And another day of manhunts, the GOP blocking the ERA, glacially slow rulings, WA’s new health law, stray bullets, a map of gun deaths, DeFascist’s time at Guantanamo, shielding travels, SC’s all-male Supreme Court, and wildfires in Anchorage comes to a close:
“Imagine if the governor of a blue state told a company from a red state not to bring its ‘MAGA’ employees to their state. Rightwing media & the GOP would melt down. As ever, conservatives get to demonize/delegitimize certain cities and citizens, but never the other way around.” — Mehdi Hasan
“With or without Tucker Carlson Fox News is an anti-American cancer.” — The Lincoln Project
Senate GOP blocks Equal Rights Amendment. Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked a measure that would have allowed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to be added to the Constitution. Senators voted 51 to 47 to invoke cloture on a motion to proceed, falling short of the 60 votes it it needed. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine) were the lone Republicans to vote with every Democrat…The ERA passed Congress in 1972, having been first proposed in 1923. Constitutional amendments, under U.S. law, must be ratified by three-quarters of all state legislatures, meaning 38 states. In 2020, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the ERA, but it did so after the 1982 deadline to ratify the amendment had passed. The Senate resolution would have removed the deadline so that the ERA could become the 28th Amendment. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Murkowski were the resolution’s lead co-sponsors. — Fucking Republicans. They just said that women need to stay in their place and that they don’t deserve equal rights.
This Supreme Court is slow to issue rulings — glacially slow. The court has resolved 15 cases as of May 1st, leaving 75% of its caseload this term still undecided. No term in the last century has had fewer decisions at this point.
My Health, My Data Act Signed Into Law in Washington State. New protections include prohibiting the sale of health data, requiring disclosure of data collection and sharing, allowing consumers to have their health data deleted, and banning geofences around facilities that provide in-person healthcare services.…Sulaiman also noted that the My Health, My Data Act defines health information in broad terms, which is part of what makes the legislation so sweeping. "This, to me, is like one of the most significant privacy bills that we've seen out of any state legislature and I say that because of the breadth of information that it seeks to protect," she said…In other words, it's possible that sensitive information like biometric data or test results could be treated the same way as fitness trackers or purchases related to bodily functions, such as deodorant, menstrual products, and toilet paper.
Police: 5 people killed in shooting at home north of Houston. A Texas man went next door with a rifle and began shooting his neighbors, killing an 8-year-old and four others inside the house, after the family asked him to stop firing rounds in his yard because they were trying to sleep…Capers said there were 10 people in the house and that no one else was injured. He said two of the victims, all believed to be from Honduras, were found laying over two children inside. “The Honduran ladies that were laying over these children were doing it in such an effort as to protect the child.”…The confrontation followed family members walking up to the fence and asking the suspect to stop shooting rounds, Capers said. The suspect responded by telling them that it was his property, according to Capers, and that one person in the house got a video of the suspect walking up to the front door with the rifle.
Widening manhunt for Texas gunman slowed by ‘zero leads’. A widening manhunt for a Texas gunman who killed five neighbors continued turning up nothing Sunday as officers knocked on doors, the governor put up $50,000 in reward money and the FBI acknowledged they had “zero leads” after nearly two days of searching.
Texas A&M baseball player shot by stray bullet during game, police say. The 18-year-old Texas A&M-Texarkana player was hit while standing in the bullpen area by what police said appeared to be a stray bullet from a nearby altercation.
Map of gun deaths across the U.S. shows cities have lower rates than rural counties. From 2011 to 2020, the most rural counties in the U.S. had a 37% higher rate of gun deaths per capita than the most urban counties, according to research published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Surgery. That's up from a 25% difference from 2000 to 2010.
Ron DeSantis in Guantánamo: how questions about his past haunt the Florida governor. The three men were found hanging from their necks, with their hands and feet bound and rags in their throats…What DeSantis saw and heard in the hours and days after the three deaths could be key to an enduring mystery that has hung over Guantánamo ever since: how did Ahmed, Utaybi and Zahrani die?
DeSantis and Florida GOP look to upend public record laws as they attempt to shield his travel and other records ahead of likely White House bid. One bill advancing through the Republican-controlled state legislature would conceal information about DeSantis’ travel and who he has met with at the governor’s mansion. Another would allow state political committees – like the one where DeSantis has stashed $85 million for his future political ambitions – to report their fundraising activity less frequently. Separately, DeSantis in court cases has lately claimed “executive privilege” to block the release of records and to keep staff from testifying – a power typically reserved for presidents and which none of his predecessors had previously asserted is entrusted to the state’s governor. If realized, it would give DeSantis tremendous new discretion to keep information about his administration from the public. — DeFascist fine tunes his authoritarian plans.
DeSantis’ Cartoon Villainy Gives Disney’s Lawsuit a Clear Path to Victory. When Florida Governor Ron DeSantis decided to go after Disney last spring for opposing his “Don’t Say Gay” law, he was making it an example. He chose a powerful, high profile target that had disagreed with his policy preferences, and he punished that company for crossing him. In doing so, he sent a clear warning to other companies: Disagree and I will come knocking. If he was willing to attack Disney, one of the state’s largest employers and a major tax source, no business was safe. This is an authoritarian tactic. Authoritarian leaders use various means to control the private sector to suppress dissent and bring a powerful segment of society under their sway. But in order to make an example of Disney, DeSantis had to be clear that Disney was suffering as a direct result of speaking out against him…The expansion of corporate civil rights has had harmful and undemocratic consequences, such as flooding elections with money or allowing businesses to deny reproductive health care to employees. But it has also left corporations with more tools to fight authoritarian meddling. This is what we are seeing now in Florida. “This whole situation highlights one of the hidden benefits of recognizing corporations to have rights,” Winkler explained, “that corporate rights also serve as a check on government tyranny.”…The episode has demonstrated many of DeSantis’ authoritarian traits. His desire to be dominant, even over the private sector; to impose his ideology on Florida, including its businesses; and his refusal to concede defeat. Like Donald Trump, who still contends he won the 2020 election, the worst thing that can happen to a leader who depends on a vision of power to rule is to admit defeat. DeSantis can never show weakness, and so he pushed Disney to the point where the company—so loath to bring a lawsuit that it avoided court for a year—was finally forced to sue to protect its business interests. DeSantis could have scored a publicity win with his conservative base without actually harming Disney’s bottom line and gotten away with it with it—but he wanted actual power over the company.
What GOP’s plan for Medicaid work requirements would mean. Here’s a look at how the proposal might save taxpayers money but cost some Americans access to health care coverage. -- Healthcare is right, not a privilege.
How South Carolina Ended Up With an All-Male Supreme Court. An abortion ban struck down. The lone female justice retiring. And a majority-male legislature rallying behind the one male candidate to replace her. This is how South Carolina ended up with an all-male Supreme Court as new abortion legislation looms…In South Carolina, unlike all but one other state, the legislature alone selects judges…“It’s all kind of clandestine, cloak and dagger,” said Barbara Rackes, president of SC Women in Leadership, which works to boost women’s influence and representation in the state. “It was not happening in the committee chamber or on the floor. The decision was made in the backroom.”…Following Dobbs, South Carolina’s race underscores the newly starring role of states’ top courts in determining abortion access — and the resulting impact on who gets chosen to serve on them. The machinations have left many in the state fearing increased politicization of their already unusual judicial selection process, which gives near-total power to politicians. Consequences of an all-male high court are especially pronounced in this state, which consistently ranks at the bottom of lists measuring women’s well-being.
Washington, Minnesota become trans refuges, shield abortions. Democratic governors in Washington state and Minnesota on Thursday enacted legal protections for people who travel to those states seeking reproductive and gender-affirming procedures and treatment.
Stephen Miller Is Taking Legal Action Against the M&M Company. America First Legal, the legal activist group founded by former Trump advisor Stephen Miller, filed a complaint on Wednesday with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against Mars Inc, the maker of M&Ms. The pro-Trump nonprofit alleges Mars’ efforts to increase diversity and representation of minorities within its workforce constitutes discrimination and a violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Wildfires in Anchorage? Climate change sparks disaster fears. Research on a flat spot for air evacuations. Talk of old-style civil defense sirens to warn of fast-moving wildfires. Hundreds of urban firefighters training in wildland firefighting techniques while snow still blankets the ground. This is the new reality in Alaska’s largest city, where a recent series of wildfires near Anchorage and the hottest day on record have sparked fears that a warming climate could soon mean serious, untenable blazes in urban areas — just like in the rest of the drought-plagued American West.
FDA approves first pill for fecal transplants, made from healthy bacteria in human waste. U.S. health officials on Wednesday approved the first pill made from healthy bacteria found in human waste to fight dangerous gut infections — an easier way of performing so-called fecal transplants. The new treatment from Seres Therapeutics provides a simpler, rigorously tested version of stool-based procedures that some medical specialists have used for more than a decade to help patients.
Backlash against AI supermodels triggers wider fears in fashion workforce. Plans by Levi’s to test out virtual clothing models generated by artificial intelligence drew swift backlash in the industry late last month. While the furor mainly focused on diversity concerns, the retailer’s proposal also stirred up other anxieties that have been simmering in the industry for years. Some critics of Levi Strauss & Co.’s partnership with AI design firm Lalaland.ai, which aimed to show online shoppers different types of people wearing Levi’s garments, accused the retailer of looking to inexpensively address issues of representation — potentially pushing professional models out of their jobs in the process.
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