Free Republic

Transgender women keep their prostates even after gender-affirming surgery, but the extent to which they remain at risk of prostate cancer has been unclear. Now a first of its kind study led by UC San Francisco has estimated the risk at about 14 cases per 10,000 people. The study drew on 22 years of data from the Veterans Affairs Health System. Although the sample size was necessarily small, it is still the largest study of its kind. It publishes Saturday, April 29, 2023 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and is timed to the annual meeting of...

<p>The soldier, who was stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, was participating in a training exercise in Eagle River, Anchorage, with a small group of other soldiers, according to a news release. Officials at the base did not say if any other trainees had sustained injuries.</p>

As the Jussie Smollett case boiled over last year, Judge Michael Toomin appointed a special prosecutor to look at how Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and her office handled the controversial case, saying it had been botched. On Monday, the Cook County Democratic Party, which is chaired by Foxx ally Toni Preckwinkle, took the relatively rare step of voting not to endorse Toomin for retention on the Nov. 3 ballot. The move set off a political firestorm. Toomin called it “retaliation.” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said it sure looked like payback. But the Democratic leaders who dumped Toomin pointed to...

The video of Trump giving gratitude to veterans has the Presidential Seal obscured. Pretty straightforward to do, like what Google does for faces and license plates on Streetview, but requires dedicated compute resources - it doesn't happen by accident. Probably somebody inside the company thinking they're doing something cheeky. This kind of stuff should bounce back on them legally and civilly in a big way.

After reports emerged that fish sellers were labeling rainbow trout as salmon, the Chinese government made a startling announcement. According to the New York Times, Chinese regulators announced this week that, far from cracking down on mislabeled fish, rainbow trout can legally be labeled as salmon. Incorrectly labeled fish—whether accidentally or intentionally—is a worldwide issue. Reports have indicated that much of the world’s fish is mislabeled; the advocacy group Oceana ran a test and found that one in five fish samples were mislabeled worldwide. Sometimes these are understandable: can you really tell the difference between red snapper and red sea...

Does America break up families, keep kids in cages, and abuse illegal immigrants? Obviously, not enough or there would be far fewer illegal immigrants. (They're far more looped into the risks than the average Joe). The facts are this is rare, temporary, this has been done forever (and under the Obama and Clinton administrations), and the idea that criminals shouldn't be separated from their kids is absurd. Under the Democrats reasoning, for domestic crime, it is fine to separate families. But for foreign invaders and perpetrators should get special exceptions. But a nation without laws is no longer a nation....

Illinois state lawmakers on Jan. 30 heard a proposal to borrow more than $107 billion to fund pensions. If implemented, it would be the biggest debt sale in municipal bond market history. Lawmakers discussed the proposal in the House Personnel & Pensions Committee. The State Universities Annuitants Association, or SUAA, claims the plan will save the state $103 billion in the next 25 years. But baked into that estimate are assumptions regarding borrowing and investment returns that are by no means guaranteed. Illinois’ pension debt is as high as $250 billion, according to Moody’s Investment Service. The SUAA plan is...

Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration is using federal security regulations written to thwart terrorism to deny public access to records that experts say could guide repairs to the Oroville Dam and provide insight into what led to the near catastrophic failure of its emergency spillway. The administration also is blocking public review of records that would show how Brown’s office handled the February crisis at Oroville Dam that led to the two-day evacuation of nearly 200,000 Northern Californians.

Connor Balthazor, 17, was in the middle of study hall when he was called into a meeting with his high school newspaper adviser. A group of reporters and editors from the student newspaper, the Booster Redux at Pittsburg High School in southeastern Kansas, had gathered to talk about Amy Robertson, who was hired as the high school’s head principal on March 6. The student journalists had begun researching Robertson, and quickly found some discrepancies in her education credentials.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — With over seven million votes cast so far in the U.S. presidential election, early voting data is pointing to a tight race in most key battleground states. But there is one battleground upon which the Donald Trump campaign appears to be headed towards utter defeat: The fight for votes from World War I veterans. With at least 25,000 World War I veterans casting their votes thus far, the party affiliation breakdown of submitted ballots is suggesting a hard break towards the Clinton camp among veterans who fought in the Great War from 1914-1918, sources say. Some 98...

In an affidavit issued in federal court late last week, special agents detailed numerous firearms sales, attempted murders, huge amounts of drug sales and a gang that said it was ready to go to war with the Chelsea Police. In an early morning raid last Thursday, June 9, federal, state and local law enforcement cracked down on the East Side Money Gang (ES$G) and the 18th Street Gang in Chelsea – arresting at least 12 targeted members in Chelsea alone and leveling charges against 66 members of those two gangs and another gang in Jamaica Plain. In total, 53 defendants...

Time to reform the Pentagon’s award system There has been a jarring addition to U.S. military uniforms since the end of World War II. Seventy years ago, high-ranking officers wore relatively few ribbons or medals — and awards for valor were rare. Go back farther to the Civil War, and it was common for officers to not wear military decorations at all. But for the modern officer, it’s now possible to perform one’s duties without being a hero and still have a chest full of ribbons that are indecipherable to all but the most dedicated students of phaleristics. Most of all, the...

WEST TOWN — The daughter of state Rep. Cynthia Soto is facing criminal charges along with her boyfriend for hitting former Soto opponent Bob Zwolinski over the head with a beer bottle and stapling his forehead, Chicago Police said. Jessica Soto, 26, of the 1500 Block of West Ohio Street, and Bradley Fichter, 26, of the 4700 Block of North Kewanee Avenue, were each charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery causing great bodily harm and aggravated battery in a public place. Additionally, Fichter was charged with one felony count of disorderly conduct for filing a false...

President Obama says he plans to stay in Washington after the end of his presidency so that his younger daughter can finish high school with her class, a rare disclosure about his family’s personal plans for the future.

The Republican primary election in the city of Chelsea was dominated by a surprising name: Jim Gilmore. Wait, who? Gilmore, the former Virginia governor, ran a near-nonexistent campaign, hovered at zero percent in the polls, repeatedly failed to qualify for the undercard debates, and finally dropped out of the race in mid-February. You’d be forgiven if you didn’t know he even ran for president.

No story, just a link to a neat map. Chinese Detection/Defense Capabilities in the South China Sea

A Denver-bound United Airlines flight had to turn back and return to Dulles International Airport after an unruly passenger allegedly charged toward the cockpit. According to multiple reports, the passenger was subdued by several passengers near first class before he made it to the cockpit, the Post reports. A Reddit user whose father was on the plane posted pictures and a video of the incident and says that the passenger in question "was screaming and sprinting towards the cockpit" before he was tackled and subdued by "several large passengers." A government official with "direct knowledge of the incident" told CNN...

<p>A Malian described as a "hero" after he helped hostages at a Jewish supermarket to hide during last week's Paris attacks will be awarded French nationality Tuesday, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said.</p> <p>Lassana Bathily, who has lived in France since 2006, had applied in July last year for French nationality, and Mr Cazeneuve, praising his "bravery", said in a statement he would be given it at a ceremony on Tuesday.</p>

Some school-age children have been in contact with the U.S. Ebola patient being treated in Dallas, Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Wednesday. Five students at four different schools have come into contact with the Ebola patient, Dallas Superintendent Mike Miles added, but none has exhibited symptoms. The children are being monitored at home, and the schools remain open, Miles said. Between 12 and 18 people have been identified as coming into contact with the patient, officials added.

The idea that the streets in America are paved with gold has always been a nearly undefeatable idea in the Third World. The hope that if one can just get to the promised land – the American land of opportunity – that earning money will be easy and relative riches will literally be handed over. I’m sure it’s a belief that brings about the necessary hope that is required to make it through a difficult life of poverty; in fact, I’m certain that’s the case because I have personally heard those laments over the telephone and in e-mails or Facebook...