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Megillah Gorilla posted:Tourists spend huge amounts of money which goes to local businesses which benefits the economy which leads to more tax income. I now believe tourists should have to pay triple.
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Feb 2, 2020 03:43
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VideoGameVet posted:That’s a tourist thing? Yes? Everybody always talks about how it was like a key piece of commuter infrastructure in the 40s without which the central business district of LA would have ground to a halt or something. I don't get it
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Feb 2, 2020 04:14
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Why Iowa? washingtonpost.com/January 30, 2020 "Iowa is a fairy tale. Somewhere between the crumbling bridges, the meth clinics, the jackknifed tractor trailers, the zombie combines steered by satellite, the putrid purgatories for dinner-bound hogs — somewhere among the wannabe novelists and suicidal farmers and drooling cage fighters sponsored by bargain hotel chains, down rutted byways to giant wind turbines, alongside ditches oozing with nitrates and Busch Light — is a loose menagerie of utopia, where Americans are pleasant, responsible and cooperative, where they pass down their civic duty like a trust fund, where they still have one hand in the fallowing topsoil, the other locked in fellowship with their neighbor, and their eyes on the future of the republic. This frontage road of a state, this frozen slab of soybean fields and carpenter gothic, has threshed the Democratic presidential candidates for a year now, and it will make the first winnowing of the field Monday, when about 0.1 percent of the country’s registered voters — after being harassed by campaigns and spoiled with millions of dollars — could set the course for the rest of our lives. Some people, as usual, aren’t happy about it." Trump administration reveals it's blocking dozens of emails about Ukraine aid freeze, including President's role cnn.com/February 1, 2020 "The Department of Justice revealed in a court filing late Friday that it has two dozen emails related to President Donald Trump's involvement in the withholding of millions in security assistance to Ukraine -- a disclosure that came just hours after the Senate voted against subpoenaing additional documents and witnesses in Trump's impeachment trial, paving the way for his acquittal." Republicans Aren’t Just Lying. They Are Doing So Shamelessly washingtonmonthly.com/January 31, 2020 Charities steered $65 million to Trump lawyer Sekulow and family fortune.com/January 31, 2020 "Jay Sekulow, one of President Donald Trump’s lead attorneys during the impeachment trial, is being paid for his legal work through a rented $80-a-month mailbox a block away from the White House." Pelosi says Trump lawyers have 'disgraced' themselves, suggests disbarment thehill.com/01/30/20 The GOP doesn’t deserve to survive this debacle washingtonpost.com/washingtonpost.com/Feb. 1, 2020 "I was recently asked if I would ever rejoin the Republican Party after having registered as an independent the day after President Trump’s election in 2016. The answer is an emphatic no. Trump will leave office some day (I hope!), but he will leave behind a quasi-authoritarian party that is as corrupt as he is. The failure to call witnesses in Trump’s impeachment trial revealed the GOP’s moral failure." Parnas lawyer offers McConnell info ‘directly relevant’ to trial msnbc.com/01/31/20 Trump rape accuser E Jean Carroll asks for DNA sample from president, lawyers say independent.co.uk/1 day ago Trump Administration Adds Six Countries to Travel Ban nytimes.com/Jan. 31, 2020 House Judiciary Committee says it could draft ‘new articles of impeachment’ against Trump cnbc.com/Dec 23 2019 [Old. Maybe.] Gun-toting protesters in camo condemn red flag laws at Kentucky Capitol courier-journal.com/Jan. 31, 2020 A Nashville Art School Will Purge All Non-Christian Faculty Now That It Has Been Taken Over by a Religious University artnet.com/ January 31, 2020 Watch: News Anchor Shows Americans Real Size of Wealth Gap—Using American Pie commondreams.org/February 01, 2020 How Black Lives Matter Is Changing What Students Learn During Black History Month time.com/January 31, 2020 Franklin Graham’s UK tour left in tatters as nearly every venue drops anti-LGBT hate preacher pinknews.co.uk/January 31, 2020 Guardian to ban advertising from fossil fuel firms theguardian.com/29 Jan 2020
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Feb 2, 2020 04:31
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Who's bright idea was it to start calling cops a race?
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Feb 2, 2020 05:47
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Freakazoid_ posted:Who's bright idea was it to start calling cops a race? I know, right? The word is species.
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Feb 2, 2020 07:02
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Taxpayers Get $3.4 Million Tab So Trump Can Host Super Bowl Party For His Club Members huffpost.com/02/02/2020 "Taxpayers shelled out another $3.4 million to send President Donald Trump to Florida this weekend so he could host a Super Bowl party for paying guests at his for-profit golf course." Pompeo says denying credentials to NPR sends "perfect message about press freedoms" axios.com/4 hours ago "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo defended the State Department's decision to deny NPR press credentials for his trip to Europe following his confrontation with reporter Mary Louise Kelly, stating in an interview in Kazakhstan Sunday that it sends "a perfect message about press freedoms" to the world." [Perfect.] Sen. Ernst says Trump handled Ukraine in 'wrong manner' cnn.com/videos/ 'Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) defended President Donald Trump's actions with Ukraine but said "he could have done it through different channels."' [GOP messaging before the SOTU and Acquittal vote approaching near perfect synchronicity.] ‘Move for a mistrial’: Legal analyst says Adam Schiff must end Senate trial before GOP acquits Trump rawstory.com/February 2, 2020 [Not normally a LOLer, but LOL.] Democrats gear up for State of the Union protests as impeachment lingers thehill.com/02/02/20 "A number of House Democrats are gearing up to stage protests against President Trump's State of the Union address once again Tuesday, this time after voting to impeach him. Female Democrats are reprising their coordinated white outfits to show solidarity with women, and, as in years past, at least a handful of lawmakers are considering or planning to boycott Trump’s speech in the House chamber entirely." Chile is preparing to rewrite its constitution. Why are people still protesting? washingtonpost.com/Feb. 1, 2020 "When ordinarily stable Chile became the latest Latin American nation to erupt in violent protest in October, President Sebastián Piñera began offering concessions: suspending subway rate increases, raising pensions, reshuffling his cabinet, agreeing to a rewrite of the dictatorship-era constitution. But while those steps calmed the protests over inequality and cost-of-living pressures that left at least 20 dead and 2,500 wounded, hundreds of mostly young people are still demonstrating weekly, and clashing with security forces — with sometimes deadly results. A group of people leaving a soccer game in Santiago on Tuesday threw rocks at police, a target of the protesters’ ire since the October demonstrations. A police vehicle ran over and killed a 37-year-old man. Video of the incident provoked public outrage; soccer fans called for protests on Friday. On Thursday, a 22-year-old protester was struck and killed by a public bus.”
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Feb 3, 2020 03:16
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In Private, Republicans Admit They Acquitted Trump Out of Fear nytimes.com/Opinion/Feb. 5, 2020 By Sherrod Brown Mr. Brown is a Democratic senator from Ohio. 'One journalist remarked to me, “How in the world can these senators walk around here upright when they have no backbone?”' .... "In the United States Senate, like in many spheres of life, fear does the business." .... 'Fear has a way of bending us. Late in the evening on day four of the trial I saw it, just 10 feet across the aisle from my seat at Desk 88, when Mr. Schiff told the Senate: “CBS News reported last night that a Trump confidant said that Republican senators were warned, ‘Vote against the president and your head will be on a pike.’” The response from Republicans was immediate and furious. Several groaned and protested and muttered, “Not true.” But pike or no pike, Mr. Schiff had clearly struck a nerve. (In the words of Lizzo: truth hurts.) Of course, the Republican senators who have covered for Mr. Trump love what he delivers for them. But Vice President Mike Pence would give them the same judges, the same tax cuts, the same attacks on workers’ rights and the environment. So that’s not really the reason for their united chorus of “not guilty.” For the stay-in-office-at-all-cost representatives and senators, fear is the motivator. They are afraid that Mr. Trump might give them a nickname like “Low Energy Jeb” and “Lyin’ Ted,” or that he might tweet about their disloyalty. Or — worst of all — that he might come to their state to campaign against them in the Republican primary. They worry: “Will the hosts on Fox attack me?” “Will the mouthpieces on talk radio go after me?” “Will the Twitter trolls turn their followers against me?” My colleagues know they all just might. There’s an old Russian proverb: The tallest blade of grass is the first cut by the scythe. In private, many of my colleagues agree that the president is reckless and unfit. They admit his lies. And they acknowledge what he did was wrong. They know this president has done things Richard Nixon never did. And they know that more damning evidence is likely to come out. So watching the mental contortions they perform to justify their votes is painful to behold: They claim that calling witnesses would have meant a never-ending trial. They tell us they’ve made up their minds, so why would we need new evidence? They say to convict this president now would lead to the impeachment of every future president — as if every president will try to sell our national security to the highest bidder. I have asked some of them, “If the Senate votes to acquit, what will you do to keep this president from getting worse?” Their responses have been shrugs and sheepish looks. They stop short of explicitly saying that they are afraid. We all want to think that we always stand up for right and fight against wrong. But history does not look kindly on politicians who cannot fathom a fate worse than losing an upcoming election. They might claim fealty to their cause — those tax cuts — but often it’s a simple attachment to power that keeps them captured. As Senator Murray said on the Senate floor in 2002, “We can act out of fear” or “we can stick to our principles.” Unfortunately, in this Senate, fear has had its way. In November, the American people will have theirs.' Trump’s SOTU Speech Bristled With Fascist Politics truthout.org/February 5, 2020 "The ghost of Orwell has never been far from Trump’s misleading rhetoric, outright lies, dehumanizing invective and punitive policies. All of the latter were on full display in Trump’s 2020 State of the Union address. Trump’s speech moved between the kind of absolutes one expects from demagogues, including comments that ranged from how great America is (overlooking how millions live in poverty and millions have lost health care under Trump) and how the U.S. economy is in an unprecedented boom (when in reality it grew at its slowest pace since 2016)." [Mussolini.gif] Several Democrats walked out of the State of the Union: 'It's all fake' theweek.com/February 4, 2020 "Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), and Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) all walked out of the State of the Union." Former Marine Walks Out of Trump's State of the Union Address, Calls President a 'Draft Dodger' newsweek.com/2/5/20 "Seth Moulton, a representative from Massachusetts, explained on Twitter that he walked out of the president's annual speech to Congress when Trump began talking about his "record-breaking" investments and support of the U.S. military." .... '"I left the #SOTU after Trump—a draft dodger who has mocked Sen. John McCain, Gold Star families, and soldiers with traumatic brain injury—started talking about the good he has done for our military," Moulton wrote.' Parkland father removed from State of the Union speech after shouting at Trump miamiherald.com/February 04, 2020 More U.S. Veterans Have Committed Suicide In The Last Decade Than Died In The Vietnam War "Since 2008, more than 60,000 U.S. veterans have taken their own lives, with more than half of those deaths via firearms." White House threatens to veto Puerto Rico earthquake aid package ahead of House vote washingtonpost.com/Feb. 5, 2020 "The White House issued a veto threat Wednesday over a $4.7 billion emergency aid package intended to help Puerto Rico recover from a series of damaging earthquakes." Rosa Parks Was My Aunt. It's Time to Set the Record Straight shondaland.com/Feb 4, 2019 "The quiet, tired seamstress caricature isn't her real story." https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/02/05/reject-cover-up-protests-take-place-after-expected-trump-acquittal/4668495002/ usatoday.com/Feb 5, 2020 "REJECT THE COVERUP" 270+ 'Reject the Cover-Up' Protests Planned Across US as Senate GOP Prepares to Acquit Trump commondreams.org/February 05, 2020 "The Senate has failed to hold Trump accountable, so the American people will."
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Feb 6, 2020 02:25
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Data Graham posted:Everybody always talks about how it was like a key piece of commuter infrastructure in the 40s without which the central business district of LA would have ground to a halt or something. I don't get it in all fairness i wouldn't want to walk that hill as my daily commute in the days when everyone had to wear a suit, tie, and hat no matter
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Feb 6, 2020 19:17
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GhostofJohnMuir posted:in all fairness i wouldn't want to walk that hill as my daily commute in the days when everyone had to wear a suit, tie, and hat no matter And no deodorant.
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Feb 6, 2020 19:36
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Fox News Judge Says Trump's Acquittal Is 'A Legal Assault On The Constitution' He Accomplished By 'Manipulating Senate Republicans' newsweek.com/2/6/20 [Newsweek/Fox, whatever, poke it at your FB parents.] Acquittal is not exoneration cnn.com/February 6, 2020 [Ibid.] 'In Law School They Called This Conflict of Interest': Tlaib Objects to Paid Bloomberg Staffers on DNC Committees commondreams.org/February 06, 2020 The right needs to stop falsely claiming that the Nazis were socialists washingtonpost.com/Feb. 5, 2020 "The Nazis hated socialists. It was the governments that rebuilt Europe that embraced social welfare programs." Rightwing pundit says his “Fa***ts are Maggots” tour was “inspired by” Donald Trump lgbtqnation.com/February 5, 2020 Pastor: If God Didn’t Exist, I Would Murder This Guy Who Questioned My Faith friendlyatheist.patheos.com/February 5, 2020 Virginia becomes first southern state to pass sweeping LGBTQ nondiscrimination bill nbc12.com/ February 6, 2020 "The legislation not only adds sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes in housing, employment and public accommodations, it establishes a new framework for people who feel they’ve been discriminated against to take legal action against the offending party. Those causes of action would also apply to discrimination based on race, age, sex, religion, pregnancy, veteran status and other categories." ACLU Sues Montana Over Keystone XL Protest Plans nytimes.com//aponline/Feb. 6, 2020 "Civil liberties advocates are taking Montana officials to court to force the public release of documents detailing the government’s planned response to anticipated protests against the Keystone XL oil pipeline. The ACLU of Montana filed a lawsuit Thursday in state District Court in Helena against the Department of Emergency Services and the Division of Criminal Investigation. The American Civil Liberties Union alleges the two agencies are involved in a coordinated effort by federal and state officials to crack down on protesters if the pipeline is built."
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Feb 7, 2020 03:43
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Otteration posted:ACLU Sues Montana Over Keystone XL Protest Plans My band released a remix album with all sales going to the ACLU of Montana, so this pleases me. The previous single was on a #NODAPL benefit compilation.
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Feb 7, 2020 04:35
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First of all, thanks otteration for curating the news so well and keeping people informed. I wanted to share two news pieces that some may have already seen. Trump Administration Finalizes Plans To Allow Development On Downsized Monuments https://www.npr.org/2020/02/06/803467297/trump-administration-finalizes-plans-to-allow-development-on-downsized-monuments Trump Is Blowing Up a National Monument in Arizona to Make Way for the Border Wall https://theintercept.com/2020/02/06/border-wall-construction-organ-pipe/ BLM lands are one of the most amazing things about the Southwest. The changes to Escalante are purely motivated by greed and a desire to overturn Obama legislation. The motivations for what's happening in Organ Pipe are also blatantly apparent. I encourage anyone reading to just take a minute or two to call your national Rep and Senators to implore them to protect these lands. These are not just Arizona or Utah lands. These are everyone's land to enjoy and explore.
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Feb 7, 2020 06:47
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Vinestalk posted:First of all, thanks otteration for curating the news so well and keeping people informed. Thanks, and thanks for adding content!  Monumental optics: Trump Administration Moves to Open Two Utah Monuments for Mining and Drilling time.com/February 7, 2020 'U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah also offered praise to the Trump administration for moving ahead with the plans, one day after he earned the ire of the GOP and Trump by voting to convict the president in the impeachment trial. “I appreciate the work that the president and Secretary Bernhardt have done with our state to develop plans that will allow more of our land to be used for recreation, grazing, and management practices,” Romney said in a statement.'
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Feb 8, 2020 03:21
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get that racist rat
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Feb 8, 2020 03:39
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gohmak posted:get that racist rat
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Feb 8, 2020 04:58
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Pelosi Statement on President Trump’s Retaliation Against Lieutenant Colonel Vindman speaker.gov/newsroom/February 7, 2020 '“Lieutenant Colonel Vindman has proven to be an American patriot: on the battlefield when he earned a Purple Heart, and in the House trial when he spoke truth to power. His brave testimony showed America that right still matters. “President Trump is impeached forever. The shameful firing of Colonel Vindman was a clear and brazen act of retaliation that showcases the President’s fear of the truth. The President’s vindictiveness is precisely what led Republican Senators to be accomplices to his cover-up. The firing of this patriotic soldier is a sad and shameless loss for America’s security. “History will remember Lieutenant Colonel Vindman as an American hero.” Report: Trump Organization Is Bilking Taxpayers and Lying About It nymag.com/intelligencer/10:31 A.M. 'President Trump has been claiming that his Ukraine extortion scheme was motivated by an earnest concern about corruption. The president and his allies say they are so outraged that Hunter Biden made money off his relationship to a sitting vice-president that they held up military aid to Ukraine, and are opening an investigation into the matter now, half a decade later. “I probably have a legal obligation, Mr. Attorney, to report corruption,” Trump told the country yesterday. Meanwhile Trump is engaged in massive personal, ongoing corruption. The Washington Post has obtained Secret Service receipts from Trump’s properties. It reveals a massive profiteering scandal.' Former US drone operator recalls dropping a missile on Afghanistan children and says military is ‘worse than the Nazis’ independent.co.uk/9 hours ago "A former US drone operator is speaking out against the atrocities he says he was forced to inflict during his time in the armed forces and says the American military as ‘worse than the Nazis’. Brandon Bryant was enlisted in the US Air Force for six years. During his time with the military, he operated Predator drones, remotely firing missiles at targets more than 7,000 miles away from the small room containing his workspace near Las Vegas, Nevada." GOP senators face new loyalty test: Whether to approve Trump’s controversial Fed nominee Judy Shelton washingtonpost.com/Feb. 7, 2020 "‘There are a lot of questions about her,’ said GOP Sen. Richard C. Shelby. Her views on gold, ending deposit insurance and having the Fed work closer with the White House make many economists uneasy." .... "An outspoken critic of the Federal Reserve, Shelton is best known for her controversial views on monetary policy. She has suggested that the United States does not need a fully independent central bank and has advocated for the nation to return to something akin to the gold standard. Several GOP senators on the Banking Committee said they have questions for her. The Senate Banking Committee is split along party lines, 13 to 12, so yes votes from all Republicans will probably be necessary to advance her confirmation." [Admitted repost from earlier. "uneasy" should = "violently vomiting". Extra quotes from the article may be available upon request.] I'm an Iowa Evangelical and a Registered Republican—and I Won't Vote for Trump Again | Opinion newsweek.com/2/3/20 "I won't, under any circumstances, vote for Trump again. After more than three years under his administration, our country is more divided and isolated than at any time in my memory. He's supported some causes that I support, but overwhelmingly he's proven himself a cruel, dishonest and self-serving man who lacks concern for the U.S. Constitution. Because of his character he is unwilling to humble himself enough to learn and grow. His presidency doesn't reflect my values and I don't want four more years of it." An Antarctic base recorded a temperature of 64.9 degrees F. If confirmed, it's a record high. nbcnews.com/Feb. 7, 2020 "The World Meteorological Organization says the Antarctic Peninsula, on the continent’s northwest tip near South America, is among the fastest warming regions on Earth." Actress who voices Lisa Simpson character knocks Pompeo tweet: 'F--- you for co-opting my character' thehill.com/02/06/20 'Smith took to Twitter after President Trump’s State of the Union to slam the Trump official for tweeting an image of Lisa Simpson tearfully ripping up a sheet of paper — an apparent dig at Pelosi after she tore a copy of the president's speech at the end of the address Tuesday night. “I might just add f--- you @mikepompeo for co-opting my character to troll @SpeakerPelosi. Be a leader and fight you own fight! Oh, wait I forgot, you’re a follower,” Smith wrote.' Lincoln and Marx jacobinmag.com/08.28.2012 Protests, Discontent Roil Andean Nations courthousenews.com/February 7, 2020 "Five people were killed this week as protests against government repression continue in Chile. The widespread protests began with massive rallies in October and show no sign of abating. Human Rights Watch found compelling evidence that police used excessive force against protesters, injuring thousands of people, whether they were engaged in violent actions or not." .... "After the outbreak of the largest protests in the history of Chile, the government agreed to initiate a process to draft a new constitution." [No sign of abating.]
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Feb 8, 2020 05:08
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GhostofJohnMuir posted:in all fairness i wouldn't want to walk that hill as my daily commute in the days when everyone had to wear a suit, tie, and hat no matter Angel's flight is not at its original location.
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Feb 8, 2020 06:02
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Lambert posted:Angel's flight is not at its original location. Are you telling me that documentary by Joss Whedon wasn't correct?
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Feb 8, 2020 08:55
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Lambert posted:Angel's flight is not at its original location. ok, but i'm going to go out on a limb and say that it originally went up a steep incline and my point stands
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Feb 8, 2020 19:19
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Seems like an oddly specific commute. It was obviously never an integral part of public transit, but a tourist attraction and curiosity.
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Feb 8, 2020 19:58
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ICE Is Using Location Data From Games and Apps to Track and Arrest Immigrants, Report Says vice.com/Feb 7 2020 "ICE and CBP have reportedly spent more than $1.2 million to get access to the phone location data." ICE agents, while arresting undocumented Mexican immigrant, wind up shooting second man in wild Brooklyn street brawl nydailynews.com/Feb 06, 2020 "Eric Diaz-Cruz, 26, who lived in the house with his mom and Avendano-Hernandez, was tasered and then shot by one of the ICE agents, while Avendano-Hernandez was also zapped with a taser. The ICE agent who shot Diaz-Cruz pointed his weapon “straight to the face” before pulling the trigger, with the bullet tearing through the victim’s hand and then into his face, said his brother Kevin Yanez-Cruz, 19.' A judge overturned the convictions of four volunteers who left food and water for migrants in the desert cnn.com/February 6, 2020 "After four aid volunteers entered an Arizona wildlife refuge in 2017 and left jugs of water and cans of beans for undocumented migrants to find, the volunteers were found guilty of breaking federal law. Now, a federal judge has overturned their convictions." Federal judge deals major blow to ICE practice of asking local police to detain people latimes.com/Feb. 7, 2020 "A federal judge in Los Angeles this week issued his final judgment in a long-running immigration case, upending the way Immigration and Customs Enforcement uses local police to detain people it suspects of being in the country illegally." Plan to probe Bidens sparks GOP divisions thehill.com/February 07, 2020 "Other GOP senators are warning that it's time for the Senate to move on after a weeks-long divisive fight that left scars on the chamber's normally clubby atmosphere." Trump’s Acquittal Shows The GOP Senate Acts Like A Cult huffpost.com/ 02/07/2020 "Republican senators blocked evidence and used lies, conspiracy theories and convoluted arguments to defend their leader." America’s fatal flaw: The founders assumed our leaders would have some basic decency rawstory.com/February 8, 2020 "No historian or political scientist has better explained the fragility of American democracy than a poet. When I interviewed the poet Rita Dove three years ago, she offered the following assessment of exactly how a sociopathic president like Donald Trump could inflict irreparable damage on institutions of governance, and the norms — written and unwritten — that have directed them for centuries:" "Much of our government seems based on trust, the assumption that people will behave like decent human beings. Yes, the founders implemented checks and balances and limits on power, but there are these loopholes that betray a belief that people will be decent. That optimism on human ethics is something I love about this country. Now, it threatens to harm us." 'Decency, in other words, was a bulwark against the corrupt impulses and wicked instincts of men in power. Even Richard Nixon, who had no compunction when persecuting citizen activists or illegally bombing Cambodia, recognized that he was a participant within an important system of laws. Eventually, he was forced to surrender to those laws. Fealty to American order has also motivated unwise and harmful behavior, such as Al Gore agreeing to accept the results of an election under suspicion of fraud for the “good of the country.” The erosion of faith in American institutions and their democratic objectives, Gore and Nixon appeared to believe, would create chaos — a fracturing of the public, and a collapse of the government’s ability to preserve societal stability.' .... Here’s the State of the Union response Ayanna Pressley gave for the Working Families Party boston.com/February 4, 2020 'Rep. Ayanna Pressley delivered a response to President Donald Trump’s annual State of the Union speech Tuesday night — not for the Democratic Party but for a smaller, progressive political group, the Working Families Party. Pressley, the first woman of color to represent Massachusetts in Congress, was pegged last week to deliver the official response for the Working Families Party, which has a presence in nearly 20 states and often backs Democratic candidates. In her rebuttal, the Boston Democrat made the case for an inclusive, working-class moment to fight back against Trump’s “hateful rhetoric” and “bigoted, destructive policy.” “Tonight I want to remind Donald J. Trump that I see right through him,” she said. “The American people see right through him. Tonight we reject short-sighted policies that work for the wealthy and powerful few but leave the worker and the immigrant behind.” Pressley did not attend Trump’s more than 75-minute speech Tuesday night at the Capitol Building. And while the Republican president extolled the country’s strong economic statistics and recent military victories, she responded with a call for a “bold, progressive policy agenda” in keeping with the Working Families Party’s platform — from Medicare for All to a Green New Deal to sweeping criminal justice reform — to confront “the policies that have cemented inequality in our communities.”' [Bonus video included.] 600-Pound Butter Cow Sculpture Wins Iowa Caucus theonion.com/1/03/12 [!]
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Feb 9, 2020 04:09
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Otteration posted:A judge overturned the convictions of four volunteers who left food and water for migrants in the desert quote:On Monday, US District Judge Rosemary Márquez ruled that the volunteers, who were part of the No More Deaths ministry of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson, were acting on their sincere religious beliefs when they left food and water for migrants in the desert of the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge. quote:"Accordingly, the Court finds that application of the regulations against Defendants violates RFRA (the Religious Freedom Restoration Act), and the Court will reverse Defendants' convictions." quote:Though the Trump administration has emphasized protecting the religious liberty "to the greatest extent practicable and permitted by law," Justice Department lawyers rejected the assertion that the volunteers' actions were motivated by their faith, according to the Law, Rights & Religion Project at Columbia Law School. 
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Feb 9, 2020 06:13
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Buttcoin purse posted:A religious freedom law used against bigotry? While I'm happy that these people had their convictions overturned and I think what they were doing was awesome, I'm very uncomfortable with the judge's reasoning here, as I understand it. I'm pretty sure that even the hellworld Supreme Court hasn't ruled that you can straight up ignore regulations if they conflict with your religious beliefs (e.g. Masterpiece Bakeshop was ruled on much narrower grounds). If my understanding is correct, then this is a terrible precedent and I very much hope that this gets overruled and kicked back to the court, where they find some other way of getting these people off (hopefully by ruling that banning leaving people water in the desert is unconstitutional).
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Feb 9, 2020 23:58
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VikingofRock posted:While I'm happy that these people had their convictions overturned and I think what they were doing was awesome, I'm very uncomfortable with the judge's reasoning here, as I understand it. I'm pretty sure that even the hellworld Supreme Court hasn't ruled that you can straight up ignore regulations if they conflict with your religious beliefs (e.g. Masterpiece Bakeshop was ruled on much narrower grounds). If my understanding is correct, then this is a terrible precedent and I very much hope that this gets overruled and kicked back to the court, where they find some other way of getting these people off (hopefully by ruling that banning leaving people water in the desert is unconstitutional). Yea, a small batch of activists go free, then a private Corp doesn't pay taxes as long as the stake holders declare their religious convictions. The end game here is gross.
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Feb 10, 2020 01:17
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Russian politician offers to fly political party to Florida to celebrate Trump's acquittal thehill.com/02/08/20 Trump steps up pitch to black voters thehill.com/02/09/20 "Trump isn’t going to win more of the black vote than his Democratic opponent, but Republican strategists say a targeting strategy that peels away even a few percentage points could have a meaningful impact for the president’s reelection." Redskins working on hiring NFL’s first African American female full-time coach washingtonpost.com/sports/Feb. 8, 2020 "Redskins". Masked white nationalists march in Washington with police escort reuters.com/February 8, 2020 "More than 100 members of the Patriot Front, dressed in khaki pants and caps, blue jackets and white face masks, shouted “Reclaim America!” and “Life, liberty, victory!” video of the march showed. The Southern Poverty Law Center describes the Patriot Front as a white nationalist group that broke off from a similar organization, Vanguard America, in the aftermath of the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. At that rally, self-described neo Nazi James Fields drove his car into a group of counter-protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in 2018." The public votes to make homophobia a criminal offense in Switzerland lgbtqnation.com/February 9, 2020 "The conservative and religious minority forced a referendum on the subject, but the overwhelming Swiss public has spoken." There are currently over 200 anti-LGBTQ bills being filed across the United States gaytimes.co.uk/8th February 2020 Meet the 71-year-old staging a one-man protest in his Trump-loving retirement community washingtonpost.com/Feb. 8, 2020 'Raised Irish Catholic in Philadelphia, the 71-year-old retired real estate broker has always been a Democrat, just like his parents before him. But the last time he remembers being especially politically motivated was when Hubert Humphrey ran against Richard Nixon in 1968. After that, he’d wake up the morning after Election Day, find out George W. Bush or another Republican had won and say, “Okay, well, back to work.” Then Donald Trump was elected. “When Trump won, it changed the whole ballgame for me,” McGinty told The Washington Post. “I thought to myself, ‘This was supposed to be a joke. What’s wrong with these people?’ ” In the three years since then, the once-quiet political observer has transformed into the best-known Trump protester in The Villages, a sprawling, meticulously planned and maintained retirement community that lies about 45 miles northwest of Orlando. McGinty’s daily vigil with signs blasting the president as a “SEXUAL PREDATOR” (among other things) has drawn ire in the Trump-loving Florida town he has called home since 2016. It has also brought viral fame. For his one-man protest against the president, McGinty has been berated as a baby killer and a “dumb a--,” decried in letters to the editor of a local news site and hit with an anonymous, handwritten threat — a sign that even a town that is described as Disney World for retirees and markets itself as “Florida’s Friendliest Hometown” is not immune to the divisiveness of this political era.'
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Feb 10, 2020 03:11
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VikingofRock posted:While I'm happy that these people had their convictions overturned and I think what they were doing was awesome, I'm very uncomfortable with the judge's reasoning here, as I understand it. I'm pretty sure that even the hellworld Supreme Court hasn't ruled that you can straight up ignore regulations if they conflict with your religious beliefs (e.g. Masterpiece Bakeshop was ruled on much narrower grounds). If my understanding is correct, then this is a terrible precedent and I very much hope that this gets overruled and kicked back to the court, where they find some other way of getting these people off (hopefully by ruling that banning leaving people water in the desert is unconstitutional). "On Monday, US District Judge Rosemary Márquez ruled that the volunteers, who were part of the No More Deaths ministry of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson, were acting on their sincere religious beliefs when they left food and water for migrants in the desert of the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge." In this case, it looks like the judge determined that the volunteers were acting on their "sincere religious beliefs", but in doing so did not discriminate in any way that opposes the Constitution and Federal laws against discrimination ("Accordingly, the Court finds that application of the regulations against Defendants violates RFRA (the Religious Freedom Restoration Act), and the Court will reverse Defendants' convictions."). Buttcoin purse posted:A religious freedom law used against bigotry? Kind of the point of the First Amendment (see the Thirty Years' War). VikingofRock posted:While I'm happy that these people had their convictions overturned and I think what they were doing was awesome, I'm very uncomfortable with the judge's reasoning here, as I understand it. I'm pretty sure that even the hellworld Supreme Court hasn't ruled that you can straight up ignore regulations if they conflict with your religious beliefs (e.g. Masterpiece Bakeshop was ruled on much narrower grounds). If my understanding is correct, then this is a terrible precedent and I very much hope that this gets overruled and kicked back to the court, where they find some other way of getting these people off (hopefully by ruling that banning leaving people water in the desert is unconstitutional). Masterpiece Bakeshop did discriminate based on their "sincere religious beliefs", but different judges are gonna judge differently, and we'll have to wait till the courts or the revolution sorts it out. NP if that's not helpful, it's Sunday and I'm hungry.
Otteration fucked around with this message at 03:39 on Feb 10, 2020 |
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Feb 10, 2020 03:36
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Otteration posted:The public votes to make homophobia a criminal offense in Switzerland This sort of poo poo is exactly what our federal level bigots-in-power party did with marriage equality. They got loving crushed 2 to 1. quote:There are currently over 200 anti-LGBTQ bills being filed across the United States And that is the same poo poo those same bigots pulled in response to their loss  The biggest and worst one is the one being pushed by our evangelical prime minister which gives carte blanche to bigots to discriminate as much as they want as long as they can show it's a "genuine belief". One step forward (about to take) two steps back. 
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Feb 10, 2020 07:07
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County in Kansas is jailing people over unpaid medical debt kutv.com/February 10th 2020 'Tres Biggs went to jail for failing to appear in court for unpaid medical bills. He described it as "scary." "I was scared to death," Tres Biggs said. "I'm a country kid — I had to strip down, get hosed and put a jumpsuit on." Bail was $500. He said they had "maybe $50 to $100" at the time. In rural Coffeyville, Kansas, where the poverty rate is twice the national average, attorneys like Michael Hassenplug have built successful law practices representing medical providers to collect debt owed by their neighbors. "I'm just doing my job," Hassenplug said. "They want the money collected, and I'm trying to do my job as best I can by following the law." That law was put in place at Hassenplug's own recommendation to the local judge. The attorney uses that law by asking the court to direct people with unpaid medical bills to appear in court every three months and state they are too poor to pay in what is called a "debtors exam." If two hearings are missed, the judge issues an arrest warrant for contempt of court. Bail is set at $500.' [Semi-clickbait headline, but the truth ("Debtors exam") is also extremamly lovely. Meanwhile Kansas is already moving blue.] Prosecutors seek 7 to 9 years in prison for Trump ally Roger Stone nbcnews.com/Feb. 10, 2020 'Prosecutors say that Stone "displayed contempt for this Court and the rule of law."' New Bar Complaint Filed Against Congressman Matt Gaetz mavenroundtable.io/theintellectualist/12 hours ago 'The Miami-Dade Democratic Party filed a formal bar complaint against Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) for interrupting multiple closed-door impeachment inquiry hearings on Capitol Hill last October, according to the Miami New Times. While the complaint most likely will not yield results, the Miami-Dade Democrats want the Florida Bar to sanction Gaetz, a licensed attorney in the state. “Impeachment proceedings are a legal process leading to a trial, and therefore covered by the Florida Bar’s rules of conduct,” Miami-Dade Democratic Party chair Steve Simeonidis said in a media release. “But Republican Attorney General Bill Barr isn’t going to hold a member of his own party responsible. So we must appeal to our state’s institutions to restrain this rogue lawyer who obstructed the impeachment process twice and generally treats the powers of his elected office like a personal plaything.”' Catholic priest says "pedophilia doesn't kill anyone," but bans 44 lawmakers from receiving communion because he says abortion does cbsnews.com/February 10, 2020 'A priest in Rhode Island, Reverend Richard Bucci, made national headlines last week by banning lawmakers who supported the state's abortion rights bill from receiving communion at his parish. Now, he is doubling down on that decision with a statement that's sending shockwaves through social media. The 72-year-old priest recently passed out fliers to parishioners listing the names of all 44 members of the legislature who voted for the Reproductive Privacy Act, which was signed into law last spring. The flier stated that those individuals would also be banned from acting as witnesses to marriage, serving as godparents, and performing readings at weddings and funerals, citing "2,000 years" of Catholic teachings.' Former Planned Parenthood President Says It's 'Game Over' for Trump If Women Vote in Full Force newsweek.com/2/7/20 'If enough women show up to the polls in November, it could be "game over" for President Donald Trump. That's according to Cecile Richards, the co-founder of Supermajority and former president of Planned Parenthood. In an interview with MSNBC on Thursday, Richards, who helps lead Supermajority, a self-described non-partisan organization promoting women's activism, said that if enough women show up to the polls, they could see Trump unseated. Noting that 58 percent of cacucus-goers in Iowa were women, Richards said that if women made up the same number of voters in 2020, Trump would likely be pushed out of office. "They don't make it easy for women to participate in the caucus system, so if you look at that, then look at who's showing up to vote, who's showing up to block walk, phone bank, that's what we're seeing at Supermajority," the former Planned Parenthood chief said. "If 58 percent of the voters next fall are women, it's game over. it's going to change the direction," she said.' 67 Years Later, Bayard Rustin’s California Arrest and Jail Time Have Been Pardoned lambdalegal.org/February 7, 2020 "Bayard Rustin, the openly gay labor organizer who eventually served as advisor to Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. and architect of the 1963 March on Washington, was a civil rights icon and hero to LGBTQ and Black communities in the United States. Earlier this week, he was posthumously pardoned by California’s Governor Gavin Newsom for a 1953 charge of “vagrancy” for having consensual sex with other men, which resulted in a criminal conviction, 50 days of jail time, and having to register as a sex offender." Don't Lose Hope. Be A Fanatical Optimist Instead wbur.org/February 05, 2020 "It is this monstrous nihilism that yanks me awake in the middle of the night."
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Feb 11, 2020 04:14
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This is an interesting and deeply reported piece. There's a lot of stuff in here that people will "know" but now there's actual proof and details https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/national-security/cia-crypto-encryption-machines-espionage/ tl;dr the us and west germany owned a company that sold crypto machines around the world, they weakened the crypto so they could decrypt the communications, and they sold the compromised machines to whoever would buy them including all but their closest allies. Explains why they're so upset about huawei being used for 5g - it's only funny when it happens to someone else.
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Feb 11, 2020 20:26
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William Barr attacks Dems who want to ‘release criminals onto the streets’ right after DOJ goes soft on Roger Stone rawstory.com/February 11, 2020 'Attorney General William Barr on Tuesday blasted Democratic politicians who support so-called sanctuary cities with protections for undocumented immigrants. Barr’s speech to a sheriffs conference came as the Department of Justice, which he oversees, is reportedly weighing whether to scale back sentencing recommendations for Roger Stone, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump. “[P]eople cannot enjoy freedom and achieve prosperity without the rule of law to protect them,” Barr told the America Winter Conference. “And there can be no rule of law without brave deputies and police officers on the front lines upholding it.”' Senate GOP blocks three election security bills msn.com/ 8 hrs ago "Democrats tried to get consent to pass two bills that require campaigns to alert the FBI and Federal Election Commission (FEC) about foreign offers of assistance, as well as legislation to provide more election funding and ban voting machines from being connected to the internet. But Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) opposed each of the requests. Under the Senate's rules, any one senator can ask for unanimous consent to pass a bill, but any one senator can object and block their requests." Republican Senate Budget Committee chair won't hold hearing on Trump budget politico.com/02/10/2020 'Senate Budget Chairman Mike Enzi said Monday he will not hold a hearing on Donald Trump’s $4.8 trillion budget, warning that it will turn into a “diatribe against the president.” Trump’s budget for fiscal year 2021 offered a conservative outline for spending levels — but is merely an aspirational document. The White House and Congress have already decided on their spending caps for the upcoming fiscal year.' [Yes, we all know the (President's) proposed budget doesn't mean poo poo in practical terms, but we all also know we can generate ads and other propaganda that argue that the orange fecal smear is poo poo for vomiting it all up in the first place.]: President Trump Is Trying to Eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts—Again—in His Just-Released 2021 Budget Proposal artnet.com/February 10, 2020 'According to a section of President Donald Trump’s just-released budget proposal for 2021, titled “Stopping Wasteful and Unnecessary Spending,” the activities funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities would be cut, because they “are not considered core Federal responsibilities, and make up only a small fraction of the billions spent each year by arts and humanities nonprofit organizations.”' [Business uber alles, you see.] Indigenous pipeline blockades spark Canada-wide protests bbc.com/8 hours ago "Mounting protests over a Canadian natural gas pipeline have led to dozens of arrests, buildings occupied and more than 150 train cancellations. The Coastal GasLink pipeline project would make it easier to export natural gas in British Columbia. But its route cuts through indigenous Canadian land. Several indigenous camps have been set up to block access to construction sites, sparking solidarity protests that have swept across the country." Why Iraq's youthful protests endure csmonitor.com/February 11, 2020 "Months of demonstrations have challenged the regime and set a template for redefining community among Iraqis." .... "Iraq’s capital of Baghdad was carpeted with a rare snowfall Tuesday. It brought people onto the streets to make snowmen together and join in friendly snowball fights. The collective experience was an apt reflection of the past four months in Iraq. Since Oct. 1, tens of thousands of young people have maintained nonviolent and leaderless protests in major cities, hoping to redefine the meaning of community for Iraq. So far, despite the killing of more than 500 demonstrators, neither the protesters nor their shared vision has melted away." A 15-foot tall garbage monster is trying to shame Publix out of using plastic bags cltampa.com/ Feb 10, 2020 'A group of Greenpeace activists and citizens brought a 15-foot tall "plastic monster" to the state capitol in Tallahassee on Tuesday, to spread awareness and draw attention to the plague of plastic pollution.' No matter what you think of protesters, you have them to thank for society’s progress thecorrespondent.com/19 days ago 'On 9 April 2015, a statue of Cecil John Rhodes was toppled from its 80-year watch over the University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa. That afternoon, visual artist Sethembile Msezane put on a mask and a pair of striking brass-and-hair wings, climbed onto a temporary plinth, and became a memorial in her own right. In a now-iconic image, the tip of her left wing seems to mesh seamlessly with the crane that’s pulling down Rhodes’s statue in the background. The removal of the statue was the culmination of the #RhodesMustFall protests. At the time, Msezane was pursuing a fine arts degree at UCT alongside many other students part of South Africa’s “Born Free” generation. “Many believe that my generation doesn’t have anything to protest against,” she said. “That is far from the truth.”' ...
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Feb 12, 2020 05:00
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Ocasio-Cortez introduces national fracking ban thehill.com/02/12/20 'Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), along with Rep. Darren Soto (D-Fla.) officially introduced a national fracking ban in the House. The bill, announced at the end of last month, serves as a companion bill to the Senate legislation proposed by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), one that Ocasio-Cortez helped draft. Both bills would ban fracking across the nation by 2025. The laws would also prohibit fracking within 2,500 feet of homes and schools by February 2021. They also would provide a transition for working families in the fracking industry. “Fracking is destroying our land and our water,” Ocasio-Cortez posted on Twitter. “It is wreaking havoc on our communities' health. We must do our job to protect our future from the harms caused by the fracking industry. That is why I am proud to introduce the Fracking Ban Act with @RepDarrenSoto today.”' After AIPAC ad implying she’s worse than ISIS, Rep. Betty McCollum calls the pro-Israel org a “hate group” mondoweiss.net/February 12, 2020 '“AIPAC claims to be a bipartisan organization, but its use of hate speech actually makes it a hate group,” reads McCollum’s statement, “By weaponizing anti-Semitism and hate to silence debate, AIPAC is taunting Democrats and mocking our core values. I hope Democrats understand what is at stake and take a stand because working to advance peace, human rights, and justice is not sinister – it is righteous.”' Google encourages Star Trek: Picard fans to read latest news on neo-Nazi website Daily Stormer independent.co.uk/1 day ago "Google recommended Star Trek fans read an article on neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer. The recommendation came as part of Google's news feature, which is supposed to recommend stories and websites that might be of interest to users, based on their previous browsing. The tool appears to have picked up that certain people were interested in Picard, the recently released Star Trek series. But it then directed those people to look at an article on the far-right website, popping up a link on their screen. The article was advancing a conspiracy theory that everyone talking positively about the series in comment sections were being paid by the studio behind it." CPS [Chicago Public School] Students Protest After Teacher Allegedly Said ‘Go Back To Your Country’ To Girl Sitting Out Anthem blockclubchicago.org/Feb 12, 2020 "Senn High School students staged a sit-in after a teacher told a Hispanic student to "go back to your country" because she didn't stand for the National Anthem, students said." Protestors have blocked the entire intersection of Cambie and Broadway vancouverisawesome.com/vancouver-news/a day ago "Vancouver Police have advised drivers to avoid the area and add that all of the roads in the surrounding area are grid-locked. However, no accidents have been reported at this time." .... "The protestors are supporting First Nations opponents to a natural gas pipeline in northern B.C." UC Santa Cruz Graduate Students Strike to Protest Unaffordable Housing Costs democracynow.org/Feb 12, 2020 "Hundreds of graduate students at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have gone on an open-ended strike to protest the unaffordable costs of living on their low teaching salaries. The strikers are demanding a cost-of-living adjustment of $1,412 per month, which student educators say is necessary to avoid living on the brink of homelessness as they teach classes and provide essential work to keep the university running. A 2018 study comparing housing costs with household incomes found Santa Cruz was the least affordable place to live in the United States." ETA: Trump Congratulates William Barr for Eliminating Justice Department Independence nymag.com/intelligencer/11:28 A.M. 'In June of 2016, former president Bill Clinton bumped into Attorney General Loretta Lynch at an airport in Phoenix. The brief social chat inspired headlines such as “Meeting Between Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch Provokes Political Furor” (New York Times) and “Democrats Groan After Bill Clinton Meets Loretta Lynch” (Politico). From the standpoint of today, these stories read almost as fantastically naïve dispatches from a distant realm.' Otteration fucked around with this message at 03:41 on Feb 13, 2020 |
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Feb 13, 2020 03:34
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awesmoe posted:This is an interesting and deeply reported piece. There's a lot of stuff in here that people will "know" but now there's actual proof and details Thanks for that. Shared.
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Feb 13, 2020 03:37
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How a Trillion Trees Triumphed Over Trump’s Climate Denialism https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/12/climate/trump-trees-climate-change.html Somehow, sucking up to Jared Kushner is something we're supposed to celebrate as a liberal win? While repeatedly acknowledging that none of what's being talked about has any proof of making substantive improvements to climate change? And people wonder why liberal leaders aren't trusted.
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Feb 13, 2020 03:39
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Dirt Road Junglist posted:How a Trillion Trees Triumphed Over Trump’s Climate Denialism Quoting to add some background text from beyond the wall: 'How the trillion trees initiative migrated from Mr. Benioff’s PowerPoint presentations to the president’s pronouncements, first at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last month, then his State of the Union address last week, is a study in ad hoc policymaking at the Trump White House. A personal appeal from a celebrity voice got the idea past traditional gatekeepers. A back channel through Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, gave it life, and a re-election campaign that has sought to soften some of Mr. Trump’s sharper edges ensured its publicity. It is far from clear that the United States government will actually plant any trees, or that a trillion trees would do much in the near term to stop the worst effects of planetary warming. Tom Crowther, an environmental scientist and an author of the study that sparked the movement, cautioned that the full benefits would not be seen for about 100 years, when most of the new trees would reach full maturity. During that time, he said, the world needs to drive down fossil fuel emissions. “If tree planting is just used as an excuse to avoid cutting greenhouse gas emissions or to further limit environmental protection, then it could be a real disaster,” said Dr. Crowther, who studies ecosystem ecology at ETH Zurich. But such details might be beside the point for a White House initiative that is heavier on politics than science. One senior administration official described the tree initiative as one the president believes will “bring people together.” “We’re committed to conserving the majesty of God’s creation and the natural beauty of our world,” Mr. Trump told investors and world leaders in Davos.'
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Feb 13, 2020 03:48
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Trump takes on Judge Amy Berman Jackson ahead of Roger Stone’s sentencing washingtonpost.com/Feb. 12, 2020 "First he went after the prosecutors who recommended a multiyear sentence for his friend Roger Stone. Then President Trump turned his Twitter ire to the “witch hunt disgrace” of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation, which led to Stone’s indictment. But perhaps most surprising was Trump’s decision to target U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson — who will determine Stone’s fate when he appears in her courtroom next Thursday." ["But perhaps most surprising..." Nope.] Senate passes resolution to limit Trump’s power to order military action against Iran washingtonpost.com/Feb. 13, 2020 "The Senate passed a resolution Thursday to limit President Trump’s power to order military action against Iran without first seeking Congress’s permission, a bipartisan rebuke of his administration’s resistance to involving the legislative branch in decisions that some fear could lead to all-out war." Harris, Castro introduce resolution condemning Trump aide Stephen Miller thehill.com/02/13/20 "Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) introduced a resolution Thursday condemning White House adviser Stephen Miller and calling for his resignation, citing his role in the Trump administration’s controversial immigration policies and emails showing he promoted stories from white nationalist publications." Steve King claims women have no equality issues to complain about... iowacitizen.com/5 hours ago '“There are a number of rights that taxpayers would lose, and there’s really no rights that women don’t have that men have," Congressman King said on his previously released campaign video.' D.C. Makes It A Crime To Wear Masks. So Why Was A Group Of White Nationalists Able To? npr.org/February 12, 2020 'Holding U.S. flags and marching in orderly formation as they shouted "Reclaim America!" the 100 or so white nationalists who demonstrated in D.C. last Saturday wore matching hats, pants, jackets — and white face masks.' A Billboard With a Simple Message urbanmilwaukee.com/Feb 12th, 2020 'A billboard at the south-east corner of Wells and James Lovell (7th) streets, across the street from the Milwaukee Public Museum through the month of February and again for the month of July when the Democratic National Convention is held nearby, reads: “3% of U.S. Military Spending Could End Starvation on Earth” Is it a joke? Hardly. Milwaukeeans and others around the country with little money of their own to spare have been chipping in to put up billboards like this one in an effort to call attention to the biggest elephant in the American room — even if, in political mascot terms, it’s a hybrid elephant-donkey: the U.S. military budget. Organizations that have contributed to this billboard include World BEYOND War, Milwaukee Veterans For Peace Chapter 102, and Progressive Democrats of America.' ‘Reconciliation is dead and we will shut down Canada,’ Wet’suwet’en supporters say thestar.com/Feb. 11, 2020 '“We’ve been resisting for 500 years and we’ll be resisting for 500 more if that’s what it takes to earn the respect and have a real nation-to-nation relationship,” Guest said. “Reconciliation is dead and we will shut down Canada until Canada pays attention and listens to and meets our demands.”' Trump's Reichstag Fire Is Here, And It's Going To Burn For The Next Nine Months wonkette.com/February 13, 2020 'Yesterday in the Oval Office, the alleged president again congratulated Bill Barr's Justice Department for intervening in the Roger Stone sentencing on his behalf, because the baby thinks it's unfaaaaaaaaaair. He also, as usual, said meaningless words about FISA warrants (that had nothing to do with Roger Stone) and whined about someone only receiving two months for leaking "highly classified information," even though his dumb rear end leaked "highly classified information" to the Russians, our adversaries, the day after he fired James Comey, in that very same Oval Office. Oh, and of course he played cute with whether or not he's planning on pardoning Stone. In other words, typical day in the hellscape that is now America.' 'There need to be mass protests': Authoritarianism experts say time is running out for Americans to stop Trump businessinsider.com/Feb 12, 2020 "If Americans are concerned that President Donald Trump and Republicans are moving the US toward becoming a one-party, authoritarian state, they are running out of time to stop them, experts warned." This Guy Is Breeding City Pigeons for Affordable Food vice.com/Feb 12 2020 "They’re plentiful, cost almost nothing to feed, and taste like a 'luxuriant steak." "Battle for Hong Kong" pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/Feburary 11, 2020 "With unique access inside the battle for Hong Kong, FRONTLINE follows five protesters through the most intense clashes over several months of pro-democracy protests. The film examines their struggle against what they say is growing influence from the communist government of mainland China." Otteration fucked around with this message at 04:26 on Feb 14, 2020 |
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Feb 14, 2020 04:23
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Border Patrol Will Deploy Elite Tactical Agents to Sanctuary Cities nytimes.com/Feb. 14, 2020 "Agents from a special tactical team that normally confronts smugglers on the border are being sent to sanctuary cities across the country." .... "The Trump administration is deploying law enforcement tactical units from the southern border as part of a supercharged arrest operation in sanctuary cities across the country, an escalation in the president’s battle against localities that refuse to participate in immigration enforcement. The specially trained officers are being sent to cities including Chicago and New York to boost the enforcement power of local Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, according to two officials who are familiar with the secret operation. Additional agents are expected to be sent to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, Boston, New Orleans, Detroit and Newark, N.J. The move reflects President Trump’s persistence in cracking down on so-called sanctuary cities, localities that have refused to cooperate in handing over immigrants targeted for deportation to federal authorities. It comes soon after the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security announced a series of measures that will affect both American citizens and immigrants living in those places." Trump Claims ‘Legal Right’ to Interfere in Justice Dept. Cases nytimes.com/Feb. 14, 2020 "President Trump asserted Friday that he had the legal right to intervene in federal criminal cases, a day after Attorney General William P. Barr publicly rebuked him for attacks on Justice Department prosecutors and others involved in the case of Roger J. Stone Jr., the president’s longtime friend. In a morning tweet, Mr. Trump quoted Mr. Barr saying that the president “has never asked me to do anything in a criminal case.” The president said he had “so far chosen” not to interfere in a criminal case even though he insisted that he was not legally bound to do so. “This doesn’t mean that I do not have, as President, the legal right to do so, I do, but I have so far chosen not to!” he said. Though he and Mr. Barr both said the president had not directly asked for any specific inquiries, Mr. Trump has long pressured law enforcement officials both publicly and privately to open investigations into political rivals and to drop inquiries. Mr. Trump also pressed former Attorney General Jeff Sessions to retake control of the Russia investigation after he recused himself." ["Feb. 14, 2020 Updated 9:45 p.m. ET" ...The headline and text have been changed since this post was initially composed.] GOP Strategist Says DOJ Is Now Run As the 'Trump Family Law Firm' newsweek.com/2/12/20 'A prominent Republican strategist has accused President Donald Trump of turning the Department of Justice into his family's de facto law firm, after the DOJ abruptly walked back a recommended jail term for Trump associate Roger Stone. Earlier this week, prosecutors filed a sentencing memo suggesting that Stone—a veteran GOP operative who has long been close with the president—be jailed for between seven and nine years for crimes uncovered during the investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. But all four prosecutors who took the Stone case to trial resigned Tuesday after the DOJ revised the sentencing memo, suggesting Stone's jail time should be "far less" than originally asked for. The follow-up memo said the original proposal "would not be appropriate or serve the interests of justice in this case," CNN noted.' Florida ‘red flag’ gun law used 3,500 times since Parkland apnews.com/yesterday " A 23-year-old man who posted on Facebook, “I don’t know why I don’t go on a killing spree.” A West Palm Beach couple who shot up their home while high on cocaine. A 31-year-old Gulf Coast man who pointed a semiautomatic rifle at a motorcyclist. All four Florida residents had their guns taken away by judges under a “red flag” law the state passed three weeks after authorities say a mentally disturbed man killed 17 people in a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland two years ago Friday." Neo-Nazi Group Membership May Not Get You Booted from Military, Officials Say military.com/12 Feb 2020 "Membership in a white supremacist or neo-Nazi group won't necessarily get a U.S. service member tossed out of the military, defense officials told a House subcommittee Tuesday." Yusef Salaam Of The Exonerated Five: Pay Attention To 2020 Candidates’ ‘Track Record’ huffpost.com/02/13/2020 "Yusef Salaam, who was one of the five Black and brown teenagers wrongfully accused and imprisoned for the 1989 rape of a white woman in Central Park, is taking a look at presidential candidates’ track records on criminal justice as he considers who to support in 2020." Earth just had its hottest January in recorded history nbcnews.com/Feb. 13, 2020 "The planet experienced its hottest January in recorded history last month, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Thursday." School climate strikers join Valentine's Day protests across world theguardian.com/14 Feb 2020 "Striking students have joined Valentine’s Day rallies across the world as the protest movement attempts to ratchet up pressure on governments and companies before crunch UN climate talks in Glasgow later this year." Rep. Rashida Tlaib rides with detained activists to station, following protest at DTW fox2detroit.com/4 hours ago "Sitting on the road alongside eight other people, the congresswoman was protesting unaffordable health care and low wages. Photos posted on Twitter show dozens of other workers with picket signs on the sidewalk."
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Feb 15, 2020 03:50
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‘Quid pro quo right before our eyes!’ Trump’s threat against New York seen as ‘exact same crime’ he was impeached over rawstory.com/February 13, 2020 Even now, Trump can't stop going after Lt. Col. Vindman msnbc.com/Feb. 14, 2020 "The ongoing offensive isn't about Vindman anymore. It's about sending a message to the next White House official who may be tempted to do the right thing." Ordinary Americans carried out inhumane acts for Trump baltimoresun.com/Feb 06, 2017 "A week ago, men and women went to work at airports around the United States as they always do. They showered, got dressed, ate breakfast, perhaps dropped off their kids at school. Then they reported to their jobs as federal government employees, where, according to news reports, one of them handcuffed a 5-year-old child, separated him from his mother and detained him alone for several hours at Dulles airport. At least one other federal employee at Dulles reportedly detained a woman who was traveling with her two children, both U.S. citizens, for 20 hours without food. A relative says the mother was handcuffed (even when she went to the bathroom) and threatened with deportation to Somalia. At Kennedy Airport, still other federal employees detained and handcuffed a 65-year-old woman traveling from Qatar to visit her son, who is a U.S. citizen and serviceman stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C. The woman was held for more than 33 hours, according to the New York Times, and denied use of a wheelchair. The men and women who work for the federal government completed these and other tasks and then returned to their families, where perhaps they had dinner and read stories to their children before bedtime." Hitler's Willing Executioners This college was accredited by a DeVos-sanctioned group. We couldn’t find evidence of students or faculty. usatoday.com/Feb. 15. 2020 "Reagan National University was supposed to be a place of higher learning in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. But it was unclear how it awarded degrees. By all appearances, at present it has no students, no faculty and no classrooms." Rare Footage of Arizona Ocelot Shows What Could Be Lost by Border Wall ecowatch.com/Feb. 12, 2019 [ https://youtu.be/As7cigsNzFQ ] LGBT gym forced to permanently close its doors after months of harassment by far-right hate group pinknews.co/February 15, 2020 "An inclusive LGBT+ gym in Canada has been forced to permanently close after being subjected to months of online harassment and doxxing by a far-right hate group." Catholic Priest Says 'Pedophilia Doesn't Kill Anyone' After Barring Abortion-Rights Lawmakers From Communion newsweek.com/2/10/20 "A priest in Rhode Island has defended his decision to ban all lawmakers who voted in favor enshrining abortion protections under state law from receiving communion at his parish." Iowa bill requiring fetus burials or cremations moves forward iowacapitaldispatch.com/February 13, 2020 "Iowa legislators are advancing a bill that would require women who have a miscarriage, stillbirth or abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy to obtain a fetal death certificate and choose whether they want to bury or cremate the fetus." The Wet’suwet’en Fight Against New Pipeline Spreads Across Canada with Blockades & Occupations democracynow.org/February 13, 2020 "A major anti-pipeline struggle continues in Canada, where protests have broken out across the country in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en land defenders whose sovereign land in northern British Columbia was raided last week and over the weekend by Canadian police." Scotland to reach 100% renewables in time to host 2020 climate summit reneweconomy.com.au/23 January 2020 "Scotland is shaping up as an exemplary host for this year’s UN climate conference, with data showing it is likely to meet its national target of 100 per cent renewable electricity in good time for the crucial November meeting."
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Feb 16, 2020 03:22
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Otteration posted:Ocasio-Cortez introduces national fracking ban The only statement missing is the accepting of responsibility of the US government to encourage fracking and that's why as reperations we will compensate and offer retraining to those whose lively hoods we have made dependent on. Solving this poo poo now will offer the blueprint to come to terms with how we deal with this nations other greivences.
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Feb 16, 2020 07:17
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Over 1,100 ex-Justice Dept officials call on Barr to resign for doing Trump's 'bidding' thehill.com/02/16/20 "More than 1,100 former Department of Justice (DOJ) officials are calling for Attorney General William Barr to resign in the wake of the DOJ's decision to ask for a shorter prison sentence for Roger Stone, a longtime ally and friend of President Trump." 'Grim Reaper' Mitch McConnell Admits There Are 395 House Bills Sitting in the Senate: 'We're Not Going to Pass Those' newsweek.com/2/14/20 'On Fox News Friday, anchor Bret Baier asked McConnell if Democrats' statements about those bills were true and whether they could move forward. McConnell confirmed that it was the case, but also said that proposed legislation would be rejected. "It is true," the senator said. "They've been on full left-wing parade over there, trotting out all of their left-wing solutions that are going to be issues in the fall campaign. They're right. We're not going to pass those."' One striking image shows the Marine Corps generals who will have left the Trump administration, after the president praised their service businessinsider.com/Feb 15, 2020 'Some of these officials have been outspoken in their opposition to Trump's policies, like former chief of staff John Kelly, who called one recent Trump decision "exactly the wrong thing to do."' Audio shows GOP Sen. Joni Ernst telling donors she wants "changes" to Medicare, Medicaid salon.com/February 15, 2020 '"Again, Joni Ernst has shown that she is willing to push our families into poverty with a smile."' Facing Reelection, Trump Expands His Anti-LGBTQ Agenda advocate.com/February 10 2020 Turn Pa. Blue is the monster that Trump has awakened in Pennsylvania inquirer.com/February 15, 2020 "President Trump may be the Teflon beast who gets stronger the more radioactive hits he takes, but look at the Godzilla he’s awakened in Pennsylvania: Women-insurgents like Jamie Perrapato in the formerly saltine-bland suburbs of Philadelphia." [Note: Philadelphia Inquirer.] Indigenous-Led Rail Blockades Could Cost 'Billions' and That's the Point: Organizers vice.com/Feb 14 2020 "In the wake of RCMP raids on Wet’suwet’en land, protesters have shut down hundreds of trains, putting thousands of jobs at risk, according to one union." Activate This ‘Bracelet of Silence,’ and Alexa Can’t Eavesdrop nytimes.com/Feb. 14, 2020 "Microphones and cameras lurk everywhere. You may want to slip on some privacy armor." [Referenced tech in the above article: Wearable Microphone Jamming (University of Chicago)] Seventy-five years later, the Netherlands honors the ‘Black Liberators’ who helped end the Nazi occupation militarytimes.com/February 13 'As Baldwin and the 784th rolled through the forests of France to confront the German war machine, they were attached to the 35th Infantry Division (Wagonwheel Division). But unlike most armored and infantry battalions, the 784th was unique – it was a segregated battalion. Its soldiers, Baldwin included, were black. Now, 75 years later, a new research project aims to illuminate the forgotten history and legacy of the “Black Liberators” of the Netherlands and the 172 black soldiers who remain buried there today.'
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Feb 17, 2020 02:49
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Federal judges' association calls emergency meeting after DOJ intervenes in case of Trump ally Roger Stone usatoday.com/Feb. 17. 2020 'A national association of federal judges has called an emergency meeting Tuesday to address growing concerns about the intervention of Justice Department officials and President Donald Trump in politically sensitive cases, the group’s president said Monday. Philadelphia U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe, who heads the independent Federal Judges Association, said the group “could not wait” until its spring conference to weigh in on a deepening crisis that has enveloped the Justice Department and Attorney General William Barr. “There are plenty of issues that we are concerned about,” Rufe told USA TODAY. “We’ll talk all of this through.”' Bolton says his account of Trump foreign policy risks being ‘suppressed’ by the White House washingtonpost.com/Feb. 17, 2020 'Former White House national security adviser John Bolton on Monday questioned whether it was “fair” that President Trump has called him a liar on the subject of Ukraine, but “I can’t talk about it.” In his first public remarks since Trump was impeached by the House and acquitted by the Senate, Bolton said his own views of national security policies, and descriptions of interactions with Trump on Ukraine and other issues, risk being “suppressed” and censored by the administration. His ability to speak was restrained, he said, because of the White House “prepublication review” of his forthcoming book “and threats of possible legal action.” In a 90-minute question-and-answer session before students, faculty and members of the public at Duke University, Bolton voiced familiar hard-line views on North Korea, Iran and other issues. He said he viewed Ukraine and the impeachment “as sprinkles on the ice cream sundae” compared with other subjects he deals with in the book.' Black College Swimmer On Team Trip Had Life Threatened, Gun Pointed At His Head By Police theguardiansofdemocracy.com/February 16, 2020 "Illinois police officers wrongfully arrested, detained and threatened to blow a black college swimmer’s “head off” while pointing a gun to his forehead at a rest stop as he traveled with the school’s swim team, the ACLU contends in a lawsuit. Jaylan Butler, who was then a 19-year-old swimmer at Eastern Illinois University, was returning from an out-of-state tournament with his teammates and coaches last February when the bus they were traveling in pulled over shortly after 8 p.m. near a rest stop in East Moline, Illinois, so the players could stretch their legs. Butler got off, took a selfie in front of a roadway sign and was headed back toward the vehicle when several law enforcement vehicles pulled up and approached Butler with their guns drawn." Colorado House Kills 6 Republican Sponsored Anti-LGBT Bills planettransgender.com/February 15, 2020 "All six GOP sponsored anti’LGBT bills were killed last night in committee after a grueling 12-hour overnight comment session. The bills, had they passed, would have made life immeasurably harder, possibly intolerable for LGBTQ Coloradans, especially youth. Although they had no chance in either House and a promise of a veto by the Governor, they serve as a reminder of how much conservatives, newly emboldened by Trump, hate LGBTQ people." Republican wants to create a record of people’s sexual orientation and hand down harsh penalties to those who lie pinknews.co.uk/February 17, 2020 'A Republican lawmaker has proposed a bill in Iowa that would create a state record of citizen’s “sexual preferences” on their marriage licenses. Dennis Guth, of Iowa’s Fourth District, is the primary sponsor of the Senate File 2130 bill. He was a former board member of the social conservative group, The Family Leader, and once referred to gay folk as “healthcare risks”.' Protesters shut down Rainbow Bridge wbfo.org/12 hours ago "The Rainbow Bridge was shut down by protesters for hours Sunday afternoon . They were supporting the growing fight over running a pipeline across a First Nations reservation in British Columbia." Trudeau tightlipped on plan to end protests ‘quickly and peacefully’ coastmountainnews.com/Feb. 17, 2020 "Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was tightlipped Monday about his plan to deal with anti-pipeline blockades on railways, bridges and highways as he emerged from an emergency meeting with cabinet ministers emphasizing his desire to find a quick and peaceful end to the crisis."
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Feb 18, 2020 03:47
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