Connecticut law ending religious vaccine exemptions for children is upheld

 A divided federal appeals court on Friday rejected a challenge to a Connecticut law that ended the state's decades-old religious exemptions from immunization requirements for children in schools, colleges and day care.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said ending religious exemptions, while still allowing medical exemptions, was a rational means to promote health and safety by reducing the potential spread of vaccine-preventable diseases.

In a 2-1 decision, Circuit Judge Denny Chin said the April 2021 law contained "no trace" of hostility toward religious believers, and did not violate objectors' constitutional rights to due process and the free exercise of religion.

He said many U.S. courts have reviewed vaccination mandates for children that lack religious exemptions, and only one, in Mississippi, has ever found constitutional problems.

"We decline to disturb this nearly unanimous consensus," Chin, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama, wrote.

Five other U.S. states--California, Maine, Mississippi, New York and West Virginia--also lack religious exemptions.

Connecticut's law, signed by Governor Ned Lamont, does not apply to children from kindergarten to 12th grade who previously had received religious exemptions.

The law had been challenged by the groups We the Patriots USA and the CT Freedom Alliance, and by three Connecticut parents.

Circuit Judge Joseph Bianco, an appointee of Republican President Donald Trump, dissented.

He said the majority was too quick to dismiss the free exercise claims, and that its approach could imperil challenges to other vaccine mandates, including against COVID-19, "once the government invoked generalized concerns about public safety."

Norm Pattis, a lawyer for the objectors, said they may ask the three-judge panel, the full 13-judge appeals court or the Supreme Court to review the case.

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/connecticut-law-ending-religious-vaccine-165927044.html

Florida school shooting re-enacted as part of civil lawsuit

 Gunfire rang out again at Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Friday, this time as part of a reenactment of the shooting five years ago that killed 14 students and three faculty members.

The re-staging of the school shooting, one of the deadliest in U.S. history, was part of a civil lawsuit against Scot Peterson, a police officer who was stationed outside the Parkland, Florida, high school when the gunfire began on Feb. 14, 2018.

Lawyers for the families of the victims and survivors who filed the lawsuit have said surveillance video and the re-enactment would prove that Peterson heard the 70-plus shots but avoided confronting the gunman.

"That reenactment will hopefully help us obtain justice in the court system, justice which has so far eluded our families," Tony Montalto, whose daughter Gina was killed in the shooting, said at a news conference on Friday.

In June, Peterson was acquitted by a Florida jury of criminal charges of child neglect, culpable negligence and perjury connected the shooting.

Peterson has maintained that he had remained outside because he could not determine the source of the gunfire.

His lawyer, Michael Piper, said in a statement that multiple witnesses had testified in the criminal case that they perceived shots coming from all over the campus.

Broward County Circuit Court Judge Carol-Lisa Phillips has not yet ruled on whether the audio and video recordings of the re-enactment will be admissible at trial. Plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages in the case.

On Friday, gunfire was heard coming from the Parkland campus at about midday, the Sun Sentinel reported. Ballistic experts were expected to fire up to 139 live rounds to recreate the sounds that emanated from the building during the 2018 shooting, the newspaper reported.

The Parkland shooting triggered a movement among youth and parents of gun violence victims to push for stricter gun laws, but most of the reforms they advocated have withered in state legislatures and the U.S. Congress.

Mass shootings have become commonplace in the U.S. There have been 423 so far in 2023, the most at this point of the year since 2016, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The nonprofit group defines a mass shooting as four or more people shot or killed, not including the shooter.

Ahead of the re-enactment, nine members of Congress and family members of victims toured the school building.

The building is scheduled to be demolished after the re-enactment. It has remained largely unaltered since the 2018 shooting, with bloodstains and bullet holes still visible.

The shooter, Nikolas Cruz, a former student at the school who was 19 at the time of the massacre, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life without parole in 2022.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/florida-school-shooting-enacted-part-100600602.html

FDA approves first pill to help treat postpartum depression

 The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first pill to treat postpartum depression (PPD), the agency announced Friday.

Zurzuvae is the market’s first pill medication for the disorder that can occur, in mild cases, in as many as 50 percent of new mothers.

“Postpartum depression is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition in which women experience sadness, guilt, worthlessness — even, in severe cases, thoughts of harming themselves or their child,” FDA Director of Psychiatry Tiffany Farchione said in a statement.

“Having access to an oral medication will be a beneficial option for many of these women coping with extreme, and sometimes life-threatening, feelings.”

Two randomized studies determined that Zurzuvae is effective at combating PPD, the agency said, with one study showing about a 55 percent improvement in symptoms among women with PPD.

The once-a-day pill can help alleviate depressive symptoms in days, instead of weeks or months like the traditional antidepressants usually prescribed for the disorder.

Manufacturer Sage Therapeutics released a similar drug in 2019, the first ever to combat PPD. But that product, Zulresso, is an IV injection, inconvenient for most new mothers.

Zurzuvae will now go into the Drug Enforcement Agency approval process, which is expected to take about 90 days.

Last year, the FDA approved the first fast-acting pill to combat clinical depression. That medication, using a novel mechanism of treatment, could open the door to a whole suite of new treatments for depression, experts said.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4138500-fda-approves-first-pill-postpartum-depression/

DeSantis’s biggest donor cuts off funds, demands moderate shift

 One of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) most prominent donors told reporters on Friday that he would cut off funds to his 2024 campaign if he didn’t adopt a more “moderate approach.”

Robert Bigelow, the founder of Budget Suites of America and Bigelow Aerospace, told Reuters in an interview that he explained to DeSantis’s campaign that the governor needs to shift his agenda to target moderates or he risks losing his support.

“He’ll lose if he doesn’t,” he said, referring to DeSantis’s chances against former President Trump. “Extremism isn’t going to get you elected.”

He added that his funding wouldn’t resume “until I see that he’s able to generate more on his own.”

“I’m already too big a percentage,” Bigelow claimed. “A lot of his donors are still on the fence.”

When asked what led him to the decision to curb funding, the entrepreneur pointed to what he called the governor’s “extreme positions” on policy, including the six-week abortion ban DeSantis signed into law in April.

He claimed six weeks is too short, as many women don’t know they are pregnant at that stage, according to Reuters.

Still, Bigelow said in the interview that he remains behind DeSantis and believes he is “the best guy for the country.”

The billionaire has already given $20 million to the “Never Back Down” pro-DeSantis super PAC. He is also considered the Florida governor’s largest individual donor.

The news comes as DeSantis’s campaign has struggled to meet financial expectations and amid a reset cut of a total of 38 staffers over the last several weeks. The shake-up is an effort to “streamline operations and put Ron DeSantis in the strongest position to win this primary,” according to his team.

Despite the governor’s efforts on the campaign trail visiting early primary states, Trump is still leading DeSantis by double digits, according to polling averages. A new poll out of Iowa this week shows the former president ahead of DeSantis by 24 points.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4138541-desantis-donor-cuts-off-funds-moderate-shift/

Wells Fargo fixing tech issue after customers report missing deposit transactions

 Wells Fargo is working to resolve a technical issue after several customers reported that their deposit transactions had disappeared from their accounts. 

Customers started to report the problem to the bank on Twitter, now branded as X, on Thursday. 

"My CASH deposit made inside a branch location is still not posting because of a technical issue?," one user wrote. "I’ve been patient all day, but now I’m irritated. Two phone calls and still being told to keep checking." 

"I need my money now!!!!" another customer wrote on their social media page.

The company replied to some customers on the platform saying that its technical teams are aware of the issue and that it is working to resolve it "as soon as possible." 

A Wells Fargo spokesperson told FOX Business Friday that a "limited number" of its customers are unable to see recent deposit transactions on their accounts.

"The vast majority have been resolved and the few remaining issues will be resolved soon," the spokesperson said. 

According to several reports, some customers ran into a similar issue back in March when their direct deposits were not appearing on their accounts. 

These issues mark the latest to plague Wells Fargo, which already faced the largest fine ever leveled against a bank by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) last year. 
 

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
WFC	WELLS FARGO & CO.	44.85	-0.30	-0.66%
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In December, Wells Fargo agreed to pay about $3.7 billion to settle charges that it had harmed customers by charging illegal fees and interest on auto loans and mortgages, as well as incorrectly applying overdraft fees against savings and checking accounts. 

Wells Fargo has spent years trying to rehabilitate its image after a series of scandals tied to its sales practices. 

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/wells-fargo-fixing-tech-issue-customers-report-missing-deposit-transactions

Biden Border Policies Open Loopholes For Human Traffickers

  by Patricia Tolson via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

As "Sound of Freedom" continues to push conversations of child sex trafficking further into the American zeitgeist, insiders and experts say President Joe Biden's border policies are helping facilitate the burgeoning child sex trafficking industry.

Released July 4, "Sound of Freedom" grossed $14 million, becoming the number one film in America.

According to a July 28 press release, national box office sales for "Sound of Freedom" surged past $130 million. The film will soon be released internationally.

The movie is based on the true story of Tim Ballard, a federal agent who rescued a young boy from child traffickers and sets off on a dangerous mission to save the boy's sister, who is still being held captive.

While some have attacked the film's credibility, dismissing the story as being based on QAnon "adrenochrome conspiracy" theories that rely on "tired Hollywood tropes," others are comparing the story to what happened on the island owned by billionaire Jeffrey Epstein. Many are wondering why none of the high-profile customers of Mr. Epstein have been arrested. Controversy regarding his alleged prison cell suicide is still the topic of news headlines and social media chatter.

As reported by child welfare nonprofit Save the Children, "Child trafficking affects every country in the world." Nearly 30 percent of all human trafficking victims worldwide are children, and most are girls. Many victims are trafficked by someone they know, such as a family member.

Despite the myth that trafficking occurs primarily in developing countries, Save the Children alleges that "the United States is one of the most active sex trafficking countries in the world."

'They Are Trying to Make a Difference'

As a child, Victor Marx was severely abused, tortured, then left in a commercial cooler to die. By the time he graduated high school, his life was consumed with drugs, fights, and theft. He credits the discipline of the military and his faith in God for his survival. Today, through his organization, All Things Possible, Mr. Marx spends his time hunting sexual predators and rescuing women and children who are being held captive by traffickers and abusers.

Victor Marx, "Pedophile Hunter" and founder of All Things Possible Ministries. (Courtesy of Victor Marx)

Mr. Marx is one of a growing number of people who are calling out the Biden administration for border policies that, they say, actually help human traffickers. However, he said he feels quite differently about the agents on the ground.

In an exclusive interview with The Epoch Times, Mr. Marx shared the story of his latest rescue mission with his wife, Eileen, completed just 48 hours earlier.

The victim is a teenage girl who had been groomed and handed over to a 53-year-old pedophile at the age of 14 by her own mother.

For the safety of the child, who may still be in danger, Mr. Marx asked that The Epoch Times not disclose the name of the victim's home country or her identity.

Eileen Marx (L) and Victor Marx (R) escort a sex trafficking victim to the waiting plane to get her out of the country on July 25, 2023. (Courtesy of Victor Marx)

A private plane used in the victim's "Freedom Flight" was made possible by unnamed donors in Alabama. The pilot, whose identity remains secret, is a member of the Blue Angels.

Victor Marx (R) poses for a photo with the Blue Angels pilot who assisted in the rescue of a teenage sex trafficking victim on July 25, 2023. (Courtesy of Victor Marx)

Among the many challenges of the rescue was the young victim's lack of a passport. Because of this, the victim and her rescuers were detained at the U.S. border. They were separated and questioned for hours.

Border agents suspected Mr. Marx and his wife of trafficking the girl. It wasn't until two CBP agents were brought in and the lead agent recognized Mr. Marx that everything changed, he said.

Not only did that agent convince the others that the child was safe with Mr. Marx, but he granted the girl emergency entrance into the United States.

"Without a passport, that's unheard of," Mr. Marx said. "Hats off to the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. They did a good job of doing what they do on that border by making the best decisions for that girl. We even had one of the agents give us a ride to where we were going to stay that night. The agent who let her in without a passport even let me get a photo with him."

With permission from the agent, identified only as "Officer Wes," Mr. Marx shared the photo with The Epoch Times.

"It was a very powerful moment," Mr. Marx recalled, admitting he was still exhausted from the ordeal. But he had one last thing to share.

"I need people to understand, especially with all of those missing children and how messed up our government is, there are many, many people in law enforcement who are good people," he said. "They might be swimming upstream for lack of support and lack of funding. But they are trying to make a difference and they proved it in our case. It was very encouraging. You will always have agents who will stick their neck out and risk a lot to do the right thing. "

'Sound of Freedom Has Opened America's Eyes'

Retired Army Major Jeffrey Prather is a former special operative, former chief of global operations for the Defense Intelligence Agency, and special agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Maj. Prather's story is "surprisingly similar" to that of Mr. Ballard, he said.

Both studied political science and international relations. Whereas Mr. Ballard was part of the CIA, Maj. Prather became a "Psyop Soldier" in the Army's Psychological Operations branch, deploying with the Ranger Regiment and 7th Special Forces Group in Central and South America. Just before the Panama invasion, he was recruited by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

While Mr. Ballard spent 12 years working along the U.S.–Mexico border in Calexico, California, with Homeland Security, Maj. Prather spent a decade at the border in Nogales, Arizona, as part of the Defense Intelligence Agency's Human Services.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/biden-border-policies-open-loopholes-human-traffickers-insiders-say

As baby boomers hit another milestone next summer, Social Security will feel the strain

 'Peak 65' will mark a new era as the largest number of people ever reaches traditional retirement age

More than 10,000 people in the U.S. turn 65 every day, and that number will peak at about 12,000 in the summer of 2024. As more baby boomers hit that traditional retirement age, this demographic bubble will affect everything from healthcare and politics to the composition of the workforce to the future of Social Security and Medicare.

"It's a demographic blip in some ways, but it has huge implications on our society and how it operates," said Gal Wettstein, senior research economist at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

Social Security, which is funded by workers paying into the system, is one program that is expected to come under strain. "The problem with the funding has been known for some time," Wettstein said. "It's not a surprise. But there's been neglect of the problem."

There's a term for the moment when the largest number of people ever will reach traditional retirement age in the U.S. -- "Peak 65." It will happen in 2024, most likely in the summer, when there are more birthdays.

Jason Fichtner, who heads the Retirement Income Institute at the nonprofit Alliance for Lifetime Income and also serves as chief economist at the Bipartisan Policy Center, wrote about Peak 65 in a 2021 white paper for the alliance. Fichtner said it's important to think in two ways about the fiscal stress that will be created by an aging population.

"Aging from above results in changes in social expenditures," he said. "This is going to lead to increases in health expenditures, increases in pension expenditures and decreases in education expenditures. Aging from below leads to changes in revenues as workers decline relative to the total population."

Will Social Security be there for retirees?

Social Security's combined trust funds will be depleted in 2034, at which time only 80% of benefits will be paid. In this year's State of the Union address, President Joe Biden vowed to protect Social Security and Medicare.

Lawmakers have also made various proposals for shoring up Social Security, for example by raising taxes on the very rich or creating a special sovereign-wealth fund, but none of those proposals has gotten much traction.

"Social Security is already under a lot of pressure. Although 65 isn't the full retirement age anymore, people ages 62 to 70 are taking up Social Security for the first time, putting more and more pressure on that system," said Joanna Lahey, a professor in the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University.

For baby boomers, full retirement age is somewhere between 66 years and 66 years, 10 months. For anyone born in 1960 or later, that age is 67. People can start collecting reduced benefits at age 62.

"Government programs like Social Security may need to start using general revenues rather than being self-financed, something that would have been unthinkable even five to 10 years ago," Lahey said, adding that baby boomers are also likely to need to continue working longer to supplement their Social Security income.

The impact of boomers hitting retirement age hasn't been a secret, but with every passing year, the situation gets more dire for the average boomer, said Teresa Ghilarducci, a professor of economics at the New School.

"Each year, the typical member of the new group of 65 years has less retirement-income security. Wave upon wave of people at that age have less retirement wealth, less-secure forms of retirement wealth and less Social Security because of the cuts in benefits that started in 1983," Ghilarducci said.

"Financially insecure elders will increasingly seek part- and full-time work, which means more people competing for jobs, which puts downward pressure on wages and working conditions," she noted. "We are already seeing some low-paying industries depending on low-paid older workers, [such as] home- and personal-care occupations and janitorial services," Ghilarducci said.

Along with modernizing the retirement system, the U.S. needs to strengthen its safety net as the share of the population that is older continues to grow, noted Catherine Collinson, the chief executive and president of Transamerica Institute, a private research and educational foundation that runs the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies. "It necessitates new solutions for affordable housing, aging in place and long-term-care services and supports, so that all Americans can live their final years with dignity and peace of mind," she said.

Boomers still have political strength

Lahey said she expects to see a lot of workplace and technological innovation that focuses on helping older workers continue to be productive.

"I believe we're already seeing these kinds of innovations, for example, in healthcare, with machines that assist nurses to lift patients. The move to flexible work is also something that older workers say they want as they bridge to retirement, and something we have been seeing more of," she said.

Experts agree that the baby-boom generation hasn't lost its power to change things.

From the time the first boomers were born, they have made their presence felt both politically and culturally. "That will continue and possibly even grow as they retire and have more time to vote and do political activism," Lahey said.

And because this group makes up a massive voting bloc, politicians will spend more energy on topics focused on people 65 and older, Wettstein said.

Collinson said the same. "Baby boomers have reimagined and rewritten societal rules at every stage in life, and they are blazing a trail in older age by working beyond traditional retirement age with expectations of a flexible transition before fully retiring -- which is a crucial part of the solution," she said.

"Societally, we need Baby Boomers to keep driving positive change to help pave the way for future generations. They have strength in numbers, voting power and a voice."

https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/20230803563/as-baby-boomers-hit-another-milestone-next-summer-social-security-will-feel-the-strain