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Kansas teacher suspended for refusing to use student's preferred name, pronouns awarded $95k in lawsuit

A former Kansas middle school teacher who was suspended for refusing to use the preferred name and pronouns of a student has been awarded $95,000 in a lawsuit settlement, her attorneys announced this week. 

Pamela Ricard, a teacher who previously taught math at Fort Riley Middle School, was formally reprimanded and suspended for three days in April 2021 for addressing a student by their “legal and enrolled last name” rather than their preferred first name. 

According to the lawsuit, a school counselor emailed Ricard saying the student preferred to be called an alternate first name different from the student’s legal name. Ricard was later told by a classmate the student’s preferred pronouns were “he/him.” According to the complaint, the student never directly asked Ricard to call the student by a name, or pronouns different from the student’s enrollment records. 

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Ricard, who had been a teacher with Geary County School District since 2005, addressed the student as “Miss (legal/enrolled last name)”, in an attempt to respect the student without compromising her own religious beliefs. 

While neither the school nor the district had a formal policy on preferred names and pronouns at the time, Ricard was suspended and reprimanded under policies related to diversity and inclusion and the bullying of students by staff. The district’s Board of Education months later approved a policy requiring staff use students’ preferred names and pronouns and also denied Ricard’s request for a religious exception. The policy also required teachers to conceal a student’s name and pronouns preference by using only legal names when speaking with parents unless the student allowed them to do so. The district argued the policy was intended to prevent discrimination and harassment and promote inclusivity. 

Ricard filed a federal lawsuit against the school district in March 2022. The lawsuit claimed the district’s policy mandating Ricard to use language conflicting with the student’s biological sex, and to withold a student’s name and pronoun preferences from parents violated her relgious beliefs and First Amendment rights.

A U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas in May allowed Ricard’s lawsuit to move forward after finding “she was likely to prevail on her First Amendment free exercise of religion,” according to her attorneys. The court also granted a motion to stop enforcement of the policy. After the court’s ruling, the school board voted to revoke the policy. 

Fort Riley Middle School officials agreed to pay $95,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees to settle the case. 

“No school district should ever force teachers to willfully deceive parents or engage in any speech that violates their deeply held religious beliefs,” Tyson Langhofer, Ricard’s attorney and senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, said in a statement. 

“We’re pleased to settle this case favorably on behalf of Pam, and we hope that it will encourage school districts across the country to support the constitutionally protected freedom of teachers to teach and communicate honestly with both children and parents,” Longhofer added. 

The school district did not immediately respond to Changing America’s request for comment. 

Source: TEST FEED1

US military sending assessment team to Pakistan amid deadly floods

The U.S. military is sending a team to Pakistan to figure out what support the Pentagon could provide amid deadly floods that have covered more than one-third of the country, the Defense Department announced Friday.  

U.S. Central Command will send the team to Islamabad to determine how the Pentagon can help the U.S. Agency for International Development as part of Washington’s response to the crisis, the command’s top spokesperson, Col. Joe Buccino, said in a statement. 

Gen. Michael Kurilla, the head of CENTCOM, also spoke by phone with Pakistan’s chief of army staff, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, to express “his condolences for the people of Pakistan,” the statement added.  

Floods that began in mid-June have ravaged Pakistan, and satellite images this week showed more than one-third of the country under water.

The flooding has killed more than 1,100 people — at least 400 of them children — affected more than 33 million people, and destroyed millions of acres of crops and hundreds of thousands of livestock, setting the country up for a major food shortage and humanitarian crisis. 

The floods are being blamed on a heavier than normal monsoon season, the wettest since Pakistan began keeping records in 1961, CNN reported. 

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called the floods “the worst in the country’s history,” estimating that the disaster has caused more than $10 billion in damages. 

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Country singer Jason Aldean dropped by PR firm following backlash over wife's comments: reports

(NEXSTAR) – Country singer Jason Aldean has been dropped by his longtime PR firm days after his wife, Brittany Aldean, made critical comments about gender-affirming care for trans children.

“Music has always been and remains The GreenRoom’s core focus, so we had to make the difficult decision after 17 years to step away from representing Jason,” said Tyne Parrish, the co-owner of The Green Room, in a statement first shared with Billboard. Parrish also confirmed the news to Variety.

“We aren’t the best people for the gig anymore, but will always be big fans of his music — he is one of the greatest live entertainers in country music,” Parrish told Billboard.

The Green Room, based in Nashville, declined to specify why Aldean was dropped. A representative for the firm did not respond on Friday to request for more information.

News of the Green Room’s decision followed backlash against Aldean’s wife, Brittany Aldean, who wrote last week in an Instagram post that she would “really like to thank my parents for not changing my gender when I went through my tomboy phase.”

Singer and songwriter Cassadee Pope responded to Brittany Aldean’s post on Twitter, saying that Brittany Aldean’s alleged “tomboy phase” in no way compares “to someone wanting to transition.”

“The Bones” singer Maren Morris later commented on Pope’s post, writing, “It’s so easy to, like, not be a scumbag human? Sell your clip-ins and zip it, Insurrection Barbie.”

Morris appeared to be referencing one of Brittany Aldean’s Instagram posts from shortly after the Capitol riots in Jan. 2021, in which she suggested that some of the rioters were actually “Antifa disguised as Trump supporters,” Rolling Stone reported at the time. Such claims have been repeatedly debunked since the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.

Following Pope’s tweet, Brittany Aldean responded to Pope directly in an Instagram Story.

“Advocating for the genital mutilation of children under the disguise of love and calling it ‘gender affirming care’ is one of the worst evils,” she wrote, in part, as seen in a screengrab shared by People.

Brittany Aldean would later say on Instagram that her recent comments were “taken out of context,” though she did not specify which remarks she felt were misinterpreted.

Jason Aldean, who released his first studio album in 2005, has been a client of The GreenRoom since 2006 — which is the same year the firm was founded, according to The Tennessean. Other notable clients include Dierks Bentley, Lady A, and Thomas Rhett, per The GreenRoom’s official site.

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John Harwood leaving CNN

John Harwood, one of CNN’s most recognizable reporters, is leaving the network.

Harwood made the announcement in a tweet on Friday, and he did not specify if he was leaving CNN on his own terms of if he had been let go by the cable news giant.

“Today’s my last day at CNN,” Harwood said, adding he was “proud of the work” he did at the network and was “lucky to serve the best in American media,” before listing previous career stops at CNBC, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

A CNN spokesperson on Friday told The Hill “we appreciate John’s work covering the White House, and we wish him all the best.” 

Harwood is the latest in a slew of top talent at CNN that has left the network in recent weeks as new President Chris Licht begins to mold the it into what he has promised its advertisers and audience will be a renewed commitment to objectivity, fairness and sobriety in its news reporting.

Critics of the network, primarily on the political right, routinely blasted CNN under previous President Jeff Zucker for what they often said was sensationalism and a partisan slant to the left.

Last month, Licht canceled the Sunday media show “Reliable Sources” and the network parted ways with its host, Brian Stelter. Weeks earlier, legal pundit Jeffery Toobin announced he too would be leaving the network.

Harwood, in the tweet announcing he was leaving CNN, wrote he was ready to “look forward to figuring out what’s next.”

Updated at 1:14 p.m.

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White House asks Congress for $13.7B in Ukraine-related funding

The White House on Friday asked Congress to approve $13.7 billion to address Russia’s continued military invasion of Ukraine as part of a short-term funding bill.  

The Biden administration is requesting that Congress authorize $11.7 billion in additional security and economic assistance for Ukraine and $2 billion to help shore up domestic energy supplies to offset impacts of the war on the global energy market.  

“We have rallied the world to support the people of Ukraine to defend their democracy and we simply cannot allow that support to Ukraine to run dry,” an administration official told reporters when previewing the request on Friday.  

The White House says that the funds are needed to sustain the pace of aid to Ukraine for the first three months of fiscal 2023, which begins at the start of October. The administration official said roughly three-fourths of the funds Congress has already approved for Ukraine have been spent or obligated.  

Congress on a bipartisan basis has approved over $53 billion in security, economic and humanitarian assistance to address Russia’s invasion of Ukraine this year. Biden signed the last package, totaling $40 billion, into law in May. At the time, the White House said it expected those funds to last through the end of the fiscal year.  

Congress is expected to pass a continuing resolution to fund the government on a short-term basis to allow lawmakers more time to reach an agreement on a larger funding measure. The administration official noted Friday the duration of the short-term funding bill is up to Congress. It would need to be passed by the time the current fiscal year ends on Sept. 30 in order to prevent a government shutdown.  

In addition to more funding for Ukraine, the White House is also asking Congress to authorize billions more in funding for the federal government’s COVID-19 pandemic response, monkeypox response and disaster relief efforts as part of a continuing resolution. The emergency funding request totals $47.1 billion.

There is bipartisan support for sending assistance to Ukraine as it grapples with more than six months of attacks from Russia, though it’s possible at least some Republicans will question the latest funding request.  

The White House is asking Congress to approve $4.5 billion for military equipment and replenishing Pentagon stockpiles, $2.7 billion in defense and intelligence aid for Ukraine and $4.5 billion for budgetary support for Ukraine’s government.  

The request also asks for $2 billion to support domestic energy sources — $1.5 billion for uranium to fuel nuclear reactors and $500 million to modernize the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to address impacts of Russia’s war on energy supply and prices.  

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Biden announces $1 billion in funding for regional economic projects

President Biden on Friday announced a total of $1 billion in funding for regional economic development projects in 24 different states.

Biden and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo held a virtual event with winners of grant money through the Build Back Better Regional Challenge, an initiative funded through the American Rescue Plan intended to revitalize communities with new manufacturing, biotech and clean energy projects.

“As we invest and grow critical industries in the U.S., we want to create industry hubs in diverse communities across the country,” Raimondo said in a statement. “These grants will provide critical and historic funding directly to community coalitions to invest in new infrastructure, research and development, and workforce development programs while creating good-paying jobs, supporting workers, and prioritizing equity.”

Each of the projects will receive between $25 million and $65 million. Among those chosen from hundreds of applicants are a Nebraska robotics initiative to invest in research and innovation, which will receive $25 million; $52 million for a Detroit foundation to modernize its supply chain around the mobility industry; $44 million for a New Hampshire coalition working on the production of regenerative tissues and organs; and $62 million for a West Virginia based coalition leading the transition to clean energy in the Appalachian region.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) joined Friday’s event virtually and was recognized by Biden at one point.

“I applaud every community that received a grant and that applied. You’re the reason I’m so optimistic about the future of this country. I mean it,” Biden said at the virtual event with several of the beneficiaries. 

The president asked the recipients questions about how specifically their projects would benefit their communities and how the funding would be used to boost the local economy.

Friday’s announcement came on the heels of a jobs report that showed the U.S. added 315,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate rose to 3.7 percent, up from 3.5 percent in August.

Rising unemployment and slowing job gains are rarely good news for an economy. But the August jobs report showed the economy moving toward ample job growth and lower inflation.

Biden touted the jobs report, paired with the latest round of funding from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan passed last year, as evidence that his economic plan is working.

“The bottom line is jobs are up, wages are up, people are back to work and we’re seeing some signs that inflation may be—I’m not overpromising—may be beginning to ease,” Biden said Friday.

Source: TEST FEED1

Whatever your energy source preference, local support is the only way to get it built

By affixing his signature to the Inflation Reduction Act, President Joe Biden kicked off a green energy gold rush as companies will look to take advantage of the many tax subsidies and benefits for clean energy development. 

Meanwhile, as part of the new laws legislative negotiations, Senate Democrats ostensibly agreed to advance a permitting reform bill touted by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) that would speed the permitting process for energy infrastructure projects of all kinds, including fossil fuel projects like pipelines. 

So, on the surface it would seem that we are making progress toward the development of all-important energy infrastructure. And it couldn’t come at a better time, as global events remind us that leveraging a diverse set of domestic energy resources is the best way to provide affordability and reliability to consumers. 

However, as we repeatedly see, the development of new and the completion of existing projects aimed at delivering those benefits are often snarled in regulatory and legal delays. The Vineyard Wind offshore wind project had to push its in-service date back to 2023 after redundant federal reviews slowed the timeline for the project, which started in 2018. Likewise, natural gas pipelines and new on-shore and off-shore oil and gas exploration projects take several years to bring to fruition. 

The court challenges, typically initiated by local environmental activists, sometimes last just as long. The Enbridge Line 5 project in Michigan has been bantered back and forth between state and federal courts for the past three years. 

All of these delays add costs to already expensive undertakings. In some cases, the companies pull out altogether, leaving consumers in the projected service area with reduced energy access. All the while, energy demand is increasing.  

But all of these projects, whether they be wind farms or pipelines, share two things in common. 

First, even in a deeply polarized climate, they have the backing of bipartisan state and federal policymakers who have studied their value and energy reliability potential and the support of business-focused organizations that see their job and general economic development growth possibilities. 

Next, and most importantly, it is almost always local entities operating outside of traditional political and policy channels that oppose and, ultimately, defeat them. These groups are well-funded, they are well-organized, and they get ample media attention. They are passionate champions of their cause. 

This second point is the most important because it highlights why companies and developers themselves are always taken by surprise and slow to respond to these local threats. In their view, the project has the support of “the people” in the form of elected representatives and the business class through chambers of commerce. But as it turns out, there is a difference between these official entities and actual people. 

In most cases, there are no local citizen voices willing to stand up and say: Yes, build that pipeline because I want energy security for my family.

The companies say it, their trade association, if they have one, says it. You might even get a local elected official to go on-record and support a specific project. But sadly, most of these projects lack any significant grassroots support. 

This is what needs to change if we are going to realize the vast opportunities for energy infrastructure development presented by the IRA and the prospect of federal permitting reform. Companies and trade associations need to be thinking much more locally about their approach to communications and engagement. News outlets ranging from the Wall Street Journal to the Huffington Post are predicting that the future of energy development will be decided at the local level. 

The good news is that poll after poll after poll show that people support more domestic energy production as a means to bring down costs and meet emissions reductions goals here at home and support allies abroad. But these voices are not being heard when local decisions are being made about the actual projects. That void is instead being filled by those activist groups that do not support the development of any energy projects. 

The path forward is clear. Whether you support the development of advanced nuclear, new oil and gas refineries or pipelines, solar and wind developments or geothermal, you must build support locally and bring the voice of the energy consumer to the table.   

Greg Lemon is the executive director of US Energy NOW, an advocacy organization dedicated to advancing American energy infrastructure. He was previously a speech and opinion writer for former Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette.

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Most Americans think they need a raise to keep up with inflation

Rising inflation has impacted consumers at the gas pump, the grocery store, and at the airport leading them to make difficult decisions. But most Americans say their employers could help by giving them a raise to keep up.  

WalletHub’s Labor Day survey found that 87 percent of Americans believe they should receive a raise to rival inflation, while nearly a third are concerned about their job security.  

Inflation is also expected to impact how Americans travel this holiday weekend, and gas prices are the main reason. Forty-four percent of those surveyed said they are less likely to travel compared to last year due to the price at the pump.  

Most surveyed said their travel expenses were eaten up by gas prices. 

Nationwide gas prices as of Sept. 2 are $3.80 per gallon for regular grade fuel, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA). Prices are highest in California, where the average cost per gallon is $5.20. 

Overall, 58 percent surveyed by WalletHub said they are not better off financially than they were a year ago, and around 55 percent said they do not plan to travel for the holiday. 

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“Inflation this year has increased the price of pretty much everything, but the record levels we see are in large part driven by energy costs and by labor shortages, and through labor shortages into higher wages,” Michael D. Noel, an economics professor at Texas Tech University told WalletHub. 

“For those already commanding a higher salary sufficient to keep up with inflation, and there are many, inflation is largely a wash. For those without, travel will necessarily be more expensive at least for the time being,” he added.  

WalletHub’s survey measured the online responses of more than 350 adults across the country from Aug. 15 to Aug. 19.  

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China's increasing aggression signals a looming war over Taiwan

Today, China sent two drones toward Taiwan’s Kinmen County island grouping, but the craft returned to Xiamen — a major Chinese port — after soldiers fired warning flares. 

Yesterday, Taiwan shot down a Chinese drone violating airspace over Lion Islet, part of Kinmen. The incident occurred on the fourth-straight day unidentified drones were spotted near or over those islands. Lion, a rock outcropping, lies just 2.5 miles from Xiamen. 

China’s aggressive drone actions are almost certainly an attempt to provoke Taiwan. 

China’s regime immediately tried to play down the Wednesday incident. Hu Xijin, once editor of the Communist Party’s “Global Times” tabloid and now China’s “most famous propagandist,” maintains the drones buzzing Taiwan islands on Thursday were operated by “mainland civilian drone hobbyists.”

That contention is extremely difficult to believe. Due to the sensitivity of the drone flights, it is far more likely the crafts seen during the five days were launched under the orders of the Chinese ruler, Xi Jinping. 

There are three especially disturbing aspects to yesterday’s incident. First, the Chinese operators of the downed drone did not retreat after Taiwan’s soldiers fired flares as warnings. In other words, it looks like the flight was designed to trigger an incident. That says, in turn, the Chinese regime is prepared to go to war now, or at least authorize provocations that can result in conflict. 

Second, China created Thursday’s incident despite a clear warning from the Biden administration. On Wednesday, National Security Coordinator John Kirby called Tuesday’s drone incursions “a clear attempt by the Chinese to permanently alter the status quo in and around Taiwan and to sort of set a new normal for their activities and behaviors, be that behavior crossing over the medium line with air and maritime assets or in this case, overflight by unmanned aerial systems.”  

“Changing the status quo is unacceptable,” he added.  

Beijing was evidently not impressed by Kirby’s words and does not appear to be deterred by America.  

Third, traditional diplomacy is not working. Yesterday’s shoot-down is the culmination of Chinese overflight incidents. On Feb. 5, China sent a Harbin Y-12 utility plane over Tungyin, one of Taiwan’s offshore Matsu Islands. Taipei, hoping to avoid a crisis, first tried to ignore the clear violation of Taiwan’s airspace and then, after local residents would not keep quiet, minimized the incident. 

Taipei’s strategy failed. Xi Jinping did not respond to Taiwan’s restraint with restraint. His response was, among other things, this week’s drone flights, which became progressively bolder through Thursday. 

Just about everyone is in favor of “measured” and “proportional” responses to China these days, but the overflight incidents show they do not work. China’s regime has become militant, and it is not clear that any policies, other than extreme ones, will have any effect. Yesterday’s shoot-down did not stop the drone flights, but at least China exhibited more caution today.

So far, the Biden administration has not abandoned long-held beliefs about China. As Kirby said on Wednesday, there are “active efforts” to arrange a meeting between the American and Chinese leaders. There is speculation that Biden and Xi will talk on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Bali in November. 

Americans have unshakable faith in communication with China, and U.S. diplomats for decades have chased — both literally and figuratively — their Chinese counterparts to arrange dialogue. Now, after five phone and video calls between Biden and Xi, relations are breaking down fast. 

America’s general policy of restraint on Taiwan — the policy of “strategic ambiguity” is meant in part to placate Beijing — has kept the peace for decades, but that policy approach worked in a generally benign era. The policy is obviously failing now as Beijing ramps up tensions with neighbors, especially India, Japan and the Philippines, in addition to Taiwan.  

So what could work?  

Perhaps only robust responses. President Biden should realize China has become combative and adjust policy fast. He can do that by publicly declaring that the United States will defend Taiwan, offering the island republic a mutual defense treaty, extending diplomatic recognition to Taiwan as a sovereign state and basing American troops on the island as a “tripwire” force.  

In any event, the Pentagon should move to a higher state of worldwide readiness, DEFCON 2. After all, China’s regime, with its various overflights, has shown an apparent willingness to back up its warlike talk with warlike actions. 

Of course, robust responses would outrage Xi and could escalate the situation, but at this moment, traditional non-escalatory approaches have failed. Now, every path forward is exceedingly dangerous, but the most dangerous path of all is to continue policies that have allowed Beijing to think it can engage in provocation without cost.  

Gordon G. Chang is the author of “The Coming Collapse of China” and “The Great U.S.-China Tech War.” Follow him on Twitter @GordonGChang. 

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UN report finds possible 'crimes against humanity' in China's Xinjiang

The United Nations’s human rights office has condemned China’s treatment of the Uyghur minority in its Xinjiang region, saying China may have committed “crimes against humanity.”

“The extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention of members of Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim groups … in context of restrictions and deprivation more generally of fundamental rights enjoyed individually and collectively, may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity,” the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) concluded in its report Wednesday.

The report, released by outgoing U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, stated that the Chinese government’s application of its broad counterterrorism and counterextremism laws “has led to interlocking patterns of severe and undue restrictions on a wide range of human rights.”

“Allegations of patterns of torture or ill-treatment, including forced medical treatment and adverse conditions of detention, are credible, as are allegations of individual incidents of sexual and gender-based violence,” the office declared.

Chinese representatives to the U.N. published a report responding to the OHCHR in which they denied all allegations of human rights abuses.

“People of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang are living a happy life in peace and contentment,” the Chinese government said, calling the accusation that its policies are discriminatory “groundless” and accusing the U.N. report of interfering “in China’s internal affairs.”

The OHCHR proposed recommendations to the Chinese government, including that it immediately take steps to release those held in Xinjiang.

The office also recommended that China “promptly investigates allegations of human rights violations in [vocational education and training centers] and other detention facilities, including allegations of torture, sexual violence, ill-treatment, forced medical treatment, as well as forced labour and reports of deaths in custody.”

China responded by blaming the U.S. and its allies for opposing its government and called on the U.N. to investigate other countries instead.

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