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Why is He Yelling? Reflections on the 2023 State of the Union Address
By Mario Diaz, Esq. | LBB, News and Events | No Comments
You usually yell when people can't hear you. Perhaps that is why President Joe Biden spent an hour yelling at the country in his State of the Union Address. No one is listening.
Frankly, I fear no one believes him. No one buys the D.C. narrative anymore. Americans are hurting. But you wouldn't know it from the chest-pounding bloviating in the President's speech. There is a chasm between the empty words in Washington and the reality that Americans face day in and day out.
The President gave lip service to everything from jobs and the economy to healthcare to the "existential threat" of climate change. You have heard of unprecedented problems at the border, but those miraculously disappeared for that hour last night. Instead, the Democrats celebrated their incredible work at the border. Seriously.
President Biden even mustered a line or two touting bipartisanship when he has been one of the most radical partisans in history. His shtick almost made him lose control of the floor at one moment when he lied about "Republicans wanting to get rid of Social Security and Medicaid." The pushback was so strong he had to acknowledge Congress was unanimous in wanting to protect these essential programs. Oh, he kept the pre-written lines about saving the programs from some strawman trying to take it away, but he was forced to admit, "I guess no one is opposing this now."
He had a line about protecting "Roe v. Wade." It does not make any sense, Roe is already gone, but we all know he was just trying to throw a bone at the radicals among his base. The same was true when he uttered a sentence for LGBTQ+ "rights." Hearing him yesterday, you would think these was not a big part of the President's agenda. But it is all a façade. The fact is that President Biden has been the most radically pro-abortion President in history. He even supports the taxpayer funding of abortion, something he opposed for his whole career as something too extreme even for Democrats.
His plan to promote abortions in every way possible is immoral and unconstitutional, violating even the most basic principles of federalism. In a recent opinion, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) tries to circumvent federal law to spread the use of the mail to deliver abortion pills.
The President has been just as radical on the LGBTQ+ issue. President Biden is pushing for men who self-identify as a woman to be able to compete in women's and girls' sports. He is pushing for early, life-altering, and irreversible puberty blockers for children looking to "transition." He has even mobilized his DOJ to go against those who oppose what he calls "gender-affirming care."
But, again, you wouldn't know that listening to him scream the speech tonight. Perhaps that is by design. Polls show the President's disapproval is at 53%. Only 40% of Americans approve of the job he is doing. I suspect no amount of yelling will overcome that.
As they say, sometimes actions speak so loudly it is hard to listen to the words being said.
The ABCs of "ESG"
By Mario Diaz, Esq. | ESG, LBB, News and Events | No Comments
You have either heard of it, or you will, but the radical ideology known as "ESG" is harming you.
ESG stands for "Environmental, Social, and Governance." It is a set of standards used to measure, at its core, a company's "wokeness." The more woke a company is—think Green New Deal policies, abortion travel policies, and diversity quotas—the better its "ESG score" they will get, and the more access the company attains for capital, credit, and other financial perks.
The economic pressure is real. Companies are increasingly changing internal policies to meet these leftist standards, and the impact is all around us. Here are the top three areas of concern:
Asset Management: Many companies offer investment portfolios that are ESG-friendly to bolster businesses that are sufficiently woke. And it does not stop with private companies. The Biden Department of Labor, for example, is encouraging fiduciaries for retirement plans and pensions "to consider climate change and other environmental, social, and governance factors when they select retirement investments and exercise shareholder rights, such as proxy voting." Without even knowing it, shareholders who are not careful support woke companies that hate their values and punish the companies that they support. It is no matter that ESG-focused investments have many times resulted in a worse economic return for shareholders. Nor are financial firms very concerned about enforcing ESG in China as long as the investment there is profitable.
Banking: Poorly scored companies risk experiencing reduced or eliminated access to capital and credit. If your bank fully embraces the ESG model and you want a loan, it will look at your business not only for its pecuniary value but also for its alignment with ESG. Your business may be a "bad" investment, no matter how well it does financially. Does your business provide abortion coverage? Does it support LGBTQ+ causes? Does your business align with the Black Lives Matter idea of "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion" (DEI)? Unless there are abortion travel policies or race quotas, expect low marks. An ESG-controlled economy means capital withheld from profitmaking business activity and capital funneled to underperforming business activity. Left unchecked, the end result is that all American companies—including Main Street small businesses—are weak and woke.
Consumers: ESG reinforces corporate "wokeism." The consequence is a culture that devalues the unborn, commodifies women and sex, harms children through indoctrination, etc., and also punishes any consumer who does not show allegiance to this radical, leftist ideology.
What can be done? Put the pressure back on the financial institutions rather than the other way around. We support states that are fighting back by barring state pension funds from considering ESG factors in investment decisions. If you are a shareholder, pay attention to your vote. If you have a relationship with your bank, learn their views on ESG. And if you are a consumer, as best you can, pursue alternative options to woke companies.
Nance: Give parents the power of the purse – educational savings accounts.
By CWA Communications Team | Education, News and Events, Special Feature | No Comments
Concerned Women for America (CWA) believes every child deserves educational freedom and that a zip code should not determine a student's success. In her just published op-ed for Newsweek, Penny Nance, CWA's CEO and President, discusses the important option of Educational Saving Accounts.
Penny had this to say in the article, "Give parents the power of the purse. Education Savings Accounts allow parents to use their tax dollars to pay for education that best supports their children. Nine states have already adopted ESA policies, including five in the last two years, and more will consider it this year. Let's make it happen."
Out Now: National Girls & Women in Sports Day with Macy Petty and Chloe Satterfield
By CWA Communications Team | News and Events, Podcast, Women's Sports, YWA | No Comments
On National Girls and Women in Sports Day, Young Women for America leaders Macy Petty and Chloe Satterfield joined Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-California) on a panel with fellow female athletes to share their stories about being forced to compete against biological males.
Shortly after the panel, Macy and Chloe joined Concerned Women Today with Concerned Women for America's CEO and President Penny Nance to reflect on the day.
Listen to the new episode below. Check out more Concerned Women Today podcasts here.
Young Women for America Joins Speaker McCarthy in Celebration of National Girls & Women in Sports Day
By CWA Communications Team | News and Events, Women's Sports, YWA | No Comments
To commemorate National Girls and Women in Sports Day, Young Women for America leaders Macy Petty and Chloe Satterfield were invited by Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy to tell their stories about competing against biological males in their field. Both were honored to be with Members of Congress to bring this growing problem to light and to encourage them to act to protect female athletes. They joined Rep. Claudia Tenney earlier in the day for the reintroduction of the "Protecting Women and Girls in Sports Act."
Read our media advisories:
Women's Group Endorses Legislation to Protect Female Athletes on National Girls & Women in Sports Day
YWA Leaders to Join House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to Champion Women's Sports
Watch National Girls and Women in Sports Day Panel
By CWA Communications Team | Legislative Updates, News and Events, Press Releases, Women's Sports | No Comments
Contact: CWA Communications Team
comms@cwfa.org
MEDIA ADVISORY:
Women's Group Endorses Legislation to Protect Female Athletes on National Girls & Women in Sports Day
Prevents males from stealing their trophies, their scholarships, and advancement in sports
Washington, D.C. – On National Girls and Women in Sports Day, Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee (CWALAC), representing hundreds of thousands of women and girls across the country, has endorsed the Protecting Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023 to ensure women's sports are protected under Title IX.
The bill, authored by Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) and introduced by Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) today, recognizes the discrimination taking place against female athletes in sports when male athletes identifying as women are allowed to participate in their competitions.
"Female athletes are losing their rightful places to advance and win in their own sports when they are forced to compete against biological males," said Penny Nance, CEO and President of CWALAC. "Women and girls deserve to have Title IX, the 50-year-old civil rights law that respects female athletes and guarantees equal opportunities and benefits for all athletes, be reinforced by this important legislation."
The Protecting Women and Girls in Sports Act will clarify the responsibility of schools receiving federal funds to prohibit discrimination against female athletes based on biological sex. Title IX's prohibition of sex discrimination is based on sex – male and female. It does not define sex based on "gender identity." It does not sanction males, with distinct physiological advantages regardless of treatment, to compete in female sports.
"No male, however he identifies, will ever shed his XY chromosomes, menstruate, or give birth," says Nance. "Male bodies have larger hearts and lungs and higher hemoglobin levels that enable the body to oxygenate muscles faster. Science tells us they have bigger bones and muscle capacity, larger feet and hands. To deny these facts is to deny science."
Policies allowing for inclusion in sex-specific sports on the basis of "gender identity" have no substantiation in biological fact or valid medical research to defend males competing in female athletics.
"Female athletes are under attack by an insidious form of sex discrimination driven by identity politics and condoned by schools and sports officials who are denying women and girls equal rights to their own sports. Sadly they are unwilling to stand up to protect fairness and inclusion for female athletes," said Doreen Denny, CWA Senior Advisor. "Rep. Steube and his colleagues are working to make sure that does not continue to happen."
CWA has filed three discrimination complaints against colleges, including a civil rights complaint under Title IX against the University of Pennsylvania for allowing Lia Thomas, a biological male swimmer, to compete in the NCAA championships in female competition.v
Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee (CWALAC) is the legislation and advocacy arm of Concerned Women for America. Concerned Women for America is the nation's largest public policy women's organization with a rich 40-year history of helping our members across the country bring Biblical principles into all levels of public policy.
States Rejoice for School Choice
By Alexandra McPhee | Education, Legislative Updates, News and Events | No Comments
Every child deserves educational freedom. At Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee (CWALAC), we saw landmark developments in the states for the school choice movement during National School Choice Week.
Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-Iowa) listened to the voices of parents in Iowa and signed key education policy into law. Under Iowa's Students First Act, state education funding—an estimated $7,598 per student—can go to K-12 students who choose to attend private schools and pay for their schooling and other qualified education expenses.
Gov. Spencer Cox (R-Utah) signed into law the Utah Fits All Scholarship Program. Eligible students can apply for and receive an $8,000 per-year scholarship for qualified education expenses, with preference for lower-income families and a program cap of $42 million per year.
In Arkansas, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' (Republican) signed an executive order—her first in office—that directs the Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Education and the Arkansas State Board of Education to create "policies that streamline processes to continue, expand, and replicate effective charter schools."
No student should be forced to attend failing schools or schools that denigrate their beliefs and values. Unfortunately, parents have seen far too much of this, and the problem accelerated during the pandemic. These actions by Govs. Reynolds, Cox, and Sanders empower parents to choose the best education for their children and advance education freedom. A key component of education freedom is educational choice—at CWALAC, we focus on choice in the forms of education savings accounts and open enrollment. CWA has already identified target states to advance the mission for educational choice: Florida, Louisiana, South Dakota, Texas, and Virginia. In each of these states, more can be done.
Iowa's Students First Act, as mentioned, above, creates an education savings account (ESA). ESAs vary from state to state, but generally speaking, ESAs are publicly funded, are administered by the state government, and use state funding already allocated for the student. ESAs are used to provide an education in reading, grammar, mathematics, social studies, and science. ESAs allow a parent to purchase vetted educational services to tailor a learning experience that meets a student's needs.
Every student must have access to an ESA, like in Iowa and the nine other states that have adopted ESAs that are publicly funded: Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia. An ESA helps fulfill the proper goal of education to impart knowledge to students and teach them how to think, not what to think.
Open enrollment refers to the policy of allowing students to request to transfer to another school either within a school district (intradistrict open enrollment) or outside of the school district (interdistrict open enrollment) in which the student resides. Over half of the states have policies permitting intradistrict or interdistrict open enrollment. Fourteen states require interdistrict open enrollment for all grade levels.
Of those 14 states, five states—Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, South Dakota, and Tennessee—have the strongest policy because they require schools to accept transfer requests, subject to capacity of the receiving school. Gov. Sanders' executive order builds on Arkansas' strong foundation in what is sometimes called "public school choice."
Every student must have access to transfer-request acceptance as in Arkansas and the other four states. Without it, there is a risk of open-endedness in transfer policies that give schools the latitude to create policies that prioritize the preservation of an institution rather than an individual student's quality of education.
The remaining nine states require schools to have policies for transfer requests but do not require acceptance of transfer requests: Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Kentucky, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wisconsin. Open enrollment that is interdistrict, available for all grade levels, and available for any reason (subject to capacity) gives even more options to the parents and the student to achieve maximum educational outcomes.
A zip code should not determine a student's success. The pandemic, despite its many tragedies, has resulted in an opportune climate for change in education policy. For this year's National School Choice Week, more parents are experiencing more meaningful choice in their student's education.
By CWA Communications Team | News and Events, Press Releases, Women's Sports, YWA | No Comments
YWA Leaders to Join House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to Champion Women's Sports
Will expose unfair treatment of female athletes
Washington, D.C. – On Wednesday, February 1, Concerned Women for America (CWA) and Young Women for America (YWA) leaders Macy Petty and Chloe Satterfield will join other female athletes in an event with Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-California) and House leadership to mark National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
The first Wednesday of February is designated to honor female athletes around the country. Yet a growing trend of males who identify as women are allowed to play women's sports despite scientific studies that prove testosterone suppression cannot eliminate the male athletic advantage.
"I am honored to join Speaker McCarthy to honor female athletes, many of whom feel forsaken by their schools that are putting the safety and opportunity for girls to compete on an equal playing field at risk to cater to the desires of a few," says Petty, an NCAA volleyball player and YWA Ambassador. During USA Volleyball junior qualifiers, Petty competed against a male athlete identifying as a female.
"Macy, Chloe and many other young female athletes have lost their trophies, their scholarships, and their opportunities to advance in their sports," said Penny Nance, CEO and President of CWA. "We are grateful Speaker McCarthy and leaders in Congress are going to make championing women a priority."
What: National Girls and Women in Sports Day
Speaker Kevin McCarthy
Riley Gaines, NCAA swimmer
Macy Petty, NCAA volleyball player
Chloe Satterfield, former high school tennis player
When: February 1, 2023 at 1:00 p.m. EST
Where: U.S. Capitol Building, Rayburn Room next to the House floor
"Women have come so far in the past one hundred years, and Title IX was a significant turning point for women which increased athletic, scholastic, and financial opportunities for women," says Satterfield, a former high school tennis player who competed against a male athlete in high school. "By speaking out today, we hope to continue progress for women and prevent being dragged fifty years backwards by allowing men to participate in our athletic competition."
CWA has filed three discrimination complaints against colleges, including a civil rights complaint under Title IX against the University of Pennsylvania for allowing Lia Thomas, a biological male swimmer, to compete in the NCAA championships in female competition.
YWA Leader Testifies on Virginia Girls' Sports Bill
By Morgan Schlesselman | News and Events, Women's Sports, YWA | No Comments
On January 30, 2023, Young Women for America Ambassador Halli Gravley testified before the Virginia House of Delegates Higher Education Subcommittee Hearing in support of HB 1387, a fairness in women's sports bill.
As a current female athlete on a college synchronized skating team in Virginia, Halli provided a much-needed perspective in this discussion. Furthermore, as an Ambassador for Young Women for America, Halli was able to "represent not only myself as an athlete but also young women across this state and this country who believe one of the most foundational truths that have existed from the beginning of time – God created two distinct sexes male and female. Allowing biological males to compete in women's sports is an attack on science— on physical reality— and a betrayal of women's rights."
You can watch Halli's shortened testimony here or read her statement in full here.
Halli is no stranger to the fight to defend the integrity of women's sports as she testified a year ago in her home state of Kentucky in support of HB 23, the Save Women's Sports Act, which passed and was signed into law.
HB 1387 passed the Higher Education Subcommittee, and we are looking forward to the day when the option to protect women's sports in Virginia ends up on Gov. Glenn Youngkin's desk.
Left to Right: Riley Gaines, Halli Gravley, Marshi Smith, and Abi Prudent. Riley and Marshi are some of our friends in the fairness in women's sports coalition. Abi is a classmate of Halli's, and she also testified in support of HB 1387.
Moral Apathy and Moral Corruption: Two Sides of the Same Coin
By Mario Diaz, Esq. | Defense of Family, LBB, News and Events, Religious Liberty | No Comments
Thanks to the outstanding investigative work of Mia Cathell at Townhall, the public got a glimpse into the heinous crimes committed by a radical LGBTQ+ activist couple against their two adopted children (9 and 11 years old now). A grand jury indicted William Dale Zulock, Jr. and Zachary Jacoby Zulock on charges including "incest, aggravated sodomy, aggravated child molestation, felony sexual exploitation of children, and felony prostitution of a minor."
The two, explains Cathell, were "darlings of the LGBTQ media" who were "part of an anti-gay hate campaign promoting '# NOH8′" and whose pictures were featured several times on the largest LGBTQ+ monthly publication in the nation, Out magazine.
The alleged charges must suffice for our purposes; the investigation details are too upsetting (see Cathell's entire series, being mindful of their content warning—it is hard to get through). We can simply say this is the worst type of abuse against children. These poor children were in third and fourth grades. Some abuse was allegedly filmed to satisfy the perverted desires of the men. And they even allegedly offered their children up to other men. All the while threatening them, saying things like, "Our business is our business. What happens in our home, stays in our home."
To think of what these children have gone through is genuinely heartbreaking. So, you can imagine how my heart sank to discover that the adoption of these children, which opened the door to this unimaginable abuse, was facilitated by a "Christian special-needs adoption agency." I'm sorry, what? Yes, Cathell didn't specify at first but later revealed it was an agency called "All God's Children, Inc."
So, here is where I'd like to focus your attention as Christians for a moment and appeal to your sense of righteousness and zeal for the Name of our Lord. We simply cannot stand silent while so many Christians today celebrate and support sin in the name of Christ. It is heresy. Those who choose to identify themselves as Christians bear the name of Christ. They cannot condone and celebrate sin in any of its forms. Not within and not without.
As Christians, we are tacitly complicit in the worst types of abuses when we remain silent to the trampling of God's loving standards for us in the name of tolerance or anything else. Put another way, we cannot violate the first commandment of Christ (to love God above all, with all our hearts, soul, and mind) to promote the world's distortion of our Lord's second command (to love our neighbors as ourselves). See Matthew 22:37-40.
When we manipulate God's Word, we weaken the only good and perfect standard for any sort of sustainable moral order. If Christians agree with the world that there is no objective standard, that God's law is relative to our personal preferences, then it is impossible to establish some arbitrary human-created line of morality further along because we believe, oh now, "that" is too far. Says who? That might be too far for you, but I have my own truth. Isn't that what we say? Isn't that what millions of Christians go along with every day here in America?
To be clear. The connection I want us to draw is not between sexual orientation and child abuse and pedophilia (see this recent encounter for other examples of this depravity). Instead, the connection is between moral apathy and moral corruption.
As Cathell investigated the now conveniently defunct agency, she found a post of "All God's Children, Inc. at the First Presbyterian Church of Athens, GA." The report does not go into more detail about the church, but I got curious.
Not surprisingly, a quick search of First Presbyterian Church of Athens, GA, reveals that it is hosting (just as I write this on January 26, 2023) an event alongside PFLAG, "the nation's largest family and ally organization for LGBTQIA+ people." Here is the description of the event:
In partnership with Athens Pride Queer Collective, Pflag Athens Area will host a discussion circle during the LGBTQ+ youth group meeting time. We will meet separately from the youth group to have a free and open conversation between family members, parents, and LGBTQ+ allies. Mask wearing at your discretion.
Now you can see how a "Christian" adoption agency, like All God's Children, Inc., would be eager to place children in a pro-LGBTQ+ home when it is born out of their theology. To affirm LGBTQ+ relationships is to do the work of their god. It is a work of the heart. Forget the Word of God. This is love to them.
The many red flags in these prospective parents (including accusations of "alleged pedophilic behavior") were really part of the stigma attached to them by a cruel society. It is something they needed to break through, not explore further, to be extra diligent in order to protect these children. We wouldn't want to upset the prospective couple. Everyone was surprised at how fast they moved through the adoption process (#diversity!).
Liberal Christians are not like those other Christians. One of the perpetrators in this case was very public in his criticism of Rev. Billy Graham's daughter, Cissie Graham Lynch, because she spoke in favor of protecting the religious freedom of Christian organizations that are constantly harassed by government to abandon their faith if they want to do charity work. Cathell quotes Zachary as saying in a Facebook post, "What about all the LGBTQ couples out there that have been stopped from adopting?! What about their rights?"
The church that helped them adopt would agree. So would many other Christians today— even famous pastors. Your local pastor may use some of the teaching materials from these churches.
Andy Stanley, who has been on the pro-LGBTQ+ line for many years and whose materials are used all over this country, was recently featured praising the faith of his LGBTQ+ friends over any of his other congregants. The church needs to learn from them. "I know the verses; I know the clobber passages," he said.
But again, the authority of Christ is the issue. Belief in God's Word (His standards) is the issue. Stanley actively advocates diminishing God's Word, especially the Old Testament, to be more appealing to the world. Moral apathy will give you a better hearing.
But this new form of liberal Christianity is the theological force behind the moral corruption we are all witnessing. And we must ask whether we are part of the problem. Am I showing signs of moral apathy in my own life?
David describes the workers of iniquity as those "Who speak peace to their neighbors, but evil is in their hearts" (Psalm 28:3). He prays to God against their efforts because "they do not regard the works of the Lord, nor the operation of His hands" (Psalm 28:5).
Are we doing the same? Are we showing so little regard for the Word of God that we are really promoting a false sense of peace? Again, we must ask, has my moral indifference given space to the moral corruption I see all around me?
If the answer is "yes," we must repent. We must turn back to the God of Scripture – the whole of Scripture. We must proclaim His standards are best. Indeed, we must attest there is no other foundation for liberty and freedom known to man. True love protects.
There is only one way – the Jesus way.
Nance: Conservatives Keep Missing The Key To Winning The Big Culture Battle
By CWA Communications Team | News and Events, Sanctity of Life | No Comments
"For 50 years, the American people have been fed a disgusting lie that the best and reasonable solution to an unplanned pregnancy is to have an abortion, to get rid of the human life inside a mother's womb and it will be as if it never happened," stated Concerned Women for America CEO and President Penny Nance in her op-ed featured in The Daily Caller.
Read the entire op-ed here.
Nance on NEWSMAX with Chris Salcedo following the 2023 March for Life
Concerned Women for America's CEO and President, Penny Nance, joined the Chris Salcedo Show following the March for Life to discuss moving forward in a post-Roe America. Watch Penny's interview below.
Roe v Wade-50th Anniversary March and Media
CWA Celebrates a Post-Roe America
Penny Nance Quoted:
The Federalist: Energized By The End Of Roe, The March For Life Is All About The Victories Still Ahead
The Olympian: GOP quietly plots what's next on abortion in nod to 2022 failures
Penny Nance on Family Talk Radio Interview: Concerned Women for Life.
CWA's Director of Government Relations Alexandra McPhee joined host Tia Mitchell of Washington Journal about the 50th Anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, the overturn of Roe in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, and the future of the pro-life movement.
Programming Alert: Nance to Appear on Fox News Sunday
By CWA Communications Team | News and Events | No Comments
Exclusive: On the 50th anniversary of Roe v Wade, Penny Nance will give her insights on the work to protect life in this country on Fox News Sunday with Shannon Bream this Sunday, January 22. We encourage you to watch live or set your DVRs if you are not home Sunday.
There are two broadcast options on Sunday to watch the show:
Sunday morning when Fox News Sunday is broadcast on local Fox affiliates. Check out the Fox News Sunday Local Air Times.
Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. EST on the Fox News Channel.
Please pray for Penny. She asks that we pray for clarity of thought and wisdom of words.
Please forward this to your friends and family and encourage them to watch Fox News Sunday this weekend.
CWA Cosigns Letter to CVS and Walgreens
By Alexandra McPhee | Legislative Updates, News and Events, Sanctity of Life | No Comments
Concerned Women for America cosigned a letter to Walgreens and CVS regarding the recent changes by the government to allow pharmacies to dispense chemical abortion. CVS and Walgreens announced their plans to seek certification to stock and fulfill prescriptions for mifepristone (the first part of a two-part regimen to complete a chemical abortion). The letter outlines a long list of potential legal, policy, media, and cultural concerns these pharmacies should consider when deciding on becoming abortion businesses.
Read letters to Walgreens and CVS.
Fighting the Government-Big Tech Manipulation
By Mario Diaz, Esq. | Big Tech, Briefs, Legal, News and Events, SCOTUS | No Comments
One of the most concerning aspects of President Joe Biden's Department of Justice's malicious targeting of parents and others that merely disagree with the government-approved narrative as "domestic terrorists" is that it undermines the actual war against terrorism. The fact is that terrorist organizations like ISIS have pledged harm to our country, and our government has a duty to remain diligent in protecting our citizens from that clear and present danger.
Instead of wasting resources in going after political opponents, we must continue to unite against those who hate our American values. Yet, as the Twitter files have exposed, the U.S. Government's intelligence apparatus has colluded with Big Tech, not to fight terrorism and protect U.S. citizens but to suppress free speech. This is wrong. We must be able to fight for our constitutional rights without losing our ability to focus and distinguish between these and genuine national security threats.
In a brief before the United States Supreme Court, Concerned Women for America (CWA) argues for such a distinction, and we seek to hold Big Tech accountable for turning a blind eye to real terrorist threats facing the nation, claiming technical inability and lack of resources, while displaying great power against our own citizens. In it, we say:
Because conservative organizations and other individuals and institutions that do not conform to conventional wisdom are increasingly likely to be silenced for expressing what government agencies and Defendants regard as "extreme and polarizing content," CWA has a strong interest in protecting free speech, including on Defendants' near monopolistic platforms. Simultaneously, however, CWA believes that foreign terrorist organizations ("FTOs") like ISIS, and state sponsors of terrorism like Iran – rather than American citizens who disagree with COVID-related school closures or with policies allowing biological males to compete in women's sports – pose an actual threat to our national security.
One must admit we have a problem when a social media company like Twitter, virtually controlling the modern public square, dares to remove a sitting President of the United States, preventing him from speaking freely to its citizens, while giving full access to the Taliban and several of its most prominent spokespeople even as they simultaneously conduct violent attacks against our country. Given that clear choice they have made, affirmatively taking steps to discredit one voice and give legitimacy to another, the company should not be free to wash its hands for the foreseeable consequences of its actions.
In Twitter, Inc. v. Taamneh, the U.S. Supreme Court will wrestle with the fact that though we now know that Big Tech is fully capable of removing content when they want to, it has chosen not to act in the case of straightforward illegal content choosing instead to focus its vast resources on the protected speech of its political opponents, hiding all the while under the alleged special liability protection the federal government has promised them under some laws, like the infamous Section 230.
One example has been especially evident since the takeover of Twitter by Elon Musk. In just a few months, Musk cleaned up Twitter of its child pornography problem simply by making it a top priority. The previous owner claimed this was impossible to do, despite their concerted, decades-long efforts to "do everything possible."
Big Tech companies like Google and Meta (formerly Facebook) have become too powerful on the backs of the American people while avoiding the responsibilities that are required of U.S. companies in every other context. Mark Zuckerberg's nearly half-a-billion dollars investment in the 2020 election, while controlling and manipulating political speech through its platform, is another timely and concerning example.
It is a complex problem that will undoubtedly need Congressional action too, but let us hope the U.S. Supreme Court can take steps to start curtailing its growing dangerous power.
CWA Takes Message Directly to the NCAA: Stop Discriminating Against Female Athletes
By CWA Communications Team | News and Events, Sexual Exploitation, Texas, Women's Sports | No Comments
Concerned Women for America (CWA) and Young Woman for America (YWA) joined allies in the fight to preserve a fair playing field for college female athletes by taking our message straight to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at their annual convention in San Antonio, Texas. The rally showcasing female champion athletes and women's organizations representing the voices of Americans across the political spectrum received nationwide coverage and put the NCAA on notice for legal action should it continue its discriminatory policy allowing male athletes identifying as women to participate and compete in the women's category of sport.
A petition urging the NCAA to stop discriminating against female athletes was hand-delivered to NCAA officials with nearly 10,000 signatures.
As reported by the Daily Signal, CWA Senior Advisor Doreen Denny, YWA Ambassador and current NCAA volleyball athlete Macy Petty, and CWA of Texas State Director Ann Hettinger spoke at the rally. They were joined by Deanna Drogan, CWA's Digital Media Specialist, Cassidy Comer, basketball player from Midwestern State University in Texas, and other local CWA/YWA supporters.
Speakers also urged the Texas Legislature to pass a bill sponsored by Rep. Valoree Swanson (R-District 150, the Save Women's Sports Act, which would protect female athletics at all levels, including college.
Watch Our Rally Recap
A Win for Indiana Female Athletes
By Doreen Denny | News and Events, Sexual Exploitation, Women's Sports | No Comments
Concerned Women for America was proud to join Women's Liberation Front in defending Indiana's law to uphold the rights of female athletes to their own sports. We are ecstatic that the ACLU has dropped its challenge and Indiana's law to protect girls' sports will now go into effect. This win is for the girls!
Read story here.
Local Restaurant Hosts Disney-Themed Drag Show
By Morgan Schlesselman | Defense of Family, News and Events, Sexual Exploitation, YWA | No Comments
By YWA Ambassador Hannah Gebhardt
As a former staff member at a children's summer camp and the wife of a children's minister, I have had the pleasure of getting to experience the innocence and joy that comes from the mind of a child. It is for this reason that news like the following breaks my heart. On January 15, 2023, Moondog Pizza, a local restaurant in downtown Morganton, North Carolina hosted a Disney themed drag show for all ages. The show consisted of several "drag queens" who engaged in Disney themed performances, aimed at fans of the well-loved franchise. Many local supporters of the restaurant posted comments showing support of Moondog's drag show, emphasizing how "kid-friendly" the event was. Disney was created and still is by design a company whose target audience is young children and teens. Through using a childlike theme, the restaurant encouraged parents to bring their children and expose them to indecent sexual performances under the guise of a family experience.
Businesses and individuals across the country are promoting what they believe to be a culture of acceptance, but the sad reality is that events like this attack the most vulnerable members of society, our children. Karl Marx believed that the destruction of the nuclear family was necessary for the creation of a socialist society, the stepping stone to his ultimate goal of a communist utopia. Sadly, Marx was exactly right. Whether we want to accept it or not, our culture is determined to destroy the nuclear family in order to reshape morality. But this is where every single individual should draw the line.
The apostle Peter writes, "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." (1 Peter 5:8) The enemy is real and as Christian's we are called to use reason in order to discern the truth among the evil that prevails in our society. I refuse to sit back and let corrupt businesses like this destroy morality by exploiting innocent and impressionable young children. It's time for all of us to stand together and use our voices in order to fight for the protection of children against sexual exploitation.
Penny Nance on NEWSMAX to discuss NCAA rally in San Antonio
By CWA Communications Team | News and Events, Sexual Exploitation, Women's Sports | No Comments
Concerned Women for America's CEO and President, Penny Nance, joined NEWMAX'S John Bachman to discuss the NCAA rally in San Antonio, Texas.


text:
"The EC has simply repeated the economic, political and cultural errors it made before."
—-Patrick Zelnik, Impala Co-President
IMPALA STILL FIGHTING SONY BMG
Euro Indie Music Companies Launch Another Appeal With EC, as Bertie Tries to Sell Its Half to Sony
This is getting silly.
With Bertelsmann trying to unload their half of Sony BMG to their partners for a reported $1 billion price tag, European independent music trade association Impala has filed yet another appeal with the European Commission challenging their clearance of the merger.
The Brussels-based organization said today it had lodged an appeal last Friday with the EC's Court of First Instance in Luxembourg, in which it challenges the EC's unconditional authorization of the recorded music joint-venture.
Impala claims the Commission made a "whole series of errors of law, assessment and reasoning in relation to collective dominance in the recorded music market" when it ushered through clearance for the merger last year for a second time.
"The EC has simply repeated the economic, political and cultural errors it made before," comments Patrick Zelnik, president of Naïve and co-president of Impala, in a statement issued today. "These need to be corrected."
Impala co-president Horst Weidenmueller agreed: "A merger such as this with no remedies has repercussions for thousands of artists and small businesses across Europe. Impala's primary issue is the dysfunction of the music market. Online is the key example here and the EC should look more closely at how the majors are controlling the roll-out of this market."
The European Union's executive arm first cleared the merger in 2004. But that decision was annulled by a European court ruling in July 2006 after a challenge was launched by Impala, representing more than 4,000 independent companies. The court then ordered the Commission to conduct a new investigation into the pairing.
Sony and Bertelsmann then launched their own appeal and re-submitted their merger to the Commission, which once again cleared it last October.
Impala then lodged a formal complaint with the European Ombudsman into why the deal had been approved again without remedies.
European court judges are expected to deliver their verdict on July 10 on Sony and Bertelsmann's appeal of the July 2006 judgment.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
CV-22 Osprey Looks Massive During Landing, Hard to See As a Subtle Infiltrator
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Button v Salama [2013] EWHC 2974 (Fam)
High Court application made within Wardship proceedings for Respondent's committal to prison.
See also: Button and Salama [2013] EWHC 2972 (Fam)
The case concerned a 6 year old girl who, having been taken to Egypt on holiday by both parents in December 2011, was removed from the mother's care and placed with the paternal family by the father. The mother returned to England without her, followed, about a year later, by the father.
The mother started proceedings in which the child was warded and various orders were made (to which a penal notice was attached) including orders requiring the father to return the child to the jurisdiction, to disclose details of her whereabouts and the arrangements for her care and to lodge his passports with the Tipstaff.
The father's non compliance resulted in his committal to prison, where he had remained since January 2012.
In January 2013, Cobb J committed him to prison for a further 6 months and made fresh orders reaffirming the obligations with which the father was to comply. No compliance having been forthcoming,the case came before Wood J in July 2013 on the mother's application to show cause.
In considering the matter, Wood J gave himself a Lucas warning and reminded himself that :-
- he was not trying a child abduction case
- that the burden of proof lay with the applicant,
- that the standard of proof was that of the criminal jurisdiction (ie beyond reasonable doubt) and that,
- for the purposes of penalty, any breaches found must be new and settled breaches from those previously dealt with.
Having set out in detail the obligations placed on the father by the order of Cobb J, Wood J went on consider the evidence, finding the mother to have been truthful, but the father to have been "shifty, evasive and plainly dishonest". Moreover, the father's defence (that his family had "closed ranks" against him and that the means of compliance were therefore outside his control) was "bogus" and "designed to mislead the court".
Accordingly, having found that there had been breaches of the orders of Cobb J, he then went on to consider sentencing.
It was argued on behalf of the father (citing Article5 of the ECHR incorporated as Schedule 1 of the Human Rights Act 1998) that the breaches under the current application were (a) repetitions of previous breaches for which punishment had already been meted out and (b) that further punishment for the "same offences" would be disproportionate.
Both parties' counsel referred (inter alia) Re W (Abduction – Committal) [2012] 2FLR 133. Wood J was of the view that the correct approach to follow was that taken that case (in which the trial judges had drawn attention to sentences passed in the criminal jurisdiction as a "cross check" when determining proportionality in sentencing).
Father's counsel urged caution against punishing more than once on the same facts and sought to suggest that the fact that the judgment in Re W contained no reference to Article 5, rendered reliance on that case unsafe.
Rejecting both arguments, Wood J found that he was dealing with "fresh contempts based on a fresh order relating to a different period of time on fresh facts" and that, as he was bound by Re W, any issue with it (right or wrong) would have to be taken up elsewhere.
Although noting that the father had serve 18 months in prison, he did not consider that it would be disproportionate to sentence him further.
Accordingly, he sentenced the father to four sentences of 6 months each for separate breaches, all to be served concurrently, consecutive to the sentence previously given by Cobb J.
(No separate penalty was imposed for a breach found in relation to failure to surrender his passports as, despite his "egregious" non compliance, they had been retrieved by other means and an additional penalty would have served no purpose.)
Finally, Wood J made further orders, including directions for the matter to be returned to court before the expiry of the sentence now imposed, with, if necessary, another show cause notice being issued.
Case No. FD12P00013
Date: Tuesday, 2nd July 2013
MR. JUSTICE RODERIC WOOD
(In Open Court)
B E T W E E N:
BUTTON Applicant
SALAMA Respondent
Transcribed by BEVERLEY F. NUNNERY & CO
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MR. M. JARMAN appeared on behalf of the Applicant.
MS. G. ALLWOOD appeared on behalf of the Respondent.
J U D G M E N T (Approved)
MR. JUSTICE RODERIC WOOD:
1. On 15th January this year Cobb J. made an order in wardship proceedings concerning a little girl, Elsa, born on 2nd February 2007 and thus now 6 years of age. I shall refer below in fuller terms to that order which has now led to the mother of Elsa she being the applicant in wardship proceedings) to issue a notice to show cause dated 20th June this year why the father of Elsa, who is the respondent in the wardship proceedings, should not be committed to prison for alleged breaches of the order.
2. This is not the first time the father has faced such an application. There have been a number of orders by different judges including, but not limited to, His Honour Judge Mitchell sitting as a Deputy Judge of the division on 20th January last year and 8th February last year and my own order of 7th March last year. In consequence of the father's persistent breaches of the terms of the orders made from time to time he has now been committed to prison continuously since January 2012.
3. The background is set out succinctly in the judgments on file of in particular His Honour Judge Mitchell of 11th January last year, 20th January last year, 8th February last year and my own of 7th March last year. In addition, Cobb J. gave a further succinct judgment on 15th January this year. I do not, in the light of the availability of those documents, repeat the history in detail. In short form, both parents took Elsa in December 2011 for a holiday to Egypt, the land of the father's birth, so that Elsa could enjoy some time by the sea with some of her paternal relatives. Whilst there, it would appear the parents had a serious disagreement. It is the mother's case that the father removed Elsa from her care in the last days of December 2011. Elsa was placed by the father with his own family and, in particular, his mother. Perforce, she says, that this mother had to return to England alone. She has not seen nor been allowed to speak to Elsa since that time. It is the father's case that the mother in fact at one point consented to Elsa remaining in Egypt. I am not, I remind myself, trying a child abduction case.
4. The father also returned to England in late December or early January 2012 leaving Elsa with his family in Egypt. There she remains.
5. Proceedings were commenced by the mother but in the course of them various orders have been made requiring the father, amongst other obligations, to return Elsa or cause her to be returned to his jurisdiction. He has not done so. I shall summarise his defence to this agreed failure as well as his defence to other alleged breaches of the order of Cobb J. on 15th January this year for I remind myself that it is only with those alleged breaches of that order with which I am concerned.
6. Before doing so I should mention some basic principles. The burden of proving breaches lies on the applicant mother. The standard of proof is that applied in the criminal jurisdiction, namely that I have to be sure of guilt and/or in this case of course breach. The civil standard of proof has no part in committal proceedings.
7. The father gave evidence as indeed did the mother briefly. When considering their evidence, and when I consider that they or either of them are lying to me, I have given myself what is known in the criminal jurisdiction as a Lucas warning with all that that implies. In this brief judgment it is unnecessary to spell out that direction in full. Suffice it to say that I have given myself the same warning in evaluating their evidence if and when I consider it to be untruthful as is given to a jury.
8. Should breaches be established to the appropriate standard I have reminded myself that they must for the purposes of penalty, if any, be new and settled breaches from those previous breaches of the orders of January, February and March of last year. I shall return to that subject later.
9. What were the relevant obligations placed upon the father by the order of Cobb J. on 15th January? In paragraph 3 of that order the father is required by 4:00 pm on 7th June of this year to file and serve a statement detailing the following:
(i) Current circumstances of Elsa in Egypt.
(ii) Current care arrangements of Elsa in Egypt.
(iii) The financial provision for Elsa whilst in Egypt.
(iv) The address at which Elsa resides in Egypt.
(v) The current school at which Elsa attends.
(vi) The address and contact details of the school detailed in (v) above.
(vii) Details of arrangements and proposals to ensure the safe return of Elsa to this jurisdiction whether by herself or in the company of any other person.
(viii) His compliance or non-compliance with this order.
In paragraph 4 there is imposed upon him obligation to forthwith and immediately[sic] return or cause the return of the minor child, Elsa, to the jurisdiction of England and Wales. In paragraph 5 he is subject to an obligation to forthwith and immediately confirm the following information to the mother's solicitor who is then named:
(i) The current location and address of Elsa.
(ii) The person who has the full primary care of Elsa at the present time.
(iii) A direct contact telephone number for the person with the full time care of Elsa in order that the applicant mother may speak directly to her daughter.
(iv) The current school name, school address and school contact details of Elsa's school in Egypt.
(vi) The obligation upon the father is to forthwith and immediately arrange for the mother to speak directly by telephone or Skype to Elsa from time to time.
(vii) The obligation placed upon him is to forthwith immediately lodge or cause to be lodged with the Tipstaff his English and Egyptian passports by posting them or causing them to be posted by special recorded delivery to the Tipstaff and the address is then given. A penal notice was attached to those obligations. There were further directions relating to an obligation on the mother's solicitors by a certain date to file and serve a notice to show cause and directions leading to the hearing which began before me yesterday, and which concludes today, relating to the notice to show cause.
10. The father has not complied with any of these obligations. His defence is that his family have closed ranks against him and refuse to assist him in complying with any of the above, have now moved homes and changed all telephone numbers and, as far as he is concerned, compliance with any of the obligations placed upon him by this order of Cobb J. is beyond his control.
11. It has been his case that only his younger brother, Umma, who is based in Sharma El Sheikh maintains any sort of contact with him and that Umma is the only possible conduit of information between the father and his wider family, especially his own mother whom he says has the daily care of Elsa. Even Umma's contacts with the wider family are in jeopardy he says because Umma maintains contact with him to the family's disapproval.
12. The father asserts that his own family have adopted this position because of their profound disapproval of the mother and her care, or lack of it, of Elsa in this country and in the light of imputations made against her character and morality. Also he says he is currently not considered by them to have a voice in the affairs of Elsa because he is a serving prisoner. I shall not report the nature of his allegations against the mother here. They go, if anything, to welfare considerations irrelevant to this committal application. He says the family have decided that their view of the welfare of Elsa requires her to be kept in Egypt away from the mother and if that is part of the price of her safety, kept away from her father too. I emphasise I make no findings at all in respect of these matters, setting them out in summary simply to illustrate his defence.
13. I thought the mother was truthful and dignified in her brief evidence, no part of which needs to be referred to here.
14. The same cannot be said of the father. He was, in my judgment, and I am sorry to have to record it, shifty, evasive and plainly dishonest. He was asked, for example, if he would sign an authorisation to his family to provide the information required of him by paragraphs 3 and 5 of the order of Cobb J. He seemed to regard the request as potentially fraught with danger for Elsa if the information disclosed fell into the hands of the mother and her legal team of which he has a low opinion or, indeed, Tipstaff and this court. It was quite clear to me that although his hesitations and body language would not by definition appear on the transcript, that he was weighing up the pros and cons of giving such information all of which he has, I find it, within his power to divulge. At times I thought that he was almost trying to negotiate with this court as to the terms on which he would divulge that information. Whilst he ultimately gave a guarded view that he might be able to do so he has not provided any authorisation yet, and has thus been, and continues to be, in breach of those parts of the order of 15th January.
15. He is also in breach of the provision of paragraphs 4 and 6 of that order. I wholly disbelieved his account when he asserted that compliance was beyond its control. As to the provisions of his passports, his account was that they, that is both his United Kingdom and Egyptian passports had been posted to his brother Umma in late December 2011 or early January 2012 to help in the registration of Elsa at a school in Cairo, but then held by Umma to his order. He, so he said, required Umma to send those passports to his friend in England to hold them to his order. He did not trust the mother's legal team nor, frankly, Tipstaff and the court to hold them, and was, as I understood it, though he was short on the mechanism for this, only prepared to surrender them to the court through his own legal team which, unhappily, he has not had prior to this hearing, although he is now, if I may respectfully say so, ably represented by Miss Allwood of counsel. What he did not know prior to this hearing was that the passports had been retrieved from his friend, Mr. SM, as I shall refer to him, and taken into the possession of Tipstaff by court order. I wholly disbelieve the father's account of the history of these documents.
16. In coming to my conclusions on this subject I took account of his friend, Mr. SM's evidence. That witness has provided a statement to the court and attended and gave evidence contradictory to that of the father, particularly but not exclusively as to the period in which he had held those passports to the father's orders. Mr. SM told me, and I accept, that he had been asked by the father to take custody of some of his records and possessions and that when the father's friend with whom he had previously shared a house in Southampton delivered the bags to Mr. SM containing documents in about March 2012 Mr. SM found a folder within the contents, amongst other things, containing the father's two passports and bank cards etc. Mr. SM also told me that he had a telephone conversation with the father, and the father sought his help in enquiring of the Egyptian embassy if the father could renew his now expired Egyptian passport. There were other conversations he told me about when, because the father knew that telephone calls from prison were recorded, they spoke in code about the father's passports and bank cards, referring to them by colour and in the case of the passports, the Egyptian one being green and in the case of the United Kingdom one red. They also referred to bank cards with separate banks which were also in colours of red and green, but that when the father was discussing passport issues it was very clear to Mr. SM that he was so doing and that he, Mr. SM, was not confused about this issue. I accept that evidence as truthful, as mostly did the father. However, the father baulked with the idea that they discussed passports in code, and asserted that they only ever spoke of his bank cards by colour and that Mr. SM must be innocently mistaken in holding the views he appears to have. I repeat, I accept Mr. SM's evidence on this subject, especially that concerning the passports and when they came into his possession, namely in March last year. That being established, how it did he account for a passage in a letter the father wrote to his mother and brother, Umma, dated 17th December 2012 exhibited to the statement he made in January this year in which he asked them to send his passports back to England. He also told me that he had asked his brother again this year to send the passports back, but that it was only last night over the adjournment when he had telephoned his brother in Egypt to ask why that brother had not informed him in March 2012, or subsequently, that he had sent the passports back already that his brother, Ari, said that he had not mentioned so doing because it would make no difference. I disbelieved that account of the father. The clear inference is that the father was not going to hand over his passports voluntarily and was doing all he could to secrete them from the court for future use. I add that knowing that he had legal representation yesterday and today, if he was correct in asserting that he was simply waiting for the appropriate opportunity to hand them into the court, it is puzzling that he did not invite Mr. SM to attend court bearing them on the first day of the hearing. Even on his own account he would not have handed them to the court save through a legal team. I find this to be a deliberate breach of the relevant paragraph of Cobb J.'s order. I have also considered as part of my evaluation of the evidence a statement produced by the father yesterday morning just a few days late after the obligation to file such a document imposed by the order of Cobb J. In fact the statement does little more than repeat his defence and matters already set out in earlier statements filed by him in these proceedings, but fails to answer any of the relevant questions. I have no doubt that he could cause the return of Elsa and/or provide the information required and or arrange for the mother and Elsa to talk on Skype should he so wish. He refuses to do so. I disbelieve his evidence in relation to the family closing ranks against him.
17. Returning to the Lucas warning I earlier gave myself, I consider the whole of his defence to his failure to comply with the order of 15th January to be bogus and designed to mislead this court into believing that he has no power to comply with its order or orders. For the avoidance of doubt, I repeat, he does have such powers but deliberately refuses to exercise them.
18. Having found that, I am sure that the father has deliberately breached the obligations placed upon him by Cobb J's order. I turn to consider sentence.
19. Miss Allwood raises an issue as to whether or not the court could or should apply a further penalty of imprisonment for contempt given that, she says, the breaches the subject of the application to commit are in effect repetitions of breaches already punished and, secondly, if I am against her in her first proposition that further punishment for what she submits are really the same offences is to disproportionate.
20. I have been referred to and taken account of Article 5 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 1950 incorporated in Schedule 1 to the Human Rights Act 1998 in our domestic law. I have also considered the following authorities drawn to my attention by both Miss Allwood and Mr. Jarman, counsel who appears on behalf of the mother. They include:
(i) Re A (Abduction - Contempt) [2009] 1FLR p.1 and
(ii) Re W (Abduction - Committal) [2012] 2FLR 133 and especially paragraphs 37-43 and 50-54, plus other authorities relating to criminal charges of child abduction under the Child Abduction and Custody Act 1985. These latter authorities have to be approached with caution since they relate to sentences passed in the criminal jurisdiction under a statutory regime which this father has not on the face of it been charged with and there is no finding extant as to the circumstances of the original events in December 2011 in Egypt. So it is difficult to draw exact parallels, though of course I accept that Macfarlane LJ and Hughes LJ in Re W draw the attention of trial judges in this division to this feature of the landscape as perhaps a cross-check to determine proportionality in sentencing.
21. It seems to me that the correct approach to this case is the one adopted by the Court of Appeal in Re W if I may respectfully say so. (See the citation above) Summarised accurately in the headnote to that printed authority and fully supported by the paragraphs to which I have already referred.
22. I specifically remind myself in this case and state for the avoidance of doubt that I am not punishing the father for the unlawful retention, if such it was, in Egypt in December 2011 for there was no order in place preventing that step whatever other view may be taken. I am considering only those breaches of the order of Cobb J. of 15th January which is well within the power of the father to comply with.
23. Miss Allwood in both her skeleton argument and closing submissions invites, understandably, attention to the danger of punishing more than one time for breaches or breaches based essentially on the same facts. Whilst I understand a well made point reliant as it is in part on paragraph 51 of the judgments in Re W I find that I am dealing with fresh contempts based on a fresh order relating to a different period of time on fresh facts.
24. She also invites me to consider the omission of reference to Article 5 of the Convention, if I may so call it, fully referred to above when determining Re W and to comment that this of itself renders the judgment of that court unsafe. I respectfully reject that submission as jejune. The Convention has been applied purposively by the Courts of England and Wales since 1950 even though it was not incorporated into United Kingdom law until 1998 as I have earlier set out it. Even subsequently it cannot surely be the case that a Court of Appeal constituted, as this one was, with its depth of experience, did not have it fully in mind. Further, in any event, I am bound by the decision, right or wrong, and her quarrel with Re W, having laid her ground, is to take up the issue elsewhere.
25. I note that the father has already served the best part of 18 months in custody. That is the equivalent of a sentence of three years. It is now disproportionate, Miss Allwood asserts, to sentence him to a further period. In that submission, I consider her to be wrong. The point has not yet been reached when the warning sounded by the Hughes LJ at the end of paragraph 51 of Re W suggests otherwise on these facts.
26. The appropriate sentence in respect of these breaches is as follows in my view.
(i) In respect of paragraphs 3 of that order, six months immediate custody.
(ii) In respect of paragraph 4 and the failure to cause the return of Elsa to the jurisdiction, six months immediate imprisonment concurrent with the six months in (i).
(iii) In respect of the obligations in paragraph 5 of the order, immediate imprisonment of six months concurrent with the terms imposed above.
(iv) In respect of the obligations in paragraph 6 of the order, six months imprisonment immediate concurrent with the terms imposed above.
(v) In respect of the obligations imposed by paragraph 7 of the order, no separate penalty. Although the father failed to comply egregiously with the order to surrender his passports they have, after all, been retrieved and in my view no useful purpose will be served by an additional penalty on that breach.
(vi) The sentences of immediate imprisonment imposed above, all concurrent with each other, shall be consecutive to the sentence imposed by Cobb J. on 15th January of this year.
27. These breaches, so punished, are in respect of the new and separate breaches not breaches already punished by earlier orders. It follows from the above that there will need to be consequential directions to find an adjourned date to return this case to court prior to the expiry of the imposed terms of imprisonment with consequential obligations on the mother's certificate, if needed, to issue a notice to show cause. For my part, I echo the words of another authority. The egregious acts for this father are cruel beyond imagining. I hope for his sake, but more particularly Elsa's and the mother's, that he finds it in his heart, when examining it, to purge his contempt and bring about the return of Elsa to this jurisdiction. His behaviour has been appalling and it continues to be so.
That is my Judgment
Lucas warning
wardship


text:
Daemen College
Baldwin Wallace University
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Colleges with Strength in Women's Soccer: Division III
Undergrad Profile
At High Point University, every student receives an extraordinary education in an inspiring environment with caring people.®
Enrollment: 5,200 students; 4,400 traditional undergraduates
Location: High Point, North Carolina; the cities of High Point, Greensboro, and Winston-Salem form the Piedmont Triad.
Access: The Piedmont Triad International Airport is 20 minutes from campus. The Raleigh-Durham International Airport and the Charlotte Douglas International Airport are just over an hour from campus.
Diversity: The current student body represents 50 states and 37 countries; 82% of students are from out of state.
Ratios: The typical class size is 17 students, and the student-faculty ratio is 15:1.
Intercollegiate Athletics: The High Point University Panthers compete in NCAA Division I athletics in the Big South Conference. HPU sponsors 16 intercollegiate sports and 26 club sports.
Men's Teams: Baseball, basketball, cross-country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, and track & field
Women's Teams: Basketball, cross-country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, track & field, and volleyball
Club Sports: Men's ballroom dancing, baseball, basketball, bass fishing, Brazilian jiujitsu, golf, ice hockey, IHSA equestrian, lacrosse, paintball, powerlifting, rowing, running, soccer, swimming, tennis, Ultimate Frisbee, and volleyball; women's ballroom dancing, basketball, Brazilian jiujitsu, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, IHSA equestrian, lacrosse, paintball, powerlifting, rowing, running, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, Ultimate Frisbee, and volleyball
Study Abroad: Semester-long, month-long, and summer programs are available in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Fiji, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Russia, South Africa, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
Involvement: More than 150+ clubs and activities, including choral groups, band, fraternities and sororities, professional organizations for majors, publications, a radio station, religious organizations, service organizations, student government, and special-interest groups (multicultural, political, etc.)
Educational Investment: Tuition and fees—$35,996; room and dining plan—$14,701 (standard double; additional costs for single/private room)
Scholarships: Presidential and High Point Fellows Scholarships are awarded annually to qualified freshmen. Scholarships range from $2,000 to full tuition.
David R. Hayworth College of Arts and Sciences
• Actuarial Science
• Biochemistry
- Cellular/Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
- Health Science
- Neuroscience
- Organismal and Evolutionary
• Computer Science (with optional concentration in Cybersecurity)
• Criminal Justice
• Data Analytics and Statistics
• English Literature
• English Writing
• French and Francophone Studies
• Human Relations
• Individualized Major
• Mathematical Economics
- Instrumental Studies
- Piano/Organ
- Voice
• Neuroscience
• Nonprofit Leadership and Management
• Philosophy
• Physics
• Political Science
• Religion
• Spanish
- Collaborative Theatre
- Dramatic Writing
- Performance Theatre
- Technical Theatre
School of Art and Design
• Design Studies (with concentration in Graphic Design)
• Furnishings and Product Marketing
• Graphic Design
• Interior Design
• Studio Art
• Visual Merchandising Design
Earl N. Phillips School of Business
• Accounting
• Business Administration
- Entrepreneurship
• Entrepreneurship
• Finance
• International Business
• Sales (with concentration in the Furniture Industry)
Nido R. Qubein School of Communication
• Event Management
• Game and Interactive Media Design
• Journalism
• Media Entrepreneurship and Production
• Popular Culture Studies
• Sport Communication
• Sport Management
• Strategic Communication
CONGDON School of Health Sciences
• Athletic Training
• Exercise Science
- Biomechanics
- Exercise Physiology
- Health and Wellness
Stout School of Education
• Elementary Education
• Health and Physical Education
• Middle Grades Education
• Secondary Education (9-12 licensure)
- Comprehensive Science
• Special Education
• Special Subjects (K-12 Licensure)
- Spanish
Norcross Graduate School
• Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership (EdD)
• Doctor of Pharmacy
• Doctor of Physical Therapy (MA)
• Educational Administration (add-on license)
• Educational Leadership (MEd)
• Elementary Education (MEd)
• History (MA)
• Master of Athletic Training (MSAT)
• Master of Business Administration (MBA)
• Master of Physician Assistant Studies
• Secondary Mathematics (MEd)
• Special Education (MEd)
• Strategic Communication (MA)
• Teaching Elementary Education, K-6 (MAT)
• Teaching Secondary Mathematics, 9-12 (MAT)
High Point University is the Premier Life Skills University, working to transform the lives of their students.
HPU knows a thing or two about transformation after radically transforming the campus and culture under the leadership of President Nido R. Qubein, who became the seventh president of this 94-year-old institution in 2005.
That's why HPU leaders commit to preparing students for the world as it's going to be, not as it is. The promise HPU makes to each student and their family serves as a clear road map for faculty and staff to achieve that mission.
At High Point University, every student receives an extraordinary education in an inspiring environment with caring people. In addition to expert faculty who have been attracted from places like Duke, Harvard, Stanford, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, and many other impressive universities, HPU has also attracted global leaders and industry giants to mentor students as part of a unique "In Residence" program designed to foster life skills and leadership development. Examples include:
• Steve Wozniak, Apple cofounder and current Innovator in Residence
• Marc Randolph, Netflix cofounder and current Entrepreneur in Residence
• Karen Jacobsen, "The GPS Girl," voice of Australian Siri, and current Global Artist in Residence
• Joe Michaels, 20-year veteran director of NBC's Today show and current Broadcaster in Residence
• Betty Liu, Bloomberg LP Television anchor, cofounder of Radiate Inc., and current Media Entrepreneur in Residence
• Scott McKain, corporate consultant, author, speaker, and current Corporate Educator in Residence
• Byron Pitts, journalist and coanchor of ABC's Nightline and current Journalist in Residence
By focusing holistically on students' transformational educational journeys, HPU attracts students from all 50 states and nearly 50 countries. Since 2005, President Qubein has led a $2 billion investment in academic programs (five new academic schools have been added) and student life facilities. New buildings include two student centers, 10 residential communities, a lacrosse/soccer stadium, a Division I athletics complex, and, currently under construction, a 4,500-seat basketball arena, conference center, and hotel.
Innovative educational initiatives like the President's Seminar on Life Skills, a required course for all entering freshmen, ensure students grow not only in specific academic areas of expertise but also develop competencies in communication, networking, coachability, fiscal literacy, and service. These are among the traits HPU refers to as "life skills," which employers rank as the most critical skills necessary to succeed in the modern workplace.
With 58 majors and 57 minors, HPU offers a broad spectrum of academic course work, all complemented by experiential learning programs that include internships, undergraduate research, global education, and service learning. The approach to life preparation is perhaps best showcased by the 96% placement rate for graduates employed or enrolled in graduate school within six months of graduation from HPU.
Beyond academic excellence, High Point also focuses on values. President Qubein often remarks that HPU is a God, family, and country school. While all backgrounds are welcome and celebrated on this inclusive campus, HPU appreciates and promotes the values of hard work, service, patriotism, private enterprise, joy, and generosity, among others.
Each year, HPU hosts 1,000 local military veterans to express gratitude for their service to our nation. In December, HPU welcomes more than 20,000 visitors to campus for a two-night Community Christmas event, complete with a life-size Nativity, falling snow, and Santa, who offers a gift to each child. The entire event is complimentary.
HPU's culture can be summed up in a quote from Roy Disney that's inscribed on the International Campus Promenade: "When your values are clear to you, making decisions becomes easier."
High Point University is a values-based university that believes each faculty and staff member has the power to enhance the lives of the students entrusted in their care. Their call to action is simple and profound: Choose to be extraordinary! And they live by it every day.


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It looks like Valve has lost yet another writer as this week, Jay Pinkerton parted ways with the studio. Since the start of 2016, we have seen several writers leave Valve's offices for various reasons, all of which previously worked on the Half-Life series. This time around, it is Pinkerton who has left, who worked on Portal 2 and some of the lore/stories behind Team Fortress 2.
Jay Pinkerton had worked at Valve since 2008 and was a big part of the 'Meet The…' series for Team Fortress 2, amongst other TF2-related stories. He worked closely with Erik Wolpaw, who left Valve earlier this year and was followed by Chet Faliszek last month. Pinkerton's departure was confirmed on his Facebook page, which is public but I won't link it here out of respect for his privacy.
This all caps off a string of departures, kicking off with Half-Life writer Marc Laidlaw back in early 2016. Valve does get a lot of criticism for seemingly not making games anymore, so this ongoing trend of writers leaving is a tad worrying for the future of story-driven games at Valve. We do know that Valve is working on several new games at the moment but whether or not these will contain a focussed story remains to be seen.
While Valve's esteemed writers all leaving seems like a bad sign, it doesn't necessarily spell the end of story-driven games at Valve. There are other talented writers floating around and I am sure at least some of them would be interested in working at Valve. Not to mention, there could be new writers already working there, after all, we don't exactly get announcements every time Valve hires a new employee.
KitGuru Says: Valve is keeping quiet in regards to all of these recent departures but hopefully we can move past that later this year. After all, a potential game reveal at Steam Dev Days 2017 was teased last year.


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TRIVIUM Guitarist Says Band Was 'Kind Of Hamstrung' With Previous Drummers
Following TRIVIUM's performance at the Download festival in Castle Donington, England on June 15, guitarist Corey Beaulieu spoke with the "Mike James Rock Show". The full conversation can be seen below. A few excerpts follow (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):
On the group's Download set:
Corey: "We were kind of bummed that we had to stop playing. It was a lot of fun, because we don't get to blow shit up all the time... The last couple of times we played Download, we were headlining the second stage, so to get back on the main stage... we were stoked. We just knew it was going to be a big show — SLIPKNOT's playing, BEHEMOTH; it was going to be a really cool day — [so] we started talking about for the festivals what we wanted to do for production. We just knew that Download, we've got to go all out and bring in all sorts of shit. It was really fun. Since we've been over here doing shows, we've been every day making notes and getting everything planned out to make sure all this extra stuff we're bringing in that we haven't been using on any other show was really planned out, and we knew the show was going to be spot-on. We've used pyro before and CO2, but there's a bunch of other things like concussion bombs and sparklers, fireworks. We've never used any of that stuff, so playing, you're just like, 'That looks pretty cool.' It was a lot of fun to add that element to the show."
On the group's career trajectory:
Corey: "This is our fourth festival so far [this year], and over the years, there's been certain things at certain festivals that kind of stuck with you – like, something not going right, or the time frame, there might have been the wrong person in the band playing with us that just didn't feel right. Certain things that just didn't have the vibe, or just didn't feel like it really had the impact. Even though you're playing in front of a lot of people, every band has that moment in their time where you're up here [gestures], and then it might go down a little bit. Even [IRON] MAIDEN and [JUDAS] PRIEST had down times. You work your way through it and figure shit out. We kind of just kept rolling... With getting our drummer situation solidified and him being a really amazing drummer, it's really kind of the missing piece. Matt [Heafy, guitars/vocals], Paolo [Gregoletto, bass] and I always felt like we've always been really tight as guitar players, but if the drums aren't there, it really makes the whole band not sound as tight. We kind of had some bumps in the road with not being able to find the right guy who could cover all the bases... That always kind of hamstrung us a little bit, but once got Alex [Bent], the trajectory's just been going back up. A lot of people say it's the best show they've seen us play... It's been a lot of fun to go out there and reintroduce our band to everybody and show them the best version that they've probably ever seen."
On the band's remaining goals:
Corey: "Growing up, listening to MAIDEN, METALLICA and all those bands, you watch the live videos and they're playing to a crazy sold-out stadium or an arena. That was always our goal from the beginning — be an arena band headlining festivals – but I think after all these years, we've had conversations and being self-reflective of records we've put out or decisions we've made that, even three, four, five years ago, if we were given a chance to headline a festival, I don't think we would have been ready for it. I don't think we were in the right spot or earned it yet. Now, with the last record and the way we've been performing, I think in the next couple of years, we've gotten to a place where we're in the right head space and the way the band operates and the way we play together as a group and playing tight and putting on an energetic, very crowd-oriented performance, I think now is the time that if we were given the opportunity to headline a show, we could actually handle the responsibility of being a band that could top the bill and put on a big show... I think we're now actually in the place in our career where it would make sense [and] we wouldn't crumble at the pressure of doing it, or having someone getting nervous or not stepping up to the place. I think now we've grown into the shoes of being the band that could actually one day, when the MAIDENs and all those bands hang it up and you need that next group of bands, I think we've gone through the experiences and the ups and downs. We're kind of in the place now that [we] really see it as something as realistic in the near future. A lot of bands don't self-reflect on themselves and they just fall apart, but [we] kind of used it as motivation to jump start a second resurgence of our band."
TRIVIUM's eighth album, "The Sin And The Sentence", came out in 2017. The group is expected to release a new record in 2020.
Tags: trivium
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Ask Matt: So Much 'Good' TV — But What About 'Behavior'? Plus, T.G.I.T. & Missing 'Pieces'
Matt Roush January 15, 2019 9:00 am
Bill Inoshita/CBS
The cast of CBS' Life in Pieces
Welcome back to the Q&A with TV critic (also known to some TV fans as their "TV therapist") Matt Roush, who'll try to address whatever you love, loathe, are confused or frustrated or thrilled by in today's vast TV landscape. One caution: This is a spoiler-free zone, so we won't be addressing upcoming storylines here unless it's already common knowledge. Please send your questions and comments to [email protected] (or use the form at the end of the column) and follow me on Twitter. Look for Ask Matt columns on most Tuesdays and Fridays.
Too Much "Good" TV?
Question: What is it with all the "Good" TV these days? No, I'm not talking about the overabundance of peak shows. Instead, I'm wondering whether producers or publicists have run out of titles without that word in them. Consider what's been on air in the last few seasons alone. There's The Good Wife (and The Good Fight, its sequel), The Good Place, The Good Doctor, The Good Cop (RIP on Netflix), Good Girls and Good Morning America. Just to name a few. Can't anybody think of something else to call their shows? "Good" grief! — Aaron F.
Matt Roush: Not to mention the ambiguity in the word itself. Is it ironic—which is the case more often than not, although "good" changed its meaning when The Good Wife (a label Alicia fought against) became The Good Fight (representing a crusade against the insanity of our political times). But to your bigger, and more amusing, point. Originality only gets you so far when naming TV shows (see: FX's Terriers), and simple hooks tend to win out. Oddly, while there may be a sameness to these titles, they also represent some of the best shows currently on air (The Good Place, The Good Doctor and The Good Fight in particular).
When It Comes to Show Titles, There's Too Much 'Good' TV on These Days
Check out every 'Good'-titled TV show and why you have to watch it.
Could Anything Revive Behavior?
Question: Is there anything that could persuade producers of Good Behavior to bring it back for a finale season? I loved this show! Thrilling, sexy, at times deeply moving, ambiguous morality: What more do you want? I want more Good Behavior. — Bestim
Matt Roush: You wouldn't have to convince the producers, who would be more than willing to keep this cult series going. While Good Behavior was in limbo before it was canceled, there was some talk that TNT might be able to green-light some sort of movie finale to provide closure, but alas, that never happened. I'm not aware that it's being shopped anywhere, including to streaming (which can't rescue everything), so maybe your best option for now is to pick up the book series by Blake Crouch.
TNT Cancels 'Good Behavior' After 2 Seasons — Check Out an Unseen Bonus Scene
Creator/executive producer Chad Hodge announced the news on social media.
Who Takes Home the Trophies?
Question: When a TV movie, limited series or series wins an award, who gets the statue(s)? Producers? Show-runners? Actors? Writers? Craft Services? (Just kidding about the last one). But seriously, I wondered about this when I watched Jesus Christ Superstar Live win best TV movie (huh?) at the Critics Choice Awards. Will any of the performers get a statue? They basically were the show. — Maurice
Matt Roush: Generally speaking, a series (or movie/limited series) award goes to the lead producer(s) and/or creator(s). I'm not sure how many statues are produced to give out to any individual show, because many have multiple executive producers/show-runners. At the more prestigious awards shows (Emmys, Oscars), writers have their own category. And in all cases, unless the star of the show was also its creator/producer, actors only get an award if they win their specific category. To address your "huh?" it seems appropriate to me for live performance specials like Jesus Christ Superstar (and any live musical or play broadcast on TV) to compete against TV-movies, which typically is among the weaker categories many years.
Critics' Choice Awards 2019: The Best Behind-the-Scenes Moments (PHOTOS)
Celebrities rubbed elbows at the 24th annual awards ceremony.
Shaking Up the T.G.I.T. Lineup
Question: Always enjoy your Ask Matt column. Regarding the recent discussion of the move of A Million Little Things to the post-Grey's Anatomy slot on Thursdays, here's one other possible angle. Now that Shonda Rhimes has cut her future development deal with Netflix, perhaps ABC is more interested in shows from show-runners who might create additional content for ABC instead of Netflix. — David in Houston
Matt Roush: No doubt. The initial question involved the short-term replacement of Grey's Anatomy spinoff Station 19 with A Million Little Things (as of this week), thus ending Shondaland's stranglehold on ABC's Thursday night. At some point, that was bound to happen, because Shonda Rhimes' company will no longer be creating new product for the network—and all that's left in the pipeline besides Grey's are Station and the middling legal drama For the People (which will take over How to Get Away With Murder's time period on March 7, the same night Station returns, restoring Thursday to an all-Shondaland night, at least for a while). The challenge for ABC, not yet met, is how to follow Grey's with a show as impactful as Scandal (at least in its early years).
'Grey's Anatomy' Season 15 Will Be Extra Long — What Could This Mean?
Looks like the long-running series has plenty more drama left in store.
Giving Bernie Mac Its Due
Question: Recently I noticed reruns of The Bernie Mac Show popping up on multiple channels. I haven't seen it in years, but when I watched it, I remembered how much I loved it growing up. I know the show was pretty successful, being one of Fox's top sitcoms, with unbelievable rogues' gallery of guest stars, some who you'd never see on TV today, and it even won a writing Emmy for its pilot and nabbed a few nominations throughout its run. Despite all this, I don't know why it isn't talked about more? It was very much the new Cosby Show of its time and paved the way for other black family comedies like Everybody Hates Chris and black-ish. I feel as though it's overlooked now. — Rico
Matt Roush: I'm glad to think The Bernie Mac Show (2001-06) may be enjoying a renaissance through syndication or streaming (all five seasons are on Hulu). I wonder if Bernie Mac's tragically premature death in 2008 at 50 may have contributed to the show's relatively low profile, since he's no longer around to promote this high point in his career. Also, while a five-season run is respectable, it's not the sort of run that defines an era the way The Cosby Show did (or black-ish may yet do). But it's highly recommended for anyone seeking a smart family comedy about a most reluctant father figure.
10 TV Shows We'll Be Sad to See End in 2019
From 'Game of Thrones' to 'The Big Bang Theory.'
Question: Why isn't CBS airing Life in Pieces this fall season, and will it be coming back at all? — Pete
Matt Roush: CBS will return Life in Pieces to the schedule sometime this midseason for its fourth year, but no word yet as to when. The family comedy was benched to give some new comedies—and one revival, Murphy Brown—a place on the fall schedule. This worked out well for The Neighborhood, but not so much for Happy Together (which ended its run this week), and I predict the same for the mediocre Fam (which took over Murphy's Thursday time period last week). I imagine we'll see Pieces show up sometime this spring—or at worst, as a summer replacement.
CBS Midseason Comedy Schedule: 'Man With a Plan' Returns, 'Life in Pieces' Missing & More
Don't miss Nina Dobrev's return to TV in 'Fam.'
That's it for now. Thanks as always for reading, and remember that I can't do this without your participation, so please keep sending questions and comments about TV to [email protected] or shoot me a line on Twitter (@TVGMMattRoush), and you can also submit questions via the handy form below. Please include a first name with your question.
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