An especially aesthetic tribute to RBG.

DeVos to withhold millions in federal funds to Connecticut schools over transgenders on girls teams

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos says she'll withhold millions of federal dollars from Connecticut schools that won't withdraw from an athletic conference that allows transgender students to enter competitions based on their chosen gender.

Students and parents have argued the some transgender students, particularly boys who identify as girls, have dominated sports like track and field, limiting playing time and opportunities for college scholarships.

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Russia's space agency chief declares Venus a "Russian planet"

Moscow — If there is life on Venus, it might want to start learning Russian. The boss of Russia's government space agency has claimed it as a "Russian planet."

The bold territorial claim comes on the heels of scientific research suggesting life could exist on Earth's celestial neighbor, the second planet from the sun.

Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin, who's known for espousing unconventional scientific views — and for frequently sarcastic anti-Western rhetoric — said this week that Russia wants to send its own mission to Venus, in addition to an already-proposed joint venture with the United States called "Venera-D."

"We think that Venus is a Russian planet, so we shouldn't lag behind," Rogozin, a former deputy prime minister, told reporters on Tuesday. He noted that the Soviet Union was "the first and the only one" to land a spacecraft on Venus.

"The spacecraft gathered information about the planet — it is like hell over there," he said in remarks quoted by the Tass news agency.

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Donald Trump-appointed HHS spokesman goes totally off the deep end

Maybe I'm misinterpreting this, but I provisionally do not believe he was ordered to say this.

Donald Trump-appointed HHS spokesman says 'buy ammunition' as he claims Democrats are planning armed insurrection after election - and accuses CDC of 'sedition' against president in Facebook live rant (Daily Mail UK)

* Michael Caputo was installed as top communications official at HHS
* He warned on Facebook that 'they're going to have to kill me, and unfortunately, I think that's where this is going'
* Said that 'when Donald Trump refuses to stand down at the inauguration, the shooting will begin'
* Followed report Friday in Politico that Caputo pushed the Centers for Disease Control to modify weekly reports on the coronavirus

The top communications official at the Health and Human Services Department warned in a bizarre Facebook Live session that political opponents 'are going to have to kill me' and claimed Democrats are plotting an armed insurrection.

Michael Caputo, a former Trump campaing official, issued the warnings after publication of a Politico story Friday that indicated Caputo and other political appointees were pressuring Centers for Disease Control officials to alter weekly coronavirus reports.

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Some good news for a change (census)

It's official. Fascism the day after Election Day.

President Donald Trump is vowing to crush any 'riots' that occur among opposition should he be declared the winner on Election night – saying he would 'put it down within minutes.'

Trump was asked about the hypothetical scenario by Fox News host Jeanine Pirro – who mentioned 'threats' of riots without providing specifics.

'Let's say there are threats. They say that they are going to threaten riots if they lose on election night, assuming we get a winner on election night. What are you going to do?' the host asked him.

'We'll put them down very quickly if they do that. We have the right to do that. We have the power to do that if we want,' said Trump, sitting for an interview at the White House during a week when his team was rocked by bombshell recordings by author and journalist Bob Woodward.

Rather than downplay the possibility, Trump took the hypothetical, continuing: 'Look, it's called insurrection. We just send in, and we do it very easy. I mean, it's very easy. I'd rather not do that because there's no reason for it, but if we had to, we'd do that and put it down within minutes. Within minutes,' Trump said, in a clip posted by Politico.

Trump has repeatedly gone after 'rioters' and 'looters' who he said are rival Joe Biden supporters.

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The good old days when the Oscars were non political.

OK I made yo click, but that's not really my reaction.

My reaction is more like "it's all so tiresome".

Full disclosure: I'm old and never watched the Oscars or any other big awards show.

I do remember the good old days when folks who didn't like Hollywood didn't whine loud enough for me to hear it.

Election and revolution.

We need to win both.

Trump nominated for Nobel Peace Prize following Israel-UAE accord

President Trump has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for helping broker a peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, according to a report.

Christian Tybring-Gjedde, a member of the Norwegian Parliament and chairman of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, submitted the nomination, Fox News reported.

“For his merit, I think he has done more trying to create peace between nations than most other Peace Prize nominees,” Tybring-Gjedde told Fox News.

In his letter to the Nobel Committee, Tybring-Gjedde wrote that the Trump administration has played a key role in the establishment of relations between the two nations.

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Saw some right wingers whining about Facebook "censoring" the Kyle Rittenhouse fundraiser

I won't link but it's easy to find if you're a glutton for punishment like me.

Good for Facebook, but swearing off Facebook is not narrowly a political issue.

I (with a background in computer security stretching back to the last century) took one look when it first came out and said "no way". I know it's convenient and all that, but the security exposure should be enough to keep you away.

There are other high tech ways of staying in touch or trading photos etc that don't rely on subjecting yourself to pervasive spyware that follows you around the web.