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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Fox News Retracts Fake News Hit Piece on Donald Trump

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Fox News retracted a hit piece against former President Donald Trump and admitted they “inaccurately attributed” an anti-Trump quote to former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.

Fox News’s story had the following headline: “Former Trump Cabinet member tells him to ‘kiss’ his ‘butt.”

The since-retracted, purportedly exclusive story read, in part:

EXCLUSIVE: Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price told Fox News Digital there’s “no way” he will support former President Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential bid.

When asked whether he will endorse Trump, Price said, “After he fired me? No way.” “The only thing that guy has more of than fake tan is narcissism,” Price said in an emailed statement to Fox New Digital. “He can kiss my big medical butt.”

(Read more from “Fox News Retracts Fake News Hit Piece on Donald Trump” HERE)

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Mark Zuckerberg Spent $43M on Security, but Gives Millions to ‘Defund Police’ Groups

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Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t practice what he preaches when it comes to public safety.

The tech tycoon’s company has spent more than $40 million on Zuckerberg’s personal security over the past three years — while at the same time his family-run foundation has donated millions of dollars to groups that want to defund or even abolish the police.

Since 2020, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) has donated $3 million to PolicyLink, the organization behind DefundPolice.org, according to investigative reporter Lee Fang.

The anti-cop group boasts on its website that its funds efforts to “diminish the role of policing in communities, and empower alternative visions for public safety,” though it fails to list what those substitutes may be.

CZI, which Zuckerberg founded with wife Priscilla Chan, has also donated more than $2.5 million to Solidaire, Fang reported, which seeks to do away with policing. (Read more from “Mark Zuckerberg Spent $43M on Security, but Gives Millions to ‘Defund Police’ Groups” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

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Dutch Government Collapses Over Immigration Policy

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The Dutch government collapsed Friday after failing to reach a decision on how to mitigate its overwhelming stream of asylum-seekers.

The crisis arose after the government realized it couldn’t progress beyond a stalemate over Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s conservative VVD party’s plan to separate refugee families and limit the number of migrants entering the Netherlands.

Rutte, the longest-service premier of the nation, resigned in the wake of the collapse, but will remain in office until a new prime minister is chosen.

“It is no secret that the coalition partners have very different views on migration policy. And today, unfortunately, we have to draw the conclusion that those differences are irreconcilable,” Rutte said during a press conference.

“That is why I will immediately … offer the resignation of the entire Cabinet to the king in writing” (Read more from “Dutch Government Collapses Over Immigration Policy” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

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Medicare Requirements for New FDA-Approved Alzheimer’s Drug Raise Alarms for Seniors

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Alzheimer’s advocacy organizations have praised the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the new treatment for the debilitating disease, but they have equally condemned the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for attaching significant burdens to access the care.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced on Thursday that, for Medicare to cover these expensive treatments, Medicare patients must be diagnosed with amyloid plaques on the brain and be treated by a physician who would be required to upload patient information into a federal database to monitor the real-world efficacy of the treatments.

After granting accelerated pathway approval for Biogen and Eisai’s drug, Leqembi, in January, the FDA announced full approval of the infusion treatment that clinical trials demonstrate slows cognitive decline caused by Alzheimer’s disease progression in mild, early onset patients by 27%. Leqembi, which is called lecanemab-irmb generically, works by reducing amyloid plaques in the brain, which is a key feature of the disease.

As with many new drugs in high demand, the commercial cost of Leqembi is a staggering $26,500 annually for the drug itself. Added to this cost is the amount of time and travel costs to receive the treatment at licensed infusion centers. CMS promised earlier this year that it would explore coverage options upon the FDA granting full approval. (Read more from “Medicare Requirements for New FDA-Approved Alzheimer’s Drug Raise Alarms for Seniors” HERE)

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Ukraine’s Counteroffensive Has Bogged Down and It Can Do Little to Counter Russia’s Firepower

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It’s a bitter realization: The Ukrainians have thus far fallen far short of the goals they set for their counteroffensive. They don’t have the equipment they need for a rapid breakthrough in the southeast – they lack rocket launchers, howitzers, munitions and, especially, air defense systems and modern fighter jets. It turns out it isn’t going to be easy to push out the Russian invaders.

With Ukrainian soldiers unable to adequately protect themselves, units have become stranded in minefields and are sitting ducks for combat helicopters, warplanes, drones and artillery fire. Ukrainian soldiers on the front are reporting that they can do little to counter Russia’s firepower, particularly the constant air strikes. It’s also now becoming apparent why Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy begged his Western partners to send warplanes.

The much-anticipated counteroffensive has thus descended into a brutal war of attrition. The Ukrainians attack in small infantry units, moving from village to village, from woodline to woodline, suffering terrible casualties in the process. During the past week, the Ukrainians say they reclaimed a total of 38 square kilometers of territory in the southern and eastern part of the country, an area even smaller than Manhattan Island in New York.

Didn’t the West give the impression that a rapid victory against a deeply entrenched Russian opponent was possible after delivering modern weaponry to Ukraine and providing its troops with training? Didn’t U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken even say in early May that the Ukrainians had “everything they need” to retake territory occupied by the Russians? And didn’t the Ukrainian leadership believe in their chances for success when they launched the counteroffensive?

The fact is that the leadership in Kyiv hardly had a choice. The expectations from their own populace and from the West to finally begin the process of reconquering occupied territory were overwhelming. On top of that were concerns that support from the United States might wane following next year’s presidential elections should a Republican like Donald Trump or Florida Governor Ron DeSantis emerge victorious. Neither thinks much of support for Ukraine. (Read more from “Ukraine’s Counteroffensive Has Bogged Down and It Can Do Little to Counter Russia’s Firepower” HERE)

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‘I Can’t Do This Anymore’: TikTok Brainwashed Me Into Being Transgender — Now I’m Detransitioning’

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At age 13, Ash Eskridge was severely under the influence, but not of drugs or alcohol — of TikTok.

The brunette told The Post that trendsetters on the popular app wrongfully convinced her that she was transgender.

“I saw TikTok videos by influencers saying how that transitioning saved their life,” said Eskridge, now 16, from Missoula, Montana. . .

It was just after the pandemic that the Gen Zer joined the crowd: As part of what’s been dubbed “Generation COVID,” Ash spent the majority of her recreational hours scrolling through social media, where viral hashtags such as #transgender and #trans have amassed a staggering 21.5 billion and 59.6 billion views, respectively. . .

“Being transgender is definitely a TikTok trend that all began around 2020,” she told The Post of the apparent social media wave. “I notice that the demographic it most affects is teen girls around 12 to 14, as they’re the most vulnerable since they aren’t matured yet,” she continued, noting that most trans folks in her age demographic would likely disagree. (Read more from “‘I Can’t Do This Anymore’: TikTok Brainwashed Me Into Being Transgender — Now I’m Detransitioning’” HERE)

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