Month: December 2021

Family Tracking App Life360 Is Selling Customers’ Locations to Data Brokers: REPORT

Michigan Star Staff

A family safety app used to track children’s movements is selling location data to several different data brokers, according to an investigation by The Markup.

Life360, which bills itself as a “family location sharing app” that purports to “simplify safety” for families, is selling customers’ location data to over a dozen data brokers including X-Mode, SafeGraph and Cuebiq, the Markup reported, citing interviews with two ex–Life360 employees and two former employees of major location data brokers.

Life360 is used by 31 million members, according to its website, and is intended to provide parents with the ability to track their children’s movements. The company discloses in its privacy policy that it sells “identifiers, Internet/Network information, Geolocation, Inferences, and Other personal information, including driving event and movement data” to third parties.

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Foreigners Illegally Entering U.S. Come from 106 Different Countries, Border Patrol Says

Michigan Star Staff

While most Americans are legally traveling to visit relatives and celebrate during the holidays, Border Patrol agents are being inundated with illegal travelers arriving at the U.S. southern border from more than 100 different countries this year.

Border Patrol agents assigned to Del Rio Sector in Texas, for example, arrested people coming from African and former Soviet countries over Thanksgiving, as well as known sex offenders from Mexico and Nicaragua.

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Former D.C. National Guard Official Says Generals Lied to Congress About January 6th

Michigan Star Staff

A former member of the D.C. National Guard has accused two Army leaders of perjuring themselves before Congress in an attempt to rewrite the history of the military’s response to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Col. Earl Matthews, a high-level Pentagon official during the Trump administration, has authored a 36-page report criticizing the Pentagon’s inspector general for what he believes is an error-riddled account created in order to protect a top Army official who argued against sending the National Guard to the Capitol, according to Politico.

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Trump Makes Deal to Clear North Carolina GOP Senate Field So His Candidate Can Win

Michigan Star Staff
Donald Trump smiling

Former President Donald Trump struck a deal this past weekend to clear the crowded field in North Carolina’s Republican primary for Senate for Rep. Ted Budd, his preferred candidate, a source close with Budd and familiar with the meeting confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Budd, who joined the fray in April and received Trump’s endorsement two months later, has failed to emerge as the frontrunner in a GOP primary that includes former Gov. Pat McCrory and former Rep. Mark Walker. One recent poll conducted for the conservative group Club for Growth, which has also backed Budd, found the congressman slightly behind McCrory even as Budd’s popularity rose in recent months, while Walker remained in a distant third.

An internal poll from McCrory’s campaign, however, showed the former governor up by 15 points.

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Commentary: Burned Out Teachers Are Starting Their Own ‘Microschools’ – and It’s Working

Michigan Star Staff

Teachers across the country are feeling burned out and depleted, particularly as school coronavirus policies and staffing shortages make their jobs more difficult. According to a survey by the RAND Corporation, almost one-quarter of teachers planned to leave the profession in 2021, and teachers experienced higher rates of work-related stress and depression than other adults.

A recent letter from teachers and staff at a small Vermont public elementary school to their superintendent and school board members echoes the feelings of many public school personnel. “Everybody is stepping up to try to do what is asked of them; everybody is feeling inadequate, exhausted, and defeated much of the time,” wrote educators at the Ottauquechee School in Hartford. “Colleagues are questioning whether changing professions is in their best interest.”

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Outside Organization Finds Discrepancies After Examining Michigan Voter Registration Lists, Calls for More Transparency

Cooper Moran

The Voter Reference Foundation (VRF), an outside organization that has reviewed multiple states’ voter registration lists, called for more transparency in Michigan’s voter rolls.

When analyzing the data, the group claimed that the state has a discrepancy between the number of voters listed as having voted in the 2020 general election and the number of ballots reported being cast according to states’ official canvass and turnout reports.

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Taxpayer-Funded Critical Race Theory Training Program Draws Criticism

The Center Square
Young girl in pink long sleeve writing

Critics are questioning a taxpayer-funded program that trains students in critical race theory.

The backlash comes after The Center Square uncovered federal grant documents from the Department of Education that showed the federal government has awarded millions of dollars to a program that trains future educators in critical race theory.

Experts said the program disproves claims that critical race theory is not being pushed at K-12 schools.

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Commentary: Omicron, a Variant of Control

Michigan Star Staff

Last week, I dusted off my Chinese-flu soapbox and said a word or two about (cue the scary music) the Omicron variant. It sounds like the title of a Robert Ludlum novel, doesn’t it? A friend told me about a parlor game that the journalist Christopher Hitchens and his pals used to play in which the object was to contrive names for Shakespeare’s plays that sounded like the title of a Ludlum novel. Hamlet was “The Elsinore Conundrum.” I am sorry that Hitch is not still with us to try his hand at the Omicron variant. 

So far, I have to say, it’s been pretty much of a dud—unless, that is, you’re the stock market, which has taken a beating this last week or so, in part because of this new kid on the medical block (there is also that much more toxic financial emergency, the Biden Administration, but that’s for another day). The new variant has also been a godsend for scolds, nags, bureaucrats, and meddlesome so-called public health officials nannies who are just itching for another excuse to lock down your world, introduce new travel restrictions, and impose new testing protocols.

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SCOTUS to Consider Maine Religious School Tuition Case

The Center Square

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments next week in a Maine lawsuit that challenges a state law prohibiting the use of tuition funds for religious education.

A lawsuit filed by the Institute for Justice and First Liberty Institute on behalf of several Maine families seeks to overturn a state law that prohibits the use of taxpayer dollars for students to attend religious-based schools. 

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Cook Political Report Shifts Eight Governor’s Races Toward GOP

Michigan Star Staff
Map of America on a laptop screen

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report on Friday shifted eight high-stakes gubernatorial races toward Republicans as Democrats continue to face political headwinds.

Ratings in Michigan, Wisconsin and Nevada, three pivotal battleground states, shifted from “Lean Democratic” to “Toss Up.” Each has a first-term Democratic incumbent — Govs. Gretchen Whitmer, Tony Evers and Steve Sisolak, respectively — fighting to win reelection in a state that President Joe Biden won by fewer than four points in 2020.

Other states that saw changes were Maine, New Mexico, Oregon, Iowa and South Carolina. While Democrats remain favorites in the first three, Cook noted, the ratings in Iowa and South Carolina both moved from “Likely Republican” to “Solid Republican.”

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Student Shatters Women’s Swimming Records After Switching from Men’s Team

Michigan Star Staff
Person swimming

Lia Thomas, a swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania, shattered records after transitioning from male to female and joining the women’s team.

Thomas, who is biologically male, competed for three years on the men’s team before moving to the women’s team after transitioning, the Daily Mail reported. NCAA rules require males to undergo at least one year of testosterone suppression treatment before they can compete in the women’s category.

Thomas’s top time for the 500 Free event in the male category was 4:18.72. Thomas won the 500 Free while competing against Villanova and participated in eight regular season events as a male in the 2019-2020 season.

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Taliban Claims They’ve Changed, Declares Men Need Women’s Consent to Marry Them

Michigan Star Staff
Young Muslim Couple with Toddler at Masjid al-Haram

The Taliban banned forced marriages in a Friday decree, saying that women are free persons and not property.

“Both (women and men) should be equal,” the decree said, according to ABC News. “No one can force women to marry by coercion or pressure.”

The Taliban ordered courts to allow widows to seek the inheritance of their families and to choose who they marry after their husbands die rather than being forced to marry an in-law, ABC News reported. The Taliban reportedly seeks an end to the practice of forcing women into marriage for money or to settle disputes.

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‘Political Uncertainty’: Energy Firm Abandons Oregon Pipeline Project After Years of Environmentalist Pushback

Michigan Star Staff
The newest inflatable pipeline prop had it's debut action at the Capitol in Salem, OR. 350Eugene mobilized the creative imagery joining with people across the state to call on the governor to take concrete action to halt the proposed LNG pipeline and export facility in Jordan Cove. The prop was used to highlight the first life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions analysis and climate impacts of the project from the fracking in Colorado, Wyoming or Canada, to the export facility and the burning of gas overseas. The rally in Salem, Oregon during Lobby Day with Governor Brown and Legislators amplified the call to end the Pacific Connector Pipeline and Terminal plans for Jordan Cove, Coos Bay, Oregon. Activist from all over the state took part with diverse rally speakers, songs, chants, a skit with bobble head Puppet Gov Brown & the actions she must take to halt the project. They walked the pipeline to the Department of State Lands Board building then back to Capitol steps. Photos by 350Eugene, Don Ewing.

Canadian energy firm Pembina Pipeline Corp. pulled the plug on a years-long project that would have led to greater natural gas exports from to Canada to the U.S.

The multi-billion-dollar Jordan Cove project included plans to construct a marine export terminal, which would have been the first of its kind in the continental U.S., and a 230-mile pipeline across Oregon, The Associated Press reported. The terminal would have liquefied up to 1.04 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day for export and hosted two full-containment storage tanks on site, according to previous federal permit records.

But the project, which dates back to 2004, was fiercely opposed by environmentalists while state officials created permitting roadblocks that Pembina struggled to hurdle. In 2020, the Republican-majority Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the project, but the agency rescinded approval in January, upholding Oregon’s rejection of the plans.

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CIA Covered up Staff Sex Crimes Committed Against Minors

Michigan Star Staff
CIA logo

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was aware that at least 10 members of its staff committed alleged sex crimes against children, though only one employee was ever prosecuted, according to released documents first reported by BuzzFeed News.

One CIA employee had “inappropriate sexual activity with an unidentified two-year-old girl” and confessed to having sexual relations with a six-year-old, according to internal CIA reports dating from 2004 to 2019 accessed by BuzzFeed through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. The employee was fired but never charged.

Another employee allegedly bought pornographic films depicting young girls, while another claimed to have viewed thousands of sexually explicit images of children, according to the documents. These employees also were not charged with any crimes.

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Commentary: Benjamin Crump Is America’s Premier ‘Racial Justice’ Profiteer

Michigan Star Staff

As Benjamin Crump continues to carve out his niche in the legal arena, it is time America recognizes what’s going on. The George Floyd attorney is not a crusader for justice, he’s an opportunistic race profiteer. More sophisticated than the local ambulance chaser—but ambitious in a similarly distasteful way—he scours news reports to find examples of deadly interactions between Americans he can miscast as a racist relics of a bygone era.

In this land of possibility, everyone is free to chart his own course. But what should we make of those who seem only to want to chart a course of decrying and disparaging America?  

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Pennsylvania Governor Blocks Conceal-Carry Without a License

Michigan Star Staff

Gov. Tom Wolf has vetoed legislation that would have allowed residents to carry a concealed firearm without a license, claiming the measure would exacerbate gun violence in the commonwealth.

“This legislation removes the requirement that an individual obtain a license, and with it, the ability of law enforcement to conduct a background investigation,” Wolf said. “Removal of the licensing background investigation will hinder the ability of law enforcement to prevent individuals who should not be able to carry a firearm concealed from doing so.

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Dozens of Republicans Slam Biden Administration for Considering Crude Oil Export Ban

Michigan Star Staff
Texas Rep. August Pfluger and Congressman Roger Williams

A large group of House Republicans penned a letter to top Biden administration officials Friday, urging them not to ban U.S. crude oil exports.

The GOP lawmakers, led by Texas Reps. Roger Williams and August Pfluger, said the move would be a “catastrophic mistake” and further exacerbate high energy prices in the letter addressed to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. The congressmen noted that a previous crude oil export ban had been opposed by Democrats and Republicans alike.

“President Biden’s war on American energy continues with his Administration’s latest discussions to reinstate the export ban on crude oil, which was repealed in 2015 on a bipartisan vote,” Williams said in a statement.

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Missouri Governor Attacks Journalist’s Mask Mandate Reporting, Democrats Push Back

Michigan Star Staff
Mike Parson

Democrats used the word “fascism” to describe Missouri Republican Gov. Mike Parson’s criticism of a journalist for his story on research conducted by the state health department on mask mandates.

“He’s attacking the press again for doing their job,” state Rep. Peter Merideth, D-St. Louis, told The Center Square. “This is getting to a point where it’s beyond concerning. When the press points out something your administration is doing wrong, he turns around and attacks them and says they are criminals or liars. It’s a dangerous, dangerous road he’s going down.”

The Missouri Independent reported on Wednesday a freedom of information request found Parson’s office requested in November research from the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) on the effectiveness of masks in St. Louis, St. Louis County, Kansas City and Jackson County. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed lawsuits earlier this year against the municipalities because of their mask mandates.

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Emerson Promotes Professor Who Doubts That Black and White Women Can Be ‘True Friends’

Michigan Star Staff

Emerson College is appointing Kim McLarin, an associate professor of creative writing, to serve as the institution’s interim Dean of Graduate and Professional Studies. McLarin has written a number of essays and opinion pieces in which she denigrates White people, particularly White women.

In an article she wrote for the Washington Post, McLarin expressed doubt as to whether Black women and White women could be “true friends”. A New York Times piece she authored details her experience briefly dating a White man in which she ultimately decides to end the relationship because of the man’s race. She also wrote an essay for The Morning News in which she, among other things, argues that Morgan Freeman films are part of an effort by “White America” to “remain at the center of black consciousness.”

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Princeton Students Call out Dean’s Rittenhouse Email for ‘Factual Inaccuracies, Misconstrual, and Virtue Signaling’

Michigan Star Staff
Kyle Rittenhouse

Some Princeton university students are pushing back after receiving a politically-charged email from a dean following the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict.

Princeton University students enrolled in the School of Public and International Affairs received a Nov. 20 email, obtained by Campus Reform, titled “Our Moral Duty” from the dean of the school, Dean Amaney Jamal.

“Last August, Kyle Rittenhouse shot and killed two protestors and wounded a third in Kenosha, Wisconsin. During his trial, he emotionally broke down on the stand, saying he was acting in self-defense. Today, he was acquitted of all six charges against him, including three of which were homicide related,” the email read.

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Commentary: When Antifa Returns from Winter Break

Michigan Star Staff

The 2021-2022 academic college year is nearing completion. Students have quickly forgotten the early apprehensions associated with dorm and housing arrangements, parking permits, class scheduling, and connecting and reconnecting with peers on campus. Winter break has nearly arrived on campus.  But college students across the United States should not forget that Antifa will not be taking a winter break. Their agenda continues to oppose college students seeking knowledge and skill acquisition, job market competitiveness, and related material and social benefits critically important to the “pursuit of happiness.”  These self-professed “anti-Fascists” have planned to do much more than just continue normal operations.

In fact, through publications like CrimethInc (formerly Inside Front) Antifa has boldly asserted that violence, subversion, demoralization, and corruption will be their primary objectives for the academic year.  Empowered by increased funds, new recruits, tactical experience, optimism created by victories won in battles on and off college grounds, and a permissive environment created by an increasingly politicized and defanged police force, these radical socialists are now calling for nothing less than a total undermining of the college system through “an effort to infiltrate and undermine the institutions of power from within.”

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Gov. Walz’s Education Department Lobbied Against Measure to Remove Violent Students from Classrooms

Admin

Minnesota schools are struggling with an increase in student violence, yet Gov. Tim Walz’s Department of Education (MDE) lobbied against a measure to quell the chaos.

Rochester schools are “taken over with violence,” a fight between students at Hopkins High School recently left three staff members with injuries, and ISD 728 is accused of not cracking down on student-on-student sexual abuse. Meanwhile, Rochester is banning parents who don’t wear masks from school grounds for a year, a St. Louis Park Catholic school has rolled out a new “social justice algebra” class, and some other schools are moving back to “distance learning.” Critics say that spending time and money on initiatives like these distracts from what schools should be focused on: stopping classroom violence.

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War Hero and Longtime Republican Leader Bob Dole Dead at Age of 98

Michigan Star Staff
Bobe Dole

Bob Dole, a son of the prairie from Russell, Kan., who survived grievous injuries during World War II to battle for decades as a Republican Senate leader and presidential candidate, died Sunday at the age of 98 after a battle with lung cancer.

His death was announced by the Elizabeth Dole Foundation founded by his wife and former North Carolina senator.

“Senator Robert J. Dole died early this morning in his sleep. At his death, at age 98, he had served the United States of America faithfully for 79 years,” the statement said.

The family had announced in February he was diagnosed with lung cancer and was beginning treatments.

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‘Laptop From Hell’ Author: Biden Lied About Not Knowing of ‘Hunter’s Overseas Business Dealings’

Admin

President Biden “lied” on the campaign trail “when he said that he knew nothing about his son Hunter’s overseas business dealings,” alleges Miranda Devine, author of “Laptop from Hell: Hunter Biden, Big Tech, and the Dirty Secrets the President Tried to Hide.”

Biden “met Hunter’s business partners from overseas multiple times” when he was vice president, including “Mexicans and Ukrainians and Russians and Chinese and Kazakhstanis,” Devine told the John Solomon Reports podcast on Thursday.

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Commentary: The FBI Downplays Leftist Terror Activity

Admin

Pro-Antifa social media accounts are taking a victory lap this week following the announcement that the FBI has ruled out a political motive in the 2019 Dayton, Ohio mass murder of nine people, carried out by Antifa supporter Connor Betts. One of the victims was Betts’ sister.

Betts interacted with multiple Antifa-aligned accounts online, including the Socialist Rifle Association (SRA), a Marxist group whose members commonly provide armed support during Antifa actions. Betts himself attended Antifa protests while armed, and made statements calling for killing “every fascist” and urged his comrades to “arm, train, prepare” to oust Trump from office, according evidence unearthed by Andy Ngo, a journalist with a long history of covering Antifa violence. Betts can also be seen in images wearing Satanist and anarchist patches. Betts, dressed all in black and wearing a mask, opened fire on a crowd outside the “traditional western-themed bar” Ned Peppers, before being killed by police.

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Commentary: The Reasons Why the Public Can’t Watch the Ghislaine Maxwell Trial

Admin

The trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, the socialite who stands accused of procuring young girls for the sex predator Jeffrey Epstein, began last week.

Though the mainstream media has not focused as heavily on this case as other high-profile trials in recent months, the proceedings have certainly not been forgotten by the general public. But much to the chagrin of that public, the trial will not be filmed.

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Rand Paul: ‘Fauci Should Go to Prison for Five Years for Lying to Congress’

Admin

Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky) on Thursday said he thinks Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, should go to prison for five years for lying to Congress. The Kentucky senator has repeatedly sparred with the NIAID director over the funding of gain-of-function experiments at the Wuhan lab.

“Fauci should go to prison for five years for lying to Congress. They’ve prosecuted other people, they’ve selectively gone after Republicans, but in no way will they do anything about him lying,” he told Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business.

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Commentary: Global Access to Effective Coronavirus Treatments Is Important as the Vaccine

Admin

While the science community researches the newly discovered Omicron variant of Covid-19, treatments will become even more necessary where breakthrough cases are detected and those who choose to be unvaccinated are infected. What we already know from the Covid-19 variants is that they are not going away leading to the reality that we will be living with this virus for a long, long time. A vaccine focused approach misses the fact that treatments are going to be needed as a backstop.

The facts surrounding the Omicron variant are emerging day-by-day. CNN reported on November 30, 2021, “there is still a lot we don’t know about the Omicron variant, but scientists are racing to determine its severity, transmissibility and whether it evades current vaccines.” The report indicates that 70 countries have imposed travel restrictions from hot zones in Africa and a growing number of countries outside of Africa are reporting cases. Moderna’s CEO, Stéphane Bancel, worries that the new variant may have an impact on vaccine efficacy while Pfizer’s CEO, Albert Bourla, said that the company is working on an updated vaccine if one is needed. The bottom line is that vaccines have proven to be helpful, yet the Covid-19 pandemic must be fought with vaccines and therapeutics.

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CNN Fires Chris Cuomo After Probe into Assistance to Embattled Brother

Michigan Star Staff

CNN on Saturday fired anchor Chris Cuomo following a probe into his assistance to his embattled brother and now disgraced ex-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo

The network You should’ve statement Saturday evening saying that, I’ve been quoting got terminated “effective immediately.”

“Chris Cuomo was suspended earlier this week pending further evaluation of new information that came to light about his involvement with his brother’s defense,” CNN said. “We retained a respected law firm to conduct the review, and have terminated him, effective immediately.”

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Parents Defending Education Files Civil Rights Complaint over Middle School’s Plans for Racially Segregated ‘Affinity Groups’

Admin

Parents Defending Education (PDE) filed a civil rights complaint Thursday with the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) against New York City Public Schools for its plans to hold racially segregated “affinity groups,” according to the complaint.

PDE filed the complaint with the Office for Civil Rights “for discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin in programs or activities that receive Federal financial assistance,” claiming the district violated both Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Lower Manhattan Community School, which is the reason for the complaint, planned to divide students into affinity groups at school on Nov. 23 and 24, based on skin color to “undo the legacy of racism and oppression in this country that impacts our school community,” according to an email sent to parents, the Daily Caller News Foundation previously reported.

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Tennis Star Peng Shuai’s Safety Is Impossible to Prove, Experts Say

Admin
Peng Shuai with tennis racket in hand

Several international organizations have demanded verifiable proof of tennis star Peng Shuai’s safety, but experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation that obtaining such evidence from the Chinese government is practically impossible.

“Until the communist regime falls, Peng is probably going to remain under custody in China,” Gordon G. Chang, author of “The Coming Collapse of China,” told the DCNF.

Peng  disappeared from public life after posting an accusation of sexual assault against former top Chinese official Zhang Gaoli. Though she has since reemerged, concern remains over her well-being.

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New Gingrich Commentary: Why Congress Must Investigate Hunter Biden – and All Those Protecting Him

Admin

Despite every effort of the Biden administration, the Justice Department, the Congressional Democrats, and the propaganda media, Hunter Biden is going to end up being investigated – and the impact on President Joe Biden, his administration, and his legacy is going to be enormous.

As more stories about Hunter Biden’s meetings with foreign agents in Serbia, China, and elsewhere come out, serious scrutiny will become unavoidable.

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Alleged ‘Alternative’ Mueller Report Could Be Released Soon

Admin

Federal officials have allegedly discovered unused files from Robert Mueller’s unsuccessful Special Counsel investigation, and may decide to release them soon as an “alternative” report, according to Politico.

The documents recently found amongst Department of Justice (DOJ) files consist of findings by one of Mueller’s deputies, Andrew Weissmann, that were not included in the final report that was made public in early 2019. Weissmann first discussed his unreleased findings in a book he published last year called “Where Law Ends.”

“At least for posterity, I had all the members … write up an internal report memorializing everything we found, our conclusions, and the limitations on the investigation,” Weissman claims, “and provided it to the other team leaders as well as had it maintained in our files.”

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Border Patrol Agents Apprehend Foreign Nationals Illegally Entering U.S. from Multiple Countries

The Center Square

While most Americans were legally traveling to visit relatives and celebrate Thanksgiving enjoying a few days off of work, Border Patrol agents were hard at work in Texas inundated with illegal travelers arriving at the U.S. southern border.

Border Patrol agents assigned to Del Rio Sector in Texas, for example, arrested people coming from African and former Soviet countries over Thanksgiving, as well as known sex offenders from Mexico and Nicaragua.

From Nov. 23-27, agents apprehended six Eritrean nationals who traveled from the northeast African country to the southern U.S. after the Biden administration halted immigration laws established by Congress.

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November Jobs Report Is One of the Worst Since Biden Took Office

Michigan Star Staff

The U.S. economy added 210,000 jobs in November, marking nearly the lowest number of jobs created in a month since President Joe Biden took office in January.

November’s jobs report was well below economists’ estimate of 573,000, according to CNBC. Additionally, unemployment fell to 4.2% from October’s 4.6% figure, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The U.S. economy, still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic but now subject to uncertainty related to the Omicron coronavirus variant, appeared to slow in momentum in November, The Wall Street Journal reported.

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Commentary: Capitol Surveillance Footage of January 6th Will Tell the Real Story

Michigan Star Staff

For months, Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice has tried every trick in the law books to conceal from Americans a massive trove of video evidence that captured all the activity at the Capitol complex on January 6. Federal judges have played along, approving hundreds of protective orders to keep video clips—particularly footage recorded by the Capitol Police’s extensive closed-circuit television system—out of the public eye.

Time, however, is running out for the government.

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Oklahoma Files Lawsuit to Seek Exemption from Vaccine Mandate for National Guard

Michigan Star Staff
National Guard on duty securing the Capitol building ahead of Joe Biden’s inauguration.

On Thursday, the state of Oklahoma filed a lawsuit to exempt members of the state’s National Guard from the nationwide coronavirus vaccine mandate, The Hill reports.

The suit, filed in federal court by Governor Kevin Stitt (R-Okla.) and Attorney General John O’Connor (R-Okla.), names Joe Biden and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin as defendants. The suit requests that the courts declare the national vaccine mandate for all members of the armed services to be unconstitutional, and thus enjoin the federal government from enforcing it on the Oklahoma National Guard; the suit also seeks to prevent the federal government from imposing its penalty for refusal to comply, which would include withholding federal funds from the state’s National Guard.

“This mandate ensures that many Oklahoma National Guard members will simply quit instead of getting a vaccine,” the suit reads in part, “a situation that will irreparably harm Oklahomans’ safety and security.”

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Biden Admin Rolls Out More COVID Measures, Says Vaccine Requirements for Domestic Flights Not ‘off the Table’

The Center Square

President Joe Biden unveiled a new set of executive actions to address the Omicron variant Thursday, though how serious the threat of the variant will be remains unclear.

Biden gave an address from the White House Thursday where he urged a nationwide effort to up vaccinations and booster shots for Americans. The administration said it will extend the mask requirement for domestic flights to March 18 while increasing restrictions on inbound international travelers, requiring they receive a negative COVID test within 24 hours of departure.

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Former Spokesperson for Democratic D.C. Mayor Says Became Republican Because of Biden Leadership

Michigan Star Staff
Fox News interview with Juan Perez

Aformer spokesperson for Washington, D.C., Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser says he switched political parties after President Biden assumed office and that he voted for Glenn Youngkin in the Republican’s recent, successful bid to become Virginia’s next governor.

Victor Jimenez told Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Wednesday night that until recently he was “lead public information officer at [Bowser’s] office for community affairs” and worked prior to that in a similar role for Latino outreach.

“The reason I switched parties is because of everything that’s going on in the country right now,” Jimenez, an Afro-Dominican immigrant, told Carlson. “We see immigration through the roof right now, and that is affecting a lot of Hispanic families in my home state of Virginia. And those are people who are already struggling with making ends meet.”

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Commentary: Christianity Did Not Cause the Fall of the Roman Empire

Michigan Star Staff

In The Devil’s Dictionary, the writer Ambrose Bierce offered this definition of History: “An account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers mostly knaves, and soldiers mostly fools.”

Before you dismiss Bierce’s cynical perspective, remember that historians are mortals. Some are very good at what they do, others are quite bad at it, and most fall somewhere in between. Even the best of them may find their way to the wrong conclusions. They may over-emphasize some factors while under-emphasizing others or allow their personal biases to color what they write.

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Parents of Alleged 15-Year-Old Michigan High School Shooter Charged with Involuntary Manslaughter

Michigan Star Staff
Oxford High School

A Michigan prosecutor on Friday filed involuntary manslaughter charges against the parents of 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley who, earlier this week, allegedly killed four students at Oxford High School and injured several more. Prosecutor Karen McDonald says the actions of the parents went “far beyond negligence.”

Both James and Jennifer Crumbley has been charged with four counts each of involuntary manslaughter, which potentially carry sentences of up to 15-years in prison.

“The parents were the only individuals in the position to know the access to the weapons,” said McDonald. The gun Ethan allegedly used had been purchased by his father, James, just four days before the rampage.

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Commentary: Five Surprising Facts on the 2021 Election Results

Michigan Star Staff

The recent Republican victory in the Virginia gubernatorial race and near-win in New Jersey dominated coverage of last month’s elections, but Republicans won unexpected victories in other contests as well.

Here are five other surprising results from the 2021 elections.

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Roughly 19,000 Active-Duty Marines, Navy Sailors Unvaccinated After Biden Administration Deadline

Michigan Star Staff

As many as 19,000 active-duty Marines and Navy sailors reportedly remain unvaccinated after the Biden administration’s Nov. 28 deadline.

Military leaders have vowed to expel personnel declining to comply with the mandate, according to The Washington Post.

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Stunning Waste: Unemployment Fraud During COVID Cost More Than Triple Total Benefits Paid in 2019

Michigan Star Staff

Unemployment fraud exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the U.S. Labor Department Inspector General’s semiannual report to Congress.

Approximately $872 billion in federal funding was allocated to unemployment benefits in the last year, and at least 10% was estimated to be paid “improperly, with a significant portion attributable to fraud.”

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‘Woke’ Professor Fired After Mixing up Names of Black Students

Peter D'Abrosca

A professor at Fordham University in the Bronx has been terminated after showing off his “woke” credentials to students in order to excuse himself from mixing up the names of two black students. 

“A former lecturer in the English Department, Christopher Trogan, was terminated by Fordham on Oct. 25 after a series of communications with students that stemmed from an incident where he confused the names of two Black students,” The Fordham Observer, the school’s newspaper, said. 

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Michigan State Rep. Beau LaFave Introduces Bill to Limit Big Tech Influence on Elections

Cooper Moran

Michigan State Representative Beau LaFave (R-Iron Mountain) on Thursday introduced a bill to limit the influence of Big Tech on the state’s elections.

House Bill 5597, entitled Justice Abolishing Corporate Kneecapping (JACK) Act, would prohibit social media platforms from “willfully” de-platforming a candidate running for office.

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Tate Myre, Killed by Michigan School Shooter, Lauded for His Heroic Actions

Michigan Star Staff

An online petition has been launched to rename the Oxford High School football stadium after Tate Myre, one of four students killed this week by a school shooter in suburban Detroit and whose heroics during the massacre likely saved lives.

Myre, a 16-year-old football player, sacrificed himself Tuesday in an effort to save classmates by rushing the shooter in an attempt to disarm him and give other students time to run away. He reportedly suffered multiple gunshot wounds and died as he was being rushed to the hospital.

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