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welcome to reality trivia
reality is the state of things as they actually exist
may 20, 2019
real news today
may 20, 2019
*Trump voter in economically ravaged community gives horrifying reason why he’ll never abandon the president(Suckers)
*The Brown V. Board Of Education Case Didn't Start How You Think It Did
(Black History)
*Utilities rush for the exit door on coal — and there's nothing Trump can do to stop them
(Oil)
(for previous day's articles see "what's inside" below)
comment/tweet of the day
why are citizens of alabama complAIning about the new abortion law? they elected the idiots who passed the law. but like george carlin: ignorant people elect ignorant leaders.
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robert deniro: “The individual who currently purports to lead America is not worthy or any tribute, Unless you think of his impeachment and imprisonment as as sort of tribute.”
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Atticus - demo underground
Have I got this straight? Some of the very same people who say the government has no
right to make them vaccinate their children think the government absolutely has the right to make a woman carry an unplanned and unwanted pregnancy to full term?
Surely, I'm mistaken.
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RB TexLa - demo underground
All so he can show his white trash supporters that
he hates foreigners as much as they do, we have to:
Pay more for goods from China.
Pay more for goods made with Chinese parts.
Suffer through downturns in the market.
Suffer from decreased trade with one of the largest market in the world.
But, as long as he makes sure they know he hates foreigners.
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EffieBlack - demo underground
It sure is a good thing Hillary wasn't elected
Can you imagine what a mess the country would be in if she had been?
I can only imagine the divisiveness, the corruption, the investigations, the trampled rights, and all of the other elements in the parade of horrible that would have ensued.
Dodged THAT bullet, didn't we?
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the greatest threat to america is trump and the republican party!!
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Mike Pence and his ‘Indiana mafia’ are reorganizing important safety net programs to push their religious agenda
Travis Gettys - raw story
20 MAY 2019 AT 09:58 ET
Vice President Mike Pence and some of his longtime allies have been reorganizing the Department of Health and Human Services to promote their deeply conservative religious agenda — much to the delight of anti-abortion and anti-LGBT groups.
Pence and his “Indiana mafia,” according to one HHS official, have been working behind the scenes to defund Planned Parenthood, which he was unable to accomplish in Congress or as governor, reported Politico.
“There is a clear pattern dating back many years,” said Planned Parenthood president Leana Wen. “He has worked relentlessly to cut off access to women’s health care.”
Pence was involved from the outset of the Trump administration in identifying like-minded nominees, “particularly in roles Trump didn’t really care about,” according to one Republican operative.
HHS secretary Alex Azar, surgeon general Jerome Adams and Medicaid/Medicare head Seema Verma each have ties to Pence and Indiana, and other senior officials at the department include Pence’s former legislative director as governor and his former domestic policy adviser at the White House.
“He has clearly recruited people connected to him who share his very extreme views on sexual and reproductive health care,” said Emily Stewart, vice president of public policy at Planned Parenthood. “This has been one of the most active administrations ever on rolling back reproductive rights and there’s no way that happens unless you have people in the White House driving the effort to put out policies at such a rapid clip.”
HHS was prepared, until courts stepped in, to tighten rules for the Title X federal family planning grants to prohibit clinics from referring women to abortion providers, and the agency has strengthened religious conscience protections for providers who refuse to perform abortions and other medical services.
“Pro-lifers have more of a seat at the table now,” said Kristan Hawkins, president of the anti-abortion Students for Life of America. “We have more active pro-lifers now in the West Wing and throughout the administration, and that’s a definitive shift from past administrations.”
Pence tried to strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood as a U.S. congressman in 2007, but his House bill eventually stalled in the Senate.
He pushed his state in 2012, after he was elected Indiana governor, to cut off Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood and restrict access to abortion, although courts blocked some of those measures.
Pence also signed funding cuts to Planned Parenthood clinics and the closure of at least one, which have been blamed in part for the state’s HIV outbreak from 2011 to 2015.
Pence and his “Indiana mafia,” according to one HHS official, have been working behind the scenes to defund Planned Parenthood, which he was unable to accomplish in Congress or as governor, reported Politico.
“There is a clear pattern dating back many years,” said Planned Parenthood president Leana Wen. “He has worked relentlessly to cut off access to women’s health care.”
Pence was involved from the outset of the Trump administration in identifying like-minded nominees, “particularly in roles Trump didn’t really care about,” according to one Republican operative.
HHS secretary Alex Azar, surgeon general Jerome Adams and Medicaid/Medicare head Seema Verma each have ties to Pence and Indiana, and other senior officials at the department include Pence’s former legislative director as governor and his former domestic policy adviser at the White House.
“He has clearly recruited people connected to him who share his very extreme views on sexual and reproductive health care,” said Emily Stewart, vice president of public policy at Planned Parenthood. “This has been one of the most active administrations ever on rolling back reproductive rights and there’s no way that happens unless you have people in the White House driving the effort to put out policies at such a rapid clip.”
HHS was prepared, until courts stepped in, to tighten rules for the Title X federal family planning grants to prohibit clinics from referring women to abortion providers, and the agency has strengthened religious conscience protections for providers who refuse to perform abortions and other medical services.
“Pro-lifers have more of a seat at the table now,” said Kristan Hawkins, president of the anti-abortion Students for Life of America. “We have more active pro-lifers now in the West Wing and throughout the administration, and that’s a definitive shift from past administrations.”
Pence tried to strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood as a U.S. congressman in 2007, but his House bill eventually stalled in the Senate.
He pushed his state in 2012, after he was elected Indiana governor, to cut off Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood and restrict access to abortion, although courts blocked some of those measures.
Pence also signed funding cuts to Planned Parenthood clinics and the closure of at least one, which have been blamed in part for the state’s HIV outbreak from 2011 to 2015.
this is what you get when you vote for a republican!!!
Pennsylvania senator defends Trump tariffs hurting his state because maybe they’ll pay off someday
Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) admitted that the tariffs are a tax on the American people, but still praised Trump for them.
JOSH ISRAEL - thinkprogress
MAY 19, 2019, 11:38 AM
Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) likes free trade so much he literally wrote a book on it. He calls tariffs a tax on the American people. But now that President Donald Trump is using unilateral tariffs in a so-far-unsuccessful attempt to leverage China, Toomey is standing by his president over his own constituents.
China backed away from the table last week, leaving Trump without a trade deal. The man who ran for office touting his deal-making prowess has thus far been unable to make progress with the global power, despite his 2016 claim that, “When China thinks you mean it, when think they you mean it, they’re going to stop manipulating the currency and you won’t have to do anything, and you might even have free trade.” Instead, he slapped millions of dollars in new tariffs on Chinese goods — the latest in a trend since he took office.
The effect of Trump’s tariffs has been especially harmful to farmers and manufacturers, including those in Pennsylvania. A pro-free trade group estimated in October that Trump’s tariffs on China and other countries had already cost the steel industry in Pennsylvania $98 million. Rick Ebert, the head of the conservative Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, said in November that thanks to Trump’s trade war and low commodity price, 2018 was “the worst year I’ve ever seen it.”
On Fox News Sunday, Toomey was asked about the harm the China tariffs are causing to his constituents.
“I actually think the President is right to challenge China,” he replied. “The tariffs are absolutely painful and dislocating. But if in the end we end up with an agreement that gives us a meaningful reform of China’s most egregious behavior, we might look back and say this is worth the price we are paying.”
Back in 2000, then-Rep. Toomey voted for H.R. 4444 to permanently grant “normal trade relations” to China.
China backed away from the table last week, leaving Trump without a trade deal. The man who ran for office touting his deal-making prowess has thus far been unable to make progress with the global power, despite his 2016 claim that, “When China thinks you mean it, when think they you mean it, they’re going to stop manipulating the currency and you won’t have to do anything, and you might even have free trade.” Instead, he slapped millions of dollars in new tariffs on Chinese goods — the latest in a trend since he took office.
The effect of Trump’s tariffs has been especially harmful to farmers and manufacturers, including those in Pennsylvania. A pro-free trade group estimated in October that Trump’s tariffs on China and other countries had already cost the steel industry in Pennsylvania $98 million. Rick Ebert, the head of the conservative Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, said in November that thanks to Trump’s trade war and low commodity price, 2018 was “the worst year I’ve ever seen it.”
On Fox News Sunday, Toomey was asked about the harm the China tariffs are causing to his constituents.
“I actually think the President is right to challenge China,” he replied. “The tariffs are absolutely painful and dislocating. But if in the end we end up with an agreement that gives us a meaningful reform of China’s most egregious behavior, we might look back and say this is worth the price we are paying.”
Back in 2000, then-Rep. Toomey voted for H.R. 4444 to permanently grant “normal trade relations” to China.
Trump’s Insistence on Staying at His Own Resorts Just Blew Up in His Face
This is embarrassing.
NOAH LANARD, Reporter - mother jones
MAY 18, 2019
President Donald Trump’s obsession with staying at his own resorts isn’t just costing American taxpayers anymore, it’s straining diplomatic relations. CNN reports that the White House is pushing for a June meeting with Ireland’s head of state take place at the president’s golf course in Doonbeg. The Irish government isn’t pleased:
An Irish government source with knowledge of ongoing discussions told CNN that the White House is insisting the Irish prime minister, or taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, come to the President’s golf course in Doonbeg to host a meeting between the two leaders.
According to the source, “The Irish government feel that protocol dictates that any event theyhost for President Trump should be at a venue of their choosing and certainly not at an hotel owned by Trump.”
“It is a bit unseemly to demand that the taoiseach host President Trump at his hotel,” the source said.
The source says White House acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, the grandson of Irish immigrants, is deeply involved in the negotiations and is insisting that the prime minister come to Trump’s golf course.
Ireland has countered by saying the country’s leaders could go to a nearby castle that Trump doesn’t own, but still have breakfast at the president’s resort. The White House isn’t compromising and is reportedly threatening that Trump will go to one of his golf courses in Scotland instead.
While meeting with Varadkar in Washington in March, Trump said he would be heading to Ireland sometime this year. “It’s a special place,” he said. “And I have a very warm spot for Doonbeg.”
An Irish government source with knowledge of ongoing discussions told CNN that the White House is insisting the Irish prime minister, or taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, come to the President’s golf course in Doonbeg to host a meeting between the two leaders.
According to the source, “The Irish government feel that protocol dictates that any event theyhost for President Trump should be at a venue of their choosing and certainly not at an hotel owned by Trump.”
“It is a bit unseemly to demand that the taoiseach host President Trump at his hotel,” the source said.
The source says White House acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, the grandson of Irish immigrants, is deeply involved in the negotiations and is insisting that the prime minister come to Trump’s golf course.
Ireland has countered by saying the country’s leaders could go to a nearby castle that Trump doesn’t own, but still have breakfast at the president’s resort. The White House isn’t compromising and is reportedly threatening that Trump will go to one of his golf courses in Scotland instead.
While meeting with Varadkar in Washington in March, Trump said he would be heading to Ireland sometime this year. “It’s a special place,” he said. “And I have a very warm spot for Doonbeg.”
motivated by racism!!
Biggest myth about the origins of the Christian right debunked by Dartmouth historian
Brad Reed - raw story
17 MAY 2019 AT 09:31 ET
Historian Randall Balmer, who is currently a professor in the arts and sciences at Dartmouth College, has written a lengthy piece for Politico that blows apart one of the biggest myths about the origins of the Christian right as a political force in the United States.
According to popular mythology, the Christian right was spurred into action after the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade legalized abortion throughout the United States.
But Balmer says that this gets history wrong: The Christian right really got its start opposing desegregation.
In particular, Balmer looks at several Christian schools that defied the Supreme Court’s 1954 ruling in Brown v. Board of Education.
“One such school, Bob Jones University — a fundamentalist college in Greenville, South Carolina — was especially obdurate,” he writes. “The IRS had sent its first letter to Bob Jones University in November 1970 to ascertain whether or not it discriminated on the basis of race. The school responded defiantly: It did not admit African Americans.”
The school made minor efforts to appease the IRS’s concerns about racial discrimination by admitting a select number of black students — but it still strictly forbade interracial dating at the school.
In 1976, the IRS rescinded the school’s tax-exempt status, and that’s when the fireworks began.
“For many evangelical leaders, who had been following the issue since Green v. Connally, Bob Jones University was the final straw,” writes Balmer. “As Elmer L. Rumminger, longtime administrator at Bob Jones University, told me in an interview, the IRS actions against his school ‘alerted the Christian school community about what could happen with government interference’ in the affairs of evangelical institutions. ‘That was really the major issue that got us all involved.'”
Read the whole essay here.
According to popular mythology, the Christian right was spurred into action after the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade legalized abortion throughout the United States.
But Balmer says that this gets history wrong: The Christian right really got its start opposing desegregation.
In particular, Balmer looks at several Christian schools that defied the Supreme Court’s 1954 ruling in Brown v. Board of Education.
“One such school, Bob Jones University — a fundamentalist college in Greenville, South Carolina — was especially obdurate,” he writes. “The IRS had sent its first letter to Bob Jones University in November 1970 to ascertain whether or not it discriminated on the basis of race. The school responded defiantly: It did not admit African Americans.”
The school made minor efforts to appease the IRS’s concerns about racial discrimination by admitting a select number of black students — but it still strictly forbade interracial dating at the school.
In 1976, the IRS rescinded the school’s tax-exempt status, and that’s when the fireworks began.
“For many evangelical leaders, who had been following the issue since Green v. Connally, Bob Jones University was the final straw,” writes Balmer. “As Elmer L. Rumminger, longtime administrator at Bob Jones University, told me in an interview, the IRS actions against his school ‘alerted the Christian school community about what could happen with government interference’ in the affairs of evangelical institutions. ‘That was really the major issue that got us all involved.'”
Read the whole essay here.
‘Eric the Slack-jawed and Princess Ivanka’: Rick Wilson hilariously pummels the entire Trump family –and the GOPers who worship them
Tom Boggioni - raw story
19 MAY 2019 AT 15:29 ET
In a brutally funny and sarcastic column for the Daily Beast, GOP consultant Rick Wilson called upon Republicans to give up even trying to appear to be anything other than Trump yes-men and, while he was at it, Wilson also mocked the faux-royal family of the president.
Under a Game of Thrones-inspired headline “Trump Is on the Iron Throne, and American Democracy Is Dead,” Wilson wrote, “For Republicans eager for the next, inevitable step of Trumpism and tired of some musty 240-year-old Constitution getting in the way of rallies, rage-tweeting and lib-owning, I’ve got a modest proposal: Why not end this republic, and launch a glorious new era of royals and royalty, where a man who behaves like a king can actually be one and govern as he desires?”
“After all, he’s surrounded not by coequal members of a representative legislature and independent judiciary, but by lackeys and lickspittles groveling at his gouty feet. Inside this Trump kingdom, advisers rise and fall not based on merit, performance, or ideas but instead on fealty, servility, and an ability to abase themselves to the king’s many whims. Let’s just cut to the chase,” he acidly continued.
According to Wilson, the author of “Everything Trump Touches Dies,” among those deaths can be found the Republican Party.
“Be honest with yourselves; how far is the leap from President Trump to King Trump in your minds? How many Trump supporters have wondered unironically about a third term for the Donald, or of replacing one Trump with another when this girthy beast finally strokes out?” he wrote. “You weaponized the Republican caucus to support His Majesty in the House so egregiously you took an ass-beating from the politically incompetent Democrats, losing 40 seats in 2018. In the Senate, Mitch McConnell holds the line for Trump and former Tea Party super-constitutionalist stalwarts like Ted Cruz and Mike Lee have gone full royalist, along with Lindsey Graham.”
He then turned his eye on the “royal” House of Trump.
“Princess Ivanka and royal consort Jared of the House of Kushner hold government jobs of no discernible function but of enormous consequence. Why? The walls of Castle Trump keep that secret, thank the gods,” he wrote. “Nevertheless, the two have the ear of the King and are literally above the law when it comes to security clearance laws, ethics rules, and the use of federal offices to enrich themselves. Those things aren’t wrong in the new world. They’re just part of Trumpian droit du douchebag.”
“While Trump treats Princess Tiffany as if she were the daughter of a chambermaid and Eric the Slack-jawed as if he should be sent as a hostage to some other royal house, it’s Don Jr. who is the current heir apparent, already emulating the King in every tangible way,” he continued before noting the senior Trump history of multiple wives and multiple infidelities with, “He’s behind on wives and mistresses, but he’s got time.”
Wilson then finished with a bitter and damning flourish.
“And so, my Republican friends, it’s time to embrace monarchy. Let your id be your guide, your past be a memory, and Trump be your King. Bend the knee. You’ve gotten quite good at it.”
You can read more here (subscription required).
Under a Game of Thrones-inspired headline “Trump Is on the Iron Throne, and American Democracy Is Dead,” Wilson wrote, “For Republicans eager for the next, inevitable step of Trumpism and tired of some musty 240-year-old Constitution getting in the way of rallies, rage-tweeting and lib-owning, I’ve got a modest proposal: Why not end this republic, and launch a glorious new era of royals and royalty, where a man who behaves like a king can actually be one and govern as he desires?”
“After all, he’s surrounded not by coequal members of a representative legislature and independent judiciary, but by lackeys and lickspittles groveling at his gouty feet. Inside this Trump kingdom, advisers rise and fall not based on merit, performance, or ideas but instead on fealty, servility, and an ability to abase themselves to the king’s many whims. Let’s just cut to the chase,” he acidly continued.
According to Wilson, the author of “Everything Trump Touches Dies,” among those deaths can be found the Republican Party.
“Be honest with yourselves; how far is the leap from President Trump to King Trump in your minds? How many Trump supporters have wondered unironically about a third term for the Donald, or of replacing one Trump with another when this girthy beast finally strokes out?” he wrote. “You weaponized the Republican caucus to support His Majesty in the House so egregiously you took an ass-beating from the politically incompetent Democrats, losing 40 seats in 2018. In the Senate, Mitch McConnell holds the line for Trump and former Tea Party super-constitutionalist stalwarts like Ted Cruz and Mike Lee have gone full royalist, along with Lindsey Graham.”
He then turned his eye on the “royal” House of Trump.
“Princess Ivanka and royal consort Jared of the House of Kushner hold government jobs of no discernible function but of enormous consequence. Why? The walls of Castle Trump keep that secret, thank the gods,” he wrote. “Nevertheless, the two have the ear of the King and are literally above the law when it comes to security clearance laws, ethics rules, and the use of federal offices to enrich themselves. Those things aren’t wrong in the new world. They’re just part of Trumpian droit du douchebag.”
“While Trump treats Princess Tiffany as if she were the daughter of a chambermaid and Eric the Slack-jawed as if he should be sent as a hostage to some other royal house, it’s Don Jr. who is the current heir apparent, already emulating the King in every tangible way,” he continued before noting the senior Trump history of multiple wives and multiple infidelities with, “He’s behind on wives and mistresses, but he’s got time.”
Wilson then finished with a bitter and damning flourish.
“And so, my Republican friends, it’s time to embrace monarchy. Let your id be your guide, your past be a memory, and Trump be your King. Bend the knee. You’ve gotten quite good at it.”
You can read more here (subscription required).
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Report shows states that voted for Trump are worst to live in, using 70 different metrics
Marissa Higgins
Daily Kos Staff
Saturday May 18, 2019 · 5:00 PM PDT
Ever sit back and wonder about how your quality of life compares to what you could experience somewhere else in the U.S.? A new report released by U.S. News and World Report has plenty of data that might help you figure that out.
Their report ranks 50 states using 70 different metrics. Their goal is to show which states are “best,” and the focus is on big-issue stuff like education, infrastructure, health care, and public safety, to name a few. After all, many things come down to personal taste; someone’s “best” life might be someone else’s nightmare. And that’s okay!
One thing that’s really interesting, however, is the finding that many of the “worst” states went for Donald Trump in 2016. On the flip side, many of the states at the top went blue. Coincidence? Hmm.
And to be clear: This ranking isn’t discussing the people. It’s not intended to be a judgment on whether people in the state are the “best” or “worst,” but rather the quality of life you can have based on the study’s parameters.
Let’s start with some of the good. As highlighted over at LGBTQNation, states that are particularly solid for LGBTQ protections are among the top “best” places to live. In their analysis, they used the HRC Annual State Equal Index Ratings for reference, but you can use whatever comparison you’d like. Because, for example, a state that ranks high for second-parent adoption rights but is weak on trans employment protections might strongly impact whether it’s actually “best” for you.
Overall, the top 10 is filled with states that voted for Hillary in Clinton in the 2016 election. Among them are Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Washington, and Minnesota. It’s not 100% blue, though, as Utah is among the top five.
On the other hand, strong Trump states at the bottom of the list include Oklahoma, Alaska, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi.
Which state’s ranking stands out to you the most?
Their report ranks 50 states using 70 different metrics. Their goal is to show which states are “best,” and the focus is on big-issue stuff like education, infrastructure, health care, and public safety, to name a few. After all, many things come down to personal taste; someone’s “best” life might be someone else’s nightmare. And that’s okay!
One thing that’s really interesting, however, is the finding that many of the “worst” states went for Donald Trump in 2016. On the flip side, many of the states at the top went blue. Coincidence? Hmm.
And to be clear: This ranking isn’t discussing the people. It’s not intended to be a judgment on whether people in the state are the “best” or “worst,” but rather the quality of life you can have based on the study’s parameters.
Let’s start with some of the good. As highlighted over at LGBTQNation, states that are particularly solid for LGBTQ protections are among the top “best” places to live. In their analysis, they used the HRC Annual State Equal Index Ratings for reference, but you can use whatever comparison you’d like. Because, for example, a state that ranks high for second-parent adoption rights but is weak on trans employment protections might strongly impact whether it’s actually “best” for you.
Overall, the top 10 is filled with states that voted for Hillary in Clinton in the 2016 election. Among them are Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Washington, and Minnesota. It’s not 100% blue, though, as Utah is among the top five.
On the other hand, strong Trump states at the bottom of the list include Oklahoma, Alaska, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi.
Which state’s ranking stands out to you the most?
Are ExxonMobil execs the most evil people in the 200,000-year history of humanity?
COMMON DREAMS - COMMENTARY - raw story
19 MAY 2019 AT 13:48 ET
Internal ExxonMobil documents show that the company’s scientists predicted in 1982 that by 2020, parts per million of carbon dioxide in earth’s atmosphere would reach 410-420 ppm. For the first time this spring ppm of CO2 exceeded 415.
The memo says in part,
Considerable uncertainty also surrounds the possible impact on society of such a warming trend, should it occur. At the low end of the predicted temperature range there could be some impact on agricultural growth and rainfall patterns which could be beneficial in some regions and detrimental in others.
At the high end, some scientists suggest there could be considerable adverse impact including the flooding of some coastal land masses as a result of a rise in sea level due to melting of the Antarctic ice sheet.
They understood that the full effect of this vast increase in heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere would cause enormous changes, though much of the damage would occur centuries down the line.
The company covered up these memos and staged a multi-million-dollar disinformation campaign to throw doubt on the reality of human-made climate change, to ensure that ExxonMobil could go on making billions in profits each year from selling gasoline.
The scientists nailed it. ExxonMobil nailed it. They can be proud of their scientific prowess and predictive abilities, right?
Wrong. They are evil.
They are the most evil human beings to walk the earth since Homo Sapiens emerged in southern Africa around 200,000 years ago.
ExxonMobil has single-handedly been conducting a vast terraforming experiment that will displace hundreds of millions of people. Some two-thirds of Egypt’s 100 million people live in the Nile River delta, which has low elevations and some of which will be submerged even in the current century. Bangladesh isn’t going to be there after a while, displacing 150 million people.
This is not to account for the increased destructiveness of tropical storms or the acidification of the oceans, which will likely kill off half of marine life.
Characters in science fiction that wreck a whole planet are rare. George Lucas’s Darth Vader destroyed a planet with the Death Star in Star Wars. Stan Lee’s Thanatos wiped out half the population of earth in The Avengers: Endgame. In 2009’s Star Trek the mad Romulan Nero destroyed the planet of Vulcan with 6 billion people on it.
CEOs of ExxonMobil such as Lee Raymond or Rex Tillerson or currently Darren Woods are banal in their evil, as Hannah Arendt would lead us to expect. They probably aren’t even interesting to talk to. They are like wind-up toys, their springs being profit, that can’t change direction, driving toward extinction.
But they are much worse in the practical effect of their evil than Hitler or Pol Pot or any of the other genocidal maniacs we’ve seen in the past century.
They deliberately wrecked a planet to make a few bucks (in Lee Raymond’s case, $400 million of them). Tens of millions of human beings will die so that they can have private planes and huge mansions.
They are Darth Vaders and Thanatoses, they are destroyers of a planet. And they manage in their cupidity and their cunning and their dishonesty to be utterly boring and worthy of no one’s interest as people. They lack a soul.
Sooner or later the judges will permit people to begin suing ExxonMobil for the environmental damage it has caused. The judges are turning these suits back now. But minds will change.
All it would take would be one gigantic glacier from Antarctica to plop in and suddenly raise sea level noticeably, a sort of climate tsunami. I wish it wouldn’t happen, but it will. The question is only when, as Exxon noticed in 1982. Judges in Miami would notice.
The company is doomed to an early bankruptcy.
Get your money out of it if you hope to retire.
And switch to public transportation or an electric car as soon as you can afford to.
That is the only redemption we will have from this cabal of evil, to know that they are already on the trash heap of history and have no part in the future of our increasingly challenged planet.
Their names will be vilified for as long as human beings live.
The memo says in part,
Considerable uncertainty also surrounds the possible impact on society of such a warming trend, should it occur. At the low end of the predicted temperature range there could be some impact on agricultural growth and rainfall patterns which could be beneficial in some regions and detrimental in others.
At the high end, some scientists suggest there could be considerable adverse impact including the flooding of some coastal land masses as a result of a rise in sea level due to melting of the Antarctic ice sheet.
They understood that the full effect of this vast increase in heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere would cause enormous changes, though much of the damage would occur centuries down the line.
The company covered up these memos and staged a multi-million-dollar disinformation campaign to throw doubt on the reality of human-made climate change, to ensure that ExxonMobil could go on making billions in profits each year from selling gasoline.
The scientists nailed it. ExxonMobil nailed it. They can be proud of their scientific prowess and predictive abilities, right?
Wrong. They are evil.
They are the most evil human beings to walk the earth since Homo Sapiens emerged in southern Africa around 200,000 years ago.
ExxonMobil has single-handedly been conducting a vast terraforming experiment that will displace hundreds of millions of people. Some two-thirds of Egypt’s 100 million people live in the Nile River delta, which has low elevations and some of which will be submerged even in the current century. Bangladesh isn’t going to be there after a while, displacing 150 million people.
This is not to account for the increased destructiveness of tropical storms or the acidification of the oceans, which will likely kill off half of marine life.
Characters in science fiction that wreck a whole planet are rare. George Lucas’s Darth Vader destroyed a planet with the Death Star in Star Wars. Stan Lee’s Thanatos wiped out half the population of earth in The Avengers: Endgame. In 2009’s Star Trek the mad Romulan Nero destroyed the planet of Vulcan with 6 billion people on it.
CEOs of ExxonMobil such as Lee Raymond or Rex Tillerson or currently Darren Woods are banal in their evil, as Hannah Arendt would lead us to expect. They probably aren’t even interesting to talk to. They are like wind-up toys, their springs being profit, that can’t change direction, driving toward extinction.
But they are much worse in the practical effect of their evil than Hitler or Pol Pot or any of the other genocidal maniacs we’ve seen in the past century.
They deliberately wrecked a planet to make a few bucks (in Lee Raymond’s case, $400 million of them). Tens of millions of human beings will die so that they can have private planes and huge mansions.
They are Darth Vaders and Thanatoses, they are destroyers of a planet. And they manage in their cupidity and their cunning and their dishonesty to be utterly boring and worthy of no one’s interest as people. They lack a soul.
Sooner or later the judges will permit people to begin suing ExxonMobil for the environmental damage it has caused. The judges are turning these suits back now. But minds will change.
All it would take would be one gigantic glacier from Antarctica to plop in and suddenly raise sea level noticeably, a sort of climate tsunami. I wish it wouldn’t happen, but it will. The question is only when, as Exxon noticed in 1982. Judges in Miami would notice.
The company is doomed to an early bankruptcy.
Get your money out of it if you hope to retire.
And switch to public transportation or an electric car as soon as you can afford to.
That is the only redemption we will have from this cabal of evil, to know that they are already on the trash heap of history and have no part in the future of our increasingly challenged planet.
Their names will be vilified for as long as human beings live.
Education Department Under Betsy DeVos Blocking Student Loan Oversight, CFPB Chief Says
By Wesley Dockery - ibt
05/18/19 AT 10:10 AM
The Education Department is not doing enough to regulate and stomp out fraudulent practices by student loan lenders, the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Kathy Kraninger, wrote in a letter obtained by NPR earlier this week.
Kraninger said in the letter that student loan servicers "have declined to produce information requested by the bureau for supervisory examinations."
This information would help the CFPB perform its regulatory duties on student loan providers.
Kraninger said that the Education Department has told the student loan providers not to provide the information due to what the Department deems to be "privacy" concerns.
The letter was written as a response to Massachusetts Sen.Elizabeth Warren and other Democratic lawmakers who are concerned that the CFPB has "abandoned its supervision and enforcement activities" in regards to student loans.
Seth Frotman, the former CFPB student loan ombudsman, finds the allegations that Kraninger made towards the Department of Education to be "quite remarkable."
"The head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is telling the world that the secretary of education has put in place a series of policies that are obstructing federal law enforcement officials from standing up for the millions of Americans with student debt," he told NPR.
In the past, student loan servicers have had lawsuits filed against them due to allegations that they had been acting in bad faith. Student loan provider Navient, which was founded after Sallie Mae went bankrupt, had a lawsuit filed against it last October by the American Federation of Teachers. Navient was allegedly misdirecting student loan borrowers away from the FedLoan loan servicer, whose loans could be forgiven under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) scheme in favor of Navient loans, so that the company could earn fees.
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness plan allows students with student loan debt to have their debt burden wiped away if they work in a public job, such as a school teacher, after a set period of time, but only if students take loans under the FedLoan service. Since the students didn't take loans under the FedLoan service and were misdirected to taking loans from Navient, they couldn't qualify for the PSLF.
In 2017, the CFPB also filed a still ongoing lawsuit against Navient for providing false information to student loan borrowers and processing payments incorrectly, among other issues.
Kraninger said in the letter that student loan servicers "have declined to produce information requested by the bureau for supervisory examinations."
This information would help the CFPB perform its regulatory duties on student loan providers.
Kraninger said that the Education Department has told the student loan providers not to provide the information due to what the Department deems to be "privacy" concerns.
The letter was written as a response to Massachusetts Sen.Elizabeth Warren and other Democratic lawmakers who are concerned that the CFPB has "abandoned its supervision and enforcement activities" in regards to student loans.
Seth Frotman, the former CFPB student loan ombudsman, finds the allegations that Kraninger made towards the Department of Education to be "quite remarkable."
"The head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is telling the world that the secretary of education has put in place a series of policies that are obstructing federal law enforcement officials from standing up for the millions of Americans with student debt," he told NPR.
In the past, student loan servicers have had lawsuits filed against them due to allegations that they had been acting in bad faith. Student loan provider Navient, which was founded after Sallie Mae went bankrupt, had a lawsuit filed against it last October by the American Federation of Teachers. Navient was allegedly misdirecting student loan borrowers away from the FedLoan loan servicer, whose loans could be forgiven under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) scheme in favor of Navient loans, so that the company could earn fees.
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness plan allows students with student loan debt to have their debt burden wiped away if they work in a public job, such as a school teacher, after a set period of time, but only if students take loans under the FedLoan service. Since the students didn't take loans under the FedLoan service and were misdirected to taking loans from Navient, they couldn't qualify for the PSLF.
In 2017, the CFPB also filed a still ongoing lawsuit against Navient for providing false information to student loan borrowers and processing payments incorrectly, among other issues.
*bites from real news - 5/20/2019*
*America's Reproductive Slaves
BY CHRIS HEDGES - truthdig
America’s corporate state has no intention of funding programs and building institutions to ease the burden of rearing and nurturing children. Yes, the corporate state needs young bodies as fodder for the bloated military and endless foreign wars.
*Graduates Walk Out On Mike Pence At Christian University Students at Taylor University, a Christian institution, walk out before Mike Pence's commencement address.
*San Francisco: Should schoolchildren be shielded from brutal US history?
Every day at a San Francisco high school, students pass artwork depicting slavery and violence against Native Americans
*Why America Can’t Solve Homelessness As the face of homelessness changes, politicians cling to limited policy ideas and quick fixes.(huff post)
*America was never a Christian nation: Constitutional attorney demolishes right-wing myths about the Founding Fathers
It’s not an idea that is based on facts or history or reality. It is revisionist, and it is, I think, one of the greatest threats our country faces right now.
*RECOMMENDED READING: THE RACIST ORIGINS OF THE 'PRO-LIFE' ABORTION MOVEMENT THEY NEVER TALK ABOUT
DURING MUCH OF THE 19TH CENTURY, ABORTION WAS UNREGULATED AND BUSINESS WAS BOOMING.
*RECOMMENDED READING: THE REAL ORIGINS OF THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT
THEY’LL TELL YOU IT WAS ABORTION. SORRY, THE HISTORICAL RECORD’S CLEAR: IT WAS SEGREGATION.
*Holy Freeloading! Religious groups rob taxpayers in at least 10 different ways
Have you ever thought about starting a new religion or perhaps a hometown franchise of an old one? Perhaps you’re just looking for a career ladder in a religious enterprise that already exists. No? Maybe you should.
Corporations, events face boycott threats over U.S. abortion laws
Andrew Hay - reuters
5/17/19
(Reuters) - Companies operating in Alabama and Georgia, ranging from Toyota to Netflix, as well as an Alabama music festival faced boycott threats on Friday after the states passed near-total bans on abortion.
Responding to the United States’ most restrictive laws on the procedure, activists have taken aim at media companies that use Georgia as a production hub and Alabama-based automakers such as Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz.
A day after Maryland and Colorado officials told staff not to travel to Alabama to protest its abortion law passed Tuesday, people took to Twitter to say they were cancelling convention visits and beach vacations in the state.
Hangout Fest, a May 16-19 music festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama was targeted, with activists urging radio station SiriusXM to stop advertising the event and artists such as Cardi B, Travis Scott, Khalid and The Lumineers to boycott it.
Alabama earned $14.3 billion from nearly 27 million visitors in 2017, according to state data.
Activists were inspired by the partial success of boycotts that targeted Indiana over its 2015 religious freedom law, and North Carolina for its 2016 “bathroom bill” restricting their use by transgender people.
It remained to be seen whether large corporations would take a public stand on the polarizing issue of abortion.
None of the companies named in this story immediately replied to requests for comment.
Alabama Secretary of Commerce Greg Cranfield was unavailable for comment and Lee Thomas, deputy commissioner of Georgia’s film office, did not immediately respond to requests.
To date, only a few small film production companies have pulled out of Georgia, known as the “Hollywood of the South” for its $9.5 billion media production industry.
Boycott opponents, some of them Democrats, said it made no sense to economically punish Alabama, already one of the poorest U.S. states. Others said no amount of economic pain would sway them from their fight to defend unborn children’s rights.
Christopher Tyler Burks, who described himself as a “progressive Birmighamian,” urged people to support local groups like Emerge Alabama that fight for women’s reproductive rights.
“Rather than hate and #BoycottAlabama, use your voice to support the people in this state,” tweeted Burks, a researcher at American University in Washington.
Responding to the United States’ most restrictive laws on the procedure, activists have taken aim at media companies that use Georgia as a production hub and Alabama-based automakers such as Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz.
A day after Maryland and Colorado officials told staff not to travel to Alabama to protest its abortion law passed Tuesday, people took to Twitter to say they were cancelling convention visits and beach vacations in the state.
Hangout Fest, a May 16-19 music festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama was targeted, with activists urging radio station SiriusXM to stop advertising the event and artists such as Cardi B, Travis Scott, Khalid and The Lumineers to boycott it.
Alabama earned $14.3 billion from nearly 27 million visitors in 2017, according to state data.
Activists were inspired by the partial success of boycotts that targeted Indiana over its 2015 religious freedom law, and North Carolina for its 2016 “bathroom bill” restricting their use by transgender people.
It remained to be seen whether large corporations would take a public stand on the polarizing issue of abortion.
None of the companies named in this story immediately replied to requests for comment.
Alabama Secretary of Commerce Greg Cranfield was unavailable for comment and Lee Thomas, deputy commissioner of Georgia’s film office, did not immediately respond to requests.
To date, only a few small film production companies have pulled out of Georgia, known as the “Hollywood of the South” for its $9.5 billion media production industry.
Boycott opponents, some of them Democrats, said it made no sense to economically punish Alabama, already one of the poorest U.S. states. Others said no amount of economic pain would sway them from their fight to defend unborn children’s rights.
Christopher Tyler Burks, who described himself as a “progressive Birmighamian,” urged people to support local groups like Emerge Alabama that fight for women’s reproductive rights.
“Rather than hate and #BoycottAlabama, use your voice to support the people in this state,” tweeted Burks, a researcher at American University in Washington.
|
|
people voted for this fool!!!
GOP lawmaker stuns colleagues with bizarre speech about ‘consensual rape’ on Missouri House floor
Brad Reed - raw story
17 MAY 2019 AT 13:28 ET
A Republican Missouri state lawmaker on Friday stunned many of his colleagues when he made a reference to “consensual rape” on the floor of the state’s House of Representatives.
During a debate over an anti-abortion law that was passed by the Missouri House of Representatives on Friday, GOP Rep. Barry Hovis, a former law enforcement official, argued that opponents of the bill were overestimating how often women in the United States were really raped.
“Let’s just say that someone goes out and, uh, they have, they’re raped or they’re sexually assaulted one night after a college party,” he began. “Because most of my rapes [encountered as a law enforcement official] were not the gentleman jumping out the bushes that nobody’d ever met. That was one of two times out of 100. Most of them were date rapes or consensual rapes, which were all terrible!”
According to Kansas City Star reporter Crystal Thomas, this statement drew shocked responses from people inside the chamber.
Thomas followed up with Hovis after his speech and he said that he misspoke and claimed he meant to say that law-enforcement officials always have to determine whether a sexual assault claim is “consensual or rape.” He then said he knew there was “no such thing as consensual rape.”
During a debate over an anti-abortion law that was passed by the Missouri House of Representatives on Friday, GOP Rep. Barry Hovis, a former law enforcement official, argued that opponents of the bill were overestimating how often women in the United States were really raped.
“Let’s just say that someone goes out and, uh, they have, they’re raped or they’re sexually assaulted one night after a college party,” he began. “Because most of my rapes [encountered as a law enforcement official] were not the gentleman jumping out the bushes that nobody’d ever met. That was one of two times out of 100. Most of them were date rapes or consensual rapes, which were all terrible!”
According to Kansas City Star reporter Crystal Thomas, this statement drew shocked responses from people inside the chamber.
Thomas followed up with Hovis after his speech and he said that he misspoke and claimed he meant to say that law-enforcement officials always have to determine whether a sexual assault claim is “consensual or rape.” He then said he knew there was “no such thing as consensual rape.”
Deutsche Bank Ignored Potential Illicit Activity in Trump, Kushner Accounts: Report
Barbie Latza Nadeau, Correspondent-At-Large
daily beast - cheat sheet
A former anti-fraud specialist dealing with money laundering for Deutsche Banktold the New York Times that alarm bells went off over certain transactions in accounts under the control of both Donald Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner. The former employee Tammy McFadden and five others told the Times that the transactions set off alerts in a computer system designed to spot illegal activity. Staff members then prepared reports that were intended for the Treasury Department arm that polices financial crimes, but executives at the bank rejected the advice and the reports were never filed, according to five employees interviewed by the paper. “You present them with everything, and you give them a recommendation, and nothing happens,” McFadden, who was terminated for questioning the bank’s practices. “It’s the D.B. way. They are prone to discounting everything.” In April, the Trump Organization sued Deutsche Bank and others to prevent them from answering congressional subpoenas.
Austria Calls Snap Elections Amid Corruption Scandal Involving Orgies and Russian Interference
Barbie Latza Nadeau, Correspondent-At-Large
daily beast - cheat sheet
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz dissolved parliament to pave the way for snap elections after an incriminating video of his vice chancellor making a deal with a Russian investor surfaced. The secret video showed Heinz-Christian Strache, the far-right leader of his coalition government, attempting to trade public contracts for donations from a woman he believed was the niece of a Russian oligarch. Politico reports that Kurz’s decision to end his coalition government came after Strache’s claims on the secret video that Kurz was involved in sex orgies. Kurz said the claims did not influence his decision to pull the plug on his government. “The images show a disturbing picture, a picture that does not represent our country. This is not who we are. This isn't what Austria is like,” President Van der Bellen said Sunday. “Austrians have the right to have a government they can trust, a government that is esteemed and respected in Europe and the entire world.”
Morehouse College Commencement Speaker Says He Will Pay-Off Entire Graduating Class' Student Loans
Audrey McNamara, Reporter
daily beast cheat sheet
During his commencement address at Morehouse College on Sunday, billionaire Robert F. Smith announced that he would be paying off the entire graduating class' student debt. Smith is chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, a software and technology investment firm. He had already pledged a $1.5 million gift to the school earlier this year, but said during his speech that his family would also be providing a grant to eliminate the student debt of the nearly 430 graduating seniors. The surprise announcement elicited huge cheers from the crowd. Morehouse, a historically black all-male private liberal arts school in Atlanta, Georgia, had some students graduating in upwards of $70,000 debt. Smith's gift is estimated to total $40 million. “This is my class,” he said after the announcement, “and I know my class will pay this forward.”
GOP’s Jim Jordan facing scrutiny from House committee for his role in Ohio State’s sex abuse scandal: report
Cody Fenwick, AlterNet - raw story
17 MAY 2019 AT 15:38 ET
GOP’s Jim Jordan facing scrutiny from House committee for his role in Ohio State’s sex abuse scandal: report
Cody Fenwick, AlterNet - raw story
17 MAY 2019 AT 15:38 ET
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) faced a firestorm last year when former players on the Ohio State wrestling team, where he served as an assistant coach, accused him of ignoring a massive sex abuse scandal. Dr. Richard Strauss was molesting male athletes for decades, a new independent report found, while coaches and administrators knowingly turned a blind eye.
Jordan has denied any knowledge of the abuse while it was happening, but former athletes have claimed he was aware and that the wrestlers spoke openly about it at the time. And on Friday, NBC News reported that the House Committee on Education and Labor has begun examining the allegations of Jordan’s involvement in the scandal, citing an anonymous committee aide.
Ian Fury, Jordan’s communications director, tried to claim the congressman was vindicated by the report, pointing to its claim that it “did not identify any other contemporaneous documentary evidence indicating that members of the OSU coaching staff, including head coaches or assistant coaches, received or were aware of complaints regarding Strauss’ sexual misconduct.”
However, it also found that survivors, many of whom believed the coaches were aware of the abuse, were “both highly credible and cross-corroborative.”
Mike DiSabato, one of the former athletes who sparked the investigation by coming forward, told NBC News that the report appears to support and bolster his account, adding: “Jim Jordan knew, they all knew, and they did nothing.”
Jordan has denied any knowledge of the abuse while it was happening, but former athletes have claimed he was aware and that the wrestlers spoke openly about it at the time. And on Friday, NBC News reported that the House Committee on Education and Labor has begun examining the allegations of Jordan’s involvement in the scandal, citing an anonymous committee aide.
Ian Fury, Jordan’s communications director, tried to claim the congressman was vindicated by the report, pointing to its claim that it “did not identify any other contemporaneous documentary evidence indicating that members of the OSU coaching staff, including head coaches or assistant coaches, received or were aware of complaints regarding Strauss’ sexual misconduct.”
However, it also found that survivors, many of whom believed the coaches were aware of the abuse, were “both highly credible and cross-corroborative.”
Mike DiSabato, one of the former athletes who sparked the investigation by coming forward, told NBC News that the report appears to support and bolster his account, adding: “Jim Jordan knew, they all knew, and they did nothing.”
Hated student loan company torn to bits by angry borrowers after bragging about making Fortune 500
Brad Reed - raw story
16 MAY 2019 AT 15:30 ET
Student loan servicing company Navient Corp., which is facing multiple lawsuits for allegedly engaging in deceptive practices designed to squeeze more money from borrowers by pushing them into more costly repayment plans, got hammered online Thursday when it boasted of being a Fortune 500 company.
Navient has drawn widespread criticism for its business practices, and an internal Department of Education audit from 2017 found that the company worked to steer borrowers into expensive repayment options without giving them sufficient information about alternatives that would be less costly over the long haul.
---
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who is currently suing Navient for their allegedly deceptive tactics, was not pleased to see the company crowing about what he claims is ill-gotten wealth. Specifically, Shapiro accused Navient of “unlawfully adding $4 billion on the backs of students and their families through your predatory student loan practices.”
---
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who has made student debt forgiveness a cornerstone of her presidential campaign, similarly whacked the company.
Elizabeth Warren✔
@SenWarren
This student loan company is literally under investigation and being sued by states and the federal government for cheating students to make more money.
But congrats on breaking into the #Fortune500, @Navient. I didn’t know they had a special section for scammers. pic.twitter.com/6Pd1LUPOqH
9:58 AM - May 16, 2019
Navient has drawn widespread criticism for its business practices, and an internal Department of Education audit from 2017 found that the company worked to steer borrowers into expensive repayment options without giving them sufficient information about alternatives that would be less costly over the long haul.
---
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who is currently suing Navient for their allegedly deceptive tactics, was not pleased to see the company crowing about what he claims is ill-gotten wealth. Specifically, Shapiro accused Navient of “unlawfully adding $4 billion on the backs of students and their families through your predatory student loan practices.”
---
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who has made student debt forgiveness a cornerstone of her presidential campaign, similarly whacked the company.
Elizabeth Warren✔
@SenWarren
This student loan company is literally under investigation and being sued by states and the federal government for cheating students to make more money.
But congrats on breaking into the #Fortune500, @Navient. I didn’t know they had a special section for scammers. pic.twitter.com/6Pd1LUPOqH
9:58 AM - May 16, 2019
*What's Inside*
may 17 - may 19
✔HOW GERRYMANDERING AND VOTER SUPPRESSION PAVED THE WAY FOR ABORTION BANS
(ELECTIONS)
*THIS PLANT LOVES TO SOAK UP ARSENIC, A CHEMICAL THAT IS HIGHLY TOXIC TO HUMANS
(CURRENTS)
*EXPOSING THE DIRTY BUSINESS BEHIND THE DESIGNER LABEL
(ENVIRONMENT)
*N.Y. POLICE COMMANDER SAID ERIC GARNER’S DEATH ‘WASN’T A BIG DEAL,’ NEW TEXTS REVEAL
(GESTAPO USA)
*US PASTOR RUNS NETWORK GIVING 50,000 UGANDANS BLEACH-BASED 'MIRACLE CURE'
(WORLD)
*ANTI-CHOICE LAWS ARE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIGION BY THE RUDE PUNDIT
(COMMENTARY)
*WILL DEMOCRATIC PARTY ELITES DICTATE ITS PRIMARIES AGAIN?
(DEMO POLITICS)
*IS THE GIG ECONOMY A PATH TO PROSPERITY OR THE INDENTURE OF JUST GETTING BY?
(SLAVERY 21ST CENTURY)
✔ RNC ACCEPTED $400K FROM DISGRACED BILLIONAIRE STEVE WYNN ONE YEAR AFTER HE WAS ACCUSED OF SEXUAL ASSAULT: REPORT(GOP POLITICS)
*OCASIO-CORTEZ JOINS BILLIONAIRE WARREN BUFFET TO WAGE WAR ON OVERPAID CEO’S OF FAILING BANKS
(PROGRESSIVES)
*FORMER INDIANA LAWMAKER: PETE BUTTIGIEG CAN’T BE PRESIDENT BECAUSE ‘HOMOSEXUALS’ DIE YOUNG
(AMERIKKKANS)
*SECRETIVE DARK MONEY GROUP GOT $22 MILLION TO GET TRUMP SCOTUS PICK CONFIRMED – AND MOST CAME FROM ONE ANONYMOUS DONOR(CORRUPTION)
✔BLACK TEEN TRAUMATIZED AFTER COP SLAMS HIM INTO PATROL CAR AND HANDCUFFS HIM DURING JAYWALKING STOP
(GESTAPO USA)
*ELIZABETH WARREN JUST DROPPED A PLAN FOR FIGHTING THE ALABAMA ABORTION BAN
(CANDIDATES)
*THE PENTAGON’S CIVILIANS ARE UNHAPPY. THAT’S DANGEROUS FOR US ALL.
(REALITY)
*FOR BLACK AMERICANS, “JURY OF YOUR PEERS” IS A HOLLOW PHRASE
(RACE MATTERS)
#BLACKEXCELLENCE: LOUISIANA TWINS RACK UP $2.7M IN SCHOLARSHIP MONEY, PLAN TO STUDY CIVIL ENGINEERING
(REAL PEOPLE)
*SCIENTISTS ARE BAFFLED BY A GIANT SPIKE IN THIS GREENHOUSE GAS — AND IT’S NOT CO2
(ENVIRONMENT)
*FOX NEWS CELEBRATES NEW ABORTION BANS IN MISSOURI AND ALABAMA BY FALSELY CLAIMING ‘VOTERS WANT’ TO BAN ABORTION(WORTHLESS MEDIA)
Shining
madamesilverspurs - Demo Underground
*late news of interest*
Yet Another Open Letter to Rick Santorum
nancegreggs - demo underground
5/16/19
TO: Rick Santorum (R - Asshole)
I just heard your latest diatribe on CNN about how abortion is morally wrong because it is the taking of a human life.
Given the policies of your party, could you please explain how it is morally right to take food away from living children by gutting programs like SNAP, or refusing them nutritious school lunches if they can’t afford to pay for them?
Could you please explain how your party’s unending efforts to overturn Obamacare, which would leave millions of children and their families without healthcare coverage, is morally right?
Could you please explain how your “pResident” and your party are demonstrating their concern for children by taking them away from their parents at the border, locking them in cages, and then ‘losing them’?
Could you please explain why your party tries to shut down sex education in schools and access to affordable birth control, when both of those things have been proven effective in reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies that often lead to having an abortion?
Could you please explain why your party refuses to legislate and enforce reasonable gun control laws that would protect our children in their own classrooms?
It’s always the same old song from people of your ilk: Gin-up your ‘base’ by declaring your love of the ‘unborn child’ – and then gin them up further by promising to cut funding for programs that children directly benefit from because they’re “draining the system” of money that they don’t deserve.
Your arrogance in appointing yourself the arbiter of what is morally wrong or right is only surpassed by your blatant hypocrisy. As long as the “pResident” and the party you support are willing to allow traumatized children to be jailed at the border, to be slowly starved by cuts to the programs that feed them, to be denied affordable healthcare that treats them when they are sick, and to leave them unprotected from weapons that cut them down in their schoolrooms, you are in no position to claim any moral highroad you pretend to represent.
I understand you are a self-proclaimed devout Catholic. I would strongly suggest that you examine your conscience, confess your sins against the children you allegedly care about, and recite a sincere Act of Contrition.
Maybe your priest will absolve you – but I doubt that your God will. In Catholicism, forgiveness of your sins is always dependent on your solemn promise to go and sin no more. And as long as you keep catapulting the Republican propaganda that your “pResident” and your party care about children, you continue to sin.
If you truly believed in the sanctity of life, you would believe that the already-born are as deserving of your protection as the not-yet-born. But you obviously don’t – because stirring-up the “base” by characterizing abortion as murder is seen as a vote-getter, while feeding, housing, and caring for the children already here is invariably characterized as wasting the taxpayers’ money on “free stuff” for the offspring of those who gave birth to children they couldn’t afford to raise.
If I were a priest and you walked into my confessional, your penance would be so lengthy that between reciting twenty rosaries per day, doing the Stations of the Cross once a week, and daily novenas to at least a dozen different saints, you wouldn’t have enough time to open your lying, hypocritical mouth.
Yours in Christ (who I, as a Jew, seem to know a lot better than you do),
--- NanceGreggs
I just heard your latest diatribe on CNN about how abortion is morally wrong because it is the taking of a human life.
Given the policies of your party, could you please explain how it is morally right to take food away from living children by gutting programs like SNAP, or refusing them nutritious school lunches if they can’t afford to pay for them?
Could you please explain how your party’s unending efforts to overturn Obamacare, which would leave millions of children and their families without healthcare coverage, is morally right?
Could you please explain how your “pResident” and your party are demonstrating their concern for children by taking them away from their parents at the border, locking them in cages, and then ‘losing them’?
Could you please explain why your party tries to shut down sex education in schools and access to affordable birth control, when both of those things have been proven effective in reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies that often lead to having an abortion?
Could you please explain why your party refuses to legislate and enforce reasonable gun control laws that would protect our children in their own classrooms?
It’s always the same old song from people of your ilk: Gin-up your ‘base’ by declaring your love of the ‘unborn child’ – and then gin them up further by promising to cut funding for programs that children directly benefit from because they’re “draining the system” of money that they don’t deserve.
Your arrogance in appointing yourself the arbiter of what is morally wrong or right is only surpassed by your blatant hypocrisy. As long as the “pResident” and the party you support are willing to allow traumatized children to be jailed at the border, to be slowly starved by cuts to the programs that feed them, to be denied affordable healthcare that treats them when they are sick, and to leave them unprotected from weapons that cut them down in their schoolrooms, you are in no position to claim any moral highroad you pretend to represent.
I understand you are a self-proclaimed devout Catholic. I would strongly suggest that you examine your conscience, confess your sins against the children you allegedly care about, and recite a sincere Act of Contrition.
Maybe your priest will absolve you – but I doubt that your God will. In Catholicism, forgiveness of your sins is always dependent on your solemn promise to go and sin no more. And as long as you keep catapulting the Republican propaganda that your “pResident” and your party care about children, you continue to sin.
If you truly believed in the sanctity of life, you would believe that the already-born are as deserving of your protection as the not-yet-born. But you obviously don’t – because stirring-up the “base” by characterizing abortion as murder is seen as a vote-getter, while feeding, housing, and caring for the children already here is invariably characterized as wasting the taxpayers’ money on “free stuff” for the offspring of those who gave birth to children they couldn’t afford to raise.
If I were a priest and you walked into my confessional, your penance would be so lengthy that between reciting twenty rosaries per day, doing the Stations of the Cross once a week, and daily novenas to at least a dozen different saints, you wouldn’t have enough time to open your lying, hypocritical mouth.
Yours in Christ (who I, as a Jew, seem to know a lot better than you do),
--- NanceGreggs
Texas police raid Catholic offices in sexual abuse probe
Agence France-Presse - raw story
16 MAY 2019 AT 06:03 ET
Texas police investigating child sexual abuse on Wednesday raided offices of the Catholic diocese in Dallas, after alleging that church officials had not been fully cooperative.
Police served search warrants at the headquarters of the diocese, a storage location and offices of a local church.
The raids were connected to the investigation of a fugitive priest named Edmundo Paredes and at least five new allegations of abuse against other suspects, police said.
“These investigations stem from additional allegations made after the case against Mr. Paredes became public,” Major Max Geron of the Dallas police said.
Paredes is charged with sexual abuse of a child and accused of molesting at least three other minors. He disappeared from the suburban Dallas church where he served for decades and is believed to have fled to his native Philippines.
The Dallas diocese said the raids did not involve any suspects who had not been publicly disclosed on a list of 31 predator priests going back to the 1950s. The diocese released the list in January.
“The diocese has been cooperating with the ongoing investigation of these priests,” Dallas Bishop Edward Burns told reporters.
A judge approved the warrants after police alleged that church officials had not been fully cooperative, according to The Dallas Morning News, which obtained a copy of court records.
“To date, the Dallas Police Department has not been given the number of priests’ files flagged for sexual abuse,” the newspaper quoted police as saying in an affidavit.
Police accused the church of hiding allegations against priests or providing incomplete information, according to the newspaper.
“We believed at this point that executing search warrants was wholly appropriate for the furtherance of the investigation,” Geron said.
Police served search warrants at the headquarters of the diocese, a storage location and offices of a local church.
The raids were connected to the investigation of a fugitive priest named Edmundo Paredes and at least five new allegations of abuse against other suspects, police said.
“These investigations stem from additional allegations made after the case against Mr. Paredes became public,” Major Max Geron of the Dallas police said.
Paredes is charged with sexual abuse of a child and accused of molesting at least three other minors. He disappeared from the suburban Dallas church where he served for decades and is believed to have fled to his native Philippines.
The Dallas diocese said the raids did not involve any suspects who had not been publicly disclosed on a list of 31 predator priests going back to the 1950s. The diocese released the list in January.
“The diocese has been cooperating with the ongoing investigation of these priests,” Dallas Bishop Edward Burns told reporters.
A judge approved the warrants after police alleged that church officials had not been fully cooperative, according to The Dallas Morning News, which obtained a copy of court records.
“To date, the Dallas Police Department has not been given the number of priests’ files flagged for sexual abuse,” the newspaper quoted police as saying in an affidavit.
Police accused the church of hiding allegations against priests or providing incomplete information, according to the newspaper.
“We believed at this point that executing search warrants was wholly appropriate for the furtherance of the investigation,” Geron said.
