The idiots at Berkeley led the charge through the looking class. Apparently a good education doesn’t save you from being too dumb to know not to feed the trolls.
Category: Media and Culture,
Democrats save arts funding for NPR and PBS from Donald Trump
Democrats have saved arts funding under threat from Donald Trump, including money for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR).
Democrats save arts funding for NPR and PBS from Donald Trump | The Independent
hmmmm
The House just passed a bill that affects overtime pay
The Working Families Flexibility Act would allow employers to give workers time off instead of time-and-a-half pay when they put in extra hours.
The House just passed a bill that affects overtime pay – May. 2, 2017
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Chechen authorities ‘summon parents to prison camps to kill their gay sons’
The full horror facing gay men in Chechnya continues to emerge.
Chechen authorities ‘summon parents to prison camps to kill their gay sons’ | Attitude Magazine
Jeezus… The inhumanity.
Under the GOP’s health plan, sexual assault could be considered a pre-existing condition
Under the amendment, states would have the all-clear to waive the ban preventing insurance companies from denying coverage to patients based on pre-existing conditions. That means companies could also deny preventive health care services, like mammograms and gynecological exams, to these patients, which many sexual assault survivors in particular rely on following an attack.
In 2010, before the ACA became law, the Huffington Post reported the story of Christina Turner, a 45-year-old woman who was turned away by her insurance company because she’d been raped.
After she was drugged and sexually assaulted, Turner was prescribed a month’s worth of prophylactic medication to prevent HIV infection, just in case. Though it turned out Turner hadn’t been infected with the virus, when a prospective insurer saw the prescription on her health record, the company said it wouldn’t cover her until — “in three or more years” — she proved she was still AIDS-free.
…Other conditions like postpartum depression, being a survivor of domestic violence or having gotten a C-section could also be considered pre-existing conditions.
“Most of the people who have C-sections identify as women, so that’s a shorthand for a gender discriminatory policy.”
Under the GOP’s health plan, sexual assault could be considered a pre-existing condition
sigh….
Ben Carson: Homeless shelters shouldn’t be ‘comfortable settings’ or else people might ‘just stay’ in them
What is this fucktard’s deal, exactly?
Was he born with a silver spoon in his mouth to a family of Alt. Libertarian wolves????
Boston Herald Guild Members Boycotting Twitter After Reporter Suspended
To protest the company’s decision to suspend a reporter.
Boston Herald Guild Members Boycotting Twitter After Reporter Suspended
It would be so easy to make cracks about Herald’s level of journalism here but I’ll refrain.
Babies and children are listed in Homeland Security’s immigrant database of alleged criminals
A program intended to assist victims of crimes committed by immigrants mistakenly lists names of small children in immigration detention.
WTF?!
Trump will “not to terminate NAFTA”
Trump told the leaders of Canada and Mexico Wednesday he was not immediately planning to end the North American Free Trade Agreement, a pact which he railed against as a candidate and as recently as last week declared was harmful to US workers.
…During his run for office last year, Trump made his disdain for NAFTA a central component of a populist message designed to engender support among working class Americans. He consistently cast the agreement — which was negotiated by President Bill Clinton, the husband of Trump’s presidential opponent Hillary Clinton — as a raw deal for the middle class.
…Nonpartisan congressional research found in 2015 that NAFTA isn’t responsible for an exodus of jobs south of the border, nor for a big jobs boom in the US. Researchers concluded the deal has had a minor impact on the US economy.
Still, about 14 million US jobs depend on trade with Mexico and Canada, according to the US Chamber of Commerce.
Trump agrees “not to terminate NAFTA at this time”, will negotiate – CNNPolitics.com
hmmmm
Trump’s FCC Votes to Allow Broadband Rate Hikes for Schools and Libraries
Another day, another anti-consumer corporate giveaway.
Trump’s FCC Votes to Allow Broadband Rate Hikes for Schools and Libraries – Motherboard
Dayum.
State Department website removes article touting history of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate
Promotional website raised questions about taxpayer funds and Trump family businesses.
hmmm
Judge cites Trump’s comment in “sanctuary city” ruling
For the third time in two months, a federal judge has knocked down an immigration order by President Trump and used Trump’s own language against him.
In a ruling on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge William Orrick quoted Trump to support his decision to block the president’s order to withhold funding from “sanctuary cities” that do not cooperate with U.S. immigration officials.
Trump called the sanctuary cities order a “weapon” against communities that disagree with his preferred immigration policy, Orrick said. The judge also cited a February interview in which he said the president threatened to cut off funding to California, saying the state “in many ways is out of control.”
…Orrick’s preliminary injunction against the sanctuary cities order will stay in place while the lawsuits by San Francisco and Santa Clara work their way through court.
The government hasn’t cut off any money yet or declared any communities sanctuary cities. But the Justice Department sent letters last week advising communities to prove they are in compliance. California was informed it could lose $18.2 million.
Orrick said Trump cannot set new conditions on spending approved by Congress.
Even if the president could do so, those conditions would have to be clearly related to the funds at issue and not coercive, as the executive order appeared to be, Orrick said.
Judge cites Trump’s comment in “sanctuary city” ruling – CBS News
hmmm
Groups File Ethics Complaints Over State Department’s Mar-a-Lago Blog Post
Ethics groups have filed complaints over a blog post written by a bureau of the State Department that used glowing language to describe Mar-a-Lago.
…The complaint, filed Tuesday with the Office of Government Ethics by the group Common Cause, is in response to a blog post published on the State Department’s ShareAmerica website that referred to Mar-a-Lago as the “winter White House” and noted that it is open to paying members.
…Common Cause called the post an “abuse of taxpayer funds.” The group’s president accused the Trump administration of failing to set boundaries between the president’s businesses and the business of the government.
…Last week, reports surfaced that Trump had previously met with two former Colombian presidents at his Florida home to discuss opposition to a Colombian peace deal with revolutionaries. The White House denied the reports, claiming Trump only briefly spoke to the two presidents after bumping into them at the club.
After North Korea conducted a missile test in February, Trump appeared to hold an open-air strategy session during a dinner with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, with aides holding cell phones to illuminate documents, CNN reported at the time.
Following [Trump’s] election, the club’s membership fees doubled to $200,000, with critics asserting that those who can afford the high costs have unique access to the president.
Groups File Ethics Complaints Over State Department’s Mar-a-Lago Blog Post – NBC News
hmmmm
Trump Inauguration Admits Errors, Vows To Correct Numerous Faulty Donor Records
That such errors made their way into the official inauguration committee filing suggests that the committee failed to perform even basic checks to ensure that its record-keeping was accurate, a requirement under FEC guidelines.“
Even in light of the diminished reporting required by inaugural committees as opposed to campaigns, it doesn’t seem that they’ve done the basic reporting required by the FEC,” said Fischer. “These are not new rules, and this looks like negligence.”
…Fischer said the errors exposed by the Citizen Sleuth volunteers raise doubts about whether the Trump inauguration did basic due diligence, as required by law. By linking individual donations to the mailing address of the access code ― which was easy to pass around ― and not the address of the actual donor ― the Trump inaugural committee effectively created an alternate universe of donors records, he noted.
hmmmm
Will The New York Times Ever Fix Its Clinton Problem?
The paper of record has failed us in this regard.
Will The New York Times Ever Fix Its Clinton Problem?
hmmm
This Vermont High School Is Having a Very Vermont Problem
In South Burlington, a plan to abandon the ‘Rebels’ nickname, adopted by the local high school in 1961, has triggered a tizzy; 40-member ‘School District Mascot Selection Oversight Committee.’
…The controversy heated up in 2015 when the Burlington Free Press newspaper dug up some old high-school yearbooks from the 1960s. They showed photos of cheerleaders and sports teams posing alongside Confederate flags. Until the early 1990s, the school’s mascot was, in fact, a Confederate colonel.
The “Confederate Rebel guy,” as principal Patrick Burke calls the mascot, has long been removed from the school’s gym floor, uniforms and official materials.
Yet in this largely white, upscale, liberal city of some 18,000 people, also known as the headquarters of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, the photos didn’t go down so well. In the November election, Donald Trump won 19% of the vote here; Hillary Clinton, 68%.
Monica Ostby, a 49-year-old parent of two South Burlington students, says she hadn’t been aware of that bit of school history. “I thought it was about Ethan Allen, ” she says, referring to the Revolutionary War figure who was a founder of Vermont. She says the Rebels nickname is too tainted to keep.
…“This will be short because I have to go home and let the dog out,” Mr. McDowell, an engineer in his 60s, told the board as the meeting neared 10 p.m.
In Mr. McDowell’s view, the Rebels name doesn’t need fixing, and it could just as easily refer to Muhammad Ali, Rosa Parks or himself, for that matter.
This Vermont High School Is Having a Very Vermont Problem – WSJ
hmmm
Cherokee Nation Sues Walmart, Drug Companies Over Opioids
The Cherokee Nation filed suit against CVS, Walmart and others on April 20 declaring an “opioid epidemic of unprecedented proportions’ in Indian country.
…By ignoring red flags and refusing to monitor the supply chain, contributing to what is known as “drug diversion,” the suit alleges that the effects of opioid addiction has had a devastating human toll on the tribe’s citizens and crushing impact on its resources.
Cherokee Nation Sues Walmart, Drug Companies Over Opioids – Indian Country Media Network
hmmm
Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions ramp up their crusade against black and brown Americans
Remember when Trump promised to “take care” of African-Americans? Sessions is now in charge of carrying that out.
…Sessions’ claims are based on a combination of half-truths and outright lies. There is no crime wave or “plague of violence” in the United States. In fact, crime is at or near record lows in most places, including President Trump’s home city of New York. Sessions also, by implication, is continuing with the disproved claim that there’s a war on America’s police (in reality, being a police officer is one of the nation’s safest jobs) or are somehow unfairly restrained by being forced to show minimal respect for the civil liberties of the Americans they supposedly “protect and serve.”
…Sessions’ promise to further unleash America’s police on the “inner city” in order to make sure that “every neighborhood” is “safe and peaceful” reflects a larger set of values and political priorities.
The president’s inner circle of advisers includes an alarming number of apparent white supremacists and alleged neo-Nazi sympathizers, who view people of color as a threat to white, Christian American identity.
Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions ramp up their crusade against black and brown Americans – Salon.com
hmmmm
Landrieu: Remaining monuments to come down ‘sooner rather than later’ | wwltv.com
New Orleans has begun the process of removing its Confederate-era monuments with the removal of the monument to the Battle of Liberty Place.
…“The removal of these statues sends a clear and unequivocal message to the people of New Orleans and the nation: New Orleans celebrates our diversity, inclusion and tolerance,” said Mayor Mitch Landrieu.
“Relocating these Confederate monuments is not about taking something away from someone else. This is not about politics, blame or retaliation. This is not a naïve quest to solve all our problems at once. This is about showing the whole world that we as a city and as a people are able to acknowledge, understand, reconcile — and most importantly– choose a better future. We can remember these divisive chapters in our history in a museum or other facility where they can be put in context – and that’s where these statues belong.”
…Landrieu said the memorials were coming down during the wee hours because of death threats and intimidation from some of those who want the monuments to stay and to minimize city disruption.
…New Orleans historical records reflect that the battle was fought between a group known as the ‘White League’ and Reconstruction government forces. A few thousand members of the White League fought against members of the local police, killing some of them in the uprising.
“The statue was put up to honor the killing of police officers by white supremacists,” said Landrieu at a press briefing shortly after the monument was removed.
Landrieu: Remaining monuments to come down ‘sooner rather than later’ | wwltv.com
“I believe more strongly today than ever that in New Orleans we should truly remember all of our history, not some of it. that means we will no longer allow the Confederacy to literally be put on a pedestal in the heart of our city.” – Mayor Landrieu
Amen.
The secret home abortion movement that started in LA two years before Roe v. Wade
Eagle Rock’s Carol Downer developed an abortion procedure — by women, for women — because she got fed up with back-alley horror stories. Now, 44 years after Roe v. Wade, she is concerned it may need to be used again.
Sigh…
America’s forgotten black cowboys
“I bet you nine out of 10 people in this country think that cowboys were all white – as I did.”
In the real Old West, as opposed to the film depiction, black cowboys were a common sight.
…Not only did Hollywood ignore black cowboys, it plundered their real stories as material for some of its films.
The Lone Ranger, for example, is believed to have been inspired by Bass Reeves, a black lawman who used disguises, had a Native American sidekick and went through his whole career without being shot.
America’s forgotten black cowboys – BBC News
hmmm
CNN Politics on Twitter: House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz says it appears that Michael Flynn accepted money from Russia
And so it begins….
I wonder how many Trump administration officials will have to face charges before one of them sings like the proverbial canary.
What Does Mike Pence Think Happens At Restaurants?
It describes a world in which women are not individual human beings—witness these men who cannot even imagine a reason why any man might choose to share a meal with a woman he doesn’t intend to fuck—but generic objects of sexual temptation at which men have only very limited power to resist flinging their genitals. It weaponizes women—most especially young, unmarried women—against themselves: I can’t be alone with you, even over some friggin’ nachos, or your presence might cause me to fuck you. Indeed there could be no other reason for us to sit down to a meal together. This is the sort of thing that is being referenced when people use the term “rape culture.”
What Does Mike Pence Think Happens At Restaurants?
Weaponizes women and infantilizes men. Insulting all ’round.
Sessions Ushers In A New Kind Of Federalism
We are witnessing the spread of a progressive form of federalism under a GOP-led government.
Has Jeff Sessions Ushered In A New Kind Of Federalism? | The Huffington Post
hmmm
The Story of How Fake Sugar Got Approved is Scary As Hell
Many of those Searle studies that Gross questioned are now lumped into the data that says aspartame is safe. And though the question of aspartame causing brain tumors has largely been dismissed over the years, there hasn’t been much new data on the subject. In fact, a 1987 General Accounting Office report states that 28 out of 69 scientists said more research was needed in the areas of “neurological functions, brain tumors, seizures, headaches, and adverse effects on children and pregnant women.” Nonetheless, the report added, research was ongoing in all areas except brain tumors. What’s more, the FDA dissuaded the National Toxicology Program (NTP) from doing further cancer research on aspartame. As the founder of the NTP, David Rall, put it, “It’s a wonderful way to ensure that it isn’t tested—discourage the testing group from testing it and then say it’s safe.”
…It’s well established that there is a correlation between being overweight and diet soda consumption, but the question is which way the association works. Do people who are overweight tend to drink diet soda, or is something about the diet soda contributing to weight gain? A 2015 study found that long-term consumption was associated with increased waist circumference. And a 2016 study found that mothers who consumed diet soda while pregnant had babies with a two-fold higher risk of being overweight at age one.
While the question of whether the sweetener causes weight gain, diabetes, or other metabolic disease is unsettled, there are some remarkable correlations.
The Story of How Fake Sugar Got Approved is Scary As Hell – Tonic
hmmm
Comments From The Peanut Gallery 