Everyday superheroes: How librarians are making a difference in their communities
April 26, 2024
Alternative sex and gender
Tennessee’s GOP-controlled Statehouse on Thursday gave their final
approval to legislation criminalizing adults who help minors receive
gender-affirming care without parental consent, clearing the way for the
first-in-the-nation proposal to be sent to Gov. Bill Lee’s desk for his
signature. The bill mirrors almost the same language from a so-called
“anti-abortion trafficking” proposal Tennessee Republican lawmakers
approved just a day prior. In that version, supporters are hoping to
stop adults from helping young people obtain abortions without
permission from their parents or guardians.
An estimated 93% of transgender youth from ages 13 to 17 live in states that have passed or are considering bills to restrict their access to transition-related health care, school bathrooms, sports participation and pronouns used at school, according to a new report.
Polling update
Voters say that President Joe Biden’s age and former President Donald Trump’s legal woes are the most compelling reasons to oppose them in November, according to the latest national NBC News poll.
2024 PRESIDENTIAL RACE: BIDEN VS. TRUMP
Most recent five poll average: Biden leads by 1% ... Last June: Tie
2024 RACE: BIDEN VS TRUMP & OTHERS
Most recent five poll average: TIE
BIDEN APPROVAL RATING Most recent five poll average 41% - 8% below 2023 high, 2% above 2023 low, 1% ahead of Trump
PRESIDENTIAL STATE MARGINS
Total electoral votes: 538. Biden won in 2020 by 74 electoral votes. Biden's lead in 2024 based on polls is 14.
ARIZONA
Biden- Trump poll average: Trump leads by 6% Biden down 6% from 2020
Biden-Trump-Others poll average: Trump leads by 6%
Electoral vote change Biden down 11
FLORIDA
Three poll average: Biden/Trump 10 13 2 Biden down 8%
Three poll average: Biden Trump/Others 1 1%
GEORGIA
Three poll average: Biden/Trump Trump leads by 5% up 5% from 2020
Three poll average: Biden Trump/Others Trump leads by 4%
Electoral vote change: Biden down 16
MASSACHUSETTS
Biden leads by 30%, 4% lower than 2020
MICHIGAN
Three poll average Biden/Trump: TIE Biden down 3% from 2020
Three poll average: Biden/Trump/Others 4%
Biden Electoral vote down 16
NEVADA
2024 Biden/Trump 3 poll avg Trump leads by 5% Biden down 7% from 2020
2024 Biden/Trump/Others 3 poll average 8 7 5 Trump leads by 7%
Biden Electoral vote down 6
NORTH CAROLINA
2024 Biden/Trump Trump leads by 6 Biden down 5% from 2020
2024 Biden/Trump/Others Trump leads Biden by 4%
PENNSYLVANIA
2024 Trump-Biden 3 10 5 Trump-Biden three poll average: Biden leads by 1% - Same as 2020
Trump-Biden-Others: Trump leads by 1%
2024 Biden Trump 1 0 4 Trump leads by 2% Biden down 2% from 2020
2024 Biden/Trump/Others 4 4 3 Trump leads by 2%
Biden Electoral vote down 10
Middle East
What Biden Would Do if He Were Serious About Ending the War in Gaza
Bernie Sanders - No, Mr. Netanyahu. It is not antisemitic or pro-Hamas to point out that in a little over six months your extremist government has killed 34,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 77,000 – 70% of whom are women and children.
Guardian - Hundreds of Jewish anti-war demonstrators have been arrested during a Passover seder that doubled as a protest in New York,
as they shut down a major thoroughfare to pray for a ceasefire and urge
the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, to end US military aid to
Israel.
1440 - Hamas official says
militant group is willing to agree to truce of at least five years with
Israel in exchange for establishing an independent Palestinian state (More)
NPR- More than 500 people have been arrested as pro-Palestinian protests roll on at colleges and universities across the country. Protesters are demanding an end to the conflict between Israel and Hamas and, in some cases, for their schools to cut business ties with Israel. At Columbia University, more than 100 people were arrested last week after police attempted to clear out an encampment. The school is still in negotiations with student protesters to remove the tents after giving them multiple deadlines that were not met.
Media
NY Times - For the past two weeks, turmoil has engulfed NPR after a senior editor assailed what he described as an extreme liberal bias inside the organization that has bled into its news coverage. The editor, Uri Berliner, said NPR’s leaders had placed race and identity as “paramount in nearly every aspect of the workplace” — at the expense of diverse political viewpoints, and at the risk of losing its audience.
The accusations, leveled in an essay published in an online publication, The Free Press, led to a deluge of criticism from conservatives, including former President Donald J. Trump, who called for the network’s public funding to be pulled. The essay also generated vociferous pushback internally, with many journalists defending their work and saying Mr. Berliner’s essay distorted basic facts about NPR’s coverage.
But NPR’s troubles extend far beyond concerns about its journalism. Internal documents reviewed by The Times and interviews with more than two dozen current and former public radio executives show how profoundly the nonprofit is struggling to succeed in the fast-changing media industry. It is grappling with a declining audience and falling revenue — and internal conflict about how to fix it.
NPR’s traditional broadcast audience, still the bulk of its listenership, is in long-term decline that accelerated when the pandemic interrupted long car commutes for millions of people. The network has begun to sign up digital subscribers who pay for ad-free podcasts, but that business has lagged far behind that of its competitors.
Trump
Robert Reich - Clarence Thomas hearing Trump's immunity case, when his wife Ginni was directly involved in efforts to overturn the 2020 election, tells you everything you need to know about the Supreme Court's new code of "ethics."
Five Major Climate Policies Trump Would Probably Reverse if Elected
Newsweek - Conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices may be trying to delay former President Donald Trump's election fraud case rather than grant him full presidential immunity, a legal expert said. Trump was indicted on four counts of allegedly working to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the run-up to the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. It is one of four criminal cases that Trump is facing while he campaigns as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. He has also pleaded not guilty to charges in the other cases, denying any wrongdoing and repeatedly said they are part of a political witch hunt.
Ray Brescia, a law professor at Albany Law School in New York, was reacting to Thursday's Supreme Court hearing on Trump's claim that he has full immunity from the election fraud indictment in Washington, D.C. "I am deeply concerned that a majority of the justices will find some way to stymie the prosecution by, at a minimum, putting additional procedural roadblocks before the special prosecutor, Jack Smith," Brescia told Newsweek.
Trump lawyer tells SCOTUS that president could have immunity after ordering military to assassinate a political rival
What some of our founders thought about "immunity"
Thom Hartmann - At the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention in September of 1787, James Madison, noting that the Virginia constitution gave “some executive immunities related to the criminal process” to that state’s governor, asked the assembled delegates to “consider what privileges ought to be allowed to the Executive.” Not a single delegate rose to defend the position; instead, Charles Pinckney called for an adjournment for the day. During an 1800 debate in the US Senate, Pinckney explained to his colleagues that “it was the design of the Constitution, and . . . not only its spirit, but letter . . . that it never was intended to give Congress, or either branch, any but specified, and those very limited, privileges indeed.”
As Jack Smith noted in his written pleadings before the Supreme Court, “James Wilson told the Pennsylvania ratifying convention, the president was ‘far from being above the laws,’ and ‘not a single privilege [was] annexed to his character.’”
Tench Coxe, who I quoted extensively in The Hidden History of American Democracy, noted in a 1787 essay that it was the intention of the Founders that a president could be “proceeded against like any other man in the ordinary course of law.” And, indeed, when Vice President Aaron Burr fatally shot Alexander Hamilton in a duel, two different states brought murder indictments against him and not a single court objected or argued that the executive branch should have immunity from prosecution under criminal law.
But don’t tell any of that to the Republicans on the Supreme Court.
Tourism
Venice begins charging entry fee for day-trippers. Italy's canal city has begun charging an entry fee for people visiting for the day, a controversial measure to tackle chronic over-tourism.
Health
Vitamin D shows hidden power that boosts cancer immunity
NBC - Traces of the bird flu virus were found in 1 in 5 samples of pasteurized milk, the FDA said, days after it first announced finding viral fragments in commercially sold milk. The findings provide a more detailed picture of how much of the milk supply has been affected by infected herds of dairy cows. Health officials maintain — and experts agree — that pasteurized milk is safe to drink. However, influenza virologist Richard Webby pointed out that while the number of positive samples is consistent with numbers he has reviewed from other sample sets, “the number does seem high… Clearly there are more infected animals out there than being reported,” he said in an email.As of yesterday, bird flu has been detected in 33 herds in eight states.
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