Post by mhbruin on May 5, 2022 9:38:35 GMT -8
US Vaccine Data - We Have Now Administered 576 Million Shots (Population 333 Million)
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California Precipitation (Updated Tuesday May 3)
We had some rain up north this week.
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Quote of the Day
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A Bike Keeps Running Me Over. It's a Vicious Cycle.
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Today's Worst Person in the World Nominees
The Worst Cop in the World
A 13-year-old girl who was allegedly gang-raped by four men in India, was allegedly raped again by a police officer after she tried to seek his help in reporting the initial attack.
Authorities in Uttar Pradesh confirmed Wednesday a police officer had been arrested in connection with the alleged incident, which has caused outrage in India with many accusing police of helping to perpetuate a systemic culture of sexual violence.
In a tweet on Wednesday, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, a senior politician for India's opposition Congress party, wrote: "If police stations are not safe for women, then where will they go to complain?"
An investigation into the alleged incident in a police station in the state's Lalitpur district is ongoing. Following his arrest, the officer at the center of the allegation told reporters he was innocent and called for an independent probe. All officers on duty at the time of the alleged incident have been reprimanded, and action will be taken against them if found guilty of any crime, according to police.
Separately, four men have been arrested for allegedly kidnapping and raping the minor in April, according to police. They had allegedly taken the girl to the neighboring state of Madhya Pradesh, where she was raped and kept for four days, police said. A woman has also been arrested in connection with the alleged incident, police said.
Where Does the Constitution Say Corporations are People?
Boy, did the Republicans of the House Judiciary Committee own the libs in the wake of the leak showing the Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade.
“Still trying to find the word ‘abortion’ in the Constitution,” the committee Republicans tweeted. Quite the devastating argument ... if you’ve never read the Constitution.
Twitter users were quick to respond with a long, long list of other things that aren’t in the Constitution. Among them:
Woman or women
God, Jesus, Christ, Christian, or Bible
Marriage
Family or child
Filibuster
Nine. Or for that matter any specified number of Supreme Court justices.
Corporations or corporate personhood
Student loans
Police
The list goes on. Some users also pointed to places where the Constitution specifically said that it was not a full and complete list of all rights, starting with the entire Ninth Amendment: “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”
No Precedent is Safe From the New SCOTUS
Abbott said he would consider challenging a Supreme Court decision ensuring that all children have a right to public education—regardless of immigration status.
"Texas already long ago sued the federal government about having to incur the costs of the education program, in a case called Plyler versus Doe," Abbott told conservative radio host Joe “Pags” Pagliarulo during a phone interview. "And the Supreme Court ruled against us on the issue. ... I think we will resurrect that case and challenge this issue again because the expenses are extraordinary and the times are different than when Plyler versus Doe was issued many decades ago."
Plyler v. Doe was a 1982 landmark decision making it unconstitutional to deny any student a free public education, whether the student is undocumented or not.
No Immigrant is Safe From the Old Ab-Butt
Right-wing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s taxpayer-funded border stunt that has illegally detained asylum-seekers for weeks and months at a time with no official charges is facing its first legal challenge at the federal level. While migrants targeted under Abbott’s racist Operation Lone Star scheme have previously sued at the state level, a lawsuit filed this week “appears to be the first time attorneys are opposing it in federal court,” The Texas Tribune reports. Plaintiffs targeted by Abbott are also seeking $5 million in damages.
“Under the guise of state criminal trespass law but with the explicit, stated goal of punishing migrants based on their immigration status, Texas officials are targeting migrants,” the lawsuit states. “Hundreds of those arrested have waited in jail for weeks or months without a lawyer, or without charges, or without bond, or without a legitimate detention hold or without a court date.”
Advocates have been ringing the alarm about Abbott violating state law by jailing migrants without any formal changes since at least the fall. Many of those illegally detained were subsequently released by a court, where legal advocates had challenged “widespread violations of state law and constitutional rights to due process,” The Texas Tribune reported in September. But a shameless Abbott has only continued to illegally detain people.
”Under the program, [Texas Department of Public Safety] officers collaborate with the Texas National Guard and county sheriff’s offices to arrest Black and brown migrants on state misdemeanor criminal trespass charges,” the filing said. Some migrants who have faced trespassing charges have then seen those charges dropped, after they revealed officers zip-tied their hands, forced them to climb 10-foot-fencing onto private property, and then arrested them for trespassing.
“Virtually all of those arrested on trespass charges are Black or brown, the overwhelming majority of whom are Latino, and virtually all of those arrested are migrants,” the filing continued. “State troopers’ affidavits evidence racial profiling: they describe observing groups of ‘undocumented migrants’ and note Latino ethnicity as apparently relevant to arrest.”
They Want to Protect Unborn Children. After Birth? No So Much.
The expectation that Supreme Court is about to scrap decades of federal protections of abortion rights is highlighting another issue: the lack of resources and support available for women to have and raise children.
More women living in states without abortion access, should Roe v. Wade be overturned, will likely carry to term. Yet, not one of the two dozen states with laws on the books restricting abortion access offers paid family leave.
Eight of them have opted out of expanding Medicaid coverage under the health care law, which covers pregnancy through postpartum for low-income Americans.
And Mississippi, whose abortion restriction law is at the heart of an impending Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, ranks as the state with the highest rate of young child poverty and low birth weight and among the highest when it comes to infant mortality rates.
Or As George Carlin Put It, ...
CARLIN: Boy these conservatives are really something aren't they? They're all in favor of the unborn. They will do anything for the unborn, but once you're born you're on your own. Pro-life conservatives are obsessed with the fetus from conception to nine months. After that they don't want to know about you. They don't want to hear from you. No nothing. No neonatal care, no daycare, no head start, no school lunch, no food stamps, no welfare, no nothing. If you're pre-born you're fine. If you’re preschool you're fucked!
How Old is the Meme that Feminists are Ugly, Lonely Women?
Rep. Matt Gaetz, who is currently under investigation for having sex with a 17-year-old girl, has big thoughts on women who are upset about Roe v. Wade being overturned by the Supreme Court.
Good time to remember that Matt Gaetz was also “the only member of Congress to vote against a law boosting the government’s human trafficking investigatory powers” in 2017.
What Did He Learn From His Mistakes? Not to Beat His Pregnant Wife? Not to Get Caught?
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Today's Best Person in the World Nominees
Strap In!
Remember Reason and Empathy?
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Invasions Have Consequences
Dubai, Dubai Do
Dubai has emerged as a haven for wealthy Russians fleeing the impact of western sanctions over the war in Ukraine.
Russian billionaires and entrepreneurs have been arriving in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in unprecedented numbers, business leaders told the BBC.
Property purchases in Dubai by Russians surged by 67% in the first three months of 2022, a report said.
The UAE has not put sanctions on Russia or criticised its invasion of Ukraine.
It is also providing visas to non-sanctioned Russians while many Western countries have restricted them.
It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of people have left Russia over the last two months - although exact figures are not available.
One Russian economist said as many as 200,000 Russians had left in the first 10 days after the war began.
Azovstal Stands! ... Actually Very Little of It Stands.
A Ukrainian commander inside the ruins of the Azovstal complex in Mariupol has recorded a video message saying that heavy fighting continues.
"It's been the third day that the enemy has broken through to the territory of Azovstal. Fierce bloody combat is ongoing," said Sviatoslav Palamar, the Azov regiment’s deputy commander.
"The defenders of the city have been fighting alone for 71 days with the overwhelming forces of the enemy and show such endurance and heroism that the country must know what it means to be loyal to the motherland," Palamar said on Telegram.
He said the Russians had broken their pledge to allow civilians to leave through evacuation corridors Thursday.
Don't You Love a Parade?
For weeks, Russian troops have been marching around the town, showing off their parade uniforms and driving some cleaned up, and hopefully decently maintained, vehicles along the streets, prepared to bring Moscow some of that military pomp so beloved of Soviet leaders and Donald Trump. This particular group is being lead by a new T-90M tank. It’s a 2017 update of Russia’s latest in-production tank.
The most notable upgrade to the T-90M is that it carries a new generation of Explosive Reactive Armor (ERA) that’s designed to stop incoming missiles and shells in their tracks. Its armor was specifically designed with the promise that it would stop anti-tank weapons, and even survive multiple incoming weapons striking at the same time.
As far as anyone is aware, the number of T-90Ms sent to Ukraine so far would be one. The number still in operation would be zero. Overall, Russia has managed to roll out about 20 of the T-90M upgrades, but the remaining ones are apparently being held close to Moscow at the moment. After all, they’re needed for critical parade duty.
The same goes for Russia’s T-14 Armata. This angular next generation tank has been appearing in Moscow’s May 9 parades since 2015. However, to date it seems that fewer than a dozen have actually rolled off the line, with changes still being made and reported issues with multiple systems. A couple of them have at least been allowed to get dirty.
What About the T-72?
Big Bucks? Don't They Mean Big Hryvnias?
Fending off the war has cost big bucks for Ukraine.
According to Danylo Hetmantsev, the head of the Ukrainian parliament’s finance and taxation committee, budgetary spending has quadrupled compared to that of peacetime. The monthly budget deficit currently ranges from $5-7 billion, most of which goes to the military and social support.
At the same time, the state’s main sources of income are in trouble. Total budget revenues have fallen by 75%.
Dividends paid by state-owned enterprises, which previously covered 30% of all revenues, are going down. Other forms of income are also expected to decline. Before the war started, Ukraine’s Finance Ministry planned to collect $18 billion of taxes on imported goods, $14 billion in value added tax, and $2.6 billion in excise taxes in 2022.
After one month of all-out war, the country’s customs managed to collect only a fifth of the planned revenues – $240 million instead of the expected $1.3 billion.
Let's Ask the Israeli's What They Think About the Russians. (Actually The Economist Asked.)
Israeli military officers who watched the Russian air force in Syria closely came away surprised by its struggles with air defence, target acquisition and high-tempo sorties. At one stage they thought Syrian involvement in air operations was the only plausible explanation for such a low level of professionalism.
In the end they concluded that Russia lacked the training, doctrine and experience to make the most of its advanced warplanes. Israeli military pilots were struck, both on combat tours and during their day jobs as airline pilots, by Russia’s crude approach to electronic warfare, which involved blocking gps signals over vast swathes of the eastern Mediterranean, sometimes for weeks at a time. When Russia’s invasion of Ukraine became bogged down, Israeli analysts realised that Russian ground forces were afflicted by many of the same problems.
Some of Russia’s friends appear to be drawing the same lesson. Syed Ata Hasnain, a retired Indian general who once commanded India’s forces in Kashmir, notes “Russian incompetence in the field”, rooted in “hubris and reluctance to follow time-tested military basics”. A group of retired Indian diplomats and generals affiliated with the Vivekananda International Foundation, a nationalist think-tank close to the Indian government, recently discussed Russia’s “visible and abject lack of preparation” and “severe logistical incompetence”. The fact that India is the biggest buyer of Russian arms lent their conclusion particular weight: “the quality of Russian technology previously thought to be superlative is increasingly being questioned”—though Ukraine, of course, uses much of the same equipment.
Drones on the Water. A Fire in the Sky
The Pentagon stated that Ukrainian forces had also been trained on the use of “unmanned surface vessels” — in other words, drone ships.
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WHO Loves Ya, Baby? WHO, That's Who.
The Covid pandemic has caused the deaths of nearly 15 million people around the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates.
That is 13% more deaths than normally expected over two years.
The WHO believes many countries undercounted the numbers who died from Covid - only 5.4 million were reported.
In India, there were 4.7 million Covid deaths, it says - 10 times the official figures - and almost a third of Covid deaths globally.
Comedy Is Easy. COVID is Hard.
“Did none of you learn anything from the Gridiron Dinner? Nothing,” Mr. Noah said, referring to another elite Washington gathering in April, after which dozens of attendees tested positive for the coronavirus. “Do you read any of your own newspapers?”
By Wednesday, Mr. Noah’s chiding remarks at what he called “the nation’s most distinguished superspreader event” were beginning to appear prophetic as a growing number of attendees, including a string of journalists and Antony J. Blinken, the secretary of state, said they had tested positive for the virus. [...]
The growing number of cases presented another sign of an official Washington that has largely returned to prepandemic routines, even as officials still urge Americans to take precautions, and has decided to live with the result.
Journalists across several major news organizations reported testing positive. Among those were Jonathan Karl, ABC News’s chief Washington correspondent, who shook hands with Mr. Biden during the dinner, and Steve Herman, the chief national correspondent at Voice of America. CNN reported that those infected also included staff members from its network, as well as NBC News, CBS News and Politico.
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Heat, Drought, Flooding, and Now Dust. Thanks, Coal Joe.
One person has died and more than 5,000 people have been admitted to hospitals with breathing problems in Iraq after a seventh severe dust storm in a month.
A health ministry spokesman said 2,000 of the cases of "suffocation" had been reported in Baghdad province, according to the official Iraqi News Agency.
He advised people with asthma and other chronic diseases to stay indoors.
Dust storms are common in Iraq, but some experts believe they are becoming more frequent due to climate change.
Another storm on Sunday left dozens of people with breathing difficulties and grounded flights at airports serving Baghdad and the Shia holy city of Najaf.
No Relief Without a Reef. If Roofs are Fixed by a Roofer, Are Reefs Fixed by a Reefer?
Tropical storms are among the most dangerous and costly natural disasters in the US. Hurricane Ida, which made landfall in Louisiana last August, for example, cost Americans roughly $75 billion, cut power to more than a million homes and businesses, and killed dozens of people.
If that’s not bad enough, climate change is making hurricanes more destructive. Global warming raises sea levels and fuels storms with more water and stronger winds, increasing the risk of flooding. [...]
Coral reefs are among the many ecosystems, including mangrove forests and wetlands, that can protect us. They function like natural breakwaters during a hurricane, helping to dampen or “break” waves that can flood homes and offices near shore.
The problem is that coral reefs are dying. Along with disease and pollution, climate change — the same force making hurricanes more damaging — has wiped out half of the world’s reefs. So to protect our coastal cities, scientists say, we should also protect and restore our coral reefs.
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He's Not a Real Pilot, But He's Watched a Lot of YouTube Videos.
A Virgin Atlantic aircraft turned back to Heathrow after it emerged the first officer had not completed his final flying test.
About 40 minutes into the flight to New York on Monday, the two pilots became aware of the "rostering error", the airline said.
Flight VS3 had reached the skies over Ireland before returning to Heathrow.
Virgin Atlantic said a replacement for the first officer was found and the plane departed again for New York.
The airline insisted safety was not compromised and explained the initial first officer joined Virgin Atlantic in 2017.
He was fully qualified under UK aviation regulations, the airline added, but had not completed a final assessment flight that was part of the airline's internal requirements.
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More Justices! More Ethics!
Immediately following the leak of Justice Samuel Alito’s draft decision overturning abortion rights published by Politico, Politico had Morning Consult conduct a poll, revealing that a clear majority of voters—57%—want the court to support abortion rights and that 56% of voters believe abortion should be legal in “most” or “all cases.”
What else? The idea of Supreme Court reform is very popular: 66% strongly or somewhat approve of term limits for justices; 64% want to see an age cap for justices; 73% believe there should be a binding code of ethics for the court; 57% believe the court should be balanced with an equal number of Democrats, Republicans, and independents; and 57% support the idea of expanding the number of justices on the court.
That backs up polling conducted in March by Hart Research for The New Republic. That poll found that 52% of voters “believe that increasing the number of justices on the Supreme Court would strengthen democracy.” And boy, howdy, would it be popular with what generally is thought of as the Democratic base: 67% aged 18-34, 58% aged 35-49; 69% of Black voters, 60% of Hispanic voters; 72% of Democrats; 71% of Biden voters; 83% of liberals and 54% of moderates; 84% of liberal Democrats and 58% of moderate/conservative Democrats.
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Which Price Rose First, the Chicken or the Egg?
Food prices in the U.S. are rising, but sticker shock at the grocery store is especially acute in the egg and poultry aisles, as a highly contagious avian flu decimates commercial poultry flocks across the U.S.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu, is spreading across the U.S., forcing farmers to destroy nearly 280 commercial and backyard flocks in 32 states since January.
"More than 28 million laying hens have been culled as a result of the bird flu — that's nearly 9% of the total flock," according to Karyn Rispoli, an egg market reporter at commodity research firm Urner Barry.
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Does Fox News Cover Fox News? We Do.
Foxes are known to raid henhouses. But this raid, on an outdoor zoo yard housing dozens of bright pink flamingos unable to fly away, was many times worse.
Zookeepers at the National Zoo made a macabre discovery this week when they entered the outdoor enclosure that housed 74 flamingos. A wild fox from neighboring Rock Creek Park had apparently chewed a hole in the metal mesh fencing and wreaked havoc, killing 25 flamingos and injuring three others. One Northern pintail duck was also killed.
It's the latest fox-related disruption in the nation's capital, where just last month a rabid red fox attacked a congressman, who fought it off with a umbrella and had to get rabies shots. Capitol Police received multiple reports of “aggressive fox encounters on or near the grounds of the U.S. Capitol,” including at the nearby U.S. Botanic Garden. The captured fox was euthanized, along with its kits.
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New Cases 7-Day Average | Deaths 7-Day Average | New Hospitalizations 7-Day Average | |
| May 4 | 64,780 | 334 | |
| May 3 | 61,712 | 325 | 2,219 |
| May 2 | 60,410 | 318 | 2.214 |
| May 1 | 57,020 | 307 | 2,072 |
| Apr 30 | 56,581 | 310 | 1,882 |
| Apr 29 | 56,166 | 308 | 1,946 |
| Apr 28 | 54,696 | 311 | 1,955 |
| Apr 27 | 53,133 | 334 | 1,941 |
| Apr 26 | 48,692 | 299 | 1,889 |
| Apr 25 | 47,407 | 330 | 1,840 |
| Apr 24 | 44,416 | 314 | 1,779 |
| Apr 23 | 45,413 | 315 | 1,629 |
| Apr 22 | 44,308 | 311 | 1,642 |
| Apr 21 | 40,744 | 346 | 1,647 |
| Apr 20 | 42,604 | 375 | 1,609 |
| Apr 19 | 40,985 | 385 | 1,582 |
| Apr 18 | 37,132 | 380 | 1,564 |
| Apr 17 | 35,212 | 373 | 1,542 |
| Apr 16 | 34,972 | 379 | 1,532 |
| Apr 15 | 34,778 | 399 | 1,510 |
| Apr 14 | 35,475 | 446 | 1,490 |
| Apr 13 | 31,391 | 409 | 1,477 |
| Apr 12 | 29,401 | 452 | 1,463 |
| Apr 11 | 30,208 | 483 | 1.447 |
| Apr 10 | 28,927 | 500 | 1,443 |
| Apr 9 | 28,339 | 509 | |
| Apr 8 | 28,169 | 516 | |
| Apr 7 | 26,286 | 471 | |
| Apr 6 | 26,595 | 496 | |
| Apr 5 | 26,845 | 533 | |
| Apr 4 | 25,537 | 537 | |
| Feb 16, 2021 | 78,292 |
| At Least One Dose | Fully Vaccinated | % of Vaccinated W/ Boosters | |
| % of Total Population | 77.5% | 66.0% | 45.6% |
| % of Population 5+ | 82.3% | 70.2% | |
| % of Population 12+ | 87.1% | 74.5% | 47.4% |
| % of Population 18+ | 88.9% | 76.0% | 49.1% |
| % of Population 65+ | 95.0% | 90.0% | 68.3% |
California Precipitation (Updated Tuesday May 3)
We had some rain up north this week.
| Percent of Average for this Date | Last Week | 2 Weeks Ago | 3 Weeks Ago | |
| Northern Sierra Precipitation | 80% (74%) | 81% (74%) | 79% (70%) | 73% (63% of full season average) |
| San Joaquin Precipitation | 66% (61%) | 67% (61%) | 65% (58%) | 65% (57%) |
| Tulare Basin Precipitation | 61% (57%) | 62% (57%) | 60% (54%) | 61% (53%) |
| Snow Water Content - North | 20% | 29% | 15% | |
| Snow Water Content - Central | 27% | 33% | 27% | |
| Snow Water Content - South | 17% | 23% | 24% |
Quote of the Day
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A Bike Keeps Running Me Over. It's a Vicious Cycle.
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Today's Worst Person in the World Nominees
The Worst Cop in the World
A 13-year-old girl who was allegedly gang-raped by four men in India, was allegedly raped again by a police officer after she tried to seek his help in reporting the initial attack.
Authorities in Uttar Pradesh confirmed Wednesday a police officer had been arrested in connection with the alleged incident, which has caused outrage in India with many accusing police of helping to perpetuate a systemic culture of sexual violence.
In a tweet on Wednesday, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, a senior politician for India's opposition Congress party, wrote: "If police stations are not safe for women, then where will they go to complain?"
An investigation into the alleged incident in a police station in the state's Lalitpur district is ongoing. Following his arrest, the officer at the center of the allegation told reporters he was innocent and called for an independent probe. All officers on duty at the time of the alleged incident have been reprimanded, and action will be taken against them if found guilty of any crime, according to police.
Separately, four men have been arrested for allegedly kidnapping and raping the minor in April, according to police. They had allegedly taken the girl to the neighboring state of Madhya Pradesh, where she was raped and kept for four days, police said. A woman has also been arrested in connection with the alleged incident, police said.
Where Does the Constitution Say Corporations are People?
Boy, did the Republicans of the House Judiciary Committee own the libs in the wake of the leak showing the Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade.
“Still trying to find the word ‘abortion’ in the Constitution,” the committee Republicans tweeted. Quite the devastating argument ... if you’ve never read the Constitution.
Twitter users were quick to respond with a long, long list of other things that aren’t in the Constitution. Among them:
Woman or women
God, Jesus, Christ, Christian, or Bible
Marriage
Family or child
Filibuster
Nine. Or for that matter any specified number of Supreme Court justices.
Corporations or corporate personhood
Student loans
Police
The list goes on. Some users also pointed to places where the Constitution specifically said that it was not a full and complete list of all rights, starting with the entire Ninth Amendment: “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”
No Precedent is Safe From the New SCOTUS
Abbott said he would consider challenging a Supreme Court decision ensuring that all children have a right to public education—regardless of immigration status.
"Texas already long ago sued the federal government about having to incur the costs of the education program, in a case called Plyler versus Doe," Abbott told conservative radio host Joe “Pags” Pagliarulo during a phone interview. "And the Supreme Court ruled against us on the issue. ... I think we will resurrect that case and challenge this issue again because the expenses are extraordinary and the times are different than when Plyler versus Doe was issued many decades ago."
Plyler v. Doe was a 1982 landmark decision making it unconstitutional to deny any student a free public education, whether the student is undocumented or not.
No Immigrant is Safe From the Old Ab-Butt
Right-wing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s taxpayer-funded border stunt that has illegally detained asylum-seekers for weeks and months at a time with no official charges is facing its first legal challenge at the federal level. While migrants targeted under Abbott’s racist Operation Lone Star scheme have previously sued at the state level, a lawsuit filed this week “appears to be the first time attorneys are opposing it in federal court,” The Texas Tribune reports. Plaintiffs targeted by Abbott are also seeking $5 million in damages.
“Under the guise of state criminal trespass law but with the explicit, stated goal of punishing migrants based on their immigration status, Texas officials are targeting migrants,” the lawsuit states. “Hundreds of those arrested have waited in jail for weeks or months without a lawyer, or without charges, or without bond, or without a legitimate detention hold or without a court date.”
Advocates have been ringing the alarm about Abbott violating state law by jailing migrants without any formal changes since at least the fall. Many of those illegally detained were subsequently released by a court, where legal advocates had challenged “widespread violations of state law and constitutional rights to due process,” The Texas Tribune reported in September. But a shameless Abbott has only continued to illegally detain people.
”Under the program, [Texas Department of Public Safety] officers collaborate with the Texas National Guard and county sheriff’s offices to arrest Black and brown migrants on state misdemeanor criminal trespass charges,” the filing said. Some migrants who have faced trespassing charges have then seen those charges dropped, after they revealed officers zip-tied their hands, forced them to climb 10-foot-fencing onto private property, and then arrested them for trespassing.
“Virtually all of those arrested on trespass charges are Black or brown, the overwhelming majority of whom are Latino, and virtually all of those arrested are migrants,” the filing continued. “State troopers’ affidavits evidence racial profiling: they describe observing groups of ‘undocumented migrants’ and note Latino ethnicity as apparently relevant to arrest.”
They Want to Protect Unborn Children. After Birth? No So Much.
The expectation that Supreme Court is about to scrap decades of federal protections of abortion rights is highlighting another issue: the lack of resources and support available for women to have and raise children.
More women living in states without abortion access, should Roe v. Wade be overturned, will likely carry to term. Yet, not one of the two dozen states with laws on the books restricting abortion access offers paid family leave.
Eight of them have opted out of expanding Medicaid coverage under the health care law, which covers pregnancy through postpartum for low-income Americans.
And Mississippi, whose abortion restriction law is at the heart of an impending Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, ranks as the state with the highest rate of young child poverty and low birth weight and among the highest when it comes to infant mortality rates.
Or As George Carlin Put It, ...
CARLIN: Boy these conservatives are really something aren't they? They're all in favor of the unborn. They will do anything for the unborn, but once you're born you're on your own. Pro-life conservatives are obsessed with the fetus from conception to nine months. After that they don't want to know about you. They don't want to hear from you. No nothing. No neonatal care, no daycare, no head start, no school lunch, no food stamps, no welfare, no nothing. If you're pre-born you're fine. If you’re preschool you're fucked!
How Old is the Meme that Feminists are Ugly, Lonely Women?
Rep. Matt Gaetz, who is currently under investigation for having sex with a 17-year-old girl, has big thoughts on women who are upset about Roe v. Wade being overturned by the Supreme Court.
Good time to remember that Matt Gaetz was also “the only member of Congress to vote against a law boosting the government’s human trafficking investigatory powers” in 2017.
What Did He Learn From His Mistakes? Not to Beat His Pregnant Wife? Not to Get Caught?
--------------
Today's Best Person in the World Nominees
Strap In!
Remember Reason and Empathy?
--------------
Invasions Have Consequences
Dubai, Dubai Do
Dubai has emerged as a haven for wealthy Russians fleeing the impact of western sanctions over the war in Ukraine.
Russian billionaires and entrepreneurs have been arriving in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in unprecedented numbers, business leaders told the BBC.
Property purchases in Dubai by Russians surged by 67% in the first three months of 2022, a report said.
The UAE has not put sanctions on Russia or criticised its invasion of Ukraine.
It is also providing visas to non-sanctioned Russians while many Western countries have restricted them.
It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of people have left Russia over the last two months - although exact figures are not available.
One Russian economist said as many as 200,000 Russians had left in the first 10 days after the war began.
Azovstal Stands! ... Actually Very Little of It Stands.
A Ukrainian commander inside the ruins of the Azovstal complex in Mariupol has recorded a video message saying that heavy fighting continues.
"It's been the third day that the enemy has broken through to the territory of Azovstal. Fierce bloody combat is ongoing," said Sviatoslav Palamar, the Azov regiment’s deputy commander.
"The defenders of the city have been fighting alone for 71 days with the overwhelming forces of the enemy and show such endurance and heroism that the country must know what it means to be loyal to the motherland," Palamar said on Telegram.
He said the Russians had broken their pledge to allow civilians to leave through evacuation corridors Thursday.
Don't You Love a Parade?
For weeks, Russian troops have been marching around the town, showing off their parade uniforms and driving some cleaned up, and hopefully decently maintained, vehicles along the streets, prepared to bring Moscow some of that military pomp so beloved of Soviet leaders and Donald Trump. This particular group is being lead by a new T-90M tank. It’s a 2017 update of Russia’s latest in-production tank.
The most notable upgrade to the T-90M is that it carries a new generation of Explosive Reactive Armor (ERA) that’s designed to stop incoming missiles and shells in their tracks. Its armor was specifically designed with the promise that it would stop anti-tank weapons, and even survive multiple incoming weapons striking at the same time.
As far as anyone is aware, the number of T-90Ms sent to Ukraine so far would be one. The number still in operation would be zero. Overall, Russia has managed to roll out about 20 of the T-90M upgrades, but the remaining ones are apparently being held close to Moscow at the moment. After all, they’re needed for critical parade duty.
The same goes for Russia’s T-14 Armata. This angular next generation tank has been appearing in Moscow’s May 9 parades since 2015. However, to date it seems that fewer than a dozen have actually rolled off the line, with changes still being made and reported issues with multiple systems. A couple of them have at least been allowed to get dirty.
What About the T-72?
Big Bucks? Don't They Mean Big Hryvnias?
Fending off the war has cost big bucks for Ukraine.
According to Danylo Hetmantsev, the head of the Ukrainian parliament’s finance and taxation committee, budgetary spending has quadrupled compared to that of peacetime. The monthly budget deficit currently ranges from $5-7 billion, most of which goes to the military and social support.
At the same time, the state’s main sources of income are in trouble. Total budget revenues have fallen by 75%.
Dividends paid by state-owned enterprises, which previously covered 30% of all revenues, are going down. Other forms of income are also expected to decline. Before the war started, Ukraine’s Finance Ministry planned to collect $18 billion of taxes on imported goods, $14 billion in value added tax, and $2.6 billion in excise taxes in 2022.
After one month of all-out war, the country’s customs managed to collect only a fifth of the planned revenues – $240 million instead of the expected $1.3 billion.
Let's Ask the Israeli's What They Think About the Russians. (Actually The Economist Asked.)
Israeli military officers who watched the Russian air force in Syria closely came away surprised by its struggles with air defence, target acquisition and high-tempo sorties. At one stage they thought Syrian involvement in air operations was the only plausible explanation for such a low level of professionalism.
In the end they concluded that Russia lacked the training, doctrine and experience to make the most of its advanced warplanes. Israeli military pilots were struck, both on combat tours and during their day jobs as airline pilots, by Russia’s crude approach to electronic warfare, which involved blocking gps signals over vast swathes of the eastern Mediterranean, sometimes for weeks at a time. When Russia’s invasion of Ukraine became bogged down, Israeli analysts realised that Russian ground forces were afflicted by many of the same problems.
Some of Russia’s friends appear to be drawing the same lesson. Syed Ata Hasnain, a retired Indian general who once commanded India’s forces in Kashmir, notes “Russian incompetence in the field”, rooted in “hubris and reluctance to follow time-tested military basics”. A group of retired Indian diplomats and generals affiliated with the Vivekananda International Foundation, a nationalist think-tank close to the Indian government, recently discussed Russia’s “visible and abject lack of preparation” and “severe logistical incompetence”. The fact that India is the biggest buyer of Russian arms lent their conclusion particular weight: “the quality of Russian technology previously thought to be superlative is increasingly being questioned”—though Ukraine, of course, uses much of the same equipment.
Drones on the Water. A Fire in the Sky
The Pentagon stated that Ukrainian forces had also been trained on the use of “unmanned surface vessels” — in other words, drone ships.
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WHO Loves Ya, Baby? WHO, That's Who.
The Covid pandemic has caused the deaths of nearly 15 million people around the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates.
That is 13% more deaths than normally expected over two years.
The WHO believes many countries undercounted the numbers who died from Covid - only 5.4 million were reported.
In India, there were 4.7 million Covid deaths, it says - 10 times the official figures - and almost a third of Covid deaths globally.
Comedy Is Easy. COVID is Hard.
“Did none of you learn anything from the Gridiron Dinner? Nothing,” Mr. Noah said, referring to another elite Washington gathering in April, after which dozens of attendees tested positive for the coronavirus. “Do you read any of your own newspapers?”
By Wednesday, Mr. Noah’s chiding remarks at what he called “the nation’s most distinguished superspreader event” were beginning to appear prophetic as a growing number of attendees, including a string of journalists and Antony J. Blinken, the secretary of state, said they had tested positive for the virus. [...]
The growing number of cases presented another sign of an official Washington that has largely returned to prepandemic routines, even as officials still urge Americans to take precautions, and has decided to live with the result.
Journalists across several major news organizations reported testing positive. Among those were Jonathan Karl, ABC News’s chief Washington correspondent, who shook hands with Mr. Biden during the dinner, and Steve Herman, the chief national correspondent at Voice of America. CNN reported that those infected also included staff members from its network, as well as NBC News, CBS News and Politico.
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Heat, Drought, Flooding, and Now Dust. Thanks, Coal Joe.
One person has died and more than 5,000 people have been admitted to hospitals with breathing problems in Iraq after a seventh severe dust storm in a month.
A health ministry spokesman said 2,000 of the cases of "suffocation" had been reported in Baghdad province, according to the official Iraqi News Agency.
He advised people with asthma and other chronic diseases to stay indoors.
Dust storms are common in Iraq, but some experts believe they are becoming more frequent due to climate change.
Another storm on Sunday left dozens of people with breathing difficulties and grounded flights at airports serving Baghdad and the Shia holy city of Najaf.
No Relief Without a Reef. If Roofs are Fixed by a Roofer, Are Reefs Fixed by a Reefer?
Tropical storms are among the most dangerous and costly natural disasters in the US. Hurricane Ida, which made landfall in Louisiana last August, for example, cost Americans roughly $75 billion, cut power to more than a million homes and businesses, and killed dozens of people.
If that’s not bad enough, climate change is making hurricanes more destructive. Global warming raises sea levels and fuels storms with more water and stronger winds, increasing the risk of flooding. [...]
Coral reefs are among the many ecosystems, including mangrove forests and wetlands, that can protect us. They function like natural breakwaters during a hurricane, helping to dampen or “break” waves that can flood homes and offices near shore.
The problem is that coral reefs are dying. Along with disease and pollution, climate change — the same force making hurricanes more damaging — has wiped out half of the world’s reefs. So to protect our coastal cities, scientists say, we should also protect and restore our coral reefs.
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He's Not a Real Pilot, But He's Watched a Lot of YouTube Videos.
A Virgin Atlantic aircraft turned back to Heathrow after it emerged the first officer had not completed his final flying test.
About 40 minutes into the flight to New York on Monday, the two pilots became aware of the "rostering error", the airline said.
Flight VS3 had reached the skies over Ireland before returning to Heathrow.
Virgin Atlantic said a replacement for the first officer was found and the plane departed again for New York.
The airline insisted safety was not compromised and explained the initial first officer joined Virgin Atlantic in 2017.
He was fully qualified under UK aviation regulations, the airline added, but had not completed a final assessment flight that was part of the airline's internal requirements.
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More Justices! More Ethics!
Immediately following the leak of Justice Samuel Alito’s draft decision overturning abortion rights published by Politico, Politico had Morning Consult conduct a poll, revealing that a clear majority of voters—57%—want the court to support abortion rights and that 56% of voters believe abortion should be legal in “most” or “all cases.”
What else? The idea of Supreme Court reform is very popular: 66% strongly or somewhat approve of term limits for justices; 64% want to see an age cap for justices; 73% believe there should be a binding code of ethics for the court; 57% believe the court should be balanced with an equal number of Democrats, Republicans, and independents; and 57% support the idea of expanding the number of justices on the court.
That backs up polling conducted in March by Hart Research for The New Republic. That poll found that 52% of voters “believe that increasing the number of justices on the Supreme Court would strengthen democracy.” And boy, howdy, would it be popular with what generally is thought of as the Democratic base: 67% aged 18-34, 58% aged 35-49; 69% of Black voters, 60% of Hispanic voters; 72% of Democrats; 71% of Biden voters; 83% of liberals and 54% of moderates; 84% of liberal Democrats and 58% of moderate/conservative Democrats.
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Which Price Rose First, the Chicken or the Egg?
Food prices in the U.S. are rising, but sticker shock at the grocery store is especially acute in the egg and poultry aisles, as a highly contagious avian flu decimates commercial poultry flocks across the U.S.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu, is spreading across the U.S., forcing farmers to destroy nearly 280 commercial and backyard flocks in 32 states since January.
"More than 28 million laying hens have been culled as a result of the bird flu — that's nearly 9% of the total flock," according to Karyn Rispoli, an egg market reporter at commodity research firm Urner Barry.
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Does Fox News Cover Fox News? We Do.
Foxes are known to raid henhouses. But this raid, on an outdoor zoo yard housing dozens of bright pink flamingos unable to fly away, was many times worse.
Zookeepers at the National Zoo made a macabre discovery this week when they entered the outdoor enclosure that housed 74 flamingos. A wild fox from neighboring Rock Creek Park had apparently chewed a hole in the metal mesh fencing and wreaked havoc, killing 25 flamingos and injuring three others. One Northern pintail duck was also killed.
It's the latest fox-related disruption in the nation's capital, where just last month a rabid red fox attacked a congressman, who fought it off with a umbrella and had to get rabies shots. Capitol Police received multiple reports of “aggressive fox encounters on or near the grounds of the U.S. Capitol,” including at the nearby U.S. Botanic Garden. The captured fox was euthanized, along with its kits.
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