Category: Domestic Affairs,

If Rosa Parks rode a bus in Boston today, she’d see nearly the same segregation she fought

On By peanutgallerynhIn Boston,, Infrastructure and Transportation,, Money, Class, and Poverty,, Race,Leave a comment

If Rosa Parks boarded a bus in Boston today, she wouldn’t see black and white sections; she’d see a dysfunctional system that is disproportionately failing the low-income people — largely people of color and immigrants — whose livelihoods depend on it.

…Even though white and minority riders use the bus system in roughly equal numbers, differences in reliability and frequency of service on routes that serve mostly black and mostly white riders effectively steal more than a week and a half of work [from riders who are not white]— 3 percent of a person’s annual productivity, skimmed right off the top.

…“These studies are replicated around the nation. It’s one of the greatest transportation injustices,” said Julian Agyeman, a professor of urban and environmental policy and planning at Tufts University.

…Only 19 of the T’s 176 bus routes offer frequent, all-day service. And 63 percent of area residents are not served by any of those 19 routes, which mostly run along major corridors and feed big job centers like Longwood or Kendall Square.

If Rosa Parks rode a bus in Boston today, she’d see nearly the same segregation she fought – The Boston Globe

sigh…

A United States Government (USG) Shows that the USG: “planned to traumatize children and intentionally create a humanitarian crisis”

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Modern Parenting,, Race,, The Americas,Leave a comment

A United States Government (USG) Memorandum Released by Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley to NBC News Shows According to Him that the USG: “planned to traumatize children and intentionally create a humanitarian crisis” | Robert Crown Law Library Blog

hmmmm

Nancy Pelosi and the sarcastic point clapback heard round the world.

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Media and Culture,Leave a comment

Nancy Pelosi and the sarcastic point clapback heard round the world.

heh

Report: Missing Migrant Children Being Funneled Through Christian Adoption Agency | Michael Stone

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Media and Culture,, Modern Parenting,, Race,, Religion,Leave a comment

 

The Trump administration says it can’t reunite missing migrant children with their families; instead, many of the children are being shipped to a Christian adoption agency with ties to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

Earlier this week the Trump administration told a federal court that it would require too much effort to reunite migrant children with their parents.

…The Trump administration is also concerned that reunification would “present grave child welfare concerns” because the children would be removed from their “sponsor” homes.

…Bottom line: The Trump administration says it can’t reunite missing migrant children with their families; instead, many of the children are being funneled through Christian adoption trafficking mills like the DeVos connected Bethany Christian Services.

Report: Missing Migrant Children Being Funneled Through Christian Adoption Agency | Michael Stone

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Immigrant rights attorneys and journalists denied entry into Mexico

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Race,, The Americas,Leave a comment

Two U.S. immigrant rights attorneys and two journalists who have worked closely with members of a migrant caravan in Tijuana said they had been denied entry into Mexico in recent days after their passports were flagged with alerts by an unknown government.

Immigrant rights attorneys and journalists denied entry into Mexico – Los Angeles Times

hmmmm

Trump: ‘A lot of people in the NFL have been calling and thanking me’ for judicial reform

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Media and Culture,, Race,Leave a comment

“A lot of [the protest] is having to do with reform, from what I understand,” he said. “Whether it’s criminal justice or whatever, it may be and they have different versions and everybody seemed to have a different version of it. But a lot of it had to do with that, and I took care of that.”

In boasting about the criminal justice bill, Trump also sidestepped questions from Brennan about his handling of race issues. He also echoed his past statements about low African-American unemployment, saying: “Best numbers they’ve had — literally the best numbers they’ve had in history. And I think they like me a lot and I like them a lot.”

Trump: ‘A lot of people in the NFL have been calling and thanking me’ for judicial reform | TheHill

oy…

Regulators should study the Facebook Research incident

On By peanutgallerynhIn Media and Culture,, Money, Class, and Poverty,, Privacy,Leave a comment

Facebook’s move to intentionally skirt Apple’s rules in order to spy on consumers’ mobile phone activities was “a particularly egregious abuse of power on Facebook’s behalf.”

…Facebook’s brouhaha with Apple seems to have begun with an app owned by the social-networking company called Onavo. That app offers a virtual private network, a way of cordoning off data from the general internet to protect users’ activities from being monitored. And that’s the way Facebook marketed it.

But Onavo was designed to allow Facebook itself to monitor everything users of the app were doing on their phones. And the data it provided reportedly gave the company crucial intelligence about emerging competitors, including WhatsApp, which Facebook later purchased, and Snapchat, whose features it copied.

…Like Onavo, Facebook Research offered a VPN that kept tabs on users’ phone activities. The social-networking company paid consumers as young as 13 to install the app so it could monitor what they were doing on their smartphones.

But instead of offering Facebook Research through the public App Store, Facebook got it out to users surreptitiously, having third-party companies offer it through a process Apple created to allow enterprises to distribute internal apps to their employees. The move was a clear violation of both the letter and spirit of Apple’s rules.

Regulators should study the Facebook Research indicident – Business Insider

hmmmm

Deutsche Bank refused Trump a loan in 2016, worried he was too divisive

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

Deutsche Bank refused Donald Trump a loan during the 2016 campaign partly out of concern that he was too divisive a candidate.

…The request was examined by the bank’s top brass, including Christian Sewing, the former head of the wealth management unit who is now CEO. They concluded that Trump’s campaign rhetoric made him a risky borrower, and public knowledge of the loan arrangement could hurt the bank’s reputation. They also weighed the risks of the possibility that the bank would have to seize a president’s assets in the event of a loan default, the Times reported.

Deutsche Bank refused Trump a loan in 2016, worried he was too divisive – Business Insider

hmmmm

Supreme Court blocks Louisiana abortion law from taking effect Monday

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Chick Stuff,, Gulf Coast Region,Leave a comment

Louisiana’s Unsafe Abortion Protection Act has been blocked since its enactment in 2014, it requires a doctor to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the facility where the abortion is performed.

The state argues that the law is necessary to provide a higher level of physician competence, but critics say there is no medical justification for the law and it amounts to a veiled attempt to unlawfully restrict abortion.

In 2017, Judge John deGravelles, of the US District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, an Obama appointee, struck down the law, saying it would severely limit the number of providers available to perform abortions, result in the closure of clinics and “place added stress” on remaining facilities.

Supreme Court blocks Louisiana abortion law from taking effect Monday – CNNPolitics

hmmmm

University snow day descends into ‘all out war’ between cops and students

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Schools,Leave a comment

Officers can be seen on video using tear gas and compressed air guns on the students, which were reportedly loaded with “pepper balls.” The non-lethal projectiles are basically paintball pellets filled with pepper spray.

It’s unclear whether the cops were campus police or from the Morgantown Police Department. Students were allegedly throwing beer bottles and other debris at them.

…“Kids having fun on a snow day, the police started the problems and caused the situation to escalate,” tweeted one person in response to WVU’s statement. “The use of tear gas was unacceptable! Let the kids sled and keep them safe, we don’t need another Kent State!”

University snow day descends into ‘all out war’ between cops and students

hmmmm

Detroit officer as woman walks home in the cold: ‘what black girl magic looks like’ – CNN

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Local Interest,, Race,Leave a comment

Chief James Craig said the officer, a corporal in the Detroit Police Department, stopped the woman for expired registration. Her vehicle was towed, and as she walked to her home in the cold the officer posted a video on Snapchat saying “Bye Felecia.”

…Craig said the officer also made a reference to Black History Month, which he called even more problematic.

…The officer is under an internal investigation, but the department has begun moving to penalize him.

“I’m not troubled, I’m not disappointed, I’m angry,” Craig said. “This officer will be held accountable for his actions,” he said. “We are moving to remove his corporal rank.”

Detroit officer as woman walks home in the cold: ‘what black girl magic looks like’ – CNN

As long as officers of the law are allow to act like such hateful bigots, there will never be law and order, let alone justice.

New wave of ‘fake dates’ cause chaos in immigration courts

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Race,, The Americas,Leave a comment

More than 1,000 immigrants showed up at courts across the United States on Thursday for hearings they’d been told were scheduled but didn’t exist, a lawyers’ group said, as the Justice Department struggles with an overloaded immigration court system and the effects of the recently ended partial government shutdown.

…Thursday’s problems are the latest example of US immigration authorities issuing a large number of inaccurate notices ordering immigrants to appear at hearings that, it later turns out, had never been scheduled.

Lawyers first told CNN last year that they’d observed a wave of what they call “fake dates” pop up. For instance, lawyers reported examples of notices to appear issued for nonexistent dates, such as September 31, and for times of day when courts aren’t open, such as midnight.

New wave of ‘fake dates’ cause chaos in immigration courts – CNNPolitics

This kind of treatment of people who are doing their part to follow our country’s law should be criminal.

How conservative media transformed the Covington Catholic students from pariahs to heroes | US news | The Guardian

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Media and Culture,, Race,Leave a comment

In making this happen, conservative media have normalized the boys’ aggressive form of political expression, and tried to further discredit both fact-oriented media and high-profile liberals. Media outlets have been effectively gaslighted, and many climbed down from coverage which was based on the most clear and obvious interpretation of the boys chanting, making gestures and making tomahawk chops.

What it tells us is that in 2019, conservatives understand they can construct a parallel reality and have it accepted. They can act in bad faith and prevail, using tried and tested tactics that liberal media continue to fall for. Those are:
1. Reframe the debate as soon as possible
2. Pick your narratives
3. Focus on the extremes of the other side

How conservative media transformed the Covington Catholic students from pariahs to heroes | US news | The Guardian

hmmmm