TUESDAY, MARCH 29 DESANTIS VS. GENDER IDEOLOGY Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-FL, signed into law House Bill 1557, "Parental Rights in Education," which bans classroom discussions of gender identity and sexual orientation with children below 4th Grade.

 

TUESDAY, MARCH 29   DESANTIS VS. GENDER IDEOLOGY  Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-FL, signed into law House Bill 1557, "Parental Rights in Education," which bans classroom discussions of gender identity and sexual orientation with children below 4th Grade. Media and Democrats referred to the bill as the “Don’t Say Gay bill” in an effort to frame it as authoritarian. “And they are sloganeering because they don’t want to admit that they support a lot of the things we are providing protections against,” said DeSantis. “For example, they support sexualizing kids in kindergarten.” Disney has vowed to campaign to repeal the law.  READ       VOTE DELAYED ON SUPREME COURT NOMINEE  Republicans were able to delay consideration of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for one week, slowing the process of her nomination. The Senate Judiciary Committee is currently evenly divided with 11 Republicans and 11 Democrats. Without a majority vote in favor of Judge Jackson, Senate rules allow for Republicans to delay the nomination. The committee will report Jackson's nomination to the full Senate on April 4. The Senate is expected to confirm her by April 11.  READ       GOP VS. DEM SPENDING  After Congress spent nearly $5 trillion on COVID-related policies, the Biden administration and Democratic allies are asking lawmakers to sign off on more. “But passing a bill with more COVID aid is a tough sell,” Fox reports. “Parliamentarily, it was easiest to load up the COVID money onto the omnibus spending bill. The COVID money would ride along everything else in that massive, $1.5 trillion bill to fund the entire government. But now, Congress must likely tackle it as a standalone.”  READ       STUDY: CENSORSHIP BREEDS EXTREMISM  Big Tech giants like Facebook, Twitter, and Google – all of which engage in stringent censorship of online speech – are nonetheless facing record highs in what they call “misinformation” and “hate speech.” Why? Well, a new study conducted by race relations expert Daryl Davis and social network CEO Bill Ottman suggests that Big Tech’s censorship practices have actually been giving rise to more of the extremism they aim to quash.  READ       NEW JERSEY MIDDLE SCHOOL VS. PARENTS  A public middle school in New Jersey showed students a video about the hormone treatments of a “transgender man” without notifying the children’s parents. The video was titled "Ten Years on Testosterone," and featured the story of an LGBTQ activist opting to inject herself with the male hormone.  READ       DON'T SAY CATHOLIC?  The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review whether the Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction violated the First Amendment when he withheld transportation benefits from an independent Catholic school unless it agreed not to call itself “Catholic.” That state superintendent is now Wisconsin's Governor, Tony Evers.  READ       QUOTE OF THE DAY  “[Last] week’s hearings on Jackson’s nomination were quite valuable because they exposed, in numerous ways, a far-left legal orthodoxy that knows its beliefs, values, and legal reasoning are not shared by the vast majority of voters. That’s why Jackson and her Democratic Senate enablers so often obfuscated and misled whenever directly challenged.” –Washington Examiner editorial  READ       TRUTH  Prayer, fasting, activism...  SHARE           NUNS SHUT DOWN OVER VAX?  The head of a cloistered Benedictine convent in Perugia, central Italy, says her community will be closed after nuns conscientiously objected to submitting to COVID shots. According to the abbess, there is no other explanation for the closure than the refusal of the five remaining sisters to receive the vaccine.  READ       SIGNS OF LIFE IN CONNECTICUT  Pro-family activist Peter Wolfgang reports on the recent successful pro-life rally in Connecticut – and why it's so different this time. “Never before had the pro-life cause received this much favorable press in Connecticut. Never before had we been so successful in getting a fair hearing for the right to life of the unborn child,” said Wolfgang. “Similar events in the past would bring, at most, about 300 people to the Capitol. Last week, we brought 2,000. On a Wednesday. This in a state where abortion 'rights' have been untouchable for decades.”  READ       CATHOLIC 101  Part of the way through what is known as Great Lent, the Eastern Church recites an ancient hymn. Read its inspiring words as you look forward to the Resurrection!  READ       SAINT OF THE DAY  St. Berthold directed the building of a monastery and church on Mount Carmel and dedicated the church in honor of the prophet Elias, who had defeated the priests of Baal there and seen the vision of the cloud out over the sea.  READ        DAILY PSALM  "The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.” (Psalm 46:2)  READ       DAILY READINGS  Today's Mass readings.  READ       BEAUTY  Blossoming pink and white cherry trees line a calm Tidal Basin during an absolutely gorgeous pink, orange and yellow sunrise in Washington, DC. Learn more about the unique history of cherry blossoms in our nation's capital.  SHARE               Credit: Eric Fisher/National Park Service INVITE FRIENDS   You got 0 friends to sign up for the Loop! When you reach 10, you receive a free Loop coffee mug!