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Belief that words cause ‘lasting’ harm tied to politics, poor mental health: study

Individuals more likely to believe words can harm rated themselves as higher in intellectual humility, while also expressing greater support for censorship

A new psychology study suggests that Americans who believe words can cause “lasting” psychological harm are also more likely to support censorship, safe spaces, and silencing controversial viewpoints.

These individuals are also more likely to struggle with depression and believe themselves to be intellectually humble, according to the research, published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences.

The study introduces what scholars call the “Words Can Harm Scale,” a measurement tool designed to quantify how strongly individuals believe speech can cause lasting emotional damage.

The researchers surveyed nearly 1,000 U.S. adults and found that individuals who scored higher on the scale were more likely to endorse trigger warnings, support safe spaces, and believe controversial viewpoints should be suppressed. They also reported higher levels of anxiety and depression and lower resilience.

Lead researchers created the 10-item scale to better understand the role of perceived harm in ongoing debates about speech and censorship.

“A lot of societal disagreements seem to hinge on the belief that words can cause lasting harm,” co-author Sam Pratt, a psychology PhD student at UCLA, told The College Fix in an exclusive interview. “We wondered whether people’s attitudes on these issues could be predicted by a general belief that words can cause harm, so we created a scale to measure it.”

The researchers define “harm” not simply as offense or discomfort but as lasting psychological damage.

“We’re interested in the perception that words can cause lasting psychological damage — leaving people emotionally scarred, traumatized, or permanently harmed,” Pratt said.

Importantly, the study does not attempt to determine whether speech always causes such damage. Instead, it focuses on how belief in harm shapes social and political attitudes.

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Legendary economist known for 1969-70 recession prediction warns downturn may hit in 2026

Gary Shilling, the legendary forecaster known for his bearish accuracy and being fired from Merrill Lynch for predicting the 1969-70 recession, is sounding the alarm on a 2026 economic collapse.

In a recent interview with Business Insider, Shilling warned that a U.S. recession is “almost inevitable” by year-end, driven by a “frozen” housing market, corporate investment indicators and a weakening consumer base.

“Stocks are very expensive and there probably is a major correction coming somewhere in the relatively near future,” Shilling said. “A decline of 20% or 30% is no big deal by historical standards. So I would say that’s probably in the cards.”

“I’ve sort of made a career looking for those hidden flaws, and I don’t see anything right now that is just screaming for a big sell-off, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there,” he added.

Across American real estate, buyers and sellers have been reluctant to make moves as interest rates remain elevated, and mortgage loan rates slowly tick down. There is also a lack of affordable inventory and reports of rising foreclosures, signaling homeowners continue to get squeezed.

Shilling also pointed to what he described as a “collapse” in capital expenditures, or large investments that companies expect will last for years and boost overall future value. Business Insider cited that broader capital expenditures grew just 3.9% by the end of 2025, compared with a pandemic peak of 24% capex growth.

The economist spotlighted the state of the U.S. consumer as the third pillar leading to a recession, with the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge remaining stubbornly high in March, rising 0.7% month-over-month and up 3.5% from a year ago.

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Government Sues New York Times for Alleged Discrimination Against White Man

The New York Times is making news itself these days, with a “diversity and inclusion” drive that’s dragged it into court.

One of the most influential liberal news outlets in the nation is facing a federal lawsuit from President Donald Trump’s administration over alleged discrimination against an unidentified white male employee in favor of women, blacks, and other nonwhites when a promotion was at stake.

And the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission clearly isn’t fooling around.

In the lawsuit, according to the New York Post, the alleged victim claimed the Times employee had been passed over for a promotion in favor of a final panel of candidates that included “a white woman, a Black man, an Asian female and a multiracial female.”

According to a New York Times report about the suit, the alleged victim claimed that the promotion of a white man would fail to follow the newspaper’s own goals as described in a 2021 document called “Call to Action.”

“A decrease in the percentage of White male employees (whether new hires, existing employees, or those in leadership, as appropriate) was a necessary consequence for the NYT to achieve these results,” the article noted, citing the lawsuit.

The man at the heart of the issue has been working at the newspaper since 2014, according to the New York Times report. Last year, he applied for a job as deputy real estate editor, the newspaper stated. He did get one interview for the job, but never made it to the panel interview stage.

The EEOC lawsuit claims he is more qualified than the person who received the promotion.

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Israelis with dual nationality behind ‘large-scale’ acquisition of Syrian agricultural lands: Report

Israel is expanding its control over territory in southern Syria, not merely through military means, but also through the purchase of agricultural lands by individuals of Jewish descent holding multiple nationalities, Al-Akhbar reported on 4 May.

According to a local source in the Deraa Governorate of southern Syria, extensive purchases of agricultural land are underway in the Yarmouk Basin, an area with significant water resources bordering the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

These transactions are reportedly being orchestrated by individuals linked to Jewish agencies and holding passports from various countries, including Canada, Australia, and the UK.

The reports specifically name an organization called the “Pioneers of Bashan” as one of the key parties involved in the land purchases.

According to these sources, the total land area involved in these transactions amounts to approximately 200,000 dunams (200 square kilometers).

The sales have been formalized through official contracts, amid apprehension among local residents regarding the suspected links between some of these deals and Jewish entities.

The sources speaking with Al-Akhbar also reported that an Israeli delegation recently visited archaeological sites in the region – including several hills believed to contain ancient Jewish burial grounds.

In a related context, reports indicate that former Syrian army military sites in the Deraa countryside – including the headquarters of the 61st Brigade and the 128th Battalion (part of the 5th Division) – have been purchased by an Australian businessman. This individual is reportedly acting on behalf of a Jewish agency dedicated to expansion and settlement activities.

Since Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s government was toppled by formerly Al-Qaeda-linked Salafist extremists in December 2024, Israel has expanded its occupation of the Golan Heights and other territories in southern Syria.

Jewish settler groups in Israel say it is their goal to occupy land in southern Syria and southern Lebanon in a bid to expand the borders of Greater Israel through military conquest and Jewish settlement.

Israeli forces carry out nearly daily incursions into southern Syria, facing no resistance from Syria’s new government, led by the former ISIS commander Ahmad al-Sharaa.

Sharaa’s new army has instead been targeting Syria’s religious minorities, including carrying out major massacres of the country’s Alawites and Druze, as well as at times against Christians and Kurds.

In the 2024 documentary “In Israel: Ministers of Chaos,” Israeli Finance Minister and settler leader Bezael Smotrich stated, “It is written that the future of Jerusalem is to expand to Damascus.”

Smotrich claimed that Israel would expand “little by little” and eventually encompass all occupied Palestinian territories as well as Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.

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Rare Survivors of Pacific Boat Strikes Allege U.S. Forces Kidnapped and Tortured Them

The extraordinary story you’re about to read, by Camila Lourdes Galarza, is a dark look into what it’s like to live and die on the other side of U.S. headlines. As we expand deeper into reporting on South and Central America, particularly with the hiring of our Latin America bureau chief José Luis Granados Ceja, this is the kind of journalism we hope to be bringing you more of. (Granados Ceja just returned from a reporting trip to Cuba; watch him discuss the situation there on Breaking Points.)

The last time Roxanna Mero heard from her husband Carlos was January 19. Calling from sea on an emergency line, he said an “American aircraft, two drones, and a blue patrol ship” had been circling La Fiorella, the Ecuadorian fishing boat he captained. The presence of an airplane worried him, given that Trump’s extrajudicial airstrikes across the Pacific and Caribbean have killed more than 170 people in 6 months, but a local coast guard had already inspected the vessel, found nothing and cleared them to continue.

The next day, the boat went up in smoke. The eight fishermen aboard have not been seen since.

Three independent accounts from relatives of the missing crew assert that eyewitnesses, on a nearby raft at the time of the incident, saw La Fiorella engulfed in flames. “They’ve been threatened not to speak to the press. They’re scared for their lives,” said Angelica Lourdes Mero, whose son and spouse are among the disappeared men.

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Carbon Neutral, Speech Negative: Amsterdam Bans Ads Featuring Meat & Fossil Fuels

In “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,” I write about how censorship often becomes an insatiable appetite once countries go down the road of speech regulation. There is no better example than the Dutch and their recent ban on public ads for meat and fossil fuels. Activists have imposed similar limitations on advertising for products in the United States, from alcohol to tobacco. However, the Dutch law reflects how this tendency can metastasize into shielding citizens from unhealthy choices or influences.

It appears that Dutch painters such as Pieter Aertsen (with his work A Meat Stall with the Holy Family Giving Alms, above) were promoting harmful imagery in their work. As for Rembrandt’s “Slaughtered Ox,” the Dutch master is now little more than a climate change denier.

Starting on May 1, the ban on such images became part of Amsterdam’s push to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. While purportedly neutral on carbon, it is manifestly negative on free speech.

As with other anti-free speech measures in Europe, this push again came from the left. The GreenLeft Party’s Anneke Veenhoff explained “I mean, if you want to be leading in climate policies and you rent out your walls to exactly the opposite, then what are you doing?”

The answer is engaging in free speech.

This is, of course, commercial speech, which is often subject to a lower level of protection. However, this shows the danger of using the differential standard to target products or industries viewed as unhealthy or ill-advised for consumers.

In Amsterdam, the ban will cover industries such as airlines, including KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, one of the largest employers and revenue generators in the country.

Notably, activists compare this to cigarette advertising bans, confirming the very slippery slope danger that those companies raised when they were targeted.

Hannah Prins, a paralegal at Advocates for the Future, is quoted as saying, “I don’t think it’s normal to see murdered animals on billboards. So I think it’s very good that that’s going to change.”

Other Dutch cities are now following suit, including Haarlem, Utrecht, and Nijmegen.

Of course, prostitutes still advertise live in Amsterdam and marijuana is a major industry for tourists.

If you want drugs, there are ample choices.

However, if you want a steak, you will have to rely on word-of-mouth directions.

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DOJ Issues Grand Jury Subpoenas For ALL 2020 Election Workers Records from Fulton County

On April 17, 2026, a grand jury issued a subpoena to the Fulton County Board of Registrations and Elections (BRE) to appear in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Georgia on May 5, 2026.

Department of Justice prosecutors obtain a grand jury subpoena by preparing it in connection with an active grand jury investigation and issuing it under the grand jury’s authority.

In this case, the subpoena requests that the Fulton County BRE bring specific documents and electronically stored information.  That information includes information regarding election staff/members who served in the November 2020 General Election.  The records must identify their name, position/function, residential and email addresses, and personal telephone numbers.

The records include those who were performing the following functions and duties:

  • Individuals assigned to review Mail-In Ballots
  • Individuals assigned to the Voter Review Panel/Board
  • Individuals assigned to Mobile Voting Locations
  • Individuals assigned to transfer results to or from media or transport ballots, ballot stock, or media
  • Individuals employed or contracted by the Fulton Board of Registrations and Elections
  • Individuals who worked or volunteered for the Risk Limiting Audit
  • Individuals who worked or volunteered for the Recount
  • Individuals who served as precinct managers and assistant managers

Many of these individuals could potentially have pertinent information about numerous anomalies uncovered over the last several years.  The Gateway Pundit has previously reported that Fulton County did not properly perform signature verification on mail-in ballots in Fulton County, according to testimony under oath from then-Fulton County BRE member Mark Wingate during the disbarment hearing for former Deputy Attorney General Jeff Clark.

Wingate also testified that he was prevented from viewing chain of custody documents prior to certifying the 2020 election.  Both issues could potentially be explored with the above witnesses.

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Secret Service Officer Arrested For Exposing Himself in Miami Hotel Hallway

A Secret Service officer was arrested and charged for exposing himself in front of guests at a Miami hotel.

John Spillman, 33, was arrested after he exposed himself and masturbated in the hallway of the hotel.

Spillman was allegedly in the lobby of the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Miami Airport and followed a female guest upstairs.

The woman and another guest immediately entered their room because they were afraid.

The victims saw Spillman expose himself and called hotel security.

Per RealClearPolitics reporter Susan Crabtree:

A Secret Service Uniformed Division officer was arrested early Monday for allegedly masturbating naked on the sixth floor of the DoubleTree hotel near the Miami airport.

Police arrested John Spillman, 33, shortly after midnight Monday morning after hotel security called them.

Officers with the Miami Dade Sheriff’s office responded and caught him in the act, according to the arrest affidavit.

A victim told police that she was in the lobby when Spillman allegedly followed her and another upstairs and immediately entered a room “because she was in fear for their lives.”

“The victim saw the defendant masturbating next to their hotel room,” according to the arrest affidavit.

A judge has set bail at $1,000 and scheduled a hearing for May 27.

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Doctors can fraudulently apply billing codes for transgender mutilations

How many years have we been discussing these abominable transgender treatments on children? And how long have doctors insisted on practicing them, in spite of all the evidence condemning them?

A recent report from the medical watchdog group Do No Harm explains the latest abuses in the medical community, revealing how medical codes can be misapplied in order to reap the profits of “transgender care.” Their behavior is especially abhorrent, because they’re administering these treatments to children, who have enough stress in their pre-teen and teen years without “experts” promoting gender dysphoria to them. These procedures are so sufficiently despicable that many states have banned them for children. To date, 27 states have passed policies and imposed penalties on doctors who provide children with “gender-affirming care.”

The report lists the red flags for doctors trying to disguise what they are doing:

The report identifies eight codes that may be the most likely to hide child ‘transition’ interventions from insurers and regulators, including hypopituitarism, other primary ovarian failure, testicular hypofunction, precocious puberty, other specified endocrine disorders, unspecified endocrine disorder, hormone replacement therapy, and hypertrophy of breast.

Activist organizations continue to feed the frenzy by encouraging doctors to pursue these interventions, and provide information on how to manipulate the medical codes. Those offending groups include WPATH, Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania, the Campaign for Southern Equality, and QueerDoc.

Providing “gender-affirming care” (GAC) treatments can be quite lucrative, ranging from $5,000 for facial surgery to $50,000 for a phalloplasty; there can be additional charges for using a facility, pathology reports, and anesthesia. When weighing the financial benefits against the ethical costs, some doctors find the temptation too great.

The federal government tried to put pressure on doctors to discourage them from treating children:

In social media posts Monday, the FBI and its chief spokesperson asked for tips on ‘any hospitals or clinics who break the law and mutilate children under the guise of ‘gender affirming care.’

But experts say the FBI’s new push isn’t backed up by federal law and may only be intended to scare medical practitioners away from offering those services.

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Sen. Rand Paul Calls Out DOJ — Warns Agency Has Only ONE WEEK LEFT to Charge Fauci For Lying to Congress About Gain-of-Function

Senator Rand Paul just fired a direct shot across the bow of the Department of Justice.

In a blistering post on X, Paul declared that the DOJ has ONE WEEK left to finally charge Former NIAID chief Dr. Anthony Fauci Dr. Anthony Fauci for lying to Congress about funding gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Here’s what Paul wrote:

“The DOJ has ONE WEEK left to charge Anthony Fauci for the worst cover-up in modern medical history. He lied to Congress about funding gain-of-function research in Wuhan. Millions died. Trillions were spent. And Fauci walked away with book deals and fawning media coverage instead of handcuffs. I re-upped my criminal referral to the DOJ because the evidence is overwhelming, and justice has been delayed long enough.”

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