Woke op-ed blasts Oral Roberts U, says pro-family Christian school should be banned from NCAA

March 27, 2021

The writer ripped ORU — whose basketball team is headed to the Sweet 16 — as a ‘hotbed of institutional transphobia, homophobia with regressive, sexist policies’

After tiny Oral Roberts University shocked the sports world with its otherworldly upsets of second-seeded Ohio State and then seventh-seeded Florida in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, you knew the woke mob sooner or later would deliver vitriol against the famously conservative Christian college.

Sure enough, a Tuesday op-ed penned by USA Today’s Hemal Jhaveri did just that.

While acknowledging that Oral Roberts has “become a fan favorite” due to its improbable underdog run, Jhaveri pulled no punches when came to the school’s moral standards, which she said are “wholly incompatible with the NCAA’s own stated values of equality and inclusion” — particularly its “discriminatory and hateful anti-LGBTQ+ policy.”

She noted that ORU condemns “homosexual behavior” along with “adultery” and “premarital sex” and requires students to pledge they won’t be in marriages other than those “between one man and one woman,” none of which is surprising for a conservative Christian college.

Illegal immigrants to receive more than $4 billion in stimulus checks as part of Biden’s COVID relief bill

March 27, 2021

Millions of illegal aliens are in line to be paid

Millions of illegal immigrants residing in the United States are set to receive $1,400 stimulus checks as part of Biden’s coronavirus relief package, according to a new report published this week by the Center for Immigration Studies.

In the report released Monday, the think tank determined that as much as $4.38 billion will be doled out to individuals illegally residing in the country as a part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 due to certain immigrants’ possession of Social Security numbers.

During debate over the legislation, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) took issue with that part of the bill’s language that he argued would result in payments to illegal aliens. He introduced an amendment to stop that from taking place, but the measure was quickly rejected by the Democratic majority.

At the time, Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.) claimed that “undocumented immigrants do not have Social Security numbers, and they do not qualify for stimulus relief checks, period.”

But CIS Director of Research Steven Camarota responded to Durbin’s claim in the report, stating, “This is incorrect; we estimate that there are 2.65 million illegal immigrants who have Social Security numbers that allow them to receive stimulus checks. We estimate that 2.1 million of these individuals have incomes low enough to qualify for checks, and they have 1.1 million U.S.-born dependent children.”

“As a result, illegal immigrants could receive an estimated $4.38 billion in cash payments from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021,” he concluded.

What else?

In its report, CIS listed several situations in which illegal aliens could be in possession of valid SSNs, since they are often issued the number upon being granted work authorizations by the U.S. government.

“There are 653,000 illegal immigrants with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and 411,000 with Temporary Protected Status (TPS),” CIS noted, adding, “In FY 2020, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued 882,000 work authorizations and Social Security numbers to other illegal immigrants. Among the categories eligible are adjustment of status, suspension of deportation, and asylum applicants, as well as those given withholding of removal, deferred action (non-DACA), and parolees.”

All of these individuals, CIS reported, can be considered temporarily present without status and could be subject to removal at any time. However, under the current system, they are eligible to receive certain benefits such as Earned Income Tax Credit and COVID relief checks due to their possession of a Social Security number.

Anything else?

Several major media organizations such as CNN, the Associated Press, and USA Today have since admitted in fact-check articles that indeed some illegal immigrants will receive stimulus checks, since the new law does not differentiate between citizens in possession of Social Security numbers and non-citizens in possession of SSNs.

All a person needs, according to the law, is a valid SSN and not to be a “nonresident alien.” And CNN pointed out in its fact-check that “the IRS explains on its website that undocumented immigrants qualify as resident aliens for tax purposes if they spend enough days physically present in the US.”

Furthermore, SSNs don’t expire or become void. Social Security Administration spokesperson Dorothy Clark told CNN that “once a Social Security Number has been assigned to an eligible person, it remains a valid SSN. Social Security does not void or rescind SSNs after valid assignments.”

Camarota concluded: “There is simply no question that millions of illegal immigrants will receive billions of dollars in COVID relief checks. This highlights an even more disturbing fact — illegal immigrants are being issued Social Security numbers in large numbers. This is a clear indication that America is simply not serious about enforcing its immigration laws.”

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The U.S. Intelligence Community, Flouting Laws, is Increasingly Involving Itself in Domestic Politics

March 26, 2021

A report declassified last Wednesday by the Department of Homeland Security is raising serious concerns about the possibly illegal involvement by the intelligence community in US domestic political affairs.

Entitled “Domestic Violent Extremism Poses Heightened Threat in 2021,” the March 1 Report from the Director of National Intelligence states that it was prepared “in consultation with the Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security—and was drafted by the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), with contributions from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).”

Its primary point is this: “The IC [intelligence community] assesses that domestic violent extremists (DVEs) who are motivated by a range of ideologies and galvanized by recent political and societal events in the United States pose an elevated threat to the Homeland in 2021.” While asserting that “the most lethal” of these threats is posed by “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists (RMVEs) and militia violent extremists (MVEs),” it makes clear that its target encompasses a wide range of groups from the left (Antifa, animal rights and environmental activists, pro-choice extremists and anarchists: “those who oppose capitalism and all forms of globalization”) to the right (sovereign citizen movements, anti-abortion activists and those deemed motivated by racial or ethnic hatreds).

The US security state apparatus regards the agenda of “domestic violent extremists” as “derived from anti-government or anti-authority sentiment,” which includes “opposition to perceived economic, racial or social hierarchies.” In sum, to the Department of Homeland Security, an “extremist” is anyone who opposes the current prevailing ruling class and system for distributing power. Anyone they believe is prepared to use violence, intimidation or coercion in pursuit of these causes then becomes a “domestic violent extremist,” subject to a vast array of surveillance, monitoring and other forms of legal restrictions:

It goes without saying that violence of any kind — including that which is politically motivated — is a serious crime under US law, and it is the proper role of the US Government to investigate and prevent it. But there are real and important legal and institutional limits on the authority of the intelligence community to involve itself in domestic law enforcement, or other forms of domestic political activity, that seem threatened here, if not outright violated.

In particular, the Report’s acknowledgement that it was compiled by institutions including “the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), with contributions from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)” has alarmed numerous members of the House Intelligence Committee. On Thursday, all ten minority members of that Committee wrote a previously unreported letter to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines “to raise serious concerns about the production of this document by the Intelligence Community (IC) and to seek clarification of the facts related to its production.”

Among the issues raised was that the DHS Report was not subject to the standard rigors of an intelligence community finding, yet continually makes sweeping claims that it prefixes with the authoritative phrase “the IC assesses.” The Committee members found this “to be misleading,” adding: we “urge you to clarify which elements in the IC concurred with this judgement and the intelligence basis, if any, for that concurrence.” In other words, Haines claims that these dubious assertions about various threats faced by Americans are the findings of the intelligence community when that is not true: just like the originally false claim widely spread by the media that “all seventeen intelligence agencies” endorsed the 2016 election findings about Russian interference when, in fact, it was only a few which had done so. Haines’ claims have support only from a few agencies as well.

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Arkansas Bans Transgender Athletes From Women’s Sports

March 26, 2021

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed into law on Thursday a bill banning transgender female-identifying athletes from participating in women’s sports.

The new law, meant to preserve the integrity of female sports and protect girls and women from competing against biological males, comes amid a push by state legislatures to enact similar protections.

“Today, I have signed into law SB354, called the ‘Fairness in Women’s Sports Act.’ I have studied the law and heard from hundreds of constituents on this issue. I signed the law as a fan of women’s sports from basketball to soccer and including many others in which women compete successfully,” Hutchinson said in a statement. “This law simply says that female athletes should not have to compete in a sport against a student of the male sex when the sport is designed for women’s competition. As I have stated previously, I agree with the intention of this law. This will help promote and maintain fairness in women’s sporting events.”

GOP lawmakers in at least 20 states have introduced similar legislation this year, according to The Associated Press. Such states are reportedly under pressure by activists and organizations such as the NCAA to avoid implementing such bans. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem recently declined to sign a similar bill and sent it back to the legislature to exempt college sports.

Earlier this week, a group of state representatives introduced similar legislation into the North Carolina General Assembly. The bill cites the “inherent differences between men and women” for banning biological males from women’s sports.

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Sen. Ted Cruz: ‘Last month 100,000 people came across the border illegally…testing positive for COVID-19’ (VIDEO)

March 26, 2021

Sen. Cruz and 18 senators made the trip to observe the crisis unfolding a the border, visiting overrun detention centers.

Live footage from the banks of the Rio Grande.#BidenBorderCrisis pic.twitter.com/aO4EyANrRQ
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 26, 2021

Texas Senator Ted Cruz stood at the shore of the Rio Grande at the Texas/Mexico border and described how Mexican cartel members were “waving flashlights, yelling and taunting Americans, taunting the border control.”

“[Human Trafficers] know that under the current policy of the Biden administration they can flood over here. They’re getting paid $4-5,000 a person to smuggle them into this country. And our policy is—when they smuggle them in—the Biden administration releases them,” said Cruz.
“Last month 100,000 people came across the border illegally. We’ve got 15,000 kids in federal government custody. This is a humanitarian crisis. It’s a public health crisis. The illegal immigrants who are being released, they’re testing positive for COVID-19 at a 7 times higher rate than the American population.”

68-Year-Old Woman Dies After Receiving COVID-19 Vaccine: Family

March 26, 2021

A 68-year-old woman from Kansas died a day after having a reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine, according to family members.

In a Becker Dyer-Stanton Funeral Home obituary, family members wrote that Jeanie M. Evans of Effingham, a mother-of-five, died unexpectedly on Wednesday at the Stormont-Vail Hospital “from a reaction to the Covid vaccine.”

According to EMS dispatch records, a 68-year-old woman had an allergic reaction at a COVID-19 vaccine clinic site, the Keystone Learning Services center in Ozawkie, at around 4 p.m. on Tuesday, KMBC reported.

The woman had difficulty breathing and speaking, and was injected with an EpiPen, dispatch records indicate. EMS had also asked about the availability of air transport to the Stormont-Vail Hospital.

Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) spokesperson Kristi Zears told The Wichita Eagle that Evans had an allergic reaction—anaphylaxis—during a waiting period after receiving the shot. She was transported to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead a day later.

It is not clear whether Evans had underlying health conditions. KDHE did not indicate which COVID-19 vaccine was administered. Three COVID-19 vaccines have been approved for use in the United States so far: Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson.

Zears noted that Evans’s death will be fully investigated in accordance with standard protocol.

“Until the investigation is complete, it is premature to assign a specific cause of death,” she added.

The Epoch Times has reached out to the department for further clarification on the matter.

Soumya Swaminathan, a clinical scientist with the World Health Organization (WHO) said this month that there is no evidence to suggest a link between any COVID-19 vaccine and deaths.

“There is no documented death that’s been linked to a COVID vaccine,” Swaminathan told reporters on March 15.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told The Epoch Times in an email that as of March 8, more than 92 million doses of mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 had been administered, with 1,637 deaths occurring following the injections in the United States.

The Epoch Times hasn’t been able independently to confirm the CDC’s numbers. According to data from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System’s (VAERS) website, 1,136 deaths had occurred nationwide as of Feb. 26.

Celia Farber contributed to this report.

White House: No individual making less than $400K will pay more in taxes

March 26, 2021

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday that neither individuals nor families earning less than $400,000 per year will see their taxes increase under President Biden’s tax plans.

“No individual making less than $400,000 will pay more in taxes,” Ms. Psaki told reporters at the White House.

“This is a commitment he made on the campaign trail, which he is committed to abiding by,” she said. “Once we propose a tax proposal, we’ll have more to discuss.”

Ms. Psaki and the White House had previously said this month that the president’s $400,000 threshold applied to households or families.

Mr. Biden said in a recent interview that people earning more than $400,000 per year can expect to see a “small to significant” increase in their taxes.

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The Myth That the US Leads the World in Mass Shootings

March 26, 2021

To understand the misleading narrative, we must look to the era of narrative-driven journalism and the politicization of society, both of which subjugate truth to ideology and politics.

If you asked me this morning which nation has the most mass shootings in the world, I would have said, with perhaps a flicker of hesitation, the United States.

This is a tad embarrassing to admit because I’m pretty familiar with shooting statistics, having written several articles on gun violence and the Second Amendment. Below is a basic overview of gun violence in America. While gun homicides have been steadily declining for decades in the US, mass shootings have indeed been trending upward.

This fact alone probably would not have led me to believe that the US leads the world in mass shootings, however. An assist goes to the US media and politicians.

The Dominant Narrative

“Let’s be clear,” President Obama said in 2015 after a shooting in North Carolina. “At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries.”

Sen. Harry Reid echoed this sentiment. “The United States is the only advanced country where this kind of mass violence occurs.”

Media headlines have left little doubt that the US leads the world in mass shootings. In fact, according to CNN, it isn’t even close.

The comments and data seem to conclusively say that the US leads the world in mass shootings and the violence is unique, a product of “America’s gun culture.”

It’s a slam dunk case except for one thing: it’s not true.

The Root of the Myth

Statistics on global mass shooting incidents from 2009 to 2015 compiled by economist John Lott of the Crime Prevention Research Center show that the US trails many other advanced nations in mass shooting frequency and death rate.

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How Refreshing: CNN, Stelter See Ratings Crater, Suffer Worst Week of 2021

March 26, 2021

Showing just how far CNN has fallen as they continue to struggle with symptoms of Trump withdrawal, Reliable Sources and host Brian Stelter suffered their worst rating of the year on Sunday as Nielsen Media Research showed a scant 936,000 total viewers subjected themselves to his hour of hate against Fox News and conservative media.

Worse yet, CNN’s ratings overall plummeted to their worst week of 2021. The Washington Post’s Paul Farhi dug into the Nielsen ratings on Monday and found CNN had hemorrhaged “45 percent of its prime-time audience in the past five weeks” with MSNBC down “26 percent in the same period” and the Fox News Channel only off by six percent.

The Wrap’s J. Clara Chan had more on CNN’s putrid performance (click “expand”):

For the week of March 15, CNN had just over 1.1 million average viewers during primetime and 269,000 in the key demo; for total day, the cable news network had 755,000 total viewers and 180,000 in the key demo. Compared to the same week last year, CNN dropped about 64% in the key demo during primetime and about 47% in total primetime viewers. For total day, the network dropped about 50% in total day viewers and 65% in the key demo compared to last year.

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Democrats’ War On Science Ramps Up With Confirmation Of Biden’s Trans Nominee Rachel Levine To Health Position

March 26, 2021

The Senate confirmed former Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine on Wednesday to serve as the next assistant secretary of health, marking the first confirmation of an openly transgender person to a federal role.

New York Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer celebrated Levine’s approval in the Senate as a breakthrough for LGBT Americans.

“The confirmation of Rachel Levine represents another important milestone for the American LGBTQ community,” Schumer said on the chamber floor.

Levine’s confirmation, supported by Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who joined Democrats in a 52-48 vote, also signals indifference to science and merit.

As head of the Pennsylvania Health Department, Levine, a biological man who underwent transition in 2011, jammed COVID-stricken patients into nursing homes and then blamed the Centers for Disease Control for the decision when criticized by Republicans. Nearly 13,000 deaths from the novel Wuhan coronavirus in Pennsylvania are linked to long-term care facilities, according to the state’s latest reported data.

Last spring, however, Levine pulled his own 95-year-old mother from a nursing home and moved her into a hotel as Levine’s Health Department forced COVID patients into such facilities.

On testing, Pennsylvania, under Levine’s management, has underperformed and has ranked with one of the lowest testing rates in the region, according to data from the COVID Tracking Project on 17 states, from Maine to Indiana to North Carolina.

Levine, however, a proponent of religious mask-wearing through the end of the year despite vaccine availability, garnered the approval of enough upper-chamber lawmakers and two Republicans to serve as one of the nation’s health chiefs.

At Levine’s confirmation hearing in February, Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul pressed the controversial nominee on his endorsement of gender reassignment surgery.

“According to the WHO, gender mutilation is recognized internationally as a violation of human rights,” Paul said. “American culture is now normalizing the idea that minors can be given hormones to prevent the biological development of their secondary sexual characteristics. … Do you believe that minors are capable of making such a life-changing decision as changing one’s sex?”

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