Worth Knowing, Probably Not Quite Threadworthy, 11/09

[SVPete]

School Cannot Force Students to Use Trans Pronouns, Federal Court Rules

https://www.westernjournal.com/school-cannot-force-students-use-trans-pronouns-federal-court-rules/

A federal appeals court in Ohio ruled Thursday that students cannot be forced to use preferred pronouns in school.

Defending Education filed the suit against Olentangy Local School District in 2023, arguing the district’s anti-harassment policy that requires students to use the “preferred pronouns” of others violates students’ First Amendment rights by “compelling students to affirm beliefs about sex and gender that are contrary to their own deeply held beliefs.”

Although a lower court attempted to shoot down the challenge, the appeals court ruled in a 10-7 decision that the school cannot “wield their authority to compel speech or demand silence from citizens who disagree with the regulators’ politically controversial preferred new form of grammar.”

[SVPete]

Trump Admin Opens Gulf of America to Oil and Gas Drilling, Eyes Alaska Next

https://www.theepochtimes.com/business/trump-admin-opens-gulf-of-america-to-oil-and-gas-drilling-eyes-alaska-next-5941917?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=BonginoReport&src_src=partner&src_cmp=BonginoReport

The Department of the Interior announced on Nov. 7  two major steps to expand offshore oil and gas leasing under President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, unveiling plans for the first lease sale in the Gulf of America and another proposed auction in Alaska’s Cook Inlet.

The measures mark the start of a schedule of 30 offshore sales in the Gulf of America and six in Alaska, part of what the Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) described as the Trump administration’s effort to “unleash American energy dominance” and cement the United States’ position as a global energy powerhouse.

“President Trump’s signing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act marked the beginning of a new chapter for oil and gas development in the Gulf of America and Alaska’s Cook Inlet,” BOEM Acting Director Matt Giacona said in the statement.

“BOEM is now moving forward with a predictable, congressionally mandated leasing schedule that will support offshore oil and gas development for decades to come.”

[SVPete]

Wow, the Kimmels Are Worse People Than I Thought

https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/11/09/wow-the-kimmels-are-worse-people-than-i-thought-n4945782

Molly McNearney, Jimmy Kimmel's wife and the co-head writer of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, just gave the world a front-row seat to what happens when politics becomes your entire personality. During a November 6 appearance on the We Can Do Hard Things podcast, she proudly admitted to bombarding her family with desperate emails before the election, begging them not to vote for Donald Trump.

Imagine thinking this is a good idea.

"I sent many emails to my family right before the election, pleading, 'Please don't vote for him. Here are 10 reasons why you shouldn't,'" McNearney confessed. Roughly 90% of her family ignored her messages. The few who bothered to respond apparently did so in ways McNearney described as "quite bizarre" or "truly insane." But if you're willing to cut ties with family over politics, how much stock can we put in her assessment of their responses?
...
To make matters worse, McNearney and Kimmel lied to their children.

When their son asked if President Trump was responsible for Kimmel's temporary suspension from ABC in September after Kimmel lied about Charlie Kirk’s assassin, both parents said yes. "I think I said 'yes,'" Kimmel recalled, with McNearney confirming, "We did, we actually both said 'yes' at the exact same time." Their 11-year-old daughter immediately burst into tears and offered to sell her toys.

Let’s assume for a moment she’s telling the truth. That’s bordering on child abuse—lying to your kids and convincing them the president caused their school to shut down, sending them into a panic for no reason. Yet, they thought this was a great story to tell to elicit sympathy?

There’s no way to dress this up: the Kimmels have turned their family into  another stage for their own political theater. They’ve lied to their kids, ostracized loved ones, and cloaked it all in smug moral superiority.

This doesn't really surprise me, having seen DU-folks talking of things they would do at family celebrations and of cutting off family and friends who dare have different views.