Month: December 2022

Med School Trained Faculty to Admit, Address Their Own Racial ‘Bias’

Admin

The University of Utah School of Medicine reportedly trained its faculty to acknowledge their own biases through diversity, equity and inclusion training modules, according to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the medical watchdog group Do No Harm.

Do No Harm obtained three training presentations which were used between 2021-2022 to train faculty members about how to incorporate diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. The trainings instructed faculty to understand their own biases and lectured the school on using affirmative action practices to increase minority hires.

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Federal Government Leaves Border Hospital with $20 Million Bill for ‘Free’ Health Care to Illegal Aliens

Admin

A hospital in Yuma, Arizona, is owed $20 million for medical services provided to illegal immigrants.  

“We’ve calculated that over a six-month period, from December 2021 to May 2022, we had $20 million in charges that we’re unable to bill anyone for, for services we provided to migrants alone,” Dr. Robert Trenschel, president and CEO of Yuma Regional Medical Center, told The Daily Signal during a phone interview Wednesday.  

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Paul’s Annual ‘Festivus’ Report on Fed Spending Finds $482 Billion in What He Calls ‘Wasted Taxpayer’ Money

Just the News

Sen. Rand Paul on Friday released his annual federal spending audit in which the Kentucky Republican found what he considers about $500 billion in wasted taxpayer resources – from billions on COVID-19 relief funds to ineligible recipients to a $118,000 study on the Marvel movie villain Thanos.

Paul’s 2022 Festivus Report – inspired by the send-up Festivus holiday on the “Seinfeld” sitcom – finds “a whopping $482,276,543,907” worth of federal waste, according to Fox News.

Paul takes particular aim at the $3.5 trillion Inflation Reduction Act that the Democrat-controlled Congress recently passed.

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Kari Lake Says Appeal Coming Following Dismissal from Superior Court Judge

Neil Jones

Arizona Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake had her election challenge completely dismissed by Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson Saturday. Following the ruling, Lake tweeted that an appeal would be coming.

“My Election Case provided the world with evidence that proves our elections are run outside of the law. This Judge did not rule in our favor. However, for the sake of restoring faith and honesty in our elections, I will appeal his ruling,” tweeted Lake.

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Ohio Attorney General Says 22,000 Seized Fentanyl Pills Is Proof U.S. Needs a Stronger Southern Border

Hannah Poling

Approximately 22,000 fentanyl pills and nearly 42 pounds of suspected fentanyl seized in a drug bust by the Central Ohio Major Drug Interdiction/HIDTA Task Force is proof we need a stronger southern border according to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.

The task force, created under the state attorney general’s Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission and led by the Columbus Police division intercepted the smuggling of the illegal drugs this week.

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Virginia Democratic Primary Candidate Files Suit Against Party

The Center Square

A Democratic candidate who appeared on the ballot in Tuesday’s 4th Congressional District firehouse primary filed a lawsuit accusing the Democratic Party of Virginia of placing an “unconstitutional burden” on voters due to the placement of polling sites. 

Tavorise Marks, a civil rights advocate and a candidate who appeared on Tuesday’s ballot, claims the party “in its ‘firehouse primary’ scheme has created an unconstitutional burden on potential voters in the 15 jurisdictions of the 4th Congressional District.” 

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Ohio Supreme Court Rules Tort Damage Caps Unconstitutional in Child Sex Abuse Cases

Hannah Poling

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that a state law capping the number of damages awarded for “pain and suffering” claims in a personal injury lawsuit applied to child sex abuse cases is unconstitutional.

A 4-3 decision from the Supreme Court ruled that youth victims who “suffer traumatic, extensive, and chronic psychological injury as a result of intentional criminal acts and who sue their abusers for civil damages,” should not have caps on “non-economic damages.”

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Commentary: The Christmas Tree Is a Tradition Older than Christmas

Admin

Why, every Christmas, do so many people endure the mess of dried pine needles, the risk of a fire hazard and impossibly tangled strings of lights?

Strapping a fir tree to the hood of my car and worrying about the strength of the twine, I sometimes wonder if I should just buy an artificial tree and do away with all the hassle. Then my inner historian scolds me – I have to remind myself that I’m taking part in one of the world’s oldest religious traditions. To give up the tree would be to give up a ritual that predates Christmas itself.

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Parents, Catholic School Sue Michigan Officials over ‘Gender Identity’ Law

Admin

The Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish (SHJP) Catholic school filed a lawsuit Thursday against Michigan state officials after the state’s civil rights laws were changed to include gender identity and sexual orientation as protected categories, which the school argued the change would force it to violate its religious beliefs.

In July, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that Michigan’s Civil Rights Act must include sexual orientation and gender identity under its protections from discrimination. SHJP and families who attend the school filed a lawsuit against the Michigan Department of Civil Rights and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel over the court’s decision from forcing the school to hire and promote LGBTQ lifestyles in conflict with traditional Catholic teachings.

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Georgia Medical Association Says It Wants More Funding for State Medical Board

The Center Square

The head of the Medical Association of Georgia wants state lawmakers to properly fund the Georgia Composite Medical Board, saying the underfunding of the agency isn’t benefiting anyone in the state.

“Having an underfunded, understaffed agency benefits no one,” Jeremy Bonfini, the executive director and CEO of the Medical Association of Georgia, told The Center Square. “It’s our position that the GCMB should be funded sufficiently.

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Governor DeWine Signs Executive Order Authorizing the Ohio Board of Pharmacy to Ban the Sale and Use of Tianeptine

Hannah Poling

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed Executive Order 2022-17-D on Thursday, to suspend the normal rule making process to allow the State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy to classify all products containing tianeptine, as a Schedule I controlled substance.

According to the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) tianeptine is an antidepressant drug that is not approved by the United States for medical use. The FDA has warned that many companies are illegally marketing and selling products containing tianeptine to the public with unproven beneficial claims (i.e., dietary supplement, treatment for anxiety, depression, or opioid disorder). Effective December 22, 2022, no one may sell or pocess any product containing tianeptine in the state of Ohio.

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Commentary: The Story of the Christmas Truce of 1914—and Its Eternal Message

Admin

War had already been waging in Europe for months when Pope Benedict issued a plea from Rome on Dec. 7, 1914 to leaders of Europe: declare a Christmas truce.

Benedict saw how badly peace was needed, even if it was only for a day. The First Battle of Ypres alone, fought from October 19 to November 22, had resulted in some 200,000 casualties (mostly German and French soldiers, but also thousands of English and Belgians). The First Battle of the Marne was even worse.

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Former Google CEO Is Quietly Bankrolling Dozens of White House Jobs

Admin

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt helped fund the salaries of more than two dozen Biden administration officials through Federation of American Scientists (FAS) fellowships, Politico reported.

Schmidt Futures, a philanthropic organization headed by Schmidt, helped fund a FAS program titled “Day One Project” which placed fellows in science and technology positions in the White House following the 2020 elections, according to Politico. The fellows have served in departments such as the White House Council of Economic Advisers, the White House Council on Environmental Quality and the Department of Energy.

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Commentary: The Way an American Magazine Helped Launch One of Britain’s Favorite Christmas Carols

Admin

In 1906, a new carol appeared in “The English Hymnal,” an influential collection of British church music. With words by British poet Christina Rossetti, set to a tune by composer Gustav Holst, it became one of Britain’s most beloved Christmas songs. Now known as “In the Bleak Midwinter,” it was voted the “greatest carol of all time” in a 2008 BBC survey of choral experts.

“In the Bleak Midwinter” began life as a poem, which Rossetti simply titled “A Christmas Carol.” When the hymnal paired her words with music, the poem took on a new identity in song – a phenomenon documented by literature researcher Emily McConkey. But it also became embedded into popular culture in nonmusical forms. “A Christmas Carol,” or parts of it, has appeared on Christmas cards, ornaments, tea towels, mugs and other household items. It has inspired mystery novels and, more recently, became a recurring motif in the British television series “Peaky Blinders.”

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University of North Carolina Quietly Scrubs Race-Based Criteria from Fellowship Program

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A University of North Carolina (UNC) nutrition fellowship program scrubbed criteria that made the fellowship exclusive to black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) students after a civil rights complaint was filed alleging the program violated federal anti-discrimination laws, the program’s website reveals.

UNC’s Fellowship for Exploring Research in Nutrition originally claimed students must be a “Racial/ethnic background of [BIPOC] that is historically marginalized in academia and the field of nutrition in the United States” to be considered, according to a Dec. 19 snapshot of the website. However, the current website appears to have removed the criteria from the list.

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University of Iowa Trains Committee to Hire Faculty Based on Diversity, Equity And Inclusion Standards

Admin

The University of Iowa Office of the Provost trained its Faculty Search Committees to interview candidates through diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) lenses, documents obtained by Do No Harm through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation revealed.

A training given to the Department of Pediatrics at UI’s medical school broke down different types of implicit biases and provided a list of practices committee members could follow to limit bias in hiring decisions, which included having a diverse committee that is trained and use “accountability strategies,” spending 15-20 minutes on each candidate and evaluating through standard criteria, the documents show. Committee members were also taught to “grade” prospective candidates after an interview rather than use a ranking system and to evaluate whether they made biased decisions if “women and people of color” were not advancing.

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Commentary: Nativity Sets Around the World Show Each Culture’s Take on the Christmas Story

Admin

For many Christians around the world, celebrating the Nativity, or the birth of Jesus Christ, is the most important part of the Christmas season.

Among the most common Christmas traditions are small sets of figures depicting Joseph, Mary and Jesus that are displayed in individual homes, and live reenactments of the manger scene in communities and churches. While Nativity sets focus on the holy family, they can also include an angel, the three wise men bringing gifts, shepherds or some barnyard animals.

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Washington State’s Dem Gov, Attorney General Propose Major Gun Control Measures

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Democratic Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson held a press conference Monday to announce three new measures for the upcoming 2023 legislative session that aims to curb gun violence in the state.

The measures would ban assault style weapons, hold manufacturers and retailers accountable for gun sales and implement a permit-to-purchase requirement for all gun buyers, according to a press conference. Inslee cited an increase in gun violence as the reason for the new legislation, and believes the laws, along with mental health assistance, will curb gun violence in Washington.

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New Country Music Label Baste Records Launched for Anti-Woke Artists

Rachel Alexander

A new country music label is recruiting and promoting anti-woke artists, launched by the young founder of The Post-Millennial. Matthew Azrieli, who is also a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, started Baste Records to promote talented country singers who are struggling to survive in the mainstream music business due to their right-leaning political and cultural views. He’s brought on talent like Chris Wallin, also a singer and songwriter who has written music for some of the biggest country stars, including Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, Garth Brooks, and Trace Adkins. 

Azrieli told The Arizona Sun Times that he started Baste Records because music is a passion. He wanted to “provide a healthy outlet for conservatives, instead of just complaining.” Baste Records intends to appeal to a certain niche, the center right, instead of attempting to have a broad appeal that risks alienating factions. He pointed out Netflix is an example of an entertainment company that is engaging in the latter, angering both conservatives and the transgender community, causing it to lose market share. He said, “Cultural and political identities are driving entertainment media.” 

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Biden Signs Defense Bill into Law, Overturning Military COVID Vaccine Mandate

Admin

President Joe Biden signed Congress’ annual defense bill for 2023 into law Friday, giving his approval to a bill that overturns his own administration’s mandate that servicemembers must be fully vaccinated for COVID-19.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2023 authorizes $858 billion in spending on energy programs, the military and procurement, $45 billion more than the Biden administration’s initial request. Biden expressed concerns over several provisions of the act in a statement Friday but made no mention of a GOP-sponsored item overturning the Department of Defense’s service-wide vaccine mandate, despite the administration’s robust opposition to the provision.

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Archbishop Viganò: Holy See Delivered ‘Unjust and Illegitimate Punishment’ to Pro-Life Priest Father Frank Pavone

Susan Berry, PhD

Outspoken former papal ambassador to the United States Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò condemned the Holy See’s decision to laicize pro-life priest Father Frank Pavone, calling the action “unjust and illegitimate punishment,” and observed hypocrisy in the move while “the Roman Curia is infested with unpresentable characters who are notoriously corrupt and heretical sodomites and fornicators.”

“[A] person’s actions are consistent with who that person is, ”Viganò wrote at LifeSiteNews Thursday, and asserted that principle has been confirmed “in the canonical sanctions recently imposed by the Holy See on Father Frank A. Pavone, a well-known and appreciated pro-life priest, who for decades has been committed to the battle against the horrible crime of abortion.”

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Record Number of Apprehensions, Gotaways in Fiscal 2022 Surpass 3.3 Million

The Center Square

A record number of illegal foreign nationals were apprehended or recorded evading capture by Border Patrol agents in fiscal year 2022, surpassing 3 million, according to data obtained by The Center Square.

In October, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 2.7 million encounters and apprehensions of foreign nationals illegally entering the U.S., which included data from Border Patrol and Office of Field Operations and excluded known and reported gotaways.

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Tennessee Valley Authority Requests Businesses, Residents Reduce Power Usage as State Hits ‘All-Time’ December Power Peak

Kaitlin Housler

Amid temperatures in the teens and single digits across the state on Friday, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) announced that power demand in Tennessee hit an “all-time December peak.”

TVA announced Friday that it and local power company employees were “actively working to maintain a stable power grid for everyone amid unprecedented demand,” by “temporarily reducing power supplies to localized areas.”

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Legal Experts Weigh In on the Merits of Kari Lake’s Election Lawsuit

Rachel Alexander

As the second day of Kari Lake’s trial contesting Arizona’s gubernatorial election wrapped up Thursday, various election law attorneys provided their analysis on social media and videos. Some were optimistic that Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson would grant Lake relief, declaring her the winner or calling for a new election, but some were not as optimistic.

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Attorney General Mark Brnovich Deems Tucson’s ‘Source of Income’ Ordinance Unlawful Following Investigation

Neil Jones

In the wake of an investigation, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich found an ordinance altering the city of Tucson’s fair housing policies to violate state law.

“Tucson’s ordinance restricting home sellers and renters from considering the source of income of interested individuals violates state law,” said Brnovich.

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Minnesota Economist: Broadband Grants Ought to Generate a Return on Investment

The Center Square
Broadband

Minnesota will award $27 million in state funding and $42.6 million in federal funding to broadband expansion projects across the state.

The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development on Monday launched a request for proposals for the funding. The funding supports the state’s goal that all homes and businesses have access `to broadband with download speeds of at least 100 megabits per second and upload speeds of at least 20 megabits per second by 2026, the news release said.

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New England Lawmakers Seek More Federal Drought Relief for Farmers

The Center Square

Congressional lawmakers in Connecticut and Rhode Island have teamed up to seek more federal relief funding to help New England livestock feed producers, and other farmers impacted by severe drought conditions. 

In a letter to House and Senate budget leaders, members of congressional delegations from both states urged them to pump more money into relief programs, and expand eligibility to drought-wary forge farmers in the region, who they said are being left out of federal assistance programs. 

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Gov. DeWine Appoints Hamilton County Prosecutor to Ohio Supreme Court

Hannah Poling

Governor Mike DeWine has appointed Republican Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters to fill a vacancy on the Ohio Supreme Court.

Deters will fill the seat that Justice Sharon Kennedy is vacating at the end of the year to replace Maureen O’Connor as Chief Justice. O’Connor is stepping down at the end of the year due to Ohio’s age limit for judges. One may not run for a seat on any Ohio court if one is more than 70 years of age. This limit often forces the retirement of long-time justices.

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Commentary: Frank Pavone and the Fading Power of Pope Francis

Admin

There’s been a flurry of commentary in Catholic circles since Pope Francis decided to defrock pro-life advocate and priest Frank Pavone. One suggestion I’ve seen from many Catholic writers is that Francis is punishing Pavone because he believes clergymen should not be involved in politics. It’s a laughable argument. Francis is very frequently involved in politics and regularly encourages (leftist) priests in their activism.

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Ohio Secretary of State Launches Messaging Channel to Combat Election Misinformation

Hannah Poling

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced the launch of a new digital outreach initiative with a focus on educating Ohioans about elections and entrepreneurship.

Through the new messaging platform called @VerifyOhio, Ohioans can fact-check myths and answer common questions regarding elections for themselves. According to LaRose, election officials will use the platform throughout the 2023 and 2024 election cycles. LaRose said this would be a “rapid response” resource during the voting period around Election Day, when he said misinformation is typically at its peak.

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Commentary: No, Zelenskyy Is Not Churchill

Admin

Fox News’ Bret Baier, who, like Bill O’Reilly before him, has used his perch as a television personality to become a writer of history books (and, like O’Reilly, co-writes these history books with a “collaborator,” formerly known as a ghostwriter), writes on the Fox News website about the “parallels” between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the late U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Baier notes the parallels — both addressed a joint session of Congress during Christmastime even as their nation’s capitals were being bombed; both showed courage in leading their people against an aggressor nation; both were named Time’s Man of the Year; and both took defiant stands against more powerful enemies that were besieging their countries. But these parallels are all superficial. The stakes are far different. Churchill saved Western civilization. Zelenskyy is attempting to save Ukraine’s independence.

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Biden’s Christmas Address Fails to Mention Jesus, Instead Turns Political

Admin

On Thursday, Joe Biden’s Christmas address to the nation did not once mention Jesus Christ, the namesake of the holiday and the main reason a majority of Americans celebrate the Christmas season.

Breitbart reports that, while Biden made half-hearted references to the Birth of Jesus, he did not mention Jesus by name, and also described it as “the birth of a child, a child that Christians believe to be the Son of God.”

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Authorities Arrest Woman for Silently Praying Outside an Abortion Clinic

Admin

Authorities have arrested a pro-life woman for silently praying outside an abortion clinic in the United Kingdom.

News of Isabel Vaughan Spruce’s arrest comes amid anxieties over the Justice Department’s crackdown on pro-life activists in the United States, such as Mark Houck, a pro-life father arrested for allegedly pushing an abortion clinic volunteer who was reportedly bothering his son as they prayed outside an abortion clinic.

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Senate Passes $1.7 Trillion Omnibus Spending Bill

Just the News

The Senate on Thursday passed a massive $1.7 billion omnibus spending bill, sending the bill to the House for a hasty vote before midnight Friday to avert a partial government shutdown.

The bill includes at least $44 billion in additional money to help Ukraine thwart Russia’s invasion and was thrown into peril overnight by a GOP effort to force a vote on an amendment to the measure to extend a Trump-era effort to limit illegal immigration amid the pandemic by using a decades-old legal authority known as Title 42. 

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Biden COVID Czar: ‘No Study in the World That Shows That Masks Work That Well’

Susan Berry, PhD

White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha acknowledged last week what many doctors and scientists have been saying since the start of the COVID pandemic: that “no study … shows that masks work that well” to stop the spread of virus infection.

Jha appeared last week, along with Philadelphia Health Commissioner Cheryl Bettigole on “The Future of COVID and Public Health,” sponsored by the Philadelphia Inquirer.

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Trump-Era Border Policy’s Uncertain Fate Is Only Worsening Illegal Immigration

Admin

The number of illegal immigrant crossings is surging at the southern border as the fate of a major Trump-era immigration order known as Title 42 remains uncertain.

A federal judge recently ruled that the Biden administration must end the policy, which former President Donald Trump invoked in 2020 to expel certain illegal immigrants to prevent the spread of COVID-19, on Dec. 21 before Republican states asked the Supreme Court to intervene, which resulted with a temporary pause on the order. Areas like El Paso, Texas and Yuma, Arizona, have seen surges that have overwhelmed local resources surrounding the previous Dec. 21 deadline even as some illegal immigrants continue to face expulsion.

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