Month: March 2020

Judge Warren Commentary: Electronic Learning During the Times of the Coronavirus

Michigan Star Staff

With the coronavirus, schools across America are scrambling to put together a hodgepodge of solutions to continue teaching for learning while their buildings are closed.  Many are valiantly attempting to leverage technology to create on-line and virtual learning opportunities. Unfortunately, weaknesses in technological infrastructure, teacher preparation shortfalls, inequities among students, and ill-equipped students and parents are barriers to success.  The information highway has more than one virtual flat tire.

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Feds Waive Standardized Testing for Current School Year Because of Coronavirus

Chris Butler

On Friday U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos said the federal government would waive standardized testing for the 2019-2020 school year because of the ongoing coronavirus emergency.

U.S. Rep. Mark Green, (R-TN-07), in a press release, said he appreciated DeVos and U.S. Republican President Donald Trump for this action.

“The gravity of the situation our schools continue to face while navigating the COVID-19 outbreak would have created an undue burden for preparing and administering statewide assessments,” Green said.

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Commentary: Trump Virus Response Calls for Covering Payroll for Every Small Business in America with $300 Billion

Michigan Star Staff

In order to meet payroll for every small business and nonprofit in America up to 500 employees for the next month or so during the Chinese coronavirus outbreak, President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) are proposing $300 billion of forgivable emergency loans.

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Whitmer Suspends Parts of Open Meeting Act, Faces Pushback

Michigan Star Staff

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order temporarily suspending parts of the Open Meetings Act (OMA), so public groups can meet electronically through April 15.

“We are taking every measure we can to mitigate the spread of coronavirus and protect Michigan families, but recognize that public bodies still have an obligation to conduct business as usual,” Whitmer said in a news release.

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Commentary: China’s Post-Virus Plan to Destroy America’s Economy

Michigan Star Staff

The virus that originated in Wuhan, China poses a double threat to America.

The first is to our health as the virus spreads through the U.S. population. The second is to our economy as more businesses, schools, and events shut down to slow the spread of the contagion.

We must not underestimate the economic threat because the Chinese Communist Party is using the pandemic to achieve its goal of supplanting the United States as the world’s leading economic, diplomatic, and military power.

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CDC Data Shows Younger Adults Also End Up in Hospital from Coronavirus

Michigan Star Staff

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday released its first batch of data on coronavirus patients in the United States, showing that while older adults are more likely to experience severe problems with the virus, younger adults are also falling seriously ill.

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Commentary: Elizabeth Warren’s ‘Consumer Protection’ Scam

Michigan Star Staff

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) may no longer be running for president, but her agency lives on.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) doesn’t want to be controlled by the Trump Administration. The Supreme Court might end the agency’s streak of independence later this year. Ostensibly, the CFPB aims to protect ordinary Americans from untoward business practices. Instead, it only advances left-wing causes and identity politics.

Warren proposed the CFPB in 2007 when she was a Harvard law professor. President Barack Obama established it in 2010. It is supposed to protect Americans from malpractice in the financial industry, yet the CFPB’s main task during the Obama Administration was fighting “disparate impact.” Disparate impact is a legal concept that considers racially disproportionate outcomes as evidence of discriminatory policies, even if the policies had no discriminatory intent and were administered objectively.

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State Department Suspends Visa Services Across the World

Michigan Star Staff

The State Department is suspending visa services in most countries across the world, the Trump administration’s latest response to mitigating the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement released late Wednesday, the State Department announced it’s cancelling all routine immigrant and nonimmigrant appoints at embassies and consulates in numerous countries. The suspensions became effective immediately, and no specific date was provided on when services would begin again.

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Is the Ohio Department of Health Refusing to Release Coronavirus Test Data to Conceal Lower Than National Average Percentage of Positive Tests?

Zachery Schmidt

  During the coronavirus pandemic, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Health (ODH) Director Amy Acton have taken a number of actions, some controversial, designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Just in the last ten days, DeWine has closed bars and schools, postponed primaries and banned mass gatherings.…

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President Trump Says FDA Has Approved Testing of Anti-Malaria Drug Chloroquine for Treating Coronavirus

Anthony Gockowski

President Donald Trump announced during a Thursday press briefing that the anti-malarial drug chloroquine was approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a possible treatment for the coronavirus.

The announcement comes the day after Breitbart News reported that the medical establishment has known about chloroquine’s effectiveness in treating the virus since at least the 2005 SARS coronavirus outbreak.

“Clinical trials are already underway for many new therapies and we’re working on scaling these to allow many more Americans to access different drugs that have shown really good promise,” President Trump said.

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Commentary: After the Coronavirus Outbreak, We Don’t Need Universal Income, We Need a Rehiring Tax Credit to Get Back to Work

Michigan Star Staff

Congress is passing plans to provide for long-term paid sick leave and family medical leave to tens of millions of Americans, actively encouraging people to stay home, and essentially telling employers to lay off employees while brick and mortar businesses, schools and government offices are all closed, all in a bid to slow down the spread of the Chinese coronavirus.

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Commentary: With Teleworking in Place, GOP State Governors Should Modernize Their Governments and Deal With Public Sector Unions

Michigan Star Staff

State and local government agencies are shutting down or having workers telecommute in response to the Chinese coronavirus, and now it is the time for GOP governors and legislatures to modernize their governmental operations, not just survive. It should be a good time to assess which departments and employees are vital, and which are not. Once those assessments are made, appropriate cuts should be made.

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Michigan Coronavirus Cases Up to 53

Jordyn Pair

Michigan currently has 53 confirmed cases of the coronavirus after 20 more cases were recently confirmed, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced on Sunday.

The virus, identified by medical professionals as COVID-19, has been confirmed in seven different counties: Washtenaw County, Oakland County, Macomb County, Kent County, Wayne County, Ottawa County and St. Clair County. It has also been confirmed in the city of Detroit.

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Commentary: With Joe Biden’s Comeback, the Establishment Comes Out of Hiding

Michigan Star Staff

Joe Biden’s Super Tuesday comeback is something to be both relished and feared. It is an outrageous, grimly comical turn of events: a 77-year old man who refers to the Declaration of Independence as “the thing” and who seemed to be confused about his own last name is now a leading contender for the White House.

As funny as it may be on the surface, there is something dark and sad about Biden’s rise. The Democratic Party establishment knows Biden is unfit for office. They don’t care. With Biden, the political machinery that usually operates in hiding, in the shadows, has come out into the light, in aviator sunglasses and a sunny grin. The powers-that-be are declaring, openly, that their right to rule will not be reined in by anything, least of all the perception that they are incompetent and out of touch.

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Immigration Hearings Across US Postponed Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

Michigan Star Staff

The Department of Justice has ordered all initial immigration courtroom hearings in the month ahead to be postponed, following outcry from an unlikely coalition of immigration prosecutors, attorneys, and judges.

In a public statement issued on Twitter, the Justice Department’s Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) announced late Sunday night that all master calendar hearings scheduled between Monday and April 10 would be put on hold. The announcement marked one of the latest decisions to halt procedures due to the worldwide coronavirus pandemic.

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Richard Grenell Denies Reports Suggesting Trump Wants Exclusive Access to a German Vaccine

Michigan Star Staff

U.S. ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell told his Twitter followers Sunday afternoon that the a report from Welt am Sonntag German newspaper discussing Trump’s offer is “not true.”

“The Welt story was wrong. But Business Insider, Reuters and others went with it anyway despite not having their own sources. Now everyone is back peddling,” Grenell said in his Sunday afternoon tweet.

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Whitmer Expands Unemployment Benefits for Those Impacted by the Coronavirus

Jordyn Pair

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has issued an executive order extending unemployment benefits for Michigan workers impacted by the spread of the coronavirus in the state.

Under the expanded eligibility, unemployment benefits are available to workers who are sick, quarantined or immunocompromised and who do not have access to paid time off; workers who have “unanticipated family care responsibility” such as ill family or additional childcare responsibility due to school closures; and first responders who are ill or quarantined because of the coronavirus. The extended eligibility is in effect until April 14.

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Commentary: The U.S. Economy Will Weather the Chinese Coronavirus

Michigan Star Staff
Tennessee Star

President Donald Trump praised the Federal Reserve for cutting the federal funds rate to a range of 0 percent to 0.25 percent, and restarting quantitative easing with $500 billion of U.S. treasuries purchases and $200 billion of mortgage purchases in response to the Chinese coronavirus global pandemic.

“It makes me very happy and I want to congratulate the Federal Reserve,” he said. “That’s a big step and I’m very happy they did it.” Trump has been hounding the Fed for years to cut interest rates to make the dollar more competitive against trading partners’ currencies including the yuan, euro and peso. Now he gets his wish.

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Commentary: The History of How Saint Patrick’s Day Played a Key Role in Irish Nationhood

Michigan Star Staff

Traditionally, March 17 was a day to remember St Patrick, who ministered Christianity in Ireland during the 5th century. But over time, the day has evolved to represent a celebration of Irish culture more generally. Today, as with Halloween and Christmas, the true meaning of the celebration has been watered down even further. Now, it is just as likely to be marked by non-Irish people who use it as an excuse to consume large quantities of alcohol and dress as leprechauns.

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White House Easter Egg Roll Canceled ‘Out Of An Abundance Of Caution’

Michigan Star Staff

The White House Easter Egg Roll has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Office of the First Lady announced Monday that the Easter Egg Roll was called off  “out of an abundance of caution and in accordance with the National Emergency Declaration concerning the COVID-19.”

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Report: HHS Computer System Hit with a Cyber Attack from a Potential Foreign Actor

Michigan Star Staff

Hackers seized upon a U.S. Health and Human Services Department computer system Sunday during the government’s public response to the coronavirus outbreak, Bloomberg reported Monday.

The cyber attack was designed to slow down the U.S. response and toss a wrench into the gears of the HHS’s computer system, Bloomberg noted, citing three sources who requested commenting anonymously to discuss something that was not yet public.

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Students to College Administrators: ‘Send Us Home – Pay Us Back’

Michigan Star Staff

Students at one New York university have gathered to demand that their school close campus and give them their money back. 

After an increasing number of universities nationwide have closed their doors and extended their spring breaks amid coronavirus concerns, students at Stony Brook University have begun to protest and demand refunds from the school’s administration.

While Stony Brook has moved to online courses, students have not yet been dismissed from campuses.

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Commentary: The U.S. Economy Will Weather the Chinese Coronavirus

Michigan Star Staff

President Donald Trump praised the Federal Reserve for cutting the federal funds rate to a range of 0 percent to 0.25 percent, and restarting quantitative easing with $500 billion of U.S. treasuries purchases and $200 billion of mortgage purchases in response to the Chinese coronavirus global pandemic.

“It makes me very happy and I want to congratulate the Federal Reserve,” he said. “That’s a big step and I’m very happy they did it.” Trump has been hounding the Fed for years to cut interest rates to make the dollar more competitive against trading partners’ currencies including the yuan, euro and peso. Now he gets his wish.

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Whitmer Orders All Bars, Restaurants, Theaters and More to Close

Anthony Gockowski

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued a sweeping executive order Monday that orders the closure of several public places in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Under the executive order, the following places of public accommodation were required to close: restaurants, cafes, coffee houses, bars, taverns, brewpubs, distilleries, clubs, movie theaters, indoor and outdoor performance venues, gymnasiums, fitness centers, recreation centers, indoor sports facilities, indoor exercise facilities, exercise studios, spas, and casinos.

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Commentary: The Anti-Climactic Joe and Bernie Debate Show Draws an Audience of Zero

Michigan Star Staff

“This is weird,” I said to myself as the eleventh 2020 Democrat presidential primary debate commenced in the isolated (quarantined?) CNN studio in Washington, DC on Sunday night. Originally conceived by the DNC as a means to narrow down the remnants of the party field ahead of the next round of consequential primaries, events and circumstances instead turned the evening into an even slower-moving snooze-fest between two long-past-prime rivals going through the motions one final time before people stop tuning in and impatiently wait for the summer political fireworks to commence.

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Jeff Webb Commentary: Corporate Responsibility During the Coronavirus Pandemic Economic Crisis

Michigan Star Staff

by Jeff Webb   For the past several decades large corporations operating in the United States have made business decisions significantly influenced by the widely held belief they have social responsibilities that extend beyond their fiduciary responsibility to maximize profits. The current economic slowdown created by the Coronavirus pandemic presents…

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A New Jersey Hospital Has 6 Male ICU Patients with Coronavirus, All Ages 28 to 48

Jason M. Reynolds

One New Jersey hospital in the front lines of fighting the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak shows startling statistics as its section of the Garden State braces for more cases.

Of 11 cases at Holy Name Medical Center, six are in the ICU, and all six are men between the ages of 28 to 48, according to a story by ROI-NJ. Forty more patients are under observation at the Teaneck, NJ hospital, according to CEO Mike Maron.

“From what we’ve seen, it’s not impacting children at all — or pretty much anybody under 20,” he said. “That doesn’t mean they don’t have it. They may just process it in a better way, a faster way. That’s the beauty of being young.

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