Protestors at last weekends Womens March in DC.
Protestors at last weekend's Women's March in DC. Alex Wong/Getty Images

The Texas abortion ban is on hold — for now. A federal district court has blocked SB8, the law that blocks abortions after six weeks and offers bounties for suing abortion providers. Next it heads to the Fifth Circuit for an appeal, but for now we’ve got an extremely strongly-worded ruling to appreciate:

'From the moment S.B. 8 went into effect, women have been unlawfully prevented from exercising control over their lives in ways that are protected by the Constitution,' he wrote. 'That other courts may find a way to avoid this conclusion is theirs to decide; this Court will not sanction one more day of this offensive deprivation of such an important right.'

Biden is failing to meet refugee promises. He said he’d bring in 62,500 refugees. So far, we’ve admitted fewer refugees than Trump had by this time in his term. Human rights groups say that the administration isn’t doing enough to rebuild the capacity that was dismantled under Trump.

How much messier can Idaho get? While Governor Brad Little was in Texas at an anti-Biden photo-op, Lieutenant Governor Janice McGeachin issued a surprise order banning vaccine mandates. Then Little issued a reverse-order, undoing McGeachin’s order. This is the chaos you get when you elect Republicans — disinterest in leadership, disinterest in public welfare, disinterest in anything other than optics.

A malaria vaccine will be widely deployed throughout Africa. The vaccine, developed in Africa, has the power to save hundreds of thousands of lives every year. But it may not last: The drug requires an ingredient from a tree that humans may be pushing to the brink of extinction.

Why are cops? Minneapolis police roamed the streets last summer in an unmarked van, shooting at random pedestrians without identifying themselves. When one person fired back, they arrested him. Now a jury has found him not guilty, and his defense team has released footage taken from body cameras. Would you believe the cops make racist remarks?

We’re living in a cascading system failure. Why did an oil pipeline spill hundreds of thousands of gallons onto a California beach last weekend? The pipeline may have been damaged by a misplaced anchor from the excess of cargo ship traffic off the coast, thanks to global disruptions to shipping.

Have you seen Deanna Jean Scott? The Ohio woman moved to Seattle in 2017. Her family hasn’t heard from her in almost a year. Family members contacted Seattle Police months ago, and cops say they found her car in Redmond at some point (when? They don’t say) and would now like the public’s help to figure out what happened to her.

Enjoy a car-free pub crawl: Here’s a handy map of some of the best destinations for beer along Sound Transit’s newly expanded line. It currently covers Northgate down to Columbia City, and I’m looking forward to seeing this beer map extend to Bellevue in two years.

Caltech’s new LEO robot achieves a new level of dystopian horror. We’ve seen plenty of cute humanoid robots doing little dances, or dog-shaped robots helpfully opening doors. But this new robot moves with a combination of limbs and propellers, resembling no life form you have ever seen and producing a deeply effective sense of unease. Did I mention it can ride a skateboard?

Fortunately, Kyrsten Sinema has a fallback career in grape-stomping. I missed this curious report a few weeks ago, but it seems that Arizona’s Senator-for-the-Rich took a little break from government work last year to take on a paid internship at a luxury winery in Sonoma … that just happens to be owned by one of her major donors. Probably nothing fishy at all going on there.

This is the most pure distillation of joy I’ve ever seen. Outstanding work by everyone. Thank you.

@ashleymfreeman

##challengegoingwrong ##fypシ ##motherdaughter ##ellendegeneres ##steveharvey

♬ original sound - Ashley M Freeman

Sometimes you just really want to go to a baseball game. A man who got away with stealing millions in a bank fraud scheme in the 1990s may have been spotted sitting directly behind home plate at a Dodgers game. John Ruffo hasn’t been spotted since 1998, and probably thought nobody would notice him back there. Still, seems like a big risk! Imagine if they’d put him on the kiss cam.

Andrew Lloyd Webber was so dismayed by the movie version of Cats that he got an emotional support dog. There are too many fabulous details to count in this profile of Sir Andy’s quest to breathe life back into theaters. (No word on whether his new dog is pollicle.)

Animals are gay. If you like animals and gay stuff, you will probably enjoy this selection of t-shirts featuring facts about queerness in the animal kingdom, based on the artist’s “own experiences with lesbian mini horse, Gay Ducks and cats, [and] Asexual Stallions.” I like the jellyfish design best.

Is this the queerest moment in late night history? This is a dream dinner party guest list: Joan Rivers, Elvira, Dr. Ruth, and Pee Wee Herman — good lord. The only person I’d add is Jim Varney, but how can one even begin to explain the phenomenon of Earnest P. Worrell to The Jaded Youths Of Today?