GlaxoSmithKline COVID financial boom over: https://sports.yahoo.com/end-road-covid-turnover-gsk-083408796.html . Companies with limited drugs in their development pipeline have seen their stock decline over the past year.
Why abortion access is necessary – it can be a lifesaving procedure for the mother: https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/country-not-taking-care-woman-210507999.html . First, this woman’s story is true. Second, most of us know that these situations occur. In states where abortion is legal, Melissa likely would not have had a problem. But in Georgia, she did, and the resulting septic shock could easily have killed her. Most people would say medical care is best left to the doctor. But shouldn’t the woman also have a say?
The underlying problem is that many of these red state abortion bans were not carefully written with medical realities in mind. Instead, it was almost a contest between the deep red states to see who could pass the most restrictive law. The mother’s life was not a priority. This is insane. At some point, this insanity will stop. It should stop tomorrow, but it won’t because too many jerks worry only about their own re-election.
January 6 insurrectionist from California gets 4½ years: https://apnews.com/article/capitol-insurrection-riot-pepper-spray-california-sentence-ba436979d4b21608f39aca61f5f8f6cd .
Ukrainian drones strike in Crimea: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-crimea-drone-29218ed006a79c4b0629688ce4820cc8 . WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/crimea-oil-depot-hit-in-suspected-ukrainian-drone-strike-8a2863dd . We continue to await the Ukrainian counteroffensive, which I would guess will be defined by the movement of Ukrainian tanks against Russian positions. Artillery strikes at a variety of locations will precede the tanks’ movements, in order to disguise the tanks’ objectives. While the Russians have moved many more troops into Ukraine, those troops are green. Whether they die or manage to surrender remains an open question.
Russian army commander accused of stealing T-90 tank engines: https://news.yahoo.com/russian-army-commander-accused-stealing-105355557.html . Corruption remains a significant problem in the Russian military.
Russia’s economy shows bite of sanctions: https://www.gzeromedia.com/russias-economy-finally-feels-the-burn-of-sanctions .
First US citizen evacuation from Sudan: https://apnews.com/article/sudan-americans-biden-white-house-evacuation-993ef30bf43320023dc7d8d5ee202bcf .
Orange Julius moves to his own alternate universe: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/donald-trump-embraces-jan-6-defendant-wants-pence-executed-rcna81958 . OJ faces a set of legal problems from which he is unlikely to escape. So OJ has escaped to Total Nut World, where he is embraced as Christ (really, check the article). Liz Cheney expresses her outrage to the former Republican Party: https://www.newsweek.com/liz-cheneys-outraged-reaction-trump-hugging-jan-6-convict-1797446 . Liz is absolutely right. Those politicians and citizens who continue to “embrace” OJ have lost contact with reality. They are endorsing unacceptable, anti-democratic conduct.
Maria Bartiromo and Jeannine Pirro worry they will be next on Fox’s chopping block: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/fox-news-hosts-tucker-carlson-firing-1234726065/ . My sense is that Fox Not-the-News will let the dust settle a bit before more changes. The next change will be a combination of ratings, legal exposure and criticism (if any) of management. This cannot be a fun place to work right now.
Nikki Haley, Actuary: https://www.mediaite.com/politics/hes-going-to-be-dead-in-five-years-cnn-anchor-stunned-by-nikki-haley-comment-biden-likely-to-die/ . These comments really are inappropriate. That is today’s GOP, however. The average life expectancy for a US male age 80 is 7.0 years. Biden is currently healthy, has limited comorbidities and has the best health support system available in the US. While we can’t predict the future with certainty, Biden is highly likely to survive Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign.
DeMentis fails to impress in UK: https://www.politico.eu/article/ron-detedious-how-desantis-underwhelmed-britains-business-chiefs/ . As readers know, this is a familiar criticism of DeMentis. When people meet him, they find him dull and not ready for prime time. DeMentis has tried to counter this with tough action within Florida. However, other Republicans are panning his handling of Disney: https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/18/chris-christie-ron-desantis-disney-00092505 . Also, legal experts believe Disney has a strong case that the Florida government, under DeSantis’ direction, retaliated against Disney for protected speech: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/desantis-tough-words-may-come-back-to-haunt-him-in-disney-lawsuit-experts/ar-AA1ax66U?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=e3cc2391721c4c4f9e433e320d3308fa&ei=32 . Right now, Ron’s boat is taking on water from actions he cannot walk away from.
Biden yucks it up at WHCD: https://people.com/politics/the-funniest-moments-from-president-joe-bidens-white-house-correspondents-dinner-speech/ . His joke writer did a great job …
Louisiana federal judge FINALLY recuses himself from Catholic archdiocese bankruptcy: https://apnews.com/article/catholic-church-sexual-abuse-clergy-saints-b2e411fed1907620b8b4137fde48c009 . As we noted in his original refusal to recuse, “something is wrong here”. Continued pressure has caused this judge to finally recuse, criticized in the last paragraph of this article as “misguided and ethically blind”. His ability to function effectively as a federal judge has been permanently impaired, whether he recognizes it or not.
Texas mass shooting by drunk neighbor with an AR-15: https://abcnews.go.com/US/5-dead-texas-shooting-suspect-armed-ar-15/story?id=98957271 . Texas reaps what it sows here. There is no reason – NO REASON – for private ownership of assault weapons. Reinstitute the Brady ban permanently, yesterday. By the way, if the shooter escapes to Mexico, he will escape the death penalty regardless of his citizenship. Mexico does not extradite suspects to the US without a guarantee of no imposition of the death penalty: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_Mexico .