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Created
Tue, 11/07/2023 - 23:00
Inculcating hate A friend from the reddest part of my county once described how GOP candidates there rally support. In every group of voters, find out what issue pisses them off, then wedge the hell out of it. As the late Howard Phillips put it, “We organize discontent.” It’s just that on the right, wedge issues come and go (for those of a certain age) like fad products by Wham-O or their support for the U.S. Constitution. The issues are not the issue. Organizing discontent is. Tess Owen at Vice News examines the controversy du jour in Los Angeles schools. Recognition of Pride Month that touched off parent protests: This was grooming, said the protesters, many of whom were parents wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan “Leave Our Kids Alone.” The June 2 protest quickly turned violent. Videos show parents and their right-wing supporters brawling with pro-LGBTQ counterprotesters, beating them, and kicking them.  It was hardly an isolated incident in the LA-area. Fights also broke out at two more protests in June, both outside Glendale School Board meetings.
Created
Tue, 11/07/2023 - 22:00

The following is a transcript of the UN trial of Tony Patterson, a terrible barber charged with crimes against hair-manity. The trial took place at The Hague. The transcript has been edited to highlight portions of Patterson’s cross-examination.

PROSECUTOR: On the morning of April 3rd, [name redacted] walked into King Cutz looking for a high-top fade. Do you recall what you said to him?

TONY: “I got you, bro.”

PROSECUTOR: That sounds like an assurance of quality. And what was the duration of that haircut?

TONY: I knocked it out in eight minutes.

(Murmurs ripple through crowd.)

PROSECUTOR: Hmm, seems pretty fast for the “dope cut” that was promised. Usually, it takes forty minutes to make that shit look fresh. Could it be that you were trying to wrap things up before the Eagles game came on?

TONY: It was the playoffs!

PROSECUTOR: And you were at work. Were you aware that this client was attending a party that night?

Created
Tue, 11/07/2023 - 18:46
Last year, on 1 October 2022 the Government quietly announced that smart meter data would be collected in order to assess the bills reduction scheme following energy price hikes last year. The changes were flagged in privacy policies and were unaccompanied by any details or explanation of exactly why the data was being collected or […]
Created
Tue, 11/07/2023 - 15:53

The Drupal Association is pleased to announce that Julia Kranzthor (she/her) has joined the team as our new Director of Philanthropy as of July 2023! We are thrilled to bring Julia’s talent and experience in the Drupal Community to the team. 

Julia headshot

Julia enjoys connecting changemakers with resources to achieve community-centric philanthropy. With eight years of experience in the nonprofit sector, Julia seeks to undo the damage done by systemic inequity. Her most recent roles as Sr. Development Director at Healthy Futures of Texas and the Texas Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, focused on improving adolescent health and using storytelling to accurately portray challenges from the perspective of lived experience. Previously, she worked at the Workers Defense Project, building power for working families.

Created
Tue, 11/07/2023 - 08:30
There’s something amiss in the whistleblowers’ tale CNN reports: US Attorney David Weiss, who is overseeing the Hunter Biden criminal probe, says in a letter obtained by CNN that he did not ask to be named as a special counsel and was never refused authority to bring charges anywhere in the country, refuting two key allegations from IRS whistleblowers. Weiss’ comments, in a letter sent Monday to GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, go against claims from IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley and one of his deputies, who said they witnessed political interference in investigation of President Joe Biden’s son. They testified to Congress that during an October 2022 meeting, Weiss said he had requested to be named as a special counsel but was denied by Justice Department leadership. But Weiss said in the new letter that he never requested special counsel status, but rather explored becoming a “special attorney” under a different statute. “I have not requested Special Counsel designation,” Weiss wrote to Graham on Monday. “Rather, I had discussions with Departmental officials regarding potential appointment under 28 U.S.C.
Created
Tue, 11/07/2023 - 07:00
Well, it looks as though they’ve another way to perform for the cult. It’s a meaningless waste of time but it does have the benefit of degrading our democracy even further. Hunter at DKos has the story: Well, here we go again. House Republicans have been shrieking that they’re going to impeach a whole passel of top officials in the Joe Biden administration for supposed crimes that include investigating seditionist Donald Trump too much and investigating Hunter Biden too little, but every once in a while one of them remembers that Congress also has the power to simply zero out the salaries of any executive branch employees they don’t particularly like. It’s akin to a bill of attainder targeting a particular executive official’s career. Frustrated congressional cornballs have been sporadically remembering the power for years now, especially whenever some government agency does something that they really super do not like but can’t muster the legislative votes to actually change.