Monday, December 19, 2022



The unembarrassable Left

Let’s talk about NBC News activist Ben Collins. Benny had the world on a string just a month ago when, after the mass shooting at a gay club in Colorado Springs, he gave a Golden Globe-nominated performance on MSNBC about how evil Republicans and their heartless push against grown men dressed as women waiving their barely covered genitals in the faces of children was the cause of the shooting. Fellow “journalists” scrambled to their social media accounts to be the member of the Blue Checkmark Brigade who planted their lips on Ben’s behind the deepest; the Pulitzer Prize committee was put on notice that their search for the greatest journalism of the year was over.

The only problem was, as is the case with so much of that profession these days, none of it was true. As a sign of just how far the profession has fallen, Ben was not disciplined for whining on national television about how one side of the political spectrum was responsible for the murder, nor was he reprimanded for being wildly wrong once it became known that the alleged killer was “non-binary” and used “they/them” pronouns, meaning he is firmly on the left’s team.

He didn’t even bother correcting the record because there was no record to correct – Ben didn’t do any journalism or even questioning about the shooting before making his declaration; he made his pronouncements from 2,000 miles away in New York City without ever having set foot in Colorado Springs investigating the killings. Some narratives are too good to investigate.

What would be a humbling experience for most people wasn’t even something worth addressing again for Ben. He moved on. NBC News had no issue with someone projecting their political bias onto half the country and accusing them of murder

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Stephanie Carter, a nurse at a VA hospital in Texas, is suing the Biden administration to block a government rule requiring medical facilities to provide abortions

A Texas nurse is suing the Biden administration after the Department of Veterans Affairs published a rule mandating that VA medical facilities provide abortions and abortion-related services, without an exemption for medical staff who oppose abortion on conscience or religious grounds.

Stephanie Carter, a Christian who is a nurse practitioner at the Olin E. Teague Veterans’ Medical Center in Temple, Texas, argues that she “cannot perform, prescribe, or counsel for abortion services because of her sincerely held religious beliefs that unborn babies are created in the image of God and should be protected,” the lawsuit, filed Tuesday, says.

For both religious and medical reasons, Carter also says she “cannot work in a facility that performs abortions for reasons other than to save the life of the mother,” according to the lawsuit.

Yet on Sept. 9, the VA published an interim final rule announcing that the agency “immediately” would begin providing abortions, abortion counseling, and other services. The rule did not mention religious exemptions nor provide a process for requesting exemptions, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges that the rule violates Carter’s rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 and the First Amendment’s guarantee of Americans’ free exercise of religion. Carter asks the court to block the VA from applying the rule against her and at the VA facility in Temple.

The lawsuit also notes that the rule appears to violate the plain text of the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992, which stipulated that the VA may not provide abortions.

“Once again, the Biden administration seems ignorant of the law, or just doesn’t care,” Danielle Runyan, senior counsel for First Liberty Institute, which represents Carter, told The Daily Signal on Wednesday. “The new VA rule disregards 30 years of federal law that prohibits VA clinics from performing abortions. It is abhorrent that the Biden administration is putting the health and well-being of our veterans at risk to pursue its extreme pro-abortion agenda.”

Runyan noted that Carter, a veteran who has worked at the VA for 23 years, may face criminal and civil liability under Texas’ abortion law. Texas prohibits most abortions after the unborn baby’s heartbeat can be detected, at roughly six weeks into pregnancy. The law also prohibits individuals from assisting a person in obtaining an illegal abortion.

“From the moment VA announced this new rule, Secretary [Denis] McDonough has made clear to all employees that their religious beliefs are protected here at VA,” VA press secretary Terrence Hayes told The Daily Signal in a written statement Wednesday.

“While we cannot comment on ongoing litigation, VA does provide accommodation for VA employees who wish to opt out of providing abortion counseling or services,” Hayes added. “We are currently honoring exemption requests that come through VA supervisors. We have provided all VA health care employees with this information—including information for how to exercise those protections through VA’s Office of Resolution Management Diversity and Inclusion—and we have encouraged employees to inform their supervisors of any requests for exemptions.”

Carter disputed Hayes’ claim, however.

“Stephanie inquired about a religious accommodation twice, but was told that no process for an accommodation exists,” Runyan, the First Liberty counsel, told The Daily Signal. “She has yet to be told otherwise.”

“It is unconscionable that President Biden issued an illegal rule—which violates Section 106 of the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992—to turn the life-saving, life-enhancing mission of the VA into new venues for abortion on demand,” Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, told The Daily Signal in a written statement Wednesday.

“Comprised of 171 medical centers and 1,113 outpatients’ clinics, the VA operates the largest integrated health care network in the world with 371,000 professionals and support staff who are absolutely committed to healing, nurturing, and rehabilitating,” Smith said. “The courts should expeditiously consider this federal lawsuit against Biden’s illegal rule, which is sadly just one more effort in Biden’s egregious push to force taxpayers to fund the violent death of unborn children by beheading, dismemberment, forced expulsion from the womb, deadly poisons, or other methods at any time until birth.”

Smith concluded: “Joe Biden is the Abortion President!”

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Will Jane’s Revenge Face Criminal Charges for Attacks on Pro-Life Centers? Waiting on FBI

Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center is one of at least 75 such centers and pro-life organizations attacked since the May 2 leak of the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, according to Catholic Vote. (Photo: Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center)
It has been over five months since vandals attacked Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center in Lynchburg, Virginia, shattering windows and spray-painting a threatening message outside the building. No arrests have been announced.

The radical pro-abortion group Jane’s Revenge took credit for the attack, which occurred the night after the Supreme Court issued its June 24 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. That decision overturned Roe v. Wade and sent the question of regulating abortion back to the individual states.

The FBI looked into the Lynchburg incident immediately following the attack in June and was in touch with local law enforcement and staff at Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center.

“Again, thanks for everything and we’ll be in touch,” FBI agent Ryan Taylor told Lt. Joshua Campbell and Detective David Dubie of the Lynchburg Police Department in a June 27 email acquired by The Daily Signal through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Most of the correspondence between Taylor and the police officers was redacted, but emails show several exchanges occurred between the FBI and the Lynchburg Police Department in late June and early July.

The Daily Signal, which reported on the attack on the center over the summer, followed up with the pro-life group Thursday to learn if any progress had been made in the investigation.

Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center leaders said the last time they heard from the FBI was in September, adding that the FBI told them it “continues to investigate” and there was “no update at that time.”

The Daily Signal asked the FBI to confirm that its investigation of the attack remains open.

“The FBI can neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation into this matter,” Michael Schuler, chief counsel for the FBI division in Richmond, Virginia, told The Daily Signal Thursday.

Dubie, the Lynchburg police detective, emailed the FBI’s Taylor and Kristina Couden on July 1, writing that the “blog in relation to Jane’s Revenge has now claimed [responsibility for] the Lynchburg event.”

Couden responded an hour later: “Thanks, Dubie. National conspiracy—check! I forwarded to the AUSA and [Justice Department] attorneys involved.”

The acronym AUSA probably refers to one or more assistant U.S. attorneys, who, like the FBI, are part of the Justice Department.

A Justice Department spokesperson said the agency had referred The Daily Signal’s request for comment to the FBI National Press Office, which said: “The FBI can neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation into this matter.”

Jane’s Revenge claimed responsibility for the attack in a June 30 post on its blog, writing: “On June 24th, the night after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Jane’s Revenge smashed the windows of the Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center’s headquarters in so-called Lynchburg Virginia.”

The pro-abortion group went on to detail damage to the pregnancy center, writing that the “ground in front of their now smashed front door reads ‘if abortion ain’t safe you ain’t safe.’”

At the end of the blog post, Jane’s Revenge encouraged others to take similar action against pro-life organizations, writing: “Fascism is on the rise but so are we! May the sound of shattering glass (seriously it is so satisfying :)) dry your tears.”

Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center is in the congressional district represented by Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., who told The Daily Signal that the “vandalism attack … was a heinous act of political violence, and it’s unacceptable that the FBI has not provided the victims with any updates about their investigation.”

“FBI officials should work aggressively in a timely and transparent manner to bring the perpetrators of this heinous attack to justice,” Cline said.

Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center is one of at least 75 pregnancy resource centers and pro-life organizations that have been attacked or vandalized since the May 2 leak of a draft majority opinion in the Dobbs case, Catholic Vote reports.

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Gay Norwegian filmmaker faces three years in prison after she said male-to-female transgender women cannot be lesbians

A gay Norwegian filmmaker faces three years in prison after she said male-to-female transgender women cannot be lesbians. Tonje Gjevjon spoke out against transgender activist Christine Jentoft, who transitioned from being a man and now identifies as a 'lesbian mother'.

'It is just as impossible for men to become lesbians as it is for men to become pregnant,' Gjevjon wrote on Facebook in October. 'Men are men regardless of their sexual fetishes'.

Gjevjon is now under police investigation and faces a maximum of three years in jail for her public comments after Norway's parliament outlawed hate speech against transgender people in 2020.

Norway expanded its penal code, which has protected gay and lesbian people since 1981, to include transgender people two years ago.

Gjevjon, who is also an artist, told Reduxx her Facebook post was made to draw attention to Norway's amended hate speech law, adding that trans activists have tried to shut down her art exhibitions for her views.

She wrote in an essay in Norwegian newspaper Klassekampen: 'I have stated that women are female, that lesbians do not have penises, that children should not be responsible for decisions they do not have the capacity to understand the scope of, and that no-platforming is harmful to democracy. 'For these opinions I have been cancelled several times.'

Gjevjon said she has been 'demonized' by the trans activists and politicians for her views. She wrote in the newspaper: 'I was not prepared for the extent of how queer organizations, politicians and activists would demonize a lesbian artist who was not in step.

'Trans activists contact people I work with, portraying me as hateful and warning against being associated with me.'

In Norway, the parliament outlawed hate speech against transgender people in 2020. People found guilty of hate speech face a fine or up to a year in jail for private remarks, and a maximum of three years in jail for public comments, according to the penal code.

Norway is one of the most liberal countries in Europe for LGBT+ people, allowing trans people to legally change gender without a medical diagnosis in 2016.

Trans people are 'an exposed group when it comes to discrimination, harassment and violence', Minister of Justice and Public Security Monica Maeland said after the law was passed in 2020. 'It is imperative that the protection against discrimination offered by the criminal legislation is adapted to the practical situations that arise,' she said.

The amendments in 2020 outlawed discrimination based on 'gender identity or gender expression' and changed 'homosexual orientation' to 'sexual orientation', meaning bisexual as well as lesbian and gay people will be explicitly protected from discrimination.

Under the penal code, people charged with violent crimes can receive harsher sentences if a judge decides their actions were motivated by someone's sexual orientation or gender identity.

The law's opponents argued that it could criminalise free speech criticising LGBT+ rights, said Anine Kierulf, an assistant professor of law at the University of Oslo, at the time.

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My other blogs. Main ones below:

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

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

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

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

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

http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs

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