demmiblue
demmiblue's JournalThis is so bad. We have just gotten list of amendments to be included in bill NOT from our R colleag
This is so bad. We have just gotten list of amendments to be included in bill NOT from our R colleagues, but from lobbyists downtown. None of us have seen this list, but lobbyists have it. Need I say more? Disgusting. And we probably will not even be given time to read them.
2:29 PM - 1 Dec 2017
This is just insane!
Walmart takes down T-shirt about killing journalists
Source: The Hill
Visitors to Walmart's website could purchase a shirt calling for violence against journalists, up until the retail giant took the shirt down on Thursday.
“Rope. Tree. Journalist. Some assembly required," the back of the shirt available on their website read, a reference to hanging journalists.
The shirt was only removed from Walmart’s website after The Radio Television Digital News Association sent a letter to the retailer about the shirt, according to the group.
The shirt made headlines last year when a Trump supporter was spotted wearing it at a Trump rally in Minnesota days before the 2016 election.
http://thehill.com/homenews/media/362608-walmartcom-stops-selling-rope-tree-journalist-t-shirt
How in the world did they think it was acceptable to sell the shirt in the first place?!
McCain to vote for GOP tax bill
Source: Politico
The Arizona senator’s support provides a major lift to the bill’s prospects.
By SEUNG MIN KIM
11/30/2017 10:59 AM EST
Updated 11/30/2017 11:26 AM EST
Sen. John McCain said Thursday that he would back the Senate GOP tax legislation, clearing away another obstacle for Republican leadership as they move to pass a massive tax code overhaul by week's end.
The Arizona Republican, who helped tank the party’s Obamacare repeal efforts earlier this year, has been a major question mark for weeks on the tax measure. He raised some general concerns about ballooning the deficit — one reason he voted against the Bush tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 — but stressed in his statement that he believed the tax measure would ultimately boost the economy and ease deficit issues.
“I believe this legislation, though far from perfect, would enhance American competitiveness, boost the economy, and provide long overdue tax relief for middle class families,” McCain said in a statement. “This is not a perfect bill, but it is one that would deliver much-needed reform to our tax code, grow the economy, and help Americans keep more of their hard-earned money.”
Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/30/mccain-to-vote-for-gop-tax-bill-270511
https://twitter.com/SenJohnMcCain/status/936263685290516480
Writer Jenny Lumet: Russell Simmons Sexually Violated Me (Guest Column)
The screenwriter of 'Rachel Getting Married' and 'The Mummy' (and the daughter of filmmaker Sidney Lumet) details a terrifying encounter with the legendary music producer, who says he is stepping down from his businesses in the wake of the new claims.Source: Hollywood Reporter
On Nov. 22, 2017, Russell Simmons wrote:
“I have never committed any acts of aggression or violence in my life. I would never knowingly cause fear or harm to anyone.”
Dear Russell:
I met you around 1987, through Rick Rubin, who has always been kind to me. Rick knew my sister through N.Y.U. and asked me, at the upstairs bar in a nightclub called the Palladium, to be in a movie you were producing that Rick was directing, starring RUN DMC. It was, frankly, a lousy movie and I was terrible in it.
Over the next three or four years, I would see you out and about, at a nightclub called Nell’s, mostly. I don’t recall you and I ever just going out to dinner, or having a one-to-one experience; we were always in groups, and we had many, many mutual friends. You were charming and funny and charismatic and self-deprecating. Not being in the music business made it possible for me to relax around you. And you were a fan of my grandmother, respected her, and told me so. You seemed sincere.
Read more: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/writer-jenny-lumet-russell-simmons-sexually-violated-me-guest-column-1062934?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=THR%20Breaking%20News_2017-11-30%2006:30:00_jstrause&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_breakingnews
New Zealand Examines Matt Lauer's Ranch Purchase After His Firing
Source: NYT
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — The ripples from the firing of Matt Lauer as the co-host of the “Today” morning news show have hit the world of New Zealand property, where officials are already scrutinizing the role of foreign buyers in an increasingly expensive market.
A New Zealand government agency said on Thursday that it was in discussions with Mr. Lauer’s representative over his purchase of a 16,000-acre farm there. Foreigners must pass a good-character test to be allowed to buy New Zealand land, and while Mr. Lauer’s purchase was approved earlier this year, the country’s Overseas Investment Office is revisiting his case in light of his firing.
Officials from that agency “are seeking further information,” said Lisa Barrett, a spokeswoman for the agency. The agency can require buyers to dispose of the property if it believes the rules have been violated.
NBC on Wednesday said it fired Mr. Lauer from “Today” following an allegation of sexual harassment, making him the latest major media figure to fall from grace amid a broad examination in the United States of inappropriate sexual behavior in the worlds of media and entertainment. Mr. Lauer, a well-known face on morning television in the United States, had been a co-host at “Today” for two decades.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/30/business/matt-lauer-new-zealand.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur
How techs rampant misogyny was exposed by a tawdry awards ceremony
The recent Digital Entrepreneur Awards featured women in corsets and dated sexist jokes. It was a stark reminder of how women are viewed in the industrySource: The Guardian
That’s not always the case, however, as the debacle that was the Digital Entrepreneur Awards (DEA) neatly illustrates. No high-tech displays or feats of ingenuity here: instead, guests were greeted by corset-wearing showgirls and regaled with offensive jokes from Love Island voiceover star Iain Stirling. Apple keynote this was not.
A team from the University of Bradford has even handed back the prize it was awarded for most innovative use of video. The director of external affairs at the university, Mark Garratt, told the Times that attending the event was like “going back to the days of Bernard Manning”. Digital comms agency Lab – DEA’s agency of the year – described the event as “like seeing toxic waste being dumped on a beautiful beach”.
A friend of mine was also there. “The show basically revolved around ‘jokes’ about wives giving blowjobs to their husbands,” she told me. “They had an opportunity to challenge the stereotypes of working in tech and they failed. They failed massively.”
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/nov/30/misogyny-tech-ceremony-women-digital-entrepreneur-awards?CMP=twt_gu
London mayor: Cancel Trumps visit over anti-Muslim tweets
Source: The Hill
London Mayor Sadiq Khan slammed President Trump on Thursday, saying he should not be welcomed in the U.K. after retweeting a series of videos from the a leader of an ultranationalist party that appear to show Muslims engaging in violent acts.
President Trump has used Twitter to promote a vile, extremist group that exists solely to sow division and hatred in our country. It's increasingly clear that any official visit from President Trump to Britain would not be welcomed. pic.twitter.com/oZ1Kt0JCfY
— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) November 30, 2017
Khan, who is Muslim, said an official visit by Trump to the U.K. “would not be welcomed" and said the president is touting “a vile, extremist group," according to The Associated Press.
Trump early Wednesday retweeted the violent, anti-Muslim videos from the British First Party's Jayda Fransen.
Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/international/362503-london-mayor-cancel-trumps-visit-over-anti-muslim-tweets?rnd=1512045240
Dear Congress, my #DreamForTheHolidays is to bring #TPS back. If you do, I'll be a great person!
https://twitter.com/WomenBelong/status/936078582975213569
Matt Lauer: 'To the people I have hurt, I am truly sorry'
Source: CNN
A day after NBC announced his termination, Matt Lauer said Thursday that he is "truly sorry" for the pain he has caused.
Lauer has been accused of sexual harassment by multiple women through interviews with The New York Times and Variety magazine. At least three women have filed complaints with NBC.
"There are no words to express my sorrow and regret for the pain I have caused others by words and actions," Lauer said in a statement provided to CNN. "To the people I have hurt, I am truly sorry. As I am writing this I realize the depth of the damage and disappointment I have left behind at home and at NBC."
"Some of what is being said about me is untrue or mischaracterized, but there is enough truth in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed. I regret that my shame is now shared by the people I cherish dearly," Lauer said.
Read more: http://money.cnn.com/2017/11/30/media/matt-lauer-apology/index.html?sr=twCNN113017matt-lauer-apology1213PMStory
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