December 23, 2018

"Ladders to get over Trump wall" GOFUNDME page at 135K of 100 million goal

https://www.gofundme.com/ladders-to-get-over-trump039s-wall

We saw some folks are raising money for a border wall to keep out our migrant siblings and fellow human beings, who are fleeing violence and persecution and whose tragically-underpaid labor is essential to the U.S. economy. Seems like a bad idea on countless levels for everyone involved. Maybe we should focus on human rights and creating a community that reflects our supposed values.

And even though at a rate of $1.7 million daily, it would take their fund about 35 years to raise the $21.7 billion that Trump's own Dept. of Homeland Security says would be needed to build said wall, we wanna make sure ladders are ready to send over to our undocumented friends and help them.

If this seems ludicrous, we welcome you to the coalition of reasonable adults.

Should we not reach our goal--or should they (ahem) not reach theirs--all funds raised will go to the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) , a Texas-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency that promotes justice by providing free and low-cost legal services to underserved immigrant children, families, and refugees.

You see, they’ll never reach their goal, but no matter how much we raise, we’re going to reach ours:

Supporting an organization working to help immigrants seeking legal asylum. This GoFundMe isn’t really about ladders at all. It’s about lifting people up.

This idea is the original brainchild of @HoarseWisperer on Twitter.

December 23, 2018

Trump tweeted tonight "your favorite President, Donald J. Trump"

If anybody but your favorite President, Donald J. Trump, announced that, after decimating ISIS in Syria, we were going to bring our troops back home (happy & healthy), that person would be the most popular hero in America. With me, hit hard instead by the Fake News Media. Crazy!




https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1076658521926656000

December 22, 2018

Trump ego on overdrive lately

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1076125633275666433

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1076138140795064320

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1076575190899929088

December 22, 2018

Trump doesn't look well

President Donald Trump gives a thumbs-up as he speaks to the press at the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C. on December 7, 2018.
SAUL LOEB/Getty Images

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December 22, 2018

Trump Vents Anger Over Cohen Prosecution at Acting Attorney General Whitaker

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/12/trump-lashed-out-at-acting-attorney-general-whitaker-over-michael-cohen-prosecution.html

President Donald Trump appears to be continuing his streak of feeling no need to respect traditional separation of powers. The commander in chief has lashed out at his hand-picked Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker for failing to do more to control the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office and its prosecution of Michael Cohen, according to CNN. This happened at least twice. The first time when Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about the plans for a Trump Tower in Moscow and another when prosecutors implicated him in a plan to buy the silence of women who said they had affairs with him.

CNN insists that its sources never said that Trump even suggested Whitaker needed to stop the investigation. Rather, they insist, the president was simply letting off some steam about a situation that he saw as unfair. But he also wondered why more wasn’t being done to control the prosecutors who had brought the charges that implicated Trump.

December 22, 2018

DryBar Customer Described using racist term on written tab

Bree Tae? to Drybar
December 17 at 5:31 PM · New York, NY ·
So I’m sitting in my chair, relaxing, excited to get my hair blown out for my nursing school pinning ceremony tomorrow. A great day to be expected. However, I look over and see this. “Client: Briana, Description: Chinky eyes.” ??? I’m sorry, what? I was the ONLY customer waiting with my friend and rather than describe me by my hair that was in a bun or by my black jacket or as a girl with a friend, I was described as a girl with chinky eyes. I have never in my life been so appalled. I’m sure I would not have been described as such if I was not Asian. All of my hard work and successes simply came down to a girl with “chinky eyes.” I’m sorry, is this not Drybar? An establishment that considers itself an upscale establishment? Since when is it okay to describe your paying customers as something so racist? When I confronted the “bartender” (girl who works at the front desk) regarding this, she could not understand why it was an issue and why it was highly inappropriate to write such a description. She tried to make me feel somewhat better by saying she had chinky eyes too. I’m quite disgusted by this experience, especially the night before a day of celebration for all my accomplishments in nursing school. I demand a call from corporate regarding this incident as I will not let racism be silenced.

-------------------

https://people.com/style/drybar-employee-fired-used-racist-term-to-refer-to-customer/

Drybar founder Alli Webb apologized in a statement that was shared on her Instagram account and the official Drybar account, noting that the stylist was fired.

“There was recently an unacceptable issue in one of our shops where a stylist described a client in a completely inappropriate way,” the statement said. “We sincerely apologize for the hurt this has caused. We do not tolerate racism. The employee was immediately terminated, and we are committed to working harder on improving our training to ensure this does not happen again.”

December 21, 2018

neighbor to black man: "You don't live here!"

https://nypost.com/video/rude-neighbor-harasses-black-man-you-dont-live-here/

Rude neighbor harasses black man: 'You don't live here!'
December 21, 2018
“What are you doing in my building? You don’t live here!” a resident of New York City’s Upper East Side yelled at his black neighbor in this racially charged

December 21, 2018

Hershey's Kisses are missing their tips and the company is investigating the mystery as holiday bake

Hershey's Kisses are missing their tips and the company is investigating the mystery as holiday bakers panic


https://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/eats/ny-fea-hersheys-kisses-missing-tips-20181221-story.html

https://www.nydailynews.com/resizer/bn7oC8P8lJZNVFuCKnOxltbx3S0=/800x0/www.trbimg.com/img-5c1d1024/turbine/ny-1545408536-ka4tjxhe3k-snap-image

Hershey's Kisses are sending some home bakers into sugar shock this season.

Those unwrapping the teardrop-shaped chocolates to top off holiday treats are discovering they’re missing their iconic pointy tips.

The cocoa-laced catastrophe was first brought to light by the Facebook foodie group, The Wedding Cookie Table, earlier this month. “Do this year’s Kisses look like this for you?,” the group posted, along with a picture of a perfectly topped sweet, “Or are the tops broken off?”

Members sounded off. “All my tips were broken off... so mad,” a user named Tammy Fuchs fumed.

“I just opened a bag and they were broke off or just flat in the top,” Sandy Jamison-Gendek wrote.

“All mine are distinctly clipped off,” Cheryl Abbott stated. “I felt morally compelled to try one of each color just to be absolutely sure.”

Others said their Kisses points were fine, and some speculated that Hershey had cut off the peaks intentionally since they often break off anyway before buyers peel off the shiny foil wrappers.

Hershey denies this claim and even the brand is at a loss as as to how their products ended up misshapen.

“Kisses are made on the same lines and equipment in our West Hershey Plant since 2012, whe

December 21, 2018

this picture shows who Trump really is

taken July 2018. The fear behind the bluster. the lack of morality. his evilness.

December 21, 2018

These Trump-loving Kentucky voters hate taxes -- but can't survive without government programs

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/12/trump-loving-kentucky-voters-hate-taxes-cant-survive-without-government-programs/

One such voter is Daniel Lewis, who was severely injured in a car crash 15 years ago and gets by on $1,600 a month from disability insurance, along with Medicaid benefits and food stamps that help feed his wife and two children.

Lewis admitted, “Every need I have has been met,” yet he still voted for Donald Trump in 2016, calling him “the lesser of two evils.”

According to the Times, “As Americans have grown more reliant on federal programs over the last 50 years, they have increasingly embraced the Republican Party, a trend put in stark relief by President Trump’s 2016 victory.”

“Of the 10 states in which government transfers account for the largest share of income, seven voted for Mr. Trump. Speaking to the economic and social anxieties of blue-collar white voters over immigration, trade and demographic change, Mr. Trump has championed tax cuts for the well-to-do paired with benefit cuts for the struggling voters in his base,” the report continues.

****

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/21/business/economy/harlan-county-republican-welfare.html

A cognitive disconnect is at play: People often don’t link benefits they rely on with the idea of government welfare. Professor Lacy’s research, for instance, suggests that ideology and identity influence how people perceive their benefits, and can outweigh their personal experience of such assistance. He finds that Democrats and African-Americans, but not whites or Republicans, were much more likely as groups to feel they were benefiting from government programs in 2012, when Mr. Obama was president, than during the George W. Bush administration in 2008.

But Harlan’s experience suggests that the steepest barrier keeping voters from embracing the government payments that help them get through the day comes from fundamental mistrust. It’s not necessarily that people here don’t understand they benefit. They fear that Washington — so distant from rural America — does not understand their plight or have their interests in mind.

The Most Conservative Counties Are the Ones That Get the Most Government Assistance


https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/21/business/economy/harlan-county-republican-welfare.html