I also actually want the US to spend 5 billion on a wall just so that one guy can spend $5 on a shovel and dig a hole under it within a month of it’s completion so I can point and laugh and say “you’re (everyone who thought a wall would solve a problem) all f-ing idiots.”
If it was ever built, the wall would be nothing but a 2000 mile monument to American xenophobia. And the reason we know that is true is because even though upwards of 100,000 Canadians a year overstay their visits in the United States and are, technically, here illegally, there is absolutely no one suggesting we build a wall on the northern border. Indeed, no one seems to much care or even know about these people at all. I wonder what is different about them and the folks coming in from the south...........
I'm not sure how this will play out. I can't see Trump backing down on this when it's clearly a pride issue for him--this apparently started right after Ann Coulter criticized him for failing to construct the wall. Nor do I see House Democrats agreeing to a wall. They really don't think it's a good idea, and even from the strictly political perspective, it's not like Democrats will be taking the bulk of the blame here. Not after Trump said in person to Chuck Schumer that he himself would take the blame, a recording that's probably going to be played over and over on TV in the coming days and weeks.
I suppose the Democrats could cave on this issue and consent to wasting $5 billion in order to get the rest of the government back up and running. But they've kind of got a winning hand, and it would be very tempting to stand firm and say no, knowing that Trump will be seen as responsible for the shutdown.
I kind of want to call on Democrats to go ahead and fund the wall in order to end the shutdown, but then I have to ask myself why I'm calling on Democrats when I should be calling on Trump. The shutdown was clearly his idea.
Democrats and Republicans already had a budget on hand; it was going to pass just fine. Then Ann Coulter calls out Trump for not building the wall while the GOP held all branches of government and both houses of Congress, and suddenly Trump throws out a brand new demand at the last minute and shuts down everything.
I think the Democrats will hold out. Trump will only be emboldened if he "wins". At this point, his administration is so inept and ethically bankrupt that they really should be stonewalled at every turn. All good faith was out the window in record time.
I'm not sure how this will play out. I can't see Trump backing down on this when it's clearly a pride issue for him--this apparently started right after Ann Coulter criticized him for failing to construct the wall. Nor do I see House Democrats agreeing to a wall. They really don't think it's a good idea, and even from the strictly political perspective, it's not like Democrats will be taking the bulk of the blame here. Not after Trump said in person to Chuck Schumer that he himself would take the blame, a recording that's probably going to be played over and over on TV in the coming days and weeks.
I suppose the Democrats could cave on this issue and consent to wasting $5 billion in order to get the rest of the government back up and running. But they've kind of got a winning hand, and it would be very tempting to stand firm and say no, knowing that Trump will be seen as responsible for the shutdown.
I kind of want to call on Democrats to go ahead and fund the wall in order to end the shutdown, but then I have to ask myself why I'm calling on Democrats when I should be calling on Trump. The shutdown was clearly his idea.
Democrats and Republicans already had a budget on hand; it was going to pass just fine. Then Ann Coulter calls out Trump for not building the wall while the GOP held all branches of government and both houses of Congress, and suddenly Trump throws out a brand new demand at the last minute and shuts down everything.
Why would they make a deal with him?? They already HAD a deal, as you mentioned. He backed out of it because right-wing media was mad at him (and that is exactly why it happened). How can he possibly be trusted to stick to any compromise that is made?? What actions he has taken as President indicate he is a partner operating in good faith in negotiations??
Again, the same Senators like Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell now calling for wall funding themselves voted for a budget that had no wall funding, and were just as sure it would pass as anyone else. This is the third time we have done this over wall-funding by the American taxpayer. And while I certainly want federal workers to start getting their checks, this is 100% on Trump (however, even though polls do blame Trump significantly more, the number isn't nearly as high as it should be). He said to Chuck Schumer in a White House meeting on the budget he would not only take the blame for any shutdown, but he would be HAPPY to do so. And quite frankly, these clips are all any Democrat anywhere ever needs to play in response to questions about wall funding. Because this scene played out HUNDREDS of times during the campaign. If I am a lawyer and this issue is up for trial, and present these two video clips and rest my case within 1 minute:
I'm not sure how this will play out. I can't see Trump backing down on this when it's clearly a pride issue for him--this apparently started right after Ann Coulter criticized him for failing to construct the wall. Nor do I see House Democrats agreeing to a wall. They really don't think it's a good idea, and even from the strictly political perspective, it's not like Democrats will be taking the bulk of the blame here. Not after Trump said in person to Chuck Schumer that he himself would take the blame, a recording that's probably going to be played over and over on TV in the coming days and weeks.
I see this playing out two ways: Trump caves if the economy starts to turn south due to the shutdown (but I think that would take months to happen). The other way is a deal is struck. Maybe it's not the full 5 billion, but Democrats may give something like 2 or 3 billion, in order to get something of commensurate value to them.
For personal reasons, I want to see the Shutdown end asap. I work in a program for a company with contracts with the Department of Commerce. My job is only going to stay open for ~ 2 or 3 weeks. Then I'm furloughed.
This is what happens when Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, and FOX News are essentially dictating the national debate. Donald Trump is deciding policy based on segments he sees on Sean Hannity. The absolute fringes of the American right are the only people in his ear at this point. There is no separation between what you hear on your average AM radio station and the man in charge in the West Wing. It's where he gets nearly all his ideas and talking points from. Trump isn't dictating to right-wing media, right-wing media is dictating to Trump. You can find COUNTLESS examples of Trump tweeting about an issue or changing his position on something mere minutes after a segment runs on FOX News. His Communications Director used to run FOX News (Bill Shine). It's not just that a full-on propaganda machine supports him 24/7/365. It's that they can also manipulate him because he's too stupid to form his own ideas without watching TV. It's nothing but an endless feedback loop between the two.
I'd offer an example of what kind of scenario would have had to exist for Obama to even hypothetically engage in that would be similar, but the fact is there is no left-wing media apparatus with remotely the same influence over any Democratic politician. As I have pointed out a half-dozen times, left-wing talk radio in this country barely even exists. MSNBC, while decidedly center-left and anti-Trump, isn't even a fraction as effective or influential as FOX News, mostly because FOX is just the television arm of what has been flooding the radio waves in this country for 30 years. Toxic waste being dumped directly into the heads of millions of people for decades. Trump is the final form of what Limbaugh started in the early-90s. I'm not sure if people who haven't willingly bathed themselves in this media apparatus for the past couple of decades can truly understand just how inevitable it was that the Republican Party would end up where they are now.
Trump and Republicans dumping shutdown mess on Pelosi, which is their first mistake
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/28/1822085/-Trump-and-Republicans-dumping-shutdown-mess-on-Pelosi-which-is-their-first-mistake?detail=emaildkre Speaker of the House Paul Ryan is slinking off the political stage this week in perfect form, during a government shutdown which he's done nothing to prevent or to end. Neither the House nor the Senate is working today, and won't be back in until Monday, with no indication they intend to vote on anything. Which means Individual 1 is going to be dealing with Nancy Pelosi, and it will be a whole other ball game. First step on January 3 when the new Congress is sworn in will be a vote to stop the shutdown, and while leadership is considering a number of options for that spending bill, $5 billion for Trump's wall isn't in any of them. "We want ... the government open, and my hope is we can get it opened before Jan. 3," said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), the new Rules Committee chairman. "If not, one of the first things we'll do will be to move to pass legislation to reopen the government. And the president can decide whether he wants to sign it or not."
Trump screws farm country again with shutdown
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/28/1822159/-Trump-screws-farm-country-again-with-shutdown?detail=emaildkre Remember Individual 1's pre-election bribe to farmers, the $12 billion in emergency aid that was supposed to save them after his trade war with China? It was already doing little to help, but now it appears to be yet another casualty of Trump's shutdown. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is in charge of making those direct payments, and after this week, those payments will be suspended. Any farmers who haven't already certified production are just going to have to wait until the agency is back to work. It's not just these payments, either. Farm loans and disaster assistance processed by the USDA will be halted, too. Could he be trying any harder to alienate rural America?
Iraq To Trump: "Get Out And Take Your Troops With You!"
The big brains in the White House think the shutdown is a smart fight to pick with Nancy Pelosi
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/28/1822110/-The-big-brains-in-the-White-House-think-the-shutdown-is-a-smart-fight-to-pick-with-Nancy-Pelosi?detail=emaildkre This might be the best thing you've read all day: "Team Trump Gleeful That Shutdown Will Hijack Pelosi's Big Moment." Yes, apparently the Freedom Caucus maniacs, including Trump's dogsbody Mick Mulvaney, believe that having a shutdown fight with incoming Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will totally ruin her day. They clearly haven't been paying attention. Because this is what sources to the White House have been telling The Daily Beast: "The more the focus is on the wall, the more Pelosi is forced to focus on this fight instead of the investigations. […] It's a situation where [Trump] has no choice but to shut it down. It's the best of the worst choices. It's really the only choice [because] I think there are people who would vote for him today who might not if he gave in too quickly." Yeah, because voting on him today is totally the point?
Giuliani says 'Over my dead body' will Trump be answering any more questions from Mueller
Iowa county elects its first black woman, so GOP decides it should change the whole electoral system
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/27/1822046/-Iowa-county-elects-its-first-black-woman-so-GOP-decides-it-should-change-the-whole-electoral-system?detail=emaildkre Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Republicans lose an election, then decide they want to change the rules. Earlier this month, voters in Johnson County, Iowa elected Democrat Royceann Porter to the Board of Supervisors, making her the first African-American supervisor in the county’s history. Now, Republicans are making noise about wanting to remake the entire system, changing from at-large elections (which is how nearly every Iowa county does it) to district-based contests. Republican Phil Hemingway, who got thumped 56-43%, thinks that geography is why he lost. Via local KCRG TV: Following his recent defeat, Hemingway is analyzing what went wrong during that special election. At least playing a factor, he says, electing supervisors to county-wide positions. It could be benefiting Democrats as the large metro population tends to vote left, overshadowing right-leaning rural votes. "I think can't look at the results of this past special election and draw any other conclusion but that."
It's a matter of WHEN, rather than IF, Republicans will turn on Trump: Saturday's Good News
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/29/1822091/-It-s-a-matter-of-WHEN-rather-than-IF-Republicans-will-turn-on-Trump-Saturday-s-Good-News?detail=emaildkre “Remember that all through history, there have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they seem invincible. But in the end, they always fall. Always.” ― Mahatma Gandhi I firmly believe that with our pressure and the forces of the truth, Trump will not remain in office until the end of his term. As much as Pelosi would rather focus on issues other than impeachment, the truth will not give her any other option. Trump will have to be impeached. And I am not the only one who thinks so. Check out this article by Elizabeth Drew, a journalist who covered Watergate: The Inevitability of Impeachment An impeachment process against President Trump now seems inescapable. Unless the president resigns, the pressure by the public on the Democratic leaders to begin an impeachment process next year will only increase. Too many people think in terms of stasis: How things are is how they will remain. They don’t take into account that opinion moves with events. Whether or not there’s already enough evidence to impeach Mr. Trump — I think there is — we will learn what the special counsel, Robert Mueller, has found, even if his investigation is cut short. A significant number of Republican candidates didn’t want to run with Mr. Trump in the midterms, and the results of those elections didn’t exactly strengthen his standing within his party. His political status, weak for some time, is now hurtling downhill.
Republican praises ICE's 'excellent record' because 'only two children' have died in its custody
He was a 'predator': BBC reveals more evidence that Trump is a giant, gross perv
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/9/1779249/-BBC-reveals-still-more-evidence-that-Trump-is-a-giant-gross-perv?detail=emaildkre A few days before President Trump heads to the U.K. to meet the queen and the prime minister, a BBC investigative program has revealed fresh allegations of sexually inappropriate actions by Trump during the 1980s and 1990s, comparing him to a “predator” at parties with girls as young as 14. The report featured Monday on the BBC Panorama investigative documentary series, entitled “Trump: Is the president a sex pest?” included testimony from two women who said they encountered Trump at parties during his time as a real estate magnate and operator of beauty pageants.
North Koreans release humiliating video of incompetent Trump saluting North Korean general
The Times finally gets to the bottom of Trump supporters: It turns out they're garbage human beings
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/4/1777434/-The-Times-finally-gets-to-the-bottom-of-Trump-supporters-It-turns-out-they-re-garbage-human-beings?detail=emaildkre In the New York Times' quest to get to the bottom of what makes every last Trump supporter in America tick, we have been treated to endless interviews, loving tributes to downtrodden towns in which nary a non-white person is ever seen, and one particular day when the op-ed pages were turned over to Trump supporters to argue for Trump's genius directly. But this is still not enough, and so Sunday's paper included a zoological analysis from a journalist who grew up among them. It is meant to be flattering, or at least neutral, but the short version is that the people who have been bleating about "family values" for the last half-century do not actually give a flying damn about family values and never did. It was all garbage from the get-go. While people from "college" or "in New York" or "religiously conservative" or "liberal" or take-your pick all had harsh words for the crooked, lying, adulterous, misogynist trash-heap of a human being, the salt-of-the-earth Trump supporters back in Nebraska could not possibly care less about the bullshit-laden values attributed to them in fawning tributes to the heartland's common clay.
“They’ve had hundreds of thousands of people that they had custody of over the years and I think these are the only two children that have died in recent memory”
Trump approved extra $129M to help House investigate Hillary. Now Pelosi will use it to investigate Trump.
Several months ago, House leaders impressed upon the Donald the need to fix the damage done by Newt Gingrich. Back in the day, he took away staff from committee chairs to consolidate his own power. He figured he could outsource policy making to lobbyists and right-wing think tanks—which is exactly how the GOP ran Congress. The big problem here is that oversight and investigations are hard to run with limited staff, and Hillary Clinton's emails are not going to investigate herself.
Back in late August, Donald—living in his ego-inflated bubble–kept insisting that there would be a “red wave” and listened to pundits who told him that not only would the Democrats not take the House, but the GOP was likely to gain seats. That was the selling point for Congress to get their staff funding. The extra staff would be critical for conducting hearings and investigations, which would be “handy for investigating Hillary Clinton’s emails.”
Trump approved the extra $129 million for staffing which will be available now for Nancy Pelosi to investigate Trump.
House Judiciary Committee is running multiple ads for lawyers with expertise in criminal law, immigration law, constitutional law, antitrust law, and bankruptcy law, just to name a few. Legislators are saying that applications are pouring in. (As a commenter noted, people actually want to work for Democrats.)
I also actually want the US to spend 5 billion on a wall just so that one guy can spend $5 on a shovel and dig a hole under it within a month of it’s completion so I can point and laugh and say “you’re (everyone who thought a wall would solve a problem) all f-ing idiots.”
Relevant: New GoFundMe Page Seeks Cash To Buy Shovels To Dig Tunnel Under Trump's Border Wall
This guy's raising money for ladders and to give money to the ACLU
Another new page recently popped up, created by Charlotte Clymer, a transgender Army veteran and human rights activist from Texas, titled "Ladders to Get Over Trump's Wall."
If one thing is coming out of the Trump-era, it revealing what a hack Lindsey Graham has always been. I have known it for some time, but it's stuff like this that really exposes him as nothing more than a syncophant:
"The wall has become a metaphor for border security"
Ok then. So now we are supposed to spend 5 billion dollars on a metaphor. Brought to you by the self-proclaimed party of "fiscal responsibility".
This goalpost shifting has been going on since the moment Trump got into office about this damn wall. When it became clear Mexico wasn't writing the check we heard such asinine excuses as money sent back by legal workers to Mexico to their families was going to be taxed to pay for it. Of course now it is being suggested we are paying for it through trade deals that haven't even been ratified. Now the entire thing is supposed to be a "metaphor". If a SINGLE person cheering for Mexico paying for the wall at those Trump rallies thought it was a metaphor, I'll eat this goddamn laptop. I'd be surprised if half of them even know what a metaphor is.
Republican efforts to whittle away at the IRS could reach an ominous breaking point
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/29/1818505/-Republican-efforts-to-whittle-away-at-the-IRS-could-reach-an-ominous-breaking-point?detail=emaildkre For your holiday long-read pile, here's an excellent ProPublica look at the long-running Republican war on the Internal Revenue Service. Republican efforts to hobble the nation's tax collecting apparatus stem from multiple ideological beefs, from conservative conspiracy theories about the agency targeting Republicans over Democrats to the usual insistence that waste, fraud and abuse must surely be rampant to far-right hostility toward income taxes, rather than consumption taxes, in general to the war on Obamacare and other specific legislation that the party doesn't like. The result is precisely what one would expect: The same Republicans who insist that government cannot do anything right have spent the last two decades making damn sure the IRS cannot perform its core functions.
Two-year-old boy dies after Yemeni mother fights Trump's travel ban to reunite with him in Oakland
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/29/1822310/-2-year-old-boy-dies-after-Yemeni-mother-fights-Trump-s-travel-ban-to-reunite-with-him-in-California?detail=emaildkre Abdullah Hassan, the two-year-old child whose Yemeni mother, Shaima Swileh, was nearly unable to visit because of Trump’s hideously racist travel ban, died on Friday. Abdullah and his father, Ali Hassan, are US citizens; his father brought the boy to receive medical treatment at the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in California. His mother is a Yemeni citizen and was unable to join the two in the US due to Trump’s travel ban. Abdullah was diagnosed with a genetic brain disorder. For the last few months of his life, he was in a hospital bed. Toward the end, when he was on life support, his mother finally won her battle to receive a visa waiver and gain approval to visit him in the states. Her visa was approved on December 18, and she traveled the very next day. She made it just in time.
Hotel chain fires employees who summoned cops and evicted guest for 'calling his mom while black'
Knife-wielding racist arrested in Oregon, days after Christmas Eve attack goes viral
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/29/1822274/-Knife-wielding-racist-arrested-in-Oregon-days-after-Christmas-Eve-attack-goes-viral?detail=emaildkre Another day, another racist—but this time, the bigot had a knife. An Oregon woman was arrested Friday after a viral video showed her attack a black family on Christmas Eve, while shouting racial slurs and brandishing a knife. Amber Rocco, 39, of Willamina, was caught on camera as she attacked Emora Roberson, her boyfriend Keysaun Goodyear, and Roberson’s aunt in the lot of a McMinnville shopping center. Roberson’s 15-month-old daughter was also in the car.
Amid shutdown, government helps fund Trump's private New Year's party
Apparently, Trump was just as incoherent on The Apprentice
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/29/1822335/-Apparently-Trump-was-just-as-incoherent-on-The-Apprentice?detail=emaildkre I never watched the show, but staff from The Apprentice say it took a lot to make Don the Con into executive material. “He had just gone through I don’t know how many bankruptcies. But we made him out to be the most important person in the world. It was like making the court jester the king.” Bill Pruitt, a producer on the show, said, “We walked through the offices and saw chipped furniture. We saw a crumbling empire at every turn. Our job was to make it seem otherwise.”
Trump approved extra $129M to help House investigate Hillary. Now Pelosi has it.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/29/1822324/-Trump-gave-House-extra-129M-to-help-investigate-Hillary-Now-Pelosi-has-it?detail=emaildkre 2019 is going to be great. 2020 even better. Yeah, the shutdown sucks, but I imagine it can only last so long—Trump’s 54,000 border patrol agents are currently not getting paid, nor are the farmers who can’t get their bailout payments until the furlough ends. Trump will cave, and it's not going to get any better for him. Several months ago, House leaders impressed upon the Donald the need to fix the damage done by Newt Gingrich. Back in the day, he took away staff from committee chairs to consolidate his own power. He figured he could outsource policy-making to lobbyists and right-wing think tanks—which is exactly how the GOP runs Congress. The big problem here is that oversight and investigations are hard to run with limited staff, and Hillary Clinton is not going to investigate herself. Back in late August, Donald—living in his ego-inflated bubble--kept insisting that there would be a “red wave” and listened to pundits who told him that not only would the Democrats not take the House, but the GOP was likely to gain seats. That was the selling point for Congress to get their staff funding. The extra staff would be critical for conducting hearings and investigations, which would be “handy for investigating Hillary Clinton’s emails.” Trump approved the extra $129 million for staff. DOH!
Trump's acting attorney general involved in firm that scammed veterans out of life savings
Only 28% of those polled answered that the border wall should be an immediate priority, while 19% replied it shouldn’t be an immediate priority, and 50% said it shouldn’t be a priority at all. Of those polled, a vast majority of Democrats—91%—said they didn’t think the wall was an immediate priority or said it was not a priority at all, while 35% of Republicans held that view. Sixty-three percent of Republicans thought the wall was of immediate concern compared to 7% of Democrats. And let's not forget who won big in November.
CNN’s Toobin: No Political Pressure on Democrats to Cave on Wall Because Trump Lost on Issue in Midterms
https://crimethinc.com/2018/12/28/the-threat-to-rojava-an-anarchist-in-syria-speaks-on-the-real-meaning-of-trumps-withdrawal?fbclid=IwAR1_qw5e3CIe-DytAhgknkT9IhHCnQVRavuthWWM7zd9n8JNDPeFL46I6IY An Anarchist in Syria Speaks on the Real Meaning of Trump’s Withdrawal Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from Syria is not an “anti-war” or “anti-imperialist” measure. It will not bring the conflict in Syria to an end. On the contrary, Trump is effectively giving Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan the go-ahead to invade Rojava and carry out ethnic cleansing against the people who have done much of the fighting and dying to halt the rise of the Islamic State (ISIS). This is a deal between strongmen to exterminate the social experiment in Rojava and consolidate authoritarian nationalist politics from Washington, DC to Istanbul and Kobane. Trump aims to leave Israel the most ostensibly liberal and democratic project in the entire Middle East, foreclosing the possibilities that the revolution in Rojava opened up for this part of the world.
Here's who the partial government shutdown affects
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/why-are-white-men-stockpiling-guns/?utm_medium=social&utm_content=organic&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=SciAm_&sf205067632=1&fbclid=IwAR2UA0c6bhG1asEXGkPJpNJhICGr3Ca7KA6LYJGzQrQyugljC4ce7hDYgos Research suggests it's largely because they're anxious about their ability to protect their families, insecure about their place in the job market and beset by racial fears Since the 2008 election of President Obama, the number of firearms manufactured in the U.S. has tripled, while imports have doubled. This doesn’t mean more households have guns than ever before—that percentage has stayed fairly steady for decades. Rather, more guns are being stockpiled by a small number of individuals. Three percent of the population now owns half of the country’s firearms, says a recent, definitive study from the Injury Control Research Center at Harvard University. So, who is buying all these guns—and why? The short, broad-brush answer to the first part of that question is this: men, who on average possess almost twice the number of guns female owners do. But not all men. Some groups of men are much more avid gun consumers than others. The American citizen most likely to own a gun is a white male—but not just any white guy. According to a growing number of scientific studies, the kind of man who stockpiles weapons or applies for a concealed-carry license meets a very specific profile. These are men who are anxious about their ability to protect their families, insecure about their place in the job market, and beset by racial fears. They tend to be less educated. For the most part, they don’t appear to be religious—and, suggests one study, faith seems to reduce their attachment to guns. In fact, stockpiling guns seems to be a symptom of a much deeper crisis in meaning and purpose in their lives. Taken together, these studies describe a population that is struggling to find a new story—one in which they are once again the heroes.
Black teacher claims in suit she endured 'racial jeers, insults, and taunts' at N.Y. school
People need to realize that the term white privilege does not mean you as a white person have done anything wrong. What it DOES mean is that you have (as is mentioned above) systematic and invisible advantages in everyday society that don't apply to other racial groups, mostly African-Americans. It means you likely aren't getting pulled over in your car multiple times a year for no reason other than your skin color. It means people don't move to the other side of the elevator when you get on. It means a woman who was a sex slave gets 50 years in prison for killing a man in self-defense, but a white rapist serves no jail time whatsoever. It means you won't get denied an apartment simply because of how your name sounds. It means you can BBQ in a park and have your kid can sell lemonade on the street without getting the cops called on you (and that is only two of about a DOZEN examples from last year). And all the people who bring up the term want is for people to think about how YOU would feel if these kind of situations were what you had to deal with on a everyday basis.
At a certain point last year, there were multiple stories per week of black Americans getting the cops called on them for the most mundane activities imaginable, such as waiting in a Starbucks for less than 5 minutes waiting for a friend, moving into their new apartment, a real estate broker checking up on a house he was selling, and a black man who was babysitting a white child being viewed as "suspicious" for taking them for a walk in the park in a stroller. We all KNOW no one would call the cops on ANY white person engaged in these activities, and that they would never even be a blip on anyone's radar, so why are they viewed as potentially CRIMINAL when engaged in by African-Americans?? The only reasonable answer is that being white is the "default" or "normal" color to be in this society, and that being black carries with it an inherent suspicion of criminality, even when going about totally normal daily functions.
W.Va. mom says her daughter was bullied after they balked at Bible classes in public school
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/w-va-mom-says-her-daughter-was-bullied-after-they-n950901?fbclid=IwAR27_xv49eNxZ2LWJ4oOlL1zq55o7fW_jmOFfpYUxyM0XIXx8LU3VjIRl_Y Mom who sued to stop Bible classes in her daughter's public school says it was "indoctrination," not instruction. When Jessica Roe was in third grade, the bullying began, Deal charged in a lawsuit she and another family filed in January 2017 against the Mercer County Public Schools, with the help of the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, which advocates for the separation of church and state. “The kids started telling her that she and her family were all going to hell,” Deal said. “One girl saw the Harry Potter book that Jessica Roe was reading and slammed it down on her desk. ‘You don’t need to be reading this witch magic stuff, you should be reading The Bible,’ she yelled.”
New Trump Ad Begs You to Call Him and Say 'Thank You, President Trump!'
US-Led Economic War, Not Socialism, Is Tearing Venezuela Apart
https://www.mintpressnews.com/us-led-economic-war-not-socialism-tearing-venezuela-apart/218335/?fbclid=IwAR3MbNkKeP0ovl-29v4ET4KalFryQmQRjAgjuZLmYliJ0yNbgl4uefjyy80 Americans have been trained by decades of Cold War propaganda to look for any confirmation that ‘socialism means poverty.’ But in the case of Venezuela and other states not governed by the free market, this cliche simply doesn’t ring true. Indeed, corporate-owned, mainstream media advises Americans to look at the inflation and food lines in Venezuela, and then repeat to themselves clichés they heard in elementary school about how “Communism just doesn’t work.” In reality, millions of Venezuelans have seen their living conditions vastly improved through the Bolivarian process. The problems plaguing the Venezuelan economy are not due to some inherent fault in socialism, but to artificially low oil prices and sabotage by forces hostile to the revolution. Starting in 2014, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia flooded the market with cheap oil. This is not a mere business decision, but a calculated move coordinated with U.S. and Israeli foreign policy goals. Despite not just losing money, but even falling deep into debt, the Saudi monarchy continues to expand its oil production apparatus. The result has been driving the price of oil down from $110 per barrel, to $28 in the early months of this year. The goal is to weaken these opponents of Wall Street, London, and Tel Aviv, whose economies are centered around oil and natural gas exports. And Venezuela is one of those countries. Saudi efforts to drive down oil prices have drastically reduced Venezuela’s state budget and led to enormous consequences for the Venezuelan economy.
Yes, we’re scared, Donald Trump Jr. We don’t want our boys to become entitled jerks like you.
RUSSIA PICKED DONALD TRUMP AND RAN HIM FOR PRESIDENT, FORMER ISRAELI INTELLIGENCE OFFICER SAYS
https://www.newsweek.com/russia-picked-donald-trump-and-ran-him-president-former-israeli-intelligence-1273009?fbclid=IwAR2ma6I8x7Ef77CJUbRGLPI75YsqK8iAXpAyUUgnJp20s1hPeWs1Jtmtwng Russia chose Donald Trump as the U.S. presidential candidate who would be most advantageous to Moscow, and used online tactics to win him the presidency, according to a former agent of the Israeli intelligence agency the Mossad. "Officials in Moscow looked at the 2016 U.S. presidential race and asked, ‘Which candidate would we like to have sitting in the White House? Who will help us achieve our goals?’ And they chose him. From that moment, they deployed a system [of bots] for the length of the elections, and ran him for president,” former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo told the audience at the Marker’s digital conference in Israel on Monday, where experts gathered to discuss online disinformation campaigns and bots.
‘Smart Dresses’ Worn By 3 Women At A Club Show That They Were Touched 157 Times Without Their Consent In Less Than 4 Hours
https://www.boredpanda.com/smart-dress-commercial-schweppes-ogilvy-sao-paulo-brazil/?utm_source=iosapp&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=iosapp Ever since the beginning of the #MeToo movement in 2017, numerous companies have been trying to jump on the wagon and address sexual harassment and/or feminism in their advertising campaigns. It’s no surprise that these companies are getting praised for using the publicity for a good cause. Recently, Swiss beverage company Schweppes teamed up with Brazilian advertisement agency Ogilvy and decided to work on their new campaign called ‘Dress For Respect,’ aimed at shedding light on the sexual harassment of women in Brazil.
It’s OK To Use “They” To Describe One Person: Here’s Why
California Monarch Butterfly Population Down 86 Percent in One Year
https://www.kqed.org/news/11715197/california-monarch-butterfly-population-down-86-percent-in-one-year?fbclid=IwAR11pnJoIHDdH99XEqWKLXLvu7KvCxxJ3rzHqnEOUEF7tlj25euaC4UBCAU But there’s been a troubling trend over the past few decades. Each year, fewer monarchs have been showing up to overwinter on the state's coast, according to preliminary numbers from the Xerces Society, an environmental conservation nonprofit. The group's annual Thanksgiving count found the 2018 population of these butterflies is down to 20,456 compared to 2017's 148,000. That's a one year, 86 percent decline. "It's been hard for me, as I remember the millions of monarchs of the 1980s," said Mia Monroe, a Bay Area-based Xerces Society member who helps lead California's monarch population count. "We only have less than one percent of the monarchs that we once historically had."
NASA Is About to Reach The Farthest Object Yet in The Solar System. Here's How to Watch
https://www.sciencealert.com/nasa-s-new-horizon-is-about-to-encounter-the-furthest-space-object-we-ve-ever-reached?fbclid=IwAR3STM4BEbGw2W6Z_p0Y0C97roGuJIwGSB8uX2tm9R24hGEEfjWItwBCnMA We have reached Ultima Thule, an object in the Kuiper belt. New Horizons will finally fly by its target just after midnight on January 1, taking close-up photographs and sophisticated scientific measurements of what it sees. By the time the first images and data stream back to Earth, the borders of the known world will have expanded once more. "This is just raw exploration," said Alan Stern, a scientist at the Southwest Research Institute and the principal investigator for the mission. "No one has ever seen a Kuiper belt object as anything but a point of light. No one has ever seen an object that's frozen almost to absolute zero. There are a lot of ideas and every one of them might be wrong." He took a breath. "We'll find out Tuesday."
People need to realize that the term white privilege does not mean you as a white person have done anything wrong. What it DOES mean is that you have (as is mentioned above) systematic and invisible advantages in everyday society that don't apply to other racial groups, mostly African-Americans. It means you likely aren't getting pulled over in your car multiple times a year for no reason other than your skin color. It means people don't move to the other side of the elevator when you get on. It means a woman who was a sex slave gets 50 years in prison for killing a man in self-defense, but a white rapist serves no jail time whatsoever. It means you won't get denied an apartment simply because of how your name sounds. It means you can BBQ in a park and have your kid can sell lemonade on the street without getting the cops called on you (and that is only two of about a DOZEN examples from last year). And all the people who bring up the term want is for people to think about how YOU would feel if these kind of situations were what you had to deal with on a everyday basis.
At a certain point last year, there were multiple stories per week of black Americans getting the cops called on them for the most mundane activities imaginable, such as waiting in a Starbucks for less than 5 minutes waiting for a friend, moving into their new apartment, a real estate broker checking up on a house he was selling, and a black man who was babysitting a white child being viewed as "suspicious" for taking them for a walk in the park in a stroller. We all KNOW no one would call the cops on ANY white person engaged in these activities, and that they would never even be a blip on anyone's radar, so why are they viewed as potentially CRIMINAL when engaged in by African-Americans?? The only reasonable answer is that being white is the "default" or "normal" color to be in this society, and that being black carries with it an inherent suspicion of criminality, even when going about totally normal daily functions.
Out of millions and millions of personal interactions there are bound to be a few assholes out there. This thread is starting to paint the picture that this is widespread and out of control. There are 325 million 'legal' citizens of this country and millions more here illegally or legally on visas and what-not. Sure, there may be 'dozens' of these cases but sorry, I just don't believe there's some pandemic of this kind of behavior. Dozens, hundreds or even thousands is still a small number compared to billions of interactions between people on a yearly basis. Yes it shouldn't happen, but it's not some kind of all-encompassing snapshot of American thinking, even on the right.
By the way, there are plenty of white-supremacists on the left. I've talked with more than a few liberals who think that black people aren't as smart as whites because of their race so they need welfare and affirmative action just to level the playing field. I'm not kidding. Just get people talking about the reasons behind their beliefs and you're likely to get some eye-opening and head-scratching reasoning...
People need to realize that the term white privilege does not mean you as a white person have done anything wrong. What it DOES mean is that you have (as is mentioned above) systematic and invisible advantages in everyday society that don't apply to other racial groups, mostly African-Americans. It means you likely aren't getting pulled over in your car multiple times a year for no reason other than your skin color. It means people don't move to the other side of the elevator when you get on. It means a woman who was a sex slave gets 50 years in prison for killing a man in self-defense, but a white rapist serves no jail time whatsoever. It means you won't get denied an apartment simply because of how your name sounds. It means you can BBQ in a park and have your kid can sell lemonade on the street without getting the cops called on you (and that is only two of about a DOZEN examples from last year). And all the people who bring up the term want is for people to think about how YOU would feel if these kind of situations were what you had to deal with on a everyday basis.
At a certain point last year, there were multiple stories per week of black Americans getting the cops called on them for the most mundane activities imaginable, such as waiting in a Starbucks for less than 5 minutes waiting for a friend, moving into their new apartment, a real estate broker checking up on a house he was selling, and a black man who was babysitting a white child being viewed as "suspicious" for taking them for a walk in the park in a stroller. We all KNOW no one would call the cops on ANY white person engaged in these activities, and that they would never even be a blip on anyone's radar, so why are they viewed as potentially CRIMINAL when engaged in by African-Americans?? The only reasonable answer is that being white is the "default" or "normal" color to be in this society, and that being black carries with it an inherent suspicion of criminality, even when going about totally normal daily functions.
Out of millions and millions of personal interactions there are bound to be a few assholes out there. This thread is starting to paint the picture that this is widespread and out of control. There are 325 million 'legal' citizens of this country and millions more here illegally or legally on visas and what-not. Sure, there may be 'dozens' of these cases but sorry, I just don't believe there's some pandemic of this kind of behavior. Dozens, hundreds or even thousands is still a small number compared to billions of interactions between people on a yearly basis. Yes it shouldn't happen, but it's not some kind of all-encompassing snapshot of American thinking, even on the right.
By the way, there are plenty of white-supremacists on the left. I've talked with more than a few liberals who think that black people aren't as smart as whites because of their race so they need welfare and affirmative action just to level the playing field. I'm not kidding. Just get people talking about the reasons behind their beliefs and you're likely to get some eye-opening and head-scratching reasoning...
"Incels" are what they call themselves INvoluntary CELibates. They believe they deserve sex from women as often as they want it, and hate women who don't give it to them. Two incels killed numerous women because they feel they were owed sex and women didn't give it to them. This is a particular type of toxic masculinity. They dehumanize women, calling them Femoids or "Foids" from "Female Humanoids" From the article: Most of the victims in Alek Minassian's van rampage in Toronto were women. There’s reason to believe that was his goal. Before he killed 10 people and injured 14 more on a crowded sidewalk in April, Minassian posted on Facebook that he was a “private (recruit)” in what he called the “Incel Rebellion.” “All hail the Supreme Gentleman Elliot Rodger!” wrote Minassian, referring to the mass murderer who killed six people in 2014 to “punish all females for the crime of depriving me of sex.”
I hardly think this is a lef/right problem. But it IS a problem. And likely, it's the Me, Too movement that is bringing out many of these new stories. They have always been there, just not that notable before. As a woman, I've had parts of my body grabbed without my consent, and I am not that much of a looker at all.
Here's a picture of me:
Like I said, not a sex doll, so I probably get touched a lot less than other women. But I get groped, too.
Washington Post Blasts ‘Trump’s Year Of Lies’ With Blistering Fact Check
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-fact-check_us_5c29a88fe4b08aaf7a91d5d3?fbclid=IwAR2ATkJbp2TxQ0lNdrsuu4Q970TBqJpUTuweDNhLe-ShnOu6K_k2Uyujd3Q As of Sunday when the article was published, the Post’s Fact Checker database had tallied more than 7,600 misleading or patently false claims by the president within the first half of his term. As Kessler noted, the total was at a drastically lower 1,989 at the start of the year, but as Trump amped up the spread of his untruths, his per day average of falsehoods surpassed 15. That’s almost three times his 2017 rate. The New Yorker’s Susan Glasser remarked on the shift last August in an article titled “It’s True: Trump Is Lying More, and He’s Doing It on Purpose.” After speaking with Kessler, Glasser suggested that at the heart of the issue lies “Trump’s increasingly unbound Presidency” rocked by neverending turnover and turmoil in the West Wing.
John Kelly paints yet another dim portrait of Trump
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/john-kelly-paints-yet-another-dim-portrait-of-trump/ar-BBRBh9k?ocid=sl&fbclid=IwAR2tWZCnRZQouj1oXFOLtmtJ81CjZTValAbfImz7KSAJwFk25wW9ayLKbcA A few months ago, a senior Trump administration official wrote a controversial anonymous op-ed in the New York Times that said forces within the administration were working to rein in President Trump’s potentially damaging whims. And in a recent interview, Trump’s departing chief of staff basically confirms it. The Los Angeles Times interview with John F. Kelly published Sunday says: In the phone interview Friday, Kelly defended his rocky tenure, arguing that it is best measured by what the president did not do when Kelly was at his side. And it doesn’t get much better from there.
Apprentice Producers Struggled to Make Trump—and His Decisions—Seem Coherent
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/12/mark-burnett-profile-in-the-new-yorker-apprentice-producers-struggled-to-make-trump-and-his-decisions-seem-coherent.html?fbclid=IwAR3x8K-ScEq4BoqGiMaqljxjqN7vDJpJM8k8j9mzDOR7ZufYjJL48UmKrN0 Although Trump immediately proved himself to be an ideal character for reality television, producers had to do a lot of editing work to make him seem coherent. “He wouldn’t read a script — he stumbled over the words and got the enunciation all wrong,” Katherine Walker, a producer on the show, said. “But off the cuff he delivered the kind of zesty banter that is the lifeblood of reality television.” Although editors “cleaned it up so that he was his best self,” Walker is convinced “Donald thinks that he was never edited.” Producers didn’t just edit Trump so that his words made sense; they also made sure to make it seem as though Trump’s decisions were coherent with what happened in the challenges every week. Trump often was unprepared for the “board room” sessions and fired people “on a whim.” That sometimes meant he got rid of people who had done a good job in the challenge, so editors would go back and “reverse engineer” the episode. Show veterans see lots of parallels with what Trump is doing as president now. “I find it strangely validating to hear that they’re doing the same thing in the White House,” Jonathon Braun, an editor, said.
Left Behind by Trump’s Boom: The Rural Americans Who Elected Him
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-28/left-behind-by-trump-s-boom-the-rural-americans-who-elected-him?fbclid=IwAR2L644w5izZLxUjHK9emcieOotrURv0qhm0R_X17auSL9ZaoXw0KUAoV_8 Tiffany Hensley’s drive home takes her through some picturesque scenery, and an ugly economy. “The first thing you see when you get down here is beauty,” says Hensley, midway through her shift at a diner in the rolling hills of eastern Kentucky. “But then you get to looking around. It’s real rough.’’ Times are tough all across rural America. Nationwide numbers paint a rosy picture of accelerating growth and near-full employment. Swaths of the countryside tell a different story, its protagonists barely scraping by as their jobs drain away in the downturns and don’t come back in the booms.
Poll: Federal Employees Overwhelmingly Oppose Shutdown, Only 30 Percent Support Wall
https://www.govexec.com/pay-benefits/2018/12/poll-federal-employees-overwhelmingly-oppose-shutdown-only-30-percent-support-wall/153863/?fbclid=IwAR37tAc9WpVj5crl9F6RUVb4if-3_1BkeAqdIukyxNul8h8OxsRfUM09Quw More than seven in 10 federal employees oppose the current partial government shutdown, though some civil servants support President Trump’s proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border so strongly they are willing to see agencies shutter. About 71 percent of federal workers oppose the shutdown—which crawled into its 10th day on Monday—according to a new survey by Government Business Council and GovExec.com, while 22 percent support it. Nine in 10 of those supporting the shutdown do so because they support Trump’s fight for wall funding, though a small handful feel so opposed to the wall that they want agencies to close in order to block the wall from being built.
Coast Guard won’t see paychecks for several more weeks as shutdown continues
Neighbors say there's no 10-foot wall outside Obama's house
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/neighbors-say-there-s-no-10-foot-wall-outside-obama-s-house/ar-BBREKws?fbclid=IwAR3_mKzYyV6o-hb02PalG0VJudrx8g9wqCOL1Ct3AHlXQNXKn5_AqWjQfRs Two neighbors in remarks to The Washington Post disputed Trump's characterization. "There's a fence that goes along the front of the house, but it's the same as the other neighbors have. It's tastefully done," one neighbor, who was kept anonymous, told the newspaper. Another neighbor also told the Post that the home is completely visible from the street. "There is no 10-foot wall in the front, back or sides of the house - and no wall is going up," the neighbor said. Trump on Sunday wrote in a tweet that a "wall" around the Obamas' home is the "same thing" that the U.S. needs on its southern border. "President and Mrs. Obama built/has a ten foot Wall around their D.C. mansion/compound. I agree, totally necessary for their safety and security. The U.S. needs the same thing, slightly larger version!" he tweeted.
So Trump keeps talking about the wall in Israel and how it is 99.9% effective. I just want to clarify some points regarding that wall:
1. Parts of it are considered illegal as they encroaches into the West Bank. The International Court of Justice has said it is a violation of international law
2. It was built for a security reason. Suicide bombings decreased once the wall was first put up, however the wall has continued to expand since first being erected in 2000. Suicide bombers and people looking for a better life are pretty much on the opposite side of the scale.
3. It’s not a wall per say, but a barrier. The same type of barrier you see people climbing over in photographs.
4. Upon completion, the barrier is 440 miles. The US-Mexico border is 1,954 miles.
The wall that Trumps refers to is the wall/barrier that was built on the border between Egypt and Israel during the years 2010-2013, which stopped illegal immigration from Sudan/Eritrea into Israel, through Egyptian Sinai, along with Women Trafficking, Drugs smuggling, etc.
So there is some analogy between the two situations, although as usual, everything in America is at much greater scale (241km vs 3144km, as you said in point 4 )
Philadelphia New Years Day parade ridicules ‘pee tape’-clutching Donald Trump in hilarious dance routine
https://www.rawstory.com/2019/01/philadelphia-new-years-day-parade-ridicules-pee-tape-clutching-donald-trump-hilarious-dance-routine/?fbclid=IwAR3gmsmt9iRjrJGcgKT-cZ1r23crze0of2NvUB8ywogEBnFUAZ6gswfcdcA Philadelphia has traditionally celebrated New Year’s Day with the Mummers Parade, involving organized clubs that dress up in feathers and clown make-up, tote accordions and banjos, and perform bizarre and often outrageous sketches that frequently touch on current events. This year was no different as the Lobster Club parodied the presidency of Donald Trump. As Madonna’s “Material World” blared from loudspeakers, a mummer portraying Trump emerged from a set designed to look like the Oval Office, flanked by dancers in Secret Service outfits and two performers representing the Democratic and Republican Parties. Suddenly, a shirtless Vladimir Putin appears, and dances the tango with Trump, as another dancer brandishes an enormous VHS tape with a golden letter “P” emblazoned on it. Trump takes Uncle Sam hostage and hands him over to Putin and the Russians. All seems lost, until Philadelphia Flyers mascot and Antifa icon Gritty appears, frees Uncle Sam, and hands Trump over to the FBI.
Tear Gas Fired on Crowd of Migrants Trying to Enter U.S. by Breaching Tijuana Border Fence; 25 Detained
State Senator Reports to Jail Pending Verdict in Cryptocurrency Fraud Case
https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-senator-reports-to-jail-pending-verdict-in-cryptocurrency-fraud-case/amp?fbclid=IwAR39satrRf80e1_4MUvPOSYQVzKgbop8uT4OM6xh1rjTZRra4S-mX6VF7JI A Georgia state senator has reported to jail over allegedly lying about the theft of cryptocurrency mining equipment worth $300,000, The Guardian reported Dec. 27. Republican Michael Williams, who originally reported the alleged theft in May, made a false police report and gave a false statement, court documents claim. Williams had said servers with a value of $300,000, which had been used to mine unnamed cryptocurrencies, had disappeared from his office premises, local daily news outlet Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Dec. 20.
Why Does No One Care That Neo-Nazis Are Gaining Power In Ukraine?
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/01/opinion/the-trump-tax-cut-even-worse-than-youve-heard.html?partner=IFTTT&fbclid=IwAR2NA4egHarD29pcJ_rJUlOhp4UwuWDeqGkEjbCxsQSBMJgY9DVwveFKoN0 The 2017 tax cut has received pretty bad press, and rightly so. Its proponents made big promises about soaring investment and wages, and also assured everyone that it would pay for itself; none of that has happened. Yet coverage actually hasn’t been negative enough. The story you mostly read runs something like this: The tax cut has caused corporations to bring some money home, but they’ve used it for stock buybacks rather than to raise wages, and the boost to growth has been modest. That doesn’t sound great, but it’s still better than the reality: No money has, in fact, been brought home, and the tax cut has probably reduced national income. Indeed, at least 90 percent of Americans will end up poorer thanks to that cut.
Federal Employee Union Sues Government Over Shutdown, Alleging Wage Violations
Laura Ingraham's Radio Show Cancelled Due To Advertiser Boycott
https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/30/1822575/-Laura-Ingraham-s-Radio-Show-Cancelled-Due-To-Advertiser-Boycott?fbclid=IwAR3x-8a6iHw6huXuwlN47p8k9kWQNjg2Vjt4CzNCK5a7v99aAyKyjo88W_g The world will be a better place in 2019, if for no other reason than Laura Ingraham has lost one of her platforms for hatemongering, her radio show previously syndicated by Courtside Entertainment Group, due to loss of advertising revenue. But before you get too excited, she’ll be replacing it with a podcast and she’s still a fixture on Fox News. Media Matters did a lengthy article on the lowlights of Ingraham’s show. If you find yourself wondering for even a moment why the RWNJs think like they do, here is the mother lode of their dogma, 17 years of it. Ingraham fawned over Donald Trump’s bigoted rhetoric on immigration; she defended his calls for a ban on Muslims entering the United States, and even argued that the ban was “not broad enough,” claiming that she would “go farther” and be “even worse than Trump.” She asserted that “Middle Eastern countries have got to be told… we’re cutting you off,” questioned why the U.S. should allow Muslim immigration ”knowing that we can't tell if an Islamic individual is going to be radicalized.” She fearmongered about Muslim immigrants as “people who have dual loyalties … whether it's the Quran, or the Quranic way of thinking, versus the loyalties to the United States.” Ingraham claimed that Trump’s assertion that Mexico is “sending rapists” is true, and stated that Mexicans “have come here to murder and rape our people.”
A nursing shortage doesn't mean society has lost compassion. It means we don't pay nurses enough
Xi Jinping issued an ominous reminder of China's policy on Taiwan in a recent speech, saying that China would not rule out military force for the purposes of unifying China and Taiwan. China still views Taiwan, a thriving modern democracy, as a rogue province after failing to conquer it in the 1950s due to an American military deterrent and the distraction of the Korean War. Taiwan, China, and the United States publicly support the One China policy, which means the international position on China-Taiwan relations is "one country, two systems"--that is, China and Taiwan are the same country, but they happen to have separate and distinct governments. It's a convenient fiction to avoid war--China gets to claim national unity, saving face, and Taiwan gets to elect its own leaders, maintaining Taiwanese democracy.
China has never taken military force off the table. They still reserve the right to attack Taiwan in the event of a Taiwanese declaration of independence. It always struck me that the Chinese ruling class has such deep contempt for its own people that it would prefer murdering innocent Taiwanese to letting them exercise their rights.
'Like It Was Christmas All Year:' GOP Succeeded in Making 2018 Yet Another Year the Rich Got RicherIT WASN’T JUST RUSSIA: THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA AND THE 2016 ELECTION
Democrats to ask for 10 years of presidential tax returns in new bill
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/02/politics/trump-tax-returns-democrats/index.html?utm_term=link&utm_medium=social&utm_content=2019-01-02T20:28:04&utm_source=fbCNNp Democrats are making presidential tax returns a focal point in one of their first pieces of legislation, an effort to build the case to the American people that time is up on President Donald Trump keeping his own tax returns from the public, shutting what could be a window into his personal wealth. According to two sources familiar with the discussions, Democrats will include a provision in their new bill that would require presidential nominees to disclose 10 years of tax returns shortly after they become the nominee. Vice presidents would also be required to disclose a decade of returns. The tax returns would then be posted on the Federal Election Commission's website for public viewing.
New report shows just how badly Trump and his "EPA" have already poisoned our environment
Xi Jinping issued an ominous reminder of China's policy on Taiwan in a recent speech, saying that China would not rule out military force for the purposes of unifying China and Taiwan. China still views Taiwan, a thriving modern democracy, as a rogue province after failing to conquer it in the 1950s due to an American military deterrent and the distraction of the Korean War. Taiwan, China, and the United States publicly support the One China policy, which means the international position on China-Taiwan relations is "one country, two systems"--that is, China and Taiwan are the same country, but they happen to have separate and distinct governments. It's a convenient fiction to avoid war--China gets to claim national unity, saving face, and Taiwan gets to elect its own leaders, maintaining Taiwanese democracy.
China has never taken military force off the table. They still reserve the right to attack Taiwan in the event of a Taiwanese declaration of independence. It always struck me that the Chinese ruling class has such deep contempt for its own people that it would prefer murdering innocent Taiwanese to letting them exercise their rights.
I agree with you about this. There's nothing new in what was said, but the forcefulness and timing of the statement does seem ominous. There are also other factors that concern me about China, such as the militarization that's been taking place for years in the South China Sea and the wide-scale repression of religious and cultural minorities in Xinjiang (not to mention Tibet).
The future stability of China is also a structural issue. China since the communist revolution has always of course been authoritarian, but since the time of Mao power has been quite widely dispersed - not just through the national committee structure, but regionally as well. In recent years though Xi Jinping has successfully taken a lot of that power back into his own personal hands and the country is becoming much more like a classical dictatorship. In the short term that increases the chance of confrontation due to personal clashes, while in the longer term there is great potential for disruption and power struggles at the point where Xi dies or loses his grip.
More than a week into the partial government shutdown, Americans continue to generally disapprove of how it’s been handled by everyone involved.
A 51 percent majority of Americans now say Trump deserves at least some responsibility for the shutdown, with 44 percent saying Democrats in Congress bear some responsibility, and 36 percent saying that Republicans in Congress do.
A Reuters/Ipsos survey conducted just before Christmas found that 47 percent of Americans considered Trump most blame-worthy, with 33 percent laying the bulk of responsibility on congressional Democrats and 7 percent pinning it on congressional Republicans.
My question is how can people be so easily fooled? 7 percent on Congressional Republicans who colluded with Trump to shutdown the government before, thank God, being sent out of Congress. This is totally a republican shutdown, how can they not see it?
Dems had no input on the Republican shutdown. House Republicans did it at Trump bidding. Now Senate Republicans will prolong the Republican shutdown.
They controlled the House, the Senate, and the Presidency and the dysfunctional idiots shut down the government three times in 2018. By themselves. The GOP cannot be allowed to govern any more.
They are totally corrupt and obviously don't believe in government. They are completely owned by corporations and actively working to harm Americans health in a many pronged assault on healthcare, the EPA (protections of clean water, clean air, dangerous chemicals are being loosened), and willfully ignoring climate change reality.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/1/1822839/-Evangelicals-God-Sent-Trump-to-be-King?detail=emaildkre Who knew God was actually Ha-Satan? Unbeknownst to people with even a tenuous grip on reality, prior to the midterms a thousand theaters showed “The Trump Prophecy,” a film about a firefighter who, in a blinding orgiastic epiphany, picks up a Bible and turns to Isaiah 45, “which describes the anointment of King Cyrus by God.” Get it, Isaiah “45” — Trump “45”? What more proof do you need, right?
Trump Enlists Washington Examiner As Newest Arm Of State Controlled Media
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/1/1822892/-Cold-Blooded-Murder-Of-a-7-Year-Old?detail=emaildkre The father of a 7-year-old girl killed in a drive-by shooting pleaded with the public to help authorities in the manhunt for a gunman who opened fire on a mother and children in a car near a Houston-area Walmart. "I just want anybody, whoever, out there that knows anything about the murder of my daughter, to just please step up as if it was your own," an emotional Christopher Cevilla told reporters on Monday. "Just put yourself in my shoes, in my family's shoes."
Appalling: Arkansas kicks 17,000 people off Medicaid in three months; other states plan to join in
More than a week into the partial government shutdown, Americans continue to generally disapprove of how it’s been handled by everyone involved.
A 51 percent majority of Americans now say Trump deserves at least some responsibility for the shutdown, with 44 percent saying Democrats in Congress bear some responsibility, and 36 percent saying that Republicans in Congress do.
A Reuters/Ipsos survey conducted just before Christmas found that 47 percent of Americans considered Trump most blame-worthy, with 33 percent laying the bulk of responsibility on congressional Democrats and 7 percent pinning it on congressional Republicans.
My question is how can people be so easily fooled? 7 percent on Congressional Republicans who colluded with Trump to shutdown the government before, thank God, being sent out of Congress. This is totally a republican shutdown, how can they not see it?
Dems had no input on the Republican shutdown. House Republicans did it at Trump bidding. Now Senate Republicans will prolong the Republican shutdown.
They controlled the House, the Senate, and the Presidency and the dysfunctional idiots shut down the government three times in 2018. By themselves. The GOP cannot be allowed to govern any more.
They are totally corrupt and obviously don't believe in government. They are completely owned by corporations and actively working to harm Americans health in a many pronged assault on healthcare, the EPA (protections of clean water, clean air, dangerous chemicals are being loosened), and willfully ignoring climate change reality.
Maybe because they had a bill ready to go to prevent the shutdown before Trump threw his tantrum. They did their jobs, Trump said no, I want a wall, Dems said you can’t have a wall and Trump is still holding his beath with his arms crossed until he either gets the wall or passes out.
I bet you if the same people were polled, it would be 47% of Americans don’t want a wall, 33% want a wall and that extra 7% just want to go back to work, or get a marriage liecence or enjoy a national park.
The FIRST thing Nancy Pelosi is doing is bringing a bill to the floor to reopen the government. First thing. It is essentially the EXACT same bill that passed the Senate 100-0 before Trump threw his temper tantrum. But Mitch McConnell is now refusing to even bring it to the floor, even though it is the exact same bill he himself signed off on before all this started.
There is no "debate" to be had here about blame. Over 60% of the country has no interest in wall funding. Trump has repeatedly and emphatically told us hundreds if not thousands of times that Mexico, not the American taxpayer, was going to foot the bill. He personally told Chuck Schumer in a televised discussion that he would be the one to shut down the government and that he would take the blame. And now he is holding his breath until he turns blue. Because the policy in the White House is being dictated by Rush Limabaugh and Ann Coulter.
Yet, what is one of the first things Nancy Pelosi is asked on NBC News in an interview?? Whether or not Democrats bear half the blame. The high church of both-siderism strikes again. The President has made it abundantly clear this is his choice, that he is going to hold the paychecks and functions of the federal government hostage for his xenophobic vanity project. But of course, it's up to the Democrats to give ice cream for breakfast to a child who whines long enough, or they are also part of the problem. The national political media in a nutshell. The government has already been shutdown for two weeks under total Republican control, yet the blame game is already shifting hours before the Democrats even take control. Same thing happened in 2008, when the moment Obama was in office to try clean up Bush's shitshow, people were asking him why it wasn't happening faster. Never fails. This is why we can't have nice things.
This happens every time. When a Republican win takes place, everyone is supposed to bend the knee. When a Democratic win takes place, the immediate question is "how quickly and how much are you going to compromise with Republicans"?? In this case, we are talking about compromise with a man who couldn't possibly be trusted to stick to a reached agreement if his life depended on it. I'd sooner negotiate with a bowl of jello than Donald Trump. What is the point?? There is a 75% chance he will watch Sean Hannity later that night and change his demands. This is why many on the left laugh out loud at the idea of the media being "liberal". Because for over 30 years, they have gone out of their way to make every single issue a 50/50 split, at the cost of all the facts surrounding it.
Want another example?? Elizabeth Warren has taken the first steps to declaring a run for President in 2020. What surfaced immediately were a myriad of articles by the national political press about her "likability". Gee, where have I heard that old chestnut before?? In the meantime, Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell have approval numbers significantly lower than genital herpes, yet no one mentions a word about how "likable" they are in any context. No, that is reserved for people like Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, and Elizabeth Warren. I wonder why..........
Comments
I suppose the Democrats could cave on this issue and consent to wasting $5 billion in order to get the rest of the government back up and running. But they've kind of got a winning hand, and it would be very tempting to stand firm and say no, knowing that Trump will be seen as responsible for the shutdown.
I kind of want to call on Democrats to go ahead and fund the wall in order to end the shutdown, but then I have to ask myself why I'm calling on Democrats when I should be calling on Trump. The shutdown was clearly his idea.
Democrats and Republicans already had a budget on hand; it was going to pass just fine. Then Ann Coulter calls out Trump for not building the wall while the GOP held all branches of government and both houses of Congress, and suddenly Trump throws out a brand new demand at the last minute and shuts down everything.
Again, the same Senators like Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell now calling for wall funding themselves voted for a budget that had no wall funding, and were just as sure it would pass as anyone else. This is the third time we have done this over wall-funding by the American taxpayer. And while I certainly want federal workers to start getting their checks, this is 100% on Trump (however, even though polls do blame Trump significantly more, the number isn't nearly as high as it should be). He said to Chuck Schumer in a White House meeting on the budget he would not only take the blame for any shutdown, but he would be HAPPY to do so. And quite frankly, these clips are all any Democrat anywhere ever needs to play in response to questions about wall funding. Because this scene played out HUNDREDS of times during the campaign. If I am a lawyer and this issue is up for trial, and present these two video clips and rest my case within 1 minute:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/trump-used-her-slain-daughter-to-rail-against-illegal-immigration-she-chose-a-different-path/2018/12/27/084f93a4-e9ce-11e8-a939-9469f1166f9d_story.html?utm_term=.e5c3e89e9be0
For personal reasons, I want to see the Shutdown end asap. I work in a program for a company with contracts with the Department of Commerce. My job is only going to stay open for ~ 2 or 3 weeks. Then I'm furloughed.
I'd offer an example of what kind of scenario would have had to exist for Obama to even hypothetically engage in that would be similar, but the fact is there is no left-wing media apparatus with remotely the same influence over any Democratic politician. As I have pointed out a half-dozen times, left-wing talk radio in this country barely even exists. MSNBC, while decidedly center-left and anti-Trump, isn't even a fraction as effective or influential as FOX News, mostly because FOX is just the television arm of what has been flooding the radio waves in this country for 30 years. Toxic waste being dumped directly into the heads of millions of people for decades. Trump is the final form of what Limbaugh started in the early-90s. I'm not sure if people who haven't willingly bathed themselves in this media apparatus for the past couple of decades can truly understand just how inevitable it was that the Republican Party would end up where they are now.
Abbreviated Pundit Round-up: Shutdown smackdown sinks standing
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/29/1822074/-Abbreviated-Pundit-Round-up-Shutdown-smackdown-sinks-standing?detail=emaildkreTrump's approval is sinking lower.
Mark Harris, Repub who fraudulently "won" in NC District 9, will not go to Congress
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/28/1822181/-Mark-Harris-Repub-who-fraudulently-won-in-NC-District-9-will-not-go-to-Congress?detail=emaildkreCongress refused to seat him.
Trump and Republicans dumping shutdown mess on Pelosi, which is their first mistake
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/28/1822085/-Trump-and-Republicans-dumping-shutdown-mess-on-Pelosi-which-is-their-first-mistake?detail=emaildkreSpeaker of the House Paul Ryan is slinking off the political stage this week in perfect form, during a government shutdown which he's done nothing to prevent or to end. Neither the House nor the Senate is working today, and won't be back in until Monday, with no indication they intend to vote on anything. Which means Individual 1 is going to be dealing with Nancy Pelosi, and it will be a whole other ball game.
First step on January 3 when the new Congress is sworn in will be a vote to stop the shutdown, and while leadership is considering a number of options for that spending bill, $5 billion for Trump's wall isn't in any of them. "We want ... the government open, and my hope is we can get it opened before Jan. 3," said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), the new Rules Committee chairman. "If not, one of the first things we'll do will be to move to pass legislation to reopen the government. And the president can decide whether he wants to sign it or not."
Trump screws farm country again with shutdown
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/28/1822159/-Trump-screws-farm-country-again-with-shutdown?detail=emaildkreRemember Individual 1's pre-election bribe to farmers, the $12 billion in emergency aid that was supposed to save them after his trade war with China? It was already doing little to help, but now it appears to be yet another casualty of Trump's shutdown.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is in charge of making those direct payments, and after this week, those payments will be suspended. Any farmers who haven't already certified production are just going to have to wait until the agency is back to work.
It's not just these payments, either. Farm loans and disaster assistance processed by the USDA will be halted, too. Could he be trying any harder to alienate rural America?
Iraq To Trump: "Get Out And Take Your Troops With You!"
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/27/1822055/-Iraq-To-Trump-Get-Out-And-Take-Your-Troops-With-You?detail=emaildkreThis is what happens when you govern by the seat of your pants. Donald Drumpf decided to fly into Iraq (a sovereign nation) without bothering to follow the usual diplomatic protocols generally required of such a visit. Apparently Individual-1 is OK with America First, but does not that think that applies to other countries. The Iraqis were not amused.
The big brains in the White House think the shutdown is a smart fight to pick with Nancy Pelosi
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/28/1822110/-The-big-brains-in-the-White-House-think-the-shutdown-is-a-smart-fight-to-pick-with-Nancy-Pelosi?detail=emaildkreThis might be the best thing you've read all day: "Team Trump Gleeful That Shutdown Will Hijack Pelosi's Big Moment." Yes, apparently the Freedom Caucus maniacs, including Trump's dogsbody Mick Mulvaney, believe that having a shutdown fight with incoming Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will totally ruin her day.
They clearly haven't been paying attention. Because this is what sources to the White House have been telling The Daily Beast: "The more the focus is on the wall, the more Pelosi is forced to focus on this fight instead of the investigations. […] It's a situation where [Trump] has no choice but to shut it down. It's the best of the worst choices. It's really the only choice [because] I think there are people who would vote for him today who might not if he gave in too quickly." Yeah, because voting on him today is totally the point?
Giuliani says 'Over my dead body' will Trump be answering any more questions from Mueller
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/28/1822095/-Giuliani-says-Over-my-dead-body-will-Trump-be-answering-any-more-questions-from-Mueller?detail=emaildkreGiven how often he changes his story....
Iowa county elects its first black woman, so GOP decides it should change the whole electoral system
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/27/1822046/-Iowa-county-elects-its-first-black-woman-so-GOP-decides-it-should-change-the-whole-electoral-system?detail=emaildkreStop me if you’ve heard this one before: Republicans lose an election, then decide they want to change the rules.
Earlier this month, voters in Johnson County, Iowa elected Democrat Royceann Porter to the Board of Supervisors, making her the first African-American supervisor in the county’s history. Now, Republicans are making noise about wanting to remake the entire system, changing from at-large elections (which is how nearly every Iowa county does it) to district-based contests.
Republican Phil Hemingway, who got thumped 56-43%, thinks that geography is why he lost. Via local KCRG TV:
Following his recent defeat, Hemingway is analyzing what went wrong during that special election. At least playing a factor, he says, electing supervisors to county-wide positions. It could be benefiting Democrats as the large metro population tends to vote left, overshadowing right-leaning rural votes.
"I think can't look at the results of this past special election and draw any other conclusion but that."
It's a matter of WHEN, rather than IF, Republicans will turn on Trump: Saturday's Good News
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/29/1822091/-It-s-a-matter-of-WHEN-rather-than-IF-Republicans-will-turn-on-Trump-Saturday-s-Good-News?detail=emaildkre“Remember that all through history, there have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they seem invincible. But in the end, they always fall. Always.” ― Mahatma Gandhi
I firmly believe that with our pressure and the forces of the truth, Trump will not remain in office until the end of his term.
As much as Pelosi would rather focus on issues other than impeachment, the truth will not give her any other option. Trump will have to be impeached.
And I am not the only one who thinks so. Check out this article by Elizabeth Drew, a journalist who covered Watergate:
The Inevitability of Impeachment
An impeachment process against President Trump now seems inescapable. Unless the president resigns, the pressure by the public on the Democratic leaders to begin an impeachment process next year will only increase. Too many people think in terms of stasis: How things are is how they will remain. They don’t take into account that opinion moves with events.
Whether or not there’s already enough evidence to impeach Mr. Trump — I think there is — we will learn what the special counsel, Robert Mueller, has found, even if his investigation is cut short. A significant number of Republican candidates didn’t want to run with Mr. Trump in the midterms, and the results of those elections didn’t exactly strengthen his standing within his party. His political status, weak for some time, is now hurtling downhill.
Republican praises ICE's 'excellent record' because 'only two children' have died in its custody
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/28/1822166/-Republican-praises-ICE-s-excellent-record-because-only-two-children-have-died-in-its-custody?detail=emaildkreWow, that's a really LOW bar!
Democrats weigh options for ending shutdown, and more billions for Trump's wall isn't among them
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/28/1822096/-Democrats-weigh-options-for-ending-shutdown-and-more-billions-for-Trump-s-wall-isn-t-among-them?detail=emaildkreGood.
Trump Threatens Americans Who Disagree with Him in Slobbering FOX News Interview
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/1/1777160/-Trump-Threatens-Americans-Who-Disagree-with-Him-in-Slobbering-FOX-News-Interview?detail=emaildkreUgh.
Meghan McCain's Disgrace Proves the Point: Conservatives Are Prone to Submission
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/28/1784147/-Meghan-McCain-s-Disgrace-Proves-the-Point-Conservatives-Are-Prone-to-Submission?detail=emaildkreUGH.
Here's Trump putting his hand in female reporter's face to quiet her from asking hard questions
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/06/15/1772236/-Heres-Trump-putting-his-hand-in-female-reporters-face-to-quiet-her-from-asking-hard-questions?detail=emaildkreI have no words. I just... have no words.
Hillary Clinton's response to Trump's shameful press conference just might break Twitter
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/16/1781063/-Hillary-Clinton-s-response-to-Trump-s-shameful-press-conference-just-might-break-Twitter?detail=emaildkreShe broke the internet.
He was a 'predator': BBC reveals more evidence that Trump is a giant, gross perv
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/9/1779249/-BBC-reveals-still-more-evidence-that-Trump-is-a-giant-gross-perv?detail=emaildkreA few days before President Trump heads to the U.K. to meet the queen and the prime minister, a BBC investigative program has revealed fresh allegations of sexually inappropriate actions by Trump during the 1980s and 1990s, comparing him to a “predator” at parties with girls as young as 14.
The report featured Monday on the BBC Panorama investigative documentary series, entitled “Trump: Is the president a sex pest?” included testimony from two women who said they encountered Trump at parties during his time as a real estate magnate and operator of beauty pageants.
North Koreans release humiliating video of incompetent Trump saluting North Korean general
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/6/14/1771871/-North-Koreans-release-humiliating-video-of-incompetent-Trump-saluting-North-Korean-general?detail=emaildkreThe Times finally gets to the bottom of Trump supporters: It turns out they're garbage human beings
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/4/1777434/-The-Times-finally-gets-to-the-bottom-of-Trump-supporters-It-turns-out-they-re-garbage-human-beings?detail=emaildkreIn the New York Times' quest to get to the bottom of what makes every last Trump supporter in America tick, we have been treated to endless interviews, loving tributes to downtrodden towns in which nary a non-white person is ever seen, and one particular day when the op-ed pages were turned over to Trump supporters to argue for Trump's genius directly. But this is still not enough, and so Sunday's paper included a zoological analysis from a journalist who grew up among them.
It is meant to be flattering, or at least neutral, but the short version is that the people who have been bleating about "family values" for the last half-century do not actually give a flying damn about family values and never did. It was all garbage from the get-go. While people from "college" or "in New York" or "religiously conservative" or "liberal" or take-your pick all had harsh words for the crooked, lying, adulterous, misogynist trash-heap of a human being, the salt-of-the-earth Trump supporters back in Nebraska could not possibly care less about the bullshit-laden values attributed to them in fawning tributes to the heartland's common clay.
Greatest Tweet of all time, period.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/6/26/1775519/-Greatest-Tweet-of-all-time-period?detail=emaildkreTop conservative artist released a new 'masterpiece' and we can't stop laughing
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/31/1784829/-Top-conservative-artists-released-a-new-masterpiece-and-we-can-t-stop-laughing?detail=emaildkreFawning paintings. Not my thing.
This might have been the most embarrassing day in the history of the Fox News network
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/6/19/1773271/-This-might-have-been-the-most-embarrassing-day-in-the-history-of-the-Fox-News-network?detail=emaildkreAnd with no irony detected whatsoever, Carlson’s guest, acting ICE Director Thomas Homan said the comparison to Nazis is unfair because “they are simply following orders.”
Woman who launched homophobic attack against two soldiers banned from restaurant, loses job
https://www.queerty.com/woman-launched-homophobic-attack-two-soldiers-banned-restaurant-loses-job-20180418?fbclid=IwAR0pq3-7kAVFeyqMX3Y9JT5do3qc3n6dZvtvYOQao3_T5I3b2W3KPpeIl88Good riddance!
Is that an OK sign? A white power symbol? Or just a right-wing troll?
https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/09/18/ok-sign-white-power-symbol-or-just-right-wing-troll?fbclid=IwAR0iq82JTlFL97to5ynZ6yuRK-Mv3UMBg6jxImr_lDBrNTqR1z-cPha5nYsFrom its adoption first by white nationalists, and then by 4chan trolls intent on ‘triggering the libs,’ the well-known hand signal’s use points to deeper concerns.
The smirk that almost inevitably accompanies the “OK” sign, that simplest of hand signals, is the dead giveaway in the shroud of internet-age befuddlement: Does the sign, the thumb and forefinger joined together in a circle, the remaining three fingers splayed out behind, mean “all’s good?” Or does it mean “white power” instead?
Trump issues executive order freezing federal workers' pay in 2019
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/12/29/politics/trump-executive-order-federal-workers-pay-freeze/index.html?fbclid=IwAR0nmh3NpEZzc0LNXgH9AqqmQkdfYUwmtEq_gdiHDtO6GypzwZQQc023a6MAfter kicking them, he stomps them into the mud.
AP FACT CHECK: Trump’s false statements to cheering troops
https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2018/12/29/ap-fact-check-trumps-false-statements-to-cheering-troops?fbclid=IwAR1r25chFKeFtomPIsQWvXT8IqUfr5gvSSQqs5owWKqYGHuP8YNxQxq8k_oNew Jersey AG has obtained evidence of possible crimes at Trump's golf club — and Mueller, FBI are involved in probe
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/new-jersey-ag-has-obtained-evidence-of-possible-crimes-at-trump-s-golf-club-and-mueller-fbi-are-involved-in-probe/ar-BBRyZTR?fbclid=IwAR1wahoyTzFG7PIIbAwMwsJcoxM1dWKTO8c8k-9VP6VRWc7VWl8ZSZMvCrAVA Failed to Spend Millions Allocated for Suicide Prevention: Report
https://www.thedailybeast.com/va-failed-to-spend-millions-allocated-for-suicide-prevention-reportMollie Tibbets mother takes in a 17 year old immigrant
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/mollie-tibbetts-mom-taken-17-year-old-undocumented-immigrant-185456304.html?.tsrc=daily_mail&uh_test=2_12&fbclid=IwAR2PRuMRd22VjpLUBacxtHD3h3FezXx7OndGBa08g-EqeNqWsyZv8-0gj2gHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA: House Republicans Unveil Their New Slogan, To The Roars Of Laughter
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/11/1779655/-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA-House-Republicans-Unveil-Their-New-Slogan-To-The-Roars-Of-Laughter?detail=emaildkre&fbclid=IwAR3tiunJpX_lqwFQBsG9YJd1wER8_NppKf1yWlfWqeku0pykz5eOUemsQUcIt's, and I'm not kidding, "Better Off Now".
Mueller appears to respond early in subpoena fight at Supreme Court
https://www.politico.com/amp/story/2018/12/28/mueller-probe-supreme-court-mystery-case-1076871?fbclid=IwAR18dH2ZnLKJyrHz-3RneP3OtGnP8YZcCj8zXCbnTuE8-WKW_qSzDNNwzZwPoliticizing the Military Is Uniformly Wrong
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/12/trumps-visit-troops-was-disturbingly-political/579070/Trump’s visit to U.S. troops was marred by overtly political rhetoric. That’s not normal—but his defenders don’t care.
Most Americans would rather spend the $5 billion Trump is demanding for the border wall on infrastructure, education, or healthcare
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/most-americans-would-rather-spend-the-dollar5-billion-trump-is-demanding-for-the-border-wall-on-infrastructure-education-or-healthcare/ar-BBRv6K9?ocid=spartandhp&fbclid=IwAR2bJhbvwJM_zvTNh36mFG-WWsfd4kNMZU_nclLty34id51EEA-_MOysZ8oa sad and deplorable enemy of mankind.
Several months ago, House leaders impressed upon the Donald the need to fix the damage done by Newt Gingrich. Back in the day, he took away staff from committee chairs to consolidate his own power. He figured he could outsource policy making to lobbyists and right-wing think tanks—which is exactly how the GOP ran Congress. The big problem here is that oversight and investigations are hard to run with limited staff, and Hillary Clinton's emails are not going to investigate herself.
Back in late August, Donald—living in his ego-inflated bubble–kept insisting that there would be a “red wave” and listened to pundits who told him that not only would the Democrats not take the House, but the GOP was likely to gain seats. That was the selling point for Congress to get their staff funding. The extra staff would be critical for conducting hearings and investigations, which would be “handy for investigating Hillary Clinton’s emails.”
Trump approved the extra $129 million for staffing which will be available now for Nancy Pelosi to investigate Trump.
House Judiciary Committee is running multiple ads for lawyers with expertise in criminal law, immigration law, constitutional law, antitrust law, and bankruptcy law, just to name a few. Legislators are saying that applications are pouring in. (As a commenter noted, people actually want to work for Democrats.)
https://dailysoundandfury.com/trump-approved-extra-129m-to-help-house-investigate-hillary-now-pelosi-has-it/
New GoFundMe Page Seeks Cash To Buy Shovels To Dig Tunnel Under Trump's Border Wall
This guy's raising money for ladders and to give money to the ACLU
Another new page recently popped up, created by Charlotte Clymer, a transgender Army veteran and human rights activist from Texas, titled "Ladders to Get Over Trump's Wall."
https://www.dailywire.com/news/39749/new-gofundme-page-seeks-cash-buy-shovels-dig-joseph-curl
"The wall has become a metaphor for border security"
Ok then. So now we are supposed to spend 5 billion dollars on a metaphor. Brought to you by the self-proclaimed party of "fiscal responsibility".
This goalpost shifting has been going on since the moment Trump got into office about this damn wall. When it became clear Mexico wasn't writing the check we heard such asinine excuses as money sent back by legal workers to Mexico to their families was going to be taxed to pay for it. Of course now it is being suggested we are paying for it through trade deals that haven't even been ratified. Now the entire thing is supposed to be a "metaphor". If a SINGLE person cheering for Mexico paying for the wall at those Trump rallies thought it was a metaphor, I'll eat this goddamn laptop. I'd be surprised if half of them even know what a metaphor is.
GOP pollster: Republicans 'traded the election' for anti-immigrant fearmongering
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/29/1817276/-GOP-pollster-Republicans-traded-the-election-for-anti-immigrant-fearmongering?detail=emaildkreRepublicans could have run on some positive economic news (thanks, Obama!) in the 2018 midterms, but they made the decision to side with hate, spending more than $100 million to run almost 300,000 anti-immigrant ads. That decision ended up backfiring, costing the party votes, pollsters have continued to confirm.
Republican efforts to whittle away at the IRS could reach an ominous breaking point
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/29/1818505/-Republican-efforts-to-whittle-away-at-the-IRS-could-reach-an-ominous-breaking-point?detail=emaildkreFor your holiday long-read pile, here's an excellent ProPublica look at the long-running Republican war on the Internal Revenue Service. Republican efforts to hobble the nation's tax collecting apparatus stem from multiple ideological beefs, from conservative conspiracy theories about the agency targeting Republicans over Democrats to the usual insistence that waste, fraud and abuse must surely be rampant to far-right hostility toward income taxes, rather than consumption taxes, in general to the war on Obamacare and other specific legislation that the party doesn't like.
The result is precisely what one would expect: The same Republicans who insist that government cannot do anything right have spent the last two decades making damn sure the IRS cannot perform its core functions.
Two-year-old boy dies after Yemeni mother fights Trump's travel ban to reunite with him in Oakland
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/29/1822310/-2-year-old-boy-dies-after-Yemeni-mother-fights-Trump-s-travel-ban-to-reunite-with-him-in-California?detail=emaildkreAbdullah Hassan, the two-year-old child whose Yemeni mother, Shaima Swileh, was nearly unable to visit because of Trump’s hideously racist travel ban, died on Friday. Abdullah and his father, Ali Hassan, are US citizens; his father brought the boy to receive medical treatment at the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in California. His mother is a Yemeni citizen and was unable to join the two in the US due to Trump’s travel ban.
Abdullah was diagnosed with a genetic brain disorder. For the last few months of his life, he was in a hospital bed. Toward the end, when he was on life support, his mother finally won her battle to receive a visa waiver and gain approval to visit him in the states. Her visa was approved on December 18, and she traveled the very next day.
She made it just in time.
Hotel chain fires employees who summoned cops and evicted guest for 'calling his mom while black'
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/29/1822311/-Hotel-chain-fires-employees-who-summoned-cops-and-evicted-guest-for-calling-his-mom-while-black?detail=emaildkreAfter investigating events that were well-documented on now-viral video, DoubleTree Hotel Portland has terminated two Oregon employees who abused 911 and forced a paying guest to leave the hotel without a refund. The two employees—a security guard and manager—have been widely accused of racial profiling.
Good, but more needs to be done.
Knife-wielding racist arrested in Oregon, days after Christmas Eve attack goes viral
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/29/1822274/-Knife-wielding-racist-arrested-in-Oregon-days-after-Christmas-Eve-attack-goes-viral?detail=emaildkreAnother day, another racist—but this time, the bigot had a knife. An Oregon woman was arrested Friday after a viral video showed her attack a black family on Christmas Eve, while shouting racial slurs and brandishing a knife.
Amber Rocco, 39, of Willamina, was caught on camera as she attacked Emora Roberson, her boyfriend Keysaun Goodyear, and Roberson’s aunt in the lot of a McMinnville shopping center. Roberson’s 15-month-old daughter was also in the car.
Amid shutdown, government helps fund Trump's private New Year's party
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/29/1822281/-Amid-shutdown-government-helps-fund-Trump-s-private-New-Year-s-party?detail=emaildkreTents.
Apparently, Trump was just as incoherent on The Apprentice
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/29/1822335/-Apparently-Trump-was-just-as-incoherent-on-The-Apprentice?detail=emaildkreI never watched the show, but staff from The Apprentice say it took a lot to make Don the Con into executive material.
“He had just gone through I don’t know how many bankruptcies. But we made him out to be the most important person in the world. It was like making the court jester the king.” Bill Pruitt, a producer on the show, said, “We walked through the offices and saw chipped furniture. We saw a crumbling empire at every turn. Our job was to make it seem otherwise.”
Trump approved extra $129M to help House investigate Hillary. Now Pelosi has it.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/29/1822324/-Trump-gave-House-extra-129M-to-help-investigate-Hillary-Now-Pelosi-has-it?detail=emaildkre2019 is going to be great. 2020 even better. Yeah, the shutdown sucks, but I imagine it can only last so long—Trump’s 54,000 border patrol agents are currently not getting paid, nor are the farmers who can’t get their bailout payments until the furlough ends. Trump will cave, and it's not going to get any better for him.
Several months ago, House leaders impressed upon the Donald the need to fix the damage done by Newt Gingrich. Back in the day, he took away staff from committee chairs to consolidate his own power. He figured he could outsource policy-making to lobbyists and right-wing think tanks—which is exactly how the GOP runs Congress. The big problem here is that oversight and investigations are hard to run with limited staff, and Hillary Clinton is not going to investigate herself.
Back in late August, Donald—living in his ego-inflated bubble--kept insisting that there would be a “red wave” and listened to pundits who told him that not only would the Democrats not take the House, but the GOP was likely to gain seats. That was the selling point for Congress to get their staff funding. The extra staff would be critical for conducting hearings and investigations, which would be “handy for investigating Hillary Clinton’s emails.”
Trump approved the extra $129 million for staff.
DOH!
Trump's acting attorney general involved in firm that scammed veterans out of life savings
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/09/matthew-whitaker-acting-attorney-general-wpm-scam?CMP=share_btn_fb&fbclid=IwAR17g8mmbW9bMXYew1yAHv_thUVVgob-aLmS4ixlar7tpNkpZdUYkxuoYQkMatthew Whitaker was paid advisory board member for WPM
Veteran: ‘I spent the money on a dream. I lost everything’
Having voted for Trump enthusiastically in 2016, Masti said on Friday he would soon be changing his party affiliation to Democratic, following the president’s elevation of Whitaker.
“It’s totally ridiculous,” said Masti. “It makes the whole Republican party look so bad. How could a president appoint someone like this? And then not have a problem about it when it comes out? He should be taking care of the victims.”
69% of Americans Don’t Think Trump's Border Wall Is a Priority, Poll Says
http://fortune.com/2018/12/12/trump-border-wall-poll/?fbclid=IwAR08p0jLq_drkc50LVE7CxU_SQLcWItLHcXa6-WeYFolAMl8qgK-cKOU14AWhile talks of a wall between the U.S. and Mexico border have led to televised shouting matches between national leaders, the rest of America is less divided. More than two-thirds of Americans don’t think the wall should be a priority, according to a new poll by NPR, PBS News Hour and Marist.
Only 28% of those polled answered that the border wall should be an immediate priority, while 19% replied it shouldn’t be an immediate priority, and 50% said it shouldn’t be a priority at all.
Of those polled, a vast majority of Democrats—91%—said they didn’t think the wall was an immediate priority or said it was not a priority at all, while 35% of Republicans held that view. Sixty-three percent of Republicans thought the wall was of immediate concern compared to 7% of Democrats.
And let's not forget who won big in November.
CNN’s Toobin: No Political Pressure on Democrats to Cave on Wall Because Trump Lost on Issue in Midterms
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/cnns-toobin-no-political-pressure-on-democrats-to-cave-on-wall-because-trump-lost-on-issue-in-midterms/?fbclid=IwAR3ek9Y151jZS2ozobJ1IwOxOfsh9WfwMj4qRz1Kdlhn5rsNRkBBZYjjeusThe Threat to Rojava
https://crimethinc.com/2018/12/28/the-threat-to-rojava-an-anarchist-in-syria-speaks-on-the-real-meaning-of-trumps-withdrawal?fbclid=IwAR1_qw5e3CIe-DytAhgknkT9IhHCnQVRavuthWWM7zd9n8JNDPeFL46I6IYAn Anarchist in Syria Speaks on the Real Meaning of Trump’s Withdrawal
Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from Syria is not an “anti-war” or “anti-imperialist” measure. It will not bring the conflict in Syria to an end. On the contrary, Trump is effectively giving Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan the go-ahead to invade Rojava and carry out ethnic cleansing against the people who have done much of the fighting and dying to halt the rise of the Islamic State (ISIS). This is a deal between strongmen to exterminate the social experiment in Rojava and consolidate authoritarian nationalist politics from Washington, DC to Istanbul and Kobane. Trump aims to leave Israel the most ostensibly liberal and democratic project in the entire Middle East, foreclosing the possibilities that the revolution in Rojava opened up for this part of the world.
Here's who the partial government shutdown affects
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/21/what-happens-if-government-shuts-down.html?fbclid=IwAR09QwDG3a18OUHX7jP6ejoMXnbNjqfHc7OrDXv-t_jyixRpZ8NX9fzD534The man who could impeach Trump: Nancy Pelosi hires new top lawyer
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/the-man-who-could-impeach-trump-nancy-pelosi-hires-new-top-lawyer?_amp=true&__twitter_impression=true&fbclid=IwAR2lidJTwYJxJfMxgvwD747cEQKWLH7WbjQhicJPzr8-2a9wNHxnITVig08Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has picked a new guiding force for Democrats investigating and potentially impeaching President Trump when they take control of the House next year.
Douglas Letter, a 40-year veteran of the Justice Department and former associate counsel in President Bill Clinton's White House, will be appointed to the role of House general counsel, Pelosi said in a statement.
Videos show migrant children being dragged, pushed and slapped by shelter staffers
https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/nation/2018/12/29/arizona-shelter-dragged-slapped-migrant-children-videos-show/2439556002/?fbclid=IwAR3vBZQxirVd26JpDxpRP_aIRSUIhYPLR2H94L36en2YAiB91fGYuLyN2EoThis makes me angry. Very ANGRY.
Retired four-star Gen. Stanley McChrystal says Trump is dishonest, immoral
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/retired-four-star-gen-stanley-mcchrystal-says-trump-dishonest-immoral-n953076?cid=sm_npd_ms_fb_ma&fbclid=IwAR3mqyCvdAsrrrPYLxLtTT9XhV0fmq3a3SbYor6II3subOdwElyF-jekzggOuch!
McCrystal said he wouldn't work for Trump because "I think it's important for me to work for people who I think are basically honest."
Guatemala: Funeral Held for 7-Year-Old Girl Who Died in U.S. Custody
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/12/27/headlines/guatemala_funeral_held_for_7_year_old_girl_who_died_in_us_custody?fbclid=IwAR2FxpKBm-ifE_YWeZo8ep4tJO8IrPuAexDn5VnIRvwCKiRoIpW4P0LkMboShe shouldn't have died.
Hawaii senator to donate salary earned during shutdown
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/hawaii-senator-to-donate-salary-earned-during-shutdown/ar-BBRwKyY?ocid=sf&fbclid=IwAR2uhoW_j8-13rw4G9Wh9nDm1VNOzZvwI5K6Lpm3Qjk2HwY3OUWXkDFKEm4Unlike hundreds of thousands of federal workers who are either furloughed of working without pay since the partial government shutdown came into effect on Friday, members of Congress are getting paid as usual.
For that reason, U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii said she would donate whatever amount she receives during the shutdown to food banks across the state.
A Pennsylvania town will ring in the new year by dropping a 400-pound Marshmallow Peep
https://www.thisisinsider.com/400-pound-marshmallow-peep-drop-new-years-eve-pennsylvania-2018-12?utm_content=bufferebe63&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer-art&fbclid=IwAR16ku2CZG7nzdbJSroUNTZQZlTQIK7wG_YeBQrrGhvSHyIfShe7PshiJb8You know about the New Year's Eve ball that drops in Times Square. But in Pennsylvania, it's a 400-pound Marshmallow Peep that drops to mark the new year.
Naturally, the event takes place in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the home of Just Born, the company that makes Marshmallow Peeps, Chicks, and other sweet squishy goodies. "Peepsfest" is an annual two-day New Year's Eve festival held at the SteelStacks arts and cultural center.
Why Are White Men Stockpiling Guns?
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/why-are-white-men-stockpiling-guns/?utm_medium=social&utm_content=organic&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=SciAm_&sf205067632=1&fbclid=IwAR2UA0c6bhG1asEXGkPJpNJhICGr3Ca7KA6LYJGzQrQyugljC4ce7hDYgosResearch suggests it's largely because they're anxious about their ability to protect their families, insecure about their place in the job market and beset by racial fears
Since the 2008 election of President Obama, the number of firearms manufactured in the U.S. has tripled, while imports have doubled. This doesn’t mean more households have guns than ever before—that percentage has stayed fairly steady for decades. Rather, more guns are being stockpiled by a small number of individuals. Three percent of the population now owns half of the country’s firearms, says a recent, definitive study from the Injury Control Research Center at Harvard University.
So, who is buying all these guns—and why?
The short, broad-brush answer to the first part of that question is this: men, who on average possess almost twice the number of guns female owners do. But not all men. Some groups of men are much more avid gun consumers than others. The American citizen most likely to own a gun is a white male—but not just any white guy. According to a growing number of scientific studies, the kind of man who stockpiles weapons or applies for a concealed-carry license meets a very specific profile.
These are men who are anxious about their ability to protect their families, insecure about their place in the job market, and beset by racial fears. They tend to be less educated. For the most part, they don’t appear to be religious—and, suggests one study, faith seems to reduce their attachment to guns. In fact, stockpiling guns seems to be a symptom of a much deeper crisis in meaning and purpose in their lives. Taken together, these studies describe a population that is struggling to find a new story—one in which they are once again the heroes.
Black teacher claims in suit she endured 'racial jeers, insults, and taunts' at N.Y. school
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/black-teacher-claims-suit-she-endured-racial-jeers-insults-taunts-n953091?cid=sm_npd_nn_fb_maShe claims that when she asked a white teacher about food on an office lunch table, she was told it was "for whites only."
Horrible. Just horrible. I hope she wins the lawsuit and receives a LOT of money!
Weekend Read: For incels, it's not about sex. It's about women.
https://www.splcenter.org/news/2018/05/04/weekend-read-incels-its-not-about-sex-its-about-womenSide note: Incels are now classified as a hate group, acccording to the Southern Poveryt Law Center (since 2012)
Career Criminal Learns His White Privilege Extends to Kicking Black Toddlers and Bonding Out (for Free) Hours Later
https://www.theroot.com/serial-criminal-learns-his-white-privilege-extends-to-k-1831388694?rev=1546195458203&utm_medium=socialflow&utm_source=theroot_facebook&fbclid=IwAR0a1kqEZpwdIukhhfur0tS_18v23MuYyJ_as5LuJYau3M0WHcjV1IcTZAII’ve always maintained that unlike Kanye’s MAGA hat, White Privilege is an actual superpower. While not quite invisibility or flight, it bestows its possessors with the unique ability to circumvent suspicion, culpability, or other negative experiences that people of color routinely endure.
It also includes a wide assortment of systemic benefits and advantages that I don’t have time to list in full, but apparently one of them includes kicking 1-year-old toddlers who just so happen to be black and getting a slap on the wrist for doing so—even as a repeat offender.
Needless to say, this made me sick. As in, actually nauseous.
People need to realize that the term white privilege does not mean you as a white person have done anything wrong. What it DOES mean is that you have (as is mentioned above) systematic and invisible advantages in everyday society that don't apply to other racial groups, mostly African-Americans. It means you likely aren't getting pulled over in your car multiple times a year for no reason other than your skin color. It means people don't move to the other side of the elevator when you get on. It means a woman who was a sex slave gets 50 years in prison for killing a man in self-defense, but a white rapist serves no jail time whatsoever. It means you won't get denied an apartment simply because of how your name sounds. It means you can BBQ in a park and have your kid can sell lemonade on the street without getting the cops called on you (and that is only two of about a DOZEN examples from last year). And all the people who bring up the term want is for people to think about how YOU would feel if these kind of situations were what you had to deal with on a everyday basis.
At a certain point last year, there were multiple stories per week of black Americans getting the cops called on them for the most mundane activities imaginable, such as waiting in a Starbucks for less than 5 minutes waiting for a friend, moving into their new apartment, a real estate broker checking up on a house he was selling, and a black man who was babysitting a white child being viewed as "suspicious" for taking them for a walk in the park in a stroller. We all KNOW no one would call the cops on ANY white person engaged in these activities, and that they would never even be a blip on anyone's radar, so why are they viewed as potentially CRIMINAL when engaged in by African-Americans?? The only reasonable answer is that being white is the "default" or "normal" color to be in this society, and that being black carries with it an inherent suspicion of criminality, even when going about totally normal daily functions.
W.Va. mom says her daughter was bullied after they balked at Bible classes in public school
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/w-va-mom-says-her-daughter-was-bullied-after-they-n950901?fbclid=IwAR27_xv49eNxZ2LWJ4oOlL1zq55o7fW_jmOFfpYUxyM0XIXx8LU3VjIRl_YMom who sued to stop Bible classes in her daughter's public school says it was "indoctrination," not instruction.
When Jessica Roe was in third grade, the bullying began, Deal charged in a lawsuit she and another family filed in January 2017 against the Mercer County Public Schools, with the help of the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, which advocates for the separation of church and state.
“The kids started telling her that she and her family were all going to hell,” Deal said. “One girl saw the Harry Potter book that Jessica Roe was reading and slammed it down on her desk. ‘You don’t need to be reading this witch magic stuff, you should be reading The Bible,’ she yelled.”
New Trump Ad Begs You to Call Him and Say 'Thank You, President Trump!'
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/ev38y7/trump-ad-thank-you-president-trump-voicemail-brad-parscale-campaign-manager-video-vgtrn?utm_medium=vicenewsfacebook&fbclid=IwAR3rnk9dGncBNuDZ7n53t71BeK1UafgY2YqpQ0Inyk6Gd2h-IwhZcOEu01oOr you could, you know, leave him a different kind of message.
They've tried this before, but had to shut it down because the public were leaving too many "other" messages. How sad is it that Trump needs this kind of fawning praise on a daily (it seems) basis?
Trump outright ignored Pentagon, State Department Syria policy in a big win for Putin
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-ignored-pentagon-state-dept-syria-policy-in-a-big-win-for-putin-2018-12?fbclid=IwAR0_y0wjaPUkUireBHrKQ-V5dMNzlBdt-8d36MKbuwgVw6058OipHqHrplQPresident Donald Trump declared victory over ISIS on Wednesday and said the only reason for the US having a military presence in Syria was to fight the terror group.
In saying so, Trump threw out about a year of the State Department and Pentagon's explicitly stated policy.
US-Led Economic War, Not Socialism, Is Tearing Venezuela Apart
https://www.mintpressnews.com/us-led-economic-war-not-socialism-tearing-venezuela-apart/218335/?fbclid=IwAR3MbNkKeP0ovl-29v4ET4KalFryQmQRjAgjuZLmYliJ0yNbgl4uefjyy80Americans have been trained by decades of Cold War propaganda to look for any confirmation that ‘socialism means poverty.’ But in the case of Venezuela and other states not governed by the free market, this cliche simply doesn’t ring true.
Indeed, corporate-owned, mainstream media advises Americans to look at the inflation and food lines in Venezuela, and then repeat to themselves clichés they heard in elementary school about how “Communism just doesn’t work.”
In reality, millions of Venezuelans have seen their living conditions vastly improved through the Bolivarian process. The problems plaguing the Venezuelan economy are not due to some inherent fault in socialism, but to artificially low oil prices and sabotage by forces hostile to the revolution.
Starting in 2014, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia flooded the market with cheap oil. This is not a mere business decision, but a calculated move coordinated with U.S. and Israeli foreign policy goals. Despite not just losing money, but even falling deep into debt, the Saudi monarchy continues to expand its oil production apparatus. The result has been driving the price of oil down from $110 per barrel, to $28 in the early months of this year. The goal is to weaken these opponents of Wall Street, London, and Tel Aviv, whose economies are centered around oil and natural gas exports.
And Venezuela is one of those countries. Saudi efforts to drive down oil prices have drastically reduced Venezuela’s state budget and led to enormous consequences for the Venezuelan economy.
Yes, we’re scared, Donald Trump Jr. We don’t want our boys to become entitled jerks like you.
https://www.thelily.com/yes-were-scared-donald-trump-jr-we-dont-want-our-boys-to-become-entitled-jerks-like-you/?fbclid=IwAR0JguZEzegziRtkY7VFVAaI91iPLtcI1oejGbfjL8rFCI5vCMMenHNAsY8One psychologist defines men like Trump and Kavanaugh as ‘Babymen’
Mueller Has Referred Another Trump Criminal Case to the FBI
https://www.politicususa.com/2018/12/30/mueller-has-referred-another-trump-criminal-case-to-the-fbi.html?fbclid=IwAR1h_LKVilJADmM0OzW7oUpL6-gxZofX6RAW_JaK_HCwXvbpBmqBoeggqKISpecial counsel Robert Mueller has referred an immigration-related case involving one of President Donald Trump‘s businesses to the the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). And now multiple law enforcement agencies are involved in the investigation of illegal hiring practices at one of the president’s golf clubs.
Mr. President, LOOK OUT! They are in your private Golf Clubs!
Mexican politician climbs border wall to prove a point about Trump’s immigration policy
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/mexico-braulio-guerra-climbs-border-wall-donald-trump-a7610721.html?fbclid=IwAR2jl_Zy0C1OZsYTCg55d8IoLcV46XFMoCbIThCBOvbqEYR-DiGDvahcnwsA Mexican politician has climbed the fence that separates Mexico from the United States to show President Donald Trump his plan for a border wall is "absurd".
Braulio Guerra, who represents the state of Querétaro, said it was "easy to climb the wall, but there are many dangers for our people". "Human rights, principles and dignity are non-negotiable," he added.
From 2017!
RUSSIA PICKED DONALD TRUMP AND RAN HIM FOR PRESIDENT, FORMER ISRAELI INTELLIGENCE OFFICER SAYS
https://www.newsweek.com/russia-picked-donald-trump-and-ran-him-president-former-israeli-intelligence-1273009?fbclid=IwAR2ma6I8x7Ef77CJUbRGLPI75YsqK8iAXpAyUUgnJp20s1hPeWs1JtmtwngRussia chose Donald Trump as the U.S. presidential candidate who would be most advantageous to Moscow, and used online tactics to win him the presidency, according to a former agent of the Israeli intelligence agency the Mossad.
"Officials in Moscow looked at the 2016 U.S. presidential race and asked, ‘Which candidate would we like to have sitting in the White House? Who will help us achieve our goals?’ And they chose him. From that moment, they deployed a system [of bots] for the length of the elections, and ran him for president,” former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo told the audience at the Marker’s digital conference in Israel on Monday, where experts gathered to discuss online disinformation campaigns and bots.
‘Smart Dresses’ Worn By 3 Women At A Club Show That They Were Touched 157 Times Without Their Consent In Less Than 4 Hours
https://www.boredpanda.com/smart-dress-commercial-schweppes-ogilvy-sao-paulo-brazil/?utm_source=iosapp&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=iosappEver since the beginning of the #MeToo movement in 2017, numerous companies have been trying to jump on the wagon and address sexual harassment and/or feminism in their advertising campaigns. It’s no surprise that these companies are getting praised for using the publicity for a good cause. Recently, Swiss beverage company Schweppes teamed up with Brazilian advertisement agency Ogilvy and decided to work on their new campaign called ‘Dress For Respect,’ aimed at shedding light on the sexual harassment of women in Brazil.
It’s OK To Use “They” To Describe One Person: Here’s Why
Has someone ever asked you to refer to them as they instead of him or her? Are you hedging because you can’t possibly refer to one single person as they? What if we told you that they has been used to refer to just one person since at least the 1300s?https://www.dictionary.com/e/they-is-a-singular-pronoun/?fbclid=IwAR095asvzB001JmiBwS333KG_-rkNfiWSsQJW3Rh6lccXYmzk55C5h-MOLk
They can be singular as well as plural.
California Monarch Butterfly Population Down 86 Percent in One Year
https://www.kqed.org/news/11715197/california-monarch-butterfly-population-down-86-percent-in-one-year?fbclid=IwAR11pnJoIHDdH99XEqWKLXLvu7KvCxxJ3rzHqnEOUEF7tlj25euaC4UBCAUBut there’s been a troubling trend over the past few decades. Each year, fewer monarchs have been showing up to overwinter on the state's coast, according to preliminary numbers from the Xerces Society, an environmental conservation nonprofit. The group's annual Thanksgiving count found the 2018 population of these butterflies is down to 20,456 compared to 2017's 148,000. That's a one year, 86 percent decline.
"It's been hard for me, as I remember the millions of monarchs of the 1980s," said Mia Monroe, a Bay Area-based Xerces Society member who helps lead California's monarch population count. "We only have less than one percent of the monarchs that we once historically had."
NASA Is About to Reach The Farthest Object Yet in The Solar System. Here's How to Watch
https://www.sciencealert.com/nasa-s-new-horizon-is-about-to-encounter-the-furthest-space-object-we-ve-ever-reached?fbclid=IwAR3STM4BEbGw2W6Z_p0Y0C97roGuJIwGSB8uX2tm9R24hGEEfjWItwBCnMAWe have reached Ultima Thule, an object in the Kuiper belt.
New Horizons will finally fly by its target just after midnight on January 1, taking close-up photographs and sophisticated scientific measurements of what it sees. By the time the first images and data stream back to Earth, the borders of the known world will have expanded once more.
"This is just raw exploration," said Alan Stern, a scientist at the Southwest Research Institute and the principal investigator for the mission.
"No one has ever seen a Kuiper belt object as anything but a point of light. No one has ever seen an object that's frozen almost to absolute zero. There are a lot of ideas and every one of them might be wrong."
He took a breath. "We'll find out Tuesday."
By the way, there are plenty of white-supremacists on the left. I've talked with more than a few liberals who think that black people aren't as smart as whites because of their race so they need welfare and affirmative action just to level the playing field. I'm not kidding. Just get people talking about the reasons behind their beliefs and you're likely to get some eye-opening and head-scratching reasoning...
From the article:
Most of the victims in Alek Minassian's van rampage in Toronto were women. There’s reason to believe that was his goal.
Before he killed 10 people and injured 14 more on a crowded sidewalk in April, Minassian posted on Facebook that he was a “private (recruit)” in what he called the “Incel Rebellion.”
“All hail the Supreme Gentleman Elliot Rodger!” wrote Minassian, referring to the mass murderer who killed six people in 2014 to “punish all females for the crime of depriving me of sex.”
I hardly think this is a lef/right problem. But it IS a problem. And likely, it's the Me, Too movement that is bringing out many of these new stories. They have always been there, just not that notable before. As a woman, I've had parts of my body grabbed without my consent, and I am not that much of a looker at all.
Here's a picture of me:
Like I said, not a sex doll, so I probably get touched a lot less than other women. But I get groped, too.
The Steele Dossier: A Retrospective
https://www.lawfareblog.com/steele-dossier-retrospective?fbclid=IwAR3BVviMyeRGHYZOaBJW0XeGzSpHpt7tc-n3qOhBL3dzXteVEdMzzFrgNRwAs Spock would say, "Fascinating."
Washington Post Blasts ‘Trump’s Year Of Lies’ With Blistering Fact Check
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-fact-check_us_5c29a88fe4b08aaf7a91d5d3?fbclid=IwAR2ATkJbp2TxQ0lNdrsuu4Q970TBqJpUTuweDNhLe-ShnOu6K_k2Uyujd3QAs of Sunday when the article was published, the Post’s Fact Checker database had tallied more than 7,600 misleading or patently false claims by the president within the first half of his term. As Kessler noted, the total was at a drastically lower 1,989 at the start of the year, but as Trump amped up the spread of his untruths, his per day average of falsehoods surpassed 15. That’s almost three times his 2017 rate.
The New Yorker’s Susan Glasser remarked on the shift last August in an article titled “It’s True: Trump Is Lying More, and He’s Doing It on Purpose.” After speaking with Kessler, Glasser suggested that at the heart of the issue lies “Trump’s increasingly unbound Presidency” rocked by neverending turnover and turmoil in the West Wing.
John Kelly paints yet another dim portrait of Trump
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/john-kelly-paints-yet-another-dim-portrait-of-trump/ar-BBRBh9k?ocid=sl&fbclid=IwAR2tWZCnRZQouj1oXFOLtmtJ81CjZTValAbfImz7KSAJwFk25wW9ayLKbcAA few months ago, a senior Trump administration official wrote a controversial anonymous op-ed in the New York Times that said forces within the administration were working to rein in President Trump’s potentially damaging whims.
And in a recent interview, Trump’s departing chief of staff basically confirms it.
The Los Angeles Times interview with John F. Kelly published Sunday says:
In the phone interview Friday, Kelly defended his rocky tenure, arguing that it is best measured by what the president did not do when Kelly was at his side.
And it doesn’t get much better from there.
Apprentice Producers Struggled to Make Trump—and His Decisions—Seem Coherent
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/12/mark-burnett-profile-in-the-new-yorker-apprentice-producers-struggled-to-make-trump-and-his-decisions-seem-coherent.html?fbclid=IwAR3x8K-ScEq4BoqGiMaqljxjqN7vDJpJM8k8j9mzDOR7ZufYjJL48UmKrN0Although Trump immediately proved himself to be an ideal character for reality television, producers had to do a lot of editing work to make him seem coherent. “He wouldn’t read a script — he stumbled over the words and got the enunciation all wrong,” Katherine Walker, a producer on the show, said. “But off the cuff he delivered the kind of zesty banter that is the lifeblood of reality television.” Although editors “cleaned it up so that he was his best self,” Walker is convinced “Donald thinks that he was never edited.”
Producers didn’t just edit Trump so that his words made sense; they also made sure to make it seem as though Trump’s decisions were coherent with what happened in the challenges every week. Trump often was unprepared for the “board room” sessions and fired people “on a whim.” That sometimes meant he got rid of people who had done a good job in the challenge, so editors would go back and “reverse engineer” the episode. Show veterans see lots of parallels with what Trump is doing as president now. “I find it strangely validating to hear that they’re doing the same thing in the White House,” Jonathon Braun, an editor, said.
Left Behind by Trump’s Boom: The Rural Americans Who Elected Him
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-28/left-behind-by-trump-s-boom-the-rural-americans-who-elected-him?fbclid=IwAR2L644w5izZLxUjHK9emcieOotrURv0qhm0R_X17auSL9ZaoXw0KUAoV_8Tiffany Hensley’s drive home takes her through some picturesque scenery, and an ugly economy.
“The first thing you see when you get down here is beauty,” says Hensley, midway through her shift at a diner in the rolling hills of eastern Kentucky. “But then you get to looking around. It’s real rough.’’
Times are tough all across rural America. Nationwide numbers paint a rosy picture of accelerating growth and near-full employment. Swaths of the countryside tell a different story, its protagonists barely scraping by as their jobs drain away in the downturns and don’t come back in the booms.
Poll: Federal Employees Overwhelmingly Oppose Shutdown, Only 30 Percent Support Wall
https://www.govexec.com/pay-benefits/2018/12/poll-federal-employees-overwhelmingly-oppose-shutdown-only-30-percent-support-wall/153863/?fbclid=IwAR37tAc9WpVj5crl9F6RUVb4if-3_1BkeAqdIukyxNul8h8OxsRfUM09QuwMore than seven in 10 federal employees oppose the current partial government shutdown, though some civil servants support President Trump’s proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border so strongly they are willing to see agencies shutter.
About 71 percent of federal workers oppose the shutdown—which crawled into its 10th day on Monday—according to a new survey by Government Business Council and GovExec.com, while 22 percent support it. Nine in 10 of those supporting the shutdown do so because they support Trump’s fight for wall funding, though a small handful feel so opposed to the wall that they want agencies to close in order to block the wall from being built.
Coast Guard won’t see paychecks for several more weeks as shutdown continues
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2018/12/28/coast-guard-wont-see-paychecks-for-several-more-weeks-as-shutdown-continues/?fbclid=IwAR0-yWM08WNyglNdA_56GCXe-0fGO1ykbytNxUvPldfj5PwkAKY3yxonHtANeighbors say there's no 10-foot wall outside Obama's house
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/neighbors-say-there-s-no-10-foot-wall-outside-obama-s-house/ar-BBREKws?fbclid=IwAR3_mKzYyV6o-hb02PalG0VJudrx8g9wqCOL1Ct3AHlXQNXKn5_AqWjQfRsTwo neighbors in remarks to The Washington Post disputed Trump's characterization.
"There's a fence that goes along the front of the house, but it's the same as the other neighbors have. It's tastefully done," one neighbor, who was kept anonymous, told the newspaper.
Another neighbor also told the Post that the home is completely visible from the street.
"There is no 10-foot wall in the front, back or sides of the house - and no wall is going up," the neighbor said.
Trump on Sunday wrote in a tweet that a "wall" around the Obamas' home is the "same thing" that the U.S. needs on its southern border.
"President and Mrs. Obama built/has a ten foot Wall around their D.C. mansion/compound. I agree, totally necessary for their safety and security. The U.S. needs the same thing, slightly larger version!" he tweeted.
The wall that Trumps refers to is the wall/barrier that was built on the border between Egypt and Israel during the years 2010-2013, which stopped illegal immigration from Sudan/Eritrea into Israel, through Egyptian Sinai, along with Women Trafficking, Drugs smuggling, etc.
So there is some analogy between the two situations, although as usual, everything in America is at much greater scale (241km vs 3144km, as you said in point 4 )
Philadelphia New Years Day parade ridicules ‘pee tape’-clutching Donald Trump in hilarious dance routine
https://www.rawstory.com/2019/01/philadelphia-new-years-day-parade-ridicules-pee-tape-clutching-donald-trump-hilarious-dance-routine/?fbclid=IwAR3gmsmt9iRjrJGcgKT-cZ1r23crze0of2NvUB8ywogEBnFUAZ6gswfcdcAPhiladelphia has traditionally celebrated New Year’s Day with the Mummers Parade, involving organized clubs that dress up in feathers and clown make-up, tote accordions and banjos, and perform bizarre and often outrageous sketches that frequently touch on current events. This year was no different as the Lobster Club parodied the presidency of Donald Trump.
As Madonna’s “Material World” blared from loudspeakers, a mummer portraying Trump emerged from a set designed to look like the Oval Office, flanked by dancers in Secret Service outfits and two performers representing the Democratic and Republican Parties.
Suddenly, a shirtless Vladimir Putin appears, and dances the tango with Trump, as another dancer brandishes an enormous VHS tape with a golden letter “P” emblazoned on it. Trump takes Uncle Sam hostage and hands him over to Putin and the Russians.
All seems lost, until Philadelphia Flyers mascot and Antifa icon Gritty appears, frees Uncle Sam, and hands Trump over to the FBI.
Tear Gas Fired on Crowd of Migrants Trying to Enter U.S. by Breaching Tijuana Border Fence; 25 Detained
https://ktla.com/2019/01/01/tear-gas-fired-on-crowd-of-migrants-trying-to-enter-u-s-by-breaching-tijuana-border-fence-25-detained/U.S. authorities fired tear gas into Mexico during the first hours of the new year to repel about 150 migrants who tried to breach the border fence in Tijuana.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement later Tuesday that the gas was used to target rock throwers apart from the migrants who were trying to cross.
Why Trump Reigns as King Cyrus
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/31/opinion/trump-evangelicals-cyrus-king.html?fbclid=IwAR3adoZRhVl34GaIFNMwmBzow-4jwTQwpyQgl42N9J2C0JiJJbpJ202y4qIThe Christian right doesn’t like the president only for his judges. They like his style.
State Senator Reports to Jail Pending Verdict in Cryptocurrency Fraud Case
https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-senator-reports-to-jail-pending-verdict-in-cryptocurrency-fraud-case/amp?fbclid=IwAR39satrRf80e1_4MUvPOSYQVzKgbop8uT4OM6xh1rjTZRra4S-mX6VF7JIA Georgia state senator has reported to jail over allegedly lying about the theft of cryptocurrency mining equipment worth $300,000, The Guardian reported Dec. 27.
Republican Michael Williams, who originally reported the alleged theft in May, made a false police report and gave a false statement, court documents claim.
Williams had said servers with a value of $300,000, which had been used to mine unnamed cryptocurrencies, had disappeared from his office premises, local daily news outlet Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Dec. 20.
Why Does No One Care That Neo-Nazis Are Gaining Power In Ukraine?
https://forward.com/opinion/416751/why-does-no-one-care-that-neo-nazis-are-gaining-power-in-ukraine/Everything You Need to Know About the Women's March 2019
https://broadly.vice.com/amp/en_us/article/59v8jz/womens-march-2019-where-when?fbclid=IwAR1nFDS1RFQZqGyfsg1tM7BZ2eoe-beH1fEFrCSRzwnSkNeT17xYQ1IiCUgLocations, dates, and start times for the third annual Women's March.
The Trump Tax Cut: Even Worse Than You’ve Heard
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/01/opinion/the-trump-tax-cut-even-worse-than-youve-heard.html?partner=IFTTT&fbclid=IwAR2NA4egHarD29pcJ_rJUlOhp4UwuWDeqGkEjbCxsQSBMJgY9DVwveFKoN0The 2017 tax cut has received pretty bad press, and rightly so. Its proponents made big promises about soaring investment and wages, and also assured everyone that it would pay for itself; none of that has happened.
Yet coverage actually hasn’t been negative enough. The story you mostly read runs something like this: The tax cut has caused corporations to bring some money home, but they’ve used it for stock buybacks rather than to raise wages, and the boost to growth has been modest. That doesn’t sound great, but it’s still better than the reality: No money has, in fact, been brought home, and the tax cut has probably reduced national income. Indeed, at least 90 percent of Americans will end up poorer thanks to that cut.
Federal Employee Union Sues Government Over Shutdown, Alleging Wage Violations
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/federal-employees-shutdown-lawsuit_us_5c2a95b6e4b05c88b702f2fe?section=politics&utm_source=main_fb&utm_campaign=hp_fb_pages&utm_medium=facebook&ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063&fbclid=IwAR35AIGbkxCVhSVuBN9ThDywdR6cqBvCvjhk25ogGz58NuUl1Hgg-XkinuE&ec_carp=7932620721201494291A union representing federal workers sued the government Monday over the partial shutdown, saying it was illegal to have hundreds of thousands of employees work without pay during the funding lapse.
The American Federation of Government Employees filed the lawsuit on the shutdown’s 10th day, with no signs of an imminent resolution between Congress and the White House. The union said withholding the pay of workers who continue to clock in during the shutdown runs afoul of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Great Depression-era law establishing a minimum wage and overtime pay.
Seventy and Homeless for the First Time: The Rise of Older Women’s Homelessness
https://streetsmartaustralia.org/seventy-and-homeless-for-the-first-time-the-rise-of-older-womens-homelessness/?fbclid=IwAR1SOaZG9TL_E_U7YFjB9WwYLDBesyy6DyUTWTKi8uPnzHD-guL9qMuffqYWhile the stereotypical face of poverty is a older man – a lifetime down on his luck, the fastest growing demographic of people experiencing homelessness is single women over the age of 55.
For 15 years StreetSmart has been funding smaller grassroots organisations on the front line of community services. In recent years we have supported a number of services that are raising alarm bells about the scale of the issue, and the need for urgent reform.
This is not right. America should be able to take care of its aged and infirm.
Laura Ingraham's Radio Show Cancelled Due To Advertiser Boycott
https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/30/1822575/-Laura-Ingraham-s-Radio-Show-Cancelled-Due-To-Advertiser-Boycott?fbclid=IwAR3x-8a6iHw6huXuwlN47p8k9kWQNjg2Vjt4CzNCK5a7v99aAyKyjo88W_gThe world will be a better place in 2019, if for no other reason than Laura Ingraham has lost one of her platforms for hatemongering, her radio show previously syndicated by Courtside Entertainment Group, due to loss of advertising revenue. But before you get too excited, she’ll be replacing it with a podcast and she’s still a fixture on Fox News. Media Matters did a lengthy article on the lowlights of Ingraham’s show. If you find yourself wondering for even a moment why the RWNJs think like they do, here is the mother lode of their dogma, 17 years of it.
Ingraham fawned over Donald Trump’s bigoted rhetoric on immigration; she defended his calls for a ban on Muslims entering the United States, and even argued that the ban was “not broad enough,” claiming that she would “go farther” and be “even worse than Trump.”
She asserted that “Middle Eastern countries have got to be told… we’re cutting you off,” questioned why the U.S. should allow Muslim immigration ”knowing that we can't tell if an Islamic individual is going to be radicalized.”
She fearmongered about Muslim immigrants as “people who have dual loyalties … whether it's the Quran, or the Quranic way of thinking, versus the loyalties to the United States.”
Ingraham claimed that Trump’s assertion that Mexico is “sending rapists” is true, and stated that Mexicans “have come here to murder and rape our people.”
A nursing shortage doesn't mean society has lost compassion. It means we don't pay nurses enough
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/readersreact/la-ol-le-nursing-shortage-compassion-20180415-story.html?fbclid=IwAR2CkAqv1H-T03I0glxS0IM3gNo6ZxGbMAgCRZK_MIfqpfRUuoZy8aMjKFkCourt Concedes DNC Had the Right to Rig Primaries Against Sanders
https://observer.com/2017/08/court-admits-dnc-and-debbie-wasserman-schulz-rigged-primaries-against-sanders/?fbclid=IwAR3IY8NS_Bh-nDy-IGrflp1eBOFjxfYiipC3zyQbjxdTq2iqh2mLMQHLRDkNo. No, they didn't.
Will Trump Resign If He’s Impeached or Indicted? Amid Mueller Probe, Some See Echoes of Nixon
https://www.newsweek.com/2019/01/04/trump-impeachment-nixon-democrats-1269162.html?fbclid=IwAR0Z083vEvJfmFnhlqUTpfe6ImnNPweXwjCbGANUT9SFktnDO48Nkuke8kUTrump Class Action Says Bogus Deals Impacted Thousands of Investors
https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/lawsuit-news/862269-trump-class-action-says-bogus-deals-impacted-thousands-investors/?fbclid=IwAR1rsZaZC6FwqRZBuyibi2cErk2uXGiJ1AXyzOEmO5-DTmAe0nYX6DezWL4DONALD TRUMP'S NEW JERSEY GOLF COURSE ALLEGEDLY GAVE FAKE GREEN CARDS, SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS TO UNDOCUMENTED EMPLOYEES
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-golf-course-may-committed-immigration-crimes-1274608?fbclid=IwAR3BF36hROPVSXN5zHdTMhMaRYam6u-ZX56npftycTV-oxHz1l3ZrCOacSYBut he hates illegal immigrants, doesn't he?
If You Really Love LGBTQ People, You Just Can’t Keep Eating Chick-fil-A
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lgbtq-eating-chick-fil-a_us_5b1fb4cee4b09d7a3d770c81?utm_source=qv_fb&utm_campaign=hp_fb_pages&utm_medium=facebook&ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000050&fbclid=IwAR288BIBbD5hmMaNelO3FBDjy5WkC8jE5Fv6FA8ySdeKuYX4W-LJns8-dZoThey may have toned down the hate, but they still support Anti-LGBTQ causes and organizations
Trash and feces pile up as shutdown leaves national parks vulnerable
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/government-shutdown-national-parks-trash-human-feces-pile-up-furlough-risk/?fbclid=IwAR0jkRiWxNYj0CDiZ8tQuLdfXfE7aPP-NQSZemdzm8DT_DkUnNYzqSIws4kJust like the last shutdown!
French Resistance hero who saved hundreds of Jewish children dies aged 108
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/30/french-resistance-hero-saved-jewish-children-dies-georges-loinger?CMP=fb_gu&fbclid=IwAR0yTjD3tvvqRWglPT61gpvayU_6vR0Z3_KDy_bMSYnWTmACuWjiBNyogRsChina has never taken military force off the table. They still reserve the right to attack Taiwan in the event of a Taiwanese declaration of independence. It always struck me that the Chinese ruling class has such deep contempt for its own people that it would prefer murdering innocent Taiwanese to letting them exercise their rights.
Portland students walk out to protest school resource officers
https://katu.com/news/local/portland-students-plan-walkout-to-protest-school-resource-officers?fbclid=IwAR3MOMnTtrUq4YyzPHTQYb4IUpBz78WCXEU-Ap9RsRNESpUkCNjVeIFG6lgi.e. Cops with Guns in Schools.
Lucas said SROs make students feel unsafe, contribute to discrimination in school and their presence can lead to hostile and unsafe school environments.
"Stationing police officers in schools will further contribute to an environment of fear and distrust," Lucas said.
'Like It Was Christmas All Year:' GOP Succeeded in Making 2018 Yet Another Year the Rich Got RicherIT WASN’T JUST RUSSIA: THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA AND THE 2016 ELECTION
https://medium.com/@susanbordo/it-wasnt-just-russia-the-mainstream-media-and-the-2016-election-b35a07bdcecc?fbclid=IwAR3-0Dd_DytVuAl4y1zJ06PGE0t20ch3_5viChnNo0K1ysddCoqIRl5FHFEThey helped Trump by following the stories and labels he created.
‘There’s a lot of talk in the active ranks’ about Trump’s insults against military leaders: Retired general
https://www.rawstory.com/2019/01/theres-lot-talk-active-ranks-trumps-terrible-treatment-military-leaders-retired-general/?fbclid=IwAR2tp8tt6wdh34cVRZuGlD8VT3ythZakME3x7nWL8V8olJebrSGFeQ_shrkReacting to Trump attacking Ret. Gen. Stanley McChrystal by ridiculing his military career, Hertling said that such disrespect for anyone who has risked their life serving their country is shocking for many in the military.
Newly Elected Rep. Max Rose Vows to donate his salary to Charity During Shutdown
videohttp://www.msnbc.com/andrea-mitchell-reports/watch/rep-elect-max-rose-not-taking-salary-during-shutdown-1417925699833?fbclid=IwAR2lfV40nh-2fj_kIvYpLw5WCKQuj7e0YMeAlVvONsjMZlyRvpJNkN2-BvY
Mitt Romney: Trump failing the U.S. as a world leader
https://www.axios.com/mitt-romney-criticize-donald-trump-washington-post-74fd1ad8-a8cb-458a-b582-019f26971c24.html?fbclid=IwAR0ZyJsq5MOVoJm6A0ZXqRolb4tcEdw8V86O7akEOojWrb6PnT9DYeEQd9sTwo days before he'll be sworn in as the newest senator from Utah, Mitt Romney criticized President Trump as having "not risen to the mantle of the office” in an op-ed for the Washington Post.
The big picture: After excoriating Trump in a scripted appearance during the 2016 campaign, Romney has largely held his tongue in the first two years of the Trump presidency and stayed under the radar as he made — and won — his bid for the Senate.
Democrats to ask for 10 years of presidential tax returns in new bill
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/02/politics/trump-tax-returns-democrats/index.html?utm_term=link&utm_medium=social&utm_content=2019-01-02T20:28:04&utm_source=fbCNNpDemocrats are making presidential tax returns a focal point in one of their first pieces of legislation, an effort to build the case to the American people that time is up on President Donald Trump keeping his own tax returns from the public, shutting what could be a window into his personal wealth.
According to two sources familiar with the discussions, Democrats will include a provision in their new bill that would require presidential nominees to disclose 10 years of tax returns shortly after they become the nominee. Vice presidents would also be required to disclose a decade of returns. The tax returns would then be posted on the Federal Election Commission's website for public viewing.
New report shows just how badly Trump and his "EPA" have already poisoned our environment
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/30/1821897/-A-new-report-shows-just-how-badly-Trump-and-his-EPA-have-already-poisoned-the-environment?detail=facebook&fbclid=IwAR0O4I_mRq8JDA8CoUaifdXHv9EZ4OFfCX40pkXssf-IofZbwcMNTe3RPLgNot good news. At all.
Trump’s wall is a monument to vanity and bigotry
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trumps-wall-is-a-monument-to-vanity-and-bigotry/2018/12/31/361a7478-0d43-11e9-84fc-d58c33d6c8c7_story.html?fbclid=IwAR3xNtfrFRMT2EtfNxLHEIfQNlaFQiL1g_tzCqNMmaLNTM5X4ekNBBYcDuA&utm_term=.8b4145058e70If it ever gets built, it will be forever, the "Trump Wall".
Trump invites congressional leaders to White House for wall briefing
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/01/government-shutdown-update-trump-congress-1077368?fbclid=IwAR1DABmE1yggGc894B2AjvxCLx-E0QN5Xgk4frbtbGIQdxCGqjyXr9vAz74A non-starter, across the board.
I Was A Cable Guy. I Saw The Worst Of America.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cable-tech-dick-cheney-sex-dungeon_us_5c0ea571e4b06484c9fd4c21?ncid=engmodushpmg00000003&fbclid=IwAR1sBVoceJbkLtj6R_kDToJt_KfXvngvdwCe33XWoO0FvDvFsNNQwG9jTooAn interesting and surprising read.
13-year-old girl stabs 14-year-old boy in Bronx high school cafeteria, police say
https://abc7ny.com/nypd-13-year-old-girl-stabs-14-year-old-boy-in-bronx-high-school/5005401/?sf205276400=1No idea why.
New York gets a non-binary option on birth certificates starting today
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2019/01/new-york-gets-non-binary-option-birth-certificates-starting-today/?fbclid=IwAR01N-MxE4hXBCVuctlexD9PrUSaHwzmWSDmNadRTV-AQWyBMzL7uXsJ71cThe President will hate this, bearing in mind he thinks there are no transgendered people.
The future stability of China is also a structural issue. China since the communist revolution has always of course been authoritarian, but since the time of Mao power has been quite widely dispersed - not just through the national committee structure, but regionally as well. In recent years though Xi Jinping has successfully taken a lot of that power back into his own personal hands and the country is becoming much more like a classical dictatorship. In the short term that increases the chance of confrontation due to personal clashes, while in the longer term there is great potential for disruption and power struggles at the point where Xi dies or loses his grip.
A 51 percent majority of Americans now say Trump deserves at least some responsibility for the shutdown, with 44 percent saying Democrats in Congress bear some responsibility, and 36 percent saying that Republicans in Congress do.
A Reuters/Ipsos survey conducted just before Christmas found that 47 percent of Americans considered Trump most blame-worthy, with 33 percent laying the bulk of responsibility on congressional Democrats and 7 percent pinning it on congressional Republicans.
My question is how can people be so easily fooled? 7 percent on Congressional Republicans who colluded with Trump to shutdown the government before, thank God, being sent out of Congress. This is totally a republican shutdown, how can they not see it?
Dems had no input on the Republican shutdown. House Republicans did it at Trump bidding. Now Senate Republicans will prolong the Republican shutdown.
They controlled the House, the Senate, and the Presidency and the dysfunctional idiots shut down the government three times in 2018. By themselves. The GOP cannot be allowed to govern any more.
They are totally corrupt and obviously don't believe in government. They are completely owned by corporations and actively working to harm Americans health in a many pronged assault on healthcare, the EPA (protections of clean water, clean air, dangerous chemicals are being loosened), and willfully ignoring climate change reality.
Trump uses federal funds to bypass the shutdown and open federal property connected to his hotel
https://www.rawstory.com/2019/01/trump-uses-federal-funds-bypasses-shutdown-open-federal-property-connected-hotel/?fbclid=IwAR2DwSOV0Qp_Uc2x0qEdBFR-Eys58cUwzEh0Vr8rns3tYkwRr7W9_CDQo1IWhile many federal employees are furloughed or out of work, one agency found funds to keep the Old Post Office Tower at the Trump International Hotel in DC open during the government shutdown.
This guy made physical flip-flops out of Trump's contradictory tweets — and he sold out his entire inventory in less than a month
https://www.businessinsider.com/president-trump-flip-flops-made-from-tweets-2018-12?fbclid=IwAR24lzJHek-yJh5Hw-SX1H0JiWeeod0PIpNpMVdlyTf4ZJuU8HiLRZgAkOsBetter watch out, he might be sued....
Liberal revolt threatens to derail House Democrats on their first day in charge
https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/liberal-revolt-threatens-to-derail-house-democrats-on-their-first-day-in-charge/2019/01/02/691a4976-0eaa-11e9-8938-5898adc28fa2_story.html?fbclid=IwAR08xi6S44NS6gq3-fabe2KamNzoNzpYuglSHbDsmgX2qqPBP5joX92zLUE&utm_term=.e7d9afab8eadOh, poor things.
Meet The Press learns to call 'Bullshit!'
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/30/1822443/-Meet-The-Press-learns-to-call-Bullshit?detail=emaildkreIt's about time!
A telling response from the whitehouse.gov contact page
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/30/1822582/-A-telling-response-from-the-whitehouse-gov-contact-page?detail=emaildkreThe Saudis are up to their necks in another scandal involving the death a 15 yr old American Girl
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/28/1822218/-The-Saudis-are-up-to-their-necks-in-another-scandal-involving-the-death-a-15-yr-old-American-Girl?detail=emaildkre::Sigh.::
The tweet of desperation to convince us we need a wall. Comparing houses to countries.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/30/1822552/-The-tweet-of-desperation-to-convince-us-we-need-a-wall-Comparing-houses-to-countries-Eyeroll?detail=emaildkrePresident and Mrs. Obama built/has a ten foot Wall around their D.C. mansion/compound. I agree, totally necessary for their safety and security. The U.S. needs the same thing, slightly larger version!
Well, #1- they do not actually have a 10 foot wall around their house. Just a regular one, according to their meighbors...
Rep.-elect Ocasio-Cortez fires back on Twitter after being called a 'shiny new object'
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/30/1822439/-Rep-elect-Ocasio-Cortez-fires-back-on-Twitter-after-being-called-a-shiny-new-object?detail=emaildkreKansas, we got a problem: Grinch kicks Black toddler in back, faces misdemeanor charges
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/29/1822243/-Kansas-we-got-a-problem-Grinch-kicks-Black-toddler-in-back-faces-misdemeanor-charges?detail=emaildkre Only a misdemeanor for child assault and battery?Outgoing Trump chief of staff John Kelly assures nation he never did anything illegal
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/30/1822477/-Outgoing-Trump-chief-of-staff-John-Kelly-assures-nation-he-never-did-anything-illegal?detail=emaildkreI'm sure some people are reassured.
Netflix censors MBS (and Trump) critic Hasan Minhaj, at Saudi Arabia's request
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/1/1822879/-Netflix-censors-MBS-and-Trump-critic-Hasan-Minhaj-at-Saudi-Arabia-s-request?detail=emaildkreEvangelicals: God Sent Trump to be King
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/1/1822839/-Evangelicals-God-Sent-Trump-to-be-King?detail=emaildkreWho knew God was actually Ha-Satan?
Unbeknownst to people with even a tenuous grip on reality, prior to the midterms a thousand theaters showed “The Trump Prophecy,” a film about a firefighter who, in a blinding orgiastic epiphany, picks up a Bible and turns to Isaiah 45, “which describes the anointment of King Cyrus by God.” Get it, Isaiah “45” — Trump “45”? What more proof do you need, right?
Trump Enlists Washington Examiner As Newest Arm Of State Controlled Media
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/1/1822881/-Trump-Enlists-Washington-Examiner-As-Newest-Arm-Of-State-Owned-Media?detail=emaildkreCold-Blooded Murder - Of a 7 Year Old.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/1/1822892/-Cold-Blooded-Murder-Of-a-7-Year-Old?detail=emaildkreThe father of a 7-year-old girl killed in a drive-by shooting pleaded with the public to help authorities in the manhunt for a gunman who opened fire on a mother and children in a car near a Houston-area Walmart.
"I just want anybody, whoever, out there that knows anything about the murder of my daughter, to just please step up as if it was your own," an emotional Christopher Cevilla told reporters on Monday. "Just put yourself in my shoes, in my family's shoes."
Appalling: Arkansas kicks 17,000 people off Medicaid in three months; other states plan to join in
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/2/1822867/-Arkansas-kick-17k-people-off-Medicaid-due-to-Trump-work-requirements-other-states-joining-the-fray?detail=emaildkreRomney's Criticism of drumpf Has Caused the GOP to Lose What's Left of Their G#*&!D#! Minds.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/2/1822997/-Romney-s-Criticism-of-drumpf-Has-Caused-the-GOP-to-Lose-What-s-Left-of-The-G-amp-D-Minds?detail=emaildkreTrump has literally trashed Washington, D.C., the nation
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/2/1822969/-Trump-has-literally-trashed-Washington-D-C-the-nation?detail=emaildkreAs the Mueller heat rises Trump starts to flail and meltdown, he may soon fully evaporate
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/12/31/1822689/-As-the-Mueller-heat-rises-Trump-starts-to-flail-and-meltdown-he-may-soon-fully-evaporate?detail=emaildkreWhat else did Trump shut down? The tool employers use to check new employees' citizenship!
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/2/1822963/-Know-what-else-Trump-shut-down-The-tool-that-employers-use-to-check-an-employee-s-citizenship?detail=emaildkreNielsen and Kelly can never wash their hands of their family separation policy
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/2/1822971/-Nielsen-and-Kelly-can-never-wash-their-hands-of-their-family-separation-policy?detail=emaildkreI bet you if the same people were polled, it would be 47% of Americans don’t want a wall, 33% want a wall and that extra 7% just want to go back to work, or get a marriage liecence or enjoy a national park.
There is no "debate" to be had here about blame. Over 60% of the country has no interest in wall funding. Trump has repeatedly and emphatically told us hundreds if not thousands of times that Mexico, not the American taxpayer, was going to foot the bill. He personally told Chuck Schumer in a televised discussion that he would be the one to shut down the government and that he would take the blame. And now he is holding his breath until he turns blue. Because the policy in the White House is being dictated by Rush Limabaugh and Ann Coulter.
Yet, what is one of the first things Nancy Pelosi is asked on NBC News in an interview?? Whether or not Democrats bear half the blame. The high church of both-siderism strikes again. The President has made it abundantly clear this is his choice, that he is going to hold the paychecks and functions of the federal government hostage for his xenophobic vanity project. But of course, it's up to the Democrats to give ice cream for breakfast to a child who whines long enough, or they are also part of the problem. The national political media in a nutshell. The government has already been shutdown for two weeks under total Republican control, yet the blame game is already shifting hours before the Democrats even take control. Same thing happened in 2008, when the moment Obama was in office to try clean up Bush's shitshow, people were asking him why it wasn't happening faster. Never fails. This is why we can't have nice things.
This happens every time. When a Republican win takes place, everyone is supposed to bend the knee. When a Democratic win takes place, the immediate question is "how quickly and how much are you going to compromise with Republicans"?? In this case, we are talking about compromise with a man who couldn't possibly be trusted to stick to a reached agreement if his life depended on it. I'd sooner negotiate with a bowl of jello than Donald Trump. What is the point?? There is a 75% chance he will watch Sean Hannity later that night and change his demands. This is why many on the left laugh out loud at the idea of the media being "liberal". Because for over 30 years, they have gone out of their way to make every single issue a 50/50 split, at the cost of all the facts surrounding it.
Want another example?? Elizabeth Warren has taken the first steps to declaring a run for President in 2020. What surfaced immediately were a myriad of articles by the national political press about her "likability". Gee, where have I heard that old chestnut before?? In the meantime, Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell have approval numbers significantly lower than genital herpes, yet no one mentions a word about how "likable" they are in any context. No, that is reserved for people like Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, and Elizabeth Warren. I wonder why..........