Friday, March 31, 2017

Pence Votes To Break A Tie To Allow States To Defund Planned Parenthood -- BuzzFeed News

A bill overturning an Obama administration rule protecting funding for health clinics, including those that provide abortions, now heads to President Trump's desk to become law, thanks to a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Mike Pence.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/emaoconnor/pence-votes-to-break-a-tie-to-allow-sates-to-defund-planned?utm_term=.niMjE1eeE#.mokyKxZZK

House Republicans vote to curb the EPA’s use of science

Critics say the HONEST Act would seriously chill science....
https://thinkprogress.org/house-honest-act-limit-epa-science-244a132bdee

House Science Committee Calls on Alt-Science to Drive Policy

Today's hearing will try to reframe climate change as an unsettled debate, allowing skeptics and industry to influence regulations and research funding...
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/house-science-committee-calls-on-alt-science-to-drive-policy/


Former FBI agent details how Trump and Russia team up to weaponize fake news -- ThinkProgress.org:

During the first public Senate Intelligence Committee hearing about Russia's meddling in the presidential election on Thursday, former FBI special agent Clint Watts explained how Russia and the Trump campaign team up to weaponize fake news...
https://thinkprogress.org/clinton-watts-senate-intelligence-committee-trump-russia-fake-news-trail-of-bodies-1900e6fde054

'Nonsensical and stupid and dangerous': Bernie Sanders slams Trump's executive order to repeal climate regulations -- Business Insider

Sen. Bernie Sanders lashed out at President Donald Trump on Thursday afternoon, calling the executive order Trump signed on Tuesday to repeal the Obama-era Clean Power Plan "nonsensical."

"That is such a nonsensical, and stupid, and dangerous, approach," the Vermont senator told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "It's almost indescribable." ...
http://www.businessinsider.com/bernie-slams-trumps-executive-order-to-repeal-clean-power-plan-2017-3

Paul Ryan accidentally tells the truth,... -- MSNBC

House Speaker Paul Ryan slipped up and said what his critics have long assumed: he doesn't want to work with Democrats on bipartisan solutions. ...
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/paul-ryan-accidentally-tells-the-truth-rejects-bipartisanship

5 Revelations from the Senate Intelligence Committee's First Public Hearing on Russia and the 2016 Elections

Led by chairman Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) and vice chairman Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), the Senate Intelligence Committee held its first public hearing Thursday on Russia's interference in the 2016 elections. Equal parts illuminating and harrowing, it offered fresh insight into the Kremlin's spy games and raised new questions about the Trump administration's possible collusion with Putin. Here are five of its more revelatory moments:...
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/5-revelations-senate-intelligence-committees-first-public-hearing-russia-and-2016


Senator's Riveting Statement at Intelligence Committee Raises Fresh Questions About Trump and Russia

The ranking Democrat wants to know why the president is so reluctant to investigate....
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/senators-riveting-statement-raises-fresh-questions-about-trump-and-russia


Why did Republicans vote to destroy your online privacy? That's where the money is

Every Senate Republican and all but 15 House Republicans voted to dismantle your online privacy, overturning a rule by the FCC that would have required internet service providers to get your permission to sell off your private web data. Your web searches, your financial data, your shopping habits—basically every step you take online is now back up for grabs. Why would Republicans—the supposed champions of the little guy, the libertarians—sell you out?

 Money....
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/1648458


At Site of Deaths, Our Reporters Find Cost of U.S.-ISIS Battle

Dozens of Iraqi civilians, some of them still alive and calling out for help, were buried for days under the rubble of their homes in western Mosul after American-led airstrikes flattened almost an entire city block....
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/03/27/world/middleeast/mosul-iraq-isis-civilian-deaths-us-airstrikes.html?emc=edit_nn_20170328&nl=morning-briefing&nlid=78638145&te=1&_r=0&referer=


Paul Krugman: Here's How We Fix America's Health Care System

The options are there, whether the president chooses to acknowledge them or not....
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/paul-krugman-heres-how-we-fix-americas-health-care-system


Should Religiously Affiliated Hospitals Be Allowed To Ignore A Federal Law That Protects Employee Pensions?

Today the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in a trio of cases that will decide whether religiously affiliated hospital systems must comply with federal pension protections. The large health systems don’t want to; they argue they should get a narrow exemption to the law carved out for houses of worship. But these health systems, with nearly 100,000 employees, are not churches....
https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/should-religiously-affiliated-hospitals-be-allowed-to-ignore-a-federal-law


Robert Reich Snorts at Paul Ryan's Pathetic Excuse for the Failure of His Health Care Bill

"Growing pains of government," the House speaker says. What a load of crap....
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/robert-reich-snorts-paul-ryans-pathetic-excuse-failure-his-health-care-bill


The public favors cutting defense spending, not adding billions more, new survey finds

Public opinion is again at odds with Washington about how to spend tax revenues, as most support reductions in federal military and homeland security spending...
https://www.publicintegrity.org/node/20778


Lawrence Krauss: Accidental Origins (Josh Zepps, Point of Inquiry)

Fate. Purpose. Design. These are words that hang over many of our heads as we navigate the everyday chaos of life. Religion is often given exclusive purview over the discourse surrounding these concepts, but what if science was able to answer some of these same deep existential questions? We may not always like the answers that science has to give us.

Laurence Krauss is a theoretical physicist, cosmologist, professor, author, and science communicator, and an honorary member of the Center for Inquiry Board of Directors. His newest book is The Greatest Story Ever Told… So Far, a look at the standard model of particle physics and its implications for our existence. It’s a follow up to his critically acclaimed book A Universe From Nothing, in which Krauss not only delves into how we’ve reached our current understanding of the universe, but also celebrates the wonders and beauty of the natural world and our accidental existence. The universe, says Krauss, is not fine-tuned for life, but rather life is fine tuned for the universe.
Interview:
http://www.pointofinquiry.org/lawrence_krauss_accidental_origins/

#OnPointListens: Hello, Tampa (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

Battle lines have kicked in pretty quickly in Washington over the presidency of Donald Trump. And what about beyond? All this year at On Point, we are reaching out to listen to what Americans all over have to say about this American moment and our future. Today, we’re in Tampa, Florida. Donald Trump won Florida. But we’re past the electoral chapter now. We’re into the governing, Trump-style. How’s it going down? We’re asking. This hour On Point, on our national listening tour, we are listening to Tampa. — Tom Ashbrook
Interview:
http://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2017/03/17/tampa-bay-onpointlistens

The Diagnosis Is Never Easy (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

Over his four-decade medical career, Dr. Stuart Mushlin has cracked countless medical mysteries. Putting on his detective hat to figure out an elusive diagnosis when the signs and symptoms point elsewhere: syphilis, leprosy, tuberculosis. He’s seen it all. And seen how medicine has changed over the years. This hour On Point: a veteran physician shares stories of getting to the right diagnosis.
Interview: 

Faking Your Memories (with Dr. Elizabeth Loftus) (Seth Andrews, The Thinking Atheist)

How reliable is our memory? Can fake memories be planted through suggestion? Cognitive psychologist Dr. Elizabeth Loftus is an expert on memory who has served as an expert witness or consultant in hundreds of memory-related cases, including the famous McMartin preschool trial, the Rodney King trial, litigation involving Michael Jackson, Martha Stewart and others. She joins Seth Andrews for an exploration of memory and the human brain.
Interview:
http://www.thethinkingatheist.com/podcast/faking-your-memories-with-dr-elizabeth-loftus

Newly Developed Nanotech 'Super Sponge' Removes Mercury from Water in Less Than 5 Seconds Which Could Make Effective Toxic Cleanup of Lakes Possible in the Future

Professor Abdennour Abbas and his lab team from the University of Minnesota College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Sciences (CFANS) created a sponge to address this growing problem. Within seconds, the sponge can absorb mercury from a polluted water source....
http://sciencenewsjournal.com/newly-developed-nanotech-super-sponge-removes-mercury-water-less-5-seconds-make-effective-toxic-cleanup-lakes-possible-future/


Vax or not to Vax

https://www.reddit.com/r/dankmemes/comments/61f7gj/vax_or_not_to_vax/



NY Rep. Maloney: More than half Planned Parenthood clinics are in underserved areas

...We were intrigued, however, by the claim that half of Planned Parenthood facilities are in rural or underserved areas. It’s a tricky thing to measure, but the evidence suggests the claim is sound....
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/mar/24/carolyn-maloney/ny-rep-maloney-most-planned-parenthood-clinics-are/


EXCLUSIVE DOCUMENTS: The disturbing secret history of the NYPD officer who killed Eric Garner

Official disciplinary records have been hidden from public scrutiny until now....
https://thinkprogress.org/daniel-pantaleo-records-75833e6168f3#.oby0blgvu


White supremacist charged with murder after traveling to NYC to kill a black man

The wave of hate crimes following Donald Trump’s election continues. James Harris Jackson, a white supremacist with connections to a documented hate group in Maryland, has been arrested and charged with second degree murder in the stabbing death of Timothy Caughman, a black man, in New York City. According to NBC 4 New York, authorities want to upgrade the charges against Jackson to a hate crime and first-degree murder, with police saying that Jackson traveled from Baltimore to New York to specifically attack black men:...
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/1646188


The Wall Street Journal: Death Rates Rise for Wide Swath of White Adults, Study Finds

In 2015, two economists published a landmark paper showing that mortality was rising for white middle-aged Americans after decades of decline. Now a new analysis from the same pair paints an even bleaker picture. ...
https://www.wsj.com/articles/death-rates-rise-for-wide-swath-of-white-adults-1490240740


U.S. settles with family of teen who died after being told to drink liquid meth by border officers

Immigration and human rights advocates have long complained about the lack of accountability when it comes to the culture of violence and excessive force among immigration agents, with a 2014 independent review confirming that border patrol agents “have deliberately stepped in the path of cars apparently to justify shooting at the drivers,” with “67 shooting incidents from January 2010 to October 2012.” Now the horrific 2013 case of Cruz Velazquez Acevedo, a Mexican teenager who died after he was told to drink liquid meth by Border Protection officers, adds to those claims. While Cruz’s family rightfully received a $1 million settlement for his death, neither officer was fired or even disciplined:...
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/1646131


Anti-Semitic Threats And Sectarian Splits (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

The first words out of President Trump’s mouth before Congress this week were about civil rights, threats against Jewish Community Centers, vandalism against Jewish cemeteries, and the shooting of an Indian immigrant in Kansas now being investigated as a hate crime. He condemned hate and evil. But a wave of threats and attacks has also coincided with his campaign and presidency. This hour On Point, a hate crime fever, and the role and reaction of President Trump. — Tom Ashbrook
Interview:
http://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2017/03/02/anti-semitic-threats-american

Reinventing Your Life, Your Career (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

Maybe it’s just me, but right now I have people I care about in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s, all thinking about reinventing their lives, their work, their careers. For some, it’s a new economy forcing change. For some, it’s dreams on hold. For some, it’s just an itch that “there must be something better.” How do people make those transitions? Successfully? That’s our subject. This hour On Point, reconfiguring, reinventing, your life, your career. -- Tom Ashbrook
Interview:
http://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2017/02/20/career-reinvention-midlife

Uncovering Presidential Secrets, From Washington To Trump (Terry Gross, Fresh Air)

Author Mary Graham discusses the confidences that presidents keep. When it comes to President Trump, she says: "I think we're seeing that it's not possible to keep policies secret in the digital age."
Interview:
http://www.npr.org/2017/02/20/515803768/uncovering-presidential-secrets-from-washington-to-trump

New Rules, Fresh Concern On Immigration (Joshua Johnson, 1A)

The president’s promise to get tough on immigration has taken an important step forward with the drafting and approval of new guidelines to give federal authorities more power to detain and deport undocumented immigrants.

Late last week, Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly signed a pair of memos outlining plans for the agency to hire thousands of additional enforcement agents, expand the pool of immigrants who are prioritized for removal, speed up deportation hearings and enlist local law enforcement to help make arrests. The new directives would supersede nearly all of those issued under previous administrations.

A White House official says the memos are drafts that are under review by the White House Counsel’s Office, which is seeking some changes. Regardless, the move has raised many questions and concerns about the immediate fate of millions of people who are in the country but are undocumented.
Interview:
http://the1a.org/shows/2017-02-21/new-rules-fresh-concern-on-immigration

Thursday, March 30, 2017

Trump: ‘We must fight’ hard-line conservative Freedom Caucus in 2018 midterm elections - The Washington Post

Interview:
https://youtu.be/InYEt5rvuv0

Michigan workers would pay their employers for the privilege of working. Thank you, GOP!

Michigan Senate votes to bring back job-creation tax breaks.
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20170329/NEWS01/170329787/michigan-senate-votes-to-bring-back-job-creation-tax-breaks

6 Changes The Trump Administration Can Still Make To Obamacare Without Congress

After seven years of trying, Republicans failed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act last week. That doesn't mean the health care drama is over, though. House Speaker Paul Ryan this week told donors that the party is "going to keep getting at this thing," according to The Washington Post. 

But whatever Ryan and his colleagues manage to do, plenty could still change in the Affordable Care Act. Last week's failed bill, after all, was only one part of the GOP's plan. The second part — making changes to regulations and how Obamacare is administered — doesn't even require Congress' help. And those changes could make or break the health law....
http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/03/29/521713002/6-changes-the-trump-administration-can-still-make-to-obamacare?ft=nprml&f=1001

Bernie Sanders Unloads on Trump's Rollback of Climate Protections: "It's an International Embarrassment"

The Vermont senator minces no words with the cast of "Morning Joe."...
http://www.alternet.org/environment/bernie-sanders-nails-biggest-irony-amid-trump-climate-fallout

House Republicans Say Repealing Obamacare Is Still the Plan. They’re Full of It.

Members of the House Republican conference returned to Washington from their weekend homes more determined than ever to do the people's business: covering their own asses....
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/03/the_pathetic_house_gop_attempts_to_deflect_blame_for_the_ahca_debacle.html

“It is pathetic”: Bernie Sanders slams Trump after ExxonMobil urges White House to abide by Paris climate accord - Salon

The largest oil company in the world understands more about climate change than the president of the United States...
http://www.salon.com/2017/03/29/it-is-pathetic-bernie-sanders-slams-trump-after-exxonmobil-urges-white-house-to-abide-by-paris-climate-accord/

Republicans move to Plan B after health care failure

Republicans insisted they had no "plan B" for their plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. But a few days later, after crashing into what might be the new third rail of American politics, Republicans are talking publicly and privately about ... plan B.

President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence spoke with several House members over the weekend to discuss a path forward, a senior administration official and Republican official with knowledge of the discussions told CNN. And House Speaker Paul Ryan -- despite saying Friday that "Obamacare is the law of the land" -- appears ready to keep going as well....
http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/28/politics/republicans-health-care/

Donald Trump's Ignorance Extends to Foreign Affairs. That's A Big Problem.

Germany's chancellor stood just a few feet away as President Donald Trump said her country's trade negotiators had done a much better job than American officials had, but he would change that. ...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-foreign-ignorance_us_58dbc105e4b0cb23e65d3d2a?

House Republicans cancel all hearings on Russian investigation, blame Democrats

Nunes and Gowdy say Democrats are obstructing things. They aren’t....
https://thinkprogress.org/nunes-gowdy-republicans-house-intelligence-obstruct-russia-investigation-964956237ed7

The last bastion of competent Republicans

Governing is easy if you don’t have to worry about the will of the people....
https://thinkprogress.org/the-last-bastion-of-competent-republicans-e4fc9bb1f6d1

Everything We Learned Today About The Senate Intel Committee’s Russia Probe

One thing was made crystal clear in a Wednesday press briefing on the Senate Intelligence Committee’s probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election: this investigation is a very big and very serious deal.

In an hour-long appearance, committee Chair Richard Burr (R-NC) and Vice-Chair Mark Warner (D-VA) framed their probe as one of most ambitious investigative efforts ever taken on by a congressional committee.

Burr, a 22-year veteran of Capitol Hill, framed the investigation as “one of the biggest” he’s seen in his tenure in Washington, D.C. Warner concurred, saying, “When we started this, we saw the scope, what was involved, I said it was the most important thing I have ever taken on in my public life. I believe that more firmly now.”...
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/burr-warner-presser-what-we-learned-senate-intelligence-russia-probe/


Tom Price Defends Trump Proposal To Cut Funding To Public Health And Research

President Donald Trump's plan to slash funding for biomedical research and public health agencies drew fury from lawmakers at a Congressional hearing on Wednesday.

But Health and Human Services secretary Tom Price defended the proposed 18% cut to his $80 billion agency before a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee.

“Our goal is to fashion a budget that focuses on the things that work and try to decrease the areas where there are duplications or redundancies,” Price said, adding that the goal included “a larger return for the taxpayer.”...
https://www.buzzfeed.com/nidhisubbaraman/budget-nih-price?utm_term=.gxkANaMMN#.fxamMRDDM

Senators, Please Ask Jared Kushner About 666 Fifth Avenue - Bloomberg

A Chinese financier has pulled out of a bailout for Trump's son-in-law. Now let's talk about his meetings with a Russian bank. ...
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-03-29/senators-please-ask-jared-kushner-about-666-fifth-avenue

Fact check: Medicaid’s doctor participation rates - USA TODAY

In seeking to repeal and replace the ACA, Tom Price has said "one out of every three physicians in this nation aren't seeing Medicaid patients. ...
...It’s a common criticism of the Medicaid program — that the doctor participation rate is lower than the rate for Medicare beneficiaries or the privately insured....
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/29/fact-check-medicaids-doctor-participation-rates/99793460/

Republicans rewrite Trumpcare, Obamacare history and it's time the media starts calling them on it

You'd think that having to keynote a big Republican dinner the weekend that Obamacare repeal died because of a complete and total fuck-up on the part of Republican leadership would be a cause for some reflection, maybe even some self-examination. If you're Colorado Republican Sen. Cory Gardner, apparently not. He was the keynote speaker at the Cuyahoga County Lincoln Day dinner this weekend, and apparently blew the crowd away with utter bullshit. At least that's what Robert Frost, GOP chairman for the county, said....
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/1647787


Bird Flu Is a Big Deal. Of Course Trump Wants to Defund the Best Way to Contain It.

The virus has now hit Georgia, the No. 1 poultry-producing state—and Trump plans to cut surveillance funds....
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2017/03/avian-flu-spreading-dont-tell-donald-trump


Donald Trump's border wall faces battle in Congress as White House unveils plan for $18 billion cuts in medical research and infrastructure to pay for it - The Telegraph

President Donald Trump is proposing immediate budget cuts of $18 billion from programmes like medical research, infrastructure and community grants so US taxpayers, not Mexico, can cover the down payment on the border wall. ...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/28/donald-trumps-border-wall-faces-battle-congress-white-house/

Top US coal boss Robert Murray: Trump 'can't bring mining jobs back'

The founder and chief executive of Murray Energy supports Donald Trump’s move to roll back Obama’s clean power plan but cautions the president to go easy on talk of a jobs revival...
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/mar/27/us-coal-industry-clean-power-plan-donald-trump?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+USA+-+Collections+2017&utm_term=219179&subid=22113254&CMP=GT_US_collection


Guy r/esisting by the Lincoln Memorial. - esist

https://www.reddit.com/r/esist/comments/61gsdp/guy_resisting_by_the_lincoln_memorial/




r/The_Donald logic - MarchAgainstTrump

https://www.reddit.com/r/MarchAgainstTrump/comments/61fo1e/rthe_donald_logic/


How to set up two-factor authentication for your Apple ID and iCloud account

It only takes a minute or two to set up....
http://www.macworld.com/article/3184650/ios/how-to-set-up-two-factor-authentication-for-your-apple-id-and-icloud-account.html#tk.rss_all


New to Netflix for April 2017 - IGN

A new season of Mystery Science Theater 3000, the return of The Get Down, Gremlins, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and more....
http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/03/22/new-to-netflix-for-april-2017


How to block spam and texts on your phone -- USA TODAY

Spam can come unknown numbers, advertising fake products and offers. You can stop it. ...
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/komando/2017/03/24/how-block-spam-and-texts-your-phone/99460648/







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