Smile as if you mean it.
Don has a festive day out
Feb 17th, 2018 10:16 am | By Ophelia BensonOh christ. You think he can’t go any lower and then…
Our entire Nation, w/one heavy heart, continues to pray for the victims & their families in Parkland, FL. To teachers, law enforcement, first responders & medical professionals who responded so bravely in the face of danger: We THANK YOU for your courage! https://t.co/3yJsrebZMG pic.twitter.com/ti791dENTy
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2018
My god he is standing there grinning and doing a thumbs up gesture!
He’s standing by a victim’s hospital bed in a sea of forced grins for his photo op!
He’s clapping his hands!
He collected all the nearby staff and made them grin next to him and his horrible thumb!
And, to top it off, he … Read the rest
The lioness thwarted the wolves
Feb 17th, 2018 9:58 am | By Ophelia BensonTarek Fatah on Asma Jahangir’s final victory over the angry Islamists.
… Read the restFor over 40 years the lioness of Pakistan stood alone, surrounded by a snarling pack of hyenas circling her for the kill. But they never dared come close to Asma Jahangir whose stare alone used to send many a jihadi and military general packing with tails tucked between their rears.
…
Asma Jahangir didn’t ever wrap her head in hijab, the flag of misogyny that has enamoured so many white women of privilege. She knew the piece of cloth represented Islamic radicalism.
Only 66, she was also the UN Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran. While most Pakistanis, Indians and Iranians were shocked at the news of her
It’s sad something like that could happen
Feb 16th, 2018 5:40 pm | By Ophelia BensonTrump is back at Mar-a-Lago, and on the way there he stopped off at a hospital in Pompano Beach that took in eight of the victims of Nikolas Cruze.
… Read the restThe president and Mrs. Trump, visited the Broward Health North Hospital “to pay their respects and thank the medical professionals for their life-saving assistance,” according to a statement related by a White House spokeswoman on Friday evening.
When asked if he met with victims, President Trump said: “Yes, I did. I did indeed.”
“It’s sad something like that could happen,” he said.
Mr. Trump did not respond when he was asked if gun laws needed to be changed. He then walked into another room.
The Trumps, according to the statement, were
Nigeria: Three Children Tortured for Witchcraft in Cross River State
Feb 16th, 2018 | By Leo IgweA local non-governmental organization, the Basic Rights Counsel Initiative (BRCI), in Calabar has just released horrific images of three children who were tortured for witchcraft in Cross River State in Southern Nigeria. Grace 3, Lillian 5, and Juliet 13 narrowly escaped death after their accusers tried to extract confessions from them.
According to local sources, the parents of Grace, Lillian and Juliet are dead. So the three children have until recently been living with their grandmother. The grandmother has been ill for some time. She has AIDS and accused the children of being responsible for the ailment. She claimed that the children were sucking her blood at night, and that made her emaciate. The grandmother contracted two witch-finders in the … Read the rest
Respite
Feb 16th, 2018 4:14 pm | By Ophelia BensonSomething pretty after a rough few days: from the last Winter Olympics, in Sochi:
The indictment
Feb 16th, 2018 10:41 am | By Ophelia BensonRosenstein announced the indictment about 2o minutes ago.
… Read the restDeputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is announcing Friday the indictment of Russian nationals and entities accused of breaking U.S. laws to interfere with the 2016 presidential election, CBS News’ Paula Reid reports.
On Friday, a D.C. federal grand jury returned an indictment against the Internet Research Agency, a Russian organization which has connections to Russian President Vladimir Putin — it names 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities that accuses them of violating U.S. criminal laws to meddle in U.S. elections and political processes. According to a spokesman for the special counsel’s office, the indictment charges all of the defendants with conspiracy to defraud the U.S., as well as “three defendants
Only be sure always to call it please “research”
Feb 16th, 2018 10:13 am | By Ophelia BensonThis just in (i.e. just tweeted by Benjamin Wittes with an extra-emphatic “BOOM”) –
Indictment of INTERNET RESEARCH AGENCY LLC
… Read the restThe latest revelations come after U.S. intelligence officials warned this week that Russia is gearing up to meddle again, this time in the November elections. Yet even as analysts urge preparation for the next round of online disinformation, major questions remain from 2016 over how Russians inserted themselves into a rollicking American political campaign without setting off more alarms in the United States — or triggering efforts to combat the disinformation effort.
The analysis by Albright, who is the research director at Columbia’s Tow Center for Digital Journalism and is part of Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center
What is possible
Feb 15th, 2018 5:25 pm | By Ophelia BensonSenator Marco Rubio claims to know, somehow, that restrictions on gun ownership would not have prevented yesterday’s slaughter at a public high school.
… Read the restSen. Marco Rubio said Thursday that gun restrictions would not have prevented the mass shooting at a high school in his home state.
“I understand. I really do. You read in the newspaper that they used a certain kind of gun and therefore let’s make it harder to get those kinds of guns. I don’t have some sort of de facto religious objection to that or some ideological commitment to that, per se,” the Florida Republican said.
“If we do something, it should be something that works. And the struggle up to this point has been
Guest post: Enough with this being totally bewildered again and again and again
Feb 15th, 2018 4:35 pm | By Ophelia BensonGuest post by Maureen Brian, originally commenting on a Facebook posting of mine of Trump tweeting:
So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior. Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!
If the behaviour of young Mr Cruz was so bad that he had to be expelled from school then clearly he had problems. He had had problems for some time.
Was he offered any sort of support long ago? Was that support even available? Did anyone offer support to his family?
Before we rush to station a brigade of psychiatrists in every school or fall for … Read the rest
Executive privilege starts at birth
Feb 15th, 2018 12:38 pm | By Ophelia BensonMeanwhile in areas a little bit away from gunshots, Steve Bannon is trying to convince the House Intelligence committee that “executive privilege” extends retroactively, as if Trump were surrounded by a penumbra of executivityhood for months or years or even decades before he actually took office, and thus that anyone he plotted with at any point within that penumbra had a privilege of not saying anything to pesky House committees no matter how hard they asked.
… Read the restHouse Republican leaders are weighing “further steps” to force former top White House strategist Stephen K. Bannon to answer investigators’ questions in their probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 election — including potentially declaring him in contempt of Congress — after a Thursday
Republicans called for prayers
Feb 15th, 2018 12:05 pm | By Ophelia BensonThe Times is live-updating the latest Random Explosion of Carnage:
• Gov. Rick Scott of Florida said he would meet with state lawmakers to secure more funding for school safety and the treatment of mental illness. “If we have somebody that’s mentally ill, they can’t have access to a gun,” Mr. Scott said.
• The authorities said the AR-15 rifle that Mr. Cruz used in the attack was purchased legally. “No laws were violated in the procurement of this weapon,” said Peter J. Forcelli, the special agent in charge for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Miami. In Florida, an AR-15 is easier to buy than a handgun.
It’s not about “mental illness,” it’s about horrifyingly … Read the rest
The random and the predictable
Feb 15th, 2018 11:15 am | By Ophelia BensonConor Friedersdorf reminds us that Trump specifically and explicitly promised that what happened at that Florida school yesterday would not happen under his regime.
… Read the restIn his inaugural address, Donald Trump declared, “This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.” He knew it would not. We know it did not.
“I’ll be able to make sure that when you walk down the street in your inner city, or wherever you are, you’re not going to be shot,” he declared during the campaign. “Your child isn’t going to be shot.” He has not been able to make sure of that––ask any parent whose children were caught up in any of the recent school shootings.
Trump gave those credulous enough to
Above all, do nothing
Feb 15th, 2018 10:05 am | By Ophelia BensonYou couldn’t make it up.
Can the Left let the families grieve for even 24 hours before they push their anti-gun and anti-gunowner agenda? My goodness. This isn't about a gun it's about another lunatic. #FloridaShooting
— Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) February 15, 2018
Can the Left let the families grieve for even 24 hours before they push their anti-gun and anti-gunowner agenda? My goodness. This isn’t about a gun it’s about another lunatic. #FloridaShooting
Where to begin?
We’re not preventing the families from grieving, or interfering with their grieving.
What “agenda”? The only “agenda” is to try to stop this horrendous thing from happening over and over – in fact to try to prevent it from ever happening again, on … Read the rest
Fair play
Feb 14th, 2018 3:59 pm | By Ophelia Benson… Read the restThe Australian Football League (AFL) has agreed for the first time to allow a transgender footballer to play women’s football at state level.
Hannah Mouncey, 28, who previously played at local level in Canberra, hopes to take to the field in the state of Victoria this season.
The AFL said it wanted everyone to be able to play Australian rules football.
Before she began her gender transition in 2015, Mouncey played for the Australian men’s handball team.
The AFL’s decision means she can now partake in any of its affiliated state leagues during the 2018 season.
…
Australian rules football consists of two teams of 18 players and takes place on an oval-shaped field.
Players can
Nearly 90 percent of us
Feb 14th, 2018 3:28 pm | By Ophelia Benson… Read the restMore than a dozen people were killed in a shooting on Wednesday afternoon at a high school about an hour northwest of Miami [Florida], a law enforcement official said.
The authorities said there were 14 victims, but did not say if they were injured or dead. The Broward County Public Schools confirmed fatalities, but would not say how many.
Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said the suspect is in custody and the scene is still active.
…
Parkland, an affluent suburb of Fort Lauderdale with a population of about 30,000, is known for its good public schools. Douglas High is among the largest in the Broward school district, with about 3,000 students.
“My prayers and
“I don’t have to obey no stinking order”
Feb 14th, 2018 2:46 pm | By Ophelia BensonGarrett Epps on widening contempt for the rule of law in the US such as for instance
… Read the restthe litigation tactic adopted by Michael Turzai and Joseph Scarnati, two Republicans who are respectively the speaker of the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives and the President of the Pennsylvania State Senate, in an emergency stay application filed with Justice Samuel Alito. The application asked Alito to block a decision of Pennsylvania’s State Supreme Court. That decision—rendered as an order on January 22 and explained in a lengthy opinion on Thursday—invalidated the system of U.S. House districts approved by the Republican legislature for election of members of the U.S. House next fall.
The state court held that the partisan nature of the district
