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Barred Owl’s North America Spread Inspires Wonder, Admiration, and Fear (Maria)
The author writes, “They seize suburbs. They seize cities. They seize habitat a continent away. They arrive uninvited. They stay indefinitely. They are indomitable. Who? Barred owls. Strix varia. … Over the past century or so, barred owls have swooped across North America from east to west, inspiring wonder, admiration, and fear about the future of other owls, often all at once.”
The Supreme Court Term That Fundamentally Changed America (DonkeyHotey)
From Talking Points Memo: “As the dust settles from Trump v. United States, those paying attention look out over the wreckage, contemplating an unbounded future President Trump, a system of checks and balances toppled, a super-executive free to commit crimes with impunity.”
Trump Wasn’t Exonerated by the Presidential Immunity Ruling, Even Though He Says He Was (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday misrepresented in a social media post what the U.S. Supreme Court’s … ruling on presidential immunity means for his civil and criminal cases. ‘TOTAL EXONERATION!’ he wrote in the post on his Truth Social platform. ‘It is clear that the Supreme Court’s Brilliantly Written and Historic Decision ENDS all of Crooked Joe Biden’s Witch Hunts against me, including the WHITE HOUSE AND DOJ INSPIRED CIVIL HOAXES in New York.’ But none of Trump’s pending cases have been dismissed as a result of the ruling, nor have the verdicts already reached against him been overturned.”
7 Democrat Candidates Who Could Step in if President Biden Drops Out of 2024 Race (Reader Jim)
The author writes, “President Biden’s widely panned debate performance has sparked a firestorm of speculation on whether Democrats will switch horses midstream and select a new presidential nominee from a generally accepted list of candidates.”
She Won a Pulitzer for Exposing How the Country’s Poorest State Spent Federal Welfare Money. Now She Might Go to Jail. (Gerry and Sean)
From NBC News: “When Anna Wolfe won the Pulitzer Prize for her dogged reporting on Mississippi’s welfare fraud scandal, she had no inkling she was soon going to have to contend with the possibility of going to jail. But just over a year after she secured journalism’s top award for exposing how $77 million in federal welfare funds went to athletes, cronies and pet projects, she and her editor, Adam Ganucheau, are contemplating what to pack for an extended stay behind bars. Sued for defamation by the state’s former governor — a top subject of their reporting — they have been hit with a court order requiring them to turn over internal files including the names of confidential sources. They say the order is a threat to journalism that they will resist.”
Another Chemical Recycling Plant Closure Offers ‘Flashing Red Light’ to Nascent Industry (Laura)
From Environmental Health News: “For the second time this year, a chemical recycling plant built to turn waste into usable products has closed, casting further doubt on the viability of an upstart industry that has been plagued by financial and technical challenges in its effort to scale up.”
Canadian Hen Sets Record As World’s Smartest Chicken (Dana)
The author writes, “Lacey the Gabriola Island hen has just become a Guinness World Records title holder for the most identifications by a chicken in one minute. This means that when different numbers, colors and letters are presented, the bird is able to recognize the shapes it is trained to recognize, and ignore the ones it isn’t. ‘When they see that particular letter or color, they learn that if they peck it they get a reward. They can tell it from the different letters or numbers,’ said Emily Carrington, Lacey’s owner.”
