Tag: california

Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Set to Be Released in California and Florida

Millions of genetically modified mosquitoes are set to be released in California and Florida in an effort to reduce the number of real, disease-carrying invasive mosquitoes.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday approved use of the genetically engineered insects in pilot projects in specific districts across both states.

The mosquitoes were made by UK-based biotechnology firm Oxitec, which is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in an effort to combat insect-borne diseases such as dengue fever, yellow fever, and the Zika virus.

According to Oxitec, its “sustainable and targeted biological pest control technology does not harm beneficial insects like bees and butterflies and is proven to control the disease-transmitting Aedes aegypti mosquito, which has invaded communities in Florida, California, and other U.S. states.”

Since it was first detected in California in 2013, the Aedes aegypti mosquito has spread rapidly to more than 20 counties throughout the state, increasing the risk of mosquito-borne diseases being transmitted to humans.

Oxitec’s new technology consists of genetically-modified male mosquitoes, which do not bite, that will be released into the wild where they are expected to mate with females, which do bite.

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California authorities RAID three preschools to enforce mask mandates, separating children from adults

A state agency in California allegedly conducted mask raids on a pre-school and interviewed children alone without parental consent. According to parents, the three locations of the Aspen Leaf preschool in San Diego were simultaneously “raided” in January. This after the school was forthright and clear with parents and regulators about their decision to not mask the young students in their care.

The Voice of San Diego reported that officials separated the preschoolers, aged one- to four-years-old, from each other and the adults at the locations to question the children about the school’s masking policies.

In their decision to not mask the pre-schoolers, Aspen Leaf’s owners believed that since the pre-schoolers would not be masked while eating or sleeping, there was no point masking them for the rest of the time, either. The owners also felt that the masks would hinder the children’s development.

The California Department of Social Services is responsible for overseeing compliance in preschools. Though regulators legally have the authority to isolate and interview, children’s parents at Aspen Leaf stated in a complaint that they believed that should only be done in extreme cases, such as alleged child abuse.

According to The Voice, Kevin Gaines, deputy director of child care licensing, wrote to one Aspen Leaf parent, who lodged a complaint, that regulators “…determined that the interviews were conducted in an appropriate manner and were a necessary component of the required complaint investigation.”

He added that “Staff are trained to conduct interviews with children in a manner that avoids causing undue stress,” and that Aspen Leaf adult staff were in the “line of sight” of each child during interviews.

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California weighs punishing doctors for challenging ‘contemporary scientific consensus’ on COVID

Disagreement with the “contemporary scientific consensus” on COVID-19 issues could be deemed “unprofessional conduct” for California doctors.

Democratic Assemblyman Evan Low’s AB 2098 “may” be the subject of a March 17 hearing in the Assembly Committee on Business and Professions, where it was referred last week, according to the legislative history.

The bill, which was cowritten by five other California Assembly and Senate members, goes beyond regulating how California doctors can treat their own patients. It opens their statements about COVID — public or private — to review by the Medical Board of California and the Osteopathic Medical Board of California, with possible sanctions to follow.

“Existing law requires the applicable board to take action against any licensed physician and surgeon who is charged with unprofessional conduct,” according to the legislative counsel’s summary, and the bill would “designate the dissemination or promotion of misinformation or disinformation” about COVID as “unprofessional conduct,” without specifying what’s prohibited.

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Doctors Warn Against Illegal ‘Covid Censorship’ Bill In California That Would Shut Them Down For ‘COVID-19 Misinformation’

Some doctors in California have vowed to fight a possible new law that would threaten their medical licenses if they were caught spreading “COVID-19 misinformation”

The medical professionals are calling the effort “unconstitutional” and “illegal.”

California Assemblyman Evan Low introduced Assembly Bill (AB) 2098 on Feb. 15, which would prevent licensed physicians and surgeons from spreading so called “covid misinformation”

The Epcoh Times reports: if passed, the law would inject disciplinary actions by the Medical Board of California or the Osteopathic Medical Board of California to care providers promoting alleged misinformation.

“The idea that they’re going to come after physicians that spread misinformation, without defining what misinformation is, [is] frightening,” Physician Dr. Jeff Barke told The Epoch Times.

Amid the pandemic, Barke was among the minority of health care professionals unafraid of challenging the science behind masks and vaccinations pushed by the California Department of Public Health and Center for Disease Control and Prevention—urging for individual freedom of choice.

Barke, a private practice physician in Newport Beach, has continuously fought against COVID-19 mandates and has urged for California schools to reopen—saying children are statistically unlikely to die due to the virus.

While Barke is against the mandates—especially lingering COVID-19 vaccine mandates for kids—he reassures that he is not anti-vaccine.

As the threat of censorship lingers among some health professionals, Barke said he fears scientific studies are at risk—as those who have challenged vaccines and masks will be potentially forced into compliance.

“Science is not about consensus. It’s not about agreement. It’s about sharing and debating ideas,” Barke said. “That sharing and debating ideas has not been allowed during the COVID crisis.”

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Unconstitutional? CA bill would permit citizens to enforce weapons ban, sue gunmakers

In an attempt to skirt the U.S. Constitution and challenge the Supreme Court, a new bill in California would allow private citizens to go after gun makers in the same way Texas lets them target abortion providers.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) proposed Friday letting private citizens in his state sue gun makers to stop them from selling assault weapons, comparing the bill to one in Texas that lets its residents sue abortion providers to stop the procedures.

At a news conference in Del Mar, Newsom said he thought the Texas law was wrong and that the Supreme Court’s decision in December to let it stay in effect while it goes through appeal was “absurd” and “outrageous”:

“But they opened up the door. They set the tone, tenor, the rules. And either we can be on the defense complaining about it or we can play by those rules. We are going to play by those rules.

“We’ll see how principled the U.S. Supreme Court is.”

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District Identifies Person Responsible For Racist Graffiti Found At McClatchy High

The person responsible for the racist graffiti found at C.K. McClatchy High School last week has been identified, the Sacramento City Unified School District announced Thursday.

Last Friday, someone wrote the words “White” and “Colored” over water fountains at McClatchy High, a reference to the Jim Crow era. The district’s race and equity monitor, Mark T. Harris, told CBS13 a Black female student confessed to the vandalism and cameras caught her in action.

Harris stopped short of calling it a racially motivated act.

“I don’t believe those words that were on those water fountains were racist,” Harris said. “I do not believe they were hate crime or hate speech. Part of it quite honestly is because the admitted perpetrator is a young African American woman.”

During the interview, she said it was a prank. But community activists like Berry Accius from the Voice of the Youth say there should be zero-tolerance.

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California Lawmakers Introduce Bills to Boost COVID-19 Vaccination Rates

As California pushes for more residents to receive the COVID-19 jab, Democratic lawmakers introduced a series of new bills to achieve higher vaccination rates among Californians. However, critics are concerned that the laws will lead to infringement on individual freedom.

Assembly Bill 2098: Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell)

Low introduced the bill on Feb. 15 to deter licensed physicians and surgeons who spread COVID-19 misinformation. Under this law, any care provider caught promoting disinformation will be subject to disciplinary actions by the Medical Board of California or the Osteopathic Medical Board of California.

“The spread of misinformation and disinformation about COVID-19 and vaccination continues to jeopardize public health,” Low wrote on Twitter on Feb. 15. “The spreading of inaccurate COVID-19 information further erodes public trust in the medical profession & puts all patients at risk.”

Some commenters immediately responded to Low on Twitter asking for further clarification, saying that the proposed legislation doesn’t have a clear definition of “misinformation” and can lead to the state’s health agency interfering with doctors’ judgment in medical practices.

“Who defines what constitutes misinformation?” a commenter wrote. “Would doctors not be allowed to form their own opinions from reviewing studies, data, and evidence?”

Senator Melissa Melendez (R-Lake Elsinore) also wrote on Twitter the same day that the bill would “punish doctors if they dare [to] provide information to their patients that differs from the state narrative. So if you need medical advice, just ask the state medical board.”

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San Jose Mayor: Firearms Will Be Confiscated From Gun Owners Who Don’t Pay City Fee And ‘Liability Insurance’

San Jose’s city council passed a measure last month requiring gun owners to pay a $25 “harm reduction” fee and liability insurance or relinquish their firearms to the government, making the city the first in the nation to impose an annual fee on law-abiding, firearm owning citizens.

The city’s Democrat mayor, Sam Liccardo insists the new ordinance, allowing law enforcement officials to seize firearms from those who refuse to pay the fees, will ultimately reduce crime and establish “a new kind of framework for gun safety,  Slate reports.

Allowing law enforcement to seize firearms from those who refuse to pay the fee makes will ultimately reduce crime, the Liccardo told the publication.

“For example, there’s a bar brawl and they’re patting down everybody and someone’s got a gun. ‘Have you paid your fee? You have insurance?’ ‘No.’ OK, well, there’s an opportunity for us to remove the gun. And then when the gun owner comes back and demonstrates that they comply with the law and they’re a lawful gun owner, they get their gun back. But in the meantime, you’ve taken a gun out of a bar brawl. And that’s not a bad thing,” he argued.

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California High School Barricades Maskless Children in Gym, Staffer Turns Down Thermostat to “Freeze Them Out”

Oakdale, California – High School students at Oakdale Joint Unified School District began protesting the state’s mask mandate after Governor Newsom was spotted at a 49ers-Rams game without a mask on.

“If they don’t follow by their own rules that they’re trying to force upon me, why should I follow them,” an Oakdale High School student told CBS 13.

Brave high schoolers showed up to school without masks this week and the far-left school staffers used lunch tables to barricade the children in the school’s gym.

The police were called to conduct a welfare check after a school staff member turned down the thermostat to “freeze them out.”

A school officer conducted a welfare check and concluded it was not a police matter so the abuse is not currently under police investigation.

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California child molester sentenced to two years in juvenile facility

A 26-year old transgender woman who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl will be moved to a youth treatment center, despite prosecutor’s efforts to keep her in a Los Angeles County Jail.

LA County prosecutors said Hannah Tubbs, who identifies as female, also would not have to register as a sex offender once she finishes her two-year sentence.

Tubbs, who was busted for molesting a 10-year-old when she was a 17-year-old juvenile, will be sent to the kids lock up after LA County District Attorney George Gascón declined to file a motion to move the case out of juvenile court, where it was filed because of Tubbs’ age at the time of offense.

A judge in Antelope Valley, Calif. ruled Thursday that Tubbs would be moved to the youth treatment center immediately, where she will be kept with juvenile female prisoners.

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