VIDEO OF THE DAY: Trump's financial problems surge with serious court update
The clock has officially started on Trump's fraud payment. He has just 30 days to cough up a staggering $455 million dollars — nearly half a BILLION DOLLARS — with a cool $100,000 added on in interest every single day. Just a quick check through the couch cushions should sort it all out, right?
Take Action: Stop Trump Republicans' scheme to rig the census!
Alabama's targeting of IVF is the Christian right's attempt to control motherhood
"One would think the people who are always yammering on about how a woman's greatest purpose is giving birth would celebrate those who endure IVF, which is both painful and expensive, just so they can have a baby," writes Amanda Marcotte in Salon. " But no, the Christian right wants to end IVF for two reasons: First, because of the bottomless misogyny and homophobia that fuels the movement. Second, because the end goal for the Christian right is to turn the U.S. into a theocracy, and banning IVF helps them get there." Marcotte breaks down how the religious right wants to impose a new social order in which women are second-class citizens whose reproductive decisions are made on men's terms — and not permitting people any sense of ownership over their own lives and bodies.
Take Action: End child poverty in America by expanding the Child Tax Credit!
Bombshell court ruling signals disaster for Trump in November
No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen: Not great for Trump...
No questions, multiple denials: the Mississippi court that appoints lawyers for just 1 in 5 defendants before indictment
In yet another horrifying example of how much of red state America operates its justice system for the express purpose of funneling Black Americans into the carceral state, ProPublica discovered a Mississippi court that denies the accused their most basic Constitutional right — that to a public defender. Two judges in Yalobusha County Justice Court appointed lawyers for just 20% of the five dozen felony defendants who came before them in 2022, according to a review of court records, a clear violation of the Sixth Amendment. But what recourse do poor people have when the power of the state is brought to bear against them?
Take Action: Call on US leaders to invest in preventing gender-based violence!
Get these rich people off the moon!
The first moon landing by a private company is in the books — and it's "a grim sign of how the superrich plan to plant their flag beyond our own planet," writes Peter Howson for Jacobin. As usual, the superwealthy have their own agendas for the moon, which inevitably focus on making them even more money. It turns out Intuitive Machines' landing deposited a bunch of marbles made by artist Jeff Koons, and of course, you can buy them! Each one corresponds to a non-fungible token (NFT), a cryptocurrency art token. Other rich guy moon shenanigans include Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander, which failed in its mission to take the remains of 70 rich people to the moon, and Japanese drinks company Pocari Sweat's decade-long quest to put a can of soda on the moon. And of course, the real goal of all these moon landers is to search for valuable minerals and claim them before anyone else can. But little attention is paid to the far-reaching consequences of these constant launches; from indigenous lands in the United States being bombarded with toxic particles from failed launches to the Indonesian forest being torn apart for a new SpaceX spaceport, the ambitions of the megawealthy are leaving a trail of destruction and death in their wake. "Private space missions will only ever serve the billionaires, not us," concludes Howson.
Take Action: Make corporations and billionaires pay their fair share!
Another big question about AI: its carbon footprint
Not only does AI have the potential to fuel devastating misinformation campaigns and turn the political media landscape on its head, it's also SUPER bad for the environment! AI use is directly responsible for carbon emissions from non-renewable electricity and for the consumption of millions of gallons of fresh water to fuel the processing units that AI needs to function, and that's not to mention the resources and energy that go into building and maintaining the power-hungry equipment on which AI runs. It's also impossible to calculate just how much pollution AI is causing right now, which is why legislators in both the US and the EU are drafting bills to tackle this problem before it gets out of control.
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