Day: December 26, 2023

Officials Say Border Crisis Tied to Break-Ins Orchestrated by Columbians, Chileans

The Center Square

The border crisis has hit several milestones, with an estimated 10 million illegal entries since January 2021, increased reports of infectious disease spreading, and a crime wave being reported in states nationwide.

A county executive from Long Island, New York, told U.S. House Homeland Security Subcommittee members at a hearing held earlier this month that illegal foreign nationals released into the U.S. by the Biden administration are dealing drugs, stealing cars, burglarizing and committing violent crimes.  

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Parents Speak Out After Their Daughter Was Told to Sleep with a Boy Who Identified as a Girl

Virginia Star Staff
Wailes Family

Parents Joe and Serena Wailes were shocked and horrified to discover that their 11-year-old daughter had been assigned to not only room with, but also share a bed with, a boy on her school trip.

That boy identified as a transgender girl, the Wailes say, and his parents had allegedly told the school district that he was operating under “stealth mode”—meaning that his gender identity was to be kept secret.

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TikTok Data Reveals Content Favors CCP Goals, According to New Study

Virginia Star Staff
TikTok China

The popular video app TikTok seems to be promoting content to align with the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) goals, a Thursday study found.

Hashtag data showed that content sensitive to the CCP is far less popular on TikTok than on its rival, Instagram, accordingto the study by Network Contagion Research Institute and Rutgers University. A comparison between Instagram and TikTok showed that the number of posts about non-sensitive hashtags in the realm of politics and pop-culture was fairly similar based on how many users each platform has, but the number of posts on hashtags for topics sensitive to the CCP was substantially higher on Instagram than on TikTok.

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California to Lose Four Congressional Seats After 2030 Census, Texas and Florida to Gain

The Center Square
Capitol Hill

California is projected to lose four congressional seats after the 2030 Census, with Texas positioned to gain four and Florida to gain three, says the American Redistricting Project based on this week’s new Census data.

According to Thad Kousser, an expert in California and national politics and a professor of political science at UC San Diego, a reduction in California’s congressional delegation could have mixed effects.

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Biden Pardons Thousands of People Convicted of Marijuana Charges on Federal Property

Just the News
Weed Smokers

The White House announced Friday that President Joe Biden would be pardoning thousands of people who were convicted for usage and possession of marijuana on federal property.

The president is also granting clemency to 11 people convicted non-violent drug crimes, according to Fox News.

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Americans Sour on Big Pharma After Pandemic, Opioid Crisis: Poll

Virginia Star Staff
COVID Pfizer

Public opinion on the pharmaceutical industry has declined sharply over the past decade, according to new polling released by Gallup.

The proportion of Americans who believe pharmaceutical companies provide good or excellent services declined 21 points between 2010 and 2023, according to a poll released Monday. Public controversies over COVID-19 vaccines and the opioid crisis have implicated the pharmaceutical industry in recent years.

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Scientists Raise Alarm about ‘Zombie Deer Disease’ in Yellowstone Jumping to Humans

Just the News

Scientists are raising concerns that the chronic wasting disease, known as “zombie deer disease,” discovered in Yellowstone National Park deer may spread to humans.

National Parks Service officials said last month they discovered an adult mule deer buck carcass with chronic wasting disease (CWD) in the Wyoming area of the park, and The Guardian called the disease an “epidemic” in an article Friday.

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The Senate Leaves Behind a Pile of Unfinished Business as It Heads Home for the Holidays

Virginia Star Staff
Congress at Night

The Senate has adjourned for the remainder of the year after failing to negotiate a deal to reform border security in exchange for aid to Ukraine and pass appropriations bills to fund the government.

Republicans in Congress have refused to support a $60 billion aid package to Ukraine during its war against Russia, requested by President Joe Biden unless Senate Democrats permit the passage of conservative border security priorities. After convening the Senate during its holiday recess on Monday, to give time for more negotiations, the Senate adjourned on Wednesday night for the remainder of the year without reaching a compromise, as well as without passing appropriations bills submitted by the House of Representatives to fund the government and a bipartisan railway safety bill.

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Lawyer Sues Wisconsin Bar over Clerkship Program That Allegedly Selects Students Based on Race

Virginia Star Staff
Lawyer Group

A Wisconsin lawyer sued the state bar Wednesday over a diversity clerkship program that allegedly limits eligibility to students who are minorities or who identify as LGBT.

Attorney Daniel Suhr, backed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, filed the lawsuit because he objects to his bar membership dues being used to fund an “unconstitutional program” that selects participants based on protected traits like race. The “Diversity Clerkship Program,” which has offered paid internships to nearly 600 students, is restricted only to students “with backgrounds that have been historically excluded from the legal field,” according to its website.

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Border Patrol Pleads for Help as Record Number of People Flood Southern Border

The Center Square

U.S. Customs and Border Protection encountered a new record number of illegal border crossers in November as the agency pleaded for help from Congress.

Total illegal border crossers encountered along the southwest border in November were 242,418. The majority of apprehensions, 191,113, occurred between ports of entry.

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Commentary: A Glaring Sign of Rot Within the CIA

Virginia Star Staff
CIA Building

In his powerful new book, Neutering the CIA: Why Us Intelligence Versus Trump Has Long-term Consequences, former CIA analyst John Gentry discusses how the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) agenda has harmed national security by elevating the goals of left-wing identity politics as paramount in the selection and promotion of officers. For example, late last month, the Financial Times revealed that a CIA officer posted pro-Palestinian images on her Facebook page and a selfie photo with the caption “Free Palestine.”

The agency officer, later identified as Amy McFadden, reportedly posted at least one of these images to the Internet after the horrific October 7, Hamas attack on Israel in which more than 1,300 Jews were killed by Hamas terrorists, many of them raped and mutilated, and more than 250 taken hostage.

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Virginia Democrat Files Bill to Make Identification Issued by ‘Any Private Entity’ Regulated by Virginia Agencies Count as Voter ID

Tom Pappert
Virginia Del David Reid

Virginia Delegate David Reid (D-Loudoun) filed a bill earlier this month that would include privately-created identification cards as permissible forms of voter identification.

Reid filed HB 26 on December 18 to amend existing Virginia law regarding voter identification to allow “any valid identification card containing a photograph of the voter and issued by any private entity that is licensed or certified, in whole or in part, by the Department of Health, Department of Social Services, Department of Medical Assistance Services, or Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services.”

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Commentary: Eight Conservative House Candidates Who Must Win Their Primaries

Virginia Star Staff
GOP Congress Candidates

The 2024 election cycle will be about many things, from the Biden regime’s overt authoritarianism to retribution against political and legal persecution. President Trump’s comeback candidacy will be a perfect representation of these broader existential issues at the core of the campaign.

But the down-ballot races should be about something just as important as defeating our enemies on the Left. Just as in 2022, the races for Congress should be about an ideological purging of the Republican Party. As the already razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives has proven, a “majority” doesn’t mean much if we are still at the mercy of establishment moderates, RINOs, and outright NeverTrumpers.

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AARP Spent Millions Advocating for New Laws That Likely Benefit a Major Corporate Backer

Virginia Star Staff
Old Person

AARP, an organization that represents the interests of retired Americans, spent tens of millions of dollars promoting provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that likely benefit the bottom line of one of the group’s major corporate backers.

AARP spent more than $60 million between 2019 and summer 2022 advocating for a provision that eventually made it into the IRA allowing Medicare to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies over the prices of certain drugs, according to an article posted on the group’s website. The provisions would require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to negotiate the prices of certain drugs with drug manufacturers starting in 2026.

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Small Businesses, Lawmakers Push Back on Financial Reporting Regulation

Admin
Small Business Owner

A coalition of small businesses, U.S. senators and representatives sent a letter to the Biden administration calling for a one-year delay in a new rule requiring businesses with as few as 20 employees to report financial information about the business’ beneficial owners.

Under the rule, small businesses will be required to report personal information about their owners, board members, senior management and legal representation and could face civil or even criminal penalties for failure to do so.

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Commentary: After Telework Surge, Federal Buildings Remain Largely Empty

RealClearWire
Empty Office

More than two years after the Biden administration called on all federal agencies to create plans to bring employees who teleworked during the COVID pandemic back to the office, the vast majority of Washington, D.C.’s federal buildings are still sprawling expanses of empty, echoing hallways and offices. 

In fact, 17 of 24 federal agencies use an estimated 25% or less of their headquarters’ office capacity, according to an updated survey by the General Accounting Office, a government agency that provides auditing and investigative services for Congress. 

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