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Biden Pardons Thousands of Service Members Convicted Under Gay Sex Ban
President Joe Biden has pardoned thousands of former US service men who were convicted of breaching a now-repealed military prohibition on consensual gay sex. He stated on Wednesday that he is “righting a historic wrong” and allowing them to regain lost benefits.
Biden’s action pardons service men convicted under the Uniform Code of Military Justice’s previous Article 125, which criminalized sodomy. The statute, which has been in effect since 1951, was amended in 2013 to solely outlaw forcible acts.
Those covered by the pardon will be allowed to ask for documentation that their conviction has been erased, petition to have their military discharges enhanced, and seek compensation for missed pay and benefits.
“Today, I am righting a historic wrong by using my clemency authority to pardon many former service members who were convicted simply for being themselves,” the vice president said in a statement. “We have a sacred commitment to all of our service members, especially our courageous LGBTQI+ service members, to properly train and equip them when they are sent into harm’s way, and to care for them and their families when they return home. Today, we’re making progress in that pursuit.”
The president used his pardon powers during Pride Month, just days before hosting a high-profile event with LGBTQ contributors in New York on Friday. Biden is attempting to mobilize support from the Democratic-leaning community ahead of the presidential election.
Modern Military, the nation’s biggest organization of LGBTQ+ service personnel and their families, hailed the decision as a “historic step toward justice and equality” and urged the military to expedite the pardons.
The revelation of Biden’s pardon is an important step towards acknowledging and correcting injustices against LGBTQ+ service members who have endured discrimination and wrongful convictions due to policies like “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” according to the organization. “These brave individuals stood on the front lines of freedom, risking their lives to defend our country, only to be met with injustice at home.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement that the moves were a step in the “march towards greater equality” and “corrected a historic wrong for LGBTQ+ Americans who bravely served in our armed forces to keep our country safe.”
Administration officials declined to explain why Biden did not act on the pardons sooner.
This is Biden’s third categorical pardon, which uses his clemency powers to encompass a large group of people convicted of specific offenses, following attempts in 2022 and 2023 to pardon those convicted federally for marijuana possession.
The White House anticipates that several thousand service personnel will be covered, the most majority of whom were convicted before the military implemented the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in 1993, which made it easier for LGBTQ troops to serve if they did not disclose their sexual orientation. That regulation was removed in 2011, when Congress authorized open service in the military.
Biden’s pardon does not cover service men convicted of nonconsensual actions. Those convicted under other provisions of the military justice code, which may have been used as a pretext to punish or force LGBTQ personnel to leave, would be required to seek clemency through the standard Department of Justice pardon process.
Biden has already directed the Department of Veterans Affairs to take steps to extend benefits to military personnel who were discharged for reasons other than honorable, such as sexual orientation, gender identity, or HIV status.
NBC is bringing a version of legendary sportscaster Al Michaels back to the Olympics this summer, but with an unexpected twist: his voice will be powered by artificial intelligence.
On Wednesday, NBC said that it will utilize AI software to reproduce Michaels’ voice to offer daily Summer Games summaries to users of its Peacock streaming platform. This marks a significant milestone in the application of AI by a major media firm.
NBC | CTV Image
NBC To Use AI Version Of Announcer Al Michaels’ Voice For Olympics Recaps
The employment of an artificial intelligence voice for the Olympics comes at a time when technology has advanced dramatically, particularly in its ability to generate images, sounds, and text. This has sparked concerns in creative industries, such as journalism, regarding how artificial intelligence may—or should—be utilized.
A new tool, “Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peacock,” will allow subscribers to create 10-minute highlights packages incorporating event updates, athlete back stories, and other related content based on their preferences.
The company stated that the highlights could be packaged in approximately 7 million distinct ways, based on 5,000 hours of live coverage in Paris, thereby making AI (artificial intelligence, not the guy) a far more efficient way to give individualized summaries.
“When I was approached about this, I was skeptical but obviously curious,” Michaels stated in a press statement. “Then I saw a demonstration of what they had in mind. I replied, ‘I’m in.'”
An NBC representative told CNN that Michaels is being rewarded for his participation.
A veteran broadcaster, Michaels is now the play-by-play sportscaster for Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime. He is well noted for his work on earlier Olympic Games broadcasts for NBC and ABC and for announcing the Miracle on Ice Game at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.
NBC | Fox Image
NBC To Use AI Version Of Announcer Al Michaels’ Voice For Olympics Recaps
NBC stated that the AI system was trained using previous NBC broadcast audio from Michaels.
The business stated that a team of NBC Sports editors will evaluate all of the content, including audio and footage, to ensure that it is factually correct and that names are pronounced correctly.
Beginning July 27, the highlights tool will be available on Peacock in web browsers and iOS and iPad apps.
SOURCE – CNN
Jamie Foxx has yet to publicly divulge the reason for his hospitalization last year, although he did share further facts during a videotaped encounter.
The Oscar-winning actor was hospitalized in April 2023 due to a health problem while filming the Netflix film “Back in Action” in Atlanta.
In a TikTok video posted this week, Foxx informs an unidentified group of people that he has a “bad headache” on April 11, 2023. He remembers asking his friend for an Advil, and then “I was gone for 20 days.”
Jamie Foxx Shares New Details About Health Crisis That Left Him ‘Gone For 20 Days’
“I don’t remember anything,” he claimed in a video shot on June 29 in Phoenix.
Foxx went on to say in the video that he was told his sister and daughter took him to the doctor, who him a cortisone shot. Another doctor told him something was “going on up there,” as Foxx pointed to his head.
“I won’t say it on camera,” he remarked throughout the video.
The singer is known to be discreet about his personal life, and he disappeared from the spotlight at the time due to what his daughter Corinne Foxx described as a “medical complication” on social media.
In July 2023, the “Ray” star revealed that he chose not to reveal more information because he did not want the public “to see me like that.”
“I want you to see me laughing, having fun, partying, cracking jokes, or performing in a movie or television show. I didn’t want you to see me with tubes coming out of me and wondering if I was going to make it,” he said in a video posted on Instagram at the time, adding that he felt like he had gone “to hell and back.”
Foxx provided another health update on his verified social media accounts in August 2023.
Jamie Foxx | Fox Image
Jamie Foxx Shares New Details About Health Crisis That Left Him ‘Gone For 20 Days’
“You are looking at a thankful man…” “I’m finally starting to feel like myself,” he wrote at the time. “The journey has been unexpectedly dark…” “But I can see the light.”
He added that he was “thankful to everyone who reached out and sent well wishes and prayers.”
According to IMDB, “Back in Action” is now in post-production.
SOURCE – CNN
NEW YORK — Hunter Biden filed a complaint accusing Fox News of illegally distributing sexual photographs of him as part of a streaming series.
The president’s son filed the complaint on Sunday in state court in Manhattan over photos from “The Trial of Hunter Biden,” which will premiere on Fox Nation in 2022. According to the lawsuit, the series included a “mock trial” of Hunter Biden on crimes he has not faced, as well as photos of Biden naked and engaging in sex acts.
Hunter Biden | AP News Image
Hunter Biden Sues Fox News Over Explicit Images Featured In A Streaming Series
The lawsuit argues that the distribution of intimate photographs without his consent violated New York’s so-called revenge porn legislation.
“Fox published and disseminated these Intimate Images to its vast audience of millions as part of an entertainment program in order to humiliate, harass, annoy and alarm Mr. Biden and to tarnish his reputation,” the lawsuit states.
In an emailed statement, a Fox News representative termed it an “entirely politically motivated lawsuit” that was “devoid of merit.” According to the statement, Biden’s attorneys filed a letter demanding its removal from streaming sites in April 2024.
“The program was removed within days of the letter, out of prudence, because Hunter Biden is a public figure who has been investigated several times and is now a convicted felon. According to the emailed statement, Fox News has faithfully covered Mr. Biden’s newsworthy events by the First Amendment, and we look forward to defending our rights in court.
Hunter Biden was convicted last month of three felony charges stemming from the purchase of a revolver in 2018. Prosecutors claimed the president’s son lied on a mandated gun-buy form by claiming he was not unlawfully using or addicted to narcotics.
Hunter Biden | AP News Image
Hunter Biden Sues Fox News Over Explicit Images Featured In A Streaming Series
According to the lawsuit, the series’ simulated trial included bribery claims and inappropriate financial relationships with foreign governments, which Hunter Biden has not faced.
The lawsuit says Fox did not completely remove promotional materials and that the program is still available on some third-party streaming sites.
SOURCE – (AP)
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