Day: April 4, 2022

Survivors of Communism Warn About America’s Future: ‘Americans Became Soviet’ Through Cowardice

Florida Capital Star Staff
Soviet monument, Pyramiden Spitsbergen Svalbard

Survivors of communism are concerned about America’s future as they see Marxism spreading in academia and Americans being too cowardly to speak out and stand up against the ideology.

Human Events and the Liberty Forum of Silicon Valley recently hosted “Paying The Price: Victims of Communism Panel,” in which five survivors of communist regimes shared their stories and warned about where America appears headed.

Tatiana Menaker, a refusenik who escaped from the Soviet Union after not being allowed to emigrate, said that when she attended San Francisco State University, she “found such brainwashing machine of Marxism, which I even didn’t have in Russia, in the Soviet Union. American professors are all in delirium of Marxism.”

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Commentary: MIT Bucks the Trend and Reinstates Its SAT/ACT Requirement

Florida Capital Star Staff
SAT multiple choice exam with a number 2 pencil

In case you missed it, on Monday MIT announced that they would be reinstating their SAT/ACT requirement for future admissions cycles. Like many universities, MIT had ditched the tests during the pandemic.

Even prior to the pandemic, however, there had been a widespread push to abandon these tests to enhance diversity.

“Data shows tests like the SAT are biased against students from low-income households. Poorer students tend to perform worse on the test,” CNN reported in 2015. “Blacks and Hispanics also consistently score lower on the SAT than whites.” (CNN conveniently left out that Asian Americans score much higher than whites, presumably because it didn’t fit the narrative.)

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House Passes National Marijuana Legalization Bill

Florida Capital Star Staff
Person making a marijuana joint

The Democrat-led House on Friday passed legislation to legalize marijuana nationwide, eliminating the longstanding criminal penalties for those who distribute and possess it.

The bill passed primarily along party lines (220-204), with all but three Republicans voting ‘no,’ and all but two Democrats voting ‘yes.’

The legislation will now head to the Senate where it will likely face an uphill battle toward passage, but has a powerful ally in Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who is working with several of his colleagues to introduce a twin bill sometime this spring.

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Commentary: Biden’s Budget of Taxes, Taxes and More Taxes

Florida Capital Star Staff

Inflation is running rampant, federal spending is out of control, gas prices are at an all-time high and Americans are pessimistic on the future outlook of the economy. So what is President Joe Biden’s solution?

He has released a budget proposal that includes 36 tax increases on families and businesses totaling $2.5 trillion over the next decade. Alarmingly, this includes 11 tax increases on the oil and gas industry, taxes that will put a burden on households.

The budget doesn’t even include all the tax increases being pushed by Democrats because the budget omits the cost of tax increases within their stalled multi-trillion dollar Build Back Better Act. Instead of detailing these tax increases, the Biden budget includes a placeholder asserting that any new spending will be fully offset.

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Commentary: Parents Can Fight and Defeat Critical Race Theory

Florida Capital Star Staff
Critical Race Theory sign with a table of books

Five years ago, hardly anyone knew what Critical Race Theory (CRT) was, but now the phrase is a common one in American households. The Marxist-based theory advocating a race-essentialist approach to education, law, public policy, and even health care, seeks to deconstruct the foundations of society and rebuild it as “antiracist,” while discriminating against whites along the way. Many people are overwhelmed with both the pervasiveness of the doctrine and the large task of fighting it.

Parents in Loudon County, VA, have tackled the issue head on, making national news by loudly criticizing CRT and electing school board members opposed to it. Such efforts, however, have been piecemeal nationwide.  

Momentum in fighting this hate-doctrine is growing, though, and many parents want to know how they can protect their children and eradicate such teaching from their local schools. Catrin Wigfall, a Policy Fellow with the Center of the American Experiment, offers some practical ways parents can fight CRT.

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Ron Johnson’s Unanswered Corruption Questions from 2020 Loom Large over Joe Biden

Florida Capital Star Staff

Back before the 2020 election, when Democrats and their allies in the corporate media were still claiming the Hunter Biden story was a conspiracy theory or Russian disinformation, GOP Sen. Ron Johnson released an open letter to America posing questions to then-candidate Joe Biden.

Like most Biden scandals at the time, it mostly got ignored or ridiculed. But the questions were rooted in facts and evidence gathered over two years by investigators on Johnson’s Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

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Border Patrol Agents Accused of ‘Whipping’ Cleared of Criminal Misconduct, Union Chief Says

Florida Capital Star Staff

National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the border agents accused of “whipping” migrants in September were cleared of criminal misconduct amid an ongoing investigation into the incident.

“The only reason that we know that they were cleared is because OPR [Office of Professional Responsibility] started their investigation and they compelled them to give a statement,” Judd told the DCNF. “Once you compel somebody to give a statement, you can’t take criminal action against them.”

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Jen Psaki Will Leave White House Podium for MSNBC: Report

Florida Capital Star Staff
Jen Psaki

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki will reportedly depart her official administration job this spring and join MSNBC, according to a report from Axios.

Psaki has been rumored to be in discussions with corporate media outlets for months. Her White House departure is also no surprise; the mother of two always expressed a desire to stick with her current role for about a year before pursuing other options.

Axios reports that Psaki has been in close contact with the White House counsel’s office about her imminent departure and has not signed any contracts that would put her in messy ethics territory. Though, sources say that Psaki has shared her plans to join MSNBC with some senior White House officials – the deal is reportedly close to being finalized.

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Already Stretched Thin, Border Agents Must Now Use Politically Correct Pronouns Under New Edict

Florida Capital Star Staff

Battered by COVID-19, waves of illegal immigrants and fears of even larger surges ahead, Customs and Border Protection officers have a new burden: they must now be sure to use proper pronouns for LGBTQI+ migrants.

The new requirement was included Thursday at the bottom of a much larger announcement by the Homeland Security Department concerning changes instituted on International Trans Day of Visibility.

“Facilitating effective communication at U.S. ports of entry and beyond: CBP has provided a job aid and memorandum to all staff that will serve as a guide for facilitating effective communication with the diverse public CBP serves, including LGBTQI+ individuals,” the agency said.

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Border Patrol Watchdog: White House’s Border Security Promises Ring Hollow

Florida Capital Star Staff
Migrants detained by CBP

National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the White House isn’t telling the American public key details about its assurance that migrants without lawful claims to stay in the country will be quickly removed as they prepare for a possible influx at the border ahead of Title 42’s end.

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Border Patrol Officials Make Massive Fentanyl, Meth, and Heroin Seizures at the Southern Border

Florida Capital Star Staff

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers recently intercepted two smuggling attempts of millions of dollars worth of deadly drugs at the southern border.

Officers in Laredo, Texas, on March 25 confiscated over $4.3 million in alleged meth they found in a tractor trailer carrying waterproof sealant from Mexico, CBP said in a press release.

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Iowa House Passes Bill Requiring Schools to Post Curriculums, Materials Online for Parent Review

Florida Capital Star Staff

The Iowa House voted 60-30 in favor of passing a bill that would require Iowa public and charter schools to post their curriculum and books online for parents to review.

Some educators have argued that the bill (HF2577) will limit their ability to “adapt and meet the individualized needs of their students.”

The bill will give parents the ability to review instructional materials and request that their children opt out of certain reading materials. If the schools materials do end up changing, teachers will be required to update the information online by week’s end or be subject to a fine between $500-$5,000.

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City of Chicago to Spend $12.5 Million on Gasoline, Transit Handouts

Florida Capital Star Staff

On Thursday, the city of Chicago announced that it would be spending over $12 million in handouts for its citizens in order to offset the rising costs of gas.

The New York Post reports that Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D-Ill.) made the announcement at a press conference, revealing that the city government would spend up to $12.5 million to hand out 50,000 gas cards worth $150 each. The recipients of the cards will be decided via a citywide lottery. Additionally, another 100,000 transit cards, worth $50 each, will be handed out to residents as a temporary alternative to driving.

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DeSantis to Authorize Hamilton Center for Teaching the ‘Foundations of Western and American Civilization’

Florida Capital Star Staff

The University of Florida is set to receive $3 million to establish its Hamilton Center for Classical and Civic Education. 

“The purpose of the center is to support teaching and research concerning the ideas, traditions, and texts that form the foundations of western and American civilization,” the amendment to Florida’s SB 2524 reads, granting the authorization to the public university. 

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