August 31, 2018

Gillum today: "Healthcare is a right."

https://twitter.com/andrewgillum/status/1035239841959739399?s=21

Boom.

Full stop.

No qualifications. No equivocations.

Not "access to private health insurance is a right." Not "health insurance coverage is a right."

"Healthcare is a right."

Imagine where our party could be if more Democrats would fully, wholeheartedly embrace this position. People are pleading for it. Hell, people are literally dying, every day, for lack of it.

More Democrats like Andrew Gillum, please.

March 21, 2018

Federal judge rips Kobach at contempt hearing (ACLU trial - Kansas Motor Voter)

For anyone who hasn't been following this trial closely, you're missing out . . . . a constant comedy of errors by Kobach, and just today, a hearing on whether the court should find Kobach in contempt:

"Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach could be facing a contempt order from a federal court after a judge on Tuesday tore into the Kansas Republican about repeatedly skirting her orders.

U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson chastised Kobach, a candidate for governor, at a contempt hearing for suggesting that her previous orders have left any room for ambiguity.

"I've had to police this over and over and over again,” Robinson said with frustration during the hearing in Kansas City, Kan."

---snip---

"Robinson will rule in the near future whether to hold Kobach in contempt of court and will separately rule on the overall case, which will determine whether thousands can cast ballots this November when Kansas elects a new governor."

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article206025749.html#storylink=cpy

May 20, 2016

Snopes weighs in on Camp Clinton's chair throwing claim. Conclusion? UNPROVEN.

CLAIM: Angry Bernie Sanders supporters threw chairs during an adversarial Nevada Democrat convention in May 2016.

UNPROVEN

WHAT'S TRUE: Video captured during the Nevada Democrats' convention depicts a man briefly picking up a chair before placing it back down without throwing it.

WHAT'S FALSE: Despite extensive YouTube, Periscope, and photographic documentation captured by supporters of both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, no available images document anyone's throwing chairs at the Nevada convention.

*************************

more available at the link:

http://www.snopes.com/did-sanders-supporters-throw-chairs-at-nevada-democratic-convention/

October 20, 2015

Four-year old shot in the head in Albuquerque road rage incident

Shooter is still at large. The little girl is in critical condition.

http://www.abqjournal.com/662728/abqnewsseeker/interstate-40-westbound-closed-at-unser.html

I no longer understand the country I live in when incidents like this are tolerated. Going home soon to hug my six-year old very, very tightly.

UPDATED: additional information on the little girl's condition:

http://gawker.com/4-year-old-in-critical-condition-after-new-mexico-road-1737683930

UPDATED x2: Local news is reporting the little girl has died.

http://krqe.com/2015/10/20/albuquerque-police-4-year-old-shot-in-the-head-i-40-at-unser-shut-down/

Rest in peace, angel baby.

August 3, 2014

My favorite Eric Cantor website (warning: funny)

It has come to my attention that some of you have not yet seen this brilliant website:

http://ericcantorsbitchface.tumblr.com/

If the creator is a DUer, my eternal gratitude and thanks.

Happy Sunday!

December 8, 2012

WalMart: License to Kill?

Has anyone else been paying attention to the Escalating number of people WalMart security guards have killed in the last several weeks for shoplifting offenses? There's another one in the news today, and it seems like there have been a dozen or so executed on the spot by WalMart security guards since Black Friday.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2245074/Walmart-security-guard-shoots-shoplifting-mother-dead-parking-lot-tries-escape-young-children.html

Why is this being allowed to continue with impunity? Since when do we allow corporations to summarily play cop, judge, jury and executioner for misdemeanor offenses with nary a peep of public outrage?

April 4, 2012

SYG laws in a vacuum are not the only problem.

I see many folks here arguing that the Trayvon Martin case only illustrates the absurdity of Stand Your Ground laws, without race being part of that picture.

But the statistics on "justifiable homicides," which is how SYG killings are categorized, tell a different story and reflect a clear race-based imbalance in their application.

According to the ABA Journal:

"Justifiable homicides are increasing, especially in states with “stand your ground” laws, even as the overall U.S. homicide rate is falling.

From 2000 to 2010, justifiable homicides rose from 176 to 326, an 85 percent increase, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. The category includes killings categorized as justifiable by police and prosecutors, and those in which defendants win at trial based on the claim.

Among all homicides, when races differ, the victim is more often white. In justifiable homicides, when races differ, the victim is more often black."

http://www.abajournal.com/mobile/article/justifiable_homicides_rise_especially_in_states_with_stand_your_ground_laws/

Part of the problem here, clearly, is the SYG laws themselves. But, as in every other aspect of the criminal justice system, how those laws are applied reflects racist attitudes that are still far too prevalent in our society. And that is a legitimate and germane part of this conversation.