Protesters in New York City’s Foley Square demonstrate against a Supreme Court draft opinion striking down Roe v. Wade. Photo: Sabrina Santiago
The news of Samuel Alito’s draft majority opinion overturning Roe v.Wade on Monday didn’t just break — it shattered. It was the unexpected timing, yes.
And the unprecedented nature of the leak. And the retro-pig stylings of the draft’s author, who made ample use of the term “abortionist” and unctuously averred
that “a right to abortion is not deeply rooted in the Nation’s history and traditions,”
as if any of the hard-won protections of oppressed classes were deeply rooted in
this nation’s history and traditions. But it was also, simply, the reverberations of
the hammer dropping, sending the chill of undeniable reality down every spine —
of family and friends and, one would think, the highest-ranking Democrats in
Congress.
2/. Good column from Linda Greenhouse, the Supreme Court correspondent for the Times,
explaining the fatal flaw in Alito's opinion.....
Yes, the leak of the draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wadewas a shock. And it was shocking to read Justice Samuel Alito’s airy dismissal of a decision the Supreme Court has reaffirmed numerous times in the past 49 years as “egregiously wrong from the start.” That was on Page 6 of the draft opinion that Politico published last Monday, and Justice Alito spent the next 61 pages explaining why, in his view and perhaps ultimately in the view of four other justices, the court needs to overturn Roe now.
But the real shock to me was not what those 67 pages contain — mostly warmed-over stock phrases from
the anti-abortion playbook that read like a law clerk’s cut-and-paste job — but rather who is missing: women.
3/. Boy is it time for a classic, we need this - the wonderful George Carlin on abortion.....seven minutes....
4/. Umair nails it with this post - we are now a theocracy, and the abortion ban is just the beginning.....
The only way, and the correct way, to put what happened in America last night is exactly as simple and deadly as it appears. America now has a theocracy. It’s called the Supreme Court.
Women last night in America lost the most fundamental of rights. Of bodily autonomy. And, as we’ll discuss, all the rights that devolve from that one — expression, speech, privacy, assocation. In a modern society, bodily autonomy is the bedrock, the mother of all rights. When it goes, everything does. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
5/. Bill Maher with a New Rule - The Misinformation age....his point is that everyone has a BS detector and
needs to use it, rather than have censorship by big tech....7 minutes....
6/. This is where we are....
7/. Bob Lefsetz with a follow-up on abortion - forget protests, demonstrations - they ignore
those - be sneaky and relentless
just like the right wing extremists.....
My inbox is blowing up with missives from the right wing. They’re not cautious and they’re not pretty. They’re agitated and explosive. Which means what I said resonated with them. Their goal is to shut me up. Their goal is to shut everyone up who doesn’t agree with them. They want you to believe you’re whacked, don’t understand, should stick to what you know and better be ready for consequences.
This is not what happens when I write something that pisses off the left. Takes a long time for the lefties to respond. And it’s whiny. And internalized. It’s focused on the issue, not me. It’s action free. Non-threatening. Coming from a defensive position as opposed to an offensive position. Passive, not active.
8/. Stephen Colbert is pissed, and gives a wonderful 10 minute riff on the Supreme Court
decision......informative and most amusing.....
9/. The excellent Heather Cox Richardson explains the logic behind what both Greg Abbott
and Ron Desantis are doing to ruin their States.....gives you a whole new perspective....
It has been hard for me to see the historical outlines of the present-day attack on
American democracy clearly. But this morning, as I was reading a piece in Vox by
foreign affairs specialist Zack Beauchamp, describing Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s
path in Florida as an attempt to follow in the footsteps of Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, the
penny dropped.
Here’s what I see:
Before Trump won the presidency in 2016, the modern-day Republican Party was
well on its way to endorsing oligarchy. It had followed the usual U.S. historical
pattern to that point. In the 1850s, 1890s, 1920s, and then again in the modern era,
wealthy people had come around to the idea that society worked best if a few
wealthy men ran everything.
10/. Ron DeSantis.....
11/. Own any crypto? Or an NFT? Good for you, but the author of this article feels you
might have invested in a dog.....
To understand the latest incarnation of the colossal crypto grifts that continue to engulf the internet, I suppose we should start with all those bored apes, because how could we not?
I don’t mean real apes — little of what’s in this column is about stuff you could call in any tangible sense “real.” Instead I’m talking about the collection of digital art known as the Bored Ape Yacht Club. Created about a year ago by a quartet of mysterious, pseudonymous cryptocurrency enthusiasts, Bored Ape is a collection of thousands of “programmatically generated” hypercolor drawings of coolly disheveled primates, the kind you don’t bring home to mama.
12/. Tom Tomorrow on Republicans' free speech....
13/. The Florida law crippling solar power is dead....for now, after DeSantis vetoed it.
This article explains what was behind the bill - FPL and Duke....
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ veto was needed to kill HB 741, a massive assault on individual liberty
and the free market that sailed through the Florida legislature at the behest of the state’s largest monopoly utility, Florida Power & Light (FPL).
The bill, actually written by an FPL lobbyist, sought to prevent Floridians from using rooftop
solar to become more energy independent. It would have denied solar customers fair market
value for the excess electricity they send back to the grid, and allowed utilities to impose a
host of punitive fees on those customers.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, HB 741 included a huge subsidy that would guarantee FPL
profits by letting it and other utilities raise customer electric bills to make up for any revenue
lost to competition from rooftop solar.
14/. In case you haven't seen this for a while, here is the Emma Stone/Jimmy Fallon lip
sync battle....a great seven minutes - Emma Stone is amazing.....
15/. Affordable Housing - 2022....
16/. Insurance is a big topic in Florida, but read how the Republicans and DeSantis are
owned by the big insurance companies, and specifically State Farm......so corrupt....
In January, Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature had a chance to save money for Florida homeowners who are struggling to afford the soaring cost of property insurance.
Members of a key committee in the Florida Senate were presented with a plan that could have cut the price of homeowner’s insurance by an estimated $150 a year. And it would have done so without simultaneously imposing hidden costs on homeowners — like insurance policies that won’t cover the cost of replacing a roof or legal changes that make it much harder to fight back against a big insurer in court.
17/. "The Staircase", the story of Michael Petersen's trial for the murder of his wife looks
really good.....
There is a scene in the second episode of Antonio Campos’s coolly ferocious new mini-series
The Staircase (May 5) that haunts everything that comes after. It is a suggestion that the
much-publicized 2001 death of wealthy Durham, North Carolina business executive Kathleen
Peterson was, as her husband Michael Peterson still insists, an accident.
We watch as the actor playing Kathleen, Toni Collette, heads back inside the house after a
night of gentle carousing with Michael (Colin Firth) by the pool. She puts her wine glass on
the kitchen counter, considers checking her email before bed but changes her mind, and begins
making her way up the back stairs of her stately mansion. Suddenly, her flip-flop catches,
she slips, and is tossed back against the wall, badly hitting her head, a halo of blood swiftly s
eeping out. She struggles to get up. She tries to call for help. Eventually, she dies.
18/. A cruise ship documentary that actually gives the reality of how ships operate... the
best one I've seen yet. The film crew was given access to every department on the MSC
Seaside and have produced a really interesting movie....."The Secret Life Of The Cruise"....
Today's Kentucky joke
Two hillbillies walk into a restaurant. While having a bite to eat, they talk about their
moonshine operation.
Suddenly, a woman at a nearby table, who is eating a sandwich, begins to cough. After a
minute or so, it becomes apparent that she is in real distress.
One of the hillbillies looks at her and says, Kin ya swallar?'
The woman shakes her head no.
Then he asks, 'Kin ya breathe?'
The woman begins to turn blue, and shakes her head no.
The hillbilly walks over to the woman, lifts up her dress, yanks down her drawers, and
quickly gives her right butt cheek a lick with his tongue.
The woman is so shocked that she has a violent spasm, and the obstruction flies out of
her mouth.
As she begins to breathe again, the Hillbilly walks slowly back to his table.
His partner says, 'Ya know, I'd heerd of that there 'Hind Lick Maneuver' but I ain't niver
seed nobody do it!'
Today's blond joke
A blond was browsing around Target and came across a thermos.
She was quite fascinated by it and took it to the cashier.
After asking what it was for she was told it was to keep some things hot and some things
cold.
“That sounds great,” she said. “ I’m buying it.’’
At work the next day her boss asked what she was doing with the thermos.
She told him it was great to keep things hot or to keep things cold.
“What’s in it,” he asks.
To which she answered, ”2 popsicles and some coffee.”
Todays Homeschooling jokes
1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE .
"If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning."
2. My mother taught me RELIGION.
"You better pray that will come out of the carpet."
3. My father taught me about TIME TRAVEL.
"If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock
you into the middle of next week!"
4. My father taught me LOGIC.
" Because I said so, that's why."
5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC .
"If you fall out of that swing and break your neck,
you're not going to the store with me."
6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT.
"Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident."
7. My father taught me IRONY.
"Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about."
8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS .
"Shut your mouth and eat your supper."
9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM.
"Just you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!"
10. My mother taught me about STAMINA.
"You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone."
11. My mother taught me about WEATHER.
"This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it."
12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY.
"If I told you once, I've told you a million times, don't exaggerate!"
13. My father taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE.
"I brought you into this world, and I can take you out..."
14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION .
"Stop acting like your father!"
15. My mother taught me about ENVY.
"There are millions of less fortunate children in this world
who don't have wonderful parents like you do."
16. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.
"Just wait until we get home."
17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING.
"You are going to get it from your father when you get home!"
18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE.
"If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to get stuck that way."
19. My mother taught me ESP.
"Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?"
20. My father taught me HUMOR.
"When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."
21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT .
"If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."
22. My mother taught me GENETICS.
"You're just like your father."
23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS.
"Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?"
24. My mother taught me WISDOM.
"When you get to be my age, you'll understand.
25. My father taught me about JUSTICE .
"One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you!"
Some wonder if the country’s social fabric, frayed by four years of Donald Trump’s presidency, can survive. Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuter
