Florida reacted to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre by becoming the first state to require police or armed guards at all public schools. It’s a mandate many districts are struggling to meet, financially and logistically.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission in the United Kingdom has threatened legal action against the National Health Service if it doesn't allow transgender patients access to fertility treatments, the Independent reported. The EHRC, a nondepartmental public organization for human rights, issued a formal notice to the NHS calling on it to change its "outdated policies" and make fertility services available without discrimination against those with gender dysphoria. “A choice between treatment for gender dysphoria and the chance to start a family is not a real choice," EHRC chief executive Rebecca Hilsenrath told the Independent. "We have asked NHS England to reflect on the true breadth of their statutory mandate and the impact on the transgender community of these outdated policies.” Currently, independent clinical commissioning groups determine which services are needed for a specific community, then it purchases those services on behalf of the population. It is responsible for the health outcomes of the entire …

New York lawmakers have approved a bill that would give employees in the Empire State three months paid bereavement leave to mourn the loss of a loved one – in turn, spurring concerns among business owners that the policy would create a staffing crisis.

New York lawmakers have approved a bill that would give employees in the Empire State three months paid bereavement leave to mourn the loss of a loved one – in turn, spurring concerns among business owners that the policy would create a staffing crisis.

Afew years ago, I (Steve) spoke at my son’s 5th grade class about all of the wonderful things that we have today in our great country that weren’t around 100 years ago. Inventions like cars.

Good grief, if you'll pardon the awkward pun

The White House is moving ahead on its plan to roll back the fuel economy mandate set by the Obama administration, likely resulting in more low-efficiency cars on the road. What do you think?

Today's entertainment gossip and chatter

Administration plans to revoke California’s authority to enact stricter pollution standards and mandate the sale of electric cars

The saga of the 2020 Census questions continued this week, with Democrats now demanding that their questions about the LGBT status of all Americans be asked. The fight has been going on over the census, mandated to be taken every 10 years, since the Trump administration, in the middle of a contentious political war over […]

South Africa's president said the ruling African National Congress will amend the nation's constitution to allow the seizure of land — owned mostly by whites — without compensation, Reuters reported. President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a video address Tuesday that the constitution is a "mandate for radical transformation both of society and the economy" and that a "proper reading" of the document allows "the state to effect expropriation of land without compensation in the public interest." What's the background? The push for land seizure in South Africa has been fueled by "a mix of revenge and socialist ideology," Forbes noted. Despite the nation's white minority, most land remains in white hands — a "potent symbol of lingering inequalities 25 years on from the end of apartheid," Reuters said. Indeed, black South Africans own less than 2 percent of rural land and less than 7 percent of urban land. By the end of white minority rule in …

The penalty was imposed after the defence ministry was not satisfied with the quantum of offset obligations that Lockheed undertook in India, as per its commitment when the contract was signed. The company was mandated to undertake offset obligations to the tune of $32 million annually but failed to meet these during execution.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller has referred three investigations involving Washington insiders to federal prosecutors in Manhattan, apparently after determining the foreign lobbying cases fell outside of his mandate, CNN and The New York Times report. The three powerful lobbyists now being scrutinized by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York — Tony Podesta of the Podesta Group, former Rep. Vin Weber (R-Minn.) at Mercury Public Affairs, and former Obama White House Counsel Gregory Craig at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom — allegedly failed to register as foreign agents for work on behalf of Ukraine contracted through Paul Manafort, President Trump's former campaign chairman. Unlike Manafort, none of the three have been charged with any crimes, and its not clear the investigations will lead to any indictments. Under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, "anyone who lobbies or conducts public relations on behalf of a foreign interest in the United States must register with the Justice Department," the Times explains. "The law carries stiff penalties, including up to five years in prison. But it had rarely been enforced, and thus widely ignored, until recently. Now, it appears to have become a weapon for prosecutors." Podesta — the brother of Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta — and Weber were hired to advocate for Ukraine by the Brussels-based nonprofit European Center for a Modern Ukraine, controlled by Manafort. Their firms were each paid more than $1.1 million for the work, but they only registered with the Justice Department as foreign lobbyists retroactively, in 2017. The team led by Craig, who left Skadden in April, was hired directly by Ukraine's previous government. Peter Weber

A misguided court ruling ignores the history of labor laws intended to keep blacks from working.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina revealed this week that the company could have lowered health insurance rates up to 22 percent if Republicans in Congress had not repealed Obamacare’s individual mandate. The North Carolina insurance company announced on Tuesday that it would be lowering rates for Affordable Care Act policies by an average of 4.1 percent, according to Spectrum News. But the company also said that rates could have been lowered substantially …

'Eliminate all federal/state mandated tests for K-12'

Santa Barbara, California, has banned restaurants and bars from providing patrons with plastic drinking straws, mandating huge fines and jail time for repeat offenders.

The Trump Organization and its big-money foreign customers are going under the microscope. A federal judge on Wednesday said that a lawsuit against President Trump can proceed, looking into whether Trump has violated the emoluments clause of the Constitution, The Washington Post reports. Trump's legal team fought to have the suit dismissed, but the attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia will be allowed to sue the president over his business dealings. The emoluments clause mandates that any federal official must not take gifts or payments from foreign governments. The clause is little-used, and modern interpretation varies, but it generally hasn't been a concern for sitting presidents because most other commanders in chief have been free of any ties to private businesses. Trump, however, still owns hotels and golf clubs all over the world. Even though he handed off day-to-day management of the Trump Organization, critics are concerned that some of his clientele is interested in a little more than a gold-encrusted ballroom for their event. Foreign governments have been among the customer base contributing to the Trump Organization's soaring profits, and the plaintiffs in the lawsuit say that means Trump is breaking the law and opening himself up to conflicts of interest. Trump's team says that's not true, as officials are paying for a service or product, not just giving Trump a gift, reports the Post. The plaintiffs want to take a look at Trump Organization records and open Trump up to discovery in the lawsuit, which would mean his financial books would be made public. Trump's attorneys could still appeal the decision to try and block the lawsuit from moving forward. Read more at The Washington Post. Summer Meza

The populist will have deep influence on public policy and relations with the United States.

The verbal and legal assaults on the current American presidency have a great deal in common with events occurring in the United Kingdom, including the government’s attempt to evade the mandate of the people to leave the European Union, and the jailing of Tommy Robinson for merely speaking the truth about the impact of Britain’s cultural surrender.

  The U.S. Supreme Court’s Masterpiece Cakeshop decision, along with recognizing a Colorado baker’s religious rights, showed the battle over issues related to same-sex marriage are far from over. The decision was a setback for gay-rights activists seeking to trump the Constitution’s protections for religious rights. Now the Supreme Court is being asked to review the case of a judge […]

Georgia, one of the nation’s leading illegal-immigration states, does have an E-Verify mandate, but it could be further strengthened.

Just when you thought politics in 2018 could not get any more bizarre, four states are now suing the federal government in hopes of mandating a $650 billion tax cut, of which 57 percent would go to…

Policymakers at the University of Minnesota are considering a new policy that would force everyone to use the “preferred pronouns” of individuals claiming to be confused about their gender. By Alex Newman

Despite laws mandating a vigorous 9-year program of communist indoctrination for all children, a growing number of Chinese parents are risking the ire of their brutal rulers to educate their kids at home. By Alex Newman

A handful of colleges and universities are openly rebelling against a new federal mandate on race and admissions, after the Trump administration rescinded an Obama era order.

The Constitution doesn’t mandate a deduction for state taxes.

Acting EPA chief Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist, just signed his first major regulatory amendment — making it easier for corporations to discard coal ash however they see fit. The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday finalized a rule that rolls back standards for disposing of the toxic ash produced by burning coal, The Hill reports. The amendment was in the works for several months, but when Wheeler took over for Scott Pruitt earlier this month, he took the reigns. Pruitt resigned as EPA administrator following a string of ethics scandals. The amendment backpedals on regulations put in place by the Obama administration, which mandated strict federal standards for coal ash disposal in 2015. In a statement, the EPA said relaxing the standards would save $31.4 million a year in regulatory costs, as states are given authority to loosen or waive requirements for companies. "These amendments provide states and utilities much-needed flexibility in the management of coal ash, while ensuring human health and the environment are protected," said Wheeler in the statement. Environmental groups disagree, reports The Hill, and immediately condemned the measure as dangerous to groundwater and air pollution. Companies with lax standards may not be required to monitor whether coal ash leaches into surrounding groundwater and will have extended deadlines to reduce coal ash disposal. The EPA has also loosened pollution standards on acceptable levels of lead, lithium, cobalt, and molybdenum in groundwater. Read more at The Hill. Summer Meza

The Texas Conference of Catholic Bishops won what's being hailed as a religious freedom victory on Sunday, when a federal appeals court struck down a lower court's decision ordering that the bishops hand over years of internal communications to a chain of abortion clinics. Well, good. Explain. A Texas law passed last year requires that fetal remains from miscarriages and abortions must be buried or cremated, but abortion providers argue such requirements put an undue burden on their clinics. Pro-choice group Center for Reproductive Rights and abortion clinic chain Whole Women's Health teamed up and sued the state over the fetal burial rule, causing a judge to place a temporary injunction on the mandate. When abortion providers cited cost as part of the reason for fighting the burial requirement, the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops offered to bury the remains of aborted babies for free in Catholic cemeteries. In turn, Whole Women's Health subpoenaed the …

"a similar Title IX module would be required for all faculty and staff"