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Doctors can refuse to treat LGBTQ+ patients in several states
Topic: Gay/Lesbian Issues
Source: The Conversation
– these religious exemption laws lead to drops in HIV testing. An increasing number of U.S. states have passed laws that allow health care providers – including doctors, nurses and pharmacists – to refuse to treat patients based on their personal or religious beliefs. While these conscientious objection laws have long existed for issues such as abortion, their effects on LGBTQ+ people have not been well studied. As of April 2026, 11 U.S. states have enacted conscientious objection laws specifically targeting LGBTQ+ people. As public health researchers who study the effects of public policies on the health of LGBTQ+ people, we wanted to examine how these laws have affected the roughly 1 in 5 LGBTQ+ Americans living in a state where a provider can legally refuse them care.

This State Is Trying to Ban AI 'Nudification'
Topic: Porn, Prostitution, and Sexual Freedom
Source: Minnesota Public Radio
Bill in Minnesota targets sexually explicit AI deepfakes, offering new protections for victims. Minnesota is on the verge of drawing a legal line around one of AI's darker uses. Lawmakers on Wednesday approved a bill that would outlaw "nudification" tech—software that turns ordinary photos into realistic, sexually explicit deepfakes—sending it to Gov. Tim Walz, who's expected to sign it, per The 19th and Minnesota Public Radio. That would make Minnesota the first state to explicitly ban the creation of AI-generated pornographic images without a person's consent.

Most Swiss Back Initiative To Cap Population At 10 Million
Topic: Children and Family
Source: Reuters
Switzerland's population is now more than 9 million, with official data showing foreign nationals accounted for more than 27% by 2024. The survey, conducted on April 22 and 23 and published in newspaper Tages-Anzeiger, showed 52% of 16,176 respondents in favor of the proposal or leaning that way, while 46% took the opposite view. The rest gave no opinion. A previous poll from early March had shown 45% backing the initiative and 47% against it, the newspaper said, flagging the latest result as unusual in that Swiss referendum proposals generally lose support as the voting day comes closer. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Should Schools Get Rid of Homework?
Topic: Children and Family
Source: NPR
Federal survey data shows that the amount of math homework assigned to fourth and eighth grade students, in particular, has been steadily declining for the past decade. Some educators and parents say this is a good thing -- students shouldn't spend six or more hours a day at school and still have additional schoolwork to complete at home. But the research on homework is complicated. Some studies show that students who spend more time on homework perform better than their peers. For example, a longitudinal study released in 2021 of more than 6,000 students in Germany, Uruguay and the Netherlands found that lower-performing students who increased the amount of time they spent on math homework performed better in math, even one year later.

A JPMorgan Exec Was Accused of Turning a Coworker Into Her "Sex Slave."
Topic: Political Correctness
Source: Yahoo
Then things started to fall apart. Not for Hajdini. For the lawsuit. The lawsuit's entire premise was that Hajdini controlled her accuser's career — his bonus, his promotion, his future at the bank. According to the New York Post, she didn't. Hajdini reported to managing director Brandon Graffeo. Her accuser reported to a different managing director, Jon Wolter. They worked in the same division. They were not in the same chain of command. She had no say over his compensation. According to the Post's reporting, the lever the lawsuit said she pulled did not exist. None of this proves what did or did not happen behind closed doors. But it does raise a question about how quickly an untested complaint became a public conviction.

Tennessee Ditches ‘Pride’ Month for ‘Nuclear Family Month’
Topic: Children and Family
Source: FOX News
The signing comes days after the pride flag at Stonewall National Monument was restored after a legal battle. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has signed a resolution declaring June Nuclear Family Month as an alternative to the usual LGBTQ+ Pride Month. Lee, a Republican, signed House Joint Resolution 182 April 9 after it passed the House in April 2025 and the Senate last month. The legislation highlights the importance of celebrating the traditional family unit, described as "consisting of one husband, one wife, and any biological, adopted, or fostered children."

British Police Raid Islamic Group Accused Of Sex Trafficking And Slavery
Topic: Violence Against Women
Source: Zero Hedge
Sometimes "coexistence" is simply not possible... At least nine members of a Cheshire Islamic group have been arrested in a raid of 500 British police officers as part of an investigation into sexual offenses, slavery and forced marriage. Officers received reports of human trafficking, rape, and other crimes involving members of a group known as the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light, based in Crewe. Seven men and three women were taken into custody, according to a statement from the Cheshire Police, who said the investigation was initiated because of allegations made by a woman who was previously part of the group in 2023.

Bombshell sex harassment suit against Lorna Hajdini, JPMorgan
Topic: Men's Movement
Source: New York Post
...branded ‘complete fabrication’ as John Doe unmasked. [Ed: no idea what to think of this one.] A former JPMorgan staffer who sources identified as Chirayu Rana has been accused of making fabricated sexual-harassment claims against a high-ranking executive at the bank after an internal investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing, The Post has learned. Multiple sources told The Post that 35-year-old Rana, now a principal at investment firm Bregal Sagemount, is the man who brought the bombshell lawsuit against Lorna Hajdini earlier this week. Rana’s suit, filed on Monday under the pseudonym John Doe, accused the 37-year-old executive director of turning him into her “sex slave” by drugging him with Rohypnol and Viagra and threatening to slash his bonus if he did not comply.

Chicago Schools to Bus Students to Anti-Trump May Day Protests Using Tax Dollars
Topic: Children and Family
Source: PBS
Chicago labor unions, community groups, students and other advocates are expected to participate in events around the city on Friday in recognition of May Day, also known as International Workers’ Day. Thousands of Chicagoans are expected to participate in a May Day rally and march starting at Union Park, 1501 W. Randolph St., and ending at Daley Plaza downtown. Other related actions are scheduled in different parts of the city in the morning ahead of the march.

CRISPR Genome Editing and the Future of Down Syndrome Treatment
Topic: Children and Family
Source: Reason
The ethics of using safe gene therapies to improve the health and cognition of Down syndrome children and adults.Deaf children can now hear thanks to a new treatment that repairs a defective gene. Researchers associated with the biotech company Regeneron Pharmaceuticals unveiled the successful gene therapy last week. One patient, who was treated at 18 months old, Travis Smith, can now hear. Overall, 80 percent of participants (aged 10 months to 16), saw significant improvement in hearing, and 42 percent achieved normal hearing, including the ability to hear whispers. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already approved the treatment.

Fed Appeals Court Refuses to Rehear Trump Appeal of $83M
Topic: Political Correctness
Source: FOX News
E Jean Carroll Defamation Judgment. The 2nd Circuit's decision means this would be the second Carroll case to potentially reach the Supreme Court. Trump had sought a hearing by the full 12-judge Second Circuit Court of Appeals, but a majority of the judges denied Trump's motion. The development now allows Trump to appeal the case directly to the Supreme Court. Lawyers for Trump argue he has presidential immunity from Carroll's accusations. Trump's quest for appeals began after a federal jury found that Trump defamed Carroll when he called her a liar for accusing him of sexually abusing her in the 1990s.

Newfoundland's only university advertises five professor jobs
Topic: Political Correctness
Source: Daily Mail UK
...that BAN straight white men from applying. A Canadian university is advertising five research positions, but applicants must be a part of the LGBTQ+ community to apply. Memorial University of Newfoundland posted five new Canada Research Chair (CRC) positions that are open to current employees of the liberal arts school, but there's a catch. In order to be eligible to apply, the applicant has to be a member of an equity group, including the 2SLGBTQIA+ people, a woman, Indigenous, a racialized person, or a disabled, according to the job postings viewed by the Daily Mail. The five-to-seven-year gig, which pays up to $200,000 CAD ($145,000 USD) annually,...

A Little-Known Lawsuit May Weaken University Ethics Boards
Topic: Political Correctness
Source: James G. Martin Center
Russell T. Warne analyzes a lawsuit that challenges the scope of Institutional Review Boards' authority.. For 45 years, research at American universities has been supervised by Institutional Review Boards (IRBs), which are committees that ensure scientific research is conducted ethically. At most universities, faculty, students, and staff must obtain approval from the IRB before engaging in any aspect of scientific research. To protect research participants, the IRB scrutinizes research protocols, stimuli, and even recruitment materials (such as emails and flyers). Researchers may not begin their research until they receive the IRB’s blessing. This, however, does not end the IRB’s supervision. Any change in procedures—even trivial changes to wording in a recruitment flyer or a clarification of instructions to research participants—must be submitted to the IRB before implementation.

Why Ghislaine Maxwell will get a pardon
Topic: Violence Against Women
Source: The Epstein Files
A leaked jailhouse email may offer one clue. The criminal case against Maxwell relied on the testimony of women who said they were sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein when they were under 18 – and that Maxwell facilitated and sometimes participated in that abuse, too. Maxwell had faced six federal charges: sex trafficking of minors, enticing a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and three counts of conspiracy. She was found guilty by a New York jury on five of the six counts in 2021. She is serving 20 years. Republican members of the House Oversight Committee are now “divided” over whether the President should pardon Maxwell in exchange for her cooperation in the Epstein investigation, the Committee’s chairman, James Comer said last week.

Teens’ Social Media Behaviour in 43 Countries
Topic: Children and Family
Source: Naked Capitalism
– Those From Disadvantaged Backgrounds Face Greater Harms. As social media becomes a central part of young people’s lives, concerns are growing about its impact on their mental health. Yet public debates and measures tend to treat adolescents as one homogeneous group. We frequently ignore the fact that social media use does not affect all young people in the same way – nor does it have the same impacts on their wellbeing. In a recent chapter of the World Happiness Report 2026, published by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network in partnership with the University of Oxford, we have examined how problematic social media use relates to the wellbeing of adolescents from different socioeconomic backgrounds.

Pomona College Black Student Union demands more power
Topic: Political Correctness
Source: The Post Millennial
The college president, the dean of students, the athletics director and the deans of both admissions and financial aid are all black. Pomona College does not have a racism problem, but you'd never know it from the knots the school is tying itself into over a few "incidents" that have been drummed up into a massive kerfuffle. There has been a great deal of noise made about these incidents, and together they have been said to be part of a pattern of racism.

DePaul U Creates the “Institute for Journalism and Racial Justice” With Lori Lightfoot
Topic: Political Correctness
Source: Jonathan Turley
This week, DePaul University is moving from merely woke to academic insomnia. The university is teaming up with former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot to create an institute dedicated to journalism and “racial justice.” As trust in the media plunges, DePaul is moving to double down on advocacy journalism with the “Institute for Journalism and Racial Justice.”

Baby The Tragedy of Socialized Fertility
Topic: Children and Family
Source: Mises Institute
The dearth of child-bearing in western countries like the US is seen as a political crisis. Yet, if there is any place in our lives where government should stay out it is with children. In centrally planned economies, administration does not confine itself to markets; it reaches into the most intimate aspects of life. When provisioning is socialized, fertility ceases to be private, and population becomes a variable to forecast and regulate. Reproductive incentives are altered, strategies are reshaped, and the fitness landscape is rewritten by policy constraints rather than natural scarcity. To analyze reproductive behavior, we begin with a framework I previously developed that integrates game theory, evolutionary biology, and praxeology.

The Marriage Gap Is America's Most Overlooked Source of Inequality
Topic: Children and Family
Source: Reason
Every dollar of well-intentioned government assistance comes with a behavioral price tag that we've largely refused to count. The most consequential inequality in America is not the wealth gap or the wage gap. It may not be the racial opportunity gap. The marriage gap is wreaking havoc. And unfortunately, it's the gap that gets the least attention. I'm a libertarian. I don't care whom, or if, you marry. Yet I'm reminded that there is a problem by a new report from the American Enterprise Institute.