Tag Archives: head

Top Cop Union Threatens Quentin Tarantino

by Melissa Robin Posted on November 6, 2015

Mother Jones

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Amid the continuing national debate about policing, Thursday brought the latest batshit PR move from police union leaders. Their current target, Quentin Tarantino, found himself on the receiving end of a veiled threat when Jim Pasco, the head of the national Fraternal Order of Police, told reporters that “something is in the works” against the Hollywood filmmaker. The union’s plan, Pasco said, “could happen any time” between now and the premiere of Tarantino’s upcoming film, The Hateful Eight, on Christmas Day. Just what exactly did he mean? More from the Hollywood Reporter:

Jim Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, would not go into any detail about what is being cooked up for the Hollywood director, but he did tell THR: “We’ll be opportunistic.”

“Tarantino has made a good living out of violence and surprise,” says Pasco. “Our offices make a living trying to stop violence, but surprise is not out of the question.”

The FOP, based in Washington, D.C., consists of more than 330,000 full-time, sworn officers. According to Pasco, the surprise in question is already “in the works,” and will be in addition to the standing boycott of Tarantino’s films, including his upcoming movie The Hateful Eight.

“Something is in the works, but the element of surprise is the most important element,” says Pasco. “Something could happen anytime between now and the premiere. And a lot of it is going to be driven by Tarantino, who is nothing if not predictable.

“The right time and place will come up and we’ll try to hurt him in the only way that seems to matter to him, and that’s economically,” says Pasco.

When asked, Pasco clarified that he was not making a violent threat. But his vow that “we’ll try to hurt him” joins a growing list of over-the-top statements from police union leaders.

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Top Cop Union Threatens Quentin Tarantino

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Head Witch Hunter Now Wants Fewer Witch Hunts

by ErwinX26bghrinc Posted on October 30, 2015

Mother Jones

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Today’s Charles Krauthammer column cracks me up:

Skip the investigations, win the election

I’m all for demonstrating malfeasance. But the GOP House has given a five-year display of its inability to successfully demonstrate anything…. Operation Fast and Furious….IRS….Planned Parenthood….Benghazi.

….In each of these cases, Republicans had the facts and the argument. And yet in every one, they failed. What makes them think that they will fare any better in the next iteration, the impeachment of a minor official in an expiring administration?

Krauthammer is a hardcore conservative, but he’s also a very high-IQ conservative. So this makes me wonder: does he really believe this? Or does he know it’s baloney but figures he needs some kind of acceptable cover to get Republicans off their Ahab-like zeal for investigating nothingburgers?

As I’m sure Krauthammer knows, the problem Republicans have with their mania for investigations is that what turned out to be scandalous wasn’t high-ranking, and what was high-ranking wasn’t scandalous. Fast & Furious was scandalous, but it was a local botch. The IRS was slightly scandalous, but never went beyond middle management. Planned Parenthood did nothing wrong at all. And Benghazi—well, that reached the very highest levels, but there’s just no scandal to be uncovered. There may have been some bad security decisions, but the evidence of malfeasance by anyone in the Obama administration is all but nonexistent.

Anyway, it probably doesn’t matter. All through the Clinton administration and now the Obama administration, Republicans have been fixated on uncovering the scandals they just know have to be out there. But the plain truth is that Obama has run perhaps the cleanest administration in modern history. It’s actually sort of remarkable. There’s plenty of stuff you can legitimately disagree about with him, but there’s been virtually no scandal of the conventional sort.

Either way, though, Krauthammer is probably right. The latest obsession in the House is to impeach the head of the IRS. It’s idiotic because he did nothing wrong, and it’s doubly idiotic because it would never pass in the Senate. It devalues the whole notion of impeachment and makes Republicans look like crackpots.

Then again, PPP recently polled Republicans in North Carolina, and 66 percent supported the idea of impeaching Hillary Clinton “the day she takes office.” This is the conservative movement people like Krauthammer have built. It can hardly come as a surprise to him that their primary mode of governance now consists mostly of an endless quest for malevolent phantoms that Krauthammer and his buddies have been assuring them all along are out there.

Continued – 

Head Witch Hunter Now Wants Fewer Witch Hunts

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Elizabeth Warren Slams Republicans for Bill to Defund Planned Parenthood

by ValenciaBrenner Posted on August 3, 2015

Mother Jones

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As the Senate convened on Monday to vote on a bill seeking to defund Planned Parenthood, Sen. Elizabeth Warren took the floor to issue a fierce defense of the health organization.

“Do you have any idea what year it is?” Warren asked. “Did you fall down, hit your head, and think you woke up in the 1950’s or the 1890’s? Should we call for a doctor? Because I simply cannot believe that in the year 2015, the United States Senate would be spending its time trying to defund women’s health care centers. You know, on second thought, maybe I shouldn’t be that surprised. The Republicans have had a plan for years to strip away women’s rights to make choices over our own bodies. Just look at the recent facts.”

The Massachusetts senator continued her impassioned speech and listed examples of Republican-lead efforts to gut health care services to women over the years, including the recent budget proposal that includes a measure to remove federal funding for family planning providers.

The most recent call to gut federal spending on Planned Parenthood was sparked by several videos secretly recorded by a sting mission that appeared to capture top officials from the organization discussing the sale of fetal tissues. Following the public release of the videos, Planned Parenthood was hit by two cyber-attacks—one aimed at its website and another claiming to have hacked into the organization’s databases and employee information.

The group, which now receives $528 million in federal funding (or 41 percent of its annual budget), also provides contraception to almost 40 percent of women who rely on public programs for family planning.

The videos have already moved Congress to launch two probes into the organization’s activities. Eight Republican governors—including several who are running for president—have opened parallel investigations. Many Republican senators—including several who are running for president—have vowed to strip Planned Parenthood of its hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding.

While its opponents tried to brand Planned Parenthood as an abortion mill, the group has stressed that abortions make up only 3 percent of its services, and STI screenings, Pap tests, and pregnancy prevention comprise the vast majority of its activities.

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Elizabeth Warren Slams Republicans for Bill to Defund Planned Parenthood

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A Campus Cop Killed An Unarmed Black Man In Ohio. It Was Caught On Video. Where’s the Video?

by TobiasEYIO Posted on July 22, 2015

Mother Jones

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Authorities are still withholding crucial video evidence from the public three days after a deadly confrontation between a campus cop and an unarmed black person in Cincinnati, Ohio. On Sunday night, Ray Tensing, a white University of Cincinnati police officer, stopped 43-year-old Samuel Dubose for driving without a license plate. Police say Tensing asked Dubose for his driver’s license multiple times, before Dubose handed over a bottle of alcohol.

When Tensing asked Dubose to step out of the car, a struggle reportedly ensued. Tensing, who has since been placed on administrative leave, allegedly fired his weapon, shooting Dubose in the head. The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that authorities have so far withheld video footage taken from a body camera and a nearby building while the Hamilton County prosecutor’s office investigates the incident. That video has been turned over to the prosecutor’s office for the probe, which is expected to be completed by the end of the week.

Dubose’s death comes after months of national scrutiny, and widespread protests, over police shootings. More than 500 people have been killed by police so far in 2015, according to a Washington Post analysis. It’s worth noting that the arming of campus police officers has also been on the rise: Seventy-five percent of four-year private and public colleges had armed officers during the 2011-2012 school year, up from 68 percent in 2004-2005, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Originally posted here – 

A Campus Cop Killed An Unarmed Black Man In Ohio. It Was Caught On Video. Where’s the Video?

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The Latest From Greece: A Quick Rundown

by dgod36 Posted on July 16, 2015

Mother Jones

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A quick summary of Greece to start my morning (or ease you into lunch if you’re on the East coast):

The Greek parliament has passed the first batch of legislation demanded by the Europeans.
This seriously split Syriza, and could even lead to the downfall of the government. In the meantime, there was rioting in the streets of Athens.
The European Central Bank responded by providing €900 million to Greece’s banks. It’s not much, and capital controls will stay in place for a while. But it keeps the ATMs churning out €60 per day, which is better than €0 per day.
Mario Draghi, the head of the ECB, said it was “uncontroversial” that Greece needs substantial debt relief. It all depends on Greece keeping its side of the deal. So now both the ECB and the IMF—two-thirds of the Troika—are publicly on board with debt relief.

That’s about it for now. Amid the chaos, things are moving forward. Nonetheless, the religious types among you should give thanks daily that you don’t live in Greece.

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The Latest From Greece: A Quick Rundown

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Obama Just Called Out Florida’s Climate Deniers in Their Own Backyard

by DenisIqiummiqml Posted on April 22, 2015

Mother Jones

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President Barack Obama just marked Earth Day with a speech on climate change, given from a podium in Florida’s Everglades National Park. The choice of venue was appropriate from an environmental perspective—the Everglades is already acutely feeling the impacts of sea level rise—but it was also telling from a political standpoint. Although our swampiest national park has a long history of bipartisan support, it’s located in a state that has recently produced some of the most absurdist climate denial in recent memory—and Obama didn’t forget to mention it.

Florida is home not just to Senator Marco Rubio, a GOP presidential contender who maintains that humans can’t affect the climate, but also to Governor Rick Scott, who landed in headlines last month after apparently barring state employees from talking about climate change.

“Climate change can no longer be denied,” Obama said today. “It can’t be edited out. It can’t be omitted from the conversation… Simply refusing to say the words ‘climate change’ doesn’t mean climate change isn’t happening.”

Obama also took a jab at Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) for bringing a snowball onto the Senate floor. “If you have a coming storm, you don’t stick your head in the sand,” he said. “You prepare for the storm.”

You can watch the full speech below (starts at 48:00):

Originally posted here – 

Obama Just Called Out Florida’s Climate Deniers in Their Own Backyard

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Lemony Snicket Walks the Plank

by MarkFranco Posted on January 30, 2015

Mother Jones

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Mark Murrmann

THE NOVELIST DANIEL HANDLER is bobbing ahead of me in the cold bay water at San Francisco’s Aquatic Park. His head, swathed in a red cap, resembles a maraschino cherry, and I struggle to keep up as the current presses me back toward land. “They told me to wear a swim cap so I wouldn’t be mistaken for a seal,” he explains. “So I was always wearing it, but then I wondered, ‘What happens if I get mistaken for a seal? What then?'”

The “Balclutha” docked in Aquatic Park Maddie Oatman

Handler, 44, is best known for his Lemony Snicket kids’ books, but his latest novel, the gruesome and delightful We Are Pirates, isn’t so child-friendly. We’d arranged to meet here at the Dolphin Club, where he swims three or four mornings a week in the presence of historic tall ships such as the mighty Balclutha. Swimming makes him feel free, he says. It lets him shake off his celebrity and escape urban life for a bit.

Gwen, Handler’s 14-year-old protagonist, also yearns to slip away. She’s an awkward kid from SF’s hypersafe Embarcadero neighborhood, grounded for pilfering makeup and a porn mag from the drugstore. Aided by her friends and a demented old man spewing pirate lore, she steals a boat and sets out for high adventure on the bay. As the dazzle of piracy darkens, Gwen’s father, a dweebish radio producer, tries to bring her back to safety. Without skimping on talking parrots, Handler’s novel touches on the nature of modern surveillance and the forces that compel us to reckless acts.

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Lemony Snicket Walks the Plank

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Check Out This Amazing Presidential Debate Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush Just Had

by AlyceL77dvcyrf Posted on January 9, 2015

Mother Jones

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On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Mitt Romney may be running for president again in 2016. Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is also considering a run! Mother Jones DC bureau chief David Corn, who broke the news of this little video back in 2012, had a couple of thoughts about how that battle for the GOP nomination might play out:

We can’t wait.

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Check Out This Amazing Presidential Debate Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush Just Had

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Here’s all the plastic in the ocean, measured in whales

by Megan Smith Posted on December 11, 2014

Here’s all the plastic in the ocean, measured in whales

By on 10 Dec 2014commentsShare

Let’s see how closely you know your marine doom-and-gloom: Just how much plastic can be found in the oceans?

A) A lot.

B) A whole helluva lot.

C) Both A and B.

D) All of the above.

While those answers are all FINE, now we can get a little more specific thanks to a study by the 5 Gyres institute. After spending six years sampling the seas, scientists can say that there are AT LEAST of 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic floating on out there. That adds up to about 269,000 TONS of the stuff. Most of that comes from discarded fishing gear — nets and other large debris — but a non insignificant chunk comes from less auspicious sources, including microbeads in cosmetic products (WHYYY, cosmetic products???).

This was actually less plastic than the researchers expected to find at the surface, but they suspect the missing plastic is likely being eaten by organisms, or otherwise mulched by the gyres, and sinking deeper into the oceans. That probably isn’t a good thing, anyway, since microplastics may introduce unknown pollutants into the ecosystems we rely on for food. But it’s still a LOT! If you can’t wrap your head around just how much plastic that really is, CityLab helpfully drew a comparison to this non-plastic thing you might find in the ocean: An adult blue whale.

Shutterstock

This big guy weighs between 100 and 150 tons. Which means THIS is how many whales’ worth of plastic are floating around out there:

Grist / Shutterstock

That’s 2,150 whales. You’re welcome. (And sorry, oceans.)

Source:
New Research Quantifies the Oceans’ Plastic Problem

, New York Times.

There Are At Least 5.25 Trillion Pieces of Plastic in the Ocean

, CityLab.

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Here’s all the plastic in the ocean, measured in whales

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She & Him & M. Ward

by HildegaBelton Posted on December 8, 2014

Mother Jones

She & Him
Classics
Columbia

M. Ward
Transistor Radio
Merge

Behold the two sides of M. Ward (Matt to his friends), the gifted troubadour who makes nice pop records with actress Zooey Deschanel as She & Him and crafts darker folk-rock fare on his own. Classics finds She & Him covering 13 chestnuts in engaging fashion, with Deschanel taking most of the lead vocals, as usual.

Though she lacks the booming voice of a Dusty Springfield, whose “Stay Awhile” gets a welcome reboot here, Deschanel is a charming singer who sells a lyric with understated grace. See the downcast soul standard “Oh No, Not My Baby” or the enthralling and dreamy “Unchained Melody” for proof. If their sleepy reading of “Stars Fell on Alabama” won’t make anybody forget the timeless Ella Fitzgerald-Louis Armstrong duet, it’s still lovely.

Ward’s stellar 2005 album Transistor Radio, just reissued on vinyl with a CD containing four bonus tracks, has aged extremely well. Without straining for effect, his whispery rasp brilliantly conveys all the simmering desperation and mordant humor of haunting songs such as “Four Hours in Washington” (“It’s 4:00 in the morning and I’m turning in my bed/I wish I had a dream or a nightmare in my head”) and “One Life Away,” recounting a visit to a sweetheart’s grave. Ward can spook a person like few others when he’s in the mood.

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She & Him & M. Ward

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