July 6, 2019

Bernie Sanders Plays the Long Game

July 5, 2019 at 4:42 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard

“Bernie Sanders may be falling behind some of his rivals in the crowded Democratic presidential field, dipping in early polls and seeing his campaign outraised by at least two rivals. But this week, he opened a new campaign office here and is already investing in states holding primaries eight months away,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The message from the Vermont senator: I’m not going anywhere.”

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https://politicalwire.com/2019/07/05/bernie-sanders-plays-the-long-game/

July 6, 2019

Mike Gravel tweets his campaign is "nearing its conclusion"

BY CAROLINE LINTON

JULY 5, 2019 / 9:33 PM / CBS NEWS

Longshot 2020 Democratic hopeful Mike Gravel tweeted on Friday his presidential campaign is "nearing its conclusion" and asked his followers where he should donate his campaign money. Gravel's campaign aired its first national ad on MSNBC at the end of June, and he told CBS News earlier that month that he had 45,000 donors.

Gravel followed up with a tweet saying they were still trying to qualify for the upcoming debates, but "we've always planned to have it end sometime in the next month or so."

Gravel failed to qualify for the first Democratic debate in June and is unlikely to qualify for the next debate in July. To qualify for those debates, candidates must have either 65,000 unique donors to their campaigns, with at least 200 donors in 20 different states, or obtain at least 1 percent in three polls recognized as legitimate by the committee. The Democratic National Committee capped the number of participants at 20.

The DNC increased the qualification for the September debate, which is expected dramatically winnow down the number of participants. Candidates must have 130,000 unique donors in at least 20 states and will need to score at least 2 percent in at least four national or statewide polls in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

more
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mike-gravel-2020-alaska-democrat-tweets-today-his-campaign-is-nearing-its-conclusion-2019-07-05/

July 6, 2019

Williamson warns US elections could become more like Iran's

yesterday

DOVER, N.H. (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson on Friday warned that American elections could become more like voting in countries like Iran.

Speaking at a campaign event in Dover, New Hampshire, the author described an “illusion of choice,” and criticized the “political media elite establishment. It’s a corporate establishment.”

“And they will not only tell us what we’re supposed to talk about,” she said. “They will tell us who we’re supposed to choose to even choose between in terms of voting.”

Williamson added: “It’s kind of like countries like Iran, where you can vote for whoever you want, among the people that they tell you it’s OK to vote for. And that’s the kind of country that we’re living in today.”

more
https://apnews.com/0c6962ba64b74c459b3cac060e322087

July 5, 2019

Far-Right Arsonist, Who Set Himself on Fire Attempting to Burn Down Synagogue, Will Be Held...

Far-Right Arsonist, Who Set Himself on Fire Attempting to Burn Down Synagogue, Will Be Held in Hospital

Shira Feder
Published 07.05.19 5:04PM ET

The far-right arsonist who set fire to an Exeter synagogue last July 21—a day commemorating the Holocaust—will be locked up indefinitely in a mental hospital, police announced Friday.

While burning the synagogue, Tristan Morgan, 52, accidentally burned his hands and forehead and singed off his hair. In court, a witness described Morgan laughing as he walked away from the building. Prosecutor Alistair Richardson described Morgan as possessing a “deep-rooted anti-Semitic belief.”

Under the United Kingdom’s Mental Health Act, Morgan was sectioned in London’s Old Bailey after the court heard he had a psychotic episode during the attack. Police Superintendent Matt Lawler described the footage, which was given to the London police, as evidence of “the level of planning, determination and intent by Morgan, whom the wider evidence clearly showed held abhorrent extreme right-wing, anti-Semitic, and white supremacist views.”



Read it at CNN

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https://www.thedailybeast.com/far-right-arsonist-who-set-himself-on-fire-attempting-to-burn-down-synagogue-will-be-held-in-hospital?ref=home

July 5, 2019

Libya Uncovers Alleged Russian Plot to Meddle in African Votes

Source: Bloomberg News


By Samer Al-Atrush, Ilya Arkhipov, and Henry Meyer

July 5, 2019, 9:29 AM EDT Updated on July 5, 2019, 2:47 PM EDT

Libyan security forces have arrested two men accused of working for a Russian troll farm seeking to influence elections in the oil exporter and other African countries.

A letter from the state prosecutor of the internationally-backed Tripoli government to a Libyan security chief said the men were involved in “securing a meeting” with Saif al-Islam al-Qaddafi, the fugitive son of the ousted dictator and a potential presidential candidate who enjoys the backing of some officials in Moscow.

Russia’s foreign ministry said it was aware of the reports and was seeking to verify them. “We haven’t received an official notification from the Libyan side regarding this matter,” the foreign ministry’s press service said.

Laptops and memory sticks found with the suspects showed that they worked for an outfit identified as Fabrika Trollei, Russian for Troll Factory, that “specializes in influencing elections that are to be held in several African states” including Libya, the letter, stamped by the attorney general’s office and obtained by Bloomberg, stated. Two Libyan government officials with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed the authenticity of the document.

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-05/libya-arrests-two-russians-accused-of-trying-to-influence-vote

July 5, 2019

President Trump: 'I Don't Think I'm a Bully'

Olivia Messer
Reporter

Published 07.05.19 11:58AM ET

President Trump on Friday defended himself after former Vice President Joe Biden called him a “bully.” “I don’t think I’m a bully,” said Trump. “I just don’t like being taken advantage of by other countries, by pharmaceutical companies, by all of the people that have taken advantage of this country.” Trump went on to say his administration is straightening out what he calls “the Obama-Biden mess.” In an interview with CNN’s Chris Cuomo that aired Friday morning, Biden said Trump is “the bully that I knew my whole life.” Biden added: “He’s the bully that I’ve always stood up to. He’s the bully that used to make fun when I was a kid that I stutter, and I’d smack him in the mouth.” During his Friday gaggle on the White House lawn, Trump also mentioned the alleged emergency this week that led Vice President Mike Pence to cancel his New Hampshire trip at the last minute, saying the public will find out what happened in “a week or two” and that there was a “problem up there.”

https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1147164940899422208

Read it at CBS News

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https://www.thedailybeast.com/president-trump-i-dont-think-im-a-bully?ref=home

July 5, 2019

Denny's stood up for a trans woman who was arrested after she used the bathroom

Someone called the cops on a trans woman at Denny's. So Denny's made it clear that trans people can use the right bathroom.

By Daniel Villarreal Friday, July 5, 2019

A customer at a Shelby, North Carolina, Denny’s called police to report a 22-year-old trans woman who used the same bathroom as his wife.

When police arrived, they said she hadn’t broken any laws. In response to the incident, the national restaurant chain announced that all of its bathrooms are open to trans people, regardless of local laws or biases.

After the man called the cops on the trans woman, the woman and the man got into a dispute which gradually escalated, leading the woman to allegedly spit at the man and his family. The woman was charged with disorderly conduct.

In a company statement, Denny’s said that it “does not tolerate discrimination of any kind” and expects customers to treat people equally, according to WSOCTV.

North Carolina became infamous in 2016 for signing HB2, a law which banned trans people from using the bathroom matching their gender identity. The state lost an estimated $560 million in revenue from businesses and visitors that refused to visit after HB2 was passed; the law also contributed to the re-election loss of then-governor Republican Pat McCrory.

more
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2019/07/dennys-stood-trans-woman-arrested-used-bathroom/

July 5, 2019

Border Patrol agents humiliated an immigrant by forcing him to hold an 'I like men' sign

Source: LGBTQ Nation


The agents laughed at the immigrant.

By Alex Bollinger Friday, July 5, 2019

Border Patrol agents laughed at a male immigrant being held at a processing center in Texas who was forced to walk around with a sign that said, “I like men.”

According to emails sent by an agent who witnessed the incident, a Honduran man was paraded around the El Paso Processing Center in front of other migrants while holding a sign that said, “Me gustan los hombres,” which means “I like men” in Spanish.

https://twitter.com/doscious1967/status/1147113511060942848

The agent who sent the emails said that he confronted the agent who wrote the sign and another who was laughing. The Honduran man was upset, according to the witness, who took away the sign and gave him another. The emails say that seven other agents witnessed the incident, which happened in March, and that a senior agent did nothing.

“I am forwarding to the Office of Professional Responsibility, the office charged with looking into these allegations,” a Customs and Border Patrol official told CNN when asked about it.


Read more: https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2019/07/border-patrol-agents-humiliated-immigrant-forcing-hold-like-men-sign/

July 5, 2019

A 'concerned citizen' told a business to take down its rainbow flag 'before it is too late'

The note said that the town is "a religious and family city." An employee wrote an amazing response.

By Alex Bollinger Friday, July 5, 2019

A hair salon received a threatening note not about its rainbow flag.

Issam Bajalia owns Salon U in Homewood, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama. He said that he had just returned home from World Pride in New York City when he found a note taped to his business telling him to remove his rainbow flag “before it is too late.”



“We’re just very disappointed because our only crime[…] is we have a rainbow flag in front of our building,” Bajalia told AL.com.

“My thing is what is so offensive about a rainbow or a flag and how does this disrupt your religious journey?”

Bajalia said that he contacted the police because the note is a threat.

“I am not an alarmist by nature,” he said. “In fact I don’t feel threatened at all, however when you have situations like the Pulse Nightclub shooting, you can’t be too careful in today’s day in time. You don’t know.”

Police said that they added a patrol outside the salon and are looking for security footage from nearby businesses.

more
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2019/07/concerned-citizen-told-business-take-rainbow-flag-late/

July 5, 2019

Valuing the Work of Women of Color - By Elizabeth Warren

Our society and our economy demand so much of women — but they place a particular burden on Black, Latina, Native American, Asian, and other women of color. More than 70% of Black mothers and more than 40% of Latina mothers are their families’ sole breadwinners — compared to less than a quarter of white mothers. Black women participate in the labor force at higher rates than white women, and Latinas’ share of the labor force has nearly doubled over the past 20 years. And at the same time, Black and Brown women have more caregiving responsibilities, with Black and Latinx caregivers spending 50% more hours a week on caregiving than white caregivers.
While millions of families count on Latinas and Black women to deliver financially, they face a steeper climb to provide that financial security. In 2017, Black women were paid 61 cents for every dollar white men made. Native women made 58 cents to a white man’s dollar — and Latinas earned just 53 cents to a white man’s dollar*. And it’s getting worse: the gap in weekly earnings between white and Black women is higher today than it was forty years ago.

Employers tilt the playing field against women of color at every stage of employment. During the hiring process, employers use salary history to make new offers — creating a cycle where women of color are locked into lower wages. Once in the workplace, Black and Brown women are disproportionately mistreated. In a recent survey, nearly two-thirds of Black and Latina women reported experiencing racial discrimination at work.

The path to higher-level management jobs is also rockier for women of color — a reflection in part of having fewer networking and mentorship opportunities with members of their same race and gender. Even though Black women and Latinas are often the leaders and decision-makers in their own homes and communities, they hold only one spot on the Fortune 500 CEO list and less than 5% of Fortune 500 Board positions.

The experiences of women of color are not one-dimensional: sexual orientation, gender identity, and ability all shape how a person’s work is valued in the workplace. But our economy should be working just as hard for women of color as women of color work for our economy and their families. For decades, the government has helped perpetuate the systemic discrimination that has denied women of color equal opportunities. It’s time for the government to try to right those wrongs — and boost our economy in the process.

more
https://medium.com/@teamwarren/valuing-the-work-of-women-of-color-c652bf6ccc9a