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Overnight News Digest for Wednesday, April 12 (This Is Fine edition) [1]

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Date: 2023-04-12

This is an open thread where everyone is welcome, especially night owls and early birds, to share and discuss the happenings of the day. Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.

The crew of the Overnight News Digest consists of founder Magnifico, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, jeremybloom, Magnifico, annetteboardman, eeff, rise above the swamp, Besame and jck. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) Interceptor 7, Man Oh Man, wader, Neon Vincent, palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse (RIP), ek hornbeck (RIP), rfall, ScottyUrb, Doctor RJ, BentLiberal, Oke (RIP) and jlms qkw.

Top story: Diane Feinstein resigns!

Okay, not exactly.

She’s stepping aside. Temporarily. From her Judiciary Committee seat. Which at least means the lack of her vote won’t prevent Dems from bringing forward ALL OF BIDEN’S JUDGE NOMINATIONS. (Since of course in a complete lack of common decency the GOP members are voting down EVERYONE that they’re aren’t BLOCKING COMPLETELY using blue slips which Dems continue to honor because you know, decorum. But I digress.)

The 89-year-old California senator has spent nearly two months away from the Capitol, including a stint in the hospital before returning home to San Francisco to recover. Three people who have visited with the senator in recent weeks or been briefed on her status say her diagnosis appears to have taken a heavy toll on her. Other confidants, including two who have seen or spoken with the senator, underscored that they are still hopeful she could serve out the nearly two years that remain in her term. But neither of those people, who addressed the sensitive matter on condition of anonymity, indicated they were confident she would be able to do so from Washington. ...In a statement released late Wednesday after this story first posted, Feinstein did not identify an expected return date and said she has asked Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) to temporarily replace her on the Judiciary Committee so that the panel could process nominations — a highly unusual move. x INBOX: Feinstein Statement on Returning to Washington pic.twitter.com/2TTT14DOd2 — Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) April 13, 2023

In other Poor Little Rich Girl news… somebody has apparently forgotten the way the GOP demonized the wives of the last two Democratic Presidents for YEARS AND YEARS. (Sarcasm alert)

It’s been a helluva week for those with access to Melania Trump’s innermost thoughts. The former first lady and her ever-embattled husband ate Easter lunch among their loyal sycophants at the resort they live in, Mar-a-Lago. Had the former first lady not just been absent last week during one-term president Donald Trump’s arraignment in New York as well as his follow-up speech nominally about said arraignment, this would just be Easter business as usual. Instead, it was notable: the first public appearance she’d made by his side since the day he was indicted on 34 felony counts after he allegedly violated election laws to pay off porn star Stormy Daniels, among others. More notably still? A velvet rope had been placed around their table as they ate. The why of the velvet rope is simply another mystery to add to the pile. And what is a Melania mystery, but another opportunity to put on one’s psychic hat and do a little mind reading in the papers. “The fact it was the two of them alone was a big statement. This was a statement [saying], ‘We are together, I stand by my husband,’” as one tea leaf reader told Page Six. “I think she wanted to show support, but didn’t want to have to talk about any of this s–t.” A source also told the outlet that Trump had made a private appeal to his wife: “He told her, ‘I really need you for this because we are going to be campaigning.’ They had a major talk over the weekend, and she has … agreed to be on board.”

In the department of Intolerant Maga Morons Behaving Badly: Apparently Bud Light made the mistake of acknowledging the existence of trans people, for which sin all the lovers of Bud Light in the Universe are now gnashing their teeth and rending their garments and eschewing Bud Light for other almost-beer products made by EXACTLY THE SAME COMPANY.

Earlier this month, popular social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney—who is transgender—posted a video celebrating being the recipient of one of hundreds of individually customized Bud Light cans the Anheuser-Busch brand had provided to a number of paid partners. The company had provided similar cans to 199 other influencers, all of which went unnoticed. Mulvaney's can, however, ignited a media firestorm fueled by conservative outrage a brand would partner with someone who was transgender. x A Republican United States Senator actually just said that America is being embarrassed on the world stage because a transgender woman is promoting Bud Light. My former political party isn’t serious. My former political party is intolerant. I’m glad I’m no longer a Republican.👇 https://t.co/uBICuyFbQB — Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) April 12, 2023 Singer Kid Rock filmed a video of him shooting Bud Light cans with a gun. Some rolled over cases of Bud Light with steamrollers while figures like onetime Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake claimed mass boycotts at political events with Republicans. Beer sales representatives posted videos of them lamenting they wouldn't be able to feed their families, blaming Anheuser-Busch for "going woke" and killing their livelihoods.

Texas Representative Dan Crenshaw failed in his boycott attempt of Bud Light by posting a video of his fridge full of Karbach – which is owned by the same company. In late March, #BoycottBudLight began trending on Twitter after transgender actor Dylan Mulvaney announced her collaboration with Bud Light. ..."From time to time, we produce unique commemorative cans for fans and for brand influencers, like Dylan Mulvaney. This commemorative can was a gift to celebrate a personal milestone and is not for sale to the general public," a spokesperson for the company told Fox News. ...Crenshaw (R-TX 2nd District) tried to join the boycott against Bud Light by posting a video on Instagram on Saturday, April 8. In his video, the Texas representative is seen walking over to his fridge, saying he was ready to throw away any Bud Light can because of their "stupid" ad campaign. However, there was none inside when he opened it.

However, Joe Biden will NOT be indulging one way or the other in the Bud Light circus.

Joe Biden has arrived in Northern Ireland to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, part of a trip that will also take him to the Republic of Ireland to spend time in Dublin and both County Louth and County Mayo, where his family roots run deep. The US president is intensely proud of his Irish heritage, having been raised among the Irish-American community of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and loves to drop recitations from the great Irish poets into his speeches. It may come as a disappointment to the hundreds of press photographers watching his every move this week, desperate to get a shot of Mr Biden revelling in his homecoming, but the truth is that the president is a teetotaller. “I’m the only Irishman you ever met that’s never had a drink,” he said during remarks observing St Patrick’s Day on 17 March this year.

Meanwhile, in Red States Behaving Badly:

Texas’s position as the leading producer of renewable energy could be under threat after state officials championed a series of anti-environmental bills aimed at boosting the oil and gas industry, minimizing the Environmental Protection Agency’s powers and forcing expensive fees for registering hybrid and electric cars. The bills, most of which were filed in 2022 and early 2023, come weeks after a series of legislation was proposed in mid-March that would restrict wind and solar and after Gov. Greg Abbott said he would ban wind and solar companies from obtaining corporate tax breaks under a new state program. … the state’s renewable energy progress was made possible because of decisions made 20 years ago by Republican Govs. George W. Bush and Rick Perry. However, that success is now undermining legacy fossil fuel companies.

x Next thing you know, women will have to cover themselves in public, and after that women will not be able to inherit or own property. Does no one else see what's happening? — RabbitPainter (@rabbitpainter) April 11, 2023

A Houston high school with a history of underperforming has given the Texas Education Agency (TEA) the opening needed to take over the city’s entire public school district. In March, TEA announced that it would begin running the Houston Independent School District (HISD) — where leadership is predominantly women and people of color. x Women and people of color dominate Houston's school board, but they will be ousted as the state takes over the district -- all due to one school underperforming.

That's a voting rights violation, a new Justice Dept. complaint alleges. https://t.co/MpnHoQgym2 — Nadra Nittle (@NadraKareem) April 11, 2023 The takeover means that the HISD superintendent and nine trustees will be removed and that TEA Commissioner Mike Morath, who is White, will name new HISD leaders by June. The current superintendent is Black, seven trustees are Black or Latinx, and eight are women. ...Two lower courts previously continued an injunction to stop the HISD takeover, but this year’s state Supreme Court ruling allows the TEA to proceed with its plans even though Wheatley High School is no longer failing. To turn Wheatley around and improve the school district overall, Molina said, “the community elected an almost entirely new board to represent them and make changes to make HISD better. In the last two to three years, this board, students and educators have shown growth and improvement.”

x Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin has filed three motions intended to roll back court rulings that would end programs that were put in place in the 1970’s and 1980’s to integrate the schools.



These rulings currently prevent participation in the 2013 school choice law.



2/6 — Calés McGinnis ✨ (@CalesMcGinnis) April 12, 2023

And of course we’d be remiss if we didn’t draw attention to Biden Admin officials ACTING LIKE FOSSIL FUEL SHILLS AND IDIOTS.

Conservation and community groups sued the Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Department of Homeland Security today over their plans to rebuild Puerto Rico’s centralized electric grid back to the fossil fuel status quo instead of investing in the distributed renewable energy Puerto Ricans need. “Fossil fuel power plants produce pollutants that poison our health and kill our neighbors, and other living beings that live nearby,” said Victor Alvarado Guzman of Comite Dialogo Ambiental. “The toxins produced by these facilities also harm the air, water, and land. That’s why the funds from agencies such as FEMA must be used toward renewable energy, especially rooftop solar.” x JUST IN: @CenterForBioDiv and community groups challenge @fema plans to rebuild Puerto Rico's grid with fossil fuels--instead of rooftop and community solar. #FEMABuildRenewable

Check it out ➡️https://t.co/o4zaA2GctR pic.twitter.com/ejphEIpDzs — Gaby Sarri-Tobar (@GabySarriTobar) April 11, 2023 Today’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, challenges FEMA’s failure to consider rooftop solar, storage and other forms of distributed renewable energy for projects intended to provide electricity to communities at risk from Puerto Rico’s hurricane-battered grid. It also says FEMA violated federal law by failing to consider the environmental harm from rebuilding and relocating Puerto Rico’s polluting fossil fuel infrastructure, including jeopardizing clean air and water, and endangered species.

x Important read. The argument that fossil fuel development is critical to energy poverty ignores the fact that the fossil fuel industry has been drilling for oil in Africa for decades and not addressing energy poverty. They privatize the profits, export the product and socialize… https://t.co/vZk5M4eJlJ — Tzeporah Berman (@Tzeporah) April 12, 2023

What was that about… climate?

"Dania Beach, the heart of Fort Lauderdale is where this is happening from this cell that has not moved. Radar estimates upwards of 20 inches." said CBS News Miami chief meteriologist Ivan Cabrera. "We are getting continuous updates but there is the cell that will not move. It is relentless and moving through the same area. We are talking about the airport closed and reports of the hospital closed as well. Law enforcement asking us to tell you to avoid this area." x Yeaa it’s insane pic.twitter.com/fnfY08WzhN — John Haywood (@JHay97) April 13, 2023 Authorities are urging residents to seek higher ground and to avoid driving or walking in flooded areas.

In science news… this is REALLY COOL.

..“Look!” said the microbiologist Christa Schleper, beaming as she held a printed, high-resolution image in front of her webcam at the University of Vienna. “Isn’t it beautiful?” The cells in the micrograph were 500 nanometer-wide orbs surrounded by a Medusa-like halo of tendrils. Her team had not only isolated and cultivated the organism for the first time but shown that its flailing filaments were made of actin, the protein that forms a skeletal scaffold in almost all complex cells, or eukaryotes. But this was no complex cell. It looked more ancestral, primordial. The organism, first published in Nature, is only the second representative of a group of microbes called Asgard archaea to be grown and studied in detail. Coaxing it to grow out of a tiny spoonful of seafloor sludge, which took six years, was like preparing a dressing room for a temperamental celebrity. The organism couldn’t be centrifuged, stirred, exposed to oxygen, separated from a few other microbes it pals around with, or rushed into growing any faster than a glacial pace. For months, it didn’t even grow at all. “I worried also for my own future in science,” said Thiago Rodrigues-Oliveira, who led the effort to cultivate the new species as a postdoc in Schleper’s lab, betting his own career on the whims of a single, recalcitrant organism.

..Kusimba grew up in western Kenya and is not Swahili, but he became fascinated by the thousand-year-old culture of the Swahili people, who live along the coast of eastern Africa and early on built cosmopolitan city-states. Through his 40-year career as an archaeological anthropologist, including stints at museums in the U.S. and Kenya, professorships at several U.S. universities (he is now with the University of South Florida) and authorship of a book, The Rise and Fall of Swahili States, the question dogged him: Were the earliest Swahili from the African continent, or did they migrate from somewhere else? ...The research shows that the Swahili civilization British colonizers encountered was not primarily foreign, as they believed. Nor was it primarily African, as has been more recently thought. The study uses DNA analysis to show that it's a mix, as Swahili oral tradition has said for centuries. ...When British colonizers came into eastern Africa several hundred years ago, they credited the origins of Swahili civilization to foreign traders from India and Persia. "The good was always attributed to non-Africans," says Kusimba. Colonial archaeologists thought Africans lacked the initiative and agency to build Swahili culture. "And colonial archeology was very powerful," says Kusimba. "Any views that were divergent to what was the then-mainstream view of the Swahili would either be silenced by not getting published, or people just wouldn't believe it." Some nationalist politicians emphasized a foreign origin to whip up anti-Swahili sentiment and consolidate power.

And this is NOT really cool…

With the release of their song Fish Market in 1989, the Jamaican duo Cleveland “Clevie” Browne and Wycliffe “Steely” Johnson inadvertently changed the course of pop music. The track featured the first known example of what would come to be known as a “dembow” rhythm – the percussive, slightly syncopated four-to-the-floor beat that travelled from reggae to become the signature beat of reggaeton, today the world-conquering sound of Latin American pop. Now, more than 30 years after Fish Market was released, Steely & Clevie Productions is suing three of reggaeton’s most celebrated hitmakers – El Chombo, Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee – for what they characterise as unlawful interpolation of Fish Market’s rhythm (or “riddim”), and are seeking the credit – and royalties – they say they deserved from the start. Gregor Pryor, a lawyer specialising in entertainment and media, says that Browne and Johnson may be facing an uphill battle – in part because the defendants will probably “have a plethora of defences against copyright infringement at their disposal, which will make the plaintiffs’ argument more difficult to prove … The plaintiffs will have to prove that the defendant ever actually heard, or could reasonably be presumed to have heard, the plaintiffs’ song before creating the allegedly infringing song,” he says.

What are you listening to this evening? Tell us in the comments!

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