Good morning! On this date in 1938, Bugs Bunny made his debut as “Happy Rabbit” in a short titled, “Porky’s Hare Hunt.” That’s why today is Bugs Bunny Day, which is livelier than the alternative: Hitler Suicide Day…
Criminals –> Ben Protess and Jessica Silver-Greenberg report for the NYT that prosecutors “are nearing criminal charges against some of the world’s biggest banks,” which they say “could produce the first guilty plea from a major bank in more than two decades.”
Executions are savage –> But not equally so, as Oklahoma proved last night when it tortured an inmate to death in a botched procedure using untested poisons. Heide Brandes reports for Reuters.
Judged –> Wisconsin’s voter ID law was struck down by a federal district court. A number of other restrictions on voting championed by Gov. Scott Walker remain in effect. Rick Hasen has the details at his Election Law Blog. This is the second such law struck down in the span of a week — a state court overturned Arkansas’ voter ID law on April 24.
Team effort –> LA slumlord Donald Sterling was banned from the NBA for life and is being forced to sell the LA Clippers over some really ugly remarks. An NBA Players’ Association official told ESPN that the stiff penalty came as a result of pressure from the players, who threatened to boycott all of the league’s Tuesday playoff games if he wasn’t thrown out of the league. ALSO: If you only read one thing about Sterling, we’d suggest Charlie Pierce’s piece at Grantland.
Big Coal smacked down –> At ThinkProgress, Ryan Koronowski explains why a major Supreme Court ruling on a challenge to the Clean Air Act is a rebuke to the coal industry. ALSO: Sahil Kapur reports for TPM that Antonin Scalia made what legal experts called an “embarrassing” and “cringeworthy blunder” in his dissent.
Armed insurrection –> A Nevada Rep. says that armed militias have set up checkpoints on roads and highways around Cliven Bundy’s Nevada ranch “where drivers are stopped and asked to provide a proof of residency,” according to Las Vegas Sun reporter Kyle Roerink.
Getting sillier by the day –> Dana Liebelson at MoJo: “Republicans Oppose Training Libyan Pilots and Nuclear Scientists in US Because of Benghazi.”
Can’t hide from Big Brother Data –> Janet Vertesi, an assistant professor of sociology at Princeton University, found it incredibly time-consuming and costly to hide her pregnancy from Google and Facebook. Jessica Goldstein interviewed her about a novel experiment for ThinkProgress.
Incoherent –> Scott Brown, who is now running for a Senate seat in New Hampshire, calls Obamacare a “disaster.” But as Ezra Klein explains at Vox, when asked to describe what he favors as a replacement his answer sounds very much like… Obamacare.
Not helpful –> MoJo’s Chris Mooney reports on a new study which concludes that scientists’ use of language is a helping fuel climate change denialism.
(Non-BENGHAZI!!!) news out of Libya –> Gunmen stormed the Libyan Parliament, derailing a planned vote for a new Prime Minister to replace Abdullah al-Thinni, who resigned after he and his family were targeted by militias. Via: BBC.
“Cycle of Chutzpah” –> At Religion Dispatches, Sarah Posner looks at the contrived outrage over John Kerry’s warning that Israel could eventually become an “apartheid state” if no peace deal can be cut.
Getting the old gang back together –> Yesterday was a big day for nerds everywhere, as the cast of the next Star Wars films was announced. It includes many of the actors from the original.
