Schools Cancel Class Photos After Leon Black named in Epstein Files

Jeffrey Epstein, Pepe Fanjul and Leon Black attend Sony Pictures Classics Presents "Capote"in New York, Sept. 28, 2005. Patrick McMullan via Getty Images, FILE

High Schools across the US canceled photo day after it was learned that the former CEO and chairman of Apollo Global Management, Leon Black name was recently found in the Epstein files.

Lifetouch, the largest school photography company, is owned by Apollo Global, opening the possibility that those photographs could have ended up sold to pedophiles or even among classified documents on Trump's bathroom floor, or any random place for that matter.

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Districts in Texas, Arizona, New Jersey, and California launched reviews or canceled photo days “out of an abundance of caution.” Parents flooded social media with fury, raising fears — often without evidence — that sensitive student data could be misused.

“Imagine pedophiles having a shopping list of children,” one viral post warned.

As sickening as this is, the possibility of your child's picture being shared among Epstein co-conspirators didn't make NPR's top Epstein news of the week.

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Ken Murphy, Lifetouch Group CEO said in a public statement, "When Lifetouch photographers take your student’s picture, that image is safeguarded for families and schools, only, with no exceptions. Lifetouch does not – and has never provided – images to any third party.

Black had a long, verifiable relationship with Epstein, so what's with all the parental outrage?

Occupy Democrats put it very succinctly in a Facebook post: "When billionaire financiers tied to a convicted sex offender sit atop companies embedded in schools nationwide, parents are right to demand transparency. Even indirect links to Epstein are enough to shatter confidence — especially after years of elite institutions shrugging off his crimes until it was too late."

Brasil Once Again Tops The List with 80 Transgender Murders

Bruna Benevides, ANTRA president, will be the keynote speaker at the University of Chicago on March 31, 2026, on the Transgender Day of Visibility. Click here to register.

Brasil, which has long held the number one spot for transgender murders, recorded 80 such deaths during 2025, down from 122 in 2024, a 34% decrease according to Agência Brasil

The figures come from the latest edition of a dossier produced by the country’s National Association of Transsexual and Transgender People (ANTRA), released this week.

The result represents a drop of 34 percent from the previous year’s 122 murders – but does not remove Brazil from the top of the ranking, a position it has held for almost 18 years.

"The data is a reflection of an entire system that normalizes oppression against transgender people," said ANTRA’s President Bruna Benevides.

Bruna Benevides, also an author of the dossier, believes that the association’s report “is an embarrassment to the state,” educates society, and breaks the silence.

“We must recognize that policies to protect women need to be accessible and available to transgender women, for instance. We need to think about making what already exists accessible and implementing what has not yet been properly achieved. There is a lot of production, including data, but a lack of action on the part of decision-makers,” she added.

If trans people didn't report on the violence targeting our community, our murders would go unnoticed.

These numbers align with TransLivesMatter, which reported 73 murders during 2025. The potential under-reporting by the UK-based Translivesmatter project could be attributed to Brasil's unique language, Português Brasileiro. It is difficult to translate even for someone from Portugal, and murders often are not reported using Google search.

Cities Church MN: Epicenter Center Of Evangelical Awakening

The pass you see around my neck is proof of our success: at first, they had burly guards at the doors barring our entry, and then, by a miracle, the Methodist hierarchy granted us unfettered access and we greeted people at the doors. Photo / Kelli Busey Author Activist / Methodist General Conference Fort Worth Texas, June 4, 2008.

Back in the day, I participated with Soulforce and the Reconciling Ministries Network in actions meant to bring attention to the harm being done by religions that opposed equality. Our purpose, in my view, was to help conservative churches understand what they were doing and to help them return to the ways of Christ. Our acts of civil disobedience were always peaceful and most often planned with the knowledge of the Churches and local law enforcement.

Religion News Service: Evangelicals divided over what faith demands as immigration tensions deepen

The individual who was the reason for the peaceful action by BLM and others is David Easterwood, a pastor at the Cities Church and the acting director of the St. Paul ICE field office. As the ranking local ICE official, Easterwood is, by association, complicit in the execution of Renee Good and Alex Jeffrey Pretti by masked ICE agents. This would have been unthinkable back in my day, that is to say, after the KKK stopped hanging people in the name of our lord.

RMN Statement: This Is Not Enforcement. This Is State Violence.

The Justice Department’s swift investigation into the church disruption stands in contrast to its decision not to open a civil rights investigation into Good’s killing by an ICE officer. The department has not said whether it will open a civil rights probe into the killing of 37-year-old Alex Pretti by federal officers, Religion News Service reports.

Ban on deporting U.S. citizens removed from DHS funding bill

Rachel Maddow Show / Screen grab

Ban on deporting U.S. citizens removed from DHS funding bill, congresswoman warns.

Rachel Maddow relays a warning by Rep. Veronica Escobar that her amendment to the bill to fund Homeland Security that would ban the deportation of Americans citizens was stripped out of the bill by White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller before the bill was voted on.

SAVE ACT: Republican law would make millions stateless and unable to vote

Photo by Edmond Dantès: Pexels

Millions of cisgender women and transgender people would be kept from voting or proving their citizenship under legislation being pushed by Congressional Republicans.

The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act would require all American citizens registering to vote or updating their registration information to present documentary proof of citizenship in person. For the vast majority of Americans, this would be a passport or an original birth certificate, American Progress reports.

Government-issued driver’s licenses—including REAL IDs—as well as military or tribal IDs do not satisfy the bill’s requirements.

Women who have taken their husbands' surnames and transgender people who have made a legal name change would not be allowed to register to vote unless they have in their possession a valid passport.

84 percent of women who marry change their surname, meaning as many as 69 million American women do not have a birth certificate with their legal name on it and thereby could not use their birth certificate to prove citizenship. The SAVE Act makes no mention of being able to show a marriage certificate or change-of-name documentation.

On November 6, 2025, Lambda Legal reports that the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision that means that new passports issued by the State Department will show a person’s sex assigned at birth, rather than their gender identity. There will not be a choice of an X gender marker. This applies to new passport applications, renewals, and replacements for lost or damaged passports.

The SAVE ACT passed the House last session under the auspices of keeping republican politicans in power, but that was before Trump's goons were roaming US streets, randomly executing legal observers, using children as bait, and imprisoning US citizens who don't have a valid passport or birth certificate in their possession.

Related: Experts Warn U.S. in Early Stages of Genocide Against Trans Americans

The Save Act is a direct threat to our existence. Please call your lawmaker today. The Save Act isn't listed on the 5calls app, but it's an excellent tool to expedite the process.

HHS to stop demanding Hospitals Halt GAC While Lawsuit Moves Forward

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. speaking with attendees at the Memorial for Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona / Wikipedia

HHS has agreed to stop threatening funding for hospitals and providers offering health care to transgender adolescents while a lawsuit by 22 states moves forward.

That means providers can keep caring for patients, and families can focus on what matters most: helping their trans kids thrive, GLAD Law said on Instagram.

However, the damage has been done as some hospitals complied in advance when threatened by HHS.

The American Academy of Pediatrics position is clear: The Prohibition of Gender-Affirming Care as a Form of Child Maltreatment.

Dr. Susan J. Kressly, the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said HHS was departing from “the longstanding principle that health care policy should be grounded in scientific evidence, clinical expertise, and the needs of children and families.”

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You can comment on CMS-2451-P anonymously, if you wish, until February 17, 2026.

The following is my comment and my opinion. I submitted it on 1/11/2026 and received an email that it would be reviewed prior to publication.

"I oppose the proposed rule CMS-2451-P, a rule that would deny gender afirming care to patients under the age of 19 who are receiving this life-saving care through Medicare and Medicaid. The denial of such care is contrary to the positions of every major US medical association."

"The position of the American Academy of Pediatrics is that the prohibition of gender-affirming Care (GAC) is a form of child maltreatment, and denying GAC is medical neglect, emotional abuse, and child abuse. The weaponization of child abuse in the discourse around GAC is fallacious and counterproductive, and it has led to numerous real threats to children’s safety and well-being. (Pediatrics published December 20, 2023)

"As a transgender adult who has benefited from gender afirming care for the past 30 years, I implore U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reconsider this rule."

I realize testifying in front of your executioner is counterintuitive, but I had to take a stand for our children.

Queer woman Renée Good murdered by ICE in Cold Blood

Find a protest and go there. Say her name, Renée Good.

Jonathan Ross, the ICE agent who shot three times through Good's car window as she drove away, has served with ICE for ten years in Minneapolis in its apprehension and deportation division. Ross, who had previously been dragged by a car, circled Good's car and stood in front of it while she was being given orders from multiple agents.

DOJ use of force policy. He broke the law and murdered a US citizen. Full stop.

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— Angry (@angrystaffer.bsky.social) January 8, 2026 at 10:00 AM

Minnesota county attorney says 'We have jurisdiction' in fatal ICE shooting.' However, they have been barred from doing so by the Federal Government. Without a local investigation, we will never know why Renée Good told Ross she "wasn't mad at him". Did she recognize him from a previous encounter? Was this a revenge killing?

CDC quietly changes Covid-19 recommendations for 65+ and Immunocompromised People

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With little fanfare the CDC has updated its recommendations for COVID-19 vaccinations, according to Dr. Leana S. Wen, who writes an opinion column for the Washington Post.

Dr. Wen observed that "Careful, evidence-based vaccine guidance now arrives with little fanfare."

"One of the most common questions readers have asked me in recent months is whether older adults can receive a second dose of the 2025-2026 covid vaccine. The confusion is understandable; federal health officials have narrowed the government’s recommendations for younger and lower-risk groups, with little clarity on what those changes mean for seniors."

"As it turns out, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention not only permits a second dose but recommends it. The agency quietly updated its guidance in November to encourage adults 65 and older to receive two shots of this season’s vaccine, ideally six months apart to optimize protection. (People can get them as soon as two or three months after the first shot, depending on which vaccine they received.)"

"The same guidance applies to those who are moderately or severely immunocompromised, who are also eligible to receive two doses of the 2025-2026 covid vaccine. Importantly, individuals do not need documentation to prove immunocompromised status, and vaccinators are explicitly instructed not to deny vaccination because of a lack of medical records or other paperwork," Dr Wen wrote.