A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mississippi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mississippi</a> meteorologist appealed to God while on air to help those who were in the path of a vicious <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tornado" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tornado</a> that was ripping through the state.
WTVA meteorologist Matt Laubhan said a prayer on air as a tornado headed toward the small city of Amory, which was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/severe-weather" target="_blank" rel="noopener">crushed by the storm</a> alongside other areas of western Mississippi. 
“Here&#8217;s the thing about this, y&#8217;all trust me too much,” Laubhan said. “I tell you where it&#8217;s going to go and some of you guys are like: &#8220;That&#8217;s where it&#8217;s gonna go.’ The reality of this, this could be changing direction. So, Amory, we need to be in our safe place.”
Laubhan, who was monitoring the tornado’s trajectory, got a new scan and appeared very disturbed by its path. “Oh man, north side of Amory, this is coming in,” he said. “Oh, man. Dear Jesus, please help them. Amen.”
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WATCH: WTVA meteorologist Matt Laubhan overwhelmed as major tornado hits Amory, Mississippi <a href="https://t.co/JDd8n46X31">pic.twitter.com/JDd8n46X31</a>
&mdash; BNO News Live (@BNODesk) <a href="https://twitter.com/BNODesk/status/1639490172952936448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 25, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Laubhan put later posted footage of damage to buildings in Amory, including the National Guard armory.
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Storm damage at the National Guard armory and nearby buildings in Amory, MS. <a href="https://t.co/niRpolWwwP">pic.twitter.com/niRpolWwwP</a>
&mdash; Matt Laubhan WTVA (@MattWTVA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWTVA/status/1639508379629649920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 25, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Daylight scene of storm damage in Amory, MS. <a href="https://t.co/meOSNXPzgj">pic.twitter.com/meOSNXPzgj</a>
&mdash; Matt Laubhan WTVA (@MattWTVA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWTVA/status/1639628485626048512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 25, 2023</a></blockquote>
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According to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, at least 23 people were killed and four people went missing due to the tornado. “Unfortunately these numbers are expected to change,” the agency <a href="https://twitter.com/MSEMA/status/1639591354966704130" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a> on Saturday. 
The tornado, which was around a mile wide and <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/7-dead-mississippi-tornado-official/story?id=98117564">traveled</a> for over 100 miles, <a href="https://www.wapt.com/article/search-and-rescue-ambulances-dispatched-to-help-mississippi-tornado-victims/43415196#">devastated</a> the small towns of Rolling Fork, Anguilla, and Silver Creek.
The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/at-least-23-dead-after-tornado-rips-through-mississippi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">devastating storm</a> ripped off roofs, leveled homes, and knocked out power for thousands of Mississippians. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves warned his state’s residents, gave an update on what actions the state is taking, and asked for prayer in a tweet just after 10:00 p.m. Friday.
“Many in the MS Delta need your prayer and God’s protection tonight,” Reeves said. “We have activated medical support — surging more ambulances and other emergency assets for those affected. Search and rescue is active. Watch weather reports and stay cautious through the night, Mississippi!”
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President Biden <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/03/25/readout-of-president-joe-bidens-calls-with-mississippi-governor-tate-reeves-and-members-of-the-mississippi-congressional-delegation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">responded</a> to the tornado by expressing his condolences to the families of those who lost loved ones and saying that FEMA would “ensure the fullest possible Federal response to those in need.&#8221;
Zach Jewell contributed to this report.

Tornado and Lightning Bolt

Video Shows Meteorologist Appealing To God As Tornado Ripped Toward Mississippi Town

Joe Biden

Mississippi

Severe Weather

Tate Reeves

Tornado

U.S.

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/minnesota" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Minnesota</a> House of Representatives passed a bill late this week that would make the state a “refuge” for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/transgender-surgery" target="_blank" rel="noopener">child sex changes</a> in response to several red states banning such procedures in recent months. 
The legislation, <a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=HF146&amp;type=bill&amp;version=1&amp;session=ls93&amp;session_year=2023&amp;session_number=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">House File 146</a>, passed the state House after hours of debate by a vote of 68-62 in the Democrat-controlled body. The bill is expected to pass in the state Senate, also controlled by Democrats, and be signed into law by Gov. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tim-walz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tim Walz</a> (D-MN).
“The bill makes Minnesota a sanctuary state for so-called gender-affirming care while simultaneously infringing on the fundamental right of parenting. It allows children, regardless of age, to seek and receive radical medical treatments that can cause sterilization, bone loss, loss of sexual function, and interference with brain development,” said State Rep. Peggy Scott (R-Andover). 
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Rep. Peggy Scott explains the issues with Minnesota&#39;s &quot;trans refuge&quot; bill. 
&quot;This means if a parent believes this treatment is not best for their child, a court can have an emergency hearing to remove the child.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/uexX9fFsIN">pic.twitter.com/uexX9fFsIN</a>
&mdash; Alpha News (@AlphaNewsMN) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlphaNewsMN/status/1639007457497214978?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 23, 2023</a></blockquote>
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The bill was introduced by State Rep. Leigh Finke, a man who identifies as a woman. Finke was <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/03/22/transgender-lawmaker-named-on-women-of-the-year-list/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recently named</a> one of the “Women of the Year” by USA Today. Finke is a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. 
If it becomes law, the legislation would ensure that parents who wanted to give their children sex change procedures, including cross-sex hormones and surgeries like double mastectomies, would be able to, even if their home state has banned such practices. 
&#8220;In the staggering rise of anti-transgender and anti-LGBTQIA2S+ legislation by extremist Republicans, Minnesota is a beacon of hope for trans and gender-expansive children and their families,&#8221; Finke <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/minnesota-house-passes-trans-refuge-legislation-after-late-night-debate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;The passing of the Trans Refuge bill will send a strong message to the trans community that they are loved, supported, and protected here in our state.&#8221;
In the bill, the procedures protected include the suppression of secondary sex characteristics and “interventions to align the patient&#8217;s appearance or physical body with the patient&#8217;s gender identity.”
Earlier this month, Walz issued an executive order declaring that the state would “protect” those seeking “gender-affirming care.”
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“All state agencies must, to the fullest extent of their lawful authority, pursue opportunities and coordinate with each other to protect people or entities providing, assisting, seeking, or obtaining gender affirming health care services in Minnesota,” the executive order <a href="https://mn.gov/governor/assets/EO%2023-03%20Signed%20and%20filed_tcm1055-568332.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. 
The legislation comes as states like Tennessee and Mississippi have banned sex change procedures on minors, citing the long-term impacts of such treatments.

Minnesota Legislature, January 3, 2023, by Glen Stubbe, Star Tribune

Minnesota House Votes To Make State ‘Refuge’ For Child Sex Changes

Minnesota

Politics

Social Issues

Tim Walz

transgender surgery

Officials on Saturday gave conflicting updates on the chocolate factory explosion in West Reading, Pennsylvania, that left at least two dead and more missing.
While the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency said that the death toll had risen to five with six people still missing, West Reading Mayor Samantha Kaag characterized the widely <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/24/us/fire-chocolate-factory-west-reading.html?smtyp=cur&amp;amp;smid=tw-nytimes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> death toll as &#8220;inaccurate,&#8221; <a href="https://www.witf.org/2023/03/25/a-pennsylvania-chocolate-factory-explosion-has-killed-2-people-and-5-are-missing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to local public radio station WITF-FM.
The explosion at the R.M. Palmer Co. plant rocked West Reading and the cause of the blast is still under investigation. Seven people were also hospitalized after the explosion, according to Pennsylvania Emergency Management communications director Ruth A. Miller. 
The Reading Hospital <a href="https://twitter.com/KadhimWrites/status/1639438939390898178" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> Friday evening that they had transferred one patient who had been injured during the explosion, had admitted two in &#8220;fair condition,&#8221; and released five others.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to everybody involved,” said Dean Murray, the borough manager of West Reading. Murray also said that the factory was a “staple of the borough.” 
At least one building was <a href="https://apnews.com/article/pennsylvania-chocolate-factory-explosion-0bcc0d052393273c10c4466ff596b127" target="_blank" rel="noopener">destroyed</a> by the explosion, and another damaged, according to Chief of Police Wayne Holben, who has told people to stay away from the scene. 
Kaag released a <a href="https://www.wgal.com/article/pennsylvania-west-reading-borough-mayor-statement-chocolate-factory-explosion/43416102#" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> early Saturday morning where she discussed the borough&#8217;s response to the explosion. &#8220;The tragic explosion at R.M. Palmer Company and loss of life has shaken our community. It is always difficult to come to terms with such sudden and unexpected events and unfortunately that is what has happened today. Our deepest sympathies are with the families and friends of those who have been affected,&#8221; she said.
&#8220;I&#8217;m asking for continued cooperation from the public to avoid the area of [sic] as emergency response workers continue to traverse the difficult task of recovery &amp; assessing damage that will continue throughout weekend [sic]. Please keep them in your prayers as they work tirelessly throughout the night,&#8221; she added.
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The explosion, which took place at around 5 p.m. on Friday, was caught on video by weather cameras. 
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BREAKING: Massive <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/explosion?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#explosion</a> at the RMPalmer Factory in West Redding. Our weather cameras caught the explosion. Almost at the scene to learn more from police. RMPalmer is a big chocolate candy maker, and makes a lot of Easter candy. <a href="https://twitter.com/FOX29philly?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FOX29philly</a> <a href="https://t.co/Jgpjbyt7fN">pic.twitter.com/Jgpjbyt7fN</a>
&mdash; Eddie Kadhim Journalist (@KadhimWrites) <a href="https://twitter.com/KadhimWrites/status/1639400926233473024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 24, 2023</a></blockquote>
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The R.M. Palmer Company, which began in 1948, makes a variety of chocolate products, with a large focus on holiday-themed candy for days like Easter and Valentine’s Day. The company <a href="https://rmpalmer.com/our-story/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">says</a> that it employs 850 people.

Close-up of Blaze fire flame at night.

Pennsylvania Officials Give Conflicting Updates On Chocolate Factory Explosion That Left At Least Two Dead

Disasters

Fire

Pennsylvania

Former <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nba" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBA</a> player <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/charles-barkley" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Charles Barkley</a> made his opinion about politicians clear this week when discussing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ncaa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NCAA</a> President Charlie Baker’s suggestion that the association consults with politicians about name, image, and likeness guidelines. 
During an <a href="https://fox59.com/sports/sports-illustrated/b7f6835f/charles-barkley-slams-ncaa-presidents-idea-to-talk-to-politicians-about-nil/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview this week</a>, Baker said that he would be speaking to people “in Washington” about creating consumer protections for college athletes and their families as they navigate the name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals, which allow athletes to profit off of their role as an athlete. 
&#8220;Did he say we&#8217;re going to ask the politicians to help us? See, that pisses me off already. Our politicians are awful people,” Barkley said in response to Baker’s comments during coverage of the NCAA basketball tournament. “We can&#8217;t ask these politicians nothing. Those people are awful people. Democrats and Republicans — they&#8217;re all crooks.&#8221;
Baker, who formerly served as the Republican governor of Massachusetts, said that he wants to “create transparency and accountability” around NIL “so that families actually know what they are getting into.”
To do this, he said the NCAA would be talking “with the folks in Washington,” saying that federally enforced guidelines would be a good way to ensure compliance in all 50 states, a task he said could be difficult without the federal government’s help.
Barkley, a member of the NBA Hall of Fame, was not impressed, offering a different plan to regulate NIL deals. “I would actually go to people who actually care about basketball … I would put a committee together. I would love for Clark [Kellog] to be on the committee. Get some coaches, get some players, and let’s try to work this thing out,” he said. 
Barkley, long known for his frank speech, is a host for TNT’s popular “Inside the NBA,” a show he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/charles-barkley-announces-hell-be-leaving-inside-the-nba-in-two-years-blames-jackaes-trying-to-get-you-canceled" target="_blank" rel="noopener">once said</a> he would be leaving because of his frustration with cancel culture. 
“It’s gotten so out of hand right now, I couldn’t imagine having to watch myself. You can’t even have fun nowadays without these jackasses trying to get you canceled and things like that,” he said in June 2021. 
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“All we ever talk about behind the scenes now is, ‘Yo man, be careful going in this direction.’ We can’t even have fun anymore,” Barkley added. “A lot of our bosses are cowards.”
Despite those comments, Barkley signed a major contract extension with TNT in October 2022.

Tennessee v Auburn

‘They’re All Crooks’: Charles Barkley Slams The Idea Of Getting Politicians Involved In College Sports

Charles Barkley

College sports

NCAA

Republican <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/utah" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Utah</a> Gov. Spencer Cox signed two bills on Thursday that would regulate children&#8217;s use of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/social-media" target="_blank" rel="noopener">social media</a>, as lawmakers in Congress question <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tiktok" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TikTok</a> over its effect on kids and national security. 
Cox said that the purpose of the new regulations, which included not allowing a minor to open a social media account without parental consent, is to protect kids&#8217; mental health. 
“We’re no longer willing to let social media companies continue to harm the mental health of our youth,” he <a href="https://twitter.com/GovCox/status/1639015949964840960?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on Twitter. “Utah’s leading the way in holding social media companies accountable – and we’re not slowing down anytime soon.”
The legislation, which is the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/social-media-utah-kids-84bd1f6481071726327bce25cf3e7522" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first of its kind</a> in the nation, is expected to be challenged in court by social media companies. The laws, House Bill 311 and Senate Bill 152, were passed by the Republican-controlled Utah legislature earlier this year. 
Included in the new legislation, which goes into effect in 2024, is a ban on social media use by children from 10:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m., which parents will <a href="https://socialmedia.utah.gov/">have</a> the liberty to adjust. Additionally, children will not show up in search results and will not be able to receive direct messages from those they are not friends with or following under the new law.
A provision in HB 311 allows children to sue for damages related to social media use. This takes aim at “addictive” features in social media, including “a $250,000 fine for social media companies which use addictive design features” and “a penalty of up to $2,500 per child exposed to an addictive feature.” For those under 16, there will be a presumption of harm unless proven otherwise, according to the Utah government. 
Tech lobbyists have said the legislation would be a violation of the First Amendment and that private data could be compromised as a result of the requirements. 
Other states, like Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, and New Jersey are also looking at legislation that would increase regulation of young people’s social media use. 
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At the federal level, some lawmakers are also looking to reign in social media, with TikTok CEO Shou Chew appearing before Congress on Thursday as lawmakers consider a ban on the social media platform. 
Democratic and Republican lawmakers <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/squad-member-defends-tiktok-amid-debate-over-possible-ban" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have raised concerns</a> over allegations that user data on TikTok, which is owned by Chinese technology company ByteDance, can be accessed by associates of the Chinese Communist Party.

US President Joe Biden hosts governors and their spouses in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington

Utah Gov. Signs New Restrictions On Social Media Use For Kids As Congress Questions TikTok

Big Tech

Social Media

TikTok

Utah

Several <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/department-of-defense" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Defense Department</a> doctors defended sex-change procedures for minors and took aim at Republican-led states who have banned the life-altering procedures for children in a major medical journal. 
The doctors, who published an article in the <a href="https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2022.307163" target="_blank" rel="noopener">March issue</a> of the American Journal of Public Health, came out firmly in favor of allowing children to be placed on puberty blockers and given cross-sex hormones despite concerns over the long-term effects of such treatments. 
The article, entitled “Caring for Military-Affiliated Transgender and Gender-Diverse Youths: A Call for Protections,” was written by David A. Klein, Thomas A. Baxter, and Natasha A. Schvey who all work at Travis Air Force Base in California, as well as Noelle S. Larson, who works in the pediatrics department at Walter Reed National Military Hospital. 
“Gender-affirming health care, such as puberty suppression and affirming hormones, mitigates these risks and optimizes patient-oriented outcomes, but many TGD youths have difficulty accessing services,” the authors claim in the article, which was <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/pentagon-doctors-claim-7-year-olds-can-make-decisions-injected-hormones-puberty-suppressants" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first reported</a> on by Fox News. 
The authors discuss so-called “barriers” to giving cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers to children including a survey that found that over half of military-affiliated doctors would not be willing to prescribe hormones and new state laws banning such procedures. 
“Legislative efforts to restrict gender-affirming care for youths have been described as a public health crisis. New state laws directly harm TGD [transgender and gender-diverse] adolescents by denying access to potentially life-saving medical care and further exacerbating health care inequities, health risk behaviors, and preventable deaths,” the military doctors write. 
The doctors also claimed that laws that ban boys who identify as girls from playing on girls&#8217; sports teams and that segregate bathrooms by sex are “harmful.” They ponder what military doctors in red states will do when “state laws conflict with ethical medical practice and the standard of care.”
“Threats to military-affiliated youths, parents, guardians, and clinicians are threats to military readiness,” the article says. 
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The authors also claim that evidence suggests that children can consent to sex-change procedures. “Deontological and consequentialist reasoning, rooted in empirical evidence and human rights, suggests that youths with decisional capacity, in an informed consent model of care, have an inherent ability and right to consent to gender-affirming therapy,” the authors write.
As the article does not portray the official opinions of the Defense Department, the authors ask the department to take an official stance, urging it to “leverage its robust, intact systems to overcome evolving barriers to the provision of and access to care.”
&#8220;The Department of Defense will train its health care providers in keeping with current science and best medical evidence,&#8221; the Department of Defense told Fox News. 
Even as states like Tennessee and Mississippi have banned sex-change procedures on minors, the Biden administration has spoken out against such laws and in favor of the procedures.

Pills

Pentagon Doctors Back Child Sex Changes, Blast Red States

Biden Admin

Department of Defense

Like most holidays celebrated in the United States today, St. Patrick’s Day has become thoroughly commercialized with many Americans knowing little about the day other than its loose associations with Irish culture.
The true story of St. Patrick, a man who helped to bring <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/christianity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Christianity</a> to a thoroughly pagan <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ireland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ireland</a>, is truly remarkable and worth celebrating. His life shows how one person can make a difference and that a culture steeped in darkness can be brought into the light.
Born in Roman Britain <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Patrick">sometime</a> during the 4th or 5th century A.D. (estimates vary), Patrick, also known as Maewyn Succat, was kidnapped and brought to Ireland after his village was sacked by Irish raiders when he was just 16.
“My name is Patrick. I am a sinner, a simple country person, and the least of all believers. I am looked down upon by many. My father was Calpornius. He was a deacon; his father was Potitus, a priest, who lived at Bannavem Taburniae. His home was near there, and that is where I was taken prisoner,” Patrick <a href="https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/who-was-saint-patrick-and-should-christians-celebrate-st-patricks-day" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> about his early life in his “Confessions of St. Patrick.” 
Although his family was deeply Christian, Patrick <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/2008/august/real-st-patrick.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that he &#8220;knew not the true God” prior to his captivity. In Ireland, Patrick was sold into slavery and ended up as a shepherd, according to tradition. It was during his six years as a shepherd and farmhand that Patrick’s indifference to Christianity melted away. 
“[But] in that strange land the Lord opened my unbelieving eyes, and although late I called my sins to mind, and was converted with my whole heart to the Lord my God, who regarded my low estate, had pity on my youth and ignorance, and consoled me as a father consoles his children. Every day I used to look after sheep and I used to pray often during the day, the love of God and a holy fear of Him increased more and more in me,” Patrick <a href="https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/patrick-missionary-ireland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> of his conversion to Christianity. 
He added that he would pray up to 100 times a day while out watching the sheep. Patrick believed that this time of spiritual devotion was preparing him for a deeper purpose. “As I now realize, it was because the Spirit was maturing and preparing me for a work yet to come,” he explained. 
One night during his captivity, Patrick said he had a dream that God was telling him to run away and go back to his village, which was located in modern-day Scotland. “You have fasted well. Very soon you will return to your native country,” he said an angel told him. After trekking 200 miles to the coast he was able to catch a British ship and begin a lengthy journey back to his village.
Following years back in his homeland, Patrick had another life-changing dream. In this dream, which he compared to a “vision like the apostle Paul&#8217;s at Troas,” Patrick said he saw an Irishman asking him to come back to the Emerald Isle. “We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us,” Patrick <a href="https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/remember-saint-patrick" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recounted</a> an Irishman asking him during a dream. 
Patrick would return to Ireland with a mission of spreading Christianity, even though he knew he would face opposition because of the pagan customs entrenched in Irish culture. He was so committed to spreading the gospel of Jesus that he was willing to die if necessary.
“For daily I expect to be murdered or betrayed or reduced to slavery if the occasion arises. But I fear nothing, because of the promises of Heaven; for I have cast myself into the hands of Almighty God, who reigns everywhere,” Patrick wrote in his reflections. 
Many in Ireland, including King Loegaire, converted to Christianity because of Patrick’s efforts. The king’s conversion came after a face-off between the Christian and a group of druids, <a href="https://www.dib.ie/biography/loegaire-a4866" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Dictionary of Irish Biography.
Thanks to the success of his evangelism, Patrick became known as the “Apostle of Ireland.” W.D. Killen, a church historian, wrote, “There can be no reasonable doubt that Patrick preached the gospel, that he was a most zealous and efficient evangelist, and that he is entitled to be called the Apostle of Ireland.”
Patrick’s influence on Ireland is widespread, and <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-60/ending-human-sacrifice.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Thomas Cahill, author of the bestselling book “How the Irish Saved Civilization,” Patrick likely helped bring human sacrifices on the island to an end. 
Cahill credits the Irish with keeping Western civilization afloat thanks to the monasteries that sprung up on the island after Patrick spread Christianity throughout. These monasteries preserved the classical tradition after the Western Roman Empire fell, and the manuscripts preserved by the monks were later used to reinvigorate European civilization. 
&#8220;And that,&#8221; Cahill <a href="https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/97/03/09/bsp/irish.html?scp=7&amp;sq=roman%2520civilization&amp;st=cse" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>, &#8220;is how the Irish saved civilization.&#8221;
In 1631, over 1,000 years after Patrick lived, the church <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/saint-patricks-day" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recognized</a> March 17 as a feast day to honor the patron saint of Ireland. Since that time, the holiday has evolved with various celebrations across the world and especially among traditional Irish communities. 
As the celebrations continued, many legends and stories have been added about Patrick’s influence on Ireland and the deeds that took place during his life but what is incontrovertibly true is that he brought Christianity to a place where it had not flourished before. And that is something to remember this St. Patrick’s day.
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St Patrick

The Story Of Saint Patrick: How A Former Slave Brought Christianity To Ireland

The Story Of St. Patrick: How A Former Slave Brought Christianity To Ireland

Christianity

History

Ireland

Religion

The U.S. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-navy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Navy</a> announced this week that it would be renaming a ship named for oceanographic pioneer Matthew Fontaine Maury because of Maury’s ties to the Confederacy during the later years of his life. 
Maury, <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/cable-matthew-fontaine-maury-1806-1873/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">known</a> as the “Pathfinder of the Seas,” was a Navy officer and accomplished oceanographer who helped come up with the idea for a transatlantic cable. The USNS Maury will be renamed after Marie Tharp, an oceanographer cartographer and geologist who lived in the 20th century. 
“As the history of our great nation evolves, we must put forth the effort to recognize figures who positively influenced our society,” Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro <a href="https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2023/03/08/confederates-name-removed-from-navy-survey-ship/#:~:text=The%20Navy%20announced%20Wednesday%20that%20it%20was%20renaming%20an%20oceanographic,will%20be%20renamed%20Marie%20Tharp." target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a>. “This renaming honors just one of the many historic women who have made a significant impact on not only our Navy, but our nation.”
The oceanographic survey ship was renamed as part of a congressionally mandated commission that recommended purging any names or entities associated with the Confederacy from military property, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/12/29/arlington-cemetery-confederate-memorial/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">including</a> the historic Confederate Memorial which sits surrounded by the graves of Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. 
Maury was born in Virginia in 1806 before his family moved to Tennessee and he joined the U.S. Navy in 1825. During his time in the Navy, he was aboard the first Navy ship to circumnavigate the globe and released a book on navigation at the age of 30. 
After an injury rendered him unable to sail, Maury became heavily involved in charting the ocean for the Navy. He was placed in charge of the Navy’s Depot of Charts and Instruments before rising to lead the U.S. Naval Observatory from 1844-1861. 
He was an effective navigator and sailors were able to cut almost 50 days off of travel time for ships going from New York to San Francisco. His influential books on the ocean <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Matthew-Fontaine-Maury" target="_blank" rel="noopener">included</a> “The Physical Geography of the Sea,” and “Sailing Directions,” both originally published in 1855. 
When the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/american-civil-war" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Civil War</a> broke out, he chose to side with the Confederacy as he was from Virginia. During the war, he tried to create an electric torpedo and went to England as a Confederate agent. After the war, he worked for a short time with Mexico’s emperor to see if they could establish a Confederate colony before he became a meteorology professor at Virginia Military Institute. 
A monument of Maury, who died in 1873, was also removed from Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia, in 2020. 
Another Navy ship, a missile-guided cruiser named after the Civil War battle of Chancellorsville, was recently renamed. The Navy chose to the ship to be named in honor of Robert Smalls, a former slave who commandeered a Confederate ship during the war.

The Research Ship USNS Maury During Sea Trials

Navy Removes Name of Oceanographic Pioneer From Ship Over Confederate Ties

American Civil War

Confederacy

Military

U.S. Navy

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/virginia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Virginia</a> judge ruled last month that frozen embryos can be considered property, a decision based in-part on a 19th century <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/slavery" target="_blank" rel="noopener">slavery</a> law, according to a new report. 
The ruling was part of a dispute between a divorced couple who both hope to gain control over two frozen embryos, which were created by Honeyhline Heidemann and Jason Heidemann during their marriage, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/embryos-slavery-chattel-custody-virginia-82e1f36ecbcf35ec4659e8e2c3443c4f">reported</a> this week. 
“Upon independent research, this court was unable to find any Virginia law prohibiting the purchase or sale of human embryo, nor has either party cited a federal law prohibiting the activity,” Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Richard Gardiner <a href="https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/circuit/sites/circuit/files/assets/documents/pdf/opinions/cl-2021-15372-honeyhline-heidemann-v-jason-heidemann.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> in a ruling related to the battle over the embryos. “As there is no prohibition on the sale of human embryos, they may [be] valued and sold, and thus may be considered ‘goods or chattels’ within the meaning of Code § 8.01-93.”
Since the couple split, Honeyhline has hoped to move forward with using the embryos, but Jason has sought to block her saying that implanting the embryos “would force Mr. Heidemann to procreate against his wishes and therefore violate his constitutional right to procreational autonomy.”
According to a 2015 contract that the couple had drawn up, they “own any stored embryos jointly.”
While Gardiner has not made a decision on Jason’s procreational autonomy claim, he did rule that the embryos could be viewed as property. His ruling in part relied on a Virginia law from the 1800s that regulated “goods and chattel,” which included slaves at the time the law was written. 
“I would like to think that the bench and the bar would be seeking more modern precedent,” said Solomon Ashby, president of the Old Dominion Bar Association. 
A human embryo is typically frozen very soon after fertilization before the unborn child has been able to develop much. 
In recent months, some conservatives <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/11/29/republicans-abortion-fertility-ivf-pence">have considered</a> or voiced support for increasing protection for embryos and prohibiting the disposal of embryos as pro-life organizations have often raised concerns about what happens to embryos that do not end up being implanted. 
Gardiner’s ruling to treat embryos as property could draw the attention of pro-lifers, who have often <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-star-parker-gives-powerful-testimony-frank-camp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">compared</a> slavery and abortion over their callous treatment of human life.

Embryo selection for IVF light micrograph

Virginia Judge Rules Embryos Are Property, ‘Chattel’ Using Slavery Law

Abortion

Fairfax County

Judge

Slavery

Virginia

Energy Department Secretary <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jennifer-granholm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jennifer Granholm</a> gushed about <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China</a>’s approach to green energy in a Friday interview, saying she hoped that the U.S. could learn from China’s approach. 
Granholm made the <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/energy-secretary-granholm-claims-us-learn-china-climate-change">comments</a> at the SXSW conference in Austin, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/texas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Texas</a>, during an interview with Wajahat Ali where she discussed her desire to push the U.S. toward &#8220;net zero by 2050&#8221; and remarked that China’s investments in green energy were “encouraging.”
Ali introduced the topic by saying that there should be “accountability” for countries like America and China for the &#8220;damage to the world&#8221; he said they had wrought. 
&#8220;How do we hold China and ourselves accountable for what we are doing around the world?&#8221; Ali asked Granholm. 
She noted how the U.S. was pushing countries around the world to adopt “aggressive” climate policies “to make sure that we don’t get climate — global warming happening over, you know, 1.5 degrees.”
Granholm said that some countries were ambivalent towards green energy efforts but that China had been investing heavily in green energy. “But, I think China has done — has been very sensitive, and has actually invested a lot in their solutions, to achieve their goals,” she said. 
&#8220;So we’re — we’re hopeful that, you know, we can all learn from what China is doing,” she explained. &#8220;The amount of money that they’re investing in clean energy is actually, you know, encouraging.&#8221;
Critics have accused the Biden administration of being “gullible” in their efforts to work with China on green energy. 
&#8220;I find [it] utterly remarkable that Chairman Xi [Jinping] of China and the Chinese Communist Party gives a tinker&#8217;s damn about the planet&#8217;s climate or climate change,&#8221; Texas Public Policy officer Frank DeVore <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/does-chinas-purported-green-energy-push-signal-coming-conflict-us" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Fox News</a> last month. &#8220;It is merely a device to engage gullible Westerners into thinking that somehow we can get meaningful cooperation.&#8221;
Under Biden, policymakers in the U.S. have continued to focus on making a <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/climate-change">renewable energy</a> transition despite the geopolitical and economic risks that emerge from a lack of reliable and cheap <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/energy">power</a> sources.
While the U.S. has pushed to limit energy from coal and gas, China has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/china-is-full-steam-ahead-with-new-coal-plants-as-the-west-goes-green">approved</a> coal-fired power plant construction initiatives at six times the rate of every other nation combined, while Europe has reluctantly restarted operations at mothballed coal-fired plants amid the loss of fuel imports from Russia.

Featured Session: Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm – 2023 SXSW Conference and Festivals

Biden’s Energy Secretary Praises China’s Approach To Green Energy, Hopes To Learn From Communist Country

China

Department of Energy

Energy

Jennifer Granholm

Texas

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/police" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Police</a> officers in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/new-york-city" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York City</a> are resigning at a record-breaking pace this year, according to <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/03/10/nypd-cops-resigning-from-force-in-2023-at-record-pace/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new data</a> analyzed by the New York Post. 
In the first two months of 2023, 239 officers left the New York City Police Department, substantially more than the 176 who left in 2022 and the 110 who left in 2021 during the same time period. 
“The NYPD staffing emergency is approaching the point of no return,” Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch said. “We are losing cops to better pay and benefits in other policing jobs almost every day.”
Officers have said that poor working conditions, pay, and politics have all contributed to the large number of officers leaving the force. 
“Precinct cops are being forced to work an inhumane amount of overtime, including on their days off, while being penalized for minor uniform and administrative infractions,” one officer told The Post. “Meanwhile, precincts barely have enough personnel to meet the minimum required to safely answer 911 calls.”
If resignations continue at the current pace, about 1,400 officers will have quit the department by the end of the year. Some of the officers are going to work for New York’s metro system while others have moved to states like Florida. 
According to one Manhattan cop, the NYPD is rife with mismanagement. “Hundreds of cops are being hidden under fake assignments or assigned to headquarters sitting at a desk all day and are considered ‘untouchable’ for patrol or enforcement duty because they have high-ranking supervisors protecting them,” he told The Post. 
A spokesman for City Hall said that public safety remained the city’s “top priority” and that the city had seen a decline in certain violent crimes despite a nationwide labor shortage. 
Many officers started leaving in the wake of the violent protests over George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis that rocked the country in 2020. 
“The allure and luster of the NYPD is gone for now. They need to restore that,” said Spero Georgedakis, the founder of Good Greek Moving and Storage who helps move former New York cops to Florida.
Retirements have also ticked up in the department as crime in the city increases and the department struggles to effectively manage its limited resources. 
Lynch said that the city needed to increase benefits and pay for the officers to keep more from leaving. “If that doesn’t happen very, very soon, we won’t have a police department left,” he said. 
The increase in resignations comes as the NYPD has <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/03/01/nypd-kills-timed-run-requirement-for-new-nyc-cops/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">decreased</a> fitness requirements, with the department recently cutting a timed 1.5-mile run in part so more women could qualify for the force. 
Police departments across the country have struggled to recruit in recent years, a trend that has come alongside increased anti-police sentiment in major cities and the “defund the police” movement backed by some Democrat politicians.

Saturday Evening At Broadway And Times Square In New York

‘Point Of No Return’: Police Leaving NYPD At Record-Breaking Pace

Crime

Defund The Police

New York City

Police

White House Press Secretary <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/karine-jean-pierre" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Karine Jean-Pierre</a> falsely stated during a Friday press briefing that Daily Wire host <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/michael-knowles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michael Knowles</a> called for the “eradication of transgender people&#8221; during a speech at CPAC. 
During her comments to reporters, Jean-Pierre referenced Knowles&#8217; speech last Saturday when he called for the “eradication” of radical gender ideology. Several left-wing media outlets which initially claimed, as Jean-Pierre did, that Knowles called for &#8220;eradication&#8221; of people, not an ideology, later corrected their reporting. But Jean-Pierre, in misrepresenting Knowles&#8217; words, said the White House must “call out the shameful, hateful, and dangerous attacks that we have been seeing on the LGBTQI community.”
“Look, it started with a speaker at a conservative conference calling for the eradication of transgender people; language that not a single national Republican leader has condemned,” Jean-Pierre claimed. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Jean-Pierre claims <a href="https://twitter.com/michaeljknowles?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@michaeljknowles</a> was &quot;calling for the eradication of transgender people&quot; at CPAC <a href="https://t.co/uvjcmQvTjK">pic.twitter.com/uvjcmQvTjK</a>
&mdash; Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1634291549222625281?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 10, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Knowles responded on Twitter asking Jean-Pierre, “why are you lying about what I said?”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/PressSec?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PressSec</a>, why are you lying about what I said? <a href="https://t.co/xxhCeoPRHA">pic.twitter.com/xxhCeoPRHA</a>
&mdash; Michael Knowles, falsehood eradicator (@michaeljknowles) <a href="https://twitter.com/michaeljknowles/status/1634291337020297217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 10, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
During the CPAC speech, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/im-just-not-really-a-genocide-kind-of-guy-michael-knowles-addresses-libel-at-buffalo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Knowles argued</a> that gender ideology was built on false premises about the human condition and that it could not be imposed or indulged in any context without granting those premises, which he said undermines the foundations of society itself.
“For the good of society and especially for the good of the poor people who have fallen prey to this confusion, transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely, the whole preposterous ideology — at every level,” Knowles <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/he-is-of-course-completely-right-knowles-call-to-end-transgenderism-backed-by-conservatives">said</a>.
Left-wing outlets and Democrat politicians quickly reacted in outrage to Knowles&#8217; speech, misconstruing his comments as targeting individuals, not an ideology. The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/left-falsely-frames-michael-knowles-call-for-end-to-transgenderism-as-genocide" target="_blank" rel="noopener">promptly demanded</a> retractions and apologies from Rolling Stone, Yahoo News, Huffington Post, and The Daily Beast over their coverage of his speech. 
The Daily Beast edited its original headline, which stated Knowles called for the “transgender community” to be eradicated to reflect that the podcast host called for eradicating “transgenderism,” not people who believe they are transgender. Rolling Stone made a similar update.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/extreme-even-for-the-fake-news-michael-knowles-said-accusations-of-genocide-surprised-him" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Knowles told</a> Fox News Channel&#8217;s Tucker Carlson Monday night that he was surprised by the media headlines, and a California lawmaker who accused him of calling for &#8220;genocide.&#8221;
“I have been called all sorts of nasty things by the liberal press, Tucker, so I tend to expect everything,” Knowles began, conceding, “But I have to admit being accused of genocide did take me by surprise.”

karine_jean-pierre_michael_knowles_720

WH Spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre Repeats False Claim Michael Knowles Called For ‘Eradication Of Transgender People’

WH Spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre Repeats False Claim Michael Knowles Called For 'Eradication Of Transgender People'

Karine Jean-Pierre

Michael Knowles

The Daily Wire

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