Bits & Bytes

1A: Five years ago, the Christian owner of Tastries Bakery in California declined to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple and instead referred them to a different bakery, citing her sincere religious belief that marriage is intended to be between one man and one woman.

The state’s Department of Fair Housing and Employment took her to court for allegedly violating California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act. Last week, the court found in favor of the baker!

The Thomas More Society, which supported Miller in the lawsuit, noted, “There’s a certain irony there, that a law intended to protect individuals from religious discrimination was used to discriminate against Cathy for her religious beliefs.”

• https://www.christianpost.com/news/christian-baker-who-refused-to-bake-cake-for-lesbian-wedding-wins.html
• https://news.yahoo.com/tastries-owner-prevails-lawsuit-alleging-035900044.html

CANADA: Alberta’s Premier became the first leader of a Canadian province to apologize for the way the unvaccinated were treated during the pandemic. Beyond the apology, Smith also said she is working to pardon residents who were fined or arrested for breaking strict COVID-19 protocols.

• https://townhall.com/tipsheet/leahbarkoukis/2022/10/24/canadian-premier-apologizes-to-the-unvaccinated-n2614903

CARGO: The cargo crisis that saw a record-breaking 109 ships waiting to dock at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach earlier this year has ended. But it’s not because California got its act together. It’s because the Biden economy sucks so much that imports are way down.

Meanwhile, water levels on the Mississippi are so low that it’s impeding the movement of barges. Just under half (47%) of our grain, approximately 5.4 million barrels of crude and 35% of thermal coal are moved on the Mississippi by barge.

• https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2022/10/23/l-a-cargo-crisis-ends-as-u-s-imports-crash/
• https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/10/ol_man_river_is_not_rolling_along.html
• https://www.theepochtimes.com/commercial-barge-lines-struggle-as-drought-stricken-mississippi-river-levels-plummet_4813431.html

FAUXTUS: The Liar in Chief did it again. CLICK https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1584325204485894144 [:07] to hear him say he got his student loan forgiveness plan “passed by a vote or two.” Congress never voted on it. Then, he appeared to nod off. CLICK https://twitter.com/MonicaCrowley/status/1583670155917217793 [:27].

FYI: A federal appeals court has temporarily halted the student loan forgiveness plan. Six Republican-led states – Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, and South Carolina – sued because the plan bypassed Congress.

• https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/10/23/biden-says-passed-student-loan-bailout-congress-never-voted/
• https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/08/24/fact-sheet-president-biden-announces-student-loan-relief-for-borrowers-who-need-it-most/
• https://www.theepochtimes.com/federal-appeals-court-temporarily-halts-bidens-student-loan-relief_4813265.html

MIDTERMS: A new Trafalgar poll shows a tiny 6.7% of voters saying they believe Biden’s explanations for inflation. And nearly 55% said that Biden cares less about the middle class than did prior presidents, including 61% of Hispanics and 66.8% of Asians.

• https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/polling/middle-class-joe-loses-his-mojo-middle-class-poll-finds

NEVADA: Rasmussen polls of Likely Voters shows majority opposition to men infringing on women’s right. “Should men who identify as women be able to compete in women’s sports?” 72% NO. “Should these men be able to use women’s restrooms/lockrooms?“ 65% NO.

And Real Clear Politics shows Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo (GOP) currently ahead of incumbent Gov. Steve Sisolak (Dem) by 2.3 points. Back in April, Sisolak was up by 14.

• https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/partner_surveys/nevada_voters_oppose_transgender_policies
• https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2022/senate/Nevada.html
• https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2022/governor/Nevada.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Nevada_gubernatorial_election

SUDDEN DEATH: Sixteen-year-old Jack Aidan Strehl passed away October 14. Strehl earned his Blackbelt in Tae Kwon Do at age 11. He threw shot put and discus for his high school Track & Field team, held down a job, and was planning for a career in engineering or aviation.

• https://www.breitbart.com/local/2022/10/22/community-mourns-sudden-death-of-16-year-old-athlete-a-kind-and-gentle-soul/

TRANS: A new Trafalgar poll shows a majority of Americans (78.7% of voters polled) across the political spectrum believe so-called “gender affirming” treatments should be illegal for minors. These included 84.6% of Independents and 53.2% of Democrats.

• https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/poll-americans-support-banning-transgender-surgeries-drugs-minors

VFAUXTUS: [2:15] – “Misinformation“ = Dem-speak for “telling the truth.”