Extra, Extra
Planned Attack: “The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed South Carolina to bar Planned Parenthood’s access to federal Medicaid funding for non-abortion services. The decision allows states to ban the organization from getting Medicaid reimbursements for cancer screenings and other care not related to abortion.” (This could open the floodgates in states looking to defund women’s healthcare.)
+ I’m King of the World: Trump demands end to Netanyahu’s graft trial: ‘US saved Israel, now it’s going to save Bibi.'” Now he’s dropping bunker busters on the judicial systems of other countries? I fear the megalomania has crossed another threshold.
+ Trill Seekers: “Over the past decade, the world’s richest 1 percent have increased their wealth by at least $33.9 trillion, according to a new analysis from the global anti-poverty group Oxfam International. That amount is ‘more than enough to eliminate annual poverty 22 times over.'” (And it’s apparently not enough, because many of these beneficiaries are spending to elect leaders who will ensure they benefit even more.)
+ Sentiment Paralysis: “Every month, thousands of randomly selected Americans get a letter in the mail from the University of Michigan asking how they’re feeling. This year their answers have been pretty unambiguous: bad.” Bloomberg (Gift Article): America’s Top Consumer-Sentiment Economist Is Worried. (What’s interesting is that the market does not seem worried at all.)
+ Why Won’t Humanity Take the Win? “Just over 50 years ago, the World Health Organization launched its Essential Programme on Immunization. Since then, vaccination rates have improved dramatically and researchers estimate that 4.4 billion people have been reached and 154 million childhood deaths have been avoided.” So why the hell would we even hint at abandoning this health achievement? NPR: The good news (154 million deaths avoided) and bad news about childhood vaccines.
+ Fake News Gets Real: “The technology has amplified social and partisan divisions and bolstered antigovernment sentiment, especially on the far right, which has surged in recent elections in Germany, Poland and Portugal.” NYT (Gift Article): A.I. Is Starting to Wear Down Democracy.
+ Shall We Play a Game? “It is unfair to say that he is likely to wake up one morning and decide to use nuclear weapons—he has spoken intermittently about his loathing of such weapons, and of war more generally—but he could very easily mismanage his way, again, into an escalatory spiral.” The Atlantic (Gift Article): Humanity Is Playing Nuclear Roulette.
+ Fully Prepped: The only team with more 2025 NBA first-round draft picks than Cooper Flagg’s Duke? Cooper Flagg’s prep team.
+ Street Performer: “At the start of Act Two — around 9 p.m. on performance evenings — composer Andrew Lloyd Weber’s music is piped outside the theater into London’s narrow Argyll Street. Rachel Zegler, playing Perón, emerges on a balcony. From there, she belts out ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina,’ the musical’s signature song. The performance is livestreamed back into the theater for the audience.” Want to see the performance? Just walk on by at the right time. Amazing. This summer’s most talked-about performance on London’s West End isn’t onstage.
