July 9, 2016

Philando Castile Was a Role Model to Hundreds of Kids

Colleagues and parents on Thursday remembered Philando Castile as an ambitious man who served as a role model for hundreds of children before he was fatally shot by a police officer during a traffic stop in Minnesota.

Castile, who was known by friends as Phil, was a cafeteria supervisor at J.J. Hill Montessori Magnet School in Saint Paul, Minn., where he memorized the names of the 500 children he served every day — along with their food allergies, his former coworker said.

“He remembered their names. He remembered who couldn’t have milk. He knew what they could have to eat and what they couldn’t,” Joan Edman, a recently retired paraprofessional at the school, told TIME. “This was a real guy. He made a real contribution. Yes, black lives matter. But this man mattered.”

http://time.com/4397086/minnesota-shooting-philando-castile-role-model-school/

June 28, 2016

Awesome Texas Abortion Testimony Poetry: ‘If My Vagina Was a Gun’

Hundreds of women and men have testified at the Texas Capitol both for and against SB 1, which would restrict most abortions after 20 weeks and close all but five abortion clinics in the state. But only one woman performed an epic poem, entitled "If My Vagina Was a Gun."

Here's the transcript of the work of art, performed by Katie Helm:
(excerpt)
If my vagina was a gun, you would stand for its rights,

You would ride on buses and fight all the fights.

If my vagina was a gun, you would treat it with care,

You wouldn’t spill all its secrets because, well, why go there.

...
http://jezebel.com/awesome-texas-abortion-testimony-poetry-if-my-vagina-717474146

June 27, 2016

(ex-) Working-class Rust Belt could put trump in White house

--- and if they do, they'll wake up the next day and be like 'oh my god, what did I do?
Can we have another election?'

They make a "protest vote" against government, and against the conditions of their lives, which is true they are getting the shaft--

but people gotta realize a vote is forever, an election is forever.

(until the next one, if we survive that long.)

article:
"Uprising in the Rust Belt
They used to be Democrats. Now they really could hand Donald Trump the White House."


Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/06/coal-country-democrats-donald-trump-2016-213988#ixzz4CmkXiMW2

June 27, 2016

Sanders Delegate: Climate Change and the Israeli Occupation Must be Raised at the Convention

"We're at the People's Summit in Chicago, and we're continuing our interview with Carlos Ramirez-Rosa. He's the alderman for Chicago's 35th Ward. Prior to his election to Chicago City Council, he worked as a community organizer. And he's also a Bernie delegate at the coming convention."


http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=16615

June 26, 2016

Looks like Brexit could impact the Spanish election (negatively imo)

Britain’s decision to exit the European Union offered Spain’s acting prime minister an opportunity to warn voters against opting for a radical overhaul under Podemos, an upstart leftist party competing in elections on Sunday.

Mariano Rajoy, the acting prime minister, said on Friday that his government was sad to see Britain leave the European Union, and told Spaniards that they should confront the future with “serenity,” as the British referendum result sent Spain’s financial markets tumbling.

http://www.nytimes.com/live/eu-referendum/brexit-looms-large-over/

June 23, 2016

Pls inform this ignorant American (me)

(I just posted this on GD - did not know there was a UK group)
this is my question:

Why was there this referendum--
did some group bring it up, did the government, how did it come to be?
And why now?

Is it the first time there has been a referendum since Britain has been in the EU?

thanks.

June 23, 2016

Someone who is informed about Brexit pls help me out--

By the time you read this, the result may be in -
but what I want to know is why was there this referendum--
ie - did some group bring it up, did the government, how did it come to be?

Is it the first time there has been a referendum since Britain has been in the EU?

thanks.

June 17, 2016

FBI Told Orlando Shooter's Wife Not to Tell US Media He Was Gay

In an interview with Brazilian TV, the ex-wife of Omar Mateen claimed the U.S. agency told her to keep quiet about his homosexuality.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation told the former wife of the Orlando shooter Omar Mateen, Sitora Yusufiy, not to speak of his homosexuality or the fact that she, his family and others believed he was gay, Yusufiy’s current fiance, Marco Dias, told a Brazilian TV channel in an interview.

Dias told the Brazilian television station SBT Brazil Tuesday that Yusufiy believed Mateen was gay and that his father called him gay several times in front of her. However, “the FBI asked her not to tell this to the American media.”

Since the attack, Mateen has been dubbed an “Islamic terrorist” by politicians, senior officials and commentators in the U.S. following reports he had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.

However, the idea that he could have been a closet-homosexual indicates that the Orlando shooting might have been a deeply felt and personal act of hate.

The FBI and law enforcement in the United States have so far been pursuing the “Islamist terrorism” angle and their alleged demand from Mateen’s ex-wife to keep mum about his homosexuality suggests they want to downplay the personal and self-hating nature of the attack in favor of the Islamic terrorism-related one.



http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/FBI-Told-Orlando-Shooters-Wife-Not-to-Tell-US-Media-He-Was-Gay-20160616-0002.html

June 17, 2016

donald trump and the orlando shooter - mirror images

both are batshit crazy, irrational and frightening.
both are bullies, into control,
both are racist, homophobic, misogynist.
One killed or injured 100 people, traumatized a community, a city and a nation.
One would do even worse.

June 17, 2016

Richard Armitage Becomes Highest Ranking Republican To Break Party Rank

Source: politico

Armitage served as assistant secretary of defense under President Reagan, and deputy secretary of state under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He’s the highest ranking national security official to openly express opposition to Donald Trump as the GOP’s nominee.

“If Donald Trump is the nominee, I would vote for Hillary Clinton,” Armitage told POLITICO in a brief interview. “He doesn't appear to be a Republican. He doesn't appear to want to learn about issues. So, I’m going to vote for Mrs. Clinton”


Read more: http://www.redstate.com/sweetie15/2016/06/16/richard-armitage-becomes-highest-ranking-republican-break-party-rank/

---

this could get interesting...

it's kinda fun to watch Paul Ryan look sheepish when asked about drump's banning of newspapers.