AmberWavesoFlame @AmberWavesofFlame@qoto.org

Years of legal work & advocacy later, Lyft & Uber drivers are *still* refusing rides to blind customers with service animals and the companies are *still* maintaining it's not really their responsibility—this time the blind rider just happened to be a senior judge in DC, so the Washington Post picked up the story: "A federal judge was refused a Lyft ride with his guide dog. He’s not alone."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/04/20/blind-ride-share-guide-dogs/

#disability #law

And this was what Republican FEC commissioners did with every credible complaint filed against Trump. Even in the two dozen instances where the FEC's nonpartisan lawyers found reason to believe a violation occurred

OMG. A bill that’s passed the Tennessee legislature encourages students to report professors teaching “divisive concepts” (i.e., race) & requires universities to publish 3 years of course grades & to see whether divisive concepts “affected learning outcomes”give students’ entering test scores & graduating GPAs, “disaggregating underserved minority students.” In other words, if minority students’ GPAs are above their entering stats, it must be bc of biased profs #HigherEd https://www.wbir.com/article/news/education/new-bill-would-strengthen-rules-over-what-can-be-taught-in-classrooms

FL FAR-RIGHT SCUMBAGS

A US sheriff has become an instant hero after laying down the law against a group of neo-Nazis terrorising the Jewish community in his local area.

Florida Sheriff Mike Chitwood, from Volusia County, near Orlando, is on a mission to drive far-right extremists out of the area in a series of public take-downs of the Goyim Defence League (GDL) and its sympathisers.
#News #GOP #Politics #USA

https://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/top-cop-a-cult-icon-after-ripping-into-neonazi-group-terrorising-jewish-locals/news-story/2e8e7dbb8b6269cec3fd1086b01f0cb5

“Over 19,000 children have been de facto abducted from the occupied territories and sent to #Russia since last February, according to a #Ukrainian national database. Only 361 children have been brought back to #Ukraine as of April 21.”
https://kyivindependent.com/explainer-what-we-know-about-russias-deportation-of-ukrainian-children/

The mouse that roared: how a little Australian website stared down Murdoch’s mighty News Corp

Incensed by an opinion piece, Lachlan Murdoch came at Crikey with guns blazing. But in the end he walked away – for the second time in a week

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/apr/22/crikey-how-a-little-australian-website-stared-down-murdoch-mighty-news-corp

#murdoch #dominion #FoxNews #fascism #news #lies

"Fox News said in a statement that it “acknowledges” the court’s findings its statements were false, although there was no apology. Moreover, the settlement comes after ample evidence, now in the public record, that Fox News personalities egregiously and repeatedly lied.

As one of Dominion’s lawyers put it, “The world got to see the documents” showing what Fox News personalities said in private as they were lying to viewers."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/04/21/newsletter-crisis-in-courts/

#FoxNews #Lies #Dominion #Settlement

In another case of consequences for overt lies, #MikeLindell, aka #PillowGuy, is ordered to pay $5 million.

Maybe the #TruthIsBack? Is this a new era for #journalism? It’s been a good week for those that believe in a responsible #FourthEstate

#News #NewsMedia #Fox #FoxDominion

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2023/04/20/mike-lindell-prove-wrong-contest

#NewSpecies!
New cascade frog from Vietnam just came in on #FrogFriday!

Amolops truongi

Treatment: http://treatment.plazi.org/id/03AA8780-FFB6-A063-FC59-DD7FC1F40007
Publication: http://doi.org/10.26107/RBZ-2023-0004
#RafflesBulletinofZoology

#FAIRdata
#science #taxonomy #ecology #biodiversity #nature #wildlife #conservation #animals #herpetology #herps #amphibia #frogs #vietnam

The Space Elevator shows you what is at different altitudes as you scroll up, all the way to space.

https://neal.fun/space-elevator

#science #space

#FollowFriday to these accounts from #PBS and #NPR, we are very glad you are here!

(and if i missed anyone add them in the comments and I'll add them!)

Local PBS stations:

@gbhnews
@kcts9

NPR folks here:
@timkmak
@nellgreenfieldboyce
@casey
@eric
@shannonpareil
@steveinskeep

And PBS folks here:
@laurasanthanam
@philmeyer
@skrishna
@petertubbs
@Trailanderror

And in Germany, we welcome public broadcaster @NDR

& from Canada: cbcworld@botsin.space

Judicial interference with mifepristone. "Once courts dismiss core scientific judgments by the agency, there is no reason to believe they will limit themselves to this one medication. There is already political pressure against vaccines, antidepressants and other psychotropic medication, and certain cell-derived therapies. If judges begin to dictate the terms of medication access, then others will seek to use ideology and influence to advance their agendas." https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adi2587

Via Michael Beschloss:

Justice Abe Fortas forced to quit #SupremeCourt, 1969, over his secret financial relationship with rich friend

#ClarenceThomas

Some good news.
---
RT @NILC
BREAKING: @POTUS is lifting restrictions on health care access for DACA recipients, allowing them to finally have access to the care they need.

This is a critical, long-overdue victory for immigrant youth whose #HomeIsHere.
https://twitter.com/NILC/status/1646552264385986560

New paper on auditing Elon's early impact on Twitter.
- Hateful users became more hateful
- Hate increased dramatically
- There was no overall change in bots

Paper (accepted to ICWSM 2023) is here:
https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.04129