FRANKLIN GRAHAM CALLS FOR PRAYER TO "STRENGTHEN" DONALD TRUMP: Evangelist Franklin Graham, the son of the late Rev. Billy Graham, called on Christians Sunday to set aside Sunday, June 2, as a "special day of prayer for the President." "President Trump's enemies continue to try everything to destroy him, his family and the presidency," Graham wrote on Facebook. "In the history of our country, no president has been attacked as he has. I believe the only hope for him, and this nation, is God." The response has been mixed. Many people have promised to pray for the president. And many have taken Graham to task for politicizing prayer. Andy Rowell, a graduate of Duke Divinity School and assistant professor of ministry leadership at Bethel Seminary in Minnesota, wrote: "All Christians believe in praying for their government leaders. But this initiative and wording and signers has been shaped to be an event flattering President Trump without regard to the morality of what he does."
https://www.wral.com/franklin-graham-calls-for-day-of-prayer-to-protect-strengthen-the-president/184...

JUDGE RULES IN FAVOR OF UNC BOG IN VIDANT HEALTH KERFUFFLE: Under the most recent agreement, signed in 2013, describing the legal partnership between the hospital, Pitt County, ECU and the UNC System, the county’s Board of Commissioners appoints 11 members to the hospital’s board of trustees. The UNC Board of Governors appoints the other nine, with input from Vidant Health and ECU. In April, Vidant asked the Pitt County Board of Commissioners to approve a change in the hospital’s governance that would eliminate the UNC Board of Governors’ right to name trustees. Members of the county board approved the change without discussion, according to news reports. Two days later, Vidant filed paperwork with the N.C. Secretary of State’s office amending its corporate structure to reflect the change. According to UNC’s complaint,Vidant never talked to the university system about its plans to make the change. When UNC learned of the move, it said, it approached Vidant to say the change was unacceptable. When Vidant would not relent, UNC said, it went to court.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article230803944.html

CLUELESS TRUMP WISHES "HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY" TO JAPANESE SAILORS ON DESTROYER: The president treated his appearance aboard the USS Wasp as a Memorial Day event because it was still Monday in the United States when he addressed hundreds of members of the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet. “I have to wish you all a very happy Memorial Day,” Trump said. “On this Memorial Day evening in the United States, Americans are concluding a sacred day of remembrance, reflection and prayer.” Before appearing on the USS Wasp, Trump and first lady Melania Trump visited a Japanese destroyer, the J.S. Kaga, docked nearby. Standing alongside Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump delivered the same “happy Memorial Day” message to the Japanese forces. Some veterans and their families don’t like the phrase “Happy Memorial Day.” They say they prefer that the federal holiday remain a somber occasion for the nation to honor those who gave their lives in service to the United States.
https://www.thetimesnews.com/zz/news/20190527/trump-ending-japan-trip-after-memorial-day-speech-to-t...

TRUMP RAMPS UP HIS ATTACK ON CLIMATE SCIENCE: In the next few months, the White House will complete the rollback of the most significant federal effort to curb greenhouse-gas emissions, initiated during the Obama administration. And, in what could be Mr. Trump’s most consequential action yet, his administration will seek to undermine the very science on which climate change policy rests. As a result, parts of the federal government will no longer fulfill what scientists say is one of the most urgent jobs of climate science studies: reporting on the future effects of a rapidly warming planet and presenting a picture of what the earth could look like by the end of the century if the global economy continues to emit heat-trapping carbon dioxide pollution from burning fossil fuels. The attack on science is underway throughout the government. In the most recent example, the White House-appointed director of the United States Geological Survey, James Reilly, a former astronaut and petroleum geologist, has ordered that scientific assessments produced by that office use only computer-generated climate models that project the impact of climate change through 2040, rather than through the end of the century, as had been done previously.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/27/us/politics/trump-climate-science.html?action=click&module=Top%20...

JOHNSON & JOHNSON STILL ON THE HOOK IN OPIOID DEATHS LAWSUIT: Much has changed since Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter sued three drug companies and their subsidiaries 23 months ago, alleging they are responsible for the opioid scourge. The central character in the opioid epidemic, Purdue Pharma, has settled with the state for $270 million and will not be on trial in Judge Thad Balkman’s courtroom. On Sunday, a second defendant, Teva Pharmaceuticals, settled out of court for $85 million. The state has dropped all but one accusation against the remaining company — Johnson & Johnson — and is pinning its strategy on a novel use of Oklahoma law. Like more than 1,600 other states, cities, counties, Native American tribes and other groups that have filed lawsuits, Oklahoma contends that pharmaceutical companies sparked the crisis of the past two decades, ignoring the growing toll and, in some cases, deceptively promoting the drugs.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/drug-company-to-face-first-opioid-trial-in-ok...