Virginia

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) is targeting left-wing prosecutors who “really view themselves as social workers” in the 2023 election cycle. Miyares joined Breitbart News Saturday, telling host Matthew Boyle his effort — the Protect Americans Action Fund — will be a paradigm shift in how conservatives view local prosecutor elections. “Candidly, conservatives are kind of asleep at the switch,” the Virginia Republican said. “You have these large, left-wing special interest groups that realized, ‘Hey, we don’t have to change the change laws, we don’t necessarily need to win governors mansions or state legislatures, we can win these local prosecutors, these district attorneys races.'” “I say it’s the most important election that people rarely pay attention to,” he concluded. Listen: “They don’t have to change the laws in their state capital, they just decide not to enforce entire categories of law,” Miyares explained. “So, you see in places like New York and … [Read more...] about Jason Miyares Looks to Unseat Left-Wing Prosecutors Across the Country

I wrote both my columns this week on policing and democracy. My second column drew from a 2017 paper, “Police Are Our Government: Politics, Political Science, and the Policing of Race-Class Subjugated Communities” by the political scientists Joe Soss and Vesla Weaver. I tried, as much as I could, to summarize and explain the main beats of the article, but there was one important point I chose to omit and leave for the newsletter because it speaks to an idea I’ve tried to emphasize in my work at The Times, and I thought it deserved a little more time and attention than I would have been able to give in the column. Many people understand that race is “socially constructed.” Racial categories do not reflect biology as much as they are a product of historical contingencies and material realities. The idea of a singular “white” race comprising the whole of Europe is, for example, more or less the product of centuries of trans-Atlantic slavery, colonialism, imperialism and capitalist … [Read more...] about How We Construct and Reconstruct Race

Here’s something odd: We’re getting worse at construction. Think of the technology we have today that we didn’t in the 1970s. The new generations of power tools and computer modeling and teleconferencing and advanced machinery and prefab materials and global shipping. You’d think we could build much more, much faster, for less money, than in the past. But we can’t. Or, at least, we don’t. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, productivity in the construction sector — how much more could be done given the same number of workers and machines and land — grew faster than productivity in the rest of the economy. Then, around 1970, it began to fall, even as economywide productivity kept rising. Today, the divergence is truly wild. A construction worker in 2020 produced less than a construction worker in 1970, at least according to the official statistics. Contrast that with the economy overall, where labor productivity rose by 290 percent between 1950 and 2020, or to the manufacturing sector, … [Read more...] about The Story Construction Tells About America’s Economy Is Disturbing

A Massachusetts school is facing backlash after reportedly trying to commemorate the beginning of Black History Month by serving fried chicken for lunch. "In honor of Black History Month, one way we will celebrate is by highlighting a traditional meal each week that is a staple in Southern Black history. Today's lunch is fried chicken," Xaverian Brothers High School announced to students over the PA system Tuesday morning, WCVB reported. Tuesday marked the first day of Black History Month, which parties and organizations ranging from NASA to the White House have committed to honoring. Xaverian's own attempt to kick off the month was decried by several students, including Michael Earls, the student body vice president for the school's senior class. He said in a statement that the Xaverian administration "must first acknowledge that their ignorance perpetuated a racist stereotype and issue a formal apology." School officials at Xaverian said that they were trying to educate … [Read more...] about School Serves Fried Chicken to ‘Honor’ Black History Month

WASHINGTON — Americans for Prosperity — the group backed by David H. and Charles G. Koch that has been pouring millions of dollars into competitive Senate races to the rising alarm of Democrats — was also among the politically active groups on the ground in this month’s special House election on Florida’s Gulf Coast. But its agenda had little to do with the fate of David Jolly , the Republican candidate who won that race. The group’s ground troops — including those who knocked on doors, ran phone banks and reached out through social media to gauge ways to motivate voters — were part of a much greater project, with a prize much larger than a congressional seat. Americans for Prosperity turned the Florida contest into its personal electoral laboratory to fine-tune get-out-the-vote tools and messaging for future elections as it pursues its overarching goal of convincing Americans that big government is bad government. As the group emerges as a dominant force in the 2014 midterm … [Read more...] about Koch Group, Spending Freely, Hones Attack on Government

close Video Gov. Gavin Newsom slams Second Amendment following mass shooting in Monterey Park Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom took aim at the Second Amendment during an interview with CBS News. A federal judge in Oklahoma ruled Friday that a law barring marijuana users from owning firearms is unconstitutional . The ruling is the latest challenge to firearms regulations after the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority set new standards for reviewing the nation's gun laws . AR-15 style rifles are displayed for sale at Firearms Unknown, a gun store in Oceanside, California, U.S., April 12, 2021 (REUTERS/Bing Guan/File Photo) U.S. District Judge Patrick Wyrick in Oklahoma City dismissed an indictment against Jared Michael Harrison, who was charged in August with violating a federal law that makes it illegal for "unlawful users or addicts of controlled substances" to possess firearms. Harrison’s lawyers had … [Read more...] about Marijuana users have a constitutional right to own firearms, judge rules

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is currently juggling several legal cases intended to prohibit biological male athletes from competing in female sports. ADF intervened to defend several laws in states across the country to protect women’s sports that are being challenged in court. “I am incredibly proud of our clients and their willingness to be a voice, not just to protect and defend themselves, but to defend future generations of female athletes, as well,” ADF senior counsel Christiana Kiefer told the Daily Caller News Foundation. A legal organization is gearing up to defend female athletes across the country as the debate over whether to allow transgender participation in women’s sports steamrolls ahead. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is currently juggling several legal cases defending female athletes who have personally competed against men who identify as women, ADF senior counsel Christiana Kiefer told the Daily Caller News Foundation. Each case intends to … [Read more...] about ‘Fair And Safe Competition’: How One Legal Group Is Leading The Charge To Protect Women’s Sports

With just 90 days to go until the ­glittering Coronation , preparations are in full swing. There are huge decisions to be made - should the King wear knickerbockers and stockings or stick to a military uniform? And which particular uniform, as he has so many? Perhaps the Royal Air Force Marshall’s one with the easy to open jacket. Because Charles needs to bear his breast so the Archbishop can anoint it with holy oil. But should the public get to see this sacred moment for the first time – or will the monarch be shielded by the golden canopy like his mother in 1953? A new canopy with a transparent top is being made just in case – but then there’s the question of who’s going to carry it…Barons of the Cinque Ports or Knights of the Garter? Prince Andrew has been stripped of his titles and booted from royal life ( Image: AFP via Getty Images) There’d be no shortage of volunteers as hundreds of peers have been writing in claiming an hereditary right to participate. … [Read more...] about ‘Preparation’s strong for Coronation but there’s a dirty great stain on the monarchy’