Anti-Drag Laws and Free Speech: The First Amendment Case for Protecting Drag

In 2023, there were six federal court cases involving anti-drag laws or government denials of permission to hold drag shows on public property. All but one of these cases concluded that drag shows constituted expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment. Four of the cases involved challenges to recently enacted anti-drag laws, and in each of those cases, the courts found the laws to violate the First Amendment on multiple grounds, including not being narrowly tailored to achieve their purpose, as well as being vague and overbroad. However, one court, ruling on a denial of permission to hold a drag show, concluded that drag shows were not protected by the First Amendment. This Article considers these court decisions on state anti-drag laws and the reasons the laws were found to be unconstitutional. It also considers court arguments for and against providing protection to drag shows as expressive conduct under the First Amendment, concluding that drag shows do qualify for First Amendment protection

The First Amendment and Content Restrictions in State Film Incentive Programs

In recent years, many states have offered incentive programs to lure film production and its associated economic benefits—increased jobs, spending, and tourism—to their states. Several of these programs have restrictions that deny incentives based on a film’s content. For example, Texas denies film incentives to projects that have “inappropriate content” or portray “Texas or Texans in a negative way.” This article concludes that these restrictions do not violate the First Amendment. Two key considerations factor into this conclusion: First, in granting subsidies, the government may apply criteria that would be impermissible in a regulatory context. Second, the denial of a subsidy is not the same as the infringement of a right

News Reporting on Trump\u27s COVID-19 Treatments: Should Broadcasters Have to Disclose their Being Potentially Dangerous?

During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, President Trump touted a number of treatments that many medical professionals considered dangerous. These treatments include hydroxychloroquine and disinfectants, which if misused could cause a patient’s death. This prompted Free Press to file an emergency petition with the FCC, arguing that broadcasters who report on Trump’s claims about these treatments without highlighting their dangers could be in violation of the Commission’s broadcast hoax rule. Free Press also requested the FCC require that broadcasters include disclaimers when reporting on such claims. This article examines whether the broadcast hoax rule has been violated here, and whether such disclaimers should be required. The preferred approach under the First Amendment is to leave it to the marketplace of ideas to ascertain the truth of Trump’s statements. This article ultimately concludes that the broadcast hoax rule is a poor fit for this case and that requiring disclaimers could chill broadcast coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving the public less informed about this important public health issue. Counterspeech, or providing accurate information to help counteract false statements, is the preferable approach here

Stepping Up: Burden Sharing by NATO\u27s Newest Members

This book examines the burden sharing behavior of new NATO members. It makes the argument that new NATO members are burden sharing at a greater rate than older NATO members. It also suggests that NATO’s expansion did not lead to greater free-riding behavior in NATO, contrary to the predictions of the collective action literature. This analysis reveals that new NATO members have demonstrated the willingness to contribute to NATO missions, but are often constrained by their limited capabilities. This argument is supported using case studies, interviews with key NATO officials, and quantitative analysis of NATO defense expenditures and troop contributions.https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/1939/thumbnail.jp

The Relevance of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for the United States in the 21st Century

The “America First” approach to foreign policy seems to call into question the value of institutions like the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU). However, in a more competitive and uncertain strategic environment, NATO and the EU remain vital to promoting U.S. interests.https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/1391/thumbnail.jp

Improved AIRS/AMSU Surface and Atmospheric Soundings Under Partial Cloud Cover Using an AIRS Only Cloud Clearing Approach

AIRS was launched on EOS Aqua on May 4,2002, together with AMSU-A and HSB, to form a next generation polar orbiting infrared and microwave atmospheric sounding system. This paper describes the latest scientific advances made in the AIRS Science Team Version 5.0 retrieval algorithm. Starting in early 2007, the Goddard DAAC will use this algorithm to analyze near real time AIRS/AMSU observations. These products are then made available to the scientific community for research purposes. The products include twice daily measurements of the Earth's three dimensional global temperature, water vapor, and ozone distribution as well as cloud cover. In addition, accurate twice daily measurements of the earth's land and ocean temperatures are derived and reported. Scientists use this important set of observations for two major uses. They provide important information for climate studies of global and regional variability and trends of different aspects of the earth's atmosphere. They also provide information for researchers to improve the skill of weather forecasting. A very important new product of the AIRS Version 5 algorithm is accurate case-by-case error estimates of the retrieved products. This heightens their utility for use in both weather and climate applications. These error estimates are also used directly for quality control of the retrieved products

A Hybrid Approach for the Analysis of Feature Selection using Information Gain and BAT Techniques on The Anomaly Detection

Every day, millions of people in many institutions communicate with each other on the Internet. The past two decades have witnessed unprecedented levels of Internet use by people around the world. Almost alongside these rapid developments in the internet space, an ever increasing incidence of attacks carried out on the internet has been consistently reported every minute. In such a difficult environment, Anomaly Detection Systems (ADS) play an important role in monitoring and analyzing daily internet activities for security breaches and threats. However, the analytical data routinely generated from computer networks are usually of enormous size and of little use. This creates a major challenge for ADSs, who must examine all the functionality of a certain dataset to identify intrusive patterns. The selection of features is an important factor in modeling anomaly-based intrusion detection systems. An irrelevant characteristic can lead to overfitting which in turn negatively affects the modeling power of classification algorithms. The objective of this study is to analyze and select the most discriminating input characteristics for the construction of efficient and computationally efficient schemes for an ADS. In the first step, a heuristic algorithm called IG-BA is proposed for dimensionality reduction by selecting the optimal subset based on the concept of entropy. Then, the relevant and meaningful features are selected, before implementing Number of Classifiers which includes: (1) An irrelevant feature can lead to overfitting which in turn negatively affects the modeling power of the classification algorithms. Experiment was done on CICIDS-2017 dataset by applying (1) Random Forest (RF), (2) Bayes Network (BN), (3) Naive Bayes (NB), (4) J48 and (5) Random Tree (RT) with results showing better detection precision and faster execution time. The proposed heuristic algorithm outperforms the existing ones as it is more accurate in detection as well as faster. However, Random Forest algorithm emerges as the best classifier for feature selection technique and scores over others by virtue of its accuracy in optimal selection of features

The triad of Iron deficiency anemia, hepatosplenomegaly and growth retardation with normal serum zinc levels in a 14‑year‑old boy

A triad of iron deficiency anemia, hepatosplenomegaly and growth retardation occurring in tandem with zinc deficiency has been reported in the past as components of either Prasad’s syndrome or hypopituitarism. There are no documented cases of such triad occurring in the presence of normal serum zinc levels. We report a case of a 14‑year‑old boy who presented with iron deficiency anemia, hepatosplenomegaly, geophagia and growth retardation with pubertal delay. Investigations ruled out hypopituitarism and coeliac disease. The patient improved dramatically and attained puberty within 15 months of intense nutritional intervention. In conclusion, iron deficiency anemia occurring in the triad without zinc deficiency as seen in this case report has not been reported before; this calls for more research to be able to explain the findings.Key words: Growth retardation, hepatosplenomegaly, iron deficiency anemia, serum zin

THE INFLUENCE OF SPEED ON PATELLOFEMORAL JOINT KINETICS IN RECREATIONAL RUNNERS

This study aimed to determine the influence of running speed on patellofemoral joint (PFJ) kinetics. Twenty recreational runners ran on an instrumented treadmill at four running speeds with simultaneous 3D motion capture. A musculoskeletal model derived peak and cumulative (per 1km of continuous running) PFJ force and stress for each speed. Peak PFJ force and stress significantly increased with faster speeds. In contrast, cumulative PFJ measures decreased with faster speeds. Running at faster speeds increases the magnitude of peak PFJ kinetics but conversely results in less accumulated force over a set distance. Clinicians and coaches should be aware of the relatively high PFJ cumulative force and stress associated with slow running (~2.5 m/s) and consider moderate-speed interval running as part of overuse knee injury prevention and management plans

The Influence of Redcap in Improving the Quality of Data in Sickle Cell Medical Research Program: The Case of Sickle Cell Program at Muhimbili National Hospital

The study examined the influence of REDCap in improving the quality of data in sickle cell medical research program. The study used descriptive research design whereas both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used where a cross-sectional design was employed to collect information at one time in particular point. A total of 52 questionnaires with closed-ended questions were distributed. Primary data were collected through survey and in-depth interviews. Data were analyzed by using SPSS which simplified process of data analysis; the program identified the position of the variables and multiple regression analysis. The study found that there is effectiveness of REDCap in improving the quality of data in sickle cell medical research program in the sense that REDCap has effectively facilitated the collection of all necessary variables and essential information for research purposes. The study concluded that REDCap plays a significant role in improving the overall data quality in the context of sickle cell medical research programs. The study suggests that stringent quality control procedures should be implemented to ensure the accuracy and reliability of data input into the REDCap system. This recommendation underscores the importance of maintaining high standards in data management processes to enhance the credibility and validity of research outcomes in the field of sickle cell medical research.&nbsp