04 Culture

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Excerpt from omaha.com

A new petition seeking to recognize fertilized eggs, embryos and fetuses as people and grant them the same rights as those who have been born will begin circulating in Nebraska.

Choose Life Now, an anti-abortion organization, filed language with Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen on May 2 seeking to recognize “the personhood of unborn children” in the state constitution.

“A preborn child at every stage of development is a person,” the language of the proposed amendment reads. “Wherever under Nebraska law the term ‘person’ is used or implied, it shall include a child.”

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Excerpt from www.whec.com

ATLANTA (AP) — Incumbent Georgia Justice Andrew Pinson defeats abortion-fueled challenge from John Barrow in nonpartisan court race.

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Excerpt from www.adn.com

JUNEAU — The Alaska Supreme Court has signaled that it could issue a final ruling next month on a trial court decision that prohibited the use of public homeschool funds at private and religious schools.

In April, Judge Adolf Zeman struck down as unconstitutional two state statutes that have been used to reimburse private school tuition with publicly-funded homeschool allotments. But the extent of that practice is not fully known.

The plaintiffs in the case — several parents and teachers — requested that Zeman’s decision be paused until June 30, allowing those students to complete the school year with minimal interruptions. The state of Alaska, meanwhile, had asked for a stay until the state supreme court issued its own decision, which could take months.

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Excerpt from www.aei.org

In the wake of the recent campus occupations, there seems to be an emerging public consensus that the root of university administrators’ difficulties lies in the inherent challenge of maintaining campus safety while simultaneously preserving students’ rights to free speech. Although this struggle may feel real for many campus leaders, it need not be so difficult: Indeed, some university presidents have found it relatively easy to support both civil and constitutional rights. With students’ futures, institutional reputations, and the careers of university leaders at stake, it is both the wise and moral choice to follow these examples.

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Excerpt from www.newsweek.com

A Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Minnesota faced resurfaced allegations on Monday of paying women to have an abortion.

The Minnesota GOP on Saturday announced its endorsement of Royce White, a former NBA player, to run against Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar. White attended the GOP convention at Saint Paul RiverCentre and was introduced at the event with a video by former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon, a supporter of White.

Danny Abbas—@dabbs346, a Senate research director at American Bridge 21st Century, a Democratic PAC, according to his profile on X, formerly Twitter—brought up the accusation against White in a Monday post.

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Excerpt from theindependent.com

Election officials in Nevada are reviewing signatures to see if there are enough to put an abortion rights constitutional amendment before voters in November, part of a national push to pose abortion rights questions to voters since the U.S. Supreme Court removed the nationwide right to abortion.

Since the court’s 2022 ruling, most Republican-controlled states have new abortion restrictions in effect, including 14 that ban it at every stage of pregnancy. Most Democratic-led states have laws or executive orders to protect access.

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Excerpt from www.foxnews.com

A Maryland mother who decided to table her professional career to raise her two children at home says she was surprised at the fallout that ensued from Harrison Butker’s commencement speech at a Catholic college praising traditional gender roles.

“The fact that a professional athlete showed the courage and the conviction to speak truth in an age when eyes are blinded and ears are shut against it, was deeply encouraging to me,” Dawn Duran told Fox News Digital. What did surprise me is that people were shocked that a traditional Catholic speaking to a Catholic audience believes things that Catholics have proclaimed for thousands of years.”

In his May 11 address at Benedictine College, the Kansas City Chiefs kicker told female graduates they had been told “diabolical lies” about the value of motherhood in society. He also credited his wife for his professional successes and praised her for “leaning into her vocation” as a homemaker.

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Excerpt from www.news-shield.com

(The Center Square) — Wisconsin’s Republican U.S. Senator is urging Republicans in the state to settle the abortion question amongst themselves.

Ron Johnson told the crowd at the Republican Party of Wisconsin convention over the weekend that Republicans will continue to lose elections until they come-up with an answer for abortion.

“I know people don’t like what I’m saying. Many people in this room do not like what I am saying. I’m just laying out the reality of the situation, because in the end we have to win elections,” Johnson said. “For those of us who want to protect life, if we don’t win the end result will be unrestricted abortions, infantaside, up to the moment of birth. That will be the result. So we have to win.”

The Republican crowd largely applauded Johnson’s words.

Johnson added Republicans clearly want to protect life, and end abortion on-demand. He said there continues to be a disagreement, however, about when to start protecting life.

“Republicans in Wisconsin voted for a law to protect [life] after 20 weeks. I voted for a similar Iaw. I support the Dobbs decision, which would have protected it after 15 weeks. In Florida they’re protecting [life] after six weeks. There’s a broad range. In Europe they protect it after 12 weeks,” Johnson said. “Again that’s the reasonable position that most Americans agree with.”

Democrats in Wisconsin made the 2022 governor’s races and the 2023 supreme court race about abortion, and they won big.

Johnson says Democrats are looking to once again make the 2024 election about abortion. He said it should be about Joe Biden’s past four years as president.

“This is a referendum on Democrat governance,” Johnson said Monday morning during an interview on News Talk 1130 WISN in Milwaukee. “Joe Biden is the guy that wanted an open border. He’s the guy that massively spent, deficit spending sparking for your high inflation making gas and groceries [more expensive]. A $1,000 a month is what it costs Americans to just maintain their standard living.”

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Excerpt from www.yahoo.com

Florida appeals court to weigh dancer age restriction  Yahoo! Voices

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Excerpt from www.thefire.org

• 64% of Americans don’t trust the government to make fair decisions about what information is allowed to be posted on social media platforms.
• Today, FIRE presents a model bill to shine a light on the government’s arm-twisting of social media platforms.
• In a new report, FIRE outlines three principles to help social media platforms build trust and promote free expression.

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Excerpt from www.context.news

Here is how federal prison restrictions on social media could infringe free speech rights

• Federal prisons propose new social media use penalties
• People outside jails could also be affected
• Ban might prod states to follow suit

RICHMOND, Virginia – A U.S. federal proposal to step up penalties barring incarcerated people from using social media is likely to infringe on the right to free speech of both those inside and outside jail, rights advocates said.

A ban on people like family members from posting on behalf of prisoners could create a “chilling effect” on anyone considering helping inmates, or even attempting to contact them about conditions inside, the campaigners said.

“Let’s be clear: prisons and jails do not, under any circumstances, want people who are incarcerated to be able to speak freely to the public,” said Bianca Tylek, executive director of the advocacy group Worth Rises.

Christopher Blackwell, an incarcerated writer, said at first sight such a proposal sounded “extremely far-reaching”.

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Excerpt from www.nbcmiami.com

After Gov. Ron DeSantis last week signed a bill that will prevent strippers under age 21 from performing in adult-entertainment establishments across Florida, a federal appeals court is preparing to take up a constitutional challenge to a similar restriction passed in Jacksonville.

A panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments June 6 in Jacksonville about whether a city ordinance barring dancers under 21 in adult establishments violates First Amendment rights.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan last year upheld the age restriction, which the city contends is designed to prevent human trafficking. Backers of the bill that DeSantis signed last week also have said it is aimed at curbing trafficking.

But attorneys for club owners and dancers who challenged the Jacksonville ordinance wrote in an appeals-court brief last year that the “record shows that there had never been an arrest for human trafficking at an adult club in Jacksonville.”

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Excerpt from www.ccn.com

Roger Ver Faces 30 Years, CZ Jailed, Signaling New Era of Enforcement – Ex-Biden Advisor Warns  CCN.com

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Excerpt from www.express.co.uk

The death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has sparked celebrations from his critics as women show their skin and drink to his demise.

Officially, the country is in a five-day period of mourning, but opponents of the regime have taken to social media to share their joy at Raisi’s passing, while others set off fireworks in the streets.

Raisi was seen as a frontrunner to succeed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei but was killed alongside Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in a helicopter crash on Sunday following a visit to Azerbaijan.

The former president was a staunch supporter of cracking down on dissent in Iran and supported the country’s security services throughout his time in office, including in the aftermath of the death of Mahsa Amini.

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Excerpt from www.outsmartmagazine.com

(CNN) — The US State Department issued a worldwide security alert on Friday due to the potential for terrorist attacks against LGBTQ people and events.

“Due to the potential for terrorist attacks, demonstrations, or violent actions against U.S. citizens and interests, the Department of State advises U.S. citizens overseas to exercise increased caution. The Department of State is aware of the increased potential for foreign terrorist organization-inspired violence against LGBTQI+ persons and events and advises U.S. citizens overseas to exercise increased caution,” the alert read.

The alert comes two weeks before Pride Month begins on June 1. The department warned US citizens to stay alert in locations that tourists often visit “including Pride celebrations and venues frequented by LGBTQI+ persons.”

Earlier this week, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security similarly issued a warning that foreign terrorist organizations and their supporters may target LGBTQ events and venues as Pride Month approaches.

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Excerpt from www.nbcnews.com

The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a bid backed by a conservative Christian legal group to challenge a Maryland school district’s policy against informing parents if their children identify as transgender or gender-nonconforming.

The justices turned away an appeal by three parents with children attending public schools in the Washington suburb of Montgomery County of a lower court’s ruling holding that they lacked the necessary legal standing to challenge the policy. The plaintiffs are represented by the Virginia-based National Legal Foundation.

The issue of transgender rights has become a flashpoint in the U.S. culture wars. As part of this, conservative litigants and parents groups have filed lawsuits in various U.S. jurisdictions challenging school policies that seek to respect requests by transgender students to not “out” them to their parents without their consent.

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Excerpt from ca.movies.yahoo.com

A Nebraska mother and teenage daughter are facing criminal charges after the teen allegedly got an illegal abortion and police say the two buried the fetus.

While the abortion allegedly occurred before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a constitutional right to abortion, a state law on the books since 2010 bans abortions in Nebraska at 20 weeks.

MORE: New abortion restrictions may push patients to more expensive, complicated care

Norfolk police opened an investigation into then 17-year-old Celeste Burgess on April 26, investigating concerns she had given birth prematurely to a stillborn child, according to an affidavit submitted by the Norfolk Police Investigations Unit that was obtained by ABC News.

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Excerpt from adventistreview.org

Baptism at Popular Beach Sees 5,000 People Accept Jesus in Port Moresby  Adventist Review