Plans underway for Biden to announce bid for second term next week (article from April 20)

Chief Justice John Roberts punts on request to investigate Clarence Thomas

Source: CNN

Washington(CNN)Chief Justice John Roberts has declined to directly respond to a congressional request to investigate Justice Clarence Thomas' alleged ethical lapses.

Roberts instead referred the request from Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin to the Judicial Conference, which serves as the policy-making body of the federal courts.

The Illinois Democrat had penned a letter urging Roberts to investigate Thomas after a ProPublica report that found that Thomas had gone on several luxury trips at the invitation of a GOP megadonor. The trips were not disclosed on Thomas' public financial filings.

Thomas said in a statement that he had not reported the trips because the ethics guidelines in effect at the time had not required such disclosures.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/22/politics/chief-justice-john-roberts-clarence-thomas/index.html

Manchin slams Biden for 'deficiency of leadership,' applauds McCarthy debt limit plan

Source: The Hill

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who faces reelection in a Republican-leaning state, on Thursday slammed President Biden for showing “a deficiency of leadership” on a potential national default and applauded Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for proposing a plan to raise the debt limit.

Manchin, who has feuded with the Biden administration over implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act, which Congress passed last year, took the president to task for not sitting down with McCarthy to negotiate fiscal reforms in exchange for raising the debt limit.

“Our elected leaders must stop with the political games, work together and negotiate a compromise. Instead, it has been more than 78 days since President Biden last met with Speaker McCarthy. This signals a deficiency of leadership, and it must change,” Manchin said in a statement.

He said “we are long past time for our elected leaders to sit down and discuss how to solve this impending debt ceiling crisis.”

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/3960781-manchin-slams-biden-for-deficiency-of-leadership-applauds-mccarthy-debt-limit-plan/

Al Jaffee, longtime Mad magazine cartoonist, dead at 102

Source: Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Al Jaffee, Mad magazine’s award-winning cartoonist and ageless wise guy who delighted millions of kids with the sneaky fun of the Fold-In and the snark of “Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions,” has died. He was 102.

Jaffee died Monday in Manhattan from multiple organ failure, according to his granddaughter, Fani Thomson. He had retired at the age of 99.

Mad magazine, with its wry, sometimes pointed send-ups of politics and culture, was essential reading for teens and preteens during the baby-boom era and inspiration for countless future comedians. Few of the magazine’s self-billed “Usual Gang of Idiots” contributed as much — and as dependably — as the impish, bearded cartoonist. For decades, virtually every issue featured new material by Jaffee. His collected “Fold-Ins,” taking on everyone in his unmistakably broad visual style from the Beatles to TMZ, was enough for a four-volume box set published in 2011.

Readers savored his Fold-Ins like dessert, turning to them on the inside back cover after looking through such other favorites as Antonio Prohías’ “Spy vs. Spy” and Dave Berg’s “The Lighter Side.” The premise, originally a spoof of the old Sports Illustrated and Playboy magazine foldouts, was that you started with a full-page drawing and question on top, folded two designated points toward the middle and produced a new and surprising image, along with the answer.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/al-jafee-mad-magazine-cartoonist-dies-f676fbeb190b44c8aa4abcb0daa5d571

'Suck my tongue': Dalai Lama lambasted after video shows him kiss young boy on lips

Source: USA Today

The Dalai Lama, the spiritual head of the Tibetan community, apologized Monday after bizarre video of him kissing a young Indian boy on the lips and asking him to suck his tongue went viral.

Video shows the Noble Peace Prize winner sitting in a chair with the unidentified boy standing directly in front of him and several people surrounding them including one holding a cell phone.

While holding the boy's hand, the Dalai Lama points to his mouth and kisses the boy on the lips. People in the background are then heard clapping and laughing.

The leader then rests his forehead on the boy's forehead, before sticking out his tongue, saying "and suck my tongue".

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2023/04/10/dalai-lama-boy-kiss-video/11634769002/

Biden administration says disregarding abortion pill ruling would set "dangerous precedent"

Source: CBS News

Washington — The Biden administration on Sunday appeared to dismiss suggestions from some congressional Democrats that it ignore a ruling from a federal judge in Texas that took aim at the abortion pill, with a spokeswoman saying doing so would set a "dangerous precedent."

In a series of tweets in response to a decision from U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk halting the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval of the drug mifepristone, Kamara Jones, spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services, reiterated that the agency is prepared to continue defending that 22-year-old approval through the legal process.

"People are rightly frustrated about this decision — but as dangerous a precedent it sets for a court to disregard FDA's expert judgment regarding a drug's safety and efficacy, it would also set a dangerous precedent for the administration to disregard a binding decision," Jones said. "We are confident that the law is on our side."

Jones noted that the Justice Department will seek a stay of the decision pending appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, which would allow mifepristone to stay on the market while legal proceedings continue.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/abortion-pill-ruling-texas-fda-mifepristone-biden-administration/

When do the big Supreme Court decisions come out, and what are they?

Are the big ones always in June like last year? Is there a list of the big up and coming ones?