Welcome to RantCrush Top 5, where we take you through today’s top five controversial stories in the world of law and policy. Who’s ranting and raving right now? Check it out below:

You Guys Ok?: Republicans Are Flipping Out

With one week to go until the election, team Trump is finding new ways to provoke people. On Monday night the hashtag #HillaryForPrision trended among people who want to see Hillary locked up. The word “prison” was misspelled to avoid detection by Twitter’s “censors”–the users employing the hashtag claim Twitter is trying to silence their opinions. Smart move, Republicans?

#HillaryForPrison Has been blocked by Twitter, so use the hashtag #HillaryForPrision!

— Democrats for Trump (@YoungDems4Trump) October 31, 2016

Please tell me again HOW she’s still allowed to run for President? 2 FBI criminal investigations? Seriously? #HillaryForPrision

— Heather Ross (@RealHeatherRoss) October 31, 2016

Also, during a rally in Las Vegas on Sunday, Trump supporter Wayne Allyn Root basically wished for the deaths of Clinton and Huma Abedin by comparing them with the movie characters Thelma and Louise. Hint: the movie ends with them driving their car off a cliff.

via GIPHY

And lastly, someone dumped a huge truckload of cow poop outside the Democratic Party headquarters in Lebanon, Ohio on Saturday. Can this election get any crappier?

Pile of manure dumped in front of Warren County Democratic Party HQ early today https://t.co/3QOOjyrfpV pic.twitter.com/MvwZwZwpzK

— Ohio_Politics (@Ohio_Politics) October 29, 2016

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RantCrush collects the top trending topics in the law and policy world each day just for you.

The post RantCrush Top 5: November 1, 2016 appeared first on Law Street.

Welcome to RantCrush Top 5, where we take you through today’s top five controversial stories in the world of law and policy. Who’s ranting and raving right now? Check it out below:

Fox News Settles With Other Ailes Accusers

When news broke Tuesday morning that former Fox host Gretchen Carlson would be receiving a settlement of $20 million, many knew that this was just the beginning of what could be dubbed an “Ailes Cleanup.” CNN revealed later that 21st Century Fox had doled out a handful of smaller settlements to other women who accused Roger Ailes of similar sexual harassment.

Meanwhile, looking the other way while Roger Ailes ran Fox like Jabba’s palace made News Corp billions. Huge settlements? Still worth it.

— Jon Lovett (@jonlovett) September 6, 2016

Even though Ailes resigned in July, some feel the details and extent of the claims against him are being downplayed.

via GIPHY

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The post RantCrush Top 5: September 7, 2016 appeared first on Law Street.

Zika Becomes A Crisis in Puerto Rico

Zika has officially been declared a public health crisis in Puerto Rico after 10,090 laboratory-confirmed cases were recorded this past Friday. Of those cases, 1,035 were pregnant women. However, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says that the number of infections is most likely much higher. The administration hopes that this declaration will prompt fresh support for Puerto Rico. HHS says it has had to shift money from other projects in order to continue work on Zika vaccines and research in the absence of federal funding from U.S. lawmakers. Any decision that lawmakers make or do not make directly affects citizens of Puerto Rico. But something tells me that if the virus were to spread in the capital, Congress would definitely put aside those “fundamental” difference and prevent Zika from affecting more lives.

via GIPHY

Florida also confirmed on Friday that three more people had contracted the virus from local mosquitos, bringing the recorded number of infections in the state up to 28.

Rant Crush

RantCrush collects the top trending topics in the law and policy world each day just for you.

The post RantCrush Top 5: August 15, 2016 appeared first on Law Street.

Welcome to RantCrush Top 5, where we take you through today’s top five controversial stories in the world of law and policy. Who’s ranting and raving right now? Check it out below:

Who In The World Is Evan McMullin?

MT @JoeNBC candidate is Evan McMullin. Wharton grad, CIA alum, Goldman Sachs, Republican Policy Director, US House pic.twitter.com/NYMVepyuIj

— Aaron Mehta (@AaronMehta) August 8, 2016

Never heard of Evan McMullin? No worries, he is, up until recently, a complete nobody. But today he will enter the 2016 race for president. Even though he can’t (and definitely will not) win the presidency he is offering hope to many “Never Trump” and “Never Hillary” voters out there.

In any case, a lot of people are enjoying McMullin’s sudden fame:

|@Evan_McMullin started the day with 135 Twitter followers. He has a few more now.

— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) August 8, 2016

do u think evan had a moment before announcing his run for president where he was….mcmullin it over

— Lady Murderface (@itsa_talia) August 8, 2016

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RantCrush collects the top trending topics in the law and policy world each day just for you.

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On Monday, ten more people were confirmed by Florida Governor Rick Scott to have been infected by a Zika carrying mosquito in the Miami area. That brings the total number of local Zika cases–that is, those where transmission took place on American soil as opposed to an infected traveler from Latin America–to 14. All the cases, the first of which was reported a few weeks ago, are believed to have emerged in a one square mile area just north of downtown Miami, in the Wynwood arts district. The latest cases were found among more than 200 people who were tested for Zika within the affected area of Miami.

Governor Scott said in a statement that he will issue a travel notice to pregnant women or women who are thinking about conceiving a child in the near future. Zika is especially dangerous to pregnant women, because a child born to a Zika-infected mother has a high chance of developing microcephaly. Scott also said he will be calling on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to assist in investigating the Wynwood cases, as well as in preventing further transmission.

Dr. Antonio Crespo, an infectious disease specialist with Orlando Health, said it’s no shock that Florida is the site of the first local Zika transmissions in the U.S. Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that carries Zika and thrives in tropical climates, is common in Florida, Crespo said. That, combined with the fact that travelers from parts of Latin America where Zika is rampant often land in Florida, is why local cases were inevitable. “When you put the two together it’s not a surprise that at some point there was going to be a local transmission,” he told Law Street in a phone interview.

Dr. Crespo is optimistic that the disease will be contained, however. “I’m optimistic with Zika–maybe cautiously optimistic–because of what we have seen in the past,” he said, referring to the state’s successful campaigns to thwart dengue fever and chikungunya, two mosquito-borne diseases also carried by Aedes aegypti. Those diseases saw sporadic outbreaks in Florida over the past decade, but were contained by a process called vector control–a similar process is now being employed to deal with Zika.

Vector control is a two-pronged strategy, both to prevent further transmission and the spread of existing cases. First, people in an affected area–in this case, Miami-Dade and Broward counties–must take pains to avoid getting bitten. The best way to do that, according to Dr. Crespo, is to follow the precautions prescribed by the CDC: apply repellent and erect mosquito nets inside and around their homes. The mosquito’s population is then contained by draining standing water–a favorable breeding ground–and spraying the affected area with larvicide. Eventually, Dr. Crespo said, the disease will be contained and choked at the source.

Crespo is confident that Zika will be contained, but considering the connectedness of the world today, he said, the threat should not be taken lightly. “We live in a world where people travel, so it’s very easy for one disease to be transferred from one country to another in a matter of hours,” he said. “We need to continue to be on high alert.”

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Zika Cases in Miami Rise to 14; Governor Calls on CDC to Help appeared first on Law Street.

While Zika virus threatens to become more widespread in the U.S. this summer, partisan bickering in Congress has left the country ill-equipped to handle the impending public health issue. According to the New York Times, Senate Democrats shot down a bill for emergency aid for Zika virus on Tuesday, claiming that Republicans added in “politically charged provisions.”

The bill would have allotted $1.1 billion to help fight the virus, but it included provisions that had little-to-no direct relation to Zika funding. The provisions included: a restriction of funding to family planning clinics, a reversal on the ban on confederate flags in federal cemeteries, and a loosening of EPA restrictions,  along with others. This forced Democrats to shut it down despite its urgency.

The heated exchange on the Senate floor, during which our country’s elected officials flung around insults like immature children (see: Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-NY) calling the Democrats “sore losers“), just reinforced the popular stereotype of an ineffective Congress plagued by partisan gridlock.

With the impending Fourth of July holiday and a seven-week recess scheduled to begin at the end of July, there’s a decent chance that there won’t be another vote until September.

Democrats criticized Republicans for the provisions, while Republicans claimed that Democrats would be responsible for a Zika outbreak.

I didn’t think the GOP could write 1 bill to hurt women, vets, Obamacare, PP, AND clean water all at once – but they did it. #Zika

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) June 28, 2016

Believe it or not, the GOP Zika bill reverses the ban on flying the confederate flag at military cemeteries. Really! Idiotic.

— Senator Harry Reid (@SenatorReid) June 28, 2016

Lara was born with microcephaly due to Zika virus. How many more will suffer before Senate Ds and WH allow funding? pic.twitter.com/jMSYEeIuZj

— JohnCornyn (@JohnCornyn) June 29, 2016

Senate Dems are making up excuses to justify voting against this bill, which provides $1.1 billion to fight #Zika. https://t.co/qwC88nqBsv

— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) June 30, 2016

While senators continue to play the blame game, the blocking of this funding could be potentially dire, as Zika virus threatens to become a public health emergency in the U.S. On Tuesday, the first baby with Zika-related microcephaly was born in Florida. So far, there have been 935 reported cases of Zika in the United States, according to the CDC. The virus, which is primarily transmitted through mosquitoes but can also be transmitted sexually, is expected to become more prevalent throughout the country this summer.

Hopefully the Senate can unite to take necessary action on Zika; meanwhile, instances such as this one just feed the anti-establishmentarian attitudes that are currently pervasive on both sides of the political spectrum.

Mariam Jaffery

Mariam was an Executive Assistant at Law Street Media and a native of Northern Virginia. She has a B.A. in International Affairs with a minor in Business Administration from George Washington University. Contact Mariam at mjaffery@lawstreetmedia.com.

The post The U.S. Senate Turns Zika Funding Bill Into a Partisan Battle appeared first on Law Street.

Welcome to the RantCrush Top 5, where we take you through the top five controversial and crazy stories in the world of law and policy each day. So who is ranting and who is raving today? Check it out below:

Samantha Bee Rips the Religious Right

Samantha Bee is back at it again with a scathing critique on everyone’s favorite topic: the religious right. Beginning with a hilarious history of evangelical Christianity’s relationship with politics, Donald Trump, and the GOP, Samantha Bee gives some important insight how the religious right has been losing its grasp on the White House in recent years. Check it out:

Philip Morris Blows Whistle on New Cigarette Packaging and Gets Shutdown

Philip Morris, a tobacco giant known for Marlboro cigarettes, made headlines today after it tried to sue Australia for its creepy looking cigarette packaging rules. If you’ve seen them, you may never want to go near cigarettes again! That is exactly why Philip Morris is filing suits left and right, claiming the countries that apply these rules are impinging on their trademark intellectual property rights. Do they have a point?

Australia versus Philip Morris: How we took on big tobacco and won. https://t.co/GCIE8iHjhW pic.twitter.com/JugLUFO5FE

— smh.com.au (@smh) May 17, 2016

Australia Wraps It Up Ahead of Rio Olympics

The 2016 Summer Olympics are about to get crazy. Along with Brazil’s increased financial burdens, Zika is in the back of everyone’s mind. This is why Australia pharma company Starpharma and a leading condom company are taking aggressive precautions in creating a Zika-proof condom for the Australian Olympic team. Hopefully, protection will be available to everyone when the games begin.

Zika-proof condoms to be standard issue for Australia’s Olympic team. https://t.co/6fy0a2t4s2 pic.twitter.com/UZSDj0n49S

— VICE Sports (@VICESports) May 17, 2016

Viral Video Shows Woman Denouncing Trans Bathroom Use In Local Target

Attention Target customers! Do not be deceived! Target is amazing, you can literally get anything there. You can also, as a transperson, have access to the bathroom. Which is great, right?  

Well, some folks beg to differ. Particularly this woman whose video went viral today after marching through a local Target with a raised Bible warning mothers to get their children out of the store and away from Target’s “homosexual perverted agenda.” Besides scaring some people, all this woman and her posse accomplished was creating a nuisance.

Snapchat Drops The Ball Again!

Admit it, you love Snapchat filters. You spend hours taking pics as a slobbering puppy or with a perpetual frowny face, because it’s fun and hilarious! However, some people are not taking the apps “pretty” or beauty filters so lightly. Many claim that the filters make individuals with deeper tones look lighter instead of enhancing present features. This comes only a few weeks after Snapchat’s Bob Marley “blackface” scandal. Will Snapchat get it together already?

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