The Michigan Star Newspaper, Lansing MI Local News, Latest Business, Investigative and Political News & Headlines

December 9, 2021

CCP Expert Says Apple CEO Tim Cook Currying Favor with Chinese Government

An expert on the Communist Chinese Party (CCP) who chronicles China's current affairs reacted Wednesday to a damning report that Apple CEO Tim Cook paid the Chinese government $275 billion to curry favor with President Xi Jinping. Simone Gao is...

December 9, 2021

Commentary: Russiagate Is the Biggest Scandal in American History

Russiagate is the biggest scandal in American history. Nothing comes close in size, scope or harm to the republic than the years-long effort to cripple Donald Trump’s presidency by claiming he conspired with an enemy state to steal the 2016...

December 9, 2021

Customs and Border Protection Vaccination Rate Increased After Mandate Deadline

The number of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) employees that are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 rose to 17,192 after the federal mandate deadline, according to a document obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The DCNF earlier reported that...

December 9, 2021

Congressional Report Details ‘Inhumane’ Conditions of January 6 Inmates

A new report published by U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) office details “atrocious,” “cramped,” and “inhumane” conditions at the Washington, D.C., jail where January 6 defendants are being held ahead of trial. The congressional delegation had been turned away...

December 9, 2021

Report: At Least Two Students at Barack Obama Global Prep Academy in Los Angeles Given COVID Jabs Without Their Parents’ Consent

At least two parents have accused a prep school in South Los Angeles of vaccinating their children without their permission after bribing them with pizza, according to NBC Los Angeles. One distressed mother claimed that her 13-year-old son was told not...

December 9, 2021

Mark Meadows Will Sue Pelosi and January 6 Committee

Mark Meadows, former chief of staff for President Donald Trump, is suing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the House committee that is investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. After choosing not to cooperate with the Jan. 6 investigatory panel,...

December 9, 2021

Commentary: The Embarrassment That Is CNN

Back in the early 1980s when cable TV was bursting on the scene, there were four channels everybody wanted. ESPN was one. The USA Network was another. HBO was worth paying extra for.

December 9, 2021

Black Lives Matter Releases Statement Supporting Jussie Smollett During Hate Crime Hoax Trial

During former "Empire" star Jussie Smollett's testimony in his own defense, Black Lives Matter (BLM) released a statement supporting the actor, who stands accused of faking a hate crime against himself. "In our commitment to abolition, we can never believe...

December 9, 2021

Child Tax Credit Is Driving Americans Toward Entrepreneurship, Has Little Effect on Workforce

A new study suggests that the child tax credit (CTC) is not reducing overall employment nationwide but is driving some low and middle-income parents away from their private sector jobs and toward self-employment. The study, led by researchers at the Washington...

December 9, 2021

Electric Vehicle Push Is Sparking Massive Deforestation, Environmental Damage

A major nickel mine in a Philippines rainforest has continued to expand, mowing down acres of trees as global demand for minerals essential for electric vehicle manufacturing surges. The Rio Tuba mine in the region of Palawan supplies an important...

December 9, 2021

Three Newspapers Sue Michigan Redistricting Committee over Hidden Memos

Several newspapers sued the Michigan Independent Citizen’s Redistricting Committee (MICRC), alleging the MICRC violated the state's Constitution by hiding two memos from the public. The Detroit News, Bridge Magazine, and the Detroit Free Press filed the suit in the Michigan...

December 8, 2021

The Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association Announces $400-Per-Vehicle Refund

The Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association (MCCA) will return surplus funds to Michigan policyholders and refund $400 per vehicle to Michigan drivers. Drivers are expected to receive checks in the second quarter of 2022. “These refunds and the recently announced statewide...

December 8, 2021

Commentary: Anthony Fauci and the Creation of the Bio-Security State

A new populist spirit, represented by Donald Trump, among others, has led to a reshuffling of seemingly settled ideological alliances. The reshuffling is ongoing. I know this because I find myself approving of at least parts of “The Real Anthony...

December 8, 2021

Report: Nearly 10,000 Illegal Immigrants Have Evaded Arrest at the Border Since October

Over 9,500 illegal immigrants have evaded arrest and entered the country in one part of the southern border since Oct. 1, Fox News reported. The Rio Grande Valley sector of the border in Texas also had 100,000 illegal encounters since...

December 8, 2021

Experts Predict Less Economic Growth, Elevated Inflation for Years to Come

A survey released Monday found that business experts expect prices and inflation to rise at elevated levels for years to come. The National Association for Business Economics released the results of a survey of 48 economic experts who downgraded their growth predictions...

December 8, 2021

Pennsylvania Teacher, NEA Director Wants Unvaccinated Shot

A teacher at a Pennsylvania high school is in hot water after wishing death upon those unvaccinated against COVID-19 in a now-deleted Facebook post. "Screw this guy and screw them all who are all about religious exemptions because they don't...

December 8, 2021

Commentary: Platform Transparency Can Help Build Antitrust Cases

There is growing bipartisan concern over the power Silicon Valley’s oligopolies wield over American society. Amazon alone controls 72% of U.S. adult book sales, Airbnb accounts for a fifth of domestic lodging expenditures and Facebook accounts for almost three-quarters of social media visits. Just two companies, Apple and...

December 8, 2021

Instagram Rolls Out Teen Safety Features One Day Before CEO Will Testify in Congress

Instagram unveiled a host of child safety measures and parental controls for its app just one day before chief executive Adam Mosseri is due to testify in Congress. “At Instagram, we’ve been working for a long time to keep young...

December 8, 2021

Big Oil CEOs Thumb Nose at Green Energy Transition, Say Fossil Fuels Still Have ‘Essential Role’

Executives of major oil companies slammed the aggressive global push to renewable forms of energy and warned that such policies could crash economies. Crude oil and natural gas continue to be key to the world economy’s health and cannot be...

December 8, 2021

Studies: Trump Tax Cuts Helped Lower Income Families, Build Back Better Helps Wealthier Americans

Democrats have argued that the tax reforms implemented through the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) only benefited the rich, and that the Build Back Better Act (BBBA) will help middle-and working-class Americans the most. But several nonpartisan groups...

December 8, 2021

Congress Wants to Make Big Tech Responsible for Online Speech

While there is agreement between large factions of both Republicans and Democrats that social media companies should be liable for certain third-party content hosted on their platforms, the parties differ on what that content should be, and why platforms should...

December 8, 2021

Plurality of Hispanic Voters Offended by New Gender-Neutral Term ‘Latinx’

Recent polling data has found that Hispanic voters may not be nearly as receptive to the new gender-neutral term “Latinx” as Democrats may have originally imagined, as reported by the New York Post. The word, which first began being used just...

December 8, 2021

Michigan Duo Charged with Unemployment Insurance Fraud, Allegedly Stole over $3 Million

Two Michigan residents were charged in criminal complaints for conducting an unemployment insurance benefit fraud scheme that stole millions. The two defendants, Tauheed Wilder and Shuqueni Franklin, are alleged to have engaged in mail fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft,...