The News Not Noise Letter: Surprise Abortion Ruling in Florida
A new ruling puts reproductive rights on the November ballot. Plus: is Russia behind the mysterious affliction striking US diplomats? And our favorite April Fool’s jokes.
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Happy April First. These days it’s difficult to tell real from fake news so we want to state this clearly: all news in this newsletter is real and covers actual events, no April Fools pranks. That said, we really need to get the April Fools jokes out of our system. So only in this one paragraph we link to the best April Fools jokes you sent us on Instagram: Krispy Kreme takes frosting to the next level. Scotch tape’s new beverage, Oreos are consciously uncoupling, Ikea Singapore announces its INVSBÅL collection, who’s that deepfake duo on the subway? And feel free to include more in comments.
Now the news.
Here are your headlines:
Florida Abortion Ban: There’s bad news/good news for reproductive rights in Florida, and it could impact the 2024 election. Today, Florida’s Supreme Court ruled that the state’s severely restrictive 6-week abortion ban may take effect because the state’s constitutional privacy protections do not extend to abortion. But the court also ruled that a referendum that would enshrine abortion protections in the state constitution can go on Florida’s November ballot. This could make the November election a referendum on reproductive rights in the state. It could also dramatically increase the odds that pro-choice voters who were planning to stay home because they dislike Biden and Trump will actually turn out and vote. That could give Biden a chance of performing in a state Democrats had largely written off as unwinnable at the presidential level. Florida’s six-week abortion ban goes into effect in 30 days.
Trendlines: Across the nation since Roe v. Wade fell, every state ballot initiative to protect abortion rights has passed. Every state ballot initiative to restrict abortion rights has failed.
Side note: Today the court also OKed a referendum on legalizing recreational marijuana, an issue that also leads to a high voter turnout (pun intended).
Trump Updates: We know there’s a mixed appetite for Trump news but a lot has happened recently that we haven’t yet shared. Feel free to skip this item if you don’t want Trump news.
Hogtied Biden Video: On Friday, Trump posted a video on Truth Social showing a pickup truck with the rear painted to look like President Biden was hogtied in the trunk. This prompted outrage and confusion over how to report on such an incident.
Truth Social Goes Public: Trump’s social media platform has gone public. It is now reportedly valued at $6.7 billion (despite the fact that last year, Truth Social lost $58 million). The former president is forbidden from selling his shares or using them as collateral for a loan for six months as part of the condition of a merger, so he can’t actually access this money right now. Truth Social stock value went down $4 billion in the past week, so we don’t know what Trump’s shares will be worth when he’s actually allowed to sell them.
Document Drama: Judge Aileen Cannon, the judge in the classified documents case, basically gave credence to a legal theory that experts on classified documents consider outrageous. In essence, she’s allowing Trump’s lawyers to argue that certain highly-classified US government documents count as Trump’s personal property because he thought of them as personal. This could spell trouble for the prosecution – and, you know, national security.
California Firsts: These next two stories are very different but they are both signs of California’s role at the cutting edge of progressive policymaking in the United States.
Fast-Food Minimum Wage: California adopted a $20/hr minimum wage specifically for fast-food workers. That’s the highest minimum wage in the nation, and four dollars higher than the state minimum wage (for non-fast-food work). This is good news for workers but some franchise owners say they’ll have to raise prices or sell. Reality check: data shows that when California previously raised the state minimum wage, unemployment rates stayed flat or even fell.
Assisted Death for the Severely Ill: California’s legislature is considering a controversial proposal to expand access to assisted dying treatment. The new proposal would allow patients from other states to travel to California for assisted dying. It would also allow more people to qualify for assisted dying – currently only those who have less than 6 months to live and meet a few other requirements can seek this treatment in California. If approved, the new proposal would allow anyone with a “grievous and irremediable medical condition” to request assisted death treatment. Eleven states, including California, currently allow some form of assisted dying for terminally ill patients. (These practices are sometimes called euthanasia or assisted suicide.) If passed, this would make California on the frontier of assisted death legislation. The bill is opposed by religious groups and disability rights groups.
Escalation in the Middle East’s Shadow War: Today Iran accused Israel of assassinating Mohammed Reza Zahedi, in an airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria. They say the strike also killed two Iranian generals and four other officers. Israeli press reports that Zahedi was reportedly meeting with leaders of Palestinian Islamic Jihad at the time of the strike. No diplomatic officials were killed in the attack and Israel insists the compound is used as “a military building” for Iran’s forces. Zahedi is Iran’s top liaison with Hezbollah the Iran-backed terror group based in Lebanon said to have 150,000 missiles and rockets aimed at Israel. He is also the highest-ranking Iranian officer killed since the US targeted Qassem Soleimani with a drone strike in 2020. Israel won’t comment on the attack, but has been conducting ongoing sporadic strikes in Syria. This would be an escalation at a time when there is already intense concern that Israel and Hezbollah will go to war. Iran has vowed a “harsh” and “decisive” response.
Netanyahu Protests: Tens of thousands of Israeli protesters are in the streets of Israel demanding new elections to replace Prime Minister Netanyahu. They are planning to demonstrate for four days, with hundreds even sleeping in tents outside the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. Protests against Netanyahu began early last year, months before the 10/7 attacks. Now some demonstrators tell the New York Times the massacre is fueling their movement. They say Netanyahu’s government “completely failed” to ensure the safety of Israeli citizens. Many are incensed that Netanyahu has not negotiated the return of all Israeli hostages in the nearly 7 months since they were taken. Netanyahu has a chilly relationship with President Biden and any number of Western leaders, who view his leadership as an obstacle to stability in the region.
Avenging Navalny: After Putin foe Alexei Navalny’s sudden death in a Russian prison, anti-Kremlin hackers began a revenge campaign. CNN reports a group of Ukrainian and Russian expatriate hackers took over a Russian prison contractor’s website, flooding it with images of Navalny and anti-Putin messaging. They hacked Russia’s prison commissary system, dramatically reducing the price of food so families could buy their imprisoned relatives far more food for far less money. And they say they stole a database filled with prisoner information. Wonder what they’ll do with that.
Havana Syndrome: An investigative report by CBS’ 60 Minutes, Der Spiegel, and The Insider found evidence linking the mysterious “Havana syndrome” impacting US diplomats with a Russian intelligence group – and sonic weapons.
What is Havana syndrome? Since 2016, several US diplomats – mostly overseas, though some in the US – have reported sudden onset of mysterious symptoms: vertigo, migraines, and memory problems. This was first reported in Havana, Cuba, hence the name. The US government has investigated this phenomenon, including taking MRIs of affected individuals, but recently reported that despite “severe symptoms,” they haven’t found evidence of “brain injury or biological abnormalities.”
What did the new report find?