Author: Virginia Star Staff

Presumptive Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz directed almost $100,000 in COVID-19 relief funds to an organization specializing in “abortion doula” services, state contracts show.

Walz, the governor of Minnesota, spent almost $2 billion in federal coronavirus relief funds without the approval of the state Legislature, using his emergency powers, according to the Minnesota-based outlet Alpha News.

Former Health Officials Slam FDA Duplicity on ‘Puberty Blockers’ in Light of New Evidence

Former officials in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration condemned what they described as the FDA’s duplicity in allowing off-label use of so-called puberty blockers while loudly condemning the use of far safer drugs to treat COVID-19.

“During the Trump administration, the media falsely accused us daily of ‘politicizing America’s public health agencies.’ Yet the same media is now silent on [Vice President Kamala] Harris and [President Joe] Biden’s FDA’s anti-science, purely political insanity,” Brian Harrison, former chief of staff at HHS and now a member of the Texas House of Representatives, told The Daily Signal in a written statement.

Commentary: An Ancient Faith Grows in Modern Times

As a journalist, it’s easy to turn around copy on any of the public policy and political debates of the day, but I struggle to write about religious issues in a meaningful way. My American Spectator columns detail the usual insanity in the California Capitol and Washington, DC, but what can I say about matters of faith, where my usual tool — reason — isn’t entirely useful?

I grew up Jewish, the son of a Nazi Holocaust survivor. Our religion was important, but I was raised in a secular home where religious observance didn’t reflect any deep expression of faith. That led me on a journey to try to make sense of this inexplicable world.

Commentary: The Link Between Islam and Arab Imperialism

English philosopher Antony Flew once commented that Islam was “best described in a Marxian way as the uniting and justifying ideology of Arab imperialism.”

This is a rather provocative notion, but it’s not as implausible as it seems.

Retired Border Patrol Chief Sounds the Alarm on Kamala Harris Border Crisis ‘Fix’

Rodney Scott and Kamala Harris (composite image)

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign is attempting to cast her as a tough-on-the-border candidate, but a former leader of the Border Patrol is warning the public not to buy it.

The Harris campaign has released a slate of advertisements that claim the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate would “fix the border” and crack down on illegal immigration by increasing the number of Border Patrol agents. However, retired Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott, who led the agency while Harris served as “border czar,” says voters must look at her record to understand how she would really handle border security.

Alex Soros Continues His Father’s Political Operation, and Is Aiming to Shape the 2024 Election

Since The Wall Street Journal first reported that Alex Soros had taken over his father’s political operation on June 11, 2023, he has pumped tens of millions of dollars into an array of efforts to sway the 2024 election, financial disclosures show.

Democracy PAC, the primary conduit through which the Soros family shuffles its wealth into electoral politics, spent roughly $40 million after the WSJ reported that George Soros had passed the reins on to his son, campaign finance records show. The PAC’s spending under Alex Soros signals somewhat of a departure from how his father operated it, with less focus on criminal justice and a greater emphasis on helping Democrats keep the White House.

Commentary: Chronic Absenteeism Is a Problem, but Most Proposed Solutions Miss the Point

Two weeks ago, three unlikely bedfellows joined forces to announce their intention to cut K-12 chronic absenteeism in half by 2029.

The right-leaning American Enterprise Institute, the left-leaning Education Trust, and the nonprofit organization Attendance Works revealed their plan in Washington, DC. The coalition hopes to combat chronic absenteeism, defined as students missing 10 percent or more of school days in a given academic year, by implementing a variety of initiatives, including home visits and similar interventions. Chronic absenteeism rates more than doubled during and after the Covid response. The goal is to reduce these rates to pre-pandemic levels, or around 13 percent.

Commentary: Theater of the Absurd, Harris-Walz Edition

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz de-boarding a plane

H. L. Mencken apparently never quite said that “No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.” He said lots of similar things, however, and I like to think he would have been proud of being the sort of chap to whom people attributed such astringent mots.

He would also, I feel sure, regard the theater surrounding the Kamala Harris-Tim Walz campaign as a test case of the proposition.

Male Students Do Better on ACT, Get Less Financial Aid

The gender gap in higher education is growing – and it may be due to how universities admit students and help them pay for school.

Men earn 42 percent of bachelor’s degrees, 38 percent of master’s, and 44 percent of doctorates, according to the American Institute for Boys and Men.

Christian and Conservative Professors Divided over Louisiana’s New Ten Commandments Law

Political science professors at conservative and Christian colleges are split over the constitutionality of a new Louisiana law that requires all public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom.

The law already faces a legal challenge from several families as well as left-leaning and atheist activist groups while Christian and conservative Louisiana lawmakers applaud the law.

Illegal Migrant Released into U.S. by Biden Admin Allegedly Committed 22 Crimes in Just Six Months

An illegal migrant from Venezuela allegedly committed at least 22 criminal offenses in the span of just six months and still may not be deported, a report from the House Judiciary Committee revealed Wednesday.

Daniel Hernandez-Martinez was released into the U.S. by the Biden-Harris administration in early 2023 before allegedly committing a slew of crimes, the report found. Despite the array of charges, the Venezuelan migrant — who is a suspected member of the “Tren de Aragua” gang — wasn’t detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) until his seventh run-in with the New York Police Department.

Commentary: Forced Abortion Is Part of Dark World of Surrogacy

Brittney Pearson was a mother of four and 24 weeks pregnant when she was diagnosed with breast cancer—a tragic enough situation. To make a bad situation worse, though, the Sacramento native was pregnant as a surrogate mother for a gay couple.

Upon being informed of the cancer diagnosis, the two men demanded that Pearson abort the child.

‘Beholden to Teachers Unions’: NEA and AFT Donated over $135K to Walz, Who Backs Their Far-Left Agenda

Teachers unions are among the largest donors to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Democrats’ vice presidential candidate, giving over $135,000 to his campaigns for governor and, before that, Congress.

Walz, who once taught high school social studies, sides with teachers unions instead of everyday Minnesotans, some parents say.

Commentary: Social-Emotional Learning Is Hurting Students

Social-emotional learning (SEL) has been in vogue in education circles for decades. Following its precepts, teachers, counselors, and administrators encourage students to look inward and focus on their feelings. The result?

A generation of young people who can’t stop thinking about their emotions, leaving them incredibly fragile. But that’s not what many of the experts will tell you.

New Platform Aims to Halt CCP Influence on States

There’s a new tool available for lawmakers and American citizens to combat the threat of the Chinese Communist Party. Today, Heritage Action for America launched the website CounterTheCCP.com, exposing the ways in which China stands to harm America’s sovereignty and offering model legislation and resources to deal with that threat.

“To win the new cold war with China, the United States needs a comprehensive strategy,” Ryan Walker, Heritage Action executive vice president, said in a statement.

Majority of Americans Would Not Advise Family Members to Join Military, Poll Finds

The majority of Americans would not advise their family members to join the military, according to a Defense Priorities/YouGov poll released on Thursday.

Only 37% of respondents would encourage their family to serve in the military, while 63% would not, according to the poll. Several branches of the military have been plagued with recruiting and retention problems in recent years as the Pentagon continues to look for solutions.

Harris Campaign Misrepresents Walz’s Congressional Accomplishments amid Scrutiny of Military Record

The Harris campaign misstated Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s congressional accomplishments in a statement widely reported by the corporate media.

Harris campaign spokesman James Singer falsely said that Walz served as chair of the House Veterans Affairs Committee during his tenure as a federal lawmaker in a statement addressing the “stolen valor” scandal swirling around Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate. Walz was only ever the committee’s ranking member, and the statement was reported by outlets including The Associated Press, Axios, Politico, PBS and NBC News.

Commentary: Battle for the Soul of America

There is a battle for the soul of America.

The first shots of a long simmering revolt were fired when Democratic Party candidate Barack Obama pledged to “fundamentally transform” America five days prior to his winning the presidency in 2008.

Jack Smith Requests Delay in Trump Case to Assess Impact of Supreme Court’s Presidential Immunity Ruling

Special counsel Jack Smith requested a delay Thursday night in former president Donald Trump’s election interference case.

Prosecutors wrote in a filing that the government is still assessing the impact of the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling and asked for the timeline to be pushed back several weeks. Judge Tanya Chutkan previously scheduled a hearing for Aug. 16, but Smith requested permission to instead file a proposed schedule for pretrial proceedings by the end of the month, effectively delaying any action until September.

Venezuelan Dictator Suspends X After Sparring with Elon Musk

Venezuela’s dictator Nicolas Maduro temporarily banned X from the country on Thursday after accusing the platform’s owner, Elon Musk, of using it to stoke opposition against him.

Maduro declared himself the victor in the country’s July 28 elections, despite credible concerns that the race was rigged against his political opposition. Musk has been publicly critical of Maduro’s refusal to step down from power, and Maduro has now suspended X from Venezuela in retaliation.

Kamala Harris Takes Questions from Reporters 18 Days After Becoming Nominee

On Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) finally took questions from reporters after being criticized for dodging the media for nearly three weeks after becoming the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.

As Fox News reports, Harris spoke to journalists on the tarmac at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport after a rally in Michigan. Her unplanned press gaggle took place after former President Donald Trump held an hour-long press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in the early afternoon.

Biden Admin Cuts $85 Million Check to Boost Production of Green Appliance Despite Cratering Demand

The Biden administration is deploying roughly $85 million to boost production of a green appliance despite plummeting consumer demand, according to a Wednesday press release from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

The White House on Wednesday announced nearly $85 million in grants for four producers of electric heat pumps, the DOE wrote in a statement. The announcement comes despite cratering demand for the electric appliance, with total U.S. shipments of the product falling 16 percent in 2023 despite the federal tax credit being raised from $300 to $2,000 in January 2023, according to a study from the University of California Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.

Romanian Businessman Hired Hunter Biden in Effort to ‘Influence’ U.S. Policy, DOJ Says

Hunter Biden in front of US Capitol building (composite image)

A Romanian businessman facing bribery charges paid Hunter Biden in an effort to “influence U.S. policy and public opinion,” according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

During the fall of 2015, Hunter Biden entered into an “oral agreement” with businessman Gabriel Popoviciu, identified as G.P., who wanted the U.S. government to “investigate” the criminal probe against him in Romania, prosecutors wrote in a Wednesday court filing in Hunter Biden’s upcoming tax case. Special counsel David Weiss’ team explained in the filing that Hunter Biden’s business associate would testify about the arrangement during his coming tax trial, slated to begin Sept. 5.

Commentary: The Harris Flop Would Be Scarier than Her Flip

August 9, 2024August 8, 2024 Virginia Star Staff

Joe Biden won in 2020 on the premise that until the November election, he would pose as good ol’ Joe from Scranton and not scare voters.

So Biden talked about “unity” and “competency.” He erased his prior wild primary pandering to left-wing voters about shutting down fracking and opening the border.

Democrats Have Outspent Republicans on Ads in Almost Every Major Senate Race So Far

Sen. Sherrod Brown with Sen. Jon Tester in front of the U.S. Capitol (composite image)

Democrats had outspent Republicans on advertisements in every competitive Senate race except for Ohio as of Wednesday, Axios reported.

Republicans are losing the ad spending race in Pennsylvania, Montana, Wisconsin, Nevada, Arizona and Michigan, though have spent slightly more in Ohio, leading their Democratic rivals by a margin of $158.4 million to $152 million, according to Axios. The Republican spending advantage in Ohio may be slightly misleading as their roughly $6 million spending advantage in Ohio is the product of considerable ad spending during the state’s competitive Republican primary, as reflected in Federal Election Commission records.

Commentary: Left Lets Mask Slip on Plans to Demolish the Supreme Court

August 9, 2024August 11, 2024 Virginia Star Staff

The Left has let the mask slip and made clear that it intends to pack or otherwise decimate the Supreme Court.

President Joe Biden announced last week in a Washington Post op-ed that he would promote a “reform” of the nation’s highest court that would include term limits and new “ethics” rules for justices.

Kamala Harris Sent Agents to Raid Pro-Life Journalist’s Home After She Met with Planned Parenthood, Emails Show

In March 2016, top Planned Parenthood officials in California eagerly emailed one another about an upcoming meeting with the state’s then-attorney general, Kamala Harris. The meeting carried so much import that the Planned Parenthood officials met with Harris’ staff ahead of time “to discuss prep,” emails reviewed by The Daily Signal show.

About two weeks later, on April 5, 2016, California Department of Justice authorities raided the home of a pro-life journalist in his late 20s—David Daleiden, the head of the Center for Medical Progress, who had recently published videos allegedly showing Planned Parenthood officials gruesomely describing how they extract aborted-baby body parts. Daleiden says the videos prove that Planned Parenthood was selling the aborted baby body parts for profit.

Judge Chutkan Faces Long Road to Get Trump Case Back on Track After Presidential Immunity Ruling

August 8, 2024August 7, 2024 Virginia Star Staff

Judge Chutkan with Donald Trump in courtroom (composite image)

District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan will face challenges getting a Trump case that’s unlikely to proceed to trial before the election — or possibly ever — back on track.

After former President Donald Trump’s presidential immunity appeal brought on a months-long delay in the election interference case prosecuted by special counsel Jack Smith, the case finally returned to Chutkan on Friday. Though she wasted no time scheduling a hearing for August 16 and asking both parties to submit a schedule for pretrial proceedings by August 9, legal experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation that efforts to advance the case will meet continued challenges.

Tim Walz Once Received ‘A’ Grade from NRA — Then He Shot Left

Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, was once a champion of Second Amendment rights during his time in the U.S. House, but he quickly abandoned his policy position during his campaign for governor.

Walz represented Minnesota’s 1st district in the House from 2007 to 2018, earning ‘A’ ratings and donations from the National Rifle Association (NRA), according to Forbes. During his 2018 gubernatorial campaign, he began shifting his policy on guns, and when he became governor in 2019, he passed several gun control measures in Minnesota, receiving an ‘F’ rating from the NRA during his campaign as a result, according to The New York Times.

‘Excessively Dangerous’: Federal Court Upholds Maryland’s ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban

Person practicing marksmanship at shooting range with AR-15 style rifle

A U.S. appeals court upheld a Maryland law banning assault-style weapons on Tuesday, ruling that the law does not violate the Second Amendment.

The Firearms Policy Coalition, Second Amendment Foundation, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and several Maryland citizens brought up the case challenging the constitutionality of the state’s “military-style assault weapons” ban, prohibiting the sale and possessions of the AR-15, AK-47 and Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifle, among others. The ban has been in place since 2013 following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that killed 20 children and six adults in Connecticut.

Illegal Migrant Deported for Rape Reentered U.S., Got Convicted of Another Sex Crime

A previously deported illegal migrant convicted of rape reentered the United States and committed another sexual crime, federal authorities say.

Rulaman Lopez-Nolasco, a 42-year-old Mexican national, was convicted in July of unlawful reentry into the U.S. following his apprehension by deportation officers in Massachusetts earlier this year, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Lopez has a criminal record with local and federal law enforcement spanning back decades.

Harris’ VP Pick Said It Was ‘Completely Unacceptable’ for Trump to Bar Transgender People from Military

Presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris’ pick for vice president — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz — once criticized the former Trump administration for barring transgender people from the military, according to a review of public reports.

Former President Donald Trump announced the ban in 2017, citing concerns that the military needed to be focused on achieving “a decisive and overwhelming victory” without being “burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail.” Walz was vocal about his disapproval of the ban during Trump’s tenure, initially decrying it as “completely unacceptable” and warning that prohibiting transgender individuals from joining the military undermines its readiness, according to multiple reports.

Kamala Harris Calls for Reparations Commission Similar to California

August 7, 2024August 6, 2024 Virginia Star Staff

Vice President Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), the presumptive Democratic nominee for president in the 2024 election, has voiced her support for legislation that would create a commission to determine how to hand out reparations to black Americans.

As the Washington Free Beacon reports, the Commission to Study and Develop Reparations Proposal for African-Americans Act was introduced in April 2019 and co-sponsored by Harris, who at the time was still a senator from California. The bill would establish a 13-member commission to “study and consider a national apology and proposal for reparations for the institution of slavery, its subsequent de jure and de facto racial and economic discrimination against African-Americans.”

New American Greatness Poll: Battlegrounds Are a Dead Heat

August 7, 2024 Virginia Star Staff

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump in front of The White House (composite image)

Brand new polling across the battleground states shows that Biden’s exit has tightened the presidential race, with Kamala Harris at a narrow 47-46 percent advantage in a head-to-head matchup, with 7 percent undecided. Harris is also +1 percent in a multi-candidate ballot test across the battlegrounds.

The American Greatness poll was conducted by North Star Opinion Research and interviewed 1400 likely voters, 200 per state in Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and North Carolina.

Commentary: U.S. Government Still Waffling on 9/11 Plotters

August 7, 2024 Virginia Star Staff

This week, we were reminded again of the 9/11 attacks. First, it was reported that U.S. government lawyers and defense counsel reached a plea deal giving life imprisonment to the high-level al Qaeda prisoners that plotted the attacks. While life imprisonment is undoubtedly a serious punishment, 9/11 was a mass murder that cries out for the death penalty. The lack of proportionality to the offense was striking.

Worse, the family members of 9/11 victims were not given any forewarning or a chance to provide input on this decision, even though the government had promised to do so. They instead received an antiseptic letter explaining what happened after the fact.

Harris Released Illegal Immigrant Charged with Unlicensed Driving as San Francisco DA and He Killed Someone Shortly After

August 7, 2024 Virginia Star Staff

Robert Galo in a courtroom (composite image)

An illegal immigrant that then-San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris released from custody after police caught him driving without a license went on to kill a young law student months later with his car, the Washington Free Beacon reported on Tuesday.

Harris’ office dropped charges against Roberto Galo in June 2010 after he was stopped by police for driving the wrong way down a one-way road and arrested for operating a vehicle without a license, according to the Free Beacon. Months later, in November 2010, he slammed his car into 25-year-old law student Drew Rosenberg after making a left-hand turn at a yellow light, driving his car over his body multiple times in an apparent attempt to escape.

Acquitted Former Student Sues Fifteen Groups for Defamation After They Called Him a Rapist

A former Yale University student who defeated claims of rape is continuing his legal battle to seek justice.

Saifullah Khan is suing fifteen organizations including the National Women’s Law Center, the Fierberg National Law Group, and the National Crime Victim Law Institute, along with attorney Jennifer Becker, for “defamation, false light, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and abuse of process action.”

Kamala Harris Makes Several About-Faces on Key Policies as She Maneuvers to Face Donald Trump

In the weeks since Vice President Kamala Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee, the California politician has shifted her policies—sometimes quietly, even under the radar —on key issues to distance herself from her liberal past.

White House officials told Politico that these shifts are part of a strategy to undermine the argument that she is a leftist politician, a reputation they believe stems from the positions she took in the 2020 Democratic primary, but which they say do not truly represent Harris’ positions.

Victor Davis Hanson Commentary: Trump Can Win (or Lose) the Election

The good news for the Trump campaign is that the sure Democratic nominee Kamala Harris is a lifelong California hard leftist at a time when the state is emblematic of progressive nihilism. Her extremist advocacies as a San Francisco county and city attorney, state Attorney General, and senator are on record. And they are consistent with what has virtually destroyed the state.

‘Nonpartisan’ Climate Group Called ‘Science Moms’ Looks Like a Democrat Dark Money Operation

by Robert Schmad An organization spending millions on swing state ads ahead of November’s election brands itself as “non-partisan” despite extensive ties to a major Democrat-aligned dark money network, according to the Washington Examiner. Science Moms, which calls itself a “nonpartisan group of scientists” working to fight climate change,…

LGBT Nonprofit Director Reportedly Used Donor Money to Fund Lavish Lifestyle

The executive director of a large LGBT nonprofit allegedly spent the organization’s money on a lavish personal lifestyle, The New York Times reported on Thursday.

Sarah Kate Ellis, chief executive of GLAAD, an LGBT advocacy group, spent large sums of donor’s money on expenses such as remodeling her home office with a chandelier, renting a Cape Cod property, first class flights and luxury hotels, according to the NYT’s review of expense reports from January 2022 to June 2023. The expenses may be in violation of both the organization’s guidelines and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rules, legal experts told the NYT.

Federal Judge Rules That New Jersey’s AR-15 Ban Is Unconstitutional

On Tuesday, a federal judge ruled that the state of New Jersey’s ban on AR-15 rifles is unconstitutional.

ABC News reports that U.S. District Judge Peter Sheridan’s ruling was directly influenced by the precedent set by the Supreme Court in its landmark ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen in 2022. In that case, the Supreme Court determined that Americans do not have to show “proper cause” when seeking to obtain a concealed-carry permit, overturning a 100-year-old state law in New York.

Half of Americans View Large-Scale Migration to Be a ‘Critical Threat,’ Majority Want More Wall: Poll

Half of Americans believe a large number of migrants entering the country poses a “critical threat” to the interests of the United States, and a majority favor expanding the U.S.-Mexico border wall, a Chicago Council survey found.

Fifty percent of Americans view large numbers of migrants and refugees entering the U.S. to be a “critical threat” to the nation, a survey released Friday by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs found. The poll additionally found wide support for a border wall and the use of U.S. troops to stem illegal immigration.

Virginia Military Institute Alumni File Lawsuit Against Institute’s Official Alumni Association