Mr. Bear says we need an open thread. Who am I to argue?
Supreme Court Oral Arguments at 10 am – Does Idaho’s Need to Control Women Trump the Existing Law that Guarantees EMTALA
Should women with pregnancy emergencies in Idaho be left to die rather than receive life-saving emergency treatment?
Should a state law be able to trump a federal law? (which goes against a very basic legal principle)
That’s really the issue that is in front of the Not-So-Supreme Court today.
First off: EMTALA stands for Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act
The Biden administration argues that EMTALA – which requires emergency rooms that participate in Medicare to provide “necessary stabilizing treatment” – supersedes an Idaho law that makes it a crime to provide an abortion except in a handful of narrow circumstances, including to save the life of the mother or in cases of rape or incest.
We talked about EMTALA earlier this week:
I am not a lawyer, but I am a woman, and as far as I can tell, Idaho’s position is fuck yeah, let the women die.
An audio feed of oral arguments is live-streamed on the Court’s website, and the Court posts the audiolater in the day. On the afternoon of each argument, the Court posts transcripts of that day’s arguments.
Wandering Aimlessly (Open Thread)
Want to see a Roseate Spoonbill poop?
The bird lets fly at about the 2-second mark, then goes on to preen, search for crawdads or mussels and scare away moorhens who would rather not get spooned. It’s such a pleasure to watch our friend Pinko throughout the day.
Pinko doesn’t wander aimlessly — he or she moves with a sense of purpose, always. But I spent the better part of yesterday wandering, despite starting off with purpose. I was traveling to meet a relative at a new location opened by a sandwich place we used to visit in our college town years ago.
Theoretically, this new location was equidistant between our abodes and closer to both of us than the original location. It didn’t turn out that way for me though because there was a major crash on I-75 that shut down all northbound traffic, so I ended up exiting and taking an alternate route on rural roads.
The destination town is one of those “you can’t get there from here” places — no direct routes because why in the hell would anyone go there? I arrived half an hour late.
It took forever to get back home too. I was unwilling to try the interstate again, so I took a different meandering route home, passing through small towns and driving through vast forests and traversing miles and miles of farmland.
There’s this whole other Florida that most people don’t know exists, and that’s where I was. I’d seen most of it before. At one point, I passed a boat launch on a lake that I remembered visiting with a friend who was a fellow Pizza Hut waitress and lived in a godforsaken town nearby.
Back then, young folks would gather at the boat ramp to drink beer and smoke pot. There wasn’t anything else to do. As I drove past, it looked like there still isn’t anything to do 35 years or so later.
I wondered if my old friend had ever left that town — we lost touch decades ago. My guess is no. I only achieved escape velocity briefly. Sometimes, maybe even most of the time, aimless wandering deposits you back in the place where you started. That doesn’t have to be a bad thing.
Open thread!
COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: April 24, 2024
H5N1 Update: Unsurprisingly, the more evidence of ‘bird flu’ infection we look for, the more we find. My totally-amateur advice remains, for the moment: Stay away from raw milk; be scrupulous about hygiene after any contact with wild animals or livestock (I assume everyone’s already disinfecting bird feeders & gloving up when refilling them, for instance); keep your cats indoors, and keep an eye out for sudden deaths or disappearances among your neighbor ferals (infected cats tend to die rapidly from brain swelling).
"We focus so much on Trump’s stupidity that we forget how deliberately evil he is. He lied to the public for his own political gain. A research panel concluded the US could’ve avoided 40% of all covid deaths under a different president." — @SER1897 https://t.co/t4wLN1v37J
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 19, 2024
Good news: The Biobot Wastewater Monitoring dashboard continues to show a gradual, persistent decline in virus levels for all parts of the United States.
Last night's update: 64,696 new cases, 757 new deaths https://t.co/CCli3w1nFN
— BNO News (@BNOFeed) April 22, 2024
COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: April 24, 2024Post + Comments (35)
On The Road – arrieve – Saudi Arabia, part 2
arrieve
The second day in Jeddah I took a walking tour of Al Balad, the old town of Jeddah. It became a thriving port in the 7th century, and because it is less than 50 miles from Mecca, Al Balad was, and Jeddah is, a gateway city for pilgrims. The 650 buildings in the district—now a UNESCO World Heritage site—mostly date from the 19th century; many were built from blocks of coral carved out of the nearby Red Sea, with distinctive wooden balconies called rawasheen.
The tour was a little haphazard but this was so much more interesting than all the jewelry stores and construction sites on the previous day.
Many of the buildings are dilapidated and some are in danger of collapsing, as the steep cost of upkeep led to many of the families leaving for the newer, more modern living options in Jeddah’s suburbs. The Ministry of Culture has now financed a full restoration project, and the streets were full of construction crews when we were there.
Many of the architectural details in Al Balad are this bright blue, or a slightly more subdued green.
On The Road – arrieve – Saudi Arabia, part 2Post + Comments (16)
Tuesday Late Night Open Thread
I tried to find this on YouTube with no luck. This is Trae Crowder at his best.
ON DAVID PECKER AND THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER AND ALL THAT pic.twitter.com/230FG0Iam7
— Trae Crowder (@traecrowder) April 23, 2024
Open thread.
War for Ukraine Day 791: Ukraine Waits as the Senate Debates
Just two quick housekeeping notes. First, tonight and tomorrow night’s updates will be brief. Just a couple of long days so I’ve got less time to do deep dives. Second, several of you have asked after Rosa, aka Rosie, aka the Flooferina. She has now had two chemo treatments. When we took her in for the second one the oncology vet did an exam before she got the second treatment. The oncology vet was very pleasantly surprised to find that her lymph nodes had shrunk so much after one treatment that they were almost back to normal sized. We’re all taking that as a good sign. So thank you all again for the good thoughts.
The Senate cleared the threshold to move the aid package to the floor. Which is a good sign.
BREAKING: The Senate has cleared a major procedural hurdle, by a vote of 81-19, to advance a $95 billion foreign aid bill for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan
The final vote and the bill’s passage is expected later tonight, ending a grueling 6 month political battle
— Robbie Gramer (@RobbieGramer) April 23, 2024
We are, however, dealing with the US Senate, the world’s greatest deliberative country club for otherwise unclubable geriatrics, members of the young fogeys club, and a few dozen normal people. So let’s not jinx anything by taking premature victory laps.
Here’s the no votes:
The NO votes on advancing the aid package pic.twitter.com/j577v5aOTz
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) April 23, 2024
Rand Paul (R-Profile in Courage of One’s Convictions).
Here’s the full text of McConnell’s statement:
Mitch McConnell, a staunch backer of Ukraine aid, says the anti-Ukraine movement began with Tucker Carlson, “who, in my opinion, ended up where he should have been all along, which is interviewing Vladimir Putin.”
The Senate just voted 80-19 to break a filibuster on $95B aid package. Final passage expected tonight
Speaking of useless idiots:
Where…was this … MONTHS ago?!?!
— Adam (@ackwhacker) April 23, 2024
And the full text of Graham’s (R-Brownnose) statement:
US-Senator Lindsay Graham is currently having the floor and he is making the case in favor of Ukraine as well as Israel and Taiwan. He is comparing the isolationists in the US with Charles Lindbergh, who back then in the 1940s claimed that it is useless to fight Hitler.
Graham further encourages using ATACMS against the Kerch Bridge.
Also Linday Graham:
There will be no money for Ukraine, Israel, or even our own needs until we STOP the abuse of parole at our Southern Border. pic.twitter.com/w6HlDfv1ps
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) January 18, 2024
And it just passed:
The Senate voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday night to give final approval to a $95.3 bil package of aid to Ukraine, Israel $ Taiwan, sending it to President Biden & ending months of uncertainty about whether the US would continue to back Kyiv https://t.co/nTvMhk7FCB
— Vivian Salama (@vmsalama) April 24, 2024
But it came at a price:
Thank you, Senate!
Thank you, people of the USA!My city just experienced not one but three missile attacks while I listened to debates. The situation here is critical, and we desperately need help. That's why I'm struggling to hold back tears.
Thank you so much
— Kate from Kharkiv (@BohuslavskaKate) April 24, 2024
Here’s President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.
War for Ukraine Day 791: Ukraine Waits as the Senate DebatesPost + Comments (43)