If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties‚ subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The Mail on Sunday reported that UK Royal Air Force (RAF) intelligence agents participated in a covert operation run by Whitehall‚ which was suspected of surveilling private citizens speaking out against Covid lockdown measures. This secretive operation was led by The Army’s “information warfare brigade‚” tasked with analyzing online commentary – a charge the Ministry of Defence repeatedly rebuffed publicly until the recent reveal. Documentation furnished by this publication suggests the Armed Forces‚ particularly those located at RAF Wyton in Cambridgeshire‚ assisted various government bodies‚ such as the Department for Digital‚ Culture‚ Media‚ and Sport’s Counter Disinformation Unit and the Cabinet Office’s Rapid Response Unit. Their engagement in these initiatives was much more substantial than formerly known‚ per this latest revelation. The clandestine operations in focus took on the challenge of countering “disinformation” and “harmful” narratives throughout the pandemic. However‚ they also garnered severe backlash for allegedly gathering data from lawful social media posts that challenged the Government’s lockdown maneuvers. Prominent public figures‚ like David Davis MP‚ who voiced skepticism over the Covid mortality rates’ computed projections‚ and journalist Peter Hitchens‚ were the subjects of government reports. Insiders from the defense department conceded that the military’s contribution to such operations might be portrayed as spying on UK citizens‚ a segment from the furnished documents revealed. However‚ the MoD alleged that the absence of Armed Forces support in overseeing online discourse could catalyze the propagation of “misinformation‚” which could cause harm. Jake Hurfurt‚ representing the advocacy group Big Brother Watch‚ didn’t mince his words‚ slamming these activities asking for a review on how the government monitored the British people throughout the pandemic period. He stated to the Mail on Sunday‚ “The revelations that the RAF as well as the Army spied on the British people during the pandemic is yet more evidence that the MoD misled the public about the role of its psyops troops in 2020.” The government responded to these allegations stating‚ “Online disinformation is a serious threat‚ which is why in the pandemic we brought together expertise from across government to monitor disinformation about Covid.” They alleged that all data collected were from public sources and the units did not target individuals or interfere with public discussions. The post UK Government Justifies Using Royal Air Force To Monitor Online COVID Speech‚ Calls “Disinformation” a “Serious Threat” appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

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MSNBC host Joy Reid doesn’t live in reality‚ so it’s expected that her questions to Senior Israeli Advisor Marl Regev would be completely detached from reality too. During Monday’s edition of The ReidOut‚ Reid tried to trip up Regev with a series of manipulatively worded gotcha questions meant to paint Israel and the Israeli Defense Forces as a bloodthirsty group of rampaging genocidal maniacs. Arguably the pinnacle of the stupidity was a question about if Israel would bomb a hospital in Israel‚ if a Hamas terror leader was hiding in it. The hospital question was meant to show that Israel put more value on Israeli lives and infrastructure than that of the Palestinians and Gaza. Witness the ridiculousness of the question or yourself: If you were to discover the Israeli‚ you know‚ military were to discover that Yahya Sinwar‚ who is the Hamas militant who planned the 10/7 attacks was actually hiding in Israeli territory‚ hiding in a hospital there with his militants‚ with his men‚ would Israel drop 2‚000-pound bombs on that hospital? Again‚ Reid wasn’t living in reality and didn’t care for the facts of it. Israel had already sent its troops deep into Gaza City intending to capture and secure al Shifa Hospital and the Hamas headquarters underneath it. It would have been easier for Israel to drop bunker-buster bombs and level the hospital but they instead chose to do it a harder way. That’s not to mention that other claims about Israel bombing hospitals have long been debunked. “No‚ we probably‚ if it was inside Israel and we had control of the ground‚ we’d send in our special forces‚ as we have in the past when you have sort of terrorist situations‚” Regev told her. “We have sent ground forces into Gaza. We're losing soldiers in very difficult firefights between us and the Hamas terrorists.”     Reid also parroted Hamas’s propaganda death toll numbers without an ounce of skepticism and even defended them (Click “expand”): REID: [H]ow does killing 18‚000‚ 80 percent of whom are women and children‚ about half of whom are children‚ how does that achieve the goal of eliminating Hamas' military infrastructure? REGEV: Joy‚ can I urge you please to be a little bit circumspect of those numbers? They are put out by the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health in Gaza. And therefore‚ you have to presume that Hamas has reasons for playing with the numbers. You know that they were very cruel‚ they have no qualms whatsoever about killing people‚ innocent civilians. We saw that on October 7. And so‚ you can presume also they have no qualms about killing the truth. REID: So‚ are you saying that you do not agree with the United Nations agreeing with those numbers‚ most human rights groups agree with those numbers. You're casting doubt on that 18‚000 number? Regev reiterated that she should do better and show a basic level of discernment when using numbers that come from Hamas and its allies. “What I'm saying is we have to be very careful with numbers that are put out by Hamas. They would have you believe that they're all innocent civilians‚” he said. The radical MSNBC host even defended Hamas terrorists by whining about the IDF forcing them to strip down to their underwear as part of the surrendering process. She erroneously suggested that Israel was violating the Geneva Convention by doing so. The Israeli official schooled her by pointing out that Hamas “has been one of the pioneers of the use of explosive vests. And we have had too much experience with people from Hamas blowing themselves up and in the process‚ killing Israelis around them.” And while Reid’s ilk on the extreme left were playing word games and attempting to rewrite what genocidal Palestinian cries of “from the river to the sea” mean‚ Reid smeared Israelis by claiming they were using “the Bible” to carry out “Amalek‚” which she claimed called for “killing the women‚ the children‚ and the oxen.” According to Chabad‚ Amalek was a Canaanite nation and “the first nation to attack the Jewish people after the Exodus from Egypt‚ and they are seen as the archetypal enemy of the Jews.” “The nation of Amalek is long gone‚ but they live on as the internal enemies that we each battle on a daily basis‚” they add. The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: MSNBC’s The ReidOut December 11‚ 2023 7:32:56 p.m. Eastern (…) JOY REID: Let's start with what I just began with. 18‚000 dead so far in Gaza. Tens of thousands injured. The U.S. media has estimated that 2‚000-pound bombs are being dropped‚ some 22‚000 of them in just over six weeks. How has causing that much death and destruction‚ 80 percent of those dead estimated to be women and children‚ how does that achieve the goal of eradicating Hamas? MARK REGEV (Snr. Advisor to Israeli PM): So‚ Joy‚ first of all‚ I want to thank you for allowing me to come on The Reidout. It is appreciated. I know you have been a critic of Israeli behavior and I appreciate the opportunity to make my case. And that is very much appreciated. Our goal in this operation is‚ of course‚ not to target Gaza civilians. Our goal is to target the Hamas military machine. We have to eliminate that machine because of the threat it poses to the civilian population of Israel. Israeli people simply refuse to live any longer next to this terror enclave in constant fear that terrorists will cross the border in the middle of the night and murder their children. That's the bottom line. We have to end Hamas' rule of Gaza. REID: And may I ask how -- I'll re-ask again‚ how does killing 18‚000‚ 80 percent of whom are women and children‚ about half of whom are children‚ how does that achieve the goal of eliminating Hamas' military infrastructure? REGEV: Joy‚ can I urge you please to be a little bit circumspect of those numbers. They are put out by the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health in Gaza. And therefore‚ you have to presume that Hamas has reasons for playing with the numbers. You know that they were very cruel‚ they have no qualms whatsoever about killing people‚ innocent civilians. We saw that on October 7. And so‚ you can presume also they have no qualms about killing the truth. REID: So‚ are you saying that you do not agree with the United Nations agreeing with those numbers‚ most human rights groups agree with those numbers. You're casting doubt on that 18‚000 number? REGEV: What I'm saying is we have to be very careful with numbers that are put out by Hamas. They would have you believe that they're all innocent civilians. While it's clear Israel has been targeting Hamas operatives‚ Hamas terrorists‚ the Hamas infrastructure. Now‚ I have no doubt that there have been civilians caught up in the cross fire between the Israeli Defense Forces and the Hamas terrorists. Unfortunately‚ that's a reality of war. (…) 7:36:06 p.m. Eastern REID: Let me ask you this question: If you were to discover the Israeli‚ you know‚ military were to discover that Yahya Sinwar‚ who is the Hamas militant who planned the 10/7 attacks was actually hiding in Israeli territory‚ hiding in a hospital there with his militants‚ with his men‚ would Israel drop 2‚000-pound bombs on that hospital? REGEV: No‚ we probably‚ if it was inside Israel and we had control of the ground‚ we’d send in our special forces‚ as we have in the past when you have sort of terrorist situations‚ and we would eliminate him. And we would now send ground-- REID: And you would not do that in Gaza? REGEV: No‚ we have. We have sent ground forces into Gaza. We're losing soldiers in very difficult fire fights between us and the Hamas terrorists. We will reach Sinwar‚ it's only a matter of time. REID: Let me show you a piece of video. And take a look at it. This is a group of Palestinian men who were marched out of‚ per U.S. media‚ including CNN‚ U.N. Facilities placed on the ground in their underwear and displayed in this way. Who took these pictures sir‚ and is this not a violation of the Geneva conventions to display these men in this way? REGEV: So‚ can I say that the reason they have been asked to strip‚ except for their underwear‚ is because Hamas‚ of course‚ has been one of the pioneers of the use of explosive vests. And we have had too much experience with people from Hamas blowing themselves up and in the process‚ killing Israelis around them. And that we would ask people who have surrendered to strip off temporarily. That is a necessity of difficult combat with a terrorist group‚ that has used this tactic repeatedly in the past. Too many Israelis have died from Hamas terrorists who have exploded themselves with explosive vests. (…) 7:42:04 p.m. Eastern REID: Let me ask you one final question and then I really do have to go. There have been some statements by leaders in Israel including your prime minister referring to things like the Amalek‚ which in the Bible means killing the women‚ the children‚ and the oxen; referring the deputy mayor of Jerusalem‚ saying that Palestinians should be buried like ants‚ buried alive; talking about using nuclear weapons in Gaza‚ flattening it; saying turning it into a parking lot; saying this will be a new Nakba. Those kind of statements by leaders in Israel‚ how should the world interpret them? REGEV: So‚ we will defeat Hamas. We have to dismantle its military machine and we have to remove it from Gaza. That's for the elementary safety of Israelis. In achieving that goal – [Reid attempts t cut in] – In achieving that goal‚ it's not just good for Israel‚ because we'll be safer and more secure‚ our people won't have to live in fear of Hamas coming across‚ as I said before. [Reid attempts to cut in twice] But it's also for the people of Gaza. REID: You stand by these statements? The people of Gaza being referred to as ants. REGEV: It's good for the people of Gaza too because Hamas has been ruling the Gaza strip for 16 years‚ and what is their record of government? Just poverty‚ misery‚ bloodshed. They have been terrible for the people of Gaza. Both sides of the frontier‚ Israelis and Palestinians‚ will be better off without Hamas. REID: We are out of time. (…)

The core of our Milky Way is buzzing with stars. Recently astronomers reported that it contains at least one ancient star that formed outside our galaxy. Now‚ an international research team reports finding a grouping of very young ones there‚ as well. Their presence upends ideas about star birth in that densely packed region of space. These stellar youngsters live in a dense collection called the “nuclear star cluster” (NSC). It lies about 27‚000 light-years away from us and surrounds the area holding the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*. Observers have long considered the NSC to be one of the more ancient parts of the Galaxy. Proving that requires detailed observations of the stellar populations in the core. But‚ studying this region is somewhat difficult‚ at least visually. That’s because of dense clouds of gas and dust that block the view. In addition‚ the thick population of stars makes it difficult to distinguish their characteristics. The nuclear star cluster at the Milky Way’s heart‚ as seen by the Very Large Telescope in Chile. Credit: ESO. One of those characteristics is age‚ which is not always easy to determine. Since astronomers want to know more about the lifetimes of stars in the galaxy’s core‚ the best way to find out how old they are is to look at something called their “metallicity”. As a general rule‚ old ones tend to be more metal-poor‚ while younger ones are more metal-rich. Recent observations found several very young stars there with very high metallicities. That’s an indication that things in the core aren’t always what they seem. This infrared image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope shows hundreds of thousands of stars crowded into the swirling core of our spiral Milky Way galaxy. Infrared light can penetrate the dense clouds of gas and dust and reveal the richness of the stellar population there. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Studying the Nuclear Star Cluster A team of astronomers at Lund University in Sweden used the Keck II telescope in Hawaii to take infrared spectra of stars comprising the NSC to determine their ages and metallicities. Previous observations hinted that at least three members of the cluster could be unusually young in a region where older ones normally predominate. “We can now confirm this‚” said Rebecca Forsberg‚ a Lund graduate student and member of the research team. “In our study‚ we have been able to date three of these stars as relatively young‚ at least as far as astronomers are concerned‚ with ages of 100 million to about 1 billion years. This can be compared with the Sun‚ which is 4.6 billion years old.” The three stars they studied in-depth have interestingly high amounts of heavy elements‚ including iron. Their metallicity is a measure of how many elements heavier than hydrogen and helium they contain. Metal-poor stars are usually born early in a galaxy’s history (or in the early Universe). Metal-rich ones contain materials shed from older ones when they die—including such heavy elements as calcium and iron. The cluster itself shows a range of metallicities‚ and the youngest ones have the most abundance of iron. Metallicity and Stars Astronomers began studying star formation in the NSC back in the mid-1990s. Most of its stars are likely at least five billion years old‚ or older. Normally‚ you’d expect that star birth stopped there a long time ago because of the influence of the nearby black hole‚ and other factors. But‚ those young ones confuse the picture. They came from recent episodes of star birth. Understanding how those happened gives important clues to the mix of star-forming materials at the Galaxy’s core‚ and may even tell how the Milky Way itself formed. And‚ because these types of clusters exist in other galaxies‚ understanding how ours formed would explain what happened in other places. There are a couple of theories about the creation of nuclear star clusters. One is that early in a galaxy’s history‚ globular clusters formed and spiraled into the galactic core. There they became nuclear star clusters. The other idea is that their stellar populations formed “in place” as a galaxy evolved. Either idea could explain our Galaxy’s central cluster. The way to figure it out is to look at the chemical makeup (i.e.‚ the metallicity) of the cluster’s stars since it correlates with when and where they formed. Omega Centauri is the brightest globular cluster in the night sky. It holds about 10 million stars and is the most massive globular cluster in the Milky Way. Globulars and nuclear star clusters may be related in some way as a galaxy evolves. Image Credit: ESO. Determining Metallicity in the Galaxy Core The Lund team took infrared spectra of the cluster members‚ which revealed the large variation in metallicity between the older and younger members. The three youngest ones with high metallicity indicate that they likely formed in place inside the Milky Way within the last few hundred million years. Interestingly‚ even these three vary in their metal content from each other. That means they formed in clouds that themselves had different abundances of heavier elements. Interestingly‚ the one with the lowest metallicity of the three may be what’s called a “blue straggler”. That’s a star that could be much older but stole mass from a nearby companion. That additional material could make it look younger than it is. Further observations could confirm if this is a new star or an imposter. Iron as a Tracer of Galaxy Evolution The heavy element iron was of particular interest to the team. This element is an important clue to a galaxy’s continuing evolution. Iron is the heaviest element a massive star can “cook up” inside its nuclear furnace. When it explodes as a supernova‚ the iron and other heavy elements (such as calcium‚ carbon‚ nickel‚ and others) get scattered into space. In time‚ that material gets mixed into clouds of gas and dust where star birth can take place. So‚ the oldest‚ metal-poor stars in any galaxy (and indeed‚ in the Universe) are ones that formed early on. But‚ the younger ones that come along later are more abundant in heavy elements because they form in metal-enriched clouds of gas and dust. That process of stellar birth and death played out in the nuclear star cluster at our Galaxy’s heart. And‚ it spread heavier elements across the region. “The very wide spread of iron levels [in the cluster] could indicate that the innermost parts of the galaxy are incredibly inhomogeneous‚ i.e. unmixed‚” said Brian Thorsbro‚ lead researcher and Lund astronomer. “This is something we had not expected and not only says something about how the center of the galaxy appears but also how the early Universe may have looked.” The Lund University infrared spectral studies of the stars at the heart of the Milky Way will certainly be extended to other stellar populations. Those future observations should provide answers to why astronomers found a wide range of metal abundances in stars in that tightly packed region of the Galaxy. For More Information Astronomers Determine the Age of Three Mysterious Baby Stars at the Heart of the Milky WayA Wide Metallicity Range for Gyr-old Stars in the Nuclear Star Cluster The post Three Baby Stars Found at the Heart of the Milky Way appeared first on Universe Today.

I recently had the chance to try out one of Unistellar’s smart telescopes‚ the eQuinox 2. Unparalleled in its ease of use‚ I was literally viewing distant nebula‚ galaxies‚ and star clusters within 15 minutes of opening the box. I also had the opportunity to try out Unistellar’s new Smart Solar Filter‚ which I’ll discuss more below. But first‚ more about the telescope itself: eQuinox 2 telescope. Credit: Unistellar. The eQuinox 2 is incredibly easy to set up and use‚ thanks to Unistellar’s phone or tablet app where you control the telescope. If you’ve ever struggled with aligning a telescope‚ you can breathe a sigh of relief with the eQuinox 2. The automatic alignment‚ calibration and orientation are a snap‚ and the instructions for focusing the telescope are quick and easy. This telescope is a 4.5-inch (114mm) reflector telescope‚ and is mounted on a motorized altazimuth mount that autonomously aligns with and tracks the night sky‚ based on the location of your connected phone or tablet. A 2-minute exposure of the Lagoon Nebula with the eQuinox 2 telescope by Unistellar. Credit: Nancy Atkinson. Unistellar’s ‘stellar’ app But where the Unistellar app really shines is the smart go-to feature. You can choose from a catalog of over 5‚000 celestial objects based on your location. This is especially handy for novice observers who might not know what might be available to see in the night sky. You should update the app frequently so that new objects like comets or supernova are part of the database. To connect the eQuinox 2 to your phone or tablet‚ you need to connect to the telescope’s wifi. This is easy to do‚ but I did have occasional problems with it disconnecting if I tried to use another app or the camera on my phone while also observing. Other times‚ the app would quit responding after long observing times. But this was easily remedied by “killing” the app and restarting it – which for iOS means dragging the app to the top of the screen and then restarting it. One aspect of the eQuinox 2 that took me awhile to come to grips with is that it has no eyepiece. That means you’re not looking directly at the original photons from objects in the cosmos. Instead‚ you look at the app to see what the telescope is viewing. While it might seem odd at first‚ the fact that you can share the screen easily in a group setting is excellent for star gazing parties‚ or for observing with children — they can easily see the screen‚ and get excited about what they are seeing! Additionally‚ on cold evenings‚ I set up the telescope out on my deck and then went back inside and operated it. I could “go to” all sorts of celestial objects and see my observations from the comfy warmth of my favorite chair. Otherwise‚ I might have skipped observing on those colder nights. A 100-second exposure of the M10 globular cluster with the eQuinox 2 telescope by Unistellar. Credit: Nancy Atkinson. Also — and this is probably the most fun and enjoyable aspect of the eQuinox 2 — you can quickly and easily share your astrophotography. The ease of taking photos of the objects you’re viewing is unequivocally the highlight of this telescope. And you can take some really stunning astrophotos. The eQuinox 2’s ability to see distant objects is especially impressive‚ as you can do long exposures with the click of a button. It uses a Sony IMX347 image sensor which can take long exposures of deep-sky objects. You can read more technical details about the eQuinox 2 in our previous review by David Dickinson. The telescope’s onboard computer stacks images in real time‚ and gradually you’ll see an ever-clearer image‚ with greater detail and contrast appear on your screen. It’s exciting and fun to see distant objects slowly come into a crisp view. When you take an image‚ it creates both framed and auto-captioned images (date‚ time and exposure) as well as non-framed images that are automatically saved to your photo app. This makes it easy to share your images with family and friends via text or on social media. The Moon on August 24‚ 2023‚ with the eQuinox 2 telescope by Unistellar. Credit: Nancy Atkinson. The eQuinox 2 is currently selling for $2‚099 – a discount from the regular price of $2‚499‚ plus Unistellar currently has some big holiday discounts. See their website for more details. One aspect I was a little disappointed in was the telescope’s ability to see “closer” objects‚ like the Moon and planets in our Solar System. For example‚ the first time I observed the Moon‚ the go-to feature didn’t work well. It never actually got the Moon into the field of view‚ but it got close. I was able to manually move it with the controller in the app‚ and get the Moon in the field of view. The picture‚ seen above‚ was fairly good‚ but not as good as I was expecting or hoping. I should note that I live in a remote area‚ so not sure if the location feature is hampered by not being near civilization!   But‚ and a big but here… this aspect of observing was much improved after I received the new solar filter‚ which included an upgrade to the telescope’s computer and the app as well. Smart Solar Filter The eQuinox 2 and solar filter. Credit: Nancy Atkinson. So now it’s time to discuss Unistellar’s Smart Solar Filter. These filters are made for use exclusively with Unistellar’s telescopes‚ allowing observations of sunspots in real-time and the ability to photograph the Sun. The filter snaps easily on the telescope‚ but I can tell you‚ for someone who had never used a solar filter before‚ it took a fair amount of faith to point the telescope directly at the Sun for the first time! The Smart Solar Filter is designed to transmit only 1/100‚000th of the Sun’s light‚ so you can view the Sun without endangering your eyes or your telescope. Again‚ the Unistellar app makes Sun observation easy‚ with a dedicated solar mode to automatically point the smart telescope in the direction of the brightest thing in the daytime sky‚ and track its motion. And again‚ taking a photo of the Sun is easy-peasy – just click a button –‚ although the ability for long exposure or stacking images is not available. But thanks to automated image processing‚ I could observe and take pictures of the Sun and sunspots. While the images of the sunspots were a bit ‘soft‚’ I was impressed with how the telescope provided views of the Sun’s granulation — the bubble-like features due to convection currents in the solar interior— which are visible across the entire surface. The Sun on November 1‚ 2023 with the eQuinox 2 telescope by Unistellar and Smart Solar Filter. Credit: Nancy Atkinson. The Sun is currently in one of its most active periods‚ so this filter provides excellent opportunities for observation. I’m especially looking forward to seeing how it will perform with the total solar eclipse coming up on April 8‚ 2024‚ visible across a wide swath of the United States. With smart telescopes like the eQuinox 2 and its solar filter‚ it makes solar observing and imaging available to even a novice‚ but it’s also fun for an ‘old-school’ observer‚ too‚ to use the latest technology for ease‚ enjoyment and fast results.   The Smart Solar Filter sells for $249. Become a Citizen Scientist Since Unistellar has created partnerships with leading scientific institutions like NASA and the SETI Institute‚ the company has built the world’s largest citizen astronomy community. Unistellar users have tracked near-Earth asteroids‚ followed space missions including NASA’s Artemis 1 to the Moon and back‚ DART’s impact of an asteroid‚ and even traced the light curve of transiting exoplanets. The post Review: Unistellar’s eQuinox 2 Telescope and New Smart Solar Filter appeared first on Universe Today.

He also reveals the one career goal he still wants to achieve. Continue reading…

In America today‚ a doctor has the right to castrate a minor‚ but a counselor cannot provide therapy to one struggling with homosexual inclinations or even gender dysphoria. According to the federal courts‚ banning drag shows for minors violates the First Amendment‚ but banning parents from seeking psychological help for a child’s homosexual desires does not undermine freedom of speech. Under this queer reading of the law and the Constitution‚ it is more natural in our society for a man to be a woman than for a man to be a man.And so the “conservative” U.S. Supreme Court on Monday let stand a novel‚ destructive‚ and utterly unconstitutional lower court decision banning “gay conversion therapy” in Washington state. Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett‚ with Chief Justice John Roberts‚ joined the court’s three liberals in denying an appeal in Tingley v. Ferguson‚ which means Washington’s law and similar legislation in 19 other states and the District of Columbia will remain on the books.Time and again‚ we see that none of Donald Trump’s appointments come close to the constitutional jurisprudence of Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.Under Washington’s SB 5722‚ passed and signed into law in 2018‚ licensed health care providers are barred from “[p]erforming conversion therapy on a patient under age eighteen.” Violators face a $5‚000 fine‚ “remedial education‚” suspension from practice‚ and license revocation.In a world contorted beyond belief‚ it is a crime in Washington to counsel a boy that he is indeed a boy if he is struggling with the latest fad‚ but it is not considered abuse to convince a boy he is really a girl. Justices Clarence Thomas‚ Samuel Alito‚ and Brett Kavanaugh dissented from the denial of the appeal. “It is beyond dispute that these laws restrict speech‚ and all restrictions on speech merit careful scrutiny‚” Alito wrote.For several years now‚ the appeals courts have split on the First Amendment question‚ with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upholding Washington’s law as a legitimate health care regulation and the Eleventh Circuit holding that such laws violate the health care provider’s freedom of speech and viewpoint. “There is little question that SB 5722 regulates speech and therefore implicates the First Amendment‚” Thomas wrote in a separate dissenting opinion. “Under SB 5722‚ licensed counselors can speak with minors about gender dysphoria‚ but only if they convey the state-approved message of encouraging minors to explore their gender identities.” For Thomas‚ Washington’s law is “viewpoint-based and content-based discrimination in its purest form” and therefore “presumptively unconstitutional.” “Expressing any other message is forbidden — even if the counselor’s clients ask for help to accept their biological sex.” How is that not a direct shot at freedom of speech? Thomas lambasted the Ninth Circuit for sidestepping the First Amendment by hiding behind a phantom precedent of health care regulations of speech. “This case is not the first instance of the Ninth Circuit restricting medical professionals’ First Amendment rights‚” he wrote‚ “and without the Court’s review‚ I doubt it will be the last.”In fact‚ California has already tried to use health care regulations to gag doctors from providing patients with informed consent about COVID vaccines. Governor Gavin Newsom (D) in 2022 signed Assembly Bill 2098‚ which targets doctors who promote “false information that is contradicted by contemporary scientific consensus contrary to the standard of care.” In other words‚ any doctor who would have advised what we now know — and some of us always knew — was the truth about masks and the COVID shots would have risked losing his license. Thankfully‚ a federal district judge ruled tossed out the law as unconstitutionally vague.It isn’t shocking that the court’s liberal appointees would share such a warped view of the First Amendment. But it is appalling that Barrett and Gorsuch would allow this travesty to continue even after a circuit split. What is particularly jarring is that Barrett also voted against taking up the appeal of the case that struck down laws against minors attending drag shows. She seems unwilling to protect freedom of speech when it actually applies.Time and again‚ we see that in most important cases‚ none of Donald Trump’s three Supreme Court appointments come close to the constitutional jurisprudence of Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. This leaves us with an imbalance. Blue states can use the boot of government to violate human rights in pursuit of Sodom and Gomorrah with impunity‚ while red states are stymied in protecting basic social norms‚ parental rights‚ and human decency.We simply cannot share a country with people who have such a morally dyslexic view of the human body‚ mind‚ and soul‚ as well as the contours of basic rights and state powers. Joe Biden is right about the need for a two-state solution — but we need it right here‚ not in Israel.

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff deleted a social media post celebrating Hanukkah after botching the story behind the Jewish holiday.On Monday‚ Emhoff posted a picture of himself and his wife‚ Vice President Kamala Harris‚ lighting a menorah candle to commemorate the holiday. The picture was accompanied by Emhoff's retelling of the Hanukkah story and its significance for the Jewish people."In the Hanukkah story‚ the Jewish people were forced into hiding. No one though they would survive or that the few drops of oil they had would last. But they survived and the oil kept burning‚" Emhoff wrote. "During those eight days in hiding‚ they recited their prayers and continued their traditions. That’s why Hanukkah means dedication. It was during those dark nights that the Maccabees dedicated themselves to maintaining hope and faith in the oil‚ each other‚ and their Judaism." — (@) A touching story — except it's not true.Hanukkah is not a celebration of Jews "hiding." Instead‚ the festival celebrates the Jewish victory over Antiochus IV Epiphanes‚ the Seleucid king who in the second century B.C. instituted a brutal campaign of Hellenization in Jerusalem‚ resulting in the desecration of the Jewish temple and persecution of the Jewish people.Antiochus' campaign triggered a rebellion‚ led by Judas Maccabeus‚ and the Jews eventually captured Jerusalem. With control of Jerusalem‚ the Maccabees cleansed and rededicated the temple‚ hence the name "Hanukkah‚" a word derived from the Hebrew root meaning "to dedicate" or "to consecrate." Later rabbinic tradition states there was only enough oil to light the temple menorah for one day‚ but it miraculously lasted eight days.Hanukkah‚ then‚ celebrates fighting and Jewish nationalism — not hiding. And the part about the oil is tertiary to the story‚ not central.Emhoff later deleted the social media post after being mocked online. He did not‚ however‚ provide an explanation for the blunder‚ which is perplexing when you consider the fact that he is Jewish. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!