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California moves to provide surrogates to gay male couples in the name of ‘fertility equality’

California Bill SB 729 seeks to redefine “infertility” to be a status, as opposed to a medical condition. Changing the definition to “a person’s inability to reproduce either as an individual or with their partner without medical intervention” would classify gay men as infertile. 

The bill, which passed the Senate last month, would require insurance companies to cover in-vitro fertilization procedures. With the change in definition, this would also include forcing the firms to cover surrogacy for gay males. 

Co-author of the bill Sen. Caroline Menjivar (D) said the bill “will ensure that queer couples no longer have to pay more out of pocket to start families than non-queer families.” She continued, “This bill is critical to achieving full-lived equality for LGBTQ+ people, as well as advancing well-rounded and comprehensive health care for all Californians.”

An organization called Men Having Babies boasted that the bill will “remove financial barriers” for gay men who wish to rent a woman’s womb to have a child who has the DNA of one of the males in the relationship. 

The group states on its website, “Central to our fight for more equitable access to parenting options is what we know from our combined experiences: The anguish and yearning that same-sex couples and singles feel due to their inability to reproduce without medical intervention is equal to the anguish of heterosexual couples who suffer from ‘medical infertility.'” 

According to the Free Beacon, the opposition to SB 729 comes from California business and insurance groups who claim that it will raise insurance premiums by more than $330 million a year. Others point to the erosion of the traditional family structure.

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Commodity Prices Debunk The “Blame Ukraine” Excuse For Inflation

Most politicians have used the “Ukraine invasion card” to justify the massive inflationary burst in 2021-2023.

It does not matter if inflation was already elevated prior to the war.

Supply chain disruptions, demand recovery, wage growth… Many excuses were used to justify inflation, except the only one that can make aggregate prices rise in unison, which is the creation of more units of currency well above demand.

Inflationists will blame inflation on anything and everything except the only thing that makes all prices, which are measured in monetary units, rise at the same: Money supply growth rising faster than real economic output.

Supply chain disruption and commodity inflation are caused by monetary expansion: More units of currency going to relatively scarce assets. Profits, wages, or commodities are not causes of inflation, but consequences. The unit used to measure prices is weakened by massive increase of its supply. It is as if I sell apples measured in glasses of milk, and suddenly the issuer of milk puts hundreds of gallons more in the market. My apples will cost more glasses of milk to adjust to the reality of the new unit of measure.

Long-term inflation expectations have risen to 3%, the highest level in twelve years. Furthermore, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in April the Consumer Price Index increased 0.4 percent, seasonally adjusted (SA), and rose 4.9 percent over the past 12 months, not seasonally adjusted (NSA). The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.4 percent in April (SA); up 5.5 percent over the year (NSA). However, commodities have plummeted in the past year.

Crude oil (WTI) is down 38% in the past year, trading below pre-Ukraine invasion level. Gasoil (-44%), gasoline (-40%), heating oil (-44%), natural gas (Henry Hub -74% and NBP -65%) have all plummeted to pre-war levels.

Even wheat is down 30% from a year before June 4th, 2023. The FAO Food Price Index has also corrected to a two-year low in May.

Why do commodities plummet in the middle of the China recovery and elevated demand growth and tight supply? Monetary factors again. The massive rate hikes and the subsequent monetary contraction have impacted the internationally quoted prices of goods all over the world. It is more expensive to purchase storage, finance margin calls, hire tankers and start long positions.

If commodities and the Ukraine war were to blame for inflation, why is the consumer price index remain so elevated? Money supply growth is plummeting but not enough to revert the price expansion of 2020-2023 and, in fact, global money supply has not fallen lower than $101 trillion, according to Bloomberg. That is a significant drop in money supply from its highs, and one that justifies the rapid decline in headline inflation, but not enough to revert the price increases for consumers.

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Don’t Bring Back Public Housing

One of the biggest frustrations about getting old is hearing younger people propose ideas that were debunked decades ago—and then getting “eyes glazed over” looks from them after explaining that we’ve already been there and done that. Proposers of such ideas rarely change their minds after I say, “Dude, I was there and remember—and it was a disaster.”

The latest “old is new again” proposal is for the government to just build housing—as in public officials buying the land, choosing the design, finding a developer, and then serving as landlord. The impetus is the nation’s affordable-housing crisis. Advocates have changed the terminology. They are proposing that “we” build “social housing” rather than “public housing projects,” but it’s the same blighted idea.

“Public housing is ready to make a comeback,” wrote Daniel Denvir and Yonah Freemark in left-leaning Slate. They say current efforts to up-zone property (allowing developers to build higher-density projects with fewer regulations) yield only modest results. They rehash the debate on the Left—between YIMBYs (Yes In My Back Yarders) and those who claim that new building promotes gentrification.

“But this debate is often impoverished,” they add. “As policymakers continue to confront this crisis, it is time for them to reconsider an obvious but long-taboo solution: building new public housing.” Of course, this time the government will do it better than the last time by—get this—avoiding income restrictions and opening the units to all comers.

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Crashed UFO recovered by the US military ‘distorted space and time,’ leaving one investigator ‘nauseous and disoriented’ when he went in and discovered it was much larger inside than out, attorney for whistleblowers reveals

A crashed UFO recovered by the US military ‘distorted space-time’ and was ‘bigger on the inside’, claims a top attorney involved in bringing UFO whistleblowers to Congress.

Daniel Sheehan says he was told the mind-boggling tale by a whistleblower who allegedly took part in an illegally-undisclosed program retrieving crashed non-human spacecraft – and who has now briefed Senate Intelligence Committee staff.

The lawyer’s story is the latest in a series of stunning claims this week of UFOs in the government’s hands, which began on Monday with an on-camera interview of former senior Air Force intelligence officer David Grusch alleging that the US government possesses multiple crashed ‘non-human’ craft. 

The Department of Defense says it has ‘not discovered any verifiable information’ to support any of the claims.

But Sheehan has been helping bring whistleblowers like Grusch to Congress in an attempt to expose what he believes is a government cover-up of encounters with extraterrestrials.

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Healing brain trauma with psychedelics

Ian McCall is a former professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter who suffered from symptoms of traumatic brain injuries. After retirement, McCall experienced confusion, anger issues, depression, addiction and suicidal ideation. He tried brain stimulation therapy, but that did not work. So, he turned to a less traditional form of therapy: psilocybin mushrooms.

“I am a very loving, happy person, and I wasn’t for a large portion of my life. Because I was just tortured. I was tortured, and then I was confused, and I was addicted, and I was just crazy for a long time,” McCall said.

Psilocybin mushrooms, also known as magic mushrooms or shrooms, are naturally occurring psychedelics that can affect all senses. They can alter a person’s way of thinking and can cause hallucinations.

“The most important thing to know is that if you take psilocybin or LSD, they’re incredibly safe from a physiological standpoint. You can’t really overdose on them,” Dr. Daniel F. Kelly, a practicing neurosurgeon in Santa Monica said. “They don’t create an addictive behavior like say opiates or alcohol do or nicotine. And in fact, as you probably know, they’re used to break addiction.”

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NYC considers reparations for black residents, removal of ‘racist’ public art amid flurry of legislation

The City Council is mulling a package of controversial bills that include weighing whether black New Yorkers deserve reparations for slavery, and another resurrecting a woke push to remove artwork they consider “racist” from public property.

Councilwoman Farah Louis (D-Brooklyn) introduced her reparations bill on Thursday – the same day the state Legislature in Albany approved a comparable bill.

That legislation, which has been sent to Gov. Kathy Hochul for consideration, would create a commission to study the effects of slavery and racial discrimination on the entire Empire State and potentially reward payments.

Louis’ reparations bill – which only covers the city — would create a nine-member task force that would be required to deliver a report one year after being appointed. Like the state bill, any recommendations would be non-binding and strictly advisory.

It is part of a larger legislative package introduced Thursday by some council members of color they said is aimed at “rectifying” historical “injustices.”

One measure by Crystal Hudson (D-Brooklyn) would require the city’s Commission of Racial Equity to create a “Truth, Healing, and Reconciliation” process that establishes “historical facts” about the city’s past use of slavery and then recommends changes for local government and institutions to “prevent recurrence” – even though New York abolished slavery more than two centuries ago, and lost more than 50,000 men while fighting to free slaves during the Civil War.

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Despite Multiple Arson Arrests, MSM Continues to Blame Canada Wildfires on ‘Climate Change’

Despite the arrest of multiple arsonists, the mainstream media in Canada seems intent on attributing the nation’s recent wildfires to “climate change.”

As wildfires continue to spread across western, and now central and eastern Canada, burning forestland and homes, the mainstream media continues to imply that climate change is the main culprit, despite a growing number of reports showing that arsonists have been arrested for allegedly setting dozens of fires.

“Several arsonists have been arrested in the past weeks in different provinces for lighting forest fires,” People’s Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier tweeted. “But the lying woke media and politicians keep repeating that global warming is the cause.” 

The severe nature of the wildfires has caused Canadians to wonder why they have spread so rapidly, especially as many of the affected areas are not typically impacted by wildfires of this degree or at this time of the year.

In the past months, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have arrested several arsonists who have been charged with lighting fires across several provinces including Nova Scotia, Yukon, British Columbia, and Alberta. The motive behind lighting the fires is unclear.  

One Albertan, John Cook, has been arrested and charged with 10 counts of arson after setting a string of wildfires in and around Cold Lake, a hamlet near Edmonton. 

In addition to damaging vehicles and structures, Cook was charged with setting aflame the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Cherry Grove, Alberta. 

A Vancouver man charged with arson has been released until his trial on October 9, with Cpl. Michael Gauthier asserting that he is not a risk to light further fires.

“This incident was not random in nature and we do not believe there is risk to other members of the public or businesses from the individual who was arrested,” Gauthier stated.

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LSD and Magic Mushrooms Dramatically Rewire the Brain, New Study Reveals

From ketamine drips to microdosing on LSD, psychedelics are shaking up the way we approach and treat mental health. A growing body of scientific evidence shows that these long-stigmatized substances could be potential antidepressants, alleviating symptoms by slipping into areas of the brain traditional SSRIs can’t reach, and encouraging new neural connections.

Despite these advances, psychedelics remain fairly mysterious. Researchers haven’t yet pinned down the various mechanisms through which they work inside our bodies. But now, they might be one step closer.

An international team of scientists led by the University of Helsinki in Finland believes they’ve struck biochemical gold. In a study published Monday in the journal Nature Neuroscience, the researchers found that psychedelics psilocin (the primary chemical in magic mushrooms) and LSD exert an antidepressant effect by binding to a protein, receptor tyrosine kinase beta (TrkB), which then activates brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein that plays a crucial role in the growth, development, and maintenance of neurons; kind of like Miracle-Gro for the brain.

“I think [this study] is very exciting,” Greg Fonzo, co-director of the Center for Psychedelic Research and Therapy at The University of Texas at Austin’s Dell Medical School, who wasn’t involved in the study, tells Inverse. “It establishes a potential common mechanism for psychedelics along with other kinds of antidepressant treatments.” The researchers hope that this new information could potentially lead to creating more effective treatments for mental health disorders.

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Philip K. Dick predicted ChatGPT and its grim ramifications

Philip K. Dick had some strange ideas about the future. In his 40-plus novels and 121 short stories, the science fiction author imagined everything from “mood organs” which allow users to dial up an emotional state including “the desire to watch TV, no matter what’s on” to pay-per-use doors that refuse entrance or exit without sufficient coinage. Characters in Dick’s mind-bending novel “Ubik” (published in 1969 and set in 1992) include a psionic talent scout named G.G. Ashwood, who wears “natty birch-bark pantaloons, hemp-rope belt, peekaboo see-through top and train engineer’s tall hat” and a taxi driver wearing “fuchsia pedal pushers, pink yak fur slippers, a snakeskin sleeveless blouse, and a ribbon in his waist-length dyed white hair.”

But our weird present is looking increasingly like a Philip K. Dick future. While we may not have Deckard’s flying car from “Blade Runner” (adapted from Dick’s novel, “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”), many of the author’s predictions have materialized in real life after appearing on the big screen, including Dick’s fondness for robo-taxis (who can forget the lovable Johnnycab from 1990’s “Total Recall”?), and the predictive policing Dick called “pre-crime” in his 1956 story, “Minority Report,” which hit the big screens in 2002 with the help of Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise.  And now it looks like Philip K. Dick may also have predicted ChatGPT. 

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Billionaire Biden Donor Bankrolled 2020 Election Social Media Censorship Effort

The Department of Homeland Security’s controversial social media censorship effort during the 2020 election was propped up by a partisan billionaire. 

Newly obtained documents, acquired through a public records request, confirm that Pierre Omidyar, the billionaire founder of eBay, financed a specialized portal maintained by the Center for Internet Security (CIS). This portal was used to facilitate the swift removal of predominantly conservative messages on Twitter and Facebook during the previous presidential election.

Omidyar, previously identified as one of the largest donors to campaign groups supporting Joe Biden’s presidential bid, donated $45 million to the “Sixteen Thirty Fund” in 2020. This dark money group mobilized Democratic voters and financed pro-Biden Super PACs. However, Omidyar’s direct involvement in the DHS partnership, which is now facing increased scrutiny, remained undisclosed until now.

The funding provided by Omidyar to CIS was used to establish a Misinformation Reporting Portal (MiRP). A team from CIS continuously monitored this portal 24/7 from September 28 to November 6, 2020, as revealed in a post-election report, “Election Infrastructure Misinformation Reporting.” The Democracy Fund, Omidyar’s foundation, supported the creation of the MiRP through a direct grant, according to the report.

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