Kentucky tax preparer says couples welcome, but ‘homosexual marriage not recognized’ – Scotties Toy Box

If you can say no homosexuals allowed then you can say no blacks allowed.    If this guy refused to do the taxes of a black couple, would everyone still be OK with it.    This is 2021, same sex marriage has been legal around the world for 20 years.   This is what religious freedom has become, not the right to worship a deity of your choice, but to have the right to discriminate against those who are different from you.   I am so tired of this fight.   Yet we must keep fighting because it is a growing cancer on our country. Source: Kentucky tax preparer says couples welcome, but ‘homosexual marriage not recognized’ – Scotties Toy Box

Thailand Has Told Myanmar to Reduce Violence, PM Says — Radio Free Asia

“We cannot do anything we want, because we have common borders [with Myanmar] and we rely on each other for many things. But we certainly do not agree with violence and we have said so to them, and have kept telling them to reduce [violence].” Source: Thailand Has Told Myanmar to Reduce Violence, PM Says — Radio Free Asia

12 Protesters Killed as Troops Attack Pocket of Resistance in Northwest Myanmar — Radio Free Asia

12 Protesters Killed as Troops Attack Pocket of Resistance in Northwest Myanmar

Military junta forces fired rocket launchers and grenades to dismantle a protest camp in a city near Myanmar’s border with India Wednesday, killing 12 protesters in a region of northwest Myanmar where civilians have inflicted casualties on troops.

In a heavy crackdown that started before sunrise in the Sagaing region city of Kalay, security forces used heavy weaponry to smash the protester encampment dubbed “Fort Tahan” built to shield anti-coup demonstrators from gunfire by police and soldiers.

Witnesses said at least 12 local residents, including protesters, were killed, and many others were injured in Kalay. They were among at least 26 civilians killed Wednesday during nationwide crackdowns by Myanmar security forces on Wednesday, witnesses in various locations said.

Source: 12 Protesters Killed as Troops Attack Pocket of Resistance in Northwest Myanmar — Radio Free Asia

New Mexico ends qualified immunity | TheHill

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) signed a bill on Wednesday ending qualified immunity for all government workers, including police. 

Grisham signed the New Mexico Civil Rights Act, which ends the use of qualified immunity as a defense for depriving a person of their civil rights, her office said.

Qualified immunity shields state and local police from civil suits unless they violated a clearly established constitutional right, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

New Mexico is the first state to end qualified immunity for all public bodies, the New Mexico House Democrats said on Twitter. However, it is not the only state to end the practice in some capacity. 

Source: New Mexico ends qualified immunity | TheHill

McConnell’s threat to punish companies opposing GOP policies is unconstitutional – Vox

the Supreme Court explained in Perry v. Sindermann (1972), “even though a person has no ‘right’ to a valuable governmental benefit and even though the government may deny him the benefit for any number of reasons, there are some reasons upon which the government may not rely.” Among other things, the government “may not deny a benefit to a person on a basis that infringes his constitutionally protected interests — especially, his interest in freedom of speech.” Source: McConnell’s threat to punish companies opposing GOP policies is unconstitutional – Vox

Biden restarts U.S. aid relief programs to Palestinians

  • The Biden administration announced it will restore U.S. humanitarian and economic development aid for Palestinians.
  • The aid package includes $75 million in economic and development assistance in the West Bank and Gaza, $10 million for peacebuilding programs through the USAID, and $150 million in humanitarian assistance under the U.N.

Source: Biden restarts U.S. aid relief programs to Palestinians

EU drug regulator: Unusual blood clot is ‘very rare AstraZeneca side effect’ – BBC News

After a study looking at 86 European cases, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) concluded the benefits of the vaccine outweighed the risk.

The report reflected data on 25 million Europeans administered with the jab.

The EMA could not list specific risk factors such as age or gender, but most blood clot cases were women under 60.

Source: EU drug regulator: Unusual blood clot is ‘very rare AstraZeneca side effect’ – BBC News