VA SCOTUS Rejects Pro-Mask Mandate Petition Against Youngkin

Parker Davis February 8, 2022

The VA Supreme Court rejected a petition to reverse the Youngkin order that public schools cannot mandate mask wearing for kids. The petition was rejected on procedural grounds.

Virginia Supreme Court dismisses mask mandate petition

From abcnews.go.com
2022-02-07 20:25:44

Excerpt:

LEESBURG, Va. — The Supreme Court of Virginia on Monday rejected on procedural grounds a petition from parents seeking to invalidate Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order prohibiting school systems from enforcing mask mandates in the classroom.

Youngkin and Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares are battling in court on multiple fronts to defend the executive order. But the ruling is far from definitive. In a footnote, the justices say they offer “no opinion on the legality of EO 2,” the executive order that seeks to undo mask mandates, which are aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus.

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Arizona Bill Would Force Christians to Bake the LGBTQ Cake

Parker Davis February 8, 2022

A bipartisan effort appears to be going forward in Arizona that would force the metaphorical and literal Christian baker to bake the metaphorical and literal LGBTQ Cake. The bill is being introduced and sponsored by a number of Arizona Representatives, including the Republican Speaker of the House.

Lawmakers introduce Arizona LGBT anti-discrimination bill

From www.thetelegraph.com
2022-02-07 22:22:23

Excerpt:

A bipartisan group of Arizona lawmakers that includes the Republican House speaker announced Monday they were introducing legislation that would for the first time protect gay and transgender people from discrimination by businesses, landlords and employers…..

The legislation would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in workplaces, housing and places of public accommodation, which covers most businesses selling goods and services to the public.

The measure would exempt religious institutions such as churches but not individuals who say their faith prevents them from serving certain customers, such as Christian bakers who don’t want make cakes for same-sex weddings.

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California Bill Creates Plant-Based Diets for Schools

Parker Davis February 8, 2022

The California Assembly has passed a bill that would create a plant-based diet program in the public schools. The schools are not going exclusively vegetarian, but the plant-based diet will be heavily promoted and encouraged.

Victory! Bill Promoting Nutritious Plant-Based School Meals Passes California Assembly

From pcrm.org

Excerpt:

The Child Nutrition Act of 2022 (AB 558), a bill co-sponsored by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, passed the California State Assembly today. The bill incentivizes K-12 public schools across the state to offer healthier, climate-friendly plant-based meals and beverages.

“As the country continues to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring that California’s students have access to healthy plant-based meals that promote overall wellness and help support their immunity is a more urgent need than ever,” says Maggie Neola, RD, a dietitian with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

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From the Bill:

This bill would require the State Department of Education to develop, and to post on its internet website by July 1, 2023, guidance for local educational agencies participating in the federal School Breakfast Program that maintain kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 6, inclusive, on how to serve eligible nonschoolaged children breakfast or a morning snack at a local educational agency schoolsite. The bill would define “eligible nonschoolaged child” to mean a child who is not enrolled in school and who is a sibling, half sibling, or stepsibling of, or a foster child residing with, a pupil who is eligible for a free or reduced-price breakfast. The bill would require a guardian of an eligible nonschoolaged child to be present in order for the nonschoolaged child to receive breakfast or a morning snack. The bill would require the department to evaluate the guidance and to submit the evaluation to the Legislature by January 1, 2025. The bill would require a local educational agency that chooses to implement the department’s guidance to submit to the department certain information relating to serving breakfast and morning snacks to nonschoolaged children.

One Island Gets All the North Korean Missiles

Mark Clouse February 8, 2022

It seems Kim Jong Un really hates an island off the North Korean Coast now simply called No Man’s Land. That island, or rock, Alsom Island, has been targeted more than 25 times for missiles to the face since 2019. Evertyime Kim wants to show the world he matters, Alsom gets a missile to the face.

Kim Jong Un keeps aiming his missiles at this ‘most hated rock’

From stripes.com

Excerpt:

As Kim Jong Un unleashed his biggest-ever barrage of missile tests last month, one place suffered the most: a barren piles of rocks whose name means “No Man’s Land.”

Alsom Island, located 11 miles off North Korea’s northeastern coast, has been targeted in more than 25 missile strikes since 2019. It was the destination of eight rockets in January alone, as Kim carried out the most launches since he took power in a signal of defiance against a U.S.-led sanctions regime intended to punish Pyongyang for developing such weapons.

The South Korean military has closely watched the outcropping’s bombardment, especially after North Korea built a 10-meter wide domed structure there in August 2020, according to opposition lawmaker Yoon Ju-kyeong. Such a structure could be used to test bunker-buster bombs, her office said, while others have speculated it might serve as a stand-in for a government building in Seoul.

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Drought Threatens 4.3 Million in Somalia

Freedomist Curator February 8, 2022

UN says severe drought affects 4.3 mln people in Somalia

From www.china.org.cn
2022-02-07 15:55:28

Excerpt:

MOGADISHU, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) — An estimated 4.3 million people have been affected by the severe drought which is ravaging several parts of Somalia, up from 3.2 million a month ago, the United Nations humanitarian agency said on Monday.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said the escalating drought has seen some 271,000 have abandoned their homes in search of water, food and pasture. “With the next rainy season not expected until April 2022, Somalia is staring at a potential catastrophe,” UNOCHA warned in its latest drought response released in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.

It said the UN Central Emergency Response Fund has allocated 25 million U.S. dollars for the drought response and the Somalia Humanitarian Fund has complemented this funding with an allocation of 6 million dollars; a second allocation is underway. Additional funding for priority sectors is urgently required to save lives and livelihoods, including substantive and early funding…

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Did Biden Fed Reserve Pick Hand Out Master Account?

Ivo Fysic February 8, 2022

Biden pick under GOP scrutiny for role with fintech firm that got Fed account

From www.washingtonexaminer.com
2022-02-07 19:10:37
Zachary Halaschak
Excerpt:

Republicans are seeking answers from Sarah Bloom Raskin, President Joe Biden’s pick for a top Federal Reserve role, about how a company she directed as a board member was able to obtain “unusual access” to the Fed’s payment system.

At question is to what role, if any, Raskin, who was fresh out of a position in the Obama administration with a background at the Fed, played in helping to convince the central bank to grant Colorado-based Reserve Trust a Fed master account, which is highly coveted and hands the company an advantage over its rivals. Reserve Trust is apparently the only nonbank fintech business in the country that has been able to secure a Fed master account.

Sen. Pat Toomey, the top Republican on the banking committee, said on Monday that the Fed confirmed to his office that, prior to the prized account being awarded to Reserve Trust, Raskin called the central bank on behalf of the company. Raskin was later given…

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Biden Wants Insurers to Pay for Gender Reassignment Surgery

Ivo Fysic February 8, 2022

Biden’s Latest Proposal Would Force Insurers to Pay for Gender “Transition”

From www.heritage.org
2022-02-07 19:06:36

Excerpt:

President Joe Biden has sought to inject gender ideology into our laws since his first day in office. He might prefer a massive bill like the Equality Act that elevates the categories of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to status of race and sex. But that effort has stalled in the Senate. So, for now, his administration is looking for ways to insert sexual orientation and gender identity concepts into existing law.

The latest? In January, the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services proposed a rule that would add sexual orientation and gender identity language to the 2010 Affordable Care Act. According to the department, these amendments will ensure that those who identify as LGBT receive “medically necessary” care. This includes “gender-affirming” surgeries and hormone “therapy.”

In fact, the department’s proposed rule circumvents the law and treats dubious treatments as essential health benefits in qualified health plans. This not only…

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China Warns US to Stop Criticizing Them for Olympics Disaster

Mark Clouse February 8, 2022

U.S. should not go further down the wrong path: China’s UN ambassador

From news.cgtn.com
2022-02-07 11:41:57

Excerpt:

The recent irresponsible, groundless and biased remarks against China by the U.S. related to the Beijing Winter Olympics, Xinjiang and Taiwan have seriously poisoned the China-U.S. relations, China’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Zhang Jun said on Sunday in a press statement.

He resolutely refuted the groundless accusations against China made by Linda Thomas Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to UN, in her interview with CNN.

Noting that many heads of state and organizations sent messages or called Chinese President Xi Jinping to wish Beijing Winter Olympics success and extended greetings on Chinese New Year, Zhang said the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, which was attended by around 170 official representatives from nearly 70 countries and international organizations, fully showed the international community’s firm support of China.

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Russians Show Us Why AI Without the Bill of Rights is a Police State

Paul Collier February 7, 2022

The Russian government has released some details of a recent experiment to utilize neural network artificial intelligence to attempt to trach down the locations of protestors based on video surveillance the AI was able to analyze. The experiment netted the arrests of 454 protestors in 17 cities across Russia. The expermient happened last year.

In nations such as Russia, and even more in nations such as China, these types of human control toys will be readily deployed with little to any fear of any ‘legal’ pushback from courts or citizens. In nations such as America, so long as the DNC does NOT consolidate power, human control toys such as these run afowl of many of our essential Bills of Rights, the code of conduct from which our government’s power is legitimized. Without honoring that code of conduct, the government loses its very legitimacy.

One of the reasons the DNC and its particular group of billionaires have latched on to the moral supremacism of “CRT” is that it is hoped the new moral code of CRT will override the Bill of Rights code of conduct of the American republic. It’s a de facto act of sedition highlighted by this Russian report which demonstrates the existential danger of allowing our American lands to lose their Bill of Rights constraint on the state.

Neural networks tracked down protesters, Neuralink hinted at the start of clinical trials and other news from the AI world

From thetimeshub.in
2022-01-24 11:28:10

Excerpt:

In 2021, artificial intelligence helped Russian police locate at least 164 rally participants. In total, law enforcement officers detained more than 454 people in 17 cities of the Russian Federation.
According to the report of the human rights organization OVD-Info, video surveillance cameras with an integrated face recognition system detected protesters on the streets, in the subway and near the entrances of apartment buildings.

According to Roskomsvoboda experts, biometric identification algorithms do not yet have a clear legal framework and are in the “gray zone”. This does not allow citizens to appeal the use of technology against them and requires the creation of a specialized regulation to determine who and on what basis can access the recognition system.

A single biometric the system will be integrated with the public services website
The Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation signed a contract with Rostelecom to integrate the public services website with the state Unified Biometric System. The deal amounted to 1.2 billion rubles.

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Ukrainian Official Downplays Russian Invasion Threat

Mark Clouse February 7, 2022

Even as the Ukrainians gather to train for war, from soldier to store clerk, the Foreign Affairs Department is downplaying both the concerns for an invasion (though preparations must continue) and the potential outcome for Russia should she tangle with Ukraine.

Ignore ‘apocalyptic predictions’ on possible Russia invasion, urges Ukraine foreign minister

From www.cbc.ca
2022-02-06 17:45:04
The Associated Press
Excerpt:

Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged people on Sunday to ignore “apocalyptic predictions” about an imminent Russian invasion, saying his country was strong and had unprecedented international support.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said a week ago that Ukraine was not a sinking Titanic, and he accused Washington and the media of fuelling panic that weighed on the economy when there were “no tanks in the streets.”

“Today, Ukraine has a strong army, unprecedented international support and Ukrainians’ faith in their country,” Kuleba said on Twitter.

“The enemy should be afraid of us, not us of them.”

A day earlier, two U.S. officials said that Russia may be ready for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine by mid-February, as it had in place about 70 per cent of the combat power it believed it would need and was sending more battalion tactical groups to the border.

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