Happy Easter

 

Frustration Over Police Spurs Mob Violence in Mexico

A woman suspected of murdering an eight-year-old girl in southern Mexico was beaten to death by a mob that was sparked from protests over the killing.  Violent protests began after the body of Camila Gómez was found by a road near the city of Taxco on Thursday.  Footage on social media showed police watching on as a woman locals believed to be responsible for the killing was brutally beaten in broad daylight. Two men also suspected by locals of involvement were attacked but survived.

Camila Gómez disappeared after entering a neighbor's house to use their swimming pool.  Her mother went to the police a few hours later after receiving phone messages demanding a ransom to free her. She says she gave the police images from the security camera of another neighbor showing the house where the girl was-- but the police ignored her pleas to act.

Camila's lifeless body was found on a local road a day later. Local authorities later confirmed they were investigating a woman and two men for aggravated homicide.  Relatives of Camila joined Taxco residents to protest against the police's inaction and demand justice in a case which caused outrage in Mexico, a country with one of the world's highest rates of violence against women.  Taxco residents overturned cars, blocked a road and surrounded three people they believed had killed the girl.

Social media footage of the lynch mob showed police looking on as a woman locals believed to be responsible was brutally attacked.   Police appear to have been attempting to remove the three suspects from where the mob had gathered. Local prosecutors are treating the woman's death at the hands of the crowd as qualified homicide, according to news reports.  A statement from the Guerrero prosecutor confirms police formally arrested one man in connection with Camila's death.

Mourners dressed in white gathered in Taxco on Good Friday for Camila's funeral, and carried the coffin through the city center.  The small city (which lies about 105 miles south of Mexico City) is situated in the state of Guerrero, which has been plagued by organized crime.  Driven by frustration with ineffective (or corrupt) police, lynch mobs against people suspected of crimes against children are not uncommon in Mexico.  In June 2022, a politician was beaten to death by a crowd of around 200 people after accusations he was involved in a child kidnapping were spread online.  In November 2018, a shop owner in the central Mexican state of Puebla was burned to death after similar rumours circulated on WhatsApp.

 

Alex Warren - Before You Leave Me

Q'Anon Nutjob is the GOP Nominee to Run Schools in North Carolina

The Republican nominee for superintendent overseeing North Carolina’s public schools and its $11 billion budget has a history marked by extreme and controversial comments, including sharing baseless conspiracy theories and frequent calls for the execution of prominent Democrats.  Michele Morrow, a conservative activist who upset the incumbent Superintendent of Public Instruction in North Carolina’s Republican primary, expressed support in 2020 for the televised execution of former President Barack Obama and suggested killing then-President-elect Joe Biden.

In other comments on social media between 2019 and 2021 reviewed by CNN’s KFile, Morrow made disturbing suggestions about executing prominent Democrats for treason, including Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Hillary Clinton, Sen. Chuck Schumer and other prominent people such as Anthony Fauci and Bill Gates.  “I prefer a Pay Per View of him in front of the firing squad,” she wrote in a tweet from May 2020, responding to a user sharing a conspiracy theory who suggested sending Obama to prison at Guantanamo Bay. “I do not want to waste another dime on supporting his life. We could make some money back from televising his death.”

In another post in May 2020, she responded to a fake Time Magazine cover that featured art of Obama in an electric chair asking if he should be executed.  “Death to ALL traitors!!” Morrow responded.

In yet another comment, Morrow suggested in December 2020 killing Biden, who at that time was president-elect, and has said he would ask Americans to wear a mask for 100 days.  “Never. We need to follow the Constitution’s advice and KILL all TRAITORS!!! #JusticeforAmerica,” she wrote. 

As superintendent, Morrow would oversee the state’s public school system and help set educational priorities, manage the school system’s budgets, and work with the state’s Board of Education to set and implement curriculum standards.  Morrow has in the past called public schools “socialism centers” and “indoctrination centers.”   In a campaign speech in February, Morrow advocated for a constitutional amendment to abolish the state Board of Education.

Morrow also promoted QAnon slogans and tweeted that the actor Jim Carrey was “… likely searching for adrenochrome” – a reference to a conspiracy theory shared by QAnon believers that celebrities harvest and drink the blood of children to prolong their own lives.  Morrow has also repeatedly tweeted “WWG1WGA” – the slogan that stands for “where we go one, we go all” and is commonly associated with the QAnon conspiracy. 

Morrow has also used the hashtag “#DeathtoTraitors” numerous times – usually in relation to prominent Democrats. “Obama did it. Hillary did it. Schiff did it. Comey did it. Yates did it. Holder did it. Clapper did it. Gates did it. Fauci did it. Time for #WeThePeople to DO IT and #DrainTheSwamp!!!!! #NoJusticeNoCountry #DeathToTraitors #ProsecuteThemNow #TakeBackAmerica  .@dbongino #KAG,” she wrote in one tweet from May 2020, referring to “sedition.” 

 In other comments, Morrow repeatedly shared the false claim that Obama was Muslim, called Islam evil, and expressed belief in a conspiracy theory that tens of thousands of Chinese troops were stationed in Canada to invade the United States to help Joe Biden become president.  “Tens of thousands of Chinese soldiers are already in Canada and probably Mexico waiting for orders to invade,” she wrote on January 8, 2021.

 

I'll Take a Drumstick to Go, Please

A California man has been arrested after being suspected of taking the leg of a pedestrian who was struck by an Amtrak train in California and eating it.  Officials said the man who allegedly removed evidence from the Amtrak station on Friday was identified as 27-year-old Resendo Tellez.

At around 8 a.m., deputies responded with the BNSF Railroad Police Department to a report of a pedestrian who was struck by a train at the station in the 700 block of G Street in Wasco.  Deputies said they learned that Tellez had removed evidence-- specifically, a leg-- from the scene.

A crew laying concrete outside of the station reported seeing the horrifying sight.  "I'm not sure from where, but he walked this way and he was waving a person's leg. And he started chewing on it over there, he was biting it and he was hitting it against the wall and everything," said Jose Ibarra, a worker who saw the incident.

Tellez was found and arrested without incident on multiple outstanding warrants, and for taking evidence from the scene.  "On the leg, the skin was hanging. You could see the bone," said Ibarra.  Ibarra added he thought the man was homeless when he walked past him while chewing on the leg. He's unsure where the man came from, but he said police showed up and stopped the man after people from the station called dispatch.

 

Wedding Weanie

A bride was left disgusted and almost called off her wedding after she found her groom in a strangely compromising situation moments before they were due to get married.

Professional wedding planner Georgie Mitchell revealed the strange story on an episode of The Unfiltered Bride podcast.   She co-hosts it alongside Beth Smith, who runs business Etiquette Events Styling.

Relaying the story told by someone she had previously worked with, Georgie kept Beth guessing what happened at every turn.  Georgie began: "On two occasions I've been told this story. I was not at this wedding but on two occasions I've been told this both by makeup artists. We'll call her Jenny.

"Jenny says to me 'I did a wedding the other day and you'll never guess what happened'. She said the bride needed to go to the toilet just before the ceremony. This is like pre-ceremony.  She walked into the toilet and what she saw is enough to end a wedding."

Georgie asked Beth what she thought was seen and Beth said: "Was he with someone else?"

"No, worse," replied Georgie. "Having a wank?" Beth asked with both laughing.

"Worse," said Georgie. "Getting wanked?" Beth cheekily asked.

Georgie said: "Worse than anything sexual but he was in there, the groom was in there."

Beth asked if the groom was "doing drugs" before Georgie revealed what happened.

"He was being breastfed by his mum," Georgie said, looking directly at the camera.

Beth was left in utter shock and so were people in the comments.  User Rhi said: "The strongest man couldn't lift my jaw right now.  User Pip2035334 said: "Took 'mummy's boy' to a whole new level."

 

Scientists Discover 'Zombie Worms' That Can Devour Whole Alligators

Back in 2019, a group of researchers wanted to stir excitement down in the murky recesses of the sea by conducting a unique experiment.  The team, from the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON), dropped three dead alligators 6,560 feet down into the Gulf of Mexico to see how deep-dwelling creatures would react to an uncommon food source.

The scientists thought that the tough hide of the reptiles would put scavengers off, because it would make it hard for them to reach the more desirable soft flesh.  Boy, were they wrong!

Within a day, nine large (foot long) isopods (Bathynomus giganteus) were observed feasting on the first carcass, eventually penetrating its hide and eating their meal from the inside out.  The second gator, dropped around 60 miles away, was almost totally devoured – leaving behind nothing more than its skull, spine, and the rope and weight that were used to anchor it to the sea floor.

 The researchers documented that the thick-skinned reptiles had been targeted by a brand new species of bone-eating worm.  They concluded that it appeared to be a member of the Osedax family – commonly known as "zombie worms" because they suck away at, and live off, the bones of the dead – which had never been seen around Mexico before.

 

 

Crazy K-Pop Fans Try to Dictate Idols' Private Lives

When K-pop star Karina posted a handwritten apology on Instagram earlier this month, it was both contrite and profuse.  "I sincerely apologize for surprising my fans who have supported me," the front woman of the girl group Aespa wrote.

Her offense?  Publicly acknowledging that she was in a relationship with actor Lee Jae-wook.  That Karina felt compelled to say sorry for being in a relationship has puzzled many outside the K-pop scene, but it opens a window into the world of the industry's "super fans".  They stream their favorite stars' music round the clock - even if on mute while sleeping - to boost chart rankings, organize mass voting sessions during award seasons, and sometimes even sponsor digital billboard ads in places like Times Square. 

When news of Karina's relationship broke, some rabid fans drove a truck to her talent management agency.  "We supported Karina's bright future, believing in a shared dream, but it was our misconception," the fans displayed on an electronic billboard mounted on the side of the vehicle.  "Is the love given to you by your fans not enough?" another billboard message read. 

"The fans feel jilted," said Korean media columnist Jeong Deok-hyeon, adding that K-pop fans often view themselves as being in quasi-social relationships with their idols. In these situations, a fan expends an overt amount of time, emotional energy and money on a celebrity whom they are fascinated with, but who doesn't even know the fan exists.

Elon Musk Made Workers Sign Illegal Severance Agreements

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been accused of making workers sign illegal confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses as a condition of getting severance pay.  The company is also accused violating the law by requiring workers to sign certain arbitration agreements and class-action waivers as a condition of getting their jobs, according to an agency spokesperson.

The NLRB’s general counsel argues that “overly broad” employment contracts can be coercive and prevent workers from speaking out to improve their working conditions. SpaceX did not immediately deny the charges.

The new complaint escalates a battle between labor officials and Musk, who has mounted a legal challenge to the board’s very existence. SpaceX has argued in federal court that the structure of the NLRB is unconstitutional and therefore the agency shouldn’t be able to pursue a case against the company. (Trader Joe’s and Amazon have aired essentially the same argument in labor board proceedings.)

The complaint against SpaceX was based on charges filed on behalf of two former employees who say they were illegally fired for exercising their rights.  In the complaint, the general counsel asked that SpaceX be required to notify former employees that it won’t enforce the allegedly unlawful provisions of the severance agreement, and that the company drop the arbitration agreements and class-action waivers from its hiring paperwork.

 

Shakira & Cardi B - Puntería

Florida Facing Outbreaks of Measles and Leprosy Due to Nutty Surgeon General

 Leprosy is on the rise again in the United States, particularly in Florida, concerning disease specialists.  According to the World Health Organization, about 200,000 cases of the disease occur every year in 120 countries worldwide and are often associated with contact with armadillos.

The U.S. is experiencing cases creep upwards, with the number of infections across the country more than doubling over the past decade, both in people exposed to armadillos and those who aren't.

According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last year, there were 159 new cases of leprosy in the U.S. in 2020, around a fifth of which were in Florida. Of the Florida cases, 81 percent were found in central Florida.

Leprosy is one of the oldest recorded diseases, having infected humans for thousands of years. It primarily affects the skin, peripheral nerves, mucosa of the upper respiratory tract, and eyes, and causes symptoms including skin lesions, which may be lighter or darker than the surrounding skin and may lack sensation.  Deaths from the disease are uncommon, but complications related to the disease can still occur, particularly if it is left untreated or if treatment is delayed. These complications may include secondary infections, nerve damage leading to disabilities, and other health issues.

"We currently do not know what is driving the reported increase of leprosy cases in Florida," Mutapi said.  The only known animal-human transmission route of the disease is from armadillos, and interaction with armadillos is often associated with cases of leprosy. However, many people also catch it from other humans, or even without human-human interaction, mystifying researchers.

The number of cases seen in Florida has led experts to fear that the disease is becoming endemic in the state. This essentially means that it has established a consistent presence within a certain population or geographic area, being regularly found at a relatively stable level.

Florida's nutty Surgeon General isn't exactly inspiring confidence about the State's ability to combat the outbreak.  Earlier this month, Joseph Ladapo, the incompetent appointee of Ron DeSantis, was heavily criticized for his response to the measles outbreak-- telling parents they are allowed to send unvaccinated children to school.

Ladapo's advice allowing parents or guardians to decide about school attendance directly contradicts the official recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which calls for three weeks of quarantine for anyone without a history of past infection or immunization.  Ladapo's office has previously advised health care professionals avoid mRNA Covid-19 boosters based on idiotic conspiracy theories that these shots alter human DNA and can cause cancer.  To be clear-- none of that is true.  COVID vaccines and boosters are perfectly safe.

Measles has been eradicated in the U.S. since 2000, but the anti-vax movement has led to a surge in measles case nationwide. 

"The surgeon general is Ron DeSantis's lapdog, and says whatever DeSantis wants him to say," Dr. Robert Speth, a professor of pharmaceutical sciences at Nova Southeastern University with over four decades of research experience, said.  "His statements are more political than medical and that's a horrible disservice to the citizens of Florida," Speth added. "He's somebody whose job is to protect public health, and he's doing the exact opposite."

Ladapo was also discovered to have personally altered data in a 2022 study of Covid-19 vaccines to incorrectly claim that they can put young men at high risk of cardiac illness or death.

 

An Easter for Gen Z

Poor Bastard!

Frightening Levels of Incest Exposed by DNA Tests

At-home DNA testing kits such as 23&Me and Ancestry DNA are exposing the horrifying rates of incest in the US.

DNA tests run for around $100, and whilst those tests cannot say if someone is a product of incest, third-party genetic testing firms can. And it's leading to many discovering disturbing truths about their family, such as Victoria Hill.

Hill, who is 39-years-old, started talking about family trees with an ex-boyfriend at their high school reunion after she had taken a DNA test. Their family makeup was similar, so her ex-boyfriend decided to take the same test Hill took. Then Hill received a text confirming their fear: she was his sister.  Speaking to CNN about the discovery, Hill said: "Now I'm looking at pictures of people thinking, well, if he could be my sibling, anybody could be my sibling."

In another shocking incident, Steve Edsel found out through AncestryDNA that his parents were first-degree relatives, meaning either sibling or father-daughter. Meaning his conception was likely a result of sexual assault.

Incest in the US is far more common than once thought, with the rate at one in 7,000.  Babies born as a result of incest are at an increased risk of having birth defects and genetic disorders, such as blindness and hearing loss.  Genetic disorders occur when related individuals get pregnant because genetic variations decrease, and the recessive gene they have may combine to become dominant in their child.

This would surely raise concerns about about giving birth to a baby with life-threatening genetic anomalies.   One such person is 64-year-old Teresa Weiler. She found out in 1985 that her father was her mother’s brother.   She said: "It was only when I was walking the streets afterwards, in a daze, that it hit me: I could never be a mum.  There was no way I could risk having a damaged baby. I would have to give up the one thing I wanted most in the world."

If someone wants to test for possible incestuous history in their family, they have to upload their genetic material to a third-party service, as this is not something that Ancestry DNA or 23&Me can disclose.  Third party tests look for homozygosity, or ROH for short, due to children born of incest's DNA containing large chunks of identical genetic material.

 

Luck of the Irish

Musk Fires Interviewer He Hired Because He Didn't Like the First Interview

Don Lemon is back in the headlines, revealing that he was fired by Elon Musk after his interview with the  bimbo billionaire didn't go as Musk had planned. Lemon said he pressed Musk on his alleged ketamine use, a recent meeting with former President Donald Trump, and better moderation on X.

The ex-CNN anchor suggested Musk does not care about moderation on X due to the content it allows to stay up.  "Apparently(free speech), that doesn’t matter to Elon Musk maybe it's just talking points,” Lemon said during an interview on CNN.  Musk refused to answer some of Lemon’s hard-hitting questions and snapped back at him for doing so.   "I don’t have to answer questions from reporters,” Musk snapped.   "I’m criticized constantly I could care less," he added.

Lemon explained why he asked Musk about ketamine and said it was because of his high responsibility across several important companies.  "His alleged drug use has been extensively written about by credible news organizations like the Wall Street Journal," Lemon told CNN.  "Elon Musk is responsible for Star Link, Tesla, a number of different companies and I think it is important for people to understand his mindset. 

"Whether he is using drugs illegally or not. He is one of the most consequential people on the planet." In June 2023, The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk uses ketamine.  Ketamine is a drug that could be prescribed for depression treatment or is used recreationally which is illegal.  Musk also smoked marijuana on camera during the Joe Rogan podcast which resulted in NASA conducting a safety review on Space X.

Lemon also asked Musk about a recent encounter he had with Trump. Musk said he was having breakfast at a friend's house and Trump just showed up. "I was at a breakfast at a friend's place and Donald Trump was invited. That's it," Musk said.  "Let's just say he did most of the talking."  Lemon asked Musk if he would help Trump pay any of his legal bills and he responded, "I’m not going to pay his legal bills in any way shape, or form."

 

Zayn - What I Am

Settlement Reached on Florida's "Don't Say Gay" Law

Ron DeSantis boasted that ”Florida is where woke goes to die” in his victory speech after overwhelmingly winning reelection in the 2022 midterms. That was the peak of DeSantis’ political career before his now-aborted presidential campaign.

Now a settlement has been reached in a two-year-old lawsuit brought by a coalition of parents, students, and LGBTQ+ advocacy groups that challenged one of the cornerstones of DeSantis’ “anti-woke agenda”—the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” statute.

In March 2022, DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education Act, which prohibited classroom instruction about gender identity and sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grade, even though such instruction was not offered. Just days later, a federal complaint was filed that called the bill “blatantly unconstitutional.”  A year later, DeSantis signed a new measure that restricted such lessons through high school.

The Associated Press reported that since 2022, at least six other Republican-controlled states—Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, and North Carolina—have used Florida’s law as a model to pass prohibitions on classroom instruction on gender identity or sexual orientation.  

A Washington Post analysis of FBI data found that school hate crimes targeting LGBTQ+ people have sharply risen in recent years, climbing fastest in states that have passed laws restricting LGBTQ+ rights in schools.

“What [the Florida] settlement does, is, it re-establishes the fundamental principal, that I hope all Americans agree with, which is every kid in this country is entitled to an education at a public school where they feel safe, their dignity is respected and where their families and parents are welcomed,” Roberta Kaplan, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, told The Associated Press in an interview. “This shouldn’t be a controversial thing.”  If Kaplan’s name sounds familiar it’s because she led the legal team representing writer E. Jean Carroll in her sexual battery and defamation lawsuits against former President Donald Trump, securing nearly $90 million in jury verdicts.

 Under the terms of the settlement, the Florida Board of Education will send instructions to every school district saying the Florida law doesn’t prohibit discussing LGBTQ+ people, nor prevent anti-bullying rules on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity or disallow Gay-Straight Alliance groups. The settlement also spells out that the law is neutral—meaning what applies to LGBTQ+ people also applies to heterosexual people—and that it doesn’t apply to library books not being used for instruction in the classroom. The law also doesn’t apply to books with incidental references to LGBTQ+ characters or same-sex couples, “as they are not instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity any more than a math problem asking students to add bushels of apples is instruction on apple farming,” according to the settlement.

The settlement is welcome because there is a link between school hate crimes targeting LGBTQ+ people and states with laws restricting their rights in schools. 

It seems that some of the enthusiasm for anti-LGBTQ+ legislation might be waning now that DeSantis is out of the presidential race. The Florida Legislature adjourned last Friday, March 8, leaving 21 of 22 anti-LGBTQ+ bills effectively killed, according to writer Erin Reed. These included laws that would have expanded “Don’t Say Gay” policies to the workplace; ban Pride flags in schools and government buildings; permit student organizations to exclude transgender people; exempt transgender youth from child abuse provisions; and allow calling someone racist, sexist, homophobic or transphobic to be treated as defamation.

 

Were We Really Better Off Four Years Ago under Trump?

Of late, Republicans have taken to thinking it would be politically advantageous to publicly ask voters, "Are you better off today than you were fours years ago?"   Well . . . do you remember where we were four years ago-- Friday, March 13, 2020?  Were we better off then?

It was on that day that a lot of businesses closed up shop, and millions of others were told to stay home from work because of the emerging COVID-19 pandemic.  Schools were closed; there were no church services, national parks closed; entertainment venues shut their doors  Trump held an embarrassing 72-minute press conference in the White House rose garden that made it obvious that he didn't know what he was doing.

"We don't want people to take a test if, if we feel that they shouldn't be doing it." Trump blathered.   He said that there would be 1.4 million COVID tests available the next week, and 5 million available within a month, adding, "I doubt we'll need anywhere near that."  Of course, we all now know that Trump did not meet those testing targets (in fact, HHS botched the first COVID testing protocol, resulting in the loss of precious time needed to identify and contain early breakouts of the virus).  And of course, people all over the country soon became desperate to get any testing they could.   Trump refused to take any responsibility for the widespread testing delays-- a true leader!

There were massive lines to get into grocery stores and shelves were soon laid bare, with shortages of almost everything-- cold and flu medications, canned goods, bottled water, dried pasta, and cleaning and paper products.  In that pathetic press conference four years ago today, Trump's incompetent HHS Secretary (Alex Azar) cruelly joked about the lack of toiler paper.  On that day, over 2,000 were reported to be critically ill from COVID and 41 had already died from the virus.  Hospitals were already seeing shortages of masks, medical gloves and protective clothing. 

When asked why he disbanded the White House pandemic office months earlier (which resulted in the U.S. losing valuable time responding to the crisis), Trump responded, "Well, I just think that's a nasty question.  Some of the doctors say it will wash through;  it will flow through.  An interesting terms, and very accurate, I think you're going to find in a number of weeks, it's going to be an accurate term."

By the end of Trump's term, COVID-19 had resulted in some of the deadliest days in U.S. history, exceeding the death toll on September 11, 2001.  By the time Trump left office, over 380,000 Americans had died of COVID-- too bad we can't ask any of those people if they think things were better off under Trump.  

Savage Takedown of Trump's Memory Lapses at House Hearing

Today’s House Judiciary Committee hearing examining special counsel Robert Hur’s anticlimactic report on Joe Biden was disastrous for the GOP Congress members hoping to tarnish the sitting president’s image and reputation. Time and again, the Democratic committee members successfully contrasted the attempted attacks on Biden with Donald Trump’s dubious mental acuity, evasive testimony, and general incompetence.

One of the most powerful arrows in the Democrats’ quiver was the video supercut. They introduced not one, not two, but three supercuts showing the relentless incompetence, bizarre behavior, and untrustworthiness of the twice-impeached former president. 

Lizard Takes the Gold

Liberty University Slapped With Record Fines for Mishandling Rape Claims

The federal Department of Education has announced a historic $14 million fine against Liberty University for failing to properly handle reports of sexual assault and other campus safety issues.

Universities are required by law to support victims of violence. The Education Department found that the Christian evangelical Liberty University had fundamentally failed to do so. Sexual assault victims were “punished for violating the student code of conduct,” the report concluded, “while their assailants were left unpunished.”   The government found that Liberty’s actions had created a “culture of silence.”

The findings, which the department announced Tuesday, echo a ProPublica investigation that detailed how officials had discouraged and dismissed women who tried to come forward with accounts of sexual assault. Women who went to school officials to report being raped recalled being threatened with punishment for breaking the university’s strict moral code, known as “The Liberty Way.”

The fines against Liberty are more than double the amount of the next-largest fines in Department of Education history—against Michigan State University for its failures to protect hundreds of women and girls from sexual abuser Larry Nassar.  Liberty will also face two years of federal oversight.  In response to the government’s report, Liberty University said in a statement that it faced “unfair treatment.” But the school also admitted to mistakes and committed to spending $2 million to improve campus safety.

 

One of the All-Time GOP State of the Union Disasters

Whether it’s Marco Rubio getting so very thirsty, or Bobby Jindal going from darling of the party to has-been in 15 minutes flat, there's something about a Republican response to the State of the Union address that inevitably generates a field day for comedians.

From the faux kitchen setting, to the going all out for the lead in the seventh-grade production of “The Crucible” energy, to the garb that reminded many viewers of a character from “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Katie Britt’s performance in the GOP response to the State of the Union might be the response to end all responses. The Alabama senator projected her best mom-who-would-definitely-take-out-your-kid-so-her-daughter-could-be-head-cheerleader vibes, wandering through a whispery, dystopian hellscape in a kitchen that seemed eerily devoid of life.

Since appearing on America’s televisions, Britt’s drama club delivery has been the subject of a baffled response from Republicans as well as a vast number of social media memes.   It was so awful that, as Rolling Stone reports, Republican commentators were burning down Britt’s performance in real time.

During her speech, Britt told a brutal story of a woman who had been a victim of sex trafficking. The Alabama senator heavily implied that this story had happened in America under President Joe Biden’s watch. However, journalist Jonathan Katz quickly disassembled Britt’s story and found the real woman behind the claims.  Britt’s story was based on the tragic abuse suffered by Karla Jacinto Romero, who told her story to Congress in 2015. As it turns out, the horrific events that she survived happened nearly two decades ago (between 2004 and 2008) and occurred in Mexico, not the U.S.

In her response to the brutal mockery of her speech, Katie Britt refused to apologize for use of the misleading story.

 

Kings of Leon - Mustang

McConnell Sneaks His Way to the Exit

McConnell is heading out the door with a tarnished legacy-- with no claim whatsoever to actually have passed significant or historic legislation.  He is only known to have blocked progress (Merrick Garland's nomination, e.g.) or cemented GOP power (to no positive end).  In the waning years of his toxic term, McConnell built up and supported a man that he is known to despise and knows is destructive-- because he always saw Trump as a means to an end. 

And yet that coveted "end," as MSNBC's Jen Psaki points out, left McConnell utterly impotent. "And that's the real legacy of Mitch McConnell: a cynic focused on power only to be swallowed by the monster that he enabled to obtain it," she said.

As McConnell hero Ronald Reagan once said, "To sit back hoping that someday, some way, someone will make things right is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last — but eat you he will." 

Sinema and Manchin Are Out-- Thank God!

There’s a lot of handwringing in the traditional media about the end of the Senate moderate, now that quasi-Democrats Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin, along with Republican Mitt Romney, have called it quits. Axios calls it “a series of crushing blows to Senate bipartisanship, hollowing out a centrist core that has suffered under years of intensifying polarization.” Politico laments that “The filibuster is in big trouble” with “two of its staunchest defenders” leaving.  Good riddance.

Between Sinema and Manchin, all hope of the nation having nice things during the first two years of President Biden’s term (when Democrats held a majority in both the House and Senate) was crushed. They blocked or watered down all the good, transformative policies Biden and fellow Democrats proposed for the country.  Now the two biggest impediments to actual progress will be gone—if the Democrats keep the Senate.

Democratic majority unimpeded by the dysfunctional duo means that progress can finally happen. Democrats can restore and expand the Voting Rights Act (which Manchin and Sinema ultimately blocked).  They can restore abortion rights, which the supposedly pro-choice Sinema blocked when Biden urged a filibuster carve-out for it.  Democrats can raise the minimum wage and make massively wealthy private equity and hedge fund executives pay their damn taxes.  Democrats’ vision for environmental justice can be realized.  Comprehensive immigration reform would be that much more possible.  A Democratic majority without Manchin and Sinema could even reform the Supreme Court.

 

Which Came First-- the Ignorance or the Hate?

Four States Ban Divorce for Pregnant Women

There are four states where judges cannot legally finalize a divorce if a woman is pregnant with no exception for cases involving domestic violence, according to The American Pregnancy Association.  While the laws in Missouri, Texas, Arizona, and Arkansas allow for couples to file for divorce, the court must wait until after a woman gives birth in order to finalize child custody and child support.

Two of these states – Missouri and Texas – are subject to trigger laws where, since the overturning of Roe v Wade in June 2022, abortions are automatically banned in the first and second trimesters of pregnancy.   Since the Supreme Court rolled back abortion rights, horrific cases have been reported including an Ohio woman being charged with abusing a corpse after having a miscarriage in a toilet and a Texas woman being denied an emergency abortion by the state Supreme Court after her baby was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition that would likely lead to a miscarriage or stillbirth.

Election strategists have been anticipating abortion and bodily autonomy to be a leading issue in the upcoming election after having a major impact on off-year elections, including Ohio making a special ruling to enshrine abortion protections into law.

A report from Missouri’s Department of Health and Senior Services found that nearly 5% of women between 2007-2014 were abused either before or during pregnancy. That equates to about 500 women out of the 10,098 women surveyed.

Similarly, a study from the Journal of Women's Health released a study in 2015 that 3%-9% of women experience abuse during pregnancy, showing that low-income, predominantly single women were particularly vulnerable to intimate partner violence during that period of time.

This month, Missouri State Rep. Ashley Aune introduced a bill earlier this month to undo the legislation to ensure single mothers receive child support.   "This legislation could literally save lives,” said Matthew Huffman who is affiliated with the Missouri Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence. “For abusive partners they might be using reproductive coercion and control to keep their partner pregnant so that they can’t ever actually be granted a divorce.”

 

AI Snafu at Google Raises Concern Over Anti-White Bias

Google CEO Sundar Pichai tried to address the company’s Gemini controversy last week, calling the AI app’s problematic responses around race unacceptable and vowing to make structural changes to fix the problem.

Google suspended its Gemini image creation tool last week after it generated embarrassing and offensive results, in some cases declining to depict white people, or inserting photos of women or people of color when prompted to create images of Vikings, Nazis, and the Pope.  The controversy spiraled when Gemini was found to be creating questionable text responses, such as equating Elon Musk’s influence on society with Adolf Hitler’s.

Those comments drew sharp criticisms, especially from conservatives, who accused Google of an anti-white bias. Most companies offering AI tools like Gemini create guardrails to mitigate abuses and to avoid bias, especially in light of other experiences. For instance, image generation tools from companies like OpenAI have been criticized when they created predominately images of white people in professional roles and depicting Black people in stereotypical roles.

In a memo to employees, Pichai wrote:

"I want to address the recent issues with problematic text and image responses in the Gemini app (formerly Bard). I know that some of its responses have offended our users and shown bias – to be clear, that’s completely unacceptable and we got it wrong.

Our teams have been working around the clock to address these issues. We’re already seeing a substantial improvement on a wide range of prompts. No AI is perfect, especially at this emerging stage of the industry’s development, but we know the bar is high for us and we will keep at it for however long it takes. And we’ll review what happened and make sure we fix it at scale.

Our mission to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful is sacrosanct. We’ve always sought to give users helpful, accurate, and unbiased information in our products. That’s why people trust them. This has to be our approach for all our products, including our emerging AI products.

We’ll be driving a clear set of actions, including structural changes, updated product guidelines, improved launch processes, robust evals and red-teaming, and technical recommendations. We are looking across all of this and will make the necessary changes.

Even as we learn from what went wrong here, we should also build on the product and technical announcements we’ve made in AI over the last several weeks. That includes some foundational advances in our underlying models e.g. our 1 million long-context window breakthrough and our open models, both of which have been well received.

We know what it takes to create great products that are used and beloved by billions of people and businesses, and with our infrastructure and research expertise we have an incredible springboard for the AI wave. Let’s focus on what matters most: building helpful products that are deserving of our users’ trust."

The Gemini controversy has provided fodder for critics on the right, who often accuse tech companies of liberal bias.  But to informed observers, this story isn't about bias. These new developments show that Google made actual technical errors in the fine-tuning of its AI models. The problem is not with the underlying models themselves, but in the software guardrails that sit atop the model.  Nobody really believes Google actually set out to force Gemini to depict the Pope as a woman, or Vikings as Black people, nor did anyone want it to find moral equivalency between Musk and Hitler. This was a failed attempt at instilling less bias and it went awry. The race to develop AI tools has likely forced Google to speed up product development faster than it would have preferred.  While these technical mistakes may be easily fixable,  the reputational damage may not be so easy to fix.

 

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