And another day of more SCOTUS questions, appeals court rejections, Trump’s ‘retribution’ agenda, abortion ban horror in TX, MT transgendered lawmaker barred from House, dress codes, and a whole bunch more comes to a close:
“I wanted to address my senators, Cruz and Cornyn.. I would like for them to know that what happened to me is a direct result of the policies they support. I nearly died on their watch and I may have been robbed of the opportunity to have children in the future.” -- Amanda Zurawski
Law firm head bought Gorsuch-owned property. The Supreme Court justice did not report the identity of the purchaser, whose firm has had numerous cases before the court. For nearly two years beginning in 2015, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch sought a buyer for a 40-acre tract of property he co-owned in rural Granby, Colo. Nine days after he was confirmed by the Senate for a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court, the then-circuit court judge got one: The chief executive of Greenberg Traurig, one of the nation’s biggest law firms with a robust practice before the high court. Gorsuch owned the property with two other individuals. On April 16 of 2017, Greenberg’s Brian Duffy put under contract the 3,000-square foot log home on the Colorado River and nestled in the mountains northwest of Denver, according to real estate records. He and his wife closed on the house a month later, paying $1.825 million, according to a deed in the county’s record system. Gorsuch, who held a 20 percent stake, reported making between $250,001 and $500,000 from the sale on his federal disclosure forms. Gorsuch did not disclose the identity of the purchaser. That box was left blank. Since then, Greenberg Traurig has been involved in at least 22 cases before or presented to the court, according to a POLITICO review of the court’s docket. They include cases in which Greenberg either filed amicus briefs or represented parties. In the 12 cases where Gorsuch’s opinion is recorded, he sided with Greenberg Traurig clients eight times and against them four times…Supreme Court rules do not prevent justices from engaging in financial transactions with people with interest in court decisions, but Gorsuch’s dealings with Duffy expose the weakness of the court’s disclosure procedures. For instance, in reporting his Colorado income, Gorsuch listed as his source only the name that he and his two co-owners gave themselves, Walden Group, LLC. The report didn’t indicate that there had been a real estate sale or a purchaser. Such a sale would raise ethical problems for officials serving in many other branches of government, but the Supreme Court sets its own rules. It has largely left justices to make their own decisions about when and how to report outside gifts and income. — And of course justices on the Supreme Court would never do anything unethical or corrupt.
Chief Justice Roberts declines to testify at Senate’s Supreme Court ethics hearing. Chief Justice John Roberts has declined a request from the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify at a hearing next week on ethical standards at the court, instead providing the panel with a statement of ethics reaffirmed by the court’s nine justices...Accompanying the letter to Durbin was a “Statement on Ethics Principles and Practices” signed by all nine justices describing the ethical rules they follow about travel, gifts and outside income. While the rules are not new, the statement said that the undersigned justices “today reaffirm and restate foundational ethics principles and practices to which they subscribe in carrying out their responsibilities as Members of the Supreme Court of the United States.” -- Not worth the paper it was printed on. SCOTUS judges believe they are untouchable.
Appeals court rejects Trump effort to block Pence testimony. A federal appeals court on Wednesday night moved former Vice President Mike Pence closer to appearing before a grand jury investigating efforts to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election, rejecting a bid by former President Donald Trump’s lawyers to block the testimony.
House votes to pass debt ceiling bill in win for McCarthy. The final vote was 217-215, with four Republicans – Ken Buck of Colorado, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Tim Burchett of Tennessee and Matt Gaetz of Florida – voting against the bill. McCarthy could only lose four votes and prevail on the vote. The measure is dead on arrival in the Democratic-led Senate, but is primarily aimed at boosting Republicans’ efforts to negotiate with Democrats as the country approaches its default deadline as soon as this summer.
Trump zeroes in on a key target of his 'retribution' agenda: Government workers. He has also vowed "retribution" for his political enemies, saying that if he gets back into the White House "their reign is over.”…At the top of Trump’s list is reinstituting an executive order known as “Schedule F,” which would reclassify tens of thousands of federal employees involved in policy decisions as at-will employees. In other words, they would lose their employment protections, and it would be much easier for a president to fire them. — An authoritarian wet dream.
Horrors of Texas Abortion Ban Recounted in the Senate. Before Roe v. Wade was overturned, Texans had been living under a de facto abortion ban for months. The consequences of that ban were on full display in the U.S. Senate when Amanda Zurawski testified about her harrowing ordeal that should never have happened...In addition to speaking in front of the Senate, Zurawski is one of five plaintiffs in the first-ever lawsuit challenging the Texas abortion ban. According to the lawsuit, Zurawski went through months of fertility treatment before finally becoming pregnant in 2022. Sadly, she was diagnosed with a condition that prematurely dilates the cervix, and the fetus would not survive. Because she lived in Texas under the new abortion ban, she was sent home without receiving the proper care. She developed sepsis and acute sepsis shock. -- Republicans are horrible and hateful people. No one should ever have to go through this, yet Republicans aim to make this universal across the country. Republicans are literally trying to kill women.
‘MAGA movement’ widely unpopular, new poll finds. The Make America Great Again, or ‘MAGA,’ movement, which takes its name from Trump’s first campaign slogan, was the least popular individual or group tested in the new survey. Just 24% of Americans have positive views of the movement, while 45% voice negative views.
Montana transgender lawmaker barred by GOP from House floor. Montana Republicans barred transgender lawmaker Zooey Zephyr from the House floor for the rest of the 2023 session on Wednesday in retaliation for her rebuking colleagues – and then participating in protests – after they voted to ban gender-affirming care for children. -- Republicans are such hateful, and vengeful, people.
Blue states advance bills to protect gender-affirming care. Oregon lawmakers are expected to pass a bill that would further expand insurance coverage for gender-affirming care to include things like facial hair removal and Adam’s apple reduction surgery, procedures currently considered cosmetic by insurers but seen as critical to the mental health of transitioning women. The wide-ranging bill is part of a wave of legislation this year in Democratic-led states intended to carve out safe havens amid a conservative movement that seeks to ban or limit gender-affirming care elsewhere, eliminate some rights and protections for transgender people and even bar discussion of their existence in settings such as classrooms.
North Dakota limits bathroom use for transgender people. Transgender kids and adults in North Dakota won’t be able to access bathrooms, locker rooms or showers that match the gender they identify with in places like college dorms or jails, under a new law signed by Republican Gov. Doug Burgum. The American Civil Liberties Union has said that so far this year, more than 450 bills attacking the rights of transgender people have been introduced in state legislatures. Burgum’s office announced Wednesday that he had signed the bill the previous day. The measure passed the state House and Senate with veto-proof majorities.
Texas state agency orders workers to dress ‘consistent to their biological gender’. In what is seen as a veiled attack at transgender employees, the agriculture department laid out the policy in a 13 April memo. “For men, business attire includes a long-sleeved dress shirt, tie, and sport coat worn with trousers and dress shoes or boots,” it says. “For women, business attire includes tailored pantsuits, business-like dresses, coordinated dressy separates worn with or without a blazer, and conservative, closed-toe shoes or boots.” — What a bunch of horse shit.
A Nashville senior was banned from prom for a suit, so a local business stepped in. B Hayes, an 18-year-old student at Nashville Christian School, was banned from going to their prom because they wore a suit and not a dress. Hayes wrote in the caption, "i should not have to conform to femininity to attend my senior prom. i will not compromise who i am to fit in a box. who are you to tell us what it means to be a woman?"
Black parents seek schools affirming their history amid bans. In recent years, conservative politicians around the country have championed bans on books or instruction that touch on race and inclusion. Books were banned in more than 5,000 schools in 32 states from June 2021 to June 2022, according to free-speech nonprofit PEN America. Instructional bans have been enacted in at least 16 states since 2021. Even when a topic isn’t explicitly banned, some teachers say the debates have caused them to back away from controversy. The situation has caused more Black families to leave public schools, opting for homeschooling or private schools that embrace their identity and culture. Public school enrollment of Black students between pre-K and 12th grade has declined each year measured in federal data since 2007. -- I’m sure that thrills Republicans who thrive on hatred and racism.
World powers pull their citizens as violence roils Sudan. Then Sudan exploded into violence. The chiefs of the country’s army and its rival Rapid Support Forces rose to power after a popular uprising in 2019 prompted them to remove longtime autocratic ruler Omar al-Bashir. They started fighting this month amid tensions over a new plan to re-introduce civilian rule.
Oregon Bill Could Deem Some Environmental Protests “Domestic Terrorism”. Lawmakers in the Beaver State are considering a bill that could make “disruption of services” provided by so-called critical infrastructure, which includes roads, pipelines, electrical substations, and some oil and gas infrastructure, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines. The bill labels such activity “domestic terrorism.”
Prison sex abuse must be rooted out, Justice official says. Sexual abuse in the nation’s federal prisons must be rooted out, the Justice Department’s second-highest-ranking leader told prison wardens gathered for their first nationwide training since revelations that a toxic, permissive culture at a California prison allowed abuse to run rampant.
Disney sues DeSantis, calling park takeover ‘retaliation’. Disney sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday over the Republican’s takeover of its theme park district, alleging the governor waged a “targeted campaign of government retaliation” after the company opposed a law critics call “Don’t Say Gay.”
Elon Musk’s statements could be ‘deepfakes’, Tesla defence lawyers tell court. A California judge has tentatively ordered Elon Musk to be interviewed under oath about whether he made certain statements regarding the capabilities of Tesla’s Autopilot features after the company questioned the authenticity of the remarks, claiming Musk is a “target for deep fakes”…“Their position is that because Mr Musk is famous and might be more of a target for deep fakes, his public statements are immune,” Pennypacker wrote, adding that such arguments would allow Musk and other famous people “to avoid taking ownership of what they did actually say and do”.
Students’ psychological reports, abuse allegations leaked by ransomware hackers. Hackers who broke into the Minneapolis Public Schools earlier this year have circulated an enormous cache of files that appear to include highly sensitive documents on schoolchildren and teachers, including allegations of teacher abuse and students’ psychological reports...The files reviewed by NBC News include everything from relatively benign data like contact information to far more sensitive information including descriptions of students’ behavioral problems and teachers’ Social Security numbers...It’s a stark reminder that schools often hold reams of sensitive information, and that such leaks often leave parents and administrators with little recourse once their information is released.
Barbie with Down's syndrome on sale after 'real women' criticism. A Barbie with Down's syndrome is the latest doll to be released by Mattel in a bid to make its range more diverse. The US toy giant had faced previous criticism that the traditional Barbie did not represent real women. In recent years it has created dolls with a hearing aid, a prosthetic limb and a wheelchair.
Ben & Jerry's co-founder starts cannabis nonprofit to support social causes. Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, has started a new nonprofit business selling cannabis products, with the profits dedicated to social causes. Ben's Best Blnz or B3, aims to "sell Great Pot and use the power of our business to Right the Wrongs of the War on Drugs," according to its website. The nonprofit's business strategy involves partnering with for-profit businesses who pay B3 a royalty to use its formulas, packaging and trademarks. The entirety of those royalty profits, after expenses, will go towards their social mission: getting people convicted of nonviolent, cannabis-related crimes out of jail, getting their criminal records expunged, advocating for marijuana to be removed from the federal government's Schedule 1 list, which includes drugs such as heroin, and investing in Black-owned cannabis businesses.
Brazilian dictionary adds Pelé as adjective, synonym of best. The dictionary entry reads: “The one that is extraordinary, or who because of his quality, value or superiority cannot be matched to anything or anyone, just like Pelé; nickname of Edson Arantes do Nascimento (1940-2022), considered the best athlete of all time; exceptional, incomparable, unique. Examples: He is the Pelé of basketball, she is the Pelé of tennis, she is the Pelé of Brazilian theater, he is the Pelé of medicine.”
New first-of-its-kind image reveals a jet of material launching from a black hole. The groundbreaking image can help astronomers gain more insight into how black holes behave and what enables them to launch energetic jets of material across the universe.
RIP Harry Belafonte. He was 96.
Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.
Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.
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