Day: April 1, 2023

White House to Host ‘Roundtable on Affirming Transgender Kids’

Admin

The White House will host a “Roundtable on Affirming Transgender Kids” Friday as part of its observance of “Transgender Day of Visibility,” according to a fact sheet. The roundtable is part of a push from the administration to support transgenderism, including childhood medical transitions, in the wake of numerous red states restricting the procedures. The discussion will focus on the experiences of children who identify as transgender and their parents in states that have restricted child sex changes, according to the White House.

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Psychiatrist Dr. Mark McDonald: ‘Transgenderism Is a Mental Illness,’ Murders at Nashville School ‘Should Surprise No One’

Susan Berry, PhD

Dr. Mark McDonald wrote that the deaths this week at a Nashville Christian school at the hands of a transgender former student are a “logical end point of transgenderism,” since “the response to it reveals an embrace of the denial of reality and inversion of morality that can produce only more of the same atrocities.”

“Transgenderism is a mental illness,” the Los Angeles-based psychiatrist observed at his Dissident MD Substack column Thursday.

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Tennessee Lawmakers Move to Reform the State Achievement School District

TC Weber

Tennessee lawmakers took a step towards changing the focus of the state Achievement School District (ASD) on Wednesday by passing HB O692 out of the state House Education Administration Committee. They did so over the objections of the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE).

The bill, should it become law, strips the TDOE of the ability to contract with private entities to run schools identified as low performing, and the ability to take over the administration of those schools. The bill further requires that the state department of education create and administer a Tennessee education portal that provides individual school districts with access to educational support and notifies districts of educational grant opportunities. While the bill prevents the TDOE from contracting with charter school operators to run schools, it does ensure that all current contracts are honored.

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Metro Nashville Public Schools Offers No Details on Student, Parent Involvement in Capitol Riot

Peter D'Abrosca

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) did not return a Friday comment request from The Tennessee Star seeking further clarifications about students and parents who were reportedly involved in Thursday’s protest-turned-riot at the Tennessee Capitol building.

WTVF reported Thursday that thousands of parents and students gathered at the Capitol to protest in favor of gun control.

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LGBTQ Activists Cancel ‘Trans Day of Vengeance,’ Blame Reaction to Nashville Shooting by Transgender as Causing a ‘Credible Threat to Life and Safety’

Susan Berry, PhD

The transgender activist coalition that was planning its “Trans Day of Vengeance” rally outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Saturday has canceled its event in the wake of the reaction to the killing of three children and three adults at a Christian school Monday by a transgender shooter.

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World Health Organization Puts CDC on Defense by Drastically Narrowing COVID Vax Recommendations

Just the News

The U.S. one-size-fits-all COVID-19 vaccine policy, which recommends “up to date” inoculation at all ages regardless of risk level and provides the basis for ongoing mandates in low-risk settings, has become an even bigger international outlier.

The World Health Organization’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization is removing “healthy children and adolescents” from its default recommendations for primary series and booster shots, according to an official “highlights” summary from its meetings the week of March 20.

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Nashville District Attorney’s Office Says No Criminal Complaints Filed Against Tennessee Capitol Rioters

Peter D'Abrosca

The office of Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk said no state or local criminal investigations are pending stemming from Thursday’s riot at the Tennessee State Capitol.

“I just checked with the folks here,” said Steve Hayslip, a Nashville District Attorney General’s spokesman. “No state or local law enforcement agency has brought any criminal complaint to this office for review.”

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Connecticut Lawmakers Weigh Plans to Expand Affordable Housing

The Center Square

Connecticut lawmakers are taking aim at restrictive local zoning laws as part of a broader effort to address the state’s affordable housing crunch, but the move faces pushback from critics who say it would usurp local authority. 

A proposal that’s being considered by the state Assembly would require cities and towns to conduct assessments on the need for affordable housing in their communities and come up with plans and zoning for a set number of units of affordable housing, based on the needs of the region. 

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Arizona State Senator Blasts Gov. Katie Hobbs Following Veto of Vaccine Religious Exemption Bill

Neil Jones

Arizona State Senator Janae Shamp (R-Surprise) released a statement Thursday stating her disappointment with Gov. Katie Hobbs (D), who vetoed her Senate Bill (SB) aiming to ensure health professionals can get religious exemption from taking a vaccine.

“I spent my entire career as a nurse, being an advocate for my patients and ensuring that their beliefs are respected and protected,” said Shamp. “The reason I’m here at the Senate, is because I was fired from my job as a nurse after refusing to get the experimental COVID-19 vaccine. My top priority is this bill because during the pandemic, Americans’ medical freedoms were taken from them, myself included. For me, the Governor’s veto is personal.”

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Florida AG Taking Action Against Antifa, Activists Who Vandalized Florida Pregnancy Centers

The Center Square

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody sued two members of Antifa and Jane’s Revenge over accusations they vandalized Florida crisis pregnancy centers last year.

After the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision was leaked in the landmark abortion case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, pro-abortion activists and members of “criminal organizations sought to silence and intimidate crisis pregnancy centers’ workers and clients nationwide by vandalizing or even setting fire to their buildings,” Moody said.

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Georgia Legislature Signs Off on Bill to Ban TikTok

The Center Square

Georgia lawmakers have sent a measure to bar TikTok and other “national security software threats” on state-owned devices.

Lawmakers in both chambers unanimously signed off on Senate Bill 93, which they say would also bar Telegram and WeChat, and sent the measure to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. It would also prohibit these applications on state devices used in the legislative and judicial branches and in the state’s K-12 schools.

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Michigan College Professor Suspended for Saying Some Conservative Campus Speakers Should Be Killed

Just the News

A college professor at Wayne State University in Michigan, Steven Shaviro, was suspended without pay after posting on Facebook that it would be better for students to kill their political opponents rather than just protest against them. 

“I think it is far more admirable to kill a racist, homophobic, or transphobic speaker than it is to shout them down,” Shaviro said on Facebook, according to Fox News.

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Report: Fairfax Schools Did Not Deliberately Withhold National Merit Notification

The Center Square

A third-party investigation into delays by a Northern Virginia school district in notifying some students of National Merit recognition found there was no evidence to suggest the school district deliberately withheld notifications, school administrators announced this week. 

In a letter to the community this week, Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Michelle Reid wrote that after hours of interviews as part of a law firm’s independent investigation, investigators found “no evidence to suggest that FCPS deliberately withheld notification of Commended Student status from any student.” Reid added the investigation also revealed “no evidence of any inequity or racial bias in the actions taken by these schools regarding notifications or distribution of these certificates.” 

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Minnesota Gov. Walz, DFL Legislators Express Confidence on Gun Control Bills, Despite Slim Majority

Admin

Will a publicity push this week from Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and former congresswoman turned gun control activist Gabby Giffords be enough to ensure that all 34 Democrats in the Minnesota Senate vote to pass a pair of high-profile and politically polarizing gun restriction bills on the floor this session?

Walz expressed optimism at a press conference Thursday that SF1116 and SF1117 will get the votes required from his DFL colleagues in the Senate that would then almost assuredly send both bills to his desk for signatures.

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Atheists Sic IRS on Wisconsin Priest for Warning His Flock Not to Vote for Pro-Abortion Supreme Court Candidate

M.D. Kittle

Pastor Brian Dulli sent a clear message to the congregants of his suburban Madison St. Patrick’s Catholic Church: Voting for a Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate who stands for the killing of the unborn is perilous to your faith and soul. 

Now, a leftwing group is threatening to get President Joe Biden’s IRS involved and go after the Diocese of Madison for “electioneering.” 

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ACLU Files Lawsuit Against Pennsylvania School District That Banned After-School Satan Clubs

Admin

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit Thursday against a Pennsylvania school district after they allegedly revoked permission for The Satanic Temple (TST) to host an After-School Satan Club on the district’s property, according to a press release.

Saucon Valley School District (SVSD) reportedly denied a request by TST’s club to use school facilities after receiving calls and messages from concerned members of the district, according to the lawsuit. TST argues in the lawsuit that denying its club is a violation of the First Amendment when another religious club is allowed to use school facilities but the After-School Satan Club is not.

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Senator JD Vance Calls ‘Political Persecution’ of Trump a ‘Grave Miscarriage of Justice’

Hannah Poling

U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) said that the indictment against former President Donald Trump, a 2024 presidential candidate, is a “grave miscarriage of justice.”

Thursday’s indictment results from the protracted investigation into Trump’s alleged use of hush money in connection with porn star Stormy Daniels. To keep Daniels from disclosing her alleged 2006 affair with Trump, Trump’s then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid her $130,000 as part of a non-closure agreement near the end of the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump allegedly then paid Cohen back in installments. Trump has denied the affair.

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Ohio Representative Removed as Committee Chair for Signing Discharge Petition to Accelerate Amendment to Protect the Ohio Constitution

Hannah Poling

Moderate Republican House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) removed State Representative Scott Wiggam (R-Wayne County) on Thursday from his position as chair of the House Constitutional Resolutions Committee and the committee all together due to Wiggam signing a discharge petition for the Ohio Constitution Protection Amendment.

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Commentary: Mayorkas’ Testimony to House, Senate Reveals Big Lie of Biden’s Border Debacle

Admin

There is a fine line between stretched truth and outright lies. In a series of recent congressional hearings, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas seems to have found that line and pitched his tent on it. 

Mayorkas gave revealing testifimony Wednesday before both the Senate Appropriations Committee and a House Appropriations subcommittee.

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CDC Investigators Got Sick While Probing Ohio Toxic Train Derailment

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials investigating potential health impacts in a small Ohio town impacted by a toxic train derailment became ill during their study, CNN reported.

Seven CDC members reported sore throats, headaches, coughing and nausea while in East Palestine, Ohio, weeks after a Norfolk Southern train derailed in early February and a controlled burn leaked hazardous materials, including vinyl chloride, into the environment, the CDC told CNN on Thursday. The CDC members’ symptoms are consistent with health complaints reported by residents and first responders.

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VA Error Leaves Potentially Thousands of Student Veterans Without Rent Payments

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Thousands of student veterans will have their housing stipends delayed past April 1 after an error in the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) processing system for GI Bill benefits blocked payments, Military Times reported.

Millions of dollars in housing stipends for U.S. military veterans and their dependents expected to receive Friday will instead take several days to transmit and may not arrive until April 3, VA officials said late Thursday, according to Military Times. Officials did not explain what caused the error, which could cause financial problems for individuals dependent on VA compensation to make rent payments that are typically due on the first of the month.

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