News Dump

"The Stench Was Horrendous": Pence Visited A Border Patrol Station Packed With Hundreds Of Immigrants In Cages
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/adolfoflores/pence-border-patrol-immigrants-cages-mcallen

The "Pro-Life" Movement Is Silent About Children Dying at the Border
https://truthout.org/articles/the-pro-life-movement-is-silent-about-children-dying-at-the-border/

Video shows Mike Pence ‘callously’ turning back on caged migrants while touring border detention centres – One person said: 'I saw not a single shred of pity or empathy in that empty man’s eyes'
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/mike-pence-border-camp-migrant-immigration-mcallen-back-turn-twitter-video-a9003576.html

Pence Says Conditions the Fault of Democrats
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/13/despite-congress-providing-46-billion-additional-funding-border-pence-says

What most Americans are looking for in a new home: solar panels. After California passed first-of-its kind legislation mandating solar panels on all homes built starting in 2020, a new poll finds that people across the country want to see that policy go national.
https://www.fastcompany.com/90375536/what-most-americans-are-looking-for-in-a-new-home-solar-panels

How the Stress of Separation and Detention Changes the Lives of Children: “The very fact of being in an institutionalized setting that results in neglect,” Jack P. Shonkoff, a child-psychology expert, says, “has a devastating effect on development.”
https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/how-the-stress-of-separation-and-detention-changes-the-lives-of-children

Federally Funded Evangelical Foster Agency Still Won’t Accept Jewish Or Queer Volunteers. Miracle Hill Ministries just announced its allowing non-evangelicals as employees and prospective foster parents. But Jews, queer people and others need not apply.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/miracle-hill-ministries-christians_n_5d28ddbfe4b0bd7d1e1c0f6b

Reminder: Republican Tennessee governor signs proclamation honoring early KKK leader
https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/13/politics/bill-lee-tennessee-governor-kkk-nathan-forrest/index.html

Trump took 3 big losses on healthcare this week, and the losing streak probably isn't going to end anytime soon |  Loss 1: A judge ruled that the White House had to scrap its rule forcing drug companies to disclose prices in commercials. The judge said the White House lacked the authority to make this rule in the first place after after three pharmaceutical firms sued over the measure. | Loss 2: The White House announced its plan to lower the cost of dialysis, a business so costly and corrupt that HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver did a segment on it. So it's great that Trump decided to do something but it's unfortunate that his plan was so lacking in substance that shares of DaVita Inc., the largest for-profit dialysis company, didn't even budge after it was announced. | Loss 3: On Thursday the White House completely scrapped its plans to eliminate drug price rebates. These rebates are handled by companies called pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), who act as middle men between insurers and drug companies. Critics (like this columnist) say these rebates work in an opaque system that actually makes drug prices more expensive, and even drug companies supported this measure.
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-lower-drug-prices-healthcare-reform-losses-2019-7

Beto O'Rourke: Acosta protected a child predator. He had to resign, but he never should have been appointed. Trump knew Acosta’s history when he nominated him. And the Republican Senate knew it when they confirmed him. We must hold all of them accountable.
https://twitter.com/BetoORourke/status/1149693557936029696

This 6-year-old from India died in the Arizona desert. She loved dancing and dreamed of meeting her dad
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/12/asia/us-border-death-indian-girl-family/index.html

William Barr supposedly recused from Justice Department's Boeing probe
https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/12/politics/barr-recused-boeing-737/index.html

Epstein paid suspected co-conspirators, which prosecutors suggest may have been to ‘influence’ them
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/epstein-paid-suspected-co-conspirators-which-prosecutors-suggest-may-have-been-to-influence-them/2019/07/12/eebd5148-a4ed-11e9-b732-41a79c2551bf_story.html?1

(YEP....) Who is this guy and why is he explicitly singling out a Native American woman of color? Her name is Congresswoman Davids, not Sharice. She is a phenomenal new member who flipped a red seat blue. Keep👏🏾Her👏🏾Name👏🏾Out👏🏾Of👏🏾Your👏🏾Mouth.
https://twitter.com/HouseDemocrats/status/1149856308801286148

Not a single candidate endorsed by Justice Democrats has flipped a red seat blue
https://twitter.com/ne0liberal/status/1149890570590007296

Partial sight has been restored to six blind people via an implant that transmits video images directly to the brain - Medical experts hail ‘paradigm shift’ of implant that transmits video images directly to the visual cortex, bypassing the eye and optic nerve
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jul/13/brain-implant-restores-partial-vision-to-blind-people

New Zealand begins first round of gun buybacks after Christchurch attack
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/13/new-zealand-begins-first-round-of-gun-buybacks-after-christchurch-attack

The company is offering to retrain its workers for the jobs of the future—at no cost to taxpayers. Amazon has disrupted businesses from book stores to supermarkets—RIP Borders. Now CEO Jeff Bezos is gunning for the higher-education-government complex by paying for advanced technical and vocational education for Amazon’s U.S. employees. The Seattle-based retailer on Thursday rolled out a plan to retrain a third of its U.S. workforce by 2025, or about 100,000 employees. That’s more than most state universities enroll in a year, let alone graduate. Amazon has pioneered one-day delivery enabled by vast fulfillment centers equipped with robots and is moving to drone delivery in some areas. | The company is proposing to spend $700 million on educational programs and pay up to $12,000 for warehouse workers to earn certificates or degrees in “high-demand occupations,” as defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Workers will be able to take classes on site, and the programs don’t have to relate to their current employment. Workers also won’t have to indenture themselves to Amazon. Put simply, this is job retraining subsidized by Amazon. Even if Amazon eventually eliminates their positions, employees who take advantage will be better able to find work in another role at the company or with another employer. This will be far superior to the federal job-training programs that are often run by labor unions with little connection to the real future needs of employers. Amazon will also fund graduate-level education for its software engineers at its Machine Learning University. A master’s degree in computer science typically costs about $40,000. The engineers won’t have to go back to school and take out tens of thousands of dollars in loans as so many Americans did during the recession—one reason student debt ballooned.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazons-education-for-bernie-11562971540

Hofeller files can be used in NC gerrymandering trial, judges rule in win for Democrats
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article232612182.html

The US is quietly opening shelters for babies and young kids. One has 12 children and no mothers
https://www.revealnews.org/article/the-us-is-quietly-opening-shelters-for-babies-and-young-kids-one-has-12-children-and-no-mothers/

Washington Man Accused of Hurling Molotov Cocktails at ICE Detention Center Killed by Police
https://www.thedailybeast.com/washington-man-accused-of-hurling-molotov-cocktails-at-ice-detention-center-killed-by-tacoma-police?source=articles&via=rss

Reminder: Trump kills key drug price proposal he once embraced - The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/white-house-kills-key-drug-pricing-rule-to-eliminate-hidden-rebates/2019/07/11/ff595192-a3de-11e9-bd56-eac6bb02d01d_story.html

Sanders skips Netroots as Warren strengthens her hold on progressives
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/sanders-consolidated-left-2016-now-he-risks-losing-leader-spot-n1029326

For The First Time In Over 100 Years They Find Baby Turtles In The Galapagos Islands
http://www.thescienceandspace.com/2019/07/for-first-time-in-over-100-years-they.html

Boris Johnson admits he doesn't know his own Brexit plan in car crash interview
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/boris-johnson-admits-doesnt-know-18130561

Environmentalists have removed nearly 40 tonnes of trash from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch: The latest annual clean-up voyage by the non-profit Ocean Voyages Institute used satellite imagery to specifically target discarded fishing gear.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/07/environmentalists-have-removed-nearly-40-tonnes-of-trash-from-the-pacific

Giant batteries and cheap solar power are shoving fossil fuels off the grid
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/07/giant-batteries-and-cheap-solar-power-are-shoving-fossil-fuels-grid

@BetoORourke: "I'll just say, about Rep @AOC, I think she's been and continues to be a phenomenal leader and voice on the most urgent and pressing issues of the day."
https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1150038123772035075