In More Very Obvious News, Jeff Session is a Lying Liar Who Lies

From the Washington Post…

Then-Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) spoke twice last year with Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Justice Department officials said, encounters he did not disclose when asked about possible contacts between members of President Trump’s campaign and representatives of Moscow during Sessions’s confirmation hearing to become attorney general.

One of the meetings was a private conversation between Sessions and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak that took place in September in the senator’s office, at the height of what U.S. intelligence officials say was a Russian cyber campaign to upend the U.S. presidential race.

The previously undisclosed discussions could fuel new congressional calls for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate Russia’s alleged role in the 2016 presidential election. As attorney general, Sessions oversees the Justice Department and the FBI, which have been leading investigations into Russian meddling and any links to Trump’s associates. He has so far resisted calls to recuse himself.

[Read more…]

Terrifying Bills Filed in Congress…

The following bills have been filed in Congress. Some have even already passed the Senate or House.

They include terminating needed agencies, defunding Planned Parenthood, criminalizing abortion, etc. Some have no summaries written at the Congress.gov link, so I did not include summaries here. For those who don’t know, Congress.gov is where you can go to basically, follow legislative sessions. You can find out what bills, resolutions, etc have been filed, and keep a close watch on ones that interest or worry you.

Please make your voices heard and register your complaints about these bills. Not one can be allowed to pass…

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A Note About the “Self Care” Series…

This really should be obvious at this point, but the series has basically become anything that’s positive or good news and not related to the administration (the only time it will be related is if I have good news to report about the 2018 midterm elections, although my hope for that is non-existent).

You may also start seeing it more than once a day sometimes.

There’s so much terrible shit coming from the government that I need to subset that with happy, feel-good, unrelated stuff as often as possible, so…

There will still be a continued Self Care post around noon; but you’ll probably see it more often on some days.

Dear Mr. Trump…

You’ve already seen this over on the Resist blog and at Affinity. I’m putting it here, too.

Avaaz has a global letter going, and they’d like to get 6 million signatures. I’ve signed. Please, sign yourself, and boost the signal! We can make our voices heard.

Please make sure you sign it. I did.

Here’s the letter in full…

This is not what greatness looks like.

The world rejects your fear, hate-mongering, and bigotry. We reject your support for torture, your calls for murdering civilians, and your general encouragement of violence. We reject your denigration of women, Muslims, Mexicans, and millions of others who don’t look like you, talk like you, or pray to the same god as you.

Facing your fear we choose compassion. Hearing your despair we choose hope. Seeing your ignorance we choose understanding.

As citizens of the world, we stand united against your brand of division.

Sincerely,
[Add your name!]

Go ahead and add your name. Everyone needs to sign it.

New on the US Education Task Force! The Return of Christian Young-Earth Creationism!

So… our Screaming Carrot Demon in Chief announced the name of the man who will be leading his Education Task Force.

If you were expecting someone who was actually qualified, you clearly weren’t paying attention to Betsy Devos. If the name I’m about to give you sounds like “of course. He would pick him.”, then you have been paying attention…

Evangelical leader Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University, will lead an education task force put together by President Donald Trump, a spokesman for the university told CNN Thursday.

Len Stevens, the school’s spokesman, said Falwell — the son of Jerry Falwell Sr., the late televangelist — will push to stop regulations coming out of the Education Department, especially those that apply to colleges and universities.

The White House declined to comment.

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GoFundMe “Defense against Carrier SLAPP Suit”

https://www.gofundme.com/defense-vs-carrier-slapp

I’m just gonna quote:

Dr. Richard Carrier is suing us for reporting  on his well-known allegations of misconduct. These allegations were widely reported on throughout the community, including by third-parties critical and sympathetic to him who are not themselves defendants.

This lawsuit has all the hallmarks of a SLAPP suit — a lawsuit filed to stifle legitimate criticism and commentary. The named defendants are Skepticon, The Orbit, and Freethought Blogs – as well as individuals Lauren Lane, the lead organizer of Skepticon; Stephanie Zvan, a blogger for The Orbit; PZ Myers, a blogger for Freethought Blogs; and Amy Frank-Skiba, who publicly posted her first-hand allegations against Carrier.

We need your help to keep our voices alive. All the defendants are represented by the same attorney, First Amendment lawyer Marc Randazza. Randazza is providing his services at a significant discount, but we are not asking him to work for free. Plus, there are thousands of dollars in “costs” for the case that don’t include legal bills, and there is no way to discount those. In order to continue fighting this lawsuit, we, the defendants of this case, have put together this campaign to raise money to defray our costs, some of which is outstanding. Donations will be used only for this case. In the event that the funds raised exceed our legal bills, they will be donated to Planned Parenthood .

We are pooling our defense costs with Skepticon, however as a 501(c)3 non-profit Skepticon is also conducting its own fundraiser where donations may be tax-deductible (ask your tax advisor). Skepticon cannot use donations it receives to help pay the shares of other individuals or organizations, though, and any excess funds raised via their campaign will go to the Skepticon conference fund.

We are confident that the court will uphold our First Amendment rights. But, through time, stress, and of course financial expense, every case like this has a chilling effect. Your support enables us to fight, and creates a warmer environment – not just for us but for others in the future.

Thank you for your support of freedom of speech, and may your new year be powerful and effective!

-Amy Frank-Skiba
-Lauren Lane
-PZ Myers
-Stephanie Zvan

Please donate.

Thank you.

Chelsea Manning Will Be Free in May 2017

Y’all probably already know it, but I just want to join the celebration:

President Obama has commuted Chelsea Manning’s sentence. She is to be released in May 2017.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday overruled his secretary of defense to commute the sentence of former Army soldier Chelsea Manning, who was convicted of stealing and disseminating 750,000 pages of documents and videos to WikiLeaks.

I cannot express in words how happy I am. Chelsea Manning was unjustly imprisoned, and she will finally see the freedom she deserves.

I’ve always supported her, and I will continue to. She deserves it.

Sadly, being the relentless cynic that I am, I have to reign a little bit on the parade…

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The Resistance Manual – a Project by Stay Woke

Because I’m signed up to Campaign Zero, I got an email today from Deray Mckesson. It was to tell subscribers about The Resistance Manual.

To quote from the email:

Today, we launch the Resistance Manual — an open-source platform to collect information/resources to resist Trump’s agenda & to continue making progress towards equity and justice in America.

Explore the manual to learn about the policies the incoming administration plans to pursue, how they’ll impact our communities, and what you can do to stop them through federal, state, and local advocacy.

You can also find and contribute essential readings in resistance, learn and contribute information about policy issues in your state, and view a growing list of tools and organizations that can help to strengthen your advocacy efforts.

The manual will grow over time as more and more people contribute updates, facts and resources to it. As such, we encourage you to contribute important information for others to read.

If you would like to assist us in growing the content within the Resistance Manual, please reply to this e-mail directly.

We also urge you to dial (844)-6-RESIST to tell Congress to support the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and to vote against Jeff Sessions.

Get educated. Get organized. Take Action.

// DeRay, Netta, Brittany, & Sam

P.S. Shout-out to Chi/Donahoe for assisting with Design.

I really don’t have much to add. Please join the wiki, use, and contribute.

I’ve been ignoring the Orange Cheeto Fascist up to now because I simply cannot believe it. And while I was pretending this past presidential election didn’t happen, fucking Jeff Sessions (the man so racist that Strom Thurmond didn’t want him to be a federal judge in Alabama in 1986) was nominated as Attorney General. I cannot express how badly I want him rejected, but I have little to no hope.

The Resistance Manual is a place to gather and collect all of the ways, large and small, we can resist and fight for the next four years. Please join, contribute, and use for your own activism, as I will be for mine.

Thank you.

Hey! Come Write With Us!

We’re taking applications for bloggers!

I’m gonna repeat Shiv, and mention that we’re looking to become a more diverse network, so…

We are particularly looking to boost our representation of people of colour, women, gender or neuro- diverse folks and anyone who occupies any or all of those intersections and who burn with the fires of urinary tract infections social justice.

If you’re interested, send your application to ftbapplications@googlegroups.com with the following information:

Name

Contact email

Do you want your email public?

Twitter account, if any

Link for donations, if any

Links to your current blog, any biographical material, or best examples of your writing in comments or forums or other media

Why do you want to write for us?

You can find the details here.

Definitely consider joining this community. It’s worth it, believe me.