And another day of Clarence Thomas not doing what he was supposed to do, a national ‘stand your ground’ bill, Rs pushing to weaken child labor laws, NYC vigilantism, hackers, underwater forests, in utero brain surgery, and how to find your people comes to a close:
"We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid. " — Benjamin Franklin
Clarence Thomas Had a Child in Private School. Harlan Crow Paid the Tuition. ProPublica interviewed Martin, his former classmates and former staff at both schools. The exact total Crow paid for Martin’s education over the years remains unclear. If he paid for all four years at the two schools, the price tag could have exceeded $150,000, according to public records of tuition rates at the schools. Thomas did not report the tuition payments from Crow on his annual financial disclosures. Several years earlier, Thomas disclosed a gift of $5,000 for Martin’s education from another friend. It is not clear why he reported that payment but not Crow’s. The tuition payments add to the picture of how the Republican megadonor has helped fund the lives of Thomas and his family. — Impeach Clarence Thomas.
Republican lawmakers to introduce national ‘stand your ground’ bill. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) plan to introduce a national “stand your ground” bill Thursday, as several similar state laws face scrutiny amid a series of high-profile shootings. The legislation would allow people to use deadly force if they “reasonably” believe it is necessary to “prevent imminent death or great bodily harm” to themselves or others, or to “prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony.”
Indiana governor signs bills targeting LGBTQ students. Indiana’s governor on Thursday signed a bill that will require schools to notify a parent if a student requests a name or pronoun change at school, one of the final bills approved in a legislative session that had targeted LGBTQ+ people in the state, especially students.
Why Tucker Carlson’s text message about “white men” matters. Liberals are so used to dismissing such professions of racial innocence as absurd — and they are — that they may be missing the crucial role it plays in Carlson’s narrative. The norm against explicit racism is so powerful in polite American society that someone like Carlson, who is obviously mainstreaming racist ideas, needs to give permission to his viewers to believe racist things while thinking of themselves as not racist. That’s the line Carlson toed, very carefully, on air. And it’s one the text about how “white men fight” erases…Because this isn’t just a story about one man and his television show, but about the way that modern American racism operates — how it has managed to survive and even thrive on television’s highest-rated cable news show.
The Republican push to weaken child labor laws, explained. As the Wisconsin lawmakers suggested, these new bills are partly a reaction to the competitive labor market and struggles businesses have been facing to fill open positions. But they’re also rooted in longstanding conservative opposition to workplace regulation, and some labor advocates worry they’re just the opening salvo to a broader attack on government safety rules…Some rule changes — like allowing teens to work later in the summer — sound fairly innocuous, but others have caused more concern, like a proposal in Minnesota to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to work on construction sites, and one in Iowa that would allow 14-year-olds to work in meat coolers. Others worry about a general slippery slope of loosening child labor laws, and sending a message to employers that enforcement will be even more relaxed than it already is. — Conservatives are truly disgusting human beings.
Man dies after being placed in headlock on NYC subway. A man suffering an apparent mental health episode aboard a New York City subway died this week after being placed in a headlock by a fellow rider, according to police officials and video of the encounter. Jordan Neely, 30, was shouting and pacing aboard an F train in Manhattan on Monday afternoon, witnesses and police said, when he was taken to the floor by another passenger. Video of the altercation posted online by a freelance journalist showed the man lying beneath Neely, holding him in a headlock position for several minutes as Neely tried and failed to break free.
Some call NYC subway choking criminal, others hold judgment. The medical examiner’s office ruled Wednesday night that Neely, 30, died in a homicide caused by compression of the neck, but it said any determination about criminal culpability would be left to the legal system. Regardless, many New Yorkers saw the choking as the latest in a long history of attacks on Black city residents.
8 fatally shot in Serbia town a day after 9 killed at school. A shooter killed at least eight people and wounded 13 in a drive-by attack near a town close to Belgrade late Thursday, the second such mass killing in Serbia in two days, state television reported.
Hackers hijacked a university's emergency system to threaten students and faculty. Hackers hijacked a Virginia university’s emergency alerts system this week and, in what appears to be a first, used it to issue threats to students and faculty: The university must pay up or their files would be leaked online.
Washington ranks as best state for nursing careers. The study compared the 50 states across two key dimensions, “opportunity and competition” and “work environment,” — evaluating those dimensions using 20 metrics. When all was said and done, Washington came out on top, with Maine, New Mexico, Oregon, and New Hampshire rounding out the top five.
The most mysterious forests on Earth are underwater. A few miles west of San Diego is a stretch of ocean that’s rather unremarkable from the surface. The water is cold and blue. There’s some green seaweed peeking out. Sink below the waves, however, and a whole other realm appears. Under the sea here, near Point Loma, is a forest as beautiful as any other. It’s made not of trees but of strands of giant kelp, a species of algae that can grow taller than a 10-story building…Found in cold waters across roughly a quarter of the world’s coasts, kelp forests are the foundation of many marine ecosystems. They underpin coastal fisheries, helping sustain the seafood industry. They also absorb enormous amounts of pollution and help sequester planet-warming gases. A recent study valued these benefits at roughly $500 billion a year, worldwide…What biologists do know suggests that many of these forests are in trouble. And a lengthy new review published this week by the United Nations indicates that kelp forests have declined globally. “Kelp have suffered widespread losses across much of their range,” the report states — and climate change stands to make things worse. The full story, however, is much more complicated.
White House unveils an AI plan ahead of meeting with tech CEOs. The US government plans to introduce policies that shape how federal agencies procure and use AI systems, the White House said. The step could significantly influence the market for AI products and control how Americans interact with AI on government websites, at security checkpoints and in other settings. The National Science Foundation will also spend $140 million to promote research and development in AI, the White House added. The funds will be used to create research centers that seek to apply AI to issues such as climate change, agriculture and public health, according to the administration.
Pornhub blocks Utah because of age verification law. "Until a real solution is offered, we have made the difficult decision to completely disable access to our website in Utah."
Doctors performed brain surgery on a baby before she was born and now she’s thriving. A team of doctors in Boston successfully performed a novel fetal surgery to treat a rare brain condition known as vein of Galen malformation. Although in utero surgery – performed before a baby is born – has been used for other conditions, this ultrasound-guided procedure was among the first for this condition. Details of the procedure, which took place in March, were published in the journal Stroke on Thursday. The condition occurs when the blood vessel that carries blood from the brain to the heart, also known as the vein of Galen, doesn’t develop correctly. The malformation, known as VOGM, results in an overwhelming amount of blood stressing the vein and heart and can lead to a cascade of health problems.
How to find your people. We don’t teach people how to do this, how to create friendships, how to nurture them, how to choose better, and then when and how to end them if they’re not working. And because of that, so many of us are just fumbling around, hoping one day we’ll stumble into the friendships of our dreams because we want them, because we deserve them.
Fish with fangs are washing up on Oregon’s beaches, and biologists aren’t sure why. The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department announced Monday that numerous lancetfish have washed ashore in Oregon in recent weeks. Beachgoers from both the northern and southern coasts of the state have reported spotting the dead or dying fish in their local surf, too.
Astronomers observe star swallowing planet for first time – and it’s the size of Jupiter.
In a world first, scientists have observed the moment that a dying star consumed a planet — a fate that eventually awaits Earth.
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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