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RALEIGH, N.C. North Carolina House Republicans approved new rules on Wednesday limiting how racism and sexism can be taught but fell short of gaining any Democratic support to guarantee a veto override.

The 68-49 vote went along party lines with all Republicans in support and all Democrats in opposition. Republicans would need at least one Democrat should Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper veto the bill again as he did in 2021.

GOP lawmakers say the bill is designed to prevent schools from promoting critical race theory. House Bill 187 has provisions such as one saying teachers shall not promote that anyone should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress based on their race or sex.

This bill does not change what history standards can and cannot be taught, said Rep. John Torbett, a Gaston County Republican and the bills primary sponsor. It simply prohibits schools from endorsing discriminatory concepts.

But Democratic lawmakers argued that the bill is so vaguely worded that teachers will censor what they say to stay out of potential trouble.

The bill on its face is the obvious attempt to micromanage from the General Assembly into the classrooms, said Rep. Laura Budd, a Mecklenburg County Democrat. Its overreach. It will have a chilling effect on teachers and educators in curtailing what they think theyre allowed to teach, as well as how they teach.

The legislation now goes to the GOP-controlled Senate, where its expected to easily pass.

A bill with nearly identical language passed the House and Senate in 2021. When Cooper vetoed that bill, he said it pushes calculated, conspiracy-laden politics into public education.

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House Bill 187, titled Equality in Education says public schools cant promote concepts such as the idea that one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex or that an individual, solely by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive.

The bill also would stop teachers from promoting the concept of white privilege, or that white people have unfair advantages over others solely due to their race. The bill says teachers cant promote that privileges should be ascribed to a race or sex.

Other items that the bill says teachers cant promote include:

An individual, solely by virtue of his or her race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex;

A meritocracy is inherently racist or sexist;

The United States was created by members of a particular race or sex for the purpose of oppressing members of another race or sex.

At the end of the day we should all be able to agree that no student, no teacher, no parent, no school employee, no one should ever be made to feel inferior solely because of the color of their skin, their gender, national origin, race, religion, disability and familial status, especially in our schools when learning for our young should be fun and exciting, said Torbett, the lone Republican to speak for the bill Wednesday.

The legislation, which does not include the phrase critical race theory, would also require schools to post online ahead of time whenever schools provide instruction related to the prohibited concepts. Theyd also have to list when they hire speakers, consultants or diversity trainers who discuss those concepts or have previously advocated those concepts.

Rep. Julie von Haefen, a Wake County Democrat, questioned whether the bill would prevent her from speaking in schools or serving as a substitute teacher due to her political beliefs.

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Republican lawmakers have introduced bills at the national and state level targeting what they call critical race theory, which holds that racism has been a systemic part of the nations history that still influences society today.

Conservative groups have accused schools of promoting critical race theory. School leaders have denied the charge, saying that anything involving the discussion of diversity, equity and race has been conflated to be about critical race theory.

Since January 2021, 44 states have introduced bills or taken other steps that would restrict teaching critical race theory or limit how teachers can discuss racism and sexism, according to an Education Week analysis. Eighteen states have imposed these bans and restrictions either through legislation or other avenues.

You have to be made uncomfortable in order to expand your mind and to learn, said Rep. Kelly Alexander, a Mecklenburg County Democrat. Thats what education is all about.

The push to target critical race theory comes as North Carolina Republicans are also promoting legislation known as the Parents Bill of Rights targeting instruction in elementary grades on explicit material and LGBTQ issues. The state Senate approved that bill this year, but it has not been taken up by the House.

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Torbett said the legislation will help promote unity in this country and state.

North Carolina, this great education state, must have an educational system that unites and teaches our children, not divides and indoctrinates them, Torbett said.

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Democrats said the bill doesnt provide guidance on what would be acceptable.

At a time when teachers are already feeling pressure from staff shortages, book bans, inadequate resources, this bill continues to undermine the autonomy of the teaching profession and fails to support teachers, von Haefen said during the floor debate.

Von Haefen said the bill raises questions from teachers about whether they could continue to have discussions about equal rights, the right to vote and why women are under-represented in politics and other fields.

Democrats also said the bill will cause teachers to shy away from discussing controversial topics.

This bill frightens me because I think people will start trying to limit exposure to history by all of us, added Rep. Abe Jones, a Wake County Democrat. We all can learn from history.

2023 The Charlotte Observer. Visit at charlotteobserver.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Thursday said he would not vaccinate his children against Covid, citing concerns over potential heart inflammation.

Paul, a doctor and an outspoken opponent of Covid mitigation measures, said he is concerned about the risk of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, from taking the vaccine.

I, frankly, wouldnt vaccinate my children for Covid, Paul told The Hill on Thursday. I think the risks of the vaccine are greater than the risks of the disease. The risks of the disease are almost non-existent.

A very small group of people in the United States have experienced myocarditis after being given Covid vaccines based on mRNA technology. Myocarditis is a condition that has long been linked to a number of viral infections, including influenza and coxsackieviruses, as well as Covid.

Paul suggested that young people take only one dose of the Covid vaccine instead of multiple doses, saying that there is a higher risk of myocarditis among young people after they receive the second dose.

If you want to give them a vaccine and theyve already had Covid, why not one instead of three? I think it really is malpractice, he said. There is room to debate but I dont think theres any evidence to give three vaccines.

Pauls remarks come a day after he grilled Moderna CEO Stphane Bancelduring a hearing about the potential risk of myocarditis for young men following Covid shots.

I also spoke with your president just last week, and he readily acknowledged in private that, yes, there is an increased risk of myocarditis, Paul said during the hearing Wednesday. The fact that you cant say it in public is quite disturbing.

He repeatedly clashed at Senate hearings with Dr. Anthony Fauci, who served as the governments top infectious disease expert, for his handling of the pandemic. They argued over topics ranging fromherd immunityto theorigins of the virus.

Summer Concepcion is a politics reporter for NBC News.

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Rand Paul says he wouldn't give his children Covid vaccinations over myocarditis concerns - NBC News

Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul recently revealed the details of a private conversation he had with the president of Moderna.

On Wednesday, the CEO of Moderna Stphane Bancel testified before a hearing held by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and was questioned by several of the committee's members including Senator Paul.

A portion of Paul's questions were focused on myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, after individuals receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Paul asked Bancel if there's a higher incidence of myocarditis "among boys 16 to 24 after they take" the Moderna vaccine. Bancel said that the rate of myocarditis for the specific age and gender group is less than those who contract COVID-19.

Paul then went on to dispute Bancel's remark and said, "I also spoke with your president just last week and he readily acknowledged, in private, that yes there is an increased risk of myocarditis. The fact that you can't say it in public is quite disturbing."

The comments by Paul come amid ongoing speculation about the origins of the COVID-19 virus, which were prompted by a report from the Wall Street Journal detailing a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) report that said the novel virus likely originated from a lab in Wuhan, China.

Following the initial outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, officials across the globe worked quickly to develop a vaccine to curb the spread of the virus. Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson became the three companies that were able to develop a vaccine that has been administered to millions of Americans, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In the months following the rollout of the vaccines, some cases of myocarditis and pericarditis appeared in adolescent males.

"Myocarditis and pericarditis have rarely been reported. When reported, the cases have especially been in adolescents and young adult males within several days after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna)," the CDC states.

According to the CDC, cases of myocarditis and pericarditis are most common after the second dose of an mRNA vaccine, such as the one developed by Moderna and usually occur within a week of receiving the second dose.

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Despite the remarks by Paul on Wednesday, the CDC states, "The known risks of COVID-19 illness and its related, possibly severe complications, such as long-term health problems, hospitalization, and even death, far outweigh the potential risks of having a rare adverse reaction to vaccination, including the possible risk of myocarditis or pericarditis."

Newsweek reached out to Paul's press office and Moderna for comment via email.

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Rand Paul Reveals Details of Private Conversation With Moderna President - Newsweek

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., waded into a right-wing culture war over the weekend and was forced into an embarrassing retreat.

Paul posted and then deleted a tweet with a photo of the senator standing next to a child. In the tweet, Paul asked if people could believe the child was disciplined for wearing this shirt in Utah.The shirt shows guns that have been arranged to look like an American flag.

Lets start with a fundamental truth about the Republican Party: We cant assume anything its members say is true. The party of election denialism has lost any benefit of the doubt. So Im really doing Paul a service in even treating this as a real story.

But thats only because the way it played out was so hilarious.

Of course, I can see why such a shirt would spur concern. And, whats more, when people began to search for images of the shirt, they found that it was advertised for sale on multiple websites with a name that referred to a sex position.

So, to rehash Pauls question: Is it conceivable to me that a student was disciplined for wearing a shirt that depicts deadly weapons often used to murder schoolchildren seemingly engaged in sex?

Yes, I can believe that.

Rand Paul belongs to a Republican Party that claims to abhor groomers, yet here he is getting worked up over someones aversion to a child wearing sexually suggestive gun paraphernalia.

As can the throngs of people on social media who mocked Paul over his tweet. The senator, after all, does belong to a Republican Party that claims to abhor groomers, yet here he is getting worked up over someones aversion to a child wearing sexually suggestive gun paraphernalia.

The liberals want your kids to trifle with nonsense in school, like treating one another kindly and making everyone feel safe and welcomed.

Meanwhile, conservatives like Rand Paul are focused on the important stuff like how X-rated your childs T-shirt can be.

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Rand Paul fails with 'groomer'-related gaffe in now-deleted tweet - MSNBC

When J. Edgar Hoover died in 1972, he had been director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for 37 years. When he started in that post, the Air Force was not yet a separate branch of the armed forces. By the time his tenure ended, Neil Armstrong had walked on the moon.

The governments civil rights abuses over that long period are well known. Hoovers FBI spied on groups like the NAACP and the ACLU and conducted domestic surveillance on almost any prominent figure who seemed politically threatening.

Albert Einstein, an early opponent of nuclear weapons, had an FBI file over 1,400 pages long by the time he died in 1955. John Lennon was put under surveillance after he met with anti-war activists in New York in 1971. The INS tried to deport him a year later. Perhaps most infamously, in 1964 Hoovers FBI sent an anonymous letter to Martin Luther King, Jr., attempting to blackmail him into committing suicide.

J. Edgar Hoover, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, sits at his desk in the Justice Department, in 1928. (Getty Images)

Many of the FBIs activities in those years were blatantly unconstitutional, but few were brave enough to speak out against them. It was too dangerous to cross Director Hoover. His influence was so strong that when he turned 70, President Lyndon Johnson issued an executive order granting him a special exemption from mandatory retirement under the Civil Service Retirement Act.

RAND PAUL BLASTS FAUCI AFTER FREEZE-OUT ALLEGATIONS: A FACT FAUCI CONVINCED SCIENTISTS TO CHANGE MINDS

A decade later, public opinion began to shift. Six presidents had come and gone while Hoover remained at the top of the most formidable law enforcement agency the world had ever known. But when his abuses of office came to light, they sparked an outcry against one man holding the reins of power for so long. So, in 1976, Congress enacted a 10-year term limit for the FBI director.

In more recent times, another power-hungry figure outlasted seven presidents and oversaw his agencys transformation from a medical research institute into the foremost biodefense research agency on Earth. Yet in nearly four decades, the Senate never once voted to confirm him. The law never required it.

Dr. Anthony Fauci attends an event to urge Americans to get vaccinated ahead of the holiday season in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., Dec. 9, 2022. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

As an old saying goes, those who do not learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.

Dr. Anthony Fauci headed the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for over 38 years, and by the time he retired he was drawing the largest salary in the entire federal government.

His salary skyrocketed after 9/11, when the George W. Bush administration, at the behest of Vice President Dick Cheney, brought all biodefense research under the control of the NIAID director. This included projects that were previously overseen by military or intelligence agencies. As one article put it,"[w]ith the stroke of Cheneys pen, all United States biodefence [sic] efforts, classified or unclassified, were placed under the aegis of Anthony Fauci [who]... went from being the director of one of the NIHs constituent 27 institutes to being the only one who really mattered."

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We now know Dr. Fauci used his perch atop the nations biodefense research apparatus to finance gain-of-function experiments on bat coronaviruses in China. In doing so, he bypassed a security protocol to screen out projects that posed too much risk.

Though the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic are still unknown, some scientists believe it may have begun in a lab. If so, the virus may have developed from a research method like the ones Dr. Fauci was bankrolling.

The American people deserve better. Thats why I recently introduced the NIH Reform Act to divide the NIAID into three parts that align with its stated mission"to better understand, treat, and ultimately prevent infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases."

Dr. Anthony Fauci adjusts his face mask during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on March 18, 2021. (Susan Walsh-Pool/Getty Images)

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As its currently configured, the NIAIDs jurisdiction covers everything from asthma to Ebola, from peanut allergies to the plague. My bill would replace it with three independent institutes:one for infectious diseases, one for immunologic diseases, and one for allergic diseases. The director of each new institute would be appointed by the president, confirmed by the Senate, and (in keeping with the 10-year precedent at the post-Hoover FBI) permitted to serve no more than two five-year terms.

J. Edgar Hoover and Anthony Fauci are two real-life examples of how too much power in too few hands creates an echo chamber where decisions cannot be questioned. But a free and open society depends upon questioning those in power. A peoples trust in science depends upon it, too.

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This will be the end to Fauci's NIH as we know it - Fox News