February 13, 2017

Remember These Odds

11 to 10.

That's the chance British betting firm Ladbrokes gives President Trump of being removed from office or resigning - just shy of even money. Professional bookies say Trump's unpredictability has been a windfall for casual betting markets.

February 11, 2017

NFL more forceful on Texas 'bathroom bill' after Super Bowl

http://www.democraticunderground.com/113748904

February 11, 2017

NFL more forceful on Texas 'bathroom bill' after Super Bowl

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- The NFL sharpened its warning to Texas on Friday about a "bathroom bill" targeting transgender people, suggesting for the first time that the football-crazed state could miss out on hosting another Super Bowl if the proposal is enacted.

"If a proposal that is discriminatory or inconsistent with our values were to become law there, that would certainly be a factor considered when thinking about awarding future events," league spokesman Brian McCarthy said in response to an email question about the Texas bill.

Although the NFL released a statement about inclusiveness earlier this month prior to the Super Bowl in Houston, it didn't address whether the bill could put future such events at risk for the state.

The NFL has selected future Super Bowl sites through 2021, none of which are in Texas. Dallas hosted the game in 2011 and three Super Bowls have been played in Texas since 2004, which is second only to Florida.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/nfl-more-forceful-on-texas-bathroom-bill-after-super-bowl/ar-AAmOx6R?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartanntp

February 11, 2017

Kmart and Sears drop Trump(from websites)

There’s a good chance that you haven’t been inside either a Kmart or a Sears in decades. Most Americans haven’t, which is why the brands (both owned by Sears) are in trouble.

On Thursday, they might have had some inspiration, though. Nordstrom dropped their line of Ivanka Trump clothing and jewelry brand and despite a bitter tweet from Ivanka’s father, their stock surged.

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“As part of the company’s initiative to optimize its online product assortment, we constantly refine that assortment to focus on our most profitable items,” a Sears Holdings spokesperson told Business Insider. “Amid that streamlining effort, 31 Trump Home items were among the items removed online this week. Products from the line are still offered online via third-party Marketplace vendors.”

While you can still find some items for Trump home and some shoes in Ivanka’s line on their third-party part of their website, here’s what happens when you search the store part of Kmart’s website.




http://addictinginfo.org/2017/02/11/two-more-stores-drop-trumps-merchandise-they-know-hes-toxic/

February 11, 2017

Insurers could face impossible task of collecting billions of dollars owed them by government

snip

A judge ordered the federal government Thursday to pay Oregon insurer Moda Health $214 million after failing to fully compensate the company for so-called risk corridor claims under Obamacare.

Other insurers that also sell Obamacare plans have current claims on $8 billion more related to the same program, and those claims could rise to as high as almost $15 billion once 2016 plan results are finalized.

snip

That's because the Republican-led Congress, whose actions led to the insurers getting stiffed on that cash in the first place, also has the power to bar the government from paying the insurers any legal judgments related to the money.

snip

"Our president, however, has a track record of stiffing business partners. I wouldn't be surprised if he signed a law doing just that."

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/10/obamacare-insurers-face-impossible-task-of-collecting-billions-of-dollars.html

February 10, 2017

While Thousands Died From Gun Violence, The NRA Paid Wayne LaPierre $4 Million

13,485 people in the U.S. died from gun violence in 2015, and the NRA handed their top shill Wayne LaPierre $4 million for helping make that happen.

That’s right. The Washington Post reports the National Rifle Association’s executive VP and CEO got this “hefty bump in pay” sometime between 2014 and 2015.

According to the organization’s 990 tax form, the NRA reported that LaPierre made $5,110,985 in annual compensation from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2015. LaPierre made $985,885 in 2014. The vast majority of the salary jump, according to the NRA, was due to the payout of a $3.7 million retirement plan.

And that was just a retirement payout. He also made $1,090,515 in salary for 2015, plus a $150,000 bonus. Why? Most likely because under Wayne LaPierre’s leadership, the pro-gun group has raked in beaucoup bucks despite a “dip in contributions” from members.

http://freakoutnation.com/2017/02/while-thousands-died-from-gun-violence-the-nra-paid-wayne-lapierre-4-million/

February 10, 2017

Women could sue 10 years after abortions under new Florida House bill

TALLAHASSEE — Women who are injured or feel emotional distress for up to 10 years after an abortion could sue their doctors under a new proposal being pushed by state lawmakers.

Approved on a 10-6 vote by a House subcommittee on Thursday, the legislation (HB 19) is the first bill that could restrict a woman's access to an abortion to gain support in the state Capitol this year. And it won't be the last.

Rep. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, a lawyer in her first year in the Legislature, sponsored the bill. She says the measure will help women whose doctors don't properly obtain their informed consent by giving them as much as a decade to file suit — longer than the two years allowed under existing medical malpractice laws.

"Because of the stigma associated with the procedure in our society, sometimes women are not as willing to speak out, which would make it difficult for them to decide to do that within the two-year period," Grall said. "It's a timing issue."

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/women-could-sue-10-years-after-abortions-under-new-florida-house-bill/2312725

February 10, 2017

Online sales for the Ivanka Trump brand fell 26 percent in January

While Nordstrom dropping Ivanka Trump merchandise got a lot of headlines, it's not the only online retail partner seeing slower sales for the brand.

According to an analysis of email receipts by Slice Intelligence, online, Nordstrom sells the most by revenue, followed by Macy's.com, third is Zappos.com (owned by Amazon), Amazon (where most is sold by third-party sellers) is fourth, and Bloomingdale's.com (owned by Macy's) rounds out the top five. (Slice Intelligence analysis comes from a panel of 4.4 million online shoppers.)

Slice Intelligence said sales declines of Ivanka Trump goods online were evident after the election, and beyond. Ivanka Trump's online sales fell 26 percent in January compared to January 2016.

Sales of Ivanka Trump merchandise on Nordstrom.com fell 63 percent in the fourth quarter, dropped 43 percent on Zappos.com and 31 percent at Amazon.com compared to the previous year.

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/09/online-sales-for-the-ivanka-trump-brand-fell-26-percent-in-january.html

February 10, 2017

Expedia CEO's closing remark on earnings call:

'Hopefully we will all be alive to see the end of next year'

Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi ended the travel company's fourth-quarter earnings call Thursday with a remark that had some people doing a double take.

When the CEO was asked for closing remarks, he responded by thanking the company's global employee base for the improved performance in 2016 and then added, "Hopefully we will all be alive to see the end of next year."

CNBC reached out to Expedia for comment. A spokesman responded, "We do not have anything additional to share."

Still, Khosrowshahi's comment did result in several tweets, including one that called him a "Trump critic."

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/09/expedia-ceos-closing-remark-on-fourth-quarter-earnings-raises-eyebrows.html

February 9, 2017

This Group of Black Women Is Taking Up Arms to Fight Racism and Misogyny

What radical black womanist politics organized around self-defense actually looks like, and why it matters.

There was no wild rhetoric about "killing whitey" or clandestine plots to ambush and torture cops when I attended a political education class hosted by Dallas's Black Women's Defense League last year. Instead, there were a lot of women of color speaking from the heart, telling one another how they felt when they walk down the street alone, sharing the fears they had for their children growing up in America today. Some of these sisters rocked kente cloth with dreads, while others had weaves and perms and wore skirts and heels. A few of the women were decidedly old school: They were alive when the original Black Panthers stormed the California State Capitol building with shotguns in 1967. But there were millennials on hand, too—ladies with hip-hop songs paused on their iPhones and books like The New Jim Crow tucked into their purses.

The Black Women's Defense League first popped up on my radar thanks in part to its red, black, and green logo, which features a woman with an afro toting a shotgun. After flipping through photos of the founder, Niecee X, brandishing firearms on social media, I couldn't help relating to the group's advocacy of firearms for self-defense. Even though I've never owned a gun, I've certainly thought about it, tempted by the illusion of security it might offer in a country where someone like George Zimmerman, a vigilante who took a young black life like mine on a whim, can walk away scot free. But prior to actually meeting with the group, I failed to grasp the scope of the issues they grapple with. As Ibora Ase, one core member of the Black Women's Defense League, put it to me, black women don't just have to fight "the man—we have to fight our men."

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/this-group-of-black-women-is-taking-up-arms-to-fight-racism-and-misogyny