Whatcha been cooking up in your kitchen lately, Shakers?
Share your favorite recipes, solicit good recipes, share recipes you've recently tried, want to try, are trying to perfect, whatever! Whether they're your own creation, or something you found elsewhere, share away.
Also welcome: Recipes you've seen recently that you'd love to try, but haven't yet!
Shaker Gourmet
Daily Dose of Cute
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 503
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: Election Thread and Just a Reminder That He Is Not Actually a Clown.
Here are some more things in the news today...
[Content Note: Video may autoplay at link] Jennifer Jacobs at Bloomberg: Trump Wants Kim to Commit to Disarmament Timetable in Singapore.
The White House wants North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to commit to a timetable to surrender his country's nuclear arsenal when he meets [Donald] Trump next week in Singapore, a high-stakes summit that could last as long as two days — or just minutes.And they will either "hit it off" or hate each other on sight, as two people who are very much alike tend to do.
Trump has been advised not to offer Kim any concessions, as the White House seeks to put the onus on the North Koreans to make the summit a success, one U.S. official said. The president is determined to walk out of the meeting if it doesn't go well, two officials said. Alternatively, Trump is toying with the idea of offering Kim a follow-up summit at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida — perhaps in the fall — if the two men hit it off.
And lest you imagine I'm being snarky or presumptuous by saying they're very much alike, take it from Dennis Rodman, who knows both of them: "Having been a contestant twice on Trump's reality-TV show, Celebrity Apprentice, and having been to North Korea five times since 2013, he's one of the few people on the planet to have met both leaders, let alone be on friendly terms with them. In April, Rodman claimed to have helped Kim have a 'change of heart' about the president by giving him a copy of Trump's book, The Art of the Deal."
And said at the time: "Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un are pretty much the same." Cool.
In other summit news... [CN: Nazism]
Administration official says Gorka is not going to Asia in an official capacity.
— Julian Borger (@julianborger) June 6, 2018
You know how during every celebration of a Nazi leaving the White House, I'm a big old buzzkill who warns that they'll just be moving into an unofficial role with no oversight? That.
But also: In a private conversation, which I'm sharing with permission, Shaker SKM noted: "Hannity is going to Singapore as well. Looking more and more like a far-right out-of-country meeting for some purpose other than North Korea."
Absolutely. (Or in addition to.) I wonder which Russian diplomat(s) and/or oligarch(s) is going to show up to meet them outside the purview of U.S. feds.
This is shaping up to be Seychelles 2.0.
* * *
What the fuck?!
Uh. "It’s not yet clear what Edwards’ job was at the White House, but, unless Tuesday was his first day on the job, an attempted murder suspect has been coming and going from the White House grounds." https://t.co/SWdGzRyBtI
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) June 6, 2018
"A federal law enforcement official says Edwards did work for the National Security Council in the Old Executive Office Building next to the White House and did not have access to the West Wing." I MEAN. https://t.co/s8vfOcogvt
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) June 6, 2018
Aron Heller at the AP: Giuliani Says Mueller's Team Is Trying to Frame Trump. "Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Wednesday that special counsel Robert Mueller's team is trying to frame [Donald] Trump. ...'There are a group of 13 highly partisan Democrats who make up the Mueller team, excluding him, and are trying very, very hard to frame him to get him in trouble when he hasn't done anything wrong,' said Giuliani, who has been serving as Trump's lawyer amid the Russia scandal. 'They can't emotionally come to grips with the fact that this whole thing with Russian collusion didn't happen. They are trying to invent theories of obstruction of justice,' Giuliani told a business conference in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv." This is breathtakingly inappropriate. Seethe.
Judd Legum at ThinkProgress: Latest Trump Attack on Russian Investigation Comes Directly from Conspiracy Websites. "Trump's tweet refers to an article about Strzok and Page's texts that appeared on Gateway Pundit, a notorious right-wing conspiracy website, claiming that the texts prove the FBI was spying on the Trump campaign. The Gateway Pundit article, in turn, is based on an unsourced tweet from a pseudonymous twitter account. (It's notable that even this random Twitter user is more suspicious of his own analysis than Trump.) It was also a popular post on the forum for conspiracy theories on Reddit, called r/conspiracy. As you might imagine, the analysis is totally wrong." From rando Redditors to the Twitter account of the United States president. Highly disturbing.
Carole Cadwalladr and Stephanie Kirchgaessner at the Guardian: Cambridge Analytica Director 'Met Assange to Discuss U.S. Election'. "A Cambridge Analytica director apparently visited Julian Assange in February last year and told friends it was to discuss what happened during the U.S. election, the Guardian has learned. Brittany Kaiser, a director at the firm until earlier this year, also claimed to have channelled cryptocurrency payments and donations to WikiLeaks. This information has been passed to congressional and parliamentary inquiries in the U.K. and U.S. Cambridge Analytica and WikiLeaks are already subjects of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, but the revelations open up fresh questions about the precise nature of the organisations' relationship."
"Trump is preparing to sign a sweeping new law Wednesday aimed at expanding veterans’ access to private-sector health care. But behind the scenes his administration is fighting a bipartisan Senate effort to fund the legislation." https://t.co/UNVCsCiPTv
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) June 6, 2018
Kate Riga at TPM: Andrew McCabe Is Asking for Immunity to Testify on Clinton Email Probe. "Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is requesting immunity in exchange for his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe, according to a Tuesday CNN report. In a letter obtained by CNN, McCabe's lawyer, Michael Bromwich, set out the terms to Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), wanting to establish that no information McCabe provided would be used against him in a criminal prosecution. Per CNN, Grassley has called McCabe to testify next week, though the inspector general's report has not yet been released." That IG report is gonna be something, sounds like.
* * *
[CN: Police brutality; racism.]
"I don't feel that our officers were at their best" says a police chief whose officers were caught on video "brutally beating a man who appeared to be minding his own business while on his cellphone." https://t.co/bXAchY2wGs
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) June 6, 2018
Richard Lawler at Engadget: Facebook's On-Device Data Sharing Program Included Huawei, Lenovo. "After a New York Times report highlighted how Facebook provided 60 or so device manufacturers access to user data, today the NYT and Washington Post report that four Chinese manufacturers are on the list. Huawei, Lenovo, Oppo, and TCL all had integrations that Facebook exec Francisco Varela told the NYT 'were controlled from the get-go — and Facebook approved everything that was built.' Huawei, in particular, has been raised for scrutiny by several lawmakers, who worry that the Chinese government could demand access to data on its servers. Earlier this year, the FBI, CIA, and NSA warned against use of the company's products or services, citing a potential capacity for 'undetected espionage.'"
[CN: War on agency] Teddy Wilson at Rewire.News: Report: Trump's Global Gag Rule 'Downright Catastrophic for Global Health'. "The Trump administration's reinstatement and expansion of the 'global gag rule' (GGR) has been the most 'extreme and sweeping' iteration of the policy yet and 'threatens to derail decades of progress' in improving health care, according to a report released Tuesday by the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE). 'When the GGR is in effect, it creates and exploits inefficiencies in health care delivery and causes harm to beneficiaries, who may not be aware that their fate is being determined by what is essentially a political football in Washington, D.C.,' the report's authors concluded."
[CN: Class warfare] Hari Kishan and Rahul Karunakar at Reuters: U.S. House Prices to Rise at Twice the Speed of Inflation and Pay. "The latest poll of nearly 45 analysts taken May 16-June 5 showed the S&P/Case Shiller composite index of home prices in 20 cities is expected to gain a further 5.7 percent this year. That compared to predictions for average earnings growth of 2.8 percent and inflation of 2.5 percent 2018, according to a separate Reuters poll of economists." Those numbers may sound innocuous, but that's not good. At best, many people will have to keep renting and not building any equity. And, at worst, we're diving headfirst into another housing bubble and subsequent collapse.
[CN: Misogyny; racism; harassment; threats; bullying] Amy Zimmerman at the Daily Beast: The Persecution of Kelly Marie Tran: How Star Wars Fandom Became Overrun by Alt-Right Trolls. "On Monday night, the Twitter account Star Wars Facts tweeted out that Star Wars: The Last Jedi's Kelly Marie Tran, the first woman of color to land a leading role in the mega-popular franchise, had 'deleted all the posts off her Instagram due to months of harassment she has received for her character Rose in #TheLastJedi.' ...Tran's Instagram does appear to be scrubbed, robbing online trolls of a forum they once used to personally attack the actress. Now, the only evidence of life on her social media account is her bio: 'Afraid, but doing it anyway.'" Blub.
What have you been reading that we need to resist today?
Discussion Thread: Self-Care
What are you doing to do to take care of yourself today, or in the near future, as soon as you can?
If you are someone who has a hard time engaging in self-care, or figuring out easy, fast, and/or inexpensive ways to treat yourself, and you would like to solicit suggestions, please feel welcome. And, as always, no one should offer advice unless it is solicited.
* * *
Last night, I attended a Shambhala Buddhist meditation for the first time. I was only tagging along, but I really enjoyed it; it came quite naturally.
(And, yes, I do recognize the irony in putting Buddhist meditation in a self-care thread, given the concept of Anattā, lol.)
The closest thing I do to a meditative practice typically consists of deep-breathing in the garden on my own, which I find calming and restorative, but I really valued the opportunity to meditate in a group setting, which was quite different and lovely.
When we went to dinner afterwards, our waitress looked at me when she came to our table and exclaimed, "You look so happy!" So I guess it worked!
In any case, I will go back when I can. It was nourishing.
Although I won't be lucky enough to walk out to a sky that looks like this every time!
A glorious sunset tonight through dissipating storm clouds. #nofilter pic.twitter.com/omXdc1zKvH
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) June 6, 2018
Just a Reminder That He Is Not Actually a Clown
If you thought Trump's botch job of "God Bless America" was bad, wait 'til you hear what he did to the actual country. 😬
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) June 6, 2018
The Venn diagram of people who think that tweet is a joke and the people for whom I wrote that tweet is a perfect circle.
Election Thread
Alabama, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, and South Dakota had primary races yesterday. Here's a thread to talk about any and all of the results that you found exciting or disappointing.
Two quick things I want to highlight:
Deb Haaland won her Democratic primary in New Mexico's congressional race, which, as Jennifer Bendery reports at HuffPo, means that the United States is very likely to get its first Native American congresswoman in November!
The district encompasses Albuquerque and is solidly blue ― it's rated D+7 by the Cook Partisan Voter Index ― so Haaland is all but certain to win in November when she takes on the lone GOP candidate in the race, Janice Arnold-Jones.Good luck to both Haaland and Grisham later this year!
The House seat is open because its current occupant, Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D), is running for governor.
[Content Note: Sexual violence] And in California, voters in Santa Clara County voted to remove Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky from the bench, Meagan Flynn reports at the WaPo. Persky is the shitbird who sentenced Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner to six months in jail after he was convicted for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman.
"Tonight many, many voters voted against the culture of impunity for high-status perpetrators of sexual assault or domestic violence," Michele Dauber, a Stanford University professor and chair of the Recall Judge Aaron Persky Campaign, told The Washington Post. "This election expresses clearly that sexual assault, sexual violence is serious and it has to be taken seriously by elected officials. It's a historical moment when women across all sectors of society are standing up saying, 'Enough is enough.'"Buh-bye!
Persky could not immediately reached for comment.
Did you vote yesterday? Did your candidates win? Tell all in comments.
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker Kathy_A: "Have you ever been somewhere for the first time that resonated with you so much you could imagine having been there in a past life (if you believe in such a thing) or maybe a dream?"
Oh, I know I've had strong déjà vu of place many times in my life, but of course I can't think of a single one of them now, lol.
Discussion Thread: Life Hacks
We haven't had a Life Hacks thread in a long time, so here's a thread to share all the little tips and tricks you've got for making life easier.
I'll (again) share an old favorite of mine: If you ever get an oil-based food stain on a shirt that won't come out, treat it with some dish soap before running it through the wash. Even if it's already been washed and dried, using dish soap, which is formulated to break up oil and grease, will almost always do the trick!
Being a lady with a prominent boob rack and a penchant for clutziness, I cannot tell you how many times this has saved my shirts, lol.
Scott Pruitt Continues to Be Very Corrupt!
Not-Breaking News: EPA Chief Scott Pruitt is very corrupt, has been very corrupt since taking office, and will continue to be corrupt in any position he ever holds until he is dead, presumably.
The latest: He enlisted an EPA aide to try to help his wife get a Chick-fil-A franchise. Unsuccessfully. Nonetheless, it's not merely unethical, but illegal. "Federal ethics laws bar public officials from using their position or staff for private gain."
As with every fresh new report of Pruitt's shameless abuses of power, there are calls for Donald Trump to get rid of him and ponderment of why Trump isn't sufficiently appalled to "do something" about Pruitt.
Blink.
There is perhaps no greater evidence that far too many folks are still, despite every reason not to, treating this presidency as "normal" than the ubiquitous suggestion that Trump should be bothered by Scott Pruitt's corruption. I'm amazed he hasn't given him a medal for it yet.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) June 5, 2018
Trump would sooner get rid of Pruitt because he wore an unflattering tie on television than because he's a corrupt asshole.
That's the truth. It's terrible. But the sooner we all get the fuck on board with terrible truths like that one, the sooner we can start having the sorts of honest conversations we need to have about this rank authoritarian president and his cabinet of middle-management despots.
What I'm Watching
This is a thread to share all the good things you're watching at the moment, or have recently watched. Serialized shows on broadcast or streaming; films; digital shorts; stand-up; documentaries; performances — whatever! Tell us what you're watching and enjoying these days.
I am a huge fan of stand-up comedy, which hasn't been a great place to find enjoyment for quite some time now, what with the tiresome "edgy comic" bullshit. But stand-up that doesn't lazily substitute offensive trash for actual well-crafted comedy is having a bit of a resurgence, about which I'm so happy, because stand-up is my go-to when I'm feeling down. And I've been feeling down a lot lately, for what I'm going to assume are obvious reasons, lol.
There have been a flurry of great Netflix specials that I've enjoyed lately...
John Mulaney's Kid Gorgeous made me laugh until I cried. It's my #1 recommendation at the moment (and yeah I can't believe my top stand-up rec at this moment or any other is a straight white dude, but here we are because everything is upside down now).
Also:
Tig Notaro's Happy to Be Here
Hari Kondabolu's Warn Your Relatives
Gary Gulman's It's About Time
Ali Wong's Hard Knock Wife
How about you?
Daily Dose of Cute
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 502
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: Mueller Says Manafort Attempted Witness Tampering and Trump Disinvites Eagles from White House Because He Is a Petty Little Tyrant and Children Forcibly Separated from Parents Stuck at Border Facilities; HHS Contemplates Military Sites.
Here are some more things in the news today...
Will Bunch at the Philly Inquirer: When Trump Went Full Dictator and No One Tried to Stop Him.
The main reason that Trump violates long-standing norms and established rules, or tells so many easily disprovable lies from the presidential podium, is because he knows that no one will stop him. And that exercise of unchallenged power isn't just a weird quirk of the Trump presidency. It is, rather, its driving force.Worse yet: That no one who has the power to stop this is willing to do it. (I'm looking at you, Congressional Republicans, you fucking cowards.)
...Trump is wearing down the American people, one lie at a time. He is chipping away at our notion of what constitutes American justice, one crony pardon at a time. And he is eroding the foundation of our democracy, to make it so weak that by the time he makes his inevitable moves to nullify the Mueller investigation, the remaining frayed house of cards may be too weak to fight back.
Trump is doing very little with his presidency but to dictate things. He wakes up every morning and dictates lies, then he dictates arbitrary justice, and then he dictates unilateral policies — trade wars with our allies in Canada or in Europe, requiring power plants to burn dirty fuels like coal, or ripping little kids from their mommies and daddies at the border — that could never win political or legislative support, because they lack common sense or morality, or both.
Hour by hour, lie by lie, dictate by dictate, Donald Trump is becoming an American dictator. And recent days have proved what many of us have long feared: That no one knows how to stop this.
* * *
[Content Note: Child abuse] Rebekah Entralgo at ThinkProgress: United Nations Says U.S. Policy of Separating Families at the Border 'Runs Counter to Human Rights'. "Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the U.N. human rights office, said Tuesday that she had received information from U.S. civil society groups that indicated several hundred children had been separated from their parents at the border since October. 'The United States should immediately halt this practice,' she told reporters in Geneva. 'The practice of separating families amounts to arbitrary and unlawful interference in family life, and is a serious violation of the rights of the child.' She added, 'The use of immigration detention and family separation as a deterrent runs counter to human rights standards and principles.'"
[CN: White supremacy] Patrick Kingsley at the New York Times: Safe in Hungary, Viktor Orban Pushes His Message Across Europe. With the help of Steve Bannon. "In consolidating power in Hungary, Mr. Orban has recognized the huge power of media and now seems intent on trying to expand his sphere of influence. Last year, one of his closest advisers, Arpad Habony, met with Stephen K. Bannon, [Donald] Trump's former chief strategist, in Washington. The purpose of the visit, according to a person familiar with the meeting, was to discuss starting an outlet in Eastern Europe like Breitbart News, a platform often used to promote hard-edge nationalist ideas."
And, as I mentioned yesterday, this as Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, gave an interview to Bannon's outlet Breitbart about how excited he is to empower the right-wing in Europe and announcing his plan to host a lunch with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, whom Grenell called a "rock star." All of which is having the intended effect of sowing discord in Germany and further undermining the U.S.-German alliance — which, as I've been noting for more than a year, has been an explicit objective of the Krelim since WWII.
Staff at AFP: Calls Grow in Germany for Expulsion of Disputed U.S. Envoy. "'What this man is doing, is unheard of in international diplomacy,' Martin Schulz, former chief of the Social Democratic Party, told national news agency DPA. 'If a German ambassador were to say in Washington that he is there to boost the Democrats, he would have been kicked out immediately. I hope that the Kurz visit leads to Mr Grenell's short tenure as ambassador in Germany,' added Schulz... [T]he opposition far-left Linke party's chief Sahra Wagenknecht said Berlin would do better to immediately expel Grenell rather than invite him in for talks. 'Someone like U.S. ambassador Richard Grenell, who thinks he can lord over Europe and determine who is governing here, he can no longer stay in Germany as a diplomat,' Wagenknecht told Die Welt Daily. 'If the government takes the democratic sovereignty of our country seriously, then it shouldn't just invite Grenell to a chat over coffee, but expel him immediately,' she added."
And Putin smirks contentedly.
* * *
First Lady Melania Trump made her first public appearance yesterday after being out of public view for over three weeks. At least, that's what we've been told, based on some crappy cell phone video and a photo which may be her or may be Walton Goggins in a wig, for all I can tell.
Last night, First Lady Melania Trump posted photos showing her seated next to @POTUS at WH event honoring Gold Star Families. Her first official appearance since May 10 and since she underwent a procedure at @WRBethesda May 14. pic.twitter.com/sTzgybMLCB
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) June 5, 2018
But let's concede it's her. Okay. So that's reason to now ignore that the First Lady wasn't seen for three weeks without reasonable explanation?! "There she is! Let's move on!" I disagree. Because I remain worried about her safety, and her son's.
* * *
“We stand with women and men in our states by rejecting this administration’s efforts to force medical professionals to knowingly withhold information from their patients.” 👏👏 https://t.co/8PvxkLRm9x #NoGagRule
— NARAL (@NARAL) June 4, 2018
Joe Romm at ThinkProgress: Former Fox News Reporter Says Russians Colluded with Trump Campaign Through Roger Stone. No shit. "In a series of exclusive interviews, former Fox News Channel chief political correspondent Carl Cameron explained to ThinkProgress how the Russians coordinated their cyber attack on the 2016 election with the Trump campaign. 'Trump confidant Roger Stone's success was having the connections and creating the opportunities for [Russian intelligence officer] Guccifer2.0 and other Russian groups to really start taking advantage of social media and pounding these negative memes that Hillary's a crook, et cetera,' Cameron explained to ThinkProgress' Joe Romm — as related in the new book, How to Go Viral and Reach Millions." Okay.
[CN: White supremacy] Kelly Weill at the Daily Beast: Charlottesville Hate Marcher Elected by Republican Party. "An affiliate of a 'pro-white' group who marched in Charlottesville last year was elected to a Republican Party post in Washington state last week, part of his campaign to take over the GOP for the alt-right. James Allsup, 22, attended the 'Unite the Right' rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where white supremacists chanted anti-Semitic slogans and one allegedly drove a car into a crowd, killing a protester and injuring more. Allsup was filmed marching with Identity Evropa, an anti-immigrant alt-right group. ...The piece of paper certified that Allsup was now a precinct committee officer for the Whitman County, Washington Republican Party. Allsup's certificate declares that he was awarded the post after his candidacy remained uncontested for four days."
[CN: Class warfare] Alice Ollstein at TPM: Arkansas Pulls the Trigger on Nation's First-Ever Medicaid Work Requirement. "This week, Arkansas becomes the first state in the nation, and in the nation's history, to require its non-disabled adult Medicaid expansion population to work or volunteer 80 hours a month to maintain their health care benefits. Starting Tuesday, Arkansans on Medicaid have to prove that they've worked 80 hours over the previous month or that they qualify for an exemption. If they fail to do so, they'll be booted from the rolls after three months. Health care advocates in the state say they expect thousands of low-income people to lose coverage — both those who can't find work and those who can't navigate the state's online-only system for documenting their hours." Rage seethe boil.
Lawrence Hurley at Reuters: [CN: Homophobia] Gay Adoption Fight Looms after Supreme Court's Cake Ruling. "A major legal fight similar to the blockbuster Christian baker case decided by the Supreme Court on Monday is already brewing in several U.S. states over laws allowing private agencies to block gay couples from adoptions or taking in foster children. ...Nine states have laws allowing state-funded, religiously affiliated adoption agencies to refuse to place children with gay people based on religious beliefs. Republican-governed Kansas and Oklahoma passed such laws this year. Alabama, Mississippi, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, and Virginia all have similar laws. Legal challenges to those laws, some pending in lower courts, eventually could come to the Supreme Court."
[CN: Transphobia; child abuse]
Meanwhile in Indiana a teacher says abiding by a school policy of calling transgender students by their preferred name violates his 1A religious rights https://t.co/DDZaQhPfKL
— Jessica Mason Pieklo (@Hegemommy) June 5, 2018
I'll point out that Indiana has significantly lowered the requirements for getting certified to teach. I don't know what this particular guy's path to teaching was, but the threshold in Indiana for becoming a teacher *just to bring a case like this* is very fucking low.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) June 5, 2018
More on that: Dispatches from the Conservative Legislation Lab.
By the way, that was one of the programs objected to by Democratic Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz, whose office then-Governor Mike Pence neutered in a gross abuse of power.
[CN: Guns] Anne Branigin at the Root: This Is America: Pennsylvania School Gifts Graduating 8th-Graders with Bulletproof School Accessories. "Nationwide, graduations are an opportunity to reflect and savor accomplishments and to brightly anticipate the future. One Catholic school in Chadd's Ford, PA, in the spirit of preparing and protecting their graduating students, went a more macabre route: Gifting eighth-graders with bulletproof inserts to help keep them safe in the event of a school shooter. According to NBC News, the removable ballistic shields given to Saint Cornelius Catholic School students could turn their backpacks into bulletproof vests." Fucking hell.
[CN: Swatting; violence; guns] Bryan Menegus at Gizmodo: Home of Parkland Survivor and Activist David Hogg Swatted. "The family home of outspoken Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg was the target of a 'swatting' hoax this morning when a caller falsely claimed the address was the site of a hostage situation. Emergency services responded to the call and found there was no hostage situation, a local ABC affiliate reports. Several sheriff's office units and a police helicopter were also reportedly sent to the scene. Hogg was in Washington, D.C. at the time to accept the RFK Human Rights award."
Staff at the Daily Beast: Hackers Stole 92M User Emails from DNA Testing Site. "Hackers obtained the email addresses and hashed passwords of more than 92 million users of a genealogy and DNA testing site last October, according to a company blog post. MyHeritage officials say they learned of the breach after a security researcher informed them Monday afternoon that he had found the file on a private server. As a result of the breach, hackers obtained the email addresses of everyone who signed up for the service before Oct. 26, 2017 — but the company took care to note that user passwords remained safe." How reassuring. Just another reason to not do one of these DNA tests: The companies who offer them can't even guarantee your DNA won't be hacked!
What have you been reading that we need to resist today?
Children Forcibly Separated from Parents Stuck at Border Facilities; HHS Contemplates Military Sites
[Content Note: Nativism; child abuse.]
Last month, Attorney General Jeff Sessions publicly threatened to forcibly separate undocumented families, to detain children separate from their parents, and to designate them "unaccompanied minors," even if they are actually not.
Border Patrol has made good on that threat, under the Trump administration's new "zero tolerance" policy at the southern border — which has left hundreds of children stranded in overwhelmed facilities.
Julia Ainsley and Courtney Kube at NBC News report:
As of Sunday, nearly 300 of the 550 children currently in custody at U.S. border stations had spent more than 72 hours there, the time limit for immigrants of any age to be held in the government's temporary facilities. Almost half of those 300 children are younger than 12, according to the document, meaning they are classified by the Department of Homeland Security as "tender age children."The Border Patrol facilities not only lack adequate bedding and "separate sleeping rooms," which is a nice way of saying that children may be housed with adults, leaving them in peril of harm; they also lack appropriate medical resources as well as food with the proper nutritional values for growing children.
The stations, run by the Border Patrol and meant only as the first stop for children detained at the border, often lack adequate bedding or separate sleeping rooms for children.
...The overstays at border stations are a result of a backlog at U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS), the agency responsible for sheltering migrant children longer term and matching them with relatives or foster parents in the U.S. The agency's Administration for Children and Families has 11,200 unaccompanied children in its care and takes 45 days on average to place a child with a sponsor, according to a spokesperson.
But HHS can't move them through fast enough, so, once again, we are hearing about the HHS exploring the option of housing children at military sites.
HHS officials will soon tour military installations near the border in Texas as they search for more space to house children while they wait for placement. The officials will tour Dyess Air Force Base, Goodfellow Air Force Base, and Fort Bliss, the spokesperson said.That the United States government is even contemplating forcibly separating children from their parents, as a punishment of the parents, who are in many cases approaching the U.S. border seeking refuge from violence, and putting endangered children in military complexes without adequate care, should profoundly shame every U.S. citizen.
"HHS will make the determination if they will use any of the three sites for UAC (unaccompanied alien children) operations," the spokesperson said.
It's an absolute scandal that this president constantly shouts about how America is the "greatest country in the world!" at every opportunity — and then viciously punishes people who clamor to get in the door.
We should all be raising hell daily with our senators and representatives, demanding that these horrendous policies be immediately halted and replaced with policies centering compassion and asylum. MAKE YOUR CALLS.
Trump Disinvites Eagles from White House Because He Is a Petty Little Tyrant
The Super Bowl winning Philadelphia Eagles (🏈) were invited to the White House, but Donald Trump rescinded the invitation the day before their scheduled visit, after finding out that fewer than 10 players were going to attend — but, naturally, he blamed the players because they don't share his garbage position that kneeling during the anthem is disrespectful.
Zach Berman, Jonathan Tamari, and Les Bowen at the Philly Inquirer report:
"The Philadelphia Eagles are unable to come to the White House with their full team to be celebrated tomorrow," Trump said in a statement released late Monday. "They disagree with their President because he insists that they proudly stand for the National Anthem, hand on heart, in honor of the great men and women of our military and the people of our country. The Eagles wanted to send a smaller delegation, but the 1,000 fans planning to attend the event deserve better."He is insufferable. And he is also shaming U.S. citizens for wanting to exercise their right of protest, which is a horrendous thing for the sitting president to do.
"These fans are still invited to the White House to be part of a different type of ceremony — one that will honor our great country, pay tribute to the heroes who fight to protect it, and loudly and proudly play the National Anthem. I will be there at 3:00 p.m. with the United States Marine Band and the United States Army Chorus to celebrate America."
Democratic Mayor of Philadelphia Jim Kenney released his own statement, which took a rather different tone from Trump's:
"These are players who stand up for the causes they believe in and who contribute in meaningful ways to their community. They represent the diversity of our nation — a nation in which we are free to express our opinions," Kenney said in a statement. "Disinviting them from the White House only proves that our President is not a true patriot, but a fragile egomaniac obsessed with crowd size and afraid of the embarrassment of throwing a party to which no one wants to attend."RIGHT ON!
I take up space in solidarity with the players who want nothing to do with a president who doesn't support their rights or their cause.
Mueller Says Manafort Attempted Witness Tampering
In a court filing yesterday, Special Counsel Bob Mueller said that former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort, who is under indictment for a variety of charges, attempted to tamper with witnesses after he was released to home confinement following his October arraignment.
Eric Beech and Lisa Lambert at Reuters report:
FBI Special Agent Brock Domin, in a declaration filed with Mueller's motion, said Manafort had attempted to call, text, and send encrypted messages in February to two people from "The Hapsburg Group," a firm he worked with to promote the interests of Ukraine.That was always going to happen, because this is who Paul Manafort is. Which is why I always thought it was an extremely curious decision for Manafort to be released while he awaits trial. Others argue that Mueller was giving Manafort enough rope to hang himself, but that was a very risky strategy, if that were Mueller's plan. (Which is to say nothing of the fact that Manafort is a flight risk.) And it may still backfire, since this new filing only addresses the potential witness tampering that Mueller knows of.
The FBI has documents and statements from the two people, as well as telephone records and documents recovered through a search of Manafort's iCloud account showing that Trump's former campaign manager attempted communication while he was out on bail, according to Domin.
The communications were "in an effort to influence their testimony and to otherwise conceal evidence," Domin wrote. "The investigation into this matter is ongoing."
Manafort is the most senior member of Trump's campaign to be indicted, though the charges do not relate to campaign activities.
Mueller urged Judge Amy Berman Jackson to "promptly" schedule a hearing on the whether to change Manafort's conditions of release, which could result in Manafort going to jail.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump spent the days leading up to this news tweeting about how he barely knows Paul Manafort, despite the fact that he served as Trump's campaign chair, they've known each other since the '80s, and Manafort has lived at Trump Tower since 2006.
Which, as Seth Abramson noted on Twitter, raises a pressing question: "Note that Trump suddenly began tweeting about Manafort — trying to distance himself from him, after not discussing him much for months — over the past 48-72 hours. What did he hear about this sudden Mueller filing beforehand — and how, and from whom?"
My guess is Jeff Sessions. Who has remained incredibly loyal to Trump, despite Trump's constant public berating — possibly because it benefits both of them "to look like antagonists instead of collaborators consolidating power."
Irrespective of who told Trump that a filing on Manafort was forthcoming, someone did, and that is a mighty big problem.
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker Carpe Librarium: "What is your least costly luxury? (Least costly in terms of time, or effort, or price; however you choose to interpret it.)"
Decent toilet paper.
Monday Links!
This list o' links brought to you by purses.
Recommended Reading:
Britni de la Cretaz at Narratively: [Content Note: Homophobia; misogyny] The Hidden Queer History Behind A League of Their Own
Staff at Towleroad: Stunning Parkour Video Sends a Powerful Message to LGBTQ People
Jessica Mason Pieklo at Rewire.News: [CN: Homophobia] In Its Milquetoast Ruling for an Anti-Gay Colorado Baker, the Supreme Court Guarantees Future Fights
Amy Howe at SCOTUSblog: [CN: War on agency] Justices Throw out Lower-Court Ruling in Teen Abortion Case
Brian Kahn at Earther: [CN: Displacement; death] Why Guatemala's Deadly Eruption Caught People Off-Guard
Evan Allen at the Boston Globe: [CN: Violence; death] The Face in the Waves
Blue Telusma at the Grio: 5 Things You Need to Know about Stacey Abrams and Her Historic Run for the Georgia Governor's Office
Marshall A. Latimore at the Atlanta Voice: In the City of South Fulton's Justice System, Black Women Hold All the Reins
Leave your links and recommendations in comments. Self-promotion welcome and encouraged!
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.
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One of my favorite color combinations has always been black and white and yellow, although I spent many years feeling like I couldn't wear yellow, because it wasn't a color fat women "should" wear. (UGH FUCKING FAT HATRED.)
Now that I've reached a point in my life where I firmly believe that "rules" which discourage fat women from wearing anything we damn well please, I've got myself the perfect black and white and yellow outfit — which, as you'll note, also includes horizontal stripes! (THE HORROR.)
Top: Mariner-Stripe Plus-Size Boat-Neck Tee in Black Stripe from Old Navy. Bottom: Frayed Skinny Crop Jeans in Wild Pollen from Loft. Shoes: New York Westley Loafer in Black Patent from Kenneth Cole.
If there is one fat-hating fashion narrative I despise the most, it is this: Dress so that you're not seen. Whether it's admonishing us against wearing bright colors, because they make us too noticeable, or describing as "flattering" any garment designed to conceal our shapes beneath billowing fabric, I hate it.
(Note: If you love wearing oversized or flowy garments that aren't "bodycon," you do you! Everyone should be allowed to wear whatever they want without judgment! I just don't want those types of clothes to be the only clothes available to fat ladies!)
I love walking around in my loud yellow pants and horizontal stripes, and, if anyone has a problem with it, that's their problem, not mine.
I take up space and won't be made to feel ashamed about that.
And that, friends, is why Fat Fashion is radical.
Anyway! As always, all subjects related to fat fashion are on topic, but if you want a topic for discussion: Are there any trends you're fervently avoiding or enthusiastically embracing at the moment?
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.
[Note: I am not receiving anything in return for my recommendations here, nor am I affiliated in any way with any of the companies mentioned herein. Any endorsements made are on products I purchased myself, just because I like them!]
