News Sites

Internationally-renowned handbag designer Kate Spade dead of suicide at 55 (www.nytimes.com) | Posted: 2018-06-05 15:40:00

• This is shocking. I know most Redditors probably don't know who she is, but she was a hugely successful woman. Her handbags were a big deal in the early 2000s and she built a whole company on it- bags, shoes, clothing, home goods. I don't really follow her as a person (though I've bought some of her stuff), but as far as I know she wasn't known for crazy or unstable behavior. She's been married to the same guy (Andy Spade, brother of David) since the 90s. I just checked and her daughter is only 13.
• Man. As a fat kid, I always thought if I could just be skinny, I’d live happily ever after. I lost weight and it didn’t work out that way. Then, I thought if I made a lot of money, I’d always be happy. Made money, still had intense periods of the sads. I thought if I met the love of my life, I’d never be down in the dumps again. Happily married for ten years but still have depression at times. Mental illness really knows no boundaries.
• #KateSpade, whose lively, colorful, and yes, joyous designs has died. My deepest sympathy to her family and friends, and her many fans around the world, who loved the wonderful illusions she created. I am stunned.

Outrage follows Texas principal's ouster of award-winning journalism advisor and censorship of school paper (www.splc.org) | Posted: 2018-06-04 11:52:00

• “Burdett blocked the editorial from being published online, saying it was incorrect and didn't capture the voices of all Prosper students.” I don’t think this principal knows what “editorial” means.
• 17 national journalism, education and First Amendment groups join Student Press Law Center to ask Prosper (Texas) High School to stop censoring student journalism.
• I guess this idiot doesn’t realize how fast technology works and that those kids could have it circulated internally by mid day. More people need to learn the Streisand effect.

Supreme Court sides with Colorado baker who refused to make gay couple a wedding cake (www.nytimes.com) | Posted: 2018-06-04 11:47:00

• I see tons of misinformation here. Comparing this to any business refusing to serve gay people. That is NOT what this ruling was about. Please read the opinion of the court. Mainly two points of contention are addressed: \1. Are the cakes Phillips makes, considered expressive works protected by the 1st Amendment and he has a right to refuse to make a cake based on his religion? TLDR: In this very specific instance, yes. (Justice Thomas does an excellent job explaining why) This was not just some guy saying "I don't like gays and won't serve them". \2. Was the Colorado Commission biased and not objective and neutral towards his religion on their forcing of him to make the cake? TLDR: Yes (Read Justice Kennedy's "II B")
• I am gay, and I would've just found another bakery to make my cake. Why would I want to force a couple of bigots to perform such an important service for me? So I can have a shitty, gross, messed up spit-cake? Just call around until you find a bakery which will make the cake. In the same vein, I wouldn't want to be forced to perform some kind of service for a group of people who hate me. If I was a baker and some church told me to make a cake that said "All gays burn in hell", I'd want to have the right to refuse to do so as well and not be accused of discriminating against Baptists or whatever. Therefore, I think this is the right ruling. I realize this will probably be one of the most controversial things I've posted on this site and accept that. Not every issue is so black and white in life. This is definitely one of those gray area things. Besides, I don't think LGBT discrimination is so widespread anymore that it'll become a big issue. I will say that literally nobody I or my partner have ever come out to has had an issue with it yet and I live in a big city in Ohio. This includes the family of my childhood best friend, which are strict evangelicals and have had us over for dinner dozens of times and literally never tried to convert us or made an issue out of it.
• Masterpiece is a win for gay rights groups that want to bar discrimination against same-sex couples, so long as the law is applied neutrally and without hostility to religion. But whether the very same law could sometimes violate free speech rights is still totally open.

Trump claims right to pardon himself (www.cnbc.com) | Posted: 2018-06-04 11:44:00

• As has been stated by numerous legal scholars, I have the absolute right to PARDON myself, but why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong? In the meantime, the never ending Witch Hunt, led by 13 very Angry and Conflicted Democrats (& others) continues into the mid-terms!
• The DOJ ruled 44 years ago that the president cannot pardon himself - President Trump's "numerous legal scholars" apparently aren't on the same page as the Justice Department.
• The Trump presidency is revealing some serious flaws in the way we deal with executive power in this country. The fact that there's even a question of whether the president has the authority to pardon himself is insane. The fact that the only legal recourse to a president committing crimes is by a vote in congress rather than normal legal channels is outrageous. We as a nation serious need to reevaluate the power we are affording this branch of government, because Trump is revealing it to look a little like the absolute executive power this country was founded to escape.

Office fired after intentionally running down fleeing suspect with his police car (abcnews.go.com) | Posted: 2018-06-03 11:07:00

• huh, I guess the fact that anyone even cares about this is a sign that things are improving. 20 years ago this seemed to be SOP, I saw them do it in COPS all the time
• I'm surprised he got fired. To me it looks like he bumped the suspect and booked him. I'd think differently if he full on ran him over but this was obviously a way of stopping a fleeing suspect without killing him.
• The Athens-Clarke County #Police Department has fired one of its officers in the wake of a suspect being injured during a foot pursuit and arrest. http://bit.ly/2Jb2paM

Madrid's direct rule in Catalan ends (www.bbc.com) | Posted: 2018-06-03 11:00:00

• They're returning to the autonomy previously held before the independence referendum, which was illegal and not valid in the central governments eyes.
• The only ones going fascist are part of the catalan nationalists, the new president (Quim Torra) gave tribute to a fascist group that killed anarchists in the 30s. Also praised a guy that said "The catalan race is whiter than the spanish race, therefore superior". The icing on the cake is saying that "if you don't speak catalan, you are not a catalan". Also the ultimate "fuck you citizen" is trying to abolish all legislation with 47% of the votes creating a new country that don't have formal separation of powers.
• Catalonia was proclaimed independent state for the first time in 1641. Can I tell you a secret? It will also be a sovereign, independent Republic within the next few years. There is no power in the world that can stop this development. Freedom always wins oppression. #Catalonia

6 months after it started, largest wildfire in modern CA history finally extinguished (www.cnn.com) | Posted: 2018-06-03 10:55:00

• I live in Santa Barbara. Didn't even know it was still burning. Last news I paid attention to was saying that fire fighters were pulling out since the area that was still burning wasn't really worth the fuss. Also, sometimes shit just needs to burn.. Our worst fires in the last 10 years have been caused by 60 years worth of dead brush. Dead brush that would burn during the normal burn/renew cycle that happens naturally.
• The long term solution is to let these things happen naturally as they are supposed to, and live somewhere else. It's not going to happen, but the forest will not care either. It wants to burn once or twice a decade, and stopping it from doing so actually makes the eventual fires worse. Nothing will be done, same as with people who live in areas that have constant mudslides.
• This picture was taken on my second day covering the #thomasfire - I was sitting in the Vons parking lot in #Carpinteria editing my story for the 5&6. I’ll never forget the devastation I witnessed during the fire. Officials say the fire is officially out.

Emails reveal Stormy Daniel's ex-attorney had contact with Michael Cohen, raising ethics questions (www.newsweek.com) | Posted: 2018-06-02 13:21:00

• I've said it from the beginning. Keith Davidson will be disbarred and potentially prosecuted. All publicly available evidence points to him committing fraud against his own client and conspiring with the other side to settle the case in a way that was not in Stormy's best interest. Tipping Cohen off about the CNN questions alone, isn't improper, but it certainly confirms these two have a pretty good relationship, and that just furthers suspicions. I can't imagine a worse thing an attorney can do in his practice. I want to know what Davidson got in return for fucking his client over.
• It’s slowly beginning to dawn on me that Michael Avenatti is already prosecuting the president... it’s just that the media is the courtroom and the American people are the jury to whom he is making his case.
• See below. Why were Mr. Cohen and Mr. Davidson communicating in this fashion earlier this year? It was entirely inappropriate and prejudicial to my client. If Mr. Cohen had nothing to hide, then why go to these efforts to cover it up? #TrumpTapes #Basta

Benedict Cumberbatch fights off four men attacking delivery cyclist (www.straitstimes.com) | Posted: 2018-06-02 10:21:00

• he Uber driver ALSO fought the men and saved the day WITH Cumberbatch. There were 2 heroes on this day. Said Mr Dias... “My passenger jumped out, ran over and pulled the men away. They turned towards him and things look like they were getting worse, so I joined in." ... The pair then worked together to fend off the attackers
• Benedict ­Cumberbatch saves cyclist in bloody braw
• This is why we're fine without guns. If you're ever in danger in the UK then some actor, musician or sportsman will be along shortly to save the day. Some of the more overzealous celebs can actually get a trifle annoying. I dropped a plate last week and ended up with two third division footballers, David Tennant, and half of Oasis jumping out of the cupboard to make sure I was okay.

CA Senate votes for Net Neutrality rules stricter than Obama-era laws (www.theverge.com) | Posted: 2018-06-01 15:09:00

• Latest from me for @WIRED — Why #netneutrality @SenMarkey effort is a really big deal
• I just wrote my congressman again, I will no longer vote for anyone who has voted against net neutrality. As far as I am concerned it is arrogant and absurd that republicans continue to ignore their voting base when most americans support net neutrality.
• Yes, the FCC also ruled that its laws overrule state and municipal laws that later try to overturn it, at the same time it revoked net neutrality. Unfortunately this is perfectly legal, and with a devastating amount of precedent when it comes to federal v. state regulation. States passing laws to restore it are doing it primarily as a political gesture back home, not because they expect it to actually work. It could take years for the inevitable lawsuit to be filed and appealed, but the Supreme Court (or more likely a lower appeals court) will inevitably decline to hear it and let the FCC’s decision stand. In the meantime, state officials get to look like tireless but ultimately doomed freedom fighters.