This is Gabriel Rench with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Wednesday, July 8th, 2020.

Trump administration gives formal notice of withdrawal from WHO

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-administration-gives-formal-notice-withdrawal-who-n1233100

According to NBC:

The United States officially notified the United Nations on Tuesday of its withdrawal from the World Health Organization, a White House official said.

The notice, which comes as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread across the globe, was submitted to the U.N. secretary-general and to Congress. The withdrawal is expected to take effect July 6, 2021.

A WHO spokesperson told NBC News they were aware of reports that the U.S. submitted the formal notification to withdraw, but declined to comment further.

Lawmakers from both parties, including Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., swiftly criticized the move.

"I disagree with the president’s decision," Alexander, who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said in a statement. "Certainly there needs to be a good, hard look at mistakes the World Health Organization might have made in connection with coronavirus, but the time to do that is after the crisis has been dealt with, not in the middle of it."

"Withdrawing U.S. membership could, among other things, interfere with clinical trials that are essential to the development of vaccines, which citizens of the United States as well as others in the world need," he added. "And withdrawing could make it harder to work with other countries to stop viruses before they get to the United States."

Just like the pandemic that is driving our politicians bat-crazy? 

The U.S. is the largest WHO contributor to the WHO, and roughly 15 percent of the health agency's budget. Year over year the US contributes about $400 to $500 million per year to WHO. 

It should always go down like fine wine, when the government downsizes a bureaucracy. 

Fight Laugh Feast Conference in Nashville October 1-3

We just had an incredible boost in registrations this month. Literally hundreds sign up! We extended the early registration deadline to July 31st, so don’t lose your seat, sign up now! We are really excited to bring all our friends together for some good fellowship, Psalm singing, and to hear from some high octane speakers to the glory of God and to the good of His people. So, don’t wait, sign up for our first annual Fight Laugh Feast Conference in Nashville October 1st through 3rd. Seating is limited. Go to Fightlaughfeast dot com and register today.

Planned Parenthood employees, supporters claim the abortion clinic is "steeped in white supremacy"

https://disrn.com/news/letter-signed-by-more-than-350-current-and-former-staffers-say-planned-parenthood-is-steeped-in-white-supremacy

Planned Parenthood employees and supporters have charged the largest abortion provider in America with being "steeped in white supremacy."

A June 18 open letter signed by more than 350 current and former staffers — including 800 donors, supporters, and volunteers — of Planned Parenthood in Greater New York claimed that the organization suffers from "institutional racism."

"We know that Planned Parenthood has a history and a present steeped in white supremacy and we, the staff, are motivated to do the difficult work needed to improve," said the open letter from Save PPGNY.

The letter also said Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger was "a racist, white woman."

While the letter admitted that this part of the organization's history "cannot be changed," the New York clinic is making sure their "black and other staff of color are honored for their expertise and included in the decision making process."

"We have been inspired and emboldened by national movements led by Black people holding organizations and institutions accountable and working to dismantle systems of oppression and white supremacy," the letter concluded.

This is Toby Sumpter with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Tuesday, July 7, 2020.

In today’s news brief you will hear about a federal judge pushing back against New York Covid tyranny, the Supreme Court comes together on a decision for likely very different reasons, and Epstein’s former mistress is behind bars and apparently on suicide watch.  

Federal Judge Rules Against Cuomo

https://www.law.com/newyorklawjournal/2020/06/26/federal-judge-rules-against-new-yorks-outdoor-gathering-restrictions/?slreturn=20200606162734

Last Friday, US District Judge Gary Sharpe ordered New York officials not to enforce any outdoor gathering limitations, if people are following social distancing requirements. According to his order, the officials are also prevented from enforcing indoor gathering limits against the plaintiffs that are greater than the restrictions placed on companies in phase two of the state’s reopening plan. 

The order is tied to a case filed earlier this month by two priests and three Orthodox Jewish residents of Brooklyn. The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of New York, listed Gov. Andrew Cuomo, state Attorney General Letitia James and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio as defendants.

The lawsuit argued that social-distancing rules are not neutral policy but instead a “content-based regulation of First Amendment-protected activity.” The litigation argued that while the defendants imposed strict gathering limits for some activities and groups, they permitted large protests over the death of George Floyd and the killing of Black Americans by police.

Limiting the size of synagogue congregations or mandating “drive-in” services for congregants unduly burdened the plaintiffs’ religious beliefs, the suit said, arguing the mass demonstrations were “exempted” from such restrictions.

In his decision on Friday, Sharpe said the wide limits on executive latitude were exceeded.

“It is not the judiciary’s role to second guess the likes of Governor Cuomo or Mayor de Blasio when it comes to decisions they make in such troubling times, that is, until those decisions result in the curtailment of fundamental rights without compelling justification,” he wrote. He also noted that New York, at the moment, is well situated when it comes to the coronavirus infection rate.

His order states that offices and certain retail shopping operations were allowed to open in phase two at 50% capacity, but houses of worship are beholden to a lower indoor capacity standard.

Sharpe also pointed to comments from Cuomo in which he publicly expressed support for the protests. De Blasio has made similar comments too.

Cuomo and de Blasio, high-profile leaders in the state, could have just discouraged the protests by citing public health and stopped short of condemning their message, Sharpe wrote.

Instead of encouraging a “flagrant disregard of the outdoor limits and social distancing rules,” the leaders could have used discretion to suspend enforcement for public safety, he wrote.

“They could have also been silent. But by acting as they did, Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio sent a clear message that mass protests are deserving of preferential treatment,” Sharpe wrote.

New York has permitted in-person graduation ceremonies too, if they are outdoors and have no more than 150 people, something that’s an exception from limits on outdoor gatherings, according to the ruling. 

“There is nothing materially different about a graduation ceremony and a religious gathering such that defendants’ justifications for a difference in treatment can be found compelling,” Sharpe wrote.

Thoughtful, courageous Christians need to be pushing back against obnoxious and capricious laws. Courts are a legitimate check on administrative bloat. 

Fight Laugh Feast Conference in Nashville October 1-3

Won’t you join us for the first annual Fight Laugh Feast Conference in Nashville October 1st through 3rd? Rowdy Christian media

This is Toby Sumpter with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Thursday, July 2, 2020.

In today’s news brief you will hear about a new study from Penn State estimating that the number of COVID cases is likely far higher than we thought, China cracks down on Hong Kong and threatens international residents, and Moscow, Idaho Mayor caves to the face mask mob. 

https://news.psu.edu/story/623797/2020/06/22/research/initial-covid-19-infection-rate-may-be-80-times-greater-originally?fbclid=IwAR2zpi2YoLPncJ7MO5Y8KKyYbj11jI7RRPN53e3q7YTujLv162EauacYrjM

Now, a new study from Penn State estimates that the number of early COVID-19 cases in the U.S. may have been more than 80 times greater and doubled nearly twice as fast as originally believed.

In a paper published June 22 in the journal Science Translational Medicine, researchers estimated the detection rate of symptomatic COVID-19 cases using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s influenza-like illnesses (ILI) surveillance data over a three week period in March 2020.

“We analyzed each state’s ILI cases to estimate the number that could not be attributed to influenza and were in excess of seasonal baseline levels,” said Justin Silverman, assistant professor in Penn State’s College of Information Sciences and Technology and Department of Medicine. “When you subtract these out, you’re left with what we're calling excess ILI – cases that can't be explained by either influenza or the typical seasonal variation of respiratory pathogens.”

The researchers found that the excess ILI showed a nearly perfect correlation with the spread of COVID-19 around the country.

Said Silverman, “This suggests that ILI data is capturing COVID cases, and there appears to be a much greater undiagnosed population than originally thought.”

Remarkably, the size of the observed surge of excess ILI corresponds to more than 8.7 million new cases during the last three weeks of March, compared to the roughly 100,000 cases that were officially reported during the same time period.

“At first, I couldn’t believe our estimates were correct,” said Silverman. “But we realized that deaths across the U.S. had been doubling every three days and that our estimate of the infection rate was consistent with three-day doubling since the first observed case was reported in Washington state on Jan. 15.”

The researchers also used this process to estimate infection rates for each state, noting that states showing higher per capita rates of infection also had higher per capita rates of a surge in excess ILI. Their estimates showed rates much higher than initially reported but closer to those found once states began completing antibody testing.

In New York, for example, the researchers’ model suggested that at least 9% of the state’s entire population was infected by the end of March. After the state conducted antibody testing on 3,000 residents, they found a 13.9% infection rate, or 2.7 million New Yorkers.

The findings suggest an alternative way of thinking about the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our results suggest that the overwhelming effects of COVID-19 may have less to do with the virus’ lethality and more to do with how quickly it was able to spread through communities initially,” Silverman explained. “A lower fatality rate coupled with a higher prevalence of disease and rapid growth of regional epidemics provides an alternative explanation to the large number of deaths and overcrowding of hospitals we have seen in certain areas of the world.”

All of this should be noted alongside the current spiking infections rhetoric. The reality is that we are simply testing a lot more and therefore getting a lot more positive results. But all the indicators are that this virus has been far less lethal are for more prevalent for a while. And remember, the goal was flatten the curve so as to not overwhelm hospitals. Hospitals were not overwhelmed, most were left empty. The goal now is for us to develo

07/1/2020

This is Gabriel Rench with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Wednesday, July 1st, 2020.

Narrative, narrative, narrative.

Our local news paper, can I call it a news paper?, placed my church's worship service on the front page. The headline read:

Christ Church service draws 1,000 people

https://dnews.com/coronavirus/christ-church-service-draws-1-000-people/article_7ecbcf3c-7ce6-5b8e-a5c3-f4bc43553e0e.html

Our church grew during the shutdown, by the kindness of God, and we have been holding in person worship services in our building since May 1st. Now this should not be controversial, nor should we as a society be this easily duped. The COVIDcraze has gone full political, and so we need to keep revisiting what is really going on. The predominant narrative is that the COVID is bad and you are an idiot if you don’t follow CDC guidelines and state and local protocols (e.g. social distancing, wearing masks, etc…). And of course their are two questions that this whole debate really hinge on: The first question is, is this an abnormal pandemic with greater potential for nationwide death? And secondly, does social distancing, wearing masks, testing, broad quarantining really work? In other words, does the precautions in the shutdown really work? 

Let me start with the first question, because it really is the meaty question. Is this an abnormal pandemic with greater potential for nationwide death?

Well let's go back in time. In January, February, and March you had Nancy Pelosi, Bill Hot Dog De Blasio, Governor Andrew Cuomo all saying the COVID is a no biggie and encouraging everyone to go out, eat at restaurants, go to China Town, etc… up till about March 11th. And then everything changed with the liberals. They jumped on it, like a duck on a june bug. Now don’t get me wrong. I think the government has some role to play in pandemics, but not even close to the draconian role they have played. A government that kills its babies and thinks men can be women, is in no condition to provide an accurate assessment of the COVIDcrisis. Now I believe the numbers are inflated for a variety of reasons, but lets just work with what we are given. To date New York has over 30,000 deaths reported due to the virus. The next closest state is New Jersey. Have you been hearing about that in the news? No. Texas and Florida are all over the news, and they have 2,468 and 3,505 respectively. Not even close to New York’s numbers. And during the New York pandemic, Governor Cuomo had signed an executive order, literally ordering elderly patients back into their nursing homes. Seriously. He was launching viruses into the most vulnerable population in New York. But according to liberal media Cuomo saved New York.  

Our city council shut down our economy on March 25th with no COVID cases in our county, not just our city. Our governor shut down all of Idaho, instead of focusing on the vulnerable and elderly. Over 50% of COVID deaths in our state have come from elderly homes and long term care facilities, and 70% have been over the age of 70. This is what happens when you believe a false narrative, you end up not protecting the most vulnerable.

Those under 60 years old, getting the COVID puts rates in the range of the flu and H1N1. So get back to work, the only way to get things back to normal is to protect the elderly/vulnerable and get herd immunity with the rest of the population. Oh and stop reading dumb comment sections...that will help defeat the virus too.

Now just this past week, the CDC admitted that there are about 10 times more COVID cases than what we have been able to trace. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/06/25/coronavirus-cases-10-times-larger/

This just destroys the current morbidity rate numbers and brings the rates way down to something more like between the flu and H1N1. Yet everyone wants you to social distance, dont where a mask, don’t go to church, but keep marching at BLM and LGBTQ

This is Toby Sumpter with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Tuesday, June 30, 2020.

In today’s news brief you will hear how Chief Justice John Roberts is a eunuch, Black Lives Matter is full on White Supremacist, and Mississippi is preparing a sacrifice to the gods. 

John Roberts Still Can’t Find His Man Parts

https://www.npr.org/2020/06/29/874458692/supreme-court-hands-abortion-rights-a-victory-in-louisiana-case

NPR: A sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court on Monday stood by its most recent abortion precedent. Chief Justice John Roberts joined the court's four liberals, citing the Supreme Court's adherence to precedent, to invalidate a Louisiana law that required doctors at clinics that perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.

Louisiana's law is virtually identical to one struck down by the court in 2016, which found that the admitting-privileges law in Texas was medically unnecessary and that it significantly limited access to abortion. 

But since then the composition of the court has changed significantly, and abortion opponents had high hopes that the new conservative majority would reverse course. Roberts, who dissented from the 2016 decision, apparently decided, however, that the value of abiding by precedent was more important.

In his concurring opinion, Roberts wrote that "The legal doctrine of stare decisis requires us, absent special circumstances, to treat like cases alike. The Louisiana law imposes a burden on access to abortion just as severe as that imposed by the Texas law, for the same reasons."

Writing for the plurality, Justice Stephen Breyer said the Louisiana law "would place substantial obstacles in the path of women seeking an abortion" in the state, that it offers "no significant health-related benefits," and that the law "consequently imposes an "undue burden" on a woman's constitutional right to choose to have an abortion," and therefore violates the Constitution.

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that, "Our abortion precedents are grievously wrong and should be overruled," and that the high court has "neither jurisdiction nor constitutional authority to declare Louisiana's duly enacted law unconstitutional."

A liberal watch dog at Vox was not so impressed by Weasel Roberts: 

https://www.vox.com/2020/6/29/21306895/supreme-court-abortion-chief-justice-john-roberts-stephen-breyer-june-medical-russo

The best reading of the Court’s decision in June Medical Services v. Russo is that Roberts just gave the constitutional right to an abortion a very brief stint on life support. And he did so largely because Louisiana presented the weakest possible case in June Medical.

As Justice Stephen Breyer notes in his plurality opinion, June Medical involves a Louisiana law that is “almost word-for-word identical” to a Texas law the Supreme Court struck down four years ago in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt (2016). Both laws require abortion providers to obtain admitting privileges at a hospital near the clinic where they perform abortions in order to continue to provide them — a credential that is very difficult for abortion providers to obtain and that does little or nothing to improve health outcomes.

The Court voted 4-1-4, with Justice Stephen Breyer writing a plurality opinion for himself and his three liberal colleagues, and Roberts writing a separate opinion emphasizing the narrowness of his approach to this case.

Only one thing has changed between June Medical and Whole Woman’s Health. Justice Anthony Kennedy, a relatively moderate conservative who cast the key fifth vote to strike down the Texas law, is no longer on the Court. And his replacement, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, opposes abortion rights. Kavanaugh dissented in June Medical.

So abortion opponents apparently bet that the replacement of Kennedy with Kavanaugh would allow them to litigate Whole Woman’s Health all over again — but with a different result.

This is Jesse Sumpter, managing editor of the CrossPolitic Magazine. Here with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Friday, June 19, 2020. Check out the CrossPolitic Magazine for articles and commentary on theology, politics, culture, and history.

In today’s news brief, the DOJ takes a look at big internet companies, Facebook removes Trump Ad for supposedly using a Hate Group symbol, Were Congressional Democrats promoting slavery when they knelt at US Capitol building? and finally one woman is suing the UK government about its abortion law. 

DOJ seeks to scale back immunity for social media companies

https://disrn.com/news/justice-dept-seeks-to-scale-back-immunity-for-internet-social-media-companies

Disrn reports: The U.S. Department of Justice will release a proposed legislative plan to curb legal protections that have existed for more than two decades and that shield internet platforms such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter, an official in the Trump administration has said.

The Communications Decency Act of 1996 holds that online venues are not liable for content posted by their users, except in very specific circumstances. It also provides the platforms leeway in monitoring site content according to their own discretion.

But the changes the Justice Department seeks would undo much of that protection for the tech giants, preventing platforms from taking down content without offering an explanation, as well as make them more responsible for third-party content.

If adopted, such a rollback would open internet platforms to civil liability for violations of federal criminal law that occur on their sites. Internet companies that facilitate or seek out user activity on their sites such as drug trafficking, child sexual abuse, child exploitation, terrorism, cyberstalking, and online scams would no longer be immune from civil actions arising from such activity. The companies also could be more vulnerable to antitrust claims.

The Justice Department is not the first party to consider decreased protections for internet companies. Some federal legislators are already promoting legislation meant to spur online platforms to be more active in opposing online sexual exploitation of children.

News of the Justice Department's planned action follows an executive order signed last month by President Donald Trump that also limited legal protections for internet platforms that unfairly censor users' speech.

Facebook removes Trump campaign ad about ‘far-left groups’ 

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/facebook-removes-trump-campaign-ad-about-far-left-groups-says-it-shows-hate-groups-symbol

Foxnews reports: Facebook on Thursday removed an ad run by President Trump’s re-election campaign for violating the social media platform’s policy on hate speech, but the Trump campaign pushed back hard by arguing they were showing a "symbol used by Antifa" to push back against far-left groups.

The ad in question featured the Trump campaign denouncing what it called “Dangerous MOBS of far-left groups” and features a red upside-down triangle with a black border. A red upside-down triangle was used by the Nazis in their concentration camps to signify political prisoners such as socialists, communists and anarchists.

“We removed these posts and ads for violating our policy against organized hate,” a Facebook company spokesperson said in a statement sent to Fox News. “Our policy prohibits using a banned hate group's symbol to identify political prisoners without the context that condemns or discusses the symbol.”

The Trump campaign, though, responded that the upside-down red triangle is a symbol used by Antifa and called out Facebook for including one as an emoji in its messenger.

“The inverted red triangle is a symbol used by Antifa, so it was included in an ad about Antifa," Tim Murtaugh, the campaign's communications director, told Fox News. "We would note that Facebook still has an inverted red triangle emoji in use, which

This is Gabriel Rench with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Wednesday, June 17th, 2020.

Fight Laugh Feast Conference in Nashville October 1-3

Before we get into this news brief, I have some good news for you. Because of the COVIDcraze we are moving our early bird registration deadline for our Fight Laugh Feast Conference to July 31st. Registrations were obviously slow in April, but now they are humming along and we don’t want that trend to stop. We really don’t want you to miss out on coming to our conference, so we are extended early bird registration to get you there. This is obviously not about the money for us, we really do want an opportunity to bring all our friends together for some good fellowship, Psalm singing, and to hear from some high octane speakers to the glory of God and to the good of His people. So, don’t wait, sign up for our first annual Fight Laugh Feast Conference in Nashville October 1st through 3rd. Seating is limited. Go to Fightlaughfeast dot com and register today.

C.D.C. Test Counting Error Leaves Epidemiologists ‘Really Baffled’

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/22/us/politics/coronavirus-tests-cdc.html

...the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is combining tests that detect active infection with those that detect recovery from Covid-19 — a system that muddies the picture of the pandemic but raises the percentage of Americans tested as President Trump boasts about testing.

Now that serology tests, which look for antibodies in the blood of people who have recovered, are more widespread, C.D.C. officials said Friday they would work to separate them from the results of diagnostic tests, which detect active infection. One of the agency’s data tracker websites has been lumping them together.

Stunned epidemiologists say data from antibody tests and active virus tests should never be mixed because diagnostic testing seeks to quantify the amount of active disease in the population. Serological testing can also be unreliable. And patients who have had both diagnostic and serology tests would be counted twice in the totals.

Epidemiologists, state health officials and a spokeswoman for the C.D.C. said there was no ill intent; they attributed the flawed reporting system to confusion and fatigue in overworked state and local health departments that typically track infections — not tests — during outbreaks. The C.D.C. relies on states to report their data.

The whole COVID data collection process has been a charade almost since the beginning. From the models to the defining and collection process, it has been one “scientific” joke after another. 

Boy Scouts of America says it supports BLM, will require new "diversity and inclusion merit badge" to become Eagle Scout

https://www.businessinsider.com/85-of-independent-restaurants-could-permanently-close-in-2020-report-2020-6

According to Discrn.com

In a show of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, the Boy Scouts of America is requiring scouts to earn a "diversity and inclusion" merit badge in order to become an Eagle Scout, the organization announced Monday.

The BSA national executive council said in a letter that "there is no place for racism" and that the organization "believes that Black Lives Matter."

"The Boy Scouts of America stands with Black families and the Black community... This is not a political issue; it is a human rights issue and one we all have a duty to address," the letter reads.

The organization said the now-required Eagle Scout merit badge will "ensure diversity and inclusion are engrained at every level for participants and volunteers."

"[The badge] will build on components within existing merit badges, including the American Cultures and Citizenship in the Community merit badges, which require Scouts to learn about and engage with other groups and cultures to increase understanding and spur positive action," the statement said.

At what point will The Boy Scouts of America,

This is Gabriel Rench with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Tuesday, June 16th, 2020.

Fight Laugh Feast Conference in Nashville October 1-3

Before we getting into this news brief, I have some good news for you. In fact probably the only good news in this brief. Because of the COVIDcraze we are moving our early bird registration deadline for our Fight Laugh Feast Conference to July 31st. Registrations were obviously slow in April, but now they are humming along. We really don’t want you to miss out on coming to our conference, so we are extended early bird registration to get you there. This is obviously not about the money for us, we really do want an opportunity to bring all our friends together for some good fellowship, Psalm singing, and to hear from some high octane speakers to the glory of God and to the good of His people. So, don’t wait, sign up for our first annual Fight Laugh Feast Conference in Nashville October 1st through 3rd. Seating is limited. Go to Fightlaughfeast dot com and register today.

Civil Rights Law Protects Gay and Transgender Workers, Supreme Court Rules

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/15/us/gay-transgender-workers-supreme-court.html

New York times reports that: 

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a landmark civil rights law protects gay and transgender workers from workplace discrimination, handing the movement for L.G.B.T. equality a stunning victory.

“An employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender defies the law,” Justice Neil M. Gorsuch wrote for the majority in the 6-to-3 ruling.

Until Monday’s decision, it was legal in more than half the states to fire workers for being gay, bisexual or transgender. The vastly consequential decision extended workplace protections to millions of people across the nation, continuing a series of Supreme Court victories for gay rights even after President Trump transformed the court with two appointments.

The lopsided ruling, coming from a fundamentally conservative court, was a surprise. Justice Gorsuch, who was Mr. Trump’s first appointment to the court, was joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

The decision, covering two sets of cases, was the court’s first on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights since the retirement in 2018 of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who wrote the majority opinions in all four of the court’s major gay rights decisions. Proponents of these rights had worried that his departure would halt the progress of the movement toward equality.

The case concerned Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars employment discrimination based on race, religion, national origin and sex. The question for the justices was whether that last prohibition — discrimination “because of sex”— applies to many millions of gay and transgender workers.

Justice Gorsuch wrote that it did.

“An employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex,” he wrote.

“It is impossible,” Justice Gorsuch wrote, “to discriminate against a person for being homosexual or transgender without discriminating against that individual based on sex.”

Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., in a dissent joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, wrote that the majority had abandoned its judicial role.

“There is only one word for what the court has done today: legislation,” Justice Alito wrote. “The document that the court releases is in the form of a judicial opinion interpreting a statute, but that is deceptive.”

“A more brazen abuse of our authority to interpret statutes is hard to recall,” he wrote. “The court tries to convince readers that it is merely enforcing the terms of the statute, but that is preposterous.”

The common understanding of sex discrimination in 1964, Justice Alito wrote, was bias against

This is Jesse Sumpter, managing editor of the CrossPolitic Magazine. Here with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Friday, June 12, 2020. Check out the CrossPolitic Magazine for articles and commentary on theology, politics, culture, and history.

In today’s news brief you will hear the news that no one is talking about: Senate Republicans investigating former Obama officials, also Merriam-Webster, AKA the Ministry of Truth, is redefining racism, literally, and also, one board member of Reddit attempts to give up his privilege, but does he succeed? 

Senate Republicans authorize subpoenas for Former Obama Officials

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/11/senate-republicans-authorize-subpoenas-in-probes-targeting-former-obama-officials-313123

Politico reports: In a party-line vote Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee authorized Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to issue a broad range of subpoenas to a slew of former Obama administration officials who opened or were involved in the counterintelligence investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.

It’s part of a GOP-led investigation into the genesis of the Russia probe and former special counsel Robert Mueller’s appointment — a probe that President Donald Trump has long sought, particularly as he seeks retribution after his acquittal in the Senate’s impeachment trial.

The subpoenas target former FBI Director James Comey, former CIA Director John Brennan, and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, among others. Graham has said he plans to seek testimony from Mueller himself, “or an appropriate designee.”

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) is also conducting a similar investigation that ensnares former Obama administration officials, with a focus on the presidential transition period in late 2016 and early 2017 and the “unmasking” of the name of incoming national security adviser Michael Flynn from intelligence intercepts. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which Johnson chairs, approved a similar subpoena authorization last week. The committee has also launched a probe targeting Hunter Biden, the son of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

Democrats have charged that the investigations are baseless and intended to boost Trump’s re-election prospects. Republicans reject that charge, alleging that the president and his associates were unfairly targeted by the outgoing Obama administration.

Racism definition: Merriam-Webster to make update after request

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52993306?fbclid=IwAR1N6xF8LEtk3Rpro50hxOOJ5Av95kKD2WFvIrpy6YxrSSKd-qYRjooPPww

BBC News reports: Kennedy Mitchum, a recent graduate of Drake University in Iowa, suggested that the definition should include a reference to systemic oppression.

An editor then responded, later agreeing to update their definition.

The decision comes amid international anti-racism protests after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Ms Mitchum had encountered people pointing to the dictionary to prove that they were not racist because of the way they felt towards people of colour. She felt the definition needed to reflect broader issues of racial inequality in society.

Merriam-Webster's current definition of racism

a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race

a) a doctrine or political program based on the assumption of racism and designed to execute its principles, b) a political or social system founded on racism

racial prejudice or discrimination

Ms Mitchum told the BBC that she first became aware of the shortcomings of the current definition around four years ago.

"I was just speaking on my social media about racism and just about how the things I was experiencing in my own school and my own college," she said. "There were a lot of thing

This is Toby Sumpter with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Thursday, June 11, 2020.

In today’s news brief you will hear how the World Health Organization is afraid of math, Steve Deace has colorful words to describe this problem, Communists are funding major American newspapers, and Heather Mac Donald actually does the math and police brutality barely exists. Plus some free and completely non-sarcastic commentary. 

The World Health Organization Walks Back Comments After Backlash

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/09/who-scrambles-to-clarify-comments-on-asymptomatic-coronavirus-spread-much-is-still-unknown.html

CNBC Reports: The World Health Organization walked back comments made Monday when one of its top scientists said transmission of the coronavirus by people who never developed symptoms is “very rare,” which drew skepticism from physicians and others across social media. 

That admission sent shock waves throughout the world, much of which has been locked down for months for fear of spreading the virus by people who show no signs of illness. 

Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of the WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, said Tuesday that asymptomatic spread is a “really complex question” and much is still unknown. “We don’t actually have that answer yet,” she said.

“I was responding to a question at the press conference. I wasn’t stating a policy of WHO or anything like that. I was just trying to articulate what we know,” she said on a live Q&A streamed across multiple social media platforms. “And in that, I used the phrase ‘very rare,’ and I think that that’s misunderstanding to state that asymptomatic transmission globally is very rare. I was referring to a small subset of studies.”

Studies show that about 16% of the population may be asymptomatic, she said. Some models developed by other scientists suggest as much as 40% of global transmission may be due to asymptomatic individuals, she said, clarifying her comments.

“Some estimates of around 40% of transmission may be due to asymptomatic, but those are from models, so I didn’t include that in my answer yesterday, but wanted to make sure that I covered that here,” Kerkhove said. 

The majority of transmission is from people who have symptoms and are spreading it through infectious droplets, she said. “But there are a subset of people who don’t develop symptoms. To truly understand how many people don’t have symptoms, we don’t actually have that answer yet,” she added.

An asymptomatic person is someone with Covid-19 who doesn’t have symptoms and never develops symptoms. Both scientists clarified that it’s not the same as someone who later develops symptoms, who would be classified as pre-symptomatic.

On Monday, WHO officials said asymptomatic people aren’t driving the spread of the virus, casting doubt on concerns by some researchers that the disease could be difficult to contain due to asymptomatic infections.

“From the data we have, it still seems to be rare that an asymptomatic person actually transmits onward to a secondary individual,” Kerkhove said at a news briefing Monday from the WHO’s Geneva headquarters. “It’s very rare.”

Steve Deace Has Words

Our friend Steve Deace had these comments on this on his Facebook page Wednesday: 

Yes, I'm aware the World Health Organization is now walking back its "asymptomatic spread of coronavirus is rare" admission it made on Monday, and is now claiming up to 40% of infections are spread asymptomatically. 

Here's why that cannot possibly be true, and you don't need to be an immunologist, virologist, biologist, or anything else extraordinary to know that is complete and total BS. A runny turd with corns it. You just need to know 2+2 does not equal 498. 

See, every single serology study done on this planet has come back with anywhere from a 2-20% antibody rate within that community. And the vast majority of them acquired antibodies via community spread despite never showing