“North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, and Pennsylvania have become this year’s battleground states, not in general-election contests but in vicious, high-priced Democratic primary runoffs between moderates and progressives. Moderate-supporting super PACs, under the guise of supporting issues like crypto and Israel, have poured in historic amounts of money to push their preferred candidate on Democratic voters. In just a handful of House races and one Senate race, they’ve spent tens of millions of dollars. That tidal wave of corporate money within Democratic elections is unprecedented, and has resulted in some dubious messaging and advertising. In Pennsylvania, the Penn Progress super PAC, supporting moderate Senate candidate Conor Lamb, became one of the rare entities to see one of its ads taken off the air on the grounds that it was demonstrably false and misleading, after it wrongly referred to his opponent John Fetterman as a ‘self-described democratic socialist.'” (05/13/22)
“Supermarkets, malls and restaurants in Shanghai will be allowed to open in a limited capacity starting Monday, officials said, even while it remained unclear whether residents would be let out from their homes. The city’s Vice Mayor Chen Tong said Sunday at a daily press briefing that grocery stores, malls, convenience stores and pharmacies will be allowed to reopen while implementing measures that ‘reduce the flow of people’. Agriculture markets will also be allowed to reopen while ensuring “no contact” transactions. Restaurants will be allowed to serve takeout.” (05/15/22)
“Phish, the perennial jam band, has a song called ‘Slave to the Traffic Light.’ It’s a ballad with an enduring presence in the group’s catalog, typically coming at the end of their shows as a kind of benediction for its fans — a reminder to live wild and free and never let the man get you down. … It’s easy to mock Phish, but the song always resonated because the childish reminder that ‘you’re a slave, man, and you don’t know it’ really rings harshly in the ear when you’re staring at a red light at 10 PM with no other cars around. … The whole idea seems childish, but then I remember one of Nietzsche’s more famous aphorisms: ‘Maturity in a man: that means having found once again that seriousness which man had as a child, in play.'” (05/13/22)
“The owner of an oil pipeline that spewed thousands of barrels of crude oil onto Southern California beaches in 2015 has agreed to pay $230 million to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by fishermen and property owners, court documents show. Houston-based Plains All American Pipeline agreed to pay $184 million to fishermen and fish processors and $46 million to coastal property owners in the settlement reached Friday, according to court documents. The company didn’t admit liability in the agreement, which follows seven years of legal wrangling. The agreement still must undergo a public comment period and needs federal court approval. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for June 10.” (05/15/22)
“Judy Woodruff says she’ll be stepping down as anchor of PBS'[s] nightly ‘NewsHour’ program at the end of the year. Woodruff, 75, said she will report longer pieces for ‘NewsHour’ and do other projects and specials for public television, at least through the 2024 presidential election. She was part of the ‘NewsHour’ rotating anchor team from 2009 until 2013, when she and Gwen Ifill were named co-anchors of the program. Since Ifill’s death in 2016, Woodruff has been the show’s sole anchor. ‘I love working at the PBS ‘NewsHour’ and can’t imagine it not being a part of my life,’ Woodruff said in a memo to fellow staff members. She was chief Washington correspondent from 1983 to 1993, and has also worked at CNN and NBC News.” (05/15/22)
“Just over a year ago, on May 5, 2021, the Biden administration pledged that it would support ’waiving intellectual property protections for Covid-19 vaccines’ at the World Trade Organization (WTO), in order to expand global access to cheaper, generic versions of vaccines. At the Second Global Covid-19 Summit this May 12, co-hosted by the United States, Belize, Germany, Indonesia and Senegal, a key goal was to ’accelerate collective efforts to get shots into arms’. Yet a power lineup of top U.S. officials (President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, USAID Administrator Samantha Power and Secretary of State Antony Blinken) failed to mention the WTO effort in their public remarks. At the first Global Covid-19 Summit, which took place last September, the administration mentioned the need for a Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver for vaccines as one of its key takeaways.” (05/13/22)
“The small portion of electricity supplied to Finland by Russia was cut off Saturday just hours before Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Finnish counterpart directly that it would be a ‘mistake’ for his country to join NATO. The call between Finland President Sauli Niinisto and Putin was the first direct talks between the two leaders since Finland said it will soon apply for NATO membership after decades of neutrality that has kept it out of the U.S.-European military alliance. According to a report of the call released by the Kremlin, the two leaders ‘had a sincere exchange of views over the announced decision by Finland’s leadership to apply for NATO membership.'” (05/14/22)
“For more than 20 years, I have been convinced that a moral and cultural revolution would rise up in America that would push back against the fruit of the counterculture revolution of the 1960s. That revolution is now here, at least in its early stages. But if it is to be really effective and lasting, it must be gospel based. Before I break this down in more detail, consider just how deeply our culture has moved in a wrong direction in the aftermath of the counterculture revolution. As expressed by psychologist David G. Meyers in the year 2000, ‘Had you fallen asleep in 1960 and awakened today (even after the recent uptick in several indicators of societal health) would you feel pleased at the cultural shift?.'” (05/13/22)
“New York City Mayor Eric Adams slammed the pro-life movement as ‘radical’ on Saturday and pledged that he would ‘fight’ to ensure there are ‘no’ limitations on abortion. ‘Abortion is health care. It’s that simple. And New York City won’t let a group of radical extremists take away health care or any human right without a fight,’ Adams tweeted Saturday using the hashtag ‘BansOffOurBodies.’ Adams attended a pro-choice protest in New York City on Saturday and said that he doesn’t believe there should be any limitations on abortion. ‘No I do not,’ Adams said when asked at the ‘Bans Off Our Bodies’ demonstration in New York City whether there should be any limitations on abortion. ‘I think women should have the right to choose their bodies,’ Adams said when pressed again about abortions up until the day of birth.” (05/15/22)
“At least 27 people have been killed and others are missing after a fire swept through a four-storey office building in Delhi. More than 70 people were inside when the fire started and witnesses said some jumped out of windows to escape. Women made up the majority of the office’s workers. The BBC found distraught family members waiting outside a local hospital for news. A short circuit is thought to have started the fire. Two brothers who owned a CCTV manufacturing company which was housed in the building have been arrested in connection with the incident, according to authorities. Police are also seeking to talk to the owner of the building. One of the women missing is 19-year-old Pooja, who is her family’s main bread winner.” (05/15/22)
