June 13, 2020

Does it occur to you we are being played for suckers by big business?

Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant voice support for Black Lives Matter
https://www.cnet.com/news/alexa-siri-and-google-assistant-support-black-lives-matter/

Tech companies like Amazon, Apple and Google have pledged donations to racial justice in the wake of George Floyd's death, and are also using their voice assistants to spread awareness of the Black Lives Matter movement. They also respond to "all lives matter," a phrase often associated with criticism of the BLM movement.

Saying "Black Lives Matter" to Amazon's Alexa prompts a firm response.

...

June 13, 2020

Trump's MySpace

June 13, 2020

HHS ... Protecting Civil Rights in Healthcare (official press release misleading title)

HHS Finalizes Rule on Section 1557 Protecting Civil Rights in Healthcare, Restoring the Rule of Law, and Relieving Americans of Billions in Excessive Costs
https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2020/06/12/hhs-finalizes-rule-section-1557-protecting-civil-rights-healthcare.html

The relevant bit:

...

In 2016, the previous administration issued a regulation implementing Section 1557 (the 2016 Rule) that redefined sex discrimination to include termination of pregnancy and gender identity, which it defined as “one’s internal sense of gender, which may be male, female, neither, or a combination of male and female.”

...

Under the final rule, HHS eliminates certain provisions of the 2016 Rule that exceeded the scope of the authority delegated by Congress in Section 1557. HHS will enforce Section 1557 by returning to the government’s interpretation of sex discrimination according to the plain meaning of the word “sex” as male or female and as determined by biology. The 2016 Rule declined to recognize sexual orientation as a protected category under the ACA, and HHS will leave that judgment undisturbed.

...

Isn't this what our trans comrades would call "erasure"?

June 11, 2020

Trump's Bump Stock Ban Is Under Fire From His Own Judicial Appointees

Trump's Bump Stock Ban Is Under Fire From His Own Judicial Appointees
https://reason.com/2020/06/11/trumps-bump-stock-ban-is-under-fire-from-his-own-judicial-appointees/

After 2017's mass shooting in Las Vegas, President Donald Trump vowed to ban bump stocks, a type of firearm accessory that the shooter reportedly used. "We can do that with an executive order," Trump declared. "They're working on it right now, the lawyers."

...

That unilateral executive action has now come under fire from two federal judges appointed by Trump himself.

On March 2, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch issued a statement respecting the denial of certiorari in Guedes v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The executive branch "used to tell everyone that bump stocks don't qualify as 'machineguns.' Now it says the opposite." Yet "the law hasn't changed, only an agency's interpretation of it," Gorsuch complained. "How, in all of this, can ordinary citizens be expected to keep up….And why should courts, charged with the independent and neutral interpretation of the laws Congress has enacted, defer to such bureaucratic pirouetting?"

Gorsuch wasn't alone. On March 30, Judge Brantley Starr, a Trump appointee who sits on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, issued a blistering opinion in Lane v. United States that basically accused the DOJ of ignoring foundational constitutional principles in its defense of Trump's bump stock ban.

...

June 10, 2020

Earth vs Space 50th Anniversary Chess Game Karjakin vs Cosmonauts

June 9, 2020

Homophobic ad backing Putin's constitutional reform draws ire

The main point of the "reform" is to eliminate presidential term limits.
Because Putin and Putin alone can protect Russia from those awful men in dresses, see?

Homophobic ad backing Putin's constitutional reform draws ire
https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/world/homophobic-ad-backing-putins-constitutional-reform-draws-ire/amp/ar-BB14VUUy

Russian President Vladimir Putin is backing constitutional reforms in the country, which will be put up for a vote next month.

However, a video backing the envisioned reform has run into a controversy for its homophobic rhetoric.

The video, made by a group known as “Patriot” shows the reaction of a young boy to finding out that his soon-to-be adoptive parents are gay.

"Here's your new mum. Don't be upset”, says one of the men in the video, while showing a dress. "What Russia do you choose?”, a voice in the video says. The video ends with a plead - “Decide the future of the country. Vote for the amendments to the constitution”.

The group is backed by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a US-backed ally of Putin

The country is country being by the coronavirus pandemic, but it set to vote on a few constitutional amendments on July 1, which would decide whether Putin would become the president again.

Amping up its anti-gay rhetoric, the video also endorsed the idea that marriage is a union between a man and woman.

The advertisement has gone viral on social media, and has received thousands of views.

Putin’s biggest opposition - Alexei Navalny shared the video while saying that

"Putin's officials have gone completely out of their minds on the subject of homosexuality," he tweeted.

The head of Patriot, Nikolai Stolyarchuk released a statement claiming that the video was "not campaigning against homosexuals" but "defending the institute of family as a union of a man and a woman”. However, he added his disapproval of allowing adoption by gay couples.

The vote on July 1 has nothing to do with LGBTQIA+ oriented legislation in the country.

June 8, 2020

Why is this sh*t good for big business?

Trump celebrates a 'big day for the stock market' as Dow jumps by 250 points and American Airlines reveals their shares have DOUBLED in price off the back of reopening and huge jobs report
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8399187/Dow-Jones-jumps-250-points-American-Airlines-reveals-shares-DOUBLED-month.html

The Dow was up 263 points, or 1%, at 27,374, on Monday morning

Hammered shares in travel operators, including American Airlines and United Airlines Holdings, climbed between 7% and 16.5% in premarket trading

AA stocks were up 7% from pre-market on Friday. At $19.90, shares had doubled compared to this time last month and increased 94% from two months ago

The market saw a boost Friday when the government said 2.5 million jobs were added to payrolls last month, after economists expected 8 million more jobs lost

Trump tweeted: 'Big day for Stock Market. Smart money, and the World, know that we are heading in the right direction. Jobs coming back FAST'

...

I'm trying to avoid getting all conspiracy theoretical about this.

Is all the upheaval simply irrelevant to them or are they profiteering on it somehow?

June 8, 2020

Riots good for Big Business

Doesn't seem plausible, now does it? So many lies ...

So long, 33-day bear market — the bull is back and fresh highs are coming soon, says longtime strategist
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/so-long-33-day-bear-market-the-bull-is-back-and-fresh-highs-are-coming-soon-says-longtime-strategist-2020-06-07

...

“With the benefit of hindsight, [the jobs number] kind of makes sense because we had the Paycheck Protection Program that was basically implemented in April, encouraging small businesses to keep people on their payrolls,” said Yardeni, a longtime Wall Street investment strategist.

He added that, as long as no second wave slams the economy, he sees a V-shaped rebound, at least initially, driving the S&P 500 to record highs over the next couple months. Specifically, he’s looking for the S&P to breach 3,500 sooner rather than later, which is about 300 points higher from here.

...

June 7, 2020

Listen to world leaders speak English!

Found this amusing.

June 7, 2020

I already knew Hell's Angels are fascist thugs as well as a criminal gang from the old days ...

... didn't realize they are still a thing.

https://twitter.com/DeAnna4Congress/status/1269358600453083137