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babylonsister
babylonsister's Journal
babylonsister's Journal
June 7, 2020
Oprah: "...Where Do We Go From Here?"
Oprah Winfrey to host two-night special with black leaders; CNN, 'Sesame Street' talk to kids
Bryan Alexander
USA TODAY
Oprah Winfrey has announced plans to host a two-night special looking at the country's civil unrest following the death of George Floyd with "OWN Spotlight: Where Do We Go From Here?" on June 9 and 10.
The special will feature Winfrey speaking with black thought leaders, activists and artists on the country's direction.
"I’ve been having private conversations with friends and thought leaders about what’s next and where we go from here," Winfrey said in a release Thursday. "I thought it would be both of interest and service to bring their ideas, concerns and comments into a national spotlight."
Guests will include politician Stacey Abrams, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, director Ava DuVernay, "Selma" actor David Oyelowo, Color of Change founder Rashad Robinson; and NAACP national board member Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II.
snip//
The special will air on OWN and all of Discovery’s 18 networks, will stream for free on the Watch OWN and Discovery Family apps, as well as OWN’s YouTube, Facebook and Instagram pages.
more...
https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2020/06/05/oprah-winfrey-two-night-special-where-do-we-go-here/3152029001/
June 7, 2020
June 6, 2020
Teen who spent 10 hours cleaning up after protest rewarded with car, college scholarship
Courtesy: Matt Block
CNN
(CNN) — When Antonio Gwynn Jr. saw the damage from protests in his hometown of Buffalo, New York, he grabbed a broom, bought some trash bags and started cleaning the streets by himself.
He started at 2 a.m. on Monday and did not stop cleaning for the next 10 hours. When an organized group of neighbors arrived later that morning to start clearing the damage, they found that Gwynn had already done most of the work.
Gwynn is an 18-year-old high school senior. He told CNN that he saw on the local news that Bailey Avenue in Buffalo was covered in glass and garbage, and he knew people needed to use that street to get to work in the morning.
When word spread of how Gwynn single-handedly took action, his community responded.
Matt Block saw Gwynn’s story on the news and decided to give him his prized 2004 red Mustang convertible. Block, 27, told CNN the car is one he wanted since he was a child, but these days he is only using it occasionally. He saw Gwynn ask for some car buying advice on Facebook, and Matt decided to offer up his sports car.
It turns out that gift has more meaning than Block ever imagined. Gwynn’s mother, who passed away in 2018, also drove a red Mustang. When he realized the coincidence, Gwynn says that he was so shocked he “didn’t have any words,” and Block says it gave him “goose bumps.”
more...
https://wsvn.com/news/us-world/teen-who-spent-10-hours-cleaning-up-after-protest-rewarded-with-car-college-scholarship/
Teen who spent 10 hours cleaning up after protest rewarded with car, college scholarship
June 6, 2020
Teen who spent 10 hours cleaning up after protest rewarded with car, college scholarship
Courtesy: Matt Block
CNN
(CNN) — When Antonio Gwynn Jr. saw the damage from protests in his hometown of Buffalo, New York, he grabbed a broom, bought some trash bags and started cleaning the streets by himself.
He started at 2 a.m. on Monday and did not stop cleaning for the next 10 hours. When an organized group of neighbors arrived later that morning to start clearing the damage, they found that Gwynn had already done most of the work.
Gwynn is an 18-year-old high school senior. He told CNN that he saw on the local news that Bailey Avenue in Buffalo was covered in glass and garbage, and he knew people needed to use that street to get to work in the morning.
When word spread of how Gwynn single-handedly took action, his community responded.
Matt Block saw Gwynn’s story on the news and decided to give him his prized 2004 red Mustang convertible. Block, 27, told CNN the car is one he wanted since he was a child, but these days he is only using it occasionally. He saw Gwynn ask for some car buying advice on Facebook, and Matt decided to offer up his sports car.
It turns out that gift has more meaning than Block ever imagined. Gwynn’s mother, who passed away in 2018, also drove a red Mustang. When he realized the coincidence, Gwynn says that he was so shocked he “didn’t have any words,” and Block says it gave him “goose bumps.”
more...
https://wsvn.com/news/us-world/teen-who-spent-10-hours-cleaning-up-after-protest-rewarded-with-car-college-scholarship/
June 6, 2020
Why would they want her in the first place is my question.
https://politicalwire.com/2020/06/05/ivanka-trump-dropped-as-commencement-speaker/
Ivanka Trump Dropped as Commencement Speaker
June 5, 2020 at 10:18 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard
Ivanka Trump Dropped as Commencement Speaker
Why would they want her in the first place is my question.
https://politicalwire.com/2020/06/05/ivanka-trump-dropped-as-commencement-speaker/
Ivanka Trump Dropped as Commencement Speaker
June 5, 2020 at 10:18 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard
Ivanka Trump released the speech she had prepared to give at Wichita State University Tech’s commencement ceremony before she was dropped as a speaker.
Plans to have her speak there were canceled amid criticism over the president’s response to protests against the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Plans to have her speak there were canceled amid criticism over the president’s response to protests against the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
June 6, 2020
Harding says he wants to wait for more to join him before he speaks further. But there are plenty on Twitter willing to talk now. And meanwhile, “Lady G” is at the top of U.S. Twitter trends as I write this.
more...
https://crooksandliars.com/2020/06/gay-porn-star-threatening-out-homophobic
Gay Porn Star Threatening To Out Homophobic GOP Senator 'LG'
Boy, do I hate gossip! 
Politics
6/06/20 6:30am
Gay Porn Star Threatening To Out Homophobic GOP Senator ‘LG’
You don’t need to be a genius to figure out that Lindsey Graham is the Republican senator gay porn star Sean Harding says has hired "every sex worker I know."
By NewsHound Ellen
snip//
Just in case there’s any doubt who “LG” is, The Gaily Grind noted, “When a Twitter user responded to his threat with a GIF of GOP Senator Lindsey Graham, Harding responded with a winking face emoji.”
The point, of course, is not Graham’s sexual behavior, per se, but his hypocrisy. Rolling Stone wrote about the long-standing rumors about Graham's sexuality in January:
The rumors are only relevant insofar as Graham’s record on gay rights, which, according to the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ civil-rights organization, has been largely atrocious. The group describes Graham as “a consistent opponent of everything from marriage equality to protecting LGBTQ workers from employment discrimination” (though in 2015, he called for the GOP to drop its demand for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a woman and a man).
Harding says he wants to wait for more to join him before he speaks further. But there are plenty on Twitter willing to talk now. And meanwhile, “Lady G” is at the top of U.S. Twitter trends as I write this.
more...
https://crooksandliars.com/2020/06/gay-porn-star-threatening-out-homophobic
June 6, 2020
GOP senators were already nervous about keeping their majority because of the administration’s slow response to the coronavirus crisis and several Trump gaffes, including his advice that ingesting disinfectant could treat COVID-19.
more...
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/501417-republicans-fear-trump-may-cost-them-senate
Republicans fear Trump may cost them Senate
Boo fuckin' hoo! They had their chance to get rid of him and didn't think it was that important. 
Republicans fear Trump may cost them Senate
By Alexander Bolton - 06/06/20 06:00 AM EDT
Senate Republicans are feeling high anxiety over President Trump’s aggressive response to nationwide civil unrest, which they fear is alienating middle-of-the-road voters who are crucial to keeping their majority after Nov. 3.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) declared at the beginning of the election cycle that winning over college graduates and women in the suburbs would be key to retaining the Senate majority in 2020.
With the election five months away, Senate Republicans worry that Trump is blowing up that strategy with his laser-like focus on his base instead of swing voters.
“The last week and a half has certainly raised the level of angst over the politics of the presidential race and consequences on the Senate. I think it’s just kind of become one thing after another. Initially the handling of COVID and now this,” said a Republican senator who requested anonymity to discuss conversations with GOP colleagues.
GOP senators were already nervous about keeping their majority because of the administration’s slow response to the coronavirus crisis and several Trump gaffes, including his advice that ingesting disinfectant could treat COVID-19.
“There are a lot of people in the middle that are looking for calmness,” said a second GOP senator who asked for anonymity to voice concerns about Trump’s recent performance. “It’s the tone and the words he’s using that I think might harm us back home.”
more...
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/501417-republicans-fear-trump-may-cost-them-senate
June 5, 2020
https://www.politicususa.com/2020/06/05/lindsey-graham-tries-to-rebuke-democrats-you-think-im-in-trumps-pocket.html
Posted on Fri, Jun 5th, 2020 by Darragh Roche
Lindsey Graham Tries to Rebuke Democrats: “You Think I’m in Trump’s Pocket”
Senator Lindsey Graham inadvertently gave his critics a soundbite on Thursday while trying to shame Democrats. The South Carolina Republican was defending himself from Democratic criticism.
Former deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein was testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee about Robert Mueller’s investigation. Graham chairs the committee and he was pursuing the GOP position that the probe was improper.
Democrats blasted their Republican colleagues as “political errand boys” who are “bolstering conspiracy theories” about a plot against the 2016 Trump campaign.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1268604659851239425
snip//
Critics have accused Graham of pursuing unfounded allegations of a plot or coup against the Trump campaign.
Lindsey Graham Tries to Rebuke Democrats: "You Think I'm in Trump's Pocket"
https://www.politicususa.com/2020/06/05/lindsey-graham-tries-to-rebuke-democrats-you-think-im-in-trumps-pocket.html
Posted on Fri, Jun 5th, 2020 by Darragh Roche
Lindsey Graham Tries to Rebuke Democrats: “You Think I’m in Trump’s Pocket”
Senator Lindsey Graham inadvertently gave his critics a soundbite on Thursday while trying to shame Democrats. The South Carolina Republican was defending himself from Democratic criticism.
Former deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein was testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee about Robert Mueller’s investigation. Graham chairs the committee and he was pursuing the GOP position that the probe was improper.
Democrats blasted their Republican colleagues as “political errand boys” who are “bolstering conspiracy theories” about a plot against the 2016 Trump campaign.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1268604659851239425
snip//
“I know you don’t agree with what I’m doing. You think I’m in Trump’s pocket. I get all that. It’s not lost on me of what you think and I’m sad because I like you all.”
“But if you expect me to punt, forget it. We’re not going to punt. We’re not going to have a rule of law for Republicans and a rule of law for Democrats.”
“But if you expect me to punt, forget it. We’re not going to punt. We’re not going to have a rule of law for Republicans and a rule of law for Democrats.”
Critics have accused Graham of pursuing unfounded allegations of a plot or coup against the Trump campaign.
June 5, 2020
A Timely Warning From The Generals
Joe Conason
June 05 | 2020
Under ordinary circumstances, open dissent from high-ranking military officials against the actions of civilian political leaders would signal a danger familiar to other countries. Such rumblings from military circles often indicate that constitutional freedoms are in jeopardy and that martial law, or even a coup d'etat, may be on the horizon.
In these extraordinary circumstances, however, all expectations are reversed — and the usual order of things is turned upside down.
So, rather than sounding ominous, the blunt rebukes of President Donald Trump by retired and active officers this week sounded reassuring. They said our most respected military leaders will not stand by silently while this president and his crowd deface the Constitution and menace the nation.
snip//
No doubt the phone lines into the Pentagon have been lit up with outrage in recent days, prompting Esper and Milley to distance themselves from Trump and his antics. The president himself, backing away while still snarling, dropped his threat to deploy military troops in cities. The troops are leaving Washington now.
Speaking out in defense of constitutional order, these retired officers articulated a fundamental principle: Unlawful orders to fire on fellow Americans are not to be obeyed. We live in a republic, not a dictatorship. And should Trump or his cohort harbor any militaristic fantasies about the upcoming election — which he appears likely to lose — well, this uplifting episode marked a line that they shouldn't dare cross.
Joe Conason: A Timely Warning From The Generals
https://www.nationalmemo.com/a-timely-warning-from-the-generalsA Timely Warning From The Generals
Joe Conason
June 05 | 2020
Under ordinary circumstances, open dissent from high-ranking military officials against the actions of civilian political leaders would signal a danger familiar to other countries. Such rumblings from military circles often indicate that constitutional freedoms are in jeopardy and that martial law, or even a coup d'etat, may be on the horizon.
In these extraordinary circumstances, however, all expectations are reversed — and the usual order of things is turned upside down.
So, rather than sounding ominous, the blunt rebukes of President Donald Trump by retired and active officers this week sounded reassuring. They said our most respected military leaders will not stand by silently while this president and his crowd deface the Constitution and menace the nation.
snip//
No doubt the phone lines into the Pentagon have been lit up with outrage in recent days, prompting Esper and Milley to distance themselves from Trump and his antics. The president himself, backing away while still snarling, dropped his threat to deploy military troops in cities. The troops are leaving Washington now.
Speaking out in defense of constitutional order, these retired officers articulated a fundamental principle: Unlawful orders to fire on fellow Americans are not to be obeyed. We live in a republic, not a dictatorship. And should Trump or his cohort harbor any militaristic fantasies about the upcoming election — which he appears likely to lose — well, this uplifting episode marked a line that they shouldn't dare cross.
June 5, 2020
6/05/20 4:24am
Joy Reid Scorches Sen. Lisa Murkowski: 'The Ignorance Is Willful’
Reid suggests the Senator speak to some of her actual own Alaskan constituents if she'd like to learn about police brutality, and calls her out for not removing Trump when she had the chance.
By Aliza Worthington
VIDEO AT LINK~
Joy Reid was answering the questions instead of asking them last night, as she appeared as a guest on Lawrence O'Donnell's show to give her analysis on the events roiling the nation. She had some words in particular, though, for Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski. Sen. Murkowski has seen these "brave" people like General Mattis speaking out against Trump's metastasizing authoritarianism in the wake of the protests surrounding the police killing of George Floyd, and decided she'd like to give "bravery" a little test run herself. You know, in her own special Murkowski way.
Oh, NOW she decides to be "honest" and try on that "courage" tiara she's been keeping in her closet?
Reid was thoroughly unimpressed, and had a little advice for her.
If Lisa Murkowski isn't a microcosm for the larger white America Reid is talking to, I don't know who is. Not caring about an issue enough to speak out against it until it gets close enough to home to affect you? That's sounds about white.
Joy Reid Scorches Sen. Lisa Murkowski: 'The Ignorance Is Willful'
https://crooksandliars.com/2020/06/joy-reid-scorches-sen-lisa-murkowski6/05/20 4:24am
Joy Reid Scorches Sen. Lisa Murkowski: 'The Ignorance Is Willful’
Reid suggests the Senator speak to some of her actual own Alaskan constituents if she'd like to learn about police brutality, and calls her out for not removing Trump when she had the chance.
By Aliza Worthington
VIDEO AT LINK~
Joy Reid was answering the questions instead of asking them last night, as she appeared as a guest on Lawrence O'Donnell's show to give her analysis on the events roiling the nation. She had some words in particular, though, for Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski. Sen. Murkowski has seen these "brave" people like General Mattis speaking out against Trump's metastasizing authoritarianism in the wake of the protests surrounding the police killing of George Floyd, and decided she'd like to give "bravery" a little test run herself. You know, in her own special Murkowski way.
MURKOWSKI: When I saw General Mattis' comments yesterday I felt like perhaps we are getting to a point where we can be more honest with the concerns that we might hold internally and have the courage of our own convictions to speak up.
Oh, NOW she decides to be "honest" and try on that "courage" tiara she's been keeping in her closet?
Reid was thoroughly unimpressed, and had a little advice for her.
REID: I want to really quickly just address what Senator Lisa Murkowski said. It's wonderful that she's listening to her fellow senators, her fellow Black United States senators, but perhaps if she wanted to understand the challenges of policing of People of Color, maybe she should start listening to some native Alaskans. Her very own state has an Indigenous population that is both under-policed — ProPublica has pieces that are out in just the last couple of months, I'd be happy to send her some links, about the fact that many in the Native population there don't have police force when they need it and when they do have police interact with them, it is in the same negative way, the same violent and unfair and inequitable way that we see happening to Indigenous people and Black people and brown people all over the country. So, she might want to listen to some Alaskans. The ignorance is willful. Sorry. I want to have more empathy for her, but this is a woman who looked at everything Donald Trump did, in selling out his campaign to a foreign adversary and said, "You know what? Nah. I don't see enough there to remove." I only have a little bit of empathy for her. She is making all sorts of sad noises, but just see what you see, ma'am. It would do you a lot better.
On what we are looking at today, the hyper-militarization of our police force is not new, but we have never had a president who has so openly wanted to luxuriate in changing himself from an American president into Kim Jong-un. And here we are. He wants to use that power, not just against Black people, not just against brown people and Indigenous people, but good morning, white America, he's willing to use military against YOUR kids. He's willing to use it against your sons and daughters because all he cares about is clinging to power. And it's pathetic and it would be hilarious if it weren't so terrifying.
On what we are looking at today, the hyper-militarization of our police force is not new, but we have never had a president who has so openly wanted to luxuriate in changing himself from an American president into Kim Jong-un. And here we are. He wants to use that power, not just against Black people, not just against brown people and Indigenous people, but good morning, white America, he's willing to use military against YOUR kids. He's willing to use it against your sons and daughters because all he cares about is clinging to power. And it's pathetic and it would be hilarious if it weren't so terrifying.
If Lisa Murkowski isn't a microcosm for the larger white America Reid is talking to, I don't know who is. Not caring about an issue enough to speak out against it until it gets close enough to home to affect you? That's sounds about white.
June 5, 2020
Twitter Yanks Trump Campaign’s George Floyd Tribute Video After Copyright Complaint
THEM’S THE RULES
Jamie Ross, Reporter
Published Jun. 05, 2020 4:49AM ET
Twitter Yanks Trump Campaign's George Floyd Tribute Video After Copyright Complaint
https://www.thedailybeast.com/twitter-yanks-trump-campaigns-george-floyd-tribute-video-after-copyright-complaint?ref=homeTwitter Yanks Trump Campaign’s George Floyd Tribute Video After Copyright Complaint
THEM’S THE RULES
Jamie Ross, Reporter
Published Jun. 05, 2020 4:49AM ET
The raging argument between President Trump and his most-used social-media site got even worse Thursday after Twitter pulled a video by Trump’s campaign team that paid tribute to George Floyd. A Twitter spokesperson said they’d received a complaint from a copyright owner of at least one of the images in the video, so it had to be taken down. But the campaign reacted with fury to the action,. which followed Twitter’s decisions last week to fact-check and conceal incendiary posts from Trump about the Floyd protests. In an angry statement, Andrew Clark, spokesman for the Trump campaign, said: “Censoring out the president’s important message of unity around the George Floyd protests is an unfortunate escalation of this double standard.” Separately, the Trump campaign has removed a YouTube video that featured SpaceX, NASA and astronauts in an apparent violation of the space agency’s advertising regulations.
June 5, 2020
Who and what is antifa that has everyone in a tizzy?
Antifascists like me?
Is there a group or somewhere I might join, or is it a figment of lots of imaginations?
Profile Information
Gender: FemaleHometown: NY
Home country: US
Current location: Florida
Member since: Mon Sep 6, 2004, 09:54 PM
Number of posts: 171,066
