And another day of the Biden Admin not allowed to work with Social Media companies, ramping up oppression in ‘the land of the free,’ legacy admissions, the world’s hottest day, maternal deaths, low sex drive in men, AI caused layoffs, and flying cars comes to a close:
“Happy July 4th to the Democrats, Independents and ex-Republicans who are all united in saving our nation from MAGA fascism.” -- Dean Obeidallah
Why the US ‘does not get to assume that it lasts forever’. Possibly not since the two decades before the Civil War has America faced as much pressure on its fundamental cohesion. The greatest risk probably isn’t a repeat of the outright secession that triggered the Civil War, though even that no longer seems entirely impossible in the most extreme scenarios. More plausible is the prospect that the nation will continue its drift into two irreconcilable blocs of red and blue states uneasily trying to occupy the same geographic space. The strains on America’s basic unity are broad and diverse. They include a widening divergence in the basic rules of life between red and blue states on everything from the availability of abortion and guns to what teachers can say in the classroom; sharpening conflicts not only between the states, but among the urban and rural regions within them; a growing tendency of voters in each political coalition to view the other party not only as a political rival but as an “enemy” that threatens their core conception of America; the increasing inability of almost any institution – from the media to federal law enforcement to even consumer products – to retain comparable credibility on both sides of the red-blue divide; more common threats of political violence, predominantly from the right, against local and national officials; and the endurance of Donald Trump as the first leader of a truly mass-scale American political movement who has demonstrated a willingness to subvert small-d democracy to achieve his goals...The biggest challenge created by the widening distance among the states is where to draw the line between local leeway and preserving a baseline floor of nationally guaranteed rights in every state. Racial segregation, after all, was justified for 70 years on the ground of respecting “local traditions.” From both Congress and the Supreme Court, the general trend in American life from the 1950s through the 2010s was to nationalize more rights and to restrict the ability of states to curtail those rights. Now, though, the red states are engaged in the most concerted effort over that long arc to roll back the “rights revolution” and restore a system in which people’s basic civil rights vary much more depending on where they live...Michael Podhorzer, the former long-time political director for the AFL-CIO, has argued that the wave of restrictive red state social laws has simply made more apparent something that has long been true: that the red and blue parts of the country are so divergent in their values, priorities and even economic structures that they are more accurately described as separate nations than separate regions. In his mind, what’s changed isn’t that these different regions – or different nations – have divergent approaches on both social and economic issues, but that the Trump-aligned MAGA movement ascendant in the red states is now pursuing such an extreme and even anti-democratic (small d) agenda...“It is totally not a given that we get through this,” Liu told me. “The United States does not get to assume that it lasts forever.” -- An important read today.
Judge limits Biden administration in working with social media companies. U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty of Louisiana granted the injunction in response to a 2022 lawsuit brought by attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri. Their lawsuit alleged that the federal government overstepped in its efforts to convince social media companies to address postings that could result in vaccine hesitancy during the COVID-19 pandemic or affect elections...Administration lawyers said the government left it up to social media companies to decide what constituted misinformation and how to combat it. In one brief, they likened the lawsuit to an attempt to put a legal gag order on the federal government and “suppress the speech of federal government officials under the guise of protecting the speech rights of others.” “Plaintiffs’ proposed injunction would significantly hinder the Federal Government’s ability to combat foreign malign influence campaigns, prosecute crimes, protect the national security, and provide accurate information to the public on matters of grave public concern such as health care and election integrity,” the administration says in a May 3 court filing.
Yes, military academies are exempt from the SCOTUS ruling on affirmative action. “The United States Military Academy… admits a racially, ethnically, and geographically diverse Corps of Cadets so as to reflect the racial and ethnic composition of our enlisted force and our country,” it states. “We believe a diverse student body results in a superior education for our cadets and in phenomenal leaders for our nation’s enlisted soldiers.” But the Supreme Court ruled that intentionally selecting applicants based on race violates the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which guarantees equal protection under the law regardless of race. That means if the military academies wanted to ensure a diverse body, they’d have to find a way to do so without asking applicants to identify their race. Except, on page 22 of Chief Justice John Roberts’s majority opinion, there’s a key footnote. -- Some animals are more equal than others.
Activists spurred by affirmative action ruling sue Harvard over legacy admissions. A civil rights group is challenging legacy admissions at Harvard University, saying the practice discriminates against students of color by giving an unfair boost to the mostly white children of alumni.
SCOTUS is ramping up oppression in ‘the land of the free’. Bending rules to favour the already privileged is nothing new in the US, but the Supreme Court is making it worse...Anyway, you cannot sustain the tyranny of an elite minority if you start giving everyone a fair chance at everything...And the shameless corruption that passes for “democracy” in the US only becomes all the more nauseating in the context of the battle over student debt, the upshot of which is that it is totally fine to spend astronomical sums of money just to ensure that the non-rich get no economic relief whatsoever...Critiques aside, Biden shot down the option of subjecting the judicial body to some sort of corrective expansion in an interview with MSNBC: “I think if we start the process of trying to expand the court, we’re going to politicise it maybe forever in a way that is not healthy.” Indeed, it would be most unhealthy to politicise politics. In the meantime, the latest spate of Supreme Court rulings is making the US a very unhealthy place to live – for a whole lot of people.
Climate change: World's hottest day since records began. US researchers said the new record was the highest in any instrumental record dating back to the end of the 19th century. Scientists believe a combination of a natural weather event known as El Niño and mankind's ongoing emissions of carbon dioxide are driving the heat. Last month has also been confirmed as the world's warmest June yet recorded.
Maternal deaths in the US more than doubled over two decades. Black mothers died at the highest rate. Among wealthy nations, the U.S. has the highest rate of maternal mortality, which is defined as a death during pregnancy or up to a year afterward. Common causes include excessive bleeding, infection, heart disease, suicide and drug overdose.
‘It just didn’t enter my mind to initiate sex;’ Low sex drive in men linked to chemical imbalance. Experts believe HSDD affects at least 10% of women and up to 8% of men, although those numbers may be low...To be diagnosed with the disorder, a person must have no other issues that might cause a change in libido, such as erectile dysfunction or premature ejaculation. “Losing interest due to performance issues is common, but HSDD is its own thing,” Althof said. “It’s an absence of erotic thoughts and a lack of desire for sex that has to be present for six months. It also cannot be better explained by another disorder or other stressors: It can’t be due to depression. It can’t be due to a bad relationship. It can’t be due to taking an antidepressant.” One more key point: A man or woman must have clinically significant distress to have HSDD.
AI is already linked to layoffs in the industry that created it. Many have raised alarms about the potential for artificial intelligence to displace jobs in the years ahead, but it’s already causing upheaval in one industry where workers once seemed invincible: tech. A small but growing number of tech firms have cited AI as a reason for laying off workers and rethinking new hires in recent months, as Silicon Valley races to adapt to rapid advances in the technology being developed in its own backyard.
A flying car prototype just got an airworthiness certificate from the FAA. The Federal Aviation Administration has certified for testing a vehicle that a California startup describes as a flying car — the first fully electric vehicle that can both fly and travel on roads to receive US government approval. Alef Automotive said that its vehicle/aircraft, dubbed the “Model A,” is the first flying vehicle that is drivable on public roads and able to park like a normal car. It also has vertical takeoff and landing capabilities. It apparently will be able to carry one or two occupants and will have a road-range of 200 miles and a flying range of 110 miles. The company expects to sell the vehicle for $300,000 each with the first delivery by projected for the end of 2025.
Fans keep throwing stuff at artists onstage. Will it ever stop? While throwing objects onstage at concerts isn’t new, experts say the way we feel about the act and how we treat artists is changing...“As a society, we need to work to overcome these attention-grabbing moments and look beyond that and really get back to the root of why we go to concerts,” Milardo said. “And it’s not so that we can have a viral moment on TikTok for ourselves. Concerts are supposed to offer a community where people can come together to share in the magic of live music.”
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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