Thursday, February 29, 2024
Group linked to anti-abortion mega-donors pours money into Alabama supreme court race
Uihlein is a cardboard magnate whose Uline boxes are ubiquitous in commercial shipping. He is descended from the Schlitz beer fortune. The Uihleins are the second largest individual political donors in the country, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. In 2022, they donated more than $89m exclusively to Republicans.
The Uihleins are known for anti-abortion activism and election denialism. They donated heavily to Trump in 2016 and 2022. In 2022, they donated to multiple Trump-aligned candidates. This fall, they backed the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, in the Republican presidential primary, before he dropped out of the race. Trump is almost certain to seek their support in the upcoming general election...
Opinion | Why Is Trump Getting Special Treatment From the Supreme Court? - POLITICO
It is hard to see any legally sound reason why the Supreme Court should have decided to step in to hear Trump's implausible and constitutionally destructive claim for absolute criminal immunity — especially when it has refused to hear so many other criminal defendants' far more meritorious claims...
Make-Weight Charges (Allison Gill and Pete Strzok; Cleanup on Aisle 45 podcast episode #162)
This week, we have updates on many ongoing cases and sagas:
Plus updates in the Fulton County case.
Interview:
- Steve Bannon's motion to dismiss;
- the sanctions against Kraken lawyers;
- James Biden's testimony to the House;
- Alex Jones’ bankruptcy proceedings,
- and the Wisconsin Ethics Commission's recommendation of felony charges for several members of Trump’s Save America PAC.
Plus updates in the Fulton County case.
Interview:
Talking to Red-Pilled Friends and Loved Ones with Dr. Steven Hassan (Bradley Onishi and Daniel Miller; Straight White American Jesus podcast)
Brad welcomes Dr. Steven Hassan to discuss strategies for talking to red-pilled relatives who have gone down the rabbit holes of MAGA-ism, Q-Anon, and other forms of high-control religion and conspiracy. 
The author of the Cult of Trump and Combating Cult Mind Control, Dr. Hassan was member of the notorious Unification Church in the 1970s. Dr. Hassan experienced firsthand the devastating effects of undue influence and coercion. His escape from the church and subsequent recovery process inspired him to dedicate his life to understanding and exposing the deceptive tactics used by cults and manipulative groups.
Interview:
Tim Alberta on Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism (Al Franken podcast)
The author of the profoundly disturbing book The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory explains how evangelicals have been turned into a political tool for the Republican Party.
Alberta grew up in the evangelical wing of the Presbyterian Church and watched as they turned their back on him after he criticized Donald Trump.
How did the evangelical church turn so far towards right wing politics?
What exactly is an evangelical?
How can those voters ever be won back?
Interview:
The Longer the Better (feat. Steve Vladeck) (Andrew McCabe and Allison Gill; Jack: A Special Counsel podcast, Episode #65)
This week:
- Professor Steve Vladeck joins to discuss Trump’s immunity motion and the probable scenarios that are playing out within the SCOTUS;
- Trump files a plethora of motions in Florida;
- Carlos De Oliveira, co-defendant in the classified documents case, files a motion to dismiss;
- Governor Kemp reveals that he was interviewed by Jack Smith’s team;
- Smirnov is arrested;
- plus Allison and Andy answer a couple of listener questions.
Interview:
Biden’s doctor declares him “fit” and able to carry out his duties - The Washington Post
As Biden faces scrutiny over his age, his physician says he "fully executes all of his responsibilities without any exemptions or accommodations"…
Leaders in Congress agree to delay government shutdown deadlines - The Washington Post
Under this agreement between House and Senate leadership, funding for those departments and the Commerce, Justice and Interior departments would expire on March 8 instead, a week later than planned. Funding for the rest of the government, including the Defense and State departments, would be extended until March 22…
Appeals Court Quickly ENDS Trump’s Hope To Escape MASSIVE DEBT
A justice of the NY appellate court just DENIED Trump’s emergency motion to stay the enforcement of the NY Attorney General’s $450 million civil fraud judgment against his assets, then rejected his efforts to put up only $100 million bond...
The Most Hated American Woman In The 1960s. Hear Her Speak On TV.
This amazingly blunt television program aired locally in South Texas on a TV station in Austin. The two debaters were well known in America at the time and if you read below, both had extraordinarily complicated and disastrous experiences during their lifetimes. Could you imagine this program running on TV today?
Madalyn Murray O'Hair was an outspoken activist supporting atheism & separation of church and state. In 1963 she founded American Atheists & called herself a "militant feminist".
O'Hair was known for a lawsuit that challenged the policy of mandatory prayers & Bible reading in Baltimore public schools. The Supreme Court ruled that officially sanctioned mandatory Bible-reading in public schools was unconstitutional. In 1964 Life magazine called her as "the most hated woman in America"....
New program to help US local elections officials facing ‘death by 1,000 cuts’
The nonprofit's move comes as local elections officials report ongoing threatsand harassment, often stemming from mis- and disinformation spread by politicians. A stream of elections officials have left their jobs after enduring years of these attacks on their jobs. Some have seen the threats against them result in criminal charges for those who called, emailed or posted online claiming they'd injure or kill people running elections...
People Are Obsessed With This Michigan Voter’s Blunt Summary Of Trump On TV | HuffPost Latest News
"NATO is a bulwark against Russian aggression, and he was ready to walk out of that," Susan Titus said in a clip that aired on MSNBC amid Tuesday's primaries in the state.
She also pointed to the ways the former president treated "people of Muslim religious background" and "his dirty mouth."
"I think he's pretty much an asshole, to coin a phrase," she added…
Alabama judge says God opposes IVF, but religions have varying views - The Washington Post
The Religious Action Center, the Reform movement's advocacy arm, and Women of Reform Judaism said on X, formerly Twitter, that they jointly reject the Alabama court's assessment that "frozen embryos have equal rights to babies. … The AL court has prioritized one Christian theological interpretation of personhood, infringing on the religious freedom of many Reform Jews and others with different views."…
Wednesday, February 28, 2024
Michigan Dems Vote “Uncommitted” | Biden Talks Ceasefire Over Ice Cream, GOP targets birth control
President Biden’s awkward ice cream moment came one day before some Democrats in Michigan used their primary votes to protest his support of Israel’s actions in Gaza, while Republicans are pushing state-by-state birth control bans and blocked a bill that would have protected access to contraception nationwide.
Opinion | China’s Electric Vehicles Are Going to Hit Detroit Like a Wrecking Ball - The New York Times
What the United States is trying to do is really hard. We want to preserve the economic geography and institutions of our old fossil-powered economy while retooling it to work in a new zero-carbon world. There's no small amount of irony in the fact that all those involved here — Democrats, Republicans, major automakers — resent China for achieving what was once a goal of, well, hippies and environmentalists: making electric cars popular and cheap. But if they've done it, we can do it too. It will take grit and good-faith effort. We should assume that Ford and General Motors will be competing with BYD and Geely for decades to come, and we should relish that…
Key Witness in Trump Georgia Case Testifies on Timing of Willis-Wade Relationship - The New York Times
But Mr. Bradley testified in court on Tuesday that "I don't know when the relationship started," and that he "never witnessed anything."…
As Spending Talks Intensify, Johnson’s Bind Grows Tighter - The New York Times
"We said to the speaker, 'Get it done,'" Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the top Democrat in the Senate, said of the Oval Office meeting, referring to the aid package for Ukraine. "History is looking over your shoulder. And if you don't do the right thing, whatever the immediate politics are, you will regret it."…
Evaluating the anti-Biden case House Republicans offered on social media - The Washington Post
Instead, it shows that, after all of those months of effort, House Republicans still haven't proved anything of significance.
Let's walk through each of the 19 posts in the thread to show why...
Israel is deliberately starving Palestinians, UN rights expert says
Exclusive: UN special rapporteur on the right to food Michael Fakhri says denial of food is war crime and constitutes 'a situation of genocide'
Alabama is using the notion that embryos are people to surveil and harass women
Using this logic, police in Alabama, and particularly in rural Etowah county, north-east of Birmingham, have repeatedly jailed women for allegedly using drugs ranging from marijuana to meth while pregnant – including women who have claimed that they did not use drugs, and women who turned out not to be pregnant. In 2021, Kim Blalock, a mother of six, was arrested on felony charges after filling a doctor's prescription during a pregnancy; the state of Alabama decided that it knew better than her doctor, and they could criminalize her for following medical advice.
This is not an extreme example: it is the logical conclusion of fetal personhood's legalization – the surveillance, jailing and draconian monitoring of pregnant women, an exercise in voyeuristic sadism justified by the flimsy pretext that it's all being done for the good of children. Except there are no children. Lest this seem like an idea that will necessarily be corrected by political response, or by the ultimate intervention of a federal court on the question, remember that Samuel Alito's majority opinion in Dobbs referred repeatedly to "unborn human beings"…
Arizona GOP advances bill legalizing killing undocumented migrants on suspicion of trespassing
Arizona Republicans are advancing a bill that would allow people to legally kill someone accused of attempting to trespass or actively trespassing on their property.
Tuesday, February 27, 2024
‘Being a nun was the great love story of my life’: Catherine Coldstream on why she joined – then fled – a convent
For anyone with a fragile psyche, the severity of The Life could prove a tipping point: "A lot of people were sitting on mental disorders. There were a lot of breakdowns but you often didn't know until it had gone too far. It was a hothouse and tensions festered. For everybody, there was a danger of breakdown. It was not a balanced life." …
The John Birch Society’s Return to CPAC - The Atlantic
For Welch, the Warren Court was incontrovertible evidence of the Soviet mandate in motion, given its decision outlawing prayer in public schools and, crucially, its ushering of America into a racially desegregated future. Donations flooded in as the John Birch Society took aim at the civil-rights movement, the United Nations, local public libraries and school boards, and the diabolical plot apparently enshrouding all of them…
125 Republicans have backed antiabortion bill without IVF exception - The Washington Post
The antiabortion bill in the House has no provisions for processes like in vitro fertilization…
Does wage theft take $1 billion a year from workers in New York state? - PolitiFact
Wage theft occurs when "workers are denied their legally owed wages and benefits," said Rebecca Berke Galemba, an associate professor at the University of Denver's Josef Korbel School of International Studies.
Galemba said wage theft can take many forms, including being paid below minimum wage, being paid less than an employee's work agreement, a denial of overtime or meal or rest breaks, improper or illegal deductions from the worker's paycheck, the withholding of tips, the misclassification of workers and/or outright nonpayment of what workers are owed…
How to read a Supreme Court case: 10 tips for nonlawyers
"I have taught law to undergraduates for the past 12 years, so I am sympathetic to the nonlawyer's plight. Here are some techniques I teach my students to help them break a Supreme Court opinion into digestible parts. They should help you begin to understand what was decided, why and how in the important cases being considered by the court this term..."
Paul Ryan and Patrick McHenry are urging Mike Johnson to stop delaying funding bills - The Washington Post
Two GOP veterans are urging the new House speaker to make his own decisions and not kowtow to the far-right flank…
Jack Smith says Trump’s handling of classified docs was far worse than Biden’s - POLITICO
"The defendants have not identified anyone who has engaged in a remotely similar suite of willful and deceitful criminal conduct and not been prosecuted. Nor could they," assistant special counsel David Harbach wrote.
"Trump, unlike Biden, is alleged to have engaged in extensive and repeated efforts to obstruct justice and thwart the return of documents bearing classification markings," Harbach added. "And the evidence concerning the two men's intent — whether they knowingly possessed and willfully retained such documents — is also starkly different."…
U.S. State lawmaker calls LGBTQ+ community ‘filth’ | CNN
Oklahoma State Senator Tom Woods is under fire after calling LGBTQ+ people 'filth' during a public forum'…
BREAKING: Major UPDATE to surprise Trump-linked lawsuit
Marc Elias discusses Trump adviser Stephen Miller's organization withdrawing a major lawsuit in Arizona.
I went to CPAC as an anthropologist to understand Trump’s base − they believe, more than ever, he is a savior
Ultimately, CPAC conservatives believe Trump is their best bet to defeat the radical-left "desecrators" who seek to thwart him at every turn – including, as they constantly complained at CPAC, social media bans, "fake news" takedowns, rigged voting, bogus lawsuits, unfair justice, and lies about what they call the Jan. 6, 2021, "protest"…
Fossil Fuel Speculators Benefit Most From Pending LNG Terminals, Sticking U.S. Consumers with Higher Bills, Analysis Shows
Expanding liquefied methane (LNG) export infrastructure would primarily benefit Big Oil and speculators while harming US utility customers and causing a massive surge in climate pollution, according to a new report released today from Friends of the Earth, Public Citizen, and BailoutWatch...
Biden Administration Strengthens Health Standard for Soot Pollution
"This will help save lives today and improve the health of generations to come. Soot puts tens of millions of Americans at risk, disproportionately harming low-income communities and people of color. It's especially dangerous to children, the elderly and people coping with compromised health.
"The EPA is putting public health first by requiring polluters to cut soot from the air we all breathe."…
CFPB’s Proposed Overdraft Rule Would Protect Consumers
"The new overdraft rule will ensure that banks are no longer using predatory overdraft fees to profit from consumers. Most overdraft fees are taken from low-income households when they can least afford it. Commonsense regulations on these fees would protect consumers from surprise charges and fees that often exceed the amount borrowed. Enormous overdraft fees that burden low-income consumers should no longer line the pockets of bank CEOs."…
Chairman Sanders Announces HELP Committee Votes on Subpoenas for Johnson & Johnson and Merck CEOs
Sanders said: "It is absolutely unacceptable that the CEOs of Johnson & Johnson and Merck have refused an invitation by a majority of members on the HELP Committee to appear before Congress about the outrageously high price of prescription drugs. These CEOs may make tens of millions of dollars in compensation. The pharmaceutical companies they run may make billions in profits. But that does not give them a right to evade congressional oversight. It is time to hold these pharmaceutical companies accountable for charging the American people the highest prices in the world for the medicine they need. As the HELP Committee considers legislation to lower prescription drug prices, it is critical that these CEOs explain how they determine the price of medicine in the United States."…
Manufacturers of 10 Drugs Slated for Medicare Price Negotiation Spent Billions More on Buybacks, Dividends and Executive Compensation than R&D
"The industry tells us that Medicare price negotiations will make it hard to research and develop new drugs. What they leave out is that many are already spending far more to make their executives and shareholders rich than on R&D," said Peter Maybarduk, Access to Medicines program director at Public Citizen. "When these corporations complain about the impact of price negotiations on innovation, we should be deeply skeptical."…
Monday, February 26, 2024
Why Pro-Life Arguments Fail | Belief It Or Not
With Roe V. Wade under threat I thought I’d talk about how we got here and why the pro-life arguments fail.
How much illegal immigration costs to local cities
Reality check: A new first-of-its-kind federal study found that refugees and asylum seekers have historically had a net positive fiscal impact in the U.S.
The Department of Health and Human Services found that refugees and asylum seekers who entered the country between 2005 and 2019 generated nearly $124 billion in net federal, state and local government revenues — after taking into account the costs of caring for them...
Former CIA Director explains how Russia is using 'Republican lawmakers as tools’
Former CIA Director John Brennan joins The Weekend to discuss the FBI informant charged with lying to investigators about President Biden and Hunter Biden...
Trump ‘would’ve lost mind completely’ if Putin admitted interference, Fiona Hill says
"In many conversations around the edges of the conference," Hill said, "the prime ministers and presidents and foreign ministers and others … all know how capricious Trump is. And that's really what they're worried about, because it doesn't matter how many people that they know who become secretary of state or secretary of defense, it comes down to Trump himself and the unpredictability of his personality," she said.
"And the result is that they have started to lose faith in the United States. And it's very distressing to hear."…
Wisconsin’s extreme gerrymandering era ends as new maps come into force
Although state is one most competitive in US, Republicans had been guaranteed control of legislature for over a decade…
Immigration, Ukraine distrust and January 6 games: Republican agenda on display at CPAC
Gathering has effectively become The Trump Show as the fringe has moved to the center of the Republican party…
Trump Makes STUNNING CONFESSION in ILL-FATED Motion
MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on Donald Trump’s latest motion to dismiss before Judge Aileen Cannon where he admits to the essential elements of the crimes he has been charged with but says he can do whatever he wants.
Gavin Newsom: Biden’s age is an asset - POLITICO
The California Democrat appeared on "Meet the Press" as a top White House surrogate to tout President Biden's record and pitch a second term...
Deal to dodge government shutdown appears to stall amid GOP policy demands - The Washington Post
With some federal funding set to expire in less than a week, House Republican policy demands — on issues ranging from LGBTQ rights and abortion to national security concerns on immigration and competition from China — have slowed talks that had appeared to be close to yielding a breakthrough. Lawmakers abandoned tentative plans to announce legislative text on a deal Sunday evening...
Sunday, February 25, 2024
The News Roundup – Domestic (The 1A) 2024-02-23
This week the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that embryos were children, establishing a legal precedent that will affect reproductive rights in the state. The court argued that the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act “applies to all children, born and unborn, without limitation.”
The Biden administration is weighing action to make it more difficult for migrants at the southern border to pass initial screenings for asylum; and to make it easier for those who don’t pass the screening to be deported.
In election news, the Biden election campaign continued to amass cash. The president raised $42 million during the month of January. Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Biden’s campaign manager, said the amount was “an indisputable show of strength to start the election year.”
Interview:
The Biden administration is weighing action to make it more difficult for migrants at the southern border to pass initial screenings for asylum; and to make it easier for those who don’t pass the screening to be deported.
In election news, the Biden election campaign continued to amass cash. The president raised $42 million during the month of January. Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Biden’s campaign manager, said the amount was “an indisputable show of strength to start the election year.”
Interview:
Marriage is not as effective an anti-poverty strategy as you’ve been led to believe
Policymakers know how to solve child poverty – and these measures are far more effective than efforts to put two married parents in every household…
It’s In the Code Ep. 87: “With All Apologies” (Bradley Onishi and Daniel Miller; Straight White American Jesus podcast)
The doctrine of inerrancy isn’t convincing philosophically, theologically, or factually. Yet it remains a cornerstone of belief within a conservative Christian circles. What explains its persistence?
In this episode, Dan begins exploring this issue by suggesting that the doctrine of inerrancy, despite all of its intellectual failings, speaks to a deeply felt need within a particular kind of religious adherent, and that this is one significant reason it persists. Check this week’s episode to hear more.
Interview:
God or Country? (Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, Freethought Radio podcast)
FFRF's Equal Justice Works Legal Fellow Kat Grant describes the amicus (friend-of-the-court) brief they wrote for FFRF in a case involving an Oregonian Christian who is challenging the law prohibiting her from discriminating against LGBTQ+ children in the adoption process.
Then, we talk about the new documentary film "God and Country,” produced by Rob Reiner, that warns against the looming threat of Christian nationalism.
Interview:
Trump's Legal Challenges, Explained (Tonya Mosley; Fresh Air podcast)
New York Times reporter Alan Feuer is part of a team covering Trump's legal battles. The first of four criminal case trials against the former president is expected to start March 25.
Interview:
Sam Alito’s Fake Christian Persecution (Hemant Mehta and Jessica Bluemke, The Friendly Atheist podast #519)
— Alabama Supreme Court cites “wrath of a holy God” while claiming frozen embryos are “children.” (0:43)
— Sam Alito is big mad that anti-gay Christians were struck from the jury in a case about a lesbian. (29:57)
— Former Hillsong leader Brian Houston insists he wasn’t searching for “ladies and girls” online. (47:42)
— Texas school board trustees snuck an evangelical film crew into a public school. (1:01:18)
— Congress members call out “ill-qualified hate preacher” who gave invocation. (1:09:07)
Interview:
— Sam Alito is big mad that anti-gay Christians were struck from the jury in a case about a lesbian. (29:57)
— Former Hillsong leader Brian Houston insists he wasn’t searching for “ladies and girls” online. (47:42)
— Texas school board trustees snuck an evangelical film crew into a public school. (1:01:18)
— Congress members call out “ill-qualified hate preacher” who gave invocation. (1:09:07)
Interview:
The Power Worshippers (w/Katherine Stewart) (Conspirituality podcast, Episode #194)
January 6, 2021. MAGA hats, tactical gear, American flags, poles turned into clubs. Another flag appears: white, with a blue corner square containing a red Latin cross. Another that proclaims “Jesus is King.”
If you’re agnostic or atheist, you might get that old familiar feeling. Horror at the irrational devotion, nausea at the toxic masculine violence that justifies itself as holy.
But what if you recognize that Protestant flag from your own church sanctuary? What if you recognize in that mob people from your church choir? Will you wonder how their faith was replaced by conspiracy theories, and how their Jesus turned into Trump?
That’s the question posed by “God & Country,” a new documentary by Dan Partland and produced by Rob Reiner, based on the book The Power Worshippers by Katherine Stewart. Stewart is an investigative reporter and author who has covered religious liberty, politics, policy, and education for over a decade. Her journalism appears in the NY Times, NBC, the New Republic, and the New York Review of Books. She joins us today to discuss the dangers of growing Christian Nationalism in America.
Interview:
If you’re agnostic or atheist, you might get that old familiar feeling. Horror at the irrational devotion, nausea at the toxic masculine violence that justifies itself as holy.
But what if you recognize that Protestant flag from your own church sanctuary? What if you recognize in that mob people from your church choir? Will you wonder how their faith was replaced by conspiracy theories, and how their Jesus turned into Trump?
That’s the question posed by “God & Country,” a new documentary by Dan Partland and produced by Rob Reiner, based on the book The Power Worshippers by Katherine Stewart. Stewart is an investigative reporter and author who has covered religious liberty, politics, policy, and education for over a decade. Her journalism appears in the NY Times, NBC, the New Republic, and the New York Review of Books. She joins us today to discuss the dangers of growing Christian Nationalism in America.
Interview:
It’s In the Code Ep. 87: “With All Apologies” (Bradley Onishi and Daniel Miller; Straight White American Jesus podcast)
The doctrine of inerrancy isn’t convincing philosophically, theologically, or factually. Yet it remains a cornerstone of belief within a conservative Christian circles.
What explains its persistence?
In this episode, Dan begins exploring this issue by suggesting that the doctrine of inerrancy, despite all of its intellectual failings, speaks to a deeply felt need within a particular kind of religious adherent, and that this is one significant reason it persists. Check this week’s episode to hear more.
Interview:
Saturday, February 24, 2024
The science of IVF: What to know about Alabama's 'extrauterine children' ruling
Here's what you need to know about the science of how the IVF process works – and how the ruling could affect its future...
Netanyahu post-war vision of Gaza involves total Israeli security control - The Washington Post
"The Palestinian Authority is simply ignored, rendering it as if it doesn't exist," political analyst Mustafa Ibrahim told The Washington Post from Rafah, in southern Gaza, where he is sheltering with his family. "What Netanyahu's plan presents is a vision solely centered around Israel and its interests, with no regard for the humanity or rights of Palestinians."…
Doctors shocked and angry as Alabama ruling throws IVF care into turmoil
Declaration that IVF embryos are 'extrauterine children' means 'literally criminalizing standard medical care', physicians say…
How you can tell propaganda from journalism − let’s look at Tucker Carlson’s visit to Russia
"Ultimately, the distinction between journalism and propaganda is the difference between Gershkovich and Carlson.
Gershkovich sits in a Russian prison for investigating the truth about Putin's Russia in service to the American public and his employer. Carlson flies around the world praising authoritarian leaders such as Hungary's Viktor Orban, while "rooting" for dictators like Vladimir Putin when they attack their neighbors. "Why shouldn't I root for Russia? Which I am," he said in 2019 about the Ukraine-Russian conflict.
To expose abusive governmental power and hold it accountable "to the opinions of mankind" is literally written in America's Declaration of Independence. To travel abroad praising dictatorships for their subways and cheeseburgers while ignoring their murderousness, and to return "radicalized … against our leaders" because foreign supermarket prices are low, is certainly not journalism. It is propaganda..."
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