One faith leader said our nation must ‘address the moral decay and brokenness plaguing our culture’

Pastors and conservative leaders weighed in on reaction by journalists and entertainers who have mocked prayer and brought attention to Tennessee’s drag show ban amid the Christian elementary school massacre that took six lives Monday.

As the nation grapples with the murders of three adults and three children at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, faith leaders responded to the criticism by journalists, commentators, entertainers and activists who have mocked prayer and blamed conservatives for outlawing drag shows for kids and not guns.

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins reiterated that people should still turn to prayer as a way to combat the “spiritual battle” that “is raging for our country and our culture” which “is targeting our children.”

“We must return to the only lasting source of hope and freedom — the Lord Jesus Christ,” he added. “The Church must stand uncompromisingly upon the truth of God’s word, which is the source of hope and freedom. Nothing Washington is doing will matter until we acknowledge and address the moral decay and brokenness plaguing our culture.”

Read more at: www.foxnews.com

President Joe Biden on Thursday proclaimed March 31, 2023 as “Transgender Day of Visibility,” a move that marked his third time making such a proclamation as president, since he had previously proclaimed March 31, in both 2021 and 2022, a “Transgender Day of Visibility.”

“Transgender Day of Visibility celebrates the joy, strength, and absolute courage of some of the bravest people I know — people who have too often had to put their jobs, relationships, and lives on the line just to be their true selves,” Biden’s 2023 proclamation declares. “Today, we show millions of transgender and nonbinary Americans that we see them, they belong, and they should be treated with dignity and respect. Their courage has given countless others strength, but no one should have to be brave just to be themselves.”

“Transgender Americans shape our Nation’s soul — proudly serving in the military, curing deadly diseases, holding elected office, running thriving businesses, fighting for justice, raising families, and much more,” Biden’s proclamation read. “A wave of discriminatory State laws is targeting transgender youth, terrifying families and hurting kids who are not hurting anyone.”

“I call upon all Americans to join us in lifting up the lives and voices of transgender people throughout our Nation and to work toward eliminating violence and discrimination against all transgender, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary people,” Biden declared.

Read more at: www.theblaze.com

Pope Francis was hospitalized with a respiratory infection Wednesday after experiencing difficulty breathing in recent days and will remain in the Rome hospital for several days of treatment, the Vatican said.

The 86-year-old pope, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, doesn’t have COVID-19, spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement late Wednesday.

The hospitalization was the first since Francis spent 10 days at the Gemelli hospital in July 2021 to have 33 centimeters (13 inches) of his colon removed.

It immediately raised questions about Francis’ overall health, and his ability to celebrate the busy Holy Week events that are due to begin this weekend with Palm Sunday.

Bruni said Francis had had trouble breathing in recent days and went to the Gemelli hospital Wednesday for tests.

“The tests showed a respiratory infection (COVID-19 infection excluded) that will require some days of medical treatment in the hospital,” Bruni’s statement said.

Read more at: apnews.com

A European Parliament vote for bloc-wide digital IDs is the latest step towards the “Chinafication of Europe”, an MEP has claimed.

Cristian Terhes, a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Christian Democratic National Peasants’ Party, has described the European Union’s latest push for cross-border digital IDs as another move towards the “Chinafication” of the bloc.

Although bureaucrats in Brussels have insisted that the measure is in the interests of average citizens, the parliament’s vote to see digital IDs adopted appears to be one of the latest attempts by EU institutions to pull power away from member-states’ national governments.

According to a report by Euractiv, the vote to see negotiations for a European Digital Identity Framework (eID) to go forward was approved by the bloc’s parliament on Thursday — though the publication describes the process as a mere formality.

Romana Jerkovic, the parliament’s rapporteur for the digital ID programme, heralded its approval of the plans, claiming that they will enable individual EU citizens to have “full control over their own data” while accessing facilities across the bloc.

Read more at: breitbart.com

Amazon’s palm-reading payment technology was first introduced at numerous Whole Foods locations in California, enabling customers to pay for their groceries by scanning their palms at checkout terminals rather than using cash or a card. Now Panera Bread is experimenting with Amazon’s cashless payment system as the war on cash marches on.

On Wednesday, Panera Bread announced plans to roll out a “contactless payment method” to several stores with additional locations in the coming months. The bakery-cafe chain has over 2,000 locations, and its loyalty program has 52 million members.

“Panera is the first national restaurant company to use Amazon One as both a way for guests to pay and access their loyalty account with their palm,” the company said.

“Our philosophy has been centered around leveraging best-in-class technology to create a better Panera experience and using that to deepen our relationship with our loyal guests. Introducing Amazon One, as a frictionless, personalized, and convenient service, is another way we’re redefining the loyalty experience,” Niren Chaudhary, CEO of Panera Bread and Panera Brands, stated.

At the moment, dozens of Whole Foods locations and Amazon Go stores have integrated Amazon One contactless payment.

Read more at: www.zerohedge.com

There’s absolutely no doubt that our financial system is in flux right now. We’re watching a storm approach, and it’s about to envelop the entire nation in chaotic conditions. If you think things are crazy now, just hang on to your halo…it’s about to get a whole lot worse.

Remember how we talked about CBDCs a few weeks ago, and lots of people in the comments said never, no way, and heck no? Well, unfortunately, it’s being rolled out and soon.

Of course, they’re not calling it CBDCs. Not yet.

It’s under another name, and it’s not quite a federal digital currency. I’m sure this, too, will be called a conspiracy theory, but the Federal Reserve is launching FedNow, an instant digital payment system. This in itself is not a Central Bank Digital Currency, but it puts into place the framework needed to make the idea a reality.

Read more at: www.sott.net

Researchers say the work “opens up new avenues in reproductive biology and fertility research” for animals and people. Down the road, for example, it might be possible to reproduce endangered mammals from a single male.

For the first time, scientists have created baby mice from two males. This raises the distant possibility of using the same technique for people – although experts caution that very few mouse embryos developed into live mouse pups and no one knows whether it would work for humans.

Still, “It’s a very clever strategy,” said Diana Laird, a stem cell and reproductive expert at the University of California, San Francisco, who was not involved in the research. “It’s an important step in both stem cell and reproductive biology.”

Scientists described their work in a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

First, they took skin cells from the tails of male mice and transformed them into “induced pluripotent stem cells,” which can develop into many different types of cells or tissues. Then, through a process that involved growing them and treating them with a drug, they converted male mouse stem cells into female cells and produced functional egg cells. Finally, they fertilized those eggs and implanted the embryos into female mice. About 1% of the embryos – 7 out of 630 – grew into live mouse pups.

Read more at: www.israelhayom.com

Employers must provide “pregnant persons” with accommodations to procure and recover from abortions under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), a memo from the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) recently declared.

President Joe Biden signed H.R. 1065, the PWFA, in December 2022. National abortion organizations such as NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood advocated for the bill, as well as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Prior to the bill’s passage, CatholicVote warned that PWFA could be used to force employers to pay for abortion-related expenses.

“I’m surprised some pro-life groups just didn’t seem to realize how this bill is going to impact their own operations,” said CatholicVote Director of Government Affairs Tom McClusky this week. “Under the bill, as the NWLC is now clearly stating, pro-life organizations can be sued if they don’t provide their employees special leave to get abortions.”

The NWLC, founded in 1972, is a legal advocacy group fighting for “gender justice – in the courts, in public policy, and in our society.” The website notes “for 50 years, NWLC and our supporters have been on the leading edge of every major legal and policy victory for women,” including the fight against Hobby Lobby in 2014.

Read more at: catholicvote.org

Old people in Japan should kill themselves to avoid burdening the state, a professor at Yale University has said.

Yusuke Narita, an assistant professor of economics, has also suggested that euthanasia could be made compulsory.

Last year, official statistics in Japan revealed that over-75s accounted for 15 per cent of the country’s population for the first time. Those over 65 account for 29.1 per cent of the total, making the Japanese population the oldest in the world.

“I feel like the only solution is pretty clear,” said Mr Narita, 37. “In the end, isn’t it mass suicide and mass ‘seppuku’ of the elderly?” – referring to the act of disembowelment employed by dishonoured Samurai in the late 19th century.

Prof Narita told The New York Times his comments had been taken out of context, adding that they related to demands for older people in leadership positions to make way for the younger generation. He said his primary concern was how old people dominated positions of influence in Japanese society.

The references to “mass suicide” and “mass seppuku” touched a raw nerve in a country which honoured kamikaze pilots during the Second World War.

Read more at: www.yahoo.com

Advocates claim standardized tests harm minority students.

Last week, Columbia University became the first Ivy League school to permanently scrap its standardized test requirement, allowing hopeful applicants to skip the dreaded SAT and ACT.

The move makes the prestigious New York City school the latest in a string of elite institutions to move away from the tests as the argument that standardized testing harms minority students picks up steam. Previously, a low SAT or ACT score meant automatic elimination at many top-tier schools.

In a March 1 release, Columbia University wrote that “students are dynamic, multi-faceted individuals who cannot be defined by any single factor.” The admissions process respects the “varied backgrounds, voices and experiences” of students in order to determine whether a student will thrive at the school, Columbia said. Students may still submit test scores, but those who do not will not be at a disadvantage.

During the pandemic, many universities — including Harvard and Princeton — jumped at the chance to indefinitely suspend their standardized test admission requirements while in-person testing was on hold. Now, some like Columbia don’t want to go back.

This fall, more than 80% of undergraduate colleges will not require ACT or SAT scores from students, according to one estimate.

The SAT and ACT are also not the only standardized tests schools are ditching over “equity” concerns. Dozens of law schools have scrapped their LSAT test requirement. Advocates are even pushing for medical schools to stop requiring the MCAT, alarming critics who worry that schools could end up graduating less qualified doctors, putting patients at risk.

The argument that standardized tests are inherently racist has given rise to eyebrow-raising explanations for why minority students on the whole do worse on these tests. Black students perform poorly on standardized tests because they fear incorrect answers will confirm negative stereotypes about their race — they perform badly because they’re afraid of performing badly, essentially — a 2011 Stanford University study found.

Read more at: www.dailywire.com