Broken promises. Broken coalition. Broken trust. It’s Wednesday, and here are the 5 things you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door.
CAMPAIGN 2016
Remember that promise the GOP candidates made to rally behind whoever eventually became the nominee? Scratch that. At the CNN town hall in Wisconsin last night, the last men standing (The Donald, The Ted and JK) basically said, ‘Pledge? What pledge? Cause baby, now we got bad blood.’ Things aren’t so peachy with the Dems either. Hillz and Uncle Bernie are still squabbling over his New York debate idea. And she called Sanders a “pie in the sky” politician making promises he can’t keep.
ABORTION
You gotta hand it to these pro-life politicians: They sure can come up with creative ways to try to limit abortions. The latest? Utah, which now demands that docs give anesthesia to women seeking abortions 20 weeks in or later. The reason: To spare the fetus pain — even though the medical community has disputed that notion. But what does science know, right? Pro-choicers say it’s basically a ban on abortions because no doctor in his right mind is going to give a patient unneeded anesthesia.
SUPREME COURT
Antonin Scalia’s absence on the Supreme Court is doing a number on conservative causes. Last week, the court was evenly split on the latest challenge to Obamacare. Yesterday, it was 4-4 again on a case involving unions. During oral arguments the court’s conservative wing seemed ready to strike down nearly 40 years of precedent involving the unions and fees related to collective bargaining. But without Scalia’s fifth vote, a lower court’s decision in favor of the unions stands. And organized labor gets a V in its column.
BRAZIL
Right now, it just stinks to be Dilma Rousseff. The Brazilian prez is dogged with scandals. She tried to swear-in the previous president as her chief of staff (to possibly shield him from his troubles). That backfired. And lawmakers are eyeing impeachment plans. On top of all that, Brazil’s largest political party said yesterday it’s pulling out of her coalition. That significantly weakens her position if impeachment goes forward. *headdesk*
DETROIT SCHOOLS
Times always seem to be tough for Detroit city schools. But what happened now is being described as both a “punch in the gut” and a “slap in the face.” Thirteen current or former principals have been busted in a kickback scheme that boils down to this: A vendor allegedly paid them bribes to charge their schools for supplies that were never delivered. Things like chairs, teaching materials, paper. The very things students needed the most. So yeah, while the struggling district cried poor, the principals were allegedly lining their pockets.
BREAKFAST BROWSE
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Duke dies at 69
Patty Duke was many things: Oscar and Emmy winner, Broadway and TV star, wife and mother. But she’ll always be remembered for “The Miracle Worker.”
Need a big favor
Back in the ’90s singer Melissa Etheridge almost asked Brad Pitt to be a sperm donor, but she went with rocker David Crosby instead. Go figure.
Length matters
Amateur videographers rejoice! Instagram extended its video-length limit to 60 seconds. Why? To keep people on Instagram longer, of course.
Sigh of relief
More good news: Ebola is no longer a world health emergency, the WHO said yesterday. Whew!
Straighten up!
Maybe mom was right. Good posture can lead to good things — like increasing your chances of finding a match in online dating.
Number of the day
7.9 million
The number of people in six states who’re at risk of man-made earthquakes. Thanks a lot, fracking.