US States Looking at TikTok’s Mental Health Threat to Kids

Mark Clouse March 3, 2022

States Attorneys Generals are looking at TikTok as a potential source of mental health threat to our children and are sending messages to TikTok that it is being investigated to discern whether or not TikTok is a mental health risk to our youth.

TikTok is under investigation by a group of state attorneys general

From mashable.com
2022-03-02 21:35:02

Excerpt:

It’s been almost 6 months since Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen made headlines sharing internal company documents showing that its company Instagram was having a negative impact on young people’s mental health.

Now, a group of state attorneys general want to turn their attention to TikTok.

In a statement shared on Wednesday, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced the launch of a “nationwide investigation” into TikTok in order to find out if the mobile video sharing company is “designing, operating, and promoting its social media platform to children, teens, and young adults in a manner that causes or exacerbates physical and mental health harms.”

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As part of the investigation, state attorneys general around the country will look into whether TikTok violated consumer protections laws and “put the public at risk.” They will also investigate whether the company knew about any potential harms its platform was causing to young people.

TikTok provided Mashable with a response to the investigation announcement.

“We care deeply about building an experience that helps to protect and support the well-being of our community, and appreciate that the state attorneys general are focusing on the safety of younger users,” said a TikTok spokesperson. “We look forward to providing information on the many safety and privacy protections we have for teens.”

According to AG Healey’s press release, the investigation will focus on TikTok’s strategies and methods to boost engagement among its young user base. This includes techniques used to increase engagement and the amount of time users spend on the app.

When Facebook whistleblower Haugen went public last year, documents showed that the company, now known as Meta, knew about the mental health harm its platform could cause young people. Meta even scrapped plans of making a specific Instagram platform for kids as…

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Bill Barr Says Epstein Did It

Ivo Fysic March 3, 2022

Donald J Trump’s alleged right-hand man in the Justice Department, former Attorney General Bill Barr, has come out and claimed he saw the now-missing Epstein tapes and there is no evidence of any foul play. He didn’t quite say “Epstein did it,” but he seemed to want to shut the door on asking the question at all.

Bill Barr Says He’s Seen The Video And That There Was No Evidence Of Foul Play In Epstein’s Death

From dailycaller.com
2022-03-03 15:43:15
Gretchen Clayson
Excerpt:

Former Attorney General Bill Barr stated there was no evidence of foul play in the death of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, despite a “perfect storm of failures” that led many people to suspect otherwise.

“The New York City medical examiner had conducted an autopsy and ruled that Epstein killed himself by hanging,” Barr wrote in his new book, “One Damn Thing After Another,” according to a Fox News piece published Wednesday. “Other evidence also pointed to suicide, but it was the video evidence that confirmed the medical examiner’s finding.”

“I personally reviewed that video footage. It shows conclusively that between the time Epstein was locked in his cell at 7:49 p.m. on the night of August 9 and the time he was discovered the next morning at 6:30 a.m., no one entered his tier,” Barr added.

Disturbing evidence in Jeffrey Epstein’s autopsy points to his murder: pathologist https://t.co/WDgxS8A8O8 pic.twitter.com/IZEKYd5zkE

— New York Post (@nypost) <a…

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Texas Judge Halts Texas CPS Investigation of Parents with Trans Kid

Freedomist Curator March 3, 2022

A Texas Judge has issued a temporary halt to a Texas Child and Protective Services investigation of parents who are allowing their teenage transgendered daughter to receive gender transition therapies, such as hormone therapy and puberty blockers.

Texas judge temporarily blocks investigation of trans teen’s parents

From rssfeeds.usatoday.com
2022-03-03 15:56:11
USA TODAY
Excerpt:

AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas judge issued a temporary restraining order Wednesday that for child abuse because they provided gender-affirming medical care to their teenage daughter.

The order by District Judge Amy Clark Meachum also set a March 11 hearing on whether to grant a wider-ranging injunction barring the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services from following Gov. Greg Abbott’s Feb. 23 directive to treat gender-affirming care for minors as child abuse.

The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Texas, ACLU Women’s Rights Project and Lambda Legal, a national LGBTQ civil rights group, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Abbott and the Department of Family and Protective Services and its commissioner Jaime Masters over investigations launched into parents of transgender minors immediately following the governor’s directive.

Lawyers from two national civil rights organizations…

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Professor Fired for Protesting Anti-LGBT Polices Ignored by SCOTUS

Parker Davis March 2, 2022

Justices eye expansion of religious exemption to anti-bias law

From www.reuters.com
2022-02-28 18:04:00

Excerpt:

(Reuters) – Members of the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative wing on Monday signaled an interest in expanding an exemption for religious employers from anti-discrimination laws, but turned away a case raising the issue involving a social work professor at a Christian college in Massachusetts.

The court declined to review a decision from Massachusetts’s state supreme court that said the professor, Margaret DeWeese-Boyd, could sue Gordon College for allegedly denying her a promotion because she criticized the school’s anti-LGBT policies.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court found that DeWeese-Boyd did not teach religion, lead students in prayer or deliver sermons, distinguishing her from other workers who courts have found to qualify for the so-called “ministerial exception” from anti-discrimination laws.

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Can Whites Now Adopt Native Americans? SCOTUS to Decide

Ivo Fysic March 2, 2022

SCOTUS Will Take Up Case Over Native American Adoption Law

From lawandcrime.com
2022-02-28 18:34:00

Excerpt:

US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 23, 2021. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments in four cases challenging the constitutionality of a decades-old federal law aimed at protecting Native American children.

The Court granted certiorari Monday in Brackeen v. Haaland, consolidating it with three other cases: Haaland v. Brackeen, Cherokee Nation v. Brackeen, and Texas v. Haaland.

“The petitions for writs of certiorari are granted,” the Court said in its order Monday, adding that the cases will be consolidated going forward. The Court limited oral argument to a total of one hour and set a briefing schedule for the parties.

All four cases stem from efforts by Chad Brackeen and Jennifer Brackeen, a Texas couple, to adopt a Navajo child. The Brackeens, who are white evangelical Christians and not Native…

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US District Judge Cancels Kansas Mailed Ballot Law

Freedomist Curator March 2, 2022

Judge blocks Kansas law on mailed ballot applications

From www.ksn.com
2022-02-28 20:52:53

Excerpt:

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP/KSNW) — A federal judge has permanently blocked a Kansas law prohibiting out-of-state groups from mailing advance ballot applications to voters who request them.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Kathryn Vratil declared those provisions in the law violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution and permanently enjoined the state from enforcing them.

The court ordered the state to pay the attorney fees of two national nonprofit groups who say it disenfranchises voters.

The state has agreed not to appeal the order.

It partially resolves the lawsuit brought by VoteAmerica and the Voter Participation Center. In January, Vratil granted a preliminary injunction against the new law before it took effect.

The Voter Participation Center (VPC) is a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization. Tom Lopach, the VPC president and CEO, said the judge’s decision will allow…

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Myanmar Junta Questions Whether China Might Ukraine Them

Mark Clouse March 2, 2022

Russia-Ukraine Crisis Prompts Myanmar Junta Emergency Meeting

From www.irrawaddy.com
2022-03-01 09:20:48

Excerpt:

Myanmar’s military regime held an emergency meeting on the Russia-Ukraine crisis in the capital Naypyitaw on February 26, to discuss how the conflict in Eastern Europe might affect Myanmar, sources told The Irrawaddy.

At the meeting, the regime assumed that Myanmar faces the risk of invasion by its neighbor China, just as Ukraine has been invaded by its neighbor Russia.

While the junta is convinced that Beijing would not invade Myanmar in normal times, it is concerned that the superpower would take matters into its own hand if and…

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India’s Russian Tanks Mean Ukraine is Tough Topic

Mark Clouse March 2, 2022

Once, India depended on force power toys from the United States and her western allies. Now, India relies more on Russian arms than American arms, even as India continues to slowly develop its own internal defense technology. For now, India faces real military threats from China and Pakistan, and her reliance on Russia for arms is causing her to take a two-step when it comes to how to address the Ukraine War.

So far, India has not strongly supported or condemned anyone, but some India YouTube news channels that regularly walk lock step with the current government have been decidedly pro Russian, and that might be explained by their dependence on Russia for military power.

Explained: How dependent is India on Russia’s weapons?

From indianexpress.com
2022-03-02 03:49:50

Excerpt:

India was reliant, almost solely on the British, and other Western nations for its arms imports immediately after Independence. But this dependence weaned, and by the 1970s India was importing several weapons systems from the USSR, making it country’s largest defence importer for decades when it came to both basic and sophisticated weapons systems. In fact, it has provided some of the most sensitive and important weapons platforms that India has required from time to time including nuclear submarines, aircraft carriers, tanks, guns, fighter jets, and missiles.

According to several people, the defence trade, which remains significant, is one of the important causes why India has not taken a critical stand openly against Russia. However, India-Russian ties cannot be viewed only from that perspective.

The legacy of buying weapons from Russia has made India somewhat dependent on it, and even though India has tried to expand the base of countries from which it buys new military systems, Russian-origin weapons still have the lion’s share. According to one estimate, the share of Russian-origin weapons and platforms across Indian armed forces is as…

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Navy Looks to Go Unmanned in a Big Way

Mark Clouse March 2, 2022

The United States Navy is well in the process of developing new platforms that are unmanned, autonomous. Now, the Navy has announced plans to develop an autonomous code standard that will enable more rapid development of autonomous platforms, but also help retrofit legacy platforms with autonomous features.

The code is to be called Unmanned Maritime Autonomous Architecture, UMAA. It is being developed by the Navy’s Rapid Autonomy Integration Lab.

Navy Setting Stage for Influx Of Autonomous Systems

From www.nationaldefensemagazine.org
2022-03-02 00:53:35

Excerpt:

The Navy — which is pursuing an ambitious unmanned systems plan through a mixture of air, surface and underwater platforms — is working to test and mature those autonomy systems through multiple programs.

These include efforts such as new autonomy standards as well as the standing up of its Rapid Autonomy Integration Lab, said Capt. Pete Small, program manager for unmanned maritime systems at Naval Sea Systems Command.

Updating legacy platforms with new autonomy software codes can be an arduous process, he said during a briefing at the Surface Navy Association’s annual conference. To combat that, the Navy is developing an autonomy standard for code development called the unmanned maritime autonomy architecture, or UMAA.

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China Threatens US Over Taiwan Delegation

Freedomist Curator March 2, 2022

China has warned the United States of America that the recent delegation sent to Taiwan is a futile effort, that America’s efforts to support Taiwan are doomed to fail because “the Chinese people defend their sovereignty,” meaning Taiwan.

The shout came from a press conference held by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin. The shout was met with sarcastic clapping and condescending gestures.

‘The Chinese people defend their sovereignty,’ Beijing slams US for sending delegation to Taiwan – South China Morning Post

From www.scmp.com
2022-03-02 02:01:50

Excerpt:

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin has urged the United States to stop all forms of official exchanges with Taiwan. Speaking at a press conference on March 1, 2022, Wang said any attempts of the US side to show support to Taiwan are doomed to fail. His remarks followed the arrival of a group of former top American military and security officials who flew to Taiwan on a US government plane earlier the same day. The US group is expected to meet the self-ruled island’s President Tsai Ing-wen, Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng and other senior officials to exchange views on cross-strait, military and security issues. Beijing views Taiwan as a renegade province that must ultimately be brought under its own control, by force if necessary.

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