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[1/5] Volunteers give electrolyte drinks to asylum seekers while they camp near the border in an attempt to cross into the U.S. without an appointment, in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico June 27, 2023. "We are clear-eyed about the limits of our ability to control the security situation in any town outside of the United States," a senior CBP official told Reuters. When asked about the potential for continued extortion in Nuevo Laredo, the CBP official said migrants could apply for appointments elsewhere, and come to the city just for their appointments. But reaching Nuevo Laredo can pose its own risks. Three migrants told Reuters that men who appeared to be cartel members told them to stay orderly, but had not been extorting recently arrived migrants for money.

Persons: Daniel Becerril, Joe Biden's, Stephanie Leutert, Biden, Gerson Bravo, Jose, Daina Beth Solomon, Laura Gottesdiener, Stephen Eisenhammer, Aurora Ellis Organizations: Volunteers, REUTERS, U.S, Customs, Borders Protection, . Customs, Border Protection, CBP, University of Texas, Reuters, Nuevo Laredo, Thomson Locations: Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, Daniel Becerril NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico's Nuevo Laredo, United States, Laredo, Texas, U.S, Austin, Matamoros, Venezuela, Venezuelan, Michoacan, Mexico City

☆ Supreme Court allows for Louisiana congressional map to be redrawn to add another majority-Black district
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Tierney Sneed | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Louisiana congressional map to be redrawn to add another majority-Black district. The appeals court expedited a fuller review of the case, but those proceedings were frozen last summer once the Louisiana officials successfully sought intervention from the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court in late June of last year, took up the case but put it on pause while it decided the challenge to the Alabama map. The state’s opponents countered that the district court in the Louisiana case had decided that the 5-1 map likely violated the Voting Rights Act under the same exact legal test the Supreme Court sanctioned in its Alabama ruling. “Black voters in Louisiana have suffered one election under a congressional map that unlawfully dilutes their political influence.

Persons: “, ”, Steve Vladeck, Vladeck, Shelly Dick, John Bel Edwards, Dick, Robinson, –, Milligan, Abha Khanna, ” Khanna, ” Angelique Freel Organizations: CNN, Alabama, CNN Supreme, University of Texas School of Law, Appeals, Fifth Circuit, Republican, Democratic Gov, Louisiana State, NAACP, Louisiana Republican, Elias Group Locations: Louisiana, Black, Alabama, ” Louisiana

☆ 'Enormously costly' business loan fraud drove inflation in home prices in certain markets, research suggests
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Kate Dore | Cfp | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Prospective buyers are welcomed by real estate agents at an open house in West Hempstead, New York on April 18, 2021. It's been a tough market for U.S. homebuyers with a limited supply of properties driving up prices nationwide. But another factor may have contributed to rising home costs in certain markets — fraudulent claims from the Covid-era Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, according to new research. "Fraud on this scale is enormously costly," said Sam Kruger, co-author and assistant professor of finance at the University of Texas at Austin. And previous research from the University of Texas at Austin team flagged $117.3 billion of the funds as "suspicious lending."

Persons: It's, Sam Kruger, Kruger Organizations: U.S, University of Texas, Finance, Austin Locations: West Hempstead , New York, Austin

☆ John Goodenough, Nobel laureate and battery pioneer, dies at 100
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] John B. Goodenough, 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner, speaks during a news conference at the Royal Society in London, Britain October 9, 2019. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/File PhotoJune 26 (Reuters) - Nobel laureate John Goodenough, a pioneer in the development of lithium-ion batteries that today power millions of electric vehicles around the globe, died on Sunday just a month short of his 101st birthday. In recent years, Goodenough and his university team had also been exploring new directions for energy storage, including a “glass” battery with solid-state electrolyte and lithium or sodium metal electrodes. Goodenough also was an early developer of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathodes as an alternative to nickel- and cobalt-based cathodes. After completing a bachelors in mathematics at Yale University, Goodenough received an masters and a PhD in physics from the University of Chicago.

Persons: John B, Goodenough, Peter Nicholls, John Goodenough, “, Jay Hartzell, Britain's Stanley Whittingham, Japan's Akira Yoshino, Paul Lienert Organizations: Royal Society, REUTERS, University of Texas, Chemistry, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Yale University, University of Chicago, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Oxford, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, Austin, Jena, Germany, Detroit

☆ As Gen Z enters the workforce alongside AI, staying nimble is key to building a career
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Alexandra York | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Gen Z has an opportunity to learn about and adapt to AI technologies in the workforce. Gen Zers are the youngest component of the workforce and have more working years ahead of them than older generations. But as digital natives, Gen Zers have natural advantages to survive and thrive in this new AI-driven economy. That can give the people adept at using AI more time and energy for the creative, innovative, and thought-provoking work they're looking for. So long as Gen Zers remain flexible and adaptive, they have the potential to flourish in the AI-driven workforce.

Persons: Gen Z, —, Zers, haven't, Gen Zers, Alexander Kvamme, Erin Reilly, Reilly, Reilly doesn't Organizations: Service, Moody College of Communication, University of Texas Locations: Austin

☆ Facing Brutal Heat, the Texas Electric Grid Has a New Ally: ‌Solar Power
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( J. David Goodman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Strafed by powerful storms and superheated by a dome of hot air, Texas has been enduring a dangerous early heat wave this week that has broken temperature records and strained the state’s independent power grid. But the lights and air conditioning have stayed on across the state, in large part because of an unlikely new reality in the nation’s premier oil and gas state: Texas is fast becoming a leader in solar power. The amount of solar energy generated in Texas has doubled since the start of last year. And it is set to roughly double again by the end of next year, according to data from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. Already, the state rivals California in how much power it gets from commercial solar farms, which are sprouting across Texas at a rapid pace, from the baked-dry ranches of West Texas to the booming suburbs southwest of Houston.

Persons: ” Joshua Rhodes Organizations: Electric, of Texas, California, University of Texas Locations: Texas, West Texas, Houston, Austin

☆ How to Soothe a Bad Sunburn
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Dana G. Smith | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It’s the first day of your beach vacation and you stayed out in the sun a little (or a lot) too long. A sunburn is your skin cells’ reaction to damage from the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. In a first-degree sunburn, the top layer of skin, called the epidermis, is injured, resulting in redness, pain and swelling. Second-degree sunburns are more severe because the next layer of skin, called the dermis, is also harmed. On darker skin, sunburns are harder to notice at first because redness is less apparent.

Persons: ”, Adewole Adamson Organizations: University of Texas, Austin Dell Medical School

☆ Early-stage investor Black Seed wants to help create the Black Silicon Valley. It just raised $6.25 million to do just that.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

London-based Black Seed has raised $6.25 million to back early-stage Black founders. The fund wants to create a "Black Silicon Valley" in London by investing in seed-stage startups. Black Seed, a VC fund dedicated to backing Black founders in the UK, has raised $6.25 million to invest in early-stage tech. Based out of Brixton, south London, Black Seed is the brainchild of Cyril Lutterodt and Karl Lokko. Black Seed has indicated that intends to raise the full amount.

Persons: Cyril Lutterodt, Karl Lokko, Lutterodt, We've, Lokko, hasn't, Black, haven't Organizations: Molten Ventures, Ventures, University of Texas, WestRiver Locations: London, Brixton, Manchester, Europe, Atomico, Black, Soho, Mayfair

☆ Part of the secret to Austin's thriving clean-tech startup scene: mentorship
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Tim Paradis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Austin, Texas, is home to a number of clean-tech startups. Austin's clean-tech scene isn't only composed of household names. But why do so many clean tech companies call Austin home? That's poised to help clean-tech companies, according to recruiters, venture capitalists, and those who have shifted to working for green companies. Taylor, who's lived in Austin for 38 years, has been part of the Austin startup scene since 1991.

Persons: —, Rebecca Taylor, Taylor, Austin, HolonIQ, Teague Egan, Larry Fink, Egan, Elon Musk, There's, who's, It's Organizations: Service, Austin Technology, ATI, University of Texas, Motors, EV, Blackrock, Giga, Southwest Festival, Computing, Dell, Apple, Microsoft Locations: Austin, Texas, Washington, Tesla, California, Giga Texas, Round, Taylor

MEXICO CITY, June 12 (Reuters) - U.S. asylum appointments at a dangerous Texas-Mexico border crossing can no longer be scheduled via an online app following reports that migrants face extortion in Mexico. A website for the app, called CBP One, no longer lists Laredo as a city where asylum seekers can schedule appointments. Nuevo Laredo has long been notorious for widespread kidnapping and extortion of migrants. An advocate in Nuevo Laredo, who requested anonymity due to safety fears, said criminals have demanded as much as $500 per person. Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon in Mexico City and Ted Hesson in Washington; Editing by Richard ChangOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Joe Biden, Daina Beth Solomon, Ted Hesson, Richard Chang Organizations: MEXICO CITY, Reuters, Nuevo, U.S . Customs, Border Protection, U.S, Associated Press, Strauss, University of Texas, Thomson Locations: MEXICO, Texas, Mexico, Mexican, Nuevo Laredo, Laredo, U.S, Austin, Mexico City, Washington

Administration officials plan to maintain their silence on the Trump indictment, a reflection of Biden's view that no president should interfere with the Justice Department, administration sources said. Given that Trump is Biden's chief rival in the 2024 presidential race, the campaign should proceed carefully in any mention of the charges, some political experts say. Many fellow Republicans that are challenging Trump in 2024 have rebuked the Justice Department, not Trump, over the documents, and accused Biden of "weaponizing" the department, even though Trump's indictment was handed down by a grand jury. Even speaking off the record, many Biden officials carefully avoided giving their opinion about the 37 charges Trump faces over his handling of classified documents. And Democrats in Congress close to Biden have stressed the rule of law rather then using the occasion to take jabs at Trump.

Persons: Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Trump, Biden, Robert Reich, Bill Clinton, Jeremi Suri, Sunday Trump, Suri, ”, General Merrick Garland, Chris Coons, Trump's, Andrea Shalal, Heather Timmons, Mark Porter Organizations: White House, Justice Department, Republicans, Trump, University of California, University of Texas, Sunday, Catholic, Biden, Democrat, Committee, Thomson Locations: Berkeley, Austin, Florida, Washington, United States, Delaware, America

☆ Supreme Court orders voting maps redrawn in Alabama to accommodate Black voters
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Ariane De Vogue | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

CNN —The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered Alabama officials to redraw the state’s congressional map to allow an additional Black majority district to account for the fact that the state is 27% Black. The federal court ordered the creation of another majority Black district to be drawn. He said it would be impossible to draw a second majority Black district in the state without taking race into consideration. Instead, she wrote, the state plan “divides the Black voters within this well-established community of interest across several districts, and as a result, Black Alabamians have no chance to elect their preferred candidates outside of” the one Black majority district. “Black voters are significantly numerous and compact to form a majority in a reasonably configured district, as the district court specifically found,” she said.

Persons: John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, ” Roberts, Roberts, ”, Terri Sewell, “, ” Sewell, General Merrick Garland, –, Democrats –, Steve Vladeck, ” Vladeck, Sen, John Thune, ” Thune, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas, Gorsuch, ” Thomas, Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, ” Thomas ’, Edmund LaCour Jr, Alabama’s, LaCour, NAACP –, Abha Khanna, Khanna, ” Khanna, Alabamians, Biden, dilutions, Elizabeth Prelogar Organizations: CNN, Alabama, Republicans, Democratic, “, Central, Supreme, Trump, Democrats, University of Texas School of Law, Representatives, Republican, Judiciary, Black, ”, NAACP Locations: Alabama, United States, Black, Louisiana, Mobile , Montgomery, ”

☆ The Major Supreme Court Decisions in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Adam Liptak | Eli Murray | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Public confidence in the Supreme Court was shaken after its lurch to the right a year ago in blockbuster decisions on abortion, guns, religion and climate change. The court — dominated by a 6-to-3 conservative majority, including three justices appointed by President Donald J. Trump — faces another set of important cases this term, including ones on affirmative action, student loans and civil rights for gay people. Its rulings will help answer questions about whether the court’s new configuration is out of step with public opinion. According to a survey conducted in April by researchers at Harvard, Stanford and the University of Texas, the public is often — but hardly always — divided along partisan lines on how the court should rule in significant cases from the term that started in October and is expected to end in late June. Here is a look at those cases.

Persons: Donald J Organizations: Trump, Harvard, Stanford, University of Texas

☆ What It’s Like to Be a Queer Teenager in America Today
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +16 min

teenagers, high school is a much more accepting place than even a decade ago. Their experiences highlight a “paradoxical finding,” as researchers have described it: Even as social inclusion for young L.G.B.T.Q. To better understand, we took a national poll and talked to two dozen high school students in five states. It’s a different world from when his older sister, Brianna Henderson, attended just seven years ago, when there were very few openly gay students. His home state has passed laws related to restroom use and sports participation for young transgender people.

Persons: ”, Reese Whisnant, They’re, Stephen T, Russell, It’s, Brianna Henderson, Reese Whisnant Barrett Emke, Henderson, Reese, shouldn’t, Gen, Jareth Leiker, Jareth, Ricardo Nagaoka, “, ” Jerry Strohecker, it’s, ” Adrian Soriano, Kansas Barrett Emke, “ Will, Grace ”, Jason Collins, Caitlyn Jenner, Kardashian, Matthew Rivas, Younger, nonbinary, “ You’re, Jeff Jones, “ It’s, I’m, ’ ”, Athena Stiles, Athena Stiles Barrett Emke, I’ve, Shaggy Sargent, Willow Menashe, Eleanor Woosley, Mr, Rivas, Koehl, GLSEN, ” Logan Hortenstine, ” Jayden, Florida Ricardo Nagaoka, ” Isaac Siegel, Wilson, Shelley L, Craig, “ They’re Organizations: Topeka, Republican, University of Texas, Austin, ”, The New York Times, Gallup, United States, Supreme, North, University of Illinois, New York Times, Social Survey, Topeka High, ” Pew Research Center, Centers for Disease Control, Research, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, University of Toronto Locations: Topeka High, Kansas, Florida , Kansas, Iowa, Oregon, United, Portland ,, ” Jerry Strohecker , Oregon, Cape Coral, Fla, Shaggy Sargent , Iowa, Willow Menashe , Oregon, Southern, West, United States, Europe, ” Logan Hortenstine , Kansas, ” Jayden D’Onofrio, Florida, Portland, Wilson , Oregon, Canada, Beeville , Texas, ”

☆ At This Texas Campus Ministry, ‘Inclusive Love’ Is the Mission
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Eli Durst | Jennifer Harlan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When Sydney Cox, 21, arrived on the University of Texas’s Austin campus in fall 2021, she was eager to find her people. During the worst of the pandemic, she had spent her freshman year attending classes over Zoom. Then, at the beginning of the second semester, she attended a kickoff event for the Texas Wesley Foundation, a Methodist campus ministry group founded at the school in 1923. Sydney had grown up Methodist and thought she knew what to expect from a Christian student organization. And that was huge to me.”It was the community Sydney had been looking for.

Persons: Sydney Cox, Wesley, “ It’s, ” Organizations: University of Texas’s, Texas Wesley Foundation, Methodist Locations: Sydney

☆ I just graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with a master's degree. Here's what graduation was like, from chaotic crowds to hours in the sun.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Gareen Puglia | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

On the morning of my first graduation ceremony, I woke up about 6:30 a.m. to get ready and sleepily did my makeup while eating a few spoonfuls of peanut butter. My plan was to meet friends at a designated area and then find seats together in the stadium, but I started to feel anxious. I was graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, with a master's in information management. I graduated from the University of Texas at Austin as an undergrad in 2020, so everything was virtual then. This would be my first in-person graduation, and I was starting to feel the nerves.

☆ How the technology behind ChatGPT could make mind-reading a reality
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( Donie O'Sullivan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Neuroscientists at the University of Texas in Austin have figured out a way to translate scans of brain activity into words using the very same artificial intelligence technology that powers the groundbreaking chatbot ChatGPT. Before entering the fMRI machine, CNN correspondent Donie O'Sullivan was given specialized earphones to listen to an audiobook during his brain scan. While the technology is still in its infancy and shows great promise, the limitations might be a source of relief to some. While the technology at the moment only works in very limited cases, that might not always be the case. “Technology can improve and that could change how well we can decode and change whether decoders require a person’s cooperation.”

Persons: ”, It’s, ” Alexander Huth, ” Huth, Huth, Dorothy, Donie O'Sullivan, CNN Huth, can’t, Jerry Tang, ” Tang, “, Sam Altman, Altman, Tang Organizations: CNN, University of Texas, UT Austin Locations: Austin , Texas, Austin, San Francisco, Texas

☆ US cities with military bases risk economic damage in debt ceiling fight
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Bryan Mena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Washington, DC CNN —The United States could default on its debt in less than two weeks, and cities with a large military presence risk an economic firestorm if lawmakers don’t act. About a sixth of government spending goes toward national defense, a quarter of which is to pay military personnel, according to the Congressional Budget Office. If the United States can’t pay its national defense bills, cities with large military bases face a potentially massive fallout, encompassing missed payments, rising debt and a significant pullback in spending that would cut into local businesses’ bottom lines. That could further damage local economies grappling with financial market turbulence that could unfold even ahead of a possible default. Federal workers could get stuck pulling from their savings accounts or relying on credit to make everyday purchases, Mayo said.

☆ 'It's made work 100 times better': 3 ways new graduates can find office friendships, and 1 mistake to avoid
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Rebecca Picciotto | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Work friendships are not just a benefit to employees, but also the companies they work for, according to Gallup CEO Jon Clifton. Clifton notes that work friendships reduce employee turnover, speed up communication and especially in blue-collar environments, reduce safety incidents. CNBC Make It talked to employees and experts on navigating workplace friendships. The August survey from Qualtrics found that 70% of employees in remote and hybrid work environments have close work friendships. At her last job, Nixon felt like she could at least talk to her coworkers about these experiences — at her current job, not so much.

☆ AI startup cloud deals by Microsoft, Google and Amazon ring 'accounting alarm bells' across Silicon Valley over revenue 'round-tripping'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Eugene Kim | Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Some investors question whether these arrangements are artificially juicing cloud revenue growth. When Microsoft announced a multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI earlier this year, the deal made Azure the ChatGPT-maker's "exclusive cloud provider." There's another deal in the works with similar attributes involving Runway AI and a major cloud company. But they are drawing more scrutiny lately because they could artificially inflate cloud revenue, a key driver of growth for Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, according to Ted Mortonson, managing director of financial-services firm Baird. Is OpenAI a regular cloud customer that is getting no investment money from Microsoft?

☆ Her son said his stepdad was sexually abusive. A judge gave the stepdad custody anyway. Then she found the photographs.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Olivia Gentile | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +58 min

Robert confronted Winenger with the allegations that November, and within weeks Winenger denied the claims in family court. In a family court hearing in Vista, California, on October 28, 2021, Commissioner Patti Ratekin chastised Jill Montes for allegedly alienating her kids from her ex-husband. From a list provided by the Delaware Family Court, Kelly chose a psychologist, William Northey. Their father cited the report in asking a Delaware family court judge to order the boys to change schools. Family Court of the State of Delaware, New Castle CountyCiting the email and a subsequent report, Michael pressed Ostroski to order the transfer.

Persons: he'd, Robert, stepdad, Thomas Winenger, Winenger, Robert's, Jill Montes, Montes, Patti Ratekin, she'd, Ratekin, Richard Gardner, Gardner, Lynn Steinberg, she's, Maya, shrieks, Joan Meier, They'd, —, Meier, Tom Brenner, Paige, Maggie Shannon, Claire, Eden, Weeks, Hester Prynne, Mitra Sarkhosh, Sarkhosh, San Diego Robert, Tom Winenger, Tamatha Clemens, Miguel Alvarez, Alvarez, overreact, Alvarez didn't, Bridges, Janell Ostroski, Linda Gottlieb, Ostroski, Michael D, Ashton, Alfield Reeves, Michael, Kelly D, Kelly, who've, Randy Rand, Chris, Rand, he's, Rand isn't, Jane Shatz of, Joann Murphey, Murphey, Steinberg, Ally Toyos, Kit R, Toyos, Emily, Richard Warshak, Elizabeth Loftus, Harvey Weinstein's, Loftus, Hannah Rodriguez, Linda Gottlieb's, Gottlieb, Rodriguez, Yvonne Parnell, Brian Ludmer, Ludmer, Parnell, aren't, Daniel Barrozo, Mom, Jean Mercer, Mercer, who'd, Michael Saini, Saini, Hannah Yoon, — Ashton, Judge Ostroski, William Northey, Northey, O, Addie Asay, mistreating Ashton, Rachel Brandenburg, Brandenburg, I've, Michael's, Gardner's, Gardner dosed, Dr, Paul Fink, Fink, Warshak, William Bernet, Patrick Clancy, doesn't, She'd, Brian Fitzpatrick, Sen, Susan Rubio, Meier's, Rebecca Connolly, didn't, Connolly, Heidi Simonson, Rubio, Theresa Manzella Organizations: Investigations, San, Business, Child Welfare, of, American Psychiatric Association, World Health Organization, American Professional Society, George Washington University, Violence Law, George Washington University Law School, Columbia University, PAS, Sarkhosh, San Diego County Sheriff's Department, California Health, Welfare Agency, Psychology, Bridges, Texas, Roane, Stockton University, University of Toronto, Families, Delaware Family Court, Family, Delaware Family, Association of Family, Conciliation, Newsday, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, HarperCollins, Family Bridges, Vanderbilt University, Disorders, The Justice Department, WHO, of Social Welfare, Family Law, Winenger, Montes, Superior Locations: San Diego County, Vista , California, of California, Family Bridges, United States, Santa Cruz , California, Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Diego, toddlerhood, Ratekin, San, California, Eden, New Castle County , Delaware, New York, Ashton, Delaware, Jane Shatz of California, Seattle, Southern California, Texas, Kansas, Toyos, Bozeman , Montana, Family, Tampa , Florida, New, Hudson Valley, Chino , California, Wilmington , Delaware, of Delaware, New Castle County, Denver, Washington, Pennsylvania, Susan Rubio of Los Angeles County, statehouses, Watsonville , California, Santa Cruz, Michigan , Kansas, Utah, Colorado, Montana

☆ Casting a Bright Light on the Supreme Court’s ‘Shadow Docket’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Jennifer Szalai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

The boy had been asking, “Why?” about a perceived injustice — an order to leave the playground before he was ready. But merits decisions turn out to be “only a small sliver” of the Supreme Court’s output, Vladeck writes. All the soaring rhetoric and painstaking legal analysis amount to little more than 1 percent of the court’s decrees. The shadow docket doesn’t just serve as a neutral realm of routine case management; instead, “the court’s new conservative majority has used obscure procedural orders to shift American jurisprudence to the right.”Vladeck, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law and an analyst at CNN, chronicles how the shadow docket came to be. But it was capital punishment, he says, that really gave rise to the shadow docket as we know it.

☆ Abortion Pill Fight to Be Heard by One of Nation’s Most Conservative Courts
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Abbie Vansickle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The latest battle over a widely used abortion drug is set to play out on Wednesday before a conservative appeals court in New Orleans that has become the testing ground for some of the most contentious policy fights in the nation. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit will weigh in on the legal status of the medication, mifepristone, used in more than half of recent abortions in the United States. “By virtually any measure, it is the most conservative appeals court in the country,” said Stephen I. Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas. The court, which has jurisdiction over Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, is almost certain to be skeptical of steps the Food and Drug Administration has taken to ease access to mifepristone, part of a two-pill regimen used in medication abortion. It has long been at the center of high-profile challenges to measures backed by the Obama and Biden administrations, including gun restrictions and transgender rights, and the arrival of a wave of Trump appointees has pushed it to the leading edge of potent policy decisions.

☆ Opinion: The dubious MLK Jr. quote about Malcolm X
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Opinion Peniel E. Joseph | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, long a contentious backdrop to the history of civil rights and anti-racist activism in America, is under new scrutiny after the bombshell news that a quote denigrating Malcolm X, published in Playboy and attributed to King, is apparently fraudulent. This new information adds to the ongoing rethinking of the relationship between King and Malcolm X. Of course, this is not to suggest that we stop teaching “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” since all memoir and autobiography is an act of literary creation. The complexity of his relationship to Malcolm X is handled judiciously. Balancing the bitter and beautiful parts of the relationship between King and Malcolm X helps us come to terms with past and contemporary historical traumas.

☆ Advocates want to spend $11 billion to fix Austin's crappy public-transit system. But many critics say the price tag is too high for a system hardly anyone will use.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Officials say an $11 billion public-transit plan could make Austin safer, greener, and more affordable. Austinites voted to approve Project Connect in 2020 when its total price tag was $7.1 billion. However, nearly 50% of the riders of MetroRail — the city's current rail system — earn more than $60,000 a year. Public-transit advocates say the plan is worth the costSupporters of Project Connect are open to lowering its price tag. But on a larger scale, Project Connect supporters say that public transportation provides better access to healthcare, education, employment, and affordable housing.

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