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Demovictory9
Demovictory9's Journal
Demovictory9's Journal
June 3, 2019
road raging racist
Racist road rager opens woman’s car door on highway
June 3, 2019
“You gonna hit me?” a woman said as a road rager in Humble, Texas, got out of his vehicle and aggressively opened her car door. Watch the intense exchange in which the angry driver calls the woman, who reportedly honked at him, a “wetback,” all while her 11-year-old son was in the car.
https://nypost.com/video/racist-road-rager-opens-womans-car-door-on-highway/
June 3, 2019
For that matter, why would Ohio, Alabama, Missouri and other states establish similar “fetal heartbeat” laws that are far more restrictive than their constituents support?
One important answer is gerrymandering: redistricting voting districts to give the party in power an edge – making it almost impossible for the other side to win a majority of seats, even with a majority of votes. Sophisticated geo-mapping software and voluminous voter data turned this ancient art into a hi-tech science when the US redistricted after the 2010 census.
Republicans recognized the opportunity. Democrats snoozed. Nine years later, they’re still paying the price, particularly in swing state legislatures. A little-known group called the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) launched a devastatingly effective strategy called Redmap – short for the Redistricting Majority Project. It dropped $30m of dark money into sleepy local races, flipped legislative chambers blue to red, and gave the Republicans control over drawing the vast majority of local legislative and US House seats – and with it, the power to remake the political playing field for the next decade.
Republicans took such advantage that they have controlled state legislative supermajorities in otherwise competitive states even when voters prefer Democratic candidates by hundreds of thousands of votes. This nullifies elections and insulates lawmakers from a majority that seeks to vote them out of office.
Despite lacking any mandate for an extreme agenda in a closely divided nation, Republican lawmakers have pushed through new voting restrictions, anti-labor laws, the emergency manager bill that led to poisoned water in Flint, Michigan, and now, these strict abortion bans. Electorally, there’s little that Democrats can do to stop it.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/02/how-gerrymandering-undermines-democracy-us-elections
Why are extreme abortion laws taking over America? Blame gerrymandering
For that matter, why would Ohio, Alabama, Missouri and other states establish similar “fetal heartbeat” laws that are far more restrictive than their constituents support?
One important answer is gerrymandering: redistricting voting districts to give the party in power an edge – making it almost impossible for the other side to win a majority of seats, even with a majority of votes. Sophisticated geo-mapping software and voluminous voter data turned this ancient art into a hi-tech science when the US redistricted after the 2010 census.
Republicans recognized the opportunity. Democrats snoozed. Nine years later, they’re still paying the price, particularly in swing state legislatures. A little-known group called the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) launched a devastatingly effective strategy called Redmap – short for the Redistricting Majority Project. It dropped $30m of dark money into sleepy local races, flipped legislative chambers blue to red, and gave the Republicans control over drawing the vast majority of local legislative and US House seats – and with it, the power to remake the political playing field for the next decade.
Republicans took such advantage that they have controlled state legislative supermajorities in otherwise competitive states even when voters prefer Democratic candidates by hundreds of thousands of votes. This nullifies elections and insulates lawmakers from a majority that seeks to vote them out of office.
Despite lacking any mandate for an extreme agenda in a closely divided nation, Republican lawmakers have pushed through new voting restrictions, anti-labor laws, the emergency manager bill that led to poisoned water in Flint, Michigan, and now, these strict abortion bans. Electorally, there’s little that Democrats can do to stop it.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/02/how-gerrymandering-undermines-democracy-us-elections
June 3, 2019
Rhode Island bishop sorry for saying Pride events 'harmful for children'
The Catholic bishop of Providence, Rhode Island has apologized for saying Pride month events in support of LGBTQ rights were “especially harmful for children”, saying he did not mean to cause offense.
On Saturday morning, Bishop Thomas Tobin tweeted: “A reminder that Catholics should not support or attend LGBTQ ‘Pride Month’ events held in June. They promote a culture and encourage activities that are contrary to Catholic faith and morals. They are especially harmful for children.”
Rhode Island Pride responded by commending inclusivity shown by local Catholics and slamming the bishop’s remark.
“Rhode Island is a welcoming and inclusive state,” the organization said in a tweet of its own. “This bishop doesn’t represent a majority of [Rhode Island] Catholics who overwhelmingly supported marriage equality [six] years ago. Love is love. You sir are filled with hate.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/02/rhode-island-bishop-sorry-pride-harmful-children
June 3, 2019
A growing group who commute from places as far as eight hours away spend the night in their cars to pick up fares around San Francisco during the day
Dais Jalal is one of a growing group of Uber drivers in San Francisco who sleep in their cars to avoid commuting long distances.
Every Saturday morning before the sun rises, 35-year-old Uber driver Sultan Arifi rolls up the sleeping bag in the front seat of his car, places it in the trunk, and prepares for another day of work.
He will spend the next 12 hours picking up as many passengers as he can on the streets of San Francisco before returning to a grocery store parking lot in the north of the city to sleep, often for six hours or less, rising as early as he can on Sunday to do it all again.
The 35-year-old immigrant from Afghanistan commutes into San Francisco from Modesto, some 80 miles away, where he lives in an apartment with his wife and four children. He is one of a growing group of Uber drivers in San Francisco who spend nights in their cars in parking lots across the Bay Area on the weekends. Some come from places as far as eight hours away to make a living before returning home.
-----
Mohammad Sadiq Safi, a driver who commutes nearly 90 miles to the Bay Area from Sacramento and lives out of his car four days a week, was paid $28 of a $72 pool fare from the San Francisco airport, near Millbrae, into San Francisco last week. Safi completed 130 rides in five days last week before driving home to Sacramento.
“Uber doesn’t care about us, you can see this in our payment,” said Safi, who sends money to Afghanistan in hopes his wife and five children can join him in the US soon. “Every week I have to make more trips to cover my costs,” he added.
The Uber drivers forced to sleep in parking lots to make a decent living
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/may/07/the-uber-drivers-forced-to-sleep-in-parking-lots-to-make-a-decent-livingA growing group who commute from places as far as eight hours away spend the night in their cars to pick up fares around San Francisco during the day
Dais Jalal is one of a growing group of Uber drivers in San Francisco who sleep in their cars to avoid commuting long distances.
Every Saturday morning before the sun rises, 35-year-old Uber driver Sultan Arifi rolls up the sleeping bag in the front seat of his car, places it in the trunk, and prepares for another day of work.
He will spend the next 12 hours picking up as many passengers as he can on the streets of San Francisco before returning to a grocery store parking lot in the north of the city to sleep, often for six hours or less, rising as early as he can on Sunday to do it all again.
The 35-year-old immigrant from Afghanistan commutes into San Francisco from Modesto, some 80 miles away, where he lives in an apartment with his wife and four children. He is one of a growing group of Uber drivers in San Francisco who spend nights in their cars in parking lots across the Bay Area on the weekends. Some come from places as far as eight hours away to make a living before returning home.
-----
Mohammad Sadiq Safi, a driver who commutes nearly 90 miles to the Bay Area from Sacramento and lives out of his car four days a week, was paid $28 of a $72 pool fare from the San Francisco airport, near Millbrae, into San Francisco last week. Safi completed 130 rides in five days last week before driving home to Sacramento.
“Uber doesn’t care about us, you can see this in our payment,” said Safi, who sends money to Afghanistan in hopes his wife and five children can join him in the US soon. “Every week I have to make more trips to cover my costs,” he added.
June 3, 2019
Uber just filed its first quarterly report as a publicly traded company. Although it lost $1bn, investors may still do well because the losses appear to be declining.
Uber drivers, on the other hand, aren’t doing well. According to a recent study, about half of New York’s Uber drivers are supporting families with children, yet 40% depend on Medicaid and another 18% on food stamps.
It’s similar elsewhere in the new American economy. Last week, the New York Times reported that fewer than half of Google workers are full-time employees. Most are temps and contractors receiving a fraction of the wages and benefits of full-time Googlers, with no job security.
Across America, the fastest-growing category of new jobs is gig work – contract, part-time, temp, self-employed and freelance. And a growing number of people work for staffing firms that find them gig jobs.
The standard economic measures – unemployment and income – look better than Americans feel
Estimates vary but it’s safe to say almost a quarter of American workers are now gig workers. Which helps explain why the standard economic measures – unemployment and income – look better than Americans feel.
The jobs problem today isn’t just stagnant wages. It’s also uncertain incomes. A downturn in demand, change in consumer preferences, or a personal injury or sickness, can cause future paychecks to disappear. Yet nearly 80% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck.
The gig is up: America's booming economy is built on hollow promises - Robert Reich
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/02/gig-economy-us-trump-uber-california-robert-reichUber just filed its first quarterly report as a publicly traded company. Although it lost $1bn, investors may still do well because the losses appear to be declining.
Uber drivers, on the other hand, aren’t doing well. According to a recent study, about half of New York’s Uber drivers are supporting families with children, yet 40% depend on Medicaid and another 18% on food stamps.
It’s similar elsewhere in the new American economy. Last week, the New York Times reported that fewer than half of Google workers are full-time employees. Most are temps and contractors receiving a fraction of the wages and benefits of full-time Googlers, with no job security.
Across America, the fastest-growing category of new jobs is gig work – contract, part-time, temp, self-employed and freelance. And a growing number of people work for staffing firms that find them gig jobs.
The standard economic measures – unemployment and income – look better than Americans feel
Estimates vary but it’s safe to say almost a quarter of American workers are now gig workers. Which helps explain why the standard economic measures – unemployment and income – look better than Americans feel.
The jobs problem today isn’t just stagnant wages. It’s also uncertain incomes. A downturn in demand, change in consumer preferences, or a personal injury or sickness, can cause future paychecks to disappear. Yet nearly 80% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck.
June 2, 2019
moment man grabs mic from Kamala Harris
https://twitter.com/Stop_Trump20/status/1135257306600476673
June 2, 2019
video: moment cruse ship crashes into Venice dock
https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2019/jun/02/moment-cruise-ship-crashes-into-venice-dock-video
June 2, 2019
https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-47675301
Larry and Darcy Fardette donated to many televangelists
Televangelist Todd Coontz has a well-worn routine: he dresses in a suit, pulls out a Bible and urges viewers to pledge a very specific amount of money. "Don't delay, don't delay," he urges, calmly but emphatically.
------
Crucially, he always refers to the money as a "seed" - a $273 seed, a $333 seed, a "turnaround" seed Coontz particularly compelling. He assured quick returns. He seemed like a results man.
And Larry needed some fast results.
The Fardette family was going through a tough time. Larry's daughter was seriously ill and he had health problems of his own. His construction business was struggling, and to make matters worse both his van and his car broke down irreparably within the same week. When a local junkyard offered him $600 for the van, he thumbed the bills thoughtfully and remembered Coontz's rousing speech.
Maybe he should invest the sum as a "seed"?
He instantly recalled the specific number that Coontz had repeated again and again: $273. It was a figure the preacher often used. "God gave me the single greatest miracle of my lifetime in one day, and the numbers two, seven and three were involved," he once said. It is also - perhaps not coincidentally - the number of Coontz's $1.38m condo in South Carolina, paid for by his church, Rockwealth, according to local TV channel WSOC-TV.
Larry has now come to realise there was no foundation to Coontz's promises that donated cash would multiply, but at the time the stirring speeches gave him hope. He did not see any other way out.
He sent off two cheques: one for $273 and another for $333, as requested. Then he waited for his miracle.
---
And if the seeds never flourish? Some are told their faith is not strong enough, or they have hidden sin. In Larry's case, he often interpreted small pieces of good fortune - a gift of groceries from a neighbour, or the promise of a few extra hours of work for his wife, Darcy - as evidence of fruition.
He estimates he gave about $20,000 to these operators over the years. A little here, a little there. A few years ago, he started tallying it all up. The list is like a who's who of all the established players, including those who have made headlines for their lavish lifestyles - those such as Kenneth Copeland and Creflo Dollar, who have asked followers to fund their private jets.
----
His daughter's health, which had long been poor, had become critical. Larry had promised to help her financially, but his "seeds" had not flourished. He wrote a heart-wrenching, five-page letter to several ministries he had contributed to over the years, pleading for help.
"We had been faithful to these ministries. They called us partners, friends, family," he explains today. "We thought they'd be there for us."
In the letter, he detailed how his daughter's health insurance would not cover the extensive and costly treatment she needed. One doctor had suggested they waited for her organs to fail, as only then would he be able to intervene.
"As a father, I am presently helpless," he wrote. "Would you please consider sponsorship to save our daughter's life?"
The replies drifted in. Some were instant email responses, others came through the post after prompting. All were rejections. "They said things like, 'Our ministry mandate prevents us from helping you,'" he recalls. He remembers the reaction of one specific office manager, from a ministry that had publicised its funding of medical treatments in the US: "In a haughty voice, she took a deep breath and said: 'You know we get six or seven of these calls a week and if we help you, we are going to have to help everyone.'"
----
It was during these sessions that Ole started to note a common thread. When people were on the verge of homelessness in the heart of the Bible belt, a surprising number offered the last of their cash to televangelists who promised them financial salvation.
The preachers getting rich from poor Americans
Must read long article!https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-47675301
Larry and Darcy Fardette donated to many televangelists
Televangelist Todd Coontz has a well-worn routine: he dresses in a suit, pulls out a Bible and urges viewers to pledge a very specific amount of money. "Don't delay, don't delay," he urges, calmly but emphatically.
------
Crucially, he always refers to the money as a "seed" - a $273 seed, a $333 seed, a "turnaround" seed Coontz particularly compelling. He assured quick returns. He seemed like a results man.
And Larry needed some fast results.
The Fardette family was going through a tough time. Larry's daughter was seriously ill and he had health problems of his own. His construction business was struggling, and to make matters worse both his van and his car broke down irreparably within the same week. When a local junkyard offered him $600 for the van, he thumbed the bills thoughtfully and remembered Coontz's rousing speech.
Maybe he should invest the sum as a "seed"?
He instantly recalled the specific number that Coontz had repeated again and again: $273. It was a figure the preacher often used. "God gave me the single greatest miracle of my lifetime in one day, and the numbers two, seven and three were involved," he once said. It is also - perhaps not coincidentally - the number of Coontz's $1.38m condo in South Carolina, paid for by his church, Rockwealth, according to local TV channel WSOC-TV.
Larry has now come to realise there was no foundation to Coontz's promises that donated cash would multiply, but at the time the stirring speeches gave him hope. He did not see any other way out.
He sent off two cheques: one for $273 and another for $333, as requested. Then he waited for his miracle.
---
And if the seeds never flourish? Some are told their faith is not strong enough, or they have hidden sin. In Larry's case, he often interpreted small pieces of good fortune - a gift of groceries from a neighbour, or the promise of a few extra hours of work for his wife, Darcy - as evidence of fruition.
He estimates he gave about $20,000 to these operators over the years. A little here, a little there. A few years ago, he started tallying it all up. The list is like a who's who of all the established players, including those who have made headlines for their lavish lifestyles - those such as Kenneth Copeland and Creflo Dollar, who have asked followers to fund their private jets.
----
His daughter's health, which had long been poor, had become critical. Larry had promised to help her financially, but his "seeds" had not flourished. He wrote a heart-wrenching, five-page letter to several ministries he had contributed to over the years, pleading for help.
"We had been faithful to these ministries. They called us partners, friends, family," he explains today. "We thought they'd be there for us."
In the letter, he detailed how his daughter's health insurance would not cover the extensive and costly treatment she needed. One doctor had suggested they waited for her organs to fail, as only then would he be able to intervene.
"As a father, I am presently helpless," he wrote. "Would you please consider sponsorship to save our daughter's life?"
The replies drifted in. Some were instant email responses, others came through the post after prompting. All were rejections. "They said things like, 'Our ministry mandate prevents us from helping you,'" he recalls. He remembers the reaction of one specific office manager, from a ministry that had publicised its funding of medical treatments in the US: "In a haughty voice, she took a deep breath and said: 'You know we get six or seven of these calls a week and if we help you, we are going to have to help everyone.'"
----
It was during these sessions that Ole started to note a common thread. When people were on the verge of homelessness in the heart of the Bible belt, a surprising number offered the last of their cash to televangelists who promised them financial salvation.
June 2, 2019
Q: Did the videos reveal any surprises?
A: Cats are seen as relatively lazy, especially compared to dogs. But we saw that when they were outside, they became superalert. They scanned their surroundings, sometimes for a half-hour or more on end. And even though cats are highly territorial, they didn’t always fight with other cats they encountered. Often, they just sat a couple of meters away from each other for up to a half an hour. They may have been sizing each other up. Sometimes they would engage in a greeting, briefly touching noses.
When they were in their homes, the cats spent a lot of time following their humans around. They liked to be in the same room. A lot of my students were surprised at how attached cats were to people.
Q: How do you hope this work will be applied?
A: I hope more people put cameras on cats to understand their behavior. There is also debate over whether cats should be kept indoors all the time. If we find that cats seem more bored or stressed out when kept indoors—for example, by pacing, like some animals do at the zoo—that means we need to think more about enriching their indoor lives, or giving them some outside time.
Q: You thank the study cats in the paper’s Acknowledgements section. Why?
A: I always acknowledge the animals I work with. I’ve been doing that since my Ph.D. thesis. I do feel thankful because if the cats didn’t oblige us, we couldn’t do the study.
Researchers strapped video cameras on 16 cats and let them do their thing. Here's what they found
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/05/researchers-strapped-video-cameras-16-cats-and-let-them-do-their-thing-here-s-what-theyQ: Did the videos reveal any surprises?
A: Cats are seen as relatively lazy, especially compared to dogs. But we saw that when they were outside, they became superalert. They scanned their surroundings, sometimes for a half-hour or more on end. And even though cats are highly territorial, they didn’t always fight with other cats they encountered. Often, they just sat a couple of meters away from each other for up to a half an hour. They may have been sizing each other up. Sometimes they would engage in a greeting, briefly touching noses.
When they were in their homes, the cats spent a lot of time following their humans around. They liked to be in the same room. A lot of my students were surprised at how attached cats were to people.
Q: How do you hope this work will be applied?
A: I hope more people put cameras on cats to understand their behavior. There is also debate over whether cats should be kept indoors all the time. If we find that cats seem more bored or stressed out when kept indoors—for example, by pacing, like some animals do at the zoo—that means we need to think more about enriching their indoor lives, or giving them some outside time.
Q: You thank the study cats in the paper’s Acknowledgements section. Why?
A: I always acknowledge the animals I work with. I’ve been doing that since my Ph.D. thesis. I do feel thankful because if the cats didn’t oblige us, we couldn’t do the study.
June 2, 2019
President Trump once again took the opportunity to bash the “fake news media” on Sunday when he denied calling Meghan Markle “nasty” — even though the he can be clearly heard using the word in reference to the Duchess of Sussex.
Trump had been asked about Markle during a recent interview with The Sun newspaper, and was told that she had made unflattering remarks about him during the 2016 election campaign, including that she would move to Canada if he won.
“A lot of people are moving here. So, what can I say? No, I didn’t know that she was nasty,” Trump told the UK tabloid. The comment was captured on audio.
Trump’s campaign tweeted the audio of the interview on Saturday as it criticized the media for taking his comments out of context. Trump doubled-down on his own Twitter feed on Sunday.
“I never called Meghan Markle ‘nasty,’” he wrote. “Made up by the Fake News Media, and they got caught cold! Will @CNN, @nytimes and others apologize? Doubt it!”
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1135165268261519361?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
President Trump claims he never called Meghan Markle 'nasty' after using word in recorded interview
https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-trump-claim-never-called-meghan-markle-nasty-20190602-pbbv6ntyt5epzms2d3sv4ato4y-story.html#nt=oft-Double%20Chain~Flex%20Feature~top-version1~markle-956a~~1~yes-art~curated~curatedpagePresident Trump once again took the opportunity to bash the “fake news media” on Sunday when he denied calling Meghan Markle “nasty” — even though the he can be clearly heard using the word in reference to the Duchess of Sussex.
Trump had been asked about Markle during a recent interview with The Sun newspaper, and was told that she had made unflattering remarks about him during the 2016 election campaign, including that she would move to Canada if he won.
“A lot of people are moving here. So, what can I say? No, I didn’t know that she was nasty,” Trump told the UK tabloid. The comment was captured on audio.
Trump’s campaign tweeted the audio of the interview on Saturday as it criticized the media for taking his comments out of context. Trump doubled-down on his own Twitter feed on Sunday.
“I never called Meghan Markle ‘nasty,’” he wrote. “Made up by the Fake News Media, and they got caught cold! Will @CNN, @nytimes and others apologize? Doubt it!”
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1135165268261519361?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
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