Welcome back in for Al’s Afternoon Tea. Today’s menu goes from Moses to Willie Mays.

Louisiana Becomes First State to Require Classrooms to Display the 10 Commandments

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed a bill yesterday that makes the Pelican State the first in the nation to require schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms. Critics, of course, are apoplectic about this, claiming it violates the Constitution. In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court shot down a similar law in Kentucky, determining the Decalogue displays lacked a secular purpose and were solely religious. Would a more conservative court rule differently now, especially given recent court rulings opening the door for religious expression in schools? Also, money for the posters will come from donations, not state funds.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom took a different and bizarre approach to the news, tweeting, “Louisiana has the worst crime rate in the nation – but this is their priority.”

Sure, Gavin. Reminding students they shouldn’t steal and kill is far worse than convincing children they can change their sex — and passing a law to prevent teachers from telling parents about it.  

Oregon High School Coach Fired for Trying to Protect Girls’ Sports

The head track & field coach of Lake Oswego High School in Oregon is out of a job. Was he fired for sharing pornographic books with students? Inappropriate behavior with any of his athletes? Theft? Littering? How about simply being a bad coach?

No. According to John Parks — who has led his team to three straight state championships — he was terminated because he wrote letters to a state senator and the Oregon Student Activities Association, asking the state to reconsider its law allowing males to compete in girls’ events because it compromises the integrity of girls’ sports. Parks suggested creating an open division in which trans athletes could compete instead — a reasonable idea.

But Oregon officials seem to be beyond reason. Coach Parks was canned.

Parks told local news station KATU he is appealing his termination. “I’m going to fight now because I got wronged,” he said. “I … am fighting for girls, I’m fighting for female sports, and I’m fighting that it be fair for everybody.”

Last month, a male named Aayden Gallagher, who identifies as female, won the state championship in the girls’ 200-meter dash.

Meanwhile, north of Oregon …

Washington State Launches “Teen Health Hub” That Loads Kids with Info on Abortion, Sex, and “Gender-Affirming Care”

While Louisiana is putting up the Ten Commandments, Washington state has forked over taxpayer money for a “Teen Health Hub” that is a portal for information on abortion, sex, and “gender-affirming care.” And here’s the kicker: The state is guiding kids to services they can obtain without a parent’s or guardian’s consent.

Update: FBI Visits Texas Nurse Who Fought Child Sex Change, Hospital Under Investigation 

When  Dr. Eithan Haim revealed to journalist Christopher Rufo that Texas Children’s Hospital was continuing to perform sex-change operations and treatments on children as young as 11, even after declaring the clinic had been disbanded, the hospital was desperate to find out who blew the whistle. An investigation was launched, and the radical U.S. Department of Justice was brought in.

At the same time, a registered nurse at the hospital named Vanessa Sivadge was raising concerns about the dramatic spike of “transgender children” being treated there. Next thing you know, the FBI showed up at Sivadge’s door, declaring her a “person of interest” in the leak. Sivadge was terrified.

This is where we are now: The Biden Administration sent two FBI agents to intimidate a nurse who told the truth about the child sex-change program at Texas Children's Hospital. The regime is mobilizing to threaten and imprison anyone who opposes "transgender medicine." pic.twitter.com/XbtZVnp5Kw

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) June 18, 2024

Terrorists are crossing our border as easily as crossing a street, but the FBI’s going to harass a nurse who’s alarmed about adults chopping off children’s healthy body parts.

The FBI did end up leaving Sivadge alone, since, as we now know, Dr. Haim was the one who spoke to Rufo.

But Sivadge didn’t just notice the spike in child sex changes. After the FBI’s visit, she uncovered the fact that two doctors performing sex changes at the hospital appeared to be billing Texas Medicaid for the work in violation of state law.

Rufo reported Wednesday that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office has confirmed this case of possible Medicaid fraud is “currently being investigated.”

More good news: A legal fund set up for Dr. Haim has raised more than $765,000.

Perhaps you are asking why the federal government is sending agents to harass a nurse and criminally charge a doctor for this. 

Why? Because this is your White House.

Meanwhile at the White House… pic.twitter.com/XYaNhK6ubK

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) June 18, 2024

A Special Night for America’s Pastime: A Game at the Historic Rickwood Stadium

The MLB’s Giants and Cardinals are set to play tonight, but not in San Francisco or St. Louis. They’re squaring off in Alabama, at the oldest professional ballpark in America, Rickwood Field. The occasion? To celebrate the history of the Negro Leagues. Rickwood was home to the league’s Birmingham Black Barons.

The event is part of an effort to raise funds to restore the 114-year-old park. All surviving players from the Negro Leagues have been invited. About 60 are expected to attend.

But Rickwood Field isn’t just about the black ballplayers, who for several generations were kept from the major leagues. Many of the game’s legends played at Rickwood at some point — 181 Hall of Famers all told, including Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Ty Cobb, and Lou Gehrig. 

“The Rickwood Field game will help give the Negro Leagues their flowers,” said Fox MLB studio analyst and former Rookie of the Year Dontrelle Willis. “It’s important to do that. It puts the city and, really, the game, on a national scale, which is very important. Everybody’s going to be watching and learning about the historical factor and the significance of that field.” 

The emotional heft of tonight’s game has been amplified by the passing this week of the “Say Hey Kid,” the incomparable Willie Mays. Mays, arguably the best all-around player ever to set foot on a diamond, passed away this week at the age of 93. Tonight’s game was already set to pay tribute to him; he played for the Black Barons at the start of his career before being signed by the then-New York Giants. Now it will serve as a memorial. 

You know who else played for the Black Barons? Pitcher Satchel Paige. Not only one of the greatest pitchers who ever lived, the man had a way with quotes. He’s the one who said, “Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you” and “Work like you don’t need the money. Love like you’ve never been hurt. Dance like nobody’s watching.”

He also offered up a great pearl of wisdom for people of faith: “Don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines.”

Coverage of “Rickwood Field: A Tribute to the Negro Leagues” got underway at 4:30 Eastern time on Fox. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:15 p.m.

 

On The Stream Menu

Big thanks to John Zmirak for filling in this morning on The Brew! Also, have you checked out Nancy Flory’s delightful new weekly feature, “Ripple Effects”? This week’s is “Texas Beats Title IX Rewrite, Billboards Tell the Story of Those Almost Aborted.”

Our Aliya Kuykendall offers up “Hope Restored, Part 1: The Anne Edward Story.”  And Stream contributor Wanda Alger is back with the timely “No One Is Exempt.”

Al Perrotta is The Stream’s Washington bureau chief, coauthor with John Zmirak of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration, and coauthor of the counterterrorism memoir Hostile Intent: Protecting Yourself Against Terrorism.