Month: December 2023

Christmas brings us a feast of words and music: songs played 24/7 on some radio stations, classic literature like A Christmas Carol and “A Visit From St. Nicholas,” a stocking full of new children’s books every year along with the classics like How the Grinch Stole Christmas, films enough to watch every day from Advent throughout Christmastide. And that’s not to mention the ubiquitous Nutcracker performances, kids’ plays at churches and schools, and carolers strolling the corridors of nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

Religious Liberty Had Major Court, Legislative Wins in 2023

December 31, 2023December 31, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

Advocates for faith won several major victories this year through the legislature and the court, despite a growing hostility toward religious communities.

There were several examples of anti-religious sentiment over the past year, some of which included an FBI-drafted memo targeting traditional Catholics as “potential domestic terrorists” and the University of West Virginia’s transgender training labeling Christians as oppressors. However, 2023 also boasted several victories for religious Americans in schools, the workplace and the pro-life movement.

Top Story: U.S. Public Pensions Invest over $68 Billion in China

December 31, 2023 Admin

Top Commentary: DEI Resistance Is Advancing

December 31, 2023 Admin

U.S. Public Pensions Invest over $68 Billion in China

December 31, 2023December 30, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

American public pension funds have invested tens of billions into Chinese companies over the last three years, according to a new study.

As reported by Axios, the study from the trade advocacy group Future Union shows that a total of $68 billion has been invested in various private Chinese entities in the last three years as of June 30th. There has been at least one public pension fund with investments in China in 42 different states.

TSNN Featured: Former President Trump Says He’s ‘Finished’ with Ohio Governor DeWine Following Veto of Bill That Would Have Prohibited Genital Mutilation of Children

December 31, 2023 Admin

Honduran Nationals Accused of Running Fentanyl Trafficking Rings in Major U.S. Cities

Honduran nationals are running fentanyl trafficking rings in cities across the western part of the U.S., according to Willamette Week.

Law enforcement agencies have been investigating a cartel using “Honduran nationals to distribute bulk amounts of fentanyl…in the western United States,” according to Willamette Week, citing a criminal complaint filed Dec. 12 in U.S. District Court in Portland. The trafficking operations have been identified in Portland, Seattle, Oakland, Denver and Salt Lake City.

Commentary: DEI Resistance Is Advancing

While it certainly hasn’t been done away with, the anti-quality, anti-fairness, and anti-American “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” hustle is taking some hits. This ugly form of tribalism pits men, whites, and the rich (oppressors) against women, blacks, and the poor (the oppressed.) With a language all their own, DEI-ists have wormed into just about every facet of American life. The government, its schools, the military, and corporations have all embraced the sect.

Agriculture Industry Concerned over the Closing of Rail Lines to Mexico

December 31, 2023 The Center Square

With the ongoing migrant border crisis affecting rail traffic, agriculture officials are worried about future rail line closings.

Grains are once again moving into Mexico after a multi-day closure of two important rail lines, but officials say it could take months to recover.

Commentary: Conservative Methodist Exit Nears End Point

The window that opened in 2019 to allow United Methodist churches to depart their embattled denomination closes in a week or so, at the end of the year, and at this late hour, approximately one-fourth of the member churches that constitute Protestantism’s second-largest denomination have climbed through that window.

In the largest U.S. church schism since Civil War times, nearly 7,700 churches of the roughly 30,000 in the United Methodist Church (UMC) have voted to take their property and go elsewhere.

California’s Free Medi-Cal to Cover Illegal Immigrants amid Healthcare Shortage

December 31, 2023 The Center Square

Beginning January 1, illegal immigrants will be able to qualify for and use Medi-Cal, California’s taxpayer-funded free and low-cost healthcare plan for low-income residents. Experts warn that the state is already facing a healthcare shortage as a new $25 healthcare minimum wage threatens to reduce staffing levels — and doctors who accept Medi-Cal’s low reimbursement rate — even further.

By expanding Medi-Cal eligibility to illegal immigrants between the ages of 26 and 49 under SB 184, an omnibus spending bill, California will add an estimated 700,000 users to the Medi-Cal system at a cost of $2.7 billion per year.

Market Share for Green Bonds Slumped for Another Year Following Backlash

Bonds that consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors for their investors made up just 2% of all bond issuance in the U.S., the lowest point in terms of market share since 2020 after also declining in 2022, according to Bloomberg.

ESG bond issuance as a percentage of the market reached an all-time high in 2021 and is not expected by analysts to reach that same high in 2024 as interest rates make the bond market pricier and backlash to the ESG label inhibits sales, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. ESG has come under fire by conservatives who see it as a left-wing initiative infecting the financial world, most recently leading Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, to send subpoenas to financial firms Vanguard, Arjuna Capital, BlackRock and State Street Global Advisors over alleged ESG collusion, arguing it violates antitrust law.

American Medical Association Restricts Two Scholarships on the Basis of Race

The American Medical Association (AMA) Foundation is offering students at least two scholarships on the basis of race, according to its website.

One of the scholarships is for black, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian and native Alaskan medical students, and the other is for black students only, according to its website. Similar scholarships have come under fire from conservative legal organizations, and one legal scholar said that scholarships selective on the basis of race may violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Bidenomics: Unemployment Insurance Claims Leap as over 1.8 Million Americans Receive Benefits

December 31, 2023 Just the News

State unemployment insurance claims rose last week by 12,000 while the number of people who are receiving benefits reached 1.875 million for the week ending Dec. 16, according to seasonally adjusted data released Thursday by the Labor Department.

Seasonally adjusted initial claims hit 218,000 for the week ending Dec. 23 after rising by 12,000, according to the latest data.

Kentucky U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie Warns States Barring Trump: The House of Representatives Decides Whether to Certify Their Electors

December 31, 2023 Just the News

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., warned states acting to bar former President Donald Trump from the ballot that the House of Representatives will decide whether to certify states’ electors.

ICE Report Unmasks Staggering Toll of Biden Border Crisis: Illegal Alien Cases Hit 6 Million

December 30, 2023 Just the News

The Homeland Security Department agency entrusted with removing illegal immigrants is providing a staggering portrait of America’s border crisis, revealing the backlog of aliens inside the United States awaiting decisions has nearly doubled under President Joe Biden to more than 6 million while arrests of suspected terrorists and violent offenders have also exploded.

Former Ohio Gubernatorial Candidate Renacci Says Governor DeWine is ‘Not a Republican’ Following Veto of House Bill 68

December 30, 2023 Kaitlin Housler

Former Ohio gubernatorial candidate and U.S. Representative Jim Renacci has denounced Governor Mike DeWine’s decision to veto House Bill 68, saying such legislation is “the easiest bill for a Republican Governor to sign.”

Alabama U.S. Senator Tuberville Home Swatted in Auburn

December 30, 2023 Admin

1819News U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) was the target of a swatting call in Auburn on Monday, according to WRBL. According to the outlet, Tuberville was the target of an alleged swatting call at a family-owned residence of Tuberville’s in Auburn on Christmas night. Swatting involves making a prank call to emergency…

Top Story: Journalists, Medical Groups, Big Business Emerge as Biden Allies in Social Media Censorship Case

Journalists, Medical Groups, Big Business Emerge as Biden Allies in Social Media Censorship Case

December 30, 2023December 29, 2023 Just the News

President Joe Biden’s administration is getting some big-name allies as it defends against a landmark free speech infringement lawsuit. Their argument: protecting Americans from indirect censorship by government officials undermines the First Amendment, national security, and public health.

Advocacy groups for journalists, academics, doctors, technologists, and big business, and a powerful senator, made various forms of these arguments in friend-of-the-court briefs to the Supreme Court in the days before and after Christmas.

Top Commentary: Trump Is Correct About Presidential Immunity

TSNN Featured: Ken Chesebro Will ‘Poison’ Case Against Trump If He Testifies in Georgia Election Trial, Anti-Trump Lawyer Warns

Commentary: Trump Is Correct About Presidential Immunity

The media has driven itself into a tizzy in recent days, claiming that despite serving as president of the United States (and being poised to reclaim that office in less than a year’s time), Donald Trump should not be granted the same kinds of immunity and executive privilege that every other chief magistrate enjoyed before him. Showcasing their ignorance of both the Constitution and history, the mainstream media has framed the concept as something of a novel innovation for President Trump’s lawyers, who are advocating for “broad immunity,” implying that no other presidential officeholder has ever made that claim. Nothing could be further from the truth.

New Year, New Laws Coming to Virginia

December 30, 2023December 29, 2023 The Center Square

The new year signals change, specifically new laws which will take effect in Virginia, especially in the health care sector.

The Commonwealth will see a slew of new laws aimed at improving health insurance coverage, recognizing specific out-of-state counseling licenses, streamlining home studies for adoption and changes to the state’s medical marijuana oversite.

Commentary: Biden’s Sliding Poll Numbers

December 30, 2023 RealClearWire

President Biden’s sliding poll numbers have set off alarm signals among Democrats who are beginning to see that he might lose the 2024 election to Donald Trump. Those polls have also gotten the attention of pundits who have confidently said for three years now that Trump could never again win a national election. The polling results published over the past few months suggest otherwise: Trump is currently the favorite to win next year’s election.

The most recent RealClearPolitics Average has Trump leading Biden by 2.6 percentage points, a switch of about four points since late summer when Biden led 45%-43%, and in a long-running decline of seven points for Biden since he won the 2020 election with 51% percent of the popular vote.

Commentary: 50 Years Later, ‘The Exorcist’ Continues to Possess Hollywood’s Imagination, Reflecting Our Obsession with Evil

When the “The Exorcist” premiered 50 years ago, in December 1973, some theatergoers fainted or broke down in tears. A few even vomited.

The film, which cast a young Linda Blair as a girl claiming to be possessed by the devil, was an almost instant success, with moviegoers waiting in line for hours to secure tickets. It went on to gross over US$440 million worldwide.

Commentary: The Battle for Higher Education

December 30, 2023 RealClearWire

Higher education is making news these days. In Congressional testimony, the Presidents of Harvard, MIT, and Penn couldn’t tell whether calling for the genocide of the Jews constituted harassment without knowing the context. The effects of their testimony reverberate.

Days later, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) issued a lengthy report condemning “Political Interference and Academic Freedom in Florida’s Public Higher Education System.” Prominently featured was a detailed complaint about New College of Florida, where I serve as admissions director.

Mayors of Democratic Cities Demand Biden Give Them More Money for Illegal Aliens

Several far-left mayors of major cities in the United States have formed a coalition to demand that the Biden Administration provide them with even more federal funding to deal with the flood of third-world illegal aliens pouring into their cities.

As reported by Breitbart, the mayors of New York City, Chicago, and Denver – Eric Adams (D-N.Y.), Brandon Johnson (D-Ill.), and Mike Johnston (D-Colo.) – held a meeting and released a joint statement calling for Biden to give more resources to the city governments, as all three cities and other so-called “sanctuary cities” continue to deal with the illegal influx.

Oregon Mother Appeals Court Ruling Denying Her Ability to Adopt Children After Not Accepting ‘Gender Ideology’

A mother of five in Oregon appealed a ruling on Dec 13. prohibiting her from adopting children due to her refusal to adopt the tenets of “gender ideology” because of her Christian beliefs, according to a press release.

Jessica Bates wanted to adopt a sibling pair in 2022, but after going through the application process, she was told by Oregon’s Department of Human Services (ODHS) that she would need to support her adopted child’s desire to change his or her sex and to “affirm” their “gender identity.” Bates filed a lawsuit against the state on religious grounds challenging the gender identity policy in Oregon, which an Oregon district court ruled against in November, and Bates appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Europe on Alert for New Year’s Eve Terror as France Deploys 90,000 Cops amid ‘Very High Risk’ of Attacks

The U.S. Sun Fears of terror attacks over New Year’s Eve celebrations have forced officials to ramp up security measures as Europe remains on “high alert.” France is set to deploy 90,000 cops across the country amid a “very high terrorist threat” due to the ongoing conflict in Gaza. A total…

California Secretary of State Keeps Trump on Ballot as Dems Call for His Removal

December 29, 2023December 29, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

California’s Secretary of State has decided to keep former President Donald Trump on the state’s presidential primary ballot as other states are disqualifying him based on the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment.

For his actions in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021, Trump has been disqualified by two states, Colorado and Maine, with the former temporarily reversing its decision pending a ruling from the Supreme Court on the matter. On Thursday, California’s Democratic Secretary of State, Shirley Weber, announced the state’s presidential primary ballot with Trump included.

Commentary: The Anti-Capitalist Attack on Therapy

There is a common criticism that therapy has become too mainstream and commercialized, feeding into snowflake culture. From influencers receiving sponsorships to promote mental health apps to the prominence of online therapy advertisements on social media, it seems like there’s a movement to push therapy on young people who arguably might not need it.

As the substack writer Freya India writes on the matter: “Maybe you’re struggling because [therapy] companies are taking your human need for connection, your normal feelings of stress and sadness, and using all this to sell solutions that leave you more anxious and alone. Because again: what could be more profitable?”

Illegal Alien from Mexico Accused of Raping Unconscious 15-Year-Old Girl

Breitbart News An illegal alien, whom police thought had fled to Mexico, is now accused of raping a young girl in Hamilton County, Tennessee. This month, 21-year-old illegal alien Erik Santillan of Mexico has been arrested and charged with aggravated rape after allegedly raping a 15-year-old girl while she was at a friend’s…

VA Top Story: Virginia Seminary Marks 200th Anniversary by Scrubbing Names Linked to Slavery

Virginia Seminary Marks 200th Anniversary by Scrubbing Names Linked to Slavery

December 29, 2023December 28, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

The Virginia Theological Seminary renamed six of its buildings this fall in what its leaders say is an effort to address the Episcopal institution’s “legacies of slavery and racism.”

The move by the seminary, which celebrated its 200th anniversary this year, comes as part of a larger effort to ensure the campus “welcomes all,” according to its website.

Top Commentary: Our Razor’s Edge

Biden Admin Targets Largest Christian University in U.S.

The Biden administration’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is taking aim at the largest Christian university in the U.S. in a new lawsuit.

Grand Canyon University (GCU) is the largest Christian university in the U.S. with over 100,000 students enrolled and over 85,000 online students as of fall 2022, according to their website. The FTC alleges that GCU engaged in deceptive business practices with its doctoral programs and that it also engaged in illegal telemarketing practices, according to the federal complaint filed in the District of Arizona.

Man Who Allegedly Stabbed Tourists While Shouting He Wanted ‘White People’ Dead Was Released by Judge Just Weeks Prior

A man who allegedly stabbed two tourists at New York City’s Grand Central Terminal on Christmas Day was released by a judge weeks prior to the incident, according to a report by The New York Post.

Steven Hutcherson, an African-American man aged 36, was arrested by city law enforcement authorities for allegedly assaulting a civilian in the Bronx in November, according to the Post. Even as prosecutors sought to have him committed to a psychiatric institution, he was conditionally released on Dec. 12 by Judge Matthew V. Grecio, an appointee of Democratic Mayor Eric Adams to the New York City Criminal Court.

TSNN Featured: Georgia State Representative Who Drafted Voting Law Appointed Superior Court Judge, Setting Stage for Special Election

Colorado GOP Appeals Removal of Trump from Ballot to U.S. Supreme Court

December 29, 2023December 28, 2023 The Center Square

The Colorado Republican Party is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court in a case where the state Supreme Court ruled to remove Donald Trump from the 2024 Republican presidential primary ballot.

The appeal automatically places the former president on the March 5, 2024, primary ballot when certification takes place on Jan. 5, 2024, due to a stipulation in the Colorado Supreme Court ruling, according to a news release from Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold. However, if the U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear the case or if it affirms the Colorado Supreme Court, Trump would not appear on the ballot.

U.S. Consumers Face Higher Prices for Goods as Houthis Continue Attacks Against Commercial Vessels

The Houthi attacks against commercial vessels in the Red Sea are threatening to disrupt U.S. and global markets with delayed shipping times and increased good prices, The Washington Post reported.

The Yemen-based Houthis have launched several attacks since Oct. 7 against vessels in the Red Sea as part of retaliation efforts against Israel and its allies. In an effort to avoid the Houthis, commercial vessels are now taking longer routes to reach their destinations, resulting in delays and higher shipping costs, and ultimately increased prices for consumer goods in the U.S. and across the world, according to the Post.

Despite Backlog of Veterans’ Claims, VA Using Resources to Help Illegal Immigrants

December 29, 2023 Just the News

With hundreds of thousands of veterans’ healthcare claims on backlog at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), top Republicans in the House and Senate are hoping to prevent VA resources from being used to process claims for medical care of illegal immigrants.

According to a July report from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency contracts with the VA to process medical claims reimbursements involving illegal immigrants even though they did not serve in the U.S. military. Medical professionals treat illegal immigrants detained by ICE on site, but when specialized or emergency care is required, they are transported to private providers, according to Fox News. The arrangement between ICE and the VA was outlined in a 2020 memo during the Trump administration, Fox News reported.

Commentary: Our Razor’s Edge