, according to experts who spoke to the Daily Caller News Foundation. The last time the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a…

TSNN Featured: New Poll Shows Trump Leads Biden in 5 of 6 Battleground States with RFK Jr. on the Ballot

October 17, 2023 Admin

Federal Judge Won’t Hire Clerks Who Signed Letters Defending Hamas

A federal judge recently announced he would not hire law clerks who signed letters defending the actions of Hamas.

In response to a letter released by student groups at Harvard blaming Israel for Hamas’ attacks, U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Matthew Solomson (pictured above) wrote in an October 11 LinkedIn post that he would “refuse to credential anyone who supports or even remotely sympathizes with terror in the form of a modern day pogrom.” Student groups at universities across the country, including Columbia University, Yale University and George Washington University, released statements and held protests in support of Palestine.

Back Off: Goochland CA Caudill Tells The Virginia Star He Won’t Kiss Sheriff’s Ring

October 17, 2023 Neil W. McCabe

The Republican Goochland County commonwealth’s attorney running for another four-year term told The Virginia Star his feud with Sheriff Steven N. Creasey has political significance but has not hindered his ability to prosecute crimes in the county.

The trouble started in the 2019 election, said D. Michael Caudill, who faces Creasey’s endorsed candidate, attorney John Lumpkins, in the general election.

Commentary: Troubling Ballot Chicanery in Virginia Elections Requires Immediate Action

October 17, 2023October 16, 2023 Admin

In a chilling reminder that the integrity of our voting process is under constant attack, there is a serious violation of electoral law under way right now in the Elections Office of Fairfax County, Virginia. The Fairfax County Registrar, Eric Spicer, has allowed a candidate for school board to appear on the ballot although she failed to submit proper petitions with sufficient signatures. Immediate action is required by the county Electoral Board to disqualify her.

Commentary: If the Elections Were Held Today, Trump Would Defeat Biden – and Democrats Can’t Stand It

October 17, 2023October 16, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

Few outside some bitter Republican circles are still arguing that Donald Trump can’t win the 2024 election. What was conventional wisdom a few months ago has fallen to pieces. Trump has already won the primary, not that Republicans have any reason to regret it: he is outperforming Joe Biden in the polls, despite being indicted four times, a remarkable feat that only Trump could pull off. Notably, Trump ran far behind Biden in 2020, when Trump barely “lost,” something that enraged many liberals at the time.

Home Sales Decline to 2008 Levels as Record Mortgage Rates Take Their Toll

The U.S. real estate market is on track to sell the least number of homes since 2008, when Americans were engulfed in the subprime mortgage crisis and the Great Recession, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The number of total existing-home sales is projected to reach only 4.1 million by the end of 2023, the lowest since around 2008, when the world was embroiled in a global financial crisis, despite a higher U.S. population, according to the WSJ. Mortgage rates are currently at their highest point since the year 2000, with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging 7.57 percent, bringing purchasing demands for housing to a three-decade low, according to Freddie Mac.

Donald Trump Takes a Commanding Lead in Third-Quarter Fundraising for 2024 Presidential Candidates

Third-quarter fundraising numbers released Sunday provide a glimpse into the strengths of the 2024 Republican presidential campaigns as the primary season is fast approaching.

Former President Donald Trump out-raised the entire GOP primary field, followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and conservative businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, according to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) third-quarter filings. Trump also enters the year’s final fundraising quarter with the most cash on hand, with South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott next in line, followed by DeSantis and Haley.

Obama-Appointed Judge Partially Grants Biden DOJ’s Proposed Gag Order On Trump

A federal judge limited the scope of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) proposed gag order for former President Donald Trump after raising concerns during a hearing Monday..

Florida Brings Home Nearly 300 Americans Stranded in Israel

October 16, 2023 The Center Square

Within two days of announcing Florida would arrange transportation for Americans stranded in Israel and bring them to Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis welcomed home nearly 300 Sunday night.

Rep. Matt Gaetz: Rep. Hakeem Jeffries Is ‘Just a Frontman,’ Pelosi Still Leads House Democrats

Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz said Sunday that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is “just a front man,” and that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “still rules with an iron fist,” during an appearance on Newsmax.

Top Story: White House Bets $7 Billion on Hydrogen Hubs

Commentary: Bread and Circuses, Then and Now

Group of GOP Governors Call on the Biden Administration to ‘Radically Change Course’ and Support Israel

October 16, 2023 Kaitlin Housler

A group of Republican governors have sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging his administration to “project American strength” by fully supporting Israel’s “unquestioned right to respond and defend Itself” following Hamas’ terrorist attack on the county last weekend.

TSNN Featured Story: AZGOP Files Motion to Intervene to Stop 14th Amendment ‘Lawfare’ Lawsuit Seeking to Boot Trump from the Ballot

White House Bets $7 Billion on Hydrogen Hubs

October 16, 2023 The Center Square

The Biden administration cut a $7 billion check on Friday to launch its vision for a hydrogen-fueled future.

The money augments $40 billion in private investment to build seven hydrogen hubs across the nation that will decarbonize transportation and industrial manufacturing, slashing 25 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year.

Jack Smith’s Proposed Gag Order Against Trump Isn’t as Narrow’ as Claimed, Legal Experts Say

October 16, 2023October 15, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office’s requested gag order against former President Donald Trump is not quite as “narrowly tailored” as he claimed, legal experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Sept. 15 to issue a “narrowly tailored” gag order barring Trump from making public statements that are “disparaging and inflammatory, or intimidating” toward any “party, witness, attorney, court personnel, or potential jurors,” as well as any statements “regarding the identity, testimony, or credibility of prospective witnesses.” The scope and circumstances surrounding the request — which a hearing scheduled for Monday will consider — are far outside what is normal in criminal trials, experts told the DCNF.

Crime Rate in Nation’s Capital Continues to Climb

October 16, 2023October 15, 2023 The Center Square

Crime rates per capita in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region, including Northern Virginia and Maryland, have increased 9% in 2022 to a rate of 18.3 crimes per 1,000 residents, according to an annual crime report released Wednesday, with 83,000 more calls for service to primary agency participants in the study.

Russell Hamill, police chiefs committee chair for the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, shared the findings of the council’s annual Report on Crime and Crime Control at a meeting with the board. The report reflects data from 17 cities, counties, or entities in Maryland and 18 in Virginia, as well as from law enforcement in the district.

Commentary: Bread and Circuses, Then and Now

October 16, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

For decades, I taught a course in European economic history that stressed the Industrial Revolution and its aftermath and spent a couple of lectures talking about the Roman Empire and other ancient civilizations. The Roman Empire lasted over 500 years (by some accounts, even longer) but ultimately declined and fell. Is America and its world leadership (rather than “empire”) undergoing a remarkably similar decline? Is history eerily repeating itself well over a millennium later?

Doctor Asked for Grant to Study Trans Hormones on Rats, Admits ‘Severe Lack’ of Research, Emails Show

October 16, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

Dr. Walid Farhat, a professor of Urology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, applied in April for a grant to study the impact of cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers on prepubescent rats, acknowledging the research on the potential side effects is “severely lacking,” according to emails obtained through a Daily Caller News Foundation Freedom of Information Act request.

Farhat, who is also chief of the division of Pediatric Urology at the UW’s School of Medicine and Public Health, applied to the Wisconsin Partnership Program (WPP) for a research grant to study the potential side effects of cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers on “prepubertal male and female” rats into adulthood, according to an April email. The application claimed that the study would help close the gap in research on minors receiving transgender hormone therapy, which Farhat maintained was “relatively safe,” and criticized the attempts to withhold access to the medication.

‘Bloodbath:’ New Zealand Voters Reject Liberal Party in Pivot Away from Authoritarian ‘Lockdown’ Regime

The voters of New Zealand spurned the liberal Labour Party in Saturday’s national elections, knocking them into the minority and electing a conservative coalition led by the National Party.

Freshly Launched Search Engine Allows Users to ‘Take Back the Power’ in Online Searches

October 15, 2023 Just the News

A new search engine launched titled “Luxxle” prides itself on giving users more power when it comes to searching up content and more privacy.

Republican Jeff Landry Wins, Flips Louisiana Governor Mansion amid Crowded Primary

Washington Examiner Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry has won the Louisiana governor’s race, flipping the governor‘s mansion red for the first time in eight years. Landry, 52, defeated a large field of at least 14 candidates and won the state’s “jungle primary” with over 50% of the vote, eliminating the need for a runoff election between the…

Top Story: Social Security Recipients to Get a 3.2 Percent Benefits Increase in 2024

TC: Commentary: Our Republic Endures Only When Political Enemies Can Retire in Peace

Poll: Support Declines for Political Involvement by Corporate America

A new survey shows that more Americans are turning against efforts by big corporations to get involved in the political process and advocacy for major political issues.

As reported by Axios, the new poll from the Public Affairs Council shows that 57% of Americans support major companies getting involved in the issue of race relations, compared to 66% who supported such efforts last year. On the issue of abortion, only 36% of Americans support the input of big corporations, down from 41% in 2022.

Gender Identity Proponents Block Biological Sex Challenges

October 15, 2023 Just the News

Proponents of the importance of biological sex to sports, science and law want to explain to critics and undecideds why gender identity is not a substitute. Some of their critics are working to ensure they can’t get a hearing.

It’s not just former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines, now in a spat with Pennsylvania State University over whether she was ever approved to speak on campus for “Real Women’s Day” on Oct. 10, a date chosen for its Roman numerals that mirror women’s XX chromosomes.

‘Woke’ and ‘Sexual’ Books Found in 2nd Grade Classroom Library in Fountain Hills

Commentary: Another Benefit Afforded Illegal Immigrants is All-Important Credit Protection

The Biden Justice Department along with their cohorts at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) have broken the logic barrier once again as they issued a statement saying illegal immigrants cannot be discriminated against in getting credit.

What?

Commentary: California Launches New ‘Ebony Alert’ Searches Only for Black Youths

The 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides all Americans with “the equal protection of the laws.” But California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom seems to think this doesn’t apply to the once “Golden” state, since he has now signed into law a bill that creates a special emergency alert — but only for missing black children and no one else.

Called — we’re not making this up — the “Ebony Alert,” the new signal is just for missing black youths between the ages of 12 and 25. The usual “Amber Alert” that has been sounding off Americans’ phones for years applies only to children (of all colors) under 17 years of age. Amber Alerts were started in 1996 after the abduction and murder of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman in Arlington, Texas.

America’s Largest Oil Company Pays Nearly $60 Billion for Pioneer Natural Resources

ExxonMobil announced Wednesday that it has acquired Pioneer Natural Resources in a major deal in the oil and gas industry.

America’s largest oil company is merging with Pioneer, which controls a strong portfolio of assets in the oil- and gas-rich Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico, in an all-stock transaction valued at about $59.5 billion, Exxon announced. The deal could draw antitrust scrutiny from the Biden administration, which has already demonstrated its distaste for long-term fossil fuel development, according to Axios.

Commentary: Our Republic Endures Only When Political Enemies Can Retire in Peace

Sometime during the latter part of the 18th century politics took an unprecedented turn in the English-speaking world: it ceased to be dangerous. Although little appreciated by scholars for its historical consequence, perhaps because it consisted of non-consequences, things that didn’t happen, it was essential to the development of modern democracy. Up to that point, in just about every time and place, politicians who lost high office, or failed in grasping at it, faced the possibility of imprisonment, confiscation, exile or death. Now in Britain and America, then increasingly elsewhere in Europe, and eventually in places even further afield, loss of office, while not pleasant, was no longer lethal.

Mental Health Issues on the Rise in America

Several new studies show that mental health issues are rising in America, contributing to an overall decline in the quality of life, as well as an increase in premature deaths.

As reported by Axios, a study was published last week in JAMA Health Forum, a publication of the Journal of the American Medical Association, saw that in overdose deaths in the United States from 2000 to 2021, a key factor was the education levels of the victims.

ACT Test Scores Fall to 30-Year-Low