Tuesday, May 3, 2022

Wake-Up Call: SCOTUS May Overturn Roe v. Wade

Daily Mail 5/3/22

DRAFT OPINION LEAKED: Politico reported last night on a leaked draft opinion that suggests the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide nearly 50 years ago in 1973. The Politico report, which represents an extremely rare breach of the high court's secretive deliberation process, says a draft opinion signed by Justice Samuel Alito, one of the six conservatives on the court, says, "Roe was egregiously wrong from the start," and must be overruled. It would allow all 50 states to regulate or ban abortion as they see fit. It dates from February and is labeled a "1st Draft" of the "Opinion of the Court," and AP notes it's unclear if this will be the final ruling, as the high court's opinions change during the drafting process. A Supreme Court spokesperson refused comment. The case in which the decision would come is a challenge to Mississippi’s ban on abortion after 15 weeks, which the court is expected to rule on before their term ends in late June or early July. Politico said it received, quote, "a copy of the draft opinion from a person familiar with the court’s proceedings in the Mississippi case."

➤U.S. OFFICIAL: RUSSIA PLANS TO ANNEX MUCH OF EASTERN UKRAINE THIS MONTH: A senior U.S. official warned yesterday that Russia plans to annex much of eastern Ukraine later this month. Michael Carpenter, the U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said Moscow is planning to hold sham referendums in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions to, quote, "try to add a veneer of democratic or electoral legitimacy," and also said the U.S. believes Russia will recognize the southern city of Kherson as an independent republic, with signs Russia will engineer an independence vote there.
 

Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry said Monday that more than one million Ukrainians, including nearly 200,000 children, have been taken into Russia since the late February invasion, according to the state-owned news agency TASS. Ministry official Mikhail Mizintsev said the civilians, quote, "were evacuated . . . from the dangerous regions" of Donetsk, Luhansk and other parts of Ukraine. Ukraine has accused Russian troops since the war started of taking civilians against their will to Russia or Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine, which Moscow has denied.

Governor Maksym Marchenko of Ukraine's Odesa region said yesterday that Russian forces had hit a strategic bridge that had already been heavily damaged in two earlier Russian missile strikes. The bridge provides the only railway connection and the key highway link to areas west of Odesa, and destroying it cuts off access to shipments of weapons and other materials from neighboring Romania.

Israel Lashes Out Over Russia FM's Comments, Including that Hitler was Jewish: Israel lashed out at Russia Monday over comments made by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about Nazism and antisemitism, including claims that Adolf Hitler was Jewish. Lavrov was asked during an Italian news interview about Russia's claim that it invaded Ukraine to "denazify" the country and how that could be true as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is Jewish. He said, "In my opinion, Hitler also had Jewish origins, so it doesn’t mean absolutely anything. For some time we have heard from the Jewish people that the biggest antisemites were Jewish." Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid called Lavrov’s statement "unforgivable and scandalous," saying, "The Jews did not murder themselves in the Holocaust."



➤EX-NYPD OFFICER FOUND GUILTY IN JANUARY 6TH CASE: A 56-year-old former New York City police officer was found guilty Monday of assaulting an officer during the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. A federal jury rejected Thomas Webster's claim that he was defending himself when he tackled the Metropolitan Police Department officer and grabbed his gas mask. He'd claimed the officer punched him in the face and instigated the confrontation, but the officer denied both claims. Webster, a 20-year NYPD veteran and also a U.S. Marines veteran, was found guilty of all six counts against him, including that he assaulted the officer with a dangerous weapon, which was a metal flagpole. He is the first January 6th defendant to be tried on an assault charge.


➤ARREST WARRANT FOR MISSING ALABAMA CORRECTIONS OFFICER WHO WAS WITH INMATE: An arrest warrant was issued Monday for a 56-year-old Alabama corrections officer who disappeared when she was with an inmate last Friday, with authorities now believing she helped him escape. Vicky White left the Lauderdale County Detention Center in Florence, where's she's assistant director of corrections, on Friday morning with Casey Cole White and they haven't been seen since. U.S. Marshal Marty Keely said, "We consider both of them dangerous and, in all probability, both individuals are armed." Casey White, who isn't related to Vicky White, was serving a 75-year prison sentence and awaiting trial on a capital murder charge. Vicky White told co-workers she was taking him to the courthouse for a mental health evaluation, but it was later discovered that no such evaluation was scheduled. Vicky White had planned to retire and Friday was to be her last day.
💸SURVEY..MORE AMERICAN ARE BORROWING MONEY FROM FRIENDS AND FAMILY:  More Americans are borrowing money from friends and family than were a year ago, according to the Census Bureau’s new Household Pulse Survey. It found that 25.6 million people, or more than 10 percent of U.S. adults, had to rely on friends and family for financial support, up from 19.1 million a year ago. Looking at age groups, 14 percent of Millennials said they borrowed money from their family members and friends, up three percent from April 2021, while 11 percent of Generation Xers said they borrowed money from their family and friends as did eight percent of Baby Boomers. Looking at ethnicity, 17 percent of Black respondents said they have borrowed money from family members and friends, up six percent from this time last year. Among Hispanic respondents, 15 percent have borrowed money from family and friends, as have seven percent of those who are either white or Asian.

➤SECOND NYC AMAZON UNION VOTE FAILS AFTER EARLIER SUCCESS: Amazon workers at a warehouse on Staten Island in New York City rejected a union bid yesterday with about 62 percent voting no and just 38 percent yes. The decisive defeat dealt a blow to organizers behind a recent successful vote to unionize at another Staten Island warehouse, the first in Amazon's history. Chris Smalls, the fired Amazon worker who leads the new Amazon Labor Union, tweeted, "Nothing changes we organize! do not be discouraged or sad be upset and talk to your coworkers"

➤DECADES-OLD BODY IN BARREL FOUND DUE TO LAKE MEAD'S HISTORIC LOW WATER LEVELS: A body inside a barrel was found over the weekend on the bottom of Nevada's Lake Mead, which is newly-exposed due to water levels in the reservoir behind the Hoover Dam being at historic lows due to drought. Personal items found in the barrel with the skeletal remains indicate the person died more than four decades ago in the 1980s. Las Vegas police Lieutenant Ray Spencer told local TV station KLAS that the investigation is ongoing and declined to talk about the cause of death. He also said he believes there could be more grim discoveries, saying, "I would say there is a very good chance as the water level drops that we are going to find additional human remains."  

➤THE KARDASHIAN-JENNER FAMILY WINS BLAC CHYNA’S DEFAMATION TRIAL:  On Monday, the jury in Blac Chyna’s $100 million defamation trial reached a verdict, ending the weeks-long case. A judge at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in Los Angeles ruled that members of the Kardashian-Jenner family were “cleared of all the key questions,” and that Blac Chyna would be awarded no monetary damages.

🏀NBA PLAYOFFS: Results from second-round games yesterday:
  • Miami Heat 106, Philadelphia 76ers 92 - Miami leads series 1-0
  • Phoenix Suns 121, Dallas Mavericks 114 - Phoenix leads series 1-0
🏒NHL PLAYOFFS: Results from first-round games yesterday:
  • Carolina Hurricanes 5, Boston Bruins 1 - Carolina leads series 1-0
  • Toronto Maple Leafs 5, Tampa Bay Lightning 0 - Toronto leads series 1-0
  • St. Louis Blues 4, Minnesota Wild 0 - St. Louis leads series 1-0
  • L.A. Kings 4, Edmonton Oilers 3 - L.A. leads series 1-0
🏒TORONTO WINS OPENING GAME AGAINST DEFENDING CHAMP TAMPA BAY AS NHL PLAYOFFS BEGIN: The first-round of the NHL playoffs kicked off last night with four games, including one in which the Toronto Maple Leafs shut out the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning 5-0 in the opening game of their best-of-seven series. Auston Matthews, the NHL player with the most goals during the regular season with 60, scored two goals last night and also had an assist.

🏈CARDINALS' HOPKINS SUSPENDED SIX GAMES FOR VIOLATING DRUG POLICY: Arizona Cardinals star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins was suspended without pay for six games by the NFL yesterday after he tested positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance. Hopkins posted a statement on social media in which he said he was, quote, "confused and shocked" by the positive result, saying, "I am very mindful of what I put in my body . . . so I am working with my team to investigate how this could’ve happened. But even as careful as I have been, clearly I wasn’t careful enough. For that, I apologize to Cardinals fans, my teammates, and the entire Cardinals organization."

⚾METS MANAGER SHOWALTER SUSPENDED ONE GAME OVER INTENTIONAL PITCH: New York Mets manager Buck Showalter was suspended for one game yesterday after MLB determined that Mets reliever Yoan Lopez intentionally threw at Philadelphia Phillies player Kyle Schwarber the night before. Lopez, who was sent to Triple-A after Sunday's game, was given a three-game ban that begins whenever he's back in the majors. After Mets star Francisco Lindor was hit in the thigh by a pitch in the eighth inning, Lopez threw an inside pitch to Schwarber that led umpires to warm both teams, but he wasn't ejected.



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