Category Archives: FYI

Submit your finished articles here for primary review

Ben and Jerry’s Resist

Just in time for the midterm elections, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream has launched “pecan resist,” a flavor the company says is meant to convey that “We can peacefully resist the Trump administration’s regressive and discriminatory policies and build a future that values inclusivity, equality, and justice for people of color, women, the LGBTQ community, refugees, and immigrants.” Also, that “We cannot ignore the Trump administration’s attacks on our values, our environment, and our very humanity.”

Ben & Jerry’s is a wholly owned subsidiary of Unilever, the British-Dutch consumer products company. So if you oppose foreign interference in American elections (say, Russia 2016) or corporate involvement in American elections (say, you disagree with the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision), or even if you just prefer your ice cream with hot fudge or whipped cream on top rather than partisan politics, maybe choose a different brand? I guess in Ben & Jerry’s defense, it also took on President Obama back in 2015 by criticizing his Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact. Maybe Ben & Jerry’s should roll out a flavor devoted to thanking Trump for killing the TPP?

read full

London loses top spot in global financial centre rankings

Closely-watched rankings suggest uncertainty over Brexit has had a short-term impact on the City of London’s status.

London has lost its status as the world’s top financial centre, according to rankings showing gains for post-Brexit rivals.

The latest Z/Yen Global Financial Centres Index showed New York overtaking the UK’s capital for the first time since 2015.

The City think tank, which compiles its lists using data from international bodies such as the World Bank and responses to a survey, said there was evidence London had been knocked, but only slightly, by uncertainty over Brexit.

:: Why Brexit may not spell end of London

Rivals within the EU for financial services business currently in the UK were among the cities making the greatest strides, the report said, though Asian centres stood out.

“Zurich, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Vienna, and Milan moved up the rankings significantly.

MORE

‘Medical-grade marijuana’ won’t get you high, cannabis amendment supporters say

We rate the statement Mostly False.

Read below:

The level of THC in a plant varies based on the strain, the part of the plant used, and how it is processed for consumption.

Also present is a substance called cannabidiol, known as CBD, which is an antioxidant and has properties that are thought to protect the brain. It’s also not psychoactive like THC.

Florida’s 2014 law approved low-THC cannabis oil or vapor products containing CBD for patients with muscle spasms, cancer, epilepsy and terminal illnesses. Fifteen other states have similar laws. Even the National Institute on Drug Abuse says CBD may prove useful in treating epilepsy as well as inflammation and mental illnesses or addictions.

Products like cannabis oil are made from strains of marijuana already bred to be high in CBD and low in THC, although THC still is a part of the equation. Research shows that compound is what brings CBD into the brain.

Now for how this applies to McCray’s statement.

While there are non-euphoric strains of cannabis that are already being used as treatments for some conditions, it’s not accurate to say that no form of medical marijuana will get you high. High-THC medical cannabis will still produce the same intoxicating effects as the street form of the drug will.

We rate the statement Mostly False.

ORIGIONAL

TAX PAYERS SHOULD PAY TO PUT Wombs in men that want to be women so they can have babies: Say’s Dr. Frankenstein’s monster insanity

Doctors have said transgender women, born male, should be able to have kids

Gynaecologists say implanting a donor womb into a person born male is possible

Talks planned on if womb transplants for trans-women should be publicly funded

Uterine transplants could even be given to gay and straight men within ten years

Transgender women who were born male should be given womb transplants so that they can have children, leading NHS doctors have told The Mail on Sunday.
And fertility experts say taxpayers should fund such transplants for those who identify as women, on the basis of ‘equality enshrined in law’.

Read more

Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski are engaged


The first couple of cable news, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, are engaged to be married, sources have exclusively confirmed to Page Six.

The MSNBC “Morning Joe” co-hosts got engaged this past weekend during a romantic trip to the south of France and Monaco to celebrate Brzezinski’s 50th birthday.

We’re told Scarborough, 54, got down on one knee and proposed at the scenic Bar Bellini at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes, which has a breathtaking moonlit outdoor terrace overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

A source told us, “Joe got down on one knee and proposed old-fashioned-style with a ring. Of course, Mika accepted. They came back from the trip on Cloud Nine.” The source added, “There are no wedding plans as of yet, they are just telling their families the happy news.”

A source close to Brzezinski said, “Mika turned 50 and realized she wanted to move forward with her life and spend every minute with Joe, and not just at work.”

A friend of Joe’s added, “He’s had a rough few years with his divorce and the passing of his father, but he’s been the happiest he’s ever been these last few months with Mika.” Reps for the couple and NBC declined to comment.

Page Six exclusively reported the on-air couple was involved in a secret romance in June last year after Brzezinski and her husband of 23 years, James Hoffer, divorced. They have two daughters. Scarborough divorced Susan Waren, a former aide to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, in 2013 after a 12-year marriage. It was his second divorce and he has four children.

But the couple has remained coy about their romance.

He told The Hollywood Reporter last month, “We have a crackling on-air chemistry, and a crackling off-air chemistry, too.” That chemistry has made for great viewing and ratings. Scarborough is an outspoken Republican while Brzezinski is a Democrat.

Just before their romantic trip, the two got into an on-air lovers’ tiff: Scarborough tore into Brzezinski, calling her “snotty” and “rude” for interrupting him. He later jokingly apologized on Twitter.

Source

NBC wants to be ‘the next Fox News,’ insiders say

Media insiders are buzzing that Andy Lack wants NBC to become “the next Fox News” after he poached cable stars Greta Van Susteren and Megyn Kelly from the network.

“He believes he’s building MSNBC and NBC into the next Fox. It seems the network wants to take a more conservative tone,” a source said.

Kelly was hired at NBC without an official time slot, but Page Six exclusively revealed she would be taking over the “9 a.m. or 10 a.m. hour” of “Today” in September.

We’re told she is getting paid about $12 million a year for the gig, which will include a Sunday talk show.

Some fear Kelly may not be worth the bucks since her Fox replacement Tucker Carlson nearly doubled her ratings on Fox News after her departure.

We hear MSNBC anchor Joy Reid may also be on the chopping block.

“They haven’t renewed her contract. She’s been working without a contract for at least a month,” an insider told us.

An MSNBC spokesperson, however, insisted that Reid “is working under contract. And the network wants her to stay.”

A rep for NBC said, “The only thing Andy Lack is interested in ‘tilting toward’ is even more good journalism.”

ORIGIONAL

Soros bands with donors to resist Trump, ‘take back power’

Major liberal funders huddle behind closed doors with Pelosi, Warren, Ellison, and union bosses to lick wounds, retrench.

George Soros committed or donated $25 million to boosting Hillary Clinton and other Democratic candidates and causes in 2016.

George Soros and other rich liberals who spent tens of millions of dollars trying to elect Hillary Clinton are gathering in Washington for a three-day, closed door meeting to retool the big-money left to fight back against Donald Trump.

The conference, which kicked off Sunday night at Washington’s pricey Mandarin Oriental hotel, is sponsored by the influential Democracy Alliance donor club, and will include appearances by leaders of most leading unions and liberal groups, as well as darlings of the left such as House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chairman Keith Ellison, according to an agenda and other documents obtained by POLITICO.

The meeting is the first major gathering of the institutional left since Trump’s shocking victory over Hillary Clinton in last week’s presidential election, and, if the agenda is any indication, liberals plan full-on trench warfare against Trump from Day One. Some sessions deal with gearing up for 2017 and 2018 elections, while others focus on thwarting President-elect Trump’s 100-day plan, which the agenda calls “a terrifying assault on President Obama’s achievements — and our progressive vision for an equitable and just nation.”

Yet the meeting also comes as many liberals are reassessing their approach to politics — and the role of the Democracy Alliance, or DA, as the club is known in Democratic finance circles. The DA, its donors and beneficiary groups over the last decade have had a major hand in shaping the institutions of the left, including by orienting some of its key organizations around Clinton, and by basing their strategy around the idea that minorities and women constituted a so-called “rising American electorate” that could tip elections to Democrats.

READ FULL

Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Microsoft sign EU pledge to combat online hate speech ‘within 24 hours’

Hate speech is defined as anything hateful directed against anyone over issues of race, colour, religion, descent or national or ethnic origin
The move is hoped to prevent the use of social media by terrorist groups

The internet is a powerful tool, and the ability to spread information so quickly to such a huge audience can often have unfortunate consequences.
Social networking sites have often been used by terrorist organisations to relay messages and entice hatred against certain individuals or groups.
But now technology companies – including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube – have come together to try and combat this, by signing a code of conduct to combat hate speech online.

Social networking sites have often been used by terrorist organisations to relay messages and entice hatred against certain individuals or groups. But now tech giants have come together to try and combat this, by signing a code of conduct to combat hate speech online

The European Union has reached an agreement with some of the world’s biggest social media firms on ways to combat the spread of hate speech online.
Under the terms of a code of conduct, the firms have committed to ‘quickly and efficiently’ tackle illegal hate speech directed against anyone over issues of race, colour, religion, descent or national or ethnic origin.
Among the measures agreed with the EU’s executive arm, the firms have said they will establish internal procedures and staff training to guarantee that a majority of illegal content is assessed and, where necessary, removed within 24 hours.
The US firms insisted that following the EU rules would not compromise freedom of speech.
They have also agreed to strengthen their partnerships with civil society organisations who often flag content that promotes incitement to violence and hateful conduct.
The European Commission and the firms have also agreed to support civil society organisations to deliver ‘anti-hate campaigns.’

ORIGIONAL

Dems pressure Obama on vow to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees

By Kristina Wong – 05/18/16 11:40 AM EDT
A group of 27 Democratic senators on Wednesday called on President Obama to fulfill his commitment to resettle at least 10,000 Syrian refugees in the U.S. by October.

The lawmakers say the administration has so far only admitted 1,736 Syrian refugees, out of the 10,000 pledged.

“To fulfill the commitment you announced last year, at least 8,264 Syrian refugees would need to be admitted during the remaining five months of the fiscal year,” said the group, led by Sens. Dick Durbin (Ill.) and Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), in a letter to the president.

“We would appreciate an update on specific measures your Administration plans to take to fulfill its stated commitment to resettle the additional Syrian refugees by the end of September 2016,” they added.

The State Department launched a surge operation in Amman, Jordan, earlier this year to increase the pace of interviews of potential refugees.

Staff interviewed about 12,000 refugee applicants between February and April, a department spokesperson told The Hill earlier this month.

“Not all of the applicants approved by [the Department of Homeland Security] during the February-April period will be admitted to the United States in FY 2016. Some will be admitted in FY 2017,” the spokesperson, who requested anonymity, said.

The plan’s critics argue it could endanger U.S. national security, allowing terrorists to sneak through.

READ MORE

The Washington Post: Hillary’s new star turn: heroine of children’s books

In a presidential election year, there will, of course, be political biographies. But political biographies for children? This month three children’s books about one candidate — Hillary Clinton — hit the shelves. Aimed at a variety of age groups, the books deliver a similar message of female strength, though admittedly one likely to go down easier in Democratic-leaning households.

Jonah Winter’s picture book “Hillary” (Schwartz & Wade, ages 4 to 8) begins with a slightly tongue-in-cheek overview of history’s notably strong women: Queen Elizabeth, Joan of Arc (“she was . . . kind of intense”), Rosie the Riveter, “and now there is . . . Hillary.” The first image, rendered delicately in watercolor, colored pencils and lithograph crayon by Raul Colón, shows young Hillary in a baseball cap, surrounded by tall boys, pointing assertively. “She was scrappy,” Winter writes. The tale that unfolds will be familiar to parental readers — Hillary graduating from law school, becoming a mother and first lady. There’s even a summary of her work for health care reform. In simple terms, Winter offers younger readers a portrait of someone who learns all she can and draws on her experience in tough situations. As secretary of state, “she was the hardest of workers, getting up earlier and staying up later than anyone, reading countless reports filled with important information, making decisions that might save lives or cost lives.”There is little subtlety to Winter’s depiction, and his author’s note says it most plainly: “By becoming president, she would demonstrate that a girl can grow up to be the most powerful person in the world. That’s the world where I want to live. And this is a story I am thrilled to tell.”

ORIGIONAL

HOLY BIBLE ON LIST OF ‘CHALLENGED’ BOOKS AT LIBRARIES

NEW YORK (AP) — On the latest list of books most objected to at public schools and libraries, one title has been targeted nationwide, at times for the sex and violence it contains, but mostly for the legal issues it raises.

The Bible.

“You have people who feel that if a school library buys a copy of the Bible, it’s a violation of church and state,” says James LaRue, who directs the Office for Intellectual Freedom for the American Library Association, which released its annual 10 top snapshot of “challenged” books on Monday, part of the association’s “State of Libraries Report” for 2016.

“And sometimes there’s a retaliatory action, where a religious group has objected to a book and a parent might respond by objecting to the Bible.”

LaRue emphasized that the library association does not oppose having Bibles in public schools. Guidelines for the Office for Intellectual Freedom note that the Bible “does not violate the separation of church and state as long as the library does not endorse or promote the views included in the Bible.” The ALA also favors including a wide range of religious materials, from the Quran to the Bhagavad Gita to the Book of Mormon. LaRue added that the association does hear of complaints about the Quran, but fewer than for the Bible.

The Bible finished sixth on a list topped by John Green’s “Looking for Alaska,” which has been cited for “offensive language” and sexual content. The runner-up, challenged for obvious reasons, was E L James’ raunchy romance “Fifty Shades of Grey.”

“I Am Jazz,” a transgender picture book by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings, was No. 3, followed by another transgender story, Susan Kuklin’s “Beyond Magenta.” The list also includes Mark Haddon’s “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” Alison Bechdel’s “Fun Home,” Craig Thompson’s “Habibi,” Jeanette Winter’s “Nasreen’s Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan” and David Leviathan’s “Two Boys Kissing,” with one objection being that it “condones public displays of affection.”

“Many of the books deal with issues of diversity,” LaRue said. “And that often leads to challenges.”

The association bases its list on news reports and on accounts submitted from libraries and defines a challenge as a “formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness.” Just 275 incidents were compiled by the ALA, down from 311 the year before and one of the lowest on record. The ALA has long believed that for every challenge brought to its attention, four or five others are not reported. LaRue says the association does not have a number for books actually pulled in 2015.

Challenged works in recent years have ranged from the Harry Potter novels to Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

Discussing recent events, LaRue said he was concerned by legislation that Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe recently vetoed forcing schools to warn parents if their children will be assigned books with sexually explicit content. A Fairfax County mother had protested the use of Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Beloved” in her son’s high school senior class. The 1987 novel set in the post-Civil War era includes scenes depicting sex, rape and bestiality and has appeared occasionally on the ALA challenged books list.

“We see the danger of censorship moving from the school library into the English classroom,” LaRue said.

ORIGIONAL