Breaking News Events

[Cin]

forgot to add the link to the above article.

https://consortiumnews.com/2015/11/23/hitting-saudi-arabia-where-it-hurts/

well of course it's not that simple. it's not the above article because it's a new page. so it's post 3500, the previous article, the last post on page 175.

there that should cover it.

[Kätzchen]

Title of article: Why 65 Democrats Are Backing A Bill To Strip Financial Protections For People Of Color (link below).


http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/564b542ae4b06037734ae3f7?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg0000001 3&section=politics


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I came across the Huff-Post article tonight and was totally bowled over that 65 democrats are supporting an bill drawn up by Republicans who believe that red-lining people of color via auto dealerships and their banking allies is legal, when it's against the law. You can bet the democratic official, and the democratic offices in my state, are going to hear from me and anyone else I can get to call them too.

It's incredibly outrageous! I can hardly believe an democratic official would back such a bill, but apparently long standing democrats are scrambling to stop this bill from being passed.

If you haven't read the article, please do.
It's not too late to help stop this from happening.

[Cin]

This cartoon cracked me up.

http://www.alternet.org/files/styles/large/public/story_images/ppattack700.png

[Cin]

Warped White Privilege and the Planned Parenthood Killer

White shooters live and maybe get a Whopper on the way to jail. Black suspects don't get the same royal treatment.

Privilege consists of unearned advantages. Privilege is a system of power relationships. And privilege consists of all of the inconveniences, challenges and opportunities denied that a person does not have to ever think or worry about.

On Friday afternoon, a white man named Robert Lewis Dear attacked a Planned Parenthood office in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He killed three people and injured 11 others. One of the dead is a police officer. Dear then engaged in a several hours-long gun battle and standoff with local authorities. He was captured alive.

Robert Lewis Dear reportedly told police “no more baby parts” after being arrested. Apparently, Friday’s attack on Planned Parenthood is part of a longer pattern of violence by right-wing terrorists against the providers of women’s reproductive health services in the United States.

White privilege takes many forms. As was seen in Colorado Springs on Friday, white privilege also consists of being able to kill three people (including one cop), injure 11 more, and then survive unscathed.

Robert Lewis Dear is not the only white man to have used this unique and near exclusive type of privilege in American society. James Eagan Holmes killed 12 people and injured 70 in a mass shooting at a Colorado-area movie theater. He was not killed by the police. Jared Lee Loughner shot 18 people, killing six of them. He was taken alive by the police.

White people also have the unique privilege of brandishing guns in public without consequence—and to even aim them at America’s police and other authorities without being killed. White gun fetishists Islamophobes in Texas harass Muslims attending religious services.

“Open carry” advocates, almost all of them white men, routinely march in public with weapons.

Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher who refused to pay his grazing fees, used an armed militia to stop federal agents from arresting him.

In all of these instances—and many more—white people are not killed (and usually not even arrested or detained) by the police.

And in the case of Dylann Roof, the white supremacist who killed nine black Americans at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, the police both arrested him without incident and then took him to Burger King for a meal.

By contrast, black and brown people are not treated so kindly by America’s police. Black Americans are shot, abused and beaten up by America’s police and other white-identified vigilantes while surrendering, sleeping, seeking help after being in a car accident, walking down the street, with their hands up, showing identification, standing in a crowd, listening to music, riding bicycles, playing in the park, and being totally submissive and compliant.

Muslim and Arab-Americans most certainly cannot access Robert Lewis Dear’s, Jared Lee Loughner’s, or James Eagan Holmes’ unique type of white privilege.

When a white person commits an act of mass violence he or she is “a lone gunman,” “mentally ill” or “disturbed.”

White men commit a disproportionate percentage of the mass shootings and domestic terrorism in the United States. Yet, their actions are never taken to be reflective of white men as a group. The mere suggestion of this basic fact is met with outrage by Republicans and the right-wing news entertainment complex. However, when an “Arab” or a “Muslim” commits a crime, said event is processed by the White Gaze as an indictment of an entire population and to summon the boogeyman of “Muslim Terrorism.”

In all, whiteness is freedom from collective responsibility and indictment; to be the Other is an a priori assumption where the actions of one non-white person means that all members of the group should be punished and made suspect.

White people, even those who have committed horrific crimes, survive their encounters with America’s police for a variety of reasons. Primarily, the lives of black and brown people are systematically devalued in American society. This is demonstrated by how black Americans have shorter life spans, earn less money, possess less wealth, receive substandard medical care, go to worse schools, and live in under-resourced neighborhoods as compared to white Americans. The police, like Americans as a whole, are taught to devalue the lives of black people by a news media and broader popular culture that routinely circulates stereotypical, racist, debased, and derogatory images of non-whites.

American society also suffers from very high levels of racial segregation—research from the Public Religion Research Institute shows that 75 percent of white people do not have one non-white friend. Other research shows that white Americans lack empathy for the suffering, pain and humanity of non-whites.

The sum effect of all these cultural forces is that America’s police are much more likely to kill and abuse black and brown people than they are whites. Police are enabled in this routine violation of the human rights of black and brown people because the former are rarely if ever prosecuted (or even charged) for their crimes. America’s police are also protected by a white American public that supports a racist criminal justice system.

People chant “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” and “Black Lives Matter” because they know that every encounter–however mundane–between a black citizen and America’s police could end in unprovoked death and violence.

The Planned Parenthood shooting in Colorado, and how the gunman was subsequently captured alive even after killing a police officer, is more proof of comedian Louis C.K.’s wisdom that there is no better deal than being white, straight and male in America. As he suggests, it is one hell of a deal if you can get it.

The ways in which white people can commit monstrously violent acts and survive, while people of color are killed by the state for far less serious offenses ( if they have committed any “crime” at all), is a ledger of death across the color line.

This balance sheet of death has existed for centuries in the United States. In the post-civil rights era and the Age of Obama, it still shows no signs of equaling out.

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/warped-white-privilege-and-planned-parenthood-killer

I noticed that the guy who got the whopper was Dylann Roof. He killed nine black Americans at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The cops managed to arrest him without hurting him and then took him out to eat. That's some fucked up shit right there!

[Cin]

There's something really disturbing about the GOP blaming Planned Parenthood for the shooting at its Colorado Springs clinic. It's even more disturbing to understand the Republican party clearly has no plans to stop encouraging terrorist attacks against anyone exercising their right to choose. All the Republican candidates for President encourage ideological violence which is actually the very definition of terrorism. It's insane. Here's some horrendous excerpts from articles on the Planned Parenthood shooting.

Colorado GOP lawmaker: Planned Parenthood is the ‘real culprit’ in the shooting
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/12/colorado-gop-lawmaker-planned-parenthood-is-the-real-culprit-in-the-shooting/

Colorado state Rep. JoAnn Windholz blames Planned Parenthood for the Nov. 27 shooting, at its Colorado Springs clinic, that left three dead and nine injured. She is one of the few Colorado Republicans to issue a statement in the wake of the attack.
“The true instigator of this violence and all violence at any Planned Parenthood facility is Planned Parenthood themselves. Violence begets violence. So Planned Parenthood: YOU STOP THE VIOLENCE INSIDE YOUR WALLS.”

http://http://www.alternet.org/christian-conservatives-scramble-deny-stirring-violence-their-incendiary-speech

Troy Newman was recently denied entry into Australia because the government feared he would incite violence there. According to Newman, the only way to purge “community bloodguilt” and protect America from God’s wrath over abortion is the “lawful execution of the murderers, which is commanded by God in Scripture." (Newman is the head of Operation Rescue and was endorsed by Ted Cruz just days before the Colorado shooting.) In fact, anti-abortion fanatics have made so many violent threats against clinic staff and patients that David Cohen recently published an entire book about them: Living in the Crosshairs: The Untold Stories of Anti-Abortion Terrorism.

5 Awful GOP Responses to Planned Parenthood Shooting
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/5-awful-gop-responses-planned-parenthood-shooting

Fiorina
“This is so typical of the left to immediately begin demonizing the messenger because they don’t agree with the message,” Fiorina told Wallace. “Anyone who tries to link this terrible tragedy to anyone who opposes abortion or opposes the sale of body parts is … this is typical left-wing tactics.”
Fiorina advanced the inflammatory lie that Planned Parenthood makes a profit from trafficking in fetal body parts. In fact, the fetal tissue is turned over for medical research, with the attendant fees used to cover expenses.

Cruz
Despite reports that the shooter ranted about "baby parts" at the scene, not to mention his choice of a Planned Parenthood clinic to storm, Ted Cruz saw no reason for anyone to jump to the crazy conclusion that the killer was motivated by anti-choice rhetoric. Instead, Cruz floated his more plausible explanation, telling reporters Sunday that Dear was a "transgendered leftist activist."
"It’s also been reported that he was registered as an independent and a woman and a transgendered leftist activist," said Cruz, according to the Texas Tribune. "If that’s what he is, I don’t think it’s fair to blame on the rhetoric on the left. This is a murderer.”

Carson
"We get into our separate corners and we hate each other, we want to destroy those with whom we disagree," he told Martha Raddatz on ABC's "This Week." "It comes from both sides. So, you know, there is, there is no saint here in this, in this equation."
Fair point for the next time a pro-choice activist storms an anti-choice rally and murders three people.

Huckabee
"And there's no excuse for killing other people, whether it's happening inside the Planned Parenthood headquarters, inside their clinics where many millions of babies die, or whether it's people attacking Planned Parenthood," he said.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/11/violence-abortion-clinics-planned-parenthood-colorado-springs-shooting
"Since the series of highly edited, misleading anti-abortion videos was released in July, we have seen an unprecedented increase in hate speech and threats against abortion providers...
...the tide of vitriol began rising dramatically in July, after the first video was released. Soon after that, an anonymous reader posted a message on Fox Nation's website.
"I'll pay ten large to whomever kills Dr. Deborah Nucatola. [She] should be summarily executed. I'll do it myself if no one else does."

And the terrorism works.

...the number of abortion providers decreased 38 percent between 1982 and 2000 and continues to decline today. According to research from an anti-abortion group, the number of surgical abortion clinics dropped to 582 in 2013, down from more than 2,000 clinics in the early 1990s. And in the last two years, surgical abortion clinics have been closing at a rate of 1.5 clinics every week.

[MsTinkerbelly]

Miss Tick,

Two words: Stochastic Terrorism

[Kätzchen]

Does anyone listen to Democracy Now, a radio show program?

During the 1700 hour rush hour, I was listening to this program and current subjects covered ranged from the British moving to bomb Syria to Kyoto talks in France to ongoing coverage about yesterday's tragedy down in San Bernadino (CA).

Our local independent radio station carries interesting newscasts from an alternative point of view.

[*Anya*]

Medscape Medical News
Senate Votes to Repeal ACA for the First Time
Robert Lowes
December 03, 2015

For the first time ever, the Republican-controlled Senate tonight passed a bill that essentially repeals the Affordable Care Act (ACA) except for one small detail — President Barack Obama plans to veto it.

Among other things, the bill would prevent the federal government from running healthcare exchanges, eliminate insurance subsidies, repeal Medicaid expansion now underway in 30 states and junk the law's especially controversial requirements that most individuals obtain health insurance coverage and that large employers offer their employees the same. It also would block federal funding for Planned Parenthood for 1 year, a lightning rod issue in the wake of last month's shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs that left three people dead.

The bill, called the Restoring Americans' Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015, won House approval in October. It only needed 51 votes for passage in the Republican-controlled Senate — not the usual 60 to overcome an opposing party's filibuster — because it went through a special budget reconciliation process.

The final vote in the Senate was 52 to 47 along party lines. It now goes back to the House for a second vote because the Senate amended the original bill.

The Senate had long known that Obama would veto anything that gutted the signature legislation of his presidency. Noting that the House for its part has tried to erase or cripple the ACA more than 50 times, the White House recently said in a statement that the latest repeal measure would "take away critical benefits and healthcare coverage from hard-working middle-class families." An estimated 17.6 million Americans gained coverage under the law since its inception, the administration said.

The White House also warned against eliminating ACA provisions that would "slow the growth of healthcare spending and improve quality."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) countered on the floor of the Senate today that "Obamacare is a direct attack on the middle class."

"Americans are living with the consequences of this broken law and its broken promises every day," McConnell said.

Although facing an Obama veto, Congressional Republicans could resurrect this legislation if one of their own is elected president in 2016 and is willing to sign the measure.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/855437?nlid=92644_3663&src=wnl_edit_newsal&uac=237043AR&impID=910047&faf=1

[Cin]

Well this is certainly disturbing. It caught my eye cause it reminded me of those old Enquirer headlines "Space alien impregnates entire football stadium" or some such. Unfortunately it's actually true. But at least he's a former police officer. For now anyway, but wanna bet this really scary creep turns up on some police force somewhere. And maybe a fantasy isn't a crime and maybe there wasn't enough evidence to prove he was actually planning to go through with this, but it is a crime to use a police database to stalk women. Convict him for that at least. Shit like this makes me sick.

New York judge refuses to reinstate conviction of ‘cannibal cop’ who stalked women with plans to eat them

New York City, NY – Former NYPD officer Gilberto Valle has been in and out of court since 2012, when it was discovered that he was using a police database to stalk over 100 different women. To make matters even more disturbing, Valle spoke in graphic detail in online chats about how he planned to kidnap, kill and eat the women on his list.

He was originally convicted of conspiracy to kidnap and illegally accessing an NYPD database in 2013, but the conviction was overturned on the grounds that Valle’s plans were not real, but were part of a “fantasy roleplay.” Valle did not deny that he searched the women in the database, nor that he had spoken about killing and eating them, he just claimed that it was all a fantasy that he never planned on going through with. Surprisingly, even though a jury found him guilty, a judge accepted his excuse and overturned the verdict.

An appeal against the ruling was filed, led by prosecutor Justin Anderson who argued that the judge misused his authority by letting Valle off the hook.

“It was not Judge Gardephe’s role to see himself as a 13th juror in the trial and decide whether his view of the evidence was in line with the jury’s view of the evidence,” Anderson said.

The evidence is substantial that these were actual plans and not fantasies.

According to The Smoking Gun:

“The complaint alleges that Valle illegally used federal and state law enforcement databases to “locate potential victims,” and that he surveilled some of these women at their homes and places of employment. He also allegedly drafted an “operation plan” to abduct and cook one woman, and researched “methods of disabling and drugging women.”

In one July communication, Valle wrote that he was contemplating tying one “tasty” woman “onto some kind of apparatus…cook her over a low heat, keep her alive as long as possible.” When asked about the size of his oven, Valle replied, “Big enough to fit one of these girls if I folded their legs.” Agents found a document on Valle’s computer titled “Abducting and Cooking [Victim-1]: a Blueprint.” The document included the woman’s name, date of birth, height, weight, and bra size, along with a “Materials Needed” section (car, chloroform, and rope).

Valle’s computer also revealed that he and a co-conspirator “negotiated and agreed to a price at which Valle would kidnap” another woman, who is referred to as “Victim-2” in the complaint. Valle wrote, “$5,000 and she is all yours,” noting that, “I’m putting my neck on the line here. If something goes wrong somehow, I am in deep shit.” He subsequently added, “I think I would rather not get involved in the rape. You paid for her. She is all yours and I don’t want to be tempted the next time I abduct a girl.”

This week, the appeal was rejected, and Valle was able to avoid any consequences for his actions.

The judges in the case defended their decision, saying that stalking women and planning to kill them were within Valle’s rights to free speech.

“We are loath to give the government power to punish us for our thoughts and not our actions. That includes the power to criminalize an individual’s expression of sexual fantasies, no matter how perverse or disturbing. Fantasizing about committing a crime, even a crime of violence against a real person whom you know, is not a crime, ” 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Barrington Parker said in a statement.

“The Court’s decision today confirms what we have said from the outset of this prosecution: fantasies, no matter how repugnant, are not crimes. This ruling is a very important victory not just for Mr. Valle, who has now been cleared of all criminal charges, but for an open society that treasures freedom of thought and expression,” Valle’s lawyers said in a statement.

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/12/new-york-judge-refuses-to-reinstate-conviction-of-cannibal-cop-who-stalked-women-with-plans-to-eat-them/

[Kätzchen]

It seems like predatory stalking, plans to cause harm to an intended victim, use of highly sensitive data bases at state and federal levels would be or should be an direct violation of core ethics of public safety standards for law enforcement officials. Worse, it appears that the presiding judge (s) over this particular case demonstrate what appears to be an callous lack of ...... "do the right thing. Cause no harm. Do not be party to criminal activities...." etc.

Reading about stuff like this makes me sick, too. : (

It makes me wonder if the New York State Attorney General's Office has been investigating this issue. Or if any regulating agency cares about this type of very scary criminal behavior among the ranks of its officials in New York state.

[Jesse]

Carter opens ALL military jobs to women! It's official!

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2015/12/03/carter-opens-all-military-jobs-to-women-in-historic-move.html?ESRC=dod_151204.nl

P.S. Didn't see any place that this had been posted yet, so I figured this was as good as any place. :)

[DapperButch]

Carter opens ALL military jobs to women! It's official!

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2015/12/03/carter-opens-all-military-jobs-to-women-in-historic-move.html?ESRC=dod_151204.nl

P.S. Didn't see any place that this had been posted yet, so I figured this was as good as any place. :)

Hell to the yeah!

I have been waiting to see this happen since tantalizingfemme's son joined the infantry (Army), a couple of years ago.

Article about women rangers: http://www.military.com/daily-news/2015/08/21/two-women-make-history-by-graduating-army-ranger-school.html

There is a 3rd who has to redo a stage. Hopefully, we will see her make it too!

[Cin]

Donald Trump’s “Ban Muslims” Proposal is Wildly Dangerous But Not Far Outside the U.S. Mainstream

Hours after a new poll revealed that he’s trailing Ted Cruz in Iowa, GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump issued a statement advocating “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our representatives can figure out what’s going on.” His spokesperson later clarified that this exclusion even includes Muslim-American citizens who are currently outside the U.S. On first glance, it seems accurate to view this, in the words of The Guardian, as “arguably the most extreme proposal to come from any U.S. presidential candidate in decades.”

Some comfortable journalists, however, quickly insisted that people were overreacting. “Before everyone gives up on the republic, remember that not even a single American has yet cast a vote for Trump,” said New York Times columnist Ross Douthat. The New York Daily News Opinion Page Editor Josh Greenman was similarly blithe: “It’s a proposal to keep Muslims out of the U.S., made in a primary, being roundly condemned. We are a long way from internment camps.”

Given that an ISIS attack in Paris just helped fuel the sweeping election victory of an actually fascist party in France, it’s a bit mystifying how someone can be so sanguine about the likelihood of a Trump victory in the U.S. In fact, with a couple of even low-level ISIS attacks successfully carried out on American soil, it’s not at all hard to imagine. But Trump does not need to win, or even get close to winning, for his rhetoric and the movement that he’s stoking to be dangerous in the extreme.

Professional political analysts have underestimated Trump’s impact by failing to take into account his massive, long-standing cultural celebrity, which commands the attention of large numbers of Americans who usually ignore politics (which happens to be the majority of the population), which in turn generates enormous, highly charged crowds pulsating with grievance and rage. That means that even if he fails to win a single state, he’s powerfully poisoning public discourse about multiple marginalized minority groups: in particular inciting and inflaming what was already volatile anti-Muslim animosity in the U.S.

As The Atlantic‘s Matt Ford put it yesterday: “The immediate danger isn’t Trump’s actual policy, but the bigotry and violence that it both legitimizes and encourages.” Muslim Americans (and, for that matter, Mexican-Americans and African-Americans) don’t have the luxury that people like Douthat and Greenman have to be so dismissive. That’s what Al Jazeera’s Sana Saeed meant when she said that she’s “tired of people telling us to not be afraid – Trump may not win but his words will last & there are people who support” the bile he’s spewing.

All that said, it’s important not to treat Trump as some radical aberration. He’s essentially the American id, simply channeling pervasive sentiments unadorned with the typical diplomatic and PR niceties designed to prettify the prevailing mentality. He didn’t propose banning all Muslims from entering the U.S. because it’s grounded in some fringe, out-of-the-mainstream ideas. He proposed it in part to commandeer media attention so as to distract attention away from his rivals and from that latest Iowa poll, but he also proposed it because he knows there is widespread anti-Muslim fear and hatred in the U.S. Whatever else you want to say about him, Trump is a skillful entertainer, and good entertainers – like good fascist demagogues – know their audience.

http://commondreams.org/views/2015/12/08/donald-trumps-ban-muslims-proposal-wildly-dangerous-not-far-outside-us-mainstream

[Kätzchen]

I just want to say first, that I don't know how I would ever get to see articles like I used to when going on a reading binge via my now-dead laptop. I appreciate, so very much, your efforts to leave articles on this particular forum board. I can't peruse articles on the Web because it eats up what tiny bit of data plan I have. So, thank you, thank you, Miss Tick, and Anya, Allison, Andrea and everyone who participates on this forum thread.

Now, about that son of a buck ... Trump.

A few months ago, I was invited to attend what I thought was a business meeting, where other attendees were thought to be from the ranks of members on my work campus. I was thrilled at first. But once I was less than 10 minutes into this so-called business meeting, it became painfully clear that 99.99 percent attendees were Republican voters, which was financed by former Bush cronies and Trump-wannabees. I did all I could to remain as composed as could be, and found a way to excuse myself from what turned out to be a rally to incite right wing voters into further indoctrination into racialized political ways of thinking, voting, (ad naseum).

I could hardly believe the numbers of people attending this event at Memorial Coliseum. People who profess to live a Christian lifestyle AND in favor of guns AND in favor of doing all they can to maintain the 'all American' lifestyle of upscale status and all the trimmings of so-called privilege (fucking worst case of White Privilege I've seen in months, could hardly believe my eyes that night ).

Worse, a few weeks ago, a close friend, who's married and sponsors foster children, gives them a wonderful home, safe place to live, i learned that her husband totally supports the jingoistic horrors espoused by Trump. I had no idea about this until their foster son and I were in the car, waiting for my friend to come back from her shopping run. Her foster son disclosed to me in ordinary ways about how her husband was crazy for liking Trump, but that he was proud that my close friend thought Trump was a sociopath and if left unchecked, would ruin what's left of American society. Her foster son is only 15 years old. He's on the autism spectrum, a genius (if you ask me), but can totally see how Trump is the quintessential epitome of all that shouldn't even be considered American at all, but is by people who just apparently can't see how terribly fascist Trump is and will rule (and ruin) society with an iron fist, if not by iron foot too.

Each day that goes by, it worries me terribly that such egregious ways of thinking can even EXIST in this tiny blue dot of sanity .... where I currently live and think of as home. But my close friend's foster son was truly an inspiration to hear, that day.

[Kobi]

I found this very interesting tho I'm not sure if it was meant to put things in perspective or if it was meant to be its own brand of propaganda.

The question I find myself asking continuously ever since someone realized Trump was not going to go away is....if you look at the process going on here, the question what is wrong with this picture keeps cropping up in one way or another. Like most processes, it is a puzzle with pieces here and there. And the more pieces people try to add to the puzzle, the more the overall picture keeps changing.

So, I have no answers but many many questions. Let's look at what the article says:


Hours after a new poll revealed that he’s trailing Ted Cruz in Iowa, GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump issued a statement advocating “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our representatives can figure out what’s going on.” His spokesperson later clarified that this exclusion even includes Muslim-American citizens who are currently outside the U.S. On first glance, it seems accurate to view this, in the words of The Guardian, as “arguably the most extreme proposal to come from any U.S. presidential candidate in decades.”


What Trump said was - he advocates“a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our representatives can figure out what’s going on.” That means that people are properly vetted before they step foot in the country.

Obama, Ryan, Cameron, Abedin, the oil person from Canada (of course oil figures into the picture), JK Rowling, and even Dick Cheney were among the "influential" people who came out to denounce Trump for wanting to ban Muslims.

The question this raises for me is a bunch of people are deliberately changing what was said into something that wasnt said, trying to sell it as truth, and adding in doomsday prophesies akin to the Holocaust and Hitler. For a little extra, we are adding in Japanese Americans being interned after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.

So why is this being done? Why is a deliberate mistruth being perpetuated and used to instill and incite the very same fear mongering they are supposedly trying to quell? What's wrong with this picture?

Notice in the fear mongering tactics what isnt being used. When America marched the (no matter what term I use someone will have a problem with it... so my post, my choice) Native Americans off to Reservations, what do you really think we were doing? And, why is this not being used as an example doomsday?

When Obama said on Thanksgiving Day, we should think of the Syrian refugees like the Pilgrims, it was a slap in the face to Native Americans. No one said a word. No one corrected him. No one addressed it. Everyone, including the media just let it slide. Why?

Why are we not using what Joe McCarthy did to Americans who were"suspected communists"?

Why is no one talking about what Jimmy Cater did during the Iranian hostage crisis? Maybe because Carter actually did what Trump was advocating? Do we even remember what Carter did?

"First, the United States of America is breaking diplomatic relations with the Government of Iran. The Secretary of State has informed the Government of Iran that its Embassy and consulates in the United States are to be closed immediately. All Iranian diplomatic and consular officials have been declared persona non grata and must leave this country by midnight tomorrow."

"Fourth, the Secretary of Treasury [State] and the Attorney General will invalidate all visas issued to Iranian citizens for future entry into the United States, effective today. We will not reissue visas, nor will we issue new visas, except for compelling and proven humanitarian reasons or where the national interest of our own country requires. This directive will be interpreted very strictly. " Read all of it here. (http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=33233)

10 November 1979

Carter orders 50,000 Iranian students in US to report to immigration
office with view to deporting those in violation of their visas. On 27
December 1979, US appeals court allows deportation of Iranian
students found in violation. (CRS 1981, 38, 71) Source (https://www.piie.com/publications/papers/sanctions-iran-79-1.pdf)

The pundits are also saying what Trump is suggesting is unconstitutional. If this is true, how did Carter manage to do this? The Nationality Act of 1952 (McCarran-Walter Act) (http://tucnak.fsv.cuni.cz/~calda/Documents/1950s/McCarran_52.html)

So, the question I ask myself again is, who is deliberately misrepresenting the truth, using it as fodder for fear mongering, selectively deciding what of history to use, and why are they doing this? What are they afraid of to be willing to stoop to such levels?

The director of Homeland Security came right out and said Trump or his views were a threat to national security. Hm. Ordinarily, if someone is a threat, we arrest them, sequester them, find or manufacture so weird ass shit on them to prove our point.

Hard to do to a Presidential candidate but not impossible. There is a part of me seeing a group of pundits, sitting around a table trying to figure out how can we pull off an assassination and who can we pin it on.


Some comfortable journalists, however, quickly insisted that people were overreacting. “Before everyone gives up on the republic, remember that not even a single American has yet cast a vote for Trump,” said New York Times columnist Ross Douthat. The New York Daily News Opinion Page Editor Josh Greenman was similarly blithe: “It’s a proposal to keep Muslims out of the U.S., made in a primary, being roundly condemned. We are a long way from internment camps.”


Now they are trying to look like they are applying reason and logic cuz Trump is nowhere near having the power to do anything.


Given that an ISIS attack in Paris just helped fuel the sweeping election victory of an actually fascist party in France, it’s a bit mystifying how someone can be so sanguine about the likelihood of a Trump victory in the U.S. In fact, with a couple of even low-level ISIS attacks successfully carried out on American soil, it’s not at all hard to imagine. But Trump does not need to win, or even get close to winning, for his rhetoric and the movement that he’s stoking to be dangerous in the extreme.

Professional political analysts have underestimated Trump’s impact by failing to take into account his massive, long-standing cultural celebrity, which commands the attention of large numbers of Americans who usually ignore politics (which happens to be the majority of the population), which in turn generates enormous, highly charged crowds pulsating with grievance and rage. That means that even if he fails to win a single state, he’s powerfully poisoning public discourse about multiple marginalized minority groups: in particular inciting and inflaming what was already volatile anti-Muslim animosity in the U.S.

As The Atlantic‘s Matt Ford put it yesterday: “The immediate danger isn’t Trump’s actual policy, but the bigotry and violence that it both legitimizes and encourages.” Muslim Americans (and, for that matter, Mexican-Americans and African-Americans) don’t have the luxury that people like Douthat and Greenman have to be so dismissive. That’s what Al Jazeera’s Sana Saeed meant when she said that she’s “tired of people telling us to not be afraid – Trump may not win but his words will last & there are people who support” the bile he’s spewing.

So now they are trying to spin another scenario. Now they are calling what Trump said a policy. It not a policy. He advocated. Advocating is not policy. Just like Trump, the media knows exactly how to spin words in such a way to create a certain picture but make it appear like they are being neutral. More fear mongering. Why?

All that said, it’s important not to treat Trump as some radical aberration. He’s essentially the American id, simply channeling pervasive sentiments unadorned with the typical diplomatic and PR niceties designed to prettify the prevailing mentality. He didn’t propose banning all Muslims from entering the U.S. because it’s grounded in some fringe, out-of-the-mainstream ideas. He proposed it in part to commandeer media attention so as to distract attention away from his rivals and from that latest Iowa poll, but he also proposed it because he knows there is widespread anti-Muslim fear and hatred in the U.S. Whatever else you want to say about him, Trump is a skillful entertainer, and good entertainers – like good fascist demagogues – know their audience.


This is my favorite part. Here they are speculating on Trump's motivations, feeding off of certain things, feeding into certain things, playing to his audience.

And Obama, Ryan, Cameron, Abedin, the oil person from Canada (of course oil figures into the picture), JK Rowling, Dick Cheney, every other presidential candidate and the media - whether conservative, liberal, or radical is not doing the same thing? That sounds a lot like the pot calling the kettle black kind of thing.

And the one thing they do not address. There are factions in this country that have been silenced in service to political correctness. We want to project a certain image, a certain belief system, a certain whatever and anything contrary to that must be squashed, dismissed, ridiculed, or whatever will silence them.

For the first time in decades, those factions have a voice. It's name is Donald.

So again. What wrong with this picture? As I said, I dont know. The older I get the more comfortable I am saying I dont know. But, my gut is feeling something not good here. Just dont know what.

There are a couple of things I'm pretty confident in tho. Politicians and the media are experts at manipulation - of people, of the truth, of history. of the lunch menu. You name it, they know how to spin it for their own purposes. Figuring out what those purposes really are is a life long and very tiring endeavor.

The other thing Im pretty confident in is that for every person, regardless of the issue or what side of the issue they are on, if you agree with them, they will see you as well informed and intelligent. If you disagree with them, they will see you as opinionated, radical, dumb, crazy, stupid take your pick of derogatory terms.

Tick, you also posted an interesting article somewhere a while back. It was a study on how people, once they learn something or believe something, they are reluctant to let go of it, even when evidence to the contrary is staring them in the face, they will cling to what they know. Havent found the post yet for the reference. But this, is also sticking in my head these days.

And, while all this was going on yesterday, it was taking attention away from this (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-security-visas-idUSKBN0TR2VN20151209):

The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to tighten restrictions on travel to the United States by citizens of 38 nations who are allowed to enter the country without obtaining a visa.

The bill, the second major piece of security legislation approved in the chamber in response to the Nov. 13 Paris attacks, passed by 407 to 19.

The measure would require visitors from the visa waiver countries, which include much of western Europe, to obtain a visa to travel to the United States if they had been to Syria, Iraq, Iran or Sudan during the past five years.

It would also require countries participating in the program to share information with U.S. authorities about suspected terrorists or risk being suspended from the scheme.

"This legislation will help close gaping security gaps and improve our ability to stop dangerous individuals before they reach our shores," said Republican Representative Michael McCaul, the House Homeland Security Committee chairman.

What was Trump advocating for? People being checked BEFORE they are allowed in the country. They will crucify and demonize Trump and then pass legislation about the exact same thing? Was the problem that Trump said it specifically about Muslims while the House is broadening it to every one of the 20 million people allowed to come here every year without a visa? What's wrong with this picture?


Twenty million visitors a year enter the United States under the program, which allows them to stay 90 days. It was started in 1986 to boost tourism and tighten the country's relationship with close allies.

Congress has been focused on visa waivers since Paris because some of the militants behind the attacks were Europeans radicalized after visiting Syria.

[jewelofnj]

Trump is an ass and should not be considered a viable cand to be oyr President

[Cin]

Kobi, you make some interesting points for sure. I think Trump is mainstreaming very racist and xenophobic ideology and opening the door for others to adopt what will then seem like more moderate racist and xenophobic views.

Trump is at his core a businessman. Marketing 101, find a need that is not being met, define it, then make the people want it, and then give them what they want.

[JDeere]

If you keep talking about Trump the more you give him press. If you don't talk or post about it, the less press he gets and things will change.

Smh.

[*Anya*]

If you keep talking about Trump the more you give him press. If you don't talk or post about it, the less press he gets and things will change.

Smh.

Know thine enemy.

Perhaps the newscasters and pollsters that are the mainstream press and ABC, NBC and CBS, publish our viewpoints from BFP; but I kind of doubt it.

I certainly could be wrong.

It is unfortunate, but true, that what Trump says, is news right now.

[JDeere]

Know thine enemy.

Perhaps the newscasters and pollsters that are the mainstream press and ABC, NBC and CBS, publish our viewpoints from BFP; but I kind of doubt it.

I certainly could be wrong.

It is unfortunate, but true, that what Trump says, is news right now.

Oh trust me i blame the press, all facets of it. But yes what he is saying is the news.

[Cin]

When Obama said on Thanksgiving Day, we should think of the Syrian refugees like the Pilgrims, it was a slap in the face to Native Americans.

Not only that, but I can't understand how he could think that was logical reference to use to make the point that the Syrian refugees aren't dangerous and aren't going to be a problem. I can't think of a more dangerous and a more serious problem faced by America's indigenous people than the pilgrims and their ilk. I mean that really didn't end well for Native Americans. I wouldn't compare the Syrian refugees to the Pilgrims. That's just scary and a really dumb example to boot.


Tick, you also posted an interesting article somewhere a while back. It was a study on how people, once they learn something or believe something, they are reluctant to let go of it, even when evidence to the contrary is staring them in the face, they will cling to what they know. Havent found the post yet for the reference. But this, is also sticking in my head these days.


I find this particular quirk of human beings quite fascinating and also very depressing. It kind of makes me not want to bother explaining and linking facts when making a point. But I recently came across an interesting article that looks at the issue in much more depth. Here's the link if you want to read it. There's a little hope. It's a bit long though.

http://lifehacker.com/can-rational-arguments-actually-change-peoples-minds-1590008558

[Kätzchen]

Branding, marketing, and persuasion, is an conceptual progression whose roots are deeply embedded within Antonio Gramsci's doctrine of Hegemony:

"The rule of one class over another is not dependent on economics or physical power, but on persuading the ruled to accept an system of beliefs belonging to the ruling class,"
~ James Joll (U. K., 1977).

When I think of current political issues arising across the landscape of societies, here, near or abroad, I trend toward literature authored by Czeslaw Milosz (who formerly lived under two dictatorships during his early years, before defecting to the west (US), then taking up departmental studies as an professor at UC-Berkeley. And, available literature by Antonio Gramsci whose brilliant treatise was penned while imprisoned during fascist Italian dictatorship, during the end years of his life.

CBS news, this morning, released a video pertaining to women and children fleeing for their lives. And the journalist (Mandi Patikin?) iterated the fleeing women's narrative, as: " I saw death behind me....And I never stopped running."

There's so much to learn from those who've lived through or currently in the most harrowing of circumstances in life.

I have fled for my life, not like people I've mentioned above, but in circumstances of my own where there was no other choice but to flee for my life and the lives of my children. My heart is tender and filled with compassion for those who flee hostile situations where it's no other choice before you but life or death. It is those kinds of situations that ultimately shape your perspective in ways that deeply marks ones convictions, develops the kind of scruples which determine and add definition to an person's proverbial vocabulary of life experience.

Thanks for letting me share my thoughts, tonight. :candle:

[Cin]

Mainstream media aka corporate media is being blamed for Trumps popularity in some circles. It is certainly true that the media has favored the big orange head with more than his fair share of attention, but if that's all it took then he could just tap dance his way to popularity on the strength of his media favoritism. The real problem isn't that the media gives Trump too much attention, it's that the American people are listening because he's singing their tune. This didn't happen in a vacuum. The GOP with their outrageous politics has primed the pumps for decades. Encouraging hatred and anger with the Tea Party, radicalizing Congress with their far right fascist leaning fanatical candidates, they have been setting the stage for this for awhile now. You could crush Donald Trump and squeeze his orange noggin until pulp comes out but the anger and hate that is consuming Americans would still be there just waiting for someone to come along and manipulate that energy for votes.

[Andrea]

$700 million mine-hunting drone can't find explosives

http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/11/politics/remote-mine-hunting-drone-fails-tests/index.html (http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/11/politics/remote-mine-hunting-drone-fails-tests/index.html)

A mine-detection system the U.S. Navy invested nearly $700 million and 16 years in developing can't complete its most basic functions, according to the Pentagon's weapon-testing office.

The Remote Minehunting System, or RMS, was developed for the Navy's new littoral combat ship. But the Defense Department's Office of Operational Test & Evaluation says the drone hunting technology was unable to consistently identify and destroy underwater explosives during tests dating back to September 2014.

[Andrea]

Ex-Oklahoma City cop Daniel Holtzclaw cries after jury convicts him of rape

http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/11/us/oklahoma-daniel-holtzclaw-verdict/index.html (http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/11/us/oklahoma-daniel-holtzclaw-verdict/index.html)

For about six months, Daniel Holtzclaw preyed on women in one of Oklahoma's poorest neighborhoods, exploiting his police badge to intimidate them into keeping quiet.

[Cin]

Canada welcomed its first planeload of refugees last night. 25,000 refuges will make Canada their home by March. And not only are they finding acceptance from all Provinces but Canada's very pretty Prime Minister was there in person to welcome the arrivals and help them find warm clothes to protect them against harsh Canadian winters.

Here are some remarks from Trudeau's speech concerning the refugees just before their arrival:
"First of all, thank you for being here. And thank you for the gorgeous smiles I see. This is a wonderful night where we get to show not just a planeload of new Canadians what Canada is all about, we get to show the world how to open our hearts and welcome in people who are fleeing extraordinarily difficult situations.

"But it's not just about receiving them tonight. It's about the hard work we're all going to do in the coming weeks, months and indeed years to ensure that everyone who passes through here tonight and in the weeks and months to come are able to build a life for themselves, for their family and also contribute fully to the continued growth of this extraordinary country."

"Tonight they step off the plane as refugees. But they walk out of this terminal as permanent residents of Canada, with social insurance numbers, with health cards, and with an opportunity to become full Canadians.

"This is something that we are able to do in this country because we define a Canadian not by a skin colour or a language or a religion or a background. But by a shared set of values, aspirations, hopes and dreams that not just Canadians but people around the world share. And how you will receive these people tonight will be something they will remember for the rest of their lives, but also I know something that you will remember for the rest of your lives. And I thank you deeply for being a part of this because this matters, tonight matters, not just for Canada but for the world.

"Merci beaucoup, mes amis."

Some quotes from the article (not from Trudeau's speech LOL):
"Canadians eager to show their support for the newcomers weren’t deterred by the fact that they couldn’t do so face to face.

A handful of people gathered at the international arrivals gate at Pearson bearing signs and gifts.

...dropped off dozens of bags brimming with snacks and plush toys for the children, as well as hats and mittens for the adults. ...having made arrangements with airport security to have the items -and several hundreds more bags – brought to the designated terminal where the government flight landed."

Another plane arrives in Montreal tomorrow. So many people wanted to go to the airport to welcome them (including my wife) that for security and logistic reasons that's not going to be possible. But I think it will be clear enough to the refugees aka new permanent residents of Canada that they are very welcome indeed.

Damn those refugees hit the jackpot.

http://globalnews.ca/news/2394286/live-blog-toronto-set-to-welcome-feds-first-syrian-refugees-to-canada/

[Corkey]

I for one am very glad and so grateful for Canada in many ways, this is but one. I hope they leave the door open to us if tRump wins.

[Cin]

Looks like Trump is no anomaly. Racism is as American as apple pie. Even the highest court in the land is not immune to racist rhetoric. We seem to be teetering on the edge of something wicked. To quote William Faulkner "the past is never dead. it's not even past." It's scary really. My fervent hope is that people's eyes will open and this will be the beginning of truth and healing. But then that's always my fervent hope and it hasn't come to fruition yet. But since I'm quoting how about a little Dickinson “Hope” is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all -


NYT Rewrites Scalia to Make Him Sound Less Racist

New York Times Supreme Court correspondent Adam Liptak (12/9/15) recounted a startling moment in the Court’s oral arguments over the University of Texas’ affirmative action plan:

In a remark that drew muted gasps in the courtroom, Justice Antonin Scalia said that minority students with inferior academic credentials may be better off at “a less advanced school, a slower-track school where they do well.”

“I don’t think it stands to reason that it’s a good thing for the University of Texas to admit as many blacks as possible,” he added.

But part of the reason that the remark drew “muted gasps,” surely, is that that’s not what Scalia said–he didn’t say minority students “with inferior academic credentials” would be better off at worse schools, he said African-Americans in general would. Here’s the whole passage:

There are those who contend that it does not benefit African-Americans to get them into the University of Texas, where they do not do well, as opposed to having them go to a less–a slower-track school where they do well. One of the briefs pointed out that most of the black scientists in this country don’t come from schools like the University of Texas…. They come from lesser schools where they do not feel that they’re being pushed ahead in classes that are too fast for them.

He goes on to suggest that “really competent blacks” would be better off if they were “admitted to lesser schools”:

I’m just not impressed by the fact­­ that the University of Texas may have fewer [black students]. Maybe it ought to have fewer. And maybe some, ­­you know, when you take more, the number of blacks, really competent blacks, admitted to lesser schools turns out to be less. And I don’t think it stands to reason that it’s a good thing for the University of Texas to admit as many blacks as possible.

This is not a person talking about a subset of blacks with a particular kind of educational background; taking his words at face value, this is a person asserting that African-Americans as a whole belong in “lesser schools” that are not “too fast for them.” (Or that “there are those who contend” that that is the case, if you want to give Scalia credit for that circumlocution.)

The fact that a Supreme Court justice justifies eliminating affirmative action on the basis of openly racist views ought to be big news. By sugarcoating what Scalia actually said, the New York Times disguises that news–making the ethnic cleansing of America’s top schools a more palatable possibility. Perhaps that shouldn’t make me gasp.

http://commondreams.org/views/2015/12/11/nyt-rewrites-scalia-make-him-sound-less-racist


Speaking on the Senate floor Thursday morning, CNN reports Minority Leader Harry Reid pushed back on the comments, saying, “These ideas that he pronounced yesterday are racist in application, if not intent. I don’t know about his intent, but it is deeply disturbing to hear a Supreme Court justice endorse racist ideas from the bench on the nation’s highest court. His endorsement of racist theories has frightening ramifications, not the least of which is to undermine the academic achievements of Americans, African-Americans especially.”

http://time.com/4144454/harry-reid-justice-scalia-racist/

[Kobi]

Looks like Trump is no anomaly. Racism is as American as apple pie. Even the highest court in the land is not immune to racist rhetoric. We seem to be teetering on the edge of something wicked. To quote William Faulkner "the past is never dead. it's not even past." It's scary really. My fervent hope is that people's eyes will open and this will be the beginning of truth and healing. But then that's always my fervent hope and it hasn't come to fruition yet. But since I'm quoting how about a little Dickinson “Hope” is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all -



I saw this today and did some digging. When one looks at it out of context, it sounds like something it may not be.

Scalia was speaking to the academic theory of "mismatch" which both sides filed briefs on. While the briefs were not the central argument of the cases, they are relevant.

Questioning legal arguments and briefs is part of the process of making your case.


“I don’t think,” Mr. Scalia said, “it stands to reason that it’s a good thing for the University of Texas to admit as many blacks as possible.” He was addressing Gregory G. Garre, the lawyer defending the University of Texas at Austin’s affirmative action policy, which supplements the automatic admission of top-ranking students from all high schools across the state with the use of race as one factor in a “holistic” approach to admissions.

In asking such a pointed question, Mr. Scalia was stepping into a long debate over what has been called the mismatch theory of college admissions.

The proponents of the “mismatch effect” say that large allowances based on a student’s race are harmful to those who receive them, that they learn less than they would if they attended a college more closely matched to their level of academic preparation, receive lower grades, become academically discouraged and socially segregated. Critics say that the “mismatch” research is based on flawed assumptions that cannot be validated by other researchers, and that the evidence is more likely to show that all students, regardless of race, benefit from enrolling at the most challenging college that will accept them.

Stuart Taylor Jr., a Princeton graduate, lawyer and writer who co-wrote the 2012 book “Mismatch: How Affirmative Action Hurts Students It’s Intended to Help, and Why Universities Won’t Admit It,” said Mr. Scalia’s lack of eloquence had made what he said sound worse than it was.

In the current case, Mr. Taylor is counsel on an amicus brief propounding the mismatch theory, on behalf of his co-author on that book, Richard Sander, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, law school. “Students who are admitted with far lower grades and test scores and other indicia of academic capability are almost certain to do badly academically, and we think, and this is more debatable, that they’re also likely to do worse in their careers and other departments of life than they would if they were getting good grades at some less prestigious school,” Mr. Taylor said.

He said the idea was not to reduce the number of black students going to college, but to admit them to schools where they would be more likely to succeed. “Martin Luther King didn’t go to a fancy college,” he said. “Thurgood Marshall didn’t go to a fancy college. Colin Powell didn’t go to a fancy college.”

Oren Sellstrom, one of the lawyers on a brief attacking the mismatch theory, said that “there is a vast body of social science evidence that shows exactly the opposite of what the mismatch theory purports to show, that actually minority students who benefit from affirmative action get higher grades at the institutions they attend, leave school at lower rates than others, and are generally more satisfied in higher education, and that attendance at a selective institution is associated with higher earnings and higher college completion rates.”

Mr. Sellstrom called the mismatch theory “paternalistic,” and said that the concern Mr. Scalia’s remarks raised for him was that, “At root he does not believe that students of color belong at elite institutions. I hope that’s not the case, but the tenor of the remarks certainly suggests that that is underlying his thinking.”

The article. (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/11/us/with-remarks-in-affirmative-action-case-scalia-steps-into-mismatch-debate.html?_r=0)

[Cin]

[COLOR="Navy"]
I saw this today and did some digging. When one looks at it out of context, it sounds like something it may not be.


I think in any context it sounds exactly like what it is.

[Cin]

More on that Supreme Court case.


Abigail Fisher Deserves an 'F' for Her Race-Baiting Supreme Court Case Aimed at Boosting Subpar White Students

The admissions case in front of SCOTUS is about putting mediocre white students ahead of talented people of color.

Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard arguments in what is easily the most baffling case it’s going to hear this session, yet another attack on affirmative action policies at state universities, in this case the University of Texas at Austin. If ever there was a case that has no business in front of the high court, it is this one. The suit is a nuisance suit, it’s poorly argued, it’s disingenuous, it’s been heard before and, to make everything even more bizarre, the plaintiff’s claim to injury is demonstrably untrue. This is a case that should have been laughed out of court years ago, but instead, this is the second time — second time! — it’s being presented in front of the Supreme Court.

At stake is the claim made by Abigail Fisher, now 25, who hails from a wealthy suburb of Houston called Sugar Land, that she was deprived of her rightful admission at UT Austin because, in her view, some person of color who didn’t deserve it stole it from her.

Throughout her now seven-year campaign to make the school pay for not letting her in, Fisher has never been able to produce any evidence that the school tossed her application to make room for a less qualified minority applicant. That’s because, as UT Austin has maintained throughout this ordeal, Fisher was never getting in to their school. Fisher’s GPA and SAT scores weren’t high enough, and she didn’t have enough external accomplishments to convince the school to give her a shot otherwise. As Pro Publica explained at the time:

It’s true that the university, for whatever reason, offered provisional admission to some students with lower test scores and grades than Fisher. Five of those students were black or Latino. Forty-two were white.
Neither Fisher nor Blum mentioned those 42 applicants in interviews. Nor did they acknowledge the 168 black and Latino students with grades as good as or better than Fisher’s who were also denied entry into the university that year.

Fisher’s case only makes sense if you assume that people of color are inherently less worthy than white people. How else do you justify an argument that assumes that every white person should have been given a shot before minority students do?

This assumption of the inherent superiority of white people, even above those people of color who have more appealing applications, was reflected in Antonin Scalia’s remarks during today’s case.

From transcript, what Scalia said today on whether black people would be better served at "less advanced" schools pic.twitter.com/ikYGnjqM5p
— Irin Carmon (@irin) December 9, 2015

Instead of telling her where to shove it, the Supreme Court sent Fisher’s case back to the appeals court. Now she and her lawyers are back again. This time, they’ve tweaked their argument a bit, trying to argue that diversity itself is an illegitimate goal for schools and, to add a bit of extra nastiness sauce to it, they’re claiming that diversity is bad for students of color.

In other words, Fisher and her lawyers are concern-trolling the Supreme Court.

Most of UT Austin’s admissions are on the basis of high school class standing — about 80 percent of its class in the year that Fisher applied. But the other 20 percent are determined in a holistic fashion, by looking at grades, extracurricular activities, test scores, writing samples, the usual stuff. Because of the school’s commitment to diversity, race and class background is also taken into consideration. Someone who shows potential but faced some obstacles gets a closer look than someone who hasn’t had similar obstacles.

When you read about this case, it quickly becomes self-evident why the admissions committee didn’t think Fisher had some hidden potential that wasn’t reflected in her grades. Fisher, however, has decided her unparalleled genius is going unnoticed because of the notorious racism against white people. But since that argument hasn’t gotten her very far, her lawyer, Edward Blum, is now trying a different tactic to argue that schools should admit mediocre white people over talented students of color: His claim is that giving students of color an opportunity somehow hurts them.

“Rigorous judicial review,” Blum’s new petition argues, “would have revealed that UT’s ‘qualitative’ diversity interest is in fact illegitimate. It depends on the assumption that, as a group, minorities admitted through the Top Ten Percent Law are inherently limited in their ability to contribute to the university’s vision of a diverse student body, merely because many come from majority-minority communities.”

Translated from legalese to English: It’s supposedly racist to let students of color with middling grades into UT Austin, because you’re assuming they can’t do better. It’s a particularly rich argument, considering that Fisher is arguing that she should have been given the first shot, before any students of color, at getting in with middling grades.

But the school is arguing that they should have a right to evaluate a student beyond grades, at least in the 20 percent of cases at stake here. Students who get in with less than stellar grades (most of whom are white, we must remember) usually do so by making a case that they have potential. Taking someone’s racial background and the obstacles they faced from it is part of making that case.

Blum’s argument says more about his and Fisher’s racial prejudices than it does about the school. It’s they who assume that non-whites students must have been given a leg up because they couldn’t hack it on their own. But when it comes to Fisher, they employ a different assumption, believing, against all evidence to the contrary, that she must be good enough to deserve a spot. There’s a word for casually assuming the worst about people of color while assuming the best, even in the face of contrary evidence, of white people. Needless to say, it’s not a word commonly associated with doing well by people of color.

The “diversity is bad for students of color” argument is clearly disingenuous, but it’s really just cover for the larger argument that Blum is making, which is that universities have no interest in having diverse student bodies. Unfortunately, this claim, even without the doing-it-for-the-black-kids justification, has a warm audience with the conservative justices. As the Wall Street Journal liveblog demonstrates, Samuel Alito was arguing from the bench that as long as you have some black students, then you don’t really need to work to make sure that the student body’s diversity is reflexive of the country at large.

John Roberts got snotty, asking, ““What ‘unique perspective’ does a minority student bring to a physics class?” It’s interesting how he assumes the purpose in having black students is not to educate those students, but only if they can bring a “unique perspective” for the benefit of white students.

But of course, the purpose of universities, especially land grant colleges like UT Austin, is not just about giving white people a good college experience. It’s about improving society, as a whole. And that whole includes black people, who are currently underrepresented in higher education. UT Austin found a way to balance its duty to provide education to improve lives for people, all kinds of people, with their duty to maintain a level of educational excellence. Let’s hope the Supreme Court doesn’t chuck that in favor of a system whose only purpose is to elevate white mediocre students like Abigail Fisher over promising students of color.

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/abigail-fisher-deserves-f-her-race-baiting-supreme-court-case-aimed-boosting

[Kätzchen]

Concern-trolling: what a catchy phrase for a jacked up way to subversively apply an disingenuous tactic meant to upend hard won civil rights land mark cases.

It's no small wonder that racism is hard to dismantle, when iit's like a cancer cell, spotted on an x-ray picture that a highly trained technician took from a fully robed justice, sitting on a bench bought and paid for by (....).

Excellent article, Miss Tick.

[Kobi]

More on that Supreme Court case.


Abigail Fisher Deserves an 'F' for Her Race-Baiting Supreme Court Case Aimed at Boosting Subpar White Students

The admissions case in front of SCOTUS is about putting mediocre white students ahead of talented people of color.


Wow. Interesting choice of articles.

I tend to look for a different type of article i.e. one that is likely to explain the legal issues and arguments and engage me on an intellectual and cognitive level rather than an emotional one. Plus, I prefer to come to my own conclusions after weighing the information rather than being told what I am supposed to think. But, I'm weird like that.

I liked this one (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/12/10/where-justice-scalias-got-the-idea-that-african-americans-might-be-better-off-at-slower-track-universities/15/?tid=hybrid_content_3_na)because it provided information to digest and research.

[Soon]

Dear Justice Scalia: Here’s what I learned as a black student struggling at an elite college (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/12/11/dear-justice-scalia-heres-what-i-learned-as-a-black-student-struggling-at-an-elite-college/)

By Afi-Odelia Scruggs

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia might have thought he was simply debating the merit of race-based admissions at the University of Texas. But he lit a fire when he cited a friend-of-court brief that argued some blacks would do better at “slower-track” schools instead of being “pushed ahead in classes that are too fast” for them.

Scalia’s comment came from “mismatch theory,” which ironically advocates for the soft bigotry of low expectations.

According to its proponents, affirmative action harms students who aren’t ready for a strenuous academic environment. In a ripple effect, they will avoid struggle by opting for easy majors or dropping out altogether. Therefore, it’s best that they be guided to the shallow end of the educational pool: less-selective institutions where they can be more comfortable and successful.

The only thing new about the mismatch theory is the name. It’s actually the same old institutionalized racism that steered generations of African Americans into trade schools instead of universities. It’s the pernicious whisper beneath current suggestions that perhaps college isn’t for everybody.

The mismatch theory gets one thing right: Under-prepared black students will struggle at a demanding educational institution.

I know, because I was one.

Affirmative action helped me get into the College of the University of Chicago back in 1971. The school had not been closed to blacks. Carter G. Woodson, the originator of Black History Month, got a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from the university around 1907. But pressure to integrate brought dozens of African Americans to the college, not two or three.

The university touted its “life of the mind.” The atmosphere was so intense, college students joked it was the place where fun went to die. I remember an institution with meager student services and a stunning insensitivity to black youngsters. During a weekend recruiting visit for students of color, economist Milton Friedman explained how laws barring discrimination interfered with a business owner’s right to determine his customers.

Still, I figured I could hang. My standardized test scores were among the highest at my integrated school in Nashville, Tenn. I thought I was a prodigy.

I was 16 when I moved into my dormitory. Immediately, I realized how inadequate my education had been. My high school teachers had just made mention of Plato and Aristotle. Several of my college classmates had read them. I had two years of high-school Spanish, but I couldn’t pass the college’s proficiency test. By the end of freshman year, I knew I’d have to grind to graduate.


I finished in four years with a degree in Russian and a 2.5 grade-point average. Perhaps I’d have made better grades at a “slower-track” school. But all lessons aren’t academic. Here’s what struggling at an advanced institution taught me:

How to set my own standards for success: My second-year Russian teacher calculated his grades on mistakes made. By chance, I compared notes with a white, male student. I’d made 11 mistakes. He’d made 10.5. Yet I was a C+ and he was B-. When I approached the teacher, he suggested I consider another major.

The pattern continued throughout the year. Clearly, the professor had made up his mind. He was the only instructor for the required class, so I couldn’t avoid him. Instead, I studied for knowledge instead of a grade. I relied on intrinsic motivation, instead of going for the extrinsic reward.

That teacher helped me make another major decision. After reading “The Death of Ivan Ilych” in Russian three times to prep for his final, I was thoroughly done with Russian literature. I got my doctorate in Slavic linguistics.

How to advocate for myself: My teachers showed me subtly and overtly that they didn’t think I was smart enough to attend the university. I stopped trying to show them otherwise. My goal was to become a University of Chicago alumna. I found a mentor. I pulled all-nighters studying and writing papers. I raised the money to attend a summer language institute in Vermont. My teachers marveled when I returned speaking fluently. I knew then that my work had paid off.

How to become entitled: I watched the white kids around me with awe. If they wanted to drive across country, somehow they finagled a car, gas, and places to stay. If they decided to learn the blues, they ended up hanging out with the best guitarists on the South Side of Chicago. They took their good fortune in stride, as if it was the way of the world.

Until I came to college, I’d never lived intimately with people who assumed life would unfurl for them. My expectations swelled. I might have to yank at the knobs, but doors would open for me.

How culturally limited white people really can be: My dorm kitchen was the hangout, where we cooked and chatted. One evening a couple friends glanced at the vegetable I was chopping.

“What’re you fixing?” one asked.

“It’s a sweet potato,” I said, puzzled.

“A what?”

I was stunned. If sweet potatoes were foreign to them, what else was? More importantly, what did I know that they didn’t? Growing up in the South, I’d placed white folks on a pedestal. In college, I began to dismantle that throne.

Compassion: My tenure at the University of Chicago was punishing, competitive and life- changing. Throughout my academic career, I’d been one of the smartest kids in my school. My test scores were high. So were my grades. At college, I wasn’t just ordinary; I was ignored.

In Nashville, my teachers expected great things from me. At Chicago, my teachers expected nothing — and seemed surprised when I disappointed them.

Ultimately, my confidence in my intellectual abilities got me through. Along the way, however, I wondered about students who didn’t have my assurance. What would happen to them?

The mismatch argument is flawed because it assumes under-prepared black students will opt to fail instead of push to succeed. Ultimately, I wonder what proponents are actually trying to protect: a system that includes black students who are like I was, or a status quo that keeps them out?

[Cin]

Wow. Interesting choice of articles.

I tend to look for a different type of article i.e. one that is likely to explain the legal issues and arguments and engage me on an intellectual and cognitive level rather than an emotional one. Plus, I prefer to come to my own conclusions after weighing the information rather than being told what I am supposed to think. But, I'm weird like that.

I liked this one (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/12/10/where-justice-scalias-got-the-idea-that-african-americans-might-be-better-off-at-slower-track-universities/15/?tid=hybrid_content_3_na)because it provided information to digest and research.



When I'm looking for something to engage me on an intellectual level, I won't search the Washington Post for it, nor will I depend on it to explain legal issues and arguments. I don't depend on any one newspaper article to conclude things for me. I don't see reading a heartfelt article as being in danger of being told what to think. Facts are not even that persuasive for most people. Thought does not have to be separate from emotion. I have always believed thinking and feeling are both equally important in coming to any conclusion. Feeling your way through thoughts opens you up to all sides and all the dark corners of issues. But when it comes to the mismatch theory, I don't need to weigh the information on an intellectual and cognitive level rather than an emotional one, I already know what racist crap it is. To me it is almost as startling to hear a Supreme Court justice spewing this bull as it is to hear Trump's racist, xenophobic hate speech. Almost as startling but even more nefarious because it masquerades as a perfectly logical theory when in reality it is more racist rhetoric used as a popular argument against affirmative action. On the surface it seems to profess that students with lesser academic qualifications don't benefit from being admitted to a more competitive college, but it is really saying we don't want universities to concern themselves with diversity. However we will continue to encourage them to over extend other less academically qualified students for all kinds of reasons other than race. But responding only to the idea that students with lesser academic qualifications don't benefit from being admitted to a more competitive college, in actuality there is no proof that this is so. It's a racist mime that hides it's ugly face behind concern and when I hear these kinds of things I almost long for Trumps openly hateful words that cannot be construed as anything but what they are. Here is a less emotional argument although I can't imagine this kind of thing doesn't warrant some emotion.


http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2015/12/10/9885594/scalia-affirmative-action-mismatch/

The argument that black students, or less prepared students of any race, don't end up benefiting from affirmative action because they can't keep up with the work is known as mismatch theory. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is its most prominent advocate. In his dissent in Grutter v. Bollinger, the court's last high-profile affirmative action case, in 2003, he described elite colleges as "tantalizing" underprepared students with admissions offers.

"These overmatched students take the bait, only to find that they cannot succeed in the cauldron of competition," Thomas writes.

The only way to prove the mismatch theory true or false would be to randomly assign minority students with similar academic backgrounds to different colleges and see what happens. That's obviously impractical. But the bulk of research suggests that in fact, students who are admitted to competitive colleges despite being less academically qualified than their peers end up doing fine.
•Students from underrepresented communities who attend selective colleges are more likely to graduate than students with similar academic qualifications who do not.
•A 2013 study from two sociologists, Michal Kurlaender of the University of California Davis and Eric Grodsky from the University of Wisconsin, looked at an unusual situation at the University of California. Budget struggles led the university to admit fewer students than it had expected to, and it cut out students who were on the academic margins, weaker than other applicants. Then the budget situation improved, and so students were admitted after all. Those students who barely made the cut performed no worse than students from a similar educational background who were admitted through the normal admissions process.
•A 2007 study of students whose SAT scores were lower than the average SAT score of other students at their college found those students were not less likely to drop out, although in some cases they earned lower grades.
•Students from minority groups benefit more, in terms of lifetime earnings, from attending a selective college than their white peers, according to research from economists Stacy Dale and Alan Krueger.

Some research has supported the mismatch idea. A 2012 paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that after California banned affirmative action, graduation rates went up for black and Latino students, and attributed part of the increase to a better academic fit between students and colleges.

But the paper didn't consider that graduation rates for these students were already on an upward trend. An analysis by Matthew Chingos, now a senior fellow at the Urban Institute, found that graduation rates grew less than they otherwise would have if the affirmative action ban had not passed. In other words, banning affirmative action ended up holding back minority students.

Mismatch theory is always brought up in the context of affirmative action. But universities admit less academically qualified students for all kinds of reasons — because they're the children of alumni or donors, due to athletic or musical talent, and so on. There isn't nearly as much concern about how those students fare, and some research has found they're more likely to drop out than other students, including those admitted through race-based affirmative action.


Scalia was right about one thing: Many black scientists don't graduate from big public research universities like the University of Texas.

But that's not because they struggle to keep up with the work. It's because historically black colleges punch far above their weight when it comes to enrolling and graduating black science majors.

Nationally, black students are 11 percent of the undergraduate population, but they make up only 9 percent of degree recipients in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, known as STEM.

Fewer than 10 percent of black college students are enrolled at historically black colleges and universities, and those colleges typically have smaller endowments and fewer resources.

Yet one-third of black students who received an undergraduate degree in math or statistics did so at an HBCU. So did 37 percent of black students who received a degree in the physical sciences. Among black students who went on to earn a PhD in the STEM fields — a tiny slice of PhD recipients — more than one-third started their education at a historically black college.

This doesn't mean historically black colleges are "lesser schools" or "slower-track schools," as Scalia implies. It suggests that they might have something to teach the University of Texas about diversity in the sciences.

[Kobi]

When I'm looking for something to engage me on an intellectual level, I won't search the Washington Post for it, nor will I depend on it to explain legal issues and arguments. I don't depend on any one newspaper article to conclude things for me. I don't see reading a heartfelt article as being in danger of being told what to think. Facts are not even that persuasive for most people. Thought does not have to be separate from emotion. I have always believed thinking and feeling are both equally important in coming to any conclusion. Feeling your way through thoughts opens you up to all sides and all the dark corners of issues. But when it comes to the mismatch theory, I don't need to weigh the information on an intellectual and cognitive level rather than an emotional one, I already know what racist crap it is. To me it is almost as startling to hear a Supreme Court justice spewing this bull as it is to hear Trump's racist, xenophobic hate speech. Almost as startling but even more nefarious because it masquerades as a perfectly logical theory when in reality it is more racist rhetoric used as a popular argument against affirmative action. On the surface it seems to profess that students with lesser academic qualifications don't benefit from being admitted to a more competitive college, but it is really saying we don't want universities to concern themselves with diversity. However we will continue to encourage them to over extend other less academically qualified students for all kinds of reasons other than race. But responding only to the idea that students with lesser academic qualifications don't benefit from being admitted to a more competitive college, in actuality there is no proof that this is so. It's a racist mime that hides it's ugly face behind concern and when I hear these kinds of things I almost long for Trumps openly hateful words that cannot be construed as anything but what they are. Here is a less emotional argument although I can't imagine this kind of thing doesn't warrant some emotion.


http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2015/12/10/9885594/scalia-affirmative-action-mismatch/

The argument that black students, or less prepared students of any race, don't end up benefiting from affirmative action because they can't keep up with the work is known as mismatch theory. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is its most prominent advocate. In his dissent in Grutter v. Bollinger, the court's last high-profile affirmative action case, in 2003, he described elite colleges as "tantalizing" underprepared students with admissions offers.

"These overmatched students take the bait, only to find that they cannot succeed in the cauldron of competition," Thomas writes.

The only way to prove the mismatch theory true or false would be to randomly assign minority students with similar academic backgrounds to different colleges and see what happens. That's obviously impractical. But the bulk of research suggests that in fact, students who are admitted to competitive colleges despite being less academically qualified than their peers end up doing fine.
•Students from underrepresented communities who attend selective colleges are more likely to graduate than students with similar academic qualifications who do not.
•A 2013 study from two sociologists, Michal Kurlaender of the University of California Davis and Eric Grodsky from the University of Wisconsin, looked at an unusual situation at the University of California. Budget struggles led the university to admit fewer students than it had expected to, and it cut out students who were on the academic margins, weaker than other applicants. Then the budget situation improved, and so students were admitted after all. Those students who barely made the cut performed no worse than students from a similar educational background who were admitted through the normal admissions process.
•A 2007 study of students whose SAT scores were lower than the average SAT score of other students at their college found those students were not less likely to drop out, although in some cases they earned lower grades.
•Students from minority groups benefit more, in terms of lifetime earnings, from attending a selective college than their white peers, according to research from economists Stacy Dale and Alan Krueger.

Some research has supported the mismatch idea. A 2012 paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that after California banned affirmative action, graduation rates went up for black and Latino students, and attributed part of the increase to a better academic fit between students and colleges.

But the paper didn't consider that graduation rates for these students were already on an upward trend. An analysis by Matthew Chingos, now a senior fellow at the Urban Institute, found that graduation rates grew less than they otherwise would have if the affirmative action ban had not passed. In other words, banning affirmative action ended up holding back minority students.

Mismatch theory is always brought up in the context of affirmative action. But universities admit less academically qualified students for all kinds of reasons — because they're the children of alumni or donors, due to athletic or musical talent, and so on. There isn't nearly as much concern about how those students fare, and some research has found they're more likely to drop out than other students, including those admitted through race-based affirmative action.


Scalia was right about one thing: Many black scientists don't graduate from big public research universities like the University of Texas.

But that's not because they struggle to keep up with the work. It's because historically black colleges punch far above their weight when it comes to enrolling and graduating black science majors.

Nationally, black students are 11 percent of the undergraduate population, but they make up only 9 percent of degree recipients in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, known as STEM.

Fewer than 10 percent of black college students are enrolled at historically black colleges and universities, and those colleges typically have smaller endowments and fewer resources.

Yet one-third of black students who received an undergraduate degree in math or statistics did so at an HBCU. So did 37 percent of black students who received a degree in the physical sciences. Among black students who went on to earn a PhD in the STEM fields — a tiny slice of PhD recipients — more than one-third started their education at a historically black college.

This doesn't mean historically black colleges are "lesser schools" or "slower-track schools," as Scalia implies. It suggests that they might have something to teach the University of Texas about diversity in the sciences.



THIS is more what I am used to seeing in your arguments. Thank you for the information.

[Cin]

THIS is more what I am used to seeing in your arguments. Thank you for the information.



I guess you really didn't care for that other article. Well I am happy that you found this one more to your liking.

[*Anya*]

Antidepressants taken during pregnancy increase risk of autism by 87 percent
14th December 2015

Researchers came to their conclusion after reviewing data from the outcomes of 145,456 pregnancies.

The study published today in JAMA Pediatrics used data from the Quebec Pregnancy Cohort and studied 145,456 children between the time of their conception up to age ten. The study accounted for a number of other factors that have known links to autism, including genetic predisposition to autism (i.e., a family history of it), maternal age, depression itself, and certain socio-economic factors such as being exposed to poverty. Exposure to antidepressants was defined as the mother having had one or more prescription for antidepressants filled during the second or third trimester of the pregnancy.

Researchers suspect that because serotonin is involved in numerous pre- and postnatal developmental processes, antidepressants that inhibit serotonin (particularly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors known as SSRIs) will have a negative impact on the ability of the brain to fully develop in-utero.

The study published today in JAMA Pediatrics used data from the Quebec Pregnancy Cohort and studied 145,456 children between the time of their conception up to age ten. The study accounted for a number of other factors that have known links to autism, including genetic predisposition to autism (i.e., a family history of it), maternal age, depression itself, and certain socio-economic factors such as being exposed to poverty. Exposure to antidepressants was defined as the mother having had one or more prescription for antidepressants filled during the second or third trimester of the pregnancy.

Researchers suspect that because serotonin is involved in numerous pre- and postnatal developmental processes, antidepressants that inhibit serotonin (particularly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors known as SSRIs) will have a negative impact on the ability of the brain to fully develop in-utero.

We spoke with study senior author Professor Anick Bérard, Université de Montréal and the CHU Sainte-Justine Research Centre about the study. The full research team includes: Odile Sheehy, CHU Sainte-Justine, Laurent Mottron, Hôpital Rivière-des-Prairies, and Takoua Boukhris, Université de Montréal.

ResearchGate: What were your results?

Anick Bérard: Using antidepressants, especially selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI), during the 2nd/3rd trimesters of pregnancy increases the risk of having a child with autism (87 percent increased risk of autism with any antidepressants; more than doubling the risk with SSRI use specifically) – this risk is above and beyond the risk associated with maternal depression alone (maternal depression was associated with a 20 percent increased risk of autism in our study). Given the mounting evidence showing increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcome with antidepressant use during pregnancy, our study shows that depression should be treated with other options (other than antidepressants) during this critical period.

Indeed, 80-85 percent of depressed pregnant women are mildly to moderately depressed; exercise and psychotherapy have been shown to be efficacious to treat depression in this sub-group. Therefore, we acknowledge that depression is a serious condition but that antidepressants are not always the best solution.

RG: We normally think of the first trimester as being the riskiest time for the fetus, but this study was actually in the second and third trimesters. Why is the risk greater later in pregnancy?

AB: 1st trimester exposure is problematic for embryogenesis; 2nd/3rd trimesters are critical for brain development. Hence, the critical time-window for our study was the later part of the pregnancy.

NOTE: Rest of this important article at research gate, link below:

https://www.researchgate.net/blog/post/antidepressants-taken-during-pregnancy-increase-risk-of-autism-by-87-percent

[Cin]

This is hilarious. And by hilarious I mean horrifying with a side order of spit in the face and a kick in the gut to women everywhere.

Apparently it is possible to trip and fall and accidently stick your penis inside someone's vagina...along with your hand filled with semen. Women need to be careful to date only guys with good balance. And it goes without saying if someone dates a clumsy guy that automatically will make the whole thing her fault. Although it seems as thought this is considered to be a no fault sex act. Aw man penises are going to be falling into vaginas all over the place.

http://jezebel.com/man-who-claimed-he-fell-and-penetrated-teen-is-cleared-1748294505

... the English guy from last week who deflected rape charges by saying he had probably fallen inside his 18-year-old victim? Turns out he was recently acquitted! So, I was wrong, courts will actually believe anything that comes from the mouth of a rich middle-aged man.

Developer and millionaire Ehsan Abdulaziz, 46, reportedly took two women, aged 18 and 24, home with him after a night at a club. The 18-year-old reported that early in the morning, she woke up to Abdulaziz forcing himself on top of her. Abdulaziz, however, explained to very understanding authorities that he had gone to check if the girl had wanted a t-shirt to sleep in or a taxi home, when she pulled him on top of her. His penis must have been poking out of his underwear, which led to accidental penetration.

His semen and DNA were found inside the victim, which he said was probably because he had gotten it on his hands after having sex with the 24-year-old. Which means he somehow fell penis and hand first into a woman.

During the trial, Judge Martin Griffiths reportedly allowed the defense to present 20 minutes of evidence in private. The jury acquitted Abdulaziz after a half an hour of deliberations.

“I’m fragile,” Abdulaziz said. “I fell down but nothing ever happened between me and this girl, nothing ever happened.”

---it turns out Abdulaziz is fragile and women are holes.

[Kobi]

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- It will be hard to tell where your beef and pork comes from with the repeal of the country of origin labeling in the United States.

Congress repealed the rules, which began in 2009, with a measure added to the omnibus budget bill passed on Friday. Obama signed the bill into law Friday.

The repeal comes after the World Trade Organization found the labels were unfair to meat producers outside the United States. Canada and Mexico last week were granted permission to impose more than $1 billion in import tariffs on U.S. goods if the labels were not removed.

A wide range of industries lobbied Congress to remove the labelling requirement out of fear that tariffs would spread to other U.S. exports, from furniture to frozen orange juice.

Story (http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2015/12/21/Congress-repeals-country-of-origin-labeling-for-meat/3241450709277/?src=FB)

HuffPost (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/meat-labeling_5677b96ce4b014efe0d5e9f0)
----------


The unintended hazards of a global economy, global law, and global sanctions.

[Shystonefem]

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- It will be hard to tell where your beef and pork comes from with the repeal of the country of origin labeling in the United States.

Congress repealed the rules, which began in 2009, with a measure added to the omnibus budget bill passed on Friday. Obama signed the bill into law Friday.

The repeal comes after the World Trade Organization found the labels were unfair to meat producers outside the United States. Canada and Mexico last week were granted permission to impose more than $1 billion in import tariffs on U.S. goods if the labels were not removed.

A wide range of industries lobbied Congress to remove the labelling requirement out of fear that tariffs would spread to other U.S. exports, from furniture to frozen orange juice.

Story (http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2015/12/21/Congress-repeals-country-of-origin-labeling-for-meat/3241450709277/?src=FB)

HuffPost (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/meat-labeling_5677b96ce4b014efe0d5e9f0)
----------


The unintended hazards of a global economy, global law, and global sanctions.




I don't eat meat so this doesn't affect me personally, however, if I were a meat eater, I would be kind of concerned. We all know how careful China is with food production.

I always wonder the motive behind the laws that are enacted. I believe that people have the right to know where their food came from and the right to make the decision if they believe it is safe enough to ingest.

[Shystonefem]

So, there have been no details released yet but all of the schools in one of NH's cities were ordered closed due to a "detailed and credible threat".

Welcome to the 21st century I guess.

[*Anya*]

Communities across the country are mourning the loss of six American airmen killed Monday when a suicide bomber on a motorbike attacked their patrol near Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.

Major Adrianna Vorderbruggen

Major Adrianna Vorderbruggen, 36, of Plymouth, Minnesota, was assigned to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations at Elgin Air Force Base in Florida.

As a gay service member, Vorderbruggen was a strong advocate against the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that prohibited gay and lesbian service members from openly serving in the military. The policy was repealed in 2011.

One year later, Vorderbruggen married her partner, Heather Lamb. Vorderbruggen, 36, leaves behind her wife and young son, Jacob.

“It is important to us that she be remembered first as an Air Force officer, loving mother, wife, daughter and sister, above all else, not primarily by her sexual orientation," Lamb told The New York Times.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/soldiers-died-afghanistan-suicide-attack/story?id=35923348

[Kätzchen]

I recently read lots of inspiring articles about Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau.


From what I have read, it makes my heart feel good for those who live in Canada that they have elected such a beautiful example of leadership, to lead their country during perilous times.

The article below gives the reader a chance to learn about Mr. Trudeau. It's a breath of fresh air. For those who read the article, I hope you'll take delight in this story about his life, his ambitions, and what he hopes to accomplish, as he collaborates with like-minded souls in Canada.

Link to article, below:

https://www.liberal.ca/rt-hon-justin-trudeau/

[Kätzchen]

National Stalking Awareness occurs annually in January.

In my state, we have some of the toughest laws on the books which includes being able to prosecute an stalker to the fullest degree possible.

If you're stalking someone, please stop.

Stalking is not romantic, it's not okay, it's not a joke:
Stalking is an crime.

http://www.victimsofcrime.org/images/src-images/src-image.jpg?sfvrsn=0

[Jesse]

I never know which news thread to put this type of news, here, the feminist news thread or ?. Please feel free to move it elsewhere if this is not a good place for it. :)

"Navy Secretary Ray Mabus has given Marine Corps brass two weeks to submit a plan to train male and female recruits together at boot camp and fully integrate officer candidate school.

He's also calling for the Marines to make all job titles gender-neutral as the service opens currently closed ground combat jobs to women..."

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/01/07/marine-corps-ordered-make-boot-camp-coed-remove-man-from-titles.html?ESRC=dod_160108.nl

[Lecheloco]

Kim Davis to Attend State of the Union Address, Attorney Says
by EMMA MARGOLIN

Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, who spent five nights behind bars last year for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, will attend tonight's State of the Union address, the conservative legal group representing her said in a statement Tuesday morning.

Also in attendance will be Davis' attorney, Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. According to the group, their presence "will be a visible reminder of the Administration's attack on religious liberty and an encouragement for people of faith to stand."


Kim Davis speaks after being released from jail. NBC News
"Kim and I are encouraging all people of faith to get involved in the political process, to vote for people who support your values, and to never give up," Staver said in a statement. "Our 'one nation under God,' is worth our continued prayers and active support."

Davis has earned many fans in the Republican Party for her defiant stand last year against a Supreme Court ruling that required her to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Doing so, she said, would violate her Christian beliefs -- an argument that failed to convince a federal judge she should be exempt from the landmark decision making marriage equality the law of the land. That judge found Davis in contempt of court and sent her to jail for five nights.

Despite becoming a hero to many in the GOP -- including two Republican presidential candidates, Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz, who were with Davis on the day she was released from jail -- Liberty Counsel will not say which Republican lawmaker invited her to attend tonight's State of the Union.

"We are not publicizing that information," Charla Bansley, Liberty Counsel's communications director, told MSNBC. "I don't think we'll ever publicize it."


Of course the will not publicize who invited her. It is enough to know Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee support her it's like they found their new Sarah Palin, in Kim Davis. Now they want to use her for a demonstration during the SOTU address, Surprising, not, I am sure as the weeks start to get closer we will be seeing much more of this woman.
I find it tacky and tasteless to use her to make a statement like this.
It just shows me the GOP will grab at whatever they can to try and swing it towards the GOP. Kim Davis should still be in jail and definitely not attending Obama's address to Congress.

[Cin]

The super bowl is here once again and it has long been believed that this event is responsible for the highest incidence of human trafficking in the form of sex trafficking in the US. Now I am reading stories that this is not the case. That labor trafficking is much more of an issue than sex trafficking and that authorities use the belief of the increase in under age sex trafficking to harass and endanger consensual sex workers. It is also noted that much of the 686 million in federal funding to combat human trafficking goes toward maintaining the six-figure salaries of the leaders of anti-trafficking organizations. Most of the biggest anti-trafficking organizations like the Polaris Project do not provide direct services to victims. Groups like the Erotic Service Providers Legal, Education and Research Project claim the anti-trafficking efforts are more about making sure lobbyist groups get their grant money. To quote an ESPLERP board member, “I am outraged that the Polaris Project gets millions a year in funding, to create policies that violate the human rights of sex workers, and put them at great risk of violence, often from the police during the raids they claim are rescues."

A 2011 report put together by the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women reads, “There is no evidence that large sporting events cause an increase in trafficking.” Some are saying that money that is spent on efforts to combat what many in the trenches believe to be a myth during the super bowl could be better allocated to support year-round services like emergency shelters. The raids around and during the sporting event put consensual sex workers in danger. Consensual sex workers are harassed and arrested not sex traffickers. Treating sex work as if it is the same as sex trafficking both ignores the realities of sex work and endangers those engaged in it.

Sex is only one aspect of human trafficking. So, what about labor trafficking? Labor trafficking another serious form of human trafficking is often lost in the concern for sex trafficking. People leave their homes for the promise of a good job in the US, enter the country legally and find themselves forced into what can only be described as slave labor. Their complaints are silenced with threats of deportation, abuse and even harm to their families at home. According to Safe Horizon, one of the largest providers of services for victims and survivors of human trafficking they hear "from survivors every day what it is like to be a human link in a cruel and profiteering business supply chain that allows us to have a clean hotel room on vacation, at a sporting even or get food at a restaurant."

Here are the links to a couple of articles that believe increased sex trafficking during the super bowl is a myth and takes away money and support from the real issues of human trafficking. People can read about it if they wish and come to their own conclusions about the validity of the claim.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ariel-zwang/sex-trafficking-increases_b_9163046.html

http://www.alternet.org/sex-amp-relationships/increased-sex-trafficking-and-super-bowl-very-likely-myth

[JDeere]

https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-announces-executive-actions-banning-coverage-conversion-therapy

[Orema]

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/02/13/reports_claim_supreme_court_justice_antonin_scalia _dies_at_79.html

[*Anya*]

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/02/13/reports_claim_supreme_court_justice_antonin_scalia _dies_at_79.html


Senior U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia found dead at West Texas ranch

By Gary Martin Updated 4:14 pm, Saturday, February 13, 2016

Associate Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead of apparent natural causes Saturday on a luxury resort in West Texas, federal officials said.
Scalia, 79, was a guest at the Cibolo Creek Ranch, a resort in the Big Bend region south of Marfa.

According to a report, Scalia arrived at the ranch on Friday and attended a private party with about 40 people. When he did not appear for breakfast, a person associated with the ranch went to his room and found a body.

Chief U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia, of the Western Judicial District of Texas, was notified about the death from the U.S. Marshals Service.
U.S. District Judge Fred Biery said he was among those notified about Scalia's death.

"I was told it was this morning," Biery said of Scalia's death. "It happened on a ranch out near Marfa. As far as the details, I think it's pretty vague right now as to how," he said. "My reaction is it's very unfortunate. It's unfortunate with any death, and politically in the presidential cycle we're in, my educated guess is nothing will happen before the next president is elected."

The U.S. Marshal Service, the Presidio County sheriff and the FBI were involved in the investigation.

Officials with the law enforcement agencies declined to comment.
A federal official who asked not to be named said there was no evidence of foul play and it appeared that Scalia died of natural causes.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/us-world/article/Senior-Associate-Justice-Antonin-Scalia-found-6828930.php

[Corkey]

A certain song from OZ is running through my head right now....

[Cin]

Here’s a Way to Hold Wall Street Accountable

By Margaret Flowers and Jill Stein

In the past 15 years, the U.S. has weathered devastating aftereffects of two financial bubbles: the “dot-com” bubble in the late 1990s, which burst in early 2000, and the housing bubble, which burst in 2008. Many pundits contend that the 2008 financial crisis is over and that we are in recovery, but the reality is that the “recovery” has really been only for those at the top who were bailed out by the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve. Foreclosures and high levels of non-participation in the economy continue, as do underemployment, temporary jobs and wage stagnation.

Half the people in this country have no savings and two-thirds cannot handle an unexpected expense of more than $500, including not being able to borrow what they need from family or friends. The low-wage “recovery” has devastated the middle class, with 51 percent of workers now earning under $30,000 a year. Economist Jack Rasmus describes the current situation:
“The real US economy since 2008 has grown at only roughly half to two-thirds its normal rate. Decent-paying jobs in manufacturing and construction today are still a million short of 2007 levels. Median wages for non-managers are still below what they were in 2007, and households are piling on new debt again to pay for rising medical costs, rents, autos, and education. Retail sales are slowing.”

In fact, major retail chains in the U.S. are planning to close hundreds of stores this year, and many that stay open are carrying low inventories of goods.

Part of the reason for the “recovery” was a massive buyback of bonds and toxic derivatives that were based on risky mortgages that brought on the crash. This was done in the form of “quantitative easing,” through which the Federal Reserve bought up tens of billions of bonds and bad bank debt each month for a total of $3.5 trillion. A 2011 audit of the Federal Reserve found that $16 trillion had been allocated to banks and corporations for “financial assistance” after the 2008 collapse. As a result, the Fed is currently leveraged 77 to 1—more than double what Lehman Brothers was when it failed in 2008.

Bill Black, an associate professor of economics and law at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, and a financial fraud expert, says that “fraud is “pervasive” among “most elite financial institutions.”
The reality is that there are no ethics on Wall Street. Everyone is playing against each other and using whatever tools there are—even some they do not fully understand—to make money without regard to the impact they will have on others. It is an “As long as I get mine, then screw the rest” mentality. This mentality has been enabled over the past decade or so by the lack of meaningful oversight. Basically, this behavior occurs because those involved are getting away with it and raking in millions, if not billions, of dollars as their reward. If fraud creates wealth, people will engage in it until they are stopped.
During the savings and loan debacle in the late 1980s, Black oversaw the re-regulation of the industry. He reports that the savings and loan crisis was 1/160th the size of the 2008 financial crisis, yet it led to 30,000 criminal probes, which in turn led to 1,000 felony convictions. In the 2008 crisis, no top-level bank executive has been held accountable for the widespread fraud.

According to Black, “The three epidemics that drove the [2008] crisis are appraisal fraud, ‘liar’s’ loans (collectively, these were the loan origination frauds), and the resale of those fraudulently originated mortgages through fraudulent ‘reps and warranties’ to the secondary market and the public.” In liar’s loans, the bank agrees not to verify important information, such as income of the borrower.

Contrast this with the response to the 2008 financial crisis in Iceland. There they prosecuted the heads of the banks, sending 29 to jail, and let the big banks fail and nationalized them without taking on their outstanding debt. Iceland also maintained its social safety net, unlike the United States, by rejecting austerity measures. The result is that today Iceland’s economy is stable.

If the U.S. had followed a similar path out of its crisis, we would probably be in a better situation than we are today. It’s not too late to take action.

Bill Black recently co-founded Bank Whistleblowers United (BWU) with three other whistleblowers. Their biographies are impressive. Gary Aguirre, a lawyer, is a Securities and Exchange Commission whistleblower. Richard Bowen, a Citigroup whistleblower, has 35 years of banking experience. And Michael Winston blew the whistle on Countrywide Financial’s liar’s loans.

The founders of BWU created a 19-step plan that a president could implement within a minimum of 60 days, without much action by Congress, to rein in the corruption on Wall Street and immediately shrink the big banks. They are currently reaching out to President Obama and all of the presidential candidates, looking for someone who has the courage and integrity to implement the plan.

So far, negative interest rates are being imposed by central banks in Japan and the European Union on commercial banks, but there is no guarantee that negative interest rates won’t trickle down in some way, overtly or through fees, to depositors. Most banks are reluctant to do this out of concern that people will switch banks. One financial institution in Switzerland has started to use negative interest with large depositors.

There are signs that negative interest rates could spread to the United States. On Thursday, Janet Yellen, head of the Federal Reserve, told the Senate Banking Committee that her agency is studying negative interest rates again in case they become necessary. And recently there have been murmurs of large financial institutions urging a move to a cashless society.

As late-stage capitalism rears its ugly and predatory head, we have a narrowing opportunity to tame, and hopefully defeat, the beast. Money is an institution that can be used for public good or as a weapon to drive widening wealth inequality. It’s up to us as a society to decide.

We can bail out the people through bottom-up approaches such as a basic universal income, which would immediately eliminate poverty. We can invest in local solidarity economies. We can create public banks at the municipal, county and state level to fund infrastructure projects and local needs, and postal banks to provide services to the unbanked, who make up nearly 30 percent of the population. We can even rein in Wall Street and end the culture of corruption.

These solutions and others are already being put into place. The city of Utrecht in the Netherlands is experimenting with a basic income. Latin American countries such as Brazil and cities in the U.S. including New York are building solidarity economies that promote worker-owned cooperatives and other forms of community wealth-building entities. Public banks are common in other countries, and movements for public and postal banks in the U.S. are gaining ground. North Dakota has had a public bank for nearly 100 years.

It’s up to us to be aware that these solutions exist and take action collectively to demand that they be enacted. This begins by asking the basic question: Will we continue to allow the financial elites to control the global financial system and extract wealth from us and our communities, or will we take control collectively and democratically to create economic institutions that serve everyone?

If you believe, as we do, that Wall Street’s looting and plundering should end and money should serve the public interest, then we urge you to raise awareness of the BWU’s 19-step plan. And we urge you to find out what you can do in your community to take back control of money from Wall Street. In addition to the sources cited above, we recommend the Democracy Collaborative as another resource for information on how to do that.
A different world is possible.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/heres_a_way_to_hold_wall_street_accountable_201602 13

[Kobi]

On Monday a St. Louis jury ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $72 million to the family deceased plaintiff Jacqueline Fox, who alleged the company’s talc-containing products contributed to the development of her ovarian cancer. Fox died at age 62 just before the trial began.

She had been using Johnson’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower body powder for feminine hygiene for more than 35 years. Shower to Shower in particular was marketed by Johnson and Johnson for feminine hygiene with the memorable slogan “Just a sprinkle a day helps keep odor away.”

When the company introduced the slogan in the ’80s, there was already decade-old published research linking talc to an increased risk for ovarian cancer including one study where a majority of ovarian tumors had particles of talc embedded in them.

Bloomberg reports that “J&J is facing about 1,200 suits claiming studies have linked its Johnson’s Baby Powder and its Shower-to-Shower product to ovarian cancer. Women contend the company knew of the risk and failed to warn customers.”

The St. Louis jury found Johnson and Johnson guilty of negligence, conspiracy and fraud. Ted G. Meadows, a Principal with Beasley Allen and plaintiff’s attorney, said, “Jacqueline Fox was an incredible lady whose life was cut far too short by the callous decisions by the bosses at Johnson and Johnson. Inside J&J folks have known for decades, literally decades, that the talc contained in its products could cause cancer. Instead of warning customers, J&J executives made the deliberate decision to hide the risk and keep on selling. The internal documents tell a horrifying and infuriating story of corporate greed and indifference to human life. We are honored to represent the family of Ms. Fox and to bring to light the misdeeds of this company.”

According to Bloomberg the jury agreed with this assessment: “The jury foreman, Krista Smith, called the company’s internal documents ‘decisive’ for jurors, who reached the verdict after four hours of deliberations. ‘It was really clear they were hiding something,’ said Smith, 39, of St Louis. ‘All they had to do was put a warning label on.’”

The company also could have switched to the safer alternative of corn starch, which in 1999 the American Cancer Society advised women use for feminine hygiene.

http://www.rightinginjustice.com/news/2016/02/23/jury-finds-johnson-johnson-liable-for-ovarian-cancer-death-linked-to-talcum-powder-72-million-verdict/

[*Anya*]

Ku Klux Klan rally in Anaheim erupts in violence; three stabbed, 13 arrested

James QueallyContact Reporter

Three people were stabbed, including one who was critically wounded, and 13 were arrested when a Ku Klux Klan rally in Anaheim erupted in violence Saturday, police said.

A small group of people representing the Klan had announced that it would hold a rally at Pearson Park at 1:30 p.m., police said. By 11 a.m., several dozen protesters showed up at the park to confront the Klan.

About an hour later, several men in black garb with Confederate flag patches arrived and were escorted by police around the edge of the park.

Violence erupted and some of the protesters could be seen kicking a man whose shirt read "Grand Dragon." At some point, a protester collapsed on the ground bleeding, crying that he had been stabbed.

A Klansman in handcuffs could be heard telling a police officer that he "stabbed him in self-defense." Several other people were also handcuffed.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-klan-rally-in-anaheim-erupts-in-violence-one-man-stabbed-20160227-story.html

[*Anya*]

Supreme Court reverses Alabama court that denied lesbian woman's adoption

Richard Wolf, USA TODAY 6:02 p.m. EST March 7, 2016

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday unanimously reversed an Alabama court's refusal to recognize a same-sex adoption.

The justices upheld a challenge brought by an Alabama woman after her state's highest court refused to recognize the adoption she and her former lesbian partner were granted in Georgia.

The couple never married and have since split up. But the case presented a test of an issue that crops up occasionally in state and federal courts since the Supreme Court struck down state bans on same-sex marriage: Can gays and lesbians be denied adoption rights?

The case was brought by "V.L.," as she is identified in court papers, against her former partner "E.L.," who gave birth to three children between 2002-04 while the couple was together. To win adoption rights for V.L., they established temporary residency in Georgia.

Now that they have split, E.L. agreed with the Alabama Supreme Court, which ruled in September that Georgia mistakenly granted V.L. joint custody. E.L.'s lawyers argued that "the Georgia court had no authority under Georgia law to award such an adoption, which is therefore void and not entitled to full faith and credit."

Not so, the Supreme Court ruled. "A state may not disregard the judgment of a sister state because it disagrees with the reasoning underlying the judgment or deems it to be wrong on the merits," its reversal said. Rather, Alabama must give "full faith and credit" to the Georgia court's decision.

The high court previously had blocked the Alabama court's action while considering the case, temporarily restoring V.L.'s visitation rights.

Adoption rights for same-sex couples are among the issues remaining in the wake of the high court's June decision legalizing same-sex marriage. About 30 states grant "second-parent adoptions" to gay and lesbian couples by law or lower court rulings. Such adoptions benefit adults who do not share a biological connection, while ensuring that children have two legal parents — particularly in case one dies or is incapacitated.

Lawyers for V.L., including the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said the case has broad implications for any gay or lesbian adoptive parents who travel or move to Alabama.

“The Supreme Court’s reversal of Alabama’s unprecedented decision to void an adoption from another state is a victory not only for our client but for thousands of adopted families,” Cathy Sakimura, the center's family law director, said. “No adoptive parent or child should have to face the uncertainty and loss of being separated years after their adoption just because another state’s court disagrees with the law that was applied in their adoption.”

The case could affect other states that challenge or deny same-sex adoptions, according to a brief submitted by adoption and child welfare agencies.

"While at least 30 states have permitted second-parent adoptions, almost all of them have done so under statutory frameworks that, like Georgia’s, do not expressly embrace the concept," the brief says. "As a result, the number of children who could be adversely affected by the Alabama Supreme Court’s decision is large."

The lawyers told the justices in court papers that same-sex adoptions "have been granted since at least the mid-1980s, long before same-sex couples could marry." They estimated that hundreds of thousands of such adoptions now exist.

The most recent statistics from the Williams Institute at UCLA indicate an estimated 65,000 adopted children live with a lesbian or gay parent.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/03/07/supreme-court-gay-lesbian-adoption-marriage/78760574/

[Cin]

This April Fools’ Day, Congress will play a cruel trick on the country’s most destitute people: It will make their food disappear. They will lose access to food stamps—not because they’re no longer in need of assistance, but because, in a way, they need it too much.

A twisted legislative quirk embedded in the Clinton-era welfare reform law is timed to go into effect after March 31 in several states, blowing a gaping hole in the already threadbare social safety net.

The cuts purport to impose fiscal discipline on poor people who are “able-bodied adults without dependents” (ABAWD)—meaning adults without young children. The rule sets a three-month limit on food stamps for across a three-year period “when they aren’t employed or in a work or training program for at least 20 hours a week.”

The formula, which suggests a lack of “work ethic,” does not account for how long you’ve been searching for a job, or local social conditions. The main defining characteristic of the “able-bodied” is apparently that they’re breathing—and hungry. “These are not people who are sitting on their sofas eating bonbons,” says Margarette Purvis, head of Food Bank for New York City. “Our system does not have the adequate resources for all of these ‘able bodies’ to do exactly what the government is supposedly saying what they want them to do. The systems are not there. Plain and simple.”

The Center on Budget Policy and Priorities (CBPP) estimates that between 500,000 and 1 million people nationwide, most of them living in extreme poverty, “will lose SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] benefits as a result of states’ reimposition of the three-month time limit.”

In many areas, the cuts will be triggered automatically because previous legislative waivers, which temporarily shielded local households from the time limit, have lapsed. Of the 23 states where the cuts will be newly instituted this year, according to CBPP, 19, including New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and Connecticut, have waivers that are losing eligibility this year. Lawmakers in Mississippi, New Mexico, South Carolina, and West Virginia are voluntarily “choosing to reimpose the time limit,” presumably because they think taking people’s food aid away is worth the “savings” for state coffers.

New Yorkers are casualties of the city’s tragic arithmetic of inequality. The huge wealth gap has skewed the area’s economic profile enough to push Manhattan out of waiver eligibility, so local socioeconomic indicators essentially price the neediest out of their benefits. Local antipoverty organizations project that 53,000 people across New York State are due to lose their benefits (typically around $190 per month). These households will experience funding reductions equivalent to an estimated 31 million meals per year.

The cuts are one component of the Clinton administration’s infamous 1996 welfare reforms, which imposed harsh limits on benefits through bureaucratic “sanctions” and onerous work requirements, which exacerbated extreme poverty and pushed many out of the welfare system altogether.

The victims of the cuts do not match the facile stereotype of the single jobless male deadbeat sponging off welfare. It simply means they are childless adults—half of a childless couple, a single parent of a 19-year-old, or a caregiver to an elderly parent.

About half of the affected individuals are white, a third are black, and 10 percent Latino; about 40 percent are women. About 40 percent live in the suburbs, with the same portion in cities. Arguably, the people targeted for cuts are those who can least afford them: CBPP reports that the individuals in the ABAWD group generally “either don’t qualify for unemployment insurance or any other federal or state cash or food assistance benefit,” or they’ve been out of work for so long (generally more than half a year) that they’ve used up their unemployment insurance.

According to CBPP, the ABAWD population “are more likely than other SNAP participants to lack basic job skills like reading, writing, and basic mathematics”—hampering their prospects in a “recovering economy” where over four in 10 unemployed people have been jobless for 15 weeks or more. Besides, a job alone doesn’t preclude deep poverty; about half of families with children on food stamps actually earn income from work.

Whether states are proactively implementing the SNAP cap or just letting benefits lapse out of malign neglect, antipoverty groups argue that a more comprehensive approach to hunger is needed—not merely through emergency aid, but programs that look beyond whether people are superficially “able” to work and that contemplate the social burdens the poor face when struggling toward self-sufficiency.

Since most of the affected states lack comprehensive employment assistance programs, advocates argue that simply cutting benefits would only ensure they show up to their next job interview even more miserable and hungry.

Antihunger groups are now pinning their hopes on pieces of corrective legislation pending in Congress, to at least provide some economic support to the affected populations by preventing SNAP termination until emergency job-training programs are implemented.

In some cases, CBPP warns, underfunded and understaffed local welfare office caseworkers may neglect to flag individuals with “temporary disabling injuries or mental illness” who should qualify for an individual exemption. And those private charities that conservatives praise as a surrogate for public assistance for the hungry are themselves resource-starved.

According to Food Bank surveys, in the city’s shadow sector of food aid, roughly half of the food pantry network is running on empty: driven by volunteer labor alone, or struggling with dwindling stocks and budget deficits.

“If the average soup kitchen or food pantry in this city was a person, they too would be low income,” Purvis says. “And that’s where we’re telling these people, who have nothing, to go.”

So on April 1, an unknown number of able bodies will be told the government has no relief left for them. Then, perhaps, their bodies will line up at their local church pantry, only to find empty shelves. That’s what they get for being too able, yet too poor, while living amid too much wealth.

http://www.thenation.com/article/congress-is-about-to-take-food-away-from-the-poorest-people-in-america/

[Kobi]

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europe's emerging migration policy is looking increasingly like Donald Trump without the hair.

Except that, unlike the Republican presidential frontrunner, who wants to make Mexico pay for a wall to keep migrants out of the United States, the Europeans are willing to pay their neighbor Turkey to do the job for them.

Seven months and a million migrants after Chancellor Angela Merkel declared a "welcome culture" for Syrian refugees in Germany, the European Union is rushing to erect "No vacancy" signs along its internal and external borders.

Under fierce political pressure in her own conservative camp and from an insurgent right-wing populist party, the Alliance for Germany (AfD), Merkel's mantra of "We can do this" is morphing into "The Turks can do this for us".

In a surprise overnight deal she negotiated with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu last week, Ankara offered to take back all migrants, including Syrian refugees, who cross from its shores into Europe from now on or are intercepted off its coast.

Having thus sealed its most porous border to irregular migrants, the EU would admit a limited number of carefully vetted Syrian refugees directly from Turkey - one for each Syrian asylum seeker Ankara took back from Greek Aegean islands.

The lucky few would be chosen with the help of the U.N. refugee agency from among those who had waited patiently in camps in Syria's neighbors, not those who had paid smugglers thousands of euros for a risky sea crossing. They would be sent to those EU countries that agreed last year to take in a quota, although some states are resisting that.

Stifling doubts about the legality of such a blanket return policy, discomfort at outsourcing it to a partner many of them see as worryingly authoritarian, and irritation at the price Turkey is demanding, stunned EU leaders gave their provisional assent.

DESPERATION

European public opinion is so petrified by images of tens of thousands of bedraggled migrants trekking across muddy fields and highways toward western and northern Europe - and populists have made such capital out of those fears - that governments are desperate to halt the flow.

Another summit in Brussels this week is due to conclude the Faustian bargain, granting Turkey 6 billion euros ($6.7 billion)in aid to keep refugees on its soil, an accelerated path to visa-free travel for Turks and faster EU membership talks in return for its agreement to act as Europe's gatekeeper.

European Council President Donald Tusk says regaining control of Europe's external borders is a condition for gaining public acceptance to take in refugees. In practice, it looks more like a way of keeping them out, if it can be implemented.

Human rights groups and volunteers who work with refugees are outraged to see Europe slamming shut its open door for victims of war and persecution.

EU lawyers are working overtime to try to make it legal. The Geneva Convention on refugees requires signatories to examine individually each claim for protection submitted by an asylum seeker on their soil.

The German-Turkish deal would get around that provision by declaring Turkey a "safe" third country to which irregular migrants could be returned under a bilateral Greek-Turkish readmission agreement.

The United Nations' top human rights official has said that could entail illegal "collective and arbitrary expulsions".

Apart from the moral issues raised by this dodge, there are several legal problems. Turkey restricts its application of the Geneva Convention to refugees from Europe. People fleeing war or persecution in the Middle East and Asia will not be covered unless Ankara amends its laws.

Turkish officials say they will ensure Turkey complies with international law to fulfill its part of the potential EU deal.

Even so, lawyers say asylum seekers who reach Greece have a right to appeal against being sent back to Turkey if they fear for their personal safety there. A Greek court would have to hear each appeal before a person could be removed.

There is no appropriate court on the Greek islands, and Greek justice is notoriously slow.

EMBARRASSMENT

At the same time, the rush to declare Turkey "safe" could hardly have come at a more embarrassing time for the EU.

President Tayyip Erdogan has stepped up a military crackdown on Kurdish militants, the government has seized Turkey's best-selling newspaper, critical journalists face prosecution and jail, and businessmen and public officials close to a dissident Muslim cleric have been purged.

Unlike Trump, most EU leaders do not declare they want to prevent more Muslims settling in their country, with the exception of Hungary's Viktor Orban and Slovakia's Robert Fico, who have stressed preserving their countries' Christian identity.

However, anti-immigration campaigners like Marine Le Pen in France and Geert Wilders in the Netherlands openly cite Islam as a reason for rejecting refugees, and they are increasingly setting the agenda for mainstream politicians. They oppose visa-free travel for Turks in Europe for the same reason.

France, which has a tradition of political asylum and took in tens of thousands of Vietnamese "boat people" in the 1970s, is limiting its intake of Syrian refugees now, citing security concerns following last year's Islamist attacks in Paris.

Like other west European countries, France has struggled to integrate second and third generation young people of Muslim or north African origin. The place of Islam in public life is fiercely contested in these secular societies, and resentments from Algeria's war of independence still simmer.

European politicians may be aghast at the rhetoric of Trump, who has said he wants a database to register and track Muslims in the United States and would bar any Muslim entering the country until Congress could act.

But if the pact with Turkey goes through as conceived, the EU will be retreating into a "fortress Europe" policy for fear of its own Trumps.

http://news.yahoo.com/trump-without-hair-eus-migration-policy-gets-rough-153030643.html

[Cin]

I get a kick out of reading articles in the corporate owned media like the NY Times and the Washington Post. Well, not so much a" kick out of" as a "kick in the gut" leaving me positively winded when I realize how much of this crap is fed on a daily basis to a really large percentage of the country. Mainstream corporate owned media is the only source they have from which to form their understanding of the world. It's disturbing as the media slants the public view against its own best interests perpetuating corporate propaganda, using ideas and phraseology geared to advance the agenda of the elite. Almost without notice they slip in terminologies, using them frequently in numerous articles until they becomes accepted as fact. Ideas like manufacturing jobs being a part of an "Old economy" and that there has been "a generation-long transition of the US away from manufacturing and into a diverse, information-driven economy deeply intertwined with the rest of the world." There is so much wrong with these kinds of statements that I am awe struck at the audacity of these corporate shills. I shudder at the callous and harmful intentions behind perpetuating these distortions.

America has lost over 6 million manufacturing jobs since 1998. Is this because manufacturing is part of an old economy and now the US has transitioned to a diverse information-driven economy deeply intertwined with the rest of the world? Have corporations stopped manufacturing things? Is that what we should believe? Or maybe we are to believe that manufacturing jobs, agricultural jobs, this kind of work, is now simply beneath us as a country; that it is part of the old economy and now we are all about the new economy? We simply transitioned away from all that old stuff and we did it by choice, on our own. Our newly evolved selves intertwined with the rest of the world into that diverse information driven economy. Apparently engineering, high-tech and service industries are poised to become the next members of the "old economy" that we will transition away from, since something like 42 million jobs in those industries are at risk of being outsourced next.

As a college education becomes so expensive that a whole generation of Americans will begin adult life already in soul crushing debt, the possibility of finding employment that will support them dwindles before their eyes. It might be puzzling for them to understand that while they live in a diverse information driven economy there are less and less jobs. Perhaps we need to consider the possibility that the old economy worked quite well for 98% of the population. That is until our government sold us out and gave corporations a free ride with free trade. That gave them the ability to exploit cheap labor in other countries and to get away with never needing to consider the implications of their actions on the environment. Here is a good article on the problem with "free trade".


http://commondreams.org/views/2016/03/14/whats-problem-free-trade

Our country’s “free trade” agreements have followed a framework of trading away our democracy and middle-class prosperity in exchange for letting the biggest corporations dominate.

There are those who say any increase in trade is good. But if you close a factory here and lay off the workers, open the factory “there” to make the same things the factory here used to make, bring those things into the country to sell in the same outlets, you have just “increased trade” because now those goods cross a border. Supporters of free trade are having a harder and harder time convincing American workers this is good for them.

“Free Trade”

Free trade is when goods and services are bought and sold between countries without tariffs, duties and quotas. The idea is that some countries “do things better” than other countries, which these days basically means they offer lower labor and environmental-protection costs. Allowing other countries to do things in ways that cost less “frees up resources” which can theoretically be used for investment at home.

Opponents of free trade ask for tariffs to “protect” local businesses, jobs, wages and the environment from being undermined by low-cost goods from countries where people and/or the environment are exploited.

Free trade is generally sold as offering lower prices to consumers. It is also sold with claims that it “opens up foreign markets” to U.S. exporters. But it also opens up U.S. markets to imports.

Does Trade Really “Open New Markets?”

“When more than 95 percent of our potential customers live outside our borders, we can’t let countries like China write the rules of the global economy.”
– President Barack Obama

“[W]hen 95 percent of the people we want to sell something to live outside of the United States, we must open foreign markets to American goods and services so we can create jobs at home.”
– U.S. Chamber of Commerce

“Ninety-five percent of America’s potential customers live overseas, so closing ourselves off to trade is not a solution.”
– Hillary Clinton

It is a fact that only 5 percent of the world’s population lives in the United States. The problem is that the line of argument that opening up trade “opens markets” brings with it certain misleading assumptions. It assumes first that non-U.S. markets are not already being served by local companies. Second, it ignores that free trade also opens our own markets to others. Third, it ignores that U.S. companies already can and do sell to most of the world’s markets and vice versa. (For example, U.S. companies were already moving production to Mexico before NAFTA, the North American Free-Trade Agreement.) Suggesting that alternative approaches to trade would “close us off from trading” or “wall our economy off from the world” are ridiculous straw-man arguments.

If local companies are already meeting the needs in U.S. and non-U.S. markets, what does a trade deal really enable? Trade deals indeed “open up new markets” – for giant, predatory multinational corporations. They enable large, predatory companies that have enormous economies of scale to come in and dominate those markets, putting smaller, local companies out of business. So trade deals mean the biggest multinational companies get bigger and more multinational – at the expense of all the other companies. This includes enabling non-U.S. corporations to come to the U.S. and take over markets already served by smaller companies here.

The net result of allowing goods to cross borders without protecting local businesses is a “more efficient” manufacturing/distribution system powered by the biggest and best capitalized operations. The rest go away. Economists will tell you that these increased efficiencies allow an economy to best utilize its resources. But obviously one effect of this “increased efficiency” is fewer jobs, resulting in lowered wages on all sides of trade borders.

After NAFTA, for example, smaller, more local Mexican farms were wiped out by large, efficient American agricultural corporations that were able to sell corn and other crops into Mexico for low prices. The result was a mass migration northward as desperate people could no longer find work in Mexico.

Economists say even this is good because when costs are lower the economy can apply its resources more efficiently and increased investment can put the displaced people to work in better jobs. But we can all see that in our modern economy that’s not what is going on. Investment in our economy is not increasing, partly because the resulting downward wage pressure has resulted in an economy with decreased demand. Fewer customers with money to spend is not a good environment for investment. Instead of these “freed up” resources (money) being used to provide better jobs with higher wages for everyone, they are instead being concentrated into fewer and fewer hands.

As for opening new markets for American exporters, note that the record since the ascendance of free-trade ideology in the 1970s we have seen continuing and increasing U.S. trade deficits, with imports exceeding exports, resulting in flat wage growth.

Freeing up trade does not “open new markets” as much as it enables giant, multinational corporations to become even more giant and more multinational – at the expense of smaller companies and the rest of us.

Comparative Advantage

Economists say that free trade allows us to take advantage of the “comparative advantages” offered by other countries. A comparative advantage exists when one country can do something better than another country. For example, Central and South America can grow bananas better than the U.S., and we can grow wheat better than they can. So trading wheat for bananas makes sense.

Unfortunately, economists also say that low labor and environmental-protection costs are a comparative advantage. They say it is good for U.S. companies to take advantage of countries with governments that exploit labor and the environment, because they offer lower costs for manufacturing. (Of course, the ultimate form of such a comparative advantage would be slavery.)

Here’s the thing. Buying goods from low-wage and low-environmental protection countries means not making them here anymore. “Trade” increases, but so does our country’s trade deficit as imports rise and exports fall. Factories here close, people here get laid off, wage pressures here increase and overall demand in our economy decreases.

When “thugocracies” that exploit workers and do not protect the environment are able to offer a comparative advantage over our democracy, then free trade makes democracy with its good wages and environmental protections into a comparative disadvantage.

Free Trade Undermines Democracy And Wages

“Give us a protective tariff, and we will have the greatest nation on earth.” – Abraham Lincoln.

Democracy has a short term “cost” with a longer-term gain. In countries where people have a say, the people say they want higher wages and benefits, good infrastructure, good education, a clean environment, safety on the job, and other services. These things all lead to a prosperous economy later, as long as benefits from this system are fed back into maintaining that infrastructure, education and services. This prosperous economy made America a desirable market to sell things to.

When the country and the idea of democracy were young we “protected” this concept with tariffs, so that goods from places where labor was cheap (or free) did not undermine our democracy. Those tariffs in turn funded investment in infrastructure and other common needs that enabled productivity gains that made our goods competitive elsewhere. But generally companies here served the population here and grew and prospered along with the rest of us.

At some point elites and free-market “economists” began an effort to convince us that “free trade” is a good thing and “protectionism” is not. We used to “protect” our country’s manufacturing base from being undermined by goods from low-wage countries that don’t protect workers or the environment. Then we didn’t.

“Free trade” broke down those borders of democracy. It enabled goods from low-wage countries into the U.S. with no protective tariffs. This made the low wages and lack of environmental and worker protections in some countries into a “comparative advantage” – which meant democracy because a comparative disadvantage. We stopped “protecting” American jobs, and allowed companies to freely lay off workers and close factories here and we have seen what has happened since.

The fact is, a democracy cannot “play by the same rules” as a country that can make people live in barracks at the factory and call them out to work at midnight if an order comes it, make them stand all day, pay them very little, pollute the environment, etc. The rules should instead be that we impose a tariff on goods from such countries unless they “level the playing field” and “play by the same rules” as democracies by giving people a say, paying more and protecting the environment.

Free trade became a scam intended to get around those costs of democracy – good wages, environmental protection and other common goods – but also to use cheap foreign labor and low regulation as a wedge to drive down those costs here as well, and ultimately weakening democracy itself. Every time you hear that regulations make “us” “less competitive” etc. you are hearing an appeal for our country to become more of a low-wage, low-cost “thugocracy.”

Does Protecting Democracy Cause Trade Wars And Depressions?

Free-trade advocates claim that restoring tariffs to protect wages and democracy would start trade wars and even cause recessions and depressions. One claim they make is that tariffs helped cause the Great Depression of the 1930s. Economist Paul Krugman took on that argument in 2009’s “Protectionism and the Great Depression,” writing,

I’ve always seen this as an attempt at a Noble Lie; there’s no good reason to believe that it’s true, but it has been used to scare governments into maintaining relatively free trade.

But the truth is quite different, as a new paper by Barry Eichengreen and Doug Irwin shows. Protectionism was a result of the Depression, not a cause. Rising tariffs didn’t even play a large role in the initial trade contraction; like the spectacular trade contraction in the current crisis, the decline in trade in the early 30s was overwhelmingly the result of the overall economic implosion. Where protectionism really mattered was in preventing a recovery in trade when production recovered.

As for trade wars, economist Ian Fletcher points out in “Free Traders Can’t Name a Single Trade War“:

Trade wars are mythical. They simply do not happen.

If you google “the trade war of,” you won’t find any historical examples. There was no Austro-Korean Trade War of 1638, Panamanian-Brazilian Trade War of 1953 or any others. History is devoid of them.

[. . .] Trade wars are an invented concept, a bogeyman invented to push free trade.

The giveaway, of course, is that free traders claim both that a) trade wars are a terrible threat we must constantly worry about, and b) it’s obvious no nation can ever gain anything from having one. Think about that for minute.

Voters Finally Pushing Back

These are the reasons that voters across the country are finally pushing back against politicians selling “free trade.” Friday’s post, “‘Free Trade’: The Elites Are Selling It But The Public Is No Longer Buying” explained how Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders are gaining from their opposition to free trade deals like NAFTA and the upcoming Trans-Pacific Partnership. From the post: “Voters have figured out that our country’s current ‘free trade’ policies are killing their jobs, wages, cities, regions and the country’s middle class. Giant multinational corporations and billionaires do great under free trade, the rest of us not so much.”

Free trade encourages further exploitation of workers and the environment in other countries and here. It helps fuel calls inside of our own country for “less regulation” (fewer environmental protections), “right-to-work” laws (that break unions and lower wages) and “more competitive” tax policies (that defund democracy and our ability to provide public services) to “attract” companies back to the U.S.

It is time for Washington elites to scrap our current “free trade” negotiating model that allowed giant, multinational corporations to dictate our trade policies, and open up the process to all of the stakeholders, including labor, environmental, consumer, human rights and other groups. Then we can begin to negotiate trade policies that lift American workers along with workers across the world, while protecting the environment.

[*Anya*]

Brussels attacks: Zaventem and Maelbeek bombs kill many

More than 30 people are believed to have been killed and dozens injured in attacks at Brussels international airport and a city metro station.

Twin blasts hit Zaventem airport at about 07:00 GMT, with 11 people reported killed.

Another explosion struck Maelbeek metro station near EU headquarters an hour later, leaving about 20 people dead.

Brussels police have issued a wanted notice for a man seen pushing a luggage trolley through the airport.

He was pictured in CCTV footage with two other suspects who are believed to have died in the blasts.

The Islamic State (IS) group said it was behind the attacks in a statement issued on the IS-linked Amaq agency.

Belgium has raised its terrorism alert to its highest level. Three days of national mourning have been declared.

Prime Minister Charles Michel called the latest attacks "blind, violent and cowardly", adding: "This is a day of tragedy, a black day... I would like to call on everyone to show calmness and solidarity".

'The worst thing I've seen'

Two blasts tore through the departures area of Zaventem airport shortly after 08:00 local time (07:00 GMT).

A suicide bomber was "probably" involved, the Belgian prosecutor said.

Eleven people were killed and 81 wounded in the blasts, Belgian Health Minister Maggie de Block said.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35869254

[Jesse]

First Brussels, and now women and children in a Pakistan park.

Suicide Bomber Kills Dozens, Mostly Women, Kids in Pakistan Park
by MUSHTAQ YUSUFZAI

At least 55 people, mostly women and children, were killed and more than 100 others were injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a children's park in Lahore, the capital of Pakistan's Punjab province on Sunday evening.

"A large number of people, majority of them women and children, were present in ‎Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park in Lahore when the suicide bomber blew himself up. Mostly women and children are killed and injured in the blast," Said Lahore Police Chief Dr. Haider Ashraf.

In addition to the 55 killed, 150 are injured, according to Punjab Health Minister Salman ‎Rafique...

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/suicide-bomber-kills-dozens-mostly-women-kids-pakistan-park-n546231?cid=eml_nbn_20160327

[Kätzchen]

This April Fools’ Day, Congress will play a cruel trick on the country’s most destitute people: It will make their food disappear. They will lose access to food stamps—not because they’re no longer in need of assistance, but because, in a way, they need it too much.

A twisted legislative quirk embedded in the Clinton-era welfare reform law is timed to go into effect after March 31 in several states, blowing a gaping hole in the already threadbare social safety net.

The cuts purport to impose fiscal discipline on poor people who are “able-bodied adults without dependents” (ABAWD)—meaning adults without young children. The rule sets a three-month limit on food stamps for across a three-year period “when they aren’t employed or in a work or training program for at least 20 hours a week.”

The formula, which suggests a lack of “work ethic,” does not account for how long you’ve been searching for a job, or local social conditions. The main defining characteristic of the “able-bodied” is apparently that they’re breathing—and hungry. “These are not people who are sitting on their sofas eating bonbons,” says Margarette Purvis, head of Food Bank for New York City. “Our system does not have the adequate resources for all of these ‘able bodies’ to do exactly what the government is supposedly saying what they want them to do. The systems are not there. Plain and simple.”

The Center on Budget Policy and Priorities (CBPP) estimates that between 500,000 and 1 million people nationwide, most of them living in extreme poverty, “will lose SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] benefits as a result of states’ reimposition of the three-month time limit.”

In many areas, the cuts will be triggered automatically because previous legislative waivers, which temporarily shielded local households from the time limit, have lapsed. Of the 23 states where the cuts will be newly instituted this year, according to CBPP, 19, including New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and Connecticut, have waivers that are losing eligibility this year. Lawmakers in Mississippi, New Mexico, South Carolina, and West Virginia are voluntarily “choosing to reimpose the time limit,” presumably because they think taking people’s food aid away is worth the “savings” for state coffers.

New Yorkers are casualties of the city’s tragic arithmetic of inequality. The huge wealth gap has skewed the area’s economic profile enough to push Manhattan out of waiver eligibility, so local socioeconomic indicators essentially price the neediest out of their benefits. Local antipoverty organizations project that 53,000 people across New York State are due to lose their benefits (typically around $190 per month). These households will experience funding reductions equivalent to an estimated 31 million meals per year.

The cuts are one component of the Clinton administration’s infamous 1996 welfare reforms, which imposed harsh limits on benefits through bureaucratic “sanctions” and onerous work requirements, which exacerbated extreme poverty and pushed many out of the welfare system altogether.

The victims of the cuts do not match the facile stereotype of the single jobless male deadbeat sponging off welfare. It simply means they are childless adults—half of a childless couple, a single parent of a 19-year-old, or a caregiver to an elderly parent.

About half of the affected individuals are white, a third are black, and 10 percent Latino; about 40 percent are women. About 40 percent live in the suburbs, with the same portion in cities. Arguably, the people targeted for cuts are those who can least afford them: CBPP reports that the individuals in the ABAWD group generally “either don’t qualify for unemployment insurance or any other federal or state cash or food assistance benefit,” or they’ve been out of work for so long (generally more than half a year) that they’ve used up their unemployment insurance.

According to CBPP, the ABAWD population “are more likely than other SNAP participants to lack basic job skills like reading, writing, and basic mathematics”—hampering their prospects in a “recovering economy” where over four in 10 unemployed people have been jobless for 15 weeks or more. Besides, a job alone doesn’t preclude deep poverty; about half of families with children on food stamps actually earn income from work.

Whether states are proactively implementing the SNAP cap or just letting benefits lapse out of malign neglect, antipoverty groups argue that a more comprehensive approach to hunger is needed—not merely through emergency aid, but programs that look beyond whether people are superficially “able” to work and that contemplate the social burdens the poor face when struggling toward self-sufficiency.

Since most of the affected states lack comprehensive employment assistance programs, advocates argue that simply cutting benefits would only ensure they show up to their next job interview even more miserable and hungry.

Antihunger groups are now pinning their hopes on pieces of corrective legislation pending in Congress, to at least provide some economic support to the affected populations by preventing SNAP termination until emergency job-training programs are implemented.

In some cases, CBPP warns, underfunded and understaffed local welfare office caseworkers may neglect to flag individuals with “temporary disabling injuries or mental illness” who should qualify for an individual exemption. And those private charities that conservatives praise as a surrogate for public assistance for the hungry are themselves resource-starved.

According to Food Bank surveys, in the city’s shadow sector of food aid, roughly half of the food pantry network is running on empty: driven by volunteer labor alone, or struggling with dwindling stocks and budget deficits.

“If the average soup kitchen or food pantry in this city was a person, they too would be low income,” Purvis says. “And that’s where we’re telling these people, who have nothing, to go.”

So on April 1, an unknown number of able bodies will be told the government has no relief left for them. Then, perhaps, their bodies will line up at their local church pantry, only to find empty shelves. That’s what they get for being too able, yet too poor, while living amid too much wealth.

http://www.thenation.com/article/congress-is-about-to-take-food-away-from-the-poorest-people-in-america/

Well, tomorrow is April 1st. States nation wide have been fairly quiet about the major shift in how the SNAP program will be administered from here on out, unless there's an massive change in social policy affecting hunger and poverty for millions of Americans .

CHIP is an program that is an exceptionally gated process. All that program did was guarantee more poorly paid jobs to administer an program that has virtually helped hardly anyone.

I know that for a fact because in the early 90s, freshly relocated to another state for personal protection and safety, social workers tried to secure that program assistance for me and my two very young boys, to no avail could they get that program assistance secured for our own dire needs.

Before any kind of social assistance was available for young mothers and their starving babies, it was members of the Black Panther movement of the 60s that saw to the birth of an new social agency, to help mothers and kids to afford basic vital elements of nutrition: That program is now known as WIC (WOMEN INFANTS AND CHILDREN). Women, infants and children benefit today with supplementary help the program gives to purchase milk, juice, fruits, cereal, cheese and expensive formula for babies who are lactose intolerant.

It ticks me off to the high heavens that people are going to discover that social agencies are crumbling under the iron fist of the Clinton Welfare Reform years.


It was men and women activists in the 1960s Black Panther movement that came to the rescue of people stranded in postwar poverty, with no real jobs or ways to earn an living, back in the late 50s -- clear up until the late 60s, early 70s.

Since then, the war on poverty and hunger in our own country seems to spiral toward conditions not seen, since the post war economy of nearly 45 to 50 years ago.

With mass media blackouts, it's going to get really ugly.

[*Anya*]

Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to ‘One Person One Vote’

By ADAM LIPTAKAPRIL 4, 2016

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday unanimously ruled that states may count all residents, whether or not they are eligible to vote, in drawing election districts. The decision was a major statement on the meaning of a fundamental principle of the American political system, that of “one person one vote.”

As a practical matter, the ruling mostly helped Democrats.

Until this decision, the court had never resolved whether voting districts should contain the same number of people, or the same number of eligible voters. Counting all people amplifies the voting power of places that have large numbers of residents who cannot vote legally — including immigrants who are here legally but are not citizens, illegal immigrants, children and prisoners. Those places tend to be urban and to vote Democratic.

Had the justices required that only eligible voters could be counted, the ruling would have shifted political power from cities to rural areas, a move that would have benefited Republicans.

The court did not decide whether other ways of counting were permissible. “We need not and do not resolve,” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburgwrote for six justices, whether “states may draw districts to equalize voter-eligible population rather than total population.”

The case, Evenwel v. Abbott, No. 14-940, was a challenge to voting districts for the Texas Senate that was brought by two voters, Sue Evenwel and Edward Pfenninger. They were represented by the Project on Fair Representation, a small conservative advocacy group that successfully mounted an earlier challenge to the Voting Rights Act.

The group is also behind a pending challenge to affirmative action in admissions at the University of Texas at Austin.



http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/05/us/politics/supreme-court-one-person-one-vote.html?src=trending&module=Ribbon&version=origin&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Trending&pgtype=article

[Nat]

ICIJ and an international coalition of media outlets investigated the trove of papers which allegedly reveal a clandestine network involving associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and business ties between a member of FIFA's ethics committee and men whom the United States has indicted for corruption.

Why are they called the Panama Papers?

The more than 11 million documents, which date back four decades, are allegedly connected to Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca. ICIJ reports that the firm helped establish secret shell companies and offshore accounts for global power players. ICIJ reports that a 2015 audit found that Mossack Fonseca knew the identities of the real owners of just 204 of 14,086 companies it had incorporated in Seychelles, an Indian Ocean archipelago often described as a tax haven.

Is it clear anything illegal has happened?

The documents do not necessarily indicate illegal activity. But shell companies and offshore accounts can be used to mask the origin of financial transactions and ownership. The files include people and companies that the U.S. has blacklisted due to drug trafficking and terrorism links, according to the ICIJ.

Who is implicated in the documents?

The documents reference 12 current or former world leaders, as well as 128 other politicians and public officials. In addition to allegations involving Putin and FIFA, the papers also accuse Iceland's prime minister of having ties, through his wife, to an offshore company that were not properly disclosed. The documents allegedly show Argentina's president did not correctly disclose assets when he was mayor of Buenos Aires.

How have the accused responded to the Panama Papers?

The Kremlin has dismissed the allegations as "a series of fibs" aimed at discrediting Putin ahead of elections. FIFA, the international soccer governing body, called them "ridiculous." But the United Kingdom, France, Australia and Mexico have vowed investigations for possible tax evasion.

What is Mossack Fonseca saying?

On Monday, the firm released a statement:
"Our industry is not particularly well understood by the public, and unfortunately this series of articles will only serve to deepen that confusion. The facts are these: while we may have been the victim of a data breach, nothing we've seen in this illegally obtained cache of documents suggests we've done anything illegal, and that's very much in keeping with the global reputation we've built over the past 40 years of doing business the right way, right here in Panama. Obviously, no one likes to have their property stolen, and we intend to do whatever we can to ensure the guilty parties are brought to justice.

Panama Papers a very big deal

"But in the meantime, our plan is to continue to serve our clients, stand behind our people, and support the local communities in which we have the privilege to work all over the world, just as we've done for nearly four decades."
Firm co-founder Ramon Fonseca Mora told CNN earlier that the information published is false and full of inaccuracies and that parties "in many of the circumstances" cited by the ICIJ "are not and have never been clients of Mossack Fonseca." The firm provided longer statements to ICIJ.

How did ICIJ get the documents?

An anonymous source gave the documents to Germany's Suddeutsche Zeitung and the newspaper shared them with ICIJ. Other media organizations that reported on the documents include the BBC, The Guardian and McClatchy.
CNN is unable to independently verify the reports and is seeking comment from the most prominent figures mentioned. They are spread across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/04/world/panama-papers-explainer/index.html

[*Anya*]

Today in the UK, a woman was sentenced for the crime of an abortion - yet we act outraged at Donald Trump

She desperately tried to save up enough money to travel to England to have an abortion, but wasn’t able to. Her housemates reported her to the police

Siobhan Fenton @siobhanfenton Monday 4 April 2016416 comments

Today, in the United Kingdom, a woman has been found guilty of having an abortion. It’s a horrifying idea – one which should have been long relegated to the annals of history, but which is sadly still the reality for a woman living in Northern Ireland in 2016.

The 21-year-old woman was found guilty at Belfast High Court today and given a three month sentence, suspended for two years. She was convicted under ancient laws which were passed under Queen Victoria and have sat untouched on Northern Ireland’s statute books for over 150 years.

The abortion ban makes it a criminal offence, carrying a sentence of anything up to life in prison, even if you have been raped or if the foetus is so severely disabled that it has no chance of surviving outside the womb.

The details which the court heard about this woman’s ‘crime’ reveal a heart-breaking nightmare. She was 19 when she experienced an unwanted pregnancy. She desperately tried to save up enough money to travel to England to have an abortion, but wasn’t able to. Left with no other choice and trapped in Northern Ireland, she bought abortion pills online and performed a DIY abortion on herself at home. Her housemates found blood-stained items and foetal remains in a bin and reported her to the police.

This teenager’s story is nothing short of heart breaking and no right minded person could feel anything but sympathy for this tragic case. But under the ban, she has been arrested, charged, placed in the dock and then criminalised.

Just last week when Donald Trump suggested that women should be “punished” for breaking abortion laws, he caused outrage around the world. In the UK, his comments were roundly condemned by politicians and commentators. How easily the British forget that this happens within the UK, out of sight and out of mind in Northern Ireland.

The especially shocking element of Northern Ireland’s abortion ban is how Westminster supports it through its silence. Regardless of Northern Ireland’s contested constitutional status, when it comes to human rights law we are just as much British citizens as women living in Blackpool or Birmingham. Westminster could easily overturn the abortion ban by passing legislation in the House of Commons. There is a particularly clear case for doing this as a High Court found in November that Northern Ireland’s abortion ban breaches international human rights law.

British politicians’ total disinterest in Northern Ireland’s abortion ban stems partly from indifference and political expedience. Simply put, there are no votes to be won in English MPs getting involved in Northern Irish affairs, meaning they turn a blind eye to many issues there. This enables Stormont to get away with things which they would never been allowed to do to other British citizens.

There is also a continuing attitude among British politicians that because of the Troubles, Northern Irish politics is a messy and complex topic, and they worry about upsetting the status quo of peace-time politics.

There is also a common complacency that women in Northern Ireland aren’t really being discriminated against because we can simply go on a plane or boat to England to access a termination there. However, as today’s trial shows, this is a choice only for socially and financially privileged women. Teenagers who do not have thousands of pounds at their disposal face no real chance of getting out of Northern Ireland in time.

In reality, Westminster’s reasoning for ignoring the issue amounts to nothing more than flimsy excuses which are of no use to Northern Irish women forced to live in fear and terror under the abortion ban.

The horrific ordeal that this young woman has been subjected to today and throughout the trial is utterly indefensible and should not be allowed to continue. Quite simply, British politicians are complicit in torturing and criminalising Northern Irish women through their silence.


http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/today-in-the-uk-a-woman-was-sentenced-for-the-crime-of-having-an-abortion-yet-we-act-outraged-at-a6968356.html

[not2shygrrl]

Today in the UK, a woman was sentenced for the crime of an abortion - yet we act outraged at Donald Trump

She desperately tried to save up enough money to travel to England to have an abortion, but wasn’t able to. Her housemates reported her to the police

Siobhan Fenton @siobhanfenton Monday 4 April 2016416 comments

Today, in the United Kingdom, a woman has been found guilty of having an abortion. It’s a horrifying idea – one which should have been long relegated to the annals of history, but which is sadly still the reality for a woman living in Northern Ireland in 2016.

The 21-year-old woman was found guilty at Belfast High Court today and given a three month sentence, suspended for two years. She was convicted under ancient laws which were passed under Queen Victoria and have sat untouched on Northern Ireland’s statute books for over 150 years.

The abortion ban makes it a criminal offence, carrying a sentence of anything up to life in prison, even if you have been raped or if the foetus is so severely disabled that it has no chance of surviving outside the womb.

The details which the court heard about this woman’s ‘crime’ reveal a heart-breaking nightmare. She was 19 when she experienced an unwanted pregnancy. She desperately tried to save up enough money to travel to England to have an abortion, but wasn’t able to. Left with no other choice and trapped in Northern Ireland, she bought abortion pills online and performed a DIY abortion on herself at home. Her housemates found blood-stained items and foetal remains in a bin and reported her to the police.

This teenager’s story is nothing short of heart breaking and no right minded person could feel anything but sympathy for this tragic case. But under the ban, she has been arrested, charged, placed in the dock and then criminalised.

Just last week when Donald Trump suggested that women should be “punished” for breaking abortion laws, he caused outrage around the world. In the UK, his comments were roundly condemned by politicians and commentators. How easily the British forget that this happens within the UK, out of sight and out of mind in Northern Ireland.

The especially shocking element of Northern Ireland’s abortion ban is how Westminster supports it through its silence. Regardless of Northern Ireland’s contested constitutional status, when it comes to human rights law we are just as much British citizens as women living in Blackpool or Birmingham. Westminster could easily overturn the abortion ban by passing legislation in the House of Commons. There is a particularly clear case for doing this as a High Court found in November that Northern Ireland’s abortion ban breaches international human rights law.

British politicians’ total disinterest in Northern Ireland’s abortion ban stems partly from indifference and political expedience. Simply put, there are no votes to be won in English MPs getting involved in Northern Irish affairs, meaning they turn a blind eye to many issues there. This enables Stormont to get away with things which they would never been allowed to do to other British citizens.

There is also a continuing attitude among British politicians that because of the Troubles, Northern Irish politics is a messy and complex topic, and they worry about upsetting the status quo of peace-time politics.

There is also a common complacency that women in Northern Ireland aren’t really being discriminated against because we can simply go on a plane or boat to England to access a termination there. However, as today’s trial shows, this is a choice only for socially and financially privileged women. Teenagers who do not have thousands of pounds at their disposal face no real chance of getting out of Northern Ireland in time.

In reality, Westminster’s reasoning for ignoring the issue amounts to nothing more than flimsy excuses which are of no use to Northern Irish women forced to live in fear and terror under the abortion ban.

The horrific ordeal that this young woman has been subjected to today and throughout the trial is utterly indefensible and should not be allowed to continue. Quite simply, British politicians are complicit in torturing and criminalising Northern Irish women through their silence.


http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/today-in-the-uk-a-woman-was-sentenced-for-the-crime-of-having-an-abortion-yet-we-act-outraged-at-a6968356.html

When I first heard trump talk about a law being passed against abortions I immediately thought about all the (would be) crimes husbands did even up into the 70's involving their wife and decision making over having the baby or aborting it. Even then women could not make a decision without the husbands approval to the doctor. So I wondered would the husbands who promoted the wife having an abortion be considered criminals? Just another example of men wanting to control and run women in the " do as I say " era. Not surprised this crap spews from trump.

[CherylNYC]

When I first heard trump talk about a law being passed against abortions I immediately thought about all the (would be) crimes husbands did even up into the 70's involving their wife and decision making over having the baby or aborting it. Even then women could not make a decision without the husbands approval to the doctor. So I wondered would the husbands who promoted the wife having an abortion be considered criminals? Just another example of men wanting to control and run women in the " do as I say " era. Not surprised this crap spews from trump.

After Trump stated that women should be punished for having an abortion, Chris Mathews asked if the men who caused the pregnancy should be similarly punished. Trump said, "No".

[Cin]

This April Fools’ Day, Congress will play a cruel trick on the country’s most destitute people: It will make their food disappear. They will lose access to food stamps—not because they’re no longer in need of assistance, but because, in a way, they need it too much.

A twisted legislative quirk embedded in the Clinton-era welfare reform law is timed to go into effect after March 31 in several states, blowing a gaping hole in the already threadbare social safety net.

The cuts purport to impose fiscal discipline on poor people who are “able-bodied adults without dependents” (ABAWD)—meaning adults without young children. The rule sets a three-month limit on food stamps for across a three-year period “when they aren’t employed or in a work or training program for at least 20 hours a week.”

The formula, which suggests a lack of “work ethic,” does not account for how long you’ve been searching for a job, or local social conditions. The main defining characteristic of the “able-bodied” is apparently that they’re breathing—and hungry. “These are not people who are sitting on their sofas eating bonbons,” says Margarette Purvis, head of Food Bank for New York City. “Our system does not have the adequate resources for all of these ‘able bodies’ to do exactly what the government is supposedly saying what they want them to do. The systems are not there. Plain and simple.”

The cuts are one component of the Clinton administration’s infamous 1996 welfare reforms, which imposed harsh limits on benefits through bureaucratic “sanctions” and onerous work requirements, which exacerbated extreme poverty and pushed many out of the welfare system altogether.

...those private charities that conservatives praise as a surrogate for public assistance for the hungry are themselves resource-starved.

According to Food Bank surveys, in the city’s shadow sector of food aid, roughly half of the food pantry network is running on empty: driven by volunteer labor alone, or struggling with dwindling stocks and budget deficits.

“If the average soup kitchen or food pantry in this city was a person, they too would be low income,” Purvis says. “And that’s where we’re telling these people, who have nothing, to go.”

So on April 1, an unknown number of able bodies will be told the government has no relief left for them. Then, perhaps, their bodies will line up at their local church pantry, only to find empty shelves. That’s what they get for being too able, yet too poor, while living amid too much wealth.

http://www.thenation.com/article/congress-is-about-to-take-food-away-from-the-poorest-people-in-america/

Well, tomorrow is April 1st. States nation wide have been fairly quiet about the major shift in how the SNAP program will be administered from here on out, unless there's an massive change in social policy affecting hunger and poverty for millions of Americans.


More on this quiet little development in the world of the unemployed. So you can't find a job? Well no food for you. See if that doesn't motivate you.

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/04/food-stamp-cutbacks-hit-those-in-need-hard-pantries-across-u-s-are-strapped/

New restrictions in the federally funded food stamp program have begun affecting hundreds of thousands of needy families throughout America, as revived rules designed to incentivize people looking for work result in the loss of benefits for 500,000 to 1 million people in 21 states. The Department of Agriculture program, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, implemented a rule Jan. 1 that reinstates a three-month time limit for those receiving benefits who don’t have children or a disability and haven’t found a minimum 20-hour-a-week job, a requirement that was previously suspended thanks to recession-induced unemployment levels.

For many Americans, the three-month deadline came April 1.

“We can only serve people so much food,” says Travis Niemann, program manager at the Portland pantry. “Right now it’s SNAP changes, before that it was the housing crisis.”

Food banks across the country are expecting an uptick in demand, as clients lose their benefits. The timing is particularly bad in states such as Florida, where the tourist season and the temporary jobs associated it with it draw to a close.

“Shortly, we’ll have kids out of school, and families who rely on school lunch are going to be facing that pinch as well,” Richard LeBer, president and CEO of the Harry Chapin Food Bank of Southwest Florida, tells Newsweek. And there’s no way to keep up with the hole the SNAP cutbacks will leave. “If you added up all the food banks in the country and put all their food together, it’s not efficient to meet the need,” LeBer says. “The SNAP program dwarfs the combined capacity of the food bank network. We’re doing our best to be a stopgap.”

In states such as Oregon, some counties are exempt from the rules thanks to high unemployment. Only two of the state’s 36 counties have a low enough unemployment rate to be affected by the changes. But in others, like in Missouri, lawmakers passed a bill that prevents its counties from seeking the waiver. The state legislature overrode a governor’s veto last year to enact Senate Bill 24, which “tied our own hands,” Jeannette Mott Oxford, executive director of Empower Missouri tells Newsweek. “There’s a belief here that somehow punishment works,” Oxford said, that by punishing families receiving benefits, they’ll be more inspired to find a job. “Hunger just doesn’t achieve anything good. Our food pantries are already stressed. Adding this on top of it will be a real challenge.”

The SNAP changes won’t help anyone, Rebecca Vallas, managing director of the Poverty to Prosperity Program at the Center for American Progress, tells Newsweek .

“It’s not just a cruel policy, it’s a stupid policy,” she said.

“It’s premised on the idea that somehow making jobless people hungrier is going to help them find work faster. What it’s really going to do is push hundreds of thousands, maybe millions looking for work into deeper hardship, and for no good reason.”

[Kätzchen]

More on this quiet little development in the world of the unemployed. So you can't find a job? Well no food for you. See if that doesn't motivate you.

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/04/food-stamp-cutbacks-hit-those-in-need-hard-pantries-across-u-s-are-strapped/

New restrictions in the federally funded food stamp program have begun affecting hundreds of thousands of needy families throughout America, as revived rules designed to incentivize people looking for work result in the loss of benefits for 500,000 to 1 million people in 21 states. The Department of Agriculture program, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, implemented a rule Jan. 1 that reinstates a three-month time limit for those receiving benefits who don’t have children or a disability and haven’t found a minimum 20-hour-a-week job, a requirement that was previously suspended thanks to recession-induced unemployment levels.

For many Americans, the three-month deadline came April 1.

“We can only serve people so much food,” says Travis Niemann, program manager at the Portland pantry. “Right now it’s SNAP changes, before that it was the housing crisis.”

Food banks across the country are expecting an uptick in demand, as clients lose their benefits. The timing is particularly bad in states such as Florida, where the tourist season and the temporary jobs associated it with it draw to a close.

“Shortly, we’ll have kids out of school, and families who rely on school lunch are going to be facing that pinch as well,” Richard LeBer, president and CEO of the Harry Chapin Food Bank of Southwest Florida, tells Newsweek. And there’s no way to keep up with the hole the SNAP cutbacks will leave. “If you added up all the food banks in the country and put all their food together, it’s not efficient to meet the need,” LeBer says. “The SNAP program dwarfs the combined capacity of the food bank network. We’re doing our best to be a stopgap.”

In states such as Oregon, some counties are exempt from the rules thanks to high unemployment. Only two of the state’s 36 counties have a low enough unemployment rate to be affected by the changes. But in others, like in Missouri, lawmakers passed a bill that prevents its counties from seeking the waiver. The state legislature overrode a governor’s veto last year to enact Senate Bill 24, which “tied our own hands,” Jeannette Mott Oxford, executive director of Empower Missouri tells Newsweek. “There’s a belief here that somehow punishment works,” Oxford said, that by punishing families receiving benefits, they’ll be more inspired to find a job. “Hunger just doesn’t achieve anything good. Our food pantries are already stressed. Adding this on top of it will be a real challenge.”

The SNAP changes won’t help anyone, Rebecca Vallas, managing director of the Poverty to Prosperity Program at the Center for American Progress, tells Newsweek .

“It’s not just a cruel policy, it’s a stupid policy,” she said.

“It’s premised on the idea that somehow making jobless people hungrier is going to help them find work faster. What it’s really going to do is push hundreds of thousands, maybe millions looking for work into deeper hardship, and for no good reason.”


I have no idea who Travis Niemann is, but here is something I know first hand about, even though I'm employed and do not meet criteria for SNAP assistance: I live in am greater metro area where there is an huge network for anyone needing food. The untold story about the situation is that even if you spend hours at any single place to receive some small parcel of food supplies, depending on which agency you visit, it might be only enough food to last for a few days. Some places only give you a sack of food, mostly canned in tin cans, fresh food is scarce. Few places give you enough food to last more than an week. Of the few places that do that, if you can prove you have an large family of children to feed, they will give you more. If it's just you (single) you'll spend your time and what little bit of money you have going from agency to agency, depending on hours of operation and food availability. No agency runs their agency by an set style of criterion that makes it easy to get assistance for food.

For example, my son and I both work, we don't qualify for food assistance of any kind. So if we find that we don't have any money for food, it costs us an day of work to go in search for an place to help us with food - and even when we've been backed into am corner to have to do this, lose an day of work to go find food, we also run the chance of not getting enough food to sustain us until the next time pay day comes around.

So, for those who don't have an job earning any kind of income, it's probably far scarier to have to go on search for food because it's an time consuming activity, not to mention if you don't have a car to transport food from the agency back to your home.

Very scary situations people face daily.

Thanks for the update!

[Corkey]

http://www.pennlive.com/news/2016/04/pa_legalizes_marijuana_legaliz.html#incart_2box_ne ws


This is YUUUUUUUGEEEEEEEE

[BullDog]

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew will announce Wednesday that the Treasury Department will remove Andrew Jackson's face from the $20 bill and replace him with Harriet Tubman, Politico reports.

http://www.vox.com/2016/4/20/11469442/harriet-tubman-andrew-jackson-20-dollar-bill

[MsTinkerbelly]

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew will announce Wednesday that the Treasury Department will remove Andrew Jackson's face from the $20 bill and replace him with Harriet Tubman, Politico reports.

http://www.vox.com/2016/4/20/11469442/harriet-tubman-andrew-jackson-20-dollar-bill

It's about time!

[Kätzchen]

Within 24 hours of the New York state primary, New York state Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman has opened an full investigation into the 100K+ voter disenfranchisement. The top official in charge of the borough- The Bronx, has been removed from office, suspended without pay, pending results of an full audit and investigation. If voting affidavits of disenfranchised voters in New York are admitted into the certified count, it will rock the vote.

LINK:

http://www.inquisitr.com/3015960/provisional-ballots-poised-to-rock-the-vote-brooklyn-protested-board-of-elections-voters-lawsuit-moves-forward/#xRTmKeW76AQFhbvK.99


----☆------☆-----☆------.

[*Anya*]

Within 24 hours of the New York state primary, New York state Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman has opened an full investigation into the 100K+ voter disenfranchisement. The top official in charge of the borough- The Bronx, has been removed from office, suspended without pay, pending results of an full audit and investigation. If voting affidavits of disenfranchised voters in New York are admitted into the certified count, it will rock the vote.

LINK:

http://www.inquisitr.com/3015960/provisional-ballots-poised-to-rock-the-vote-brooklyn-protested-board-of-elections-voters-lawsuit-moves-forward/#xRTmKeW76AQFhbvK.99



----☆------☆-----☆------.

If only the Supreme Court had allowed this back in 2000, our world might be very different today. We can't ever forget how important a balanced (i.e., liberal or at least fair) Supreme Court is to all of us.

Regardless if the vote count favors Hillary or Bernie, it is the right thing to do.

Headline from NYT back then:

BUSH PREVAILS; BY SINGLE VOTE, JUSTICES END RECOUNT, BLOCKING GORE AFTER 5-WEEK STRUGGLE
By LINDA GREENHOUSE
Published: December 13, 2000

[Cin]

Always a fresh hell for the hapless.

Houses bought up that were foreclosed on during the housing crisis are being sold to investors in bulk at distressed prices, and the investors, in turn, sell them to people too poor to qualify for mortgages. The homes are sold by using contracts for deed and do not require legal proceedings to be followed before an owner can be forced out of their home. The seller can not only charge a high rate of interest, but is not encumbered by the need to go to court in order to retake possession of the house and force the buyer out.

It sounds like a natural progression of easy credit rip offs that people without good credit or just the income to qualify for credit are often forced to use. It's a step up from buying your refrigerator or your TV at Rent-A-Center and a lot more inconvenient when they repossess.

http://commondreams.org/views/2016/05/07/blessed-are-poor

Houses are the gifts that keep on giving to rich and poor alike. Just ask Dan Sparks-or the poor. The gift for Mr. Sparks is the opportunity to increase his wealth and the gift for the poor is shelter. Years ago that was accomplished by selling a house to the less fortunate using the subprime mortgage, and today it is accomplished by selling the same house to the same people using the contract for deed.

Until a recent New York Times story and editorial once again brought him to our attention, Mr. Sparks was remembered, if at all, for his last years at Goldman Sachs during 2007 and 2008. Mr. Sparks is not remembered for the Goldman Sachs activities that were brought to mind in April 2016, when Goldman Sachs agreed to pay $5.1 billion as a civil settlement because of its participation in the subprime mortgage market. During that period Goldman Sachs was bundling and selling securities that had been created by companies that specialized in converting subprime loans into bonds and selling them to unsuspecting investors. When the loans went bad, Goldman Sachs was left holding the money it had received from the sale of the bonds, purchasers of the bonds were left holding the bag, and former homeowners went from owning homes to becoming renters or homeless. Mr. Sparks, however, was remembered for something else.

During his last 1 ½ years at Goldman Sachs, Mr. Sparks was involved in creating something called a “synthetic collateralized debt obligation.” Unlike the securities Goldman Sachs sold to unsuspecting investors, the debt obligations Mr. Sparks helped create did not include actual bonds but, instead, instruments whose value was based on the performance of sets of junk bonds. Those instruments were sold to unsuspecting investors by Goldman Sachs knowing they were worthless. (For those who would like more detail than is provided by the foregoing, that practice is described in some detail in a report on Mr. Sparks’ testimony before Congress) What both activities had in common, however, was that both were part and parcel of the financial collapse that took place in 2007-2008. As a result, in hundreds of thousands of cases, buyers defaulted on their mortgages and lost their homes. And that brings us to the present.

Many companies have been formed that are buying up houses that were foreclosed on during the housing crisis. Those houses are being sold to investors in bulk at distressed prices, and the investors, in turn, sell them to people too poor to qualify for mortgages. One of the companies that has been formed to buy and then resell these houses is Shelter Growth Capital Partners, a company founded by Mr. Sparks and two of his former colleagues at Goldman Sachs. That firm was founded in 2014. The word “shelter” in its name, describes the product it is buying and selling. The word “growth” refers to the increased wealth Mr. Sparks and his colleagues hope to enjoy from their new business. Shelter Growth has bought more than 200 distressed homes and resold them to low income buyers. Since subprime mortgages have fallen out of favor, the homes are sold by Shelter Growth using contracts for deed. Unlike a mortgage, the contract for deed is a better vehicle for getting rich quick than was the mortgage. A contract for deed does not offer the protection for the buyer that a mortgage provides. Whereas a mortgage requires certain legal proceedings to be followed before an owner can be forced out of the house, and there is some supervision by a court in most cases, contracts for deeds offer no such protections and the seller can not only charge a high rate of interest, but is not encumbered by the need to go to court in order to retake possession of the house and force the buyer out. That, from the seller’s perspective, is a big advantage. It is less of an advantage for the buyer. And here is a curious coincidence.

The house Mr. Sparks is now selling pursuant to a contract for deed, is almost certainly one of the millions of houses that were foreclosed on during the heyday of foreclosures that took place because of the subprime crisis that was caused by Mr. Sparks and his fellow bankers. Indeed, it might even be one of the houses whose mortgage was part of a worthless bundle of mortgages sold by Goldman Sachs to unsuspecting investors. And now that house is once again being used to enhance the wealth of Mr. Sparks and his colleagues and to provide shelter to the less fortunate. Here is another part of the same coincidence.

If a buyer defaults on the terms of the contract, the people at Shelter Growth who kick the buyer out of the house, are the same people whose subprime mortgage activities caused there to be lots of cheap houses available for Shelter Growth to buy and resell. And Shelter Growth may very well be selling those houses to the same people who lost them in foreclosures 10 years ago. Were that to happen it would merit an entry in Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!

[Cin]

Following the Pentagon getting to absolve itself for bombing a hospital and because US policies in these countries is a "recipe for disaster" Doctors Without Borders is fed up and withdraws from humanitarian summit.

http://commondreams.org/further/2016/05/09/no-more-fig-leafs-doctors-without-borders-rejects-world-aid-summit-rips-un

Doctors Without Borders Rejects World Aid Summit, Rips U.N. For Ongoing War Crimes

Having watched in aggrieved horror the last year as over 75 of its hospitals were bombed and hundreds of its patients and health workers were killed "in violation of the most fundamental rules of war," Doctors Without Borders, or Médecins Sans Frontières, has withdrawn from the World Humanitarian Summit slated for later this month in Turkey. The action comes just days after an MSF-supported hospital in Aleppo, Syria was attacked, killing at least 50 people, including one of the city's last pediatricians. It also follows last week's almost entirely redacted, predictably egregious Pentagon report finding that 16 U.S. military personnel involved in the grisly bombing of a MSF hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan in October 2015 - killing 42 and injuring many more - committed "errors" worthy of “disciplinary measures,” but no war or any other kind of crime. The bombings have led many to charge that U.S. so-called policy in those countries is a murky "recipe leading to disaster" born of massive political confusion, and that in the wake of its inevitable disasters, "the Pentagon shouldn't get to absolve itself for bombing a hospital."

Citing these atrocities and many more connected to them - from civilians wounded and killed in Syria, Yemen, South Sudan, Afghanistan to mistreatment of some of the world's nearly 60 million refugees in Turkey, Greece and elsewhere - MSF acknowledged that an international humanitarian summit seeking solutions has never been more needed. But even after spending months preparing for the Turkey summit, and after the U.N. urged global attendance by proclaiming, “We will not accept the erosion of humanity which we see in the world today,” MSF has regretfully withdrawn.

“We no longer have any hope that the WHS will address the weaknesses in humanitarian action and emergency response, particularly in conflict areas or epidemic situations,” it said in a statement last week. “As shocking violations of international humanitarian law and refugee rights continue on a daily basis, WHS participants will be pressed to a consensus on non-specific, good intentions to ‘uphold norms’ and ‘end needs.’ The summit has become a fig-leaf of good intentions, allowing these systematic violations, by states above all, to be ignored."

In a blistering speech before the U.N. Security Council last week, MSF president Dr. Joanne Liu further voiced the group's anger over the world's persistent failure to act to "stop the carnage." Citing last week's "murderous airstrike" in Aleppo that "blew apart at least 50 men, women and children" and the almost 300 airstrikes there over the last 10 days, she furiously asked, “What are individuals in wars today? Expendable commodities, dead or alive.” She went on, “Hospitals are routinely bombed, raided, looted or burned to the ground. Medical personnel are threatened. Patients are shot in their beds. Broad attacks on communities and precise attacks on health facilities are described as mistakes, are denied outright, or are simply met with silence. In reality, they amount to massive, indiscriminate and disproportionate civilian targeting in urban settings, and, in the worst cases, they are acts of terror.” Noting that four of five permanent members of the Council have ties to coalitions connected to these attacks - including the US-and-NATO coalition in Afghanistan - she insisted, "Medicine must not be a deadly occupation" and states must live up to their "extraordinary responsibilities." "You will be judged not on your words today, but on your actions," she said. "Your work has only begun."

[Cin]

Obama Chugs Flint Water, Dodges Federal Responsibility, Delivers Another Cynical Lecture to Black Folks
by BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon

“When I was five, six, seven,” the First Black President told an audience in Flint MI last week, “a lot of homes still had lead paint in them. I might have ingested some lead paint when I was two or three years old...” President Obama spoke those words just after chugging a glass of filtered Flint water, and just before assuring residents that a little lead in their children's bodies was less of a life obstacle than some might think. Sure, get your kids tested. But if possible childhood lead poisoning didn't stop baby Barack, he seemed to tell his listeners, why should it stop your child, your family from success? The president admonished locals and others not to point fingers, specifically not at Michigan governor Rick Snyder, who the president said was working with the feds to remedy the situation.

The president's act was tailor made for Flint, a black Michigan city only an hour north of Detroit, and aimed at African Americans around the country. It was quite a performance, reminiscent of his quip after the exoneration of the vigilante murderer of Trayvon Martin in Florida, when Obama observed that he “might have been” Trayvon 35 years go.

In both cases the president cynically leveraged his blackness to obscure the fact that he was refusing to go after the guilty parties, while proposing no measures to ensure it didn't happen again.

By the time President Obama dropped in on Flint, months after the deliberate poisoning of 100,000 people became national news, Democratic presidential candidates Clinton and Sanders had already come and gone. Congressional Democrats, led by members of the Congressional Black Caucus had staged their own denounce-a-Republican hearing in DC. For all of them, and for their allies in the corporate media, the mass poisonings were a unique case of evil Republicans whose ideology of privatization, small government and white supremacy empowered them to poison a mostly black city of 100,000. It's a simple and compelling story for this presidential campaign year, one that lets Democratic party activists keep the party's base voters aroused with demands to indict Governor Snyder and his minions.

That's their story. But it's not the real story.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency, as Black Agenda Report's Dr. Marsha Coleman Abedayo, a former EPA official and whistleblower has repeatedly pointed out, has always possesed the legal power under the Nixon era Clean Water Act to seize the water systems of Flint and dozens of other cities around the country which are known to be poisoning local residents, arrest the parties responsible, and operate those systems itself. But although regional EPA officials were fully aware of the Flint situation months before it became public, they chose not to act. The EPA is part of the executive branch of government, under the president and charged with enforcing existing laws.

First, Obama's regional and national EPA officials didn't decline to protect Flint's citizens by seizing the water works because they feared Republican opposition. Congressional Republicans simply don't have the power to stop the executive branch from enforcing a law already on the books. Then the White House and top EPA officials chose not to punish the EPA officials whose failure to act prolonged the poisonings.

Instead, the White House preferred to score cheap election year points against Republicans for the same privatizing acts that Democrats carry out all over the map. The Obama administration's Race To The Top program used billions of federal stimulus dollars to privatize thousands of public schools across the country. The Obama administration has likely privatized more public schools than any other president has ever built. The discredited notion of running schools and government agencies like businesses belongs to Democrats every bit as much as it does Republicans.

The last president named Clinton introduced what was called the “Reinventing Government” initiative, compelling state and local governments to begin privatizing dozens of types of government services.

The infrastructure projects of local governments everywhere in the US aren't funded by taxing the one percent, but instead by borrowing from the billionaires via bond issues that scoop up the taxes paid by poor people to repay bondholders at rates that street level loan sharks would envy. When the local tax revenues are insufficient to keep up the payments, local governments are turned into collection agencies, with emergency managers like those in Flint and Detroit appointed to cut services and pay the bondholders on time. In the more extreme cases, local governments are forced to sell off public land and other assets at pennies on the dollar to well connected investors.

The root of the crisis in Flint isn't racist Republicans or devious Democrats. It's a property of present day capitalism. The system does work, this is how it works, and both parties are committed to keeping it that way. This matrix of borrowing from the billionaires instead of taxing them, then turning local governments into collection agencies to repay the loans out of poor people's taxes is what brought us the mass poisonings in Flint. Democrats bear just as much responsibility for it as Republicans. But while the Democratic party's main funders are on Wall Street, its base voters are in places like Flint and Detroit.

http://www.blackagendareport.com/node/5112

[Kobi]

Police have confirmed mass casualties after a gunman opened fire at a gay club in Orlando, Florida, early Sunday.

The shooting at Pulse Nightclub occurred just after 2 a.m. About four hours later police confirmed that a gunman was dead. The circumstances of the shooter's death are not yet clear, and it is unknown whether they acted alone.

"We can confirm this is a mass casualty situation," Orlando Police tweeted. At least 20 people were killed.

Dozens of police vehicles, including a SWAT team, swarmed the area around the club. At least two police pickup trucks were seen taking what appeared to be shooting victims to the Orlando Regional Medical Center, The Associated Press reported.

NBC affiliate WESH reported that a crisis negotiator was at the scene, and Orlando Police said an explosion heard around 5 a.m. ET was a controlled event.

Revelers described scenes of horror from inside the club. One witness told MSNBC that they had to crawl over bodies to escape.

A post to the club's Facebook page at around 2 a.m. warned "everyone get out of Pulse and keep running." Witness video from outside showed dozens of first responders at the scene, and several victims on the ground.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/orlando-nightclub-shooting-emergency-services-respond-reports-gunman-n590446?cid=sm_fb
----------------


News is trickling out on this. Police and FBI involved. Shooter is dead. Aside from the gun involved, a "device" was found on his body and possibly in his car.

At least 20 people were killed and 42 were taken to local hospitals after the shooting at the Pulse Orlando nightclub, police said Sunday. The gunman was killed after exchanging fire with police.

[morningstar55]

Police have confirmed mass casualties after a gunman opened fire at a gay club in Orlando, Florida, early Sunday.

The shooting at Pulse Nightclub occurred just after 2 a.m. About four hours later police confirmed that a gunman was dead. The circumstances of the shooter's death are not yet clear, and it is unknown whether they acted alone.

"We can confirm this is a mass casualty situation," Orlando Police tweeted. At least 20 people were killed.

Dozens of police vehicles, including a SWAT team, swarmed the area around the club. At least two police pickup trucks were seen taking what appeared to be shooting victims to the Orlando Regional Medical Center, The Associated Press reported.

NBC affiliate WESH reported that a crisis negotiator was at the scene, and Orlando Police said an explosion heard around 5 a.m. ET was a controlled event.

Revelers described scenes of horror from inside the club. One witness told MSNBC that they had to crawl over bodies to escape.

A post to the club's Facebook page at around 2 a.m. warned "everyone get out of Pulse and keep running." Witness video from outside showed dozens of first responders at the scene, and several victims on the ground.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/orlando-nightclub-shooting-emergency-services-respond-reports-gunman-n590446?cid=sm_fb
----------------


News is trickling out on this. Police and FBI involved. Shooter is dead. Aside from the gun involved, a "device" was found on his body and possibly in his car.

At least 20 people were killed and 42 were taken to local hospitals after the shooting at the Pulse Orlando nightclub, police said Sunday. The gunman was killed after exchanging fire with police.


more info ........ as I'm hearing it

The local news here in Orlando is saying up to 20 killed and another 42 with injuries...
The shooter was wearing a device so at this time they fear there maybe more explosive devices in the building or in the cars
They are not able to get in to the bodies out of fear there maybe explosive devices
The official news feed right now is Orlando police department twitter.
They are stepping up security at the airports.
Many night clubs are reported they will stay closed

someone posting a comment on the original post report .....
i just read this in one of the comments on the original posting from this news post...... ....................
William Brown : our church group were in ihop having breakfast and a memeber of our church heard the guy in the blck shirt trying to convince the younger college student in the white shirt (whos an american) to purchase a weapon for him (the guy in black) and let him know tht he was trying to get a pilots license. Told him to not have any felonies and to keep his grades up so nothing would look suspicious. Younger guy kept telling him no

ok i just been listening to an update.. as of NOW ......... this shooter had a well planned out thing here.. had multiple guns of different types .. and islamic ties ... and going by so many people killed ... are claiming it as terrorism

:praying::candle: for all the victims and families.

[Andrea]

more info ........ as I'm hearing it

The local news here in Orlando is saying up to 20 killed and another 42 with injuries...
The shooter was wearing a device so at this time they fear there maybe more explosive devices in the building or in the cars
They are not able to get in to the bodies out of fear there maybe explosive devices
The official news feed right now is Orlando police department twitter.
They are stepping up security at the airports.
Many night clubs are reported they will stay closed

someone posting a comment on the original post report .....
i just read this in one of the comments on the original posting from this news post...... ....................
William Brown : our church group were in ihop having breakfast and a memeber of our church heard the guy in the blck shirt trying to convince the younger college student in the white shirt (whos an american) to purchase a weapon for him (the guy in black) and let him know tht he was trying to get a pilots license. Told him to not have any felonies and to keep his grades up so nothing would look suspicious. Younger guy kept telling him no

ok i just been listening to an update.. as of NOW ......... this shooter had a well planned out thing here.. had multiple guns of different types .. and islamic ties ... and going by so many people killed ... are claiming it as terrorism

:praying::candle: for all the victims and families.

How can the police possibly know so much about the shooter when your statement above indicates they haven't even been able to go inside where the shooting took place?

[Kobi]

How can the police possibly know so much about the shooter when your statement above indicates they haven't even been able to go inside where the shooting took place?



Well, they got close enough to know he had some kind of "device" on him. Then, they supposedly secured the area and brought in the bomb sniffing dogs.

It was also being reported the shooter was "not from the area". There are some reports that the shooter held hostages and a hostage negotiator was brought in. And info could have been ascertained during the course of negotiations.

Of course if you are into conspiracy theories, add to it this was reportedly a latino club and I'm sure one can find a way to link it to Trump. :seeingstars:

Or, we can just wait and see what the final "facts" end up being and then tear it apart.

--------------------

The man responsible for gunning down dozens of people inside the Pulse Nightclub early Sunday morning has been identified.

ABC News reports his name is Omar S. Mateen of Port St. Lucie, Florida.

Omar Mir Seddique Mateen has been named as the gunman who killed as many as 20 people and wounded 40 others at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, CBS News reports.

Mateen, 29, is a U.S. citizen of Afghani descent from Port St. Lucie, Florida, according to CBS News. He has ties to radical Islamic ideology, CBS reports.

[A. Spectre]

50 confirmed dead in Orlando, 53 injured


http://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/inside_out/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Rainbow_flag_breeze.jpg

http://il8.picdn.net/shutterstock/videos/2179798/thumb/1.jpg


Mayor declaring this event an emergency.

[C0LLETTE]

50 confirmed dead in Orlando, 53 injured


http://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/inside_out/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Rainbow_flag_breeze.jpg

http://il8.picdn.net/shutterstock/videos/2179798/thumb/1.jpg


Mayor declaring this event an emergency.

As I hear this news on my TV, this is the image I keep looking at.

[Zimmeh]

This breaks my heaet. As a former Orlando resident, I have gone to the Pulse nightclub and Parliament House. My thoughts are with the city if Orlando. Ecen though I no longer speak with my ex, I hope Ruffryder is safe.

Zimmeh


50 confirmed dead in Orlando, 53 injured


http://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/inside_out/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Rainbow_flag_breeze.jpg

http://il8.picdn.net/shutterstock/videos/2179798/thumb/1.jpg


Mayor declaring this event an emergency.

[*Anya*]

Carrying Weapons On Way To L.A. Pride Event Is Arrested — REPORT

MARTHA SORREN
10 minutes ago NEWS

After Sunday morning's devastating shooting at an Orlando, Florida gay club, Pulse, that left at least 50 dead and 50 hospitalized, the Los Angeles Times reported that a man "with weapons and possible explosives" was arrested in Los Angeles. According to the Times, he "said he was going to L.A. gay pride parade."

On Sunday morning, Santa Monica police were called to investigate "a suspected prowler." The Times reported that once they arrived on the scene, officers led a search on a car where they found "several weapons and a lot of ammunition as well as tannerite, an ingredient that could be used to create a pipe bomb." According to the outlet, the individual they encountered at the scene "made comments that he was in town for the Pride event in West Hollywood."

http://www.bustle.com/articles/166368-man-carrying-weapons-on-way-to-la-pride-event-is-arrested-report

[morningstar55]

How can the police possibly know so much about the shooter when your statement above indicates they haven't even been able to go inside where the shooting took place?

i have no idea ..
but death toll is up too 50

[Kobi]

Early Sunday morning, Omar Mateen shot and killed 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, perpetrating the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. Mateen, his father explained the next day, had repeatedly been angered by the sight of two men kissing. But according to witnesses, Mateen was also a regular at the club and exchanged messages with at least one gay man on a gay dating app.

“It’s the same guy,” Chris Callen, who performs under the name Kristina McLaughlin, told the Canadian Press. “He’s been going to this bar for at least three years.”

Ty Smith, who also goes by the name Aries, also said he’d seen Mateen being escorted drunk from the club, Pulse, on multiple occasions.

“(He’d get) really, really drunk... He couldn’t drink when he was at home—around his wife, or family. His father was really strict... He used to bitch about it,” Smith told the Canadian Press.

“Sometimes he would go over in the corner and sit and drink by himself, and other times he would get so drunk he was loud and belligerent,” Smith also explained to the Orlando Sentinel, which spoke with at least four clubgoers who remembered seeing Mateen at Pulse at least a dozen times. “We didn’t really talk to him a lot, but I remember him saying things about his dad at times... He told us he had a wife and child.”

Both Callen and Smith, who are married, tell the Canadian Press they stopped speaking to Mateen after he threatened them with a knife, apparently after someone made a joke about religion.

“He ended up pulling a knife,” Callen said. “He said if he ever messed with him again, you know how it’ll turn out.”

http://gawker.com/orlando-shooter-was-reportedly-a-regular-at-pulse-and-h-1781920316?utm_campaign=socialflow_gawker_facebook&utm_source=gawker_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

--------------------------------------------


The FBI is supposedly investigating this angle as there are reports he was on the gaydar since 2007.

Wondered, after seeing the photos of him, if he was a closet case with some serious demons eating at him. If memory serves, overkill is a crime of passion.

If this turns out to be true, this is an even more horrific massacre.

Sigh.

[C0LLETTE]

Britain to leave EU.

My sad reflection on Brexit:

The "black swan" has appeared and the forces of nationalism and darkness are surfacing again...it's fucking depressing that we really haven't learned anything and so easily allow our worst and most base instincts to repeatedly drive us to the Right and the slide into xenophobia and Fascism.

The thing is that it does no good to know this unless you believe that our past depravities and genocides were not just aberrations and to warn of them is not hyperbole and to ignore the signs may be folly, again.

Maybe you need to have been there.

[jools66]

Britain to leave EU.

My sad reflection on Brexit:

The "black swan" has appeared and the forces of nationalism and darkness are surfacing again...it's fucking depressing that we really haven't learned anything and so easily allow our worst and most base instincts to repeatedly drive us to the Right and the slide into xenophobia and Fascism.

The thing is that it does no good to know this unless you believe that our past depravities and genocides were not just aberrations and to warn of them is not hyperbole and to ignore the signs may be folly, again.

Maybe you need to have been there.


in reply to this i want to just say as a Brit that i dont feel we will go back to the dark ages.
i voted to stay in the EU, i really wanted us to stay.

But as it looks now, all the information that is coming out suggests that we are going to be still dealing with the EU to some extent.
We will be like Norway by the sounds.
I actually dont think that for the most part people voted in a malicious way.
I think the general feeling is that people were fed up of giving all that money to the EU and not getting much flexibility in the way of deals, trading etc.
there is of course the issue of immigration, but most people i know dont mind if you come over here and work for a living.
its the people that come over and go straight onto benefits that most people are against.
we are a very diverse country, with different cultures.
I was saddened to her David Cameron as resigned though, i hoped he would have finished his term in office.
I just hope and i think most rational people hope that before We exit that the transition can be made as smoothly as possible and with a lot of care as to what the country needs.

[C0LLETTE]

Hi Jools,
I did not mean to imply that Brits are exceptionally malicious or mean-spirited. I was reflecting on our common stubborn nationalism and tribalism that we never seem able to shake no matter how bloody it often becomes and how often we swear it will never happen again.

Bless those who maintain their faith in the goodness and nobility of the masses. I am not there.

[Daniela]

Cops: Trans Activist Beaten After Orlando Benefit (http://gawker.com/hey-happy-pride-trans-activist-beaten-after-orlando-1782648599)

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--HkkvKMMR--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/fhqkbfoi3ms2h2jjlevg.png

Seattle Police say they are working with the FBI to investigate a hate crime attack after a transgender person was beaten unconscious on their way home from a fundraiser for victims of the Orlando shooting this week, the Associated Press reports.

Investigators say Michael Volz was walking to their car after the benefit show on Wednesday when a white man in an orange sweatshirt said, “Hey, happy Pride,” and began choked and punching them. According to Volz’ GoFundMe page, the man said, “Show me your tits, you tranny cunt,” during the attack.

“The victim lost consciousness and the suspect fled the scene,” said Seattle Police in a statement. “Upon regaining consciousness, the victim was able to drive home and contact a friend, who drove the victim to the hospital. On the way, they stopped and contacted police.”

At a press conference on Friday, Deputy Police Chief Carmen Best said that investigators do not yet have any “good leads,” but are “aggressively pursuing everything.”

“This is not an isolated incident,” said Volz at the press conference. “This is something that happens to our community frequently, and we won’t tolerate it anymore.”

http://gawker.com/hey-happy-pride-trans-activist-beaten-after-orlando-1782648599

[Jesse]

Pentagon lifts ban on transgender men and women serving openly in US military. (http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/pentagon-lifts-ban-transgender-service-members-serving-openly-n601816?cid=eml_nbn_20160630)

[TruTexan]

Dallas Texas Police Headquarters has received apparently credible threats that have warranted the SWAT Team, heavily armed. They have shutdown the streets nearby and NO ONE is allowed to go near there. Its live on the news right now.

[Chad]

Dallas Texas Police Headquarters has received apparently credible threats that have warranted the SWAT Team, heavily armed. They have shutdown the streets nearby and NO ONE is allowed to go near there. Its live on the news right now.

Hunker down friend and stay safe.
Stay in touch.
Chad

[TruTexan]

Sources close to the news team are saying there is a masked man that is in the parking garage where police officers park and no one else is allowed in there without a badge, only dpd officers are allowed in that garage. They are looking for that man now. IT's a dangerous situation, the real deal, and telling the news crews and others to stay away from the garage area. They do NOT know if this man is armed and dangerous or what else could be going on to get the police to focus on the garage and something else is planned. This is just wow. What the fuck is going on in the world today ?? It's crazy. Is the end of times near or something?

[TruTexan]

The police searched the police garage, they guy got away. They're using dogs to sniff out for bombs and for his scent. There is also another credible threat that was made that more gunmen were going to come shootup the headquarters or something like that too. They don't know if the two threats made are one in the same.

All I know is it's freaking crazy lately. The gun violence is more and more each day. I wish it would end.

[homoe]

Hunker down friend and stay safe.
Stay in touch.
Chad

Yes Tru and you too Chad!

[TruTexan]

I haven't heard anymore on the news. I probably won't until tonight at 10 central time.

[*Anya*]

Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual High School Students Report Extremely High Levels of Violence

August 11, 2016

CDC Report: First National Study

In August 2016, CDC released the first nationally representative study on the health risks of U.S. lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) high school students. To understand more about behaviors that can contribute to negative health outcomes among LGB students, a question to ascertain sexual identity and a question to ascertain sex of sexual contacts was added for the first time to the national and standard Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) questionnaires. These new data offer insight into the health risks of approximately 1.3 million LGB high school students and highlight the need for accelerated action to protect their health and well-being.

CDC analyzed data from the 2015 national survey (conducted among more than 15,000 students in grades 9–12) plus data from 25 state surveys, and 19 large urban school district surveys.

The findings are described in a CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, "Sexual Identity, Sex of Sexual Contacts, and Health-related Behaviors Among Students in Grades 9-12—United States and Selected Sites, 2015."

The report documents the rates at which LGB students reported experiencing substantially higher levels of physical and sexual violence and bullying than other students.

In the report, sexual minority students were defined as those—

who identified themselves as gay, lesbian, or bisexual;
who had had sexual contact with only persons of the same sex; or
who had had sexual contact with persons of both sexes.

Collecting information about students' sexual identity and about the sex of their sexual contacts is necessary because some students identify themselves as heterosexual but report having sexual contact with only persons of the same sex, whereas some students who identify themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual have not had sexual contact or have had sexual contact with only persons of the opposite sex. This dissonance is well documented in other research and can be a normal part of the developmental process that occurs during adolescence.

What This Report Shows

This report describes the first nationally representative study of U.S. lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) high school students. It compares the prevalence of 118 health behaviors among sexual minority students to the prevalence of these behaviors among non-sexual minority students.

These analyses are possible due to the inclusion of two new questions about sex of sexual contacts and sexual identity on the 2015 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS).

The findings from this report show the rates at which LGB high school students experience many health risks, compared with heterosexual students.

These health risks are most apparent among students who identify themselves as LGB. Specifically, this report found that compared to their heterosexual peers, LGB students are significantly more likely to report:

Being physically forced to have sex (18% LGB vs. 5% heterosexual)

Experiencing sexual dating violence (23% LGB vs. 9% heterosexual)

Experiencing physical dating violence (18% LGB vs. 8% heterosexual)

Being bullied at school or online (at school: 34% LGB vs. 19% heterosexual; online: 28% LGB vs. 14% heterosexual)

While physical and sexual violence and bullying are serious health dangers on their own, a combination of complex factors can place young people at high risk for suicide, depression, addiction, poor academic performance, and other severe consequences.

Data demonstrate that LGB students may be at substantial risk for these serious outcomes:

More than 40% of LGB students have seriously considered suicide, and 29% reported having attempted suicide during the past 12 months.

Sixty percent of LGB students reported having been so sad or hopeless they stopped doing some of their usual activities.

LGB students are up to five times more likely than other students to report using illegal drugs.

More than 1 in 10 LGB students reported missing school during the past 30 days due to safety concerns. While not a direct measure of school performance, absenteeism has been linked to low graduation rates, which can have lifelong consequences.

Recommendations From This Report

The majority of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) students cope with the transition from childhood through adolescence to adulthood successfully and become healthy and productive adults. However, this report documents that LGB students have a higher prevalence of many health risk behaviors compared with heterosexual students. These data highlight the need for collective action to keep these students safe.

Although there are no simple solutions to address the health risks LGB students’ face, research demonstrates the importance of school, community, and family support for LGB youth.

Focused public health and school-based actions and policies that support safe and supportive environments for LGB students are key.

Youth-serving agencies and organizations, including schools, communities and youth-friendly health care centers and providers, can help facilitate access to education and information, health care services, and evidence-based programs and interventions designed to address the health-related behaviors that impact LGB youth.

Outreach efforts and educational programs can provide parents and families with the information and skills they need to help support LGB youth.

Because many health-related behaviors initiated during adolescence often extend into adulthood, they can potentially have a life-long negative effect on health outcomes, educational attainment, employment, housing, and overall quality of life. Many LGB students, therefore, need coordinated action to meet their needs and improve their health and well-being.

What CDC Is Doing

For lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) students to thrive in their schools and communities, they need to feel socially, emotionally, and physically safe and supported. CDC works with other federal agencies, national nongovernmental organizations, and state and local departments of education, health, and social services to raise awareness about the health risk behaviors and support the health and well-being of LGB students by —

Developing policies and practices that support the establishment of safe and supportive environments for all students, including LGB students.

Facilitating access to education, health care, and evidence-based interventions designed to address priority health-risk behaviors among LGB students.

Implementing programs and providing training for those who work with LGB students to better understand needs and services.

Summarizing and applying survey results to increase the effectiveness of interventions and programs for LGB teens.

Providing funding and technical assistance to develop, implement, and evaluate interventions that reduce health risk behaviors and promote healthy practices among LGB students.

Monitoring the impact of broad policy and programmatic interventions on the health-related behaviors of LGB students.
CDC calls for accelerated action to protect the health and well-being of these young people. Coordinated action by schools and communities is needed to protect LGB students and address the health risks they face.

CDC and its partners are taking action by funding, implementing, and evaluating programs that address many of these health risks and supporting the solutions, including violence prevention, developing tools for education partners to promote healthy school environments for all students, forging national partnerships, and providing scientific leadership.


http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/disparities/smy.htm

[Cin]

I don't know if this is necessarily a breaking news event, but it is a new report just released from the economic and social justice advocacy group, Global Justice Now and I don't know where else it would fit. I struggle to find a place to post topical news stories that I wouldn't necessarily classify as a breaking news event, which to me always sounds like some kind of emergency like an earth quake or plane crash or some such. But anyway, this is interesting in that these figures show that individual multinational corporations are wealthier than many countries. For example Walmart is wealthier than Spain, Australia, and the Netherlands.

Link to full article here with an excerpt below.

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/09/12/be-afraid-largest-corporations-wealthier-most-countries

Largest Corporations Wealthier Than Most Countries

Corporations are running the world, according to new figures released Monday from the U.K.-based Global Justice Now.

"As multinationals increasingly dominate areas traditionally considered the primary domain of the state, we should be afraid."
—Aisha Dodwell, Global Justice Now

The economic and social justice advocacy group discovered (spreadsheet) that the ten largest corporations are wealthier than most countries in the world combined.

"Today, of the 100 wealthiest economic entities in the world, 69 are now corporations and only 31 countries," wrote Global Justice Now campaigns and policy officer Aisha Dodwell. "This is up from 63 to 37 a year ago. At this rate, within a generation we will be living in a world entirely dominated by giant corporations."

Indeed, multinational behemoths Shell, Apple, and Walmart each rake in more revenue than the world's 180 "poorest" countries—a list that includes Ireland, Greece, Israel, South Africa, Vietnam, and Colombia—combined.

And the top ten largest companies have a whopping combined value of $2.9 trillion, which is larger than China's economy.

"The drive for short-term profits today seems to trump basic human rights for millions of people on the planet."
—Nick Dearden, Global Justice Now

Walmart, the biggest corporate entity in the world, is valued at over $482 billion, which makes it wealthier than Spain, Australia, and the Netherlands, individually.

"The vast wealth and power of corporations is at the heart of so many of the world's problems—like inequality and climate change," said Nick Dearden, director of Global Justice Now. "The drive for short-term profits today seems to trump basic human rights for millions of people on the planet. These figures show the problem is getting worse."

"As multinationals increasingly dominate areas traditionally considered the primary domain of the state, we should be afraid," Dodwell continued:

While they privatize everything from education and health to border controls and prisons, they stash their profits away in secret offshore accounts. And while they have unrivaled access to decision makers they avoid democratic processes by setting up secret courts enabling them to bypass all judicial systems applicable to people. Meanwhile their raison d'etre of perpetual growth in a finite world is causing environmental destruction and driving climate change. From Sports Direct's slave-like working conditions to BP's oil spill devastating people’s homes, stories of corporations violating rights are all too often seen in our daily papers.

[Cin]

http://logoonline.mtvnimages.com/uri/mgid:file:http:shared:newnownext.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/boy-mexico-1473685842.jpeg?quality=0.8&format=jpg&width=980


A crowd of approximately 11,000 angry anti-gay protestors who call themselves “pro-family” gathered in Guanajuato on Saturday to protest Mexican President Pena Nieto’s proposal for same-sex marriage “without any form of discrimination.” The protestors ran into a bit of obstruction.

A 12-year-old boy stood in the middle of the street, hands out, in hopes of stopping the crowd—or at minimum, to make a statement.
“I have an uncle who is gay and I hate the hatred.”

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/9/12/1569415/-12-year-old-Mexican-boy-tries-to-block-11-000-anti-LGBT-protestors-IMAGE

[Cin]

TTIP 2.0? New Leak Exposes Threats of Lesser-Known TISA Trade Deal

Greenpeace Netherlands exposed the threats to democracy and climate action contained within the little-known Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) on Tuesday with new leaks divulging several chapters of the clandestine global trade agreement.

"It's a sad day for democracy when ordinary people are dependent on leaks to learn about the far-reaching consequences of toxic trade deals that are being cooked up behind closed doors," said Nick Dearden, head of the U.K.-based Global Justice Now.

And TISA is perhaps the least well-known and most highly protected of the imminent agreements: "Somehow TISA is also even more secret than the notoriously covert CETA, TTIP and TPP deals, with parties unable to release details of negotiations until five years after it has taken effect," Greenpeace observes.

These latest leaks "confirm what civil society groups, trade unions, and consumer watch dogs across the world have been warning against, that TISA is a turbo-charged privatization and deregulation deal that will enormously benefit corporations at the expense of ordinary people and democracy itself," Dearden added.

Indeed, the leaks from the highly secretive deal—currently being negotiated by 50 nations around the world—affirm that with the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) on the ropes, other such "democracy-wrecking" deals are looming.

"The deal, a spiritual and practical sibling of the much-maligned TTIP and TPP free trade agreements, is designed to drive deregulation across the vast global services sector," observes Greenpeace, "increasing international trade in everything from banking to energy services."

In its analysis (pdf) of the TISA leaks, Greenpeace explains that the deal's emphasis on deregulation presents a grave threat to countries' ability to adhere to the terms agreed upon in the Paris climate accord:

Countries that sign up to TISA will be required to lock-in liberalization and could be prevented from rolling back failed policies due of two key clauses—the 'standstill' and 'ratchet' clauses.

The standstill clause freezes the extent of liberalization in certain sectors, which means the markets of TISA state can never be less liberalized than they were at the time they signed the deal.

Meanwhile the ratchet clause—which sometimes appears in other trade agreements—stops countries from reintroducing trade barriers that had been previously and unilaterally removed.

Together these two clauses undermine the ability of governments to ever reverse the liberalization of services, even if elected on a mandate to do it. That means they could be stopped from testing liberalizing policies, since there would be no way to reversing them if things went awry.

In order to make the objectives of the Paris Agreement a reality and in order to cut greenhouse gas emissions to the point where the worst impacts of climate change can be avoided, governments must be allowed to interfere and use all policy tools available to them. Arbitrarily locking governments into deregulation could have hugely negative impacts on their capacity to implement the kind of climate policies we need to stay within 1.5 degrees.

Greenpeace also notes that while going "[w]idely unnoticed by the public, TISA could be finalized by the end of this year."

"We now know that TISA will undermine COP21, further deregulate the financial sector, stop failed privatizations being brought back into public hands, and undermine data privacy laws," commented Rosa Pavanelli, general secretary of Public Service International. "What else are our governments keeping secret from us?"

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/09/20/ttip-20-new-leak-exposes-threats-lesser-known-tisa-trade-deal

[Cin]

Huffington Post refers to Glenn Reynolds the USA Today columnist and University of Texas law professor who tweeted for people to run down protesters blocking a highway in North Carolina as a conservative, but he identifies as a libertarian. People are protesting the police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott. It seems kind of drastic to advocate running people down for exercising their first amendment rights.

Here is the article in Huffington Post.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/glenn-reynolds-instapundit-protesters_us_57e37445e4b0e80b1ba06a85

USA Today Columnist Urges Motorists To ‘Run Down’ Protesters On North Carolina Highway
Twitter suspended the account of Glenn Reynolds after the inflammatory comment.

Conservative USA Today columnist and University of Tennessee law professor Glenn Reynolds caused an uproar on Twitter when he urged motorists to drive over protesters blocking a highway in North Carolina.

“Run them down,” Reynolds, who also produces the Instapundit website, tweeted late Wednesday with an image of the protesters on I-277.

Twitter suspended the account, but The Huffington Post preserved a screenshot of the tweet:

[Cin]

Filmmaker Faces 45 Years in Prison for Reporting on Dakota Access Protests

In an ominous sign for press freedom, documentary filmmaker and journalist Deia Schlosberg was arrested and charged with felonies carrying a whopping maximum sentence of up to 45 years in prison—simply for reporting on the ongoing Indigenous protests against fossil fuel infrastructure.

Schlosberg was arrested in Walhalla, North Dakota on Tuesday for filming activists shutting down a tar sands pipeline, part of a nationwide solidarity action organized on behalf of those battling the Dakota Access Pipeline.

The filmmaker was held without access to a lawyer for 48 hours, her colleague Josh Fox wrote in the Nation, and her footage was confiscated by the police.

Schlosberg was then charged Friday with three felonies, the Huffington Post reported: "conspiracy to theft of property, conspiracy to theft of services and conspiracy to tampering with or damaging a public service. Together, the charges carry 45 years in maximum prison sentences."

"They have in my view violated the First Amendment," Fox told the Huffington Post, referring to the state's Pembina County Sheriff's Department. “It’s fucking scary, it knocks the wind of your sails, it throws you for a loop. They threw the book at Deia for being a journalist."

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden observed that Schlosberg faces more years in prison than he does for leaking secret documents about the NSA's mass surveillance program in 2013.

"Deia isn't alone," observed Fox in an op-ed in the Nation. "The arrest of journalists, filmmakers, and others witnessing and reporting on citizen protests against fossil-fuel infrastructure amid climate change is part of a worrisome and growing pattern."

Indeed, the news of Schlosberg's arrest followed Democracy Now's Amy Goodman announcement earlier this week that she will return to North Dakota to combat charges she faces as a result of reporting on the Dakota Access Pipeline protest last month.

"Goodman, whose camera crew filmed a private security team attacking peaceful Native American protesters with dogs and pepper spray, faces charges of criminal trespassing—which many have said amounts to an assault on press freedom," as Common Dreams reported.

It also emerged late Saturday that a North Dakota state prosecutor has dropped the trespassing charge and is seeking instead to charge Goodman with participating in a "riot," Democracy Now reported.

"I came back to North Dakota to fight a trespass charge. They saw that they could never make that charge stick, so now they want to charge me with rioting," said Goodman. "I wasn't trespassing, I wasn't engaging in a riot, I was doing my job as a journalist by covering a violent attack on Native American protesters."

A warrant for Goodman's arrest was issued September 8.

Meanwhile, actor Shailene Woodley was arrested Monday while live-streaming a prayer action at a Dakota Access construction site. "She was singled out, the police told her, because she was well-known and had 40,000 people watching live on her Facebook page," Fox wrote. "Other filmmakers shooting protest actions along the pipeline have also been arrested."

"Journalism is not a crime; it is a responsibility," Fox said in a press statement about this pattern of arrests. "The actions of the North Dakota Police force are not just a violation of the climate, but a violation of the constitution."

Supporters have created a petition calling on the authorities in North Dakota to drop charges against Schlosberg, Goodman, and other journalists arrested for doing their work and reporting on the protests against Dakota Access.

Neil Young, Mark Ruffalo, Daryl Hannah, and other celebrities have also signed an open letter to President Barack Obama and North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple, calling on the leaders to intervene and for Schlosberg's charges to be dropped. The charges were "unfair, unjust, and illegal," the letter said, according to Reuters.

"This is not only about reporting on the climate-change movement," Fox argued in the Nation. "Journalists have also been arrested reporting on Black Lives Matter, the movement for Native rights, and many other important movements the corporate media fails to cover. The First Amendment and the Constitution are at stake in this case. If we lose it, we lose America too."

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/10/15/filmmaker-faces-45-years-prison-reporting-dakota-access-protests

[Kobi]

The U.S. Supreme Court takes up important immigration questions Wednesday, even as President-elect Donald Trump talks of pushing for more deportations. The legal issue before the court tests whether people who are detained for more than six months have a right to a bond hearing.

These are not the usual deportation cases, where facts are cut and dried and people are deported within a month or two of their detention. Rather, these are people legally in the U.S., lawful permanent residents who the government is trying to deport because they committed a crime. Or some cases involve people who turn themselves in at the border seeking asylum because they claim a reasonable fear of persecution.

When their cases are ultimately decided, these individuals have a good chance of prevailing. Forty percent of the lawful permanent residents and 70 percent of the asylum seekers eventually win and remain here legally.

The problem is that their cases take a long time, on average 13 months. And while detention may sound benign, it is not, said Ahilan Arulanantham, the ACLU lawyer who will argue the immigrants' case Wednesday.

"If you walk into a detention center, you would think you were in a prison," Arulanantham said.

He notes that detainees wear colored jumpsuits and live in cells or dorm-style barracks. Their movement is strictly controlled by guards.

"If you want to go visit your family member," Arulanantham added, "you can't touch them. You have to talk to them usually through a phone with a glass pane separating you."

Two federal appeals courts have ruled that after six months detention, these detainees are entitled to a hearing to determine if they are a safety or flight risk. If they are not, the lower courts said, they should be allowed temporary release after posting a money bond, or agreeing to electronic monitoring, or both.

The Obama administration is challenging those decisions, arguing that the lower courts exceeded their authority.

Lawyers for the immigrants make their argument through examples. The lead plaintiff in the case, for instance, is Alejandro Rodriguez, a 39-year-old lawful permanent resident of the U.S. who was brought to the country when he was an infant. He was working as a dental assistant when he was picked up and detained for deportation based on a 1998 conviction for joyriding—not a deportable offense—and a later conviction for drug possession, which is a deportable offense, at the discretion of the immigration court.

Rodriguez was detained for three years and ultimately prevailed in keeping his status as a lawful permanent resident.

The ACLU says Rodriguez's case is hardly unique. It points to hundreds of other lawful permanent residents convicted of relatively minor offenses, often committed when they were teenagers, who now face detention, potentially for years, while they fight deportation.

The other category of people before the court on Wednesday are asylum seekers. These are people who have been judged to have a credible case of fear of persecution back home. The ACLU points, for example, to the case of an Ethiopian asylum seeker who fled his homeland after he was abducted and then held in captivity and subjected to "horrific acts of torture" for over a year. When he fled to the U.S. seeking asylum, he was detained without any chance for release after a Department of Homeland Security officer concluded that he was not dangerous but mistakenly thought he was from Somalia and, therefore, had insufficient proof of identity.

ACLU lawyers argue that if this individual had been afforded a hearing, he could have pointed out the error and provided his Ethiopian government ID. Instead, in the end, he remained in detention for nine months, and was finally granted asylum.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2001 that detention, imprisonment, and other forms of physical restraint lie "at the heart of liberty" protected by the Constitution, but two years later, it upheld detention for brief periods without requiring individualized custody hearings. In Wednesday's case, immigration lawyers, who are representing between 6,000 to 8,000 people, contend that detentions that average 13 months are not brief, and that detainees are entitled to a bond hearing after six months.

The Obama administration countered that these arguments are all beside the point, because, in the government's view, the executive and legislative branches traditionally have the power to control immigration matters free from any judicial oversight. In short, the government argues that if Congress or the president wants to change the law or immigration regulations, either can do so. But the courts have no business meddling in such matters.

http://www.npr.org/2016/11/30/503658628/supreme-court-to-consider-how-long-immigrants-may-be-detained-without-bond-heari?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news

-------------------------------
Obama, is doing this. Not Trump.

[*Anya*]

People want answers': Criminal probe of Oakland fire launched as death toll hits 36

Phil Willon, Paige St. John and Soumya KarlamanglaContact Reporters

The grim search for bodies in the ruins of the Oakland warehouse fire entered its third day Monday as criminal investigators began to examine who is to blame for one of the worst fires in modern California history.

Thirty-six bodies have been recovered, but officials halted recovery operations overnight due to the unstable condition of the warehouse. As of Monday morning, about 70% of the building had been searched, officials said.

“We absolutely believe the number of fire fatalities will increase,” Oakland Fire Battalion Chief Melinda Drayton said Monday.

Alameda County authorities released the names of seven people who died: Cash Askew, 22; David Cline, 23; Travis Hough, 35; and Donna Kellogg, 32, of Oakland; Sara Hoda, 30, of Walnut Creek; Brandon Chase Wittenauer, 32, of Hayward; and Nick Gomez-Hall, 25, of Coronado. The name of one minor was withheld.

Sgt. Ray Kelly, a spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department, said the majority of the victims were in their 20s and 30s, but that some were teenagers.

Kelly said the district attorney’s office has sent a team of criminal investigators to work alongside the sheriff’s arson task force and the Oakland Police Department. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has also sent representatives to help in the investigation, providing resources, forensics and laboratory work.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-oakland-fire-recovery-20161205-story.html

[Jesse]

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — "Yet another anti-Muslim hate crime was reported within the NYC public transit system during the Monday morning commute, when a uniformed Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) worker wearing a hijab, or headscarf, was attacked on her way to work in Midtown by a male subway rider, according to police.

The 45-year-old woman was aboard a 7 train around 6:20 a.m., headed to Grand Central Terminal, when "a person approached her, called her a terrorist and said she should not be working with the city," an NYPD spokesman said.

The attack turned violent when the woman exited the train at Grand Central, police said.

Her attacker — who cops believe to be a Hispanic man around 5 feet, 10 inches tall, wearing a black jacket — followed her into the station and pushed her down a flight of stairs, injuring her ankle and her knee, police said.

"I wish a speedy recovery for the victim, and want to let her know we are seeking justice for her and for all New Yorkers," New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement issued Monday.

This latest assault feeds into a 35 percent spike in city hate crimes this year, police said — and marks at least the third attack of its kind against a Muslim woman in NYC over the past week.

In particular, the city saw "a huge spike" in hate crimes "right after the election" of Donald Trump on Nov. 8, part of a troubling national trend, NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said at a Monday press conference on recent crime rates in NYC." (Scroll down for video.)...


http://patch.com/new-york/midtown-nyc/muslim-mta-worker-attacked-grand-central-amid-35-spike-nyc-hate-crimes

[Kobi]

PARIS — For Europe, 2016 has brought a series of political shocks: near-record numbers of immigrants arriving from the Middle East and Africa; a vote by Britain to leave the European Union and renewed threats by Russia to meddle on the continent.

But 2017 could be even bumpier. There will be at least three elections in Europe next year: in Germany, France and the Netherlands for sure, and now perhaps in Italy, too. Just about everywhere, political establishments are being blamed for tepid growth, for too few jobs and for favoring global financial markets over the common citizen.

The latest indicator of popular discontent was Italy’s referendum on Sunday, when voters rejected constitutional changes proposed by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. That result was a stinging blow to Mr. Renzi, who said he would resign.

Coming after Britain’s vote this year to leave the European Union, the Italian outcome was taken as yet another rebuke to decades of efforts to forge a closer union of the bloc’s 28 countries. And it raised new doubts about whether that union would hold in the years ahead.

“This is a crisis that strikes at the absolute core of the European Union in a way even ‘Brexit’ does not,” said Mujtaba Rahman, the managing director for Europe at the Eurasia Group, a risk consultancy.

“The U.K. was always one foot in and one foot out,” he said. “Italy is a founding member state, fully integrated into the union’s political and economic structure. This is existential for the E.U.”

The Italian electorate rejected a constitutional overhaul that, among other changes, would have increased the power of the prime minister by reducing the number of senators and decreasing their power. The political impact of the rejection lies less in any direct effect on policies than in the opening it provides for the populist Five Star movement, which campaigned against the constitutional changes. It also brought the resignation of Mr. Renzi, a strong supporter of the European Union who was working hard to stabilize some of Italy’s shakiest banks.

The popular anger has turned what are normally routine elections into what François Heisbourg, a former French defense official and the chairman of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, described as moments of “volatility and inscrutability.”

That is especially so with yes-or-no referendums — first in Britain, now in Italy — where a populist rejection of the political establishment can, by extension, also be a chance to send a message to the unelected officials in Brussels who work closely with European government leaders.

In that context, Mr. Heisbourg said, the anti-European Union sentiment “is just a handle for the sense of a loss of control, a loss of agency” that people feel.

“In Britain, one of the campaign slogans for Brexit was ‘Vote Leave, Take Control,’” he noted. “The idea was the E.U. was preventing Britons from doing that. The E.U. is the piñata for populism.”

The motivation for voters in Britain and Italy was much the same as that for American voters who backed Donald J. Trump: to drive home to the elite that the status quo was unacceptable.

Compounding the frustration on both continents, and especially in Europe, are the lingering effects of the global recession of 2008, from which many European countries never fully recovered.

“The social contract that we, the West, signed up to — Europe, the United States — no longer adds up,” for people, said Xenia Wickett, who oversees the United States and the Americas program for the research institution Chatham House.

“The population is aging, we have far more older people relying on the younger ones for support, productivity is slowing, we haven’t been investing in our infrastructure and education,” Ms. Wickett said. “You have the disenfranchised saying, ‘That doesn’t work for us.’”

In France, for example, economic growth barely reached 1 percent last year. Youth unemployment there still hovers near 25 percent. (In Italy, Spain and Greece, it is even higher.) Older and less educated workers feel overwhelmed by an economy that seems to have left them behind.

“The Rust Belt isn’t just in America — there’s a Rust Belt in the north of France,” said Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer, the director of the Paris office of the German Marshall Fund. “They feel they are the dispossessed, dispossessed of their country’s sovereignty and of their economy.”

Far from easing those anxieties, membership in the European Union is blamed for exacerbating them. And the austerity regime that Brussels officials and international lenders have demanded, especially across southern Europe, has fueled anger still more.

The Italian vote will probably widen the gulf between the northern eurozone countries, led by Germany, and those in the south, said Pawel Tokarski, a senior researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin.

Many in Germany and other northern countries, he said, will take the vote as a sign of unwillingness in Italy to overhaul its economy the way Brussels wants.

“Definitely, this vote is going to strengthen the anti-E.U. voices,” Mr. Tokarski said.

Those voices have been building for more than 25 years, as the union expanded, the Brussels bureaucracy grew and many people began to feel that the union’s regulations and requirements were more trouble than they were worth.

Tensions were apparent as early as 1992, when the Maastricht treaty, which was meant to bring Europe closer together, barely won approval in Denmark and France.

Today, anti-European Union positions are part of the platform of almost every populist party, including Marine Le Pen’s National Front in France; Geert Wilders’s Party for Freedom in the Netherlands; and the Five Star Movement in Italy, led by Beppe Grillo.

The political demise of Mr. Renzi, the Italian prime minister, and his reform agenda removes an unabashedly pro-European leader who had hoped to ignite economic growth by ending an era of crippling budget austerity. Instead, he may be remembered for creating an opening for politicians who are openly hostile to Europe and the euro.

“The way Washington is perceived by many American people is the way many French or Germans or Italians perceive Brussels,” Ms. de Hoop Scheffer said. “They perceive Brussels as almost an illegitimate entity.”

The old center-right and center-left parties that divided power in a number of countries and kept Europe stable for decades are being swept aside by new and unpredictable forces nearly across the board. Politicians who play on nationalism and worries about economic disenfranchisement are on the rise. Animosity toward the European Union is of a piece with this feeling.

“Right versus left doesn’t exist any more,” Mr. Wilders, who is regularly rated as the most popular politician in the Netherlands, said in an interview.

Many voters on both sides of the Atlantic seem fed up with the old political names and faces, like Hillary Clinton or Jeb Bush in the United States.

In France, the list includes the former president Nicolas Sarkozy and another center-right figure, Alain Juppé, who are both out of the 2017 presidential race, as well as the current Socialist president, François Hollande, who decided not to seek a second term because his approval ratings were so poor.

With so many major elections on the way and so few of the big questions settled, Europe seems destined to continue to be subject to political tremors — and vulnerable to stronger forces that risk fracturing the European Union altogether.

“What we want is to bring back the values, the identity, the culture and the money, and put forward again national interests,” Mr. Wilders said.

Whether such changes are possible is hard to know, but Europe’s populists would clearly like to project an air of inevitability.

“I’m telling you, the genie will not go back into the bottle,” Mr. Wilders said. “The process will continue, and will change Europe forever.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/05/world/europe/europe-election-populism-germany-france-italy.html?hpw&rref=world&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0

--------------------------


Bernie was right about one thing - there is a revolution coming. It is a world wide one. And the issues are remarkably the same all over. Meckle is living on borrow time.

[JDeere]

She pleaded no contest, but is using her mental illness as an excuse, smh.


http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/woman-sentenced-to-life-in-oklahoma-state-homecoming-crash/ar-BBy7oqv?ocid=spartanntp

[JDeere]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/human-trafficking-flight-attendants-fight-back-for-victims/ar-AAmBZ6a?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartanntp

[Cin]

Will Trump kill the open internet? FCC could be on the verge of ending net neutrality

Donald Trump wants to build another wall. Not a physical wall to keep out illegal immigrants, like his proposed Mexican border project, but a virtual wall around the internet. And just as with Mexico, he wants the people behind the wall to pay for it.

President Trump seems to want to dismantle the main internet policy of his predecessor, that of ensuring net neutrality, also known as the “open internet”. To do this, he has appointed the most vocal Republican critic of President Obama’s internet policies, Ajit Pai, as chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the largest and most powerful internet regulatory body in the world.

Net neutrality is the principle that telecoms providers that connect you to the internet should not throttle your access depending on what services and content you use. For example, your mobile phone company should not be able to reduce your use of Skype or WhatsApp by reducing the speed of those services so that you use their calling and messaging functions instead. Without net neutrality, certain services and websites would be able to pay internet providers so that customers can access them with faster speeds, disadvantaging those companies without such a deal.

Telecoms providers’ attempts to do this led to a growing international consensus among governments on net neutrality. From 2009, many European and Latin American countries introduced regulations and laws to promote or guarantee net neutrality. In the US, opposition from big telecoms and cable corporations in the courts meant it took six years of Obama’s presidency to begin to effectively implement net neutrality rules.

To get around net neutrality rules, some telecoms companies have more recently begun using a “zero rating” approach of offering customers a preferential bundle of certain services that do not use up data allowances. These “sponsored data” plans don’t prevent access to any other site or service. But they still disadvantage smaller content providers, including the likes of the BBC and Wikipedia, that cannot afford to negotiate inclusion in sponsored data plans as the likes of Facebook and Google can.

By the end of 2016, regulators in the EU and India had produced further guidelines banning zero-rating plans. And the FCC under Obama was challenging companies using the zero-rating strategy. All those other national regulators are in the midst of their investigations – which is why they are susceptible to the FCC’s do-nothing.

But, in the US at least, that is now history as we enter the Trump era. The new FCC chairman has argued the net neutrality rules over-regulate innovation, even quoting the Emperor from Star Wars to invoke his opposition. He prefers deregulation to allow companies to compete without explicit consumer protection rules to guarantee an open internet.

Since his appointment, Pai has closed the inquiry that was implementing Obama’s policy, and he is highly unlikely to agree to another one. Pai will most probably continue to act towards net neutrality by exercising masterly inactivity, failing to enforce the regulations.

Behind the wall

That will allow the big US telecoms and cable companies to erect paywalls around their content, giving customers free access to affiliated services but making them pay for rival content, especially high definition video. That means lower costs for video services affiliated to AT&T, Verizon and Comcast but higher costs for independent providers such as Netflix.

Who else is affected by an end to US net neutrality? In short, those innovators unable to strike a deal to get inside the telecoms and cable companies’ paywalls. Facebook’s deals with mobile operators have enabled it to offer zero-rated content in many countries. They may now hope the US approval for zero rating will help their arguments in India, Brazil and other huge developing markets. Google and and even NetFlix may be big enough to look after their interests, too.

But small innovators will have no guaranteed minimum service level to design new services. That could impact the development of the Internet of Things, 5G mobile networks and cloud computing services. Having to ask permission to run your service on the internet is a major issue for start-ups that are effectively three engineers in a garage (as Google and Facebook once were). And this may affect new companies’ decisions on where to start their innovations.

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/02/will-trump-kill-the-open-internet-fcc-could-be-on-the-verge-of-ending-net-neutrality/

[*Anya*]

Just heard on CNN, Trump asked to pull the bill!!

Ryan says:

"Time to move on and put healthcare behind us".

IDIOTS!!

Right-wingers could not win over the moderates.

They put us through nail biters for days!

Now the Republicans will tear each other apart with blame.

I personally will believe that it really and truly is dead as time goes on.

[Tommi]

Fart of the Deal.

Pull back if you are going to lose:firetruck:

[Jesse]

LGBTQ Advocates Say Trump’s New Executive Order Makes Them Vulnerable to Discrimination

by MARY EMILY O'HARA

With little fanfare on Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that LGBTQ advocates say rolls back lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights and breaks a promise to that community not to make such changes to existing policy.

The executive order revokes key components of the Obama administration's previous executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating against employees on the basis of sexual orientation or identity, gay rights advocates say...

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/lgbtq-advocates-say-trump-s-news-executive-order-makes-them-n740301

[Kätzchen]

That's how fascism takes hold and grows in society: it gains traction by playing upon the fears of people; it keeps chipping away at long held and hard won battles for civil rights and social protections that include minority members of society (cultural, religious, sexual minority, poor, weak, disabled, children...).

Here's an oped which was featured in Economic Sociology and Political Economy, authored by Oleg Komlik, on January 22, 2017; based on the writings of Karl Polanyi's -- The Great Transformation (excerpt from the article and link, provided below):

"...the movement would come when both economic and political systems were threatened by complete paralysis. Fear would grip the people, and leadership would be thrust upon those who offered the easiest way out, at whatsoever ultimate price. The time was right for fascism," -- Karl Polanyi (p. 236, The Great Transformation).


I think Komlik has identified critical aspects of how fascism takes hold in society via critical sociological and political exploration of such problematic issues affecting current modern day issues in American society.

LINK (to article): https://economicsociology.org/2017/01/22/karl-polanyi-on-the-rise-of-fascism-and-market-economy/

[*Anya*]

POLITICS NATIONAL SECURITY

Mike Flynn Willing to Testify in Return for Immunity

Frank Throp V

Former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn has told the Senate Intelligence Committee he is willing to testify about the Trump campaign's possible ties to Russia in return for immunity from prosecution, a Congressional official told NBC News.

Flynn, a retired Lt. Gen. who headed the Defense Intelligence Agency before being pushed out by the Obama administration, advised the Trump campaign beginning in 2015. He served as President Trump's national security advisor for three weeks before resigning for what the Trump administration said was misleading Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak.

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/30/mike-flynn-willing-to-testify-in-return-for-immunity.html

[MsTinkerbelly]

A Federal Appeals Court just ruled that LGBTQI persons are protected in the workplace by the Civil Rights act!

So, employers may no longer fire or discriminate against someone because they are LGBTQI, even if a state does not protect us.

A huge victory that will probably wind up with the SCOTUS, but a victory nonetheless.

[*Anya*]

A Federal Appeals Court just ruled that LGBTQI persons are protected in the workplace by the Civil Rights act!

So, employers may no longer fire or discriminate against someone because they are LGBTQI, even if a state does not protect us.

A huge victory that will probably wind up with the SCOTUS, but a victory nonetheless.

Thank you for posting this!

Here is some more on the ruiling and that it was the 7th Circuit:


LGBT employees protected from workplace discrimination, appeals court rules

By Ariane de Vogue, CNN Supreme Court Reporter

Updated 9:03 PM ET, Tue April 4, 2017


(CNN)The Civil Rights Act prohibits workplace discrimination against LGBT employees, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.

"We conclude today that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is a form of sex discrimination," Judge Diane Wood wrote for the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The ruling is a victory for Kimberly Hively, who sued Ivy Tech Community College, arguing that the school violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when it denied her employment.

"Any discomfort, disapproval, or job decision based on the fact that the complainant -- woman or man -- dresses differently, speaks differently, or dates or marries a same-sex partner, is a reaction purely and simply based on sex," Wood wrote.

"That means that it falls within Title VII's prohibition against sex discrimination, if it affects employment in one of the specified ways," Wood added.

"This decision is (a) game-changer for lesbian and gay employees facing discrimination in the workplace and sends a clear message to employers: it is against the law to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation," said Greg Nevin of Lambda Legal, the group that brought the case.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/04/politics/lgbt-employees-appeals-court/

[Shystonefem]

US Supreme Court refused to listen to a challenge to California's Supreme Court ruling that banned gay conversion therapy.

https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2017-05-01/us-top-court-rejects-gay-conversion-therapy-ban-challenge

[Kobi]

RICHLAND, Wash. — Hundreds of workers at Hanford Nuclear Reservation were evacuated Tuesday after part of a tunnel, which stores rail cars filled with radioactive waste, collapsed.

Officials detected no radiation release, and no workers were in the tunnel when it caved in, said Randy Bradbury, a spokesman for the Washington state Department of Ecology. Around 11 a.m. PT, a robot was being used to sample contamination in the air and on the ground.

Hanford contractors working nearby were removed from the area while those farther away on the the 586-square-mile site were told to remain indoors, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The complex, about half the size of Rhode Island and located along the Columbia River, has more than 9,000 employees.

A manager sent a message to all personnel telling them to "secure ventilation in your building" and "refrain from eating or drinking."

he tunnel, which is hundreds of feet long and covered with about 8 feet of soil, contains highly contaminated materials such as trains that transported nuclear fuel rods. It connects to the Plutonium Uranium Extraction Facility, known at the site as PUREX.

The 20-foot-by-20-foot collapse occurred at one of two rail tunnels under the PUREX site, Bradbury said. In the past, rail cars full of radioactive waste were driven into the tunnels and buried.

The closed PUREX plant was part of the nation’s nuclear weapons production complex.

Hanford — about 20 miles northwest of Richland, 150 miles southeast of Seattle and less than 50 miles from the Oregon border — was built during World War II and made the plutonium for most of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, including the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. For decades afterward, workers made plutonium for nuclear weapons.

Hanford's emergency operations center was activated at 8:26 a.m., and long-time workers think it may be the first time it was opened for a possible radioactive release. Oregon's Department of Energy also activated its own emergency operations center.

“Hanford is 35 miles away from Oregon,” said Rachel Wray, Oregon Energy Department spokeswoman. “We are concerned about Oregonians’ health and that concerns the food we eat.”

Today the site contains 56 million gallons of radioactive waste and is the largest depository of radioactive waste from the Defense Department. Contractors are in the midst of a decades-long process of cleanup.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/05/09/hanford-nuclear-reservation-tunnel/314555001/

[Kätzchen]

RICHLAND, Wash. — Hundreds of workers at Hanford Nuclear Reservation were evacuated Tuesday after part of a tunnel, which stores rail cars filled with radioactive waste, collapsed.

Officials detected no radiation release, and no workers were in the tunnel when it caved in, said Randy Bradbury, a spokesman for the Washington state Department of Ecology. Around 11 a.m. PT, a robot was being used to sample contamination in the air and on the ground.

Hanford contractors working nearby were removed from the area while those farther away on the the 586-square-mile site were told to remain indoors, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The complex, about half the size of Rhode Island and located along the Columbia River, has more than 9,000 employees.

A manager sent a message to all personnel telling them to "secure ventilation in your building" and "refrain from eating or drinking."

he tunnel, which is hundreds of feet long and covered with about 8 feet of soil, contains highly contaminated materials such as trains that transported nuclear fuel rods. It connects to the Plutonium Uranium Extraction Facility, known at the site as PUREX.

The 20-foot-by-20-foot collapse occurred at one of two rail tunnels under the PUREX site, Bradbury said. In the past, rail cars full of radioactive waste were driven into the tunnels and buried.

The closed PUREX plant was part of the nation’s nuclear weapons production complex.

Hanford — about 20 miles northwest of Richland, 150 miles southeast of Seattle and less than 50 miles from the Oregon border — was built during World War II and made the plutonium for most of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, including the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. For decades afterward, workers made plutonium for nuclear weapons.

Hanford's emergency operations center was activated at 8:26 a.m., and long-time workers think it may be the first time it was opened for a possible radioactive release. Oregon's Department of Energy also activated its own emergency operations center.

“Hanford is 35 miles away from Oregon,” said Rachel Wray, Oregon Energy Department spokeswoman. “We are concerned about Oregonians’ health and that concerns the food we eat.”

Today the site contains 56 million gallons of radioactive waste and is the largest depository of radioactive waste from the Defense Department. Contractors are in the midst of a decades-long process of cleanup.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/05/09/hanford-nuclear-reservation-tunnel/314555001/

I was here online late last night and came across your post (from a couple years ago, I think) about the flawed Emergency Broadcast System (EBS)....but, this situation at Hanford is very serious, and no EBS was utilized for this event, either. Just a news report via TV stations or news feeds, hours after the original ignition point of the incident.

It's weird to me that news stations will jump with lightening speed over a gas leak or toxic gases permeating the air in our metro area, yet here is an far more serious threat at Hanford, not far from our metro area, and hardly any major news coverage was issued over local news wire feeds. At least, I hardly saw anything about it.

Now the Columbia River will no doubt have light years of radiation issues, surrounding soil and water ways are affected for what seems like an eternity of time, affecting water, soil, plant life and human life.

So scary. (w) (w) (w)

[*Anya*]

WorldViews

What you need to know about the massive hack that hit the British health-care system and elsewhere

By Amanda Erickson May 12 at 4:27 PM

It was first reported in England — hackers gained access to the National Health Service computers, effectively shuttering the entire system. Patients were told to stay home; doctors and nurses were unable to access email or medical records and had to take notes by hand. The hackers demanded a ransom, to be paid in bitcoin.

By Friday afternoon, though, it was clear that this was not a limited attack. Businesses in at least 11 other countries reported similar cyberattacks. Many were paralyzed.

There's still a lot we don't know. (We'll be updating this post!) But here's what we do know, so far:

How, exactly, does this ransomware work?

As its name implies, ransomware works like a hostage-taker.

Once your computer is infected, the attack can do a couple of things. One common approach: Your files will be encrypted or converted into a different language for which only the hacker has the cipher. Often, you won't even know you've been targeted until you try to open a file.

Another, more damaging version is what happened Friday: The ransomware locks you out of your entire system. During the attack in England, computer screens showed a message demanding $300 in bitcoin in exchange for the decryption key that would unlock the files. Victims had three days to pay before the fee was doubled. (Something very similar happened to a hospital system in Los Angeles a couple of months ago. The hospital ended up paying about $17,000. The hackers even set up a help line to answer questions about paying the ransom.)

This attack relies on something called the Wanna Decryptor, also known as WannaCry or WCRY. These kinds of attacks are particularly hard to spot, especially because hackers are always tweaking them. The Wanna Decryptor being used is just weeks old, and it was just updated.

How do computers get infected?

Lots of ways.

Hackers can get ransomware on your system if you download an infected piece of software or a PDF. They can also use a phishing email to direct you to an infected website. Here is a closer look on how it's done:

https://img.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/files/2017/05/2300-ransom-ware0512-1-1024x769.jpg

In this case, hackers sent a zip file attachment in an email. When victims clicked on it, their computers were infected. But the attack didn't stop there. The ransomware spread through the hospitals' and businesses' computer networks. “Once you get a foothold in the system, other users will start to run those pieces of software,” explained Clifford Neuman, who directs the University of Southern California's Center for Computer Systems Security.

What's the NSA got to do with it?

Though we don't know for sure, it looks like the hackers exploited a vulnerability in the Windows operating system. Microsoft knew about this many months ago and put together a patch, but many businesses are slow to update their operating systems because they have to evaluate the updates' impact on other software. (Or, like most of us, they just keep running old versions of software forever.)

Microsoft knew about this vulnerability because it was exposed as a technique used by the National Security Agency by hackers.

Who's behind the attack?

Investigators are pursuing a lot of leads, but so far they have very little concrete evidence. They do think it's the work of criminals, not a foreign power. They know the original hacking tool was leaked by a group called the Shadow Brokers, which dumps stolen NSA tools online. But they don't know who the Shadow Brokers hackers are or whether they perpetrated the attack.

Who's been hit so far?

Britain's National Health Service (NHS) was a major victim. More than 40 hospitals and health facilities across England were affected, and many staff members were locked out of their computers, unable to access patient medical records, appointment schedules and internal emails. It was so bad that officials warned people to stay home unless they were having a medical emergency. Hospitals in Scotland and Wales were affected, too.

But investigators quickly discovered that the NHS was not the only, or even the intended, victim. The attack was wide-ranging and affected organizations across the country.

Meanwhile, Spain's National Cryptologic Center, part of that country's intelligence agency, reported a “massive ransomware attack” against Spanish organizations. At Telefonica, in Madrid, security department officials ordered employees to switch off their computers and disconnect from WiFi.

This is much bigger than that, though. According to Britain's Independent newspaper, these attacks may stretch around the globe, from Portugal to Turkey, Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan, Germany and Russia. It “is much larger than just the NHS,” Travis Farral, director of security strategy for cybersecurity firm Anomali Labs, told the Independent. “It appears to be a giant campaign that has hit Spain and Russia the hardest.”

By Friday afternoon, though, it was clear that this was not a limited attack. Businesses in at least 11 other countries reported similar cyberattacks. Many were affected.

There's still a lot we don't know. (We'll be updating this post!) But here's what we do know, so far:

How, exactly, does this ransomware work?

As its name implies, ransomware works like a hostage-taker.

Once your computer is infected, the attack can do a couple of things. One common approach: Your files will be encrypted or converted into a different language for which only the hacker has the cipher. Often, you won't even know you've been targeted until you try to open a file.

Another, more damaging version is what happened Friday: The ransomware locks you out of your entire system. During the attack in England, computer screens showed a message demanding $300 in bitcoin in exchange for the decryption key that would unlock the files. Victims had three days to pay before the fee was doubled. (Something very similar happened to a hospital system in Los Angeles a couple of months ago. The hospital ended up paying about $17,000. The hackers even set up a help line to answer questions about paying the ransom.)


Here's the screen that comes up on hacked computers.

https://img.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/files/2017/05/slack-imgs-300x300.jpg

This attack relies on something called the Wanna Decryptor, also known as WannaCry or WCRY. These kinds of attacks are particularly hard to spot, especially because hackers are always tweaking them. The Wanna Decryptor being used is just weeks old, and it was just updated.

How do computers get infected?

Lots of ways.

Hackers can get ransomware on your system if you download an infected piece of software or a PDF. They can also use a phishing email to direct you to an infected website. Here is a closer look on how it's done:

In this case, hackers sent a zip file attachment in an email. When victims clicked on it, their computers were infected. But the attack didn't stop there. The ransomware spread through the hospitals' and businesses' computer networks. “Once you get a foothold in the system, other users will start to run those pieces of software,” explained Clifford Neuman, who directs the University of Southern California's Center for Computer Systems Security.

What's the NSA got to do with it?

Though we don't know for sure, it looks like the hackers exploited a vulnerability in the Windows operating system. Microsoft knew about this many months ago and put together a patch, but many businesses are slow to update their operating systems because they have to evaluate the updates' impact on other software. (Or, like most of us, they just keep running old versions of software forever.)

Microsoft knew about this vulnerability because it was exposed as a technique used by the National Security Agency by hackers.

Who's behind the attack?

Investigators are pursuing a lot of leads, but so far they have very little concrete evidence. They do think it's the work of criminals, not a foreign power. They know the original hacking tool was leaked by a group called the Shadow Brokers, which dumps stolen NSA tools online. But they don't know who the Shadow Brokers hackers are or whether they perpetrated the attack.


Friday afternoon, FedEx disclosed that its systems also were victims of the hack.

What are investigators trying to do to catch the attackers?

It can be hard to track down the perpetrators in attacks like this, but it's not impossible.

One method: follow the money. It's possible to trace where a bitcoin payment ends up. “Despite what people tend to think, it's highly traceable,” said Neuman, of USC. “You can see the flow of funds through the bitcoin system.” That doesn't mean, however, that you'll know who actually ends up with the money, especially once it's pulled out of the system. Hackers are able to hide that in lots of different ways.

Experts will also be searching the code itself for clues. Hackers each write codes in different ways, leaving identifiable traces of their work, like a signature.

What can I do to stay safe?

First, back up your hard drive. You should be keeping frequent backups anyway, in case your computer dies on its own. But if your computer gets hacked, you'll be able to retrieve your data without paying a ransom.

If you run a business, back up every computer in your office and have a plan for what to do if your system goes down for a while. Be smart about setting up your network, so that most users don't have complete access to the system. This makes it harder for a ransomware attack to infect everything. And make sure your users are educated about the common kinds of attacks.

Avi Rubin, a Johns Hopkins professor who studies computer hacking, has one other piece of advice: If you or your business get attacked, don't pay. “You're funding the bad guys and giving more incentive,” he said. You also don't know whether your files will really be restored.

Update: An earlier version of this post suggested that Edward Snowden's leak was the source of the information that led to the hack. This is inaccurate.

[Update your Windows systems now. Right now.]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/05/12/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-massive-hack-that-hit-britain-and-11-other-countries/?utm_term=.f3cdfa329df9

[*Anya*]

Worldwide ransomware hack hits hospitals, phone companies

May 13, 2017

The ransomware attack has hit 16 NHS hospitals in the UK and up to 70,000 devices across 74 countries using a leaked exploit first discovered by the NSA.

A global ransomware attack is holding more than 60,000 computers hostage.

Banks, telephone companies and hospitals have all been ensnared in the worldwide hack, with the malware locking down computers while demanding a hefty sum for freedom.

The attack has hit thousands of computers across China, Russia, Spain, Italy and Vietnam, but hospitals in England have attracted the most attention because lives are at risk while hospital systems are locked down.

The spread of the attack was temporarily halted Friday night when a UK cybersecurity researcher inadvertently activated a "kill switch" in the malware's code, said a Guardian report. That gave US firms additional time to patch their systems to avoid infection, but the researcher said his fix would eventually be sidestepped by the hackers, and it didn't help networks already hit by the ransomware.

Among them were IT systems and phone lines in National Health Service hospitals in the UK. The East and North Hertfordshire NHS trust updated its website shortly after the attack, telling visitors that they were "currently experiencing significant problems with our IT and telephone network."

"The investigation is at an early stage but we believe the malware variant is Wanna Decryptor," the NHS said in a statement Friday.

Avast detected up to 52,000 attacks from the WanaCrypt0r 2.0 ransomware, also called the WannaCry ransomware, yesterday. The majority of the new malware was targeting Russia, Ukraine and Taiwan, Avast Threat Lab team lead Jakub Kroustek said.

The malware had spread across 74 countries as of Friday. On the Malware Tech blog's tracker, cybersecurity researchers showed that more than 70,000 computers had been affected by the ransomware.

https://www.cnet.com/news/england-hospitals-hit-by-ransomware-attack-in-widespread-hack/

[Orema]

Roger Ailes is dead.

[*Anya*]

Concert goers flee Manchester Arena

Police have confirmed a "number of fatalities" following reports of an explosion at Manchester Arena.

Witnesses reported hearing a "huge bang" following an Ariana Grande gig at Manchester Arena.

Network Rail said train lines out of Manchester Victoria station, which is close to the concert venue, were blocked.

Greater Manchester Police tweeted to urge people to stay away from the area.
'Screaming and running'

A number of eyewitnesses have described the confusion in the aftermath.

Robert Tempkin, 22, from Middlesbrough, said: "Everyone was screaming and running, there were coats and people's phones on the floor. People just dropped everything.

"Some people were screaming they'd seen blood but other people were saying it was balloons busting or a speaker had been popped.

"There were lots of ambulances. I saw somebody being treated. I couldn't tell what had happened to him."


http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-40007886

[*Anya*]

UT4hMWlXsOs

[MsTinkerbelly]

Concert goers flee Manchester Arena

Police have confirmed a "number of fatalities" following reports of an explosion at Manchester Arena.

Witnesses reported hearing a "huge bang" following an Ariana Grande gig at Manchester Arena.

Network Rail said train lines out of Manchester Victoria station, which is close to the concert venue, were blocked.

Greater Manchester Police tweeted to urge people to stay away from the area.
'Screaming and running'

A number of eyewitnesses have described the confusion in the aftermath.

Robert Tempkin, 22, from Middlesbrough, said: "Everyone was screaming and running, there were coats and people's phones on the floor. People just dropped everything.

"Some people were screaming they'd seen blood but other people were saying it was balloons busting or a speaker had been popped.

"There were lots of ambulances. I saw somebody being treated. I couldn't tell what had happened to him."


http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-40007886

Currently 19 dead and 50+ injured.(w)

[*Anya*]

First women in the infantry!

FORT BENNING, Ga. — The first group of women graduated from United States Army infantry training last week, but with soldiers obscured by body armor, camouflage face paint and smoke grenades, it was almost impossible to distinguish the mixed-gender squads in the steamy woods from those of earlier generations.

That’s just how the Army wants it.

After the Obama administration ordered the military in 2013 to open all combat positions to women, the Army developed gender-neutral performance standards to ensure that recruits entering the infantry were all treated the same. Still smarting over accusations that it had lowered standards to help the first women graduate from its elite Ranger School in 2015, the Army has taken pains to avoid making any exceptions for infantry boot camp. To the pound, men and women lug the same rucksacks, throw the same grenades and shoulder the same machine guns.

The Army has also sought to play down the significance of the new female infantrymen — as they are still known — not mentioning, when families gathered last week for their graduation, that the 18 women who made it through would be the first in more than two centuries for the American infantry.
“It’s business as usual,” the battalion commander overseeing the first class, Lt. Col. Sam Edwards, said as he watched a squad of soldiers run past — including one with French braids and a grenade launcher. “I’ve tried to not change a thing.”

Female grunts in the battalion see things differently. In interviews during a series of visits to observe training, many said the fact that they could finally pursue a combat career, and have it treated as no big deal, was for them revolutionary. Now many who dreamed of going into the infantry are no longer barred from the core combat positions that are the clearest career routes to senior leadership.
Just before graduation, one female drill sergeant pulled aside a group of female privates, who ranged from high school athletes to a single mother with a culinary degree, and gave them her unofficial assessment out of officers’ earshot.

“This is a big deal,” she said as she looked into one recruit’s eyes. She said they were making history.

‘Misery is a great equalizer’

Rain pounded the roughly 150 troops of Alpha Company, who ranged in age from 17 to 34, as they stood in formation during a tornado warning, waiting to hear if it was too stormy to train.
If the downpour let up, they would practice rushing out of armored vehicles. If not, they would tramp back to the foxholes where they had slept the night before and bail out the standing brown water with canteen cups.

Either way, by day’s end they would be wet, tired, hungry and cold: the four pillars of misery the Army has long relied on to help whip recruits into cohesive fighting teams.

“Misery is a great equalizer,” one male recruit said with a resigned grin.

The rain eventually let up and the sergeants ran the platoons through repeated ambush drills. By the end, while some of the troops had buzz cuts and some had their hair in buns, they all shared the drooping weariness that grunts have worn for as long as there’s been an infantry.

‘She’s a hoss’

In the woods, after hours of mock raids, Pvt. Kayla Padgett rested her rifle against her rucksack and turned to her platoon, assembling them in three neat rows.

It was 90 degrees. A tick crawled along the back of her shirt. The night before, the platoon had slept in the dirt. Everyone was dog tired. Many were covered in ant bites. But as platoon guide, it was her job to make them ready.

“All right, hustle it up, let’s count off,” she said.

One by one the platoon of mostly men each shouted until all were accounted for.

“O.K., good,” Private Padgett said, scanning the group with her blue eyes. “If you haven’t done so, keep loading up ammo, all your magazines.”

Over the years, countless voices have warned that women could never handle the demands of the infantry, and would destroy its all-male esprit de corps. None of the recruits or drill sergeants interviewed at Fort Benning shared that fear. They all pointed to women like Private Padgett.
The 23-year-old track champion from North Carolina could throw a 20-pound hammer more than 60 meters while on the team at East Carolina University, and showed up at basic training in better shape than many of the men. She is now on her way to Airborne School, and wants to eventually become a Ranger.

“She’s a hoss,” her drill sergeant, Joseph Sapp, said as he watched her. After a tour in Iraq and four in Afghanistan, he has served with his share of soldiers. “Forget male-female; she’s one of the best in the company. She’s one you’re happy to have.”

Not ‘treated special’’

In the new integrated infantry companies, women and men train together in mixed-gender squads from before dawn until after dusk: practicing the same raids, kicking in the same doors, doing the same push-ups when their squad messes up. No one gets out of a rotation serving chow.

At night, they sleep in rooms separated by gender, in identical metal bunks with identically scratchy green blankets. To graduate, all must pass tests of the same infantry skills, including hurling a grenade 35 meters, dragging a 268-pound dummy 15 meters, running five miles in less than 45 minutes and completing a 12-mile march carrying 68 pounds.

Hair is one of the few places where standards still diverge. All men get their heads shaved on arrival. Women don’t. Not wanting to be held to a different standard, though, many of the women decided a few weeks into training to shave in solidarity. They would earn back their hair, just like the men.
“I loved my hair, but didn’t want anyone to look at me and think I was being treated special,” said Pvt. Irelynn Donovan.

‘I wanted to make history’

Private Donovan, 20, grew up outside Philadelphia with five older brothers. She was the only girl on her junior high football team. When assigned to write an essay about an adult she admired, she chose her grandfather, who had served two tours in Vietnam.

“She’s just always been a badass,” said her mother, Cristine Zalewski.
She always wanted to join the infantry, despite a ban on women. On her forearm is a tattoo of flowers wrapped around a saying uttered by her single mother, who sometimes had to scrounge for change in the house to pay bills: “We’ll find a way”!

As soon as the ban was lifted in 2016, Irelynn Donovan went to a local recruiter. “I wanted to make history,” she said. “Pave the way, if not for me, then for others.”

During training, she wrote home complaining that she was exhausted and tired of being yelled at. “Everything is chafing,” she wrote. But she became a standout, nailing the physical tests for both men and women when she did 79 push-ups in two minutes.

‘Hey, the infantry’s tough, man’

Afghanistan and Iraq were turning points for the Army’s thinking on women in combat. The wars forced thousands of women who were not technically combat troops into fire fights. Nearly 14,000 women were awarded the Combat Action Badge for engaging with the enemy. Today most of the men leading the Army have served with women in combat for years.

“We saw it can work,” said Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Snow, who heads Army Recruiting Command at Fort Knox, Ky. “And now we have a generation that just wants to accomplish the mission and have the most talented people to do it.”

The Army is determined not to sacrifice performance for the sake of inclusion, and many women have not been able to meet the standard. Of the 32 who showed up at infantry boot camp in February, 44 percent dropped out. For the 148 men in the company, the dropout rate was just 20 percent.

Commanders say the higher dropout rate among females is in line with other demanding boot camps for military police and combat engineers, which have been open to women for years. In part, they say, it is a consequence of size. A 5-foot-2 woman has to carry the same weight and perform the same tasks as a man who stands a foot taller, and is more likely to be injured.

Why did so many more women fail? One female recruit summed it up by saying simply, “Hey, the infantry’s tough, man.”

“Is it fair?” said the brigade commander overseeing gender-integrated infantry training at Fort Benning, Col. Kelly Kendrick. “I don’t care about fair. I care if you can meet the standard.”

Male soldiers acknowledged in interviews that the women who remain, like Chonell Morgan, 18, are some of the toughest soldiers in the company. During a punishment run the platoons were ordered to undertake on a hot afternoon, Private Morgan, who is from Apple Valley, Calif., was near the front of the pack.

The daughter of a NASA engineer, she postponed plans for college when she heard the infantry was opening to women. Her mother is still upset about the decision, but her father, Lorenzo Morgan, who served in the Army in the 1980s, said, “You have to let your children be who they want to be.”

An unspoken accomplishment

This month, after 14 weeks of running and crawling in the dirt, Alpha Company marched onto the parade grounds in crisp dress uniforms and carefully creased berets.

The company commander’s voice booming over loudspeakers welcomed them to the infantry, but he gave no nod to the women now joining the ranks.

The women appeared to take it in stride. Private Donovan, who had won the award for the highest female fitness score in the company, finishing just behind the top man, pushed through the crowd toward her family, then shrank in embarrassment when her mother greeted her with a bouquet of flowers.

“Mom,” she muttered, looking to see if anyone noticed, “you don’t bring flowers to infantry graduation.”

http://www.nytimes.com/images/2017/05/27/nytfrontpage/scannat.pdf

[DapperButch]

<Anya's post>

I remember the first year it was approved I read that 3 women went to infantry boot camp, but didn't make it. So glad to see that 18 women have this time around!

It looks though at least one woman joined because the infantry opened to women and she wanted to show that she could kick ass! Infantry boot camp is no joke! :army:

[Greco]

Anya's post...I have conflicting feelings on this...on the one
hand I'm glad that they are strong and the fittest they'll be
in their lives...and on the other I am sad for what some of
them will endure in combat...as a veteran indeed I salute
them and am also sad...killing and being killed is no f..king
joke.

May all the military women and men on our planet be protected.
And may we end war and fatal conflict on our Mother Earth.
This is my prayer for humanity.

Greco

[*Anya*]

London attacks: 'multiple casualties' after incidents at London Bridge, Vauxhall and Borough Market –

Armed police respond to serious incidents in three locations in the capital – London Bridge, Vauxhall and Borough Market

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live/2017/jun/03/london-bridge-closed-after-serious-police-incident-live

From zerohedge.com:

Update 6:55 p m

BBC reports that multiple people have been killed in the various incidents in London, with Telegraph reporting that according to Police sources at least two people have been killed in the London Bridge area.

* * *

Update: 6:42 pm

According to a BBC reporter at the scene, police are now searching for three possibly armed suspects. According to Sky News, citing Scotland Yard, there has been a third separate incident in the Vauxhall region in South London. The BBC also adds that it can confirm earlier reports of gunshots being fired. Reports suggest it may have been more than one incident:

A van hitting people at London Bridge and three people then jumping out of the vehicle and attacking members of the public;
A separate incident at Borough Market
Police have now said they are responding to a third incident in Vauxhall
It is understood that police are looking for three suspects who may be armed.

[*Anya*]

By Dave Boyer - The Washington Times - Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Six-term Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the influential Republican who has clashed with presidents of both parties over national security and foreign policy, has been diagnosed with brain cancer, his office said in a statement Wednesday night.

The cancer was discovered after minor surgery last week to remove a blood clot above the left eye of the 80-year-old chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and 2008 Republican presidential nominee, according to the Mayo Clinic.

“Subsequent tissue pathology revealed that a primary brain tumor known as a glioblastoma was associated with the blood clot,” the Phoenix clinic said in a statement. “The senator and his family are reviewing further treatment options with the Mayo Clinic care team. Treatment options may include a combination of chemotherapy and radiation.”

Glioblastoma is an aggressive form of cancer, the same kind that killed vice presidential son Beau Biden. According to the American Cancer Society, for people older than 55, the five-year survival rate for glioblastoma is about 4 percent.

Mr. McCain’s office said the question of his return to the Senate will be determined after further consultations with his medical team.
CNN, citing medical sources involved with Mr. McCain’s treatment, reported that he showed no neurological problems before or after the more than three-hour surgery to remove the tumor.

The news stunned official Washington on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.
President Trump said in a statement, “Senator John McCain has always been a fighter. Melania and I send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy, and their entire family. Get well soon.”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jul/19/john-mccain-diagnosed-brain-cancer/

[Kätzchen]

Today marks the 100th anniversary of over 10k African Americans who organized a protest March along 5th Avenue in NYC, NY back in 1917, which has since become known as The Silent Parade.

The protest was in response to lynching's and murders of Black peoples and the first ever civil rights protest against violence toward Black people, during the height of the Jim Crow era, in America.

Google commemorated it today on their website and The Washington Post published an superbly written article feature, as well.

LINK to Washington Post article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/07/28/google-memorializes-the-silent-parade-when-10000-black-people-protested-lynchings/?utm_term=.2af1e6980efa

WIKI LINK: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Parade?wprov=sfla1

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/1917_Silent_Parade_men_H.tiff/lossless-page1-1200px-1917_Silent_Parade_men_H.tiff.png

[Kätzchen]

For people living in the state of Oregon and for those who visit or even those who are not visiting but driving on any road or freeway in the state of Oregon, here is a huge WAKE UP & PAY ATTENTION tap on the noggin for people (ie, like my elderly mother who refuses to get off her phone) who can't stay off their phones while driving. Not only will fines and punishment be much more severe, but any ticket you earn for not staying off your phone or electronic device (i-pad, i-tune/i-pod player, ANYTHING any electronic gadgetry) will cost you in severe fines, time in jail (one year in jail for your second ? Offense within TEN years), plus you can't ever get it off your record. FYI--- CAR Insurance issuers Can and Will revoke your insurance and/or impose bigger fees and limitations on your coverage or drop you without notice!

Please DO NOT think you are above the law here and that it won't happen to you, because it WILL happen to you if you refuse to put your phone down and not think of your own safety first, or the safety of others!

Btw, and I'm not bragging, but I have a flawless driving record....Safety First is an important credo in my personal and professional life.

LINK TO PRESS RELEASE :

http://www.oregonlive.com/commuting/index.ssf/2017/09/oregons_new_distracted_driving.html

[FireSignFemme]

WAKE UP & PAY ATTENTION tap on the noggin for people who can't stay off their phones while driving.

Thanks for passing this along. I'm not driving now but when I do I'm a careful driver. It's my sons who need to know this. They rarely travel to OR but just in case. Beside, law or not they shouldn't be on the phone while driving anyway. No they should be driving as if hell is just a blink away and they're prison bound deserving of it if they do. It's not as if they're teens anymore. What if they killed someone! I wish a law like this would be in place in every state. Of course then we'd have to build a lot more jails and prisons. My children shouldn't complain about how much having to build more jails and prisons would cost them in taxes because if they text and drive and kill somebody, they're gonna want to be locked up anyway. To stay safe from me. They can't just go out and kill people so they can have a phone conversation. How selfish is that! And if they do, then they're just going to have to wear ugly prison shoes because no way in hell would I reward that kind of behavior by giving them commissary money to buy Nike or Reeboks, or something else totally unnecessary so they can impress their convict friends. Enough to get them invited them to join some prison gang or something. Or wind up beat to the point of near brain damaged, as some other law breaker convict steals the shoes I paid for. Plus then you know they'd be pleading with me for a new wheelchair because those the jail provides for them are not electric. If they want to be fancy paralyzed well then I'd highly recommend they do it on their own dime, and not while incarcerated at the tax payers expense.

[dark_crystal]

50 dead after shooting on Las Vegas Strip; suspect ID'd (http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/02/us/las-vegas-shooter/index.html)

The gunman in the mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip has been identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said Monday morning.

Lombardo also said authorities believe they have found the woman who was traveling with the suspect.

"We're confident but not 100% sure we've located the female person of interest," the sheriff said.


At least 50 people were killed and more than 200 were injured in a shooting on the Las Vegas Strip on Sunday night, police said Monday morning. Police said the suspect has been identified.


More than 20 people were killed and more than 100 injured in a shooting on the Las Vegas Strip on Sunday night, police said.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters that police responded after reports of shots being fired from the Mandalay Bay toward the Route 91 Harvest festival around 10:08 p.m. Sunday (1:08 a.m. ET Monday).

50 people. When i woke up it was 20. Dear God.

[hopelessromantic69]

My heart goes out to all the families who are grieving a loss from the Vegas shooting.

[Sunshine]

Words cannot express the sadness I feel for all those people that had to go through that shooting in Vegas last night. I hope everyone is safe and for those who lost their lives, may they rest in peace.

I live everyday as it was my last, in the sense that I love deeply, I make sure to do what's right and I always help when I can.

It's a beautiful day, let's make it count.

Be safe and make happy memories always.

Tell your loved ones how much you love them, every chance you get.

[MsTinkerbelly]

50 dead after shooting on Las Vegas Strip; suspect ID'd (http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/02/us/las-vegas-shooter/index.html)

The gunman in the mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip has been identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said Monday morning.

Lombardo also said authorities believe they have found the woman who was traveling with the suspect.

"We're confident but not 100% sure we've located the female person of interest," the sheriff said.


At least 50 people were killed and more than 200 were injured in a shooting on the Las Vegas Strip on Sunday night, police said Monday morning. Police said the suspect has been identified.


More than 20 people were killed and more than 100 injured in a shooting on the Las Vegas Strip on Sunday night, police said.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters that police responded after reports of shots being fired from the Mandalay Bay toward the Route 91 Harvest festival around 10:08 p.m. Sunday (1:08 a.m. ET Monday).

50 people. When i woke up it was 20. Dear God.

Have any of the Las Vegas people checked in? We have quite a few that live there.

[curlyredhead]

Tom Petty has passed away at the age of 66.

He suffered a cardiac arrest last night was found not breathing. They were able to get his pulse back but his brain suffered damage, the plug was pulled today.
Passed away about 10minutes ago.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tom-petty-legendary-rocker-is-dead-at-66/

[jools66]

The shooting at Vegas is so tragic, again peoples lives cut short while they were having and sharing happy moments.
My heart goes out to all those families that are affected.
The world is getting crazy.
It's going to take a long time to heal America.
I hope you make it a better place for the future generations, this can't go on.
Love will always find a way, and is always stronger.

[dark_crystal]

U.S. opposes UN resolution against death penalty for same-sex relations (http://www.losangelesblade.com/2017/10/02/u-s-opposes-un-resolution-death-penalty-sex-relations/)

The U.S. on Sept. 29 voted against a U.N. Human Rights Council resolution that condemns the death penalty for those found guilty of committing consensual same-sex sexual acts.
The resolution — which Belgium, Benin, Costa Rica, France, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia and Switzerland introduced — passed by a 27-13 vote margin.
Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Rwanda, South Africa, Togo, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Albania, Croatia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Slovenia, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, El Salvador, Panama, Paraguay, Venezuela, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland and the U.K. supported the resolution. Botswana, Burundi, Egypt, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, China, India, Iraq, Japan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates joined the U.S. in opposing it.

Kenya, Nigeria, Tunisia, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea and Cuba abstained.

The resolution specifically condemns “the imposition of the death penalty as a sanction for specific forms of conduct, such as apostasy, blasphemy, adultery and consensual same-sex relations” and expresses “serious concern that the application of the death penalty for adultery is disproportionately imposed on women.” It also notes “poor and economically vulnerable persons and foreign nationals are disproportionately subjected to the death penalty, that laws carrying the death penalty are used against persons exercising their rights to freedom of expression, thought, conscience, religion, and peaceful assembly and association, and that persons belonging to religious or ethnic minorities are disproportionately represented among those sentenced to the death penalty.”

I'm just going to be triggered forever i guess. Massacre on Monday, official endorsement of our executions on Tuesday, emboldened rapists and nazis prowling the streets all year, whole classes of people excluded from medical care, criminalization of body autonomy

this is a culture of death

[*Anya*]

I knew it would be bad in almost every facet of life if Trump became president but I never imagined lunatics and every day haters would be given carte blanche to fucking kill us, too, for "consensual same-sex relations" (among other things).

Some days I think I will just lose it.


U.S. opposes UN resolution against death penalty for same-sex relations (http://www.losangelesblade.com/2017/10/02/u-s-opposes-un-resolution-death-penalty-sex-relations/)

The U.S. on Sept. 29 voted against a U.N. Human Rights Council resolution that condemns the death penalty for those found guilty of committing consensual same-sex sexual acts.
The resolution — which Belgium, Benin, Costa Rica, France, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia and Switzerland introduced — passed by a 27-13 vote margin.
Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Rwanda, South Africa, Togo, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Albania, Croatia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Slovenia, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, El Salvador, Panama, Paraguay, Venezuela, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland and the U.K. supported the resolution. Botswana, Burundi, Egypt, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, China, India, Iraq, Japan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates joined the U.S. in opposing it.

Kenya, Nigeria, Tunisia, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea and Cuba abstained.

The resolution specifically condemns “the imposition of the death penalty as a sanction for specific forms of conduct, such as apostasy, blasphemy, adultery and consensual same-sex relations” and expresses “serious concern that the application of the death penalty for adultery is disproportionately imposed on women.” It also notes “poor and economically vulnerable persons and foreign nationals are disproportionately subjected to the death penalty, that laws carrying the death penalty are used against persons exercising their rights to freedom of expression, thought, conscience, religion, and peaceful assembly and association, and that persons belonging to religious or ethnic minorities are disproportionately represented among those sentenced to the death penalty.”

I'm just going to be triggered forever i guess. Massacre on Monday, official endorsement of our executions on Tuesday, emboldened rapists and nazis prowling the streets all year, whole classes of people excluded from medical care, criminalization of body autonomy

this is a culture of death

[*Anya*]

So sorry! Wrong thread :(

[Bèsame*]

At Least 25 People Shot in Texas Church Massacre.

From what has been reported, shooter was chased down and shot dead. Small town 30 miles southeast of San Antonio. I'm sure there will be more to report as investigation continues.

It's a very small community, approx 600 people there.


Why, why, why?

[Chad]

At Least 25 People Shot in Texas Church Massacre.

From what has been reported, shooter was chased down and shot dead. Small town 30 miles southeast of San Antonio. I'm sure there will be more to report as investigation continues.

It's a very small community, approx 600 people there.


Why, why, why?

This is a sad day for all Texans. My heart is broken for our Sutherland Springs neighbors.

[cathexis]

This is a sad day for all Texans. My heart is broken for our Sutherland Springs neighbors.

Our hearts are out to you and the survivors of this massacre!

[C0LLETTE]

Muslims who kill are terrorists. White men who kill have "mental instability" but access to all the guns they want.

When will the time come to talk about all this so it doesn't keep happening? If not now, then when?

This was the deadliest killing in the United States....in 35 days.

[A. Spectre]

Yes, dear leader grunted this morning about this latest massacre. He said it was a mental illness issue, not a guns issues. But here are the facts:

IF republicans had their way, mental health funding would be sharply reduced and drowned in a bathtub.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-care/mental-health-groups-worry-new-gop-plan-will-devastate-coverage-n733601

http://time.com/4829381/senate-health-care-bill-mental-health-insurance/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/22/critics-gop-health-plan-risky-mental-health-addiction-progress/99432896/

I could link 30 more articles but you get the drift.

You know what I'm sick of? These politicians telling us all that their "thoughts and prayers" are with the victims. Thoughts and prayers are just fine indeed, but ACTIONS prove to make an immediate difference. Sane gun legislation will make a difference. Remember the bump-stock 'debate' (for 5 minutes?) It didn't go anywhere, still mass produced and still on the market.

The Texas states attorney general had the fucking nerve to say that we need more guns in church! Really? LEO at the Colorado Wal-Mart last week, yesterday? Hell, I can not keep track of this mayhem, are saying there were so many guns drawn at the store, they didn't know who was the bad guy.


More than half of yesterdays victims were children.

https://i0.wp.com/s3.amazonaws.com/tdc-images/mike-peters-nra-original.jpg?ssl=1

[VintageFemme]

Sheriff Lupe Valdez resigned her position, effective next week, to run for governor of Texas. Valdez is in her fourth term and is the country’s only Hispanic lesbian sheriff. She’s one of just a few female sheriffs in Texas.


https://www.dallasvoice.com/breaking...medium=twitter (https://www.dallasvoice.com/breaking-valdez-resigns-run-governor-10246265.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter)

This is such great news for women, the LGBTQ community, Hispanics and more importantly, Texas. She'll be a fantastic Governor.

[VintageFemme]

This is such an uplifting Twitter thread! So much love . . .

https://twitter.com/i/moments/938855204115636225

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DQd6doaV4AAJ_6t.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DQd57hHVoAAWJjg.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DQd6LjzVAAElGFm.jpg

[*Anya*]

Tweet today:

The Associated Press (@AP)
12/11/17, 10:07 AM

BREAKING: Pentagon says it will allow transgender people to enlist in the military beginning Jan. 1, despite Trump's opposition.

[CherryWine]

The AP just called it! Senator Doug Jones! :cheer:

[*Anya*]

The AP just called it! Senator Doug Jones! :cheer:

I had to log on because I could not believe my ears or my eyes!

Am I hallucinating??

Is it possible that there is any chance Moore could get some extra votes from somewhere?

I have regained a tiny bit of faith in humankind.

Thank you Alabama!!!

[MsTinkerbelly]

The AP just called it! Senator Doug Jones! :cheer:

Hopefully Moore won’t demand a recount, as the Alabama Supreme Court ( of which Moore was a Justice) just reversed something today that said ballots have to be kept and protected. I can see ballots getting thrown out from here........

** it was digital ballots that don’t have to be preserved in the Senate race.

[VintageFemme]

The AP just called it! Senator Doug Jones! :cheer:

Such great news. I went to bed last night with hope for the first time since the 2016 election. I had forgotten what hope felt like!

I love it when the good guy wins.

[*Anya*]

The Republicans just defeated net neutrality.

Ends rules from 2015, that were put into place to keep the internet open and fair.

Off course they did.

Next, the legal fight.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-internet-lawsuits/advocates-ready-legal-showdown-with-fcc-on-net-neutrality-idUSKBN1E62SQ

More info from a post I made yesterday in politics:

https://www.commondreams.org/news/20...eutrality-vote

PLEASE NOTE: Pai used to be an executive at Verizon. No vested interest?

He thinks he's funny? Article from Fortune.com

"FCC Head Ajit Pai Jokes About Being Verizon’s 'Puppet' Ahead of Net Neutrality Rollback"

http://fortune.com/2017/12/09/fcc-he...et-neutrality/

[*Anya*]

'Intentional' event redirects cloud traffic from Apple, Google & others through Russia

By Roger Fingas

Thursday, December 14, 2017, 06:52 am PT (09:52 am ET)

Internet traffic coming into and out of Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and other companies was briefly redirected through a Russian provider on Wednesday, in what appears to have been a deliberate move.

The incident involved the Border Gateway Protocol, or BGP, which funnels high-level traffic through nodes like internet backbones, according to Ars Technica, citing reports by monitoring services BGPMon and Qrator Labs. BGPMon recorded two three-minute hijacks, affecting 80 address blocks in total. Qrator Labs said the incident spanned two hours, with the number of address blocks fluctuating between 40 and 80.

Some reasons for suspicion include the prominence of the impacted companies, and the fact that IP addresses were split into smaller blocks than those announced by the companies —something that doesn't normally happen with a BGP configuration error.

The autonomous Russian system that performed the hijack, known as AS39523, was previously inactive for years except for another BGP incident in August that involved Google.

It's unknown what might been done with data if the latest redirect was deliberate, since much or all of it would've been protected by encryption that has yet to be defeated, at least according to public knowledge.

An attacker could conceivably have figured out decryption, attempted to crack it, or may be storing the data for future attacks.


http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/12/14/intentional-event-redirects-cloud-traffic-from-apple-google-others-through-russia

[Kätzchen]

Sooo, last year, while working cross word puzzles, I noticed that the publisher of most crossword puzzle magazines featured conservative thinking processes akin to neo-republican political agenda. It's hard, if not non-existent, to find crossword puzzles that are politically non-partisan.

So, today I went looking for news on who owns TV programs, programming for TV stations, and other news media. It turns out that the reason I see news articles with an over arching desire to inculcate republican conservative agenda is that.....

An conservative media empire known as The Sinclair Broadcast group. This group is SO BIG (Think Gene Rayburn of TV Match Game shows of the 1970s), that they've bought up publishing interests (local newspapers) called The Tribune. This behemoth of an entity pander to the current administration and the current administration appointed someone from their own ranks to rewrite FCC policy so that the Sinclair interests will be able to control more TV and newspaper content.

Anyway.... here's an link to a well researched news article about how Trump has found a way to control a huge share of the news media market (ogliopoly) and why no one can get news worthy articles from any news agency that hadn't been gobbled up by .... you know who. :(

Btw, my research turned up other interesting items too, like the TV show Jeopardy host is republican and that major cable service providers are notoriously owned by those whose pockets are branded as republican party owners. ***boooo! ***

LINK TO ARTICLE:

https://www.vox.com/2017/5/15/15598270/sinclair-broadcast-imminent-conservative-takeover-of-local-tv-news-explained

[Kätzchen]

Cynthia Nixon is running for Governor of New York!


https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/03/19/nyregion/cynthia-nixon-new-york-governor-cuomo.html?referer=https://www.google.com/

[*Anya*]

House Republicans nominate Donald Trump for Nobel peace prize

Eighteen lawmakers write to Nobel committee to say president should receive 2019 prize ‘in recognition of his work to end the Korean war’

Ben Jacobs in Washington @Bencjacobs

Wed 2 May 2018 16.23 EDT Last modified on Wed 2 May 2018 19.03 EDT

In a letter spearheaded by the Indiana Republican Luke Messer and sent to the Norwegian Nobel committee, the lawmakers claim that Trump should “receive the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his work to end the Korean War, denuclearize the Korean peninsula and bring peace to the region”.

The rules for a Nobel prize nomination are relatively loose. Nominations can only be made by people who belong to a handful of categories, including members of a national legislation body, university professors and former winners of the prize – but there are no other restrictions. In 2018, there were 330 nominees to win the award, which will be announced in December. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons was the 2017 winner.

The Nobel committee operates under aegis of the government of Norway, but a 2009 justice department memo says the prize and accompanying $1.4m award does not qualify as a “emolument” from a foreign power, as the committee is independent from the government. Trump has previously faced criticism over foreign government spending at his hotels, which scholars have argued is an emolument. The Trump Organization has said that it has given all profits from foreign governments to the US treasury.

Although the letter copiously praises Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign and says there is “no one more deserving of the Committee’s recognition in 2019 than President Trump for his tireless work to bring peace to our world”, there may be political motivations at play as well.

Messer, a three-term incumbent from south-eastern Indiana, is in a ferocious three-way primary next week for the Republican nomination for the US Senate. One of the main bones of contention between him and his two main opponents, the congressman Todd Rokita and the businessman Mike Braun, is over which candidate is most dedicated to supporting Trump. The winner faces the Democratic incumbent, Joe Donnelly, in a state that Trump won by 19 points in 2016.

Four other Republican Senate hopefuls have signed the letter. Neither Kevin Cramer of North Dakota nor Marsha Blackburn faces competitive primaries in their fight to win competitive Senate seats in red states, but two others do.

Evan Jenkins of West Virginia signed the letter, as did Jim Renacci of Ohio. Both face competitive primaries next week in state won by Trump with incumbent Democrats. Other signatories include Mark Meadows of North Carolina, who leads the hard-right Freedom Caucus, and Steve King of Iowa, who has long praised far-right anti-immigration figures in European politics, such as Geert Wilders.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/may/02/donald-trump-nobel-peace-prize

[Kätzchen]

House Republicans nominate Donald Trump for Nobel peace prize

Eighteen lawmakers write to Nobel committee to say president should receive 2019 prize ‘in recognition of his work to end the Korean war’

Ben Jacobs in Washington @Bencjacobs

Wed 2 May 2018 16.23 EDT Last modified on Wed 2 May 2018 19.03 EDT

In a letter spearheaded by the Indiana Republican Luke Messer and sent to the Norwegian Nobel committee, the lawmakers claim that Trump should “receive the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his work to end the Korean War, denuclearize the Korean peninsula and bring peace to the region”.

The rules for a Nobel prize nomination are relatively loose. Nominations can only be made by people who belong to a handful of categories, including members of a national legislation body, university professors and former winners of the prize – but there are no other restrictions. In 2018, there were 330 nominees to win the award, which will be announced in December. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons was the 2017 winner.

The Nobel committee operates under aegis of the government of Norway, but a 2009 justice department memo says the prize and accompanying $1.4m award does not qualify as a “emolument” from a foreign power, as the committee is independent from the government. Trump has previously faced criticism over foreign government spending at his hotels, which scholars have argued is an emolument. The Trump Organization has said that it has given all profits from foreign governments to the US treasury.

Although the letter copiously praises Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign and says there is “no one more deserving of the Committee’s recognition in 2019 than President Trump for his tireless work to bring peace to our world”, there may be political motivations at play as well.

Messer, a three-term incumbent from south-eastern Indiana, is in a ferocious three-way primary next week for the Republican nomination for the US Senate. One of the main bones of contention between him and his two main opponents, the congressman Todd Rokita and the businessman Mike Braun, is over which candidate is most dedicated to supporting Trump. The winner faces the Democratic incumbent, Joe Donnelly, in a state that Trump won by 19 points in 2016.

Four other Republican Senate hopefuls have signed the letter. Neither Kevin Cramer of North Dakota nor Marsha Blackburn faces competitive primaries in their fight to win competitive Senate seats in red states, but two others do.

Evan Jenkins of West Virginia signed the letter, as did Jim Renacci of Ohio. Both face competitive primaries next week in state won by Trump with incumbent Democrats. Other signatories include Mark Meadows of North Carolina, who leads the hard-right Freedom Caucus, and Steve King of Iowa, who has long praised far-right anti-immigration figures in European politics, such as Geert Wilders.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/may/02/donald-trump-nobel-peace-prize

Wow, that's just c r a z y!

How strange does it feel to be witness to this type of thing? I mean, other fascist dictators (Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin and Rudolf Hess ) were nominated for The Nobel Peace Prize, but none of them ever received that prize, thank goodness.

Your news article Anya reminds me of back in 2007, the rise of neo-nazi activities in Germany. In fact I found an article online by German news media giant, Spiegel OnLine, which talked about the leader of the far-right National Democratic Party (NDP) being charged with inciting race hate because he nominated Rudolph Hess. Very scary times, for people in Germany.

Here's what happened back then (thankfully Hess was never given the Nobel Peace Prize):

LINK: http://m.spiegel.de/international/germany/after-nominating-rudolf-hess-for-nobel-peace-prize-npd-leader-charged-with-inciting-race-hate-a-501910.html


Thanks for posting that article Anya!

[*Anya*]

Texas high school shooting

By Brian Ries, Veronica Rocha and Meg Wagner, CNN

Updated less than 1 min ago 3:12 p.m. ET, May 18, 2018

>> What happened: Ten people were killed and 10 others wounded in a shooting Friday morning at a high school in the southeastern Texas city of Santa Fe.

>> The aftermath: Authorities later found explosive devices -- including pipe bombs and pressure cookers -- in and near the school, law enforcement officials said.

>> The suspect: Dimitrios Pagourtzis is suspected of conducting the shooting today at a Texas high school. He is in custody.

Texas mayor slams Congress: "Spare us your thoughts and prayers and do your job"

The Democratic mayor of Dallas has strong words in the wake of the shooting at a high school outside Houston.

In it, Mayor Mike Rawlings called on members of Congress to take “substantive action” to stop mass shootings and said “history will not look kindly upon those elected officials who failed to act in the face of repeated mass murders of our children.”

He added: “Spare us your thoughts and prayers and do your job.”

https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/santa-fe-texas-shooting/index.html

[VintageFemme]

Texas high school shooting

By Brian Ries, Veronica Rocha and Meg Wagner, CNN

Updated less than 1 min ago 3:12 p.m. ET, May 18, 2018

>> What happened: Ten people were killed and 10 others wounded in a shooting Friday morning at a high school in the southeastern Texas city of Santa Fe.

>> The aftermath: Authorities later found explosive devices -- including pipe bombs and pressure cookers -- in and near the school, law enforcement officials said.

>> The suspect: Dimitrios Pagourtzis is suspected of conducting the shooting today at a Texas high school. He is in custody.

Texas mayor slams Congress: "Spare us your thoughts and prayers and do your job"

The Democratic mayor of Dallas has strong words in the wake of the shooting at a high school outside Houston.

In it, Mayor Mike Rawlings called on members of Congress to take “substantive action” to stop mass shootings and said “history will not look kindly upon those elected officials who failed to act in the face of repeated mass murders of our children.”

He added: “Spare us your thoughts and prayers and do your job.”

https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/santa-fe-texas-shooting/index.html

Bravo Mayor Rawlings!

[knight]

Thank you Anya for posting this. If anyone is interested in writing the Nobel peace prize committee regarding the nomination of Trump...
postmaster@nobel.no




House Republicans nominate Donald Trump for Nobel peace prize

Eighteen lawmakers write to Nobel committee to say president should receive 2019 prize ‘in recognition of his work to end the Korean war’

Ben Jacobs in Washington @Bencjacobs

Wed 2 May 2018 16.23 EDT Last modified on Wed 2 May 2018 19.03 EDT

In a letter spearheaded by the Indiana Republican Luke Messer and sent to the Norwegian Nobel committee, the lawmakers claim that Trump should “receive the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his work to end the Korean War, denuclearize the Korean peninsula and bring peace to the region”.

The rules for a Nobel prize nomination are relatively loose. Nominations can only be made by people who belong to a handful of categories, including members of a national legislation body, university professors and former winners of the prize – but there are no other restrictions. In 2018, there were 330 nominees to win the award, which will be announced in December. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons was the 2017 winner.

The Nobel committee operates under aegis of the government of Norway, but a 2009 justice department memo says the prize and accompanying $1.4m award does not qualify as a “emolument” from a foreign power, as the committee is independent from the government. Trump has previously faced criticism over foreign government spending at his hotels, which scholars have argued is an emolument. The Trump Organization has said that it has given all profits from foreign governments to the US treasury.

Although the letter copiously praises Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign and says there is “no one more deserving of the Committee’s recognition in 2019 than President Trump for his tireless work to bring peace to our world”, there may be political motivations at play as well.

Messer, a three-term incumbent from south-eastern Indiana, is in a ferocious three-way primary next week for the Republican nomination for the US Senate. One of the main bones of contention between him and his two main opponents, the congressman Todd Rokita and the businessman Mike Braun, is over which candidate is most dedicated to supporting Trump. The winner faces the Democratic incumbent, Joe Donnelly, in a state that Trump won by 19 points in 2016.

Four other Republican Senate hopefuls have signed the letter. Neither Kevin Cramer of North Dakota nor Marsha Blackburn faces competitive primaries in their fight to win competitive Senate seats in red states, but two others do.

Evan Jenkins of West Virginia signed the letter, as did Jim Renacci of Ohio. Both face competitive primaries next week in state won by Trump with incumbent Democrats. Other signatories include Mark Meadows of North Carolina, who leads the hard-right Freedom Caucus, and Steve King of Iowa, who has long praised far-right anti-immigration figures in European politics, such as Geert Wilders.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/may/02/donald-trump-nobel-peace-prize

[*Anya*]

Thank you Anya for posting this. If anyone is interested in writing the Nobel peace prize committee regarding the nomination of Trump...
postmaster@nobel.no

That will be a big fuck no from me.

[dark_crystal]

Texas high school shooting

By Brian Ries, Veronica Rocha and Meg Wagner, CNN

Updated less than 1 min ago 3:12 p.m. ET, May 18, 2018

>> What happened: Ten people were killed and 10 others wounded in a shooting Friday morning at a high school in the southeastern Texas city of Santa Fe.

>> The aftermath: Authorities later found explosive devices -- including pipe bombs and pressure cookers -- in and near the school, law enforcement officials said.

>> The suspect: Dimitrios Pagourtzis is suspected of conducting the shooting today at a Texas high school. He is in custody.

Texas mayor slams Congress: "Spare us your thoughts and prayers and do your job"

The Democratic mayor of Dallas has strong words in the wake of the shooting at a high school outside Houston.

In it, Mayor Mike Rawlings called on members of Congress to take “substantive action” to stop mass shootings and said “history will not look kindly upon those elected officials who failed to act in the face of repeated mass murders of our children.”

He added: “Spare us your thoughts and prayers and do your job.”

https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/santa-fe-texas-shooting/index.html

I am sitting in my office eleven miles away from the school.

It has been interesting because i listen to the local top 40 station in my office and the morning show jocks sounded like they were getting radicalized live and on the air as events unfolded. "Something has to be done! This cannot go on!"

I was sitting here thinking "i wonder how Texas will react now that it is happening to US" and then i realized the Sutherland Springs Church shooting killed 26 people and only happened six months ago and i hadn't thought about it at all since that week.

There was a student they were interviewing on TV and her attitude was just like "well, it can happen anywhere" and she was grieving but she was not outraged or furious or indignant. That was hard to watch.

I was crying in the bathroom bc the staff member who brings me my mail every morning has kids at that school.

You always feel for the parents who have to wait in agony to hear if their kids are alive, but when it's someone you see every day going through it...

[Gemme]

That will be a big fuck no from me.

I don't think knight was suggesting you support the nomination.

Why fuss and fume if no one is going to put it out there that it's ridiculous and shouldn't happen?

[*Anya*]

I don't think knight was suggesting you support the nomination.

Why fuss and fume if no one is going to put it out there that it's ridiculous and shouldn't happen?

Actually Gemme, I thought he was kidding and I responded in kind.

I didn't think I would have to say that I was kidding, too.

I don't generally "fuss or fume" at anyone's post.

Yours bothered me here.

[Esme nha Maire]

I honestly thought I'd come across an April Fool's posting when I saw that about Trump and Nobel Peace Prize, just now (I'd been blissfully unaware of it previously). I very much doubt the Nobel committee would be stupid enough to consider such a nomination for a moment. Trump, like Putin, is so clearly a force for making the world a more dangerous and violent place, rather than a more peaceful one.

[Gemme]

Actually Gemme, I thought he was kidding and I responded in kind.

I didn't think I would have to say that I was kidding, too.

I don't generally "fuss or fume" at anyone's post.

Yours bothered me here.

Okay, then. I didn't read your post as joking and I didn't say 'you' were fussing and fuming. It was a general remark punctuated by an invisible shrug. It wasn't personalized towards you.

Trump is a difficult topic and this is a difficult medium to communicate with, so it's no wonder that we all have strong feelings swirling about when he's brought up or that we misconstrue one another from time to time.

[Bèsame*]

Texan football player, our beloved J.J. Watt, will be paying for all the victims of yesterday's shooting. He continues to be the best person one can be.

I'm in awe of his concern of his community.

[Kätzchen]

Texan football player, our beloved J.J. Watt, will be paying for all the victims of yesterday's shooting. He continues to be the best person one can be.

I'm in awe of his concern of his community.

This reminds me of last year's hurricane in Texas and another football player giving his first full year's salary (I think) to help those who lost everything.

There's some mighty nice young men in Texas, with hearts of concern for other's facing tragedy, in their local communities.

[Kätzchen]

House Republicans nominate Donald Trump for Nobel peace prize

Eighteen lawmakers write to Nobel committee to say president should receive 2019 prize ‘in recognition of his work to end the Korean war’

Ben Jacobs in Washington @Bencjacobs

Wed 2 May 2018 16.23 EDT Last modified on Wed 2 May 2018 19.03 EDT

In a letter spearheaded by the Indiana Republican Luke Messer and sent to the Norwegian Nobel committee, the lawmakers claim that Trump should “receive the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his work to end the Korean War, denuclearize the Korean peninsula and bring peace to the region”.

The rules for a Nobel prize nomination are relatively loose. Nominations can only be made by people who belong to a handful of categories, including members of a national legislation body, university professors and former winners of the prize – but there are no other restrictions. In 2018, there were 330 nominees to win the award, which will be announced in December. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons was the 2017 winner.

The Nobel committee operates under aegis of the government of Norway, but a 2009 justice department memo says the prize and accompanying $1.4m award does not qualify as a “emolument” from a foreign power, as the committee is independent from the government. Trump has previously faced criticism over foreign government spending at his hotels, which scholars have argued is an emolument. The Trump Organization has said that it has given all profits from foreign governments to the US treasury.

Although the letter copiously praises Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign and says there is “no one more deserving of the Committee’s recognition in 2019 than President Trump for his tireless work to bring peace to our world”, there may be political motivations at play as well.

Messer, a three-term incumbent from south-eastern Indiana, is in a ferocious three-way primary next week for the Republican nomination for the US Senate. One of the main bones of contention between him and his two main opponents, the congressman Todd Rokita and the businessman Mike Braun, is over which candidate is most dedicated to supporting Trump. The winner faces the Democratic incumbent, Joe Donnelly, in a state that Trump won by 19 points in 2016.

Four other Republican Senate hopefuls have signed the letter. Neither Kevin Cramer of North Dakota nor Marsha Blackburn faces competitive primaries in their fight to win competitive Senate seats in red states, but two others do.

Evan Jenkins of West Virginia signed the letter, as did Jim Renacci of Ohio. Both face competitive primaries next week in state won by Trump with incumbent Democrats. Other signatories include Mark Meadows of North Carolina, who leads the hard-right Freedom Caucus, and Steve King of Iowa, who has long praised far-right anti-immigration figures in European politics, such as Geert Wilders.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/may/02/donald-trump-nobel-peace-prize

Anya? I was reading Wikipedia by randomizer of topics, and came across very interesting news about Pulitzer Prize news.

Last summer, in August, Dana Canedy was the first woman, the youngest too, and the first person of color, to be chosen as Administrator of Pulitzer Prizes.

Canedy's husband was killed in the Iraq war. Her husband's war time journal for their only son is being turned into an true story film by Sony. Sony hired Virgil Williams (author/writer of Mudbound fame) to write an adaptation of the journal and Denzel Washington is directing and producing this film.

Wikipedia gives bare essential details of Dana Canedy, but I'd say that she's an Marcel Proust scholar based on her statement that "out of her grief over losing her husband Charles, she needed to do something productive" (source: Wikipedia; see link below).

LINK to facts about Dana Canedy:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana_Canedy?wprov=sfla1

ETA: Canedy has stated that the next PP awarded will hopefully go to an nominee based on excellence of Journalism. :)

[charley]

Harvey Weinstein turned himself in to New York City detectives and appeared in court today on charges that he raped one woman and forced another to perform oral sex, a watershed in a month's long sex crimes investigation and in the #MeToo movement.

He has posted $1 million bail, and will be wearing one of those monitoring devices.

He is still under investigation for other crimes, elsewhere!

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! :cheer: :clap:

[Martina]

Wasn't it good to see Weinstein in handcuffs? And the books he took with him into the police station didn't go with him when the police transported him to court. It's not a doctor's office visit, Harvey!

In general, I hate seeing people in cuffs even when they deserve it. It's just so sad. But I didn't feel that way this time. I started humming, "Oh Happy Day." Perhaps a little blasphemous, but it suited my mood.

Now, the day I watch Trump in handcuffs, I will proclaim my joy from the rooftops. Mr. Mueller, please, PLEASE . . . .

[charley]

Wasn't it good to see Weinstein in handcuffs? And the books he took with him into the police station didn't go with him when the police transported him to court. It's not a doctor's office visit, Harvey!

In general, I hate seeing people in cuffs even when they deserve it. It's just so sad. But I didn't feel that way this time. I started humming, "Oh Happy Day." Perhaps a little blasphemous, but it suited my mood.

Now, the day I watch Trump in handcuffs, I will proclaim my joy from the rooftops. Mr. Mueller, please, PLEASE . . . .

He walked in smiling, and left frowning (hahaha). I spoke with a friend here about Weinstein and we both laughed about it, still can't wipe the smile off my face. :)

[*Anya*]

Supreme Court rules narrowly for baker who refused to make cake for same-sex couple

By DAVID G. SAVAGE
JUN 04, 2018 | WASHINGTON

The Supreme Court ruled narrowly Monday for a Christian baker who refused to make a same-sex wedding cake, deciding that he was a victim of religious bias on the part of the state’s civil rights commission.

But the 7-2 ruling, written by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, made no judgment over whether the baker had a religious-freedom right to refuse service to the same-sex couple, and it stressed the importance of maintaining equal rights for gays and lesbians.

“The exercise of their freedoms on terms equal to others must be given great weight and respect by the courts,” wrote Kennedy, who has penned several decisions upholding the rights of gays and lesbians.

He cautioned that law does “not allow business owners and other actors in the economy and in society to deny protected persons equal access to goods and services under a neutral and generally applicable public accommodations law.”

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-court-baker-wedding-20180604-story.html

[girl_dee]

https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/miss-america-scrapping-swimsuit-competition-longer-judge-based/story?id=55638426

Miss America is scrapping its swimsuit competition and will no longer judge contestants based on physical appearance, the organization announced Tuesday.

"We are no longer a pageant," Gretchen Carlson, the first former Miss America to be named chair of the Board of Trustees of the Miss America Organization, said on "GMA." "We are a competition.”


In place of the swimsuit portion of the competition, Miss America contestants will now take part in a live interactive session with the judges, according to the organization.

The 2018 Miss America Competition at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall, Sept. 10, 2017, in New Jersey.
The contestants from all 50 states and the District of Columbia will be asked to demonstrate their passion, intelligence and overall understanding of the job of Miss America.

The organization is also getting rid of the evening gown portion of the competition and instead asking contestants to wear attire that makes them feel confident, expresses their personal style and shows how they hope to advance the role of Miss America.

"We’ve heard from a lot of young women who say, ‘We’d love to be a part of your program but we don’t want to be out there in high heels and a swimsuit,’ so guess what, you don’t have to do that anymore," Carlson said. "Who doesn’t want to be empowered, learn leadership skills and pay for college and be able to show the world who you are as a person from the inside of your soul."

She continued, "That’s what we’re judging them on now."

In addition to being crowned Miss America in 1989, Carlson has more recently been an outspoken advocate for victims of sexual harassment and a champion of the #MeToo movement. In 2016, she settled a lawsuit against former Fox News Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes, who stepped down from his role after mounting pressure from additional employees with similar accusations.

"I could have never expected what would happen when I sued my former employer at Fox News for sexual harassment 22 months ago, but look what has happened," she said. "Thousands of women have been inspired to know that they can stand up and speak up and their voices will be heard."

Carlson added, "If I’ve been a beacon of hope to any woman in that process, it has been worth it."

The sweeping changes to Miss America aim to help the organization be more inclusive and empowering for all women. Carlson also said that she hopes the revamped competition will resonate more with young people.

"We are now open, inclusive and transparent and I want to inspire thousands of young people across this country to come and be a part of our program," she said. "We want you and we want to celebrate your accomplishments and your talents and then we want to hand you scholarships."

The Miss America organization courted controversy earlier this year when internal emails were released from the group's former CEO Sam Haskell. In the leaked emails, Haskell, who later resigned, and others were insulting the appearance, intellect and personal lives of former pageant winners, including Carlson.

Carlson is now part of an all-female leadership team at Miss America.

"This is a new beginning and change can sometimes be difficult but I know a lot about change," she said. "My life has worked in mysterious ways. I never thought I’d be the chairwoman of the Miss America Organization, but here I am and we’re moving it forward and we’re evolving in this cultural revolution."

The 2019 Miss America Competition airs live on ABC on Sunday, Sept. 9, at 9 p.m. EST.

[JDeere]

http://m.tmz.com/?viewer_country=US#2018/06/05/kate-spade-dead-dies/


Reports say she committed suicide.

[candy_coated_bitch]

http://m.tmz.com/?viewer_country=US#2018/06/05/kate-spade-dead-dies/


Reports say she committed suicide.

Well shit......

[JDeere]

Well shit......

Yup. Very sad they say she left a note.

[Brisa]

Sad......

News is saying her husband was in the Manhattan Apt. when it happened.

[charley]

http://m.tmz.com/?viewer_country=US#2018/06/05/kate-spade-dead-dies/

Reports say she committed suicide.

When I first read this, it was like, who is she, I had no idea who she was, so in a sense, just words about someone I didn't know, and to be honest it didn't mean much to me, BUT then today, I saw this report on her on CBS This Morning.

She was this well-known fashion designer.

Now, I'm the kind of butch who in the rainy season wears checked (aka plaid) flannel shirts, jeans or sweat pants, and comfy Skecher running shoes. In the summer, I wear wrangler shorts or some cargo shorts with those side pockets which I like, short-sleeved checked shirts and my very comfy TEVA sandals. In other words, I know zilch about the fashion industry. I leave that to femmes and those who are fashion-conscious.

But as I am sitting here drinking my moka coffee, and reviewing what I saw on TV, my eyes began to water as I remembered her face, how she talked about quitting her company to raise her daughter (13 years old now, omg how that will affect that child!!!) - how absolutely tragic and sad for someone like her to kill herself, when she was physically healthy. I have never felt suicidal, and yet I felt deeply for the fact that someone ended their life, someone who seemed so full of life, so young (only 55!), still full of promise, who had not seen it all.

They suggested on TV that there was the possibility that she was bipolar, and also conflict between her and her husband, perhaps financial woes, etc. I don't suffer from S.A.D. (which is supposedly mild bipolar) but I know many here in B.C. who do and who have the "blues" in the rainy season. I don't know what the solution for this is, but I think it is important to speak out about such things, and not to hide things (which apparently, she was good at).

I see that online the U.S. stats re: Suicide vs. Homicide, the stats from 2014 are: 41,143 vs. 16,108 as per the following link:

http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/usa-homicide-vs-suicide

I had no idea - 3:1 !

[Reach *BANNED*]

Rest in Peace Kate Valentine Spade - I will never forget your contribution to the fashion industry that for all years you were in it you remained true to yourself and most of all to your style.

June 2008 - I bought my ex her first Kate Spade for her birthday it was like Summer had found Winter and collided.

(f)

If you or anyone you know are having thoughts of suicide or you even suspect they are by their behavior please call the National Suicide Prevention Line at 1-800-273-8255. Save a life.

[firegal]

I didnt realize actor David Spade is her brother in law.

[Chained Daisy]

When I first read this, it was like, who is she, I had no idea who she was, so in a sense, just words about someone I didn't know, and to be honest it didn't mean much to me, BUT then today, I saw this report on her on CBS This Morning.

She was this well-known fashion designer.

Now, I'm the kind of butch who in the rainy season wears checked (aka plaid) flannel shirts, jeans or sweat pants, and comfy Skecher running shoes. In the summer, I wear wrangler shorts or some cargo shorts with those side pockets which I like, short-sleeved checked shirts and my very comfy TEVA sandals. In other words, I know zilch about the fashion industry. I leave that to femmes and those who are fashion-conscious.

But as I am sitting here drinking my moka coffee, and reviewing what I saw on TV, my eyes began to water as I remembered her face, how she talked about quitting her company to raise her daughter (13 years old now, omg how that will affect that child!!!) - how absolutely tragic and sad for someone like her to kill herself, when she was physically healthy. I have never felt suicidal, and yet I felt deeply for the fact that someone ended their life, someone who seemed so full of life, so young (only 55!), still full of promise, who had not seen it all.

They suggested on TV that there was the possibility that she was bipolar, and also conflict between her and her husband, perhaps financial woes, etc. I don't suffer from S.A.D. (which is supposedly mild bipolar) but I know many here in B.C. who do and who have the "blues" in the rainy season. I don't know what the solution for this is, but I think it is important to speak out about such things, and not to hide things (which apparently, she was good at).

I see that online the U.S. stats re: Suicide vs. Homicide, the stats from 2014 are: 41,143 vs. 16,108 as per the following link:

http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/usa-homicide-vs-suicide

I had no idea - 3:1 !

I too had no idea of those stats charley, truly shocking.

I read today that her husband had asked her for a divorce, if that can be believed with so many `untruths` in the news. Perhaps that was the final thing to push her over the edge or it may have been inevitable regardless of that if her mental state was so desperately low, who knows. She had been so fabulously successful and made such a vast amount of money. Now not for a moment am I saying that her money could solve her problems, of course not but it would of aided her in accessing quickly the very best of professional help in battling her demons and yet sadly it seems she didnt get the help she needed and now her poor daughter, 13, has to go through life without her Mom. So very sad.

[Gemme]

...*snip*...I don't suffer from S.A.D. (which is supposedly mild bipolar) but I know many here in B.C. who do and who have the "blues" in the rainy season.


While I agree with what you wrote about the effect of her mother's suicide on Frances and the general sentiments, I have to respond to the underlined snipped part as it's not accurate. S.A.D. is a type of depression. It can be confusing because there is a bipolar depression but that is the balance to the manic episodes. The two going back and forth are what make it "bi"polar versus unipolar, which is the more typical depression you may hear about.

This is the best explanation that I've found thus far.

Doctors have long distinguished between seasonal depression and seasonal bipolar disorder. Seasonal depression — commonly referred to as SAD, for seasonal affective disorder — is a mood disorder brought on by the biological effects of a lack of sunlight. Typically experienced in the late fall and winter, it is particularly prevalent in northern regions, according to the American Psychological Association (APA). What distinguishes seasonal bipolar disorder from SAD is the presence of a manic episode within a given period of time.

People must have a history of manic or hypomanic episodes (the extreme highs) to be diagnosed with a bipolar mood disorder, explains Ken Duckworth, MD, medical director for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and an assistant professor at the Harvard University Medical School. If that’s not part of their medical history, he says, then their seasonal winter response is a depressive disorder and not bipolar.

[charley]

While I agree with what you wrote about the effect of her mother's suicide on Frances and the general sentiments, I have to respond to the underlined snipped part as it's not accurate. S.A.D. is a type of depression. It can be confusing because there is a bipolar depression but that is the balance to the manic episodes. The two going back and forth are what make it "bi"polar versus unipolar, which is the more typical depression you may hear about.

This is the best explanation that I've found thus far.

Doctors have long distinguished between seasonal depression and seasonal bipolar disorder. Seasonal depression — commonly referred to as SAD, for seasonal affective disorder — is a mood disorder brought on by the biological effects of a lack of sunlight. Typically experienced in the late fall and winter, it is particularly prevalent in northern regions, according to the American Psychological Association (APA). What distinguishes seasonal bipolar disorder from SAD is the presence of a manic episode within a given period of time.

People must have a history of manic or hypomanic episodes (the extreme highs) to be diagnosed with a bipolar mood disorder, explains Ken Duckworth, MD, medical director for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and an assistant professor at the Harvard University Medical School. If that’s not part of their medical history, he says, then their seasonal winter response is a depressive disorder and not bipolar.

I understand that you have accepted as "truth" what the APA has tried to explain (which like most analyses change over time).

Personally, I don't accept that as truth - especially from the very people who do the analysis as they themselves tend to suffer from duality by nature, hence always analyzing... and do remember I said "supposedly" mild bipolar...

Everyone I have ever had the opportunity of exchanging with where I live (who has admitted to suffering from the "blues" during the rainy season) has exhibited - bar none - traits of pettiness, meanness of spirit, and selfishness, not to mention the overriding all-too-present characteristic of lying (especially to themselves), among many other toxic behaviours.

I have observed also that a mind that is conditioned to accept what others say is the truth will always have trouble looking at facts, and seeing for themselves whether what they see is true or false. Hence, such a mind is caught in a web of having opinions. The deeper the conditioning, the more that such a mind has a tendency to accept theory as truth - and doing so without question. The facts are that tomorrow someone will come along with a different newer theory, and the old so-called truth will be scrapped. This happens all the time. All exact sciences understand this. Psychology, from what I understand, has never been regarded as an exact science - the DSM is constantly being revised. So, what I am saying is that a conditioned opinionated mind cannot look at a fact except through its idea about such a fact - in other words, its opinion about such a fact. Therefore, the moment that anyone states and offers an opinion, such as, "This is right, or correct", and "This is wrong, or incorrect, or inaccurate", such a mind is condemning; and, in that process, demonstrating a lack self-awareness.

[Gemme]

I understand that you have accepted as "truth" what the APA has tried to explain (which like most analyses change over time).

Personally, I don't accept that as truth - especially from the very people who do the analysis as they themselves tend to suffer from duality by nature, hence always analyzing... and do remember I said "supposedly" mild bipolar...

Everyone I have ever had the opportunity of exchanging with where I live (who has admitted to suffering from the "blues" during the rainy season) has exhibited - bar none - traits of pettiness, meanness of spirit, and selfishness, not to mention the overriding all-too-present characteristic of lying (especially to themselves), among many other toxic behaviours.

I have observed also that a mind that is conditioned to accept what others say is the truth will always have trouble looking at facts, and seeing for themselves whether what they see is true or false. Hence, such a mind is caught in a web of having opinions. The deeper the conditioning, the more that such a mind has a tendency to accept theory as truth - and doing so without question. The facts are that tomorrow someone will come along with a different newer theory, and the old so-called truth will be scrapped. This happens all the time. All exact sciences understand this. Psychology, from what I understand, has never been regarded as an exact science - the DSM is constantly being revised. So, what I am saying is that a conditioned opinionated mind cannot look at a fact except through its idea about such a fact - in other words, its opinion about such a fact. Therefore, the moment that anyone states and offers an opinion, such as, "This is right, or correct", and "This is wrong, or incorrect, or inaccurate", such a mind is condemning; and, in that process, demonstrating a lack self-awareness.

Well, alrighty then.

:blink:

I'll leave this be to let others get back to the thread topic momentarily but before I go, please understand the difference between us.

You have 'observed' and 'exchanged with' people who may or may not have suffered from S.A.D. or "the blues" as you call it, but I have dealt with it directly. I understand that we have very differing opinions and that's great. That's what this country is based on but to call it "the blues" can be trivializing. I say this as someone who has first hand experience with it so this is, indeed, my truth---no quotes. Truth.

Also, I've never known--either in myself or others--lying to be a symptom of S.A.D. Irritability, lack of motivation, mood swings, sure. The rest? Not so much. That is more directly a result of the person's personality. S.A.D. exaggerates feelings so if someone is an ass, then they will be a bigger ass when they are struggling with it. Perhaps someone could use the diagnosis as an excuse to be purposefully hateful but, again, that has nothing to do with the actual condition and everything to do with the person being a jackass.

If you are open to it, I'd like to discuss the underlined portion as it seems like you are applying it to me given my post but could be said about you as well in this situation. Feel free to message me if you'd like to discuss this more! :)

To come full circle in our discussion, an autopsy "confirmed the news that fashion icon Kate Spade committed suicide by hanging inside her Park Ave. apartment", the city Medical Examiner announced Thursday. This is still very sad and should initiate some in depth conversations with family and friends.

[Kätzchen]

RIP Anthony Bourdain. :(

[MsTinkerbelly]

RIP Anthony Bourdain. :(

I awoke to this news...so very sad. :(

[charley]

How tragic his death, really enjoyed watching him on CNN, and omg, they said suicide!

[*Anya*]

Anthony Bourdain, the chef, author and host of “Parts Unknown,” in New York in 2015.CreditAlex Welsh for The New York Times

By Kim Severson, Matthew Haag and Alissa J. Rubin

June 8, 2018

The travel host Anthony Bourdain, whose madcap memoir about the dark corners of New York’s restaurants made him into a celebrity chef and touched off a nearly two-decade career as a globe-trotting television host, died on Friday at 61.

Mr. Bourdain was found dead on Friday morning in his hotel room at the Le Chambard luxury hotel in Kaysersberg, a village in the Alsace region of eastern France, according to a prosecutor in the nearby city of Colmar. The prosecutor, Christian de Rocquigny du Fayel, said the cause of death was hanging. “At this stage, we have no reason to suspect foul play,” he said.

Mr. Bourdain had traveled to Strasbourg in France, near the country’s border with Germany, with a television production crew to record an episode of his show “Parts Unknown” on CNN, the network said. “It is with extraordinary sadness we can confirm the death of our friend and colleague,” CNN said in a statement.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/08/business/media/anthony-bourdain-dead.html

[JDeere]

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/rose-mcgowan-indicted-drug-charge-234903999.html?bcmt=1

:|

[JDeere]

This I am way beyond happy about, if its true. He has done so much for Texas to help find lost loved ones, etc.

www.foxnews.com/us/2018/06/13/texas-man-may-have-solved-daughters-1984-murder.html

[charley]

I am watching CNN, and apparently, there are allegations that Trump has used his charity's assets to pay legal bills, promote businesses - and so the New York State Attorney General has filed suit against the Donald J. Trump Foundation for allegations of: "persistent illegal conduct" & "conducted 'repeated and willful self-dealing' to benefit his personal and business interests, and violated 'basic legal obligations' for nonprofits".... details are sketchy...so far, but yikes, no wonder he has held back all of his income tax details

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/new-york-trump-foundation-lawsuit_us_5b228021e4b0adfb8271b32f

Is this not sufficient grounds for impeachment?

[FireSignFemme]

Salmonella has infected 73 people in 31 states. Investigators think the cause might be certain batches of Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal.

The CDC is advising people to check the bottom of the cereal boxes for a UPC code. The smaller cereal box has a code of 3800039103 and the larger 3800014810. If you have those boxes in your house, throw them out, don’t eat them.

Pull dates are for boxes with the use date between June14/2018 to June 14/2019

The CDC says even if some of the cereal was eaten and no one got sick to throw the rest away or return it for a refund and if you store cereal in a container and don't remember the brand name you should throw it out.

Source ABC News June 15, 2018 12:49 PM ET

[JDeere]

https://newsok.com/

Oklahoma approved state question 788 for medical marijuana! Proud of my home state!!!!

[BullDog]

I am cross-posting because this is absolutely horrendous news:

America after Anthony Kennedy

What Kennedy’s departure will mean for abortion, gay rights, and more.

Anthony Kennedy, the longest-serving member of the Supreme Court, is retiring.

Kennedy has, since at least 2005, been the swing vote on many of the Court’s most ideologically charged decisions, responsible for 5-4 rulings that legalized same-sex marriage, preserved Roe v. Wade, upheld warrantless wiretapping, blew up campaign finance restrictions, overturned DC’s handgun ban, and weakened the Voting Rights Act. That position has made him one of the most powerful people in America for well over a decade now, not even counting the 18 years he shared his position as the Court’s swing voter with Sandra Day O’Connor.

But Kennedy, who turns 82 this July, is already the 14th longest-serving justice (out of 113) in the Court’s history. President Donald Trump reportedly nominated Neil Gorsuch, a former Kennedy clerk, to the Court in part to reassure Kennedy that he could trust Trump with picking his replacement. It’s not surprising he decided it was ultimately time to go.

rest of article:

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/6/25/17461318/anthony-kennedy-ideology-retirement-supreme-court

[*Anya*]

Yes, another reason why Trump's election as president was a disaster for us.

I got an urgent email from the ACLU:

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy just announced his retirement, leaving a Supreme Court vacancy at a critical moment in our country's history. Whomever President Trump appoints to replace him will impact our civil rights and civil liberties for generations to come.

In the next few years, the Court may decide on everything from access to the ballot box to the future of Roe v. Wade.

So while we're focused on continuing to fight in the courts, we need to show up in the streets and to the polls. Elections are more important than ever, and if today doesn’t prove that fact to you, I don't know what will.


I am cross-posting because this is absolutely horrendous news:

America after Anthony Kennedy

What Kennedy’s departure will mean for abortion, gay rights, and more.

Anthony Kennedy, the longest-serving member of the Supreme Court, is retiring.

Kennedy has, since at least 2005, been the swing vote on many of the Court’s most ideologically charged decisions, responsible for 5-4 rulings that legalized same-sex marriage, preserved Roe v. Wade, upheld warrantless wiretapping, blew up campaign finance restrictions, overturned DC’s handgun ban, and weakened the Voting Rights Act. That position has made him one of the most powerful people in America for well over a decade now, not even counting the 18 years he shared his position as the Court’s swing voter with Sandra Day O’Connor.

But Kennedy, who turns 82 this July, is already the 14th longest-serving justice (out of 113) in the Court’s history. President Donald Trump reportedly nominated Neil Gorsuch, a former Kennedy clerk, to the Court in part to reassure Kennedy that he could trust Trump with picking his replacement. It’s not surprising he decided it was ultimately time to go.

rest of article:

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/6/25/17461318/anthony-kennedy-ideology-retirement-supreme-court

[BullDog]

From what I understand McConnell plans to vote in the fall - before the midterms. They only need 51 votes to confirm a Supreme Court justice and if McCain is unable to vote due to illness they have Pence. So someone like Susan Collins or Jeff Flake would have to vote against - which I personally find unlikely.

So, I'm not sure the Dems are going to be able to hold this off until after the midterms but they should do everything they can to do so.

From a long term perspective, this is definitely the worst thing that has happened in the Chump presidency. I know Kennedy is a conservative but why he would retire to give someone like this horrible dictator-like man the power to set the course of the Supreme Court for decades to come is unreal to me.

And his retirement timing looks suspicious to me - just enough time to try to ram through a confirmation right before the mid terms. I am so ill.

Dems didn't fight hard enough the last time. And McConnell said this in an interview in April:

"The decision I made not to fill the Supreme Court vacancy when Justice Scalia died was the most consequential decision I've made in my entire public career."

Indeed asshole.

[RockOn]

Scared the heck out of me earlier today when I heard Kennedy is retiring. Wish he was a few years younger and could stay another couple three years but 82 years old, goodness, he needs a break. He is retiring because he is old and tired though the timing is horrible! :(

[BullDog]

He could have retired while Obama was still president or waited until after the midterms but instead he does this. Seriously, how could he with an unhinged man in the White House.


Scared the heck out of me earlier today when I heard Kennedy is retiring. Wish he was a few years younger and could stay another couple three years but 82 years old, goodness, he needs a break. He is retiring because he is old and tired though the timing is horrible! :(

[*Anya*]

Scared the heck out of me earlier today when I heard Kennedy is retiring. Wish he was a few years younger and could stay another couple three years but 82 years old, goodness, he needs a break. He is retiring because he is old and tired though the timing is horrible! :(

Ruth Bader Ginsbirg is 85. She has fought colon and pancreatic cancer. I really thought she would pass or retire first. I didn't even consider anyone else retiring.

Election night 2016, I was most worried about federal judgeships and the Supreme Court.

I knew Trump would court big business and the top 1% of the rich but he has surpassed my worst fears in all possible ways.

I wish that I had been worried for nothing.

[Orema]

I was listening to NPR today and someone was interviewing Alan Dershowitz, who may be a candidate for Kennedy’s seat, and Dershowitz said Ruth Ginsburg might retire because she would be outnumbered and outgunned (my words) with any Trump-appointed justice. Dershowitz is such an ass (I used to think highly of him, what on earth was I thinking?) and this isn’t the first time he’s daydreamed about RBG’s retirement.

Fortunately, I think we’ll have to carry her out of the Supreme Court on a stretcher as long as Trump is in office.

[A. Spectre]

Now who around here, gay, lesbian, trans who voted for IQ 45 are tickled pink now?

The SCOTUS decision in 2016 legalizing same sex marriages will most definitely be litigated, again. All red states, reproductive choices for women will be drowned in a bathtub, unions will be completely defanged whereby the middle class will be the working poor. Workers will be at the servitude to "the man."

But, but, but.....let's be civil.

NOT

[Orema]

Now who around here, gay, lesbian, trans who voted for IQ 45 are tickled pink now?

The SCOTUS decision in 2016 legalizing same sex marriages will most definitely be litigated, again. All red states, reproductive choices for women will be drowned in a bathtub, unions will be completely defanged whereby the middle class will be the working poor. Workers will be at the servitude to "the man."

But, but, but.....let's be civil.

NOT

You are so right. People wouldn’t be uncivil (thank you DeNiro, Ms. Waters, and anyone else who raises hell against this president) if Democrats provided effective leadership against Trump.

We wouldn’t have the Supreme Court Blues had the Democrats fought the Republicans when Scalia died. Obama should have chosen a Justice—not Trump!

And, they’re gonna tell people to be civil.

Civil, my ass.

[RockOn]

Yes *Anya* ... RMG is one tough cookie to have survived not one but BOTH those cancers. Unbelievably resilient!

[*Anya*]

If only we could turn back time.


https://i.redd.it/pnmdfwjasnay.jpgNow who around here, gay, lesbian, trans who voted for IQ 45 are tickled pink now?

The SCOTUS decision in 2016 legalizing same sex marriages will most definitely be litigated, again. All red states, reproductive choices for women will be drowned in a bathtub, unions will be completely defanged whereby the middle class will be the working poor. Workers will be at the servitude to "the man."

But, but, but.....let's be civil.

NOT

[homoe]

Is just what's needed to make Mitch McConnell, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Kirstjen Nielsen & Stephen Miller, both champions of Trump's 'zero tolerance' border policy, and countless others to be held accountable for their actions and outright lies when they hurts others.

I have no intentions of being or acting civil to those who lie or try and hurt me!

[charley]

Good news. All 12 boys and their football coach have been rescued and found alive, after nine days stuck in a cave!! :)

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-44688909

[*Anya*]

On July 4th Eve, Jeff Sessions Quietly Rescinds a Bunch of Protections for Minorities

by Colin Kalmbacher and Aaron Keller | 6:50 pm, July 3rd, 2018

On July 3, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the DOJ was “rescinding 24 guidance documents that were unnecessary, outdated, inconsistent with existing law, or otherwise improper.”

Curiously enough, each point of guidance, document or tool rescinded by Sessions — in line with recommendations from Regulatory Reform Task Forces established by President Donald Trump — was initially drafted to offer basic legal and political understanding to various and distinct minority groups, broadly defined, throughout the United States.

Most of the rescissions involve so-called “guidance” documents which merely make the law accessible. Cutting up the guidance documents below does not — for now — repeal the underlying law. However, without these plain-English guidance documents and interpretations, it’ll make it harder for non-lawyers to understand what the law says (or how it protects them). These rescissions could result in less protection for minority groups. Some of the rescissions involve documents which have since been replaced by newer versions, e.g., for a new grant year.

These rescissions could result in less protection for minority groups. Some of the rescissions involve documents which have since been replaced by newer versions, e.g., for a new grant year.

Here’s a tidy summary for understanding what’s on Sessions’ mind as the nation prepares to celebrate her independence from the King of England.

Revocations 1-7 deal with the way children are treated when they are suspected or accused of breaking the law. The federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, signed by President Ford, contains four “core” requirements. These guidance letters affect interpretations of the law.

One of the law’s core requirements is “removal.” It generally requires juveniles to not be housed with adult inmates (with limited exceptions). Another is “separation.” When juveniles are housed with adults under one of those limited exceptions, they must be separated from the sights and sounds of adult incarceration.

Another is “deinstitutionalization.” It seeks to provide alternatives to jail for youths who commit acts which, due to their age, are crimes. Adults would not be arrested for such acts. Examples are drinking, truancy, running away, and smoking.

Revocation 8 involves a federal program which pays back state and local governments for incarcerating undocumented criminal aliens who have committed more serious crimes.

Revocation 9 deals with research into whether schools disproportionately dole out punishments on the basis of race, national origin, native language, sex, or disability. It also deals with research into the role of school resource officers.

Revocations 10-11 deal with advice for home buyers and home owners. Revocation 10 involves people seeking a mortgage. Revocation 11 involves warnings against so-called “predatory” home equity loans. It warns people, especially those with poor credit and the elderly, to carefully review the terms of home improvement loans.

Revocation 12 takes aim at a George W. Bush era document prepared to alert all Americans about the unconstitutional nature of being discriminated against on the basis of their national origin. To be clear: this protection technically has nothing to do with immigration status whatsoever–in America, it’s illegal to discriminate against any American over issues arising from their national origin (or a family member’s national origin). But that’s a bitter pill for Sessions, et, al.

Revocations 13-14 deal with workers’ rights for various classes of immigrants to the United States.

Revocation 13 targets a document prepared to assist immigrants who encounter employment discrimination. Revocation 14 targets a guidance document whose name should alone should suffice to mention, “Refugees and Asylees Have the Right to Work.” It’s easy enough to see why Sessions and his apparatchiks have a problem here.

Revocations 15-17 target people who don’t understand English particularly well, but who may nevertheless occasionally find themselves in need of accessing the U.S. court system. As an explanatory point, in 2012, the Obama administration developed a tool “in response to requests for technical assistance from courts and others involved in planning and implementing measures to improve language assistance services in courts for limited English proficient (LEP) individuals.”

Revocations 18-24 are aimed at various recipients of affirmative action policies. The final revocation in this grouping makes Sessions’ decision here easy enough to understand. Revocation 24 expresses official disapproval of a Q&A sheet prepared to explain Supreme Court precedent on affirmative action. That sheet noted, “[This document] reiterates the continued support of the Departments of Education and Justice for the voluntary use of race and ethnicity to achieve diversity in education.”


https://lawandcrime.com/trump/on-july-4th-eve-jeff-sessions-quietly-rescinds-a-bunch-of-protections-for-minorities/?utm_source=mostpopular

[*Anya*]

House Republicans Are Still Fixated On Making It Harder For Poor People To Eat

Julia Hudson-Richards June 5, 2018

House Republicans have kept busy on the sidelines these past several weeks while most of us trained our focus on the immigration crisis.

On June 19, the GOP proposed a plan to “balance” the country’s budget over nine years that would eviscerate Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid in order to pay for the more than $1 trillion Republican tax cut that most analysts say will benefit the wealthiest Americans.

Then, two days later, the House voted 213-211 to pass a sweeping farm bill that, if enacted, would institute huge changes to the nation’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) ― America’s primary food program that is more commonly referred to as food stamps.

The Senate has its own farm bill, approved on June 28, that is much more bipartisan in agreement and that doesn’t include those aforementioned significant changes to SNAP.

But to pass a version at some point this year, the two chambers are going to have to find some common ground amid an election season that sees all 435 members of the House and one-third of Senators up for re-election.

The House farm bill has been promoted as a way to help end people’s reliance on government assistance and pull themselves up out of poverty by closing “loopholes that create disincentives to work.” Supporters of the legislation imply that these loopholes amount to fraud, which could not be further from the truth.

The attack on SNAP is part of a larger attack on our social safety net that threatens a delicate balance in the United States.

In fact, the number of hours people have to work or train each week to qualify for benefits doesn’t change with the House’s proposed bill: Working-age adults would still have to prove 20 hours per week.

So what’s really changing?

According to the Food Research and Action Center, a food policy think tank, the devil is indeed in the details. Under the proposed bill, working-age adults will be defined as adults between the ages of 18 and 60 (instead of the current 50). This change would ignore the persistent problem of ageism in hiring practices that may well prejudice a job market against older workers and put millions of older Americans at serious risk for food insecurity.

The House bill also eliminates a so-called “loophole” that exempted college student parents from work requirements in the absence of adequate child care. This would effectively force such parents to choose between work or school, when the latter could result in a much higher-paying job down the road.

More egregiously, the work requirements in the proposed House bill would also apply to adults with children 6 years of age or older. This ignores the very real challenges parents face in finding adequate ― and affordable ― child care.

Much low-income work (indeed, many American jobs in general) no longer falls between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., and SNAP requires participants to take a job if it is offered. But what if that job means your kids are home alone at night because evening child care is too hard to find and pay for? And if a person can find a 9-5 job, what happens in the summer, when school’s out and kids need to be looked after?

The data is clear: SNAP works.
These are realities that many American families face. Just because a child has graduated kindergarten doesn’t mean she or he can stay at home alone – in some states, it’s flat-out illegal.

Other farm bill “loopholes” deal with income flexibility. For example, some states have recently been allowed to apply a family’s net income rather than gross income to their needs assessment, which allows those on the edge of food insecurity to receive or keep benefits even if their income “modestly” exceeds the standard 130 percent of federal poverty levels (In 2017, that meant a gross income of $31,980 for a family of four.)

Eliminating this “loophole” would mean that a family on the cusp may well have to choose between accepting a modest raise and losing benefits, or turning the raise down and keeping them. It would also kick families out of SNAP who are just above the threshold, adding them to a large number of Americans who are food insecure but whose incomes are too high for federal assistance.

How, exactly, does closing this “loophole” disincentivize work? How does it help pull people out of poverty? It doesn’t.

The House bill cuts just under $20 billion; however, rather than helping to incentivize work and lift people out of poverty, it will instead make it more difficult for American workers to make ends meet. It will also make it more difficult for them to work.

Hungry workers are not productive workers, and hungry kids have a hard time keeping up with their peers.

... a family on the cusp may well have to choose between accepting a modest raise and losing benefits, or turning the raise down and keeping them. SNAP, on the other hand, does help keep people out of poverty.

According to a study conducted by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, SNAP kept 10.3 million people, including almost 5 million children, out of poverty in 2012. It kept another 5.1 million people out of “deep poverty” ― below half of the federal poverty line. In 2015, according to a study by the Urban Institute, SNAP removed 8.3 million people from poverty.

The data is clear: SNAP works.

Nearly 40 percent of the more than 142 million jobs in the United States pay a median wage of less than $15 an hour, and many of those pay less than $12 an hour. These workers pick, transport, sell, prepare and serve our food. They care for our children and our grandparents. They do our hair and change our oil.

The attack on SNAP is part of a larger attack on our social safety net that threatens a delicate balance in the U.S. We rely heavily, every day, on low-wage labor, and corporations rely on the government to supplement the incomes of their workers so they can hand out billions to shareholders.

Cutting SNAP and Medicaid, in particular, is a risk that threatens the well-being of millions of American families.

Shredding the social safety net won’t reduce poverty in the U.S. ― it will deepen it. If we lack the political will to have a real conversation about wage stagnation for American workers, then keeping the social safety net in place will protect our most vulnerable citizens.

Food is a basic necessity. Do we really want to say that people are too poor to deserve it? That’s what the House’s proposed farm bill would do.

Julia Hudson-Richards is a food activist and historian who studies the environment, food, and the people who produce it. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Women’s History and the Bulletin for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies.


https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opinion-hudson-richards-farm-bill_us_5b3bb052e4b07b827cbb8005

[charley]

Good news. All 12 boys and their football coach have been rescued and found alive, after nine days stuck in a cave!! :)

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-44688909

Oh my, well yes the boys had been found, but getting them out is proving to be quite difficult; one 38 year old Thai (experienced ex-Thai Navy seal) (who had volunteered) died while coming out after delivering supplies to the boys - from a lack of oxygen. God, this is dangerous!
:(

[Gemme]

I believe they said it was 6 HOURS between where the team is and safety. Very dangerous, indeed.

[charley]

I believe they said it was 6 HOURS between where the team is and safety. Very dangerous, indeed.

So, 4 of the trapped ones have been brought out so far, and are proceeding or already ambulanced to hospital. Phew, and it seems that the monsoon has begun, heavy rain falling.

t83xKfIxBg8

[charley]

All 12 boys & coach have been rescued from cave and are safely out; apparently, they have been asking for chocolate and their favourite foods (grinz). It is so good to wake up & turn on tv and hear such "good news". Full credit to those 18 expert divers. What a story! :happyjump:

[homoe]

Obama endorses 81 candidates in 13 states for November vote..:hangloose:



WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Barack Obama is making good on his promise to use his political cache in the 2018 midterm elections. He's endorsing 81 Democrats up and down the ballot in 13 states around the country, with an emphasis on younger, diverse candidates.

In a statement, Obama says he's publicly supporting candidates for governor and the U.S. Senate but also for state legislatures. They include better-known names as well as rising figures.

For more info you can check his twitter feed I believe........

[homoe]

Unlike Trump, first lady has kind words for LeBron James!




www.apnews.com

[FireSignFemme]

Shooting at Jacksonville, Florida Madden video game tournament today at least four are dead. Source CNN

[Gemme]

Shooting at Jacksonville, Florida Madden video game tournament today at least four are dead. Source CNN

The only good thing out of this is that the shooter is dead. And all of this because some white boy got butthurt when he lost a gaming competition. Seriously.

This is our future generation.

We're doomed.

[homoe]

New Campus Sexual Misconduct Rules From Betsy DeVos Protect The Accused and Colleges........


In new proposed rules obtained by The New York Times and described in a detailed news report today, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is proposing changes to federal policy on campus sexual misconduct that would boost the rights of students accused of rape and other forms of sexual assault and harassment. The policy would also relieve schools of liability in many cases while encouraging them to give more support to victims.

I've tried to post the link to this Forbes article but it went wonky

[homoe]

Postal Service: Release of Ex-CIA Officer’s File Was ‘Mistake’—and Not the Only One.


https://www.thedailybeast.com/postal-service-release-of-ex-cia-officers-file-was-mistakeand-not-the-only-on?ref=home

[homoe]

Anonymous Op-Ed in New York Times Causes a Stir .....


https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/05/business/media/new-york-times-trump-anonymous.html


Thankfully someone is watching out for America!

[Kätzchen]

I couldn't find the Educator's forum thread here in the community, but wanted to leave an news link to an very important conversation I'm listening to on Democracy Now.

Amy Goodman featured an news investigation interview featuring Jitu Brown and multiple other VIP activists on the front lines of Education and how "black and brown children/kids" are increasingly targeted by prejudicial, racially motivated flawed policies exacted upon the greater sector of Education and how these right-wing flawed policies hurt children and their families. It's an extended conversation on how right-wing policies in Education have criminalized people of color.


If you're not familiar with Jitu Brown (I just now am learning about him and his activism), I highly recommend tuning into this very important news coverage presented by Democracy Now.

Link to news coverage (which starts at about the 39 minute mark of today's headline news):
Lift Us Up: Meet The Activists on the Frontlines of Educational Justice Movement. (https://www.democracynow.org/)



Excerpt from Transcribed Interview:


JITU BROWN: Absolutely, and Amy, thank you for having me on. I would just say that we don’t have a policy problem in public education. We have a values problem. There’s a believe system that is rooted in the hatred of black and brown children that fuels education policy. Just think that parent, Zakiya, had to fight because her son was being suspended in preschool. I’ve seen the story over and over again. In Pittsburgh, parents had organized to stop the suspension of kindergarten through third graders. In New York, this has been a fight. In Chicago, young people fought to stop 10-day suspensions in Chicago public schools. If the discipline policies are administered through a lens of hatred that often these policy makers would not apply to their own children. And that’s why the numbers around the suspension of black, brown, and white students for the same infractions are so glaring. That there is a believe system — and we know research says this, first — that black and brown children are viewed as older than their white counterparts.


Link to ~~>>>>>>> transcript of interview (https://www.democracynow.org/2018/10/3/lift_us_up_meet_the_activists#transcript)

[charley]

apparently, the chinese have bred healthy mouse pups from two female parents... using just a few DNA modifications
just think about that fact....!!!
imagine two lesbian women requesting a child using same technology

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/2168167/chinese-scientists-breed-healthy-mice-two-mothers-using-dna

even the daily mail, is aware of the the possibility of hope for gay couples, requesting their own children!!!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6265453/Hope-gay-couples-want-children-mice-two-MOTHERS-born-China.html

[charley]

Oh, I just realized pot is now legal in Canada - as of today!

(btw, I don't smoke pot, and usually back off when around someone who is smoking it... I would be concerned now even more as to any effect on my brain cells, because of all the meditation I have done. While off on an errand today, and while waiting for the bus, a bunch of happy and laughing youngins went by and you could smell the pot very strongly. I worry about the effect of such a drug on the youth; but my opinion here in Canada doesn't count for much - oh well!!)

[charley]

I saw this study discussed on the BBC, and it concluded that when the index finger and the ring fingers are of different lengths, the chances are the girl will be a lesbian.


"Women whose left index and ring fingers are different lengths are more likely to be lesbians, a study suggests.

Scientists measured the fingers of 18 pairs of female identical twins, where one was straight and the other gay.

On average, the lesbians, but not the straight twins, had different sized index and ring fingers, typically a male trait, but only on the left hand.

This may be the result of exposure to more testosterone in the womb, the University of Essex researchers said.

The scientists also measured the fingers of 14 pairs of male identical twins, where one was straight and the other gay, but found no link.

In women, typically the index (second) and ring (fourth) fingers are a similar length, while in men there is a larger difference between the two

Both men and women were exposed to the "male" hormone, testosterone, in the womb - but some may be exposed more than others, the scientists said.

Study author Dr Tuesday Watts, from the psychology department at Essex University, said: "Because identical twins, who share 100% of their genes, can differ in their sexual orientations, factors other than genetics must account for the differences.

Research suggests that our sexuality is determined in the womb and is dependent on the amount of male hormone we are exposed to or the way our individual bodies react to that hormone, with those exposed to higher levels of testosterone being more likely to be bisexual or homosexual.

Because of the link between hormone levels and difference in finger lengths, looking at someone's hands could provide a clue to their sexuality."

The findings are published in Archives of Sexual Behaviour."


https://www.bbc.com/news/health-45887691

laughs... yes, my index finger is slightly longer than my ring finger --> lesbian!
chuckling....

[Cin]

Antisemitism is alive and well but in my experience conversation surrounding it is not usually welcomed. It's easily discounted I've noticed. It's not an issue that warrants much discussion. You're lucky to get a nod when trying to examine the issue, even in the face of ever mounting evidence showing the rise of antisemitism in most of Europe. I've read articles over the past couple of years about Jews contemplating whether it is time to leave Europe. I have a friend who lives in Germany and tells me how disturbing it is there. It's really over the top in France. Yet, you're hard pressed to get a conversation going surrounding the surge in antisemitism around the world. It's like antisemitic rhetoric is perfectly acceptable. I have a German friend who lives in Montreal and every time I bring up antisemitism she sighs heavily and looks at me with a put upon glare and seems to say "that old chestnut".To be fair my wife is Jewish so I am aware of this stuff in a way that is painful and I am not just indignant and disturbed like I am when confronted with prejudice against other minorities, I go into protective mode because I don't want her to be hurt. But let me tell you people just feel perfectly comfortable saying the most abhorrent things about Jews. And since I am more recognizably butch than my wife is recognizably Jewish she gets to hear this crap as well. I get that the Jewish struggle is totally different from the struggles of black people, or Latinxs, or Asian people or Muslims or whatever. An attempt to identify and examine the rise in antisemitism does not diminish other communities' struggles Every struggle is different and unique to the individual ethnic group and I would never want to compare struggles. I just wish there was a degree of comfort and understanding surrounding conversation about the difficulties facing the Jewish community worldwide at this time. What happened in Pittsburgh makes it horrifically clear that antisemitism is flourishing. Just to be clear, I'm talking about my experiences in real time and getting that off my chest, nothing to do with these boards. Your mileage may be different.
Here's a couple of articles about the Pittsburgh attack.
https://forward.com/opinion/412838/the-right-has-blood-on-its-hands-after-pittsburgh-carnage-and-so-does-the/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sumome_share&fbclid=IwAR39iLxYFpqjFkv7BU_sysF6sE34QBctl-pkdNF95sfIXEAyxcQedUs21sg

https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/28/us/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting-victims/index.html

[Femmewench]

[QUOTE=Cin;1229656]Antisemitism is alive and well but in my experience conversation surrounding it is not usually welcomed.

What happened in Pittsburgh makes it horrifically clear that antisemitism is flourishing. Just to be clear, I'm talking about my experiences in real time and getting that off my chest, nothing to do with these boards. Your mileage may be different.
Here's a couple of articles about the Pittsburgh attack."

One of the many things of which I was unaware until I became dear friend with a Jewish dyke was how connected Jews are regardless of time or distance. As she celebrates Shabbat each week, she says she has the knowledge of people everywhere around the world doing the same thing she is doing. For her, that comes through as them celebrating with her and vice versa. I know there's a phrase for it in Hebrew; I don't know what it is. If a joyous celebration is something shared, how much worse is it when something horrific is shared?

An announcement was made at her schul about the shooting. Once the service was over, she said she went home and stared out the window until it was dark.

The apathy about the growing acts of anti-Semitism as well as the worldwide treatment of people who are not us (however us is defined) is increasing and becoming more accepted. If we do not speak out, silence becomes our answer to those who believe there is an us and a them and more importantly that one is better than the other.

[Bèsame*]

When you all awake this morning, you will hear about the sad dreaded news of yet another mass shooting. I dont have many details, but it happened in a country bar full of college night students, in Thousand oaks, Southern California. A suburb north of LA. Sounds like 8 people have died, including a Police officer (just 1 year away from retirement). The shooter appears to have had post trauma from the military, he was 28. Shooter shot himself.

When will this fucking stop??

[C0LLETTE]

When you all awake this morning, you will hear about the sad dreaded news of yet another mass shooting. I dont have many details, but it happened in a country bar full of college night students, in Thousand oaks, Southern California. A suburb north of LA. Sounds like 8 people have died, including a Police officer (just 1 year away from retirement). The shooter appears to have had post trauma from the military, he was 28. Shooter shot himself.

When will this fucking stop??


In my opinion it will stop when voters realise that every "responsible" gun owner is just one murder away from being an " irresponsible " gun owner, and psychiatry and understanding human motivation and psyche is no where near able or developed enough to determine the difference.

You want guns; your Constitution grants you that right; ok...keep killing each other till it finally hits home and someone you love dies for this insane, stupid, anachronistic "right".

[Sweet Bliss]

When we restore the Mental Health facilities that provided treatment and housing for those in need and stop passing the buck and making sure that all military persons receive top notch treatment for PTSD and other disorders.

Not EVER going to turn over my weapons.

We have GOT to put back into place all the facilities that housed the folks that need to receive medication/housing/treatment. This lunacy started in the eighties and dismantled the little assistance we had in this country.

This Government's policy of shunning folks in dire need of help and creating an atmosphere of "otherness" and separating "Us" from "Them" is dangerous and causing a rift of which we are part of and perpetuating daily.

People in need of help with Mental Health issues in this country are the ones who can afford it the least. Instead of building a wall, let's build community and a system that works for Us and Them to heal those that are hurting and starving and freezing to death. Divide and conquer is never going to make this Country "great again". We make the Country great. We the People.

We ARE the Country. (f)

[kittygrrl]

Please send blessing, good thoughts, and prayers for Ruth. She fell and broke her ribs and is in the hospitalhttps://www.theamericanconservative.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Notorious-RBG-554x380.jpg:praying:

[C0LLETTE]

When we restore the Mental Health facilities that provided treatment and housing for those in need and stop passing the buck and making sure that all military persons receive top notch treatment for PTSD and other disorders.

Not EVER going to turn over my weapons.

We have GOT to put back into place all the facilities that housed the folks that need to receive medication/housing/treatment. This lunacy started in the eighties and dismantled the little assistance we had in this country.

This Government's policy of shunning folks in dire need of help and creating an atmosphere of "otherness" and separating "Us" from "Them" is dangerous and causing a rift of which we are part of and perpetuating daily.

People in need of help with Mental Health issues in this country are the ones who can afford it the least. Instead of building a wall, let's build community and a system that works for Us and Them to heal those that are hurting and starving and freezing to death. Divide and conquer is never going to make this Country "great again". We make the Country great. We the People.

We ARE the Country. (f)

Every excuse except one: you are armed to the teeth and you die in record numbers and you have no way of knowing who will do what.

All of these murders have one common denominator: guns.

However there is no single "mental disorder" that will predictably indicate who will kill with a gun.

You can lock up or hospitalise everyone you think will be an "irresponsible " gun owner ...it will cost you far beyond what any of you are willing to pay and it won't make an iota of difference in terms of the slaughters you can expect.

I am 73 years old. I've never even seen a handgun or held one.
What's wrong with me?
What's wrong with you?

[charley]

Ivanka Trump used personal email account to send 100's of emails for govt business, thus violating federal records' rules:

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/417532-ivanka-trump-sent-hundreds-of-emails-about-government-business-on

to which, I have only one thing to say:

LOCK HER UP!!!

:superfunny:

[nhplowboi]

Ok, I can not figure out how to double quote here but have to say the two previous posts just make me love my neighbors to the north even more!

[Breathless]

Ok, I can not figure out how to double quote here but have to say the two previous posts just make me love my neighbors to the north even more!

We will have you!! come on up!!!

[charley]

"Let sleeping dogs lie!

"Women sleep better next to dogs than their human partners, according to a study published this month by researchers at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York.

"Of the 962 women living in the U.S. interviewed by the school, 55 percent of them shared the bed with at least one dog and 31 percent of them shared the bed with at least one cat. The study found 57 percent of the women shared the bed with a human partner. Dogs were less likely to wake their owners in the middle of the night than cats and humans, results revealed.

"The study found that both cats and humans were equally disruptive to women’s sleep and provided them with fewer feelings of comfort and security than dogs.

"Dog owners also reported earlier sleep and wake times than cat owners and participants without pets.

“Dog ownership and its associated responsibilities may cause individuals to adhere to a stricter routine,” researchers said. “Keeping to a consistent sleep schedule may be beneficial to dog owners.”

"Women aren’t the only ones who report better sleep with dogs, according to a study published last year.

"Researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Arizona conducted a study of 40 healthy adults, both male and female, and found that people who slept with a dog in the bedroom got more rest than people who didn’t. Although, the Mayo study found sleeping with a dog in the bed, as opposed to another place in the bedroom, could disrupt the sleep cycle."

all the above quoted from:
https://nypost.com/2018/11/27/women-sleep-better-next-to-dogs-than-humans-study/

Now, I usually sleep like a log, but I found this fact actually quite interesting, so decided to post it.

I don't own a dog, but I heard on CBS this morning something to the effect that it is better to sleep with a four-legged dog than a two-legged dawg!! (lol) :byebye:

[C0LLETTE]

Ok, I can not figure out how to double quote here but have to say the two previous posts just make me love my neighbors to the north even more!

Thank you. I'm now glowing and hovering over your northern border like a glittering shiny little rainbow coloured unicorn. ( Btw, that "u" in coloured" disappears when I slip out of my lane and trespass into US territory ...to which I always say "sorry" ... cause I'm nice. )

But then again, what would we do without you? lol

[FireSignFemme]

https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2018/12/01/former-president-george-bush-dies/yvjuVhwWlXT5nTkkdzQexK/story.html?et_rid=702656939&s_campaign=todaysheadlines:newsletter

I couldn't find the light a candle thread.

[kittygrrl]

https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2018/12/01/former-president-george-bush-dies/yvjuVhwWlXT5nTkkdzQexK/story.html?et_rid=702656939&s_campaign=todaysheadlines:newsletter

I couldn't find the light a candle thread.

so sad to hear..he was a great manhttp://www.tradearabia.com/source/2018/12/01/bush.jpg:candle:..we need a man like him now, as President

[MsTinkerbelly]

The SCOTUS just sided with a lower court ruling in a case by conservative states against Planned Parenthood!!

Kavanough and Roberts voted along with the liberal minority. Knock me over with a feather! :seeingstars:

I can’t copy the article on this iPad, so if someone else can find it and post it I would be grateful. (f)

** the story was put out by NBC news

[JDeere]

The SCOTUS just sided with a lower court ruling in a case by conservative states against Planned Parenthood!!

Kavanough and Roberts voted along with the liberal minority. Knock me over with a feather! :seeingstars:

I can’t copy the article on this iPad, so if someone else can find it and post it I would be grateful. (f)

** the story was put out by NBC news

I saw this on tv a minute ago. Ty SCOTUS


https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/12/supreme-court-planned-parenthood-defunding-cases.html?wpsrc=sh_all_dt_tw_ru

[Martina]

Boy oh boy, Nancy and Chuck kicked Trump ass. That was fun to watch. MSNBC were saying he's not faced this since he was elected.

When he said he had the House, she's like try it. Go ahead. LOLOL.

[homoe]

PORTLAND, Ore. — A piercing sound that was coming from a 7-Eleven corner of Southwest 4th and Southwest Taylor Street in downtown Portland violates a city code, according to a city official. Portland noise control officer confirmed a report that he went to the 7-Eleven on Wednesday after the city received multiple complaints. He said the tone screaming from the front of the convenience store registered at more than twice the legal limit. The sound has since been turned off.

The high-pitched sound appeared to be coming from a box mounted above the 7-Eleven sign. It's unclear how long the sound had been playing, but the idea was to clear out the homeless that congregate at the store entrance.One man who camps downtown said he couldn't stand the noise.
“Multiple nights, it played continuously, the entire night. It was on still during the day. Like it didn't stop,” said Jeff McKenzie. “It's horrible because I've got sensitive hearing.”

[homoe]

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) made a historic change Friday by officially welcoming girls into the organization.While the parent organization's name won't change, the scouting program for 11- to 17-year-olds will no longer be known as the Boy Scouts. Instead, boys and girls will now be able to join Scouts BSA.

The Cascade Pacific Council chapter of BSA held a kickoff celebration Friday night. "I grew up in the scouting program, and I always wanted to be a bigger part of it," said Claire Osterman, director of Family Scouting for the Cascade Pacific Council. "Today, I get to see these girls do the things that so many of us have wanted to do." Girls were admitted into the Cub Scouts last year.

The Girl Scouts of the United States of America filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against BSA in November. The organization argued that only it has "the right to use the Girls Scouts and Scouts trademark with leadership development services for girls."

[dark_crystal]

The Girl Scouts of the United States of America filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against BSA in November. The organization argued that only it has "the right to use the Girls Scouts and Scouts trademark with leadership development services for girls."

GSA is wrong for this. Even if they have a case, they should not press it. There is nothing they could lose, infringement-wise, to BSA that won't be further imperiled by appearing to erect barriers to opportunities for the very constituency they serve.

[GeorgiaMa'am]

The Girl Scouts of the United States of America filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against BSA in November. The organization argued that only it has "the right to use the Girls Scouts and Scouts trademark with leadership development services for girls."

GSA is wrong for this. Even if they have a case, they should not press it. There is nothing they could lose, infringement-wise, to BSA that won't be further imperiled by appearing to erect barriers to opportunities for the very constituency they serve.

I agree, but unfortunately trademark law doesn't work that way. If you have a trademark and you don't protect it against _every_ violation, you lose your rights to protect it from anybody at all; i.e., if Girl Scouts doesn't bring legal action against the Boy Scouts, any group anywhere could start calling themselves Girl Scouts and selling cookies, and there would be nothing the Girl Scouts could do about it.

That said, I expect they will work out something legally protecting both parties.

Also, I have a (girl) friend who always wanted to be a Boy Scout. All her brothers were Scouts, and her dad was a Scout Master. She didn't want to join Girl Scouts at all. (I assured her that her impression of Girl Scouts was quite wrong - we did not just sit around knitting and baking cookies. Grrr - irritating misconception.) She didn't care - she had just wanted to do what her brothers did.

I expect it will eventually be a good thing, overall. At least, I hope so.