Category: Uncategorized

U.S. Military Admits Killing 10 Civilians, Targeting Wrong Vehicle in Kabul Drone Strike, Reports

Virginia Star Staff

AU.S. military investigation into a deadly drone strike last month in Kabul found the attack killed 10 civilians and that the targeted driver and vehicle were likely not a threat associated with the ISIS-K terror group, according to several news reports Friday.

The Pentagon had previously said at least one ISIS-K facilitator and three civilians were killed in what Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley had previously called a “righteous strike” on the compound on Aug 29, according to CNN.

The investigation released Friday found everybody killed in the residential compound were civilians, following weeks of speculation about a possible failed drone strike.

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Sparks Fly at Richmond Mayoral Debate Between Stoney and Gray

Eric Burk

The top four candidates for Richmond’s mayor debated in a forum on Tuesday night that saw incumbent Mayor Levar Stoney again defending his record from attacks on all sides. Councilmember Kim Gray and candidate Justin Griffin took turns attacking Stoney for corruption and mismanagement while candidate Alexsis Rodgers suggested that many of Stoney’s best ideas for the future are cribbed from her own platform.

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Minnesota, Virginia Congressmen Propose Constitutional Amendment to Limit Supreme Court Size at Nine Justices

Jason M. Reynolds

U.S. Reps. Collin C. Peterson (D-MN-07) and Denver Riggleman (R-VA-05) said they want to make sure that neither political party can ever pack the Supreme Court.

In a bipartisan joint press release issued Thursday, the representatives said they introduced an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to permanently set the number of U.S. Supreme Court Justices at nine.

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Man Fired for Refusing to Remove ‘Trump 2020’ Hat

Jordan Bondurant

A worker at the Newport News Naval Shipyard was fired recently after refusing to remove a Trump 2020 hat.

Dave Sunderland believes with the November 3 presidential election weeks away, he was unfairly targeted by a superior for wearing a baseball cap showing support for President Donald Trump’s re-election.

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Liberty University Hires Outside Firm to Investigate Jerry Falwell Jr.’s Tenure

Jason M. Reynolds

Liberty University says it is conducting a forensic investigation of Jerry Falwell Jr. a week after he resigned as president.

Falwell resigned last Tuesday after amid conflicting claims about a sexual relationship his wife Becki Falwell had with a business partner, The Associated Press reported. Falwell reportedly participated in some of the liaisons as a voyeur.

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Steven K. Bannon: The Democrats Are the Party of Death and Destruction

Julie Carr

Tuesday morning on the John Fredericks Show, host John Fredericks welcomed Steven K. Bannon to discuss the Democrat’s campaign of death and destruction and the road to victory for Trump.

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FBI Investigates Trump Support Detail Helicopter Shot Mid-Flight Over Virginia

The Associated Press

The FBI is investigating the shooting of a military helicopter during a training mission this week in northern Virginia, injuring one crew member who was aboard, officials said Wednesday.

The Air Force helicopter was flying over Middleburg on Monday when it was shot from the ground nearby, according to authorities. The helicopter made an emergency landing at the Manassas Regional Airport, and federal agents were called to the scene to investigate, the FBI said in a statement.

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Trump Bans Dealings with Chinese Owners of TikTok, WeChat

The Associated Press

President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered a sweeping but unspecified ban on dealings with the Chinese owners of consumer apps TikTok and WeChat, although it remains unclear if he has the legal authority to actually ban the apps from the U.S.

The twin executive orders — one for each app — take effect in 45 days. They call on the Commerce Secretary to define the banned dealings by that time. While the wording of the orders is vague, some experts said it appears intended to bar the popular apps from the Apple and Google app stores, which could effectively remove them from distribution in the U.S.

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Senate Republicans Propose New $1 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Package

Virginia Star Staff

Senate Republicans’ latest COVID-19 stimulus package proposes another round of direct payments to Americans and more enhanced federal unemployment benefits for workers who lose their jobs during coronavirus restrictions.

The $1 trillion package, called the Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection, and Schools (HEALS) Act was released Monday.

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NASA’s Next Mars Rover Sports Brawn, Brains, and Even a Helicopter

The Associated Press

With eight successful Mars landings, NASA is upping the ante with its newest rover.

The spacecraft Perseverance — set for liftoff this week — is NASA’s biggest and brainiest Martian rover yet.

It sports the latest landing tech, plus the most cameras and microphones ever assembled to capture the sights and sounds of Mars. Its super-sanitized sample return tubes — for rocks that could hold evidence of past Martian life — are the cleanest items ever bound for space. A helicopter is even tagging along for an otherworldly test flight.

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Swing Voters in Michigan Focus Group Say They Are Voting for Trump, Call Biden a ‘Puppet:’ Report

Virginia Star Staff

Former Vice President Joe Biden is not mentally fit for the presidency, and he would likely become a “puppet” for the “deep state,” several Michigan of swing voters said during an Axios focus group session released Monday.

The focus group included nine people who voted for former President Barack Obama in 2012 but voted for President Donald Trump in 2016. Seven of the nine swing voters said would vote for Trump in November’s election, Axios noted in a report Monday on the group.

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New Durable-Goods Orders Rise Again in June

Virginia Star Staff

New orders for durable goods posted a second consecutive month of rebound in June, rising 7.3 percent following a gain of 15.1 percent in May. The two gains followed drops of 18.3 percent in April and 16.7 percent in March. If transportation equipment is excluded, new orders for durable goods increased 3.3 percent in June following a 3.6 percent rise in May. Durable-goods orders had been holding above the $200 billion level since May 2011 before posting sharp declines in March and April (see first chart). New orders for June are back above the $200 billion threshold, totaling $206.9 billion, but are still 21.9 percent below June 2019.

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Democrats Seek Coronavirus Aid Bill Provision to Limit Federal Agents from Patrolling Cities

Virginia Star Staff

Senate Democrats are planning to insert a provision in the coronavirus relief bill that would place restrictions on the Trump administration’s ability to send federal agents to help quell protests in cities across the country.

The provision would require federal agents to identify themselves, use marked vehicles and stay on federal property rather than patrol city streets, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday, according to NBC News. Local officials including mayors and governors would need to approve the use of federal agents patrolling streets.

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Christopher Nolan’s ‘Tenet’ Delayed Indefinitely by Virus

Virginia Star Staff

Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” which had hoped to herald Hollywood’s return to big theatrical releases, has yet again postponed its release due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Warner Bros. said Monday that “Tenet” will not make its August 12 release date. Unlike previous delays, the studio this time didn’t announce a new target for the release of Nolan’s much-anticipated $200 million thriller.

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Alex Trebek Expects to Mark Two-Year Cancer Survival in 2021

Virginia Star Staff

Alex Trebek says he’s responding exceptionally well to treatment for pancreatic cancer and expects to mark his two-year survival next February.

His doctor has said he’s counting on that milestone, the “Jeopardy!” host said, “so I expect to be around ‘cause he said I will be around. And I expect to be hosting the show if I am around.”

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Poland’s Populist President Duda Edges Euro-Centric Challenger Trzaskowski, Earns Second Term

The Associated Press

Polish President Andrzej Duda declared victory Monday in a runoff election in which he narrowly won a second five-year term, acknowledging the campaign he ran was often too harsh as he appealed for unity and forgiveness.

The close race followed a bitter campaign between Duda and Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski that was dominated by cultural issues. The government, state media and the influential Roman Catholic Church all mobilized in support of Duda and sought to stoke anti-Semitism, homophobia and xenophobia in order to shore up conservative support.

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Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham Says He’ll Grant Request For Mueller Testimony

Virginia Star Staff

Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday he will approve Democrats’ request to invite Robert Mueller to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee after the former special counsel published an op-ed in The Washington Post criticizing President Donald Trump’s decision to commute the prison sentence for Roger Stone.

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Analysis: President Trump Was Correct About the Rapid Economic Rebound Post-Shutdown as Another 630,000 Americans Come Off Unemployment Benefits

Virginia Star Staff

Another 630,000 Americans came off continuing unemployment claims the week ending June 27, according to the latest unadjusted data from the U.S. Department of Labor, proving President Donald Trump is right about the economy rapidly recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic state-based shutdowns.

Since the week ending May 9, unadjusted continuing unemployment claims have dropped from 22.8 million to 16.8 million the week ending June 27, a massive turnaround of 6 million Americans who temporarily found themselves on unemployment benefits but then rapidly came off of it on a net basis.

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Kentucky Democrats Still Looking for the Winner in Last Week’s Primary

The Associated Press

One of Kentucky’s most unpredictable political races in years is headed toward the wire Tuesday, but it’s taking a full week after the June 23 primary to sort out a possible photo finish in the Democratic U.S. Senate contest.

Absentee ballots that stacked up amid the coronavirus pandemic have delayed the vote count in the neck-and-neck race between progressive candidate Charles Booker and establishment-backed Amy McGrath. Both are vying for the chance to take on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who coasted to victory in the GOP primary in his bid for a seventh term.

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Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt Seeks Larger Event for Trump’s Tulsa Rally

The Associated Press

So many people have expressed an interest in attending President Donald Trump’s rally Saturday in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that the governor said he’s asked the campaign to consider a larger, outdoor venue to accommodate them.

Gov. Kevin Stitt said Monday after talking with Trump and Vice President Mike Pence that nearly one million people have requested tickets to the event. Some Trump supporters have already started waiting in line outside the 19,000-seat BOK Center in downtown Tulsa.

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Voice of America Director Amanda Bennett, Deputy Sandy Sugawara Resign as Trump-Appointed Chief Takes Over

The Associated Press

The director of U.S.-funded Voice of America and her deputy resigned Monday following recent clashes with the Trump administration that have sparked fears for its independence.

Amanda Bennett and Deputy Director Sandy Sugawara announced they were leaving the organization as Trump ally and conservative filmmaker Michael Pack takes over leadership of the agency that oversees VOA.

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Supremes Revive Permit for Pipeline Under Appalachian Trail

The Associated Press

The Supreme Court on Monday paved the way for a critical permit for a proposed natural gas pipeline that would cross under the Appalachian Trail, siding with energy companies and the Trump administration.

The justices ruled 7-2 to reverse a lower court ruling that had thrown out the permit for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. It would bring natural gas from West Virginia to growing markets in Virginia and North Carolina. Its supporters say the pipeline would bring economic development, thousands of jobs and reduced energy costs for consumers.

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House Republicans Seek Probe of Chinese Communist Party Investment in US Visa Program

Virginia Star Staff

The top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee is asking the Government Accountability Office to review whether members of the Chinese Communist Party have exploited a program that allows foreigners to obtain green cards by investing in businesses in the United States.

Reps. Jim Jordan and Guy Reschenthaler sent a letter Monday to Gene Dodaro, the comptroller general of the Government Accountability Office, inquiring whether the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its members have used the EB-5 program to gain a foothold in the United States.

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Wall Street Veers Higher on Fed Plan to Buy Corporate Bonds

The Associated Press

Stocks swung solidly higher on Wall Street in afternoon trading Monday after the Federal Reserve said it would begin buying individual corporate bonds, the central bank’s latest move to prop up volatile financial markets through the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

The S&P 500 was up 1% after being down as much as 2.5% shortly after trading began in New York. The gains followed sharp losses in Asia and more moderate ones in Europe. Worries were on the rise that new waves of coronavirus infections around the world could derail the swift economic recovery that Wall Street had seemed sure just a week ago was on the way.

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Kentucky Governor Beshear Participates in Jefferson Davis Statue Removal from State Capitol

The Associated Press

  FRANKFORT, Kentucky (AP) — Having led the push to take down a statue of Jefferson Davis from the Kentucky Capitol, the state’s governor had a ceremonial role Saturday in its removal from the place it stood for generations. Gov. Andy Beshear pushed the button to a rig that lifted…

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Top FBI Lawyer Who Authorized Carter Page Surveillance Forced to Resign

Virginia Star Staff

The FBI lawyer who signed a surveillance order against former Trump aide Carter Page that the Justice Department has deemed invalid submitted his resignation on Friday, the FBI said.

Dana Boente, the FBI general counsel, has recently come under scrutiny over his role in the various investigations against former Trump advisers, including Michael Flynn and Carter Page.

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Sen Ron Johnson Considers Subpoenas for Clinton Cronies Who Peddled a Second Trump Dossier

Virginia Star Staff

Sen. Ron Johnson, the Republican chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, is weighing subpoenas for two longtime Hillary Clinton associates who peddled a dossier of allegations about Donald Trump that mirrored those in the infamous report compiled by Christopher Steele.

Johnson seeks documents and testimony from Sidney Blumenthal and Cody Shearer, the two Clinton cronies, and 33 other witnesses as part of a sprawling probe of the FBI, State Department and other agencies.

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Ellison Says Black People in Minneapolis Have Reason to Fear and Distrust Local Police, Claims MPD Has ‘Endemic Problem’

Anthony Gockowski

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said during an interview Sunday morning that he believes African-Americans in Minneapolis have reason to distrust and fear their local police.

“Sadly, yes. There is a history that has been repeated time and time again. I want to say that many officers are great people. I know so many of them and I think the chief is an extraordinary person, and the mayor and the council deserve a lot of credit for appointing Mr. Arradondo, but it is an endemic problem in the Minneapolis Police Department,” Ellison said on Fox News Sunday.

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National Security Adviser ‘Wouldn’t Be Surprised’ if China Steals US Coronavirus Vaccine

Virginia Star Staff

by Jason Hopkins   White House National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien on Sunday suggested that the Chinese Community Party would very likely try to steal American developments on a coronavirus vaccine. During an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” O’Brien predicted that the United States would be the first country…

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Industry Officials: Deregulation Helps Freight Industry Thrive Without Federal Bailout

Virginia Star Staff

After $3 trillion in federal stimulus money went to individuals, corporations, hospitals and numerous industries, the Class 1 freight industry has maintained its transportation operations and provided critical resources nationwide without asking for, or receiving, federal taxpayer money.

Other industries and lawmakers can look to how the freight industry has weathered the economic downturn and coronavirus restrictions without receiving any federal bailout money, analysts note.

“The freight rail industry is one of the most cost-effective and efficient transportation networks in the world,” the American Railroads Association (ARA) argues. “Fueled by billions of dollars in annual private investment – $25 billion on average – railroads maintain and modernize the nation’s nearly 140,000-mile private rail network to deliver for America.”

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Illegal Aliens Can Begin Applying for Cash Assistance in California

Virginia Star Staff

by Jason Hopkins   Illegal aliens can apply for direct cash assistance from the California state government as of Monday, marking the implementation of the first relief program of its kind. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, announced in April the launch of The Disaster Relief Fund, a $125 million coronavirus relief program…

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New Poll Shows Overwhelming Support for Candidates Promising to ‘Make America Self-Sufficient’

Virginia Star Staff

A new Arizona opinion poll shows overwhelming public support for a “plan to make America self-sufficient” by producing more food, energy and medicine at home.

In the statewide public opinion poll, conducted by OH Predictive Insights, 75 percent of respondents said that they would be more likely to support a candidate that had a plan to make the United States more self-sufficient in those three areas.

The question had majority support from all demographics, including gender, age and region groups.

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Michigan Gov. Whitmer Refuses to Apologize for Coronavirus Restrictions, Says ‘I’m Not Changing the Way I Run This State’

Virginia Star Staff

Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Monday that she will not change the way she runs Michigan during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Michigan governor discussed her coronavirus restrictions and the protests that have erupted against her executive orders during an interview with Fox News.

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Senator Lindsey Graham Sets Vote to Subpoena Comey, Brennan and Dozens More in Oversight of Crossfire Hurricane

Virginia Star Staff

The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on June 4 whether to authorize subpoenas for documents and testimony from more than 50 current or former government officials, including James Comey and John Brennan, as part of the panel’s investigation into abuse of the surveillance process during Crossfire Hurricane.

The committee will debate and vote June 4 on whether to issue the subpoenas, said Sen. Lindsey Graham, the chairman of the Judiciary panel.

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State Department Inspector General Is Fired, Was Investigated for Mishandling Sensitive Information

Virginia Star Staff

President Donald Trump fired Steve Linick, the State Department’s inspector general, on Friday night, sources told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Trump notified House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that he was removing Linick from office, effective in 30 days. He said in the letter that “it is vital that I have the fullest confidence in the appointees serving as Inspectors General.”

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John Brennan Says He Is Willing To Meet With Prosecutor Investigating Origins Of Russia Probe

Virginia Star Staff

Former CIA Director John Brennan said Friday that he has yet to be interviewed by the federal prosecutor investigating the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, but that he is willing to do so and has “nothing to hide.”

“I feel very good that my tenure at CIA and my time at the White House during the Obama administration was not — that was not engaged in any type of wrongdoing or activities that caused me to worry about what this investigation may uncover,” Brennan said in an interview with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes.

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Republican Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Cut Waste from Coronavirus Bill

Virginia Star Staff

U.S. Representatives Ted Budd (R-NC-13) and Ken Buck (R-CO-04) introduced the Getting Americans Back to Work Act to amend a portion of the CARES Act, which resulted in some unemployed filers receiving higher wages through unemployment compensation than through their previous jobs.

The bill caps the amount an individual can receive from unemployment insurance at 100 percent of their previous wages.

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Commentary: Chick-fil-A and NRA Prove Democrats Can Never Be Trusted With Power

Virginia Star Staff

by CHQ Editor George Rasley   The recent sagas of the political discrimination against Chick-fil-A and the NRA are just two of the many cases of politically-driven regulatory action by Democrat officeholders and elected officials. What’s been done to Chick-fil-A and the NRA demonstrate just how bad life in America…

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Despite the Media-Driven Rhetoric, the Constitution’s 14th Amendment Does Not Grant ‘Birthright Citizenship’

Admin
young children

by James D. Agresti   Michael Anton, a former national security official in the Trump administration, recently argued in a Washington Post op-ed that the current federal practice of granting citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants “is an absurdity—historically, constitutionally, philosophically and practically.” A number of media outlets have published fiery rebuttals declaring that…

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Bernie Sanders Can’t Commit to Serving Full Senate Term, Says It’s ‘Impossible to be a Senator and a President at the Same Time’

Admin
Bernie Sanders

by Hanna Bogorowski   U.S. Senate candidate in Vermont and incumbent Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders chatted about a possible 2020 presidential run at a Monday forum, in which he wouldn’t say whether he’d commit to fulfilling a six-year term if re-elected, because it’s impossible to be a senator and a…

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Commentary: The Eternal Return of a Malevolent Charade

Admin

by Roger Kimball   The eternal return – Friedrich Nietzsche thought the idea was horrifying. Life as an endless merry-go-round in which the same things keep recurring, forever. That prospect, Nietzsche thought, was the hardest, weightiest, most depressing idea mankind could ever confront. It was part of Nietzsche’s blustering nihilism that…

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