Charlotte Airport Workers Plan to Strike During Busy Thanksgiving Travel Week

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Charlotte Airport Workers Plan to Strike During Busy Thanksgiving Travel Week

(Headline USA) Service workers at Charlotte Douglas International Airport plan to go on strike during a busy week of Thanksgiving travel to protest what they say are unlivable wages.

Employees of ABM and Prospect Airport Services cast ballots Friday to authorize the work stoppage in North Carolina, which is set to begin Monday at 5 a.m.

Officials with Service Employees International Union announced the impending strike in a statement early Monday, saying the workers would demand “an end to poverty wages and respect on the job during the holiday travel season.”

ABM and Prospect Airport Services contract with American Airlines to provide services including cleaning airplane interiors, removing trash and escorting passengers in wheelchairs.

Workers say they previously raised the alarm about their growing inability to afford basic necessities, including food and housing. They described living paycheck to paycheck, unable to cover expenses like car repairs while performing jobs that keep countless planes running on schedule.

“We’re on strike today because this is our last resort. We can’t keep living like this,” ABM cabin cleaner Priscilla Hoyle said in a statement. “We’re taking action because our families can’t survive.”

Several hundred workers were expected to walk off the job and continue the work stoppage throughout Monday.

Most of them earn between $12.50 and $19 an hour, which is well below the living wage for a single person with no children in the Charlotte area, union officials said.

Charlotte Douglas International Airport officials have said this holiday travel season is expected to be the busiest on record, with an estimated 1.02 million passengers departing the airport between last Thursday and the Monday after Thanksgiving.

In addition to walking off the job, striking workers plan to hold an 11 a.m. rally and a 1 p.m. “Strikesgiving” lunch “in place of the Thanksgiving meal that many of the workers won’t be able to afford later this week,” union officials said.

“Airport service workers make holiday travel possible by keeping airports safe, clean, and running,” the union said. “Despite their critical role in the profits that major corporations enjoy, many airport service workers must work two to three jobs to make ends meet.”

ABM said it would take steps to minimize disruptions from any demonstrations.

“At ABM, we appreciate the hard work our team members put in every day to support our clients and help keep spaces clean and people healthy,” the company said in a statement last week.

Prospect Airport Services said last week that the company recognizes the seriousness of the potential for a strike during the busy holiday travel season.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

CNN Drags Out Social Worker to Tell You to Avoid Your Family on Thanksgiving

Julianna Frieman
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CNN Drags Out Social Worker to Tell You to Avoid Your Family on Thanksgiving

(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) CNN dragged out a social worker Sunday morning who told viewers ways to avoid their families on Thanksgiving Day.

Kelley Kitley, a licensed clinical social worker and CEO of Serendipitous Psychotherapy, joined CNN This Morning Weekend to give emotionally fragile Democrats tips on how to handle their Trump-supporting relatives come Thursday.

“We all have a provocateur in our family,” the social worker told co-hosts Victor Blackwell and Amara Walker. “And if somebody is wanting to engage in some kind of conversation about politics, you can just say, ‘Thank you so much, but not today.’”

Kitley suggested families put up signs that say, “Politic Free Zone,” saying Thanksgiving is not the time to convince cousins, aunts and uncles of your political views.

“I just bought my ‘No Politics Discussion’ sign on Etsy,” Blackwell revealed with a laugh.

Blackwell asked the social worker if it would be appropriate to ask others to excuse themselves from Thanksgiving rather than to remove yourself.

“I love the direct approach. There’s no room for interpretation. But certainly, when we have alcohol involved, sometimes people can say things that they regret, or get a little out of hand,” she told CNN co-hosts.

Kitley proposed putting up another sign that says, “Everyone Must Leave By 6 p.m.” She said advised ditching blood relatives for “chosen family” if the situation would become “just too triggering.”

“There are many people who feel like their family of origin is just too triggering, and they may feel that their chosen family might be a better option,” the social worker said. “If it is just too much, then you can pass this year and maybe revisit showing up next year.”

Walker wondered aloud if leftists “still really upset” about Trump’s win should be truthful when trying to get out of a Thanksgiving invitation.

Kitley recommended against honesty, telling the CNN co-host to use sickness as an excuse.

Blackwell asked for “small talk skills,” and the social worker told him asking about work or complimenting guests’ outfits would suffice. She also said taking out the trash or pretending to search for objects would be great excuses to avoid political conversations.

“The thing that trips people up is they have this expectation that ‘this is my family. I have to stay for eight hours. We’re doing all of these things together.’ And you really don’t,” the social worker said. “Just because it is blood relatives, perhaps, doesn’t mean that you have to expose yourself to those kind of conversations.”

Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and The American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.

Ariana Grande Calls Her ‘Wicked’ Role and Even Chickens ‘Gay’

Julianna Frieman
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Ariana Grande Calls Her ‘Wicked’ Role and Even Chickens ‘Gay’

(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) Pop star Ariana Grande, who took on the role of Glinda the Good Witch in the film adaptation of Wicked, suggested Thursday that her character was among many components of the movie considered to be “gay.”

In a pre-release interview with The Gay Times, Grande sat beside Wicked co-star Cynthia Erivo, who plays Elphaba, as she rattled off about how Glinda “might be a little in the closet.”

“Every day in the Emerald City is a Pride parade, right?” the 31-year-old singer said of the musical’s fictional city. “Even, like, the chickens. Those chickens are gay.”

Grande called actor Peter Dinklage’s character, Shiz University’s goat professor Dr. Dillamond, a “gay icon.” She pointed to the character’s love of tea and staple cardigan as signs of his speculated homosexuality.

“I’m just throwing it out there,” the pop star said, turning to Erivo, who agreed.

The Gay Times reporter asked the co-stars to react to how many Wicked fans “ship” female characters Glinda and Elphaba together in a lesbian relationship.

“I think Elfie, she goes wherever the wind goes. I think she loves Glinda, I think she loves love,” Erivo said. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with celebrating the deep connection that both of them have. They do have a real relationship, it is true love, which is probably why people are shipping it because what they build with each other is an unbreakable bond.”

Grande added that their characters “provide such a safe space for one another, which is what a relationship should be.”

“So, you know, whether it’s romantic or platonic—Glinda might be a little in the closet—but if there were a time, you never know. Give it a little more time,” Grande told The Gay Times.

Wicked, directed by Jon M. Chu, hit theaters on Nov. 22.

Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and The American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.

‘Victims of Groupthink’: CNN’s Abby Phillip Begs Democrat Elites to Burst Their Bubble

Julianna Frieman
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‘Victims of Groupthink’: CNN’s Abby Phillip Begs Democrat Elites to Burst Their Bubble

(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) CNN’s Abby Phillip warned the “activist class” of Democrat elites against tuning out the different opinions of the American people Monday in a speech at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics.

The NewsNight host said Democrat “elites increasingly talk only to each other,” suggesting they must burst their own bubbles to avoid another election loss like Vice President Kamala Harris’s defeat by President-elect Donald Trump.

“I have observed that elites increasingly talk only to each other and come to believe that because there is consensus among them that that consensus is shared broadly and there are not enough voices that are confident enough to disagree and to present alternatives. And we as a society need to find better ways to uplift divergent voices. Otherwise, we will be victims of groupthink,” Phillip said. “And there is an activist class, and this is particularly acute in the Democratic Party right now, there is an activist class in the Democratic Party that is multiracial, multiethnic. It is diverse, but it’s an activist class. And so, because of that, they don’t they’re not able to see outside of that.”

Phillip said Democrats must “break out” of their radical echo chambers — but said the problem is not as simple as ideology.

“Democrats are in that place now where they have to break out of it. And I think it is a real problem. It’s not as simple as wokeness or whatever,” she said. “It’s about people who are being incentivized to think about issues in a particular way. And usually, it’s that light switches either on or off. There’s no nuance because they, they’re activists, like they’re paid to kind of be in this lane and if you’re somewhere in between, then what’s the point? But most people are not in one lane or another.”

The CNN host called on Democrats to have the courage to vocalize divergent opinions so they can stop hemorrhaging support from key voting blocs.

“There needs to be more courage among people to speak out and to voice diverging opinions,” Phillip said. “Otherwise, you know, I think it’s a real issue, and it’s not just the Ivy League. I think it’s elitism in general.”

Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and The American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.

CNN Host Asks Trans Guest Point Blank about Using Women’s Bathrooms

Julianna Frieman
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CNN Host Asks Trans Guest Point Blank about Using Women’s Bathrooms

(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) CNN’s Michael Smerconish asked transgender journalist Zoey Tur, a man who identifies as a woman, point blank about the first time using a women’s bathroom Saturday on his weekend show.

Culture wars on gender heated up following the election win of President-elect Donald Trump, who ran a highly influential “Kamala Harris is for they/them. President Trump is for you” advertisement on the campaign trail.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., elevated the issue of men in women’s spaces following the election of Sarah McBride, the first transgender representative. House Speaker Mike Johnson announced Wednesday that single-sex facilities may only be used by “individuals of that biological sex.”

On Smerconish, the titular host welcomed Tur with brazen curiosity regarding transgender bathroom habits.

“Zoey, at what point in your own experience, can’t believe I’m asking the question but I am, but at what point in your own experience did you begin using the ladies room and what was that like?” Smerconish probed.

Tur told the CNN host use of women’s bathrooms started after sex-change surgery.

“So, after I’d gone through extensive surgery… and it was about… a couple, three years or so? Before, while I was on hormones. And that was the first time I felt compelled to use a women’s room. And I’ve never had a problem all around the world,” the transgender guest said.

Tur explained to Smerconish no one questioned the decision to use women’s restrooms.

“I can understand the trepidation and fear among some people. People are very fearful right now,” Tur said. “They’ve been told that transgender athletes are gonna be taking over sports, and they’re gonna be invading our women’s only spaces.”

Tur dismissed concerns about men in women’s bathrooms and locker rooms as a result of “fearmongering.”

“This is all fearmongering. It sells! It’s great for fundraising. And the Republican Party knew this, and they used it to their advantage. Very cynical, but it works,” Tur said.

Tur praised Vice President Kamala Harris for trying to fight the GOP on transgender issues.

“It’s hard to fight a lie. It’s hard to fight a mean threat,” the transgender guest told Smerconish. “You’re already on your back feet, back foot, trying to, um… get control of the narrative. By that time, people — if you keep telling people the same lies over and over, within a couple weeks, they start believing it.”

Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and The American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.

Two Convicted in Human Smuggling Case After Illegals Froze to Death on US-Canada Border

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Two Convicted in Human Smuggling Case After Illegals Froze to Death on US-Canada Border

(Headline USA) A jury convicted two men on Friday of charges related to human smuggling for their roles in an international operation that led to the deaths of illegal immigrants from India who froze trying to cross the Canadian border.

Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, 29, an Indian national who prosecutors say went by the alias “Dirty Harry,” and Steve Shand, 50, an American from Florida, were part of a sophisticated illegal operation that has brought increasing numbers of Indians into the U.S., prosecutors said.

They were each convicted on four counts related to human smuggling, including conspiracy to bring migrants into the country illegally.

The most serious counts carry maximum sentences of up to 20 years in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office told The Associated Press before the trial. But federal sentencing guidelines rely on complicated formulas.

It was made apparent on Friday that various factors will be considered in determining what sentences prosecutors will recommend.

Federal prosecutors said 39-year-old Jagdish Patel; his wife, Vaishaliben, who was in her mid-30s; their 11-year-old daughter, Vihangi; and 3-year-old son, Dharmik, froze to death Jan. 19, 2022, while trying to cross the border into Minnesota in a scheme Patel and Shand organized. Patel is a common Indian surname, and the victims were not related to Harshkumar Patel.

Experts say illegal immigration from India is driven by everything from political repression to a dysfunctional American immigration system.

Before the jury’s conviction on Friday, the federal trial in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, saw testimony from an alleged participant in the smuggling ring, a survivor of the treacherous journey across the northern border, border patrol agents and forensic experts.

Prosecutors said Patel coordinated the operation while Shand was a driver. Shand was to pick up 11 Indian migrants on the Minnesota side of the border, prosecutors said.

The trial included an inside account of how the international smuggling ring allegedly works and who it targets.

Rajinder Singh, 51, testified that he made over $400,000 smuggling over 500 people through the same network that included Patel and Shand. Singh said most of the people he smuggled came from Gujarat state. He said the migrants would often pay smugglers about $100,000 to get them from India to the U.S.

The pipeline of illegal immigration from India has long existed but has increased sharply along the U.S.-Canada border. The U.S. Border Patrol arrested more than 14,000 Indians on the Canadian border in the year ending Sept. 30, which amounted to 60% of all arrests along that border and more than 10 times the number two years ago.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Oregon Voters Ban Psychedelic Mushrooms in Several Cities

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Oregon Voters Ban Psychedelic Mushrooms in Several Cities

(Headline USA) Drug reform advocates hailed Oregon as a progressive leader when it became the first in the nation to legalize the therapeutic use of psilocybin, the compound found in psychedelic mushrooms, but Oregon voters are backtracking after a few years of drug legalization.

Four years later, voters in a growing list of its cities have banned the substance.

Four cities, spanning Portland suburbs and rural and coastal towns, added new voter-approved prohibitions for the federally illegal compound in the Nov. 5 election.

A dozen additional communities that approved two-year moratoriums in 2022, when a majority of Oregon counties and over 100 cities voted to temporarily or permanently ban psilocybin, voted in this election to make the restrictions permanent.

Oregon voters, in particular, appear to have soured on drug reform.

A law passed by voters four years ago that decriminalized the possession of small amounts of hard drugs, including heroin and methamphetamine, was rolled back by the state legislature earlier this year after heated debate over whether it played a role in a spike in public drug use and deaths.

“Perhaps the fact that the drug policy reform pendulum appears to be swinging back towards prohibition is part of a broader trend toward a preference for ‘law and order’ among American voters,” said Josh Hardman, founder of Psychedelics Alpha, a consulting firm and newsletter on psychedelic research, business and policy.

“Oregon, specifically, has been touted as an example of liberal drug policies gone wrong.”

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Texas Public Schools Permitted to Teach Bible Lessons

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Texas Public Schools Permitted to Teach Bible Lessons

(Headline USA) Texas’ education board voted Friday to allow Bible-infused teachings in elementary schools under optional new curriculum.

The material adopted by the Texas State Board of Education, which is controlled by elected Republicans, passed in an 8-7 final vote.

Supporters argued the Bible is a core feature of American history and that teaching it will enrich lessons.

The vote allows schools in Texas, which has more than 5 million public school students, to begin using the material in kindergarten through fifth grade classrooms as early as next year.

Republican lawmakers celebrated the vote, including Texas’ powerful lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, who has pledged to pass legislation next year that would follow Louisiana in trying to require schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms.

In a statement, Gov. Greg Abbott called the vote “a critical step forward to bring students back to the basics of education and provide the best education in the nation.”

Schools are not required to use the material, but those that do would receive extra funding from the state.

In the newly approved kindergarten materials, one lesson on helping one’s neighbor instructs teachers to talk about the Golden Rule using lessons from the Bible. It also instructs the teachers to explain that the Bible is “a collection of ancient texts” and that its different parts are “the core books of the Jewish and Christian religions.”

In a third-grade lesson about the first Thanksgiving, the material directs teachers to discuss how the governor of Plymouth said a prayer and gave a speech that included references to “several passages from the Christian Bible in the book of Psalms.” Teachers are then instructed to tell students the book of Psalms is a collection of songs, poems and hymns “that are used in both Jewish and Christian worship.”

With the new curriculum, Texas would be the first state to introduce Bible lessons in schools in this manner, according to Matthew Patrick Shaw, an assistant professor of public policy and education at Vanderbilt University.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

University System of Georgia to Ban DEI, Commit to Neutrality, Teach Constitution

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University System of Georgia to Ban DEI, Commit to Neutrality, Teach Constitution

(Tate Miller, The Center Square) The University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents has recommended a number of new and revised policies for its institutions, such as a commitment to institutional neutrality, the prohibiting of DEI tactics, and a mandatory education in America’s founding documents.

The University System of Georgia (USG) is made up of Georgia’s 26 public colleges and universities as well as Georgia Archives and the Georgia Public Library Service.

“USG institutions shall remain neutral on social and political issues unless such an issue is directly related to the institution’s core mission,” the board’s proposed revisions read.

“Ideological tests, affirmations, and oaths, including diversity statements,” will be banned from admissions processes and decisions, employment processes and decisions, and institution orientation and training for both students and employees.

“No applicant for admission shall be asked to or required to affirmatively ascribe to or opine about political beliefs, affiliations, ideals, or principles, as a condition for admission,” the new policy states.

Additionally, USG will hire based on a person’s qualifications and ability.

“The basis and determining factor” for employment will be “that the individual possesses the requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with the role, and is believed to have the ability to successfully perform the essential functions, responsibilities, and duties associated with the position for which the individual is being considered.”

Beginning in the 2025-2026 academic year, the school’s civic instruction will require students to study founding American documents among other things.

USG students will learn from the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights, the Articles of Confederation, the Federalist Papers, the Gettysburg Address, the Emancipation Proclamation, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, as well as the Georgia Constitution and Bill of Rights.

When reached for comment, the Board of Regents told The Center Square that “these proposed updates strengthen USG’s academic communities.”

The recommended policies allow a campus environment “where people have the freedom to share their thoughts and learn from one another through objective scholarship and inquiry,” and “reflect an unyielding obligation to protect freedom, provide quality higher education and promote student success,” the board said.

The board told The Center Square that it proposed strengthening “the requirements for civics instruction” with the inclusion of “foundational primary sources” because of higher education’s duty to students.

Colleges and universities “must prepare [students] to be contributing members of society and to understand the ideals of freedom and democracy that make America so exceptional,” the board said.

As for ditching DEI, the board explained that “equal opportunity and decisions based on merit are fundamental values of USG.”

“The proposed revisions among other things would make clear that student admissions and employee hiring should be based on a person’s qualifications, not his or her beliefs,” the board said.

The Board of Regents also said it wants to “ensure [its] institutions remain neutral on social and political issues while modeling what it looks like to promote viewpoint diversity, create campus cultures where students and faculty engage in civil discourse, and the open exchange of ideas is the norm.”

USG’s Board of Regents recently urged the NCAA to ban transgender-identifying men from participating in women’s sports, in line with the NAIA rules, The Center Square previously reported.

Leftist Mag. Smears Conservative Icon While He Recovers in Hospital

Dmytro "Henry" Aleksandrov
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Leftist Mag. Smears Conservative Icon While He Recovers in Hospital

(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) People magazine decided to smear Dennis Prager, one of the well-known conservative voices and founder of PragerU, knowing that he was recovering from a fall in a Los Angeles hospital.

Charlotte Phillipp published the article titled “Dennis Prager, Far-Right Talk Show Host Who Founded PragerU, Hospitalized with Serious Back Injury from Fall,” in which she attacked both Prager and his organization, claiming that they are “far-right” and saying that Prager is a political extremist.

“Dennis Prager, the founder of the far-right media company PragerU, has been hospitalized after suffering a serious back injury,” Phillipp wrote.

The far-left author then claimed that PragerU “has been at the center of controversies” because it partnered with schools to offer teachers pro-America educational material to oppose the Left’s anti-American propaganda prevalent in schools, colleges and universities.

“Prager and the nonprofit’s teachings and political views are staunchly right-wing,” she wrote.

People in the comments section under the article, however, pointed out that Prager is not “far-right,” pointing out that the leftists at People just see everyone not as radical to the left as they are as right-wing extremists.

“I’m really disappointed in Ms. Phillipp and People,” one person wrote, adding that Prager is “conservative, not ‘Far Right.'”

Others also stated that if Prager is ‘far-right,” then Oprah Winfrey, who became infamous for promoting leftist politicians like former Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, should be considered a communist.

Others also blasted People for publishing this smear piece while Prager recovers in a hospital, claiming that the release of the piece wasn’t an accident.

The recent news came after Prager was hospitalized in his native Los Angeles, as the PragerU team reported.

“On Tuesday morning, PragerU founder and our dear friend, Dennis Prager, suffered a serious back injury following a fall. He’s resting in a local Los Angeles hospital as doctors assess treatment options. We will keep you informed of his condition. In the meantime, Dennis welcomes the healing power of your prayers,” PragerU wrote.

On Monday, the PragerU team released an update on Twitter, stating that he is slowly recovering.

“Here is the latest on Dennis. Progress has been slow but steady. There’s still a lot of swelling and inflammation around his neck and upper spine. Until that recedes, it’s hard to get a good sense of where this is all headed. But rest assured, the overall trend is positive. Patience is required. But, as we all know, having patience is hard. His body needs time to heal. Let’s give it to him,” PragerU wrote.

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