memeorandum: Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly vetoes GOP bill banning transgender athletes (Mary Kay Linge/New York Post)

1:00 AM ET, April 17, 2022

Top Items:

Lucas Mann / Slate:

I'm a Longtime Professor. The Real Campus “Free Speech Crisis” Is Not What You Think. — I'm a college professor, which is one of those jobs that people outside the profession love to ask you about. For the better part of a decade, most of those conversations have been about one thing: free speech.

Discussion: Persuasion

Andrew Perez / The Lever:

Oil Mogul Bankrolls Attempt To Buy Democratic Primary — To crush Nina Turner, oil mogul taps strategic petroleum reserve of cash for Shontel Brown. — A super PAC bankrolled by a fossil fuel magnate is launching last-minute ads to try to crush the congressional candidacy of a leading proponent …

Discussion: Common Dreams

Michelle Liu / Associated Press:

12 injured in shooting at South Carolina mall; 3 detained — COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Ten people were shot and two others injured in a shooting at a busy shopping mall in South Carolina's capital that authorities do not believe was a random attack. — Three people who had firearms …

Discussion: NBC Los Angeles, Insider, The Hill and CBS News

Washington Post:

In Bucha, the story of one man's body left on a Russian killing field — BUCHA, Ukraine — Police found the body in an abandoned Russian military camp where occupying soldiers had sat around drinking wine, their laughter so loud that neighbors seethed as it echoed down Yablunska Street.

Mary Kay Linge / New York Post:

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly vetoes GOP bill banning transgender athletes — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly shot down two hotly debated Republican bills — one banning transgender athletes from girls' sports, and another forcing schools to let parents challenge classroom curriculum …

Discussion: Topeka Capital-Journal, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, d2430, Washington Times, Kansas Reflector and Kansas City Star

New York Times:

India Is Stalling the W.H.O.'s Efforts to Make Global Covid Death Toll Public — The agency has calculated that 15 million people have died as a result of the pandemic, far more than earlier estimates, but has yet to release those numbers. — Give this article- - - Read in app

Discussion: Coronavirus Morning News Brief

Ruth Graham / New York Times:

Days After Setting an Execution Date, a Texas Prosecutor Reverses Course — John Henry Ramirez, a death row inmate whose religious freedom case gained national attention, may win a reprieve in an unexpected twist. — Give this article- - - Read in app — DALLAS — When a judge …

Discussion: UPI and The Texas Tribune

Kyle Whitmire / al.com:

Tim James attacked a school's drag show. Look what's in his yearbook. — This is an opinion column. — Tim James wants folks to know he doesn't care much for LGBTQ acceptance, which the Republican candidate for governor says is putting Alabama children in the “crosshairs of hell.”

Discussion: Raw Story, WSAV-TV, Mock Paper Scissors and Daily Kos

Ian Shapira / Washington Post:

VMI alumni push to reverse diversity reforms, invoking critical race theory — One White alumnus launched a petition drive and another filed a lawsuit to stop VMI's diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives — Conservative Virginia Military Institute alumni are using a petition drive …

Illia Ponomarenko / The Kyiv Independent:

Historic loss of flagship deals humiliating blow to Russia's naval power — The Russian-Ukrainian war has produced yet another hallmark event in the history of warfare. — On April 14, after 49 days of Russia's all-out war, Ukraine inflicted a devastating blow upon the Kremlin's pride …

Discussion: New York Post, The Western Journal and TheBlaze

David Siders / Politico:

‘I Just Think Sarah These Days Is Not a Person to Be Taken Seriously’ — WASILLA, Alaska — About 70 miles up the road from Sarah Palin's home on Lake Lucille, there's a propane, gift and souvenir store set behind a snowbank where Mike Carpenter, the owner, will turn on Newsmax …

Discussion: Raw Story

Libby Casey / Washington Post:
Sarah Palin is running for Congress. Many Alaskans are skeptical of her.

Discussion: Raw Story

Techno Fog / The Reactionary:

CIA Bombshell: The Sussmann data was “user created” — My late Friday night involved hitting refresh on PACER every so often, incurring the $0.10 charge for each search result as I waited on Special Counsel John Durham's latest filing in the Michael Sussmann case. (Exciting, I know.)

Discussion: Meaning In History and The Last Refuge

Oriana Gonzalez / Axios:

Abortion bans that have been enacted — Florida: Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed into law a 15-week abortion ban which has no exceptions for rape or incest. It only allows for abortions to be performed past the 15 weeks if there's a medical emergency or a “fatal fetal abnormality.”

Discussion: WSAV-TV

Yoruk Isik / Reuters:

Russian oligarch Deripaska's yacht arrives in Turkish waters — A yacht linked to Russian aluminium tycoon Oleg Deripaska arrived in a bay near the southwestern Turkish resort of Gocek on Saturday, as more Russian billionaires head for Turkey to flee Western sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Discussion: Reuters

Yonhap News Agency:

S. Korea decides to join CPTPP trade agreement — South Korea decided Friday to join a mega free trade agreement involving 11 Asia-Pacific nations as the country seeks to diversify its export portfolio amid heightened economic uncertainty. — Late last year, the country launched the process …

Peter Hermann / Washington Post:

Prosecutors don't pursue stolen property charges in case involving dog — Federal prosecutors said Saturday that they did not pursue criminal charges filed by D.C. police against four men who were arrested at a residence where authorities found Pablo, a puppy that had been taken from his owner at gunpoint.