December 21, 2022 - The Michigan Star

House GOP Locates Emails, Texts Showing Pelosi Office Directly Involved in Failed January 6 Security

December 21, 2022December 21, 2022 Just the News

House Republicans gathered a trove of text and email messages showing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office was directly involved in the creation and editing of the Capitol security plan that failed during the Jan. 6, 2021 riot and that security officials later declared they had been “denied again and again” the resources needed to protect one of the nation’s most important homes of democracy.

The internal communications were made public Wednesday in a report compiled by Republican Reps. Rodney Davis, Jim Banks, Troy Nehls, Jim Jordan and Kelly Armstrong that encompasses the results of months of investigation they did of evidence that had been ignored by the Democrat-led Jan. 6 committee. The lawmakers were authorized by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to do their own probe.

Transgender Suicide Stats Are ‘Exaggerated’ and Can Increase Suicide Risk, Psychiatrists Say

December 21, 2022December 20, 2022 Michigan Star Staff

Transgender activists often tout the claim that youths with gender identity issues have a suicide attempt rate as high as 41%, but that exaggerated statistic may encourage suicide, multiple psychiatrists have argued.

The suicide rate of youth patients at the United Kingdom’s Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) was 0.03% over the course of a decade, according to an analysis of about 15,000 patients, and another clinic reported that 13.4% of their referrals were considered to be at high risk for suicide prior to their initial triage appointment, according to analysis by Dr. Alison Clayton, an Australian psychiatrist. Compared to this clinical data, transgender suicide statistics that activists promote typically draw from voluntary surveys and find a much higher risk of suicide among respondents.

Appeals Court Blocks Biden Vaccine Mandate for Federal Contractors

December 21, 2022December 20, 2022 Michigan Star Staff

On Monday, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the Biden Administration’s rule mandating that all federal contractors receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

As reported by the Washington Free Beacon, the 5th Circuit’s three-judge panel voted by a 2-1 margin to uphold a prior decision by a lower court that blocked the rule, first implemented by the Biden White House in September of 2021. That ruling came as a result of a lawsuit by the states of Indiana, Louisiana, and Mississippi seeking the overturning of the mandate.

Report: DOJ Demanded Data on House GOP Intel Staffers During Russia Probe

December 21, 2022December 20, 2022 Michigan Star Staff

During the failed investigation into so-called collusion between the Donald Trump campaign and the Russian government, the Department of Justice (DOJ) used grand jury subpoenas to secretly obtain communications between staffers working for Republican members of the House of Representatives.

The New York Post reports that the first such demands came in November of 2017, when the DOJ ordered search engine giant Google to hand over information on two senior staffers for the House Intelligence Committee, which at the time was led by Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.). The material was ultimately delivered to the DOJ by Google on December 5th.

‘Drag Queen Story Hour’ Public Libraries Agree to Allow Actor Kirk Cameron to Hold Children’s Faith-Based Story Hour Only After He Threatens Lawsuit

December 21, 2022December 20, 2022 Susan Berry, PhD

Actor and author Kirk Cameron announced he scored two victories recently when two public libraries that had hosted a “drag queen story hour” for children finally agreed to allow him to hold a children’s faith-based story hour.

The libraries denied him their facilities at first, but then reconsidered once he threatened court action.

‘Twitter Files’ Reveal Platform Aided Pentagon Propaganda Efforts Abroad

December 21, 2022December 20, 2022 Just the News

The most recent release of Twitter’s internal documents, dubbed the “Twitter Files,” details the platform’s cooperation with the Pentagon to promote propaganda materials in line with the military’s strategic geopolitical interests.

Released by The Intercept’s Lee Fang, the latest release detailed Pentagon requests that the platform either verify or “whitelist” a plethora of accounts it used to “amplify certain messages.” Whitelisting an account exempts it from spam and abuse flags while also making it more likely to trend.

Puberty Blocker, Cross-Sex Hormone Prescriptions Double in America’s Children Since 2017

December 21, 2022December 20, 2022 Susan Berry, PhD

Health insurance claims data for treatment of gender dysphoria in children aged 6-17 years shows puberty blocker prescriptions have doubled since 2017, and claims for cross-sex hormones also doubled up until 2021.

According to data compiled by Komodo Health Inc for Reuters in October, in 2021, 42,167 children and teens between the ages of 6 and 17 were diagnosed with gender dysphoria, three times the number in 2017.

Feds Lost Track of 150k Migrants due to Biden’s ‘No Processing’ Policy, Training Video Shows

December 21, 2022December 20, 2022 Just the News

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials lost track of 150,000 migrants that entered the United States due to the Biden administration’s “no processing” immigration policy, a training video from the federal agency shows.

The Biden administration launched “Operation Horizon” in November 2021 to try to locate 150,000 migrants that were released in the summer earlier that year, but the training videos published Tuesday by Fox News show that officials had difficulty tracking down the migrants due to a lack of identifying information.

Michigan Mom, Denied Ethnicity and Gender Class Course Materials, Will Appeal Judge’s FOIA Ruling

December 21, 2022December 20, 2022 The Center Square

Carol Beth Litkouhi isn’t done.

Unhappy with the board of the Rochester Community Schools in Michigan, she won election to a six-year seat with them in November. On Monday, she told The Center Square last week’s ruling by an Oakland County Circuit Court judge denying her Freedom of Information Act request for the district’s ethnicity and gender class course materials will be appealed.

Commentary: Twitter Files Point to Urgent Need for Platform Transparency

December 21, 2022December 20, 2022 RealClearWire

December has been a whirlwind month in the Twitterverse. A new academic study argued that hate speech was surging on the platform, while new company owner Elon Musk countered that such tweets were being quietly hidden, so they didn’t count. High-profile journalists were abruptly suspended and restored with little explanation, with condemnations from the EU and UN. All the while, the so-called “Twitter Files” allowed an unprecedented inside look at the messy and controversial world of platform moderation. What can we learn from all of this about the how the social platforms at the heart of our digital democracies are run?

Commentary: This Christmas Season, I’ve Become a Hallmark Man

December 21, 2022December 20, 2022 Michigan Star Staff

The following admission should embarrass me. Fortunately, I have reached the age where personal quirks more often bring amusement than shame.

Here’s my confession: I’ve begun watching Hallmark movies. Recently, I even spent two evenings with a Candace Cameron Bure film from the Great American Family. Yep, here I am, a guy in his early 70s, all alone and happily watching sappy movies.

Congress’ Massive Spending Bill Sets Aside Another $45 Billion for Ukraine

December 21, 2022December 20, 2022 Michigan Star Staff

Congress appropriated an additional $45 billion in emergency assistance to help Ukraine repel Russia’s invasion in its yearly spending bill released early Tuesday.

The bill is Congress’ largest assistance package for Ukraine to date, following a $40 billion package signed into law in May, a $12 billion supplement in September and $800 million authorized in Congress’ defense spending budget, bringing the total anticipated support for Ukraine in 2022 to nearly $100 billion. It exceeds President Joe Biden’s $37 billion request for military, economic and humanitarian support for Ukraine despite some Republican opposition to offering a “blank check” to Ukraine.

State of Emergency in El Paso as Border Patrol Reports Record Illegal Entries

December 21, 2022December 20, 2022 The Center Square

Blanketed babies in car seats on the sidewalk. People laying in blankets and sleeping bags on the ground. Hundreds pouring into downtown El Paso at a time. In November alone, more than 53,500 illegal foreign nationals were apprehended, and an additional 24,000 who evaded capture by law enforcement in the Customs and Border Patrol sector that includes El Paso.

Wells Fargo Ordered to Pay $3.7 Billion for ‘Illegal Activity,’ Including Mismanaging Accounts

December 21, 2022December 20, 2022 Just the News

Federal regulators on Tuesday ordered Wells Fargo Bank to pay a $1.7 billion civil penalty and more than $2 billion in compensation to customers for what they say was “illegal activity affecting over 16 million consumer accounts.”

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Wells Fargo “repeatedly misapplied loan payments, wrongfully foreclosed on homes and illegally repossessed vehicles, incorrectly assessed fees and interest, charged surprise overdraft fees,” among other things.

Commentary: The FBI Copied Parts of the Debunked Steele Dossier Directly into Its Spy Requests

December 21, 2022December 20, 2022 RealClearWire

The FBI relied more extensively on Christopher Steele’s debunked dossier in their Russiagate investigation than has been revealed, inserting key parts from it into their applications for warrants to spy on the 2016 Trump campaign.

Agents did this without telling the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that the precise wording was plucked directly from a political rumor sheet paid for by Hillary Clinton’s campaign or providing judges with any independent corroboration of the explosive allegations.

New Jersey Passes New Gun Control Law

December 21, 2022December 20, 2022 Michigan Star Staff

New Jersey’s state Senate narrowly passed a new concealed carry gun control legislation Monday, with one Democratic lawmaker joining Republicans in saying it is unconstitutional, according to NJ.com.

The bill would require gun owners who seek a concealed carry permit to purchase liability insurance and take training courses, while also increasing permit fees and restricting guns in “sensitive places” like schools, public parks, courthouses, bars and private property, according to the legislation. The bill received bipartisan criticism, with Republican state Sen. Michael Testa calling the bill “absolutely wrong” and Democratic state Sen. Nicholas Sacco saying it is unconstitutional and will face legal challenges, according to NJ.com.