What We Saw This Week
Some of my observations from around the social media networks. Comments I made, events I shared. Stories with some laughter and some concern. Some news stories that created annoyance with politics or moments of joy with a few good news stories too.
April 22nd
PolitiFact
April 22 at 10:20am ·
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory says the Human Rights Campaign is “more powerful than the NRA.” We rate that False.
` N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory, under fire on HB2, says Human Rights Campaign is ‘more powerful than the NRA’
The Human Rights Campaign, or HRC, is a major player in the opposition to North Carolina’s controversial new law, House Bill 2, which limits LGBT rights in public accommodations — and which McCrory was on national television to defend.
April 22 9:44pm
Well of course it’s false, he wouldn’t know the truth if walked right up to him and introduced itself.
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NBC News shared
Associated Press Article
April 22, 2016 4:08 PM ET
Virginia Governor Enables 200,000 Felons to Vote in November
The governor’s action means that every Virginia felon who has completed their sentence and finished any supervised release, parole or probation requirements as of April 22 will be able to vote, run for public office, serve on a jury and become a notary public. The administration estimates that about 206,000 people will be impacted.
[Restriction] policies disproportionately prevent African Americans from voting, the group says. Virginia is among three states where more than one in five black adults have lost their voting rights, according to a recent Sentencing Project report.
April 22 9:22pm
Too bad fear mongers don’t believe in 2nd chances. If they’ve served their sentence, they should have their rights restored. That’s was once the point of serving your time. It’s supposed to be rehabilitation and part of that means becoming part of the society you live in. Not to mention many of these people were wrongfully charged and prosecuted for felonies that shouldn’t have been severe in the first place.
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Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson)
April 22, 2016
EARTH ACCORDING TO ROCKS: An Earth Day “must-see” video [8min 30sec – watch to the very end] https://t.co/EwQ1MOLgMP
Dr. Tyson tweeted this today for Earth Day. It’s worth the watch.
April 21st
Washington Post
April 20
Shenandoah wildfire extends to 4,000 acres, forces closure of 13 trails and Skyline Drive
A wildfire in Shenandoah National Park nearly doubled in size on Tuesday, thanks to strong winds and low humidity. The National Park Service says the blaze, named the Rocky Mount fire, has charred 4,000 acres — up from a little over 2,000 acres on Monday night.
The Rocky Mount fire burns in Shenandoah National Park, seen from McGaheysville, Va., on the night of April 19. (Larry W. Brown)
April 21 at 3:02pm
Wow. This is part of the Blue Ridge Parkway. It’s one of our most favorite places to go and take an adventure. It’s only about 2 hours from our home and we can see the smoke from here. It’s so sad to see this.
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From my Facebook Page
Tony Stewart
April 21 at 11:06am ·
NEWS: Tony Stewart to return at Richmond International Raceway.
Full release here: http://bit.ly/22P4Xt8 #SmokeWillRise
Apr 21, 2016 1:05pm
If you’ve followed me for a while, you may know I’m a HUGE Nascar fan and an even bigger Tony Stewart fan. This makes me SO Happy and Excited! I’m all giddy and stuff!
April 20th
From Facebook:
RICHARD HAMMOND
April 19 at 11:15am ·
Hey Guys
Have been a bit busy
But just to let you know that i am no longer a part of TopGear BBC
Me and Clarkson and May Have created and brand new show named Shifting Lanes which will be on Amazon It starts Later this Year
Stay Tuned
Richard
April 20 at 8:58pm
Woohoo! I won’t be watching any new version of Top Gear from here on out, unless they bring back you, May and Clarkson. So I’m very happy to hear about Shifting Lanes, and I can’t wait to tune in!
April 20 at 7:41pm
Yep, over is the only way to go.
April 19th
NPR
April 19, 2016 – 11:33 AM ET ·
“We know as soon as this bill passes, we’re going to be sued,” said the bill’s sponsor.
Tennessee’s Legislature considering a bill requiring transgender students to use school bathrooms based on their gender as assigned at birth, instead of their identified gender. The measure had been hotly debated, The Associated Press reports, with religious organizations urging its advancement, saying it would protect children’s privacy, and opponents saying suggesting it was discriminatory. The bill’s sponsor, Republican state Rep. Susan Lynn, says she wants to revise the legislation and reintroduce it next year.
“religious organizations urging its advancement” That sentence alone says this is bad legislation. Get your religion out of my politics!
How are these people going to feel when a man, who has had transgender surgery to be a woman, walks into the mens room in a dress? What are their son’s going to say or how will they feel? Every time I see one of these stupid and ignorant bills being put forth in state legislatures I see people arguing about men going into a woman’s bathroom putting their wives and daughters in danger. How about the worry and concern of their sons dealing with a woman in the mans bathroom?
1. These bills make a huge assumption that transgendered people are perverts. They’re not!
2. These bills will not stop the real perverts from going into a woman’s bathroom looking for victims.
3. These bills provide no enforcement or revenue to support that enforcement. Making them pointless. You really want your taxes raised for “bathroom police”?
4. There are already laws on the books providing for prosecution of sex offenders. How about enforcing those laws that already exist!
April 18th
NPR
April 18, 2016 – 5:00 AM ET
Why Candidates Are Out Of Sync With How Americans Really Feel About Trade
Leading candidates have tried to channel Americans’ frustration when they talk about trade, but on the whole polls show Americans think trade deals have been good for the U.S.
As long as foreign countries pay their workers a minimum wage that barely allows their citizens to live, trade agreements will continue to be unfair. Americans love to criticize foreign markets over work conditions and practices, but we love the cheap cost of those same products. You can’t have it both ways.
As long as foreign countries ignore those agreements and flood the American market with their products, these agreements will be unfair. As long as they add import taxes to our products shipped to their countries, these agreements will be unfair.
April 17th
NPR
Digital note taking may not be the way to go.
Attention Students: Put Your Laptops Away.
In the study published in Psychological Science, Pam A. Mueller of Princeton University and Daniel M. Oppenheimer of the University of California, Los Angeles sought to test how notetaking by hand or by computer affects learning.
I totally agree. Writing is an infusion of energy between you and your words. We can type so fast, that we’re thinking several words ahead of what we’re typing. But when you write by hand with pen and paper, you are more conscious and in the moment with your words.
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A share from a friend on Facebook:
Yup.
The word I learned while I was sick. Fortitude. It’s a good word.
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Evil Wordsmith (@EvilWordsmith)
April 17, 2016
Just read HB 2, a bill that does only two things. 1. Draw the stupid vote to the endorsers of the bill and 2. Cost NC a shitload of revenue
SpringWolf ❦ (@SpringWolf)
April 17, 2016
@EvilWordsmith Exactly. Where’s the bathroom police? It’s nothing but a pandering bill that promotes bigotry.
There’s no provision whatsoever for enforcement. Also, the bill ONLY applies to state owned buildings. On Meet the Press, they said it also takes away autonomy from city/county governments as well. Because this McCrory executive order was the result of the Charlotte ordinance that supported LGBT rights. So if Charlotte or any other municipality wanted to raise the minimum wage for their jurisdiction, they can’t. Because this bill takes that legal right away from local governments.
April 16th
POLITICO (@politico)
April 16, 2016
Cruz: ‘We’ll take money from anyone’
https://t.co/KkoSmMldCx
SpringWolf ❦ (@SpringWolf)
April 16, 2016
@politico Yeah, I bet they all will. The question is; what will they give in return for the big donor money?
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A couple of moments from Twitter:
SpringWolf ❦ (@SpringWolf)
April 16, 2016
#Nascar Erik Jones is the 1st Xfinity Regular to win an Xfinity race this season. Good for him. But that’s really sad for the series.
SpringWolf ❦ (@SpringWolf)
April 16, 2016
#Nascar KyleB “Class of the field didn’t win”.. Bull shit. Erik made a great move and got around a Cup Guy. Whine somewhere else Kyle.
By
2016
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