Home Blog Page 3501

One last word on Governor Noem

The Reactionary reports:

A Brief Background

You might have seen South Dakota in the news lately. Legislation proposed by the South Dakota legislature, HB 1217, would require that that K-12 and higher education female sports be “available only to participants who are female, based on their biological sex.” Governor Noem proposed revisions which included limitations of the legislation to K-12 schools. The colleges were out.

Then all hell broke loose. The ADF went on the attack, stating Noem “has downplayed the injustices that girls and women are already facing when they are forced to compete against males.” Noem appeared on Tucker and didn’t help her case, though she didn’t completely melt down. A series of opinion pieces ensued, including one from our friend Margot Cleveland at The Federalist.

Then Noem’s spokesman put out a tone deaf statement. Instead of arguing the merits, he went for a hot take:

“But if any number of conservative pundits are to be believed, that same governor who refused to cave is now caving to the NCAA and Amazon on the issue of fairness in women’s sports. What? Apparently, uninformed cancel culture is fine when the right is eating their own.”

As you can imagine, the backlash got worse.

A view from above: What exactly needs fixing in South Dakota?

Let’s take a step back. Forget the legislation for a moment, and consider where South Dakota stands with women’s college sports. According to my research (and please, comment if I’m wrong), South Dakota colleges do not currently allow male-to-female transgender athletes to participate in women’s sports.

Noem, therefore, isn’t asked to fix the current state of college women’s sports in her state. Instead, she is asked to sign legislation that would eliminate an issue that may or may not exist in South Dakota’s future.

What are the real issues?

Male-to-female transgender athletes participating in women’s sports is the manifestation of broader issues, namely the obliteration of a distinction between women and transgender women1 and a furtherance of gender/sex ideologies on a general public who supports the status quo of women’s sports.

In other words, college athletics are just a means to a greater end: societal change. Those means are thwarted, and the ends are avoided, by legislation and by states – and the public – collectively taking a stand and keeping women’s sports for biological women.

How is this countered? With good laws.

There is little doubt that the fight to keep women’s sports for biological women (that is, a woman that was born a woman) will make it to the higher courts – perhaps the Supreme Court. It’s the big leagues. While we agree with the broader aims of HB 1217, the legislation proposed by the South Dakota legislature is so poorly written that it wouldn’t make it out of the minors.

For all the criticisms of Noem, I haven’t heard many people defend HB 1217 as a well-drafted law. And there are reasons for that.

The problems with the HB 1217 have been discussed by our friend and former federal prosecutor @Shipwreckedcrew, who explained some issues with the drafting of the legislation by the South Dakota legislature and suggested that the ACLU would likely get an injunction against the South Dakota statute in federal court.

I’ll continue on the theme he developed and explain other legal issues with the legislation.

  • Section 1 states that female sports are available “only to participants who are female, based on their biological sex.” What of an equal protection claim with the legislation treating male-to-female athletes different than female-to-male athletes? Or how HB 1217 treats male and female sports different? Does this violate the “heightened scrutiny” that the Supreme Court places on “all gender based classifications”?
  • Section 2 states that a school/sanctioning entity shall obtain a written statement from a student or his parents that the student is not taking and has not taken “any performance enhancing drugs.” Nobody can say with certainty what that term means because the legislation provides zero guidance. Are South Dakota K-12 schools to follow World Anti-Doping Agency guidelines? Which prescription or over-the-counter drugs are on South Dakota’s prohibited list? Are certain levels of stimulants, like caffeine, prohibited? If “performance enhancing drugs” is undefined, how would it survive under South Dakota law, which requires that statutes not be vague?
  • Section 2 also states that a student may be prohibited from participating in sports where the school/sanctioning entity “has reasonable cause to believe that any information provided in accordance with this section is false or misleading.” But how does a school obtain such “reasonable cause”? Is it a suspicion, something more than a suspicion, or something they believe is more likely than not? Nobody knows because the legislature didn’t define the term or explain in detail exactly how a school can get to the point (evidence, testimony, etc.) of finding reasonable cause. That gives us another vagueness problem. Another question: how does punishment for “reasonable cause to believe” that information is “misleading” square with a student’s privilege to participate in athletics? I’m not sure courts would allow that.

Noem’s Other Proposals

HB 1217 also allowed for a cause of action where a student could sue the school, school district, athletic association or organization, or their employees for violations of the statute. Noem proposed that this section be struck in its entirety.

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) General Counsel Kristen Waggoner stated on Twitter that this proposal from Noem “gutted the primary [legal] remedy for high school girls, denying them a right to sue when their rights are violated.”

But is that really the case?

For example, let’s say Governor Noem’s proposals are accepted and the law passes. Let’s further assume that after the law is signed, a high school female runner is scheduled to run against a male-to-female runner from another school in the 100 meter dash. Under Noem’s version of HB 1217, the school allowing the male-to-female athlete to run is in violation of the law.

What would stop a female student athlete from filing suit and requesting an injection/temporary restraining order where a violation of HB 1217 affected her?

Retaliation

Additionally, there are concerns that Noem’s version of HB 1217 allows for “retaliation” against students for complaints of HB 1217 violations. This would have to do with Noem’s proposed removal of a section of the law that includes this language:

If a student is subjected to retaliation or other adverse action, as a result of reporting a violation of this Act to an employee or representative of a school, school district, institution of higher education, athletic association or organization, or to a state or federal governmental entity having oversight authority, that student has a private cause of action for injunctive relief, damages, and any other relief available under law, against the school, school district, institution of higher education, or athletic association or organization.

We can all agree that students should be protected from any type of retaliation for their protected speech. Students do not give up their constitutional rights once they walk into school.

This leads us to a question: If the “retaliation” section of HB 1217 is removed, do students still have a remedy if they are subject to retaliation for reporting violations?

The answer is yes.

As the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals stated in Constantine v. George Mason University:

[F]or purposes of a First Amendment retaliation claim under § 1983, a plaintiff suffers adverse action if the defendant’s allegedly retaliatory conduct would likely deter “a person of ordinary firmness” from the exercise of First Amendment rights.

Fault and the Path Forward

Finally, this is a cultural fight that will be resolved in the courts. There’s a long list of conservative losses in such fights: abortion, gay marriage, etc. Why pick this fight with such a poorly written law?

What we need is serious legislation that will protect women’s sports and withstand legal challenges. HB 1217 doesn’t do that. Governor Noem’s revisions don’t do it either.

All of this is a long way of saying there are really two parties at fault here. First, look to the South Dakota legislature for bringing such a flawed law to the Governor. And second, Governor Noem should have offered revisions that would have strengthened the law and removed any fatal vagueness or constitutional problems.

But perhaps there’s more to the issue.

As I write this, something hit me. We condemn the NCAA for bullying states into compliance with the NCAA’s broader political beliefs and criticize Noem for bowing to NCAA pressure.

Yet I continue to watch college football and March Madness. I’m a faithful consumer of these NCAA products. Maybe I’m at fault too.

Video: Rand Paul Recounts Run-In With ‘Crazy’ Pro-Mask ‘Karen’ At The Gym

Senator Rand Paul appeared on Tucker Carlson’s show Friday night and recounted a run-in he had with a particularly vociferous ‘Karen’ who reported him to the management for using the running machine without a face mask.

“I was on the treadmill the other day and some Karen goes and tells the people ‘He’s on a treadmill; he’s running without a mask’ Paul told the Fox News host.

“Is this the world we’re going to live in, where everybody’s reporting everyone and the Gestapo’s going to come [and] arrest you?” the Senator questioned.

Arguing that the burden of proof regarding masks should be on the government, Paul continued, “One thing about freedom is, freedom doesn’t have to be practical or have a study to say why you should have to have freedom. They need to have a study and a scientific proof to show us why we shouldn’t have freedom. I shouldn’t have to prove that I want to be free and I want to be left alone and I want to breathe the air.”

Watch:

Elsewhere in the interview, Paul commented on his exchange with Anthony Fauci earlier last week when he accused Fauci of engaging in ‘theater’ by wearing two masks.

“There was Dr. Fauci’s opinion, his conjecture that someday there might be a [COVID-19] variant that escapes the control of the vaccine and becomes a pandemic and hospitalizes and kills people — but there’s no evidence that it has happened. He thinks it might happen, so you need to wear the mask until he’s sure that things that might happen are not going to happen,” Paul said.

He added, “There are no news reports and no scientific studies saying that after vaccination that there is some sort of widespread contagion that people vaccinated are spreading the disease.”

The Senator further noted “What Fauci won’t tell you is that he’s telling you a noble lie. He’s lying to you because he doesn’t think we’re smart enough to make decisions. His fear is, if the vaccinated quit wearing the mask, the unvaccinated will say, ‘What the hell, I’m not wearing a mask either.’”

Washington University Professor Says Credits from Courses on Creationism Should Not Count Toward a Science Degree

(Christian Headlines) A Washington University computational biologist says credits from courses with creationist subjects should not be counted toward a science degree.

According to Faithwire, Dr. Joshua Swamidass says this “constructive solution” would hold Christian institutions to a higher academic standard than other colleges.

“Credit from courses that include creation science should not be used toward science degrees,” he wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. “Nor should they be eligible for transfer to secular institutions.”

He added that those courses with creationism are “deviations from national norms” that “need to be prominently disclosed, tracked and reported.”

His suggestion includes noting on official transcripts that the course included creationism.

Swamidass’ opinion piece comes in response to the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), which recently debated if they should still consider the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (Tracs) as an accrediting agency.

Meanwhile, David Klinghoffer, Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute, said he worries making the change would be more harmful.

“Creationist thoughts and those who think them, are indeed penalized in his system,” Klinghoffer writes in Evolution News & Science Today. “Invidious labeling is all about reward and punishment….and this is a very dangerous concept.”

Steve Pettit, the president of Bob Jones University, also said he was wary of making a change.

“Our students, while adhering to biblical viewpoints on the origin and diversity of life, must be fully conversant with, and able to think critically about both models,” he explained. “Dr. Swamidass’s ‘compromise’—excluding credit from courses presenting evidence for multiple models—would marginalize outstanding scientists with biblical viewpoints about origins,” he said.

Full Story

Biden Goes Blank in Middle of Answer During DISASTER Press Conference

Russia threatens to block Twitter over child pornography and posts about child suicide

Russian authorities on Tuesday said they are prepared to block Twitter in a month’s time if the social media giant does not comply with demands to remove upwards of 3,000 posts of banned content, AP reports.

Driving the news: Russia claims Twitter failed to heed previous warnings to remove posts about child suicide and pornography, and information about drugs. Authorities in the country have a fraught relationship with social media platforms, which for years have provided a forum for political dissent.

What they’re saying: “Twitter doesn’t react to our requests appropriately, and if things go on like this, then in a month it will be blocked, on an out-of-court basis,” said Vadim Subbotin, deputy chief of Russia’s telecommunications regulator.

  • The Russian government last week said it would slow access to Twitter to “protect Russian citizens,” claiming the site failed to remove illegal content.

The big picture: Russian authorities have long looked askance at the role platforms like Twitter in mobilizing protestors. In 2019, Russia moved to assert more control over its domestic internet by severing itself from the global internet.

Arizona governor slams VP Kamala Harris as ‘worst possible choice’ for handling border crisis

‘Joe Biden has broken our border’

President Joe Biden tapped Vice President Kamala Harris to head the administration’s efforts to resolve the current border crisis. Biden said of Harris on Tuesday, “I can think of nobody who is better qualified to do this.”

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey vehemently disagrees that Harris is the right person to handle the immigration crisis and went so far as to declare the vice president to be the “worst possible choice” for remedying the massive migrant surge at the U.S. southern border.

During a news conference Wednesday, Ducey weighed in on Harris being assigned to tackle the border crisis.

“She’s about the worst possible choice that one could make,” Ducey told reporters. “In no point in her career has she given any indication that she considers the border a problem or a serious threat.”

“If President Biden’s intent was to show that he’s taking this issue seriously, he’s really done the exact opposite,” the Republican governor stated, adding that President Biden had “completely trivialized the issue by putting someone in charge who flat out just doesn’t care.”

Harris admitted Wednesday that the border situation is a “huge problem.”

“I’m not going to pretend it’s not. It’s a huge problem,” Harris told CBS News. “Are we looking at overcrowding at the border in particular of these kids? Yes.”

Harris received condemnation earlier this week for appearing to laugh off a question about whether she will be visiting the border. “Not today,” Harris joked before laughing. “But I have before, and I’m sure I will again.”

Full Story

Razor Wire Fence Comes Down At Capitol Hill

Washington DC at least doesn’t appear to be a totalitarian nightmare state on the surface anymore

Washington DC at least doesn’t appear to be a totalitarian nightmare state on the surface anymore after US Capitol Police took down the outer perimeter razor wire-topped fencing that has been in place for two months.

The public will be allowed to enter the grounds once again.

The announcement was made Wednesday, with a disclaimer that security can be ramped back up at any time, presumably if Democrats declare there is some sort of batshit crazy non-existent QAnon threat.

The inner fencing remains in place around the Capitol building itself, with USCP claiming that repairs are still taking place and security is being strengthened.

“The inner perimeter fence, around the Capitol Building, is still in place, while the Department works with our congressional stakeholders and law enforcement partners to strengthen our security posture,” the Capitol Police said in a statement.

As we highlighted, there were efforts to make the fence, which looked like something out of Mad Max, permanent.

While the fence may have gone for now, a Democrat ‘task force’ is pushing for a permanent military security force be stationed around Capitol Hill.

As conservatives such as Tucker Carlson have warned, the troops are not going away, they are there to “prop up the regime”.

Cancel Culture Comes for All: How 10-Year-Old Tweets Cost This Journalist Her Job

  1. In 2019, McCammond publicly acknowledged the tweets and apologized, likely hoping that the act of contrition would protect her from further reputational harm.
  2. Out of the numerous faults the woke left has, the complete lack of forgiveness for offense may be its most dangerous.
  3. The rules that cancel mobs once gleefully wielded against their foes are now being turned on them.

The rules that cancel mobs once gleefully wielded against their foes are now being turned on them.

Alexi McCammond, 27, was widely considered an up-and-coming young journalist after her time working as a political commentator for Axios news.

She had been hired as the new editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue magazine and was all set to start, before it was revealed that she had made some tweets that many considered anti-Asian and homophobic when she was 17 years old.

This wasn’t the first time the tweets had come up. In 2019, McCammond publicly acknowledged the tweets and apologized, likely hoping that the act of contrition would protect her from further reputational harm.

Get exclusive insider information from Heritage experts delivered straight to your inbox each week.

Her gambit failed.

Upon hearing McCammond was going to be their new boss, angry members of the Teen Vogue staff demanded blood and called on Teen Vogue’s parent company, Condé Nast, to cut ties with her.

Initially these efforts to have McCammond fired were refused. The tweets were public knowledge when McCammond was hired, and Condé Nast seemed to believe they could weather the storm. McCammond herself apologized again, and for a moment, it almost looked like things would be fine.

Then advertisers started to pull funding.

Faced with a massive internal backlash that was now causing financial harm to the company, it was decided that McCammond and Condé Nast would have to part ways. In a statement tendering her resignation, McCammond wrote:

I became a journalist to help lift up the stories and voices of our most vulnerable communities. As a young woman of color, that’s part of the reason I was so excited to lead the Teen Vogue team in their next chapter. My past tweets have overshadowed the work I’ve done to highlight the people and issues that I care about—issues that Teen Vogue has worked tirelessly to share with the world—and so Condé Nast and I have decided to part ways.

Full Story

Elizabeth Warren wealth tax would shrink US economy by 1.2%, according to a new analysis

So-called ‘ultra-millionaire tax’ would slash US GDP over next 30 years

Sen. Elizabeth Warren‘s plan to tax the net worth of the wealthiest Americans could reduce U.S. economic growth by 1.2% over the next 30 years, according to a new analysis published this week.

The so-called “ultra-millionaire tax” would slash the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) — the market value of all the goods and services produced within the U.S. — by 0.6% in 2031 and 0.8% in 2040, according to the Penn Wharton Budget Model analysis. The tax would also have a detrimental effect on wages, reducing the hourly rate by 0.7% in 20313, 1% in 2040 and 1.2% in 2050, the model shows.

Warren’s proposal, which is nearly identical to the wealth tax that she introduced during her failed 2020 presidential campaign, would impose a 2% annual tax on the net worth of U.S. households above $50 million and would add an additional 1% levy on households worth more than $1 billion.

The Massachusetts Democrat estimates the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act would affect about 100,000 households in the U.S., or roughly 0.05% of the population, and would generate about $3 trillion in revenue over the next decade based on estimates from Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, economists at the University of California, Berkeley.

But the Penn Wharton researchers estimated that Warren’s tax on the top sliver of rich U.S. households would raise about $2.1 trillion over the next decade — almost $1 trillion less than she projected.

In an effort to prevent wealthy Americans from dodging the tax, the bill would create a 40% tax on net worth above $50 million for people who renounce their U.S. citizenship in order to avoid paying the fee and a 30% minimum audit rate for households subject to the tax. It would also provide the IRS with an additional $100 billion to help with enforcement.

Factoring in the new enforcement measures, Penn researchers said that her tax could raise as much as $2.4 trillion, slightly closer in line with Warren’s own projections.

Warren has suggested the money could go toward investments in child care and early education, K-12 and infrastructure, “all of which are priorities of President Biden and Democrats in Congress,” she said recently.

Still, it’s unclear whether the Biden administration supports a wealth tax. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said the White House is open to such a levy, but could achieve a similar result with other taxes that Biden proposed during the 2020 presidential campaign.

That includes raising the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21%, increasing the income tax rate on individuals earning more than $400,000, expanding the estate tax, creating a higher capital gains tax rate for individuals earning at least $1 million annually and paring back tax preferences for so-called pass-through businesses.

Christians Seriously Injured in Mob Assault on House Church

NEW DELHI (Morning Star News) A mob armed with axes and thick wooden batons in central India disrupted a home worship service and beat and threatened Christians for leaving their ancestral tribal religion this month, sources said.

Eight Christians were injured and five of them hospitalized, including two women and a pastor who suffered head injuries and a dislocated shoulder, in the March 8 assault on a house church meeting in Surguda village, Bastar District in Chhattisgarh state, said the pastor, Samson Baghel of the Methodist Church.

Methodist Church Pastor Baghel, who lives in a nearby village, and 20 other Christians from surrounding areas had come to the home of Jaggu Kashyap for the meeting with the only three Christian families who live in Surguda village. Five of the Christians attacked sustained head injuries.

“Some church members caught hold of my hand and asked me to escape, but I said I will not leave the church members to face the tribulation alone,” Pastor Baghel told Morning Star News. “After I fell on the ground when struck twice on my head and my shoulders, church members pulled me aside, and I helplessly watched Jaggu and his family being beaten till blood oozed out of their bodies.”

Full Story
1...3,5003,5013,502...3,557Page 3,501 of 3,557
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2023 American Faith News Media. All rights reserved.