Gay veteran elected mayor in Texas

A gay man who wears heels has been elected mayor in Texas – by a landslide.

Bruno “Ralphy” Lozano, 35, won 62 percent of the vote to become mayor of Del Rio, a city on the border with Mexico. 
The first-time candidate, who has served as a security forces patrolman in the US military, defeated four-year incumbent Robert Garza.

In doing so, Lozano became Del Rio’s first ever openly gay elected official – not to mention the youngest person to be mayor in the city of 40,000 people.

And he triumphed in the election after choosing to march in high heels during last year’s veterans parade.

more
https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/05/07/gay-veteran-who-wears-high-heels-elected-mayor-in-texas/

Newest attack on Roe v. Wade shows abortion opponents are done being subtle

Last Friday, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) gave both middle fingers to the Supreme Court of the United States.

A new law, signed by Reynolds, effectively bans abortions around the sixth week of pregnancy — before many people are even aware that they are pregnant. It’s a cartoonish attack on the right to choose, the kind of legislation by blunderbuss that rarely ends well for policymakers.


As recently as 2016, the Supreme Court reaffirmed that states may not enact a law restricting abortion “if the ‘purpose or effect’ of the provision ‘is to place a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion before the fetus attains viability.” Iowa’s six-week abortion ban takes effect long before a fetus becomes viable (even especially optimistic studies indicate that a fetus is unlikely to survive outside of the womb without 22 weeks of gestation). And Iowa’s new law does not simply “place a substantial obstacle” before patients seeking an abortion — it forbids abortion outright for most patients with pre-viable pregnancies.

Iowa’s new law closely maps a similar ban enacted by North Dakota in 2013. Notably, that law was struck down by a panel of three Republican appointees to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit — the same circuit that oversees Iowa — so the Iowa’s new ban should have no legal legs to stand on when it arrives in court.

more
https://thinkprogress.org/the-anti-abortion-movements-latest-attack-on-roe-v-wade-is-less-subtle-than-a-trainwreck-6a4e8b86799c/

Monday Toon Roundup 2 - The Rest

GOP


Kanye


Pruitt



Parks



Environment

Monday Toon Roundup 1 - His Boy Rudy

'Mini-Trump' candidates battle it out in Republican primaries

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (Reuters) - Mike Braun, an Indiana businessman turned politician, rails against Washington, says he speaks for disaffected voters, and uses his personal wealth to help finance his bid for public office.

Any similarity to President Donald Trump is entirely intentional.

Braun, who owns a distribution and freight company, says he would not have launched his Republican effort for the U.S. Senate if Trump had not blazed the trail two years ago.

“I thought there was the opportunity to define a different kind of candidacy, one from the outsider business world, the same thing Trump did,” he told Reuters ahead of the primary vote on Tuesday.

more
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-republicans/mini-trump-candidates-battle-it-out-in-republican-primaries-idUSKBN1I70Q8

Upheaval at Pruitt's EPA as departures mount

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) appears to be in a state of massive upheaval following the departure of several aides and new allegations against the agency’s embattled administrator, Scott Pruitt.

Four officials at the agency have stepped down in the past week, an exodus that has deprived Pruitt of some of his closest aides.

Meanwhile, several new controversies have exploded around Pruitt regarding his travel and his ties to lobbyists.

People with knowledge of the departures at EPA likened them to getting out of Dodge, either due to impending investigations or simply a desire to escape a tumultuous work environment. One source described the offices at EPA as “eerily quiet” this week.

more
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/386281-upheaval-at-pruitts-epa-as-departures-mount

Yes, It's Bad. Robocalls, and Their Scams, Are Surging.

By Tara Siegel Bernard
May 6, 2018
It’s not just you.

Those pesky robocalls — at best annoying disturbances and at worst costly financial scams — are getting worse.

In an age when cellphones have become extensions of our bodies, robocallers now follow people wherever they go, disrupting business meetings, church services and bedtime stories with their children.

Though automated calls have long plagued consumers, the volume has skyrocketed in recent years, reaching an estimated 3.4 billion in April, according to YouMail, which collects and analyzes calls through its robocall blocking service. That’s an increase of almost 900 million a month compared with a year ago.

Federal lawmakers have noticed the surge. Both the House and Senate held hearings on the issue within the last two weeks, and each chamber has either passed or introduced legislation aimed at curbing abuses. Federal regulators have also noticed, issuing new rules in November that give phone companies the authority to block certain robocalls.

more
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/06/your-money/robocalls-rise-illegal.html

The Right Room

Sunday's Doonesbury - Roland Strikes Again

Neo-Nazi Senate candidate kicked out of California Republican Party convention

A anti-Semitic GOP Senate candidate was kicked out of the California Republican Party’s convention in San Diego Saturday morning, with one witness saying he was dragging and kicking an Israeli flag while being escorted out.

Party officials said from the outset of the convention that the candidate, Patrick Little, was not welcome at the political gathering.

“There's no room for that kind of hate speech that that man uses," said Cynthia Bryant, executive director of the California Republican Party.

In an recent interview with Newsweek, Little praised Adolf Hilter. His website is filled with anti-Semitic rants.

more
http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-ca-essential-politics-may-2018-neo-nazi-senate-candidate-kicked-out-of-1525542437-htmlstory.html

Oh come on, he's clearly one of those "good people' drumpf spoke about!