This woman was my absolute favorite way back in the 1980s, when I was about 21-years-old.
The woman's still looking tasty!
Saturday, July 24, 2021
Biden Splits with Voting Rights Activists on New Federal Legislation
Maybe he's not that radical after all. Thus far, it seems nothing on the extreme left's wish-list hasn't been granted.
At NYT, "Democrats’ Divide on Voting Rights Widens as Biden Faces Pressure":
WASHINGTON — A quiet divide between President Biden and the leaders of the voting rights movement burst into the open on Thursday, as 150 organizations urged him to use his political mettle to push for two expansive federal voting rights bills that would combat a Republican wave of balloting restrictions. In the letter, signed by civil rights groups including the Leadership Conference and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, activists argued that with the “ideal of bipartisan cooperation on voting rights” nowhere to be found in a sharply divided Senate, Mr. Biden must “support the passage of these bills by whatever means necessary.” The issue is of paramount importance to Democrats: Republicans have passed roughly 30 laws in states across the country this year that are likely to make voting harder, especially in Black and Latino communities, which lean Democratic. Several of the laws give state legislators more power over how elections are run and make it easier to challenge the results. In a fiery speech in Philadelphia last week, Mr. Biden warned that the G.O.P. effort was the “most significant test of our democracy since the Civil War.” But the president and voting rights advocates are increasingly in disagreement about how to pass that test. Mr. Biden, a veteran of the Senate who for decades has believed in negotiating on the particulars of voting rights legislation, has faced calls to push Democratic senators to eliminate the filibuster, which would allow the two major voting bills proposed by the party to pass with a simple majority. The president and his advisers have repeatedly pointed out that he does not have the votes within his own party to pass federal voting legislation, and does not have the power to unilaterally roll back the filibuster even if he supported doing so. But voting rights groups say that Mr. Biden is not expending sufficient political capital or using the full force of his bully pulpit to persuade Congress. They point to the contrast between his soaring language — “Jim Crow on steroids,” he has called the G.O.P. voting laws — and his opposition to abolishing the Senate filibuster. “As you noted in your speech, our democracy is in peril,” the groups said in their letter. “We certainly cannot allow an arcane Senate procedural rule to derail efforts that a majority of Americans support.” Ultimately, the advocates fear that the Biden administration — currently focused on a bipartisan infrastructure deal and an ambitious spending proposal — has largely accepted the Republican restrictions as baked in, and is now dedicating more of its effort to juicing Democratic turnout. In private calls with voting rights groups and civil rights leaders, White House officials and close allies of the president have expressed confidence that it is possible to “out-organize voter suppression,” according to multiple people familiar with the conversations. “I have heard an emphasis on organizing,” said Sherrilyn A. Ifill, the president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, who visited the Oval Office to meet with the president two weeks ago. But, she added, “we cannot litigate our way out of this and we cannot organize our way out of this.” Several Biden advisers involved in the private calls said this week that they did not recall telling attendees that voter suppression could be out-organized, but said organizing was integral to the administration’s efforts. Broadly, Mr. Biden’s advisers insist that the administration is committed to protecting access to the ballot and passing two federal bills: the For the People Act, an overhaul of federal election laws that was considered more of a political statement than viable legislation when it was first introduced in 2019, and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would restore important parts of the Voting Rights Act that the Supreme Court stripped away in 2013. Republicans have castigated the For the People Act as overreaching and partisan. And Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, has said there is no need for a bill restoring parts of the Voting Rights Act. White House officials privately note that even if Mr. Biden came out in support of ending the filibuster, moderate Democrats, including Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, have publicly resisted such a move. Mr. Manchin has also called the For the People Act a piece of “partisan” legislation...
You Lift, Bro?
Seen on Twitter.
Alopecia is some kind of immuno-system response that affects the hair follicles.
Chimp with alopecia reveals a truth usually concealed in fur: Chimps. Are. Ripped. https://t.co/eKYaFdNkwM pic.twitter.com/J7VhOgeWMv
— Steve Stewart-Williams (@SteveStuWill) July 23, 2021
Japan Olympics Diversity
Japan's population is 98 percent Nihon. For reasons of ethnic chauvinism, fear of the outer world (like the U.S. and Commodore Perry's expeditions to that country in 1853-1855), or outright racism, it's unreasonable to expect much "diversity" to be coming to that nation's shores anytime soon.
Frankly, given the above, I'm not sure what's the purpose of this article. *Shrug.*
At LAT, "Tokyo Olympics: Diverse faces are representing Japan. Does it reflect real change?":
TOKYO — With millions around the world watching, Rui Hachimura walked onto the gleaming white floor of Japan’s Olympic Stadium on Friday waving the country’s red-and-white flag. The 6-foot-8 Washington Wizards forward with a Japanese mother and Beninese father led his nation’s athletes in procession, a beaming smile peeking out of the sides of his face mask. Towering 20 inches over his fellow flag bearer, wrestler Yui Susaki, the 23-year-old’s careful steps signaled a changing face of Japan. But in an unpopular Games, echoing with protests outside the largely empty Tokyo stadium, the discontent and ire over the influx of foreign visitors in the midst of a pandemic threatened to overshadow the inclusive image Japan had intended with Hachimura. Even apart from the COVID-19 pandemic, the years and months leading up to the Games have been marked by a series of disappointments over promises to highlight diversity. The planet’s biggest sporting event has been troubled by high-profile resignations following scandals involving sexist and discriminatory remarks. The Olympic moment will come and go with neither a highly anticipated new anti-discrimination law nor immigration policies that reflect Japan’s fast-changing needs and norms. It has left a conflicted feeling for Japanese like Hachimura or tennis great Naomi Osaka, who lighted the Olympic torch capping Friday’s ceremony, who haven’t always felt accepted. Some Japanese cling to notions of ethnic and cultural homogeneity even as the country needs young people to replace the world’s fastest-aging population. Though cities like Tokyo have become more cosmopolitan over the last half century, only 2% of babies born in Japan have at least one foreign parent. Athletes like Hachimura are “one of the few people that can bring major changes for us,” said Alonzo Omotegawa, who has a Japanese mother and Bahamian father and has lived in the Tokyo area his entire life. Yet he has been repeatedly told: You are not Japanese. The 25-year-old English teacher said he questions whether Hachimura’s popularity and symbolism will be enough to stifle the discrimination he faces on a daily basis — change the minds of landlords who refuse to rent to him because of his skin color, children who ask if it will wash off or police who stop and search him without a warrant, saying people with dreadlocks like him “tend to carry drugs.” “The country is only on our side when it wants to be,” he said. Organizers devoted a chapter of Friday night’s opening ceremony to a performance featuring children of diverse ethnic backgrounds assembling the Tokyo Olympics emblem. For months, the slogan “Unity in Diversity” had been pasted on posters around the city, projecting at least for the international media that this nation of 126 million was pledging to become more nuanced and accepting. At the same time, the pandemic, as it has elsewhere, has brought out in Japan suspicion of those who look different, and a fear they may bring danger. That unease has been amplified in recent days as tens of thousands of athletes and others from around the globe have filtered into a nation that had kept its borders heavily restricted, even keeping out many foreign expats who’d long called Japan home. Gracia Liu-Farrer, a sociologist at Tokyo’s Waseda University who studies migration and inequality in Japan, said of the Olympics: “It’s ironic. It’s not a moment of change but a moment of almost intensification of xenophobia because of this global health crisis.” Even so, she said, the international attention around the Olympics has led to soul-searching and introspection over discriminatory opinions and remarks that may have previously gone unchallenged. The week before the opening ceremony, a director who’d made a Holocaust joke years ago and a composer who admitted to once bullying disabled classmates stepped down from their roles...
Still more.
'Make Coffee Great Again'
Very interesting.
At New York Times Magazine, "Can the Black Rifle Coffee Company Become the Starbucks of the Right?"
Author Michael Wolff Roasts Brian Stelter Live, on His Own Show (VIDEO)
This was from a few days back, and lots of folks were tweeting the segment at the time.
From Tucker Carlson, at Fox News:
Plus, Wolff had an essay up at the New York Times yesterday, "Why I’m Sure Trump Will Run for President in 2024."
Eleven-Year-Old Boy with Autism Dies After Being Left in Hot Car Close to Two Hours
My youngest boy's on the spectrum, which makes this story even sadder for me.
At KUTV Salt Lake City:
Developments in hot car death: Boy had autism, state investigating, center on notice https://t.co/g6WL2mRz5i
— Heidi Hatch KUTV (@tvheidihatch) July 23, 2021
Oakland Tries to Save Walgreens Pharmacy (VIDEO)
There's a lot of reasons for the closure.
As one shopper explained, "'I mean, this was in the neighborhood, but look what happened. They stole a lot of stuff from there, ok? I don’t know. Just look around. So much stuff is happening here in Oakland, you know'," says Martha Stolaroff, who grew up in Oakland.
Watch:
To Ban or Not to Ban Critical Race Theory
That is the question.
At Quillette, "Should Critical Race Theory Be Banned in Public Schools? — a Conversation with Christopher F. Rufo."
Growing Opposition to Critical Race Theory
At the Epoch Times, "CRT Opposition Grows Stronger, Bolder, and More Organized: ‘You Have to Fight Fire With Fire’":
Despite growing opposition to critical race theory (CRT) and a growing number of states passing laws to ostracize it from classrooms, edification and teachers’ cumulations are vowing to edify the controversial subject matter anyway. But one candid Florida mom verbalizes it’s time to “fight fire with fire.” “I cerebrate parents have realized you have to fight fire with fire,” Quisha King told the Epoch Times. You have to be as vigorous, as forceful, and as unrelenting as they are. King is the Florida mother who gained notoriety when she blasted the Duval County school board with vigorous opposition to CRT. In replication to the National Education Association’s threat to go after those who dared oppose CRT, King verbally expressed bring it on. In an effort to avail denizens fight back against the behemoth inculcation system, Tea Party Patriots Action (TPPA) is now distributing a 46-page booklet (pdf) edifying parents and students how to get organized in their effort to fight back. As described on its website, the United We Stand toolkit is a component of TPPA’s campaign to inspirit people to attend their local school board meetings to oppose CRT, and to urge a full return to in-classroom ordinant dictation. I cerebrate it’s good to avail parents understand how to apperceive (CRT) and how to detect it because they don’t genuinely understand how it’s being worked into the system, King verbalized. “It’s a great, handy guide so they’re armed with something.” “I cerebrate we require more things like that,” she integrated, verbally expressing she has additionally endeavored to avail parents by engendering informative videos. We embolden every parent and concerned denizen who cares about the future of our country to attend their local school board meeting, learn what is going on locally, and ascertain schools are plenarily open, TPPA Honorary Chairman Jenny Beth Martin verbally expressed in a verbalization regarding their incipient anti-CRT campaign. Teachers should be edifying reading, inditing, arithmetic, and history without indoctrination. I cerebrate there’s a sense of exigency with this because kids are in school for 12 years or 13 years if you include kindergarten, Martin explained to The Epoch Times. I don’t cerebrate it’s fair to wait just for the elections. We’ve got to understand what’s transpiring and work to unwind it at a policy level as well. “Obviously the first thing is to commence peregrinating to school board meetings,” Vero Beach, Florida, activist Susan Mehiel told The Epoch Times. The second thing is to commence electing school board members who are true to their word. According to Mehiel, people need to commence electing “non-edifying people on those boards,” rather than perpetually pulling from the same barrel of rotten apples. She additionally suggests people establish a good relationship with their local representatives. In June, Mehiel organized the “Save our Students” town hall meeting in Vero Beach to rally community members to verbalize out against proposed edification materials that pushed critical race theory in K-5 English Language curriculum. “If parents genuinely want to make a difference,” Mehiel exhorted, they have to have numbers and they have to have clout at the state level. At Moms for Liberty, we believe that it is essential for every denizen to amalgamate together to avail parents reclaim their rights in America’s public-school classrooms, Tiffany Justice, co-progenitor of Moms For Liberty told The Epoch Times. We applaud the work of organizations that give denizens resources and a roadmap for engagement with all levels of regime...
Biden's Infrastructure Boondoggle Won't Pass
Good thing. *Phew.*
At the New York Times, "G.O.P. Blocks Infrastructure Debate in Senate, Raising Doubts About a Deal":
WASHINGTON — Republicans blocked the Senate on Wednesday from taking up an emerging bipartisan infrastructure plan, raising doubts about the fate of a major piece of President Biden’s agenda even as negotiators continued to seek a compromise. The failed vote underscored the intense mistrust between the two parties, which has complicated the effort to complete a deal. Both Republicans and Democrats in the group seeking a deal say they are still making progress toward agreement on a package with nearly $600 billion in new funds for roads, bridges, rail, transit and other infrastructure, which could be the first major infusion of federal public works spending since the 2009 stimulus law. Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, forced the vote in a bid to intensify pressure for a swift resolution to the talks, acting over the pleas of centrist Republicans who said they needed more time to solidify their deal with Democrats. With many Democrats harboring concerns that Republicans will drag out the process only to withhold support from a final bill, he argued that there was still time to iron out final details. “This vote is not a deadline to have every final detail worked out — it is not an attempt to jam anyone,” Mr. Schumer said before the vote, adding that negotiators would have “many opportunities” to add their plan to the bill “even if they need a few more days to finalize the language.” But Republicans said they were not ready to commit to considering an infrastructure measure, and warned that putting the matter to a vote risked scuttling a potential bipartisan breakthrough. On Wednesday, as they shuttled between meetings and votes, Republican negotiators said a final deal could emerge in the coming days, about a month after they first triumphantly announced agreement on a framework. “We’re optimistic that once we get past this vote today, that we’re going to continue our work and that we will be ready in the coming days,” said Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine and a key negotiator. She said members of the group “think that we will be largely ready on Monday.” With all 50 Republicans in the Senate opposed, Democrats fell short of the 60 votes that would have been needed to move forward with an infrastructure debate. All 50 members of the Democratic caucus initially voted to proceed, but Mr. Schumer switched his vote to enable him under Senate rules to bring up the measure again. It was an inauspicious beginning to what Democrats had hoped would be a period of intense activity on Capitol Hill, with action on a bipartisan infrastructure measure and a far more ambitious, $3.5 trillion partisan budget blueprint that would include money to address climate change, expand health care and education and broaden child care and paid leave. Instead, senators spent Wednesday voicing frustration over their failure to begin debating the infrastructure plan and privately meeting to work through the details of how to structure and finance the package...
Still more.
Biden Administration Admits Attempting to Censor Conservative Websites
From Katie Pavlich, at Town Hall, "White House Communications Director Admits They’re Trying to Censor Conservative News Sites":
During an interview with CNN this week, White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield admitted the Biden administration's censorship efforts are specifically targeting conservative news sites for publishing "misinformation." "You've heard the president speak very aggressively about this. He understands this is an important piece of the ecosystem but its also the other thing, the president has pointed out and spoke to when he was asked about this yesterday, it is also the responsibility of the people creating the content and again I would go back to, there are conservative news outlets who are creating irresponsible content that's sharing misinformation about the virus," Bedingfield said...
RTWT.
PREVIOUSLY: "Jen Psaki's White House Disinformation."
Oscar Blasts Off
Hilarious.
Call us next time you want to ride a wiener into space… pic.twitter.com/cmAnDeh6nS
— Oscar Mayer (@oscarmayer) July 21, 2021
Lebanon's Economic Implosion
At LAT, "Lebanon’s people line up in ‘queues of humiliation’ as their country unravels":
BEIRUT — Fill ’er up? Be ready to wait in line at least an hour — assuming the gas station is open, that is. Need medication? Something as basic as aspirin could set you on a daylong hunt from pharmacy to pharmacy. Even a grocery run is an ever-accelerating race against ballooning prices and a failing currency. And whatever you do, you’ll need to time it around power cuts that can last up to 23 hours a day. This is life in Lebanon these days, where a 21-month-long, government-engineered economic implosion — the World Bank calls it “a deliberate depression” — has transformed everyday tasks into a gantlet of fuel, power, water, medicine and basic goods shortages that residents dub tawabeer al-thul, or “queues of humiliation.” Those lines stretched long this week as the country geared up to celebrate Eid al-Adha, a festival during which Muslims sacrifice a sheep to commemorate Abraham almost sacrificing his son Ismail at God’s command. With the Lebanese lira’s street value down to less than 10% of its official value against the dollar, it’s a ritual few can afford. “Every month it’s getting worse, so long as the dollar [rate] gets worse,” said Abbass Ismail, a 37-year-old computer repairman trudging home from Beirut’s Sabra market on the eve of Eid. “This cost 100,000 lira,” he said, looking down at his four stuffed grocery bags. At the official exchange rate, that would have been $66. In reality, it’s about $4.50. Even then, “not everyone has this kind of money to spend. I don’t think there’s Eid. It’s only Eid for the haves.” It was little better across town in Hamra, an upscale neighborhood with a usually bustling shopping thoroughfare. “The days when people used to buy in large amounts, that’s gone,” said Sarah, an employee at a traditional sweets shop, who gave only her first name. The store had extended its hours to allow for Eid shoppers, she said, “but even if we stay open till 3 a.m., it won’t matter.” The international community spoke vaguely of corruption but continued to pour aid into Lebanon with little regard for how it was spent. Girding everything was a once-inviolable currency peg that kept the lira at 1,507.50 to the greenback. By 2019, after years of so-called financial engineering by Lebanon’s central bank — which tried to lure dollars from abroad with astronomical interest rates, in what critics likened to a Ponzi scheme — and a series of crises that constricted the flow of dollars into the country, the system crashed...
Still more.
U.S. Life Expectancy Declines
The decline is a direct function of the coronavirus pandemic.
This is both interesting and sad.
At NYT, "U.S. Life Expectancy Plunged in 2020, Especially for Black and Hispanic Americans."
More here, "How the White Working Class Is Being Destroyed."
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