Vivek Ramaswamy Schools Chuck Todd Over His Claim Gender Is ‘a Spectrum’

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy instructed NBC’s Meet the Press host Chuck Todd in basic biological principles and the moderator’s claim that gender is “a spectrum.” “Under the age of 18, I think it’s perfectly legitimate to say that we won’t allow genital mutilation or chemical castration through puberty blockers,” Ramaswamy asserted to Todd on Sunday.

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Commentary: Another California Bank Fails After $100 Billion Run on Deposits and Rising Interest Rates Forces First Republic into FDIC Receivership

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation put the $229.1 billion California-based First Republic Bank into receivership today on May 1, while the FDIC also entered into a “purchase and assumption agreement” with JP Morgan-Chase Bank for the nation’s largest bank to assume First Republic’s assets as well as its $103.9 billion of deposits.

Another one bites the dust.

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Massachusetts Boy Confronts School Board After Allegedly Being Punished for ‘There Are Only Two Genders’ Shirt: ‘Why Do the Rules Apply to One Yet Not Another?’

A 12-year-old Middleborough, Massachusetts school boy recently defended his First Amendment rights to his school committee after allegedly being sent home from school for making others feel unsafe by wearing a shirt that says, “There are only two genders.” A video of Liam Morrison’s confrontation of his school committee was reported Sunday at the Libs of TikTok Twitter account.

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Study: Critical Race Theory Being Taught at Top Veterinary Schools

A new study reveals that 8 of the top 11 veterinary schools in the United States have begun implementing far-left race-based concepts such as Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).

As Fox News reports, the website CriticalRace.org monitors the teaching of CRT in schools, and has recently expanded its criteria to include veterinary schools in addition to other forms of higher education. The survey reveals that four of the 11 schools have made it mandatory for students to undergo such training and curriculum, while eight have mandatory training for staff and faculty, and six have implemented DEI in their hiring processes. Furthermore, seven of the schools have tools in place for students to report “incidents of bias” or “violations of inclusivity” to school authorities.

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Justices Skeptical of States Keeping Full Proceeds of Seizures for Back Taxes

A Georgetown University law professor who wrote a book arguing for then-President Trump’s impeachment believes that states can legally confiscate a million-dollar home and keep the full sale proceeds to pay $5 in back taxes. Some members of the Supreme Court found that a stretch.

Justices across the ideological spectrum gave Neal Katyal, solicitor general in the Obama administration, a hard time in oral arguments Wednesday in a case with far-reaching consequences for property rights in America, perhaps as consequential as its 2005 Kelo decision that set off a wave of eminent-domain reform across the country.

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Nearly 9 in 10 in New Poll Hold Feds Responsible for Border Crisis, Most Expect States to Fix

Almost 87 percent of Americans blame the federal government for the border crisis, according to a new poll conducted by the Trafalgar Group for Convention of States Action.

“With local and state government law enforcement resources overwhelmed by the large increase in illegal immigrants and asylum seekers needing assistance and increased drug cartel activity,” respondents were prompted, “do you believe it is the responsibility of states or the Federal government to handle these increased costs at the southern border?”

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Moderna Under Fire as CEO Earned Nearly $400 Million in Stock Options and a 50 Percent Raise Last Year

Moderna is under fire after financial records showed the biotech company’s CEO Stephane Bancel earned around $393 million in 2022 from stock options he exercised as he received a 50% raise.

Bancel, whose firm is known for producing the COVID-19 vaccine, received $1.5 million in 2022, an increase of 50% from 2021, and Moderna increased his target cash bonus, a March securities and exchange commission filing shows.

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Critics Cite Conflict of Interest in Questioning Whitmer’s Appointment

On Thursday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer named The Right Place president and CEO Randy Thelen to the Michigan Strategic Fund board.

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Commentary: Homesteading in Modern Day America

Six years ago my husband and I moved our family of 10 to a five-acre hobby farm and a new lifestyle. Prior to this, we’d been living in an 1,100-square-foot brick home built in the 1940s near the boundary of St. Louis. I loved that house. It had a breakfast nook and an enclosed sunporch we referred to as the “Three Season Room.” When we bought it, I was five months pregnant with our first child. Over the next 11 years, we had a total of eight children­—four of them in that very home as I was attended by a midwife. By the time our youngest kids, a set of identical twins, were born, it was clear we could no longer live in that house. We’d outgrown it.

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Commentary: The Mexicanization of American Politics

We see it everywhere in American politics. One army general gave voice to the fear in a memorable simile, worrying that the country might collapse like “Mexico and the Central American countries” unless something was done to tamp down partisan passions and encourage unity. His comment went viral, and soon people across the country were talking about, and deploring, the possible “Mexicanization of American politics.” 

The governing question, as one distinguished historian put it, is whether “American politics [has] become permanently ‘Mexicanized’?” Another commentator, considering “the Mexicanization of institutions,” defined it as a toxic situation in which “all party contests have the character of civil war.” 

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Minneapolis Star Tribune CEO Apologizes for ‘Pain’ Caused by Cartoon Poking Fun at Muslim Call to Prayer

Star Tribune CEO and publisher Steve Grove has apologized for the “pain” caused by a cartoon that made some readers feel “targeted and mischaracterized.”

Mike Thompson’s debut cartoon for the paper featured a man telling his wife: “Broadcasting the Muslim call to prayer at all hours will make Minneapolis too noisy.”

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Flush with Cash, Big Oil Is Poised for a Huge Shopping Spree

While U.S. oil and gas deals slowed considerably in the first quarter of 2023, industry players are poised to make significant investments in shale over the next year, according to Axios.

Oil and gas mergers and acquisitions fell to $14.8 billion in the first quarter, down 47% from the fourth quarter of 2022, according to a report from accounting firm KPMG. However, after a record-breaking year left companies flush with cash, producers will be incentivized to “secure inventory, create operational efficiencies and put their capital to work,” Mike Harling, energy sector lead partner at KPMG, told Axios.

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President Biden Says at DNC Reception that ‘MAGA Republicans’ are the ‘Real Problem’

President Joe Biden said on Friday at a reception in Washington for the Democratic National Committee that “MAGA Republicans” are the real threat facing the United States.

“The real problem is those MAGA Republicans,” he said, according to the New York Post. “MAGA Republicans are trying to take us backwards. But together, we’re not going to let them do it. Not an inch back.” 

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Biden White House Launches Effort to Make Kamala Harris More Popular

White House officials have reportedly embarked on a “strategy” to increase Kamala Harris’ appeal so she isn’t a liability on the Biden/Harris reelection campaign trail. While both Biden and Harris have seen abysmal approval ratings throughout their time in office, Harris appears to be the more unpopular of the two, with polling remaining stagnant in the high 30s.

According to Axios, Senior Biden adviser Anita Dunn has tasked White House political teams to schedule events featuring Harris promoting issues popular with their left-wing base. That means Harris will be talking a lot about infrastructure and “reproductive freedom” for the next year and a half.

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Missouri School Allows Reading of LGBT Book to Second Graders Despite State Law Requiring Parental Consent

A Missouri elementary school allowed a parent to read the transgender-promoting children’s book “I Am Jazz” to a second-grade class without first informing other parents, although state law requires school districts to notify parents beforehand about lessons on sexuality.  

Webster Groves School District, located in the suburbs of St. Louis, allowed the parent to read “I Am Jazz” to the second graders in September as part of Clark Elementary School’s “Mystery Reader” program, where a family member surprises a child by reading to the class.  

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