Anthony Albanese to become the first sitting prime minister to march in Mardi Gras - as annual gay pride parade snubs the NRL

Anthony Albanese to march in Mardi Gras

He will be first sitting PM to participate in parade

Anthony Albanese will be the first sitting Prime Minister to march in Sydney's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras when he joins the parade for the WorldPride festival.

The Prime Minister says he will be joined by Foreign Minister Penny Wong, the first openly gay woman in parliament, when he takes part in the event on February 25.

Mr Albanese announced the news to a crowd gathered for the official opening of Pride Square at Newtown, in Sydney's inner-west.

'I'll be the first Prime Minister not to watch the march on Mardi Gras, but to march,' he said on Saturday.

Mr Albanese's appearance will come as the annual gay pride parade snubs the NRL for the first time in seven years after seven Manly Sea Eagles refused to wear the pride jersey at a match last year.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11738747/Ill-PM-march-Mardi-Gras-Albanese.html

'Education Crisis': 23 Baltimore City Schools Have No Students Proficient In Math

A Project Baltimore investigation revealed the devastating reality of nearly two dozen Baltimore City Schools having zero students proficient in math.

New test scores, known as MCAP (Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program), obtained by Project Baltimore, revealed that 23 schools, including elementary, middle, and high schools, had not one student that could do math at grade level.

"The results of the latest Project Baltimore study are very alarming, "Civil rights attorney Ben Crump told FOX 45

The civil rights attorney joined a lawsuit against the school system last year, which accuses them of squandering taxpayer dollars and failing to provide basic skills to kids.

"I think anytime a young person is denied a quality education, it represents a crisis. What we have to do is look at the situation for what it is; we have to say 'we are failing our children and we have to take the responsibility to do better,'" he said. "This is an unprecedented lawsuit because what it's trying to do is give the taxpayers a greater say in the education of their children based on the fact it's their tax dollars being used by the city school system, and if I'm paying my money, I need to see some results."

Here's more on the test scores:

The Maryland State Department of Education recently released the 2022 state test results known as MCAP, Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program.

Baltimore City's math scores were the lowest in the state. Just 7 percent of third through eighth graders tested proficient in math, which means 93 percent could not do math at grade level.

"They [school kids] go there to get babysat for eight hours and come home," Nichelle Watkins, a Baltimore City parent.

We've shared reports from Project Baltimore (read: here & here) over the years exposing the school system's corruption. The question people need to be asking: Why is the liberal-run city setting up future generations of kids to fail?

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/education-crisis-23-baltimore-city-schools-have-no-students-proficient-math

Biden's DHS removes bulk of 'eyes in the sky' from surveillance tools used along southern border

The Department of Homeland Security is reducing its fleet of surveillance blimps along the overwhelmed southern border from 12 to four, Fox News reported Thursday.

"It's hard to believe how badly Biden has botched the border," Senator Rick Scott (R-Fla.) told EWTN News Nightly on Thursday.

"Now, if he gets rid of these blimps, we're not going to know how many gotaways there are. It's going to make our border way less secure," the Sunshine State lawmaker continued.

So far in 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol reports 770,175 total encounters, which include both apprehensions and expulsions.

“I think we need to work with everything that we have, use other tools, whether they are to deter, to apprehend, to detect,” Border Patrol Council's vice president Art Del Cueto told News Nation.

“But unfortunately, we’re under an administration now that’s perfectly comfortable removing one tool, (and) adding the different tool instead of saying ‘Hey, we can utilize both tools at the same time and be more effective at defending our borders,’” Cueto added.

News Nation reports a fleet reduction from 17 to six in the last year, or about 64.7%. Fox News reports similar figures, with a reduction of about 66.7%.

Aerostats are tethered, remotely-piloted surveillance blimps. They carry digital cameras or communications devices. They allow officials to conduct border surveillance, manage crowds, and respond to natural disasters, according to a DHS description of the crafts' capabilities.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection calls aerostats their "eyes in the sky."

"Raising radar and other sensors to high altitude boosts surveillance range, and the physical sight of an aerostat is a visual deterrent to illegal activity in the air and on the ground," said Rob Brown, then-manager of the Tethered Aerostat Radar System in 2016.

The $52 million program is being cut due to funding concerns, according to Fox News. The four aerostats that survived the cuts are all in the Rio Grande Valley Sector.

"Aerostats have been one of the most successful tools deployed on the border. It allows us to see what’s crossing into the US illegally, guide us to the location, and apprehend both people and contraband, including fentanyl," the Border Patrol union said in a statement to Fox News.

"The loss of these tools will be a blow to border security, making the American people less safe. This move defies logic and is directly contrary to Biden’s comments last night during the State of the Union which proves he does nothing but peddle rhetoric," the statement continued.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/biden-s-dhs-removes-bulk-of-eyes-in-the-sky-from-surveillance-tools-used-along-southern-border

Brazilian Socialist President Lula da Silva Forces Poor Families to Vaccinate their Children So They Can Receive Financial Aid from His Regime Or Risk Receiving Nothing

Stolen elections have consequences.

Brazil’s socialist President, Lula da Silva, has made mandatory childhood vaccinations a condition of receiving government subsidies.

The socialist president announced that parents would once again need to provide proof of vaccination for their children in order to participate in the Bolsa Familia program and receive the benefit, or else families will not receive any help from the government.

“The Bolsa Família Program (BFP) in Brazil is a conditional cash transfer program with national coverage that aims to support families living in poverty or extreme poverty, as well as expanding access to education and health services. The program was created by the federal government in October 2003 and enshrined in law in January 2004,” according to Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

The program targeted families with children and adolescents aged 0-17, where the household income is equal to or less than R$ 85.00 ($16.30) per person in extreme poverty, or between R$ 85.01 ($16.3) and R$ 170.00 ($33) in poverty.

Tens of millions of people are promised something akin to a universal basic income, but they will only receive it if they comply with Lula’s demands, The Rio Times reported.

“For God’s sake, we can’t be ignorant to the point of thinking it’s not worth getting vaccinated,” said Lula during the inauguration of the ophthalmology and diagnostic units in Benfica, Rio de Janeiro.

“I keep asking myself what kind of love does this mother have for her children, that she doesn’t take care of them at the most important moment when they can be vaccinated and can avoid a more delicate disease in their lives,” Lula continued.

Lula announced that the campaign of Zé Gotinha, a mascot used to make vaccination campaigns more attractive to children, will begin.

“We can’t hesitate; we can’t play around. It is a question of science,” he said.

It is still unclear which vaccines would be required in the program, but Lula hinted about COVID vaccines in his speech.

“If there are ten covid vaccines, 50 to take, I will take as many as necessary because I like my life. I think everyone has a duty to their children’s life, take them [to vaccinate] at the right age, that’s why they say the Bolsa Família is coming back,” Lula said.

“The Bolsa Família is coming back, and it is coming back with something important; it is coming back with conditions,” he added.

The Bolsa Familia program has four conditions:

First, children up to 6 years old will receive R$ 150 ($29) more.

Second, the children have to be at school, if they’re not at school, the mother loses the benefit.

Third, the children have to be vaccinated, if they’re not vaccinated, the mother also loses the benefit

Fourth, if the mother is in gestational stage, she has to take all the tests that medicine requires so that she can have a child that is “robust, strong and beautiful like me [Lula].

The Gateway Pundit previously reported that six bills are currently being introduced in the Brazilian senate that would criminalize those who refuse the mandated dose of COVID shots or who comment negatively about the vaccine’s efficacy and safety.

Senator Angelo Coronel of the Social Democratic Party of Brazil authored a bill (PL 5555/2020), which proposes adding a one- to three-year prison sentence to the Criminal Code for those “who omit or oppose the mandatory vaccination of children or adolescents” during a declared “public health emergency.”

Those who choose not to comply with the country’s forced vaccination schedule will face a prison sentence of two to eight years.

Anyone spreading “fake news” regarding the safety and efficacy of the COVID vaccines will face the same prison time.

If the person works for the government, the penalty will be doubled.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/02/begins-brazilian-socialist-president-lula-da-silva-forces-poor-families-vaccinate-children-can-receive-financial-aid-regime-risk-receiving-nothing-video/

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