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VP Harris visits Florida as abortion ban limits southern women's options

(Reuters) U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris visits Florida on Wednesday to denounce the state's six-week abortion ban that takes effect on May 1, and will accuse Republican opponent Donald Trump of being responsible for it. Florida's Supreme Court cleared the way for a six-week abortion ban, a time-frame before many women realize they are pregnant, in early April. The court also said a ballot measure legalizing abortion until viability could be voted on this November, which could benefit Democrats at the polls.

babylonsister

Cecile Richards: Florida's Abortion Ban Should Be Our Breaking Point

(DailY Beast) For nearly two years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Florida was the last safe haven for people in need of abortions in the South. As of today, that’s no longer true. It’s hard to adequately convey the devastation of a six-week abortion ban taking effect in one of the country’s most populous states.

BumRushDaShow

Democrats Massively Overperform In Special Election Triumph

(Newsweek) Timothy Kennedy, a Democratic New York state senator, has won the special election for the Congressional seat vacated by the retired Democrat Brian Higgins. While Kennedy's victory was widely anticipated in the left-leaning district, the vote margin between both candidates was much larger than forecast. Kennedy won by more than 36 percentage points — a massive performance by the Democratic Party. The Cook Political Report, an independent newsletter that analyzes elections and campaigns, had expected Kennedy to win the seat by 9 percentage points.

KS Toronado

Wednesday TOONs

babylonsister

Rachel Maddow exposes the GOP's 'sprawling nationwide scandal'

(Daily Kos) Rachel Maddow dedicated time during her show on Monday to talking about the extent of the election fraud rot in the Republican Party. Acknowledging that Donald Trump is always going to hoover “up all the oxygen in the room,” Maddow said she wanted to broaden the scope to look at the GOP as a whole. "There are at least 53 Republican officials and lawyers and activists who are facing felony criminal counts other than Donald Trump himself," she said.

BumRushDaShow

Private payrolls increased by 192,000 in April, more than expected for resilient labor market

(CNBC) Private payrolls increased at a faster than expected pace in April, indicating there are still plenty of tailwinds for the U.S. labor market, according to ADP. The payrolls processing firm reported Wednesday that companies added 192,000 workers for the month, better than the Dow Jones consensus outlook for 183,000 though a slight step down from the upwardly revised 208,000 in March.

Tom of Temecula

'Irreparable breakdown': Trump campaign law firm suddenly retreats from years-long case

(Raw Story) A longstanding legal firm serving former President Donald Trump's campaign and businesses is seeking to withdraw from a lengthy case because of “irreparable breakdown in the attorney-client relationship,” according to a new report and court records. The firm LaRocca, Hornik, Greenberg, Rosen, Kittridge, Carlin and McPartland on Friday requested to remove itself from a lawsuit filed by a campaign surrogate who said the campaign sidelined her in 2016 after she revealed she was pregnant, the New York Times was first to report.

Israeli

Smotrich Must Pay the Price for His Repeated Calls for Genocide of Palestinians

(Haaretz) Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a member of the security cabinet, ought to be fired immediately over his latest remarks. That's how any properly run country would act, and all the more so a country against which the International Court of Justice in The Hague has issued provisional measures requiring it to refrain from genocide, including one requiring it to deal properly with incitement to genocide. In any normal country, five minutes after his remarks were reported, the prime minister would have convened a press conference, fired the minister in disgrace and publicly declared that this isn't his way, and that people with such a worldview have no place in the Israeli government.

BumRushDaShow

MAGA Bob hires GOP operative who called Jan. 6 'Democrat misdirection'

(NBC News) Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s presidential campaign has hired a former top spokesperson to hard-right Republican candidates who has called the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol “Democrat misdirection.” Campaign finance records show Kennedy’s independent campaign first hired Zach Henry’s firm Total Virality for "influencer engagement" in March, two months after Republican Vivek Ramaswamy dropped out of the race for his party's presidential nomination. Henry had been Ramaswamy's deputy communications director. “J6 was no MAGA insurrection Just more Democrat misdirection,” he posted on X in March 2023.

BumRushDaShow

Trump won't rule out election violence if he loses to Biden in November: 'It depends'

(Business Insider) Former President Donald Trump said in a new interview that he's not ruling out the possibility of election-related violence if he loses to President Joe Biden in November. When first pressed about the prospect of "political violence" over the upcoming presidential election, Trump said he didn't think it would play out. "I think we're going to have a big victory," he said. "And I think there will be no violence." Two weeks later, Trump spoke with the Time reporter for a follow-up, and the reporter asked specifically if violence might erupt if he didn't defeat Biden. "I think we're going to win," he said. "And if we don't win, you know, it depends. It always depends on the fairness of an election."

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9th Circuit reprimands California judge who handcuffed, berated crying 13-year-old girl

6 min ago - The federal judge who has declared multiple California gun-control laws unconstitutional was reprimanded Wednesday by a judicial panel for ordering a drug defendant's 13-year-old daughter to enter the jury box, where the judge handcuffed her and warn ... (San Francisco Chronicle)

Democrats say Big Oil misled public for decades about climate change

12 min ago - May 1, 2024, 3:56 PM EDT Major oil companies have misled Americans for decades about the threat of human-caused climate change, according to a new report released Tuesday by Democrats in Congress. The 65-page report was the result of a three-year in ... (NBC News)

Union Pacific undermined regulators' efforts to assess safety, US agency says

18 min ago - By JOSH FUNK Updated 5:03 PM CDT, May 1, 2024 OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Union Pacific managers undermined the U.S. government’s efforts to assess safety at the railroad in the wake of several high-profile derailments across the industry by coachin ... (AP)

RFK Jr's 'major announcement' was a slideshow asking Biden to drop out

36 min ago - 1 hour ago Robert F. Kennedy Jnr, the presumptive third-party candidate in the 2024 presidential election, summoned the nation’s media on Wednesday to an office building in downtown Brooklyn, next door to Norm’s Pizza, to make a “major ... (UK Independent)

Surprise F-16 Update Issued by Ukraine

1 hr ago - Published May 01, 2024 at 6:17 AM EDT Ukraine will start operating F-16s after Orthodox Easter on May 5, Kyiv has said, as the country contends with devastating Russian bombardment and the long wait for the Western-made fighter jets. "We are waiting ... (Newsweek)

'Golden' predator -- the source of legends -- caught on trail cam in Thailand.

1 hr ago - Khao Sok National Park, Southern Thailand - There are stories of the "fire tigers." Creeping through the forests of Thailand, the nocturnal predator hunts under the cover of darkness. They have "golden" coats and a ferocity unmatched by their orange ... (Miami Herald)

Arizona State Senate Repeals 1864 Abortion Ban

1 hr ago - State senators voted Wednesday to repeal the 1864 abortion law, leaving just a procedural move to send it to the governor for her anticipated signature. The 16-14 vote came after the coalition of all Democrats and two Republicans defeated various pr ... (Sierra Vista Herald Review, Sierra Vista, Arizona)

Republican-led US states sue to block expanded gun background checks

2 hrs ago - May 1, 2024 2:12 PM EDT Updated 3 hours ago May 1 (Reuters) - More than two dozen Republican state attorneys general sued the Biden administration on Wednesday to stop a new rule that would require gun dealers to obtain licenses and conduct backgroun ... (Reuters)

Biden to deliver keynote address on antisemitism at Holocaust remembrance ceremony

2 hrs ago - May 1, 2024, 3:39 PM EDT WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will deliver the keynote address at an annual ceremony commemorating the Holocaust on May 7, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced on Wednesday. Biden's remarks will t ... (NBC News)

Mitt Romney says his dog scandal doesn't compare to Kristi Noem's: 'I didn't shoot my dog'

3 hrs ago - Wed 1 May 2024 09.41 EDT Mitt Romney may have infamously tied a dog in a kennel to the roof of his car for a cross-country trip but at least he didn’t shoot it, the Utah Republican senator said, as outrage over the South Dakota governor, Kristi ... (The Guardian)

Enough Arizona senators vote in favor repealing Civil War-era abortion ban

3 hrs ago - PHOENIX — The Arizona Senate has signed off on a bill to repeal an abortion ban dating back to the 19th century. Two Republicans, T.J. Shope and Shawnna Bolick, sided with Democrats on Wednesday to deliver enough votes to pass House Bill 2677, ... (KPNX 12 News (Arizona))

Duane Eddy, Grammy-Winning 'Peter Gunn' Guitarist, Dies at 86

3 hrs ago - ?w=1000&h=667&crop=1&resize=681%2C454 Duane Eddy, who became the first stand-alone rock ‘n’ roll guitar star with a string of instrumental hits in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s including the theme to TV series “Pet ... (Variety)

Harvey Weinstein granted retrial in NY court following 2020 rape conviction overturn

4 hrs ago - Published 8:45 a.m. ET May 1, 2024 Updated 2:38 p.m. ET May 1, 2024 Harvey Weinstein is getting a retrial. The disgraced movie mogul appeared in New York Supreme Criminal Court in Manhattan on Wednesday for the first time since the state's court of ... (USA Today)

Boy expelled from kindergarten for wearing 'small, blue stud earrings' can pursue sex discrimination lawsuit: Court

4 hrs ago - May 1st, 2024, 9:50 am A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday to resurrect a lawsuit filed on behalf of a kindergartner who was expelled for wearing little blue earrings to school. Rocky Mountain Classical Academy in Colorado Springs is a K-8 charte ... (Law & Crime)

US officials find weak security practices at water plants breached by pro-Russia hackers

4 hrs ago - Published 10:15 AM EDT, Wed May 1, 2024 CNN — Pro-Russia hackers have exploited shoddy security practices at multiple US water plants in recent cyberattacks that have hit a wider swathe of victims than was previously documented, according to an ... (CNN Politics)

Fed holds rate steady and moves to ease the pace of balance sheet reduction

5 hrs ago - Published Wed, May 1 2024 2:00 PM EDT Updated 2 Min Ago WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve on Wednesday held its ground on interest rates, again deciding not to cut as it continues a battle with inflation that has grown more difficult lately. In a wide ... (CNBC)

Pennsylvania Republican Got Solar Panel Money From Biden Bill He Opposed

6 hrs ago - May 1, 2024, 08:04 AM EDT Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), an outspoken critic of President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, used the law to receive a grant to install solar panels at one of his car dealership locations. The U.S. Department of Agric ... (Huff Post)

US job openings fall to 8.5 million in March, the lowest level in more than 3 years

6 hrs ago - Associated Press Finance US job openings fall to 8.5 million in March, the lowest level in more than 3 years PAUL WISEMAN Wed, May 1, 2024, 10:17 AM EDT * 2 min read WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. jobs openings slid in March to the lowest level in more ... (Associated Press, via Yahoo! Finance)

Biden to travel to Detroit for NAACP dinner

6 hrs ago - 05/01/24 12:04 PM ET President Biden will travel to Detroit this month to give remarks at a NAACP dinner, a Biden campaign official confirmed to The Hill. The president is set to travel to swing state Michigan on May 19 and will speak at the NAACP De ... (The Hill)

Cannon reminds Trump to redact witness names as former president faces gag hearing in different venue

7 hrs ago - May 1st, 2024, 10:30 am Amid Donald Trump being held in contempt of court in New York at his criminal hush money and election interference trial, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida has issued a reminder — and deadline — to the fo ... (Law & Crime)