Via Dave Hulmanoid and Marcus Rashford: Manchester United soccer star clashes with lawmakers as UK parliament votes against free school meals - CNN
… After an impassioned campaign earlier this year, Rashford forced the UK government to reverse its decision to not extend free school meal vouchers throughout the summer holidays amid the pandemic.
The Manchester Unisted star said the latest knock back would not deter him from campaigning on the issue.
“I don’t have the education of a politician, many on Twitter have made that clear today, but I have a social education having lived through this and having spent time with the families and children most affected,” he wrote.
“These children matter. These children are the future of this country. They are not just another statistic. And for as long as they don’t have a voice, they will have mine. You have my word on that.” …
(Source: CNN)
Via Dave Hulmanoid and Marcus Rashford’s fight against child poverty exposes Labour and trade unions’ partnership with Johnson government - World Socialist Web Site
Marcus Rashford has more fight in his little toe than the entire Labour and trade union bureaucracy.
In a class war declaration, Boris Johnson’s Tory government voted Wednesday against a motion calling for school children from the poorest families being provided with free school meal vouchers during the upcoming half-term school holiday. The government refused to spend a few million pounds to feed poverty stricken children when schools close for a few days from October 23 to November 2.
The Labour Party’s opposition sponsored motion read, “That this house calls on the government to continue directly funding provision of free school meals over the school holidays until Easter 2021 to prevent over a million children going hungry during this crisis.”
The vote came after Marcus Rashford, the 22-year-old Manchester United and England footballer, reprised his summer campaign to give free school meals (FSM) to children living in poverty. Rashford was brought up in a single parent home on the working class Wythenshawe council estate in Manchester, with his mother working minimum wage jobs. The family relied on state-funded breakfasts and free school meals. …
I’ve seen many articles re: Mr Rashford’s work on behalf of poor kids, and posted some of ‘em, and loved him for it. This crap makes me want to scream and cry. It’s amazing/disgusting that anyone could be so cold hearted and evil as to ever let children go hungry, let alone in the midst of this plague. It makes me want to hope that all those who voted against feeding children gets the plague, but w/o giving it to anyone w/the opposing viewpoint.
(Source: wsws.org)
And then we have Spönn engaging in her favorite activity - leading the mares in zoomies 🌪 No one can get the girls excited like she can! I have noticed that while the geldings seem to prefer sparring / wrestling style play, the mares prefer chasing and racing games. One of these mares is 26-years-old! So fun to watch them, and so good for them to move their bodies like this every day ❤️
(via merelygifted)
Bogi the instigator 😂 He is always ready to party, and often takes it upon himself to try to get the herd as hyped up as he’s feeling on any given occasion (he can’t help it, he’s a Gemini ♊️). He keeps Vigri and Thór busy 😉😂
All of our horses, mares included, spend a good part of each day engaging in lively play. I’ve even had vets comment on how playful horses become when they live here! I believe it has to do with allowing them 24/7 access to forage in slow-feeder netting on their dry lots - as they learn that food will always be there, they adjust to self regulating and stop obsessing over food, which seems to give them more interest in play time! We also designed the dry lots in large, irregular shapes over varied terrain, to encourage movement (inspired by paddock paradise track system designs) which I think also helps encourage playtime. Nap time is also a main event, especially in the morning I often wander outside to find the whole herd flat on their sides 😂 No stress, just like we like it 😉
(via merelygifted)
The human suit it wears over its giant alien lizard body needs replacing.
(via merelygifted)
[video]
White House chief of staff: 'We are not going to control the pandemic'; okay, then -
Now this is a brilliant campaign strategy nine days before an election — give up!
CNN:
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said Sunday that the US is “not going to control” the coronavirus pandemic, as cases surge across the country and nearly 225,000 Americans have died from the virus.“We are not going to control the pandemic. We are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics and other mitigation areas,” Meadows told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”
Pressed by Tapper on why the US isn’t going to get the pandemic under control, Meadows said: “Because it is a contagious virus just like the flu.” He added that the Trump administration is “making efforts to contain it.”
Of course, the administration can’t even control the spread of the virus in the White House. Now several Pence flunkies have it. And the thing about a virus is, once you let it run roughshod, it just becomes more and more widespread.
Meanwhile, Trump is hosting superspreader events and generally acting like the COVID Borg hive’s lead publicist.
The comments from President Donald Trump’s chief of staff come as coronavirus cases surge across the US, with the country having reported its second-highest day of new cases on Saturday. The administration is also facing a potential second outbreak in the White House, with at least five people in Vice President Mike Pence’s inner circle having tested positive in recent days, according to a source familiar with the situation.After all that — after months and months of mitigation efforts and sacrifices — the Trump administration’s message to the American people is, essentially, “never mind.” We fucked this up, so why bother trying anymore?
This is America, and in America we don’t wear masks! We have the right to spread our freedom phlegm wherever we want! And we need a president who doesn’t care if we get infected!
Sure, let’s go with that.
(Source: dailykos.com)
Five around Mike Pence test COVID-19 positive; Pence refuses to cancel Senate visit -
Vice President Mike Pence is head of the White House’s coronavirus task force. He’s also the center of a new apparent superspreader cluster: The New York Times reports that five members of Pence’s inner circle have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last few days. This includes Pence’s chief of staff Marc Short, outside Pence adviser Marty Obst, and three unidentified Pence staffers.
Despite five of his closest contacts testing positive for COVID-19, the Times reports that Pence has no plans to quarantine. In fact, he’s going to continue his schedule as planned, including in-person rallies. On Monday, he also plans to visit the Senate to preside over the confirmation vote of Trump’s newest far-right Supreme Court pick. CNN correspondent Manu Raju reports that Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell would not answer questions on whether Pence should cancel his Senate trip, but Sen. John Cornyn opined that he would “leave it up to his good judgment.”
While one might hope that the putative “head” of the nation’s COVID-19 pandemic response would show some small amount of competence in curtailing the virus’ spread among his own damn staff, Pence has consistently parroted whatever dismissive talking points Donald Trump and top White House advisers have used to downplay the virus. The White House continues to be contemptuous of mask usage, which in large part explains why the White House has now been hit with two separate COVID-19 clusters in recent weeks.
Throughout the rest of the United States, pandemic numbers are again skyrocketing as cold weather sets in, increasing the amount of time Americans spend indoors. The White House response in the closing days of the election, however, has been a coordinated giving up.
Newest White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told host Jake Tapper “We’re not going to control the pandemic.” He’s right: It’s clear at this point that the Trump White House is not only not going to control the pandemic, but is incompetent at even controlling the spread of the pandemic within their own offices.
The absolute contempt the Republican Party has shown for expert-recommended moves to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, as it soars toward another new peak even as much of the rest of the world successfully limits pandemic spread, remains bizarre and grotesque. Pence is insisting on continuing his rally schedule despite the new cluster around him; Republicans continue to belittle the use of masks for no evident reason other than partisan show in crowded, in-person rallies; Pence’s “task force” is at this point a non-entity, having abandoned efforts to put forward any pandemic strategy in favor of pushes to “reopen” state economies despite escalating deaths. …
(Source: dailykos.com)
Belarus ‘people’s ultimatum’ protest met with violent crackdown | World news | The Guardian
(Source: theguardian.com)