Month: May 2023

Commentary: The Long Road to Confronting China’s War on Religion Part One

RealClearWire

In 2016, when President Xi Jinping delivered a speech calling for the “Sinicization of religion” in a nation of one billion, he was espousing a century-old impulse among his people while also inadvertently underscoring a persistent paradox that Chinese Communists brought with them when they took over the country in 1949 – and have never shaken.

The impulse is that the major faiths observed in China are not indigenous to the world’s oldest civilization. Buddhism was imported from India and Tibet. Islam arrived in overland trading routes and human migration from the Middle East, while Christianity, another Abrahamic faith, came across the ocean from Europe and America. To Communist leaders, and many Han Chinese civilians, these traditions represent potentially destabilizing foreign influence. 

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North Carolina’s Veto-Proof Republican-Led Senate Passes 12-Week Abortion Bill

Susan Berry, PhD

The Democrat governor of North Carolina has vowed to veto a 12-week bill that would ban some abortions after the veto-proof Republican-controlled Senate approved the measure Thursday night.

On CNN Thursday, Gov. Roy Cooper (D) begged one Republican from each chamber of the North Carolina legislature to uphold his veto of Senate Bill 20, known as the “Care for Women, Children, and Families Act,” a measure he called a “disastrous abortion ban.”

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Maryland Democrat Governor Signs Bills Enshrining Abortion and Protecting Transgender Drug and Surgical Treatments for Minors

Susan Berry, PhD

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) signed bills Wednesday that would enshrine abortion rights in state law and protect transgender medical treatments for minors, including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and transgender surgeries.

Moore said in a statement the new laws have “further strengthened our leave no one behind vision by protecting individual freedoms,” especially “solidifying reproductive rights,” and “expanding access to healthcare.” 

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Democrats Try to Shift Blame for Classified Documents Away from Biden and Say GOP Claims Are Racist

Just the News

House Oversight Committee Democrats are attempting to shift the blame away from President Biden and his family for the classified documents found in his home and office while also saying statement on the matter by committee GOP Chairman James Comer regarding former Biden aide Kathy Chung are “xenophobic” and “racist.”

Committee Democrats released the 16-page memo Wednesday to show “the extent to which Committee Republicans have lied about Ms. Chung, including the purpose of her position in the White House,” said Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the panel’s top Democrat. 

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Left-Wing SCOTUS Justice Took $3 Million from Book Publisher, Didn’t Recuse Herself from Cases

Admin

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a left-wing justice nominated by Barack Obama, repeatedly refused to recuse herself from cases involving the publishing company that paid her millions to publish her own books.

According to the Daily Wire, Sotomayor was paid $3.1 million by Penguin Random House over the course of two years; in 2010, she was paid $1.2 million by Knopf Doubleday Group, part of Random House’s conglomerate, and then received two separate advance payments in 2012, which amounted to $1.9 million when combined. These payments have made Penguin Random House her single largest source of income.

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Red State Gov Signs School Choice Program into Law, Gives Private School Students Taxpayer Funds

Admin

Republican Gov. Henry McMaster signed school choice legislation into law Thursday that provides private and religious school students with taxpayer funds.

Under S 39, every student enrolled in a private or religious school will be eligible to receive $6,000 to spend on education related costs. The bill, signed into law by McMasters on Thursday, passed the state Senate in February and the state House approved the bill in April, 79-35.

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Catholic Leader Rebukes Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman for Navy’s Use of Drag Queen for Recruitment Campaign

Susan Berry, PhD

In a strong rebuke Thursday to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the president of the nation’s prominent Catholic civil rights organization charged that the U.S. Navy is continuing to use “the policies of the far-left, the woke brand of politics,” in its recent drag queen digital campaign supposedly intended as a recruitment strategy.

Bill Donohue of the Catholic League wrote to General Mark Milley, condemning the scandal of the Navy’s acknowledgment the service branch has recruited Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley, a sailor who “misidentifies,” as Donohue states, as “non-binary,” and who performs as a drag queen, to serve as a “digital ambassador” in a pilot program geared toward attracting young recruits.

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TBI Investigating Multiple Hoax School Shooter Calls

Peter D'Abrosca

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) announced Wednesday that it was investigating a series of hoax phone calls made to schools around the state alerting them to potential school shootings.

“DEVELOPING: TBI is currently working with state and federal partners to determine the source of several hoax calls, placed to local law enforcement agencies, reporting an active shooter at several high schools in the state,” TBI said Wednesday on Twitter.

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Iowa Democratic Party Plan Mails It in, Changing Traditional In-Person Caucus to Mail-In Vote

M.D. Kittle

The quaint caucus process where voters meet in school gymnasiums, churches, and restaurants to debate the merits of their candidates would be a thing of the past under a draft plan by the Iowa Democratic Party to reinvent the state’s storied presidential nominating system. 

Instead, the plan calls for a mail-in caucus in which registered Democrats would request presidential preference cards by mail or online and send them in.

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Pennsylvania House Approves Forced-Unionism Amendment

Bradley Vasoli

Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives this week passed a measure to enshrine forced unionism in the state Constitution. 

The proposed law is identical to an Illinois Constitutional Amendment enacted last year. It would prevent lawmakers from adopting a “right-to-work” policy protecting nonunion workers from being forced to pay union dues. It would also counteract any state statute that checks labor organizations’ power, thereby vastly increasing public-sector unions’ bargaining clout. 

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Former Biden Appointee and Nurses Union President Will Join University of Minnesota Board of Regents

Admin

The president of the Minnesota Nurses Association — a one-time appointee of President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 Health Equity Taskforce — has been elected to serve on the University of Minnesota Board of Regents.

Mary Turner, an ICU nurse at North Memorial Medical Center, has led the nurses union since 2015. Last fall she helped lead a strike of more than 15,000 nurses across the state as they negotiated with hospital employers for higher wages and what they described as workplace safety improvements.

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Florida Bill Could Require Trans People to Use Bathrooms According to Biological Sex

Admin

Florida legislators passed a bill Wednesday that, if signed by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, will require people to use facilities according to their biological sex in certain public restrooms.

Individuals who use opposite-sex facilities and refuse to leave when asked could be charged with criminal trespassing under the new legislation, which LGBT activists have characterized as anti-transgender. It would apply to K-12 schools, government buildings, prisons and detention centers.

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Virginia Senator, Colleagues Introduce College Transparency Act

The Center Square

Virginia U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine has joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers in introducing the College Transparency Act, which would give students and their families access to make more informed decisions about colleges and areas of study to best fit their needs.

Kaine and his colleagues hope the legislation will help students and their families make better, more transparent decisions looking at the larger picture when determining the best path in higher education, ultimately leading to successful careers.

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U.S. Senator JD Vance Leads Legislation Increasing Online Transparency and Support of American-Made Products

Hannah Poling

U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) introduced legislation to increase online transparency and support products made in the USA.

The Bipartisan Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) Online Act, sponsored by Vance and U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), would ensure that all products sold online list their country of origin to protect Americans’ right to know where the things they purchase are manufactured, as well as the promotion of American-made products for internet buyers.

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Pennsylvania Republicans Consider Paths to Hospital Price Transparency

Bradley Vasoli

A committee of GOP Pennsylvania lawmakers on Thursday gathered in downtown Lewisburg to consider ways to make patients aware of hospital service prices ahead of time. 

At the House Republican Policy Committee hearing at the Open Discourse Coalition headquarters, policy experts testified that, despite a new federal rule requiring price transparency, many hospitals still fail to accurately inform patients of procedures’ costs. Representative David Rowe (R-Middleburg), who organized the event, recalled constituents telling him they’ve faced shocking examples of pricing opacity.

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Connecticut House Republicans Unveil Alternative Budget, Tax Relief Plan

The Center Square

Connecticut House Republicans have unveiled a two-year, $50.7 billion budget proposal that includes more than $1.1 billion in tax relief and repeal of a new highway tax on commercial truckers. 

The plan, rolled out by the Assembly’s GOP minority caucus on Tuesday, includes a buffet of income tax cuts, tax relief of businesses and expanded tax exemptions for pension and annuity earnings, and restoration of a sales tax exemption on children’s clothing costing less than $100, among other changes.

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Wisconsin’s Largest Business Advocate Applauds Republicans’ Removal of Hundreds of Governor Tony Evers’ Proposals from Budget

M.D. Kittle

The Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee this week jettisoned 545 of liberal Governor Tony Evers’ budget proposals, packed with higher taxes on businesses and individuals and growing government initiatives.

Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the state’s largest business advocate, is applauding the Republican-controlled budget-writing committee for trimming Evers’ bigger government budget plan. 

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State Senator Calls on Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to Do Job and Fill Legislative Vacancies, County Says All Is in Order

Neil Jones

Arizona State Senator J.D. Mesnard (R-Chandler) took a moment on the Senate Floor Wednesday to call on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors (MCBOS) to perform its duties and fill vacancies in the Arizona State Legislature.

“The length of these vacancies is the longest, while we’ve been in session, in a half-century, 56 years,” Mesnard said. “I went back and looked; what’s the average time it takes from the point of vacancy to the point of fulfilling the vacancy? 8.76 days is the average.”

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Elon Musk Sets Off Tweetstorm About Rejected Ballots in Abe Hamadeh’s Race

Rachel Alexander

Twitter owner and CEO Elon Musk weighed in on Abe Hamadeh’s election challenge Monday. Hamadeh is challenging election anomalies in the closest statewide race in history, the Arizona Attorney General’s race which he lost to Democrat Kris Mayes by 280 votes. Musk was responding to a tweet from Hamadeh about the large numbers of people who voted on Election Day last fall whose votes were not counted, and his response generated a flood of responses.

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Ohio Attorney General Yost Wins Preliminary Injunction Against ‘Sham’ Charity That Stole Thousands Intended for East Palestine Residents

Hannah Poling

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced on Wednesday that a preliminary injunction was issued against Michael Peppel and his sham charity, Ohio Clean Water Fund, who stole thousands of dollars after pretending to raise money for East Palestine residents in the wake of the disastrous February 3rd train derailment.

Yost claimed in his initial lawsuit and request for a temporary restraining order that Peppel, a resident of Leetonia, and other individuals had pocketed at least $131,000 of the approximately $141,000 collected from more than 3,000 donors to allegedly help the community of East Palestine.

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Arizona Lawmakers Rally Behind Solutions to Arizona’s Housing Crisis

Neil Jones

A bipartisan group of state lawmakers met outside the State Capital Wednesday to build support for a potential solution to Arizona’s housing crisis, which involves reforming zoning regulations so more houses can be built.

“You additionally see it in red and blue states across the nation, right now this year, where zoning reform laws are getting signed by governors of every political party,” said State Senator Steve Kaiser (R-Phoenix), the lawmaker behind the policies at hand. “This is bipartisan in every state that it’s done in.”

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Ohio U.S. Senate Candidate Bernie Moreno Calls On Biden to Extend Title 42 and Complete Trump’s Wall

Hannah Poling

Ohio Republican businessman and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2024 Bernie Moreno said that if President Joe Biden and U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) want people to take them seriously when they claim they don’t want open borders, then they should extend Title 42 and finish building former President Donald Trump’s wall.

His statement follows Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday agreeing to send 1,500 U.S. soldiers to the Mexico border at the Biden administration’s request. However, as Title 42, a pandemic-related immigration policy, is slated to expire next week, the soldiers will only be used for administrative work.

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ACLU Files Lawsuit Challenging Bill Banning Transgender Medical Procedures for Minors

Admin

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Kentucky filed a lawsuit Wednesday to challenge a bill that bans minors from having access to transgender medical procedures, according to the lawsuit.

Senate Bill 150, in addition to prohibiting medical professionals from offering services to minors to “alter the appearance or perception of the minor’s sex,” the law also compels schools to inform parents if their child requests a pronoun change and bars students below sixth grade from learning about “human sexuality.” The bill was vetoed by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear but then overturned by the legislature, prompting the state’s ACLU branch to file a lawsuit Wednesday in an attempt to stop the bill before it goes into effect in June.

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DOJ Psychologist Confirms That Trans Inmates in Women’s Prison Purposefully Impregnate Female Inmates to Create ‘Million Dollar Babies’

Admin

A school psychologist at the Department of Justice has corroborated rumors that biologically male inmates posing as transgender women in female prisons are purposefully impregnating female inmates to create “million dollar babies”—and U.S. taxpayers get to pay for it.

The DOJ under Merrick Garland just “rolls over,” the psychologist told an undercover journalist in a new O’Keefe Media Group (OMG) sting video released on Wednesday.

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TikTok Continues Censorship of Think Tank’s Account Promoting Anti-CCP Documentary

Admin

TikTok continued to target a think tank criticizing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Thursday after removing and then reinstating posts without any explanation.

Acton Institute, an independent think tank that advocates for individual and religious liberty, was informed Tuesday that their account had been suspended but was given no reason for the decision. After Acton filed a complaint, TikTok reinstated the account but removed two videos promoting a documentary criticizing the CCP until they were also reinstated Thursday.

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Commentary: Red States Ban Destructive Transgender Treatments as K-12 Schools Funnel Children to Dangerous Path

Admin

Citing “very serious side effects” and a “lack of reliable scientific evidence for their efficacy and safety,” Missouri is clamping down on chemical and surgical gender transition interventions for both children and adults.

The move comes as public schools across the nation push children toward transgenderism with organized efforts and intentional tactics that leave children’s parents and legal guardians in the dark.

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Skrmetti and 15 Other AGs Back Florida Transgender Medicaid Rule

Admin

Sixteen state attorneys general weighed in on Florida’s rule blocking Medicaid funds from transgender medical interventions on the grounds that they are experimental.

“From the Founding, states have exercised their authority to enact health and safety measures—regulating the medical profession, restricting access to potentially dangerous medicines, banning unsafe or unproven treatments,” the 16 Republican attorneys general write in the brief, a copy of which was provided exclusively to The Daily Signal.

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AOC, Gaetz Introduce Bipartisan Ban on Lawmakers Trading Stocks

Just the News

New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz have joined forces to introduce a bill banning lawmakers, their spouses, or dependents from trading stocks.

House Problem Solvers Caucus co-chair Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Penn., and Democratic Illinois Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi joined the pair in introducing the Bipartisan Restoring Faith in Government Act on Tuesday.

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Navy Acknowledges Using Non-Binary Drag Queen as ‘Ambassador’ to Boost Recruitment

Just the News

The Navy said has acknowledged having recruited a sailor who also was a non-binary drag queen to participate in a “Navy Digital Ambassador” pilot program designed to boost low recruitment numbers.

Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley, whose stage name is Harpy Daniels, was one of five active-duty personnel who participated in the digital ambassador program that ran from October 2022 to March 2023, a Navy spokesperson told The Daily Caller News Foundation reported in a story published Monday.

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Massachusetts Family Institute Defends First Amendment Rights of 12-Year-Old Student Against School That Punished Him for Wearing ‘Two Genders’ Shirt

Susan Berry, PhD

The Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI) announced Tuesday the public policy organization sent a demand letter to the superintendent of Middleborough Public Schools on behalf of a 12-year-old student who was allegedly punished for wearing a shirt that said, “There are only two genders.”

Liam Morrison defended his First Amendment rights to his school committee on April 13, several weeks after he was reportedly taken out of gym class at Nichols Middle School and informed by school staff that complaints had been made about the shirt he was wearing that said, “There are only two genders.”

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Biden Admin Announces Deportation Deal with Mexico Before Trump-Era Border Policy Ends

Admin

Mexico has agreed to receive migrants deported from the U.S. as the authorities prepare for the looming end of Title 42, a major Trump-era public health order used to expel certain migrants.

Mexico committed to continuing to accept migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela that are expelled by the U.S. on “humanitarian grounds,” the White House said Tuesday. Title 42 is set to end May 11 and the Biden administration expects a surge in migrants coming across the southern border after that date.

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Tennessee Department of Education Names Steering Committee to Advise on Implementation of New School Funding Formula

TC Weber

The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) released on Wednesday the names of appointees to the newly created Tennesseans Investing in Student Achievement (TISA) steering committee.

The state is transitioning to a new public school funding model. The newly created committee will advise on the implementation of the new, student-based K-12 education funding formula, which goes into effect for the 2023-24 school year.

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Tennessee Bill Regulating Hemp-Derived Products Headed to Gov. Lee’s Desk

Peter D'Abrosca

After the successful passage of SB038 by the Tennessee Senate, which establishes guidelines for regulating hemp-based products, including hemp seeds, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, and salts, is headed to the desk of Gov. Bill Lee (R) for review, and possibly a signature that would make the bill a law.

Aside from barring those under the age of 21 from purchasing hemp-derived cannabinoid, also known as CBD, SB038 tightens regulations to ensure that CBD products are safe for consumption. 

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Nashville MS-13 Members Convicted in Murder, RICO Case

Peter D'Abrosca

According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), two members of the international MS-13 (La Mara Salvatrucha) gang living in Nashville were found guilty by a federal jury for their roles in a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) case.

Specifically, Jorge Flores, 30, aka Peluche and Kevin Tidwell, 29, aka Miklo, both of Nashville, were convicted in their roles in a RICO conspiracy, murder in aid of racketeering, attempted murder in aid of racketeering, drug trafficking, and destruction of evidence, the DOJ revealed. 

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