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Quote:During a Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control hearing Tuesday about how the Department of Justice is monitoring the effects of marijuana legalization in states like Colorado and Washington, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) bemoaned that years of work “trying to send that message with clarity that good people don’t smoke marijuana” hasn’t resonated. Depending on how you define things, that means that either 44 percent or 11 percent of Americans are baddies. According to a Gallup survey from last summer, those respective percentages represent the proportion of citizens who have tried marijuana and those who say they use it regularly.
If You’ve Smoked Pot, This Senator Doesn’t Think You Are A ‘Good Person' | ThinkProgress
Quote:A few days after voting to kill a proposal to protect LGBT individuals from discrimination in Nebraska, Republican state Sen. Bill Kintner took to talk radio to explain why “men in dresses” don’t deserve protected class status. What followed was a heated discussion of LGBT rights, marked by level of candor rarely seen in national politics. Kintner argued that there are no problems with discrimination in Nebraska; that the Constitution allows people to violate gay individuals’ civil rights; and that businesses should be able to “make it known” if they don’t want to serve LGBT people by providing them with bad service.
Lawmaker Delivers Mind-Bending Series Of Arguments Against LGBT Protections | ThinkProgress
Quote:In light of that, President Obama asked in February for about $1.9 billion in emergency funds to combat Zika — funding that would go toward mosquito control programs, vaccine research, and health care for low-income pregnant women. But Republicans in Congress balked at the idea of appropriating that extra money. For weeks, getting Zika-specific money has been a top priority for the United States’ leading medical officials, who urged Congress to approve the president’s proposed $1.9 package. The heads of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) warned that they’re being forced to scrounge up money from existing programs, like other efforts to prevent HIV and dengue fever.
Republicans In Congress Are Setting Up The World For A Public Health Disaster | ThinkProgress
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Quote:Since 2001, nearly 1,000 bills that would tighten voting laws have been introduced in 46 states. 24 voting restrictions have passed in 17 states since 2011. This fall, new laws could affect more than 5 million voters in states representing 179 of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. In the past two years, 5 battleground states (Florida, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) have tightened their voting laws. As of April, 74 restrictive voting laws were on the table in 24 states... Between 2000 and 2010, there were: 649 million votes cast in general elections 47,000 UFO sightings 441 Americans killed by lightning 13 credible cases of in-person voter impersonation
UFO Sightings Are More Common Than Voter Fraud | Mother Jones
Quote:Trent Lott and Tom Daschle make an unlikely pair. Trent is gregarious, talkative and loud. Tom is retiring, mild-mannered and quiet. Interview them together and their differences are pronounced. But what makes them almost unheard of as a couple is that Lott is a Republican and Daschle is a Democrat. Specifically they are both former leaders of their respective parties in the US Senate. They believe they were in US government at a time when it actually worked, when Republicans and Democrats certainly disagreed but it didn't stop them co-operating in order to get things done. That was the 80s and 90s - even the first few years of this century. But in American politics today, functioning, supportive, respectful bipartisan teams are like dodos - they simply don't exist anymore. Which is exactly why these two men, who have spent more than 50 years between them in Congress, have decided to work together to try to fix this broken system. Their new book Crisis Point is the result.
Two former senators want to undo US political 'crisis point' - BBC NewsBillionaire VC says that most companies will eventually pay an Amazon 'tax' - Yahoo Finance
Quote:The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) faces intensifying criticism for its finding that hydraulic fracturing has no "widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water" — and the pushback comes not from activists, but from the agency's own science advisors.
Scientists disagree over EPA fracking ruling - Business Insider
Quote:Of course, the US is not the only country where fringe demagogues are now poisoning mainstream politics. Religious language is less often heard in Western Europe, but all the more in parts of Eastern Europe, Turkey, and Israel. And the message of populism is similar everywhere in the democratic world: Liberal elites are to be blamed for all our ills and anxieties, from Europe’s refugee crisis to the inequities of the global economy, from “multiculturalism” to the rise of radical Islam.
An Unhinged Democracy in America by Ian Buruma - Project Syndicate
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Quote:A majority of science teachers across the country are teaching their students about climate change – but a significant number are teaching incorrect science, such as the notion that rising temperatures are attributable to "natural" causes. That’s the conclusion of a major survey of US middle and high school science teachers, the results of which were published in the journal Science this week by Eric Plutzer of Penn State and collaborators from Wright State University and the National Center for Science Education.
A startling number of high school teachers are misleading students on climate change - Vox
Quote:As little as a few specks of lead in the water children drink or in flakes of paint that come off the walls of old houses and are ingested can change the course of a life. The amount of lead dust that covers a thumbnail is enough to send a child into a coma or into convulsions leading to death. It takes less than a tenth of that amount to cause IQ loss, hearing loss, or behavioral problems like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and dyslexia. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the government agency responsible for tracking and protecting the nation's health, says simply, "No safe blood lead level in children has been identified."
It’s Not Just Flint. There’s an Ugly History of Lead Poisoning and the Poor in the US. | Mother Jones
Quote:On Friday, Southern California’s air quality board voted during a closed-door meeting to forcefully roll back pollution regulations in favor of regulations backed by oil refineries and other polluters. At the same time, the board also voted to dismiss their executive officer Barry Wallerstein, who had presided over the board since 1997. The South Coast Air Quality Management District board manages pollution in a four-county region of Southern California, including some of the most polluted areas in the country.
In One Of The Most Polluted Places In America, Air Quality Board Weakens Pollution Rules | ThinkProgress
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Quote:A group of 20 senators and representatives has formed a de facto “anti-parks caucus” in Congress and is waging the most significant legislative and ideological challenge to America’s national parks in decades, says a new report released Monday by the Center for American Progress. The analysis finds that this anti-parks caucus is composed of less than five percent of Congress but is responsible for introducing dozens of bills to block the creation of new national parks, end America’s most effective parks program, and sell off public lands.
National Parks Face New 'Anti-Parks Caucus' In Congress | ThinkProgress
Quote:In 1980, after long consultation with some of America’s most senior nutrition scientists, the US government issued its first Dietary Guidelines. The guidelines shaped the diets of hundreds of millions of people. Doctors base their advice on them, food companies develop products to comply with them. Their influence extends beyond the US. In 1983, the UK government issued advice that closely followed the American example. The most prominent recommendation of both governments was to cut back on saturated fats and cholesterol (this was the first time that the public had been advised to eat less of something, rather than enough of everything). Consumers dutifully obeyed. We replaced steak and sausages with pasta and rice, butter with margarine and vegetable oils, eggs with muesli, and milk with low-fat milk or orange juice. But instead of becoming healthier, we grew fatter and sicker.
The sugar conspiracy | Ian Leslie | Society | The Guardian
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Quote:Late in February, a curious incident happened at a basketball game between two high schools just outside Des Moines—one mostly white, the other mostly Hispanic—where white students hurled the phrase “Trump, Trump, Trump!” at their opponents. Not long after, something similar happened in Indiana at another basketball game: Students from the predominately white Andrean High School in Merrillville, while holding aloft a big cutout of Trump’s head, shouted “Build a wall! Build a wall!” at Bishop Noll Institute’s predominantly Hispanic players and fans. The taunted students responded by yelling back: “You’re a racist!” Luckily, neither of these episodes escalated into physical violence. But they testified to the way Trumpism is rippling out across society, far beyond the political arena—and being felt even in such banal, ordinary settings as high school hoops contests.
Republic of Fear | New Republic
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Quote:As Cleveland prepares to host the Republican National Convention this summer, it's bidding on millions of dollars of security equipment and tactical gear for its police. Cleveland and Philadelphia, which will host the convention, each received $50 million in federal money to cover the security costs associated with the conventions. Cleveland projects to spend $20 million of that on security equipment and supplies and $30 million on "personnel-related expenditures." Philadelphia has not yet announced how it will use the money.
Cleveland is spending $20 million in federal money on riot and security gear for the Republican convention - Vox
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Quote:We often hear how damaging welfare dependency is, stifling initiative and corroding the human soul. So I worry about the way we coddle executives in their suites. A study to be released Thursday says that for each dollar America’s 50 biggest companies paid in federal taxes between 2008 and 2014, they received $27 back in federal loans, loan guarantees and bailouts. Goodness! What will that do to their character? Won’t that sap their initiative?
The Real Welfare Cheats - The New York Times
Quote:Maximizing airline shareholder value means minimizing passenger comfort, and GOP senators vote to keep it that way. The amendment was defeated, but no one actually rose to speak against it. That was because the measure’s opponents couldn’t come up with a defense of their position that didn’t sound absurd. Last week, as it considered a bill that would re-authorize funding for the Federal Aviation Administration, the Senate defeated an amendment by Democrat Chuck Schumer, of New York, that would have blocked airlines from reducing the “size, width, padding, and pitch” of airline seats, the legroom between seats, and the width of the aisles. It would also have required the FAA to set minimum standards for the space airlines provide passengers to ensure their “safety, health, and comfort.”
Republicans Against Legroom
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Quote:When Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine discovered that Planned Parenthood was, in fact, not responsible for selling fetal tissue in the state — the smear at the heart of a right-wing campaign seeking to discredit the national women’s health organization — he was the last to admit it. Downplaying the finding that cleared Planned Parenthood of wrongdoing, DeWine instead quickly blamed local clinics for something entirely unrelated, hoping to distract Ohioans with an emotional appeal about the horror of abortion. “In the course of our investigation, we learned that aborted fetuses are ultimately disposed of in landfill sites — apparently intermingled with other common residential and commercial trash,” DeWine wrote in a December letter to state Department of Health Director Richard Hodges.
GOP States Have Found A New Way To Shame Women For Getting An Abortion | ThinkProgress
Quote:“In our society, have we reached a point where there is an Amazon.com for baby parts, including entire babies?” Rep. Diane Black ® asked at one point. No one knew quite how to answer. The hearing was scheduled after a anti-abortion group created a series of videos that claimed Planned Parenthood profited off selling baby tissue — a campaign that sparked investigations into the organization across the country. According to chair Rep. Marsha Blackburn, the Tennessee Republican who led the recent congressional fight to defund Planned Parenthood, the purpose of the hearing was to discuss “ethical issues that surround procuring and selling baby body parts” — an illegal act that Planned Parenthood never participated in, according to each of the nearly 30 states that have investigated the health organization.
GOP's First Hearing On 'Baby Parts' Quickly Goes Off The Rails | ThinkProgress
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Quote:The overwhelmingly sympathetic crowd—this was invitation only—murmured in agreement and chuckled at her anecdotes about liberal “fearmongering.” Palin wasted no time, attacking “Bill Nye the Science Guy.” (Nye, a science educator, is the host of a popular children’s science show.) “Bill Nye is as much a scientist as I am,” Palin said. “He’s a kids’ show actor, he’s not a scientist.”
Sarah Palin Weirdly Attacks Bill Nye The Science Guy - Fortune
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Quote:Not only did Kasich’s remark place the onus for preventing assault entirely on the victim, it also perpetuates the disproved myth that there is a direct link between alcohol consumption and rape. In fact, incidents of rape have been declining since 1979, while binge drinking has been steadily rising during the same time period. While alcohol is present in about half of all sexual assaults, it’s also present in about that same percentage of all violent crimes. Oddly, government officials never tell victims of armed robberies to avoid alcohol.
John Kasich Tells Woman Asking About Sexual Assault To Avoid Parties With Alcohol | ThinkProgress
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