Friday, June 18, 2021


Conservatives Score Big Against NCAA

Just two months ago, the NCAA had promised to boycott states that protected girls sports or banned gender experimentation on minors. That all fell apart just a few weeks later.

For the refused-to-be-canceled crowd, it was a headline to celebrate. “The NCAA threatened states over anti-transgender bills,” the big print of The Washington Post read. “But the games went on.”

It was the surest sign in a post-Georgia, Coke-boycotting world that fed-up conservatives were the newest force to be reckoned with. It’s also the most recent evidence—out of piles of examples—that the right side may be winning the woke wars.

For the far left, the retreat of a major sports league is a public defeat that it can’t seem to reconcile. After 2016, when the NCAA was the most powerful leverage liberals had in states like North Carolina, they’d begun to count on these hardcore allies to help them beat back local attacks on their often dangerous LGBT agenda.

It worked until recently, when Americans—sick of being force-fed transgender politics—suddenly decided to take the momentum from their stand on election reform and start applying it across the board. Their unofficial mantra—refuse to be intimidated—began working.

Suddenly, the tough talk about retaliation from corporations and other organizations was being exposed for what it was: empty threats from big-mouthed bullies.

Just two months ago, the NCAA had promised to boycott states that protected girls sports or banned gender experimentation on minors. That all fell apart just a few weeks later, when so many states had passed conservative legislation that the league finally realized it had nowhere to go. Suddenly, tournaments that weren’t supposed to be awarded to places like Arkansas, Alabama, and Tennessee got the news that they would still be hosts after all.

GLAAD and other LGBT groups, who are used to these leagues’ blind allegiance, have been hysterical ever since. They’ve accused the NCAA of “going back on its word” to choose locations that were “safe, healthy, and free of discrimination.”

Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David had even harsher words, insisting that the “NCAA should be ashamed of themselves for violating their own policy … ” Their “failure to take action here,” he went on, “means that they are part of the problem.”

Internally, the hand-wringing at places like the Human Rights Campaign has to be even worse. For years, the LGBT crowd has relied on scare tactics to move its agenda forward since it’s always lacked broad public support. If the NCAA won’t do its bidding, then the damage—especially now, as the demand for these bills keeps growing—is severe.

In a letter from far-left activists to the NCAA, Athlete Ally asks, “What changed?” One thing did, The Washington Times points out: the states that are passing these laws “are no longer outliers.”

In Florida, the latest state to protect girls sports, the threat from the NCAA more than backfired. Instead of frightening leaders away, it motivated conservatives to pass a bill even faster.

The governor told one news anchor that he remembers the day the letter from the sports league was issued. “I called the speaker of the House in Florida and said, ‘Did you hear what they said?'” And he replied, “Now we’ve definitely got to get this done.” There, as in other states, the rally cry seemed to be, “We’ll show them!”

And to the delight of commonsense Americans all across this country, they have. Last week in Louisiana, despite the governor’s warnings, the Legislature passed another bill to save girls sports by bipartisan, veto-proof majorities: 29-6 in the Senate and 78-17 in the House.

Then, in a major punch to the left’s gut, Oklahoma—one of the few states that was openly worried about the NCAA’s threat—realized the league was bluffing, went back to the drawing board, and passed its proposal out of the House.

When Oklahoma state Rep. Justin Humphrey, R-Lane, realized that the NCAA was scheduling tournaments in states with policies based on biology, he said, “I kind of laughed.” LGBT activists were appalled. “It was really scary to know that so many lawmakers in Oklahoma [saw] this as a reversal to the NCAA’s earlier statement,” one said. “That had been the only thing that persuaded folks [to back off these] girls sports bills.”

When the NCAA announced that Florida would host a softball championship this spring, Republicans could barely contain their glee. “I guess the NCAA boycott of Florida is over after two weeks,” state Rep. Chris Latvala, R-Clearwater, tweeted. “Go Knights!”

The news for conservatives was even sweeter when the state’s bill became law on the first day of LGBT Pride Month. Turns out, the tug of the left may be strong, but so is the $730 million in revenue from the Southeastern Conference.

Our influence as red states, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, pointed out, is bigger than we think. “Will they even be able to have sports events anymore in the United States [if they boycott us]? I don’t think so.”

In the end, Beth Stelzer, president of Save Women’s Sports, says, most of these states would have moved forward even if it did cost them a few collegiate events. They, like the majority of Americans, had already made up their minds: “We need to do the right thing and stand up for females. People over profits. Facts over feelings.”

Who would have thought at the start of this legislative season that protecting girls sports would be the issue that separated the leaders who had courage and the leaders who are cowards? But it did.

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Portlanders Struggle as Anti-Police Riots Continue Largely Unnoticed by Media

Communities and residents in Portland are still struggling as the anti-police riots continue without much coverage from the mainstream media.

Portlanders who spoke to The Epoch Times anonymously (to avoid “woke” retaliation) all agreed that violence is becoming worse and is unacceptable. “There are brazen shootings and killings in broad daylight which did not happen before this past year,” said a 44-year-old man who lives in a Portland suburb. “The violence is no longer limited to nights or certain neighborhoods.”

“Some companies are having a hard time recruiting employees because people perceive Portland as a dangerous place and don’t want to move here,” said a 64-year-old woman who works in the information technology field. “The violence and especially the perception of lawlessness have very much affected hiring.”

Riots Continue Mostly Unnoticed

After 60 days of left-wing violence following the George Floyd killing, federal agents were sent to Portland, Oregon in early July 2020. In addition to the nightly vandalizing of the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse, rioters had blocked exits and started a fire at the Portland Police Bureau’s East Precinct building, started other fires, and perpetrated looting and vandalism.

According to Jason Dunn, U.S. Attorney, District of Colorado in Portland there was “widespread use of rocks, lasers, slingshots loaded with ball-bearings, explosives, and other methods to assault federal employees. There are also nightly attempts by rioters to storm federal buildings and destroy them.”

Within two weeks of federal agent deployment after reports of arrest regularities, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler demanded that the agents leave the city or stay “in your own [federal] buildings.” Gov. Kate Brown echoed the sentiments. Members of Congress also demanded that federal agents withdraw from Portland in a letter to then-Attorney General Barr and Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf.

Almost all national coverage of the Portland riots ended when federal agents withdrew in 2020, but the violent unrest has continued unabated and often unreported. For example, while most left-wing activists welcomed the Biden inauguration, Portland activists unveiled signs that read “WE DON’T WANT BIDEN—WE WANT REVENGE” and swarmed the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement facility throwing rocks, bottles, and a pepper-like spray from paintball guns. “At one point, the air was so thick with gas and smoke that it was difficult to see,” reported Oregon Live. Demonstrators also smashed the windows of Oregon’s Democratic Party headquarters.

Less than three months later, after the killing of Daunte Wright, a black man shot by police in a Minneapolis suburb in April, rioters set the headquarters of the Portland Police Association on fire. The symbolic building had been boarded up from major destruction during the 2020 violence and the association moved in early June.

In April, protesters attempted to set up a Seattle-style autonomous zone and smashed the windows of Portland businesses, the Oregon Historical Society (which was already vandalized in 2020 on an “Indigenous Day of Rage”), and even the First Christian Church that feeds the homeless. The indiscriminate actions moved Acting Chief Chris Davis to remark in a Portland Police Bureau statement that “our community has made it clear that it will not tolerate wanton violence and destruction.”

There were even riots after the Derek Chauvin verdict, the police officer convicted of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in the George Floyd case—a ruling which most left-wing activists hailed. They smashed windows, including a Starbucks.

Who Are The Agitators?

Less than six percent of Portland’s population is black and the violent activists widely appear to be young, white, and associated with Antifa and following their own agenda. Both moderate blacks and whites are afraid to speak out, Portlanders told The Epoch Times, because of the charged atmosphere in which dissent is demonized. The violent activists do not represent the feelings of the majority.

“My black employees say, ‘We want the police guarding our homes’ and that the violent protestors do not speak for them,” said a downtown Portland employer who spoke to The Epoch Times on the condition of anonymity because of the “Gestapo-like atmosphere that currently exists.” “Friends of mine who survived civil wars in Southeast Asia and other places are especially aghast at the brazen violence that is tolerated in Portland and how criminals are emboldened. They spend one night in jail and are bailed out the next day!”

When asked why there seem to be few serious attempts to stop the violent demonstrators or unravel their funding, the employer said, “there is no political will. The mayor, district attorney, and governor serve the people who are not affected by the violence because they live in a bubble. People who are brown, yellow, red, and black are the most injured by the violence which is ironic when you consider the demonstrators’ rhetoric.”

Gregory McKelvey, a black civic leader in Portland, agreed that the violent protestors’ agenda diverges from that of the black community. Protesting every night or yelling in the face of police officers is an example of “white privilege” that would be off-limits to many others, he told the NY Times.

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'Telling my child they are oppressed is racist': Black Florida mom warns school board that critical race theory entrenches racist idea that 'whites are better than blacks'

A black Florida mother blasted critical race theory as racist, dangerous and claimed it will destroy America at a state Board of Education meeting.

Speaking at the meeting Thursday, Keisha King said: 'Just coming off of May 31, marking the 100 years [since] the Tulsa riots, it is sad that we are even contemplating something like critical race theory, where children will be separated by their skin color and deemed permanently 'oppressors' or 'oppressed' in 2021.'

'That is not teaching the truth,' said King, who has a child in the Duvall County school district, 'unless you believe that whites are better than blacks."

King told of her outrage at seeing teachers in the Duvall County school district, in northeastern Florida, teach critical race theory and even separate students by their race. Duvall County confirmed it was invoking Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's ban on CRT later the same evening.

King also disputed claims that critical race theory is 'racial sensitivity or simply teaching unfavorable American history or teaching Jim Crow history.'

'CRT is deeper and more dangerous than that,' King said. 'CRT and its outworking today is a teaching that there's a hierarchy in society where white male, heterosexual, able-bodied people are deemed the oppressors and anyone else outside of that status is oppressed.'

'That's why we see corporations like Coca-Cola asking their employees to be less white, which is ridiculous,' King said, representing Moms for Liberty, a national group that promotes 'parental rights at all levels of government,' according to its website.

'I don't know about you, but telling my child, or any child, that they are in a permanent oppressed status in America because they are black is racist,' King said, 'and saying that white people are automatically above me, my children, or any child is racist as well.

'This is not something we can stand for in our country.'

'And don't take it from me,' she said, 'look at the writers of these types of publications.'

'Our ancestors — white, black and others — hung, bled and died right alongside each other to push America towards that more perfect union.

'If this continues, we will look back and be responsible for the dismantling of the greatest nation in the world by reverting to teaching hate and that race is a determining factor on where your destiny lies,' King concluded.

Her comments were then shared widely to Twitter, with Tom Elliot posting a video of her speech, and @RogueShoeButler writing: 'Hallelujah! This lady gets it. And she explained the essence of the danger from CRT more lucidly than I think I've heard anyone tell it before.'

'I hope we hear more from Keisha King,' he wrote.

Others at the meeting, though, expressed their support for the theory, chanting: 'Allow teachers to tell the truth.'

Florida teachers also expressed their dismay with the resolution before it was passed, with Florida Education Association President Andrew Spar saying, 'Students deserve the best education we can provide, and that means giving them a true picture of their world nd our shared history as Americans, according to the New York Daily News.

Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, however, had been pushing for a ban on the theory for months.

He opened the meeting Thursday night by urging the board to adopt the measure, calling critical race theory 'really toxic,' and claiming that it would cause a lot more divisions in society.

'I think it will cause people to think of themselves more as a member of a particular race based on their skin color, rather than based on the content of their character and based on their hard work and what they're trying to accomplish in life,' he told the board, which ultimately approved a resolution banning the theory unanimously.

The resolution states: 'Instruction on the required topics must be factual and may not suppress or distort significant historical events, such as the Holocaust, and may not define American history as something other than the creation of a new nation based largely on universal principles stated in the Declaration of Independence.'

The specifics of how the resolution will be enforced will likely be up to each individual school board, but with the passage of the resolution, Florida has become the sixth state to ban teaching critical race theory in just the past few months.

Critical race theory is an educational concept that claims racism is a social construct that has been embedded in American legal systems and policies.

It has sparked a fierce nationwide debate in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests around the country over the last year and the introduction of the 1619 Project, with supporters saying it is vital to eliminate racism in America and opponents claiming it actually promotes racism by categorizing people into different groups.

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Biden Replaces Women with 'Birthing People' in Woke 2022 Budget

President Biden's promise to "build back better" apparently also applies to "birthing people," according to the 2022 budget proposal from his administration's Office of Management and Budget.

In the section on "strengthening public health infrastructure and meeting crisis-related needs," President Biden claims his budget "reduces maternal mortality rate and ends race-based disparities in maternal mortality."

The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate among developed nations, with an unacceptably high mortality rate for Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, and other women of color. To help end this high rate of maternal mortality and race-based disparities in outcomes among birthing people—and in addition to the investment in maternal health included in the American Families Plan—the Budget includes more than $200 million to: reduce maternal mortality and morbidity rates nationwide; bolster Maternal Mortality Review Committees; expand the Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies program; help cities place early childhood development experts in pediatrician offices with a high percentage of Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program patients; implement implicit bias training for healthcare providers; and create State pregnancy medical home programs.

Science is back, baby!

"Birthing people" (along with its related term "chest feeder") is nonsense leftist gobbledygook that's used to signal tolerance because, of course, saying that women are the exclusive source of children is exclusionary. Or something. Biology means nothing, science is out the window, and to argue otherwise makes you a terrible person, or so leftists—and exceedingly more Democrats including the President of the United States—say.

It would be interesting to see the rationale through which the Biden administration decided to begin using "birthing people" in lieu of "women" or "mothers" because the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics does not refer to women as birthing people, based on the World Health Organization's definition for maternal mortality: "the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy."

If you're woke, you might conclude that the WHO is a bunch of bigots for their backward, antiquated, but scientific definition. But the Biden administration seems to be unable to get its story straight on how to refer to those individuals who have the biological capacity to grow life.

Elsewhere in Biden's 2022 budget, the word "mother" does appear—in a section about paid family leave, no less: "Paid leave has been shown to keep mothers in the workforce, increasing labor force participation and boosting economic growth."

Because not everyone has taken a swig of the woke Koolaid, the reaction to the budget's lack of sanity drew a predictable reaction.

"Biden is erasing women," noted Dana Loesch. "Wait til they find out what mater means in Latin," added Lyndsey Fifield. The cognitive dissonance in substituting birthing people for mothers in a budget item relating to maternal statistics was highlighted by Allie Stuckey with an "L O L."

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My other blogs. Main ones below:

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

http://snorphty.blogspot.com TONGUE-TIED)

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://john-ray.blogspot.com (FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

https://heofen.blogspot.com/ (MY OTHER BLOGS)

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