State Department cancels regular Facebook meetings after court order: report

 After a court ruling Tuesday that limited Biden administration officials’ communications with social media companies, the State Department canceled its regular meeting Wednesday with Facebook officials, according to The Washington Post.  

Those meetings, which had been held monthly, and all future ones were “canceled pending further guidance” on the ruling by a federal judge in Louisiana, the Post reported. Election preparations for 2024 and hacking threats were to be discussed at the meeting, according to the report.  

The State Department did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment. Facebook and several other social media companies also did not immediately reply to requests for comment.  

U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty, a Trump appointee, ruled Tuesday that Biden administration officials cannot contact social media companies relating to “in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech posted on social media platforms.” The decision is a blow to the administration’s efforts to curb disinformation online.  

That order came after two Republican attorneys general alleged that federal officials “coordinated and colluded” with social media platforms to target “disfavored speakers, viewpoints, and content.”

The result, they said, was a “campaign of censorship” executed by the administration.   

Federal officials in the State Department, FBI, Justice Department, Department of Health and Human Services, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were directed to cease relevant communications with social media companies. 

The Justice Department filed a notice of appeal Wednesday evening. A DOJ official said the agency expects to request a stay of the district court’s decision “expeditiously.” 

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4083426-state-department-cancels-facebook-meetings-after-court-order-report/

Americans continue to have little faith in major institutions: Gallup

 Americans continue to have little faith in major institutions, following a dip in numbers in the previous year, according to a Gallup poll released Thursday.

The poll found declines in public confidence in seven of the 16 institutions the pollsters track annually, with the military and medical system suffering the most, each down by 4 percentage points.

Other institutions that saw a drop in faith include small businesses, police, banks, public schools and organized labor.

In a similar poll published last year, 11 out of 16 major institutions saw drops in confidence from Americans, with the presidency and the Supreme Court recording the biggest loss.

And all 16 institutions have lost ground since the 2021 poll.

At the top of the list, 65 percent of respondents have a great deal or fair amount of confidence in small business operations — though down 3 points from 2022 — followed by 60 percent for the U.S. military.

Forty-three percent of respondents said they have confidence with “the police,” dropping 2 percentage points from the previous year, according to the poll.

The medical system and the church or organized religion rounded out the top five of annually rated major institutions, with 34 percent and 32 percent of respondents saying they have great confidence in the institution.

Twenty-seven percent of respondents said they have confidence in the Supreme Court — up 2 points from last year — while 26 percent of those surveyed have confidence in the American presidency, an increase of 3 percentage points.

The poll, however, was conducted prior to last week’s Supreme Court rulings on affirmative action and student loans, which drew heavy backlash from the left.

Eighteen percent of those surveyed have a great deal of confidence in newspapers, while 14 percent of respondents said they have great confidence in television news.

Eight percent of respondents said they have great confidence in Congress, which received the lowest confidence rating out of all the major institutions listed.

The Gallup poll was conducted from June 1-22, with a total of 1,013 respondents participating in the survey. The poll’s margin of error was 4 percentage points.

https://thehill.com/homenews/4083482-gallup-poll-american-confidence-major-institutions/

Amtrak trains between Philly, NYC get going again after overhead power issues

 Passenger had to wait or find alternates if travelling by train between Philadelphia and New York Thursday morning.

On Thursday morning, Amtrak warned of stopped trains and limited service due to overhead wire issues near Metropark, while NJ Transit suspended service.

Amtrak suspended all trains between Philly's 30th Street Station and NYC's Penn Station and only offered limited service from NYC to Philly, the rail carrier said as of 9 a.m.

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/transportation-and-transit/amtrak-nyc-philly-nj-transit/3599257/

Gilead Sciences Ups Stake in Arcus Biosciences to 35%

 Gilead Sciences has raised its stake in Arcus Biosciences to 35% following the purchase of additional 1.01 million shares at $19.26 per share.

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/GILEAD-SCIENCES-INC-4876/news/Gilead-Sciences-Ups-Stake-in-Arcus-Biosciences-to-35-44282446/

Amedisys cut to Hold from Buy by Truist

 Target $97

https://finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=AMED&p=d

Cotton Challenges Secret Service Over Cocaine Found At White House

 by Caden Pearsen via The Epoch Times,

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on Wednesday pressed the U.S. Secret Service for details regarding its ongoing investigation into the discovery of cocaine at the White House.

The Secret Service confirmed that cocaine was found in the West Wing of the White House on Sunday, believed to have been brought in by someone who works there or had authorization to be there. This development has prompted Republican lawmakers to raise broader questions about security and drug use at the presidential residence.

In a letter to Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, Mr. Cotton urged the agency to promptly provide information regarding the specific location within the White House complex where the substance was found.

“The American people deserve to know whether illicit drugs were found in an area where confidential information is exchanged,” wrote Mr. Cotton (pdf).

The letter posed a series of questions to Ms. Cheatle, seeking clarification on the security of the complex and requesting the Secret Service’s plan to address any identified security flaws.

“If the White House complex is not secure, Congress needs to know the details, as well as your plan to correct any security flaws,” wrote Mr. Cotton, who is a member of the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice and Counterterrorism.

He also requested a “complete list” of individuals who can enter the White House without undergoing full security screenings as well as those who are subject to lesser security screening requirements than those entering the West Wing, along with “the reasons such individuals are not subject to complete screening.”

Mr. Cotton also asked for data on the Secret Service’s use of K-9 screenings and information about audits conducted on their security procedures.

The letter additionally inquired about the frequency of encounters with illegal drugs at the White House complex over the past five years. Citing a section of the U.S. Code, Mr. Cotton asked whether the Secret Service would exercise its authority to make warrantless arrests for offenses committed in their presence or for any felony under federal law if the individual responsible for bringing cocaine into the White House is identified.

The Republican senator gave the Secret Service director until 5 p.m. on July 14 to respond. He also requested a briefing on the matter and the provision of classified or law enforcement-sensitive answers to his questions.

White House Tight Lipped

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre avoided providing specifics when asked several times about the location where the cocaine was found and the potential consequences that might emerge from the Secret Service’s investigation.

She informed reporters on Wednesday that the substance was discovered in a “heavily traveled” area of the West Wing, which is routinely accessed by visitors and staff.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington on July 5, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

She expressed confidence in the Secret Service’s investigation but would not be drawn to provide further details, repeatedly saying the probe is “under their purview.”

Anthony Guglielmi, chief of communications for the Secret Service, told The Epoch Times on Wednesday they are going to do their best “to identify who may have brought it in.” He said the illicit substance was found in an area closed to the public but accessible by staff, the media, guests, and others with business in the West Wing during the security screening process.

“There’s a multitude of individuals who come through this area. It’s an open area for individuals who are authorized to be in the West Wing,” Mr. Guglielmi said.

Responding to the news, former President Donald Trump, a candidate for the 2024 presidential election, took to Truth Social to express skepticism.

“Does anybody really believe that the COCAINE found in the West Wing of the White House, very close to the Oval Office, is for the use of anyone other than Hunter and Joe Biden,” Mr. Trump said on Wednesday.

Ms. Jean-Pierre noted that the president and his family were at Camp David over the weekend.

“They left on Friday and returned just yesterday,” she said at Wednesday’s press briefing.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, another 2024 candidate, expressed disbelief during an interview on Hugh Hewitt’s nationally syndicated radio show on Wednesday. Pence said it would be “wall to wall” media coverage if cocaine had been found in the West Wing during the Trump–Pence administration.

“I mean, if the news accounts I read are right, this was in, this was not in the White House complex, right?” Pence said. “This was in the residence itself, if I understand,” he added. “It was in the library in the White House.”

“We ought to know in real-time who brought and left cocaine on a table in the residence in the White House, but I’m not holding my breath,” he added.

The White House was briefly evacuated on Sunday night after the Secret Service found the illicit substance, which at the time it described only as an “unknown item.” The discovery of the mysterious substance in the West Wing prompted the dispatch of a hazmat team as well as the D.C. Fire Department and EMS.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/senator-challenges-secret-service-over-cocaine-found-white-house

CDC gives guidance for trans ‘chestfeeding’ kids, accused of failing to consider possible health risks

 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s official website published advice for trans and non-binary individuals on seeking guidance on how to “chestfeed” their infants.

In sections of the major health institute’s guidance on breastfeeding, it contained information for those who have had much of their breasts removed in gender-reassignment surgeries, or for biological men taking hormones to grow breasts, on how to feed their newborn children.

However, several doctors criticized the guidance, not simply because CDC has appeared to guide biological men in how to breastfeed children, but because they claimed the CDC has failed to gauge the risks posed to children drinking milk produced by chemicals used in gender-reassignment medical operations. 

In the CDC website’s section on “Health Equity Considerations” – found under its “Infant and Young Child Feeding Toolkit,” the center declared that “Transgender and nonbinary-gendered individuals may give birth and breastfeed or feed at the chest (chestfeed).”

It also stated that “The gender identity or expression of transgender individuals is different from their sex at birth,” and that, “the gender identity of nonbinary-gendered individuals does not fit neatly into either man or woman.”

Under the CDC website’s section on “Breast Feeding,” specifically an entry covering breastfeeding for those who have undergone breast surgery, the institute mentioned “chestfeeding.”

The CDC published advice on how to ‘chestfeed’ infants as a trans or non-binary individual.

Shutterstock

The CDC posed the question, “Can transgender parents who have had breast surgery breastfeed or chestfeed their infants?” It responded, “yes,” followed by an explanation.

“Some transgender parents who have had breast/top surgery may wish to breastfeed, or chestfeed (a term used by some transgender and non-binary parents), their infants” the CDC website states. “Healthcare providers working with these families should be familiar with medical, emotional, and social aspects of gender transitions to provide optimal family-centered care and meet the nutritional needs of the infant.”

The post added that these transgender parents “may need help with” “maximizing milk production, supplementing with pasteurized donor human milk or formula, medication to induce lactation or avoiding medications that inhibit lactation, suppressing lactation (for those choosing not to breastfeed or chestfeed)” and “Finding appropriate lactation management support, peer support, and/or emotional support.”

Some doctors are criticizing the post because it does not discuss the risks the children could face.

REUTERS

According to the Daily Mail, this advice may apply to biological men who can produce their own breastmilk by taking “hormone drugs” which mimic the changes that happen to a biological women’s body during the late stage of pregnancy.

However, the outlet noted that the FDA’s warning that one of these drugs, domperidone, “can pass into breast milk in small amounts and can sometimes give babies an irregular heartbeat as a result.”

The outlet spoke to multiple doctors who criticized the CDC for not mentioning the health risks posed to infants “chest feeding” from biological men transitioning with female-mimicking hormones. 

The CDC mentions ‘chestfeeding’ under the ‘breast feeding’ section of the website.

ZUMAPRESS.com

Executive director of the conservative Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, Dr. Jane Orient told The Daily Mail, “The CDC has a responsibility to talk about the health risks, but they have been derelict in doing that.”

She also claimed “we have no idea what the long-term effects on the child will be” if trans parents are using “all kinds of off-label hormones,” meaning drugs that are being used in a different purpose than for which they were intended. 

Dr. Stuart Fischer, a New York-based internal medicine physician, told the Daily Mail that it is “very hard to believe” that the breast milk naturally-occurring in a biological female is the same as the breast milk induced in a biological man. 

He is also noted it is uncertain how the latter form of breast milk would affect infants, asking, “If it’s been tested a handful of times, how would we know the long-range effect? The short-term is one thing, but the long-term in terms of physical and mental illness…”

“It’s an emerging field, to put it mildly,” Fischer added. 

The CDC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

https://nypost.com/2023/07/05/cdc-advises-trans-people-chestfeeding-kids-accused-of-neglecting-health-risks/