Wednesday, June 2, 2021

And another day of the GOP repeating history, a couple of fact checks, using cultural issues to drive voters to the polls, the NFL halts ‘race-norming,’ and the climate crisis takes a toll on our mental health comes to a close:

“It’s completely insane that some Dems (ahem Manchin/Sinema) would rather keep Jim Crow filibuster than stop avalanche of Jim Crow 2.0 voter suppression laws.” — Ari Berman 

Deaths

US: 611,020 (+584)

World: 3,706,392 (+130,847)

Cases

US: 34,154,305 (+17,567)

World: 172,414,706 (+486,904)

Jim Crow Killed Voting Rights for Generations. Now the GOP Is Repeating History. The means have changed and grown less violent, but the basic idea is the same: to couch voting restrictions in race-blind language to disenfranchise new voters and communities of color. Once again, the party of white grievance is rewriting the rules of American democracy to protect conservative white political power from the rising influence of new demographic groups. “Nobody’s putting in a literacy test, nobody’s putting in a poll tax,” says Yale historian David Blight. “But there are all kinds of ways for how to just restrict voting this time. Rather than utter disfranchisement, they are obviously going for: Knock off 5 percent of the Black vote, and you can once again win Georgia.”...Once voting rights are taken away, the history of Reconstruction shows how difficult it is to get them back. If Congress fails to act, don’t expect the courts to step in...”The only thing that protects people’s access to the vote is federal protection, federal intervention,” says Northwestern University historian Kate Masur. “If nothing else, that pattern is clear in US history.”...”If we had not acted in 1965, what would our country look like?” [Senator Raphael Warnock] asked his fellow senators. “Surely, I would not be sitting here. Only the 11th Black senator in the history of our country. And the first Black senator in Georgia. And maybe that’s the point.” — A fascinating and timely read.

Fact check: Here are 20 things Texas Republicans' elections bill would do. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has claimed that his party is trying to make it both harder to cheat and "easier to vote." While the bill does include an expansion of early voting hours in some counties, the bill on the whole is far more restrictive than expansionary.

AP FACT CHECK: Manchin, Sinema do not vote with GOP more. In a Senate divided 50-50 where legislation effectively needs 60 votes to pass, Biden points to an obstacle that doesn’t exist. He said the lawmakers, Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, actually “vote more with my Republican friends.” That’s not true.

Republicans across the country are decrying critical race theory, an academic approach of examining U.S. institutions through the lens of race. Some experts say it's the latest GOP effort to use cultural issues to drive voters to the polls. — It’s all the GOP have. They don’t have any ideas on governing for what’s best for all Americans.

The NFL says it will halt the use of “race-norming” — which assumed Black players started out with lower cognitive functioning — in a $1 billion settlement of brain injury claims. The practice had made it harder for Black players to qualify. — Yes, the NFL announced this today. June 2, 2021. You should stil stop watching the NFL. 

The Climate Crisis Is Taking a Serious Toll on Our Mental Health. Heatwaves are increasing rates of suicide, extreme weather such as floods and wildfires are leaving victims traumatized, and loss of food security, homes and livelihoods is resulting in stress and depression. Anxiety about the future is also harming people’s mental health, especially the young, the scientists said in a report. Mental health conditions already affect a billion people and cost trillions of dollars a year. The researchers said global heating would worsen the issue unless action was taken. They described a vicious circle where climate impacts increase mental health difficulties, leaving people even more vulnerable to further consequences.

Netanyahu opponents seal deal on new government in Israel to oust longtime prime minister. Netanyahu's unrivaled ability to cling to power, through conflict, corruption charges and countless elections, appears to have come to an end.

A 14-year-old and 12-year-old opened fire on deputies. The children, who reportedly ran away from a group home hours earlier, allegedly broke into an empty house Tuesday night, which the homeowner said was stocked with an AK-47, a handgun, a shotgun and a large amount of ammunition, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office said.

Hackers Now Ruining Summer With Ransomware Attack on Martha's Vineyard Ferry.

Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.

Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.