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Australia’s Aim Is Zero COVID-19 Cases, but That Means ‘Zero Freedom,’ Local Says Sep 30, 2021

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Melbourne, Australia is in its sixth COVID-19 lockdown and is now the longest locked-down city in the world.

Australia has taken an unprecedented approach to fighting the pandemic within its borders, implementing extreme lockdown measures.

Leaders across Australia have instantly put their states and cities into lockdown when COVID-19 cases are reported, believing that “zero cases [means] freedom,” Evan Mulholland, director of communications at the Institute of Public Affairs in Australia, says.

“But … zero cases actually means zero jobs. It means zero hope. It actually means zero freedom at the end of the day because you're not getting on with life,” Mulholland says.

The ongoing lockdowns have led to protests in Melbourne and other parts of the country where citizens are demanding an end to the strict pandemic measures.

Mulholland, who lives in Melbourne, joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss what life is like in Australia right now, and what lessons other free nations should heed from Australia’s handling of the pandemic.

We also cover these stories:

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says it was the State Department’s “call” not to conduct early evacuations of American citizens and special immigrant visa holders out of Afghanistan.
United Airlines is firing almost 600 employees for refusing to be vaccinated for COVID-19.
YouTube announces it no longer will target only misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, but also content that promotes misinformation about other vaccines.

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Teacher Fired for Using ‘Wrong’ Pronoun for Student Discusses Ongoing Legal Case Sep 29, 2021

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Can you be forced to use language you fundamentally disagree with? Many schools across the country are instituting policies to do just that, compelling teachers to use transgender students’ "preferred” pronouns even if it violates their beliefs.

Peter Vlaming, a former high school French teacher in West Point, Virginia, who was fired from his job for refusing to refer to a biological girl using male pronouns, is suing his old school board for violating his rights. He filed his suit two years ago this week.

Vlaming says he isn't doing that out of spite or some vendetta, but rather to protect everyone's free speech rights.

"I'm trying to protect their freedoms as much as my freedoms—the freedom of conscience, the freedom of speech, the freedom to hold your own convictions," he says.

Vlaming and his attorney, Caleb Dalton from Alliance Defending Freedom, join "The Daily Signal Podcast" to talk about the case and the implications of anti-free speech policies.

We also cover these stories:

Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr., head of U.S. Central Command, testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee about the hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan. Milley also addresses phone calls he made to Chinese military officials during the last few weeks of former President Donald Trump’s administration.
Vice President Kamala Harris calls for national voting standards.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen issues a warning that congressional leaders have until Oct. 18 to raise or suspend the debt ceiling, or else risk defaulting on the U.S. national debt.

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'Do the Next Right Thing': Tips on Coping With Anxiety Sep 28, 2021

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The early days of the pandemic were marked by lockdowns, masks, and social distancing. Each imposed restriction further eroded normal socialization, leading many Americans to sink into anxiety and depression.

Jon Seidl, author of the new book "Finding Rest: A Survivor's Guide to Navigating the Valleys of Anxiety, Faith, and Life," had his own mental health struggles brought on by the rise of COVID-19.

"I'll never forget where I was about that time in March," says Seidl, who has obsessive compulsive disorder and recalls how his "anxiety just raged."

Seidl joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" to discuss his book and offer Americans some hope in pushing through on their mental health problems.

We also cover these stories:

President Joe Biden gets his third dose, or “booster,” of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine.
The Department of Homeland Security presents a new rule to revise the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also known as DACA.
Homicides rose by about 30% last year, the FBI says.

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Seattle Homeless Ministry Stands Up for Religious Freedom, Asks Supreme Court for Justice Sep 27, 2021

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Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission has been serving the homeless and needy of its community for nearly 90 years. But now, the Washington Supreme Court has given it the Hobson's choice of changing its religious beliefs or closing its doors.

“[O]ur beliefs are everything to us,” Scott Chin, president of Seattle's Union Gospel Mission, says, adding that it is “unimaginable that we would change our beliefs just so that we could continue operating.”

In 2017, Matthew Woods applied for a lawyer position with the organization. The mission requires all of its employees to hold and live by the ministry’s Christian beliefs, but Woods was open about the fact that he does not profess Christianity. Woods sued the homeless ministry after he was not hired for the job.

The Washington Supreme Court ruled against the ministry, but now Chin is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take up his case and defend the religious freedoms the organization has practiced freely for decades.

“We're hopeful that the U.S. Supreme Court will reverse the Washington Supreme Court and adopt the rule that is prevalent in many other circuits around the country,” says Jake

Warner, an attorney with the Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom.

Chin and Warner join “The Daily Signal Podcast” to explain why Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission is fighting for its right to the free exercise of religion.

Also on today’s show, we read your letters to the editor and share a good news story about a couple who adopted two sets of twins on the same day.

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After US Pullout From Afghanistan, Joel C. Rosenberg Sees Alliances Shift in Middle East Sep 24, 2021

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Involvement in the Middle East has been a large part of U.S. foreign policy for generations. President after president has had to take the multifaceted and complex web of alliances and relationships in the Middle East into account as they navigated policy in the region.

But after President Joe Biden withdrew U.S. forces from Afghanistan in neighboring south Central Asia, the balance of power in the Middle East underwent a major shift. America’s departure from the region resulted in a number of important geopolitical ramifications and strategic reorientations.

Joel C. Rosenberg, an American-Israeli communications strategist and author of the new book "Enemies and Allies: An Unforgettable Journey Inside the Fast-Moving & Immensely Turbulent Modern Middle East," has spent years learning the ins and outs of Middle Eastern politics.

His new book includes interviews with Middle Eastern leaders, including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and long-time Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to get their views on the future of the Middle East with a less-present United States.

One point of concern is Iran. The Saudis "see Iran the way Israel sees Iran, which is, the people are great, the leadership is evil, and the leadership is trying to build nuclear weapons and the missiles to deliver them," Rosenberg says.

Rosenberg joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" to discuss his new book and the implications of America's withdrawal from Afghanistan, as well to explain the ongoing realignment between Arab states and Israel against Iran.

We also cover these stories:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Congress' Democratic leaders have agreed on a framework to pay for their $3.5 trillion spending bill.
The Biden administration announces it will prohibit the Border Patrol from using horses in Del Rio, Texas, in response to images of agents on horseback appearing to abuse Haitian refugees—which wasn't the case.
The administration begins reimbursing Florida school officials who had their pay docked for refusing to enforce Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ban on mask mandates.

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Long Arm of Cancel Culture Comes for Knitting Sep 23, 2021

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The word "knitting" normally evokes quaint images of grandma sitting in her rocking chair by the fireplace, needles and yarn in hand, as she makes a pair of mittens for her grandchildren to wear while they play in the snow.

Less likely are images of self-appointed social justice warriors demanding fealty to a cause as they systematically expunge conservatives from online forums. Even less likely are images of physical confrontations occurring at in-person knitting gatherings.

In 2019, a blog post about a knitting enthusiast going to India exploded into a debate about "colonialism" and "white supremacy" in the pastime. A series of commentaries posted on the website Quillette detailed how the online social justice squabble bled out into the real world, resulting in real-life altercations between knitting enthusiasts in England.

Jon Kay, a senior editor at Quillette and editor of the new book, "Panics and Persecutions: 20 Quillette Tales of Excommunication in the Digital Age,” has his own thoughts on this epic yarn.

"It's tragi-comic," explains Kay, "It's hilarious because these are people who knit, but it's also tragic in the sense that a lot of these people, like, this is their life and their community. Their social community is other people who knit on these Instagram groups and other social media, and they're getting thrown out."

Kay joins "The Daily Signal Podcast” to talk about the absurdity of the knitting incident, as well as cancel culture more generally.

We also cover these stories:

During a House Homeland Security Committee hearing, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, asked Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas whether he was warned about the flood of Haitian migrants arriving at the southern border.
After a phone call between President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, France's ambassador to the United States, Philippe Etienne, who had been recalled, will be returning to Washington next week.
Former President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against his niece and The New York Times over tax documents of his that she leaked.

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Mississippi Attorney General Details Abortion Case That Could Undo Roe v. Wade Sep 22, 2021

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The Supreme Court will hear arguments Dec. 1 in what some are saying is the biggest abortion-related case of the past four decades.

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization could result in the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the returning of power to the states to set their own abortion laws, as they did prior to the high court's 1973 ruling in Roe.

“I feel very confident that we're going to win,” Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch says.

Fitch, a Republican, has filed briefs with the Supreme Court asking the justices to deliver “strong clarity” on the issue of abortion in their ruling.

The high-profile case goes back to a Mississippi law passed in 2018, which restricts abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Days after the bill passed, Jackson Women's Health Organization, the state's only abortion clinic, filed a lawsuit seeking to block the law, which was enjoined by a lower court and is currently in abeyance.

Fitch joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to explain the significance of the case and what will happen to abortion laws across the country if the court upholds Mississippi’s law.

We also cover these stories:

President Joe Biden addresses the U.N. General Assembly for the first time since taking office.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas again claims the American border is closed.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., urges the Biden administration to stop deporting the growing number of Haitian migrants arriving on the southern border.

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In Breach of Norms, Biden Fires Trump Appointees From Government Panels Sep 21, 2021

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President Joe Biden recently purged his predecessor's appointees from government boards and commissions, in what critics call an unprecedented break with tradition.

Appointees named by Donald Trump while he was president, among them former senior presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway and former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, were told bluntly by letter to resign or be terminated within a day.

Luke Rosiak, an investigative reporter for The Daily Wire, has extensively covered both the firings and the consequences of Biden's actions.

"There are really serious problems that can happen when our long-term institutions, which are kind of designed to keep our country stable over the course of many decades, become beholden to a White House [administration] that may only be in office for four years," Rosiak says.

Besides advisory boards for the various military academies, the Trump appointees targeted by Biden include the Equal Opportunity Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, the Arctic Research Commission, and the National Board for Education Sciences, Rosiak reported.

Normally, members of such panels carry over for the remainder of their terms when a new president from either major party takes office.

Rosiak joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" to discuss his reporting and the implications of Biden's departure from tradition and precedent.

We also cover these stories:

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas visits the Texas border again.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., calls on Democratic leaders to ignore the Senate parliamentarian's ruling and push on with including immigration policies in the $3.5 trillion spending package.
Pfizer announces that its COVID-19 vaccine is safe for children ages 5 to 11 and generated a “robust” immune response in a clinical trial.

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Whatever Happened to Those Pro-Democracy Protests in Cuba? Sep 20, 2021

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Thousands of Cubans took to the streets in July to protest the county's communist government. But since then, two months later, we have heard very little about the pro-democracy movement in Cuba.

Many of the individuals who led the protests are now in prison, says John Suarez, executive director at the Center for a Free Cuba. Despite that, Suarez says he remains hopeful for Cuba’s future.

“[T]here's a profound desire by Cubans for change,” Suarez says, adding that what is needed now “is international solidarity, not just in the United States, but from the democratic world more broadly.”

Suarez joins “The Daily Signal Podcast" to discuss the strength of the pro-democracy movement in Cuba and how America can play a role in moving the Caribbean island nation toward freedom.

Also on today’s show, we read your letters to the editor and share a good news story about a simple way you can say thank you to two U.S. military veterans.

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Arizona AG Mark Brnovich Talks Suing Biden Over Vaccine Mandate Sep 17, 2021

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President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate is unconstitutional, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich says.

Brnovich filed a lawsuit against the president and other Biden administration officials on Tuesday, arguing that the vaccine mandate is an assault on state sovereignty.

"[W]e know from reading Federalist 45 and Federalist 51 that people like James Madison, who wrote the Constitution, expected the states to push back against the federal government," Brnovich says.

The attorney general, a Republican, also says, “Nowhere in the Constitution does it provide or does it allow the president or the federal government to require any sort of vaccines."

Last week, Biden signed an executive order mandating the vaccination of all federal employees and contract workers. The president also directed the Department of Labor to write a rule mandating all organizations with 100 employees or more to require all their employees be vaccinated or tested weekly.

Brnovich says the president’s actions not only violate American freedoms, but also the equal protection clause of the Constitution.

The Arizona attorney general joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to explain what he hopes to accomplish through the suit.

We also cover these stories:

Idaho puts in place crisis standards of care throughout the state, citing the number of COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization.
After an article from The Daily Signal and a press release from The Heritage Foundation, online retailer Amazon rescinds an ad ban for a new book released by Heritage Foundation scholar Mike Gonzalez.
According to a report by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General, migrants, staff, and border communities were exposed to greater risks of COVID-19 infection by the department’s failure to adequately screen incoming migrants for the disease.

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