Month: August 2020

One of President Donald Trump’s biggest supporters inside Silicon Valley is acting behind the scenes to rescue TikTok’s U.S. operations while the president considers the app’s future, according to recently published media reports.

Doug Leone, a Sequoia Capital global managing partner, is pressing U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House adviser Jared Kushner to find a solution to keep TikTok in the U.S., The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday, citing sources familiar with the discussion.

Commentary: Pelosi Loses Her Teeth Over Trump Executive Orders on Unemployment, Payroll Tax Cuts

August 12, 2020August 12, 2020 Michigan Star Staff

Furious that Democrat leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer were blocking a bill to help Americans through the COVID-19 crisis, President Trump stepped up and got the job done, all by himself.

Soft-on-Crime Prosecutors Across America with Soros Ties Refuse to Charge and Try Criminal Behavior

Left-wing prosecutors have implemented soft-on-crime approaches to criminal justice across America, in some instances making it a matter of policy in major cities not to prosecute specific crimes, a Daily Caller News Foundation review found.

A common, though not universal, feature of prominent left-wing district attorneys is the backing of political organizations funded by left-wing billionaire George Soros. The New York Times has credited Soros with pioneering the “push to overhaul prosecutors’ offices” across the country.

Big Ten, Pac-12 Pull Plug on Fall Football Amid Pandemic

August 12, 2020August 11, 2020 The Associated Press

The Big Ten and Pac-12 won’t play football this fall because of concerns about COVID-19, taking two of college football’s five power conferences out of a crumbling season amid the pandemic.

About an hour after the Big Ten’s announcement, the Pac-12 called a news conference to say its season would be postponed until the spring.

Report: Millions Lose Health Insurance Because of COVID-19 Shutdowns

More than 5 million people lost their health insurance coverage over the past several months because of COVID-19 restrictions as costs for lifesaving medications and treatments for cancer also skyrocketed.

A new study by Families USA found that more than 5.4 million people who lost their jobs are uninsured, compared to 3.9 million who were in a similar situation during the Great Recession.

Commentary: How Government ‘Cures’ Drive Out Real Cures

Scurvy, we all know, is a disease caused by a vitamin C deficiency. It took almost 200 years from the time a “lemon juice” cure for scurvy was discovered until it was promoted by the British government. Some think the mental biases that caused the needless deaths of millions have been eliminated in more “enlightened” modern times. They are wrong.

Gov. Cuomo Calls Criticisms of NY’s Nursing Home Deaths ‘Political’ as Damaging Reports Stack Up

August 12, 2020August 12, 2020 Michigan Star Staff

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo dismissed suggestions Monday that local officials are undercounting coronavirus deaths at nursing homes while a several reports indicate the state inaccurately measured how the virus affected long-term care facilities.

New York will not conduct an investigation into nursing home deaths during the pandemic, Cuomo said during a press conference Monday. His insistence that there is no controversy comes after media reports show the state only counts people who died on nursing home property and not those who died after being transferred to hospitals.

Seattle Police Chief to Resign Following Department Cuts

August 12, 2020August 11, 2020 The Associated Press

Seattle’s police chief says she is stepping down, a move made public the same day the City Council approved reducing the department by as many as 100 officers through layoffs and attrition.

Carmen Best, the city’s first Black police chief, said in a letter to the department that her retirement will be effective Sept. 2 and the mayor has appointed Deputy Chief Adrian Diaz as the interim chief, KING-TV reported Monday. Councilmembers had approved the cuts Monday.

Scientists Uneasy as Russia Approves First Coronavirus Vaccine

August 12, 2020August 11, 2020 The Associated Press

Russia on Tuesday became the first country to approve a coronavirus vaccine, a move that was met with international skepticism and unease because the shots have only been studied in dozens of people.

President Vladimir Putin announced the Health Ministry’s approval and said one of his two adult daughters already was inoculated. He said the vaccine underwent the necessary tests and was shown to provide lasting immunity to the coronavirus, although Russian authorities have offered no proof to back up claims of safety or effectiveness.

GOP Senators Press FBI Director Christopher Wray to Produce Trump-Russia Documents

Republican Senators are pressing FBI Director Christopher Wray to provide documents related to the Trump-Russia probe.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham on Monday sent a request to Wray for documents related to a briefing that the FBI provided to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) in February 2018 regarding the primary source for former British spy Christopher Steele.

Whitmer Vetoes Bill Seeking to Give Health Care Workers Immunity During COVID-19 Pandemic

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoed Senate Bill 899, a bill intended to shield health care workers from liability during a state of emergency.

The immunity granted to health care workers and facilities would have stretched from March 10, 2020, to Jan. 1, 2021, as the state battles COVID-19.

Joe Biden Taps Senator Kamala Harris as Running Mate

August 11, 2020August 11, 2020 The Associated Press

Joe Biden named California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate on Tuesday, making history by selecting the first Black woman to compete on a major party’s presidential ticket and acknowledging the vital role Black voters will play in his bid to defeat President Donald Trump.

“I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked @KamalaHarris — a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants — as my running mate,” Biden tweeted. In a text message to supporters, Biden said, “Together, with you, we’re going to beat Trump”

Pentagon Offers Military Airwaves for 5G Wireless Networks

August 11, 2020August 11, 2020 The Associated Press

The Pentagon plans to free up a big chunk of its military airwaves in the U.S. for high-speed internet service, part of a broader push to get ahead of China in the deployment of 5G wireless technology.

The Trump administration announced Monday that it has identified radio spectrum used for radar defense systems that can be shared with commercial telecommunications providers without compromising national security.

Commentary: Biden Is Speaking Out of Both Sides of His Mouth

Former Vice President Joe Biden seems to think he can coast to victory by posing as a moderate while adopting the most extreme policy platform of any major-party candidate in American history. The thing is, the American people just aren’t that stupid — we know a huckster when we see one.

Anxious to boost the dismally-low enthusiasm for his candidacy among his party’s base — one member of which recently compared voting for Biden to eating “half a bowl of s—” — Biden has taken the unprecedented step of shifting his agenda significantly to the left since locking up the nomination, rather than moving toward the political center. After appointing far-left firebrands such as Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke and radical Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to spearhead his policy agenda, Biden unveiled a so-called “unity platform” that directly copied numerous proposals championed by democratic-socialist Senator Bernie Sanders.

Trump: Convention Speech Locale is White House or Gettysburg

August 11, 2020August 11, 2020 The Associated Press

President Donald Trump said Monday that his acceptance speech for the Republican presidential nomination will be held at either the White House or the Gettysburg battlefield.

The president’s initial hopes for the event to be a four-day promotion for his reelection bid have been steadily constrained by the coronavirus pandemic, culminating in his decision last month to cancel nearly all of the in-person proceedings. In recent weeks, President Trump and his aides have looked for alternatives that would allow him to recreate at least some of the pomp of the event.

Commentary: The Age of COVID-19 May Be the Perfect Time to Re-Think the Legal Monopoly Known as the Bar

COVID-19 has delivered an occasional silver lining in the economic clouds troubling America. The most obvious is to highlight stupid regulations imposed to benefit special interests and their political enablers. Including members of the legal monopoly.

Professional regulation is supposed to protect the public. However, even doctors and lawyers, among many others, have used controls to limit competition for their services. They are even more insistent that other experienced and well-trained professionals — such as nurses and paralegals — be prevented from competing than that the occasional genuine incompetent be ferreted out.

Sen. Ron Johnson Subpoenas FBI Director Christopher Wray for All Crossfire Hurricane Documents

Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, subpoenaed FBI Director Christopher Wray last week for all documents related to Crossfire Hurricane, the investigation of the Trump campaign’s possible ties to Russia.

The subpoena, issued on Aug. 6, calls for Wray to produce all of the documents related to the probe by Aug. 20.

Johnson is also demanding that Wray hand over all records that the FBI provided the Justice Department’s office of the inspector general for its scathing report on Crossfire Hurricane.

With Less Than a Week to Go, Biden and the Democrats Are Still Juggling Virtual Convention Details

August 11, 2020August 11, 2020 The Associated Press

Joe Biden’s presidential nominating convention will highlight the U.S. political spectrum from the left flank of New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to the Republican old guard of former Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

But that doesn’t mean there’s room for every prominent Democrat who would get a share of the spotlight at what would have been a traditional convention in Milwaukee before the COVID-19 pandemic made that impossible. Instead, Biden’s campaign and other convention planners are continuing negotiations with various power players over how to produce a truncated virtual convention with just eight hours of programming over four nights from Aug. 17-20.

Puerto Ricans Demand Answers Over Primary Ballot Shortage and Election Delay

August 11, 2020August 11, 2020 The Associated Press

The future of Puerto Rico’s botched primaries rested in the hands of the island’s Supreme Court as answers trickled out Monday on why voting centers lacked ballots and forced officials to reschedule part of the primaries in a blow to the U.S. territory’s democracy.

A plan to hold another primary on Aug. 16 for centers that could not open on Sunday could change depending on the ruling of a lawsuit filed by Pedro Pierluisi, who is running against Gov. Wanda Vázquez to become the potential nominee of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party. Joining the lawsuit was Puerto Rico Sen. Eduardo Bhatia, of the main opposition Popular Democratic Party.

REVIEW: ‘Apocalypse Never’ Takes Direct Aim at ‘Consensus’ of Climate Alarmism

An important new book by Michael Shellenberger, Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All, attempts to counter the common belief that climate change poses an imminent and existential threat to humanity and the planet. At 285 pages, this is a relatively short and very readable book, but it covers a lot of ground. And with an additional 125 pages containing over 1,000 footnotes, Shellenberger’s arguments are well documented.

Players Unite in Push to Save College Season, Create Union

August 11, 2020August 11, 2020 The Associated Press

Michigan defensive back Hunter Reynolds saw the tweets from Trevor Lawrence and other college football players pushing for the opportunity to play this season despite the pandemic.

Reynolds, one of the organizers behind a players’ rights movement in the Big Ten, didn’t like the way some on social media seemed to be pitting Lawrence’s message against the efforts of #BigTenUnited and #WeAreUnited.

“There was a lot of division,” Reynolds told AP early Monday morning.

Commentary: As a Singularity Draws Near, Can We Step Back from the Brink?

It’s obvious to all, at this point, that factional division is reaching a breaking point in America. Like a pair of locked-together tectonic plates pulling slowly in opposite directions, the strain has been increasing for a long time now – and when seismic ruptures finally occur, they happen suddenly, and release enormously destructive energies.

Some years back, John Derbyshire referred to this pent-up tension as a “cold civil war,” and here in 2020 more and more of us are getting the feeling that the term is apt. Is it? (The question has also been the subject of an ongoing weekly discussion between the radio host John Batchelor and historian Michael Vlahos.)

Whitmer Lashes Out at President Trump for ‘Cutting’ Unemployment Benefits

August 11, 2020August 11, 2020 Jordyn Pair

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer lashed out at President Trump in a statement on Sunday after the president cut the enhanced federal unemployment benefit from $600 a week to $400 a week after Democrats in the House failed to make a deal with the Republican-controlled Senate on the matter.

Trump signed four executive orders on Saturday, one of which lowers the enhanced unemployment benefit by a third through the end of the year, with states being required to contribute $100, according to MLive. Unemployed Americans originally received $600 per week through the CARES Act, which expired July 31.

Some Parents Turn to Micro-Schooling as Back-to-School Debate Rages

As states and school districts continue to change their back-to-school policies due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the national debate rages over in-person or virtual learning for instruction, some parents have taken their children’s education into their own hands.

A new form of quasi-homeschooling, called micro-schooling, is emerging. In this not-so-new format, neighboring families have decided to educate their children in a modern version of the 19th century era one-room schoolhouse.

Commentary: Adam Laxalt on Nevada Democrats’ Election Theft Scheme

Our friend Morning in Nevada PAC President Adam Laxalt has alerted us to the details of the “election reform” measure Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak and the Democrat-controlled legislature rushed through in an emergency special session — on a party-line vote, in just a 48-hour period over the weekend, with no members of the public present, and under the cover of night.

And it’s even worse than we thought.

Lindsey Graham: Memo Shows FBI Lied to Senate About Dossier Source

Sen. Lindsey Graham on Sunday released an FBI memo from 2018 that he says shows investigators lied to the Senate about statements that the primary source for the Steele dossier told the FBI regarding the salacious document.

“This document clearly shows that the FBI was continuing to mislead regarding the reliability of the Steele dossier,” Graham said in a statement announcing the release of an eight-page briefing document that the FBI provided to the Senate Intelligence Committee in February 2018.

Commentary: Joe Biden Is the Man Who Wasn’t There

Those things with which we are most familiar are often hardest to see. This is perhaps particularly true of such fraught subjects as politics. There we are every day staring at the same people, reading news stories that are virtually indistinguishable from one another, and what do we know?

Our situation is similar to Alice’s in Through the Looking Glass when she finds herself in a shop that seemed full of curious things. “[T]he oddest part of it all was, that whenever she looked hard at any shelf, to make out exactly what it had on it, that particular shelf was always quite empty: though the others round it were crowded as full as they could hold.”

Arizona, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin Brace for Record 2020 Turnout, Won’t Say When Election Results Will Be Available

Election officials in three battleground states wouldn’t say when the U.S. can expect the results from November’s presidential race, and an official in a fourth state said the timing is uncertain.

Numerous news reports have indicated that election results could take a week to return due to the coronavirus pandemic and an increased reliance on mail-in ballots. Accuracy and timing will be especially crucial in the battleground states that will likely determine whether President Donald Trump will serve another term or be ousted by former Vice President Joe Biden.

Three Hundred Female Athletes Support Idaho’s Barring of Biological Males from Women’s Sports

More than 300 female athletes are speaking out in support of Idaho’s decision to protect women’s sports from biological men.

Female professional, Olympic, and National Collegiate Athletic Association athletes on July 29 sent a letter to the NCAA board of governors asking it to reject calls from LGBT activists to boycott Idaho over its new law protecting women’s athletics from participation by transgender biological males.

“We do not want to watch our athletic achievements be erased from the history books by individuals with all the inherent athletic advantages that come from a male body,” Save Women’s Sports wrote in its letter.

Bikers Flock to the 80th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally with Few Signs of Pandemic

The coronavirus may be changing the world, but there aren’t many signs of the pandemic at the massive annual motorcycle rally being held this week at a small city along Interstate 90 in western South Dakota.

The scene Saturday at the 80th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally was familiar to veterans of the event, with throngs of maskless bikers packing the streets.

Schools Having Difficulty Retrieving Thousands of Digital Devices Sent to Students for Distance Learning

Some school districts are having a difficult time accounting for thousands of devices that were sent home with students this spring to participate in distance learning programs during COVID-19 shutdowns.

Federal CARES Act funding allocated money to states to purchase millions of students laptops, tablets and Chromebooks. Now some districts are having difficulty finding them.

Study Shows Collective Bargaining, Now Reinstated in Virginia, Shields Police Officers from Discipline

A recent study of collectively bargained deals negotiated by police unions nationwide found these deals often scale back accountability and shield police from disciplinary action.

Before this year, public-sector collective bargaining was banned in Virginia. But after Democrats won control of the House and Senate, party leaders were able to pass legislation to end that prohibition, and Gov. Ralph Northam signed it into law. The law will go into effect in May 2021.

Plane Skids off Runway in India; 17 Killed, Including Pilots

August 10, 2020August 9, 2020 The Associated Press

At least 17 people were killed and 123 injured when a special return flight for Indians stranded abroad because of the coronavirus skidded off a hilltop runway and cracked in two while landing Friday in heavy rain in the southern state of Kerala, police said.

Among the injured, at least 15 were in critical condition, said Abdul Karim, a senior Kerala state police officer. Rescue operations were over, he said.

Joe Biden Clarifies Comment About African American Community After Media Downplays

Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden (or his staff) Thursday evening felt the need to “clarify” comments the candidate made suggesting lack of diversity among “the African American community” – even after the corporate media worked valiantly to excuse the comments.

“In no way did I mean to suggest the African-American community is a monolith — not by identity, not on issues, not at all,” Biden said in an series of tweets.

Person ‘In Charge’ of Contract Tracing Won’t Cooperate with Probe, Auditor Says

An Auditor General’s recently released report answered questions about a canceled no-bid contact-tracing contract tied to a Democratic political consultant, but the person “primarily in charge of contact tracing” refused to cooperate.

Contact tracing is a method of gathering information to discover who might have been infected with COVID-19 by following an infected person’s interactions.

For example, one event at an Ingham County bar resulted in 187 COVID-19 infections across the state.

Critic of Trump Ukraine Policy, Co-Author of Infamous 2016 ‘Ukraine Plank’ Joins Trump Administration

August 9, 2020August 8, 2020 Neil W. McCabe

President Donald J. Trump nominated Ilan L. Berman, a critic of his Ukrainian policy and one of the three authors of the proposed Ukraine plank to the 2016 Republican Platform that was cited as proof of the Russian Collusion Hoax, to be a member of the International Broadcasting Advisory Board…

Dr. Simone Gold of America’s Frontline Doctors Responds to Twitter’s Censorship of Her Account

August 9, 2020August 8, 2020 Sam Medley

Dr. Simone Gold, a board-certified emergency physician and the founder of America’s Frontline Doctors, has responded to Twitter’s removal of her tweet about treatments for COVID-19 and locking her out of her account.

In her response, Dr. Gold – who also graduated from Stanford Law School after completing her medical degree – called out her temporary Twitter ban, calling the action “another classic case of tech censorship against anyone who speaks out against the media narrative.”

Commentary: Could COVID-19 End the Government Monopoly on Education?

by Daniel J. Mitchell The coronavirus has been horrible news, most obviously because of death and suffering. But the disease has also wreaked havoc with the economy and given politicians an excuse to push counterproductive policies. But if you want to find a silver lining to that dark cloud, the virus may be putting…

Harvard, Yale Enrollments Down 20 Percent After Moving Online

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, about 20 percent of Harvard and Yale University students will not re-enroll at the Ivy League schools this fall.

An email sent to Harvard students from Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Claudine Gay iterated the same fate for Harvard, the Harvard Crimson reported. A similar, if not identical announcement, was posted on Harvard’s website, confirming that 5,231 students intend to enroll for the fall semester. As the Harvard Crimson noted, data from the previous year show that 6,755 enrolled at Harvard in 2019.

Herman Cain Is Mourned, Celebrated at His Funeral in Atlanta

August 9, 2020August 8, 2020 The Associated Press

Herman Cain, the former Republican presidential candidate, businessman and close ally of President Donald Trump, was guided by his Christian faith in politics, business and his personal life, his pastor said at his funeral Friday.

Cain “made his mark on this world” and his life will be celebrated for years to come, the Rev. Kenneth Lamont Alexander of Antioch Baptist Church North in Atlanta said.

Where Does Joe Biden Actually Stand with the Catholic Church?

CNN and reporters called 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden a “devout Catholic” Thursday after President Donald Trump said the former vice president would “hurt the Bible, hurt God.”

Biden has frequently referenced his Catholic faith throughout his political career, describing his faith as “the bedrock foundation” of his life. The former vice president also supports policies that are explicitly opposed to Catholic teaching, such as abortion and same-sex marriage.

Trump Signs Executive Orders to Extend Unemployment Benefits, Suspend Some Payroll Taxes, Defer

President Donald Trump on Saturday signed executive orders to supplement unemployment benefits for workers who lose their jobs during the coronavirus pandemic by $400 a week and suspend payroll taxes for those earning less than $100,000 a year.

He also signed orders freezing evictions in federal housing and deferring student loan payments through the end of 2020.

Commentary: Biden Can’t Stop Taking Black Voters for Granted

Joe Biden is continuing to suffer from a terrible case of foot-in-mouth disease when it comes to discussing black Americans and their politics.

The tone-deaf former vice president recently claimed “that the Latino community is ‘incredibly diverse,’ ‘unlike’ the black community.”

More Than 100 NYPD Officers Injured in Protests Since June 10

Approximately 111 New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers have been injured in demonstrations across NYC’s five boroughs since June 10, a law enforcement spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

A total of 461 NYPD officers have been injured since the start of violent demonstrations on May 26 that followed the death of George Floyd, who died after a police officer knelt on his neck for over eight minutes, NYPD spokesperson Sgt. Mary Frances O’Donnell told the DCNF in an email.

Justice Department Sends Federal Officers to Memphis and St. Louis to Help Quell Nationwide Violence