Sunday Reads: It’s a tRump Ass World….
Posted: August 5, 2018 Filed under: 2018 elections, children, corruption, Discrimination against women, Domestic terrorism, Donald Trump, Drone Warfare, Fox News, Free Press, Journalism, just because, misogyny, morning reads, Myanmar, open thread, racism, Rape Culture, Refugees, Republican politics, Russia, Russian Trump Investigation, SCOTUS, the GOP, U.S. Politics, Venezuela, white nationalists | Tags: Clarence Thomas, Nicolas Maduro 31 Comments
I’ve guess you all have seen the latest paintings from the tRumptonian artist Jon McNaughton?
Bizarre Right-Wing Trump Portrait Gets Mercilessly Mocked On Twitter | HuffPost
A right-wing artist’s latest “heroic” image of President Donald Trump received some pretty savage reviews from people on social media.
Jon McNaughton painted a take on George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware, except in this version Trump is commanding a boat filled with members of his administration.
“Trump endeavors to cross the ‘swamp’ of Washington D.C. as he carries the light of truth, hope and prosperity,” McNaughton wrote. “The murky water of the deep state is laced with dangerous vermin, perfectly willing to destroy American prosperity for their personal ideologies and financial gain.”
Take a peek at the link to see the various jokes, I’ve posted one of the funnier ones below, which conveniently also shows what the original painting looks like….
You can also see another new “work of art” (excuse me while I vomit) below…I don’t know what the name of that piece of shit is…but it must have Strangling the Mueller somewhere in the title.
Nah, see? It is called Expose the Truth. God it is fucking disgusting.
So, now that I have posted some of the visual images for the thread, I suppose I should get around to throwing some links in the pie as well.
I don’t know what to make at that tweet above… I know whatever is being done with the attacks on the press is dangerous. Just like the paintings of tRump strangling Mueller with a tie…it crosses the line.
Pastor at Trump rally prays to shield Trump from ‘jungle journalism’ | TheHill
From enemy of the people to jungle journalism….
The pastor delivering the invocation at President Trump’s rally in Ohio on Saturday called for God to shield Trump from “jungle journalism.”
CNN reported that Gary Click, a pastor and member of the Ohio GOP’s State Central Committee, delivered the prayer ahead of Trump’s remarks, asking for God to “protect our President and his family with a shield of faith, Lord.”
“That shield of faith against the fiery darts of the wicked one, Lord, against that jungle journalism that extorts the truth and distorts honesty and integrity every single day, gets in his face with lies and mistruths and innuendos,” Click continued.
I doubt they hired that preacher from craigslist.
Even Fox News is sensing the danger:
What The Heck Is Happening When Even Fox News Starts Making Sense? | Crooks and Liars
But tRump still threatens:
Trump: I ‘destroy’ careers of Republicans who say bad things about me | TheHill
President Trump bragged about his prowess in defeating the Republicans who oppose him, saying at an Ohio rally that he “destroys” the careers of GOP politicians who dare defy him.
“How do you get 100 percent of anything? We always have somebody who says ‘I don’t like Trump, I don’t like our president, he destroyed my career,’ ” Trump said.
“I only destroy their career because they said bad things about me and you fight back and they go down the tubes and that’s OK,” he added.
He is a fucking thug, and it looks like Sunday will only be used for more threats and blows toward Mueller.
Sunday shows preview: Trump’s attacks on Mueller probe ramp up | TheHill
Read more at that link.
Maybe something big is coming?
Trump voicing concerns about son being entangled in Mueller probe – CNNPolitics
I thought this was a true enough tweet below.
Yeah, that is gross:
Justice Clarence Thomas Is Having an Outsize Influence on the Trump Administration – Mother Jones
Twenty percent of the quiet justice’s former clerks owe their current jobs to President Trump.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is by far the court’s quietest and most conservative justice. He went 10 years without asking a single question from the bench, a streak broken in 2016, not long after the death of his friend Justice Antonin Scalia. Since then, Thomas hasn’t uttered a word in court. His opinions are so quirky and radically conservative that his colleagues on the bench often seem reluctant to sign on to them, making him perhaps one of the least influential justices in the court’s history.
But the court’s only African-American justice is having an outsize influence in one important sphere: the Trump administration. A new report by the AP’s Mark Sherman indicates that roughly 20 percent of the clerks—a total of 22—Thomas has hired since his confirmation in 1991 are either now working as political appointees in the administration or have been appointed by Trump to federal judgeships.
In other news, this headline got me thinking…what the fuck is she doing back? Hope Hicks Spotted Boarding Air Force One
Check it out, I wonder if this was agreed on at the summit:
Steven Seagal Named By Russia As Special Rep To US For Humanitarian Ties | Deadline
Russian President Vladimir Putin presented a Russian passport to the US actor in 2016, and now Seagal will expand his ties, serving as a goodwill ambassador. He will receive no salary, the Ministry said, adding, “It’s a case of people’s diplomacy intersecting with traditional diplomacy.”
Seagal’s new role was noted by Kremlin-backed TV station RT, who noted Seagal as welcoming the appointment.
“I’ve always had a very strong desire to do all I can to help improve Russian-American relations,” RT quoted Seagal. “I have worked tirelessly in this direction for many years unofficially and I am now very grateful for the opportunity to do the same thing officially.”
Don’t forget…
While Seagal is popular in Russia, he has been accused in the US of sexual misconduct.
In March of this year, two women who previously accused Steven Seagal of rape and sexual assault stepped forward to offer more detailed accounts of the actor’s alleged misconduct. Los Angeles attorney Lisa Bloom told reporters in a press conference that she will represent former Dutch model Faviola Dadis and one-time aspiring actress Regina Simons as they seek justice.
Actresses Juliana Margulies and Pamela Anderson have also complained about Seagal’s conduct during auditions.
Looks like DC is trying to make the relations between the Neo Nazis holding a rally and folks counterprotesting the racist KKK white nationalist fucks:
D.C. Metro Considers Separate Trains for ‘Unite the Right’ White Nationalist Rally – Truthdig
In an effort to head off violence between white nationalists and counterprotesters, the District of Columbia metro transit system is considering providing separate trains for those attending the white supremacist “Unite the Right” rally Aug. 12. The use of separate trains for such a purpose would be unprecedented.
In response to criticism, Jack Evans, chairman of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, said in a Washington Post article:
“We’re not trying to give anyone special treatment. We’re just trying to avoid scuffles and things of that nature.”
It doesn’t look like special treatment helped the situation in Portland:
Hundreds of far-right protesters from as far away as Florida gathered on the waterfront in Portland, Oregon for a “Freedom March” on Saturday. Dozens of those interviewed said they were there to utilize their “freedom of speech.” To do so, they came armed with bats, weighted fighting gloves, wooden poles, canisters of mace, knives, shields and body armor.
The police had declared a day earlier that all such weapons were illegal in Portland parks. But no effort was witnessed to confiscate the weapons or arrest the weapon-holders.
For hours, four lines of riot police kept the far right separated from a much larger crowd of anti-fascists. The Portland police seemingly wanted to avoid a replay of June 30, when they took a hands-off approach to another far-right rally that quickly degenerated into a violent brawl of about 100 people, resulting in five hospitalizations.
This time it was the police who sent protesters to the hospital. Later in the day, when the far right decided to march into the city, police decided to sweep the streets of counter-protesters. Neither side had permits, but police provided protection to the far right to march for two blocks.
To clear the way, police shot dozens of flash-bang grenades at more than 1,000 people who had gathered to oppose what they say are white supremacists.
There are exclusive pictures of the wounded at the Raw Story link.
About the latest tRump tariffs:
Here are a few links above various things….
There was a strange assassination attempt last night…WATCH: Speech By Venezuelan President Maduro Cut Off After Reported Explosion
Maduro was unharmed in the attempt, but many of the military members in attendance were seen reacting to the explosion.
Footage of the speech, circulated on social media, showed Maduro delivering a speech before the sound cuts out, and those on the stage duck. A camera then shows soldiers running from in a square, before the footage cuts completely.
According to Patricia Laya, Bloomberg News’s Venezuela Bureau Chief, the feed cut after an explosion was heard near the stage.
Orson Welles: actor, director… painter? | Film | The Guardian
Iam essentially a hack, a commercial person,” Orson Welles once said. “If I had a hobby, I would immediately make money on it or abandon it.” Self-deprecation aside, this most creatively ambitious and restless of US directors was hardly a hack. Welles did have a hobby, though – one he never abandoned or monetised, and one that is now shedding fresh light on a mighty career.
For in private, the great man worked quietly as an artist – yielding a vast, varied collection of paintings, drawings and doodles that has rarely been given serious scrutiny. That output is the subject of The Eyes of Orson Welles, a whimsical documentary by film critic, historian and lifelong Welles devotee Mark Cousins. An exhibition of the artworks, on which Cousins advised, is also now running at Edinburgh’s Summerhall galleries.
For those who think of Welles chiefly as the stern, booming talent behind such concrete American standards as Citizen Kane, Cousins’s film is revelatory, exposing a wry, playful, angry, often lovestruck man behind the Hollywood legend.
That is all I have today, hope everybody is doing well.
This is an open thread.
Sunday Reads: “Sanctions that didn’t exist before this regime took office.” – Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State.
Posted: July 29, 2018 Filed under: 2016 elections, 2018 elections, 2020 Elections, abortion rights, Bailout Blues, Congress, corruption, Discrimination against women, Donald Trump, double-speak, Elections, Human Rights, ICE Immigration and Customs Enforcement, immigration, morning reads, open thread, racism, Rape Culture, Refugees, refugees from Central and South America, Reproductive Health, Reproductive Rights, Russia, Russian Trump Investigation, the GOP, tRump crimes against humanity, U.S. Politics, Violence against women, War on Women, Women's Healthcare 13 Comments
A lot of shit went down this week, the reason I chose to highlight the quote up top is simply because of the key word: Regime.
Many news outlets made quite a point about Mike Pompeo’s Freudian slip, referring to the tRump Administration as “this regime.”
THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER Senate Grills Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Aired 4:30-5p ET CNN.com – Transcripts
“Sanctions that didn’t exist before this regime took office.” – Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State.
Now, I read the transcript…link above, and honestly…I don’t know what the fuck “regime” Pompeo is talking about; so much bullshit is spewing from his mouth. But if he is indeed referring to tRump…he spoke the words we all know to be true.
I think the following sentiment has been mentioned before:
Take a look at this thread, it deals with Stein and Sanders and Tad Devine…and only strengthens my belief in #FuckBernieSanders :
Here is another long thread to check out, about my state…Georgia and the asshole named Kemp currently running for Governor:
A few tweets that continue to question the 2016 elections.
Here are some associations with tRump and his “friends” ….including the folks that perhaps Putin may have wanted to be excluded from sanctions?
Treasury May Drop Sanctions on a Company Owned by One of Putin’s Allies – Mother Jones
The Trump Administration may lift sanctions on a major Russian company founded by one of Vladimir Putin’s top allies.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnunchin told reporters during G-20 meeting of Finance Ministers last week, that the department may remove sanctions on Rusal, an international aluminum company that controls an estimated 6 percent of the global market that has long been controlled by Oleg Deripaska. Deripaska is a Putin confidant who has been implicated in suspected coordination between Moscow and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, but he has repeatedly denied involvement. As Reuters reported, the department is mulling the move in the wake of a sharp increase in aluminum prices that followed Trump‘s imposition of a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports.
“The objective was to impact the oligarchs, not to impact the hardworking people of Rusal as a result of the sanctions,” Mnunchin told CNN, which reported the comments on Friday.
In April, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on Deripaska and Rusal, along with 24 other Russians, in a delayed action aimedat punishing Russia for interfering the 2016 election. Under the sanctions, the US assets of the individuals and firms listed are frozen, and American citizens are barred from doing business with them. Deripaska was specifically singled out for “having acted or purported to act for, or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, a senior official of the Government of the Russian Federation.”
Updates on tRump’s crimes against humanity:
The latest on that 6 year old who was assaulted at a detention center…she has been reunited with her family.
A 6-year-old girl was allegedly sexually abused while at an Arizona-based detention center, The Nation reports. The child, who The Nation refers to as D.L., reportedly left Guatemala with her mother because of gang violence; they were separated at the U.S. border on May 24, as a result of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy. The 6-year-old was then placed in Casa Glendale, a detention center run by Southwest Key Programs.
According to The Nation, D.L.’s father (who lives in California) received a phone call from Southwest Key on June 11, telling him that another child in the detention center had allegedly “fondled” his daughter and other children. Mark Lane, a spokesperson representing D.L.’s family, told The Nation that the 6-year-old’s father was instructed “not to worry” because “Southwest Key was changing some of its protocols and such abuse would not happen again.” (The report notes that several weeks later, D.L.’s father received another phone call, alerting him to a second instance of alleged abuse by the same suspect.)
The Nation also reports that D.L. was asked to sign a form that was part of the detention center’s “intervention protocol.” The form, a copy of which was obtained by The Nation, noted that D.L. was instructed to maintain her “distance from other youth involved,” and that she was made aware it was her “responsibility to maintain appropriate boundaries with peers/workers.” The document also noted that it was D.L.’s “responsibility to report sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and/or inappropriate sexual behavior.”
Boston Boomer mentioned this yesterday in the comments:
But this is really the disgusting part:
How Catholic Bishops Are Shaping Health Care In Rural America | FiveThirtyEight
Almost as soon as President Trump took office, he began rolling back health care rules that had angered religious groups for much of the last decade. First, Trump signed an executive order declaring that his administration would protect religious freedom. Then, his administration ruled that health insurance plans offered by large employers don’t have to cover contraception for employees, an about-face from a contentious Obama policy. The Department of Health and Human Services created a Conscience and Religious Freedom Division, signaling a new focus for the agency. A proposed rule could require all 5,500 hospitals in the U.S. to post notices informing individuals and entities that they are protected from religious discrimination.
The changes are all designed to ensure that employers, health care institutions and providers don’t have to participate in health care practices they object to for ethical or moral reasons. But even decades before the Trump administration moved to roll back Obamacare policies, some religious hospitals — in particular, Catholic hospitals — already had the green light from the government to deny certain treatment options to their patients. These hospitals’ right to refuse care is generally unquestioned, creating a dilemma for the people who walk in the door: What happens when you need or want a standard medical service, but the hospital won’t provide it?
In a growing number of communities around the country, especially in rural areas, patients and physicians have access to just one hospital. And in more and more places, that hospital is Catholic. That sounds innocuous — a hospital is a hospital, after all. But Catholic hospitals are bound by a range of restrictions on care that are determined by religious authorities, with very little input from medical staff. Increasingly, where a patient lives can determine whether Catholic doctrine, and how the local bishop interprets that doctrine, will decide what kind of care she can get.
This is worrying news:
I lit candles for Lewis this morning…I hope he gets better…
Wednesday Reads: Lies Lies Lies
Posted: July 18, 2018 Filed under: 2018 elections, 2020 Elections, Main Stream Media, morning reads, open thread, Political and Editorial Cartoons, Russia, the GOP, Trump, U.S. Politics, Voter Ignorance, We are so F'd, Wednesday Hump Day Cartoons 16 Comments
About that ridiculous shit show from tRump yesterday:
‘Did the dog eat his homework too?’ CNN’s Erin Burnett slams Trump – Business Insider
In a scathing opening monologue on Tuesday, CNN anchor Erin Burnett slammed President Donald Trump’s explanation that he misspoke during a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Damage control, the president claims he misspoke once in his disastrous summit with Putin,” Burnett said on CNN. “Did the dog eat his homework too?”
During his press conference with Putin in Helsinki, Finland, Trump initially said he did not “see any reason why” Russia would be responsible for meddling in the 2016 US Presidential election. When asked if he would condemn Russia for its election interference, Trump refused to back the US intelligence community’s assessment, and instead, railed against the FBI and his political opponents.
“My people came to me … They said they think it’s Russia,” Trump said at the summit on Monday. “I have President Putin. He just said it’s not Russia.”
“I will say this,” Trump added. “I don’t see any reason why it would be.”
After a wave of critics from both parties criticized his remarks, Trump backtracked his comments and said in a tweet that he had “GREAT confidence” in the US intelligence community.
“How stupid does Trump think we Americans are?,” Burnett said in her monologue. “The president’s excuse for his embarrassing press conference where he sided with Vladimir Putin over his own intelligence chiefs does not add up.”
Trump’s handwritten notes spotted on Russia statement – YouTube
President Donald Trump couldn’t help but add one of his favorite phrases to staff-prepared remarks today.
When trying to convince the world that he actually meant to say he saw no reason it “wouldn’t” be Russia who interfered in the 2016 elections rather than “would,” the notes written in the margins of his prepared remarks – in all caps and in big, black Sharpie – read “THERE WAS NO COLUSION.”
Now, given how many times the president has seen and spat the word “collusion,” you’d think he’d know how to spell it at this point. Even more than the flimsy-at-best explanation of his remarks, perhaps this ought to alarm us, as it indicates beyond a doubt that no matter how familiar Trump appears to be with something, he refuses to absorb correct information about it.
One more thing about the statement tRump made yesterday:
Gloria Borger: Trump looked like he was in a hostage tape – YouTube
She is not the only one to bring up that point, that tRump looked like a hostage reading off a prepared document…I thought the same thing when I saw the tape.
And just a couple more tweets:
Yeah, curlygramma is right…Maddow’s show was awesome last night.
So simple and very true, why not hold hearings on all those questions that we ask daily here on the blog?
Then there was this horror news breaking on The Last Word:
Read the alert at the bottom of the screen on the picture in this tweet:
Fucking hell…let me say that again…fucking hell!
Cartoons, if you please:
07/17/2018 Cartoon by Nate Beeler
CONSISTENT PRES: 07/17/2018 Cartoon by Deb Milbrath
07/17/2018 Cartoon by Bob Gorrell
Helsinki Summit: 07/17/2018 Cartoon by Mike Keefe
Clay Bennett editorial cartoon: 07/17/2018 Cartoon by Clay Bennett
Helsinki Summit: 07/17/2018 Cartoon by Rob Rogers
07/17/2018 Cartoon by Jimmy Margulies
07/17/2018 Cartoon by J.D. Crowe
07/17/2018 Cartoon by Joel Pett
07/13/2018 Cartoon by Joel Pett
07/14/2018 Cartoon by Joe Heller
Check out the date on that one.
Trump meeting with Vladimir Putin ventriloquist: 07/17/2018 Cartoon by David G. Brown
Summit Gift: 07/17/2018 Cartoon by Paul Fell
07/16/2018 Cartoon by Matt Wuerker
HELSINKI “SUMMIT”: 07/16/2018 Cartoon by Deb Milbrath
07/15 Mike Luckovich: Cozy time.
07/17 Mike Luckovich: Advanced puppetry
07/18 Mike Luckovich: What I really meant.
Bashing our Allies: 07/16/2018 Cartoon by Adam Zyglis
Those lies are gonna get ya!
This is an open thread.
Sunday Reads: Bitter Bigguns
Posted: July 15, 2018 Filed under: Black Lives Matter, court rulings, Donald Trump, Great Britain, morning reads, open thread, police brutality, Russia, Russian Trump Investigation, the GOP, U.S. Politics, We are so F'd | Tags: reading is fundemental 10 Comments
I know that I have posted this picture before, but it has special meaning today….
GUNKISS • gunkiss: Her Derby name is “Bomba” I wanna make…
Her Derby name is “Bomba”
I wanna make a derby comic pretty bad and I might just use her as char, I loved drawing her. *Printing it so I can have it as motivation for the comic*
Many body positive blogs have been reblogging this today making it skyrocket in notes. I just wanna thank you for the comments, the notes and asked I’ve received and welcome to all new followers. I really appreciate it!
I’ve been asked regarding having this pic as a print and t-shirt, etc
You can get merch with this pic here on my Society6 store =)
Again thank you so much ♥⚡!
Innit lovely? She is so fuckingfantastic, I had to buy some “merch” with this roller babe on it…
Ok, that is enough diversion for now, let’s get to the bitterness:
I appreciate Sarah Kendzior more than I can say, but honestly, I do dread her twitter post as well…because she is so spot on. It seems like you can go back through her feed and find just how prescient her threads have been:
In October 2017, U.S. Army Sergeant La David Johnson died in a hail of gunfire while fighting off militants in Niger. Soon after, his widow, Myeshia Johnson, received a call from President Donald Trump. After coldly telling her that her husband “knew what he signed up for,” Trump failed to remember the slain soldier’s name, leaving Johnson shocked and crying.
“I heard him stumbling on trying to remember my husband’s name, and that’s what hurt me the most, because if my husband is out here fighting for our country and he risked his life for our country, why can’t you remember his name?” she said.
As the U.S.’s deranged president threatens to go to war in Syria and possibly beyond, it is worth re-examining how Trump views the troops whose lives he is putting on the line. For all his macho posturing and exhortations about his beloved generals, Trump–a draft dodger who referred to avoiding STDs as “my personal Vietnam”–has long treated veterans and their loved ones with contempt. This contempt is not rooted in an aversion to the military as an institution–Trump bloated the military budget and has been striking the Middle East while threatening North Korea and other states–but an aversion to the concept of service to one’s nation itself.
Serving one’s country is a sacrifice, and sacrifice terrifies Trump. The idea that one would risk oneself–out of love, loyalty, or duty–is alien to him. Sacrifice, to Trump, is a sucker’s bet, a gamble beyond his comprehension–but one he is all too willing to let other Americans make.
[…]
In July 2015, Trump insulted John McCain, who was tortured as a military prisoner in Vietnam. “He’s not a war hero,” Trump scoffed. “I like people who weren’t captured.” The comment shocked the audience, but it is completely in line with Trump’s worldview. What offends Trump about McCain is not that he was captured, but that he was willing to risk being captured–especially for a cause greater than himself.
This is not to say Trump does not thrive on disaster. He began his career profiting off the financial ruin of New York City (“When bad times come, then I’ll get whatever I want,” he told Barbara Walters in the 1980s) and continued to spout this philosophy before his presidential run (“You know what solves it? When the economy crashes, when the country goes to total hell and everything is a disaster. Then you’ll have, you know, you’ll have riots to go back to where we used to be when we were great,” he told FOX News in February 2014.) Trump loves a catastrophe if he is its beneficiary.
[…]
…Trump, with his visceral revulsion at the concept of service, is still the greatest danger. It is Trump whose past has finally caught up with him; it is Trump who stands the most to lose; it is Trump who unilaterally can launch nuclear weapons. Trump has shown that human beings have little inherent value to him. If Trump senses he may have to make a personal sacrifice, he will sacrifice the world instead.
This is a post from April 2018. I think Sarah resent the link today because it makes a point about the latest events from the past week. Even with the news and confirmation that Russia fucked with our election…tRump is still going forward with the planned one on one meeting with his handler Putin. (I mean that with all sincerity.)
Here are some signs from London’s protest of Trump:
If you click that link and go directly to the instagram site, you can scroll through about 6 more pictures in that particular post. Or you can just more your arrow up to the middle edge of the picture above, and you should be able to scroll through the images as well….
Brits Don’t Mince Words: The Most Irreverent and Radical Signs From UK’s Historic Anti-Trump Protest
Despite the American corporate media’s efforts to obscure the radical, irreverent, and often obscene signs on display across the United Kingdom on Friday, the disgust hundreds of thousands of Britons feel toward Donald Trump and Trumpism could not be suppressed as they took to the streets en masse to show their opposition to the U.S. president’s hate-filled policies.
Below, we present some of the greatest signs from Friday’s demonstrations, which “drastically exceeded” the expectations of organizers in both size and spirit.
I think that one above is my favorite….
As Trump Visited the U.K., Protestors Marched in Very British Style – The Atlantic
LONDON—The first protestors began assembling on Portland Place, just outside the BBC’s London headquarters, on Friday morning. They carried signs. “FEED HIM TO THE CORGIS,” said one. “TANGERINE TYRANT,” read another. “BOLLOCKS TO TRUMP.” “IKEA HAS BETTER CABINETS.” “TRUMP IS A TOSSER.” “I HAD TO FIX MY PRINTER FOR THIS.”
This image is floating around my Facebook groups:
Wow, is that a joke?
Notice the ZTA sticker on the back of the car window? Zeta Tau Alpha Fraternity | The official website of ZTA
Here is another picture making the rounds:
As far as “jokes” are concerned, these next few links are not jokes:
Michigan judge rules kids don’t have a fundamental right to literacy | TheHill
A Michigan judge ruled last week that children do not have a fundamental right to learn how to read and write.
The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by Public Counsel, the nation’s largest public interest law firm, on behalf of Detroit students that sought to hold state authorities, including Gov. Rick Snyder (R), accountable for what plaintiffs alleged were systemic failures depriving children of their right to literacy, according to the Detroit Free Press.
“I’m shocked,” said Ivy Bailey, president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers, the newspaper reported. “The message that it sends is that education is not important. And it sends the message that we don’t care if you’re literate or not.”
The suit also sought fixes to crumbling schools that, among other measures, Detroit Public Schools Community District officials reportedly said would amount to more than $500 million.
The state had argued for dismissing the suit, with the city’s lawyers saying local officials are “all too familiar with illiteracy’s far reaching effects.”
“Widespread illiteracy has hampered the City’s efforts to connect Detroiters with good-paying jobs; to fill vacancies on its police force, and to grow its tax base,” said lawyers for the city. “Illiteracy, moreover, has greatly exacerbated the effects of intergenerational poverty in Detroit.”
So, here is the decision:
U.S. District Judge Stephen Murphy III acknowledged the importance of literacy in his ruling on Friday in a 40-page opinion.
“Plainly, literacy — and the opportunity to obtain it — is of incalculable importance,” Murphy wrote. “As plaintiffs point out, voting, participating meaningfully in civic life, and accessing justice require some measure of literacy.”
But he concluded that those points “do not necessarily make access to literacy a fundamental right,” adding that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the past that the importance of service “does not determine whether it must be regarded as fundamental.”
Wait a minute…wasn’t there a fucking PSA campaign called, “Reading is Fundemental.”
Oh no, it was an actual charity, the biggest one no less, founded in 1966!
Reading Is Fundamental is committed to a literate America by inspiring a passion for reading among all children, providing quality content to make an impact and engaging communities in the solution to give every child the fundamentals for success. As the nation’s largest children’s literacy non-profit, Reading Is Fundamental maximizes every contribution to ensure all children have the ability to read and succeed.
Click the link up top to find out more information and see ways you can get involved in the programs.
In other reading news: South Carolina police object to high-school reading list | Books | The Guardian
A police union in South Carolina has challenged the inclusion of Angie Thomas’s multiple award-winning novel about police brutality, The Hate U Give, on a school’s summer reading list, describing it as “almost an indoctrination of distrust of police”.
The intervention from the Fraternal Order of Police Tri-County Lodge #3 came after Wando high school’s ninth-grade class was asked to read one of eight novels over the summer holidays. Two of the titles upset the police union: The Hate U Give, which follows a teenage girl after she witnesses the shooting of her unarmed best friend by a police officer, and Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely’s All American Boys, which sees a teenage boy trying to overcome his distrust of the police after he is wrongly suspected of shoplifting and then beaten by an officer.
Hey, check out the name of the cop leading the objection, ironic?
In fact, there are eight books on the reading list, only two of which tackle police brutality. Thomas’s book was inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, but also includes a character, the main protagonist’s uncle, who is a black police officer and positive role model. It has won prizes including the Waterstones children’s book award, while All American Boys is the recipient of the Walter Dean Myers award for outstanding children’s literature.
You can read more at the link above, here is a screenshot of Blackmon from the local news link:
Then of course….there’s Maude:
Biden: McConnell blocked Russia warning – CNN Video
Former Vice President Joe Biden claims that Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) blocked the Obama administration from warning the public about possible Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Anyway, that is all I have for today.
I am hoping to start working out and skating so that I can build up to becoming fresh meat at a roller derby somewhere. I have already picked my name out, Fanny Bigguns.
“Feel the Girthquake as Fanny Bigguns rolls on by….”
Yeah, my big ass should be able to block pretty darn good. And, it can maybe help get rid of all this angst I’ve been building up over the last few years.
This is an open thread.
Wednesday Reads: July 4th, In Revolt Yet?
Posted: July 4, 2018 Filed under: morning reads, open thread, Political and Editorial Cartoons, the GOP, Wednesday Hump Day Cartoons 19 Comments
Just cartoons for you today, there have been enough personal fireworks for me…please share your thoughts and any items that you come across along the way.
07/04 Mike Luckovich: Hard to celebrate.
JUST END LAW: 07/03/2018 Cartoon by Deb Milbrath
Post Gazette killings: 07/02/2018 Cartoon by Deb Milbrath
07/03/2018 Cartoon by Jimmy Margulies
07/03/2018 Cartoon by Jimmy Margulies
07/03/2018 Cartoon by John Cole
07/02/2018 Cartoon by John Cole
07/03/2018 Cartoon by J.D. Crowe
07/03/2018 Cartoon by Joel Pett
06/30/2018 Cartoon by Joel Pett
07/03/2018 Cartoon by Joe Heller
06/29/2018 Cartoon by Joe Heller
Fireworks: 07/03/2018 Cartoon by Rob Rogers
Supreme Court: 06/29/2018 Cartoon by Rob Rogers
Liberty: 06/28/2018 Cartoon by Rob Rogers
Ready To Sing: 07/03/2018 Cartoon by Paul Fell
European culture: 07/03/2018 Cartoon by Jen Sorensen
07/02/2018 Cartoon by Charlie Daniel
Un-American Invasion: 06/27/2018 Cartoon by Jen Sorensen
Punk d: 07/02/2018 Cartoon by Ed Hall
Thoughts and prayers: 06/30/2018 Cartoon by Ed Hall
07/02/2018 Cartoon by Jimmy Margulies
07/03 Mike Luckovich: Toeing the line.
07/01 Mike Luckovich: Frightened babies.
06/29 Mike Luckovich: What to expect.
This next cartoon is from 2016…
This is an open thread.
Sunday Reads: “Cotton-Pickers” and “Baby-Dealers”
Posted: June 24, 2018 Filed under: children, corruption, History, Human Rights, ICE Immigration and Customs Enforcement, immigration, indefinite detention, Mental Health, Mid Day Reads, morning reads, open thread, Refugees, refugees from Central and South America, Republican politics, the GOP, Trade, Trump, tRump crimes against humanity, U.S. Politics, US & Canada 31 Comments
Have you heard the latest?
Oh, there is always a latest these days…every few hours, someone from tRumpWorld says or does something outrageous, that had the same “thing” been said or done a couple of years ago…would have been cause for resignations, being fired, impeachment, imprisonment…etc.
Think about it…
I watched Tanner 88 last night, a series I had not seen since it came out in 1988. It made me think about the years, 1988, 1998, and 2018.
1988- Gary Hart…Below is an article from 1987…it reads like a pulp fiction piece when you compare it to the scandals from tRump:
The Destruction of Politician Gary Hart | Vanity Fair
After the crash of his presidential campaign, the smoking pieces of Gary Hart’s life were blown across the front page of every newspaper in America. Gail Sheehy discovered the black box in the wreckage, and has put all the pieces back together. What she found is startling: the world of Donna Rice is much darker than it seemed, and Hart was on a collision course with it all along.
Here is a particular bit to relish:
I examined Donna’s live-in love affair with a big-time cocaine dealer, who is currently serving ten years in a federal penitentiary. Four of Donna’s friends illuminated the rest of the smoke and mirrors in this high-rolling netherworld. It might be seen as the forbidden picture show to which Hart’s hidden, sybaritic side had always longed for admission. Indeed, it might be one in a dizzying series of mirrors on which, according to a senior political consultant who has known and watched him for over a decade, “Gary Hart has been writing in lipstick for years, ‘Stop me before I fuck again.’ ”
Geez, ‘Stop me before I fuck again.’ Could be the title of tRump’s biography…only perhaps a slight change to, fuck it up again?
1998- Bill Clinton…Another look from an article in 1998, yes this one is also from Vanity Fair…keeping with the same magazine for context.
Bill Clinton and Women | Vanity Fair
When the dust of Clinton’s presidency settles, the laws against sexual harassment will still be on the books. But the social sanctions against the behavior will be irretrievably damaged.If you doubt this, look around. In the weeks that followed the Lewinsky scandal, those who had been most affronted by the awkward new social arrangements lately demanded of them shambled out of their caves to beat their chests. Conservative columnist John Leo, for example, crowed in U.S. News & World Report that the scandal was “probably the decade’s high-water mark of euphoria around the water cooler … a chance to break free from the office sex police.” It’s all very well to protest that we shouldn’t look to our politicians as role models: the saga of Clinton’s sex life is being played out on too large a screen to ignore. You can say until you’re blue in the face that public men are entitled to a realm of privacy; that certain kinds of bad private behavior do not necessarily conflict with political competence, or even genius; and that adultery is not in itself of feminist concern. These are all irrelevancies. This mess is on our hands, and we do not have the luxury of arguing with its existence; the best we can do is call it what it is.
2018- Donald tRump…Again, from Vanity Fair:
Why is everyone making such a fuss about something all rich people do?
Last night on Fox News, in an unintentionally hilarious attempt to clear his client‘s name, our man Rudolph W. L. Giuliani informed host Sean Hannity that not only did Donald Trump know about the hush money lawyer Michael Cohen paid porn star Stormy Daniels, but the president repaid the $130,000. In what appeared to be an (unsuccessful) effort to get Trump off for potential campaign finance violations, Giuliani told Hannity that the whole thing was “perfectly legal” because “they funneled it through a law firm, and the president repaid it.” As my colleague Abigail Tracy points out, it doesn’t actually matter where the money came from—Trump’s own pocket, campaign contributions, or elsewhere—or if it was repaid; if, per the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, the money in question was used “for the purpose of influencing any election for Federal office,” it’s still a crime! Which made Giuliani’s Thursday morning appearance on Fox & Friends slightly problematic, considering he told the group it was a good thing Cohen made the Daniels story “go away,” as it would have been really bad if “that came out on October 15, 2016, in the middle of the last debate with Hillary Clinton.”
But hey, we’re not here to debate what is or isn’t a federal crime—we’re here to discuss the social mores of the 1 percent. After Giuliani finished his media blitz, Trump logged onto Twitter to inform his followers that despite how things might look, paying porn stars six figures for their silence is standard operating procedure for the rich.
Gee, the good old days, when news about tRump was just things like paying off porn stars with campaign funds, conspiring with Russia, money laundering etc.
Anyway, that trip down memory lane was brought to you by the little mini-series Tanner 88, made possible from director producer Robert Altman and writer producer Gary Trudeau. Check it out if you can…it is streaming on Filmstruck and Amazon.
Now here are the links for today:
ox News host Ed Henry had to shut down a discussion on President Donald Trump’s immigration policies on Sunday morning when White House adviser David Bossie told a black Democratic consultant that he was out of his “cotton-picking mind.”
During the segment, Democratic communications expert Joel Payne railed at the Trump administration racist policies. The criticism angered Bossie, who also complained about ex-CIA Director Michael Hayden comparing the child detention centers to a Nazi concentration camp.
“Michael Hayden posted a picture of Auschwitz,” Bossie complained.
““Yeah, that liberal Michael Hayden,” Payne shot back, sarcastically referring to the fact that Hayden is a conservative.
“You are out of your cotton-picking mind!” Bossie blurted, causing Payne to blow up.
“Cotton-picking mind?” Payne exclaimed. “Brother, let me tell you something. Let me tell you something, I got some relatives who picked cotton, okay?”
Host Henry tried to take control as the two guests began yelling at each other, with Henry insisting Bossie intended to say “out of your mind,” before he called an end to the panel.
Video of “confrontation” can be found here:
There was another kerfuffle this time between tRump representative, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and an outraged public, Juan Cole takes a look at it here:
Sara Sanders complained on Twitter about not being served at the Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Virginia. WaPo reports that the owner, Stephanie Wilkinson, insisted that patrons uphold standards of honesty and compassion, and that Sanders flacks for an “inhumane and unethical” administration, defending Trump’s “cruelest policies.”
Wilkinson’s grounds for not serving the White House spokesperson amounted to personal indecency. It is important to underline that this is what social scientists call an “achieved” status. The grounds had to do with Sanders’ own record of behavior and character, not with anything arbitrary about her.
In contrast, to achieved status, you have ascribed status. The latter is determined by things people think about your inherited characteristics. Being Black or Latino is an ascribed status. Or your family religion as a Catholic or Jew would be in this category of ascribed. It has to do not with your personal standards of character but with what prejudices people might have toward a whole group, of which you are part by virtue typically of inheritance. Even if you converted to Catholicism, e.g., you are not responsible for what all Catholics might have done or for what fanatic Protestants think about Catholicism.
It is wrong to shun people because of their ascribed status. It isn’t wrong to refuse to associate people because of their achieved status.
Sanders achieved her status as pariah in many quarters by lying assiduously on television for a living– by saying things she knew were wrong and/or untrue.
In contrast, Sanders is an advocate for allowing restaurateurs to discriminate on truly objectionable grounds, of ascribed status.
Read the rest at the link.
In connection with this: Expert: Sarah Sanders broke ethics rules with tweet about restaurant | US news | The Guardian
On Saturday, using her official White House account, Sanders posted: “Last night I was told by the owner of Red Hen in Lexington [Virginia] to leave because I work for POTUS and I politely left. Her actions say far more about her than about me.
“I always do my best to treat people, including those I disagree with, respectfully and will continue to do so.”
Walter Shaub, federal ethics chief under Barack Obama and briefly Trumpand now a fierce critic of the administration, responded: “Sanders used her official govt account to condemn a private business for personal reasons … she can lob attacks on her own time but not using her official position.”
Since when do these people have any shred of ethics?
Case in point, Jeff Flake went on one of the Sunday shows:
Flake: Trump has ‘unfortunately’ redefined Republican Party | TheHill
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said Sunday that President Trump has “unfortunately” redefined the Republican Party, and reiterated his calls for the president to face a primary challenge in 2020.
These assholes could do something, but they consistently vote with tRump anyways…fuck them all.
Here is a few other news items:
BNSF: Estimated 230,000 Gallons Of Oil Spilled In Derailment – Talking Points Memo That is a train derailment in Iowa…
Can America’s allies target Trump’s businesses in response to tariffs? – Business Insider
Op-eds in The Houston Chronicle and the Canadian news magazine Maclean’s suggested the only way to quell the rising trade tensions is to strike at Trump’s businesses. While some countries, such as China, have appeared to try and sway the president through treating his family’s businesses more favorably, countries have not made moves to curtail the businesses’ activity within their borders.
[…]
Debbie Shon, an international trade lawyer at Quinn Emanuel and a former official in the US Trade Representative’s office under President Bill Clinton, said that effectively hitting Trump’s businesses using trade actions — while legal — would be difficult.
“Looking at Trump’s businesses, I’m not sure what goods he sells that could be subject to tariffs or how you could use trade actions to hit his businesses unless you really tailored some sort of measure targeting key industries like real estate,” Shon told Business Insider.
That would force any country trying to go after Trump to get creative with their response. Scott Gilmore, a social entrepreneur and former Canadian diplomat, suggested in Maclean’s that Canada should use anti-corruption laws to pressure Trump on trade.
Trump-branded skyscrapers in Toronto and Vancouver represent the president’s most prominent business ventures in the country.
Well, I will leave that one to Dak…
At Midnight, Riyadh Erupts in Cheers for Women Drivers–but Women Activists still in Jail –Another one from Juan Cole, give it a read.
Now some updates on the shit happening at both borders:
Strict immigration enforcement extends beyond the border to Maine, Ohio – Axios
The chaos isn’t just in the Southwest. Increased highway checkpoints and workplace raids away from borders are alarming advocates for immigrants.
The big picture: “For 11 hours on Wednesday, drivers who wanted to travel through a remote stretch of northern Maine were asked a simple question: Where were you born?,” the N.Y. Times reports.
Show less
More details of other raids at the link.
Boston Boomer linked to this yesterday in the comments: Babies separated from immigrant parents in Miami shelters, lawmaker says | Miami Herald
At least 10 babies and toddlers taken away from their parents after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border are being housed in “tender-age shelters” in Miami-Dade, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz told the Miami Herald on Saturday.
The Florida lawmaker said the children — who range in age from newborns to 5 year olds — are being sheltered at His House Children’s Home in Miami Gardens and Catholic Charities’ Msgr. Bryan Walsh Children’s Village in Cutler Bay, formerly known as Boys Town.
These facilities are also housing about 88 children ages 6 to 12 who have been separated from their parents, she said.
When the Democratic congresswoman, who represents parts of Miami-Dade and Broward counties, provided the Miami Herald with these figures, she cited a document given to her by federal officials.
It is very disturbing…especially when you consider the other tweet BB linked to, that the children will be adopted out.
More lawsuits are being filed against tRump: ‘Not knowing anything about my daughter is torture’: Immigrants separated from children at border file lawsuit in federal court – ABC News
As DHS released a statement: Fact Sheet: Zero-Tolerance Prosecution and Family Reunification | Homeland Security
It says over 500 children have been reunited with their families.
- CBP has reunited 522 Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) in their custody who were separated from adults as part of the Zero Tolerance initiative. The reunions of an additional 16 UAC who were scheduled to be reunited on June 22, 2018 were delayed due to weather affecting travel and we expect they will all be reunited with their parents within the next 24 hours. There will be a small number of children who were separated for reasons other than zero tolerance that will remain separated: generally only if the familial relationship cannot be confirmed, we believe the adult is a threat to the safety of the child, or the adult is a criminal alien.
All this as one op/ed calls for asylum: The U.S. Should Grant Asylum To All The Families We Separated | HuffPost
In many countries, when thugs take power, they inflict harm on others. Every person then has a choice to make: join the thugs or refuse to harm others. The morally correct choice is the harder one. The brave ones who refuse to be complicit ― such as my clients from El Salvador, Nepal, Haiti and Cameroon who were asked to make this very choice ― were met with the most dire consequences. If they escape, they forsake all they know in hopes that they will be safer in places unknown.
Clinging to the audacious hope that their children’s lives will be better, families flee to the U.S., the nation whose symbol is a Statue of Liberty and whose laws have welcomed millions seeking refuge. In the most cruel bait and switch, President Donald Trump ― aided by his attorney general and secretary of homeland security ― took those children away, stripping from their parents the very reason they risked so much.
They say the most unrelenting grief a person can experience is burying their child. Our country has inflicted this kind of pain on desperate parents. The very least we can do is grant them the right to stay here.
So, have a good afternoon and evening. This is an open thread.
Wednesday Reads: Begging, no more.
Posted: June 20, 2018 Filed under: children, Department of Homeland Security, Donald Trump, Human Rights, ICE Immigration and Customs Enforcement, immigration, indefinite detention, morning reads, open thread, Political and Editorial Cartoons, Real Life Horror, refugees from Central and South America, the GOP, tRump crimes against humanity, U.S. Politics, Wednesday Hump Day Cartoons, white nationalists 93 Comments
I can’t do this anymore. I live in a house where everyone has no problem with the crimes against humanity that tRump and his administration is committing at the border. (My mom is so sick now, she doesn’t have the strength to fight cancer and the assholes in this family.) I am losing my wits. I have reach the point where I am questioning my sanity. Is it gaslighting? I can’t even watch Maddow anymore, because I get verbal abuse from my father…who insist I agree with him. I want to fucking run away but I can’t.
I think this is the final example:
I hate all of these assholes with more than anything I’ve ever felt before.
Oh…and get this:
It only gets worse:
06/19/2018 Cartoon by Adam Zyglis
06/19/2018 Cartoon by Adam Zyglis
IRON FIST IMMIGRATION: 06/19/2018 Cartoon by Deb Milbrath
Make your voice be heard: 06/18/2018 Cartoon by Deb Milbrath
Nick Anderson cartoon: 06/19/2018 Cartoon by Nick Anderson
06/19/2018 Cartoon by Gustavo Rodriguez
06/16/2018 Cartoon by Gustavo Rodriguez
06/19/2018 Cartoon by Adam Zyglis
Separated: 06/19/2018 Cartoon by Rob Rogers
Good Boy: 06/19/2018 Cartoon by Tom Curry
06/19/2018 Cartoon by Jimmy Margulies
06/20 Mike Luckovich. Flagged.
06/19 Mike Luckovich. Torn apart.
06/15 Mike Luckovich. The Choice.
06/17 Mike Luckovich. All new villains!
This is an older Luckovich…
This is an open thread.
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