State Sued for Taking Babies’ Blood Without a Warrant

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By WND. The state of Michigan is being sued by parents of newborns’ whose blood was sampled by the state without a warrant.

“It has been well-established that drawing a person’s blood for analysis constitutes a search within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment,” explains the complaint filed against the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, various doctors and the Michigan Neonatal Biobank Inc.

“The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees the right of persons to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures by the government, including the state of Michigan, its agencies, and those that work for in in cahoots with those agencies.”

While the state program to “seize” blood from newborns for testing against various diseases “is a noble public policy idea,” the method that the state as implemented “violates the United States Constitution,” the complaint contends.

The lawsuit seeks an order to stop the practice, destroy the data illegally collected and “return to the parents all blood samples and spots of infants which defendants have caused to be seized and stored indefinitely without informed consent.” (Read more from “State Sued for Taking Babies’ Blood Without a Warrant” HERE)

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Lawsuit Alleges Michigan Stole Blood of Newborn Babies

By Associated Press. . .Philip Ellison filed the federal lawsuit on behalf of the parents, saying Michigan’s practice of drawing infant blood is unconstitutional, MLive.com reported. The lawsuit also alleges that there aren’t protections in place to stop police or others from accessing information that can be derived from the stored blood samples.

“Essentially, the state has stolen consent from parents,” said Ellison, an attorney based in Saginaw County . . .

The blood of more than five million people is being stored, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. (Read more from “Lawsuit Alleges Michigan Stole Blood of Newborn Babies” HERE)

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School Official Obsessed with Claims of Homeschooler’s ‘Sex Trafficking’

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By WND. An attendance officer in a West Virginia school district posted a Facebook message in support of public schools shortly after a teachers’ strike declaring 80 percent of homeschoolers “are drug addicts, have truancy charges, [engage in] childhood sex trafficking, etc.”

Then a local family contacted the officer to inform the officer, as required by state law, of its intent to homeschool.

The next day, Child Protective Services arrived at the family’s home demanding to investigate “allegations which included many of the same specific criminal activities that the county attendance officer had accused homeschooling families of in her Facebook post,” according to the Home School Legal Defense Association.

“After interviewing the children and viewing the home, the CPS investigators acknowledged that the allegations were ridiculously meritless. But the family had already been traumatized,” HSLDA said . . .

He explained the district worker “aggressively interrogated [the mother] as to why she had mailed in the notification,” and the school worker said she had two weeks to decide whether or not the family would be allowed to homeschool. (Read more from “School Official Obsessed with Claims of Homeschooler’s ‘Sex Trafficking'” HERE)

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CPS and Homeschooling Mom Agree: She’s Not a Criminal!

By HSLDA. Acrimony fomented by a West Virginia public school teachers’ strike and pushback against pro-homeschool legislation appears to have affected how homeschooling families are treated on the local level.

Home School Legal Defense Association recently advocated on behalf of one of these families, who was harassed and then put through a Child Welfare Services investigation simply for following the legal requirements for homeschooling.

The incident began when the HSLDA members mailed a notice of intent to their county attendance officer (the local official who enforces compulsory school attendance laws).

The mom was announcing her intention to begin homeschooling, a decision she and her husband had made in part because some of their children were being bullied at school. . . .

The official was wrong. Though state law does require homeschool students to be assessed regularly and show acceptable progress, it does not give her the power to approve or disapprove of homeschool programs. But what made her behavior especially egregious is that it appeared to be based on her political views that hold homeschoolers in disdain. (Read more from “CPS and Homeschooling Mom Agree: She’s Not a Criminal!” HERE)

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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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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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Look: Latest AP History Textbook Says Christians and Conservatives Are Racists

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An AP U.S. History textbook slated for distribution in 2019 reportedly contains anti-Trump bias and says Christians and conservatives are racists and xenophobes.

Radio host Alex Clark of WNOW’s “The Joe and Alex Show” posted photos of the book and its contents on Twitter after publisher Pearson Education sent samples of the book to public schools to encourage school administrations to purchase it, according to Fox News. The textbook features sections on the Black Live Matter movement and the 2016 presidential elections in which author New York University Professor James Fraser portrays Christians, conservatives, and President Donald Trump supporters as bigots who fear non-white ethnicities.

“It was really, really surprising to me. I really believe that learning should be objective and that students can make their own decisions based on what they’re able to learn in a classroom; and if the facts are skewed, then students aren’t able to make well-rounded decisions on what they believe.”

A section of the book, “The Angry Election of 2016,” describes Trump supporters as “mostly older, often rural or suburban, and overwhelmingly white.” It also calls Trump supporters from Hillary Clinton supporters’ perspective “people who were afraid of a rapidly developing ethnic diversity of the country, discomfort with their candidate’s gender, and nostalgia for an earlier time in the nation’s history.”

Clinton supporters meanwhile “worried about the mental stability of the president-elect and the anger that he and his supporters brought to the nation,” according to the book. (Read more from “-Look: Latest AP History Textbook Says Christians and Conservatives Are Racists” HERE)

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Federal Appeals Court Forces State to Fund Planned Parenthood

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. . .On Wednesday, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a previous ruling blocking that law, mandating that Ohio taxpayers fund abortions . . .

U.S. Circuit Judge Helene White said the two Planned Parenthood affiliates had a right to taxpayer dollars because abortion was a “protected activity” outside of the government-funded programs . . .

Reuters reports that “White said the law had violated Planned Parenthood’s due process rights by requiring a health care provider surrender its right to provide legal abortions as a condition of participating in programs that have nothing to do with abortion.” More of the ruling written by White below:

The issue in the instant challenge is … whether Ohio may require a provider to surrender the right to provide safe and lawful abortions on its own “time and dime” as a condition of participating in government programs that have nothing to do with abortion.

Thus, as a condition of retaining access to abortion free of undue governmental interference, Ohio women must forego the extensive and subsidized access to health services under federal programs that they previously enjoyed. Although Ohio women do not have a right to the programs, they do have a right not to have their access to important health services curtailed because their major abortion providers opted to protect women’s abortion rights rather than yield to unconstitutional conditions.

(Read more from “Federal Appeals Court Forces State to Fund Planned Parenthood” HERE)

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911 Operator Jailed for Hanging up on Callers, Once Saying: ‘Ain’t Nobody Got Time for This’

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A former Harris County, Texas, 911 operator has been sentenced to jail after being found guilty of hanging up on “thousands” of citizens calling in emergencies.

Crenshanda Williams will serve 10 days in jail and face 18 months of probation for the crimes.

Williams was busted after it was found that she had an abnormal number of calls that lasted less than 20 seconds. Investigators discovered that she was systematically hanging up on people.

In one noteworthy incident, Jim Moten called 911 to report two vehicles racing on the same highway stretch where fatalities had occurred weeks earlier. Before Moten was even able to explain his emergency to Williams, who answered, she told him, “Ain’t nobody got time for this. For real,” and cut off the call.

Moten reacted in court documents, saying, “If someone calls in to report an incident whether the person feels this is an emergency or not, you should have time for it. This is a person that probably doesn’t need this job.” (Read more from “911 Operator Jailed for Hanging up on Callers, Once Saying: ‘Ain’t Nobody Got Time for This’” HERE)

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David Hogg Pretty Smug About His Next Boycott Until Kyle Kashuv Drops Some Hellfire on His Little ‘Game’

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By Bizpac Review. Stoneman Douglas High School student David Hogg is set to announce yet another boycott target after the media sensation’s liberal-backed success in going after Fox News host Laura Ingraham’s advertisers.

“Going to announce another boycott this week… Stay tuned,” Hogg tweeted Monday, using a Hermit the Frog GIF to accentuate his message.

There’s no telling what may have irritated the now 18-year-old high school student this time, but the nation — or at least the liberal media — will be on pins and needles awaiting his decree.

Hogg, who called NRA members “child murderers,” is also plugging another student walkout this Friday, repeating another previous action as media attention begins to wane. . .

Kashuv, the strong Second Amendment supporter the media has little interest in, didn’t hold back in reacting to Hogg’s latest attention-grabbing campaign, tweeting: “Is this a game now?”

(Read more from “David Hogg Pretty Smug About His Next Boycott Until Kyle Kashuv Drops Some Hellfire on His Little ‘Game’” HERE)

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David Hogg Tells Twitter Followers to Boycott Blackrock and Vanguard

By Yahoo. David Hogg, a 17-year-old high school senior and survivor of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is now an outspoken gun law activist. He took to Twitter on Tuesday to encourage a boycott of BlackRock (BLK) and The Vanguard Group.

BlackRock, Invesco (IVZ) and Vanguard are the top three institutional holders of American Outdoor Brands (AOBC), the parent company of Smith & Wesson Corp., one of the world’s largest gun manufacturers. BlackRock and Vanguard are also the largest holders of gunmaker Sturm Ruger (RGR).

Many of these funds are passively managed, which means companies like American Outdoor Brands and Sturm Ruger are in the portfolios because they are part of major stock market indexes.

Earlier this month, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, announced that it would offer two new exchange-traded funds and new index-tracking products for pensions and 401(k) plans that exclude stocks of gunmakers and large gun retailers. This was in response to the mounting pressure from customer pressure for Wall Street to take a stand on the gun debate. (Read more from “David Hogg Tells Twitter Followers to Boycott Blackrock and Vanguard” HERE)

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New York Assembly Passes Bill Allowing Shooting Babies Through the Heart with Poison to Kill Them

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The New York state Assembly proved that promoting the best interest of women apparently includes pushing late-term abortions.

For years, the state legislature has been embroiled in a battle over a package of bills designed to push the interests of women. The bills have been held up in part because it includes a measure that would promote late-term abortions in the Empire State. Despite strenuous support from pro-abortion Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the legislature has refused to pass the package of bills because of the abortion measure.

The abortion bill would allow an abortion procedure that has abortionists shooting poison through the hearts of unborn children to kill them.

Now, the state Assembly has approved part of the package of bills — specifically the abortion promotion measure Governor Cuomo strenuously supports.

Today in a vote of 94-49 the New York State Assembly approved passage of AB 6221, the extreme stand-alone 10th point from the previously packaged 10-point Women’s Equality Act, which would expand third-trimester abortions and allow non-doctors to perform abortions. Since 2013, abortion advocates have been holding the Women’s Equality Act hostage to this single dangerous bill, refusing to break the 10-point bill up. This session, however, the will of the voters was finally heard, and the stand-alone bills have been considered. (Read more from “New York Assembly Passes Bill Allowing Shooting Babies Through the Heart with Poison to Kill Them” HERE)

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