Via World Net Daily: It’s not just a political battle anymore. It’s spiritual warfare now. Exorcists, witches and occultists “in a number of magical groups” are announcing plans for a ritual designed to “bind Donald Trump and all who abet him.” It’s to happen Friday at midnight at a variety of locations across the nation, and again every month until …

CNN reports: Lawyers for Gavin Grimm, a transgender teen who is barred from using the boys’ bathroom at his Virginia high school, told the Supreme Court Thursday that his challenge to the school board policy should go forward, arguing that the restrooms “must be equally available to all boys and all girls, including boys and girls who are transgender.” The …

The BBC reports: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says the US is “not experiencing the best of times” – but the “pendulum” will swing back. Speaking to BBC Newsnight in a rare interview, Justice Ginsburg reiterated the importance of the free press. “I read the Washington Post and the New York Times every day, and I think that the …

Every time Macy’s closes a few stores or Target has a bad quarter, the right wing celebrates their “victory.” So today we get this: Family Christian, the “World’s largest retailer of Christian-themed merchandise” is set to close at 240 stores in 36 states after 85 years. The non-profit store, which employs 3,000 people, said that the store had been seeing …

GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy showed up quite late to his townhall yesterday and was SHOCKED to face an angry crowd. The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports: Sen. Bill Cassidy had to know he was facing a tough crowd when they tried to shout down the invocation. “Amen!” one man hollered just moments after Louisiana State Chaplain Michael Sprague began his prayer. …

Reuters reports: Slovenia permitted same-sex marriages for the first time from Friday under a law giving gay couples largely the same rights as heterosexuals though barring them from jointly adopting children. The head of the unit in charge of weddings in Slovenia’s second largest city Maribor, Ksenija Klampfer, told Reuters the first lesbian wedding would take place there on Saturday. …

USA Today reports: President Trump criticized FBI “leakers” Friday in the midst of news reports his chief of staff asked the bureau itself to “knock down” stories about investigations into possible contacts between Trump officials and Russian officials. “The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security ‘leakers’ that have permeated our government for a long time.” Trump tweeted. …

Mic.com reports: Thousands of demonstrators gathered in front of Stonewall Inn Thursday night to protest President Donald Trump rolling back protections for transgender Americans. In the description of the Facebook event for their protest, Rally organizers said they wanted to “make it clear that we will fight to keep protections for Trans and gender non-conforming people and students.” Doing so, …

The Washington Post reports: As both a transgender person and a longtime Republican, Caitlyn Jenner felt compelled to speak out on the Trump administration’s decision Wednesday to revoke federal guidelines specifying that transgender students had the right to use public school restrooms that matched their gender identity. In a video posted to social media Thursday, the former Olympic decathlon champion …

Law Newz reports: A group of law professors have filed a misconduct complaint against Kellyanne Conway, claiming that she violated the Rules of Professional Conduct for attorneys by giving false statements to the media. Fifteen professors who teach legal ethics at law schools across the country signed the complaint, which was filed with the D.C. Bar’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel. …

Raw Story reports: Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert has avoided holding a town hall with his constituents, citing in a recent statement, that he is choosing to avoid the matter because former Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords “was shot at a public appearance” in 2011. Former Rep. Giffords responded to Gohmert on Thursday in a statement of her own, essentially telling lawmakers …

Via email from hate group leader Brian Brown: A recent study in the journal JAMA Pediatrics has caused a lot of buzz in the press. The study claims to trace the “Association Between State Same-Sex Marriage Policies and Adolescent Suicide Attempts” among LGBT youth and is being presented by the media as “proof” that gay marriage saves lives. But like …

The Associated Press reports: Attorney General Jeff Sessions has signaled his support for the federal government’s use of private prisons, rescinding a memo meant to phase out their use. Sessions issued a new memo Thursday replacing one issued last August by Sally Yates, the deputy attorney general at the time. That memo told the Bureau of Prisons to begin reducing …

The Hill reports: New Education Secretary Betsy DeVos defended the Trump administration’s decision to rescind protections for transgender students, arguing that the protections were an “overreach” of the Obama administration. “This issue was a very huge example of the Obama administration’s overreach, to suggest one-size-fits-all, federal government approach,” DeVos said on Thursday at the conservative conference CPAC. DeVos was initially …

Reuters reports: President Donald Trump said on Thursday he wants to build up the U.S. nuclear arsenal to ensure it is at the “top of the pack,” saying the United States has fallen behind in its atomic weapons capacity. In a Reuters interview, Trump also complained about Russian deployment of a cruise missile in violation of an arms control treaty …

Remember last year when White House advisor Steve Bannon declared that he was ever so proud to have turned Breitbart into a “platform for the alt-right”? Apparently he said that in an alt-universe. Kyle Mantyla reports at Right Wing Watch:  This morning, Dan Schneider of the American Conservative Union, which organizes CPAC, delivered a speech titled “The Alt Right Ain’t …

TIME reports: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz predicted that the Supreme Court will have another open seat by this summer. In an on-stage interview at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, the Republican Senator predicted that there might be another opening on the nation’s high court soon. “This summer, I think we’ll have another Supreme Court vacancy,” he said. Cruz did …

In reaction to the Trump administration rescinding transgender student rights, dozens of LGBT rights and progressive groups will be leading a protest rally this afternoon outside the Stonewall Inn in downtown Manhattan. The rally is cosponsored by the New York City Council, GLSEN, GLAAD, and Lambda Legal. The event begins at 5:30PM and its Facebook page is here.

CNN reports: President Donald Trump’s top two advisers will take the stage together Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference in their latest attempt to dispel notions that they are combative rivals fighting for power in the West Wing. White House chief of staff Reince Priebus and chief strategist Steve Bannon found themselves at the center of reports of West …

Reuters reports: Pope Francis delivered another criticism of some members of his own Church on Thursday, suggesting it is better to be an atheist than one of “many” Catholics who he said lead a hypocritical double life. In improvised comments in the sermon of his private morning Mass in his residence, he said: “It is a scandal to say one …