BlueWaveNeverEnd
BlueWaveNeverEnd's JournalHuge rallies condemn violence against women in Italy
Italy's president said the murder of women could not be tolerated.
In a statement marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Sergio Mattarella said: "Dramatic news stories have shaken the country's conscience.
"A human society that aspires to be civilised cannot accept, cannot endure, this string of attacks on women and murders," he said, adding that violence against women was a failure of society.
Data from the Italian interior ministry shows that 106 women have so far been killed in Italy this year, 55 of them allegedly by a partner or ex-partner.
The protests take place amid a backdrop of public anger and soul-searching over the murder of Ms Cecchettin, a 22-year-old biomedical engineering student who had been due to graduate from the University of Padua last week.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/huge-rallies-condemn-violence-against-women-in-italy/ar-AA1kwiPn
Suspect Filippo Turetta, 21, landed at the Venice airport around mid-morning on Saturday. He was immediately transferred to a prison in the northern city of Verona to face questions in the investigation into Cecchettin’s death, Italian media reported.
Cecchettin had disappeared after meeting Turetta for a burger at a shopping mall near Venice, just days before she was to receive her degree in biomedical engineering. The case gripped Italy.
Her body was found on Nov. 18 — covered by black plastic bags in a ditch near a lake in the foothills of the Alps. Turetta was arrested the following day in Germany.
Cecchettin’s killing has sparked an unprecedented wave of grief and anger in Italy, where many women say patriarchal attitudes are still entrenched.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/suspect-in-young-womans-killing-is-extradited-as-italians-plan-to-rally-over-violence-against-women/ar-AA1kvQKL
Male soccer players in Italy join campaign to eliminate violence against women
Players and coaches across the top men’s soccer league in Italy had red marks painted on their faces to promote a campaign for the elimination of violence against women on Saturday.
The initiative coincided with rallies across Italy to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, just as an Italian man suspected of killing his ex-girlfriend was extradited from Germany.
https://www.foxsports.com/stories/soccer/male-soccer-players-in-italy-join-campaign-to-eliminate-violence-against-women
Report: 1.3M Teachers, 100,000 Professors Now Under 'Educational Gag Orders'
o far this year, 110 bills seeking to restrict discussion of race, U.S. history and LGBTQ people in schools and colleges have been introduced in state legislatures, and 10 became law, according to a new report from the free-speech watchdog group PEN America. Added to the 20 such bills passed in 2021 and 2022, and 10 executive orders and state agency mandates, there are now 40 legal restrictions on educator speech in 21 states.
PEN estimates 1.3 million K-12 teachers and 100,000 public college and university professors are now affected, as are millions of students.
The analysis traces how proponents of what PEN calls educational gag orders have adjusted their tactics over the last three years. The authors say this reveals both rising public opposition to the laws and efforts by the restrictions’ right-wing backers to steer around political flashpoints. As a result, they say, they expect more — and more draconian — bills in 2024.
“What we have seen this year is that the people who are advocating for these laws are not going to stop because the poll numbers are bad, they’re not going to stop because some parts of the laws have been struck down by the courts, they’re going to continue,” says Jeremy Young, program director of PEN’s Freedom to Learn initiative. “They’re going to continue to evolve these laws in more and more insidious ways.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/report-1-3m-teachers-100-000-professors-now-under-educational-gag-orders/ar-AA1kbweb
dog had been missing after carjacking. Moment dog is returned to family
https://www.reddit.com/r/MadeMeSmile/comments/17hefho/this_couple_was_carjacked_a_few_weeks_ago_lucy/GOP Presidential Field Shrinks as Larry Elder Withdraws, Talk show host endorses Trump
He ran against Gavin Newson in the California Gov recall and got walloped. But his ego was swollen because he had won the GOP primary. But he is unelectable because of the significant amount of documented comments made in his rightwing radio history. Comments that are anti women, anti Black, anti civil rights.GOP Presidential Field Shrinks as Larry Elder Withdraws
Talk show host endorses Trump
A Republican presidential candidate and talk radio host has ended his campaign. Larry Elder said Thursday that he's throwing his support to Donald Trump, the AP reports. It's not clear how much weight Elder's endorsement will carry; he didn't qualify to participate in either GOP debate. Elder said he filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission after being shut out of the first debate, and he stated his case here. Elder hasn't registered on major polling trackers, per the Hill.
https://www.newser.com/story/334303/radio-host-larry-elder-launches-white-house-bid.html
The Elder campaign did not provide comment when CNN requested it.
He has mocked premenstrual syndrome, known as PMS, calling it “Punish My Spouse (or Significant Other).” He prominently promoted on his webpage a 1950s textbook on “how to be a good wife” that said women should “have dinner ready” and told them, “Don’t complain.” He reposted an article on his website comparing single mothers on welfare to stray cats.
Elder has already faced some backlash for derogatory remarks he made about women in a 2000 column, in which he wrote that “Women know less than men about political issues, economics, and current events” and claimed that this gave Democrats an edge over Republicans because “the less one knows, the easier the manipulation.”
His disparaging comments have been as recent as January 2017, when he deleted a tweet that implied women taking part in the Women’s March were too unattractive to be sexually assaulted, according to the Los Angeles Times.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/19/politics/kfile-ca-recall-larry-elder-on-women/index.html
With Home Insurance Skyrocketing, Some Floridians Are 'Going Bare'
With Home Insurance Skyrocketing, Some Floridians Are 'Going Bare'
Many who own their homes outright are choosing to drop hurricane insurance
With home insurance rates skyrocketing, some homeowners in Florida are choosing to "go bare"—go without home insurance, particularly expensive hurricane insurance, despite the risk of losing everything. Those with mortgages are required to have insurance, but many people in communities like West Palm Beach who have paid off their mortgages have chosen to drop insurance when facing premiums that have gone up around 40% this year, NPR reports. Others have chosen to leave the state, where insurance costs are the highest in the nation at more than triple the national average.
An example: Pete and Susan Sinclair decided to drop insurance on their home in West Palm Beach's historic Flamingo Park neighborhood when their renewal jumped to $10,000 this year. "If the house does blow over, we can sell the land and move on," Susan Sinclair tells the Wall Street Journal.
Another neighborhood resident, Palm Beach County Mayor Gregg Weiss, says he paid off his mortgage and dropped insurance when the windstorm portion doubled to $20,000. Soaring property prices have contributed to the surge in insurance rates, which has left many homeowners with premiums that cost more than their mortgages.
The increase in natural disasters caused by climate change has caused a rise in insurance costs in Florida and other states most at risk. The soaring cost of construction and repairs has also played a role, as has a rise in litigation. Florida lawmakers passed a bill to deal with the latter issue last year, though it hasn't led to a drop in premiums yet.
https://www.newser.com/story/341887/home-insurance-rates-are-driving-people-out-of-florida.html
Debt Collective buys $10 million in student loan debt from Morehouse College for $125,000 and cancels it
Agroup of student loan activists against sometimes crippling bills for education made a lot of students happy recently when they bought off millions of dollars in student loan debt, then requested permission to cancel, or pay off the balances on accounts.
The group known as the Debt Collective said it worked with another organization called Rolling Jubilee Fund to buy off almost $10 million in debt from Atlanta's Morehouse College, striking a deal to buy it off for $125,000.
The group then requested final permission to have balances of at least 2,777 accounts eliminated, and effectively considered paid in full.
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Braxton Brewington, a spokesperson for the Debt Collective said, “Our nation is defaulting on the promise of education."
He said U.S. students face "crushing amounts of student debt."
After the debt from nearly 3,000 accounts connected to Atlanta's historically Black Morehouse University was transferred to the Jubilee Fund to be settled up, the financial burden eliminated came out to $9,707,827.67.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/personalfinance/student-debt-activists-buy-off-millions-in-loans-then-cancel-them/ar-AA1iQZTg
NY Sheriff Mike Carpinelli says he will arrest teachers, superintendents that affirm gender identity despite legality
A New York law enforcement officer radicalized by a sect of sheriffs who believe they don’t have to obey state or federal law said he’s going to arrest teachers who affirm gender identity, as they are mandated to do by state law, newly surfaced video shows.
Sheriff Mike Carpinelli, a reported member of the extremist group the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, pledged to ignore state law in the New York county he patrols during a Facebook live-aired show “Save NY” earlier this year.
“This is what I plan on doing,” Carpinelli said. "If any parent goes to school, they find out that the administration is pushing this pedophile, this anti-gender crap…we’ll take a formal complaint from you.
“We’ll arrest that school teacher,” Carpinelli said. “We’ll arrest that superintendent.”
The Lewis County sheriff’s oath aligns with the beliefs of an organization whose reach has begun to spread across the nation.
The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association is led by former Arizona sheriff Richard Mack, who believes a county sheriff represents the ultimate authority in his district and should not obey federal or state law or measure he deems unconstitutional, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/radical-sheriff-vows-to-arrest-teachers-who-affirm-gender-identity-as-mandated-by-law/ar-AA1iUfcr
update. Maine mass shooting. 18 killed - almost all male, 13 injured
per the gov at live conference
Mike Johnson Wanted to Sentence Abortion Doctors to "Hard Labor"
Mike Johnson Said Same-Sex Marriage Would Lead to People Marrying Their Pets, Wanted to Sentence Abortion Doctors to “Hard Labor”
Oh, and not surprisingly, Johnson’s take on abortion is just about as horrifying as his take on gay people:
https://twitter.com/DemWomenCaucus/status/1717230510219362379
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/10/mike-johnson-said-same-sex-marriage-would-lead-to-people-marrying-their-pets
Kari Lake's retreat on abortion shows somebody is reading the polls
https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/op-ed/laurieroberts/2023/10/16/kari-lake-abortion-retreat-senate-run/71200299007/Kari Lake's retreat on abortion shows somebody is reading the polls
Opinion: Kari Lake has called abortion 'the ultimate sin,' but she now says she wouldn't vote for a national abortion ban. Sure, that makes sense.
Kari Lake stands unequivocally opposed to abortion.
Except when she’s not.
She has called abortion “the ultimate sin.”
Yet she now says she doesn’t want to outlaw it nationally.
Trying to nail down where Kari Lake stands on abortion? It’s a lot like trying to sneak up on a roadrunner.
They move this way and that as they quickly bolt for cover.
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The New York Times on Saturday observed that Lake is in “tactical retreat” on the issue, with last week’s declaration that she’s opposed to a national abortion ban.