And another day of parent’s concern over gun violence, DeFascist’s 6-week abortion ban, 20% of adults threatened with gun, medical debt, a conservative text alert system about wokeness, deepfake porn, and no participation trophies for kid’s sports comes to a close:
“Rule number 1 when dealing with autocrats: Appeasement doesn’t work.” — Dan Rather
America's parents show increasing concern over gun violence. Today, 77% are at least somewhat concerned. Last year it was already high at 72%. Six in 10 parents say that their kids express worry over gun violence, either a lot or sometimes. While not as high as those perennial kids' concerns like bullying and social pressures, it is nonetheless true for most families in cities and suburbs; for those with higher and lower incomes; across racial groups; and in every region of the country. In short, the worry that kids have over gun violence is reported almost everywhere. — Republicans will not protect us.
Shooting at Alabama birthday party kills 4 people, wounds 28. Alabama law enforcement officers Sunday were imploring people to come forward with information about a shooting that killed four people and injured 28 others during a teenager’s birthday party.
Billionaire Harlan Crow Bought Property From Clarence Thomas. The Justice Didn’t Disclose the Deal. In 2014, one of Texas billionaire Harlan Crow’s companies purchased a string of properties on a quiet residential street in Savannah, Georgia. It wasn’t a marquee acquisition for the real estate magnate, just an old single-story home and two vacant lots down the road. What made it noteworthy were the people on the other side of the deal: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his relatives…A federal disclosure law passed after Watergate requires justices and other officials to disclose the details of most real estate sales over $1,000. Thomas never disclosed his sale of the Savannah properties. That appears to be a violation of the law, four ethics law experts told ProPublica.
Abortion drug remains approved, with restrictions, appeals court rules. Mifepristone, a common abortion-inducing drug, will remain approved but under more intense restrictions while a legal challenge proceeds, a federal appeals court ruled late Wednesday. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals halted parts of a controversial court order that was set to go into effect Friday night, while affirming other parts. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of Amarillo ruled a week ago that mifepristone, a common abortion-inducing medication, was improperly approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2000.…That means mifepristone will remain on the market, but approved only for use up to seven weeks of pregnancy, versus 10 weeks, and it cannot be prescribed by telehealth or mailed…Complicating matters is a conflicting court ruling out of Washington state, issued just 20 minutes after the Texas ruling, ordering the FDA to not change mifepristone’s legal status. That ruling is binding only in the 17 states that filed the lawsuit, while Kacsmaryk’s ruling is nationwide. The FDA has asked the Washington judge to clarify how both rulings align with each other.
“Pay close attention to what’s happening in Florida. This is what they want to unleash on the entire country.” — PoliticsGirl
DeSantis signs Florida's six-week abortion ban into law. Senate Bill 300, titled the "Heartbeat Protection Act," prohibits abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions for abortions that risk the life of a mother and abortions up to fifteen weeks for pregnancies caused by instances of rape, incest or human trafficking. The bill makes it a third-degree felony for physicians or anyone who "actively participate(s) in" an abortion in violation of the ban. It also prohibits state funds being used in any way to help a woman get an abortion from another state, and using "telehealth" or mail to receive abortion medication.
20% favor a "national divorce". One in five Americans say they'd support a "national divorce" in which Republican- and Democratic-leaning states split into separate countries.
Survey estimates 1 in 5 adults say they've been threatened with a gun at some point. The report, published Tuesday, looked at 1,271 Americans’ experiences with gun-related violence and incidents across the U.S. between March 14 and 23, 2023. About one in five say a family member has been killed by a gun (including death by suicide), and about one in six say they’ve witnessed someone being injured by a gun. More than half of U.S. adults have been affected by guns in some way, reporting that they or a family member has been injured or killed by a gun, threatened with a gun or used a gun in self-defense.
States confront medical debt that’s bankrupting millions. These are three of an estimated 100 million Americans who have amassed nearly $200 billion in collective medical debt — almost the size of Greece’s economy — according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Now lawmakers in at least a dozen states and the U.S. Congress have pushed legislation to curtail the financial burden that’s pushed many into untenable situations: forgoing needed care for fear of added debt, taking a second mortgage to pay for cancer treatment or slashing grocery budgets to keep up with payments. — Healthcare is a right, not a privilege.
Report finds democracy for Black Americans is under attack. Extreme views adopted by some local, state and federal political leaders who try to limit what history can be taught in schools and seek to undermine how Black officials perform their jobs are among the top threats to democracy for Black Americans.
'I am a racist:' Daniel Perry's social media posts reveal racist comments, anti-protester views. A Travis County judge Thursday unsealed court records that revealed more anti-protester social media posts and racist messages that a jury did not see or hear while deciding whether to convict Daniel Perry on a murder charge in the death of Garrett Foster…Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, both of whom have called for Perry to be pardoned on a murder charge in the death of protester Garrett Foster, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday about Perry's comments on social media about calling himself a racist.
Conservative Group Launches Text Alert System for When Companies Go Woke. Nothing gets the conservatives riled up quite like companies promoting progressive values. As a result, a conservative nonprofit named Consumers’ Research is providing “Woke Alerts” to notify you when your favorite company goes too woke. Consumers’ Research currently has sign ups for Woke Alerts on its official website, and users can enter their phone number on the Woke Alerts web page to receive text notifications when a company goes just a little too far on the woke scale. Consumers’ Research has already sent out Woke Alerts for investment company BlackRock, supermarket chain Lidl, and even the infamous Silicon Valley Bank. Woke Alerts criticize different companies and organizations for adhering to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) standards and other sustainable actions, promoting diversity, or featuring LGBTQ+ stances such as featuring drag queens in advertisements.
Kremlin Twitter accounts get a boost thanks to Elon Musk. In the course of just a week, Musk’s erratic leadership resulted in two major, credible news organizations leaving the platform just as Russia’s “information weapon” RT got a boost from Twitter’s algorithm, leading to a surge in engagement and followers for an account linked to a regime that is actively committing war crimes. If you had any doubt that Twitter under Musk’s leadership is a national security threat, this should put an end to that.
Deepfake porn could be a growing problem amid AI race. But experts fear the darker side of the easily accessible tools could worsen something that primarily harms women: nonconsensual deepfake pornography...Since then, deepfake creators have disseminated similar videos and images targeting online influencers, journalists and others with a public profile. Thousands of videos exist across a plethora of websites. And some have been offering users the opportunity to create their own images — essentially allowing anyone to turn whoever they wish into sexual fantasies without their consent, or use the technology to harm former partners.
The day the book banners lost in Pennsylvania’s culture wars. A right-wing move to keep a young-adult climate change novel out of a Kutztown, Pa., middle school backfired in spectacular fashion. The books had already arrived when several conservative board members and parents leaned on the school to cancel the program. According to the Reading Eagle, one adult complained at a board meeting that a book about climate change might make kids feel guilty — and turn them against their parents…But right-wingers who thought they had “banned” a climate-change book in Kutztown only made it more popular…The bad news might be this “it can’t happen here” reality that America is even debating these restrictions on free speech in the 2020s, but the great news is that the book banners are often failing. And more voters need to know that your child’s freedom to read a book, and to learn, is on the ballot in 2023 and especially in 2024. — Republicans are fascists.
Uber, Lyft drivers in Washington to be paid family, medical leave benefits. In addition to the change in benefits, the cost of a driver’s premiums for Paid Family and Medical Leave will be fully paid by Uber and Lyft. Paid Family and Medical Leave access will come online for drivers in July 2024. Washington has more than 30,000 Uber and Lyft drivers.
mRNA vaccine for melanoma reduces relapse after therapy, trial finds. Experts called the results of the combined immunotherapy with personalized mRNA technology an exciting advance in the field of cancer vaccines.
Montana lawmakers vote to completely ban TikTok in the state. Montana became the first US state on Friday to pass legislation banning TikTok on all personal devices, sending a bill to Gov. Greg Gianforte prohibiting TikTok from operating within state lines and barring app stores from offering TikTok for downloads.
North Carolina lawmakers introduce bill to ban participation trophies for kids. The bill says that any award given to children for youth recreation activities must be based on identified performance achievements. "Youth sports or other youth recreation activities operated under the authority of a local government shall not include awards for participants based solely on their participation in the sport or other activity," according to the proposed one-page bill. — Republicans are trash.
Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.
Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.
No comments:
Post a Comment