04 Culture

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Excerpt from coingape.com

Anti-CBDC Bill: The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act, marking a significant legislative milestone.

This decision comes at a time when the public and consumers are becoming wary of their privacy and the government’s intrusion into the financial sector, especially the proposed CBDC by the federal government.

Anti-CBDC Bill Passed

The passage of the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act is a win for the supporters of financial freedom, capturing the essence of a shared fight to keep the policy of digital currencies as a public interest rather than the executive branch’s discretion.

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Excerpt from www.irishtimes.com

Financial rewards for communities, small businesses, farmers and individuals who adopt solar and wind power are being scaled-up, making feeding surplus power into the grid more attractive following an overhaul of tariffs announced on Wednesday by Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan.

The new range of fixed feed-in tariffs to small-scale and community projects who produce between 50kW – 6MW of renewable electricity – from solar and wind – come under an expansion of the small-scale renewable electricity support scheme (SRESS).

It “aims to provide an easier route to market to community projects, farmers and SMES, and maximise their participation in the energy transition”, Mr Ryan told the Energy Ireland conference in Croke Park on Wednesday.

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Excerpt from www.nytimes.com

TikTok said on Thursday that it was introducing new measures to limit the spread of videos from state-affiliated media accounts, including Russian and Chinese outlets, as the company deflects criticism that it could be used as a propaganda tool in a major election year.

The company in 2022 started labeling state-affiliated media accounts — like those from RT, the global Russian television network, and People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party. It said it would no longer allow videos from such accounts into users’ main feeds if they “attempt to reach communities outside their home country on current global events and affairs.”

TikTok also said the accounts would not be permitted to advertise on TikTok outside their home countries, to further reduce their reach.

Social media platforms, including Meta, YouTube and X, are grappling with misinformation in a year when as much as half the global population will vote in major elections. Political news on TikTok, which is owned by a Chinese company, ByteDance, is under particular scrutiny after the passage of a law that would force ByteDance to sell the company or face a ban in the United States. Lawmakers and intelligence officials have said TikTok is a threat to national security, partly because of how the Chinese government could use it to spread propaganda.

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Excerpt from abc11.com

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes defended teammate Harrison Butker on Wednesday following his controversial commencement speech earlier this month, in which he said that a woman’s accomplishments in the home are more valuable than any academic or professional goals and called Pride Month a “deadly sin,” among other things.

The three-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Mahomes told reporters that Butker is a “good person” despite “not necessarily agreeing” with his comments, which were made in an address to graduates at Benedictine College, a small Catholic school in Atchison, Kansas.

“I’ve known him for seven years,” the two-time NFL MVP said after the team’s organized team activities (OTA’s). “I judge him by the character that he shows every single day … that’s someone who cares about the people around him, cares about his family and wants to make a good impact in society.”

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Excerpt from missouriindependent.com

WASHINGTON — A group of advocates and progressive Democratic lawmakers called on the U.S. Department of Education on Wednesday to end its contract with MOHELA, a Missouri-based student loan servicer.

U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Greg Casar of Texas and U.S. Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts urged the department to cut ties with MOHELA, also known as the Higher Education Loan Authority of the State of Missouri, during a press conference hosted by the Debt Collective, which advocates for canceling student debt.

Advocates and the lawmakers accused MOHELA of being a predatory loan service and failing student borrowers, citing mismanagement, administrative failures and hours-long wait times for assistance.

“It is time to stop their contract, it is time to fire them, it is time to listen to the borrowers that have been speaking up about the struggles that they are facing, and it is time for us to do the right thing,” Omar said. “We are asking the administration to take this step forward because it is past time that we listen to the borrowers that have been suffering under the incompetence of MOHELA.”

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Excerpt from yellowhammernews.com

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey is joining opposition to a new proposal that would grant new powers to the World Health Organization (WHO). Ivey joined 23 Republican governors in a letter to President Joe Biden that opposes “two proposals currently under negotiation that they believe would grant “unprecedented and unconstitutional powers over the United States and its people.”

“These proposed accords aim to significantly alter the amendments to the WHO’s existing
International Health Regulations (IHRs),” the letter said, “and introduce a new ‘Pandemic Agreement’ (Treaty) that would undermine national sovereignty, infringe upon states’ rights, and jeopardize constitutionally guaranteed freedoms.”

The governors argue that the WHO’s new authority would infringe on the rights of American citizens.

“The objective of these instruments is to empower the WHO,” the letter continued, “particularly its uncontrollable Director-General, with the authority to restrict the rights of U.S. citizens, including freedoms such as speech, privacy, travel, choice of medical care, and informed consent, thus violating our Constitution’s core principles.”

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Excerpt from orthodoxtimes.com

A same-sex couple held a private civil partnership ceremony at Tirana City Hall, sparking significant controversy despite the ceremony having no legal standing.

The Orthodox Church of Albania issued a statement expressing its strong disapproval:

“Regarding the same-sex ‘marriage’ performed at the Municipality of Tirana on May 19, 2024, the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania maintains the position previously stated in January 2024:

It is well known that the perpetuation of humanity has been based on the existence of two sexes and their union.

No culture, religion, or system of laws (Solon, Plato, etc.) has institutionalized homosexual cohabitation as marriage.

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Excerpt from www.northcountrypublicradio.org

May 22, 2024 —

As the New York state legislative session draws to a close, a new poll finds support for several items before the Senate and Assembly, including protecting children from harmful algorithms on social media. Gov. Kathy Hochul says she’s making the issue a top priority.

Karen DeWittPoll finds wide support among NYers for banning social media algorithms for children

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Excerpt from www.wgem.com

SPRINGFIELD (WGEM) – A bill expanding Illinois’ reproductive health care shield law now heads to Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk. The state Senate passed the legislation Thursday on a party-line vote prohibiting the state from complying with any criminal or civil investigation into legally obtained health care in Illinois, including abortion. Democrats voted in favor of the bill while Republicans opposed it.

The bill, which is a follow-up on the state’s 2023 shield law, protects location information and medical and billing records. It also allows minors from any state to apply for public aid to cover their health care, including abortion, without parental consent. The bill would also exempt those records from inquiries related to the state’s Freedom of Information Act. It also allows someone to sue if they’re information is improperly shared or if a state, county or city tries to impose criminal or civil penalties for health care legally obtained in Illinois.

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Excerpt from www.sciencenews.org

Young people’s use of diabetes and weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy is surging, especially among females ages 18 to 25.

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Excerpt from chinadigitaltimes.net

Last week, Weibo censors took down a post by a popular food blogger describing how all her bank accounts were frozen due to a local police department’s arbitrary and unprofessional “anti-fraud” case work. Her Kafka-esque account described how her accounts were shut down without any explanation, leaving her forced to “do all of the detective work” herself—only to learn that she was under investigation for fraud under the barest of pretenses. Her account is but the latest example of anti-fraud overreach. In April, CDT published a translation of a man’s account of being threatened by anti-fraud police who also froze his accounts. CDT has translated an archived version of this latest incident in full:

For the first time in my life, I’ve had all my bank accounts frozen. The absurdities I’ve witnessed during the past three days have made me realize just how amateurish and unsafe our society is!

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Excerpt from www.futurity.org

Young people frequently use the internet to seek support from their friends but don’t always get helpful responses. Recent advances in AI technology may be able to help.

Young people find support from AI-generated responses on topics ranging from relationships to physical health. When it comes to sensitive topics, such as suicidal thoughts, however, they prefer human responses, according to a new study.

For decades, social media has increasingly become young people’s main method of peer support exchange. Researchers sought to understand when and how AI can facilitate and assist in such exchanges.

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Excerpt from www.realclearpolitics.com

Cruz Blasts Biden Judicial Nominee For Allowing Transgender In Women’s Prison: Do Women Deserve A 6’2″ Serial …  RealClearPolitics

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Excerpt from www.usatoday.com

On Day 7 of the pro-Palestinian protests on the Columbia University campus, Osama Abuirshaid stopped by the student encampment.

The executive director of American Muslims for Palestine walked through the tent city, then made a fiery speech to the gathered crowd.

“This is not only a genocide that is being committed in Gaza,” Abuirshaid said. “This is also a war on us here in America.”

Forty-eight hours later, Abuirshaid appeared at another campus — George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where he delivered another speech.

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Excerpt from anfenglishmobile.com

“FREEDOM FOR ÖCALAN” CAMPAIGN

The “Syrian Initiative for the Freedom of Leader Abdullah Öcalan”, based in North and East Syria, met with the Soraya Democratic Party within the scope of the “Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan and political solution to the Kurdish question” campaign launched globally in October 2023.

Speaking at the meeting, Soraya Democratic Party Co-Chair Madlîn Xemîs emphasised that the Assyrian party supports the freedom campaign.

Madlîn Xemîs stated that they also took part in protests against the absolute isolation imposed on Abdullah Öcalan and added: “Aggravated isolation is a red line for us and all the components in Northern and Eastern Syria.”

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Excerpt from cardinalpine.com

This exclusive story was originally reported by The 19th.

Nearly 6,000 doctors, hailing from all 50 states, have drafted a letter asking the Supreme Court to uphold a federal law that requires hospital emergency departments to provide abortions when they are needed to stabilize patients.

The letter, organized by the left-leaning Committee to Protect Health Care and shared first with The 19th, concerns the case Idaho v. United States, which the high court heard in April.

In that case, the federal government has argued that the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act — a 1986 law known as EMTALA — requires that hospitals participating in the federal Medicare program provide abortions if doing so is the necessary treatment in an emergency. Idaho has contested that interpretation, and argued that its state-level abortion ban supersedes federal law. Idaho’s current ban allows an exception only if the procedure will save the life of the pregnant person, but not if it will otherwise preserve their health.

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Excerpt from alaskawatchman.com

On June 27, the Alaska Supreme Court will consider an appeal to a lower court ruling that prohibits Alaskans from using state-funded homeschool allotment funds at private or religious schools.

The case has upended Alaska’s homeschool programs and cast doubt on whether families will be able to continue utilizing their allotments for educational opportunities at private or religiously affiliated institutions.

While the state is challenging Superior Court Judge Adolf Zeman’s ruling, the rationale behind his opinion threatens another state-funded program that allows students to spend scholarship money at private and religious colleges throughout Alaska.