Weird things going on at WordPress. I haven’t been able to insert hyperlinks in my text for several months now, but WordPress has been automatically inserting hyperlinks for URLs (website addresses). This situation has been annoying but tolerable, but I’d really like to be able to hyperlink to articles in my text without pasting in the URL. But now WordPress is sometimes NOT inserting hyperlinks for article URLs, which is so weird that it seems a little suspicious. If I’ve used an excerpt from your article and there’s no hyperlink for your URL, it’s not my fault. PNS
Family of woman who died of medical neglect in Texas prison to receive $7 million settlement. “[Holly] Barlow-Austin, who entered jail at 46 with HIV, was denied her prescription medications, rapidly deteriorated and went blind, and begged staff for water while detained in ‘deplorable and inhumane conditions’, an amended complaint filed in federal court says…. This is the largest known settlement over a jail-related death in state history, according to the attorneys. The settlement comes more than three years after Barlow-Austin’s severe suffering during her final week in jail when she was ‘isolated and alone, in constant pain, blindly crawling around her cell, dehydrated and malnourished, living in filthy and inhumane conditions,’ the release said…. The case stems from when Barlow-Austin was jailed after her arrest on accusations of violating probation on April 5, 2019, according to the complaint.” https://www.yahoo.com/news/woman-neglected-jail-went-blind-144611795.html
Employee of Santa Monica Police Department accused of sexually molesting more than 200 boys. “… [Eric Uller worked] as a volunteer in the Police Activities League, where, beginning in the late 1980s, he worked with boys and girls in the nonprofit’s after-school program…. Uller, a Santa Monica police dispatcher from a wealthy medical family, joined PAL in 1989 as a mentor for troubled youth, records show…. He almost immediately began targeting Latino boys between the ages of 12 and 15 from the Pico neighborhood, but some were as young as 8, said attorney Brian Claypool, who has represented more than 80 victims…. ‘I thought that Eric’s behavior and involvement around the boys was not appropriate, and so I reported my concerns to my sergeant and my lieutenant,’ the detective said, noting that she was told by her superiors it was not her business…. After starting as a 911 dispatcher, Uller rose to become the principal systems analyst for the city’s information technology department…” https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-04-26/santa-monica-sex-abuse-warnings-ignored
Jacobin interview with Marianne Williamson. “Williamson told me she isn’t a socialist. She doesn’t like labels but insists that Nordic-style capitalism would be a huge improvement on our current situation…. Williamson does not think the centrist Democrats are prepared for 2024. ‘They keep thinking that it’s going to be enough to just say, oh, but we’re not misogynist, we’re not racist, we’re not homophobic,’ she explains. ‘[Republicans are] going to be throwing some very big lies our way in ’24. And the only way to override that, which means electorally to defeat that, is through big truths. And the neo-liberal crowd doesn’t want to speak big truth . . . because they, too, conspire with the underlying corporate forces that make… people’s pain inevitable. The only way to defeat the fascists is through a radical commitment to democracy and a radical commitment to the unequivocal support of the working people. Neo-liberalism weakened our immune system,’ Williamson says, using a metaphor she invokes often, ‘making us more vulnerable to the forces of fascism…. The young people of America are not going to go to war in ’24 for the man who approved the Willow Project…. About 68,000 people dying every year of lack of health care. [Centrist Democrats are] not serious about one in four Americans living in medical debt. They’re not serious about people rationing their insulin. They’re not serious about twelve million children living in poverty. But anyone not playing their game is unserious.'” https://jacobin.com/2023/04/marianne-williamson-serious-progressive-president-campaign-neoliberalism-working-people
Poll shows significant support for Democratic Party presidential primary challengers. “According to a Fox News poll, [Robert] Kennedy and [Marianne] Williamson carry a combined 28% of the blue vote. Kennedy carried 19% while Williamson had 9%. Like Kennedy, Williamson, a long-shot candidate, has seen her polling numbers grow. Biden is sitting in on a solid lead with 62% support from Democrats, according to the poll, but the news is far from welcome. According to a Suffolk/USA Today poll last week, Biden’s support among Democrats sat at 67%, having lost 14% of his support to Kennedy at his launch.” https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-continues-bleed-liberal-support-rfk-jr-marianne-williamson-2024-dem-on-dem-showdown
Georgia man has failed to receive constitutionally-guaranteed ‘speedy’ trial. “In 2013, Maurice Jimmerson was charged with murder. Ten years later, he still hasn’t received a trial…. Jimmerson—who pleaded not guilty—still languishes in jail in Dougherty County, Georgia, with little hope of a trial anytime soon…. the COVID-19 pandemic, a 2021 courthouse flood, and the decision by the previous judge to try Jimmerson and his codefendants separately caused the delay. Making matters worse, [District Attorney Gregory] Edwards also says the county has been unable to find a public defender for Jimmerson, which has lengthened his time behind bars.” https://reason.com/2023/04/27/this-georgia-man-has-been-jailed-for-10-years-without-a-trial/ Imagine if this were you.
Russia hits four Ukrainian cities with dozens of missiles, only kills 13 civilians. “The attacks come as Ukrainian forces say they are ready to launch a military offensive with new equipment, including tanks, supplied by Western allies…. The Russian defense ministry said on Friday its military had targeted Ukrainian army reserve units with long-range strikes using high-precision weapons, according to a report by the state-owned RIA news agency.” https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65421341 No mention of any military casualties, which would mean that dozens of missiles all missed their targets, and only 13 civilians were killed, which seems unlikely. If true, that would be a ridiculous waste of missiles.
Third Democrat exiled from a state legislature by Republicans. “Republicans, who dominate the Montana House of Representatives, have voted Wednesday to formally punish Democratic Rep. Zooey Zephyr. Zephyr, who is transgender, has been blocked from speaking since last week. That’s when she told supporters of a bill to ban gender-affirming care that when they bowed their heads in prayer, she hoped they would see ‘blood on [their] hands’. She says she was alluding to studies that show that transgender health care can reduce suicidality in youth. The formal punishment decided Wednesday bans Zephyr from attending or speaking during floor sessions. She will only be allowed to vote remotely in the remaining days of the legislative session. It’s a lesser punishment than expulsion, which was also on the table, according to House leadership…. [Speaker of the House Matt Regier] said she would be blocked from speaking on the floor unless she apologized.” https://www.npr.org/2023/04/26/1172158461/montana-gop-transgender-zooey-zephyr-punishment-banned-speaking-lgbtq
Bernie Sanders tries to explain why he’s not running for president. “What’s at stake is whether we have some right-wing demagogue running this country or pathological liar or somebody who’s trying to divide us up, or whether we reelect somebody who is a very decent human being who’s trying to do the opposite, trying to bring the American people together…. It is a surprise to nobody when I say that I disagree with Biden on many issues But on the other hand, I think he deserves credit for what he has accomplished. Our job now as a progressive movement is to rally the people of this country to make sure that the next four years complete some of the efforts that have begun in the first administration. And that means that we have to keep our eyes on the prize.” https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3977124-sanders-on-2024-decision-i-dont-think-one-has-many-alternatives/ All very well and good, except that Biden may lose, and you would probably win. When Biden broke his promise not to allow new fossil fuel drilling on federal land, that was his ‘Read my lips: No new taxes!’ moment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Read_my_lips:_no_new_taxes
Kansas legislature overrides governor’s vetoes of transgender bathroom bill and ‘born alive’ abortion bill. “Kansas lawmakers on Thursday passed what critics call one of the most sweeping anti-trans bathroom bills in the nation, overriding Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto…. The new law defines a man and a woman by their sex organs at birth and divides the two groups in their use of bathrooms in athletic settings, domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, jails and prisons, while also leaving open its application in other areas…. Her veto was overridden with a two-third majority of both chambers, which are under Republican control…. ‘There’s not really any clarity into how this would be implemented,’ said Esmie Tseng, communications director for ACLU of Kansas.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/04/27/kansas-bathroom-bill/ As in, how are they going to enforce this? Bathroom monitors screening people’s genitals? I guess they could buy a huge number of those TSA screening machines that can detect ‘genital anomalies’, but they aren’t cheap. No, it’s just politics. “The new [abortion] law, which will take effect in July, requires providers to ‘exercise the same degree of professional skill, care and diligence’ when caring for an infant delivered during an abortion as a provider would during any other live birth. Violation of the law will be punishable by a felony…. The Kansas House voted 87-37 to override the veto, while the Senate voted by a margin of 31-9. Because Kansas already bans most abortions past 22 weeks, abortion proponents say the new law will likely be mostly symbolic, with providers saying the type of abortion the law seeks to cover rarely ever happens in the state.” https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/3974992-kansas-legislature-overrides-veto-abortion/
San Francisco man who claimed he was the victim of an ‘unprovoked’ beating by homeless man is accused of string of unprovoked attacks on homeless people. “The suspect accused of using a metal pipe to attack a former San Francisco fire department official was released from custody Thursday and is to appear in court for a preliminary hearing in late May. Prosecutors say former San Francisco Fire Department Commissioner Don Carmignani sustained serious injuries after being attacked in early April by a suspect with a metal pipe outside of his mother’s home in San Francisco…. Kleigh Hathaway, Doty’s public defender, claims her client was not the aggressor in the incident but rather was protecting himself from the former fire official, who she says has targeted several homeless people with bear spray, including Doty. Hathaway also released surveillance video that she said showed Carmignani attacking Doty with bear spray minutes before Carmignani was attacked with the metal pipe…. Doty’s public defender told reporters Wednesday this case is one of self-defense, in part because she says there appears to be a repeated pattern of someone with Carmignani’s description allegedly attacking homeless people with bear spray in a four block span of his home between November 2021 and January 2023, based on police reports given to her by the DA’s office and police. ” https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/27/us/san-francisco-city-official-homeless-pipe-attack-bear-spray/index.html I wonder if he was carrying his cell phone during the alleged attacks? If so, a few ‘geofence’ warrants would probably clear this right up.
Progressive News Service 