Daily Kos

Daily Kos https://www.dailykos.com News Community Action Copyright - Kos Media, LLC Mon, 22 May 2023 17:31:47 +0000 Mon, 22 May 2023 17:31:47 +0000 Daily Kos rss@dailykos.com (Daily Kos) Daily Kos rss@dailykos.com (Daily Kos) Delaware Sen. Tom Carper, a prominent moderate, will not seek reelection https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/22/2170704/-Delaware-Sen-Tom-Carper-a-prominent-moderate-will-not-seek-reelection?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= Delaware Sen. Tom Carper, a moderate Democrat who has held statewide office since 1976, announced Monday that he <a href="https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/politics/2023/05/22/tom-carper-us-senator-delaware-retire-politics/70241463007/">would not seek a fifth term</a> next year. The senator also made his preferred successor clear in his departure speech, in which he <a href="https://twitter.com/burgessev/status/1660669786815188992" title="">asked Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester</a> to run. Blunt Rochester, who holds the states only House seat, became both the first woman and Black person to represent Delaware in Congress with her 2016 victory, and she'd make history again should she replace Carper. While the eventual Democratic nominee should have no trouble in the general election in solidly blue Delaware, state politics were far different during the early part of Carper's career. The future senator, who was born in West Virginia and served in the Navy during the Vietnam War, first arrived in the First State in 1973 as a student of the University of Delaware's business school. He quickly became involved in local politics the next year by <a href="https://www.carper.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/null-392/" title="">working on Democrat Jim Soles' campaign</a> for the House, an effort that <a href="https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=31905">ended in a 58-40 loss</a> against Republican incumbent <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/5/11/2029869/-Morning-Digest-Texas-governor-nets-first-primary-challenger-but-can-he-make-the-incumbent-sweat#16" title="">Pete du Pont</a> despite the Watergate wave that ushered many Democrats into Congress. Carper, though, had more luck in 1976 when he sought the post of state treasurer at the age of 29 and <a href="https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=41284">won 55-43</a> as Jimmy Carter captured the state's electoral votes <a href="https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?fips=10&year=1976&f=0&off=0&elect=0">by a smaller 52-47 margin</a>. Carper's win proved to be a bright spot for his party locally on what was otherwise a rough night: Du Pont unseated Gov. Sherman Tribbitt in a landslide while two future Carper foes prevailed in their respective races, with Sen. William Roth winning reelection and Thomas Evans succeeding Du Pont in the House. rss@dailykos.com (Jeff Singer) DailyKosElections DE-Sen Delaware LisaBluntRochester TomCarper _2170704 Mon, 22 May 2023 17:28:19 +0000 'Utterly dishonest': Twitter reacts to Ted Cruz's NAACP criticisms https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/22/2170698/-Ted-Cruz-gets-dragged-on-Twitter-for-NAACP-criticism?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= On Saturday the NAACP issued a travel advisory for Florida in response to the relentless Republican attacks on <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/3/2145104/-DeSantis-anti-CRT-Red-Scare-is-forcing-professors-to-hide-curriculum-on-race-drop-courses">Black</a>, <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/26/2149399/-Florida-Man-Ron-DeSantis-has-successfully-scared-queer-parents-into-trying-to-flee-the-state">LGBTQ</a>+, and immigrant families. In a <a href="https://naacp.org/articles/naacp-issues-travel-advisory-florida">statement</a>, the NAACP wrote: “The travel advisory comes in direct response to Governor Ron DeSantis' aggressive attempts to erase Black history and to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in Florida schools.” On Sunday, Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz <a href="https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1660401316860928001">criticized</a> the NAACP’s stance on Twitter, saying that while they did good work for the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s, “Today, Dr. King would be ashamed of how profoundly they’ve lost their way.“ The responses were the only catharsis one can have in the face of such an ahistorical statement. RELATED STORY: <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/10/18/2129694/-Videos-emerge-of-election-fraud-arrests-by-DeSantis-gestapo-Why-now-Why-me">Unbelievable videos emerge showing Ron DeSantis' trumped-up election fraud arrests</a> rss@dailykos.com (Walter Einenkel) CRT Education Florida Health lgbtqblm NAACP Race Racism reactions TedCruz Travel Twitter _2170698 Mon, 22 May 2023 16:50:49 +0000 Ukraine Update: The pro-Russian world unconvincingly celebrates its pyrrhic victory https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/22/2170641/-Ukraine-Update-The-pro-Russian-world-unconvincingly-celebrates-its-pyrrhic-victory?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= <div> <a name="update-1684772383000"></a> </div> <div class="live-update-wrapper" data-epoch-time="1684772383000"> <a class="live-update-link" href="#update-1684772383000"> UPDATE: Monday, May 22, 2023 · 4:19:43 PM +00:00 · kos </a> <div class="live-update-content">Yes, I’m keeping an eye on the Belgorod situation, where some undetermined group (claiming to be Russian partisans, but you never know) ambushed a border outpost and “liberated” several towns.  <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-twitter-content="&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;I spoke with &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/legion_svoboda?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;@legion_svoboda&lt;/a&gt; to confirm the operation to “liberate” Russia’s &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Belgorod?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#Belgorod&lt;/a&gt;. They said they’re working independently of Ukraine &amp;amp; have taken three villages so far and are now fighting for Grayvoron. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;They claim the surprise left Russian troops “fleeing in panic” 1/3&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; Liz Cookman (@liz_cookman) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/liz_cookman/status/1660645902359437315?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 22, 2023&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; "><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">I spoke with <a href="https://twitter.com/legion_svoboda?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@legion_svoboda</a> to confirm the operation to “liberate” Russia’s <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Belgorod?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Belgorod</a>. They said they’re working independently of Ukraine & have taken three villages so far and are now fighting for Grayvoron. They claim the surprise left Russian troops “fleeing in panic” 1/3— Liz Cookman (@liz_cookman) <a href="https://twitter.com/liz_cookman/status/1660645902359437315?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 22, 2023</a></blockquote> </div> Seems like a big troll to me. There is no indication these guys have the manpower for anything but embarrassing Putin.  <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-twitter-content="&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Ukrainian-backed free Russian forces actually picked a fairly interesting place to take some territory. Grayvoron is bounded on 2 sides by the Vorskla and Hraivornka Rivers, and on the other two sides by the Ukrainian border. &lt;a href="https://t.co/OPq5JkRrwH"&gt;pic.twitter.com/OPq5JkRrwH&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1660662431826300929?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 22, 2023&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; "><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Ukrainian-backed free Russian forces actually picked a fairly interesting place to take some territory. Grayvoron is bounded on 2 sides by the Vorskla and Hraivornka Rivers, and on the other two sides by the Ukrainian border. <a href="https://t.co/OPq5JkRrwH">pic.twitter.com/OPq5JkRrwH</a>— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) <a href="https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1660662431826300929?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 22, 2023</a></blockquote> </div> If nothing else, this should force Russia to deploy troops along its long border with Ukraine, draining it of manpower along the active front. As such, this could very well be part of Ukraine’s “shaping the battlefield” operations. Finally, if you see Ukrainians joke that these “partisans” got their armored vehicles at “any Russian military store,” that’s a reference to 2014, when Russia claimed its Luhansk and Donetsk militias bought their hundreds of tanks at a Russian military store. That cheeky troll actually does suggest Ukraine is having a hand in this operation.  </div> </div> The famous Greek general King Pyrrhus of Epirus, having defeated the Romans at Heraclea in 280 B.C. and at Asculum a year later, remarked, “If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined.” We all know about pyrrhic victories, but the additional context is surprisingly relevant today. From <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_Lives">Plutarch’s telling</a>:  <blockquote>The armies separated; and, it is said, Pyrrhus replied to one that gave him joy of his victory that one other such victory would utterly undo him. For he had lost a great part of the forces he brought with him, and almost all his particular friends and principal commanders; there were no others there to make recruits, and he found the confederates in Italy backward. On the other hand, as from a fountain continually flowing out of the city, the Roman camp was quickly and plentifully filled up with fresh men, not at all abating in courage for the loss they sustained, but even from their very anger gaining new force and resolution to go on with the war.</blockquote> With Bakhmut’s fall to the Russians after one year of trying, Is anyone else in Russia pondering Pyrrhus’ fate? Certainly not in Russian Telegram and Twitter, where vile pro-Putin trash are celebrating their great “victory” after an initial muted reaction. rss@dailykos.com (kos) Bakhmut G7 Klischiivka Popasna Russia Ukraine War _2170641 Mon, 22 May 2023 15:50:33 +0000 Arizona, California and Nevada propose water cuts from Colorado River to avert forced cuts https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/22/2170711/-Arizona-California-and-Nevada-propose-water-cuts-from-Colorado-River-to-avert-forced-cuts?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= Arizona, California and Nevada on Monday proposed a plan to significantly reduce their water use from <a href="https://apnews.com/article/colorado-river-water-west-california-arizona-5fefe545767b805900f4b967a7c8da25">the drought-stricken Colorado River</a> over the next three years. The plan would conserve an additional 3 million acre-feet of water from the 1,450-mile river that provides water to 40 million people in seven U.S. states, parts of Mexico and more than two dozen Native American tribes. At least half that amount — or 1.5 million acre-feet of water — would have to be conserved by 2024, the plan said. In exchange for temporarily using less water, cities, irrigation districts and Native American tribes in the three states will receive federal funding, though officials did not say how much funding individual users in the states would get. Specifics of the deal announced Monday were sparse, including exactly how the cuts would be spread out. JB Hamby, chairman of the Colorado River Board of California, said in a statement his state would be responsible for 1.6 million acre-feet in cuts. No details were immediately provided on how Arizona and Nevada would split the rest. The Colorado River has been in crisis thanks to a multidecade drought in the West intensified by climate change, rising demand and overuse. Those pressures have sent water levels at key reservoirs along the river to unprecedented lows, though they have rebounded somewhat thanks to heavy precipitation and deep snowpack this winter. In recent years, the river's woes have forced the federal government to cut some water allocations, and to offer up billions of dollars to pay farmers and cities to pay farmers, cities and others to cut back. In April, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation released a plan that considered two ways to force cuts in the Colorado River supply for Arizona, Nevada and California, which make up the river's Lower Basin. One contemplated using an decades-old water priority system to reduce usage that would have benefitted California and some Native American tribes with senior water rights. The other would have been a percentage cut across the board to spare Arizona and Nevada – states with lower-priority rights – some pain. The Interior Department on Monday said it would pull back that proposal so that it could analyze the broader plan submitted by Western states and reissue it later this year. rss@dailykos.com (Associated Press stories chosen by Daily Kos staff) Arizona Colorado ColoradoRiver LakeMead Nevada Water _2170711 Mon, 22 May 2023 16:05:26 +0000 Putin issues laughable new MAGA-approved sanction list https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/22/2170685/-Putin-issues-laughable-new-MAGA-approved-sanction-list?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= There’s a <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/international/4012559-russia-bans-obama-maddow-colbert-over-sanctions/" title="">new list of 500 Americans</a> Vladimir Putin has banned from traveling to or having business in Russia, and it’s a who’s who of Donald Trump’s enemies. Putin is using American sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine as an excuse for the travel bans, but his real reason seems clear: to strengthen his alliance with Trump and MAGA Republicans. From Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who refused to find those <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/1/3/2005607/-Trump-caught-on-tape-threatening-Raffensperger-demanded-state-find-votes-to-overturn-Biden-win">11,780 votes for Trump</a> in 2020, to Letitia James, the state attorney general of New York who is currently prosecuting Trump, and late-night variety show hosts Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and Seth Meyers, who ridicule Trump on a nightly basis. Oh, and former President Barack Obama. It sounds like Trump wrote the talking points, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/21/world/europe/russia-sanctions-trump.html">the list cites</a> “those in government and law enforcement agencies who are directly involved in the persecution of dissidents in the wake of the so-called storming of the Capitol,” including special counsel Jack Smith, who is investigating Trump’s hoarding of classified documents and his efforts to steal the 2020 election, and Lt. Michael Byrd, the Capitol Police officer who shot insurrectionist Ashli Babbitt. Raffensperger, for one, isn’t too bothered by the prospect of not getting to go see the wonders of Putin’s Russia. He retweeted this from his chief aide, Gabriel Sterling. <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-twitter-content="&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;A great honor for &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/GaSecofState?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;@GaSecofState&lt;/a&gt; Raffensperger. He is one of the hundreds of Americans banned from Russia by Vladimir Putin. That means Brad is doing it right. &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/gapol?src=hash&amp;amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;#gapol&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://t.co/fNJkR4Klgz"&gt;pic.twitter.com/fNJkR4Klgz&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;— Gabriel Sterling (@GabrielSterling) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/GabrielSterling/status/1659741334868033537?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 20, 2023&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;"><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">A great honor for <a href="https://twitter.com/GaSecofState?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GaSecofState</a> Raffensperger. He is one of the hundreds of Americans banned from Russia by Vladimir Putin. That means Brad is doing it right. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/gapol?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#gapol</a> <a href="https://t.co/fNJkR4Klgz">pic.twitter.com/fNJkR4Klgz</a>— Gabriel Sterling (@GabrielSterling) <a href="https://twitter.com/GabrielSterling/status/1659741334868033537?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2023</a></blockquote></div> He’s in <a href="https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1871495/" title="">good company</a>. rss@dailykos.com (Joan McCarter) DonaldTrump Jan6 Russia Sanctions Ukraine VladimirPutin _2170685 Mon, 22 May 2023 14:33:01 +0000 Republican defends Trump and is asked, 'Do you realize how absurd that sounds?' https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/21/2170554/-GOP-congressman-insists-Trump-s-highly-partisan-debt-ceiling-posturing-is-not-partisan-at-all?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= In case you’re keeping track, we’ve now reached the point in the unmonitored, unguided hell simulation where Republican members of Congress are using the barmy brain nuggets Donald Trump drops on the daily and recycling them as talking points. Because Trump’s every utterance is genius, and like a frontiersman on his hardscrabble farmstead pulling hearty fistfuls of offal from hens who died in the dead of winter of some as-yet-unidentified bird flu, Republicans have decided to savor every last morsel of Hickory Farms All-Natural Offal ‘n’ Beak-Bits Summer Sausage. As you may recall, on May 10, when CNN opted to napalm our great nation with ipecac instead of <a href="https://www.wbur.org/radioboston/2013/04/01/napalm" target="_blank">jellied gasoline</a>, Trump let loose a fusillade of feral, head-scratching nonsense that left Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/11/trump-cnn-town-hall-fact-check/" target="_blank">fact-checker Glenn Kessler</a> pining for an elysian future in which he’s secured part-time, minimum-wage employment as Chris Christie’s personal bathtub attendant. But Trump’s lies weren’t the only things on lurid display. He also said the U.S. <a href="https://12ft.io/proxy?ref=&q=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/05/trump-green-lights-a-debt-default.html" target="_blank">“might as well” default on its debt</a> (which would naturally crater the economy, leading to a deep recession and <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Business/debt-ceiling-breach-cut-millions-jobs-lose-employment/story?id=99423028#:~:text=millions%20of%20jobs.-,Here's%20who%20would%20lose%20employment%20first,job%20cuts%2C%20Moody's%20Analytics%20said." target="_blank">millions of lost jobs</a>) and that his previous insistence that the debt ceiling should never be used as negotiating leverage no longer applied because he was no longer president. Any which way you slice it, that’s a rancid hunk of bologna, and yet Republicans expect you to slurp it up through a straw. And Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida (you may remember him from his <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/byron-donalds-house-speaker-political-views-rcna64368" target="_blank">15 minutes in the spotlight as a GOP speaker candidate</a> back in January) believes you simply need to get accustomed to the taste. On Sunday’s edition of “Meet the Press,” host Chuck Todd asked Donalds about Trump’s highly partisan, hyper-hypocritical statement. And Donalds turned the gaslight up to 11. RELATED STORY: <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/17/2169882/-CNN-chief-learns-all-the-wrong-lessons-from-Trump-town-hall">CNN chief learns all the wrong lessons from Trump 'town hall'</a> rss@dailykos.com (Aldous J Pennyfarthing) ByronDonalds ChuckTodd CNN cnntownhall DebtCeiling DonaldTrump MeetThePress PresidentBiden Recommended trump _2170554 Sun, 21 May 2023 16:52:22 +0000 Civil rights groups warn tourists about Florida in wake of 'hostile' laws https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/22/2170689/-Civil-rights-groups-warn-tourists-about-Florida-in-wake-of-hostile-laws?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= The NAACP over the weekend issued a travel advisory for Florida, joining two other civil rights groups in warning potential tourists that recent laws and policies championed by <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ron-desantis">Gov. Ron DeSantis</a> and Florida lawmakers are “openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.” The NAACP, long an advocate for Black Americans, joined the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), a Latino civil rights organization, and Equality Florida, a gay rights advocacy group, in issuing travel advisories for the Sunshine State, where tourism is one of the state's largest job sectors. The warning approved Saturday by the NAACP's board of directors tells tourists that, before traveling to Florida, they should understand the state of Florida "devalues and marginalizes the contributions of, and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color.” An email was sent Sunday morning to DeSantis' office seeking comment. The Republican governor is expected to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/desantis-president-new-hampshire-republican-80f4a1faed3632b14ae526ae966f3e07">announce a run</a> for the GOP presidential nomination this week. Florida is one of the most popular states in the U.S. for tourists, and tourism is one of its biggest industries. More than 137.5 million tourists visited Florida last year, marking a return to pre-pandemic levels, according to Visit Florida, the state's tourism promotion agency. Tourism supports 1.6 million full-time and part-time jobs, and visitors spent $98.8 billion in Florida in 2019, the last year figures are available. Several of Florida's Democratic mayors were quick to say Sunday that their cities welcomed diversity and inclusion. “EVERYONE is always welcome and will be treated with dignity and respect,” tweeted Mayor Ken Welch of St. Petersburg in a message echoed by the mayor across the bay in Tampa. “That will never change, regardless of what happens in Tallahassee,” tweeted Mayor Jane Castor of Tampa. The NAACP's decision comes after the DeSantis' administration in January rejected the College Board’s <a href="https://apnews.com/article/education-black-history-advanced-placement-8c0492552e59db4de3ec3cc8e35100c2">Advanced Placement African American Studies course</a>. DeSantis and Republican lawmakers also have pressed forward with measures that ban state colleges from having <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ron-desantis-florida-state-government-race-and-ethnicity-b1d847ddc5e1f136b17f254f71fd15dc">programs on diversity, equity and inclusion</a>, as well as critical race theory, and also passed the Stop WOKE Act that restricts certain race-based conversations and analysis in schools and businesses. In its warning for Hispanic travelers considering a visit to Florida, LULAC cited a new law that prohibits local governments from providing money to organizations that issue identification cards to people illegally in the country and invalidates out-of-state driver’s licenses held by undocumented immigrants, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/florida-desantis-immigration-bill-74d3efde87fe376202ebda74bab123b8">among other things</a>. The law also requires hospitals that accept Medicaid to include a citizenship question on intake forms, which critics have said is intended to dissuade immigrants living in the U.S. illegally from seeking medical care. “The actions taken by Governor DeSantis have created a shadow of fear within communities across the state,” said Lydia Medrano, a LULAC vice president for the Southeast region. Recent efforts to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/dont-say-gay-desantis-florida-gender-d3a9c91f4b5383a5bf6df6f7d8ff65b6">limit discussion on LGBTQ topics</a> in schools, the removal of books with gay characters from school libraries, a recent ban on gender-affirming care for minors, new <a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-florida-desantis-07c1543fe28b6c09e777bec58de7640f">restrictions on abortion access</a> and a law allowing Floridians to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/guns-desantis-florida-government-ac7adbc200cc4c1bb429ea84357f73be" title="">carry concealed guns without a permit</a> contributed to Equality Florida's warning. “Taken in their totality, Florida’s slate of laws and policies targeting basic freedoms and rights pose a serious risk to the health and safety of those traveling to the state,” Equality Florida's advisory said. rss@dailykos.com (Associated Press stories chosen by Daily Kos staff) Florida LGBTQ NAACP RonDeSantis _2170689 Mon, 22 May 2023 14:39:05 +0000 More women sue Texas, asking court to put emergency block on state's abortion law https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/22/2170676/-More-women-sue-Texas-asking-court-to-put-emergency-block-on-state-s-abortion-law?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= One woman had to carry her baby, missing much of her skull, for months knowing she'd bury her daughter soon after she was born. Another started mirroring the life-threatening symptoms that her baby was displaying while in the womb. An OB-GYN found herself secretly traveling to Colorado to abort her wanted pregnancy, marred by the diagnosis of a fatal fetal anomaly. All of the women were told they could not end their pregnancies in Texas, a state that has enacted some of the nation's most restrictive abortion laws. Now, they're asking a Texas court to put an emergency hold on some abortion restrictions, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/women-sue-texas-over-abortion-ban-632fad72e0f5b255a3a55274cd097fa9">joining a lawsuit launched earlier this year</a> by five other women who were denied abortions in the state, despite pregnancies they say endangered their health or lives. More than a dozen Texas women in total have joined the Center for Reproductive Rights' lawsuit against the state's law, which prohibits abortions unless a mother's life is at risk — an exception that is not clearly defined. Texas doctors who perform abortions risk life in prison and fines of up to $100,000, leaving many women with providers who are unwilling to even discuss terminating a pregnancy. “Our hope is that it will allow physicians at least a little more comfort when it comes to patients in obstetrical emergencies who really need an abortion where it's going to effect their health, fertility or life going forward,” Molly Duane, the lead attorney on the case, told The Associated Press. “Almost all of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit tell similar stories about their doctors saying, if not for this law, I'd give you an abortion right now.” The lawsuit serves as a nationwide model for abortion rights advocates to challenge strict new abortion laws states that have rolled out since the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-supreme-court-decision-854f60302f21c2c35129e58cf8d8a7b0">Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade</a> last year. Sixteen states, including Texas, do not allow abortions when a fatal fetal anomaly is detected while six do not allow exceptions for the mother's health, according to an <a href="https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/issue-brief/a-review-of-exceptions-in-state-abortions-bans-implications-for-the-provision-of-abortion-services/">analysis by KFF, a health research organization</a>. Duane said the Center for Reproductive Rights is looking at filing similar lawsuits in other states, noting that they've heard from women across the country. Roughly 25 Texas women have contacted the organization about their own experiences since the initial lawsuit was filed in March. The women who joined the lawsuit describe being elated about finding out they were pregnant before the experience turned catastrophic. Jessica Bernardo and her husband spent years trying to conceive, even consulting fertility doctors, before finally become pregnant with a daughter, Emma, last July. Almost immediately, Bernardo was coughing so hard and often she would sometimes throw up. Fourteen weeks into the pregnancy, test results revealed her baby likely had Down Syndrome, so she consulted a specialist who gave her devastating news: Emma's heart was underdeveloped and she had a rare, deadly disorder called fetal anasarca, which causes fluid to build up in the body. “He handed me a tissue box,” recalled Bernardo, who lives in Frisco, Texas. “I thought maybe the worst thing he was going to tell us was that she's going to have Down Syndrome. Instead, he said, ‘I can tell you right away...she wouldn’t make it.'” The doctor warned her to watch out for high blood pressure and coughing, symptoms of Mirror syndrome, another rare condition where a mother “mirrors” the same problems the fetus is experiencing. With Bernardo's blood pressure numbers climbing, her OB-GYN conferred with the hospital's ethics board to see if she could end the pregnancy but was advised Bernardo wasn't sick enough. Bernardo spent $7,000 traveling to Seattle for an abortion a week later. Even if Emma made it through the pregnancy, doctors would have immediately needed to drain excess fluids from her body, only for her to survive a few hours or days, Bernardo said. “Reading about everything they would do sounded like complete treatment torture to a newborn that would not survive," she said. “Had I not received an abortion, my life would have very likely been on the line.” Other women facing similar situations have not had the financial resources to travel outside of the state. Samantha Casiano, a 29-year-old living in eastern Texas, found out halfway through her pregnancy last year that her daughter, Halo, had a rare diagnosis of anencephaly, where much of the skull and brain is missing. Her doctor told her she would have to continue with the pregnancy because of Texas law, even though her baby would not survive. With five children, including a goddaughter, at home she quickly realized she could not afford an out-of-state trip for an abortion. The next next few months of her pregnancy were spent trying to raise money for her daughter's impending funeral, soliciting donations through online websites and launching fundraisers to sell Mexican soup. Halo was born in April, living for only four hours. “I was so full of heartbreak and sadness, all at the same time,” Casiano said. Women in the lawsuit say they could not openly discuss abortion or labor induction with their doctors, instead asking their doctors discreetly if they should travel outside of the state. Dr. Austin Dennard, an OB-GYN in Dallas, never talked about her own abortion with her doctors after they discovered anencephaly on the baby's ultrasound during her third pregnancy last year. She worried her out-of-state trip to end the pregnancy could jeopardize her medical license or invite harassment against her and her husband, also an OB-GYN. But after one of Dennard's patients sued the state in March for having to travel to Colorado to abort a twin fetus diagnosed with a life-threatening genetic disorder, she decided to go public, too. “There was an enormous amount of fear that I experienced afterward,” Dennard said. “It’s an additional way of feeling silenced. You feel you have to do it in secret and not tell anyone about it.” rss@dailykos.com (Associated Press stories chosen by Daily Kos staff) Abortion CenterforReproductiveRights JessicaBernado Texas _2170676 Mon, 22 May 2023 13:36:36 +0000 Morning Digest: How Wisconsin's new-look Supreme Court could put more House seats in play https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/22/2170287/-Morning-Digest-How-Wisconsin-s-new-look-Supreme-Court-could-put-more-House-seats-in-play?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= The Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, and Stephen Wolf, with additional contributions from Daniel Donner, David Jarman, Steve Singiser, James Lambert and David Beard. <a href="https://thedownballot.captivate.fm/">Subscribe to The Downballot, our weekly podcast</a> <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <a class="iframe_placeholder dk-x-embed" href="#" data-src="//player.captivate.fm/show/b049910f-1c6e-4b96-8ecd-480b1764cb75/latest/" data-height="185">Embedded Content</a></div> <h4>Leading Off</h4> <a href="#1" name="1">●</a> WI-01, WI-08: While Republican Rep. Bryan Steil had no trouble winning reelection last year in a southeastern Wisconsin seat that only narrowly backed Donald Trump, one prominent Democrat thinks that 2024 could be very different―and he may be right, especially if the incoming progressive majority on the state Supreme Court strikes down the state's gerrymandered congressional map. A notable Democrat is also mulling a campaign to the northeast against Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher around Green Bay, but as we'll discuss, his 8th District would likely be a tough lift even with new boundaries. rss@dailykos.com (Daily Kos Elections) BenSalango ChrisSununu CoryMason DailyKosElections DanielCameron DariusRadzius DefendingBluegrassValues DGA DKEMorningDigest Elections FloydBonner GabeGore GloriaJohnson GretaNeubauer JimClyburn KristinLyerly KY-Gov MarkPocan MarkSpreitzer MD-06 MemphisTNMayor NH-Gov NY-03 RebeccaMason SC-06 St.LouisMOCircuitAttorney TekeshaMartinez TipMcGuire TN-Sen VanTurner WI-01 WI-08 WV-Gov _2170287 Mon, 22 May 2023 12:00:16 +0000 Abbreviated Pundit Roundup: Media coverage failure in the debt ceiling debacle https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/22/2170626/-Abbreviated-Pundit-Roundup-Media-coverage-failure-in-the-debt-ceiling-debacle?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= <a href="https://www.messageboxnews.com/p/debt-limit-update-mccarthys-very" target="_blank" title="">Dan Pfeiffer</a>/”The Message Box” on Substack: <blockquote> Debt Limit Update: McCarthy's Very Weak Hand The Speaker is talking tough to appease the right, but he needs the Dems to bail him out Is this theater? Are we screwed? Should we panic? Buy gold? Bury our money in the backyard? The debt ceiling reports from the legacy media are nothing short of horrendous. And confusing. Much of it is laundering the viewpoints of the GOP leadership aides upon which Capitol Hill reporters depend for scoops. Their “journalism” excuses the irresponsible position of Republicans and puts all of the onus of preventing default on Joe Biden and the Democrats. I don’t blame anyone for being confused. </blockquote> <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-twitter-content="&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;I wish more of the coverage of debt ceiling negotiations focused less on internecine political dramas and more on the global economic consequences of default, as well as what House Republicans are actually demanding in exchange for not defaulting.&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; Catherine Rampell (@crampell) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/crampell/status/1660310028706803718?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 21, 2023&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; "><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">I wish more of the coverage of debt ceiling negotiations focused less on internecine political dramas and more on the global economic consequences of default, as well as what House Republicans are actually demanding in exchange for not defaulting.— Catherine Rampell (@crampell) <a href="https://twitter.com/crampell/status/1660310028706803718?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 21, 2023</a></blockquote> </div> rss@dailykos.com (Greg Dworkin) AbbreviatedPunditRound-up AbbreviatedPunditRoundUp APR _2170626 Mon, 22 May 2023 11:00:21 +0000 A potential 'Florida Man' primary is coming, and we are not ready https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/19/2170184/-A-potential-Florida-Man-primary-is-coming-and-we-are-not-ready?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= America is spiraling toward a “Florida Man” primary, and we’re not ready. With Ron DeSantis not yet an official candidate and Donald Trump still flipping through the index cards of potential nicknames for his just-up-the-road opponent, what we’ve seen of the coming storm makes one thing clear: The most extreme right-wing authoritarian candidates ever to hold office in the United States intend to run their primary by finding new ground on the right of their opponents. Both men might hold a finger to the political wind and determine that the center-right, a space now so abandoned that ghost towns feel sorry for it, offers plenty of room to construct a candidacy. A Republican shift to the middle might even give that party the thing that is currently a fading memory—a shot at winning the popular vote. They’re not going to go there. DeSantis is trying to run to the right of Trump. Trump is trying to run to the right of DeSantis. Both may momentarily agree, but only on issues where they can’t think of a more extreme position. But these two guys have a real instinct for the awful, so they won’t be pinned down for long. If America is lucky, the result will destroy the Republican Party for a generation. But no matter what, everyone is going to get hurt. rss@dailykos.com (Mark Sumner) DonaldTrump Election2024 RonDeSantis _2170184 Fri, 19 May 2023 16:36:35 +0000 Meta fined record $1.3 billion and ordered to stop sending European user data to US https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/22/2170673/-Meta-fined-record-1-3-billion-and-ordered-to-stop-sending-European-user-data-to-US?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= The European Union slapped Meta with a record $1.3 billion privacy fine Monday and ordered it to stop transferring user data across the Atlantic by October, the latest salvo in a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/data-privacy-europe-business-government-surveillance-technology-32cd88d05897f31e5b4d1bcd3d1ade83" title="">decadelong case sparked by U.S. cybersnooping fears</a>. The penalty of 1.2 billion euros is the biggest since the EU's strict data privacy regime took effect five years ago, surpassing <a href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-business-996ef83cf56902aaeb1dfeef0cceb04b">Amazon's 746 million euro fine</a> in 2021 for data protection violations. Meta, which had previously warned that services for its users in Europe could be cut off, vowed to appeal and ask courts to immediately put the decision on hold. “There is no immediate disruption to Facebook in Europe,” the company said. “This decision is flawed, unjustified and sets a dangerous precedent for the countless other companies transferring data between the EU and U.S.,” Nick Clegg, Meta's president of global and affairs, and Chief Legal Officer Jennifer Newstead said in a statement. It's yet another twist in a legal battle that began in 2013 when Austrian lawyer and privacy activist Max Schrems filed a complaint about Facebook’s handling of his data following former National Security Agency contractor <a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-news-ap-top-news-george-w-bush-edward-snowden-politics-57af1e21c0c14309a3684fc7695605c6">Edward Snowden’s revelations</a> of electronic surveillance by U.S. security agencies. That included the disclosure that Facebook gave the agencies access to the personal data of Europeans. The saga has highlighted the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-technology-data-privacy-ursula-von-der-leyen-european-commission-493ea47a4991b0c933bea2bbb47c2c6c">clash between Washington and Brussels</a> over the differences between Europe's strict view on data privacy and the comparatively lax regime in the U.S., which lacks a federal privacy law. The EU has been a global leader in reining in the power of Big Tech with a series of regulations <a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-business-police-social-media-reform-52744e1d0f5b93a426f966138f2ccb52">forcing them police their platforms more strictly</a> and protect users' personal information. An agreement covering EU-U.S. data transfers known as the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-international-news-technology-united-states-business-74960a2c6af8b96a35df5afe35f9f84b">Privacy Shield was struck down in 2020</a> by the EU's top court, which said it didn’t do enough to protect residents from the U.S. government's electronic prying. Monday's decision confirmed that another tool to govern data transfers — stock legal contracts — was also invalid. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-biden-technology-business-united-states-830590856518b586e1eeb2a3df69be35">Brussels and Washington signed a deal</a> last year on a reworked Privacy Shield that Meta could use, but the pact is awaiting a decision from European officials on whether it adequately protects data privacy. EU institutions have been reviewing the agreement, and the bloc's lawmakers this month called for improvements, saying the safeguards aren't strong enough. The Ireland’s Data Protection Commission handed down the fine as Meta’s lead privacy regulator in the 27-nation bloc because the Silicon Valley tech giant’s European headquarters is based in Dublin. The Irish watchdog said it gave Meta five months to stop sending European user data to the U.S. and six months to bring its data operations into compliance “by ceasing the unlawful processing, including storage, in the U.S." of European users' personal data transferred in violation of the bloc's privacy rules. If the new transatlantic privacy agreement takes effect before these deadlines, "our services can continue as they do today without any disruption or impact on users," Meta said. Schrems predicted that Meta has “no real chance” of getting the decision materially overturned. And a new privacy pact might not mean the end of Meta's troubles, because there's a good chance it could be tossed out by the EU's top court, he said. “Meta plans to rely on the new deal for transfers going forward, but this is likely not a permanent fix," Schrems said in a statement. "Unless U.S. surveillance laws gets fixed, Meta will likely have to keep EU data in the EU.” Meta warned in its latest earnings report that without a legal basis for data transfers, it will be forced to stop offering its products and services in Europe, “which would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.” The social media company might have to carry out a costly and complex revamp of its operations if it's forced to stop shipping user data across the Atlantic. Meta has a fleet of 21 data centers, according to its website, but 17 of them are in the United States. Three others are in the European nations of Denmark, Ireland and Sweden. Another is in Singapore. Other social media giants are facing pressure over their data practices. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-ban-bytedance-china-biden-administration-14ef5f93dc2114e4ade110b2e85433fd" title="">TikTok has tried to soothe Western fears</a> about the Chinese-owned short video sharing app's potential cybersecurity risks with a $1.5 billion project to store U.S. user data on Oracle servers. rss@dailykos.com (Associated Press stories chosen by Daily Kos staff) EU Facebook MarkZuckerberg Meta _2170673 Mon, 22 May 2023 13:02:49 +0000 Tim Scott set to announce launch of his 2024 GOP presidential campaign https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/22/2170667/-Tim-Scott-set-to-announce-launch-of-his-2024-GOP-presidential-campaign?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= As he launches his presidential campaign on Monday, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina is officially wading into a GOP primary battle already largely dominated by two commanding figures: former President <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a> and Florida Gov. <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ron-desantis">Ron DeSantis</a>. Scott, the only Black Republican senator, will make his campaign announcement in his hometown of North Charleston after <a href="https://apnews.com/article/tim-scott-2024-presidential-campaign-152d2ee680c9a98e7fd0a2a1cf328e3c">making it official last week</a> with the Federal Election Commission. The late morning event is taking place at Charleston Southern University, Scott’s alma mater and a private school affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Then he'll spend Tuesday with donors in Charleston before a whirlwind, two-day campaign swing to Iowa and New Hampshire. Like others in the GOP race, including former United Nations Ambassador <a href="https://apnews.com/article/nikki-haley-running-for-president-f28052019e8ac3846cd125b3d9614d4f">Nikki Haley</a>, former Arkansas Gov. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/asa-hutchinson-president-2024-election-3a55855b1914d6e61338d1c8576a817f">Asa Hutchinson</a> and “Woke, Inc.” author <a href="https://apnews.com/article/religion-and-politics-united-states-government-2022-midterm-elections-ohio-e1c1cbe47763bd979b6b47557aee043d">Vivek Ramaswamy</a>, Scott will have to find a way to stand out in a field led by Trump and DeSantis, the latter of whom could announce his own bid as early as this week. But Scott's senior advisers note that political environments can shift over the course of a primary campaign, pointing to early in the 2016 race when Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush were seen as the top GOP candidates before Trump became the party's nominee. One way Scott, 57, hopes to make his mark is by leaning into more optimistic rhetoric than his conservative rivals. With his Christian faith an integral part of his political and personal story, Scott often quotes Scripture at his campaign events, weaving his reliance on spiritual guidance into his stump speech and even bestowing the name “Faith in America” on his <a href="https://apnews.com/article/tim-scott-republican-president-2024-c0a791719fe735b09ec76f7801e74217">pre-launch listening tour.</a> In terms of Scott's political strength, his team points to his most recent Senate reelection in November, when Scott <a href="https://apnews.com/article/south-carolina-senate-race-2022-midterm-elections-41a9fcf9977d8d17dacc8921b412e51d">defeated his Democratic opponent</a> by more than 20 percentage points. Such overwhelming support in a state that votes early in the GOP's presidential nominating calendar bodes well for Scott's electability on a larger scale, his advisers say. There's also the matter of money. He will enter the 2024 race with more cash on hand than any other presidential candidate in U.S. history. He had $22 million left in his campaign bank account at the end of his 2022 campaign and plans to immediately transfer that to his presidential coffers. It's enough money, his team says, to keep Scott on the air with continuous TV ads in early voting states until the first round of votes next year. On many issues, Scott aligns with mainstream GOP positions. He wants to reduce government spending and restrict abortion, saying he would sign a federal law to prohibit abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy if elected president. But Scott has pushed the party on some policing overhaul measures since the killing of George Floyd, and he has occasionally criticized Trump’s response to racial tensions. Throughout their disagreements, though, Scott has maintained a generally cordial relationship with Trump, saying in his book that the former president “listened intently” to his viewpoints on race-related issues. When he was appointed to the Senate by then-Gov. Nikki Haley in 2012, Scott became the first Black senator from the South since just after the Civil War. Winning a 2014 special election to serve out the remainder of his term made him the first Black candidate to win a statewide race in South Carolina since the Reconstruction era. He has long said his current term, which runs through 2029, would be his last. Scott rejects the notion that the country is inherently racist and has repudiated the teaching of critical race theory, an academic framework that presents the idea that the nation’s institutions maintain the dominance of white people. “Hear me clearly: America is not a racist country,” Scott has said. “It’s backwards to fight discrimination with different types of discrimination. And it’s wrong to try to use our painful past to dishonestly shut down debates in the present.” If Scott is successful, he would be the first Black person to win the Republican presidential nomination and the second elected to the presidency, following Barack Obama in 2008. In a video announcing <a href="https://apnews.com/article/exploratory-committee-president-tim-scott-2024-b129664cb44862100e43e2930e75efb3">his exploratory committee</a> earlier this year, Scott positioned himself as the antidote to the “radical left: a self-made success story as the son of a single mother who overcame poverty. He also bemoaned Democratic leaders as needlessly dividing the country by fostering a “culture of grievance.” Other Republicans are still deciding whether to wade into the presidential race, including former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. President Joe Biden is <a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-election-2024-president-democrats-trump-9c72115656855da89a41cac3f79aa65b">seeking reelection</a>, a decision that has largely cleared the Democratic field. rss@dailykos.com (Associated Press stories chosen by Daily Kos staff) 2024 TimScott _2170667 Mon, 22 May 2023 12:49:31 +0000 Gun control, then and now: GOP and NRA actions over AR-15s continue to stall progress https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/19/2169925/-Gun-control-then-and-now-GOP-and-NRA-actions-over-AR-15s-continue-to-stall-progress?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= <div style="text-align:start"> This is part two of a two-part series on this history of gun control policy. You can read part one <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2162777/edit" target="_blank">here</a>. Part one of this series looked at how the Thompson submachine gun, popularly known as the Tommy gun, was originally developed as a weapon of war and then marketed to law enforcement agencies and the military. But by the late 1920s, the Tommy gun was being used by organized crime gangs flush with money from bootlegging during the Prohibition Era. Public outrage was stirred by the use of Tommy guns in the 1929 St. Valentine’s Day Massacre and the 1931 shooting death of a 5-year-old boy in a botched gangland attack. The Tommy gun gained further notoriety as the weapon of choice in crime sprees carried out by Depression-era gangsters such as John Dillinger, “Pretty Boy” Floyd, “Baby Face” Nelson, and George “Machine Gun” Kelly. Many states, including Texas, passed laws banning Tommy guns. President Franklin D. Roosevelt as part of his New Deal on Crime spurred Congress to pass the 1934 National Firearms Act, which imposed criminal, regulatory, and tax requirements on the weapons favored by gangsters—machine guns, sawed off shotguns, and silencers. The National Rifle Association grudgingly supported the legislation which passed by a voice vote. In 1939, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld the National Firearms Act. The act was effective in curbing the use of Tommy guns, and remains in place today. The act’s effectiveness was confirmed by Marc Follman, who tracks gun violence for Mother Jones, and curates a <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/12/mass-shootings-mother-jones-full-data">database of mass shootings in America</a>, going back to 1982. He <a href="https://www.npr.org/2016/06/30/484215890/prohibition-era-gang-violence-spurred-congress-to-pass-first-gun-law" target="_blank">told NPR in 2016</a> that none of the shootings is known to have involved a machine gun or fully automatic weapon. "You rarely hear any discussion of fully automatic weapons or machine guns," Follman told NPR. "They're just really not part of the conversation in the contemporary picture. They don't turn up in mass shootings." RELATED STORY: <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/15/2164093/-After-Kristi-Noem-tells-NRA-audience-they-re-more-than-just-old-white-guys-the-camera-points-to">After Kristi Noem tells NRA audience they're not just old white guys, the camera points to ...</a> </div> rss@dailykos.com (Charles Jay) AlCapone AR-15 BarackObama GeorgeWBush GunRegulations JohnDillinger NationalFirearmsAct NationalRifleAssociation RonaldReagan Tommygun _2169925 Fri, 19 May 2023 13:00:22 +0000 Ukraine Update: Bakhmut falls, Russia gains nothing but future misery https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/20/2170516/-Ukraine-Update-Bakhmut-falls-Russia-gains-nothing-but-future-misery?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= <div> <a name="update-1684692309000"></a> </div> <div class="live-update-wrapper" data-epoch-time="1684692309000"> <a class="live-update-link" href="#update-1684692309000"> UPDATE: Sunday, May 21, 2023 · 6:05:09 PM +00:00 · kos </a> <div class="live-update-content"> <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-twitter-content="&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;⚡️Land Forces chief says Ukrainian troops may soon encircle Bakhmut.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Ukrainian troops keep advancing on the flanks and are approaching a &amp;quot;tactical encirclement&amp;quot; of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast, Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine&amp;#39;s Land Forces, reported on May 21.&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1660322531998302213?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 21, 2023&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; "><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">⚡️Land Forces chief says Ukrainian troops may soon encircle Bakhmut. Ukrainian troops keep advancing on the flanks and are approaching a "tactical encirclement" of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast, Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine's Land Forces, reported on May 21.— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) <a href="https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1660322531998302213?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 21, 2023</a></blockquote> </div> Imagine being Prigozhin, and losing tens of thousands of men to get themselves surrounded.  </div> </div> <div> <a name="update-1684690712000"></a> </div> <div class="live-update-wrapper" data-epoch-time="1684690712000"> <a class="live-update-link" href="#update-1684690712000"> UPDATE: Sunday, May 21, 2023 · 5:38:32 PM +00:00 · kos </a> <div class="live-update-content">Really looks like they want to go south, doesn’t it? Donetsk area getting hit hard as well. <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-twitter-content="&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Ukrainian strikes on Russian forces of various depths between May 15th and May 20th. &lt;a href="https://t.co/9JLLxUzOhW"&gt;pic.twitter.com/9JLLxUzOhW&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; Andrew Perpetua (@AndrewPerpetua) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewPerpetua/status/1660338413747175425?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 21, 2023&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; "><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Ukrainian strikes on Russian forces of various depths between May 15th and May 20th. <a href="https://t.co/9JLLxUzOhW">pic.twitter.com/9JLLxUzOhW</a>— Andrew Perpetua (@AndrewPerpetua) <a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewPerpetua/status/1660338413747175425?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 21, 2023</a></blockquote> </div> </div> </div> <div><a name="update-1684690273000"></a></div> <div class="live-update-wrapper" data-epoch-time="1684690273000"><a class="live-update-link" href="#update-1684690273000">UPDATE: Sunday, May 21, 2023 · 5:31:13 PM +00:00 · kos </a> <div class="live-update-content"> Legit Dark Brandon moment:  <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-twitter-content="&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;JOURNALIST: Russia says giving Ukraine F-16s is a “colossal risk”&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;BIDEN: It is, for them &lt;a href="https://t.co/VB0QRKsHO0"&gt;https://t.co/VB0QRKsHO0&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; Business Ukraine mag (@Biz_Ukraine_Mag) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/Biz_Ukraine_Mag/status/1660318713420152834?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 21, 2023&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; "><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">JOURNALIST: Russia says giving Ukraine F-16s is a “colossal risk” BIDEN: It is, for them <a href="https://t.co/VB0QRKsHO0">https://t.co/VB0QRKsHO0</a>— Business Ukraine mag (@Biz_Ukraine_Mag) <a href="https://twitter.com/Biz_Ukraine_Mag/status/1660318713420152834?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 21, 2023</a></blockquote> </div> Russia has truly lost all respect. Not even the civilians targeted by their rockets and missiles fear them anymore. It’s is universal disgust and defiance.  </div> </div> Ukraine might still have some lingering presence in Bakhmut, but for all practical purposes, Bakhmut has fallen. But don’t worry. As a result, Russia is now in a worse position than before.  rss@dailykos.com (kos) Bakhmut Donetsk Russia Starobilsk Svatove Ukraine War _2170516 Sun, 21 May 2023 04:44:38 +0000 DeSantis campaign in turmoil after Disney refuses to repair candidate https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/19/2170086/-DeSantis-campaign-in-turmoil-after-Disney-refuses-to-repair-candidate?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' planned presidential campaign was upended on Thursday when the Walt Disney Company told top campaign staff that Disney engineers would no longer repair or maintain the candidate's animatronic systems. The move comes after Disney announced <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/18/2170060/-Ron-DeSantis-clown-car-drives-Disney-jobs-out-of-Florida">the cancellation of a $1 billion planned Orlando development</a> in the midst of a legal feud between the company and the Florida governor's office. The feud began after Florida lawmakers retaliated against Disney, one of the state's top employers, for statements opposing the Republican-backed "Don't Say Gay" legislation DeSantis signed earlier this year. Disney’s “Imagineering” department, which is responsible for developing and maintaining the special effects and complex moving “animatronics” used in the company’s theme parks, was going to be housed at the planned Florida development known as Lake Nona Town Center. A company source involved with the decision cited the feud with DeSantis, noting that the cancellation of Imagineering's planned relocation of 1,000 employees from California to Florida would make it difficult for current Orlando-based engineers to provide engineering and repair assistance to the DeSantis campaign. "It's hard enough to stay on top of every animatronic figure in every ride in our Orlando parks," said the source. "The company decided it couldn't afford to keep sending imagineers to repair DeSantis every time his campaign hauls him to Iowa or other key campaign states." rss@dailykos.com (Hunter) Disney Florida Republicans RonDeSantis Satire _2170086 Fri, 19 May 2023 15:50:10 +0000 Trump and Republicans are terrified of their signature issue: Abortion bans https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/20/2170063/-Trump-and-Republicans-are-terrified-of-their-signature-issue-Abortion-bans?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= North Carolina Republicans cemented their legislative supermajority in April when Rep. Tricia Cotham, who ran as a Democrat on a pro-choice platform, unexpectedly switched parties, giving Republicans veto-proof majorities in both chambers. By mid-May, Tar Heel Republicans had unveiled their 12-week abortion ban, passed it, and jammed Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's veto of it, despite the fact that<a href="https://twitter.com/NC_Governor/status/1654285899360870402" title=""> four Republicans who voted yea</a> (including Cotham) had pledged during their campaigns to protect abortion access. Let North Carolina serve as a cautionary tale for the nation: As soon as Republicans have the power to enact an abortion ban, they will, regardless of what they tell voters. (Just as several Supreme Court nominees leapt at the chance to strike down Roe v. Wade despite previously testifying that it was settled law.) After pulling a bait-and-switch, Tar Heel Republicans are<a href="https://www.wral.com/story/just-the-beginning-nc-republicans-say-more-abortion-restrictions-possible-after-2024-elections/20866150/#:~:text=North%20Carolina's%20new%20abortion%20restrictions,are%20in%20the%202024%20elections."> already strategizing</a> about enacting tighter restrictions if they gain legislative seats or reclaim the governor's mansion next year. rss@dailykos.com (Kerry Eleveld) 12-WeekBan 15-WeekBan Abortion Anti-Abortion DonaldTrump nationalabortionban NorthCarolina Pro-Choice reproductivefreedom Republicans SusanBAnthony Zealotry _2170063 Sat, 20 May 2023 15:00:26 +0000 Gun control, then and now: Congress once dealt with gangsters' Tommy guns to save American lives https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/20/2162777/-Gun-control-then-and-now-Congress-once-dealt-with-gangsters-Tommy-guns-to-save-American-lives?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= <div style="text-align:start"> This two-part series will explore the history of gun control policy. The first looks at how the government effectively dealt with machine guns in the 1930s to save Americans’ lives. Once upon a time in America, public outrage over gangsters like John Dillinger blazing away with Tommy guns spurred Congress to approve the <a href="https://www.atf.gov/rules-and-regulations/national-firearms-act" target="_blank">1934 National Firearms Act,</a> the first serious federal gun control legislation ever passed to protect American lives. The act was even passed with the grudging support of the National Rifle Association. The legislation imposed criminal, regulatory, and tax requirements on the weapons favored by gangsters: machine guns, sawed-off shotguns, and silencers. The Thompson submachine gun, better known as the Tommy gun, was originally designed as a weapon of war like the AR-15. Both the Tommy gun and the AR-15 are capable of firing hundreds of rounds per minute, but the AR-15 is far more lethal, even though it's semi-automatic. That's because the Tommy gun fired .45 caliber pistol rounds, while the AR-15 uses high-velocity, body-shredding .223 caliber ammunition. It’s been almost 90 years since Congress passed the National Firearms Act, which succeeded in removing machine guns from the hands of gangsters. But despite public outrage over the rising number of mass killings, Congress seems incapable of taking any effective action to stem the carnage caused by assault weapons like the AR-15. That’s because Republican lawmakers remain subservient to the NRA, which now has become little more than an influential lobbying group for gun manufacturers. RELATED STORY: <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/21/2165015/-America-is-discovering-the-true-meaning-of-an-armed-society-is-a-polite-society">America discovers the true meaning of 'an armed society is a polite society'</a> </div> rss@dailykos.com (Charles Jay) AlCapone AR-15 BonnieandClyde FranklinDelanoRoosevelt gangsters GunRegulations JohnDillinger NationalFirearmsAct NationalRifleAssociation StValentineDaysMassacre Tommygun _2162777 Sat, 20 May 2023 16:30:14 +0000 Surprise! Most medical students surveyed say they won't practice in states with abortion bans https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/19/2170299/-Surprise-Most-medical-students-surveyed-say-they-won-t-practice-in-states-with-abortion-bans?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= In survey results that should surprise no one: most third- and fourth-year medical students planning to practice in obstetrics and gynecology as well as prospective surgeons and specialists in internal medicine say they do not plan to practice in states that have banned or restricted abortion. As reported by Erika Edwards for <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/states-abortion-bans-young-doctors-survey-rcna84899" target="_blank" title="">NBC News</a>, the survey of 494 medical students in 32 states was conducted by third-year medical student Ariana Traub, currently attending Emory University’s School of Medicine. The survey revealed 57.9% of respondents “were unlikely or very unlikely to apply to a single residency program in a state with abortion restrictions,” while over 76% said that access to abortion care would influence their decision on where they would pursue their residencies. rss@dailykos.com (Dartagnan) Abortion Doctors NBC OBGYN Pro-Choice Recommended RepublicanParty SupremeCourt _2170299 Fri, 19 May 2023 23:59:25 +0000 Cartoon: Hello it's me https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/22/2170545/-Cartoon-Hello-it-s-me?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= Join the Friends of Tom Tomorrow, Sparky, Blinky, and TMW (FOTOTOSPABLITOMOW) who help keep this work possible by subscribing to my weekly newsletter, <a href="https://thismodernworld.com/subscriptions" target="_blank">Sparky’s List!</a> You get the cartoon a day early, plus a rambling newsletter, but on the plus side, it’s pretty cheap! You can get it in your inbox or read it on Patreon, the content is the same either way. rss@dailykos.com (Tom Tomorrow) Anxiety _2170545 Mon, 22 May 2023 12:00:18 +0000 Cheers and Jeers: Monday https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/22/2170263/-Cheers-and-Jeers-Monday?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= Cheers to the "Mayor of Castro Street" Today marks the 93rd birthday of the late San Francisco District Supervisor and gay rights (aka civil rights) pioneer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Milk" target="_blank" title="">Harvey Milk</a>. Not coincidentally, today is also the fourteenth annual <a href="https://milkfoundation.org/harvey-in-schools/text-of-californias-annual-harvey-milk-day-legislation" target="_blank">Harvey Milk Day</a>. <blockquote> “It takes no compromising to give people their rights. It takes no money to respect the individual. It takes no survey to remove repressions.”   <div class="align-center"> <figure class="image-captioned"><img alt="Harvey Milk Day (May 22) graphic" src="https://images.dailykos.com/images/544432/large/Harvey_Milk_Day.png?1526913741" title="Harvey Milk Day (May 22) graphic"> <figcaption></figcaption> </figure> </div> “All young people, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, deserve a safe and supportive environment in which to achieve their full potential.” </blockquote> He was a talented politician—smart, witty, eloquent, tireless, eager to learn from his early mistakes, but not without his flaws and personal demons. He understood well the power of grassroots campaigning and consensus-building. Continued... rss@dailykos.com (Bill in Portland Maine) CheersandJeers _2170263 Mon, 22 May 2023 11:50:43 +0000 NYC skyscrapers turning to carbon capture to lessen climate change https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/21/2169434/-NYC-skyscrapers-turning-to-carbon-capture-to-lessen-climate-change?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= From the outside, the residential high-rise on Manhattan's Upper West Side looks pretty much like any other luxury building: A doorman greets visitors in a spacious lobby adorned with tapestry and marble. Yet just below in the basement is an unusual set of equipment that no other building in New York City — indeed few in the world — can claim. In an effort to drastically reduce the 30-story building's emissions, the owners have installed a maze of twisting pipes and tanks that collect carbon dioxide from the massive, gas-fired boilers in the basement before it goes to the chimney and is released into the air. The goal is to stop that climate-warming gas from entering the atmosphere. And there's a dire need for reducing emissions from skyscrapers like these in such a vertical city. Buildings are by far the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions here, roughly two-thirds, according to the city buildings department. New York state’s buildings also emit more air pollution than any other state's. rss@dailykos.com (Associated Press stories chosen by Daily Kos staff) CarbonQuest ClimateChange _2169434 Sun, 21 May 2023 22:30:10 +0000 Connecticut high court nominee who supported Amy Coney Barrett withdraws https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/21/2170297/-Connecticut-high-court-nominee-who-supported-Amy-Coney-Barrett-withdraws?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= A nominee to Connecticut’s highest court withdrew her name from consideration Friday after state lawmakers raised questions about a letter she signed in 2017 supporting Amy Coney Barrett for a federal appeals court position. Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont released a statement saying Sandra Slack Glover had notified him of her decision to step aside. His announcement came four days after his nominee, a federal prosecutor with no judicial experience, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/amy-coney-barrett-letter-2dab347caf728aee38b2d6248845c463" title="">appeared at a confirmation hearing</a> before the Democratic-controlled Judiciary Committee. In an unusual move, the panel had held off from voting on her confirmation. Throughout the week, it become increasingly doubtful Glover had enough support to clear a vote of the committee, despite urgings by the Lamont administration. “Attorney Sandra Slack Glover would have been an extraordinary justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court" Lamont said in a written statement. “I stand by that, and I stand by her as a lawyer of experience, character, and compassion, while respecting her decision today to withdraw from consideration.” Email and phone messages were left seeking comment with Glover. Lamont said he will consider other candidates who share his “values” and who are “dedicated to the principles of justice equality and fairness under the law” in the coming months. In January, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, also had to find a replacement for her nominee to lead the state's highest court after <a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-new-york-city-united-states-senate-kathy-hochul-721f32511c937f2dcfd41ce86c396243">he was rejected</a> by a state Senate panel. The vote came after weeks of criticism from progressive activists and union officials about the judge’s record. Glover tried to assure Connecticut lawmakers that she would not have signed the 2017 letter if she knew Barrett would later vote to overturn Roe v. Wade abortion protections as a member of the U.S. Supreme Court. Glover had said she wasn’t “going to demonize” Barrett, “but when I look at that letter now ... I’m no longer comfortable with some of those statements. “But I also believed, clearly naively at this point, I thought there were guardrails,” she said, referring to judges’ respect for legal precedents. “And I thought the lower court judges were constrained. I thought the Supreme Court was constrained. And I was wrong. And looking back and knowing what I now know, I shouldn’t have signed it.” Glover said she was a firm supporter of abortion rights, from the perspectives of both a woman and a lawyer. Besides her position on Roe vs. Wade, lawmakers questioned her lack of experience as a judge. “Attorney Sandra Slack Glover faced a thorough vetting from the Judiciary Committee and many members felt there were unanswered questions that put her confirmation in jeopardy,” said Rep. Steve Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport, the committee co-chairman. “While Attorney Glover is an experienced prosecutor and talented attorney, I respect her decision to withdraw her name from consideration to become a justice of our highest court.” rss@dailykos.com (Associated Press stories chosen by Daily Kos staff) Abortion AmyConeyBarrett Connecticut NedLamont RoevWade SandraSlackGlover SCOTUS _2170297 Sun, 21 May 2023 21:00:13 +0000 The Downballot: Another kick-ass election night for Democrats (transcript) https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/18/2170018/-The-Downballot-Another-kick-ass-election-night-for-Democrats-transcript?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= Hell yeah! Democrats and progressives simply crushed it from coast to coast on Tuesday night, so co-hosts David Nir and David Beard are devoting <a href="https://player.captivate.fm/episode/4a0a6bd3-b16f-476c-9845-a19851ddff30" target="_blank" title="">this week's entire episode of "The Downballot"</a> to reveling in all the highlights. At the very top of the list is Jacksonville, where Democrats won the mayor's race for just the second time in three decades—and gave the Florida Democratic Party a much-needed shot in the arm. Republicans also lost the mayor's office in the longtime conservative bastion of Colorado Springs for the first time since the city began holding direct elections for the job 45 years ago. <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block"> <div class="remove-embed-content">x</div> <a class="iframe_placeholder dk-x-embed" href="#" data-src="https://player.captivate.fm/episode/4a0a6bd3-b16f-476c-9845-a19851ddff30" data-height="185" data-frameborder="no">Embedded Content</a></div> But it doesn't stop there. Democrats held a critical seat in a special election for the Pennsylvania state House to preserve their one-seat majority in the chamber. The party's left flank also had a strong showing in Pittsburgh's Allegheny County, nominating an outspoken progressive for county executive and defeating an anti-reform incumbent for district attorney. New Hampshire Democrats, meanwhile, romped in a special election for their own state House, a positive sign for their chances of taking it back in 2024—if not sooner. rss@dailykos.com (The Downballot) Elections GoodNews Podcast TheDownballot weekly _2170018 Thu, 18 May 2023 16:12:27 +0000 Group accused of making up story about homeless vets being evicted to make room for migrants https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/21/2170307/-Group-accused-of-making-up-story-about-homeless-vets-being-evicted-to-make-room-for-migrants?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= The founder of a nonprofit group has been accused of fabricating a story about homeless military veterans being evicted from a New York hotel to make room for migrants, a tale that stoked days of outrage on cable news networks. One Republican lawmaker in New York who helped spread the story is now calling for an investigation, saying he and others were duped. The uproar began after New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, bused a small group of asylum seekers to a suburban hotel as the city's homeless shelter system struggled to accommodate an influx of migrants from the U.S. border with Mexico. The group's transfer prompted a political backlash from Republican county officials, who accused the mayor of trying to offload his problems on unprepared communities. Then, the founder of a small charity in the area added an explosive claim: To make way for the migrants, a hotel in Newburgh, New York, evicted nearly two dozen homeless veterans. That story, told by Yerik Israel Toney Foundation chief executive Sharon Toney-Finch, was picked up May 12 by The New York Post and quickly followed by Fox News, Newsmax and other conservative news outlets. The Post on Friday published <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/05/18/advocate-lied-about-vets-getting-kicked-out-of-ny-hotels-for-migrants-pol/" title="">a follow-up story</a> reporting on the latest development. “Our veterans have been placed in another hotel due to what’s going on with the immigrants,’’ Toney-Finch told the Post, saying her group had made arrangements to find alternative lodging. “We didn’t waste any time." State Assemblyman Brian Maher, a Republican, introduced legislation that would prohibit the displacement of homeless veterans. In an appearance on Fox News, he called the purported evictions an “absolute embarrassment on all fronts.” Cracks in the story emerged after an investigation by a local newspaper, the Mid Hudson News. The managers of the hotel <a href="https://midhudsonnews.com/2023/05/18/questions-remain-as-to-if-vets-were-displaced-from-hotel-by-asylum-seekers-2/">told the paper</a> the story wasn't true. A receipt purporting to show that the Crossroads Hotel had been paid $37,800 to house the veterans appeared to have been sloppily doctored. <a href="https://midhudsonnews.com/2023/05/19/homeless-men-recruited-for-veteran-hotel-scam/">In a follow-up report Friday</a>, the Mid-Hudson News reported that several men staying at a homeless shelter in Poughkeepsie, New York, had come forward to say they were recruited to pretend they were among the veterans kicked out of the hotel. The paper quoted some of the men as saying they were offered $200, food and alcohol to take part in the ruse. They said they met with Toney-Finch, then participated in a meeting at a veterans center in Orange County with local chamber of commerce officials. Toney-Finch denied giving any money to the men. In a brief interview with The Associated Press, she declined to say directly that her story was not true, but she suggested that a misunderstanding might have led to confusion. “We should have verified better,” she said. She abruptly ended the phone call when pressed for details. Maher said in a written statement that he had a conversation with Toney-Finch on Thursday where he learned that the story about homeless veterans being displaced was false. “The YIT Foundation purports to protect and support veterans, but the dishonest claims and fabrication of the facts by YIT does enormous harm to our homeless veterans by creating mistrust," Maher said, referring to the foundation by its shortened name. “I am calling for an immediate investigation by the New York State Attorney General’s office and the Orange County District Attorney into the YIT Foundation based on the new information that came to light today.” “While I believed Sharon was telling the truth, I do want to apologize for those that have been negatively impacted since this news broke," he added. New York City's mayor also called for an investigation into what he called a “fraudulent claim.” “Instead of stepping up, we’re seeing hateful language and outright lies,” Adams said in a Twitter post. On its website, the Yerik Israel Toney Foundation advertises its focus as helping raise awareness of premature births and assisting families with transportation and lodging while their infants are in neonatal intensive care units. It also says it helps “homeless and low-income military service veterans in need of living assistance.” New York says more than 65,000 migrants have arrived in the city over the past year, with the first of them bused by Republican governors in border states to draw attention to their displeasure over federal border policies. rss@dailykos.com (Associated Press stories chosen by Daily Kos staff) FakeNews YerikIsraelToneyFoundation _2170307 Sun, 21 May 2023 19:30:10 +0000 Minnesota governor signs gun safety measures: red flag law, expanded background checks https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/21/2170303/-Minnesota-governor-signs-gun-safety-measures-red-flag-law-expanded-background-checks?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz signed two <a href="https://apnews.com/article/gun-control-safety-minnesota-legislature-senate-house-5982edf49e4f20071b08d81b1c8b6208">gun safety measures</a> into law Friday afternoon, aligning his battleground state with others nationally that have taken steps to keep guns out of the hands of people in crisis and criminals. Gabby Giffords — a former Democratic congresswoman who became a gun safety campaigner after she was shot in the head in 2011 in Tucson, Arizona — gave a short speech to the cheering crowd at the ceremony. Because of the severe brain injury she suffered, she had to re-learn how to walk and talk. “Stopping gun violence takes courage,” Giffords said. “Now is the time to come together. Be responsible. Democrat, Republican, independent — we must never stop fight!" Moments later, Walz signed a broad <a href="https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-legislature-gun-control-safety-mass-shootings-red-flag-laws-49626cd868bab73c078d42ad40c8b193">public safety bill</a> that included the two gun measures: a “red flag law” and expanded background checks for gun transfers. The red flag law allows authorities to ask courts for “extreme risk protection orders” to temporarily take guns away from people deemed to be an imminent threat to others or themselves. The governor looked at the children, adults and cameras that filled the ornate room in the State Capitol and said: “There’s a reason the room is so full — because the vast majority of Minnesotans have been waiting too damn long for this day!" People wearing t-shirts that said “Gun Owners for Safety” and “Moms Demand Action” clapped and cheered. Walz continued, saying the measures “are two very simple, common sense issues” that have not been properly debated by the state’s lawmakers for decades. The former Minnesota Senate GOP majority <a href="https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-legislature-taxes-guns-abortion-5dce5279bc06f1be00cb4041dc8dca37">prevented much discussion</a> of similar proposals in their body over the last several years. But Democrats gained a one-seat Senate majority in the November elections to win the trifecta — control of both chambers and the governor’s office — for the first time in eight years. The gun safety measures by themselves would have been a tough vote for several rural Democrats in the Senate. But putting the measures in the final broader public safety bill may have given them enough political cover to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/gun-control-safety-minnesota-legislature-senate-house-5982edf49e4f20071b08d81b1c8b6208">vote yes last week.</a> Supporters said the policies are the beginning — not the end — of an effort to protect people across the state and prevent mass shootings at schools, grocery stores, movie theaters and everywhere else. Opponents say the measures infringe on the Second Amendment right to bear arms, and that the policies will be ineffective at lowering crime or suicide rates. Rob Doar, a lobbyist with the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, said in an interview that the policies are more likely to criminalize “common conduct among peaceful gun owners” — like loaning firearms between friends or hunting partners — than they are to curb the illicit gun market. “Really, it comes down to how these are applied,” Doar said. “If we see a clear violation of somebody’s due process rights, then we’ll certainly take legal action.” At least <a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-us-democratic-party-republican-minnesota-gun-5370d479bcf48ad584117adab2f75cbc">19 states</a> have red flag laws, but each new mass shooting seems to widen the political divide on who should be allowed to have guns and what types should be permitted. Disputes over gun laws on the books <a href="https://apnews.com/article/oregon-portland-gun-politics-24e2f1a143a23ea099444c0088f0057d" title="">often wind up in court</a> because of constitutional issues. While red flag laws are touted as a powerful tool to stop gun violence before it happens, an Associated Press analysis in September found that <a href="https://apnews.com/article/buffalo-supermarket-shooting-highland-park-july-4-gun-violence-chicago-politics-5165bbcde8771ebf09e7641674d0de9a">they are barely used</a> in the states where they exist. rss@dailykos.com (Associated Press stories chosen by Daily Kos staff) GabbyGiffords Guns Minnesota momsdemand TimWalz _2170303 Sun, 21 May 2023 17:30:12 +0000 Tensions in heavily GOP Tenn. county after conservative takeover reflect wider battle over elections https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/21/2170555/-Tensions-in-heavily-GOP-Tenn-county-after-conservative-takeover-reflect-wider-battle-over-elections?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= Shortly after being sworn in last fall, the new majority of the Sumner County Commission in Tennessee acted to update one of its official documents. The new version said county operations would not only be orderly and efficient, but “most importantly reflective of the Judeo-Christian values inherent in the nation’s founding.” It was an important moment for the 14 commissioners who had campaigned under the banner of the Sumner County Constitutional Republicans. The group had waged a political war on fellow Republicans they viewed as insufficiently conservative in this fast-growing region north of Nashville during a bitter primary a few months before. Since taking control, that majority has halted plans for a new building, rejected federal grants and tried to give away a historical property, actions it said were in line with its commitment to fiscal responsibility, protecting property owners and managing growth. The group also has been involved in an escalating feud with the county’s election commission in ways that have prompted concerns about whether preparations for the 2024 presidential election will be affected. rss@dailykos.com (Associated Press stories chosen by Daily Kos staff) Elections SumnerCounty Tennessee _2170555 Sun, 21 May 2023 14:59:09 +0000 Incredible shrinking lakes: Humans, climate change, diversion costs trillions of gallons annually https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/21/2170559/-Incredible-shrinking-lakes-Humans-climate-change-diversion-costs-trillions-of-gallons-annually?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=  <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment">Climate change</a> 's hotter <a href="https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-global-threshold-el-nino-22b6f305ee6117f16c6a0ed22e9effb3">temperatures</a> and society's diversion of water have been shrinking the world's lakes by trillions of gallons of water a year since the early 1990s, a new study finds. A close examination of nearly 2,000 of the world's largest lakes found they are losing about 5.7 trillion gallons (21.5 trillion liters) a year. That means from 1992 to 2020, the world lost the equivalent of 17 Lake Meads, America's largest reservoir, in Nevada. It's also roughly equal to how much water the United States used in an entire year in 2015. Even lakes in areas getting more rainfall are shriveling. That's because of both a thirstier atmosphere from <a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-arizona-nevada-california-climate-and-environment-79b44a7dec35c3529540c11b5965c8ac">warmer air sucking up more water in evaporation</a>, and a thirsty society that is diverting water from lakes to agriculture, power plants and drinking supplies, according to a study in Thursday's <a href="https://www.science.org/">journal Science</a>. Authors also cited a third reason they called more natural, with water shrinking because of rainfall pattern and river runoff changes, but even that may have a climate change component. That's the main cause for Iran's Lake Urmia to lose about 277 billion gallons (1.05 trillion liters) a year, the study said. The declining lakes don't mean places are suddenly going to go without drinking water, but it may lead to more competition for lake water, which is also used in hydroelectric power and recreation such as boating, the study authors said. “More than half of the decline is primarily attributable to human consumption or indirect human signals through climate warming,” said study lead author Fangfang Yao, a climate scientist at the University of Colorado. The diversion of water from lakes — a direct human cause of shrinkage — is probably larger and more noticeable because it is “very acute, very local and it has the capability of really changing the landscape,” said co-author Ben Livneh, a University of Colorado hydrologist. But the indirect human shrinking, from warmer air due to climate change, “is this global blanketing effect that kind of affects everything or more places,” Livneh said. California's <a href="https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2013/12/06/mining-mono-lakes-rich-store-of-climate-history/">Mono Lake</a> is a good example of this type of shrinking, Yao said. Even areas that are getting wetter because of climate change are losing lake water because hotter air is sucking more moisture out of the lakes. And that means more water in the air, which can fall as rain or snow but “may end up falling as rain far away, outside the basin where it evaporated or even over the ocean," Livneh said in an email. Yao, Livneh and colleagues used almost 30 years of satellite observation, climate data and computer simulation to figure out what's happening to lakes and found more than half of them have shrunk so much that it is statistically significant and not random. In the United States, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/lake-mead-drought-photo-gallery-abab298019a44aef0181ad79aad12ab9">Lake Mead</a> lost two-thirds of its water between 1992 and 2020, while the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/climate-lakes-droughts-utah-salt-lake-city-80ae45684b3342799132a4b1357e29d1">Great Salt Lake</a> also shrank noticeably, Yao said. The Great Lakes dropped considerably from 1992 to 2013 then plateaued and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/oh-state-wire-lakes-c1beb3c779fd4d723a771abad81a6819">then increased.</a> Another problem is that lakes are filling with sediment or dirt from upstream rivers. Scientists have long known about the problems of climate change, diversion and sedimentation, “however the complete quantification of water storage variations for large lakes that Yao and colleagues provide is new” and it creates "a much more complete picture'' than past research has, said University of North Carolina hydrology professor Tamlin Pavelsky, who wasn't part of the study. “I’m generally most worried about lakes that are ecologically important and in populated areas without a lot of other good sources of water,” Pavelsky said in an email. “Lake Urmia in Iran, the Dead Sea, the Salton Sea ... these are all worrisome.” It's likely to get worse as society looks for more water and more reservoirs with a growing population and a warmer Earth, said UCLA climate hydrologist Park Williams, who wasn't part of the study. rss@dailykos.com (Associated Press stories chosen by Daily Kos staff) ClimateChange LakeMead Lakes Water _2170559 Sun, 21 May 2023 16:02:28 +0000 Biden: GOP must move off 'extreme' positions, no debt limit deal solely on its 'partisan terms' https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/21/2170558/-Biden-GOP-must-move-off-extreme-positions-no-debt-limit-deal-solely-on-its-partisan-terms?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= President Joe Biden said Sunday that Republicans in the U.S. House must move off their <a href="https://apnews.com/article/speaker-mccarthy-debt-biden-republicans-d4995f10a26d6c8bfa89a2bbfd1de93c">"extreme positions"</a> on the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/debt-limit-mccarthy-biden-default-negotiations-1b97de28d26b85da268cfd1c1e4a986a" title="">now-stalled talks</a> over raising <a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-debt-limit-coin-constitution-mccarthy-77be7f00b81cebec44fbaf807b9642ff" title="">America's debt limit</a> and that there would be no agreement to avert a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/debt-limit-default-government-shutdown-explainer-b38474f210e519aeb3f48107ca2657ba" title="">catastrophic default</a> only on their terms. In an effort to get negotiations back on track, Biden was set to call U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., from Air Force One on the way back to Washington after a Group of Seven summit in Japan, where world leaders expressed concern about the dire global ramifications if the United States were to be unable to meet its financial obligations. “Let’s find a place where we can find common ground,” McCarthy said a few hours later from the U.S. Capitol, adding he expected to hear from the president by late morning Eastern time. Biden made clear at his closing news conference before leaving Hiroshima that “it's time for Republicans to accept that there is no deal to be made solely, solely, on their partisan terms.” He said he had done his part in attempting to raise the borrowing limit so the U.S. government can keep paying its bills, by agreeing to significant cuts in spending. “Now it’s time for the other side to move from their extreme position." Biden had been scheduled to travel from Hiroshima to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-pacific-debt-limit-papua-new-guinea-434b263a1bcc4320a18c08ba6bf5828c">Papua New Guinea</a> and Australia, but <a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-papua-new-guinea-australia-debt-limit-b2b82fbb82d829f0b8bae87bef741d63">cut short his trip</a> in light of the strained negotiations with Capitol Hill. Biden's Treasury Department has said it could run out of cash as soon as June 1, and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday, “I think that that’s a hard deadline.” Even with a new wave of tax revenue expected soon, perhaps giving Washington more time to negotiate, she said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that "the odds of reaching June 15, while being able to pay all of our bills, is quite low.” With that time pressure in mind, Biden said it was his guess that McCarthy would "want to deal directly with me in making sure we’re all on the same page." A compromise remained within reach, the president said, despite their differences. “I’m hoping that Speaker McCarthy is just waiting to negotiate with me when I get home," he said. “I’m waiting to find out.” GOP lawmakers are holding tight to demands for sharp spending cuts, rejecting the alternatives proposed by the White House for reducing deficits. “Nothing’s agreed to at all. But all the discussions we had before, I felt that we were at a place where we could agree together that we would have compromise,” McCarthy said on Fox News Channel's “Sunday Morning Futures.” “Now the president, even though he was overseas, thought to change places.” The speaker later told reporter: “We’ve got 11 days ago to go. We got a pass it in the House, in the Senate. Let’s just be responsible." <a href="https://apnews.com/article/debt-limit-mccarthy-biden-default-negotiations-1b97de28d26b85da268cfd1c1e4a986a">Republicans want work requirements on the Medicaid</a> health care program, though the Biden administration has countered that millions of people could lose coverage. The GOP additionally introduced new cuts to food aid by restricting states’ ability to waive work requirements in places with high joblessness. That idea, when floated under President Donald Trump, was estimated to cause 700,000 people to lose their food benefits. GOP lawmakers are also seeking cuts in IRS money and asking the White House to accept parts of their proposed immigration overhaul. The White House has countered by keeping defense and nondefense spending flat next year, which would save $90 billion in the 2024 budget year and $1 trillion over 10 years. “I think that we can reach an agreement,” Biden said, though he added this about Republicans: "I can’t guarantee that they wouldn’t force a default by doing something outrageous.” Republicans had also rejected White House proposals to raise revenues in order to further lower deficits. Among the proposals the GOP objects to are policies that would enable Medicare to pay less for prescription drugs and the closing of a dozen tax loopholes. Republicans have refused to roll back the Trump-era tax breaks on corporations and wealthy households as Biden’s own budget has proposed. Biden, nonetheless, insisted that “revenue is not off the table.” For months, Biden had refused to engage in talks over the debt limit, contending that Republicans in Congress were trying to use the borrowing limit vote as leverage to extract administration concessions on other policy priorities. But with the June 1 X-date and Republicans putting their own legislation on the table, the White House launched talks on a budget deal that could accompany an increase in the debt limit. Biden's decision to set up a call with McCarthy came after another start-stop day with no outward signs of progress. Food was brought to the negotiating room at the Capitol on Saturday morning, only to be carted away hours later. Talks, though, could resume later Sunday after the Biden-McCarthy conversation. The president tried to assure leaders attending the meeting of the world’s most powerful democracies that the United States would not default. U.S. officials said leaders were concerned, but largely confident that Biden and American lawmakers would resolve the crisis. The president, though, said he was ruling out the possibility of taking action on his own to avoid a default. Any such steps, including <a href="https://apnews.com/article/14th-amendment-biden-debt-ceiling-explained-92ebc0db703d49eab2c91d4d4a354cdf">suggestions to invoke the 14th Amendment</a> as a solution, would become tied up in the courts. “That’s a question that I think is unresolved," Biden said, adding he hopes to try to get the judiciary to weigh in on the notion for the future. rss@dailykos.com (Associated Press stories chosen by Daily Kos staff) DebtCeiling JoeBiden KevinMcCarthy _2170558 Sun, 21 May 2023 15:12:39 +0000 Black Music Sunday: Celebrating Gladys Knight's 7-decade career with 7 days of her music https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/21/2169408/-Black-Music-Sunday-Celebrating-Gladys-Knight-s-7-decade-career-with-7-days-of-her-music?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= Seven seems to be a very lucky number for Gladys Knight—who has had an amazing career in music, with a <a href="https://www.discogs.com/artist/135244-Gladys-Knight?sort=year%2Casc&limit=250&page=1" target="_blank">discography</a> to match her list of awards and honors. That list includes seven Grammys, induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame, the Kennedy Center Honors, and a National Medal of Arts.  Knight, dubbed “The Empress of Soul,” has been singing her heart out and capturing the love of audiences around the globe for over seven decades, since the age of seven. Born on May 28, 1944, in Atlanta, Georgia, the Empress celebrates her 79th birthday next Sunday. Given the amazing amount of music she has recorded—with <a href="https://www.discogs.com/artist/30135-Gladys-Knight-And-The-Pips" target="_blank">The Pips,</a> as a soloist, and<a href="https://www.discogs.com/artist/135244-Gladys-Knight" target="_blank" title=""> with other music greats</a>—it’s just not possible to properly celebrate her on just one day. Seven days seems about right, so while Knight finishes up her 78th year, I’m going to be playing her tunes every day this week—starting today.  Join me! <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/tags/BlackMusicSunday" target="_blank">Black Music Sunday</a> is a weekly series highlighting all things Black music. With <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/tags/BlackMusicSunday?filter=stories" target="_blank" title="">over 160 stories </a>(and counting) covering performers, genres, history, and more, each featuring its own vibrant soundtrack, I hope you’ll find some familiar tunes and perhaps an introduction to something new. rss@dailykos.com (Denise Oliver Velez) BlackMusicSunday GladysKnight gladysknight&thePips Music _2169408 Sun, 21 May 2023 13:00:13 +0000 Abbreviated Pundit Roundup: Zelenskyy in Hiroshima https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/21/2170512/-Abbreviated-Pundit-Roundup-Zelensky-in-Hiroshima?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= We begin today <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/20/politics/zelensky-g7-summit-biden-leaders/index.html" target="_blank">Kevin Liptak</a> of CNN reporting on the surprise in-person appearance of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Group of 7 (G7) meeting held in Hiroshima, Japan. <blockquote> In a striking morning photo-op, leaders in suit jackets lined up alongside the Ukrainian president, dressed in his usual military green, to show their sustained support for his country moving ahead. As they convened behind closed doors, it was almost certain Zelensky would continue his appeals for more powerful weapons and tougher sanctions on Russia. <div>“Now our power is growing,” <a href="https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1660129294239121408" target="_blank" title="">Zelensky wrote in a tweet</a> alongside a video of him greeting various leaders at the summit. [...]</div> <div></div> Against the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/04/world/gallery/hiroshima-nagasaki-atomic-bomb/index.html" target="_blank" title="">nuclear backdrop of Hiroshima</a>, which was obliterated by an American atomic bomb in 1945 during World War II, Zelensky’s warnings of potential Russian escalation will carry significant weight. In a message as he landed, the Ukrainian leader hinted that potential peace talks might be up for discussion. </blockquote> rss@dailykos.com (Chitown Kev) AbbreviatedPunditRoundUp APR _2170512 Sun, 21 May 2023 11:00:06 +0000 Ukraine Update: Zelenskyy is at the G7, Putin is nowhere https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/20/2170259/-Ukraine-Update-Zelenskyy-is-at-the-G7-Putin-is-nowhere?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= <div> <a name="update-1684608880000"></a> </div> <div class="live-update-wrapper" data-epoch-time="1684608880000"> <a class="live-update-link" href="#update-1684608880000"> UPDATE: Saturday, May 20, 2023 · 6:54:40 PM +00:00 · kos </a> <div class="live-update-content">Translated:  <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-twitter-content="&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;A somber celebration by Prigozhin of Bakhmut finally &amp;quot;falling&amp;quot;.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;He and the Russians know at what cost this and all recent advances came. Whether the ruins of the city stay with them for much longer is another question. &lt;a href="https://t.co/dJFe2r7u7z"&gt;pic.twitter.com/dJFe2r7u7z&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; Dmitri (@wartranslated) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1659977239893508096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 20, 2023&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; "><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">A somber celebration by Prigozhin of Bakhmut finally "falling". He and the Russians know at what cost this and all recent advances came. Whether the ruins of the city stay with them for much longer is another question. <a href="https://t.co/dJFe2r7u7z">pic.twitter.com/dJFe2r7u7z</a>— Dmitri (@wartranslated) <a href="https://twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1659977239893508096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2023</a></blockquote> </div> Mark and I both predicted Prigozhin would hightail it out of Bakhmut the second he could declare victory, and that’s what he says he’s doing right here. Conveniently, he takes credit for the “victory,” and Russia’s armed forces can take the blame when Ukraine inevitably liberates it.  </div> </div> <div><a name="update-1684604870000"></a></div> <div class="live-update-wrapper" data-epoch-time="1684604870000"><a class="live-update-link" href="#update-1684603970000">UPDATE: Saturday, May 20, 2023 · 5:32:50 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner</a></div> <div class="live-update-wrapper" data-epoch-time="1684603970000"> <div class="live-update-content"> <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-twitter-content="&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Outside of Pisky, Donetsk Oblast, a disastrous Russian mechanized advance suffers significant attrition when an MT-LB hits a mine, followed soon after by a Ukrainian Javelin strike on another BMP-2. &lt;a href="https://t.co/bNM5U3HgBW"&gt;pic.twitter.com/bNM5U3HgBW&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1659974753212399616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 20, 2023&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; "><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Outside of Pisky, Donetsk Oblast, a disastrous Russian mechanized advance suffers significant attrition when an MT-LB hits a mine, followed soon after by a Ukrainian Javelin strike on another BMP-2. <a href="https://t.co/bNM5U3HgBW">pic.twitter.com/bNM5U3HgBW</a>— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) <a href="https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1659974753212399616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2023</a></blockquote> </div> </div> </div> <div><a name="update-1684602432000"></a></div> <div class="live-update-wrapper" data-epoch-time="1684602432000"><a class="live-update-link" href="#update-1684602432000">UPDATE: Saturday, May 20, 2023 · 5:07:12 PM +00:00 · kos </a> <div class="live-update-content"> <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-twitter-content="&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;The news today is not that Prigozhin claims to control 100% of Bakhmut, up from 98% a week ago. The news is that a depleted Wagner will decamp in a few days, leaving the regular Russian army deal with a Ukrainian counteroffensive on the flanks and possibly inside the city.&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/yarotrof/status/1659925947007549441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 20, 2023&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; "><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">The news today is not that Prigozhin claims to control 100% of Bakhmut, up from 98% a week ago. The news is that a depleted Wagner will decamp in a few days, leaving the regular Russian army deal with a Ukrainian counteroffensive on the flanks and possibly inside the city.— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) <a href="https://twitter.com/yarotrof/status/1659925947007549441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2023</a></blockquote> </div> Indeed, Prigozhin declared victory and announced the withdrawal of his troops for redeployment to other worldwide hotspots like Sudan in Africa.  No one in Sudan or anywhere else deserves their brand of misery, but at least for Ukraine, Russia may be losing the only combat group capable of aggressively capturing territory (even if it was just 25 kms in the past year). </div> </div> <div><a name="update-1684599557000"></a></div> <div class="live-update-wrapper" data-epoch-time="1684599557000"><a class="live-update-link" href="#update-1684599557000">UPDATE: Saturday, May 20, 2023 · 4:19:17 PM +00:00 · kos </a> <div class="live-update-content"> Joe Biden <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-russia-war-f16-biden-a281e3cd1474b2e6f453946075824565" target="_blank">opens up door</a> to providing F-16s to Ukraine, though details are scant.  <blockquote> So far, however, the U.S. has provided no details and said decisions on when, how many, and who will supply the F-16s will be made in the months ahead while the training is underway. Details on the training are equally elusive. </blockquote> Meanwhile, the last Ukrainian troops may have finally left Bakhmut as Wagner Group CEO and founder Yevgeny Prigozhin declares victory. Relegated to a last few city blocks, the might of Russian artillery has been concentrated on that sector, lending its defense likely far more costly than its worth.  <div class="dk-editor-embed center-block" data-twitter-content="&lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;&lt;p lang="en" dir="ltr"&gt;Take with a grain of salt. Prigozhin says Wagner’s forces have established full control over Bakhmut after a bloody siege that all but destroyed the city. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;His declaration of triumph is a long rant about how Shoigu and Gerasimov were no help and Wagner mostly did it on their own &lt;a href="https://t.co/CVxrQY6p9R"&gt;pic.twitter.com/CVxrQY6p9R&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&amp;mdash; max seddon (@maxseddon) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/maxseddon/status/1659906652139601921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;May 20, 2023&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt; "><div class="remove-embed-content">x</div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Take with a grain of salt. Prigozhin says Wagner’s forces have established full control over Bakhmut after a bloody siege that all but destroyed the city. His declaration of triumph is a long rant about how Shoigu and Gerasimov were no help and Wagner mostly did it on their own <a href="https://t.co/CVxrQY6p9R">pic.twitter.com/CVxrQY6p9R</a>— max seddon (@maxseddon) <a href="https://twitter.com/maxseddon/status/1659906652139601921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 20, 2023</a></blockquote> </div> </div> </div> On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dropped in on the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/arab-league-saudi-syria-diplomacy-645964f3fa168bf339e3d7a46349d127" target="_blank">Arab Submit</a> in Saudi Arabia, then he travelled to Japan to visit with world leaders at the G7. Totally non-coincidentally, Zelenskyy’s latest visit comes just as the United States signed onto a plan to train Ukrainian pilots in flying the F-16 Fighting Falcon; a plan that would not exist if it wasn’t a precursor to providing Ukraine with some of the fighter jets. When Zelenskyy <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/12/21/2143090/-Ukraine-update-Zelenskyy-comes-to-Washington-to-fight-another-essential-battle-for-Ukraine" target="_blank">came to Washington D.C</a>. just before Christmas, it was the first time he had left the borders of Ukraine since Russian tanks rolled into that nation on Feb. 24, 2022. Since then, Zelenskyy has made several other trips abroad, that includes a whole string of visits earlier this month that saw him sitting down with the leaders of Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. He also stopped off to visit with the Pope in Vatican City. With the Ukrainian <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/23/2165137/-Ukraine-Update-So-many-counterattack-options-but-here-s-one-that-could-break-Russia" target="_blank">counteroffensive pending</a>, and Russia experiencing both <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/19/2170144/-Ukraine-Update-Russia-s-Bakhmut-collapse-bodes-ill-for-its-future-defenses" target="_blank">losses on the battlefield</a> and <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/18/2170032/-Ukraine-Update-Russia-appears-as-fragile-as-a-Faberge-Egg" target="_blank">chaos in its military leadership</a>, there is only one thing that can stand in the way of moving this war in a positive direction: a decline of Western support. Zelenskyy knows that he needs to keep the pipeline for equipment, ammunition, and fiscal support open. Right now, that’s his most important task. He’s not needed on the front lines. His generals can plan the tactical moves. The job at hand for the Ukrainian president is reminding other world leaders that they have an enormous stake in the outcome of events, and their actions are critical to securing a Ukrainian victory. But as Zelenskyy travels across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia to cement his nation’s relationship with the rest of the world, one part of that world is conspicuously absent. Russia, and authoritarian leader Vladimir Putin, are nowhere to be found. rss@dailykos.com (Mark Sumner) G7 Invasion Japan Russia Ukraine VolodymyrZelenskyy War _2170259 Sat, 20 May 2023 14:00:36 +0000 Big Liar Kari Lake got humiliated in court, but elections are still endangered https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/18/2170036/-Big-Liar-Kari-Lake-got-humiliated-in-court-but-elections-are-still-endangered?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= It’s hard not to picture Arizona gubernatorial dopeful Kari Lake sitting at a mall Chili’s bar four years from now with the last soldier who doesn’t know World War II is over and the most popular REO Speedwagon tribute band on MySpace as she whines and reminisces in equal measure about the good old days.  Lake remains in thrall to her delusions, including that she won her election in November and that Donald Trump is simply too stable and genius-y to have possibly lost in 2020. She is currently in court challenging her loss. And—well, gee, you never could have predicted this—<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/17/2153573/-Kari-Lake-loses-again-in-Arizona" target="_blank" title="">it’s not going well</a>. <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/16/2169661/-Kari-Lake-headed-to-trial-on-last-remaining-claim-in-suit-over-loss-in-Arizona-governor-s-race" target="_blank">At all.</a> RELATED STORY: <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/16/2169661/-Kari-Lake-headed-to-trial-on-last-remaining-claim-in-suit-over-loss-in-Arizona-governor-s-race" title="">Kari Lake headed to trial on last remaining claim in suit over loss in Arizona governor’s race</a> rss@dailykos.com (Aldous J Pennyfarthing) Arizona DonaldTrump Election2020 KariLake Midterms Recommended TheBigLie _2170036 Thu, 18 May 2023 18:45:13 +0000 Jamaal Bowman: Marjorie Taylor Greene 'put a target on my back' https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/18/2170040/-Jamaal-Bowman-Marjorie-Taylor-Green-put-a-target-on-my-back?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= Wednesday was a vintage Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene day. After <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/17/2169842/-Watch-Marjorie-Taylor-Greene-get-humiliated-by-an-actual-expert">embarrassing herself and the Republican Party during a House committee hearing</a>, Greene got into a verbal argument with Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman outside of the Capitol—in front of a lot of cameras. It amounted to being mostly political theater, and Bowman made sure to keep a consistent distance as he ribbed Greene and her party’s support of indicted New York Rep. George Santos. The one-minute interaction ended with Greene departing as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez walked past Bowman, patted him on the shoulder and said, “She’s ain’t worth it, bro. She ain’t worth it.” During a Thursday press conference, Greene brought up her interactions with Bowman—one in March in New York City, and the one on Wednesday—and leaned into one of the oldest, most dangerous racist tropes in American history: She said she felt “threatened” by Bowman because his “physical mannerisms are aggressive.” Greene proceeded to unleash 90 seconds of racist drivel. She began by saying that Bowman “has a history of aggression” against her and others. She then claimed Bowman had screamed that she was a “white supremacist” (though video of both interactions show he does not), and also claimed that being called a white supremacist is the same thing as hurling a racial epithet at a Black person. Greene then said Bowman “shoved” Rep. Thomas Massie a few weeks earlier (he didn’t—also on video), and warned that people should be “concerned” and “watch out” for Bowman. RELATED STORY: <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/17/2169842/-Watch-Marjorie-Taylor-Greene-get-humiliated-by-an-actual-expert">An expert on domestic terrorism leaves MTG in the dirt</a> rss@dailykos.com (Walter Einenkel) BLM Censorship History jaamalbowman MarjorieTaylorGreene mtg politicaltheater Politics PressConference Race Racism RepublicanHypocrisy Video WhiteSupremacy _2170040 Thu, 18 May 2023 21:00:21 +0000 Biden proposal would let conservationists lease public land much as drillers and ranchers do https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/20/2169426/-Biden-proposal-would-let-conservationists-lease-public-land-much-as-drillers-and-ranchers-do?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= The Biden administration wants to put conserving vast government-owned lands on equal footing with <a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-billings-climate-and-environment-government-politics-e2d9bb381672f26ea985c65407c728ae">oil drilling</a>, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/52a89c211a7c4ecbb1eec5d528b5347a">livestock grazing</a> and other interests, according to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/science-environment-and-nature-business-biden-cabinet-montana-9dd0423b5fce780aa77520d08b117002">a top administration official</a> who defended the idea against criticism that it would interfere with industry. The proposal would allow conservationists and others to lease federally owned land to restore it, much the same way oil companies buy leases to drill and ranchers pay to graze cattle. Companies could also buy conservation leases, such as oil drillers who want to offset damage to public land by restoring acreage elsewhere. Tracy Stone-Manning, director of the Bureau of Land Management, said in an interview with The Associated Press that the proposed changes would address rising pressure from climate change and development. While the bureau previously issued leases for conservation in limited cases, it has never had a dedicated program for it, she said. “It makes conservation an equal among the multiple uses that we manage for,” Stone-Manning said. “There are rules around how we do solar development. There are rules around how we do oil and gas. There have not been rules around how we deliver on the portions of (federal law) that say, ‘Manage for fish and wildlife habitat, manage for clean water.’” The pending rule also would promote establishing more areas of "critical environmental concern” due to their historic or cultural significance, or their importance for wildlife conservation. More than 1,000 such sites covering about 33,000 square miles (85,000 square kilometers) have been designated previously. By comparison, about 242,00 square miles of bureau land are open to grazing livestock. But more than a century after the U.S, started selling oil and gas leases, the conservation idea is stirring debate over the best use of vast government-owned property, primarily in the West. Opponents including Republican lawmakers are blasting it as <a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-billings-a3a37acf2fce55449b704b01badc1f67">a backdoor way</a> to exclude mining, energy development and agriculture from land controlled by the BLM. The bureau has a history of industry-friendly policies for the 380,000 square miles (990,000 square kilometers) it oversees, an area more than twice the size of California. It also regulates publicly owned underground minerals, including oil, coal and lithium for renewable energy across more than 1 million square miles. Those holdings put the 10,000-person agency at the center of arguments over how much development should be allowed. On Monday night, senior agency officials were scheduled to host the first virtual public meeting about the conservation proposal. Another virtual event is slated for June 5 and public meetings are planned for May 25 in Denver; May 30 in Reno, Nevada; and June 1 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican who tried to block <a href="https://apnews.com/article/government-and-politics-joe-biden-lifestyle-business-environment-and-nature-46552c29a0168be0fb6d9baa2ae11c57" title="">Stone-Manning’s 2021 Senate confirmation</a>, says the proposed rule is illegal. Earlier this month he berated Interior Secretary Deb Haaland over it during an Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing, saying she was “giving radicals a new tool to shut out the public.” “The secretary wants to make non-use a use,” said Barrasso, the ranking Republican on the committee. “She is ... turning federal law on its head.” Stone-Manning said critics are misreading the rule, and that conservation leases would not usurp existing ones. If grazing is now permitted on a parcel, it could continue. And people could still hunt on the leased property or use it for recreation, she said. Former President Donald Trump tried to ramp up fossil fuel development on bureau lands, but President Joe Biden suspended new oil and gas leasing when he entered office. Biden later revived the deals to win West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin's support for <a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-technology-science-oil-and-gas-industry-climate-environment-28df40ad9ebb33f4447815b6593673b3">last year's climate law</a>. Biden remains under intense pressure from Manchin and many Republicans to allow more drilling. Such companies currently hold leases across some 37,500 square miles of bureau land. Environmentalists have largely embraced the idea of conservation leases, characterizing the proposal as long overdue. Joel Webster with the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, a coalition of conservation groups and hunting and fishing organizations, said the administration's plan would set up a process to ensure landscapes are considered for conservation without forcing restrictions. He cautioned, however, that administration officials must ensure a final rule doesn't have unintended consequences. rss@dailykos.com (Associated Press stories chosen by Daily Kos staff) BLM BureauOfLandManagement JoeBiden resourcescommittee _2169426 Sat, 20 May 2023 22:30:06 +0000 AI presents political peril for 2024 with threat to mislead voters https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/20/2169431/-AI-presents-political-peril-for-2024-with-threat-to-mislead-voters?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= Computer engineers and tech-inclined political scientists have warned for years that cheap, powerful artificial intelligence tools would soon allow anyone to create fake images, video and audio that was realistic enough to fool voters and perhaps sway an election. The synthetic images that emerged were <a href="https://apnews.com/article/media-us-news-ap-top-news-mark-zuckerberg-ca-state-wire-8f68040962074a3ab2f9634d8fcd0a3b">often crude</a>, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/media-nancy-pelosi-ap-top-news-politics-technology-e810e38894bf4686ad9d0839b6cef93d">unconvincing</a> and costly to produce, especially when other kinds of misinformation were so inexpensive and easy to spread on social media. The threat posed by AI and so-called <a href="https://apnews.com/article/north-america-donald-trump-ap-top-news-elections-artificial-intelligence-21fa207a1254401197fd1e0d7ecd14cb">deepfakes</a> always seemed a year or two away. No more. Sophisticated generative AI tools can now create <a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-science-fires-artificial-intelligence-misinformation-26cabd20dcacbd68c8f38610fec39f5b">cloned human voices</a> and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/artificial-intelligence-images-rights-1c6d9e0e260e2d135a3e3bf98d5493df">hyper-realistic images</a>, videos and audio in seconds, at minimal cost. When strapped to powerful social media algorithms, this fake and digitally created content can spread far and fast and target highly specific audiences, potentially taking campaign dirty tricks to a new low. The implications for the 2024 campaigns and elections are as large as they are troubling: Generative AI can not only rapidly produce targeted campaign emails, texts or videos, it also could be used to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-science-business-artificial-intelligence-afb4618ff593db9e3e51ecbd91dc3eef">mislead voters</a>, impersonate candidates and undermine elections on a scale and at a speed not yet seen. “We’re not prepared for this,” warned A.J. Nash, vice president of intelligence at the cybersecurity firm ZeroFox. ”To me, the big leap forward is the audio and video capabilities that have emerged. When you can do that on a large scale, and distribute it on social platforms, well, it’s going to have a major impact.” <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ai-danger-superintelligent-chatgpt-hinton-google-6e4992e7a87d5bcae787ad45545757db">AI experts</a> can quickly rattle off a number of alarming scenarios in which generative AI is used to create synthetic media for the purposes of confusing voters, slandering a candidate or even inciting violence. Here are a few: Automated robocall messages, in a candidate's voice, instructing voters to cast ballots on the wrong date; audio recordings of a candidate supposedly confessing to a crime or expressing racist views; video footage showing someone giving a speech or <a href="https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-bill-gates-interview-661059591134">interview</a> they never gave. Fake images designed to look like local news reports, falsely claiming a candidate dropped out of the race. “What if Elon Musk personally calls you and tells you to vote for a certain candidate?” said Oren Etzioni, the founding CEO of the Allen Institute for AI, who stepped down last year to start the nonprofit AI2. “A lot of people would listen. But it’s not him.” Former President Donald Trump, who is running in 2024, has shared AI-generated content with his followers on social media. A manipulated video of CNN host Anderson Cooper that Trump shared on his Truth Social platform on Friday, which distorted Cooper's reaction to the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-cnn-town-hall-things-to-know-7be863292956dd2663537880dfbd8c3f">CNN town hall</a> this past week <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-republican-president-cnn-2024-69921c48683f26c02eb799513e8e5754">with Trump</a>, was created using an AI voice-cloning tool. A dystopian campaign ad released last month by the Republican National Committee offers another glimpse of this digitally manipulated future. The online ad, which came after <a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-election-2024-president-democrats-trump-9c72115656855da89a41cac3f79aa65b">President Joe Biden announced his reelection campaign</a>, and starts with a strange, slightly warped image of Biden and the text “What if the weakest president we’ve ever had was re-elected?” A series of AI-generated images follows: Taiwan under attack; boarded up storefronts in the United States as the economy crumbles; soldiers and armored military vehicles patrolling local streets as tattooed criminals and waves of immigrants create panic. “An AI-generated look into the country’s possible future if Joe Biden is re-elected in 2024,” reads the ad’s description from the RNC. The RNC acknowledged its use of AI, but others, including nefarious political campaigns and foreign adversaries, will not, said Petko Stoyanov, global chief technology officer at Forcepoint, a cybersecurity company based in Austin, Texas. Stoyanov predicted that groups looking to meddle with U.S. democracy will employ AI and synthetic media as a way to erode trust. “What happens if an international entity — a cybercriminal or a nation state — <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-elections-artificial-intelligence-social-platforms-us-news-7c9fd798212cac63925d205142e811ea">impersonates someone</a>. What is the impact? Do we have any recourse?” Stoyanov said. “We're going to see a lot more misinformation from international sources.” AI-generated political disinformation already has gone viral online ahead of the 2024 election, from a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-science-fires-artificial-intelligence-misinformation-26cabd20dcacbd68c8f38610fec39f5b">doctored video of Biden</a> appearing to give a speech attacking transgender people to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-satanic-kids-libraries-415653916064">AI-generated images of children</a> supposedly learning satanism in libraries. AI images <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-indictment-mug-shot-fact-check-2a57de9b109fa95f833c62e5509b9e45">appearing to show Trump’s mug shot</a> also fooled some social media users even though the former president didn’t take one when he was booked and arraigned in a Manhattan criminal court for falsifying business records. Other AI-generated images showed <a href="https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-trump-NYPD-stormy-daniels-539393517762">Trump resisting arrest</a>, though their creator was quick to acknowledge their origin. Legislation that would require candidates to label campaign advertisements created with AI has been introduced in the House by Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., who has also sponsored legislation that would require anyone creating synthetic images to add a watermark indicating the fact. Some states have offered <a href="https://apnews.com/article/deepfake-minnesota-pornography-elections-technology-5ef76fc3994b2e437c7595c09a38e848">their own proposals</a> for addressing concerns about deepfakes. Clarke said her greatest fear is that generative AI could be used before the 2024 election to create a video or audio that incites violence and turns Americans against each other. “It’s important that we keep up with the technology,” Clarke told The Associated Press. “We’ve got to set up some guardrails. People can be deceived, and it only takes a split second. People are busy with their lives and they don’t have the time to check every piece of information. AI being weaponized, in a political season, it could be extremely disruptive.” Earlier this month, a trade association for political consultants in Washington <a href="https://theaapc.org/american-association-of-political-consultants-aapc-condemns-use-of-deceptive-generative-ai-content-in-political-campaigns-2/">condemned the use of deepfakes</a> in political advertising, calling them “a deception” with “no place in legitimate, ethical campaigns.” Other forms of artificial intelligence have for years been a feature of political campaigning, using data and algorithms to automate tasks such as targeting voters on social media or tracking down donors. Campaign strategists and tech entrepreneurs hope the most recent innovations will offer some positives in 2024, too. Mike Nellis, CEO of the progressive digital agency Authentic, said he uses <a href="https://apnews.com/article/what-is-chat-gpt-ac4967a4fb41fda31c4d27f015e32660">ChatGPT</a> “every single day” and encourages his staff to use it, too, as long as any content drafted with the tool is reviewed by human eyes afterward. Nellis’ newest project, in partnership with Higher Ground Labs, is an AI tool called Quiller. It will write, send and evaluate the effectiveness of fundraising emails –- all typically tedious tasks on campaigns. “The idea is every Democratic strategist, every Democratic candidate will have a copilot in their pocket,” he said. ___ rss@dailykos.com (Associated Press stories chosen by Daily Kos staff) 2024 AI Voting _2169431 Sat, 20 May 2023 21:00:30 +0000 LGBTQ+ group suspends Bud Light maker's rating over handling of backlash to transgender influencer https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/20/2170295/-LGBTQ-group-suspends-Bud-Light-maker-s-rating-over-handling-of-backlash-to-transgender-influencer?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= The country's largest advocacy group for LGBTQ+ rights has suspended its benchmark equality and inclusion rating for Anheuser-Busch, citing the beer company's handling of the hate-filled and transphobic backlash to its <a href="https://apnews.com/article/bud-light-transgender-dylan-mulvaney-nike-2fe1425ba09a3f0e271fda0ae4b67434">partnership with transgender influencer</a> Dylan Mulvaney last month. The Human Rights Campaign informed the Bud Light maker that it suspended the company's 2022 Corporate Equality Index score — a tool that measures corporate policies, practices and benefits related to the well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer employees — on May 9, according to a letter shared with the The Associated Press on Friday. The suspension of Anheuser-Busch’s CEI score means that the company “no longer has the right to use the ‘Best Places to Work’ distinction,” HRC’s letter says. Prior to the suspension, Anheuser-Busch had a CEI score of 100, the group's top rating. “What we're seeing play out here is an example of companies making a decision to have and construct inclusive marketing, which is great — but a business should be standing by those decisions,” Eric Bloem, HRC’s senior director of programs and corporate advocacy, told The Associated Press. “The Anheuser-Busch (case) is a textbook example of what not to do.” On April 1, as part of a March promotional contest for the beer brand, Mulvaney posted a Instagram video of herself cracking open a Bud Light. A cascade of criticism and hate surrounding the video soon erupted, notably among conservative figures — with Kid Rock posting a video of himself shooting cases of Bud Light and others calling for a boycott of the brand. In the following weeks, the beer brand's sales also <a href="https://apnews.com/article/bud-light-beer-dylan-mulvaney-transgender-d489fb60d04ebd02486f80169cfc4474">fell slightly</a> and two marketing executives at Anheuser-Busch <a href="https://apnews.com/article/bud-light-transgender-influencer-partnership-marketing-executive-234ac7cf05d2124ed6ff7162e4771a43">took a leave of absence</a>. In an April 14 statement, Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth said that the company “never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer." Anheuser-Busch's actions and Whitworth's statement did not not signal clear support for Mulvaney, however, or directly address the transphobic rhetoric perpetuated during the backlash — sparking concerns among the LGBTQ+ community and activists. Meaningful solidarity is especially important in a time where dozens of anti-LGBTQ+ bills are signed into law across the country, Bloem added. In an April 26 letter, also seen by the AP, HRC called on Anheuser-Busch to issue a public statement expressing support for Mulvaney as well as transgender customers, shareholders and employees. The group also asked the company to hold a “meaningful conversation” with LGBTQ+ employees about their concerns and recommended actions for leadership and conduct a workplace transgender inclusion training for executives. HRC said it received no response from Anheuser-Busch, the advocacy group said, prompting the May 9 letter informing the company of its CEI score suspension. To date, Bloem said Friday, HRC has still not heard from the company — but the organization's goal is to work with the company and “discuss strategies to show up and reaffirm that support for the LGBTQ+ community.” Anheuser-Busch said Friday that the company remains “committed to the programs and partnerships we have forged over decades with organizations to drive economic prosperity across a number of communities, including those in the LGBTQ+ community.” The Bud Light maker, which is part of the Belgium-based brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev, did not address HCR's letters. Mulvaney took a few weeks before commenting publicly on the backlash — but posted a video to her Instagram page at the end of April thanking supporters, but did not mentioning Bud Light by name in the post. <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2023/05/18/bud-light-loses-lgbtq-score-after-dylan-mulvaney-transgender-campaign/70229893007/">USA TODAY</a> first reported the Anheuser-Busch’s CEI score suspension on Thursday. rss@dailykos.com (Associated Press stories chosen by Daily Kos staff) Anheuser-Busch BudLight DylanMulvaney HumanRightsCampaign LGBTQ _2170295 Sat, 20 May 2023 19:30:20 +0000 Texas militia member sentenced to nearly 5 years in prison for attacking police during Capitol riot https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/20/2170290/-Texas-militia-member-sentenced-to-nearly-5-years-in-prison-for-attacking-police-during-Capitol-riot?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= A Texas militia member was sentenced Friday to nearly five years in prison for attacking police officers at the U.S. Capitol, seriously injuring one of them during a mob's attack on Jan. 6, 2021. U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss sentenced Donald Hazard to four years and nine months in prison followed by three months of supervised release for his role in <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege">the riot at the Capitol</a>, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's office for the District of Columbia. The sentence matched what federal prosecutors had recommended for Hazard, who pleaded guilty to an assault charge in February. Hazard, 44, of Hurst, Texas, was a member of a militia called the Patriot Boys of North Texas. Lucas Denney, the group's self-proclaimed president, appointed Hazard as its sergeant-at-arms. Denney also encouraged Hazard to stock up on weapons and protective gear and recruit others to join them in Washington, D.C., prosecutors said. Hazard was “eager for violence” on Jan. 6, wearing a tactical vest and a helmet adorned with the image of the Confederate battle flag, <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.241964/gov.uscourts.dcd.241964.40.1.pdf">Justice Department prosecutor Benet Kearney wrote in a court filing.</a> After marching to the Capitol, Hazard clashed with officers who were trying to hold off the mob near scaffolding on the northwest side of the building. Hazard grabbed a Capitol police officer and pulled him down a set of concrete steps, knocking him unconscious. That officer was treated for a concussion and foot injuries that required multiple surgeries, according to prosecutors. Hazard also fell on another Capitol police officer whose head hit the concrete. Hazard and Denney, both wielding what appeared to be canisters of pepper spray, confronted other officers on the west side of the Capitol. Hazard briefly entered the Capitol before police pushed him and other rioters out of the building. “When he reached the exterior steps, Hazard raised his arms in a gesture of victory,” Kearney wrote. In the days after Jan. 6, Hazard bragged on Facebook about storming the Capitol and fighting with police. “The only regret Hazard expressed was that he no longer had the photographs and videos he took that day,” Kearney wrote. Defense attorney Ubong Akpan said Hazard had no plan to attack officers. “His actions were more of a reaction to what he saw that day, as opposed to a plan to attack law enforcement, a group he thought he was similarly situated with,” <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.241964/gov.uscourts.dcd.241964.46.0.pdf">Akpan wrote in a court filing.</a> Video shows that Hazard didn't forcibly assault the officers in the scaffolding, his lawyer argued. “His conduct was more consistent with impeding officers and his impeding led to bodily injuries of the officers,” Akpan wrote. Hazard was charged with Denney, who pleaded guilty to an assault charge and was sentenced last September to four years and four months in prison. More than 100 police officers were injured at the Capitol on Jan. 6, as rioters disrupted Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's 2020 electoral victory over Republican incumbent Donald Trump. <a href="https://interactives.ap.org/jan-6-prosecutions/">Over 1,000 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the riot.</a> Approximately 500 of them have been sentenced, with more than half receiving terms of imprisonment ranging from seven days to over 14 years. rss@dailykos.com (Associated Press stories chosen by Daily Kos staff) DonaldHazard Insurrection Jan6 Militia _2170290 Sat, 20 May 2023 18:00:08 +0000 Abbreviated Pundit Roundup: Banning books and impeaching Biden Cabinet members https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/20/2170280/-Abbreviated-Pundit-Roundup-Banning-books-and-impeaching-Biden-Cabinet-members?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= <a href="https://america.substack.com/p/banning-books-suppressing-thought?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email" target="_blank">Steven Beschloss</a>/”America, America” on Substack: <blockquote> Banning Books, Suppressing Thought and The Rejection of Empathy A new PEN America report finds that the right wing's systematic effort to block reading, learning and thinking is spreading Among the most frequently banned books this school year is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gender-Queer-Memoir-Maia-Kobabe/dp/1549304003?">Gender Queer: A Memoir</a> by Maia Kobabe. Banned in 15 school districts, this autobiographical story with comic illustration is a sensitively written and touching portrayal of Kobabe’s journey of gender identity—the kind of thoughtful rendering that can provide a struggling young person light in the darkness as they search to better understand themselves. Also topping the list: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Flamer-Mike-Curato/dp/1250756146/ref=sr_1_1?crid=PFEDJY3GOZWS&keywords=flamer&qid=1682289050&s=books&sprefix=flamer%2Cstripbooks%2C172&sr=1-1">Flamer</a><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Flamer-Mike-Curato/dp/1250756146/ref=sr_1_1?crid=PFEDJY3GOZWS&keywords=flamer&qid=1682289050&s=books&sprefix=flamer%2Cstripbooks%2C172&sr=1-1"> </a>by Mike Curato (banned in 15 districts), <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Tricks-Ellen-Hopkins/dp/148149824X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2Z219T4QE7FFK&keywords=tricks+hopkins&qid=1682289315&s=books&sprefix=tricks+hopkins%2Cstripbooks%2C143&sr=1-1">Tricks</a> by Ellen Hopkins (banned in 13 districts) and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Handmaids-Tale-Graphic-Novel/dp/038553924X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=JF69ZN851JXL&keywords=handmaid%27s+tale+graphic+novel&qid=1682289434&s=books&sprefix=handmaids+tale+graphic+novel%2Cstripbooks%2C129&sr=1-1">The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novel</a> by Margaret Atwood and Renee Nault (banned in 12 districts). </blockquote> rss@dailykos.com (Greg Dworkin) AbbreviatedPunditRound-up AbbreviatedPunditRoundUp APR _2170280 Sat, 20 May 2023 10:59:20 +0000 Ukraine Update: Russia's Bakhmut collapse bodes ill for its future defenses https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/19/2170144/-Ukraine-Update-Russia-s-Bakhmut-collapse-bodes-ill-for-its-future-defenses?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= <div> <a name="update-1684509872000"></a> </div> <div class="live-update-wrapper" data-epoch-time="1684509872000"> <a class="live-update-link" href="#update-1684509872000"> UPDATE: Friday, May 19, 2023 · 3:24:32 PM +00:00 · kos </a> <div class="live-update-content">The U.S. will support allied efforts to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/19/politics/biden-g7-f-16-ukraine/index.html" target="_blank">train Ukrainian pilots on the F-16</a> fighter jet. At this time, it does not seem interested in actually providing any aircraft.  I remain skeptical that the jet’s incredibly complex logistical footprint is worth operating in an environment in which neither side is flying much out of fear of both countries’ layered air defense systems. Indeed, air defense is the one thing Russia appears to have gotten right this war. That makes sense, since it directly counters NATO’s high prioritization on air superiority. Still, kinda shocking that it works given how nothing else has. In addition, Ukraine is operating their Soviet-era jets out of dispersed highways. The F-16, with its air intake close to the ground, is far more fragile and needs clean airfields. The U.S. position is clearly that the finite money available and effort would be better spent on training and supporting other weapons systems, and I’d guess that more M1 Abrams tank brigades would ultimately be more effective in ending this war. The Brits have already sent mid-range cruise missiles, and it looks like the French will follow suit. Those fulfill a big unmet role in pushing Russian logistics and command and control hubs even further away from the front lines. If they’re provided with the means to take out the Kerch Bridge connecting Russia to Crimea, that would be the icing on the cake.  I get that this is a controversial take, and there’s fierce debate around this. In a world of infinite resources, then sure, F-16s would be great. But not only do we have a fixed budget to work with, and that is almost exhausted, and President Joe Biden will have to go back to Congress and ask for more money with a skeptical Republican House. Resources are finite, and they need to be spent where they have the great bang for the buck.  Oh, and speaking of finite resources, I wouldn’t mind some more <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/pentagon-accounting-error-overvalued-ukraine-aid-by-3-billion-sources-2023-05-18/" target="_blank">creative accounting</a> to send more aid to Ukraine.  <blockquote> The Pentagon overestimated the value of the ammunition, missiles and other equipment it sent to Ukraine by around $3 billion, a Senate aide and a defense official said on Thursday, an error that may lead the way for more weapons being sent to Kyiv for its defense against Russian forces. </blockquote> I don’t mean to imply that this is gimmickry, but much of our aid is old, obsolete equipment. Seems that there’s a great deal of subjectivity in valuing much of it. If an old M113 or Humvee is costing us to keep in storage, maybe donating it to Ukraine should offer a credit. Right?  </div> </div> Bakhmut has been an interesting story of late—nearly a year of non-stop Russian attacks against the strategically insignificant city (Ukraine’s 58th largest), tens of thousands of Russian lives lost as they (literally) inched forward, measuring their monthly progress in hundreds of meters. Yet just as Russia is mere city blocks from conquering Bakhmut, <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/16/2169618/-Ukraine-Update-So-what-the-heck-is-going-on-around-Bakhmut">all hell has broken loose on its flanks</a>, with a surprisingly small-scale localized counter-offensive by Ukraine taking back significant chunks of land. What Bakhmut tells us today is that Ukraine’s forthcoming counteroffensive may not be as difficult as we’ve feared. rss@dailykos.com (kos) Avdiivka Bakhmut Russia Ukraine War _2170144 Fri, 19 May 2023 14:32:55 +0000 CNN should fire Chris Licht and put Christiane Amanpour in charge https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/19/2170292/-CNN-should-fire-Chris-Licht-and-put-Christiane-Amanpour-in-charge?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= It looks like the turmoil inside CNN will continue for a good long while yet, after company heads poisoned the airwaves with an alleged "town hall" promoting indicted Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, the first U.S. president in history to attempt a coup rather than give up power. rss@dailykos.com (Hunter) ChrisLicht ChristianeAmanpour CNN ConservativeMedia DavidZaslav Fascism Media Propaganda Sedition _2170292 Fri, 19 May 2023 22:45:06 +0000 Giuliani goes ballistic on woman suing him for rape ... then quietly backtracks https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/19/2170291/-Giuliani-goes-ballistic-on-woman-suing-him-for-rape-then-quietly-backtracks?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= Just days after facing a 70-page lawsuit accusing him of rape and numerous other sexual abuses, disgraced former NY Mayor Rudy Giuliani made several explosive claims about the woman on a right-wing conspiracy blog site. A few hours later, he (or his legal team) seems to have quietly backtracked. This was the original Giuliani quote in the Gateway Pundit blog (run by the <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/jim-hoft?page=3">dumbest man on the internet</a>): <blockquote> I dated Noelle for approximately 2 months in early 2019. I found out she was kicked out of several luxury hotels for suspicion of prostitution. I also found out that she scammed, elderly men by claiming rape. I broke up with her, and she continued to try to reach out to me. Even following me to several events and asking to take pictures. She was absolutely never employed. She illegally taped me and illegally went in my email. </blockquote> A few hours later, that was changed to this: <blockquote> I dated Ms. Dunphy for several months in early 2019. I ended the relationship because she continued to reach out and attempt to make contact with me. I discovered she was banned from several luxury hotels and also found out that she brought forward two prior cases, but never submitted a police report. I look forward to full vindication. </blockquote> Can you spot the difference? RELATED STORY: <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/16/2169562/--10M-lawsuit-claims-Giuliani-is-racist-sexually-abusive-drunk">Giuliani assistant says he demanded oral sex, spewed racist tirades</a> rss@dailykos.com (Walter Einenkel) Abuse Accusation Dunphy giuliani Justice Legal MAGA Rape SexualAssault TedGoodman _2170291 Fri, 19 May 2023 23:30:18 +0000 Even Fox News' Neil Cavuto wouldn't accept this Republican's racism https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/19/2170246/-Even-Fox-News-Neil-Cavuto-wouldn-t-accept-this-Republican-s-racism?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= During a Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing partly focused on the DEA budget, Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana said, “Without the people of America, Mexico, figuratively speaking, would be eating cat food out of a can and living in a tent behind an Outback.” This was tied to Kennedy’s suggestion that the United States invade Mexico to destroy drug cartels. His statement was received with robust condemnation from all over the Americas: Mexico’s foreign affairs secretary called Kennedy <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/14/senator-john-kennedy-mexico-drug-cartels" title="">“a profoundly ignorant man</a>;” Mexico’s ambassador to the U.S., Esteban Moctezuma, released a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvIBisp22CE">video</a> in which he reads the letter he sent to Kennedy, seeking to “enlighten” the Senator on the mutually beneficial relationship between the United States and Mexico. Specifically, the tens of billions of dollars in trade Louisiana has in surplus from Mexico, and the approximately tens of thousands of people it employs. <blockquote> I don't think that people of Louisiana field represented by the vulgar and racist words you used you are obliged to offer an apology to your citizens because what you asserted is not worthy of the state of Louisiana known for being a cultural Melting Pot giving the moral standards expressing your unfortunate statement. </blockquote> Kennedy has spent the last couple of weeks dodging questions about his statement, and is refusing to apologize for his choice of words. But Kennedy’s statements were so racist and backward that even Fox News host Neil Cavuto tried to finesse some kind of apology out of him. RELATED STORY: <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/9/10/1976449/--I-m-not-going-to-let-you-do-this-CNN-anchor-shuts-down-Republican-s-attempt-to-dodge-Trump-s-lies" title="">‘I’m not going to let you do this’: CNN anchor shuts down Republican's attempt to dodge Trump's lies</a> rss@dailykos.com (Walter Einenkel) Cavuto Hearing Immigration JohnKennedy Mexico Race Racism Senate Senator Video _2170246 Fri, 19 May 2023 20:21:52 +0000 Earth Matters: Lake Powell and Lake Mead are rising, but experts warn water crisis is far from over https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/18/2169704/-Earth-Matters-Lake-Powell-and-Lake-Mead-are-rising-but-experts-warn-water-crisis-is-far-from-over?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= A few weeks ago, Lake Powell fell to levels it hadn’t seen since the Colorado River was dammed to create it in 1963. At the same time downstream, Lake Mead, the largest U.S. reservoir by capacity, fell lower than it had been since 1937 when the Hoover Dam began backing up the river. The alarm bells scientists and some officials had been ringing since 2000 have gotten a lot louder in the past couple of years because the lakes and the hydroelectric dams that enclose them are the lifeblood of farmers, Indigenous tribes, and cities in seven states. By late 2021, some of the talk about the region’s two-decade-long megadrought had become positively apocalyptic, with disaster perceived as imminent. But then came this winter’s stunningly wet weather throughout much of the West, adding high levels—record levels in parts of southern Colorado—to the Rocky Mountain snowpack that melts each spring and summer to feed the river. Levels of both lakes have risen substantially in the spring run-off, and the big melt has only just gotten underway with the arrival of warmer temperatures. Consequently, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, a division of the Department of Interior that oversees the dams, has revised upward its projections for what lake levels will look like at the water-year’s end on Sept. 30. Expectations now are that Lake Powell will reach 70 feet higher than it was at the end of last September. Already, the rising water has allowed managers at the lake to release more water than usual faster than usual in an experiment to see whether such surges can help rehabilitate wildlife and ecosystems along the Grand Canyon. The release, of course, also raises water levels at Lake Mead, which is already<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytvj6g9ipd4" target="_blank"> making recreational visitors happy</a>. While the change is a welcome relief, experts warn that the crisis isn’t over and improvement this year is likely to be temporary. Bart Leeflang, the Colorado River program manager for the Central Utah Water Conservancy District,<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/05/11/lake-powell-water-levels-rising-drought/" target="_blank"> told </a>Scott Dance at The Washington Post, “It’s maybe a year’s worth of breathing room. The crisis is still very real and very much in front of us.” At best, that 70-foot rise would mean raising the lake’s current level from 20% of its capacity to 30%, he said. “It’s not massive gains.” The bureau forecasts that at the end of July the lake will hit 39% of capacity. Right now, both lakes together are at 26%. rss@dailykos.com (Meteor Blades) CarbonCapture Climate EarthMatters ElectricVehicles Environment FossilFuels Pigs Proposition12 Recommended SeaBirds Solar Texas Ukraine Water Wind _2169704 Fri, 19 May 2023 00:11:35 +0000 Anti-immigrant hoax exposed and a Republican actually admits it https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/19/2170222/-Shocker-House-GOP-and-Fox-News-spread-an-anti-immigrant-lie?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= <div> <a name="update-1684528897000"></a> </div> <div class="live-update-wrapper" data-epoch-time="1684528897000"> <a class="live-update-link" href="#update-1684528897000"> UPDATE: Friday, May 19, 2023 · 8:41:37 PM +00:00 · Barbara Morrill </a> <div class="live-update-content"><a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/19/new-york-prosecutors-hotel-veterans-migrants-00097886" target="_blank">Good.</a> <blockquote>  The state Attorney General’s Office said Friday it is looking into reports that a nonprofit organization in the Hudson Valley erroneously claimed that homeless veterans placed in hotels were kicked out last week by migrants bused there from New York City. </blockquote> </div> </div> Another week, another Republican hoax. Earlier this week, Rupert Murdoch's New York Post pushed a story with a blaring frontpage headline "VETS KICKED OUT FOR MIGRANTS: Outrage as upscale hotels tell 20 homeless veterans to leave." It was based on an unverified claim from the head of a veteran's nonprofit, and whether the Post bothered to do even the most minimal fact checking on any of those claims is, ahem, unknown. The story was everywhere in conservative circles. <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/biden-admin-ny-officials-slammed-homeless-veterans-booted-migrant-hotels-slap-face">Fox News screamed about it</a>, of course, with a Republican state assemblyman calling it a "slap in the face to veterans" who are "being cast aside to allow for asylum seekers to come here." The story was picked up by all of the conservative outlets you can think of but are embarrassed to know about, and we ain't linking them here. rss@dailykos.com (Hunter) ConservativeMedia Conservatives FakeNews Hoaxes Media RepublicanHoaxes Republicans _2170222 Fri, 19 May 2023 17:54:50 +0000 '98% likelihood' that Earth will soon be hotter than ever https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/19/2170236/--98-likelihood-that-Earth-will-soon-be-hotter-than-ever?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= In January, the<a href="https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/past-eight-years-confirmed-be-eight-warmest-record#:~:text=GENEVA%2C%2012%20January%202023%20%2D%20The,by%20the%20World%20Meteorological%20Organization."> World Meteorological Organization</a> reported that the last eight years were confirmed to be the eight warmest on record. Considering the<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/climate/climate-changes-hurricane-intensity.html"> growing strength of hurricanes</a>, massive expansion of <a href="https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-wildfires#:~:text=Multiple%20studies%20have%20found%20that,wildfire%20frequency%2C%20and%20burned%20area.&text=The%20wildfire%20season%20has%20lengthened,and%20drier%20soils%20and%20vegetation.">wildfires</a>, and general increase in<a href="https://e360.yale.edu/digest/extreme-weather-events-have-increased-significantly-in-the-last-20-years"> extreme weather events</a>, it may seem that things are already pretty bad. They are. But they’re about to get worse. Because as the WMO looks at<a href="https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/global-temperatures-set-reach-new-records-next-five-years"> the next five years</a>, they not only expect more record heat, but also more of the associated disasters. They also expect Earth to move past an important political and psychological milestone regarding the climate crisis. <blockquote>There is a 66% likelihood that the annual average near-surface global temperature between 2023 and 2027 will be more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for at least one year.  There is a 98% likelihood that at least one of the next five years, and the five-year period as a whole, will be the warmest on record.</blockquote> That 1.5°C was the target set by the 2015 Paris Agreement. The goal was to stay permanently below that line. Now that barrier could be about to fall. rss@dailykos.com (Mark Sumner) Climate ClimateCrisis Disaster ElNio Weather _2170236 Fri, 19 May 2023 19:37:23 +0000 DeSantis is learning that attacking LGBTQ Americans is bad for a campaign https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/19/2170062/-Can-DeSantis-survive-his-war-with-Disney?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis premised his entire still-unannounced 2024 presidential bid on being “Trump without the baggage.” But with Walt Disney Co. now<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/18/2170060/-Ron-DeSantis-clown-car-drives-Disney-jobs-out-of-Florida"> pulling the plug on a $1 billion investment</a> in the Sunshine State amid a feud with the GOP hopeful, DeSantis is looking a lot more like “not-Trump with the baggage.”' rss@dailykos.com (Kerry Eleveld) 2024 anti-LGBTQ anti-trans bathroombills DanPatrick Discrimination Disney Florida Indiana lgbtqamericans MikePence NorthCarolina PatMcCrory Presidential RonDeSantis Texas TransAmericans _2170062 Fri, 19 May 2023 13:27:15 +0000 Nevada takes first key step toward joining pact to elect president by popular vote https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/18/2165007/-Nevada-takes-first-key-step-toward-joining-pact-to-elect-president-by-popular-vote?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= Nevada Democrats <a href="https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/82nd2023/Bill/10288/Overview" target="_blank">just passed a constitutional amendment</a> that would add the state's six electoral votes to a multistate compact that would elect the president according to the national popular vote, with the ultimate aim of sending the measure to voters for their approval. By referring an amendment to the ballot, Democrats can avoid what would be an all but certain veto from Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo. However, they'll also have to pass the same amendment again after the 2024 elections and then persuade voters to back it in a 2026 referendum before it could become law in time for the 2028 presidential election. rss@dailykos.com (Stephen Wolf) DailyKosElections Elections ElectoralCollege NationalPopularVoteInterstateCompact Nevada npv NVBallot _2165007 Thu, 18 May 2023 21:05:34 +0000 Desperate to win transphobic bigots back, Bud Light bottles are going (Army) green https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/19/2170218/-Desperate-to-win-transphobic-bigots-back-Bud-Light-bottles-are-going-Army-green?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= You may recall the mighty backlash Bud Light suddenly faced after its manufacturer, Anheuser-Busch, sent a custom can to trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney in April. Kid Rock was so incensed that he bought a bunch of Bud Light to shoot at. Fox News suddenly decided the only thing worse than drinking Bud Light is drinking Bud Light in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKurQ8B04AA" target="_blank">tan suit</a>. One guy started selling his own beer—which is definitely not fermented yak piss sourced from remote settlements in the Nepalese highlands, because that would have been at least twice as expensive—for about <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/15/2163970/-Buy-35-beer-to-make-woke-libs-mad-The-sad-state-of-the-conservative-culture-war" target="_blank" title="">$6 per can</a>. And millions of red-blooded American males were morally outraged enough to stop drinking Bud Light during their Wednesday afternoon strip club excursions and fortnightly backyard cockfights. And so Anheuser-Busch’s high suzerains of subpar suds found themselves scrambling to dig themselves out from the avalanche of delicate snowflakes—all bigoted in their own unique, special ways—that rumbled into town after the company treated a trans woman like any other human being with infinite worth, dignity, and sh*t taste in lagers. And they’re using camouflage to cover up their past marketing campaigns. Literally. Anheuser-Busch, aware that even MAGAs can remember what they’re angry about for more than a couple of days in a row, issued a <a href="https://fox4kc.com/news/anheuser-busch-ceo-issues-statement-after-partnership-with-trans-influencer/" target="_blank">mealy statement that said virtually nothing</a>. And now the company is pulling out all the stops to bring those lost lamb-brains back into the fold. By issuing a camo bottle. Yes, really. RELATED STORY: <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/13/2163624/-Murdoch-s-Fox-News-empire-has-launched-an-all-out-war-against-the-makers-of-Bud-Light" title="">Murdoch's Fox News empire has launched an all-out war against the makers of Bud Light</a> rss@dailykos.com (Aldous J Pennyfarthing) Anheuser-Busch BudLight DylanMulvaney LGBTQ MillerLite MolsonCoors Trans TransRights _2170218 Fri, 19 May 2023 20:25:31 +0000 Guardsman Jack Teixeira, Pentagon leak suspect, to remain jailed as he awaits trial https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/5/19/2170302/-Guardsman-Jack-Teixeira-Pentagon-leak-suspect-to-remain-jailed-as-he-awaits-trial?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source= A <a href="https://apnews.com/article/leaked-documents-pentagon-justice-department-russia-war-d3272b34702d564fe07a480598bcd174" title="">Massachusetts Air National Guard member</a> charged with leaking highly classified military documents will remain behind bars while he awaits trial, a federal magistrate judge ruled Friday. U.S. Magistrate Judge David Hennessy said releasing 21-year-old Jack Teixeira would pose a risk that he would attempt to flee the country or obstruct justice. The judge cited Teixeira’s “fascination with guns,” disturbing online statements and admonitions by Teixeira's military superiors about his handling of sensitive information before his arrest. The ruling comes after prosecutors revealed that Teixeira <a href="https://apnews.com/article/leaked-documents-air-national-guardsman-jack-teixeira-d7c8dbaeb3b7a5ae69faeab04ede2ab0" title="">had a history of violent rhetoric</a>, and was caught by fellow military members months before his arrest taking notes on classified information or viewing intelligence not related to his job. Teixeira is accused of sharing classified military documents on Discord, a social media platform popular with people playing online games. The stunning breach exposed to the world unvarnished secret assessments on Russia’s war in Ukraine, the capabilities and geopolitical interests of other nations and other national security issues. The judge said the case represented “a profound breach of the defendant's word that he would protect information related to the security of the United States.” “Who did he put at risk? I mean, you could make a list as long as a phone book,” Hennessy said, including military personnel, medical workers overseas and Ukrainian citizens. The judge indicated that he found persuasive prosecutors' arguments that U.S. adversaries who might be interested in mining Teixeira for information could facilitate his escape. “Foreign countries know that this defendant was disloyal to the United States," the judge said. “It doesn’t seem implausible at all that a foreign government would make an overture to this defendant to get information." Teixeira appeared to show no emotion as he was lead out of the courtroom in handcuffs and orange jail clothes. He smiled at his father sitting in the front as he walked into the hearing in Worcester, Massachusetts, federal court. Teixeira can appeal the judge's ruling, and Hennessy told him “another judge could come to a different conclusion." The judge said the support of Teixeira's family — who have attended every court hearing — is a compelling reason to release the man, but his concerns outweigh that. The high-profile case is being prosecuted by the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s office, whose leader — U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins — <a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-attorney-rachael-rollins-inspector-general-investigation-ad0afce4b0f4a1fc86987e76d2112c85">is expected to resign on Friday</a> after <a href="https://apnews.com/article/massachusetts-us-attorney-rachael-rollins-justice-department-7ff37567c0d8f7e906ffd1f609a404f3">two federal watchdog agencies</a> found she committed a slew of ethical and legal violations. Teixeira <a href="https://apnews.com/article/leaked-documents-massachusetts-air-national-guardsman-25662c578db25802907a70c40cce16c4">has been behind bars</a> since his April 13 arrest on charges, under the Espionage Act, of unauthorized retention and transmission of classified national defense information. He has not yet entered a plea. Prosecutors had urged the judge to keep Teixeira jailed, in part because of his arsenal of weapons and history of online statements, including one social media post from last November saying that, if he had his way, he would like to kill a “ton of people” because it would be “culling the weak minded.” His lawyers had pressed the judge to release him to his father, saying he has no criminal history and strong family support to ensure he shows up in court. His lawyer said last month that he has “nowhere to flee” and “will answer the charges” against him. Prosecutors have detailed a troubling history going back to high school, where Teixeira was suspended in 2018 when a classmate overheard him discussing Molotov cocktails and other weapons as well as racial threats. His initial application for a firearms identification card that same year was denied due to police concerns over those remarks. He regularly made statements about violence and murder on social media, and also used his government computer to research past mass shootings and standoffs with federal agents, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors said he also kept his gun locker within reach of his bed and in it were handguns, bolt-action rifles, shotguns, an AK-style high-capacity weapon and a gas mask. Teixeira’s father told the judge that he removed all the guns from his home and would ensure that his son followed his pretrial conditions if he were released. Teixeira’s lawyer argued that despite the statements highlighted by prosecutors he was not a danger to the community or a flight risk. Prosecutors revealed in court papers filed this week that Teixeira’s <a href="https://apnews.com/article/jack-teixeira-national-guard-massachusetts-leaked-documents-788b28daf6504eaac02df5844d7a2c01">superiors had raised concerns</a> in the months before his arrest about his mishandling of classified information. He was twice admonished by superiors in September and October, and was again observed in February viewing information “that was not related to his primary duty and was related to the intelligence field,” according to internal Air National Guard memos filed in court. The revelations have raised questions about why Teixeira continued to have access to military secrets after what prosecutors described as “concerning actions” related to his handling of classified information. Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh was questioned Thursday about why Teixeira’s leaders did not take action after the concerns were raised. Singh referred to the Justice Department and Air Force investigations, and said those concerns and the potential lack of response to them were among the areas the inquiries would examine. rss@dailykos.com (Associated Press stories chosen by Daily Kos staff) JackTeixeira MassachusettsAirNationalGuard _2170302 Fri, 19 May 2023 23:34:02 +0000