And another day of Alito accepting luxury gifts, the House censoring Schiff, a tale of two disasters, sex mattering for certain cancers, FTC suing Amazon, WA state having the most expensive gas, and ‘lab-grown’ meat headed to dinner plates comes to a close:
“So let me get this straight: Every single federal judge in every single jurisdiction in the U.S. is subject to a binding code of ethics — except the justices on the single most powerful court in the country? Hello?” -- Robert Reich
“Oh no, Schiff has the formal disapproval of fascists and grifters. However will he cope.” — Jaime Leishae
Justice Samuel Alito Took Luxury Fishing Vacation With GOP Billionaire Who Later Had Cases Before the Court. In the years after the undisclosed trip to Alaska, Republican megadonor Paul Singer’s hedge fund has repeatedly had business before the Supreme Court. Alito has never recused himself…Singer was more than a fellow angler. He flew Alito to Alaska on a private jet. If the justice chartered the plane himself, the cost could have exceeded $100,000 one way…Alito did not report the 2008 fishing trip on his annual financial disclosures. By failing to disclose the private jet flight Singer provided, Alito appears to have violated a federal law that requires justices to disclose most gifts, according to ethics law experts. Experts said they could not identify an instance of a justice ruling on a case after receiving an expensive gift paid for by one of the parties. — Alito needs to go. SCOTUS does not work for the people. It works for the rich and powerful.
House censures Rep. Adam Schiff over Trump-Russia investigations. The House voted Wednesday to censure California Rep. Adam Schiff for comments he made several years ago about investigations into Donald Trump’s ties to Russia, rebuking the Democrat and frequent critic of the former president along party lines.
“Imagine a political party that covers up the lies and crimes of George Santos, lauds an abettor of sexual abuse, Jim Jordan, does nothing to those like Paul Gosar, who helped engineer a violent insurrection that could’ve killed their own. And then censures a truth teller.” — Norman Ornstein
Almost half of states have restricted abortion since Dobbs. In the year since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated legal protections for abortion, 24 states have restricted access to abortion…According to the pro-abortion rights group, 16 of those states — including Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas — have enacted total or near-total abortion bans, though many of those bans face scrutiny by courts and are currently suspended amid ongoing litigation. The other eight states states, which have restricted abortion but not completely banned it, have legalized gestational limits on abortion that fall earlier than what was allowed under Roe.
Gallup’s latest poll released Wednesday found a new high in the number of voters who say they will only back a candidate who agrees with their own personal opinion on abortion — another sign of the issue’s rising importance for some voters. While the number — 28 percent — was only one percentage point higher than last year, it’s a new high for Gallup when asking the question and underscores the roiling political tensions since the Supreme Court decision one year ago this week to overturn the Roe v. Wade ruling.
A tale of two disasters: Missing Titanic sub captivates the world days after deadly migrant shipwreck. A fishing boat crowded with migrants traveling from Libya to Italy sank in Greek waters last week. While hundreds are still missing and feared dead, it has garnered far less attention and resources than the Titan rescue efforts for five people.
COVID-19 is a leading cause of death in children and young people in the US. A new study led by researchers at the University of Oxford’s Department of Computer Science has found that, between 2021 and 2022, COVID-19 was a leading cause of death in children and young people in the United States, ranking eighth overall. The results demonstrate that pharmaceutical and public health interventions should continue to be applied to limit the spread of the coronavirus and protect again severe disease in this age group.
Utah district returns Bible to school libraries after reversal of parent-led ban. “The appeal committee determined that the Bible has significant, serious value for minors which outweighs the violent or vulgar content it contains,” the district said in a statement seemingly critical of the parent majority that recommended the ban. — Seems that argument could be applied to, you know, all the other books they are banning. After all, “violent” and “vulgar” are relative terms.
Child predators are using Discord, a popular app among teens, for sextortion and abductions. But the app has a darker side. In hidden communities and chat rooms, adults have used the platform to groom children before abducting them, trade child sexual exploitation material (CSAM) and extort minors whom they trick into sending nude images. In a review of international, national and local criminal complaints, news articles and law enforcement communications published since Discord was founded, NBC News identified 35 cases over the past six years in which adults were prosecuted on charges of kidnapping, grooming or sexual assault that allegedly involved communications on Discord. Twenty-two of those cases occurred during or after the Covid pandemic. At least 15 of the prosecutions have resulted in guilty pleas or verdicts, and many of the other cases are still pending. Those numbers only represent cases that were reported, investigated and prosecuted — which all present major hurdles for victims and their advocates.
Greta Van Fleet singer Josh Kiszka comes out as LGBTQ+ in response to Tennessee laws. American rock singer Josh Kiszka, a founding member of Grammy-award-winning band Greta Van Fleet, has come out as LGBTQ+, in an emotional message to his fans... “Where I’ve settled in Tennessee, legislators are proposing bills that threaten the freedom of love. It’s imperative that I speak my truth not only for myself, but [with the hope of changing] hearts, minds and laws in Tennessee and beyond.”
What's to blame for certain cancer outcomes? New studies confirm: sex matters. It's long been known men fare worse with colon cancer than women. The presumption was male smoking habits, extra meat consumption and maybe hormones made the difference. But a pair of studies out Wednesday in the journal Nature finds genetics can sometimes explain why sex matters. When tumor cells lose the Y chromosome that characterizes male cells, men with bladder cancer fare worse. In some colon cancers by contrast, the presence of the Y chromosome can worsen outcomes, suggesting the Y chromosome works differently depending on the type of cancer.
Washington passes California as most expensive state for gas: AAA. While the average price of gas in Washington is $4.93, some motorists are paying over $5 for gas in some counties, according to AAA data. The average gas price in King County, Washington, which is the home of Seattle, sits at $5.09, according to AAA. Skamania County's average price for gasoline is $5.32, the highest in the state. The national average for gas is $3.58 as of Wednesday, according to AAA.
FTC sues Amazon over 'deceptive' Prime sign-up and cancellation process. The agency claims Amazon used so-called dark patterns, or deceptive design tactics meant to push consumers to enroll in Prime without their consent.
US approves chicken made from cultivated cells, the nation’s first ‘lab-grown’ meat. For the first time, U.S. regulators on Wednesday approved the sale of chicken made from animal cells, allowing two California companies to offer “lab-grown” meat to the nation’s restaurant tables and eventually, supermarket shelves. The Agriculture Department gave the green light to Upside Foods and Good Meat, firms that had been racing to be the first in the U.S. to sell meat that doesn’t come from slaughtered animals — what’s now being referred to as “cell-cultivated” or “cultured” meat as it emerges from the laboratory and arrives on dinner plates.
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