March 30, 2018

There's just something about Good Friday.

Born and raised in the Great Lakes region, I remember having Good Friday off at (public) school, college and everywhere I worked. So even now, in my "enlightened" years as agnostic Californian, it feels so strange, even offensive, to be working tomorrow I guess there are some things that never leave you.

March 30, 2018

The Platters - Twilight Time (VIDEO)

March 30, 2018

AZ-08: National Republicans commit a half-million dollars to protect red district.

NOTE: FIND OUT HOW YOU CAN HELP HIRAL TIPIRNENI AT hiralforcongress.com

The Arizona race pits former state Sen. Debbie Lesko (R) against Democrat Hiral Tipirneni, a physician and first-time candidate, in the April 24 election. Franks resigned from the seat in December after allegedly discussing paying a staffer to carry his child.

Lesko served in the state legislature for nearly a decade, building relationships in the district. By comparison, Tipirneni is a political newcomer who will need to scramble to build up her name recognition.

But strategists on both sides of the aisle believe Tipirneni is a top-notch candidate, particularly after Democrats neglected to recruit challengers in the past two cycles.

With early voting kicking off Wednesday, Republicans are sending in reinforcements.

The Republican National Committee jumped into the race last week, investing nearly $300,000 in canvassing efforts. And the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is spending $170,000 on TV in a coordinated buy with Lesko’s campaign, an NRCC official confirmed to The Hill.

Meanwhile, the Congressional Leadership Fund, a major GOP super PAC allied with Speaker Paul Ryan (Wis.), is investing $100,000 in a digital and phone program.

In a normal political climate, Republicans wouldn’t have to spend any money to defend the seat. About 45 percent of the voting-age population is 55 or older; it’s overwhelmingly white; and Republicans make up 41 percent of registered voters in the district — a 17-point advantage over Democrats.


http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/380722-gop-seeks-to-avoid-dem-upset-in-arizona

March 29, 2018

Top Facebook Executive Wrote That Site Could Get People Killed But Didn't Care

On June 18, 2016, one of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s most trusted lieutenants circulated an extraordinary memo weighing the costs of the company’s relentless quest for growth.

“We connect people. Period. That’s why all the work we do in growth is justified. All the questionable contact importing practices. All the subtle language that helps people stay searchable by friends. All of the work we do to bring more communication in. The work we will likely have to do in China some day. All of it,” VP Andrew “Boz” Bosworth wrote.

“So we connect more people,” he wrote in another section of the memo. “That can be bad if they make it negative. Maybe it costs someone a life by exposing someone to bullies.

“Maybe someone dies in a terrorist attack coordinated on our tools.”

The explosive internal memo is titled “The Ugly,” and has not been previously circulated outside the Silicon Valley social media giant.

The Bosworth memo reveals the extent to which Facebook’s leadership understood the physical and social risks the platform’s products carried — even as the company downplayed those risks in public. It suggests that senior executives had deep qualms about conduct that they are now seeking to defend. And as the company reels amid a scandal over improper outside data collection on its users, the memo shows that one senior executive — one of Zuckerberg’s longest-serving deputies — prioritized all-encompassing growth over all else, a view that has led to questionable data collection and manipulative treatment of its users. You can read the full post below. Facebook was unable to provide comment at the time of publication.




https://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanmac/growth-at-any-cost-top-facebook-executive-defended-data?bfsplash&utm_term=.atrPM1N3m#.aen6qY3Px

March 29, 2018

Gay pride festival is planned for Pence's hometown

Columbus, Ind. — the hometown of Vice President Pence — will hold its first LGBTQ Pride festival on April 14.

The event is being spearheaded by Erin Bailey, a senior at Columbus Signature Academy-New Tech, according to HuffPost. Bailey organized the festival as her high school senior project.

“It’s this massive undertaking and it’s political risky,” Samantha Aulick, who is supporting the festival, told The Hill on Wednesday. “We live in a conservative community.”

Aulick has lived in Columbus with her wife, Alexa Lemley, for decades but has never seen an event of this kind before in their city of roughly 50,000 people.

“I am organizing Columbus Pride Festival because I feel it is important for members of the LGBTQ community to know that Columbus is a welcoming and diverse community,” Bailey told HuffPost. “Even though Mike Pence is openly anti-gay, that doesn’t mean that all of us in his hometown are.”


http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/380658-high-school-student-planning-first-gay-pride-parade-in-pences

March 29, 2018

Florida Democrats look to expand number of state Senate seats in play

It’s been nearly 25 years since a Democrat presided over the Florida Senate, but if the plans of party leaders and operatives come together, the president’s gavel could be theirs as soon as November.

The Florida Democratic Party and the Florida Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, the recently-established campaign arm of the Senate Democrats, are aggressively working to reshape the map of seats in play this election cycle.

According to multiple sources, including several Democratic state senators, as well as senior staff at the FDP and the FDLCC, the party is:

— Hoping to persuade former state Rep. Amanda Murphy to run for the open seat in Senate District 16, once held by Clearwater Republican Jack Latvala, who resigned in the wake of a sexual harassment scandal. Currently, former state Rep. Ed Hooper is running for the Pinellas-based district against a long-shot Democratic opponent.

— Actively encouraging outgoing state Rep. Janet Cruz to enter the race for SD 18, where she would go up against Republican incumbent Dana Young.

— Expecting trial lawyer Carrie Pilon to challenge incumbent Sen. Jeff Brandes in SD 24, a seat that’s historically flipped back and forth between the parties.

— Investing a higher level of resources than first expected in the campaigns of Kayser Enneking and Bob Doyel, two first-time candidates challenging Republican incumbents Keith Perry and Kelli Stargel, respectively.

— Counting on Alex Penelas, the former mayor of Miami-Dade County, to step up and run for SD 36, where Republican Rene Garcia is term-limited. State Rep. Manny Diaz has already declared for the seat and, in fact, just raised more than $50,000 at his first fundraiser.

Currently, the Florida Senate has 23 Republicans and 15 Democrats, although Lori Berman‘s special election victory is a foregone conclusion, so it’s really 23-16.


http://floridapolitics.com/archives/259946-florida-democrats-look-to-expand-number-of-state-senate-seats-in-play

March 29, 2018

Joe Biden backs Dallet for Wisconsin Supreme Court

In the closing days of Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race, one candidate said he didn't know whether his campaign is collaborating with outside spending groups and the other said she would support moving toward appointing justices instead of electing them.

Those comments came in the home-stretch of a campaign drawing heavy spending and national interest.

Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Rebecca Dallet snagged the endorsement Wednesday of former Vice President Joe Biden, demonstrating the national interest in the race. Meanwhile, a Democratic group has asked the California attorney general to investigate the secret recording of a Dallet fundraiser it held for her in San Francisco this month.


https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2018/03/28/screnock-says-he-doesnt-know-if-he-working-outside-groups-dallet-says-raises-idea-appointing-justice/466706002/

March 29, 2018

TODAY is a big election for Wisconsin State Supreme Court

Rebecca Dallet is running with the backing of labor and the Wisconsin Democratic Party to flip a vacant Reputation-held set. Her opponent is a Walker toadie who shamelessly rests on the NRA’s back pocket. If you want to jump in, go to https://www.dalletforjustice.com and find out how you can help.

March 29, 2018

Gov. Scott Walker abandons court fight to hold off special elections

NOTE: SCHIMEL'S BEHAVIOR UNDERSCORES THE IMPORTANCE OF ELECTING DEMOCRATIC ATTORNEY'S GENERAL.



MADISON - An appellate judge Wednesday became the third in a week to rule against Gov. Scott Walker's attempt to hold off on two special elections, prompting Walker to abandon an attempt to take the issue to the state Supreme Court.

Walker is expected to order the special legislative elections by Thursday's noon deadline set by a judge last week.

Walker and his fellow Republicans who control the Legislature this week have been advancing legislation that could avoid the special elections and they could still pursue that option — which would trigger a new court fight.

District 2 Court of Appeals Judge Paul Reilly in Waukesha left in place a lower court order that the GOP governor call the elections, rejecting Walker's arguments that he needed an extra eight days to let the Legislature change the law and eliminate the need for the elections.

"We know of no law that allows us to disregard the (statute)," reads the order from Reilly, who was first elected to the appeals court in 2010."Representative government and the election of our representatives are never 'unnecessary,' never a 'waste of taxpayer resources,' and the calling of the special elections are, as the governor acknowledges, his 'obligation.' "


Walker and attorneys in GOP Attorney General Brad Schimel's office told the state Supreme Court Wednesday that they were likely to file their second emergency appeal to the state's highest judicial panel.



https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2018/03/28/senate-republicans-hold-hearing-race-block-court-order-special-elections-wisconsin/465333002/

March 28, 2018

WTF!!! Trump to nominate personal physician for VA Secretary

Flashing across my phone. Just when I think it can’t get worse..