And another day of SCOTUS rulings, McConnell comments, a new federal holiday, understanding CRT, heat waves, Title IX protections, Victoria's Secret revamping its models, a dystopian workplace, and saying goodbye to Herb comes to a close:
“Welcome to the Monkey House.” -- Kurt Vonnegut
Deaths
US: 616,440 (+290)
World: 3,857,794 (+8969)
Cases
US: 34,377,592 (+11,607)
World: 178,195,929 (+388,533)
Supreme Court turns back Obamacare challenge, allowing individual coverage mandate to stand. The Supreme Court turned back a major challenge to the Affordable Care Act, allowing the 2010 law to survive even though a controversial provision requiring all Americans to buy health insurance no longer has a monetary penalty associated with it. In a 7-2 ruling, the court held that the states that sued over the law did not have standing to do so.
Another victory at the Supreme Court for religious groups. In another victory for religious groups at the Supreme Court, the justices on Thursday unanimously sided with a Catholic foster care agency that says its religious views prevent it from working with same-sex couples. The court said the city of Philadelphia wrongly limited its relationship with the group as a result of the agency’s policy.
McConnell says GOP will reject Manchin's voting compromise. McConnell's comments, which came during a press conference with GOP senators railing against the For the People Act, are the latest signal that the election bill will fail during a procedural vote next week due to a GOP filibuster. -- Hey Manchin. Republican’s idea of “compromise” is their way or no way.
The UK's latest surge in coronavirus infections gathers pace with new confirmed cases rising above 10,000 for the first time in nearly 4 months as a result of the spread of the more contagious delta variant.
Biden signs bill into law making Juneteenth a national holiday. President Joe Biden said that signing legislation into law on Thursday establishing June 19 as Juneteenth National Independence Day -- a US federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States -- will go down as "one of the greatest honors" of his presidency.
I teach critical race theory. This is what Republicans trying to ban it don’t understand. The truth is that CRT is not some scary indoctrination topic about to be taught to your fourth-grader. Most K-12 schools have done little if anything to prepare students for thoughtful discussions about race and racism, and this was long before our politicians have ever even heard of the “evil” acronym. I know, because I teach it...I will never blame individual students for how their education failed them in critical ways. I was thirty years old before I began to engage meaningful discussions about race and racism. And there is no legitimate place for white guilt in these discussions — only critical engagement followed by swift action and reparations. My ire will only and forever be on the politicians and their supporters who stop at nothing to perpetuate these failures. What supporters of banning CRT don’t seem to understand, in hiding behind the guise of neutrality and racial unity, is that outlawing examinations of race and whiteness is a choice in itself. It accomplishes nothing more than bolstering white supremacist thought and ideology. Or perhaps this is precisely the point.
Juneteenth bill sails through Congress but key legislation targeting racial inequity faces major obstacles.
In secret recording, Florida Republican threatens to send Russian-Ukrainian ‘hit squad’ after rival. “I really don't want to have to end anybody's life for the good of the people of the United States of America,” Braddock said at one point in the conversation last week, according to the recording exclusively obtained by POLITICO. “That will break my heart. But if it needs to be done, it needs to be done. Luna is a f---ing speed bump in the road. She's a dead squirrel you run over every day when you leave the neighborhood.” — Ladies and gentlemen: today’s GOP.
The South Carolina Supreme Court blocked the planned executions of two inmates by electrocution, saying they cannot be put to death until they truly have the choice of a firing squad option set out in the state's newly revised capital punishment law.
After the worst school year ever, here's what students want most. To get a sense of what support systems would best address those many moving parts, we talked to high schoolers and college students — as well as mental health professionals — about what they want schools to do to get ready for a back-to-school season unlike any other.
ERCOT request to conserve energy shows year-round vulnerability of Texas grid. Some energy experts warn that the recent failings of the state's grid may portend additional shutdowns should temperatures continue to climb this summer. No matter the season, customers of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas are learning they may be better off relying on themselves. Texans have spent the week keeping cool by fanning themselves and finding shade following the power grid operator's request that they conserve energy as temperatures rise and several power plants fail.
Heat wave in West enters Day 6 as entire state of Arizona soars to record highs. And research reveals the fingerprints of climate change are all over these increasingly hot temperatures and longer heat waves. Compared to 1970, Phoenix now experiences eight more days a year of 110 degrees or higher and Denver 14 more days a year of 95 degrees or higher.
A California reservoir is expected to fall so low that a hydro-power plant will shut down for first time. Water in a key California reservoir will fall so low this summer that its hydroelectric power plant will be forced to shut down for the first time, officials said Thursday, straining the state's already-taxed electric grid.
'All the water's bad': In McDowell County, you have to get creative to find safe drinking water. To get drinking water, Burlyn Cooper and his neighbors have to collect runoff from the rock face of a mountain. It’s contaminated, but it’s all they have. An estimated 2 million Americans live without access to either safe drinking water, indoor plumbing or basic sanitation, according to DigDeep, a nonprofit that works to bring water to Americans without it. This "water access gap" disproportionately affects low-income, rural communities and people of color — communities left behind by the massive national investment in public water infrastructure in the past century.
Biden administration extends vital Title IX protections to LGBT+ students amid wave of anti-trans attacks. In the latest repeal of Trump-era attacks on LGBT+ rights, the department issued a Notice of Interpretation stating that Title IX, a civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination, offers protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in federally-funded education settings.
‘The true spectrum’: Victoria’s Secret ditches Angels to push empowerment. The Angels – a corps of notably thin catwalkers who would strut in heavy wings and sky-high stilettos during Victoria’s Secret’s televised fashion shows – will be replaced by seven new figureheads described as “accomplished women who share a common passion to drive positive change.”...The new group includes the champion US soccer player, women’s pay equity advocate and prominent anti-Donald Trump voice Megan Rapinoe, actor-entrepreneur Priyanka Chopra Jonas, LGBTQ+ activist and model Valentina Sampaio, model and South Sudanese refugee Adut Akech, British journalist and equality advocate Amanda de Cadenet, champion Chinese-American freestyle skier Eileen Gu, as well as model and body-positivity advocate Paloma Elsesser.
More than 30 women have filed a lawsuit against Pornhub, accusing it of violating federal sex trafficking laws, distributing child pornography, racketeering and other crimes.
Canon put AI cameras in its Chinese offices that only let smiling workers inside. The latest example of dystopian workplace surveillance. Tech company Canon has come up with a downright dystopic way to tackle the problem of workplace morale: it’s installed cameras with AI-enabled “smile recognition” technology in the offices of its Chinese subsidiary Canon Information Technology. The cameras only let smiling workers enter rooms or book meetings, ensuring that every employee is definitely, 100 percent happy all the time.
Hundreds of thousands of salmon dying in "climate catastrophe".
New fossils of giant rhinos — the largest land mammals ever — are found in China.
Weird ‘living fossil’ fish lives 100 years, pregnant for 5. The coelacanth — a giant weird fish still around from dinosaur times — can live for 100 years, a new study found. These slow-moving, people-sized fish of the deep, nicknamed a “living fossil,” are the opposite of the live fast, die young mantra. These nocturnal fish grow at an achingly slow pace.
RIP Frank Bonner. He was 79. WKRP in Cincinnati is my favorite sitcom of all time. Thank you Mr. Bonner for all the laughs.
Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.
Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.
