Arkansas Ban on Gender Transition Treatments for Minors Ruled Unconstitutional

Posted on by Lone Candle

“A federal court has permanently struck down Arkansas’ ban on gender transition procedures for minors. The law violated the rights of Arkansas children and their parents, as well as the rights of health care providers, held the court, finding that the ban went against the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause, Due Process Clause, and First Amendment.”

Another Georgia Probe Finds No Evidence of Conspiracy To Steal 2020 Election

Posted on by Lone Candle

“The allegations involving those two election workers—Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea Moss—were “false and unsubstantiated,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, announced.., as his office officially closed a two-year probe into the incident. The investigation had launched at the behest of Georgia state Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick (R–East Cobb) and included the FBI and Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
The final report includes details of interviews with Freeman, Moss, and other workers present during the ballot counting at State Farm Arena on the night of the 2020 election. Those interviewed provided “a consistent account” of the ballot-counting process, and matched what investigators saw on the video footage. As for that supposedly damning video footage, “There was no evidence of any type of fraud as alleged,” the report concludes, and there was “no evidence was provided to show that Freeman or Moss deviated from” the established process for storing boxes of legitimate ballots.

Additionally, the FBI interviewed the creator of an Instagram account that surfaced in December 2020 and purported to belong to Freeman. In posts to the account, the user (whose name was redacted in the final report) claimed to have participated in ballot fraud, but later admitted to the FBI that the content was fake.”

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“also details the extent to which state investigators double-checked the election results. Audits conducted after Election Day “did not identify any issues or discrepancies to suggest fake or fraudulent ballots were scanned and counted in the 2020 General Election results,” and a subsequent recount requested by Trump’s campaign “also did not identify any discrepancies to suggest fraudulent ballots were introduced and counted in the tabulation process.””

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“Trump, meanwhile, continues to push the claim that the election was stolen.”

The Federal Trade Commission’s Latest Frivolous Antitrust Suit Takes Aim at Amazon

Posted on by Lone Candle

“The FTC’s complaint revolves around mundane moves by Amazon, like conspicuously asking non-Prime customers if they want to sign up or requiring Prime subscribers to click through several screens to unsubscribe.
Patrick Hedger, executive director of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, noted that it took him under a minute and required just six clicks to cancel his Prime account—fewer clicks than it takes to submit a public comment on the FTC website.

Like many major companies, Amazon has some flaws. But the argument that it’s broadly harmful to consumers—let alone so harmful that it requires the intervention of the federal government—is so far removed from reality that only government bureaucrats with an ax to grind could make it with straight faces. (In fact, Amazon routinely garners extremely high favorability ratings in consumer polls.)”

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“During the checkout process, in some cases, “the option to purchase items on Amazon without subscribing to Prime was more difficult for consumers to locate,” states the FTC press release—as if it’s Amazon’s fault that some consumers might be a little less observant or tech-savvy. The option is not hidden, mind you; plenty of non-Prime members find it and purchase items without joining Prime. But they may have to spend an extra second or two looking—and the government is making a federal case out of it.”

Maryland Supreme Court Limits Testimony on Bullet-Matching Evidence

Posted on by Lone Candle

“Forensic firearms identification includes well-established uses such as determining caliber and other general characteristics, but examiners are also frequently called on to testify whether a particular bullet was fired from a particular gun. A gun’s firing pin and the grooves on the inside of a gun barrel leave marks on cartridge casings when a bullet is fired, so a firearm examiner compares crime scene bullets to samples fired from the suspect gun and looks for matching patterns under a microscope.
According to the Association of Firearm and Tool Mark Examiners (AFTE), which sets standards for the field, a positive identification can occur when there is “sufficient agreement” between two or more sets of marks or patterns. The AFTE argues—as one of its members did as a witness for the state of Maryland in Abruquah’s appeal—that its methods are scientifically sound, widely accepted, and have low error rates in testing.

However, over the past decade many forensic methods, especially “pattern-matching” disciplines like bite mark and tool mark analysis, have been challenged by critics who argue that they rely on subjective interpretations that are nonetheless presented as scientific conclusions in courtrooms.”

Drag Is Protected Speech, Federal Judge Rules

Posted on by Lone Candle

“contrary to the city’s insistence, drag shows are clearly protected speech. “There is no question that governments have a legitimate interest in protecting children from genuine obscenity. But the City has not provided a shred of evidence that would implicate that legitimate interest. Moreover, that legitimate interest ‘does not include a free-floating power to restrict the ideas to which children may be exposed. Speech that is neither obscene as to youths nor subject to some other legitimate proscription cannot be suppressed solely to protect the young from ideas or images that a legislative body thinks unsuitable for them.'”

Attempts at banning drag shows have become increasingly popular across the country, often with public officials citing the apparent “obscenity” of the performances, especially those that allow children to attend. However, this latest injunction shows yet again that drag performances are protected speech and that local governments, public colleges, and other state actors have no legal basis for attempting to restrict them.”

Don’t Let Culture Wars Weaken the Financial System

Posted on by Lone Candle

“At the retail level, the culture wars have taken a particularly silly turn as conservatives celebrate Anheuser-Busch’s falling stock prices following a widespread boycott of Bud Light after it partnered with a transgender social-media influencer to promote the beer. The Mexican beer Modelo has soared into the top spot in U.S. beer sales as a result.
But who is going to break the news to the culture warriors? Modelo’s parent company, Constellation Brands, boasts that its “diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals…are critical components to our future success.” Trying to one-up always-agitated left-wing social-justice warriors, right-wingers also are angry about Target’s LGBQT displays—and have turned on religiously conservative Chik-Fil-A after learning it has a DEI officer.”

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“As TechTarget explains, ESG is a “framework used to assess an organization’s business practices and performance on various sustainability and ethical issues” and “provides a way to measure business risks and opportunities.” It’s a way for corporations to evaluate their policies. Are they investing in things that help the environment, instituting fair employment policies, and embracing corporate transparency?”

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“At the political level, however, ESG—and the reaction against it—has become a means for elected officials to use their respective governments’ massive financial clout to achieve desired cultural aims. That’s where this latest cultural battlefront is becoming dangerous. In blue states, such as California, elected officials are pushing pension funds to divest from their holdings in fossil fuels, firearms manufacturers, and tobacco companies.

They’re also directing vast government investments into companies that match their political aims (alternative energy, recycling, etc.) but might not yield the best bang for the buck. The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) has a whopping $440-billion in assets, so the temptation is strong to starve capital from “bad” industries and energize “good” ones.

This has triggered a backlash in Red states, which have passed laws that forbid state business with investment firms that divest in the ways that Democratic states prefer. Texas has taken that approach and, according to one study, could cost the state billions of dollars in higher borrowing costs. Both sides are putting cultural preferences above their fiduciary responsibilities.”

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“The answer is to call a truce. States should enact “clear fiduciary duty laws that define who is responsible for state investment” and allow them to use ESG factors only if they promise to yield better financial results”

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“The obvious and important goal is “to insulate pension funds, other investments and public contracts…from political concerns.” Of course, trying to convince politicians to limit their political influence in financial decisions is no easy feat, but there’s too much financial risk to let these bitter cultural battles spread from the grocery-store shelves to Wall Street.”