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Post by mhbruin on Dec 10, 2023 9:24:04 GMT -8
I used to race cars for a living, but I found they were much faster than me.
He's Got a Little List. Not One of Them Be Missed.
CNN host Jake Tapper called out Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) on Sunday after he claimed that Republicans do not want to curb birth control rights for women.
"I also think we have to win the trust back of the American people, and one of the ways to do that is to be the truly pro-family party," Vance told Tapper during a discussion about abortion.
"Is birth control part of that policy, empowering women to be able to make those decisions before they get pregnant?" Tapper asked.
"I don't think that I know any Republican, at least not a Republican with a brain that's trying to take those rights away from people, but I think it goes deeper than that," Vance replied.
Tapper interrupted.
"I mean, I could provide a list for you if you wanted," the CNN host said.
"Well, okay," Vance said, insisting he did not talk to those Republicans.
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Post by mhbruin on Dec 10, 2023 9:26:19 GMT -8
Inside the closed-door meeting where Tuberville cavedFor months, Democrats hounded Sen. Tommy Tuberville to drop his blanket hold on hundreds of senior military promotions over the Pentagon’s abortion travel policy. In November, Tuberville’s fellow Republicans joined in. The Alabama Republican wouldn’t budge. Then a member of his own party threatened to whip votes against him. During a closed-door Senate Republican lunch on Nov. 28, Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) gave a fiery 10-minute speech, the latest in a series of attempts to get Tuberville to relent. In remarks that haven’t been previously reported, Sullivan announced that he had exhausted all of his options and that it was time to join Democrats in a vote to undo the blanket holds. Sullivan, a colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve, leaned on his status as the Senate’s only serving military officer. He warned that an exodus of military officers was coming if the nominees weren’t confirmed before the end of the year. If that happened, they would have to be renominated. “One [commanding officer] I know personally told me: ‘I’m apolitical but one group of elected officials always had our backs — Republican senators. Now you guys hate us — the world has been turned upside down,’” Sullivan said, according to remarks obtained by POLITICO.
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Post by mhbruin on Dec 10, 2023 9:29:54 GMT -8
Matcha green tea might help improve perception of emotions and sleep quality in elderly adults with cognitive declineA new study has found that drinking matcha, a type of green tea, may improve perception of emotions and sleep quality in older adults with a decline of cognitive functions. The study, conducted by researchers from Japan and published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia, is the first long-term clinical trial to test the effect of matcha on psychological functions. The causes of dementia are numerous, and studies have suggested that nutrition plays a key role. Matcha is a popular beverage particularly in Japan and contains ingredients such as theanine, which has been suggested to improve short-term memory and sleep. However, no study has tested the effect of matcha on psychological functions over a long period. Hence, a collaboration was established by the University of Tsukuba between pharmaceutical manufacturing company MCBI and drinks company Ito En. The teams aimed to investigate the effect of matcha on psychological functions and sleep in elderly adults with cognitive decline over 12 months, in addition to exploring how biological markers found in the blood and brain are related to matcha consumption.
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Post by mhbruin on Dec 10, 2023 9:32:35 GMT -8
Paxon Screws Over More Texans
A Travis County state district judge has ordered the Department of Public safety to release law enforcement records related to the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, more than a year after a consortium of news organizations sued for access.
261st Civil District Court Judge Daniella DeSeta Lyttle ordered DPS to fulfill 28 records requests filed by the news organizations, which include The Texas Tribune and ProPublica, subject to redactions such as personal information of police officers and blurring the faces of minor victims in crime scene photographs.
The files would shed light on the disastrous police response that day, in which officers waited more than an hour to confront the shooter after learning he had an AR-15 style rifle.
Lyttle issued a preliminary order in June; the one issued Tuesday is the final judgment. It required DPS to provide the records sought within 20 days, unless the state police agency appeals the ruling.
“DPS promised to disclose the results of this investigation once it was completed,” said Laura Prather, a media law attorney with Haynes Boone who represents the news organizations. “It was completed in February and they still haven’t provided any answers to these families.”
DPS did not return a request for comment on Thursday. Attorney General Ken Paxton on Dec. 8 filed an appeal on behalf of the agency.
Prather said an appeal would likely limit the ability of victims’ families to file federal lawsuits alleging that police had committed civil rights violations. The statute of limitations on those complaints, formally called Section 1983 claims, is two years.
“It prevents (families) from having the evidence they need,” Prather said.
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Post by mhbruin on Dec 10, 2023 9:35:06 GMT -8
Nobody Wants Us to Know the Trith About Gaza.
Since the October 7 attack by Hamas, a Palestinian militant group designated as a terrorist organization by many countries, Israel has said that it cannot guarantee journalists’ safety in Gaza and has denied them access to the region, even during the recent temporary ceasefire. The exception is those working for organizations allowed to embed with the Israel Defense Forces under certain requirements, including prior review of anything they publish. Despite Israel’s claims that it tries to avoid civilian casualties, including that of journalists, its bombardment of Gaza has proved indiscriminate.
Hamas, for its part, has also long restricted political expression and the free press, using intimidation, physical violence, and torture to do so, according to human rights organizations. Even before the war, that also had a chilling effect on journalists operating out of Gaza.
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Post by mhbruin on Dec 10, 2023 9:39:42 GMT -8
Brush Up on Your Polish and Get Your Popcorn
The daily livestream from Poland's parliament, the Sejm, has become an online hit, drawing hundreds of thousands of viewers for each session. Some top a million.
Soon the latest must-watch series will make the leap to the big screen. Demand to follow key proceedings next week is so high that one of Warsaw's main cinemas, Kinoteka, is showing the whole thing, offering politics with popcorn.
Monday is the deadline for Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki to present his cabinet for a vote of confidence by deputies.
If he fails to get enough support, as expected, parliament will move to approve a coalition government led by Donald Tusk which holds a majority of seats in the Sejm. [...]
Democracy is in vogue here, with women and young people particularly engaged.
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Post by mhbruin on Dec 10, 2023 9:42:00 GMT -8
Be Sure to Have some Tissues Handy
When Santos was living in Brazil in the aughts, according to friends who spoke to Reuters, he was performing as a drag queen, sometimes under the name Kitara Ravache.
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Post by mhbruin on Dec 10, 2023 9:44:38 GMT -8
Who Won the Week?
Democrat Karen Smith, who took her oath of office as new president of Pennsylvania's Central Bucks school board with her hand on 6 frequently banned and challenged books
The EPA, for announcing a crackdown on oil and gas producers by mandating the detection and repair of planet-warming methane leaks
Judge Tanya Chutkan, for ruling emphatically that Trump does not have "absolute immunity" from prosecution and the election subversion case against him will proceed
President Biden: announces $4.8 billion in student debt relief for 80,000+ people and plan to replace all lead pipes in US; signs order reforming fed funding system for Tribes; targets high-price drug patents to lower costs
The Nevada grand jury that indicted 6 MAGA crazies, including party leaders, for conspiring to replace real electors with fake ones in 2020 to steal the election for Trump
The 425 military nominees confirmed by the Senate after Sen. Tuberville (MAGA-AL) finally dropped his 10-month Russia-abetting campaign to prevent the promotions
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), for signing two pro-voter bills and the pro-abortion Reproductive Health Act into law
Vice President Kamala Harris, who has now cast the most tie-breaking votes in Senate history at 32 (one more than previous record holder John C. Calhoun)
Brenda Lee, who at age 78 saw her 1958 hit "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first time
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Post by mhbruin on Dec 10, 2023 9:46:14 GMT -8
Some Political Wives Should Just Shut Up and Smile
It’s cleanup time for Ron DeSantis’ gaffe-prone campaign in Iowa, but this time the Florida governor was not to blame. Instead, it was Florida’s first lady, Casey DeSantis, who created another fine mess.
On Friday, the couple sat down for a side-by-side interview on Fox News ahead of a “Mamas for DeSantis” event in West DesMoines, CNN reported.
Casey DeSantis got perhaps a little too excited and said:
“We’re asking all of these moms and grandmoms to come from wherever it might be, North Carolina, South Carolina and to descend upon the state of Iowa to be a part of the caucus, because you do not have to be a resident of Iowa to be able to participate in the caucus. So, moms and grandmas are going to be able to come and be a part and let their voice be heard in support of Ron DeSantis.”
The only problem is that it would be voter fraud for non-Iowa residents to cast ballots in the caucuses.
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Post by mhbruin on Dec 10, 2023 9:49:03 GMT -8
The High Cost of Housing is Crushing PeopleJennifer Estrada is making more money than ever yet struggling just as much to feed her family. For the past year, Estrada has been working 12-hour shifts overnight as a production supervisor at a Wisconsin aluminum plant, making $7 an hour more than she was a year ago. But with rent that’s more than doubled and a monthly grocery bill that now tops $2,400 for her family of seven, Estrada has been having to turn to local food banks to keep her children from going hungry. “There are definitely many times, as a mom, where you cook and you make sure they eat and you go a little bit lighter that night,” Estrada said. “But I strive to make sure that they don’t go hungry.” By traditional measures of the economy, where unemployment has been at historic lows and wages have been rising, more Americans should be prospering and the need for help with basic necessities like food should be easing after surging during the pandemic. But those on the front lines of feeding the hungry say they are seeing the opposite. Instead, they say a growing number of Americans have been seeking out help from food banks and government food programs over the past year amid a perfect storm of persistently rising costs and shrinking programs to help households cope with these growing expenses. Why Americans are going hungry despite a strong economy
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Post by mhbruin on Dec 10, 2023 9:53:04 GMT -8
It's Easy as XYZ to Mess Yourself UpDr. Steven Corder didn’t think his job treating people addicted to fentanyl in Wheeling, West Virginia, could get any harder, but then he began encountering patients who were addicted to both fentanyl and a second drug with its own destructive power — the livestock tranquilizer xylazine. “Opioid withdrawal is hard enough,” Corder said. But his usual tools, he lamented, “couldn’t touch the withdrawal from xylazine.” Xylazine is now present in one out of every nine overdose deaths nationwide involving illicit fentanyl, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But West Virginia, which remains ground zero in the American opioid crisis, with nearly twice as many overdose deaths per capita as its nearest competitor, seems to be taking a disproportionate hit from xylazine as well. It now shows up in at least half of the needles in Wheeling, and between 15% and 20% of the needles used statewide, according to 2023 data from West Virginia University. The drug is known for leaving deep flesh wounds that can sometimes lead to amputations. The wounds develop from skin ulcers that can appear at the point of injection or elsewhere on the body. First came fentanyl. Now this state is counting the casualties from another deadly drug.
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