January 10, 2023

They Were Loving College. Then Ron DeSantis Got Involved.

When Gov. Ron DeSantis and his war on “woke” education took aim at the New College of Florida on Friday, Sam Sharf was surfing with friends an hour down the coast.

Which is to say the 22-year-old sophomore was blissfully unaware that the small public liberal arts school she attended was the latest target in what could be the governor’s hate-fueled march to a Republican presidential nomination.

That day, DeSantis announced the appointment of six new board members at the small Sarasota college, many of whom were ultra-conservative political players and academics. Sharf, a trans woman, said that she returned to shore—and her phone—to find it had blown up with messages from people telling her the news.

“I got really sad and then just, like, laid down,” she told The Daily Beast.

Among the appointees on Friday were Charles R. Kesler, a professor and editor for a publication of the far-right Claremont Institute; Mark Bauerlein, a Trump-allied Emory University professor; and Matthew Spalding, a professor at conservative Christian University Hillsdale College in Michigan.

“It is our hope that New College of Florida will become Florida’s classical college… more along the lines of a Hillsdale of the South,” DeSantis chief of staff James Uthmeier told the right-wing Daily Caller, laying out their plan.

But what immediately caught Sharf’s eye were tweets by incoming board member Christopher Rufo, who only days before had declared that “Gov. DeSantis is going to lay siege to university ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ programs.” In addition to being perhaps the key figure behind the bogus right-wing backlash to mostly nonexistent use of “critical race theory” in schools, Rufo has also been an avid opponent of what he calls “radical gender theory” in education. And among other appeals that form part of his admittedly ruthless political playbook, he has issued callouts on Twitter for “documents, PDFs, audio-video, and training materials related to gender, grooming, and trans ideology in schools.”

Grooming, is, of course, the stuff of obsession among right-wing parents and activists across the country, who seem to falsely believe that they alone are worried about sexual predators and children—and that LGBTQ acceptance invites criminality.

Now, several students interviewed by The Daily Beast who see New College as a safe space for learning are vowing to protect it amid fears that as the small college becomes a big target for a conservative culture war, it will attract racist, sexist, and anti-LGBTQ attacks and even a potential for violence.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/new-college-of-florida-students-call-out-ron-desantis-and-christopher-rufo-takeover?ref=home

DeSatan is going to ruin everything in the state.

January 10, 2023

Trump Can't Stand Being Compared to Hitler

Former President Donald Trump is doubling down on his “I am not Hitler” defamation lawsuit against CNN by adopting the Nazi strategy of attacking journalists as liars, with court papers claiming—without irony—that “Americans are split when asked if the media is actually an enemy of democracy.”

Since October, Trump has been waging war against the Cable News Network over the way it has increasingly drawn comparisons between his Make America Great Again movement and the rise of the Nazis in 1930s Germany.

But in the latest court filings, Trump’s lawyers paradoxically argued that now is the “perfect” time to peel back First Amendment protections for American journalists by asking courts to review legal precedent established in a 1964 case called New York Times v. Sullivan.

“The sustained defamation of falsely linking President Trump to Nazis provides a perfect vehicle for Supreme Court reexamination of Sullivan,” lawyers wrote in their Dec. 30 filing.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/lawsuit-reveals-trump-cant-stand-being-compared-to-hitler?ref=home

LMAO at his lawyers repeatedly referring, in their briefs, to "Adolph" Hitler. They spell as well as he does!

January 9, 2023

I'm a psychologist with an autistic child. A new diagnostic aid leaves me conflicted.

Despite the fact that childhood autism diagnoses have more than doubled in the past 20 years, the condition can be difficult to spot. It can take years to manifest in such a way that it is noticeable, and even once it becomes so, it can still look wildly different — from children who can’t speak and who stim (using repetitive motor movements or speech) to those who might just have trouble figuring out social cues. I know because it was not until my daughter Dahlia was 4 years old that I came to firmly believe there was something clinically “wrong” with her. Now a new test is being developed that can help clinicians spot autism in children earlier than ever. It is the brainchild of researchers from a new startup called LinusBio, who say the new technology can find markers of risk in a hair sample long before symptoms appear.

While it’s still in the early stages and will need federal approval, as a scientist, I am tremendously excited by this news. Any breakthroughs in the science of autism are welcome after decades of stumbling in the dark. Furthermore, as a psychologist myself, I have always believed that more and better data leads to better treatment approaches and outcomes.

But as a mom, I’m not so sure. Dahlia is now 7. Looking back on her childhood so far, I don’t know if she or I would have been better served by knowing about her autism earlier. Of course, there may have been interventions I could have made while her brain was still so plastic in the first three years of her life. Certain targeted methods of playing — creating new neural pathways — might have enhanced her ability to relate and connect. Some of the most innovative autism research focuses on the benefits of these very early interventions. And for kids whose needs are far greater — those who are more deeply impaired by their autism — interventions can alleviate real suffering. Still, I wonder what would have happened had I known about Dahlia earlier.

If I had known, would I have ever discovered how much she likes having her arm rubbed when, desperate for her to make eye contact with me, I took to massaging it? Now, one of our favorite nightly rituals is the “arm massage” we perform for each other while reading stories in bed. When she was content to play in the dirt by herself at the age of 3, would I have insisted instead that she try to make friends, worried that by leaving her there I was “reinforcing” her autism? Would that have gotten in the way of noticing the gorgeous patterns she created, the way she could lose herself for hours in their simple symmetries? If I had known, would I have despaired at the way she squirmed in my arms, thereby reinforcing for both of us the sense that there was something wrong with her, instead of coming around to see it as just another Dahlia-ism, a quirk in my wonderful quirky daughter?

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/new-autism-diagnostic-aid-leaves-conflicted-scientist-mom-rcna64682

As the mother of a person on the spectrum, I'm cautious. It almost feels junk science-y to me.

January 9, 2023

Congress must listen to working families and overhaul healthcare, minimum wage and education

Bernie Sanders

Iam proud to be assuming the chairmanship of the US Senate’s health, education, labor and pensions committee (Help), a committee with wide jurisdiction over some of the most important issues facing the American people. As I move into that position I’m thinking about how we can best address some of the serious challenges facing my fellow Vermonters and working families all across the country.

Today, in terms of health, we have a dysfunctional healthcare system in which we spend the astronomical and unsustainable sum of nearly $13,000 for every man, woman and child, twice as much as most developed countries and almost 20% of our GDP. Yet, despite that huge expenditure, 85 million Americans are uninsured or underinsured and we have worse health outcomes and lower life expectancy than many other nations. While the insurance companies make huge profits, over 500,000 people declare bankruptcy each year from medically related debt, and over 68,000 die because they can’t afford the care they need. Our complicated and fragmented system is so broken that it cannot even produce the number of doctors, nurses, dentists and mental health personnel that we desperately need.

As a nation, we must focus on the reality that the function of a rational healthcare system is to provide quality care for all, not simply huge profits for the insurance industry.

Today, as we pay by far the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs, the pharmaceutical industry is making record-breaking profits and more than a few executives in drug companies are becoming billionaires. Meanwhile, despite billions in government investment in prescription drug research and development, nearly one out of four Americans are unable to afford the medicine their doctors prescribe and too many seniors are splitting their lifesaving pills in half because they can’t afford them. And because Medicare doesn’t cover dental, hearing and vision, there are millions of seniors who are trying to survive without these basic healthcare needs.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/09/congress-healthcare-minimum-wage-education-us-families

January 9, 2023

A trial is set to begin for a Black soldier suing police over violent stop

A U.S. Army lieutenant who was pepper sprayed, struck and handcuffed by police in rural Virginia, but never arrested, will argue to a jury that he was assaulted and falsely imprisoned and that his vehicle was illegally searched.

Video of the 2020 traffic stop got millions of views the next year after Caron Nazario filed the federal lawsuit that is now being heard, highlighting fears of mistreatment among Black drivers and intensifying the scrutiny of the boundaries of reasonable, and legal, police conduct.

The episode also served as a grim signal to many Black Americans that military uniforms don't necessarily protect against abuse of authority by law enforcement.

The trial is scheduled to begin Monday in federal court in Richmond.

https://www.npr.org/2023/01/09/1147786114/trial-set-to-begin-for-black-soldier-suing-police-over-violent-stop

January 9, 2023

"Bolsonaro Must Not Be Given Refuge in Florida," Progressive US Lawmakers Say

Prominent U.S. lawmakers said Sunday that Jair Bolsonaro should not be given safe harbor in Florida after his supporters — animated by the far-right former president’s election lies — launched a massive attack on Brazil’s main government buildings, an assault that came a week after leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was inaugurated.

“Two years ago our Capitol was attacked by fanatics, now we are watching it happen in Brazil,” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) said Sunday evening after thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed and ransacked Brazil’s presidential palace, Congress, and Supreme Court.

“Solidarity with Lula and the Brazilian people,” Omar continued. “Democracies around the world must stand united to condemn this attack on democracy. Bolsonaro should not be given refuge in Florida.”

Just two days before his term ended and he was set to relinquish power to Lula following his failed bid to overturn the October election results, Bolsonaro flew to Orlando, Florida “with plans to stay for at least a month,” The New York Times reported.

According to the Times, Bolsonaro — an ally of former U.S. President Donald Trump — has been “living in a rented house owned by a professional mixed martial arts fighter a few miles from Disney World.” The Washington Post reported last month that “days after Bolsonaro’s loss, allies met with Trump aides in the United States to discuss next steps. His son Eduardo, a Brazilian congressman, met Trump at Mar-a-Lago [in November] in Palm Beach, Florida.”

https://truthout.org/articles/bolsonaro-must-not-be-given-refuge-in-florida-progressive-us-lawmakers-say/

I agree 100%. Deport the bastard back to Brazil and hand him over to Lula's government.

January 9, 2023

What we miss when we go after football

Collisions, tackles and high-impact hits are nothing new in football. But America wasn't prepared to witness Monday night's tragedy, when Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest following a tackle. The 24-year-old collapsed suddenly on the field, causing the NFL to suspend the game. Doctors said Thursday that Hamlin was making substantial progress and his neurologic condition and function are intact.

The play, according to sports experts, appeared to be routine. "It's something that could have occurred to anyone on the field," says Brian Turner, Xavier University of Louisiana psychologist and former college football player.

Yet, it’s rare that a player collapses with cardiac arrest so millions were shocked, players traumatized, as medical personnel used CPR on an unconscious Hamlin for nearly 10 minutes.

Along with an outpouring of support, the shocking injury was a wake-up call to some viewers regarding the "violence" of contact sports. "The View" co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin weighed in Wednesday, saying she now would not "want (her) boys to play football."

It's a longstanding debate – but one that sports psychologists say is typically oversimplified.

"Football certainly poses risks, but I have a hard time saying any sport or physical activity is 'bad' and 'dangerous' as a global statement," says Lindsay DiStefano, department head and professor in the University of Connecticut's Department of Kinesiology.

Every sport comes with challenges, both physical and mental. It's something athletes, coaches and professionals take into consideration to protect the team. But those who have the privilege to minimize football as "sheer violence" are overlooking its significance, experts say: For many, it's a chance to use your athleticism to achieve an education. To make money. To change your life.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2023/01/06/damar-hamlin-injury-nfl-football-safety-debate/10994893002/

This is a really thoughtful article. As the mom and now grandma of athletes and a retired cardiology RN, I urge everyone to read it.

January 8, 2023

Elon Musk attorneys try to move trial from California to Texas, citing 'local negativity'

Attorneys for Tesla and Elon Musk are asking a federal judge in San Francisco to move, or delay, a forthcoming trial from Northern California to Western Texas, saying they won’t be able to find unbiased jurors and citing “local negativity” toward Musk.

Musk, and other current and former Tesla board members, are set to face a jury in a shareholder class action that claims the CEO manipulated Tesla’s stock in 2018 when he tweeted that he was considering taking his electric vehicle company private at $420 per share, and had “funding secured” to do so.

Tesla’s stock trading initially halted, then shares were highly volatile for weeks after the tweets.

That year, Musk resided in California and Tesla was headquartered in Palo Alto. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO moved his residence to Texas in 2020, and his electric vehicle company relocated its headquarters to Austin in 2021.

In 2022, Northern California Senior District Judge Edward M. Chen, who is overseeing the trial, ruled that Musk’s statements in 2018 were false and that he tweeted them knowingly.

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/elon-musk-attorneys-try-move-trial-california-texas-citing-local-negat-rcna64745

Do they think pretty much everybody everywhere doesn't hate Eloon? They're delusional.....

January 7, 2023

Lawyer for Alex Jones and Proud Boys leader loses license for 6 months over Sandy Hook records leak

A lawyer for InfoWars founder and host Alex Jones has been suspended from practicing law in Connecticut for six months after allegedly improperly releasing confidential records related to the Sandy Hook defamation case.

The lawyer, Norman Pattis, also currently sits on the legal team for Joseph Biggs, a member of the Proud Boy charged with seditious conspiracy and other crimes in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack.

“We cannot expect our system of justice or our attorneys to be perfect, but we can expect fundamental fairness and decency,” Judge Barbara Bellis wrote in a court order suspending Pattis' law license. “There was no fairness or decency in the treatment of the plaintiffs’ most sensitive and personal information, and no excuse for (Pattis’) misconduct.”

Among the documents released were medical records for family members of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims, two years of Jones' text messages and other confidential files.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/01/07/alex-jones-lawyer-temporarily-loses-license-sandy-hook/11007583002/

As my dad would say, in a mock Russian accent, "Is not enough, but is SOMETHING!"

January 7, 2023

Scientists Discovered These Ancient Cities Have a Secret Link to the Cosmos

Archaeologists have discovered that indigenous Mesoamericans developed their unique 260-day calendar more than 3,000 years ago, pushing the timeline of this sophisticated timekeeping system back by several centuries and revealing that ancient settlements were built in alignment with cosmic events, reports a new study.

The oldest known written record of this influential calendar dates to around 250 BCE, but researchers have long suspected that it must have originated much earlier. Its 260-day cycle, which is broken down into 13 periods that last 20 days, was central to the Maya and Olmec civilizations that flourished in central America for centuries before the arrival of Europeans, and is still practiced by some of their descendents to this day.

Now, researchers led by Ivan Šprajc, head of the Institute of Anthropological and Spatial Studies Research Center at the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, have used aerial laser observations, known as LiDAR, to show that ancient architectural complexes in southern Mexico are aligned with celestial cycles, such as the rising and setting of the Sun, that correspond to the 260-day calendar.

The discovery provides “the earliest evidence of the use of the 260-day calendar, centuries earlier than its previously known use in textual records,” according to the team’s study, which was published on Friday in Science Advances.

“It is now clear that a complex worldview, in which astronomical knowledge conditioned by practical concerns was intertwined with religious concepts and ritual practices, and which is abundantly evidenced in later Mesoamerica…began to take shape much earlier than previously thought, and was already materialized in the earliest monumental constructions,” Šprajc said.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/jgp37x/scientists-discovered-these-ancient-cities-have-a-secret-link-to-the-cosmos

More good stuff got y'all to ponder. The people who were here before us weren't "savages".