17.5 - Good News/Not Good News: Virginia repeals part of HB2

Good News/Not Good News: Virginia repeals part of HB2

Related to that, we also have a sort of Good News/Not Good News bit.

North Carolina has repealed parts of HB2, the state's notorious "bathroom bill." Specifically, it repealed the part that required transgender people use public restrooms, showers, and locker rooms that match the gender on their birth certificate rather than their gender identity. The repeal shows that public pressure and economic boycotts can in fact be tools for change and comes against the background of a recent poll commissioned by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute which showed 53% of Americans opposing laws like HB2.

That's the Good News part. The Not Good News part is that the bill, which Gov. Roy Cooper has signed, maintains the prohibition on local anti-discrimination measures. That is, cities and towns in the state cannot enact local legislation to protect transgender and other LGBTQ folks in their jurisdictions from the discrimination they now face in areas like employment, housing, and health care. One small gain is that the ban is now temporary, supposedly expiring in 2020; another is that local governments can set LGBTQ protections for their own employees and contractors, even though they can't set them for the public at large.

Still, when we recall that this started because Charlotte passed an ordinance to protect the rights of transgender people and that the state responded with HB2, getting the bathroom part out while leaving the ban on local legislation intact amounts to a case of two steps back and one step forward.

A bit of connected disappointing news is that the NCAA, which had threatened to bar North Carolina from hosting championship events if HB2 was not overturned by the end of March, has "reluctantly" agreed to consider bids from the state because the new law "meets the minimal NCAA requirements."

The NCAA had been calling for a complete repeal and I regret that it didn't stand firm on that.

260.1 - Good News: more reactions to HB2

Good News: more reactions to HB2

The law that arose from North Carolina's bill HB2, the one that made it a crime for transgender people to use public facilities that do not accord with the physical gender on their birth certificate and banned local governments from passing laws to protect LGBTQ people from discrimination, continues to produce reactions.

There already had been harsh reactions, including come companies abandoning plans to expand their facilities in the state and the decision by the NBA to pull the 2017 all-star game out of North Carolina.

And now, on September 12, the NCAA declared that HB2 makes it hard to "promote an inclusive atmosphere for all college athletes, coaches, administrators and fans" and so announced that it is pulling seven championship games from North Carolina, a decision quickly followed by the ACC, which says it is pulling next season's neutral site tournament games from the state.

I said before on this topic that I feel badly for the workers who will lose income because of the moves by the NBA, the NCAA, and the various companies that have acted, but the fact is that bigotry must be made to pay a price if it is to be turned back.

This is part of the price that must be paid.

So yes, the decision by the NCAA, increasing pressure on the troglodytes of the North Carolina legislature to revoke HB2, is definitely Good News.

North Carolina Republican Party spokesperson Kami Mueller said in response that the NCAA does not want to have separate lockers rooms for men and women and that it would have "cheerleaders and football players share bathrooms, showers and hotel rooms."

There is one good thing to come out of that tangle of hyperbolic transgenderphobic blather: It shows that the right wing knows it is losing. Which makes the Good News even better.

Sources cited in links:
http://whoviating.blogspot.com/2016/05/2471-some-items-on-lgbtq-rights.html
http://whoviating.blogspot.com/2016/08/2551-good-news-nba-pulls-all-star-game.html
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/ncaa-pulls-championships-nc-hb2
http://www.technicianonline.com/news/article_4b9a629a-7b00-11e6-9841-a34c18764296.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/09/12/ncaa-to-move-2016-17-championship-events-out-of-north-carolina/?wpisrc=nl_p1most-partner-1&wpmm=1

12.2 - Good News: NCAA will extend ban on games in NC if HB2 is not repealed

Good News: NCAA will extend ban on games in NC if HB2 is not repealed

Related to that, you know about the infamous law in NC known as HB2, the so-called "bathroom bill" discriminating against transgender folks. You know about the boycotts and you may also know that despite promises to repeal or at least significantly amend the law, it still stands.

Well, if the law isn't repealed by the end of the month, the NCAA is going to extend its current one-year ban on scheduling NCAA championship games in NC for another four years. That's a potential 133 championship games that NC will lose because of its pig-headed bigotry.

What's more, the expectation is that if the NCAA acts, the ACC will follow. And so will countless amateur and youth sporting organizations.

I said a while back about this that I feel badly for the workers who will lose income because the boycotts, "but the fact is that bigotry must be made to pay a price if it is to be turned back. This is part of the price that must be paid."

247.1 - Some items on LGBTQ rights

Some items on LGBTQ rights

We start the week with some recent news on the LGBTQ rights front. I know I talk about this a lot. One reason is that it's out there, people are thinking/talking/arguing about it; another is that it's been a long-standing concern of mine and it's good to see it reaching that critical mass of public awareness; and most of all because despite the losses, setbacks, and bigotries involved, it still is pleasant to be able to give some attention to something where it feels that we as a society and as a culture actually are making progress. Grudging progress, perhaps, but progress nonetheless.

So let me start by noting that as I do this, Italy is about to pass a law creating civil unions for same-sex couples. [Update: The bill passed on May 11 by a vote of 372-51.]

Italy was the last major Western European country not to recognize some form of legal partnership for same-sex couples, either marriage or civil unions, and even this bill is a heavily-watered down version of one earlier this year after fierce criticism from the Catholic right of a clause that would allow one partner in a same-sex union to adopt the natural child of their partner.

(In one of those "ya gotta just laugh" occurrences, references to "faithfulness" were also stricken because that would make the union "too much like marriage." Apparently, if you're in a civil union, unfaithfulness is to be encouraged.)

Be that as it may, this is still a clear step forward. Heavily-Catholic Italy was a place where this was "never" supposed to happen. So never say never. And in a few years when this has become pretty routine and civilization has not collapsed, there is hope of going further.

By the way, I should emphasize that I referred to Western Europe. Eastern Europe is still a tough place to be anything other than straight.

Here at home, the epicenter du jour is North Carolina, which took its place in the spotlight after the city of Charlotte passed an ordinance expanding protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and the state legislature responded by banning cities and towns in the state from passing laws to protect LGBTQ people from discrimination in their localities. The state included what has become known as a "bathroom bill," one that requires transgender people to use public facilities that accord with the gender on their birth certificate rather than their gender identity, that is, how they think of themselves, how they view themselves, how they live.

North Carolina AttGen Roy Cooper

The bill, numbered HB2, lead to a shower of condemnation, withdrawals by businesses, cancelled concerts, threats of boycotts, and even a statement by state Attorney General Roy Cooper that he would not defend the law in court, which together had Gov. Pat McCrory quickly scrambling to "clarify" the state law.

It has also lead to the Department of Justice suing North Carolina, with US Attorney General Loretta Lynch calling its bathroom bill "state-sponsored discrimination" aimed at "a problem that doesn't exist" and likening it to Jim Crow laws.

The "problem" in this case is what has become the go-to argument for the right-wingers, the vision of men putting on dresses and wigs in order to go into women's bathrooms and locker rooms to harass and assault the women and Omigosh! little girls there.

And yes, it is a problem that doesn't exist. Politifact recently reported "search[ing] far and wide" for an example someone convicted of committing a sex crime in the opposite gender's bathroom or locker room in a place that lets transgender people use the bathroom they feel most comfortable with. They couldn't find a single example anywhere in the US. Neither have any conservative groups been able to point to a single case. It's a problem That. Does. Not. Exist.

What's more, not only is this bathroom bill, as even FOX news host Chris Wallace was moved to call it, "a solution in search of a problem," according to new poll by Public Policy Polling, most folks in North Carolina don't like it much.

According to their results, just 36% of voters in the state support HB2, compared to 45% who oppose it. 54% think it's had a negative impact on North Carolina's economy and 53% think it had a negative effect on North Carolina's national reputation. Perhaps most important, only 37% think its passage has made the state safer while 44% think it has not. And while a lot of the rhetoric around the bill been about protecting women, women both oppose the bill and think it's failing to make the state safer by even wider margins than the population as a whole.

That sort of, if you will, split decision between on the one hand bigots making wild claims to justify their bigotry and on the other people trying to simply face the reality of the existence and therefore of the rights of transgender people, also occurred in another place recently: Texas.

Kent Scribner

On April 26, the Fort Worth Independent School District announced guidelines for school district personnel in acknowledging and supporting the gender identity and expression "that each student consistently and uniformly asserts." It includes instructing personnel to address access to restroom and locker room facilities.

Now, the phrase about gender identity that a student "consistently and uniformly asserts" would seem to do away the screeching about boys putting on skirts to get a peek in the girls' locker room, but of course, that doesn't matter. So Texas' lieutenant governor Dan Patrick is calling for the resignation of school superintendent Kent Scribner, claiming Scribner "has lost his focus and thereby his ability to lead the Fort Worth ISD [Independent School District]" and just to be sure he had covered all his bases, he also said "I call upon the parents within the Fort Worth ISD to take immediate steps to repeal this stealthy scheme and remove Dr. Scribner from his post."

Hilariously, Patrick accused Scribner of having "placed his own personal political agenda ahead of" the students. This despite the fact that just last week, Patrick made clear he would support Texas passing a law prohibiting transgender people from using the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity.

Scribner, for his part, says he is proud of the rules and will not resign.

Finally on this topic for this week, remember Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, one of those shrieking about how same-sex marriage was the doom of all that is good in the world?

Well, Bobby Jindal isn't the governor of Louisiana any more and on April 13, the current governor, John Bel Edwards, issued an executive order that protects state workers and state contractors from being fired, discriminated against, or harassed based on their gender identity or sexual orientation.

It has limitations in that it exempts religious organizations such as the Catholic church that contract with the state to provide services, and since it's an executive order, not a law, it doesn't effect those outside state government. And in fact, outside of a government setting Louisiana law does not provide protections against employment nondiscrimination for LGBTQ workers. Even so, this is still a clear - and considering the location, rather bold - step forward.

I still say: On this issue, it may take time, it may take a generation, but justice will come.

Sources cited in links:
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/05/italian-lawmakers-begin-final-debate-on-bill-allowing-same-sex-civil-unions/
http://www.thelocal.it/20160510/italys-civil-unions-bill-gets-put-to-a-final-confidence-vote
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-11/same-sex-unions-bill-gets-final-approval-in-catholic-italy
http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2016/05/10/eastern_europe_is_still_a_very_hard_place_to_be_queer.html
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/02/23/charlotte-city-council-approves-transgender-bathroom-ordinance-over-governors-protest.html
http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/09/politics/north-carolina-hb2-justice-department-deadline/
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article76503097.html
http://www.salon.com/2016/05/09/ag_loretta_lynch_slams_north_carolina_bathroom_bill_likening_it_to_jim_crow_laws/
http://www.politifact.com/north-carolina/article/2016/apr/22/roundup-hb2-fact-checks-north-carolinas-controvers/
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/4/25/1519775/-Fox-News-host-calls-bathroom-bills-a-solution-in-search-of-a-problem
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2016/04/hb-2-deeply-unpopular-in-north-carolina-voters-think-its-hurting-state.html
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/05/10/477481119/texas-lt-gov-targets-fort-worth-schools-chief-over-transgender-guidelines
http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2016/05/dan-patrick-wants-ft-worth-super-ousted-for-accomodating-for-transgender-students.html/
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/4/13/1514823/-Louisiana-governor-signs-order-protecting-transgender-and-gay-government-workers

Left Side of the Aisle #260

Left Side of the Aisle
for the week of September 15 to 21, 2016

Good News: more reactions to HB2
http://whoviating.blogspot.com/2016/05/2471-some-items-on-lgbtq-rights.html
http://whoviating.blogspot.com/2016/08/2551-good-news-nba-pulls-all-star-game.html
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/ncaa-pulls-championships-nc-hb2
http://www.technicianonline.com/news/article_4b9a629a-7b00-11e6-9841-a34c18764296.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/09/12/ncaa-to-move-2016-17-championship-events-out-of-north-carolina/?wpisrc=nl_p1most-partner-1&wpmm=1

Good News: high schoolers join Anthem protest
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/colin-kaepernick-national-anthem-black-lives-matter_us_57c1a1bde4b085c1ff299efd
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/high-school-football-players-across-us-join-kaepernick-refuse-stand-national-anthem
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/hs-player-protest-anthem-receiving-vile-racist-threats-article-1.2787325
http://www.inquisitr.com/3498668/taking-a-cue-from-colin-kaepernick-high-school-football-players-are-refusing-to-stand-for-the-national-anthem/

Comments on the election: Clinton spoke the truth
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/09/10/republicans-think-hillary-clinton-just-made-her-own-47-percent-gaffe-did-she/?wpisrc=nl_p1wemost-partner-1&wpmm=1
http://www.people.hbs.edu/mnorton/norton%20sommers.pdf
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/07/21/white-people-think-racism-is-getting-worse-against-white-people/?wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1
http://www.salon.com/2016/08/08/u-n-expert-warns-racism-police-threaten-civil-rights-in-u-s-slams-biased-justice-system/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/09/13/muslim-woman-set-on-fire-on-new-yorks-fifth-avenue-in-possible-hate-crime-police-say/?wpisrc=nl_p1most-partner-1&wpmm=1
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bigot-ripping-muslim-women-hijabs-hateful-attack-article-1.2785475
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/judge-sets-aside-rape-charges-probation-so-ex-athlete-can-enjoy-college-experience
https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexcampbell/unfounded?utm_term=.qaAzvR6vp#.nbOKd7ldm
http://wonkette.com/605773/texas-defunding-of-planned-parenthood-improving-womens-health-by-killing-them?google_editors_picks=true
http://www.alternet.org/gender/pew-poll-majority-american-men-63-percent-republicans-believe-sexism-over
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/06/18/support_for_trump_and_muslim_ban_grows_after_orlando_shooting.html

RIP: Vin Scully sets retirement date
http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/17541761/vin-scully-says-call-los-angeles-dodgers-playoff-games

Outrage of the Week: cop fired for failing to kill man
http://www.post-gazette.com/local/region/2016/09/11/Weirton-fired-officer-who-did-not-fire-at-man-with-gun/stories/201609090080
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2016/09/12/west-virginia-cop-fired-for-not-killing-a-man-with-an-unloaded-gun/
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/11/us/whereabouts-of-cast-out-police-officers-other-cities-often-hire-them.html?_r=1

The legacy of 9/11
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/a-reminder-of-the-permanent-wars-dozens-of-us-airstrikes-in-six-countries/2016/09/08/77cde914-7514-11e6-be4f-3f42f2e5a49e_story.html?wpisrc=nl_p1most-partner-1&wpmm=1
http://www.psr.org/assets/pdfs/body-count.pdf
http://economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/2015-Global-Terrorism-Index-Report.pdf
http://www.alternet.org/grayzone-project/homeland-security-chief-hijacking-tragedy-911-scare-public-about-fears-domestic
http://www.alternet.org/grayzone-project/fbi-has-new-plan-spy-high-school-students-across-country
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/04/nsas-call-record-program-911-hijacker-and-failure-bulk-collection
http://whoviating.blogspot.com/search?q=snowden
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/powerful-nsa-hacking-tools-have-been-revealed-online/2016/08/16/bce4f974-63c7-11e6-96c0-37533479f3f5_story.html
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/06/02/patriot-act-usa-freedom-act-senate-vote/28345747/
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/06/primer-executive-order-12333-mass-surveillance-starlet
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/meet-executive-order-12333-the-reagan-rule-that-lets-the-nsa-spy-on-americans/2014/07/18/93d2ac22-0b93-11e4-b8e5-d0de80767fc2_story.html?utm_term=.09701999c148
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/in-nsa-intercepted-data-those-not-targeted-far-outnumber-the-foreigners-who-are/2014/07/05/8139adf8-045a-11e4-8572-4b1b969b6322_story.html?tid=a_inl
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dorothy-samuels/freedom-of-information-improvement-act_b_10535208.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/max-galka/in-2015-the-government-se_b_9666772.html
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/22/james-clapper-nsa-spying-us-data-collection-senate-hearing
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/16/whistleblowers-double-standard-obama-david-petraeus-chelsea-manning
http://www.democracynow.org/2016/9/14/obamas_war_on_whistleblowers_forced_edward
http://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/2016/War%20in%20Afghanistan%20and%20Pakistan%20UPDATE_FINAL_corrected%20date.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Iraq_War
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Syrian_Civil_War
http://thenewpress.com/books/war-on-leakers

What's Left #12

What's Left
for the week of February 16-22, 2017

This week:

Good News: Boy Scouts accepting transgender boys
https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/01/30/boy-scouts-of-america-to-begin-accepting-transgender-boys/21703534/

Good News: NCAA will extend ban on games in NC if HB2 is not repealed
http://whoviating.blogspot.com/search?q=HB2
http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/luke-decock/article131008644.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2017/02/06/ncaa-reportedly-is-on-the-verge-of-blackballing-north-carolina-for-years-over-bathroom-bill/?tid=sm_tw&utm_term=.4f2c0a2e6dbd

Good News: Andrew Puzder out
https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/02/15/trump-labor-secretary-nominee-andrew-puzder-withdraws/21714888/
http://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2017/02/food-workers-puzzled-over-andrew-puzder-secretary-labor
https://www.thenation.com/article/the-real-reason-why-andy-puzder-wont-become-labor-secretary/

Clown Award: Kellyanne Conartist
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/education-department-misspells-apology-for-misspelling-w-e-b-du-bois-name
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/reports-flynn-apologized-to-mike-pence

RIP: Mary Tyler Moore
http://www.sfgate.com/tv/article/Mary-Tyler-Moore-who-turned-the-world-on-with-a-10883884.php
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/mary-tyler-moore-dead-age-80-article-1.2955361?cache=snyfr%2525252525252525253fq%2525252525252525253dxs%2F

RIP: Irwin Corey
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/irwin-corey-comic-who-styled-himself-the-worlds-foremost-authority-dies-at-102/2017/02/07/b39560ae-ed36-11e6-b4ff-ac2cf509efe5_story.html?utm_term=.0ef3ee9b8e2c
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/02/07/513879165/the-worlds-foremost-authority-has-died-prof-irwin-corey-was-102

Outrage of the Week: Glenn McCoy's racist cartoon
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/devos-blocked-from-entering-dc-public-school
http://fusion.net/story/386858/glenn-mccoy-betsy-devos-cartoon/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Problem_We_All_Live_With
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_Bridges
http://arthistory.about.com/od/famous_paintings/ss/The-Problem-We-All-Live-With-By-Norman-Rockwell.htm
https://twitter.com/NotFaulty/status/831586468170723328/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/10/08/white-people-think-racial-discrimination-in-america-is-basically-over/?utm_term=.531dc1d74003
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/07/21/white-people-think-racism-is-getting-worse-against-white-people/?utm_term=.96776c8a3a3f

Update on the resistance
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/heres-what-happened-to-the-25-protesters-arrested-at-sessions-hearing/article/2611440
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/02/domestic-home-care-workers-protest-obamacare/515505/
https://www.abqjournal.com/942506
https://www.yahoo.com/news/evangelical-christians-protest-trump-refugee-ban-outside-prayer-breakfast-170516935.html
https://thinkprogress.org/trumps-national-prayer-breakfast-begins-with-religious-protesters-58142ecfe6ea#.jvw7uowmu
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/2/3/1629773/-OMG-too-good-New-Yorkers-hold-vigil-for-Bowling-Green-Massacre-AT-Bowling-Green
https://www.rt.com/usa/376166-san-francisco-suspend-fbi/
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/thousands-anti-trump-protesters-march-mar-lago/gZVty0uyraYKTwLdwM9OhK/
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/2/7/1630823/-CBS-News-calls-out-Trump-for-Presidential-Statements-Divorced-from-Reality
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/devos-blocked-from-entering-dc-public-school
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/2/11/1632686/-500-rally-in-St-Paul-to-defund-Planned-Parenthood-More-than-5-000-counter-protesters-greet-them
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/2/13/1633320/-Milwaukee-march-brings-thousands-to-protest-a-Sheriff-s-profiling-his-reply-is-abhorrent
http://wbay.com/2017/02/13/thousands-from-wisconsin-to-rally-against-milwaukee-county-sheriff/
http://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/day-without-latinos-milwaukee-march-voces-de-la-frontera-sheriff-david-clarke
http://fox6now.com/2017/02/13/day-without-latinos-hundreds-march-in-milwaukee-to-show-the-power-of-the-people/
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/05/womens-march-mass-protests-scientists-immigrants-climate-change?CMP=share_btn_fb
https://taxmarch.org/
https://www.marchforscience.com/
https://peoplesclimate.org/
https://www.facebook.com/events/245084992585200/
https://www.facebook.com/events/1949652305264195/
http://www.juggalomarch.com/
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/02/05/1630216/-TN-Republican-finally-reveals-and-deletes-his-downright-laughable-evidence-protesters-are-paid
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/attytood/Its-time-for-the-lamest-lie-in-US-politics-to-do-away.html
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/2/6/1630552/-Totally-detached-from-reality-White-House-spokesman-says-protesters-are-paid-professionals
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/2/11/1632598/-Rep-Chaffetz-says-some-of-the-overflow-crowd-in-Utah-were-paid-protesters-from-out-of-state
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/02/13/1633252/-After-accusing-protesters-of-being-paid-Utah-rep-is-getting-invoices-from-protesters
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/02/06/1630517/-Living-in-the-Trump-bubble-anything-he-doesn-t-like-isn-t-real
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/2/7/1630993/-WH-official-pledges-to-smear-press-as-fake-news-until-it-starts-being-nice-to-cry-baby-Trump
http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/25/politics/lamar-smith-donald-trump-news/
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/1/29/1627100/-Kellyanne-Conway-goes-on-bonkers-rant-calls-for-Trump-s-media-critics-to-be-fired
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/03/trump-travel-ban-temporarily-blocked-nationwide
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/827867311054974976
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2017/feb/08/neil-gorsuch-donald-trump-tweet-federal-judge
http://us.cnn.com/2017/02/09/politics/travel-ban-9th-circuit-ruling-immigration/index.html
http://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2017-02-14/injunction-ordered-barring-trump-travel-ban-in-virginia?context=amp
http://crooksandliars.com/
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/05/us/politics/trump-white-house-aides-strategy.html?_r=0

Why the resistance cannot be limited to targeting GOPpers
http://whoviating.blogspot.com/2017/02/just-for-record.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/trumps-russia-detente-collides-with-foreign-policy-reality-in-leaked-call-with-putin/2017/02/10/4dedd4fa-ef7c-11e6-b4ff-ac2cf509efe5_story.html?utm_term=.5610d38c25e6&wpisrc=nl_p1most-partner-1&wpmm=1
http://whoviating.blogspot.com/2017/01/97-footnote-russian-hacking.html
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/14/donald-trump-campaign-russia-intelligence-contact

Left Side of the Aisle #247

NOTE: Left Side is taking a vaction. The next episode will be for the week of June 2 - 8.

Left Side of the Aisle
for the week of May 12-18, 2016

This week:

Some items on LGBTQ rights
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/05/italian-lawmakers-begin-final-debate-on-bill-allowing-same-sex-civil-unions/
http://www.thelocal.it/20160510/italys-civil-unions-bill-gets-put-to-a-final-confidence-vote
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-11/same-sex-unions-bill-gets-final-approval-in-catholic-italy
http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2016/05/10/eastern_europe_is_still_a_very_hard_place_to_be_queer.html
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/02/23/charlotte-city-council-approves-transgender-bathroom-ordinance-over-governors-protest.html
http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/09/politics/north-carolina-hb2-justice-department-deadline/
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article76503097.html#emlnl=Evening_NewsletterIt http://www.salon.com/2016/05/09/ag_loretta_lynch_slams_north_carolina_bathroom_bill_likening_it_to_jim_crow_laws/
http://www.politifact.com/north-carolina/article/2016/apr/22/roundup-hb2-fact-checks-north-carolinas-controvers/
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/4/25/1519775/-Fox-News-host-calls-bathroom-bills-a-solution-in-search-of-a-problem
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2016/04/hb-2-deeply-unpopular-in-north-carolina-voters-think-its-hurting-state.html
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/05/10/477481119/texas-lt-gov-targets-fort-worth-schools-chief-over-transgender-guidelines
http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2016/05/dan-patrick-wants-ft-worth-super-ousted-for-accomodating-for-transgender-students.html/
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/4/13/1514823/-Louisiana-governor-signs-order-protecting-transgender-and-gay-government-workers

Some updates on secret trade negotiations
http://whoviating.blogspot.com/2012/09/left-side-of-aisle-75-part-4.html
http://whoviating.blogspot.com/2015/06/2091-update-on-fast-track.html
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/03/04/3756197/trudeau-visit-preview/
http://www.care2.com/causes/obama-pushes-tpp-despite-overwhelming-concerns.html
http://whoviating.blogspot.com/2015/07/2126-outrage-of-week-state-dept-to.html
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/10/05/3709061/tpp-agreement-reached-environmental-concerns-remain/
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/2/8/1481868/-Obama-signs-TPP-largest-corporate-coup-in-history
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Clinton-Commits-No-TPP-F-by-Dave-Johnson-Corporations_Hillary-Clinton_Issues_Tpp-Trans-pacific-Partnership-160509-882.html
http://www.progressive.org/news/2016/05/188713/clinton%E2%80%99s-vp-trial-balloon-can-she-really-be-full-air
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/34629-chamber-of-commerce-lobbyist-tom-donohue-clinton-will-support-tpp-after-election
http://whoviating.blogspot.com/2015/08/2172-more-on-three-secret-trade-deals.html
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36185746
https://www.nrdc.org/
https://www.nrdc.org/issues/toxic-chemicals
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article44603.htm

Clown Award: Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/05/top-gun-lobbyist-calls-hundreds-child-gun-deaths-occasional-mishaps
http://everytown.org/

Outrage of the Week: Wisconsin Gov. Scott WalkAllOverYou
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/5/7/1523972/-Gov-Scott-Walker-to-form-statewide-pee-database-in-his-latest-attempt-to-stick-it-to-the-poors
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2016/05/06/3776097/walker-drug-test-unemployment/
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/02/26/3624447/tanf-drug-testing-states/

Rapid-fire items
http://www.latimes.com/local/education/me-union-charter-study-20160509-snap-story.html
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/under-the-dome/article76747402.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/05/07/alabamas-top-judge-is-suspended-and-may-lose-job-after-blocking-gay-marriage/?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_headlines
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/seth-abramson/clinton-must-release-wall_b_9857934.html?m=false
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/san-francisco-protesters-targeting-police-brutality-end-hunger-strike-after-17-days
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/04/hunger-strike-san-francisco-police-shootings
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/uks-long-delayed-iraq-war-report-published-july-38984787
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/the-chilcot-inquiry-timeline-of-the-events-from-911-to-the-announced-publication-date-of-chilcot-a7020936.html
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-36024725
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/05/03/us-service-member-killed-in-northern-iraq.html

What's Left #17

What's Left
for the week of April 6 to 12, 2017

This week:

Good News: Alabama limits power to impose death penalty
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/alabama-judicial-override-ends_us_58c83063e4b09cd957673398?

Footnote: Arkansas to create "assembly line of death"
http://www.salon.com/2017/04/04/assembly-line-of-death-arkansas-is-going-to-execute-8-people-over-an-11-day-stretch/
https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/jurisdictions-no-recent-executions
https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/murder-rates-nationally-and-state#MRalpha
https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/states-and-without-death-penalty

Good News: celebrating resistance
http://www.alternet.org/activism/diverse-protest-groups-unite-majority-aiming-large-scale-demonstrations-may-1st
http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45a/058.html
http://www.mcall.com/opinion/yourview/mc-martin-luther-king-vietnam-speech-50th-anniversary-lang-yv-0403-20170402-story.html

Good News: Appeals Court supports rights of transgender people
https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/04/04/us-civil-rights-law-protects-lgbt-workers-from-workplace-bias/22026101/

Good News/Not Good News: Virginia repeals part of HB2
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/03/30/522009335/north-carolina-lawmakers-governor-announce-compromise-to-repeal-bathroom-bill
https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/03/10/poll-americans-oppose-bathroom-laws-limiting-transgender-rights/21879293/
http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/Steven-Petrow-You-can-t-compromise-on-civil-11043391.php
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/NCAA-NC-back-in-running-to-host-events-after-law-11048783.php

RIP: Gilbert Baker
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/gilbert-baker-whose-rainbow-flag-flew-over-the-rise-of-gay-rights-dies-at-65/2017/04/01/07becbe8-16e5-11e7-833c-503e1f6394c9_story.html?utm_term=.a0fc7e51e399

For the Record: a brief comment on the gas attack in Syria
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/04/04/days-after-tillerson-mouths-russian-line-on-syria-assad-uses-gas.html
https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/04/05/an-infantile-argument-experts-pour-cold-water-on-russias-fanciful-explanation-syrian-gas-attack/22027154/
https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/04/04/white-house-blames-obama-administration-assad-regime-chemical-attack-syria/22025672/
http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/30/politics/tillerson-haley-syria-assad-turkey

Update: progress on implementing Colombian peace accord
http://whoviating.blogspot.com/2017/01/86-good-news-of-year-2016-peace.html
https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/03/31/colombias-farc-rebels-give-up-guns-in-disarmament-camps/22020673/
http://colombiareports.com/evidence-indicates-colombia-military-bribing-farc-rebels-abandon-peace-process/
https://panampost.com/julian-villabona/2017/03/22/colombian-armed-conflict-despite-farc-peace-deal/

Footnote: mudslides in Colombia kill hundreds
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-39469033
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-39478189
http://colombiareports.com/farc-caused-south-colombia-flooding-disaster-opposition-senator/

Clown Award: Pennsylvania state Senator Scott Wagner
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/global-warming-report-sunday-shows_us_5884ca53e4b070d8cad322b3
http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/09/politics/scott-pruitt-global-warming-human/
https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2017/03/28/wagner-keynotes-for-natural-gas-advocates-in-harrisburg/
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17228-why-is-the-earth-moving-away-from-the-sun/
http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/89424/how-much-does-increased-world-population-contribute-to-global-warming

Outrage of the Week: new illegal Israeli settlement
http://whoviating.blogspot.com/2004/11/yasser-arafat.html
http://whoviating.blogspot.com/2004/10/and-this-is-why-in-lot-of-ways-it-wont.html
http://whoviating.blogspot.com/2004/07/peas-in-pod.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-settlement-idUSKBN1711K6
http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/30/middleeast/israel-approves-new-settlement/