Polybius
Polybius's JournalAre there any hot-button Supreme Court decisions coming this final week before recess?
Most of the decisions coming lately have been pretty mild and unconfrontational, many of which were unanimous. One exception was Obamacare being saved. Any others?
DOJ asks Supreme Court to reinstate death sentence for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev
Source: ABC News
The Justice Department asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to reinstate the death penalty for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
Tsarnaev was sentenced to death in May 2015 for the April 15, 2013, bombing that killed three.
However, a federal appeals court overturned the death sentencing last summer, ruling the trial judge failed to adequately question prospective jurors about if they had been biased by hearing about the case before the trial started.
The federal appeals court "improperly vacated the capital sentences recommended by the jury in one of the most important terrorism prosecutions in our Nation's history," the Justice Department argued Tuesday, claiming that a prospective juror's prior exposure to a case doesn't mean they can't be impartial.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/doj-asks-supreme-court-reinstate-death-sentence-boston/story?id=78289381
McConnell: "Highly unlikely" he would allow Biden to fill Supreme Court vacancy in 2024
Source: Yahoo News
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told radio host Hugh Hewitt on Monday that it is "highly unlikely" a Supreme Court nominee picked by Biden would be confirmed in 2024 if Republicans take control of the Senate.
What they're saying: Hewitt asked if McConnell would block Biden from filling a 2024 Supreme Court vacancy as he blocked Obama from replacing the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
"Well, I think in the middle of a presidential election, if you have a Senate of the opposite party of the president, you have to go back to the 1880s to find the last time a vacancy was filled," McConnell said.
"So I think it’s highly unlikely. In fact, no, I don’t think either party if it controlled, if it were different from the president, would confirm a Supreme Court nominee in the middle of an election. What was different in 2020 was we were of the same party as the president."
Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/mcconnell-highly-unlikely-allow-biden-155825838.html
Parler is back on Apple's App Store
Conservative social media service Parler is once again available on Apple's iOS App Store after being after being taken down following the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol. The updated version of the app includes "enhanced threat and incitement reporting tools," according to its App Store listing.
The updated iOS app will also reportedly filter out posts on iPhones and iPads that are labeled "hate" by Parler's moderation system, though these posts will still be available to view on other devices and via the web. Parler didn't respond to CNET's request for comment, but told The Washington Post it's seeking to find common ground with Apple.
"At Parler we embrace the entire First Amendment meaning freedom of expression and conscience are protected," Amy Peikoff, chief policy officer at Parler, told the Post. "We permit a maximum amount of legally protected speech."
Parler, a social network popular with conservatives and right-wing extremists, went offline in January after being taking down by Apple, Google and Amazon. The tech giants took action to distance themselves from Parler as concerns grew that the service could be used to promote more violence.
https://www.cnet.com/news/parler-is-back-on-apples-app-store/
Article is a few days old, but no one's mentioned it yet here that I've seen. If I had read this earlier, I would have posted it in LBN...
Eric Adams leads Andrew Yang by 3 points in new NY mayoral poll
2020 presidential candidate and entrepreneur Andrew Yang’s mayoral race for New York City may need to catch up to Brooklyn Borough president and former New York Police Department officer, Eric Adams. The latest polls from Change Research show that Adams currently has a slight lead, with support from 19 percent of New Yorkers compared to Yang’s 16 percent, Newsweek reports.
The polls also found that among different racial demographics, 41 percent of Black Americans are behind Adams and 34 percent of Asian Americans support Yang; 22 percent of New York respondents are undecided. The primary is on June 22 and the general election is on November 2.
“Clearly, Eric Adams has the momentum in this race, driven by everyday New Yorkers who agree Eric can deliver a safer, fairer, more prosperous city for all,” said Evan Thies, Eric Adams’ campaign manager.
On Thursday, New York City mayoral candidates participated in the first debate for the election season. The six other contenders besides Adams and Yang are former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan; former NYC Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia; former Citigroup vice-chairman Ray McGuire; nonprofit executive Dianne Morales; New York City comptroller Scott Stringer; civil rights lawyer and professor Maya Wiley.
Read more...
Kid reporter who interviewed Obama at White House dies at 23
Source: ABC News
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The student reporter who gained national acclaim when he interviewed President Barack Obama at the White House in 2009 has died of natural causes, his family says.
Damon Weaver was 23 when he died May 1, his sister, Candace Hardy, told the Palm Beach Post. Further details were not released. He had been studying communications at Albany State University in Georgia..
Weaver was 11 when he interviewed Obama for 10 minutes in the Diplomatic Room on Aug. 13, 2009, asking questions that focused primarily on education. He covered school lunches, bullying, conflict resolution and how to succeed.
Weaver then asked Obama to be his “homeboy,” saying then-Vice President Joe Biden had already accepted.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/kid-reporter-interviewed-obama-white-house-dies-23-77709228
Very sad news. So young.
New video taken from USS Omaha shows spherical UFO splash into ocean off San Diego: Ex-fighter pilot
Source: Daily Mail
A new video has leaked showing US Naval personnel having a close encounter with a UFO - this time a spherical object that makes a controlled descent into the ocean.
The object was filmed by a camera aboard the USS Omaha as it sailed off the coast of San Diego in July 2019.
They filmed the object making a controlled flight above the water for an extended period of time before it finally entered the ocean. Investigative filmmaker Jeremy Corbell shared the footage on Friday with Mystery Wire.
It was released the same day that a US Navy pilot told of how he and his colleagues saw UFOs off the Virginia coast so regularly they grew used to the ultra-capable aircrafts' presence.
Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9580733/amp/US-Navy-pilots-saw-UFOs-coast-Virginia-frequently-got-used-them.html
Wonder what it is. Advanced drone from Russia? Or maybe made by a mad scientist? Or aliens?
Virginia Republicans nominate Glenn Younkin for governor
Source: NBC News
Virginia Republicans selected former private equity executive Glenn Youngkin as their nominee in this year's governor's election, in which he will face whomever Democrats nominate in their own primary next month.
Glenn Youngkin got 55 percent of the vote over fellow businessman Pete Snyder, who got 45 percent and conceded before the final tally was announced after a full day of ballot counting.
Seven candidates competed in an unusual and controversial "unassembled convention" Saturday, when 28,000 Republican voters and activists cast weighted and ranked-choice ballots at dozens of locations across the state after the party opted against a standard primary.
Among Republicans, all leading candidates aligned themselves with former President Donald Trump, including Youngkin and Snyder — a longtime Republican donor who chaired Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign in Virginia — even though both have backgrounds in the more establishment-friendly country club wing of the GOP.
Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1266889
Why did the pronunciation of caramel change over the years?
Growing up in the 80's, people pronounced it car-mel. Then in the early 90's or so, I started hearing people calling it car-a-mel, and it became the norm. Today, the car-mel pronunciation is all but dead. I rarely hear anyone call it that anymore, except for the occasional senior. But why did it change?
Words that change pronunciations are extremely rare. The only other one that I know of is the planet Uranus. Today, it's pronounced Ura-niss. I won't say how we 80's kids pronounced it. 
My DC statehood compromise proposal
Some of you may not like this proposal, but hear me out.
DC will be admitted to the Union to become our 51st state by January, 2022. The governor's of West Virginia and Virginia will pick the two Senators. If that looks legally sketchy, then the Senate Majority and Minority leaders pick them. One gets a 4 year term, and the other a 6 year term, since states don't vote on two Senate races in the same election (unless it's a special election). All other elected officials will be voten on by the people.
While this would ensure that one of the Senators will be a Republican, let's get to the cold facts:
1) DC statehood needs 60 votes to pass, and we don't have even 50. This will likely get enough Republicans to reach the 50 threshold.
2) It doesn't change anything regarding majority. Each Party gets one new Senator.
3) The Republican will certainly be voted out of office in 4 or 6 years. After that, it's a free ride for us.
So, what do you think? It's either this, something similar, or nothing. Take your pick.
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