because it looks like a great life.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
Daily Dose of Cute
because it looks like a great life.
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
We Resist: Day 475
One of the difficulties in resisting the Trump administration, the Republican Congressional majority, and Republican state legislatures (plus the occasional non-Republican who obliges us to resist their nonsense, too, like we don't have enough to worry about) is keeping on top of the sheer number of horrors, indignities, and normalization of the aggressively abnormal that they unleash every single day.
So here is a daily thread for all of us to share all the things that are going on, thus crowdsourcing a daily compendium of the onslaught of conservative erosion of our rights and our very democracy.
Stay engaged. Stay vigilant. Resist.
* * *
Earlier today by me: Stormy Daniels' Lawyer Drops a Bombshell on Donald Trump's Lawyer and Trump Continues His Attacks on the Free Press and Trump Threatens Sanctions on European Allies.
Here are some more things in the news today...
Let's start with an ACTION ITEM: Contact your senators and tell them to support the Senate vote to PRESERVE NET NEUTRALITY.
Why the warning sign? Why all the red?
— Senate Democrats (@SenateDems) May 9, 2018
We're down to the wire on saving #NetNeutrality. @SenateDems are forcing a vote to make sure the Internet stays free and open, and the countdown clock starts today. pic.twitter.com/62LECByStL
MAKE YOUR CALLS.
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[Content Note: Anti-Blackness; white supremacy. Covers entire section.]
Today in Shopping While Black: Kia Morgan-Smith at the Grio: Nordstrom Under Fire after Police Called on Black Teens Falsely Accused of Shoplifting Prom Clothes. "High school students Mekhi Lee, Dirone Taylor and Eric Rogers II were reportedly shopping for prom clothes and noticed that several employees started following them around the store. 'I was nervous the whole time,' Lee recalled. 'Every time we move, they move. When we looked up, they looked up.' Feeling uneasy about the situation, the teens decided to leave the store by were immediately surrounded and confronted by Brentwood Police in the parking lot. CBS News reports that police then informed the teens they were called to the scene because the store accused them of stealing. The police investigated and found the claims to be false and released them without charges."
Today in Working While Black: Katie Jane Fernelius at Indy Week: A Duke University VP Walked into the Campus Joe Van Gogh, Heard a Rap Song, Demanded That the Employees Be Fired. "On Friday, [vice president for student affairs Larry Moneta] came in during an afternoon rush. The baristas had a habit of playing music from Spotify over the speakers, usually on playlists curated by the service. When Moneta walked in, 'Get Paid' by Young Dolph was playing. The song's titular refrain included the n-word, as Young Dolph raps, 'Get paid, young nigga.' Britni Brown, who was manning the register, was in charge of the playlist that day. When he approached the counter, Moneta, a white man, told Brown, an African-American woman, that the song was inappropriate. ...She says she shut the song off immediately. She grabbed him a vegan muffin and offered it free of charge. ...On Monday morning, Brown and [Kevin Simmons, the other barista on duty] were called into Joe Van Gogh's Hillsborough office and asked to resign."
Today in Graduating While Black: Alex Harris and Madeleine Marr at the Miami Herald: Black UF Students Were 'Manhandled' off Graduation Stage. "It's a tradition for culturally black sororities and fraternities to 'stroll' across the graduation stage and perform their Greek organization's signature dance, but that tradition was interrupted Saturday at the University of Florida by an 'aggressive' graduation marshal. Video footage showed the orange-and-blue clad marshal physically hustling the celebrating students off the graduation stage — at one point bear-hugging a male student and dragging him away. The videos have spread widely on social media, with many critics calling the actions racist. On Tuesday, the school announced the faculty member serving as a marshal has been placed on paid administrative leave 'pending a review of the appropriate administrative steps.' He was not identified."
To realize the plea inherent in the call #BlackLivesMatter, Black people's lives must matter in all spaces and at all times. The relentless double standards that mean Black people are subjected to harassment and humiliation just for fucking existing as Black human beings must end.
* * *
I would be interested to hear @MichaelAvenatti's assessment of whether he thinks it should have taken a year to make this case, cough. https://t.co/KqpRfRgSzD
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 9, 2018
That said, if the actual objective is stalling for time to allow the authoritarians to consolidate power, then a year is definitely not long enough. *side-eye*
Here is a piece of good news: Carol Morello, Anna Fifield, and David Nakamura at the Washington Post: North Korea Frees 3 American Prisoners Ahead of a Planned Trump-Kim Summit. "Three American men who had been imprisoned by North Korea are on their way to the United States, [Donald] Trump announced Wednesday after they were released to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during his visit to Pyongyang."
I'm very glad indeed for Kim Dong-chul, Tony Kim, and Kim Hak-song that they are no longer imprisoned in North Korea.
I am also very angry that Donald Trump continues to say that President Obama failed to secure freedom for the three men, when two of the men were taken into custody in 2017, after Trump had taken office.
[CN: Class warfare] Amanda Michelle Gomez at ThinkProgress: Health Insurers Say higher Obamacare Premiums Are Coming, and It's Republicans' Fault. "Health experts warned this would happen. In fact, insurers who set the premium rates cautioned that costs would rise if lawmakers continued to undermine the Obamacare exchanges and not shore up the market. A letter issued to lawmakers in November from major health industry players said '[e]liminating the individual mandate by itself likely will result in a significant increase in premiums, which would in turn substantially increase the number of uninsured Americans.' Now the public at large is learning what it meant for Congress to repeal the individual mandate, the tax penalty for not having insurance, and then not doing anything to improve a fragile market."
Speaking of Republicans being unfathomable assholes...
Comparing yourself to Pablo Escobar to own your political opponent pic.twitter.com/Ca00vZWnVX
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) May 9, 2018
[CN: Misogyny; queer hatred; child abuse] Samantha Schmidt at the Washington Post: Mormon Church Breaks All Ties with Boy Scouts, Ending 100-Year Relationship. "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said Tuesday it will sever all ties with the Boy Scouts of America, ending a century-old tradition deeply ingrained in the religious life of Mormon boys. ...Church officials did not cite specific Scouts policy changes that spurred the split, but the two groups have increasingly clashed over values in recent years, particularly after the Boy Scouts' move to include openly gay troop leaders. The announcement also came less than a week after the Boy Scouts announced it would be changing its flagship name to Scouts BSA, promoting its decision last year to welcome girls into the program for the first time."
Listen, a dozen or so abuse scandals is one thing, but tolerance of queers and girls will not be tolerated! https://t.co/QF1AvTqzmf
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 9, 2018
[CN: Sexual assault and harassment] And speaking of turning an indifferent eye toward sex abuse:
Perhaps the ultimate example of Not Knowing What You Don't Want to Know. https://t.co/i0pkussW6b pic.twitter.com/6CNrLzAK6C
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 9, 2018
Does NBC imagine that this reflects well on them? Because it doesn't.
What have you been reading that we need to resist today?
Trump Threatens Sanctions on European Allies
Yesterday, in my piece about Donald Trump blowing up the United States' participation in the Iran nuclear deal, I noted that Trump threatened sanctions against countries who provide assistance to Iran, potentially including European allies who remain in the deal.
This can't be stressed enough: These sanctions Trump is reimposing are largely secondary sanctions, meaning they target European and other companies that do business with Iran. So it's not just about a diplomatic dust-up between the US and Europe. It's a financial hit on Europe.
— Nahal Toosi (@nahaltoosi) May 8, 2018
As you may have noticed, Trump occasionally goes off-script, ahem. But the State Department later confirmed that targeting allies with sanctions is official U.S. policy.
State department briefing confirms this. Its about targeting the #EU (and Boeing). Every European country should be up in arms right now. Its time for #Europe to take a tough line. #Irandeal https://t.co/bAuINRwBxL
— Dina Esfandiary (@DEsfandiary) May 9, 2018
James McAuley at the Washington Post reports:
Beyond the major policy break with Washington, however, another rift loomed: European businesses that have moved into Iranian since the deal took effect.In a statement, the European Union said: "The E.U. has repeatedly stressed that the sanctions lifting has a positive impact on trade and economic relations with Iran. The E.U. stresses its commitment to ensuring that this can continue to be delivered." But the reality is:
The United States plan to reimpose sanctions on Iran could also spill over to European firms and others doing business in Iran — possibly raising risks for their U.S. access to the much larger U.S. market.
Moments after Trump's decision, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters that these Europe-Iran business agreements will be voided. "The existing licenses will be revoked," he said.
In Germany, the U.S. ambassador, Richard Grenell, said via Twitter that "German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately."
Approximately 120 German companies operate in Iran with their own staff, and 10,000 German companies do business with Iran, according to the German-Iranian Chamber of Commerce.
Grenell's remark sent shock waves through Europe.
"It's incomprehensible that the activities of German companies should still suffer" given the E.U. commitment to the accord, said Erik Schweitzer, the head of the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry, in a statement.
European companies will likely respond to an ultimatum from Washington, political analysts said. Given the size of the U.S. market, and the power of U.S. banks, European companies would have comparatively little leverage.Which means that all the economic activity that helps underwrite a stable Iran will be withdrawn. If Iran implodes, that further destabilizes the region — which not only harms the people of Iran, but makes the world less safe and empowers Vladimir Putin, who exploits power vacuums left by destabilization.
"The E.U. can take steps to mitigate the impact of the sanctions, but overall, companies will be scared. They will also prioritize their businesses with the U.S.," said Luigi Scazzieri, a research fellow at the Centre of European Reforms, a Brussels-based think tank.
Funny how every appalling decision by the Trump administration ends up seeming to work to Putin's favor, eh? What a coincidence.
The collusion continues to be right out in the open.
Trump Continues His Attacks on the Free Press
Among Donald Trump's morning tweetshitz today was this bit of rank authoritarianism, posing as a casual question to whomever he perceives his audience to be these days:
The Fake News is working overtime. Just reported that, despite the tremendous success we are having with the economy & all things else, 91% of the Network News about me is negative (Fake). Why do we work so hard in working with the media when it is corrupt? Take away credentials?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 9, 2018
Trump has been waging a war on the free press since virtually the moment he announced his candidacy in July 2015 — but, because the political press is increasingly defined less by holding the powerful accountable and more by maintaining proximity to power (i.e. access journalism), many members of that press continue to indulge him and abet his media manipulations, even as he continually threatens them.
They are seemingly unconcerned about the threat to their integrity, possibly because they are so eminently willing to concede their integrity of their own free will, just so long as they keep getting the Big Scoops.
The fate of the republic hangs in the balance, and our press simply isn't up to the task of protecting it.
Stormy Daniels' Lawyer Drops a Bombshell on Donald Trump's Lawyer
Last night, Michael Avenatti, who represents Stormy Daniels, published a document about Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's longtime personal lawyer, detailing a number of curious financial transactions from Cohen's personal finances.
Among them was a transaction showing Cohen had received approximately $500,000 from a company controlled by Viktor Vekselberg, a Russian Oligarch with close ties to Vladimir Putin, who attended Trump's inaugural and who was questioned by Special Counsel Bob Mueller at an airport earlier this year.
Specifically, Vekselberg and his cousin Andrew Intrater paid half a million dollars in eight separate transactions to Essential Consultants LLC, the shell company Cohen created and used as the front from which to make hush payments to Stormy Daniels on behalf of Trump and to Shera Bechard on behalf of (ostensibly) Elliott Broidy, who was then a deputy RNC finance chair, as was Michael Cohen.
When Avenatti first published the document last night, which also contained information that AT&T made payments to Cohen totaling $200,000 and that the drug manufacturer Novartis made payments to Cohen totalling almost $400,000, there was no substantiating documentation of those payments, but, since then, Vekselberg's company Columbus Nova, AT&T, and Novartis have all confirmed the payments as described.
AT&T said the payments were made to get "insights" from Cohen into the Trump administration.
So, Cohen appears to have been selling access to the president to corporations, at minimum. But Avenatti, in the executive summary of the document, suggested that the money from Vekselberg "may have been used to reimburse Cohen for the $130,000 payment made to Daniels in exchange for her silence about an alleged affair with Trump."
Which is rather more significant than selling access, itself already a very serious offense.
Once again, I have no other conclusion to a piece of news about further evidence of Trump-Russia collusion than this: Once upon a time, this would have mattered. I hope it still does.
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker FloraFlora: "What's something you can't do without? (It's perfectly fine to be hyperbolic here and say, like, french toast.)"
Internet access.
Fat Fashion
This is your semi-regular thread in which fat women can share pix, make recommendations for clothes they love, ask questions of other fat women about where to locate certain plus-size items, share info about sales, talk about what jeans cut at what retailer best fits their body shapes, discuss how to accessorize neutral colored suits, share stories of going bare-armed for the first time, brag about a cool fashion moment, whatever.
* * *
Me in "My Favorite Girls Tee" from Fashion Nova, sold for $15. (As always, I'm not receiving anything in exchange for this post. I just like the shirt!)
It's a crop top, but it's pretty long on my short torso. I'm wearing it in today's daily selfie, which is taken from an angle in which you can see the belly action, if you want a better idea of whether it might work for you.
A colorfully reverberating GIRLS crop top seemed like the perfect way to start the summer!
Anyway! As always, all subjects related to fat fashion are on topic, but if you want a topic for discussion: Have you bought anything new for summer? Or winter, depending on where you're sitting in the world!
Have at it in comments! Please remember to make fat women of all sizes, especially women who find themselves regularly sizing out of standard plus-size lines, welcome in this conversation, and pass no judgment on fat women who want to and/or feel obliged, for any reason, to conform to beauty standards. And please make sure if you're soliciting advice, you make it clear you're seeking suggestions—and please be considerate not to offer unsolicited advice. Sometimes people just need to complain and want solidarity, not solutions.
Discussion Thread: Good Things
One of the ways we resist the demoralization and despair in which exploiters of fear like Trump thrive is to keep talking about the good things in our lives.
Because, even though it feels very much (and rightly so) like we are losing so many things we value, there are still daily moments of joy or achievement or love or empowering ferocity or other kinds of fulfillment.
Maybe you've experienced something big worth celebrating; maybe you've just had a precious moment of contentment; maybe getting out of bed this morning was a success worthy of mention.
News items worth celebrating are also welcome.
So, whatever you have to share that's good, here's a place to do it.
* * *
Over the weekend, Iain and I spent a day in the garden — planting astilbes, pulling weeds, hanging up a new bird feeder, fixing a wobbly pavestone, putting in new solar lights along the front path, and various other small chores and improvements.
It was such a happy and pleasant day. Last night, we were eating dinner outside, and I said to him how good it felt to grow and build things, as though caretaking in a time of neglect and destruction was itself a minor act of resistance. He agreed; he said he'd been thinking about it all day at work.
I am fixing to snatch every spare moment I can this summer, to dig in. Literally. Hands in the dirt. Reviresco.
Trump Blows Up Iran Nuclear Deal
As anticipated, Donald Trump announced this afternoon that he was withdrawing the United States from the Iran nuclear deal.
"This disastrous deal gave this regime - and it's a regime of great terror - many billions of dollars, some of it in actual cash - a great embarrassment to me as a citizen & to all citizens of the #UnitedStates" per @POTUS
— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) May 8, 2018
BREAKING: "Therefore I am announcing today that the #UnitedStates will withdraw from the #Iran nuclear deal" says @POTUS, says the US will reinstate "the highest level of economic sanction"on #Tehran
— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) May 8, 2018
"Any nation that helps #Iran in its quest for nuclear weapons could also be strongly sanctioned," per @POTUS "America will not be held hostage to nuclear blackmail."
— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) May 8, 2018
Okay, so a couple of things right off the bat: Trump is just telling straight-up lies about the current state of Iran's nuclear development in order to justify the spectacularly stupid and dangerous withdrawal from the agreement struck by the Obama administration. And not only is he isolating the United States via the withdrawal itself, but he's threatening sanctions against countries who provide assistance to Iran, potentially including European allies who remain in the deal. This is absolute madness.
CNN’s Amanpour: “I would describe pulling out of this deal [nuke deal] as possibly the greatest deliberate act of self-harm and self-sabotage in geo-strategic politics in the modern era.” @camanpour
— Mohsen Milani (@milanimohsen) May 8, 2018
Well, sort of. That presumes that Trump isn't acting under pressure from Putin — making yet another foreign policy decision that stands to fundamentally and immediately weaken the United States' standing and safety in the world, and subsequently benefitting Russia.
National Security Advisor and slavering warmonger John Bolton came out after Trump to give a briefing, and he reiterated Trump's lie that Iran is currently in violation of the parameters of the deal, declared "We're out of the deal," and said:
"It sends a very clear signal the United States will not accept inadequate deals," says @AmbJohnBolton.
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) May 8, 2018
Actually, it sends a very clear signal that the United States cannot be trusted to keep its word, so there's no sense in making deals with us anymore.
By withdrawing from the Iran Deal, the White House is sending a message to the world that America's word can’t be trusted. There’s nothing more dangerous than that. https://t.co/xPpRZugooa
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) May 8, 2018
Rep. Pelosi:
— NBC News (@NBCNews) May 8, 2018
"The President's decision to follow his misguided and uninformed campaign promise to destroy the successful Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action endangers global security and defies comprehension. This rash decision isolates America, not Iran." https://t.co/jlDH91crEG
Meanwhile...
BREAKING: Iran's president says if negotiations fail, Islamic Republic will enrich uranium 'more than before ... in next weeks'
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 8, 2018
We are not safer because of this awful decision. No matter how many times Trump says it, it's not true. We are far less safer than we were, even an hour ago.
Trump is risking our lives to aggrandize his own. That is the worst kind of leadership imaginable. It is devastating, every fucking day, that he is the president of a superpower.
Daily Dose of Cute
I was just about to snap a photo of Dudley standing in the grass looking regal, when an insect landed on his backside and, to shoo it away, he picked up just his back legs and swung them to the side like they're on a hinge, so I caught that maneuver instead!
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
We Resist: Day 474
One of the difficulties in resisting the Trump administration, the Republican Congressional majority, and Republican state legislatures (plus the occasional non-Republican who obliges us to resist their nonsense, too, like we don't have enough to worry about) is keeping on top of the sheer number of horrors, indignities, and normalization of the aggressively abnormal that they unleash every single day.
So here is a daily thread for all of us to share all the things that are going on, thus crowdsourcing a daily compendium of the onslaught of conservative erosion of our rights and our very democracy.
Stay engaged. Stay vigilant. Resist.
* * *
Earlier today by me: NY AG Schneiderman Accused of Assault; Resigns and Jeff Sessions Threatens Undocumented Families.
Here are some more things in the news today...
Grace Sparks at CNN: Majority Say U.S. Should Not Withdraw from Iran Nuclear Agreement. "Almost two-thirds of Americans — 63% — believe that the U.S. should not withdraw from the agreement made with Iran to prevent the country from developing nuclear weapons. Only 29% believe the US should withdraw, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS."
Nearly two-thirds of U.S. Americans want the nation to keep to the agreement. There aren't a whole lot of issues on which two-thirds of the populace agrees these days, and yet here we are — and Donald Trump is almost certainly going to ignore the will of the majority.
David E. Sanger and Steven Erlanger at the New York Times: Trump Is Expected to Leave Iran Deal, Allies Say. "Trump is expected to announce on Tuesday that he is withdrawing the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, European diplomats said after concluding that they had failed to convince him that reneging on America's commitment to the pact could cast the West into new confrontation with Tehran. ...One senior European diplomat who has been deeply involved in trying to persuade Mr. Trump to stay in the deal told reporters on Monday the chance that the president would keep the agreement intact was 'very small.'"
Margaret Hartmann at NYMag: What Happens After Trump Pulls out of the Iran Deal. "The chances that Trump called a press conference to announce his newfound support for President Obama's signature foreign-policy achievement are approximately zero. But that doesn't mean the agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), will suddenly cease to exist — and Iran might not even resume its nuclear-weapons program. Much depends on the manner in which Trump scraps the deal, and how other countries react."
* * *
[Content Note: Harassment; threats.]
So, yesterday, Melania Trump introduced her anti-bullying initiative, absurdly named "Be Best." Naturally, I felt inclined to point out the obvious problem with that garbage:
Melania Trump is a white supremacist who just launched an anti-bullying initiative without a trace of irony. She can fuck off.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 7, 2018
And that's all I have to say about that.
Yup. And she's an immigrant who has zero solidarity with nonwhite and/or undocumented immigrants. As part of an immigrant family/household, I categorically cannot abide her silence on nativist policies, and I'm not going to pretend that it's not also rooted in white supremacy.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 7, 2018
In the ensuing 20 hours or so, conservatives have filled my mentions with all manner of abuse. If you click on the top tweet and scroll down, you'll see the 800+ (and counting) responses, most of which are filled with the most juvenile and pathetic insults, and some of which contain wishes of harm to come to me.
The responses to this tweet are amazing. Just dozens of conservatives defending Melania and her anti-bullying campaign by calling me a fat ugly cunt. 😆😆😆 https://t.co/9VClSChlCF
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 7, 2018
The responses to that tweet are pretty amazing, too. The lack of irony among conservatives is really something. As is the lack of decency.
It's such a waste of their time. Even though I know they imagine I'm secretly devastated by their onslaught of insults and threats, it's nothing more than an inconvenience to me, as it's slightly more difficult to find notifications I want to see while they're clogging up my mentions with their pathetic antics. It's quite the fantasy that I would give a fuck about receiving endless copies of my own profile pic in some perplexing attempt to insult me.
I have no earthly idea why Trump supporters imagine I would give a single, infinitesimal shit about their opinions of me. Anyone who likes Donald Trump is clearly a scandalously lousy judge of character whose opinions should be summarily disregarded.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 8, 2018
Anyway.
Not only is Melania's anti-bullying campaign rich with bitter irony; part of it was also, of course, plagiarized:
Fun fact: The White House trumpets “Talking with Kids about Being Online" as "a booklet by First Lady Melania Trump and the Federal Trade Commission." Except for an intro, it's exactly the same thing Obama's FTC put out. pic.twitter.com/AEf6F0gBbt
— The Rude Pundit (@rudepundit) May 7, 2018
David Smith at the Guardian: Melania Trump in New Plagiarism Row over Online Safety Pamphlet. "Melania's initiative, Be Best, which launched on Monday, has a page on the official White House website that said near the bottom: 'Parents, click here to read Talking with Kids about Being Online, a booklet by First Lady Melania Trump and the Federal Trade Commission.' Later, in an apparent damage limitation exercise following a backlash on social media, the website's language was updated to describe the pamphlet as 'a Federal Trade Commission booklet, promoted by First Lady Melania Trump.'" Pathetic.
* * *
Jonathan Lemire at the AP: As Headlines Swirl, Trump Grows Frustrated with Giuliani. "Donald Trump is growing increasingly irritated with lawyer Rudy Giuliani's frequently off-message media blitz, in which he has muddied the waters on hush money paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels and made claims that could complicate the president's standing in the special counsel's Russia probe. Trump has begun questioning whether Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, should be sidelined from television interviews, according to two people familiar with the president's thinking but not authorized to speak publicly about private discussions."
"Two people familiar with the president's thinking," huh? Are they named Tronald Dump and Gudy Riuliani, by any chance?
I'm gonna go ahead and suggest that if Trump is indeed considering "sidelining" Giuliani, it's not because he's unhappy that Giuliani "muddied the waters," but because that was Giuliani's whole job, and now it's finished. Shades of Scaramucci.
In other "Trump's Friends Do the Darnedest Things for Him" news...
Paul Campos at NYMag: Here's a Theory About That $1.6 Million Payout from a GOP Official to a Playboy Model.
The Wall Street Journal published a story on April 13 revealing the existence of another nondisclosure agreement involving an affair between an adult entertainer and a client of Cohen's. The NDA employed the pseudonyms David Dennison and Peggy Peterson — the same names used in the Stormy Daniels NDA — and was otherwise very similar to the Trump-Daniels agreement.Very convincing. By which I mean: I'm not convinced it's definitely true, but I am convinced it's a viable theory.
...Let me offer an alternative explanation of the affair and the payoff. It is still just a hypothesis, but, I would argue, it fits more comfortably with what we know about the various players than the reported version of events: Donald Trump, not Elliott Broidy, had an affair with Shera Bechard. Bechard hired Keith Davidson, who had negotiated both Playboy playmate Karen McDougal's deal with the National Enquirer, and Stormy Daniels's NDA with Trump. Davidson called Cohen, and the two of them negotiated a $1.6 million payment to Bechard.
At this point Cohen needed to find a funding source. Cohen asserts he took out a home equity loan to come up with a mere $130,000 to pay off Stormy Daniels, so it seems clear he couldn't have fronted the $1.6 million for the Bechard deal himself. So Cohen reached out to Elliott Broidy, a very rich Republican fundraiser with several pending and highly lucrative business deals with foreign governments: deals that hinged on whether Broidy could convince the U.S. government to take various actions.
So, according to this hypothesis, when Cohen's office was raided by federal prosecutors, they found documentation of what was actually a fabricated affair, concocted by Cohen and Davidson to create a justification for funneling Broidy's money to Bechard, while creating a paper record designed to protect Trump from further exposure.
* * *
And finally:
"The Associated Press has found evidence that the women were targeted not by jihadists but by the same Russian hacking group that intervened in the American election." It was a "brazen false flag" targeting military wives. https://t.co/bFlpXJ7xE3
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 8, 2018
Donald Trump and his GOP backers congratulate and praise Putin and his regime, whose operatives threaten US military wiveshttps://t.co/Q2RfAYaVpH pic.twitter.com/zNwfjAZvUV
— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) May 8, 2018
That about sums it up.
What have you been reading that we need to resist today?
Ode to a Nurse
[Content Note: Description of injury.]
I have been fortunate to have some very competent and kind doctors in my life, particularly around care regarding my constellation of back problems. When I had spinal surgery in 2001, the neurosurgeon who did the procedure was great, though I barely saw him during my five-day stay in the hospital. The people who provided most of my care were nurses. Fabulous nurses.
I realize, because I have a passing acquaintance with human behavior and diversity, that not all nurses are great, and I've probably had the occasional not-great nurse throughout the parts of my life that necessitated depending on their care, but I don't remember them. I remember, with gratitude, all the great nurses who have provided me such excellent compassionate care.
My primary healthcare provider for many years was a nurse practitioner, whom I liked very much, and I have among my family and friends a handful of nurses, who share stories about their jobs that make me know with undiluted conviction I could not do what they do.
My ex-husband is a nurse — although he wasn't when we were together. He only figured out later that nursing was what he wanted to do with his life, following in the footsteps of his mother and aunt.
When a mutual friend told me that P had decided to go to nursing school, I said, without hesitation, that he would make an excellent nurse. "Do you think?" asked my friend, not with doubt, but perhaps with some bit of surprise at my immediate certainty. "Yes," I said. "And his patients will be lucky to have him."
P and I were in the process of divorcing, still living together as roommates, when I had to be admitted to the hospital for spinal surgery. I could barely walk, because the lower part of my sciatic nerve had been so damaged that I could not feel my foot, and the upper part was so rigid with pain that it had seized my leg into a curl. It was P who drove me to the hospital.
The next bit is a blur. My memory picks back up with P visiting me in my room and my breaking down in tears because I was dirty. I hadn't been able to shower in days — I stunk, and my hair fell around my shoulders in greasy ribbons. I was mortified that I was to go to surgery in the morning without having bathed. I recall thinking: I can't be fat AND dirty, too. This was before I was okay in my own skin. I felt double gross.
I sobbed because I wanted a shower, and I couldn't get myself there. I poured all my embarrassment and all of my fear into those sobs, which P accepted without judgment.
I don't remember if I mustered the wherewithal (or audacity — it was I who'd asked for the divorce) to request his help, or whether he volunteered. I just remember his sliding his arm around me to support me on my heaving stumble to the bathroom, where I sat on a built-in shower bench while he helped me undress and then helped me bathe.
I have rarely been in a moment more vulnerable, and the profound humanity of his assistance allowed me to retain my dignity in a most undignified circumstance.
It was one of the great kindnesses of my life. And it was the reason I knew, instantly and certainly, that he would make a wonderful nurse.
The best nurses I have had embody this magnificent balance between gentle compassion and fierce competency. They have looked me in the eye, and they have listened to me, and they have patiently explained what I need to know about my care, and they have provided that care with efficiency and decency, and they have respected my agency, and they have made me laugh and made me well.
It is a difficult and demanding and necessary job, often without sufficient recognition, done by lots of amazing people.
This week is National Nurses Week. If you know a nurse, please tell them thank-you for their service. If you are a nurse, thank you.
Thank you, P.
Originally posted May 8, 2013.
[Commenting Guidelines: Please note that this is a nurse appreciation thread, and if you want to tell a story about a bad experience with a nurse, this is absolutely not the time or space to do it. Stories about awesome nurses welcome! Thanks.]
Jeff Sessions Threatens Undocumented Families
[Content Note: Nativism; child endangerment.]
Here is Attorney General Jeff Sessions at a law enforcement conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, yesterday:
“If you don’t want your child to be separated, then don’t bring them across the border illegally. It’s not our fault that somebody does that,” AG Jeff Sessions says at event in Arizona pic.twitter.com/IIvVS8vSsj
— Matthew Keys (@MatthewKeysLive) May 7, 2018
So, if you cross the border unlawfully, even a first offense, we're going to prosecute you. Those cases are up about double last year, and we're gonna go higher this year. [Note from Liss: That's a lie.] It's an offense to enter the country unlawfully!At another point in his speech, Sessions also said: "If you don't like that, then don't smuggle children over our border."
[edit] If you're smuggling a child, then we're going to prosecute you. And that child will be separated from you, probably, as required by law. If you don't want your child to be separated, then don't bring 'em across the border illegally! It's not our fault that somebody does that!
[edit] It's an important matter nationally. It's not just one case; it's whether or not we have a border of integrity or lawlessness. And we inter— We want integrity in our border.
The judges represent a fifty percent increase in the number of immigration judges at the border. [???]
So we're sending a message to the...world, really! The border is not open! The border is not open! Don't come unlawfully!
Sure. Except for a couple of things, like how large swaths of the U.S. economy have long been based around undocumented migrant workers, many of whom bring their children with them for obvious reasons. Or like how many of the people that Sessions dismisses out of hand as lawbreakers who need to be punished are in actuality refugees seeking safety in the United States.
This is, yet again, malice for its own sake. It's also primarily a punishment for the children, who have no control over their parents' decisions. That's the worst part of this policy — and the most revealing. The Trump administration is straight-up threatening children in order to try to control adults' behavior.
And then the highest law enforcement official in the land stands at a podium whining, "It's not our fault!"
Utterly vile.
NY AG Schneiderman Accused of Assault; Resigns
[Content Note: Descriptions of assault.]
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who has doggedly pursued Harvey Weinstein and Donald Trump, among others, was accused last night by four women of assault.
Jane Mayer and Ronan Farrow at the New Yorker report:
As his prominence as a voice against sexual misconduct has risen, so, too, has the distress of four women with whom he has had romantic relationships or encounters. They accuse Schneiderman of having subjected them to nonconsensual physical violence. All have been reluctant to speak out, fearing reprisal.As Andi Zeisler noted on Twitter: "This shouldn't even need to be said but: Kink is a two-way street. It's not just whatever you decide it is." Exactly so.
But two of the women, Michelle Manning Barish and Tanya Selvaratnam, have talked to The New Yorker on the record, because they feel that doing so could protect other women. They allege that he repeatedly hit them, often after drinking, frequently in bed and never with their consent. Manning Barish and Selvaratnam categorize the abuse he inflicted on them as "assault."
They did not report their allegations to the police at the time, but both say that they eventually sought medical attention after having been slapped hard across the ear and face, and also choked. Selvaratnam says that Schneiderman warned her he could have her followed and her phones tapped, and both say that he threatened to kill them if they broke up with him. (Schneiderman's spokesperson said that he "never made any of these threats.")
A third former romantic partner of Schneiderman's told Manning Barish and Selvaratnam that he also repeatedly subjected her to nonconsensual physical violence, but she told them that she is too frightened of him to come forward. (The New Yorker has independently vetted the accounts that they gave of her allegations.)
A fourth woman, an attorney who has held prominent positions in the New York legal community, says that Schneiderman made an advance toward her; when she rebuffed him, he slapped her across the face with such force that it left a mark that lingered the next day. She recalls screaming in surprise and pain, and beginning to cry, and says that she felt frightened. She has asked to remain unidentified, but shared a photograph of the injury with The New Yorker.
In a statement, Schneiderman said, "In the privacy of intimate relationships, I have engaged in role-playing and other consensual sexual activity. I have not assaulted anyone. I have never engaged in nonconsensual sex, which is a line I would not cross."
Schneiderman resigned after publication of the allegations last night, issuing a brief statement: "While these allegations are unrelated to my professional conduct or the operations of the office, they will effectively prevent me from leading the office's work at this critical time. I therefore resign my office, effective at the close of business on May 8, 2018."
The old "these false allegations have become a distraction" chestnut. Oh.
Schneiderman is the latest in a long line of liberal men who have publicly championed women's rights and safety while privately harming women, including fellow New York public servants Eliot Spitzer and Anthony Weiner.
It is profoundly disappointing that yet another man who invited women to trust him betrayed that trust.
I'm having a lot of thoughts about this. Among them are: GODDAMMIT. And: We can't trust men to fix this. And: The fact that this is coming out at the same time as the Black Cube stuff seems like a message: We've got dirt. We'll release it. https://t.co/WjR3WfGMeK
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 7, 2018
Anyone who positions themselves as a pursuer of Donald Trump and/or his family and/or his associates has to be a better person than Trump. If they can't even manage even that low bar, they need to get the fuck out of the way for people who can.
I take up space in solidarity with Schneiderman's victims.
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker cichy_polak: "If you could go back to your younger self right now and say anything to them, what would you say?"
"You're enough."
Monday Links!
This list o' links brought to you by flowers.
Recommended Reading:
Heidi Shierholz and Celine McNicholas at the Economic Policy Institute: The Supreme Court Is Poised to Make Forced Arbitration Nearly Inescapable
Joe Jervis at Joe.My.God: Convicted Felon Oliver North Named NRA President
Danielle Paquette at the Washington Post: [Content Note: Misogyny; harassment; threats; gun violence] People Think She's a Parkland 'Crisis Actor' — It's Terrifying
Katherine Mangan at the Chronicle of Higher Ed: [CN: Sexual harassment] He Makes a Joke; She Isn't Laughing: 'Lingerie' Comment in Elevator Leads to Uproar Among Scholars
Ayesha Sharma at Everyday Feminism: [CN: Trans erasure] Transgender People Are Not Included in Mainstream History: Here Are 5 Ways for Anyone to Combat Trans Erasure Everyday
Monica Roberts at TransGriot: Is Becky Hammon Becoming an NBA Head Coach?
Jasmine Arielle Ting at Teen Vogue: [CN: Racism; misogyny] Asian-American Stereotypes in Popular Culture Are Being Challenged by the Asian Mean Girl
Teresa Jusino at the Mary Sue: [CN: Rape culture] Dear Roman Polanski, Please Just F@!#ing STOP IT ALREADY
Halle Kiefer at Vulture: Watch Jay-Z's Mom, Gloria Carter, Accept a GLAAD Award for the 4:44 Song "Smile"
Leave your links and recommendations in comments. Self-promotion welcome and encouraged!
The Jobs Automation SHOULD Take
[Content Note: Child abuse and neglect; exploitation; death from addiction.]
This piece about Brad Renfro by Adam B. Vary for BuzzFeed is heartbreaking: "Hollywood Wanted an Edgy Child Actor. When He Spiraled, They Couldn't Help."
Couldn't or wouldn't. Either way: Didn't.
As I was reading the piece, I thought of the many times I've seen child actors doing things in films that made me worry for them; made me wonder who was looking out for them.
And, not for the first time, I thought about how it is now possible, through the magic of advanced CGI, for an adult to play any role in a green suit and be replaced post-production with a conjured digital character and a voiceover.
There is quite literally no need for onscreen child actors anymore. There is no reason to endanger children, or ask them to do work to which they truly cannot fully consent, no matter how much they insist they want to do it. And we have plenty of evidence that child actors who survive the industry to adulthood in one piece are the exception, not the rule.
We don't require child laborers in the film industry anymore. As far as I can see, these are jobs that we should eagerly allow automation to render obsolete.
#365feministselfie: Week 18
I am again participating in the #365feministselfie project, now in its fifth year, and promised a thread for others to share selfies and/or talk about the project, visibility generally, self-apprecation, and related topics. So here is a thread for Week 18!
A few of my selfies over the last week:
as the ginormous catself that is Ms. Olivia Twist stepped on
my spleen with the full pile-drive power of cat legs.
Please feel welcome and encouraged to share your own selfies in comments, or share your thoughts on the project, or solicit encouragement or advice, or do whatever else feels best for you to participate, if you are inclined to do so!
