Lee Ardis

Maryland school district unveils LGBTQ book list that teaches words ‘intersex,’ ‘drag queen’ to pre-K students

MCPS recommends book that teaches ‘cisgender,’ ‘transgender’ to 7-year olds

Maryland’s wealthiest school district has unveiled a new LGBTQ-inclusive book list for elementary schools that teaches words like “intersex” and “drag queen” to children as young as 4.

A PowerPoint presentation by Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) shows a list of LGBTQ+ books that will be provided for pre-K through fifth-grade classrooms this year. The presentation explains that the LGBTQ-inclusive reading list aims to “reduce stigmatization and marginalization of transgender and gender nonconforming students.”

“All students deserve to see themselves in their school and classroom, including students who identify as LGBTQ+ and come from LGBTQ+ headed families and have family members that are a part of the LGBTQ+ community,” the presentation states. “There are no planned explicit lessons related to gender and sexuality, but these books do mean that LGBTQ+ identities will be made visible. Inclusive curricula support a student’s ability to empathize, connect, and collaborate with a diverse group of peers, and encourage respect for all.”

‘400 seconds’ to Tel Aviv: Iranian media publishes Hebrew hypersonic missile threat

Iran’s Sobh-e-Sadegh newspaper published a threat in Hebrew on its front page on Monday, warning that a new Iranian hypersonic missile could reach Israel in 400 seconds.

“400 seconds: General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Aerospace Force, said that Iran has obtained technology for hypersonic missiles,” wrote the newspaper, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Pariyab also referenced a letter sent by Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, the “father” of Iran’s missile program, to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, which referenced the acquisition of a “quick response super-fast missile.”

Bible’s Reliability Further Affirmed as King Hezekiah Inscription Deciphered

Israeli archaeology experts cite parallel passage in 2 Kings 20 and a new class of biblical artifacts.

A broken portion of an engraving on a limestone tablet the size of your palm (see photo below) is adding yet further confirmation to the biblical account and giving a new twist on how Israel’s kings saw themselves.

The partial inscription engraved in ancient Hebrew letters was originally reported in 2008, but was not deciphered until recently. The letters on the inscription are only fragments of words, with the rest of the letters having been broken off. When found, the artifact was near an ancient man-made pool together with pottery shards dating to the 8th century BC. However, at the time the Israel Antiquities Authority did not make a conclusive connection between the inscription, King Hezekiah and the pool.

Now two mainstream Israel archaeological experts, Gershon Galil and Eli Shukron, have concluded that the full inscription was:

“Hezekiah made the pool in Jerusalem.”

The parallel passage is found in 2 Kings 20:20, which reads:

“As for the other events of Hezekiah’s reign, all his achievements and how he made the pool and the tunnel by which he brought water into the city…” (NKJ)

‘We Do Have National Security Concerns’: FBI Director Warns Chinese Communist Party Uses TikTok To Compromise American Privacy

FBI Director Christopher Wray told Homeland Security Committee House members Tuesday that the video-sharing app TikTok poses national security threats from the Chinese Communist Party.

Concerns from Wray and the FBI come off the heels of Federal Communications Commission officials urging the U.S. government to ban the app to protect American citizens’ private data, citing issues with controlling the information flow back to Beijing. TikTok officials denounced the federal agency’s accusations, saying FCC officials have no role in the confidential discussions with the U.S. government related to the app.

“We do have national security concerns — at least from the FBI’s end — about TikTok,” Wray said in a hearing focused on Worldwide Threats to the Homeland. “They include the possibility that the Chinese government could use it to control data collection on millions of users. Or control the
recommendation algorithm, which could be used for influence operations if they so chose. Or to control software on millions of devices, which gives it opportunity to potentially technically compromise personal devices.”

Chinese tech giant ByteDance owns TikTok, which currently has more than 200 million downloads in the United States — and according to Fox Business, the company must share its data with the CCP upon request, as required by Chinese law.

Read more at: www.dailywire.com

Sheriffs Vow Not To Enforce Oregon’s Strict New Gun Control Law

Oregon sheriffs are vowing not to enforce a strict gun control measure passed by the state’s voters last week.

At least five county sheriffs are openly refusing to not enforce at least parts of the law, according to Fox News. The officials say that the law oversteps Constitutional gun rights and will be an additional drain on law enforcement while failing to address problems with more serious crimes.

“The biggest thing is this does absolutely nothing to address the problem,” Sheriff Cody Bowen of Union County told Fox News. “The problem that we have is not … magazine capacity. It’s not background checks. It’s a problem with mental health awareness. It’s a problem with behavior health illness.”

“Our society as a whole is a bigger problem rather than saying that, you know, the guns are killing people,” he said.

Read more at: www.dailywire.com

San Francisco Launches Program To Pay Trans Residents $1,200 A Month For 18 Months

The city of San Francisco is offering a monthly stimulus program exclusively for transgender residents.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced that the city would begin accepting applications for the Guaranteed Income for Trans People (GIFT) program Wednesday. The program is exclusive to transgender residents of the city, and led by The Transgender District, a neighborhood of the city for transgender people; it will give 55 transgender residents $1,200 a month for up to 18 months. The move is allegedly part of an effort to advance equity for transgender people.

“Guaranteed Income for Transgender People (G.I.F.T.) will provide economically marginalized transgender people with unrestricted, monthly guaranteed income as a way to combat poverty our most impacted community members face,” a website for the program reads. “The Transgender District and Lyon-Martin Community Health Services, in partnership with municipal city departments in the City and County of San Francisco, will provide 55 Transgender residents of San Francisco County with $1,200 a month in guaranteed income for a year and a half. The program will prioritize enrollment of Transgender, Non-Binary, Gender Non-Conforming, and Intersex (TGI) people who are also Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC), experiencing homelessness, living with disabilities and chronic illnesses, youth and elders, monolingual Spanish-speakers, and those who are legally vulnerable such as TGI people who are undocumented, engaging in survival sex trades, or are formerly incarcerated.”

Read more at: www.dailywire.com

Florida picks up after Nicole kills at least 5 and leaves ‘unprecedented’ damage to Daytona-area coastline

As Nicole threatens the Carolinas and Virginia on Friday with tornadoes and flooding, Floridians – many still recovering from Hurricane Ian – are picking up the pieces after this week’s storm killed at least five people and ripped apart buildings with its dangerous storm surge and powerful winds.

In Volusia County, Florida, at least 49 beachfront properties, including hotels and condos, have been deemed “unsafe” in the aftermath of Nicole, which hit Florida’s eastern coast south of Vero Beach as a Category 1 hurricane early Thursday before weakening into a tropical storm and eventually becoming a post-tropical cyclone Friday afternoon.

“The structural damage along our coastline is unprecedented,” Volusia County Manager George Recktenwald said in a news conference, adding more buildings will likely be identified as compromised.

Housing Affordability Plummets To New Low, With All The Least Affordable Housing Markets In California

Housing affordability has fallen to its lowest level in a decade, with all of the least affordable markets in the state of California, according to data from the National Association of Home Builders.

The organization’s Housing Opportunity Index shows that a mere 42.2% of American families earning $90,000 per year were able to afford new and existing homes sold between the beginning of July and the end of September. Affordability is expected to weaken further as mortgage rates increase.

“The housing market and affordability conditions have continued to weaken throughout the year as rising mortgage rates, supply chain bottlenecks and a lack of skilled construction workers continue to push housing costs higher,” National Association of Home Builders Chairman Jerry Konter said in a statement. “Entry-level buyers are particularly hurt, as more of them are getting priced out of the market.”

The organization has not recorded a lower affordability reading since its analysts began tracking the metric consistently in 2012. The most recent affordability data marks the second consecutive quarterly record low.

Read more at: www.dailywire.com

Biden Doubles Down On Student Loan Cancellation Despite Federal Ruling

The Biden administration doubled down on its move to cancel student debt for millions of borrowers after a federal judge nixed the controversial program.

U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman in the Northern District of Texas declared the debt cancellation plan illegal on Thursday evening in response to a lawsuit filed by the Job Creators Network Foundation’s Legal Action Fund. The student loan cancellation plan would eliminate $10,000 in debt for borrowers earning under $125,000 per year and $20,000 for students who attended college using Pell Grants.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that an appeal has already been filed. “The President and this administration are determined to help working and middle-class Americans get back on their feet, while our opponents — backed by extreme Republican special interests — sued to block millions of Americans from getting much-needed relief,” she remarked. “We will never stop fighting for hardworking Americans most in need — no matter how many roadblocks our opponents and special interests try to put in our way.”

Read more at: www.dailywire.com

Boston To Pay $2.1 Million After Supreme Court Rules Against City’s Refusal To Fly Christian Flag

Boston has agreed to pay $2.1 million in legal fees and other expenses after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the city for refusing to allow a Christian flag to fly outside City Hall.

The settlement included an agreement to pay Harold Shurtleff and his Camp Constitution non-profit for legal costs incurred during the dispute.

“We are pleased that after five years of litigation and a unanimous victory at the U.S. Supreme Court, we joined with Hal Shurtleff to finally let freedom fly in Boston, the Cradle of Liberty,” Liberty Counsel Chairman Mat Staver, whose organization represented Shurtleff, said in a statement.

Read more at: www.dailywire.com