Blogaround

Links not related to the antichrist:

1. Doctors urged to treat pain for IUD insertion and other procedures (May 20) Hey, this is great. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is now saying that doctors need to inform patients about the possible pain of procedures like IUD insertion, and give patients options about anesthesia/ pain management. I'm all for that. Informed consent in a medical setting.

2. The Chicago Sun-Times Published an AI-Generated Summer Reading List Full of Fake Books — And This is Just the Beginning (May 20) "Let's connect the dots here. Media company cuts 20% of its staff, including experienced editors. Two months later, AI-generated nonsense makes it into print without anyone catching it. Are we really surprised?"

3. Gatsby’s Secret (April 7, via) "The more Thompson read, the more convinced he became that Gatsby was about a man “passing” for white."

4. Supreme Court sidesteps religious charter school question for now on 4-4 deadlock (May 22) "No religious charter schools. For now."

5. No more pennies: In big change, Treasury will stop minting them (May 22) "The Treasury Department has placed its last order for blank pennies and plans to stop minting the one-cent coins as soon as that's exhausted."

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Political cartoon that shows the White House (with a flag that says "King Donald") with a sign out front that says "Please wipe your feet!" pointing to the Constitution laying on the ground. Image source.

Links related to the antichrist:

We've got a lot of links today. If it's too stressful, you don't have to read all of them, but here is an important action item: Contact your senators and tell them to vote no on the Republican budget bill.

1. Supreme Court says Trump can strip protected status for Venezuelans for now (May 19) "'From what we can tell, this is the single largest action in modern American history, stripping any group of non-citizens of immigration status,' Ahilan Arulanantham, the co-director for Center for Immigration Law and Policy at UCLA, and one of the lawyers representing the Venezuelans, told reporters Monday."

2. DHS secretary misstates meaning of habeas corpus under Senate scrutiny (May 20) "Responding, Senator Hassan corrected the secretary, stating, 'Habeas corpus is the foundational right that separates free societies like America from police states like North Korea.'"

3. Judge says Trump administration violated court order on third-country deportations (May 21) "'No meaningful opportunity at all was provided to him to express a fear of being sent to South Sudan,' Ryan said."

And an update on that: White House agrees to keep migrants in Djibouti for now, blasts federal judge's ruling (May 22)

In this specific case, the immigrants being deported actually have committed serious crimes. I think people have a tendency to think "well why does it matter if they're sent to some random other country, since they are violent criminals?" No, not cool- if people commit crimes, you sentence them according to what the law says. We have laws for this! The government can't just make up whatever punishment they want.

4. Charges against Rep. LaMonica McIver spark backlash after incident with ICE agents (May 21) "'This administration will never stop me from working for the people in our district and standing up for what is right. I am thankful for the outpouring of support I have received and I look forward to the truth being laid out clearly in court,' she added."

5. U.S. sends 68 migrants back to Honduras and Colombia in first voluntary deportation (May 20) 

6. These students protested the Gaza war. Trump's deportation threat didn't silence them (May 21) "'All of us international students, we had this thought of, 'what if it was me?'' she said of her reaction to the first few students that ICE agents arrested. 'Students that were higher risk, they all started to talk to their lawyers and make arrangements for if that were to happen.'"

7. Alliance Defending Freedom Sues Minnesota To Mandate Trans Discrimination (May 22) "While the immediate impact would be limited to Minnesota, an appeal could escalate the case to higher courts—and if the Supreme Court takes it up, this fringe legal theory could become the basis for mandating anti-trans discrimination in schools nationwide, from bathroom bans to sports bans and more."

8. These Are Not My Thoughts On Banning GAC (May 22) [content note: violence against intersex children] "So when the GOP includes intersex exceptions to genital reconstruction laws that ban gender affirming care for trans kids, This is what they’re preserving. Not care. Not concern. Not empathy. They are preserving the right of parents to rip apart children’s bodies with pliers, and the right of doctors to support them in their demented, evil efforts."

9. Trump administration revokes Harvard's ability to enroll international students (May 22) Holy crap. 

10. Lawsuit challenges USDA demand for food stamp data as some states prepare to comply (May 22) "'If you're trying to design a public benefits program that supports the most vulnerable people and makes sure that nobody in our country goes hungry, this is obviously not the way to do it,' said Ami Fields-Meyer, a senior fellow at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University specializing in the intersection between civil liberties and technology, and a former senior policy adviser to Vice President Kamala Harris. 'But if you're trying to integrate critical assistance into a machinery for hunting immigrants and breaking up families and deporting people without due process — this is exactly how you do it.'"

11. Educators fear their homeless students could become a target for Trump cuts (May 22) "Amid all the moves, one thing has been constant for Dayana: her school. That's because a federal law, known as the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, allows students like her to stay in their school even when their housing takes them far from where they originally enrolled."