'We'll do town-halls'

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The 9th Circuit US Court of Appeals ruled this week in favor of Meta, Facebook’s parent company. The case was brought forward by the Children’s Health Defense (CHD) over allegations that the social media giant violated free speech rights. The lawsuit, initiated in August 2020 and later updated in December, claimed that Facebook, along with its CEO Mark Zuckerberg and two fact-checking entities, Science Feedback, and the Poynter Institute’s PolitiFact site, was complicit in an unconstitutional act of privately exercising governmental censorship. CHD alleges that Facebook, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other federal institutions, is censoring content and discussions that the government is barred from suppressing under the First Amendment. We obtained a copy of the opinion for you here. The plaintiff specifically accused these sides of working in tandem to unfairly stifle valid attempts to discuss vaccine safety on Facebook, often through indirect yet sensorial measures like the use of warning labels. According to CHD, this type of arrangement between public entities and private corporations represents a breach of the First Amendment due to its perceived status as “state action.” Despite these arguments, the 9th Circuit court concluded that CHD was not successful in meeting the initial requirement for state action, as the censorship inflicted was more a result of Meta’s content moderation policies and not any directive under federal law. Further, the court also asserted that CHD did not present any evidence of a binding agreement requiring Facebook to execute any particular action in response to misinformation about vaccines. Although all judges did not share the same opinion, Circuit Judge Daniel P. Collins presented a partially dissenting viewpoint. He opined that the interactions between Meta and the Government involving the suppression of specific types of vaccine-related speech were substantial enough to evoke First Amendment considerations. Expressing disappointment and worry, CHD CEO Mary Holland stated, “If we cannot stop the government’s joint action with Big Tech to censor unwanted information, our First Amendment is a pyrrhic victory — it means almost nothing in our real world of social media.” While she was pleased with the non-unanimous nature of the decision, Holland hinted at the possibility of appealing to the US Supreme Court after further review. At the heart of the court battle, ongoing for almost four years, were claims, primarily leveled by CHD’s then-Chairman and Chief Executive Counsel, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., that tactics employed by the US Government to pressure Facebook into censoring vaccine “misinformation” were existential threats. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Judges Back Meta in Vaccine “Misinformation” Battle, Free Speech Advocates Vow to Fight On appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

Walz' Former Superior: He 'Quit' Rather Than Deploy, And Went Over My Head to Get Out

The southern polar vortex is currently showing rare signs of extreme instability, leading to fears that it could collapse, bringing both icy blasts and extreme heatwaves to the southern hemisphere. Likewise, the northern polar vortex had yet another wild winter this year, and with climate change set to intensify these perilous polar patterns, we could be in for some increasingly dramatic weather in the years to come.The polar vortices are strong stratospheric air currents that circulate over the Arctic and Antarctic during the winter months, trapping cold air above the poles. They are surrounded and enclosed by the jet streams, which act like barriers that prevent this icy polar air from spreading into the mid-latitudes.However, every now and then, the stratosphere above the Arctic experiences a dramatic increase in temperature and pressure, destabilizing the northern polar vortex and causing it to split, change direction or collapse. When this occurs, the jet stream tends to become warped, allowing icy Arctic winds to encroach further south than they usually would, while warm air is drawn into the polar region.When the polar vortex destabilizes, icy polar air moves into the mid-latitudes. Image credit: zombiu26/Shutterstock.comKnown as sudden stratospheric warming (SSW), this phenomenon caused the big freeze that gripped parts of the US in 2019. In early 2024, fluctuations in stratospheric pressure caused the northern polar vortex to change direction twice, bringing cold snaps to the northern hemisphere, although neither event was strong enough to significantly alter the shape of the jet stream.Down in Antarctica, however, SSWs are much less common, with the only known instance occurring in 2002. Yet that could be about to change, with a series of stratospheric temperature increases since last month raising fears that the southern polar vortex could be about to split.The first of these was detected in mid-July, when wind speeds in the vortex slowed from their typical velocity of 300 kilometers per hour to just 230 kilometers per hour (186 to 143 miles per hour). This was accompanied by a temperature spike of about 20 degrees Celsius (36 Fahrenheit) above the average.While these fluctuations were insufficient to trigger an SSW, they were followed by a second slowdown as temperatures rose once again in early August. This event has resulted in cold Antarctic air escaping from the polar region and blasting parts of Australia, New Zealand, and South America with wet and icy weather.At the same time, warm air from the mid-latitudes has been able to push south into Antarctica, triggering a record-breaking heatwave. It’s currently unclear how the situation will play out, with some predictions suggesting the southern polar vortex may soon stabilize, while other models hint at a drastic collapse. In the latter scenario, a destabilized jet stream will most likely disrupt another weather system called the southern annular mode, sending it into what’s known as a negative phase. This would then result in an exceptionally dry and hot summer across Australasia and South America.At present, scientists are uncertain what causes the polar vortices to destabilize in such a manner, although there’s growing evidence to suggest that rising global temperatures due to human-induced climate change may be involved. For instance, a study published this month provides evidence that declining Antarctic sea ice is associated with slower stratospheric wind speeds, highlighting the role that rising ocean temperatures play in messing with the polar vortices.Furthermore, while Arctic sea ice has been in drastic decline for years, the situation at the southern pole was until recently thought to be relatively stable. Yet a worrying decline over the past few years has suggested that both poles may now be in a state of extreme flux, with possibly massive implications for the polar vortices.

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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Kamala Harris' running mate, faces growing criticism as the state's education performance has reportedly plummeted under his leadership, with opponents blaming his administration's focus on ideology over effective policies.

The grueling basic training for fledgling cadets at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, known as swab summer, has been revamped this year in light of a sexual abuse scandal that has rocked the prestigious service academy.