Worth Knowing, Probably Not Quite Threadworthy 7/29

[SVPete]

DOJ settles with pro-life father of 11 arrested in a predawn raid

https://www.christianpost.com/news/doj-settles-with-pro-life-father-of-11-arrested-in-a-raid.html

A devout Christian father of 11 has settled with the U.S. Department of Justice after federal agents arrested him in a predawn raid for pro-life activism outside an abortion clinic.

The Thomas More Society announced Tuesday that pro-life activist Paul Vaughn reached a settlement with the DOJ as compensation for his arrest during a 2022 raid. Vaughn had been singing and praying outside an abortion clinic in Tennessee. The settlement comes more than a year after Trump pardoned Vaughn on charges that he violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.

“This family did nothing wrong. Paul prayed and sang. He bore witness to his faith and for that, the full weight of the federal government was brought crashing down on his front door before the sun rose,” said Thomas More Society Senior Counsel Steve Crampton in reaction to the settlement. “What was done to Paul and his family was a profound injustice, and we are grateful that this settlement acknowledges that.”

This should have hate-filled Pro-Aborts POed.

[SVPete]

Seattle Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton and Sophie Cunningham supporters

https://x.com/JonnyRoot_/status/2082459405233304061

BREAKING: I’m told that Seattle Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton confronted, verbally berated & cussed at the two young Sophie Cunningham supporters at the Fever vs Storm game Tuesday night.

Keaton called them “f****** insane” & said “How dare you come here and pull this s***?!"

IMO, it's time that Clark, Cunningham, and other non-crazy WNBA players bailed on the WNBA and leave the crazies to enjoy their NBA-subsidized mental sewer. I know, they have to live, and their career is how they live.

[SVPete]

FCC Cracks Down on Provider Accused of Fraud in ‘Obama Phone’ Program

https://pjmedia.com/rick-moran/2026/07/29/fcc-cracks-down-provider-accused-of-fraud-in-obama-phone-program-n4955577

Is a mobile phone essential to live in America? The government supplied landline service to poor customers beginning in the 1980s. During Barack Obama's presidency, the program was expanded to include mobile phone and internet service.

It's called the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Lifeline program, a federal assistance initiative designed to lower the cost of phone and internet services for qualifying low-income consumers. Consumers qualify if their household income is at or below 135% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines or if they participate in assistance programs such as SNAP, Medicaid, SSI, Federal Public Housing Assistance, or Veterans Pension Benefits.

The program is overseen by the FCC and administered by the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), which runs the centralized National Verifier system to combat enrollment fraud and handle annual eligibility recertification.

The USAC could be doing a better job.

This was brought home by an FCC enforcement action against IM Telecom, one of the nation’s largest recipients of federal Lifeline subsidies. In the last two years, IM Telecom has received a quarter of a billion dollars in federal subsidies. It is now being charged with numerous rules violations, including being accused of "failing to obtain affirmative consent from subscribers before enrolling or transferring them, changing corporate control without obtaining required federal approvals, and using bots to evade limits previously imposed on the provider’s suspicious application, enrollment, and customer transfer activity," according to the New York Sun.

[SVPete]

University of Houston may strip 100 courses from core curriculum under Texas law

https://www.campusreform.org/article/university-houston-may-strip-100-courses-core-curriculum-texas-law/30331

The University of Houston is considering removing nearly 100 courses—including classes on women’s studies, LGBT studies, ethnic studies, climate change, and black liberation theology—from its core curriculum as part of a review required under Texas Senate Bill 37.

If approved by the University of Houston System Board of Regents, the proposal would remove core designation from roughly 40 percent of the university’s general education offerings while leaving the courses available as electives or major requirements.

Senate Bill 37, signed into law in 2025, requires governing boards at Texas public universities to review their core curricula every five years and certify that courses meet state standards for foundational knowledge, civic engagement, and workforce preparation. The law also expands governing boards’ authority over curriculum oversight and limits faculty senates’ role in certain academic governance decisions.

A university curriculum review committee examined nearly 260 core courses during the winter and spring semesters before recommending that about 160 remain in the core curriculum and roughly 100 lose their designation.

Courses recommended for removal from the core curriculum include “Introduction to Women’s Studies,” “Introduction to LGBT Studies,” “Introduction to Ethnic Studies,” “Black Liberation Theology,” “Mexican American Urban Communities,” “Latino Leadership, Activism, and Organizing,” “Intro to Global Climate Change,” “Sexuality and Society,” “Liberals vs. Conservatives: FDR to Present,” and “Left, Right, and Center.”

The courses are not necessarily going bye-bye, they simply are no longer courses that satisfy some requirement for graduation