#FBRape, Part II: Facebook condones female-on-male sexual violence

Menlo Park, Calif. — By now, you know that Facebook has a major problem with violent content, something that Everyday Sexism’s Laura Bates revealed in an exposé in 47 months ago.

Turns out, Mark Zuckerberg has learned absolutely nothing from the #FBRape campaign of 2013.

The latest example (out of many) of the Facebook’s irresponsible corporate culture comes via an Sydney-based Facebook group called Bad Girls Advice.

Let’s compare the prepaid plans

In a post on February 28, we compared the postpaid plans of the five major carriers.

In this post, we will compare the prepaid plans of those five carriers, plus some mobile virtual network operators such as MetroPCS and Tracfone.

Below the fold, we will start.

Dale Earnhardt Junior done after November 19

Richmond, Va. — Dale Earnhardt Junior announced bright and early this morning that this season will be his last.

While Mr. Earnhardt Junior has no Monster Energy Cup championships, he does have two Daytona 500 wins – a decade apart.

Mr. Earnhardt Junior returned to racing for the third time this year after being sidelined with concussions after Daytona Beach in July 2016. He also suffered a concussion after the Tony Stewart crash at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Ala. in 2012.

Think of the children – KILL OPEN CARRY NOW, Senators!

Columbia — Sixty-four members of the South Carolina State House of Representatives clearly showed recently that they do not care about our kids as they passed a bill legalizing open carry in most public places.

And to make matters worse, Governor Henry McMaster has vowed to sign the bill that would make our children sitting ducks too hot headed yahoos by allowing these people to carry firearms without a permit.

We are all to familiar with the what happened in Colorado Springs, Colo. on Samhain 2015.

Ishtar shooting: woman arrested for killing man

Aiken — A middle-aged woman was arrested for killing a man early today.

Officers from the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office were called at 3:48 today to a residence on Dottie Road.

When they arrived, they saw the 52-year-old male victim, who the suspect was in a relationship with, keeled over as a result of a gunshot wound.

The incident between the couple resulted from a domestic dispute.

Candy Michelle Newman, 49, of 21 Dottie Road, was arrested and charged with manslaughter.

Augustan Wesley Bryan wins the RBC Heritage

Hilton Head Island — Wesley Bryan lives 116 miles northwest of Harbour Town – in Augusta, Ga.

Next year, he will be only a few feet from the Augusta National Golf Club.

Mr. Bryan shot a 67 on Ishtar to win the RBC Heritage and get the first automatic invite to his home tournament, the 2018 Masters.

Although he was born up Interstate 20 in Columbia, the fact that he is now living from Augusta means that a South Carolina resident is now 0-49 in the tournament.

Mr. Bryan is now in the Top 15 in the FedEx Cup standings. Mr. Bryan is the sixth first time winner in the 2017 PGA Season.

This post could be updated once the rest of the results are made official.

Trump signs bill denying millions of people freedom of choice when it comes to basic health care

Washington, DC — Earlier this afternoon, Donald Trump signed a bill that denies at least four million – and as many as 50+ million – low- and middle-income women and transgender people basic health care.

And that is not all: it also denies all women the freedom to choose their health care provider by defunding Planned Parenthood via proxy – with the state governments as the proxy.

From Planned Parenthood:

Timeline of Attacks

• In January, the Obama administration moved to protect the Title X program and the more than 4 million people who rely on it for preventive health care.
• After the inauguration, the federal government fell into the hands of extremist lawmakers who have tried for years to cut people off from reproductive care.
• On March 30, 2017, anti-women’s health politicians in the Senate moved to demolish the Obama administration’s protections. They were one vote short — so, Vice President Pence rushed over to push this outrageous bill through. That’s right: The vote was tied 50-50 until Vice President Pence cast the deciding vote.

Impact of the Bill

The White House and extremists in Congress just made it harder for women to get the essential, basic health care they need to survive and to thrive.  This dangerous bill emboldens states to prevent use of Title X funds at a health center just because it also provides safe, legal abortion.

“People are sick and tired of politicians making it even harder for them to access health care, and this bill is just the latest example. Planned Parenthood strongly opposes President Trump’s willingness to undermine millions of women’s access to birth control through the Title X family planning program. Four million people depend on the Title X family planning program, and by signing this bill, President Trump disregards their health and well-being.

—Dawn Laguens, Executive Vice President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America

About Title X

Title X provides basic preventive health care for millions of people with low incomes or without health insurance. Title X is the only federal program dedicated solely to family planning.

Learn everything you need to know about Title X.

Take Action

In case it wasn’t clear, Pence and his allies in Congress are dead set on dismantling access to health care and protections for women wherever they can — no matter how many people they hurt, and no matter how unpopular it is. Take action to protect access to reproductive health.

T-Mobile de-lists the Alcatel Idol 4s from online store

 

Bellevue, Wash. — Just a few minutes ago, Aiken Area Progressive learned that T-Mobile removed the listing for the Alcatel Idol 4s from their store.

No reason has been given for the removal of the device, but it was the highest rated phone the network has ever sold, with a rating of 4.7 stars out of 5.

We will get in touch with T-Mobile soon to find out why the Idol 4s listing was removed. The device was sold starting on Veterans Day 2016.

In the meantime, you can contact your local T-Mobile stores to see if they still have any in stock.

In Aiken:

Whiskey Road: 803-644-5592

In Augusta, Ga.:

Wrightsboro Road: 706-667-9994
2825 Washington Road: 706-736-4126
3836 Washington Road: 706-504-4670
210 Robert C Daniel Pkwy: 706-737-3939
253 Robert C Daniel Pkwy: 706-729-6621

In Evans, Ga.:

Washington Road: 706-868-0400

In Orangeburg:

Chestnut St: 803-305-0297

 

Windows Vista, the best Windows desktop operating system, dies tonight

Redmond, Wash. — This day would inevitably come.

Today is the last day Windows Vista will be supported. After 23:59:00 tonight, Microsoft will execute Vista by lethal injection.

Once midnight gets here, people who are on Windows Vista will no longer be protected from Trojans, viruses, malware, rootkits or any other vulnerability.

Yes, Windows Vista still is the best Windows desktop operating system (and only Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows 10 Mobile are better Windows operating systems than Vista). Unfortunately, in the business world, even the best retires or dies.

Michael Jordan, the best in the NBA, retired a decade or so ago.

Dale Earnhardt Senior, considered the best in NASCAR, died in 2001.

Now, Windows Vista, one of the best operating systems computing has to offer, will join them.

Rest in peace, Vista.

Tornados confirmed in Johnston and Monetta, possible tornado in Elko

#Repost @alesharaywjbf ・・・ Resident,Colby Albea sent in photos of damage in Johnston, S.C. 📸. #severeweather #severewx #csrawx

A post shared by WJBF NewsChannel 6 (@wjbf6) on Apr 6, 2017 at 2:59am PDT

 

Johnston — WRDW/WAGT confirmed Wednesday afternoon that a tornado hit the City of Johnston earlier that day.

In fact, it was so bad, that Governor Henry McMaster ordered a curfew for the city of Johnston on Wednesday night. It started at 21:00 and ended at 7:00 today.

As WJBF-DT mentions:

Many of those trees crashing into homes and cars, and even taking down power lines, leaving nearly 1,200 people without power.

The storm wreaked havoc on the South Carolina town, leaving many in Johnston homeless for the night.

“I was just talking about that earlier. I cannot remember the last time I saw a storm come through here like this,” said Johnston resident Andrew Barwick. “This is the worst one I’ve seen since I’ve lived here.”

Edgefield County EMS will tour the city today.

Meanwhile, a tornado was also confirmed in Monetta on Wednesday, making it the second tornado to hit the Aiken and Saluda County town this week.

Also: a 35-year-old woman said that a possible tornado hit her home near the Barnwell-Elko Highway in Elko. That is yet to be confirmed, although the storm that prompted a thunderstorm warning for Barnwell County did have some signs of rotation on radar.

The damage and destruction were not limited to the South Carolina side of the Augusta-Aiken area: the thunderstorm complex also damaged homes and knocked down power lines in Grovetown, Ga. and in Statesboro.

When a Particularly Dangerous Situation Tornado Watch is issued, it must be treated like a Tornado Warning – no ifs, ands or buts

Usually, people clarify the difference between a watch and a warning, like this:

A watch is issued when conditions are favorable for those conditions, whether it’s a severe thunderstorm, flash flood, or a tornado, to form.

A warning is issued when those conditions are actually observed, whether by a trained meteorologist on radar, or a trained spotter on the ground.

However, when it comes to a Particularly Dangerous Situation Tornado Watch, which is very likely to be issued for the area as early as 8:00 Wednesday, those differences do not apply.

On April 27, 2011, the worst tornado day in our lifetimes to date, nearly 350 people were killed in Alabama alone. No doubt some of these people took the National Weather Service’s PDS Tornado Watch to mean prepare for tornados instead of actually taking immediate cover.

What a PDS Tornado Watch actually means is that a tornado will occur in every county that is under such a watch, without exception. The only unknown is when the tornado, and the warning that comes with it, will occur.

For that reason, a PDS Tornado Watch cannot be treated the same way as a standard Tornado Watch. Preparations must be done – and completed – before a PDS Tornado Watch is issued. Once a PDS Tornado Watch is issued, it is too late to begin preparing for tornados.

For Wednesday, all 23 counties in the Augusta-Aiken area – Central Georgia and West Central South Carolina – are under a moderate risk of severe weather.

With that, a PDS Tornado Watch must be treated like a Tornado Warning – no ifs, ands, or buts.

This tip can help you save your life if the computer models are accurate about Wednesday.

Another round of severe weather may be on the way, and the Williston School District 29 is already using up its last early release day of the school year

The school day forecast for Wednesday is calling for scattered strong thunderstorms with a maximum of 78.

However, the Williston School District 29 will be using its last early release day of the 2016-2017 school year on Wednesday, a day which was originally scheduled for April 26.

The temperature at the end of the school day, which will be 10:48 for Kelly Edwards Elementary School and 11:00 for Williston-Elko Middle and High School, will be 72 with thunderstorms starting to fire up. The storms could be strong at times. For the beginning of the shortened school day, it is expected to be overcast and 66.

UPDATE @ 21:08: Orangeburg Consolidated School District has alerted its three district zones (Orangeburg 3, 4 and 5) that they will also end the school day early. This information comes from the Times and Democrat.

UPDATE @ 22:13: WJBF-DT is reporting that McCormick County School District is shutting down for the entire day. They will make up this day on April 24. The news station is also reporting that Barnwell School District 45 and Blackville School District 19 will also dismiss at 11:00.

Image of Williston-Elko High School via Facebook