During a press conference at the G-20 Summit in Japan, President Trump was asked about federally mandated busing, a topic that Senator Kamala Harris and former Vice President Joe Biden sparred over during Thursday night's Democratic presidential debate. Read the rest

Last December, 23-year old Ebony Johnson shot 27-year old Marshae Jones during an argument outside of a Dollar General store in Birmingham, Alabama. The gunshot wound to the stomach caused Jones to miscarry a 5-month pregnancy. Ebony Johnson was initially charged with manslaughter, but a grand jury failed to indict her and the charges were dismissed.

Yesterday, a grand jury indicted Marshae Jones, the victim of the shooting, with manslaughter.

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From AL.com:

“The investigation showed that the only true victim in this was the unborn baby,’’ Pleasant Grove police Lt. Danny Reid said at the time of the shooting. “It was the mother of the child who initiated and continued the fight which resulted in the death of her own unborn baby.”

Reid said the fight stemmed over the unborn baby’s father. The investigation showed, he said, that it was Jones who initiated and pressed the fight, which ultimately caused Jemison to defend herself and unfortunately caused the death of the baby.

"Let’s not lose sight that the unborn baby is the victim here,’’ Reid said. “She had no choice in being brought unnecessarily into a fight where she was relying on her mother for protection."

The 5-month fetus was "dependent on its mother to try to keep it from harm, and she shouldn’t seek out unnecessary physical altercations,” Reid added.

Jones is being held at the Jefferson County Jail on a $50,000 bond.

(Photo: Charles Miller/Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 2.0) Read the rest

The Netflix doc Knock Down the House debuted at Sundance earlier this year, winning the Audience Award for U.S. Documentaries. Directed by Rachel Lears, it follows the midterm Congressional campaigns of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Amy Vilela, Cori Bush, and Paula Jean Swearengin.

Knock Down the House comes to Netflix May 1st.

(Photo: YouTube Screenshot) Read the rest

In a piece for The Cut, Senator Elizabeth Warren (presidential candidate and HBO fan) shares her love for Game of Thrones. It's loaded with spoilers and political metaphors, so proceed with caution if you're not caught up or allergic to allegory.

Dany believes fiercely in her right to rule, but she despises what ruling means in the world she’s grown up in. She doesn’t want to be a slave owner or a dictator — and she definitely doesn’t want to become her murderous father. She tells Ser Jorah: “Slavery is real. I can end it. I will end it. And I will end those behind it.” Before sailing across the sea to Westeros, she frees the enslaved people of Meereen and creates an army that fights because they want to, not because they have to. (Also, she has dragons.)

Senator Warren isn't the only 2020 candidate making Thrones noise. The current occupier of the White House tweeted a GoT meme after the release of the redacted Mueller Report. HBO was less than thrilled. Read the rest

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is the first 2020 presidential candidate to call for Donald Trump's impeachment as a result of the findings in the redacted Mueller Report released yesterday.

Warren going on the record means every candidate will be put on the spot this weekend regarding impeachment. Things are about to get interesting.

(Photo: Flickr/ElizabethforMA) Read the rest

As the world mourns what was lost in the devastating fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, the country's elite have pledged nearly half a billion euros towards the rebuild. Apple CEO Tim Cook tweeted this morning that the company will contribute a yet-unspecified amount as well. Read the rest

Sometimes, the universe provides.

Deadline is reporting Kate McKinnon will play everybody's favorite deep-voiced blood grifter Elizabeth Holmes in a limited series for Hulu based on the ABC documentary/podcast The Dropout. McKinnon will also serve as an executive producer.

Emmy-winning Saturday Night Live star McKinnon will play the disgraced wunderkind entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes and will executive produce the limited drama series, whose length is expected to be between 6-10 episodes.

She executive produces with the ABC News trio behind The Dropout podcast: host /creator Rebecca Jarvis, who is ABC News chief business, technology and economics correspondent, and producers Taylor Dunn and Victoria Thompson.

Jennifer Lawrence will play Holmes in a movie based on John Carreyrou's bestseller Bad Blood, expected to be released in 2020.

(Photo: Glenn Fawcett/Wikimedia Commons) Read the rest

The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on white nationalism this morning and Republicans wasted no time making themselves look like idiots. Read the rest

Just days after the suicides of two Parkland school shooting survivors, the father of a six-year-old girl who was killed during the Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, Connecticut has apparently taken his own life. Read the rest

It's West Virginia Republican Party Day at the state's Capitol and Republicans from all across the Mountain State have gathered in Charleston to promote their party's values. Vendors have set up tables throughout the Capitol Building, offering the finest in wingnut lit including this classic from die-hard Islamaphobe Robert Spencer. Read the rest

Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander has introduced a plan to completely upend the existing student loan payback system. How big is this plan? About 40 million borrowers big. Read the rest

There are 17 Mac's Fresh Markets throughout Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana and this week, shoppers got a message about immigration in their sales flyer along with ads for discounted pork chops.

You know, because nothing goes better with pork chops than a steaming side dish of xenophobic bullshit.

Reggie McDaniel owns the Mac's chain and when asked about the message, which has some shoppers calling for a boycott, he told Louisiana's KALB, " If I used a political message, and I’m very aware it's political, to highlight Jesus Christ, then I’m guilty of it."

McDaniel says he plans on including more political messages in the future.

Local grocery store company stirs controversy with ad mailer (KALB) Read the rest

On Friday morning, Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey announced he's running for President. The former mayor of Newark was elected to the Senate in 2013 in a special election to replace the late Senator Frank Lautenberg.

In his video announcement, Booker said, "I believe that we can build a country where no one is forgotten, no one is left behind; where parents can put food on the table; where there are good paying jobs with good benefits in every neighborhood; where our criminal justice system keeps us safe, instead of shuffling more children into cages and coffins; where we see the faces of our leaders on television and feel pride, not shame."

Booker is the fourth Democrat to officially declare their candidacy. Elizabeth Warren has said she'll make an announcement on February 9th; widely expected to be her official entry into the 2020 race.

(Photo: Wikimedia Commons) Read the rest

Having served a whopping 16 days in office, Florida's Republican (shocker) Secretary of State Mike Ertel has resigned after the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper obtained photos of Ertel in blackface, dressed as a Hurricane Katrina survivor. Read the rest