All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Florida could shield whites from ‘discomfort’ of racist past

A bill pushed by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that would prohibit public schools and private businesses from making white people feel “discomfort” when they teach students or train employees about discrimination in the nation’s past received its first approval Tuesday.

The Senate Education Committee approved the bill that takes aim at critical race theory — though it doesn’t mention it explicitly — on party lines, with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed.

Democrats argued the bill isn’t needed, would lead to frivolous lawsuits and said it would amount to censorship in schools. They asked, without success, for real-life examples of teachers or businesses telling students or employees that they are racist because of their race.

“This bill’s not for Blacks, this bill was not for any other race. This was directed to make whites not feel bad about what happened years ago,” said state Sen. Shevrin Jones, who is Black. “At no point did anyone say white people should be held responsible for what happened, but what I would ask my white counterparts is, are you an enabler of what happened or are you going to say we must talk about history?”

In essence, DeSantis and the "**** Your Feelings" right wing/conservative crowd wants to make sure THEIR feelings aren't hurt when it comes to teaching about the vile history behind whites and centuries of racism they perpetuated. The irony is thicker than molasses in February. So, who's the snowflake now?

[babyblob]

Here is an interesting defense for a man accused of a crime going on in Cincy. A former City Council Member was arrested (one of 3 members to be arrested in just under a year) for trying to sell his votes on the council/ First he went on the They are going after me because I am a black man route. Now his lawyer is saying that since he was in contact with undercover FBI agents that no crime took place because the people he talked with about selling his votes were never going to pay him or hold him to the promise of voting they way they want for the money because they were law enforcement. And since nothing illegal was going to happen he can not be charged with a crime.

The lawyer is calling it "Fake Crime."

Of the other 2 arrested one is serving 18 months for selling her votes the other is waiting trial on corruption charges for taking bribes into PAC that he ran.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, as well as 2021, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” posted profiles of the current U.S. House Representative for North Carolina’s 8th District, Richard Hudson, who is one of the Birthers among the Republican caucus, having once told an assembled crowd that “President Obama is hiding something about his birth certificate”, and called for legislation to investigate it. Hudson also not only voted for the 2013 Government Shutdown, but when the vote came to reopen the government, he voted to keep it closed. He also took part in the 2014 GOP efforts to stir up fears over Ebola, calling for both a travel ban, and writing an official letter to blame the outbreak on President Obama. Hudson also voted against the renewal of the Violence Against Women Act, and during debate about the SNAP food stamp program, called for drug testing on welfare recipients to be implemented nationally (since it’s done so well failing as a practice at the state level). Richard Hudson has been quite the conspiracy theory lover in his first few years in the House, already demanding answers about Benghazi, the non-scandal that was the “IRS Scandal”, and trying to cut funding towards the implementation of the United Nations’ Agenda 21 treaty. During the GOP's faux-outrage over the Planned Parenthood "sting" videos supplied by the Center for Medical Progress that were proven to be edited to mislead the public, Hudson not only voted to defund the organization, but boldly proclaimed himself as believing that life begins at conception. While Congress was mostly quiet through a tumultuous 2016 election campaign (and with some of the fewest working days in Congressional history), Rep. Hudson spent most of the year demonizing the Environmental Protection Agency, including trying to block any restrictions they might place on Motorsports events, playing up this fight to the folks in his district whose passion for NASCAR surpass the needs of the planet itself. In July when he decided to target employees of the EPA by filing an amendment into their funding that would prevent any of their employees from flying on an airplane as a part of their job (like to places to conduct investigations of wrongdoing by anyone, y'know, ignoring EPA standards and polluting) as well as restricting any of these criminal enforcement employees from owning a gun they might need to do their jobs.

One of his first votes in Congress back in 2013 was to vote against Disaster Relief for those affected by Hurricane Sandy. We thought at the time that it seemed like there would be some hypocrisy coming on that vote, because after all, North Carolina, where Rep. Hudson is from, frequently is impacted by hurricane damage. And so it was that after Hurricane Florence, that he quite predictably wrote letters to Donald Trump to beg for him to allocate disaster relief to his district. Because of course this hypocritical little s*** did.

Hudson’s actions as a legislator over the past several years say it all:

• January 22nd, 2019: Hudson cannot be arsed to vote against HR 676, which would prevent Donald Trump from doing the unthinkable and walking away from our allies in NATO to appease the Russians.
• December 3rd, 2019: Richard Hudson is one of 71 Republicans who vote against House Resolution 546, which stated disapproval of any attempt to readmit the Russian federation back into the G7 and make it the G8.
• December 19th, 2019: Richard Hudson votes against the impeachment of Donald Trump, in spite of glaring evidence of abuse of power.
• May 15th, 2020: Hudson votes against the HEROES Act, to further support the healthcare industry and citizens affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
• December 10th, 2020: Hudson signs his name to an amicus brief to the Supreme Court, begging them to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The same election that he won re-election in.
• January 7th, 2021: Richard Hudson votes for the objection to the electoral college’s votes in the 2020 election, a failure to send any sort of message that he wasn’t intimidated or sympathetic to those who attacked the Capitol to attempt a violent coup.
• January 8th, 2021: News that one of the capitol police officers passes away from injuries inflicted by domestic terrorists two days earlier comes out, and Hudson offers his ”prayers” the same way Republican ***holes do when a mass shooting they could probably have prevented with simple gun control measures being passed. In both examples, his words are meaningless.
• January 13th, 2021: Rep. Hudson votes against the second impeachment of Donald Trump, because accountability is anathema to his party, even after a failed coup attempt that results in the deaths of police officers.
• February 4th, 2021: Richard Hudson votes to keep Marjorie Taylor Greene’s committee assignments, because he wouldn’t want her to be accountable for all the bigoted remarks and conspiracy theories she’s spread online (probably because she’s a kindred spirit).
• February 25th, 2021: Hudson votes against HR 5, the latest version of the Equality Act, that would provide workplace protections for LGBTQ Americans.
• March 3rd, 2021: Rep. Hudson votes against HR 1, a bill created to prevent the corruption of money in politics, and protect voter access to the ballot box.
• March 3rd, 2021: Richard Hudson votes against the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021.
• March 10th, 2021: Hudson votes against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, because he feels people deserve to die in poverty during a pandemic.
• March 17th, 2021: Rep. Hudson votes against the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act, likely because they feel the 2nd Amendment remaining absolute is more important than preventing people with a history of domestic abuse from owning a firearm (which statistics show, makes them more likely to use those firearms against women in their lives).
• May 19th, 2021: Rep. Hudson votes against HR 3233, the creation of a commission to investigate the Capitol Attack.
• November 5th, 2021: Richard Hudson votes against HR 3684, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Our update on Richard Hudson will be that due to redistricting, he will be running in North Carolina’s new 10th District in 2022, while assuring constituents he would do everything he could to make sure there were loopholes in place for them to not get the life-protecting Covid-19 vaccine so they could still make the choice to potentially catch a deadly disease.

What an ***hole, frankly.

[CSTowle]

In "not getting away with it after all" news:

Letitia James said her office has “significant evidence” in its case against the Trump Organization and is turning up the heat on Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr.

Again, would love to see it but until I do I don't believe it. Sliding away from problems they create without so much as a smudge on their suits is what Trumps do.

[JB]

Personally, I tend to doubt that.

That said, folks supporting it widely is different than Congress being willing to tighten the rules for anyone.

A President has more rules to follow?

Next thing you know, Congress might have to tighten up it's own rules on the stock market.

Cant have that...

I'm glad the courts ruled that Trump had to turn over his tax returns. I hope it eventually sets a precedent for Congress to have to do the same.

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5...eek-reelection

That's now 28 I believe.

[JB]

Here is an interesting defense for a man accused of a crime going on in Cincy. A former City Council Member was arrested (one of 3 members to be arrested in just under a year) for trying to sell his votes on the council/ First he went on the They are going after me because I am a black man route. Now his lawyer is saying that since he was in contact with undercover FBI agents that no crime took place because the people he talked with about selling his votes were never going to pay him or hold him to the promise of voting they way they want for the money because they were law enforcement. And since nothing illegal was going to happen he can not be charged with a crime.

The lawyer is calling it "Fake Crime."

Of the other 2 arrested one is serving 18 months for selling her votes the other is waiting trial on corruption charges for taking bribes into PAC that he ran.

Crazy. Is this Pastor? Dude is charged with bribery, money laundering, attempted extortion and conspiracy in a pay-to-play scheme.
Good luck with the "fake crime" defense.

[babyblob]

Crazy. Is this Pastor? Dude is charged with bribery, money laundering, attempted extortion and conspiracy in a pay-to-play scheme.
Good luck with the "fake crime" defense.

Yes this is Jeff Pastor. Was only on the council for 6 months before the FBI says he started shopping around looking to sell votes and things. He was a little shady. When he was running he clearly said I will vote for people who have my interests at heart. That could be taken as he will vote to help the people who voted for him. But it is looking like he just wanted to make a quick buck.

All of this is fallout from the Gang Of Five investigation. Where 5 council members were investigated for conducting city business over text messages on personal phones in violation of state law. When they were investigating that they found a whole slew of other things On Denard, Sittenfeld, and Pastor.

[Tendrin]

https://www.vice.com/en/article/epxb...icenewstwitter

Horrible. Just horrible.

[JB]

Emirates, Air India, and others cancel flights due to AT&T and Verizon’s 5G rollout
https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/18/2...ndia-ana-japan

Airlines have dropped flights or switched planes to certain US cities, with emphasis on 777 aircraft.

Emirates, Air India, ANA, and Japan Airlines have all announced they’re canceling some flights to the US due to this week’s rollout of C-band 5G over concerns it could potentially interfere with some instruments, particularly on Boeing 777 aircraft. This comes as cell carriers, federal agencies, airlines, and airplane manufacturers struggle to reach an agreement on policies regarding how the rollout should be handled.

[Malvolio]

In "not getting away with it after all" news:

Letitia James said her office has “significant evidence” in its case against the Trump Organization and is turning up the heat on Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr.

As much as I support Letitia James and what she's doing here, I'm not going to be satisfied until I see Donald Trump in handcuffs, being led to serve a sentence at least a little bit longer than Lori Loughlin's sentence.

[CaptainEurope]

Again, would love to see it but until I do I don't believe it. Sliding away from problems they create without so much as a smudge on their suits is what Trumps do.

This myth of being unbeatable is something he worked hard to create. Don't fall for it.

[Gray Lensman]

As much as I support Letitia James and what she's doing here, I'm not going to be satisfied until I see Donald Trump in handcuffs, being led to serve a sentence at least a little bit longer than Lori Loughlin's sentence.

This is just the civil case, the worst case scenario is having some assets seized.

Oh, and using the case to bolster the Manhattan DA's criminal case.

[CaptainEurope]

Utah Republican Senate Leader Held Maskless Session While Knowing He Was COVID+ And Then Lied About It




Shakin' hands, killin' friends.

[Kirby101]

Florida could shield whites from ‘discomfort’ of racist past



In essence, DeSantis and the "**** Your Feelings" right wing/conservative crowd wants to make sure THEIR feelings aren't hurt when it comes to teaching about the vile history behind whites and centuries of racism they perpetuated. The irony is thicker than molasses in February. So, who's the snowflake now?

The fact that this is the front runner to be President in 2024 just show how racist America is.

[JB]

Ghislaine Maxwell ends fight to keep eight 'John Does' secret, court to decide whether names should be unsealed
https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/17/us/gh...oes/index.html

Ghislaine Maxwell will no longer fight to keep the names of eight 'John Does' secret and will leave it to the court to decide whether the names should be unsealed, according to a January 12 letter to federal Judge Loretta Preska of the Southern District of New York.

The documents containing the names are connected to a 2015 defamation case brought by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who claimed Epstein sexually abused her while she was a minor and that Maxwell aided in the abuse. The case was settled in 2017.

Prince Andrew’s social media accounts deleted as he fights US lawsuit
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...hts-us-lawsuit

Prince Andrew’s official Twitter handle, TheDukeOfYork, now leads to a blank page. His YouTube page is also no longer accessible. While his Instagram account, hrhthedukeofyork, still appeared on Wednesday, it is understood that that too is being removed, along with his Facebook account.