What goes through my my mind when I read the news with my morning coffee. …Or for the Simon's Rockers in the group, this is my response journal.
Trump said he was not the only one to speak to Zelensky.
“I think you should ask for Vice President Pence’s conversation because he had a couple of conversations also,” Trump said.
Trump Just Threw Pence Under The Bus And Now ‘President Pelosi’ Is Trending | HuffPost
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The Endangered Species Act protects more than 1,600 species in the USA and its territories. Since being enacted in 1973, it has saved 99% of listed species from extinction and has brought species like the gray wolf and bald eagle back from the brink.
Last month, seven environmental groups filed another lawsuit that also challenged the revisions to the Endangered Species Act.
Endangered Species Act: 17 states sue Trump over changes
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Jennifer Hewitt Bishop, a Vineland School District teacher, said in the comment, “They’re Mexican, it’s their culture. They don’t supervise their children like we do,” according to NJ.com.
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The legislation, if ultimately made into law, would protect financial institutions and ancillary firms that serve marijuana businesses from criminal prosecution and other consequences – a long-awaited move that would provide stability and security to the multibillion-dollar cannabis industry.
…The bill moved out of the House Financial Committee in March and was sponsored by more than 200 lawmakers at the time of the vote. It is backed by a slew of national banking groups, including the American Bankers Association, the Credit Union National Association and the Independent Community Bankers of America, which have pushed Congress to act on the issue for some time. The National Association for State Treasurers, a bipartisan group of more than 30 state attorneys general, and the governors of 20 states have urged Congress to pass the bill.
Marijuana Banking Bill Passes House in Historic Vote | National News | US News
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The Trump administration is accused by at least half a dozen whistleblowers of muzzling climate and pollution science.
The air pollution experts follow in the footsteps of a separate group that reassembled to call for the government to better prepare for climate disasters. Their advice will come as EPA conducts a scheduled review of its standards for particle pollution, the tiny specks that enter the lungs and cause breathing and heart problems that can kill.
…Weak standards, Goldman said “means cities across the country wouldn’t have to do as much to keep their air clean, industry could get more permits approved, it would be easier to rollback environmental regulations”.
The finding that particle pollution is dangerous is integrated into nearly all major pollution standards, for power plants, cars and project permits, she said.
…If Trump officials can argue that particle pollution isn’t as bad as previously thought, they can strengthen industry arguments for rolling back environment and health protections.
Trump’s EPA ended the particulate matter advisory board nearly a year ago. The agency also replaced many of the academic scientists on a broader science panel with scientists from industry and conservative states.
Earlier this month, EPA chief Andrew Wheeler selected a new group of “non-member consultants” to assist that panel with work on both particle pollution and smog. About half of the new consultants are linked with industry. Their recommendations to the panel will happen behind the scenes, rather than in public meetings.
Clean-air scientists fired by EPA to reconvene in snub to Trump | Environment | The Guardian
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A New Hampshire mother is calling for the removal of a teacher who she said grabbed her daughter and chopped a chunk of hair when she wouldn’t stop playing with it.
sigh…
An elected official’s support for this policy scores them few points with most voters, our organization has found. And, in fact, the sentiment that fuels such support is bad for both our nation’s security and freedom.
,,,Majorities in all major faith and non-faith groups say support for the Muslim ban would either decrease their support or make no difference in their support for a candidate for office.
…We weren’t surprised when we found low support for the ban, because our data also show that most Americans (86 percent) want to live in a country where no one is targeted for their religious identity. Moreover, the majority (66 percent) think negative rhetoric about Muslims is harmful for America.
…Those who endorse anti-Muslim stereotypes were more likely to support suspending checks and balances and limiting freedom of the press in the wake of a terrorist attack.
Ironically, those who hold Islamophobic views, while claiming Muslims are prone to violence, also were more likely to say targeting civilians with lethal force is “sometimes justified,” both by the military and even by non-state actors. Bigotry is a danger, not only to its target group but to the freedom and safety of our entire nation.
After learning what Islamophobia is tied to, you may be relieved to know that our data show that only about 15 percent of Americans harbor anti-Muslim sentiments.
Congress and candidates, take note: Anti-Muslim sentiments are unpopular | TheHill
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The “I Love America” page had more than 1.1 million followers and made constant references to “our country” and “our military” and cross-posted content from jingoistic pro-Trump pages such as “God Bless Donald and Melania Trump and God Bless America”.
…It used viral content once used by the Russian-based Internet Research Agency (IRA), which a report by special counsel Robert Mueller concluded had interfered in the 2016 election.
Facebook Removes Trump Propaganda Page After It Was Revealed It Was Run From Ukraine
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Connecticut’s practice of counting incarcerated people in the places they are locked up instead of the place they reside, for the purposes of redistricting. The suit argues that at least five state House of Representative districts and possibly as many as nine districts — Districts 5, 37, 42, 52, 59, 61, 103, 106, 108 and Senate District 7 — have an inflated amount of political power because of this practice.
That means white and rural areas gain political power at the expense of cities.
Prison Gerrymandering Suit Can Proceed | New Haven Independent
Jeezus….
State Attorney Aramis Ayala said Monday that her office would not prosecute the misdemeanor battery charges against either child.
“I refuse to knowingly play any role in the school-to-prison pipeline at any age,” she said. “These very young children ought to be protected, nurtured and disciplined in a manner that does not rely on the criminal justice system to do it.”
The Orlando Police Department oversees the school resource officer who made the arrest, and they say the situation was not handled properly.
“On behalf of myself and the Orlando Police Department, I apologize to the children involved and their families,” Rolon said.
A school resource officer is fired after arresting two 6-year-old children – CNN
It sounds very much as if the reasons given for not pursuing charges are that procedure was not followed, and not that it was wrong to arrest a six year old child for having a temper tantrum in the first place. [Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!]
Well, at least the shitty officer was fired.
Under the new law, people caught with small amounts of marijuana will no longer face a misdemeanor charge that had been punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. Now people caught with 3 ounces or less of weed can still be hit with a citation carrying a $130 fine, but no jail term.
…While Ige took a hands-off approach to decriminalizing pot, he vetoed two other marijuana bills passed by the legislature.
He struck down legislation that would have made it legal for people to transport medical cannabis from island to island, and another bill that would have created an industrial hemp licensing program.
Hawaii becomes 26th state to decriminalize marijuana – ABC News
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Using presidential power to withhold aid to a nation that was recently invaded by Russia unless its investigates your political rival sounds like the definition of a criminal quid pro quo. The possibility that Trump pressured another nation to interfere in the next presidential election on his behalf—not long after the completion of a multiyear investigation into interference in the 2016 presidential election by Russia on his behalf—is jaw-dropping.
…What is abhorrent about the alleged conduct here is not that Trump is pushing a foreign government to do something, but rather that he might have used his presidential power to get a foreign government to help him win the next election.
…What Trump is alleged to have done is not a garden variety crime; it’s worse. It involved misusing $250 million in aid appropriated by Congress for his benefit—the kind of gross misconduct that easily clears the bar of high crimes and misdemeanors set by the Constitution when impeaching a president.
Labeling Trump’s alleged conduct as “bribery” or “extortion” cheapens what is alleged to have occurred and does not capture what makes it wrongful. It’s not a crime—it’s a breach of the president’s duty to not use the powers of the presidency to benefit himself. And he invited a foreign nation to influence the 2020 presidential election on the heels of a nearly three-year investigation that proved Russia had tried to influence the 2016 presidential election.
Trump Didn’t Bribe Ukraine. It’s Actually Worse Than That. – POLITICO Magazine
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