Maryland delegate Mary Ann Lisanti loses leadership post over racial slur
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Category: Media and Culture,
In Senate testimony, pharma executive acknowledges that drug prices hit poor the hardest
Top executives from seven major pharmaceutical companies told a Senate committee on Tuesday they could not commit to lower the price of commonly used prescription drugs even as they admitted that they control those prices. And one executive acknowledged that the high cost of medicines hits poorest patients the hardest.
…The finance committee has separately launched an investigation into the sharp increase of insulin and the three top insulin makers, Eli Lilly, Sanofi and Novo Nordisk. Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk executives were not present at the hearing. President Donald Trump’s Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar was a top executive at Eli Lilly for five years until he was tapped by Trump to run HHS.
In Senate testimony, pharma executive admits drug prices hit poor the hardest
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National Guard probing congressman’s criticism of governor over border troops
Wisconsin National Guard officials said Tuesday they’re looking into whether to punish an Illinois congressman who belongs to the Wisconsin detachment for criticizing Gov. Tony Evers’ decision to withdraw troops from the U.S. southern border.
Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger is a Wisconsin Air National Guard pilot with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He ripped Evers Monday on Twitter and on Fox News for ordering Wisconsin troops to pull out of Arizona.
Wisconsin statutes state that any commissioned officer who uses “contemptuous words against the president, the vice-president, members of congress, the secretary of defense, the secretary of a military department, the secretary of homeland security, or the governor or legislature of the state of Wisconsin shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.”
Evers is a Democrat. His position as governor automatically makes him the commander-in-chief of the Wisconsin National Guard.
National Guard probing congressman’s criticism of governor over border troops
Psssst, Representative. There’s no freedom of speech in the military; you belong in the brig and if you don’t know that on some level you could be in for a rude awakening.
House subpoenas Trump over family separations at border
The decision by the Oversight Committee will compel the heads of the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security and Health and Human Services to deliver documents to lawmakers.
The committee’s chair, Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, has pledged to press the administration for documents and testimony on a wide swath of issues, but family separation was among his first priorities.
“I believe this is a true national emergency,” Cummings said.
…The committee wants details on the children separated, location and facilities where they were held, details on their parents, information on efforts to restore children to their parents and whether parents were deported.
…Cummings said the documents already submitted to the committee were vastly incomplete.
“The information we got was not one name, not one number,” Cummings said. “Zilch.”
…If any officials don’t comply with new subpoenas, the committee and eventually the full House could vote to hold the department in contempt, setting up a potentially lengthy court battle.
…An internal watchdog report recently found that thousands more children than previously thought may have been separated before the zero-tolerance policy officially began.
House subpoenas Trump over family separations at border
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Former Trump campaign staffer sues, alleging that Trump kissed her without consent
Alva Johnson, a former Trump campaign staffer who lives in Alabama, alleges in a lawsuit filed Monday that Trump grabbed her hand and forcibly kissed her without her consent inside an RV in Florida in August 2016.
…”As Defendant Trump spoke, he tightened his grip on Ms. Johnson’s hand and leaned towards her. He moved close enough that she could feel his breath on her skin,” the lawsuit states. “Ms. Johnson suddenly realized that Defendant Trump was trying to kiss her on the mouth, and attempted to avoid this by turning her head to the right. Defendant Trump kissed her anyway, and the kiss landed on the corner of her mouth.”
The lawsuit alleges that several witnesses saw incident, including then-Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, then-State Director Karen Giorno, and Regional Directors Earl “Tony” Ledbetter, Mitch Tyner and Nick Corvino.
The lawsuit alleges that Bondi smiled when the incident occurred and Giorno “grabbed Ms. Johnson’s elbow and gave it an approving tug.”
…”Ms. Johnson was also underpaid compared to similarly qualified and less qualified male staffers,” the lawsuit states. “She did not know this fact until very recently. Ms. Johnson’s experience is not isolated— indeed, the Campaign engaged in systemic gender discrimination in pay against its female employees.”
Former Trump campaign staffer sues, alleging that Trump kissed her without consent – CNNPolitics
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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg roasted by Damian Collins committee
The report called for urgent regulation of Facebook — including an independent UK body to stamp out harmful or illegal content — and skewered Zuckerberg for refusing to give evidence to the committee three times.
“By choosing not to appear before the Committee and by choosing not to respond personally to any of our invitations, Mark Zuckerberg has shown contempt towards both our Committee and the ‘International Grand Committee’ involving members from nine legislators from around the world,” the 110-page report said.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg roasted by Damian Collins committee – Business Insider
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Pay-to-Stay: Families of NH juvenile offenders are forced to pay for costs of care
…When juveniles are incarcerated at the Sununu Youth Services Center or other treatment centers, are enrolled in Children in Need of Services (CHINS), [or] are placed into foster care, an elaborate system kicks in to force parents to contribute to the cost of that care.
Formulas come into play, Social Security benefits can be requisitioned, liens can be put on property, people can be hauled into court. Four thousand cases are currently open, the state says.
…Fees rack up quickly. An overnight stay at a secure or intensive facility can top $700 a day, and the state levies charges for services that range from family counseling ($86 an hour) to transportation ($21 an hour) to foster care ($23 per day). Collections continue four years after services end, meaning a person can be well into adulthood while a parent is still paying for their childhood misbehavior or other services.
…Most services continue to fall under the law requiring parental reimbursement: CHINS, whether voluntary or court-ordered; children judged delinquent and placed in the Sununu Center or other residential programs, whether voluntarily or court-ordered; and court-ordered services in cases of abuse and neglect.
…Parents of a minor who is a mother are responsible for their grandchild, if the child is housed at the facility where the minor mother lives. No mention is made of responsibility for the child’s father or his parents.
…When youth become involved with the juvenile justice system, their parents can be desperate for help, she said. They will sign anything without realizing the implications, she said. Then the bill arrives.
Jeezus….
Oh, and the mother who signed her kid away to the courts only to spend all of her time begging the courts to give the kid back? This is what happens when you think the police and courts are going to help you parent. They’re not. They’re really, really not.
Sandra Bullock nailed why we should stop saying ‘adopted child.’ Mic. Drop.
“Don’t say, ‘my adopted child.’ No one calls their kid their ‘IVF child’ or their ‘Oh, shit, I went to a bar and got knocked-up child.’ Let’s just say, ‘our children.'”
Sandra Bullock nailed why we should stop saying ‘adopted child.’ Mic. Drop.
Amen.
Open Letter to the Editors on the Recent Coverage of Amy Klobuchar
Open Letter to the Editors on the Recent Coverage of Amy Klobuchar
Without weighing on her campaign or suitability to be President I have to say, the reports about Amy Klobuchar do sound a bit like much to do about nothing. At the very least, it’s fairly certain we wouldn’t be hearing about these issues -or if we did, they’d be framed somewhat different- if she was the opposite gender….
Embracing a community’s practice to promote the measles vaccine
Mimicking a news-sharing custom common among ultraorthodox Jewish communities, two Penn Nursing students created and placed large posters around a Jerusalem neighborhood, deriving content from a mystical technique that assigns a numerical value to each Hebrew letter.
…They used their background and what they’ve learned in nursing school to create an outreach program promoting the measles vaccine geared at an ultra-religious Jewish group called Haredi. Because many in that community get their news from black-and-white posters called ‘pashkevilim’ hung around the neighborhood, the Penn students decided to make one.
….“From our fieldwork, we learned that, especially in insular communities, it’s important to understand what they value. This is something they place high value on.”
Using gematria, they calculated a numerical value of 500 for the Hebrew word for “measles,” then looked for other words and phrases with the same value. They came up with the Biblical phrase for “spiller of blood.”
Embracing a community’s practice to promote the measles vaccine | Penn Today
Very cool.
Spike Lee Oscars 2019 Speech for Best Adapted Screenplay Win
Spike Lee Oscars 2019 Speech for Best Adapted Screenplay Win
Awwww, another feels moment from last night.
Spike’s so excited, he can hardly read his speech…
Ford investigating possible problems with fuel economy, emissions tests
Ford Motor Co said on Thursday it had hired outside experts to investigate its vehicle fuel economy and testing procedures after employees raised concerns, and did not know whether it would have to correct data given to regulators or consumers.
UPDATE 1-Ford investigating possible problems with fuel economy, emissions tests
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Emails reveal coordination between Chao, McConnell offices
Chao has met at least 10 times with politicians and business leaders from the state in response to requests from McConnell’s office, according to documents provided to Politico by the watchdog group American Oversight. In some cases, those people later received what they were hoping for from Chao’s department, including infrastructure grants, the designation of an interstate highway and assistance in getting state funds for a highway project — although the documents don’t indicate that the meetings led to those outcomes.
…A dozen of the emails show McConnell’s staff acting as a conduit between Chao and Kentucky political figures or business leaders, some of whom previously have had relationships with the couple.
…American Oversight obtained the emails under the Freedom of Information Act. The group’s founder and executive director , Austin Evers, said they show an unusually close relationship between a Senate leader and a member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet — and that “Secretary Chao built a political operation in her office to favor Kentucky.”
“We launched this investigation because we were intrigued by the president’s selection of Elaine Chao as Transportation secretary,” Evers said. “The media and political class identified it as a savvy move to hire the spouse of the majority leader of the Senate. We wanted to see what that relationship looked like.”
…Evers from American Oversight contended that in these emails, Chao’s staff appear to go out of their way to make McConnell’s Kentucky contacts “feel special.” In one March 2017 email to Inman, requesting a meeting between Chao and the group Kentuckians for Better Transportation, Carmack suggested that if Chao couldn’t make it, perhaps “an assistant secretary or 2” could. “That way it is not taking up the Secretary’s time but they feel special,” Carmack continued.
…Evers highlighted two instances when DOT’s Inman instructed McConnell staffers to flag requests from Kentuckians for him in addition to sending them to Chao’s schedulers, “to make sure we take an extra look at” them.
…“The Secretary has indicated if you have a [Kentucky-]specific issue that we should flag for her attention to please continue to go through your normal channels but feel free to contact me directly as well so we can monitor or follow up as necessary,” Inman wrote to McConnell’s then-chief of staff, Brian McGuire, in an email from Feb. 28, 2017.
…In one email thread from March 2017, McConnell’s staff describes Hart County, Ky., Judge/Executive Terry Martin — the county’s top elected official — as a “loyal supporter” and “friend.”
…Oversight groups aren’t just worried about the meetings Chao is granting, however. A previously unreleased report from the watchdog group Restore Public Trust questions the 2018 choice of a town of about 25,000 residents situated near the Tennessee, Ohio, Cumberland and Mississippi rivers, as the site of a new DOT maritime gateway office intended to help coordinate between port operators and government bodies to help improve freight movement on inland waterways.
Paducah is the smallest city to host one of DOT’s 10 maritime gateway offices. The nine other such offices are in major cities such as New York, Chicago and Miami.
Emails reveal coordination between Chao, McConnell offices – POLITICO
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Why Senator Bernie Sanders Lost My Support
In the past four years, Sanders’s words and actions have shown me time and time again that he is more concerned with boosting his image as a white savior figure of social justice than actually uplifting the voices of the communities he so direly pretends to represent. In fact, a New York Times article recently described how his campaign — the one I volunteered to support — initially focused on predominantly white states and failed to gain momentum with black voters in southern states, while black staff members told the Times they faced a plethora of microaggressions from white campaign leaders.
…Sanders implied that he has faced discrimination as a white man in the U.S. while suggesting we shouldn’t consider a candidate’s identity when choosing who to vote for. This, to me, feels like the equivalent of him telling everyone who is not a straight, white, cisgender male that we shouldn’t care about seeing ourselves represented in our government.
And despite his “progressive” statements on everything from bodily autonomy to a history of imperialist U.S. intervention abroad, Sanders has not always followed through on actions that actually align with those values, which is why my diminishing support for the senator has been a long time coming.
…From failing to denounce some of his supporters’ racist and sexist language to saying that white people who “felt uncomfortable” voting for black candidates Stacey Abrams and Andrew Gillum in the 2018 midterms are not “necessarily racist,” Sanders has continually flexed his privilege as a white man in politics — oftentimes, directly at the expense of people of color, especially women. In 2016 he refused to outwardly address allegations of gendered pay disparities and sexual harassment within his campaign. As someone who poured much of my energy and money into Sanders’s election bid, not to mention trusted a male candidate when he spoke of gender equality, I couldn’t believe how easily he downplayed the serious claims from his female staffers. He apologized to those women this year as he geared up to relaunch his election bid, but I see the damage as done.
….Earlier this month, he also delivered his own response to President Trump’s State of the Union address despite the fact that the Democratic Party asked Abrams, the former Georgia gubernatorial candidate, to officially fill that role. …Sanders’s blatant dismissal of a black woman by giving his own speech anyway. …Sanders’s deliberate decision to make his voice heard rather than fully support and listen to one of the most prominent emerging politicians of 2018 reinforced his need to take the spotlight away from someone who might ultimately be more qualified to represent today’s America.
…Sanders’s call for color-sex-orientation blindness in voting for president is not much different from potential candidate Howard Schultz’s claims that he doesn’t see color. Acknowledging race is an essential part of fighting racism and standing in solidarity with movements that support POC across the board.
…His platform never actually involved stepping aside to let the people most affected by discriminatory policies take the reigns.
Why Senator Bernie Sanders Lost My Support – Teen Vogue
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In Brexit, Could Ireland Wear the Crown?
In other words, as Britain self-combusts, Ireland—with its young workforce, low taxes, and English fluency—is poised to pounce.
…Ahead of the Brexit deadline, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Barclays moved their EU headquarters from London to Dublin in a bid to minimize disruption; Barclays alone has shifted some $215 billion in asset management to the Irish capital. (Both banks declined to comment on the moves.) Rivals Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, and Goldman Sachs have promised to bulk up their own Dublin operations in the face of U.K. uncertainty, even as they maintain offices in the British capital.
…The ascent of Ireland as a global player and the subtle shift in power between it and the U.K. isn’t going over well with some in Britain—namely, the Brexit supporters who remain in Parliament. One Conservative member derided “the obdurate Irish government” for being overly concerned with border issues. Another was widely condemned in December for suggesting that Downing Street use the threat of economic damage, including food shortages, to compel Ireland to agree to a more favorable deal for the U.K.—an uncomfortable echo of the Great Famine of the 19th century. “We simply cannot allow the Irish to treat us this way,” an unnamed member of Parliament reportedly told a BBC columnist that same month, adding: “The Irish really should know their place.”
…The businesses moving to Dublin, Frankfurt, and Paris are not fly-by-night call centers, sweatshops, or hubs of unattractive work. Rather, they are the white-collar, green-collar, and gold-collar jobs upon which the 21st century’s economic power is being built. Ireland seems prepared to grab them all. “Small is beautiful. It keeps us agile,” says Bushnell, herself not quite 5 feet 3 inches. “We can’t scale nationally. We can only scale internationally. Instead of going wide, we are going deep. That has sent us up the value chain. We’re not call centers anymore. People are taking our calls now.”
If it sounds like the giddy optimism of millennial invincibility, that’s because it is: With a median age of 35.9, Ireland has the youngest population in the EU, putting it on par with such booming populations as those of Brazil, China, Qatar, Singapore, and Thailand. (The EU-wide median is 42.8; Germany claims the highest median age at 45.9.) “We always had cachet but were seen as riding coattails, either of the U.K. or the EU,” says Daniel Mulhall, an Irish ambassador who has served in Britain, Germany, India, and is currently ambassador to the U.S. Times have changed. “We became our own country,” he says. “We have our own ideas at last.”
…A cultural revolution has certainly helped make Ireland more internationally attractive. By referendum, Ireland last year rewrote its constitution to legalize abortion, just three years after it legalized gay marriage, also by referendum. The Irish government last year barred the Catholic Church, which controls 90% of the school system on its behalf, from admissions discrimination on religious grounds. Look no further than Taoiseach Varadkar to mark social progress; he is a gay, unmarried, 38-year-old man of Indian and Irish descent who is the head of government in a country that only decriminalized homosexuality in 1993. In the U.S., this would be the equivalent of the first black president taking office in 1888, not long after the abolition of slavery. “It’s no coincidence,” Traynor says, “that the people fighting for our future here are the ones who can still remember living in its past.”
In Brexit, Could Ireland Wear the Crown? | Fortune
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Comments From The Peanut Gallery 