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NEWS

Will ballot drop boxes be legal again in Wisconsin?

The Wisconsin Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments Monday in a case that could restore the use of absentee ballot drop boxes in the state.

The same court ruled drop boxes illegal in 2022, barring voters from returning their absentee ballots using the boxes that sprang up in many communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The case was filed just two weeks before the court flipped to a liberal majority last summer.

That means the court could again allow drop boxes to be used in Wisconsin, perhaps before the August and November elections.

—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

UW-Milwaukee strikes deal with pro-Palestinian protesters

The encampment is ending at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

UWM and pro-Palestinian protesters reached an agreement Sunday afternoon, two weeks after tents went up on the lawn outside Mitchell Hall in defiance of a state rule banning camping on campus property.

Protesters said the encampment was a “vital tool in pressuring UWM to cut any and all ties” with Israel after more diplomatic attempts to negotiate with administrators went nowhere.

Similar to the deal UW-Madison struck Friday, UWM protesters will meet with university foundation leaders to discuss divesting from companies connected with Israel.

Unlike UW-Madison, UWM did not send in police to try clearing the encampment. Instead, the university took a hands-off approach in the first week and met with protest leaders three times over the past week.

Protesters also agreed not to disrupt commencement, which will be held May 19 at UWM Panther Arena.

In exchange, UWM agreed to form a working group to review study abroad programming to ensure it aligns with the university’s discriminatory conduct policy. UWM also agreed to forgo citations or conduct violations related to the camping ban.

In one of the more notable concessions, UWM said it had successfully urged the Water Council, a Milwaukee-based nonprofit focused on water issues, to end its relationships with two Israeli-government-owned water companies. International aid organizations have accused both companies, Mekorot and Israel Innovation Authority, of cutting off access to drinking water for thousands of Palestinians in Gaza.

—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Handful of students protest war in Gaza at UW-Madison commencement

A handful of students quietly protested the war in Gaza at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s commencement Saturday, but the annual graduation ceremony inside Camp Randall Stadium otherwise proceeded without disruption.

The first signs of protest happened when UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin began her speech. Roughly 20 students stood and turned their backs to Mnookin, and two students draped a Palestinian flag over their backs.students draped a Palestinian flag over their backs.

Later in the program, a group of students carrying a Palestinian flag quietly left the arena, escorted by police. There was no noticeable shouting as they left, and graduation speakers continued as scheduled without interruption.

—WI Public Radio

Secret Service Won’t Budge in Moving Security Zone Farther From GOP Convention in Milwaukee

Republicans are livid with the Secret Service who are refusing to move the perimeter of the “security zone” at the Republican Convention in Milwaukee further from the Fiserv Forum.

The current “free speech zone” for the convention is in Pere Marquette Park, a mere quarter of a mile from the convention venue. By comparison, the Democrats in Chicago have set up a free speech zone about three miles from the United Center where the convention will be held. There will also be several other “security zones” around the United Center.

Republican officials met with the Secret Service and strongly urged them to move the free speech zone further than a quarter mile from the venue. The agency refused.

The park’s location sets up a gauntlet that convention delegates will have to walk through to get to the venue. While most convention gores will arrive on buses, restricting the movement of delegates and guests because of security concerns is unacceptable, say Republicans.

“We have no information that there will be unrest related to that activity,” one Secret Service official said.

In fact, Milwaukee police are claiming the real danger at the convention is from Republican delegates.

The Washington Post reports, “At the meeting, a Milwaukee police captain also said there were concerns within the community that Republican convention attendees might “terrorize Milwaukee citizens” and “harass minorities.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell wrote a letter to Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the Secret Service and demanded to know why the Republican weeks-old request for a meeting with Cheatle hasn’t been answered.

“I am deeply concerned about reports that the security perimeter around the Republican Convention site in Milwaukee may be creating a likely — and preventable — area of conflict between protesters and Convention attendees and delegates,” McConnell wrote in the letter.

—PJ Media

Creepy, crawly and in the post: researchers asking Wisconsinites to mail in ticks

After a hike through the woods or a walk through a field, it’s not unusual in Wisconsin to find a tick crawling on yourself or a furry friend.

Now, scientists at the Marshfield Clinic Research Institute (are) asking Wisconsinites who find ticks to drop them into the mail instead of the trash.

The Tick Inventory via Citizen Science, or TICS, project started a little over three weeks ago, according to senior research scientist Jennifer Meece, and has already received and identified over 600 ticks.

Using free collection kits, people seal the ticks in a biohazard bag and fill out a short form about where they picked up the tick and what activity they were doing. Participants then mail the ticks to the research institute in Marshfield using a pre-paid envelope.

She said they’ve sent kits to veterinary clinics, state parks and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources field stations.

The goal of the project is to first understand the distribution of tick species in Wisconsin and identify any invasive ticks that may be moving into the state.

—WI Public Radio

Sen. Lindsey Graham compares war in Gaza to Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Sunday compared Israel’s war against Hamas to the U.S. decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan in World War II during an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”

“When we were faced with destruction as a nation after Pearl Harbor, fighting the Germans and the Japanese, we decided to end the war by the bombing [of] Hiroshima [and] Nagasaki with nuclear weapons,” Graham said. “That was the right decision.” He added, “Give Israel the bombs they need to end the war. They can’t afford to lose.”

Graham, a staunch supporter of Israel, used the analogy multiple times while condemning President Joe Biden for threatening to withhold certain weapons from Israel if it launches a military operation in Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza where over a million civilians are sheltering.

“Can I say this?” he asked. “Why is it OK for America to drop two nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end their existential threat war? Why was it OK for us to do that? I thought it was OK.”

He added, “So, Israel, do whatever you have to do to survive as a Jewish state. Whatever you have to do.”

—NBC News

Jerry Seinfeld booed by anti-Israel protesters

Dozens of students walked out of Duke University’s commencement ceremony on Sunday to protest guest speaker Jerry Seinfield over his support of Israel during the war in Gaza.

Video of the incident shows a group of students walking out of their seats and carrying a Palestinian flag as soon as the comedian and TV star was called to the stage.

The attention to the protesters was quickly diverted by the cheering crowd, who chanted, “Jerry! Jerry!” as Seinfeld would go on to give his speech and accept an honorary degree from Duke.

—NY Post

Trump now leading in 5 battleground states — all of which Biden won in 2020: poll

Former President Donald Trump is leading President Biden in five critical, toss-up swing states — all of which Biden had won in 2020, a new set of polls revealed.

Surveys by The New York Times, Siena College and The Philadelphia Inquirer found that Trump was more popular than Biden among voters in Michigan, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and Pennsylvania, while Biden led among voters in only one battleground state, Wisconsin.

—NY Post

Sordid Details At Trial Open Door to Appeal

Stormy Daniels’s two days of testimony in Donald Trump’s hush-money trial added graphic details and unexpected wrinkles to the proceedings—and might have given the former president new avenues for challenging any conviction.

The porn star didn’t hold back in testifying about her alleged sexual encounter in 2006 with the former president, often prompted by questions from prosecutors: “Did you touch his skin?” “Was he wearing a condom?” “Do you recall how it ended, the sex?” “Was it brief?”

Other times Daniels offered sexual details beyond what she was asked, and Trump’s lawyers raised several objections that were sustained by the presiding judge, Justice Juan Merchan. Trump denies the affair. He audibly cursed during the testimony, according to Merchan, who asked Trump’s lawyers to quiet him down.

If Trump is convicted, some legal observers said his team could argue on appeal that her testimony was prejudicial because it painted Trump in a bad light on sexual matters that had little to do with the charges: that he falsified records to cover up a payment to Daniels.

“In terms of charges, it doesn’t matter what happened in that hotel room,” said John Balestriere, a former Manhattan assistant district attorney. “The business records are what matter.”

John Coffee, a Columbia Law School professor, said it made sense that Daniels testified; otherwise, prosecutors would have looked like they were hiding her from the jury. As a witness, though, she should have been limited to narrow, brief questions, he said.

“It doesn’t have any relevance to this case whether Donald Trump wore a condom or not,” Coffee said.

An even bigger week in the trial begins Monday, when perhaps the most crucial witness in the case is expected to take the stand: former Trump fixer Michael Cohen, who made the payment to Daniels.

—Wall Street Journal

Justice Kavanaugh Says Case Load Of Supreme Court Is Too Light

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, in a swing through the Texas capital Friday, had plenty to say to a regional conference of judges and lawyers about his job at the Supreme Court, a respite before the final stretch of a term in which the court will issue rulings on abortion access, gun restrictions and the prosecution of former President Donald Trump.

Kavanaugh said the court’s case load is too light, about 60 arguments a year in recent years rather than the 75 he believes the justices should be handling. From the late 1950s through the early 1990s, the court often heard 150 or more cases annually, but the number has steadily declined since.

It takes four votes on the nine-member court to hear a case, but the court doesn’t typically announce the tally in public orders listing granted and denied appeals. Kavanaugh said he had begun to publicly note when he wanted to take a case but was outvoted.

“It’s no secret, given that I think I’d like to grant more cases than anyone else,” he said. “These are not cases that are going to get a lot of public attention, but the kind of nuts-and-bolts cases where there is confusion in the courts, confusion about a prior decision of ours, confusion about a statute that Congress has passed. And I think we should jump in and try to clear up the confusion if we can, but it takes four of us to grant, and you go around the table and, lo and behold, there are three. And there it is.”

—Wall Street Journal

Susan Backlinie, who played shark victim Chrissie Watkins in ‘Jaws,’ dies at 77

Actress Susan Backlinie, best known as the first shark victim in the “Jaws” franchise, has died. She was 77.

Backlinie, who played Chrissie Watkins in the Steven Spielberg-directed thriller, died Saturday morning at her California home, reportedly of a heart attack.

Backlinie’s unnerving performance as Watkins, a young woman who goes for a free-spirited swim in the ocean, set the suspenseful tone for “Jaws.” Watkins’ aquatic fun comes to a shuddering halt when she’s attacked by a monstrous shark and subsequently killed.

Released in June 1975, “Jaws” became an instant classic, grossing $260 million at the global box office and earning a trio of Academy Awards in 1976.

OPINION

What You Aren’t Hearing About Marijuana

A 2022 survey sponsored by the National Institutes of Health found that 28.8% of Americans age 19 to 30 had used marijuana in the preceding 30 days— more than three times as many as smoked cigarettes. Among those 35 to 50, 17.3% had used weed in the previous month, versus 12.2% for cigarettes.

While marijuana use remains a federal crime, 24 states have legalized it and another 14 permit it for medical purposes.

Media outlets reported that the Biden administration is moving to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous Schedule III drug—on par with anabolic steroids and Tylenol with codeine—which would provide tax benefits and a financial boon to the pot industry. Bertha Madras thinks this would be a colossal mistake. Ms. Madras, 81, is a psychobiology professor at Harvard Medical School and one of the foremost experts on marijuana. “It’s a political decision, not a scientific one,” she says. “And it’s a tragic one.”

Marijuana does more lasting damage to the brain than alcohol, especially at the high potencies being consumed today. Levels of THC—the main psychoactive ingredient in pot—are four or more times as high as they were 30 years ago. That heightens the risks, which range from anxiety and depression to impaired memory and cannabis hyperemesis syndrome— cycles of severe vomiting caused by long-term use.

There’s mounting evidence that cannabis can cause schizophrenia.

Another cause for concern, she notes, is that more pregnant women are using pot, which has been linked to increased preterm deliveries, admissions of newborns into neonatal intensive care units, lower birth weights and smaller head circumferences.

Marijuana has also been associated with violent behavior.

What about medicinal benefits? Ms. Madras says she has reviewed “every single case of therapeutic indication for marijuana—and there are over 100 now that people have claimed—and I frankly found that the only one that came close to having some evidence from randomized controlled trials was the neuropathic pain studies.”

That’s “a very specific type of pain, which involves damage to nerve endingslike in diabetes or where there’s poor blood supply,” she explains.

For other types of pain, and for all other conditions, there is no strong evidence from high-quality randomized trials to support its use. When researchers did a “challenge test on normal people where they induce pain and tried to see whether or not marijuana reduces the pain, it was ineffective.”

Ms. Madras sees parallels between the marketing of pot now and of opioids a few decades ago. “The benefits have been exaggerated, the risks have been minimized, and skeptics in the scientific community have been ignored,” she says. “The playbook is always to say it’s safe and effective and nonaddictive in people.”

It’s a travesty, Ms. Madras adds, that the “FDA has decided that they’re going to listen to that movement rather than to what the science says.” While the reclassification wouldn’t make recreational marijuana legal under federal law, dispensaries and growers would be able to deduct their business expenses on their taxes. The rescheduling would also send a cultural signal that marijuana use is normal.

—Allysia Finley is a member of the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board.

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY – In 1981 Pope John Paul II survived an assassination attempt in St. Peter’s Square, Vatican City, in which he was shot and seriously wounded by Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turkish national.

Good stuff, as always!

Small changes in this reporter’s smartphone habits led to major changes in her life and work
By Katherine Bindley
Wall Street Journal
May 3, 2024

I recently found something I lost years ago: my attention span.

Many of us are well aware that our phones—and all their apps—are doing things to our brains we don’t exactly like. But we seem to be at a loss for what to do about it.

Built-in screen-time limits are arguably useless. Choosing a so-called dumbphone can mean losing helpful services like Google Maps, Uber and Spotify. Smartphones are too useful to be left behind. The remedy for my renewed sense of focus wasn’t tech. It was good old Catholicism.

For Lent this year, I gave up anything scrollable, swipeable and refreshable for recreation, including Instagram, Facebook, X and dating apps. I also gave up my TV. I figured it, too, is a screen and God would appreciate the sacrifice.

The results were astounding. I got better sleep. I was more productive at work. My brain felt calmer with all the reading and writing I did. The old me was back in full force.

If your attention span has also been MIA for a while, try to pinpoint your weakness. For me, it’s “checkiness.” That’s my word for mindlessly, reflexively picking up my phone to peek at Instagram or even check my email when there’s no real reason to. I focused my efforts on making my phone less enticing.

Just before Lent began on Feb. 14, I put my “checkiest” apps into a folder where I wouldn’t see them. I also stashed my TV remote.

Our stolen attention

Social media has long been linked to a number of issues including anxiety and depression, especially among young people. That wasn’t my issue. There’s a whole cohort of grown-ups, myself included, who could swear they used to be able to pay attention.

Research shows our attention spans have been shrinking over time. In 2004, we could stay focused on a screen for 150 seconds on average. In 2012, we were down to 75 seconds. Between 2016 and 2020, it had fallen to an average of 47 seconds. That’s according to Gloria Mark, a professor emerita at University of California, Irvine, and author of the book “Attention Span.”

I’d long ago lost my ability to enjoy reading. In retrospect, this should have been a red flag given the written word is how I make a living. Instead, I turned to TV. I was watching too many mindless shows.
Media itself has been chopped up into smaller and smaller bites, from TikTok videos to quicker shot lengths in TV and movies, says Mark.

The power of boredom

A few nights into Lent, I was just bored enough to start journaling. I tried the Pennebaker method: Write about a challenging event for 15 to 30 minutes four nights in a row. During the next several weeks, I did four separate sessions on different personal struggles, totaling nearly eight hours of journaling.

Books came next. It turns out reading is like riding a bike: You don’t forget how to enjoy it—provided there’s no distracting phone to steer you sideways.

I started with a relatively light lift, then graduated to a pair of thick Pulitzer Prize winners, Hernan Diaz’s “Trust” and Barbara Kingsolver’s “Demon Copperhead.”

The small changes in my habits led to major changes in my life and work. All the reading had me feeling tired earlier. For weeks I got in bed around 8:30 p.m. to read. I became one of those people who wakes up in earnest at 5 a.m., fires off a bunch of work emails then goes for a run or a swim. It wasn’t long before I was plowing through work tasks in far less time and practically skipping into the office to tell my editor all I’d accomplished.

Just 10 days in, I started work on a long-dreamed-of passion project: a children’s book series inspired by the antics of my dog.

One Saturday, I wrote a first draft without resorting to procrastination. I also felt more present in general.

On a five-day ski trip, I snapped shots of just a few select moments—sunrise over the mountain, my friend knee-deep in powder on a tree run—instead of the usual daily dozen.

The Easter hangover

I woke up early on Easter like it was Christmas and binged on all my apps. For the rest of the day, I felt like I’d had too many espressos. I gave myself a week’s grace period to check and watch anything. After that, my new normal would be no social media until after work. I’d also read a few nights a week instead of watching TV.

My grace period lasted almost a month—and my attention span once again vanished. Mark, the UC Irvine professor, says my experiment was like a crash diet: effective but fleeting. I needed some kind of longer-term plan to help keep me at peak attention span.

I turned to Catherine Price, who has a book and an online course titled “How to Break Up With Your Phone.” Here’s how she suggests being more mindful about your screen use and getting your attention span back longer-term:

During times when you don’t have to be on your phone, keep it in another room, or at least out of view. She says to get a box, or find a hard-to-reach outlet for charging.

If you need your phone nearby, try a physical barrier like a rubber band. When you absentmindedly reach for the phone, there’s a built-in pause.

Identify what’s driving you to the apps, she says. If you’re lonely, could you call a friend instead? If you’re anxious, could you meditate?

I still plan to go cold turkey again when I want to write a sequel to my children’s book, or when I just feel I need to detox. Meanwhile, does anyone have a rubber band I can borrow?

—Katherine Bindley is a technology reporter for The Wall Street Journal in San Francisco, where she covers the work and culture of Silicon Valley