News From Around the Web
#10 North Carolina Bill to Curb Mask-Wearing in Protests Could Make It Illegal for Medical Reasons Too - Makiya Seminera for AP News, and Guiness Pig on X
People wearing a mask during protests in North Carolina could face extra penalties if arrested under proposed legislation that critics say could make it illegal to wear a mask in public as a way to protect against COVID-19 or for other health reasons. Republicans supporters say the legislation, which passed its first committee Tuesday, was prompted in part by the recent wave of protests on universities nationwide — including at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill — against Israel’s war in Gaza. GOP Sen. Buck Newton brushed off concerns that getting rid of pandemic-era exemptions on masks was overly broad, saying he expects authorities to use “good common sense.” “We didn’t see Granny getting arrested in the Walmart pre-COVID,” Newton said as he presented the bill Tuesday in the state Senate Judiciary Committee... The top Republicans on the House and Senate Small Business Committees are calling on the Small Business Administration to comply with oversight after they launched an investigation into potential electioneering activities. “The House and Senate Committees on Small Business have a constitutional duty to conduct oversight of the SBA,” Rep. Roger Williams (R-TX) and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) said in a joint statement shared with the Washington Examiner. “To little surprise, Biden’s SBA has continued to stonewall and ignore legitimate requests from both Committees. We are extremely disappointed that the agency has chosen this path; nevertheless, we’re not stopping our joint efforts to get answers on behalf of the American people,” they added. The House committee, led by Williams, subpoenaed SBA chief of staff Arthur Plews and adviser Tyler Robinson after the two did not attend a scheduled interview and failed to turn over documents the committee requested... A former Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) manager at Facebook and Nike has been sentenced for wire fraud worth over $5 million. Barbara Furlow-Smiles, 38, had previously pleaded guilty in December of 2023 to stealing millions from the tech company through cash kickbacks, made-up charges, and fake vendors. The United States Attorney’s Office released a press release on Monday. It states that Furlow-Smiles must now also “pay restitution in the amount of $4,981,783.58 to Facebook and $121,054.50 to Nike, for a total of $5,102,838.08.” The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is the first prestigious university to declare it will no longer require DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) statements as part of their new hire criteria for oncoming faculty members. Diversity statements began in the late 2010s as a social justice cause, but now the progressive Left and the Biden Administration have imposed these standards on college campuses nationwide. Conservatives and free speech apologists decry this ideological conformity for creating a ‘political litmus test’ and promoting racial bias in our higher learning institutions... Several top doctors advocated for patients, including children, to remain on hormone treatments despite having serious mental health issues, according to footage from a 2022 conference exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), an international organization that creates medical guidelines for transgender procedures, hosted an educational series in September 2022 in Montreal, Canada. The DCNF obtained roughly 30 hours of video recordings from the 2022 conference through a public records request... Democrats are planning to make at least part of their national convention virtual to avoid a repeat of the disastrous 1968 convention in Chicago, according to Politico Magazine. There are at least a half-dozen parallels between the 1968 presidential race, including the host city for the Democratic convention and the impact of anti-war protests. As CBS News reported this month, “The U.S. Palestinian Community Network is one of more than 70 organizations involved in planning various protests during the four-day convention at the United Center,” slated to take place Aug. 19-22... Member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) are expected to vote on the final text of the agency’s “pandemic agreement” during the 77th World Health Assembly, convening in Geneva, Switzerland, on May 27 – June 1, 2024. However, the WHO’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic has sparked a global uproar, with many expressing their concerns about the deep state-funded group potentially gaining even greater control over global health matters in the future. Despite this—operating as the self-appointed specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health—the WHO remains steadfast in its tyrannical position. With that in mind, in a move that is undoubtedly strategic ahead of the new treaty, the group has changed the terminology of airborne viruses, now referring to them as “pathogens that transmit through the air.” Additionally, they’ve partnered with CERN to develop an online tool called ARIA to assess the risks of future airborne transmissions in countless public and private settings... Eight TikTok creators have launched a legal challenge against a law that threatens to ban the app unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, divests it. These creators argue that TikTok is distinct from other social media platforms and serves as a vital form of personal expression and a source of income. They emphasize that features such as the recommendation algorithm, green screen, and duet capabilities make TikTok distinctive. The lawsuit states that TikTok's unique features create a distinct culture and identity for the platform. It argues that making videos on TikTok is a unique expression, potentially conveying different meanings compared to other platforms...
#9 Biden SBA Officials ‘Stonewall’ After Being Subpoenaed for Alleged Election Scheme - Samantha-Jo Roth for Washington Examiner, and Senior Patriot on X
#8 Ex-DEI Manager At Facebook And Nike Sentenced For Multi-Million Dollar Fraud - Abril Elfi for OAN, and Owen Gregorian on X
#7 MIT Eliminates DEI - Alex Adkins for American Thinker, and Way of the World and Owen Gregorian on X
#6 Bookies Open Odds on Which Political Celebrities Will Join Trump at Courthouse - Elizabeth Weibel for Breitbart, and JPNWMN on X
This comes as people like former Republican 2024 presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND), Reps. Byron Donalds (R-FL), and Cory Mills (R-FL) accompanied Trump to the courthouse in Manhattan for his business records trial on Tuesday. The day before, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) joined Trump at the courthouse in Manhattan. A list compiled by ODDSPR, using betting data from BetOnline.ag, showed that Sen. Scott had one-in-three odds of attending, while Rep. Stefanik had one-in-one odds of making an appearance at the courthouse. Dr. Carson was in third place with six-in-five odds of making an appearance at the courthouse...
#5 ‘Keep the Voices Down’: In Unearthed Video, Doctors Discuss Putting Mentally Ill Patients, Including Kids, on Hormones - Megan Brock and Kate Anderson for The Daily Caller, and JPNWMN and Kate Anderson on X
#4 Democrats Preparing for Possible Virtual Convention to Avoid Repeat of ‘68 Anti-war Protests - Randy DoSoto for Western Journal, and Alec Lace and Amy Sunshine on X
#3 Palestinian Refugees Incoming as Biden Defers Enforced Departure for Those Already Here - Wendi Strauch Mahoney for UncoverDC
The Biden administration is considering resettling Palestinian refugees using the United States Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) and also deferred enforced departure in February for Palestinians who are already here. On Feb. 14, the White House ordered the Department of Homeland Security to defer the removal of Palestinians who are here in the U.S. under the Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) program. In 2021, Biden committed to using the refugee resettlement program to reach the goal of 125,000 refugee admissions per year. According to a May 13 article from the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), "the foreign-born or immigrant population (legal and illegal) hit new record highs in March 2024 of 51.6 million and 15.6 percent of the total U.S. population...Since President Biden took office in January 2021, the foreign-born population has increased by 6.6 million in just 39 months."
#2 The WHO and CERN Team Up to Address “Pathogens that Transmit Through the Air” - Tracy Beanz and Michelle Edwards for The HighWire and Tracy Beanz and The WHO, and Maarten De Cock on X
#1 TikTok Creators Sue to Block Sell-or-Ban Law, Citing First Amendment Rights - Inno Flores for Tech Times and Selina Wang TV, and KDKA on X
And Now for Something Special
John Burke on X
I had the absolute pleasure of performing for a retirement home this evening. We had a show about the history of the Argentinian tango and its variations through time. It was such a wonderful experience.
