Federal Appellate Court Slaps Down Lower Court Judge, Reinstates Tennessee Ban on Tranny Surgery, Drugs for Children

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A Tennessee law prohibiting doctors from providing medical care such as puberty-blockers and gender affirming surgery for transgender minors can go into effect immediately, a U.S. appeals court ruled Saturday.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit said advocacy groups that had challenged Tennessee’s law could not show they were likely to prevail on their claims it violated the U.S. Constitution. The panel of three judges voted 2-1 to reverse a lower court’s decision that had blocked Tennessee from enforcing the law while it was being challenged.

“Life-tenured federal judges should be wary of removing a vexing and novel topic of medical debate from the ebbs and flows of democracy by construing a largely unamendable federal constitution to occupy the field,” Judge Jeffrey Sutton wrote for the appeals court. (Read more from “Federal Appellate Court Slaps Down Lower Court Judge, Reinstates Tennessee Ban on Tranny Surgery, Drugs for Children” HERE)

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Trans Model Crowned ‘Miss Netherlands’, Will Compete for Miss Universe Title

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A biologically male transgender model was crowned as ‘Miss Netherlands’ and will compete for the title of Miss Universe later this year in El Salvador.

Rikkie Kolle, a 22-year-old model, has been selected as Miss Netherlands 2023, the first biological male to win the historically female competition.

Announcing their decision, the jury said during the final according to Dutch public broadcaster NOS: “She has a rock-solid story with a clear mission… The jury is convinced that the organization (of Miss Netherlands, ed.) will be happy to work with this young woman.”

Kolle said: “I am only too happy to commit to all the little Rikkies who have to deal with rejection from their family, their transition to the person they desire to be. Help make their self-image and acceptance stronger, untouchable. . .

Kolle will be allowed to hold the title of Miss Netherlands for one year and will be entitled to compete at the Miss Universe competition in El Salvador later this year.

(Read more from “Trans Model Crowned ‘Miss Netherlands’, Will Compete for Miss Universe Title” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

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Forty Percent of Brown University Students Say They Are LGBT, Suggesting Social Contagion

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New survey data from Brown University’s student newspaper provides further evidence that the increase in LGBT identification is driven by social pressures.

The latest data show that between 2010 and 2023, identification as LGBTQ+ has almost tripled among the student body at Brown (from 14% in 2010 saying they were not heterosexual to 38% now). “The Herald’s Spring 2023 poll found that 38% of students do not identify as straight — over five times the national rate ,” The Brown Daily Herald reported . “Over the past decade, LGBTQ+ identification has increased across the nation, with especially sharp growth at Brown.”

Other sexual orientations have seen massive increases. “Since Fall 2010, Brown’s LGBTQ+ population has expanded considerably. The gay or lesbian population has increased by 26% and the percentage of students identifying as bisexual has increased by 232%,” the student newspaper reported. “Students identifying as other sexual orientations within the LGBTQ+ community have increased by 793%.”

The idea of LGBT identification as a social contagion is one that continues to draw criticism among academics. For example, the head of an academic journal that published a paper that supported the theory of Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria faced a cancellation attempt, along with the Northwestern University professor who wrote the paper. (Read more from “Forty Percent of Brown University Students Say They Are LGBT, Suggesting Social Contagion” HERE)

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More Black Americans Support SCOTUS’ Affirmative Action Ruling Than Oppose It: Poll

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A plurality of black Americans support the Supreme Court’s decision last month that struck down race-based admission policies at colleges, according to a YouGov/The Economist poll.

In the survey, 44% of black respondents said they at least somewhat supported the Supreme Court’s rulings in Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina and Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which struck down the use of race-based admissions policies. By comparison, 36% of the black respondents to the poll disapproved of the decision.

Overall, nearly three-fifths of respondents, 59%, approved of the Supreme Court ruling, compared to 27% who disapproved, with 45% of Hispanic respondents supporting the decision, compared to 30% disapproval. The poll did not reveal reactions from Asian-Americans to the ruling. (Read more from “More Black Americans Support SCOTUS’ Affirmative Action Ruling Than Oppose It: Poll” HERE)

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Manson Family Murderer to Be Released From Prison

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Manson Family murderer Leslie Van Houten will be released from prison after Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he will not ask the state Supreme Court to block her recommendation for parole.

Van Houten, 73, was convicted in 1971 for her part in the grisly slayings of Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, in August 1969. Van Houten admitted later to holding a pillowcase over Rosemary’s head as the victim was stabbed by other members of the Manson cult. Van Houten stabbed the woman herself over a dozen times, the Associated Press reported.

The LaBiancas were killed one day after other members of the Manson Family murdered heavily pregnant actress Sharon Tate and five others in her home on Cielo Drive in what has since been dubbed as the Helter Skelter killings.

Van Houten was 19-years old at the time of her conviction and has spent over five decades in prison after her death sentence was commuted when California abolished capital punishment in 1972. Her parole comes after a California appeals court in May reversed a decision by Newsom to keep the convicted murderer in prison. (Read more from “Manson Family Murderer to Be Released From Prison” HERE)

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‘No Doubt’ U.S. Will Go to War With Russia if Ukraine Falls, Pence Says

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Providing Ukraine with the military support needed to turn back the Russian invasion is crucial if the U.S. wants to avoid going to war against Russia, former vice president and current presidential hopeful Mike Pence says.

Pence, speaking on the Hugh Hewitt Show, said Russia’s military operation in Ukraine “is not just warfare. It’s evil,” adding that he believes Russian leader Vladimir Putin is facing sharp divisions inside Russia. Pence promised that, if elected, he would ensure Ukraine received whatever aid was required to win.

“I have no doubt that if Vladimir Putin overran Ukraine, it would not be too long, Hugh, before the Russian military crossed a border where we would have to send our fighting men and women to fight against them,” Pence said. He said he was a supporter of Ronald Reagan’s doctrine that “if you’re willing to fight the enemies of the United States on your soil, we’ll give you the means to fight them there so our men and women in uniform don’t have to fight them.” (Read more from “‘No Doubt’ U.S. Will Go to War With Russia if Ukraine Falls, Pence Says” HERE)

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Governor Poised to Sign Bill Allowing Elective Abortions up Until Birth

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Maine may soon allow elective abortions up until birth, pending final approval from the state’s governor.

The bill — H.P. 1044, An Act to Improve Maine’s Reproductive Privacy Laws — would allow a woman to receive a late-term abortion at any point if it is determined to be “necessary” by a doctor.

It’s likely the legislation will be codified. Maine Governor Janet Mills, a Democrat, introduced the bill in January alongside legislative leadership, both also Democrats: House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross and Senate President Troy Jackson. At the time, Mills credited the case of Maine woman Dana Peirce as justification for the expanded legalization of abortion.

At eight months pregnant, Peirce wanted to abort her unborn son after he was diagnosed with a genetic mutation called lethal skeletal dysplasia, as reported by the Portland Press Herald. Peirce ultimately traveled to Colorado for an abortion because Maine law prohibits post-viability abortions where the mother’s life or health are not jeopardized. The law does allow elective abortions up to viability, generally recognized at 24 weeks.

(Read more from “Governor Poised to Sign Bill Allowing Elective Abortions up Until Birth” HERE)

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OpenAI Co-Founder Warns Humans Have No Way of Stopping ‘Superintelligent’ AI

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OpenAI Co-Founder Ilya Sutskever warned this week that superintelligent artificial intelligence systems will be so powerful that humans will not be able to effectively monitor them, which could lead to “disempowerment of humanity or even human extinction.”

Sutskever and head of alignment Jan Leike wrote in a blog post that they are focused on tackling the problems that will be posed by “superintelligence,” which has a “much higher capability level” than artificial general intelligence (AGI).

They said that they believe that superintelligence could arrive as soon as sometime this decade and that it’s hard to predict just how fast technology will develop.

“Currently, we don’t have a solution for steering or controlling a potentially superintelligent AI, and preventing it from going rogue,” they said. “Our current techniques for aligning AI, such as reinforcement learning from human feedback, rely on humans’ ability to supervise AI. But humans won’t be able to reliably supervise AI systems much smarter than us, and so our current alignment techniques will not scale to superintelligence. We need new scientific and technical breakthroughs.” (Read more from “OpenAI Co-Founder Warns Humans Have No Way of Stopping ‘Superintelligent’ AI” HERE)

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Kennedy: If My Record Was as Bad as This White House ‘I’d Probably Give My Staff Blow, Too’

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Senator John Kennedy (R-LA), on Friday’s broadcast of FNC’s “Hannity,” joked that he would give his staff cocaine if his record were as bad as President Joe Biden’s.

Guest host Jason Chaffetz said, “Are you going to be able – as a senator – to be able to understand what’s going on with this investigation? My guess – just a guess – the United States Secret Service already knows how this happened. They just haven’t told us yet.” . . .

He continued, “I probably shouldn’t say this, but if my record was as bad as this White House’s record, I’d probably give my staff blow too. I’m only kidding. They’ll get to the bottom of it. Frankly, I’m not saying it’s not significant. It’s not earthshaking, you know?” (Read more from “Kennedy: If My Record Was as Bad as This White House ‘I’d Probably Give My Staff Blow, Too’” HERE)

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Mortgage Rates Spike to 6.81% Shutting Buyers ‘Out of the Market’

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Mortgage rates are now at their highest level in months as the Federal Reserve prepares for what will likely be yet another interest rate hike later in July.

As of this week, the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.81%, up a tenth of a percentage point from the week before, according to Freddie Mac. Mortgage rates are now the highest they have been since November when they skyrocketed to above 7%.

This most recent number is up from a recent trough of 6.08% registered in February. The rate on an average 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage is now sitting at 6.24%.

The higher mortgage rates come as the Fed signals its target interest rate (which is a different, very short-term rate) will likely be raised once again. The central bank paused its monetary tightening during its June meeting, although Federal Open Market Committee participants made it clear that the pause was likely to be temporary in nature.

The Fed’s updated projections that were released following its last meeting showed that central bank officials expect two more rate increases over the next year, more than penciled in its spring projections. (Read more from “Mortgage Rates Spike to 6.81% Shutting Buyers ‘Out of the Market’” HERE)

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