Crooked Media - What A Day: The Supremacist Court

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Thursday that the race-conscious admission policies of Harvard College and the University of North Carolina violate the Constitution, bringing an end to affirmative action in higher education.

• Thursday’s ruling was deemed “truly a tragedy for us all” by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in her dissenting opinion. The ruling will mean a sharp decline in black and Latino students, particularly at elite private and public universities. Nine states already banned the use of race-based college admissions and, as a result, have seen diversity decline on their campuses. When Michigan instituted this policy in 2006 the percentage of black students was seven percent, but dropped to four percent by 2021. 
   
• The majority opinion (all Republican) did not admit that the court was overturning its own decades-old precedent from Grutter v. Bollinger, a 2003 case that held universities could consider race as a factor in admissions decisions. Justice Clarence Thomas did write in concurrence, however, that “The Court’s opinion rightly makes clear that Grutter is, for all intents and purposes, overruled.” Well, there it is. The ruling also cited the 14th amendment as the basis of the law, which is an extra slap in the face, considering the amendment was adopted after the Civil War to affirmatively remediate the legacy of slavery. 
   
• Biden predictably came out against the ruling. He responded to a question about whether the court had gone rogue by saying, “This is not a normal court.” All of the Republican presidential candidates have gone on record in support of the court’s decision. Even Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), the lone black Republican senator and presidential primary candidate, said that it was "a good day for America" during an interview on Fox News shortly after the decision. 

But it won’t affect everyone and the window has been left open for colleges to use other tools to determining which applicants deserve special consideration. And the rest of the world is waking up to the need for affirmative-action laws.

• Globally, dozens of countries have enacted their own affirmative-action initiatives. Some Brazilian universities have adopted race-based quotas for admissions to increase the share of black, brown, and indigenous students. India has also implemented its “reservation” system of affirmative action in admissions which reserves spots at universities for members of historically disadvantaged castes. It’s not a love blanket for the globe but progress is being made. 
   
• It won’t affect the vast majority of schools that accept all applicants who meet their requirements. The elite schools, however, will likely lose some of their diversity. Time will tell how this affects kids of a variety of backgrounds. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, “Nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life.” This leaves the option open for schools to find their own methods of evening the playing field—some universities have already announced they will revive or reweight personal essays in their admissions processes. But perhaps the best final words on the subject came from NAACP President Derrick Johnson, who said, “The worst thing about affirmative action is that it created a Clarence Thomas who benefited from the program, and now is in a position where he’s going to deny many young African-American talented individuals an opportunity.”

On the most recent episode of Work Appropriate, host Anne Helen Petersen is joined by Alisa Chang, one of the hosts of NPR's All Things Considered. Together, they delve into Alisa' story of being a successful lawyer into her early 30s but realizing she was totally miserable. The two answered listener submitted questions about escaping a post-college career without direction, explaining career pivots in job interviews, monetizing hobbies, and the essence of a career itself.

A Russian general suspected of aiding the Wagner mercenary revolt is missing. Or isn’t missing at all, depending whom you ask. You can’t ask the general because he has not been seen or heard from publicly since the mutiny began. Gen. Sergei Surovikin—who is also known as General Armageddon, was reportedly arrested on Sunday and was being held in Moscow’s notorious Lefortovo Prison. According to one Russian news outlet Baza, Surovikin was released from custody. But still, no one has heard from him. Alexei Venediktov, editor-in-chief of the Ekho Moskvy radio station, wrote on Telegram that Surovikin has not been in contact with his family for three days and that his guards are not responsive. Although one member of the family disagrees. His daughter Veronika Surovikina maintained that “Nothing happened to him, no one arrested him, and he’s in his office.” Although the recording that quote was pulled from has not been verified. 

The Kremlin (always trustworthy) also says he’s fine. The idea that Surovikin was working with Prigozhin was not a big leap as he has reportedly been an honorary member of the Wagner group since 2017 when he worked closely with Prigozhin in Syria, where he earned his other nickname as “the butcher of Syria.” But apparently, there may have been more than one cog in the wheel, as Gen. Valery Gerasimov, Russia’s top general, is also missing. It’s been speculated that Putin may have allowed the mutiny to begin, using it as an excuse to purge the ranks in military leadership. Big "I meant to do that" energy. 

• The Supreme Court also ruled in favor of a Christian postal worker who refuses to work on Sundays as it is a day of worship. But what about all of those poor priests that still have to go work?
   
• Three were arrested for insider trading related to a planned merger between Digital World Acquisition Corp. and Trump-owned Truth Social. Trump has not yet been implicated but fingers crossed.
   
• Yankees Pitcher Domingo Germán threw Major League Baseball’s first perfect game since 2012 on Wednesday. If you don’t know, a “perfect” game is when none of the other team's batters get on base. And we wonder why no one watches baseball anymore. 
   
• Protests have broken out in Paris, after police murdered a teen driver on Tuesday, with 40,000 officers deployed to further terrorize the public. Hundred have been arrested and the police officer who pulled the trigger will face charges. 
   
• The Koch Network is wading into its first Republican primary and has raised 70 million dollars with only one goal in mind—to defeat Trump. It was assumed that would mean backing Ron DeSantis but his early stumbles have fanned consideration of who will ultimately give them the best hope of denying Trump the nomination. 
   
• Speaking of stumbles, presidential woeful Ron DeSantis steered $92 million last year in leftover federal coronavirus stimulus money to a controversial highway interchange project that directly benefits a top political donor. Swampy, but hey it's Florida.
   
• Presumed human remains were found in the recovered wreckage of the Titan submersible.
   
• Two Florida parents who are both high-ranking police officers are under investigation after admitting to putting their three-year-old in jail because he was struggling with potty training. The child was brought to the jail on back-to-back days and handcuffed the second time. 
   
• Bill Cosby is being sued by nine more women for sexual assault. This only covers assaults that occurred in Nevada and it brings his total number of accusers to over 60 women. 
   
• Overstock.com is changing its name to Bed Bath and Beyond after buying the company’s name, domain, and loyalty program assets for $21 million. 
   
• That Chinese spy balloon used American-made parts, and did not transmit data. Cool freakout, though...
   
• Texas's abortion ban resulted in an additional 9,800 live births between September, when the ban went into effect, and December of last year.

The news just keeps getting worse for Donald Trump. His precious Diet Cokes might just be on the wrong side of history. Aspartame, one of the world's most common artificial sweeteners, is likely to be declared a possible carcinogen next month by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), an arm of the World Health Organization. The study doesn’t take into account how much of the product could be safely consumed. And you’re probably fine unless you are consuming Trump levels of Diet Coke. But it’s not just sodas, Aspartame is sold as Nutrasweet and Equal and can be found in reduced sugar gums, jams, syrups, and drink mixes. Studies have shown increased cases of cancer in those who consume aspartame but it hasn’t been enough to find a conclusive connection. 

But Americans are way more lax with what we put in our bodies than other countries so the threat that it will be pulled in this country remains low. The list of American products banned in other countries over safety concerns is long. Gatorade and Skittles are widely banned globally due to the use of artificial dyes. Wheat Thins and Frosted Flakes are banned in Europe and Japan due to the inclusion of BHT, which some consider a carcinogen as well. Previous decisions from the IARC have sparked ire, particularly resulting from their classification of processed meats as carcinogenic and even listing “working overnight” as a possible carcinogen.

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“Recovering Bigot” attends a pride parade to tell the LGBTQ community how sorry he is for his former views.

Portugal generated enough renewable energy to power the whole country in March. Water and wind are the main sources of energy.

Transgender youth care bans blocked by Courts in Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina.

Einstein might have actually been a pretty smart guy as part of his theory of relativity has been confirmed. Violent events that happened over the course of the past 13 billion-plus years, like supermassive black holes for instance, regularly ripple the fabric of space and time.