[News] Post a Political News Story

Ongoing discussion of the political news of the day. This thread is for 'smaller' stories that don't call for their own thread. If a story blows up, please start a new thread for it.

Prederick wrote:

Posted this in the social media thread, but it deserves a posting here as well:

“Get Out While You Can” - Once notorious for her racist and bigoted tweets, Katie McHugh saw the dark insides of the white nationalist movement

Another nazi troll who is butthurt about the tiny taste of real world consequences she had to eat.

Screw her. I hope she dies in a fire.

Prederick wrote:

Posted this in the social media thread, but it deserves a posting here as well:

“Get Out While You Can” - Once notorious for her racist and bigoted tweets, Katie McHugh saw the dark insides of the white nationalist movement

It’s telling of the current state of politics that Elliott posted McHugh at the Daily Caller based on her outrageous work to that point and yet doesn’t see himself as part of the alt-right.

This is also choice

“It was sort of rumored, whispered stuff that was none of my business,” said Lee Stranahan, a former Breitbart reporter who now works for Russian government–owned outlet Sputnik

Oh look! Another illegally gerrymandered state by the GOP. It’s like there is... oh, I don’t know... a pattern here or something...

CINCINNATI (AP) — A federal court ruled Friday that Ohio’s congressional map is unconstitutional and ordered a new one be drawn for the 2020 elections.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court in Cincinnati ruled unanimously that district boundaries were manipulated for partisan gain by Republican mapmakers and violates voters’ rights to democratically select their representatives. The ruling blocks Ohio from holding another election under the current map.

The ruling is likely to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the judges ordered that the state propose a new map by June 20.

Top executives at major opioid company found guilty of criminal racketeering

Executives at a major opioid company, Insys Therapeutics, were found guilty by a federal jury on Thursday for, among other misdeeds, bribing doctors to prescribe their fentanyl-based painkiller — in another sign that the federal government and the public are increasingly ready to hold individuals and companies responsible for their role in the nationwide opioid epidemic.

The verdict includes the company’s founder, John Kapoor, as well as four other executives: Richard Simon, former national director of sales; Sunrise Lee, former regional sales director; Joseph Rowan, also former regional sales director; and Michael Gurry, former vice president of managed markets. The executives were found guilty of criminal racketeering.

Throughout the trial, prosecutors detailed Insys’s far-reaching efforts to sell as much of its potent opioid painkiller, Subsys, as possible, beyond its approved use for cancer pain. According to the New York Times, prosecutors accused the company of paying off doctors — for, say, fake educational talks — so they would prescribe the drug widely. It also allegedly misled and lied to insurance companies so they would pay for the medication. And a former employee said she saw Lee, who was previously an exotic dancer, give a doctor a lap dance to get him to prescribe more of the opioid.

JC wrote:

Oh look! Another illegally gerrymandered state by the GOP. It’s like there is... oh, I don’t know... a pattern here or something...

CINCINNATI (AP) — A federal court ruled Friday that Ohio’s congressional map is unconstitutional and ordered a new one be drawn for the 2020 elections.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court in Cincinnati ruled unanimously that district boundaries were manipulated for partisan gain by Republican mapmakers and violates voters’ rights to democratically select their representatives. The ruling blocks Ohio from holding another election under the current map.

The ruling is likely to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the judges ordered that the state propose a new map by June 20.

This is a big part of the reason I hate seeing Kasich's name pop up on the national level as a "reasonable" or "moderate" Republican. That motherf*cker oversaw and ultimately approved Ohio's unconstitutional 2011 redistricting plan.

Three out of the five people on the Apportionment Board, which runs the redistricting process in Ohio, were either Kasich or members of his administration. State law requires the Governor to approve redistricting and Kasich had absolutely no qualms doing so or expressed any concern or reservation in 2011.

He benefited from the redistricting his entire time in office and is now trying to pass himself off as someone who's concerned about partisan redistricting and eager for reform. f*ck him.

Outside of possibly the very local level (municipal), I have yet to see a moderate or "reasonable" Republican in many years.

OG_slinger wrote:

This is a big part of the reason I hate seeing Kasich's name pop up on the national level as a "reasonable" or "moderate" Republican.
...
He benefited from the redistricting his entire time in office and is now trying to pass himself off as someone who's concerned about partisan redistricting and eager for reform. f*ck him.

Isn't that the joke? That he *is* what passes for a reasonable Republican. It's like a zombie being reasonable because they only want to eat your brains, but they'll leave your eyes.

Paleocon wrote:
Prederick wrote:

Posted this in the social media thread, but it deserves a posting here as well:

“Get Out While You Can” - Once notorious for her racist and bigoted tweets, Katie McHugh saw the dark insides of the white nationalist movement

Another nazi troll who is butthurt about the tiny taste of real world consequences she had to eat.

Screw her. I hope she dies in a fire.

A lot of people are very, very angry with her (understandably), but I found the story most useful (as I mentioned in the social media thread) for how it underlined how much entry into the conservative "establishment" she and her fellows got/are getting.

And in more news how the GOP chooses to ignore the will of the people. This time from Florida...

Washington (CNN)The Florida House Friday passed a bill that would require ex-felons in the state, who were granted the right to vote in a referendum last fall, pay all financial obligations before they can head to the polls, a measure that opponents have likened to a "poll tax."
The Republican-controlled House passed the Voting Rights Restoration Act last week, and the state Senate passed a bill that includes similar measures Thursday night.
The House passed the Senate bill by a party line vote of 67-42 Friday, the last day of the legislative session.
The bill now heads to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' desk, and he has 15 days to decide whether to sign the bill, let it become law, or issue a veto. CNN has reached out to DeSantis' office about whether he plans to sign the bill.

Lucy, Charlie Brown and the football. It is sickening.

SCOTUS has ruled multiple times that any kind of poll tax is unconstitutuional. I don't imagine it would be hard to characterize this financial requirement as a poll tax to challenge the law.

State defense: but we have a compelling state interest to be tough on them negros crime and criminals!

BadKen wrote:

SCOTUS has ruled multiple times that any kind of poll tax is unconstitutuional. I don't imagine it would be hard to characterize this financial requirement as a poll tax to challenge the law.

I think the strategy now is to try every old trick again because this SCOTUS might overturn all of that.

Even this far out, I can't help but feel the Dems are lining up to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory yet again. First the absurd number of presidential primary candidates, now this.

Democrats, as ever, remain focused almost exclusively on the Presidency to their detriment.

I just long for the days when everybody didn't genuinely think that "their side" losing an election would seriously threaten the Republic.

And to be clear, I absolutely am one of those people, I'm not exculpating myself here. But I don't think a nation, any nation can hold together like that, not for very long.

Sometimes, seems like articles like this are just totally missing what's going on. But I dearly, truly, hope I am 1,000,000% wrong.

NathanialG wrote:

Top executives at major opioid company found guilty of criminal racketeering

Executives at a major opioid company, Insys Therapeutics, were found guilty by a federal jury on Thursday for, among other misdeeds, bribing doctors to prescribe their fentanyl-based painkiller — in another sign that the federal government and the public are increasingly ready to hold individuals and companies responsible for their role in the nationwide opioid epidemic.

The verdict includes the company’s founder, John Kapoor, as well as four other executives: Richard Simon, former national director of sales; Sunrise Lee, former regional sales director; Joseph Rowan, also former regional sales director; and Michael Gurry, former vice president of managed markets. The executives were found guilty of criminal racketeering.

Throughout the trial, prosecutors detailed Insys’s far-reaching efforts to sell as much of its potent opioid painkiller, Subsys, as possible, beyond its approved use for cancer pain. According to the New York Times, prosecutors accused the company of paying off doctors — for, say, fake educational talks — so they would prescribe the drug widely. It also allegedly misled and lied to insurance companies so they would pay for the medication. And a former employee said she saw Lee, who was previously an exotic dancer, give a doctor a lap dance to get him to prescribe more of the opioid.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/Tssaog6.png)

Just think of the opportunities this opens up for sex workers, though. They can moonlight as pharma sales executives and markedly improve their overall compensation!

Bill Gates Actually Made a Good Point About the Socialism Debate in America

Billionaires Bill Gates, Charlie Munger, and Warren Buffett were interviewed on CNBC this morning, and it wasn’t surprising to hear the three men defend capitalism. But it was surprising to hear Gates make a really good point about socialism. Or, at least a good point about how socialism is defined in the U.S.

Gates pointed out that the current surge in pro-socialist rhetoric in the U.S. isn’t really socialism by any strict definition of the word. The so-called “socialist” policies we’re hearing from politicians like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders are largely just capitalist policies with a strong social safety net. And that’s okay!

“Socialism used to mean that the state controlled the means of production,” Gates said on CNBC. “And a lot of people who are promoting socialism aren’t using that classic definition.”

“What we’re going to have is capitalism with some level of taxation,” Gates said, kind of hinting that he assumes progressive candidates will win out in the future. “Most people really aren’t arguing against capitalism. There may be a few, but most people are just saying that the taxes should change.”

These teachers' jobs give fair salary, housing, respect. All they had to do was leave U.S.

Kip Mapstone has lived a double life as a science teacher.

When he worked in Oregon’s public schools, he taught six classes, each with between 30 to 40 students, plus homeroom. With little downtime during the day, grading and lesson planning happened at home most nights.

Today, Mapstone teaches five science classes, each with no more than 17 students. He has ample time to prepare and to collaborate with colleagues during the day, leaving his evenings free to spend time with family. He also receives a housing subsidy, plus free private-school tuition for his children.

Mapstone didn’t just move to a new school for these benefits – he moved to a different country. He teaches at Academia Cotopaxi, an international K-12 school in Quito, Ecuador, where high-quality U.S. teachers are in high demand.

To be fair, I think you can get those same benefits moving from teaching at a public school to a private school in the United States. You don't have to go to another country to teach at a private school.

LeapingGnome wrote:

To be fair, I think you can get those same benefits moving from teaching at a public school to a private school in the United States. You don't have to go to another country to teach at a private school.

It’s complicated. Charter schools are well on their way to getting teachers to work for minimum wage.

LeapingGnome wrote:

To be fair, I think you can get those same benefits moving from teaching at a public school to a private school in the United States. You don't have to go to another country to teach at a private school.

I had a history teacher talk about how he was offered a full time teaching job for $12/hour at a private school. Being private, there's probably no good generalization to make.

LeapingGnome wrote:

To be fair, I think you can get those same benefits moving from teaching at a public school to a private school in the United States. You don't have to go to another country to teach at a private school.

My niece goes to a private school and I know they don't pay their teachers as well as the local public school.

I admit it is counter intuitive but they are embracing the free market. Less pay, way WAY less benefits, and no pesky Union to get in the way.

The draw of teaching at a private school is that your kids often get a tuition break. You also don't have to deal with discipline problems in the same way since a private school (or charter school) can choose not to keep students.

Private schools don't have certification requirements that public schools do.

I got certified to teach math. I'd need to be truly desperate to teach in a public school. I much preferred teaching at the community college....even though the math was much more basic than I'd have taught at high school. I was allowed to fail students at the college. At the high school, grade inflation was so bad that you couldn't assign a grade below 50.

A friend went overseas and taught in Thailand for almost two years. He loved it and said they were some of the best students he taught....that's after retiring as a history and drama teacher at the public schools and then teaching at the community college.

MathGoddess wrote:

The draw of teaching at a private school is that your kids often get a tuition break. You also don't have to deal with discipline problems in the same way since a private school (or charter school) can choose not to keep students.

Private schools don't have certification requirements that public schools do.

It's a good example of how the country privatizes reward and socializes risk. Private schools are allowed to shunt the expensive students to public schools to keep their numbers up.

In some cases, like the discipline problems mentioned here, that's straight forward. In other cases it's technically illegal (you're not supposed to get rid of a kid because they have an expensive disability). I say technically because in many cases there are lots of things you can do to get around that depending on enforcement and how much backing the kid has. Recall that this was a big, big deal during the confirmation hearings of Betsy Devos, many, many Senators tried to get her to say "private schools that get federal funding have to comply with Federal disability laws" and she flat out refused like 11 times.

Delbin wrote:
LeapingGnome wrote:

To be fair, I think you can get those same benefits moving from teaching at a public school to a private school in the United States. You don't have to go to another country to teach at a private school.

I had a history teacher talk about how he was offered a full time teaching job for $12/hour at a private school. Being private, there's probably no good generalization to make.

Just like I am sure that not all schools in Ecuador give a housing allowance... my point was there ARE private schools in the U.S. that have the benefits mentioned in the article and more, not that ALL private schools do those things. I have seen plenty of crappy schools that I am not sure how they stay in business. The article doesn't need to frame it as a U.S. vs International problem when it isn't one was all I was saying.

LeapingGnome wrote:
Delbin wrote:
LeapingGnome wrote:

To be fair, I think you can get those same benefits moving from teaching at a public school to a private school in the United States. You don't have to go to another country to teach at a private school.

I had a history teacher talk about how he was offered a full time teaching job for $12/hour at a private school. Being private, there's probably no good generalization to make.

Just like I am sure that not all schools in Ecuador give a housing allowance... my point was there ARE private schools in the U.S. that have the benefits mentioned in the article and more, not that ALL private schools do those things. I have seen plenty of crappy schools that I am not sure how they stay in business. The article doesn't need to frame it as a U.S. vs International problem when it isn't one was all I was saying.

Sadly, there is a substantial faction in the States that is much more likely to act when information suggests that some other country is doing something better. Not always, obviously (#healthcare #guncontrol), and sometimes the act is to bomb the sh*t out of the other country, but sometimes.