The Tennessee Firearms Association Opposes Bill Lowering Handgun Age to 18 Because of Certain Provisions

The Tennessee Firearms Association announced their opposition to a pending bill under General Assembly consideration that lowers the handgun carry age from 21 to 18.

Rep. Chris Todd (R-Madison-HD73) filed HB1735 on January 13, 2022. House Majority Leader William Lamberth is a co-sponsor. Senator Mike Bell (R-Riceville-SD9) filed the companion bill, SB2291, on February 2, 2022.

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Commentary: Don’t Watch the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

In December, the United States, United Kingdom and Australia all announced diplomatic boycotts against the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, and since then, several other nations around the world have joined the boycott.

A diplomatic boycott means that government officials from those nations will not attend the Olympic Games. This sent an important message to the citizens of those countries that attending the games even as spectators is immoral and at odds with the spirit of their own nation.

The Chinese Communist Party knew this, and in a preemptive attempt to avoid the embarrassment of empty bleachers, it made a decision on Jan. 17 not to sell spectator tickets to people from outside China’s mainland, and invite in controlled groups instead.

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Metro Council Passes Resolution Adopting Target of 80 Percent Reduction in Annual Greenhouse Gas Emissions from 2014 Levels by 2050

Nashville Metro Council passed a resolution establishing a target of an 80 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from 2014 levels by 2050.

Metro Council approved the resolution at its last meeting on Tuesday and Mayor John Cooper added his stamp of approval the following day.

The goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions is part of Cooper’s Sustainability Advisory Committee Report on the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County’s Climate Change Mitigation Action Plan that was issued in 2021. The report recommends that Davidson adhere to the Paris Climate agreement goal of limiting average global temperature rise to no higher than 2ºC “above preindustrial levels.”

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Black Lives Matter at School ‘Week of Action’ Teaches Kindergartners to Replace Nuclear Families with ‘Villages’

Elementary and high schools throughout the country this week are having children participate in Black Lives Matter at School’s “Week of Action,” using lesson plan “resources” based on the activist organization’s core principles that seek to disrupt Western family structure, and teach children to affirm the “transgender” and “queer” lifestyles.

Black Lives Matter (BLM) at School has provided a toolkit for schools and teachers with a curriculum that features a movie for different grade bands matched to “the 13 guiding principles of the BLM movement.”

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Schweizer: Yale, Other U.S. Institutions of Higher Learning Fail to Report Millions of Dollars From China, Chinese Nationals

The investigative reporter and author of the new book “Red-Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win” told The Star News Network that U.S. colleges and universities, such as the case with Yale University and Joseph Tsai, are not complying with federal reporting laws in regards to their gifts from China and Chinese nationals.

“Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 is very explicit,” said Peter Schweizer, the founder and president of the Government Accountability Institute and the host of “The Drill Down” podcast. “It says that if U.S. colleges and universities take in foreign donations, they’re required to report those to the federal government.”

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Commentary: States Have the Power to Restore Faith in Our Electoral System

Person voting in poll booth

The faith, trust, and confidence in our election process has been in steep decline for decades. Concerns over hanging chads and dimpled ballots from 2000’s presidential election may now have been replaced with questions about photo ID and drop boxes – but the overall result is the same: The American people simply don’t trust the outcome of elections.

In fact, recent polls show only 57% of voters believe Joe Biden was legitimately elected in 2020. Similarly, just 61% of Americans believe Trump legitimately won in 2016.

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Black Lives Matter Shuts Down Fundraising After Blue States Threatened to Sue

Black Lives Matter (BLM) removed fundraising features from its website Wednesday after California and Washington threatened to hold the group’s leaders personally liable for its missing financial records, the Washington Examiner reported.

BLM hasn’t had a known leader managing its $60 million bankroll since May 2021, the Examiner reported. California demanded that BLM cease all fundraising activities Wednesday due to the BLM Global Network’s failure to report on its 2020 finances, and the state said it would hold BLM leaders personally liable if they do not submit information about the organization’s finances within 60 days.

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Johns Hopkins Study: COVID Lockdowns Had ‘Little to No Effect’

A newly-released study from the prestigious Johns Hopkins University revealed that the sweeping lockdowns in response to the Chinese coronavirus had “little to no effect on COVID-19 mortality.”

According to the Washington Free Beacon, the study was conducted through an analysis of 24 different studies that all focused on government mandates ordering the closure of various aspects of everyday life, including school and business shutdowns, mask and vaccine mandates, and stay-at-home orders, among others.

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Study: Women Less Likely to Pursue STEM Careers in All 80 Countries Surveyed

Young women were five times less likely than young men to aspire toward STEM careers in 80 different countries, according to research and a report from the Institute for Family Studies published in late January.

Women preferred “people-oriented” careers such as nursing or teaching, while men preferred “things-oriented” careers generally falling into STEM or blue-collar categories, researchers reported.

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Sen. Hawley Wants the U.S. to Abandon Its Pledge to Let Ukraine Join NATO

Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri called on President Joe Biden to abandon NATO’s pledge to accept Ukraine as a member of the organization.

“It is not clear that Ukraine’s accession would serve U.S. interests,” Hawley wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “Indeed, deteriorating conditions in the global security environment caution otherwise.”

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ISIS Leader Dies After Blowing Up His Family During U.S. Special Operations Raid

A U.S. operation lead to the death of the leader of the Islamic State in northwest Syria late Wednesday evening, the Pentagon said.

The mission resulted in the death of its target, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, the known leader of the terror group ISIS, according to the Department of Defense. There were no American casualties and all U.S. forces were safely evacuated.

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U.S. Army to Begin Discharging Unvaccinated Servicemembers

On Wednesday, the United States Army announced that it will begin the process of discharging any soldiers who refuse to get the COVID-19 vaccine effective immediately.

As reported by ABC News, the Army is the last branch of the United States military to fully discharge those who do not comply with the strict vaccine mandates; the Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps have already discharged all personnel who refuse the vaccines, from active-duty members to entry-level members at boot camps.

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Anti-Defamation League Redefines Racism for the Second Time Since Summer 2020

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) redefined racism again on Monday with what it called an “interim definition.”

Racism is now defined by the group as occurring “when individuals or institutions show more favorable evaluation or treatment of an individual or group based on race or ethnicity,” according to Professor Robert Livingston of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University.

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Virginia Attorney General Miyares Responds After Public Universities End Vaccine Mandates

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) doubled down on his position that if public universities want to mandate COVID-19 vaccines, they must wait until the General Assembly passes a law to that effect. 

“The COVID-19 vaccine is a critical tool in our fight against COVID-19, and it could save your life. The Attorney General has been vaccinated , has received the booster, and he encourages everyone to get the vaccine,” Miyares’ spokeswoman Victoria LaCivita told The Virginia Star. “He also promised to be an Attorney General that calls balls and strikes – and according to Virginia law, only the General Assembly can enact a statute that requires the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of enrollment or in-person attendance, as it has with six other vaccines.”

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House of Delegates Passes Bill to Ban Consideration of Race in Governor’s Schools Admissions

RICHMOND, Virginia – The House of Delegates passed a bill banning consideration of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in admissions to Virginia’s governor’s schools. That’s a reaction to controversy at Thomas Jefferson (TJ) High School for Science and Technology, where officials instituted a merit lottery to try to expand the largely Asian American student base to underrepresented groups while still maintaining a high standard. Conservatives saw that as part of a broader wave of watered-down academic standards in the name of equity, and Republicans campaigned in 2021 on restoring Virginia’s educational standards of excellence.

Delegates debated HB 127 on Tuesday and Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Delegate Richard (Rip) Sullivan (D-Fairfax) said he and his wife spent years as proud TJ Colonials parents.

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Ohio’s COVID-19 Case Average Falls to Pre-Omicron Levels

Ohio’s seven-day COVID-19 case rate has now fallen to about the same level of seven-day cases as the state saw in mid-September, when the more deadly Delta variant was the virus’ prominent strain. 

As of February 2, Ohio had an average seven-day case rate of 7,806, a drastic drop in that average over a period of just two weeks, according to publicly available data. On January 19, the seven-day average caseload was 27,462 cases. 

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Senator Ron Johnson: President Biden, Congressional Democrats Directly Responsible for Border Crisis

Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) blasted President Biden and congressional Democrats for the ongoing border crisis that had produced a spike in migrants coming across the border.

In a recent press conference, Johnson contended that Biden’s policies, supported by Democratic lawmakers, have made it easier to illegally enter the country.

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Michigan House Considers Bill to Allow Hiring of Uncertified Teachers Amid Shortage

A Republican legislator has introduced a bill intended to curtail Michigan’s alleged teacher shortage.

The House Education Committee heard testimony related to House Bill 5685 on Monday. The bill, introduced by Rep. Pamela Hornberger, R-Chesterfield Twp., if passed, would allow public schools to hire college education majors prior to their certification as teachers.

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The Ohio Star Podcast for February 3, 2022: Hear Mark Bainbridge Tell Why He Is Suing the Ohio Republican Party, Why He Wants to Find the Missing Millions

The new episode of The Ohio Star Podcast, hosted by Neil W. McCabe, the national political editor for The Star News Network, dropped Thursday.

McCabe interviewed Star reporter Peter D’Abrosca about his interview with Mount Vernon attorney Scott A. Pullins, who is now a candidate for state representative. Pullins is also the attorney for Blystone campaign whistleblower Sarah Chambers.

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Grocery Tax Cut, Doubled Standard Deduction Advance in House of Delegates

The House of Delegates Finance Committee advanced a bill to eliminate Virginia’s grocery tax and a bill to double the standard deduction on income tax; those are two key promises Governor Glenn Youngkin made in his campaign as part of his focus on “kitchen-table issues.”

HB 90, sponsored by Delegate Joe McNamara (R-Roanoke) exempts food for human consumption and essential personal hygiene items from state and local sales taxes. On Monday, Delegates Candi Mundon King (D-Prince William) and Delegate Richard ‘Rip’ Sullivan (D-Fairfax) expressed concern about how a different Youngkin-inspired tax bill would impact low-income Virginians. McNamara recalled those remarks in the Wednesday committee meeting.

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Despite Heavy Rumors, Vernon Jones Not Resolving Mystery of Future Campaign Plans

  Media chatter suggests that Vernon Jones could soon drop out of the Georgia gubernatorial race, but the candidate gave no indication of that on either his Facebook page or his Twitter feed Thursday. Jones did not return The Georgia Star News’ request for comment. FOX News reported this week that Jones might drop out of the race on Friday, quoting what it called two Republican sources familiar with the situation. “And they add that an announcement by the former Democratic state lawmaker turned Republican, who was a top black surrogate for Trump in Georgia in the 2020 presidential election, could come between Friday and Monday,” the network reported. FOX News also reported that Jones met with Trump at his resort in Palm Beach, Florida last week and that the two will likely meet again next week. Jones commented Wednesday about his status as a Republican gubernatorial candidate for Georgia, but the messages he sent seemed unclear and came across as mixed. Trump, in December, endorsed Republican David Perdue’s campaign to unseat incumbent GOP Governor Brian Kemp. Jones on Wednesday posted on Facebook and said that he — and either Kemp or Perdue — will square off against the presumed Democratic Party nominee…

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Gwinnett County Resident Arrested at School Board Meeting Speaks Out Against Superintendent

In an interview with The Georgia Star News, a Gwinnett County resident arrest at a  Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) spoke out against the measures taken by the school district against parents who wish to protest the district’s mask mandates and teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT). 

“At our school board meetings, we have 30 School Resource Officers (SROs) plus about 15 or so additional staff members, metal detectors, bag searches, video cameras and wands,” Brenda P. Stewart told The Star News. “It is a blatant attempt to violate the First Amendment rights of parents. Fear is being used to silence us. It is fundamentally wrong. We currently have about 75 to 100 visitors at school board meetings, so basically one staff member for every two or three citizens. It is insane.”

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Controversy After Man Shot and Killed by Minneapolis Police

Activists and police disagree on the narrative on what happened in the death of Amir Locke, who was shot and killed by a Minneapolis Police officer Wednesday night as a SWAT Team attempted to serve a warrant. 

Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) Public Information Officer Casper T. Hill referred The Minnesota Sun to a press release explaining the MPD’s version of events. 

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Seth Bluestein Confirmed as Philadelphia City Commissioner

Philadelphia City Council on Thursday confirmed Seth Bluestein, a longtime aide to retired City Commissioner Al Schmidt, to replace his former boss.

Like Schmidt, Bluestein is a Republican who will serve in the minority-party seat on the three-member board which oversees elections in Philadelphia. After the former was first elected in 2011, Bluestein joined his staff and eventually rose to the position of chief deputy. Last autumn, Schmidt announced he would leave his position to head the Committee of Seventy, an advocacy group working on governance issues.

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Virginia House of Delegates Passes Locality Gun Control Repeal

The House of Delegates passed a bill to repeal the 2020 law authorizing localities to ban firearms on locality property. Delegates debated the bill on Wednesday before the vote Thursday.

“House Bill 827 returns our code back to its prior position,” Delegate Tony Wilt (R-Rockingham) said on Wednesday. “Other portions of the bill: it eliminates the requirement to destroy firearms that are confiscated and rather allows them to be offered for sale through a licensed dealer. And it also limits the ability of localities to sue firearm manufacturers.”

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Florida Hate Crime Incidents Down 23 Percent, Up 14.4 Percent in the U.S.

The 2020 FBI tracking of hate crimes show that Florida hate crime incidents have decreased 23% from 2018 to 2020 while hate crimes in the United States have increased 15.5%. In addition, the state comparison data (2019) shows that Florida ranks 47 in hate crime incidents with 0.53 incidents per 100,000 population.The national rate of hate crimes per 100,000 population is 2.4.

The five states reporting the most incidents per 100,000 population were Washington (7.1), New Mexico (6.1), Massachusetts (5.7), New Jersey (5.4) and Vermont (5.2). The five states reporting the fewest number of incidents per 100,000 population were Maryland (0.3), Iowa (0.3), Arkansas (0.3), Pennsylvania (0.3), and Florida (0.5).

The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program serves as the national repository for crime data and is used to generate reliable information for use in law enforcement administration, operation, and management.

The data, which was updated and released in October 2021, shows that nationwide hate crime incidents have increased from 7,036 in 2018 to 7,103 in 2019 to 8,052 in 2020. Over the period from 2018-2020 hate crime incidents increased 14.5%.

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‘Maricopa County Transit Slush Fund Tax’ Bill Likely to Pass Arizona Legislature

The Arizona Free Enterprise Club is referring to a transportation bill that is sailing through the Arizona Legislature as a “Maricopa County Transit Slush Fund Tax.” HB 2598, with its corresponding Senate version, SB 1356, would send to the ballot a question to voters of whether to extend the Prop. 400 tax increase for transportation for another 25 years. It would increase taxes by $33 billion, allowing localities to direct the money with very few strings attached. 

AFEC said the extension “creates a big slush fund for liberal city mayors to spend on light rail, street trollies, bike paths, trails, complete streets and other undefined ‘regional programs’ and NO REQUIREMENTS that the money be spent on actual freeways or roads to relieve congestion.” 

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