Republican-led Texas House impeaches state Attorney General Ken Paxton
NPR reporter, Sergio Martinez-Beltrán
“In a historic vote Saturday, the Texas House of Representatives decided to impeach Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton over allegations of illegal activities related to one of his political donors.” Paxton was immediately and temporarily removed from duties pending trial.
Read story.
RNC joins lawsuit to require pen-on-paper voter registration!
“Today, a federal court allowed the Republican National Committee to join a lawsuit to defend a Florida law that requires voter registration applications to be submitted with a pen-on-paper signature. Voting groups argue that the law violates the Materiality Provision of the Civil Rights Act.”
Read here.
Ron DeSantis loses his temper with a reporter: “Are you blind?”
Twice on June 1, “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis lashed out at a reporter — twice barking “Are you blind?” — at the end of his first campaign event in New Hampshire.
DeSantis … became noticeably agitated when Steve Peoples of The Associated Press asked why he wasn’t taking questions from the audience like most presidential candidates do in this state.
‘People are coming up to me, talking to me,’ DeSantis said. ‘What are you talking about? Are you blind? Are you blind? People are coming up to me, talking to me whatever they want to talk to me about?'”
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2023 Campus Race to Zero Waste Winners: Diverting Waste from Landfills
“Participants in the 2023 Campus Race to Zero Waste divert more than 29.4 million pounds of waste from the landfill through donation, composting, and recycling efforts. 3.4 million college students, faculty and staff across 200 college campuses kept more than 205 million single-use plastic containers out of the landfill.
The National Wildlife Federation and RecycleMania Inc. are excited to announce 16 colleges and universities as winners for this year’s Campus Race to Zero Waste Competition.”
More than 3.4 million college students and staff across 200 campuses competed to reduce their waste footprint. Over 29.4 million pounds of waste was donated, composted and recycled, resulting in more than 205 million single-use plastic containers kept out of landfills and preventing release of 29,108 metric tons equivalent of carbon dioxide (equal to annual emissions from 6,128 cars).
Read here.
QUOTE OF THE MONTH!
FROM BRENNAN CENTER
Over three days in June 2022, the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority overturned the constitutional right to abortion, possibly opening the door to the reconsideration of other major privacy rights, as Justice Clarence Thomas urged. The Court sharply limited the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority, reducing the prospects for combating climate change. It radically loosened curbs on guns amid an epidemic of mass shootings. It fully embraced legal theories such as “originalism” that will affect thousands of cases across the country.
The War on “Woke”
From CNN with Oliver Darcy
Prepare yourself for a Pride Month imbued with callous intolerance.
Led by right-wing media personalities and institutions, conservatives are leading the biggest cancel culture campaign this summer as they wage war on companies supporting LGBTQ communities.
Read article.
After shakeups in Fox News and CNN, MSNBC and Newsmax pick up the pieces.
May 2023 Cable News Ratings show Fox News’ audience dropped -32% from April. Viewers were angered by removal of Tucker Carlson.
Same ratings showed CNN dropped -16%.
Read article.
More Homeless Shelters Coming to North County
Voice of San Diego, by Tigist Layne
For about the last 6 years, there have been 3 homeless shelters in North County with a total of 144 beds: 2 are low-barrier (not requiring sobriety or background checks to enter) and 1 higher-barrier for women and families. Not enough for the more than 787 homeless people in North County. Interfaith Community Services reported 2 new shelters are expected to open this summer. Read more.
US Economy Added 339,000 jobs in May
CNN Business
Job growth soared past expectations.
“The US labor market isn’t ready to slow down just yet.
Employers added 339,000 jobs in May, according to the monthly employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released on Friday.
That’s a much hotter number than the 190,000 that economists were expecting.
The unemployment rate rose to 3.7% from 3.4%. Economists were projecting it to climb to 3.5%, according to Refinitiv.”
Georgia probe of Trump expands to activities in other states
Washington Post
Probe into Trump and others illegally seeking to overturn the loss in Georgia’s 2020 presidential election has expanded into looking at whether the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute would apply. Read here.