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University workers are fighting for job security and fair pay. But docking lecturers’ pay risks worsening industrial action, UCU activist Dr Antonia Dawes writes

This piece in the Guardian by Moira Donegal nails it: On Monday, Jim Pillen, the Republican governor of Nebraska, signed a law that bans abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy and restricts gender-affirming care for anyone under 19. The ban on trans medical care takes effect in October and the abortion ban goes into effect immediately. And so Nebraska has become the latest state to determine through law what might have once been determined by the more pliable tools of custom or imagination: the way that the sexed body a person is born with shapes the kind of life they can live. Be it through forced pregnancy or prohibited transition, the state of Nebraska now claims the right to determine what its citizens will do with their sexed bodies – what those bodies will look like, how they will function and what they will mean. It is a part of the right’s ongoing project to roll back the victories of the feminist and gay rights movements, to re-establish the dominance of men in public life, to narrow possibilities for difference and expression and to inscribe in law a firm definition and hierarchy of gender: that people are either men or women and that men are better.

More to the point, if he did, did he know it? The problem is that it only takes one to raise the motion. And it will only take five to vote him out. So this remains a very live possibility. On the other hand, Jim “Beavis” Jordan told the Freedom Caucus to pipe down and stop threatening the speaker and at least a couple of them seem to have gone quiet on the motion to vacate. So, who knows? The big question that’s probably hanging over their decision to do this is, who could they get to replace him? There is no blue-eyed dream boat like Paul Ryan waiting in the wings as there was last time the winguts pushed out a speaker. Stay tuned. This could still get interesting. Update: Lol. I don’t think this is going to cut it.

This one seems bad CNN reports: Federal prosecutors have obtained an audio recording of a summer 2021 meeting in which former President Donald Trump acknowledges he held onto a classified Pentagon document about a potential attack on Iran, multiple sources told CNN, undercutting his argument that he declassified everything. The recording indicates Trump understood he retained classified material after leaving the White House, according to multiple sources familiar with the investigation. On the recording, Trump’s comments suggest he would like to share the information but he’s aware of limitations on his ability post-presidency to declassify records, two of the sources said. CNN has not listened to the recording, but multiple sources described it. One source said the relevant portion on the Iran document is about two minutes long, and another source said the discussion is a small part of a much longer meeting.

Here’s a useful quick primer on who won and who lost in this debt ceiling hostage crisis: Don’t say it out loud until the debt ceiling is raised and we can breathe again, but the fact is that the Republicans got rolled. Shhhhh. They’re busy passing around internet memes about how Chik-fil-a is woke and don’t realize that Kevin just put on a very sad little kabuki dance.

And there will be a next time By the time you read this, it’s possible that the debt ceiling saga will finally be over. Senate leaders have said they have the votes to pass it and as of this writing, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is set to call for a vote on the package immediately — and unless he is completely inept (which is very possible), that means he knows he has the votes. Of course, anything can happen with this volatile, slim GOP House majority, as we learned during the epic speaker vote back in January. They like the drama and we may get some yet. But at this moment it appears that the deal struck by McCarthy and President Biden over the weekend is likely going to pass on a bipartisan basis over the objections of some on both the left and right, avoiding a default and any ensuing economic catastrophe. This agreement has left a sour taste in the mouths of progressives who were led to believe that the Democratic leadership in Congress and the White House had learned their lesson from past debt ceiling showdowns and were not going to engage this time.

The right is systematically boycotting everything they love. Out of hate. Let’s see how this goes over:

Kids in one of London’s poorest boroughs, Newham, are struggling to breathe. So why is the London Mayor pushing ahead with a new road tunnel that could make the situation even worse?

Feel the magic The NY Times reports that Christie thinks he can win. Hookay. I doubt it very seriously because the campaign is already chock full of assholes and there really isn’t room for another one. But he can perform a useful service. He’s going to go after Trump and DeSantis: Allies of former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey have formed a super PAC to support him in the nascent Republican primary, as he makes preparations for a likely campaign kickoff in the next two weeks, according to an official with the group and others briefed on the matter. Mr. Christie’s candidacy is likely to to focus in part on drawing a stark contrast with former President Donald J. Trump. Mr. Christie supported Mr. Trump in 2016 and worked with him during his presidency, but they split over Mr. Trump’s claims on election night in 2020 that the race was stolen from him. People who have been close to Mr. Christie for years are leading the outside group, Tell It Like It Is, which is laying the groundwork for an imminent announcement, one of the people briefed on the matter said.

They’re at each others’ throats This is my daily dose of schadenfreude. Remember: snitches get stitches… With three anticipated indictments, two ongoing court cases, and an ever-expanding cadre of lawyers, former President Donald Trump is at a critical juncture—and yet his legal advisers are starting to turn on each other. According to five sources with direct knowledge of the situation, clashing personalities and the increasing outside threat of law enforcement has sown deep divisions that have only worsened in recent months. The internal bickering has already sparked one departure in recent weeks—and that could be just the beginning. As Trump’s legal troubles keep growing—with criminal and civil investigations in New York City, Washington, and Atlanta—so too does the unwieldy band of attorneys who simply can’t get along. The cast of characters includes an accused meddler who has Trump’s ear, a young attorney who lawyers on the team suggested is only there because the former president likes the way she looks, and a celebrity lawyer who’s increasingly viewed with disdain.