One good news note this week— A federal judge slapped down Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and his buddy Elon Musk, granting a preliminary injunction against his subpoena of Media Matters. The judge’s 40-page opinion details the chilling effect of Paxton’s actions, as both Media Matters and the individual journalist who reported on Musk/Twitter/X pulled back from that reporting in fear of further legal harassment. The judge finds that Paxton’s actions are retaliatory and in violation of the First Amendment’s protection of freedom of the press.
Turning up the heat on workers— Florida laws protect high school athletes from the physical dangers of high heat and humidity during outdoor activity, but give no such protection to outdoor workers. Florida forbids local governments from protecting workers from the heat, under a new law signed last week by Governor Ron DeSantis.
The Florida legislature and governor decided to protect employers from regulation after Miami-Dade county tried to protect workers from the heat. Miami-Dade county is home to 300,000 of the state’s two million outdoor workers. Last year, Miami saw a 46-day stretch of above-100-degree heat index readings. NPR reported:
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Downton Abbey is new. NCIS is new. Sherlock is new (not very good, IMHO, but new.) So why is the news in reruns? We have, once again, a stupid, mean-spirited deportation move against Central American families and children. Ultra-right-wing, anti-government, white supremacist grandstanding — take over a bird sanctuary? Really? And a re-run of old gun control rhetoric, with minimalist but highly choreographed executive action substituting for actual gun control. 
Mary Turck