#Senate testimony

[lasseling]

Acting Secret Service Chief Admits to Senate Trump Assassination Attempt Was a ‘Failure of Secret Service’

The acting head of the U.S. Secret Service has admitted during Senate testominy that failures from within his own agency were to blame for the failed assassination attempt against President Donald Trump.

[vonnebenan]

so I’m reading the transcripts of the United States Senate Inquiry regarding the sinking of the Titanic, as one does, and I found this gem:

[jen-with-a-pen]

a prerecorded message

*beep*

Greetings! If you're seeing this it's because I am, once again, out of the state on another work trip. Back to Washington DC for part 2 of our conference since the house wasn't in session when we needed it to be 😑 so i'll be gallivanting amongst the capitol yet again.

ill be back on thursday and regularly scheduled programming should return by next week!

love yall ❤

[auroraluciferi]

4/19/2023 Senate hearing on UFO’s and UAP’s

This is the second congressional hearing in 50 years on this subject that follows testimony from intelligence and military officials in May of 2022, the transcript of which can be found here

[chongoblog]

So a lot of political scandals just dropped in the last 24 hours

-NC Governor Candidate Mark Robinson's online posts were found, including some VERY graphic descriptions (like seriously, do not read if you're not 18) of him cheating on his wife, calling himself a black Nazi, and expressing support for reinstituting slavery. His email address was also found on Ashley Madison

-Robert F Kennedy Jr was revealed to be cheating on his wife with a reporter (and that isn't even the weirdest thing since federal law enforcement opened an investigation into him allegedly cutting off the head of a whale and taking it home with him less than 24 hours ago)

-GOP Senate candidate who is the CEO of a bank has been found accepting millions of dollars from what seem to allegedly be Mexican drug cartels.

-Finally, probably the biggest bombshell, according to multiple eyewitness testimonies within sealed sworn affadavits, Congressman Matt Gaetz allegedly invited a 17-year-old girl to a drug-fueld sex party

And we haven't even hit October, folks. Again, these are all still breaking news stories, so things are subject to change, but oh man oh man.

[bunnie-the-idiot]

the kids online safety act passed the u.s. senate.

long story short (for anyone who hadn't heard of this before) the kids online safety act, aka kosa, is a bill that will censor online content and resources for lgbtq+ matters, reproductive healthcare, activism (INCLUDING PALESTINE AND LIKELY OTHER CRISES GOING ON LIKE IN CONGO OR SUDAN), mental health, etc. everywhere--its effects likely won't be contained to just america.

today, july 30th, 2024, the senate passed it 91-3. it has officially moved to the house of representatives.

is this a pretty massive setback? yes. do you have every right to be scared, sad, angry, or whatever else about this happening? absolutely. but should you give up hope completely? NO!

even though kosa passed the senate, the house is on break/august recess at the moment. we have around an entire month to get emails, calls, and faxes in to house reps, maybe more depending on when they decide to vote on it.

should it pass the house and get signed into law, we still have a whole 18 months before it actually goes into effect. this is plenty of time for digital rights orgs (e.g. fight for the future, the electronic frontier foundation) and other groups that oppose it to file a lawsuit against it. even if, worst-case scenario, it flies through the house immediately after the recess ends, we can still fight this up to march 2026.

so, yes, remember what's at stake here, but also remember that it's not over yet. we lost a battle, not the war.

below are some resources to learn more about kosa and how to contact your reps (first link) + a page that lets you directly contact progressive house reps, sign an open letter opposing the bill, and view others' testimonies against it (second link):

FIGHT. FIGHT. FIGHT.

[paulmccart]

We're Not Gonna Take It! And the Story of How We Almost Did

Protesters outside of the PMRC senate hearings.

Are you a victim of rock? Well maybe you aren't, but all the way back in 1985 a group of prominent D.C wives felt that they were.

These women, with the help of Beach Boys member Mike Love and Joseph Coors, the owner of Coors Beers, formed the PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center).

Their reasoning for forming as co-founder Susan Baker put it:

"It started because one day my 7-year-old came in and started quoting some of Madonna's lyrics to me, wanting to know what they meant. And I was shocked. I knew that you had to be concerned about movies and TV, but I didn't have a clue that my 7-year-old would be exposed to inappropriate songs."

The goal of the PMRC was to give parents more control over what their children could listen to. As well as implementing a rating system for music with bad language, sexual themes, and anti-Christian messages just to name a few. Eventually the group made a list of the fifteen worst songs, in their opinion and labeled them "The Filthy Fifteen".

(And it also happens to make a killer playlist)

Besides a rating system and lyrics printed on album covers the PMRC had several other goals including:

"...records with explicit covers be wrapped or kept under the counter; that record companies reassess contracts with performers who engage in sexual or violent acts on stage; that broadcasters be pressured to exhibit "voluntary restraint" by not airing offending music videos, which would also be rated."

All that noise coming from the PMRC culminated on September 19th, 1985. When a hearing in the senate occurred. Two musicians were called in on behalf of the music industry, Frank Zappa and Dee Snider of Twisted Sister. Two of musics most studious and serious creatives.

Zappa and Snider both gave eloquent defenses of what they deemed to be free speech.

But the PMRC had a trick up their sleeves... or so they thought.

They'd also invited John Denver to speak that day, assuming that he would stand with the side of "family values" but they were mistaken.

John Denver's testimony was the most scathing that day. He cited his own experience with having some of his music banned from radio. Even going as far as comparing the PMRC and groups like it to Nazi book burnings.

So what did the PMRC end up accomplishing? You know those tiny explicit labels in the corner of some albums? You can thank the PMRC for those. When they were originally introduced they were called "Tipper Stickers" after one of more outspoken PMRC members Tipper Gore (wife of Al Gore).

So while we didn't exactly take it, for a time we almost did. And thanks to testimony from Frank Zappa, John Denver, and Dee Snider, we can regularly enjoy any kind of music we want to- even the songs that promote the occult.

Both photographs come from Mark Weiss who photographed the event for Rock Scene Magazine.

[lucybellwood]

LET'S! FUCKING! GO!

I've been following the leadership of the folks behind the Long Covid Moonshot for a long while now, and it is so cool to see this package being formally introduced and championed in government.

If nothing else, I strongly recommend taking a moment to read through the testimonials on the movement's homepage from folks living with LC. With more than 22 million Americans already affected, and the chances of developing Long Covid increasing with each re-infection, it's increasingly likely that you already know someone or will soon know someone battling these symptoms.

Get ready to cheer for your reps to support this bill, and keep an eye on the Long Covid Moonshot folks for more ways to engage.

[liberalsarecool]

This is among the most damning testimony I've ever seen.

"Everyone involved knew they were sharing lies. From Trump and Giulani's shadow diplomacy, to my missions to Ukraine and elsewhere [...] everything was for the ultimate benefit of Donald Trump and, thereby, Vladimir Putin."

"Congressman Pete Sessions, then Congressman Devin Nunes, Senator Ron Johnson, and many others understood they were pushing a false narrative. The same goes for John Solomon, Sean Hannity, and media personnel, particularly at Fox News, who used this narrative to manipulate the public ahead of the 2020 elections. Sadly, they are still doing this today as we approach the 2024 elections."

Republicans work for Putin.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

A Senate committee studying a bill to establish a criminal offence with respect to sterilization procedures heard emotional testimony from a survivor of coerced sterilization on Thursday.

"It's like you wiped out a generation," Nicole Rabbit, a member of Survivors Circle for Reproductive Justice, an organization for Indigenous women who are survivors of coerced and forced sterilization, told the committee in Ottawa.

Bill S-250 an Act to Amend the Criminal Code (sterilization procedures) would make forced and coerced sterilization punishable under the Criminal Code by up to 14 years in prison.

Full article

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

[wilwheaton]

Last Thursday, Sen. Dick Durbin invited Chief Justice John Roberts to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee about, well, to put it directly—the Supreme Court’s diaphanous ethics regime. On Tuesday evening, in his letter to Durbin in which he declined the invitation, Roberts finally named the problem: “Testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee by the Chief Justice of the United States is exceedingly rare, as one might expect in light of separation of powers concerns and the importance of preserving judicial independence,” he wrote. In other words, the justices can enforce checks and balances on the other branches, but the other branches can enforce no checks or balances upon the justices. Which is precisely the problem the Senate Judiciary Committee is attempting to solve.

Supreme Court scandals: John Roberts’ refusal to do anything is the move of a monarchist.

This SCOTUS majority is illegitimate, stolen, corrupt to the core, and composed entirely of activist judges.

[laurenfoxmakesthings]

[simply-ivanka]

"This Is America’s 100% Safe & Secure Elections

Michigan Poll Watcher Says She Was Mistaken For A Democrat

A Lot Of Voting Irregularities Were Happening

She Was Told To Remove Republicans

Senate Oversight Official Testimony… https://t.co/C39QJc18zu" / X

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