Williamson County School Board Member Denies Elementary Schools Teach Critical Race Theory

A member of the Williamson County School Board this week spoke out against a group of parents who believe the school system requires their children to read books that indoctrinate them into Critical Race Theory (CRT). This, as members of that group Moms for Liberty — Williamson County (ML-WC) continue to criticize readings within a curriculum called “Wit and Wisdom.”

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Commentary: Biden’s Shameful ‘Attack on Our Democracy’ Rhetoric

Joe Biden

Joe Biden is either an historical illiterate or a shameless liar. Perhaps he is both.

Desperate to keep the disintegrating narrative about the events of January 6 alive, Biden, in his first sparsely attended speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night, declared the January 6 protest was “the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War.”

Marked safe from Washington Post fact-checkers, Biden continued to lie. “As we gather here tonight, the images of a violent mob assaulting this Capitol, desecrating our democracy, remain vivid in our minds,” he lamented. “Lives were put at risk. Lives were lost. Extraordinary courage was summoned. The insurrection was an existential crisis, a test of whether our democracy could survive. It did.”

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100 Days into Biden’s Presidency, Hunter Still Owns Stake in Chinese Private Equity Firm, Business Records Show

Hunter Biden

Hunter Biden continues to hold a minority stake in a Chinese private equity firm 100 days into President Joe Biden’s term, business records show.

Hunter Biden holds a 10% equity stake in BHR Partners through his company, Skaneateles LLC, according to Qixinbao and Baidu, two independent services that provide business records on Chinese corporations based on China’s National Credit Information Publicity System.

Joe Biden promised in October 2019 that if elected president, nobody in his family would have any business relationship with any foreign corporation or country.

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Commentary: A Tale of Two Speeches

Joe Biden and Tim Scott

Wednesday night was a tale of two speeches. We had President Biden droning to a nearly empty House Chamber. Then, we had Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) give the best follow-up to a presidential address to a joint session of Congress that I have ever seen. 

The difference between the two speeches was made vivid by Frank Luntz’s experience with a class of 15 University of Southern California students. In describing his discussion with the students on an Inner Circle webinar with me the next day, the students clearly favored Biden’s liberalism over Scott’s conservatism. Yet, when the speeches finished, the students were totally and deeply disappointed by the President’s speech. They were instead impressed by Scott’s sincerity, the power of his life story, and even his references to religion. While the students weren’t necessarily religious themselves, they thought a more spiritual approach to our current political mess would be helpful.

Watching the President, Vice President, and Speaker of the House all wearing masks even though they have been vaccinated was just painful. Far from following science, Biden, Harris, and Pelosi were clearly virtue signaling. To add to this, the absurdity of having 200 members present for a speech that usually has 1,600 people in attendance made for a very sad and depressing picture.

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Steve Bannon Presents ‘War Room: Pandemic’

An all new LIVE STREAM of War Room: Pandemic starts at 9 a.m. Central Time on Saturday.

Former White House Chief Strategist Stephen K. Bannon began the daily War Room: Pandemic radio show and podcast on January 25, when news of the virus was just beginning to leak out of China around the Lunar New Year. Bannon and co-hosts bring listeners exclusive analysis and breaking updates from top medical, public health, economic, national security, supply chain and geopolitical experts weekdays from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon ET.

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DOJ Considering New Domestic Terrorism Laws Aimed at Violent Domestic Extremism

Capitol protest

In response to continued threats of domestic extremism following the deadly riot on Jan. 6, the Department of Justice is considering new domestic terrorism laws, an official announced Thursday.

The FBI reported an elevated risk of violence associated with domestic extremists after the attack on the Capitol and increased assaults on Asian Americans, Department of Justice (DOJ) Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brad Wiegmann told the House Committee on Appropriations.

Virginia Republican Rep. Ben Cline asked Wiegmann about his proposal to codify a domestic terrorism charge in the criminal code.

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ACLU Asks Biden Admin to Shut Down ICE Detention Facilities

Illegal immigration

The American Civil Liberties Union asked the Biden administration to close 39 Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities in a letter Wednesday.

People in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody reportedly experienced sexual abuse, forced sterilization, increased use of force and solitary confinement, according to the organization. The ACLU wants ICE facilities with previous reports of inhumane treatment and those located in remote locations to be closed.

“Closing detention sites should be an easy decision. Millions of taxpayer dollars are being wasted to maintain thousands of empty beds and keep asylum seekers and immigrants in inhumane and life-threatening conditions,” ACLU Senior Advocacy and Policy Counsel Naureen Shah said in a statemen

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Music Spotlight: Rhonda Towns

Dawn Records announces a new release from its flagship artist Rhonda Towns, titled “Walking In Your Wonderful Light.” Written by Teddy Hayes and produced by Billy Sherrill in collaboration with Towns, the long-awaited and welcomed single serves as a preview to the Christian, country, and gospel music entertainer’s forthcoming six-track EP anticipated later this year.

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GOP Attorney General Candidate Jack White Campaign Confirms Actual Amount He Contributed to Joe Biden Presidential Campaign Committees Was $5,600

  The Jack White for Attorney General campaign confirmed to The Virginia Star that Jack White gave $5,600 to campaign committees associated with the Biden for President campaign in October 2020. The money was sent as two separate contributions. The first donation occurred October 1st, 2020, to the Biden Victory Fund in the amount of $2,800. The second donation occurred 29 days later on October 30th, 2020 to the Biden Action Fund for $2,800. The Star published a story on April 25 with the headline “Virginia GOP Attorney General Candidate Jack White Gave More Than $10k to Biden in 2020—Including $2,800 Days Before Election,” the details of which were confirmed in the story by White campaign spokesperson Alyssa Farah: When reached for comment, White for Attorney General Campaign Spokesperson Alyssa Farah, did confirm that it was, in fact Jack White, candidate for Attorney General, that made these campaign contributions. The White for AG campaign did say that Jack White voted for President Donald Trump in the 2020 general election. The following day, the White campaign approached The Star to ask for a correction on the amount of the donation given by White to the Biden campaign committees in 2020. It…

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Florida Legislature Passes Voter ID Law

People voting

On the second-to-last day of the legislative session, the Republican-controlled Florida state Senate Thursday passed a new law aimed at election integrity. 

After SB 90 passed the Florida House Wednesday with a vote of 77-40, it did the same in the Senate Thursday by a vote of 23-17. It was passed mostly along partisan lines, with one Republican state Senator, Jeff Brandes of St. Petersburg, breaking with his party and voting against the measure. 

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Ohio to Allow Transgender People to Change Gender on Birth Certificates

Infant with stuffed animal

The State of Ohio is set to become the 49th state to allow transgender people to change their gender on their official birth certificates, Breitbart reports.

The Ohio Department of Health has decided not to appeal a federal court ruling from December that ruled the state’s ban on gender changes in birth records is unconstitutional.

The court ruling issued last December came in response to a lawsuit brought by four transgender people seeking to change their birth records. According to the Breitbart report, Judge Michael Watson, a George W. Bush appointee, ruled that the Buckeye State must allow for “corrections” on birth certificates.

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A Roundup: Over 50,000 Delegates Register for RPV Convention, Cox Tries Ranked-Choice Strategy, Youngkin Announces Law Enforcement Coalition

The Republican Party of Virginia has 53,524 delegates registered, as of Tuesday, to participate in the RPV unassembled convention at 39 locations on May 8. That’s an all-time record that speaks to party enthusiasm, according to RPV Chairman Rich Anderson’s remarks at a Tuesday debate. Anderson said the last time the RPV was this energized was in 2009 with Bob McDonnell leading the ticket.

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Minnesota Man Sentenced to Prison After Police Station Arson During Floyd Riots

Dylan Shakespeare Robinson

A Minnesota man will spend four years in prison after pleading guilty to crime related to the arson of a police station in Minneapolis during the riots over George Floyd’s death last summer.

“Dylan Shakespeare Robinson, 23, pleaded guilty in December to one count of conspiracy to commit arson. He was accused of lighting a Molotov cocktail that another person threw at the Third Precinct headquarters in Minneapolis,” Fox News reported. 

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Former Michigan Health Director Submits to Subpoena, Testifies to House Oversight Committee over $155,000 Severance Payment

After declining four previous requests to testify, former Michigan Director of Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon was finally compelled to testify Thursday before the House Oversight Committee.

Gordon abruptly resigned his position in January, and signed a controversial nondisclosure agreement the following month that included a $155,506 buyout. The Oversight Committee issued Gordon a subpoena earlier this month, forcing him to appear before the committee.

The subpoena was the first issued by the Oversight Committee in 30 years, according to Rep. Patrick Outman, R-Six Lakes.

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Florida Surgeon General: Fully Vaccinated Should Go Maskless

Florida Surgeon General Scott Rivkees said fully vaccinated Floridians should go maskless despite the CDC’s recommendations regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rivkees rescinded previous public health advisories on Thursday through a three-page advisory saying state offices should return to in-person working environments and long-term mask-wearing can cause unintended consequences.

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Masks No Longer Required in Virginia for Fully-Vaccinated People Outdoors, Except in Crowds

Virginians who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 no longer have to wear masks in small gatherings or when outdoors alone, according to a Thursday announcement from Governor Ralph Northam. Effective immediately, he also amended Executive Order 72 to allow the lesser of 1,000 spectators or 30 percent capacity at recreational sports, two weeks earlier than originally planned.

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Giuliani: DOJ Prosecutors ‘Invaded’ His iCloud Account in 2019 While He Was Defending Trump for Impeachment Sham

Tucker Carlson show on Fox News

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani revealed on Fox News Thursday night that prosecutors in the Justice Department secretly “invaded” his iCloud account and seized privileged documents. Giuliani later tweeted about the potentially illegal surveillance, asking “who else are they spying on? You?”

The DOJ told my lawyer they secretly went into my iCloud account in 2019.

Who else are they spying on? You?

— Rudy W. Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) April 30, 2021

Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer, gave his first television interview after the FBI raided his home to Fox’s Tucker Carlson.

The feds executed a search warrant Wednesday morning on Giuliani’s Upper East Side apartment over his alleged unregistered lobbying for foreign governments. Giuliani said about seven or eight electronic devices were seized during the raid.

President Trump told Fox Business on Thursday that Giuliani was “the greatest mayor in the history of New York” and “a great patriot.”

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Knoxville Mayor Allots $100k for African American Equity Restoration Task Force

Knoxville’s newly-established African American Equity Restoration Task Force was allotted $100,000 in the latest city budget. Mayor Indya Kincannon highlighted this task force as one of their biggest diversity initiatives. 

That is one tenth of a percent of what Kincannon projected the task force may receive. At the end of January,  The Tennessee Star reported projections that the task force may receive $100 million in government grants over the next seven years.

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