On the day he was arrested for a misdemeanor, Dexter Barry warned Florida police that if he did not take his anti-rejection medication, his heart would fail.

"I take rejection medicine for my heart transplant. I can't miss those doses," he said, according to body camera footage obtained by NPR.

Barry, 54, pleaded with the arresting officer seven times back in November. He alerted the jail nurse and a court judge about his condition too. But in the two days that Barry was held at Duval County Jail in Jacksonville, Fla., no one allowed him access to the medication he desperately asked for.

Three days after he was released from jail, Barry died from cardiac arrest that was caused by an acute rejection of the heart, Dr. Jose SuarezHoyos, a Florida pathologist who conducted a private autopsy of Barry on behalf of Barry's family, told NPR.

Barry's family insists that their loved one's death was entirely preventable had the jail staff taken Barry's pleas for his medication more seriously. His death, which was first reported by The Tributary, has sparked major questions about the quality of health care overseen by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

"Dexter Barry's disturbing, preventable death from medical neglect highlights a major flaw in how America treats its carceral system," ACLU Florida told NPR in a statement. "We urge state officials to investigate Mr. Barry's killing and pursue justice for his loved ones."

Attorney Andrew Bonderud, who is representing Barry's family, told NPR they plan to file a lawsuit against the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office soon.

https://www.npr.org/2023/06/03/1178384421/heart-transplant-recipient-dies-after-being-denied-meds-in-jail-aclu-wants-an-in

Damn straight they should sue, and I hope they win big. Denying people their meds is just WRONG.

I have had a number of work colleagues who were in arranged marriages of one kind or another, and most of them seemed pretty happy. Some of the marriages were more or less a situation of "My uncle knows someone with a very nice son (or daughter) of a suitable age" etc. and some were done via some other intermediary. In a few cases the couple had known each other most of their lives. Many modern Indian and Middle Eastern couples are allowed to meet and even date before saying yes to a marriage; other families are very traditional about it. There are still matrimonial websites, matchmakers, and marriage brokers. One of my co-workers had not met her husband until the week before the ceremony. Still, the divorce rate for arranged marriages is lower than that for "modern" ones, even in these communities, and I wonder whether it's because of coercion, or because they simply have a different idea of marriage. Anyway, it got me thinking about who my parents would have set me up with if "arranging" were the custom in our society, and I came up with 3.

1. C.O.--I'd almost literally known him all my life. His parents were my godparents and we were baptized together. Our dads were colleagues in the same department at UW-Madison (they met in the Navy) and we spent every holiday together except Christmas. I loved his family, but he and I were not simpático, to put it gently. No fighting, we just didn't have similar interests. He later married his HS GF, which didn't last (she ended up marrying 4 times!) and then married a woman who my mom thought of as a "real stick" and they're still married
2. Christopher--He lived a couple blocks from us. His dad was a colleague of my dad's and our moms were friends. We walked to school together a lot in early grades and went to Sunday School together. I don't think we were ever in the same class even in grade school but we were good friends anyway and remained so right through high school. Like a lot of kids of our generation, he was a "semi-only"--had a brother quite a few years older. WWII interrupted a lot of families. He married a girl from the class below us in HS who I liked a lot and they're still married and live in the DC area, but that might have worked.
3. Mark--I didn't meet him until I was 14. Our dads had known each other when they were boys and at the time we met, were both professors at UW-Madison, but not in the same department. Mark's family lived in a nearby town. We hit it off right away and had a few dates, but since neither of us was driving, it was difficult, so that fell off. He was a very nice looking boy, oldest of 5. His mother died when we were in HS and his dad later remarried to a woman who was a real fireball. Some of you would probably recognize her name, as she was politically active and later was a US representative. Mark got into politics later at the state level. Both flaming liberal Dems. That could also have worked,

What about you? Who would your parents have picked for you, and would it have worked out?

So it's either National Donut Day, or National Donut Month, take your pick. In any case, we all have a favorite, right? So let's see who likes what. I have created a poll, but would love comments too.

A medically fragile 8-year-old girl who died in the custody of the U.S. Border Patrol last month suffered a 104.9-degree fever, but was still not taken to a hospital, the day before she died, an internal investigation found.

A contracted nurse practitioner also declined to review documents and refused repeated requests for an ambulance from the mother of Anadith Tanay Reyes Álvarez in the hours before the child appeared to suffer a seizure and died on her ninth day in the agency’s custody, an internal investigation by Customs and Border Protection found.

Anadith, who was born in Panama to Honduran parents, entered Brownsville, Texas, with her parents and two siblings on May 9. The following day, the child underwent medical screening as part of the intake process, during which her parents shared the 8-year-old's medical history, including that she had congenital heart disease and sickle cell anemia.

Despite her medical history being provided, a nurse practitioner declined to review documents that were provided the day she died, May 17, and no personnel were aware of her chronic conditions, the Customs and Border Protection's Office of Professional Responsibility said in an initial statement Thursday after its investigation into the child's death.

The nurse practitioner also reported refusing three or four requests from the girl's mother for an ambulance or for her child to be taken to a hospital that day, the statement said. Anadith's mother, Mabel Álvarez, had previously said repeated requests for an ambulance were denied.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/border-patrol-staff-documents-refuse-ambulance-8-year-old-died-custody-rcna87383

This NP is guilty of malpractice and neglect, and CBP personnel were "unaware of the child's medical condition" because they chose not to be.

A group of public libraries and book publishers in Arkansas is pushing back against a growing movement to restrict what children are allowed to read.

Arkansas is one of four states that recently passed laws that make it easier to prosecute librarians over sexually explicit books, a designation conservatives often use to target books with descriptions of gender identity and sexuality. On Friday, a coalition led by the Central Arkansas Library System, based in Little Rock, filed a federal lawsuit it hopes will set a precedent about the constitutionality of such laws.

The Central Arkansas Library System argued in a filing in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas that Act 372 violates the First Amendment by making it a misdemeanor for libraries to give children access to materials that are “harmful to minors.” The term — which means any depiction of nudity or sexual conduct meant to appeal to a prurient interest that lacks serious artistic, medical or political value and which contemporary community standards would find inappropriate for minors — is too broad, the suit contends. For example, the law would prohibit 17-year-olds from viewing materials deemed too explicit for 7-year-olds.

The complaint also alleges that the law violates residents’ due process rights by allowing local elected officials to overrule librarians’ decisions about book challenges without providing explanations or permitting appeals from those who disagree.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/arkansas-librarians-explicit-books-ban-jail-rcna87110

You'd have to go back a generation — to 1988 — to find the last time a Republican candidate won a U.S. Senate race in heavily Democratic California. This time, the party might get an MVP on the ballot.

Baseball legend Steve Garvey, who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, is meeting with voters and senior GOP officials as he weighs a potential 2024 Senate bid in a race that already has several prominent Democratic contenders in the field. He appeared at a recent fundraiser for Republican Rep. Michelle Steel in Orange County, where he signed baseballs and talked about his potential candidacy.

“He is seriously considering entering the race,” said veteran consultant Andy Gharakhani, who is advising Garvey.

The 74-year-old Garvey had an 18-year major league career. He was National League MVP in 1974 and retired from baseball in 1987.

Garvey has flirted with the possibility of entering politics before, including after his retirement from baseball, when he teased a possible U.S. Senate run but never became a candidate.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/baseball-legend-steve-garvey-us-senate-bid-california-99766254

I don't know what gives him the idea he's qualified. Oh wait, I do too---Tommy Tuberville. 'Nuff said.

Newsmax was way off in its coverage of a drone strike in Moscow ― by about 5,000 miles. On Tuesday, the far-right channel displayed images of the apartment collapse in Davenport, Iowa, as host Greta Van Susteren told of the “disturbing” attack in the Russian capital.

One clue for viewers that something might be amiss was the English “Tow Away Zone” sign in one of the photos, Mediaite noted.

Photos of the Iowa collapse were dramatic, while footage of the attack in Moscow, which Newsmax also included, wasn’t as compelling.

Newsmax didn’t immediately answer HuffPost’s request for comment.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/newsmax-drone-strike-iowa-building-collapse_n_64786207e4b02325c5deef7b

Well, that makes my day....

Sydney researchers have made a world-first leap forward that could change the treatment of endometriosis and improve the health of women living with the painful and debilitating disease.

Researchers from Sydney’s Royal hospital for women have grown tissue from every known type of endometriosis, observing changes and comparing how they respond to treatments.

It means researchers will be able to vary treatments from different types of endometriosis, determining whether a woman will need fertility treatments.

Professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at Sydney Royal hospital for Women, Jason Abbott, said the development is comparable to those made in the treatment of breast cancer three decades ago.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jun/01/australian-researchers-make-world-first-endometriosis-breakthrough

This is a VBFD indeed! Let's hope it has many benefits for all women everywhere.

As a student at Sullivan high school in Chicago, Ridwan Rashid frequently skipped lunch and was distracted by hunger, even though his school offered free meals to all students. Rashid is Muslim, as are a growing number of students at Sullivan. But until recently, none of the meals served at the Sullivan cafeteria were halal, which meant they were off limits for most of the school’s Muslim students.

“We go to school and it’s like, OK, some of the kids can eat and none of the Muslim kids can eat,” Rashid said. “It’s not fair.”

But a bill that passed the Illinois legislature last week will change that, requiring state-funded institutions – including schools, prisons and hospitals – to provide halal and kosher meals if requested. “It’s definitely a historic moment,” said Gerald Hankerson, director of policy at the Muslim Civic Coalition, a national civic engagement non-profit that helped author the bill. “We hope it can be replicated in other states. It is very needed.”

‘In Illinois, we don’t hide from the truth,’ Governor JB Pritzker said in a statement when the legislation was introduced in March.

Its passage comes as Muslim parents and community advocates across the US have spent years calling on schools to serve halal meals, arguing that it’s not just a matter of inclusion, but of food security for a community with high rates of poverty.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/01/illinois-halal-kosher-school-meals

Illinois is "woke"!