Not 100 percent here. You will have to travel to the rest of the story to get the complete version of the Summary and My Take by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s Official Newsletter on recent events. It is interesting and there is enough here to draw a conclusion. 1 When night came, the white waves rolled back and forth in the moonlight, and the wind brought the sound of the great sea’s voice to the men on the shore. And they felt that they could then understand. Stephen Crane, “The Open Boat” – My Take These final words of Stephen Crane’s famous short story “The Open Boat” have haunted me since I first read them when I was a teenager. What did the “great sea’s voice” tell them that they “finally” understood? What mysteries were revealed? In the
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Not 100 percent here. You will have to travel to the rest of the story to get the complete version of the Summary and My Take by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s Official Newsletter on recent events. It is interesting and there is enough here to draw a conclusion.
1 When night came, the white waves rolled back and forth in the moonlight, and the wind brought the sound of the great sea’s voice to the men on the shore. And they felt that they could then understand.
Stephen Crane, “The Open Boat”
– My Take These final words of Stephen Crane’s famous short story “The Open Boat” have haunted me since I first read them when I was a teenager. What did the “great sea’s voice” tell them that they “finally” understood? What mysteries were revealed?
In the end, the survivors stand on the shore and finally understand what the sea has told them: Nature doesn’t care about them or their logic. It is capricious, it is whimsical, and no individual, no species matters more than any other. Nature is a process and we are nothing more to that process than socks in a tumbling dryer.
2 South Carolina to use congressional map deemed unconstitutional (The Washington Post)
SUMMARY: A federal court ruled Thursday that time had run out to draw a new congressional district in South Carolina and said the state could use its existing map this year even though it had earlier determined that map was unconstitutional.
South Carolina appealed, and both sides asked the Supreme Court to expedite the case to ensure a final ruling was in place well ahead of election season. The justices heard arguments in October but have yet to rule.
With no decision and the June 11 primary on the horizon, South Carolina sought permission to use the map this year even though it had been deemed unconstitutional. The panel of judges unanimously agreed Thursday to keep the map in place for this election.
– My Take Sadly, the U.S. Supreme Court did not find the unconstitutional congressional map that “exiled over 30,000 African American citizens” to be worth a speedy ruling to maintain their constitutional rights to have a fair voice in the elections. They heard arguments in October—five months ago—and still couldn’t figure out where justice lies.
3 Republicans put forth unfounded and sometimes racist theories on bridge collapse (The Washington Post)
SUMMARY: After Tuesday’s deadly collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, some Republican officials, candidates and right-wing pundits attempted to connect the tragedy to some of their most frequent political targets: diversity initiatives, illegal immigration, coronavirus lockdowns and the Biden administration. And early reaction to the incident also provided fresh ground for unfounded theories that the collapse was not an accident at all.
– My Take is only a small sample of all the GOP conspiracy theories mentioned in the article. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) went to X to propose the possibility the bridge collapse was “an intentional attack.” Others suggested “a wide-open border” was responsible or a “drug-addled” workforce. All without any proof.
4 Republicans put forth unfounded and sometimes racist theories on bridge collapse (The Washington Post)
SUMMARY: After Tuesday’s deadly collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, some Republican officials, candidates and right-wing pundits attempted to connect the tragedy to some of their most frequent political targets: diversity initiatives, illegal immigration, coronavirus lockdowns and the Biden administration. And early reaction to the incident also provided fresh ground for unfounded theories that the collapse was not an accident at all.
– MY TAKE: My summary is only a small sample of all the GOP conspiracy theories mentioned in the article. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) went to X to propose the possibility the bridge collapse was “an intentional attack.” Others suggested “a wide-open border” was responsible or a “drug-addled” workforce. All without any proof.
A 213-million pound ship lost electricity and rammed into a vital support column, collapsing the bridge and causing six people to die. And some Republicans think this is an appropriate time to blame Biden for the accident. Two things to conclude from this: 1. The accusers are not very keen to reach such illogical, evidence-free conclusions. 2. The accusers lack any respect for the intelligence of their constituents whom they think will believe such nonsense. Either way, such people should not be in any political office that requires rational thinking.
5 Wife of Judge on Mifepristone Case Was Paid by Anti-Abortion Group (The Daily Beast)
SUMMARY The fate of the abortion pill mifepristone is now before the Supreme Court, after a fifth-circuit appeals panel of three judges ruled against its distribution last summer. According to a new report, the wife of one of those judges—James Ho, a Trump appointee who previously served as the solicitor general of Texas—took at least six payments between 2018 and 2022 from the conservative legal group that brought the case to court.
The Guardian reports that the payments to Allyson Ho don’t technically violate the court’s code of conduct, but experts warned they do not help with public trust in the legal system. “When Americans see a case like this—so clearly concocted and motivated by special interests, and with evident connections between those interests and the judges on the case, it does tremendous damage to the reputation of the courts,” Alex Aronson, the executive director of the nonpartisan group Court Accountability, told the newspaper. James Ho said he “consulted our court’s ethics advisor prior to sitting in that case, and was advised that there was no basis for recusal. In any event, my wife’s practice is to donate honoraria to charity.”
– My Take Reproductive rights is one of the most important issues in the country. It defines the direction this country intends to travel into the future. Will our country be a nation that supports the right of women to have physical autonomy or will we dismiss them as individuals with lesser constitutional rights because of how they were born? This is a moment of truth for America.
At the same time, everyone’s rights are protected by a judicial system that only works when those who officiate within that system can remove their prejudices and are able to behave honestly. The people’s trust in the legal system isn’t blind faith, it’s based on what we observe of those who run the system. Without that trust, we can have no society, no government.