5 Harmful Things About Ableism

It's pervasive, oppressive, and often overlooked. Here are 5 harmful things about discrimination and prejudice against people with disabilities, also known as ableism....

 

Premium Increases Under Obamacare Have Stayed Really Low

...Obamacare doesn't look like it's done any damage at all to the price of health insurance. In fact, it might have helped. That's what you see if you take a fair look at all the data...
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/04/premiums-under-obamacare-have-stayed-really-low

Yes, 97 Percent Of Climate Scientists Agree That Humans Are Causing Climate Change

Almost 16 years after Harvard researcher Naomi Oreskes first documented an overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change, a research team confirmed that 97 percent of climate scientists agree that human-caused climate change is happening....
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/04/13/3769104/climate-scientific-consensus-real/

Week In The News: Trump, Clinton Pull Ahead, Tamir Rice Settlement, Cruz Picks Carly (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

Oh, what a week of politics. A wave of wins for Trump and Clinton. Sanders goes to layoffs. Ted Cruz names Carly Fiorina his would-be vice president. John Boehner – remember him? – comes out of retirement to call Ted Cruz “Lucifer in the flesh”! That is, the Devil! We’ve got another North Korea missile test. Dennis Hastert facing 15 months, called a “serial child molester.” And Beyonce’s Lemonade all over. Up next On Point: Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines. –Tom Ashbrook
Interview: 
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2016/04/29/week-in-the-news-trump-clinton-pull-ahead-tamir-rice-settlement-cruz-picks-carly

Friday News Roundup – Domestic (Diane Rehm Show, 2016-04-29)

Gender politics was front and center in the presidential politics this week: Ted Cruz named Carly Fiorina as his running mate and Donald Trump accused Hillary Clinton of playing “the woman’s card” to win votes. Trump lays out his “America First” foreign policy. Former House Speaker John Boehner unleashes harsh criticism of Ted Cruz. Bernie Sanders cut some staffers but vows to stay in the presidential race until all the primary votes are counted. President Obama plans to visit Flint, Michigan. And the Supreme Court seems skeptical of former Virginia Governor Bob McConnell’s corruption conviction. A panel of journalists joins guest host Susan Page for analysis of the week’s top national news stories.
Interview:
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2016-04-29/friday-news-roundup-domestic

Friday News Roundup – International (Diane Rehm Show, 2016-04-29)

More than a hundred civilians have been killed in Syria in the past week, including dozens in the bombing of a hospital in Aleppo. The UN’s chief envoy to Syria says a partial truce “hangs by a thread.” Donald Trump’s “America first” foreign policy speech worries U.S. allies. Austria passes restrictive anti-asylum laws aimed at migrants from Syria. A human rights report on Mexico’s investigation into the massacre of college students blasts the country’s justice system. And one year after a major earthquake in Nepal, tens of thousands of people still live in temporary shelters. A panel of journalists joins guest host Susan Page for analysis of the week’s top international news stories.
Interview:
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2016-04-29/friday-news-roundup-international

Facebook posts: "Today President Obama said there will NOT be a National Day of Prayer in May."

Some falsehoods refuse to die, coming back long after they've been disproven.

The latest is making the rounds on Facebook, a resurrection of the claim that Barack Obama has canceled this year's — and perhaps all subsequent — National Days of Prayer....
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/apr/29/facebook-posts/another-lie-wont-die-multitudes-say-obama-has-canc/

Donald Trump’s New Secret Weapon: How the Man Who Ran the 'Torturer’s Lobby' Is Securing the Billionaire’s Nomination

Perhaps one of the most unnerving political developments over these last few days has been the beginning of the reluctant acceptance of Donald Trump among the Republican establishment. Watching the likes of Senator Bob Corker on television praising his “foreign policy” and seeing influential House members like Bill Schuster endorse him is more than a little bit unsettling. It stands to reason that this would happen now that Trump is looking more and more like the winner, but considering just how unpopular Trump is among the political establishment, it’s more likely due to the hard work of his recently hired senior adviser, Paul Manafort....
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/donald-trumps-new-secret-weapon-how-man-who-ran-torturers-lobby-securing-billionaires

Senate Judiciary Dems Demand Hearing On Voting Rights

The Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have a message for their Republican counterparts, who are leading the blockade on President Obama's Supreme Court nominee: If you care so much about giving America a voice, give us a hearing on voting rights!

The nine Democrats on the committee sent a letter Friday to its Republicans leaders -- Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the chair of the Judiciary Committee, and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), chair of its subcommittee on the Constitution -- demanding a hearing on voting rights, which the committee has not hosted since the GOP took over the Senate. They pointed to the 2013 Supreme Court decision that gutted the Voting Rights Act and the electoral and legal chaos that has ensued since. But they also used the letter to call out the same Republicans for refusing to grant Obama's nominee Merrick Garland a hearing....
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/dem-letter-judiciary-committee-republicans

House Republicans Have A Temper Tantrum Over Rule That Bans Financial Advisers From Scamming Retirees

The Department of Labor (DOL) has finalized rules that require financial advisers who help people make investments for retirement to put their clients’ interests ahead of their own. But House Republicans aren’t letting the rule go into effect without a fight.

On Thursday, the House voted on a resolution that would effectively block the new rules, which require advisers to adhere to a “fiduciary standard,” that passed along strict party lines, with 234 Republicans voting yes and 183 Democrats voting no. Republicans claim that the rule will make investment advice more expensive, with Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN), a sponsor of the legislation, saying it would “protect access to affordable retirement advice.”...
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2016/04/29/3773960/republicans-fiduciary-rule/

Major Faith Leaders Declare Trump ‘Racist, Bigoted, and Hateful’

A group of high-profile Christian leaders has published a lengthy statement passionately condemning Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump, calling his campaign message “contrary to our Christian values” and condemning his bombastic rhetoric as “racist, bigoted, and hateful.”

The statement, which is housed on the website calledtoresist.org, dedicates more than 2,000 words to decrying Trump’s candidacy. Among other things, it heavily criticizes his proclivity for language and polices that demean immigrants, Muslims, women, people of color, and the disabled....
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/04/29/3774001/faith-leaders-are-pretty-sure-trump-is-racist/

What Newspapers In 13 Countries Are Saying About Donald Trump

In his first foreign policy speech on Wednesday, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump declared that the United States is “going to be a friend again” to the rest of the world.

But the rest of the world isn’t so sure that’s the case. The rise of Trump in the presidential race has certainly surprised many in the United States, but it’s also come as a shock to much of the rest of the world. Since Trump first announced his intention to run for president last year, the media in other countries has taken a humorous, and critical, look at his candidacy — from offering refuge for Americans fleeing a Trump presidency to analyses of how U.S. democracy even allowed for his rise. And of course, there have been a lot of comments about his hair....
http://thinkprogress.org/world/2016/04/29/3765582/donald-trump-world-media/

What are you trying to say? (YOUR GRAMMAR SUCKS #109)

Vermont Will Automatically Register Hundreds Of Thousands Of Voters

Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin signed a bill Thursday to automatically register to vote any eligible Vermonter who visits a Department of Motor Vehicles. The bill passed with near-unanimous support through Vermont’s House and Senate, where power is split between the Republican, Democratic and Progressive Parties. The state estimates the new policy will add between 30,000 and 50,000 new voters to the rolls within the first four years....
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/04/28/3769610/vermont-voter-registration/

A New Approach to Understanding Alzheimer's Disease

To many of us, Alzheimer’s disease is a familiar and terrifying malady. Afflicting an estimated 5.3 million people in the U.S. alone, the disorder slowly and relentlessly robs patients of memory, judgment and perception—eventually corroding even their ability to perform everyday tasks. The mechanisms that underlie these symptoms are not yet fully understood. The disease is largely attributed to an abnormal buildup of proteins, which can form amyloid beta plaques and tangles in the brain that trigger inflammation and result in the loss of brain connections called synapses, the effect most strongly associated with cognitive decline.

In a study published this week in Science, a team of researchers led by neurologist Beth Stevens at Boston Children’s Hospital has found evidence that such synapse loss may in fact occur much earlier in Alzheimer’s disease. Rather than being a secondary effect of these protein pathologies, as experts had previously thought, this process may begin well before plaques form....
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-clues-show-out-of-control-synapse-pruning-may-underlie-alzheimer-s/

The Addictive Personality Isn't What You Think It Is

In her new book Maia Szalavitz recalls her behavior as a child in school and at home. Anxious, bright and slightly obsessive, she didn't seem to fit the stereotype of the “addictive personality”. Nevertheless, in college she would become addicted to heroin and cocaine, forcing her to reexamine her assumptions about addiction and its treatment. The following is an excerpt from Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction...
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-addictive-personality-isn-t-what-you-think-it-is/

Why World Leaders Are Terrified of Water Shortages

Secret conversations between American diplomats show how a growing water crisis in the Middle East destabilized the region, helping spark civil wars in Syria and Yemen, and how those water shortages are spreading to the United States.

Classified US cables reviewed by Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting show a mounting concern by global political and business leaders that water shortages could spark unrest across the world, with dire consequences....
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/04/water-scarcity-wikileaks

As Marijuana Goes Mainstream, California Pioneers Rot in Federal Prison

Behind the headlines about President Obama’s historic visit to federal prisons and highly publicized releases of non-violent drug offenders, the numbers tell a different story. Despite encouraging and receiving more clemency petitions than any president in U.S. history—more than the last two administrations combined, nearly 20,000—very few federal prisoners are actually being granted clemency. Nowhere is this irony more glaring than in the world of legal cannabis....
http://www.alternet.org/drugs/marijuana-goes-mainstream-california-pioneers-rotting-federal-prison

How Do We Get Our Drinking Water In The U.S.?

Before you take a gulp of water, try to mentally trace where that water that just gushed out of your taps has been: How did it go from that weird-tasting raindrop to the clear, odorless water that is sitting in your glass now?

Safe drinking water is a privilege Americans often take for granted — until a health crisis like the one in Flint, Mich., happens that makes us think about where it comes from and how we get it....
http://www.npr.org/2016/04/14/473806134/how-do-we-get-our-drinking-water-in-the-u-s?ft=nprml&f=1001

The World’s Largest Private Coal Company Just Filed For Bankruptcy

Peabody Energy, the world’s largest privately-owned coal company, announced Wednesday that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, following a significant downturn in the coal market that left the company saddled with debt....
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/04/13/3768908/worlds-largest-coal-company-bankrupt/

Aquinas and the Cosmological Arguments: Crash Course Philosophy #10

Fly Like An Eagle: Schlafly Faces Coup At Organization She Founded

At a meeting yesterday, the Forum’s Board of Directors removed Ed Martin, a Schlafly ally, from his position as the group’s president. Members also named Schlafly’s daughter, Anne Schlafly Cori, its new executive director....
https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/fly-like-an-eagle-schlafly-faces-coup-at-organization-she-founded

Meet the Modern Answer to the Breathalyzer: The 'Textalyzer' Can Tell If Your Phone Use Caused an Accident

Studies have found that texting while driving can be even more dangerous, in terms of accident potential and deadly consequences, than either drug or alcohol use. Now there’s a way to find and penalize drivers who ignore texting bans and end up causing collisions....
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/meet-modern-answer-breathalyzer-textalyzer-can-tell-if-your-phone-use-caused

Mysteriously-aligned group of black holes points to galaxies' beginnings - CSMonitor.com

A group of supermassive black holes in a distant region of space are all shooting radio emissions in the same direction, despite having no way to transmit information. ...
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2016/0413/Strange-alignment-A-group-of-black-holes-points-to-galaxies-beginnings

Religious day cares get freedom from oversight, with tragic results

Thousands of religious day cares across America legally are allowed to run their facilities with little government oversight. But freedom from regulation can come at a high price for children. And when things go wrong, parents have little recourse....
https://www.revealnews.org/article/religious-day-cares-operate-with-little-oversight-and-accountability/

Wide Majorities of Young Arabs Despise ISIS, Want More Rights for Women, See U.S. as Ally

Thanks to ISIS' activities in Syria and Iraq and its associated terror attacks in Europe, the antipathy that some young Arabs have toward the West is a subject of major global concern. A new survey of Middle Eastern and North African Arabs between the ages of 18 and 24, though, indicates that even theoretical support for ISIS' goals is currently very limited in that demographic—and that two-thirds of young Arabs believe in the need to expand human rights for all the area's citizens, including women....
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/04/12/poll_of_18_to_24_year_old_arabs_finds_wide_rejection_of_isis.html

Disproving Gods with History and Science (Richard Carrier)

In this lecture, Dr. Richard Carrier quickly surveys the history of major religions, and lays out a collection of logical arguments for why science and history support naturalism, and disprove the god hyphothesis...

Ted Cruz Under Fire Over Adviser Who Wants Abortion Providers To Be Executed

“There are wide-ranging beliefs about abortion in our country, but no one who has said it’s the government’s duty to execute abortion providers should have any place in a campaign for our nation’s highest office,” the letter reads...
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/04/28/3773595/cruz-should-fire-newman/

Diane Rehm wants a national discussion of right to die

“People need to talk about this issue,” she said. “Doctors need to be taught about this issue. The whole idea of doctors being taught about helping to keep people alive, but not being taught how to listen to those who are ready to die — that seems to me sad and misguided.”
http://religionnews.com/2016/04/29/diane-rehm-wants-a-national-discussion-of-right-to-die/

Teresa MacBain, Director of the Hotline Project (Hemant Mehta, The Friendly Atheist #102)

MacBain is a former Methodist pastor and the first female member of the Clergy Project to publicly “come out” as a nonbeliever. She did that at the 2012 American Atheists convention.

We spoke with her about how she began having doubts about religion while in the pulpit, the type of people who call the Hotline Project, and how to volunteer to be on the receiving end of that call.
Interview:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2016/04/10/podcast-ep-102-teresa-macbain-director-of-the-hotline-project/

Rally For Reason (Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, Freethought Radio)

This week we announce a new IRS lawsuit challenging the Housing Allowance that gives special tax benefits to clergy, and we complain about a bill to make the Bible the “state book” of Tennessee. FFRF attorney Andrew Seidel tells us about the censorship of FFRF’s literature in a Colorado school district. Then we talk with Lyz Liddell, Executive Director of The Reason Rally Coalition, about the music, speakers and other events at the exciting Reason Rally to be held June 2-4 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.
Interview:
http://ffrf.libsyn.com/rally-for-reason

Top U.S. & World Headlines — April 28, 2016

Interview:
https://youtu.be/Dh0dMXfYEws

Germany Is Investing A Billion Dollars In Electric Cars

Germany has announced it will put about $1 billion towards electric vehicles in a new push to increase clean transportation. Car buyers will see a 4,000-euro discount (U.S. $4,530) on electric vehicles and a 3,000-euro discount ($3,398) on hybrids. In addition, the country will spend 300,000 euros to install more vehicle charging stations....
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/04/28/3773396/germany-ev-announcement/

Trump: I Will 'Never, Ever' Rule Out Using Nuclear Weapons To Fight ISIL (VIDEO)

Less than 24 hours after delivering a speech on foreign policy, GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump said he would not rule out using nuclear weapons to combat the Islamic State on NBC's "Today" show, Politico reported....
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-nukes-islamic-state

Boehner Slams Cruz: He's 'Lucifer In The Flesh' And 'Miserable Son Of A Bitch'

Former Speaker of the House John Boehner aired his extreme dislike of GOP presidential candidate Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX) during a Wednesday campus talk, calling Cruz "Lucifer in the flesh," according to Stanford Daily.

The Stanford University event focused on Boehner's views on the current crop of presidential candidates, according to the local paper, with Boehner airing his feelings about the Texas senator, who he called "a miserable son of a bitch."...
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/boehner-stanford-talk-cruz

Fiorina Walks Back Her Old Attacks On Cruz: They're 'Not True' (VIDEO)

As soon as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) announced Wednesday that he chose former Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina as his running mate should he get the party's nomination, digs Fiorina made at Cruz on the campaign trail began to re-circulate.

During a Thursday morning interview with "Fox and Friends," Fiorina walked back those old attacks as "not true."...
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/fiorina-walks-back-cruz-attacks

PART 2: Seymour Hersh's New Book Disputes U.S. Account of Bin Laden Killing

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Seymour Hersh discusses the reporting he did for his new book, The Killing of Osama bin Laden in part two of an extended interview....
Interview:

Ricky Gervais' Brilliant Plan for Donald Trump

Samantha Bee's Stunning Interview With Wrongfully Accused and Tortured Former Gitmo Prisoner

President Obama’s gift to Saudi Arabia this month? Nine Guantanamo detainees. Because, as Samantha Bee, host of Full Frontal explained, “When the U.S. decides to free prisoners, they have to send them somewhere.

They can’t just disappear offshore like taxable income.” Bee featured an interview with one former Gitmo detainee on Monday night's show, and it is stunning....
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/watch-samantha-bees-stunning-interview-wrongfully-accused-and-tortured-former-gitmo

GOP Candidate Calls For Banning Everyone From The Middle East

A Republican candidate for Senate in Florida just one-upped Donald Trump in his bigotry — calling for a ban on anyone from the Middle East (except Israel) entering the United States.

According to a report from the Sun Sentinel’s Anthony Man, after delivering a speech to the Broward County Republican Party on Monday night, Republican candidate Carlos Beruff was asked about his “position on Muslim immigration.”

“Ah ha,” he responded, according to the Sun Sentinel. “I think our immigration department is broken. And I don’t think it’s safe to allow anybody from the Middle East into this country.”...
http://thinkprogress.org/world/2016/04/26/3772892/ban-middle-east-immigration/

'Catastrophic Leak' Found at Hanford Nuclear Site in Washington State

The amount of radioactive waste that has been leaking between the two walls of one of the underground tanks at Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington State for several years grew dramatically on Sunday, April 17, with up to 13,000 liters (3,500 gallons) of new waste.

The leak occurred at the double-shell storage known as AY-102, which has been leaking small amounts of nuclear waste since 2011. It is estimated that about 265 liters (70 gallons) of waste leaked from the tank in recent years....
http://www.alternet.org/environment/catastrophic-leak-found-hanford-nuclear-site-washington-state

Inky the Octopus stages daring escape from New Zealand aquarium (+video)

Inky, a wild octopus, slipped out of his tank at the New Zealand National Aquarium. What does the cephalopod's clever escape say about animal intelligence?...
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2016/0413/Inky-the-Octopus-stages-brazen-escape-from-New-Zealand-aquarium-video

Official City Report: Chicago Police Have 'No Regard' For Minority Lives

Police in Chicago have "no regard for the sanctity of life when it comes to people of color" and have alienated blacks and Hispanics for decades by using excessive force and honoring a code of silence, a task force declared Wednesday in a report that seeks sweeping changes to the nation's third-largest police force.

The panel, established by Mayor Rahm Emanuel late last year in response to an outcry over police shootings, found that the department does little to weed out problem officers and routine encounters unnecessarily turn deadly....
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/rahm-emanuel-report-chicago-police-no-regard-black-lives

Adapting To A More Extreme Climate, Coastal Cities Get Creative

Coastal cities across the globe are looking for ways to protect themselves from sea level rise and extreme weather. In the U.S., there is no set funding stream to help — leaving each city to figure out solutions for itself.

New Orleans and Philadelphia are two cities that face very similar challenges of flooding from rising tides. But they've chosen to pay for the solutions in very different ways....
http://www.npr.org/2016/04/13/473995512/adapting-to-a-more-extreme-climate-coastal-cities-get-creative?ft=nprml&f=1001

The Conservative Argument Against Same-Sex Parenting Just Fell Apart

Conservatives have long squawked that the studies showing positive outcomes for the children of same-sex couples are lacking methodologically, instead offering their own flawed studies to claim negative consequences. A new study, however, uses their preferred methods — minus the flaws — and proves what the medical community has already long known: same-sex couples make great parents....
http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2016/04/12/3768442/same-sex-parenting-study-population-sample/

Goals in Google Calendar

Goals are hard work. Whether you want to read more books, learn a new language or work out regularly, it's getting harder and harder to find the time even when your goal really matters to you. So today we're introducing Goals in Google Calendar. You add a personal goal—like “run 3 times a week”—and Calendar will schedule time automatically and then help you actually stick to it...

 

Senate Dems Blame Koch Brothers For Killing Clean Energy Tax Credits

Tax credits for clean energy sources won’t hitch a ride on legislation reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration in the Senate, and Democrats say conservative mega-donors Charles and David Koch are to blame.

Legislators agreed to an extension of tax credits for geothermal, small wind, fuel cells, and combined heat and power in the large omnibus spending deal passed last year, but the provisions were left out due to a “drafting error.” The understanding between both parties was that the credits would need to be included in another must-pass bill in the new year. The aviation bill provided an opening to settle the score, but on Tuesday, party leaders said negotiations to include the tax credits crumbled....
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/koch-brothers-clean-energy_us_570d6755e4b03d8b7b9eabc1

We Let the Idiots Take the Wheel: Donald Trump, Fox News and How We Let Our Democracy Rot

It is easy in a country dedicated to a megalomaniacal style of self-praise to grow tired of all the parades, hymns, and maudlin speeches about the wisdom of the “founding fathers.” Compounding the frustration is that many of their most valuable insights are now forbidden from entry into public school curriculums and cultural discourse. As the word “elitist” continues to undergo unfair demonization, no one dare utter that the framers of the United States Constitution were, themselves, elitists. They were terrified of what damage the public might inflict upon their invention. Benjamin Franklin even went so far as to predict that “the people shall become so corrupted as to need Despotic Government, being incapable of any other.”...
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/we-let-idiots-take-wheel-donald-trump-fox-news-and-how-we-let-our-democracy-rot

Being Overtired Really Can Make You Sick

Evidence is mounting that not clocking enough Zs really can make you more likely to catch a cold. A new study found that people who sleep five hours or less each night were 17 percent more likely to catch a cold and 51 percent more likely to get an infection (like the flu or pneumonia) as people who sleep seven hours or more....
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/overtired-sick_us_570d6c5ce4b03d8b7b9eb30b

Top U.S. & World Headlines — April 27, 2016

Judge Tells Women Who Fear They Could Die If They Don't Get An Abortion To Go Away

A lawsuit seeking to protect women who could be seriously injured or even killed if they are unable to terminate their pregnancies will not move forward, according to an order handed down by a federal district judge on Monday.

The suit concerns the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health, a set of instructions for health providers published by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, which include strict limits on which reproductive services may be provided to women....
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2016/04/12/3768534/judge-tells-women-who-fear-they-could-die-if-they-dont-get-an-abortion-to-go-away/

Racist Republican Politicians Want to Make It Illegal To Be Black

This year’s election is going to be decided by voter turnout. The GOP knows this, so they’re using every dirty trick in the book to keep minority voters away from the polls. And a new law in Georgia is designed to do just that. America’s Lawyer, Mike Papantonio, and Alice Speri from The Intercept discuss this. Tell us your thoughts in the comment section below. —
https://theintercept.com/2016/03/23/g...

A GEORGIA LAW aimed at keeping unlicensed drivers off the streets is having a disproportionate impact on black and Latino communities in the state, sweeping them into a cycle of debt and criminalization that feeds local counties’ budgets while putting otherwise law-abiding undocumented immigrants at risk of deportation. Under the law, drivers face felony charges if they are caught driving without a license four times within five years. Violators face up to five years in prison and fines between $2,500 and $5,000.

Ostensibly passed to promote public safety, the “felony driving law” has been discriminatively applied to communities of color, leading to remarkably disproportionate arrests of blacks and Latinos in at least three majority white counties in the state, according to a report published today by the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR) and Advancement Project, a D.C.-based civil rights organization.

Interview:
https://youtu.be/yEVON6hZIlM

Don't Trust The Promise Of Artificial Intelligence (Intelligence Squared Debates U.S.)

As technology rapidly progresses, some proponents of artificial intelligence believe that it will help solve complex social challenges and offer immortality via virtual humans. But AI’s critics say that we should proceed with caution. That its rewards may be overpromised, and that the pursuit of superintelligence and autonomous machines may result in unintended consequences. Is this the stuff of science fiction? Should we fear AI, or will these fears prevent the next technological revolution?
Interview: 
http://intelligencesquaredus.org/debates/past-debates/item/1494-don-t-trust-the-promise-of-artificial-intelligence

8 Stories Ted Cruz Should Probably Have Read Before Picking Carly Fiorina

Fiorina left the race in February, on the heels of poor numbers at the polls—and many stories about her shoddy business record and her propensity for stretching the truth. Now that she's back in the race, let's take a stroll down Fiorina memory lane:...
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/04/ted-cruz-should-probably-have-read-these-stories-about-carly-fiorina-appointing-her

Donald Trump: "I was totally against the war in Iraq, saying for many years that it would destabilize the Middle East."

When Donald Trump laid out the fundamentals of his foreign policy at a Washington hotel conference room, he offered his go-to proof of sound judgment.

"I was totally against the war in Iraq, saying for many years that it would destabilize the Middle East," he said April 27, 2016.

Not in any way we could find. Let’s review the record of what Trump said when about the Iraq War....
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/apr/27/donald-trump/donald-trump-iraq-war-destabilize/

Donald Trump: "ISIS is making millions of dollars a week selling Libyan oil."

...Experts and news articles say ISIS has attacked Libya’s oil fields to disrupt oil markets and prevent rival groups from making a profit. But, they say, the group does not have the ability to operate the country’s few and complex oil refineries....

This all contradicts Trump’s assertion....
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/apr/27/donald-trump/no-donald-trump-isis-not-making-millions-dollars-w/

Here Are the Many Ways Trump's Big Foreign Policy Speech Made No Damn Sense

Is the Donald Trump who supports torture and wants the United States to "bomb the shit out of ISIS" a thing of the past? The Republican front-runner certainly wants us to think so.

Trump gave a sedate but completely incoherent speech on foreign policy in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, hoping to burnish his image as the GOP's self-declared "presumptive nominee" and to put his inflammatory foreign policy statements behind him. As he did during his last major foreign policy speech before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Trump read from a teleprompter and seemingly tried to give off a calm, statesmanlike appearance....

[H]ere's a list, in no way comprehensive, of the many times Trump contradicted himself while laying out his alleged foreign policy:...
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/04/trumps-foreign-policy-speech

Maybe Donald Trump Has Really Lost His Mind: What If the GOP Frontrunner Isn't Crazy, but Simply Not Well?

We've become familiar with his ramblings, and at ease mocking them. But they might be the sign of someone unwell....
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/maybe-donald-trump-has-really-lost-his-mind-what-if-gop-frontrunner-isnt-crazy-simply

Planned Parenthood On Cruz/Fiorina Ticket: 'The Most Loathsome Pair In America' | ThinkProgress

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz is expected to announce former Hewlett Packard executive Carly Fiorina as his running mate on Wednesday, according to New Hampshire news station WMUR — and women’s health organization Planned Parenthood is not happy about it.

In a statement provided to ThinkProgress, Planned Parenthood Action Fund Executive Vice President Dawn Laguens warned that women’s access to birth control, cancer screenings, and abortion services would be diminished under a Cruz/Fiorina administration....
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/04/27/3773194/ted-cruz-carly-fiorina-vice-president-report/

The Controversial Topics Trump Avoided During His Big Foreign Policy Speech

Donald Trump’s big Wednesday afternoon foreign policy speech didn’t feature the type of controversial rhetoric we’ve grown accustomed to from him — he didn’t call Mexicans “rapists” or cite hoax email chains as inspiring his national security policy, for instance.

The Republican presidential frontrunner, who uncharacteristically delivered the speech by reading off a teleprompter to a subdued audience in Washington D.C., did say some notable things, however. He warned against “the false song of globalism” and discussed how “America First will be the major and overriding theme of my administration.” But also worth mentioning were some of the things he didn’t see fit to include during a speech that may have previewed the toned-down Trump we’ll see during the upcoming general campaign....
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/04/27/3773277/what-trump-didnt-say-during-foreign-policy-speech/

What To Take from Trump's Speech

There are many things you could say about Donald Trump's foreign policy speech. At a minimum we can recognize that it is a restatement of Trump's foreign policy ideas stripped of references to Mexican rapists and other shocking asides.

But here's the one thing I think is most salient. Trump is proposing making aggressive new demands of virtually every country in the world - whether that's countries in Europe (who are part of NATO), China, Japan, Mexico, Russia or in less high profile ways virtually every other country in the world. This might make sense for Russia, perhaps China, maybe Europe. It can't make sense to do it with everyone at once.

 And here is what is key....
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/what-to-take-from-trump-s-speech

Trump Reset? Sober Foreign Policy Address Gives Peek Into 'Trump Doctrine'

Championing "stability" and protectionism, Donald Trump managed a sendup of the foreign policies of the last three American presidents, as well as the candidate he is likely to face this fall in a general election — Hillary Clinton....
http://www.npr.org/2016/04/27/475936970/trump-reset-sober-foreign-policy-address-gives-peek-into-trump-doctrine?sc=tw

Samantha Bee Shuts Down Conservative Whining About Tubman on the $20

Samantha Bee dedicated a segment of Full Frontal last night to the discussion of money—or as Bee helpfully explains, “for those of you who haven’t heard of it, it’s like Venmo for old people.” The centerpiece of the discussion? Harriet Tubman replacing Andrew Jackson on the front of the $20 bill, and right-wing freakouts about a black woman “making a white man move to the back.”...
http://www.alternet.org/media/watch-samantha-bee-shuts-down-conservative-whining-about-tubman-20