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Democratic Louisiana Governor Vetoes Bill To Prevent Biological Men Competing In Women’s Sports

Democratic Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards vetoed legislation Tuesday that would have banned biological males from participating in female sports.

The legislation would have forced athletes at public institutions to play on sports teams based on biological gender rather than gender identity. The legislation passed by a vote of 29-6 in the Senate and 78-19 in the House, enough votes in both chambers to override the governor’s veto should the legislature chose to do so, according to The Advocate.

“As I have said repeatedly when asked about this bill, discrimination is not a Louisiana value, and this bill was a solution in search of a problem that simply does not exist in Louisiana,” Edwards said in a statement. “Even the author of the bill acknowledged throughout the legislative session that there wasn’t a single case where this was an issue.”

“Further, it would make life more difficult for transgender children, who are some of the most vulnerable Louisianans when it comes to issues of mental health. We should be looking for more ways to unite rather than divide our citizens,” he continued. “And while there is no issue to be solved by this bill, it does present real problems in that it makes it more likely that NCAA and professional championships, like the 2022 Final Four, would not happen in our state. For these and for other reasons, I have vetoed the bill.”

Louisiana House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, a Republican, supports taking up the legislation again in a special session of Congress to override the governor’s veto. If a special override session is called, it would be the first in the history of Louisiana’s legislature.

“Article III Section 18 of the Louisiana Constitution is clear on the process to hold a veto session. It requires the majority of members of the House and Senate to be in agreement. While I do not have the authority to call one, I do support a veto session and I am in favor of overriding the governor’s veto of the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act (SB156) by Senator Mizell,” Schexnayder said in a statement.

Senate President Page Cortez, also a Republican, has not yet said whether he supports a special session to override the governor’s veto or not.

The issue of trans athletes in sports, specifically biological males participating in female sports, has gained traction recently as numerous states have passed laws forbidding athletes from playing sports based on how they identify. The issue has impacted athletes from high school up to the Olympics.

Earlier this week, male-to-female transgender weightlifter Laurel Hubbard was picked to represent New Zealand at the Olympics to be held this summer in Tokyo. Hubbard, 43, is the oldest weightlifter expected to be competing in the games.

Hubbard’s inclusion in the upcoming games has sparked criticism from at least one other Olympian. Weightlifter Anna Vanbellinghen called Hubbard’s participation “a bad joke.”

“I am aware that defining a legal frame for transgender participation in sports is very difficult since there is an infinite variety of situations, and that reaching an entirely satisfactory solution, from either side of the debate, is probably impossible,” Vanbellinghen said. “However, anyone that has trained weightlifting at a high level knows this to be true in their bones: this particular situation is unfair to the sport and to the athletes.”

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Disease, Sexual Abuse, Unsafe Food Await Unaccompanied Children in Biden’s Migrant Camps, Says BBC


A BBC investigation into unaccompanied minor detention centers in Texas revealed alarming conditions under the Biden Administration. The BBC reports migrant children are exposed to disease, dangerous food, and sexual abuse while in confinement.

As the flood of unaccompanied migrant children mounted through the spring, the Biden Administration quickly put up detention centers in multiple locations. The BBC reports the migrant children, mostly from Central America, face “heartbreaking” living conditions.

Findings by the BBC from interviews with staff and migrant children revealed allegations of sexual abuse, COVID-19 and lice outbreaks, long waits for medical attention, a lack of clean clothes, and children served under-cooked meats. Staff members provided the BBC with leaked photos and video from inside detention centers.

This investigation centered on a tented facility erected at Fort Bliss near El Paso, Texas. The facility is the temporary home for more than 2,000 unaccompanied minors who illegally crossed the border from Mexico into Texas.

Staff and children told the BBC the facilities served under-cooked meat to hungry children — some of whom became ill after eating.

“Sometimes the chicken had blood, the meat very red,” a 15-year-old boy said. “We couldn’t stand our hunger and we ate it, but we got sick from it.”

One employee told the reporters, “Hundreds of children have tested positive for COVID.” They also reported outbreaks of the flu, strep throat, and lice.

Employees also told the BBC about children in need of urgent medical attention being neglected, the report continues. A staff meeting recording provided by one employee described an incident where a child was coughing up blood and urgently needed medical attention.

“They said ‘we are going to send him to lunch’,” the employee heard from another staff member. “It was a three and a half hour wait to see anybody.”

The facility reportedly lacked sufficient lice kits, allowing the parasites to spread rampantly in the overcrowded facilities.

The investigation also revealed a shortage of underwear, shoes, and other clothing items, the BBC reported.

“It is heartbreaking to hear their stories and to see them very plainly suffering and to hear the same kinds of complaints over and over again about things that could be corrected so easily,” a staff member told the BBC.

Biden Administration officials assigned to the Department of Health and Human Services pledged transparency in the detention center process but denied the BBC access to the facility. Officials said they are “providing required standards of care for children such as clean and comfortable sleeping quarters, meals, toiletries, laundry, educational and recreational activities, and access to medical services.”

The BBC also found reports of staff members sexually abusing children. In a secret recording, one staff member said, “We have already caught staff with minors inappropriately.”

An official with the Department of Homeland Security also reportedly spoke to staff members about a rape incident.

“DHS mentioned there was a rape – they are giving the girls pregnancy tests,” the staff member told the BBC. “And I heard the other night that another contractor was caught in a boys’ tent, you know, doing things with him.”

The article states children being held in the facility are experiencing severe depression and includes reports of children self-harming.

“Sometimes, and at night, we would cry,” the 15-year-old boy mentioned above told the BBC. “During the worst time, I was nearly at the point of committing suicide.”

Reports from U.S. Customs and Border Protection show that more than 78,000 unaccompanied alien children were apprehended by Border Patrol agents in Fiscal Year 21 through the end of May. This is up nearly 300 percent from the prior year. The children mostly came to the U.S. from Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.

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Amazon Offered To Give Kindles To A Virginia School District. Officials Requested Copies Of ‘Antiracism’ Book Instead.

Amazon distributed hundreds of copies of Ibram X. Kendi’s ‘antiracism’ book to a Virginia public school district as part of an effort to promote black authors after initially offering to provide Kindles and other equipment.

The Washington Free Beacon reported that emails between Amazon and Arlington Public Schools shows the company spent $5,000 to distribute hundreds of copies of Kendi’s book “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You.”

Amazon initially reached out to the school district offering to purchase Kindles and other equipment as part of Arlington’s “NeighborGood” program, designed to donate $100,000 to schools and institutions that “empower black voices and serve black communities.” Arron Gregory, director of diversity and inclusion for Arlington Public Schools, however, requested copies of Kendi’s book instead. Amazon then donated more than 500 copies of the book to Wakefield High School and spent an additional $10,000 to have Jason Reynolds, Kendi’s coauthor, speak to students.

More from the Free Beacon:

Asra Nomani, vice president of Parents Defending Education, the watchdog group that obtained the emails through a public records request, called Amazon’s prioritization of “antiracism” efforts during a pandemic “shortsighted” in a statement to the Washington Free Beacon.

“Instead of donating Kindles and hot spots to students in Arlington Public Schools, Amazon chose to spread the controversial ideology of critical race theory,” Nomani said. “The shortsighted decisions during a pandemic, with so many students vulnerable, reflect the national crisis of school districts circumventing parents to indoctrinate students—in this case, with the help of corporate America.”

As the Free Beacon noted, this was one of Amazon’s many Black History Month initiatives, which included scholarships for black students, featuring black-owned businesses on the company’s Launchpad, and promoting black artists on Amazon Prime.

The initiatives were marred, however, after Amazon removed a highly rated documentary about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. That documentary can now be viewed on The Daily Wire.

Amazon’s donation of Kendi’s books came with a study guide that explained the book “debunks the myths of several master narrative themes,” including the idea that “America is a meritocracy” and that “truth and justice (or law and order) should be valued.”

Arlington Public Schools is no stranger to push for so-called antiracism. Last year, teachers were required to join equity training, which taught them to create an “actively antiracist learning environment.”

While that doesn’t sound so bad on its own, an email from Arlington superintendent Francisco Duran to parents following the conviction of Derek Chauvin in the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd made clear the direction the school intended for the training, as the email pointed to left-wing resources from the Southern Poverty Law Center.

While Arlington schools was asking for “antiracism” books, it was also giving in to teachers unions who refused to allow children back into the classroom, even though study after study has shown that schools are safe.

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‘Shame on you!’: 1 arrest, 1 injury after school board shuts down public comment, declares ‘unlawful assembly’ — and parents are furious

One man was arrested and another person was hurt at a raucous Loudoun County (Virginia) School Board meeting Tuesday, WRC-TV reported.

What’s the background?

The district and its board — as well as parents of students — have made numerous national headlines recently over the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, the teaching of critical race theory, "pornographic" content in assigned books, and LGBTQ issues. Furthermore, an elementary school teacher — a Christian — was suspended for voicing opposition to the district’s transgender-affirming policies and then reinstated by a judge’s order. And a 14-year-old student went viral after blasting the board for putting her in danger by allowing transgender students to use girls’ locker rooms.

And it all came to a head at Tuesday’s meeting, which featured high security — state troopers and county sheriff’s deputies — due to death threats against school board members, WRC reported.

What happened?

A huge crowd of parents at the meeting — furious over critical race theory and policies surrounding transgender students — held up signs saying "We the parents stand up" and "Education not indoctrination," the station said, adding that they also chanted and even sang the national anthem.

Image source: WRC-TV video screenshot

Former state Sen. Richard Black said the board got angry and shut down public comment after he blasted members over their controversial policies:

The LCPS shut down the public input after the audience erupted in applause at the end of my speech. Hundreds of pa… https://t.co/3RMID2yLmQ

— Senator Dick Black (@SenRichardBlack) 1624407443.0

Black did not mince words: "You retaliated against Tanner Cross by yanking him from teaching for addressing a public hearing of this board. The judge ordered you to reinstate Mr. Cross because if his comments were not protected speech, then free speech does not exist at all. It’s absurd and immoral for teachers to call boys ‘girls’ and girls ‘boys.’ You’re making teachers lie to students, and even kids know that it’s wrong. This board has a dark history of suppressing free speech. They caught you red-handed with an enemies list to punish opponents of Critical Race Theory. You’re teaching children to hate others because of their skin color, and you’re forcing them to lie about other kids’ gender. I am disgusted by your bigotry and your depravity."

Black’s microphone was cut just before his last words, and the crowd began cheering.

The board unanimously voted to shut down the meeting after repeatedly issuing warnings about decorum and disruptions, WRC said, adding that parents chanted "Shame on you!" and raised their middle fingers.

Nearly 260 people had signed up to speak at the meeting, the station added.

But a school district spokesperson said "the meeting has degenerated" as the board shut it down and ordered people to leave, WRC said.

More from the station:

One man was "acting disorderly and displayed aggressive behavior towards another attendee," the sheriff’s office said in a statement. A deputy intervened and the man continued to be disorderly. Deputies tried to take him into custody and he resisted arrest, the sheriff’s office said. The man, whose name was not immediately released, was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

Another man received a summons for trespassing after school officials asked those in attendance to clear the room, the sheriff’s office said.

A third person received a minor injury, officials said, without releasing details.

Image source: WRC-TV video screenshot

What did a pair of parents have to say?

A pair of parents told Fox News that fewer than half of those registered to speak actually got a chance to do so, and they both ripped the board.

Amy Jahr told the cable network that it was a "school board meeting on steroids."

"[They were] silencing us every time you tried to speak," she told Fox News. "You try to write emails, they don’t answer us. It erupted, and emotions were high tonight, for sure."

Ian Prior added to the cable network that leftists will not prevail.

"They can keep trying, they can keep busing people in or holding rallies outside, but we are not going to stop," he noted to Fox News. "This is the wokest school board in America, and it’s also is the worst school board in America, and we are not going to stop until we get a seat at the table."

What did the board chair have to say?

School Board Chair Brenda Sheridan afterward told WRC the board stands with LGBTQ students during Pride Month and will continue to work to make schools equitable.

"We will not back down from fighting for the rights of our students and continuing our focus on equity," she added to the station. "We will continue to work toward making Virginia, specifically Loudoun, the best place to raise a family."

Sheridan also called for a halt to "politically motivated antics" and said "loud voices aiming to make our schools a political battleground will not silence the work for our students," WRC said.

The district has denied repeatedly that critical race theory is being taught in its schools, WJLA-TV reported.

Transgender parent speaks out

Transgender parent Cris Candice Tuck has attended several meetings, WJLA noted.

"At the end of the day, we’re very hopeful that the school board is going to continue to do what’s right for our students, protect transgender students," Tuck said.

Image source: WRC-TV video screenshot

Tuck in an interview with WRC also seemed disturbed by parents’ "violent" behavior at the meeting, saying "they were standing on chairs and throwing things, and we had to go in and … escort" attendees from the meeting room.

WJLA said the board is set to reconvene Aug. 10 regarding issues discussed Tuesday.

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Loudoun County Parents Take a Stand Against ‘Wokest School Board in America’

On June 22 the Loudoun County School Board voted on policies regarding the treatment of transgender students and critical race theory — achool board meeting that drew crowds of concerned parents on one hand and left-wing activists on the other. All along the medians and sidewalks there were different flags and signs advocating each side’s message. The far-left group had posters and yard signs that read “gay rights are human rights,” while the opposing side’s read “Loudoun County’s Worst Nightmare: Educated Parents.”
Many different organizations gathered in adjacent parking lots, including Family Foundation of Virginia, Virginia Education Association, The Radiance Foundation and members of Glenn Youngkin’s campaign team. There were tents set up for both sides and obvious tension between the two, although the real action didn’t occur until the meeting came to an end.
The protesters gathered around 2:15pm, with doors opening around 3:30pm. The meeting only lasted until around 5:50pm before the board voted to shut down the meeting and police declared an "unlawful assembly." A few of the frustrated parents were even arrested.
The individuals advocating against Critical Race Theory and allowing children to pick their genders had American flags set up around their tents and played the National Anthem while waiting for the meeting to begin. They also invited speakers including Fairfax county lawyer Cathy Ruse, the executive director of Fight for Our Schools, Ian Prior, and co-founder of The Radiance Foundation, Ryan Bomberger. 
Ruse spoke at the opening of the rally and called out the school board for using “taxpayer money to indoctrinate children.” She emphasized that “my children are worth fighting for harder than they fight to destroy them.”  
Prior told Laura Ingraham during an interview that he believes many of the left-wing protestors were brought in on busses. 
They can keep trying, they can keep bussing people in or holding rallies outside, but we are not going to stop. This is the wokest school board in America, and it’s also is the worst school board in America, and we are not going to stop until we get a seat at the table.
The leftist group in support of the proposed policies had gay and trans-pride flags scattered across the parking lot and grassy areas. Protesters could be seen with rainbow masks and most were wearing purple clothing (which they use to represent fluidity between genders). While talking to some of the crowd about where they were from it became obvious that very few of them actually had students in the school system. One Loudoun County public school alumni explained that he did not have any children but he was there because “pronouns make all the difference” and recognizing someone’s “identity” could “save their life.” 
There was even a bus displaying the message “Recall Beth Barts,” a left-wing school board member. When the bus pulled up, one of the trans advocates began screaming “I love Beth” at the top of her lungs. When no one joined her she quickly stopped. 
Loudoun County was obviously not expecting the parents to have so many supporters, if the lefties made up the majority you can bet the meeting wouldn’t have been forced to end so soon. 

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ABSURD: Norah O’Donnell Brags: CBS Is a ‘Fact-Based,’ ‘Fair,’ ‘Neutral’ Network

Some journalists live in an alternate universe where, despite the facts and daily evidence, they continue to deny the truth of a corrupt liberal media. You can’t escape this arrogant talking point, not even while shopping at Costco. CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell appeared on the cover of the June Costco Connection, the free magazine for Costco members. 
Turning reality upside down, O’Donnell falsely insisted, “We are a fact-based, neutral broadcast that relies on the support and trust of our audience, no matter their political beliefs or ideology.”  Later she boasted that her goal is to “be the most trusted woman in news.” 
Huffing at, presumably, Fox News, the journalist derided: 
Some channels out there are interested in affirmation. We’re interested in information. My job is to make sure that people trust that I’m a fair journalist. I may ask tough questions, but they are fair questions.
O’Donnell is anything but “fair,” “neutral” and “fact-based.” Here’s a few of her attacks on conservatives and Republicans from the MRC archives: She lobbied Chuck Schumer to “stop” Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court
“We know that if Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed, this will shift the balance of power on the Supreme Court for decades to come. Republicans control the majority. Is there anything you can do to stop this nomination?” 
— Co-anchor Norah O’Donnell’s question to Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer as aired on CBS This Morning, July 10, 2018.
Here’s how she talked to Marco Rubio in 2013: 
“Senator, you have been called ‘the Republican savior.’ Yesterday, you voted against the Violence Against Women Act. You’ve opposed repeal of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’ You opposed universal background checks for gun buyers. You’ve yet to introduce a bill on immigration reform. Is that the future of the Republican Party?”
— Co-host Norah O’Donnell to Marco Rubio on CBS This Morning, February 13, 2013.
Here’s how she gushed over “Uncle Joe” Biden: 
“He’s [Joe Biden] really talking about the core values of this nation are at stake. I mean, he comes with a wealth of background and to take him on are what, essentially are issues like character….But apart from these [endorsements], this is Uncle Joe. You know? Regular Joe from Scranton, Pennsylvania and the rust belt states and the white working class voters that Democrats lost in the last election.” 
— Co-host Norah O’Donnell on CBS This Morning, April 25, 2019. 
“You always remember the person….that comes to your family member or friend’s funeral or calls you. And that’s what a lot of people say about Joe Biden, is that he’s that first person who calls and shows up at a family member’s funeral.”
— Co-host Norah O’Donnell on CBS This Morning, April 4, 2019.
Fair? Neutral? We don’t know what world Norah O’Donnell lives in, but it’s not the reality of America in 2021. 
See below to read a partial transcript from the June Costco Connection issue. Click "expand" to read more. 
Costco Connection: We are bombarded from so many different, and oftentimes unverified, media sources and sites. What role do you see yourself playing?
Norah O’Donnell: I think this makes CBS Evening News more important than ever. We are a fact-based, neutral broadcast that relies on the support and trust of our audience, no matter their political beliefs or ideology. That’s why everyone from Congressman Steve Scalise, who is one of the most conservative members in the U.S. House of Representatives, to President Joe Biden, has done interviews with me.
Some channels out there are interested in affirmation. We’re interested in information. My job is to make sure that people trust that I’m a fair journalist. I may ask tough questions, but they are fair questions.
CC How do you gain the public’s trust when so many out there seem distrustful of the mainstream media in general?
NO Well, one of the things I think we have to be careful about is remembering that the media is a vast landscape, right? We are broadcast journalists, which is a segment of the media. I think labeling the entire media as one thing is probably not fair to all the different members that make up larger media. Those of us that are on broadcast networks have a certain responsibility, which is to keep to the facts. This is why so many people still trust broadcast news.
Walter Cronkite famously said that "journalism is what we need to make democracy work." I do believe that an informed electorate is at the heart of a functioning democracy. Journalism is in the service of an informed electorate, and that’s what we do on the CBS Evening News. We hold people in business, science, politics, and those who have enormous amounts of power, accountable. That’s why we do investigative pieces, exposing either corruption or abuse, and at the same time, we do stories that highlight the good things people do.
I sit in the chair once held by Cronkite, who was the most trusted man in news. I hope to be the most trusted woman in news.

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Radio Host John Fredericks: Raffensperger’s Office Tried to Intimidate Election Witness to Recant Her Statement on Alleged Fraudulent Ballots (VIDEO)

Overnight it was reported that in Georgia a ‘box’ of ballots was unsealed and opened up by the Secretary of State’s office in Georgia.  This was after district judge ordered Raffensperger to not touch the ballots in Fulton County :

After several Fulton County, Ga., poll monitors testified last year that boxes of mail-in ballots for Joe Biden looked liked they’d been run through a photocopy machine, state investigators quietly broke the seal on one suspicious box and inspected the hundreds of votes it contained for signs of fraud, RealClearInvestigations has learned exclusively.

On Wedesday morning radio host John Fredericks joined Steve Bannon on The War Room to discuss this explosive development.

John Fredericks accused Secretary of State Raffensperger of breaking the law!

John Fredericks: Allegedly, they sent someone in against the judge’s order to unseal a batch of ballots that was in Susie Voyle’s affidavits. To go check on them to see if what she was saying was accurate… This is a violation of law. That’s got to be looked into. When did they go there? How many did they look at? What law did they break?… They called in Susie Voyles and tried to intimidate her. They tried repeatedly to get her to recant her statement. She said I can’t recant my statement, it’s a signed affidavit. If I recant my statement I break the law… What she said was true.

The post Radio Host John Fredericks: Raffensperger’s Office Tried to Intimidate Election Witness to Recant Her Statement on Alleged Fraudulent Ballots (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

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