Stanford Study: The Most Religious Kids Do Best in School

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Adolescents who practice religion regularly perform better in school than those adolescents who do not, finds a recent study performed by Dr. Ilana M. Horwitz at Stanford’s Graduate School of Education. Horwitz’s paper explores differences among the grade point averages (GPAs) of public school students based on their levels of religiosity.

Horwitz bucketed the students into five different levels of religious adherence, from most religious to least religious: Abiders, Adapters, Assenters, Avoiders, and Atheists. She found the most religious kids had the highest GPAs. Horwitz defines that group, the “Abiders,” as those who “display high levels across all measured dimensions of religiosity and ‘abide’ by religion in a classic, institutional sense,” while Avoiders, true to their nomenclature, “avoid religious involvement and broader issues of the relevance of religion for their life.” Unlike the Atheist group, they believe in G-d, but participate far less in religious ceremonies and prayer.

Horwitz’s paper focuses exclusively on the “Abider-Avoider” achievement gap, noting that Abiders outperform all the other religious groups, with the exception of Atheists, who performed comparable with Abiders, although the Atheist group size was very small, which affects its reliability. Atheists comprised 3 percent of Horwitz’s sample, and Horwitz makes no conjectures regarding their achievement metrics, saying they are a unique subset of students who most likely differ greatly from their other non-religious counterparts, given the “strong social stigma” attached to claiming G-d does not exist. Therefore, Horwitz directs her research primarily on the remaining four categories, exploring the relationship between varying levels of religious commitment and its impact on academic performance.

Horwitz discovered that “Abiders report the highest GPAs while Avoiders report the lowest GPAs, even after controlling for a host of background factors and behaviors.” Based on her own religious research, Horwitz believes religion nurtures two qualities rewarded heavily in school curriculums: “conscientiousness” and “cooperation.” Conservative Protestants comprised the largest religious type within the high-achieving Abiders group, which “run[s] counter to the hypothesis that Conservative Protestants fare worse in terms of academic achievement,” Horwitz wrote. . .

Horwitz found that, within each income bracket, Abiders consistently received better grades than Adapters, Assenters, and Avoiders did, while the GPA gap between Abiders and Avoiders was most pronounced. Even after controlling for a host of factors, including “Gender, race/ethnicity, family socioeconomic status, religious affiliation, and region of the country,” Abiders had an average GPA of 3.21, while Avoiders had just a 2.92 GPA. Even more interestingly, Horwitz found that, after instating the same controls, this effect of religiosity on student grades was most profound for middle-income families and least impactful for high-income families. (Read more from “Stanford Study: The Most Religious Kids Do Best in School” HERE)

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‘Body of Evidence’ Emerging Tying Lynch, Comey Together in Massive Scandal

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By Conservative Tribune. There have long been suspicions among Republicans that the Obama administration’s Department of Justice and FBI coordinated with each other in regard to exonerating former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and ending the investigation of her scandalous use of a private email server.

Based on recent commentary from Republican North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows, chairman of the House Freedom Caucus and member of the Oversight Committee, it would appear that a “growing body of evidence” has been uncovered to support and ultimately prove such coordination took place between former Attorney General Loretta Lynch and fired FBI Director James Comey, among others.

Independent Journal Review reported on Meadows’ remarks during a Thursday appearance on Fox News, in which the congressman revealed the existence of documents, emails and texts which would prove that Comey had lied under oath to Congress when he assured them there’d been no such coordination on the Clinton investigation.

“We have a number of documents, a growing body of evidence, that now would suggest that Director Comey, who under sworn testimony a number of times said, there was no coordination between Loretta Lynch’s DOJ and (Comey’s) FBI investigation,” stated Meadows.

“Not only was that false … but we have emails that would suggest that testimony was false, and at best misled the American public, at worst was lying to Congress,” he continued. (Read more from “‘Body of Evidence’ Emerging Tying Lynch, Comey Together in Massive Scandal” HERE)

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Comey Friend Hints Forthcoming Report Could Be Damning for Loretta Lynch

By Washington Examiner. A “good friend” of former FBI Director James Comey’s said he is “very much” looking forward to what the upcoming Justice Department inspector general report on the Clinton email investigation has to say about former Attorney General Loretta Lynch — the former Obama administration official now engaged in a war of words with Comey.

Benjamin Wittes, editor in chief of Lawfare, wrote at length Wednesday about the backstory of Comey’s new tell-all memoir, A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership. While he said Comey isn’t without blame for how he handled the FBI’s investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s unauthorized private email server, he said the consideration of other decision-makers, “particularly Lynch,” paint a full picture for those people who believe the probe was a “train wreck” that cost Clinton the 2016 presidential election.

Noting the “selective outrage” against Comey for announcing the case was reopened less than two weeks before the election, Wittes said, “Lynch was a compromised figure with respect to the emails ‘matter.'”

The mention of a “matter” is a reference to Comey’s testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee last year, in which he said Lynch requested he minimize Clinton’s email investigation, urging him to call it a “matter” instead of an “investigation.” (Read more from “Comey Friend Hints Forthcoming Report Could Be Damning for Loretta Lynch” HERE)

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Piers Morgan Is Being Pummeled by the Left over What He Said About ‘Gender-Fluidity’

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Piers Morgan remained defiant about his comments that “gender fluidity” is “damaging to society” even after a public furor arose from the LGBT community. . .

Morgan said that “gender-fluidity” was damaging to society even as he supported transgender persons “transitioning” from one gender to the other.

“Where are we with the transgender debate?” he asked. “Because I’ve always come at this from I absolutely think anyone that wants to go through a process of transitioning from male to female or female to male, it’s such an incredibly difficult thing to go through and so time consuming and so on and emotionally hard I would completely support people to do that.”

“Where I have a real problem is with this whole opting out of gender, being gender-fluid,” he continued. “Waking up one day and thinking you wanna be whatever you feel like.”

(Read more from “Piers Morgan Is Being Pummeled by the Left over What He Said About ‘Gender-Fluidity’” HERE)

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Trump Aims to End Mueller Probe with a Surprising Addition to Legal Team

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By The Blaze. The Washington Post reported Thursday that former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is joining President Trump’s legal team and he aims to negotiate an end to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigations into Russian election interference and alleged collusion with the Trump campaign . . .

Giuliani explained what his goal was to be on the team – to negotiate an end to the Mueller investigation.

“I’m doing it because I hope we can negotiate an end to this for the good of the country and because I have high regard for the president and for Bob Mueller,” Giuliani said to the Washington Post.

‘It is an honor to be a part of such an important legal team, and I look forward to not only working with the President but with Jay [Sekulow], Ty [Cobb], and their colleagues,” Giuliani added in a statement . . .

Giuliani was asked about whether he believed Trump should fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who has authority over the special counsel investigations after Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself. (Read more from “Trump Aims to End Mueller Probe with a Surprising Addition to Legal Team” HERE)

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Guiliani Says He’s Joining Trump’s Legal Team

By CNN. Rudy Giuliani is joining President Donald Trump’s personal legal team, Trump’s personal lawyer Jay Sekulow announced Thursday.

In an interview with CNN, Giuliani said he wants to make clear that his role on the legal team will be “limited.” . . .

Giuliani, who spoke to CNN on the phone soon after news broke about his role, was careful to praise Trump’s current legal team, but he said that sometimes it helps to bring on a fresh perspective. . .

Giuliani said he is going to get a list from Mueller of what is needed to “comply” with the rest of the investigation as soon as he can, and depending on what is on the list, that compliance might go quickly, even as soon as “a couple of weeks.” (Read more from “Guiliani Says He’s Joining Trump’s Legal Team” HERE)

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Five Men Break into Home, Man Pulls out AR-15 and Does What Is Necessary

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Three men were asleep inside their Glen St. Mary, Fla., mobile home when five young intruders claiming to be police broke down the front door at 4:00 a.m. on Tuesday, News 4 Jax reports.

The first intruder wore a mask and shouted, “Sheriff’s office!” from outside the trailer before breaking the front door down and shooting a single round.

Upon hearing the break-in, two of the three men staying in the mobile home — one armed with an AR–15 and another with a handgun — confronted the criminals with open fire in self-defense.

The armed victims shot about 30 rounds, killing the gunman who wore a mask — Corey Lauramore — and wounding two others — William Lauramore and an unidentified 16-year-old.

The intruders’ group was made up of a total of seven young men, even though only five entered the house, including Corey Lauamore, 18; William Lauramore, 24; Joseph Albino, 24; Zachary Bell, 20; Christian Watkins, 19; Cayden Lauramore, 15; and a 16-year-old male. (Read more from “Five Men Break into Home, Man Pulls out AR-15 and Does What Is Necessary” HERE)

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New Yorkers Are Asked About Republican Friends – Their Responses Are Insanity

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A new video from PragerU shows that many residents of New York City don’t have any Republican friends — and don’t want to.

“I don’t like that kind of extremism.”

. . .

One woman said she wouldn’t be friends with a Republican because she doesn’t like “that kind of extremism.”

Another woman said, “I don’t know, I feel like people in New York are more open minded, and not as like, ‘Oh, no abortions! No this!’ More just like minding their own business. I don’t know, less wanting to regulate everything.”

When the interviewer, Will Witt, pointed out that it was Democrats who were more fond of regulation, she responded, “I don’t know. I honestly don’t know that much about politics.” (Read more from “New Yorkers Are Asked About Republican Friends – Their Responses Are Insanity” HERE)

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First They Came for the Guns, Then the Knives, Now They’re Coming For…

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By The Daily Caller. The U.K. will become the first country to ban plastic straws in hopes of saving the environment from plastic waste.

U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May announced Wednesday to criminalize the use of all plastic waste by 2042. The ban includes stirrers and cotton swabs, two of the major causes of environmental disaster, according to May.

“Plastic waste is one of the greatest environmental challenges facing the world, which is why protecting the marine environment is central to our agenda at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting,” May said in the statement announcing the ban.

England has already foisted excessive fees on plastic bags in the name of protecting the climate. London, for its part, is also taking part in the campaign to ban items deemed too dangerous for use.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan cracked down in March on knife-carrying citizens in response to a spate of stabbings that pushed the city’s murder rate past New York’s for the “first time in modern history.” (Read more from “First They Came for the Guns, Then the Knives, Now They’re Coming For…” HERE)

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The UK Plans to Ban Plastic Straws as Early as Next Year

By Buzzfeed News. UK Prime Minister Theresa May announced plans on Wednesday to ban plastic straws as early as next year, which would make Britain the first nation to do so.

The plastic straw ban, which would also include stirrers and cotton swabs, is part of an effort to eliminate all plastic waste by 2042, which the prime minister announced in January. England has already banned microbeads and put fees on plastic bags, which has substantially reduced their use.

Now May hopes to encourage Commonwealth nations — 53 countries that are mostly former British colonies — at a meeting in London next week to join in on the plastic straw ban.

“Plastic waste is one of the greatest environmental challenges facing the world, which is why protecting the marine environment is central to our agenda at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting,” May said in the announcement.

Britain plans to spend £61.4 million ($87.2 million) to develop new ways of eliminating plastic waste and to help Commonwealth countries do the same. (Read more from “The Uk Plans to Ban Plastic Straws as Early as Next Year” HERE)

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Here’s Why Folks Are Calling Title of David Hogg’s Book Not Only Clueless, but Shameful

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Parkland high school student David Hogg and his sister have scored a major book deal expounding on “the birth of a new movement,” but have created controversy before it is even released.

Hogg, the media darling of the student anti-gun movement since the mass shooting at his Florida school in February, has teamed with his sister Lauren book deal with Random House, the publisher announced Wednesday.

The planned book, “#NEVERAGAIN: A New Generation Draws the Line,” is being described as “a statement of generational purpose, and a moving portrait of the birth of a new movement.”

But while Hogg has made waves with his incendiary rhetoric and his calls for boycotts against pro-gun companies as well as Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, who hurt his feelings by tweeting about his college rejection letters, it is the title of the upcoming book that has ignited the latest backlash.

(Read more from “Here’s Why Folks Are Calling Title of David Hogg’s Book Not Only Clueless, but Shameful” HERE)

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Man Stabbed in Neck by Muslim Goes Public About Horrific Attack

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So when Momena Shoma, 24, a female Bangladeshi student from a well-to-do family, needed to switch host homes a week after arriving in Australia in early February, Singaravelu opened his once again.

Nothing stood out that could have warned the 56-year-old Melbourne Hospital worker of any potential problem. The father of a five-year-old daughter felt comfortable enough to take an afternoon nap on the couch the day after Shoma settled in . . .

He awakened to “a sharp pain” in his neck, with Shoma leaning over him with a kitchen knife and shouting, “Allahu akbar” as she stabbed him, his daughter screaming as she witnessed the attack . . .

Four years before the attack, Shoma had been romantically involved with Najibullah Ansari, a now-missing ISIS extremist sought by authorities in Bangladesh. The pair, both from upper middle-class professional families, broke off their relationship because of parental disapproval.

Shoma’s suitor allegedly belonged to New Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh, or Neo-JMB, an ISIS-inspired radical group made up of youth from wealthy families. Neo-JMB was responsible for a July 2016 attack at a Dhaka cafe favored by Westerners that left 29 dead. Following the massacre, authorities named Ansari, son of a naval officer, as a Neo-JMB militant wanted for questioning. (Read more from “Man Stabbed in Neck by Muslim Goes Public About Horrific Attack” HERE)

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The Amount of Californian’s That Support the Travel Ban Will Surprise You

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By The Guardian. Half of Californians support the travel ban on Muslim-majority countries and 59% are in favor of increased deportations, according to a new survey that suggests there are widespread conservative and xenophobic views in one of the most progressive US states.

The poll, conducted by the University of California, Berkeley, found that while a majority of Californians say they broadly support immigrants’ rights and refugees, many also back signature features of Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda in a state that has served as the leader in opposing the president’s policies.

“In this period when immigrants are being attacked, Californians felt that it’s important to increase deportations,” said Olivia Araiza, the director of the Haas Institute’s Blueprint for Belonging Project, which commissioned the survey alongside the polling group Latino Decisions. “Even Californians are sensitive to rhetoric that excludes people.”

The poll was released at a time of intensifying disputes between the Trump administration and the Golden State, which is home to more than 2 million undocumented people, nearly a quarter of all unauthorized immigrants in the US. Last year, the state passed a landmark “sanctuary” law meant to limit local police cooperation with federal immigration authorities, sparking a US justice department lawsuit and mass arrests and raids.

While the state’s urban centers like San Francisco and Los Angeles are known as liberal havens, there are some signs of rightwing rage brewing in certain conservative regions under Trump. (Read more from “The Amount of Californian’s That Support the Travel Ban Will Surprise You” HERE)

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Half of Californians Support Deportations, Muslim Travel Ban, Survey Finds

By Fox News. An overwhelming majority of Californians want to deport more illegal immigrants, and nearly half support President Trump’s travel ban aimed at reducing terrorism, according to a new survey from the University of California at Berkeley’s Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society.

But in reporting the findings of the statewide December 2017 survey, the Haas Institute on Wednesday appeared to put a liberal spin on some of the results.

For example, the headline of its news release reads, “Majority of Californians oppose border wall, support racial inclusion.”

(Read more from “Half of Californians Support Deportations, Muslim Travel Ban, Survey Finds” HERE)

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