They’re soon to be responsible for 20 million deaths Anti-abortion Republicans would have you believe that they are all about preserving life. We know that isn’t true by their blood-thirsty attitude about anyone they consider an enemy but this takes it to another level: The AIDS epidemic has killed more than 40 million people since the first recorded cases in 1981, tripling child mortality and carving decades off life expectancy in the hardest-hit areas of Africa, where the cost of treatment put it out of reach. Horrified, then-President George W. Bush and the U.S. Congress two decades ago created what is described as the largest commitment by any nation to combat a single disease. The program, known as the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, partners with nonprofit groups to provide HIV/AIDS medication to millions around the world. It strengthens local and national health care systems, cares for children orphaned by AIDS and provides job training for people at risk.
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And a grifter gets his gig It’s football season and all the players and coaches are back on the field: But Joe Kennedy won’t be among them. The assistant coach of the Bremerton High School football team in Washington state quit his job after participating in just one game last week. Kennedy’s employment status is generally not worthy of national attention on its own terms. This particular coach, however, waged an eight-year legal battle to reclaim that job and got the Supreme Court to reshape the balance between church and state in public schools along the way. He won the case, he got his job back, and then he quit almost immediately. I have written before about the Supreme Court’s tendency in recent years to take what I have charitably described as “phantom docket” cases. But these might be more simply described as fake: They rest upon nebulous theories of standing, hypothetical injuries, and right-wing causes célèbre. Phantom-docket cases have allowed the court’s conservative majority to rewrite precedents while avoiding any immediate real-world consequences of their rulings.
You see, she’s forcing poor old Joe out into the public where people are making fun of him. She thinks RFK Jr would be the best candidate for the Democrats because the Democrats don’t like him. She’s pretty sharp for someone ancient old Biden’s age. She certainly knows how to elegantly stick the shiv in Biden’s back. Fox News has primed her well.
This is much more likely that we might want to think You’ve no doubt heard about the release of the Fulton County Georgia Special Grand Jury findings by now and learned that they recommended indictment of 39 people including Lindsey Graham, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler. Obviously, DA Fanni Willis decided to only indict half that number for what all the TV lawyers say are good reasons. But this is a red flag and I think we’ll need to prepare ourselves for the possibility: But perhaps the more practical lesson from the report, regarding the case ahead, is that it reinforces how difficult it might be to obtain convictions, including for Trump. Indeed, on the vast majority of charges recommended by the Georgia special grand jury, the vote was not unanimous. To win convictions, however, all jurors must vote in favor. Of the seven recommended charges against Trump, each featured precisely one grand juror who voted against, with between 17 and 21 grand jurors voting in favor. (Some grand jurors were absent for some votes.) Of about 90 votes on recommending charges, just 14 were unanimous.
Meerkat mob! Six fluffy bundles of joy have arrived at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo, with the Zoo’s Meerkat mob welcoming its second litter of pups for 2023. Mum Midra gave birth to six pups on Wednesday 2nd August, and while the pups are yet to be sexed or named, keeper Rez Onay said they’re doing well. “Coming in each morning and seeing the pups, it’s the best part of the day,” Rez said. They’re very cute and our main job is watching the behaviour of the family, making sure everyone is happy and well and looking after the new arrivals. “The family is doing a great job of looking after the pups, who are putting on weight and getting more active each and every day.” These arrivals bring the total number of meerkats at the Zoo to 20, including 14 in the breeding group at The Waterhole. Parents Midra and Howell have their hands full, with 10 pups under six months of age. Meerkats can fall pregnant as soon as one week after giving birth, or once the pups are weaned at about eight weeks of age, so it’s not unusual for them to give birth again so soon,” Rez said.
What your votes will decide in 2024 What’s on the 2024 ballot appears every day in stark terms. Women’s rights Republicans also have a “Fugitive Slave Woman Acts” problem to add to the list above. Climate change CNN: At least 14 people have died and several remain missing across Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria as torrential rain and severe flooding batter southern Europe. Gun violence Another typical day in America: Albuquerque police say a road rage shooting left an 11-year-old boy dead Wednesday night after he and his family left Isotopes Park. As the boy and his family were driving away from the park, their vehicle pulled in front of another vehicle, according to APD Chief Harold Medina. That vehicle made a U-turn and confronted the family on Avenida Cesar Chavez, Medina said. Then, someone in the suspect vehicle fired 17 shots at the family’s vehicle before reportedly leaving the area. Ms Magazine: In 2023 the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School found that “40 percent of young Americans are concerned about being victims of gun violence or mass shootings.
I have just commenced a six-month research project at the Budapest Centre for Long-Term Sustainability (https://bc4ls.com/), and one of my allotted tasks is to write a 30,000 word book. With apologies to my good friend Blair Fix, my working title echoes that of his blog (https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/): “Rebuilding Economics from the Top Down”. I start with … Continue reading "Rebuilding Economics from the Top Down—a work in progress"
One of the minor mysteries about the January 6th coup plot is what Grassley was talking about when he said that. Considering that the next day Trump unleashed a slavering mob on the Capitol during the proceedings and the secret service attempted to get him to leave the building (which he resisted, unlike the rest of the leadership) it’s interesting to say the least. There was also the comment by Pence adviser Keith Kellogg that they were afraid that they’d take Pence away to Alaska if he left the building, which is indicative of an awareness that there was a plan afoot to make is so that Pence would not be able to fulfill his duties that day. Grassley clarified that remark saying that he meant he would preside over the expected Senate debate about voting against the certification and that actually sounds reasonable when you see his full comment. But what do we make of this interesting nugget from yesterday’s John Eastman disbarment hearing in California: John Eastman, testifying at his own disbarment trial, sidestepped a question Wednesday about whether he and others in former President Donald Trump’s orbit discussed the possibility that Sen.
Credentials aren’t a measure of intelligence I never picked up much of an accent down here, much less one like Trae Crowder‘s, but the stereotype is familiar. People think it makes southerners sound stupid and uneducated. Then again, I’ve met P.E.s (professional engineers) who were useless and Ph.D.s who were clueless. Other people think rich means smart. Donald Trump and Elon Musk think so. About themselves. For some perspective, remember that Peter Navarro, the voluble former Trump economic adviser, promoter of the “Green Bay Sweep,” is from Cambridge, Mass. and attended Harvard. He was convicted Thursday of contempt of Congress. The jury found “Navarro guilty of two counts of contempt for refusing to testify before the House Jan. 6 committee and turn over subpoenaed documents.” Jurors deliberated just four hours (and may have taken a break for lunch). His defense called no witnesses. Navarro swears he is “willing to go to prison” to fight his conviction. Navarro is the second Trump associate convicted for contempt along with Steve Bannon. Crowder attended Tennessee Tech.
A presidential candidate is promising extrajudicial summary execution and it’s just normal. Of course, once he declares war on Mexico we’ll be dealing with the laws of war so there’s that. Meanwhile, the wheels are coming off: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has privately complained about a powerful operative at the center of his 2024 presidential effort, according to three people familiar with the comments, a sign of the internal drama that has complicated his struggling White House bid. DeSantis has expressed regrets over Jeff Roe’s hiring asa lead strategist at the super PAC Never Back Down, an outside group that has assumed many responsibilities in the race traditionally handled by campaigns, two of the people said. One, a DeSantis donor, heard the comments directly from the governor, this person said. DeSantis has also voiced anger over a pre-debate strategy memo from Never Back Down, which was publicly posted last month on the website of Roe’s firm, Axiom, these people said. One of them, the donor, said the governor was “apoplectic.” The finger pointing has officially begun.