January 13th, 2019

Abortions became legal on Jan. 1 in Ireland, but 95 percent of doctors are not willing to do them, the Southern Star reports.

While abortion activists blame a fear of pro-life protests for the lack of abortionists, the more likely reason is that most doctors do not think killing a human being should be part of the medical profession.

Leading medical groups also have said the abortion law was pushed through too quickly, creating an “unacceptable and unsafe” environment for women in Ireland.

The US Air Force is putting China on notice... Beijing has reacted aggressively to a number of routine US long-range flyovers in the Pacific and South China Sea regions over the past year, including "close call" incidents involving Chinese intercept attempts of US vessels passing through what China claims as its own territorial waters.
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"Deploying to Hawaii enables us to showcase to a large American and international audience that the B-2 is on watch 24 hours a day, seven days a week ready to protect our country and its allies," military spokesman Lt. Col. Joshua Dorr said in a statement.

For the first time in its 127-year history, the American Psychological Association has issued guidelines to help psychologists specifically address the issues of men and boys — and the 36-page document features a warning.

“Traditional masculinity ideology has been shown to limit males’ psychological development, constrain their behavior, result in gender role strain and gender role conflict and negatively influence mental health and physical health,” the report warns.

The new “Guidelines for the Psychological Practice with Boys and Men” defines “masculinity ideology” as “a particular constellation of standards that have held sway over large segments of the population, including: anti-femininity, achievement, eschewal of the appearance of weakness, and adventure, risk, and violence.” The report also links this ideology to homophobia, bullying and sexual harassment.

Several other states already prohibit gender discrimination in pricing auto insurance, according to the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), a Washington, D.C., watchdog group. These include Hawaii, Massachusetts, Montana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and some parts of Michigan.

But California stands out because it also bans accepting, rejecting or raising rates on applicants due to their educational status, job or credit score. The state has also eliminated gender-based pricing in health insurance.

President Donald Trump's former White House communications director is among the 12 celebrity house guests competing for $250,000 on the second season of the CBS reality show, which premieres Jan. 21.

Scaramucci, dubbed "The Mooch," will follow in the footsteps of Omarosa Manigault Newman, who competed on the network's first-ever "Celebrity Big Brother" after she was shown the door of the White House.

A former private school employee living in San Pablo was charged with possessing more than 600 images of child pornography, authorities said Monday.

Francisco Perez, 34, was arraigned Friday after Google tipped off local law enforcement agencies about his online searches in November, according to the Contra Costa district attorney’s office.
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Perez allegedly worked at the San Domenico School in San Anselmo as a food services contractor. He allegedly used a false name and Social Security number to get the job, because he is an undocumented immigrant...

French riot police have deployed semi-automatic weapons with live ammunition against Yellow Vest protestors for the first time.

Officers were filmed brandishing Heckler & Koch G36 weapons by the Arc de Triomphe in Paris on Saturday afternoon.

The presence of semi-automatic rifles at a demonstration by unarmed French citizens shows how President Emmanuel Macron’s law and order crisis spirals.

A collaboration between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and two energy companies is encouraging interdisciplinary research to fast-track the development of practical fusion power.
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MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center is working with a private company called Commonwealth Fusion Systems to “carry out rapid, staged research leading to a new generation of fusion experiments and power plants based on advances in high-temperature superconductors,” according to the institute. The work is funded in part by an Italian energy company called Eni, which contributed $50 million.

• The vast majority of televisions available today are "smart" TVs, with internet connections, ad placement, and streaming services built in.
• Despite the added functionality, TV prices are lower than ever — especially from companies like TCL and Vizio, which specialize in low-cost, high-tech smart TVs.
• There's a simple reason that smart TV prices are so low: some TV makers collect user data and sell it to third-parties, which can offset the cost.

Nobel Prize-winning DNA scientist James Watson has been stripped of several honorary titles by the laboratory he once headed over his views about intelligence and race.

The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory said it was acting in response to remarks he made in a television documentary which aired earlier this month.
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While Dr Watson also said he hoped everyone was equal, he added: "People who have to deal with black employees find this is not true."

In the latest documentary, the molecular biologist says that genes cause a difference on average between black people and white people in IQ tests.

After nearly 70 years, all members of the Groveland Four — four young black men falsely accused of raping a white woman in Lake County — were pardoned by a unanimous vote Friday.

Florida's new Cabinet and Gov. Ron DeSantis met for the first time as the state Clemency Board Friday, where they heard from family members of the men who were either imprisoned, tortured or murdered by mobs and a racist sheriff. The Groveland Four matter was only supposed to be up for discussion and families were not expecting to hear a vote Friday. But at the very end of the meeting, DeSantis called for a vote.

The number of unaccompanied minors who moved to Long Island declined by more than 50 percent last year, even as more crossed the United States border with Mexico, new federal data shows.

The decrease came as fewer migrant children were released from federal custody and spent more time in government shelters under President Donald Trump's efforts to crack down on illegal immigration, according to data and experts.

The number of unaccompanied minors who settled with relatives and sponsors in Nassau and Suffolk counties in fiscal year 2018 dropped by 54 percent to 830, compared with 1,804 in 2017, according to the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement.