Wicked Blue
Wicked Blue's JournalFish falling from sky shatters N.J. car's windshield
By Brianna Kudisch | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Jul. 23, 2024, 12:47 p.m.
A Monmouth County couple received a fishy surprise Sunday afternoon, when something fell out of the sky and shattered the windshield of the car in their driveway.
Cynthia Levine was inside the house and her husband, Jeffrey, was in the backyard of their Atlantic Highlands home when they heard a loud smashing sound around 3:30 p.m., said Sage Levine, their daughter.
The car alarm on the couple’s Tesla began sounding.
Jeffrey Levine initially thought it was a neighbor’s car. But, when he went to the driveway, he saw the broken car windshield and a fish nearby, said Sage Levine.
“It’s so absurd,” she said, noting there were fish guts left behind on the car.
https://www.nj.com/monmouth/2024/07/fish-falling-from-sky-shatters-nj-cars-windshield.html
Democratic senators seek to reverse Supreme Court ruling that restricts federal agency power
Source: NBC
July 23, 2024, 7:00 AM EDT
By Lawrence Hurley
WASHINGTON — Democratic senators plan to introduce legislation Tuesday that would effectively overturn a Supreme Court ruling last month that imposed new limits on federal agencies when they issue regulations about a wide variety of issues, including the environment and consumer protection.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., will introduce a bill that would restore the previous standard under which federal agencies had some leeway to interpret the law when they issued regulations under statutes that are ambiguously written. It has the backing of nine other Democratic senators, as well as Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
"Giant corporations are using far-right, unelected judges to hijack our government and undermine the will of Congress,” Warren said in a statement Tuesday.
The legislation, she said, would “bring transparency and efficiency to the federal rule-making process” and “make sure corporate interest groups can’t substitute their preferences for the judgment of Congress and the expert agencies.”
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/democratic-bill-seeks-reverse-supreme-court-ruling-federal-agency-powe-rcna163120
Can we please get a temporary private forum to express unhappiness about Biden dropping out?
I don't want us to air our frustration and disappointment in public for the maggots to misuse.
But there are a number of DUers, loyal Democrats, who are sad, angry and grieving.
It does not help to be told to shut up, get with the program, put on a happy face, or be accused of being a troll, or being soft on fascism.
It certainly does not help for some to keep harping on our president being too old, too feeble, too incapable. Many of us love and respect our president, and are distressed to see these descriptions continue in public after he has bowed to the party leaders' will and withdrawn his candidacy.
We will come around, but some of us need a place to vent for a short time.
Thank you.
The impact of abortion restrictions on American mental health
Abstract
The overturning of Roe v. Wade has led to numerous states enacting new abortion restrictions. However, limited empirical evidence exists regarding the general mental health impact of these bans. Leveraging the nationwide Household Pulse Survey, we evaluate the impact of emergent gestational limits and outright bans on self-reported mental health status between July 2021 and June 2023 using a difference in difference approach. Responses indicate a significant increase in reports of mental distress after the institution of such restrictions. These effects appear to persist at least 4 months following a ban and are moderated by household income and education but not by sex, race, age, marital status, or sexual orientation. Less educated and less wealthy subjects reported greater mental health distress compared to wealthier, more educated groups. These results suggest that the institution of abortion restrictions has had broad negative implications for the mental health of people living in the US, particularly those of lower education and personal wealth.
INTRODUCTION
On 24 June 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States overturned the constitutional right to abortion access in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (1). The consequences have been pronounced, with many states banning abortion outright (often without exceptions for rape or incest) and numerous others implementing more restrictive gestational limits (2). Since that time, the medical and academic communities have scrambled to understand the implications of these bans, with confusion emerging surrounding the conditions under which abortion remains permissible (3), giving rise to legal action (4, 5). To date, received research indicates that these restrictions increase projected patient travel costs (6), change patterns of health information seeking (7), decrease trust in clinicians (8), contribute to excess mortality (9), and even alter firm recruitment strategies to cover out of state travel if an abortion is needed by an employee (10).
Empirical attention to abortion is not new. Prior work has examined a host of factors, up to and including the effect abortion access can have on mental health, the focus of this investigation. Prior scholarship from the Turnaway Study, for example, uncovered negative effects on self-reported anxiety, at least in the short term, when pregnant women were denied access to abortion services (11, 12). This scholarship has subsequently led to calls to examine the mental health effects of reproductive care restrictions more systematically (13). Recent work opens the door to such an effect, finding that the leak of the Alito draft opinion in Dobbs led to short-term spikes in mental distress among women of childbearing age in states where bans were likely to occur (14), and subsequent research has shown sustained negative effects on mental health in states with bans that were triggered by the Dobbs decision (15). Here, we build on past research not only by investigating state-level statutory restrictions on abortion access that were introduced in the months following Dobbs but also by investigating potential heterogeneity in effects across personal factors like race, sex, marital status, and personal wealth. Such moderations are important to consider, because abortion and associated restrictions have previously been found to affect a broader array of individuals, extending beyond women of childbearing age (16). To the extent that these changes in state level policy may be perceived as leading indicators of other changes to policy that might erode individual rights, it is entirely plausible that any effect on mental health will be felt more broadly by persons living in the US.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adl5743
So at the end of his term, what will President Joe Biden get out of this?
A handshake and an Amtrak ticket back to Delaware?
Maybe a nice thank-you plaque?
Now they OWE President Biden
Those involved in pressuring Joe Biden to drop out of the race now owe him big time.
Those party members must give him their unconditional support in passing any reasonable legislation, approval of appointees or requests for financing that he wants in the next 6 months. It's the very least they could do in compensation after what they have done to a great President and vice president who has served this country for his entire adult life.
But the cynic in me worries that the tech billionaires and other oligarchs who wanted Biden dumped will not go along with anything like this. And could apply pressure by withholding contributions.
Joe should be entitled to whatever support his party is capable of giving him during the remainder of his presidency. He has more than earned it.
It is the Democratic Party's DUTY to see that he gets it.
Let's imagine. What if President Biden goes (good guy) rogue in the coming months?
How can he use executive orders and presidential immunity to make lasting changes?
Someone suggested firing Merrick Garland, which is a good start.
Could he somehow fire Postmaster DeJoy? Or expand the postal board and pack it?
Increase aid to Ukraine?
I don't know enough about the federal government to guess what kind of actions he could take, but I'm sure many on DU have thoughts.
If we end up with Orange Traitor, I will NEVER forgive those who forced Joe out
and I have a horrible feeling that's what we're now facing.
In addition to exterminating the rights of women, people of color, LGBTQ people, immigants, union members and so many others
- we can say goodbye to public schools, libraries and many other longstanding public resources
- farewell to environmental protection and action to halt climate change
- goodbye to Ukraine, and possibly other NATO countries, maybe even Europe and NATO itself
- possibly the end of EU
- the dismantling of the IRS and many other government agencies
Oh, I can't handle even thinking about all the ways we will be screwed if that convicted felon and child rapist slithers back into the White House.
President Joe - I stand with you always.
George Conway's latest effort to infuriate Trump
By Matt Arco | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
As if donating more than $900,000 to help get Joe Biden reelected, conservative attorney and Donald Trump critic George Conway is digging deeper into his pockets to attack Trump.
The former husband of Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway announced the creation of the Anti-Psychopath PAC. It’s mission is to bring the focus on Trump’s mental health.
Conway says it will “highlight the existential threat Donald Trump poses to democracy and remind voters of the former president’s mental unfitness for office,” per a report from The Independent.
“I’m pleased to announce the launch of the Anti-Psychopath Political Action Committee. Because it’s time to start talking about what should be the number one issue in the 2024 presidential election,” Conway said in a video he posted to X Thursday morning.
https://www.nj.com/politics/2024/07/george-conways-latest-effort-to-infuriate-trump.html
(paywall)
Here's who people blame the most between Trump-Biden for assassination attempt
By Matt Arco | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
A majority of both Donald Trump supporters and those who back Joe Biden believe the 20-year-old man who attempted to assassinate the former president over the weekend is to blame for the failed attempt because of his mental health, according to a new survey.
Morning Consult asked people from both camps who they blamed for the conditions that led to the attempt on Trump’s life. Sixty percent of Biden supporters responded, “The shooter’s mental health,” and 69% of Trump supporters said the same.
But when it came to which candidate is more to blame, more people said Trump over Biden.
According to the survey, 38% of all voters (including 60% of Biden supporters and 16% of Trump supporters) responded Trump, compared to 29% who said Biden (50% of Trump supporters and 8% of Biden supporters).
A majority blamed American political rhetoric (62% Biden supporters and 59% Trump supporters) and half of all voters, 50%, blamed social media and nearly half of all, 45%, blamed the media, per the survey.
https://www.nj.com/politics/2024/07/heres-who-people-blame-the-most-between-trump-biden-for-assassination-attempt.html
(paywall)
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