Wells Fargo Pulls Florida Voucher Donations Over Anti-Gay School Policies

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Two of the largest banks in the U.S. say they will stop donating millions of dollars to Florida’s private school voucher program after a newspaper investigation found that some of the program’s beneficiaries discriminate against LGBTQ students.

In a statement to NBC News and CNBC on Wednesday evening, Wells Fargo confirmed that it would no longer participate.

“We have reviewed this matter carefully and have decided to no longer support Step Up for Students,” the San Francisco-based bank said of the voucher program. “All of us at Wells Fargo highly value diversity and inclusion, and we oppose discrimination of any kind.”

In a tweet to a Florida lawmaker Tuesday, Fifth Third Bank, based in Cincinnati, said it has told officials with the voucher program that it will also stop participating.

“We have communicated with program officials that we will not be contributing again until more inclusive policies have been adopted by all participating schools to protect the sexual orientation of all our students,” the bank tweeted to Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, the state’s first LGBTQ Latino legislator. (Read more from “Wells Fargo Pulls Florida Voucher Donations Over Anti-Gay School Policies” HERE)

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Kentucky Attorney General Leads 17 States in Potential SCOTUS Abortion Case

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By Breitbart. Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron (R) is leading 17 states in the filing of an amicus brief before the U.S. Supreme Court in support of an Indiana law that requires parents to be informed when their child is granted court approval for an abortion without their consent.

WDRB reported Cameron argues in the brief for Box v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky that states have an interest in protecting minors who are considering having an abortion.

As Breitbart News reported on January 2, Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill (R) asked the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold a measure signed into law in 2017, but never enacted, that requires parents to be notified when a minor who is granted court approval for an abortion, is about to have the procedure.

“Nothing in the U.S. Constitution prohibits Indiana from requiring parental notification when an unemancipated minor is getting an abortion,” Hill said in a press statement. “Even to get a tattoo, a minor in Indiana needs parental permission. Quite simply, parents have rights and responsibilities in the care and upbringing of a child.” (Read more from “Kentucky Attorney General Leads 17 States in Potential SCOTUS Abortion Case” HERE)

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Abortion Debate Returns to the Roberts Court

By SCOTUS Blog. When he ran for president in 2016, then-candidate Donald Trump promised that, if elected, he would appoint “pro-life” Supreme Court justices, which would result in the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision establishing a woman’s right to an abortion. In the three years since taking office, Trump has put two new justices on the bench: Justice Neil Gorsuch, who filled the vacancy created after the February 2016 death of Justice Antonin Scalia, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was confirmed in October 2018 after the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy. On March 4, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in a challenge to the constitutionality of a Louisiana law regulating abortion. Although the case does not directly implicate Roe, the justices’ ruling may signal what direction the Roberts Court is likely to take in future abortion cases.

The law at the center of the dispute is known as the Louisiana Unsafe Abortion Protection Act. Enacted in June 2014, it requires doctors who perform abortions in the state to have the right to admit patients to a hospital within 30 miles of the place where the abortion is performed. In 2016, in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, the Supreme Court struck down a similar law from Texas, which that state had defended on the ground that it was intended to protect the health of pregnant women. In the wake of Justice Antonin Scalia’s death, the vote was 5-3: Justice Anthony Kennedy and the court’s four more liberal justices agreed that the state has a legitimate interest in protecting the health of pregnant women. (Read more from “Abortion Debate Returns to the Roberts Court” HERE)

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State Determines Convicted Child Molester No Longer a Threat Due to Sex Change

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Officials in Iowa have determined a convicted child molester is to be released from incarceration, explaining that the offender’s reduction in testosterone levels from their transition from being a man to becoming a transgender female puts the individual at a lower risk of re-offending. . .

The Storm Lake Times first reported Jan. 15 that the Iowa Attorney General’s Office is no longer seeking the commitment of 23-year-old felon Josie Smith, who was put away after being convicted of molesting a fellow Midwest Christian Services student in 2014 when Smith was a man with the given name Joseph Matthew Smith.

The Times previously reported in November that Smith was “undergoing medical treatment that is needed prior to (Smith) potentially undergoing gender reassignment surgery.” Smith now identifies as a woman and goes by the name Josie Smith.

Now, Lynn Hicks, a spokesperson for the AG’s office says, “We don’t believe we have evidence sufficient to prove Josie Smith has a significant change of reoffending,” explaining that “an offender’s hormone levels are an important part of substantiating an offender’s likelihood of recidivism.”

Hicks also argued that the public should not “overreact” regarding the release, saying, “Josie Smith will be subject to strict sex-offender reporting requirements of those who commit the crimes she did. She’ll be subject to supervision for the rest of her life.” (Read more from “State Determines Convicted Child Molester No Longer a Threat Due to Sex Change” HERE)

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Insanity: Drag Queens Will Be Featured for the First Time in a Super Bowl Ad (VIDEO)

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. . .Drag queens, for the first time, will appear in a Super Bowl advertisement. “RuPaul’s Drag Race” alumni Kim Chi and Miz Cracker will make history in a commercial for hummus brand Sabra during the football championship game Feb. 2, when the Kansas City Chiefs will face the San Francisco 49ers.

In the teaser for the ad campaign, which the New York-based company posted on its YouTube channel last week, Miz Cracker clumsily attempts to put a football helmet on over her sizable wig.

“I hope this doesn’t give me helmet hair,” she says, while Kim Chi looks on skeptically. . .

Bob Witeck, a longtime marketing strategist who specializes in reaching LGBTQ audiences, called Sabra’s drag ad “revolutionary.” (Read more from “Insanity: Drag Queens Will Be Featured for the First Time in a Super Bowl Ad (VIDEO)” HERE)

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Who Owns Sabra?

From the Jerusalem Post: “Sabra Dipping Company is owned by two independent global food companies – PepsiCo, based in the U.S. and Strauss Group, which is headquartered in Israel,” Sabra Spokeswoman Ilya Welfeld said in a statement issued to local NBC affiliate NBC4.

“Each company is a separate entity and independent company,” she said, adding that Sabra has “no political positions or affiliations.”

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Public School Reportedly Forcing Far-Left Ideas of Gender ‘Choice’ on Preschool Children

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A stunning new report from the New York Post highlights what appears to be a very troubling agenda in one of New York City’s taxpayer-funded public preschools: Encouraging children to choose their genders. . .

The Post’s Andrea Peyser revealed Monday night that one Brooklyn “nursery” — AKA a preschool — is teaching “racism and victimhood, plus transgender and ‘queer’ rights,” coupled with a “heavy dose of political indoctrination in the mix.”

Peyser wrote that teacher Rosy Clark at PS 58 sent an email to parents and guardians Jan. 16 in which she laid out a lesson plan to honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day and to usher in Black History Month, which is in February. . .

One such topic apparently close to Clark’s heart included Principle 6 of the Movement for Black Lives, which encourages “transgender affirming.”

“Everybody has the right to choose their own gender by listening to their own heart and mind,” Clark added. “Everyone gets to choose if they are a boy or girl or both or neither or something else, and no one gets to choose for them.”

(Read more from “Public School Reportedly Forcing Far-Left Ideas of Gender ‘Choice’ on Preschool Children” HERE)

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Dad Questions ‘Gender-Identity’ Training, Banned From Hockey Coaching

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A Canadian youth hockey coach of 3 years says he has barred from assisting his son’s team on the bench as a result of his unwillingness to participate in league-mandated gender identity training.

“I can’t coach,” the father, identified only as “John Doe” over fears that he would be accused of “transphobia” for speaking to the media, told Quillette. . .

According to the outlet, major legal and regulatory changes have come to Canadian youth hockey in recent years as a result of coaching abuse scandals. The father was keen on a number of the actions taken, and educational efforts made, to protect the nation’s youth athletes.

That is, until he discovered one such educational effort — what Quillette referred to as a “mandatory gender identity training course” — was vested almost entirely in the “ideological,” rather than the scientific and practical. . .

A broad, deeply progressive “free-form gender-studies seminar” on topics ranging from the oppressive colonial history of the “gender binary” to the wide array of genders now deemed mainstream by left-wing cultural orthodoxy, Quillette reported. (Read more from “Dad Questions ‘Gender-Identity’ Training, Banned From Hockey Coaching” HERE)

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Should Talking About Sports At Work Be Banned Because It Could Offend Women? One Expert Thinks So

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. . .Chartered Management Institute head Ann Francke isn’t a big fan of talking about sports in a professional setting, and she made that crystal clear during an interview with the BBC. Two examples BBC mentioned are soccer and cricket.

“A lot of women, in particular, feel left out. They don’t follow those sports and they don’t like either being forced to talk about them or not being included,” Francke explained. . .

“It’s a gateway to more laddish behavior and – if it just goes unchecked – it’s a signal of a more laddish culture. It’s very easy for it to escalate from VAR talk and chat to slapping each other on the back and talking about their conquests at the weekend,” Franke added. . .

This attitude right here is why America has to bail out England whenever the wind blows too hard. Stop talking about sports in the office? (Read more from “Should Talking About Sports At Work Be Banned Because It Could Offend Women? One Expert Thinks So” HERE)

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A Naked Man Tried to Force His Way Onto a School Bus Full of Children

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A naked man was arrested in Arkansas after attempting to force his way onto a school bus with several children onboard. . .

The bus driver with the Vilonia School District told police that he saw the naked man heading towards the bus so he locked the doors. When the man tried to pry open the doors on the bus, the driver said he kicked his fingers.

Maumelle police said that the man tried to resist arrest when they arrived, but that they were able to arrest him with the assistance of a bystander. Several bystanders had chased him and were yelling at him. . .

They said that they found his belongings outside the entrance of a nearby hotel. They found prescription drugs and what they believe was a baggie of marijuana. They also found his two dogs, which were handed off to Maumelle Animal Services.

Police say Stegman denied being on drugs, but he was sent to a hospital for evaluation. (Read more from “A Naked Man Tried to Force His Way Onto a School Bus Full of Children” HERE)

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NBA Legend Kobe Bryant and 13-Year-Old Daughter Killed in Helicopter Crash

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Former NBA star Kobe Bryant is dead after his private helicopter crashed near Calabasas, California, killing everyone on board.

Bryant, 41, was traveling from Newport Beach, California, to the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles in his Sikorsky S-76 chopper when the aircraft caught fire, according to TMZ. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department warned people to avoid the area as authorities work to address the scene.

The former player’s 13-year-old daughter Gianna, was also aboard the helicopter and died in the crash. Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva confirmed in a press conference Sunday afternoon that nine people were killed in the accident, including the pilot. He declined to confirm any names of the victims until the coroner notified their families.

The county’s Fire Chief Daryl Osby confirmed that the helicopter crash started a brush fire that covered a quarter acre. He explained that emergency responders were hoisted down to the crash site to search for survivors while firefighters on the ground worked to put out the brush fire surrounding the helicopter ruins.

(Read more from “NBA Legend Kobe Bryant and 13-Year-Old Daughter Killed in Helicopter Crash” HERE)

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Trump: First President in History to Speak at the March for Life

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By CNN. On Friday, Donald Trump became the first President to speak in person at the March for Life in Washington. This is a really big deal.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of pro-life demonstrators come together in our nation’s capital to commemorate the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s wrongly decided Roe v. Wade decision and demand political action that would protect the right to life for the unborn. Now in its 47th year, the march has become the premier event of the pro-life movement.

Trump’s historic appearance was a boon for marchers, as it helped draw increased attention to the event and highlight the pro-life movement’s considerable political success in recent years. It also presents an enormous opportunity for him to reach the many Americans who are on the fence about abortion by drawing a contrast with the extreme positions of his 2020 Democrat opponents. (Read more from “Trump: First President in History to Speak at the March for Life” HERE)

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Trump at March for Life: ‘We Are Fighting for Those Who Have No Voice and We Will Win’

By Daily Wire. President Donald Trump gave a rousing speech to tens of thousands of pro-life advocates at the March for Life on Friday in Washington, D.C., declaring that the pro-life movement is going to win in its fight to protect the lives of the unborn.

The president noted his administration’s record in defending human life, from the numerous federal judges that he has appointed to reinstating the Mexico City policy, which blocks U.S. taxpayer money from being sent to foreign organizations that promote or engage in providing abortions.

“Sadly, the far-left is actively working to erase our God-given rights, shut down faith-based charities, ban religious believers from the public square, and silenced Americans who believe in the sanctity of life,” Trump said. “They are coming after me because I am fighting for you and we are fighting for those who have no voice and we will win because we know how to win.”

“Together we are the voice for the voiceless, when it comes to abortion Democrats, and you know this, you’ve seen what’s happened, Democrats have embraced the most radical and extreme positions taken and seen in this country for years and decades and you could even say for centuries,” Trump continued. “Nearly every top Democrat in Congress now supports taxpayer-funded abortion all the way up until the moment of birth.”

“Last year lawmakers in New York cheered with the light upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother’s womb right up until delivery,” Trump continued. “Then we had the case of the Democrat governor in the state of Virginia, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and we love the Commonwealth of Virginia, but what is going on in Virginia? What is going on? The governor stated that he would execute a baby after birth, you remember that.” (Read more from “Trump at March for Life: ‘We Are Fighting for Those Who Have No Voice and We Will Win’” HERE)

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