Day: January 14, 2024

Iowa’s Republican Caucusgoers Set to Make Their Pick for 2024 Presidential Nominee

Virginia Star Staff

The Hawkeye state has held a caucus every four years since the 1970s and is one of only nine states that still implement the practice, according to WQUAD8, a local ACB News affiliate. Eligible voters who are registered with the party and over the age of 18 will meet at 7 p.m. Central Time on Jan. 15 in schools, churches and event centers across the state after weeks of aggressive campaigning by Republican candidates.

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Commentary: Patriotism, Gratitude, and Western Civilization

Virginia Star Staff
Western Civilization

Many years ago, I attended West Forsyth High School near Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Though our sports teams then were generally mediocre, at basketball and football games our cheerleaders would inevitably break into a chant: “WEST IS BEST! WEST IS BEST!”

That cheer came back to me while reading “The Decline and Fall of the Descendants of the Roman Empire.”

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House GOP Probes Biden Administration’s Opening of Public Lands to Potential Foreign Ownership

Virginia Star Staff

Republicans on the House Natural Resources Committee have launched an investigation of the Biden Administration’s proposal to open public lands to private ownership, which includes the possibility of foreigners buying such land.

According to Fox News, the effort is being led by Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), who informed the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the investigation’s launch. The proposed rule change from the SEC would allow for a new type of public company, referred to as Natural Asset Companies (NACs), to trade on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

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BlackRock to Make Massive Infrastructure Move to ‘Decarbonize the World’ and Reap Government Subsidies

Virginia Star Staff

BlackRock on Friday reached an agreement to acquire Global Infrastructure Partners for $12.5 billion, a move aimed at advancing the investment giant’s climate objectives and capitalizing on government subsidies, according to statements and reports.

BlackRock is the world’s largest asset manager and is a proponent of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) investing. Both companies share a commitment to decarbonization and BlackRock sees the deal’s timing as opportune, as governments have offered businesses rare financial incentives to build infrastructure, including for green energy projects, according to a press release.

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Johns Hopkins Medicine Backpedals on ‘Privilege’ List, Says Email ‘Contradicts’ Values

Virginia Star Staff

Johns Hopkins Medicine walked back an internal email Thursday that accused straight white men of having unearned “privilege,” a spokesperson confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Johns Hopkins Medicine sent out an email in January saying that multiple groups of people, including Christians and males, have privileges that “favor members of dominant groups.” The email was walked back by a spokesperson who said the list “contradicts” Johns Hopkins’ “values,” and was also walked back in an email by the chief diversity officer of the organization, according to a post on X, formerly Twitter.

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Immigration Case Backlogs Reach Record Levels Despite Big Increase in Spending

The Center Square

The cost of processing applications of immigrants by the Department of Homeland Security has increased from $345 million in 2022 to $765 million in 2023 while the number of pending cases continues to increase.

The number of backlog immigration cases reached 3 million for the first time in November 2023, a 50% increase from the previous year. That increase comes despite the Department of Homeland Security doubling the number of full-time positions to address the issue since the first time in November 2023.

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Virginia Right Help, Right Now Program Exceeds Expectations, Committee Learns

The Center Square
John Littel

In the first meeting of the Senate Education and Health Committee for the 2024 legislative session, Secretary of Health and Human Resources John Littel spoke to the committee, reviewing the department’s current priorities and progress.

A little over a year into the governor’s Right Help, Right Now plan, designed to help address the national mental health crisis as it has manifested in the commonwealth, the program has exceeded expectations in some areas.

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Commentary: Government Funding Is the Likely Culprit for Science’s Major Fraud Problem

Virginia Star Staff
Science Lab

President Biden’s 2024 budget includes over $210 billion directed toward federal research and development, an approximately $9 billion increase from 2023 funding. That might not sound particularly bad—after all, who doesn’t like science and innovation?

But, although seemingly noble, the billions pumped into the US government’s National Science Foundation don’t always translate into finding cures for debilitating diseases, or developing groundbreaking technologies.

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Rand Paul Launches ‘Never Nikki’ Website, Says He Doesn’t Have a First Choice Yet for President

Just the News

GOP Sen. Rand Paul,on Friday launched a website titled “Never Nikki” to urge libertarians not to vote for former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley in his party’s 2024 presidential nomination process. 

“Based on her record and campaign, I don’t see how any thoughtful or informed libertarian or conservative should vote for @NikkiHaley. If you agree, let your voice be heard,” Paul, of Kentucky, wrote on the social media platform, X. 

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Commentary: ‘To Have and to Hold’: Marrying Young and Making It Last

Virginia Star Staff
Marriage

Kate Z. works in childcare and as a part-time barista in my local coffee shop. She’s the oldest of 10 children, with seven brothers and two sisters. Home-educated during elementary school, Kate then entered Padre Pio Academy here in Front Royal, Virginia, a hybrid school which combines homeschooling with three days a week in the classroom. She graduated in 2021 and currently lives in an apartment.

Jesse R. is adopted and the youngest of three siblings. For the most part, he was homeschooled before entering Padre Pio. He also graduated in 2021 and works as a chef de partie in the restaurant of a retirement community. He shares a house with a friend.

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Commentary: Americans Embrace Religion, Reject Religious Bigotry

RealClearWire
People Praying

More than half a century ago, Time magazine famously asked, “Is God Dead?” The black and red cover, the magazine’s first to include only text, sparked countless angry sermons and thousands of letters from readers accusing Time of engaging in tasteless nihilism, Marxist pandering, and outright blasphemy.

The question, which typified the counter-culture movement and the intellectual radicalism of the 1960s, was far off the mark both then and now. The United States has always been and remains a very religious nation despite steep declines in attendance at churches, synagogues, and mosques – trends that have captured far more headlines in recent years than the nation’s enduring faith. America is also a majority Christian nation, though other religious groups and affiliations and those identifying as non-believers are growing.

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Associated Press Paid by Left-Wing Groups to Spin Global Warming Coverage

Virginia Star Staff

The widely-read Associated Press (AP) has received numerous donations from far-left groups, leading to the outlet’s reporting on so-called “global warming” from a clearly left-wing slant akin to the language used by such groups.

As reported by the Washington Free Beacon, the AP received $300,000 in 2022 from the Denmark-based KR Foundation, a nonprofit group which claims to be focused on the “rapid phase-out of fossil fuels,” as well as transforming journalists into “community activists for climate change.” KR further intends to force “U.S. banks out of fossil fuels,” and shut down “some existing [oil and gas] infrastructure.”

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