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tenderfoot
tenderfoot's Journal
tenderfoot's Journal
July 26, 2019
The reaction to the special counsel’s testimony shows how deeply the president has conditioned the media to treat political events like reality television.
On Wednesday, Robert Mueller testified to the House Judiciary Committee that the president of the United States sought and benefited from Russian interference during the 2016 campaign, and that he attempted to deflect culpability from Russia while lying to the public about his hidden attempts to secure a construction project in Moscow. After winning the election, Mueller testified, the president lied to the special prosecutor, directed subordinates to falsify records, and attempted to exert “undue influence” on law enforcement in order to protect himself and his allies.
In any other administration, in any other time, a special prosecutor, former FBI director, and decorated Marine testifying that the president of the United States was an unprosecuted felon who encouraged and then benefited from an attack on American democracy in pursuit of personal and political gain would bring the country to a grinding halt. But the American political press found Mueller insufficiently dazzling.
The New York Times declared, in language Trump could have written himself, “Mueller’s Performance Was a Departure From His Much-Fabled Stamina.” The Washington Post announced, “On Mueller’s Final Day on the National Stage, a Halting, Faltering Performance,” and, in a separate piece, dubbed Mueller a “weary old man.” Conservative outlets, fond of reciting the president’s grandiose self-assessments of his health and intelligence, openly speculated that Mueller was unwell.
Although other pieces from the same outlets covered the substance of Mueller’s testimony, the conclusion that he had failed to excite his audience framed the totality of coverage. NBC News’s Chuck Todd spoke for much of the political press when he declared, “On substance, Democrats got what they wanted: that Mueller didn’t charge Pres. Trump because of the OLC guidance, that he could be indicted after he leaves office, among other things. But on optics, this was a disaster.” Mueller testified that the president was likely guilty of federal crimes, and the most important American media outlets reviewed his performance like a disappointing late-series episode of Game of Thrones. Mueller did not deliver The Payoff That Was Promised.
more: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/07/press-tires-russiagate/594874
The US Media is TMZ and we're stuck in a really bad reality show
The Press Has Adopted Trump’s Reality-Show StandardsThe reaction to the special counsel’s testimony shows how deeply the president has conditioned the media to treat political events like reality television.
On Wednesday, Robert Mueller testified to the House Judiciary Committee that the president of the United States sought and benefited from Russian interference during the 2016 campaign, and that he attempted to deflect culpability from Russia while lying to the public about his hidden attempts to secure a construction project in Moscow. After winning the election, Mueller testified, the president lied to the special prosecutor, directed subordinates to falsify records, and attempted to exert “undue influence” on law enforcement in order to protect himself and his allies.
In any other administration, in any other time, a special prosecutor, former FBI director, and decorated Marine testifying that the president of the United States was an unprosecuted felon who encouraged and then benefited from an attack on American democracy in pursuit of personal and political gain would bring the country to a grinding halt. But the American political press found Mueller insufficiently dazzling.
The New York Times declared, in language Trump could have written himself, “Mueller’s Performance Was a Departure From His Much-Fabled Stamina.” The Washington Post announced, “On Mueller’s Final Day on the National Stage, a Halting, Faltering Performance,” and, in a separate piece, dubbed Mueller a “weary old man.” Conservative outlets, fond of reciting the president’s grandiose self-assessments of his health and intelligence, openly speculated that Mueller was unwell.
Although other pieces from the same outlets covered the substance of Mueller’s testimony, the conclusion that he had failed to excite his audience framed the totality of coverage. NBC News’s Chuck Todd spoke for much of the political press when he declared, “On substance, Democrats got what they wanted: that Mueller didn’t charge Pres. Trump because of the OLC guidance, that he could be indicted after he leaves office, among other things. But on optics, this was a disaster.” Mueller testified that the president was likely guilty of federal crimes, and the most important American media outlets reviewed his performance like a disappointing late-series episode of Game of Thrones. Mueller did not deliver The Payoff That Was Promised.
more: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/07/press-tires-russiagate/594874
July 16, 2019
The President and CEO at Goodwill defended her decision to pull paychecks from disabled workers:
"It really was not a job," she said. "We gave them through grace out of our budget to pay them so they had a paycheck to go home with."
CEO blames state’s minimum wage increase
An iconic nonprofit thrift store is crying poor in the face of looming payroll increases, and it is announcing plans to layoff disabled employees in order to take on the extra cost.
However, the 501(c)(3) organization pays no taxes, collects state funding, was awarded state contracts, and has special permission from the federal government to pay disabled workers well below the minimum wage floor.
Sharon Durbin, President and Chief Executive Officer at Land of Lincoln Goodwill, told dozens of disabled thrift store workers they would no longer receive a paycheck as a result of the state’s new minimum wage increase, and she warns future job cuts could still be coming to the last 11 remaining disabled employees still on the payroll.
Durbin runs the Central Illinois nonprofit branch that oversees 15 retail locations and more than 450 total employees. She wrote about “upcoming changes to the Vocational Rehabilitation Program” in a letter dated June 14th. Her letter said the program “is funded through the Illinois Department of Human Services,” but the funding “does not cover all of the significant costs of the program.”
<snip>
She explained that disabled workers are not always as efficient or as productive as a traditional employee, and the extra time and labor it takes to train and correct the mistakes of the disabled workers costs more money.
“It really was not a job,” she said. “It was a work component and through it we gave them through grace out of our budget to pay them so they had a paycheck to go home with.”
Braun, who describes his experience at Goodwill as his dream job, disputed Durbin’s characterization of his abilities. He says his managers told him he was “very high functioning” and “said they wished they had ten more of me.”
“I am very proud of my work,” he said. “I would help when I was on the sales floor. I would help customers find what they were looking for. I would help them find where the active wear was, and this and that.”
<snip>
The organization’s 990 tax documents from 2018 reveal Durbin takes home an annual salary of $164,849 plus another $6,145 in benefits.
She warned the higher wage floor would set off a “domino effect” of jobless claims around the state.”
“It is going to impact us all,” she said. “Gas prices are going to rise, grocery prices are going to rise. Jobs are going to be lost. Look at your Wal-Mart, your Meijers, your Schnucks. They are doing away with real people checking you out and they are doing more to go in the line of automation. Why is that? Because they don’t want — or can’t afford in their business model — to start paying everyone who walks in the door $15 an hour. They can’t. So what are they going to do? They start eliminating jobs, because that is the first line of defense.”
Durbin called on Pritzker to use his executive authority to halt the roll out of the minimum wage floor.
https://www.wcia.com/news/local-news/goodwill-pulls-paychecks-from-disabled-workers/
Goodwill pulls paychecks from disabled workers
https://w3.cdn.anvato.net/player/prod/v3/anvload.htmlThe President and CEO at Goodwill defended her decision to pull paychecks from disabled workers:
"It really was not a job," she said. "We gave them through grace out of our budget to pay them so they had a paycheck to go home with."
CEO blames state’s minimum wage increase
An iconic nonprofit thrift store is crying poor in the face of looming payroll increases, and it is announcing plans to layoff disabled employees in order to take on the extra cost.
However, the 501(c)(3) organization pays no taxes, collects state funding, was awarded state contracts, and has special permission from the federal government to pay disabled workers well below the minimum wage floor.
Sharon Durbin, President and Chief Executive Officer at Land of Lincoln Goodwill, told dozens of disabled thrift store workers they would no longer receive a paycheck as a result of the state’s new minimum wage increase, and she warns future job cuts could still be coming to the last 11 remaining disabled employees still on the payroll.
Durbin runs the Central Illinois nonprofit branch that oversees 15 retail locations and more than 450 total employees. She wrote about “upcoming changes to the Vocational Rehabilitation Program” in a letter dated June 14th. Her letter said the program “is funded through the Illinois Department of Human Services,” but the funding “does not cover all of the significant costs of the program.”
<snip>
She explained that disabled workers are not always as efficient or as productive as a traditional employee, and the extra time and labor it takes to train and correct the mistakes of the disabled workers costs more money.
“It really was not a job,” she said. “It was a work component and through it we gave them through grace out of our budget to pay them so they had a paycheck to go home with.”
Braun, who describes his experience at Goodwill as his dream job, disputed Durbin’s characterization of his abilities. He says his managers told him he was “very high functioning” and “said they wished they had ten more of me.”
“I am very proud of my work,” he said. “I would help when I was on the sales floor. I would help customers find what they were looking for. I would help them find where the active wear was, and this and that.”
<snip>
The organization’s 990 tax documents from 2018 reveal Durbin takes home an annual salary of $164,849 plus another $6,145 in benefits.
She warned the higher wage floor would set off a “domino effect” of jobless claims around the state.”
“It is going to impact us all,” she said. “Gas prices are going to rise, grocery prices are going to rise. Jobs are going to be lost. Look at your Wal-Mart, your Meijers, your Schnucks. They are doing away with real people checking you out and they are doing more to go in the line of automation. Why is that? Because they don’t want — or can’t afford in their business model — to start paying everyone who walks in the door $15 an hour. They can’t. So what are they going to do? They start eliminating jobs, because that is the first line of defense.”
Durbin called on Pritzker to use his executive authority to halt the roll out of the minimum wage floor.
https://www.wcia.com/news/local-news/goodwill-pulls-paychecks-from-disabled-workers/
July 16, 2019
Sophie's Choice, Trumpian Style: Toddler Allegedly Forced To Choose Which Parent To Stay With At...
... Migrant Center!
The child was reportedly scolded by a Border Patrol agent for crying when her father, who she didn’t pick, was taken away.
A Honduran couple has said a Border Patrol agent forced their 3-year-old daughter with a heart condition to choose which one of her parents would be allowed to stay with her in the U.S. and then scolded her when she began to cry.
The child was at a migrant holding facility in El Paso, Texas, with her parents and two older siblings, ages 6 and 9, when she was presented with the heavy question last week, according to NPR.
“And the girl, because she is more attached to me, she said, mom,” her mother, Tania, told NPR through an interpreter. “But when they started to take [my husband] away, the girl started to cry. The officer said, ‘You said [you want to go] with mom.’”
The girl’s father, Joseph, was separated from his family and told he’d have to go back to Juárez, Mexico, which borders El Paso, to await his immigration court hearing alone.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/toddler-forced-pick-parent-migrant-center_n_5d2dbf9de4b02fd71dda5e65
July 15, 2019
Mitt Romney: Profiles of Cowardice. The Susan Collins of Jeff Flakes.
When asked by @AlisonNBCBoston if Trump’s tweets are racist, @MittRomney says “that’s all I’ve got, thanks.”
https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1150848129887100931
here's what Romney told @AlisonNBCBoston before he walked away.
July 4, 2019
Interview with woman in DC with questionable protest sign
https://twitter.com/RealAlexRubi/status/1146914527092625414
July 2, 2019
Far-right extremists are trying to use the unsubstantiated "cement milkshakes" rumor as a...
...justification for shooting and killing #antifa.
Here’s a bunch of them explicitly stating their intent/desire to do so.
There’s literally an account called “kill antifa” and it has existed since 2017. It follows exactly who you’d expect it’d to follow.
Twitter has let this account stay active for almost 2 years (though it hasn’t tweeted recently).
Image if one of Obama's kids followed such a site.
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