You really, really, REALLY couldn't make this shit up

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Lord Jim
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Re: You really, really, REALLY couldn't make this shit up

Post by Lord Jim »

Trump says State of the Union address to stress 'unity'

Washington • President Donald Trump said Thursday that “unity” will be the theme of his first State of the Union address under divided government and that he respects Stacey Abrams, who will give the Democratic response.

“I hope she does a good job. I respect her,” Trump said of Abrams, who will be the first black woman to deliver the rebuttal.

Trump will give his speech Tuesday before a joint session of Congress at a sensitive time in talks over keeping the government open and funding the border wall he is demanding as part of any deal. Members of Congress are inviting federal workers worried about another shutdown after Feb. 15. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian election meddling also hovers.
https://www.sltrib.com/news/nation-worl ... y-will-be/

Yes, it's pretty much impossible to think of the word "unity" without also thinking "Donald Trump"...

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RayThom
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You really, really, REALLY couldn't make this shit up

Post by RayThom »

It appears Garry Trudeau is getting back to basics.
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“In a world whose absurdity appears to be so impenetrable, we simply must reach a greater degree of understanding among us, a greater sincerity.” 

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Econoline
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Re: You really, really, REALLY couldn't make this shit up

Post by Econoline »

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People who are wrong are just as sure they're right as people who are right. The only difference is, they're wrong.
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Lord Jim
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Re: You really, really, REALLY couldn't make this shit up

Post by Lord Jim »

Alabama newspaper calls for resurgence of KKK

MONTGOMERY, Alabama --
A small-town newspaper has called for a resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan, prompting two universities to withdraw the awards it had given its editor.

Auburn University and the University of Southern Mississippi decided Tuesday to rescind previous honors for Goodloe Sutton, editor and publisher of The Democrat-Reporter of Linden, Alabama.

An editorial published last week began: "Time for the Ku Klux Klan to night ride again." The editorial says Democrats and "Democrats in the Republican Party" are plotting to raise taxes in Alabama, so the Klan should raid "gated communities" where they live.

Sutton told the Montgomery Advertiser he stands by his Feb. 14 editorial. During an interview, Sutton suggested lynchings as a way to clean up Washington. Sutton also questioned whether the KKK is violent, claiming America's most feared white supremacist terrorist organization "didn't kill but a few people."

The Alabama Press Association Board said in a brief statement that its board of directors voted Tuesday to censure Sutton and suspend The Democrat-Reporter's membership.

Weeks earlier, the newspaper complained that CBS News historically has "slandered the South" by providing too much coverage when whites kill blacks in the region.
https://abc7news.com/politics/alabama-n ... k/5148452/

I'm sure we can expect crickets about this from The Racist-In-Chief...
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Crackpot
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Re: You really, really, REALLY couldn't make this shit up

Post by Crackpot »

Can? This story is two days old already
Okay... There's all kinds of things wrong with what you just said.

ex-khobar Andy
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Re: You really, really, REALLY couldn't make this shit up

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

The supreme cause of worry here is that this kind of thing - e.g., this 'newspaper' and the Coast Guard wannabe terrorist - is being exposed due only to their extreme stupidity. The CG guy was found because he googled things like "best place in dc to see congress people" at the office while stockpiling weapons. (Thanks LJ for that other thread.) The 'newspaper' publishes this as an editorial. It used to be that racists and homophobes (etc) were smarter than that and hid their machinations. (There's a reason for those white cone hats and the coveralls. They didn't want us to know who they were because they had respectable jobs as barbers and bankers and barkeeps.) I suspect that many of them still are not total idiots, which means that most of that iceberg is still below the surface. It also means that it's a very big fucking berg. Maybe Trump is just there as the big shiny object which is put there to distract our attention in which case he's doing one hell of a job.

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RayThom
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You really, really, REALLY couldn't make this shit up

Post by RayThom »

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“In a world whose absurdity appears to be so impenetrable, we simply must reach a greater degree of understanding among us, a greater sincerity.” 

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Scooter
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Re: You really, really, REALLY couldn't make this shit up

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Texas lawmaker says he's not worried about measles outbreak because of ‘antibiotics'

Texas state representative Bill Zedler says a resurgence of measles across the U.S. isn't worrying him.

Zedler, R-Arlington, is promoting legislation that would allow Texans to opt out of childhood vaccinations.

“They want to say people are dying of measles. Yeah, in Third World countries they’re dying of measles,” Zedler said, the Texas Observer reports. “Today, with antibiotics and that kind of stuff, they’re not dying in America.”

There is no treatment for measles, a highly contagious virus that can be fatal. Antibiotics treat bacterial infections and can't kill viruses.

Right now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is tracking six measles outbreaks across the nation, including one in Texas.

Before the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine was available in America, about 450 to 500 people died from measles each year. The CDC reports there has been at least one case of a measles death within the past five years. National and world health officials worry that an anti-vaccination movement could increase that number.

The CDC recognized that the number of children who aren't being vaccinated by 24 months old has been gradually increasing. People choosing not to vaccinate have become a global health threat in 2019, the World Health Organization reported.

Some parents opt not to vaccinate because of the discredited belief that vaccines are linked to autism. The CDC has said that there is no link and that there are no ingredients in vaccines that could cause autism.

Alan Melnick, director of public health for Clark County, Washington, told USA TODAY that if pockets of unvaccinated people in the U.S. grow, there could be more measles deaths. Clark County, an anti-vaxx hot spot, is battling a public health emergency as more than 60 people, most of them unvaccinated children, in the area have measles.

Measles is so contagious that 90 percent of unvaccinated people who come in contact with an infected person will get the virus. The measles two-dose vaccine is 97 percent effective against the virus, according to the CDC.
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Scooter
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Re: You really, really, REALLY couldn't make this shit up

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This bill would have ended child marriage for those under age in Idaho. The House voted it down

Idaho has the highest rate of child marriage in the U.S., according to a national report.

This statistic isn’t likely to change soon because the House of Representatives on Thursday voted to kill a bill that would end child marriage in Idaho.

Under current Idaho law, 16- and 17-year-olds just need parental consent to marry. A child under age 16 can marry if a judge consents also.

A bi-partisan bill led by Rep. Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, proposed setting the minimum age to marry at 16. Under the proposed law, for a 16- or 17-year-old to get married, consent of the child, parents and the court would be required.

“This is a great opportunity for Idaho to rid itself of an infamous statistic and that is we have the highest rate of child marriage in the United States,” said Colin Nash, who was substituting for Rep. John McCrostie, D-Boise, on the House floor Thursday.

From 2000 to 2010, 4,080 children in Idaho were married, according to data compiled from 38 states by Unchained at Last, a national advocacy group working to end forced and child marriages in America. The youngest minor wed in Idaho was 13.

In many states the legal age to marry is 18. Wintrow called her bill a compromise. “Instead of ending child marriage outright, this is a modest approach to bring it in conformity with our statutory rape laws.”

“When it is legal for a 30-year-old to marry a 15-year-old that is not marriage because they are not equal partners. That is institutionalized child abuse. That is arranged rape,” Nash said.

Several lawmakers who spoke against the bill cited government overreach.

“I do not think courts should be involved in marriage at all,” said Bryan Zollinger, R-Idaho Falls. “I don’t believe there should be a license required to get married. I think two willing people should be able to go and get married.”

Rep. Julianne Young, R-Blackfoot, said: “This is a decision I think should belong with families. I believe parental consent, which is what is in the law right now, should be sufficient.

Rep. Christy Zito, R-Hammett, complained that the bill would make it illegal for a 15-year-old girl to get married but not to get an abortion.

In Idaho, a girl younger than 18 can get an abortion with permission of one parent or a judge.

“If we pass this legislation, it will then become easier in the state of Idaho to obtain an abortion at 15 years old than it will to decide to form a family and create a family for a child that has been conceived,” Zito said.

In her final pitch to House members to support her bill, Wintrow said the effort is intended to protect children from being “coerced, abused or married off.”

The House, which comprises 56 Republicans and 14 Democrats, voted down the bill, 39-28.
"If you don't have a seat at the table, you're on the menu."

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Scooter
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Re: You really, really, REALLY couldn't make this shit up

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Maine GOP rep. says access to menstrual products would make jails like ‘country clubs’

During a hearing last week over whether incarcerated Mainers should be guaranteed access to basic menstrual hygiene products, Republican state Rep. Richard Pickett of Dixfield cautioned that such a rule might make the prison system seem too much like a “country club.”

On Friday, members of the legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee voted 6-4 to advance LD 628, which would ensure comprehensive access to menstrual products in all of Maine’s correctional and detention facilities.

During debate, Pickett, who currently serves as Dixfield Police Chief and who voted against the bill, argued that detainees already had access to menstrual products such as pads and tampons.

“Quite frankly, and I don’t mean this in any disrespect, the jail system and the correctional system was never meant to be a country club,” he said, according to Bangor Daily News reporter Alex Acquisto. “They have a right to have these and they have them. If that wasn’t the case, then I would be supporting the motion, but they do.”

During testimony, however, supporters of the bill explained how incarcerated people who menstruate are only given a limited amount of supplies each month.

“Imagine you’re a person who has their period inside of a correctional facility,” said Whitney Parrish, director of policy and program for the Maine Women’s Lobby. “You’re given a limited supply of menstrual products per month, often of low quality due to cost saving, and when you run out, you’re out…You may have no money to go to commissary, and if you do, you may have to weigh that purchase against other necessities, like making phone calls to your children or attorney. You are forced to make the impossible decision of constructing your own menstrual products, using anything from clothing or notebook paper in place of a tampon.”

“Without adequate access to clean and hygienic menstrual products,” Parrish continued, “you may face serious health consequences. This happens every single month, and for some with irregular cycles, more frequently. Menstrual products are not a luxury item by any means.”

In 2017, the Federal Bureau of Prisons announced that free menstrual products would be guaranteed for all women, transgender and nonbinary people. However, there is no such policy for state prisons and county jails, which house the majority of incarcerated people.

Pickett further argued that the bill is an example of lawmakers trying to “micromanage” the criminal justice system, saying: “Sometimes when you gotta look at things, when you have something that is working and something that is there, you can’t continue to micromanage the jail systems,” Acquisto reported.

However, in her testimony, Meagan Sway, policy counsel for the ACLU of Maine, explained that LD 628 is crucial to safeguarding this access “so that future commissioners are not tempted to save money in their budgets or use menstrual products as tools of control by denying women access to basic necessities.”
"If you don't have a seat at the table, you're on the menu."

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Burning Petard
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Re: You really, really, REALLY couldn't make this shit up

Post by Burning Petard »

"WE' have no consensus as to just what the jail and prisons of the USofA are supposed to accomplish. Punish? Reform? Rehabilitate? for Penitence? Protect the general society?

The provision of menstrual supplies based on cost reminds me of the summer I worked in a vegetable cannery in Iowa during the late 50's. There was a fairly objective process for quality classification of the incoming veggies. The ones that fell out the bottom of all the categories were processed like anything else, but set aside for sale to the state prisons and jail systems. Waste not, want not. Left me wanting to avoid any exposure to jail or prison.

For many administrators, the prisons are fully intended to be cruel and inhumane--that's why people are sent there.

snailgate

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Scooter
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Re: You really, really, REALLY couldn't make this shit up

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I didn't post this because of the outcome of the case, which I obviously think is great, but rather because of the moronic defence put forward by the state, which I have bolded:
Iowa Supreme Court rules that Medicaid can cover sex reassignment surgery

The Iowa Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Friday in favor of two transgender women, effectively striking down the state’s ban on Medicaid coverage for sex reassignment surgery.

The case involved EerieAnna Good and Carol Anne Beal, two women whose medical providers determined that sex reassignment surgery was necessary to treat their gender dysphoria. Yet when Good and Beal — who have identified as female since childhood — sought to have surgery under the state’s Medicaid program, they were denied. They appealed to the state agency, which oversees the program, but were rejected again.

“So many people still don’t understand that this is not something we need for trivial or cosmetic reasons,” Good said. “It’s medical care a doctor is recommending for someone who has a medical need for it."

ood and Beal sued the agency in 2017. In June, Judge Arthur Gamble of the Judicial District 5 Court ruled that a 1995 Iowa Department of Human Services policy denying Medicaid coverage for sex reassignment surgery violates the state’s 2007 Civil Rights Act, which added gender identity to the state’s list of protected classes.

In its appeal, the agency argued that its policy wasn’t discriminatory because neither transgender nor non-transgender individuals were able to use Medicaid benefits for gender-reassignment surgery, which it said is performed “primarily for psychological purposes.” It also argued that the policy’s explicit exclusion of gender-reassignment surgeries was an example of “cosmetic, reconstructive, and plastic surgeries” that are excluded from coverage.

Yet the Iowa Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s decision on Friday, arguing that Good and Beal were denied sex reassignment surgery because they were “related to gender identity disorders.” It also asserted that Medicaid does authorize payment for some cosmetic surgeries that serve psychological purposes, such as to help disfiguring scarring and congenital anomalies.

The Iowa Department of Human Services did not respond to NBC News' request for comment.
What breed of idiot comes up with "non-transgender people can't get gender reassignment either, so we're not discriminating against transgender people"? I can imagine some other "non-discriminatory" exclusions:

"Childbirth isn't covered for either men or women, so we're not discriminating against women by not covering it."

"Testicular cancer treatment isn't covered either men or women, so we're not discriminating against men by not covering it."

"Artificial limbs aren't covered for people with two arms and two legs, so we're not discriminating against the one-armed or one legged by not covering them."
"If you don't have a seat at the table, you're on the menu."

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Scooter
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Re: You really, really, REALLY couldn't make this shit up

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Pompeo: Perhaps Trump is, like the Bible’s Esther, meant to save the Jewish people from Iran

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggested it is “possible” that President Trump is meant to save the Jewish people, responding to a question on whether Trump is a new Esther, a biblical character who persuaded the king of Persia not to destroy the Jews. The comments came during Purim, a Jewish holiday that marks Esther’s story.

Pompeo was responding to questions during an interview in Jerusalem with the Christian Broadcasting Network, which was founded by televangelist Pat Robertson and has a large evangelical audience. After he was asked whether Trump was a new Esther, he said, “As a Christian, I certainly believe that’s possible."

In the story of Esther, a man named Haman is cited as responsible for encouraging the king to slaughter the Jews, and while questioning Pompeo, CBN’s Chris Mitchell described Iran as a modern-day Haman.

“It was remarkable,” Pompeo said about a visit to the tunnels under Jerusalem. “So, we were down in the tunnels where we could see 3,000 years ago and 2,000 years ago, if I have the history just right. To see the remarkable history of the faith in this place and the work that our administration’s done to make sure that this democracy in the Middle East, that this Jewish state remains, I am confident that the Lord is at work here. ” he said.
This commenter said it best:
Esther didn't save the Jews from Haman only to deliver them to the White supremacists. Esther didn't save the Jews, but tell Haman to take the Mexicans and Guatemalans and Salvadorans, etc. instead. Esther, when asked to save her people, didn't claim bone spurs. I've heard the story of Esther and he's no Esther. He's not a big enough man to be Esther.
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Lord Jim
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Re: You really, really, REALLY couldn't make this shit up

Post by Lord Jim »

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggested it is “possible” that President Trump is meant to save the Jewish people,
Well, I guess now we know the reason why the state department didn't want to release a transcript of Pompeo's conference call with "faith journalists"... :loon
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Big RR
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Re: You really, really, REALLY couldn't make this shit up

Post by Big RR »

Now he's god's anointed president; what's next--maybe claiming a familial relationship to god. I never liked Pompeo, but had no idea he's such a toadying ass.

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Lord Jim
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Re: You really, really, REALLY couldn't make this shit up

Post by Lord Jim »

Well, he clearly wasn't sent here to save the American people...
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Big RR
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Re: You really, really, REALLY couldn't make this shit up

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Nah, he came to save them from themselves, just ask him. Or ask Pompeo the Baptist.

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Scooter
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Re: You really, really, REALLY couldn't make this shit up

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Indiana teachers shot at by trainers during an active shooter drill

The "terrified" teachers were asked to go into a room, crouch down, and then were shot execution style.

The episode wasn't an active shooter inside of a school, and the projectiles weren't bullets.

But when the teachers were struck with air pellets during the school shooting drill at an Indiana elementary school in January, they were left bleeding and with bruises when it was over, said Dan Holub, the executive director of the Indiana State Teacher’s Association.

“It doesn’t make sense to us at all,” Holub told ABC News Thursday.

“I question the premise, but I think it was intended to simulate what you might experience in an active shooter situation,” he added, saying he didn’t know what the trainers were hoping to accomplish.

The Indianapolis Star reported that the training was run by the White County Sheriff’s office, which did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

But Sheriff Bill Brooks told The Indy Star that it has conducted active shooter drills at the school in question, Meadowlawn Elementary School, for the past several years and had used the airsoft gun that was used in the Jan. 4 training.

“It’s a soft, round projectile,” Brooks told the newspaper. “The key here is ‘soft.’”

Meadowlawn Elementary School is a part of the Twin Lakes School Corporation, which released a statement saying it is “committed to providing a safe environment for its students and employees.”

“Toward that end, Twin Lakes partners with the White County Sheriff’s Department for public safety guidance and to train Twin Lakes staff, which includes ALICE training,” the statement reads, referencing a company that arranges active shooter training drills.

ABC News’ requests for comment from the ALICE Training Institute were not immediately returned Thursday.

Greg Crane, the creator of the ALICE Training Institute, spoke to ABC News in 2017 about their program, saying at the time that the company was holding 500 to 600 training sessions annually.

The Twin Lakes School Corporation statement notes that the district’s teachers’ organization “voiced concerns” about the training and a meeting was arranged to “collaboratively discuss these matters.”

“Twin Lakes looks forward to continuing its important partnerships with the Twin Lakes Classroom Teachers Organization and the White County Sheriff’s Department in pursuing a safe environment for all students and employees,” the statement concludes without providing further information about what if any changes will be made in the future.
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BoSoxGal
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Re: You really, really, REALLY couldn't make this shit up

Post by BoSoxGal »

Big RR wrote:Nah, he came to save them from themselves, just ask him. Or ask Pompeo the Baptist.
There are millions of American evangelicals who believe he IS anointed by God to save this country from the evil Clintons, et al. Of course now he’s internalized this and believes he’s the chosen president.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
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RayThom
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You really, really, REALLY couldn't make this shit up

Post by RayThom »

An anonymous source at the White County Sheriff’s office assessed the success of the drill. He was quoted as saying, "OOPS!"
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“In a world whose absurdity appears to be so impenetrable, we simply must reach a greater degree of understanding among us, a greater sincerity.” 

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