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A Barbadian theatrical dance group is taking legal action after being “excluded in the name of inclusivity” following their “unconstitutional” disqualification from a national competition due to their Christian beliefs on gender.

Praise Academy of Dance Barbados was banned from performing at the National Independence Festival of Creative Arts (NIFCA) in October for allegedly breaching the rules by exceeding “the bounds of good taste,” and making “defamatory claims,” the St. Vincent Times reported.

The infraction was found due to the group’s “Speak of Life” performance produced for the event, in which they “presented a Christian viewpoint of gender identity and sexual orientation and declared the Christian worldview that there are only two genders.”

A recording of the full performance includes a depiction of a teen girl who struggles with her gender identity in school, with a dialogue sharing biological and biblical explanations for the two sexes.

At one point, the performers announce, “It’s not a choice, you don’t get to pick. That’s the science, period!”

Banners with verses from the biblical book of Genesis hung on the stage, stating: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

Despite the dance troupe sharing their Christian faith for the last 20 years without disqualification, they say that Senator Gregory Nicholls, arbiter of the National Cultural Foundation (NCF), “unconstitutionally” canceled them without referring the matter to the Barbados Supreme Court.

“The case is believed to be the first time that a group has been canceled for the expression of traditional Christian beliefs in Barbados and brings into question whether the LGBTQ agenda is being brought in by the back door,” the Carribean outlet reported.

Praise Academy has raised an official complaint, arguing that the decision of the NCF and NIFCA judging panel was illegal and unconstitutional.

Read more at: breitbart.com

The border is “open,” according to Detective Shawn Wilson. Despite working 80 miles from the border of Mexico in the Tucson Sector of Arizona, Wilson, a member of the Pinal County Anti-Smuggling Unit, regularly encounters illegal aliens and smugglers passing through the county.

Wilson says the smugglers’ strategy has changed in recent years.

Over the last few years, “human smuggling has increased dramatically,” Wilson told The Daily Signal during a recent ride-along. “Before, you’d see … a little bit [of] human smuggling and mainly marijuana. But now there’s hardly any marijuana or drugs, and it’s mainly human smuggling.”

At least two incentives are driving the change, according to Wilson: money and police penalties.

“People want to come and the cartels, and people down in Mexico who are making the money, they see the opportunity to increase their annual income,” he said. There are also less severe prison terms or penalties for smuggling people “than if you were smuggling methamphetamine or fentanyl,” the detective explained, “so there’s a lot less risk to it and a lot more money.”

The cartels “contract” drivers to pick illegal aliens up at the border and drive them into the interior of the U.S., Deputy Sheriff Mark Terry, who also serves on the Pinal County Anti-Smuggling Unit, told The Daily Signal.

The cartels “go on social media and they’ll basically put a job offering a certain amount of money to just take people from point A to point B,” Terry said. “That money can go for between $500 per person to $1,000 per person.”

When Terry and Wilson pull over vehicles in Pinal County they suspect might be involved in human smuggling, they often encounter illegal aliens from all over the world.

Nationals from Pakistan, Iraq, and India represent a sampling of the aliens officers have encountered being smuggled through their county. When the officers stop vehicles smuggling illegal aliens, they contact Border Patrol to come detain them because local law enforcement does not have the authority to arrest illegal aliens.

Yet Border Patrol agents who used to be patrolling in the field have now been moved to the border to process illegal aliens, Terry and Wilson lamented.

“The numbers that are coming through the border right now are so high that they need everybody there to help with that,” Terry said. “So, if we pull someone over on the freeway here … sometimes they can’t come because they’re all busy at the border.”

When Border Patrol cannot respond in a timely manner, “we just have to let them go,” Wilson said.

Read more at: dailysignal.com

A new report is documenting a drastic rise in anti-Christian hate crimes across Europe. The Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC Europe) published its annual report last week, detailing a 44% increase over the course of 2022 in social hostility towards and violent attacks against Christians as well as acts of vandalism and desecration against churches.

According to the report, 748 anti-Christian hate crimes were committed in Europe last year, 38 of which were violent physical attacks and three of which were murders. Arson attacks were also more common than in years past and churches were targeted for firebombings and vandalism, especially in France and Germany. In fact, arson attacks nearly doubled over the course of one year, rising from 60 attacks in 2021 to 106 in 2022.

The OIDAC Europe report noted that “there had been a surge of clear extremism-motivated attacks.” The majority of these attacks were committed by groups with far-left, satanic, Islamic, feminist, or LGBT affiliations. In comments to The Washington Stand, Irish Freedom Party founder and president Hermann Kelly said, “The increase in the number of anti-Christian hate crimes is truly shocking in a supposedly Christian continent. The presence of many millions of the Islamic faith which preaches hatred, domination, and annihilation of all non-Muslims has no doubt added greatly to the rise in anti-Christian violence.”

He added, “A second spike in the anti-Christian pincer movement is that of aggressive and militant secularism of the far Left. Incredibly, they find common allies and goals in the silencing of Christian public presence and influence in European society.”

In its report, OIDAC Europe also noted a growing movement to suppress religious liberty and criminalize Christian practices. In Ireland, for example, the government has been promoting what OIDAC called “Europe’s most extreme ‘hate speech’ bill.” The Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Act would shift the burden of proof to the accused, who would have to demonstrate that they did not intend to “spread hate.” The bill criminalizes private materials, such as memes on a phone or books on a shelf, and could potentially outlaw Christian teachings on such subjects as LGBT ideology.

The bill, if enacted, would also allow police officers to obtain warrants to investigate suspected “hate speech” without presenting any evidence to a court. Other European nations have also seen “hate speech” legislation weaponized against Christians: two Catholic bishops in Spain have been prosecuted for repeating the Catholic Church’s teachings on marriage and sexuality, numerous “street preachers” have been arrested in the U.K. for allegedly causing “distress” to those who disagreed with Christian teachings, and Finish parliamentarian Päivi Räsänen was charged with “War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity” for quoting Scripture.

Others have seen “hate speech” policies weaponized in areas like academia. In Ireland, schoolteacher Enoch Burke was dismissed from his post and eventually jailed for refusing to call a student by transgender pronouns. Welsh teacher Ben Dybowski was fired after being asked to share his Christian position on homosexuality and abortion during a confidential, mandatory diversity and gender awareness training session. U.K. teacher Joshua Sutcliffe was sacked for sharing his Christian views on marriage with students, and school chaplain Bernard Randall was dismissed for delivering a homily critical of the LGBT agenda.

Another area of concern is abortion “buffer zones,” designated areas outside of abortion facilities where prayer, protest, and pro-life counseling are legally prohibited. These “buffer zones” are becoming prevalent in Ireland, Germany, Spain, and the U.K. Last year, pro-life activist Isabel Vaughan-Spruce was arrested for silently praying outside an abortion facility in England. The Catholic woman held no rosary and did not speak aloud but simply stood in silence. She was arrested, tried, and acquitted, and then arrested again two weeks after the acquittal on the same charges.

Read more at: washingtonstand.com

Anglican bishops have expressed their grief at the Church of England’s decision to trial “special standalone services” for blessing those in same-sex partnerships.

Under previous proposals, the services would have been authorised under a two-year long process, which would have required a two-thirds majority in each of the General Synod’s three Houses. Instead, Synod backed a proposal to fast-track trial services. The amendment required a simple majority to pass and succeeded in the House of Laity by just one vote.

In a statement, bishops of the Anglican Network in Europe spoke of their “deep sadness” at the Synod’s continuing rejection of Scripture, and promised to stand with faithful Christians within the Church.

Arrogance

The bishops lamented that “a majority at General Synod voted to continue to travel along a road that arrogantly rejects the authority of scripture, the historic teaching of the church from earliest times and the vast majority of Anglicans worldwide.

“They have walked away from the life transforming grace and truth of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

On behalf of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches, Archbishop of South Sudan Justin Badi said: “We wholeheartedly support the faithful bishops, clergy and laity within the Church of England and assure them of our continuing prayers and pastoral commitment as a global body.”

Quoting the book of Revelation, he added: “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (Revelation 2:10)

Read more at: christian.org.uk

According to reports, if President Biden signs the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Pandemic Treaty and International Health Regulations (IHR), the United States could be bound by international law to both accept and implement all portions of the treaty, including unlimited abortion through all 40 weeks of pregnancy.

Member States of the WHO have agreed to a global process to negotiate a treaty aimed at strengthening pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response. The final draft is expected to be submitted at the World Health Assembly in May 2024. Based on the previous statements by the WHO, it views abortion as a vital component of health care and during the Covid-19 pandemic, it called abortion ‘essential health care’. It is, therefore, likely that the WHO would consider abortion to be ‘essential health care’ during any future pandemic as well.

As reported by Liberty Counsel, “When the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked last year, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus immediately took to social media to criticize our High Court. Not only did Tedros declare that abortion should be ‘understood as health care,’ he also irrationally claimed that ‘safe and legal abortion saves lives.’”

Likewise, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the WHO’s chief scientist up until 2022, said that protecting preborn children from abortion is akin to “denying someone a life-saving drug.”

The WHO has not been shy about its strong support for abortion, calling it a “critical public health and human rights issue” — not because it strips an entire group of humans of their humanity and right to life but because the WHO believes that killing innocent children in the womb is itself a human right. It has even asked member states to remove conscience protections for healthcare workers who do not want to partake in abortions.

According to C-Fam, the Biden administration supports the WHO in including abortion as an essential health service under the pandemic treaty. During negotiations of the treaty draft, Biden appointee Ambassador Pamela Hamamoto called for “access to essential health care services during pandemics, including sexual and reproductive health services” to be part of the draft of the treaty. “Sexual and reproductive health” is a euphemism commonly used to refer to abortion, the intentional and direct killing of human beings before birth.

Read more at: liveaction.org

The typical American household must spend an additional $11,434 annually just to maintain the same standard of living they enjoyed in January of 2021, right before inflation soared to 40-year highs, according to a recent analysis of government data.

Such figures underscore the financial squeeze many families continue to face even as the the rate of U.S. inflation recedes and the economy by many measures remains strong, with the jobless rate at a two-decade low. The analysis, from Republican members of the U.S. Senate Joint Economic Committee, taps government data such as the Consumer Price Index and Consumer Expenditure Survey to examine the impact of inflation state by state.

Even so, many Americans say they aren’t feeling those gains, and this fall more people reported struggling financially than they did prior to the pandemic, according to CBS News polling. Inflation is the main reason Americans express pessimism about economy despite its bright points, which also include stronger wage gains in recent years.

The Biden administration called the analysis “flawed.” Citing federal labor data, a White House spokesman noted that per capita disposable income has risen 16% since December 2020, just prior to President Joe Biden’s inauguration.

“14 million more Americans have jobs today than when President Biden took office and household disposable income is up by almost $21,000 since December 2020,” the spokesman said in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch. “And what Congressional Republicans pushing this one-sided study won’t admit is that their proposals would raise costs on the middle class and cut Social Security and Medicare so they can give rich special interests more tax giveaways.”

To be sure, economists point to a number of pandemic-related issues as the cause of high inflation, rather than decisions from any one political party. For instance, spending bills were signed by both Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden that put stimulus money into the hands of millions of Americans, while global supply-chain snarls and labor shortages drove up the cost of goods and services.

But even as inflation is now cooling rapidly, many consumers say they aren’t feeling it, with a new Bankrate survey finding 60% of working Americans say their income has lagged inflation has over the past 12 months.

“On the edge”

Average hourly pay for workers has increased robust 13.6% since January 2021, although that lags the 17% increase in inflation during the same period, according to government data. The main categories requiring heavier spending for consumers simply to tread water: food, transportation, housing and energy, which together account for almost 80 cents of every $1 in additional spending, according to the Republican analysis.

“Middle- and low-income Americans aren’t doing well enough — they are living fragilely on the edge,” said Gene Ludwig, chairman of the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity (LISEP), a think thank whose own analysis found that the income needed to cover the basics fell short by almost $14,000, on average, in 2022.

Read more at: cbsnews.com

Police operations from California to Maine have busted Chinese nationals operating illegal marijuana growing sites. U.S. officials have clear evidence China is providing Mexican drug cartels the precursor chemicals to make the fentanyl flowing into America. The Drug Enforcement Administration has substantial evidence dating back a decade of Beijing’s role in flooding U.S. cities with a wide range of addictive and harmful drugs.

Experts say there is growing evidence that communist China has launched concerted operations to hook Americans on drugs as part of a larger effort to supplant the United States as the world’s No. 1 superpower. Adding to the problem, the insecure border of the Biden era has only accelerated operations that have killed tens of thousands of Americans from fentanyl poisoning alone. The National Center for Health Statistics reported that drug overdose death rates involving fentanyl increased by 279% from 5.7 per 100,000 in 2016 to 21.6 in 2021.

“I’m just saying that from a strategic plan of the CCP, it’s a brilliant concept that if we can get into America and sell this very pure marijuana and destroy Americans’ brains, so then they go to pills and other drugs, that’s a brilliant, unrestricted warfare,” former DEA Chief of Special Operations Derek Maltz Sr. told Just the News on Wednesday.

“When you look at the Chinese Communist Party. And you look at the role of China and their criminal networks in the overall drug crisis in America – because people are not connecting the dots – this is way bigger than just a bunch of, you know, illegally selling marijuana up in Maine. First of all, it’s all over the country. It’s not just Maine, Oklahoma, Oregon, Washington State, California. And, you know, all different states,” Maltz said during a wide-ranging interview on the John Solomon Reports podcast.

Evidence of Chinese drug manufacturing and trafficking is cropping up from coast to coast in the United States, some coming to light just this week.

Police in Wilton, Maine, conducted a raid on a sprawling 10,000-foot commercial complex Tuesday in what the Maine Wire reported was an “illegal Chinese marijuana operation” where $1 million in cannabis was seized. Four men of Asian descent were arrested.

A few months earlier in Carmel, Maine, police uncovered a major marijuana grow in a vacant house where they seized 3,400 plants and 111 pounds of pot, according to local TV station WABI. Authorities arrested a group of Chinese nationals in that raid.

In between those two high profile episodes, an unclassified memo leaked in July from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) alleges that authorities believe Chinese nationals are operating 270 properties used for illegal marijuana growing operations that could produce an estimated $4.37 billion in revenue. Authorities said at the time that operators were either Chinese nationals with resident status in the U.S. or asylum-seekers, both of which may prevent them from being deported.

Read more at: justthenews.com

A petition denouncing the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for advancing “the liberal LGBTQ agenda” had garnered nearly 35,000 with almost a full week to go before the holiday.

The petition was started by One Million Moms, a division of the American Family Association that was established “to stop the exploitation of our children, especially by the entertainment media,” according to its website.

Interested readers can view and sign the petition here.

Numerous media outlets, including The Western Journal, had reported on the “transgender agenda … taking center stage” at this year’s parade, which apparently prompted the group to launch the petition.

The the U.K.’s Daily Mail first reported on petition Monday, it had about 17,000 electronic signatures. That number has doubled in the four days since.

“Unless they are forewarned about it, this year’s holiday parade will potentially expose tens of millions of viewers at home to the liberal LGBTQ agenda,” the petition reads.

“It is clear that Macy’s does not have our children’s best interests in mind,” the group added. “Macy’s needs to know that trust must be earned, and once trust is lost, it is difficult to get back.”

According to The Associated Press, Cher, the woman who recently made headlines by declaring she would leave the United States if former President Donald Trump is re-elected, is supposed to entertain a country after regularly insulting the half that supports Trump.

At least some of that half seems likely not to tune in to the coverage of the parade on Thanksgiving, a number that this petition apparently seeks to increase.

Breitbart reported last week that “non-binary” actors from two Broadway shows — “& Juliet” and “Shucked” — were expected to be part of the parade festivities.

The show “& Juliet” is inspired by Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” but explores what Juliet’s life might have been like had she not committed suicide at the end of the story. The part of the non-binary “May” is played by Justin David Sullivan, according to Breitbart.

Read more at: westernjournal.com

German transgender singer Kim Petras is all in on gay sex during his concerts.

However, the website Breitbart, citing Ticketmaster, said some venues on the tour allow children as young as 8 into the show, although it said anyone under 14 must be accompanied at all times by an adult. This is despite the fact that the show, Petras said, “is kind of inspired by Dante’s Inferno and the different levels of hell.”

According to Ticketmaster, all venues in his 2024 tour are in Great Britain and other European countries.

Petras sounded off where he likes to play and what he likes to see going on in the crowd during an interview with Interview magazine.

🚨Transgender Pop Star Kim Petras Wants Gay Fans to Have Sex During Concerts Where Children Are Allowed to Attend

Kim Petras, the transgender German pop star, said he wants his gay fans to engage in sex during performances of his current concert tour, where children as young as eight are allowed to attend.

pic.twitter.com/xLKF7sX8Lv

— Unlimited L’s (@unlimited_ls) November 16, 2023

“I like venues without seats. I like the warehouse vibe where people can stand and dance, and I feel like my music is better for that, so that it feels more like a party than a stadium, sitting down with your drink and observing,” he said.

“I don’t really love looking at a sea of people who all sit. It’s just not my jam, which is why I’ve picked the venues I have, so that it feels more like a party than a stadium, sitting down with your drink and observing,” Petras said.

Interviewer Nicholson Baird then said, “I feel like, to be at a Kim Petras concert is to want to be touched by a different person all over, the entire time.”

“Yes, me too, which is something I’m so proud of. There’s definitely gay sex happening, which is lit,” Petras said.

“In the crowd, and that’s the goal,” Petras added.

Petras said adapting his body through hormone therapy was essential, beginning at age 12, according to Entertainment Weekly.

Read more at: westernjournal.com

High school students, particularly males, with a history of concussion in the last year, showed a higher tendency for suicidal thoughts, planning, or attempts compared to those without a concussion history, according to a study by a research team that includes a researcher at the University of Michigan.

Boys who experienced two or more concussions in the past year were twice as likely to report a suicide attempt compared to those with a single concussion. For girls, the likelihood of suicidal behaviors was comparably higher irrespective of the number of concussions.

“This type of research is never easy to discuss, but it is vitally important to understand who is at risk and why,” said study co-author Steve Broglio, professor of kinesiology and director of the University of Michigan Concussion Center. “Anyone who has concern for any student-athlete should not be afraid to reach out and help find the appropriate resources.”

This is believed to be the first known study to examine the relationship between suicidal behaviors and concussion frequency in a nationally representative sample of U.S. high school students.

“From broader literature, we know that brain injuries, like concussion, can precipitate or exacerbate mental health challenges,” said lead author Jacob Kay, a rehabilitation scientist at Prisma Health Children’s Hospital and the University of South Carolina. “Our study further highlights the importance of evaluating mental health among both male and female youth that have sustained a concussion. This is particularly true for those who have sustained multiple concussions in a short time.”

Other study highlights include:

• 15% of students reported one or more concussions and 6% reported two or more concussions in the past year
• 17% of males and 13% of females reported one or more concussions in the past year
• 44% of females vs. 24% of males reported feeling sad or hopeless
• 24% of females vs. 13% of males reported having suicidal thoughts
• 19% of females vs. 10% of males reported planning suicide
• 10% of females vs. 5% of males reported attempting suicide
• 3% of females and 1% of males reported an injury from an attempted suicide
• Medical professionals should closely evaluate and monitor mental health in youth, especially those with a recent history of repetitive concussions

Read more at: scitechdaily.com