Thursday, June 20, 2024

June 20, 2024

Good morning,

Welcome to the news for independent thinkers

Leading the News . . .

Louisiana mandates that public schools display the Ten Commandments . . . A poster-sized copy of the Ten Commandments is required to be displayed in every public school classroom in Louisiana under a bill signed into law on Wednesday. Louisiana is the first state to successfully pass legislation requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms, including state-funded universities, since the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to banish the tenets from America's classrooms in 1980. Efforts to restore the commandments to public schools are active in other states, including Texas, Oklahoma, and Utah, although none so far have been successful. Breitbart

This will at least help students in modern public schools learn to count to ten.

ACLU suing Louisiana

Politics

Biden's lead with women smaller than Trump's with men . . . Almost every path to victory for President Biden relies on strong support from women. But his current standing among women is the weakest lead a Democrat has had since 2004, a key factor in how tight the race is. Mr. Biden's lead among women has slid to about eight percentage points since the 2020 election, according to an average of more than 30 polls conducted over the last six months and compiled by The New York Times. That's down from a lead among women of about 13 percentage points four years ago. New York Times

Lara Trump: Former president will be nominated from jail if necessary . . . RNCCo-chairwoman Lara Trump said former President Donald Trump will be nominated at the Republican National Convention even if he is in jail. The convention is slated for July 15, just days after Donald Trump's July 11 sentencing date following his hush-money trial conviction. "Here's the bottom line," Lara Trump said. "It doesn't matter whether Donald Trump is in Trump Tower, Mar-a-Lago, or anywhere else they may try to put him." Washington Examiner

Jailtime is very unlikely, but it's not clear what kind of sentence Judge Merchan will impose.

Trump campaign mocks Biden getting into an SUV as White House insists clips are 'edited' . . . A video of President Biden struggling to climb into an SUV has been shared by Donald Trump's campaign in response to the White House mocking similar clips as 'cheap fakes'. The 'Trump War Room' Twitter account posted a video to X of Biden having a 'hard time' getting into his ride. Trump campaign senior advisor Chris LaCivita wrote in the post: 'Here is another 'cheap fake' video.' Daily Mail

Have a look. He seems very enfeebled. The door to a cavernous entrance to his SUV is being held for him, and he still has trouble getting in.

Rand Paul slams "partisan" DOJ for refusing to investigate Fauci . . . Sen. Rand Paul said Tuesday the Justice Department's refusing his requests for a perjury investigation into former federal health official Dr. Anthony Fauci is proof of a two-tiered justice system following a Senate hearing on the origins of COVID-19. Fauci testified in May 2021 that his agency never funded risky "gain-of-function" experiments at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, but Paul has repeatedly highlighted records and emails suggesting otherwise. "If you happened to walk in the Capitol on Jan. 6, [2021], you might get 10 years in prison," Paul said. "But if you're responsible for funding research that led to a pandemic and killed 15 million people, and then you lied about it to Congress, then nothing happens to you." Daily Signal

Culture

Louisiana expands education choice to all . . . Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry on Wednesday signed legislation making the Pelican State the 16th state in the nation to enact K-12 Education Savings Accounts and the 11th to offer education choice to every K-12 student, following Alabama earlier this year. The legislation creates the Louisiana Giving All True Opportunity to Rise—LA GATOR—Scholarships, which families can use to choose the learning environments that align with their values and work best for their kids. As with other ESA policies, parents can use the LA GATOR Scholarships to pay for private school tuition, textbooks, curricular materials, special-needs therapy, and more. Daily Signal

What are microschools? The small classrooms growing large in the school choice movement . . . Microschools have popped up as a growing alternative to traditional schools across the country.

The small classroom settings have become increasingly popular since the pandemic, especially among parents with neurodivergent students. Microschools are small private institutions that serve a median of 16 children and offer full-time, part-time or hybrid instruction, according to the National Microschooling Center. "The schools tend to be environments where families and small groups of people — sometimes larger groups of people — are directing the education in a much more personalized and individualized way," said Robert Enlow, president and CEO of EdChoice. The Hill

Instagram recommends sexual videos to 13-year-olds . . . Instagram regularly recommends sexual videos to accounts for teenagers that appear interested in racy content, and does so within minutes of when they first log in, according to tests by The Wall Street Journal and an academic researcher. In testing, Instagram served a mix of videos that, from the start, included moderately racy content such as women dancing seductively or posing in positions that emphasized their breasts. When the accounts skipped past other clips but watched those racy videos to completion, Reels recommended edgier content. Wall Street Journal

Firestorm erupts over requiring women to sign up for the military draft . . . Senate Democrats have added language to the annual defense authorization bill to require women to register for the draft, prompting a backlash from Republicans and social conservatives and complicating the chances of moving the bill on the Senate floor before Election Day. Conservatives led by Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) are certain to attempt to remove the provision requiring women to register for the draft, which could present a tough vote for Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and other Democrats in tight reelection races. The Hill

This is what saying gender doesn't exist, or that there are no differences between the sexes, leads to.

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International

Biden Gaza pier a total failure . . . President Joe Biden's $230 million humanitarian pier on the coast of Gaza has been deemed a failure by aid groups and could be permanently shut down, the New York Times reported Tuesday. The pier was only functional for 10 days when it had to be shut down for repairs after rough weather. It will now likely be dismantled weeks earlier than expected, per the report. The Biden administration said the pier would be in operation until September, but military officials expect the pier to be dismantled within the next month. Washington Free Beacon

We're with the government and we're here to help.

Ukraine claims to be winning its war on corruption. The West says: Do more . . . Ukrainian officials insist they are battling corruption as fiercely as their troops are fighting Russia's invaders in the east. But Western governments, including the United States, say it is still not enough — a source of increasingly raw tension between Kyiv and some of its strongest supporters that poses constant peril to additional economic and military assistance.Nearly every month adds a new case to a string of high-profile arrests and dismissals. Washington Post

Money

Rite Aid to close over two dozen stores amid bankruptcy proceedings . . . The drugstore chain on Monday filed a "notice of additional closing stores" with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the District of New Jersey, identifying a total of 27 locations in Michigan and Ohio that it has added to the chopping block. Of those, 12 are in Michigan, according to the filing. The other 15 are located in Ohio. The company, headquartered in Pennsylvania, has closed a slew of locations across the country while in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Fox Business

You should also know

Biden judicial nominee failed to disclose since-reversed child sex case rulings . . . A judge in Florida tapped by President Joe Biden for a top federal court spot failed to disclose at least two child sex-related cases that saw his lenient rulings reversed — until now. Embry Kidd, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, is under fire by Republicans over his prior omission of the two cases on his nominee questionnaire, which was quietly updated this week to address the matter. Washington Examiner

'Space hairdryer' regenerates heart tissue in study . . . Gentle shockwaves could regenerate the heart tissue of patients after bypass surgery, research suggests. A study of 63 people in Austria found those given the new treatment could walk further - and their hearts could pump more blood. "For the first time, we are seeing the heart muscle regenerate in a clinical setting, which could help millions of people," Prof Johannes Holfeld, from Innsbruck Medical University, said. BBC

Menendez brothers may soon go free . . . Two Los Angeles brothers convicted of plotting the gangland-style execution of their parents before going on lavish spending sprees could soon leave prison if they succeed in their quest for sentence reductions in the massacre. Joseph Menendez, who goes by his middle name, Lyle, and his brother, Erik, burst into their parents' Beverly Hills home in 1989 and blasted them to death with shotguns. Fox New

Guilty Pleasures

Stonehenge spray-painted orange by protesters calling for climate action . . . Protesters sprayed part of Stonehenge with orange paint Wednesday, calling on the British government to take action on climate change a day before thousands are expected to flock to the 5,000-year-old site in southern England to celebrate the summer solstice. A video shared Wednesday by Just Stop Oil, the environmental activist group responsible, shows two people running toward the monument and unleashing the orange paint. People nearby shout "No" and "Stop him," as others try to pull the protesters away. Washington Post

Silly.

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