Tag: trump

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I am very seriously having trouble not thinking about the bill that would allow employers to put employees through a genetics test.  I am having trouble seeing the benefits of such a bill. I am having trouble not seeing it as a selfish allowance. I am having trouble not seeing it as literal eugenics. 

You’re having trouble because there is no benefit to employees.  It will only be for the benefit of employers, and will allow them to discriminate.  It’s terrifying…

I’ve been reading lots of articles and trying to get some perspective on it. A spokesperson for HR 1313 said that knowing a person’s genetic history would allow for preventative measures and eventually lower the cost of insurance. 

And I can sort of see that. 

BUT. 

That is a conversation that I should have voluntarily, with my doctor, under no penalty, and kept private. It should not be permissible to sell it, and I should not have to incur a 30% fine for not participating in a ‘wellness activity’ with an unqualified person who may or may not use this information against me. 

Healthcare should be affordable to everyone, regardless of their predictive health and the health of their families. 

Removing the anonymity of genetic information has acutely horrifying implications. 

I know I’m kind of preaching to the choir right now, but like… I can’t get it out of my head. I shouldn’t read this stuff before I go to sleep. 

hello naughty children its GATTACA time

More than that, it could also be an attempt to “catch” trans people. And I know it’s going to have unexpected results…

See, once upon a time, the people running the Olympics thought they could catch cheats by checking the competitors’ chromosomes. IDK why. Maybe they thought some men were sneaking into the women’s contests so they could win gold medals. Whatever.

In order to not appear like sexist shots, they tested EVERY competitor. And they were all set to land like a ton of bricks on any cheats…

BUT…

The results showed quite a surprising amount of MALE competitors had female chromosomes.

So the whole idea was trashed in short order.

(This story comes second hand from MeMum and may be inaccurate)

Here is a story about 

Soundarajan, a female runner who was denied entry to the Olympics because of her Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (which she was unaware of) failed the required genetics testing. Mandatory genetics testing has been removed from the requirements as of 2004, but still is practiced in the event that a competitor is being investigated for a fraudulent claim. 

Intentionally misrepresenting your sex or gender as a means to cheat in sports has happened before. It is not a common method because the risk is very high. It is also… rarely successful in terms of having ‘easier competition.’

The idea that this bill would effectively out trans and intersex  persons at the workplace is just one of the major issues that I have with it. 

There is the very obvious problem of racial bias and the prevalence of white supremacy in our country. I should not need to expound upon why I have a problem with that.

But there is also the major issue of the bill’s claimed purpose: to find congenital conditions and enact ‘preventative measures.’ There are lots of people in the work force who are on the Autism spectrum, who have Down’s Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy… who are capable of working with their symptoms and do their jobs. These are also a target for discrimination and there are employers who are more than willing to justify it. 

If the only benefit to come from this bill is that companies would be able to save more money, then I am unable to find any good in this bill. 

For a good summary, see the Washington Post’s article (linked below, I’m on mobile). This would be straight up breaking the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. This is absolutely ridiculous, and yet another extreme breach of our privacy.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2017/03/11/employees-who-decline-genetic-testing-could-face-penalities-under-proposed-bill/?tid=ss_mail-amp&utm_term=.0f25eafb2d6a

The sponsor of the bill is NC Rep- Virginia Foxx:

2262 Rayburn House Office Building
(202) 225-2071

Co-sponsor-  MI Rep Tim Walberg (Website)

Washington, D.C. Office
2436 Rayburn HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: (202) 225-6276
Fax: (202) 225-6281
Hours: Monday-Friday 9:00AM-5:30PM

Jackson Office
401 W. Michigan Ave.
Jackson, MI 49201
Phone: (517) 780-9075
Fax: (517) 780-9081
Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 9:00AM-5:00PM
Wednesday 9:00AM-6:00PM

Co-Sponsor- NY Rep Elise M Stefanik

Contact form on website. 

Co-Sponsor- MI Rep Paul Mitchell

Contact form on website. 

I have a lot of personal feelings about this requirement. There’s all the above:  the threat of eugenics and outing of trans people that scares the crap out of me, and then there’s the fact that it affects me personally in a way I haven’t seen mentioned here yet.  

I’m adopted.  I was adopted in the age when adoptions were closed.  I know nothing about my genetic history.  Part of being adopted for me has been to consciously choose not to look into my biological family, at all.  That door is closed.  It’s complicated and it’s messy and I have conflicted feelings about it, but it’s been my choice to keep that door closed.  That choice is a large part of something that defines me.  Something like this, then, takes that choice away from me.  I no longer have control over something that makes me who I am.

And the fact is, there’s very little pay off for forcing me, or anyone else, to comply with something this invasive.  I work in the medical field, but I’m not a geneticist.  Maybe there’s a tumblr geneticist who can put me straight.  But here’s what I know:

Medical test results are most often only helpful in explaining what is going on medically when they are interpreted IN CONTEXT, as part of a full diagnostic picture.  Why?  Because our science is limited.  We generally only test someone’s genes if there’s a reason to, if someone in their family has a condition or they’re having symptoms that need explaining and treatment. We have a certain amount of research that tells us that people with a particular medical condition tend have certain genes, but that doesn’t mean that we know that people who have those particular genes will express the medical condition.  As far as I know, we don’t have large scale studies that establish the usefulness of indiscriminate genetic testing as something to predict risk for medical conditions in the population at large.  

So, because of that, then, we can’t say that the benefits to society outweigh the violation of an individual’s choice, much less share potentially damaging information with people who have power over us.

House GOP approves bill allowing companies to force genetic testing on workers

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If you think your genetics are your own personal beeswax, think again. Amidst all the hoopla surrounding the Affordable Care Act this week, the House GOP quietly pushed forward a bill – HR 1313 – that would make it legal for employers to demand genetic testing from workers. Workers who refuse could be penalized for thousands of dollars.

On Wednesday, a House committee approved the bill with “all 22 Republicans supporting it and all 17 Democrats opposed,” according to Business Insider.

https://boingboing.net/2017/03/10/house-gop-approves-bill-allowi.html

This bill actually allows employers to include genetic testing in any (ostensibly voluntary) employee wellness programs they offer. If employees refuse to take part in these programs they can be forced to pay 30-50% more for health insurance. The original rule that penalizes workers for not taking part in these invasive programs is part of Obamacare this just ads genetic testing to it.

hello eugenics my old friend

i’ve come to visit you again

Because a law that’s really creepy

has repercussions we’ve already seen

it’s called “american eugenics led the nazis to their plans no seriously we came up with this shit and didn’t actually stop until the seventies”

“and it directly targets the poor and minorities and disabled people and hey you know what’s really not cool is forced sterilizations which totally happened until 2010 in california”

“and- you know what, this song parody got derailed ages ago but hey seriously this is bad. 

this was invasive under the ACA but adding genetic testing takes it a step further. It can impact your entire family and absolutely will be used to punish people for existing 

fuck this 

It was introduced by NC Representative Virginia Foxx too (the woman who questioned the validity of Matthew Shepard’s hate crimes in front of his mother).  

If it doesn’t pass THIS TIME? It’ll pass once they’ve reworded/changed it. Why? Because people in this country have ALREADY given up their privacy. I mean, I watch these TV Commercials for Genealogy Services that will tell you what percentage of your genetic history comes from what part of the world. And all I can think is:

Do people not realize they are GIVING A PRIVATE COMPANY ACCESS TO/THE OPPORTUNITY TO RECORD *** YOUR FUCKING DNA PROFILE***?!?!?!?! That, once your genetic record/Genetic Identity IS OUT OF YOUR CARE/CONTROL, it’s GONE. It’s OUT THERE. There ARE NO TAKE-BACKsies.

Yet I see more and more of these services. More and more commercials which usually means money is being made. People are giving up the most basic facet of their identities for coffee table discussion fodder.

If this doesn’t pass. The next one will.

The thing is this bill repeals the legal protections that right now keep those private companies from abusing your genetic data along with giving your employer the right to demand you take a genetic test.

Lawyers try to delay ‘all-American’ Argentine’s deportation

By SARAH SMITH  3/3/17

Sanders said federal agents in two unmarked cars pulled them over five minutes after they left the news conference in Jackson, where Vargas had joined clergy, civil rights lawyers and advocates in speaking out against President Trump’s immigration policies.

“They rushed around the vehicle and opened Dany’s side of her door and they were just like, ‘You know who we are, you know who we’re here for,’” Sanders said. The agents drove off with her in handcuffs.

…

Vargas’ latest permit expired in November, and she hadn’t been able to pay the $495 renewal fee until February, when she reapplied, said Abigail Peterson, one of her lawyers.

They hope to be able to tell a judge that she has no criminal record (a search by the Mississippi Department of Corrections, done at the request of The Associated Press, showed no convictions), and that she deserves to stay because her DACA status was being renewed.

….

Her detention immediately following the press conference seems like “a mean-spirited attempt at retaliation,” said Mo Goldman, an attorney with the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

The waiver program, which once entitled Argentines to stay in the U.S. for up to 90 days without a visa, required them to waive rights to a hearing before a judge if they overstayed, Goldman said. But “the tricky question is, when someone is seven years old, are they actually waiving their right to a hearing when they enter the United States?”

Lawyers try to delay ‘all-American’ Argentine’s deportation

Justice Dept. Drops a Key Objection to a Texas Voter ID Law

By MANNY FERNANDEZ and ERIC LICHTBLAU  FEB. 27, 2017

The Republican-led Texas Legislature passed one of the strictest voter ID laws in the country in 2011, requiring voters to show a driver’s license, passport or other government-issued photo ID before casting a ballot.

…

Opponents of the law said Republican lawmakers selected IDs that were most advantageous for Republican-leaning white voters and discarded IDs that were beneficial to Democratic-leaning minority voters. 

But the Justice Department under President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions sought on Monday to drop the claim that Texas enacted the law with a discriminatory intent, according to lawyers for the minority groups and voters who also sued Texas and are the Justice Department’s fellow plaintiffs in the case.

…

The Justice Department would be essentially dropping its accusation that the state was motivated by racial bias in enacting the voter ID law, but preserving its claim that the law had a discriminatory impact on minority voters, the lawyers said.

The Justice Department remains a party in the case but will most likely play a smaller role.

The case will proceed, because the numerous parties that sued Texas — including voters, elected officials, civil rights organizations and black and Hispanic advocacy groups — will continue the lawsuit.

Justice Dept. Drops a Key Objection to a Texas Voter ID Law

Muhammad Ali Jr. detained by immigration officials at Fla. airport

Danielle Lerner, The (Louisville) Courier-Journal Published 8:00 p.m. ET Feb. 24, 2017

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The son of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali was detained for hours by immigration officials earlier this month at a Florida airport, according to a family friend.

Muhammad Ali Jr., 44, and his mother, Khalilah Camacho-Ali, the first wife of Muhammad Ali, were arriving at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Feb. 7 after returning from speaking at a Black History Month event in Montego Bay, Jamaica. They were pulled aside while going through customs because of their Arabic-sounding names, according to family friend and lawyer Chris Mancini.

Immigration officials let Camacho-Ali go after she showed them a photo of herself with her ex-husband, but her son did not have such a photo and wasn’t as lucky. Mancini said officials held and questioned Ali Jr. for nearly two hours, repeatedly asking him, “Where did you get your name from?” and “Are you Muslim?”

When Ali Jr. responded that yes, he is a Muslim, the officers kept questioning him about his religion and where he was born. Ali Jr. was born in Philadelphia in 1972 and holds a U.S. passport.

Muhammad Ali Jr. detained by immigration officials at Fla. airport

Norway pledges $10 million to counter Trump’s global anti-abortion ban

tpfnews:

Norway has committed to join an international initiative that plans to raise millions of dollars to replace funding shortfalls from Donald Trump’s ban on American-funded global NGOs that offer information about abortion.

Let that sink in. Trump’s ban doesn’t just cover organizations that offer the medical service of abortion, a procedure that can be necessary to save the life of a pregnant person. The ban will de-fund organizations that offer speech or educational materials that include information about terminating a pregnancy.

That’s medieval. It’s just as insane as all the “Muslim extremism” stuff American conservatives go on and on about. This is 2017. Women get to be human beings with sovereignty over their bodies. If not in America, then dammit, the woke folks in Norway gonna make sure we get to be complete humans at least somewhere.

From Reuters:

In January, the Netherlands started a global fund to help women access abortion services, saying Trump’s “global gag rule” meant a funding gap of $600 million over the next four years, and has pledged $10 million to the initiative to replace that.

Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Luxembourg, Finland, Canada and Cape Verde have all also lent their support.

“The government is increasing its support for family planning and safe abortion by 85 million Norwegian crowns ($10 million) compared with 2016,” Prime Minister Erna Solberg said. “At a time when this agenda has come under pressure, a joint effort is particularly important,” he said in a statement.

Last month, Trump reinstated a policy requiring overseas organizations that receive U.S. family-planning funds to certify they do not perform abortions or provide abortion advice as a method of family planning.

Norway pledges $10 million to counter Trump’s global anti-abortion ban

A Back-Channel Plan for Ukraine and Russia, Courtesy of Trump Associates

2/19/17

Good lord.  This reads like a Cold War spy novel.  

Couple things to keep in mind when you read this article:

1) Who’s who:

Mr. Artemenko = per  Ms. Twohey and Mr. Shane: “Ukrainian lawmaker trying to rise in a political opposition movement shaped in part by Mr. Trump’s former campaign manager Paul D. Manafort.” He is opposing the current Ukrainian president Poroshenko, who replaced the former president Yanukovych in 2014 (who had ties to Russia and is currently in exile there).   I’m assuming here, then, that Mr. Artemenko is pro-Russia.  He is NOT authorized to speak for the Ukrainian government, and instead seems to be attempting to pull power plays to unseat Yanukovych by appealing directly to Trump’s administration.  

Mr. Sater = managing director of Bayrock group, was a senior advisor to Trump when Trump SoHo began in 2006 and “who helped Mr. Trump scout deals in Russia”.  He has an interesting legal past, including being “an “unindicted co-conspirator” and a key figure in a $40 million scheme involving 19 stockbrokers and organized crime figures from four Mafia families” and “embroiled in a plan to buy antiaircraft missiles on the black market for the Central Intelligence Agency in either Russia or Afghanistan” 

Mr. Cohen = per  Ms. Twohey and Mr. Shane:  “A lawyer who joined the Trump Organization in 2007 as special counsel, he has worked on many deals… He is considered a loyal lieutenant whom Mr. Trump trusts to fix difficult problems.” He is married to a Ukrainian woman, and once worked there.

2) Immediate history that is relevant here:

 – Both Mr. Cohen and Mr. Manafort are under investigation by the FBI for their alleged interactions with Russian representatives and connections to Russia and Ukraine.

The F.B.I. is reviewing an unverified dossier, compiled by a former British intelligence agent and funded by Mr. Trump’s political opponents, that claims Mr. Cohen met with a Russian representative in Prague during the presidential campaign to discuss Russia’s hacking of Democratic targets. But the Russian official named in the report told The New York Times that he had never met Mr. Cohen. Mr. Cohen insists that he has never visited Prague and that the dossier’s assertions are fabrications. (Mr. Manafort is also under investigation by the F.B.I. for his connections to Russia and Ukraine.)  (Twohey & Shane)

– Before Mr. Manafort ran Mr. Trump’s campaign, he 

… had been instrumental in getting Mr. Yanukovych elected [former pro-Russia Ukrainian president], helped shape a political bloc that sprang up to oppose the new president, Mr. Poroshenko, a wealthy businessman who has taken a far tougher stance toward Russia and accused Mr. Putin of wanting to absorb Ukraine into a new Russian Empire. (Twohey & Shane)

– Mr. Artemenko arose out of Mr. Manafort’s efforts at opposition in Ukraine and claims to have compromising material on Poroshenko and associates.  He seems to be maneuvering things to oust the current anti-Russia Ukrainian president. 

What has recently come to light:

Mr. Sater (former business associate of Mr. Trump) was put in contact with Mr. Artemenko (Ukrainian lawmaker opposing the current Ukrainian administration) to act as a go-between with Mr. Artemenko and the Trump administration.  Together they approached Mr. Cohen (Mr. Trump’s lawyer) with a peace plan proposal for Ukraine, which, per Mr. Artemenko, had received encouragement from an unnamed top aide to Mr. Putin.  

Mr. Artemenko’s plan “would require the withdrawal of all Russian forces from eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian voters would decide in a referendum whether Crimea, the Ukrainian territory seized by Russia in 2014, would be leased to Russia for a term of 50 or 100 years.”  (Twohey & Shane)

Mr. Cohen said he did not know who in the Russian government had offered encouragement on it, as Mr. Artemenko claims, but he understood there was a promise of proof of corruption by the Ukrainian president.

“Fraud is never good, right?” Mr. Cohen said.

He said Mr. Sater had given him the written proposal in a sealed envelope. When Mr. Cohen met with Mr. Trump in the Oval Office in early February, he said, he left the proposal in Mr. Flynn’s office.

Mr. Cohen said he was waiting for a response when Mr. Flynn was forced from his post. Now Mr. Cohen, Mr. Sater and Mr. Artemenko are hoping a new national security adviser will take up their cause. (Twohey & Shane)

Meanwhile, Rex Tillerson, who is actually the person responsible for such things, has been reassuring the Ukrainian president of “Western unity and solidarity”.  And Vice P Pence met with the Ukrainian president and “’underscored U.S. support’ for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and underlined that the U.S. does not recognize “Russia’s occupation and attempted annexation” of Crimea.”  At the same time, Russia has just started to “recognize passports and other documents issued by rebel authorities [pro-Russian] in eastern Ukraine.”

~*~

Even though his administration is only a month old, it certainly wouldn’t be the first time that Mr. Trump has sent out avatars from his administration to say the sane and reassuring thing to say in this situation (especially Mike Pence), but then behind the scenes do something completely different.

What do you want to bet that first comes a peace plan that benefits Putin’s plan to expand Russia and throws Ukraine under the bus.  Then Trump lifts sanctions against Russia so that Tillerson can facilitate stronger economic ties between Russia and the US – via oil deals.  Which will then leave us with a lot of skin in Russia’s game, much like the US has a lot of skin in the game in the Middle East.  

The best interests of multinational oil companies are not the same as those of the US and Europe.   Their interests would lead the US into more dependence on foreign oil.  I remember the days of the Energy Crisis in the 1980s.  Political heads rolled when gas prices went up, long lines grew at gas stations, and gas stations closed because they had run out of fuel.  I can’t imagine any US politician who could stomach risking the lessons we learned with Jimmy Carter. Will those oil ties with Russia then be “too big to fail?”  How much leverage will the US lose in relation to Russia’s actions in Europe?  How much leverage will the US lose in relation to Russia’s meddling in our internal affairs?

A Back-Channel Plan for Ukraine and Russia, Courtesy of Trump Associates

Republicans Charge Into Resistance at Tumultuous Town Halls

2/19/17

MOUNT
PLEASANT, S.C. — The Republican lawmakers stood with fixed smiles,
shifting in place, facing down turmoil but no trial inside a municipal
courtroom overstuffed with constituents.

Across
the room, the first questioner foretold a long Saturday morning: “Are
you personally proud,” the man, Ernest Fava, 54, said of President
Trump, “to have this person representing our country?” The more than 200
attendees stirred, with at least as many waiting outside.

Senator
Tim Scott tried first: “Given the two choices I had, I am thankful that
Trump is our president,” he said, to ferocious boos.

Then Representative Mark Sanford waded in: “I think we’re all struggling with it,” he said of the tumultuous first month, to nods.

Continue reading the main story

As
members of Congress return home during a legislative recess many
Republicans are dreading, a hearty few on Saturday charged headlong into
the resistance. At events across the country, lawmakers have strained
to quell the boiling anger at Mr. Trump — and often, the Republican Party — after four extraordinary weeks.

The
break from Capitol Hill is doubling as a real-time stress test for both
pro-Trump Republicans and anti-Trump protesters — an early signal of
how much latitude will be afforded to members who continue defending the
president and how much venom they are willing to absorb.

…

For the lawmakers, early returns were mixed. In North Harmony, N.Y.,
Representative Tom Reed confronted what felt like interminable jeers,
navigating hostile questions about abortion rights, efforts to dismantle
the Affordable Care Act and Mr. Trump’s tax returns. The crowd at a
senior center was so large that the event was moved to the parking lot
outside. Chants of “Do your job!” rang out.

When your town hall comes with GUI comments.

Republicans Charge Into Resistance at Tumultuous Town Halls

Indivisble, getting organized! – #resist!

Indivisible, getting organized! Press roundup, February 14–17

With
Congressional recesses next week, the Indivisible movement’s preparing
for Town Halls. There’s even more national coverage than in Ramping up! (the previous press roundup), including including Claire Foran’s The Anti-Trump ‘Resistance’ Takes Hold in Red States in The Atlantic, Time, Newsweek, NPR, Common Dreams, Talking Points Memo, Vice, and of course Rachel Maddow.

Once
again, though, it’s the local newspapers and TV stations who are where
the action is — which is pretty much everywhere at this point! Here’s a
partial roundup … if you know some other links, please leave them as
“responses.”

I’ve been seeing a lot of twitter posts about Townhalls and protests happening in everything from small, rural towns to big cities.  The big media franchises seem to be focusing on the narrative of big city protests, but now I’m seeing more local media coverage.  

Charlottesville, VA; Buffalo, NY; Boise, ID; Charleston, SC; Rocklin, CA; Sartell, MN; Mansfield, OH; Durango, CO; Yakima, WA; Ogden, UT; Terre Haute, IN; Las Cruces, NM; Dayton, FL; Wilco, TX; West Valley, AZ; Evesham, NJ; Fayateville, AK are just a sampling collated by Jon Pincus in this post.  

Indivisble, getting organized! – #resist!