March 3, 2017

One Million Moms call for boycott of Disney over same-sex cartoon kiss

Source: LGBTQ Nation


By Erin Rook · Friday, March 3, 2017

"One Million Moms" are calling for a boycott over this kiss. Screenshot via YouTube

The “One Million Moms” group is up in arms again over perceived threats to conservative families after the Disney Channel’s Star vs. the Forces of Evil showed same-sex couples kissing in a crowd.

In an email, the group admitted the displays of affection were “subtle” but painted the portrayal as the most recent in a string of gay-friendly offenses, Joe.My.God reports. The episode features a scene at a concert where people in the crowd, including some same-sex couples, kiss on cue with the song. The group also expressed concern over kisses shared between characters whose gender was not clear.

OMM claimed that the increase in LGBTQ characters and scenes was the result of pressure from gays.

“Though this is the first on-screen same sex PDA, Disney has included a homosexual relationship in its TV show Good Luck Charlie. Disney has been under pressure from the gay community to portray openly gay relationships in its TV shows and movies,” the group wrote. “And last fall, the creators of Moana mentioned in an interview with a liberal media source that they wouldn’t rule out an LGBT Disney princess. Director Ron Clements said, ‘It seems like the possibilities are pretty open at this point.'”

Read more: http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2017/03/one-million-moms-call-boycott-disney-sex-cartoon-kiss

March 3, 2017

The Innocent Explanation, Part #1 - by Josh Marshall

ByJOSH MARSHALLPublishedMARCH 3, 2017, 12:03 PM EDT

I've been writing about Donald Trump's mysterious connections to Russia connections to Russia for close to eight months. Over that time, I've occasionally heard from law enforcement or intelligence types who say, "You're on to something ... Keep going." To which I've wanted to reply, "Really?"

I say this half in jest but only half. I've always been highly skeptical of the more outlandish theories about Trump and Russia. Whether this is naïveté or the skepticism of experience I'm not sure. But whether we're investigators or reporters or just people trying to make sense of the world we live in, it is important that we try to find the simplest explanation that accounts for all the facts we know. Relatedly, we should look for explanations which require as few leaps of speculation or unattested and fantastical facts as possible. It's a life version of Occam's Razor.

The simplest explanation isn't necessarily the right one. But in the spirit of Occam's Razor, we should prefer it because it usually will be. To state the key point for clarity and emphasis, it is not the simplest explanation. It it is the simplest explanation which accounts for all the known facts. That distinction makes all the difference in the world.

With this prologue and with the above in mind, here is what I would call the innocent explanation of the Trump/Russia story. I don't think it is necessarily the true story. Or, to put it more precisely, I don't think it is necessarily the whole story. But I think it accounts for most of the what we know so far.

Here goes:

more
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-innocent-explanation

March 3, 2017

Native American Student Says She Was Removed From Class After Refusing Pledge of Allegiance

Native American Student Cierra Fields Says She Was Removed From Class After Refusing Pledge of Allegiance

Champion for Change Cierra Fields, a student at Fort Gibson High, was also told to take alternate online course

Vincent Schilling • March 3, 2017

Cierra Fields, a Fort Gibson high school student and member of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, says she was removed from her classroom on Tuesday morning, February 28 after refusing to stand for or say the pledge of allegiance. Fields, a Champion for Change, anti-rape advocate and correspondent for ICMN, says soon after she said she would not participate, she received a verbal lashing from her teacher.

“After I said I was not going to participate, my teacher raised her voice and said she refused to educate ungodly and unpatriotic students. She was angry and told me that I needed to take an online course to better understand why I needed to participate,” said Fields.

“After I refused to pledge to the flag, my teacher removed me from class by taking me into the hallway in direct view of some of the students. My teacher questioned me and screamed at me about how her father missed a year of her life in Vietnam and how her husband was an Afghanistan war veteran,” Fields said.

Fields also said the teacher questioned Cierra’s potential disrespect toward her own father’s military service, a 10-year U.S. Army veteran.

more
https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/culture/social-issues/native-american-student-cierra-fields-removed-class-refusing-pledge-allegiance/

March 3, 2017

Alabama GOPer Posts Meme Comparing Dem Congresswomen To KKK

Source: Talking Points Memo


By KRISTIN SALAKY Published MARCH 3, 2017, 12:00 PM EST

Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL) is asking that Alabama Auditor Jim Zeigler apologize for a photo he posted Wednesday night comparing the women of House Democrats wearing white to President Donald Trump's speech to a joint session on Congress to the members of the Ku Klux Klan, AL.com reported Thursday.

The meme, captured in a screenshot by WSFA, features a group photo of the congresswomen alongside a photo of members of the Klan saying that "Nancy Pelosi and the Klannettes" are appearing"without hoods." Zeigler posted the meme with the caption "Sometimes humor can make a serious point."

https://twitter.com/AlabamaPolitics/status/837323532656865282

Sewell, who appears in the photo, told AL.com that the comparison was "insulting" and pointed out that the reason the women were wearing white was to honor the suffragist movement. She called on Zeigler to apologize.

"I wore white to President Trump's Joint Session address in solidarity with my other female colleagues to honor those American women who sacrificed so that all women could have an equal voice in our democracy," she told AL.com.

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/zeigler-hosue-dems-wear-white-klan-picture

March 3, 2017

Senator mocks Trump team's Jedi mind tricks on Russia: 'These aren't the droids you're looking for'

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/03/senator-mocks-trump-teams-jedi-mind-tricks-on-russia-these-arent-the-droids-youre-looking-for/

March 3, 2017

Tying ObamaCare repeal to Planned Parenthood worries some in GOP

BY JESSIE HELLMANN - 03/03/17 06:04 AM EST

Some congressional Republicans think tying the defunding of Planned Parenthood to an ObamaCare repeal bill could jeopardize the healthcare law rollback that they’ve been working on for eight years.

“I don’t think it makes sense to have the defunding of Planned Parenthood linked to this issue at all,” said Sen. Susan Collins, a moderate Republican from Maine who voted against the repeal effort in 2015 because it included language defunding Planned Parenthood.

“If the House Republicans want to bring it up, it should be in a separate bill. I would oppose that bill, but it further complicates the negotiations to have it included in this bill."

Republicans have fought for years to cut off Planned Parenthood's funding because it provides abortions.

more
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/322105-some-gop-lawmakers-oppose-tying-planned-parenthood-to-obamacare-repeal

March 3, 2017

Gay GOP group urges Trump to reinstate transgender protections

Source: The Hill



BY TIM DEVANEY - 03/03/17 11:11 AM EST

A gay GOP group is pressing President Trump's administration to reinstate controversial protections for transgender students.

The Log Cabin Republicans on Friday raised “deep concerns” about last week's move to rescind an Obama-era directive that allowed transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice in school, demanding officials refrain from making decisions “that would harm transgender youth or impede upon their ability to receive an education.”

“As transgender members of the Log Cabin Republicans and Republican parents of transgender students, we have deep concerns about your decision,” the group wrote in a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. The Education and Justice departments teamed up in rescinding the order.

“Log Cabin Republicans is proud to help play a part in the President Trump’s goal to ‘Make America Great Again,’ ” the letter said. “To this end, we request that the Trump administration and the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights reconsider rescinding” the protections for transgender students.


Read more: http://thehill.com/regulation/322173-gay-republicans-urge-trump-to-reinstate-transgender-bathroom-protections

March 3, 2017

Two Republicans sign onto effort demanding Trump's tax returns

Source: The Hill


BY CRISTINA MARCOS - 03/03/17 10:56 AM EST

Two House Republicans endorsed a Democratic effort on Friday calling on the House and Senate committees with oversight of the Internal Revenue Service to request copies of President Trumps tax returns.

Reps. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) and Walter Jones (R-N.C.) signed a letter urging the chairmen of the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee to request the Treasury Department provide Trumps tax returns from the last decade.

The [link:https://www.scribd.com/document/340828667/Pascrell-163-Bipartisan-Colleagues-Call-on-Congress-to-Request-Trump-Tax-Returnsletter] was spearheaded by Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) and signed by most of the 193-member House Democratic Caucus. It argues that letting members of Congress see whats in Trumps tax returns would clear up any questions of whether his business ties offer conflicts of interest.

Trump broke with four decades of precedent by refusing to release his tax returns after becoming the GOP presidential nominee. He cited an ongoing IRS audit, although the agency has said people can still release their tax information nonetheless. Disclosure would serve the public interest of clarifying President Trump's conflicts of interest in office, the potential for him to personally benefit from tax reform, and ensure that he is not receiving any preferential treatment from the IRS, the letter states.

Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/house/322169-two-republicans-sign-onto-effort-demanding-trumps-tax-returns

March 3, 2017

Trump: It's 'pathetic' Dems are holding up Cabinet picks

Source: Politico



By LOUIS NELSON 03/03/17 08:03 AM EST

With his two most recent nominees left to be confirmed, President Donald Trump complained on Twitter Friday morning that “it is so pathetic that the Dems have still not approved my full Cabinet.”

With the confirmations of Ben Carson as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and Rick Perry as Secretary of Energy clearing the Senate on Thursday, only Agriculture Secretary-designate Sonny Perdue and Labor Secretary-designate Alexander Acosta remain unconfirmed.

Perdue’s nomination was the final cabinet post to be filled by Trump, who announced his pick for Secretary of Agriculture on the day before his inauguration. Acosta was nominated in the middle of last month after Trump’s initial pick to lead the Labor Department, fast-food CEO Andrew Puzder, dropped out amid an array of scandals, including employing an undocumented worker and allegations of spousal abuse. Both Acosta and Purdue are awaiting Senate confirmation hearings.

While Trump’s official cabinet is nearly filled out, other cabinet-level positions remain unfilled. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats both have yet to be confirmed by the Senate.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/trump-cabinet-picks-criticize-democrats-235642

March 3, 2017

Schiff: Sessions' explanations on Russia meetings 'not credible'

Source: Politico


By AIDAN QUIGLEY 03/03/17 09:48 AM EST

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Friday morning that Attorney General Jeff Session’s explanations of why he didn’t disclose two meetings with the Russian ambassador to the Senate are “not credible.”

“You don't, I think, treat a visit in your office by the Russian ambassador as something casual, something not memorable,” Schiff said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. “And when you're asked about your contacts with Russians in the senate, that should have been disclosed. I think he knew it should have been disclosed.”

Sessions met twice with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak in 2016 but said he “did not have communications with the Russians” during his confirmation hearing. The attorney general recused himself Thursday afternoon from any investigation involving the Trump campaign's alleged ties to Russia, which he strongly supported.

Schiff, one of many Democrats to call for Sessions to resign Thursday, said although perjury has a high standard, that is not the standard to evaluate Sessions’ ability to do his job.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/jeff-sessions-recusal-adam-schiff-react-235647