The City Club of Cleveland is defying LGBTQ activist pressure to cancel or substantially alter an event featuring a conservative Christian leader next month, and Ohio’s attorney general is standing with the venue. “We’re not canceling, and we have never had any intention of canceling this,” Dan Moulthrop, the City Club’s CEO, told The Daily Signal in an interview Wednesday. “We’re gonna continue to do what we always do, and have done for 113 years, which is convene conversations of consequence that help democracy thrive and do that with the leadership of relevant organizations who are shaping our communities.” Moulthrop confirmed that he has no intention of changing the Jan. 16 forum in which he will interview Aaron Baer, president of the Center for Christian Virtue. The center says it “seeks the good of our neighbors by advocating for public policy that reflects the truth of the Gospel.” It advocates for religious freedom, free speech, educational freedom, and pro-life and pro-family policy. The Letter Yet more than 100 LGBTQ leaders and organizations across Ohio signed an open letter denouncing the City Club for hosting Baer and urging the venue to “cancel or modify this forum in a way that does not platform an organization that has been designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-LGBTQIA2S+ hate group.” The letter makes four demands: cancel the event or include an LGBTQ activist; replace Moulthrop with a likely pro-LGBTQ “external moderator;” “disavow platforming hate speech;” or “structure the event so that diverse and impacted perspectives are not only present but also meaningfully centered.” More than 20 organizations—including HRC Cleveland, the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland, Equality Ohio, GLAAD, and Plexus LGBT & Allied Chamber of Commerce—signed the letter, which aims to “prevent extremism from going unchallenged” and suggests a distinction between “facilitating dialogue and platforming organized hate.” “Free speech is a cornerstone of our democracy,” Dwayne Steward, CEO and executive director of Equality Ohio, told The Daily Signal. Yet he argued that Baer’s message is “rooted in oppression and erasure.” “CCV is fueling the equality crisis in Ohio and across the nation,” Steward argued. He cited the LGBTQ activist Trevor Project in claiming that “anti-transgender legislation” of the kind CCV supports was “directly related to a 72% increase in suicide rates among Ohio’s transgender and gender non-conforming youth.” “I hope any public forum featuring Baer that seeks inclusive community dialogue illuminates the harmful impact of his actions and the actions of his organization,” Steward added. Steward referred The Daily Signal to Plexus, which did not respond to a request for comment by publication time. 2025-City-Club-CCV-LetterDownload Bringing Down the Temperature “This petition is the same broken playbook the Left has deployed for the last decade,” Baer told The Daily Signal on Wednesday. “They’ve lost the public debate, and all these LGBT groups have left is to try to pressure the City Club to cancel us.” “But the City Club and Dan Moulthrop deserve credit for inviting a different perspective to their stage and holding fast to this point,” Baer added. “After the assassination of Charlie Kirk, it’s going to take events like this to bring the temperature down in our country.” Kirk’s assassination came after the SPLC put his organization, Turning Point USA, on a “hate map” alongside chapters of the Ku Klux Klan. While there is no direct evidence the SPLC inspired that assassination, a terrorist used the “hate map” to target the Family Research Council—which the SPLC brands an “anti-LGBTQ hate group” alongside the Center for Christian Virtue—in 2012. The SPLC condemned both attacks but kept both groups on the map. The SPLC advocates for LGBTQ issues, and puts those who oppose that agenda on the “hate map.” The SPLC has used the “anti-LGBTQ hate group” label against Alliance Defending Freedom (which even left-leaning attorneys like former ACLU President Nadine Strossen have contested), and Gays Against Groomers, even though it consists of LGB people. The SPLC has even suggested that agreement with the Catechism of the Catholic Church qualifies one as a “hate group.” Ohio’s AG Weighs In Attorney General Dave Yost, R-Ohio, urged Moulthrop to stand by Baer in a letter Wednesday. “To land on the SPLC’s list, a group need only offend progressive orthodoxy,” Yost wrote. “The Center for Christian Virtue apparently falls afoul the SPLC in its adherence to an orthodox Christian worldview against a variety of postmodernist views about human nature, including sexuality,” he added. “The City Club has long prided itself as a citadel of free speech, and rightly so,” Yost wrote. Yet he warned that “the reason for your very existence as a forum will evaporate if you give in to the demands to cancel Mr. Baer’s talk” (emphasis original). “I believe you and your board are made of sterner stuff,” Yost concluded. LGBTQ activists are demanding the City Club of Cleveland CANCEL the January 16 speech by Aaron Baer, president of the Center for Christian Values. (The Club hasn’t as of this writing)My letter to the City Club setting out the arguments against this totalitarian action is below. pic.twitter.com/ACNr11EIlv— Dave Yost (@DaveYostOH) December 10, 2025 “Dave Yost has always been a champion for free speech—he’s demonstrating how Christians can use their voice to engage in courageous discussion today,” Baer said in response to Yost’s letter. The SPLC did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment. The post ‘WE’RE NOT CANCELING’: Ohio Venue Stands for Christian Leader’s Free Speech Amid LGBTQ Activist Pressure appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Finally, the time has come: the end of the unlawful so-called SAVE era, an era marked by the Biden administration’s attempts to force American taxpayers to pay for college loan debts. On Tuesday, the Department of Education announced a proposed joint settlement with the State of Missouri and six other states to end the Biden administration’s Saving on A Valuable Education (SAVE) plan, an income-driven loan repayment plan that courts ruled illegal, and were clearly costly and poor policy. If the department receives judicial approval, officials will be able to eliminate the SAVE plan altogether. While the name sounds appealing, the SAVE plan delivered the opposite of what it promised. It did not “save” anything, merely transferred unpaid debts from individuals who took out loans for college to taxpayers. Had the program continued, it would have shifted billions in student debt to hard working Americans. SAVE fundamentally reimagined the Department of Education’s income-based repayment plans for the worse. The plan halved borrowers’ monthly payment from 10% to 5% of discretionary income and raised the income threshold of borrowers who are exempt from repayment from 150% to 225% of the poverty line. Borrowers could also qualify for loan cancellation in as little as 10 years instead of 20 or more, depending on their loan amounts. On top of all that, the plan also waived accrued unpaid interest. What did these overgenerous provisions mean for American taxpayers? The University of Pennsylvania Wharton School’s budget models estimated that it would cost almost half a trillion dollars over 10 years, and only 22% of undergraduate borrowers enrolled in SAVE were expected to repay their loans. The proposal would have set a dangerous precedent: Borrowers could assume that Uncle Sam would wipe away whatever debt they incurred, and colleges could continue raising tuition with little accountability, confident that taxpayers would shoulder the cost. Thankfully, in the spring of 2024, the attorney general of Missouri, on behalf of the state, filed a lawsuit along with six other states to challenge the unlawful SAVE plan. A few months later, two federal court judges issued nationwide injunctions stopping the Biden administration from administering the SAVE plan. The following year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued an injunction enjoining implementation of the entire plan and sent the case back to the district court. Now, the Department of Education and the State of Missouri have reached a settlement agreement to dismiss the litigation in exchange for taking steps to end the plan. If the courts authorize this settlement, taxpayers will not have to pay for college loans held by someone else, and the Education Department will deny any future or pending applications and begin encouraging borrowers to voluntarily transition to other legal repayment plans. The department will also undertake rulemaking over the next year to remove the SAVE plan from the federal books (“with the exception of the forbearance and deferment provisions that were included in the final SAVE Plan rule that will continue to count for Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) forgiveness purposes”), but this will not prevent it from carrying out the actions above.   In the coming weeks, the department will conduct direct outreach to affected borrowers to help them select an alternative repayment plan and get back on track with repayment. Over the past few years, roughly seven million student borrowers enrolled in SAVE have been stuck in an unnecessary limbo, uncertain about their obligations. Had the prior administration not pursued the SAVE plan unlawfully, students would not have been placed in this position, and they would have continued making payments on the loans they personally agreed to repay. Moving forward, American taxpayers should not be left to shoulder the debts of borrowers, and colleges and universities must be held to higher standards for the return on investment they deliver. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post The SAVE Plan Is Ending. Here’s Why It Matters appeared first on The Daily Signal.

When we think of Ancient Egypt, our minds conjure images of colossal pyramids, golden sarcophagi, and the towering figures of pharaohs like Rameses. But what laid the foundation for history’s most iconic civilisation? In the sixth and final episode of History Hit’s series exploring the remarkable collections of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, presenter Dan Snow joins Dr Liam McNamara, Keeper of Antiquities, to journey into Egypt’s distant past – long before the pyramids in The Ashmolean Up Close: Origins of Ancient Egypt. Through extraordinary artefacts from the Predynastic period (c. 4,000–3,100 BC), they uncover how early beliefs, artistry, and power structures along the Nile laid the essential foundations for the world we recognise as Ancient Egypt. Sign up to watch The early Nile: chaos and control Over 6,000 years ago, Egypt was divided between the fertile Lower Egypt in the north and the arid Upper Egypt in the south. Yet, even in these scattered agricultural communities, a powerful culture was already forming. Regional chieftains were emerging as centralised rulers, laying the groundwork for future dynasties. While the Ashmolean’s collection features fascinating grand pieces from this era like the large limestone statue of the Ancient Egyptian fertility god Min (c. 3,300 BC), the greatest insights into the world these early gods and rulers emerged from come from smaller, finely crafted objects. In the documentary, Dan is granted special access to rare collection items dating from 3,600 BC onwards – objects that were already considered ancient by the time of the great pharaohs. Dan is shown a realistic pottery hippo as well as a model of a carved scorpion – objects that were symbols of power, reflecting the early Egyptians’ attempts to control chaos and dominate the natural landscape. Status was also shown through the materials such objects were made from, highlighting the surprising far-reaching trade connections across the ancient world. Dan examines a small blue figurine made from Lapis lazuli, a material whose nearest source was Badakhshan in Afghanistan. This highlights the surprising, far-reaching trade connections across the ancient world long before the height of the New Kingdom. Other objects, such as a ceremonial palette (a common item in high-status burials), were often carved and decorated with images associated with the rulers’ burgeoning power and prestige, including mythical creatures. Dan Snow talks to Dr Liam MacNamara about the statue of the Ancient Egyptian fertility god, Min.Image Credit: History Hit King Scorpion’s colossal macehead One of the Ashmolean’s most remarkable objects offers a rare glimpse into the emergence of Egypt’s earliest rulers and the first steps towards unification: a colossal macehead. Although maceheads were originally weapons, this stunning limestone fragment, discovered in Hierakonpolis (the capital of Upper Egypt), is thought to have been created solely for ceremonial purposes as a symbol of authority. Liam explains to Dan that this colossal macehead belonged to ‘King Scorpion’ – an actual name, not a nickname. The ruler is pictured in the centre, deliberately shown on a much larger scale than all other figures, establishing his absolute authority. Dan notes the striking familiarity of the image that looks very much like the depictions of Pharaohs such as Rameses, despite the fact this mace head was made way before the Pharaoh period. King Scorpion is wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt and the traditional royal costume, including a bull’s tail hanging behind his leg – a symbol of power and virility that persisted for millennia. Unlike later pharaohs often depicted taking on military enemies, King Scorpion is shown holding a pick, seemingly breaking open an irrigation canal he is standing upon. Liam clarifies that the idea of controlling the annual inundation of the Nile was a vital royal prerogative, demonstrating that the ‘enemy’ here was the natural world, ensuring abundance for his people. Despite living hundreds of years before the First Dynasty, Dan notes how the depiction of King Scorpion looks “like a Pharaoh in all but name.” Liam agrees, noting that he’s wearing exactly the same crown and costume as Rameses would thousands of years later – showing an extraordinary continuity that proves kingship was already fully formed in the Predynastic period, with King Scorpion being one of the earliest kings of Egypt.  Close-up of King Scorpion’s macehead, showing the image of him in a similar way to the Pharaohs, and with hanging birds visible near the top, denoting ‘subject people’.Image Credit: History Hit The dawn of empire The macehead holds further clues about the formation of the Egyptian state, including a row of little lapwing birds hanging from their necks at the top of the mace head. Liam explains that these birds in later hieroglyphs write the word for ‘subject people’. Since the King is wearing the crown of Upper Egypt (the South), these birds likely represent regions he has conquered. Furthermore, Egyptologists speculate that the missing side of the macehead may have shown King Scorpion wearing the red crown of Lower Egypt. Dan notes that this would show “pretty much all of Egypt brought under one sovereign,” confirming the theory that this object may document the initial unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, suggesting King Scorpion might have been the Alfred the Great or Charlemagne of Ancient Egypt – the singular figure who brought together the disparate territories under one banner. Nevertheless, as Liam points out, while “King Scorpion was clearly a very high status ruler, it’s important to know that there’s a long history of development before this.” This pivotal moment marks the transformation into the Egypt we recognise, hundreds of years before the first dynasty or pyramid stood. “Long before the infamous Ancient Egypt of Pharaohs and pyramids, early communities along the Nile were laying the foundations of one of history’s most enduring cultures,” concludes Dan. “These objects in the Ashmolean’s collection capture a pivotal moment, the dawn of kingship, the roots of belief, and the early unification of a land that would one day become legendary.” Join Dan Snow and Dr. Liam McNamara to journey back to the very origins of power in The Ashmolean Up Close: Origins of Ancient Egypt and discover more about the fascinating objects in the Ashmolean’s collection. Sign up to watch

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