PolitiFact gains nonprofit status with move to the Poynter Institute

The Poynter Institute, a nonprofit school for journalists based in St. Petersburg, Fla., has acquired direct ownership of PolitiFact from the Tampa Bay Times, the organizations announced Monday.

The fact-checking website was created in 2007 by the Times newspaper. The Times is owned by Poynter.

The move will allow PolitiFact to function fully as a not-for-profit national news organization, putting it more squarely on footing with other nonprofit newsrooms like ProPublica and the Center for Public Integrity. Poynter already is home to the International Fact Checking Network, an organization that supports fact-checkers around the world.

The transition by PolitiFact also means that contributions to PolitiFact’s membership program, called the Truth Squad, will be tax deductible in 2018, as allowed by law. PolitiFact launched the Truth Squad in 2017, and the website reported raising more than $200,000 in donations in its first year.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2018/feb/12/politifact-gains-nonprofit-status-move-poynter-ins/

Re the importance of reading presidential daily briefs, heres one from August 6, 2001

jefferson beauregard sessions iii sez aspirin over opioids for pain relief

TAMPA — U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has drawn jeers for suggesting that people in pain should consider over-the-counter Bufferin instead of opioids.

On Wednesday, Sessions was in Tampa, touting the Trump administration’s efforts to combat drug abuse and trafficking.

This time, he broadened his suggestion to aspirin.

"I am operating on the assumption that this country prescribes too many opioids," Sessions said. "People need to take some aspirin sometimes."

http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/In-Tampa-visit-Attorney-General-Jeff-Sessions-recommends-aspirin-over-opioids-for-pain-relief_165258353

Transcribed list of Trump Departures from RM

Trump Administration Departures

Health and Human Services Secretary
Chief of Staff
Deputy Chief of Staff
ANOTHER Deputy Chief of Staff
Director of Public Liaison
Office of Public Liaison Communications Director
Press Secretary
Assistant Press Secretary
Communications Director
ANOTHER Communications Director
Rapid Response Director
National Security Advisor
Deputy National Security Advisor
ANOTHER Deputy National Security Advisor
Advisor to the National Security Council
Director for Intelligence Programs at the National Security Council
Deputy Chief of Staff at the National Security Council
Director of Strategic Planning at the National Security Council
Senior Director for the Middle East Advisor at the National Security Council
Chief White House Strategist
Deputy Assistant to the President and Strategist
Acting US Attorney General
FBI Director
Dozens of US Attorneys
National Economic Council Deputy Director
Domestic Policy Council Deputy Director
Chief of Staff to the Vice President
Press Secretary to the Vice President
Director of the Office of Government Ethics
Special Advisor to the President on Regulatory Reform
Counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury
Vice President’s Director of Domestic Policy
Chief Counsel to the Vice President
Senior Advisor to the White House Chief of Staff
NSA Director
White House Staff Secretary

In 500 Years

FALCON HEAVY TEST FLIGHT

Pythons, Iguanas, and now

Poo From Monkeys In Florida Carries Herpes Strain That Can Kill Humans

Wildlife officials have called for the removal of the free-roaming rhesus macaque monkeys from Florida after a research found that almost 30 percent of them in the state might be excreting a strain of herpes — herpes B virus or macacine herpesvirus 1 (McHV-1) — that could be life-threatening for humans.

Scientists found that a large number of the rhesus macaques in Silver Springs State Park were not just carrying the virus — which is common in the species — but had the virus in their saliva and other bodily fluids.

The forebears of the macaques, which are native to Asia, were brought to Florida in the 1930s — at a time when the Tarzan craze was prevalent in the state — in a bid to boost tourism.

About 175 monkeys roam freely across the park in Ocala, however, they have also spread to other parts of the state including Sarasota, and Tallahassee city.

http://www.ibtimes.com/poo-monkeys-florida-carries-herpes-strain-can-kill-humans-2640180

Trump I.Q. Test

Welcome to the TRUMP™ I.Q. Test. It’s the hardest test in the entire world, and Barack Obama couldn’t take it ’cuz he was too scared, and because you have to be American to take it. Please answer the questions below to the best of your ability or Lady ability.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/30/trump-iq-test

Vermonts Only Nuclear Button Measurer Finally Gets the Call

RYEGATE – Although many Americans have expressed concern over the president’s latest controversial tweet, one Vermont business is breathing a sigh of relief as they cater to their first official customer. Gabe Michaels, who started “Lazy Gabe’s Nuclear Button Measurements” in Ryegate over six years ago tells reporters that he is thrilled to be vindicated after all this time.

“They told me it was a stupid idea,” Michaels said early Wednesday morning. “My wife in particular said I was just being lazy, which is why I named the company ‘Lazy Gabe’s.’ But I told her, honey, we only need one customer, and then it’s all worth it. And now we actually have two customers.”

Michaels officially registered the business back in 2011, and offers only one service, the measurement of big red nuclear buttons. According to the company’s website the fee for a button measurement is twenty-five million dollars, and Michaels says he was never worried about the price.

“Heck no, the government’s always paying way too much for stuff. I think the army pays like a million bucks a toilet seat or some such, and all I needed was to measure one button, and then I could retire. I’ve been right here on this couch, waiting for that call, and last night I finally got it. The president himself called me up, and I’m heading down to D.C. this afternoon to measure his button for him. And actually we’ve got two clients now. Some nice Asian lady named Kim something-or-other called me up and asked me to come measure a button in one of them Koreas. Course I’ll be at the White House, so I hired my cousin to do that one. Paying him twelve bucks an hour, minus the cost of the measuring tape.”

http://www.thewinooski.com/index.php/2018/01/03/vermonts-only-nuclear-button-measurer-finally-gets-the-call/