In the fight over allowing biological males in women’s sports, a Christian school in Vermont finds itself in court—again. Last year, Mid Vermont Christian School accused the Vermont Principals’ Association (VPA), the “governing body for high school sports and activities for the state’s 300 public and private secondary schools,” and Vermont state officials of religious discrimination for kicking it out of the state sports league after refusing to compete against a biological male in girls’ basketball. APPEAL FILED: We've filed a brief with the 2nd Circuit on behalf of Mid Vermont Christian School. The school is suing VT officials who expelled them from the state's athletics association after their girls' basketball team forfeited a game against a team with a male athlete.— Alliance Defending Freedom (@ADFLegal) September 3, 2024 In response to Mid Vermont’s religious freedom complaint, “U.S. District Judge Geoffrey Crawford denied [the school’s] request for a preliminary injunction in June, ruling that the school was unlikely to prevail on the merits.” Fast-forward to last week, when The Washington Times reported the school has once again pressed the issue by asking “the appeals court in the [Aug. 30] filing for a preliminary injunction reinstating its membership in the association pending the outcome of litigation.” This case came about as a direct response to the violation of Mid Vermont’s conscience rights, as well as its concerns over safety and fairness in girls’ sports. As a result, the school was “initially barred from participating in all activities,” The Times noted. And while little progress has been made, “last month, the school and the association reached an agreement allowing the school to participate in nonathletic coed activities, including the Vermont State Spelling Bee, the Vermont Geo-Bee, and the Vermont Mathematics and Science Fairs.” Despite this agreement, the overall threat of religious discrimination still looms. Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing the school in court, warned, “The [Vermont Principals’ Association’s] blatant act of discrimination and hostility toward Mid Vermont’s beliefs violates the First Amendment.” As such, ADF senior counsel Ryan Tucker said, “We are urging the court to uphold constitutional protections by guaranteeing the school can fully participate while still adhering to its religious beliefs.” And yet, the principals’ association seems to be holding to its belief that Mid Vermont violated its “Policy [on] Gender Identity” and “Commitment to Racial, Gender-Fair, and Disability Awareness” and issued an “immediate determination of ineligibility.” In response to these circumstances, Mary Szoch, the Family Research Council’s director of the Center for Human Dignity, shared with The Washington Stand her perspective as a former Division I athlete. “Biological realities make it not only unfair, but also unsafe, for men to play women’s sports,” she stated. And this, she added, “is overwhelmingly evident in basketball.” Szoch continued, “As a former Division I athlete who practiced against men daily, I can attest to the fact that at comparable levels, men have an undeniable advantage over women.” If America continues on this path, Szoch argued, “One day the country will look back at this time in history and recognize men playing women’s sports is an attempt to prioritize the wants of men who are greatly in need of counseling over the safety of women.” Szoch highlighted that Mid Vermont and the girls on its basketball team being willing to go through this messy case proves that the principals’ association “can take away their gold medals and their spot on the starting five—but they can never take away their self-respect and their commitment to truth and fairness.” Digging deeper into this case, it stands to reason that “Christian schools and their families have the fundamental right to live out their faith,” insisted ADF legal counsel Jake Reed in an exclusive comment to The Washington Stand. “Vermont is discriminating against people of faith by penalizing them for their religious beliefs and exercise. No school, family, or child should have opportunities that are available to everyone else taken from them simply for adhering to their religious convictions.” Reed further explained, “We filed an opening brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit,” which “should be simple: No school should be penalized for standing by its belief that boys are boys and girls are girls.” As he contended, “Every religious school has the right to adhere to its beliefs, and we are hopeful the court will agree.” Currently, “Mid Vermont Christian School is still banned by the [principals’ association] from competing in any sports competitions,” and “every day this case goes on, it takes opportunities away from Mid Vermont children.” “The First Amendment protects everyone’s freedom to exercise their religious beliefs,” Reed concluded, “and it does so even if those beliefs are contrary to the popular ideologies of the day. Alliance Defending Freedom will continue to fight for those who have been punished for publicly expressing and living out their faith.” Originally published by The Washington Stand The post Vermont Christian School Fights Sports Ban for Affirming That ‘Boys Are Boys and Girls Are Girls’ appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Powerful people -- and the governments they control -- cannot get results like these by accident. On Friday, according to Fox Business, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a weaker-than-expected August jobs report. The addition of 142,000 jobs last month fell short of the expected 160,000 that some economists projected....

For anyone aspiring to achieve old age and be happy and healthy along the way, listen to Samuel’s wisdom as he shares his secrets to a happy life. Instagram account @polleksandra user interviewed this sweet gentleman on the street back in 2023. Samuel was asked, "What life advice would you give people?" After a little laugh and a moment of reflection, he provided a few priceless pieces of guidance for us all. RELATED: Carol Burnett, At 90 Years Old, Is Sharing The Secret To A Happy Life Don’t Look Back On What Has Been Samuel first advised that we ought not look back on what has been. Instead, we should live in the present. He said, "Accept where you are at and move on. Try to be in the present." Both of those things can be difficult. Often, we worry about or regret the choices made along the way, and other times we look ten steps down the road, wondering what will be. Living in the present is a challenge, but, according to Samuel, doing so makes for a happier life. Next, Samuel shared the importance of being grateful. We've heard about the mental and physical health benefits associated with expressing gratitude. And, in fact, Mayo Clinic Health System reported, "Studies have shown that feeling thankful can improve sleep, mood and immunity. Gratitude can decrease depression, anxiety, difficulties with chronic pain and risk of disease." The kind look in Samuel's eyes seemed to reflect his next suggestion. He encouraged people to exercise compassion. Wouldn't the world be a better place if we all followed that giant bit of wisdom? RELATED: Nine-Year-Old Shares How To Live A Happy Life His Secret To A Happy Life Is Heartfelt Samuel went on to share his thoughts about accepting one's circumstances. With gentle conviction, Samuel advised, "Accept what is. If you can change it, okay. But there are some things that you need to accept that you can't change. And if you can't change it, let it go." Whether it took 96 years for Samuel to figure out these wonderful truths or whether he arrived at these conclusions later in life, he shared heartfelt and thoughtful advice for all of us. Samuel's last statement on the video was simply this, "Be who you are, and people will like you." No doubt, many, many people loved this remarkable man! Samuel passed away recently, but his words may very well impact future generations. YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Christian Woman Shares Her Dad's Words of Wisdom About How to Give God 100% "Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?" Job 12:12 WATCH: 96-Year-Old Shares the Secret to a Happy Life and His Words of Wisdom Are Truly Inspiring View this post on Instagram A post shared by Oleksandra Al Zakhran (@polleksandra) LISTEN: 105-Year-Old Woman Gets Her Master's Degree | Couple Found Happiness After Loss, Now Have a New Miracle to Celebrate h/t: InspireMore Featured Image Credit: Instagram/polleksandra   The post 96-Year-Old Shares the Secret to a Happy Life and His Words of Wisdom Are Truly Inspiring appeared first on GodUpdates.

Elon Musk threw his full support behind Donald Trump on X this week, saying the former president must retake the White House to “preserve freedom and meritocracy.” I have never been materially active in politics before, but this time I think civilization as we know it is on the line. If we want to preserve freedom and a meritocracy in America, then Trump must win. https://t.co/wHnuKsr9UJ— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 5, 2024

Unfinished will be included in the audiobook of Brothers, Alex Van Halen's forthcoming memoir

Vice President Kamala Harris has abandoned yet another leftwing policy she previously supported, this time on plastic straws and climate change. When Harris ran for president in 2020, she expressed support for banning plastic straws. “I think we should,” Harris responded when asked whether she would ban plastic straws at a 2019 CNN town hall focused on climate change. On Thursday, however, a Harris campaign official said the Democratic nominee no longer supports such a ban. “She doesn’t support banning plastic straws,” the campaign official told Axios. Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you. “She cast the tie-breaking vote on the most consequential legislation to combat climate change and create clean energy jobs in history, and as President, she is going to be focused on expanding on that progress,” the official said. “She joked even then about how crappy paper straws are and the need to come up with better eco-friendly alternatives,” the Harris campaign official added. Harris has reversed a slew of positions and even adopted some that were first embraced by former President Donald Trump’s campaign since becoming the de facto Democratic nominee for president in July. On Monday, Harris announced she would keep U.S. Steel under domestic ownership during a campaign stop in Pittsburgh. Back in January, Trump said he would block the sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel, Japan’s largest steelmaker. Harris also blindsided Democrats last month when she adopted Trump’s viral “no tax on tips” proposal, announcing that she supported eliminating taxes on service workers’ tips. Trump supporters had promoted the policy by writing “no tax on tips” on restaurant receipts to encourage service workers to vote for Trump. Trump himself wrote the message on a receipt when he tipped $500 during a visit to a Philadelphia cheesesteak restaurant. The Harris campaign also announced Friday that she supports a $6,000 child tax credit. That announcement came just days after Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), Trump’s running mate, said he would support doubling the child tax credit to $5,000. She has also reversed her stance on Medicare for All and mandatory gun buyback programs, her campaign saying she no longer supports those proposals. Harris also reversed another energy position, saying she no longer wants to ban fracking, something she supported in 2019. Her campaign has also dodged the issue of electric vehicle mandates, refusing to say whether she wants to require car makers to build only electric or hydrogen vehicles by 2035, something she supported during her 2020 campaign. WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘AM I RACIST?’ — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI “Will the real Kamala Harris please stand up? These are major policy reversals that will impact millions of families so we deserve to know the reasons behind why Kamala Harris can’t seem to go more than a week without a major flip-flop,” said Daniel Turner, founder and executive director of Power The Future, an organization that promotes energy research. “Cowardly hiding behind campaign staff statements tells us all we need to know: if elected, Kamala Harris will do nothing but hide from major decisions,” Turner said. Broadly, Harris has been light on details about her policy agenda this election cycle, with critics noting that her official campaign website still does not lay out her policies.

Fewer jobs were added to the U.S. economy in August than expected, while unemployment slightly decreased from July, according to the most recent report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released on Friday.  The data indicates that 142,000 jobs were added last month, about 20,000 less than the 161,000 economists had expected. Unemployment declined from 4.3% in July, the highest since October 2021, to 4.2% in August.  According to the report, the two largest sectors for growth last month were construction and healthcare, which added 34,000 and 31,000 jobs, respectively. The labor force participation rate is 62.7%, which is about the same as last year.  “The number of people employed part time for economic reasons was little changed at 4.8 million in August,” the report said. “This measure is up from 4.2 million a year earlier. These individuals would have preferred full-time employment but were working part time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs.” The Bureau of Labor Statistics has consistently revised job creation numbers downward over the last few months, including drops of 25,000 in July and 61,000 in June. Last month, it revealed that for the year that ran from April 2023 to March 2024, the bureau overestimated the number of jobs created by 818,000.  Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you. Some economists said the report suggested that the economy is still struggling as fears of a recession prompted global markets to plunge last month.  Analyzing the report, Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni noted that the economy was losing higher-paying jobs while adding part-time jobs.  “All of the net job growth in Aug was part-time employment (+527k), while full-time jobs plummeted (-438k); we’re hemorrhaging higher-paying jobs w/ benefits and replacing them with multiple part-time ones – these higher payroll numbers are a sign of impoverishment, not growth,” he said.  Alfredo Ortiz, CEO of Job Creators Network, said the report “reveals accelerating weakness in the American economy.” “Job creation was below expectations, and half of new positions were created in the unproductive government or quasi-government healthcare and social services sector,” he added. “A record 8.2 million Americans have second jobs. Prior months’ job creation was significantly revised down – again. So far this year, the number of unemployed Americans has increased by one million.” RELATED: Labor Dept Oversestimated Job Growth By More Than 800K, Revises Data

“Little House on the Prairie” star Melissa Gilbert recently discussed moving away from Hollywood more than a decade ago after realizing its negative impact on her life. The 60-year-old actress, who played Laura Ingalls Wilder on the series starting when she was 9, said she was getting excessive attention in Tinseltown.  “All of the pressures, I faced all of them,” Gilbert said in an interview with People. “When you live in Los Angeles, it’s like living at the mall when you work at the mall. Literally, everyone is in the business. When you walk into a restaurant, every head turns to see who walked in.”  Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you. She added, “Everybody’s always looking, curious, competing and that’s a really difficult thing, especially for a female actor. It puts a lot of pressure on staying thin and staying young, and really it makes it hard to feel comfortable in one’s own skin, because [of] the aging process.” The actress said L.A.’s obsession with looking young was part of the problem. “No matter how much we push it downstream, it’s inevitable,” Gilbert continued. “So are you going to age comfortably and happily? Are you going to fight it, be unhealthy and feel like there’s something wrong with you for aging and that you’re defective because you’ve gotten older?” She discussed moving to Michigan in 2013 with her husband Timothy Busfield and halting cosmetic procedures, like Botox, and even had her breast implants removed. The former child star stressed how living outside the Hollywood bubble has been a liberating experience. WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘AM I RACIST?’ — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI “I had to get out of there [L.A.], because it felt like I was not being authentically myself,” Gilbert told the outlet. “In the five years that I was in Michigan, all of that stopped. … I stopped everything and just focused on being as physically and emotionally healthy as I could. And I think that shows, ‘Yes, I’m aging, but it’s not a curse — it’s a blessing.’”