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| Topic | That federal crackdown on sex work last year made things worse |
antfair
12/19/19 4:07:41 PM
#1 | https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/17/technology/fosta-sex-trafficking-law.html<quote>To combat the ills of the internet, federal lawmakers have increasingly focused on a decades-old law that shields tech companies like Facebook and YouTube from liability for content posted by their users. Last year, lawmakers approved chipping away at the law, voting overwhelmingly for the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, which holds tech platforms accountable when people use their sites for sex-trafficking schemes. They have since floated other changes as well, like making Facebook or other platforms liable when opioids are sold on their sites. But now, as the real-world effects of the sex-trafficking change take hold, some experts and politicians say the results are not all positive. And even some lawmakers who have championed a crackdown on Big Tech are now calling to revisit the change. On Tuesday, Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, two of the tech industrys loudest critics, joined 11 other lawmakers in backing a federal study of its effects. Law enforcement officials say that it is sometimes more difficult to track traffickers, because the law pushed them further underground. Advocates say that sex workers now face higher safety risks. The removal of sites advertising sex hinders their ability to vet their clients, the advocates say, and is pushing more of them onto the streets. The renewed focus on the 2018 measure illustrates the difficulty of regulating the internet, including changes to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the 1996 law that enshrined platforms widespread immunity for what their users post. Even when lawmakers reach a consensus that a change is necessary as was the case with sex trafficking the ramifications can be wider than many expect. Its really a good test case as were looking at other types of carve-outs to Section 230, said Jeff Kosseff, an expert on the Section 230 protections. Lawyers across the country have also fought to limit the protections, arguing they dont apply in cases where a digital product is defective. A set of anti-trafficking lawsuits in Texas threatens to chip away at the protections as well. When lawmakers approved the law last year, it was hailed as a way to catch up to the reality that the bartering of children and adults had moved from the streets to the web. It came after alarming allegations emerged about how Backpage, a classifieds site, may have been playing a role in trafficking. Advocates for sex workers warned ahead of the vote in Washington about some of the potential downsides of the law. But they struggled to break through to lawmakers, who were hearing testimony from groups representing trafficking survivors. It misunderstands the way that trafficking works, if you think that making it less visible reduces the occurrence, said Kate DAdamo, an advocate for sex workers rights. Their concerns have found a broader audience in recent months, even bubbling up on the presidential campaign trail. During a CNN town hall with the Democratic candidates this fall, for example, a questioner asked Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who had voted for the bill, what she would do to counteract the negative impact this law has had. Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat of California who was one of the few votes against the bill last year, said he believed Congress should have heard more about those concerns. He helped write the new legislation to study the law after hearing more from sex worker advocates. They didnt hear the perspective of the impact its having on sex workers, he said of his colleagues. This is a cautionary tale that we have to be very deliberate, thoughtful, inclusive in how we regulate the internet. Mr. Khanna said that if a study of the law showed harm to sex workers, he hoped it would bolster the case for a repeal of the 2018 law. Many supporters of the 2018 law say it has had a positive effect on the internet, and has helped curb sex trafficking. They note that no site has cropped up to replace Backpage, which was taken down as part of a federal criminal case before the law passed. Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut who sponsored the 2018 law, said in a statement that the sex trafficking carve-out was written to change tech industry practices, and that it had succeeded. Any website that closed down because of the law, he said, did so because it was knowingly facilitating sex trafficking or it was misled by critics of the law. But sex worker advocates point to changes on Craigslist, the classified site, and Reddit, the discussion board. Both sites removed swaths of content that referred to sex because the companies found it too difficult to tell whether people featured in the posts were being trafficked. Craigslist shuttered its personals section, for example, and Reddit closed forums called Escorts and SugarDaddy. Any tool or service can be misused, Craigslist said in a statement at the time, explaining its decision to remove some ads in response to the law. We cant take such risk without jeopardizing all our other services.</quote> Who could possibly have seen that coming? --- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | The President suggests dead congressman is in Hell |
antfair
12/19/19 7:37:45 AM
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| Topic | Devin Nunes accuses reporter of stalking him |
antfair
12/08/19 8:41:15 PM
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| Topic | Ring planned neighborhood "watch lists" using facial recognition |
antfair
11/26/19 3:41:47 PM
#1 | https://theintercept.com/2019/11/26/amazon-ring-home-security-facial-recognition/RING, AMAZONS CRIMEFIGHTING surveillance camera division, has crafted plans to use facial recognition software and its ever-expanding network of home security cameras to create AI-enabled neighborhood watch lists, according to internal documents reviewed by The Intercept.
The planning materials envision a seamless system whereby a Ring owner would be automatically alerted when an individual deemed suspicious was captured in their cameras frame, something described as a suspicious activity prompt.
Its unclear who would have access to these neighborhood watch lists, if implemented, or how exactly they would be compiled, but the documents refer repeatedly to law enforcement, and Ring has forged partnerships with police departments throughout the U.S., raising the possibility that the lists could be used to aid local authorities. The documents indicate that the lists would be available in Rings Neighbors app, through which Ring camera owners discuss potential porch and garage security threats with others nearby.
Ring spokesperson Yassi Shahmiri told The Intercept that the features described are not in development or in use and Ring does not use facial recognition technology, but would not answer further questions.
This month, in response to continued pressure from news reports and a list of questions sent by Massachusetts Sen. Edward Markey, Amazon conceded that facial recognition has been a contemplated but unreleased feature for Ring, but would only be added with thoughtful design including privacy, security and user control. Now, we know what at least some of that contemplation looked like.
Mohammad Tajsar, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, expressed concern over Rings willingness to plan the use of facial recognition watch lists, fearing that giving police departments and consumers access to watch listing capabilities on Ring devices encourages the creation of a digital redline in local neighborhoods, where cops in tandem with skeptical homeowners let machines create lists of undesirables unworthy of entrance into well-to-do areas.
Legal scholars have long criticized the use of governmental watch lists in the United State for their potential to ensnare innocent people without due process. When corporations create them, said Tajsar, the dangers are even more stark. As difficult as it can be to obtain answers on the how and why behind a federal blacklist, American tech firms can work with even greater opacity: Corporations often operate in an environment free from even the most basic regulation, without any transparency, with little oversight into how their products are built and used, and with no regulated mechanism to correct errors, Tajsar said.
Once known only for its line of internet-connected doorbell cameras marketed to the geekily cautious, Ring has quickly turned into an icon of unsettling privatized surveillance. The Los Angeles company, now owned by Amazon, has been buffeted this year by reports of lax internal security, problematic law enforcement partnerships, and an overall blurring of the boundaries between public policing and private-sector engineering. Earlier this year, The Intercept published video of a special online portal Ring built so that police could access customer footage, as well as internal company emails about what Rings CEO described as the companys war on dirtbag criminals that steal our packages and rob our houses."
... --- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | The blackface (or Klan hood) governor now has a Democratic majority |
antfair
11/25/19 10:33:27 PM
#1 | Let's see how he plans to use it! https://vpm.org/news/articles/8691/northam-says-he-doesnt-foresee-changes-to-virginias-right-to-work-lawGov. Ralph Northam told a group of business leaders on Monday that he doesnt foresee making any changes to Virginias right-to-work law.
Northams remarks are the first time hes publicly commented on the move since Novembers elections when Democrats took control of Virginias legislature for the first time since 1995.
Labor groups and some fellow Democrats hoped the new majorities would spell an end to the right-to-work law, which bars unions from forcing all employees of a workplace to pay dues.
But in his opening remarks to the Governors Advisory Council on Revenue Estimates (GACRE), Northam quietly put those aspirations to rest and reassured business interests who are wary of the move.
I value our status as the best state for business, Northam said, alluding to a CNBC ranking earlier this year. We're going to work hard to keep it. We also value our AAA bond rating, and I do not foresee Virginia taking actions that would hurt these, including repeal of the right-to-work law.
The audience in the room included Dominion Energy CEO Tom Farrell and other business leaders alongside lawmakers like House Speaker-elect Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax) and her predecessor, Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights).
Del. Lee Carter (D-Manasas), a self-identified socialist, introduced legislation last year to repeal right-to-work, said he would do so again in spite of the governor's statement.
The joy of being an elected official is dealing with things you don't foresee, he said, alluding to Northam's remarks. I'll still be introducing the bill to repeal. What he does with it is up to him.
Northam and Filler-Corn maintained Virginia could maintain its CNBC rating while also improving the lot of workers; an Oxfam study released in August ranked the Commonwealth as the worst state for workers for the second year in a row. In an interview after the meeting, Northam pointed to raising the minimum wage and improved worker training as possible remedies. --- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | Illinois is locking students in solitary |
antfair
11/19/19 9:42:48 PM
#1 | https://graphics.chicagotribune.com/illinois-seclusion/The spaces have gentle names: The reflection room. The cool-down room. The calming room. The quiet room.
But shut inside them, in public schools across the state, children as young as 5 wail for their parents, scream in anger and beg to be let out.
The students, most of them with disabilities, scratch the windows or tear at the padded walls. They throw their bodies against locked doors. They wet their pants. Some children spend hours inside these rooms, missing class time. Through it all, adults stay outside the door, writing down what happens.
In Illinois, its legal for school employees to seclude students in a separate space to put them in isolated timeout if the students pose a safety threat to themselves or others. Yet every school day, workers isolate children for reasons that violate the law, an investigation by the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica Illinois has found.
Children were sent to isolation after refusing to do classwork, for swearing, for spilling milk, for throwing Legos. School employees use isolated timeout for convenience, out of frustration or as punishment, sometimes referring to it as serving time.
For this investigation, ProPublica and the Tribune obtained and analyzed thousands of detailed records that state law requires schools to create whenever they use seclusion. The resulting database documents more than 20,000 incidents from the 2017-18 school year and through early December 2018.
Of those, about 12,000 included enough detail to determine what prompted the timeout. In more than a third of these incidents, school workers documented no safety reason for the seclusion.
State education officials are unaware of these repeated violations because they do not monitor schools use of the practice. Parents, meanwhile, often are told little about what happens to their children.
The Tribune/ProPublica Illinois investigation, which also included more than 120 interviews with parents, children and school officials, provides the first in-depth examination of this practice in Illinois.
Because school employees observing the students often keep a moment-by-moment log, the records examined by reporters offer a rare view of what happens to children inside these rooms often in their own words. Fucking hell. --- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | Facebook includes Breitbart in new "high quality" news tab |
antfair
10/25/19 6:56:54 PM
#1 | https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/oct/25/facebook-breitbart-news-tab-alt-rightFacebooks launch of a new section on its flagship app dedicated to deeply-reported and well-sourced journalism sparked immediate controversy on Friday over the inclusion of Breitbart News, a publication whose former executive chairman explicitly embraced the alt-right.
Facebook News is a separate section of the companys mobile app that will feature articles from about 200 publishers. Fridays launch is a test and will only be visible to some users in the US.
The initiative is designed to quell criticism on two fronts: by promoting higher quality journalism over misinformation and by appeasing news publishers who have long complained that Facebook profits from journalism without paying for it. The company will pay some publishers between $1m and $3m each year to feature their articles, according to Bloomberg.
Participating publications include the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, BuzzFeed, Bloomberg and ABC News, as well as local newspapers such as the Chicago Tribune and Dallas Morning News.
Facebooks chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, paid tribute to the importance of high quality journalism in an op-ed published in the New York Times, which referenced how the news has held Facebook accountable when weve made mistakes.
Zuckerberg also alluded to the power that Facebook will have to influence the media, stating: If a publisher posts misinformation, it will no longer appear in the product.
The op-ed does not reference the inclusion of Breitbart News, but the outlet is notorious for its role in promoting extreme rightwing narratives and conspiracy theories. Thousands of major advertisers have blacklisted the site over its extreme views.
Founded in 2005 by conservative writer Andrew Breitbart, Breitbart News achieved greater influence and a wider audience under its executive chairman Steve Bannon, who went on to run Donald Trumps presidential campaign in 2016. For years, the publication used a black crime tag on articles and promoted anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant views.
Were the platform for the alt-right, Bannon told a reporter in 2016.
In 2017, BuzzFeed News reported on emails and documents showing how the former Breitbart tech editor Milo Yiannopoulos had worked directly with a white nationalist and a neo-Nazi to write and edit an article defining the alt-right movement and advancing its ideas.
Facebook has long faced scrutiny for its reticence to police white nationalism and far-right hate on its platform. In July 2017, the Guardian provided Facebook with a list of 175 pages and groups run by hate groups, as designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center, including neo-Nazi and white nationalist groups. The company removed just nine of them.
Following the deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in August 2017 which was organized in part on a Facebook event page the company cracked down on some white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups. Enforcement was spotty, however, and a year after Charlottesville, several groups and individuals involved in Charlottesville were back on Facebook. It was not until March 2019 that the company decided that its policy against hate should include white nationalism, an ideology that promotes the exclusion and expulsion of non-white people from certain nations. --- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | GOP working to suppress student vote |
antfair
10/24/19 11:10:50 AM
#5 | North Carolina Republicans enacted a voter ID law last year that recognized student identification cards as valid but its requirements proved so cumbersome that major state universities were unable to comply. A later revision relaxed the rules, but much confusion remains, and fewer than half the states 180-plus accredited schools have sought to certify their IDs for voting.
Wisconsin Republicans also have imposed tough restrictions on using student IDs for voting purposes. The state requires poll workers to check signatures only on student IDs, although some schools issuing modern IDs that serve as debit cards and dorm room keys have removed signatures, which they consider a security risk.
The law also requires that IDs used for voting expire within two years, while most college ID cards have four-year expiration dates. And even students with acceptable IDs must show proof of enrollment before being allowed to vote.
Universities have had to decide one by one whether they want to modify their IDs to make them acceptable, issue a second ID for voting purposes or do nothing, said Barry Burden, the director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. And theyve all gone in different directions.
While legislators call the rules anti-fraud measures, Wisconsin has not recorded a case of intentional student voter fraud in memory, Mr. Burden said. But a healthy turnout of legitimate student voters could easily tip the political balance in many closely divided states.
Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, a Democrat, won election in 2016 by 1,017 votes over her Republican rival, Kelly Ayotte. Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina, a Democrat, won that year by about 10,000 votes in a state with nearly 500,000 undergraduates. And Donald J. Trump carried Wisconsin by fewer than 23,000 votes; the University of Wisconsin system alone enrolls more than 170,000 students. --- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | GOP working to suppress student vote |
antfair
10/24/19 11:02:14 AM
#1 | https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/24/us/voting-college-suppression.html This spring, the Texas Legislature outlawed polling places that did not stay open for the entire 12-day early-voting period. When the states elections take place in three weeks, those nine sites which logged many of the nearly 14,000 ballots that full-time students cast last year will be shuttered. So will six campus polling places at colleges in Fort Worth, two in Brownsville, on the Mexico border, and other polling places at schools statewide.
It was a beautiful thing, a lot of people out there in those long lines, said Grant Loveless, a 20-year-old majoring in psychology and political science who voted last November at a campus in central Austin. It would hurt a lot of students if you take those polling places away.
The story at Austin Community College is but one example of a political drama playing out nationwide: After decades of treating elections as an afterthought, college students have begun voting in force.
Their turnout in the 2018 midterms 40.3 percent of 10 million students tracked by Tufts Universitys Institute for Democracy & Higher Education was more than double the rate in the 2014 midterms, easily exceeding an already robust increase in national turnout. Energized by issues like climate change and the Trump presidency, students have suddenly emerged as a potentially crucial voting bloc in the 2020 general election.
And almost as suddenly, Republican politicians around the country are throwing up roadblocks between students and voting booths.
Not coincidentally, the barriers are rising fastest in political battlegrounds and places like Texas where one-party control is eroding. Students overwhelmingly lean Democratic, with three in four supportive of impeaching President Trump, according to an Axios/College Reaction poll released this month.
Some states have wrestled with voting eligibility for out-of-state students in the past. And the politicians enacting the roadblocks often say they are raising barriers to election fraud, not ballots. The threat to election integrity in Texas is real, and the need to provide additional safeguards is increasing, the states attorney general, Ken Paxton, said last year in announcing one of his offices periodic crackdowns on illegal voting. But evidence of widespread fraud is nonexistent, and the restrictions fit an increasingly unabashed pattern of Republican politicians efforts to discourage voters likely to oppose them.
Efforts to deprive any American of a convenient way to vote will have a chilling effect on voting, Nancy Thomas, the director of the Tufts institute, said. And efforts to chill college students voting are despicable and very frustrating.
The headline example is in New Hampshire. There, a Republican-backed law took effect this fall requiring newly registered voters who drive to establish domicile in the state by securing New Hampshire drivers licenses and auto registrations, which can cost hundreds of dollars annually.
The dots are not hard to connect: According to the Tufts study, six in 10 New Hampshire college students come from outside the state, a rate among the nations highest. As early as 2011, the states Republican House speaker at the time, William OBrien, promised to clamp down on unrestricted voting by students, calling them kids voting liberal, voting their feelings, with no life experience.
Floridas Republican secretary of state outlawed early-voting sites at state universities in 2014, only to see 60,000 voters cast on-campus ballots in 2018 after a federal court overturned the ban. This year, the State Legislature effectively reinstated it, slipping a clause into a new elections law that requires all early-voting sites to offer sufficient non-permitted parking an amenity in short supply on densely packed campuses.
--- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | Ask me anything about soccer in the US |
antfair
10/20/19 12:25:41 PM
#9 | masticatingman posted...My city actually has an MLS team but it plays on some no-name channel that I'm not even sure I have. Kind of weird. It's easier here to watch random Mexican football. A lot of MLS teams have unfortunate local TV deals, or streaming only deals. DC and Cincy I think are on something called FloTV? LAFC is on YouTube TV, Chicago plays on ESPN+... --- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | Muslim hockey coach in Michigan pulls a Jussie Smollett |
antfair
10/20/19 12:22:07 PM
#13 | The Admiral posted...The usual garbage left wing rags (Vox, Slate, Salon) just report the coach's initial claims, As best I can tell, none of these outlets have reported on the story at all. --- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | Ask me anything about soccer in the US |
antfair
10/20/19 11:52:36 AM
#7 | lilORANG posted...If we paid the women more, would they be competitive in the men's league? No, but that's beside the point. Highwind07 posted...Which team(s) are you a fan of?
The New York Red Bulls and Tottenham Hotspur karlpilkington4 posted...How many soccer players are there currently? Quite a lot! --- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | Ask me anything about soccer in the US |
antfair
10/20/19 11:43:03 AM
#3 | emblem boy posted...What's up with the us men's team bro They aren't good! Maybe shouldn't have spent a year waiting just to hire the GM's brother --- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | Ask me anything about soccer in the US |
antfair
10/20/19 11:39:32 AM
#1 | This is a subject I feel pretty knowledgeable about --- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | This is a neat optical illusion |
antfair
10/03/19 8:50:17 PM
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| Topic | Wrongfully convicted made to give up chance to sue in exchange for freedom |
antfair
10/03/19 11:00:50 AM
#1 | https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/30/us/wrongful-convictions-civil-lawsuits.htmlSince being arrested for a 1991 murder in Philadelphia, Mr. Dennis has maintained his alibi that he was on a bus and his innocence. But not until 2016 did a federal appeals court tell the state to start a new trial or release Mr. Dennis.
Neither happened. Instead, prosecutors offered Mr. Dennis a deal: sign a plea of no contest to third-degree murder and he could leave prison instantly. If he declined, a new trial would most likely take years.
The deal gave the city a potential out. Without an affirmative finding that he was innocent, the city would later argue, Mr. Dennis should not be able to bring a civil suit seeking payment for his years in prison.
The whole thing was they didnt want me to sue, Mr. Dennis said. Thats what it all comes down to.
Mr. Denniss deal is one of several nationally that federal judges are taking a close look at, weighing their fairness and whether they stand up under legal precedent. The deals suggest an emerging strategy in potentially costly wrongful conviction cases: Set people free, but pay them nothing.
Governments are fielding huge bills as the number of overturned convictions mounts. Since 1989, municipalities have paid $2.5 billion to exonerees, who can seek money under compensation statutes in more than 30 states or via civil lawsuits, according to research from Jeffrey S. Gutman, a law professor at George Washington University.
Some jurisdictions are having trouble paying. Michigan this year had to pass legislation to replenish its wrongful conviction claim funds after it almost ran out of money, while tiny Gage County, Neb., which has been ordered to pay $28 million to six exonerees, has considered raising property taxes and declaring bankruptcy.
In order to bring a civil rights claim, defendants must have a favorable termination of their criminal case, according to the Supreme Courts ruling in the 1994 decision Heck v. Humphrey.
In the prevailing interpretation of that ruling, favorable termination means an affirmative finding of innocence. But such findings are rare. If a conviction is vacated, the defendant is typically granted a new trial rather than declared innocent outright.
Prosecutors may then retry the case, or they may drop it either because so much time has passed that the case would be too difficult to retry, or as a de facto acknowledgment that the person probably did not commit the crime. Or, as in Mr. Denniss case, they may strike a deal requiring the defendant to forgo seeking civil damages.
Some prosecutors say these types of offers are inherently coercive when the alternative is staying in prison.
It flies in the face of our most basic concepts of an accurate and just system: Simply put, I think the whole thing is despicable, Larry Krasner, Philadelphias district attorney and a former defense lawyer, said when asked to comment on Mr. Denniss case and another similar deal arranged by his predecessor. --- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | Shane Gillis jokes Trump would be funniest president to see get shot. |
antfair
09/19/19 10:51:29 PM
#2 | I like to imagine he'd deflate like a cartoon balloon, just flying all over the room until all the air is out. --- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | Guardian list of top 50 games of the 21st century |
antfair
09/19/19 8:13:15 PM
#8 | SomeLikeItHoth posted...No Pokmon Red? That came out in 1996 --- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | Guardian list of top 50 games of the 21st century |
antfair
09/19/19 8:02:04 PM
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| Topic | It won't surprise you to learn that Ben Carson has bad views about trans people |
antfair
09/19/19 7:28:10 PM
#1 | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/09/19/hud-secretary-ben-carson-makes-dismissive-comments-about-transgender-people-angering-agency-staff/
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson expressed concern about big, hairy men trying to infiltrate womens homeless shelters during an internal meeting, according to three people present who interpreted the remarks as an attack on transgender women.
While visiting HUDs San Francisco office this week, Carson also lamented that society no longer seemed to know the difference between men and women, two of the agency staffers said.
Carsons remarks visibly shocked and upset many of the roughly 50 HUD staffers who attended Tuesdays meeting, and prompted at least one woman to walk out in protest, the staffers said.
Carson has a history of making dismissive comments about transgender people. While running for president, he referred to transgender people as abnormal" and said they should not be in the military. As HUD Secretary, he weakened Obama-era protections for transgender people, saying he believes in equal rights, not special rights.
In May, the agency introduced a proposal that would allow federally funded shelters to deny people admission on religious grounds or force transgender women to share bathrooms and sleeping quarters with men.
Carson has addressed the proposed change using different terms in public, most notably during Congressional hearings, when he has said his responsibility is to make sure everybody is treated fairly.
But he has repeatedly mocked transgender people in internal meetings in Washington, according to a government official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations in which the person was involved.
"His overall tone is dismissive and joking about these people," the official said. "It's disrespectful of the people we are trying to serve."
Asked to respond to the detailed accounts of Carsons language in San Francisco and Washington, a HUD senior official released a statement that said: The Secretary does not use derogatory language to refer to transgendered individuals. Any reporting to the contrary is false."
The official, who did not want to be named because he was not present during the meetings, said Carson was referring to men who pretend to be women to gain access to battered womens shelters -- and not singling out transgender women as big, hairy men.
Told of HUDs response, employees who were at the meeting said that was not clear from Carsons remarks.
Transgender advocates called HUDs defense of Carson a common, damaging and insulting trope that had long been debunked.
"Its gravely insulting to have the specter of violence from cis gender men used to restrict the rights of transgender people who are ordinarily the victims of that violence, said Gillian Branstetter, spokeswoman for the National Center for Transgender Equality.
Its a mythical notion that policies that are inclusive of transgender people somehow pose a threat," she said. "Its frankly despicable that such a harmful notion would be used by someone charged with facilitating programs meant to help people in need, many of whom are transgender.
New legal protections for transgender people do not increase the number of crimes in restrooms, locker rooms, or dressing rooms, and reports of privacy and safety violations are exceedingly rare, according to a study published in the March 2019 issue of Sexuality Research and Social Policy.
--- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | Trump pressuring Ukraine to reopen investigation into Biden |
antfair
09/19/19 6:58:31 PM
#1 | https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-ukraine-joe-biden-military-aid-zelensky-kiev-a9111106.html
Ukraines new president Volodymyr Zelensky was fulsome in expressing his gratitude to Donald Trump for the military aid package.
The former professional comedian insisted his relationship with the former reality TV star was very good and that he was sure we will have a meeting in the White House.
But the $250m (280m) of arms for Ukrainian forces, which are confronting Russian backed separatists, has been enmeshed in a bitter battle between the US president and his opponents over accusations that he has tried to manipulate it for underhand political reasons.
The Trump administration had in fact suspended the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, only agreeing to unblock it after rising bipartisan clamour from congress.
The ostensible reason for the hold-up was to ensure that it tallied with US interests.
The real reason, claim critics, was to pressure the Ukrainian government to target Joe Biden the possible Democrat candidate for next years election through an investigation into corruption allegations against his son.
...
But there have been claims that Mr Trump had refused to meet Mr Zelensky after his election this year, and that US officials have warned this would continue to be the case unless the Ukrainian authorities reopened the Burisma files.
The house committees chairs say they will scrutinise a telephone call between the US president and Mr Zelensky on 25 July, during which Mr Trump allegedly told the Ukrainian president to reopen the Biden investigation if he wanted to improve relations with the US.
--- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | Some Democrats think moderation will make the GOP more eager to cooperate |
antfair
09/19/19 5:07:44 PM
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| Topic | Restaurant accused of being racist before it even opens due to dress code. |
antfair
09/19/19 8:06:53 AM
#57 | Fam_Fam posted...Just because that group is not 100% of who is targeted doesn't mean that the rule doesn't have a racial bias attached to it, predominantly targeting certain groups. For a great example of this: Jim Crow laws! Literacy tests and poll taxes prevented a lot of poor whites being unable to vote, resulting in grandfather clauses. --- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | Anti-vaccine protesters are likening themselves to civil rights advocates |
antfair
09/19/19 8:05:31 AM
#1 | https://www.politico.com/story/2019/09/18/california-anti-vaccine-civil-rights-1500976A chorus of mostly white women sang the gospel song We Shall Overcome in the California State Capitol, an anthem of the civil rights movement. Mothers rallied outside the governor's office and marched through Capitol corridors chanting No segregation, no discrimination, yes on education for all!" Some wore T-shirts that read Freedom Keepers."
But this wasn't about racial equality. In the nation's most diverse state, protesters opposed to childhood vaccine mandates many from affluent coastal areas had co-opted the civil rights mantle from the 1960s, insisting that their plight is comparable to what African Americans have suffered from segregationist policies. --- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | Democratic primary poll of black women 18-34 |
antfair
09/08/19 4:20:23 PM
#3 | BLAKUboy posted...I didn't know Trump was running for the Democratic nomination. Whoops, I didn't spot him on there and just assumed this was all D candidates --- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | Democratic primary poll of black women 18-34 |
antfair
09/08/19 4:16:27 PM
#1 | |
| Topic | Summer heat killed more than 1400 in France |
antfair
09/08/19 2:28:34 PM
#1 | https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49628275Record heatwaves in June and July caused the deaths of 1,435 people in France this year, according to the country's health minister.
Speaking on French radio, Agns Buzyn said half of those who died were aged over 75.
But Ms Buzyn said, thanks to preventative measures, the rate was 10 times lower than the same period in 2003 when a deadly heatwave hit Europe.
France recorded its highest-ever temperature of 46C (114.8F) in June.
The capital, Paris, also saw a record high temperature of 42.6C (108.7F) in July.
According to the Ministry of Health, 567 people died during France's first heatwave this year, from 24 June to 7 July. A further 868 died during the second from 21 to 27 July.
Ms Buzyn said that 10 people had died while at work.
During the summer, red alerts - the most severe warning category - were issued in several areas of France.
During hot periods, many schools and public events were closed to minimise public exposure.
Large parks and swimming pools were also kept open in some cities to help people stay cool. Paris authorities organised emergency phone lines and set up temporary "cool rooms" in municipal buildings.
The heat spurred wildfires in neighbouring Spain, with Catalonia experiencing some of its most devastating blazes in 20 years.
All-time high temperatures were also recorded in other European countries, including the UK, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. --- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | Hitman part of September Games with Gold |
antfair
08/29/19 3:35:02 PM
#1 | Hell yeah, that game rules Also: We Were Here, Earth Defense Force 2025, and Tekken Tag Tournament 2 --- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | Newt Gingrich has thoughts on the NYT's big slavery feature |
antfair
08/19/19 10:43:34 PM
#28 | |
| Topic | Which CEusers do we take for granted |
antfair
08/19/19 10:40:34 PM
#8 | Complete_idi0t --- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | What's going to happen in 20 years when climate change |
antfair
08/18/19 11:08:34 PM
#4 | RevivedPacifist posted...Hits countries with high temperatures already even harder? There is going to be an inevitable mass migration of people looking to immigrate to livable temperatures That's right. --- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | Climate change: Current warming 'unparalleled' in 2,000 years |
antfair
08/18/19 11:08:19 PM
#7 | Shit is bleak --- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | Why isn't Trump respectful of the contributions that immigrants make? |
antfair
08/18/19 10:35:00 PM
#25 | Bossdog421 posted...With the amount of misleading content you post you really do seem like someone that is being paid to sow discord. Bossdog421 posted...Divert! Throw back ridiculous arguments! Poke at someone else's character! Anyways, you (or anyone else, really) would never refer to, say, someone who committed fraud or wage theft as "an illegal." No one describes Martha Stewart as "an illegal" for insider trading. We should stop to consider the ways in which our use of language reflects attitudes towards certain groups of people, and why only this particular violation of the law has earned such a label. The law itself just talks about "improper entry," or sometimes "unlawful entry." https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1325https://www.justice.gov/jm/criminal-resource-manual-1911-8-usc-1325-unlawful-entry-failure-depart-fleeing-immigrationAnd a large chunk of undocumented immigrants haven't even committed that offense; they've overstayed their visas, which is a civil, not criminal, offense. What's the justification for referring to this group of people as "illegals" as opposed to any other group of offenders? --- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | The president, on high capacity magazines |
antfair
08/18/19 10:24:44 PM
#1 | |
| Topic | CNN debates pair Biden/Harris, Warren/Sanders |
antfair
07/19/19 8:00:40 AM
#1 | Night one will feature Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Rep. John Delaney (D-MD), former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, self-help author Marianne Williamson, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), former Rep. Beto ORourke (D-TX) and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg. The second night will include Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, Washington Govenor Jay Inslee, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang and former HUD Secretary Julian Castro. --- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | Billionaire gets mine approved after Ivanka and Kushner rent his mansion |
antfair
06/25/19 2:58:20 PM
#1 | https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/25/climate/trump-minnesota-mine.htmlIn the waning months of the Obama administration, a Chilean conglomerate was losing a fight with the United States government over a copper mine that it wanted to build near a pristine wilderness area in Minnesota.
The election of President Trump, with his business-friendly bent, turned out to be a game-changer for the project.
Beginning in the early weeks of Mr. Trumps presidency, the administration worked at a high level to remove roadblocks to the proposed mine, government emails and calendars show, overruling concerns that it could harm the Boundary Waters, a vast landscape of federally protected lakes and forests along the border with Canada.
Executives with the mining company, Antofagasta, discussed the project with senior administration officials, including the White Houses top energy adviser, the emails show. Even before an interior secretary was appointed to the new administration, the department moved to re-examine leases critical to the mine, eventually restoring those that the Obama administration had declined to renew. And the Forest Service called off an environmental review that could have restricted mining, even though the agriculture secretary had told Congress that the review would proceed.
An Interior Department spokesman said it simply worked to rectify a flawed decision rushed out the door before Mr. Trump took office. Several senior department officials with previous administrations, however, said they were surprised by the swift change of course for the little-known Minnesota project, which was not a focal point of Mr. Trumps presidential campaign.
For the family of the billionaire Andrnico Luksic, which controls the Chilean conglomerate, the policy reversals could provide a big boost to its mining business. Since the change in administration, the Antofagasta subsidiary Twin Metals Minnesota has significantly ramped up its lobbying in Washington, according to federal disclosures, spending $900,000.
But the mining projects breakthrough, already unpopular with environmentalists, has drawn additional scrutiny and criticism because of an unusual connection between Mr. Luksic and two of Mr. Trumps family members.
Just before Mr. Trump took office, Mr. Luksic added a personal investment to his portfolio: a $5.5 million house in Washington. Mr. Luksic bought the house with the intention of renting it to a wealthy new arrival to Mr. Trumps Washington, according to Rodrigo Terr, chairman of Mr. Luksics family investment office, which handled the purchase.
The idea worked. Even before the purchase was final, real estate agents had lined up renters: Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.
The rental arrangement has been a point of concern for ethics experts and groups opposed to mining near the Boundary Waters, and has focused national attention, particularly among some Democrats in Congress, on an otherwise local debate.
The Wall Street Journal first reported about the house in March 2017. At that time, Twin Metals was suing the federal government over the mining leases, but the Trump administrations direction on the mine since then had only begun to take shape.
In recent months, the scrutiny has grown. In March, Representative Ral M. Grijalva, the Arizona Democrat who is chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, wrote a letter with other lawmakers to the interior and agriculture secretaries raising significant concerns about the proposed mine.
The letter said the two departments actions blatantly ignored scientific and economic evidence. It also mentioned the interesting coincidence surrounding the rental of the Luksic house to Mr. Trumps relatives. --- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | Someone popped the Trump Baby blimp! Oh noes! |
antfair
06/04/19 3:51:46 PM
#5 | If this is the thing I'm thinking of: good. --- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | NY Democrats will likely put off pot legalization for another year |
antfair
06/04/19 3:49:30 PM
#5 | s0nicfan posted...Likely so they can pitch it as an election issue. "Want legal pot? Then you'll have to vote for us". They did that last year! Also, they are Democrats in New York. --- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | NY Democrats will likely put off pot legalization for another year |
antfair
06/04/19 3:48:11 PM
#1 | |
| Topic | Watch Doges 3 called WD Legion, takes place in London post-Brexit |
antfair
06/03/19 7:32:07 PM
#8 | CruelBuffalo posted...FF_Redux posted...
CruelBuffalo posted...
I wonder if this means GTAVI will not be London.
I really hope they go with Rio or a brand new city for it.
GTA is mainly American satire at this point.
Correct, but doing the expected can get stale. And their development is in the UK right? They have studios around the world; I know there's at least one in the UK but they also have a studio in Vancouver IIRC. --- What is this, a fair for ants? |
| Topic | Watch Doges 3 called WD Legion, takes place in London post-Brexit |
antfair
06/03/19 7:28:00 PM
#6 | |
| Topic | This one weird trick helped Finland reduce homelessness! |
antfair
06/03/19 7:24:46 PM
#1 | https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/jun/03/its-a-miracle-helsinkis-radical-solution-to-homelessness? Tatu Ainesmaa turns 32 this summer, and for the first time in more than a decade he has a home he can truly say is his: an airy two-room apartment in a small, recently renovated block in a leafy suburb of Helsinki, with a view over birch trees.
Its a big miracle, he says. Ive been in communes, but everyone was doing drugs and Ive had to get out. Ive been in bad relationships; same thing. Ive been on my brothers sofa. Ive slept rough. Ive never had my own place. This is huge for me.
Downstairs in the two-storey block is a bright communal living and dining area, a spotless kitchen, a gym room and a sauna (in Finland, saunas are basically obligatory). Upstairs is where the 21 tenants, men and women, most under 30, live.
It is important that they are tenants: each has a contract, pays rent and (if they need to) applies for housing benefit. That, after all, is all part of having a home and part of a housing policy that has now made Finland the only EU country where homelessness is falling.
When the policy was being devised just over a decade ago, the four people who came up with what is now widely known as the Housing First principle a social scientist, a doctor, a politician and a bishop called their report Nimi Ovessa (Your Name on the Door).
It was clear to everyone the old system wasnt working; we needed radical change, says Juha Kaakinen, the working groups secretary and first programme leader, who now runs the Y-Foundation developing supported and affordable housing.
We had to get rid of the night shelters and short-term hostels we still had back then. They had a very long history in Finland, and everyone could see they were not getting people out of homelessness. We decided to reverse the assumptions.
As in many countries, homelessness in Finland had long been tackled using a staircase model: you were supposed to move through different stages of temporary accommodation as you got your life back on track, with an apartment as the ultimate reward.
We decided to make the housing unconditional, says Kaakinen. To say, look, you dont need to solve your problems before you get a home. Instead, a home should be the secure foundation that makes it easier to solve your problems.
With state, municipal and NGO backing, flats were bought, new blocks built and old shelters converted into permanent, comfortable homes among them the Rukkila homeless hostel in the Helsinki suburb of Malminkartano where Ainesmaa now lives.
Housing Firsts early goal was to create 2,500 new homes. It has created 3,500. Since its launch in 2008, the number of long-term homeless people in Finland has fallen by more than 35%. Rough sleeping has been all but eradicated in Helsinki, where only one 50-bed night shelter remains, and where winter temperatures can plunge to -20C.
The citys deputy mayor Sanna Vesikansa says that in her childhood, hundreds in the whole country slept in the parks and forests. We hardly have that any more. Street sleeping is very rare now.
In England, meanwhile, government figures show the number of rough sleepers a small fraction of the total homeless population climbed from 1,768 in 2010 to 4,677 last year (and since the official count is based on a single evening, charities say the real figure is far higher).
But Housing First is not just about housing. Services have been crucial, says Helsinkis mayor, Jan Vapaavuori, who was housing minister when the original scheme was launched. Many long-term homeless people have addictions, mental health issues, medical conditions that need ongoing care. The support has to be there. --- What is this, a fair for ants? |
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