"The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday dealt a major blow to the Environmental Protection Agency's power to regulate carbon emissions that cause climate change. The decision by the conservative court majority sets the stage for further limitations on the regulatory power of other agencies as well… By a vote of 6 to 3, the court said that any time an agency does something big and new – in this case addressing climate change – the regulation is presumptively invalid, unless Congress has specifically authorized regulating in this sphere." Activists judges. This has never been the way laws have worked.
NPR's Books of the year. In past years I've known a large percentage of the books in the Speculative Fiction category, but not so this year's list. Don't know if it's me, or them.
"An international group of geneticists and archaeologists has discovered that the ancestry of dogs can be traced to at least two populations of ancient wolves. The research moves us a step closer to uncovering the mystery of where dogs underwent domestication, one of the biggest outstanding mysteries in human antiquity."
"Six months have passed since a European rocket lofted the James Webb Space Telescope into orbit. Since that time, the ultra-complex telescope has successfully unfolded its expansive sunshield, commissioned its science instruments, and reached an observation point more than 1 million km from Earth… This white-knuckle period in space followed nearly two decades of effort to design, build, and test the telescope on Earth prior to its launch on Christmas Day, 2021. But now, all of that effort is in the rearview mirror, and Webb's massive 6.5-meter diameter mirror is gazing outward and collecting scientific data and images. It is the largest and most powerful telescope that humans have ever put into space, and it's already revealing new insights about our cosmos."
"Finishing Super Heavy itself was a monumental task. As that vehicle required 33 Raptor rocket engines, the company had work to do in terms of production to spool up that kind of capability. By way of comparison, the one-time propulsion leader in the United States, Aerojet Rocketdyne, has set a goal of building four RS-25 rocket engines for NASA's Space Launch System a year. SpaceX is now building at least four Raptor rocket engines a week. The two engines are comparable in terms of their overall power."
"Over the past decade, nuclear power plants across the country have been shutting down early in favor of cheaper natural gas power… Now, an influx of investment from the government and the private sector is changing the trajectory of the aging U.S. nuclear fleet and spurring development of new nuclear technology… But many of the same old hurdles to scaling up nuclear power remain."
"The big problem this big study found concerned gas exchange – the ability to perfuse oxygen into the muscles and remove carbon dioxide from the blood. The ME/CFS (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) patients did reach their anaerobic threshold at lower levels of ventilation, at lower levels of ventilatory efficiency, and with fewer breaths – and here was the kicker – while moving more air overall. (These indices were also reduced at their peaks)." (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)
"The American Heart Association has updated its checklist to measure cardiovascular health. It is now called Life’s Essential 8™ and adds healthy sleep as essential for optimal cardiovascular health… Other health and lifestyle factors in the checklist, which were part of the previous, 7-item scoring tool, are physical activity, weight, nicotine exposure, diet, cholesterol, blood glucose, and blood pressure."
"Spirit Airlines on Wednesday delayed shareholder vote on its proposed merger with Frontier Airlines until July 8, hours before a meeting scheduled for Thursday so it can further discuss options with Frontier and rival suitor JetBlue Airways."
"Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Thursday launched a $1 billion first-of-its-kind pilot program aimed at helping reconnect cities and neighborhoods racially segregated or divided by road projects, pledging wide-ranging help to dozens of communities despite the program's limited dollars."
"This effect is known as the 'benefit cliffing effect,' in which a household loses public benefits or receives a reduction in those benefits due to a temporary or insubstantial increase in earnings, such as increased hours at work or a pay raise. Millions of Ohio workers rely on public benefits to afford basic needs like baby formula, rent, or daycare. Losing these supports feels like a penalty and results in workers forgoing a pay increase to prevent losing the assistance that makes it possible to make ends meet and protect their family’s welfare." I have personally experienced this twice, and I've seen many of my friends have to make choices because of these ridiculous rules. (Grokked from Marie Vibbert)
"A team searching a Mississippi courthouse basement for evidence about the lynching of Black teenager Emmett Till has found the unserved warrant charging a white woman in his 1955 kidnapping, and relatives of the victim want authorities to finally arrest her nearly 70 years later… A warrant for the arrest of Carolyn Bryant Donham — identified as 'Mrs. Roy Bryant' on the document — was discovered last week by searchers inside a file folder that had been placed in a box, Leflore County Circuit Clerk Elmus Stockstill said Wednesday."
"A plot of beachfront land along the Southern California coast has been returned to the descendants of a married Black couple who lost it to eminent domain nearly a century ago… Bruce's Beach, a once thriving resort for Black families owned by Willa and Charles Bruce, was seized by the town of Manhattan Beach in 1924 with the stated goal of building a park."
"China has issued a strong rebuke at Nato, calling out what it said was 'cold war thinking and ideological bias', after the western military bloc said Beijing posed “serious challenges” to global stability… Nato allies agreed for the first time to include challenges and threats posed by China into a strategy blueprint in its latest summit in Madrid this week. The alliance’s previous document, issued in 2010, made no mention of China."
"President Joe Biden and his fellow NATO leaders depart a highly consequential summit Thursday that rendered the defense alliance larger, more muscular and more focused… Yet after a pair of high-profile meetings in Europe this week, questions persist about Biden's ability to convince both his fellow leaders and the American people that the costs of supporting Ukraine and punishing Russia are still worth bearing."
"French president Emmanuel Macron was caught revealing some bad news to President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G7 summit Monday… Macron told Biden the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, informed him that OPEC’s top oil exporters were already at their production maximum."
Meanwhile, on Bullshit Mountain… "Fox News contributor Douglas Murray told 'Fox & Friends' on Wednesday that a conversation between French President Emmanuel Macron and President Biden caught on tape at the G7 was not a dialogue between two equal world leaders." Ah, but have we heard from the body language experts yet?
"Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the namesake son of an ousted dictator, was sworn in as Philippine president Thursday in one of the greatest political comebacks in recent history but which opponents say was pulled off by whitewashing his family's image."
"The parents of a teen injured during the mass shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan last year are suing the dealer that sold the handgun used to kill four students and injure seven others… The Oxford Community School District and school officials are also named in the lawsuit. Mary and Matthew Mueller, the parents of the injured child, say the school district and its employees failed to address serious concerns about the shooter, Ethan Crumbley. More than a dozen students have already filed a similar federal lawsuit against the school district and some of the high school's employees."
"The disgraced R&B star R. Kelly was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in prison… 'This case is not about sex,' the judge said. 'It is about violence, cruelty and control.'" Note Ghislaine Maxwell only received 20 years for a crime spree that was much longer and included more victims. I'm not saying R Kelly shouldn't get 30 years, I'm just noting the disparity.
"President Joe Biden said on Thursday that he would support making an exception to the filibuster -- the 60-vote threshold in the Senate needed to pass most legislation -- in order to codify abortion rights and the right to privacy through legislation passed by Congress… However, despite Biden's newly announced support for the filibuster carveout, his best bet in doing so would be next year -- and only if Democrats gain at least two Senate seats and hold the House of Representatives, an extremely tall task." No do voting rights.
"After the Supreme Court decision last week overturning Roe v. Wade, J feared she wouldn't be able to keep her appointment at the Hope Medical Group for Women in Shreveport, one of Louisiana's three clinics that offers abortions, as Louisiana moved to enforce its abortion bans. She already knew she couldn't get a legal procedure at home in Texas, under a state law that took effect in September, banning most abortions after about six weeks."
"The Supreme Court on Thursday gave President Joe Biden the green light to end the controversial 'Remain in Mexico' immigration policy that originated under the Trump administration."
"The Supreme Court said on Wednesday that states have the authority to prosecute non-tribal members who commit crimes against Native Americans on Indian territory… The ruling limits a major tribal ruling issued by the Supreme Court in 2020 and cuts back on tribal sovereignty." And why would SCOTUS make such an obvious mistake (reservations are explicitly federal land)? "Stitt has been fighting for state sovereignty on the issue and had expressed fear that if his side were to lose, it could open an avenue for individuals to gain access to abortion on tribal lands, as a way of sidestepping the state's strict abortion rules."
"Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will be sworn in as an associate justice of the Supreme Court on Thursday at noon, when Justice Stephen Breyer's retirement becomes official, the court said Wednesday. She will be the first Black woman to serve on the high court."
"The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear a case that could dramatically change how federal elections are conducted. At issue is a legal theory that would give state legislatures unfettered authority to set the rules for federal elections, free of supervision by the state courts and state constitutions." Flashing red warning lights and alarm sounds here.
"Most Americans support abortion rights, but a dedicated minority of conservative activists has been working for decades to dismantle Roe v. Wade, and one man in particular has played an outsized role in that effort: Leonard Leo… Leo leads the conservative legal organization the Federalist Society, through which he has spent the majority of his adult life getting conservatives appointed to the most powerful courts in this country, including the Supreme Court."
"Toulouse Oliver said the threatening email touched upon social media and video commentary by a conservative filmmaker in defense of his widely debunked documentary “2000 Mules” that alleges widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election."
"Republicans and other sources are rebutting elements of former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony before the Jan. 6 committee, handing Donald Trump and his allies ammunition as they seek to discredit her and portray her as an unreliable witness."
"The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol has issued a subpoena to former White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, a critical figure in the final days of the Trump White House who the committee has been publicly pleading with to appear."
"Throughout the testimony presented in the Jan. 6 select committee hearings, former President Donald Trump, who may yet face criminal charges stemming from the emerging evidence, has sought to shape public perceptions about the Republican witnesses who have appeared." Criminal who did crimes says he's not a criminal and everybody was responsible, anyway.
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