Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, eeff, Magnifico, annetteboardman, 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.
OND is a regular community feature on Daily Kos, consisting of news stories from around the world, sometimes coupled with a daily theme, original research or commentary. Editors of OND impart their own presentation styles and content choices, typically publishing each day near 12:00 AM Eastern Time.
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National Public Radio: Voters in Kansas decide to keep abortion legal in the state, rejecting an amendment by Dylan Lysen
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Voters in Kansas rejected a proposed state constitutional amendment Tuesday that would have said there was no right to an abortion in the state, according to The Associated Press.
Kansas was the first state to vote on abortion rights since the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson's Women's Health Organization.
The vote, for now, preserves access to abortion in Kansas and serves as a rebuke to the regional trend of states significantly restricting access. Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Kansas has become an abortion destination for people from other states.
Supporters argued the amendment was necessary to correct what they say was the Kansas Supreme Court's overreach in striking down some of the state's previous abortion restrictions in 2019.
Opponents argued that the amendment would set state lawmakers up to pursue a total abortion ban.
Chicago Sun-Times: Bailey tries to explain past Holocaust remark after it is denounced as ‘deeply disturbing,’ antisemitic and ‘disqualifying’ by Tina Sfondeles
Republican gubernatorial nominee Darren Bailey on Tuesday tried to minimize comments he made five years ago in which he said the Holocaust “doesn’t even compare” to abortion — remarks that have enflamed the Jewish community and the state’s Jewish governor, J.B. Pritzker.
“I believe that abortion is one of the greatest atrocities of our day, and I believe it’s one of the greatest atrocities probably forever,” Bailey said in the 2017 video, which was first reported on Monday by the nonprofit Jewish news website the Forward.
“The attempted extermination of the Jews of World War II doesn’t even compare on a shadow of the life that has been lost with abortion since its legalization,” Bailey said in the video.
On Tuesday, Bailey’s words were denounced by Jewish leaders, Democrats and some Republicans as “deeply offensive,” antisemitic and evidence the downstate lawmaker is unfit to lead the state.
Detroit Free Press: Tudor Dixon wins Michigan Republican primary for governor, faces Gretchen Whitmer by Paul Egan
GRAND RAPIDS – Tudor Dixon, a Muskegon County businesswoman, won the Republican primary for governor Tuesday and will face Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in November.
The Associated Press called the election for Dixon at about 9:45 p.m. as she came out on top of a five-candidate race.
Dixon thanked her supporters at the Amway Grand Plaza just before 10 p.m., saying she will work "to make sure the next four years are filled with opportunities and not locked classrooms and massive grocery bills."
begin nuDixon predicted an "epic battle" between her and Whitmer, who she attacked for closing schools and businesses during the pandemic, calling her "the queen of lockdowns." Referencing problems at the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency, Dixon also said Whitmer "allowed criminals to steal millions from our unemployment system, while those who needed it, couldn't get it."
New York Times: Senate Passes Bill to Expand Benefits for Veterans Exposed to Burn Pits by Stephanie Lai
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Tuesday approved a bill to create a new entitlement program to treat veterans who may have been exposed to toxic substances from burning trash pits on U.S. military bases, sending President Biden legislation that would expand medical care eligibility to an estimated 3.5 million people.
The bill was approved on a lopsided bipartisan vote, 86 to 11, only days after Republicans pulled their support in a dispute over how to pay for the benefits, imperiling the legislation and drawing days of angry protests from veterans who gathered outside the Capitol to demand action.
The measure would be the biggest expansion of veterans’ benefits since the Agent Orange Act of 1991, which increased access to care for Vietnam War veterans who had been exposed to the toxic herbicide that endangered generations of Vietnamese, Laotians and Cambodians.
Roll Call: Democrats confident about budget vote as GOP plans amendments by Lindsey McPherson and Laura Weiss
Senate Democrats are confident they’ll be able to pass their health care, climate and tax package early this month, as Republicans plot amendments they’ll offer in an attempt to undermine the bill and boost their election-year messaging.
The Senate parliamentarian is still vetting the package, which on net would reduce deficits by roughly $300 billion, to ensure all the provisions Democrats proposed comply with the budget reconciliation rules. Still, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer insists the chamber is “on track” to take up the bill later this week.
Lead negotiators Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., separately said Tuesday they are in touch with Arizona Democrat Kyrsten Sinema, who has yet to say whether she supports the bill.
“I'm very hopeful we're all going to stay united and pass this bill,” Schumer said.
Manchin told reporters after he spoke with Sinema Tuesday afternoon they “had a nice talk.”
CNN: Americans are piling up credit card debt as they struggle to keep up with the high cost of living by Matt Egan
Americans are piling up credit card debt as they struggle to keep up with the high cost of living.
US household debt surpassed $16 trillion for the first time ever during the second quarter, the New York Federal Reserve said Tuesday.
Even as borrowing costs surge, the NY Fed said credit card balances increased by $46 billion last quarter.
Over the past year, credit card debt has jumped by $100 billion, or 13%, the biggest percentage increase in more than 20 years. Credit cards typically charge high interest rates when balances aren’t fully paid off, making this an expensive form of debt.
The NY Fed said the credit card binge at least partly reflects inflation as prices rise at the fastest pace in more than four decades.
“The impacts of inflation are apparent in high volumes of borrowing,” NY Fed researchers wrote in a blog post.
Ars Technica: NY county with polio has pitiful 60% vaccination rate; 1,000s may be infected by Beth Mole
The vaccine-derived poliovirus that left an unvaccinated US resident with the country's first case of paralytic polio in nearly a decade has been genetically linked to spread in two other countries: the United Kingdom and Israel. Now that it has been detected in the US, health officials fear it has spread to hundreds or even thousands of people in a poorly vaccinated New York county.
On Monday, officials in New York urgently encouraged unvaccinated residents to get vaccinated "as soon as possible" to prevent further spread of the virus.
"Polio is very contagious, and an individual can transmit the virus even if they aren't sick," the New York State Department of Health said in a news release today. The virus spreads easily via a fecal-oral route through poor hygiene and sanitation. The virus transmits through direct contact with an infected person or contaminated food or water. "Symptoms, which can be mild and flu-like, can take up to 30 days to appear, during which time an infected individual can be shedding virus to others," the health department added.
About 1 in 200 people infected with poliovirus develop paralysis, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That means for the one case of paralytic polio to have arisen in New York—which was not linked to any international travel—hundreds of others were likely already infected.
*Let’s out loud whistle*
Washington Post: Inside the mission to kill Zawahiri: Months of planning before the strike by Shane Harris
Ayman al-Zawahiri, the 71-year-old leader of al-Qaeda, stepped onto the third-floor balcony of his house in an exclusive neighborhood of Kabul around 6:15 a.m. Sunday. He usually appeared in the morning, shortly after daybreak. Sometimes he read. He was always alone.
And the CIA was watching.
After hunting the co-planner of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks for more than two decades, U.S. intelligence personnel had tracked Zawahiri a few months earlier to a safe house in Kabul’s Shirpur neighborhood, where senior Afghan officials own mansions. Members of the Haqqani Taliban faction, who patrolled the area, knew exactly who their new neighbor was, U.S. officials said.
Intelligence analysts monitored the house, creating a “pattern of life” based on the comings and goings of the occupants. They paid especially close attention to the man who, as far as they could tell, never left. The others — now believed to be Zawahiri’s wife, his daughter and her children — took steps to avoid being followed home whenever they ventured out. “Long-standing terrorist tradecraft,” one senior administration official called it.
Guardian: Austrian doctors speak out after suicide of GP following Covid threats by Kate Connolly
Austrian medical representatives have called for greater protection for doctors after a GP who faced months of violent threats from anti-vaccination activists and pandemic conspiracy theorists took her own life.
Lisa-Maria Kellermayr was found dead in her practice in the lakeside resort of Seewalchen am Attersee on Friday. Prosecutors told the media they found three suicide notes and were not planning to carry out an autopsy.
Her death prompted a wave of vigils and demonstrations. There have also been calls for laws against bullying and psychological warfare to be tightened, including making it easier to prosecute perpetrators in other EU countries, after at least two of the people believed to have targeted Kellermayr with death threats were identified as coming from Germany.
Thousands of people gathered outside St Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna on Monday evening and across the country to pay tribute to Kellermayr, 36, in candlelight vigils. Many participants wore pink, her favourite colour.
BBC News: Ukraine war: First grain ship out of Ukraine reaches Turkish waters by Elsa Maishman
The first grain ship to depart Ukraine since Russia invaded has arrived at Turkey's Bosphorus strait.
The Razoni, which is carrying 26,000 tonnes of corn, will be inspected on Wednesday morning before continuing its journey to Lebanon.
Russia has been blockading Ukraine's ports since it invaded in February, intensifying global food shortages.
Under the terms of a deal brokered by Turkey and the UN last month, both sides have agreed shipments can resume.
Ukraine said its naval vessels will guide cargo ships through waters which have been mined.
In his usual evening address on Tuesday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said he wanted to see grain exports become regular again.
"Our goal now is to have regularity: so that when one ship leaves the port, there are other ships as well - both those loading and those approaching the port," he said.
In addition to easing food shortages elsewhere, he hoped exports would encourage Ukrainian farmers to sow seeds for next season.
AlJazeera: Tensions soar as rival protests take place near Iraqi parliament
Rival demonstrations by competing Shia Muslim groups affiliated with heavily armed militias brought thousands to the streets of Iraq’s capital as tension soars over the failure to form a government after months of deadlock.
Iraqi security forces were on high alert in Baghdad on Monday. Iraq’s longest post-election deadlock, at nearly 10 months with no government after an October vote, has led to unrest including protests by supporters of the powerful cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who are occupying parliament in an open-ended sit-in.
Al-Sadr’s opponents include a grouping of parties and militias mostly aligned with Iran, known as the Shia Coordination Framework, that called for counter-protests near parliament, saying they were aimed at protecting state institutions against the civil unrest of the Sadrists.
The Iraqi parliament sits in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone – also home to government buildings and embassies – which al-Sadr supporters stormed with ease twice last week as security forces stood back.
El País in English: From Bob Dylan to Etta James: Philosophy’s greatest (sung) hits by Mar Padilla
We tend to think of philosophy as a sophisticated academic system that is solely for scholars. But philosophy is something that can be applied to any situation that involves humans, whether alone or with others. The same is true of music. With verses that serve as philosophical nuggets, countless songs meditate on the human condition. The all-time champion—a song that so many hate—is probably Kansas’ Dust in the Wind, which croons: “I close my eyes only for a moment and the moment’s gone/All we are is dust in the wind/Now, don’t hang on, nothing lasts forever.” It offers a sugary lesson in stoicism, the school of philosophy that helps us come to grips with the finality and decadence of the world, all that we love, and ourselves: everything dies and all accomplishments will come to nothing.
In Being and Time, Heidegger ponders our existence, being there, thrown into possibility. If we are made of time—that most indomitable material—then Nina Simone has proved herself to be the most genuinely Heideggerian singer. As she sings in Who Knows Where The Time Goes: “At some point in your life you will have occasion to wonder / What is that thing called time / What does it do / And, above all, is it alive?” Simone—who wrote 500 songs and was a civil rights activist who left the US because of racism—said that freedom meant not being afraid.
But it’s not easy. In I’d Rather Go Blind, the great Etta James sings, “I would rather go blind, boy/ Than to see you walk away from me, child, no / Most of all, I just don’t, I just don’t wanna be free, no.” James is not alone in imagining that abyss. Indeed, one of the keys to Immanuel Kant’s philosophy is precisely the problem of freedom, that effort to exercise free will in regard to anything outside moral law—that is, not linked to impulses—and the ability to choose beyond our desires.
Have a good evening, everyone!