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http://www.cnbc.com/2015/08/24/caitlyn-jenner-halloween-costume-sparks-social-media-outrage-.html

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ne...een-costume-labeled-817515?utm_source=twitter

It's nowhere near October, but one ensemble is already on track to be named the most controversial Halloween costume of 2015.

Social media users were out in full force on Monday criticizing several Halloween retailers for offering a Caitlyn Jenner costume reminiscent of the former-athlete's Vanity Fair cover earlier this year.

While Jenner's supporters condemned the costume as "transphobic" and "disgusting" on Twitter, Spirit Halloween, a retailer that carries the costume, defended the getup.

"At Spirit Halloween, we create a wide range of costumes that are often based upon celebrities, public figures, heroes and superheroes," said Lisa Barr, senior director of marking at Spirit Halloween. "We feel that Caitlyn Jenner is all of the above and that she should be celebrated. The Caitlyn Jenner costume reflects just that."
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After Twitter, it's now the turn of Chevron to left California.

Bye-bye, Governor Gavin Newsom.

After more than a century of operations in California, energy giant Chevron announced that it will move its San Ramon headquarters to Houston, Texas. Bloomberg states the move was primarily due to the state's "adversarial" regulations toward the fossil fuel industry. Chevron's move is more evidence the multi-year mass exodus of companies and residents fleeing the high tax and high crime state is still underway.

"There will be minimal immediate relocation impacts to other employees currently based in San Ramon. The company expects all corporate functions to migrate to Houston over the next five years," Chevron wrote in a press release.

The San Ramon headquarters currently has 2,000 employees. These employees will likely be transferred to Houston in the coming years, where the company currently has about 7,000 employees.
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Senator Rand Paul has introduced a bill to prevent the government from compelling social media platforms to censor online discussion (L/A). A .pdf of the bill is attached.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, joined by Congresswoman Harriet Hageman (R-WY) and Congressman Dan Bishop (R-NC-08.), introduced the Standing to Challenge Government Censorship Act. This bill will prohibit federal employees and contractors from using their positions to direct online platforms to censor First Amendment protected speech, reinforcing our collective commitment to safeguarding the constitutional rights of all American citizens. The Standing to Challenge Government Censorship Act is a streamlined iteration of the Free Speech Protection Act, tailored to address the standing issues highlighted in Murthy v. Missouri.


“Americans are a free people, and we do not take infringements upon our liberties lightly. Our Founding Fathers enshrined the First Amendment to protect our God-given right to free expression, recognizing its fundamental importance to a free society,” said Dr. Paul. “With the Standing to Challenge Government Censorship Act, we will strip away the barriers preventing judicial review of coercive government tactics that silence dissenting voices and ensure that no government official or contractor can undermine the First Amendment rights of Americans. We must confront and dismantle this censorship apparatus to protect our fundamental right to free speech.”


“I have repeatedly said that the government cannot do by proxy what it is prohibited from doing directly. This is exactly what happened with the Biden Administration pressuring social media companies to suppress the free speech of American citizens. The Standing to Challenge Government Censorship Act will not only ensure future litigants would have standing, but also would also apply to the plaintiffs in Murthy,” said Rep. Hageman. “Our forefathers ratified the First Amendment recognizing that government actors would always seek to control public discourse in order to protect their own power structure. No one has a monopoly on truth, and the Biden administration and federal agencies are not entitled to declare that American’s speech is ‘mis-information,’ ‘dis-information,’ or ‘mal-information’ and silence the message, especially when you consider how much accurate and truthful information was squelched during Covid-19 and the 2020 election. We will continue to fight to protect our First Amendment rights.”


“Americans have a God-given right to free expression, and the constant attacks on the First Amendment from government bureaucrats make safeguarding that right all the more important. Malicious actors within government should never be allowed to silence and censor Americans, and Americans targeted by the Censorship Industrial Complex deserve their day in court. This legislation will ensure just that by removing barriers for judicial review and cracking down on those who aim to trample on the First Amendment,” said Rep. Bishop.


The bill would:


  1. Empower individuals to sue government officials who coerce online platforms into censoring constitutionally protected speech.
  2. Apply to past First Amendment violations and establish a presumption of liability for any government official attempting to pressure platforms into censorship, thereby overcoming the causality issue identified by the Supreme Court in Murthy.
  3. Provide a vital mechanism for all Americans to protect their constitutional rights and challenge government overreach. It ensures that government officials are held accountable for any attempts to infringe upon our fundamental right to free speech.

Additional support:


“In the covid era, the federal government systematically suppressed legal online speech that contradicted its policy priorities, including criticism of covid misinformation spread by the government on topics like immunity, school closures, mask and covid vaccine effectiveness, vaccine injuries, and vaccine mandates. Given the recent failure of the Supreme Court to protect Americans against this threat to free speech rights, it is vital for Congress to act to secure the First Amendment. I am pleased that Sen. Paul has authored such a bill which will prohibit Federal employees and contractors from censoring legal speech. I encourage all law makers to support the bill,” said Jay Bhatthacharya MD, PhD., Stanford University and plaintiff in Murthy v. Missouri.


“Rights that cannot be vindicated in court are not rights at all. By closing the courthouse doors to Americans who are victimized by government censorship campaigns, Murthy invites the government to violate First Amendment rights at will—so long as it does so indirectly, utilizing numerous government agencies, rather than directly or through a single agency. Murthy essentially gives the government a blueprint on how to censor American citizens. This legislation says, ‘not so fast’,” said Bradley A. Smith, Chairman and Founder, Institute for Free Speech.


“As we inch closer to a crucial election in November, Congress should act swiftly to stop government censorship by proxy and protect Americans’ access to information. By restricting federal employees and contractors from encouraging platforms to suppress speech directly or indirectly, this bill is an important step in the right direction. Heritage Action applauds Sen. Paul for fighting government overreach and the weaponization of censorship on Big Tech platforms,” said Ryan Walker, Executive Vice President, Heritage Action.


“Let the people sue government officials who are working on the taxpayer dime to censor everyday Americans. Senator Paul is valiantly defending our Constitutional free speech rights. This bill is a no-brainer,” said L. Brent Bozell III, Founder and President, Media Research Center.


“Senator Rand Paul has introduced legislation allowing citizens to sue the federal government for censoring their speech, protecting First Amendment rights. For too long, federal entities have violated free speech using government power and funds. This bill ensures courts cannot dismiss these cases on standing grounds, preventing constitutional abuses. Senator Paul’s initiative is a crucial step in safeguarding free speech, a cornerstone of our free society,” said George Landrith, President, Frontiers of Freedom Institute.


“The Supreme Court’s failure to decide the Murthy v. Missouri case on the grounds that Missouri did not have standing in their attempt to protect their citizens against unconstitutional government censorship was a travesty. Senator Rand Paul’s introduction of legislation to provide states standing to sue on censorship cases would provide perhaps the only vehicle for broadly protecting free speech rights from the federal government coercing and suggesting censorship via corporate social media proxies. Americans for Limited Government proudly supports the Rand Paul legislation,” said Richard Manning, President, Americans for Limited Government.


“Senator Rand Paul has long been a champion of free speech and individual liberty, and this is on full display today with his legislation that will help preserve our freedoms that some in the federal government too often are trying to destroy,” said Vance Ginn, President of Ginn Economic Consulting and Former Chief Economist of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget.


“As social media has grown to allow Americans more free and unfettered speech online, there have been highly motivated efforts by government officials to limit speech online using both direct and indirect forms of coercion. This is a direct challenge to the spirit and future strength of the First Amendment. The Consumer Choice Center strongly supports Sen. Paul’s “Standing to Challenge Government Censorship Act” as a vehicle to end unconstitutional jawboning and hold public officials accountable when they aim to suppress public discourse and free expression online,” said Yael Ossowski, Deputy Director, Consumer Choice Center.


“The Standing to Challenge Government Censorship Act is a necessary corrective to the Supreme Court ruling that current law does not provide standing to victims of government-directed censorship to get their day in court. Congress should pass it quickly to allow citizens to appropriately defend their First Amendment rights,” said Phil Kerpen, President, American Commitment.


“No government should have the ability to control American free speech online or censor us from speaking. NetChoice applauds Sen. Paul for taking this important step to defend the First Amendment from government officials that abuse their power by trying to suppress open and free dialogue online. Sen. Paul’s bill makes it clear that Americans have the right to challenge the government for jawboning in court. NetChoice looks forward to working with Sen. Paul and the U.S. Senate to get this issue right so that Americans and businesses are protected from government interference when exercising their constitutionally-protected speech,” said Carl Szabo,Vice President & General Counsel, NetChoice.


“The recent decision in Murthy v. Missouri seemed to give government officials free rein to push social media companies to censor speech they dislike. Sen. Paul is stepping up to fix this by ensuring citizens have standing to sue when they do this. Free speech makes a comeback,” said Jim Hanson, Executive Director, America Matters.


Background:


On June 26, 2024, the Supreme Court ruled in Murthy v. Missouri, a landmark First Amendment case, that the plaintiffs did not have standing to seek an injunction against government officials who attempted to pressure platforms into censoring speech related to COVID-19. The court’s decision hinged on the plaintiffs seeking an injunction against future censorship, rather than compensation for past violations of their First Amendment rights. However, the plaintiffs would not have been able to seek compensation, even if they wanted to, as the Supreme Court has consistently refused to acknowledge a cause of action allowing individuals to seek compensation from federal officials for past First Amendment violations.


Like countless other Americans, Dr. Paul was also targeted by the pervasive censorship regime during the pandemic. In 2021, Dr. Paul posted a video on YouTube to educate the public about the potentially harmful consequences of relying on ineffective cloth masks to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. YouTube took down his video and suspended his account for a week. This blatant suppression of dissenting views led him to announce that he was quitting the platform and would henceforth post his content on Rumble.com.
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A report of an investigation of a crash of a V-22 Osprey in Japan, with all the crew dead
What is notable about this one is:
  • The pilot staunchly defended the Osprey on Reddit (u/UR_WRONG_ABOUT_V22), which is very ironic.
  • There were plenty of warning signs the helicopter was shitting itself hard (transmission breaking up), yet the pilot dismissed it as a defective sensor (page 20 of PDF).
  • His (former) wife took over the Reddit account (hence why it's still active).
 

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Gigantic Penguin said:
Stumbled on this one by pure chance: Redditor gets $800k inheritance from grandma, invests $700k of it in Intel. Regrets it not even 24h later, doubles down on sunk cost fallacy.
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What kind of fucking retard drops their entire wad in a tech stock? I mean I'm pretty sure they'll turn this around, this is bringing down the axe to cut fat and so far as I know they have pretty strong fundamentals despite the current situation.

Anyway it seems like Intel is doing the right thing under the circumstances.

I wouldn't have done what this dude did, but even if I had, I wouldn't really be panicking. Much.
 
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Super-Chevy454 said:
There's a plane who crashed near Sao Paolo in Brazil. The cause is still unknown for now.
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100% chance pilot error 50% chance contributing distraction


Edit: 6753d39ffb0b938d8e05f7e8fb1e5064.png
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Their speed was all over the place for the whole flight they shoot up a couple hundred feet in the last minutes then stall out and crash.


For reference this is the same flight a day ago in a different plane.

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Actually the speed readings are unreliable, there seems to have been some sort of issue with this aircraft's transponder all of the history in Flightradar going back a year has really wobbly speed readings going up and down within 20-30 knots of the actual speed but randomly spiking up even higher. All the other aircraft in the area and in this companies fleet are normal so just a quirk with this plane I guess.

Either way speed can't be trusted but before stalling out the altitude jumped up a couple hundred feet still.
 
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Sorry for double posting, but the guys of Newsweek try to stay relevant with that article.

I'm a Conservative Mom of 6. Why Are the Democrats So Much Better on Family Policy? | Opinion​


n the Sunday shows this past weekend, the GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance put himself into the line of fire in three separate interviews with hostile mainstream hosts, who all walked into their meetings trying to catch Vance in a "gotcha" on his past comments criticizing childless women. But Vance, too, was prepared: When questioned about his past comments, Vance countered that Harris is "anti-family" and the Vance/Trump ticket was the ticket for American families. Specifically, he cited his support of higher child tax credits, to the tune of $5,000 per child.

But if Vance actually supported child tax credits, he had the opportunity to express that support in his current role as a legislator—and neglected to do so. Just last week, Senate Republicans blocked an effort to expand child tax credits, especially those targeted at low-income Americans. Vance, a United States Senator who could have voted for child tax credits now, skipped the vote, as did a half dozen other Republican senators.
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Mother cat, kittens rescued from behind subway station stairwell

Mother cat, kittens rescued from behind subway station stairwell

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Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority workers came to the rescue of a mother cat and kittens found trapped behind a stairwell at a subway station.

SEPTA posted photos to social media showing the rescue of the mother and two kittens found stuck behind a stairwell at the 63rd Street Station in West Philadelphia.



"All other duties as assigned. Not sure these two SEPTA employees ever thought this would include pulling a mom and two kittens out of a station wall," officials wrote.

The felines were taken to Stray Cat Relief, where the mother cat was dubbed Subrina in honor of the rescue.

Stray Cat Relief said it is currently seeking a foster home for the feline family.
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Dog rescued from abandoned cistern in Kentucky

Dog rescued from abandoned cistern in Kentucky

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An animal control officer in Kentucky came to the rescue of a dog found trapped in an old abandoned cistern.

The Caldwell County Animal Shelter said Animal Control Officer Kevin Lane responded Monday morning by driving to an empty lot next to the former Times Leader building on West Washington Street in Princeton.



Lane arrived to find the dog, a female chocolate lab, trapped in an old abandoned cistern.

The canine was rescued and taken to the Caldwell County Animal Shelter, where she was later reunited with her owner.
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